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Tembarom, by Frances Hodgson Burnett + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of T. Tembarom, by Frances Hodgson Burnett + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: T. Tembarom + +Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett + + +Release Date: February, 2001 [Etext #2514] +The actual date this file first posted: 03/10/01 +Last Updated: March 2, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK T. TEMBAROM *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +This HTML file produced by David Widger + + + +</pre> + + + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + T. TEMBAROM + </h1> + <h2> + By Frances Hodgson Burnett + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <b>CONTENTS</b> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I: </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER XXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0023"> CHAPTER XXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0024"> CHAPTER XXIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0025"> CHAPTER XXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0026"> CHAPTER XXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0027"> CHAPTER XXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0028"> CHAPTER XXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0029"> CHAPTER XXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0030"> CHAPTER XXX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0031"> CHAPTER XXXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0032"> CHAPTER XXXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0033"> CHAPTER XXXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0034"> CHAPTER XXXIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0035"> CHAPTER XXXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0036"> CHAPTER XXXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0037"> CHAPTER XXXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0038"> CHAPTER XXXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0039"> CHAPTER XXXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0040"> CHAPTER XL </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I: + </h2> + <p> + The boys at the Brooklyn public school which he attended did not know what + the “T.” stood for. He would never tell them. All he said in reply to + questions was: “It don't stand for nothin'. You've gotter have a' 'nitial, + ain't you?” His name was, in fact, an almost inevitable school-boy + modification of one felt to be absurd and pretentious. His Christian name + was Temple, which became “Temp.” His surname was Barom, so he was at once + “Temp Barom.” In the natural tendency to avoid waste of time it was + pronounced as one word, and the letter p being superfluous and cumbersome, + it easily settled itself into “Tembarom,” and there remained. By much less + inevitable processes have surnames evolved themselves as centuries rolled + by. Tembarom liked it, and soon almost forgot he had ever been called + anything else. + </p> + <p> + His education really began when he was ten years old. At that time his + mother died of pneumonia, contracted by going out to sew, at seventy-five + cents a day, in shoes almost entirely without soles, when the remains of a + blizzard were melting in the streets. As, after her funeral, there + remained only twenty-five cents in the shabby bureau which was one of the + few articles furnishing the room in the tenement in which they lived + together, Tembarom sleeping on a cot, the world spread itself before him + as a place to explore in search of at least one meal a day. There was + nothing to do but to explore it to the best of his ten-year-old ability. + </p> + <p> + His father had died two years before his mother, and Tembarom had vaguely + felt it a relief. He had been a resentful, domestically tyrannical + immigrant Englishman, who held in contempt every American trait and + institution. He had come over to better himself, detesting England and the + English because there was “no chance for a man there,” and, transferring + his dislikes and resentments from one country to another, had met with no + better luck than he had left behind him. This he felt to be the fault of + America, and his family, which was represented solely by Tembarom and his + mother, heard a good deal about it, and also, rather contradictorily, a + good deal about the advantages and superiority of England, to which in the + course of six months he became gloomily loyal. It was necessary, in fact, + for him to have something with which to compare the United States + unfavorably. The effect he produced on Tembarom was that of causing him, + when he entered the public school round the corner, to conceal with + determination verging on duplicity the humiliating fact that if he had not + been born in Brooklyn he might have been born in England. England was not + popular among the boys in the school. History had represented the country + to them in all its tyrannical rapacity and bloodthirsty oppression of the + humble free-born. The manly and admirable attitude was to say, “Give me + liberty or give me death”—and there was the Fourth of July. + </p> + <p> + Though Tembarom and his mother had been poor enough while his father + lived, when he died the returns from his irregular odd jobs no longer came + in to supplement his wife's sewing, and add an occasional day or two of + fuller meals, in consequence of which they were oftener than ever hungry + and cold, and in desperate trouble about the rent of their room. Tembarom, + who was a wiry, enterprising little fellow, sometimes found an odd job + himself. He carried notes and parcels when any one would trust him with + them, he split old boxes into kindling-wood, more than once he “minded” a + baby when its mother left its perambulator outside a store. But at eight + or nine years of age one's pay is in proportion to one's size. Tembarom, + however, had neither his father's bitter eye nor his mother's discouraged + one. Something different from either had been reincarnated in him from + some more cheerful past. He had an alluring grin instead—a grin + which curled up his mouth and showed his sound, healthy, young teeth,—a + lot of them,—and people liked to see them. + </p> + <p> + At the beginning of the world it is only recently reasonable to suppose + human beings were made with healthy bodies and healthy minds. That of + course was the original scheme of the race. It would not have been worth + while to create a lot of things aimlessly ill made. A journeyman carpenter + would not waste his time in doing it, if he knew any better. Given the + power to make a man, even an amateur would make him as straight as he + could, inside and out. Decent vanity would compel him to do it. He would + be ashamed to show the thing and admit he had done it, much less people a + world with millions of like proofs of incompetence. Logically considered, + the race was built straight and clean and healthy and happy. How, since + then, it has developed in multitudinous less sane directions, and lost its + normal straightness and proportions, I am, singularly enough, not entirely + competent to explain with any degree of satisfactory detail. But it cannot + be truthfully denied that this has rather generally happened. There are + human beings who are not beautiful, there are those who are not healthy, + there are those who hate people and things with much waste of physical and + mental energy, there are people who are not unwilling to do others an ill + turn by word or deed, and there are those who do not believe that the + original scheme of the race was ever a decent one. + </p> + <p> + This is all abnormal and unintelligent, even the not being beautiful, and + sometimes one finds oneself called upon passionately to resist a + temptation to listen to an internal hint that the whole thing is aimless. + Upon this tendency one may as well put one's foot firmly, as it leads + nowhere. At such times it is supporting to call to mind a certain + undeniable fact which ought to loom up much larger in our philosophical + calculations. No one has ever made a collection of statistics regarding + the enormous number of perfectly sane, kind, friendly, decent creatures + who form a large proportion of any mass of human beings anywhere and + everywhere—people who are not vicious or cruel or depraved, not as a + result of continual self-control, but simply because they do not want to + be, because it is more natural and agreeable to be exactly the opposite + things; people who do not tell lies because they could not do it with any + pleasure, and would, on the contrary, find the exertion an annoyance and a + bore; people whose manners and morals are good because their natural + preference lies in that direction. There are millions of them who in most + essays on life and living are virtually ignored because they do none of + the things which call forth eloquent condemnation or brilliant cynicism. + It has not yet become the fashion to record them. When one reads a daily + newspaper filled with dramatic elaborations of crimes and unpleasantness, + one sometimes wishes attention might be called to them—to their + numbers, to their decencies, to their normal lack of any desire to do + violence and their equally normal disposition to lend a hand. One is + inclined to feel that the majority of persons do not believe in their + existence. But if an accident occurs in the street, there are always + several of them who appear to spring out of the earth to give human + sympathy and assistance; if a national calamity, physical or social, takes + place, the world suddenly seems full of them. They are the thousands of + Browns, Joneses, and Robinsons who, massed together, send food to + famine-stricken countries, sustenance to earthquake-devastated regions, + aid to wounded soldiers or miners or flood-swept homelessness. They are + the ones who have happened naturally to continue to grow straight and + carry out the First Intention. They really form the majority; if they did + not, the people of the earth would have eaten one another alive centuries + ago. But though this is surely true, a happy cynicism totally disbelieves + in their existence. When a combination of circumstances sufficiently + dramatic brings one of them into prominence, he is either called an angel + or a fool. He is neither. He is only a human creature who is normal. + </p> + <p> + After this manner Tembarom was wholly normal. He liked work and rejoiced + in good cheer, when he found it, however attenuated its form. He was a + good companion, and even at ten years old a practical person. He took his + loose coppers from the old bureau drawer, and remembering that he had + several times helped Jake Hutchins to sell his newspapers, he went forth + into the world to find and consult him as to the investment of his + capital. + </p> + <p> + “Where are you goin', Tem?” a woman who lived in the next room said when + she met him on the stairs. “What you goin' to do?” + </p> + <p> + “I'm goin' to sell newspapers if I can get some with this,” he replied, + opening his hand to show her the extent of his resources. + </p> + <p> + She was almost as poor as he was, but not quite. She looked him over + curiously for a moment, and then fumbled in her pocket. She drew out two + ten-cent pieces and considered them, hesitating. Then she looked again at + him. That normal expression in his nice ten-year-old eyes had its + suggestive effect. + </p> + <p> + “You take this,” she said, handing him the two pieces. “It'll help you to + start.” + </p> + <p> + “I'll bring it back, ma'am,” said Tem. “Thank you, Mis' Hullingworth.” + </p> + <p> + In about two weeks' time he did bring it back. That was the beginning. He + lived through all the experiences a small boy waif and stray would be + likely to come in contact with. The abnormal class treated him ill, and + the normal class treated him well. He managed to get enough food to eat to + keep him from starvation. Sometimes he slept under a roof and much oftener + out-of-doors. He preferred to sleep out-of-doors more than half of the + year, and the rest of the time he did what he could. He saw and learned + many strange things, but was not undermined by vice because he + unconsciously preferred decency. He sold newspapers and annexed any old + job which appeared on the horizon. The education the New York streets gave + him was a liberal one. He became accustomed to heat and cold and wet + weather, but having sound lungs and a tough little body combined with the + normal tendencies already mentioned, he suffered no more physical + deterioration than a young Indian would suffer. After selling newspapers + for two years he got a place as “boy” in a small store. The advance + signified by steady employment was inspiring to his energies. He forged + ahead, and got a better job and better pay as he grew older. By the time + he was fifteen he shared a small bedroom with another boy. In whatsoever + quarter he lived, friends seemed sporadic. Other boy's congregated about + him. He did not know he had any effect at all, but his effect, in fact, + was rather like that of a fire in winter or a cool breeze in summer. It + was natural to gather where it prevailed. + </p> + <p> + There came a time when he went to a night class to learn stenography. + Great excitement had been aroused among the boys he knew best by a rumor + that there were “fellows” who could earn a hundred dollars a week “writing + short.” Boyhood could not resist the florid splendor of the idea. Four of + them entered the class confidently looking forward to becoming the + recipients of four hundred a month in the course of six weeks. One by one + they dropped off, until only Tembarom remained, slowly forging ahead. He + had never meant anything else but to get on in the world—to get as + far as he could. He kept at his “short,” and by the time he was nineteen + it helped him to a place in a newspaper office. He took dictation from a + nervous and harried editor, who, when he was driven to frenzy by overwork + and incompetencies, found that the long-legged, clean youth with the grin + never added fuel to the flame of his wrath. He was a common young man, who + was not marked by special brilliancy of intelligence, but he had a clear + head and a good temper, and a queer aptitude for being able to see himself + in the other man's shoes—his difficulties and moods. This ended in + his being tried with bits of new work now and then. In an emergency he was + once sent out to report the details of a fire. What he brought back was + usable, and his elation when he found he had actually “made good” was + ingenuous enough to spur Galton, the editor, into trying him again. + </p> + <p> + To Tembarom this was a magnificent experience. The literary suggestion + implied by being “on a newspaper” was more than he had hoped for. If you + have sold newspapers, and slept in a barrel or behind a pile of lumber in + a wood-yard, to report a fire in a street-car shed seems a flight of + literature. He applied himself to the careful study of newspapers—their + points of view, their style of phrasing. He believed them to be perfect. + To attain ease in expressing himself in their elevated language he felt to + be the summit of lofty ambition. He had no doubts of the exaltation of his + ideal. His respect and confidence almost made Galton cry at times, because + they recalled to him days when he had been nineteen and had regarded New + York journalists with reverence. He liked Tembarom more and more. It + actually soothed him to have him about, and he fell into giving him one + absurd little chance after another. When he brought in “stuff” which bore + too evident marks of utter ignorance, he actually touched it up and used + it, giving him an enlightening, ironical hint or so. Tembarom always took + the hints with gratitude. He had no mistaken ideas of his own powers. + Galton loomed up before him a sort of god, and though the editor was a man + with a keen, though wearied, brain and a sense of humor, the situation was + one naturally productive of harmonious relations. He was of the many who + unknowingly came in out of the cold and stood in the glow of Tembarom's + warm fire, or took refuge from the heat in his cool breeze. He did not + know of the private, arduous study of journalistic style, and it was not + unpleasing to see that the nice young cub was gradually improving. Through + pure modest fear or ridicule, Tembarom kept to himself his vaulting + ambition. He practised reports of fires, weddings, and accidents in his + hall bedroom. + </p> + <p> + A hall bedroom in a third-rate boarding-house is not a cheerful place, but + when Tembarom vaguely felt this, he recalled the nights spent in empty + trucks and behind lumber-piles, and thought he was getting spoiled by + luxury. He told himself that he was a fellow who always had luck. He did + not know, neither did any one else, that his luck would have followed him + if he had lived in a coal-hole. It was the concomitant of his normal build + and outlook on life. Mrs. Bowse, his hard-worked landlady, began by being + calmed down by his mere bearing when he came to apply for his room and + board. She had a touch of grippe, and had just emerged from a heated + affray with a dirty cook, and was inclined to battle when he presented + himself. In a few minutes she was inclined to battle no longer. She let + him have the room. Cantankerous restrictions did not ruffle him. + </p> + <p> + “Of course what you say GOES,” he said, giving her his friendly grin. “Any + one that takes boarders has GOT to be careful. You're in for a bad cold, + ain't you?” + </p> + <p> + “I've got grippe again, that's what I've got,” she almost snapped. + </p> + <p> + “Did you ever try Payson's 'G. Destroyer'? G stands for grippe, you know. + Catchy name, ain't it? They say the man that invented it got ten thousand + dollars for it. 'G. Destroyer.' You feel like you have to find out what it + means when you see it up on a boarding. I'm just over grippe myself, and + I've got half a bottle in my pocket. You carry it about with you, and + swallow one every half-hour. You just try it. It set me right in no time.” + </p> + <p> + He took the bottle out of his waistcoat pocket and handed it to her. She + took it and turned it over. + </p> + <p> + “You're awful good-natured,”—She hesitated,—“but I ain't going + to take your medicine. I ought to go and get some for myself. How much + does it cost?” + </p> + <p> + “It's on the bottle; but it's having to get it for yourself that's the + matter. You won't have time, and you'll forget it.” + </p> + <p> + “That's true enough,” said Mrs. Bowse, looking at him sharply. “I guess + you know something about boarding-houses.” + </p> + <p> + “I guess I know something about trying to earn three meals a day—or + two of them. It's no merry jest, whichever way you do it.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II + </h2> + <p> + When he took possession of his hall bedroom the next day and came down to + his first meal, all the boarders looked at him interestedly. They had + heard of the G. Destroyer from Mrs. Bowse, whose grippe had disappeared. + Jim Bowles and Julius Steinberger looked at him because they were about + his own age, and shared a hall bedroom on his floor; the young woman from + the notion counter in a down-town department store looked at him because + she was a young woman; the rest of the company looked at him because a + young man in a hall bedroom might or might not be noisy or objectionable, + and the incident of the G. Destroyer sounded good-natured. Mr. Joseph + Hutchinson, the stout and discontented Englishman from Manchester, looked + him over because the mere fact that he was a new-comer had placed him by + his own rash act in the position of a target for criticism. Mr. Hutchinson + had come to New York because he had been told that he could find backers + among profuse and innumerable multi-millionaires for the invention which + had been the haunting vision of his uninspiring life. He had not been met + with the careless rapture which had been described to him, and he was + becoming violently antagonistic to American capital and pessimistic in his + views of American institutions. Like Tembarom's father, he was the + resentful Englishman. + </p> + <p> + “I don't think much o' that chap,” he said in what he considered an + undertone to his daughter, who sat beside him and tried to manage that he + should not be infuriated by waiting for butter and bread and second + helpings. A fine, healthy old feudal feeling that servants should be + roared at if they did not “look sharp” when he wanted anything was one of + his salient characteristics. + </p> + <p> + “Wait a bit, Father; we don't know anything about him yet,” Ann Hutchinson + murmured quietly, hoping that his words had been lost in the clatter of + knives and forks and dishes. + </p> + <p> + As Tembarom had taken his seat, he had found that, when he looked across + the table, he looked directly at Miss Hutchinson; and before the meal + ended he felt that he was in great good luck to be placed opposite an + object of such singular interest. He knew nothing about “types,” but if he + had been of those who do, he would probably have said to himself that she + was of a type apart. As it was, he merely felt that she was of a kind one + kept looking at whether one ought to or not. She was a little thing of + that exceedingly light slimness of build which makes a girl a childish + feather-weight. Few girls retain it after fourteen or fifteen. A wind + might supposably have blown her away, but one knew it would not, because + she was firm and steady on her small feet. Ordinary strength could have + lifted her with one hand, and would have been tempted to do it. She had a + slim, round throat, and the English daisy face it upheld caused it to + suggest to the mind the stem of a flower. The roundness of her cheek, in + and out of which totally unexpected dimples flickered, and the + forget-me-not blueness of her eyes, which were large and rather round + also, made her look like a nice baby of singularly serious and observing + mind. She looked at one as certain awe-inspiring things in perambulators + look at one—with a far and clear silence of gaze which passes beyond + earthly obstacles and reserves a benign patience with follies. Tembarom + felt interestedly that one really might quail before it, if one had + anything of an inferior quality to hide. And yet it was not a critical + gaze at all. She wore a black dress with a bit of white collar, and she + had so much soft, red hair that he could not help recalling one or two + women who owned the same quantity and seemed able to carry it only as a + sort of untidy bundle. Hers looked entirely under control, and yet was + such a wonder of burnished fullness that it tempted the hand to reach out + and touch it. It became Tembarom's task during the meal to keep his eyes + from turning too often toward it and its owner. + </p> + <p> + If she had been a girl who took things hard, she might have taken her + father very hard indeed. But opinions and feelings being solely a matter + of points of view, she was very fond of him, and, regarding him as a + sacred charge and duty, took care of him as though she had been a + reverentially inclined mother taking care of a boisterous son. When his + roar was heard, her calm little voice always fell quietly on indignant + ears the moment it ceased. It was her part in life to act as a palliative: + her mother, whose well-trained attitude toward the ruling domestic male + was of the early Victorian order, had lived and died one. A nicer, warmer + little woman had never existed. Joseph Hutchinson had adored and depended + on her as much as he had harried her. When he had charged about like a mad + bull because he could not button his collar, or find the pipe he had + mislaid in his own pocket, she had never said more than “Now, Mr. + Hutchinson,” or done more than leave her sewing to button the collar with + soothing fingers, and suggest quietly that sometimes he DID chance to + carry his pipe about with him. She was of the class which used to call its + husband by a respectful surname. When she died she left him as a sort of + legacy to her daughter, spending the last weeks of her life in explaining + affectionately all that “Father” needed to keep him quiet and make him + comfortable. + </p> + <p> + Little Ann had never forgotten a detail, and had even improved upon some + of them, as she happened to be cleverer than her mother, and had, indeed, + a far-seeing and clear young mind of her own. She had been called “Little + Ann” all her life. This had held in the first place because her mother's + name had been Ann also, and after her mother's death the diminutive had + not fallen away from her. People felt it belonged to her not because she + was especially little, though she was a small, light person, but because + there was an affectionate humor in the sound of it. + </p> + <p> + Despite her hard needs, Mrs. Bowse would have faced the chance of losing + two boarders rather than have kept Mr. Joseph Hutchinson but for Little + Ann. As it was, she kept them both, and in the course of three months the + girl was Little Ann to almost every one in the house. Her normalness took + the form of an instinct which amounted to genius for seeing what people + ought to have, and in some occult way filling in bare or trying places. + </p> + <p> + “She's just a wonder, that girl,” Mrs. Bowse said to one boarder after + another. + </p> + <p> + “She's just a wonder,” Jim Bowles and Julius Steinberger murmured to each + other in rueful confidence, as they tilted their chairs against the wall + of their hall bedroom and smoked. Each of the shabby and poverty-stricken + young men had of course fallen hopelessly in love with her at once. This + was merely human and inevitable, but realizing in the course of a few + weeks that she was too busy taking care of her irritable, boisterous old + Manchester father, and everybody else, to have time to be made love to + even by young men who could buy new boots when the old ones had ceased to + be water-tight, they were obliged to resign themselves to the, after all, + comforting fact that she became a mother to them, not a sister. She mended + their socks and sewed buttons on for them with a firm frankness which + could not be persuaded into meaning anything more sentimental than a fixed + habit of repairing anything which needed it, and which, while at first + bewildering in its serenity, ended by reducing the two youths to a dust of + devotion. + </p> + <p> + “She's a wonder, she is,” they sighed when at every weekend they found + their forlorn and scanty washing resting tidily on their bed. + </p> + <p> + In the course of a week, more or less, Tembarom's feeling for her would + have been exactly that of his two hall-bedroom neighbors, but that his + nature, though a practical one, was not inclined to any supine degree of + resignation. He was a sensible youth, however, and gave no trouble. Even + Joseph Hutchinson, who of course resented furiously any “nonsense” of + which his daughter and possession was the object, became sufficiently + mollified by his good spirits and ready good nature to refrain from open + conversational assault. + </p> + <p> + “I don't mind that chap as much as I did at first,” he admitted + reluctantly to Little Ann one evening after a good dinner and a + comfortable pipe. “He's not such a fool as he looks.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom was given, as Little Ann was, to seeing what people wanted. He + knew when to pass the mustard and other straying condiments. He picked up + things which dropped inconveniently, he did not interrupt the remarks of + his elders and betters, and several times when he chanced to be in the + hall, and saw Mr. Hutchinson, in irritable, stout Englishman fashion, + struggling into his overcoat, he sprang forward with a light, friendly air + and helped him. 'He did not do it with ostentatious politeness or with the + manner of active youth giving generous aid to elderly avoirdupois. He did + it as though it occurred to him as a natural result of being on the spot. + </p> + <p> + It took Mrs. Bowse and her boarding-house less than a week definitely to + like him. Every night when he sat down to dinner he brought news with + him-news and jokes and new slang. Newspaper-office anecdote and talk gave + a journalistic air to the gathering when he was present, and there was + novelty in it. Soon every one was intimate with him, and interested in + what he was doing. Galton's good-natured patronage of him was a thing to + which no one was indifferent. It was felt to be the right thing in the + right place. When he came home at night it became the custom to ask him + questions as to the bits of luck which befell him. He became “T. T.” + instead of Mr. Tembarom, except to Joseph Hutchinson and his 'daughter. + Hutchinson called him Tembarom, but Little Ann said “Mr. Tembarom” with + quaint frequency when she spoke to him. + </p> + <p> + “Landed anything to-day, T. T.?” some one would ask almost every evening, + and the interest in his relation of the day's adventures increased from + week to week. Little Ann never asked questions and seldom made comments, + but she always listened attentively. She had gathered, and guessed from + what she had gathered, a rather definite idea of what his hard young life + had been. He did not tell pathetic stories about himself, but he and Jim + Bowles and Julius Steinberger had become fast friends, and the genial + smoking of cheap tobacco in hall bedrooms tends to frankness of relation, + and the various ways in which each had found himself “up against it” in + the course of their brief years supplied material for anecdotal talk. + </p> + <p> + “But it's bound to be easier from now on,” he would say. “I've got the + 'short' down pretty fine—not fine enough to make big money, but + enough to hold down a job with Galton. He's mighty good to me. If I knew + more, I believe he'd give me a column to take care of—Up-town + Society column perhaps. A fellow named Biker's got it. Twenty per. Goes on + a bust twice a month, the fool. Gee! I wish I had his job!” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Bowse's house was provided with a parlor in which her boarders could + sit in the evening when so inclined. It was a fearsome room, which, when + the dark, high-ceilinged hall was entered, revealed depths of dingy gloom + which appeared splashed in spots with incongruous brilliancy of color. + This effect was produced by richly framed department-store chromo + lithographs on the walls, aided by lurid cushion-covers, or “tidies” + representing Indian maidens or chieftains in full war paint, or clusters + of poppies of great boldness of hue. They had either been Christmas gifts + bestowed upon Mrs. Bowse or department-store bargains of her own + selection, purchased with thrifty intent. The red-and-green plush + upholstered walnut chairs arid sofa had been acquired by her when the + bankruptcy of a neighboring boarding-house brought them within her means. + They were no longer very red or very green, and the cheerfully hopeful + design of the tidies and cushions had been to conceal worn places and + stains. The mantelpiece was adorned by a black-walnut-and-gold-framed + mirror, and innumerable vases of the ornate ninety-eight-cents order. The + centerpiece held a large and extremely soiled spray of artificial + wistaria. The end of the room was rendered attractive by a tent-like + cozy-corner built of savage weapons and Oriental cotton stuffs long ago + become stringy and almost leprous in hue. The proprietor of the bankrupt + boarding-house had been “artistic.” But Mrs. Bowse was a good-enough soul + whose boarders liked her and her house, and when the gas was lighted and + some one played “rag-time” on the second-hand pianola, they liked the + parlor. + </p> + <p> + Little Ann did not often appear in it, but now and then she came down with + her bit of sewing,—she always had a “bit of sewing,”—and she + sat in the cozy-corner listening to the talk or letting some one confide + troubles to her. Sometimes it was the New England widow, Mrs. Peck, who + looked like a spinster school-ma'am, but who had a married son with a nice + wife who lived in Harlem and drank heavily. She used to consult with + Little Ann as to the possible wisdom of putting a drink deterrent + privately in his tea. Sometimes it was Mr. Jakes, a depressed little man + whose wife had left him, for no special reason he could discover. Oftenest + perhaps it was Julius Steinberger or Jim Bowles who did their ingenuous + best to present themselves to her as energetic, if not successful, young + business men, not wholly unworthy of attention and always breathing daily + increasing devotion. Sometimes it was Tembarom, of whom her opinion had + never been expressed, but who seemed to have made friends with her. She + liked to hear about the newspaper office and Mr. Galton, and never was + uninterested in his hopes of “making good.” She seemed to him the wisest + and most direct and composed person he had ever known. She spoke with the + broad, flat, friendly Manchester accent, and when she let drop a + suggestion, it carried a delightfully sober conviction with it, because + what she said was generally a revelation of logical mental argument + concerning details she had gathered through her little way of listening + and saying nothing whatever. + </p> + <p> + “If Mr. Biker drinks, he won't keep his place,” she said to Tembarom one + night. “Perhaps you might get it yourself, if you persevere.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom reddened a little. He really reddened through joyous excitement. + </p> + <p> + “Say, I didn't know you knew a thing about that,” he answered. “You're a + regular wonder. You scarcely ever say anything, but the way you get on to + things gets me.” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps if I talked more I shouldn't notice as much,” she said, turning + her bit of sewing round and examining it. “I never was much of a talker. + Father's a good talker, and Mother and me got into the way of listening. + You do if you live with a good talker.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom looked at the girl with a male gentleness, endeavoring to subdue + open expression of the fact that he was convinced that she was as + thoroughly aware of her father's salient characteristics as she was of + other things. + </p> + <p> + “You do,” said Tembarom. Then picking up her scissors, which had dropped + from her lap, and politely returning them, he added anxiously: “To think + of you remembering Biker! I wonder, if I ever did get his job, if I could + hold it down?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” decided Little Ann; “you could. I've noticed you're that kind of + person, Mr. Tembarom.” + </p> + <p> + “Have you?” he said elatedly. “Say, honest Injun?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “I shall be getting stuck on myself if you encourage me like that,” he + said, and then, his face falling, he added, “Biker graduated at + Princeton.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know much about society,” Little Ann remarked,—“I never saw + any either up-town or down-town or in the country,—but I shouldn't + think you'd have to have a college education to write the things you see + about it in the newspaper paragraphs.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom grinned. + </p> + <p> + “They're not real high-brow stuff, are they,” he said. “'There was a + brilliant gathering on Tuesday evening at the house of Mr. Jacob + Sturtburger at 79 Two Hundredth Street on the occasion of the marriage of + his daughter Miss Rachel Sturtburger to Mr. Eichenstein. The bride was + attired in white peau de cygne trimmed with duchess lace.'” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann took him up. “I don't know what peau de cygne is, and I daresay + the bride doesn't. I've never been to anything but a village school, but I + could make up paragraphs like that myself.” + </p> + <p> + “That's the up-town kind,” said Tembarom. “The down-town ones wear their + mothers' point-lace wedding-veils some-times, but they're not much + different. Say, I believe I could do it if I had luck.” + </p> + <p> + “So do I,” returned Little Ann. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom looked down at the carpet, thinking the thing over. Ann went on + sewing. + </p> + <p> + “That's the way with you,” he said presently: “you put things into a + fellow's head. You've given me a regular boost, Little Ann.” + </p> + <p> + It is not unlikely that but for the sensible conviction in her voice he + would have felt less bold when, two weeks later, Biker, having gone upon a + “bust” too prolonged, was dismissed with-out benefit of clergy, and Galton + desperately turned to Tembarom with anxious question in his eye. + </p> + <p> + “Do you think you could take this job?” he said. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom's heart, as he believed at the time, jumped into his throat. + </p> + <p> + “What do you think, Mr. Galton?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “It isn't a thing to think about,” was Galton's answer. “It's a thing I + must be sure of.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Tembarom, “if you give it to me, I'll put up a mighty hard + fight before I fall down.” + </p> + <p> + Galton considered him, scrutinizing keenly his tough, long-built body, his + sharp, eager, boyish face, and especially his companionable grin. + </p> + <p> + “We'll let it go at that,” he decided. “You'll make friends up in Harlem, + and you won't find it hard to pick up news. We can at least try it.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom's heart jumped into his throat again, and he swallowed it once + more. He was glad he was not holding his hat in his hand because he knew + he would have forgotten himself and thrown it up into the air. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, Mr. Galton,” he said, flushing tremendously. “I'd like to tell + you how I appreciate your trusting me, but I don't know how. Thank you, + sir.” + </p> + <p> + When he appeared in Mrs. Bowse's dining-room that evening there was a glow + of elation about him and a swing in his entry which attracted all eyes at + once. For some unknown reason everybody looked at him, and, meeting his + eyes, detected the presence of some new exultation. + </p> + <p> + “Landed anything, T. T.?” Jim Bowles cried out. “You look it.” + </p> + <p> + “Sure I look it,” Tembarom answered, taking his napkin out of its ring + with an unconscious flourish. “I've landed the up-town society page—landed + it, by gee!” + </p> + <p> + A good-humored chorus of ejaculatory congratulation broke forth all round + the table. + </p> + <p> + “Good business!” “Three cheers for T. T.!” “Glad of it!” “Here's luck!” + said one after another. + </p> + <p> + They were all pleased, and it was generally felt that Galton had shown + sense and done the right thing again. Even Mr. Hutchinson rolled about in + his chair and grunted his approval. + </p> + <p> + After dinner Tembarom, Jim Bowles, and Julius Steinberger went upstairs + stairs together and filled the hall bedroom with clouds of tobacco-smoke, + tilting their chairs against the wall, smoking their pipes furiously, + flushed and talkative, working themselves up with the exhilarated + plannings of youth. Jim Bowles and Julius had been down on their luck for + several weeks, and that “good old T. T.” should come in with this + fairy-story was an actual stimulus. If you have never in your life been + able to earn more than will pay for your food and lodging, twenty dollars + looms up large. It might be the beginning of anything. + </p> + <p> + “First thing is to get on to the way to do it,” argued Tembarom. “I don't + know the first thing. I've got to think it out. I couldn't ask Biker. He + wouldn't tell me, anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + “He's pretty mad, I guess,” said Steinberger. + </p> + <p> + “Mad as hops,” Tembarom answered. “As I was coming down-stairs from + Galton's room he was standing in the hall talking to Miss Dooley, and he + said: `That Tembarom fellow's going to do it! He doesn't know how to + spell. I should like to see his stuff come in.' He said it loud, because + he wanted me to hear it, and he sort of laughed through his nose.” + </p> + <p> + “Say, T. T., can you spell?” Jim inquired thoughtfully. + </p> + <p> + “Spell? Me? No,” Tembarom owned with unshaken good cheer. “What I've got + to do is to get a tame dictionary and keep it chained to the leg of my + table. Those words with two m's or two l's in them get me right down on + the mat. But the thing that looks biggest to me is how to find out where + the news is, and the name of the fellow that'll put me on to it. You can't + go up a man's front steps and ring the bell and ask him if he's going to + be married or buried or have a pink tea.” + </p> + <p> + “Wasn't that a knock at the door?” said Steinberger. + </p> + <p> + It was a knock, and Tembarom jumped up and threw the door open, thinking + Mrs. Bowse might have come on some household errand. But it was Little Ann + Hutchinson instead of Mrs. Bowse, and there was a threaded needle stuck + into the front of her dress, and she had on a thimble. + </p> + <p> + “I want Mr. Bowles's new socks,” she said maternally. “I promised I'd mark + them for him.” + </p> + <p> + Bowles and Steinberger sprang from their chairs, and came forward in the + usual comfortable glow of pleasure at sight of her. + </p> + <p> + “What do you think of that for all the comforts of a home?” said Tembarom. + “As if it wasn't enough for a man to have new socks without having marks + put on them! What are your old socks made of anyhow—solid gold? + Burglars ain't going to break in and steal them.” + </p> + <p> + “They won't when I've marked them, Mr. Tembarom,” answered Little Ann, + looking up at him with sober, round, for-get-me-not blue eyes, but with a + deep dimple breaking out near her lip; “but all three pairs would not come + home from the wash if I didn't.” + </p> + <p> + “Three pairs!” ejaculated Tembarom. “He's got three pairs of socks! New? + That's what's been the matter with him for the last week. Don't you mark + them for him, Little Ann. 'Tain't good for a man to have everything.” + </p> + <p> + “Here they are,” said Jim, bringing them forward. “Twenty-five marked down + to ten at Tracy's. Are they pretty good?” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann looked them over with the practised eye of a connoisseur of + bargains. + </p> + <p> + “They'd be about a shilling in Manchester shops,” she decided, “and they + might be put down to sixpence. They're good enough to take care of.” + </p> + <p> + She was not the young woman who is ready for prolonged lively conversation + in halls and at bedroom doors, and she had turned away with the new socks + in her hand when Tembarom, suddenly inspired, darted after her. + </p> + <p> + “Say, I've just thought of something,” he exclaimed eagerly. “It's + something I want to ask you.” + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” + </p> + <p> + “It's about the society-page lay-out.” He hesitated. “I wonder if it'd be + rushing you too much if—say,” he suddenly broke off, and standing + with his hands in his pockets, looked down at her with anxious admiration, + “I believe you just know about everything.” + </p> + <p> + “No, I don't, Mr. Tembarom; but I'm very glad about the page. Everybody's + glad.” + </p> + <p> + One of the chief difficulties Tembarom found facing him when he talked to + Little Ann was the difficulty of resisting an awful temptation to take + hold of her—to clutch her to his healthy, tumultuous young breast + and hold her there firmly. He was half ashamed of himself when he realized + it, but he knew that his venial weakness was shared by Jim Bowles and + Steinberger and probably others. She was so slim and light and soft, and + the serious frankness of her eyes and the quaint air of being a sort of + grown-up child of astonishing intelligence produced an effect it was + necessary to combat with. + </p> + <p> + “What I wanted to say,” he put it to her, “was that I believe if you'd + just let me talk this thing out to you it'd do me good. I believe you'd + help me to get somewhere. I've got to fix up a scheme for getting next the + people who have things happening to them that I can make society stuff out + of, you know. Biker didn't make a hit of it, but, gee! I've just got to. + I've got to.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” answered Little Ann, her eyes fixed on him thoughtfully; “you've + got to, Mr. Tembarom.” + </p> + <p> + “There's not a soul in the parlor. Would you mind coming down and sitting + there while I talk at you and try to work things out? You could go on with + your marking.” + </p> + <p> + She thought it over a minute. + </p> + <p> + “I'll do it if Father can spare me,” she made up her mind. “I'll go and + ask him.” + </p> + <p> + She went to ask him, and returned in two or three minutes with her small + sewing-basket in her hand. + </p> + <p> + “He can spare me,” she said. “He's reading his paper, and doesn't want to + talk.” + </p> + <p> + They went down-stairs together and found the room empty. Tembarom turned + up the lowered gas, and Little Ann sat down in the cozy-corner with her + work-basket on her knee. Tembarom drew up a chair and sat down opposite to + her. She threaded a needle and took up one of Jim's new socks. + </p> + <p> + “Now,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “It's like this,” he explained. “The page is a new deal, anyhow. There + didn't used to be an up-town society column at all. It was all Fifth + Avenue and the four hundred; but ours isn't a fashionable paper, and their + four hundred ain't going to buy it to read their names in it. They'd + rather pay to keep out of it. Uptown's growing like smoke, and there's + lots of people up that way that'd like their friends to read about their + weddings and receptions, and would buy a dozen copies to send away when + their names were in. There's no end of women and girls that'd like to see + their clothes described and let their friends read the descriptions. + They'd buy the paper, too, you bet. It'll be a big circulation-increaser. + It's Galton's idea, and he gave the job to Biker because he thought an + educated fellow could get hold of people. But somehow he couldn't. Seems + as if they didn't like him. He kept getting turned down. The page has been + mighty poor—no pictures of brides or anything. Galton's been sick + over it. He'd been sure it'd make a hit. Then Biker's always drinking more + or less, and he's got the swell head, anyhow. I believe that's the reason + he couldn't make good with the up-towners.” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps he was too well educated, Mr. Tembarom,” said Little Ann. She was + marking a letter J in red cotton, and her outward attention was apparently + wholly fixed on her work. + </p> + <p> + “Say, now,” Tembarom broke out, “there's where you come in. You go on + working as if there was nothing but that sock in New York, but I guess + you've just hit the dot. Perhaps that was it. He wanted to do Fifth Avenue + work anyway, and he didn't go at Harlem right. He put on Princeton airs + when he asked questions. Gee! a fellow can't put on any kind of airs when + he's the one that's got to ask.” + </p> + <p> + “You'll get on better,” remarked Little Ann. “You've got a friendly way + and you've a lot of sense. I've noticed it.” + </p> + <p> + Her head was bent over the red J and she still looked at it and not at + Tembarom. This was not coyness, but simple, calm absorption. If she had + not been making the J, she would have sat with her hands folded in her + lap, and gazed at the young man with undisturbed attention. + </p> + <p> + “Have you?” said Tembarom, gratefully. “That gives me another boost, + Little Ann. What a man seems to need most is just plain + twenty-cents-a-yard sense. Not that I ever thought I had the dollar kind. + I'm not putting on airs.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Galton knows the kind you have. I suppose that's why he gave you the + page.” The words, spoken in the shrewd-sounding Manchester accent, were + neither flattering nor unflattering; they were merely impartial. + </p> + <p> + “Well, now I've got it, I can't fall down,” said Tembarom. “I've got to + find out for myself how to get next to the people I want to talk to. I've + got to find out who to get next to.” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann put in the final red stitch of the letter J and laid the sock + neatly folded on the basket. + </p> + <p> + “I've just been thinking something, Mr. Tembarom,” she said. “Who makes + the wedding-cakes?” + </p> + <p> + He gave a delighted start. + </p> + <p> + “Gee!” he broke out, “the wedding-cakes!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” Little Ann proceeded, “they'd have to have wedding-cakes, and + perhaps if you went to the shops where they're sold and could make friends + with the people, they'd tell you whom they were selling them to, and you + could get the addresses and go and find out things.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom, glowing with admiring enthusiasm, thrust out his hand. + </p> + <p> + “Little Ann, shake!” he said. “You've given me the whole show, just like I + thought you would. You're just the limit.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, a wedding-cake's the next thing after the bride,” she answered. + </p> + <p> + Her practical little head had given him the practical lead. The mere + wedding-cake opened up vistas. Confectioners supplied not only weddings, + but refreshments for receptions and dances. Dances suggested the “halls” + in which they were held. You could get information at such places. Then + there were the churches, and the florists who decorated festal scenes. + Tembarom's excitement grew as he talked. One plan led to another; vistas + opened on all sides. It all began to look so easy that he could not + understand how Biker could possibly have gone into such a land of promise, + and returned embittered and empty-handed. + </p> + <p> + “He thought too much of himself and too little of other people,” Little + Ann summed him up in her unsevere, reasonable voice. “That's so silly.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom tried not to look at her affectionately, but his voice was + affectionate as well as admiring, despite him. + </p> + <p> + “The way you get on to a thing just in three words!” he said. “Daniel + Webster ain't in it.” + </p> + <p> + “I dare say if you let the people in the shops know that you come from a + newspaper, it'll be a help,” she went on with ingenuous worldly wisdom. + “They'll think it'll be a kind of advertisement. And so it will. You get + some neat cards printed with your name and Sunday Earth on them.” + </p> + <p> + “Gee!” Tembarom ejaculated, slapping his knee, “there's another! You think + of every darned thing, don't you?” + </p> + <p> + She stopped a moment to look at him. + </p> + <p> + “You'd have thought of it all yourself after a bit,” she said. She was not + of those unseemly women whose intention it is manifestly to instruct the + superior man. She had been born in a small Manchester street and trained + by her mother, whose own training had evolved through affectionately + discreet conjugal management of Mr. Hutchinson. + </p> + <p> + “Never you let a man feel set down when you want him to see a thing + reasonable, Ann,” she had said. “You never get on with them if you do. + They can't stand it. The Almighty seemed to make 'em that way. They've + always been masters, and it don't hurt any woman to let 'em be, if she can + help 'em to think reasonable. Just you make a man feel comfortable in his + mind and push him the reasonable way. But never you shove him, Ann. If you + do, he'll just get all upset-like. Me and your father have been right-down + happy together, but we never should have been if I hadn't thought that out + before we was married two weeks. Perhaps it's the Almighty's will, though + I never was as sure of the Almighty's way of thinking as some are.” + </p> + <p> + Of course Tembarom felt soothed and encouraged, though he belonged to the + male development which is not automatically infuriated at a suspicion of + female readiness of logic. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I might have got on to it in time,” he answered, still trying not + to look affectionate, “but I've no time to spare. Gee! but I'm glad you're + here!” + </p> + <p> + “I sha'n't be here very long.” There was a shade of patient regret in her + voice. “Father's got tired of trying America. He's been disappointed too + often. He's going back to England.” + </p> + <p> + “Back to England!” Tembarom cried out forlornly, “Oh Lord! What shall we + all do without you, Ann?” + </p> + <p> + “You'll do as you did before we came,” said Little Ann. + </p> + <p> + “No, we sha'n't. We can't. I can't anyhow.” He actually got up from his + chair and began to walk about, with his hands thrust deep in his pockets. + </p> + <p> + Little Ann began to put her first stitches into a red B. No human being + could have told what she thought. + </p> + <p> + “We mustn't waste time talking about that,” she said. “Let us talk about + the page. There are dressmakers, you know. If you could make friends with + a dressmaker or two they'd tell you what the wedding things were really + made of. Women do like their clothes to be described right.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III + </h2> + <p> + His work upon the page began the following week. When the first morning of + his campaign opened with a tumultuous blizzard, Jim Bowles and Julius + Steinberger privately sympathized with him as they dressed in company, but + they heard him whistling in his own hall bedroom as he put on his clothes, + and to none of the three did it occur that time could be lost because the + weather was inhuman. Blinding snow was being whirled through the air by a + wind which had bellowed across the bay, and torn its way howling through + the streets, maltreating people as it went, snatching their breath out of + them, and leaving them gaspingly clutching at hats and bending their + bodies before it. Street-cars went by loaded from front to back platform, + and were forced from want of room to whizz heartlessly by groups waiting + anxiously at street corners. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom saw two or three of them pass in this way, leaving the waiting + ones desperately huddled together behind them. He braced himself and + whistled louder as he buttoned his celluloid collar. + </p> + <p> + “I'm going to get up to Harlem all the same,” he said. “The 'L' will be + just as jammed, but there'll be a place somewhere, and I'll get it.” + </p> + <p> + His clothes were the outwardly decent ones of a young man who must + perforce seek cheap clothing-stores, and to whom a ten-dollar + “hand-me-down” is a source of exultant rejoicing. With the aid of great + care and a straight, well-formed young body, he managed to make the best + of them; but they were not to be counted upon for warmth even in + ordinarily cold weather. His overcoat was a specious covering, and was not + infrequently odorous of naphtha. + </p> + <p> + “You've got to know something about first aid to the wounded if you live + on ten per,” he had said once to Little Ann. “A suit of clothes gets to be + an emergency-case mighty often if it lasts three years.” + </p> + <p> + “Going up to Harlem to-day, T. T.?” his neighbor at table asked him as he + sat down to breakfast. + </p> + <p> + “Right there,” he answered. “I've ordered the limousine round, with the + foot-warmer and fur rugs.” + </p> + <p> + “I guess a day wouldn't really matter much,” said Mrs. Bowse, + good-naturedly. “Perhaps it might be better to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + “And perhaps it mightn't,” said Tembarom, eating “break-fast-food” with a + cheerful appetite. “What you can't be stone-cold sure of to-morrow you + drive a nail in to-day.” + </p> + <p> + He ate a tremendous breakfast as a discreet precautionary measure. The + dark dining-room was warm, and the food was substantial. It was + comfortable in its way. + </p> + <p> + “You'd better hold the hall door pretty tight when you go out, and don't + open it far,” said Mrs. Bowse as he got up to go. “There's wind enough to + upset things.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom went out in the hall, and put on his insufficient overcoat. He + buttoned it across his chest, and turned its collar up to his ears. Then + he bent down to turn up the bottoms of his trousers. + </p> + <p> + “A pair of arctics would be all to the merry right here,” he said, and + then he stood upright and saw Little Ann coming down the staircase holding + in her hand a particularly ugly tar-tan-plaid woolen neck-scarf of the + kind known in England as a “comforter.” + </p> + <p> + “If you are going out in this kind of weather,” she said in her serene, + decided little voice, “you'd better wrap this comforter right round your + neck, Mr. Tembarom. It's one of Father's, and he can spare it because he's + got another, and, besides, he's not going out.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom took it with a sudden emotional perception of the fact that he + was being taken care of in an abnormally luxurious manner. + </p> + <p> + “Now, I appreciate that,” he said. “The thing about you. Little Ann, is + that you never make a wrong guess about what a fellow needs, do you?” + </p> + <p> + “I'm too used to taking care of Father not to see things,” she answered. + </p> + <p> + “What you get on to is how to take care of the whole world—initials + on a fellow's socks and mufflers round his neck.” His eyes looked + remarkably bright. + </p> + <p> + “If a person were taking care of the whole world, he'd have a lot to do,” + was her sedate reception of the remark. “You'd better put that twice round + your neck, Mr. Tembarom.” + </p> + <p> + She put up her hand to draw the end of the scarf over his shoulder, and + Tembarom stood still at once, as though he were a little boy being dressed + for school. He looked down at her round cheek, and watched one of the + unexpected dimples reveal itself in a place where dimples are not usually + anticipated. It was coming out because she was smiling a small, observing + smile. It was an almost exciting thing to look at, and he stood very still + indeed. A fellow who did not own two pairs of boots would be a fool not to + keep quiet. + </p> + <p> + “You haven't told me I oughtn't to go out till the blizzard lets up,” he + said presently. + </p> + <p> + “No, I haven't, Mr. Tembarom,” she answered. “You're one of the kind that + mean to do a thing when they've made up their minds. It'll be a nice bit + of money if you can keep the page.” + </p> + <p> + “Galton said he'd give me a chance to try to make good,” said Tembarom. + “And if it's the hit he thinks it ought to be, he'll raise me ten. Thirty + per. Vanastorbilts won't be in it. I think I'll get married,” he added, + showing all his attractive teeth at once. + </p> + <p> + “I wouldn't do that,” she said. “It wouldn't be enough to depend on. New + York's an expensive place.” + </p> + <p> + She drew back and looked him over. “That'll keep you much warmer,” she + decided. “Now you can go. I've been looking in the telephone-book for + confectioners, and I've written down these addresses.” She handed him a + slip of paper. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom caught his breath. + </p> + <p> + “Hully gee!” he exclaimed, “there never were TWO of you made! One used up + all there was of it. How am I going to thank you, anyhow!” + </p> + <p> + “I do hope you'll be able to keep the page,” she said. “I do that, Mr. + Tembarom.” + </p> + <p> + If there had been a touch of coquetry in her earnest, sober, round, little + face she would have been less distractingly alluring, but there was no + shade of anything but a sort of softly motherly anxiety in the dropped + note of her voice, and it was almost more than flesh and blood at + twenty-five could stand. Tembarom made a hasty, involuntary move toward + her, but it was only a slight one, and it was scarcely perceptible before + he had himself in hand and hurriedly twisted his muffler tighter, showing + his teeth again cheerily. + </p> + <p> + “You keep on hoping it all day without a let-up,” he said. “And tell Mr. + Hutchinson I'm obliged to him, please. Get out of the way, Little Ann, + while I go out. The wind might blow you and the hat-stand upstairs.” + </p> + <p> + He opened the door and dashed down the high steps into the full blast of + the blizzard. He waited at the street corner while three overcrowded cars + whizzed past him, ignoring his signals because there was not an inch of + space left in them for another passenger. Then he fought his way across + two or three blocks to the nearest “L” station. He managed to wedge + himself into a train there, and then at least he was on his way. He was + thinking hard and fast, but through all his planning the warm hug of the + tartan comforter round his neck kept Little Ann near him. He had been very + thankful for the additional warmth as the whirling snow and wind had + wrought their will with him while he waited for the cars at the street + corner. On the “L” train he saw her serious eyes and heard the motherly + drop in her voice as she said, “I do hope you'll be able to keep the page. + I do that, Mr. Tembarom.” It made him shut his hands hard as they hung in + his overcoat pockets for warmth, and it made him shut his sound teeth + strongly. + </p> + <p> + “Gee! I've got to!” his thoughts said for him. “If I make it, perhaps my + luck will have started. When a man's luck gets started, every darned + thing's to the good.” + </p> + <p> + The “L” had dropped most of its crowd when it reached the up-town station + among the hundredth streets which was his destination. He tightened his + comforter, tucked the ends firmly into the front of his overcoat, and + started out along the platform past the office, and down the steep, iron + steps, already perilous with freezing snow. He had to stop to get his + breath when he reached the street, but he did not stop long. He charged + forth again along the pavement, looking closely at the shop-windows. There + were naturally but few passers-by, and the shops were not + important-looking; but they were open, and he could see that the insides + of them looked comfortable in contrast with the blizzard-ruled street. He + could not see both sides of the street as he walked up one side of the + block without coming upon a confectioner's. He crossed at the corner and + turned back on the other side. Presently he saw that a light van was + standing before one place, backed up against the sidewalk to receive + parcels, its shuddering horse holding its head down and bracing itself + with its forelegs against the wind. At any rate, something was going on + there, and he hurried forward to find out what it was. The air was so + thick with myriads of madly flying bits of snow, which seemed whirled in + all directions in the air, that he could not see anything definite even a + few yards away. When he reached the van he found that he had also reached + his confectioner. The sign over the window read “M. Munsberg, + Confectionery. Cakes. Ice-Cream. Weddings, Balls and Receptions.” + </p> + <p> + “Made a start, anyhow,” said Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + He turned into the store, opening the door carefully, and thereby barely + escaping being blown violently against a stout, excited, middle-aged + little Jew who was bending over a box he was packing. This was evidently + Mr. Munsberg, who was extremely busy, and even the modified shock upset + his temper. + </p> + <p> + “Vhere you goin'?” he cried out. “Can't you look vhere you're goin'?” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom knew this was not a good beginning, but his natural mental habit + of vividly seeing the other man's point of view helped him after its usual + custom. His nice grin showed itself. + </p> + <p> + “I wasn't going; I was coming,” he said. “Beg pardon. The wind's blowing a + hundred miles an hour.” + </p> + <p> + A good-looking young woman, who was probably Mrs. Munsberg, was packing a + smaller box behind the counter. Tembarom lifted his hat, and she liked it. + </p> + <p> + “He didn't do it a bit fresh,” she said later. “Kind o' nice.” She spoke + to him with professional politeness. + </p> + <p> + “Is there anything you want?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom glanced at the boxes and packages standing about and at Munsberg, + who had bent over his packing again. Here was an occasion for practical + tact. + </p> + <p> + “I've blown in at the wrong time,” he said. “You're busy getting things + out on time. I'll just wait.. Gee! I'm glad to be inside. I want to speak + to Mr. Munsberg.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Munsberg jerked himself upright irascibly, and broke forth in the + accent of the New York German Jew. + </p> + <p> + “If you comin' in here to try to sell somedings, young man, joost you let + that same vind vat blew you in blow you right out pretty quick. I'm not + buyin' nodings. I'm busy.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm not selling a darned thing,” answered Tembarom, with undismayed + cheer. + </p> + <p> + “You vant someding?” jerked out Munsberg. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I want something,” Tembarom answered, “but it's nothing any one has + to pay for. I'm only a newspaper man.” He felt a glow of pride as he said + the words. He was a newspaper man even now. “Don't let me stop you a + minute. I'm in luck to get inside anywhere and sit down. Let me wait.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Munsberg read the Sunday papers and revered them. She also knew the + value of advertisement. She caught her husband's eye and hurriedly winked + at him. + </p> + <p> + “It's awful outside. 'T won't do harm if he waits—if he ain't no + agent,” she put in. + </p> + <p> + “See,” said Tembarom, handing over one of the cards which had been Little + Ann's businesslike inspiration. + </p> + <p> + “T. Tembarom. New York Sunday Earth,” read Munsberg, rather grudgingly. He + looked at T. Tembarom, and T. Tembarom looked back at him. The normal + human friendliness in the sharp boyish face did it. + </p> + <p> + “Vell,” he said, making another jerk toward a chair, “if you ain't no + agent, you can vait.” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you,” said Tembarom, and sat down. He had made another start, + anyhow. + </p> + <p> + After this the packing went on fast and furious. A youth appeared from the + back of the store, and ran here and there as he was ordered. Munsberg and + his wife filled wooden and cardboard boxes with small cakes and larger + ones, with sandwiches and salads, candies and crystallized fruits. Into + the larger box was placed a huge cake with an icing temple on the top of + it, with silver doves adorning it outside and in. There was no mistaking + the poetic significance of that cake. Outside the blizzard whirled clouds + of snow-particles through the air, and the van horse kept his head down + and his forelegs braced. His driver had long since tried to cover him with + a blanket which the wind continually tore loose from its fastenings, and + flapped about the creature's sides. Inside the store grew hot. There was + hurried moving about, banging of doors, excited voices, irascible orders + given and countermanded. Tembarom found out in five minutes that the + refreshments were for a wedding reception to be held at a place known as + “The Hall,” and the goods must be sent out in time to be ready for the + preparations for the wedding supper that night. + </p> + <p> + “If I knew how to handle it, I could get stuff for a column just sitting + here,” he thought. He kept both eyes and ears open. He was sharp enough to + realize that the mere sense of familiarity with detail which he was + gaining was material in itself. Once or twice he got up and lent a hand + with a box in his casual way, and once or twice he saw that he could lift + some-thing down or up for Mrs. Munsberg, who was a little woman. The + natural casualness of his way of jumping up to do the things prevented any + suspicion of officiousness, and also prevented his waiting figure from + beginning to wear the air of a superfluous object in the way. He waited a + long time, and circumstances so favored him as to give him a chance or so. + More than once exactly the right moment presented itself when he could + interject an apposite remark. Twice he made Munsberg laugh, and twice Mrs. + Munsberg voluntarily addressed him. + </p> + <p> + At last the boxes and parcels ware all carried out and stored in the van, + after strugglings with the opening and shutting of doors, and battlings + with outside weather. + </p> + <p> + When this was all over, Munsberg came back into the store, knocking his + hands together and out of breath. + </p> + <p> + “Dot's all right,” he said. “It'll all be there plenty time. Vouldn't have + fell down on that order for tventy-vive dollars. Dot temple on the cake + was splendid. Joseph he done it fine.” + </p> + <p> + “He never done nothin' no finer,” Mrs. Munsberg said. “It looked as good + as anything on Fift' Avenoo.” + </p> + <p> + Both were relieved and pleased with themselves, their store, and their + cake-decorator. Munsberg spoke to Tembarom in the manner of a man who, + having done a good thing, does not mind talking about it. + </p> + <p> + “Dot was a big order,” he remarked. + </p> + <p> + “I should smile,” answered Tembarom. “I'd like to know whose going to get + outside all that good stuff. That wedding-cake took the tart away from + anything I've ever seen. Which of the four hundred's going to eat it?” + </p> + <p> + “De man vot ordered dot cake,” Munsberg swaggered, “he's not got to vorry + along on vun million nor two. He owns de biggest brewery in New York, I + guess in America. He's Schwartz of Schwartz & Kapfer.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, he 's got it to burn!” said Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “He's a mighty good man,” went on Munsberg. “He's mighty fond of his own + people. He made his first money in Harlem, and he had a big fight to get + it; but his own people vas good to him, an' he's never forgot it. He's + built a fine house here, an' his girls is fine girls. De vun's goin' to be + married to-night her name's Rachel, an' she's goin' to marry a nice + feller, Louis Levy. Levy built the big entertainment-hall vhere the + reception's goin' to be. It's decorated vith two thousand dollars' worth + of bride roses an' lilies of de valley an' smilax. All de up-town places + vas bought out, an' den Schwartz vent down Fift' Avenoo.” + </p> + <p> + The right moment had plainly arrived. + </p> + <p> + “Say, Mr. Munsberg,” Tembarom broke forth, “you're giving me just what I + wanted to ask you for. I'm the new up-town society reporter for the Sunday + Earth, and I came in here to see if you wouldn't help me to get a show at + finding out who was going to have weddings and society doings. I didn't + know just how to start.” + </p> + <p> + Munsberg gave a sort of grunt. He looked less amiable. + </p> + <p> + “I s'pose you're used to nothin' but Fift' Avenoo,” he said. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom grinned exactly at the right time again. Not only his good teeth + grinned, but his eyes grinned also, if the figure may be used. + </p> + <p> + “Fifth Avenue!” he laughed. “There's been no Fifth Avenue in mine. I'm not + used to anything, but you may bet your life I'm going to get used to + Harlem, if you people'll let me. I've just got this job, and I'm dead + stuck on it. I want to make it go.” + </p> + <p> + “He's mighty different from Biker,” said Mrs. Munsberg in an undertone. + </p> + <p> + “Vhere's dod oder feller?” inquired Munsberg. “He vas a dam fool, dot oder + feller, half corned most de time, an' puttin' on Clarence airs. No one was + goin' to give him nothin'. He made folks mad at de start.” + </p> + <p> + “I've got his job,” said Tembarom, “and if I can't make it go, the page + will be given up. It'll be my fault if that happens, not Harlem's. There's + society enough up-town to make a first-class page, and I shall be sick if + I can't get on to it.” + </p> + <p> + He had begun to know his people. Munsberg was a good-natured, swaggering + little Hebrew. + </p> + <p> + That the young fellow should make a clean breast of it and claim no + down-town superiority, and that he should also have the business insight + to realize that he might obtain valuable society items from such a + representative confectioner as M. Munsberg, was a situation to incite + amiable sentiments. + </p> + <p> + “Vell, you didn't come to de wrong place,” he said. “All de biggest things + comes to me, an' I don't mind tellin' you about 'em. 'T ain't goin' to do + no harm. Weddings an' things dey ought to be wrote up, anyhow, if dey're + done right. It's good for business. Vy don't dey have no pictures of de + supper-tables? Dot'd be good.” + </p> + <p> + “There's lots of receptions and weddings this month,” said Mrs. Munsberg, + becoming agreeably excited. “And there's plenty handsome young girls + that'd like their pictures published. + </p> + <p> + “None of them have been in Sunday papers before, and they'd like it. The + four Schwartz girls would make grand pictures. They dress splendid, and + their bridesmaids dresses came from the biggest place in Fift' Avenoo.” + </p> + <p> + “Say,” exclaimed Tembarom, rising from his chair, “I'm in luck. Luck + struck me the minute I turned in here. If you'll tell me where Schwartz + lives, and where the hall is, and the church, and just anything else I can + use, I'll go out and whoop up a page to beat the band.” He was glowing + with exultation. “I know I can do it. You've started me off.” + </p> + <p> + Munsberg and his wife began to warm. It was almost as though they had + charge of the society page themselves. There was something stimulating in + the idea. There was a suggestion of social importance in it. They knew a + number of people who would be pleased with the prospect of being in the + Sunday Earth. They were of a race which holds together, and they gave not + only the names and addresses of prospective entertainers, but those of + florists and owners of halls where parties were given. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Munsberg gave the name of a dressmaker of whom she shrewdly guessed + that she would be amiably ready to talk to a society-page reporter. + </p> + <p> + “That Biker feller,” she said, “got things down all wrong. He called fine + white satin 'white nun's-veiling,' and he left out things. Never said + nothing about Miss Lewishon's diamond ring what her grandpa gave her for a + wedding-present. An' it cost two hundred and fifty.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I'm a pretty big fool myself,” said Tembarom, “but I should have + known better than that.” + </p> + <p> + When he opened the door to go, Mrs. Munsberg called after him: + </p> + <p> + “When you get through, you come back here and tell us what you done. I'll + give you a cup of hot coffee.” + </p> + <p> + He returned to Mrs. Bowse's boarding-house so late that night that even + Steinberger and Bowles had ended their day. The gas in the hall was turned + down to a glimmering point, and the house was silent for the night. Even a + cat who stole to him and rubbed herself against his leg miauwed in a sort + of abortive whisper, opening her mouth wide, but emitting no sound. When + he went cautiously up the staircase he carried his damp overcoat with him, + and hung it in company with the tartan muffler close to the heater in the + upper hall. Then he laid on his bedside table a package of papers and + photographs. + </p> + <p> + After he had undressed, he dropped heavily into bed, exhausted, but elate. + </p> + <p> + “I'm dog-tired,” he said, “but I guess I've got it going.” And almost + before the last word had uttered itself he fell into the deep sleep of + worn-out youth. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV + </h2> + <p> + Mrs. Bowse's boarding-house began to be even better pleased with him than + before. He had stories to tell, festivities to describe, and cheerful + incidents to recount. The boarders assisted vicariously at weddings and + wedding receptions, afternoon teas and dances, given in halls. “Up-town” + seemed to them largely given to entertainment and hilarity of an enviably + prodigal sort. Mrs. Bowse's guests were not of the class which entertains + or is entertained, and the details of banquets and ball-dresses and + money-spending were not uncheering material for conversation. Such topics + suggested the presence and dispensing of a good deal of desirable specie, + which in floating about might somehow reach those who needed it most. The + impression was that T. Tembarom was having “a good time.” It was not his + way to relate any incidents which were not of a cheering or + laughter-inspiring nature. He said nothing of the times when his luck was + bad, when he made blunders, and, approaching the wrong people, was met + roughly or grudgingly, and found no resource left but to beat a retreat. + He made no mention of his experiences in the blizzard, which continued, + and at times nearly beat breath and life out of him as he fought his way + through it. Especially he told no story of the morning when, after having + labored furiously over the writing of his “stuff” until long after + midnight, he had taken it to Galton, and seen his face fall as he looked + over it. To battle all day with a blizzard and occasional brutal + discouragements, and to sit up half the night tensely absorbed in + concentrating one's whole mental equipment upon the doing of unaccustomed + work has its effect. As he waited, Tembarom unconsciously shifted from one + foot to another, and had actually to swallow a sort of lump in his throat. + </p> + <p> + “I guess it won't do,” he said rather uncertainly as Galton laid a sheet + down. + </p> + <p> + Galton was worn out himself and harried by his nerves. + </p> + <p> + “No, it won't,” he said; and then as he saw Tembarom move to the other + foot he added, “Not as it is.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom braced himself and cleared his throat. + </p> + <p> + “If,” he ventured—“well, you've been mighty easy on me, Mr Galton—and + this is a big chance for a fellow like me. If it's too big a chance—why—that's + all. But if it's anything I could change and it wouldn't be too much + trouble to tell me—” + </p> + <p> + “There's no time to rewrite it,” answered Galton. “It must be handed in + to-morrow. It's too flowery. Too many adjectives. I've no time to give you—” + He snatched up a blue pencil and began to slash at the paper with it. + “Look here—and here—cut out that balderdash—cut this—and + this—oh,—” throwing the pencil down,—“you'd have to cut + it all out. There's no time.” He fell back in his chair with a hopeless + movement, and rubbed his forehead nervously with the back of his hand. Ten + people more or less were waiting to speak to him; he was worn out with the + rush of work. He believed in the page, and did not want to give up his + idea; but he didn't know a man to hand it to other than this untrained, + eager ignoramus whom he had a queer personal liking for. He was no + business of his, a mere stenographer in his office with whom he could be + expected to have no relations, and yet a curious sort of friendliness + verging on intimacy had developed between them. + </p> + <p> + “There'd be time if you thought it wouldn't do any harm to give me another + chance,” said Tembarom. “I can sit up all night. I guess I've caught on to + what you DON'T want. I've put in too many fool words. I got them out of + other papers, but I don't know how to use them. I guess I've caught on. + Would it do any harm if you gave me till to-morrow?” + </p> + <p> + “No, it wouldn't,” said Galton, desperately. “If you can't do it, there's + no time to find another man, and the page must be cut out. It's been no + good so far. It won't be missed. Take it along.” + </p> + <p> + As he pushed back the papers, he saw the photographs, and picked one up. + </p> + <p> + “That bride's a good-looking girl. Who are these others? Bridesmaids? + You've got a lot of stuff here. Biker couldn't get anything.” He glanced + up at the young fellow's rather pale face. “I thought you'd make friends. + How did you get all this?” + </p> + <p> + “I beat the streets till I found it,” said Tembarom. “I had luck right + away. I went into a confectionery store where they make wedding-cakes. A + good-natured little Dutchman and his wife kept it, and I talked to them—” + </p> + <p> + “Got next?” said Galton, grinning a little. + </p> + <p> + “They gave me addresses, and told me a whole lot of things. I got into the + Schwartz wedding reception, and they treated me mighty well. A good many + of them were willing to talk. I told them what a big thing the page was + going to be, and I—well, I said the more they helped me the finer it + would turn out. I said it seemed a shame there shouldn't be an up-town + page when such swell entertainments were given. I've got a lot of stuff + there.” + </p> + <p> + Galton laughed. + </p> + <p> + “You'd get it,” he said. “If you knew how to handle it, you'd make it a + hit. Well, take it along. If it isn't right tomorrow, it's done for.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom didn't tell stories or laugh at dinner that evening. He said he + had a headache. After dinner he bolted upstairs after Little Ann, and + caught her before she mounted to her upper floor. + </p> + <p> + “Will you come and save my life again?” he said. “I'm in the tightest + place I ever was in in my life.” + </p> + <p> + “I'll do anything I can, Mr. Tembarom,” she answered, and as his face had + grown flushed by this time she looked anxious. “You look downright + feverish.” + </p> + <p> + “I've got chills as well as fever,” he said. “It's the page. It seems like + I was going to fall down on it.” + </p> + <p> + She turned back at once. + </p> + <p> + “No you won't, Mr. Tembarom,” she said “I'm just right-down sure you + won't.” + </p> + <p> + They went down to the parlor again, and though there were people in it, + they found a corner apart, and in less than ten minutes he had told her + what had happened. + </p> + <p> + She took the manuscript he handed to her. + </p> + <p> + “If I was well educated, I should know how to help you,” she said, “but + I've only been to a common Manchester school. I don't know anything about + elegant language. What are these?” pointing to the blue-pencil marks. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom explained, and she studied the blue slashes with serious + attention. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” she said in a few minutes, laying the manuscript down, “I should + have cut those words out myself if—if you'd asked me which to take + away. They're too showy, Mr. Tembarom.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom whipped a pencil out of his pocket and held it out. + </p> + <p> + “Say,” he put it to her, “would you take this and draw it through a few of + the other showy ones?” + </p> + <p> + “I should feel as if I was taking too much upon myself,” she said. “I + don't know anything about it.” + </p> + <p> + “You know a darned sight more than I do,” Tembarom argued. “I didn't know + they were showy. I thought they were the kind you had to put in newspaper + stuff.” + </p> + <p> + She held the sheets of paper on her knee, and bent her head over them. + Tembarom watched her dimples flash in and out as she worked away like a + child correcting an exercise. Presently he saw she was quite absorbed. + Sometimes she stopped and thought, pressing her lips together; sometimes + she changed a letter. There was no lightness in her manner. A badly + mutilated stocking would have claimed her attention in the same way. + </p> + <p> + “I think I'd put 'house' there instead of 'mansion' if I were you,” she + suggested once. + </p> + <p> + “Put in a whole block of houses if you like,” he answered gratefully. + “Whatever you say goes. I believe Galton would say the same thing.” + </p> + <p> + She went over sheet after sheet, and though she knew nothing about it, she + cut out just what Galton would have cut out. She put the papers together + at last and gave them back to Tembarom, getting up from her seat. + </p> + <p> + “I must go back to father now,” she said. “I promised to make him a good + cup of coffee over the little oil-stove. If you'll come and knock at the + door I'll give you one. It will help you to keep fresh while you work.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom did not go to bed at all that night, and he looked rather fagged + the next morning when he handed back the “stuff” entirely rewritten. He + swallowed several times quite hard as he waited for the final verdict. + </p> + <p> + “You did catch on to what I didn't want,” Galton said at last. “You will + catch on still more as you get used to the work. And you did get the + 'stuff'.” + </p> + <p> + “That—you mean—that goes?” Tembarom stammered. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, it goes,” answered Galton. “You can turn it in. We'll try the page + for a month.” + </p> + <p> + “Gee! Thank the Lord!” said Tembarom, and then he laughed an excited + boyish laugh, and the blood came back to his face. He had a whole month + before him, and if he had caught on as soon as this, a month would teach + him a lot. + </p> + <p> + He'd work like a dog. + </p> + <p> + He worked like a healthy young man impelled by a huge enthusiasm, and + seeing ahead of him something he had had no practical reason for aspiring + to. He went out in all weathers and stayed out to all hours. Whatsoever + rebuffs or difficulties he met with he never was even on the verge of + losing his nerve. He actually enjoyed himself tremendously at times. He + made friends; people began to like to see him. The Munsbergs regarded him + as an inspiration of their own. + </p> + <p> + “He seen my name over de store and come in here first time he vas sent up + dis vay to look for t'ings to write,” Mr. Munsberg always explained. “Ve + vas awful busy—time of the Schwartz vedding, an' dere vas dat + blizzard. He owned up he vas new, an' vanted some vun vhat knew to tell + him vhat vas goin' on. 'Course I could do it. Me an' my vife give him + addresses an' a lot of items. He vorked 'em up good. Dot up-town page is + gettin' first-rate. He says he don' know vhat he'd have done if he hadn't + turned up here dot day.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom, having “caught on” to his fault of style, applied himself with + vigor to elimination. He kept his tame dictionary chained to the leg of + his table—an old kitchen table which Mrs. Bowse scrubbed and put + into his hall bedroom, overcrowding it greatly. He turned to Little Ann at + moments of desperate uncertainty, but he was man enough to do his work + himself. In glorious moments when he was rather sure that Galton was far + from unsatisfied with his progress, and Ann had looked more than usually + distracting in her aloof and sober alluringness,—it was her entire + aloofness which so stirred his blood,—he sometimes stopped + scribbling and lost his head for a minute or so, wondering if a fellow + ever COULD “get away with it” to the extent of making enough to—but + he always pulled himself up in time. + </p> + <p> + “Nice fool I look, thinking that way!” he would say to himself. “She'd + throw me down hard if she knew. But, my Lord! ain't she just a peach!” + </p> + <p> + It was in the last week of the month of trial which was to decide the + permanency of the page that he came upon the man Mrs. Bowse's boarders + called his “Freak.” He never called him a “freak” himself even at the + first. Even his somewhat undeveloped mind felt itself confronted at the + outset with something too abnormal and serious, something with a + suggestion of the weird and tragic in it. + </p> + <p> + In this wise it came about: + </p> + <p> + The week had begun with another blizzard, which after the second day had + suddenly changed its mind, and turned into sleet and rain which filled the + streets with melted snow, and made walking a fearsome thing. Tembarom had + plenty of walking to do. This week's page was his great effort, and was to + be a “dandy.” Galton must be shown what pertinacity could do. + </p> + <p> + “I'm going to get into it up to my neck, and then strike out,” he said at + breakfast on Monday morning. + </p> + <p> + Thursday was his most strenuous day. The weather had decided to change + again, and gusts of sleet were being driven about, which added cold to + sloppiness. He had found it difficult to get hold of some details he + specially wanted. Two important and extremely good-looking brides had + refused to see him because Biker had enraged them in his day. He had + slighted the description of their dresses at a dance where they had been + the observed of all observers, and had worn things brought from Paris. + Tembarom had gone from house to house. He had even searched out aunts + whose favor he had won professionally. He had appealed to his dressmaker, + whose affection he had by that time fully gained. She was doing work in + the brides' houses, and could make it clear that he would not call peau de + cygne “Surah silk,” nor duchess lace “Baby Irish.” But the young ladies + enjoyed being besought by a society page. It was something to discuss with + one's bridesmaids and friends, to protest that “those interviewers” give a + person no peace. “If you don't want to be in the papers, they'll put you + in whether you like it or not, however often you refuse them.” They kept + Tembarom running about, they raised faint hopes, and then went out when he + called, leaving no messages, but allowing the servant to hint that if he + went up to Two Hundred and Seventy-fifth Street he might chance to find + them. + </p> + <p> + “All right,” said Tembarom to the girl, delighting her by lifting his hat + genially as he turned to go down the steps. “I'll just keep going. The + Sunday Earth can't come out without those photographs in it. I should lose + my job.” + </p> + <p> + When at last he ran the brides to cover it was not at Two Hundred and + Seventy-fifth Street, but in their own home, to which they had finally + returned. They had heard from the servant-girl about what the young + gentleman from the Sunday Earth had said, and they were mollified by his + proper appreciation of values. Tembarom's dressmaker friend also proffered + information. + </p> + <p> + “I know him myself,” she said, “and he's a real nice gentle-manlike young + man. He's not a bit like Biker. He doesn't think he knows everything. He + came to me from Mrs. Munsberg, just to ask me the names of fashionable + materials. He said it was more important than a man knew till he found + out” Miss Stuntz chuckled. + </p> + <p> + “He asked me to lend him some bits of samples so he could learn them off + by heart, and know them when he saw them. He's got a pleasant laugh; shows + his teeth, and they're real pretty and white; and he just laughed like a + boy and said: 'These samples are my alphabet, Miss Stuntz. I'm going to + learn to read words of three syllables in them.'” + </p> + <p> + When late in the evening Tembarom, being let out of the house after his + interview, turned down the steps again, he carried with him all he had + wanted—information and photographs, even added picturesque details. + He was prepared to hand in a fuller and better page than he had ever + handed in before. He was in as elated a frame of mind as a young man can + be when he is used up with tramping the streets, and running after + street-cars, to stand up in them and hang by a strap. He had been wearing + a new pair of boots, one of which rubbed his heel and had ended by raising + a blister worthy of attention. To reach the nearest “L” station he must + walk across town, through several deserted streets in the first stages of + being built up, their vacant lots surrounded by high board fencing covered + with huge advertising posters. The hall bedroom, with the gas turned up + and the cheap, red-cotton comfort on the bed, made an alluring picture as + he faced the sleety wind. + </p> + <p> + “If I cut across to the avenue and catch the 'L,' I'm bound to get there + sometime, anyhow,” he said as he braced himself and set out on his way. + </p> + <p> + The blister on his heel had given him a good deal of trouble, and he was + obliged to stop a moment to ease it, and he limped when he began to walk + again. But he limped as fast as he could, while the sleety rain beat in + his face, across one street, down another for a block or so, across + another, the melting snow soaking even the new boots as he splashed + through it. He bent his head, however, and limped steadily. At this end of + the city many of the streets were only scantily built up, and he was + passing through one at the corner of which was a big vacant lot. At the + other corner a row of cheap houses which had only reached their second + story waited among piles of bricks and frozen mortar for the return of the + workmen the blizzard had dispersed. It was a desolate-enough thoroughfare, + and not a soul was in sight. The vacant lot was fenced in with high + boarding plastered over with flaring sheets advertising whiskies, sauces, + and theatrical ventures. A huge picture of a dramatically interrupted + wedding ceremony done in reds and yellows, and announcing in large letters + that Mr. Isaac Simonson presented Miss Evangeline St. Clair in “Rent + Asunder,” occupied several yards of the boarding. As he reached it, the + heel of Tembarom's boot pressed, as it seemed to him, a red-hot coal on + the flesh. He had rubbed off the blister. He was obliged to stop a moment + again. + </p> + <p> + “Gee whizz!” he exclaimed through his teeth, “I shall have to take my boot + off and try to fix it.” + </p> + <p> + To accomplish this he leaned against the boarding and Miss Evangeline St. + Clair being “Rent Asunder” in the midst of the wedding service. He + cautiously removed his boot, and finding a hole in his sock in the place + where the blister had rubbed off, he managed to protect the raw spot by + pulling the sock over it. Then he drew on his boot again. + </p> + <p> + “That'll be better,” he said, with a long breath. + </p> + <p> + As he stood on his feet again he started involuntarily. This was not + because the blister had hurt him, but because he had heard behind him a + startling sound. + </p> + <p> + “What's that?” broke from him. “What's that?” + </p> + <p> + He turned and listened, feeling his heart give a quick thump. In the + darkness of the utterly empty street the thing was unnatural enough to + make any man jump. He had heard it between two gusts of wind, and through + another he heard it again—an uncanny, awful sobbing, broken by a + hopeless wail of words. + </p> + <p> + “I can't remember! I can't—remember! O my God!” + </p> + <p> + And it was not a woman's voice or a child's; it was a man's, and there was + an eerie sort of misery in it which made Tembarom feel rather sick. He had + never heard a man sobbing before. He belonged to a class which had no time + for sobs. This sounded ghastly. + </p> + <p> + “Good Lord!” he said, “the fellow's crying! A man!” + </p> + <p> + The sound came directly behind him. There was not a human being in sight. + Even policemen do not loiter in empty streets. + </p> + <p> + “Hello!” he cried. “Where are you?” + </p> + <p> + But the low, horrible sound went on, and no answer came. His physical + sense of the presence of the blister was blotted out by the abnormal + thrill of the moment. One had to find out about a thing like that one just + had to. One could not go on and leave it behind uninvestigated in the dark + and emptiness of a street no one was likely to pass through. He listened + more intently. Yes, it was just behind him. + </p> + <p> + “He's in the lot behind the fence,” he said. “How did he get there?” + </p> + <p> + He began to walk along the boarding to find a gap. A few yards farther on + he came upon a broken place in the inclosure—a place where boards + had sagged until they fell down, or had perhaps been pulled down by boys + who wanted to get inside. He went through it, and found lie was in the + usual vacant lot long given up to rubbish. When he stood still a moment he + heard the sobbing again, and followed the sound to the place behind the + boarding against which he had supported himself when he took off his boot. + </p> + <p> + A man was lying on the ground with his arms flung out. The street lamp + outside the boarding cast light enough to reveal him. Tembarom felt as + though he had suddenly found himself taking part in a melodrama,—“The + Streets of New York,” for choice,—though no melodrama had ever given + him this slightly shaky feeling. But when a fellow looked up against it as + hard as this, what you had to do was to hold your nerve and make him feel + he was going to be helped. The normal human thing spoke loud in him. + </p> + <p> + “Hello, old man!” he said with cheerful awkwardness. “What's hit you?” + </p> + <p> + The man started and scrambled to his feet as though he were frightened. He + was wet, unshaven, white and shuddering, piteous to look at. He stared + with wild eyes, his chest heaving. + </p> + <p> + “What's up?” said Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + The man's breath caught itself. + </p> + <p> + “I don't remember.” There was a touch of horror in his voice, though he + was evidently making an effort to control him-self. “I can't—I can't + remember.” “What's your name? You remember that?” Tembarom put it to him. + </p> + <p> + “N-n-no!” agonizingly. “If I could! If I could!” + </p> + <p> + “How did you get in here?” + </p> + <p> + “I came in because I saw a policeman. He wouldn't understand. He would + have stopped me. I must not be stopped. I MUST not.” + </p> + <p> + “Where were you going?” asked Tembarom, not knowing what else to say. + </p> + <p> + “Home! My God! man, home!” and he fell to shuddering again. He put his arm + against the boarding and dropped his head against it. The low, hideous + sobbing tore him again. + </p> + <p> + T. Tembarom could not stand it. In his newsboy days he had never been able + to stand starved dogs and homeless cats. Mrs. Bowse was taking care of a + wretched dog for him at the present moment. He had not wanted the poor + brute,—he was not particularly fond of dogs,—but it had + followed him home, and after he had given it a bone or so, it had licked + its chops and turned up its eyes at him with such abject appeal that he + had not been able to turn it into the streets again. He was unsentimental, + but ruled by primitive emotions. Also he had a sudden recollection of a + night when as a little fellow he had gone into a vacant lot and cried as + like this as a child could. It was a bad night when some “tough” big boys + had turned him out of a warm corner in a shed, and he had had nowhere to + go, and being a friendly little fellow, the unfriendliness had hit him + hard. The boys had not seen him crying, but he remembered it. He drew + near, and put his hand on the shaking shoulder. + </p> + <p> + “Say, don't do that,” he said. “I'll help you to remember.” + </p> + <p> + He scarcely knew why he said it. There was something in the situation and + in the man himself which was compelling. He was not of the tramp order. + His wet clothes had been decent, and his broken, terrified voice was + neither coarse nor nasal. He lifted his head and caught Tembarom's arm, + clutching it with desperate fingers. + </p> + <p> + “Could you?” he poured forth the words. “Could you? I'm not quite mad. + Something happened. If I could be quiet! Don't let them stop me! My God! + my God! my God! I can't say it. It's not far away, but it won't come back. + You're a good fellow; if you're human, help me! help me! help me!” He + clung to Tembarom with hands which shook; his eyes were more abject than + the starved dog's; he choked, and awful tears rolled down his cheeks. + “Only help me,” he cried—“just help, help, help—for a while. + Perhaps not long. It would come back.” He made a horrible effort. “Listen! + My name—I am—I am—it's—” + </p> + <p> + He was down on the ground again, groveling. His efforts had failed. + Tembarom, overwrought himself, caught at him and dragged him up. + </p> + <p> + “Make a fight,” he said. “You can't lie down like that. You've got to put + up a fight. It'll come back. I tell you it will. You've had a clip on the + head or something. Let me call an ambulance and take you to the hospital.” + </p> + <p> + The next moment he was sorry he had said the words, the man's terror was + so ill to behold. He grew livid with it, and uttered a low animal cry. + </p> + <p> + “Don't drop dead over it,” said Tembarom, rather losing his head. “I won't + do it, though what in thunder I'm going to do with you I don't know. You + can't stay here.” + </p> + <p> + “For God's sake!” said the man. “For God's sake!” He put his shaking hand + on Tembarom again, and looked at him with a bewildered scrutiny. “I'm not + afraid of you,” he said; “I don't know why. There's something all right + about you. If you'll stand by me—you'd stand by a man, I'd swear. + Take me somewhere quiet. Let me get warm and think.” + </p> + <p> + “The less you think now the better,” answered Tembarom. “You want a bed + and a bath and a night's rest. I guess I've let myself in for it. You + brush off and brace yourself and come with me.” + </p> + <p> + There was the hall bedroom and the red-cotton comfort for one night at + least, and Mrs. Bowse was a soft-hearted woman. If she'd heard the fellow + sobbing behind the fence, she'd have been in a worse fix than he was. + Women were kinder-hearted than men, anyhow. The way the fellow's voice + sounded when he said, “Help me, help me, help me!” sounded as though he + was in hell. “Made me feel as if I was bracing up a chap that was going to + be electrocuted,” he thought, feeling sickish again. “I've not got + backbone enough to face that sort of thing. Got to take him somewhere.” + </p> + <p> + They were walking toward the “L” together, and he was wondering what he + should say to Mrs. Bowse when he saw his companion fumbling under his coat + at the back as though he was in search of something. His hands being + unsteady, it took him some moments to get at what he wanted. He evidently + had a belt or a hidden pocket. He got something out and stopped under a + street light to show it to Tembarom. His hands still shook when he held + them out, and his look was a curious, puzzled, questioning one. What he + passed over to Tembarom was a roll of money. Tembarom rather lost his + breath as he saw the number on two five-hundred-dollar bills, and of + several hundreds, besides twenties, tens, and fives. + </p> + <p> + “Take it—keep it,” he said. “It will pay.” + </p> + <p> + “Hully gee!” cried Tembarom, aghast. “Don't go giving away your whole pile + to the first fellow you meet. I don't want it.” + </p> + <p> + “Take it.” The stranger put his hand on his shoulder, the abject look in + his eyes harrowingly like the starved dog's again. + </p> + <p> + “There's something all right about you. You'll help me.” + </p> + <p> + “If I don't take it for you, some one will knock you upon the head for + it.” Tembarom hesitated, but the next instant he stuffed it all in his + pocket, incited thereto by the sound of a whizzing roar. + </p> + <p> + “There's the 'L' coming,” he cried; “run for all you're worth.” And they + fled up the street and up the steps, and caught it without a second to + spare. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V + </h2> + <p> + At about the time Tembarom made his rush to catch the “L” Joseph + Hutchinson was passing through one of his periodical fits of infuriated + discouragement. Little Ann knew they would occur every two or three days, + and she did not wonder at them. Also she knew that if she merely sat still + and listened as she sewed, she would be doing exactly what her mother + would have done and what her father would find a sort of irritated comfort + in. There was no use in citing people's villainies and calling them names + unless you had an audience who would seem to agree to the justice of your + accusations. + </p> + <p> + So Mr. Hutchinson charged up and down the room, his face red, and his + hands thrust in his coat pockets. He was giving his opinions of America + and Americans, and he spoke with his broadest Manchester accent, and threw + in now and then a word or so of Lancashire dialect to add roughness and + strength, the angrier a Manchester man being, the broader and therefore + the more forcible his accent. “Tha” is somehow a great deal more bitter or + humorous or affectionate than the mere ordinary “You” or “Yours.” + </p> + <p> + “'Merica,” he bellowed—“dang 'Merica! I says—an' dang + 'Mericans. Goin' about th' world braggin' an' boastin' about their + sharpness an' their open-'andedness. 'Go to 'Merica,' folks'll tell you, + 'with an invention, and there's dozens of millionaires ready to put money + in it.' Fools!” + </p> + <p> + “Now, Father,”—Little Ann's voice was as maternal as her mother's + had been,—“now, Father, love, don't work yourself up into a passion. + You know it's not good for you.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't need to work myself up into one. I'm in one. A man sells + everything he owns to get to 'Merica, an' when he gets there what does he + find? He canna' get near a millionaire. He's pushed here an scuffled + there, an' told this chap can't see him, an' that chap isn't interested, + an' he must wait his chance to catch this one. An' he waits an' waits, an' + goes up in elevators an' stands on one leg in lobbies, till he's broke' + down an' sick of it, an' has to go home to England steerage.” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann looked up from her sewing. He had been walking furiously for + half an hour, and had been tired to begin with. She had heard his voice + break roughly as he said the last words. He threw himself astride a chair + and, crossing his arms on the back of it, dropped his head on them. Her + mother never allowed this. Her idea was that women were made to tide over + such moments for the weaker sex. Far had it been from the mind of Mrs. + Hutchinson to call it weaker. “But there's times, Ann, when just for a bit + they're just like children. They need comforting without being let to know + they are being comforted. You know how it is when your back aches, and + some one just slips a pillow under it in the right place without saying + anything. That's what women can do if they've got heads. It needs a head.” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann got up and went to the chair. She began to run her fingers + caressingly through the thick, grizzled hair. + </p> + <p> + “There, Father, love, there!” she said. “We are going back to England, at + any rate, aren't we? And grandmother will be so glad to have us with her + in her cottage. And America's only one place.” + </p> + <p> + “I tried it first, dang it!” jerked out Hutchinson. “Every one told me to + do it.” He quoted again with derisive scorn: “'You go to 'Merica. + 'Merica's the place for a chap like you. 'Merica's the place for + inventions.' Liars!” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann went on rubbing the grizzled head lovingly. + </p> + <p> + “Well, now we're going back to try England. You never did really try + England. And you know how beautiful it'll be in the country, with the + primroses in bloom and the young lambs in the fields.” The caressing hand + grew even softer. “And you're not going to forget how mother believed in + the invention; you can't do that.” + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson lifted his head and looked at her. + </p> + <p> + “Eh, Ann,” he said, “you are a comfortable little body. You've got a way + with you just like your poor mother had. You always say the right thing to + help a chap pull himself together. Your mother did believe in it, didn't + she?” + </p> + <p> + She had, indeed, believed in it, though her faith was founded more upon + confidence in “Mr. Hutchinson” than in any profound knowledge of the + mechanical appliance his inspiration would supply. She knew it had + something important to do with locomotive engines, and she knew that if + railroad magnates would condescend to consider it, her husband was sure + that fortune would flow in. She had lived with the “invention,” as it was + respectfully called, for years. + </p> + <p> + “That she did,” answered Little Ann. “And before she died she said to me: + 'Little Ann,' she said, 'there's one thing you must never let your father + do. You must never let him begin not to believe in his invention. Your + father's a clever man, and it's a clever invention, and it'll make his + fortune yet. You must remind him how I believed in it and how sure I + was.'” + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson rubbed his hands thoughtfully. He had heard this before, but it + did him good to hear it again. + </p> + <p> + “She said that, did she?” he found vague comfort in saying. “She said + that?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, she did, Father. It was the very day before she died.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, she never said anything she hadn't thought out,” he said in slow + retrospection. “And she had a good head of her own. Eh, she was a + wonderful woman, she was, for sticking to things. That was th' Lancashire + in her. Lancashire folks knows their own minds.” + </p> + <p> + “Mother knew hers,” said Ann. “And she always said you knew yours. Come + and sit in your own chair, Father, and have your paper.” + </p> + <p> + She had tided him past the worst currents without letting him slip into + them. + </p> + <p> + “I like folks that knows their own minds,” he said as he sat down and took + his paper from her. “You know yours, Ann; and there's that Tembarom chap. + He knows his. I've been noticing that chap.” There was a certain pleasure + in using a tone of amiable patronage. “He's got a way with him that's + worth money to him in business, if he only knew it.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't think he knows he's got a way,” Little Ann said. “His way is just + him.” + </p> + <p> + “He just gets over people with it, like he got over me. I was ready to + knock his head off first time he spoke to me. I was ready to knock + anybody's head off that day. I'd just had that letter from Hadman. He made + me sick wi' the way he pottered an' played the fool about the invention. + He believed in it right enough, but he hadn't the courage of a mouse. He + wasn't goin' to be the first one to risk his money. Him, with all he has! + He's the very chap to be able to set it goin'. If I could have got some + one else to put up brass, it'd have started him. It's want o' backbone, + that's the matter wi' Hadman an' his lot.” + </p> + <p> + “Some of these days some of them 're going to get their eyes open,” said + Little Ann, “and then the others will be sorry. Mr. Tembarom says they'll + fall over themselves to get in on the ground floor.” + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson chuckled. + </p> + <p> + “That's New York,” he said. “He's a rum chap. But he thinks a good bit of + the invention. I've talked it over with him, because I've wanted to talk, + and the one thing I've noticed about Tembarom is that he can keep his + mouth shut.” + </p> + <p> + “But he talks a good deal,” said Ann. + </p> + <p> + “That's the best of it. You'd think he was telling all he knows, and he's + not by a fat lot. He tells you what you'll like to hear, and he's not sly; + but he can keep a shut mouth. That's Lancashire. Some folks can't do it + even when they want to.” + </p> + <p> + “His father came from England.” + </p> + <p> + “That's where the lad's sense comes from. Perhaps he's Lancashire. He had + a lot of good ideas about the way to get at Hadman.” + </p> + <p> + A knock at the door broke in upon them. Mrs. Bowse presented herself, + wearing a novel expression on her face. It was at once puzzled and not + altogether disagreeably excited. + </p> + <p> + “I wish you would come down into the dining-room, Little Ann.” She + hesitated. “Mr. Tembaron's brought home such a queer man. He picked him up + ill in the street. He wants me to let him stay with him for the night, + anyhow. I don't think he's crazy, but I guess he's lost his memory. + Queerest thing I ever saw. He doesn't know his name or anything.” + </p> + <p> + “See here,” broke out Hutchinson, dropping his hands and his paper on his + knee, “I'm not going to have Ann goin' down stairs to quiet lunatics.” + </p> + <p> + “He's as quiet as a child,” Mrs. Bowse protested. “There's something + pitiful about him, he seems so frightened. He's drenched to the skin.” + </p> + <p> + “Call an ambulance and send him to the hospital,” advised Hutchinson. + </p> + <p> + “That's what Mr. Tembarom says he can't do. It frightens him to death to + speak of it. He just clings to Mr. Tembarom sort of awful, as if he thinks + he'll save his life. But that isn't all,” she added in an amazed tone; + “he's given Mr. Tembarom more than two thousand dollars.” + </p> + <p> + “What!” shouted Hutchinson, bounding to his feet quite unconsciously. + </p> + <p> + “What!” exclaimed Little Ann. + </p> + <p> + “Just you come and look at it,” answered Mrs. Bowse, nodding her head. + “There's over two thousand dollars in bills spread out on the table in the + dining-room this minute. He had it in a belt pocket, and he dragged it out + in the street and would make Mr. Tembarom take it. Do come and tell us + what to do.” + </p> + <p> + “I'd get him to take off his wet clothes and get into bed, and drink some + hot spirits and water first,” said Little Ann. “Wouldn't you, Mrs. Bowse?” + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson got up, newspaper in hand. + </p> + <p> + “I say, I'd like to go down and have a look at that chap myself,” he + announced. + </p> + <p> + “If he's so frightened, perhaps—” Little Ann hesitated. + </p> + <p> + “That's it,” put in Mrs. Bowse. “He's so nervous it'd make him worse to + see another man. You'd better wait, Mr. Hutchinson.” + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson sat down rather grumpily, and Mrs. Bowse and Little Ann went + down the stairs together. + </p> + <p> + “I feel real nervous myself,” said Mrs. Bowse, “it's so queer. But he's + not crazy. He's quiet enough.” + </p> + <p> + As they neared the bottom of the staircase Little Ann could see over the + balustrade into the dining-room. The strange man was sitting by the table, + his disordered, black-haired head on his arm. He looked like an exhausted + thing. Tembarom was sitting by him, and was talking in an encouraging + voice. He had laid a hand on one of the stranger's. On the table beside + them was spread a number of bills which had evidently just been counted. + </p> + <p> + “Here's the ladies,” said Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + The stranger lifted his head and, having looked, rose and stood upright, + waiting. It was the involuntary, mechanical action of a man who had been + trained among gentlemen. + </p> + <p> + “It's Mrs. Bowse again, and she's brought Miss Hutchinson down with her. + Miss Hutchinson always knows what to do,” explained Tembarom in his + friendly voice. + </p> + <p> + The man bowed, and his bewildered eyes fixed themselves on Little Ann. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you,” he said. “It's very kind of you. I—I am—in great + trouble.” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann went to him and smiled her motherly smile at him. + </p> + <p> + “You're very wet,” she said. “You'll take a bad cold if you're not + careful. Mrs. Bowse thinks you ought to go right to bed and have something + hot to drink.” + </p> + <p> + “It seems a long time since I was in bed,” he answered her. + </p> + <p> + “I'm very tired. Thank you.” He drew a weary, sighing breath, but he + didn't move his eyes from the girl's face. Perhaps the cessation of action + in certain cells of his brain had increased action in others. He looked as + though he were seeing something in Little Ann's face which might not have + revealed itself so clearly to the more normal gaze. + </p> + <p> + He moved slightly nearer to her. He was a tall man, and had to look down + at her. + </p> + <p> + “What is your name?” he asked anxiously. “Names trouble me.” + </p> + <p> + It was Ann who drew a little nearer to him now. She had to look up, and + the soft, absorbed kindness in her eyes might, Tembarom thought, have + soothed a raging lion, it was so intent on its purpose. + </p> + <p> + “My name is Ann Hutchinson; but never you mind about it now,” she said. + “I'll tell it to you again. Let Mr. Tembarom take you up-stairs to bed. + You'll be better in the morning.” And because his hollow eyes rested on + her so fixedly she put her hand on his wet sleeve. + </p> + <p> + “You're wet through,” she said. “That won't do.” + </p> + <p> + He looked down at her hand and then at her face again. + </p> + <p> + “Help me,” he pleaded, “just help me. I don't know what's happened. Have I + gone mad?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” she answered; “not a bit. It'll all come right after a while; you'll + see.” + </p> + <p> + “Will it, will it?” he begged, and then suddenly his eyes were full of + tears. It was a strange thing to see him in his bewildered misery try to + pull himself together, and bite his shaking lips as though he vaguely + remembered that he was a man. “I beg pardon,” he faltered: “I suppose I'm + ill.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know where to put him,” Mrs. Bowse was saying half aside; “I've + not got a room empty.” + </p> + <p> + “Put him in my bed and give me a shake-down on the floor,” said Tembarom. + “That'll be all right. He doesn't want me to leave him, anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + He turned to the money on the table. + </p> + <p> + “Say,” he said to his guest, “there's two thousand five hundred dollars + here. We've counted it to make sure. That's quite some money. And it's + yours—” + </p> + <p> + The stranger looked disturbed and made a nervous gesture. + </p> + <p> + “Don't, don't!” he broke in. “Keep it. Some one took the rest. This was + hidden. It will pay.” + </p> + <p> + “You see he isn't real' out of his mind,” Mrs. Bowse murmured feelingly. + </p> + <p> + “No, not real' out of it,” said Tembarom. “Say,”—as an inspiration + occurred to him,—“I guess maybe Miss Hutchinson will keep it. Will + you, Little Ann? You can give it to him when he wants it.” + </p> + <p> + “It's a good bit of money,” said Little Ann, soberly; “but I can put it in + a bank and pay Mrs. Bowse his board every week. Yes, I'll take it. Now he + must go to bed. It's a comfortable little room,” she said to the stranger, + “and Mrs. Bowse will make you a hot milk-punch. That'll be nourishing.” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you,” murmured the man, still keeping his yearning eyes on her. + “Thank you.” + </p> + <p> + So he was taken up to the fourth floor and put into Tembarom's bed. The + hot milk-punch seemed to take the chill out of him, and when, by lying on + his pillow and gazing at the shakedown on the floor as long as he could + keep his eyes open, he had convinced himself that Tembarom was going to + stay with him, he fell asleep. + </p> + <p> + Little Ann went back to her father carrying a roll of bills in her hands. + It was a roll of such size that Hutchinson started up in his chair and + stared at the sight of it. + </p> + <p> + “Is that the money?” he exclaimed. “What are you going to do with it? What + have you found out, lass?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, this is it,” she answered. “Mr. Tembarom asked me to take care of + it. I'm going to put it in the bank. But we haven't found out anything.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI + </h2> + <p> + His was the opening incident of the series of extraordinary and altogether + incongruous events which took place afterwards, as it appeared to T. + Tembarom, like scenes in a play in which he had become involved in a + manner which one might be inclined to regard humorously and make jokes + about, because it was a thousand miles away from anything like real life. + That was the way it struck him. The events referred to, it was true, were + things one now and then read about in newspapers, but while the world + realized that they were actual occurrences, one rather regarded them, when + their parallels were reproduced in books and plays, as belonging alone to + the world of pure and highly romantic fiction. + </p> + <p> + “I guess the reason why it seems that way,” he summed it up to Hutchinson + and Little Ann, after the worst had come to the worst, “is because we've + not only never known any one it's happened to, but we've never known any + one that's known any one it's happened to. I've got to own up that it + makes me feel as if the fellows'd just yell right out laughing when they + heard it.” + </p> + <p> + The stranger's money had been safely deposited in a bank, and the stranger + himself still occupied Tembarom's bedroom. He slept a great deal and was + very quiet. With great difficulty Little Ann had persuaded him to let a + doctor see him, and the doctor had been much interested in his case. He + had expected to find some signs of his having received accidentally or + otherwise a blow upon the head, but on examination he found no scar or + wound. The condition he was in was frequently the result of concussion of + the brain, sometimes of prolonged nervous strain or harrowing mental + shock. Such cases occurred not infrequently. Quiet and entire freedom from + excitement would do more for such a condition than anything else. If he + was afraid of strangers, by all means keep them from him. Tembarom had + been quite right in letting him think he would help him to remember, and + that somehow he would in the end reach the place he had evidently set out + to go to. Nothing must be allowed to excite him. It was well he had had + money on his person and that he had fallen into friendly hands. A city + hospital would not have been likely to help him greatly. The restraint of + its necessary discipline might have alarmed him. + </p> + <p> + So long as he was persuaded that Tembarom was not going to desert him, he + was comparatively calm, though sunk in a piteous and tormented melancholy. + His worst hours were when he sat alone in the hall bedroom, with his face + buried in his hands. He would so sit without moving or speaking, and + Little Ann discovered that at these times he was trying to remember. + Sometimes he would suddenly rise and walk about the little room, + muttering, with woe in his eyes. Ann, who saw how hard this was for him, + found also that to attempt to check or distract him was even worse. When, + sitting in her father's room, which was on the other side of the wall, she + heard his fretted, hurried pacing feet, her face lost its dimpled + cheerfulness. She wondered if her mother would not have discovered some + way of clearing the black cloud distracting his brain. Nothing would + induce him to go down to the boarders' dining-room for his meals, and the + sight of a servant alarmed him so that it was Ann who took him the scant + food he would eat. As the time of her return to England with her father + drew near, she wondered what Mr. Tembarom would do without her services. + It was she who suggested that they must have a name for him, and the name + of a part of Manchester had provided one. There was a place called + Strangeways, and one night when, in talking to her father, she referred to + it in Tembarom's presence, he suddenly seized upon it. + </p> + <p> + “Strangeways,” he said. “That'd make a good-enough name for him. Let's + call him Mr. Strangeways. I don't like the way the fellows have of calling + him 'the Freak.'” + </p> + <p> + So the name had been adopted, and soon became an established fact. + </p> + <p> + “The way I feel about him,” Tembarom said, “is that the fellow's not a bit + of a joke. What I see is that he's up against about the toughest + proposition I've ever known. Gee! that fellow's not crazy. He's worse. If + he was out-and-out dippy and didn't know it, he'd be all right. Likely as + not he'd be thinking he was the Pope of Rome or Anna Held. What knocks him + out is that he's just right enough to know he's wrong, and to be trying to + get back. He reminds me of one of those chaps the papers tell about + sometimes—fellows that go to work in livery-stables for ten years + and call themselves Bill Jones, and then wake up some morning and remember + they're some high-browed minister of the gospel named the Rev. James + Cadwallader.” + </p> + <p> + When the curtain drew up on Tembarom's amazing drama, Strangeways had been + occupying his bed nearly three weeks, and he himself had been sleeping on + a cot Mrs. Bowse had put up for him in his room. The Hutchinsons were on + the point of sailing for England—steerage—on the steamship + Transatlantic, and Tembarom was secretly torn into fragments, though he + had done well with the page and he was daring to believe that at the end + of the month Galton would tell him he had “made good” and the work would + continue indefinitely. + </p> + <p> + If that happened, he would be raised to “twenty-five per” and would be a + man of means. If the Hutchinsons had not been going away, he would have + been floating in clouds of rose color. If he could persuade Little Ann to + take him in hand when she'd had time to “try him out,” even Hutchinson + could not utterly flout a fellow who was making his steady twenty-five per + on a big paper, and was on such terms with his boss that he might get + other chances. Gee! but he was a fellow that luck just seemed to chase, + anyhow! Look at the other chaps, lots of 'em, who knew twice as much as he + did, and had lived in decent homes and gone to school and done their + darned best, too, and then hadn't been able to get there! It didn't seem + fair somehow that he should run into such pure luck. + </p> + <p> + The day arrived when Galton was to give his decision. Tembarom was going + to hand in his page, and while he was naturally a trifle nervous, his + nervousness would have been a hopeful and not unpleasant thing but that + the Transatlantic sailed in two days, and in the Hutchinson's rooms Little + Ann was packing her small trunk and her father's bigger one, which held + more models and drawings than clothing. Hutchinson was redder in the face + than usual, and indignant condemnation of America and American + millionaires possessed his soul. Everybody was rather depressed. One + boarder after another had wakened to a realization that, with the passing + of Little Ann, Mrs. Bowse's establishment, even with the parlor, the + cozy-corner, and the second-hand pianola to support it, would be a + deserted-seeming thing. Mrs. Bowse felt the tone of low spirits about the + table, and even had a horrible secret fear that certain of her best + boarders might decide to go elsewhere, merely to change surroundings from + which they missed something. Her eyes were a little red, and she made + great efforts to keep things going. + </p> + <p> + “I can only keep the place up when I've no empty rooms,” she had said to + Mrs. Peck, “but I'd have boarded her free if her father would have let her + stay. But he wouldn't, and, anyway, she'd no more let him go off alone + than she'd jump off Brooklyn Bridge.” + </p> + <p> + It had been arranged that partly as a farewell banquet and partly to + celebrate Galton's decision about the page, there was to be an oyster stew + that night in Mr. Hutchinson's room, which was distinguished as a + bed-sitting-room. Tembarom had diplomatically suggested it to Mr. + Hutchinson. It was to be Tembarom's oyster supper, and somehow he managed + to convey that it was only a proper and modest tribute to Mr. Hutchinson + himself. First-class oyster stew and pale ale were not so bad when + properly suggested, therefore Mr. Hutchinson consented. Jim Bowles and + Julius Steinberger were to come in to share the feast, and Mrs. Bowse had + promised to prepare. + </p> + <p> + It was not an inspiring day for Little Ann. New York had seemed a + bewildering and far too noisy place for her when she had come to it + directly from her grandmother's cottage in the English village, where she + had spent her last three months before leaving England. The dark rooms of + the five-storied boarding-house had seemed gloomy enough to her, and she + had found it much more difficult to adjust herself to her surroundings + than she could have been induced to admit to her father. At first his + temper and the open contempt for American habits and institutions which he + called “speaking his mind” had given her a great deal of careful steering + through shoals to do. At the outset the boarders had resented him, and + sometimes had snapped back their own views of England and courts. Violent + and disparaging argument had occasionally been imminent, and Mrs. Bowse + had worn an ominous look. Their rooms had in fact been “wanted” before + their first week had come to an end, and Little Ann herself scarcely knew + how she had tided over that situation. But tide it over she did, and by + supernatural effort and watchfulness she contrived to soothe Mrs. Bowse + until she had been in the house long enough to make friends with people + and aid her father to realize that, if they went elsewhere, they might + find only the same class of boarders, and there would be the cost of + moving to consider. She had beguiled an armchair from Mrs. Bowse, and had + recovered it herself with a remnant of crimson stuff secured from a + miscellaneous heap at a marked-down sale at a department store. She had + arranged his books and papers adroitly and had kept them in their places + so that he never felt himself obliged to search for any one of them. With + many little contrivances she had given his bed-sitting-room a look of + comfort and established homeliness, and he had even begun to like it. + </p> + <p> + “Tha't just like tha mother, Ann,” he had said. “She'd make a railway + station look as if it had been lived in.” + </p> + <p> + Then Tembarom had appeared, heralded by Mrs. Bowse and the G. Destroyer, + and the first time their eyes had met across the table she had liked him. + The liking had increased. There was that in his boyish cheer and his + not-too-well-fed-looking face which called forth maternal interest. As she + gradually learned what his life had been, she felt a thrilled anxiety to + hear day by day how he was getting on. She listened for details, and felt + it necessary to gather herself together in the face of a slight depression + when hopes of Galton were less high than usual. His mending was + mysteriously done, and in time he knew with amazed gratitude that he was + being “looked after.” His first thanks were so awkward, but so full of + appreciation of unaccustomed luxury, that they almost brought tears to her + eyes, since they so clearly illuminated the entire novelty of any + attention whatever. + </p> + <p> + “I just don't know what to say,” he said, shuffling from one foot to + another, though his nice grin was at its best. “I've never had a woman do + anything for me since I was ten. I guess women do lots of things for most + fellows; but, then, they're mothers and sisters and aunts. I appreciate it + like—like thunder. I feel as if I was Rockefeller, Miss Ann.” + </p> + <p> + In a short time she had become “Little Ann” to him, as to the rest, and + they began to know each other very well. Jim Bowles and Julius Steinberger + had not been able to restrain themselves at first from making slangy, + yearning love to her, but Tembarom had been different. He had kept himself + well in hand. Yes, she had liked T. Tembarom, and as she packed the trunks + she realized that the Atlantic Ocean was three thousand miles across, and + when two people who had no money were separated by it, they were likely to + remain so. Rich people could travel, poor people couldn't. You just stayed + where things took you, and you mustn't be silly enough to expect things to + happen in your class of life—things like seeing people again. Your + life just went on. She kept herself very busy, and did not allow her + thoughts any latitude. It would vex her father very much if he thought she + had really grown fond of America and was rather sorry to go away. She had + finished her packing before evening, and the trunks were labeled and set + aside, some in the outside hall and some in the corner of the room. She + had sat down with some mending on her lap, and Hutchinson was walking + about the room with the restlessness of the traveler whose approaching + journey will not let him settle himself anywhere. + </p> + <p> + “I'll lay a shilling you've got everything packed and ready, and put just + where a chap can lay his hands on it,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Father. Your tweed cap's in the big pocket of your thick topcoat, + and there's an extra pair of spectacles and your pipe and tobacco in the + small one.” + </p> + <p> + “And off we go back to England same as we came!” He rubbed his head, and + drew a big, worried sigh. “Where's them going?” he asked, pointing to some + newly laundered clothing on a side table. “You haven't forgotten 'em, have + you?” + </p> + <p> + “No, Father. It's just some of the young men's washing. I thought I'd take + time to mend them up a bit before I went to bed.” + </p> + <p> + “That's like tha mother, too—taking care of everybody. What did + these chaps do before you came?” + </p> + <p> + “Sometimes they tried to sew on a button or so themselves, but oftener + they went without. Men make poor work of sewing. It oughtn't to be + expected of them.” + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson stopped and looked her and her mending over with a touch of + curiosity. + </p> + <p> + “Some of them's Tembarom's?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + Little Ann held up a pair of socks. + </p> + <p> + “These are. He does wear them out, poor fellow. It's tramping up and down + the streets to save car-fare does it. He's never got a heel to his name. + But he's going to be able to buy some new ones next week.” + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson began his tramp again. + </p> + <p> + “He'll miss thee, Little Ann; but so'll the other lads, for that matter.” + </p> + <p> + “He'll know to-night whether Mr. Galton's going to let him keep his work. + I do hope he will. I believe he'd begin to get on.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,”—Hutchinson was just a little grudging even at this + comparatively lenient moment,—“I believe the chap'll get on myself. + He's got pluck and he's sharp. I never saw him make a poor mouth yet.” + </p> + <p> + “Neither did I,” answered Ann. + </p> + <p> + A door leading into Tembarom's hall bedroom opened on to Hutchinson's. + They both heard some one inside the room knock at it. Hutchinson turned + and listened, jerking his head toward the sound. + </p> + <p> + “There's that poor chap again,” he said. “He's wakened and got restless. + What's Tembarom going to do with him, I'd like to know? The money won't + last forever.” + </p> + <p> + “Shall I let him in, Father? I dare say he's got restless because Mr. + Tembarom's not come in.” + </p> + <p> + “Aye, we'll let him in. He won't have thee long. He can't do no harm so + long as I'm here.” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann went to the door and opened it. She spoke quietly. + </p> + <p> + “Do you want to come in here, Mr. Strangeways?” + </p> + <p> + The man came in. He was clean, but still unshaven, and his clothes looked + as though he had been lying down. He looked round the room anxiously. + </p> + <p> + “Where has he gone?” he demanded in an overstrung voice. “Where is he?” He + caught at Ann's sleeve in a sudden access of nervous fear. “What shall I + do if he's gone?” + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson moved toward him. + </p> + <p> + “'Ere, 'ere,” he said, “don't you go catchin' hold of ladies. What do you + want?” + </p> + <p> + “I've forgotten his name now. What shall I do if I can't remember?” + faltered Strangeways. + </p> + <p> + Little Ann patted his arm comfortingly. + </p> + <p> + “There, there, now! You've not really forgotten it. It's just slipped your + memory. You want Mr. Tembarom—Mr. T. Tembarom.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, thank you, thank you. That's it. Yes, Tembarom. He said T. Tembarom. + He said he wouldn't throw me over.” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann led him to a seat and made him sit down. She answered him with + quiet decision. + </p> + <p> + “Well, if he said he wouldn't, he won't. Will he, Father?” + </p> + <p> + “No, he won't.” There was rough good nature in Hutchinson's admission. He + paused after it to glance at Ann. “You think a lot of that lad, don't you, + Ann?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I do, Father,” she replied undisturbedly. “He's one you can trust, + too. He's up-town at his work,” she explained to Strangeways. “He'll be + back before long. He's giving us a bit of a supper in here because we're + going away.” + </p> + <p> + Strangeways grew nervous again. + </p> + <p> + “But he won't go with you? T. Tembarom won't go?” + </p> + <p> + “No, no; he's not going. He'll stay here,” she said soothingly. He had + evidently not observed the packed and labeled trunks when he came in. He + seemed suddenly to see them now, and rose in distress. + </p> + <p> + “Whose are these? You said he wasn't going?” + </p> + <p> + Ann took hold of his arm and led him to the corner. + </p> + <p> + “They are not Mr. Tembarom's trunks,” she explained. “They are father's + and mine. Look on the labels. Joseph Hutchinson, Liverpool. Ann + Hutchinson, Liverpool.” + </p> + <p> + He looked at them closely in a puzzled way. He read a label aloud in a + dragging voice. + </p> + <p> + “Ann Hutchinson, Liverpool. What's—what's Liverpool? + </p> + <p> + “Oh, come,” encouraged Little Ann, “you know that. It's a place in + England. We're going back to England.” + </p> + <p> + He stood and gazed fixedly before him. Then he began to rub his fingers + across his forehead. Ann knew the straining look in his eyes. He was + making that horrible struggle to get back somewhere through the darkness + which shut him in. It was so painful a thing to see that even Hutchinson + turned slightly away. + </p> + <p> + “Don't!” said Little Ann, softly, and tried to draw him away. + </p> + <p> + He caught his breath convulsively once or twice, and his voice dragged out + words again, as though he were dragging them from bottomless depths. + </p> + <p> + “Going—back—to—England—back to England—to + England.” + </p> + <p> + He dropped into a chair near by, his arms thrown over its back, and broke, + as his face fell upon them, into heavy, deadly sobbing—the kind of + sobbing Tembarom had found it impossible to stand up against. Hutchinson + whirled about testily. + </p> + <p> + “Dang it!” he broke out, “I wish Tembarom'd turn up. What are we to do?” + He didn't like it himself. It struck him as unseemly. + </p> + <p> + But Ann went to the chair, and put her hands on the shuddering shoulder, + bending over the soul-wrung creature, the wisdom of centuries in the soft, + expostulatory voice which seemed to reach the very darkness he was lost + in. It was a wisdom of which she was wholly unaware, but it had been born + with her, and was the building of her being. + </p> + <p> + “'Sh! 'S-h-h!” she said. “You mustn't do that. Mr. Tembarom wouldn't like + you to do it. He'll be in directly. 'Sh! 'Sh, now!” And simple as the + words were, their soothing reached him. The wildness of his sobs grew + less. + </p> + <p> + “See here,” Hutchinson protested, “this won't do, my man. I won't have it, + Ann. I'm upset myself, what with this going back and everything. I can't + have a chap coming and crying like that there. It upsets me worse than + ever. And you hangin' over him! It won't do.” + </p> + <p> + Strangeways lifted his head from his arms and looked at him. + </p> + <p> + “Aye, I mean what I say,” Hutchinson added fretfully. + </p> + <p> + Strangeways got up from the chair. When he was not bowed or slouching it + was to be seen that he was a tall man with square shoulders. Despite his + unshaven, haggard face, he had a sort of presence. + </p> + <p> + “I'll go back to my room,” he said. “I forgot. I ought not to be here.” + </p> + <p> + Neither Hutchinson nor Little Ann had ever seen any one do the thing he + did next. When Ann went with him to the door of the hall bedroom, he took + her hand, and bowing low before her, lifted it gently to his lips. + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson stared at him as he turned into the room and closed the door + behind him. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I've read of lords and ladies doin' that in books,” he said, “but I + never thought I should see a chap do it myself.” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann went back to her mending, looking very thoughtful. + </p> + <p> + “Father,” she said, after a few moments, “England made him come near to + remembering something.” + </p> + <p> + “New York'll come near making me remember a lot of things when I'm out of + it,” said Mr. Hutchinson, sitting down heavily in his chair and rubbing + his head. “Eh, dang it! dang it!” + </p> + <p> + “Don't you let it, Father,” advised Little Ann. “There's never any good in + thinking things over.” + </p> + <p> + “You're not as cheerful yourself as you let on,” he said. “You've not got + much color to-day, my lass.” + </p> + <p> + She rubbed one cheek a little, trying to laugh. + </p> + <p> + “I shall get it back when we go and stay with grandmother. It's just + staying indoors so much. Mr. Tembarom won't be long now; I'll get up and + set the table. The things are on a tray outside.” + </p> + <p> + As she was going out of the room, Jim Bowles and Julius Steinberger + appeared at the door. + </p> + <p> + “May we come in?” Jim asked eagerly. “We're invited to the oyster stew, + and it's time old T. T. was here. Julius and me are just getting dippy + waiting up-stairs to hear if he's made good with Galton.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, now, you sit down and be quiet a bit, or you'll be losing your + appetites,” advised Ann. + </p> + <p> + “You can't lose a thing the size of mine,” answered Jim, “any more than + you could lose the Metropolitan Opera-house.” + </p> + <p> + Ann turned her head and paused as though she were listening. She heard + footsteps in the lower hall. + </p> + <p> + “He's coming now,” she announced. “I know his step. He's tired. Don't go + yet, you two,” she added as the pair prepared to rush to meet him. “When + any one's that tired he wants to wash his face, and talk when he's ready. + If you'll just go back to your room I'll call you when I've set the + table.” + </p> + <p> + She felt that she wanted a little more quiet during the next few minutes + than she could have if they remained and talked at the top of elated + voices. She had not quite realized how anxiously she had been waiting all + day for the hour when she would hear exactly what had happened. If he was + all right, it would be a nice thing to remember when she was in England. + In this moderate form she expressed herself mentally. “It would be a nice + thing to remember.” She spread the cloth on the table and began to lay out + the plates. Involuntarily she found herself stopping to glance at the hall + bedroom door and listen rather intently. + </p> + <p> + “I hope he's got it. I do that. I'm sure he has. He ought to.” + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson looked over at her. She was that like her mother, that lass! + </p> + <p> + “You're excited, Ann,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Father, I am—a bit. He's—he's washing his face now.” + Sounds of splashing water could be heard through the intervening door. + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson watched her with some uneasiness. + </p> + <p> + “You care a lot for that lad,” he said. + </p> + <p> + She did not look fluttered. Her answer was quite candid. + </p> + <p> + “I said I did, Father. He's taking off his boots.” + </p> + <p> + “You know every sound he makes, and you're going away Saturday, and you'll + never see him again.” + </p> + <p> + “That needn't stop me caring. It never did any one any harm to care for + one of his sort.” + </p> + <p> + “But it can't come to anything,” Hutchinson began to bluster. “It won't do—” + </p> + <p> + “He's coming to the door, he's turning the handle,” said Little Ann. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom came in. He was fresh with recent face-washing, and his hair was + damp, so that a short lock curled and stood up. He had been uptown making + frantic efforts for hours, but he had been making them in a spirit of + victorious relief, and he did not look tired at all. + </p> + <p> + “I've got it!” he cried out the moment he entered. “I've got it, by jingo! + The job's mine for keeps.” + </p> + <p> + “Galton's give it to you out and out?” Hutchinson was slightly excited + himself. + </p> + <p> + “He's in the bulliest humor you ever saw. He says I've done first-rate, + and if I go on, he'll run me up to thirty.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I'm danged glad of it, lad, that I am!” Hutchinson gave in + handsomely. “You put backbone into it.” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann stood near, smiling. Her smile met Tembarom's. + </p> + <p> + “I know you're glad, Little Ann,” he said. “I'd never have got there but + for you. It was up to me, after the way you started me.” + </p> + <p> + “You know I'm glad without me telling you,” she answered. “I'm RIGHTDOWN + glad.” + </p> + <p> + And it was at this moment that Mrs. Bowse came into the room. + </p> + <p> + “It's too bad it's happened just now,” she said, much flustered. “That's + the way with things. The stew'll spoil, but he says it's real important.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom caught at both her hands and shook them. + </p> + <p> + “I've got it, Mrs. Bowse. Here's your society reporter! The best-looking + boarder you've got is going to be able to pay his board steady.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm as glad as can be, and so will everybody be. I knew you'd get it. But + this gentleman's been here twice to-day. He says he really must see you.” + </p> + <p> + “Let him wait,” Hutchinson ordered. “What's the chap want? The stew won't + be fit to eat.” + </p> + <p> + “No, it won't,” answered Mrs. Bowse; “but he seems to think he's not the + kind to be put off. He says it's more Mr. Tembarom's business than his. He + looked real mad when I showed him into the parlor, where they were playing + the pianola. He asked wasn't there a private room where you could talk.” + </p> + <p> + A certain flurried interest in the manner of Mrs. Bowse, a something not + usually awakened by inopportune callers, an actual suggestion of the + possible fact that she was not as indifferent as she was nervous, somewhat + awakened Mr. Hutchinson's curiosity. + </p> + <p> + “Look here,” he volunteered, “if he's got any real business, he can't talk + over to the tune of the pianola you can bring him up here, Tembarom. I'll + see he don't stay long if his business isn't worth talkin' about. He'll + see the table set for supper, and that'll hurry him.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, gee I wish he hadn't come!” said Tembarom. “I'll just go down and see + what he wants. No one's got any swell private business with me.” + </p> + <p> + “You bring him up if he has,” said Hutchinson. “We'd like to hear about + it.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom ran down the stairs quickly. + </p> + <p> + No one had ever wanted to see him on business before. There was something + important-sounding about it; perhaps things were starting up for him in + real earnest. It might be a message from Galton, though he could not + believe that he had at this early stage reached such a distinction. A + ghastly thought shot a bolt at him, but he shook himself free of it. + </p> + <p> + “He's not a fellow to go back on his word, anyhow,” he insisted. + </p> + <p> + There were more boarders than usual in the parlor. The young woman from + the notion counter had company; and one of her guests was playing “He + sut'nly was Good to Me” on the pianola with loud and steady tread of + pedal. + </p> + <p> + The new arrival had evidently not thought it worth his while to commit + himself to permanency by taking a seat. He was standing not far from the + door with a businesslike-looking envelop in one hand and a pince-nez in + the other, with which Tembarom saw he was rather fretfully tapping the + envelop as he looked about him. He was plainly taking in the + characteristics of the room, and was not leniently disposed toward them. + His tailor was clearly an excellent one, with entirely correct ideas as to + the cut and material which exactly befitted an elderly gentleman of some + impressiveness in the position, whatsoever it happened to be, which he + held. His face was not of a friendly type, and his eyes held cold + irritation discreetly restrained by businesslike civility. Tembarom + vaguely felt the genialities of the oyster supper assume a rather + fourth-rate air. + </p> + <p> + The caller advanced and spoke first. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Tembarom?” he inquired. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” Tembarom answered, “I'm T. Tembarom.” + </p> + <p> + “T.,” repeated the stranger, with a slightly puzzled expression. “Ah, yes; + I see. I beg pardon.” + </p> + <p> + In that moment Tembarom felt that he was looked over, taken in, summed up, + and without favor. The sharp, steady eye, however, did not seem to have + moved from his face. At the same time it had aided him to realize that he + was, to this well-dressed person at least, a too exhilarated young man + wearing a ten-dollar “hand-me-down.” + </p> + <p> + “My name is Palford,” he said concisely. “That will convey nothing to you. + I am of the firm of Palford & Grimby of Lincoln's Inn. This is my + card.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom took the card and read that Palford & Grimby were + “solicitors,” and he was not sure that he knew exactly what “solicitors” + were. + </p> + <p> + “Lincoln's Inn?” he hesitated. “That's not in New York, is it?” + </p> + <p> + “No, Mr. Tembarom; in London. I come from England.” + </p> + <p> + “You must have had bad weather crossing,” said Tembarom, with amiable + intent. Somehow Mr. Palford presented a more unyielding surface than he + was accustomed to. And yet his hard courtesy was quite perfect. + </p> + <p> + “I have been here some weeks.” + </p> + <p> + “I hope you like New York. Won't you have a seat?” + </p> + <p> + The young lady from the notion counter and her friends began to sing the + chorus of “He sut'nly was Good to Me” with quite professional negro + accent. + </p> + <p> + “That's just the way May Irwin done it,” one of them laughed. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Palford glanced at the performers. He did not say whether he liked New + York or not. + </p> + <p> + “I asked your landlady if we could not see each other in a private room,” + he said. “It would not be possible to talk quietly here.” + </p> + <p> + “We shouldn't have much of a show,” answered Tembarom, inwardly wishing he + knew what was going to happen. “But there are no private rooms in the + house. We can be quieter than this, though, if we go up stairs to Mr. + Hutchinson's room. He said I could bring you.” + </p> + <p> + “That would be much better,” replied Mr. Palford. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom led him out of the room, up the first steep and narrow flight of + stairs, along the narrow hall to the second, up that, down another hall to + the third, up the third, and on to the fourth. As he led the way he + realized again that the worn carpets, the steep narrowness, and the pieces + of paper unfortunately stripped off the wall at intervals, were being + rather counted against him. This man had probably never been in a place + like this before in his life, and he didn't take to it. + </p> + <p> + At the Hutchinsons' door he stopped and explained: + </p> + <p> + “We were going to have an oyster stew here because the Hutchinsons are + going away; but Mr. Hutchinson said we could come up.” + </p> + <p> + “Very kind of Mr. Hutchinson, I'm sure.” + </p> + <p> + Despite his stiffly collected bearing, Mr. Palford looked perhaps slightly + nervous when he was handed into the bed-sitting-room, and found himself + confronting Hutchinson and Little Ann and the table set for the oyster + stew. It is true that he had never been in such a place in his life, that + for many reasons he was appalled, and that he was beset by a fear that he + might be grotesquely compelled by existing circumstances to accept these + people's invitation, if they insisted upon his sitting down with them and + sharing their oyster stew. One could not calculate on what would happen + among these unknown quantities. It might be their idea of boarding-house + politeness. And how could one offend them? God forbid that the situation + should intensify itself in such an absurdly trying manner! What a bounder + the unfortunate young man was! His own experience had not been such as to + assist him to any realistic enlightenment regarding him, even when he had + seen the society page and had learned that he had charge of it. + </p> + <p> + “Let me make you acquainted with Mr. and Miss Hutchinson,” Tembarom + introduced. “This is Mr. Palford, Mr. Hutchinson.” + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson, half hidden behind his newspaper, jerked his head and grunted: + </p> + <p> + “Glad to see you, sir.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Palford bowed, and took the chair Tembarom presented. + </p> + <p> + “I am much obliged to you, Mr. Hutchinson, for allowing me to come to your + room. I have business to discuss with Mr. Tembarom, and the pianola was + being played down-stairs—rather loudly.” + </p> + <p> + “They do it every night, dang 'em! Right under my bed,” growled + Hutchinson. “You're an Englishman, aren't you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “So am I, thank God!” Hutchinson devoutly gave forth. + </p> + <p> + Little Ann rose from her chair, sewing in hand. + </p> + <p> + “Father'll come and sit with me in my room,” she said. + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson looked grumpy. He did not intend to leave the field clear and + the stew to its fate if he could help it. He gave Ann a protesting frown. + </p> + <p> + “I dare say Mr. Palford doesn't mind us,” he said. “We're not strangers.” + </p> + <p> + “Not in the least,” Palford protested. “Certainly not. If you are old + friends, you may be able to assist us.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I don't know about that,” Hutchinson answered, “We've not known him + long, but we know him pretty well. You come from London, don't you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes. From Lincoln's Inn Fields.” + </p> + <p> + “Law?” grunted Hutchinson. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. Of the firm of Palford & Grimby.” + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson moved in his chair involuntarily. There was stimulation to + curiosity in this. This chap was a regular top sawyer—clothes, way + of pronouncing his words, manners, everything. No mistaking him—old + family solicitor sort of chap. What on earth could he have to say to + Tembarom? Tembarom himself had sat down and could not be said to look at + his ease. + </p> + <p> + “I do not intrude without the excuse of serious business,” Palford + explained to him. “A great deal of careful research and inquiry has + finally led me here. I am compelled to believe I have followed the right + clue, but I must ask you a few questions. Your name is not really + Tembarom, is it?” + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson looked at Tembarom sharply. + </p> + <p> + “Not Tembarom? What does he mean, lad?” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom's grin was at once boyish and ashamed. + </p> + <p> + “Well, it is in one way,” he answered, “and it isn't in another. The + fellows at school got into the way of calling me that way,—to save + time, I guess,—and I got to like it. They'd have guyed my real name. + Most of them never knew it. I can't see why any one ever called a child by + such a fool name, anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + “What was it exactly?” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom looked almost sheepish. + </p> + <p> + “It sounds like a thing in a novel. It was Temple Temple Barholm. Two + Temples, by gee! As if one wasn't enough!” + </p> + <p> + Joseph Hutchinson dropped his paper and almost started from his chair. His + red face suddenly became so much redder that he looked a trifle + apoplectic. + </p> + <p> + “Temple Barholm does tha say?” he cried out. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Palford raised his hand and checked him, but with a suggestion of + stiff apology. + </p> + <p> + “If you will kindly allow me. Did you ever hear your father refer to a + place called Temple Barholm?” he inquired. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom reflected as though sending his thoughts backward into a pretty + thoroughly forgotten and ignored past. There had been no reason connected + with filial affection which should have caused him to recall memories of + his father. They had not liked each other. He had known that he had been + resented and looked down upon as a characteristically American product. + His father had more than once said he was a “common American lad,” and he + had known he was. + </p> + <p> + “Seems to me,” he said at last, “that once when he was pretty mad at his + luck I heard him grumbling about English laws, and he said some of his + distant relations were swell people who would never think of speaking to + him,—perhaps didn't know he was alive,—and they lived in a big + way in a place that was named after the family. He never saw it or them, + and he said that was the way in England—one fellow got everything + and the rest were paupers like himself. He'd always been poor.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, the relation was a distant one. Until this investigation began the + family knew nothing of him. The inquiry has been a tiresome one. I trust I + am reaching the end of it. We have given nearly two years to following + this clue.” + </p> + <p> + “What for?” burst forth Tembarom, sitting upright. + </p> + <p> + “Because it was necessary to find either George Temple Barholm or his son, + if he had one.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm his son, all right, but he died when I was eight years old,” Tembarom + volunteered. “I don't remember much about him.” + </p> + <p> + “You remember that he was not an American?” + </p> + <p> + “He was English. Hated it; but he wasn't fond of America.” + </p> + <p> + “Have you any papers belonging to him?” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom hesitated again. + </p> + <p> + “There's a few old letters—oh, and one of those glass photographs in + a case. I believe it's my grandfather and grandmother, taken when they + were married. Him on a chair, you know, and her standing with her hand on + his shoulder.” + </p> + <p> + “Can you show them to me?” Palford suggested. + </p> + <p> + “Sure,” Tembarom answered, getting up from his seat “They're in my room. I + turned them up yesterday among some other things.” + </p> + <p> + When he left them, Mr. Palford sat gently rubbing his chin. Hutchinson + wanted to burst forth with questions, but he looked so remote and acidly + dignified that there was a suggestion of boldness in the idea of intruding + on his reflections. Hutchinson stared at him and breathed hard and short + in his suspense. The stiff old chap was thinking things over and putting + things together in his lawyer's way. He was entirely oblivious to his + surroundings. Little Ann went on with her mending, but she wore her + absorbed look, and it was not a result of her work. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom came back with some papers in his hand. They were yellowed old + letters, and on the top of the package there was a worn daguerreotype-case + with broken clasp. + </p> + <p> + “Here they are,” he said, giving them to Palford. “I guess they'd just + been married,” opening the case. “Get on to her embroidered collar and big + breast-pin with his picture in it. That's English enough, isn't it? He'd + given it to her for a wedding-present. There's something in one of the + letters about it.” + </p> + <p> + It was the letters to which Mr. Palford gave the most attention. He read + them and examined post-marks and dates. When he had finished, he rose from + his chair with a slightly portentous touch of professional ceremony. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, those are sufficiently convincing. You are a very fortunate young + man. Allow me to congratulate you.” + </p> + <p> + He did not look particularly pleased, though he extended his hand and + shook Tembarom's politely. He was rigorously endeavoring to conceal that + he found himself called upon to make the best of an extremely bad job. + Hutchinson started forward, resting his hands on his knees and glaring + with ill-suppressed excitement. + </p> + <p> + “What's that for?” Tembarom said. He felt rather like a fool. He laughed + half nervously. It seemed to be up to him to understand, and he didn't + understand in the least. + </p> + <p> + “You have, through your father's distant relationship, inherited a very + magnificent property—the estate of Temple Barholm in Lancashire,” + Palford began to explain, but Mr. Hutchinson sprang from his chair + outright, crushing his paper in his hand. + </p> + <p> + “Temple Barholm!” he almost shouted, “I dunnot believe thee! Why, it's one + of th' oldest places in England and one of th' biggest. Th' Temple + Barholms as didn't come over with th' Conqueror was there before him. Some + of them was Saxon kings! And him—” pointing a stumpy, red finger + disparagingly at Tembarom, aghast and incredulous—“that New York lad + that's sold newspapers in the streets—you say he's come into it?” + </p> + <p> + “Precisely.” Mr. Palford spoke with some crispness of diction. Noise and + bluster annoyed him. “That is my business here. Mr. Tembarom is, in fact, + Mr. Temple Temple Barholm of Temple Barholm, which you seem to have heard + of.” + </p> + <p> + “Heard of it! My mother was born in the village an' lives there yet. Art + tha struck dumb, lad!” he said almost fiercely to Tembarom. “By Judd! Tha + well may be!” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom was standing holding the back of a chair. He was pale, and had + once opened his mouth, and then gulped and shut it. Little Ann had dropped + her sewing. His first look had leaped to her, and she had looked back + straight into his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “I'm struck something,” he said, his half-laugh slightly unsteady. “Who'd + blame me?” + </p> + <p> + “You'd better sit down,” said Little Ann. “Sudden things are upsetting.” + </p> + <p> + He did sit down. He felt rather shaky. He touched himself on his chest and + laughed again. + </p> + <p> + “Me!” he said. “T. T.! Hully gee! It's like a turn at a vaudeville.” + </p> + <p> + The sentiment prevailing in Hutchinson's mind seemed to verge on + indignation. + </p> + <p> + “Thee th' master of Temple Barholm!” he ejaculated. “Why, it stood for + seventy thousand pound' a year!” + </p> + <p> + “It did and it does,” said Mr. Palford, curtly. He had less and less taste + for the situation. There was neither dignity nor proper sentiment in it. + The young man was utterly incapable of comprehending the meaning and + proportions of the extraordinary event which had befallen him. It appeared + to present to him the aspect of a somewhat slangy New York joke. + </p> + <p> + “You do not seem much impressed, Mr. Temple Barholm,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I'm impressed, all right,” answered Tembarom, “but, say, this thing + can't be true! You couldn't make it true if you sat up all night to do + it.” + </p> + <p> + “When I go into the business details of the matter tomorrow morning you + will realize the truth of it,” said Mr. Palford. “Seventy thousand pounds + a year—and Temple Barholm—are not unsubstantial facts.” + </p> + <p> + “Three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, my lad—that's what it + stands for!” put in Mr. Hutchinson. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Tembarom, “I guess I can worry along on that if I try hard + enough. I mayn't be able to keep myself in the way I've been used to, but + I've got to make it do.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Palford stiffened. He did not know that the garish, flippant-sounding + joking was the kind of defense the streets of New York had provided Mr. + Temple Barholm with in many an hour when he had been a half-clad newsboy + with an empty stomach, and a bundle of unsold newspapers under his arm. + </p> + <p> + “You are jocular,” he said. “I find the New Yorkers are given to being + jocular—continuously.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom looked at him rather searchingly. Palford wouldn't have found it + possible to believe that the young man knew all about his distaste and its + near approach to disgust, that he knew quite well what he thought of his + ten-dollar suit, his ex-newsboy's diction, and his entire incongruousness + as a factor in any circumstances connected with dignity and splendor. He + would certainly not have credited the fact that though he had not the + remotest idea what sort of a place Temple Barholm was, and what sort of + men its long line of possessors had been, he had gained a curious + knowledge of their significance through the mental attitude of their legal + representative when he for a moment failed to conceal his sense of actual + revolt. + </p> + <p> + “It seems sort of like a joke till you get on to it,” he said. “But I + guess it ain't such a merry jest as it seems.” + </p> + <p> + And then Mr. Palford did begin to observe that he had lost his color + entirely; also that he had a rather decent, sharp-cut face, and extremely + white and good young teeth, which he showed not unattractively when he + smiled. And he smiled frequently, but he was not smiling now. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII + </h2> + <p> + In the course of the interview given to the explaining of business and + legal detail which took place between Mr. Palford and his client the + following morning, Tembarom's knowledge of his situation extended itself + largely, and at the same time added in a proportionate degree to his sense + of his own incongruity as connected with it. He sat at a table in + Palford's private sitting-room at the respectable, old-fashioned hotel the + solicitor had chosen—sat and listened, and answered questions and + asked them, until his head began to feel as though it were crammed to + bursting with extraordinary detail. + </p> + <p> + It was all extraordinary to him. He had had no time for reading and no + books to read, and therefore knew little of fiction. He was entirely + ignorant of all romance but such as the New York papers provided. This was + highly colored, but it did not deal with events connected with the + possessors of vast English estates and the details of their habits and + customs. His geographical knowledge of Great Britain was simple and + largely incorrect. Information concerning its usual conditions and aspects + had come to him through talk of international marriages and cup races, and + had made but little impression upon him. He liked New York—its + noise, its streets, its glare, its Sunday newspapers, with their + ever-increasing number of sheets, and pictures of everything on earth + which could be photographed. His choice, when he could allow himself a + fifty-cent seat at the theater, naturally ran to productions which were + farcical or cheerfully musical. He had never reached serious drama, + perhaps because he had never had money enough to pay for entrance to + anything like half of the “shows” the other fellows recommended. He was + totally unprepared for the facing of any kind of drama as connected with + himself. The worst of it was that it struck him as being of the nature of + farce when regarded from the normal New York point of view. If he had + somehow had the luck to come into the possession of money in ways which + were familiar to him,—to “strike it rich” in the way of a “big job” + or “deal,”—he would have been better able to adjust himself to + circumstances. He might not have known how to spend his money, but he + would have spent it in New York on New York joys. There would have been no + foreign remoteness about the thing, howsoever fantastically unexpected + such fortune might have been. At any rate, in New York he would have known + the names of places and things. + </p> + <p> + Through a large part of his interview with Palford his elbow rested on the + table, and he held his chin with his hand and rubbed it thoughtfully. The + last Temple Temple Barholm had been an eccentric and uncompanionable + person. He had lived alone and had not married. He had cherished a + prejudice against the man who would have succeeded him as next of kin if + he had not died young. People had been of the opinion that he had disliked + him merely because he did not wish to be reminded that some one else must + some day inevitably stand in his shoes, and own the possessions of which + he himself was arrogantly fond. There were always more female Temple + Barholms than male ones, and the families were small. The relative who had + emigrated to Brooklyn had been a comparatively unknown person. His only + intercourse with the head of the house had been confined to a begging + letter, written from America when his circumstances were at their worst. + It was an ill-mannered and ill-expressed letter, which had been considered + presuming, and had been answered chillingly with a mere five-pound note, + clearly explained as a final charity. This begging letter, which bitterly + contrasted the writer's poverty with his indifferent relative's luxuries, + had, by a curious trick of chance which preserved it, quite + extraordinarily turned up during an examination of apparently unimportant, + forgotten papers, and had furnished a clue in the search for next of kin. + The writer had greatly annoyed old Mr. Temple Barholm by telling him that + he had called his son by his name—“not that there was ever likely to + be anything in it for him.” But a waif of the New York streets who was + known as “Tem” or “Tembarom” was not a link easily attached to any chain, + and the search had been long and rather hopeless. It had, however, at last + reached Mrs. Bowse's boarding-house and before Mr. Palford sat Mr. Temple + Temple Barholm, a cheap young man in cheap clothes, and speaking New York + slang with a nasal accent. Mr. Palford, feeling him appalling and + absolutely without the pale, was still aware that he stood in the position + of an important client of the firm of Palford & Grimby. There was a + section of the offices at Lincoln's Inn devoted to documents representing + a lifetime of attention to the affairs of the Temple Barholm estates. It + was greatly to be hoped that the crass ignorance and commonness of this + young outsider would not cause impossible complications. + </p> + <p> + “He knows nothing! He knows nothing!” Palford found himself forced to + exclaim mentally not once, but a hundred times, in the course of their + talk. + </p> + <p> + There was—this revealed itself as the interview proceeded—just + one slight palliation of his impossible benightedness: he was not the kind + of young man who, knowing nothing, huffily protects himself by pretending + to know everything. He was of an unreserve concerning his ignorance which + his solicitor felt sometimes almost struck one in the face. Now and then + it quite made one jump. He was singularly free from any vestige of + personal vanity. He was also singularly unready to take offense. To the + head of the firm of Palford & Grimby, who was not accustomed to + lightness of manner, and inclined to the view that a person who made a + joke took rather a liberty with him, his tendency to be jocular, even + about himself and the estate of Temple Barholm, was irritating and + somewhat disrespectful. Mr. Palford did not easily comprehend jokes of any + sort; especially was he annoyed by cryptic phraseology and mammoth + exaggeration. For instance, he could not in the least compass Mr. Temple + Barholm's meaning when he casually remarked that something or other was + “all to the merry”; or again, quite as though he believed that he was + using reasonable English figures of speech, “The old fellow thought he was + the only pebble on the beach.” In using the latter expression he had been + referring to the late Mr. Temple Barholm; but what on earth was his + connection with the sea-shore and pebbles? When confronted with these + baffling absurdities, Mr. Palford either said, “I beg pardon,” or + stiffened and remained silent. + </p> + <p> + When Tembarom learned that he was the head of one of the oldest families + in England, no aspect of the desirable dignity of his position reached him + in the least. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” he remarked, “there's quite a lot of us can go back to Adam and + Eve.” + </p> + <p> + When he was told that he was lord of the manor of Temple Barholm, he did + not know what a manor was. + </p> + <p> + “What's a manor, and what happens if you're lord of it?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + He had not heard of William the Conqueror, and did not appear moved to + admiration of him, though he owned that he seemed to have “put it over.” + </p> + <p> + “Why didn't he make a republic of it while he was about it?” he said. “But + I guess that wasn't his kind. He didn't do all that fighting for his + health.” + </p> + <p> + His interest was not alone totally dissevered from the events of past + centuries; it was as dissevered from those of mere past years. The habits, + customs, and points of view of five years before seemed to have been cast + into a vast waste-paper basket as wholly unpractical in connection with + present experiences. + </p> + <p> + “A man that's going to keep up with the procession can't waste time + thinking about yesterday. What he's got to do is to keep his eye on what's + going to happen the week after next,” he summed it up. + </p> + <p> + Rather to Mr. Palford's surprise, he did not speak lightly, but with a + sort of inner seriousness. It suggested that he had not arrived at this + conclusion without the aid of sharp experience. Now and then one saw a + touch of this profound practical perception in him. + </p> + <p> + It was not to be denied that he was clear-headed enough where purely + practical business detail was concerned. He was at first plainly rather + stunned by the proportions presented to him, but his questions were direct + and of a common-sense order not to be despised. + </p> + <p> + “I don't know anything about it yet,” he said once. “It's all Dutch to me. + I can't calculate in half-crowns and pounds and half pounds, but I'm going + to find out. I've got to.” + </p> + <p> + It was extraordinary and annoying to feel that one must explain + everything; but this impossible fellow was not an actual fool on all + points, and he did not seem to be a weakling. He might learn certain + things in time, and at all events one was no further personally + responsible for him and his impossibilities than the business concerns of + his estate would oblige any legal firm to be. Clients, whether highly + desirable or otherwise, were no more than clients. They were not relatives + whom one must introduce to one's friends. Thus Mr. Palford, who was not a + specially humane or sympathetic person, mentally decided. He saw no pathos + in this raw young man, who would presently find himself floundering + unaided in waters utterly unknown to him. There was even a touch of bitter + amusement in the solicitor's mind as he glanced toward the future. + </p> + <p> + He explained with detail the necessity for their immediate departure for + the other side of the Atlantic. Certain legal formalities which must at + once be attended to demanded their presence in England. Foreseeing this, + on the day when he had finally felt himself secure as to the identity of + his client he had taken the liberty of engaging optionally certain + state-rooms on the Adriana, sailing the following Wednesday. + </p> + <p> + “Subject of course to your approval,” he added politely. “But it is + imperative that we should be on the spot as early as possible.” He did not + mention that he himself was abominably tired of his sojourn on alien + shores, and wanted to be back in London in his own chambers, with his own + club within easy reach. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom's face changed its expression. He had been looking rather + weighted down and fatigued, and he lighted up to eagerness. + </p> + <p> + “Say,” he exclaimed, “why couldn't we go on the Transatlantic on + Saturday?” + </p> + <p> + “It is one of the small, cheap boats,” objected Palford. + </p> + <p> + “The accommodation would be most inferior.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom leaned forward and touched his sleeve in hasty, boyish appeal. + </p> + <p> + “I want to go on it,” he said; “I want to go steerage.” + </p> + <p> + Palford stared at him. + </p> + <p> + “You want to go on the Transatlantic! Steerage!” he ejaculated, quite + aghast. This was a novel order of madness to reveal itself in the recent + inheritor of a great fortune. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom's appeal grew franker; it took on the note of a too crude young + fellow's misplaced confidence. + </p> + <p> + “You do this for me,” he said. “I'd give a farm to go on that boat. The + Hutchinsons are sailing on it—Mr. and Miss Hutchinson, the ones you + saw at the house last night.” + </p> + <p> + “I—it is really impossible.” Mr. Palford hesitated. “As to steerage, + my dear Mr. Temple Barholm, you—you can't.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom got up and stood with his hands thrust deep in his pockets. It + seemed to be a sort of expression of his sudden hopeful excitement. + </p> + <p> + “Why not” he said. “If I own about half of England and have money to burn, + I guess I can buy a steerage passage on a nine-day steamer.” + </p> + <p> + “You can buy anything you like,” Palford answered stiffly. “It is not a + matter of buying. But I should not be conducting myself properly toward + you if I allowed it. It would not be—becoming.” + </p> + <p> + “Becoming!” cried Tembarom, “Thunder! It's not a spring bat. I tell you I + want to go just that way.” + </p> + <p> + Palford saw abnormal breakers ahead. He felt that he would be glad when he + had landed his charge safely at Temple Barholm. Once there, his family + solicitor was not called upon to live with him and hobnob with his + extraordinary intimates. + </p> + <p> + “As to buying,” he said, still with marked lack of enthusiasm, “instead of + taking a steerage passage on the Transatlantic yourself, you might no + doubt secure first-class state-rooms for Mr. and Miss Hutchinson on the + Adriana, though I seriously advise against it.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom shook his head. + </p> + <p> + “You don't know them,” he said. “They wouldn't let me. Hutchinson's a + queer old fellow and he's had the hardest kind of luck, but he's as proud + as they make 'em. Me butt in and offer to pay their passage back, as if + they were paupers, just because I've suddenly struck it rich! Hully gee! I + guess not. A fellow that's been boosted up in the air all in a minute, as + I have, has got to lie pretty low to keep folks from wanting to kick him, + anyhow. Hutchinson's a darned sight smarter fellow than I am, and he knows + it—and he's Lancashire, you bet.” He stopped a minute and flushed. + “As to Little Ann,” he said—“me make that sort of a break with HER! + Well, I should be a fool.” + </p> + <p> + Palford was a cold-blooded and unimaginative person, but a long legal + experience had built up within him a certain shrewdness of perception. He + had naturally glanced once or twice at the girl sitting still at her + mending, and he had observed that she said very little and had a + singularly quiet, firm little voice. + </p> + <p> + “I beg pardon. You are probably right. I had very little conversation with + either of them. Miss Hutchinson struck me as having an intelligent face.” + </p> + <p> + “She's a wonder,” said Tembarom, devoutly. “She's just a wonder.” + </p> + <p> + “Under the circumstances,” suggested Mr. Palford, “it might not be a bad + idea to explain to her your idea of the steerage passage. An intelligent + girl can often give excellent advice. You will probably have an + opportunity of speaking to her tonight. Did you say they were sailing + to-morrow?” + </p> + <p> + To-morrow! That brought it so near that it gave Tembarom a shock. He had + known that they sailed on Saturday, and now Saturday had become to-morrow. + Things began to surge through his mind—all sorts of things he had no + time to think of clearly, though it was true they had darted vaguely about + in the delirious excitement of the night, during which he had scarcely + slept at all. His face changed again, and the appeal died out of it. He + began to look anxious and restless. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, they're going to-morrow,” he answered. + </p> + <p> + “You see,” argued Mr. Palford, with conviction, “how impossible it would + be for us to make any arrangements in so few hours. You will excuse my + saying,” he added punctiliously, “that I could not make the voyage in the + steerage.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom laughed. He thought he saw him doing it. + </p> + <p> + “That's so,” he said. Then, with renewed hope, he added, “Say, I 'm going + to try and get them to wait till Wednesday.” + </p> + <p> + “I do not think—” Mr. Palford began, and then felt it wiser to leave + things as they were. “But I'm not qualified to give an opinion. I do not + know Miss Hutchinson at all.” + </p> + <p> + But the statement was by no means frank. He had a private conviction that + he did know her to a certain degree. And he did. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII + </h2> + <p> + There was a slight awkwardness even to Tembarom in entering the + dining-room that evening. He had not seen his fellow boarders, as his + restless night had made him sleep later than usual. But Mrs. Bowse had + told him of the excitement he had caused. + </p> + <p> + “They just couldn't eat,” she said. “They could do nothing but talk and + talk and ask questions; and I had waffles, too, and they got stone-cold.” + </p> + <p> + The babel of friendly outcry which broke out on his entry was made up of + jokes, ejaculations, questions, and congratulatory outbursts from all + sides. + </p> + <p> + “Good old T. T.!” “Give him a Harvard yell! Rah! Rah! Rah!” “Lend me + fifty-five cents?” “Where's your tiara?” “Darned glad of it!” “Make us a + speech!” + </p> + <p> + “Say, people,” said Tembarom, “don't you get me rattled or I can't tell + you anything. I'm rattled enough already.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, is it true?” called out Mr. Striper. + </p> + <p> + “No,” Tembarom answered back, sitting down. “It couldn't be; that's what I + told Palford. I shall wake up in a minute or two and find myself in a + hospital with a peacherino of a trained nurse smoothing 'me piller.' You + can't fool ME with a pipe-dream like this. Palford's easier; he's not a + New Yorker. He says it IS true, and I can't get out of it.” + </p> + <p> + “Whew! Great Jakes!” A long breath was exhaled all round the table. + </p> + <p> + “What are you, anyhow?” cried Jim Bowles across the dishes. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom rested his elbow on the edge of the table and began to check off + his points on his fingers. + </p> + <p> + “I'm this,” he said: “I'm Temple Temple Barholm, Esquire, of Temple + Barholm, Lancashire, England. At the time of the flood my folks knocked up + a house just about where the ark landed, and I guess they've held on to it + ever since. I don't know what business they went into, but they made + money. Palford swears I've got three hundred and fifty thousand dollars a + year. I wasn't going to call the man a liar; but I just missed it, by + jings!” + </p> + <p> + He was trying to “bluff it out.” Somehow he felt he had to. He felt it + more than ever when a momentary silence fell upon those who sat about the + table. It fell when he said “three hundred and fifty thousand dollars a + year.” No one could find voice to make any remark for a few seconds after + that. + </p> + <p> + “Are you a lord—or a duke?” some one asked after breath had + recovered itself. + </p> + <p> + “No, I'm not,” he replied with relief. “I just got out from under that; + but the Lord knows how I did it.” + </p> + <p> + “What are you going to do first?” said Jim Bowles. + </p> + <p> + “I've got to go and 'take possession.' That's what Palford calls it. I've + been a lost heir for nearly two years, and I've got to show myself.” + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson had not joined the clamor of greeting, but had grunted + disapproval more than once. He felt that, as an Englishman, he had a + certain dignity to maintain. He knew something about big estates and their + owners. He was not like these common New York chaps, who regarded them as + Arabian Nights tales to make jokes about. He had grown up as a village boy + in proper awe of Temple Barholm. They were ignorant fools, this lot. He + had no patience with them. He had left the village and gone to work in + Manchester when he was a boy of twelve, but as long as he had remained in + his mother's cottage it had been only decent good manners for him to touch + his forehead respectfully when a Temple Barholm, or a Temple Barholm guest + or carriage or pony phaeton, passed him by. And this chap was Mr. Temple + Temple Barholm himself! Lord save us! + </p> + <p> + Little Ann said nothing at all; but, then, she seldom said anything during + meal-times. When the rest of the boarders laughed, she ate her dinner and + smiled. Several times, despite her caution, Tembarom caught her eye, and + somehow held it a second with his. She smiled at him when this happened; + but there was something restless and eager in his look which made her wish + to evade it. She knew what he felt, and she knew why he kept up his jokes + and never once spoke seriously. She knew he was not comfortable, and did + not enjoy talking about hundreds of thousands a year to people who worked + hard for ten or twenty “per.” To-morrow morning was very near, she kept + thinking. To-morrow night she would be lying in her berth in the steerage, + or more probably taking care of her father, who would be very + uncomfortable. + </p> + <p> + “What will Galton do?” Mr. Striper asked. + </p> + <p> + “I don't know,” Tembarom answered, and he looked troubled. Three hundred + and fifty thousand dollars a year might not be able to give aid to a + wounded society page. + </p> + <p> + “What are you going to do with your Freak?” called out Julius Steinberger. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom actually started. As things had surged over him, he had had too + much to think over. He had not had time to give to his strange + responsibility; it had become one nevertheless. + </p> + <p> + “Are you going to leave him behind when you go to England?” + </p> + <p> + He leaned forward and put his chin on his hand. + </p> + <p> + “Why, say,” he said, as though he were thinking it out, “he's spoken about + England two or three times. He's said he must go there. By jings! I'll + take him with me, and see what'll happen.” + </p> + <p> + When Little Ann got up to leave the room he followed her and her father + into the hall. + </p> + <p> + “May I come up and talk it over with you?” he appealed. “I've got to talk + to some one who knows something about it. I shall go dotty if I don't. + It's too much like a dream.” + </p> + <p> + “Come on up when you're ready,” answered Hutchinson. “Ann and me can give + you a tip or two.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm going to be putting the last things in the trunks,” said Ann, “but I + dare say you won't mind that. The express'll be here by eight in the + morning.” + </p> + <p> + “O Lord!” groaned Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + When he went up to the fourth floor a little later, Hutchinson had fallen + into a doze in his chair over his newspaper, and Ann was kneeling by a + trunk in the hall, folding small articles tightly, and fitting them into + corners. To Tembarom she looked even more than usual like a slight child + thing one could snatch up in one's arms and carry about or set on one's + knee without feeling her weight at all. An inferior gas-jet on the wall + just above her was doing its best with the lot of soft, red hair, which + would have been an untidy bundle if it had not been hers. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom sat down on the trunk next to her. + </p> + <p> + “O Little Ann!” he broke out under his breath, lest the sound of his voice + might check Hutchinson's steady snoring. “O Little Ann!” + </p> + <p> + Ann leaned back, sitting upon her small heels, and looked up at him. + </p> + <p> + “You're all upset, and it's not to be wondered at, Mr. Temple Barholm,” + she said. + </p> + <p> + “Upset! You're going away to-morrow morning! And, for the Lord's sake, + don't call me that!” he protested. + </p> + <p> + “You're going away yourself next Wednesday. And you ARE Mr. Temple + Barholm. You'll never be called anything else in England. + </p> + <p> + “How am I going to stand it?” he protested again. “How could a fellow like + me stand it! To be yanked out of good old New York, and set down in a + place like a museum, with Central Park round it, and called Mr. Temple + Temple Barholm instead of just 'Tem' or 'T. T.'! It's not natural.” + </p> + <p> + “What you must do, Mr. Temple Barholm, is to keep your head clear, that's + all,” she replied maturely. + </p> + <p> + “Lord! if I'd got a head like yours!” + </p> + <p> + She seemed to take him in, with a benign appreciativeness, in his + entirety. + </p> + <p> + “Well, you haven't,” she admitted, though quite without disparagement, + merely with slight reservation. “But you've got one like your own. And + it's a good head—when you try to think steady. Yours is a man's + head, and mine's only a woman's.” + </p> + <p> + “It's Little Ann Hutchinson's, by gee!” said Tembarom, with feeling. + </p> + <p> + “Listen here, Mr. Tem—Temple Barholm,” she went on, as nearly + disturbed as he had ever seen her outwardly. “It's a wonderful thing + that's happened to you. It's like a novel. That splendid place, that + splendid name! It seems so queer to think I should ever have talked to a + Mr. Temple Barholm as I've talked to you.” + </p> + <p> + He leaned forward a little as though something drew him. + </p> + <p> + “But”—there was unsteady appeal in his voice—“you have liked + me, haven't you, Little Ann?” + </p> + <p> + Her own voice seemed to drop into an extra quietness that made it remote. + She looked down at her hands on her lap. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I have liked you. I have told Father I liked you,” she answered. + </p> + <p> + He got up, and made an impetuous rush at his goal. + </p> + <p> + “Then—say, I'm going in there to wake up Mr. Hutchinson and ask him + not to sail to-morrow morning.” + </p> + <p> + “You'd better not wake him up,” she answered, smiling; but he saw that her + face changed and flushed. “It's not a good time to ask Father anything + when he's just been waked up. And we HAVE to go. The express is coming at + eight.” + </p> + <p> + “Send it away again; tell 'em you're not going. Tell 'em any old thing. + Little Ann, what's the matter with you? Something's the matter. Have I + made a break?” + </p> + <p> + He had felt the remoteness in her even before he had heard it in her + dropped voice. It had been vaguely there even when he sat down on the + trunk. Actually there was a touch of reserve about her, as though she was + keeping her little place with the self-respecting propriety of a girl + speaking to a man not of her own world. + </p> + <p> + “I dare say I've done some fool thing without knowing it. I don't know + where I'm at, anyhow,” he said woefully. + </p> + <p> + “Don't look at me like that, Mr. Temple Barholm,” she said—“as if I + was unkind. I—I'm NOT.” + </p> + <p> + “But you're different,” he implored. “I saw it the minute I came up. I ran + up-stairs just crazy to talk to you,—yes, crazy to talk to you—and + you—well, you were different. Why are you, if you're not mad?” + </p> + <p> + Then she rose and stood holding one of her neatly rolled packages in her + hand. Her eyes were soft and clear, and appealed maternally to his reason. + </p> + <p> + “Because everything's different. You just think a bit,” she answered. + </p> + <p> + He stared at her a few seconds, and then understanding of her dawned upon + him. He made a human young dash at her, and caught her arm. + </p> + <p> + “What!” he cried out. “You mean this Temple Barholm song and dance makes + things different? Not on your life! You're not the girl to work that on + me, as if it was my fault. You've got to hear me speak my piece. Ann—you've + just got to!” + </p> + <p> + He had begun to tremble a little, and she herself was not steady; but she + put a hand on his arm. + </p> + <p> + “Don't say anything you've not had time to think about,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “I've been thinking of pretty near nothing else ever since I came here. + Just as soon as I looked at you across the table that first day I saw my + finish, and every day made me surer. I'd never had any comfort or taking + care of,—I didn't know the first thing about it,—and it seemed + as if all there was of it in the world was just in YOU.” + </p> + <p> + “Did you think that?” she asked falteringly. + </p> + <p> + “Did I? That's how you looked to me, and it's how you look now. The way + you go about taking care of everybody and just handing out solid little + chunks of good sense to every darned fool that needs them, why—” + There was a break in his voice—“why, it just knocked me out the + first round.” He held her a little away from him, so that he could yearn + over her, though he did not know he was yearning. “See, I'd sworn I'd + never ask a girl to marry me until I could keep her. Well, you know how it + was, Ann. I couldn't have kept a goat, and I wasn't such a fool that I + didn't know it. I've been pretty sick when I thought how it was; but I + never worried you, did I?” + </p> + <p> + “No, you didn't.” + </p> + <p> + “I just got busy. I worked like—well, I got busier than I ever was + in my life. When I got the page SURE, I let myself go a bit, sort of + hoping. And then this Temple Barholm thing hits me.” + </p> + <p> + “That's the thing you've got to think of now,” said Little Ann. “I'm going + to talk sensible to you.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't, Ann! Good Lord! DON'T!” + </p> + <p> + “I MUST.” She put her last tight roll into the trunk and tried to shut the + lid. “Please lock this for me.” + </p> + <p> + He locked it, and then she seated herself on the top of it, though it was + rather high for her, and her small feet dangled. Her eyes looked large and + moist like a baby's, and she took out a handkerchief and lightly touched + them. + </p> + <p> + “You've made me want to cry a bit,” she said, “but I'm not going to.” + </p> + <p> + “Are you going to tell me you don't want me?” he asked, with anxious eyes. + </p> + <p> + “No, I'm not.” + </p> + <p> + “God bless you!” He was going to make a dash at her again, but pulled + himself up because he must. “No, by jings!” he said. “I'm not going to + till you let me.” + </p> + <p> + “You see, it's true your head's not like mine,” she said reasonably. + “Men's heads are mostly not like women's. They're men, of course, and + they're superior to women, but they're what I'd call more fluttery-like. + Women must remind them of things.” + </p> + <p> + “What—what kind of things?” + </p> + <p> + “This kind. You see, Grandmother lives near Temple Barholm, and I know + what it's like, and you don't. And I've seen what seventy thousand pounds + a year means, and you haven't. And you've got to go and find out for + yourself.” + </p> + <p> + “What's the matter with you coming along to help me?” + </p> + <p> + “I shouldn't help you; that's it. I should hold you back. I'm nothing but + Ann Hutchinson, and I talk Manchester—and I drop my h's.” + </p> + <p> + “I love to hear you drop your little h's all over the place,” he burst + forth impetuously. “I love it.” + </p> + <p> + She shook her head. + </p> + <p> + “The girls that go to garden-parties at Temple Barholm look like those in + the `Ladies' Pictorial', and they've got names and titles same as those in + novels.” + </p> + <p> + He answered her in genuine anguish. He had never made any mistake about + her character, and she was beginning to make him feel afraid of her in the + midst of his adoration. + </p> + <p> + “What do I want with a girl out of a magazine?” he cried. “Where should I + hang her up?” + </p> + <p> + She was not unfeeling, but unshaken and she went on: + </p> + <p> + “I should look like a housemaid among them. How would you feel with a wife + of that sort, when the other sort was about?” + </p> + <p> + “I should feel like a king, that's what I should feel like,” he replied + indignantly. + </p> + <p> + “I shouldn't feel like a queen. I should feel MISERABLE.” + </p> + <p> + She sat with her little feet dangling, and her hands folded in her lap. + Her infantile blue eyes held him as the Ancient Mariner had been held. He + could not get away from the clear directness of them. He did not want to + exactly, but she frightened him more and more. + </p> + <p> + “I should be ashamed,” she proceeded. “I should feel as if I had taken an + advantage. What you've got to do is to find out something no one else can + find out for you, Mr. Temple Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + “How can I find it out without you? It was you who put me on to the + wedding-cake; you can put me on to other things.” + </p> + <p> + “Because I've lived in the place,” she answered unswervingly. “I know how + funny it is for any one to think of me being Mrs. Temple Barholm. You + don't.” + </p> + <p> + “You bet I don't,” he answered; “but I'll tell you what I do know, and + that's how funny it is that I should be Mr. Temple Barholm. I've got on to + that all right, all right. Have you?” + </p> + <p> + She looked at him with a reflection that said much. She took him in with a + judicial summing up of which it must be owned an added respect was part. + She had always believed he had more sense than most young men, and now she + knew it. + </p> + <p> + “When a person's clever enough to see things for himself, he's generally + clever enough to manage them,” she replied. + </p> + <p> + He knelt down beside the trunk and took both her hands in his. He held + them fast and rather hard. + </p> + <p> + “Are you throwing me down for good, Little Ann?” he said. “If you are, I + can't stand it, I won't stand it.” + </p> + <p> + “If you care about me like that, you'll do what I tell you,” she + interrupted, and she slipped down from the top of her trunk. “I know what + Mother would say. She'd say, 'Ann, you give that young man a chance.' And + I'm going to give you one. I've said all I'm going to, Mr. Temple + Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + He took both her elbows and looked at her closely, feeling a somewhat awed + conviction. + </p> + <p> + “I—believe—you have,” he said. + </p> + <p> + And here the sound of Mr. Hutchinson's loud and stertorous breathing + ceased, and he waked up, and came to the door to find out what Ann was + doing. + </p> + <p> + “What are you two talking about?” he asked. “People think when they + whisper it's not going to disturb anybody, but it's worse than shouting in + a man's ear.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom walked into the room. + </p> + <p> + “I've been asking Little Ann to marry me,” he announced, “and she won't.” + </p> + <p> + He sat down in a chair helplessly, and let his head fall into his hands. + </p> + <p> + “Eh!” exclaimed Hutchinson. He turned and looked at Ann disturbedly. “I + thought a bit ago tha didn't deny but what tha'd took to him?” + </p> + <p> + “I didn't, Father,” she answered. “I don't change my mind that quick. I—would + have been willing to say 'Yes' when you wouldn't have been willing to let + me. I didn't know he was Mr. Temple Barholm then.” + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson rubbed the back of his head, reddening and rather bristling. + </p> + <p> + “Dost tha think th' Temple Barholms would look down on thee?” + </p> + <p> + “I should look down on myself if I took him up at his first words, when + he's all upset with excitement, and hasn't had time to find out what + things mean. I'm—well, I 'm too fond of him, Father.” + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson gave her a long, steady look. + </p> + <p> + “You are?” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I am.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom lifted his head, and looked at her, too. + </p> + <p> + “Are you?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + She put her hands behind her back, and returned his look with the calm of + ages. + </p> + <p> + “I'm not going to argue about it,” she answered. “Arguing's silly.” + </p> + <p> + His involuntary rising and standing before her was a sort of unconscious + tribute of respect. + </p> + <p> + “I know that,” he owned. “I know you. That's why I take it like this. But + I want you to tell me one thing. If this hadn't happened, if I'd only had + twenty dollars a week, would you have taken me?” + </p> + <p> + “If you'd had fifteen, and Father could have spared me, I'd have taken + you. Fifteen dollars a week is three pounds two and sixpence, and I've + known curates' wives that had to bring up families on less. It wouldn't go + as far in New York as it would in the country in England, but we could + have made it do—until you got more. I know you, too, Mr. Temple + Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + He turned to her father, and saw in his florid countenance that which + spurred him to bold disclosure. + </p> + <p> + “Say,” he put it to him, as man to man, “she stands there and says a thing + like that, and she expects a fellow not to jerk her into his arms and + squeeze the life out of her! I daren't do it, and I'm not going to try; + but—well, you said her mother was like her, and I guess you know + what I'm up against.” + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson's grunting chuckle contained implications of exultant + tenderness and gratified paternal pride. + </p> + <p> + “She's th' very spit and image of her mother,” he said, “and she had th' + sense of ten women rolled into one, and th' love of twenty. You let her + be, and you're as safe as th' Rock of Ages.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you think I don't know that?” answered Tembarom, his eyes shining + almost to moisture. “But what hits me, by thunder! is that I've lost the + chance of seeing her work out that fifteen-dollar-a-week proposition, and + it drives me crazy.” + </p> + <p> + “I should have downright liked to try it,” said Little Ann, with + speculative reflection, and while she knitted her brows in lovely + consideration of the attractive problem, several previously unknown + dimples declared themselves about her mouth. + </p> + <p> + “Ann,” Tembarom ventured, “if I go to Temple Barholm and try it a year and + learn all about it—-” + </p> + <p> + “It would take more than a year,” said Ann. + </p> + <p> + “Don't make it two,” Tembarom pleaded. “I'll sit up at night with wet + towels round my head to learn; I'll spend fourteen hours a day with girls + that look like the pictures in the `Ladies' Pictorial', or whatever it is + in England; I'll give them every chance in life, if you'll let me off + afterward. There must be another lost heir somewhere; let's dig him up and + then come back to little old New York and be happy. Gee! Ann,”—letting + himself go and drawing nearer to her,—“how happy we could be in one + of those little flats in Harlem!” + </p> + <p> + She was a warm little human thing, and a tender one, and when he came + close to her, glowing with tempestuous boyish eagerness, her eyes grew + bluer because they were suddenly wet, and she was obliged to move softly + back. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she said; “I know those little flats. Any one could—-” She + stopped herself, because she had been going to reveal what a home a woman + could make in rooms like the compartments in a workbox. She knew and saw + it all. She drew back a little again, but she put out a hand and laid it + on his sleeve. + </p> + <p> + “When you've had quite time enough to find out, and know what the other + thing means, I'll do whatever you want me to do,” she said. “It won't + matter what it is. I'll do it.” + </p> + <p> + “She means that,” Hutchinson mumbled unsteadily, turning aside. “Same as + her mother would have meant it. And she means it in more ways than one.” + </p> + <p> + And so she did. The promise included quite firmly the possibility of not + unnatural changes in himself such as young ardor could not foresee, even + the possibility of his new life withdrawing him entirely from the plane on + which rapture could materialize on twenty dollars a week in a flat in + Harlem. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX + </h2> + <p> + Type as exotic as Tembarom's was to his solicitor naturally suggested + problems. Mr. Palford found his charge baffling because, according to + ordinary rules, a young man so rudimentary should have presented no + problems not perfectly easy to explain. It was herein that he was exotic. + Mr. Palford, who was not given to subtle analysis of differences in + character and temperament, argued privately that an English youth who had + been brought up in the streets would have been one of two or three things. + He would have been secretly terrified and resentful, roughly awkward and + resentful, or boastfully delighted and given to a common youth's excitedly + common swagger at finding himself suddenly a “swell.” + </p> + <p> + This special kind of youth would most assuredly have constantly thought of + himself as a “swell” and would have lost his head altogether, possibly + with results in the matter of conduct in public which would have been + either maddening or crushing to the spirit of a well-bred, mature-minded + legal gentleman temporarily thrust into the position of bear-leader. + </p> + <p> + But Tembarom was none of these things. If he was terrified, he did not + reveal his anguish. He was without doubt not resentful, but on the + contrary interested and curious, though he could not be said to bear + himself as one elated. He indulged in no frolics or extravagances. He saw + the Hutchinsons off on their steamer, and supplied them with fruit and + flowers and books with respectful moderation. He did not conduct himself + as a benefactor bestowing unknown luxuries, but as a young man on whom + unexpected luck had bestowed decent opportunities to express his + friendship. In fact, Palford's taste approved of his attitude. He was + evidently much under the spell of the slight girl with the Manchester + accent and sober blue eyes, but she was neither flighty nor meretricious, + and would have sense enough to give no trouble even when he naturally + forgot her in the revelations of his new life. Her father also was plainly + a respectable working-man, with a blunt Lancashire pride which would keep + him from intruding. + </p> + <p> + “You can't butt in and get fresh with a man like that,” Tembarom said. + “Money wouldn't help you. He's too independent.” + </p> + <p> + After the steamer had sailed away it was observable to his solicitor that + Mr. Temple Barholm was apparently occupied every hour. He did not explain + why he seemed to rush from one part of New York to another and why he + seemed to be seeking interviews with persons it was plainly difficult to + get at. He was evidently working hard to accomplish something or other + before he left the United States, perhaps. He asked some astutely + practical business questions; his intention seeming to be to gain a + definite knowledge of what his future resources would be and of his + freedom to use them as he chose. + </p> + <p> + Once or twice Mr. Palford was rather alarmed by the tendency of his + questions. Had he actually some prodigious American scheme in view? He + seemed too young and inexperienced in the handling of large sums for such + a possibility. But youth and inexperience and suddenly inherited wealth + not infrequently led to rash adventures. Something which Palford called + “very handsome” was done for Mrs. Bowse and the boarding-house. Mrs. Bowse + was evidently not proud enough to resent being made secure for a few + years' rent. The extraordinary page was provided for after a large amount + of effort and expenditure of energy. + </p> + <p> + “I couldn't leave Galton high and dry,” Tembarom explained when he came in + after rushing about. “I think I know a man he might try, but I've got to + find him and put him on to things. Good Lord! nobody rushed about to find + me and offer me the job. I hope this fellow wants it as bad as I did. + He'll be up in the air.” He discovered the whereabouts of the young man in + question, and finding him, as the youngster almost tearfully declared, + “about down and out,” his proposition was met with the gratitude the + relief from a prospect of something extremely like starvation would + mentally produce. Tembarom took him to Galton after having talked him over + in detail. + </p> + <p> + “He's had an education, and you know how much I'd had when I butted into + the page,” he said. “No one but you would have let me try it. You did it + only because you saw—you saw—” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I saw,” answered Galton, who knew exactly what he had seen and who + found his up-town social representative and his new situation as + interesting as amusing and just touched with the pathetic element. Galton + was a traveled man and knew England and several other countries well. + </p> + <p> + “You saw that a fellow wanted the job as much as I did would be likely to + put up a good fight to hold it down. I was scared out of my life when I + started out that morning of the blizzard, but I couldn't afford to be + scared. I guess soldiers who are scared fight like that when they see + bayonets coming at them. You have to.” + </p> + <p> + “I wonder how often a man finds out that he does pretty big things when + bayonets are coming at him,” answered Galton, who was actually neglecting + his work for a few minutes so that he might look at and talk to him, this + New York descendant of Norman lords and Saxon kings. + </p> + <p> + “Joe Bennett had been trying to live off free-lunch counters for a week + when I found him,” Tembarom explained. “You don't know what that is. He'll + go at the page all right. I'm going to take him up-town and introduce him + to my friends there and get them to boost him along.” + </p> + <p> + “You made friends,” said Galton. “I knew you would.” + </p> + <p> + “Some of the best ever. Good-natured and open-handed. Well, you bet! Only + trouble was they wanted you to eat and drink everything in sight, and they + didn't quite like it when you couldn't get outside all the champagne + they'd offer you.” + </p> + <p> + He broke into a big, pleased laugh. + </p> + <p> + “When I went in and told Munsberg he pretty near threw a fit. Of course he + thought I was kidding. But when I made him believe it, he was as glad as + if he'd had luck himself. It was just fine the way people took it. Tell + you what, it takes good luck, or bad luck, to show you how good-natured a + lot of folks are. They'll treat Bennett and the page all right; you'll + see.” + </p> + <p> + “They'll miss you,” said Galton. + </p> + <p> + “I shall miss them,” Tembarom answered in a voice with a rather depressed + drop in it. + </p> + <p> + “I shall miss you,” said Galton. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom's face reddened a little. + </p> + <p> + “I guess it'd seem rather fresh for me to tell you how I shall miss you,” + he said. “I said that first day that I didn't know how to tell you how I—well, + how I felt about you giving a mutt like me that big chance. You never + thought I didn't know how little I did know, did you?” he inquired almost + anxiously. + </p> + <p> + “That was it—that you did know and that you had the backbone and the + good spirits to go in and win,” Galton replied. “I'm a tired man, and good + spirits and good temper seem to me about the biggest assets a man can + bring into a thing. I shouldn't have dared do it when I was your age. You + deserved the Victoria Cross,” he added, chuckling. + </p> + <p> + “What's the Victoria Cross?” asked Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “You'll find out when you go to England.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I'm not supposing that you don't know about how many billion things + I'll have to find out when I go to England.” + </p> + <p> + “There will be several thousand,” replied Galton moderately; “but you'll + learn about them as you go on.” + </p> + <p> + “Say,” said Tembarom, reflectively, “doesn't it seem queer to think of a + fellow having to keep up his spirits because he's fallen into three + hundred and fifty thousand a year? You wouldn't think he'd have to, would + you?” + </p> + <p> + “But you find he has?” queried Galton, interestedly. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom's lifted eyes were so honest that they were touching. + </p> + <p> + “I don't know where I'm at,” he said. “I'm going to wake up in a new place—like + people that die. If you knew what it was like, you wouldn't mind it so + much; but you don't know a blamed thing. It's not having seen a sample + that rattles you.” + </p> + <p> + “You're fond of New York?” + </p> + <p> + “Good Lord! it's all the place I know on earth, and it's just about good + enough for me, by gee! It's kept me alive when it might have starved me to + death. My! I've had good times here,” he added, flushing with emotion. + “Good times—when I hadn't a whole meal a day!” + </p> + <p> + “You'd have good times anywhere,” commented Galton, also with feeling. + “You carry them over your shoulder, and you share them with a lot of other + people.” + </p> + <p> + He certainly shared some with Joe Bennett, whom he took up-town and + introduced right and left to his friendly patrons, who, excited by the + atmosphere of adventure and prosperity, received him with open arms. To + have been the choice of T. Tembarom as a mere representative of the EARTH + would have been a great thing for Bennett, but to be the choice of the + hero of a romance of wildest opulence was a tremendous send-off. He was + accepted at once, and when Tembarom actually “stood for” a big farewell + supper of his own in “The Hall,” and nearly had his hand shaken off by + congratulating acquaintances, the fact that he kept the new aspirant by + his side, so that the waves of high popularity flowed over him until he + sometimes lost his joyful breath, established him as a sort of hero + himself. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Palford did not know of this festivity, as he also found he was not + told of several other things. This he counted as a feature of his client's + exoticism. His extraordinary lack of concealment of things vanity forbids + many from confessing combined itself with a quite cheerful power to keep + his own counsel when he was, for reasons of his own, so inclined. + </p> + <p> + “He can keep his mouth shut, that chap,” Hutchinson had said once, and Mr. + Palford remembered it. “Most of us can't. I've got a notion I can; but I + don't many's the time when I should. There's a lot more in him than you'd + think for. He's naught but a lad, but he is na half such a fool as he + looks.” + </p> + <p> + He was neither hesitant nor timid, Mr. Palford observed. In an entirely + unostentatious way he soon realized that his money gave things into his + hands. He knew he could do most things he chose to do, and that the power + to do them rested in these days with himself without the necessity of + detailed explanation or appeal to others, as in the case, for instance, of + this mysterious friend or protege whose name was Strangeways. Of the + history of his acquaintance with him Palford knew nothing, and that he + should choose to burden himself with a half-witted invalid—in these + terms the solicitor described him—was simply in-explainable. If he + had asked for advice or by his manner left an opening for the offering of + it, he would have been most strongly counseled to take him to a public + asylum and leave him there; but advice on the subject seemed the last + thing he desired or anticipated, and talk about his friend was what he + seemed least likely to indulge in. He made no secret of his intentions, + but he frankly took charge of them as his own special business, and left + the rest alone. + </p> + <p> + “Say nothing and saw wood,” Palford had once been a trifle puzzled by + hearing him remark casually, and he remembered it later, as he remembered + the comments of Joseph Hutchinson. Tembarom had explained himself to + Little Ann. + </p> + <p> + “You'll understand,” he said. “It is like this. I guess I feel like you do + when a dog or a cat in big trouble just looks at you as if you were all + they had, and they know if you don't stick by them they'll be killed, and + it just drives them crazy. It's the way they look at you that you can't + stand. I believe something would burst in that fellow's brain if I left + him. When he found out I was going to do it he'd just let out some awful + kind of a yell I'd remember till I died. I dried right up almost as soon + as I spoke of him to Palford. He couldn't see anything but that he was + crazy and ought to be put in an asylum. Well, he's not. There're times + when he talks to me almost sensible; only he's always so awful low down in + his mind you're afraid to let him go on. And he's a little bit better than + he was. It seems queer to get to like a man that's sort of dotty, but I + tell you, Ann, because you'll understand—I've got to sort of like + him, and want to see if I can work it out for him somehow. England seems + to sort of stick in his mind. If I can't spend my money in living the way + I want to live,—buying jewelry and clothes for the girl I'd like to + see dressed like a queen—I'm going to do this just to please myself. + I'm going to take him to England and keep him quiet and see what'll + happen. Those big doctors ought to know about all there is to know, and I + can pay them any old thing they want. By jings! isn't it the limit—to + sit here and say that and know it's true!” + </p> + <p> + Beyond the explaining of necessary detail to him and piloting him to + England, Mr. Palford did not hold himself many degrees responsible. His + theory of correct conduct assumed no form of altruism. He had formulated + it even before he reached middle age. One of his fixed rules was to avoid + the error of allowing sympathy or sentiment to hamper him with any + unnecessary burden. Natural tendency of temperament had placed no + obstacles in the way of his keeping this rule. To burden himself with the + instruction or modification of this unfortunately hopeless young New + Yorker would be unnecessary. Palford's summing up of him was that he was + of a type with which nothing palliative could be done. There he was. As + unavoidable circumstances forced one to take him,—commonness, + slanginess, appalling ignorance, and all,—one could not leave him. + Fortunately, no respectable legal firm need hold itself sponsor for a + “next of kin” provided by fate and the wilds of America. + </p> + <p> + The Temple Barholm estate had never, in Mr. Palford's generation, been + specially agreeable to deal with. The late Mr. Temple Temple Barholm had + been a client of eccentric and abominable temper. Interviews with him had + been avoided as much as possible. His domineering insolence of bearing had + at times been on the verge of precipitating unheard-of actions, because it + was almost more than gentlemanly legal flesh and blood could bear. And now + appeared this young man. + </p> + <p> + He rushed about New York strenuously attending to business concerning + himself and his extraordinary acquaintances, and on the day of the + steamer's sailing he presented himself at the last moment in an obviously + just purchased suit of horribly cut clothes. At all events, their cut was + horrible in the eyes of Mr. Palford, who accepted no cut but that of a + West End tailor. They were badly made things enough, because they were + unconsidered garments that Tembarom had barely found time to snatch from a + “ready-made” counter at the last moment. He had been too much “rushed” by + other things to remember that he must have them until almost too late to + get them at all. He bought them merely because they were clothes, and warm + enough to make a voyage in. He possessed a monster ulster, in which, to + Mr. Palford's mind, he looked like a flashy black-leg. He did not know it + was flashy. His opportunities for cultivating a refined taste in the + matter of wardrobe had been limited, and he had wasted no time in + fastidious consideration or regrets. Palford did him some injustice in + taking it for granted that his choice of costume was the result of + deliberate bad taste. It was really not choice at all. He neither liked + his clothes nor disliked them. He had been told he needed warm garments, + and he had accepted the advice of the first salesman who took charge of + him when he dropped into the big department store he was most familiar + with because it was the cheapest in town. Even when it was no longer + necessary to be cheap, it was time-saving and easy to go into a place one + knew. + </p> + <p> + The fact that he was as he was, and that they were the subjects of comment + and objects of unabated interest through-out the voyage, that it was + proper that they should be companions at table and on deck, filled Mr. + Palford with annoyed unease. + </p> + <p> + Of course every one on board was familiar with the story of the discovery + of the lost heir. The newspapers had reveled in it, and had woven romances + about it which might well have caused the deceased Mr. Temple Barholm to + turn in his grave. After the first day Tembarom had been picked out from + among the less-exciting passengers, and when he walked the deck, books + were lowered into laps or eyes followed him over their edges. His + steamer-chair being placed in a prominent position next to that of a + pretty, effusive Southern woman, the mother of three daughters whose eyes + and eyelashes attracted attention at the distance of a deck's length, he + was without undue delay provided with acquaintances who were prepared to + fill his every moment with entertainment. + </p> + <p> + “The three Gazelles,” as their mother playfully confided to Tembarom her + daughters were called in Charleston, were destructively lovely. They were + swaying reeds of grace, and being in radiant spirits at the prospect of + “going to Europe,” were companions to lure a man to any desperate lengths. + They laughed incessantly, as though they were chimes of silver bells; they + had magnolia-petal skins which neither wind nor sun blemished; they had + nice young manners, and soft moods in which their gazelle eyes melted and + glowed and their long lashes drooped. They could dance, they played on + guitars, and they sang. They were as adorable as they were lovely and gay. + </p> + <p> + “If a fellow was going to fall in love,” Tembarom said to Palford, + “there'd be no way out of this for him unless he climbed the rigging and + dragged his food up in a basket till he got to Liverpool. If he didn't go + crazy about Irene, he'd wake up raving about Honora; and if he got away + from Honora, Adelia Louise would have him `down on the mat.'” From which + Mr. Palford argued that the impression made by the little Miss Hutchinson + with the Manchester accent had not yet had time to obliterate itself. + </p> + <p> + The Gazelles were of generous Southern spirit, and did not surround their + prize with any barrier of precautions against other young persons of + charm. They introduced him to one girl after another, and in a day or two + he was the center of animated circles whenever he appeard. The singular + thing, however, was that he did not appear as often as the other men who + were on board. He seemed to stay a great deal with Strangeways, who shared + his suite of rooms and never came on deck. Sometimes the Gazelles prettily + reproached him. Adelia Louise suggested to the others that his lack of + advantages in the past had made him feel rather awkward and embarrassed; + but Palford knew he was not embarrassed. He accepted his own limitations + too simply to be disturbed by them. Palford would have been extremely + bored by him if he had been of the type of young outsider who is anxiouus + about himself and expansive in self-revelation and appeals for advice; but + sometimes Tembarom's air of frankness, which was really the least + expansive thing in the world and revealed nothing whatever, besides + concealing everything it chose, made him feel himself almost irritatingly + baffled. It would have been more natural if he had not been able to keep + anything to himself and had really talked too much. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X + </h2> + <p> + The necessary business in London having been transacted, Tembarom went + north to take possession of the home of his forefathers. It had rained for + two days before he left London, and it rained steadily all the way to + Lancashire, and was raining steadily when he reached Temple Barholm. He + had never seen such rain before. It was the quiet, unmoved persistence of + it which amazed him. As he sat in the railroad carriage and watched the + slanting lines of its unabating downpour, he felt that Mr. Palford must + inevitably make some remark upon it. But Mr. Palford continued to read his + newspapers undisturbedly, as though the condition of atmosphere + surrounding him were entirely accustomed and natural. It was of course + necessary and proper that he should accompany his client to his + destination, but the circumstances of the case made the whole situation + quite abnormal. Throughout the centuries each Temple Barholm had succeeded + to his estate in a natural and conventional manner. He had either been + welcomed or resented by his neighbors, his tenants, and his family, and + proper and fitting ceremonies had been observed. But here was an heir whom + nobody knew, whose very existence nobody had even suspected, a young man + who had been an outcast in the streets of the huge American city of which + lurid descriptions are given. Even in New York he could have produced no + circle other than Mrs. Bowse's boarding-house and the objects of interest + to the up-town page, so he brought no one with him; for Strangeways seemed + to have been mysteriously disposed of after their arrival in London. + </p> + <p> + Never had Palford & Grimby on their hands a client who seemed so + entirely alone. What, Mr. Palford asked himself, would he do in the + enormity of Temple Barholm, which always struck one as being a place + almost without limit. But that, after all, was neither here nor there. + There he was. You cannot undertake to provide a man with relatives if he + has none, or with acquaintances if people do not want to know him. His + past having been so extraordinary, the neighborhood would naturally be + rather shy of him. At first, through mere force of custom and respect for + an old name, punctilious, if somewhat alarmed, politeness would be shown + by most people; but after the first calls all would depend upon how much + people could stand of the man himself. + </p> + <p> + The aspect of the country on a wet winter's day was not enlivening. The + leafless and dripping hedges looked like bundles of sticks; the huge + trees, which in June would be majestic bowers of greenery, now held out + great skeleton arms, which seemed to menace both earth and sky. + Heavy-faced laborers tramped along muddy lanes; cottages with soaked bits + of dead gardens looked like hovels; big, melancholy cart-horses, dragging + jolting carts along the country roads, hung their heads as they splashed + through the mire. + </p> + <p> + As Tembarom had known few persons who had ever been out of America, he had + not heard that England was beautiful, and he saw nothing which led him to + suspect its charms. London had impressed him as gloomy, dirty, and behind + the times despite its pretensions; the country struck him as “the limit.” + Hully gee! was he going to be expected to spend his life in this! Should + he be obliged to spend his life in it. He'd find that out pretty quick, + and then, if there was no hard-and-fast law against it, him for little old + New York again, if he had to give up the whole thing and live on ten per. + If he had been a certain kind of youth, his discontent would have got the + better of him, and he might have talked a good deal to Mr. Palford and + said many disparaging things. + </p> + <p> + “But the man was born here,” he reflected. “I guess he doesn't know + anything else, and thinks it's all right. I've heard of English fellows + who didn't like New York. He looks like that kind.” + </p> + <p> + He had supplied himself with newspapers and tried to read them. Their + contents were as unexciting as the rain-sodden landscape. There were no + head-lines likely to arrest any man's attention. There was a lot about + Parliament and the Court, and one of them had a column or two about what + lords and ladies were doing, a sort of English up-town or down-town page. + </p> + <p> + He knew the stuff, but there was no snap in it, and there were no + photographs or descriptions of dresses. Galton would have turned it down. + He could never have made good if he had done no better than that. He + grinned to himself when he read that the king had taken a drive and that a + baby prince had the measles. + </p> + <p> + “I wonder what they'd think of the Sunday Earth,” he mentally inquired. + </p> + <p> + He would have been much at sea if he had discovered what they really would + have thought of it. They passed through smoke-vomiting manufacturing + towns, where he saw many legs seemingly bearing about umbrellas, but few + entire people; they whizzed smoothly past drenched suburbs, wet woodlands, + and endless-looking brown moors, covered with dead bracken and bare and + prickly gorse. He thought these last great desolate stretches worse than + all the rest. + </p> + <p> + But the railroad carriage was luxuriously upholstered and comfortable, + though one could not walk about and stretch his legs. In the afternoon, + Mr. Palford ordered in tea, and plainly expected him to drink two cups and + eat thin bread and butter. He felt inclined to laugh, though the tea was + all right, and so was the bread and butter, and he did not fail his + companion in any respect. The inclination to laugh was aroused by the + thought of what Jim Bowles and Julius would say if they could see old T. + T. with nothing to do at 4:30 but put in cream and sugar, as though he + were at a tea-party on Fifth Avenue. + </p> + <p> + But, gee! this rain did give him the Willies. If he was going to be sorry + for himself, he might begin right now. But he wasn't. He was going to see + this thing through. + </p> + <p> + The train had been continuing its smooth whir through fields, wooded + lands, and queer, dead-and-alive little villages for some time before it + drew up at last at a small station. Bereft by the season of its garden + bloom and green creepers, it looked a bare and uninviting little place. On + the two benches against the wall of the platform a number of women sat + huddled together in the dampness. Several of them held children in their + laps and all stared very hard, nudging one another as he descended from + the train. A number of rustics stood about the platform, giving it a + somewhat crowded air. It struck Tembarom that, for an out-of-the-way + place, there seemed to be a good many travelers, and he wondered if they + could all be going away. He did not know that they were the curious + element among such as lived in the immediate neighborhood of the station + and had come out merely to see him on his first appearance. Several of + them touched their hats as he went by, and he supposed they knew Palford + and were saluting him. Each of them was curious, but no one was in a + particularly welcoming mood. There was, indeed, no reason for anticipating + enthusiasm. It was, however, but human nature that the bucolic mind should + bestir itself a little in the desire to obtain a view of a Temple Barholm + who had earned his living by blacking boots and selling newspapers, + unknowing that he was “one o' th' gentry.” + </p> + <p> + When he stepped from his first-class carriage, Tembarom found himself + confronted by a very straight, clean-faced, and well-built young man, who + wore a long, fawn-colored livery coat with claret facings and silver + buttons. He touched his cockaded hat, and at once took up the Gladstone + bags. Tembarom knew that he was a footman because he had seen something + like him outside restaurants, theaters, and shops in New York, but he was + not sure whether he ought to touch his own hat or not. He slightly lifted + it from his head to show there was no ill feeling, and then followed him + and Mr. Palford to the carriage waiting for them. It was a severe but + sumptuous equipage, and the coachman was as well dressed and well built as + the footman. Tembarom took his place in it with many mental reservations. + </p> + <p> + “What are the illustrations on the doors?” he inquired. + </p> + <p> + “The Temple Barholm coat of arms,” Mr. Palford answered. “The people at + the station are your tenants. Members of the family of the stout man with + the broad hat have lived as yeoman farmers on your land for three hundred + years.” + </p> + <p> + They went on their way, with more rain, more rain, more dripping hedges, + more soaked fields, and more bare, huge-armed trees. CLOP, CLOP, CLOP, + sounded the horses' hoofs along the road, and from his corner of the + carriage Mr. Palford tried to make polite conversation. Faces peered out + of the windows of the cottages, sometimes a whole family group of faces, + all crowded together, eager to look, from the mother with a baby in her + arms to the old man or woman, plainly grandfather or grandmother—sharp, + childishly round, or bleared old eyes, all excited and anxious to catch + glimpses. + </p> + <p> + “They are very curious to see you,” said Mr. Palford. “Those two laborers + are touching their hats to you. It will be as well to recognize their + salute.” + </p> + <p> + At a number of the cottage doors the group stood upon the threshold and + touched foreheads or curtsied. Tembarom saluted again and again, and more + than once his friendly grin showed itself. It made him feel queer to drive + along, turning from side to side to acknowledge obeisances, as he had seen + a well-known military hero acknowledge them as he drove down Broadway. + </p> + <p> + The chief street of the village of Temple Barholm wandered almost within + hailing distance of the great entrance to the park. The gates were + supported by massive pillars, on which crouched huge stone griffins. + Tembarom felt that they stared savagely over his head as he was driven + toward them as for inspection, and in disdainful silence allowed to pass + between them as they stood on guard, apparently with the haughtiest mental + reservations. + </p> + <p> + The park through which the long avenue rolled concealed its beauty to the + unaccustomed eye, showing only more bare trees and sodden stretches of + brown grass. The house itself, as it loomed up out of the thickening + rain-mist, appalled Tembarom by its size and gloomily gray massiveness. + Before it was spread a broad terrace of stone, guarded by more griffins of + even more disdainful aspect than those watching over the gates. The stone + noses held themselves rigidly in the air as the reporter of the up-town + society page passed with Mr. Palford up a flight of steps broad enough to + make him feel as though he were going to church. Footmen with powdered + heads received him at the carriage door, seemed to assist him to move, to + put one foot before the other for him, to stand in rows as though they + were a military guard ready to take him into custody. + </p> + <p> + Then he was inside, standing in an enormous hall filled with furnishings + such as he had never seen or heard of before. Carved oak, suits of armor, + stone urns, portraits, another flight of church steps mounting upward to + surrounding galleries, stained-glass windows, tigers' and lions' heads, + horns of tremendous size, strange and beautiful weapons, suggested to him + that the dream he had been living in for weeks had never before been so + much a dream. He had walked about as in a vision, but among familiar + surroundings. Mrs. Bowse's boarders and his hall bedroom had helped him to + retain some hold over actual existence. But here the reverently saluting + villagers staring at him through windows as though he were General Grant, + the huge, stone entrance, the drive of what seemed to be ten miles through + the park, the gloomy mass of architecture looming up, the regiment of + liveried men-servants, with respectfully lowered but excitedly curious + eyes, the dark and solemn richness inclosing and claiming him—all + this created an atmosphere wholly unreal. As he had not known books, its + parallel had not been suggested to him by literature. He had literally not + heard that such things existed. Selling newspapers and giving every moment + to the struggle for life or living, one did not come within the range of + splendors. He had indeed awakened in that other world of which he had + spoken. And though he had heard that there was another world, he had had + neither time nor opportunity to make mental pictures of it. His life so + far had expressed itself in another language of figures. The fact that he + had in his veins the blood of the Norman lords and Saxon kings may or may + not have had something to do with the fact that he was not abashed, but + bewildered. The same factor may or may not have aided him to preserve a + certain stoic, outward composure. Who knows what remote influences express + themselves in common acts of modern common life? As Cassivellaunus + observed his surroundings as he followed in captive chains his conqueror's + triumphal car through the streets of Rome, so the keen-eyed product of New + York pavement life “took in” all about him. Existence had forced upon him + the habit of sharp observance. The fundamental working law of things had + expressed itself in the simple colloquialism, “Keep your eye skinned, and + don't give yourself away.” In what phrases the parallel of this concise + advice formulated itself in 55 B.C. no classic has yet exactly informed + us, but doubtless something like it was said in ancient Rome. Tembarom did + not give himself away, and he took rapid, if uncertain, inventory of + people and things. He remarked, for instance, that Palford's manner of + speaking to a servant was totally different from the manner he used in + addressing himself. It was courteous, but remote, as though he spoke + across an accepted chasm to beings of another race. There was no hint of + incivility in it, but also no hint of any possibility that it could occur + to the person addressed to hesitate or resent. It was a subtle thing, and + Tembarom wondered how he did it. + </p> + <p> + They were shown into a room the walls of which seemed built of books; the + furniture was rich and grave and luxuriously comfortable. A fire blazed as + well as glowed in a fine chimney, and a table near it was set with a + glitter of splendid silver urn and equipage for tea. + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Butterworth was afraid you might not have been able to get tea, + sir,” said the man-servant, who did not wear livery, but whose butler's + air of established authority was more impressive than any fawn color and + claret enriched with silver could have encompassed. + </p> + <p> + Tea again? Perhaps one was obliged to drink it at regular intervals. + Tembarom for a moment did not awaken to the fact that the man was speaking + to him, as the master from whom orders came. He glanced at Mr. Palford. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Temple Barholm had tea after we left Crowly,” Mr. Palford said. “He + will no doubt wish to go to his room at once, Burrill.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir,” said Burrill, with that note of entire absence of comment with + which Tembarom later became familiar. “Pearson is waiting.” + </p> + <p> + It was not unnatural to wonder who Pearson was and why he was waiting, but + Tembarom knew he would find out. There was a slight relief on realizing + that tea was not imperative. He and Mr. Palford were led through the hall + again. The carriage had rolled away, and two footmen, who were talking + confidentially together, at once stood at attention. The staircase was + more imposing as one mounted it than it appeared as one looked at it from + below. Its breadth made Tembarom wish to lay a hand on a balustrade, which + seemed a mile away. He had never particularly wished to touch balustrades + before. At the head of the first flight hung an enormous piece of + tapestry, its forest and hunters and falconers awakening Tembarom's + curiosity, as it looked wholly unlike any picture he had ever seen in a + shop-window. There were pictures everywhere, and none of them looked like + chromos. Most of the people in the portraits were in fancy dress. Rumors + of a New York millionaire ball had given him some vague idea of fancy + dress. A lot of them looked like freaks. He caught glimpses of corridors + lighted by curious, high, deep windows with leaded panes. It struck him + that there was no end to the place, and that there must be rooms enough in + it for a hotel. + </p> + <p> + “The tapestry chamber, of course, Burrill,” he heard Mr. Palford say in a + low tone. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir. Mr. Temple Barholm always used it.” + </p> + <p> + A few yards farther on a door stood open, revealing an immense room, rich + and gloomy with tapestry-covered walls and dark oak furniture. A bed which + looked to Tembarom incredibly big, with its carved oak canopy and massive + posts, had a presiding personality of its own. It was mounted by steps, + and its hangings and coverlid were of embossed velvet, time-softened to + the perfection of purples and blues. A fire enriched the color of + everything, and did its best to drive the shadows away. Deep windows + opened either into the leafless boughs of close-growing trees or upon + outspread spaces of heavily timbered park, where gaunt, though + magnificent, bare branches menaced and defied. A slim, neat young man, + with a rather pale face and a touch of anxiety in his expression, came + forward at once. + </p> + <p> + “This is Pearson, who will valet you,” exclaimed Mr. Palford. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, sir,” said Pearson in a low, respectful voice. His manner was + correctness itself. + </p> + <p> + There seemed to Mr. Palford to be really nothing else to say. He wanted, + in fact, to get to his own apartment and have a hot bath and a rest before + dinner. + </p> + <p> + “Where am I, Burrill?” he inquired as he turned to go down the corridor. + </p> + <p> + “The crimson room, sir,” answered Burrill, and he closed the door of the + tapestry chamber and shut Tembarom in alone with Pearson. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI + </h2> + <p> + For a few moments the two young men looked at each other, Pearson's gaze + being one of respectfulness which hoped to propitiate, if propitiation was + necessary, though Pearson greatly trusted it was not. Tembarom's was the + gaze of hasty investigation and inquiry. He suddenly thought that it would + have been “all to the merry” if somebody had “put him on to” a sort of + idea of what was done to a fellow when he was “valeted.” A valet, he had + of course gathered, waited on one somehow and looked after one's clothes. + But were there by chance other things he expected to do,—manicure + one's nails or cut one's hair,—and how often did he do it, and was + this the day? He was evidently there to do something, or he wouldn't have + been waiting behind the door to pounce out the minute he appeared, and + when the other two went away, Burrill wouldn't have closed the door as + solemnly as though he shut the pair of them in together to get through + some sort of performance. + </p> + <p> + “Here's where T. T. begins to feel like a fool,” he thought. “And here's + where there's no way out of looking like one. I don't know a thing.” + </p> + <p> + But personal vanity was not so strong in him as healthy and normal good + temper. Despite the fact that the neat correctness of Pearson's style and + the finished expression of his neat face suggested that he was of a class + which knew with the most finished exactness all that custom and propriety + demanded on any occasion on which “valeting” in its most occult branches + might be done, he was only “another fellow,” after all, and must be human. + So Tembarom smiled at him. + </p> + <p> + “Hello, Pearson,” he said. “How are you?” + </p> + <p> + Pearson slightly started. It was the tiniest possible start, quite + involuntary, from which he recovered instantly, to reply in a tone of + respectful gratefulness: + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, sir, very well; thank you, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “That's all right,” answered Tembarom, a sense of relief because he'd “got + started” increasing the friendliness of his smile. “I see you got my trunk + open,” he said, glancing at some articles of clothing neatly arranged upon + the bed. + </p> + <p> + Pearson was slightly alarmed. It occurred to him suddenly that perhaps it + was not the custom in America to open a gentleman's box and lay out his + clothes for him. For special reasons he was desperately anxious to keep + his place, and above all things he felt he must avoid giving offense by + doing things which, by being too English, might seem to cast shades of + doubt on the entire correctness of the customs of America. He had known + ill feeling to arise between “gentlemen's gentlemen” in the servants' hall + in the case of slight differences in customs, contested with a bitterness + of feeling which had made them almost an international question. There had + naturally been a great deal of talk about the new Mr. Temple Barholm and + what might be expected of him. When a gentleman was not a gentleman,—this + was the form of expression in “the hall,”—the Lord only knew what + would happen. And this one, who had, for all one knew, been born in a + workhouse, and had been a boot-black kicked about in American streets,—they + did not know Tembarom,—and nearly starved to death, and found at + last in a low lodging-house, what could he know about decent living? And + ten to one he'd be American enough to swagger and bluster and pretend he + knew everything better than any one else, and lose his temper frightfully + when he made mistakes, and try to make other people seem to blame. Set a + beggar on horseback, and who didn't know what he was? There were chances + enough and to spare that not one of them would be able to stand it, and + that in a month's time they would all be looking for new places. + </p> + <p> + So while Tembarom was rather afraid of Pearson and moved about in an awful + state of uncertainty, Pearson was horribly afraid of Tembarom, and was, in + fact, in such a condition of nervous anxiety that he was obliged more than + once furtively to apply to his damp, pale young forehead his exceedingly + fresh and spotless pocket-handkerchief. + </p> + <p> + In the first place, there was the wardrobe. What COULD he do? How could he + approach the subject with sufficient delicacy? Mr. Temple Barholm had + brought with him only a steamer trunk and a Gladstone bag, the latter + evidently bought in London, to be stuffed with hastily purchased + handkerchiefs and shirts, worn as they came out of the shop, and as + evidently bought without the slightest idea of the kind of linen a + gentleman should own. What most terrified Pearson, who was of a timid and + most delicate-minded nature, was that having the workhouse and the + boot-blacking as a background, the new Mr. Temple Barholm COULDN'T know, + as all this had come upon him so suddenly. And was it to be Pearson's + calamitous duty to explain to him that he had NOTHING, that he apparently + KNEW nothing, and that as he had no friends who knew, a mere common + servant must educate him, if he did not wish to see him derided and looked + down upon and actually “cut” by gentlemen that WERE gentlemen? All this to + say nothing of Pearson's own well-earned reputation for knowledge of + custom, intelligence, and deftness in turning out the objects of his care + in such form as to be a reference in themselves when a new place was + wanted. Of course sometimes there were even real gentlemen who were most + careless and indifferent to appearance, and who, if left to themselves, + would buy garments which made the blood run cold when one realized that + his own character and hopes for the future often depended upon his latest + employer's outward aspect. But the ulster in which Mr. Temple Barholm had + presented himself was of a cut and material such as Pearson's most + discouraged moments had never forced him to contemplate. The limited + wardrobe in the steamer trunk was all new and all equally bad. There was + no evening dress, no proper linen,—not what Pearson called “proper,”—no + proper toilet appurtenances. What was Pearson called upon by duty to do? + If he had only had the initiative to anticipate this, he might have asked + permission to consult in darkest secrecy with Mr. Palford. But he had + never dreamed of such a situation, and apparently he would be obliged to + send his new charge down to his first dinner in the majestically decorous + dining-room, “before all the servants,” in a sort of speckled tweed + cutaway, with a brown necktie. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom, realizing without delay that Pearson did not expect to be talked + to and being cheered by the sight of the fire, sat down before it in an + easy-chair the like of which for luxurious comfort he had never known. He + was, in fact, waiting for developments. Pearson would say or do something + shortly which would give him a chance to “catch on,” or perhaps he'd go + out of the room and leave him to himself, which would be a thing to thank + God for. Then he could wash his face and hands, brush his hair, and wait + till the dinner-bell rang. They'd be likely to have one. They'd have to in + a place like this. + </p> + <p> + But Pearson did not go out of the room. He moved about behind him for a + short time with footfall so almost entirely soundless that Tembarom became + aware that, if it went on long, he should be nervous; in fact, he was + nervous already. He wanted to know what he was doing. He could scarcely + resist the temptation to turn his head and look; but he did not want to + give himself away more entirely than was unavoidable, and, besides, + instinct told him that he might frighten Pearson, who looked frightened + enough, in a neat and well-mannered way, already. Hully gee! how he wished + he would go out of the room! + </p> + <p> + But he did not. There were gently gliding footsteps of Pearson behind him, + quiet movements which would have seemed stealthy if they had been a + burglar's, soft removals of articles from one part of the room to another, + delicate brushings, and almost noiseless foldings. Now Pearson was near + the bed, now he had opened a wardrobe, now he was looking into the steamer + trunk, now he had stopped somewhere behind him, within a few yards of his + chair. Why had he ceased moving? What was he looking at? What kept him + quiet? + </p> + <p> + Tembarom expected him to begin stirring mysteriously again; but he did + not. Why did he not? There reigned in the room entire silence; no soft + footfalls, no brushing, no folding. Was he doing nothing? Had he got hold + of something which had given him a fit? There had been no sound of a fall; + but perhaps even if an English valet had a fit, he'd have it so quietly + and respectfully that one wouldn't hear it. Tembarom felt that he must be + looking at the back of his head, and he wondered what was the matter with + it. Was his hair cut in a way so un-English that it had paralyzed him? The + back of his head began to creep under an investigation so prolonged. No + sound at all, no movement. Tembarom stealthily took out his watch—good + old Waterbury he wasn't going to part with—and began to watch the + minute-hand. If nothing happened in three minutes he was going to turn + round. One—two—three—and the silence made it seem + fifteen. He returned his Waterbury to his pocket and turned round. + </p> + <p> + Pearson was not dead. He was standing quite still and resigned, waiting. + It was his business to wait, not to intrude or disturb, and having put + everything in order and done all he could do, he was waiting for further + commands—in some suspense, it must be admitted. + </p> + <p> + “Hello!” exclaimed Tembarom, involuntarily. + </p> + <p> + “Shall I get your bath ready, sir?” inquired Pearson. “Do you like it hot + or cold, sir?” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom drew a relieved breath. He hadn't dropped dead and he hadn't had + a fit, and here was one of the things a man did when he valeted you—he + got your bath ready. A hasty recollection of the much-used, paint-smeared + tin bath on the fourth floor of Mrs. Bowse's boarding-house sprang up + before him. Everybody had to use it in turn, and you waited hours for the + chance to make a dash into it. No one stood still and waited fifteen + minutes until you got good and ready to tell him he could go and turn on + the water. Gee whizz! + </p> + <p> + Being relieved himself, he relieved Pearson by telling him he might “fix + it” for him, and that he would have hot water. + </p> + <p> + “Very good, sir. Thank you, sir,” said Pearson, and silently left the + room. + </p> + <p> + Then Tembarom got up from his chair and began to walk about rather + restlessly. A new alarm seized him. Did Pearson expect to WASH him or to + stand round and hand him soap and towels and things while he washed + himself? + </p> + <p> + If it was supposed that you hadn't the strength to turn the faucets + yourself, it might be supposed you didn't have the energy to use a + flesh-brush and towels. Did valeting include a kind of shampoo all over? + </p> + <p> + “I couldn't stand for that,” he said. “I'd have to tell him there'd been + no Turkish baths in mine, and I'm not trained up to them. When I've got on + to this kind of thing a bit more, I'll make him understand what I'm NOT in + for; but I don't want to scare the life out of him right off. He looks + like a good little fellow.” + </p> + <p> + But Pearson's duties as valet did not apparently include giving him his + bath by sheer physical force. He was deft, calm, amenable. He led Tembarom + down the corridor to the bath-room, revealed to him stores of sumptuous + bath-robes and towels, hot-and cold-water faucets, sprays, and tonic + essences. He forgot nothing and, having prepared all, mutely vanished, and + returned to the bedroom to wait—and gaze in troubled wonder at the + speckled tweed cutaway. There was an appalling possibility—he was + aware that he was entirely ignorant of American customs—that tweed + was the fashionable home evening wear in the States. Tembarom, returning + from his bath much refreshed after a warm plunge and a cold shower, + evidently felt that as a costume it was all that could be desired. + </p> + <p> + “Will you wear—these, sir,—this evening?” Pearson suggested. + </p> + <p> + It was suggestive of more than actual inquiry. If he had dared to hope + that his manner might suggest a number of things! For instance, that in + England gentlemen really didn't wear tweed in the evening even in private. + That through some unforeseen circumstances his employer's evening-dress + suit had been delayed, but would of course arrive to-morrow! + </p> + <p> + But Tembarom, physically stimulated by hot and cold water, and relief at + being left alone, was beginning to recover his natural buoyancy. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I'll wear 'em,” he answered, snatching at his hairbrush and + beginning to brush his damp hair. It was a wooden-backed brush that + Pearson had found in his Gladstone bag and shudderingly laid in readiness + on the dressing-table. “I guess they're all right, ain't they?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, quite right, sir, quite,” Pearson ventured—“for morning wear.” + </p> + <p> + “Morning?” said Tembarom, brushing vigorously. “Not night?” + </p> + <p> + “Black, sir,” most delicately hinted Pearson, “is—more usual—in + the evening—in England.” After which he added, “So to speak,” with a + vague hope that the mollifying phrase might counteract the effect of any + apparently implied aspersion on colors preferred in America. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom ceased brushing his hair, and looked at him in good-natured + desire for information. + </p> + <p> + “Frock-coats or claw-hammer?” he asked. Despite his natural anxiety, and + in the midst of it, Pearson could not but admit that he had an + uncondemnatory voice and a sort of young way with him which gave one + courage. But he was not quite sure of “claw-hammer.” + </p> + <p> + “Frock-coats for morning dress and afternoon wear, sir,” he ventured. “The + evening cut, as you know, is—” + </p> + <p> + “Claw-hammer. Swallow-tail, I guess you say here,” Tembarom ended for him, + quite without hint of rancor, he was rejoiced to see. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir,” said Pearson. + </p> + <p> + The ceremony of dressing proved a fearsome thing as it went on. Pearson + moved about deftly and essayed to do things for the new Mr. Temple Barholm + which the new Mr. Temple Barholm had never heard of a man not doing for + himself. He reached for things Pearson was about to hand to him or hold + for him. He unceremoniously achieved services for himself which it was + part of Pearson's manifest duty to perform. They got into each other's + way; there was even danger sometimes of their seeming to snatch things + from each other, to Pearson's unbounded horror. Mr. Temple Barholm did not + express any irritation whatsoever misunderstandings took place, but he + held his mouth rather close-shut, and Pearson, not aware that he did this + as a precaution against open grinning or shouts of laughter as he found + himself unable to adjust himself to his attendant's movements, thought it + possible that he was secretly annoyed and regarded the whole matter with + disfavor. But when the dressing was at an end and he stood ready to go + down in all his innocent ignoring of speckled tweed and brown necktie, he + looked neither flurried nor out of humor, and he asked a question in a + voice which was actually friendly. It was a question dealing with an + incident which had aroused much interest in the servants' hall as + suggesting a touch of mystery. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Strangeways came yesterday all right, didn't he?” he inquired. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir,” Pearson answered. “Mr. Hutchinson and his daughter came with + him. They call her `Little Ann Hutchinson.' She's a sensible little thing, + sir, and she seemed to know exactly what you'd want done to make him + comfortable. Mrs. Butterworth put him in the west room, sir, and I valeted + him. He was not very well when he came, but he seems better to-day, sir, + only he's very anxious to see you.” + </p> + <p> + “That's all right,” said Tembarom. “You show me his room. I'll go and see + him now.” + </p> + <p> + And being led by Pearson, he went without delay. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII + </h2> + <p> + The chief objection to Temple Barholm in Tembarom's mind was that it was + too big for any human use. That at least was how it struck him. The + entrance was too big, the stairs were too wide, the rooms too broad and + too long and too high to allow of eyes accustomed to hall bedrooms + adjusting their vision without discomfort. The dining-room in which the + new owner took his first meal in company with Mr. Palford, and attended by + the large, serious man who wore no livery and three tall footmen who did, + was of a size and stateliness which made him feel homesick for Mrs. + Bowse's dining-room, with its two hurried, incompetent, and often-changed + waitresses and its prevailing friendly custom of pushing things across the + table to save time. Meals were quickly disposed of at Mrs. Bowse's. + Everybody was due up-town or down-town, and regarded food as an + unavoidable, because necessary, interference with more urgent business. At + Temple Barholm one sat half the night—this was the impression made + upon Tembarom—watching things being brought in and taken out of the + room, carved on a huge buffet, and passed from one man to another; and + when they were brought solemnly to you, if you turned them down, it seemed + that the whole ceremony had to be gone through with again. All sorts of + silver knives, forks, and spoons were given to one and taken away, and + half a dozen sorts of glasses stood by your plate; and if you made a move + to do anything for yourself, the man out of livery stopped you as though + you were too big a fool to be trusted. The food was all right, but when + you knew what anything was, and were inclined to welcome it as an old + friend, it was given to you in some way that made you get rattled. With + all the swell dishes, you had no butter-plate, and ice seemed scarce, and + the dead, still way the servants moved about gave you a sort of feeling + that you were at a funeral and that it wasn't decent to talk so long as + the remains were in the room. The head-man and the foot-men seemed to get + on by signs, though Tembarom never saw them making any; and their faces + never changed for a moment. Once or twice he tried a joke, addressing it + to Mr. Palford, to see what would happen. But as Mr. Palford did not seem + to see the humor of it, and gave him the “glassy eye,” and neither the + head-man nor the footmen seemed to hear it, he thought that perhaps they + didn't know it was a joke; and if they didn't, and they thought anything + at all, they must think he was dippy. The dinner was a deadly, though + sumptuous, meal, and long drawn out, when measured by meals at Mrs. + Bowse's. He did not know, as Mr. Palford did, that it was perfect, and + served with a finished dexterity that was also perfection. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Palford, however, was himself relieved when it was at an end. He had + sat at dinner with the late Mr. Temple Barholm in his day, and had seen + him also served by the owners of impassive countenances; but he had been + aware that whatsoever of secret dislike and resentment was concealed by + them, there lay behind their immovability an acceptance of the fact that + he represented, even in his most objectionable humors, centuries of + accustomedness to respectful service and of knowledge of his right and + power to claim it. The solicitor was keenly aware of the silent comments + being made upon the tweed suit and brown necktie and on the manner in + which their wearer boldly chose the wrong fork or erroneously made use of + a knife or spoon. Later in the evening, in the servants' hall, the comment + would not be silent, and there could be no doubt of what its character + would be. There would be laughter and the relating of incidents. + Housemaids and still-room maids would giggle, and kitchen-maids and + boot-boys would grin and whisper in servile tribute to the witticisms of + the superior servants. + </p> + <p> + After dinner the rest of the evening could at least be spent in talk about + business matters. There still remained details to be enlarged upon before + Palford himself returned to Lincoln's Inn and left Mr. Temple Barholm to + the care of the steward of his estate. It was not difficult to talk to him + when the sole subject of conversation was of a business nature. + </p> + <p> + Before they parted for the night the mystery of the arrangements made for + Strangeways had been cleared. In fact, Mr. Temple Barholm made no mystery + of them. He did not seem ignorant of the fact that what he had chosen to + do was unusual, but he did not appear hampered or embarrassed by the + knowledge. His remarks on the subject were entirely civil and were far + from actually suggesting that his singular conduct was purely his own + business and none of his solicitor's; but for a moment or so Mr. Palford + was privately just a trifle annoyed. The Hutchinsons had traveled from + London with Strangeways in their care the day before. He would have been + unhappy and disturbed if he had been obliged to travel with Mr. Palford, + who was a stranger to him, and Miss Hutchinson had a soothing effect on + him. Strangeways was for the present comfortably installed as a guest of + the house, Miss Hutchinson having talked to the housekeeper, Mrs. + Butterworth, and to Pearson. What the future held for him Mr. Temple + Barholm did not seem to feel the necessity of going into. He left him + behind as a subject, and went on talking cheerfully of other things almost + as if he had forgotten him. + </p> + <p> + They had their coffee in the library, and afterward sat at the + writing-table and looked over documents and talked until Mr. Palford felt + that he could quite decorously retire to his bedroom. He was glad to be + relieved of his duties, and Tembarom was amiably resigned to parting with + him. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom did not go up-stairs at once himself. He sat by the fire and + smoked several pipes of tobacco and thought things over. There were a lot + of things to think over, and several decisions to make, and he thought it + would be a good idea to pass them in review. The quiet of the dead + surrounded him. In a house the size of this the servants were probably + half a mile away. They'd need trolleys to get to one, he thought, if you + rang for them in a hurry. If an armed burglar made a quiet entry without + your knowing it, he could get in some pretty rough work before any of the + seventy-five footmen could come to lend a hand. He was not aware that + there were two of them standing in waiting in the hall, their powdered + heads close together, so that their whispers and chuckles could be heard. + A sound of movement in the library would have brought them up standing to + a decorous attitude of attention conveying to the uninitiated the + impression that they had not moved for hours. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes as he sat in the big morocco chair, T. Tembarom looked grave + enough; sometimes he looked as though he was confronting problems which + needed puzzling out and with which he was not making much headway; + sometimes he looked as though he was thinking of little Ann Hutchinson, + and not infrequently he grinned. Here he was up to the neck in it, and he + was darned if he knew what he was going to do. He didn't know a soul, and + nobody knew him. He didn't know a thing he ought to know, and he didn't + know any one who could tell him. Even the Hutchinsons had never been + inside a place like Temple Barholm, and they were going back to Manchester + after a few weeks' stay at the grandmother's cottage. + </p> + <p> + Before he had left New York he had seen Hadman and some other fellows and + got things started, so that there was an even chance that the invention + would be put on its feet. He had worked hard and used his own power to + control money in the future as a lever which had proved to be exactly what + was needed. + </p> + <p> + Hadman had been spurred and a little startled when he realized the + magnitude of what really could be done, and saw also that this slangy, + moneyed youth was not merely an enthusiastic fool, but saw into business + schemes pretty sharply and was of a most determined readiness. With this + power ranging itself on the side of Hutchinson and his invention, it was + good business to begin to move, if one did not want to run a chance of + being left out in the cold. + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson had gone to Manchester, and there had been barely time for a + brief but characteristic interview between him and Tembarom, when he + rushed back to London. Tembarom felt rather excited when he remembered it, + recalling what he had felt in confronting the struggles against emotion in + the blunt-featured, red face, the breaks in the rough voice, the charging + up and down the room like a curiously elated bull in a china shop, and the + big effort to restrain relief and gratitude the degree of which might seem + to under-value the merits of the invention itself. + </p> + <p> + Once or twice when he looked serious, Tembarom was thinking this over, and + also once or twice when he grinned. Relief and gratitude notwithstanding, + Hutchinson had kept him in his place, and had not made unbounded efforts + to conceal his sense of the incongruity of his position as the controller + of fortunes and the lord of Temple Barholm, which was still vaguely + flavored with indignation. + </p> + <p> + When he had finished his last pipe, Tembarom rose and knocked the ashes + out of it. + </p> + <p> + “Now for Pearson,” he said. + </p> + <p> + He had made up his mind to have a talk with Pearson, and there was no use + wasting time. If things didn't suit you, the best thing was to see what + you could do to fix them right away—if it wasn't against the law. He + went out into the hall, and seeing the two footmen standing waiting, he + spoke to them. + </p> + <p> + “Say, I didn't know you fellows were there,” he said. “Are you waiting up + for me? Well, you can go to bed, the sooner the quicker. Good night.” And + he went up-stairs whistling. + </p> + <p> + The glow and richness and ceremonial order of preparation in his bedroom + struck him as soon as he opened the door. Everything which could possibly + have been made ready for his most luxurious comfort had been made ready. + He did not, it is true, care much for the huge bed with its carved oak + canopy and massive pillars. + </p> + <p> + “But the lying-down part looks about all right,” he said to himself. + </p> + <p> + The fine linen, the soft pillows, the downy blankets, would have allured + even a man who was not tired. The covering had been neatly turned back and + the snowy whiteness opened. That was English, he supposed. They hadn't got + on to that at Mrs. Bowse's. + </p> + <p> + “But I guess a plain little old New York sleep will do,” he said. “Temple + Barholm or no Temple Barholm, I guess they can't change that.” + </p> + <p> + Then there sounded a quiet knock at the door. He knew who it would turn + out to be, and he was not mistaken. Pearson stood in the corridor, wearing + his slightly anxious expression, but ready for orders. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Temple Barholm looked down at him with a friendly, if unusual, air. + </p> + <p> + “Say, Pearson,” he announced, “if you've come to wash my face and put my + hair up in crimping-pins, you needn't do it, because I'm not used to it. + But come on in.” + </p> + <p> + If he had told Pearson to enter and climb the chimney, it cannot be said + that the order would have been obeyed upon the spot, but Pearson would + certainly have hesitated and explained with respectful delicacy the fact + that the task was not “his place.” He came into the room. + </p> + <p> + “I came to see, if I could do anything further and—” making a + courageous onslaught upon the situation for which he had been preparing + himself for hours—“and also—if it is not too late—to + venture to trouble you with regard to your wardrobe.” He coughed a low, + embarrassed cough. “In unpacking, sir, I found—I did not find—” + </p> + <p> + “You didn't find much, did you?” Tembarom assisted him. + </p> + <p> + “Of course, sir,” Pearson apologized, “leaving New York so hurriedly, your—your + man evidently had not time to—er—” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom looked at him a few seconds longer, as if making up his mind to + something. Then he threw himself easily into the big chair by the fire, + and leaned back in it with the frankest and best-natured smile possible. + </p> + <p> + “I hadn't any man,” he said. “Say, Pearson,” waving his hand to another + chair near by, “suppose you take a seat.” + </p> + <p> + Long and careful training came to Pearson's aid and supported him, but he + was afraid that he looked nervous, and certainly there was a lack of + entire calm in his voice. + </p> + <p> + “I—thank you, sir,—I think I'd better stand, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “Why?” inquired Tembarom, taking his tobacco-pouch out of his pocket and + preparing to fill another pipe. + </p> + <p> + “You're most kind, sir, but—but—” in impassioned embarrassment—“I + should really PREFER to stand, sir, if you don't mind. I should feel more—more + at 'ome, sir,” he added, dropping an h in his agitation. + </p> + <p> + “Well, if you'd like it better, that's all right,” yielded Mr. Temple + Barholm, stuffing tobacco into the pipe. Pearson darted to a table, + produced a match, struck it, and gave it to him. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you,” said Tembarom, still good-naturedly. “But there are a few + things I've GOT to say to you RIGHT now.” + </p> + <p> + Pearson had really done his best, his very best, but he was terrified + because of the certain circumstances once before referred to. + </p> + <p> + “I beg pardon, sir,” he appealed, “but I am most anxious to give + satisfaction in every respect.” He WAS, poor young man, horribly anxious. + “To-day being only the first day, I dare say I have not been all I should + have been. I have never valeted an American gentleman before, but I'm sure + I shall become accustomed to everything QUITE soon—almost + immediately.” + </p> + <p> + “Say,” broke in Tembarom, “you're 'way off. I'm not complaining. You're + all right.” + </p> + <p> + The easy good temper of his manner was so singularly assuring that + Pearson, unexplainable as he found him in every other respect, knew that + this at least was to be depended upon, and he drew an almost palpable + breath of relief. Something actually allured him into approaching what he + had never felt it safe to approach before under like circumstances—a + confidential disclosure. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, sir: I am most grateful. The—fact is, I hoped especially + to be able to settle in place just now. I—I'm hoping to save up + enough to get married, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “You are?” Tembarom exclaimed. “Good business! So was I before all this”—he + glanced about him—“fell on top of me.” + </p> + <p> + “I've been saving for three years, sir, and if I can know I'm a permanency—if + I can keep this place—” + </p> + <p> + “You're going to keep it all right,” Tembarom cheered him up with. “If + you've got an idea you're going to be fired, just you forget it. Cut it + right out.” + </p> + <p> + “Is—I beg your pardon, sir,” Pearson asked with timorous joy, “but + is that the American for saying you'll be good enough to keep me on?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Temple Barholm thought a second. + </p> + <p> + “Is 'keep me on' the English for 'let me stay'?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “Then we're all right. Let's start from there. I'm going to have a + heart-to-heart talk with you, Pearson.” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, sir,” said Pearson in a deferential murmur. But if he was not + dissatisfied, what was going to happen? + </p> + <p> + “It'll save us both trouble, and me most. I'm not one of those clever + Clarences that can keep up a bluff, making out I know things I don't know. + I couldn't deceive a setting hen or a Berlin wool antimacassar.” + </p> + <p> + Pearson swallowed something with effort. + </p> + <p> + “You see, I fell into this thing KERCHUNK, and I'm just RATTLED—I'm + rattled.” As Pearson slightly coughed again, he translated for him, + “That's American for 'I don't know where I'm at'.” + </p> + <p> + “Those American jokes, sir, are very funny indeed,” answered Pearson, + appreciatively. + </p> + <p> + “Funny!” the new Mr. Temple Barholm exclaimed even aggrievedly. “If you + think this lay-out is an American joke to me, Pearson, there's where + you're 'way off. Do you think it a merry jest for a fellow like me to sit + up in a high chair in a dining-room like a cathedral and not know whether + he ought to bite his own bread or not? And not dare to stir till things + are handed to him by five husky footmen? I thought that plain-clothes man + was going to cut up my meat, and slap me on the back if I choked.” + </p> + <p> + Pearson's sense of humor was perhaps not inordinate, but unseemly mirth, + which he had swallowed at the reference to the setting hen and the Berlin + wool antimacassar, momentarily got the better of him, despite his efforts + to cough it down, and broke forth in a hoarse, ill-repressed sound. + </p> + <p> + “I beg pardon, sir,” he said with a laudable endeavor to recover his + professional bearing. “It's your—American way of expressing it which + makes me forget myself. I beg pardon.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom laughed outright boyishly. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, cut that out,” he said. “Say, how old are you?” + </p> + <p> + “Twenty-five, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “So am I. If you'd met me three months ago, beating the streets of New + York for a living, with holes in my shoes and a celluloid collar on, you'd + have looked down on me. I know you would.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, no, sir,” most falsely insisted Pearson. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes, you would,” protested Tembarom, cheerfully. “You'd have said I + talked through my nose, and I should have laughed at you for dropping your + h's. Now you're rattled because I'm Mr. Temple Temple Barholm; but you're + not half as rattled as I am.” + </p> + <p> + “You'll get over it, sir, almost immediately,” Pearson assured him, + hopefully. + </p> + <p> + “Of course I shall,” said Tembarom, with much courage. “But to start right + I've got to get over YOU.” + </p> + <p> + “Me, sir?” Pearson breathed anxiously. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. That's what I want to get off my chest. Now, first off, you came in + here to try to explain to me that, owing to my New York valet having left + my New York wardrobe behind, I've not got anything to wear, and so I shall + have to buy some clothes.” + </p> + <p> + “I failed to find any dress-shirts, sir,” began Pearson, hesitatingly. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Temple Barholm grinned. + </p> + <p> + “I always failed to find them myself. I never had a dress-shirt. I never + owned a suit of glad rags in my life.” + </p> + <p> + “Gl—glad rags, sir?” stammered Pearson, uncertainly. + </p> + <p> + “I knew you didn't catch on when I said that to you before dinner. I mean + claw-hammer and dress-suit things. Don't you be frightened, Pearson. I + never had six good shirts at once, or two pair of shoes, or more than four + ten-cent handkerchiefs at a time since I was born. And when Mr. Palford + yanked me away from New York, he didn't suspect a fellow could be in such + a state. And I didn't know I was in a state, anyhow. I was too busy to + hunt up people to tell me, because I was rushing something important right + through, and I couldn't stop. I just bought the first things I set eyes on + and crammed them into my trunk. There, I guess you know the most of this, + but you didn't know I knew you knew it. Now you do, and you needn't be + afraid to hurt my feelings by telling me I haven't a darned thing I ought + to have. You can go straight ahead.” + </p> + <p> + As he leaned back, puffing away at his pipe, he had thrown a leg over the + arm of his chair for greater comfort, and it really struck his valet that + he had never seen a gentleman more at his ease, even one who WAS one. His + casual candidness produced such a relief from the sense of strain and + uncertainty that Pearson felt the color returning to his face. An opening + had been given him, and it was possible for him to do his duty. + </p> + <p> + “If you wish, sir, I will make a list,” he ventured further, “and the + proper firms will send persons to bring things down from London on appro.” + </p> + <p> + “What's 'appro' the English for?” + </p> + <p> + “Approval, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “Good business! Good old Pearson!” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, sir. Shall I attend to it to-night, to be ready for the + morning post?” + </p> + <p> + “In five minutes you shall. But you threw me off the track a bit. The + thing I was really going to say was more important than the clothes + business.” + </p> + <p> + There was something else, then, thought Pearson, some other unexpected + point of view. + </p> + <p> + “What have you to do for me, anyhow?” + </p> + <p> + “Valet you, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “That's English for washing my face and combing my hair and putting my + socks on, ain't it?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, sir, it means doing all you require, and being always in attendance + when you change.” + </p> + <p> + “How much do you get for it?” + </p> + <p> + “Thirty shillings a week, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “Say, Pearson,” said Tembarom, with honest feeling, “I'll give you sixty + shillings a week NOT to do it.” + </p> + <p> + Calmed though he had felt a few moments ago, it cannot be denied that + Pearson was aghast. How could one be prepared for developments of such an + order? + </p> + <p> + “Not to do it, sir!” he faltered. “But what would the servants think if + you had no one to valet you?” + </p> + <p> + “That's so. What would they think?” But he evidently was not dismayed, for + he smiled widely. “I guess the plainclothes man would throw a fit.” + </p> + <p> + But Pearson's view was more serious and involved a knowledge of not + improbable complications. He knew “the hall” and its points of view. + </p> + <p> + “I couldn't draw my wages, sir,” he protested. “There'd be the greatest + dissatisfaction among the other servants, sir, if I didn't do my duties. + There's always a—a slight jealousy of valets and ladies'-maids. The + general idea is that they do very little to earn their salaries. I've seen + them fairly hated.” + </p> + <p> + “Is that so? Well, I'll be darned!” remarked Mr. Temple Barholm. He gave a + moment to reflection, and then cheered up immensely. + </p> + <p> + “I'll tell you how we'll fix it. You come up into my room and bring your + tatting or read a newspaper while I dress.” He openly chuckled. “Holy + smoke! I've GOT to put on my shirt and swear at my collar-buttons myself. + If I'm in for having a trained nurse do it for me, it'll give me the + Willies. When you danced around me before dinner—” + </p> + <p> + Pearson's horror forced him to commit the indiscretion of interrupting. + </p> + <p> + “I hope I didn't DANCE, sir,” he implored. “I tried to be extremely + quiet.” + </p> + <p> + “That was it,” said Tembarom. “I shouldn't have said danced; I meant + crept. I kept thinking I should tread on you, and I got so nervous toward + the end I thought I should just break down and sob on your bosom and beg + to be taken back to home and mother.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm extremely sorry, sir, I am, indeed,” apologized Pearson, doing his + best not to give way to hysterical giggling. How was a man to keep a + decently straight face, and if one didn't, where would it end? One thing + after another. + </p> + <p> + “It was not your fault. It was mine. I haven't a thing against you. You're + a first-rate little chap.” + </p> + <p> + “I will try to be more satisfactory to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + There must be no laughing aloud, even if one burst a blood-vessel. It + would not do. Pearson hastily confronted a vision of a young footman or + Mr. Burrill himself passing through the corridors on some errand and + hearing master and valet shouting together in unseemly and wholly + incomprehensible mirth. And the next remark was worse than ever. + </p> + <p> + “No, you won't, Pearson,” Mr. Temple Barholm asserted. “There's where + you're wrong. I've got no more use for a valet than I have for a pair of + straight-front corsets.” + </p> + <p> + This contained a sobering suggestion. + </p> + <p> + “But you said, sir, that—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I'm not going to fire you,” said Tembarom, genially. “I'll 'keep you + on', but little Willie is going to put on his own socks. If the servants + have to be pacified, you come up to my room and do anything you like. Lie + on the bed if you want to; get a jew's-harp and play on it—any old + thing to pass the time. And I'll raise your wages. What do you say? Is it + fixed?” + </p> + <p> + “I'm here, sir, to do anything you require,” Pearson answered + distressedly; “but I'm afraid—” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom's face changed. A sudden thought had struck him. + </p> + <p> + “I'll tell you one thing you can do,” he said; “you can valet that friend + of mine.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Strangeways, sir?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes. I've got a notion he wouldn't mind it.” He was not joking now. He + was in fact rather suddenly thoughtful. + </p> + <p> + “Say, Pearson, what do you think of him?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, sir, I've not seen much of him, and he says very little, but I + should think he was a GENTLEMAN, sir.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Temple Barholm seemed to think it over. + </p> + <p> + “That's queer,” he said as though to himself. “That's what Ann said.” Then + aloud, “Would you say he was an American?” + </p> + <p> + In his unavoidable interest in a matter much talked over below stairs and + productive of great curiosity Pearson was betrayed. He could not explain + to himself, after he had spoken, how he could have been such a fool as to + forget; but forget himself and the birthplace of the new Mr. Temple + Barholm he did. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, no, sir,” he exclaimed hastily; “he's QUITE the gentleman, sir, even + though he is queer in his mind.” The next instant he caught himself and + turned cold. An American or a Frenchman or an Italian, in fact, a native + of any country on earth so slighted with an unconsciousness so natural, if + he had been a man of hot temper, might have thrown something at him or + kicked him out of the room; but Mr. Temple Barholm took his pipe out of + his mouth and looked at him with a slow, broadening smile. + </p> + <p> + “Would you call me a gentleman, Pearson?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + Of course there was no retrieving such a blunder, Pearson felt, but— + </p> + <p> + “Certainly, sir,” he stammered. “Most—most CERTAINLY, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “Pearson,” said Tembarom, shaking his head slowly, with a grin so + good-natured that even the frankness of his words was friendly humor + itself—“Pearson, you're a liar. But that doesn't jolt me a bit. I + dare say I'm not one, anyhow. We might put an 'ad' in one of your papers + and find out.” + </p> + <p> + “I—I beg your pardon, sir,” murmured Pearson in actual anguish of + mind. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Temple Barholm laughed outright. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I've not got it in for you. How could you help it?” he said. Then he + stopped joking again. “If you want to please ME,” he added with + deliberation, “you look after Mr. Strangeways, and don't let anything + disturb him. Don't bother him, but just find out what he wants. When he + gets restless, come and tell me. If I'm out, tell him I'm coming back. + Don't let him worry. You understand—don't let him worry.” + </p> + <p> + “I'll do my best—my very best, sir,” Pearson answered devoutly. + “I've been nervous and excited this first day because I am so anxious to + please—everything seems to depend on it just now,” he added, daring + another confidential outburst. “But you'll see I do know how to keep my + wits about me in general, and I've got a good memory, and I have learned + my duties, sir. I'll attend to Mr. Strangeways most particular.” + </p> + <p> + As Tembarom listened, and watched his neat, blond countenance, and noted + the undertone of quite desperate appeal in his low voice, he was thinking + of a number of things. Chiefly he was thinking of little Ann Hutchinson + and the Harlem flat which might have been “run” on fifteen dollars a week. + </p> + <p> + “I want to know I have some one in this museum of a place who'll + UNDERSTAND,” he said—“some one who'll do just exactly what I say and + ask no fool questions and keep his mouth shut. I believe you could do it.” + </p> + <p> + “I'll swear I could, sir. Trust me,” was Pearson's astonishingly emotional + and hasty answer. + </p> + <p> + “I'm going to,” returned Mr. Temple Barholm. “I've set my mind on putting + something through in my own way. It's a queer thing, and most people would + say I was a fool for trying it. Mr. Hutchinson does, but Miss Hutchinson + doesn't.” + </p> + <p> + There was a note in his tone of saying “Miss Hutchinson doesn't” which + opened up vistas to Pearson—strange vistas when one thought of old + Mrs. Hutchinson's cottage and the estate of Temple Barholm. + </p> + <p> + “We're just about the same age,” his employer continued, “and in a sort of + way we're in just about the same fix.” + </p> + <p> + Their eyes looked into each other's a second; but it was not for Pearson + to presume to make any comment whatsoever upon the possible nature of “the + fix.” Two or three more puffs, and Mr. Temple Barholm spoke again. + </p> + <p> + “Say, Pearson, I don't want to butt in, but what about that little bunch + of calico of yours—the one you're saving up for?” + </p> + <p> + “Calico, sir?” said Pearson, at sea, but hopeful. Whatsoever the new Mr. + Temple Barholm meant, one began to realize that it was not likely to be + unfriendly. + </p> + <p> + “That's American for HER, Pearson. 'Her' stands for the same thing both in + English and American, I guess. What's her name and where is she? Don't you + say a word if you don't want to.” + </p> + <p> + Pearson drew a step nearer. There was an extraordinary human atmosphere in + the room which caused things to begin to go on in his breast. He had had a + harder life than Tembarom because he had been more timid and less buoyant + and less unselfconscious. He had been beaten by a drunken mother and + kicked by a drunken father. He had gone hungry and faint to the board + school and had been punished as a dull boy. After he had struggled into a + place as page, he had been bullied by footmen and had had his ears boxed + by cooks and butlers. Ladies'-maids and smart housemaids had sneered at + him, and made him feel himself a hopeless, vulgar little worm who never + would “get on.” But he had got on, in a measure, because he had worked + like a slave and openly resented nothing. A place like this had been his + fevered hope and dream from his page days, though of course his + imagination had not encompassed attendance on a gentleman who had never + owned a dress-shirt in his life. Yet gentleman or no gentleman, he was a + Temple Barholm, and there was something about him, something human in his + young voice and grin and queer, unheard-of New York jokes, which Pearson + had never encountered, and which had the effect of making him feel somehow + more of a man than his timorous nature had ever allowed of his feeling + before. It suggested that they were both, valet and master, merely + masculine human creatures of like kind. The way he had said “Miss + Hutchinson” and the twinkle in his eye when he'd made that American joke + about the “little bunch of calico”! The curious fact was that thin, neat, + white-blooded-looking Pearson was passionately in love. So he took the + step nearer and grew hot and spoke low. + </p> + <p> + “Her name is Rose Merrick, sir, and she's in place in London. She's + lady's-maid to a lady of title, and it isn't an easy place. Her lady has a + high temper, and she's economical with her servants. Her maid has to sew + early and late, and turn out as much as if she was a whole dressmaking + establishment. She's clever with her needle, and it would be easier if she + felt it was appreciated. But she's treated haughty and severe, though she + tries her very best. She has to wait up half the night after balls, and + I'm afraid it's breaking her spirit and her health. That's why,—I + beg your pardon, sir,” he added, his voice shaking—“that's why I'd + bear anything on earth if I could give her a little home of her own.” + </p> + <p> + “Gee whizz!” ejaculated Mr. Temple Barholm, with feeling. “I guess you + would!” + </p> + <p> + “And that's not all, sir,” said Pearson. “She's a beautiful girl, sir, + with a figure, and service is sometimes not easy for a young woman like + that. His lordship—the master of the house, sir,—is much too + attentive. He's a man with bad habits; the last lady's-maid was sent away + in disgrace. Her ladyship wouldn't believe she hadn't been forward when + she saw things she didn't like, though every one in the hall knew the girl + hated his bold ways with her, and her mother nearly broke her heart. He's + begun with Rose, and it just drives me mad, sir, it does!” + </p> + <p> + He choked, and wiped his forehead with his clean handkerchief. It was + damp, and his young eyes had fire in them, as Mr. Temple Barholm did not + fail to observe. + </p> + <p> + “I'm taking a liberty talking to you like this, sir,” he said. “I'm + behaving as if I didn't know my place, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “Your place is behind that fellow, kicking him till he'll never sit down + again except on eider-down cushions three deep,” remarked Mr. Temple + Barholm, with fire in his eyes also. “That's where your place is. It's + where mine would be if I was in the same house with him and caught him + making a goat of himself. I bet nine Englishmen out of ten would break his + darned neck for him if they got on to his little ways, even if they were + lordships themselves.” + </p> + <p> + “The decent ones won't know,” Pearson said. “That's not what happens, sir. + He can laugh and chaff it off with her ladyship and coax her round. But a + girl that's discharged like that, Rose says, that's the worst of it: she + says she's got a character fastened on to her for life that no respectable + man ought to marry her with.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Temple Barholm removed his leg from the arm of his chair and got up. + Long-legged, sinewy, but somewhat slouchy in his badly made tweed suit, + sharp New York face and awful American style notwithstanding, he still + looked rather nice as he laid his hand on his valet's shoulder and gave + him a friendly push. + </p> + <p> + “See here,” he said. “What you've got to say to Rose is that she's just + got to cut that sort of thing out—cut it right out. Talking to a man + that's in love with her as if he was likely to throw her down because lies + were told. Tell her to forget it—forget it quick. Why, what does she + suppose a man's FOR, by jinks? What's he FOR?” + </p> + <p> + “I've told her that, sir, though of course not in American. I just swore + it on my knees in Hyde Park one night when she got out for an hour. But + she laid her poor head on the back of the bench and cried and wouldn't + listen. She says she cares for me too much to—” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom's hand clutched his shoulder. His face lighted and glowed + suddenly. + </p> + <p> + “Care for you too much,” he asked. “Did she say that? God bless her!” + </p> + <p> + “That's what I said,” broke in Pearson. + </p> + <p> + “I heard another girl say that—just before I left New York—a + girl that's just a wonder,” said his master. “A girl can be a wonder, + can't she?” + </p> + <p> + “Rose is, sir,” protested Pearson. “She is, indeed, sir. And her eyes are + that blue—” + </p> + <p> + “Blue, are they?” interrupted Tembarom. “I know the kind. I'm on to the + whole thing. And what's more, I'm going to fix it. You tell Rose—and + tell her from me—that she's going to leave that place, and you're + going to stay in this one, and—well, presently things'll begin to + happen. They're going to be all right—ALL RIGHT,” he went on, with + immensely convincing emphasis. “She's going to have that little home of + her own.” He paused a moment for reflection, and then a sudden thought + presented itself to him. “Why, darn it!” he exclaimed, “there must be a + whole raft of little homes that belong to me in one place or another. Why + couldn't I fix you both up in one of them?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, sir!” Pearson broke forth in some slight alarm. He went so fast and + so far all in a moment. And Pearson really possessed a neat, well-ordered + conscience, and, moreover, “knew his place.” “I hope I didn't seem to be + expecting you to trouble yourself about me, sir. I mustn't presume on your + kindness.” + </p> + <p> + “It's not kindness; it's—well, it's just human. I'm going to think + this thing over. You just keep your hair on, and let me do my own + valeting, and you'll see I'll fix it for you somehow.” + </p> + <p> + What he thought of doing, how he thought of doing it, and what Pearson was + to expect, the agitated young man did not know. The situation was of + course abnormal, judged by all respectable, long-established custom. A + man's valet and his valet's “young woman” were not usually of intimate + interest. Gentlemen were sometimes “kind” to you—gave you half a + sovereign or even a sovereign, and perhaps asked after your mother if you + were supporting one; but— + </p> + <p> + “I never dreamed of going so far, sir,” he said. “I forgot myself, I'm + afraid.” + </p> + <p> + “Good thing you did. It's made me feel as if we were brothers.” He laughed + again, enjoying the thought of the little thing who cared for Pearson “too + much” and had eyes that were “that blue.” “Say, I've just thought of + something else. Have you bought her an engagement-ring yet?” + </p> + <p> + “No, sir. In our class of life jewelry is beyond the means.” + </p> + <p> + “I just wondered,” Mr. Temple Barholm said. He seemed to be thinking of + something that pleased him as he fumbled for his pocket-book and took a + clean banknote out of it. “I'm not on to what the value of this thing is + in real money, but you go and buy her a ring with it, and I bet she'll be + so pleased you'll have the time of your life.” + </p> + <p> + Pearson taking it; and recognizing its value in UNreal money, was + embarrassed by feeling the necessity of explanation. + </p> + <p> + “This is a five-pound note, sir. It's too much, sir, it is indeed. This + would FURNISH THE FRONT PARLOR.” He said it almost solemnly. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Temple Barholm looked at the note interestedly. + </p> + <p> + “Would it? By jinks!” and his laugh had a certain softness of + recollection. “I guess that's just what Ann would say. She'd know what it + would furnish, you bet your life!” + </p> + <p> + “I'm most grateful, sir,” protested Pearson, “but I oughtn't to take it. + Being an American gentleman and not accustomed to English money, you don't + realize that—” + </p> + <p> + “I'm not accustomed to any kind of money,” said his master. “I'm scared to + be left alone in the room with it. That's what's the matter. If I don't + give some away, I shall never know I've got it. Cheer up, Pearson. You + take that and buy the ring, and when you start furnishing, I'll see you + don't get left.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know what to say, sir,” Pearson faltered emotionally. “I don't, + indeed.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't say a darned thing,” replied Mr. Temple Barholm. And just here his + face changed as Mr. Palford had seen it change before, and as Pearson + often saw it change later. His New York jocular irreverence dropped from + him, and he looked mature and oddly serious. + </p> + <p> + “I've tried to sort of put you wise to the way I've lived and the things I + HAVEN'T had ever since I was born,” he said, “but I guess you don't really + know a thing about it. I've got more money coming in every year than a + thousand of me would ever expect to see in their lives, according to my + calculation. And I don't know how to do any of the things a fellow who is + what you call `a gentleman' would know how to do. I mean in the way of + spending it. Now, I've got to get some fun out of it. I should be a mutt + if I didn't, so I'm going to spend it my own way. I may make about + seventy-five different kinds of a fool of myself, but I guess I sha'n't do + any particular harm.” + </p> + <p> + “You'll do good, sir,—to every one.” + </p> + <p> + “Shall I?”—said Tembarom, speculatively. “Well, I'm not exactly + setting out with that in my mind. I'm no Young Men's Christian + Association, but I'm not in for doing harm, anyway. You take your + five-pound note—come to think of it, Palford said it came to about + twenty-five dollars, real money. Hully gee! I never thought I'd have + twenty-five dollars to GIVE AWAY! It makes me feel like I was Morgan.” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, sir; thank you,” said Pearson, putting the note into his + pocket with rapt gratitude in his neat face. “You—you do not wish me + to remain—to do anything for you?” + </p> + <p> + “Not a thing. But just go and find out if Mr. Strangeways is asleep. If he + isn't and seems restless, I'll come and have a talk with him.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir,” said Pearson, and went at once. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII + </h2> + <p> + In the course of two days Mr. Palford, having given his client the benefit + of his own exact professional knowledge of the estate of Temple Barholm + and its workings and privileges as far as he found them transferable and + likely to be understood, returned to London, breathing perhaps something + like a sigh of relief when the train steamed out of the little station. + Whatsoever happened in days to come, Palford & Grimby had done their + most trying and awkward duty by the latest Temple Barholm. Bradford, who + was the steward of the estate, would now take him over, and could be + trusted to furnish practical information of any ordinary order. + </p> + <p> + It did not appear to Mr. Palford that the new inheritor was particularly + interested in his possessions or exhilarated by the extraordinary turn in + his fortunes. The enormity of Temple Barholm itself, regarded as a house + to live in in an everyday manner, seemed somewhat to depress him. When he + was taken over its hundred and fifty rooms, he wore a detached air as he + looked about him, and such remarks as he made were of an extraordinary + nature and expressed in terms peculiar to America. Neither Mr. Palford nor + Burrill understood them, but a young footman who was said to have once + paid a visit to New York, and who chanced to be in the picture-gallery + when his new master was looking at the portraits of his ancestors, + over-hearing one observation, was guilty of a convulsive snort, and + immediately made his way into the corridor, coughing violently. From this + Mr. Palford gathered that one of the transatlantic jokes had been made. + That was the New York idea—to be jocular. Yet he had not looked + jocular when he had made the remark which had upset the equilibrium of the + young footman. He had, in fact, looked reflective before speaking as he + stood and studied a portrait of one of his ancestors. But, then, he had a + trick of saying things incomprehensibly ridiculous with an unmoved + expression of gravity, which led Palford to feel that he was ridiculous + through utter ignorance and was not aware that he was exposing the fact. + Persons who thought that an air of seriousness added to a humorous remark + were especially annoying to the solicitor, because they frequently + betrayed one into the position of seeming to be dull in the matter of + seeing a point. That, he had observed, was often part of the New York + manner—to make a totally absurdly exaggerated or seemingly + ignorance-revealing observation, and then leave one's hearer to decide for + himself whether the speaker was an absolute ignoramus and fool or a + humorist. + </p> + <p> + More than once he had somewhat suspected his client of meaning to “get a + rise out of him,” after the odious manner of the tourists described in + “The Innocents Abroad,” though at the same time he felt rather + supportingly sure of the fact that generally, when he displayed ignorance, + he displayed it because he was a positive encyclopedia of lack of + knowledge. + </p> + <p> + He knew no more of social customs, literature, and art than any other + street lad. He had not belonged to the aspiring self-taught, who + meritoriously haunt the night schools and free libraries with a view to + improving their minds. If this had been his method, he might in one sense + have been more difficult to handle, as Palford had seen the thing result + in a bumptiousness most objectionable. He was markedly not bumptious, at + all events. + </p> + <p> + A certain degree of interest in or curiosity concerning his ancestors as + represented in the picture-gallery Mr. Palford had observed. He had stared + at them and had said queer things—sometimes things which perhaps + indicated a kind of uneducated thought. The fact that some of them looked + so thoroughly alive, and yet had lived centuries ago, seemed to set him + reflecting oddly. His curiosity, however, seemed to connect itself with + them more as human creatures than as historical figures. + </p> + <p> + “What did that one do?” he inquired more than once. “What did he start, or + didn't he start anything?” + </p> + <p> + When he disturbed the young footman he had stopped before a dark man in + armor. + </p> + <p> + “Who's this fellow in the tin overcoat?” he asked seriously, and Palford + felt it was quite possible that he had no actual intent of being humorous. + </p> + <p> + “That is Miles Gaspard Nevil John, who fought in the Crusades with Richard + Coeur de Lion,” he explained. “He is wearing a suit of armor.” By this + time the footman was coughing in the corridor. + </p> + <p> + “That's English history, I guess,” Tembarom replied. “I'll have to get a + history-book and read up about the Crusades.” + </p> + <p> + He went on farther, and paused with a slightly puzzled expression before a + boy in a costume of the period of Charles II. + </p> + <p> + “Who's this Fauntleroy in the lace collar?” he inquired. “Queer!” he + added, as though to himself. “I can't ever have seen him in New York.” And + he took a step backward to look again. + </p> + <p> + “That is Miles Hugo Charles James, who was a page at the court of Charles + II. He died at nineteen, and was succeeded by his brother Denzel Maurice + John.” + </p> + <p> + “I feel as if I'd had a dream about him sometime or other,” said Tembarom, + and he stood still a few seconds before he passed on. “Perhaps I saw + something like him getting out of a carriage to go into the Van Twillers' + fancy-dress ball. Seems as if I'd got the whole show shut up in here. And + you say they're all my own relations?” Then he laughed. “If they were + alive now!” he said. “By jinks!” + </p> + <p> + His laughter suggested that he was entertained by mental visions. But he + did not explain to his companion. His legal adviser was not in the least + able to form any opinion of what he would do, how he would be likely to + comport himself, when he was left entirely to his own devices. He would + not know also, one might be sure, that the county would wait with + repressed anxiety to find out. If he had been a minor, he might have been + taken in hand, and trained and educated to some extent. But he was not a + minor. + </p> + <p> + On the day of Mr. Palford's departure a thick fog had descended and seemed + to enwrap the world in the white wool. Tembarom found it close to his + windows when he got up, and he had dressed by the light of tall wax + candles, the previous Mr. Temple Barholm having objected to more modern + and vulgar methods of illumination. + </p> + <p> + “I guess this is what you call a London fog,” he said to Pearson. + </p> + <p> + “No, not exactly the London sort, sir,” Pearson answered. “A London fog is + yellow—when it isn't brown or black. It settles on the hands and + face. A fog in the country isn't dirty with smoke. It's much less trying, + sir.” + </p> + <p> + When Palford had departed and he was entirely alone, Tembarom found a + country fog trying enough for a man without a companion. A degree of + relief permeated his being with the knowledge that he need no longer + endeavor to make suitable reply to his solicitor's efforts at + conversation. He had made conversational efforts himself. You couldn't let + a man feel that you wouldn't talk to him if you could when he was doing + business for you, but what in thunder did you have to talk about that a + man like that wouldn't be bored stiff by? He didn't like New York, he + didn't know anything about it, and he didn't want to know, and Tembarom + knew nothing about anything else, and was homesick for the very stones of + the roaring city's streets. When he said anything, Palford either didn't + understand what he was getting at or he didn't like it. And he always + looked as if he was watching to see if you were trying to get a joke on + him. Tembarom was frequently not nearly so much inclined to be humorous as + Mr. Palford had irritably suspected him of being. His modes of expression + might on numerous occasions have roused to mirth when his underlying idea + was almost entirely serious. The mode of expression was merely a result of + habit. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Palford left by an extremely early train, and after he was gone, + Tembarom sat over his breakfast as long as possible, and then, going to + the library, smoked long. The library was certainly comfortable, though + the fire and the big wax candles were called upon to do their best to defy + the chill, mysterious dimness produced by the heavy, white wool curtain + folding itself more and more thickly outside the windows. + </p> + <p> + But one cannot smoke in solitary idleness for much more than an hour, and + when he stood up and knocked the ashes out of his last pipe, Tembarom drew + a long breath. + </p> + <p> + “There's a hundred and thirty-six hours in each of these days,” he said. + “That's nine hundred and fifty-two in a week, and four thousand and eighty + in a month—when it's got only thirty days in it. I'm not going to + calculate how many there'd be in a year. I'll have a look at the papers. + There's Punch. That's their comic one.” + </p> + <p> + He looked out the American news in the London papers, and sighed hugely. + He took up Punch and read every joke two or three times over. He did not + know that the number was a specially good one and that there were some + extremely witty things in it. The jokes were about bishops in gaiters, + about garden-parties, about curates or lovely young ladies or rectors' + wives and rustics, about Royal Academicians or esthetic poets. Their humor + appealed to him as little and seemed as obscure as his had seemed to Mr. + Palford. + </p> + <p> + “I'm not laughing my head off much over these,” he said. “I guess I'm not + on to the point.” + </p> + <p> + He got up and walked about. The “L” in New York was roaring to and fro + loaded with men and women going to work or to do shopping. Some of them + were devouring morning papers bearing no resemblance to those of London, + some of them carried parcels, and all of them looked as though they were + intent on something or other and hadn't a moment to waste. They were all + going somewhere in a hurry and had to get back in time for something. When + the train whizzed and slackened at a station, some started up, hastily + caught their papers or bundles closer, and pushed or were pushed out on + the platform, which was crowded with other people who rushed to get in, + and if they found seats, dropped into them hastily with an air of relief. + The street-cars were loaded and rang their bells loudly, trucks and + carriages and motors filled the middle of the thoroughfares, and people + crowded the pavements. The store windows were dressed up for Christmas, + and most of the people crowded before them were calculating as to what + they could get for the inadequate sums they had on hand. + </p> + <p> + The breakfast at Mrs. Bowse's boarding-house was over, and the boarders + had gone on cars or elevated trains to their day's work. Mrs. Bowse was + getting ready to go out and do some marketing. Julius and Jim were + down-town deep in the work pertaining to their separate “jobs.” They'd go + home at night, and perhaps, if they were in luck, would go to a “show” + somewhere, and afterward come and sit in their tilted chairs in the hall + bedroom and smoke and talk it over. And he wouldn't be there, and the + Hutchinsons' rooms would be empty, unless some new people were in them. + Galton would be sitting among his papers, working like mad. And Bennett—well, + Bennett would be either “getting out his page,” or would be rushing about + in the hundredth streets to find items and follow up weddings or + receptions. + </p> + <p> + “Gee!” he said, “every one of them trying their best to put something + over, and with so much to think of they've not got time to breathe! It'd + be no trouble for THEM to put in a hundred and thirty-six hours. They'd be + darned glad of them. And, believe me, they'd put something over, too, + before they got through. And I'm here, with three hundred and fifty + thousand dollars a year round my neck and not a thing to spend it on, + unless I pay some one part of it to give me lessons in tatting. What is + tatting, anyhow?” + </p> + <p> + He didn't really know. It was vaguely supposed to imply some intensely + feminine fancy-work done by old ladies, and used as a figure of speech in + jokes. + </p> + <p> + “If you could ride or shoot, you could amuse yourself in the country,” + Palford had said. + </p> + <p> + “I can ride in a street-car when I've got five cents,” Tembarom had + answered. “That's as far as I've gone in riding—and what in thunder + should I shoot?” + </p> + <p> + “Game,” replied Mr. Palford, with chill inward disgust. “Pheasants, + partridges, woodcock, grouse—” + </p> + <p> + “I shouldn't shoot anything like that if I went at it,” he responded + shamelessly. “I should shoot my own head off, or the fellow's that stood + next to me, unless he got the drop on me first.” + </p> + <p> + He did not know that he was ignominious. Nobody could have made it clear + to him. He did not know that there were men who had gained distinction, + popularity, and fame by doing nothing in particular but hitting things + animate and inanimate with magnificent precision of aim. + </p> + <p> + He stood still now and listened to the silence. + </p> + <p> + “There's not a sound within a thousand miles of the place. What do fellows + with money DO to keep themselves alive?” he said piteously. “They've got + to do SOMETHING. Shall I have to go out and take a walk, as Palford called + it? Take a walk, by gee!” + </p> + <p> + He couldn't conceive it, a man “taking a walk” as though it were medicine—a + walk nowhere, to reach nothing, just to go and turn back again. + </p> + <p> + “I'll begin and take in sewing,” he said, “or I'll open a store in the + village—a department store. I could spend something on that. I'll + ask Pearson what he thinks of it—or Burrill. I'd like to see Burrill + if I said that to him.” + </p> + <p> + He decided at last that he would practise his “short” awhile; that would + be doing something, at any rate. He sat down at the big writing-table and + began to dash off mystic signs at furious speed. But the speed did not + keep up. The silence of the great room, of the immense house, of all the + scores of rooms and galleries and corridors, closed in about him. He had + practised his “short” in the night school, with the “L” thundering past at + intervals of five minutes; in the newspaper office, with all the babel of + New York about him and the bang of steam-drills going on below in the next + lot, where the foundation of a new building was being excavated; he had + practised it in his hall bedroom at Mrs. Bowse's, to the tumultuous + accompaniment of street sounds and the whizz and TING-A-LING of + street-cars dashing past, and he had not been disturbed. He had never + practised it in any place which was silent, and it was the silence which + became more than he could stand. He actually jumped out of his chair when + he heard mysterious footsteps outside the door, and a footman appeared and + spoke in a low voice which startled him as though it had been a + thunderclap. + </p> + <p> + “A young person with her father wants to see you, sir,” he announced. “I + don't think they are villagers, but of the working-class, I should say.” + </p> + <p> + “Where are they?” + </p> + <p> + “I didn't know exactly what to do, sir, so I left them in the hall. The + young person has a sort of quiet, determined way—” + </p> + <p> + “Little Ann, by gee!” exclaimed Tembarom with mad joy, and shot out of the + room. + </p> + <p> + The footman—he had not seen Little Ann when she had brought + Strangeways—looked after him and rubbed his chin. + </p> + <p> + “Wouldn't you call that a rummy sort for Temple Barholm?” he said to one + of his fellows who had appeared in the hall near him. + </p> + <p> + “It's not my sort,” was the answer. “I'm going to give notice to old + Butterworth.” + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson and Little Ann were waiting in the hall. Hutchinson was looking + at the rich, shadowy spaces about him with a sort of proud satisfaction. + Fine, dark corners with armored figures lurking in them, ancient + portraits, carved oak settles, and massive chairs and cabinets—these + were English, and he was an Englishman, and somehow felt them the outcome + of certain sterling qualities of his own. He looked robustly well, and + wore a new rough tweed suit such as one of the gentry might tramp about + muddy roads and fields in. Little Ann was dressed in something warm and + rough also, a brown thing, with a little close, cap-like, brown hat, from + under which her red hair glowed. The walk in the cold, white fog had made + her bloom fresh, soft-red and white-daisy color. She was smiling, and + showing three distinct dimples, which deepened when Tembarom dashed out of + the library. + </p> + <p> + “Hully gee!” he cried out, “but I'm glad to see you!” + </p> + <p> + He shook hands with both of them furiously, and two footmen stood and + looked at the group with image-like calm of feature, but with curiously + interested eyes. Hutchinson was aware of them, and endeavored to present + to them a back which by its stolid composure should reveal that he knew + more about such things than this chap did and wasn't a bit upset by + grandeur. + </p> + <p> + “Hully gee!” cried Tembarom again, “how glad I am! Come on in and sit down + and let's talk it over.” + </p> + <p> + Burrill made a stately step forward, properly intent on his duty, and his + master waved him back. + </p> + <p> + “Say,” he said hastily, “don't bring in any tea. They don't want it. + They're Americans.” + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson snorted. He could not stand being consigned to ignominy before + the footmen. + </p> + <p> + “Nowt o' th' sort,” he broke forth. “We're noan American. Tha'rt losing + tha head, lad.” + </p> + <p> + “He's forgetting because he met us first in New York,” said Little Ann, + smiling still more. + </p> + <p> + “Shall I take your hat and cane, sir?” inquired Burrill, unmovedly, at + Hutchinson's side. + </p> + <p> + “He wasn't going to say anything about tea,” explained Little Ann as they + went into the library. “They don't expect to serve tea in the middle of + the morning, Mr. Temple Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't they?” said Tembarom, reckless with relieved delight. “I thought + they served it every time the clock struck. When we were in London it + seemed like Palford had it when he was hot and when he was cold and when + he was glad and when he was sorry and when he was going out and when he + was coming in. It's brought up to me, by jinks! as soon as I wake, to + brace me up to put on my clothes—and Pearson wants to put those on.” + </p> + <p> + He stopped short when they reached the middle of the room and looked her + over. + </p> + <p> + “O Little Ann!” he breathed tumultuously. “O Little Ann!” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hutchinson was looking about the library as he had looked about the + hall. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I never thought I'd get inside Temple Barlholm in my day,” he + exclaimed. “Eh, lad, tha must feel like bull in a china shop.” + </p> + <p> + “I feel like a whole herd of 'em,” answered Tembarom. Hutchinson nodded. + He understood. + </p> + <p> + “Well, perhaps tha'll get over it in time,” he conceded, “but it'll take + thee a good bit.” Then he gave him a warmly friendly look. “I'll lay you + know what Ann came with me for to-day.” The way Little Ann looked at him—the + way she looked at him! + </p> + <p> + “I came to thank you, Mr. Temple Barholm,” she said—“to thank you.” + And there was an odd, tender sound in her voice. + </p> + <p> + “Don't you do it, Ann,” Tembarom answered. “Don't you do it.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know much about business, but the way you must have worked, the + way you must have had to run after people, and find them, and make then + listen, and use all your New York cleverness—because you ARE clever. + The way you've forgotten all about yourself and thought of nothing but + father and the invention! I do know enough to understand that, and it + seems as if I can't think of enough to say. I just wish I could tell you + what it means to me.” Two round pearls of tears brimmed over and fell down + her cheeks. “I promised mother FAITHFUL I'd take care of him and see he + never lost hope about it,” she added, “and sometimes I didn't know + whatever I was going to do.” + </p> + <p> + It was perilous when she looked at one like that, and she was so little + and light that one could have snatched her up in his arms and carried her + to the big arm-chair and sat down with her and rocked her backward and + forward and poured forth the whole thing that was making him feel as + though he might explode. + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson provided salvation. + </p> + <p> + “Tha pulled me out o' the water just when I was going under, lad. God + bless thee!” he broke out, and shook his hand with rough vigor. “I signed + with the North Electric yesterday.” + </p> + <p> + “Good business!” said Tembarom. “Now I'm in on the ground floor with + what's going to be the biggest money-maker in sight.” + </p> + <p> + “The way tha talked New York to them chaps took my fancy,” chuckled + Hutchinson. “None o' them chaps wants to be the first to jump over the + hedge.” + </p> + <p> + “We've got 'em started now,” exulted Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “Tha started 'em,” said Hutchinson, “and it's thee I've got to thank.” + </p> + <p> + “Say, Little Ann,” said Tembarom, with sudden thought, “who's come into + money now? You'll have it to burn.” + </p> + <p> + “We've not got it yet, Mr. Temple Barholm,” she replied, shaking her head. + “Even when inventions get started, they don't go off like sky-rockets.” + </p> + <p> + “She knows everything, doesn't she?” Tembarom said to Hutchinson. “Here, + come and sit down. I've not seen you for 'steen years.” + </p> + <p> + She took her seat in the big arm-chair and looked at him with softly + examining eyes, as though she wanted to understand him sufficiently to be + able to find out something she ought to do if he needed help. + </p> + <p> + He saw it and half laughed, not quite unwaveringly. + </p> + <p> + “You'll make me cry in a minute,” he said. “You don't know what it's like + to have some one from home and mother come and be kind to you.” + </p> + <p> + “How is Mr. Strangeways?” she inquired. + </p> + <p> + “He's well taken care of, at any rate. That's where he's got to thank you. + Those rooms you and the housekeeper chose were the very things for him. + They're big and comfortable, and 'way off in a place where no one's likely + to come near. The fellow that's been hired to valet me valets him instead, + and I believe he likes it. It seems to come quite natural to him, any how. + I go in and see him every now and then and try to get him to talk. I sort + of invent things to see if I can start him thinking straight. He's quieted + down some and he looks better. After a while I'm going to look up some big + doctors in London and find out which of 'em's got the most plain horse + sense. If a real big one would just get interested and come and see him on + the quiet and not get him excited, he might do him good. I'm dead stuck on + this stunt I've set myself—getting him right. It's something to work + on.” + </p> + <p> + “You'll have plenty to work on soon,” said Little Ann. “There's a lot of + everyday things you've got to think about. They may seem of no consequence + to you, but they ARE, Mr. Temple Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + “If you say they are, I guess they are,” he answered. “I'll do anything + you say, Ann.” + </p> + <p> + “I came partly to tell you about some of them to-day,” she went on, + keeping the yearningly thoughtful eyes on him. It was rather hard for her, + too, to be firm enough when there was so much she wanted to say and do. + And he did not look half as twinkling and light-heartedly grinning as he + had looked in New York. + </p> + <p> + He couldn't help dropping his voice a little coaxingly, though Mr. + Hutchinson was quite sufficiently absorbed in examination of his + surroundings. + </p> + <p> + “Didn't you come to save my life by letting me have a look at you, Little + Ann—didn't you?” he pleaded. + </p> + <p> + She shook her wonderful, red head. + </p> + <p> + “No, I didn't, Mr. Temple Barholm,” she answered with Manchester + downrightness. “When I said what I did in New York, I meant it. I didn't + intend to hang about here and let you—say things to me. You mustn't + say them. Father and me are going back to Manchester in a few days, and + very soon we have to go to America again because of the business.” + </p> + <p> + “America!” he said. “Oh, Lord!” he groaned. “Do you want me to drop down + dead here with a dull, sickening thud, Ann?” + </p> + <p> + “You're not going to drop down dead,” she replied convincedly. “You're + going to stay here and do whatever it's your duty to do, now you've come + into Temple Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + “Am I?” he answered. “Well, we'll see what I'm going to do when I've had + time to make up my mind. It may be something different from what you'd + think, and it mayn't. Just now I'm going to do what you tell me. Go ahead, + Little Ann.” + </p> + <p> + She thought the matter over with her most destructive little air of + sensible intentness. + </p> + <p> + “Well, it may seem like meddling, but it isn't,” she began rather + concernedly. “It's just that I'm used to looking after people. I wanted to + talk to you about your clothes.” + </p> + <p> + “My clothes?” he replied, bewildered a moment; but the next he understood + and grinned. “I haven't got any. My valet—think of T. T. with a + valet!—told me so last night.” + </p> + <p> + “That's what I thought,” she said maternally. “I got Mrs. Bowse to write + to me, and she told me you were so hurried and excited you hadn't time for + anything.” + </p> + <p> + “I just rushed into Cohen's the last day and yanked a few things off the + ready-made counter.” + </p> + <p> + She looked him over with impersonal criticism. + </p> + <p> + “I thought so. Those you've got on won't do at all.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom glanced at them. + </p> + <p> + “That's what Pearson says.” + </p> + <p> + “They're not the right shape,” she explained. “I know what a gentleman's + clothes mean in England, and—” her face flushed, and sudden, warm + spirit made her speak rather fast—“I couldn't ABIDE to think of you + coming here and—being made fun of—just because you hadn't the + right clothes.” + </p> + <p> + She said it, the little thing, as though he were hers—her very own, + and defend him against disrespect she WOULD. Tembarom, being but young + flesh and blood, made an impetuous dart toward her, and checked himself, + catching his breath. + </p> + <p> + “Ann,” he said, “has your grandmother got a dog?” + </p> + <p> + “Y-e-s,” she said, faltering because she was puzzled. + </p> + <p> + “How big is he?” + </p> + <p> + “He's a big one. He's a brindled bulldog. Why?” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” he said, half pathetic, half defiant, “if you're going to come and + talk to me like that, and look like that, you've got to bring that bull + along and set him on me when I make a break; for there's nothing but a dog + can keep me where you want me to stay—and a big one at that.” + </p> + <p> + He sat down on an ottoman near her and dropped his head on his hands. It + was not half such a joke as it sounded. + </p> + <p> + Little Ann saw it wasn't and she watched him tenderly, catching her breath + once quickly. Men had ways of taking some things hard and feeling them a + good bit more than one would think. It made trouble many a time if one + couldn't help them to think reasonable. + </p> + <p> + “Father,” she said to Hutchinson. + </p> + <p> + “Aye,” he answered, turning round. + </p> + <p> + “Will you tell Mr. Temple Barholm that you think I'm right about giving + him his chance?” + </p> + <p> + “Of course I think she's right,” Hutchinson blustered, “and it isn't the + first time either. I'm not going to have my lass married into any family + where she'd be looked down upon.” + </p> + <p> + But that was not what Little Ann wanted; it was not, in fact, her + argument. She was not thinking of that side of the situation. + </p> + <p> + “It's not me that matters so much, Father,” she said; “it's him.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, is it?” disagreed Hutchinson, dictatorially. “That's not th' road I + look at it. I'm looking after you, not him. Let him take care of himself. + No chap shall put you where you won't be looked up to, even if I AM + grateful to him. So there you have it.” + </p> + <p> + “He can't take care of himself when he feels like this,” she answered. + “That's WHY I'm taking care of him. He'll think steadier when he's himself + again.” She put out her hand and softly touched his shoulder. + </p> + <p> + “Don't do that,” she said. “You make me want to be silly.” There was a + quiver in her voice, but she tried to change it. “If you don't lift your + head,” she added with a great effort at disciplinarian firmness, “I shall + have to go away without telling you the other things.” + </p> + <p> + He lifted his head, but his attempt at a smile was not hilarious. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Ann,” he submitted, “I've warned you. Bring along your dog.” + </p> + <p> + She took a sheet of paper out of one of the neat pockets in her rough, + brown coat. + </p> + <p> + “I just wrote down some of the very best tailors' addresses—the very + best,” she explained. “Don't you go to any but the very best, and be a bit + sharp with them if they're not attentive. They'll think all the better of + you. If your valet's a smart one, take him with you.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Ann,” he said rather weakly. “He's going to make a list of things + himself, anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + “That sounds as if he'd got some sense.” She handed him the list of + addresses. “You give him this, and tell him he must go to the very best + ones.” + </p> + <p> + “What do I want to put on style for?” he asked desperately. “I don't know + a soul on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.” + </p> + <p> + “You soon will,” she replied, with calm perspicacity. “You've got too much + money not to.” + </p> + <p> + A gruff chuckle made itself heard from Hutchinson's side of the room. + </p> + <p> + “Aye, seventy thousand a year'll bring th' vultures about thee, lad.” + </p> + <p> + “We needn't call them vultures exactly,” was Little Ann's tolerant + comment; “but a lot of people will come here to see you. That was one of + the things I thought I might tell you about.” + </p> + <p> + “Say, you're a wonder!” + </p> + <p> + “I'm nothing of the sort. I'm just a girl with a bit of common sense—and + grandmother's one that's looked on a long time, and she sees things. The + country gentlemen will begin to call on you soon, and then you'll be + invited to their houses to meet their wives and daughters, and then you'll + be kept pretty busy.” + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson's bluff chuckle broke out again. + </p> + <p> + “You will that, my lad, when th' match-making mothers get after you. + There's plenty on 'em.” + </p> + <p> + “Father's joking,” she said. Her tone was judicially unprejudiced. “There + are young ladies that—that'd be very suitable. Pretty ones and + clever ones. You'll see them all.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't want to see them.” + </p> + <p> + “You can't help it,” she said, with mild decision. “When there are + daughters and a new gentleman comes into a big property in the + neighborhood, it's nothing but natural that the mothers should be a bit + anxious.” + </p> + <p> + “Aye, they'll be anxious enough. Mak' sure o' that,” laughed Hutchinson. + </p> + <p> + “Is that what you want me to put on style for, Little Ann?” Tembarom asked + reproachfully. + </p> + <p> + “I want you to put it on for yourself. I don't want you to look different + from other men. Everybody's curious about you. They're ready to LAUGH + because you came from America and once sold newspapers.” + </p> + <p> + “It's the men he'll have to look out for,” Hutchinson put in, with an + experienced air. “There's them that'll want to borrow money, and them + that'll want to drink and play cards and bet high. A green American lad'll + be a fine pigeon for them to pluck. You may as well tell him, Ann; you + know you came here to do it.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I did,” she admitted. “I don't want you to seem not to know what + people are up to and what they expect.” + </p> + <p> + That little note of involuntary defense was a dangerous thing for + Tembarom. He drew nearer. + </p> + <p> + “You don't want them to take me for a fool, Little Ann. You're standing up + for me; that's it.” + </p> + <p> + “You can stand up for yourself, Mr. Temple Barholm, if you're not taken by + surprise,” she said confidently. “If you understand things a bit, you + won't be.” + </p> + <p> + His feelings almost overpowered him. + </p> + <p> + “God bless your dear little soul!” he broke out. “Say, if this goes on, + that dog of your grandmother's wouldn't have a show, Ann. I should bite + him before he could bite me.” + </p> + <p> + “I won't go on if you can't be sensible, Mr. Temple Barholm. I shall just + go away and not come back again. That's what I shall do.” Her tone was + that of a young mother. + </p> + <p> + He gave in incontinently. + </p> + <p> + “Good Lord! no!” he exclaimed. “I'll do anything if you'll stay. I'll lie + down on the mat and not open my mouth. Just sit here and tell me things. I + know you won't let me hold your hand, but just let me hold a bit of your + dress and look at you while you talk.” He took a bit of her brown frock + between his fingers and held it, gazing at her with all his crude young + soul in his eyes. “Now tell me,” he added. + </p> + <p> + “There's only one or two things about the people who'll come to Temple + Barholm. Grandmother's talked it over with me. She knew all about those + that came in the late Mr. Temple Barholm's time. He used to hate most of + them.” + </p> + <p> + “Then why in thunder did he ask them to come?” + </p> + <p> + “He didn't. They've got clever, polite ways of asking themselves + sometimes. He couldn't bear the Countess of Mallowe. She'll come. + Grandmother says you may be sure of that.” + </p> + <p> + “What'll she come for?” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann's pause and contemplation of him were fraught with + thoughtfulness. + </p> + <p> + “She'll come for you,” at last she said. + </p> + <p> + “She's got a daughter she thinks ought to have been married eight years + ago,” announced Hutchinson. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom pulled at the bit of brown tweed he held as though it were a + drowning man's straw. + </p> + <p> + “Don't you drive me to drink, Ann,” he said. “I'm frightened. Your + grandmother will have to lend ME the dog.” + </p> + <p> + This was a flightiness which Little Ann did not encourage. + </p> + <p> + “Lady Joan—that's her daughter—is very grand and haughty. + She's a great beauty. You'll look at her, but perhaps she won't look at + you. But it's not her I'm troubled about. I'm thinking of Captain Palliser + and men like him.” + </p> + <p> + “Who's he?” + </p> + <p> + “He's one of those smooth, clever ones that's always getting up some + company or other and selling the stock. He'll want you to know his friends + and he'll try to lead you his way.” + </p> + <p> + As Tembarom held to his bit of her dress, his eyes were adoring ones, + which was really not to be wondered at. She WAS adorable as her soft, + kind, wonderfully maternal girl face tried to control itself so that it + should express only just enough to help and nothing to disturb. + </p> + <p> + “I don't want him to spoil you. I don't want anything to make you—different. + I couldn't bear it.” + </p> + <p> + He pulled the bit of dress pleadingly. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Little Ann?” he implored quite low. + </p> + <p> + “Because,” she said, feeling that perhaps she was rash—“because if + you were different, you wouldn't be T. Tembarom; and it was T. Tembarom + that—that was T. Tembarom,” she finished hastily. + </p> + <p> + He bent his head down to the bit of tweed and kissed it. + </p> + <p> + “You just keep looking after me like that,” he said, “and there's not one + of them can get away with me.” + </p> + <p> + She got up, and he rose with her. There was a touch of fire in the + forget-me-not blue of her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Just you let them see—just you let them see that you're not one + they can hold light and make use of.” But there she stopped short, looking + up at him. He was looking down at her with a kind of matureness in his + expression. “I needn't be afraid,” she said. “You can take care of + yourself; I ought to have known that.” + </p> + <p> + “You did,” he said, smiling; “but you wanted to sort of help me. And + you've done it, by gee! just by saying that thing about T. Tembarom. You + set me right on my feet. That's YOU.” + </p> + <p> + Before they went away they paid a visit to Strangeways in his remote, + undisturbed, and beautiful rooms. They were in a wing of the house + untouched by any ordinary passing to and fro, and the deep windows looked + out upon gardens which spring and summer would crowd with loveliness from + which clouds of perfume would float up to him on days when the sun warmed + and the soft airs stirred the flowers, shaking the fragrance from their + full incense-cups. But the white fog shut out to-day even their winter + bareness. There were light and warmth inside, and every added charm of + rich harmony of deep color and comfort made beautiful. There were books + and papers waiting to be looked over, but they lay untouched on the + writing-table, and Strangeways was sitting close to the biggest window, + staring into the fog. His eyes looked hungry and hollow and dark. Ann knew + he was “trying to remember” something. + </p> + <p> + When the sound of footsteps reached his ear, he turned to look at them, + and rose mechanically at sight of Ann. But his expression was that of a + man aroused from a dream of far-off places. + </p> + <p> + “I remember you,” he said, but hesitated as though making an effort to + recall something. + </p> + <p> + “Of course you do,” said Little Ann. “You know me quite well. I brought + you here. Think a bit. Little—Little—” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” he broke forth. “Of course, Little Ann! Thank God I've not + forgotten.” He took her hand in both his and held it tenderly. “You have a + sweet little face. It's such a wise little face!” His voice sounded + dreamy. + </p> + <p> + Ann drew him to his chair with a coaxing laugh and sat down by him. + </p> + <p> + “You're flattering me. You make me feel quite shy,” she said. “You know + HIM, too,” nodding toward Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes,” he replied, and he looked up with a smile. “He is the one who + remembers. You said you did.” He had turned to Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “You bet your life I do,” Tembarom answered. “And you will, too, before + long.” + </p> + <p> + “If I did not try so hard,” said Strangeways, thoughtfully. “It seems as + if I were shut up in a room, and so many things were knocking at the doors—hundreds + of them—knocking because they want to be let in. I am damnably + unhappy—damnably.” He hung his head and stared at the floor. + Tembarom put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a friendly shake. + </p> + <p> + “Don't you worry a bit,” he said. “You take my word for it. It'll all come + back. I'm working at it myself.” Strangeways lifted his head. + </p> + <p> + “You are the one I know best. I trust you.” But there was the beginning of + a slight drag in his voice. “I don't always—quite recollect—your + name. Not quite. Good heavens! I mustn't forget that.” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann was quite ready. + </p> + <p> + “You won't,” she said, “because it's different from other names. It begins + with a letter—just a letter, and then there is the name. Think.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes,” he said anxiously. + </p> + <p> + Little Ann bent forward and fixed her eyes on his with concentrated + suggestion. They had never risked confusing him by any mention of the new + name. She began to repeat letters of the alphabet slowly and distinctly + until she reached the letter T. + </p> + <p> + “T,” she ended with much emphasis—“R. S. <i>T</i>.” + </p> + <p> + His expression cleared itself. + </p> + <p> + “T,” he repeated. “T—Tembarom. R, S, T. How clever you are!” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann's gaze concentrated itself still more intently. + </p> + <p> + “Now you'll never forget it again,” she said, “because of the T. You'll + say the other letters until you come to it. R, S, T.” + </p> + <p> + “T. Tembarom,” he ended relievedly. “How you help me!” He took her hand + and kissed it very gently. + </p> + <p> + “We are all going to help you,” Ann soothed him, “T. Tembarom most of + all.” + </p> + <p> + “Say,” Tembarom broke out in an aside to her, “I'm going to come here and + try things on him every day. When it seems like he gets on to something, + however little a thing it is, I'm going to follow it up and see if it + won't get somewhere.” + </p> + <p> + Ann nodded. + </p> + <p> + “There'll be something some day,” she said. “Are you quite comfortable + here?” she asked aloud to Strangeways. + </p> + <p> + “Very comfortable, thank you,” he answered courteously. “They are + beautiful rooms. They are furnished with such fine old things. This is + entirely Jacobean. It's quite perfect.” He glanced about him. “And so + quiet. No one comes in here but my man, and he is a very nice chap. I + never had a man who knew his duties better.” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann and Tembarom looked at each other. + </p> + <p> + “I shouldn't be a bit surprised,” she said after they had left the room, + “if it wouldn't be a good thing to get Pearson to try to talk to him now + and then. He's been used to a man-servant.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” answered Tembarom. “Pearson didn't rattle HIM, you bet your life.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV + </h2> + <p> + He could not persuade them to remain to take lunch with him. The firmness + of Hutchinson's declination was not unconnected with a private feeling + that “them footmen chaps 'u'd be on the lookout to see the way you handled + every bite you put in your mouth.” He couldn't have stood it, dang their + impudence! Little Ann, on her part, frankly and calmly said, “It wouldn't + DO.” That was all, and evidently covered everything. + </p> + <p> + After they had gone, the fog lifted somewhat, but though it withdrew from + the windows, it remained floating about in masses, like huge ghosts, among + the trees of the park. When Tembarom sat down alone to prolong his lunch + with the aid of Burrill and the footmen, he was confronted by these + unearthly shapes every time he lifted his eyes to the window he faced from + his place at the table. It was an outlook which did not inspire to + cheerfulness, and the fact that Ann and her father were going back to + Manchester and later to America left him without even the simple + consolation of a healthy appetite. Things were bound to get better after a + while; they were BOUND to. A fellow would be a fool if he couldn't fix it + somehow so that he could enjoy himself, with money to burn. If you made up + your mind you couldn't stand the way things were, you didn't have to lie + down under them, with a thousand or so “per” coming in. You could fix it + so that it would be different. By jinks! there wasn't any law against your + giving it all to the church but just enough to buy a flat in Harlem + out-right, if you wanted to. But you weren't going to run crazy and do a + lot of fool things in a minute, and be sorry the rest of your life. Money + was money. And first and foremost there was Ann, with her round cheeks + flushed and her voice all sweet and queer, saying, “You wouldn't be T. + Tembarom; and it was T. Tembarom that—that was T. Tembarom.” + </p> + <p> + He couldn't help knowing what she had begun to say, and his own face + flushed as he thought of it. He was at that time of life when there + generally happens to be one center about which the world revolves. The + creature who passes through this period of existence without watching it + revolve about such a center has missed an extraordinary and singularly + developing experience. It is sometimes happy, often disastrous, but always + more or less developing. Speaking calmly, detachedly, but not cynically, + it is a phase. During its existence it is the blood in the veins, the + sight of the eyes, the beat of the pulse, the throb of the heart. It is + also the day and the night, the sun, the moon, and the stars, heaven and + hell, the entire universe. And it doesn't matter in the least to any one + but the creatures living through it. T. Tembarom was in the midst of it. + There was Ann. There was this new crazy thing which had happened to him—“this + fool thing,” as he called it. There was this monstrous, magnificent house,—he + knew it was magnificent, though it wasn't his kind,—there was old + Palford and his solemn talk about ancestors and the name of Temple + Barholm. It always reminded him of how ashamed he had been in Brooklyn of + the “Temple Temple” and how he had told lies to prevent the fellows + finding out about it. And there was seventy thousand pounds a year, and + there was Ann, who looked as soft as a baby,—Good Lord! how soft + she'd feel if you got her in your arms and squeezed her!—and yet was + somehow strong enough to keep him just where she wanted him to stay and + believed he ought to stay until “he had found out.” That was it. She + wasn't doing it for any fool little idea of making herself seem more + important: she just believed it. She was doing it because she wanted to + let him “have his chance,” just as if she were his mother instead of the + girl he was clean crazy about. His chance! He laughed outright—a + short, confident laugh which startled Burrill exceedingly. + </p> + <p> + When he went back to the library and lighted his pipe he began to stride + up and down as he continued to think it over. + </p> + <p> + “I wish she was as sure as I am,” he said. “I wish she was as sure of me + as I am of myself—and as I am of her.” He laughed the short, + confident laugh again. “I wish she was as sure as I am of us both. We're + all right. I've got to get through this, and find out what it's best to + do, and I've got to show her. When I've had my chance good and plenty, us + two for little old New York! Gee! won't it be fine!” he exclaimed + imaginatively. “Her going over her bills, looking like a peach of a baby + that's trying to knit its brows, and adding up, and thinking she ought to + economize. She'd do it if we had ten million.” He laughed outright + joyfully. “Good Lord! I should kiss her to death!” + </p> + <p> + The simplest process of ratiocination would lead to a realization of the + fact that though he was lonely and uncomfortable, he was not in the least + pathetic or sorry for himself. His normal mental and physical structure + kept him steady on his feet, and his practical and unsentimental training, + combining itself with a touch of iron which centuries ago had expressed + itself through some fighting Temple Barholm and a medium of battle-axes, + crossbows, and spears, did the rest. + </p> + <p> + “It'd take more than this to get me where I'd be down and out. I'm feeling + fine,” he said. “I believe I'll go and 'take a walk,' as Palford says.” + </p> + <p> + The fog-wreaths in the park were floating away, and he went out grinning + and whistling, giving Burrill and the footman a nod as he passed them with + a springing young stride. He got the door open so quickly that he left + them behind him frustrated and staring at each other. + </p> + <p> + “It wasn't our fault,” said Burrill, gloomily. “He's never had a door + opened for him in his life. This won't do for me.” + </p> + <p> + He was away for about an hour, and came back in the best of spirits. He + had found out that there was something in “taking a walk” if a fellow had + nothing else to do. The park was “fine,” and he had never seen anything + like it. When there were leaves on the trees and the grass and things were + green, it would be better than Central Park itself. You could have + base-ball matches in it. What a cinch it would be if you charged + gate-money! But he supposed you couldn't if it belonged to you and you had + three hundred and fifty thousand a year. You had to get used to that. But + it did seem a fool business to have all that land and not make a cent out + of it. If it was just outside New York and you cut it up into lots, you'd + just pile it up. He was quite innocent—calamitously innocent and + commercial and awful in his views. Thoughts such as these had been crammed + into his brain by life ever since he had gone down the staircase of the + Brooklyn tenement with his twenty-five cents in his ten-year-old hand. + </p> + <p> + The stillness of the house seemed to have accentuated itself when he + returned to it. His sense of it let him down a little as he entered. The + library was like a tomb—a comfortable luxurious tomb with a bright + fire in it. A new Punch and the morning papers had been laid upon a table + earlier in the day, and he sat down to look at them. + </p> + <p> + “I guess about fifty-seven or eight of the hundred and thirty-six hours + have gone by,” he said. “But, gee! ain't it lonesome!” + </p> + <p> + He sat so still trying to interest himself in “London Day by Day” in the + morning paper that the combination of his exercise in the fresh air and + the warmth of the fire made him drowsy. He leaned back in his chair and + closed his eyes without being aware that he did so. He was on the verge of + a doze. + </p> + <p> + He remained upon the verge for a few minutes, and then a soft, rustling + sound made him open his eyes. + </p> + <p> + An elderly little lady had timidly entered the room. She was neatly + dressed in an old-fashioned and far-from-new black silk dress, with a + darned lace collar and miniature brooch at her neck. She had also thin, + gray side-ringlets dangling against her cheeks from beneath a small, black + lace cap with pale-purple ribbons on it. She had most evidently not + expected to find any one in the room, and, having seen Tembarom, gave a + half-frightened cough. + </p> + <p> + “I—I beg your pardon,” she faltered. “I really did not mean to + intrude—really.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom jumped up, awkward, but good-natured. Was she a kind of servant + who was a lady? + </p> + <p> + “Oh, that's all right,” he said. + </p> + <p> + But she evidently did not feel that it was all right. She looked as though + she felt that she had been caught doing something wrong, and must properly + propitiate by apology. + </p> + <p> + “I'm so sorry. I thought you had gone out—Mr. Temple Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + “I did go out—to take a walk; but I came in.” + </p> + <p> + Having been discovered in her overt act, she evidently felt that duty + demanded some further ceremony from her. She approached him very timidly, + but with an exquisite, little elderly early-Victorian manner. She was of + the most astonishingly perfect type, though Tembarom was not aware of the + fact. The manner, a century earlier, would have expressed itself in a + curtsy. + </p> + <p> + “It is Mr. Temple Barholm, isn't it?” she inquired. + </p> + <p> + “Yes; it has been for the last few weeks,” he answered, wondering why she + seemed so in awe of him and wishing she didn't. + </p> + <p> + “I ought to apologize for being here,” she began. + </p> + <p> + “Say, don't, please!” he interrupted. “What I feel is, that it ought to be + up to me to apologize for being here.” + </p> + <p> + She was really quite flurried and distressed. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, please, Mr. Temple Barholm!” she fluttered, proceeding to explain + hurriedly, as though he without doubt understood the situation. “I should + of course have gone away at once after the late Mr. Temple Barholm died, + but—but I really had nowhere to go—and was kindly allowed to + remain until about two months ago, when I went to make a visit. I fully + intended to remove my little belongings before you arrived, but I was + detained by illness and could not return until this morning to pack up. I + understood you were in the park, and I remembered I had left my + knitting-bag here.” She glanced nervously about the room, and seemed to + catch sight of something on a remote corner table. “Oh, there it is. May I + take it?” she said, looking at him appealingly. “It was a kind present + from a dear lost friend, and—and—” She paused, seeing his + puzzled and totally non-comprehending air. It was plainly the first moment + it had dawned upon her that he did not know what she was talking about. + She took a small, alarmed step toward him. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I BEG your pardon,” she exclaimed in delicate anguish. “I'm afraid + you don't know who I am. Perhaps Mr. Palford forgot to mention me. Indeed, + why should he mention me? There were so many more important things. I am a + sort of distant—VERY distant relation of yours. My name is Alicia + Temple Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom was relieved. But she actually hadn't made a move toward the + knitting-bag. She seemed afraid to do it until he gave her permission. He + walked over to the corner table and brought it to her, smiling broadly. + </p> + <p> + “Here it is,” he said. “I'm glad you left it. I'm very happy to be + acquainted with you, Miss Alicia.” + </p> + <p> + He was glad just to see her looking up at him with her timid, refined, + intensely feminine appeal. Why she vaguely brought back something that + reminded him of Ann he could not have told. He knew nothing whatever of + types early-Victorian or late. + </p> + <p> + He took her hand, evidently to her greatest possible amazement, and shook + it heartily. She knew nothing whatever of the New York street type, and it + made her gasp for breath, but naturally with an allayed terror. + </p> + <p> + “Gee!” he exclaimed whole-heartedly, “I'm glad to find out I've got a + relation. I thought I hadn't one in the world. Won't you sit down?” He was + drawing her toward his own easy-chair. But he really didn't know, she was + agitatedly thinking. She really must tell him. He seemed so good tempered + and—and DIFFERENT. She herself was not aware of the enormous + significance which lay in that word “different.” There must be no risk of + her seeming to presume upon his lack of knowledge. + </p> + <p> + “It is MOST kind of you,” she said with grateful emphasis, “but I mustn't + sit down and detain you. I can explain in a few words—if I may.” + </p> + <p> + He positively still held her hand in the oddest, natural, boyish way, and + before she knew what she was doing he had made her take the chair—quite + MADE her. + </p> + <p> + “Well, just sit down and explain,” he said. “I wish to thunder you would + detain me. Take all the time you like. I want to hear all about it—honest + Injun.” + </p> + <p> + There was a cushion in the chair, and as he talked, he pulled it out and + began to arrange it behind her, still in the most natural and + matter-of-fact way—so natural and matter-of-fact, indeed, that its + very natural matter-of-factedness took her breath away. + </p> + <p> + “Is that fixed all right?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + Being a little lady, she could only accept his extraordinary friendliness + with grateful appreciation, though she could not help fluttering a little + in her bewilderment. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, thank you, thank you, Mr. Temple Barholm,” she said. + </p> + <p> + He sat down on the square ottoman facing her, and leaned forward with an + air of making a frank confession. + </p> + <p> + “Guess what I was thinking to myself two minutes before you came in? I was + thinking, `Lord, I'm lonesome—just sick lonesome!' And then I opened + my eyes and looked—and there was a relation! Hully gee! I call that + luck!” + </p> + <p> + “Dear me!” she said, shyly delighted. “DO you, Mr. Temple Barholm—REALLY?” + </p> + <p> + Her formal little way of saying his name was like Ann's. + </p> + <p> + “Do I? I'm tickled to death. My mother died when I was ten, and I've never + had any women kin-folks.” + </p> + <p> + “Poor bo—” She had nearly said “Poor boy!” and only checked the + familiarity just in time—“Poor Mr. Temple Barholm!” + </p> + <p> + “Say, what are we two to each other, anyhow?” He put it to her with great + interest. + </p> + <p> + “It is a very distant relationship, if it is one at all,” she answered. + “You see, I was only a second cousin to the late Mr. Temple Barholm, and I + had not really the SLIGHTEST claim upon him.” She placed pathetic emphasis + on the fact. “It was most generous of him to be so kind to me. When my + poor father died and I was left quite penniless, he gave me a—a sort + of home here.” + </p> + <p> + “A sort of home?” Tembarom repeated. + </p> + <p> + “My father was a clergyman in VERY straitened circumstances. We had barely + enough to live upon—barely. He could leave me nothing. It actually + seemed as if I should have to starve—it did, indeed.” There was a + delicate quiver in her voice. “And though the late Mr. Temple Barholm had + a great antipathy to ladies, he was so—so noble as to send word to + me that there were a hundred and fifty rooms in his house, and that if I + would keep out of his way I might live in one of them.” + </p> + <p> + “That was noble,” commented her distant relative. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes, indeed, especially when one considers how he disliked the + opposite sex and what a recluse he was. He could not endure ladies. I + scarcely ever saw him. My room was in quite a remote wing of the house, + and I never went out if I knew he was in the park. I was most careful. And + when he died of course I knew I must go away.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom was watching her almost tenderly. + </p> + <p> + “Where did you go?” + </p> + <p> + “To a kind clergyman in Shropshire who thought he might help me.” + </p> + <p> + “How was he going to do it?” + </p> + <p> + She answered with an effort to steady a somewhat lowered and hesitating + voice. + </p> + <p> + “There was near his parish a very nice—charity,”—her breath + caught itself pathetically,—“some most comfortable almshouses for + decayed gentlewomen. He thought he might be able to use his influence to + get me into one.” She paused and smiled, but her small, wrinkled hands + held each other closely. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom looked away. He spoke as though to himself, and without knowing + that he was thinking aloud. + </p> + <p> + “Almshouses!” he said. “Wouldn't that jolt you!” He turned on her again + with a change to cheerful concern. “Say, that cushion of yours ain't + comfortable. I 'm going to get you another one.” He jumped up and, taking + one from a sofa, began to arrange it behind her dexterously. + </p> + <p> + “But I mustn't trouble you any longer. I must go, really,” she said, half + rising nervously. He put a hand on her shoulder and made her sit again. + </p> + <p> + “Go where?” he said. “Just lean back on that cushion, Miss Alicia. For the + next few minutes this is going to be MY funeral.” + </p> + <p> + She was at once startled and uncomprehending. What an extraordinary + expression! What COULD it mean? + </p> + <p> + “F—funeral?” she stammered. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly he seemed somehow to have changed. He looked as serious as though + he was beginning to think out something all at once. What was he going to + say? + </p> + <p> + “That's New York slang,” he answered. “It means that I want to explain + myself to you and ask a few questions.” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly, certainly, Mr. Temple Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + He leaned his back against the mantel, and went into the matter + practically. + </p> + <p> + “First off, haven't you ANY folks?” Then, answering her puzzled look, + added, “I mean relations.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia gently shook her head. + </p> + <p> + “No sisters or brothers or uncles or aunts or cousins?” + </p> + <p> + She shook her head again. + </p> + <p> + He hesitated a moment, putting his hands in his pockets and taking them + out again awkwardly as he looked down at her. + </p> + <p> + “Now here's where I'm up against it,” he went on. “I don't want to be too + fresh or to butt in, but—didn't old Temple Barholm leave you ANY + money?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, no!” she exclaimed. “Dear me! no! I couldn't possibly EXPECT such a + thing.” + </p> + <p> + He gazed at her as though considering the situation. “Couldn't you?” he + said. + </p> + <p> + There was an odd reflection in his eyes, and he seemed to consider her and + the situation again. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” he began after his pause, “what I want to know is what you expect + ME to do.” + </p> + <p> + There was no unkindness in his manner, in fact, quite the contrary, even + when he uttered what seemed to Miss Alicia these awful, unwarranted words. + As though she had forced herself into his presence to make demands upon + his charity! They made her tremble and turn pale as she got up quickly, + shocked and alarmed. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, nothing! nothing! nothing WHATEVER, Mr. Temple Barholm!” she + exclaimed, her agitation doing its best to hide itself behind a fine + little dignity. He saw in an instant that his style of putting it had been + “'way off,” that his ignorance had betrayed him, that she had + misunderstood him altogether. He almost jumped at her. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, say, I didn't mean THAT!” he cried out. “For the Lord's sake! don't + think I'm such a Tenderloin tough as to make a break like that! Not on + your life!” + </p> + <p> + Never since her birth had a male creature looked at Miss Alicia with the + appeal which showed itself in his eyes as he actually put his arm half + around her shoulders, like a boy begging a favor from his mother or his + aunt. + </p> + <p> + “What I meant was—” He broke off and began again quite anxiously, + “say, just as a favor, will you sit down again and let me tell you what I + did mean?” + </p> + <p> + It was that natural, warm, boyish way which overcame her utterly. It + reminded her of the only boy she had ever really known, the one male + creature who had allowed her to be fond of him. There was moisture in her + eyes as she let him put her back into her chair. When he had done it, he + sat down on the ottoman again and poured himself forth. + </p> + <p> + “You know what kind of a chap I am. No, you don't, either. You mayn't know + a thing about me; and I want to tell you. I'm so different from everything + you've ever known that I scare you. And no wonder. It's the way I've + lived. If you knew, you'd understand what I was thinking of when I spoke + just now. I've been cold, I've been hungry, I've walked the wet streets on + my uppers. I know all about GOING WITHOUT. And do you expect that I am + going to let a—a little thing like you—go away from here + without friends and without money on the chance of getting into an + almshouse that isn't vacant? Do you expect that of me? Not on your life! + That was what I meant.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia quivered; the pale-purple ribbons on her little lace cap + quivered. + </p> + <p> + “I haven't,” she said, and the fine little dignity was piteous, “a SHADOW + of a claim upon you.” It was necessary for her to produce a + pocket-handkerchief. He took it from her, and touched her eyes as softly + as though she were a baby. + </p> + <p> + “Claim nothing!” he said. “I've got a claim on YOU. I'm going to stake one + out right now.” He got up and gesticulated, taking in the big room and its + big furniture. “Look at all this! It fell on me like a thunderbolt. It's + nearly knocked the life out of me. I'm like a lost cat on Broadway. You + can't go away and leave me, Miss Alicia; it's your duty to stay. You've + just GOT to stay to take care of me.” He came over to her with a wheedling + smile. “I never was taken care of in my life. Just be as noble to me as + old Temple Barholm was to you: give me a sort of home.” + </p> + <p> + If a little gentlewoman could stare, it might be said that Miss Alicia + stared at him. She trembled with amazed emotion. + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean—” Despite all he had said, she scarcely dared to utter + the words lest, after all, she might be taking for granted more than it + was credible could be true. “Can you mean that if I stayed here with you + it would make Temple Barholm seem more like HOME? Is it possible you—you + mean THAT?” + </p> + <p> + “I mean just that very thing.” + </p> + <p> + It was too much for her. Finely restrained little elderly gentlewoman as + she was, she openly broke down under it. + </p> + <p> + “It can't be true!” she ejaculated shakily. “It isn't possible. It is too—too + beautiful and kind. Do forgive me! I c-a-n't help it.” She burst into + tears. + </p> + <p> + She knew it was most stupidly wrong. She knew gentlemen did not like + tears. Her father had told her that men never really forgave women who + cried at them. And here, when her fate hung in the balance, she was not + able to behave herself with feminine decorum. + </p> + <p> + Yet the new Mr. Temple Barholm took it in as matter-of-fact a manner as he + seemed to take everything. He stood by her chair and soothed her in his + dear New York voice. + </p> + <p> + “That's all right, Miss Alicia,” he commented. “You cry as much as you + want to, just so that you don't say no. You've been worried and you're + tired. I'll tell you there's been two or three times lately when I should + like to have cried myself if I'd known how. Say,” he added with a sudden + outburst of imagination, “I bet anything it's about time you had tea.” + </p> + <p> + The suggestion was so entirely within the normal order of things that it + made her feel steadier, and she was able to glance at the clock. + </p> + <p> + “A cup of tea would be refreshing,” she said. “They will bring it in very + soon, but before the servants come I must try to express—” + </p> + <p> + But before she could express anything further the tea appeared. Burrill + and a footman brought it on splendid salvers, in massive urn and tea-pot, + with chaste, sacrificial flame flickering, and wonderful, hot buttered and + toasted things and wafers of bread and butter attendant. As they crossed + the threshold, the sight of Miss Alicia's small form enthroned in their + employer's chair was one so obviously unanticipated that Burrill made a + step backward and the footman almost lost the firmness of his hold on the + smaller tray. Each recovered himself in time, however, and not until the + tea was arranged upon the table near the fire was any outward recognition + of Miss Alicia's presence made. Then Burrill, pausing, made an + announcement entirely without prejudice: + </p> + <p> + “I beg pardon, sir, but Higgins's cart has come for Miss Temple Barholm's + box; he is asking when she wants the trap.” + </p> + <p> + “She doesn't want it at all,” answered Tembarom. “Carry her trunk + up-stairs again. She's not going away.” + </p> + <p> + The lack of proper knowledge contained in the suggestion that Burrill + should carry trunks upstairs caused Miss Alicia to quail in secret, but + she spoke with outward calm. + </p> + <p> + “No, Burrill,” she said. “I am not going away.” + </p> + <p> + “Very good, Miss,” Burrill replied, and with impressive civility he + prepared to leave the room. Tembarom glanced at the tea-things. + </p> + <p> + “There's only one cup here,” he said. “Bring one for me.” + </p> + <p> + Burrill's expression might perhaps have been said to start slightly. + </p> + <p> + “Very good, sir,” he said, and made his exit. Miss Alicia was fluttering + again. + </p> + <p> + “That cup was really for you, Mr. Temple Barholm,” she ventured. + </p> + <p> + “Well, now it's for you, and I've let him know it,” replied Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, PLEASE,” she said in an outburst of feeling—“PLEASE let me tell + you how GRATEFUL—how grateful I am!” + </p> + <p> + But he would not let her. + </p> + <p> + “If you do,” he said, “I'll tell you how grateful <i>I</i> am, and that'll + be worse. No, that's all fixed up between us. It goes. We won't say any + more about it.” + </p> + <p> + He took the whole situation in that way, as though he was assuming no + responsibility which was not the simple, inevitable result of their + drifting across each other—as though it was only what any man would + have done, even as though she was a sort of delightful, unexpected + happening. He turned to the tray. + </p> + <p> + “Say, that looks all right, doesn't it?” he said. “Now you are here, I + like the way it looks. I didn't yesterday.” + </p> + <p> + Burrill himself brought the extra cup and saucer and plate. He wished to + make sure that his senses had not deceived him. But there she sat who + through years had existed discreetly in the most unconsidered rooms in an + uninhabited wing, knowing better than to presume upon her privileges—there + she sat with an awed and rapt face gazing up at this new outbreak into + Temple Barholm's and “him joking and grinning as though he was as pleased + as Punch.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV + </h2> + <p> + To employ the figure of Burrill, Tembarom was indeed “as pleased as + Punch.” He was one of the large number of men who, apart from all + sentimental relations, are made particularly happy by the kindly society + of women; who expand with quite unconscious rejoicing when a woman begins + to take care of them in one way or another. The unconsciousness is a + touching part of the condition. The feminine nearness supplies a primeval + human need. The most complete of men, as well as the weaklings, feel it. + It is a survival of days when warm arms held and protected, warm hands + served, and affectionate voices soothed. An accomplished male servant may + perform every domestic service perfectly, but the fact that he cannot be a + woman leaves a sense of lack. An accustomed feminine warmth in the + surrounding daily atmosphere has caused many a man to marry his + housekeeper or even his cook, as circumstances prompted. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom had known no woman well until he had met Little Ann. His feeling + for Mrs. Bowse herself had verged on affection, because he would have been + fond of any woman of decent temper and kindliness, especially if she gave + him opportunities to do friendly service. Little Ann had seemed the + apotheosis of the feminine, the warmly helpful, the subtly supporting, the + kind. She had been to him an amazement and a revelation. She had + continually surprised him by revealing new characteristics which seemed to + him nicer things than he had ever known before, but which, if he had been + aware of it, were not really surprising at all. They were only the + characteristics of a very nice young feminine creature. + </p> + <p> + The presence of Miss Alicia, with the long-belated fashion of her ringlets + and her little cap, was delightful to him. He felt as though he would like + to take her in his arms and hug her. He thought perhaps it was partly + because she was a little like Ann, and kept repeating his name in Ann's + formal little way. Her delicate terror of presuming or intruding he felt + in its every shade. Mentally she touched him enormously. He wanted to make + her feel that she need not be afraid of him in the least, that he liked + her, that in his opinion she had more right in the house than he had. He + was a little frightened lest through ignorance he should say things the + wrong way, as he had said that thing about wanting to know what she + expected him to do. What he ought to have said was, “You're not expecting + me to let that sort of thing go on.” It had made him sick when he saw what + a break he'd made and that she thought he was sort of insulting her. The + room seemed all right now that she was in it. Small and unassuming as she + was, she seemed to make it less over-sized. He didn't so much mind the + loftiness of the ceiling, the depth and size of the windows, and the walls + covered with thousands of books he knew nothing whatever about. The + innumerable books had been an oppressing feature. If he had been one of + those “college guys” who never could get enough of books, what a “cinch” + the place would have been for him—good as the Astor Library! He + hadn't a word to say against books,—good Lord! no;—but even if + he'd had the education and the time to read, he didn't believe he was + naturally that kind, anyhow. You had to be “that kind” to know about + books. He didn't suppose she—meaning Miss Alicia—was learned + enough to make you throw a fit. She didn't look that way, and he was + mighty glad of it, because perhaps she wouldn't like him much if she was. + It would worry her when she tried to talk to him and found out he didn't + know a darned thing he ought to. + </p> + <p> + They'd get on together easier if they could just chin about common sort of + every-day things. But though she didn't look like the Vassar sort, he + guessed that she was not like himself: she had lived in libraries before, + and books didn't frighten her. She'd been born among people who read lots + of them and maybe could talk about them. That was why she somehow seemed + to fit into the room. He was aware that, timid as she was and shabby as + her neat dress looked, she fitted into the whole place, as he did not. + She'd been a poor relative and had been afraid to death of old Temple + Barholm, but she'd not been afraid of him because she wasn't his sort. She + was a lady; that was what was the matter with her. It was what made things + harder for her, too. It was what made her voice tremble when she'd tried + to seem so contented and polite when she'd talked about going into one of + those “decayed alms-houses.” As if the old ladies were vegetables that had + gone wrong, by gee! he thought. + </p> + <p> + He liked her little, modest, delicate old face and her curls and her + little cap with the ribbons so much that he smiled with a twinkling eye + every time he looked at her. He wanted to suggest something he thought + would be mighty comfortable, but he was half afraid he might be asking her + to do something which wasn't “her job,” and it might hurt her feelings. + But he ventured to hint at it. + </p> + <p> + “Has Burrill got to come back and pour that out?” he asked, with an + awkward gesture toward the tea-tray. “Has he just GOT to?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, no, unless you wish it,” she answered. “Shall—may I give it to + you?” + </p> + <p> + “Will you?” he exclaimed delightedly. “That would be fine. I shall feel + like a regular Clarence.” + </p> + <p> + She was going to sit at the table in a straight-backed chair, but he + sprang at her. + </p> + <p> + “This big one is more comfortable,” he said, and he dragged it forward and + made her sit in it. “You ought to have a footstool,” he added, and he got + one and put it under her feet. “There, that's all right.” + </p> + <p> + A footstool, as though she were a royal personage and he were a gentleman + in waiting, only probably gentlemen in waiting did not jump about and look + so pleased. The cheerful content of his boyish face when he himself sat + down near the table was delightful. + </p> + <p> + “Now,” he said, “we can ring up for the first act.” + </p> + <p> + She filled the tea-pot and held it for a moment, and then set it down as + though her feelings were too much for her. + </p> + <p> + “I feel as if I were in a dream,” she quavered happily. “I do indeed.” + </p> + <p> + “But it's a nice one, ain't it?” he answered. “I feel as if I was in two. + Sitting here in this big room with all these fine things about me, and + having afternoon tea with a relation! It just about suits me. It didn't + feel like this yesterday, you bet your life!” + </p> + <p> + “Does it seem—nicer than yesterday?” she ventured. “Really, Mr. + Temple Barholm?” + </p> + <p> + “Nicer!” he ejaculated. “It's got yesterday beaten to a frazzle.” + </p> + <p> + It was beyond all belief. He was speaking as though the advantage, the + relief, the happiness, were all on his side. She longed to enlighten him. + </p> + <p> + “But you can't realize what it is to me,” she said gratefully, “to sit + here, not terrified and homeless and—a beggar any more, with your + kind face before me. Do forgive me for saying it. You have such a kind + young face, Mr. Temple Barholm. And to have an easy-chair and cushions, + and actually a buffet brought for my feet!” She suddenly recollected + herself. “Oh, I mustn't let your tea get cold,” she added, taking up the + tea-pot apologetically. “Do you take cream and sugar, and is it to be one + lump or two?” + </p> + <p> + “I take everything in sight,” he replied joyously, “and two lumps, + please.” + </p> + <p> + She prepared the cup of tea with as delicate a care as though it had been + a sacramental chalice, and when she handed it to him she smiled wistfully. + </p> + <p> + “No one but you ever thought of such a thing as bringing a buffet for my + feet—no one except poor little Jem,” she said, and her voice was + wistful as well as her smile. + </p> + <p> + She was obviously unaware that she was introducing an entirely new + acquaintance to him. Poor little Jem was supposed to be some one whose + whole history he knew. + </p> + <p> + “Jem?” he repeated, carefully transferring a piece of hot buttered crumpet + to his plate. + </p> + <p> + “Jem Temple Barholm,” she answered. “I say little Jem because I remember + him only as a child. I never saw him after he was eleven years old.” + </p> + <p> + “Who was he?” he asked. The tone of her voice, and her manner of speaking + made him feel that he wanted to hear something more. + </p> + <p> + She looked rather startled by his ignorance. “Have you—have you + never heard of him?” she inquired. + </p> + <p> + “No. Is he another distant relation?” + </p> + <p> + Her hesitation caused him to neglect his crumpet, to look up at her. He + saw at once that she wore the air of a sensitive and beautifully mannered + elderly lady who was afraid she had made a mistake and said something + awkward. + </p> + <p> + “I am so sorry,” she apologized. “Perhaps I ought not to have mentioned + him.” + </p> + <p> + “Why shouldn't he be mentioned?” + </p> + <p> + She was embarrassed. She evidently wished she had not spoken, but breeding + demanded that she should ignore the awkwardness of the situation, if + awkwardness existed. + </p> + <p> + “Of course—I hope your tea is quite as you like it—of course + there is no real reason. But—shall I give you some more cream? No? + You see, if he hadn't died, he—he would have inherited Temple + Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + Now he was interested. This was the other chap. + </p> + <p> + “Instead of me?” he asked, to make sure. She endeavored not to show + embarrassment and told herself it didn't really matter—to a + thoroughly nice person. But— + </p> + <p> + “He was the next of kin—before you. I'm so sorry I didn't know you + hadn't heard of him. It seemed natural that Mr. Palford should have + mentioned him.” + </p> + <p> + “He did say that there was a young fellow who had died, but he didn't tell + me about him. I guess I didn't ask. There were such a lot of other things. + I'd like to hear about him. You say you knew him?” + </p> + <p> + “Only when he was a little fellow. Never after he grew up. Something + happened which displeased my father. I'm afraid papa was very easily + displeased. Mr. Temple Barholm disliked him, too. He would not have him at + Temple Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + “He hadn't much luck with his folks, had he?” remarked Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “He had no luck with any one. I seemed to be the only person who was fond + of him, and of course I didn't count.” + </p> + <p> + “I bet you counted with him,” said Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “I do think I did. Both his parents died quite soon after he was born, and + people who ought to have cared for him were rather jealous because he + stood so near to Temple Barholm. If Mr. Temple Barholm had not been so + eccentric and bitter, everything would have been done for him; but as it + was, he seemed to belong to no one. When he came to the vicarage it used + to make me so happy. He used to call me Aunt Alicia, and he had such + pretty ways.” She hesitated and looked quite tenderly at the tea-pot, a + sort of shyness in her face. “I am sure,” she burst forth, “I feel quite + sure that you will understand and won't think it indelicate; but I had + thought so often that I should like to have a little boy—if I had + married,” she added in hasty tribute to propriety. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom's eyes rested on her in a thoughtfulness openly touched with + affection. He put out his hand and patted hers two or three times in + encouraging sympathy. + </p> + <p> + “Say,” he said frankly, “I just believe every woman that's the real + thing'd like to have a little boy—or a little girl—or a little + something or other. That's why pet cats and dogs have such a cinch of it. + And there's men that's the same way. It's sort of nature.” + </p> + <p> + “He had such a high spirit and such pretty ways,” she said again. “One of + his pretty ways was remembering to do little things to make one + comfortable, like thinking of giving one a cushion or a buffet for one's + feet. I noticed it so much because I had never seen boys or men wait upon + women. My own dear papa was used to having women wait upon him—bring + his slippers, you know, and give him the best chair. He didn't like Jem's + ways. He said he liked a boy who was a boy and not an affected nincompoop. + He wasn't really quite just.” She paused regretfully and sighed as she + looked back into a past doubtlessly enriched with many similar memories of + “dear papa.” “Poor Jem! Poor Jem!” she breathed softly. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom thought that she must have felt the boy's loss very much, almost + as much as though she had really been his mother; perhaps more + pathetically because she had not been his mother or anybody's mother. He + could see what a good little mother she would have made, looking after her + children and doing everything on earth to make them happy and comfortable, + just the kind of mother Ann would make, though she had not Ann's steady + wonder of a little head or her shrewd farsightedness. Jem would have been + in luck if he had been her son. It was a darned pity he hadn't been. If he + had, perhaps he would not have died young. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” he answered sympathetically, “it's hard for a young fellow to die. + How old was he, anyhow? I don't know.” + </p> + <p> + “Not much older than you are now. It was seven years ago. And if he had + only died, poor dear! There are things so much worse than death.” + </p> + <p> + “Worse!” + </p> + <p> + “Awful disgrace is worse,” she faltered. She was plainly trying to keep + moisture out of her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Did he get into some bad mix-up, poor fellow?” If there had been anything + like that, no wonder it broke her up to think of him. + </p> + <p> + It surely did break her up. She flushed emotionally. + </p> + <p> + “The cruel thing was that he didn't really do what he was accused of,” she + said. + </p> + <p> + “He didn't?” + </p> + <p> + “No; but he was a ruined man, and he went away to the Klondike because he + could not stay in England. And he was killed—killed, poor boy! And + afterward it was found out that he was innocent—too late.” + </p> + <p> + “Gee!” Tembarom gasped, feeling hot and cold. “Could you beat that for + rotten luck! What was he accused of?” + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia leaned forward and spoke in a whisper. It was too dreadful to + speak of aloud. + </p> + <p> + “Cheating at cards—a gentleman playing with gentlemen. You know what + that means.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom grew hotter and colder. No wonder she looked that way, poor + little thing! + </p> + <p> + “But,”—he hesitated before he spoke,—“but he wasn't that kind, + was he? Of course he wasn't.” + </p> + <p> + “No, no. But, you see,”—she hesitated herself here,—“everything + looked so much against him. He had been rather wild.” She dropped her + voice even lower in making the admission. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom wondered how much she meant by that. + </p> + <p> + “He was so much in debt. He knew he was to be rich in the future, and he + was poor just in those reckless young days when it seemed unfair. And he + had played a great deal and had been very lucky. He was so lucky that + sometimes his luck seemed uncanny. Men who had played with him were + horrible about it afterward.” + </p> + <p> + “They would be,” put in Tembarom. “They'd be sore about it, and bring it + up.” + </p> + <p> + They both forgot their tea. Miss Alicia forgot everything as she poured + forth her story in the manner of a woman who had been forced to keep + silent and was glad to put her case into words. It was her case. To tell + the truth of this forgotten wrong was again to offer justification of poor + handsome Jem whom everybody seemed to have dropped talk of, and even + preferred not to hear mentioned. + </p> + <p> + “There were such piteously cruel things about it,” she went on. “He had + fallen very much in love, and he meant to marry and settle down. Though we + had not seen each other for years, he actually wrote to me and told me + about it. His letter made me cry. He said I would understand and care + about the thing which seemed to have changed everything and made him a new + man. He was so sorry that he had not been better and more careful. He was + going to try all over again. He was not going to play at all after this + one evening when he was obliged to keep an engagement he had made months + before to give his revenge to a man he had won a great deal of money from. + The very night the awful thing happened he had told Lady Joan, before he + went into the card-room, that this was to be his last game.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom had looked deeply interested from the first, but at her last + words a new alertness added itself. + </p> + <p> + “Did you say Lady Joan?” he asked. “Who was Lady Joan?” + </p> + <p> + “She was the girl he was so much in love with. Her name was Lady Joan + Fayre.” + </p> + <p> + “Was she the daughter of the Countess of Mallowe?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes. Have you heard of her?” + </p> + <p> + He recalled Ann's reflective consideration of him before she had said, + “She'll come after you.” He replied now: “Some one spoke of her to me this + morning. They say she's a beauty and as proud as Lucifer.” + </p> + <p> + “She was, and she is yet, I believe. Poor Lady Joan—as well as poor + Jem!” + </p> + <p> + “She didn't believe it, did she?” he put in hastily. “She didn't throw him + down?” + </p> + <p> + “No one knew what happened between them afterward. She was in the + card-room, looking on, when the awful thing took place.” + </p> + <p> + She stopped, as though to go on was almost unbearable. She had been so + overwhelmed by the past shame of it that even after the passing of years + the anguish was a living thing. Her small hands clung hard together as + they rested on the edge of the table. Tembarom waited in thrilled + suspense. She spoke in a whisper again: + </p> + <p> + “He won a great deal of money—a great deal. He had that uncanny luck + again, and of course people in the other rooms heard what was going on, + and a number drifted in to look on. The man he had promised to give his + revenge to almost showed signs of having to make an effort to conceal his + irritation and disappointment. Of course, as he was a gentleman, he was as + cool as possible; but just at the most exciting moment, the height of the + game, Jem made a quick movement, and—and something fell out of his + sleeve.” + </p> + <p> + “Something,” gasped Tembarom, “fell out of his sleeve!” + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia's eyes overflowed as she nodded her beribboned little cap. + </p> + <p> + “It”—her voice was a sob of woe—“it was a marked card. The man + he was playing against snatched it and held it up. And he laughed out + loud.” + </p> + <p> + “Holy cats!” burst from Tembarom; but the remarkable exclamation was one + of genuine horror, and he turned pale, got up from his seat, and took two + or three strides across the room, as though he could not sit still. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, he laughed—quite loudly,” repeated Miss Alicia, “as if he had + guessed it all the time. Papa heard the whole story from some one who was + present.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom came back to her rather breathless. + </p> + <p> + “What in thunder did he do—Jem?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + She actually wrung her poor little hands. + </p> + <p> + “What could he do? There was a dead silence. People moved just a little + nearer to the table and stood and stared, merely waiting. They say it was + awful to see his face—awful. He sprang up and stood still, and + slowly became as white as if he were dying before their eyes. Some one + thought Lady Joan Fayre took a step toward him, but no one was quite sure. + He never uttered one word, but walked out of the room and down the stairs + and out of the house.” + </p> + <p> + “But didn't he speak to the girl?” + </p> + <p> + “He didn't even look at her. He passed her by as if she were stone.” + </p> + <p> + “What happened next?” + </p> + <p> + “He disappeared. No one knew where at first, and then there was a rumor + that he had gone to the Klondike and had been killed there. And a year + later—only a year! Oh, if he had only waited in England!—a + worthless villain of a valet he had discharged for stealing met with an + accident, and because he thought he was going to die, got horribly + frightened, and confessed to the clergyman that he had tucked the card in + poor Jem's sleeve himself just to pay him off. He said he did it on the + chance that it would drop out where some one would see it, and a marked + card dropping out of a man's sleeve anywhere would look black enough, + whether he was playing or not. But poor Jem was in his grave, and no one + seemed to care, though every one had been interested enough in the + scandal. People talked about that for weeks.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom pulled at his collar excitedly. + </p> + <p> + “It makes me sort of strangle,” he said. “You've got to stand your own bad + luck, but to hear of a chap that's had to lie down and take the worst that + could come to him and know it wasn't his—just KNOW it! And die + before he's cleared! That knocks me out.” + </p> + <p> + Almost every sentence he uttered had a mystical sound to Miss Alicia, but + she knew how he was taking it, with what hot, young human sympathy and + indignation. She loved the way he took it, and she loved the feeling in + his next words, + </p> + <p> + “And the girl—good Lord!—the girl?” + </p> + <p> + “I never met her, and I know very little of her; but she has never + married.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm glad of that,” he said. “I'm darned glad of it. How could she?” Ann + wouldn't, he knew. Ann would have gone to her grave unmarried. But she + would have done things first to clear her man's name. Somehow she would + have cleared him, if she'd had to fight tooth and nail till she was + eighty. + </p> + <p> + “They say she has grown very bitter and haughty in her manner. I'm afraid + Lady Mallowe is a very worldly woman. One hears they don't get on + together, and that she is bitterly disappointed because her daughter has + not made a good match. It appears that she might have made several, but + she is so hard and cynical that men are afraid of her. I wish I had known + her a little—if she really loved Jem.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom had thrust his hands into his pockets, and was standing deep in + thought, looking at the huge bank of red coals in the fire-grate. Miss + Alicia hastily wiped her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Do excuse me,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “I'll excuse you all right,” he replied, still looking into the coals. “I + guess I shouldn't excuse you as much if you didn't” He let her cry in her + gentle way while he stared, lost in reflection. + </p> + <p> + “And if he hadn't fired that valet chap, he would be here with you now—instead + of me. Instead of me,” he repeated. + </p> + <p> + And Miss Alicia did not know what to say in reply. There seemed to be + nothing which, with propriety and natural feeling, one could say. + </p> + <p> + “It makes me feel just fine to know I'm not going to have my dinner all by + myself,” he said to her before she left the library. + </p> + <p> + She had a way of blushing about things he noticed, when she was shy or + moved or didn't know exactly what to say. Though she must have been sixty, + she did it as though she were sixteen. And she did it when he said this, + and looked as though suddenly she was in some sort of trouble. + </p> + <p> + “You are going to have dinner with me,” he said, seeing that she hesitated—“dinner + and breakfast and lunch and tea and supper and every old thing that goes. + You can't turn me down after me staking out that claim.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid—” she said. “You see, I have lived such a secluded life. + I scarcely ever left my rooms except to take a walk. I'm sure you + understand. It would not have been necessary even if I could have afforded + it, which I really couldn't—I'm afraid I have nothing—quite + suitable—for evening wear.” + </p> + <p> + “You haven't!” he exclaimed gleefully. “I don't know what is suitable for + evening wear, but I haven't got it either. Pearson told me so with tears + in his eyes. It never was necessary for me either. I've got to get some + things to quiet Pearson down, but until I do I've got to eat my dinner in + a tweed cutaway; and what I've caught on to is that it's unsuitable enough + to throw a man into jail. That little black dress you've got on and that + little cap are just 'way out of sight, they're so becoming. Come down just + like you are.” + </p> + <p> + She felt a little as Pearson had felt when confronting his new employer's + entire cheerfulness in face of a situation as exotically hopeless as the + tweed cutaway, and nothing else by way of resource. But there was + something so nice about him, something which was almost as though he was + actually a gentleman, something which absolutely, if one could go so far, + stood in the place of his being a gentleman. It was impossible to help + liking him more and more at every queer speech he made. Still, there were + of course things he did not realize, and perhaps one ought in kindness to + give him a delicate hint. + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid,” she began quite apologetically. “I'm afraid that the + servants, Burrill and the footmen, you know, will be—will think—” + </p> + <p> + “Say,” he took her up, “let's give Burrill and the footmen the Willies out + and out. If they can't stand it, they can write home to their mothers and + tell 'em they've got to take 'em away. Burrill and the footmen needn't + worry. They're suitable enough, and it's none of their funeral, anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + He wasn't upset in the least. Miss Alicia, who, as a timid dependent + either upon “poor dear papa” or Mr. Temple Barholm, had been secretly, in + her sensitive, ladylike little way, afraid of superior servants all her + life, knowing that they realized her utterly insignificant helplessness, + and resented giving her attention because she was not able to show her + appreciation of their services in the proper manner—Miss Alicia saw + that it had not occurred to him to endeavor to propitiate them in the + least, because somehow it all seemed a joke to him, and he didn't care. + After the first moment of being startled, she regarded him with a novel + feeling, almost a kind of admiration. Tentatively she dared to wonder if + there was not something even rather—rather ARISTOCRATIC in his utter + indifference. + </p> + <p> + If he had been a duke, he would not have regarded the servants' point of + view; it wouldn't have mattered what they thought. Perhaps, she hastily + decided, he was like this because, though he was not a duke, boot-blacking + in New York notwithstanding he was a Temple Barholm. There were few dukes + as old of blood as a Temple Barholm. That must be it. She was relieved. + </p> + <p> + Whatsoever lay at the root of his being what he was and as he was, he + somehow changed the aspect of things for her, and without doing anything + but be himself, cleared the atmosphere of her dread of the surprise and + mental reservations of the footmen and Burrill when she came down to + dinner in her high-necked, much-cleaned, and much-repaired black silk, and + with no more distinguishing change in her toilet than a white lace cap + instead of a black one, and with “poor dear mamma's” hair bracelet with + the gold clasp on her wrist, and a weeping-willow made of “poor dear + papa's” hair in a brooch at her collar. + </p> + <p> + It was so curious, though still “nice,” but he did not offer her his arm + when they were going into the dining-room, and he took hold of hers with + his hand and affectionately half led, half pushed, her along with him as + they went. And he himself drew back her chair for her at the end of the + table opposite his own. He did not let a footman do it, and he stood + behind it, talking in his cheerful way all the time, and he moved it to + exactly the right place, and then actually bent down and looked under the + table. + </p> + <p> + “Here,” he said to the nearest man-servant, “where's there a footstool? + Get one, please,” in that odd, simple, almost aristocratic way. It was not + a rude dictatorial way, but a casual way, as though he knew the man was + there to do things, and he didn't expect any time to be wasted. + </p> + <p> + And it was he himself who arranged the footstool, making it comfortable + for her, and then he went to his own chair at the head of the table and + sat down, smiling at her joyfully across the glass and silver and flowers. + </p> + <p> + “Push that thing in the middle on one side, Burrill,” he said. “It's too + high. I can't see Miss Alicia.” + </p> + <p> + Burrill found it difficult to believe the evidence of his hearing. + </p> + <p> + “The epergne, sir?” he inquired. + </p> + <p> + “Is that what it's called, an apern? That's a new one on me. Yes, that's + what I mean. Push the apern over.” + </p> + <p> + “Shall I remove it from the table, sir?” Burrill steeled himself to exact + civility. Of what use to behave otherwise? There always remained the + liberty to give notice if the worst came to the worst, though what the + worst might eventually prove to be it required a lurid imagination to + depict. The epergne was a beautiful thing of crystal and gold, a + celebrated work of art, regarded as an exquisite possession. It was almost + remarkable that Mr. Temple Barholm had not said, “Shove it on one side,” + but Burrill had been spared the poignant indignity of being required to + “shove.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, suppose you do. It's a fine enough thing when it isn't in the way, + but I've got to see you while I talk, Miss Alicia,” said Mr. Temple + Barholm. The episode of the epergne—Burrill's expression, and the + rigidly restrained mouths of Henry and James as the decoration was + removed, leaving a painfully blank space of table-cloth until Burrill + silently filled it with flowers in a low bowl—these things + temporarily flurried Miss Alicia somewhat, but the pleased smile at the + head of the table calmed even that trying moment. + </p> + <p> + Then what a delightful meal it was, to be sure! How entertaining and + cheerful and full of interesting conversation! Miss Alicia had always + admired what she reverently termed “conversation.” She had read of the + houses of brilliant people where they had it at table, at dinner and + supper parties, and in drawing-rooms. The French, especially the French + ladies, were brilliant conversationalists. They held “salons” in which the + conversation was wonderful—Mme. de Stael and Mme. Roland, for + instance; and in England, Lady Mary Wortley Montague, Sydney Smith, and + Horace Walpole, and surely Miss Fanny Burney, and no doubt L. E. L., whose + real name was Miss Letitia Elizabeth Landon—what conversation they + must have delighted their friends with and how instructive it must have + been even to sit in the most obscure corner and listen! + </p> + <p> + Such gifted persons seemed to have been chosen by Providence to delight + and inspire every one privileged to hear them. Such privileges had been + omitted from the scheme of Miss Alicia's existence. She did not know, she + would have felt it sacrilegious to admit it even if the fact had dawned + upon her, that “dear papa” had been a heartlessly arrogant, utterly + selfish, and tyrannical old blackguard of the most pronounced type. He had + been of an absolute morality as far as social laws were concerned. He had + written and delivered a denunciatory sermon a week, and had made + unbearable by his ministrations the suffering hours and the last moments + of his parishioners during the long years of his pastorate. When Miss + Alicia, in reading records of the helpful relationship of the male + progenitors of the Brontes, Jane Austen, Fanny Burney, and Mrs. Browning, + was frequently reminded of him, she revealed a perception of which she was + not aware. He had combined the virile qualities of all of them. + Consequently, brilliancy of conversation at table had not been the + attractive habit of the household; “poor dear papa” had confined himself + to scathing criticism of the incompetence of females who could not teach + their menials to “cook a dinner which was not a disgrace to any decent + household.” When not virulently aspersing the mutton, he was expressing + his opinion of muddle-headed weakness which would permit household bills + to mount in a manner which could only bring ruin and disaster upon a + minister of the gospel who throughout a protracted career of usefulness + had sapped his intellectual manhood in the useless effort to support in + silly idleness a family of brainless and maddening fools. Miss Alicia had + heard her character, her unsuccessful physical appearance, her mind, and + her pitiful efforts at table-talk, described in detail with a choice of + adjective and adverb which had broken into terrified fragments every atom + of courage and will with which she had been sparsely dowered. + </p> + <p> + So, not having herself been gifted with conversational powers to begin + with, and never having enjoyed the exhibition of such powers in others, + her ideals had been high. She was not sure that Mr. Temple Barholm's + fluent and cheerful talk could be with exactness termed “conversation.” It + was perhaps not sufficiently lofty and intellectual, and did not confine + itself rigorously to one exalted subject. But how it did raise one's + spirits and open up curious vistas! And how good tempered and humorous it + was, even though sometimes the humor was a little bewildering! During the + whole dinner there never occurred even one of those dreadful pauses in + which dead silence fell, and one tried, like a frightened hen flying from + side to side of a coop, to think of something to say which would not sound + silly, but perhaps might divert attention from dangerous topics. She had + often thought it would be so interesting to hear a Spaniard or a native + Hindu talk about himself and his own country in English. Tembarom talked + about New York and its people and atmosphere, and he did not know how + foreign it all was. He described the streets—Fifth Avenue and + Broadway and Sixth Avenue—and the street-cars and the elevated + railroad, and the way “fellows” had to “hustle” “to put it over.” He spoke + of a boarding-house kept by a certain Mrs. Bowse, and a presidential + campaign, and the election of a mayor, and a quick-lunch counter, and when + President Garfield had been assassinated, and a department store; and the + electric lights, and the way he had of making a sort of picture of + everything was really instructive and, well, fascinating. She felt as + though she had been taken about the city in one of the vehicles the + conductor of which described things through a megaphone. + </p> + <p> + Not that Mr. Temple Barholm suggested a megaphone, whatsoever that might + be, but he merely made you feel as if you had seen things. Never had she + been so entertained and enlightened. If she had been a beautiful girl, he + could not have seemed more as though in amusing her he was also really + pleasing himself. He was so very funny sometimes that she could not help + laughing in a way which was almost unladylike, because she could not stop, + and was obliged to put her handkerchief up to her face and wipe away + actual tears of mirth. + </p> + <p> + Fancy laughing until you cried, and the servants looking on! + </p> + <p> + Once Burrill himself was obliged to turn hastily away, and twice she heard + him severely reprove an overpowered young footman in a rapid undertone. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom at least felt that the unlifting heaviness of atmosphere which + had surrounded him while enjoying the companionship of Mr. Palford was a + thing of the past. + </p> + <p> + The thrilled interest, the surprise and delight of Miss Alicia would have + stimulated a man in a comatose condition, it seemed to him. The little + thing just loved every bit of it—she just “eat it up.” She asked + question after question, sometimes questions which would have made him + shout with laughter if he had not been afraid of hurting her feelings. She + knew as little of New York as he knew of Temple Barholm, and was, it made + him grin to see, allured by it as by some illicit fascination. She did not + know what to make of it, and sometimes she was obliged hastily to conceal + a fear that it was a sort of Sodom and Gomorrah; but she wanted to hear + more about it, and still more. + </p> + <p> + And she brightened up until she actually did not look frightened, and ate + her dinner with an excellent appetite. + </p> + <p> + “I really never enjoyed a dinner so much in my life,” she said when they + went into the drawing-room to have their coffee. “It was the conversation + which made it so delightful. Conversation is such a stimulating thing!” + </p> + <p> + She had almost decided that it was “conversation,” or at least a wonderful + substitute. + </p> + <p> + When she said good night to him and went beaming to bed, looking forward + immensely to breakfast next morning, he watched her go up the staircase, + feeling wonderfully normal and happy. + </p> + <p> + “Some of these nights, when she's used to me,” he said as he stuffed + tobacco into his last pipe in the library—“some of these nights I'm + darned if I sha'n't catch hold of the sweet, little old thing and hug her + in spite of myself. I sha'n't be able to help it.” He lit his pipe, and + puffed it even excitedly. “Lord!” he said, “there's some blame' fool going + about the world right now that might have married her. And he'll never + know what a break he made when he didn't.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI + </h2> + <p> + A fugitive fine day which had strayed into the month from the approaching + spring appeared the next morning, and Miss Alicia was uplifted by the + enrapturing suggestion that she should join her new relative in taking a + walk, in fact that it should be she who took him to walk and showed him + some of his possessions. This, it had revealed itself to him, she could do + in a special way of her own, because during her life at Temple Barholm she + had felt it her duty to “try to do a little good” among the villagers. She + and her long-dead mother and sister had of course been working adjuncts of + the vicarage, and had numerous somewhat trying tasks to perform in the way + of improving upon “dear papa's” harrying them into attending church, + chivying the mothers into sending their children to Sunday-school, and + being unsparing in severity of any conduct which might be construed into + implying lack of appreciation of the vicar or respect for his eloquence. + </p> + <p> + It had been necessary for them as members of the vicar's family—always, + of course, without adding a sixpence to the household bills—to + supply bowls of nourishing broth and arrowroot to invalids and to bestow + the aid and encouragement which result in a man of God's being regarded + with affection and gratitude by his parishioners. Many a man's career in + the church, “dear papa” had frequently observed, had been ruined by lack + of intelligence and effort on the part of the female members of his + family. + </p> + <p> + “No man could achieve proper results,” he had said, “if he was hampered by + the selfish influence and foolishness of his womenkind. Success in the + church depends in one sense very much upon the conduct of a man's female + relatives.” + </p> + <p> + After the deaths of her mother and sister, Miss Alicia had toiled on + patiently, fading day by day from a slim, plain, sweet-faced girl to a + slim, even plainer and sweeter-faced middle-aged and at last elderly + woman. She had by that time read aloud by bedsides a great many chapters + in the Bible, had given a good many tracts, and bestowed as much + arrowroot, barley-water, and beef-tea as she could possibly encompass + without domestic disaster. She had given a large amount of conscientious, + if not too intelligent, advice, and had never failed to preside over her + Sunday-school class or at mothers' meetings. But her timid + unimpressiveness had not aroused enthusiasm or awakened comprehension. + “Miss Alicia,” the cottage women said, “she's well meanin', but she's not + one with a head.” “She reminds me,” one of them had summed her up, “of a + hen that lays a' egg every day, but it's too small for a meal, and 'u'd + never hatch into anythin'.” + </p> + <p> + During her stay at Temple Barholm she had tentatively tried to do a little + “parish work,” but she had had nothing to give, and she was always afraid + that if Mr. Temple Barholm found her out, he would be angry, because he + would think she was presuming. She was aware that the villagers knew that + she was an object of charity herself, and a person who was “a lady” and + yet an object of charity was, so to speak, poaching upon their own + legitimate preserves. The rector and his wife were rather grand people, + and condescended to her greatly on the few occasions of their accidental + meetings. She was neither smart nor influential enough to be considered as + an asset. + </p> + <p> + It was she who “conversed” during their walk, and while she trotted by + Tembarom's side looking more early-Victorian than ever in a neat, fringed + mantle and a small black bonnet of a fashion long decently interred by a + changing world, Tembarom had never seen anything resembling it in New + York; but he liked it and her increasingly at every moment. + </p> + <p> + It was he who made her converse. He led her on by asking her questions and + being greatly interested in every response she made. In fact, though he + was quite unaware of the situation, she was creating for him such an + atmosphere as he might have found in a book, if he had had the habit of + books. Everything she told him was new and quaint and very often rather + touching. She related anecdotes about herself and her poor little past + without knowing she was doing it. Before they had talked an hour he had an + astonishing clear idea of “poor dear papa” and “dearest Emily” and “poor + darling mama” and existence at Rowcroft Vicarage. He “caught on to” the + fact that though she was very much given to the word “dear,”—people + were “dear,” and so were things and places,—she never even by chance + slipped into saying “dear Rowcroft,” which she would certainly have done + if she had ever spent a happy moment in it. + </p> + <p> + As she talked to him he realized that her simple accustomedness to English + village life and all its accompaniments of county surroundings would teach + him anything and everything he might want to know. Her obscurity had been + surrounded by stately magnificence, with which she had become familiar + without touching the merest outskirts of its privileges. She knew names + and customs and families and things to be cultivated or avoided, and + though she would be a little startled and much mystified by his total + ignorance of all she had breathed in since her birth, he felt sure that + she would not regard him either with private contempt or with a lessened + liking because he was a vandal pure and simple. + </p> + <p> + And she had such a nice, little, old polite way of saying things. When, in + passing a group of children, he failed to understand that their hasty + bobbing up and down meant that they were doing obeisance to him as lord of + the manor, she spoke with the prettiest apologetic courtesy. + </p> + <p> + “I'm sure you won't mind touching your hat when they make their little + curtsies, or when a villager touches his forehead,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Good Lord! no,” he said, starting. “Ought I? I didn't know they were + doing it at me.” And he turned round and made a handsome bow and grinned + almost affectionately at the small, amazed party, first puzzling, and then + delighting, them, because he looked so extraordinarily friendly. A + gentleman who laughed at you like that ought to be equal to a + miscellaneous distribution of pennies in the future, if not on the spot. + They themselves grinned and chuckled and nudged one another, with stares + and giggles. + </p> + <p> + “I am sorry to say that in a great many places the villagers are not + nearly so respectful as they used to be,” Miss Alicia explained. “In + Rowcroft the children were very remiss about curtseying. It's quite sad. + But Mr. Temple Barholm was very strict indeed in the matter of demanding + proper respectfulness. He has turned men off their farms for incivility. + The villagers of Temple Barholm have much better manners than some even a + few miles away.” + </p> + <p> + “Must I tip my hat to all of them?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “If you please. It really seems kinder. You—you needn't quite lift + it, as you did to the children just now. If you just touch the brim + lightly with your hand in a sort of military salute—that is what + they are accustomed to.” + </p> + <p> + After they had passed through the village street she paused at the end of + a short lane and looked up at him doubtfully. + </p> + <p> + “Would you—I wonder if you would like to go into a cottage,” she + said. + </p> + <p> + “Go into a cottage?” he asked. “What cottage? What for?” + </p> + <p> + He had not the remotest idea of any reason why he should go into a cottage + inhabited by people who were entire strangers to him, and Miss Alicia felt + a trifle awkward at having to explain anything so wholly natural. + </p> + <p> + “You see, they are your cottages, and the people are your tenants, and—” + </p> + <p> + “But perhaps they mightn't like it. It might make 'em mad,” he argued. “If + their water-pipes had busted, and they'd asked me to come and look at them + or anything; but they don't know me yet. They might think I was Mr. + Buttinski.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't quite—” she began. “Buttinski is a foreign name; it sounds + Russian or Polish. I'm afraid I don't quite understand why they should + mistake you for him.” + </p> + <p> + Then he laughed—a boyish shout of laughter which brought a cottager + to the nearest window to peep over the pots of fuchsias and geraniums + blooming profusely against the diamond panes. + </p> + <p> + “Say,” he apologized, “don't be mad because I laughed. I'm laughing at + myself as much as at anything. It's a way of saying that they might think + I was 'butting in' too much—pushing in where I wasn't asked. See? I + said they might think I was Mr. Butt-in-ski! It's just a bit of fool + slang. You're not mad, are you?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, no!” she said. “Dear me! no. It is very funny, of course. I'm afraid + I'm extremely ignorant about—about foreign humor” It seemed more + delicate to say “foreign” than merely “American.” But her gentle little + countenance for a few seconds wore a baffled expression, and she said + softly to herself, “Mr. Buttinski, Butt-in—to intrude. It sounds + quite Polish; I think even more Polish than Russian.” + </p> + <p> + He was afraid he would yell with glee, but he did not. Herculean effort + enabled him to restrain his feelings, and present to her only an + ordinary-sized smile. + </p> + <p> + “I shouldn't know one from the other,” he said; “but if you say it sounds + more Polish, I bet it does.” + </p> + <p> + “Would you like to go into a cottage?” she inquired. “I think it might be + as well. They will like the attention.” + </p> + <p> + “Will they? Of course I'll go if you think that. What shall I say?” he + asked somewhat anxiously. + </p> + <p> + “If you think the cottage looks clean, you might tell them so, and ask a + few questions about things. And you must be sure to inquire about Susan + Hibblethwaite's legs.” + </p> + <p> + “What?” ejaculated Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “Susan Hibblethwaite's legs,” she replied in mild explanation. “Susan is + Mr. Hibblethwaite's unmarried sister, and she has very bad legs. It is a + thing one notices continually among village people, more especially the + women, that they complain of what they call `bad legs.' I never quite know + what they mean, whether it is rheumatism or something different, but the + trouble is always spoken of as `bad legs' And they like you to inquire + about them, so that they can tell you their symptoms.” + </p> + <p> + “Why don't they get them cured?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know, I'm sure. They take a good deal of medicine when they can + afford it. I think they like to take it. They're very pleased when the + doctor gives them `a bottle o' summat,' as they call it. Oh, I mustn't + forget to tell you that most of them speak rather broad Lancashire.” + </p> + <p> + “Shall I understand them?” Tembarom asked, anxious again. “Is it a sort of + Dago talk?” + </p> + <p> + “It is the English the working-classes speak in Lancashire. 'Summat' means + 'something.' 'Whoam' means 'home.' But I should think you would be very + clever at understanding things.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm scared stiff,” said Tembarom, not in the least uncourageously; “but I + want to go into a cottage and hear some of it. Which one shall we go + into?” + </p> + <p> + There were several whitewashed cottages in the lane, each in its own bit + of garden and behind its own hawthorn hedge, now bare and wholly + unsuggestive of white blossoms and almond scent to the uninitiated. Miss + Alicia hesitated a moment. + </p> + <p> + “We will go into this one, where the Hibblethwaites live,” she decided. + “They are quite clean, civil people. They have a naughty, queer, little + crippled boy, but I suppose they can't keep him in order because he is an + invalid. He's rather rude, I'm sorry to say, but he's rather sharp and + clever, too. He seems to lie on his sofa and collect all the gossip of the + village.” + </p> + <p> + They went together up the bricked path, and Miss Alicia knocked at the low + door with her knuckles. A stout, apple-faced woman opened it, looking a + shade nervous. + </p> + <p> + “Good morning, Mrs. Hibblethwaite,” said Miss Alicia in a kind but remote + manner. “The new Mr. Temple Barholm has been kind enough to come to see + you. It's very good of him to come so soon, isn't it?” + </p> + <p> + “It is that,” Mrs. Hibblethwaite answered respectfully, looking him over. + “Wilt tha coom in, sir?” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom accepted the invitation, feeling extremely awkward because Miss + Alicia's initiatory comment upon his goodness in showing himself had + “rattled” him. It had made him feel that he must appear condescending, and + he had never condescended to any one in the whole course of his existence. + He had, indeed, not even been condescended to. He had met with slanging + and bullying, indifference and brutality of manner, but he had not met + with condescension. + </p> + <p> + “I hope you're well, Mrs. Hibblethwaite,” he answered. “You look it.” + </p> + <p> + “I deceive ma looks a good bit, sir,” she answered. “Mony a day ma legs is + nigh as bad as Susan's.” + </p> + <p> + “Tha 'rt jealous o' Susan's legs,” barked out a sharp voice from a corner + by the fire. + </p> + <p> + The room had a flagged floor, clean with recent scrubbing with sandstone; + the whitewashed walls were decorated with pictures cut from illustrated + papers; there was a big fireplace, and by it was a hard-looking sofa + covered with blue-and-white checked cotton stuff. A boy of about ten was + lying on it, propped up with a pillow. He had a big head and a keen, + ferret-eyed face, and just now was looking round the end of his sofa at + the visitors. “Howd tha tongue, Tummas!” said his mother. “I wunnot howd + it,” Tummas answered. “Ma tongue's th' on'y thing about me as works right, + an' I'm noan goin' to stop it.” + </p> + <p> + “He's a young nowt,” his mother explained; “but, he's a cripple, an' we + conna do owt wi' him.” + </p> + <p> + “Do not be rude, Thomas,” said Miss Alicia, with dignity. + </p> + <p> + “Dunnot be rude thysen,” replied Tummas. “I'm noan o' thy lad.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom walked over to the sofa. + </p> + <p> + “Say,” he began with jocular intent, “you've got a grouch on, ain't you?” + </p> + <p> + Tummas turned on him eyes which bored. An analytical observer or a painter + might have seen that he had a burning curiousness of look, a sort of + investigatory fever of expression. + </p> + <p> + “I dunnot know what tha means,” he said. “Happen tha'rt talkin' 'Merican?” + </p> + <p> + “That's just what it is,” admitted Tembarom. “What are you talking?” + </p> + <p> + “Lancashire,” said Tummas. “Theer's some sense i' that.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom sat down near him. The boy turned over against his pillow and put + his chin in the hollow of his palm and stared. + </p> + <p> + “I've wanted to see thee,” he remarked. “I've made mother an' Aunt Susan + an' feyther tell me every bit they've heared about thee in the village. + Theer was a lot of it. Tha coom fro' 'Meriker?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” Tembarom began vaguely to feel the demand in the burning curiosity. + </p> + <p> + “Gi' me that theer book,” the boy said, pointing to a small table heaped + with a miscellaneous jumble of things and standing not far from him. “It's + a' atlas,” he added as Tembarom gave it to him. “Yo' con find places in + it.” He turned the leaves until he found a map of the world. “Theer's + 'Meriker,” he said, pointing to the United States. “That theer's north and + that theer's south. All th' real 'Merikens comes from the North, wheer New + York is.” + </p> + <p> + “I come from New York,” said Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “Tha wert born i' th' workhouse, tha run about th' streets i' rags, tha + pretty nigh clemmed to death, tha blacked boots, tha sold newspapers, tha + feyther was a common workin'-mon—and now tha's coom into Temple + Barholm an' sixty thousand a year.” + </p> + <p> + “The last part's true all right,” Tembarom owned, “but there's some + mistakes in the first part. I wasn't born in the workhouse, and though + I've been hungry enough, I never starved to death—if that's what + `clemmed' means.” + </p> + <p> + Tummas looked at once disappointed and somewhat incredulous. + </p> + <p> + “That's th' road they tell it i' th' village,” he argued. + </p> + <p> + “Well, let them tell it that way if they like it best. That's not going to + worry me,” Tembarom replied uncombatively. + </p> + <p> + Tummas's eyes bored deeper into him. + </p> + <p> + “Does na tha care?” he demanded. + </p> + <p> + “What should I care for? Let every fellow enjoy himself his own way.” + </p> + <p> + “Tha'rt not a bit like one o' th' gentry,” said Tummas. “Tha'rt quite a + common chap. Tha'rt as common as me, for aw tha foine clothes.” + </p> + <p> + “People are common enough, anyhow,” said Tembarom. “There's nothing much + commoner, is there? There's millions of 'em everywhere—billions of + 'em. None of us need put on airs.” + </p> + <p> + “Tha'rt as common as me,” said Tummas, reflectively. “An' yet tha owns + Temple Barholm an' aw that brass. I conna mak' out how th' loike happens.” + </p> + <p> + “Neither can I; but it does all samee.” + </p> + <p> + “It does na happen i' 'Meriker,” exulted Tummas. “Everybody's equal + theer.” + </p> + <p> + “Rats!” ejaculated Tembarom. “What about multimillionaires?” + </p> + <p> + He forgot that the age of Tummas was ten. It was impossible not to forget + it. He was, in fact, ten hundred, if those of his generation had been + aware of the truth. But there he sat, having spent only a decade of his + most recent incarnation in a whitewashed cottage, deprived of the use of + his legs. + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia, seeing that Tembarom was interested in the boy, entered into + domestic conversation with Mrs. Hibblethwaite at the other side of the + room. Mrs. Hibblethwaite was soon explaining the uncertainty of Susan's + temper on wash-days, when it was necessary to depend on her legs. + </p> + <p> + “Can't you walk at all?” Tembarom asked. Tummas shook his head. “How long + have you been lame?” + </p> + <p> + “Ever since I wur born. It's summat like rickets. I've been lyin' here aw + my days. I look on at foak an' think 'em over. I've got to do summat. + That's why I loike th' atlas. Little Ann Hutchinson gave it to me onct + when she come to see her grandmother.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom sat upright. + </p> + <p> + “Do you know her?” he exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + “I know her best o' onybody in th' world. An' I loike her best.” + </p> + <p> + “So do I,” rashly admitted Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “Tha does?” Tummas asked suspiciously. “Does she loike thee?” + </p> + <p> + “She says she does.” He tried to say it with proper modesty. + </p> + <p> + “Well, if she says she does, she does. An' if she does, then yo an' me'll + be friends.” He stopped a moment, and seemed to be taking Tembarom in with + thoroughness. “I could get a lot out o' thee,” he said after the + inspection. + </p> + <p> + “A lot of what?” Tembarom felt as though he would really like to hear. + </p> + <p> + “A lot o' things I want to know about. I wish I'd lived th' life tha's + lived, clemmin' or no clemmin'. Tha's seen things goin' on every day o' + thy loife.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, yes, there's been plenty going on, plenty,” Tembarom admitted. + </p> + <p> + “I've been lying here for ten year',” said Tummas, savagely. “An' I've had + nowt i' th' world to do an' nowt to think on but what I could mak' foak + tell me about th' village. But nowt happens but this chap gettin' drunk + an' that chap deein' or losin' his place, or wenches gettin' married or + havin' childer. I know everything that happens, but it's nowt but a lot o' + women clackin'. If I'd not been a cripple, I'd ha' been at work for mony a + year by now, 'arnin' money to save by an' go to 'Meriker.” + </p> + <p> + “You seem to be sort of stuck on America. How's that?” + </p> + <p> + “What dost mean?” + </p> + <p> + “I mean you seem to like it.” + </p> + <p> + “I dunnot loike it nor yet not loike it, but I've heard a bit more about + it than I have about th' other places on th' map. Foak goes there to seek + their fortune, an' it seems loike there's a good bit doin'.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you like to read newspapers?” said Tembarom, inspired to his query by + a recollection of the vision of things “doin'” in the Sunday Earth. + </p> + <p> + “Wheer'd I get papers from?” the boy asked testily. “Foak like us hasn't + got th' brass for 'em.” + </p> + <p> + “I'll bring you some New York papers,” promised Tembarom, grinning a + little in anticipation. “And we'll talk about the news that's in them. The + Sunday Earth is full of pictures. I used to work on that paper myself.” + </p> + <p> + “Tha did?” Tummas cried excitedly. “Did tha help to print it, or was it + th' one tha sold i' th' streets?” + </p> + <p> + “I wrote some of the stuff in it.” + </p> + <p> + “Wrote some of th' stuff in it? Wrote it thaself? How could tha, a common + chap like thee?” he asked, more excited still, his ferret eyes snapping. + </p> + <p> + “I don't know how I did it,” Tembarom answered, with increased cheer and + interest in the situation. “It wasn't high-brow sort of work.” + </p> + <p> + Tummas leaned forward in his incredulous eagerness. + </p> + <p> + “Does tha mean that they paid thee for writin' it—paid thee?” + </p> + <p> + “I guess they wouldn't have done it if they'd been Lancashire,” Tembarom + answered. “But they hadn't much more sense than I had. They paid me + twenty-five dollars a week—that's five pounds.” + </p> + <p> + “I dunnot believe thee,” said Tummas, and leaned back on his pillow short + of breath. + </p> + <p> + “I didn't believe it myself till I'd paid my board two weeks and bought a + suit of clothes with it,” was Tembarom's answer, and he chuckled as he + made it. + </p> + <p> + But Tummas did believe it. This, after he had recovered from the shock, + became evident. The curiosity in his face intensified itself; his + eagerness was even vaguely tinged with something remotely resembling + respect. It was not, however, respect for the money which had been earned, + but for the store of things “doin'” which must have been required. It was + impossible that this chap knew things undreamed of. + </p> + <p> + “Has tha ever been to th' Klondike?” he asked after a long pause. + </p> + <p> + “No. I've never been out of New York.” + </p> + <p> + Tummas seemed fretted and depressed. + </p> + <p> + “Eh, I'm sorry for that. I wished tha'd been to th' Klondike. I want to be + towd about it,” he sighed. He pulled the atlas toward him and found a + place in it. + </p> + <p> + “That theer's Dawson,” he announced. Tembarom saw that the region of the + Klondike had been much studied. It was even rather faded with the frequent + passage of searching fingers, as though it had been pored over with + special curiosity. + </p> + <p> + “There's gowd-moines theer,” revealed Tummas. “An' theer's welly newt else + but snow an' ice. A young chap as set out fro' here to get theer froze to + death on th' way.” + </p> + <p> + “How did you get to hear about it?” + </p> + <p> + “Ann she browt me a paper onet.” He dug under his pillow, and brought out + a piece of newspaper, worn and frayed and cut with age and usage. “This + heer's what's left of it.” Tembarom saw that it was a fragment from an old + American sheet and that a column was headed “The Rush for the Klondike.” + </p> + <p> + “Why didna tha go theer?” demanded Tummas. He looked up from his fragment + and asked his question with a sudden reflectiveness, as though a new and + interesting aspect of things had presented itself to him. + </p> + <p> + “I had too much to do in New York,” said Tembarom. “There's always + something doing in New York, you know.” + </p> + <p> + Tummas silently regarded him a moment or so. + </p> + <p> + “It's a pity tha didn't go,” he said. “Happen tha'd never ha' coom back.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom laughed the outright laugh. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you,” he answered. + </p> + <p> + Tummas was still thinking the matter over and was not disturbed. + </p> + <p> + “I was na thinkin' o' thee,” he said in an impersonal tone. “I was + thinkin' o' t' other chap. If tha'd gon i'stead o' him, he'd ha' been here + i'stead o' thee. Eh, but it's funny.” And he drew a deep breath like a + sigh having its birth in profundity of baffled thought. + </p> + <p> + Both he and his evident point of view were “funny” in the Lancashire + sense, which does not imply humor, but strangeness and the unexplainable. + Singular as the phrasing was, Tembarom knew what he meant, and that he was + thinking of the oddity of chance. Tummas had obviously heard of “poor Jem” + and had felt an interest in him. + </p> + <p> + “You're talking about Jem Temple Barholm I guess,” he said. Perhaps the + interest he himself had felt in the tragic story gave his voice a tone + somewhat responsive to Tummas's own mood, for Tummas, after one more + boring glance, let himself go. His interest in this special subject was, + it revealed itself, a sort of obsession. The history of Jem Temple Barholm + had been the one drama of his short life. + </p> + <p> + “Aye, I was thinkin' o' him,” he said. “I should na ha' cared for th' + Klondike so much but for him.” + </p> + <p> + “But he went away from England when you were a baby.” + </p> + <p> + “Th' last toime he coom to Temple Barholm wur when I wur just born. Foak + said he coom to ax owd Temple Barholm if he'd help him to pay his debts, + an' th' owd chap awmost kicked him out o' doors. Mother had just had me, + an' she was weak an' poorly an' sittin' at th' door wi' me in her arms, + an' he passed by an' saw her. He stopped an' axed her how she was doin'. + An' when he was goin' away, he gave her a gold sovereign, an' he says, + `Put it in th' savin's-bank for him, an' keep it theer till he's a big lad + an' wants it.' It's been in th' savin's-bank ever sin'. I've got a whole + pound o' ma own out at interest. There's not many lads ha' got that.” + </p> + <p> + “He must have been a good-natured fellow,” commented Tembarom. “It was + darned bad luck him going to the Klondike.” + </p> + <p> + “It was good luck for thee,” said Tummas, with resentment. + </p> + <p> + “Was it?” was Tembarom's unbiased reply. “Well, I guess it was, one way or + the other. I'm not kicking, anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + Tummas naturally did not know half he meant. He went on talking about Jem + Temple Barholm, and as he talked his cheeks flushed and his eyes lighted. + </p> + <p> + “I would na spend that sovereign if I was starvin'. I'm going to leave it + to Ann Hutchinson in ma will when I dee. I've axed questions about him + reet and left ever sin' I can remember, but theer's nobody knows much. + Mother says he was fine an' handsome, an' gentry through an' through. If + he'd coom into th' property, he'd ha' coom to see me again I'll lay a + shillin', because I'm a cripple an' I canna spend his sovereign. If he'd + coom back from th' Klondike, happen he'd ha' towd me about it.” He pulled + the atlas toward him, and laid his thin finger on the rubbed spot. “He mun + ha' been killed somewheer about here,” he sighed. “Somewheer here. Eh, + it's funny.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom watched him. There was something that rather gave you the + “Willies” in the way this little cripple seemed to have taken to the dead + man and worried along all these years thinking him over and asking + questions and studying up the Klondike because he was killed there. It was + because he'd made a kind of story of it. He'd enjoyed it in the way people + enjoy stories in a newspaper. You always had to give 'em a kind of story; + you had to make a story even if you were telling about a milk-wagon + running away. In newspaper offices you heard that was the secret of making + good with what you wrote. Dish it up as if it was a sort of story. + </p> + <p> + He not infrequently arrived at astute enough conclusions concerning + things. He had arrived at one now. Shut out even from the tame drama of + village life, Tummas, born with an abnormal desire for action and a + feverish curiosity, had hungered and thirsted for the story in any form + whatsoever. He caught at fragments of happenings, and colored and + dissected them for the satisfying of unfed cravings. The vanished man had + been the one touch of pictorial form and color in his ten years of + existence. Young and handsome and of the gentry, unfavored by the owner of + the wealth which some day would be his own possession, stopping + “gentry-way” at a cottage door to speak good-naturedly to a pale young + mother, handing over the magnificence of a whole sovereign to be saved for + a new-born child, going away to vaguely understood disgrace, leaving his + own country to hide himself in distant lands, meeting death amid snow and + ice and surrounded by gold-mines, leaving his empty place to be filled by + a boot-black newsboy—true there was enough to lie and think over and + to try to follow with the help of maps and excited questions. + </p> + <p> + “I wish I could ha' seen him,” said Tummas. “I'd awmost gi' my sovereign + to get a look at that picture in th' gallery at Temple Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + “What picture?” Tembarom asked. “Is there a picture of him there?” + </p> + <p> + “There is na one o' him, but there's one o' a lad as deed two hundred + year' ago as they say wur th' spit an' image on him when he wur a lad + hissen. One o' th' owd servants towd mother it wur theer.” + </p> + <p> + This was a natural stimulus to interest and curiosity. + </p> + <p> + “Which one is it? Jinks! I'd like to see it myself. Do you know which one + it is? There's hundreds of them.” + </p> + <p> + “No, I dunnot know,” was Tummas's dispirited answer, “an' neither does + mother. Th' woman as knew left when owd Temple Barholm deed.” + </p> + <p> + “Tummas,” broke in Mrs. Hibblethwaite from the other end of the room, to + which she had returned after taking Miss Alicia out to complain about the + copper in the “wash-'us'—” “Tummas, tha'st been talkin' like a + magpie. Tha'rt a lot too bold an' ready wi' tha tongue. Th' gentry's noan + comin' to see thee if tha clacks th' heads off theer showthers.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid he always does talk more than is good for him,” said Miss + Alicia. “He looks quite feverish.” + </p> + <p> + “He has been talking to me about Jem Temple Barholm,” explained Tembarom. + “We've had a regular chin together. He thinks a heap of poor Jem.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia looked startled, and Mrs. Hibblethwaite was plainly flustered + tremendously. She quite lost her temper. + </p> + <p> + “Eh,” she exclaimed, “tha wants tha young yed knocked off, Tummas + Hibblethwaite. He's fair daft about th' young gentleman as—as was + killed. He axes questions mony a day till I'd give him th' stick if he + wasna a cripple. He moithers me to death.” + </p> + <p> + “I'll bring you some of those New York papers to look at,” Tembarom said + to the boy as he went away. + </p> + <p> + He walked back through the village to Temple Barholm, holding Miss + Alicia's elbow in light, affectionate guidance and support, a little to + her embarrassment and also a little to her delight. Until he had taken her + into the dining-room the night before she had never seen such a thing + done. There was no over-familiarity in the action. It merely seemed + somehow to suggest liking and a wish to take care of her. + </p> + <p> + “That little fellow in the village,” he said after a silence in which it + occurred to her that he seemed thoughtful, “what a little freak he is! + He's got an idea that there's a picture in the gallery that's said to look + like Jem Temple Barholm when he was a boy. Have you ever heard anything + about it? He says a servant told his mother it was there.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, there is one,” Miss Alicia answered. “I sometimes go and look at it. + But it makes me feel very sad. It is the handsome boy who was a page in + the court of Charles II. He died in his teens. His name was Miles Hugo + Charles James. Jem could see the likeness himself. Sometimes for a little + joke I used to call him Miles Hugo.” + </p> + <p> + “I believe I remember him,” said Tembarom. “I believe I asked Palford his + name. I must go and have a look at him again. He hadn't much better luck + than the fellow that looked like him, dying as young as that.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII + </h2> + <p> + Form, color, drama, and divers other advantages are necessary to the + creation of an object of interest. Presenting to the world none of these + assets, Miss Alicia had slipped through life a scarcely remarked unit. No + little ghost of prettiness had attracted the wandering eye, no suggestion + of agreeable or disagreeable power of self-assertion had arrested + attention. There had been no hour in her life when she had expected to + count as being of the slightest consequence. When she had knocked at the + door of the study at Rowcroft Vicarage, and “dear papa” had exclaimed + irritably: “Who is that? Who is that?” she had always replied, “It is only + Alicia.” + </p> + <p> + This being the case, her gradual awakening to the singularity of her new + situation was mentally a process full of doubts and sometimes of alarmed + bewilderments. If in her girlhood a curate, even a curate with prominent + eyes and a receding chin, had proposed to her that she should face with + him a future enriched by the prospect of being called upon to bring up a + probable family of twelve on one hundred and fifty pounds a year, with + both parish and rectory barking and snapping at her worn-down heels, she + would have been sure to assert tenderly that she was afraid she was “not + worthy.” This was the natural habit of her mind, and in the weeks which + followed the foggy afternoon when Tembarom “staked out his claim” she + dwelt often upon her unworthiness of the benefits bestowed upon her. + </p> + <p> + First the world below-stairs, then the village, and then the county itself + awoke to the fact that the new Temple Temple Barholm had “taken her up.” + The first tendency of the world below-stairs was to resent the unwarranted + uplifting of a person whom there had been a certain luxury in regarding + with disdain and treating with scarcely veiled lack of consideration. To + be able to do this with a person who, after all was said and done, was not + one of the servant class, but a sort of lady of birth, was not + unstimulating. And below-stairs the sense of personal rancor against “a + 'anger-on” is strong. The meals served in Miss Alicia's remote + sitting-room had been served at leisure, her tea had rarely been hot, and + her modestly tinkled bell irregularly answered. Often her far from + liberally supplied fire had gone out on chilly days, and she had been + afraid to insist on its being relighted. Her sole defense against + inattention would have been to complain to Mr. Temple Barholm, and when on + one occasion a too obvious neglect had obliged her to gather her quaking + being together in mere self-respect and say, “If this continues to occur, + William, I shall be obliged to speak to Mr. Temple Barholm,” William had + so looked at her and so ill hid a secret smile that it had been almost + tantamount to his saying, “I'd jolly well like to see you.” + </p> + <p> + And now! Sitting at the end of the table opposite him, if you please! + Walking here and walking there with him! Sitting in the library or + wherever he was, with him talking and laughing and making as much of her + as though she were an aunt with a fortune to leave, and with her making as + free in talk as though at liberty to say anything that came into her head! + Well, the beggar that had found himself on horseback was setting another + one galloping alongside of him. In the midst of this natural resentment it + was “a bit upsetting,” as Burrill said, to find it dawning upon one that + absolute exactness of ceremony was as much to be required for “her” as for + “him.” Miss Alicia had long felt secretly sure that she was spoken of as + “her” in the servants' hall. That businesslike sharpness which Palford had + observed in his client aided Tembarom always to see things without + illusions. He knew that There was no particular reason why his army of + servants should regard him for the present as much more than an intruder; + but he also knew that if men and women had employment which was not made + hard for them, and were well paid for doing, they were not anxious to lose + it, and the man who paid their wages might give orders with some certainty + of finding them obeyed. He was “sharp” in more ways than one. He observed + shades he might have been expected to overlook. He observed a certain + shade in the demeanor of the domestics when attending Miss Alicia, and it + was a shade which marked a difference between service done for her and + service done for himself. This was only at the outset, of course, when the + secret resentment was felt; but he observed it, mere shade though it was. + </p> + <p> + He walked out into the hall after Burrill one morning. Not having yet + adjusted himself to the rule that when one wished to speak to a man one + rang a bell and called him back, fifty times if necessary, he walked after + Burrill and stopped him. + </p> + <p> + “This is a pretty good place for servants, ain't it?” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “Good pay, good food, not too much to do?” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly, sir,” Burrill replied, somewhat disturbed by a casualness + which yet suggested a method of getting at something or other. + </p> + <p> + “You and the rest of them don't want to change, do you?” + </p> + <p> + “No, sir. There is no complaint whatever as far as I have heard.” + </p> + <p> + “That's all right.” Mr. Temple Barholm had put his hands into his pockets, + and stood looking non-committal in a steady sort of way. “There's + something I want the lot of you to get on to—right away. Miss Temple + Barholm is going to stay here. She's got to have everything just as she + wants it. She's got to be pleased. She's the lady of the house. See?” + </p> + <p> + “I hope, sir,” Burrill said with professional dignity, “that Miss Temple + Barholm has not had reason to express any dissatisfaction.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm the one that would express it—quick,” said Tembarom. “She + wouldn't have time to get in first. I just wanted to make sure I shouldn't + have to do it. The other fellows are under you. You've got a head on your + shoulders, I guess. It's up to you to put 'em on to it. That's all.” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, sir,” said Burrill. + </p> + <p> + His master went back into the library smiling genially, and Burrill stood + still a moment or so gazing at the door he closed behind him. + </p> + <p> + Be sure the village, and finally circles not made up of cottagers, heard + of this, howsoever mysteriously. Miss Alicia was not aware that the + incident had occurred. She could not help observing, however, that the + manners of the servants of the household curiously improved; also, when + she passed through the village, that foreheads were touched without + omission and the curtseys of playing children were prompt. When she + dropped into a cottage, housewives polished off the seats of chairs + vigorously before offering them, and symptoms and needs were explained + with a respectful fluency which at times almost suggested that she might + be relied on to use influence. + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid I have done the village people injustice,” she said leniently + to Tembarom. “I used to think them so disrespectful and unappreciative. I + dare say it was because I was so troubled myself. I'm afraid one's own + troubles do sometimes make one unfair.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, yours are over,” said Tembarom. “And so are mine as long as you + stay by me.” + </p> + <p> + Never had Miss Alicia been to London. She had remained, as was demanded of + her by her duty to dear papa, at Rowcroft, which was in Somersetshire. She + had only dreamed of London, and had had fifty-five years of dreaming. She + had read of great functions, and seen pictures of some of them in the + illustrated papers. She had loyally endeavored to follow at a distance the + doings of her Majesty,—she always spoke of Queen Victoria + reverentially as “her Majesty,”—she rejoiced when a prince or a + princess was born or christened or married, and believed that a + “drawing-room” was the most awe-inspiring, brilliant, and important + function in the civilized world, scarcely second to Parliament. London—no + one but herself or an elderly gentlewoman of her type could have told any + one the nature of her thoughts of London. + </p> + <p> + Let, therefore, those of vivid imagination make an effort to depict to + themselves the effect produced upon her mind by Tembarom's casually + suggesting at breakfast one morning that he thought it might be rather a + good “stunt” for them to run up to London. By mere good fortune she + escaped dropping the egg she had just taken from the egg-stand. + </p> + <p> + “London!” she said. “Oh!” + </p> + <p> + “Pearson thinks it would be a first-rate idea,” he explained. “I guess he + thinks that if he can get me into the swell clothing stores he can fix me + up as I ought to be fixed, if I'm not going to disgrace him. I should hate + to disgrace Pearson. Then he can see his girl, too, and I want him to see + his girl.” + </p> + <p> + “Is—Pearson—engaged?” she asked; but the thought which was + repeating itself aloud to her was “London! London!” + </p> + <p> + “He calls it 'keeping company,' or 'walking out,'” Tembarom answered. + “She's a nice girl, and he's dead stuck on her. Will you go with me, Miss + Alicia?” + </p> + <p> + “Dear Mr. Temple Barholm,” she fluttered, “to visit London would be a + privilege I never dreamed it would be my great fortune to enjoy—never.” + </p> + <p> + “Good business!” he ejaculated delightedly. “That's luck for me. It gave + me the blues—what I saw of it. But if you are with me, I'll bet + it'll be as different as afternoon tea was after I got hold of you. When + shall we start? To-morrow?” + </p> + <p> + Her sixteen-year-old blush repeated itself. + </p> + <p> + “I feel so sorry. It seems almost undignified to mention it, but—I + fear I should not look smart enough for London. My wardrobe is so very + limited. I mustn't,” she added with a sweet effort at humor, “do the new + Mr. Temple Barholm discredit by looking unfashionable.” + </p> + <p> + He was more delighted than before. + </p> + <p> + “Say,” he broke out, “I'll tell you what we'll do: we'll go together and + buy everything 'suitable' in sight. The pair of us'll come back here as + suitable as Burrill and Pearson. We'll paint the town red.” + </p> + <p> + He actually meant it. He was like a boy with a new game. His sense of the + dreariness of London had disappeared. He knew what it would be like with + Miss Alicia as a companion. He had really seen nothing of the place + himself, and he would find out every darned thing worth looking at, and + take her to see it—theaters, shops, every show in town. When they + left the breakfast-table it was agreed upon that they would make the + journey the following day. + </p> + <p> + He did not openly refer to the fact that among the plans for their round + of festivities he had laid out for himself the attending to one or two + practical points. He was going to see Palford, and he had made an + appointment with a celebrated nerve specialist. He did not discuss this + for several reasons. One of them was that his summing up of Miss Alicia + was that she had had trouble enough to think over all her little life, and + the thing for a fellow to do for her, if he liked her, was to give her a + good time and make her feel as if she was at a picnic right straight along—not + let her even hear of a darned thing that might worry her. He had said + comparatively little to her about Strangeways. His first mention of his + condition had obviously made her somewhat nervous, though she had been + full of kindly interest. She was in private not sorry that it was felt + better that she should not disturb the patient by a visit to his room. The + abnormality of his condition seemed just slightly alarming to her. + </p> + <p> + “But, oh, how good, how charitable, you are!” she had murmured. + </p> + <p> + “Good,” he answered, the devout admiration of her tone rather puzzling + him. “It ain't that. I just want to see the thing through. I dropped into + it by accident, and then I dropped into this by accident, and that made it + as easy as falling off a log. I believe he's going to get well sometime. I + guess I kind of like him because he holds on to me so and believes I'm + just It. Maybe it's because I'm stuck on myself.” + </p> + <p> + His visit to Strangeways was longer than usual that afternoon. He + explained the situation to him so that he understood it sufficiently not + to seem alarmed by it. This was one of the advances Tembarom had noticed + recently, that he was less easily terrified, and seemed occasionally to + see facts in their proper relation to one another. Sometimes the + experiments tried on him were successful, sometimes they were not, but he + never resented them. + </p> + <p> + “You are trying to help me to remember,” he said once. “I think you will + sometime.” + </p> + <p> + “Sure I will,” said Tembarom. “You're better every day.” + </p> + <p> + Pearson was to remain in charge of him until toward the end of the London + visit. Then he was to run up for a couple of days, leaving in his place a + young footman to whom the invalid had become accustomed. + </p> + <p> + The visit to London was to Miss Alicia a period of enraptured delirium. + The beautiful hotel in which she was established, the afternoons at the + Tower, the National Gallery, the British Museum, the evenings at the play, + during which one saw the most brilliant and distinguished actors, the + mornings in the shops, attended as though one were a person of fortune, + what could be said of them? And the sacred day on which she saw her + Majesty drive slowly by, glittering helmets, splendid uniforms, waving + plumes, and clanking swords accompanying and guarding her, and gentlemen + standing still with their hats off, and everybody looking after her with + that natural touch of awe which royalty properly inspires! Miss Alicia's + heart beat rapidly in her breast, and she involuntarily made a curtsey as + the great lady in mourning drove by. She lost no shade of any flavor of + ecstatic pleasure in anything, and was to Tembarom, who knew nothing about + shades and flavors, indeed a touching and endearing thing. + </p> + <p> + He had never got so much out of anything. If Ann had just been there, + well, that would have been the limit. Ann was on her way to America now, + and she wouldn't write to him or let him write to her. He had to make a + fair trial of it. He could find out only in that way, she said. It was not + to be denied that the youth and longing in him gave him some half-hours to + face which made him shut himself up in his room and stare hard at the + wall, folding his arms tightly as he tilted his chair. + </p> + <p> + There arrived a day when one of the most exalted shops in Bond Street was + invaded by an American young man of a bearing the peculiarities of which + were subtly combined with a remotely suggested air of knowing that if he + could find what he wanted, there was no doubt as to his power to get it. + What he wanted was not usual, and was explained with a frankness which + might have seemed unsophisticated, but, singularly, did not. He wanted to + have a private talk with some feminine power in charge, and she must be + some one who knew exactly what ladies ought to have. + </p> + <p> + Being shown into a room, such a feminine power was brought to him and + placed at his service. She was a middle-aged person, wearing beautifully + fitted garments and having an observant eye and a dignified suavity of + manner. She looked the young American over with a swift inclusion of all + possibilities. He was by this time wearing extremely well-fitting garments + himself, but she was at once aware that his tailored perfection was a new + thing to him. + </p> + <p> + He went to his point without apologetic explanation. + </p> + <p> + “You know all the things any kind of a lady ought to have,” he said—“all + the things that would make any one feel comfortable and as if they'd got + plenty? Useful things as well as ornamental ones?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir,” she replied, with rising interest. “I have been in the + establishment thirty years.” + </p> + <p> + “Good business,” Tembarom replied. Already he felt relieved. “I've got a + relation, a little old lady, and I want her to fix herself out just as she + ought to be fixed. Now, what I'm afraid of is that she won't get + everything she ought to unless I manage it for her somehow beforehand. + She's got into a habit of—well, economizing. Now the time's past for + that, and I want her to get everything a woman like you would know she + really wants, so that she could look her best, living in a big country + house, with a relation that thinks a lot of her.” + </p> + <p> + He paused a second or so, and then went further, fixing a clear and + astonishingly shrewd eye upon the head of the department listening to him. + </p> + <p> + “I found out this was a high-class place,” he explained. “I made sure of + that before I came in. In a place that was second or third class there + might be people who'd think they'd caught a 'sucker' that would take + anything that was unloaded on to him, because he didn't know. The things + are for Miss Temple Barholm, and she DOES know. I shall ask her to come + here herself to-morrow morning, and I want you to take care of her, and + show her the best you've got that's suitable.” He seemed to like the word; + he repeated it—“Suitable,” and quickly restrained a sudden, + unexplainable, wide smile. + </p> + <p> + The attending lady's name was Mrs. Mellish. Thirty years' experience had + taught her many lessons. She was a hard woman and a sharp one, but beneath + her sharp hardness lay a suppressed sense of the perfect in taste. To have + a customer with unchecked resources put into her hands to do her best by + was an inspiring incident. A quiver of enlightenment had crossed her + countenance when she had heard the name of Temple Barholm. She had a + newspaper knowledge of the odd Temple Barholm story. This was the next of + kin who had blacked boots in New York, and the obvious probability that he + was a fool, if it had taken the form of a hope, had been promptly nipped + in the bud. The type from which he was furthest removed was that of the + fortune-intoxicated young man who could be obsequiously flattered into + buying anything which cost money enough. + </p> + <p> + “Not a thing's to be unloaded on her that she doesn't like,” he added, + “and she's not a girl that goes to pink teas. She's a—a—lady—and + not young—and used to quiet ways.” + </p> + <p> + The evidently New York word “unload” revealed him to his hearer as by a + flash, though she had never heard it before. + </p> + <p> + “We have exactly the things which will be suitable, sir,” she said. “I + think I quite understand.” Tembarom smiled again, and, thanking her, went + away still smiling, because he knew Miss Alicia was safe. + </p> + <p> + There were of course difficulties in the way of persuading Miss Alicia + that her duty lay in the direction of spending mornings in the most + sumptuous of Bond Street shops, ordering for herself an entire wardrobe on + a basis of unlimited resources. Tembarom was called upon to employ the + most adroitly subtle reasoning, entirely founded on his “claim” and her + affectionate willingness to give him pleasure. + </p> + <p> + He really made love to her in the way a joyful young fellow can make love + to his mother or his nicest aunt. He made her feel that she counted for so + much in his scheme of enjoyment that to do as he asked would be to add a + glow to it. + </p> + <p> + “And they won't spoil you,” he said. “The Mellish woman that's the boss + has promised that. I wouldn't have you spoiled for a farm,” he added + heartily. + </p> + <p> + And he spoke the truth. If he had been told that he was cherishing her + type as though it were a priceless bit of old Saxe, he would have stared + blankly and made a jocular remark. But it was exactly this which he + actually clung to and adored. He even had a second private interview with + Mrs. Mellish, and asked her to “keep her as much like she was” as was + possible. + </p> + <p> + Stimulated by the suppressed touch of artistic fervor, Mrs. Mellish + guessed at something even before her client arrived; but the moment she + entered the showroom all was revealed to her at once. The very hint of + flush and tremor in Miss Alicia's manner was an assistance. Surrounded by + a small and extremely select court composed of Mrs. Mellish and two + low-voiced, deft-handed assistants, it was with a fine little effort that + Miss Alicia restrained herself from exterior suggestion of her feeling + that there was something almost impious in thinking of possessing the + exquisite stuffs and shades displayed to her in flowing beauty on every + side. Such linens and batistes and laces, such delicate, faint grays and + lavenders and soft-falling blacks! If she had been capable of approaching + the thought, such luxury might even have hinted at guilty splendor. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Mellish became possessed of an “idea” To create the costume of an + exquisite, early-Victorian old lady in a play done for the most + fashionable and popular actor manager of the most “drawing-room” of West + End theaters, where one saw royalty in the royal box, with bouquets on + every side, the orchestra breaking off in the middle of a strain to play + “God Save the Queen,” and the audience standing up as the royal party came + in—that was her idea. She carried it out, steering Miss Alicia with + finished tact through the shoals and rapids of her timidities. And the + result was wonderful; color,—or, rather, shades,—textures, and + forms were made subservient by real genius. Miss Alicia—as she was + turned out when the wardrobe was complete—might have been an elderly + little duchess of sweet and modest good taste in the dress of forty years + earlier. It took time, but some of the things were prepared as though by + magic, and the night the first boxes were delivered at the hotel Miss + Alicia, on going to bed, in kneeling down to her devotions prayed + fervently that she might not be “led astray by fleshly desires,” and that + her gratitude might be acceptable, and not stained by a too great joy “in + the things which corrupt.” + </p> + <p> + The very next day occurred Rose. She was the young person to whom Pearson + was engaged, and it appeared that if Miss Alicia would make up her mind to + oblige Mr. Temple Barholm by allowing the girl to come to her as + lady's-maid, even if only temporarily, she would be doing a most kind and + charitable thing. She was a very nice, well-behaved girl, and + unfortunately she had felt herself forced to leave her place because her + mistress's husband was not at all a nice man. He had shown himself so far + from nice that Pearson had been most unhappy, and Rose had been compelled + to give notice, though she had no other situation in prospect and her + mother was dependent on her. This was without doubt not Mr. Temple + Barholm's exact phrasing of the story, but it was what Miss Alicia + gathered, and what moved her deeply. It was so cruel and so sad! That + wicked man! That poor girl! She had never had a lady's-maid, and might be + rather at a loss at first, but it was only like Mr. Temple Barholm's kind + heart to suggest such a way of helping the girl and poor Pearson. + </p> + <p> + So occurred Rose, a pretty creature whose blue eyes suppressed grateful + tears as she took Miss Alicia's instructions during their first interview. + And Pearson arrived the same night, and, waiting upon Tembarom, stood + before him, and with perfect respect, choked. + </p> + <p> + “Might I thank you, if you please, sir,” he began, recovering himself—“might + I thank you and say how grateful—Rose and me, sir—” and choked + again. + </p> + <p> + “I told you it would be all right,” answered Tembarom. “It is all right. I + wish I was fixed like you are, Pearson.” + </p> + <p> + When the Countess of Mallowe called, Rose had just dressed Miss Alicia for + the afternoon in one of the most perfect of the evolutions of Mrs. + Mellish's idea. It was a definite creation, as even Lady Mallowe detected + the moment her eyes fell upon it. Its hue was dull, soft gray, and how it + managed to concede points and elude suggestions of modes interred, and yet + remain what it did remain, and accord perfectly with the side ringlets and + the lace cap of Mechlin, only dressmaking genius could have explained. The + mere wearing of it gave Miss Alicia a support and courage which she could + scarcely believe to be her own. When the cards of Lady Mallowe and Lady + Joan Fayre were brought up to her, she was absolutely not really + frightened; a little nervous for a moment, perhaps, but frightened, no. A + few weeks of relief and ease, of cheery consideration, of perfectly good + treatment and good food and good clothes, had begun a rebuilding of the + actual cells of her. + </p> + <p> + Lady Mallowe entered alone. She was a handsome person, and astonishingly + young when considered as the mother of a daughter of twenty-seven. She + wore a white veil, and looked pink through it. She swept into the room, + and shook hands with Miss Alicia with delicate warmth. + </p> + <p> + “We do not really know each other at all,” she said. “It is disgraceful + how little relatives see of one another.” + </p> + <p> + The disgrace, if measured by the extent of the relationship, was not + immense. Perhaps this thought flickered across Miss Alicia's mind among a + number of other things. She had heard “dear papa” on Lady Mallowe, and, + howsoever lacking in graces, the vicar of Rowcroft had not lacked an acrid + shrewdness. Miss Alicia's sensitively self-accusing soul shrank before a + hasty realization of the fact that if he had been present when the cards + were brought up, he would, on glancing over them through his spectacles, + have jerked out immediately: “What does the woman want? She's come to get + something.” Miss Alicia wished she had not been so immediately beset by + this mental vision. + </p> + <p> + Lady Mallowe had come for something. She had come to be amiable to Miss + Temple Barholm and to establish relations with her. + </p> + <p> + “Joan should have been here to meet me,” she explained. “Her dressmaker is + keeping her, of course. She will be so annoyed. She wanted very much to + come with me.” + </p> + <p> + It was further revealed that she might arrive at any moment, which gave + Miss Alicia an opportunity to express, with pretty grace, the hope that + she would, and her trust that she was quite well. + </p> + <p> + “She is always well,” Lady Mallowe returned. “And she is of course as + interested as we all are in this romantic thing. It is perfectly + delicious, like a three-volumed novel.” + </p> + <p> + “It is romantic,” said Miss Alicia, wondering how much her visitor knew or + thought she knew, and what circumstances would present themselves to her + as delicious. + </p> + <p> + “Of course one has heard only the usual talk one always hears when + everybody is chattering about a thing,” Lady Mallowe replied, with a + propitiating smile. “No one really knows what is true and what isn't. But + it is nice to notice that all the gossip speaks so well of him. No one + seems to pretend that he is anything but extremely nice himself, + notwithstanding his disadvantages.” + </p> + <p> + She kept a fine hazel eye, surrounded by a line which artistically + represented itself as black lashes, steadily resting on Miss Alicia as she + said the last words. + </p> + <p> + “He is,” said Miss Alicia, with gentle firmness, “nicer than I had ever + imagined any young man could be—far nicer.” + </p> + <p> + Lady Mallowe's glance round the luxurious private sitting-room and over + the perfect “idea” of Mrs. Mellish was so swift as to be almost + imperceptible. + </p> + <p> + “How delightful!” she said. “He must be unusually agreeable, or you would + not have consented to stay and take care of him.” + </p> + <p> + “I cannot tell you how HAPPY I am to have been asked to stay with him, + Lady Mallowe,” Miss Alicia replied, the gentle firmness becoming a soft + dignity. + </p> + <p> + “Which of course shows all the more how attractive he must be. And in view + of the past lack of advantages, what a help you can be to him! It is quite + wonderful for him to have a relative at hand who is an Englishwoman and + familiar with things he will feel he must learn.” + </p> + <p> + A perhaps singular truth is that but for the unmistakable nature of the + surroundings she quickly took in the significance of, and but for the + perfection of the carrying out of Mrs. Mellish's delightful idea, it is + more than probable that her lady-ship's manner of approaching Miss Alicia + and certain subjects on which she desired enlightenment would have been + much more direct and much less propitiatory. Extraordinary as it was, “the + creature”—she thought of Tembarom as “the creature”—had + plainly been so pleased with the chance of being properly coached that he + had put everything, so to speak, in the little old woman's hands. She had + got a hold upon him. It was quite likely that to regard her as a definite + factor would only be the part of the merest discretion. She was evidently + quite in love with him in her early-Victorian, spinster way. One had to be + prudent with women like that who had got hold of a male creature for the + first time in their lives, and were almost unaware of their own power. + Their very unconsciousness made them a dangerous influence. + </p> + <p> + With a masterly review of these facts in her mind Lady Mallowe went on + with a fluent and pleasant talk, through the medium of which she managed + to convey a large number of things Miss Alicia was far from being clever + enough to realize she was talking about. She lightly waved wings of + suggestion across the scene, she dropped infinitesimal seeds in passing, + she left faint echoes behind her—the kind of echoes one would find + oneself listening to and trying to hear as definitely formed sounds. She + had been balancing herself on a precarious platform of rank and title, + unsupported by any sordid foundation of a solid nature, through a lifetime + spent in London. She had learned to catch fiercely at straws of chance, + and bitterly to regret the floating past of the slightest, which had made + of her a finished product of her kind. She talked lightly, and was + sometimes almost witty. To her hearer she seemed to know every brilliant + personage and to be familiar with every dazzling thing. She knew well what + social habits and customs meant, what their value, or lack of value, was. + There were customs, she implied skilfully, so established by time that it + was impossible to ignore them. Relationships, for instance, stood for so + much that was fine in England that one was sometimes quite touched by the + far-reachingness of family loyalty. The head of the house of a great + estate represented a certain power in the matter of upholding the dignity + of his possessions, of caring for his tenantry, of standing for proper + hospitality and friendly family feeling. It was quite beautiful as one + often saw it. Throughout the talk there were several references to Joan, + who really must come in shortly, which were very interesting to Miss + Alicia. Lady Joan, Miss Alicia heard casually, was a great beauty. Her + perfection and her extreme cleverness had made her perhaps a trifle + difficile. She had not done—Lady Mallowe put it with a lightness of + phrasing which was delicacy itself—what she might have done, with + every exalted advantage, so many times. She had a profound nature. Here + Lady Mallowe waved away, as it were, a ghost of a sigh. Since Miss Temple + Barholm was a relative, she had no doubt heard of the unfortunate, the + very sad incident which her mother sometimes feared prejudiced the girl + even yet. + </p> + <p> + “You mean—poor Jem!” broke forth involuntarily from Miss Alicia's + lips. Lady Mallowe stared a little. + </p> + <p> + “Do you call him that?” she asked. “Did you know him, then?” + </p> + <p> + “I loved him,” answered Miss Alicia, winking her eyes to keep back the + moisture in them, “though it was only when he was a little boy.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh,” said Lady Mallowe, with a sudden, singular softness, “I must tell + Joan that.” + </p> + <p> + Lady Joan had not appeared even after they had had tea and her mother went + away, but somehow Miss Alicia had reached a vaguely yearning feeling for + her and wished very much the dressmaker had released her. She was quite + stirred when it revealed itself almost at the last moment that in a few + weeks both she and Lady Mallowe were to pay a visit at no great distance + from Temple Barholm itself, and that her ladyship would certainly arrange + to drive over to continue her delightful acquaintance and to see the + beautiful old place again. + </p> + <p> + “In any case one must, even if he lived in lonely state, pay one's + respects to the head of the house. The truth is, of course, one is + extremely anxious to meet him, and it is charming to know that one is not + merely invading the privacy of a bachelor,” Lady Mallowe put it. + </p> + <p> + “She'll come for YOU,” Little Ann had soberly remarked. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom remembered the look in her quiet, unresentful blue eyes when he + came in to dinner and Miss Alicia related to him the events of the + afternoon. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVIII + </h2> + <p> + The spring, when they traveled back to the north, was so perceptibly + nearer that the fugitive soft days strayed in advance at intervals that + were briefer. They chose one for their journey, and its clear sunshine and + hints at faint greenness were so exhilarating to Miss Alicia that she was + a companion to make any journey an affair to rank with holidays and + adventures. The strange luxury of traveling in a reserved first-class + carriage, of being made timid by no sense of unfitness of dress or + luggage, would have filled her with grateful rapture; but Rose, journeying + with Pearson a few coaches behind, appeared at the carriage window at + every important station to say, “Is there anything I may do for you, + ma'am?” And there really never was anything she could do, because Mr. + Temple Barholm remembered everything which could make her comfort perfect. + In the moods of one who searches the prospect for suggestions as to + pleasure he can give to himself by delighting a dear child, he had found + and bought for her a most elegant little dressing-bag, with the neatest of + plain-gold fittings beautifully initialed. It reposed upon the cushioned + seat near her, and made her heart beat every time she caught sight of it + anew. How wonderful it would be if poor dear, darling mama could look down + and see everything and really know what happiness had been vouchsafed to + her unworthy child! + </p> + <p> + Having a vivid recollection of the journey made with Mr. Palford, Tembarom + felt that his whole world had changed for him. The landscape had altered + its aspect. Miss Alicia pointed out bits of freshening grass, was sure of + the breaking of brown leaf-buds, and more than once breathlessly suspected + a primrose in a sheltered hedge corner. A country-bred woman, with + country-bred keenness of eye and a country-bred sense of the seasons' + change, she saw so much that he had never known that she began to make him + see also. Bare trees would be thick-leaved nesting-places, hedges would be + white with hawthorn, and hold blue eggs and chirps and songs. Skylarks + would spring out of the fields and soar into the sky, dropping crystal + chains of joyous trills. The cottage gardens would be full of flowers, + there would be poppies gleaming scarlet in the corn, and in buttercup-time + all the green grass would be a sheet of shining gold. + </p> + <p> + “When it all happens I shall be like a little East-Sider taken for a day + in the country. I shall be asking questions at every step,” Tembarom said. + “Temple Barholm must be pretty fine then.” + </p> + <p> + “It is so lovely,” said Miss Alicia, turning to him almost solemnly, “that + sometimes it makes one really lose one's breath.” + </p> + <p> + He looked out of the window with sudden wistfulness. + </p> + <p> + “I wish Ann—” he began and then, seeing the repressed question in + her eyes, made up his mind. + </p> + <p> + He told her about Little Ann. He did not use very many words, but she knew + a great deal when he had finished. And her spinster soul was thrilled. + Neither she nor poor Emily had ever had an admirer, and it was not + considered refined for unsought females to discuss “such subjects.” + Domestic delirium over the joy of an engagement in families in which + daughters were a drug she had seen. It was indeed inevitable that there + should be more rejoicing over one Miss Timson who had strayed from the + fold into the haven of marriage than over the ninety-nine Misses Timson + who remained behind. But she had never known intimately any one who was in + love—really in love. Mr. Temple Barholm must be. When he spoke of + Little Ann he flushed shyly and his eyes looked so touching and nice. His + voice sounded different, and though of course his odd New York expressions + were always rather puzzling, she felt as though she saw things she had had + no previous knowledge of—things which thrilled her. + </p> + <p> + “She must be a very—very nice girl,” she ventured at length. “I am + afraid I have never been into old Mrs. Hutchinson's cottage. She is quite + comfortably off in her way, and does not need parish care. I wish I had + seen Miss Hutchinson.” + </p> + <p> + “I wish she had seen you,” was Tembarom's answer. + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia reflected. + </p> + <p> + “She must be very clever to have such—sensible views,” she remarked. + </p> + <p> + If he had remained in New York, and there had been no question of his + inheriting Temple Barholm, the marriage would have been most suitable. But + however “superior” she might be, a vision of old Mrs. Hutchinson's + granddaughter as the wife of Mr. Temple Barholm, and of noisy old Mr. + Hutchinson as his father-in-law was a staggering thing. + </p> + <p> + “You think they were sensible?” asked Tembarom. “Well, she never did + anything that wasn't. So I guess they were. And what she says GOES. I + wanted you to know, anyhow. I wouldn't like you not to know. I'm too fond + of you, Miss Alicia.” And he put his hand round her neat glove and + squeezed it. The tears of course came into her tender eyes. Emotion of any + sort always expressed itself in her in this early-Victorian manner. + </p> + <p> + “This Lady Joan girl,” he said suddenly not long afterward, “isn't she the + kind that I'm to get used to—the kind in the pictorial magazine Ann + talked about? I bought one at the news-stand at the depot before we + started. I wanted to get on to the pictures and see what they did to me.” + </p> + <p> + He found the paper among his belongings and regarded it with the + expression of a serious explorer. It opened at a page of illustrations of + slim goddesses in court dresses. By actual measurement, if regarded + according to scale, each was about ten feet high; but their long lines, + combining themselves with court trains, waving plumes, and falling veils, + produced an awe-inspiring effect. Tembarom gazed at them in absorbed + silence. + </p> + <p> + “Is she something like any of these?” he inquired finally. + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia looked through her glasses. + </p> + <p> + “Far more beautiful, I believe,” she answered. “These are only + fashion-plates, and I have heard that she is a most striking girl.” + </p> + <p> + “A beaut' from Beautsville!” he said. “So that's what I'm up against! I + wonder how much use that kind of a girl would have for me.” + </p> + <p> + He gave a good deal of attention to the paper before he laid it aside. As + she watched him, Miss Alicia became gradually aware of the existence of a + certain hint of determined squareness in his boyish jaw. It was perhaps + not much more than a hint, but it really was there, though she had not + noticed it before. In fact, it usually hid itself behind his slangy + youthfulness and his readiness for any good cheer. + </p> + <p> + One may as well admit that it sustained him during his novitiate and aided + him to pass through it without ignominy or disaster. He was strengthened + also by a private resolve to bear himself in such a manner as would at + least do decent credit to Little Ann and her superior knowledge. With the + curious eyes of servants, villagers, and secretly outraged neighborhood + upon him, he was shrewd enough to know that he might easily become a + perennial fount of grotesque anecdote, to be used as a legitimate source + of entertainment in cottages over the consumption of beans and bacon, as + well as at great houses when dinner-table talk threatened to become dull + if not enlivened by some spice. He would not have thought of this or been + disturbed by it but for Ann. She knew, and he was not going to let her be + met on her return from America with what he called “a lot of funny dope” + about him. + </p> + <p> + “No girl would like it,” he said to himself. “And the way she said she + 'cared too much' just put it up to me to see that the fellow she cares for + doesn't let himself get laughed at.” + </p> + <p> + Though he still continued to be jocular on subjects which to his valet + seemed almost sacred, Pearson was relieved to find that his employer + gradually gave himself into his hands in a manner quite amenable. In the + touching way in which nine out of ten nice, domesticated American males + obey the behests of the women they are fond of, he had followed Ann's + directions to the letter. Guided by the adept Pearson, he had gone to the + best places in London and purchased the correct things, returning to + Temple Barholm with a wardrobe to which any gentleman might turn at any + moment without a question. + </p> + <p> + “He's got good shoulders, though he does slouch a bit,” Pearson said to + Rose. “And a gentleman's shoulders are more than half the battle.” + </p> + <p> + What Tembarom himself felt cheered by was the certainty that if Ann saw + him walking about the park or the village, or driving out with Miss Alicia + in the big landau, or taking her in to dinner every evening, or even going + to church with her, she would not have occasion to flush at sight of him. + </p> + <p> + The going to church was one of the duties of his position he found out. + Miss Alicia “put him on” to that. It seemed that he had to present himself + to the villagers “as an example.” If the Temple Barholm pews were empty, + the villagers, not being incited to devotional exercise by his exalted + presence, would feel at liberty to remain at home, and in the irreligious + undress of shirt-sleeves sit and smoke their pipes, or, worse still, + gather at “the Hare and Hounds” and drink beer. Also, it would not be “at + all proper” not to go to church. + </p> + <p> + Pearson produced a special cut of costume for this ceremony, and Tembarom + walked with Miss Alicia across the park to the square-towered Norman + church. + </p> + <p> + In a position of dignity the Temple Barholm pews over-looked the + congregation. There was the great square pew for the family, with two + others for servants. Footmen and house-maids gazed reverentially at + prayer-books. Pearson, making every preparation respectfully to declare + himself a “miserable sinner” when the proper moment arrived, could + scarcely re-strain a rapid side glance as the correctly cut and fitted and + entirely “suitable” work of his hands opened the pew-door for Miss Alicia, + followed her in, and took his place. + </p> + <p> + Let not the fact that he had never been to church before be counted + against him. There was nothing very extraordinary in the fact. He had felt + no antipathy to church-going, but he had not by chance fallen under + proselyting influence, and it had certainly never occurred to him that he + had any place among the well-dressed, comfortable-looking people he had + seen flocking into places of worship in New York. As far as religious + observances were concerned, he was an unadulterated heathen, and was all + the more to be congratulated on being a heathen of genial tendencies. + </p> + <p> + The very large pew, under the stone floor of which his ancestors had slept + undisturbedly for centuries, interested him greatly. A recumbent marble + crusader in armor, with feet crossed in the customary manner, fitted into + a sort of niche in one side of the wall. There were carved tablets and + many inscriptions in Latin wheresoever one glanced. The place was like a + room. A heavy, round table, on which lay prayer-books, Bibles, and + hymn-books, occupied the middle. About it were arranged beautiful old + chairs, with hassocks to kneel on. Toward a specially imposing chair with + arms Miss Alicia directed, him with a glance. It was apparently his place. + He was going to sit down when he saw Miss Alicia gently push forward a + hassock with her foot, and kneel on it, covering her face with her hands + as she bent her head. He hastily drew forth his hassock and followed her + example. + </p> + <p> + That was it, was it? It wasn't only a matter of listening to a sermon; you + had to do things. He had better watch out and see that he didn't miss + anything. She didn't know it was his first time, and it might worry her to + the limit if he didn't put it over all right. One of the things he had + noticed in her was her fear of attracting attention by failing to do + exactly the “proper thing.” If he made a fool of himself by kneeling down + when he ought to stand up, or lying down when he ought to sit, she'd get + hot all over, thinking what the villagers or the other people would say. + Well, Ann hadn't wanted him to look different from other fellows or to + make breaks. He'd look out from start to finish. He directed a watchful + eye at Miss Alicia through his fingers. She remained kneeling a few + moments, and then very quietly got up. He rose with her, and took his big + chair when she sat down. He breathed more freely when they had got that + far. That was the first round. + </p> + <p> + It was not a large church, but a gray and solemn impression of dignity + brooded over it. It was dim with light, which fell through stained-glass + memorial windows set deep in the thick stone walls. The silence which + reigned throughout its spaces seemed to Tembarom of a new kind, different + from the silence of the big house. The occasional subdued rustle of turned + prayer-book leaves seemed to accentuate it; the most careful movement + could not conceal itself; a slight cough was a startling thing. The way, + Tembarom thought, they could get things dead-still in English places! + </p> + <p> + The chimes, which had been ringing their last summons to the tardy, + slackened their final warning notes, became still slower, stopped. There + was a slight stir in the benches occupied by the infant school. It + suggested that something new was going to happen. From some unseen place + came the sound of singing voices—boyish voices and the voices of + men. Tembarom involuntarily turned his head. Out of the unseen place came + a procession in white robes. Great Scott! every one was standing up! He + must stand up, too. The boys and men in white garments filed into their + seats. An elderly man, also in white robes, separated himself from them, + and, going into his special place, kneeled down. Then he rose and began to + read: + </p> + <p> + “When the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness—” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom took the open book which Miss Alicia had very delicately pushed + toward him. He read the first words,—that was plain sailing,—then + he seemed to lose his place. Miss Alicia turned a leaf. He turned one + also. + </p> + <p> + “Dearly beloved brethren—” + </p> + <p> + There you were. This was once more plain sailing. He could follow it. What + was the matter with Miss Alicia? She was kneeling again, everybody was + kneeling. Where was the hassock? He went down upon his knees, hoping Miss + Alicia had not seen that he wasn't going to kneel at all. Then when the + minister said “Amen,” the congregation said it, too, and he came in too + late, so that his voice sounded out alone. He must watch that. Then the + minister knelt, and all the people prayed aloud with him. With the book + before him he managed to get in after the first few words; but he was not + ready with the responses, and in the middle of them everybody stood up + again. And then the organ played, and every one sang. He couldn't sing, + anyhow, and he knew he couldn't catch on to the kind of thing they were + doing. He hoped Miss Alicia wouldn't mind his standing up and holding his + book and doing nothing. He could not help seeing that eyes continually + turned toward him. They'd notice every darned break he made, and Miss + Alicia would know they did. He felt quite hot more than once. He watched + Miss Alicia like a hawk; he sat down and listened to reading, he stood up + and listened to singing; he kneeled, he tried to chime in with “Amens” and + to keep up with Miss Alicia's bending of head and knee. But the creed, + with its sudden turn toward the altar, caught him unawares, he lost + himself wholly in the psalms, the collects left him in deep water, + hopeless of ever finding his place again, and the litany baffled him, when + he was beginning to feel safe, by changing from “miserable sinners” to + “Spare us Good Lord” and “We beseech thee to hear us.” If he could just + have found the place he would have been all right, but an honest anxiety + to be right excited him, and the fear of embarrassing Miss Alicia by going + wrong made the morning a strenuous thing. He was so relieved to find he + might sit still when the sermon began that he gave the minister an + attention which might have marked him, to the chance beholder, as a + religious enthusiast. + </p> + <p> + By the time the service had come to an end the stately peace of the place + had seemed to sink into his being and become part of himself. The voice of + the minister bestowing his blessing, the voices of the white-clothed choir + floating up into the vaulted roof, stirred him to a remote pleasure. He + liked it, or he knew he would like it when he knew what to do. The filing + out of the choristers, the silent final prayer, the soft rustle of people + rising gently from their knees, somehow actually moved him by its + suggestion of something before unknown. He was a heathen still, but a + heathen vaguely stirred. + </p> + <p> + He was very quiet as he walked home across the park with Miss Alicia. + </p> + <p> + “How did you enjoy the sermon?” she asked with much sweetness. + </p> + <p> + “I 'm not used to sermons, but it seemed all right to me,” he answered. + “What I've got to get on to is knowing when to stand up and when to sit + down. I wasn't much of a winner at it this morning. I guess you noticed + that.” + </p> + <p> + But his outward bearing had been much more composed than his inward + anxiety had allowed him to believe. His hesitations had not produced the + noticeable effect he had feared. + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean you are not quite familiar with the service?” she said. Poor + dear boy! he had perhaps not been able to go to church regularly at all. + </p> + <p> + “I'm not familiar with any service,” he answered without prejudice. “I + never went to church before.” + </p> + <p> + She slightly started and then smiled. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you mean you have never been to the Church of England,” she said. + </p> + <p> + Then he saw that, if he told her the exact truth, she would be frightened + and shocked. She would not know what to say or what to think. To her + unsophisticated mind only murderers and thieves and criminals NEVER went + to church. She just didn't know. Why should she? So he smiled also. + </p> + <p> + “No, I've never been to the Church of England,” he said. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIX + </h2> + <p> + The country was discreetly conservative in its social attitude. The gulf + between it and the new owner of Temple Barholm was too wide and deep to be + crossed without effort combined with immense mental agility. It was on the + whole, much easier not to begin a thing at all than to begin it and find + one must hastily search about for not too noticeable methods of ending it. + A few unimportant, tentative calls were made, and several ladies who had + remained unaware of Miss Alicia during her first benefactor's time drove + over to see what she was like and perhaps by chance hear something of + interest. One or two of them who saw Tembarom went away puzzled and + amazed. He did not drop his h's, which they had of course expected, and he + was well dressed, and not bad-looking; but it was frequently impossible to + understand what he was talking about, he used such odd phrases. He seemed + good natured enough, and his way with little old Miss Temple Barholm was + really quite nice, queer as it was. It was queer because he was attentive + to her in a manner in which young men were not usually attentive to + totally insignificant, elderly dependents. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom derived an extremely diluted pleasure from the visits. The few + persons he saw reminded him in varying degrees of Mr. Palford. They had + not before seen anything like his species, and they did not know what to + do with him. He also did not know what to do with them. A certain + inelasticity frustrated him at the outset. When, in obedience to Miss + Alicia's instructions, he had returned the visits, he felt he had not gone + far. + </p> + <p> + Serious application enabled him to find his way through the church + service, and he accompanied Miss Alicia to church with great regularity. + He began to take down the books from the library shelves and look them + over gravely. The days gradually ceased to appear so long, but he had a + great deal of time on his hands, and he tried to find ways of filling it. + He wondered if Ann would be pleased if he learned things out of books. + </p> + <p> + When he tentatively approached the subject of literature with Miss Alicia, + she glowed at the delightful prospect of his reading aloud to her in the + evenings—“reading improving things like history and the poets.” + </p> + <p> + “Let's take a hack at it some night,” he said pleasantly. + </p> + <p> + The more a fellow knew, the better it was for him, he supposed; but he + wondered, if anything happened and he went back to New York, how much + “improving things” and poetry would help a man in doing business. + </p> + <p> + The first evening they began with Gray's “Elegy,” and Miss Alicia felt + that it did not exhilarate him; she was also obliged to admit that he did + not read it very well. But she felt sure he would improve. Personally she + was touchingly happy. The sweetly domestic picture of the situation, she + sitting by the fire with her knitting and he reading aloud, moved and + delighted her. The next evening she suggested Tennyson's “Maud.” He was + not as much stirred by it as she had hoped. He took a somewhat humorous + view of it. + </p> + <p> + “He had it pretty bad, hadn't he?”' he said of the desperate lover. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, if only you could once have heard Sims Reeves sing 'Come into the + Garden, Maud'!” she sighed. “A kind friend once took me to hear him, and I + have never, never forgotten it.” + </p> + <p> + But Mr. Temple Barholm notably did not belong to the atmosphere of + impassioned tenors. + </p> + <p> + On still another evening they tried Shakspere. Miss Alicia felt that a + foundation of Shakspere would be “improving” indeed. They began with + “Hamlet.” + </p> + <p> + He found play-reading difficult and Shaksperian language baffling, but he + made his way with determination until he reached a point where he suddenly + grew quite red and stopped. + </p> + <p> + “Say, have you read this?” he inquired after his hesitation. + </p> + <p> + “The plays of Shakspere are a part of every young lady's education,” she + answered; “but I am afraid I am not at all a Shaksperian scholar.” + </p> + <p> + “A young lady's education?” he repeated. “Gee whizz!” he added softly + after a pause. + </p> + <p> + He glanced over a page or so hastily, and then laid the book down. + </p> + <p> + “Say,” he suggested, with an evasive air, “let's go over that 'Maud' one + again. It's—well, it's easier to read aloud.” + </p> + <p> + The crude awkwardness of his manner suddenly made Miss Alicia herself + flush and drop a stitch in her knitting. How dreadful of her not to have + thought of that! + </p> + <p> + “The Elizabethan age was, I fear, a rather coarse one in some respects. + Even history acknowledges that Queen Elizabeth herself used profane + language.” She faltered and coughed a little apologetic cough as she + picked up her stitch again. + </p> + <p> + “I bet Ann's never seen inside Shakspere,” said Tembarom. Before reading + aloud in the future he gave some previous personal attention to the poem + or subject decided upon. It may be at once frankly admitted that when he + read aloud it was more for Miss Alicia's delectation than for his own. He + saw how much she enjoyed the situation. + </p> + <p> + His effect of frankness and constant boyish talk was so inseparable from + her idea of him that she found it a puzzling thing to realize that she + gradually began to feel aware of a certain remote reserve in him, or what + might perhaps be better described as a habit of silence upon certain + subjects. She felt it marked in the case of Strangeways. She surmised that + he saw Strangeways often and spent a good deal of time with him, but he + spoke of him rarely, and she never knew exactly what hours were given to + him. Sometimes she imagined he found him a greater responsibility than he + had expected. Several times when she believed that he had spent part of a + morning or afternoon in his room, he was more silent than usual and looked + puzzled and thoughtful. She observed, as Mr. Palford had, that the + picture-gallery, with its portraits of his ancestors, had an attraction. A + certain rainy day he asked her to go with him and look them over. It was + inevitable that she should soon wander to the portrait of Miles Hugo and + remain standing before it. Tembarom followed, and stood by her side in + silence until her sadness broke its bounds with a pathetic sigh. + </p> + <p> + “Was he very like him?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + She made an unconscious, startled movement. For the moment she had + forgotten his presence, and she had not really expected him to remember. + </p> + <p> + “I mean Jem,” he answered her surprised look. “How was he like him? Was + there—” he hesitated and looked really interested—“was he like + him in any particular thing?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she said, turning to the portrait of Miles Hugo again. “They both + had those handsome, drooping eyes, with the lashes coming together at the + corners. There is something very fascinating about them, isn't there? I + used to notice it so much in dear little Jem. You see how marked they are + in Miles Hugo.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” Tembarom answered. “A fellow who looked that way at a girl when he + made love to her would get a strangle-holt. She wouldn't forget him soon.” + </p> + <p> + “It strikes you in that way, too?” said Miss Alicia, shyly. “I used to + wonder if it was—not quite nice of me to think of it. But it did + seem that if any one did look at one like that—” Maidenly shyness + overcame her. “Poor Lady Joan!” she sighed. + </p> + <p> + “There's a sort of cleft in his chin, though it's a good, square chin,” he + suggested. “And that smile of his—Were Jem's—?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, they were. The likeness was quite odd sometimes—quite.” + </p> + <p> + “Those are things that wouldn't be likely to change much when he grew up,” + Tembarom said, drawing a little closer to the picture. “Poor Jem! He was + up against it hard and plenty. He had it hardest. This chap only died.” + </p> + <p> + There was no mistaking his sympathy. He asked so many questions that they + sat down and talked instead of going through the gallery. He was + interested in the detail of all that had occurred after the ghastly moment + when Jem had risen from the card-table and stood looking around, like some + baited dying animal, at the circle of cruel faces drawing in about him. + How soon had he left London? Where had he gone first? How had he been + killed? He had been buried with others beneath a fall of earth and stones. + Having heard this much, Tembarom saw he could not ask more questions. Miss + Alicia became pale, and her hands trembled. She could not bear to discuss + details so harrowing. + </p> + <p> + “Say, I oughtn't to let you talk about that,” he broke out, and he patted + her hand and made her get up and finish their walk about the gallery. He + held her elbow in his own odd, nice way as he guided her, and the things + he said, and the things he pretended to think or not to understand, were + so amusing that in a short time he had made her laugh. She knew him well + enough by this time to be aware that he was intentionally obliging her to + forget what it only did her harm to remember. That was his practical way + of looking at it. + </p> + <p> + “Getting a grouch on or being sorry for what you can't help cuts no ice,” + he sometimes said. “When it does, me for getting up at daybreak and + keeping at it! But it doesn't, you bet your life on that.” + </p> + <p> + She could see that he had really wanted to hear about Jem, but he knew it + was bad for her to recall things, and he would not allow her to dwell on + them, just as she knew he would not allow himself to dwell on little Miss + Hutchinson, remotely placed among the joys of his beloved New York. + </p> + <p> + Two other incidents besides the visit to Miles Hugo afterward marked that + day when Miss Alicia looked back on it. The first was his unfolding to her + his plans for the house-party, which was characteristic of his habit of + thinking things over and deciding them before he talked about them. + </p> + <p> + “If I'm going to try the thing out, as Ann says I must,” he began when + they had gone back to the library after lunch, “I've got to get going. I'm + not seeing any of those Pictorial girls, and I guess I've got to see + some.” + </p> + <p> + “You will be invited to dine at places,” said Miss Alicia,—“presently,” + she added bravely, in fact, with an air of greater conviction than she + felt. + </p> + <p> + “If it's not the law that they've got to invite me or go to jail,” said + Tembarom, “I don't blame 'em for not doing it if they're not stuck on me. + And they're not; and it's natural. But I've got to get in my fine work, or + my year'll be over before I've 'found out for myself,' as Ann called it. + There's where I'm at, Miss Alicia—and I've been thinking of Lady + Joan and her mother. You said you thought they'd come and stay here if + they were properly asked.” + </p> + <p> + “I think they would,” answered Miss Alicia with her usual delicacy. “I + thought I gathered from Lady Mallowe that, as she was to be in the + neighborhood, she would like to see you and Temple Barholm, which she + greatly admires.” + </p> + <p> + “If you'll tell me what to do, I'll get her here to stay awhile,” he said, + “and Lady Joan with her. You'd have to show me how to write to ask them; + but perhaps you'd write yourself.” + </p> + <p> + “They will be at Asshawe Holt next week,” said Miss Alicia, “and we could + go and call on them together. We might write to them in London before they + leave.” + </p> + <p> + “We'll do it,” answered Tembarom. His manner was that of a practical young + man attacking matter-of-fact detail. “From what I hear, Lady Joan would + satisfy even Ann. They say she's the best-looker on the slate. If I see + her every day I shall have seen the blue-ribbon winner. Then if she's + here, perhaps others of her sort'll come, too; and they'll have to see me + whether they like it or not—and I shall see them. Good Lord!” he + added seriously, “I'd let 'em swarm all over me and bite me all summer if + it would fix Ann.” + </p> + <p> + He stood up, with his hands thrust deep in his pockets, and looked down at + the floor. + </p> + <p> + “I wish she knew T. T. like T. T. knows himself,” he said. It was quite + wistful. + </p> + <p> + It was so wistful and so boyish that Miss Alicia was thrilled as he often + thrilled her. + </p> + <p> + “She ought to be a very happy girl,” she exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + “She's going to be,” he answered, “sure as you're alive. But whatever she + does, is right, and this is as right as everything else. So it just goes.” + </p> + <p> + They wrote their letters at once, and sent them off by the afternoon post. + The letter Miss Alicia composed, and which Tembarom copied, he read and + reread, with visions of Jim Bowles and Julius looking over his shoulder. + If they picked it up on Broadway, with his name signed to it, and read it, + they'd throw a fit over it, laughing. But he supposed she knew what you + ought to write. + </p> + <p> + It had not, indeed, the masculine touch. When Lady Mallowe read it, she + laughed several times. She knew quite well that he had not known what to + say, and, allowing Miss Alicia to instruct him, had followed her + instructions to the letter. But she did not show the letter to Joan, who + was difficult enough to manage without being given such material to + comment upon. + </p> + <p> + The letters had just been sent to the post when a visitor was announced—Captain + Palliser. Tembarom remembered the name, and recalled also certain points + connected with him. He was the one who was a promoter of schemes—“One + of the smooth, clever ones that get up companies,” Little Ann had said. + </p> + <p> + That in a well-bred and not too pronounced way he looked smooth and clever + might be admitted. His effect was that of height, finished slenderness of + build, and extremely well-cut garments. He was no longer young, and he had + smooth, thin hair and a languidly observant gray eye. + </p> + <p> + “I have been staying at Detchworth Grange,” he explained when he had + shaken hands with the new Temple Barholm and Miss Alicia. “It gave me an + excellent opportunity to come and pay my respects.” + </p> + <p> + There was a hint of uncertainty in the observant gray eye. The fact was + that he realized in the space of five minutes that he knew his ground even + less than he had supposed he did. He had not spent his week at Detchworth + Grange without making many quiet investigations, but he had found out + nothing whatever. The new man was an ignoramus, but no one had yet seemed + to think him exactly a fool. He was not excited by the new grandeurs of + his position and he was not ashamed of himself. Captain Palliser wondered + if he was perhaps sharp—one of those New Yorkers shrewd even to + light-fingeredness in clever scheming. Stories of a newly created method + of business dealing involving an air of candor and almost primitive good + nature—an American method—had attracted Captain Palliser's + attention for some time. A certain Yankee rawness of manner played a part + as a factor, a crudity which would throw a man off guard if he did not + recognize it. The person who employed the method was of philosophical + non-combativeness. The New York phrase was that “He jollied a man along.” + Immense schemes had been carried through in that way. Men in London, in + England, were not sufficiently light of touch in their jocularity. He + wondered if perhaps this young fellow, with his ready laugh and rather + loose-jointed, casual way of carrying himself, was of this dangerous new + school. + </p> + <p> + What, however, could he scheme for, being the owner of Temple Barholm's + money? It may be mentioned at once that Captain Palliser's past had been + such as had fixed him in the belief that every one was scheming for + something. People with money wanted more or were privately arranging + schemes to prevent other schemers from getting any shade the better of + them. Debutantes with shy eyes and slim figures had their little plans to + engineer delicately. Sometimes they were larger plans than the uninitiated + would have suspected as existing in the brains of creatures in their + 'teens, sometimes they were mere fantastic little ideas connected with + dashing young men or innocent dances which must be secured or lovely young + rivals who must be evaded. Young men had also deft things to do—people + to see or not to see, reasons for themselves being seen or avoiding + observation. As years increased, reasons for schemes became more numerous + and amazingly more varied. Women with daughters, with sons, with husbands, + found in each relationship a necessity for active, if quiet, manoeuvering. + Women like Lady Mallowe—good heaven! by what schemes did not that + woman live and have her being—and her daughter's—from day to + day! Without money, without a friend who was an atom more to be relied on + than she would have been herself if an acquaintance had needed her aid, + her outwardly well-to-do and fashionable existence was a hand-to-hand + fight. No wonder she had turned a still rather brilliant eye upon Sir + Moses Monaldini, the great Israelite financier. All of these types passed + rapidly before his mental vision as he talked to the American Temple + Barholm. What could he want, by chance? He must want something, and it + would be discreet to find out what it chanced to be. + </p> + <p> + If it was social success, he would be better off in London, where in these + days you could get a good run for your money and could swing yourself up + from one rung of the ladder to another if you paid some one to show you + how. He himself could show him how. A youngster who had lived the beastly + hard life he had lived would be likely to find exhilaration in many things + not difficult to purchase. It was an odd thing, by the way, the fancy he + had taken to the little early-Victorian spinster. It was not quite + natural. It perhaps denoted tendencies—or lack of tendencies—it + would also be well to consider. Palliser was a sufficiently finished + product himself to be struck greatly by the artistic perfection of Miss + Alicia, and to wonder how much the new man understood it. + </p> + <p> + He did not talk to him about schemes. He talked to him of New York, which + he had never seen and hoped sometime shortly to visit. The information he + gained was not of the kind he most desired, but it edified him. Tembarom's + knowledge of high finance was a street lad's knowledge of it, and he + himself knew its limitations and probable unreliability. Such of his facts + as rested upon the foundation of experience did not include + multimillionaires and their resources. + </p> + <p> + Captain Palliser passed lightly to Temple Barholm and its neighborhood. He + knew places and names, and had been to Detchworth more than once. He had + never visited Temple Barholm, and his interest suggested that he would + like to walk through the gardens. Tembarom took him out, and they strolled + about for some time. Even an alert observer would not have suspected the + fact that as they strolled, Tembarom slouching a trifle and with his hands + in his pockets, Captain Palliser bearing himself with languid distinction, + each man was summing up the other and considering seriously how far and in + what manner he could be counted as an asset. + </p> + <p> + “You haven't been to Detchworth yet?” Palliser inquired. + </p> + <p> + “No, not yet,” answered Tembarom. The Granthams were of those who had not + yet called. + </p> + <p> + “It's an agreeable house. The Granthams are agreeable people.” + </p> + <p> + “Are there any young people in the family?” Tembarom asked. + </p> + <p> + “Young people? Male or female?” Palliser smilingly put it. Suddenly it + occurred to him that this might give him a sort of lead. + </p> + <p> + “Girls,” said Tembarom, crudely—“just plain girls.” + </p> + <p> + Palliser laughed. Here it was, perhaps. + </p> + <p> + “They are not exactly 'plain' girls, though they are not beauties. There + are four Misses Grantham. Lucy is the prettiest. Amabel is quite + tremendous at tennis.” + </p> + <p> + “Are they ladies?” inquired Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + Captain Palliser turned and involuntarily stared at him. What was the + fellow getting at? + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid I don't quite understand,” he said. + </p> + <p> + The new Temple Barholm looked quite serious. He did not, amazing to + relate, look like a fool even when he gave forth his extraordinary + question. It was his almost business-like seriousness which saved him. + </p> + <p> + “I mean, do you call them Lady Lucy and Lady Amabel?” he answered. + </p> + <p> + If he had been younger, less hardened, or less finished, Captain Palliser + would have laughed outright. But he answered without self-revelation. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I see. You were asking whether the family is a titled one. No; it is + a good old name, quite old, in fact, but no title goes with the estate.” + </p> + <p> + “Who are the titled people about here?” Tembarom asked, quite unabashed. + </p> + <p> + “The Earl of Pevensy at Pevensy Park, the Duke of Stone at Stone Hover, + Lord Hambrough at Doone. Doone is in the next county, just over the + border.” + </p> + <p> + “Have they all got daughters?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Palliser found it expedient to clear his throat before speaking. + </p> + <p> + “Lord Pevensy has daughters, so has the duke. Lord Hambrough has three + sons.” + </p> + <p> + “How many daughters are there—in a bunch?” Mr. Temple Barholm + suggested liberally. + </p> + <p> + There Captain Palliser felt it safe to allow himself to smile, as though + taking it with a sense of humor. + </p> + <p> + “'In a bunch' is an awfully good way of putting it,” he said. “It happens + to apply perhaps rather unfortunately well; both families are much poorer + than they should be, and daughters must be provided for. Each has four. + 'In a bunch' there are eight: Lady Alice, Lady Edith, Lady Ethel, and Lady + Celia at Stone Hover; Lady Beatrice, Lady Gwynedd, Lady Honora, and Lady + Gwendolen at Pevensy Park. And not a fortune among them, poor girls!” + </p> + <p> + “It's not the money that matters so much,” said the astounding foreigner, + “it's the titles.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Palliser stopped short in the garden path for a moment. He could + scarcely believe his ears. The crude grotesqueness of it so far got the + better of him that if he had not coughed he would have betrayed himself. + </p> + <p> + “I've had a confounded cold lately,” he said. “Excuse me; I must get it + over.” + </p> + <p> + He turned a little aside and coughed energetically. + </p> + <p> + After watching him a few seconds Tembarom slipped two fingers into his + waistcoat pocket and produced a small tube of tablets. + </p> + <p> + “Take two of these,” he said as soon as the cough stopped. “I always carry + it about with me. It's a New York thing called 'G. Destroyer.' G stands + for grippe.” + </p> + <p> + Palliser took it. + </p> + <p> + “Thanks. With water? No? Just dissolve in the mouth. Thanks awfully.” And + he took two, with tears still standing in his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Don't taste bad, do they?” Mr. Temple Barholm remarked encouragingly. + </p> + <p> + “Not at all. I think I shall be all right now. I just needed the relief. I + have been trying to restrain it.” + </p> + <p> + “That's a mistake,” said Tembarom. They strolled on a pace or so, and he + began again, as though he did not mean to let the subject drop. “It's the + titles,” he said, “and the kind. How many of them are good-lookers?” + </p> + <p> + Palliser reflected a moment, as though making mental choice. + </p> + <p> + “Lady Alice and Lady Celia are rather plain,” he said, “and both of them + are invalidish. Lady Ethel is tall and has handsome eyes, but Lady Edith + is really the beauty of the family. She rides and dances well and has a + charming color.” + </p> + <p> + “And the other ones,” Tembaron suggested as he paused—“Lady Beatrice + and Lady Gwynedd and Lady Honora and Lady Gwendolen.” + </p> + <p> + “You remember their names well,” Palliser remarked with a half-laugh. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I shall remember them all right,” Tembarom answered. “I earned + twenty-five per in New York by getting names down fine.” + </p> + <p> + “The Talchesters are really all rather taking. Talchester is Lord + Pevensy's family name,” Palliser explained. “They are girls who have + pretty little noses and bright complexions and eyes. Lady Gwynedd and Lady + Honora both have quite fascinating dimples.” + </p> + <p> + “Dimples!” exclaimed his companion. “Good business.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you like dimples particularly?” Palliser inquired with an impartial + air. + </p> + <p> + “I'd always make a bee-line for a dimple,” replied Mr. Temple Barholm. + “Clear the way when I start.” + </p> + <p> + This was New York phrasing, and was plainly humorous; but there was + something more than humor in his eye and smile—something hinting + distantly at recollection. + </p> + <p> + “You'll find them at Pevensy Park,” said Palliser. + </p> + <p> + “What about Lady Joan Fayre?” was the next inquiry. + </p> + <p> + Palliser's side glance at him was observant indeed. He asked himself how + much the man could know. Taking the past into consideration, Lady Joan + might turn out to be a subject requiring delicate handling. It was not the + easiest thing in the world to talk at all freely to a person with whom one + desired to keep on good terms, about a young woman supposed still to + cherish a tragic passion for the dead man who ought to stand at the + present moment in the person's, figuratively speaking, extremely + ill-fitting shoes. + </p> + <p> + “Lady Joan has been from her first season an undeniable beauty,” he + replied. + </p> + <p> + “She and the old lady are going to stay at a place called Asshawe Holt. I + think they're going next week,” Tembarom said. + </p> + <p> + “The old lady?” repeated Captain Palliser. + </p> + <p> + “I mean her mother. The one that's the Countess of Mallowe.” + </p> + <p> + “Have you met Lady Mallowe?” Palliser inquired with a not wholly repressed + smile. A vision of Lady Mallowe over-hearing their conversation arose + before him. + </p> + <p> + “No, I haven't. What's she like?” + </p> + <p> + “She is not the early-or mid-Victorian old lady,” was Palliser's reply. + “She wears Gainsborough hats, and looks a quite possible eight and thirty. + She is a handsome person herself.” + </p> + <p> + He was not aware that the term “old lady” was, among Americans of the + class of Mrs. Bowse's boarders, a sort of generic term signifying almost + anything maternal which had passed thirty. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom proceeded. + </p> + <p> + “After they get through at the Asshawe Holt place, I've asked them to come + here.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed,” said Palliser, with an inward start. The man evidently did not + know what other people did. After all, why should he? He had been selling + something or other in the streets of New York when the thing happened, and + he knew nothing of London. + </p> + <p> + “The countess called on Miss Alicia when we were in London,” he heard + next. “She said we were relations.” + </p> + <p> + “You are—as we are. The connection is rather distant, but it is near + enough to form a sort of link.” + </p> + <p> + “I've wanted to see Lady Joan,” explained Tembarom. “From what I've heard, + I should say she was one of the 'Lady's Pictorial' kind.” + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid—” Palliser's voice was slightly unsteady for the moment—“I + have not studied the type sufficiently to know. The 'Pictorial' is so + exclusively a women's periodical.” + </p> + <p> + His companion laughed. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I've only looked through it once myself just to find out. Some way + I always think of Lady Joan as if she was like one of those Beaut's from + Beautsville, with trains as long as parlor-cars and feathers in their + heads—dressed to go to see the queen. I guess she's been presented + at court,” he added. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, she has been presented.” + </p> + <p> + “Do they let 'em go more than once?” he asked with casual curiosity. + </p> + <p> + “Confound this cough!” exclaimed Captain Palliser, and he broke forth + again. + </p> + <p> + “Take another G,” said Tembarom, producing his tube. “Say, just take the + bottle and keep it in your pocket.” + </p> + <p> + When the brief paroxysm was over and they moved on again, Palliser was + looking an odd thing or so in the face. “I always think of Lady Joan” was + one of them. “Always” seemed to go rather far. How often and why had he + “always thought”? The fellow was incredible. Did his sharp, boyish face + and his slouch conceal a colossal, vulgar, young ambition? There was not + much concealment about it, Heaven knew. And as he so evidently was not + aware of the facts, how would they affect him when he discovered them? And + though Lady Mallowe was a woman not in the least distressed or hampered by + shades of delicacy and scruple, she surely was astute enough to realize + that even this bounder's dullness might be awakened to realize that there + was more than a touch of obvious indecency in bringing the girl to the + house of the man she had tragically loved, and manoeuvering to work her + into it as the wife of the man who, monstrously unfit as he was, had taken + his place. Captain Palliser knew well that the pressing of the + relationship had meant only one thing. And how, in the name of the Furies! + had she dragged Lady Joan into the scheme with her? + </p> + <p> + It was as unbelievable as was the new Temple Barholm himself. And how + unconcerned the fellow looked! Perhaps the man he had supplanted was no + more to him than a scarcely remembered name, if he was as much as that. + Then Tembarom, pacing slowly by his side, hands in pockets, eyes on the + walk, spoke: + </p> + <p> + “Did you ever see Jem Temple Barholm?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + It was like a thunderbolt. He said it as though he were merely carrying + his previous remarks on to their natural conclusion; but Palliser felt + himself so suddenly unadjusted, so to speak, that he palpably hesitated. + </p> + <p> + “Did you?” his companion repeated. + </p> + <p> + “I knew him well,” was the answer made as soon as readjustment was + possible. + </p> + <p> + “Remember just how he looked?” + </p> + <p> + “Perfectly. He was a striking fellow. Women always said he had fascinating + eyes.” + </p> + <p> + “Sort of slant downward on the outside corners—and black eyelashes + sorter sweeping together?” + </p> + <p> + Palliser turned with a movement of surprise. + </p> + <p> + “How did you know? It was just that odd sort of thing.” + </p> + <p> + “Miss Alicia told me. And there's a picture in the gallery that's like + him.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Palliser felt as embarrassed as Miss Alicia had felt, but it was + for a different reason. She had felt awkward because she had feared she + had touched on a delicate subject. Palliser was embarrassed because he was + entirely thrown out of all his calculations. He felt for the moment that + there was no calculating at all, no security in preparing paths. You never + know where they would lead. Here had he been actually alarmed in secret! + And the oaf stood before him undisturbedly opening up the subject himself. + </p> + <p> + “For a fellow like that to lose a girl as he lost Lady Joan was pretty + tough,” the oaf said. “By gee! it was tough!” + </p> + <p> + He knew it all—the whole thing, scandal, tragically broken marriage, + everything. And knowing it, he was laying his Yankee plans for getting the + girl to Temple Barholm to look her over. It was of a grossness one + sometimes heard of in men of his kind, and yet it seemed in its casualness + to out-leap any little scheme of the sort he had so far looked on at. + </p> + <p> + “Lady Joan felt it immensely,” he said. + </p> + <p> + A footman was to be seen moving toward them, evidently bearing a message. + Tea was served in the drawing-room, and he had come to announce the fact. + </p> + <p> + They went back to the house, and Miss Alicia filled cups for them and + presided over the splendid tray with a persuasive suggestion in the matter + of hot or cold things which made it easy to lead up to any subject. She + was the best of unobtrusive hostesses. + </p> + <p> + Palliser talked of his visit at Detchworth, which had been shortened + because he had gone to “fit in” and remain until a large but uncertain + party turned up. It had turned up earlier than had been anticipated, and + of course he could only delicately slip away. + </p> + <p> + “I am sorry it has happened, however,” he said, “not only because one does + not wish to leave Detchworth, but because I shall miss Lady Mallowe and + Lady Joan, who are to be at Asshawe Holt next week. I particularly wanted + to see them.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia glanced at Tembarom to see what he would do. He spoke before + he could catch her glance. + </p> + <p> + “Say,” he suggested, “why don't you bring your grip over here and stay? I + wish you would.” + </p> + <p> + “A grip means a Gladstone bag,” Miss Alicia murmured in a rapid undertone. + </p> + <p> + Palliser replied with appreciative courtesy. Things were going extremely + well. + </p> + <p> + “That's awfully kind of you,” he answered. “I should like it tremendously. + Nothing better. You are giving me a delightful opportunity. Thank you, + thank you. If I may turn up on Thursday I shall be delighted.” + </p> + <p> + There was satisfaction in this at least in the observant gray eye when he + went away. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XX + </h2> + <p> + Dinner at Detchworth Grange was most amusing that evening. One of the + chief reasons—in fact, it would not be too venturesome to say THE + chief reason—for Captain Palliser's frequent presence in very good + country houses was that he had a way of making things amusing. His + relation of anecdotes, of people and things, was distinguished by a manner + which subtly declined to range itself on the side of vulgar gossip. + Quietly and with a fine casualness he conveyed the whole picture of the + new order at Temple Barholm. He did it with wonderfully light touches, and + yet the whole thing was to be seen—the little old maid in her + exquisite clothes, her unmistakable stamp of timid good breeding, her + protecting adoration combined with bewilderment; the long, lean, not + altogether ill-looking New York bounder, with his slight slouch, his + dangerously unsophisticated-looking face, and his American jocularity of + slang phrase. + </p> + <p> + “He's of a class I know nothing about. I own he puzzled me a trifle at + first,” Palliser said with his cool smile. “I'm not sure that I've 'got on + to him' altogether yet. That's an expressive New York phrase of his own. + But when we were strolling about together, he made revelations apparently + without being in the least aware that they were revelations. He was + unbelievable. My fear was that he would not go on.” + </p> + <p> + “But he did go on?” asked Amabel. “One must hear something of the + revelations.” + </p> + <p> + Then was given in the best possible form the little drama of the talk in + the garden. No shade of Mr. Temple Barholm's characteristics was lost. + Palliser gave occasionally an English attempt at the reproduction of his + nasal twang, but it was only a touch and not sufficiently persisted in to + become undignified. + </p> + <p> + “I can't do it,” he said. “None of us can really do it. When English + actors try it on the stage, it is not in the least the real thing. They + only drawl through their noses, and it is more than that.” + </p> + <p> + The people of Detchworth Grange were not noisy people, but their laughter + was unrestrained before the recital was finished. Nobody had gone so far + as either to fear or to hope for anything as undiluted in its nature as + this was. + </p> + <p> + “Then he won't give us a chance, the least chance,” cried Lucy and Amabel + almost in unison. “We are out of the running.” + </p> + <p> + “You won't get even a look in—because you are not 'ladies,'” said + their brother. + </p> + <p> + “Poor Jem Temple Barholm! What a different thing it would have been if we + had had him for a neighbor!” Mr. Grantham fretted. + </p> + <p> + “We should have had Lady Joan Fayre as well,” said his wife. + </p> + <p> + “At least she's a gentlewoman as well as a 'lady,'” Mr. Grantham said. + “She would not have become so bitter if that hideous thing had not + occurred.” + </p> + <p> + They wondered if the new man knew anything about Jem. Palliser had not + reached that part of his revelation when the laughter had broken into it. + He told it forthwith, and the laughter was overcome by a sort of dismayed + disgust. This did not accord with the rumors of an almost “nice” good + nature. + </p> + <p> + “There's a vulgar horridness about it,” said Lucy. + </p> + <p> + “What price Lady Mallowe!” said the son. “I'll bet a sovereign she began + it.” + </p> + <p> + “She did,” remarked Palliser; “but I think one may leave Mr. Temple + Barholm safely to Lady Joan.” Mr. Grantham laughed as one who knew + something of Lady Joan. + </p> + <p> + “There's an Americanism which I didn't learn from him,” Palliser added, + “and I remembered it when he was talking her over. It's this: when you + dispose of a person finally and forever, you 'wipe up the earth with him.' + Lady Joan will 'wipe up the earth' with your new neighbor.” + </p> + <p> + There was a little shout of laughter. “Wipe up the earth” was entirely new + to everybody, though even the country in England was at this time by no + means wholly ignorant of American slang. + </p> + <p> + This led to so many other things both mirth-provoking and serious, even + sometimes very serious indeed, that the entire evening at Detchworth was + filled with talk of Temple Barholm. Very naturally the talk did not end by + confining itself to one household. In due time Captain Palliser's little + sketches were known in divers places, and it became a habit to discuss + what had happened, and what might possibly happen in the future. There + were those who went to the length of calling on the new man because they + wanted to see him face to face. People heard new things every few days, + but no one realized that it was vaguely through Palliser that there + developed a general idea that, crude and self-revealing as he was, there + lurked behind the outward candor of the intruder a hint of over-sharpness + of the American kind. There seemed no necessity for him to lay schemes + beyond those he had betrayed in his inquiries about “ladies,” but somehow + it became a fixed idea that he was capable of doing shady things if at any + time the temptation arose. That was really what his boyish casualness + meant. That in truth was Palliser's final secret conclusion. And he wanted + very much to find out why exactly little old Miss Temple Barholm had been + taken up. If the man wanted introductions, he could have contrived to pick + up a smart and enterprising unprofessional chaperon in London who would + have done for him what Miss Temple Barholm would never presume to attempt. + And yet he seemed to have chosen her deliberately. He had set her + literally at the head of his house. And Palliser, having heard a vague + rumor that he had actually settled a decent income upon her, had made + adroit inquiries and found it was true. + </p> + <p> + It was. To arrange the matter had been one of his reasons for going to see + Mr. Palford during their stay in London. + </p> + <p> + “I wanted to fix you—fix you safe,” he said when he told Miss Alicia + about it. “I guess no one can take it away from you, whatever old thing + happens.” + </p> + <p> + “What could happen, dear Mr. Temple Barholm?” said Miss Alicia in the + midst of tears of gratitude and tremulous joy. “You are so young and + strong and—everything! Don't even speak of such a thing in jest. + What could happen?” + </p> + <p> + “Anything can happen,” he answered, “just anything. Happening's the one + thing you can't bet on. If I was betting, I'd put my money on the thing I + was sure couldn't happen. Look at this Temple Barholm song and dance! Look + at T. T. as he was half strangling in the blizzard up at Harlem and + thanking his stars little Munsberg didn't kick him out of his + confectionery store less than a year ago! So long as I'm all right, you're + all right. But I wanted you fixed, anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + He paused and looked at her questioningly for a moment. He wanted to say + something and he was not sure he ought. His reverence for her little + finenesses and reserves increased instead of wearing away. He was always + finding out new things about her. + </p> + <p> + “Say,” he broke forth almost impetuously after his hesitation, “I wish you + wouldn't call me Mr. Temple Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + “D-do you?” she fluttered. “But what could I call you?” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” he answered, reddening a shade or so, “I'd give a house and lot if + you could just call me Tem.” + </p> + <p> + “But it would sound so unbecoming, so familiar,” she protested. + </p> + <p> + “That's just what I'm asking for,” he said—“some one to be familiar + with. I'm the familiar kind. That's what's the matter with me. I'd be + familiar with Pearson, but he wouldn't let me. I'd frighten him half to + death. He'd think that he wasn't doing his duty and earning his wages, and + that somehow he'd get fired some day without a character.” + </p> + <p> + He drew nearer to her and coaxed. + </p> + <p> + “Couldn't you do it?” he asked almost as though he were asking a favor of + a girl. “Just Tem? I believe that would come easier to you than T. T. I + get fonder and fonder of you every day, Miss Alicia, honest Injun. And I'd + be so grateful to you if you'd just be that unbecomingly familiar.” + </p> + <p> + He looked honestly in earnest; and if he grew fonder and fonder of her, + she without doubt had, in the face of everything, given her whole heart to + him. + </p> + <p> + “Might I call you Temple—to begin with?” she asked. “It touches me + so to think of your asking me. I will begin at once. Thank you—Temple,” + with a faint gasp. “I might try the other a little later.” + </p> + <p> + It was only a few evenings later that he told her about the flats in + Harlem. He had sent to New York for a large bundle of newspapers, and when + he opened them he read aloud an advertisement, and showed her a picture of + a large building given up entirely to “flats.” + </p> + <p> + He had realized from the first that New York life had a singular + attraction for her. The unrelieved dullness of her life—those few + years of youth in which she had stifled vague longings for the joys + experienced by other girls; the years of middle age spent in the dreary + effort to be “submissive to the will of God,” which, honestly translated, + signified submission to the exactions and domestic tyrannies of “dear + papa” and others like him—had left her with her capacities for + pleasure as freshly sensitive as a child's. The smallest change in the + routine of existence thrilled her with excitement. Tembarom's casual + references to his strenuous boyhood caused her eyes to widen with + eagerness to hear more. Having seen this, he found keen delight in telling + her stories of New York life—stories of himself or of other lads who + had been his companions. She would drop her work and gaze at him almost + with bated breath. He was an excellent raconteur when he talked of the + things he knew well. He had an unconscious habit of springing from his + seat and acting his scenes as he depicted them, laughing and using + street-boy phrasing: + </p> + <p> + “It's just like a tale,” Miss Alicia would breathe, enraptured as he + jumped from one story to another. “It's exactly like a wonderful tale.” + </p> + <p> + She learned to know the New York streets when they blazed with heat, when + they were hard with frozen snow, when they were sloppy with melting slush + or bright with springtime sunshine and spring winds blowing, with pretty + women hurrying about in beflowered spring hats and dresses and the + exhilaration of the world-old springtime joy. She found herself hurrying + with them. She sometimes hung with him and his companions on the railing + outside dazzling restaurants where scores of gay people ate rich food in + the sight of their boyish ravenousness. She darted in and out among horses + and vehicles to find carriages after the theater or opera, where everybody + was dressed dazzlingly and diamonds glittered. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, how rich everybody must have seemed to you—how cruelly rich, + poor little boy!” + </p> + <p> + “They looked rich, right enough,” he answered when she said it. “And there + seemed a lot of good things to eat all corralled in a few places. And you + wished you could be let loose inside. But I don't know as it seemed cruel. + That was the way it was, you know, and you couldn't help it. And there + were places where they'd give away some of what was left. I tell you, we + were in luck then.” + </p> + <p> + There was some spirit in his telling it all—a spirit which had + surely been with him through his hardest days, a spirit of young mirth in + rags—which made her feel subconsciously that the whole experience + had, after all, been somehow of the nature of life's high adventure. He + had never been ill or heart-sick, and he laughed when he talked of it, as + though the remembrance was not a recalling of disaster. + </p> + <p> + “Clemmin' or no clemmin'. I wish I'd lived the loife tha's lived,” Tummas + Hibblethwaite had said. + </p> + <p> + Her amazement would indeed have been great if she had been told that she + secretly shared his feeling. + </p> + <p> + “It seems as if somehow you had never been dull,” was her method of + expressing it. + </p> + <p> + “Dull! Holy cats! no,” he grinned. “There wasn't any time for being + anything. You just had to keep going.” + </p> + <p> + She became in time familiar with Mrs. Bowse's boarding-house and boarders. + She knew Mrs. Peck and Mr. Jakes and the young lady from the notion + counter (those wonderful shops!). Julius and Jem and the hall bedroom and + the tilted chairs and cloud of smoke she saw so often that she felt at + home with them. + </p> + <p> + “Poor Mrs. Bowse,” she said, “must have been a most respectable, motherly, + hard-working creature. Really a nice person of her class.” She could not + quite visualize the “parlor,” but it must have been warm and comfortable. + And the pianola—a piano which you could play without even knowing + your notes—What a clever invention! America seemed full of the most + wonderfully clever things. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom was actually uplifted in soul when he discovered that she laid + transparent little plans for leading him into talk about New York. She + wanted him to talk about it, and the Lord knows he wanted to talk about + himself. He had been afraid at first. She might have hated it, as Palford + did, and it would have hurt him somehow if she hadn't understood. But she + did. Without quite realizing the fact, she was beginning to love it, to + wish she had seen it. Her Somerset vicarage imagination did not allow of + such leaps as would be implied by the daring wish that sometime she might + see it. + </p> + <p> + But Tembarom's imagination was more athletic. + </p> + <p> + “Jinks! wouldn't it be fine to take her there! The lark in London wouldn't + be ace high to it.” + </p> + <p> + The Hutchinsons were not New Yorkers, but they had been part of the + atmosphere of Mrs. Bowse's. Mr. Hutchinson would of course be rather a + forward and pushing man to be obliged to meet, but Little Ann! She did so + like Little Ann! And the dear boy did so want, in his heart of hearts, to + talk about her at times. She did not know whether, in the circumstances, + she ought to encourage him; but he was so dear, and looked so much dearer + when he even said “Little Ann,” that she could not help occasionally + leading him gently toward the subject. + </p> + <p> + When he opened the newspapers and found the advertisements of the flats, + she saw the engaging, half-awkward humorousness come into his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Here's one that would do all right,” he said—“four rooms and a + bath, eleventh floor, thirty-five dollars a month.” + </p> + <p> + He spread the newspaper on the table and rested on his elbow, gazing at it + for a few minutes wholly absorbed. Then he looked up at her and smiled. + </p> + <p> + “There's a plan of the rooms,” he said. “Would you like to look at it? + Shall I bring your chair up to the table while we go over it together?” + </p> + <p> + He brought the chair, and side by side they went over it thoroughly. To + Miss Alicia it had all the interest of a new kind of puzzle. He explained + it in every detail. One of his secrets had been that on several days when + Galton's manner had made him hopeful he had visited certain flat buildings + and gone into their intricacies. He could therefore describe with color + their resources—the janitor; the elevator; the dumb-waiters to carry + up domestic supplies and carry down ashes and refuse; the refrigerator; + the unlimited supply of hot and cold water, the heating plan; the + astonishing little kitchen, with stationary wash-tubs; the telephone, if + you could afford it,—all the conveniences which to Miss Alicia, + accustomed to the habits of Rowcroft Vicarage, where you lugged cans of + water up-stairs and down if you took a bath or even washed your face; + seemed luxuries appertaining only to the rich and great. + </p> + <p> + “How convenient! How wonderful! Dear me! Dear me!” she said again and + again, quite flushed with excitement. “It is like a fairy-story. And it's + not big at all, is it?” + </p> + <p> + “You could get most of it into this,” he answered, exulting. “You could + get all of it into that big white-and gold parlor.” + </p> + <p> + “The white saloon?” + </p> + <p> + He showed his teeth. + </p> + <p> + “I guess I ought to remember to call it that,” he said, “but it always + makes me think of Kid MacMurphy's on Fourth Avenue. He kept what was + called a saloon, and he'd had it painted white.” + </p> + <p> + “Did you know him?” Miss Alicia asked. + </p> + <p> + “Know him! Gee! no! I didn't fly as high as that. He'd have thought me + pretty fresh if I'd acted like I knew him. He thought he was one of the + Four Hundred. He'd been a prize-fighter. He was the fellow that knocked + out Kid Wilkens in four rounds.” He broke off and laughed at himself. + “Hear me talk to you about a tough like that!” he ended, and he gave her + hand the little apologetic, protective pat which always made her heart + beat because it was so “nice.” + </p> + <p> + He drew her back to the advertisements, and drew such interesting pictures + of what the lives of two people—mother and son or father and + daughter or a young married couple who didn't want to put on style—might + be in the tiny compartments, that their excitement mounted again. + </p> + <p> + This could be a bedroom, that could be a bedroom, that could be the + living-room, and if you put a bit of bright carpet on the hallway and hung + up a picture or so, it would look first-rate. He even went into the matter + of measurements, which made it more like putting a puzzle together than + ever, and their relief when they found they could fit a piece of furniture + he called “a lounge” into a certain corner was a thing of flushing + delight. The “lounge,” she found, was a sort of cot with springs. You + could buy them for three dollars, and when you put on a mattress and + covered it with a “spread,” you could sit on it in the daytime and sleep + on it at night, if you had to. + </p> + <p> + From measurements he went into calculations about the cost of things. He + had seen unpainted wooden tables you could put mahogany stain on, and + they'd look all you'd want. He'd seen a splendid little rocking-chair in + Second Avenue for five dollars, one of the padded kind that ladies like. + He had seen an arm-chair for a man that was only seven; but there mightn't + be room for both, and you'd have to have the rocking-chair. He had once + asked the price of a lot of plates and cups and saucers with roses on + them, and you could get them for six; and you didn't need a stove because + there was the range. + </p> + <p> + He had once heard Little Ann talking to Mrs. Bowse about the price of + frying-pans and kettles, and they seemed to cost next to nothing. He'd + looked into store windows and noticed the prices of groceries and + vegetables and things like that—sugar, for instance; two people + wouldn't use much sugar in a week—and they wouldn't need a ton of + tea or flour or coffee. If a fellow had a mother or sister or wife who had + a head and knew about things, you could “put it over” on mighty little, + and have a splendid time together, too. You'd even be able to work in a + cheap seat in a theater every now and then. He laughed and flushed as he + thought of it. + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia had never had a doll's house. Rowcroft Vicarage did not run to + dolls and their belongings. Her thwarted longing for a doll's house had a + sort of parallel in her similarly thwarted longing for “a little boy.” + </p> + <p> + And here was her doll's house so long, so long unpossessed! It was like + that, this absorbed contriving and fitting of furniture into corners. She + also flushed and laughed. Her eyes were so brightly eager and her cheeks + so pink that she looked quite girlish under her lace cap. + </p> + <p> + “How pretty and cozy it might be made, how dear!” she exclaimed. “And one + would be so high up on the eleventh floor, that one would feel like a bird + in a nest.” + </p> + <p> + His face lighted. He seemed to like the idea tremendously. + </p> + <p> + “Why, that's so,” he laughed. “That idea suits me down to the ground. A + bird in a nest. But there'd have to be two. One would be lonely. Say, Miss + Alicia, how would you like to live in a place like that?” + </p> + <p> + “I am sure any one would like it—if they had some dear relative with + them.” + </p> + <p> + He loved her “dear relative,” loved it. He knew how much it meant of what + had lain hidden unacknowledged, even unknown to her, through a lifetime in + her early-Victorian spinster breast. + </p> + <p> + “Let's go to New York and rent one and live in it together. Would you + come?” he said, and though he laughed, he was not jocular in the usual + way. “Would you, if we waked up and found this Temple Barholm thing was a + dream?” + </p> + <p> + Something in his manner, she did not know what, puzzled her a little. + </p> + <p> + “But if it were a dream, you would be quite poor again,” she said, + smiling. + </p> + <p> + “No, I wouldn't. I'd get Galton to give me back the page. He'd do it quick—quick,” + he said, still with a laugh. “Being poor's nothing, anyhow. We'd have the + time of our lives. We'd be two birds in a nest. You can look out those + eleventh-story windows 'way over to the Bronx, and get bits of the river. + And perhaps after a while Ann would do like she said, and we'd be three + birds.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” she sighed ecstatically. “How beautiful it would be! We should be a + little family!” + </p> + <p> + “So we should,” he exulted. “Think of T. T. with a family!” He drew his + paper of calculations toward him again. “Let's make believe we're going to + do it, and work out what it would cost—for three. You know about + housekeeping, don't you? Let's write down a list.” + </p> + <p> + If he had warmed to his work before, he warmed still more after this. Miss + Alicia was drawn into it again, and followed his fanciful plans with a new + fervor. They were like two children who had played at make-believe until + they had lost sight of commonplace realities. + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia had lived among small economies and could be of great + assistance to him. They made lists and added up lines of figures until the + fine, huge room and its thousands of volumes melted away. In the great + hall, guarded by warriors in armor, the powdered heads of the waiting + footmen drooped and nodded while the prices of pounds of butter and sugar + and the value of potatoes and flour and nutmegs were balanced with a + hectic joy, and the relative significance of dollars and cents and + shillings and half-crowns and five-cent pieces caused Miss Alicia a mild + delirium. + </p> + <p> + By the time that she had established the facts that a shilling was + something like twenty-five cents, a dollar was four and twopence, and + twenty-five dollars was something over five pounds, it was past midnight. + </p> + <p> + They heard the clock strike the half-hour, and stopped to stare at each + other. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom got up with yet another laugh. + </p> + <p> + “Say, I mustn't keep you up all night,” he said. “But haven't we had a + fine time—haven't we? I feel as if I'd been there.” + </p> + <p> + They had been there so entirely that Miss Alicia brought herself back with + difficulty. + </p> + <p> + “I can scarcely believe that we have not,” she said. “I feel as if I + didn't like to leave it. It was so delightful.” She glanced about her. + “The room looks huge,” she said—“almost too huge to live in.” + </p> + <p> + “Doesn't it?” he answered. “Now you know how I feel.” He gathered his + scraps of paper together with a feeling touch. “I didn't want to come back + myself. When I get a bit of a grouch I shall jerk these out and go back + there again.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, do let me go with you!” she said. “I have so enjoyed it.” + </p> + <p> + “You shall go whenever you like,” he said. “We'll keep it up for a sort of + game on rainy days. How much is a dollar, Miss Alicia?” + </p> + <p> + “Four and twopence. And sugar is six cents a pound.” + </p> + <p> + “Go to the head,” he answered. “Right again.” + </p> + <p> + The opened roll of newspapers was lying on the table near her. They were + copies of The Earth, and the date of one of them by merest chance caught + her eye. + </p> + <p> + “How odd!” she said. “Those are old papers. Did you notice? Is it a + mistake? This one is dated” She leaned forward, and her eye caught a word + in a head-line. + </p> + <p> + “The Klondike,” she read. “There's something in it about the Klondike.” He + put his hand out and drew the papers away. + </p> + <p> + “Don't you read that,” he said. “I don't want you to go to bed and dream + about the Klondike. You've got to dream about the flat in Harlem.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she answered. “I mustn't think about sad things. The flat in Harlem + is quite happy. But it startled me to see that word.” + </p> + <p> + “I only sent for them—because I happened to want to look something + up,” he explained. “How much is a pound, Miss Alicia?” + </p> + <p> + “Four dollars and eighty-six cents,” she replied, recovering herself. + </p> + <p> + “Go up head again. You're going to stay there.” + </p> + <p> + When she gave him her hand on their parting for the night he held it a + moment. A subtle combination of things made him do it. The calculations, + the measurements, the nest from which one could look out over the Bronx, + were prevailing elements in its make-up. Ann had been in each room of the + Harlem flat, and she always vaguely reminded him of Ann. + </p> + <p> + “We are relations, ain't we?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “I am sure we often seem quite near relations—Temple.” She added the + name with very pretty kindness. + </p> + <p> + “We're not distant ones any more, anyhow,” he said. “Are we near enough—would + you let me kiss you good night, Miss Alicia?” + </p> + <p> + An emotional flush ran up to her cap ribbons. + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, my dear boy—indeed, yes.” + </p> + <p> + Holding her hand with a chivalric, if slightly awkward, courtesy, he bent, + and kissed her cheek. It was a hearty, affectionately grateful young kiss, + which, while it was for herself, remotely included Ann. + </p> + <p> + “It's the first time I've ever said good night to any one like that,” he + said. “Thank you for letting me.” + </p> + <p> + He patted her hand again before releasing it. She went up-stairs blushing + and feeling rather as though she had been proposed to, and yet, spinster + though she was, somehow quite understanding about the nest and Ann. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXI + </h2> + <p> + Lady Mallowe and her daughter did not pay their visit to Asshawe Holt, the + absolute, though not openly referred to, fact being that they had not been + invited. The visit in question had merely floated in the air as a delicate + suggestion made by her ladyship in her letter to Mrs. Asshe Shaw, to the + effect that she and Joan were going to stay at Temple Barholm, the visit + to Asshawe they had partly arranged some time ago might now be fitted in. + </p> + <p> + The partial arrangement itself, Mrs. Asshe Shaw remarked to her eldest + daughter when she received the suggesting note, was so partial as to + require slight consideration, since it had been made “by the woman + herself, who would push herself and her daughter into any house in England + if a back door were left open.” In the civilly phrased letter she received + in answer to her own, Lady Mallowe read between the lines the point of + view taken, and writhed secretly, as she had been made to writhe scores of + times in the course of her career. It had happened so often, indeed, that + it might have been imagined that she had become used to it; but the woman + who acted as maid to herself and Joan always knew when “she had tried to + get in somewhere” and failed. + </p> + <p> + The note of explanation sent immediately to Miss Alicia was at once adroit + and amiable. They had unfortunately been detained in London a day or two + past the date fixed for their visit to Asshawe, and Lady Mallowe would not + allow Mrs. Asshe Shawe, who had so many guests, to be inconvenienced by + their arriving late and perhaps disarranging her plans. So if it was quite + convenient, they would come to Temple Barholm a week earlier; but not, of + course, if that would be the least upsetting. + </p> + <p> + When they arrived, Tembarom himself was in London. He had suddenly found + he was obliged to go. The business which called him was something which + could not be put off. He expected to return at once. It was made very easy + for him when he made his excuses to Palliser, who suggested that he might + even find himself returning by the same train with his guests, which would + give him opportunities. If he was detained, Miss Alicia could take charge + of the situation. They would quite understand when she explained. Captain + Palliser foresaw for himself some quiet entertainment in his own meeting + with the visitors. Lady Mallowe always provided a certain order of + amusement for him, and no man alive objected to finding interest and even + a certain excitement in the society of Lady Joan. It was her chief + characteristic that she inspired in a man a vague, even if slightly + irritated, desire to please her in some degree. To lead her on to talk in + her sometimes brilliant, always heartlessly unsparing, fashion, perhaps to + smile her shade of a bitter smile, gave a man something to do, especially + if he was bored. Palliser anticipated a possible chance of repeating the + dialogue of “the ladies,” not, however, going into the Jem Temple Barholm + part of it. When one finds a man whose idle life has generated in him the + curiosity which is usually called feminine, it frequently occupies him + more actively than he is aware or will admit. + </p> + <p> + A fashionable male gossip is a curious development. Palliser was, upon the + whole, not aware that he had an intense interest in finding out the exact + reason why Lady Mallowe had not failed utterly in any attempt to drag her + daughter to this particular place, to be flung headlong, so to speak, at + this special man. Lady Mallowe one could run and read, but Lady Joan was + in this instance unexplainable. And as she never deigned the slightest + concealment, the story of the dialogue would no doubt cause her to show + her hand. She must have a hand, and it must be one worth seeing. + </p> + <p> + It was not he, however, who could either guess or understand. The + following would have been his summing up of her: “Flaringly handsome girl, + brought up by her mother to one end. Bad temper to begin with. Girl who + might, if she lost her head, get into some frightful mess. Meets a + fascinating devil in the first season. A regular Romeo and Juliet passion + blazes up—all for love and the world well lost. All London looking + on. Lady Mallowe frantic and furious. Suddenly the fascinating devil + ruined for life, done for. Bolts, gets killed. Lady Mallowe triumphant. + Girl dragged about afterward like a beautiful young demon in chains. + Refuses all sorts of things. Behaves infernally. Nobody knows anything + else.” + </p> + <p> + Nobody did know; Lady Mallowe herself did not. From the first year in + which Joan had looked at her with child consciousness she had felt that + there was antagonism in the deeps of her eyes. No mother likes to + recognize such a thing, and Lady Mallowe was a particularly vain woman. + The child was going to be an undeniable beauty, and she ought to adore the + mother who was to arrange her future. Instead of which, she plainly + disliked her. By the time she was three years old, the antagonism had + become defiance and rebellion. Lady Mallowe could not even indulge herself + in the satisfaction of showing her embryo beauty off, and thus preparing a + reputation for her. She was not cross or tearful, but she had the temper + of a little devil. She would not be shown off. She hated it, and her + bearing dangerously suggested that she hated her handsome young mother. No + effects could be produced with her. + </p> + <p> + Before she was four the antagonism was mutual, and it increased with + years. The child was of a passionate nature, and had been born intensely + all her mother was not, and intensely not all her mother was. A throw-back + to some high-spirited and fiercely honest ancestor created in her a fury + at the sight of mean falsities and dishonors. Before she was old enough to + know the exact cause of her rage she was shaken by it. She thought she had + a bad temper, and was bad enough to hate her own mother without being able + to help it. As she grew older she found out that she was not really so bad + as she had thought, though she was obliged to concede that nothing + palliative could be said about the temper. It had been violent from the + first, and she had lived in an atmosphere which infuriated it. She did not + suppose such a thing could be controlled. It sometimes frightened her. Had + not the old Marquis of Norborough been celebrated through his entire life + for his furies? Was there not a hushed-up rumor that he had once thrown a + decanter at his wife, and so nearly killed her that people had been asking + one another in whispers if a peer of the realm could be hanged. He had + been born that way, so had she. Her school-room days had been a horror to + her, and also a terror, because she had often almost flung ink-bottles and + heavy rulers at her silly, lying governesses, and once had dug a pair of + scissors into one sneaking old maid fool's arm when she had made her “see + red” by her ignoble trickeries. Perhaps she would be hanged some day + herself. She once prayed for a week that she might be made better + tempered,—not that she believed in prayer,—and of course + nothing came of it. + </p> + <p> + Every year she lived she raged more furiously at the tricks she saw played + by her mother and every one who surrounded her; the very servants were + greater liars and pilferers than any other servants. Her mother was always + trying to get things from people which they did not want to give her. She + would carry off slights and snubs as though they were actual tributes, if + she could gain her end. The girl knew what the meaning of her own future + would be. Since she definitely disliked her daughter, Lady Mallowe did not + mince matters when they were alone. She had no money, she was extremely + good looking, she had a certain number of years in which to fight for her + own hand among the new debutantes who were presented every season. Her + first season over, the next season other girls would be fresher than she + was, and newer to the men who were worth marrying. Men like novelty. After + her second season the debutantes would seem fresher still by contrast. + Then people would begin to say, “She was presented four or five years + ago.” After that it would be all struggle,—every season it would be + worse. It would become awful. Unmarried women over thirty-five would speak + of her as though they had been in the nursery together. Married girls with + a child or so would treat her as though she were a maiden aunt. She knew + what was before her. Beggary stared them both in the face if she did not + make the most of her looks and waste no time. And Joan knew it was all + true, and that worse, far worse things were true also. She would be + obliged to spend a long life with her mother in cheap lodgings, a faded, + penniless, unmarried woman, railed at, taunted, sneered at, forced to be + part of humiliating tricks played to enable them to get into debt and then + to avoid paying what they owed. Had she not seen one horrible old woman of + their own rank who was an example of what poverty might bring one to, an + old harpy who tried to queen it over her landlady in an actual back + street, and was by turns fawned upon and disgustingly “your ladyshiped” or + outrageously insulted by her landlady? + </p> + <p> + Then that first season! Dear, dear God! that first season when she met + Jem! She was not nineteen, and the facile world pretended to be at her + feet, and the sun shone as though London were in Italy, and the park was + marvelous with flowers, and there were such dances and such laughter! + </p> + <p> + And it was all so young—and she met Jem! It was at a garden-party at + a lovely old house on the river, a place with celebrated gardens which + would always come back to her memory as a riot of roses. The frocks of the + people on the lawn looked as though they were made of the petals of + flowers, and a mad little haunting waltz was being played by the band, and + there under a great copper birch on the green velvet turf near her stood + Jem, looking at her with dark, liquid, slanting eyes! They were only a few + feet from each other,—and he looked, and she looked, and the + haunting, mad little waltz played on, and it was as though they had been + standing there since the world began, and nothing else was true. + </p> + <p> + Afterward nothing mattered to either of them. Lady Mallowe herself ceased + to count. Now and then the world stops for two people in this unearthly + fashion. At such times, as far as such a pair are concerned, causes and + effects cease. Her bad temper fled, and she knew she would never feel its + furious lash again. + </p> + <p> + With Jem looking at her with his glowing, drooping eyes, there would be no + reason for rage and shame. She confessed the temper to him and told of her + terror of it; he confessed to her his fondness for high play, and they + held each other's hands, not with sentimental youthful lightness, but with + the strong clasp of sworn comrades, and promised on honor that they would + stand by each other every hour of their lives against their worst selves. + </p> + <p> + They would have kept the pact. Neither was a slight or dishonest creature. + The phase of life through which they passed is not a new one, but it is + not often so nearly an omnipotent power as was their three-months' dream. + </p> + <p> + It lasted only that length of time. Then came the end of the world. Joan + did not look fresh in her second season, and before it was over men were + rather afraid of her. Because she was so young the freshness returned to + her cheek, but it never came back to her eyes. + </p> + <p> + What exactly had happened, or what she thought, it was impossible to know. + She had delicate, black brows, and between them appeared two delicate, + fierce lines. Her eyes were of a purplish-gray, “the color of thunder,” a + snubbed admirer had once said. Between their black lashes they were more + deeply thunder-colored. Her life with her mother was a thing not to be + spoken of. To the desperate girl's agony of rebellion against the horror + of fate Lady Mallowe's taunts and beratings were devilish. There was a + certain boudoir in the house in Hill Street which was to Joan like the + question chamber of the Inquisition. Shut up in it together, the two went + through scenes which in their cruelty would have done credit to the Middle + Ages. Lady Mallowe always locked the door to prevent the unexpected + entrance of a servant, but servants managed to hover about it, because her + ladyship frequently forgot caution so far as to raise her voice at times, + as ladies are not supposed to do. + </p> + <p> + “We fight,” Joan said with a short, horrible laugh one morning—“we + fight like cats and dogs. No, like two cats. A cat-and-dog fight is more + quickly over. Some day we shall scratch each other's eyes out.” + </p> + <p> + “Have you no shame?” her mother cried. + </p> + <p> + “I am burning with it. I am like St. Lawrence on his gridiron. 'Turn me + over on the other side,'” she quoted. + </p> + <p> + This was when she had behaved so abominably to the Duke of Merthshire that + he had actually withdrawn his more than half-finished proposal. That which + she hated more than all else was the God she had prayed to when she asked + she might be helped to control her temper. + </p> + <p> + She had not believed in Him at the time, but because she was frightened + after she had stuck the scissors into Fraulein she had tried the appeal as + an experiment. The night after she met Jem, when she went to her room in + Hill Street for the night, she knelt down and prayed because she suddenly + did believe. Since there was Jem in the world, there must be the other + somewhere. + </p> + <p> + As day followed day, her faith grew with her love. She told Jem about it, + and they agreed to say a prayer together at the same hour every night. The + big young man thought her piety beautiful, and, his voice was unsteady as + they talked. But she told him that she was not pious, but impious. + </p> + <p> + “I want to be made good,” she said. “I have been bad all my life. I was a + bad child, I have been a bad girl; but now I must be good.” + </p> + <p> + On the night after the tragic card-party she went to her room and kneeled + down in a new spirit. She knelt, but not to cover her face, she knelt with + throat strained and her fierce young face thrown back and upward. + </p> + <p> + Her hands were clenched to fists and flung out and shaken at the ceiling. + She said things so awful that her own blood shuddered as she uttered them. + But she could not—in her mad helplessness—make them awful + enough. She flung herself on the carpet at last, her arms outstretched + like a creature crucified face downward on the cross. + </p> + <p> + “I believed in You!” she gasped. “The first moment you gave me a reason I + believed. I did! I did! We both said our prayer to You every night, like + children. And you've done this—this—this!” And she beat with + her fists upon the floor. + </p> + <p> + Several years had passed since that night, and no living being knew what + she carried in her soul. If she had a soul, she said to herself, it was + black—black. But she had none. Neither had Jem had one; when the + earth and stones had fallen upon him it had been the end, as it would have + been if he had been a beetle. + </p> + <p> + This was the guest who was coming to the house where Miles Hugo smiled + from his frame in the picture-gallery—the house which would to-day + have been Jem's if T. Tembarom had not inherited it. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom returned some twenty-four hours after Miss Alicia had received + his visitors for him. He had been “going into” absorbing things in London. + His thoughts during his northward journey were puzzled and discouraged + ones. He sat in the corner of the railway carriage and stared out of the + window without seeing the springtime changes in the flying landscape. + </p> + <p> + The price he would have given for a talk with Ann would not have been easy + to compute. Her head, her level little head, and her way of seeing into + things and picking out facts without being rattled by what didn't really + count, would have been worth anything. The day itself was a discouraging + one, with heavy threatenings of rain which did not fall. + </p> + <p> + The low clouds were piles of dark-purple gray, and when the sun tried to + send lances of ominous yellow light through them, strange and lurid + effects were produced, and the heavy purple-gray masses rolled together + again. He wondered why he did not hear low rumblings of thunder. + </p> + <p> + He went to his room at once when he reached home. He was late, and Pearson + told him that the ladies were dressing for dinner. Pearson was in waiting + with everything in readiness for the rapid performance of his duties. + Tembarom had learned to allow himself to be waited upon. He had, in fact, + done this for the satisfying of Pearson, whose respectful unhappiness + would otherwise have been manifest despite his efforts to conceal it. He + dressed quickly and asked some questions about Strangeways. Otherwise + Pearson thought he seemed preoccupied. He only made one slight joke. + </p> + <p> + “You'd be a first-rate dresser for a quick-change artist, Pearson,” he + remarked. + </p> + <p> + On his way to the drawing-room he deflected from the direct path, turning + aside for a moment to the picture-gallery because for a reason of his own + he wanted to take a look at Miles Hugo. He took a look at Miles Hugo + oftener than Miss Alicia knew. + </p> + <p> + The gallery was dim and gloomy enough, now closing in in the purple-gray + twilight. He walked through it without glancing at the pictures until he + came to the tall boy in the satin and lace of Charles II period. He paused + there only for a short time, but he stood quite near the portrait, and + looked hard at the handsome face. + </p> + <p> + “Gee!” he exclaimed under his breath, “it's queer, gee!” + </p> + <p> + Then he turned suddenly round toward one of the big windows. He turned + because he had been startled by a sound, a movement. Some one was standing + before the window. For a second's space the figure seemed as though it was + almost one with the purple-gray clouds that were its background. It was a + tall young woman, and her dress was of a thin material of exactly their + color—dark-gray and purple at once. The wearer held her head high + and haughtily. She had a beautiful, stormy face, and the slender, black + brows were drawn together by a frown. Tembarom had never seen a girl as + handsome and disdainful. He had, indeed, never been looked at as she + looked at him when she moved slightly forward. + </p> + <p> + He knew who it was. It was the Lady Joan girl, and the sudden sight of her + momentarily “rattled” him. + </p> + <p> + “You quite gave me a jolt,” he said awkwardly, and knowing that he said it + like a “mutt.” “I didn't know any one was in the gallery.” + </p> + <p> + “What are you doing here?” she asked. She spoke to him as though she were + addressing an intruding servant. There was emphasis on the word “you.” + </p> + <p> + Her intention was so evident that it increased his feeling of being + “rattled.” To find himself confronting deliberate ill nature of a superior + and finished kind was like being spoken to in a foreign language. + </p> + <p> + “I—I'm T. Tembarom.” he answered, not able to keep himself from + staring because she was such a “winner” as to looks. + </p> + <p> + “T. Tembarom?” she repeated slowly, and her tone made him at once see what + a fool he had been to say it. + </p> + <p> + “I forgot,” he half laughed. “I ought to have said I'm Temple Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” was her sole comment. She actually stood still and looked him up and + down. + </p> + <p> + She knew perfectly well who he was, and she knew perfectly well that no + palliative view could possibly be taken by any well-bred person of her + bearing toward him. He was her host. She had come, a guest, to his house + to eat his bread and salt, and the commonest decency demanded that she + should conduct herself with civility. But she cared nothing for the + commonest, or the most uncommon, decency. She was thinking of other + things. As she had stood before the window she had felt that her soul had + never been so black as it was when she turned away from Miles Hugo's + portrait—never, never. She wanted to hurt people. Perhaps Nero had + felt as she did and was not so hideous as he seemed. + </p> + <p> + The man's tailor had put him into proper clothes, and his features were + respectable enough, but nothing on earth could make him anything but what + he so palpably was. She had seen that much across the gallery as she had + watched him staring at Miles Hugo. + </p> + <p> + “I should think,” she said, dropping the words slowly again, “that you + would often forget that you are Temple Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + “You're right there,” he answered. “I can't nail myself down to it. It + seems like a sort of joke.” + </p> + <p> + She looked him over again. + </p> + <p> + “It is a joke,” she said. + </p> + <p> + It was as though she had slapped him in the face, though she said it so + quietly. He knew he had received the slap, and that, as it was a woman, he + could not slap back. It was a sort of surprise to her that he did not + giggle nervously and turn red and shuffle his feet in impotent misery. He + kept quite still a moment or so and looked at her, though not as she had + looked at him. She wondered if he was so thick-skinned that he did not + feel anything at all. + </p> + <p> + “That's so,” he admitted. “That's so.” Then he actually smiled at her. “I + don't know how to behave myself, you see,” he said. “You're Lady Joan + Fayre, ain't you? I'm mighty glad to see you. Happy to make your + acquaintance, Lady Joan.” + </p> + <p> + He took her hand and shook it with friendly vigor before she knew what he + was going to do. + </p> + <p> + “I'll bet a dollar dinner's ready,” he added, “and Burrill's waiting. It + scares me to death to keep Burrill waiting. He's got no use for me, + anyhow. Let's go and pacify him.” + </p> + <p> + He did not lead the way or drag her by the arm, as it seemed to her quite + probable that he might, as costermongers do on Hampstead Heath. He knew + enough to let her pass first through the door; and when Lady Mallowe + looked up to see her enter the drawing-room, he was behind her. To her + ladyship's amazement and relief, they came in, so to speak, together. She + had been spared the trying moment of assisting at the ceremony of their + presentation to each other. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXII + </h2> + <p> + In a certain sense she had been dragged to the place by her mother. Lady + Mallowe had many resources, and above all she knew how to weary her into + resistlessness which was almost indifference. There had been several + shameless little scenes in the locked boudoir. But though she had been + dragged, she had come with an intention. She knew what she would find + herself being forced to submit to if the intruder were not disposed of at + the outset, and if the manoeuvering began which would bring him to London. + He would appear at her elbow here and there and at every corner, probably + unaware that he was being made an offensive puppet by the astute + cleverness against which she could not defend herself, unless she made + actual scenes in drawing-rooms, at dinner-tables, in the very streets + themselves. Gifted as Lady Mallowe was in fine and light-handed dealing of + her cards in any game, her stakes at this special juncture were seriously + high. Joan knew what they were, and that she was in a mood touched with + desperation. The defenselessly new and ignorant Temple Barholm was to her + mind a direct intervention of Providence, and it was only Joan herself who + could rob her of the benefits and reliefs he could provide. With regard to + Lady Joan, though Palliser's quoted New Yorkism, “wipe up the earth,” was + unknown to her, the process she had in mind when she left London for + Lancashire would have been well covered by it. As in feudal days she might + have ordered the right hand of a creature such as this to be struck off, + forgetting that he was a man, so was she capable to-day of inflicting upon + him any hurt which might sweep him out of her way. She had not been a + tender-hearted girl, and in these years she was absolutely callous. The + fellow being what he was, she had not the resources she might have called + upon if he had been a gentleman. He would not understand the chills and + slights of good manners. In the country he would be easier to manage than + in town, especially if attacked in his first timidity before his new + grandeurs. His big house no doubt frightened him, his servants, the people + who were of a class of which he knew nothing. When Palliser told his story + she saw new openings. He would stand in servile awe of her and of others + like her. He would be afraid of her, to begin with, and she could make him + more so. + </p> + <p> + But though she had come to alarm him so that he would be put to absolute + flight, she had also come for another reason. She had never seen Temple + Barholm, and she had discovered before they had known each other a week + that it was Jem's secret passion. He had loved it with a slighted and + lonely child's romantic longing; he had dreamed of it as boy and man, + knowing that it must some time be his own, his home, and yet prevented by + his uncle's attitude toward him from daring to act as though he remembered + the fact. Old Mr. Temple Barholm's special humor had been that of a man + guarding against presumption. + </p> + <p> + Jem had not intended to presume, but he had been snubbed with relentless + cruelty even for boyish expressions of admiration. And he had hid his + feeling in his heart until he poured it out to Joan. To-day it would have + been his. Together, together, they would have lived in it and loved every + stone of it, every leaf on every great tree, every wild daffodil nodding + in the green grass. Most people, God be thanked! can forget. The wise ones + train themselves beyond all else to forgetting. + </p> + <p> + Joan had been a luckless, ill-brought-up, passionate child and girl. In + her Mayfair nursery she had been as little trained as a young savage. + Since her black hour she had forgotten nothing, allowed herself no + palliating moments. Her brief dream of young joy had been the one real + thing in her life. She absolutely had lain awake at night and + reconstructed the horror of Jem's death, had lived it over again, writhing + in agony on her bed, and madly feeling that by so doing she was holding + her love close to her life. + </p> + <p> + And the man who stood in the place Jem had longed for, the man who sat at + the head of his table, was this “thing!” That was what she felt him to be, + and every hurt she could do him, every humiliation which should write + large before him his presumption and grotesque unfitness, would be a blow + struck for Jem, who could never strike a blow for himself again. It was + all senseless, but she had not want to reason. Fate had not reasoned in + her behalf. She watched Tembarom under her lids at the dinner-table. + </p> + <p> + He had not wriggled or shuffled when she spoke to him in the gallery; he + did neither now, and made no obvious efforts to seem unembarrassed. He + used his knife and fork in odd ways, and he was plainly not used to being + waited upon. More than once she saw the servants restrain smiles. She + addressed no remarks to him herself, and answered with chill indifference + such things as he said to her. If conversation had flagged between him and + Mr. Palford because the solicitor did not know how to talk to him, it did + not even reach the point of flagging with her, because she would not talk + and did not allow it to begin. Lady Mallowe, sick with annoyance, was + quite brilliant. She drew out Miss Alicia by detailed reminiscences of a + visit paid to Rowlton Hall years before. The vicar had dined at the hall + while she had been there. She remembered perfectly his charm of manner and + powerful originality of mind, she said sweetly. He had spoken with such + affection of his “little Alicia,” who was such a help to him in his parish + work. + </p> + <p> + “I thought he was speaking of a little girl at first,” she said smilingly, + “but it soon revealed itself that 'little Alicia' was only his caressing + diminutive.” + </p> + <p> + A certain widening of Miss Alicia's fascinated eye, which could not remove + itself from her face, caused her to quail slightly. + </p> + <p> + “He was of course a man of great force of character and—and + expression,” she added. “I remember thinking at the time that his eloquent + frankness of phrase might perhaps seem even severe to frivolous creatures + like myself. A really remarkable personality.” + </p> + <p> + “His sermons,” faltered Miss Alicia, as a refuge, “were indeed remarkable. + I am sure he must greatly have enjoyed his conversations with you. I am + afraid there were very few clever women in the neighborhood of Rowlton.” + </p> + <p> + Casting a bitter side glance on her silent daughter, Lady Mallowe lightly + seized upon New York as a subject. She knew so much of it from delightful + New Yorkers. London was full of delightful New Yorkers. She would like + beyond everything to spend a winter in New York. She understood that the + season there was in the winter and that it was most brilliant. Mr. Temple + Barholm must tell them about it. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Lady Joan, looking at him through narrowed lids, “Mr. Temple + Barholm ought to tell us about it.” + </p> + <p> + She wanted to hear what he would say, to see how he would try to get out + of the difficulty or flounder staggeringly through it. Her mother knew in + an instant that her own speech had been a stupid blunder. She had put the + man into exactly the position Joan would enjoy seeing him in. But he + wasn't in a position, it appeared. + </p> + <p> + “What is the season, anyhow?” he said. “You've got one on me when you talk + about seasons.” + </p> + <p> + “In London,” Miss Alicia explained courageously, “it is the time when her + Majesty is at Buckingham Palace, and when the drawing-rooms are held, and + Parliament sits, and people come up to town and give balls.” + </p> + <p> + She wished that Lady Mallowe had not made her remark just at this time. + She knew that the quietly moving servants were listening, and that their + civilly averted eyes had seen Captain Palliser smile and Lady Joan's + curious look, and that the whole incident would form entertainment for + their supper-table. + </p> + <p> + “I guess they have it in the winter in New York, then, if that's it,” he + said. “There's no Buckingham Palace there, and no drawing-rooms, and + Congress sits in Washington. But New York takes it out in suppers at + Sherry's and Delmonico's and theaters and receptions. Miss Alicia knows + how I used to go to them when I was a little fellow, don't you, Miss + Alicia?” he added, smiling at her across the table. + </p> + <p> + “You have told me,” she answered. She noticed that Burrill and the footmen + stood at attention in their places. + </p> + <p> + “I used to stand outside in the snow and look in through the windows at + the people having a good time,” he said. “Us kids that were selling + newspapers used to try to fill ourselves up with choosing whose plate we'd + take if we could get at it. Beefsteak and French fried potatoes were the + favorites, and hot oyster stews. We were so all-fired hungry!” + </p> + <p> + “How pathetic!” exclaimed Lady Mallowe. “And how interesting, now that it + is all over!” + </p> + <p> + She knew that her manner was gushing, and Joan's slight side glance of + subtle appreciation of the fact exasperated her almost beyond endurance. + What could one do, what could one talk about, without involving oneself in + difficulties out of which one's hasty retreat could be effected only by + gushing? Taking into consideration the awkwardness of the whole situation + and seeing Joan's temper and attitude, if there had not been so much at + stake she would have received a summoning telegram from London the next + day and taken flight. But she had been forced to hold her ground before in + places she detested or where she was not wanted, and she must hold it + again until she had found out the worst or the best. And, great heaven! + how Joan was conducting herself, with that slow, quiet insultingness of + tone and look, the wicked, silent insolence of bearing which no man was + able to stand, however admiringly he began! The Duke of Merthshire had + turned his back upon it even after all the world had known his intentions, + even after the newspapers had prematurely announced the engagement and she + herself had been convinced that he could not possibly retreat. She had + worked desperately that season, she had fawned on and petted newspaper + people, and stooped to little things no one but herself could have + invented and which no one but herself knew of. And never had Joan been so + superb; her beauty had seemed at its most brilliant height. The match + would have been magnificent; but he could not stand her, and would not. + Why, indeed, should any man? She glanced at her across the table. A + beauty, of course; but she was thinner, and her eyes had a hungry + fierceness in them, and the two delicate, straight lines between her black + brows were deepening. + </p> + <p> + And there were no dukes on the horizon. Merthshire had married almost at + once, and all the others were too young or had wives already. If this man + would take her, she might feel herself lucky. Temple Barholm and seventy + thousand a year were not to be trifled with by a girl who had made herself + unpopular and who was twenty-six. And for her own luck the moment had come + just before it was too late—a second marriage, wealth, the end of + the hideous struggle. Joan was the obstacle in her path, and she must be + forced out of it. She glanced quickly at Tembarom. He was trying to talk + to Joan now. He was trying to please her. She evidently had a fascination + for him. He looked at her in a curious way when she was not looking at + him. It was a way different from that of other men whom she had watched as + they furtively stared. It had struck her that he could not take his eyes + away. That was because he had never before been on speaking terms with a + woman of beauty and rank. + </p> + <p> + Joan herself knew that he was trying to please her, and she was asking + herself how long he would have the courage and presumption to keep it up. + He could scarcely be enjoying it. + </p> + <p> + He was not enjoying it, but he kept it up. He wanted to be friends with + her for more reasons than one. No one had ever remained long at enmity + with him. He had “got over” a good many people in the course of his + career, as he had “got over” Joseph Hutchinson. This had always been + accomplished because he presented no surface at which arrows could be + thrown. She was the hardest proposition he had ever come up against, he + was thinking; but if he didn't let himself be fool enough to break loose + and get mad, she'd not hate him so much after a while. She would begin to + understand that it wasn't his fault; then perhaps he could get her to make + friends. In fact, if she had been able to read his thoughts, there is no + certainty as to how far her temper might have carried her. But she could + see him only as a sharp-faced, common American of the shop-boy class, + sitting at the head of Jem Temple Barholm's table, in his chair. + </p> + <p> + As they passed through the hall to go to the drawing-room after the meal + was over, she saw a neat, pale young man speaking to Burrill and heard a + few of his rather anxiously uttered words. + </p> + <p> + “The orders were that he was always to be told when Mr. Strangeways was + like this, under all circumstances. I can't quiet him, Mr. Burrill. He + says he must see him at once.” + </p> + <p> + Burrill walked back stiffly to the dining-room. + </p> + <p> + “It won't trouble HIM much to be disturbed at his wine,” he muttered + before going. “He doesn't know hock from port.” + </p> + <p> + When the message was delivered to him, Tembarom excused himself with + simple lack of ceremony. + </p> + <p> + “I 'll be back directly,” he said to Palliser. “Those are good cigars.” + And he left the room without going into the matter further. + </p> + <p> + Palliser took one of the good cigars, and in taking it exchanged a glance + with Burrill which distantly conveyed the suggestion that perhaps he had + better remain for a moment or so. Captain Palliser's knowledge of + interesting detail was obtained “by chance here and there,” he sometimes + explained, but it was always obtained with a light and casual air. + </p> + <p> + “I am not sure,” he remarked as he took the light Burrill held for him and + touched the end of his cigar—“I am not quite sure that I know + exactly who Mr. Strangeways is.” + </p> + <p> + “He's the gentleman, sir, that Mr. Temple Barholm brought over from New + York,” replied Burrill with a stolidity clearly expressive of distaste. + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, from New York! Why doesn't one see him?” + </p> + <p> + “He's not in a condition to see people, sir,” said Burrill, and Palliser's + slightly lifted eyebrow seeming to express a good deal, he added a + sentence, “He's not all there, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “From New York, and not all there. What seems to be the matter?” Palliser + asked quietly. “Odd idea to bring a lunatic all the way from America. + There must be asylums there.” + </p> + <p> + “Us servants have orders to keep out of the way,” Burrill said with + sterner stolidity. “He's so nervous that the sight of strangers does him + harm. I may say that questions are not encouraged.” + </p> + <p> + “Then I must not ask any more,” said Captain Palliser. “I did not know I + was edging on to a mystery.” + </p> + <p> + “I wasn't aware that I was myself, sir,” Burrill remarked, “until I asked + something quite ordinary of Pearson, who is Mr. Temple Barholm's valet, + and it was not what he said, but what he didn't, that showed me where I + stood.” + </p> + <p> + “A mystery is an interesting thing to have in a house,” said Captain + Palliser without enthusiasm. He smoked his cigar as though he was enjoying + its aroma, and even from his first remark he had managed not to seem to be + really quite addressing himself to Burrill. He was certainly not talking + to him in the ordinary way; his air was rather that of a gentleman + overhearing casual remarks in which he was only vaguely interested. Before + Burrill left the room, however, and he left it under the impression that + he had said no more than civility demanded, Captain Palliser had reached + the point of being able to deduce a number of things from what he, like + Pearson, had not said. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIII + </h2> + <p> + The man who in all England was most deeply submerged in deadly boredom + was, the old Duke of Stone said with wearied finality, himself. He had + been a sinful young man of finished taste in 1820; he had cultivated these + tastes, which were for literature and art and divers other things, in the + most richly alluring foreign capitals until finding himself becoming an + equally sinful and finished elderly man, he had decided to marry. After + the birth of her four daughters, his wife had died and left them on his + hands. Developing at that time a tendency to rheumatic gout and a daily + increasing realization of the fact that the resources of a poor dukedom + may be hopelessly depleted by an expensive youth passed brilliantly in + Vienna, Paris, Berlin, and London, when it was endurable, he found it + expedient to give up what he considered the necessities of life and to + face existence in the country in England. It is not imperative that one + should enter into detail. There was much, and it covered years during + which his four daughters grew up and he “grew down,” as he called it. If + his temper had originally been a bad one, it would doubtless have become + unbearable; as he had been born an amiable person, he merely sank into the + boredom which threatens extinction. His girls bored him, his neighbors + bored him, Stone Hover bored him, Lancashire bored him, England had always + bored him except at abnormal moments. + </p> + <p> + “I read a great deal, I walk when I can,” this he wrote once to a friend + in Rome. “When I am too stiff with rheumatic gout, I drive myself about in + a pony chaise and feel like an aunt in a Bath chair. I have so far escaped + the actual chair itself. It perpetually rains here, I may mention, so I + don't get out often. You who gallop on white roads in the sunshine and + hear Italian voices and vowels, figure to yourself your friend trundling + through damp, lead-colored Lancashire lanes and being addressed in the + Lancashire dialect. But so am I driven by necessity that I listen to it + gratefully. I want to hear village news from villagers. I have become a + gossip. It is a wonderful thing to be a gossip. It assists one to get + through one's declining years. Do not wait so long as I did before + becoming one. Begin in your roseate middle age.” + </p> + <p> + An attack of gout more severe than usual had confined him to his room for + some time after the arrival of the new owner of Temple Barholm. He had, in + fact, been so far indisposed that a week or two had passed before he had + heard of him. His favorite nurse had been chosen by him, because she was a + comfortable village woman whom he had taught to lay aside her proper awe + and talk to him about her own affairs and her neighbors when he was in the + mood to listen. She spoke the broadest possible dialect,—he liked + dialect, having learned much in his youth from mellow-eyed Neapolitan and + Tuscan girls,—and she had never been near a hospital, but had been + trained by the bedsides of her children and neighbors. + </p> + <p> + “If I were a writing person, she would become literature, impinging upon + Miss Mitford's tales of 'Our Village,' Miss Austen's varieties, and the + young Bronte woman's 'Wuthering Heights.' Mon Dieu! what a resource it + would be to be a writing person!” he wrote to the Roman friend. + </p> + <p> + To his daughters he said: + </p> + <p> + “She brings back my tenderest youth. When she pokes the fire in the + twilight and lumbers about the room, making me comfortable, I lie in my + bed and watch the flames dancing on the ceiling and feel as if I were six + and had the measles. She tucks me in, my dears—she tucks me in, I + assure you. Sometimes I feel it quite possible that she will bend over and + kiss me.” + </p> + <p> + She had tucked him in luxuriously in his arm-chair by the fire on the + first day of his convalescence, and as she gave him his tray, with his + beef tea and toast, he saw that she contained anecdotal information of + interest which tactful encouragement would cause to flow. + </p> + <p> + “Now that I am well enough to be entertained, Braddle,” he said, “tell me + what has been happening.” + </p> + <p> + “A graidely lot, yore Grace,” she answered; “but not so much i' Stone + Hover as i' Temple Barholm. He's coom!” + </p> + <p> + Then the duke vaguely recalled rumors he had heard sometime before his + indisposition. + </p> + <p> + “The new Mr. Temple Barholm? He's an American, isn't he? The lost heir who + had to be sought for high and low—principally low, I understand.” + </p> + <p> + The beef tea was excellently savory, the fire was warm, and relief from + two weeks of pain left a sort of Nirvana of peace. Rarely had the duke + passed a more delightfully entertaining morning. There was a richness in + the Temple Barholm situation, as described in detail by Mrs. Braddle, + which filled him with delight. His regret that he was not a writing person + intensified itself. Americans had not appeared upon the horizon in Miss + Mitford's time, or in Miss Austen's, or in the Brontes' the type not + having entirely detached itself from that of the red Indian. It struck + him, however, that Miss Austen might have done the best work with this + affair if she had survived beyond her period. Her finely demure and sly + sense of humor would have seen and seized upon its opportunities. Stark + moorland life had not encouraged humor in the Brontes, and village + patronage had not roused in Miss Mitford a sense of ironic contrasts. Yes, + Jane Austen would have done it best. + </p> + <p> + That the story should be related by Mrs. Braddle gave it extraordinary + flavor. No man or woman of his own class could have given such a + recounting, or revealed so many facets of this jewel of entertainment. He + and those like him could have seen the thing only from their own amused, + outraged, bewildered, or cynically disgusted point of view. Mrs. Braddle + saw it as the villagers saw it—excited, curious, secretly hopeful of + undue lavishness from “a chap as had nivver had brass before an' wants to + chuck it away for brag's sake,” or somewhat alarmed at the possible + neglecting of customs and privileges by a person ignorant of memorial + benefactions. She saw it as the servants saw it—secretly disdainful, + outwardly respectful, waiting to discover whether the sacrifice of + professional distinction would be balanced by liberties permitted and + lavishness of remuneration and largess. She saw it also from her own point + of view—that of a respectable cottage dweller whose + great-great-grandfather had been born in a black-and-white timbered house + in a green lane, and who knew what were “gentry ways” and what nature of + being could never even remotely approach the assumption of them. She had + seen Tembarom more than once, and summed him up by no means ill-naturedly. + </p> + <p> + “He's not such a bad-lookin' chap. He is na short-legged or turn-up-nosed, + an' that's summat. He con stride along, an' he looks healthy enow for aw + he's thin. A thin chap nivver looks as common as a fat un. If he wur + pudgy, it ud be a lot more agen him.” + </p> + <p> + “I think, perhaps,” amiably remarked the duke, sipping his beef tea, “that + you had better not call him a `chap,' Braddle. The late Mr. Temple Barholm + was never referred to as a `chap' exactly, was he?” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Braddle gave vent to a sort of internal-sounding chuckle. She had not + meant to be impertinent, and she knew her charge was aware that she had + not, and that he was neither being lofty or severe with her. + </p> + <p> + “Eh, I'd 'a'loiked to ha' heard somebody do it when he was nigh,” she + said. “Happen I'd better be moindin' ma P's an' Q's a bit more. But that's + what this un is, yore Grace. He's a `chap' out an' out. An' theer's some + as is sayin' he's not a bad sort of a chap either. There's lots o' funny + stories about him i' Temple Barholm village. He goes in to th' cottages + now an' then, an' though a fool could see he does na know his place, nor + other people's, he's downreet open-handed. An' he maks foak laugh. He took + a lot o' New York papers wi' big pictures in 'em to little Tummas + Hibblethwaite. An' wot does tha think he did one rainy day? He walks in to + the owd Dibdens' cottage, an' sits down betwixt 'em as they sit one each + side o' th' f're, an' he tells 'em they've got to cheer him up a bit becos + he's got nought to do. An' he shows 'em th' picter-papers, too, an' tells + 'em about New York, an' he ends up wi' singin' 'em a comic song. They was + frightened out o' their wits at first, but somehow he got over 'em, an' + made 'em laugh their owd heads nigh off.” + </p> + <p> + Her charge laid his spoon down, and his shrewd, lined face assumed a new + expression of interest. + </p> + <p> + “Did he! Did he, indeed!” he exclaimed. “Good Lord! what an exhilarating + person! I must go and see him. Perhaps he'd make me laugh my `owd head + nigh off.' What a sensation!” + </p> + <p> + There was really immense color in the anecdotes and in the side views + accompanying them; the routing out of her obscurity of the isolated, + dependent spinster relative, for instance. Delicious! The man was either + desperate with loneliness or he was one of the rough-diamond benefactors + favored by novelists, in which latter case he would not be so + entertaining. Pure self-interest caused the Duke of Stone quite + unreservedly to hope that he was anguished by the unaccustomedness of his + surroundings, and was ready to pour himself forth to any one who would + listen. There would be originality in such a situation, and one could draw + forth revelations worth forming an audience to. He himself had thought + that the volte-face such circumstances demanded would surely leave a man + staring at things foreign enough to bore him. This, indeed, had been one + of his cherished theories; but the only man he had ever encountered who + had become a sort of millionaire between one day and another had been an + appalling Yorkshire man, who had had some extraordinary luck with + diamond-mines in South Africa, and he had been simply drunk with + exhilaration and the delight of spending money with both hands, while he + figuratively slapped on the back persons who six weeks before would have + kicked him for doing it. + </p> + <p> + This man did not appear to be excited. The duke mentally rocked with + gleeful appreciation of certain things Mrs. Braddle detailed. She gave, of + course, Burrill's version of the brief interview outside the dining-room + door when Miss Alicia's status in the household bad been made clear to + him. But the duke, being a man endowed with a subtle sense of shades, was + wholly enlightened as to the inner meaning of Burrill's master. + </p> + <p> + “Now, that was good,” he said to himself, almost chuckling. “By the Lord! + the man might have been a gentleman.” + </p> + <p> + When to all this was added the story of the friend or poor relative, or + what not, who was supposed to be “not quoite reet i' th' yed,” and was + taken care of like a prince, in complete isolation, attended by a valet, + visited and cheered up by his benefactor, he felt that a boon had indeed + been bestowed upon him. It was a nineteenth century “Mysteries of Udolpho” + in embryo, though too greatly diluted by the fact that though the stranger + was seen by no one, the new Temple Barholm made no secret of him. + </p> + <p> + If he had only made a secret of him, the whole thing would have been + complete. There was of course in the situation a discouraging suggestion + that Temple Barholm MIGHT turn out to be merely the ordinary noble + character bestowing boons. + </p> + <p> + “I will burn a little candle to the Virgin and offer up prayers that he + may NOT. That sort of thing would have no cachet whatever, and would only + depress me,” thought his still sufficiently sinful Grace. + </p> + <p> + “When, Braddle, do you think I shall be able to take a drive again?” he + asked his nurse. + </p> + <p> + Braddle was not prepared to say upon her own responsibility, but the + doctor would tell him when he came in that afternoon. + </p> + <p> + “I feel astonishingly well, considering the sharpness of the attack,” her + patient said. “Our little talk has quite stimulated me. When I go out,”—there + was a gleam in the eye he raised to hers,—“I am going to call at + Temple Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + “I knowed tha would,” she commented with maternal familiarity. “I dunnot + believe tha could keep away.” + </p> + <p> + And through the rest of the morning, as he sat and gazed into the fire, + she observed that he several times chuckled gently and rubbed his + delicate, chill, swollen knuckled hands together. + </p> + <p> + A few weeks later there were some warm days, and his Grace chose to go out + in his pony carriage. Much as he detested the suggestion of “the aunt in + the Bath chair,” he had decided that he found the low, informal vehicle + more entertaining than a more imposing one, and the desperation of his + desire to be entertained can be comprehended only by those who have known + its parallel. If he was not in some way amused, he found himself whirling, + with rheumatic gout and seventy years, among recollections of vivid + pictures better hung in galleries with closed doors. It was always + possible to stop the pony carriage to look at views—bits of + landscape caught at by vision through trees or under their spreading + branches, or at the end of little green-hedged lanes apparently adorned + with cottages, or farm-houses with ricks and barn-yards and pig-pens + designed for the benefit of Morland and other painters of rusticity. He + could also slacken the pony's pace and draw up by roadsides where solitary + men sat by piles of stone, which they broke at leisure with hammers as + though they were cracking nuts. He had spent many an agreeable half-hour + in talk with a road-mender who could be led into conversation and was left + elated by an extra shilling. As in years long past he had sat under + chestnut-trees in the Apennines and shared the black bread and sour wine + of a peasant, so in these days he frequently would have been glad to sit + under a hedge and eat bread and cheese with a good fellow who did not know + him and whose summing up of the domestic habits and needs of “th' workin' + mon” or the amiabilities or degeneracies of the gentry would be expressed, + figuratively speaking, in thoughts and words of one syllable. The pony, + however, could not take him very far afield, and one could not lunch on + the grass with a stone-breaker well within reach of one's own castle + without an air of eccentricity which he no more chose to assume than he + would have chosen to wear long hair and a flowing necktie. Also, rheumatic + gout had not hovered about the days in the Apennines. He did not, it might + be remarked, desire to enter into conversation with his humble fellow-man + from altruistic motives. He did it because there was always a chance more + or less that he would be amused. He might hear of little tragedies or + comedies,—he much preferred the comedies,—and he often learned + new words or phrases of dialect interestingly allied to pure Anglo-Saxon. + When this last occurred, he entered them in a notebook he kept in his + library. He sometimes pretended to himself that he was going to write a + book on dialects; but he knew that he was a dilettante sort of creature + and would really never do it. The pretense, however, was a sort of asset. + In dire moments during rains or foggy weather when he felt twinges and had + read till his head ached, he had wished that he had not eaten all his cake + at the first course of life's feast, that he had formed a habit or so + which might have survived and helped him to eke out even an easy-chair + existence through the last courses. He did not find consolation in the use + of the palliative adjective as applied to himself. A neatly cynical sense + of humor prevented it. He knew he had always been an entirely selfish man + and that he was entirely selfish still, and was not revoltingly fretful + and domineering only because he was constitutionally unirritable. + </p> + <p> + He was, however, amiably obstinate, and was accustomed to getting his own + way in most things. On this day of his outing he insisted on driving + himself in the face of arguments to the contrary. He was so fixed in his + intention that his daughters and Mrs. Braddle were obliged to admit + themselves overpowered. + </p> + <p> + “Nonsense! Nonsense!” he protested when they besought him to allow himself + to be driven by a groom. “The pony is a fat thing only suited to a Bath + chair. He does not need driving. He doesn't go when he is driven. He + frequently lies down and puts his cheek on his hand and goes to sleep, and + I am obliged to wait until he wakes up.” + </p> + <p> + “But, papa, dear,” Lady Edith said, “your poor hands are not very strong. + And he might run away and kill you. Please do be reasonable!” + </p> + <p> + “My dear girl,” he answered, “if he runs, I shall run after him and kill + him when I catch him. George,” he called to the groom holding the plump + pony's head, “tell her ladyship what this little beast's name is.” + </p> + <p> + “The Indolent Apprentice, your Grace,” the groom answered, touching his + hat and suppressing a grin. + </p> + <p> + “I called him that a month ago,” said the duke. “Hogarth would have + depicted all sorts of evil ends for him. Three weeks since, when I was in + bed being fed by Braddle with a spoon, I could have outrun him myself. Let + George follow me on a horse if you like, but he must keep out of my sight. + Half a mile behind will do.” + </p> + <p> + He got into the phaeton, concealing his twinges with determination, and + drove down the avenue with a fine air, sitting erect and smiling. Indoor + existence had become unendurable, and the spring was filling the woods. + </p> + <p> + “I love the spring,” he murmured to himself. “I am sentimental about it. I + love sentimentality, in myself, when I am quite alone. If I had been a + writing person, I should have made verses every year in April and sent + them to magazines—and they would have been returned to me.” + </p> + <p> + The Indolent Apprentice was, it is true, fat, though comely, and he was + also entirely deserving of his name. Like his Grace of Stone, however, he + had seen other and livelier days, and now and then he was beset by + recollections. He was still a rather high, though slow, stepper—the + latter from fixed preference. He had once stepped fast, as well as with a + spirited gait. During his master's indisposition he had stood in his loose + box and professed such harmlessness that he had not been annoyed by being + taken out for exercise as regularly as he might have been. He had champed + his oats and listened to the repartee of the stable-boys, and he had, + perhaps, felt the coming of the spring when the cuckoo insisted upon it + with thrilling mellowness across the green sweeps of the park land. + Sometimes it made him sentimental, as it made his master, sometimes it + made him stamp his small hoofs restlessly in his straw and want to go out. + He did not intend, when he was taken out, to emulate the Industrious + Apprentice by hastening his pace unduly and raising false hopes for the + future, but he sniffed in the air the moist green of leafage and damp + moss, massed with yellow primroses cuddling in it as though for warmth, + and he thought of other fresh scents and the feel of the road under a + pony's feet. + </p> + <p> + Therefore, when he found himself out in the world again, he shook his head + now and then and even tossed it with the recurring sensations of a pony + who was a mere boy and still slight in the waist. + </p> + <p> + “You feel it too, do you?” said the duke. “I won't remind you of your + years.” + </p> + <p> + The drive from Stone Hover to the village of Temple Barholm was an easy + one, of many charms of leaf-arched lanes and green-edged road. The duke + had always had a partiality for it, and he took it this morning. He would + probably have taken it in any case, but Mrs. Braddle's anecdotes had been + floating through his mind when he set forth and perhaps inclined him in + its direction. + </p> + <p> + The groom was a young man of three and twenty, and he felt the spring + also. The horse he rode was a handsome animal, and he himself was not + devoid of a healthy young man's good looks. He knew his belted livery was + becoming to him, and when on horseback he prided himself on what he + considered an almost military bearing. Sarah Hibson, farmer Hibson's + dimple-chinned and saucy-eyed daughter, had been “carryin' on a good bit” + with a soldier who was a smart, well-set-up, impudent fellow, and it was + the manifest duty of any other young fellow who had considered himself to + be “walking out with her” to look after his charges. His Grace had been + most particular about George's keeping far enough behind him; and as half + a mile had been mentioned as near enough, certainly one was absolved from + the necessity of keeping in sight. Why should not one turn into the lane + which ended at Hibson's farm-yard, and drop into the dairy, and “have it + out wi' Sarah?” + </p> + <p> + Dimpled chins and saucy eyes, and bare, dimpled arms and hands patting + butter while heads are tossed in coquettishly alluring defiance, made even + “having it out” an attractive and memory-obscuring process. Sarah was a + plump and sparkling imp of prettiness, and knew the power of every sly + glance and every dimple and every golden freckle she possessed. George did + not know it so well, and in ten minutes had lost his head and entirely + forgotten even the half-mile behind. + </p> + <p> + He was lover-like, he was masterful, he brought the spring with him; he + “carried on,” as Sarah put it, until he had actually out-distanced the + soldier, and had her in his arms, kissing her as she laughed and prettily + struggled. + </p> + <p> + “Shame o' tha face! Shame o' tha face, George!” she scolded and dimpled + and blushed. “Wilt tha be done now? Wilt tha be done? I'll call mother.” + </p> + <p> + And at that very moment mother came without being called, running, red of + face, heavy-footed, and panting, with her cap all on one side. + </p> + <p> + “Th' duke's run away! Th' duke's run away!” she shouted. “Jo seed him. + Pony got freetened at summat—an' what art doin' here, George Bind? + Get o' thy horse an' gallop. If he's killed, tha 'rt a ruined man.” + </p> + <p> + There was an odd turn of chance in it, the duke thought afterward. Though + friskier than usual, the Indolent Apprentice had behaved perfectly well + until they neared the gates of Temple Barholm, which chanced to be open + because a cart had just passed through. And it was not the cart's fault, + for the Indolent Apprentice regarded it with friendly interest. It + happened, however, that perhaps being absorbed in the cart, which might + have been drawn by a friend or even a distant relative, the Indolent + Apprentice was horribly startled by a large rabbit which leaped out of the + hedge almost under his nose, and, worse still, was followed the next + instant by another rabbit even larger and more sudden and unexpected in + its movements. The Indolent Apprentice snorted, pawed, whirled, dashed + through the open gateway,—the duke's hands were even less strong + than his daughter had thought,—and galloped, head in air and bit + between teeth, up the avenue, the low carriage rocking from side to side. + </p> + <p> + “Damn! Damn!” cried the duke, rocking also. “Oh, damn! I shall be killed + in a runaway perambulator!” + </p> + <p> + And ridiculous as it was, things surged through his brain, and once, + though he laughed at himself bitterly afterward, he gasped “Ah, Heloise;” + as he almost whirled over a jagged tree-stump; gallop and gallop and + gallop, off the road and through trees, and back again on to the sward, + and gallop and gallop and jerk and jolt and jerk, and he was nearing the + house, and a long-legged young man ran down the steps, pushing aside + footmen, and was ahead of the drunken little beast of a pony, and caught + him just as the phaeton overturned and shot his grace safely though not + comfortably in a heap upon the grass. + </p> + <p> + It was of course no trifle of a shock, but its victim's sensations gave + him strong reason to hope, as he rolled over, that no bones were broken. + The following servants were on the spot almost at once, and took the + pony's head. + </p> + <p> + The young man helped the duke to his feet and dusted him with masterly + dexterity. He did not know he was dusting a duke, and he would not have + cared if he had. + </p> + <p> + “Hello,” he said, “you're not hurt. I can see that. Thank the Lord! I + don't believe you've got a scratch.” + </p> + <p> + His grace felt a shade shaky, and he was slightly pale, but he smiled in a + way which had been celebrated forty years earlier, and the charm of which + had survived even rheumatic gout. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you. I'm not hurt in the least. I am the Duke of Stone. This isn't + really a call. It isn't my custom to arrive in this way. May I address you + as my preserver, Mr. Temple Barholm?” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0024" id="link2HCH0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIV + </h2> + <p> + Upon the terrace, when he was led up the steps, stood a most perfect + little elderly lady in a state of agitation much greater than his own or + his rescuer's. It was an agitation as perfect in its femininity as she + herself was. It expressed its kind tremors in the fashion which belonged + to the puce silk dress and fine bits of collar and undersleeve the belated + gracefulness of which caused her to present herself to him rather as a + figure cut neatly from a book of the styles he had admired in his young + manhood. It was of course Miss Alicia, who having, with Tembarom, seen the + galloping pony from a window, had followed him when he darted from the + room. She came forward, looking pale with charming solicitude. + </p> + <p> + “I do so hope you are not hurt,” she exclaimed. “It really seemed that + only divine Providence could prevent a terrible accident.” + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid that it was more grotesque than terrible,” he answered a + shade breathlessly. + </p> + <p> + “Let me make you acquainted with the Duke of Stone, Miss Alicia,” Tembarom + said in the formula of Mrs. Bowse's boarders on state occasions of + introduction. “Duke, let me make you acquainted, sir, with my—relation—Miss + Alicia Temple Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + The duke's bow had a remote suggestion of almost including a kissed hand + in its gallant courtesy. Not, however, that Early Victorian ladies had + been accustomed to the kissing of hands; but at the period when he had + best known the type he had daily bent over white fingers in Continental + capitals. + </p> + <p> + “A glass of wine,” Miss Alicia implored. “Pray let me give you a glass of + wine. I am sure you need it very much.” + </p> + <p> + He was taken into the library and made to sit in a most comfortable + easy-chair. Miss Alicia fluttered about him with sympathy still delicately + tinged with alarm. How long, how long, it had been since he had been + fluttered over! Nearly forty years. Ladies did not flutter now, and he + remembered that it was no longer the fashion to call them “ladies.” Only + the lower-middle classes spoke of “ladies.” But he found himself mentally + using the word again as he watched Miss Alicia. + </p> + <p> + It had been “ladies” who had fluttered and been anxious about a man in + this quite pretty way. + </p> + <p> + He could scarcely remove his eyes from her as he sipped his wine. She felt + his escape “providential,” and murmured such devout little phrases + concerning it that he was almost consoled for the grotesque inward vision + of himself as an aged peer of the realm tumbling out of a baby-carriage + and rolled over on the grass at the feet of a man on whom later he had + meant to make, in proper state, a formal call. She put her hand to her + side, smiling half apologetically. + </p> + <p> + “My heart beats quite fast yet,” she said. Whereupon a quaintly novel + thing took place, at the sight of which the duke barely escaped opening + his eyes very wide indeed. The American Temple Barholm put his arm about + her in the most casual and informally accustomed way, and led her to a + chair, and put her in it, so to speak. + </p> + <p> + “Say,” he announced with affectionate authority, “you sit down right away. + It's you that needs a glass of wine, and I'm going to give it to you.” + </p> + <p> + The relations between the two were evidently on a basis not common in + England even among people who were attached to one another. There was a + spontaneous, every-day air of natural, protective petting about it, as + though the fellow was fond of her in his crude fashion, and meant to take + care of her. He was fond of her, and the duke perceived it with elation, + and also understood. He might be the ordinary bestower of boons, but the + protective curve of his arm included other things. In the blank dullness + of his unaccustomed splendors he had somehow encountered this fine, + delicately preserved little relic of other days, and had seized on her and + made her his own. + </p> + <p> + “I have not seen anything as delightful as Miss Temple Barholm for many a + year,” the duke said when Miss Alicia was called from the room and left + them together. + </p> + <p> + “Ain't she great?” was Tembarom's reply. “She's just great.” + </p> + <p> + “It's an exquisite survival of type,” said the duke. “She belongs to my + time, not yours,” he added, realizing that “survival of type” might not + clearly convey itself. + </p> + <p> + “Well, she belongs to mine now,” answered Tembarom. “I wouldn't lose her + for a farm.” + </p> + <p> + “The voice, the phrases, the carriage might survive,-they do in remote + neighborhoods, I suppose—but the dress is quite delightfully + incredible. It is a work of art,” the duke went on. She had seemed too + good to be true. Her clothes, however, had certainly not been dug out of a + wardrobe of forty years ago. + </p> + <p> + “When I went to talk to the head woman in the shop in Bond Street I fixed + it with 'em hard and fast that she was not to spoil her. They were to keep + her like she was. She's like her little cap, you know, and her little + mantles and tippets. She's like them,” exclaimed Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + Did he see that? What an odd feature in a man of his sort! And how + thoroughly New Yorkish it was that he should march into a fashionable shop + and see that he got what he wanted and the worth of his money! There had + been no rashness in the hope that the unexplored treasure might be a rich + one. The man's simplicity was an actual complexity. He had a boyish eye + and a grin, but there was a business-like line about his mouth which was + strong enough to have been hard if it had not been good-natured. + </p> + <p> + “That was confoundedly clever of you,” his grace commented heartily—“confoundedly. + I should never have had the wit to think of it myself, or the courage to + do it if I had. Shop-women make me shy.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, well, I just put it up to them,” Tembarom answered easily. + </p> + <p> + “I believe,” cautiously translated the duke, “that you mean that you made + them feel that they alone were responsible.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I do,” assented Tembarom, the grin slightly in evidence. “Put it up + to them's the short way of saying it.” + </p> + <p> + “Would you mind my writing that down?” said the duke. “I have a fad for + dialects and new phrases.” He hastily scribbled the words in a tablet that + he took from his pocket. “Do you like living in England?” he asked in + course of time. + </p> + <p> + “I should like it if I'd been born here,” was the answer. + </p> + <p> + “I see, I see.” + </p> + <p> + “If it had not been for finding Miss Alicia, and that I made a promise I'd + stay for a year, anyhow, I'd have broken loose at the end of the first + week and worked my passage back if I hadn't had enough in my clothes to + pay for it.” He laughed, but it was not real laughter. There was a thing + behind it. The situation was more edifying than one could have hoped. “I + made a promise, and I'm going to stick it out,” he said. + </p> + <p> + He was going to stick it out because he had promised to endure for a year + Temple Barholm and an income of seventy thousand pounds! The duke gazed at + him as at a fond dream realized. + </p> + <p> + “I've nothing to do,” Tembarom added. + </p> + <p> + “Neither have I,” replied the Duke of Stone. + </p> + <p> + “But you're used to it, and I'm not. I'm used to working 'steen hours a + day, and dropping into bed as tired as a dog, but ready to sleep like one + and get up rested.” + </p> + <p> + “I used to play twenty hours a day once,” answered the duke, “but I didn't + get up rested. That's probably why I have gout and rheumatism combined. + Tell me how you worked, and I will tell you how I played.” + </p> + <p> + It was worth while taking this tone with him. It had been worth while + taking it with the chestnut-gathering peasants in the Apennines, sometimes + even with a stone-breaker by an English roadside. And this one was of a + type more unique and distinctive than any other—a fellow who, with + the blood of Saxon kings and Norman nobles in his veins, had known nothing + but the street life of the crudest city in the world, who spoke a sort of + argot, who knew no parallels of the things which surrounded him in the + ancient home he had inherited and in which he stood apart, a sort of + semi-sophisticated savage. The duke applied himself with grace and + finished ability to drawing him out. The questions he asked were all + seemingly those of a man of the world charmingly interested in the + superior knowledge of a foreigner of varied experience. His method was one + which engaged the interest of Tembarom himself. He did not know that he + was not only questioned, but, so to speak, delicately cross-examined and + that before the end of the interview the Duke of Stone knew more of him, + his past existence and present sentiments, than even Miss Alicia knew + after their long and intimate evening talks. The duke, however, had the + advantage of being a man and of cherishing vivid recollections of the days + of his youth, which, unlike as it had been to that of Tembarom, furnished + a degree of solid foundation upon which go to build conjecture. + </p> + <p> + “A young man of his age,” his grace reflected astutely, “has always just + fallen out of love, is falling into it, or desires vaguely to do so. Ten + years later there would perhaps be blank spaces, lean years during which + he was not in love at all; but at his particular period there must be a + young woman somewhere. I wonder if she is employed in one of the + department stores he spoke of, and how soon he hopes to present her to us. + His conversation has revealed so far, to use his own rich simile, 'neither + hide nor hair' of her.” + </p> + <p> + On his own part, he was as ready to answer questions as to ask them. In + fact, he led Tembarom on to asking. + </p> + <p> + “I will tell you how I played” had been meant. He made a human document of + the history he enlarged, he brilliantly diverged, he included, he made + pictures, and found Tembarom's point of view or lack of it gave spice and + humor to relations he had thought himself tired of. To tell familiar + anecdotes of courts and kings to a man who had never quite believed that + such things were realities, who almost found them humorous when they were + casually spoken of, was edification indeed. The novel charm lay in the + fact that his class in his country did not include them as possibilities. + Peasants in other countries, plowmen, shopkeepers, laborers in England—all + these at least they knew of, and counted them in as factors in the lives + of the rich and great; but this dear young man—! + </p> + <p> + “What's a crown like? I'd like to see one. How much do you guess such a + thing would cost—in dollars?” + </p> + <p> + “Did not Miss Temple Barholm take you to see the regalia in the Tower of + London? I am quite shocked,” said the duke. He was, in fact, a trifle + disappointed. With the puce dress and undersleeves and little fringes she + ought certainly to have rushed with her pupil to that seat of historical + instruction on their first morning in London, immediately after + breakfasting on toast and bacon and marmalade and eggs. + </p> + <p> + “She meant me to go, but somehow it was put off. She almost cried on our + journey home when she suddenly remembered that we'd forgotten it, after + all.” + </p> + <p> + “I am sure she said it was a wasted opportunity,” suggested his grace. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, that was what hit her so hard. She'd never been to London before, + and you couldn't make her believe she could ever get there again, and she + said it was ungrateful to Providence to waste an opportunity. She's always + mighty anxious to be grateful to Providence, bless her!” + </p> + <p> + “She regards you as Providence,” remarked the duke, enraptured. With a + touch here and there, the touch of a master, he had gathered the whole + little story of Miss Alicia, and had found it of a whimsical exquisiteness + and humor. + </p> + <p> + “She's a lot too good to me,” answered Tembarom. “I guess women as nice as + her are always a lot too good to men. She's a kind of little old angel. + What makes me mad is to think of the fellows that didn't get busy and + marry her thirty-five years ago.” + </p> + <p> + “Were there—er—many of 'em?” the duke inquired. + </p> + <p> + “Thousands of 'em, though most of 'em never saw her. I suppose you never + saw her then. If you had, you might have done it.” + </p> + <p> + The duke, sitting with an elbow on each arm of his chair, put the tips of + his fine, gouty fingers together and smiled with a far-reaching inclusion + of possibilities. + </p> + <p> + “So I might,” he said; “so I might. My loss entirely—my abominable + loss.” + </p> + <p> + They had reached this point of the argument when the carriage from Stone + Hover arrived. It was a stately barouche the coachman and footman of which + equally with its big horses seemed to have hastened to an extent which + suggested almost panting breathlessness. It contained Lady Edith and Lady + Celia, both pale, and greatly agitated by the news which had brought them + horrified from Stone Hover without a moment's delay. + </p> + <p> + They both ascended in haste and swept in such alarmed anxiety up the + terrace steps and through the hall to their father's side that they had + barely a polite gasp for Miss Alicia and scarcely saw Tembarom at all. + </p> + <p> + “Dear Papa!” they cried when he revealed himself in his chair in the + library intact and smiling. “How wicked of you, dear! How you have + frightened us!” + </p> + <p> + “I begged you to be good, dearest,” said Lady Edith, almost in tears. + “Where was George? You must dismiss him at once. Really—really—” + </p> + <p> + “He was half a mile away, obeying my orders,” said the duke. “A groom + cannot be dismissed for obeying orders. It is the pony who must be + dismissed, to my great regret; or else we must overfeed him until he is + even fatter than he is and cannot run away.” + </p> + <p> + Were his arms and legs and his ribs and collar-bones and head quite right? + Was he sure that he had not received any internal injury when he fell out + of the pony-carriage? They could scarcely be convinced, and as they hung + over and stroked and patted him, Tembarom stood aside and watched them + with interest. They were the girls he had to please Ann by “getting next + to,” giving himself a chance to fall in love with them, so that she'd know + whether they were his kind or not. They were nice-looking, and had a way + of speaking that sounded rather swell, but they weren't ace high to a + little slim, redheaded thing that looked at you like a baby and pulled + your heart up into your throat. + </p> + <p> + “Don't poke me any more, dear children. I am quite, quite sound,” he heard + the duke say. “In Mr. Temple Barholm you behold the preserver of your + parent. Filial piety is making you behave with shocking ingratitude.” + </p> + <p> + They turned to Tembarom at once with a pretty outburst of apologies and + thanks. Lady Celia wasn't, it is true, “a looker,” with her narrow + shoulders and rather long nose, but she had an air of breeding, and the + charming color of which Palliser had spoken, returning to Lady Edith's + cheeks, illuminated her greatly. + </p> + <p> + They both were very polite and made many agreeably grateful speeches, but + in the eyes of both there lurked a shade of anxiety which they hoped to be + able to conceal. Their father watched them with a wicked pleasure. He + realized clearly their well-behaved desire to do and say exactly the right + thing and bear themselves in exactly the right manner, and also their + awful uncertainty before an entirely unknown quantity. Almost any other + kind of young man suddenly uplifted by strange fortune they might have + known some parallel for, but a newsboy of New York! All the New Yorkers + they had met or heard of had been so rich and grand as to make them feel + themselves, by contrast, mere country paupers, quite shivering with + poverty and huddling for protection in their barely clean rags, so what + was there to go on? But how dreadful not to be quite right, precisely + right, in one's approach—quite familiar enough, and yet not a shade + too familiar, which of course would appear condescending! And be it said + the delicacy of the situation was added to by the fact that they had heard + something of Captain Palliser's extraordinary little story about his + determination to know “ladies.” Really, if Willocks the butcher's boy had + inherited Temple Barholm, it would have been easier to know where one + stood in the matter of being civil and agreeable to him. First Lady Edith, + made perhaps bold by the suggestion of physical advantage bestowed by the + color, talked to him to the very best of her ability; and when she felt + herself fearfully flagging, Lady Celia took him up and did her very + well-conducted best. Neither she nor her sister were brilliant talkers at + any time, and limited by the absence of any common familiar topic, effort + was necessary. The neighborhood he did not know; London he was barely + aware of; social functions it would be an impertinence to bring in; games + he did not play; sport he had scarcely heard of. You were confined to + America, and if you knew next to nothing of American life, there you were. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom saw it all,—he was sharp enough for that,—and his + habit of being jocular and wholly unashamed saved him from the misery of + awkwardness that Willocks would have been sure to have writhed under. His + casual frankness, however, for a moment embarrassed Lady Edith to the + bitterest extremity. When you are trying your utmost to make a queer + person oblivious to the fact that his world is one unknown to you, it is + difficult to know where do you stand when he says. + </p> + <p> + “It's mighty hard to talk to a man who doesn't know a thing that belongs + to the kind of world you've spent your life in, ain't it? But don't you + mind me a minute. I'm glad to be talked to anyhow by people like you. When + I don't catch on, I'll just ask. No man was ever electrocuted for not + knowing, and that's just where I am. I don't know, and I'm glad to be + told. Now, there's one thing. Burrill said 'Your Ladyship' to you, I heard + him. Ought I to say it, er oughtn't I?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, no,” she answered, but somehow without distaste in the momentary + stare he had startled her into; “Burrill is—” + </p> + <p> + “He's a servant,” he aided encouragingly. “Well, I've never been a butler, + but I've been somebody's servant all my life, and mighty glad of the + chance. This is the first time I've been out of a job.” + </p> + <p> + What nice teeth he had! What a queer, candid, unresentful creature! What a + good sort of smile! And how odd that it was he who was putting her more at + her ease by the mere way in which he was saying this almost alarming + thing! By the time he had ended, it was not alarming at all, and she had + caught her breath again. + </p> + <p> + She was actually sorry when the door opened and Lady Joan Fayre came in, + followed almost immediately by Lady Mallowe and Captain Palliser, who + appeared to have just returned from a walk and heard the news. + </p> + <p> + Lady Mallowe was most sympathetic. Why not, indeed? The Duke of Stone was + a delightful, cynical creature, and Stone Hover was, despite its ducal + poverty, a desirable place to be invited to, if you could manage it. Her + ladyship's method of fluttering was not like Miss Alicia's, its character + being wholly modern; but she fluttered, nevertheless. The duke, who knew + all about her, received her amiabilities with appreciative smiles, but it + was the splendidly handsome, hungry-eyed young woman with the line between + her black brows who engaged his attention. On the alert, as he always was, + for a situation, he detected one at once when he saw his American address + her. She did not address him, and scarcely deigned a reply when he spoke + to her. When he spoke to others, she conducted herself as though he were + not in the room, so obviously did she choose to ignore his existence. Such + a bearing toward one's host had indeed the charm of being an interesting + novelty. And what a beauty she was, with her lovely, ferocious eyes and + the small, black head poised on the exquisite long throat, which was on + the verge of becoming a trifle too thin! Then as in a flash he recalled + between one breath and another the quite fiendish episode of poor Jem + Temple Barholm—and she was the girl! + </p> + <p> + Then he became almost excited in his interest. He saw it all. As he had + himself argued must be the case, this poor fellow was in love. But it was + not with a lady in the New York department stores; it was with a young + woman who would evidently disdain to wipe her feet upon him. How + thrilling! As Lady Mallowe and Palliser and the others chattered, he + watched him, observing his manner. He stood the handsome creature's + steadily persistent rudeness very well; he made no effort to push into the + talk when she coolly held him out of it. He waited without external + uneasiness or spasmodic smiles. If he could do that despite the inevitable + fact that he must feel his position uncomfortable, he was possessed of + fiber. That alone would make him worth cultivating. And if there were + persons who were to be made uncomfortable, why not cut in and circumvent + the beauty somewhat and give her a trifle of unease? It was with the light + and adroit touch of accustomedness to all orders of little situations that + his grace took the matter in hand, with a shade, also, of amiable malice. + He drew Tembarom adroitly into the center of things; he knew how to lead + him to make easily the odd, frank remarks which were sufficiently novel to + suggest that he was actually entertaining. He beautifully edged Lady Joan + out of her position. She could not behave ill to him, he was far too old, + he said to himself, leaving out the fact that a Duke of Stone is a too + respectable personage to be quite waved aside. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom began to enjoy himself a little more. Lady Celia and Lady Edith + began to enjoy themselves a little more also. Lady Mallowe was filled with + admiring delight. Captain Palliser took in the situation, and asked + himself questions about it. On her part, Miss Alicia was restored to the + happiness any lack of appreciation of her “dear boy” touchingly disturbed. + In circumstances such as these he appeared to the advantage which in a + brief period would surely reveal his wonderful qualities. She clung so to + his “wonderful qualities” because in all the three-volumed novels of her + youth the hero, debarred from early advantages and raised by the turn of + fortune's wheel to splendor, was transformed at once into a being of the + highest accomplishments and the most polished breeding, and ended in the + third volume a creature before whom emperors paled. And how more than + charmingly cordial his grace's manner was when he left them! + </p> + <p> + “To-morrow,” he said, “if my daughters do not discover that I have injured + some more than vital organ, I shall call to proffer my thanks with the + most immense formality. I shall get out of the carriage in the manner + customary in respectable neighborhoods, not roll out at your feet. + Afterward you will, I hope, come and dine with us. I am devoured by a + desire to become more familiar with The Earth.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0025" id="link2HCH0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXV + </h2> + <p> + It was Lady Mallowe who perceived the moment when he became the fashion. + The Duke of Stone called with the immense formality he had described, and + his visit was neither brief nor dull. A little later Tembarom with his + guests dined at Stone Hover, and the dinner was further removed from + dullness than any one of numerous past dinners always noted for being the + most agreeable the neighborhood afforded. The duke managed his guest as an + impresario might have managed his tenor, though this was done with subtly + concealed methods. He had indeed a novelty to offer which had been + discussed with much uncertainty of point of view. He presented it to an + only languidly entertained neighborhood as a trouvaille of his own choice. + Here was drama, here was atmosphere, here was charm verging in its + character upon the occult. You would not see it if you were not a + collector of such values. + </p> + <p> + “Nobody will be likely to see him as he is unless he is pointed out to + them,” was what he said to his daughters. “But being bored to death,—we + are all bored,—once adroitly assisted to suspect him of being + alluring, most of them will spring upon him and clasp him to their wearied + breasts. I haven't the least idea what will happen afterward. I shall in + fact await the result with interest.” + </p> + <p> + Being told Palliser's story of the “Ladies,” he listened, holding the tips + of his fingers together, and wearing an expression of deep interest + slightly baffled in its nature. It was Lady Edith who related the anecdote + to him. + </p> + <p> + “Now,” he said, “it would be very curious and complicating if that were + true; but I don't believe it is. Palliser, of course, likes to tell a good + story. I shall be able to discover in time whether it is true or not; but + at present I don't believe it.” + </p> + <p> + Following the dinner party at Stone Hover came many others. All the + well-known carriages began to roll up the avenue to Temple Barholm. The + Temple Barholm carriages also began to roll down the avenue and between + the stone griffins on their way to festive gatherings of varied order. + Burrill and the footmen ventured to reconsider their early plans for + giving warning. It wasn't so bad if the country was going to take him up. + </p> + <p> + “Do you see what is happening?” Lady Mallowe said to Joan. “The man is + becoming actually popular.” + </p> + <p> + “He is popular as a turn at a music hall is,” answered Joan. “He will be + dropped as he was taken up.” + </p> + <p> + “There's something about him they like, and he represents what everybody + most wants. For God's sake! Joan, don't behave like a fool this time. The + case is more desperate. There is nothing else—nothing.” + </p> + <p> + “There never was,” said Joan, “and I know the desperateness of the case. + How long are you going to stay here?” + </p> + <p> + “I am going to stay for some time. They are not conventional people. It + can be managed very well. We are relatives.” + </p> + <p> + “Will you stay,” inquired Joan in a low voice, “until they ask you to + remove yourself?” + </p> + <p> + Lady Mallowe smiled an agreeably subtle smile. + </p> + <p> + “Not quite that,” she answered. “Miss Alicia would never have the courage + to suggest it. It takes courage and sophistication to do that sort of + thing. Mr. Temple Barholm evidently wants us to remain. He will be willing + to make as much of the relationship as we choose to let him.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you choose to let him make as much of it as will establish us here for + weeks—or months?” Joan asked, her low voice shaking a little. + </p> + <p> + “That will depend entirely upon circumstances. It will, in fact, depend + entirely upon you,” said Lady Mallowe, her lips setting themselves into a + straight, thin line. + </p> + <p> + For an appreciable moment Joan was silent; but after it she lost her head + and whirled about. + </p> + <p> + “I shall go away,” she cried. + </p> + <p> + “Where?” asked Lady Mallowe. + </p> + <p> + “Back to London.” + </p> + <p> + “How much money have you?” asked her mother. She knew she had none. She + was always sufficiently shrewd to see that she had none. If the girl had + had a pound a week of her own, her mother had always realized that she + would have been unmanageable. After the Jem Temple Barholm affair she + would have been capable of going to live alone in slums. As it was, she + knew enough to be aware that she was too handsome to walk out into + Piccadilly without a penny in her pocket; so it had been just possible to + keep her indoors. + </p> + <p> + “How much money have you?” she repeated quietly. This was the way in which + their unbearable scenes began—the scenes which the servants passing + the doors paused to listen to in the hope that her ladyship would forget + that raised voices may be heard by the discreet outsider. + </p> + <p> + “How much money have you?” she said again. + </p> + <p> + Joan looked at her; this time it was for about five seconds. She turned + her back on her and walked out of the room. Shortly afterward Lady Mallowe + saw her walking down the avenue in the rain, which was beginning to fall. + </p> + <p> + She had left the house because she dared not stay in it. Once out in the + park, she folded her long purple cloak about her and pulled her soft + purple felt hat down over her brows, walking swiftly under the big trees + without knowing where she intended to go before she returned. She liked + the rain, she liked the heavy clouds; she wore her dark purples because + she felt a fantastic, secret comfort in calling them her mourning—her + mourning which she would wear forevermore. + </p> + <p> + No one could know so well as herself how desperate from her own point of + view the case was. She had long known that her mother would not hesitate + for a moment before any chance of a second marriage which would totally + exclude her daughter from her existence. Why should she, after all, Joan + thought? They had always been antagonists. The moment of chance had been + looming on the horizon for months. Sir Moses Monaldini had hovered about + fitfully and evidently doubtfully at first, more certainly and frequently + of late, but always with a clearly objecting eye cast askance upon + herself. With determination and desire to establish a social certainty, + astute enough not to care specially for young beauty and exactions he did + not purpose to submit to, and keen enough to see the advantage of a + handsome woman with bitter reason to value what was offered to her in the + form of a luxurious future, Sir Moses was moving toward action, though + with proper caution. He would have no penniless daughters hanging about + scowling and sneering. None of that for him. And the ripest apple upon the + topmost bow in the highest wind would not drop more readily to his feet + than her mother would, Joan knew with sharp and shamed burnings. + </p> + <p> + As the rain fell, she walked in her purple cloak, unpaid for, and her + purple hat, for which they had been dunned with threatening insults, and + knew that she did not own and could not earn a penny. She could not dig, + and to beg she was ashamed, and all the more horribly because she had been + a beggar of the meaner order all her life. It made her sick to think of + the perpetual visits they had made where they were not wanted, of the + times when they had been politely bundled out of places, of the methods + which had been used to induce shop-keepers to let them run up bills. For + years her mother and she had been walking advertisements of smart shops + because both were handsome, wore clothes well, and carried them where they + would be seen and talked about. Now this would be all over, since it had + been Lady Mallowe who had managed all details. Thrown upon her own + resources, Joan would have none of them, even though she must walk in + rags. Her education had prepared her for only one thing—to marry + well, if luck were on her side. It had never been on her side. If she had + never met Jem, she would have married somebody, since that would have been + better than the inevitable last slide into an aging life spent in cheap + lodgings with her mother. But Jem had been the beginning and the end. + </p> + <p> + She bit her lips as she walked, and suddenly tears swept down her cheeks + and dripped on to the purple cloth folded over her breast. + </p> + <p> + “And he sits in Jem's place! And every day that common, foolish stare will + follow me!” she said. + </p> + <p> + He sat, it was true, in the place Jem Temple Barholm would have occupied + if he had been a living man, and he looked at her a good deal. Perhaps he + sometimes unconsciously stared because she made him think of many things. + But if she had been in a state of mind admitting of judicial fairness, she + would have been obliged to own that it was not quite a foolish stare. + Absorbed, abstracted, perhaps, but it was not foolish. Sometimes, on the + contrary, it was searching and keen. + </p> + <p> + Of course he was doing his best to please her. Of all the “Ladies,” it + seemed evident that he was most attracted by her. He tried to talk to her + despite her unending rebuffs, he followed her about and endeavored to + interest her, he presented a hide-bound unsensitiveness when she did her + worst. Perhaps he did not even know that she was being icily rude. He was + plainly “making up to her” after the manner of his class. He was perhaps + playing the part of the patient adorer who melted by noble long-suffering + in novels distinguished by heroes of humble origin. + </p> + <p> + She had reached the village when the rain changed its mind, and without + warning began to pour down as if the black cloud passing overhead had + suddenly opened. She was wondering if she would not turn in somewhere for + shelter until the worst was over when a door opened and Tembarom ran out + with an umbrella. + </p> + <p> + “Come in to the Hibblethwaites cottage, Lady Joan,” he said. “This will be + over directly.” + </p> + <p> + He did not affectionately hustle her in by the arm as he would have + hustled in Miss Alicia, but he closely guarded her with the umbrella until + he guided her inside. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you,” she said. + </p> + <p> + The first object she became aware of was a thin face with pointed chin and + ferret eyes peering at her round the end of a sofa, then a sharp voice. + </p> + <p> + “Tak' off her cloak an' shake th' rain off it in th' wash 'us',” it said. + “Mother an' Aunt Susan's out. Let him unbutton it fer thee.” + </p> + <p> + “I can unbutton it myself, thank you,” said Lady Joan. Tembarom took it + when she had unbuttoned it. He took it from her shoulders before she had + time to stop him. Then he walked into the tiny “wash 'us” and shook it + thoroughly. He came back and hung it on a chair before the fire. + </p> + <p> + Tummas was leaning back in his pillows and gazing at her. + </p> + <p> + “I know tha name,” he said. “He towd me,” with a jerk of the head toward + Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “Did he?” replied Lady Joan without interest. + </p> + <p> + A flaringly illustrated New York paper was spread out upon his sofa. He + pushed it aside and pulled the shabby atlas toward him. It fell open at a + map of North America as if through long habit. + </p> + <p> + “Sit thee down,” he ordered. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom had stood watching them both. + </p> + <p> + “I guess you'd better not do that,” he suggested to Tummas. + </p> + <p> + “Why not?” said the boy, sharply. “She's th' wench he was goin' to marry. + It's th' same as if he'd married her. If she wur his widder, she'd want to + talk about him. Widders allus wants to talk. Why shouldn't she? Women's + women. He'd ha' wanted to talk about her.” + </p> + <p> + “Who is `he'?” asked Joan with stiff lips. + </p> + <p> + “The Temple Barholm as' 'd be here if he was na.” + </p> + <p> + Joan turned to Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “Do you come here to talk to this boy about HIM?” she said. “How dare + you!” + </p> + <p> + Tummas's eyes snapped; his voice snapped also. + </p> + <p> + “He knew next to nowt about him till I towd him,” he said. “Then he came + to ax me things an' foind out more. He knows as much as I do now. Us sits + here an' talks him over.” + </p> + <p> + Lady Joan still addressed Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “What interest can you have in the man who ought to be in your place?” she + asked. “What possible interest?” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” he answered awkwardly, “because he ought to be, I suppose. Ain't + that reason enough?” + </p> + <p> + He had never had to deal with women who hated him and who were angry and + he did not know exactly what to say. He had known very few women, and he + had always been good-natured with them and won their liking in some + measure. Also, there was in his attitude toward this particular woman a + baffled feeling that he could not make her understand him. She would + always think of him as an enemy and believe he meant things he did not + mean. If he had been born and educated in her world, he could have used + her own language; but he could use only his own, and there were so many + things he must not say for a time at least. + </p> + <p> + “Do you not realize,” she said, “that you are presuming upon your position—that + you and this boy are taking liberties?” + </p> + <p> + Tummas broke in wholly without compunction. + </p> + <p> + “I've taken liberties aw my loife,” he stated, “an' I'm goin' to tak' 'em + till I dee. They're th' on'y things I can tak', lyin' here crippled, an' + I'm goin' to tak' 'em.” + </p> + <p> + “Stop that, Tummas!” said Tembarom with friendly authority. “She doesn't + catch on, and you don't catch on, either. You're both of you 'way off. + Stop it!” + </p> + <p> + “I thought happen she could tell me things I didn't know,” protested + Tummas, throwing himself back on his pillows. “If she conna, she conna, + an' if she wunnot, she wunnot. Get out wi' thee!” he said to Joan. “I + dunnot want thee about th' place.” + </p> + <p> + “Say,” said Tembarom, “shut up!” + </p> + <p> + “I am going,” said Lady Joan and turned to open the door. + </p> + <p> + The rain was descending in torrents, but she passed swiftly out into its + deluge walking as rapidly as she could. She thought she cared nothing + about the rain, but it dashed in her face and eyes, taking her breath + away, and she had need of breath when her heart was beating with such + fierceness. + </p> + <p> + “If she wur his widder,” the boy had said. + </p> + <p> + Even chance could not let her alone at one of her worst moments. She + walked faster and faster because she was afraid Tembarom would follow her, + and in a few minutes she heard him splashing behind her, and then he was + at her side, holding the umbrella over her head. + </p> + <p> + “You're a good walker,” he said, “but I'm a sprinter. I trained running + after street cars and catching the 'L' in New York.” + </p> + <p> + She had so restrained her miserable hysteric impulse to break down and + utterly humiliate herself under the unexpected blow of the episode in the + cottage that she had had no breath to spare when she left the room, and + her hurried effort to escape had left her so much less that she did not + speak. + </p> + <p> + “I'll tell you something,” he went on. “He's a little freak, but you can't + blame him much. Don't be mad at him. He's never moved from that corner + since he was born, I guess, and he's got nothing to do or to think of but + just hearing what's happening outside. He's sort of crazy curious, and + when he gets hold of a thing that suits him he just holds on to it till + the last bell rings.” + </p> + <p> + She said nothing whatever, and he paused a moment because he wanted to + think over the best way to say the next thing. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. James Temple Barholm “—he ventured it with more delicacy of + desire not to seem to “take liberties” than she would have credited him + with—“saw his mother sitting with him in her arms at the cottage + door a week or so after he was born. He stopped at the gate and talked to + her about him, and he left him a sovereign. He's got it now. It seems a + fortune to him. He's made a sort of idol of him. That's why he talks like + he does. I wouldn't let it make me mad if I were you.” + </p> + <p> + He did not know that she could not have answered him if she would, that + she felt that if he did not stop she might fling herself down upon the wet + heather and wail aloud. + </p> + <p> + “You don't like me,” he began after they had walked a few steps farther. + “You don't like me.” + </p> + <p> + This was actually better. It choked back the sobs rising in her throat. + The stupid shock of it, his tasteless foolishness, helped her by its very + folly to a sort of defense against the disastrous wave of emotion she + might not have been able to control. She gathered herself together. + </p> + <p> + “It must be an unusual experience,” she answered. + </p> + <p> + “Well, it is—sort of,” he said, but in a manner curiously free from + fatuous swagger. “I've had luck that way. I guess it's been because I'd + GOT to make friends so as I could earn a living. It seems sort of queer to + know that some one's got a grouch against me that—that I can't get + away with.” + </p> + <p> + She looked up the avenue to see how much farther they must walk together, + since she was not “a sprinter” and could not get away from him. She + thought she caught a glimpse through the trees of a dog-cart driven by a + groom, and hoped she had not mistaken and that it was driving in their + direction. + </p> + <p> + “It must, indeed,” she said, “though I am not sure I quite understand what + a grouch is.” + </p> + <p> + “When you've got a grouch against a fellow,” he explained impersonally, + “you want to get at him. You want to make him feel like a mutt; and a + mutt's the worst kind of a fool. You've got one against me.” + </p> + <p> + She looked before her between narrowed lids and faintly smiled—the + most disagreeable smile she was capable of. And yet for some too + extraordinary reason he went on. But she had seen men go on before this + when all the odds were against them. Sometimes their madness took them + this way. + </p> + <p> + “I knew there was a lot against me when I came here,” he persisted. “I + should have been a fool if I hadn't. I knew when you came that I was up + against a pretty hard proposition; but I thought perhaps if I got busy and + SHOWED you—you've got to SHOW a person—” + </p> + <p> + “Showed me what?” she asked contemptuously. + </p> + <p> + “Showed you—well—me,” he tried to explain. + </p> + <p> + “You!” + </p> + <p> + “And that I wanted to be friends,” he added candidly. + </p> + <p> + Was the man mad? Did he realize nothing? Was he too thick of skin even to + see? + </p> + <p> + “Friends! You and I?” The words ought to have scorched him, pachyderm + though he was. + </p> + <p> + “I thought you'd give me a chance—a sort of chance—” + </p> + <p> + She stopped short on the avenue. + </p> + <p> + “You did?” + </p> + <p> + She had not been mistaken. The dog-cart had rounded the far-off curve and + was coming toward them. And the man went on talking. + </p> + <p> + “You've felt every minute that I was in a place that didn't belong to me. + You know that if the man that it did belong to was here, you'd be here + with him. You felt as if I'd robbed him of it—and I'd robbed you. It + was your home—yours. You hated me too much to think of anything + else. Suppose—suppose there was a way I could give it back to you—make + it your home again.” + </p> + <p> + His voice dropped and was rather unsteady. The fool, the gross, brutal, + vulgar, hopeless fool! He thought this was the way to approach her, to + lead her to listen to his proposal of marriage! Not for a second did she + guess that they were talking at cross purposes. She did not know that as + he kept himself steady under her contemptuousness he was thinking that Ann + would have to own that he had been up against it hard and plenty while the + thing was going on. + </p> + <p> + “I'm always up against it when I'm talking to you,” he said. “You get me + rattled. There's things I want to talk about and ask you. Suppose you give + me a chance, and let us start out by being sort of friends.” + </p> + <p> + “I am staying in your house,” she answered in a deadly voice, “and I + cannot go away because my mother will not let me. You can force yourself + upon me, if you choose, because I cannot help it; but understand once for + all that I will not give you your ridiculous chance. And I will not utter + one word to you when I can avoid it.” + </p> + <p> + He was silent for a moment and seemed to be thinking rather deeply. She + realized now that he saw the nearing dog-cart. + </p> + <p> + “You won't. Then it's up to me,” he said. Then with a change of tone, he + added, “I'll stop the cart and tell the man to drive you to the house. I'm + not going to force myself on you, as you call it. It'd be no use. Perhaps + it'll come all right in the end.” + </p> + <p> + He made a sign to the groom, who hastened his horse's pace and drew up + when he reached them. + </p> + <p> + “Take this lady back to the house,” he said. + </p> + <p> + The groom, who was a new arrival, began to prepare to get down and give up + his place. + </p> + <p> + “You needn't do that,” said Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “Won't you get up and take the reins, sir?” the man asked uncertainly. + </p> + <p> + “No. I can't drive. You'll have to do it. I'll walk.” + </p> + <p> + And to the groom's amazement, they left him standing under the trees + looking after them. + </p> + <p> + “It's up to me,” he was saying. “The whole durned thing's up to me.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0026" id="link2HCH0026"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVI + </h2> + <p> + The neighborhood of Temple Barholm was not, upon the whole, a brilliant + one. Indeed, it had been frankly designated by the casual guest as dull. + The country was beautiful enough, and several rather large estates lay + within reach of one another, but their owners were neither very rich nor + especially notable personages. They were of extremely good old blood, and + were of established respectability. None of them, however, was given to + entertaining house parties made up of the smart and dazzlingly sinful + world of fashion said by moralists to be composed entirely of young and + mature beauties, male and female, capable of supplying at any moment + enlivening detail for the divorce court—glittering beings whose + wardrobes were astonishing and whose conversations were composed wholly of + brilliant paradox and sparkling repartee. + </p> + <p> + Most of the residents took their sober season in London, the men of the + family returning gladly to their pheasants, the women not regretfully to + their gardens and tennis, because their successes in town had not been + particularly delirious. The guests who came to them were generally as + respectable and law-abiding as themselves, and introduced no iconoclastic + diversions. For the greater portion of the year, in fact, diners out were + of the neighborhood and met the neighborhood, and were reduced to + discussing neighborhood topics, which was not, on the whole, a fevered + joy. The Duke of Stone was, perhaps, the one man who might have furnished + topics. Privately it was believed, and in part known, that he at least had + had a brilliant, if not wholly unreprehensible, past. He might have + introduced enlivening elements from London, even from Paris, Vienna, + Berlin, and Rome; but the sobering influence of years of rheumatic gout + and a not entirely sufficing income prevented activities, and his opinions + of his social surroundings were vaguely guessed to be those of a not too + lenient critic. + </p> + <p> + “I do not know anything technical or scientific about ditch-water,” he had + expressed himself in the bosom of his family. “I never analyzed it, but + analyzers, I gather, consider it dull. If anything could be duller than + ditch-water, I should say it was Stone Hover and its surrounding + neighborhood.” He had also remarked at another time: “If our society could + be enriched by some of the characters who form the house parties and seem, + in fact, integral parts of all country society in modern problem or even + unproblem novels, how happy one might be, how edified and amused! A wicked + lady or so of high, or extremely low, rank, of immense beauty and + corruscating brilliancy; a lovely creature, male or female, whom she is + bent upon undoing—” + </p> + <p> + “Dear papa!” protested Lady Celia. + </p> + <p> + “Reproach me, dearest. Reproach me as severely as you please. It inspires + me. It makes me feel like a wicked, dangerous man, and I have not felt + like one for many years. Such persons as I describe form the charm of + existence, I assure you. A ruthless adventuress with any kind of good + looks would be the making of us. Several of them, of different types, a + handsome villain, and a few victims unknowing of their fate, would cause + life to flow by like a peaceful stream.” + </p> + <p> + Lady Edith laughed an unseemly little laugh—unseemly, since filial + regret at paternal obliquity should have restrained it. + </p> + <p> + “Papa, you are quite horrible,” she said. “You ought not to make your few + daughters laugh at improper things.” + </p> + <p> + “I would make my daughters laugh at anything so long as I must doom them + to Stone Hover—and Lady Pevensy and Mrs. Stoughton and the rector, + if one may mention names,” he answered. “To see you laugh revives me by + reminding me that once I was considered a witty person—quite so. + Some centuries ago, however; about the time when things were being rebuilt + after the flood.” + </p> + <p> + In such circumstances it cannot be found amazing that a situation such as + Temple Barholm presented should provide rich food for conversation, + supposition, argument, and humorous comment. + </p> + <p> + T. Tembarom himself, after the duke had established him, furnished an + unlimited source of interest. His household became a perennial fount of + quiet discussion. Lady Mallowe and her daughter were the members of it who + met with the most attention. They appeared to have become members of it + rather than visitors. Her ladyship had plainly elected to extend her stay + even beyond the period to which a fond relative might feel entitled to + hospitality. She had been known to extend visits before with great + cleverness, but this one assumed an established aspect. She was not going + away, the neighborhood decided, until she had achieved that which she had + come to accomplish. The present unconventional atmosphere of the place + naturally supported her. And how probable it seemed, taking into + consideration Captain Palliser's story, that Mr. Temple Barholm wished her + to stay. Lady Joan would be obliged to stay also, if her mother intended + that she should. But the poor American—there were some expressions + of sympathy, though the situation was greatly added to by the feature—the + poor American was being treated by Lady Joan as only she could treat a + man. It was worth inviting the whole party to dinner or tea or lunch + merely to see the two together. The manner in which she managed to ignore + him and be scathing to him without apparently infringing a law of + civility, and the number of laws she sometimes chose to sweep aside when + it was her mood to do so, were extraordinary. If she had not been a + beauty, with a sort of mystic charm for the male creature, surely he would + have broken his chains. But he did not. What was he going to do in the + end? What was she going to do? What was Lady Mallowe going to do if there + was no end at all? He was not as unhappy-looking a lover as one might have + expected, they said. He kept up his spirits wonderfully. Perhaps she was + not always as icily indifferent to him as she chose to appear in public. + Temple Barholm was a great estate, and Sir Moses Monaldini had been + mentioned by rumor. Of course there would be something rather strange and + tragic in it if she came to Temple Barholm as its mistress in such + singular circumstances. But he certainly did not look depressed or + discouraged. So they talked it over as they looked on. + </p> + <p> + “How they gossip! How delightfully they gossip!” said the duke. “But it is + such a perfect subject. They have never been so enthralled before. Dear + young man! how grateful we ought to be for him!” + </p> + <p> + One of the most discussed features of the case was the duke's own + cultivation of the central figure. There was an actual oddity about it. He + drove from Stone Hover to Temple Barholm repeatedly. He invited Tembarom + to the castle and had long talks with him—long, comfortable talks in + secluded, delightful rooms or under great trees on a lawn. He wanted to + hear anecdotes of his past, to draw him on to giving his points of view. + When he spoke of him to his daughters, he called him “T. Tembarom,” but + the slight derision of his earlier tone modified itself. + </p> + <p> + “That delightful young man will shortly become my closest intimate,” he + said. “He not only keeps up my spirits, but he opens up vistas. Vistas + after a man's seventy-second birthday! At times I could clasp him to my + breast.” + </p> + <p> + “I like him first rate,” Tembarom said to Miss Alicia. “I liked him the + minute he got up laughing like an old sport when he fell out of the pony + carriage.” + </p> + <p> + As he became more intimate with him, he liked him still better. Obscured + though it was by airy, elderly persiflage, he began to come upon a + background of stability and points of view wholly to be relied on in his + new acquaintance. It had evolved itself out of long and varied experience, + with the aid of brilliant mentality. The old peer's reasons were always + logical. He laughed at most things, but at a few he did not laugh at all. + After several of the long conversations Tembarom began to say to himself + that this seemed like a man you need not be afraid to talk things over + with—things you didn't want to speak of to everybody. + </p> + <p> + “Seems to me,” he said thoughtfully to Miss Alicia, “he's an old fellow + you could tie to. I've got on to one thing when I've listened to him: he + talks all he wants to and laughs a lot, but he never gives himself away. + He wouldn't give another fellow away either if he said he wouldn't. He + knows how not to.” + </p> + <p> + There was an afternoon on which during a drive they took together the duke + was enlightened as to several points which had given him cause for + reflection, among others the story beloved of Captain Palliser and his + audiences. + </p> + <p> + “I guess you've known a good many women,” T. Tembarom remarked on this + occasion after a few minutes of thought. “Living all over the world as + you've done, you'd be likely to come across a whole raft of them one time + and another.” + </p> + <p> + “A whole raft of them, one time and another,” agreed the duke. “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “You've liked them, haven't you?” + </p> + <p> + “Immensely. Sometimes a trifle disastrously. Find me a more absolutely + interesting object in the universe than a woman—any woman—and + I will devote the remainder of my declining years to the study of it,” + answered his grace. + </p> + <p> + He said it with a decision which made T. Tembarom turn to look at him, and + after his look decide to proceed. + </p> + <p> + “Have you ever known a bit of a slim thing”—he made an odd embracing + gesture with his arm—“the size that you could pick up with one hand + and set on your knee as if she was a child”—the duke remained still, + knowing this was only the beginning and pricking up his ears as he took a + rapid kaleidoscopic view of all the “Ladies” in the neighborhood, and as + hastily waved them aside—“a bit of a thing that some way seems to + mean it all to you—and moves the world?” The conclusion was one + which brought the incongruous touch of maturity into his face. + </p> + <p> + “Not one of the `Ladies,”' the duke was mentally summing the matter up. + “Certainly not Lady Joan, after all. Not, I think, even the young person + in the department store.” + </p> + <p> + He leaned back in his corner the better to inspect his companion directly. + </p> + <p> + “You have, I see,” he replied quietly. “Once I myself did.” (He had cried + out, “Ah! Heloise!” though he had laughed at himself when he seemed facing + his ridiculous tragedy.) + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” confessed T. Tembarom. “I met her at the boarding-house where I + lived. Her father was a Lancashire man and an inventor. I guess you've + heard of him; his name is Joseph Hutchinson.” + </p> + <p> + The whole country had heard of him; more countries, indeed, than one had + heard. He was the man who was going to make his fortune in America because + T. Tembarom had stood by him in his extremity. He would make a fortune in + America and another in England and possibly several others on the + Continent. He had learned to read in the village school, and the girl was + his daughter. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” replied the duke. + </p> + <p> + “I don't know whether the one you knew had that quiet little way of seeing + right straight into a thing, and making you see it, too,” said Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “She had,” answered the duke, and an odd expression wavered in his eyes + because he was looking backward across forty years which seemed a hundred. + </p> + <p> + “That's what I meant by moving the world,” T. Tembarom went on. “You know + she's RIGHT, and you've got to do what she says, if you love her.” + </p> + <p> + “And you always do,” said the duke—“always and forever. There are + very few. They are the elect.” + </p> + <p> + T. Tembarom took it gravely. + </p> + <p> + “I said to her once that there wasn't more than one of her in the world + because there couldn't be enough to make two of that kind. I wasn't + joshing either; I meant it. It's her quiet little voice and her quiet, + babyfied eyes that get you where you can't move. And it's something else + you don't know anything about. It's her never doing anything for herself, + but just doing it because it's the right thing for you.” + </p> + <p> + The duke's chin had sunk a little on his breast, and looking back across + the hundred years, he forgot for a moment where he was. The one he + remembered had been another man's wife, a little angel brought up in a + convent by white-souled nuns, passed over by her people to an elderly + vaurien of great magnificence, and she had sent the strong, laughing, + impassioned young English peer away before it was too late, and with the + young, young eyes of her looking upward at him in that way which saw + “straight into a thing” and with that quiet little voice. So long ago! So + long ago! + </p> + <p> + “Ah! Heloise!” he sighed unconsciously. + </p> + <p> + “What did you say?” asked T. Tembarom. The duke came back. + </p> + <p> + “I was thinking of the time when I was nine and twenty,” he answered. “It + was not yesterday nor even the day before. The one I knew died when she + was twenty-four.” + </p> + <p> + “Died!” said Tembarom. “Good Lord!” He dropped his head and even changed + color. “A fellow can't get on to a thing like that. It seems as if it + couldn't happen. Suppose—” he caught his breath hard and then pulled + himself up—“Nothing could happen to her before she knew that I've + proved what I said—just proved it, and done every single thing she + told me to do.” + </p> + <p> + “I am sure you have,” the duke said. + </p> + <p> + “It's because of that I began to say this.” Tembarom spoke hurriedly that + he might thrust away the sudden dark thought. “You're a man, and I'm a + man; far away ahead of me as you are, you're a man, too. I was crazy to + get her to marry me and come here with me, and she wouldn't.” + </p> + <p> + The duke's eyes lighted anew. + </p> + <p> + “She had her reasons,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “She laid 'em out as if she'd been my mother instead of a little + red-headed angel that you wanted to snatch up and crush up to you so she + couldn't breathe. She didn't waste a word. She just told me what I was up + against. She'd lived in the village with her grandmother, and she knew. + She said I'd got to come and find out for myself what no one else could + teach me. She told me about the kind of girls I'd see—beauties that + were different from anything I'd ever seen before. And it was up to me to + see all of them—the best of them.” + </p> + <p> + “Ladies?” interjected the duke gently. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. With titles like those in novels, she said, and clothes like those + in the Ladies' Pictorial. The kind of girls, she said, that would make her + look like a housemaid. Housemaid be darned!” he exclaimed, suddenly + growing hot. “I've seen the whole lot of them; I've done my darndest to + get next, and there's not one—” he stopped short. “Why should any of + them look at me, anyhow?” he added suddenly. + </p> + <p> + “That was not her point,” remarked the duke. “She wanted you to look at + them, and you have looked.” T. Tembarom's eagerness was inspiring to + behold. + </p> + <p> + “I have, haven't I?” he cried. “That was what I wanted to ask you. I've + done as she said. I haven't shirked a thing. I've followed them around + when I knew they hadn't any use on earth for me. Some of them have handed + me the lemon pretty straight. Why shouldn't they? But I don't believe she + knew how tough it might be for a fellow sometimes.” + </p> + <p> + “No, she did not,” the duke said. “Also she probably did not know that in + ancient days of chivalry ladies sent forth their knights to bear buffeting + for their sakes in proof of fealty. Rise up, Sir Knight!” This last phrase + of course T. Tembarom did not know the poetic significance of. + </p> + <p> + To his hearer Palliser's story became an amusing thing, read in the light + of this most delicious frankness. It was Palliser himself who played the + fool, and not T. Tembarom, who had simply known what he wanted, and had, + with businesslike directness, applied himself to finding a method of + obtaining it. The young women he gave his time to must be “Ladies” because + Miss Hutchinson had required it from him. The female flower of the noble + houses had been passed in review before him to practise upon, so to speak. + The handsomer they were, the more dangerously charming, the better Miss + Hutchinson would be pleased. And he had been regarded as a presumptuous + aspirant. It was a situation for a comedy. But the “Ladies” would not + enjoy it if they were told. It was also not the Duke of Stone who would + tell them. They could not in the least understand the subtlety of the + comedy in which they had unconsciously taken part. Ann Hutchinson's + grandmother curtsied to them in her stiff old way when they passed. Ann + Hutchinson had gone to the village school and been presented with prizes + for needlework and good behavior. But what a girl she must be, the slim + bit of a thing with a red head! What a clear-headed and firm little + person! + </p> + <p> + In courts he had learned to wear a composed countenance when he was + prompted to smile, and he wore one now. He enjoyed the society of T. + Tembarom increasingly every hour. He provided him with every joy. + </p> + <p> + Their drive was a long one, and they talked a good deal. They talked of + the Hutchinsons, of the invention, of the business “deals” Tembarom had + entered into at the outset, and of their tremendously encouraging result. + It was not mere rumor that Hutchinson would end by being a rich man. The + girl would be an heiress. How complex her position would be! And being of + the elect who unknowingly bear with them the power that “moves the world,” + how would she affect Temple Barholm and its surrounding neighborhood? + </p> + <p> + “I wish to God she was here now!” exclaimed Tembarom, suddenly. + </p> + <p> + It had been an interesting talk, but now and then the duke had wondered + if, as it went on, his companion was as wholly at his ease as was usual + with him. An occasional shade of absorption in his expression, as if he + were thinking of two things at once despite himself, a hint of + restlessness, revealed themselves occasionally. Was there something more + he was speculating on the possibility of saying, something more to tell or + explain? If there was, let him take his time. His audience, at all events, + was possessed of perceptions. This somewhat abrupt exclamation might open + the way. + </p> + <p> + “That is easily understood, my dear fellow,” replied the duke. + </p> + <p> + “There's times when you want a little thing like that just to talk things + over with, just to ask, because you—you're dead sure she'd never + lose her head and give herself away without knowing she was doing it. She + could just keep still and let the waves roll over her and be standing + there ready and quiet when the tide had passed. It's the keeping your + mouth shut that's so hard for most people, the not saying a darned thing, + whatever happens, till just the right time.” + </p> + <p> + “Women cannot often do it,” said the duke. “Very few men can.” + </p> + <p> + “You're right,” Tembarom answered, and there was a trifle of anxiety in + his tone. + </p> + <p> + “There's women, just the best kind, that you daren't tell a big thing to. + Not that they'd mean to give it away—perhaps they wouldn't know when + they did it—but they'd feel so anxious they'd get—they'd get—” + </p> + <p> + “Rattled,” put in the duke, and knew who he was thinking of. He saw Miss + Alicia's delicate, timid face as he spoke. + </p> + <p> + T. Tembarom laughed. + </p> + <p> + “That's just it,” he answered. “They wouldn't go back on you for worlds, + but—well, you have to be careful with them.” + </p> + <p> + “He's got something on his mind,” mentally commented the duke. “He wonders + if he will tell it to me.” + </p> + <p> + “And there's times when you'd give half you've got to be able to talk a + thing out and put it up to some one else for a while. I could do it with + her. That's why I said I wish to God that she was here.” + </p> + <p> + “You have learned to know how to keep still,” the duke said. “So have I. + We learned it in different schools, but we have both learned.” + </p> + <p> + As he was saying the words, he thought he was going to hear something; + when he had finished saying them he knew that he would without a doubt. T. + Tembarom made a quick move in his seat; he lost a shade of color and + cleared his throat as he bent forward, casting a glance at the backs of + the coachman and footman on the high seat above them. + </p> + <p> + “Can those fellows hear me?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “No,” the duke answered; “if you speak as you are speaking now.” + </p> + <p> + “You are the biggest man about here,” the young man went on. “You stand + for everything that English people care for, and you were born knowing all + the things I don't. I've been carrying a big load for quite a while, and I + guess I'm not big enough to handle it alone, perhaps. Anyhow, I want to be + sure I'm not making fool mistakes. The worst of it is that I've got to + keep still if I'm right, and I've got to keep still if I'm wrong. I've got + to keep still, anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + “I learned to hold my tongue in places where, if I had not held it, I + might have plunged nations into bloodshed,” the duke said. “Tell me all + you choose.” + </p> + <p> + As a result of which, by the time their drive had ended and they returned + to Stone Hover, he had told him, and, the duke sat in his corner of the + carriage with an unusual light in his eyes and a flush of somewhat excited + color on his cheek. + </p> + <p> + “You're a queer fellow, T. Tembarom,” he said when they parted in the + drawing-room after taking tea. “You exhilarate me. You make me laugh. If I + were an emotional person, you would at moments make me cry. There's an + affecting uprightness about you. You're rather a fine fellow too, 'pon my + life.” Putting a waxen, gout-knuckled old hand on his shoulder, and giving + him a friendly push which was half a pat, he added, “You are, by God!” + </p> + <p> + And after his guest had left him, the duke stood for some minutes gazing + into the fire with a complicated smile and the air of a man who finds + himself quaintly enriched. + </p> + <p> + “I have had ambitions in the course of my existence—several of + them,” he said, “but even in over-vaulting moments never have I aspired to + such an altitude as this—to be, as it were, part of a melodrama. One + feels that one scarcely deserves it.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0027" id="link2HCH0027"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVII + </h2> + <p> + “Mr. Temple Barholm seems in better spirits,” Lady Mallowe said to Captain + Palliser as they walked on the terrace in the starlight dusk after dinner. + </p> + <p> + Captain Palliser took his cigar from his mouth and looked at the glowing + end of it. + </p> + <p> + “Has it struck you that he has been in low spirits?” he inquired + speculatively. “One does not usually connect him with depression.” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly not with depression. He's an extraordinary creature. One would + think he would perish from lack of the air he is used to breathing—New + York air.” + </p> + <p> + “He is not perishing. He's too shrewd,” returned Palliser. “He mayn't + exactly like all this, but he's getting something out of it.” + </p> + <p> + “He is not getting much of what he evidently wants most. I am out of all + patience,” said Lady Mallowe. + </p> + <p> + Her acquaintance with Palliser had lasted through a number of years. They + argued most matters from the same basis of reasoning. They were at times + almost candid with each other. It may be acknowledged, however, that of + the two Lady Mallowe was the more inclined to verge on self-revelation. + This was of course because she was the less clever and had more temper. + Her temper, she had, now and then, owned bitterly to herself, had played + her tricks. Captain Palliser's temper never did this. It was Lady + Mallowe's temper which spoke now, but she did not in the least mind his + knowing that Joan was exasperating her beyond endurance. He knew the whole + situation well enough to be aware of it without speech on her part. He had + watched similar situations several times before. + </p> + <p> + “Her manner toward him is, to resort to New York colloquialisms, `the + limit,'” Palliser said quietly. “Is it your idea that his less good + spirits have been due to Lady Joan's ingenuities? They are ingenious, you + know.” + </p> + <p> + “They are devilish,” exclaimed her mother. “She treads him in the mire and + sails about professing to be conducting herself flawlessly. She is too + clever for me,” she added with bitterness. + </p> + <p> + Palliser laughed softly. + </p> + <p> + “But very often you have been too clever for her,” he suggested. “For my + part, I don't quite see how you got her here.” + </p> + <p> + Lady Mallowe became not almost, but entirely, candid. + </p> + <p> + “Upon the whole, I don't quite know myself. I believe she really came for + some mysterious reason of her own.” + </p> + <p> + “That is rather my impression,” said Palliser. “She has got something up + her sleeve, and so has he.” + </p> + <p> + “He!” Lady Mallowe quite ejaculated the word. “She always has. That's her + abominable secretive way. But he! T. Tembarom with something up his + sleeve! One can't imagine it.” + </p> + <p> + “Almost everybody has. I found that out long years ago,” said Palliser, + looking at his cigar end again as if consulting it. “Since I arrived at + the conclusion, I always take it for granted, and look out for it. I've + become rather clever in following such things up, and I have taken an + unusual interest in T. Tembarom from the first.” + </p> + <p> + Lady Mallowe turned her handsome face, much softened by an enwreathing + gauze scarf, toward him anxiously. + </p> + <p> + “Do you think his depression, or whatever it is, means Joan?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “If he is depressed by her, you need not be discouraged,” smiled Palliser. + “The time to lose hope would be when, despite her ingenuities, he became + entirely cheerful. But,” he added after a moment of pause, “I have an idea + there is some other little thing.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you suppose that some young woman he has left behind in New York is + demanding her rights?” said Lady Mallowe, with annoyance. “That is exactly + the kind of thing Joan would like to hear, and so entirely natural. Some + shop-girl or other.” + </p> + <p> + “Quite natural, as you say; but he would scarcely be running up to London + and consulting Scotland Yard about her,” Palliser answered. + </p> + <p> + “Scotland Yard!” ejaculated his companion. “How in the world did you find + that out?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Palliser did not explain how he had done it. Presumably his + knowledge was due to the adroitness of the system of “following such + things up.” + </p> + <p> + “Scotland Yard has also come to him,” he went on. “Did you chance to see a + red-faced person who spent a morning with him last week?” + </p> + <p> + “He looked like a butcher, and I thought he might be one of his friends,” + Lady Mallowe said. + </p> + <p> + “I recognized the man. He is an extremely clever detective, much respected + for his resources in the matter of following clues which are so attenuated + as to be scarcely clues at all.” + </p> + <p> + “Clues have no connection with Joan,” said Lady Mallowe, still more + annoyed. “All London knows her miserable story.” + </p> + <p> + “Have you—” Captain Palliser's tone was thoughtful, “—has any + one ever seen Mr. Strangeways?” + </p> + <p> + “No. Can you imagine anything more absurdly romantic? A creature without a + memory, shut up in a remote wing of a palace like this, as if he were the + Man with the Iron Mask. Romance is not quite compatible with T. Tembarom.” + </p> + <p> + “It is so incongruous that it has entertained me to think it over a good + deal,” remarked Palliser. “He leaves everything to one's imagination. All + one knows is that he isn't a relative; that he isn't mad, but only too + nervous to see or be seen. Queer situation. I've found there is always a + reason for things; the queerer they are, the more sure it is that there's + a reason. What is the reason Strangeways is kept here, and where would a + detective come in? Just on general principles I'm rather going into the + situation. There's a reason, and it would be amusing to find it out. Don't + you think so?” + </p> + <p> + He spoke casually, and Lady Mallowe's answer was casual, though she knew + from experience that he was not as casual as he chose to seem. He was + clever enough always to have certain reasons of his own which formulated + themselves into interests large and small. He knew things about people + which were useful. Sometimes quite small things were useful. He was always + well behaved, and no one had ever accused him of bringing pressure to + bear; but it was often possible for him to sell things or buy things or + bring about things in circumstances which would have presented + difficulties to other people. Lady Mallowe knew from long experience all + about the exigencies of cases when “needs must,” and she was not critical. + Temple Barholm as the estate of a distant relative and T. Tembarom as its + owner were not assets to deal with indifferently. When a man made a + respectable living out of people who could be persuaded to let you make + investments for them, it was not an unbusinesslike idea to be in the + position to advise an individual strongly. + </p> + <p> + “It's quite natural that you should feel an interest,” she answered. “But + the romantic stranger is too romantic, though I will own Scotland Yard is + a little odd.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, that is exactly what I thought,” said Palliser. + </p> + <p> + He had in fact thought a good deal and followed the thing up in a quiet, + amateur way, though with annoyingly little result. Occasionally he had + felt rather a fool for his pains, because he had been led to so few facts + of importance and had found himself so often confronted by T. Tembarom's + entirely frank grin. His own mental attitude was not a complex one. Lady + Mallowe's summing up had been correct enough on the whole. Temple Barholm + ought to be a substantial asset, regarded in its connection with its + present owner. Little dealings in stocks—sometimes rather large ones + when luck was with him—had brought desirable returns to Captain + Palliser throughout a number of years. Just now he was taking an interest + in a somewhat imposing scheme, or what might prove an imposing one if it + were managed properly and presented to the right persons. If T. Tembarom + had been sufficiently lured by the spirit of speculation to plunge into + old Hutchinson's affair, as he evidently had done, he was plainly of the + temperament attracted by the game of chance. There had been no reason but + that of temperament which could have led him to invest. He had found + himself suddenly a moneyed man and had liked the game. Never having so + much as heard of Little Ann Hutchinson, Captain Palliser not unnaturally + argued after this wise. There seemed no valid reason why, if a vague + invention had allured, a less vague scheme, managed in a more businesslike + manner, should not. This Mexican silver and copper mine was a dazzling + thing to talk about. He could go into details. He had, in fact, allowed a + good deal of detail to trail through his conversation at times. It had not + been difficult to accomplish this in his talks with Lady Mallowe in his + host's presence. Lady Mallowe was always ready to talk of mines, gold, + silver, or copper. It happened at times that one could manage to secure a + few shares without the actual payment of money. There were little + hospitalities or social amiabilities now and then which might be regarded + as value received. So she had made it easy for Captain Palliser to talk, + and T. Tembarom had heard much which would have been of interest to the + kind of young man he appeared to be. Sometimes he had listened absorbedly, + and on a few occasions he had asked a few questions which laid him + curiously bare in his role of speculator. If he had no practical knowledge + of the ways and means of great mining companies, he at least professed + none. At all events, if there was any little matter he preferred to keep + to himself, there was no harm in making oneself familiar with its aspect + and significance. A man's arguments, so far as he himself is concerned, + assume the character with which his own choice of adjectives and adverbs + labels them. That is, if he labels them. The most astute do not. Captain + Palliser did not. He dealt merely with reasoning processes which were + applicable to the subject in hand, whatsoever its nature. He was a + practical man of the world—a gentleman, of course. It was necessary + to adjust matters without romantic hair-splitting. It was all by the way. + </p> + <p> + T. Tembarom had at the outset seemed to present, so to speak, no surface. + Palliser had soon ceased to be at all sure that his social ambitions were + to be relied on as a lever. Besides which, when the old Duke of Stone took + delighted possession of him, dined with him, drove with him, sat and + gossiped with him by the hour, there was not much one could offer him. + Strangeways had at first meant only eccentricity. A little later he had + occasionally faintly stirred curiosity, and perhaps the fact that Burrill + enjoyed him as a grievance and a mystery had stimulated the stirring. The + veriest chance had led him to find himself regarding the opening up of + possible vistas. + </p> + <p> + From a certain window in a certain wing of the house a much-praised view + was to be seen. Nothing was more natural than that on the occasion of a + curious sunset Palliser should, in coming from his room, decide to take a + look at it. As he passed through a corridor Pearson came out of a room + near him. + </p> + <p> + “How is Mr. Strangeways to-day?” Palliser asked. + </p> + <p> + “Not quite so well, I am afraid, sir,” was the answer. + </p> + <p> + “Sorry to hear it,” replied Palliser, and passed on. + </p> + <p> + On his return he walked somewhat slowly down the corridor. As he turned + into it he thought he heard the murmur of voices. One was that of T. + Tembarom, and he was evidently using argument. It sounded as if he were + persuading some one to agree with him, and the persuasion was earnest. He + was not arguing with Pearson or a housemaid. Why was he arguing with his + pensioner? His voice was as low as it was eager, and the other man's + replies were not to be heard. Only just after Palliser had passed the door + there broke out an appeal which was a sort of cry. + </p> + <p> + “No! My God, no! Don't send me away? Don't send me away!” + </p> + <p> + One could not, even if so inclined, stand and listen near a door while + servants might chance to be wandering about. Palliser went on his way with + a sense of having been slightly startled. + </p> + <p> + “He wants to get rid of him, and the fellow is giving him trouble,” he + said to himself. “That voice is not American. Not in the least.” It set + him thinking and observing. When Tembarom wore the look which was not a + look of depression, but of something more puzzling, he thought that he + could guess at its reason. By the time he talked with Lady Mallowe he had + gone much further than he chose to let her know. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0028" id="link2HCH0028"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVIII + </h2> + <p> + The popularity of Captain Palliser's story of the “Ladies” had been great + at the outset, but with the passage of time it had oddly waned. This had + resulted from the story's ceasing to develop itself, as the simplest + intelligence might have anticipated, by means of the only person capable + of its proper development. The person in question was of course T. + Tembarom. Expectations, amusing expectations, of him had been raised, and + he had singularly failed in the fulfilling of them. The neighborhood had, + so to speak, stood upon tiptoe,—the feminine portion of it, at + least,—looking over shoulders to get the first glimpses of what + would inevitably take place. + </p> + <p> + As weeks flew by, the standing on tiptoe became a thing of the past. The + whole thing flattened out most disappointingly. No attack whatever was + made upon the “Ladies.” That the Duke of Stone had immensely taken up Mr. + Temple Barholm had of course resulted in his being accepted in such a + manner as gave him many opportunities to encounter one and all. He + appeared at dinners, teas, and garden parties. Miss Alicia, whom he had in + some occult manner impressed upon people until they found themselves + actually paying a sort of court to her, was always his companion. + </p> + <p> + “One realizes one cannot possibly leave her out of anything,” had been + said. “He has somehow established her as if she were his mother or his + aunt—or his interpreter. And such clothes, my dear, one doesn't + behold. Worth and Paquin and Doucet must go sleepless for weeks to invent + them. They are without a flaw in shade or line or texture.” Which was + true, because Mrs. Mellish of the Bond Street shop had become quite + obsessed by her idea and committed extravagances Miss Alicia offered up + contrite prayer to atone for, while Tembarom, simply chortling in his + glee, signed checks to pay for their exquisite embodiment. That he was not + reluctant to avail himself of social opportunities was made manifest by + the fact that he never refused an invitation. He appeared upon any spot to + which hospitality bade him, and unashamedly placed himself on record as a + neophyte upon almost all occasions. His well-cut clothes began in time to + wear more the air of garments belonging to him, but his hat made itself + remarked by its trick of getting pushed back on his head or tilted on + side, and his New York voice and accent rang out sharp and finely nasal in + the midst of low-pitched, throaty, or mellow English enunciations. He + talked a good deal at times because he found himself talked to by people + who either wanted to draw him out or genuinely wished to hear the things + he would be likely to say. + </p> + <p> + That the hero of Palliser's story should so comport himself as to provide + either diversion or cause for haughty displeasure would have been only a + natural outcome of his ambitions. In a brief period of time, however, + every young woman who might have expected to find herself an object of + such ambitions realized that his methods of approach and attack were not + marked by the usual characteristics of aspirants of his class. He + evidently desired to see and be seen. He presented himself, as it were, + for inspection and consideration, but while he was attentive, he did not + press attentions upon any one. He did not make advances in the ordinary + sense of the word. He never essayed flattering or even admiring remarks. + He said queer things at which one often could not help but laugh, but he + somehow wore no air of saying them with the intention of offering them as + witticisms which might be regarded as allurements. He did not ogle, he did + not simper or shuffle about nervously and turn red or pale, as eager and + awkward youths have a habit of doing under the stress of unrequited + admiration. In the presence of a certain slightingness of treatment, which + he at the outset met with not infrequently, he conducted himself with a + detached good nature which seemed to take but small account of attitudes + less unoffending than his own. When the slightingness disappeared from + sheer lack of anything to slight, he did not change his manner in any + degree. + </p> + <p> + “He is not in the least forward,” Beatrice Talchester said, the time + arriving when she and her sisters occasionally talked him over with their + special friends, the Granthams, “and he is not forever under one's feet, + as the pushing sort usually is. Do you remember those rich people from the + place they called Troy—the ones who took Burnaby for a year—and + the awful eldest son who perpetually invented excuses for calling, + bringing books and ridiculous things?” + </p> + <p> + “This one never makes an excuse,” Amabel Grantham put in. + </p> + <p> + “But he never declines an invitation. There is no doubt that he wants to + see people,” said Lady Honora, with the pretty little nose and the + dimples. She had ceased to turn up the pretty little nose, and she showed + a dimple as she added: “Gwynedd is tremendously taken with him. She is + teaching him to play croquet. They spend hours together.” + </p> + <p> + “He's beginning to play a pretty good game,” said Gwynedd. “He's not + stupid, at all events.” + </p> + <p> + “I believe you are the first choice, if he is really choosing,” Amabel + Grantham decided. “I should like to ask you a question.” + </p> + <p> + “Ask it, by all means,” said Gwynedd. + </p> + <p> + “Does he ever ask you to show him how to hold his mallet, and then do + idiotic things, such as managing to touch your hand?” + </p> + <p> + “Never,” was Gwynedd's answer. “The young man from Troy used to do it, and + then beg pardon and turn red.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't understand him, or I don't understand Captain Palliser's story,” + Amabel Grantham argued. “Lucy and I are quite out of the running, but I + honestly believe that he takes as much notice of us as he does of any of + you. If he has intentions, he 'doesn't act the part,' which is pure New + York of the first water.” + </p> + <p> + “He said, however, that the things that mattered were not only titles, but + looks. He asked how many of us were 'lookers.' Don't be modest, Amabel. + Neither you nor Lucy are out of the running,” Beatrice amiably suggested. + </p> + <p> + “Ladies first,” commented Amabel, pertly. There was no objection to being + supported in one's suspicion that, after all, one was a “looker.” + </p> + <p> + “There may be a sort of explanation,” Honora put the idea forward somewhat + thoughtfully. “Captain Palliser insists that he is much shrewder than he + seems. Perhaps he is cautious, and is looking us all over before he + commits himself.” + </p> + <p> + “He is a Temple Barholm, after all,” said Gwynedd, with boldness. “He's + rather good looking. He has the nicest white teeth and the most cheering + grin I ever saw, and he's as 'rich as grease is,' as I heard a housemaid + say one day. I'm getting quite resigned to his voice, or it is improving, + I don't know which. If he only knew the mere A B C of ordinary people like + ourselves, and he committed himself to me, I wouldn't lay my hand on my + heart and say that one might not think him over.” + </p> + <p> + “I told you she was tremendously taken with him,” said her sister. “It's + come to this.” + </p> + <p> + “But,” said Lady Gwynedd, “he is not going to commit himself to any of us, + incredible as it may seem. The one person he stares at sometimes is Joan + Fayre, and he only looks at her as if he were curious and wouldn't object + to finding out why she treats him so outrageously. He isn't annoyed; he's + only curious.” + </p> + <p> + “He's been adored by salesladies in New York,” said Honora, “and he can't + understand it.” + </p> + <p> + “He's been liked,” Amabel Grantham summed him up. “He's a likable thing. + He's even rather a dear. I've begun to like him myself.” + </p> + <p> + “I hear you are learning to play croquet,” the Duke of Stone remarked to + him a day or so later. “How do you like it?” + </p> + <p> + “Lady Gwynedd Talchester is teaching me,” Tembarom answered. “I'd learn to + iron shirt-waists if she would give me lessons. She's one of the two that + have dimples,” he added, reflection in his tone. “I guess that'll count. + Shouldn't you think it would?” + </p> + <p> + “Miss Hutchinson?” queried the duke. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom nodded. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, it's always her,” he answered without a ray of humor. “I just want + to stack 'em up.” + </p> + <p> + “You are doing it,” the duke replied with a slightly twisted mouth. There + were, in fact, moments when he might have fallen into fits of laughter + while Tembarom was seriousness itself. “I must, however, call your + attention to the fact that there is sometimes in your manner a hint of a + businesslike pursuit of a fixed object which you must beware of. The Lady + Gwynedds might not enjoy the situation if they began to suspect. If they + decided to flout you,—'to throw you down,' I ought to say—where + would little Miss Hutchinson be?” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom looked startled and disturbed. + </p> + <p> + “Say,” he exclaimed, “do I ever look that way? I must do better than that. + Anyhow, it ain't all put on. I'm doing my stunt, of course, but I like + them. They're mighty nice to me when you consider what they're up against. + And those two with the dimples,—Lady Gwynned and Lady Honora, are + just peaches. Any fellow might”—he stopped and looked serious again—“That's + why they'd count,” he added. + </p> + <p> + They were having one of their odd long talks under a particularly splendid + copper beech which provided the sheltered out-of-door corner his grace + liked best. When they took their seats together in this retreat, it was + mysteriously understood that they were settling themselves down to + enjoyment of their own, and must not be disturbed. + </p> + <p> + “When I am comfortable and entertained,” Moffat, the house steward, had + quoted his master as saying, “you may mention it if the castle is in + flames; but do not annoy me with excitement and flurry. Ring the bell in + the courtyard, and call up the servants to pass buckets; but until the + lawn catches fire, I must insist on being left alone.” + </p> + <p> + “What dear papa talks to him about, and what he talks about to dear papa,” + Lady Celia had more than once murmured in her gently remote, high-nosed + way, “I cannot possibly imagine. Sometimes when I have passed them on my + way to the croquet lawn I have really seen them both look as absorbed as + people in a play. Of course it is very good for papa. It has had quite a + marked effect on his digestion. But isn't it odd!” + </p> + <p> + “I wish,” Lady Edith remarked almost wistfully, “that I could get on + better with him myself conversationally. But I don't know what to talk + about, and it makes me nervous.” + </p> + <p> + Their father, on the contrary, found in him unique resources, and this + afternoon it occurred to him that he had never so far heard him express + himself freely on the subject of Palliser. If led to do so, he would + probably reveal that he had views of Captain Palliser of which he might + not have been suspected, and the manner in which they would unfold + themselves would more than probably be illuminating. The duke was, in + fact, serenely sure that he required neither warning nor advice, and he + had no intention of offering either. He wanted to hear the views. + </p> + <p> + “Do you know,” he said as he stirred his tea, “I've been thinking about + Palliser, and it has occurred to me more than once that I should like to + hear just how he strikes you?” + </p> + <p> + “What I got on to first was how I struck him,” answered Tembarom, with a + reasonable air. “That was dead easy.” + </p> + <p> + There was no hint of any vaunt of superior shrewdness. His was merely the + level-toned manner of an observer of facts in detail. + </p> + <p> + “He has given you an opportunity of seeing a good deal of him,” the duke + added. “What do you gather from him—unless he has made up his mind + that you shall not gather anything at all?” + </p> + <p> + “A fellow like that couldn't fix it that way, however much he wanted to,” + Tembarom answered again reasonably. “Just his trying to do it would give + him away.” + </p> + <p> + “You mean you have gathered things?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I've gathered enough, though I didn't go after it. It hung on the + bushes. Anyhow, it seemed to me that way. I guess you run up against that + kind everywhere. There's stacks of them in New York—different shapes + and sizes.” + </p> + <p> + “If you met a man of his particular shape and size in New York, how would + you describe him?” the duke asked. + </p> + <p> + “I should never have met him when I was there. He wouldn't have come my + way. He'd have been on Wall Street, doing high-class bucket-shop business, + or he'd have had a swell office selling copper-mines—any old kind of + mine that's going to make ten million a minute, the sort of deal he's in + now. If he'd been the kind I might have run up against,” he added with + deliberation, “he wouldn't have been as well dressed or as well spoken. + He'd have been either flashy or down at heel. You'd have called him a + crook.” + </p> + <p> + The duke seemed pleased with his tea as, after having sipped it, he put it + down on the table at his side. + </p> + <p> + “A crook?” he repeated. “I wonder if that word is altogether American?” + </p> + <p> + “It's not complimentary, but you asked me,” said Tembarom. “But I don't + believe you asked me because you thought I wasn't on to him.” + </p> + <p> + “Frankly speaking, no,” answered the duke. “Does he talk to you about the + mammoth mines and the rubber forests?” + </p> + <p> + “Say, that's where he wins out with me,” Tembarom replied admiringly. “He + gets in such fine work that I switch him on to it whenever I want cheering + up. It makes me sorter forget things that worry me just to see a man act + the part right up to the top notch the way he does it. The very way his + clothes fit, the style he's got his hair brushed, and that swell, careless + lounge of his, are half of the make-up. You see, most of us couldn't + mistake him for anything else but just what he looks like—a + gentleman visiting round among his friends and a million miles from + wanting to butt in with business. The thing that first got me interested + was watching how he slid in the sort of guff he wanted you to get worked + up about and think over. Why, if I'd been what I look like to him, he'd + have had my pile long ago, and he wouldn't be loafing round here any + more.” + </p> + <p> + “What do you think you look like to him?” his host inquired. + </p> + <p> + “I look as if I'd eat out of his hand,” Tembarom answered, quite unbiased + by any touch of wounded vanity. “Why shouldn't I? And I'm not trying to + wake him up, either. I like to look that way to him and to his sort. It + gives me a chance to watch and get wise to things. He's a high-school + education in himself. I like to hear him talk. I asked him to come and + stay at the house so that I could hear him talk.” + </p> + <p> + “Did he introduce the mammoth mines in his first call?” the duke inquired. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I don't mean that kind of talk. I didn't know how much good I was + going to get out of him at first. But he was the kind I hadn't known, and + it seemed like he was part of the whole thing—like the girls with + title that Ann said I must get next to. And an easy way of getting next to + the man kind was to let him come and stay. He wanted to, all right. I + guess that's the way he lives when he's down on his luck, getting invited + to stay at places. Like Lady Mallowe,” he added, quite without prejudice. + </p> + <p> + “You do sum them up, don't you?” smiled the duke. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I don't see how I could help it,” he said impartially. “They're + printed in sixty-four point black-face, seems to me.” + </p> + <p> + “What is that?” the duke inquired with interest. He thought it might be a + new and desirable bit of slang. “I don't know that one.” + </p> + <p> + “Biggest type there is,” grinned Tembarom. “It's the kind that's used for + head-lines. That's newspaper-office talk.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, technical, I see. What, by the way, is the smallest lettering + called?” his grace followed up. + </p> + <p> + “Brilliant,” answered Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “You,” remarked the duke, “are not printed in sixty-four-point black-face + so far as they are concerned. You are not even brilliant. They don't find + themselves able to sum you up. That fact is one of my recreations.” + </p> + <p> + “I'll tell you why,” Tembarom explained with his clearly unprejudiced air. + “There's nothing much about me to sum up, anyhow. I'm too sort of plain + sailing and ordinary. I'm not making for anywhere they'd think I'd want to + go. I'm not hiding anything they'd be sure I'd want to hide.” + </p> + <p> + “By the Lord! you're not!” exclaimed the duke. + </p> + <p> + “When I first came here, every one of them had a fool idea I'd want to + pretend I'd never set eyes on a newsboy or a boot-black, and that I + couldn't find my way in New York when I got off Fifth Avenue. I used to + see them thinking they'd got to look as if they believed it, if they + wanted to keep next. When I just let out and showed I didn't care a darn + and hadn't sense enough to know that it mattered, it nearly made them + throw a fit. They had to turn round and fix their faces all over again and + act like it was 'interesting.' That's what Lady Mallowe calls it. She says + it's so 'interesting!'” + </p> + <p> + “It is,” commented the duke. + </p> + <p> + “Well, you know that, but she doesn't. Not on your life! I guess it makes + her about sick to think of it and have to play that it's just what you'd + want all your men friends to have done. Now, Palliser—” he paused + and grinned again. He was sitting in a most casual attitude, his hands + clasped round one up-raised knee, which he nursed, balancing himself. It + was a position of informal ease which had an air of assisting enjoyable + reflection. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Palliser? Don't let us neglect Palliser,” his host encouraged him. + </p> + <p> + “He's in a worse mix-up than the rest because he's got more to lose. If he + could work this mammoth-mine song and dance with the right people, there'd + be money enough in it to put him on Easy Street. That's where he's aiming + for. The company's just where it has to have a boost. It's just GOT to. If + it doesn't, there'll be a bust up that may end in fitting out a high-toned + promoter or so in a striped yellow-and-black Jersey suit and set him to + breaking rocks or playing with oakum. I'll tell you, poor old Palliser + gets the Willies sometimes after he's read his mail. He turns the color of + ecru baby Irish. That's a kind of lace I got a dressmaker to tell me about + when I wrote up receptions and dances for the Sunday Earth. Ecru baby + Irish—that's Palliser's color after he's read his letters.” + </p> + <p> + “I dare say the fellow's in a devil of a mess, if the truth were known,” + the duke said. + </p> + <p> + “And here's 'T. T.,' hand-made and hand-painted for the part of the kind + of sucker he wants.” T. Tembarom's manner was almost sympathetic in its + appreciation. “I can tell you I'm having a real good time with Palliser. + It looked like I'd just dropped from heaven when he first saw me. If he'd + been the praying kind, I'd have been just the sort he'd have prayed for + when he said his `Now-I-lay-me's' before he went to bed. There wasn't a + chance in a hundred that I wasn't a fool that had his head swelled so that + he'd swallow any darned thing if you handed it to him smooth enough. First + time he called he asked me a lot of questions about New York business. + That was pretty smart of him. He wanted to find out, sort of careless, how + much I knew—or how little.” + </p> + <p> + The duke was leaning back luxuriously in his chair and gazing at him as he + might have gazed at the work of an old master of which each line and shade + was of absorbing interest. + </p> + <p> + “I can see him,” he said. “I can see him.” + </p> + <p> + “He found out I knew nothing,” Tembarom continued. “And what was to hinder + him trying to teach me something, by gee! Nothing on top of the green + earth. I was there, waiting with my mouth open, it seemed like.” + </p> + <p> + “And he has tried—in his best manner?” said his grace. + </p> + <p> + “What he hasn't tried wouldn't be worthy trying,” Tembarom answered + cheerfully. “Sometimes it seems like a shame to waste it. I've got so I + know how to start him when he doesn't know I'm doing it. I tell you, he's + fine. Gentlemanly—that's his way, you know. High-toned friend that + just happens to know of a good thing and thinks enough of you in a sort of + reserved way to feel like it's a pity not to give you a chance to come in + on the ground floor, if you've got the sense to see the favor he's + friendly enough to do you. It's such a favor that it'd just disgust a man + if you could possibly turn it down. But of course you're to take it or + leave it. It's not to his interest to push it. Lord, no! Whatever you did + his way is that he'd not condescend to say a darned word. High-toned + silence, that's all.” + </p> + <p> + The Duke of Stone was chuckling very softly. His chuckles rather broke his + words when he spoke. + </p> + <p> + “By—by—Jove!” he said. “You—you do see it, don't you? + You do see it.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom nursed his knee comfortably. + </p> + <p> + “Why,” he said, “it's what keeps me up. You know a lot more about me than + any one else does, but there's a whole raft of things I think about that I + couldn't hang round any man's neck. If I tried to hang them round yours, + you'd know that I would be having a hell of a time here, if I'd let myself + think too much. If I didn't see it, as you call it, if I didn't see so + many things, I might begin to get sorry for myself.” There was a pause of + a second. “Gee!” he said, “Gee! this not hearing a thing about Ann!—” + </p> + <p> + “Good Lord! my dear fellow,” the duke said hastily, “I know. I know.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom turned and looked at him. + </p> + <p> + “You've been there,” he remarked. “You've been there, I bet.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I've been there,” answered the duke. “I've been there—and come + back. But while it's going on—you have just described it. A man can + have a hell of a time.” + </p> + <p> + “He can,” Tembarom admitted unreservedly. “He's got to keep going to stand + it. Well, Strangeways gives me some work to do. And I've got Palliser. + He's a little sunbeam.” + </p> + <p> + A man-servant approaching to suggest a possible need of hot tea started at + hearing his grace break into a sudden and plainly involuntary crow of + glee. He had not heard that one before either. Palliser as a little + sunbeam brightening the pathway of T. Tembarom, was, in the particular + existing circumstances, all that could be desired of fine humor. It + somewhat recalled the situation of the “Ladies” of the noble houses of + Pevensy, Talchester, and Stone unconsciously passing in review for the + satisfaction of little Miss Hutchinson. Tembarom laughed a little himself, + but he went on with a sort of seriousness, + </p> + <p> + “There's one thing sure enough. I've got on to it by listening and working + out what he would do by what he doesn't know he says. If he could put the + screws on me in any way, he wouldn't hold back. It'd be all quite polite + and gentlemanly, but he'd do it all the same. And he's dead-sure that + everybody's got something they'd like to hide—or get. That's what he + works things out from.” + </p> + <p> + “Does he think you have something to hide—or get?” the duke inquired + rather quickly. + </p> + <p> + “He's sure of it. But he doesn't know yet whether it's get or hide. He + noses about. Pearson's seen him. He asks questions and plays he ain't + doing it and ain't interested, anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + “He doesn't like you, he doesn't like you,” the duke said rather + thoughtfully. “He has a way of conveying that you are far more subtle than + you choose to look. He is given to enlarging on the fact that an air of + entire frankness is one of the chief assets of certain promoters of huge + American schemes.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom smiled the smile of recognition. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” he said, “it looks like that's a long way round, doesn't it? But + it's not far to T. T. when you want to hitch on the connection. Anyhow, + that's the way he means it to look. If ever I was suspected of being in + any mix-up, everybody would remember he'd said that.” + </p> + <p> + “It's very amusin',” said the duke. “It's very amusin'.” + </p> + <p> + They had become even greater friends and intimates by this time than the + already astonished neighborhood suspected them of being. That they spent + much time together in an amazing degree of familiarity was the talk of the + country, in fact, one of the most frequent resources of conversation. + Everybody endeavored to find reason for the situation, but none had been + presented which seemed of sufficiently logical convincingness. The duke + was eccentric, of course. That was easy to hit upon. He was amiably + perverse and good-humoredly cynical. He was of course immensely amused by + the incongruity of the acquaintance. This being the case, why exactly he + had never before chosen for himself a companion equally out of the picture + it was not easy to explain. There were plow-boys or clerks out of + provincial shops who would surely have been quite as incongruous when + surrounded by ducal splendors. He might have got a young man from + Liverpool or Blackburn who would have known as little of polite society as + Mr. Temple Barholm; there were few, of course, who could know less. But he + had never shown the faintest desire to seek one out. Palliser, it is true, + suggested it was Tembarom's “cheek” which stood him in good stead. The + young man from behind the counter in a Liverpool or Blackburn shop would + probably have been frightened to death and afraid to open his mouth in + self-revelation, whereas Temple Barholm was so entirely a bounder that he + did not know he was one, and was ready to make an ass of himself to any + extent. The frankest statement of the situation, if any one had so chosen + to put it, would have been that he was regarded as a sort of court fool + without cap or bells. + </p> + <p> + No one was aware of the odd confidences which passed between the weirdly + dissimilar pair. No one guessed that the old peer sat and listened to + stories of a red-headed, slim-bodied girl in a dingy New York + boarding-house, that he liked them sufficiently to encourage their + telling, that he had made a mental picture of a certain look in a pair of + maternally yearning and fearfully convincing round young eyes, that he + knew the burnished fullness and glow of the red hair until he could + imagine the feeling of its texture and abundant warmth in the hand. And + this subject was only one of many. And of others they talked with + interest, doubt, argument, speculation, holding a living thrill. + </p> + <p> + The tap of croquet mallets sounded hollow and clear from the sunken lawn + below the mass of shrubs between them and the players as the duke + repeated. + </p> + <p> + “It's hugely amusin',” dropping his “g,” which was not one of his usual + affectations. + </p> + <p> + “Confound it!” he said next, wrinkling the thin, fine skin round his eyes + in a speculative smile, “I wish I had had a son of my own just like you.” + </p> + <p> + All of Tembarom's white teeth revealed themselves. + </p> + <p> + “I'd have liked to have been in it,” he replied, “but I shouldn't have + been like me.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, you would.” The duke put the tips of his fingers delicately + together. “You are of the kind which in all circumstances is like itself.” + He looked about him, taking in the turreted, majestic age and mass of the + castle. “You would have been born here. You would have learned to ride + your pony down the avenue. You would have gone to Eton and to Oxford. I + don't think you would have learned much, but you would have been decidedly + edifying and companionable. You would have had a sense of humor which + would have made you popular in society and at court. A young fellow who + makes those people laugh holds success in his hand. They want to be made + to laugh as much as I do. Good God! how they are obliged to be bored and + behave decently under it! You would have seen and known more things to be + humorous about than you know now. I don't think you would have been a fool + about women, but some of them would have been fools about you, because + you've got a way. I had one myself. It's all the more dangerous because + it's possibility suggesting without being sentimental. A friendly young + fellow always suggests possibilities without being aware of it. + </p> + <p> + “Would I have been Lord Temple Temple Barholm or something of that sort?” + Tembarom asked. + </p> + <p> + “You would have been the Marquis of Belcarey,” the duke replied, looking + him over thoughtfully, “and your name would probably have been Hugh + Lawrence Gilbert Henry Charles Adelbert, or words to that effect.” + </p> + <p> + “A regular six-shooter,” said Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + The duke was following it up with absorption in his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “You'd have gone into the Guards, perhaps,” he said, “and drill would have + made you carry yourself better. You're a good height. You'd have been a + well-set-up fellow. I should have been rather proud of you. I can see you + riding to the palace with the rest of them, sabres and chains clanking and + glittering and helmet with plumes streaming. By Jove! I don't wonder at + the effect they have on nursery-maids. On a sunny morning in spring they + suggest knights in a fairytale.” + </p> + <p> + “I should have liked it all right if I hadn't been born in Brooklyn,” + grinned Tembarom. “But that starts you out in a different way. Do you + think, if I'd been born the Marquis of Bel—what's his name—I + should have been on to Palliser's little song and dance, and had as much + fun out of it?” + </p> + <p> + “On my soul, I believe you would,” the duke answered. “Brooklyn or Stone + Hover Castle, I'm hanged if you wouldn't have been YOU.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0029" id="link2HCH0029"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIX + </h2> + <p> + After this came a pause. Each man sat thinking his own thoughts, which, + while marked with difference in form, were doubtless subtly alike in the + line they followed. During the silence T. Tembarom looked out at the late + afternoon shadows lengthening themselves in darkening velvet across the + lawns. + </p> + <p> + At last he said: + </p> + <p> + “I never told you that I've been reading some of the 'steen thousand books + in the library. I started it about a month ago. And somehow they've got me + going.” + </p> + <p> + The slightly lifted eyebrows of his host did not express surprise so much + as questioning interest. This man, at least, had discovered that one need + find no cause for astonishment in any discovery that he had been doing a + thing for some time for some reason or through some prompting of his own, + and had said nothing whatever about it until he was what he called “good + and ready.” When he was “good and ready” he usually revealed himself to + the duke, but he was not equally expansive with others. + </p> + <p> + “No, you have not mentioned it,” his grace answered, and laughed a little. + “You frequently fail to mention things. When first we knew each other I + used to wonder if you were naturally a secretive fellow; but you are not. + You always have a reason for your silences.” + </p> + <p> + “It took about ten years to kick that into me—ten good years, I + should say.” T. Tembarom looked as if he were looking backward at many + episodes as he said it. “Naturally, I guess, I must have been an innocent, + blab-mouthed kid. I meant no harm, but I just didn't know. Sometimes it + looks as if just not knowing is about the worst disease you can be + troubled with. But if you don't get killed first, you find out in time + that what you've got to hold on to hard and fast is the trick of 'saying + nothing and sawing wood.'” + </p> + <p> + The duke took out his memorandum-book and began to write hastily. T. + Tembarom was quite accustomed to this. He even repeated his axiom for him. + </p> + <p> + “Say nothing and saw wood,” he said. “It's worth writing down. It means + 'shut your mouth and keep on working.'” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you,” said the duke. “It is worth writing down. Thank you.” + </p> + <p> + “I did not talk about the books because I wanted to get used to them + before I began to talk,” Tembarom explained. “I wanted to get somewhere. + I'd never read a book through in my life before. Never wanted to. Never + had one and never had time. When night came, I was dog-tired and dog-ready + to drop down and sleep.” + </p> + <p> + Here was a situation of interest. A young man of odd, direct shrewdness, + who had never read a book through in his existence, had plunged suddenly + into the extraordinarily varied literary resources of the Temple Barholm + library. If he had been a fool or a genius one might have guessed at the + impression made on him; being T. Tembarom, one speculated with secret + elation. The primitiveness he might reveal, the profundities he might + touch the surface of, the unexpected ends he might reach, suggested the + opening of vistas. + </p> + <p> + “I have often thought that if books attracted you the library would help + you to get through a good many of the hundred and thirty-six hours a day + you've spoken of, and get through them pretty decently,” commented the + duke. + </p> + <p> + “That's what's happened,” Tembarom answered. “There's not so many now. I + can cut 'em off in chunks.” + </p> + <p> + “How did it begin?” + </p> + <p> + He listened with much pleasure while Tembarom told him how it had begun + and how it had gone on. + </p> + <p> + “I'd been having a pretty bad time one day. Strangeways had been worse—a + darned sight worse—just when I thought he was better. I'd been + trying to help him to think straight; and suddenly I made a break, + somehow, and must have touched exactly the wrong spring. It seemed as if I + set him nearly crazy. I had to leave him to Pearson right away. Then it + poured rain steady for about eight hours, and I couldn't get out and `take + a walk.' Then I went wandering into the picture-gallery and found Lady + Joan there, looking at Miles Hugo. And she ordered me out, or blamed near + it.” + </p> + <p> + “You are standing a good deal,” said the duke. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I am—but so is she.” He set his hard young jaw and nursed his + knee, staring once more at the velvet shadows. “The girl in the book I + picked up—” he began. + </p> + <p> + “The first book?” his host inquired. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom nodded. + </p> + <p> + “The very first. I was smoking my pipe at night, after every one else had + gone to bed, and I got up and began to wander about and stare at the names + of the things on the shelves. I was thinking over a whole raft of things—a + whole raft of them—and I didn't know I was doing it, until something + made me stop and read a name again. It was a book called `Good-by, + Sweetheart, Good-by,' and it hit me straight. I wondered what it was + about, and I wondered where old Temple Barholm had fished up a thing like + that. I never heard he was that kind.” + </p> + <p> + “He was a cantankerous old brute,” said the Duke of Stone with candor, + “but he chanced to be an omnivorous novel-reader. Nothing was too + sentimental for him in his later years.” + </p> + <p> + “I took the thing out and read it,” Tembarom went on, uneasily, the + emotion of his first novel-reading stirring him as he talked. “It kept me + up half the night, and I hadn't finished it then. I wanted to know the + end.” + </p> + <p> + “Benisons upon the books of which one wants to know the end!” the duke + murmured. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom's interest had plainly not terminated with “the end.” Its + freshness made it easily revived. There was a hint of emotional + indignation in his relation of the plot. + </p> + <p> + “It was about a couple of fools who were dead stuck on each other—dead. + There was no mistake about that. It was all real. But what do they do but + work up a fool quarrel about nothing, and break away from each other. + There was a lot of stuff about pride. Pride be damned! How's a man going + to be proud and put on airs when he loves a woman? How's a woman going to + be proud and stick out about things when she loves a man? At least, that's + the way it hit me.” + </p> + <p> + “That's the way it hit me—once,” remarked his grace. + </p> + <p> + “There is only once,” said Tembarom, doggedly. + </p> + <p> + “Occasionally,” said his host. “Occasionally.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom knew what he meant. + </p> + <p> + “The fellow went away, and neither of them would give in. It's queer how + real it was when you read it. You were right there looking on, and + swallowing hard every few minutes—though you were as mad as hops. + The girl began to die—slow—and lay there day after day, + longing for him to come back, and knowing he wouldn't. At the very end, + when there was scarcely a breath left in her, a young fellow who was crazy + about her himself, and always had been, put out after the hard-headed fool + to bring him to her anyhow. The girl had about given in then. And she lay + and waited hour after hour, and the youngster came back by himself. He + couldn't bring the man he'd gone after. He found him getting married to a + nice girl he didn't really care a darn for. He'd sort of set his teeth and + done it—just because he was all in and down and out, and a fool. The + girl just dropped her head back on the pillow and lay there, dead! What do + you think of that?” quite fiercely. “I guess it was sentimental all right, + but it got you by the throat.” + </p> + <p> + “'Good-bye, Sweetheart, Good-bye,”' his grace quoted. “First-class title. + We are all sentimental. And that was the first, was it?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but it wasn't the last. I began to read the others. I've been + reading them ever since. I tell you, for a fellow that knows nothing it's + an easy way of finding out a lot of things. You find out what different + kinds of people there are, and what different kinds of ways. If you've + lived in one place, and been up against nothing but earning your living, + you think that's all there is of it—that it's the whole thing. But + it isn't, by gee!” His air became thoughtful. “I've begun to kind of get + on to what all this means”—glancing about him—“to you people; + and how a fellow like T. T. must look to you. I've always sort of guessed, + but reading a few dozen novels has helped me to see WHY it's that way. + I've yelled right out laughing over it many a time. That fellow called + Thackeray—I can't read his things right straight through—but + he 's an eye-opener.” + </p> + <p> + “You have tried nothing BUT novels?” his enthralled hearer inquired. + </p> + <p> + “Not yet. I shall come to the others in time. I'm sort of hungry for these + things about PEOPLE. It's the ways they're different that gets me going. + There was one that stirred me all up—but it wasn't like that first + one. It was about a man “—he spoke slowly, as if searching for words + and parallels—“well, I guess he was one of the early savages here. + It read as if they were like the first Indians in America, only stronger + and fiercer. When Palford was explaining things to me he'd jerk in every + now and then something about 'coming over with the Conqueror' or being + here 'before the Conqueror.' I didn't know what it meant. I found out in + this book I'm telling about. It gave me the whole thing so that you SAW + it. Here was this little country, with no one in it but these first savage + fellows it'd always belonged to. They thought it was the world.” There was + a humorous sense of illumination in his half-laugh. “It was their New + York, by jings,” he put in. “Their little old New York that they'd never + been outside of! And then first one lot slams in, and then another, and + another, and tries to take it from them. Julius Caesar was the first Mr. + Buttinski; and they fought like hell. They were fighters from + Fightersville, anyhow. They fought each other, took each other's castles + and lands and wives and jewelry—just any old thing they wanted. The + only jails were private ones meant for their particular friends. And a man + was hung only when one of his neighbors got mad enough at him, and then he + had to catch him first and run the risk of being strung up himself, or + have his head chopped off and stuck up on a spike somewhere for ornament. + But fight! Good Lord! They were at it day and night. Did it for fun, just + like folks go to the show. They didn't know what fear was. Never heard of + it. They'd go about shouting and bragging and swaggering, with their heads + hanging half off. And the one in this book was the bulliest fighter of the + lot. I guess I don't know how to pronounce his name. It began with H.” + </p> + <p> + “Was it Hereward the Wake, by chance?” exclaimed his auditor. “Hereward + the Last of the English?” + </p> + <p> + “That's the man,” cried Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “An engaging ruffian and thief and murderer, and a touching one also,” + commented the duke. “You liked him?” He really wanted to know. + </p> + <p> + “I like the way he went after what he wanted to get, and the way he fought + for his bit of England. By gee! When he went rushing into a fight, + shouting and boasting and swinging his sword, I got hot in the collar. It + was his England. What was old Bill doing there anyhow, darn him! Those + chaps made him swim in their blood before they let him put the thing over. + Good business! I'm glad they gave him all that was coming to him—hot + and strong.” + </p> + <p> + His sharp face had reddened and his voice rose high and nasal. There was a + look of roused blood in him. + </p> + <p> + “Are you a fighter from Fightersville?” the duke asked, far from unstirred + himself. These things had become myths to most people, but here was + Broadway in the midst of them unconsciously suggesting that it might not + have done ill in the matter of swinging “Brain-Biter” itself. The modern + entity slipped back again through the lengthened links of bygone centuries—back + until it became T. Tembarom once more—casual though shrewd; ready + and jocular. His eyes resumed their dry New York humor of expression as + they fixed themselves on his wholly modern questioner. + </p> + <p> + “I'll fight,” he said, “for what I've got to fight for, but not for a + darned thing else. Not a darned thing.” + </p> + <p> + “But you would fight,” smiled the duke, grimly. “Did you happen to + remember that blood like that has come down to you? It was some drop of it + which made you `hot in the collar' over that engaging savage roaring and + slashing about him for his `bit of England.”' + </p> + <p> + Tembarom seemed to think it out interestedly. + </p> + <p> + “No, I did not,” he answered. “But I guess that's so. I guess it's so. + Great Jakes! Think of me perhaps being sort of kin to fellows just like + that. Some way, you couldn't help liking him. He was always making big + breaks and bellowing out `The Wake! The Wake!' in season and out of + season; but the way he got there—just got there!” + </p> + <p> + He was oddly in sympathy with “the early savages here,” and as + understandingly put himself into their places as he had put himself into + Galton's. His New York comprehension of their berserker furies was + apparently without limit. Strong partizan as he was of the last of the + English, however, he admitted that William of Normandy had “got in some + good work, though it wasn't square.” + </p> + <p> + “He was a big man,” he ended. “If he hadn't been the kind he was I don't + know how I should have stood it when the Hereward fellow knelt down before + him, and put his hands between his and swore to be his man. That's the way + the book said it. I tell you that must have been tough—tough as + hell!” + </p> + <p> + From “Good-bye, Sweetheart” to “Hereward the Last of the English” was a + far cry, but he had gathered a curious collection of ideas by the way, and + with characteristic everyday reasoning had linked them to his own + experiences. + </p> + <p> + “The women in the Hereward book made me think of Lady Joan,” he remarked, + suddenly. + </p> + <p> + “Torfreda?” the duke asked. + </p> + <p> + He nodded quite seriously. + </p> + <p> + “She had ways that reminded me of her, and I kept thinking they must both + have had the same look in their eyes—sort of fierce and hungry. + Torfreda had black hair and was a winner as to looks; but people were + afraid of her and called her a witch. Hereward went mad over her and she + went mad over him. That part of it was 'way out of sight, it was so fine. + She helped him with his fights and told him what to do, and tried to keep + him from drinking and bragging. Whatever he did, she never stopped being + crazy about him. She mended his men's clothes, and took care of their + wounds, and lived in the forest with him when he was driven out.” + </p> + <p> + “That sounds rather like Miss Hutchinson,” his host suggested, “though the + parallel between a Harlem flat and an English forest in the eleventh + century is not exact.” + </p> + <p> + “I thought that, too,” Tembarom admitted. “Ann would have done the same + things, but she'd have done them in her way. If that fellow had taken his + wife's advice, he wouldn't have ended with his head sticking on a spear.” + </p> + <p> + “Another lady, if I remember rightly,” said the duke. + </p> + <p> + “He left her, the fool!” Tembarom answered. “And there's where I couldn't + get away from seeing Lady Joan; Jem Temple Barholm didn't go off with + another woman, but what Torfreda went through, this one has gone through, + and she's going through it yet. She can't dress herself in sackcloth, and + cut off her hair, and hide herself away with a bunch of nuns, as the other + one did. She has to stay and stick it out, however bad it is. That's a + darned sight worse. The day after I'd finished the book, I couldn't keep + my eyes off her. I tried to stop it, but it was no use. I kept hearing + that Torfreda one screaming out, `Lost! Lost! Lost!' It was all in her + face.” + </p> + <p> + “But, my good fellow,” protested the duke, despite feeling a touch of the + thrill again, “unfortunately, she would not suspect you of looking at her + because you were recalling Torfreda and Hereward the Wake. Men stare at + her for another reason.” + </p> + <p> + “That's what I know about half as well again as I know anything else,” + answered Tembarom. He added, with a deliberation holding its own meaning, + “That's what I'm coming to.” + </p> + <p> + The duke waited. What was it he was coming to? + </p> + <p> + “Reading that novel put me wise to things in a new way. She's been wiping + her feet on me hard for a good while, and I sort of made up my mind I'd + got to let her until I was sure where I was. I won't say I didn't mind it, + but I could stand it. But that night she caught me looking at her, the way + she looked back at me made me see all of a sudden that it would be easier + for her if I told her straight that she was mistaken.” + </p> + <p> + “That she is mistaken in thinking—?” + </p> + <p> + “What she does think. She wouldn't have thought it if the old lady hadn't + been driving her mad by hammering it in. She'd have hated me all right, + and I don't blame her when I think of how poor Jem was treated; but she + wouldn't have thought that every time I tried to be decent and friendly to + her I was butting in and making a sick fool of myself. She's got to stay + where her mother keeps her, and she's got to listen to her. Oh, hell! + She's got to be told!” + </p> + <p> + The duke set the tips of his fingers together. + </p> + <p> + “How would you do it?” he inquired. + </p> + <p> + “Just straight,” replied T. Tembarom. “There's no other way.” + </p> + <p> + From the old worldling broke forth an involuntary low laugh, which was a + sort of cackle. So this was what he was coming to. + </p> + <p> + “I cannot think of any devious method,” he said, “which would make it less + than a delicate thing to do. A beautiful young woman, whose host you are, + has flouted you furiously for weeks, under the impression that you are + offensively in love with her. You propose to tell her that her judgment + has betrayed her, and that, as you say, `There's nothing doing.'” + </p> + <p> + “Not a darned thing, and never has been,” said T. Tembarom. He looked + quite grave and not at all embarrassed. He plainly did not see it as a + situation to be regarded with humor. + </p> + <p> + “If she will listen—” the duke began. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, she'll listen,” put in Tembarom. “I'll make her.” + </p> + <p> + His was a self-contradicting countenance, the duke reflected, as he took + him in with a somewhat long look. One did not usually see a face built up + of boyishness and maturity, simpleness which was baffling, and a good + nature which could be hard. At the moment, it was both of these last at + one and the same time. + </p> + <p> + “I know something of Lady Joan and I know something of you,” he said, “but + I don't exactly foresee what will happen. I will not say that I should not + like to be present.” + </p> + <p> + “There'll be nobody present but just me and her,” Tembarom answered. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0030" id="link2HCH0030"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXX + </h2> + <p> + The visits of Lady Mallowe and Captain Palliser had had their features. + Neither of the pair had come to one of the most imposing “places” in + Lancashire to live a life of hermit-like seclusion and dullness. They had + arrived with the intention of availing themselves of all such + opportunities for entertainment as could be guided in their direction by + the deftness of experience. As a result, there had been hospitalities at + Temple Barholm such as it had not beheld during the last generation at + least. T. Tembarom had looked on, an interested spectator, as these + festivities had been adroitly arranged and managed for him. He had not, + however, in the least resented acting as a sort of figurehead in the + position of sponsor and host. + </p> + <p> + “They think I don't know I'm not doing it all myself,” was his easy mental + summing-up. “They've got the idea that I'm pleased because I believe I'm + It. But that's all to the merry. It's what I've set my mind on having + going on here, and I couldn't have started it as well myself. I shouldn't + have known how. They're teaching me. All I hope is that Ann's grandmother + is keeping tab.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you and Rose know old Mrs. Hutchinson?” he had inquired of Pearson the + night before the talk with the duke. + </p> + <p> + “Well, not to say exactly know her, sir, but everybody knows of her. She + is a most remarkable old person, sir.” Then, after watching his face for a + moment or so, he added tentatively, “Would you perhaps wish us to make her + acquaintance for—for any reason?” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom thought the matter over speculatively. He had learned that his + first liking for Pearson had been founded upon a rock. He was always to be + trusted to understand, and also to apply a quite unusual intelligence to + such matters as he became aware of without having been told about them. + </p> + <p> + “What I'd like would be for her to hear that there's plenty doing at + Temple Barholm; that people are coming and going all the time; and that + there's ladies to burn—and most of them lookers, at that,” was his + answer. + </p> + <p> + How Pearson had discovered the exotic subtleties of his master's situation + and mental attitude toward it, only those of his class and gifted with his + occult powers could explain in detail. The fact exists that Pearson did + know an immense number of things his employer had not mentioned to him, + and held them locked in his bosom in honored security, like a little + gentleman. He made his reply with a polite conviction which carried + weight. + </p> + <p> + “It would not be necessary for either Rose or me to make old Mrs. + Hutchinson's acquaintance with a view to informing her of anything which + occurs on the estate or in the village, sir,” he remarked. “Mrs. + Hutchinson knows more of things than any one ever tells her. She sits in + her cottage there, and she just knows things and sees through people in a + way that'd be almost unearthly, if she wasn't a good old person, and so + respectable that there's those that touches their hats to her as if she + belonged to the gentry. She's got a blue eye, sir—” + </p> + <p> + “Has she?” exclaimed Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir. As blue as a baby's, sir, and as clear, though she's past + eighty. And they tell me there's a quiet, steady look in it that ill-doers + downright quail before. It's as if she was a kind of judge that sentenced + them without speaking. They can't stand it. Oh, sir! you can depend upon + old Mrs. Hutchinson as to who's been here, and even what they've thought + about it. The village just flocks to her to tell her the news and get + advice about things. She'd know.” + </p> + <p> + It was as a result of this that on his return from Stone Hover he + dismissed the carriage at the gates and walked through them to make a + visit in the village. Old Mrs. Hutchinson, sitting knitting in her chair + behind the abnormally flourishing fuchsias, geraniums, and campanula + carpaticas in her cottage-window, looked between the banked-up flower-pots + to see that Mr. Temple Barholm had opened her wicket-gate and was walking + up the clean bricked path to her front door. When he knocked she called + out in the broad Lancashire she had always spoken, “Coom in!” When he + entered he took off his hat and looked at her, friendly but hesitant, and + with the expression of a young man who has not quite made up his mind as + to what he is about to encounter. + </p> + <p> + “I'm Temple Temple Barholm, Mrs. Hutchinson,” he announced. + </p> + <p> + “I know that,” she answered. “Not that tha looks loike th' Temple + Barholms, but I've been watchin' thee walk an' drive past here ever since + tha coom to th' place.” + </p> + <p> + She watched him steadily with an astonishingly limpid pair of old eyes. + They were old and young at the same time; old because they held deeps of + wisdom, young because they were so alive and full of question. + </p> + <p> + “I don't know whether I ought to have come to see you or not,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Well, tha'st coom,” she replied, going on with her knitting. “Sit thee + doun and have a bit of a chat.” + </p> + <p> + “Say!” he broke out. “Ain't you going to shake hands with me?” He held his + hand out impetuously. He knew he was all right if she'd shake hands. + </p> + <p> + “Theer's nowt agen that surely,” she answered, with a shrewd bit of a + smile. She gave him her hand. “If I was na stiff in my legs, it's my place + to get up an' mak' thee a curtsey, but th' rheumatics has no respect even + for th' lord o' th' manor.” + </p> + <p> + “If you got up and made me a curtsey,” Tembarom said, “I should throw a + fit. Say, Mrs. Hutchinson, I bet you know that as well as I do.” + </p> + <p> + The shrewd bit of a smile lighted her eyes as well as twinkled about her + mouth. + </p> + <p> + “Sit thee doun,” she said again. + </p> + <p> + So he sat down and looked at her as straight as she looked at him. + </p> + <p> + “Tha 'd give a good bit,” she said presently, over her flashing needles, + “to know how much Little Ann's tow'd me about thee.” + </p> + <p> + “I'd give a lot to know how much it'd be square to ask you to tell me + about her,” he gave back to her, hesitating yet eager. + </p> + <p> + “What does tha mean by square?” she demanded. + </p> + <p> + “I mean `fair.' Can I talk to you about her at all? I promised I'd stick + it out here and do as she said. She told me she wasn't going to write to + me or let her father write. I've promised, and I'm not going to fall down + when I've said a thing.” + </p> + <p> + “So tha coom to see her grandmother?” + </p> + <p> + He reddened, but held his head up. + </p> + <p> + “I'm not going to ask her grandmother a thing she doesn't want me to be + told. But I've been up against it pretty hard lately. I read some things + in the New York papers about her father and his invention, and about her + traveling round with him and helping him with his business.” + </p> + <p> + “In Germany they wur,” she put in, forgetting herself. “They're havin' big + doin's over th' invention. What Joe 'u'd do wi'out th' lass I canna tell. + She's doin' every bit o' th' managin' an' contrivin' wi' them furriners—but + he'll never know it. She's got a chap to travel wi' him as can talk aw th' + languages under th' sun.” + </p> + <p> + Her face flushed and she stopped herself sharply. + </p> + <p> + “I'm talkin' about her to thee!” she said. “I would na ha' believed o' + mysen'.” + </p> + <p> + He got up from his chair. + </p> + <p> + “I guess I oughtn't to have come,” he said, restlessly. “But you haven't + told me more than I got here and there in the papers. That was what + started me. It was like watching her. I could hear her talking and see the + way she was doing things till it drove me half crazy. All of a sudden, I + just got wild and made up my mind I'd come here. I've wanted to do it many + a time, but I've kept away.” + </p> + <p> + “Tha showed sense i' doin' that,” remarked Mrs. Hutchinson. “She'd not ha' + thowt well o' thee if tha'd coom runnin' to her grandmother every day or + so. What she likes about thee is as she thinks tha's got a strong backbone + o' thy own.” + </p> + <p> + She looked up at him over her knitting, looked straight into his eyes, and + there was that in her own which made him redden and feel his pulse + quicken. It was actually something which even remotely suggested that she + was not—in the deeps of her strong old mind—as wholly + unswerving as her words might imply. It was something more subtle than + words. She was not keeping him wholly in the dark when she said “What she + likes about thee.” If Ann said things like that to her, he was pretty well + off. + </p> + <p> + “Happen a look at a lass's grandmother—when tha conna get at th' + lass hersen—is a bit o' comfort,” she added. “But don't tha go + walkin' by here to look in at th' window too often. She would na think + well o' that either.” + </p> + <p> + “Say! There's one thing I'm going to get off my chest before I go,” he + announced, “just one thing. She can go where she likes and do what she + likes, but I'm going to marry her when she's done it—unless + something knocks me on the head and finishes me. I'm going to marry her.” + </p> + <p> + “Tha art, art tha?” laconically; but her eyes were still on his, and the + something in their depths by no means diminished. + </p> + <p> + “I'm keeping up my end here, and it's no slouch of a job, but I'm not + forgetting what she promised for one minute! And I'm not forgetting what + her promise means,” he said obstinately. + </p> + <p> + “Tha'd like me to tell her that?” she said. + </p> + <p> + “If she doesn't know it, you telling her wouldn't cut any ice,” was his + reply. “I'm saying it because I want you to know it, and because it does + me good to say it out loud. I'm going to marry her.” + </p> + <p> + “That's for her and thee to settle,” she commented, impersonally. + </p> + <p> + “It is settled,” he answered. “There 's no way out of it. Will you shake + hands with me again before I go?” + </p> + <p> + “Aye,” she consented, “I will.” + </p> + <p> + When she took his hand she held it a minute. Her own was warm, and there + was no limpness about it. The secret which had seemed to conceal itself + behind her eyes had some difficulty in keeping itself wholly in the + background. + </p> + <p> + “She knows aw tha' does,” she said coolly, as if she were not suddenly + revealing immensities. “She knows who cooms an' who goes, an' what they + think o' thee, an' how tha gets on wi' 'em. Now get thee gone, lad, an' + dunnot tha coom back till her or me sends for thee.” + </p> + <p> + Within an hour of this time the afternoon post brought to Lady Mallowe a + letter which she read with an expression in which her daughter recognized + relief. It was in fact a letter for which she had waited with anxiety, and + the invitation it contained was a tribute to her social skill at its + highest watermark. In her less heroic moments, she had felt doubts of + receiving it, which had caused shudders to run the entire length of her + spine. + </p> + <p> + “I'm going to Broome Haughton,” she announced to Joan. + </p> + <p> + “When?” Joan inquired. + </p> + <p> + “At the end of the week. I am invited for a fortnight.” + </p> + <p> + “Am I going?” Joan asked. + </p> + <p> + “No. You will go to London to meet some friends who are coming over from + Paris.” + </p> + <p> + Joan knew that comment was unnecessary. Both she and her mother were on + intimate terms with these hypothetical friends who so frequently turned up + from Paris or elsewhere when it was necessary that she should suddenly go + back to London and live in squalid seclusion in the unopened house, with a + charwoman to provide her with underdone or burnt chops, and eggs at + eighteen a shilling, while the shutters of the front rooms were closed, + and dusty desolation reigned. She knew every detail of the melancholy + squalor of it, the dragging hours, the nights of lying awake listening to + the occasional passing of belated cabs, or the squeaks and nibbling of + mice in the old walls. + </p> + <p> + “If you had conducted yourself sensibly you need not have gone,” continued + her mother. “I could have made an excuse and left you here. You would at + least have been sure of good food and decent comforts.” + </p> + <p> + “After your visit, are we to return here?” was Lady Joan's sole reply. + </p> + <p> + “Don't look at me like that,” said Lady Mallowe. “I thought the country + would freshen your color at least; but you are going off more every day. + You look like the Witch of Endor sometimes.” + </p> + <p> + Joan smiled faintly. This was the brandishing of an old weapon, and she + understood all its significance. It meant that the time for opportunities + was slipping past her like the waters of a rapid river. + </p> + <p> + “I do not know what will happen when I leave Broome Haughton,” her mother + added, a note of rasped uncertainty in her voice. “We may be obliged to + come here for a short time, or we may go abroad.” + </p> + <p> + “If I refuse to come, would you let me starve to death in Piers Street?” + Joan inquired. + </p> + <p> + Lady Mallowe looked her over, feeling a sort of frenzy at the sight of + her. In truth, the future was a hideous thing to contemplate if no rescue + at all was in sight. It would be worse for her than for Joan, because Joan + did not care what happened or did not happen, and she cared desperately. + She had indeed arrived at a maddening moment. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she snapped, fiercely. + </p> + <p> + And when Joan faintly smiled again she understood why women of the lower + orders beat one another until policemen interfere. She knew perfectly well + that the girl had somehow found out that Sir Moses Monaldini was to be at + Broome Haughton, and that when he left there he was going abroad. She knew + also that she had not been able to conceal that his indifference had of + late given her some ghastly hours, and that her play for this lagging + invitation had been a frantically bold one. That the most ingenious + efforts and devices had ended in success only after such delay made it all + the more necessary that no straw must remain unseized on. + </p> + <p> + “I can wear some of your things, with a little alteration,” she said. + “Rose will do it for me. Hats and gloves and ornaments do not require + altering. I shall need things you will not need in London. Where are your + keys?” + </p> + <p> + Lady Joan rose and got them for her. She even flushed slightly. They were + often obliged to borrow each other's possessions, but for a moment she + felt herself moved by a sort of hard pity. + </p> + <p> + “We are like rats in a trap,” she remarked. “I hope you will get out.” + </p> + <p> + “If I do, you will be left inside. Get out yourself! Get out yourself!” + said Lady Mallowe in a fierce whisper. + </p> + <p> + Her regrets at the necessity of their leaving Temple Barholm were + expressed with fluent touchingness at the dinner-table. The visit had been + so delightful. Mr. Temple Barholm and Miss Alicia had been so kind. The + loveliness of the whole dear place had so embraced them that they felt as + if they were leaving a home instead of ending a delightful visit. It was + extraordinary what an effect the house had on one. It was as if one had + lived in it always—and always would. So few places gave one the same + feeling. They should both look forward—greedy as it seemed—to + being allowed some time to come again. She had decided from the first that + it was not necessary to go to any extreme of caution or subtlety with her + host and Miss Alicia. Her method of paving the way for future visits was + perhaps more than a shade too elaborate. She felt, however, that it + sufficed. For the most part, Lady Joan sat with lids dropped over her + burning eyes. She tried to force herself not to listen. This was the kind + of thing which made her sick with humiliation. Howsoever rudimentary these + people were, they could not fail to comprehend that a foothold in the + house was being bid for. They should at least see that she did not join in + the bidding. Her own visit had been filled with feelings at war with one + another. There had been hours too many in which she would have been glad—even + with the dingy horrors of the closed town house before her—to have + flown from the hundred things which called out to her on every side. In + the long-past three months of happiness, Jem had described them all to her—the + rooms, gardens, pleached walks, pictures, the very furniture itself. She + could enter no room, walk in no spot she did not seem to know, and + passionately love in spite of herself. She loved them so much that there + were times when she yearned to stay in the place at any cost, and others + when she could not endure the misery it woke in her—the pure misery. + Now it was over for the time being, and she was facing something new. + There were endless varieties of wretchedness. She had been watching her + mother for some months, and had understood her varying moods of temporary + elation or prolonged anxiety. Each one had meant some phase of the episode + of Sir Moses Monaldini. The people who lived at Broome Haughton were + enormously rich Hebrews, who were related to him. They had taken the + beautiful old country-seat and were filling it with huge parties of their + friends. The party which Lady Mallowe was to join would no doubt offer + opportunities of the most desirable kind. Among this special class of + people she was a great success. Her amazingly achieved toilettes, her ripe + good looks, her air of belonging to the great world, impressed themselves + immensely. + </p> + <p> + T. Tembarom thought he never had seen Lady Joan look as handsome as she + looked to-night. The color on her cheek burned, her eyes had a driven + loneliness in them. She had a wonderfully beautiful mouth, and its curve + drooped in a new way. He wished Ann could get her in a corner and sit down + and talk sense to her. He remembered what he had said to the duke. Perhaps + this was the time. If she was going away, and her mother meant to drag her + back again when she was ready, it would make it easier for her to leave + the place knowing she need not hate to come back. But the duke wasn't + making any miss hit when he said it wouldn't be easy. She was not like + Ann, who would feel some pity for the biggest fool on earth if she had to + throw him down hard. Lady Joan would feel neither compunctions nor + relentings. He knew the way she could look at a fellow. If he couldn't + make her understand what he was aiming at, they would both be worse off + than they would be if he left things as they were. But—the hard line + showed itself about his mouth—he wasn't going to leave things as + they were. + </p> + <p> + As they passed through the hall after dinner, Lady Mallowe glanced at a + side-table on which lay some letters arrived by the late post. An imposing + envelope was on the top of the rest. Joan saw her face light as she took + it up. + </p> + <p> + “I think this is from Broome Haughton,” she said. “If you will excuse me, + I will go into the library and read it. It may require answering at once.” + </p> + <p> + She turned hot and cold, poor woman, and went away, so that she might be + free from the disaster of an audience if anything had gone wrong. It would + be better to be alone even if things had gone right. The letter was from + Sir Moses Monaldini. Grotesque and ignoble as it naturally strikes the + uninitiated as seeming, the situation had its touch of hideous pathos. She + had fought for her own hand for years; she could not dig, and to beg she + was not ashamed; but a time had come when even the most adroit begging + began to bore people. They saw through it, and then there resulted + strained relations, slight stiffness of manner, even in the most useful + and amiable persons, lack of desire to be hospitable, or even + condescendingly generous. Cold shoulders were turned, there were ominous + threatenings of icy backs presenting themselves. The very tradesmen had + found this out, and could not be persuaded that the advertisement + furnished by the fact that two beautiful women of fashion ate, drank, and + wore the articles which formed the items in their unpaid bills, was + sufficient return for the outlay of capital required. Even Mrs. Mellish, + when graciously approached by the “relative of Miss Temple Barholm, whose + perfect wardrobe you supplied,” had listened to all seductions with a + civil eye fixed unmovedly and had referred to the “rules of the + establishment.” Nearer and nearer the edge of the abyss the years had + pushed them, and now if something did not happen—something—something—even + the increasingly shabby small house in town would become a thing of the + past. And what then? Could any one wonder she said to herself that she + could have beaten Joan furiously. It would not matter to any one else if + they dropped out of the world into squalid oblivion—oh, she knew + that—she knew that with bitter certainty!—but oh, how it would + matter to them!—at least to herself. It was all very well for + Mudie's to pour forth streams of sentimental novels preaching the horrors + of girls marrying for money, but what were you to do—what in + heaven's name were you to do? So, feeling terrified enough actually to + offer up a prayer, she took the imposingly addressed letter into the + library. + </p> + <p> + The men had come into the drawing-room when she returned. As she entered, + Joan did not glance up from the book she was reading, but at the first + sound of her voice she knew what had occurred. + </p> + <p> + “I was obliged to dash off a note to Broome Haughton so that it would be + ready for the early post,” Lady Mallowe said. She was at her best. + Palliser saw that some years had slipped from her shoulders. The moment + which relieves or even promises to relieve fears does astonishing things. + Tembarom wondered whether she had had good news, and Miss Alicia thought + that her evening dress was more becoming than any she had ever seen her + wear before. Her brilliant air of social ease returned to her, and she + began to talk fluently of what was being done in London, and to touch + lightly upon the possibility of taking part in great functions. For some + time she had rather evaded talk of the future. Palliser had known that the + future had seemed to be closing in upon her, and leaving her staring at a + high blank wall. Persons whose fortunate names had ceased to fall easily + from her lips appeared again upon the horizon. Miss Alicia was impressed + anew with the feeling that she had known every brilliant or important + personage in the big world of social London; that she had taken part in + every dazzling event. Tembarom somehow realized that she had been afraid + of something or other, and was for some reason not afraid any more. Such a + change, whatsoever the reason for it, ought to have had some effect on her + daughter. Surely she would share her luck, if luck had come to her. + </p> + <p> + But Lady Joan sat apart and kept her eyes upon her book. This was one of + the things she often chose to do, in spite of her mother's indignant + protest. + </p> + <p> + “I came here because you brought me,” she would answer. “I did not come to + be entertaining or polite.” + </p> + <p> + She was reading this evening. She heard every word of Lady Mallowe's + agreeable and slightly excited conversation. She did not know exactly what + had happened; but she knew that it was something which had buoyed her up + with a hopefulness which exhilarated her almost too much—as an extra + glass of wine might have done. Once or twice she even lost her head a + little and was a trifle swaggering. T. Tembarom would not recognize the + slip, but Joan saw Palliser's faint smile without looking up from her + book. He observed shades in taste and bearing. Before her own future Joan + saw the blank wall of stone building itself higher and higher. If Sir + Moses had capitulated, she would be counted out. With what degree of + boldness could a mother cast her penniless daughter on the world? What + unendurable provision make for her? Dare they offer a pound a week and + send her to live in the slums until she chose to marry some Hebrew friend + of her step-father's? That she knew would be the final alternative. A + cruel little smile touched her lips, as she reviewed the number of things + she could not do to earn her living. She could not take in sewing or + washing, and there was nothing she could teach. Starvation or marriage. + The wall built itself higher and yet higher. What a hideous thing it was + for a penniless girl to be brought up merely to be a beauty, and in + consequence supposably a great lady. And yet if she was born to a certain + rank and had height and figure, a lovely mouth, a delicate nose, unusual + eyes and lashes, to train her to be a dressmaker or a housemaid would be a + stupid investment of capital. If nothing tragic interfered and the right + man wanted such a girl, she had been trained to please him. But tragic + things had happened, and before her grew the wall while she pretended to + read her book. + </p> + <p> + T. Tembarom was coming toward her. She had heard Palliser suggest a game + of billiards. + </p> + <p> + “Will you come and play billiards with us?” Tembarom asked. “Palliser says + you play splendidly.” + </p> + <p> + “She plays brilliantly,” put in Lady Mallowe. “Come, Joan.” + </p> + <p> + “No, thank you,” she answered. “Let me stay here and read.” + </p> + <p> + Lady Mallowe protested. She tried an air of playful maternal reproach + because she was in good spirits. Joan saw Palliser smiling quietly, and + there was that in his smile which suggested to her that he was thinking + her an obstinate fool. + </p> + <p> + “You had better show Temple Barholm what you can do,” he remarked. “This + will be your last chance, as you leave so soon. You ought never let a last + chance slip by. I never do.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom stood still and looked down at her from his good height. He did + not know what Palliser's speech meant, but an instinct made him feel that + it somehow held an ugly, quiet taunt. + </p> + <p> + “What I would like to do,” was the unspoken crudity which passed through + his mind, “would be to swat him on the mouth. He's getting at her just + when she ought to be let alone.” + </p> + <p> + “Would you like it better to stay here and read?” he inquired. + </p> + <p> + “Much better, if you please,” was her reply. + </p> + <p> + “Then that goes,” he answered, and left her. + </p> + <p> + He swept the others out of the room with a good-natured promptness which + put an end to argument. When he said of anything “Then that goes,” it + usually did so. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0031" id="link2HCH0031"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXI + </h2> + <p> + When she was alone Joan sat and gazed not at her wall but at the pictures + that came back to her out of a part of her life which seemed to have been + lived centuries ago. They were the pictures that came back continually + without being called, the clearness of which always startled her afresh. + Sometimes she thought they sprang up to add to her torment, but sometimes + it seemed as if they came to save her from herself—her mad, wicked + self. After all, there were moments when to know that she had been the + girl whose eighteen-year-old heart had leaped so when she turned and met + Jem's eyes, as he stood gazing at her under the beech-tree, was something + to cling to. She had been that girl and Jem had been—Jem. And she + had been the girl who had joined him in that young, ardent vow that they + would say the same prayers at the same hour each night together. Ah! how + young it had been—how YOUNG! Her throat strained itself because sobs + rose in it, and her eyes were hot with the swell of tears. + </p> + <p> + She could hear voices and laughter and the click of balls from the + billiard-room. Her mother and Palliser laughed the most, but she knew the + sound of her mother's voice would cease soon, because she would come back + to her. She knew she would not leave her long, and she knew the kind of + scene they would pass through together when she returned. The old things + would be said, the old arguments used, but a new one would be added. It + was a pleasant thing to wait here, knowing that it was coming, and that + for all her fierce pride and fierce spirit she had no defense. It was at + once horrible and ridiculous that she must sit and listen—and stare + at the growing wall. It was as she caught her breath against the choking + swell of tears that she heard Lady Mallowe returning. She came in with an + actual sweep across the room. Her society air had fled, and she was + unadornedly furious when she stopped before Joan's chair. For a few + seconds she actually glared; then she broke forth in a suppressed + undertone: + </p> + <p> + “Come into the billiard-room. I command it!” + </p> + <p> + Joan lifted her eyes from her book. Her voice was as low as her mother's, + but steadier. + </p> + <p> + “No,” she answered. + </p> + <p> + “Is this conduct to continue? Is it?” Lady Mallowe panted. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Joan, and laid her book on the table near her. There was + nothing else to say. Words made things worse. + </p> + <p> + Lady Mallowe had lost her head, but she still spoke in the suppressed + voice. + </p> + <p> + “You SHALL behave yourself!” she cried, under her breath, and actually + made a passionate half-start toward her. “You violent-natured virago! The + very look on your face is enough to drive one mad!” + </p> + <p> + “I know I am violent-natured,” said Joan. “But don't you think it wise to + remember that you cannot make the kind of scene here that you can in your + own house? We are a bad-tempered pair, and we behave rather like fishwives + when we are in a rage. But when we are guests in other people's houses—” + </p> + <p> + Lady Mallowe's temper was as elemental as any Billingsgate could provide. + </p> + <p> + “You think you can take advantage of that!” she said. “Don't trust + yourself too far. Do you imagine that just when all might go well for me I + will allow you to spoil everything?” + </p> + <p> + “How can I spoil everything?” + </p> + <p> + “By behaving as you have been behaving since we came here—refusing + to make a home for yourself; by hanging round my neck so that it will + appear that any one who takes me must take you also.” + </p> + <p> + “There are servants outside,” Joan warned her. + </p> + <p> + “You shall not stop me!” cried Lady Mallowe. + </p> + <p> + “You cannot stop yourself,” said Joan. “That is the worst of it. It is bad + enough when we stand and hiss at each other in a stage whisper; but when + you lose control over yourself and raise your voice—” + </p> + <p> + “I came in here to tell you that this is your last chance. I shall never + give you another. Do you know how old you are?” + </p> + <p> + “I shall soon be twenty-seven,” Joan answered. “I wish I were a hundred. + Then it would all be over.” + </p> + <p> + “But it will not be over for years and years and years,” her mother flung + back at her. “Have you forgotten that the very rags you wear are not paid + for?” + </p> + <p> + “No, I have not forgotten.” The scene was working itself up on the old + lines, as Joan had known it would. Her mother never failed to say the same + things, every time such a scene took place. + </p> + <p> + “You will get no more such rags—paid or unpaid for. What do you + expect to do? You don't know how to work, and if you did no decent woman + would employ you. You are too good-looking and too bad-tempered.” + </p> + <p> + Joan knew she was perfectly right. Knowing it, she remained silent, and + her silence added to her mother's helpless rage. She moved a step nearer + to her and flung the javelin which she always knew would strike deep. + </p> + <p> + “You have made yourself a laughing-stock for all London for years. You are + mad about a man who disgraced and ruined himself.” + </p> + <p> + She saw the javelin quiver as it struck; but Joan's voice as it answered + her had a quality of low and deadly steadiness. + </p> + <p> + “You have said that a thousand times, and you will say it another thousand—though + you know the story was a lie and was proved to be one.” + </p> + <p> + Lady Mallowe knew her way thoroughly. + </p> + <p> + “Who remembers the denials? What the world remembers is that Jem Temple + Barholm was stamped as a cheat and a trickster. No one has time to + remember the other thing. He is dead—dead! When a man's dead it's + too late.” + </p> + <p> + She was desperate enough to drive her javelin home deeper than she had + ever chanced to drive it before. The truth—the awful truth she + uttered shook Joan from head to foot. She sprang up and stood before her + in heart-wrung fury. + </p> + <p> + “Oh! You are a hideously cruel woman!” she cried. “They say even tigers + care for their young! But you—you can say that to <i>me</i>. 'When a + man's dead, it's too late.'” + </p> + <p> + “It <i>is</i> too late—it IS too late!” Lady Mallowe persisted. Why + had not she struck this note before? It was breaking her will: “I would + say anything to bring you to your senses.” + </p> + <p> + Joan began to move restlessly to and fro. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, what a fool I am!” she exclaimed. “As if you could understand—as + if you could care!” + </p> + <p> + Struggle as she might to be defiant, she was breaking, Lady Mallowe + repeated to herself. She followed her as a hunter might have followed a + young leopardess with a wound in its flank. + </p> + <p> + “I came here because it <i>is</i> your last chance. Palliser knew what he + was saying when he made a joke of it just now. He knew it wasn't a joke. + You might have been the Duchess of Merthshire; you might have been Lady + St. Maur, with a husband with millions. And here you are. You know what's + before you—when I am out of the trap.” + </p> + <p> + Joan laughed. It was a wild little laugh, and she felt there was no sense + in it. + </p> + <p> + “I might apply for a place in Miss Alicia's Home for Decayed Gentlewomen,” + she said. + </p> + <p> + Lady Mallowe nodded her head fiercely. + </p> + <p> + “Apply, then. There will be no place for you in the home I am going to + live in,” she retorted. + </p> + <p> + Joan ceased moving about. She was about to hear the one argument that was + new. + </p> + <p> + “You may as well tell me,” she said, wearily. + </p> + <p> + “I have had a letter from Sir Moses Monaldini. He is to be at Broome + Haughton. He is going there purposely to meet me. What he writes can mean + only one thing. He means to ask me to marry him. I'm your mother, and I'm + nearly twenty years older than you; but you see that I'm out of the trap + first.” + </p> + <p> + “I knew you would be,” answered Joan. + </p> + <p> + “He detests you,” Lady Mallowe went on. “He will not hear of your living + with us—or even near us. He says you are old enough to take care of + yourself. Take my advice. I am doing you a good turn in giving it. This + New York newsboy is mad over you. If he hadn't been we should have been + bundled out of the house before this. He never has spoken to a lady before + in his life, and he feels as if you were a goddess. Go into the + billiard-room this instant, and do all a woman can. Go!” And she actually + stamped her foot on the carpet. + </p> + <p> + Joan's thunder-colored eyes seemed to grow larger as she stared at her. + Her breast lifted itself, and her face slowly turned pale. Perhaps—she + thought it wildly—people sometimes did die of feelings like this. + </p> + <p> + “He would crawl at your feet,” her mother went on, pursuing what she felt + sure was her advantage. She was so sure of it that she added words only a + fool or a woman half hysteric with rage would have added. “You might live + in the very house you would have lived in with Jem Temple Barholm, on the + income he could have given you.” + </p> + <p> + She saw the crassness of her blunder the next moment. If she had had an + advantage, she had lost it. Wickedly, without a touch of mirth, Joan + laughed in her face. + </p> + <p> + “Jem's house and Jem's money—and the New York newsboy in his shoes,” + she flung at her. “T. Tembarom to live with until one lay down on one's + deathbed. T. Tembarom!” + </p> + <p> + Suddenly, something was giving way in her, Lady Mallowe thought again. + Joan slipped into a chair and dropped her head and hidden face on the + table. + </p> + <p> + “Oh! Mother! Mother!” she ended. “Oh! Jem! Jem!” + </p> + <p> + Was she sobbing or trying to choke sobbing back? There was no time to be + lost. Her mother had never known a scene to end in this way before. + </p> + <p> + “Crying!” there was absolute spite in her voice. “That shows you know what + you are in for, at all events. But I've said my last word. What does it + matter to me, after all? You're in the trap. I'm not. Get out as best you + can. I've done with you.” + </p> + <p> + She turned her back and went out of the room—as she had come into it—with + a sweep Joan would have smiled at as rather vulgar if she had seen it. As + a child in the nursery, she had often seen that her ladyship was vulgar. + </p> + <p> + But she did not see the sweep because her face was hidden. Something in + her had broken this time, as her mother had felt. That bitter, sordid + truth, driven home as it had been, had done it. Who had time to remember + denials, or lies proved to be lies? Nobody in the world. Who had time to + give to the defense of a dead man? There was not time enough to give to + living ones. It was true—true! When a man is dead, it is too late. + The wall had built itself until it reached her sky; but it was not the + wall she bent her head and sobbed over. It was that suddenly she had seen + again Jem's face as he had stood with slow-growing pallor, and looked + round at the ring of eyes which stared at him; Jem's face as he strode by + her without a glance and went out of the room. She forgot everything else + on earth. She forgot where she was. She was eighteen again, and she sobbed + in her arms as eighteen sobs when its heart is torn from it. + </p> + <p> + “Oh Jem! Jem!” she cried. “If you were only in the same world with me! If + you were just in the same world!” + </p> + <p> + She had forgotten all else, indeed. She forgot too long. She did not know + how long. It seemed that no more than a few minutes had passed before she + was without warning struck with the shock of feeling that some one was in + the room with her, standing near her, looking at her. She had been mad not + to remember that exactly this thing would be sure to happen, by some + abominable chance. Her movement as she rose was almost violent, she could + not hold herself still, and her face was horribly wet with shameless, + unconcealable tears. Shameless she felt them—indecent—a sort + of nudity of the soul. If it had been a servant who had intruded, or if it + had been Palliser it would have been intolerable enough. But it was T. + Tembarom who confronted her with his common face, moved mysteriously by + some feeling she resented even more than she resented his presence. He was + too grossly ignorant to know that a man of breeding, having entered by + chance, would have turned and gone away, professing not to have seen. He + seemed to think—the dolt!—that he must make some apology. + </p> + <p> + “Say! Lady Joan!” he began. “I beg your pardon. I didn't want to butt in.” + </p> + <p> + “Then go away,” she commanded. “Instantly—instantly!” + </p> + <p> + She knew he must see that she spoke almost through her teeth in her effort + to control her sobbing breath. But he made no move toward leaving her. He + even drew nearer, looking at her in a sort of meditative, obstinate way. + </p> + <p> + “N-no,” he replied, deliberately. “I guess—I won't.” + </p> + <p> + “You won't?” Lady Joan repeated after him. “Then I will.” + </p> + <p> + He made a stride forward and laid his hand on her arm. + </p> + <p> + “No. Not on your life. You won't, either—if I can help it. And + you're going to LET me help it.” + </p> + <p> + Almost any one but herself—any one, at least, who did not resent his + very existence—would have felt the drop in his voice which suddenly + struck the note of boyish, friendly appeal in the last sentence. “You're + going to LET me,” he repeated. + </p> + <p> + She stood looking down at the daring, unconscious hand on her arm. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose,” she said, with cutting slowness, “that you do not even <i>know</i> + that you are insolent. Take your hand away,” in arrogant command. + </p> + <p> + He removed it with an unabashed half-smile. + </p> + <p> + “I beg your pardon,” he said. “I didn't even know I'd put it there. It was + a break—but I wanted to keep you.” + </p> + <p> + That he not only wanted to keep her, but intended to do so was apparent. + His air was neither rough nor brutal, but he had ingeniously placed + himself in the outlet between the big table and the way to the door. He + put his hands in his pockets in his vulgar, unconscious way, and watched + her. + </p> + <p> + “Say, Lady Joan!” he broke forth, in the frank outburst of a man who wants + to get something over. “I should be a fool if I didn't see that you're up + against it—hard! What's the matter?” His voice dropped again. + </p> + <p> + There was something in the drop this time which—perhaps because of + her recent emotion—sounded to her almost as if he were asking the + question with the protecting sympathy of the tone one would use in + speaking to a child. How dare he! But it came home to her that Jem had + once said “What's the matter?” to her in the same way. + </p> + <p> + “Do you think it likely that I should confide in you?” she said, and + inwardly quaked at the memory as she said it. + </p> + <p> + “No,” he answered, considering the matter gravely. “It's not likely—the + way things look to you now. But if you knew me better perhaps it would be + likely.” + </p> + <p> + “I once explained to you that I do not intend to know you better,” she + gave answer. + </p> + <p> + He nodded acquiescently. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. I got on to that. And it's because it's up to me that I came out + here to tell you something I want you to know before you go away. I'm + going to confide in you.” + </p> + <p> + “Cannot even you see that I am not in the mood to accept confidences?” she + exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I can. But you're going to accept this one,” steadily. “No,” as she + made a swift movement, “I'm not going to clear the way till I've done.” + </p> + <p> + “I insist!” she cried. “If you were—” + </p> + <p> + He put out his hand, but not to touch her. + </p> + <p> + “I know what you're going to say. If I were a gentleman—Well, I'm + not laying claim to that—but I'm a sort of a man, anyhow, though you + mayn't think it. And you're going to listen.” + </p> + <p> + She began to stare at him. It was not the ridiculous boyish drop in his + voice which arrested her attention. It was a fantastic, incongruous, + wholly different thing. He had suddenly dropped his slouch and stood + upright. Did he realize that he had slung his words at her as if they were + an order given with the ring of authority? + </p> + <p> + “I've not bucked against anything you've said or done since you've been + here,” he went on, speaking fast and grimly. “I didn't mean to. I had my + reasons. There were things that I'd have given a good deal to say to you + and ask you about, but you wouldn't let me. You wouldn't give me a chance + to square things for you—if they could be squared. You threw me down + every time I tried!” + </p> + <p> + He was too wildly incomprehensible with his changes from humanness to + folly. Remembering what he had attempted to say on the day he had followed + her in the avenue, she was inflamed again. + </p> + <p> + “What in the name of New York slang does that mean?” she demanded. + </p> + <p> + “Never mind New York,” he answered, cool as well as grim. “A fellow that's + learned slang in the streets has learned something else as well. He's + learned to keep his eyes open. He's on to a way of seeing things. And what + I've seen is that you're so doggone miserable that—that you're + almost down and out.” + </p> + <p> + This time she spoke to him in the voice with the quality of deadliness in + it which she had used to her mother. + </p> + <p> + “Do you think that because you are in your own house you can be as + intrusively insulting as you choose?” she said. + </p> + <p> + “No, I don't,” he answered. “What I think is quite different. I think that + if a man has a house of his own, and there's any one in big trouble under + the roof of it—a woman most of all—he's a cheap skate if he + don't get busy and try to help—just plain, straight help.” + </p> + <p> + He saw in her eyes all her concentrated disdain of him, but he went on, + still obstinate and cool and grim. + </p> + <p> + “I guess 'help' is too big a word just yet. That may come later, and it + mayn't. What I'm going to try at now is making it easier for you—just + easier.” + </p> + <p> + Her contemptuous gesture registered no impression on him as he paused a + moment and looked fixedly at her. + </p> + <p> + “You just hate me, don't you?” It was a mere statement which couldn't have + been more impersonal to himself if he had been made of wood. “That's all + right. I seem like a low-down intruder to you. Well, that's all right, + too. But what ain't all right is what your mother has set you on to + thinking about me. You'd never have thought it yourself. You'd have known + better.” + </p> + <p> + “What,” fiercely, “is that?” + </p> + <p> + “That I'm mutt enough to have a mash on you.” + </p> + <p> + The common slangy crassness of it was a kind of shock. She caught her + breath and merely stared at him. But he was not staring at her; he was + simply looking straight into her face, and it amazingly flashed upon her + that the extraordinary words were so entirely unembarrassed and direct + that they were actually not offensive. + </p> + <p> + He was merely telling her something in his own way, not caring the least + about his own effect, but absolutely determined that she should hear and + understand it. + </p> + <p> + Her caught breath ended in something which was like a half-laugh. His + queer, sharp, incomprehensible face, his queer, unmoved voice were too + extraordinarily unlike anything she had ever seen or heard before. + </p> + <p> + “I don't want to be brash—and what I want to say may seem kind of + that way to you. But it ain't. Anyhow, I guess it'll relieve your mind. + Lady Joan, you're a looker—you're a beaut from Beautville. If I were + your kind, and things were different, I'd be crazy about you—crazy! + But I'm not your kind—and things are different.” He drew a step + nearer still to her in his intentness. “They're this different. Why, Lady + Joan! I'm dead stuck on another girl!” + </p> + <p> + She caught her breath again, leaning forward. + </p> + <p> + “Another—!” + </p> + <p> + “She says she's not a lady; she threw me down just because all this darned + money came to me,” he hastened on, and suddenly he was imperturbable no + longer, but flushed and boyish, and more of New York than ever. “She's a + little bit of a quiet thing and she drops her h's, but gee—! You're + a looker—you're a queen and she's not. But Little Ann Hutchinson—Why, + Lady Joan, as far as this boy's concerned”—and he oddly touched + himself on the breast—“she makes you look like thirty cents.” + </p> + <p> + Joan quickly sat down on the chair she had just left. She rested an elbow + on the table and shaded her face with her hand. She was not laughing; she + scarcely knew what she was doing or feeling. + </p> + <p> + “You are in love with Ann Hutchinson,” she said, in a low voice. + </p> + <p> + “Am I?” he answered hotly. “Well, I should smile!” He disdained to say + more. + </p> + <p> + Then she began to know what she felt. There came back to her in flashes + scenes from the past weeks in which she had done her worst by him; in + which she had swept him aside, loathed him, set her feet on him, used the + devices of an ingenious demon to discomfit and show him at his poorest and + least ready. And he had not been giving a thought to the thing for which + she had striven to punish him. And he plainly did not even hate her. His + mind was clear, as water is clear. He had come back to her this evening to + do her a good turn—a good turn. Knowing what she was capable of in + the way of arrogance and villainous temper, he had determined to do her—in + spite of herself—a good turn. + </p> + <p> + “I don't understand you,” she faltered. + </p> + <p> + “I know you don't. But it's only because I'm so dead easy to understand. + There's nothing to find out. I'm just friendly—friendly—that's + all.” + </p> + <p> + “You would have been friends with me!” she exclaimed. “You would have told + me, and I wouldn't let you! Oh!” with an impulsive flinging out of her + hand to him, “you good—good fellow!” + </p> + <p> + “Good be darned!” he answered, taking the hand at once. + </p> + <p> + “You are good to tell me! I have behaved like a devil to you. But oh! if + you only knew!” + </p> + <p> + His face became mature again; but he took a most informal seat on the edge + of the table near her. + </p> + <p> + “I do know—part of it. That's why I've been trying to be friends + with you all the time.” He said his next words deliberately. “If I was the + woman Jem Temple Barholm had loved wouldn't it have driven me mad to see + another man in his place—and remember what was done to him. I never + even saw him, but, good God! “—she saw his hand clench itself—“when + I think of it I want to kill somebody! I want to kill half a dozen. Why + didn't they know it couldn't be true of a fellow like that!” + </p> + <p> + She sat up stiffly and watched him. + </p> + <p> + “Do—you—feel like that—about him?” + </p> + <p> + “Do I!” red-hotly. “There were men there that knew him! There were women + there that knew him! Why wasn't there just one to stand by him? A man + that's been square all his life doesn't turn into a card-sharp in a night. + Damn fools! I beg your pardon,” hastily. And then, as hastily again: “No, + I mean it. Damn fools!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” she gasped, just once. + </p> + <p> + Her passionate eyes were suddenly blinded with tears. She caught at his + clenched hand and dragged it to her, letting her face drop on it and + crying like a child. + </p> + <p> + The way he took her utter breaking down was just like him and like no one + else. He put the other hand on her shoulder and spoke to her exactly as he + had spoken to Miss Alicia on that first afternoon. + </p> + <p> + “Don't you mind me, Lady Joan,” he said. “Don't you mind me a bit. I'll + turn my back. I'll go into the billiard-room and keep them playing until + you get away up-stairs. Now we understand each other, it'll be better for + both of us.” + </p> + <p> + “No, don't go! Don't!” she begged. “It is so wonderful to find some one + who sees the cruelty of it.” She spoke fast and passionately. “No one + would listen to any defense of him. My mother simply raved when I said + what you are saying.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you want “—he put it to her with a curious comprehending of her + emotion—“to talk about him? Would it do you good?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes! Yes! I have never talked to any one. There has been no one to + listen.” + </p> + <p> + “Talk all you want,” he answered, with immense gentleness. “I'm here.” + </p> + <p> + “I can't understand it even now, but he would not see me!” she broke out. + “I was half mad. I wrote, and he would not answer. I went to his chambers + when I heard he was going to leave England. I went to beg him to take me + with him, married or unmarried. I would have gone on my knees to him. He + was gone! Oh, why? Why?” + </p> + <p> + “You didn't think he'd gone because he didn't love you?” he put it to her + quite literally and unsentimentally. “You knew better than that?” + </p> + <p> + “How could I be sure of anything! When he left the room that awful night + he would not look at me! He would not look at me!” + </p> + <p> + “Since I've been here I've been reading a lot of novels, and I've found + out a lot of things about fellows that are not the common, practical kind. + Now, he wasn't. He'd lived pretty much like a fellow in a novel, I guess. + What's struck me about that sort is that they think they have to make + noble sacrifices, and they'll just walk all over a woman because they + won't do anything to hurt her. There's not a bit of sense in it, but that + was what he was doing. He believed he was doing the square thing by you—and + you may bet your life it hurt him like hell. I beg your pardon—but + that's the word—just plain hell.” + </p> + <p> + “I was only a girl. He was like iron. He went away alone. He was killed, + and when he was dead the truth was told.” + </p> + <p> + “That's what I've remembered “—quite slowly—“every time I've + looked at you. By gee! I'd have stood anything from a woman that had + suffered as much as that.” + </p> + <p> + It made her cry—his genuineness—and she did not care in the + least that the tears streamed down her cheeks. How he had stood things! + How he had borne, in that odd, unimpressive way, insolence and arrogance + for which she ought to have been beaten and blackballed by decent society! + She could scarcely bear it. + </p> + <p> + “Oh! to think it should have been you,” she wept, “just you who + understood!” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” he answered speculatively, “I mightn't have understood as well if + it hadn't been for Ann. By jings! I used to lie awake at night sometimes + thinking `supposing it bad been Ann and me!' I'd sort of work it out as it + might have happened in New York—at the office of the Sunday Earth. + Supposing some fellow that'd had a grouch against me had managed it so + that Galton thought I'd been getting away with money that didn't belong to + me—fixing up my expense account, or worse. And Galton wouldn't + listen to what I said, and fired me; and I couldn't get a job anywhere + else because I was down and out for good. And nobody would listen. And I + was killed without clearing myself. And Little Ann was left to stand it—Little + Ann! Old Hutchinson wouldn't listen, I know that. And it would be all shut + up burning in her big little heart—burning. And T. T. dead, and not + a word to say for himself. Jehoshaphat!”—taking out his handkerchief + and touching his forehead—“it used to make the cold sweat start out + on me. It's doing it now. Ann and me might have been Jem and you. That's + why I understood.” + </p> + <p> + He put out his hand and caught hers and frankly squeezed it—squeezed + it hard; and the unconventional clutch was a wonderful thing to her. + </p> + <p> + “It's all right now, ain't it?” he said. “We've got it straightened out. + You'll not be afraid to come back here if your mother wants you to.” He + stopped for a moment and then went on with something of hesitation: “We + don't want to talk about your mother. We can't. But I understand her, too. + Folks are different from each other in their ways. She's different from + you. I'll—I'll straighten it out with her if you like.” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing will need straightening out after I tell her that you are going + to marry Little Ann Hutchinson,” said Joan, with a half-smile. “And that + you were engaged to her before you saw me.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, that does sort of finish things up, doesn't it?” said T. Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + He looked at her so speculatively for a moment after this that she + wondered whether he had something more to say. He had. + </p> + <p> + “There's something I want to ask you,” he ventured. + </p> + <p> + “Ask anything.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you know any one—just any one—who has a photo—just + any old photo—of Jem Temple Barholm?” + </p> + <p> + She was rather puzzled. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. I know a woman who has worn one for nearly eight years. Do you want + to see it?” + </p> + <p> + “I'd give a good deal to,” was his answer. + </p> + <p> + She took a flat locket from her dress and handed it to him. + </p> + <p> + “Women don't wear lockets in these days.” He could barely hear her voice + because it was so low. “But I've never taken it off. I want him near my + heart. It's Jem!” + </p> + <p> + He held it on the palm of his hand and stood under the light, studying it + as if he wanted to be sure he wouldn't forget it. + </p> + <p> + “It's—sorter like that picture of Miles Hugo, ain't it?” he + suggested. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. People always said so. That was why you found me in the + picture-gallery the first time we met.” + </p> + <p> + “I knew that was the reason—and I knew I'd made a break when I + butted in,” he answered. Then, still looking at the photograph, “You'd + know this face again most anywhere you saw it, I guess.” + </p> + <p> + “There are no faces like it anywhere,” said Joan. + </p> + <p> + “I guess that's so,” he replied. “And it's one that wouldn't change much + either. Thank you, Lady Joan.” + </p> + <p> + He handed back the picture, and she put out her hand again. + </p> + <p> + “I think I'll go to my room now,” she said. “You've done a strange thing + to me. You've taken nearly all the hatred and bitterness out of my heart. + I shall want to come back here whether my mother comes or not—I + shall want to.” + </p> + <p> + “The sooner the quicker,” he said. “And so long as I'm here I'll be ready + and waiting.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't go away,” she said softly. “I shall need you.” + </p> + <p> + “Isn't that great?” he cried, flushing delightedly. “Isn't it just great + that we've got things straightened so that you can say that. Gee! This is + a queer old world! There's such a lot to do in it, and so few hours in the + day. Seems like there ain't time to stop long enough to hate anybody and + keep a grouch on. A fellow's got to keep hustling not to miss the things + worth while.” + </p> + <p> + The liking in her eyes was actually wistful. + </p> + <p> + “That's your way of thinking, isn't it?” she said. “Teach it to me if you + can. I wish you could. Good-night.” She hesitated a second. “God bless + you!” she added, quite suddenly—almost fantastic as the words + sounded to her. That she, Joan Fayre, should be calling down devout + benisons on the head of T. Tembarom—T. Tembarom! + </p> + <p> + Her mother was in her room when she reached it. She had come up early to + look over her possessions—and Joan's—before she began her + packing. The bed, the chairs, and tables were spread with evening, + morning, and walking-dresses, and the millinery collected from their + combined wardrobes. She was examining anxiously a lace appliqued and + embroidered white coat, and turned a slightly flushed face toward the + opening door. + </p> + <p> + “I am going over your things as well as my own,” she said. “I shall take + what I can use. You will require nothing in London. You will require + nothing anywhere in future. What is the matter?” she said sharply, as she + saw her daughter's face. + </p> + <p> + Joan came forward feeling it a strange thing that she was not in the mood + to fight—to lash out and be glad to do it. + </p> + <p> + “Captain Palliser told me as I came up that Mr. Temple Barholm had been + talking to you,” her mother went on. “He heard you having some sort of + scene as he passed the door. As you have made your decision, of course I + know I needn't hope that anything has happened.” + </p> + <p> + “What has happened has nothing to do with my decision. He wasn't waiting + for that,” Joan answered her. “We were both entirely mistaken, Mother.” + </p> + <p> + “What are you talking about?” cried Lady Mallowe, but she temporarily laid + the white coat on a chair. “What do you mean by mistaken?” + </p> + <p> + “He doesn't want me—he never did,” Joan answered again. A shadow of + a smile hovered over her face, and there was no derision in it, only a + warming recollection of his earnestness when he had said the words she + quoted: “He is what they call in New York `dead stuck on another girl.”' + </p> + <p> + Lady Mallowe sat down on the chair that held the white coat, and she did + not push the coat aside. + </p> + <p> + “He told you that in his vulgar slang!” she gasped it out. “You—you + ought to have struck him dead with your answer.” + </p> + <p> + “Except poor Jem Temple Barholm,” was the amazing reply she received, “he + is the only friend I ever had in my life.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0032" id="link2HCH0032"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXII + </h2> + <p> + It was business of serious importance which was to bring Captain + Palliser's visit to a close. He explained it perfectly to Miss Alicia a + day or so after Lady Mallowe and her daughter left them. He had lately + been most amiable in his manner toward Miss Alicia, and had given her much + valuable information about companies and stocks. He rather unexpectedly + found it imperative that he should go to London and Berlin to “see people”—dealers + in great financial schemes who were deeply interested in solid business + speculations, such as his own, which were fundamentally different from all + others in the impeccable firmness of their foundations. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose he will be very rich some day,” Miss Alicia remarked the first + morning she and T. Tembarom took their breakfast alone together after his + departure. “It would frighten me to think of having as much money as he + seems likely to have quite soon.” + </p> + <p> + “It would scare me to death,” said Tembarom. She knew he was making a sort + of joke, but she thought the point of it was her tremor at the thought of + great fortune. + </p> + <p> + “He seemed to think that it would be an excellent thing for you to invest + in—I'm not sure whether it was the India Rubber Tree Company, or the + mahogany forests or the copper mines that have so much gold and silver + mixed in them that it will pay for the expense of the digging—” she + went on. + </p> + <p> + “I guess it was the whole lot,” put in Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps it was. They are all going to make everybody so rich that it is + quite bewildering. He is very clever in business matters. And so kind. He + even said that if I really wished it he might be able to invest my income + for me and actually treble it in a year. But of course I told him that my + income was your generous gift to me, and that it was far more than + sufficient for my needs.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom put down his coffee-cup so suddenly to look at her that she was + fearful that she had appeared to do Captain Palliser some vague injustice. + </p> + <p> + “I am sure he meant to be most obliging, dear,” she explained. “I was + really quite touched. He said most sympathetically and delicately that + when women were unmarried, and unaccustomed to investment, sometimes a + business man could be of use to them. He forgot”—affectionately—“that + I had you.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom regarded her with tender curiosity. She often opened up vistas + for him as he himself opened them for the Duke of Stone. + </p> + <p> + “If you hadn't had me, would you have let him treble your income in a + year?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + Her expression was that of a soft, woodland rabbit or a trusting spinster + dove. + </p> + <p> + “Well, of course, if one were quite alone in the world and had only a + small income, it would be nice to have it wonderfully added to in such a + short time,” she answered. “But it was his friendly solicitude which + touched me. I have not been accustomed to such interested delicacy on the + part of—of gentlemen.” Her hesitance before the last word being the + result of training, which had made her feel that it was a little bold for + “ladies” to refer quite openly to “gentlemen.” + </p> + <p> + “You sometimes read in the newspapers,” said Tembarom, buttering his + toast, “about ladies who are all alone in the world with a little income, + but they're not often left alone with it long. It's like you said—you've + got me; but if the time ever comes when you haven't got me just you make a + dead-sure thing of it that you don't let any solicitous business gentleman + treble your income in a year. If it's an income that comes to more than + five cents, don't you hand it over to be made into fifteen. Five cents is + a heap better—just plain five.” + </p> + <p> + “Temple!” gasped Miss Alicia. “You—you surely cannot mean that you + do not think Captain Palliser is—sincere!” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom laughed outright, his most hilarious and comforting laugh. He had + no intention of enlightening her in such a manner as would lead her at + once to behold pictures of him as the possible victim of appalling + catastrophes. He liked her too well as she was. + </p> + <p> + “Sincere?” he said. “He's sincere down to the ground—in what he's + reaching after. But he's not going to treble your income, nor mine. If he + ever makes that offer again, you just tell him I'm interested, and that + I'll talk it over with him.” + </p> + <p> + “I could not help saying to him that I didn't think you could want any + more money when you had so much,” she added, “but he said one never knew + what might happen. He was greatly interested when I told him you had once + said the very same thing yourself.” + </p> + <p> + Their breakfast was at an end, and he got up, laughing again, as he came + to her end of the table and put his arm around her shoulders in the + unconventional young caress she adored him for. + </p> + <p> + “It's nice to be by ourselves again for a while,” he said. “Let us go for + a walk together. Put on the little bonnet and dress that are the color of + a mouse. Those little duds just get me. You look so pretty in them.” + </p> + <p> + The sixteen-year-old blush ran up to the roots of her gray side-ringlets. + Just imagine his remembering the color of her dress and bonnet, and + thinking that anything could make her look pretty! She was overwhelmed + with innocent and grateful confusion. There really was no one else in the + least like him. + </p> + <p> + “You do look well, ma'am,” Rose said, when she helped her to dress. + “You've got such a nice color, and that tiny bit of old rose Mrs. Mellish + put in the bonnet does bring it out.” + </p> + <p> + “I wonder if it is wrong of me to be so pleased,” Miss Alicia thought. “I + must make it a subject of prayer, and ask to be aided to conquer a haughty + and vain-glorious spirit.” + </p> + <p> + She was pathetically serious, having been trained to a view of the Great + First Cause as figuratively embodied in the image of a gigantic, + irascible, omnipotent old gentleman, especially wrought to fury by + feminine follies connected with becoming headgear. + </p> + <p> + “It has sometimes even seemed to me that our Heavenly Father has a special + objection to ladies,” she had once timorously confessed to Tembarom. “I + suppose it is because we are so much weaker than men, and so much more + given to vanity and petty vices.” + </p> + <p> + He had caught her in his arms and actually hugged her that time. Their + intimacy had reached the point where the affectionate outburst did not + alarm her. + </p> + <p> + “Say!” he had laughed. “It's not the men who are going to have the biggest + pull with the authorities when folks try to get into the place where + things are evened up. What I'm going to work my passage with is a list of + the few 'ladies' I've known. You and Ann will be at the head of it. I + shall just slide it in at the box-office window and say, 'Just look over + this, will you? These were friends of mine, and they were mighty good to + me. I guess if they didn't turn me down, you needn't. I know they're in + here. Reserved seats. I'm not expecting to be put with them but if I'm + allowed to hang around where they are that'll be heaven enough for me.'” + </p> + <p> + “I know you don't mean to be irreverent, dear Temple,” she gasped. “I am + quite sure you don't! It is—it is only your American way of + expressing your kind thoughts. And of course”—quite hastily—“the + Almighty must understand Americans—as he made so many.” And half + frightened though she was, she patted his arm with the warmth of comfort + in her soul and moisture in her eyes. Somehow or other, he was always so + comforting. + </p> + <p> + He held her arm as they took their walk. She had become used to that also, + and no longer thought it odd. It was only one of the ways he had of making + her feel that she was being taken care of. They had not been able to have + many walks together since the arrival of the visitors, and this occasion + was at once a cause of relief and inward rejoicing. The entire truth was + that she had not been altogether happy about him of late. Sometimes, when + he was not talking and saying amusing New York things which made people + laugh, he seemed almost to forget where he was and to be thinking of + something which baffled and tried him. The way in which he pulled himself + together when he realized that any one was looking at him was, to her + mind, the most disturbing feature of his fits of abstraction. It suggested + that if he really had a trouble it was a private one on which he would not + like her to intrude. Naturally, her adoring eyes watched him oftener than + he knew, and she tried to find plausible and not too painful reasons for + his mood. He always made light of his unaccustomedness to his new life; + but perhaps it made him feel more unrestful than he would admit. + </p> + <p> + As they walked through the park and the village, her heart was greatly + warmed by the way in which each person they met greeted him. They greeted + no one else in the same way, and yet it was difficult to explain what the + difference was. They liked him—really liked him, though how he had + overcome their natural distrust of his newsboy and bootblack record no one + but himself knew. In fact, she had reason to believe that even he himself + did not know—had indeed never asked himself. They had gradually + begun to like him, though none of them had ever accused him of being a + gentleman according to their own acceptance of the word. Every man touched + his cap or forehead with a friendly grin which spread itself the instant + he caught sight of him. Grin and salute were synchronous. It was as if + there were some extremely human joke between them. Miss Alicia had + delightedly remembered a remark the Duke of Stone had made to her on his + return from one of their long drives. + </p> + <p> + “He is the most popular man in the county,” he had chuckled. “If war broke + out and he were in the army, he could raise a regiment at his own gates + which would follow him wheresoever he chose to lead it—if it were + into hottest Hades.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom was rather silent during the first part of their walk, and when + he spoke it was of Captain Palliser. + </p> + <p> + “He's a fellow that's got lots of curiosity. I guess he's asked you more + questions than he's asked me,” he began at last, and he looked at her + interestedly, though she was not aware of it. + </p> + <p> + “I thought—” she hesitated slightly because she did not wish to be + critical—“I sometimes thought he asked me too many.” + </p> + <p> + “What was he trying to get on to mostly?” + </p> + <p> + “He asked so many things about you and your life in New York—but + more, I think, about you and Mr. Strangeways. He was really quite + persistent once or twice about poor Mr. Strangeways.” + </p> + <p> + “What did he ask?” + </p> + <p> + “He asked if I had seen him, and if you had preferred that I should not. + He calls him your Mystery, and thinks your keeping him here is so + extraordinary.” + </p> + <p> + “I guess it is—the way he'd look at it,” Tembarom dropped in. + </p> + <p> + “He was so anxious to find out what he looked like. He asked how old he + was and how tall, and whether he was quite mad or only a little, and where + you picked him up, and when, and what reason you gave for not putting him + in some respectable asylum. I could only say that I really knew nothing + about him, and that I hadn't seen him because he had a dread of strangers + and I was a little timid.” + </p> + <p> + She hesitated again. + </p> + <p> + “I wonder,” she said, still hesitating even after her pause, “I wonder if + I ought to mention a rather rude thing I saw him do twice?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, you ought,” Tembarom answered promptly; “I've a reason for wanting + to know.” + </p> + <p> + “It was such a singular thing to do—in the circumstances,” she went + on obediently. “He knew, as we all know, that Mr. Strangeways must not be + disturbed. One afternoon I saw him walk slowly backward and forward before + the west room window. He had something in his hand and kept looking up. + That was what first attracted my attention—his queer way of looking + up. Quite suddenly he threw something which rattled on the panes of glass—it + sounded like gravel or small pebbles. I couldn't help believing he thought + Mr. Strangeways would be startled into coming to the window.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom cleared his throat. + </p> + <p> + “He did that twice,” he said. “Pearson caught him at it, though Palliser + didn't know he did. He'd have done it three times, or more than that, + perhaps, but I casually mentioned in the smoking-room one night that some + curious fool of a gardener boy had thrown some stones and frightened + Strangeways, and that Pearson and I were watching for him, and that if I + caught him I was going to knock his block off—bing! He didn't do it + again. Darned fool! What does he think he's after?” + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid he is rather—I hope it is not wrong to say so—but + he is rather given to gossip. And I dare say that the temptation to find + something quite new to talk about was a great one. So few new things + happen in the neighborhood, and, as the duke says, people are so bored—and + he is bored himself.” + </p> + <p> + “He'll be more bored if he tries it again when he comes back,” remarked + Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia's surprised expression made him laugh. + </p> + <p> + “Do you think he will come back?” she exclaimed. “After such a long + visit?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes, he'll come back. He'll come back as often as he can until he's + got a chunk of my income to treble—or until I've done with him.” + </p> + <p> + “Until you've done with him, dear?” inquiringly. + </p> + <p> + “Oh! well,”—casually—“I've a sort of idea that he may tell me + something I'd like to know. I'm not sure; I'm only guessing. But even if + he knows it he won't tell me until he gets good and ready and thinks I + don't want to hear it. What he thinks he's going to get at by prowling + around is something he can get me in the crack of the door with.” + </p> + <p> + “Temple”—imploringly—“are you afraid he wishes to do you an + injury?” + </p> + <p> + “No, I'm not afraid. I'm just waiting to see him take a chance on it,” and + he gave her arm an affectionate squeeze against his side. He was always + immensely moved by her little alarms for him. They reminded him, in a + remote way, of Little Ann coming down Mrs. Bowse's staircase bearing with + her the tartan comforter. + </p> + <p> + How could any one—how could any one want to do him an injury? she + began to protest pathetically. But he would not let her go on. He would + not talk any more of Captain Palliser or allow her to talk of him. Indeed, + her secret fear was that he really knew something he did not wish her to + be troubled by, and perhaps thought he had said too much. He began to make + jokes and led her to other subjects. He asked her to go to the + Hibblethwaites' cottage and pay a visit to Tummas. He had learned to + understand his accepted privileges in making of cottage visits by this + time; and when he clicked any wicket-gate the door was open before he had + time to pass up the wicket-path. They called at several cottages, and he + nodded at the windows of others where faces appeared as he passed by. + </p> + <p> + They had a happy morning together, and he took her back to Temple Barholm + beaming, and forgetting Captain Palliser's existence, for the time, at + least. In the afternoon they drove out together, and after dining they + read the last copy of the Sunday Earth, which had arrived that day. He + found quite an interesting paragraph about Mr. Hutchinson and the + invention. Little Miss Hutchinson was referred to most flatteringly by the + writer, who almost inferred that she was responsible not only for the + inventor but for the invention itself. Miss Alicia felt quite proud of + knowing so prominent a character, and wondered what it could be like to + read about oneself in a newspaper. + </p> + <p> + About nine o'clock he laid his sheet of the Earth down and spoke to her. + </p> + <p> + “I'm going to ask you to do me a favor,” he said. “I couldn't ask it if we + weren't alone like this. I know you won't mind.” + </p> + <p> + Of course she wouldn't mind. She was made happier by the mere idea of + doing something for him. + </p> + <p> + “I'm going to ask you to go to your room rather early,” he explained. “I + want to try a sort of stunt on Strangeways. I'm going to bring him + downstairs if he'll come. I'm not sure I can get him to do it; but he's + been a heap better lately, and perhaps I can.” + </p> + <p> + “Is he so much better as that?” she said. “Will it be safe?” + </p> + <p> + He looked as serious as she had ever seen him look—even a trifle + more serious. + </p> + <p> + “I don't know how much better he is,” was his answer. “Sometimes you'd + think he was almost all right. And then—! The doctor says that if he + could get over being afraid of leaving his room it would be a big thing + for him. He wants him to go to his place in London so that he can watch + him.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you think you could persuade him to go?” + </p> + <p> + “I've tried my level best, but so far—nothing doing.” + </p> + <p> + He got up and stood before the mantel, his back against it, his hands in + his pockets. + </p> + <p> + “I've found out one thing,” he said. “He's used to houses like this. Every + now and again he lets something out quite natural. He knew that the + furniture in his room was Jacobean—that's what he called it—and + he knew it was fine stuff. He wouldn't have known that if he'd been a + piker. I'm going to try if he won't let out something else when he sees + things here—if he'll come.” + </p> + <p> + “You have such a wonderfully reasoning mind, dear,” said Miss Alicia, as + she rose. “You would have made a great detective, I'm sure.” + </p> + <p> + “If Ann had been with him,” he said, rather gloomily, “she'd have caught + on to a lot more than I have. I don't feel very chesty about the way I've + managed it.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia went up-stairs shortly afterward, and half an hour later + Tembarom told the footmen in the hall that they might go to bed. The + experiment he was going to make demanded that the place should be cleared + of any disturbing presence. He had been thinking it over for sometime + past. He had sat in the private room of the great nerve specialist in + London and had talked it over with him. He had talked of it with the duke + on the lawn at Stone Hover. There had been a flush of color in the older + man's cheek-bones, and his eyes had been alight as he took his part in the + discussion. He had added the touch of his own personality to it, as always + happened. + </p> + <p> + “We are having some fine moments, my good fellow,” he had said, rubbing + his hands. “This is extremely like the fourth act. I'd like to be sure + what comes next.” + </p> + <p> + “I'd like to be sure myself,” Tembarom answered. “It's as if a flash of + lightning came sometimes, and then things clouded up. And sometimes when I + am trying something out he'll get so excited that I daren't go on until + I've talked to the doctor.” + </p> + <p> + It was the excitement he was dubious about to-night. It was not possible + to be quite certain as to the entire safety of the plan; but there might + be a chance—even a big chance—of wakening some cell from its + deadened sleep. Sir Ormsby way had talked to him a good deal about brain + cells, and he had listened faithfully and learned more than he could put + into scientific English. Gradually, during the past months, he had been + coming upon strangely exciting hints of curious possibilities. They had + been mere hints at first, and had seemed almost absurd in their + unbelievableness. But each one had linked itself with another, and led him + on to further wondering and exploration. When Miss Alicia and Palliser had + seen that he looked absorbed and baffled, it had been because he had + frequently found himself, to use his own figures of speech, “mixed up to + beat the band.” He had not known which way to turn; but he had gone on + turning because he could not escape from his own excited interest, and the + inevitable emotion roused by being caught in the whirl of a melodrama. + That was what he'd dropped into—a whacking big play. It had begun + for him when Palford butted in that night and told him he was a lost heir, + with a fortune and an estate in England; and the curtain had been jerking + up and down ever since. But there had been thrills in it, queer as it was. + Something doing all the time, by gee! + </p> + <p> + He sat and smoked his pipe and wished Ann were with him because he knew he + was not as cool as he had meant to be. He felt a certain tingling of + excitement in his body; and this was not the time to be excited. He waited + for some minutes before he went up-stairs. It was true that Strangeways + had been much better lately. He had seemed to find it easier to follow + conversation. During the past few days, Tembarom had talked to him in a + matter-of-fact way about the house and its various belongings. He had at + last seemed to waken to an interest in the picture-gallery. Evidently he + knew something of picture-galleries and portraits, and found himself + relieved by his own clearness of thought when he talked of them. + </p> + <p> + “I feel better,” he said, two or three times. “Things seem clearer—nearer.” + </p> + <p> + “Good business!” exclaimed Tembarom. “I told you it'd be that way. Let's + hold on to pictures. It won't be any time before you'll be remembering + where you've seen some.” + </p> + <p> + He had been secretly rather strung up; but he had been very gradual in + approaching his final suggestion that some night, when everything was + quiet, they might go and look at the gallery together. + </p> + <p> + “What you need is to get out of the way of wanting to stay in one place,” + he argued. “The doctor says you've got to have a change, and even going + from one room to another is a fine thing.” + </p> + <p> + Strangeways had looked at him anxiously for a few moments, even + suspiciously, but his face had cleared after the look. He drew himself up + and passed his hand over his forehead. + </p> + <p> + “I believe—perhaps he is right,” he murmured. + </p> + <p> + “Sure he's right!” said Tembarom. “He's the sort of chap who ought to + know. He's been made into a baronet for knowing. Sir Ormsby Galloway, by + jings! That's no slouch of a name Oh, he knows, you bet your life!” + </p> + <p> + This morning when he had seen him he had spoken of the plan again. The + visitors had gone away; the servants could be sent out of sight and + hearing; they could go into the library and smoke and he could look at the + books. And then they could take a look at the picture-gallery if he wasn't + too tired. It would be a change anyhow. + </p> + <p> + To-night, as he went up the huge staircase, Tembarom's calmness of being + had not increased. He was aware of a quickened pulse and of a slight + dampness on his forehead. The dead silence of the house added to the + unusualness of things. He could not remember ever having been so anxious + before, except on the occasion when he had taken his first day's “stuff” + to Galton, and had stood watching him as he read it. His forehead had + grown damp then. But he showed no outward signs of excitement when he + entered the room and found Strangeways standing, perfectly attired in + evening dress. + </p> + <p> + Pearson, setting things in order at the other side of the room, was taking + note of him furtively over his shoulder. Quite in the casual manner of the + ordinary man, he had expressed his intention of dressing for the evening, + and Pearson had thanked his stars for the fact that the necessary garments + were at hand. From the first, he had not infrequently asked for articles + such as only the resources of a complete masculine wardrobe could supply; + and on one occasion he had suddenly wished to dress for dinner, and the + lame excuses it had been necessary to make had disturbed him horribly + instead of pacifying him. To explain that his condition precluded the + necessity of the usual appurtenances would have been out of the question. + He had been angry. What did Pearson mean? What was the matter? He had said + it over and over again, and then had sunk into a hopelessly bewildered + mood, and had sat huddled in his dressing-gown staring at the fire. + Pearson had been so harrowed by the situation that it had been his own + idea to suggest to his master that all possible requirements should be + provided. There were occasions when it appeared that the cloud over him + lifted for a passing moment, and a gleam of light recalled to him some + familiar usage of his past. When he had finished dressing, Pearson had + been almost startled by the amount of effect produced by the straight, + correctly cut lines of black and white. The mere change of clothes had + suddenly changed the man himself—had “done something to him,” + Pearson put it. After his first glance at the mirror he had straightened + himself, as if recognizing the fault of his own carriage. When he crossed + the room it was with the action of a man who has been trained to move + well. The good looks, which had been almost hidden behind a veil of + uncertainty of expression and strained fearfulness, became obvious. He was + tall, and his lean limbs were splendidly hung together. His head was + perfectly set, and the bearing of his square shoulders was a soldierly + thing. It was an extraordinarily handsome man Tembarom and Pearson found + themselves gazing at. Each glanced involuntarily at the other. + </p> + <p> + “Now that's first-rate! I'm glad you feel like coming,” Tembarom plunged + in. He didn't intend to give him too much time to think. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you. It will be a change, as you said,” Strangeways answered. “One + needs change.” + </p> + <p> + His deep eyes looked somewhat deeper than usual, but his manner was that + of any well-bred man doing an accustomed thing. If he had been an ordinary + guest in the house, and his host had dropped into his room, he would have + comported himself in exactly the same way. + </p> + <p> + They went together down the corridor as if they had passed down it + together a dozen times before. On the stairway Strangeways looked at the + tapestries with the interest of a familiarized intelligence. + </p> + <p> + “It is a beautiful old place,” he said, as they crossed the hall. “That + armor was worn by a crusader.” He hesitated a moment when they entered the + library, but it was only for a moment. He went to the hearth and took the + chair his host offered him, and, lighting a cigar, sat smoking it. If T. + Tembarom had chanced to be a man of an analytical or metaphysical order of + intellect he would have found, during the past month, many things to lead + him far in mental argument concerning the weird wonder of the human mind—of + its power where its possessor, the body, is concerned, its sometime + closeness to the surface of sentient being, its sometime remoteness. He + would have known—awed, marveling at the blackness of the pit into + which it can descend—the unknown shades that may enfold it and + imprison its gropings. The old Duke of Stone had sat and pondered many an + hour over stories his favorite companion had related to him. What curious + and subtle processes had the queer fellow not been watching in the closely + guarded quiet of the room where the stranger had spent his days; the + strange thing cowering in its darkness; the ray of light piercing the + cloud one day and seeming lost again the next; the struggles the + imprisoned thing made to come forth—to cry out that it was but + immured, not wholly conquered, and that some hour would arrive when it + would fight its way through at last. Tembarom had not entered into + psychological research. He had been entirely uncomplex in his attitude, + sitting down before his problem as a besieger might have sat down before a + castle. The duke had sometimes wondered whether it was not a good enough + thing that he had been so simple about it, merely continuing to believe + the best with an unswerving obstinacy and lending a hand when he could. A + never flagging sympathy had kept him singularly alive to every chance, and + now and then he had illuminations which would have done credit to a + cleverer man, and which the duke had rubbed his hands over in half-amused, + half-touched elation. How he had kept his head level and held to his + purpose! + </p> + <p> + T. Tembarom talked but little as he sat in his big chair and smoked. Best + let him alone and give him time to get used to the newness, he thought. + Nothing must happen that could give him a jolt. Let things sort of sink + into him, and perhaps they'd set him to thinking and lead him somewhere. + Strangeways himself evidently did not want talk. He never wanted it unless + he was excited. He was not excited now, and had settled down as if he was + comfortable. Having finished one cigar he took another, and began to smoke + it much more slowly than he had smoked his first. The slowness began to + arrest Tembarom's attention. This was the smoking of a man who was either + growing sleepy or sinking into deep thought, becoming oblivious to what he + was doing. Sometimes he held the cigar absently between his strong, fine + fingers, seeming to forget it. Tembarom watched him do this until he saw + it go out, and its white ash drop on the rug at his feet. He did not + notice it, but sat sinking deeper and deeper into his own being, growing + more remote. What was going on under his absorbed stillness? Tembarom + would not have moved or spoken “for a block of Fifth Avenue,” he said + internally. The dark eyes seemed to become darker until there was only a + pin's point of light to be seen in their pupils. It was as if he were + looking at something at a distance—at a strangely long distance. + Twice he turned his head and appeared to look slowly round the room, but + not as normal people look—as if it also was at the strange, long + distance from him, and he were somewhere outside its walls. It was an + uncanny thing to be a spectator to. + </p> + <p> + “How dead still the room is!” Tembarom found himself thinking. + </p> + <p> + It was “dead still.” And it was a queer deal sitting, not daring to move—just + watching. Something was bound to happen, sure! What was it going to be? + </p> + <p> + Strangeways' cigar dropped from his fingers and appeared to rouse him. He + looked puzzled for a moment, and then stooped quite naturally to pick it + up. + </p> + <p> + “I forgot it altogether. It's gone out,” he remarked. + </p> + <p> + “Have another,” suggested Tembarom, moving the box nearer to him. + </p> + <p> + “No, thank you.” He rose and crossed the room to the wall of book-shelves. + And Tembarom's eye was caught again by the fineness of movement and line + the evening clothes made manifest. “What a swell he looked when he moved + about like that! What a swell, by jings!” + </p> + <p> + He looked along the line of shelves and presently took a book down and + opened it. He turned over its leaves until something arrested his + attention, and then he fell to reading. He read several minutes, while + Tembarom watched him. The silence was broken by his laughing a little. + </p> + <p> + “Listen to this,” he said, and began to read something in a language + totally unknown to his hearer. “A man who writes that sort of thing about + a woman is an old bounder, whether he's a poet or not. There's a small, + biting spitefulness about it that's cattish.” + </p> + <p> + “Who did it?” Tembarom inquired softly. It might be a good idea to lead + him on. + </p> + <p> + “Horace. In spite of his genius, he sometimes makes you feel he was rather + a blackguard.” + </p> + <p> + “Horace!” For the moment T. Tembarom forgot himself. “I always heard he + was a sort of Y.M.C.A. old guy—old Horace Greeley. The Tribune was + no yellow journal when he had it.” + </p> + <p> + He was sorry he had spoken the next moment. Strangeways looked puzzled. + </p> + <p> + “The Tribune,” he hesitated. “The Roman Tribune?” + </p> + <p> + “No, New York. He started it—old Horace did. But perhaps we're not + talking of the same man.” + </p> + <p> + Strangeways hesitated again. + </p> + <p> + “No, I think we're not,” he answered politely. + </p> + <p> + “I've made a break,” thought Tembarom. “I ought to have kept my mouth + shut. I must try to switch him back.” + </p> + <p> + Strangeways was looking down at the back of the book he held in his hand. + </p> + <p> + “This one was the Latin poet, Quintus Horatius Flaccus, 65 B. C. You know + him,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, that one!” exclaimed Tembarom, as if with an air of immense relief. + “What a fool I was to forget! I'm glad it's him. Will you go on reading + and let me hear some more? He's a winner from Winnersville—that + Horace is.” + </p> + <p> + Perhaps it was a sort of miracle, accomplished by his great desire to help + the right thing to happen, to stave off any shadow of the wrong thing. + Whatsoever the reason, Strangeways waited only a moment before turning to + his book again. It seemed to be a link in some chain slowly forming itself + to drag him back from his wanderings. And T. Tembarom, lightly sweating as + a frightened horse will, sat smoking another pipe and listening intently + to “Satires” and “Lampoons,” read aloud in the Latin of 65 B. C. + </p> + <p> + “By gee!” he said faithfully, at intervals, when he saw on the reader's + face that the moment was ripe. “He knew it all—old Horace—didn't + he?” + </p> + <p> + He had steered his charge back. Things were coming along the line to him. + He'd learned Latin at one of these big English schools. Boys always + learned Latin, the duke had told him. They just had to. Most of them hated + it like thunder, and they used to be caned when they didn't recite it + right. Perhaps if he went on he'd begin to remember the school. A queer + part of it was that he did not seem to notice that he was not reading his + own language. + </p> + <p> + He did not, in fact, seem to remember anything in particular, but went on + quite naturally for some minutes. He had replaced Horace on the shelf and + was on the point of taking down another volume when he paused, as if + recalling something else. + </p> + <p> + “Weren't we going to see the picture-gallery?” he inquired. “Isn't it + getting late? I should like to see the portraits.” + </p> + <p> + “No hurry,” answered T. Tembarom. “I was just waiting till you were ready. + But we'll go right away, if you like.” + </p> + <p> + They went without further ceremony. As they walked through the hall and + down the corridors side by side, an imaginative person might have felt + that perhaps the eyes of an ancient darkling portrait or so looked down at + the pair curiously: the long, loosely built New Yorker rather slouching + along by the soldierly, almost romantic figure which, in a measure, + suggested that others not unlike it might have trod the same oaken floor, + wearing ruff and doublet, or lace jabot and sword. There was a far cry + between the two, but they walked closely in friendly union. When they + entered the picture-gallery Strangeways paused a moment again, and stood + peering down its length. + </p> + <p> + “It is very dimly lighted. How can we see?” he said. + </p> + <p> + “I told Pearson to leave it dim,” Tembarom answered. “I wanted it just + that way at first.” + </p> + <p> + He tried—and succeeded tolerably well—to say it casually, as + he led the way ahead of them. He and the duke had not talked the scheme + over for nothing. As his grace had said, they had “worked the thing up.” + As they moved down the gallery, the men and women in their frames looked + like ghosts staring out to see what was about to happen. + </p> + <p> + “We'll turn up the lights after a while,” T. Tembarom explained, still + casually. “There's a picture here I think a good deal of. I've stood and + looked at it pretty often. It reminded me of some one the first day I set + eyes on it; but it was quite a time before I made up my mind who it was. + It used to drive me half dotty trying to think it out.” + </p> + <p> + “Which one was it?” asked Strangeways. + </p> + <p> + “We're coming to it. I want to see if it reminds you of any one. And I + want you to see it sudden.” “It's got to be sudden,” he had said to the + duke. “If it's going to pan out, I believe it's got to be sudden.” “That's + why I had the rest of 'em left dim. I told Pearson to leave a lamp I could + turn up quick,” he said to Strangeways. + </p> + <p> + The lamp was on a table near by and was shaded by a screen. He took it + from the shadow and lifted it suddenly, so that its full gleam fell upon + the portrait of the handsome youth with the lace collar and the dark, + drooping eyes. It was done in a second, with a dramatically unexpected + swiftness. His heart jumped up and down. + </p> + <p> + “Who's that?” he demanded, with abruptness so sharp-pitched that the + gallery echoed with the sound. “Who's that?” + </p> + <p> + He heard a hard, quick gasp, a sound which was momentarily a little + horrible, as if the man's soul was being jerked out of his body's depths. + </p> + <p> + “Who is he?” he cried again. “Tell me.” + </p> + <p> + After the gasp, Strangeways stood still and stared. His eyes were glued to + the canvas, drops of sweat came out on his forehead, and he was + shuddering. He began to back away with a look of gruesome struggle. He + backed and backed, and stared and stared. The gasp came twice again, and + then his voice seemed to tear itself loose from some power that was + holding it back. + </p> + <p> + “Th—at!” he cried. “It is—it—is Miles Hugo!” + </p> + <p> + The last words were almost a shout, and he shook as if he would have + fallen. But T. Tembarom put his hand on his shoulder and held him, + breathing fast himself. Gee! if it wasn't like a thing in a play! + </p> + <p> + “Page at the court of Charles the Second,” he rattled off. “Died of + smallpox when he was nineteen. Miles Hugo! Miles Hugo! You hold on to that + for all your worth. And hold on to me. I'll keep you steady. Say it + again.” + </p> + <p> + “Miles Hugo.” The poor majestic-looking fellow almost sobbed it. “Where am + I? What is the name of this place?” + </p> + <p> + “It's Temple Barholm in the county of Lancashire, England. Hold on to + that, too—like thunder!” + </p> + <p> + Strangeways held the young man's arm with hands that clutched. He dragged + at him. His nightmare held him yet; Tembarom saw it, but flashes of light + were blinding him. + </p> + <p> + “Who”—he pleaded in a shaking and hollow whisper—“are you?” + </p> + <p> + Here was a stumper! By jings! By jings! And not a minute to think it out. + But the answer came all right—all right! + </p> + <p> + “My name's Tembarom. T. Tembarom.” And he grinned his splendid grin from + sheer sense of relief. “I'm a New Yorker—Brooklyn. I was just forked + in here anyhow. Don't you waste time thinking over me. You sit down here + and do your durndest with Miles Hugo.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0033" id="link2HCH0033"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXIII + </h2> + <p> + Tembarom did not look as though he had slept particularly well, Miss + Alicia thought, when they met the next morning; but when she asked him + whether he had been disappointed in his last night's experiment, he + answered that he had not. The experiment had come out all right, but + Strangeways had been a good deal worked up, and had not been able to sleep + until daylight. Sir Ormsby Galloway was to arrive in the afternoon, and + he'd probably give him some-thing quieting. Had the coming downstairs + seemed to help him to recall anything? Miss Alicia naturally inquired. + Tembarom thought it had. He drove to Stone Hover and spent the morning + with the duke; he even lunched with him. He returned in time to receive + Sir Ormsby Galloway, however, and until that great personage left, they + were together in Mr. Strangeways' rooms. + </p> + <p> + “I guess I shall get him up to London to the place where Sir Ormsby wants + him,” he said rather nervously, after dinner. “I'm not going to miss any + chances. If he'll go, I can get him away quietly some time when I can fix + it so there's no one about to worry him.” + </p> + <p> + She felt that he had no inclination to go much into detail. He had never + had the habit of entering into the details connected with his strange + charge. She believed it was because he felt the subject too abnormal not + to seem a little awesome to her sympathetic timidity. She did not ask + questions because she was afraid she could not ask them intelligently. In + fact, the knowledge that this unknown man was living through his struggle + with his lost past in the remote rooms of the west wing, almost as though + he were a secret prisoner, did seem a little awesome when one awoke in the + middle of the dark night and thought of it. + </p> + <p> + During the passage of the next few weeks, Tembarom went up to London + several times. Once he seemed called there suddenly, as it was only during + dinner that he told her he was going to take a late train, and should + leave the house after she had gone to bed. She felt as though something + important must have happened, and hoped it was nothing disturbing. + </p> + <p> + When he had said that Captain Palliser would return to visit them, her + private impression, despite his laugh, had been that it must surely be + some time before this would occur. But a little more than three weeks + later he appeared, preceded only half an hour by a telegram asking whether + he might not spend a night with them on his way farther north. He could + not at all understand why the telegram, which he said he had sent the day + before, had been delayed. + </p> + <p> + A certain fatigued haggardness in his countenance caused Miss Alicia to + ask whether he had been ill, and he admitted that he had at least not been + well, as a result of long and too hurried journeys, and the strenuousness + of extended and profoundly serious interviews with his capitalist and + magnates. + </p> + <p> + “No man can engineer gigantic schemes to success without feeling the + reaction when his load drops from his shoulders,” he remarked. + </p> + <p> + “You've carried it quite through?” inquired Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “We have set on foot one of the largest, most substantially capitalized + companies in the European business world,” Palliser replied, with the + composure which is almost indifference. + </p> + <p> + “Good!” said Tembarom cheerfully. + </p> + <p> + He watched his guest a good deal during the day. He was a bad color for a + man who had just steered clear of all shoals and reached the highest point + of success. He had a haggard eye as well as a haggard face. It was a + terrified eye when its desperate determination to hide its terrors dropped + from it for an instant, as a veil might drop. A certain restlessness was + manifest in him, and he talked more than usual. He was going to make a + visit in Northumberland to an elderly lady of great possessions. It was to + be vaguely gathered that she was somewhat interested in the great company—the + Cedric. She was a remarkable old person who found a certain agreeable + excitement in dabbling in stocks. She was rich enough to be in a position + to regard it as a sort of game, and he had been able on several occasions + to afford her entertainment. He would remain a few days, and spend his + time chiefly in telling her the details of the great scheme and the manner + in which they were to be developed. + </p> + <p> + “If she can play with things that way, she'll be sure to want stock in + it,” Tembarom remarked. + </p> + <p> + “If she does, she must make up her mind quickly,” Palliser smiled, “or she + will not be able to get it. It is not easy to lay one's hands on even + now.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom thought of certain speculators of entirely insignificant standing + of whom he had chanced to see and hear anecdotes in New York. Most of them + were youths of obscure origin who sold newspapers or blacked boots, or + “swapped” articles the value of which lay in the desire they could excite + in other persons to possess them. A popular method known as “bluff” was + their most trusted weapon, and even at twelve and fifteen years of age + Tembarom had always regarded it as singularly obvious. He always detested + “bluff,” whatsoever its disguise, and was rather mystified by its + ingenious faith in itself. + </p> + <p> + “He's got badly stung,” was his internal comment as he sucked at his pipe + and smiled urbanely at Palliser across the room as they sat together. + “He's come here with some sort of deal on that he knows he couldn't work + with any one but just such a fool as he thinks I am. I guess,” he added in + composed reflectiveness, “I don't really know how big a fool I do look.” + </p> + <p> + Whatsoever the deal was, he would be likely to let it be known in time. + </p> + <p> + “He'll get it off his chest if he's going away to-morrow,” decided + Tembarom. “If there's anything he's found out, he'll use it. If it doesn't + pan out as he thinks it will he'll just float away to his old lady.” + </p> + <p> + He gave Palliser every chance, talking to him and encouraging him to talk, + even asking him to let him look over the prospectus of the new company and + explain details to him, as he was going to explain them to the old lady in + Northumberland. He opened up avenues; but for a time Palliser made no + attempt to stroll down them. His walk would be a stroll, Tembarom knew, + being familiar with his methods. His aspect would be that of a man but + little concerned. He would be capable of a slightly rude coldness if he + felt that concern on his part was in any degree counted as a factor. + Tembarom was aware, among other things, that innocent persons would feel + that it was incumbent upon them to be very careful in their treatment of + him. He seemed to be thinking things over before he decided upon the + psychological moment at which he would begin, if he began. When a man had + a good deal to lose or to win, Tembarom realized that he would be likely + to hold back until he felt something like solid ground under him. + </p> + <p> + After Miss Alicia had left them for the night, perhaps he felt, as a + result of thinking the matter over, that he had reached a foothold of a + firmness at least somewhat to be depended upon. + </p> + <p> + “What a change you have made in that poor woman's life!” he said, walking + to the side-table and helping himself to a brandy and soda. “What a + change!” + </p> + <p> + “It struck me that a change was needed just about the time I dropped in,” + answered his host. + </p> + <p> + “All the same,” suggested Palliser, tolerantly, “you were immensely + generous. She wasn't entitled to expect it, you know.” + </p> + <p> + “She didn't expect anything, not a darned thing,” said Tembarom. “That was + what hit me.” + </p> + <p> + Palliser smiled a cold, amiable smile. His slim, neatly fitted person + looked a little shrunken and less straight than was its habit, and its + slackness suggested itself as being part of the harry and fatigue which + made his face and eyes haggard under his pale, smooth hair. + </p> + <p> + “Do you purpose to provide for the future of all your indigent relatives + even to the third and fourth generation, my dear chap?” he inquired. + </p> + <p> + “I won't refuse till I'm asked, anyhow,” was the answer. + </p> + <p> + “Asked!” Palliser repeated. “I'm one of them, you know, and Lady Mallowe + is another. There are lots of us, when we come out of our holes. If it's + only a matter of asking, we might all descend on you.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom, smiling, wondered whether they hadn't descended already, and + whether the descent had so far been all that they had anticipated. + </p> + <p> + Palliser strolled down his opened avenue with an incidental air which was + entirely creditable to his training of himself. T. Tembarom acknowledged + that much. + </p> + <p> + “You are too generous,” said Palliser. “You are the sort of fellow who + will always need all he has, and more. The way you go among the villagers! + You think you merely slouch about and keep it quiet, but you don't. You've + set an example no other landowner can expect to live up to, or intends to. + It's too lavish. It's pernicious, dear chap. I have heard all about the + cottage you are doing over for Pearson and his bride. You had better + invest in the Cedric.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom wanted him to go on, if there was anything in it. He made his + face look as he knew Palliser hoped it would look when the psychological + moment came. Its expression was not a deterrent; in fact, it had a + character not unlikely to lead an eager man, or one who was not as wholly + experienced as he believed he was, to rush down a steep hill into the sea, + after the manner of the swine in the parable. + </p> + <p> + Heaven knew Palliser did not mean to rush, and was not aware when the rush + began; but he had reason to be so much more eager than he professed to be + that momentarily he swerved, despite himself, and ceased to be casual. + </p> + <p> + “It is an enormous opportunity,” he said—“timber lands in Mexico, + you know. If you had spent your life in England, you would realize that + timber has become a desperate necessity, and that the difficulties which + exist in the way of supplying the demand are almost insuperable. These + forests are virtually boundless, and the company which controls them—” + </p> + <p> + “That's a good spiel!” broke in Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + It sounded like the crudely artless interruption of a person whose + perceptions left much to be desired. T. Tembarom knew what it sounded + like. If Palliser lost his temper, he would get over the ground faster, + and he wanted him to get over the ground. + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid I don't understand,” he replied rather stiffly. + </p> + <p> + “There was a fellow I knew in New York who used to sell type-writers, and + he had a thing to say he used to reel off when any one looked like a + customer. He used to call it his 'spiel.'” + </p> + <p> + Palliser's quick glance at him asked questions, and his stiffness did not + relax itself. + </p> + <p> + “Is this New York chaff?” he inquired coldly. + </p> + <p> + “No,” Tembarom said. “You're not doing it for ten per. He was” + </p> + <p> + “No, not exactly,” said Palliser. “Neither would you be doing it for ten + per if you went into it.” His voice changed. He became slightly haughty. + “Perhaps it was a mistake on my part to think you might care to connect + yourself with it. You have not, of course, been in the position to + comprehend such matters.” + </p> + <p> + “If I was what I look like, that'd stir me up and make me feel bad,” + thought T. Tembarom, with cheerful comprehension of this, at least. “I'd + have to rush in and try to prove to him that I was as accustomed to big + business as he is, and that it didn't rattle me. The way to do it that + would come most natural would be to show I was ready to buy as big a block + of stock as any other fellow.” + </p> + <p> + But the expression of his face did not change. He only gave a half-awkward + sort of laugh. + </p> + <p> + “I guess I can learn,” he said. + </p> + <p> + Palliser felt the foothold become firmer. The bounder was interested, but, + after a bounder's fashion, was either nervous or imagined that a show of + hesitation looked shrewd. The slight hit made at his inexperience in + investment had irritated him and made him feel less cock-sure of himself. + A slightly offended manner might be the best weapon to rely upon. + </p> + <p> + “I thought you might care to have the thing made clear to you,” he + continued indifferently. “I meant to explain. You may take the chance or + leave it, as you like, of course. That is nothing to me at this stage of + the game. But, after all, we are as I said, relatives of a sort, and it is + a gigantic opportunity. Suppose we change the subject. Is that the Sunday + Earth I see by you on the table?” He leaned forward to take the paper, as + though the subject really were dropped; but, after a seemingly nervous + suck or two at his pipe, Tembarom came to his assistance. It wouldn't do + to let him quiet down too much. + </p> + <p> + “I'm no Van Morganbilt,” he said hesitatingly, “but I can see that it's a + big opportunity—for some one else. Let's have a look over the + prospectus again.” + </p> + <p> + Palliser paused in his unconcerned opening of the copy of the Sunday + Earth. His manner somewhat disgustedly implied indecision as to whether it + was worth while to allow oneself to be dropped and taken up by turns. + </p> + <p> + “Do you really mean that?” he asked with a certain chill of voice. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. I don't mind trying to catch on to what's doing in any big scheme.” + </p> + <p> + Palliser did not lay aside his suggestion of cold semi-reluctance more + readily than any man who knew his business would have laid it aside. His + manner at the outset was quite perfect. His sole ineptitude lay in his + feeling a too great confidence in the exact quality of his companion's + type, as he summed it up. He did not calculate on the variations from all + type sometimes provided by circumstances. + </p> + <p> + He produced his papers without too obvious eagerness. He spread them upon + the table, and coolly examined them himself before beginning his + explanation. There was more to explain to a foreigner and one unused to + investment than there would be to a man who was an Englishman and familiar + with the methods of large companies, he said. He went into technicalities, + so to speak, and used rapidly and lightly some imposing words and phrases, + to which T. Tembarom listened attentively, but without any special air of + illumination. He dealt with statistics and the resulting probabilities. He + made apparent the existing condition of England's inability to supply an + enormous and unceasing demand for timber. He had acquired divers excellent + methods of stating his case to the party of the second part. + </p> + <p> + “He made me feel as if a fellow had better hold on to a box of matches + like grim death, and that the time wasn't out of sight when you'd have to + give fifty-seven dollars and a half for a toothpick,” Tembarom afterwards + said to the duke. + </p> + <p> + What Tembarom was thinking as he listened to him was that he was not + getting over the ground with much rapidity, and that it was time something + was doing. He had not watched him for weeks without learning divers of his + idiosyncrasies. + </p> + <p> + “If he thought I wanted to know what he thinks I'd a heap rather NOT know, + he'd never tell me,” he speculated. “If he gets a bit hot in the collar, + he may let it out. Thing is to stir him up. He's lost his nerve a bit, and + he'll get mad pretty easy.” + </p> + <p> + He went on smoking and listening, and asking an unenlightened question now + and then, in a manner which was as far from being a deterrent as the + largely unilluminated expression of his face was. + </p> + <p> + “Of course money is wanted,” Palliser said at length. “Money is always + wanted, and as much when a scheme is a success as when it isn't. Good + names, with a certain character, are wanted. The fact of your inheritance + is known everywhere; and the fact that you are an American is a sort of + guaranty of shrewdness.” + </p> + <p> + “Is it?” said T. Tembarom. “Well,” he added slowly, “I guess Americans are + pretty good business men.” + </p> + <p> + Palliser thought that this was evolving upon perfectly natural lines, as + he had anticipated it would. The fellow was flattered and pleased. You + could always reach an American by implying that he was one of those who + specially illustrate enviable national characteristics. + </p> + <p> + He went on in smooth, casual laudation: + </p> + <p> + “No American takes hold of a scheme of this sort until he knows jolly well + what he's going to get out of it. You were shrewd enough,” he added + significantly, “about Hutchinson's affair. You `got in on the ground + floor' there. That was New York forethought, by Jove!” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom shuffled a little in his chair, and grinned a faint, pleased + grin. + </p> + <p> + “I'm a man of the world, my boy—the business world,” Palliser + commented, hoping that he concealed his extreme satisfaction. “I know New + York, though I haven't lived there. I'm only hoping to. Your air of + ingenuous ignorance is the cleverest thing about you,” which agreeable + implication of the fact that he had been privately observant and impressed + ought to have fetched the bounder if anything would. + </p> + <p> + T. Tembarom's grin was no longer faint, but spread itself. Palliser's + first impression was that he had “fetched” him. But when he answered, + though the very crudeness of his words seemed merely the result of his + betrayal into utter tactlessness by soothed vanity, there was something—a + shade of something—not entirely satisfactory in his face and nasal + twang. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I guess,” he said, “New York DID teach a fellow not to buy a gold + brick off every con man that came along.” + </p> + <p> + Palliser was guilty of a mere ghost of a start. Was there something in it, + or was he only the gross, blundering fool he had trusted to his being? He + stared at him a moment, and saw that there WAS something under the words + and behind his professedly flattered grin—something which must be + treated with a high hand. + </p> + <p> + “What do you mean?” he exclaimed haughtily. “I don't like your tone. Do + you take ME for what you call a `con man'?” + </p> + <p> + “Good Lord, no!” answered Tembarom; and he looked straight at Palliser and + spoke slowly. “You're a gentleman, and you're paying me a visit. You could + no more try on a game to do me in my own house than—well, than I + could TELL you if I'd got on to you if I saw you doing it. You're a + gentleman.” + </p> + <p> + Palliser glared back into his infuriatingly candid eyes. He was a far cry + from being a dullard himself; he was sharp enough to “catch on” to the + revelation that the situation was not what he had thought it, the type was + more complex than he had dreamed. The chap had been playing a part; he had + absolutely been “jollying him along,” after the New York fashion. He + became pale with humiliated rage, though he knew his only defense was to + control himself and profess not to see through the trick. Until he could + use his big lever, he added to himself. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I see,” he commented acridly. “I suppose you don't realize that your + figures of speech are unfortunate.” + </p> + <p> + “That comes of New York streets, too,” Tembarom answered with + deliberation. “But you can't live as I've lived and be dead easy—not + DEAD easy.” + </p> + <p> + Palliser had left his chair, and stood in contemptuous silence. + </p> + <p> + “You know how a fellow hates to be thought DEAD easy”—Tembarom + actually went to the insolent length of saying the words with a touch of + cheerful confidingness—“when he's NOT. And I'm not. Have another + drink.” + </p> + <p> + There was a pause. Palliser began to see, or thought he began to see, + where he stood. He had come to Temple Barholm because he had been driven + into a corner and had a dangerous fight before him. In anticipation of it + he had been following a clue for some time, though at the outset it had + been one of incredible slightness. Only his absolute faith in his theory + that every man had something to gain or lose, which he concealed + discreetly, had led him to it. He held a card too valuable to be used at + the beginning of a game. Its power might have lasted a long time, and + proved an influence without limit. He forbore any mental reference to + blackmail; the word was absurd. One used what fell into one's hands. If + Tembarom had followed his lead with any degree of docility, he would have + felt it wiser to save his ammunition until further pressure was necessary. + But behind his ridiculous rawness, his foolish jocularity, and his + professedly candid good humor, had been hidden the Yankee trickster who + was fool enough to think he could play his game through. Well, he could + not. + </p> + <p> + During the few moments' pause he saw the situation as by a photographic + flashlight. He leaned over the table and supplied himself with a fresh + brandy and soda from the tray of siphons and decanters. He gave himself + time to take the glass up in his hand. + </p> + <p> + “No,” he answered, “you are not `dead easy.' That's why I am going to + broach another subject to you.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom was refilling his pipe. + </p> + <p> + “Go ahead,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Who, by the way, is Mr. Strangeways?” + </p> + <p> + He was deliberate and entirely unemotional. So was T. Tembarom when, with + match applied to his tobacco, he replied between puffs as he lighted it: + </p> + <p> + “You can search me. You can search him, too, for that matter. He doesn't + know who he is himself.” + </p> + <p> + “Bad luck for him!” remarked Palliser, and allowed a slight pause again. + After it he added, “Did it ever strike you it might be good luck for + somebody else?” + </p> + <p> + “Somebody else?” Tembarom puffed more slowly, perhaps because his pipe was + lighted. + </p> + <p> + Palliser took some brandy in his soda. + </p> + <p> + “There are men, you know,” he suggested, “who can be spared by their + relatives. I have some myself, by Jove!” he added with a laugh. “You keep + him rather dark, don't you?” + </p> + <p> + “He doesn't like to see people.” + </p> + <p> + “Does he object to people seeing him? I saw him once myself.” + </p> + <p> + “When you threw the gravel at his window?” + </p> + <p> + Palliser stared contemptuously. + </p> + <p> + “What are you talking about? I did not throw stones at his window,” he + lied. “I'm not a school-boy.” + </p> + <p> + “That's so,” Tembarom admitted. + </p> + <p> + “I saw him, nevertheless. And I can tell you he gave me rather a start.” + </p> + <p> + “Why?” + </p> + <p> + Palliser half laughed again. He did not mean to go too quickly; he would + let the thing get on Tembarom's nerves gradually. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I'm hanged if I didn't take him for a man who is dead.” + </p> + <p> + “Enough to give any fellow a jolt,” Tembarom admitted again. + </p> + <p> + “It gave me a `jolt.' Good word, that. But it would give you a bigger one, + my dear fellow, if he was the man he looked like.” + </p> + <p> + “Why?” Tembarom asked laconically. + </p> + <p> + “He looked like Jem Temple Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + He saw Tembarom start. There could be no denying it. + </p> + <p> + “You thought that? Honest?” he said sharply, as if for a moment he had + lost his head. “You thought that?” + </p> + <p> + “Don't be nervous. Perhaps I couldn't have sworn to it. I did not see him + very close.” + </p> + <p> + T. Tembarom puffed rapidly at his pipe, and only, ejaculated: + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” + </p> + <p> + “Of course he's dead. If he wasn't,”—with a shrug of his shoulders,—“Lady + Joan Fayre would be Lady Joan Temple Barholm, and the pair would be + bringing up an interesting family here.” He looked about the room, and + then, as if suddenly recalling the fact, added, “By George! you'd be + selling newspapers, or making them—which was it?—in New York!” + </p> + <p> + It was by no means unpleasing to see that he had made his hit there. T. + Tembarom swung about and walked across the room with a suddenly perturbed + expression. + </p> + <p> + “Say,” he put it to him, coming back, “are you in earnest, or are you just + saying it to give me a jolt?” + </p> + <p> + Palliser studied him. The American sharpness was not always so keen as it + sometimes seemed. His face would have betrayed his uneasiness to the + dullest onlooker. + </p> + <p> + “Have you any objection to my seeing him in his own room?” Palliser + inquired. + </p> + <p> + “It does him harm to see people,” Tembarom said, with nervous brusqueness. + “It worries him.” + </p> + <p> + Palliser smiled a quiet but far from agreeable smile. He enjoyed what he + put into it. + </p> + <p> + “Quite so; best to keep him quiet,” he returned. “Do you know what my + advice would be? Put him in a comfortable sanatorium. A lot of stupid + investigations would end in nothing, of course, but they'd be a frightful + bore.” + </p> + <p> + He thought it extraordinarily stupid in T. Tembarom to come nearer to him + with an anxious eagerness entirely unconcealed, if he really knew what he + was doing. + </p> + <p> + “Are you sure that if you saw him close you'd KNOW, so that you could + swear to him?” he demanded. + </p> + <p> + “You're extremely nervous, aren't you?” Palliser watched him with smiling + coolness. “Of course Jem Temple Barholm is dead; but I've no doubt that if + I saw this man of yours, I could swear he had remained dead—if I + were asked.” + </p> + <p> + “If you knew him well, you could make me sure. You could swear one way or + another. I want to be SURE,” said Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “So should I in your place; couldn't be too sure. Well, since you ask me, + I COULD swear. I knew him well enough. He was one of my most intimate + enemies. What do you say to letting me see him?” + </p> + <p> + “I would if I could,” Tembarom replied, as if thinking it over. “I would + if I could.” + </p> + <p> + Palliser treated him to the far from pleasing smile again. + </p> + <p> + “But it's quite impossible at present?” he suggested. “Excitement is not + good for him, and all that sort of thing. You want time to think it over.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom's slowly uttered answer, spoken as if he were still considering + the matter, was far from being the one he had expected. + </p> + <p> + “I want time; but that's not the reason you can't see him right now. You + can't see him because he's not here. He's gone.” + </p> + <p> + Then it was Palliser who started, taken totally unaware in a manner which + disgusted him altogether. He had to pull himself up. + </p> + <p> + “He's gone!” he repeated. “You are quicker than I thought. You've got him + safely away, have you? Well, I told you a comfortable sanatorium would be + a good idea.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, you did.” T. Tembarom hesitated, seeming to be thinking it over + again. “That's so.” He laid his pipe aside because it had gone out. + </p> + <p> + He suddenly sat down at the table, putting his elbows on it and his face + in his hands, with a harried effect of wanting to think it over in a sort + of withdrawal from his immediate surroundings. This was as it should be. + His Yankee readiness had deserted him altogether. + </p> + <p> + “By Jove! you are nervous!” Palliser commented. “It's not surprising, + though. I can sympathize with you.” With a markedly casual air he himself + sat down and drew his documents toward him. “Let us talk of something + else,” he said. He preferred to be casual and incidental, if he were + allowed. It was always better to suggest things and let them sink in until + people saw the advantage of considering them and you. To manage a business + matter without open argument or too frank a display of weapons was at once + more comfortable and in better taste. + </p> + <p> + “You are making a great mistake in not going into this,” he suggested + amiably. “You could go in now as you went into Hutchinson's affair, `on + the ground floor.' That's a good enough phrase, too. Twenty thousand + pounds would make you a million. You Americans understand nothing less + than millions.” + </p> + <p> + But T. Tembarom did not take him up. He muttered in a worried way from + behind his shading hands, “We'll talk about that later.” + </p> + <p> + “Why not talk about it now, before anything can interfere?” Palliser + persisted politely, almost gently. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom sprang up, restless and excited. He had plainly been planning + fast in his temporary seclusion. + </p> + <p> + “I'm thinking of what you said about Lady Joan,” he burst forth. “Say, + she's gone through all this Jem Temple Barholm thing once; it about half + killed her. If any one raised false hopes for her, she'd go through it all + again. Once is enough for any woman.” + </p> + <p> + His effect at professing heat and strong feeling made a spark of amusement + show itself in Palliser's eye. It struck him as being peculiarly American + in its affectation of sentiment and chivalry. + </p> + <p> + “I see,” he said. “It's Lady Joan you're disturbed about. You want to + spare her another shock, I see. You are a considerate fellow, as well as a + man of business.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't want her to begin to hope if—” + </p> + <p> + “Very good taste on your part.” Palliser's polite approval was admirable, + but he tapped lightly on the paper after expressing it. “I don't want to + seem to press you about this, but don't you feel inclined to consider it? + I can assure you that an investment of this sort would be a good thing to + depend on if the unexpected happened. If you gave me your check now, it + would be Cedric stock to-morrow, and quite safe. Suppose you—” + </p> + <p> + “I—I don't believe you were right—about what you thought.” The + sharp-featured face was changing from pale to red. “You'd have to be able + to swear to it, anyhow, and I don't believe you can.” He looked at + Palliser in eager and anxious uncertainty. “If you could,” he dragged out, + “I shouldn't have a check-book. Where would you be then?” + </p> + <p> + “I should be in comfortable circumstances, dear chap, and so would you if + you gave me the money to-night, while you possess a check-book. It would + be only a sort of temporary loan in any case, whatever turned up. The + investment would quadruple itself. But there is no time to be lost. + Understand that.” + </p> + <p> + T. Tembarom broke out into a sort of boyish resentment. + </p> + <p> + “I don't believe he did look like him, anyhow,” he cried. “I believe it's + all a bluff.” His crude-sounding young swagger had a touch of final + desperation in it as he turned on Palliser. “I'm dead sure it's a bluff. + What a fool I was not to think of that! You want to bluff me into going + into this Cedric thing. You could no more swear he was like him than—than + I could.” + </p> + <p> + The outright, presumptuous, bold stripping bare of his phrases infuriated + Palliser too suddenly and too much. He stepped up to him and looked into + his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Bluff you, you young bounder!” he flung out at him. “You're losing your + head. You're not in New York streets here. You are talking to a gentleman. + No,” he said furiously, “I couldn't swear that he was like him, but what I + can swear in any court of justice is that the man I saw at the window was + Jem Temple Barholm, and no other man on earth.” + </p> + <p> + When he had said it, he saw the astonishing dolt change his expression + utterly again, as if in a flash. He stood up, putting his hands in his + pockets. His face changed, his voice changed. + </p> + <p> + “Fine!” he said. “First-rate! That's what I wanted to get on to.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0034" id="link2HCH0034"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXIV + </h2> + <p> + After this climax the interview was not so long as it was interesting. Two + men as far apart as the poles, as remote from each other in mind and body, + in training and education or lack of it, in desires and intentions, in + points of view and trend of being, as nature and circumstances could make + them, talked in a language foreign to each other of a wildly strange + thing. Palliser's arguments and points of aspect were less unknown to T. + Tembarom than his own were to Palliser. He had seen something very like + them before, though they had developed in different surroundings and had + been differently expressed. The colloquialism “You're not doing that for + your health” can be made to cover much ground in the way of the stripping + bare of motives for action. This was what, in excellent and well-chosen + English, Captain Palliser frankly said to his host. Of nothing which T. + Tembarom said to him in his own statement did he believe one word or + syllable. The statement in question was not long or detailed. It was, of + course, Palliser saw, a ridiculously impudent flinging together of a + farrago of nonsense, transparent in its effort beyond belief. Before he + had listened five minutes with the distinctly “nasty” smile, he burst out + laughing. + </p> + <p> + “That is a good `spiel,' my dear chap,” he said. “It's as good a `spiel' + as your typewriter friend used to rattle off when he thought he saw a + customer; but I'm not a customer.” + </p> + <p> + Tembarom looked at him interestedly for about ten seconds. His hands were + thrust into his trousers pockets, as was his almost invariable custom. + Absorption and speculation, even emotion and excitement, were usually + expressed in this unconventional manner. + </p> + <p> + “You don't believe a darned word of it,” was his sole observation. + </p> + <p> + “Not a darned word,” Palliser smiled. “You are trying a `bluff,' which + doesn't do credit to your usual sharpness. It's a bluff that is actually + silly. It makes you look like an ass.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, it's true,” said Tembarom; “it's true.” + </p> + <p> + Palliser laughed again. + </p> + <p> + “I only said it made you look like an ass,” he remarked. “I don't profess + to understand you altogether, because you are a new species. Your + combination of ignorance and sharpness isn't easy to calculate on. But + there is one thing I have found out, and that is, that when you want to + play a particular sharp trick you are willing to let people take you for a + fool. I'll own you've deceived me once or twice, even when I suspected + you. I've heard that's one of the most successful methods used in the + American business world. That's why I only say you look like an ass. You + are an ass in some respects; but you are letting yourself look like one + now for some shrewd end. You either think you'll slip out of danger by it + when I make this discovery public, or you think you'll somehow trick me + into keeping my mouth shut.” + </p> + <p> + “I needn't trick you into keeping your mouth shut,” Tembarom suggested. + “There's a straightway to do that, ain't there?” And he indelicately waved + his hand toward the documents pertaining to the Cedric Company. + </p> + <p> + It was stupid as well as gross, in his hearer's opinion. If he had known + what was good for him he would have been clever enough to ignore the + practical presentation of his case made half an hour or so earlier. + </p> + <p> + “No, there is not,” Palliser replied, with serene mendacity. “No + suggestion of that sort has been made. My business proposition was given + out on an entirely different basis. You, of course, choose to put your + personal construction upon it.” + </p> + <p> + “Gee whiz!” ejaculated T. Tembarom. “I was 'way off, wasn't I?” + </p> + <p> + “I told you that professing to be an ass wouldn't be good enough in this + case. Don't go on with it,” said Palliser, sharply. + </p> + <p> + “You're throwing bouquets. Let a fellow be natural,” said Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “That is bluff, too,” Palliser replied more sharply still. “I am not taken + in by it, bold as it is. Ever since you came here, you have been playing + this game. It was your fool's grin and guffaw and pretense of good nature + that first made me suspect you of having something up your sleeve. You + were too unembarrassed and candid.” + </p> + <p> + “So you began to look out,” Tembarom said, considering him curiously, + “just because of that.” Then suddenly he laughed outright, the fool's + guffaw. + </p> + <p> + It somehow gave Palliser a sort of puzzled shock. It was so hearty that it + remotely suggested that he appeared more secure than seemed possible. He + tried to reply to him with a languid contempt of manner. + </p> + <p> + “You think you have some tremendously sharp `deal' in your hand,” he said, + “but you had better remember you are in England where facts are like + sledge-hammers. You can't dodge from under them as you can in America. I + dare say you won't answer me, but I should like to ask you what you + propose to do.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know what I'm going to do any more than you do,” was the + unilluminating answer. “I don't mind telling you that.” + </p> + <p> + “And what do you think he will do?” + </p> + <p> + “I've got to wait till I find out. I'm doing it. That was what I told you. + What are you going to do?” he added casually. + </p> + <p> + “I'm going to Lincoln's Inn Fields to have an interview with Palford & + Grimby.” + </p> + <p> + “That's a good enough move,” commented Tembarom, “if you think you can + prove what you say. You've got to prove things, you know. I couldn't, so I + lay low and waited, just like I told you.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course, of course,” Palliser himself almost grinned in his derision. + “You have only been waiting.” + </p> + <p> + “When you've got to prove a thing, and haven't much to go on, you've got + to wait,” said T. Tembarom—“to wait and keep your mouth shut, + whatever happens, and to let yourself be taken for a fool or a horse-thief + isn't as gilt-edged a job as it seems. But proof's what it's best to have + before you ring up the curtain. You'd have to have it yourself. So would + Palford & Grimby before it'd be stone-cold safe to rush things and + accuse a man of a penitentiary offense.” + </p> + <p> + He took his unconventional half-seat on the edge of the table, with one + foot on the floor and the other one lightly swinging. + </p> + <p> + “Palford & Grimby are clever old ducks, and they know that much. Thing + they'd know best would be that to set a raft of lies going about a man + who's got money enough to defend himself, and to make them pay big damages + for it afterward, would be pretty bum business. I guess they know all + about what proof stands for. They may have to wait; so may you, same as I + have.” + </p> + <p> + Palliser realized that he was in the position of a man striking at an + adversary whose construction was of India-rubber. He struck home, but left + no bruise and drew no blood, which was an irritating thing. He lost his + temper. + </p> + <p> + “Proof!” he jerked out. “There will be proof enough, and when it is made + public, you will not control the money you threaten to use.” + </p> + <p> + “When you get proof, just you let me hear about it,” T. Tembarom said. + “And all the money I'm threatening on shall go where it belongs, and I'll + go back to New York and sell papers if I have to. It won't come as hard as + you think.” + </p> + <p> + The flippant insolence with which he brazened out his pretense that he had + not lied, that his ridiculous romance was actual and simple truth, + suggested dangerous readiness of device and secret knowledge of power + which could be adroitly used. + </p> + <p> + “You are merely marking time,” said Palliser, rising, with cold + determination to be juggled with no longer. “You have hidden him away + where you think you can do as you please with a man who is an invalid. + That is your dodge. You've got him hidden somewhere, and his friends had + better get at him before it is too late.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm not answering questions this evening, and I'm not giving addresses, + though there are no witnesses to take them down. If he's hidden away, he's + where he won't be disturbed,” was T. Tembarom's rejoinder. “You may lay + your bottom dollar on that.” + </p> + <p> + Palliser walked toward the door without speaking. He had almost reached it + when he whirled about involuntarily, arrested by a shout of laughter. + </p> + <p> + “Say,” announced Tembarom, “you mayn't know it, but this lay-out would + make a first-rate turn in a vaudeville. You think I'm lying, I look like + I'm lying, I guess every word I say sounds like I'm lying. To a fellow + like you, I guess it couldn't help but sound that way. And I'm not lying. + That's where the joke comes in. I'm not lying. I've not told you all I + know because it's none of your business and wouldn't help; but what I have + told you is the stone-cold truth.” + </p> + <p> + He was keeping it up to the very end with a desperate determination not to + let go his hold of his pose until he had made his private shrewd deal, + whatsoever it was. At least, so it struck Palliser, who merely said: + </p> + <p> + “I 'm leaving the house by the first train to-morrow morning.” He fixed a + cold gray eye on the fool's grin. + </p> + <p> + “Six forty-five,” said T. Tembarom. “I'll order the carriage. I might go + up myself.” + </p> + <p> + The door closed. + </p> + <p> + Tembarom was looking cheerful enough when he went into his bedroom. He had + become used to its size and had learned to feel that it was a good sort of + place. It had the hall bedroom at Mrs. Bowse's boarding-house “beaten to a + frazzle.” There was about everything in it that any man could hatch up an + idea he'd like to have. He had slept luxuriously on the splendid carved + bed through long nights, he had lain awake and thought out things on it, + he had lain and watched the fire-light flickering on the ceiling, as he + thought about Ann and made plans, and “fixed up” the Harlem flat which + could be run on fifteen per. He had picked out the pieces of furniture + from the Sunday Earth advertisement sheet, and had set them in their + places. He always saw the six-dollar mahogany-stained table set for + supper, with Ann at one end and himself at the other. He had grown + actually fond of the old room because of the silence and comfort of it, + which tended to give reality to his dreams. Pearson, who had ceased to + look anxious, and who had acquired fresh accomplishments in the form of an + entirely new set of duties, was waiting, and handed him a telegram. + </p> + <p> + “This just arrived, sir,” he explained. “James brought it here because he + thought you had come up, and I didn't send it down because I heard you on + the stairs.” + </p> + <p> + “That's right. Thank you, Pearson,” his master said. + </p> + <p> + He tore the yellow envelop, and read the message. In a moment Pearson knew + it was not an ordinary message, and therefore remained more than + ordinarily impassive of expression. He did not even ask of himself what it + might convey. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Temple Barholm stood still a few seconds, with the look of a man who + must think and think rapidly. + </p> + <p> + “What is the next train to London, Pearson?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “There is one at twelve thirty-six, sir,” he answered. “It's the last till + six in the morning. You have to change at Crowley.” + </p> + <p> + “You're always ready, Pearson,” returned Mr. Temple Barholm. “I want to + get that train.” + </p> + <p> + Pearson was always ready. Before the last word was quite spoken he had + turned and opened the bedroom door. + </p> + <p> + “I'll order the dog-cart; that's quickest, sir,” he said. He was out of + the room and in again almost immediately. Then he was at the wardrobe and + taking out what Mr. Temple Barholm called his “grip,” but what Pearson + knew as a Gladstone bag. It was always kept ready packed for unexpected + emergencies of travel. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Temple Barholm sat at the table and drew pen and paper toward him. He + looked excited; he looked more troubled than Pearson had seen him look + before. + </p> + <p> + “The wire's from Sir Ormsby Galloway, Pearson,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “It's about Mr. Strangeways. He's done what I used to be always watching + out against: he's disappeared.” + </p> + <p> + “Disappeared, sir!” cried Pearson, and almost dropped the Gladstone bag. + “I beg pardon, sir. I know there's no time to lose.” He steadied the bag + and went on with his task without even turning round. + </p> + <p> + His master was in some difficulty. He began to write, and after dashing + off a few words, stopped, and tore them up. + </p> + <p> + “No,” he muttered, “that won't do. There's no time to explain.” Then he + began again, but tore up his next lines also. + </p> + <p> + “That says too much and not enough. It'd frighten the life out of her.” + </p> + <p> + He wrote again, and ended by folding the sheet and putting it into an + envelop. + </p> + <p> + “This is a message for Miss Alicia,” he said to Pearson. “Give it to her + in the morning. I don't want her to worry because I had to go in a hurry. + Tell her everything's going to be all right; but you needn't mention that + anything's happened to Mr. Strangeways.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir,” answered Pearson. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Temple Barholm was already moving about the room, doing odd things for + himself rapidly, and he went on speaking. + </p> + <p> + “I want you and Rose to know,” he said, “that whatever happens, you are + both fixed all right—both of you. I've seen to that.” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, sir,” Pearson faltered, made uneasy by something new in his + tone. “You said whatever happened, sir—” + </p> + <p> + “Whatever old thing happens,” his master took him up. + </p> + <p> + “Not to you, sir. Oh, I hope, sir, that nothing—” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Temple Barholm put a cheerful hand on his shoulder. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing's going to happen that'll hurt any one. Things may change, that's + all. You and Rose are all right, Miss Alicia's all right, I'm all right. + Come along. Got to catch that train.”' + </p> + <p> + In this manner he took his departure. + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia had from necessity acquired the habit of early rising at + Rowcroft vicarage, and as the next morning was bright, she was clipping + roses on a terrace before breakfast when Pearson brought her the note. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Temple Barholm received a telegram from London last night, ma'am,” he + explained, “and he was obliged to take the midnight train. He hadn't time + to do any more than leave a few lines for you, but he asked me to tell you + that nothing disturbing had occurred. He specially mentioned that + everything was all right.” + </p> + <p> + “But how very sudden!” exclaimed Miss Alicia, opening her note and + beginning to read it. Plainly it had been written hurriedly indeed. It + read as though he had been in such haste that he hadn't had time to be + clear. + </p> + <p> + Dear little Miss Alicia: + </p> + <p> + I've got to light out of here as quick as I can make it. I can't even stop + to tell you why. There's just one thing—don't get rattled, Miss + Alicia. Whatever any one says or does, just don't let yourself get + rattled. + </p> + <p> + Yours affectionately, + </p> + <h3> + T. TEMBAROM. + </h3> + <p> + “Pearson,” Miss Alicia exclaimed, again looking up, “are you sure + everything is all right?” + </p> + <p> + “That was what he said, ma'am. `All right,' ma'am.” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, Pearson. I am glad to hear it.” + </p> + <p> + She walked to and fro in the sunshine, reading the note and rereading it. + </p> + <p> + “Of course if he said it was all right, it was all right,” she murmured. + “It is only the phrasing that makes me slightly nervous. Why should he ask + me not to get rattled?” The term was by this time as familiar to her as + any in Dr. Johnson's dictionary. “Of course he knows I do get rattled much + too easily; but why should I be in danger of getting rattled now if + nothing has happened?” She gave a very small start as she remembered + something. “Could it be that Captain Palliser—But how could he? + Though I do not like Captain Palliser.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Palliser, her distaste for whom at the moment quite agitated her, + was this morning an early riser also, and as she turned in her walk she + found him coming toward her. + </p> + <p> + “I find I am obliged to take an early train to London this morning,” he + said, after their exchange of greetings. “It is quite unexpected. I spoke + to Mr. Temple Barholm about it last night.” + </p> + <p> + Perhaps the unexpectedness, perhaps a certain suggestion of coincidence, + caused Miss Alicia's side ringlets to appear momentarily tremulous. + </p> + <p> + “Then perhaps we had better go in to breakfast at once,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Is Mr. Temple Barholm down?” he inquired as they seated themselves at the + breakfast-table. + </p> + <p> + “He is not here,” she answered. “He, too, was called away unexpectedly. He + went to London by the midnight train.” + </p> + <p> + She had never been so aware of her unchristian lack of liking for Captain + Palliser as she was when he paused a moment before he made any comment. + His pause was as marked as a start, and the smile he indulged in was, she + felt, most singularly disagreeable. It was a smile of the order which + conceals an unpleasant explanation of itself. + </p> + <p> + “Oh,” he remarked, “he has gone first, has he?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she answered, pouring out his coffee for him. “He evidently had + business of importance.” + </p> + <p> + They were quite alone, and she was not one of the women one need disturb + oneself about. She had been browbeaten into hypersensitive timidity early + in life, and did not know how to resent cleverly managed polite bullying. + She would always feel herself at fault if she was tempted to criticize any + one. She was innocent and nervous enough to betray herself to any extent, + because she would feel it rude to refuse to answer questions, howsoever + far they exceeded the limits of polite curiosity. He had learned a good + deal from her in the past. Why not try what could be startled out of her + now? Thus Captain Palliser said: + </p> + <p> + “I dare say you feel a little anxious at such an extraordinarily sudden + departure,” he suggested amiably. “Bolting off in the middle of the night + was sudden, if he did not explain himself.” + </p> + <p> + “He had no time to explain,” she answered. + </p> + <p> + “That makes it appear all the more sudden. But no doubt he left you a + message. I saw you were reading a note when I joined you on the terrace.” + </p> + <p> + Lightly casual as he chose to make the words sound, they were an audacity + he would have known better than to allow himself with any one but a timid + early-Victorian spinster whose politeness was hypersensitive in its + quality. + </p> + <p> + “He particularly desired that I should not be anxious,” she said. “He is + always considerate.” + </p> + <p> + “He would, of course, have explained everything if he had not been so + hurried?” + </p> + <p> + “Of course, if it had been necessary,” answered Miss Alicia, nervously + sipping her tea. + </p> + <p> + “Naturally,” said Captain Palliser. “His note no doubt mentioned that he + went away on business connected with his friend Mr. Strangeways?” + </p> + <p> + There was no question of the fact that she was startled. + </p> + <p> + “He had not time enough,” she said. “He could only write a few lines. Mr. + Strangeways?” + </p> + <p> + “We had a long talk about him last night. He told me a remarkable story,” + Captain Palliser went on. “I suppose you are quite familiar with all the + details of it?” + </p> + <p> + “I know how he found him in New York, and I know how generous he has been + to him.” + </p> + <p> + “Have you been told nothing more?” + </p> + <p> + “There was nothing more to tell. If there was anything, I am sure he had + some good reason for not telling me,” said Miss Alicia, loyally. “His + reasons are always good.” + </p> + <p> + Palliser's air of losing a shade or so of discretion as a result of + astonishment was really well done. + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean to say that he has not even hinted that ever since he arrived + at Temple Barholm he has strongly suspected Strangeways' identity—that + he has even known who he is?” he exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia's small hands clung to the table-cloth. + </p> + <p> + “He has not known at all. He has been most anxious to discover. He has + used every endeavor,” she brought out with some difficulty. + </p> + <p> + “You say he has been trying to find out?” Palliser interposed. + </p> + <p> + “He has been more than anxious,” she protested. “He has been to London + again and again; he has gone to great expense; he has even seen people + from Scotland Yard. I have sometimes almost thought he was assuming more + responsibility than was just to himself. In the case of a relative or an + old friend, but for an entire stranger—Oh, really, I ought not to + seem to criticize. I do not presume to criticize his wonderful generosity + and determination and goodness. No one should presume to question him.” + </p> + <p> + “If he knows that you feel like this—” Palliser began. + </p> + <p> + “He knows all that I feel,” Miss Alicia took him up with a pretty, rising + spirit. “He knows that I am full of unspeakable gratitude to him for his + beautiful kindness to me; he knows that I admire and respect and love him + in a way I could never express, and that I would do anything in the world + he could wish me to do.” + </p> + <p> + “Naturally,” said Captain Palliser. “I was only about to express my + surprise that since he is aware of all this he has not told you who he has + proved Strangeways to be. It is a little odd, you know.” + </p> + <p> + “I think “—Miss Alicia was even gently firm in her reply—“that + you are a little mistaken in believing Mr. Temple Barholm has proved Mr. + Strangeways to be anybody. When he has proof, he will no doubt think + proper to tell me about it. Until then I should prefer—” + </p> + <p> + Palliser laughed as he finished her sentence. + </p> + <p> + “Not to know. I was not going to betray him, Miss Alicia. He evidently has + one of his excellent reasons for keeping things to himself. I may mention, + however, that it is not so much he who has proof as I myself.” + </p> + <p> + “You!” How could she help quite starting in her seat when his gray eyes + fixed themselves on her with such a touch of finely amused malice? + </p> + <p> + “I offered him the proof last night, and it rather upset him,” he said. + “He thought no one knew but himself, and he was not inclined to tell the + world. He was upset because I said I had seen the man and could swear to + his identity. That was why he went away so hurriedly. He no doubt went to + see Strangeways and talk it over.” + </p> + <p> + “See Mr. Strangeways? But Mr. Strangeways—” Miss Alicia rose and + rang the bell. + </p> + <p> + “Tell Pearson I wish to see him at once,” she said to the footman. + </p> + <p> + Palliser took in her mood without comment. He had no objection to being + present when she made inquiries of Pearson. + </p> + <p> + “I hear the wheels of the dog-cart,” he remarked. “You see, I must catch + my train.” + </p> + <p> + Pearson stood at the door. + </p> + <p> + “Is not Mr. Strangeways in his room, Pearson?” Miss Alicia asked. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Temple Barholm took him to London when he last went, ma'am,” answered + Pearson. “You remember he went at night. The doctor thought it best.” + </p> + <p> + “He did not tell you that, either?” said Palliser, casually. + </p> + <p> + “The dog-cart is at the door, sir,” announced Pearson. + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia's hand was unsteady when the departing guest took it. + </p> + <p> + “Don't be disturbed,” he said considerately, “but a most singular thing + has happened. When I asked so many questions about Temple Barholm's Man + with the Iron Mask I asked them for curious reasons. That must be my + apology. You will hear all about it later, probably from Palford & + Grimby.” + </p> + <p> + When he had left the room Miss Alicia stood upon the hearth-rug as the + dog-cart drove away, and she was pale. Her simple and easily disturbed + brain was in a whirl. She could scarcely remember what she had heard, and + could not in the least comprehend what it had seemed intended to imply, + except that there had been concealed in the suggestions some disparagement + of her best beloved. + </p> + <p> + Singular as it was that Pearson should return without being summoned, when + she turned and found that he mysteriously stood inside the threshold + again, as if she had called him, she felt a great sense of relief. + </p> + <p> + “Pearson,” she faltered, “I am rather upset by certain things which + Captain Palliser has said. I am afraid I do not understand.” + </p> + <p> + She looked at him helplessly, not knowing what more to say. She wished + extremely that she could think of something definite. + </p> + <p> + The masterly finish of Pearson's reply lay in its neatly restrained hint + of unobtrusively perceptive sympathy. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Miss. I was afraid so. Which is why I took the liberty of stepping + into the room again. I myself do not understand, but of course I do not + expect to. If I may be so bold as to say it, Miss, whatever we don't + understand, we both understand Mr. Temple Barholm. My instructions were to + remind you, Miss, that everything would be all right.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia took up her letter from the table where she had laid it down. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, Pearson,” she said, her forehead beginning to clear itself a + little. “Of course, of course. I ought not to—He told me not to—get + rattled,” she added with plaintive ingenuousness, “and I ought not to, + above all things.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Miss. It is most important that you should not.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0035" id="link2HCH0035"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXV + </h2> + <p> + The story of the adventures, experiences, and journeyings of Mr. Joseph + Hutchinson, his daughter, and the invention, if related in detail, would + prove reading of interest; but as this is merely a study of the manner in + which the untrained characteristics and varied limitations of one man + adjusted or failed to adjust themselves to incongruous surroundings and + totally unprepared-for circumstances, such details, whatsoever their + potential picturesqueness, can be touched upon but lightly. No new idea of + value to the world of practical requirements is presented to the public at + large without the waking of many sleeping dogs, and the stirring of many + snapping fish, floating with open ears and eyes in many pools. An + uneducated, blustering, obstinate man of one idea, having resentfully + borne discouragement and wounded egotism for years, and suddenly + confronting immense promise of success, is not unlikely to be prey easily + harpooned. Joseph Hutchinson's rebound from despair to high and + well-founded hope made of him exactly what such a man is always made by + such rebound. The testimony to his genius and judgment which + acknowledgment of the value of his work implied was naturally, in his + opinion, only a proper tribute which the public had been a bull-headed + fool not to lay at his feet years before. So much time lost, and so much + money for it, as well as for him, and served 'em all damned well right, he + said. If Temple Barholm hadn't come into his money, and hadn't had more + sense than the rest of them, where would they all have been? Perhaps + they'd never have had the benefit of the thing he'd been telling them + about for years. He prided himself immensely on the possession of a + business shrewdness which was an absolute defense against any desire on + the part of the iniquitous to overreach him. He believed it to be a + peculiarly Lancashire characteristic, and kept it in view constantly. + </p> + <p> + “Lancashire's not easy to do,” he would say hilariously, “Them that can do + a Lancashire chap has got to look out that they get up early in the + morning and don't go to bed till late.” + </p> + <p> + Smooth-mannered and astute men of business who knew how to make a man talk + were given diffuse and loud-voiced explanations of his methods and + long-acknowledged merits and characteristics. His life, his morals, and + his training, or rather lack of it, were laid before them as examples of + what a man might work himself up to if “he had it in him.” Education + didn't do it. He had never been to naught but a village school, where he'd + picked up precious little but the three R's. It had to be born in a man. + Look at him! His invention promised to bring him in a fortune like a + duke's, if he managed it right and kept his eyes open for sharpers. This + company and that company were after him, but Lancashire didn't snap up + things without going into 'em, and under 'em, and through 'em, for the + matter of that. + </p> + <p> + The well-mannered gentlemen of business stimulated him greatly by their + appreciative attention. He sometimes lost his head a trifle and almost + bullied them, but they did not seem to mind it. Their apparently old-time + knowledge of and respect for Lancashire business sagacity seemed + invariably a marked thing. Men of genius and powerful character combined + with practical shrewdness of outlook they intimated, were of enormous + value to the business world. They were to be counted upon as important + factors. They could see and deal with both sides of a proposal as those of + weaker mind could not. + </p> + <p> + “That they can,” Hutchinson would admit, rolling about in his chair and + thrusting his hands in his pockets. “They've got some bottom to stand on.” + And he would feel amenable to reason. + </p> + <p> + Little Ann found her duties and responsibilities increasing daily. Many + persons seemed to think it necessary to come and talk business, and father + had so much to think of and reason out, so that he could be sure that he + didn't make any mistakes. In a quiet, remote, and darkened corner of her + mind, in which were stored all such things as it was well to say little or + nothing about, there was discreetly kept for reference the secretly + acquired knowledge that father did not know so much about business ways + and business people as he thought he did. Mother had learned this somewhat + important fact, and had secluded it in her own private mental store-room + with much affectionate delicacy. + </p> + <p> + “Father's a great man and a good man, Ann love,” she had confided to her, + choosing an occasion when her husband was a hundred miles away, “and he IS + right-down Lancashire in his clever way of seeing through people that + think themselves sharp; but when a man is a genius and noble-minded he + sometimes can't see the right people's faults and wickedness. He thinks + they mean as honest as he does. And there's times when he may get taken in + if some one, perhaps not half as clever as he is, doesn't look after him. + When the invention's taken up, and everybody's running after him to try to + cheat him out of his rights, if I'm not there, Ann, you must just keep + with him and watch every minute. I've seen these sharp, tricky ones + right-down flinch and quail when there was a nice, quiet-behaved woman in + the room, and she just fixed her eye steady and clear-like on them and + showed she'd took in every word and was like to remember. You know what I + mean, Ann; you've got that look in your own eye.” + </p> + <p> + She had. The various persons who interviewed Mr. Hutchinson became + familiar with the fact that he had an unusual intimacy with and affection + for his daughter. She was present on all occasions. If she had not been + such a quiet and entirely unobtrusive little thing, she might have been an + obstacle to freedom of expression. But she seemed a childish, + unsophisticated creature, who always had a book with her when she waited + in an office, and a trifle of sewing to occupy herself with when she was + at home. At first she so obliterated herself that she was scarcely + noticed; but in course of time it became observed by some that she was + curiously pretty. The face usually bent over her book or work was tinted + like a flower, and she had quite magnificent red hair. A stout old + financier first remarked her eyes. He found one day that she had quietly + laid her book on her lap, and that they were resting upon him like + unflinching crystals as he talked to her father. Their serenity made him + feel annoyed and uncomfortable. It was a sort of recording serenity. He + felt as though she would so clearly remember every word he had said that + she would be able to write it down when she went home; and he did not care + to have it written down. So he began to wander somewhat in his argument, + and did not reach his conclusions. + </p> + <p> + “I was glad, Father, to see how you managed that gentleman this + afternoon,” Little Ann said that night when Hutchinson had settled himself + with his pipe after an excellent dinner. + </p> + <p> + “Eh?” he exclaimed. “Eh?” + </p> + <p> + “The one,” she exclaimed, “that thought he was so sure he was going to + persuade you to sign that paper. I do wonder he could think you'd listen + to such a poor offer, and tie up so much. Why, even I could see he was + trying to take advantage, and I know nothing in the world about business.” + </p> + <p> + The financier in question had been a brilliant and laudatory + conversationalist, and had so soothed and exhilarated Mr. Hutchinson that + such perils had beset him as his most lurid imaginings could never have + conceived in his darkest moments of believing that the entire universe had + ceased all other occupation to engage in that of defrauding him of his + rights and dues. He had been so uplifted by the admiration of his genius + so properly exhibited, and the fluency with which his future fortunes had + been described, that he had been huffed when the arguments seemed to + dwindle away. Little Ann startled him, but it was not he who would show + signs of dismay at the totally unexpected expression of adverse opinion. + He had got into the habit of always listening, though inadvertently, as it + were, to Ann as he had inadvertently listened to her mother. + </p> + <p> + “Rosenthal?” he said. “Are you talking about him?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I am,” Little Ann answeered, smiling approvingly over her bit of + sewing. “Father, I wish you'd try and teach me some of the things you know + about business. I've learned a little by just listening to you talk; but I + should so like to feel as if I could follow you when you argue. I do so + enjoy hearing you argue. It's just an education.” + </p> + <p> + “Women are not up to much at business,” reflected Hutchinson. “If you'd + been a boy, I'd have trained you same as I've trained myself. You're a + sharp little thing, Ann, but you're a woman. Not but what a woman's the + best thing on earth,” he added almost severely in his conviction—“the + best thing on earth in her place. I don't know what I'd ever have done + without you, Ann, in the bad times.” + </p> + <p> + He loved her, blundering old egotist, just as he had loved her mother. Ann + always knew it, and her own love for him warmed all the world about them + both. She got up and went to him to kiss him, and pat him, and stuff a + cushion behind his stout back. + </p> + <p> + “And now the good times have come,” she said, bestowing on him two or + three special little pats which were caresses of her own invention, “and + people see what you are and always have been, as they ought to have seen + long ago, I don't want to feel as if I couldn't keep up with you and + understand your plans. Perhaps I've got a little bit of your cleverness, + and you might teach me to use it in small ways. I've got a good memory you + know, Father love, and I might recollect things people say and make bits + of notes of them to save you trouble. And I can calculate. I once got a + copy of Bunyan's `Pilgrim's Progress' for a prize at the village school + just for sums.” + </p> + <p> + The bald but unacknowledged fact that Mr. Hutchinson had never exhibited + gifts likely to entitle him to receive a prize for “sums” caused this + suggestion to be one of some practical value. When business men talked to + him of per cents., and tenth shares or net receipts, and expected him to + comprehend their proportions upon the spot without recourse to pencil and + paper, he felt himself grow hot and nervous and red, and was secretly + terrified lest the party of the second part should detect that he was + tossed upon seas of horrible uncertainty. T. Tembarom in the same + situation would probably have said, “This is the place where T. T. sits + down a while to take breath and count things up on his fingers. I am not a + sharp on arithmetic, and I need time—lots of it.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hutchinson's way was to bluster irritatedly. + </p> + <p> + “Aye, aye, I see that, of course, plain enough. I see that.” And feel + himself breaking into a cold perspiration. “Eh, this English climate is a + damp un,” he would add when it became necessary to mop his red forehead + somewhat with his big clean handkerchief. + </p> + <p> + Therefore he found it easy to receive Little Ann's proposition with favor. + </p> + <p> + “There's summat i' that,” he acknowledged graciously, dropping into + Lancashire. “That's one of the little things a woman can do if she's sharp + at figures. Your mother taught me that much. She always said women ought + to look after the bits of things as was too small for a man to bother + with.” + </p> + <p> + “Men have the big things to look after. That's enough for anybody,” said + Little Ann. “And they ought to leave something for women to do. If you'll + just let me keep notes for you and remember things and answer your + letters, and just make calculations you're too busy to attend to, I should + feel right-down happy, Father.” + </p> + <p> + “Eh!” he said relievedly, “tha art like thy mother.” + </p> + <p> + “That would make me happy if there was nothing else to do it,” said Ann, + smoothing his shoulder. + </p> + <p> + “You're her girl,” he said, warmed and supported. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I'm her girl, and I'm yours. Now, isn't there some little thing I + could begin with? Would you mind telling me if I was right in what I + thought you thought about Mr. Rosenthal's offer?” + </p> + <p> + “What did you think I thought about it?” He was able to put affectionate + condescension into the question. + </p> + <p> + She went to her work-basket and took out a sheet of paper. She came back + and sat cozily on the arm of his chair. + </p> + <p> + “I had to put it all down when I came home,” she said. “I wanted to make + sure I hadn't forgotten. I do hope I didn't make mistakes.” + </p> + <p> + She gave it to him to look at, and as he settled himself down to its + careful examination, she kept her blue eyes upon him. She herself did not + know that it was a wonderful little document in its neatly jotted down + notes of the exact detail most important to his interests. + </p> + <p> + There were figures, there were calculations of profits, there were records + of the gist of his replies, there were things Hutchinson himself could not + possibly have fished out of the jumbled rag-bag of his uncertain + recollections. + </p> + <p> + “Did I say that?” he exclaimed once. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Father love, and I could see it upset him. I was watching his face + because it wasn't a face I took to.” + </p> + <p> + Joseph Hutchinson began to chuckle—the chuckle of a relieved and + gratified stout man. + </p> + <p> + “Tha kept thy eyes open, Little Ann,” he said. “And the way tha's put it + down is a credit to thee. And I'll lay a sovereign that tha made no + mistakes in what tha thought I was thinking.” + </p> + <p> + He was a little anxious to hear what it had been. The memorandum had + brought him up with a slight shock, because it showed him that he had not + remembered certain points, and had passed over others which were of + dangerous importance. Ann slipped her warm arm about his neck, as she + nearly always did when she sat on the arm of his chair and talked things + over with him. She had never thought, in fact she was not even aware, that + her soft little instincts made her treat him as the big, good, conceited, + blundering child nature had created him. + </p> + <p> + “What I was seeing all the time was the way you were taking in his trick + of putting whole lots of things in that didn't really matter, and leaving + out things that did,” she explained. “He kept talking about what the + invention would make in England, and how it would make it, and adding up + figures and per cents. and royalties until my head was buzzing inside. And + when he thought he'd got your mind fixed on England so that you'd almost + forget there was any other country to think of, he read out the agreement + that said `All rights,' and he was silly enough to think he could get you + to sign it without reading it over and over yourself, and showing it to a + clever lawyer that would know that as many tricks can be played by things + being left out of a paper as by things being put in.” + </p> + <p> + Small beads of moisture broke out on the bald part of Joseph Hutchinson's + head. He had been first so flattered and exhilarated by the quoting of + large figures, and then so flustrated and embarrassed by his inability to + calculate and follow argument, and again so soothed and elated and + thrilled by his own importance in the scheme and the honors which his + position in certain companies would heap upon him, that an abyss had + yawned before him of which he had been wholly unaware. He was not unaware + of it now. He was a vainglorious, ignorant man, whose life had been spent + in common work done under the supervision of those who knew what he did + not know. He had fed himself upon the comforting belief that he had + learned all the tricks of any trade. He had been openly boastful of his + astuteness and experience, and yet, as Ann's soft little voice went on, + and she praised his cleverness in seeing one point after another, he began + to quake within himself before the dawning realization that he had seen + none of them, that he had been carried along exactly as Rosenthal had + intended that he should be, and that if luck had not intervened, he had + been on the brink of signing his name to an agreement that would have + implied a score of concessions he would have bellowed like a bull at the + thought of making if he had known what he was doing. + </p> + <p> + “Aye, lass,” he gulped out when he could speak—“aye, lass, tha wert + right enow. I'm glad tha wert there and heard it, and saw what I was + thinking. I didn't say much. I let the chap have rope enow to hang himself + with. When he comes back I'll give him a bit o' my mind as'll startle him. + It was right-down clever of thee to see just what I had i' my head about + all that there gab about things as didn't matter, an' the leavin' out them + as did—thinking I wouldn't notice. Many's the time I've said, `It is + na so much what's put into a contract as what's left out.' I'll warrant + tha'st heard me say it thysen.” + </p> + <p> + “I dare say I have,” answered Ann, “and I dare say that was why it came + into my mind.” + </p> + <p> + “That was it,” he answered. “Thy mother was always tellin' me of things + I'd said that I'd clean forgot myself.” + </p> + <p> + He was beginning to recover his balance and self-respect. It would have + been so like a Lancashire chap to have seen and dealt shrewdly with a + business schemer who tried to outwit him that he was gradually convinced + that he had thought all that had been suggested, and had comported himself + with triumphant though silent astuteness. He even began to rub his hands. + </p> + <p> + “I'll show him,” he said, “I'll send him off with a flea in his ear.” + </p> + <p> + “If you'll help me, I'll study out the things I've written down on this + paper,” Ann said, “and then I'll write down for you just the things you + make up your mind to say. It will be such a good lesson for me, if you + don't mind, Father. It won't be much to write it out the way you'll say + it. You know how you always feel that in business the fewer words the + better, and that, however much a person deserves it, calling names and + showing you're angry is only wasting time. One of the cleverest things you + ever thought was that a thief doesn't mind being called one if he's got + what he wanted out of you; he'll only laugh to see you in a rage when you + can't help yourself. And if he hasn't got what he wanted, it's only waste + of strength to work yourself up. It's you being what you are that makes + you know that temper isn't business.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Hutchinson, drawing a long and deep breath, “I was almost hot + enough to have forgot that, and I'm glad you've reminded me. We'll go over + that paper now, Ann. I'd like to give you your lesson while we've got a + bit o' time to ourselves and what I've said is fresh in your mind. The + trick is always to get at things while they're fresh in your mind.” + </p> + <p> + The little daughter with the red hair was present during Rosenthal's next + interview with the owner of the invention. The fellow, he told himself, + had been thinking matters over, had perhaps consulted a lawyer; and having + had time for reflection, he did not present a mass of mere inflated and + blundering vanity as a target for adroit aim. He seemed a trifle sulky, + but he did not talk about himself diffusely, and lose his head when he was + smoothed the right way. He had a set of curiously concise notes to which + he referred, and he stuck to his points with a bulldog obstinacy which was + not to be shaken. Something had set him on a new tack. The tricks which + could be used only with a totally ignorant and readily flattered and + influenced business amateur were no longer in order. This was baffling and + irritating. + </p> + <p> + The worst feature of the situation was that the daughter did not read a + book, as had seemed her habit at other times. She sat with a tablet and + pencil on her knee, and, still as unobtrusively as ever, jotted down + notes. + </p> + <p> + “Put that down, Ann,” her father said to her more than once. “There's no + objections to having things written down, I suppose?” he put it bluntly to + Rosenthal. “I've got to have notes made when I'm doing business. Memory's + all well enough, but black and white's better. No one can go back of black + and white. Notes save time.” + </p> + <p> + There was but one attitude possible. No man of business could resent the + recording of his considered words, but the tablet and pencil and the + quietly bent red head were extraordinary obstacles to the fluidity of + eloquence. Rosenthal found his arguments less ready and his methods + modifying themselves. The outlook narrowed itself. When he returned to his + office and talked the situation over with his partner, he sat and bit his + nails in restless irritation. + </p> + <p> + “Ridiculous as it seems, outrageously ridiculous, I've an idea,” he said, + “I've more than an idea that we have to count with the girl.” + </p> + <p> + “Girl? What girl?” + </p> + <p> + “Daughter. Well-behaved, quiet bit of a thing, who sits in a corner and + listens while she pretends to sew or read. I'm certain of it. She's taken + to making notes now, and Hutchinson's turned stubborn. You need not laugh, + Lewis. She's in it. We've got to count with that girl, little female mouse + as she looks.” + </p> + <p> + This view, which was first taken by Rosenthal and passed on to his + partner, was in course of time passed on to others and gradually accepted, + sometimes reluctantly and with much private protest, sometimes with + amusement. The well-behaved daughter went with Hutchinson wheresoever his + affairs called him. She was changeless in the unobtrusiveness of her + demeanor, which was always that of a dutiful and obedient young person who + attended her parent because he might desire her humble little assistance + in small matters. + </p> + <p> + “She's my secretary,” Hutchinson began to explain, with a touch of + swagger. “I've got to have a secretary, and I'd rather trust my private + business to my own daughter than to any one else. It's safe with her.” + </p> + <p> + It was so safe with her steady demureness that Hutchinson found himself + becoming steady himself. The “lessons” he gave to Little Ann, and the + notes made as a result, always ostensibly for her own security and + instruction, began to form a singularly firm foundation for statement and + argument. He began to tell himself that his memory was improving. Facts + were no longer jumbled together in his mind. He could better follow a line + of logical reasoning. He less often grew red and hot and flustered. + </p> + <p> + “That's the thing I've said so often—that temper's got naught to do + wi' business, and only upsets a man when he wants all his wits about him. + It's the truest thing I ever worked out,” he not infrequently + congratulated himself. “If a chap can keep his temper, he'll be like to + keep his head and drive his bargain. I see it plainer every day o' my + life.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0036" id="link2HCH0036"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXVI + </h2> + <p> + It was in the course of the “lessons” that he realized that he had always + argued that the best way to do business was to do it face to face with + people. To stay in England, and let another chap make your bargains for + you in France or Germany or some other outlandish place, where frog-eating + foreigners ran loose, was a fool's trick. He'd said it often enough. “Get + your eye on 'em, and let them know you've got it on them, and they'd soon + find out they were dealing with Lancashire, and not with foreign knaves + and nincompoops.” So, when it became necessary to deal with France, Little + Ann packed him up neatly, so to speak, and in the role of obedient + secretarial companion took him to that country, having for weeks + beforehand mentally confronted the endless complications attending the + step. She knew, in the first place, what the effect of the French language + would be upon his temper: that it would present itself to him as a wall + deliberately built by the entire nation as a means of concealing a deep + duplicity the sole object of which was the baffling, thwarting, and + undoing of Englishmen, from whom it wished to wrest their honest rights. + Apoplexy becoming imminent, as a result of his impotent rage during their + first few days in Paris, she paid a private visit to a traveler's agency, + and after careful inquiry discovered that it was not impossible to secure + the attendance and service of a well-mannered young man who spoke most of + the languages employed by most of the inhabitants of the globe. She even + found that she might choose from a number of such persons, and she + therefore selected with great care. + </p> + <p> + “One that's got a good temper, and isn't easy irritated,” she said to + herself, in summing up the aspirants, “but not one that's easy-tempered + because he's silly. He must have plenty of common sense as well as be + willing to do what he's told.” + </p> + <p> + When her father discovered that he himself had been considering the + desirability of engaging the services of such a person, and had, indeed + already, in a way, expressed his intention of sending her to “the agency + chap” to look him up, she was greatly relieved. + </p> + <p> + “I can try to teach him what you've taught me, Father,” she said, “and of + course he'll learn just by being with you.” + </p> + <p> + The assistant engaged was a hungry young student who had for weeks, + through ill luck, been endeavoring to return with some courage the gaze of + starvation, which had been staring him in the face. + </p> + <p> + His name was Dudevant, and with desperate struggles he had educated + himself highly, having cherished literary ambitions from his infancy. At + this juncture it had become imperative that he should, for a few months at + least, obtain food. Ann had chosen well by instinct. His speech had told + her that he was intelligent, his eyes had told her that he would do + anything on earth to earn his living. + </p> + <p> + From the time of his advent, Joseph Hutchinson had become calmer and had + ceased to be in peril of apoplectic seizure. Foreign nations became less + iniquitous and dangerous, foreign languages were less of a barrier, easier + to understand. A pleasing impression that through great facility he had + gained a fair practical knowledge of French, German, and Italian, + supported and exhilarated him immensely. + </p> + <p> + “It's right-down wonderful how a chap gets to understand these fellows' + lingo after he's listened to it a bit,” he announced to Ann. “I wouldn't + have believed it of myself that I could see into it as quick as I have. I + couldn't say as I understand everything they say just when they're saying + it; but I understand it right enough when I've had time to translate like. + If foreigners didn't talk so fast and run their words one into another, + and jabber as if their mouths was full of puddin', it'd be easier for them + as is English. Now, there's `wee' and `nong.' I know 'em whenever I hear + 'em, and that's a good bit of help.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” answered Ann, “of course that's the chief thing you want to know in + business, whether a person is going to say `yes' or `no.'” + </p> + <p> + He began to say “wee” and “nong” at meals, and once broke forth “Passy mor + le burr” in a tone so casually Parisian that Ann was frightened, because + she did not understand immediately, and also because she saw looming up + before her a future made perilous by the sudden interjection of unexpected + foreign phrases it would be incumbent upon her and Dudevant to comprehend + instantaneously without invidious hesitation. + </p> + <p> + “Don't you understand? Pass the butter. Don't you understand a bit o' + French like that?” he exclaimed irritatedly. “Buy yourself one o' these + books full of easy sentences and learn some of 'em, lass. You oughtn't to + be travelin' about with your father in foreign countries and learnin' + nothin'. It's not every lass that's gettin' your advantages.” + </p> + <p> + Ann had not mentioned the fact that she spent most of her rare leisure + moments in profound study of phrase-books and grammars, which she kept in + her trunk and gave her attention to before she got up in the morning, + after she went to her room at night, and usually while she was dressing. + You can keep a book open before you when you are brushing your hair. + Dudevant gave her a lesson or so whenever time allowed. She was as quick + to learn as her father thought he was, and she was desperately determined. + It was really not long before she understood much more than “wee and nong” + when she was present at a business interview. + </p> + <p> + “You are a wonderful young lady,” Dudevant said, with that well-known + yearning in his eyes. “You are most wonderful.” + </p> + <p> + “She's just a wonder,” Mrs. Bowse and her boarders had said. And the + respectful yearning in the young Frenchman's eyes and voice were well + known to her because she had seen it often before, and remembered it, in + Jem Bowles and Julius Steinberger. That this young man had without an hour + of delay fallen abjectly in love with her was a circumstance with which + she dealt after her own inimitably kind and undeleterious method, which in + itself was an education to any amorous youth. + </p> + <p> + “I can understand all you tell me,” she said when he reached the point of + confiding his hard past to her. “I can understand it because I knew some + one who had to fight for himself just that way, only perhaps it was harder + because he wasn't educated as you are.” + </p> + <p> + “Did he—confide in you?” Dudevant ventured, with delicate + hesitation. “You are so kind I am sure he did, Mademoiselle.” + </p> + <p> + “He told me about it because he knew I wanted to hear,” she answered. “I + was very fond of him,” she added, and her kind gravity was quite unshaded + by any embarrassment. “I was right-down fond of him.” + </p> + <p> + His emotion rendered him for a moment indiscreet, to her immediate + realization and regret, as was evident by his breaking off in the midst of + his question. + </p> + <p> + “And now—are you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I always shall be, Mr. Dudevant.” + </p> + <p> + His adoration naturally only deepened itself as all hope at once receded, + as it could not but recede before the absolute pellucid truth of her. + </p> + <p> + “However much he likes me, he will get over it in time. People do, when + they know how things stand,” she was thinking, with maternal sympathy. + </p> + <p> + It did him no bitter harm to help her with her efforts at learning what + she most needed, and he found her intelligence and modest power of + concentration remarkable. A singularly clear knowledge of her own + specialized requirements was a practical background to them both. She had + no desire to shine; she was merely steadily bent on acquiring as + immediately as possible a comprehension of nouns, verbs, and phrases that + would be useful to her father. The manner in which she applied herself, + and assimilated what it was her quietly fixed intention to assimilate, + bespoke her possession of a brain the powers of which being concentrated + on large affairs might have accomplished almost startling results. There + was, however, nothing startling in her intentions, and ambition did not + touch her. Yet, as she went with Hutchinson from one country to another, + more than one man of affairs had it borne in upon him that her young + slimness and her silence represented an unanticipated knowledge of points + under discussion which might wisely be considered as a factor in all + decisions for or against. To realize that a soft-cheeked, child-eyed girl + was an element to regard privately in discussions connected with the sale + of, or the royalties paid on, a valuable patent appeared in some minds to + be a situation not without flavor. She was the kind of little person a man + naturally made love to, and a girl who was made love to in a clever manner + frequently became amenable to reason, and might be persuaded to use her + influence in the direction most desired. But such male financiers as began + with this idea discovered that they had been led into errors of judgment + through lack of familiarity with the variations of type. One personable + young man of title, who had just been disappointed in a desirable marriage + with a fortune, being made aware that the invention was likely to arrive + at amazing results, was sufficiently rash to approach Mr. Hutchinson with + formal proposals. Having a truly British respect for the lofty in place, + and not being sufficiently familiar with titled personages to discriminate + swiftly between the large and the small, Joseph Hutchinson was somewhat + unduly elated. + </p> + <p> + “The chap's a count, lass,” he said. “Tha'u'd go back to Manchester a + countess.” + </p> + <p> + “I've heard they're nearly all counts in these countries,” commented Ann. + “And there's countesses that have to do their own washing, in a manner of + speaking. You send him to me, Father.” + </p> + <p> + When the young man came, and compared the fine little nose of Miss + Hutchinson with the large and bony structure dominating the countenance of + the German heiress he had lost, also when he gazed into the clearness of + the infantile blue eyes, his spirits rose. He felt himself en veine; he + was equal to attacking the situation. He felt that he approached it with + alluring and chivalric delicacy. He almost believed all that he said. + </p> + <p> + But the pellucid blueness of the gaze that met his was confusingly + unstirred by any shade of suitable timidity or emotion. There was + something in the lovely, sedate little creature, something so undisturbed + and matter of fact, that it frightened him, because he suddenly felt like + a fool whose folly had been found out. + </p> + <p> + “That's downright silly,” remarked Little Ann, not allowing him to escape + from her glance, which unhesitatingly summed up him and his situation. + “And you know it is. You don't know anything about me, and you wouldn't + like me if you did. And I shouldn't like you. We're too different. Please + go away, and don't say anything more about it. I shouldn't have patience + to talk it over.” + </p> + <p> + “Father,” she said that night, “if ever I get married at all, there's only + one person I'm going to marry. You know that.” And she would say no more. + </p> + <p> + By the time they returned to England, the placing of the invention in + divers countries had been arranged in a manner which gave assurance of a + fortune for its owners on a foundation not likely to have established + itself in more adverse circumstances. Mr. Hutchinson had really driven + some admirable bargains, and had secured advantages which to his last hour + he would believe could have been achieved only by Lancashire shrewdness + and Lancashire ability to “see as far through a mile-stone as most chaps, + an' a bit farther.” The way in which he had never allowed himself to be + “done” caused him at times to chuckle himself almost purple with + self-congratulation. + </p> + <p> + “They got to know what they was dealing with, them chaps. They was sharp, + but Joe was a bit sharper,” he would say. + </p> + <p> + They found letters waiting for them when they reached London. + </p> + <p> + “There's one fro' thy grandmother,” Hutchinson said, in dealing out the + package. “She's written to thee pretty steady for an old un.” + </p> + <p> + This was true. Letters from her had followed them from one place to + another. This was a thick one in an envelop of good size. + </p> + <p> + “Aren't tha going to read it?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Not till you've had your dinner, Father. You've had a long day of it with + that channel at the end. I want to see you comfortable with your pipe.” + </p> + <p> + The hotel was a good one, and the dinner was good. Joseph Hutchinson + enjoyed it with the appetite of a robust man who has had time to get over + a not too pleasant crossing. When he had settled down into a stout + easy-chair with the pipe, he drew a long and comfortable breath as he + looked about the room. + </p> + <p> + “Eh, Ann, lass,” he said, “thy mother 'd be fine an' set up if she could + see aw this. Us having the best that's to be had, an' knowin' we can have + it to the end of our lives, that's what it's come to, tha knows. No more + third-class railway-carriages for you and me. No more `commercial' an' + `temperance' hotels. Th' first cut's what we can have—th' upper cut. + Eh, eh, but it's a good day for a man when he's begun to be appreciated as + he should be.” + </p> + <p> + “It's a good day for those that love him,” said Little Ann. “And I dare + say mother knows every bit about it.” + </p> + <p> + “I dare say she does,” admitted Hutchinson, with tender lenience. “She was + one o' them as believed that way. And I never knowed her to be wrong in + aught else, so I'm ready to give in as she was reet about that. Good lass + she was, good lass.” + </p> + <p> + He had fallen into a contented and utterly comfortable doze in his chair + when Ann sat down to read her grandmother's letter. The old woman always + wrote at length, giving many details and recording village events with + shrewd realistic touches. Throughout their journeyings, Ann had been + followed by a record of the estate and neighborhood of Temple Barholm + which had lacked nothing of atmosphere. She had known what the new lord of + the manor did, what people said, what the attitude of the gentry had + become; that the visit of the Countess of Mallowe and her daughter had + extended itself until curiosity and amusement had ceased to comment, and + passively awaited results. She had heard of Miss Alicia and her + reincarnation, and knew much of the story of the Duke of Stone, whose + reputation as a “dommed clever owd chap” had earned for him a sort of awed + popularity. There had been many “ladies.” The new Temple Barholm had + boldly sought them out and faced them in their strongholds with the manner + of one who would confront the worst and who revealed no tendency to + flinch. The one at Stone Hover with the “pretty color” and the one with + the dimples had appeared frequently upon the scene. Then there had been + Lady Joan Fayre, who had lived at his elbow, sitting at his table, driving + in his carriages with the air of cold aloofness which the cottagers “could + na abide an' had no patience wi'.” She had sometimes sat and wondered and + wondered about things, and sometimes had flushed daisy-red instead of + daisy-pink; and sometimes she had turned rather pale and closed her soft + mouth firmly. But, though she had written twice a week to her grandmother, + she had recorded principally the successes and complexities of the + invention, and had asked very few questions. Old Mrs. Hutchinson would + tell her all she must know, and her choice of revelation would be made + with a far-sightedness which needed no stimulus of questioning. The letter + she had found awaiting her had been long on its way, having missed her at + point after point and followed her at last to London. It looked and felt + thick and solid in its envelop. Little Ann opened it, stirred by the + suggestion of quickened pulse-beats with which she had become familiar. As + she bent over it she looked sweetly flushed and warmed. + </p> + <p> + Joseph Hutchinson's doze had almost deepened into sleep when he was + awakened by the touch of her hand on his shoulder. She was standing by + him, holding some sheets of her grandmother's letter, and several other + sheets were lying on the table. Something had occurred which had changed + her quiet look. + </p> + <p> + “Has aught happened to your grandmother?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “No, Father, but this letter that's been following me from one place to + another has got some queer news in it.” + </p> + <p> + “What's up, lass? Tha looks as if summat was up.” + </p> + <p> + “The thing that's happened has given me a great deal to think of,” was her + answer. “It's about Mr. Temple Barholm and Mr. Strangeways.” + </p> + <p> + He became wide-awake at once, sitting up and turning in his chair in testy + anxiety. + </p> + <p> + “Now, now,” he exclaimed, “I hope that cracked chap's not gone out an' out + mad an' done some mischief. I towd Temple Barholm it was a foolish thing + to do, taking all that trouble about him. Has he set fire to th' house or + has he knocked th' poor lad on th' head?” + </p> + <p> + “No, he hasn't, Father. He's disappeared, and Mr. Temple Barholm's + disappeared, too.” + </p> + <p> + “Disappeared?” Hutchinson almost shouted. “What for, i' the Lord's name?” + </p> + <p> + “Nobody knows for certain, and people are talking wild. The village is all + upset, and all sorts of silly things are being said.” + </p> + <p> + “What sort o' things?” + </p> + <p> + “You know what servants at big houses are—how they hear bits of talk + and make much of it,” she explained. “They've been curious and chattering + among themselves about Mr. Strangeways from the first. It was Burrill that + said he believed he was some relation that was being hid away for some + good reason. One night Mr. Temple Barholm and Captain Palliser were having + a long talk together, and Burrill was about—” + </p> + <p> + “Aye, he'd be about if he thought there was a chance of him hearing summat + as was none of his business,” jerked out Hutchinson, irately. + </p> + <p> + “They were talking about Mr. Strangeways, and Burrill heard Captain + Palliser getting angry; and as he stepped near the door he heard him say + out loud that he could swear in any court of justice that the man he had + seen at the west room window—it's a startling thing, Father—was + Mr. James Temple Barholm.” For the moment her face was pale. + </p> + <p> + Hereupon Hutchinson sprang up. + </p> + <p> + “What!” His second shout was louder than his first. “Th' liar! Th' chap's + dead, an' he knows it. Th' dommed mischief-makin' liar!” + </p> + <p> + Her eyes were clear and speculatively thoughtful, notwithstanding her lack + of color. + </p> + <p> + “There have been people that have been thought dead that have come back to + their friends alive. It's happened many a time,” she said. “It wouldn't be + so strange for a man that had no friends to be lost in a wild, far-off + place where there was neither law nor order, and where every man was + fighting for his own life and the gold he was mad after. Particularly a + man that was shamed and desperate and wanted to hide himself. And, most of + all, it would be easy, if he was like Mr. Strangeways, and couldn't + remember, and had lost himself.” + </p> + <p> + As her father listened, the angry redness of his countenance moderated its + hue. His eyes gradually began to question and his under jaw fell slightly. + </p> + <p> + “Si' thee, lass,” he broke out huskily, “does that mean to say tha + believes it?” + </p> + <p> + “It's not often you can believe what you don't know,” she answered. “I + don't know anything about it. There's just one thing I believe, because I + know it. I believe what grandmother does. Read that.” + </p> + <p> + She handed him the final sheet of old Mrs. Hutchinson's letter. It was + written with very black ink and in an astonishingly bold and clear hand. + It was easy to read the sentences with which she ended. + </p> + <p> + There's a lot said. There's always more saying than doing. But it's + right-down funny to see how the lad has made hard and fast friends just + going about in his queer way, and no one knowing how he did it. I like him + myself. He's one of those you needn't ask questions about. If there's + anything said that isn't to his credit, it's not true. There's no ifs, + buts, or ands about that, Ann. + </p> + <p> + Little Ann herself read the words as her father read them. + </p> + <p> + “That's the thing I believe, because I know it,” was all she said. + </p> + <p> + “It's the thing I'd swear to mysel',” her father answered bluffly. “But, + by Judd—” + </p> + <p> + She gave him a little push and spoke to him in homely Lancashire phrasing, + and with some soft unsteadiness of voice. + </p> + <p> + “Sit thee down, Father love,” she said, “and let me sit on thy knee.” + </p> + <p> + He sat down with emotional readiness, and she sat on his stout knee like a + child. It was a thing she did in tender or troubled moments as much in + these days as she had done when she was six or seven. Her little lightness + and soft young ways made it the most natural thing in the world, as well + as the prettiest. She had always sat on his knee in the hours when he had + been most discouraged over the invention. She had known it made him feel + as though he were taking care of her, and as though she depended utterly + on him to steady the foundations of her world. What could such a little + bit of a lass do without “a father”? + </p> + <p> + “It's upset thee, lass,” he said. “It's upset thee.” + </p> + <p> + He saw her slim hands curl themselves into small, firm fists as they + rested on her lap. + </p> + <p> + “I can't bear to think that ill can be said of him, even by a wastrel like + Captain Palliser,” she said. “He's MINE.” + </p> + <p> + It made him fumble caressingly at her big knot of soft red hair. + </p> + <p> + “Thine, is he?” he said. “Thine! Eh, but tha did say that just like thy + mother would ha' said it; tha brings the heart i' my throat now and again. + That chap's i' luck, I can tell him—same as I was once.” + </p> + <p> + “He's mine now, whatever happens,” she went on, with a firmness which no + skeptic would have squandered time in the folly of hoping to shake. “He's + done what I told him to do, and it's ME he wants. He's found out for + himself, and so have I. He can have me the minute he wants me—the + very minute.” + </p> + <p> + “He can?” said Hutchinson. “That settles it. I believe tha'd rather take + him when he was i' trouble than when he was out of it. Same as tha'd + rather take him i' a flat in Harlem on fifteen dollar a week than on + fifteen hundred.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Father, I would. It'd give me more to do for him.” + </p> + <p> + “Eh, eh,” he grunted tenderly, “thy mother again. I used to tell her as + the only thing she had agen me was that I never got i' jail so she could + get me out an' stand up for me after it. There's only one thing worrits me + a bit: I wish the lad hadn't gone away.” + </p> + <p> + “I've thought that out, though I've not had much time to reason about + things,” said Little Ann. “If he's gone away, he's gone to get something; + and whatever it happens to be, he'll be likely to bring it back with him, + Father.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0037" id="link2HCH0037"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXVII + </h2> + <p> + Old Mrs. Hutchinson's letter had supplied much detail, but when her son + and grand-daughter arrived in the village of Temple Barholm they heard + much more, the greater part of it not in the least to be relied upon. + </p> + <p> + “The most of it's lies, as folks enjoys theirsels pretendin' to believe,” + the grand-mother commented. “It's servants'-hall talk and cottage gossip, + and plenty made itself up out o' beer drunk in th' tap-room at th' Wool + Park. In a place where naught much happens, people get into th' way 'o + springin' on a bit o' news, and shakin' and worryin' it like a terrier + does a rat. It's nature. That lad's given 'em lots to talk about ever + since he coom. He's been a blessin' to 'em. If he'd been gentry, he'd not + ha' been nigh as lively. Th' village lads tries to talk through their + noses like him. Little Tummas Hibblethwaite does it i' broad Lancashire.” + </p> + <p> + The only facts fairly authenticated were that the mysterious stranger had + been taken away very late one night, some time before the interview + between Mr. Temple Barholm and Captain Palliser, of which Burrill knew so + much because he had “happened to be about.” When a domestic magnate of + Burrill's type “happens to be about” at a crisis, he is not unlikely to + hear a great deal. Burrill, it was believed, knew much more than he + deigned to make public. The entire truth was that Captain Palliser + himself, in one of his hasty appearances in the neighborhood of Temple + Barholm, had bestowed a few words of cold caution on him. + </p> + <p> + “Don't talk too much,” he had said. “Proof is required before talk is + safe. The American was sharp enough to say that to me himself. He was + sharp enough, too, to keep his man hidden. I was the only person that saw + him who could have recognized him, and I saw him by chance. Palford & + Grimby require proof. We are in search of it. Servants will talk; but if + you don't want to run the risk of getting yourself into trouble, don't + make absolute statements.” + </p> + <p> + This had been a disappointment to Burrill, who had seen himself developing + in magnitude; but he was a timid man, and therefore felt it wise to convey + his knowledge merely through the conviction carried by a dignified silence + after his first indiscreet revelation of having “happened to be about” had + been made. It would have been some solace to him to intimate to Miss + Alicia by his bearing and the manner of his services that she had been + discovered, so to speak, in the character of a sort of accomplice; that + her position was a perilously uncertain one, which would probably end in + utter downfall, leaving her in her old and proper place as an elderly, + insignificant, and unattractive poor relation, without a feature to + recommend her. But being, as before remarked, a timid man, and recalling + the interview between himself and his employer held outside the + dining-room door, and having also a disturbing memory of the sharp, cool, + boyish eye and the tone of the casual remark that he had “a head on his + shoulders” and that it was “up to him to make the others understand,” it + seemed as well to restrain his inclinations until the proof Palford & + Grimby required was forthcoming. + </p> + <p> + It was perhaps the moderate and precautionary attitude of Palford & + Grimby, during their first somewhat startled though reserved interview + with Captain Palliser, which had prevented the vaguely wild rumors from + being regarded as more than villagers' exaggerated talk among themselves. + The “gentry,” indeed, knew much less of the cottagers than the cottagers + knew of the gentry; consequently events furnishing much excitement among + the village people not infrequently remained unheard of by those in the + class above them. A story less incredible might have been more considered; + but the highly colored reasons given for the absence of the owner of + Temple Barholm would, if heard of, have been more than likely to be + received and passed over with a smile. + </p> + <p> + The manner of Mr. Palford and also of Mr. Grimby during the deliberately + unmelodramatic and carefully connected relation of Captain Palliser's + singular story, was that of professional gentlemen who for reasons of good + breeding were engaged in restraining outward expression of conviction that + they were listening to utter nonsense. Palliser himself was aware of this, + and upon the whole did not wonder at it in entirely unimaginative persons + of extremely sober lives. In fact, he had begun by giving them some + warning as to what they might expect in the way of unusualness. + </p> + <p> + “You will, no doubt, think what I am about to tell you absurd and + incredible,” he had prefaced his statements. “I thought the same myself + when my first suspicions were aroused. I was, in fact, inclined to laugh + at my own idea until one link connected itself with another.” + </p> + <p> + Neither Mr. Grimby nor Mr. Palford was inclined to laugh. On the contrary, + they were extremely grave, and continued to find it necessary to restrain + their united tendency to indicate facially that the thing must be + nonsense. It transcended all bounds, as it were. The delicacy with which + they managed to convey this did them much credit. This delicacy was + equaled by the moderation with which Captain Palliser drew their attention + to the fact that it was not the thing likely-to-happen on which were + founded the celebrated criminal cases of legal history; it was the + incredible and almost impossible events, the ordinarily unbelievable + duplicities, moral obliquities and coincidences, which made them what they + were and attracted the attention of the world. This, Mr. Palford and his + partner were obviously obliged to admit. What they did not admit was that + such things never having occurred in one's own world, they had been + mentally relegated to the world of newspaper and criminal record as things + that could not happen to oneself. Mr. Palford cleared his throat in a + seriously cautionary way. + </p> + <p> + “This is, of course, a matter suggesting too serious an accusation not to + be approached in the most conservative manner,” he remarked. + </p> + <p> + “Most serious consequences have resulted in cases implying libelous + assertions which have been made rashly,” added Mr. Grimby. “As Mr. Temple + Barholm intimated to you, a man of almost unlimited means has command of + resources which it might not be easy to contend with if he had reason to + feel himself injured.” + </p> + <p> + The fact that Captain Palliser had in a bitterly frustrated moment allowed + himself to be goaded into losing his temper, and “giving away” to Tembarom + the discovery on which he had felt that he could rely as a lever, did not + argue that a like weakness would lead him into more dangerous + indiscretion. He had always regarded himself as a careful man whose + defenses were well built about him at such crises in his career as + rendered entrenchment necessary. There would, of course, be some pleasure + in following the matter up and getting more than even with a man who had + been insolent to him; but a more practical feature of the case was that + if, through his alert observation and shrewd aid, Jem Temple Barholm was + restored to his much-to-be-envied place in the world, a far from unnatural + result would be that he might feel suitable gratitude and indebted-ness to + the man who, not from actual personal liking but from a mere sense of + justice, had rescued him. As for the fears of Messrs. Palford & + Grimby, he had put himself on record with Burrill by commanding him to + hold his tongue and stating clearly that proof was both necessary and + lacking. No man could be regarded as taking risks whose attitude was so + wholly conservative and non-accusing. Servants will gossip. A superior who + reproves such gossip holds an unattackable position. In the private room + of Palford & Grimby, however, he could confidently express his + opinions without risk. + </p> + <p> + “The recognition of a man lost sight of for years, and seen only for a + moment through a window, is not substantial evidence,” Mr. Grimby had + proceeded. “The incident was startling, but not greatly to be relied + upon.” + </p> + <p> + “I knew him.” Palliser was slightly grim in his air of finality. “He was a + man most men either liked or hated. I didn't like him. I detested a trick + he had of staring at you under his drooping lids. By the way, do you + remember the portrait of Miles Hugo which was so like him?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Palford remembered having heard that there was a certain portrait in + the gallery which Mr. James Temple Barholm had been said to resemble. He + had no distinct recollection of the ancestor it represented. + </p> + <p> + “It was a certain youngster who was a page in the court of Charles the + Second and who died young. Miles Hugo Charles James was his name. He is my + strongest clue. The American seemed rather keen the first time we talked + together. He was equally keen about Jem Temple Barholm. He wanted to know + what he looked like, and whether it was true that he was like the + portrait.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed!” exclaimed Palford and Grimby, simultaneously. + </p> + <p> + “It struck me that there was something more than mere curiosity in his + manner,” Palliser enlarged. “I couldn't make him out then. Later, I began + to see that he was remarkably anxious to keep every one from Strangeways. + It was a sort of Man in the Iron Mask affair. Strangeways was apparently + not only too excitable to be looked at or spoken to, but too excitable to + be spoken of. He wouldn't talk about him.” + </p> + <p> + “That is exceedingly curious,” remarked Mr. Palford, but it was not in + response to Palliser. A few moments before he had suddenly looked + thoughtful. He wore now the aspect of a man trying to recall something as + Palliser continued. + </p> + <p> + “One day, after I had been to look at a sunset through a particular window + in the wing where Strangeways was kept, I passed the door of his + sitting-room, and heard the American arguing with him. He was evidently + telling him he was to be taken elsewhere, and the poor devil was + terrified. I heard him beg him for God's sake not to send him away. There + was panic in his voice. In connection with the fact that he has got him + away secretly—at midnight-it's an ugly thing to recall.” + </p> + <p> + “It would seem to have significance.” Grimby said it uneasily. + </p> + <p> + “It set me thinking and looking into things,” Palliser went on. “Pearson + was secretive, but the head man, Burrill, made casual enlightening + remarks. I gathered some curious details, which might or might not have + meant a good deal. When Strangeways suddenly appeared at his window one + evening a number of things fitted themselves together. My theory is that + the American—Tembarom, as he used to call himself—may not have + been certain of the identity at first, but he wouldn't have brought + Strangeways with him if he had not had some reason to suspect who he was. + He daren't lose sight of him, and he wanted time to make sure and to lay + his plans. The portrait of Miles Hugo was a clue which alarmed him, and no + doubt he has been following it. If he found it led to nothing, he could + easily turn Strangeways over to the public charge and let him be put into + a lunatic asylum. If he found it led to a revelation which would make him + a pauper again, it would be easy to dispose of him.” + </p> + <p> + “Come! Come! Captain Palliser! We mustn't go too far!” ejaculated Mr. + Grimby, alarmedly. It shocked him to think of the firm being dragged into + a case dealing with capital crime and possible hangmen! That was not its + line of the profession. + </p> + <p> + Captain Palliser's slight laugh contained no hint of being shocked by any + possibilities whatever. + </p> + <p> + “There are extremely private asylums and so-called sanatoriums where the + discipline is strict, and no questions are asked. One sometimes reads in + the papers of cases in which mild-mannered keepers in defending themselves + against the attacks of violent patients are obliged to use force—with + disastrous results. It is in such places that our investigations should + begin.” + </p> + <p> + “Dear me! Dear me!” Mr. Grimby broke out. “Isn't that going rather far? + You surely don't think—” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Tembarom's chief characteristic was that he was a practical and + direct person. He would do what he had to do in exactly that businesslike + manner. The inquiries I have been making have been as to the whereabouts + of places in which a superfluous relative might be placed without + attracting attention.” + </p> + <p> + “That is really astute, but—but—what do you think, Palford?” + Mr. Grimby turned to his partner, still wearing the shocked and disturbed + expression. + </p> + <p> + “I have been recalling to mind a circumstance which probably bears upon + the case,” said Mr. Palford. “Captain Palliser's mention of the portrait + reminded me of it. I remember now that on Mr. Temple Barholm's first visit + to the picture-gallery he seemed much attracted by the portrait of Miles + Hugo. He stopped and examined it curiously. He said he felt as if he had + seen it before. He turned to it once or twice; and finally remarked that + he might have seen some one like it at a great fancy-dress ball which had + taken place in New York.” + </p> + <p> + “Had he been invited to the ball?” laughed Palliser. + </p> + <p> + “I did not gather that,” replied Mr. Palford gravely. “He had apparently + watched the arriving guests from some railings near by—or perhaps it + was a lamp-post—with other news-boys.” + </p> + <p> + “He recognized the likeness to Strangeways, no doubt, and it gave him what + he calls a 'jolt,'” said Captain Palliser. “He must have experienced a + number of jolts during the last few months.” + </p> + <p> + Palford & Grimby's view of the matter continued to be marked by + extreme distaste for the whole situation and its disturbing and irritating + possibilities. The coming of the American heir to the estate of Temple + Barholm had been trying to the verge of extreme painfulness; but, + sufficient time having lapsed and their client having troubled them but + little, they had outlived the shock of his first appearance and settled + once more into the calm of their accustomed atmosphere and routine. That + he should suddenly reappear upon their dignified horizon as a probable + melodramatic criminal was a fault of taste and a lack of consideration + beyond expression. To be dragged-into vulgar detective work, to be + referred to in news-papers in a connection which would lead to confusing + the firm with the representatives of such branches of the profession as + dealt with persons who had committed acts for which in vulgar parlance + they might possibly “swing,” if their legal defenders did not “get them + off,” to a firm whose sole affairs had been the dealing with noble and + ancient estates, with advising and supporting personages of stately name, + and with private and weighty family confidences. If the worst came to the + worst, the affair would surely end in the most glaring and odious + notoriety: in head-lines and daily reports even in London, in appalling + pictures of every one concerned in every New York newspaper, even in + baffled struggles to keep abominable woodcuts of themselves—Mr. + Edward James Palford and Mr. James Matthew Grimby—from being + published in sensational journalistic sheets! Professional duty demanded + that the situation should be dealt with, that investigation should be + entered into, that the most serious even if conservative steps should be + taken at once. With regard to the accepted report of Mr. James Temple + Barholm's tragic death, it could not be denied that Captain Palliser's + view of the naturalness of the origin of the mistake that had been made + had a logical air. + </p> + <p> + “In a region full of rioting derelicts crazed with the lawless excitement + of their dash after gold,” he had said, “identities and names are easily + lost. Temple Barholm himself was a derelict and in a desperate state. He + was in no mood to speak of himself or try to make friends. He no doubt + came and went to such work as he did scarcely speaking to any one. A mass + of earth and debris of all sorts suddenly gives way, burying half-a-dozen + men. Two or three are dug out dead, the others not reached. There was no + time to spare to dig for dead men. Some one had seen Temple Barholm near + the place; he was seen no more. Ergo, he was buried with the rest. At that + time, those who knew him in England felt it was the best thing that could + have happened to him. It would have been if his valet had not confessed + his trick, and old Temple Barholm had not died. My theory is that he may + have left the place days before the accident without being missed. His + mental torment caused some mental illness, it does not matter what. He + lost his memory and wandered about—the Lord knows how or where he + lived; he probably never knew himself. The American picked him up and + found that he had money. For reasons of his own, he professed to take care + of him. He must have come on some clue just when he heard of his new + fortune. He was naturally panic-stricken; it must have been a big blow at + that particular moment. He was sharp enough to see what it might mean, and + held on to the poor chap like grim death, and has been holding on ever + since.” + </p> + <p> + “We must begin to take steps,” decided Palford & Grimby. “We must of + course take steps at once, but we must begin with discretion.” + </p> + <p> + After grave private discussion, they began to take the steps in question + and with the caution that it seemed necessary to observe until they felt + solid ground under their feet. Captain Palliser was willing to assist + them. He had been going into the matter himself. He went down to the + neighborhood of Temple Barholm and quietly looked up data which might + prove illuminating when regarded from one point or another. It was on the + first of these occasions that he saw and warned Burrill. It was from + Burrill he heard of Tummas Hibblethwaite. + </p> + <p> + “There's an impident little vagabond in the village, sir,” he said, “that + Mr. Temple Barholm used to go and see and take New York newspapers to. A + cripple the lad is, and he's got a kind of craze for talking about Mr. + James Temple Barholm. He had a map of the place where he was said to be + killed. If I may presume to mention it, sir,” he added with great dignity, + “it is my opinion that the two had a good deal of talk together on the + subject.” + </p> + <p> + “I dare say,” Captain Palliser admitted indifferently, and made no further + inquiry or remark. + </p> + <p> + He sauntered into the Hibblethwaite cottage, however, late the next + afternoon. + </p> + <p> + Tummas was in a bad temper, for reasons quite sufficient for himself, and + he regarded him sourly. + </p> + <p> + “What has tha coom for?” he demanded. “I did na ask thee.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't be cheeky!” said Captain Palliser. “I will give you a sovereign if + you'll let me see the map you and Mr. Temple Barholm used to look at and + talk so much about.” + </p> + <p> + He laid the sovereign down on the small table by Tummas's sofa, but Tummas + did not pick it up. + </p> + <p> + “I know who tha art. Tha'rt Palliser, an' tha wast th' one as said as him + as was killed in th' Klondike had coom back alive.” + </p> + <p> + “You've been listening to that servants' story, have you?” remarked + Palliser. “You had better be careful as to what you say. I suppose you + never heard of libel suits. Where would you find yourself if you were + called upon to pay Mr. Temple Barholm ten thousand pounds' damages? You'd + be obliged to sell your atlas.” + </p> + <p> + “Burrill towd as he heard thee say tha'd swear in court as it was th' one + as was killed as tha'd seen.” + </p> + <p> + “That's Burrill's story, not mine. And Burrill had better keep his mouth + shut,” said Palliser. “If it were true, how would you like it? I've heard + you were interested in 'th' one as was killed.'” + </p> + <p> + Tummas's eyes burned troublously. + </p> + <p> + “I've got reet down taken wi' th' other un,” he answered. “He's noan + gentry, but he's th' reet mak'. I—I dunnot believe as him as was + killed has coom back.” + </p> + <p> + “Neither do I,” Palliser answered, with amiable tolerance. “The American + gentleman had better come back himself and disprove it. When you used to + talk about the Klondike, he never said anything to make you feel as if he + doubted that the other man was dead?” + </p> + <p> + “Not him,” answered Tummas. + </p> + <p> + “Eh! Tummas, what art tha talkin' about?” exclaimed Mrs. Hibblethwaite, + who was mending at the other end of the room. “I heerd him say mysel, + `Suppose th' story hadn't been true an' he was alive somewhere now, it'd + make a big change, would na' it?' An' he laughed.” + </p> + <p> + “I never heerd him,” said Tummas, in stout denial. + </p> + <p> + “Tha's losin' tha moind,” commented his mother. “As soon as I heerd th' + talk about him runnin' away an' takin' th' mad gentleman wi' him I + remembered it. An' I remembered as he sat still after it and said nowt for + a minute or so, same as if he was thinkin' things over. Theer was summat a + bit queer about it.” + </p> + <p> + “I never heerd him,” Tummas asserted, obstinately, and shut his mouth. + </p> + <p> + “He were as ready to talk about th' poor gentleman as met with th' + accident as tha wert thysel', Tummas,” Mrs. Hibblethwaite proceeded, moved + by the opportunity offered for presenting her views on the exciting topic. + “He'd ax thee aw sorts o' questions about what tha'd found out wi' pumpin' + foak. He'd ax me questions now an' agen about what he was loike to look + at, an' how tall he wur. Onct he axed me if I remembered what soart o' + chin he had an' how he spoke.” + </p> + <p> + “It wur to set thee goin' an' please me,” volunteered Tummas, grudgingly. + “He did it same as he'd look at th' map to please me an' tell me tales + about th' news-lads i' New York.” + </p> + <p> + It had not seemed improbable that a village cripple tied to a sofa would + be ready enough to relate all he knew, and perhaps so much more that it + would be necessary to use discretion in selecting statements of value. To + drop in and give him a sovereign and let him talk had appeared simple. + Lads of his class liked to be listened to, enjoyed enlarging upon and + rendering dramatic such material as had fallen into their hands. But + Tummas was an eccentric, and instinct led him to close like an oyster + before a remote sense of subtly approaching attack. It was his mother, not + he, who had provided information; but it was not sufficiently specialized + to be worth much. + </p> + <p> + “What did tha say he'd run away fur?” Tummas said to his parent later. + “He's not one o' th' runnin' away soart.” + </p> + <p> + “He has probably been called away by business,” remarked Captain Palliser, + as he rose to go after a few minutes' casual talk with Mrs. Hibblethwaite. + “It was a mistake not to leave an address behind him. Your mother is + mistaken in saying that he took the mad gentleman with him. He had him + removed late at night some time before he went himself.” + </p> + <p> + “Tak tha sov'rin',” said Tummas, as Palliser moved away. “I did na show + thee th' atlas. Tha did na want to see it.” + </p> + <p> + “I will leave the sovereign for your mother,” said Palliser. “I'm sorry + you are not in a better humor.” + </p> + <p> + His interest in the atlas had indeed been limited to his idea that it + would lead to subjects of talk which might cast illuminating side-lights + and possibly open up avenues and vistas. Tummas, however, having + instinctively found him displeasing, he had gained but little. + </p> + <p> + Avenues and vistas were necessary—avenues through which the steps of + Palford and Grimby might wander, vistas which they might explore with + hesitating, investigating glances. So far, the scene remained + unpromisingly blank. The American Temple Barholm had simply disappeared, + as had his mysterious charge. Steps likely to lead to definite results can + scarcely be taken hopefully in the case of a person who has seemed + temporarily to cease to exist. You cannot interrogate him, you cannot + demand information, whatsoever the foundations upon which rest your + accusations, if such accusation can be launched only into thin air and the + fact that there is nobody to reply to—to acknowledge or indignantly + refute them—is in itself a serious barrier to accomplishment. It was + also true that only a few weeks had elapsed since the accused had, so to + speak, dematerialized. It was also impossible to calculate upon what an + American of his class and peculiarities would be likely to do in any + circumstances whatever. + </p> + <p> + In private conference, Palford and Grimby frankly admitted to each other + that they would almost have preferred that Captain Palliser should have + kept his remarkable suspicions to himself, for the time being at least. + Yet when they had admitted this they were confronted by the disturbing + possibility—suggested by Palliser—that actual crime had been + or might be committed. They had heard unpleasant stories of private + lunatic asylums and their like. Things to shudder at might be going on at + the very moment they spoke to each other. Under this possibility, no + supineness would be excusable. Efforts to trace the missing man must at + least be made. Efforts were made, but with no result. Painful as it was to + reflect on the subject of the asylums, careful private inquiry was made, + information was quietly collected, there were even visits to gruesomely + quiet places on various polite pretexts. + </p> + <p> + “If a longer period of time had elapsed,” Mr. Palford remarked several + times, with some stiffness of manner, “we should feel that we had more + solid foundation for our premises.” + </p> + <p> + “Perfectly right,” Captain Palliser agreed with him, “but it is lapse of + time which may mean life or death to Jem Temple Barholm; so it's perhaps + as well to be on the safe side and go on quietly following small clues. I + dare say you would feel more comfortable yourselves.” + </p> + <p> + Both Mr. Palford and Mr. Grimby, having made an appointment with Miss + Alicia, arrived one afternoon at Temple Barholm to talk to her privately, + thereby casting her into a state of agonized anxiety which reduced her to + pallor. + </p> + <p> + “Our visit is merely one of inquiry, Miss Temple Barholm,” Mr. Palford + began. “There is perhaps nothing alarming in our client's absence.” + </p> + <p> + “In the note which he left me he asked me to—feel no anxiety,” Miss + Alicia said. + </p> + <p> + “He left you a note of explanation? I wish we had known this earlier!” Mr. + Palford's tone had the note of relieved exclamation. Perhaps there was an + entirely simple solution of the painful difficulty. + </p> + <p> + But his hope had been too sanguine. + </p> + <p> + “It was not a note of explanation, exactly. He went away too suddenly to + have time to explain.” + </p> + <p> + The two men looked at each other disturbedly. + </p> + <p> + “He had not mentioned to you his intention of going?” asked Mr. Grimby. + </p> + <p> + “I feel sure he did not know he was going when he said good-night. He + remained with Captain Palliser talking for some time.” Miss Alicia's eyes + held wavering and anxious question as she looked from one to the other. + She wondered how much more than herself her visitors knew. “He found a + telegram when he went to his room. It contained most disquieting news + about Mr. Strangeways. He—he had got away from the place where—” + </p> + <p> + “Got away!” Mr. Palford was again exclamatory. “Was he in some institution + where he was kept under restraint?” + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia was wholly unable to explain to herself why some quality in + his manner filled her with sudden distress. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I think not! Surely not! Surely nothing of that sort was necessary. + He was very quiet always, and he was getting better every day. But it was + important that he should be watched over. He was no doubt under the care + of a physician in some quiet sanatorium.” + </p> + <p> + “Some quiet sanatorium!” Mr. Palford's disturbance of mind was manifest. + “But you did not know where?” + </p> + <p> + “No. Indeed, Mr. Temple Barholm talked very little of Mr. Strangeways. I + believe he knew that it distressed me to feel that I could be of no real + assistance as—as the case was so peculiar.” + </p> + <p> + Each perturbed solicitor looked again with rapid question at the other. + Miss Alicia saw the exchange of glances and, so to speak, broke down under + the pressure of their unconcealed anxiety. The last few weeks with their + suggestion of accusation too vague to be met had been too much for her. + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid—I feel sure you know something I do not,” she began. “I + am most anxious and unhappy. I have not liked to ask questions, because + that would have seemed to imply a doubt of Mr. Temple Barholm. I have even + remained at home because I did not wish to hear things I could not + understand. I do not know what has been said. Pearson, in whom I have the + greatest confidence, felt that Mr. Temple Barholm would prefer that I + should wait until he returned.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you think he will return?” said Mr. Grimby, amazedly. + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” the gentle creature ejaculated. “Can you possibly think he will not? + Why? Why?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Palford had shared his partner's amazement. It was obvious that she + was as ignorant as a babe of the details of Palliser's extraordinary + story. In her affectionate consideration for Temple Barholm she had + actually shut herself up lest she should hear anything said against him + which she could not refute. She stood innocently obedient to his wishes, + like the boy upon the burning deck, awaiting his return and his version of + whatsoever he had been accused of. There was something delicately heroic + in the little, slender old thing, with her troubled eyes and her cap and + her quivering sideringlets. + </p> + <p> + “You,” she appealed, “are his legal advisers, and will be able to tell me + if there is anything he would wish me to know. I could not allow myself to + listen to villagers or servants; but I may ask you.” + </p> + <p> + “We are far from knowing as much as we desire to know,” Mr. Palford + replied. + </p> + <p> + “We came here, in fact,” added Grimby, “to ask questions of you, Miss + Temple Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + “The fact that Miss Temple Barholm has not allowed herself to be + prejudiced by village gossip, which is invariably largely unreliable, will + make her an excellent witness,” Mr. Palford said to his partner, with a + deliberation which held suggestive significance. Each man, in fact, had + suddenly realized that her ignorance would leave her absolutely unbiased + in her answers to any questions they might put, and that it was much + better in cross-examining an emotional elderly lady that such should be + the case. + </p> + <p> + “Witness!” Miss Alicia found the word alarming. Mr. Palford's bow was + apologetically palliative. + </p> + <p> + “A mere figure of speech, madam,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “I really know so little every one else doesn't know.” Miss Alicia's + protest had a touch of bewilderment in it. What could they wish to ask + her? + </p> + <p> + “But, as we understand it, your relations with Mr. Temple Barholm were + most affectionate and confidential.” + </p> + <p> + “We were very fond of each other,” she answered. + </p> + <p> + “For that reason he no doubt talked to you more freely than to other + people,” Mr. Grimby put it. “Perhaps, Palford, it would be as well to + explain to Miss Temple Barholm that a curious feature of this matter is + that it—in a way—involves certain points concerning the late + Mr. Temple Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia uttered a pathetic exclamation. + </p> + <p> + “Poor Jem—who died so cruelly!” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Palford bent his head in acquiescence. + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps you can tell me what the present Mr. Temple Barholm knew of him—how + much he knew?” + </p> + <p> + “I told him the whole story the first time we took tea together,” Miss + Alicia replied; and, between her recollection of that strangely happy + afternoon and her wonder at its connection with the present moment, she + began to feel timid and uncertain. + </p> + <p> + “How did it seem to impress him?” + </p> + <p> + She remembered it all so well—his queer, dear New York way of + expressing his warm-hearted indignation at the cruelty of what had + happened. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, he was very much excited. He was so sorry for him. He wanted to know + everything about him. He asked me what he looked like.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” said Palford. “He wanted to know that?” + </p> + <p> + “He was so full of sympathy,” she replied, her explanation gaining warmth. + “When I told him that the picture of Miles Hugo in the gallery was said to + look like Jem as a boy, he wanted very much to see it. Afterward we went + and saw it together. I shall always remember how he stood and looked at + it. Most young men would not have cared. But he always had such a touching + interest in poor Jem.” + </p> + <p> + “You mean that he asked questions about him—about his death, and so + forth?” was Mr. Palford's inquiry. + </p> + <p> + “About all that concerned him. He was interested especially in his looks + and manner of speaking and personality, so to speak. And in the awful + accident which ended his life, though he would not let me talk about that + after he had asked his first questions.” + </p> + <p> + “What kind of questions?” suggested Grimby. + </p> + <p> + “Only about what was known of the time and place, and how the sad story + reached England. It used to touch me to think that the only person who + seemed to care was the one who—might have been expected to be almost + glad the tragic thing had happened. But he was not.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Palford watched Mr. Grimby, and Mr. Grimby gave more than one dubious + and distressed glance at Palford. + </p> + <p> + “His interest was evident,” remarked Palford, thoughtfully. “And unusual + under the circumstances.” + </p> + <p> + For a moment he hesitated, then put another question: “Did he ever seem—I + should say, do you remember any occasion when he appeared to think that—there + might be any reason to doubt that Mr. James Temple Barholm was one of the + men who died in the Klondike?” + </p> + <p> + He felt that through this wild questioning they had at least reached a + certain testimony supporting Captain Palliser's views; and his interest + reluctantly increased. It was reluctant because there could be no shadow + of a question that this innocent spinster lady told the absolute truth; + and, this being the case, one seemed to be dragged to the verge of depths + which must inevitably be explored. Miss Alicia's expression was that of + one who conscientiously searched memory. + </p> + <p> + “I do not remember that he really expressed doubt,” she answered, + carefully. “Not exactly that, but—” + </p> + <p> + “But what?” prompted Palford as she hesitated. “Please try to recall + exactly what he said. It is most important.” + </p> + <p> + The fact that his manner was almost eager, and that eagerness was not his + habit, made her catch her breath and look more questioning and puzzled + than before. + </p> + <p> + “One day he came to my sitting-room when he seemed rather excited,” she + explained. “He had been with Mr. Strangeways, who had been worse than + usual. Perhaps he wanted to distract himself and forget about it. He asked + me questions and talked about poor Jem for about an hour. And at last he + said, `Do you suppose there's any sort of chance that it mightn't be true—that + story that came from the Klondike?' He said it so thoughtfully that I was + startled and said, `Do you think there could be such a chance—do + you?' And he drew a long breath and answered, `You want to be sure about + things like that; you've got to be sure.' I was a little excited, so he + changed the subject very soon afterward, and I never felt quite certain of + what he was really thinking. You see what he said was not so much an + expression of doubt as a sort of question.” + </p> + <p> + A touch of the lofty condemnatory made Mr. Palford impressive. + </p> + <p> + “I am compelled to admit that I fear that it was a question of which he + had already guessed the answer,” he said. + </p> + <p> + At this point Miss Alicia clasped her hands quite tightly together upon + her knees. + </p> + <p> + “If you please,” she exclaimed, “I must ask you to make things a little + clear to me. What dreadful thing has happened? I will regard any + communication as a most sacred confidence.” + </p> + <p> + “I think we may as well, Palford?” Mr. Grimby suggested to his partner. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” Palford acquiesced. He felt the difficulty of a blank explanation. + “We are involved in a most trying position,” he said. “We feel that great + discretion must be used until we have reached more definite certainty. An + extraordinary—in fact, a startling thing has occurred. We are + beginning, as a result of cumulative evidence, to feel that there was + reason to believe that the Klondike story was to be doubted—” + </p> + <p> + “That poor Jem—!” cried Miss Alicia. + </p> + <p> + “One begins to be gravely uncertain as to whether he has not been in this + house for months, whether he was not the mysterious Mr. Strangeways!” + </p> + <p> + “Jem! Jem!” gasped poor little Miss Temple Barholm, quite white with + shock. + </p> + <p> + “And if he was the mysterious Strangeways,” Mr. Grimby assisted to shorten + the matter, “the American Temple Barholm apparently knew the fact, brought + him here for that reason, and for the same reason kept him secreted and + under restraint.” + </p> + <p> + “No! No!” cried Miss Alicia. “Never! Never! I beg you not to say such a + thing. Excuse me—I cannot listen! It would be wrong—ungrateful. + Excuse me!” She got up from her seat, trembling with actual anger in her + sense of outrage. It was a remarkable thing to see the small, elderly + creature angry, but this remarkable thing had happened. It was as though + she were a mother defending her young. + </p> + <p> + “I loved poor Jem and I love Temple, and, though I am only a woman who + never has been the least clever, I know them both. I know neither of them + could lie or do a wicked, cunning thing. Temple is the soul of honor.” + </p> + <p> + It was quite an inspirational outburst. She had never before in her life + said so much at one time. Of course tears began to stream down her face, + while Mr. Palford and Mr. Grimby gazed at her in great embarrassment. + </p> + <p> + “If Mr. Strangeways was poor Jem come back alive, Temple did not know—he + never knew. All he did for him was done for kindness' sake. I—I—” + It was inevitable that she should stammer before going to this length of + violence, and that the words should burst from her: “I would swear it!” + </p> + <p> + It was really a shock to both Palford and Grimby. That a lady of Miss + Temple Barholm's age and training should volunteer to swear to a thing was + almost alarming. It was also in rather unpleasing taste. + </p> + <p> + “Captain Palliser obliged Mr. Temple Temple Barholm to confess that he had + known for some time,” Mr. Palford said with cold regret. “He also informed + him that he should communicate with us without delay.” + </p> + <p> + “Captain Palliser is a bad man.” Miss Alicia choked back a gasp to make + the protest. + </p> + <p> + “It was after their interview that Mr. Temple Barholm almost immediately + left the house.” + </p> + <p> + “Without any explanation whatever,” added Grimby. + </p> + <p> + “He left a few lines for me,” defended Miss Alicia. + </p> + <p> + “We have not seen them.” Mr. Palford was still as well as cold. Poor + little Miss Alicia took them out of her pocket with an unsteady hand. They + were always with her, and she could not on such a challenge seem afraid to + allow them to be read. Mr. Palford took them from her with a slight bow of + thanks. He adjusted his glasses and read aloud, with pauses between + phrases which seemed somewhat to puzzle him. + </p> + <p> + “Dear little Miss Alicia: + </p> + <p> + “I've got to light out of here as quick as I can make it. I can't even + stop to tell you why. There's just one thing—don't get rattled, Miss + Alicia. Whatever any one says or does, don't get rattled. + </p> + <p> + “Yours affectionately, + </p> + <h3> + “T. TEMBAROM.” + </h3> + <p> + There was a silence, Mr. Palford passed the paper to his partner, who gave + it careful study. Afterward he refolded it and handed it back to Miss + Alicia. + </p> + <p> + “In a court of law,” was Mr. Palford's sole remark, “it would not be + regarded as evidence for the defendant.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia's tears were still streaming, but she held her ringleted head + well up. + </p> + <p> + “I cannot stay! I beg your pardon, I do indeed!” she said. “But I must + leave you. You see,” she added, with her fine little touch of dignity, “as + yet this house is still Mr. Temple Barholm's home, and I am the grateful + recipient of his bounty. Burrill will attend you and make you quite + comfortable.” With an obeisance which was like a slight curtsey, she + turned and fled. + </p> + <p> + In less than an hour she walked up the neat bricked path, and old Mrs. + Hutchinson, looking out, saw her through the tiers of flower-pots in the + window. Hutchinson himself was in London, but Ann was reading at the other + side of the room. + </p> + <p> + “Here's poor little owd Miss Temple Barholm aw in a flutter,” remarked her + grandmother. “Tha's got some work cut out for thee if tha's going to quiet + her. Oppen th' door, lass.” + </p> + <p> + Ann opened the door, and stood by it with calm though welcoming dimples. + </p> + <p> + “Miss Hutchinson “—Miss Alicia began all at once to realize that + they did not know each other, and that she had flown to the refuge of her + youth without being at all aware of what she was about to say. “Oh! Little + Ann!” she broke down with frank tears. “My poor boy! My poor boy!” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann drew her inside and closed the door. + </p> + <p> + “There, Miss Temple Barholm,” she said. “There now Just come in and sit + down. I'll get you a good cup of tea. You need one.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0038" id="link2HCH0038"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXVIII + </h2> + <p> + The Duke of Stone had been sufficiently occupied with one of his slighter + attacks of rheumatic gout to have been, so to speak, out of the running in + the past weeks. His indisposition had not condemned him to the usual + dullness, however. He had suffered less pain than was customary, and Mrs. + Braddle had been more than usually interesting in conversation on those + occasions when, in making him very comfortable in one way or another, she + felt that a measure of entertainment would add to his well-being. His + epicurean habit of mind tended toward causing him to find a subtle + pleasure in the hearing of various versions of any story whatever. His + intimacy with T. Tembarom had furnished forth many an agreeable mental + repast for him. He had had T. Tembarom's version of himself, the version + of the county, the version of the uneducated class, and his own version. + All of these had had varying shades of their own. He had found a cynically + fine flavor in Palliser's version, which he had gathered through talk and + processes of exclusion and inclusion. + </p> + <p> + “There is a good deal to be said for it,” he summed it up. “It's plausible + on ordinary sophisticated grounds. T. Tembarom would say, `It looks sort + of that way.”' + </p> + <p> + As Mrs. Braddle had done what she could in the matter of expounding her + views of the uncertainties of the village attitude, he had listened with + stimulating interest. Mrs. Braddle's version on the passing of T. Tembarom + stood out picturesquely against the background of the version which was + his own—the one founded on the singular facts he had shared + knowledge of with the chief character in the episode. He had not, like + Miss Alicia, received a communication from Tembarom. This seemed to him + one of the attractive features of the incident. It provided opportunity + for speculation. Some wild development had called the youngster away in a + rattling hurry. Of what had happened since his departure he knew no more + than the villagers knew. What had happened for some months before his + going he had watched with the feeling of an intelligently observant + spectator at a play. He had been provided with varied emotions by the + fantastic drama. He had smiled; he had found himself moved once or twice, + and he had felt a good deal of the thrill of curious uncertainty as to + what the curtain would rise and fall on. The situation was such that it + was impossible to guess. Results could seem only to float in the air. One + thing might happen; so might another, so might a dozen more. What he + wished really to attain was some degree of certainty as to what was likely + to occur in any case to the American Temple Barholm. + </p> + <p> + He felt, the first time he drove over to call on Miss Alicia, that his + indisposition and confinement to his own house had robbed him of + something. They had deprived him of the opportunity to observe shades of + development and to hear the expressing of views of the situation as it + stood. He drove over with views of his own and with anticipations. He had + reason to know that he would encounter in the dear lady indications of the + feeling that she had reached a crisis. There was a sense of this crisis + impending as one mounted the terrace steps and entered the hall. The + men-servants endeavored to wipe from their countenances any expression + denoting even a vague knowledge of it. He recognized their laudable + determination to do so. Burrill was monumental in the unconsciousness of + his outward bearing. + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia, sitting waiting on Fate in the library, wore precisely the + aspect he had known she would wear. She had been lying awake at night and + she had of course wept at intervals, since she belonged to the period the + popular female view of which had been that only the unfeeling did not so + relieve themselves in crises of the affections. Her eyelids were rather + pink and her nice little face was tired. + </p> + <p> + “It is very, very kind of you to come,” she said, when they shook hands. + “I wonder “—her hesitance was touching in its obvious appeal to him + not to take the wrong side,—“I wonder if you know how deeply + troubled I have been?” + </p> + <p> + “You see, I have had a touch of my abominable gout, and my treasure of a + Braddle has been nursing me and gossiping,” he answered. “So, of course I + know a great deal. None of it true, I dare say. I felt I must come and see + you, however.” + </p> + <p> + He looked so neat and entirely within the boundaries of finished and + well-dressed modernity and every-day occurrence, in his perfectly fitting + clothes, beautifully shining boots, and delicate fawn gaiters, that she + felt a sort of support in his mere aspect. The mind connected such almost + dapper freshness and excellent taste only with unexaggerated incidents and + a behavior which almost placed the stamp of absurdity upon the improbable + in circumstance. The vision of disorderly and illegal possibilities seemed + actually to fade into an unreality. + </p> + <p> + “If Mr. Palford and Mr. Grimby knew him as I know him—as—as + you know him—” she added with a faint hopefulness. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, if they knew him as we know him that would make a different matter + of it,” admitted the duke, amiably. But, thought Miss Alicia, he might + only have put it that way through consideration for her feelings, and + because he was an extremely polished man who could not easily reveal to a + lady a disagreeable truth. He did not speak with the note of natural + indignation which she thought she must have detected if he had felt as she + felt herself. He was of course a man whose manner had always the finish of + composure. He did not seem disturbed or even very curious—only kind + and most polite. + </p> + <p> + “If we only knew where he was!” she began again. “If we only knew where + Mr. Strangeways was!” + </p> + <p> + “My impression is that Messrs. Palford & Grimby will probably find + them both before long,” he consoled her. “They are no doubt exciting + themselves unnecessarily.” + </p> + <p> + He was not agitated at all; she felt it would have been kinder if he had + been a little agitated. He was really not the kind of person whose + feelings appeared very deep, being given to a light and graceful cynicism + of speech which delighted people; so perhaps it was not natural that he + should express any particular emotion even in a case affecting a friend—surely + he had been Temple's friend. But if he had seemed a little distressed, or + doubtful or annoyed, she would have felt that she understood better his + attitude. As it was, he might almost have been on the other side—a + believer or a disbeliever—or merely a person looking on to see what + would happen. When they sat down, his glance seemed to include her with an + interest which was sympathetic but rather as if she were a child whom he + would like to pacify. This seemed especially so when she felt she must + make clear to him the nature of the crisis which was pending, as he had + felt when he entered the house. + </p> + <p> + “You perhaps do not know”—the appeal which had shown itself in her + eyes was in her voice—“that the solicitors have decided, after a + great deal of serious discussion and private inquiry in London, that the + time has come when they must take open steps.” + </p> + <p> + “In the matter of investigation?” he inquired. + </p> + <p> + “They are coming here this afternoon with Captain Palliser to—to + question the servants, and some of the villagers. They will question me,” + alarmedly. + </p> + <p> + “They would be sure to do that,”—he really seemed quite to envelop + her with kindness—“but I beg of you not to be alarmed. Nothing you + could have to say could possibly do harm to Temple Barholm.” He knew it + was her fear of this contingency which terrified her. + </p> + <p> + “You do feel sure of that?” she burst forth, relievedly. “You do—because + you know him?” + </p> + <p> + “I do. Let us be calm, dear lady. Let us be calm.” + </p> + <p> + “I will! I will!” she protested. “But Captain Palliser has arranged that a + lady should come here—a lady who disliked poor Temple very much. She + was most unjust to him.” + </p> + <p> + “Lady Joan Fayre?” he suggested, and then paused with a remote smile as if + lending himself for the moment to some humor he alone detected in the + situation. + </p> + <p> + “She will not injure his cause, I think I can assure you.” + </p> + <p> + “She insisted on misunderstanding him. I am so afraid—” + </p> + <p> + The appearance of Pearson at the door interrupted her and caused her to + rise from her seat. The neat young man was pale and spoke in a nervously + lowered voice. + </p> + <p> + “I beg pardon, Miss. I beg your Grace's pardon for intruding, but—” + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia moved toward him in such a manner that he himself seemed to + feel that he might advance. + </p> + <p> + “What is it, Pearson? Have you anything special to say?” + </p> + <p> + “I hope I am not taking too great a liberty, Miss, but I did come in for a + purpose, knowing that his Grace was with you and thinking you might both + kindly advise me. It is about Mr. Temple Barholm, your Grace—” + addressing him as if in involuntary recognition of the fact that he might + possibly prove the greater support. + </p> + <p> + “Our Mr. Temple Barholm, Pearson? We are being told there are two of + them.” The duke's delicate emphasis on the possessive pronoun was + delightful, and it so moved and encouraged sensitive little Pearson that + he was emboldened to answer with modest firmness: + </p> + <p> + “Yes,—ours. Thank you, your Grace.” + </p> + <p> + “You feel him yours too, Pearson?” a shade more delightfully still. + </p> + <p> + “I—I take the liberty, your Grace, of being deeply attached to him, + and more than grateful.” + </p> + <p> + “What did you want to ask advice about?” + </p> + <p> + “The family solicitors. Captain Palliser and Lady Joan Fayre and Mr. and + Miss Hutchinson are to be here shortly, and I have been told I am to be + questioned. What I want to know, your Grace, is—” He paused, and + looked no longer pale but painfully red as he gathered himself together + for his anxious outburst—“Must I speak the truth?” + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia started alarmedly. + </p> + <p> + The duke looked down at the delicate fawn gaiters covering his fine + instep. His fleeting smile was not this time an external one. + </p> + <p> + “Do you not wish to speak the truth, Pearson?” + </p> + <p> + Pearson's manner could have been described only as one of obstinate + frankness. + </p> + <p> + “No, your Grace. I do not! Your Grace may misunderstand me—but I do + not!” + </p> + <p> + His Grace tapped the gaiters with the slight ebony cane he held in his + hand. + </p> + <p> + “Is this “—he put it with impartial curiosity—“because the + truth might be detrimental to our Mr. Temple Barholm?” + </p> + <p> + “If you please, your Grace,” Pearson made a firm step forward, “what is + the truth?” + </p> + <p> + “That is what Messrs. Palford & Grimby seem determined to find out. + Probably only our Mr. Temple Barholm can tell them.” + </p> + <p> + “Your Grace, what I'm thinking of is that if I tell the truth it may seem + to prove something that's not the truth.” + </p> + <p> + “What kinds of things, Pearson?” still impartially. + </p> + <p> + “I can be plain with your Grace. Things like this: I was with Mr. Temple + Barholm and Mr. Strangeways a great deal. They'll ask me about what I + heard. They'll ask me if Mr. Strangeways was willing to go away to the + doctor; if he had to be persuaded and argued with. Well, he had and he + hadn't, your Grace. At first, just the mention of it would upset him so + that Mr. Temple Barholm would have to stop talking about it and quiet him + down. But when he improved—and he did improve wonderfully, your + Grace—he got into the way of sitting and thinking it over and + listening quite quiet. But if I'm asked suddenly—” + </p> + <p> + “What you are afraid of is that you may be asked point-blank questions + without warning?” his Grace put it with the perspicacity of experience. + </p> + <p> + “That's why I should be grateful for advice. Must I tell the truth, your + Grace, when it will make them believe things I'd swear are lies—I'd + swear it, your Grace.” + </p> + <p> + “So would I, Pearson.” His serene lightness was of the most baffling, but + curiously supporting, order. “This being the case, my advice would be not + to go into detail. Let us tell white lies—all of us—without a + shadow of hesitancy. Miss Temple Barholm, even you must do your best.” + </p> + <p> + “I will try—indeed, I will try!” And the Duke felt her tremulously + ardent assent actually delicious. + </p> + <p> + “There! we'll consider that settled, Pearson,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, your Grace. Thank you, Miss,” Pearson's relieved gratitude + verged on the devout. He turned to go, and as he did so his attention was + arrested by an approach he remarked through a window. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. and Miss Hutchinson are arriving now, Miss,” he announced, hastily. + </p> + <p> + “They are to be brought in here,” said Miss Alicia. + </p> + <p> + The duke quietly left his seat and went to look through the window with + frank and unembarrassed interest in the approach. He went, in fact, to + look at Little Ann, and as he watched her walk up the avenue, her father + lumbering beside her, he evidently found her aspect sufficiently + arresting. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” he exclaimed softly, and paused. “What a lot of very nice red hair,” + he said next. And then, “No wonder! No wonder!” + </p> + <p> + “That, I should say,” he remarked as Miss Alicia drew near, “is what I + once heard a bad young man call `a deserving case.'” + </p> + <p> + He was conscious that she might have been privately a little shocked by + such aged flippancy, but she was at the moment perturbed by something + else. + </p> + <p> + “The fact is that I have never spoken to Hutchinson,” she fluttered. + “These changes are very confusing. I suppose I ought to say Mr. + Hutchinson, now that he is such a successful person, and Temple—” + </p> + <p> + “Without a shadow of a doubt!” The duke seemed struck by the happiness of + the idea. “They will make him a peer presently. He may address me as + 'Stone' at any moment. One must learn to adjust one's self with agility. + `The old order changeth.' Ah! she is smiling at him and I see the + dimples.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia made a clean breast of it. + </p> + <p> + “I went to her—I could not help it!” she confessed. “I was in such + distress and dare not speak to anybody. Temple had told me that she was so + wonderful. He said she always understood and knew what to do.” + </p> + <p> + “Did she in this case?” he asked, smiling. + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia's manner was that of one who could express the extent of her + admiration only in disconnected phrases. + </p> + <p> + “She was like a little rock. Such a quiet, firm way! Such calm certainty! + Oh, the comfort she has been to me! I begged her to come here to-day. I + did not know her father had returned.” + </p> + <p> + “No doubt he will have testimony to give which will be of the greatest + assistance,” the duke said most encouragingly. “Perhaps he will be a sort + of rock.” + </p> + <p> + “I—I don't in the least know what he will be!” sighed Miss Alicia, + evidently uncertain in her views. + </p> + <p> + But when the father and daughter were announced she felt that his Grace + was really enchanting in the happy facility of his manner. He at least + adjusted himself with agility. Hutchinson was of course lumbering. Lacking + the support of T. Tembarom's presence and incongruity, he himself was the + incongruous feature. He would have been obliged to bluster by way of + sustaining himself, even if he had only found himself being presented to + Miss Alicia; but when it was revealed to him that he was also confronted + with the greatest personage of the neighborhood, he became as hot and red + as he had become during certain fateful business interviews. More so, + indeed. + </p> + <p> + “Th' other chaps hadn't been dukes;” and to Hutchinson the old order had + not yet so changed that a duke was not an awkwardly impressive person to + face unexpectedly. + </p> + <p> + The duke's manner of shaking hands with him, however, was even touched + with an amiable suggestion of appreciation of the value of a man of + genius. He had heard of the invention, in fact knew some quite technical + things about it. He realized its importance. He had congratulations for + the inventor and the world of inventions so greatly benefited. + </p> + <p> + “Lancashire must be proud of your success, Mr. Hutchinson.” How agreeably + and with what ease he said it! + </p> + <p> + “Aye, it's a success now, your Grace,” Hutchinson answered, “but I might + have waited a good bit longer if it hadn't been for that lad an' his bold + backing of me.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Temple Barholm?” said the duke. + </p> + <p> + “Aye. He's got th' way of making folks see things that they can't see even + when they're hitting them in th' eyes. I'd that lost heart I could never + have done it myself.” + </p> + <p> + “But now it is done,” smiled his Grace. “Delightful!” + </p> + <p> + “I've got there—same as they say in New York—I've got there,” + said Hutchinson. + </p> + <p> + He sat down in response to Miss Alicia's invitation. His unease was + wonderfully dispelled. He felt himself a person of sufficient importance + to address even a duke as man to man. + </p> + <p> + “What's all this romancin' talk about th' other Temple Barholm comin' + back, an' our lad knowin' an' hidin' him away? An' Palliser an' th' + lawyers an' th' police bein' after 'em both?” + </p> + <p> + “You have heard the whole story?” from the duke. + </p> + <p> + “I've heard naught else since I come back.” + </p> + <p> + “Grandmother knew a great deal before we came home,” said Little Ann. + </p> + <p> + The duke turned his attention to her with an engaged smile. His look, his + bow, his bearing, in the moment of their being presented to each other, + had seemed to Miss Alicia the most perfect thing. His fine eye had not + obviously wandered while he talked to her father, but it had in fact been + taking her in with an inclusiveness not likely to miss agreeable points of + detail. + </p> + <p> + “What is her opinion, may I ask?” he said. “What does she say?” + </p> + <p> + “Grandmother is very set in her ways, your Grace.” The limpidity of her + blue eye and a flickering dimple added much to the quaint + comprehensiveness of her answer. “She says the world's that full of fools + that if they were all killed the Lord would have to begin again with a new + Adam and Eve.” + </p> + <p> + “She has entire faith in Mr. Temple Barholm—as you have,” put + forward his Grace. + </p> + <p> + “Mine's not faith exactly. I know him,” Little Ann answered, her tone as + limpid as her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “There's more than her has faith in him,” broke forth Hutchinson. “Danged + if I don't like th' way them village chaps are taking it. They're ready to + fight over it. Since they've found out what it's come to, an' about th' + lawyers comin' down, they're talkin' about gettin' up a kind o' + demonstration.” + </p> + <p> + “Delightful!” ejaculated his Grace again. He leaned forward. “Quite what I + should have expected. There's a good deal of beer drunk, I suppose.” + </p> + <p> + “Plenty o' beer, but it'll do no harm.” Hutchinson began to chuckle. + “They're talkin' o' gettin' out th' fife an' drum band an' marchin' round + th' village with a calico banner with `Vote for T. Tembarom' painted on + it, to show what they think of him.” + </p> + <p> + The duke chuckled also. + </p> + <p> + “I wonder how he's managed it?” he laughed. “They wouldn't do it for any + of the rest of us, you know, though I've no doubt we're quite as + deserving. I am, I know.” + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson stopped laughing and turned on Miss Alicia. + </p> + <p> + “What's that young woman comin' down here for?” he inquired. + </p> + <p> + “Lady Joan was engaged to Mr. James Temple Barholm,” Miss Alicia answered. + </p> + <p> + “Eh! Eh!” Hutchinson jerked out. “That'll turn her into a wildcat, I'll + warrant. She'll do all th' harm she can. I'm much obliged to you for + lettin' us come, ma'am. I want to be where I can stand by him.” + </p> + <p> + “Father,” said Little Ann, “what you have got to remember is that you + mustn't fly into a passion. You know you've always said it never did any + good, and it only sends the blood to your head.” + </p> + <p> + “You are not nervous, Miss Hutchinson?” the duke suggested. + </p> + <p> + “About Mr. Temple Barholm? I couldn't be, your Grace. If I was to see two + policemen bringing him in handcuffed I shouldn't be nervous. I should know + the handcuffs didn't belong to him, and the policemen would look + right-down silly to me.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia fluttered over to fold her in her arms. + </p> + <p> + “Do let me kiss you,” she said. “Do let me, Little Ann!” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann had risen at once to meet her embrace. She put a hand on her + arm. + </p> + <p> + “We don't know anything about this really,” she said. “We've only heard + what people say. We haven't heard what he says. I'm going to wait.” They + were all looking at her,—the duke with such marked interest that she + turned toward him as she ended. “And if I had to wait until I was as old + as grandmother I'd wait—and nothing would change my mind.” + </p> + <p> + “And I've been lying awake at night!” softly wailed Miss Alicia. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0039" id="link2HCH0039"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXIX + </h2> + <p> + It was Mr. Hutchinson who, having an eye on the window, first announced an + arriving carriage. + </p> + <p> + “Some of 'em's comin' from the station,” he remarked. “There's no young + woman with 'em, that I can see from here.” + </p> + <p> + “I thought I heard wheels.” Miss Alicia went to look out, agitatedly. “It + is the gentlemen. Perhaps Lady Joan—” she turned desperately to the + duke. “I don't know what to say to Lady Joan. I don't know what she will + say to me. I don't know what she is coming for, Little Ann, do keep near + me!” + </p> + <p> + It was a pretty thing to see Little Ann stroke her hand and soothe her. + </p> + <p> + “Don't be frightened, Miss Temple Barholm. All you've got to do is to + answer questions,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “But I might say things that would be wrong—things that would harm + him.” + </p> + <p> + “No, you mightn't, Miss Temple Barholm. He's not done anything that could + bring harm on him.” + </p> + <p> + The Duke of Stone, who had seated himself in T. Tembarom's favorite chair, + which occupied a point of vantage, seemed to Mr. Palford and Mr. Grimby + when they entered the room to wear the aspect of a sort of presidiary + audience. The sight of his erect head and clear-cut, ivory-tinted old + face, with its alert, while wholly unbiased, expression, somewhat startled + them both. They had indeed not expected to see him, and did not know why + he had chosen to come. His presence might mean any one of several things, + and the fact that he enjoyed a reputation for quite alarming astuteness of + a brilliant kind presented elements of probable embarrassment. If he + thought that they had allowed themselves to be led upon a wild-goose + chase, he would express his opinions with trying readiness of phrase. + </p> + <p> + His manner of greeting them, however, expressed no more than a lightly + agreeable detachment from any view whatsoever. Captain Palliser felt this + curiously, though he could not have said what he would have expected from + him if he had known it would be his whim to appear. + </p> + <p> + “How do you do? How d' you do?” His Grace shook hands with the amiable + ease which scarcely commits a man even to casual interest, after which he + took his seat again. + </p> + <p> + “How d' do, Miss Hutchinson?” said Palliser. “How d' do, Mr. Hutchinson? + Mr. Palford will be glad to find you here.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Palford shook hands with correct civility. + </p> + <p> + “I am, indeed,” he said. “It was in your room in New York that I first saw + Mr. Temple Temple Barholm.” + </p> + <p> + “Aye, it was,” responded Hutchinson, dryly. + </p> + <p> + “I thought Lady Joan was coming,” Miss Alicia said to Palliser. + </p> + <p> + “She will be here presently. She came down in our train, but not with us.” + </p> + <p> + “What—what is she coming for?” faltered Miss Alicia. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” put in the duke, “what, by the way, is she coming for?” + </p> + <p> + “I wrote and asked her to come,” was Palliser's reply. “I have reason to + believe she may be able to recall something of value to the inquiry which + is being made.” + </p> + <p> + “That's interesting,” said his Grace, but with no air of participating + particularly. “She doesn't like him, though, does she? Wouldn't do to put + her on the jury.” + </p> + <p> + He did not wait for any reply, but turned to Mr. Palford. + </p> + <p> + “All this is delightfully portentous. Do you know it reminds me of a scene + in one of those numerous plays where the wrong man has murdered somebody—or + hasn't murdered somebody—and the whole company must be + cross-examined because the curtain cannot be brought down until the right + man is unmasked. Do let us come into this, Mr. Palford; what we know seems + so inadequate.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Palford and Mr. Grimby each felt that there lurked in this manner a + possibility that they were being regarded lightly. All the objections to + their situation loomed annoyingly large. + </p> + <p> + “It is, of course, an extraordinary story,” Mr. Palford said, “but if we + are not mistaken in our deductions, we may find ourselves involved in a + cause celebre which will set all England talking.” + </p> + <p> + “I am not mistaken,” Palliser presented the comment with a short and dry + laugh. + </p> + <p> + “Tha seems pretty cock-sure!” Hutchinson thrust in. + </p> + <p> + “I am. No one knew Jem Temple Barbolm better than I did in the past. We + were intimate—enemies.” And he laughed again. + </p> + <p> + “Tha says tha'll swear th' chap tha saw through th' window was him?” said + Hutchinson. + </p> + <p> + “I'd swear it,” with composure. + </p> + <p> + The duke was reflecting. He was again tapping with his cane the gaiter + covering his slender, shining boot. + </p> + <p> + “If Mr. Temple Temple Barholm had remained here his actions would have + seemed less suspicious?” he suggested. + </p> + <p> + It was Palliser who replied. + </p> + <p> + “Or if he hadn't whisked the other man away. He lost his head and played + the fool.” + </p> + <p> + “He didn't lose his head, that chap. It's screwed on th' right way—his + head is,” grunted Hutchinson. + </p> + <p> + “The curious fellow has a number of friends,” the duke remarked to Palford + and Grimby, in his impartial tone. “I am hoping you are not thinking of + cross-examining me. I have always been convinced that under + cross-examination I could be induced to innocently give evidence + condemnatory to both sides of any case whatever. But would you mind + telling me what the exact evidence is so far?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Palford had been opening a budget of papers. + </p> + <p> + “It is evidence which is cumulative, your Grace,” he said. “Mr. Temple + Temple Barholm's position would have been a far less suspicious one—as + you yourself suggested—if he had remained, or if he hadn't secretly + removed Mr.—Mr. Strangeways.” + </p> + <p> + “The last was Captain Palliser's suggestion, I believe,” smiled the duke. + “Did he remove him secretly? How secretly, for instance?” + </p> + <p> + “At night,” answered Palliser. “Miss Temple Barholm herself did not know + when it happened. Did you?” turning to Miss Alicia, who at once flushed + and paled. + </p> + <p> + “He knew that I was rather nervous where Mr. Strangeways was concerned. I + am sorry to say he found that out almost at once. He even told me several + times that I must not think of him—that I need hear nothing about + him.” She turned to the duke, her air of appeal plainly representing a + feeling that he would understand her confession. “I scarcely like to say + it, but wrong as it was I couldn't help feeling that it was like having a—a + lunatic in the house. I was afraid he might be more—ill—than + Temple realized, and that he might some time become violent. I never + admitted so much of course, but I was.” + </p> + <p> + “You see, she was not told,” Palliser summed it up succinctly. + </p> + <p> + “Evidently,” the duke admitted. “I see your point.” But he seemed to + disengage himself from all sense of admitting implications with entire + calmness, as he turned again to Mr. Palford and his papers. + </p> + <p> + “You were saying that the exact evidence was—?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Palford referred to a sheet of notes. + </p> + <p> + “That—whether before or shortly after his arrival here is not at all + certain—Mr. Temple Temple Barholm began strongly to suspect the + identity of the person then known as Strangeways—” + </p> + <p> + Palliser again emitted the short and dry laugh, and both the duke and Mr. + Palford looked at him inquiringly. + </p> + <p> + “He had `got on to' it before he brought him,” he answered their glances. + “Be sure of that.” + </p> + <p> + “Then why did he bring him?” the duke suggested lightly. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, well,” taking his cue from the duke, and assuming casual lightness + also, “he was obliged to come himself, and was jolly well convinced that + he had better keep his hand on the man, also his eye. It was a good-enough + idea. He couldn't leave a thing like that wandering about the States. He + could play benefactor safely in a house of the size of this until he was + ready for action.” + </p> + <p> + The duke gave a moment to considering the matter—still detachedly. + </p> + <p> + “It is, on the whole, not unlikely that something of the sort might + suggest itself to the criminal mind,” he said. And his glance at Mr. + Palford intimated that he might resume his statement. + </p> + <p> + “We have secured proof that he applied himself to secret investigation. He + is known to have employed Scotland Yard to make certain inquiries + concerning the man said to have been killed in the Klondike. Having + evidently reached more than suspicion he began to endeavor to persuade Mr. + Strangeways to let him take him to London. This apparently took some time. + The mere suggestion of removal threw the invalid into a state of painful + excitement—” + </p> + <p> + “Did Pearson tell you that?” the duke inquired. + </p> + <p> + “Captain Palliser himself in passing the door of the room one day heard + certain expressions of terrified pleading,” was Mr. Palford's explanation. + </p> + <p> + “I heard enough,” Palliser took it up carelessly, “to make it worth while + to question Pearson—who must have heard a great deal more. Pearson + was ordered to hold his tongue from the first, but he will have to tell + the truth when he is asked.” + </p> + <p> + The duke did not appear to resent his view. + </p> + <p> + “Pearson would be likely to know what went on,” he remarked. “He's an + intelligent little fellow.” + </p> + <p> + “The fact remains that in spite of his distress and reluctance Mr. + Strangeways was removed privately, and there our knowledge ends. He has + not been seen since—and a few hours after, Captain Palliser + expressed his conviction, that the person he had seen through the West + Room window was Mr. James Temple Barholm, Mr. Temple Temple Barholm left + the house taking a midnight train, and leaving no clue as to his + where-abouts or intentions.” + </p> + <p> + “Disappeared!” said the duke. “Where has he been looked for?” + </p> + <p> + The countenance of both Mr. Palford and his party expressed a certain + degree of hesitance. + </p> + <p> + “Principally in asylums and so-called sanatoriums,” Mr. Grimby admitted + with a hint of reluctance. + </p> + <p> + “Places where the curiosity of outsiders is not encouraged,” said Palliser + languidly. “And where if a patient dies in a fit of mania there are always + respectable witnesses to explain that his case was hopeless from the + first.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hutchinson had been breathing hard occasionally as he sat and + listened, and now he sprang up uttering a sound dangerously near a violent + snort. + </p> + <p> + “Art tha accusin' that lad o' bein' black villain enough to be ready to do + bloody murder?” he cried out. + </p> + <p> + “He was in a very tight place, Hutchinson,” Palliser shrugged his + shoulders as he said it. “But one makes suggestions at this stage—not + accusations.” + </p> + <p> + That Hutchinson had lost his head was apparent to his daughter at least. + </p> + <p> + “Tha'd be in a tight place, my fine chap, if I had my way,” he flung forth + irately. “I'd like to get thy head under my arm.” + </p> + <p> + The roll of approaching wheels reached Miss Alicia. + </p> + <p> + “There's another carriage,” was her agitated exclamation. “Oh, dear! It + must be Lady Joan!” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann left her seat to make her father return to his. + </p> + <p> + “Father, you'd better sit down,” she said, gently pushing him in the right + direction. “When you can't prove a thing's a lie, it's just as well to + keep quiet until you can.” And she kept quiet herself, though she turned + and stood before Palliser and spoke with clear deliberateness. “What you + pretend to believe is not true, Captain Palliser. It's just not true,” she + gave to him. + </p> + <p> + They were facing and looking at each other when Burrill announced Lady + Joan Fayre. She entered rather quickly and looked round the room with a + sweeping glance, taking them all in. She went to the duke first, and they + shook hands. + </p> + <p> + “I am glad you are here!” she said. + </p> + <p> + “I would not have been out of it, my dear young lady,” he answered, “`for + a farm' That's a quotation.” + </p> + <p> + “I know,” she replied, giving her hand to Miss Alicia, and taking in + Palliser and the solicitors with a bow which was little more than a nod. + Then she saw Little Ann, and walked over to her to shake hands. + </p> + <p> + “I am glad you are here. I rather felt you would be,” was her greeting. “I + am glad to see you.” + </p> + <p> + “Whether tha 'rt glad to see me or not I'm glad I'm here,” said Hutchinson + bluntly. “I've just been speaking a bit o' my mind.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, Father love!” Little Ann put her hand on his arm. + </p> + <p> + Lady Joan looked him over. Her hungry eyes were more hungry than ever. She + looked like a creature in a fever and worn by it. + </p> + <p> + “I think I am glad you are here too,” she answered. + </p> + <p> + Palliser sauntered over to her. He had approved the duke's air of being at + once detached and inquiring, and he did not intend to wear the aspect of + the personage who plays the unpleasant part of the pursuer and avenger. + What he said was: + </p> + <p> + “It was good of you to come, Lady Joan.” + </p> + <p> + “Did you think I would stay away?” was her answer. “But I will tell you + that I don't believe it is true.” + </p> + <p> + “You think that it is too good to be true?” + </p> + <p> + Her hot eyes had records in them it would have been impossible for him to + read or understand. She had been so torn; she had passed through such + hours since she had been told this wild thing. + </p> + <p> + “Pardon my not telling you what I think,” she said. “Nothing matters, + after all, if he is alive!” + </p> + <p> + “Except that we must find him,” said Palliser. + </p> + <p> + “If he is in the same world with me I shall find him,” fiercely. Then she + turned again to Ann. “You are the girl T. Tembarom loves?” she put it to + her. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, my lady.” + </p> + <p> + “If he was lost, and you knew he was on the earth with you, don't you know + that you would find him?” + </p> + <p> + “I should know he'd come back to me,” Little Ann answered her. “That's + what—” her small face looked very fine as in her second of + hesitation a spirited flush ran over it, “that's what your man will do,” + quite firmly. + </p> + <p> + It was amazing to see how the bitter face changed, as if one word had + brought back a passionate softening memory. + </p> + <p> + “My man!” Her voice mellowed until it was deep and low. “Did you call T. + Tembarom that, too? Oh, I understand you! Keep near me while I talk to + these people.” She made her sit down by her. + </p> + <p> + “I know every detail of your letters.” She addressed Palliser as well as + Palford & Grimby, sweeping all details aside. “What is it you want to + ask me?” + </p> + <p> + “This is our position, your ladyship,” Mr. Palford fumbled a little with + his papers in speaking. “Mr. Temple Temple Barholm and the person known as + Mr. Strangeways have been searched for so far without result. In the + meantime we realize that the more evidence we obtain that Mr. Temple + Temple Barholm identified Strangeways and acted from motive, the more + solid the foundation upon which Captain Palliser's conviction rests. Up to + this point we have only his statement which he is prepared to make on + oath. Fortunately, however, he on one occasion overheard something said to + you which he believes will be corroborative evidence.” + </p> + <p> + “What did you overhear?” she inquired of Palliser. + </p> + <p> + Her tone was not pacific considering that, logically, she must be on the + side of the investigators. But it was her habit, as Captain Palliser + remembered, to seem to put most people on the defensive. He meant to look + as uninvolved as the duke, but it was not quite within his power. His + manner was sufficiently deliberate. + </p> + <p> + “One evening, before you left for London, I was returning from the + billiard-room, and heard you engaged in animated conversation with—our + host. My attention was arrested, first because—” a sketch of a smile + ill-concealed itself, “you usually scarcely deigned to speak to him, and + secondly because I heard Jem Temple Barholm's name.” + </p> + <p> + “And you—?” neither eyes nor manner omitted the word listened. + </p> + <p> + But the slight lift of his shoulders was indifferent enough. + </p> + <p> + “I listened deliberately. I was convinced that the fellow was a criminal + impostor, and I wanted evidence.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! come now,” remarked the duke amiably. “Now we are getting on. Did you + gain any?” + </p> + <p> + “I thought so. Merely of the cumulative order, of course,” Palliser + answered with moderation. “Those were early days. He asked you,” turning + to Lady Joan again, “if you knew any one—any one—who had any + sort of a photograph of Jem. You had one and you showed it to him!” + </p> + <p> + She was quite silent for a moment. The hour came back to her—the + extraordinary hour when he had stood in his lounging fashion before her, + and through some odd, uncivilized but absolutely human force of his own + had made her listen to him—and had gone on talking in his nasal + voice until with one common, crude, grotesque phrase he had turned her + hideous world upside down—changed the whole face of it—sent + the stone wall rising before her crumbling into dust, and seemed somehow + to set her free. For the moment he had lifted a load from her the nature + of which she did not think he could understand—a load of hatred and + silence. She had clutched his hand, she had passionately wept on it, she + could have kissed it. He had told her she could come back and not be + afraid. As the strange episode rose before her detail by detail, she + literally stared at Palliser. + </p> + <p> + “You did, didn't you?” he inquired. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she answered. + </p> + <p> + Her mind was in a riot, because in the midst of things which must be true, + something was false. But with the memory of a myriad subtle duplicities in + her brain, she had never seen anything which could have approached a thing + like that. He had made her feel more human than any one in the world had + ever made her feel—but Jem. He had been able to do it because he was + human himself—human. “I'm friendly,” he had said with his boy's + laugh—“just friendly.” + </p> + <p> + “I saw him start, though you did not,” Palliser continued. “He stood and + studied the locket intently.” + </p> + <p> + She remembered perfectly. He had examined it so closely that he had + unconsciously knit his brows. + </p> + <p> + “He said something in a rather low voice,” Palliser took it up. “I could + not quite catch it all. It was something about `knowing the face again.' I + can see you remember, Lady Joan. Can you repeat the exact words?” + </p> + <p> + He did not understand the struggle he saw in her face. It would have been + impossible for him to understand it. What she felt was that if she lost + hold on her strange belief in the honesty of this one decent thing she had + seen and felt so close to her that it cleared the air she breathed, it + would be as if she had fallen into a bottomless abyss. Without knowing why + she did it, she got up from her chair as if she were a witness in a court. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I can,” she said. “Yes, I can; but I wish to make a statement for + myself. Whether Jem Temple Barholm is alive or dead, Captain Palliser, T. + Tembarom has done him no harm.” + </p> + <p> + The duke sat up delicately alert. He had evidently found her worth looking + at and listening to from the outset. + </p> + <p> + “Hear! Hear!” he said pleasantly. + </p> + <p> + “What were the exact words?” suggested Palliser. + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia who had been weeping on Little Ann's shoulder—almost on + her lap—lifted her head to listen. Hutchinson set his jaw and + grunted, and Mr. Palford cleared his throat mechanically. + </p> + <p> + “He said,” and no one better than herself realized how ominously + “cumulative” the words sounded, “that a man would know a face like that + again—wherever he saw it.” + </p> + <p> + “Wherever he saw it!” ejaculated Mr. Grimby. + </p> + <p> + There ensued a moment of entire pause. It was inevitable. Having reached + this point a taking of breath was necessary. Even the duke ceased to + appear entirely detached. As Mr. Palford turned to his papers again there + was perhaps a slight feeling of awkwardness in the air. Miss Alicia had + dropped, terror smitten, into new tears. + </p> + <p> + The slight awkwardness was, on the whole, rather added to by T. Tembarom—as + if serenely introduced by the hand of drama itself—opening the door + and walking into the room. He came in with a matter-of-fact, but rather + obstinate, air, and stopped in their midst, looking round at them as if + collectedly taking them all in. + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson sprang to his feet with a kind of roar, his big hands plunging + deep into his trousers pockets. + </p> + <p> + “Here he is! Danged if he isn't!” he bellowed. “Now, lad, tha let 'em have + it!” + </p> + <p> + What he was to let them have did not ensue, because his attitude was not + one of assault. + </p> + <p> + “Say, you are all here, ain't you!” he remarked obviously. “Good + business!” + </p> + <p> + Miss Alicia got up from the sofa and came trembling toward him as one + approaches one risen from the dead, and he made a big stride toward her + and took her in his arms, patting her shoulder in reproachful consolation. + </p> + <p> + “Say, you haven't done what I told you—have you?” he soothed. + “You've let yourself get rattled.” + </p> + <p> + “But I knew it wasn't true,” she sobbed. “I knew it wasn't.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course you did, but you got rattled all the same.” And he patted her + again. + </p> + <p> + The duke came forward with a delightfully easy and—could it be + almost jocose?—air of bearing himself. Palford and Grimby remarked + it with pained dismay. He was so unswerving in his readiness as he shook + hands. + </p> + <p> + “How well done of you!” he said. “How well arranged! But I'm afraid you + didn't arrange it at all. It has merely happened. Where did you come + from?” + </p> + <p> + “From America; got back yesterday.” T. Tembarom's hand-shake was a robust + hearty greeting. “It's all right.” + </p> + <p> + “From America!” The united voices of the solicitors exclaimed it. + </p> + <p> + Joseph Hutchinson broke into a huge guffaw, and he stamped in exultation. + </p> + <p> + “I'm danged if he has na' been to America!” he cried out. “To America!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” Miss Alicia gasped hysterically, “they go backward and forward to + America like—like lightning!” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann had not risen at his entrance, but sat still with her hands + clasped tightly on her lap. Her face had somehow the effect of a flower + gradually breaking into extraordinary bloom. Their eyes had once met and + then she remained, her soul in hers which were upon him, as she drank in + every word he uttered. Her time had not yet come. + </p> + <p> + Lady Joan had remained standing by the chair, which a few moments before + her manner had seemed to transform into something like a witness stand in + a court of justice. Her hungry eyes had grown hungrier each second, and + her breath came and went quickly. The very face she had looked up at on + her last talk with T. Tembarom—the oddly human face—turned on + her as he came to her. It was just as it had been that night—just as + commonly uncommon and believable. + </p> + <p> + “Say, Lady Joan! You didn't believe all that guff, did you—You + didn't?” he said. + </p> + <p> + “No—no—no! I couldn't!” she cried fiercely. + </p> + <p> + He saw she was shaking with suspense, and he pushed her gently into a + chair. + </p> + <p> + “You'd better sit down a minute. You're about all in,” he said. + </p> + <p> + She might have been a woman with an ague as she caught his arm, shaking it + because her hands themselves so shook. + </p> + <p> + “Is it true?” was her low cry. “Is he alive—is he alive?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, he's alive.” And as he answered he drew close and so placed himself + before her that he shielded her from the others in the room. He seemed to + manage to shut them out, so that when she dropped her face on her arms + against the chair-back her shuddering, silent sobbing was hidden decently. + It was not only his body which did it, but some protecting power which was + almost physically visible. She felt it spread before her. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, he's alive,” he said, “and he's all right—though it's been a + long time coming, by gee!” + </p> + <p> + “He's alive.” They all heard it. For a man of Palliser's make to stand + silent in the midst of mysterious slowly accumulating convictions that + some one—perilously of his own rarely inept type—was on the + verge of feeling appallingly like a fool—was momentarily + unendurable. And nothing had been explained, after all. + </p> + <p> + “Is this what you call `bluff' in New York?” he demanded. “You've got a + lot to explain. You admit that Jem Temple Barholm is alive?” and realized + his asinine error before the words were fully spoken. + </p> + <p> + The realization was the result of the square-shouldered swing with which + T. Tembarom turned round, and the expression of his eyes as they ran over + him. + </p> + <p> + “Admit!” he said. “Admit hell! He's up-stairs,” with a slight jerk of his + head in the direction of the ceiling. + </p> + <p> + The duke alone did not gasp. He laughed slightly. + </p> + <p> + “We've just got here. He came down from London with me, and Sir Ormsby + Galloway.” And he said it not to Palliser but to Palford and Grimby. + </p> + <p> + “The Sir Ormsby Galloway?” It was an ejaculation from Mr. Palford himself. + </p> + <p> + T. Tembarom stood square and gave his explanation to the lot of them, so + to speak, without distinction. + </p> + <p> + “He's the big nerve specialist. I've had him looking after the case from + the first—before I began to suspect anything. I took orders, and + orders were to keep him quiet and not let any fool butt in and excite him. + That's what I've been giving my mind to. The great stunt was to get him to + go and stay at Sir Ormsby's place.” He stopped a moment and suddenly + flared forth as if he had had about enough of it. He almost shouted at + them in exasperation. “All I'm going to tell you is that for about six + months I've been trying to prove that Jem Temple Barholm was Jem Temple + Barholm, and the hardest thing I had to do was to get him so that he could + prove it himself.” He strode over to the hearth and rang a bell. “It's not + my place to give orders here now,” he said, “but Jem commissioned me to + see this thing through. Sir Ormsby'll tell you all you want to hear.” + </p> + <p> + He turned and spoke solely to the duke. + </p> + <p> + “This is what happened,” he said. “I dare say you'll laugh when you hear + it. I almost laughed myself. What does Jem do, when he thinks things over, + but get some fool notion in his head about not coming back here and + pushing me out. And he lights out and leaves the country—leaves it—to + get time to think it over some more.” + </p> + <p> + The duke did not laugh. He merely smiled—a smile which had a shade + of curious self-questioning in it. + </p> + <p> + “Romantic and emotional—and quite ridiculous,” he commented slowly. + “He'd have awakened to that when he had thought it out `some more.' The + thing couldn't be done.” + </p> + <p> + Burrill had presented himself in answer to the bell, and awaited orders. + His Grace called Tembarom's attention to him, and Tembarom included + Palliser with Palford and Grimby when he gave his gesture of instruction. + </p> + <p> + “Take these gentlemen to Sir Ormsby Galloway, and then ask Mr. Temple + Barholm if he'll come down-stairs,” he said. + </p> + <p> + It is possible that Captain Palliser felt himself more irritatingly + infolded in the swathing realization that some one was in a ridiculous + position, and it is certain that Mr. Palford felt it necessary to preserve + an outwardly flawless dignity as the duke surprisingly left his chair and + joined them. + </p> + <p> + “Let me go, too,” he suggested; “I may be able to assist in throwing + light.” His including movement in Miss Alicia's direction was delightfully + gracious and friendly. It was inclusive of Mr. Hutchinson also. + </p> + <p> + “Will you come with us, Miss Temple Barholm?” he said. “And you too, Mr. + Hutchinson. We shall go over it all in its most interesting detail, and + you must be eager about it. I am myself.” + </p> + <p> + His happy and entirely correct idea was that the impending entrance of Mr. + James Temple Barholm would “come off” better in the absence of audience. + </p> + <p> + Hutchinson almost bounced from his chair in his readiness. Miss Alicia + looked at Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Miss Alicia,” he answered her inquiring glance. “You go, too. You'll + get it all over quicker.” + </p> + <p> + Rigid propriety forbade that Mr. Palford should express annoyance, but the + effort to restrain the expression of it was in his countenance. Was it + possible that the American habit of being jocular had actually held its + own in a matter as serious as this? And could even the most cynical and + light-minded of ducal personages have been involved in its unworthy + frivolities? But no one looked jocular—Tembarom's jaw was set in its + hard line, and the duke, taking up the broad ribbon of his rimless monocle + to fix the glass in his eye, wore the expression of a man whose sense of + humor was temporarily in abeyance. + </p> + <p> + “Are we to understand that your Grace—?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said his Grace a trifle curtly, “I have known about it for some + time.” + </p> + <p> + “But why was nobody told?” put in Palliser. + </p> + <p> + “Why should people be told? There was nothing sufficiently definite to + tell. It was a waiting game.” His Grace wasted no words. “I was told. Mr. + Temple Barholm did not know England or English methods. His idea—perhaps + a mistaken one—was that an English duke ought to be able to advise + him. He came to me and made a clean breast of it. He goes straight at + things, that young fellow. Makes what he calls a `bee line.' Oh! I've been + in it—I 've been in it, I assure you.” + </p> + <p> + It was as they crossed the hall that his Grace slightly laughed. + </p> + <p> + “It struck me as a sort of wild-goose chase at first. He had only a ghost + of a clue—a mere resemblance to a portrait. But he believed in it, + and he had an instinct.” He laughed again. “The dullest and most + unmelodramatic neighborhood in England has been taking part in a melodrama—but + there has been no villain in it—only a matter-of-fact young man, + working out a queer thing in his own queer, matter-of-fact way.” + </p> + <p> + When the door closed behind them, Tembarom went to Lady Joan. She had + risen and was standing before the window, her back to the room. She looked + tall and straight and tensely braced when she turned round, but there was + endurance, not fierceness in her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Did he leave the country knowing I was here—waiting?” she asked. + Her voice was low and fatigued. She had remembered that years had passed, + and that it was perhaps after all only human that long anguish should blot + things out, and dull a hopeless man's memory. + </p> + <p> + “No,” answered Tembarom sharply. “He didn't. You weren't in it then. He + believed you'd married that Duke of Merthshire fellow. This is the way it + was: Let me tell it to you quick. A letter that had been wandering round + came to him the night before the cave-in, when they thought he was killed. + It told him old Temple Barholm was dead. He started out before daylight, + and you can bet he was strung up till he was near crazy with excitement. + He believed that if he was in England with plenty of money he could track + down that cardsharp lie. He believed you'd help him. Somewhere, while he + was traveling he came across an old paper with a lot of dope about your + being engaged.” + </p> + <p> + Joan remembered well how her mother had worked to set the story afloat—how + they had gone through the most awful of their scenes—almost raving + at each other, shut up together in the boudoir in Hill Street. + </p> + <p> + “That's all he remembers, except that he thought some one had hit him a + crack on the head. Nothing had hit him. He'd had too much to stand up + under and something gave way in his brain. He doesn't know what happened + after that. He'd wake up sometimes just enough to know he was wandering + about trying to get home. It's been the limit to try to track him. If he'd + not come to himself we could never have been quite sure. That's why I + stuck at it. But he DID come to himself. All of a sudden. Sir Ormsby will + tell you that's what nearly always happens. They wake up all of a sudden. + It's all right; it's all right. I used to promise him it would be—when + I wasn't sure that I wasn't lying.” And for the first time he broke into + the friendly grin—but it was more valiant than spontaneous. He + wanted her to know that it was “all right.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” she cried, “oh! you—” + </p> + <p> + She stopped because the door was opening. + </p> + <p> + “It's Jem,” he said sharply. “Ann, let's go.” And that instant Little Ann + was near him. + </p> + <p> + “No! no! don't go,” cried Lady Joan. + </p> + <p> + Jem Temple Barholm came in through the doorway. Life and sound and breath + stopped for a second, and then the two whirled into each other's arms as + if a storm had swept them there. + </p> + <p> + “Jem!” she wailed. “Oh, Jem! My man! Where have you been?” + </p> + <p> + “I've been in hell, Joan—in hell!” he answered, choking,—“and + this wonderful fellow has dragged me out of it.” + </p> + <p> + But Tembarom would have none of it. He could not stand it. This sort of + thing filled up his throat and put him at an overwhelming disadvantage. He + just laid a hand on Jem Temple Barholm's shoulder and gave him an + awkwardly friendly push. + </p> + <p> + “Say, cut me out of it!” he said. “You get busy,” his voice rather + breaking. “You've got a lot to say to her. It was up to me before;—now, + it's up to you.” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann went with him into the next room. + </p> + <p> + The room they went into was a smaller one, quiet, and its oriel windows + much overshadowed by trees. By the time they stood together in the center + of it Tembarom had swallowed something twice or thrice, and had recovered + himself. Even his old smile had come back as he took one of her hands in + each of his, and holding them wide apart stood and looked down at her. + </p> + <p> + “God bless you, Little Ann,” he said. “I just knew I should find you here. + I'd have bet my last dollar on it.” + </p> + <p> + The hands he held were trembling just a little, and the dimples quivered + in and out. But her eyes were steady, and a lovely increasing intensity + glowed in them. + </p> + <p> + “You went after him and brought him back. He was all wrought up, and he + needed some one with good common sense to stop him in time to make him + think straight before he did anything silly,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “I says to him,” T. Tembarom made the matter clear; “`Say, you've left + something behind that belongs to you! Comeback and get it.' I meant Lady + Joan. And I says, `Good Lord, man, you're acting like a fellow in a play. + That place doesn't belong to me. It belongs to you. If it was mine, fair + and square, Little Willie'd hang on to it. There'd be no noble sacrifice + in his. You get a brace on.'” + </p> + <p> + “When they were talking in that silly way about you, and saying you'd run + away,” said Little Ann, her face uplifted adoringly as she talked, “I said + to father, `If he's gone, he's gone to get something. And he'll be likely + to bring it back.'” + </p> + <p> + He almost dropped her hands and caught her to him then. But he saved + himself in time. + </p> + <p> + “Now this great change has come,” he said, “everything will be different. + The men you'll know will look like the pictures in the advertisements at + the backs of magazines—those fellows with chins and smooth hair. I + shall look like a chauffeur among them.” + </p> + <p> + But she did not blench in the least, though she remembered whose words he + was quoting. The intense and lovely femininity in her eyes only increased. + She came closer to him, and so because of his height had to look up more. + </p> + <p> + “You will always make jokes—but I don't care. I don't care for + anything but you,” she said. “I love your jokes; I love everything about + you: I love your eyes—and your voice—and your laugh. I love + your very clothes.” Her voice quivered as her dimples did. “These last + months I've sometimes felt as if I should die of loving you.” + </p> + <p> + It was a wonderful thing—wonderful. His eyes—his whole young + being had kindled as he looked down drinking in every word. + </p> + <p> + “Is that the kind of quiet little thing you are?” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, it is,” she answered firmly. + </p> + <p> + “And you're satisfied—you know, who it is I want?—You're ready + to do what you said you would that last night at Mrs. Bowse's?” + </p> + <p> + “What do you think?” she said in her clear little voice. + </p> + <p> + He caught her then in a strong, hearty, young, joyous clutch. + </p> + <p> + “You come to me, Little Ann. You come right to me,” he said. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0040" id="link2HCH0040"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XL + </h2> + <p> + Many an honest penny was turned, with the assistance of the romantic + Temple Barholm case, by writers of paragraphs for newspapers published in + the United States. It was not merely a romance which belonged to England + but was excitingly linked to America by the fact that its hero regarded + himself as an American, and had passed through all the picturesque + episodes of a most desirably struggling youth in the very streets of New + York itself, and had “worked his way up” to the proud position of society + reporter “on” a huge Sunday paper. It was generally considered to redound + largely to his credit that refusing “in spite of all temptations to belong + to other nations,” he had been born in Brooklyn, that he had worn ragged + clothes and shoes with holes in them, that he had blacked other people's + shoes, run errands, and sold newspapers there. If he had been a mere + English young man, one recounting of his romance would have disposed of + him; but as he was presented to the newspaper public every characteristic + lent itself to elaboration. He was, in fact, flaringly anecdotal. As a + newly elected President who has made boots or driven a canal-boat in his + unconsidered youth endears himself indescribably to both paragraph reader + and paragraph purveyor, so did T. Tembarom endear himself. For weeks, he + was a perennial fount. What quite credible story cannot be related of a + hungry lad who is wildly flung by chance into immense fortune and the laps + of dukes, so to speak? The feeblest imagination must be stirred by the + high color of such an episode, and stimulated to superb effort. Until the + public had become sated with reading anecdotes depicting the extent of his + early privations, and dwelling on illustrations which presented + lumber-yards in which he had slept, and the facades of tumble-down + tenements in which he had first beheld the light of day, he was a modest + source of income. Any lumber-yard or any tenement sufficiently dilapidated + would serve as a model; and the fact that in the shifting architectural + life of New York the actual original scenes of the incidents had been + demolished and built upon by new apartment-houses, or new railroad + stations, or new factories seventy-five stories high, was an unobstructing + triviality. Accounts of his manner of conducting himself in European + courts to which he had supposedly been bidden, of his immense popularity + in glittering circles, of his finely democratic bearing when confronted by + emperors surrounded by their guilty splendors, were the joy of remote + villages and towns. A thrifty and young minor novelist hastily + incorporated him in a serial, and syndicated it upon the spot under the + title of “Living or Dead.” Among its especial public it was a success of + such a nature as betrayed its author into as hastily writing a second + romance, which not being rendered stimulating by a foundation of fact + failed to repeat his triumph. + </p> + <p> + T. Tembarom, reading in the library at Temple Barholm the first newspapers + sent from New York, smiled widely. + </p> + <p> + “You see they've got to say something, Jem,” he explained. “It's too big a + scoop to be passed over. Something's got to be turned in. And it means + money to the fellows, too. It's good copy.” + </p> + <p> + “Suppose,” suggested Jem, watching him with interest, “you were to write + the facts yourself and pass them on to some decent chap who'd be glad to + get them.” + </p> + <p> + “Glad!” Tembarom flushed with delight. “Any chap would be'way up in the + air at the chance. It's the best kind of stuff. Wouldn't you mind? Are you + sure you wouldn't?” He was the warhorse snuffing battle from afar. + </p> + <p> + Jem Temple Barholm laughed outright at the gleam in his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “No, I shouldn't care a hang, dear fellow. And the fact that I objected + would not stop the story.” + </p> + <p> + “No, it wouldn't, by gee! Say, I'll get Ann to help me, and we'll send it + to the man who took my place on the Earth. It'll mean board and boots to + him for a month if he works it right. And it'll be doing a good turn to + Galton, too. I shall be glad to see old Galton when I go back.” + </p> + <p> + “You are quite sure you want to go back?” inquired Jem. A certain glow of + feeling was always in his eyes when he turned them on T. Tembarom. + </p> + <p> + “Go back! I should smile! Of course I shall go back. I've got to get busy + for Hutchinson and I've got to get busy for myself. I guess there'll be + work to do that'll take me half over the world; but I'm going back first. + Ann's going with me.” + </p> + <p> + But there was no reference to a return to New York when the Sunday Earth + and other widely circulated weekly sheets gave prominence to the marriage + of Mr. Temple Temple Barholm and Miss Hutchinson, only child and heiress + of Mr. Joseph Hutchinson, the celebrated inventor. From a newspaper point + of view, the wedding had been rather unfairly quiet, and it was necessary + to fill space with a revival of the renowned story, with pictures of bride + and bridegroom, and of Temple Barholm surrounded by ancestral oaks. A + thriving business would have been done by the reporters if an ocean + greyhound had landed the pair at the dock some morning, and snap-shots + could have been taken as they crossed the gangway, and wearing apparel + described. But hope of such fortune was swept away by the closing + paragraph, which stated that Mr. and Mrs. Temple Barholm would “spend the + next two months in motoring through Italy and Spain in their 90 h.p. + Panhard.” + </p> + <p> + It was T. Tembarom who sent this last item privately to Galton. + </p> + <p> + “It's not true,” his letter added, “but what I'm going to do is nobody's + business but mine and my wife's, and this will suit people just as well.” + And then he confided to Galton the thing which was the truth. + </p> + <p> + The St. Francesca apartment-house was a very new one, situated on a corner + of an as yet sparsely built but rapidly spreading avenue above the “100th + Streets”—many numbers above them. There was a frankly unfinished air + about the neighborhood, but here and there a “store” had broken forth and + valiantly displayed necessities, and even articles verging upon the + economically ornamental. It was plainly imperative that the idea should be + suggested that there were on the spot sources of supply not requiring the + immediate employment of the services of the elevated railroad in the + achievement of purchase, and also that enterprise rightly encouraged might + develop into being equal to all demands. Here and there an exceedingly + fresh and clean “market store,” brilliant with the highly colored labels + adorning tinned soups and meats and edibles in glass jars, alluringly + presented itself to the passer-by. The elevated railroad perched upon iron + supports, and with iron stairways so tall that they looked almost + perilous, was a prominent feature of the landscape. There were stretches + of waste ground, and high backgrounds of bits of country and woodland to + be seen. The rush of New York traffic had not yet reached the streets, and + the avenue was of an agreeable suburban cleanliness and calm. People who + lived in upper stories could pride themselves on having “views of the + river.” These they laid stress upon when it was hinted that they “lived a + long way uptown.” + </p> + <p> + The St. Francesca was built of light-brown stone and decorated with much + ornate molding. It was fourteen stories high, and was supplied with + ornamental fire-escapes. It was “no slouch of a building.” Everything + decorative which could be done for it had been done. The entrance was + almost imposing, and a generous lavishness in the way of cement mosaic + flooring and new and thick red carpet struck the eye at once. The + grill-work of the elevator was of fresh, bright blackness, picked out with + gold, and the colored elevator-boy wore a blue livery with brass buttons. + Persons of limited means who were willing to discard the excitements of + “downtown” got a good deal for their money, and frequently found + themselves secretly surprised and uplifted by the atmosphere of luxury + which greeted them when they entered their red-carpeted hall. It was + wonderful, they said, congratulating one another privately, how much + comfort and style you got in a New York apartment-house after you passed + the “150ths.” + </p> + <p> + On a certain afternoon T. Tembarom, with his hat on the back of his head + and his arms full of parcels, having leaped off the “L” when it stopped at + the nearest station, darted up and down the iron stairways until he + reached the ground, and then hurried across the avenue to the St. + Francesca. He made long strides, and two or three times grinned as if + thinking of something highly amusing; and once or twice he began to + whistle and checked himself. He looked approvingly at the tall building + and its solidly balustraded entrance-steps as he approached it, and when + he entered the red-carpeted hall he gave greeting to a small mulatto boy + in livery. + </p> + <p> + “Hello, Tom! How's everything?” he inquired, hilariously. “You taking good + care of this building? Let any more eight-room apartments? You've got to + keep right on the job, you know. Can't have you loafing because you've got + those brass buttons.” + </p> + <p> + The small page showed his teeth in gleeful appreciation of their friendly + intimacy. + </p> + <p> + “Yassir. That's so,” he answered. “Mis' Barom she's waitin' for you. Them + carpets is come, sir. Tracy's wagon brought 'em 'bout an hour ago. I told + her I'd help her lay 'em if she wanted me to, but she said you was comin' + with the hammer an' tacks. 'Twarn't that she thought I was too little. It + was jest that there wasn't no tacks. I tol' her jest call me in any time + to do anythin' she want done, an' she said she would.” + </p> + <p> + “She'll do it,” said T. Tembarom. “You just keep on tap. I'm just counting + on you and Light here,” taking in the elevator-boy as he stepped into the + elevator, “to look after her when I'm out.” + </p> + <p> + The elevator-boy grinned also, and the elevator shot up the shaft, the + numbers of the floors passing almost too rapidly to be distinguished. The + elevator was new and so was the boy, and it was the pride of his soul to + land each passenger at his own particular floor, as if he had been + propelled upward from a catapult. But he did not go too rapidly for this + passenger, at least, though a paper parcel or so was dropped in the + transit and had to be picked up when he stopped at floor fourteen. + </p> + <p> + The red carpets were on the corridor there also, and fresh paint and paper + were on the walls. A few yards from the elevator he stopped at a door and + opened it with a latch-key, beaming with inordinate delight. + </p> + <p> + The door opened into a narrow corridor leading into a small apartment, the + furniture of which was not yet set in order. A roll of carpet and some + mats stood in a corner, chairs and tables with burlaps round their legs + waited here and there, a cot with a mattress on it, evidently to be + transformed into a “couch,” held packages of bafflingly irregular shapes + and sizes. In the tiny kitchen new pots and pans and kettles, some still + wrapped in paper, tilted themselves at various angles on the gleaming new + range or on the closed lids of the doll-sized stationary wash-tubs. + </p> + <p> + Little Ann had been very busy, and some of the things were unpacked. She + had been sweeping and mopping floors and polishing up remote corners, and + she had on a big white pinafore-apron with long sleeves, which transformed + her into a sort of small female chorister. She came into the narrow + corridor with a broom in her hand, her periwinkle-blue gaze as thrilled as + an excited child's when it attacks the arrangement of its first doll's + house. Her hair was a little ruffled where it showed below the white + kerchief she had tied over her head. The warm, daisy pinkness of her + cheeks was amazing. + </p> + <p> + “Hello!” called out Tembarom at sight of her. “Are you there yet? I don't + believe it.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I'm here,” she answered, dimpling at him. + </p> + <p> + “Not you!” he said. “You couldn't be! You've melted away. Let's see.” And + he slid his parcels down on the cot and lifted her up in the air as if she + had been a baby. “How can I tell, anyhow?” he laughed out. “You don't + weigh anything, and when a fellow squeezes you he's got to look out what + he's doing.” + </p> + <p> + He did not seem to “look out” particularly when he caught her to him in a + hug into which she appeared charmingly to melt. She made herself part of + it, with soft arms which went at once round his neck and held him. + </p> + <p> + “Say!” he broke forth when he set her down. “Do you think I'm not glad to + get back?” + </p> + <p> + “No, I don't, Tem,” she answered, “I know how glad you are by the way I'm + glad myself.” + </p> + <p> + “You know just everything!” he ejaculated, looking her over, “just every + darned thing—God bless you! But don't you melt away, will you? + That's what I'm afraid of. I'll do any old thing on earth if you'll just + stay.” + </p> + <p> + That was his great joke,—though she knew it was not so great a joke + as it seemed,—that he would not believe that she was real, and + believed that she might disappear at any moment. They had been married + three weeks, and she still knew when she saw him pause to look at her that + he would suddenly seize and hold her fast, trying to laugh, sometimes not + with entire success. + </p> + <p> + “Do you know how long it was? Do you know how far away that big place was + from everything in the world?” he had said once. “And me holding on and + gritting my teeth? And not a soul to open my mouth to! The old duke was + the only one who understood, anyhow. He'd been there.” + </p> + <p> + “I'll stay,” she answered now, standing before him as he sat down on the + end of the “couch.” She put a firm, warm-palmed little hand on each side + of his face, and held it between them as she looked deep into his eyes. + “You look at me, Tem—and see.” + </p> + <p> + “I believe it now,” he said, “but I shan't in fifteen minutes.” + </p> + <p> + “We're both right-down silly,” she said, her soft, cosy laugh breaking + out. “Look round this room and see what we've got to do. Let's begin this + minute. Did you get the groceries?” + </p> + <p> + He sprang up and began to go over his packages triumphantly. + </p> + <p> + “Tea, coffee, sugar, pepper, salt, beefsteak,” he called out. + </p> + <p> + “We can't have beefsteak often,” she said, soberly, “if we're going to do + it on fifteen a week.” + </p> + <p> + “Good Lord, no!” he gave back to her, hilariously. “But this is a Fifth + Avenue feed.” + </p> + <p> + “Let's take them into the kitchen and put them into the cupboard, and + untie the pots and pans.” She was suddenly quite absorbed and + businesslike. “We must make the room tidy and tack down the carpet, and + then cook the dinner.” + </p> + <p> + He followed her and obeyed her like an enraptured boy. The wonder of her + was that, despite its unarranged air, the tiny place was already cleared + and set for action. She had done it all before she had swept out the + undiscovered corners. Everything was near the spot to which it belonged. + There was nothing to move or drag out of the way. + </p> + <p> + “I got it all ready to put straight,” she said, “but I wanted you to + finish it with me. It wouldn't have seemed right if I'd done it without + you. It wouldn't have been as much OURS.” + </p> + <p> + Then came active service. She was like a small general commanding an army + of one. They put things on shelves; they hung things on hooks; they found + places in which things belonged; they set chairs and tables straight; and + then, after dusting and polishing them, set them at a more imposing angle; + they unrolled the little green carpet and tacked down its corners; and + transformed the cot into a “couch” by covering it with what Tracy's knew + as a “throw” and adorning one end of it with cotton-stuffed cushions. They + hung little photogravures on the walls and strung up some curtains before + the good-sized window, which looked down from an enormous height at the + top of four-storied houses, and took in beyond them the river and the + shore beyond. Because there was no fireplace Tembarom knocked up a shelf, + and, covering it with a scarf (from Tracy's), set up some inoffensive + ornaments on it and flanked them with photographs of Jem Temple Barholm, + Lady Joan in court dress, Miss Alicia in her prettiest cap, and the great + house with its huge terrace and the griffins. + </p> + <p> + “Ain't she a looker?” Tembarom said of Lady Joan. “And ain't Jem a looker, + too? Gee! they're a pair. Jem thinks this honeymoon stunt of ours is the + best thing he ever heard of—us fixing ourselves up here just like we + would have done if nothing had ever happened, and we'd HAD to do it on + fifteen per. Say,” throwing an arm about her, “are you getting as much fun + out of it as if we HAD to, as if I might lose my job any minute, and we + might get fired out of here because we couldn't pay the rent? I believe + you'd rather like to think I might ring you into some sort of trouble, so + that you could help me to get you out of it.” + </p> + <p> + “That's nonsense,” she answered, with a sweet, untruthful little face. “I + shouldn't be very sensible if I wasn't glad you COULDN'T lose your job. + Father and I are your job now.” + </p> + <p> + He laughed aloud. This was the innocent, fantastic truth of it. They had + chosen to do this thing—to spend their honey-moon in this particular + way, and there was no reason why they should not. The little dream which + had been of such unattainable proportions in the days of Mrs. Bowse's + boarding-house could be realized to its fullest. No one in the St. + Francesca apartments knew that the young honey-mooners in the five-roomed + apartment were other than Mr. and Mrs. T. Barholm, as recorded on the + tablet of names in the entrance. Hutchinson knew, and Miss Alicia knew, + and Jem Temple Barholm, and Lady Joan. The Duke of Stone knew, and thought + the old-fashionedness of the idea quite the last touch of modernity. + </p> + <p> + “Did you see any one who knew you when you were out?” Little Ann asked. + </p> + <p> + “No, and if I had they wouldn't have believed they'd seen me, because the + papers told them that Mr. and Mrs. Temple Barholm are spending their + honeymoon motoring through Spain in their ninety-horse-power Panhard.” + </p> + <p> + “Let's go and get dinner,” said Little Ann. + </p> + <p> + They went into the doll's-house kitchen and cooked the dinner. Little Ann + broiled steak and fried potato chips, and T. Tembarom produced a wonderful + custard pie he had bought at a confectioner's. He set the table, and put a + bunch of yellow daisies in the middle of it. + </p> + <p> + “We couldn't do it every day on fifteen per week,” he said. “If we wanted + flowers we should have to grow them in old tomato-cans.” + </p> + <p> + Little Ann took off her chorister's-gown apron and her kerchief, and + patted and touched up her hair. She was pink to her ears, and had several + new dimples; and when she sat down opposite him, as she had sat that first + night at Mrs. Bowse's boarding-house supper, Tembarom stared at her and + caught his breath. + </p> + <p> + “You ARE there?” he said, “ain't you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I am,” she answered. + </p> + <p> + When they had cleared the table and washed the dishes, and had left the + toy kitchen spick and span, the ten million lights in New York were + lighted and casting their glow above the city. Tembarom sat down on the + Adams chair before the window and took Little Ann on his knee. She was of + the build which settles comfortably and with ease into soft curves whose + nearness is a caress. Looked down at from the fourteenth story of the St. + Francesca apartments, the lights strung themselves along lines of streets, + crossing and recrossing one another; they glowed and blazed against masses + of buildings, and they hung at enormous heights in mid-air here and there, + apparently without any support. Everywhere was the glow and dazzle of + their brilliancy of light, with the distant bee hum of a nearing elevated + train, at intervals gradually deepening into a roar. The river looked + miles below them, and craft with sparks or blaze of light went slowly or + swiftly to and fro. + </p> + <p> + “It's like a dream,” said Little Ann, after a long silence. “And we are up + here like birds in a nest.” + </p> + <p> + He gave her a closer grip. + </p> + <p> + “Miss Alicia once said that when I was almost down and out,” he said. “It + gave me a jolt. She said a place like this would be like a nest. Wherever + we go,—and we'll have to go to lots of places and live in lots of + different ways,—we'll keep this place, and some time we'll bring her + here and let her try it. I've just got to show her New York.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, let us keep it,” said Little Ann, drowsily, “just for a nest.” + </p> + <p> + There was another silence, and the lights on the river far below still + twinkled or blazed as they drifted to and fro. + </p> + <p> + “You are there, ain't you?” said Tembarom in a half-whisper. + </p> + <p> + “Yes—I am,” murmured Little Ann. + </p> + <p> + But she had had a busy day, and when he looked down at her, she hung + softly against his shoulder, fast asleep. + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of T. Tembarom, by Frances Hodgson Burnett + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK T. 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