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diff --git a/old/lnskn10.txt b/old/lnskn10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..af999c6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/lnskn10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11429 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Etext of The Lion's Skin, by Rafael Sabatini +#8 in our series by Rafael Sabatini + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. 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THE FANATIC + +II. AT THE "ADAM AND EVE" + +III. THE WITNESS + +IV. Mr. GREEN + +V. MOONSHINE + +VI. HORTENSIA'S RETURN + +VII. FATHER AND SON + +VIII. TEMPTATION + +IX. THE CHAMPION + +X. SPURS TO THE RELUCTANT + +XI. THE ASSAULT-AT-ARMS + +XII. SUNSHINE AND SHADOW + +XIII. THE FORLORN HOPE + +XIV. LADY OSTERMORE + +XV. LOVE AND RAGE + +XVI. Mr. GREEN EXECUTES HIS WARRANT + +XVII. AMID THE GRAVES + +XVIII. THE GHOST OF THE PAST + +XIX. THE END OF LORD OSTERMORE + +XX. Mr. CARYLL'S IDENTITY + +XXI. THE LION'S SKIN + +XXII. THE HUNTERS + +XXIII. THE LION + + + + +THE LION'S SKIN + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE FANATIC + + +Mr. Caryll, lately from Rome, stood by the window, looking out +over the rainswept, steaming quays to Notre Dame on the island +yonder. Overhead rolled and crackled the artillery of an +April thunderstorm, and Mr. Caryll, looking out upon Paris in +her shroud of rain, under her pall of thundercloud, felt +himself at harmony with Nature. Over his heart, too, the +gloom of storm was lowering, just as in his heart it was still +little more than April time. + +Behind him, in that chamber furnished in dark oak and leather +of a reign or two ago, sat Sir Richard Everard at a vast +writing-table all a-litter with books and papers; and Sir +Richard watched his adoptive son with fierce, melancholy eyes, +watched him until he grew impatient of this pause. + +"Well?" demanded the old baronet harshly. "Will you undertake +it, Justin, now that the chance has come?" And he added: +"You'll never hesitate if you are the man I have sought to +make you." + +Mr. Caryll turned slowly. "It is because I am the man that +you - that God and you - have made me that I do hesitate." + +His voice was quiet and pleasantly modulated, and he spoke +English with the faintest slur - perceptible, perhaps, only to +the keenest ear - of a French accent. To ears less keen it +would merely seem that he articulated with a precision so +singular as to verge on pedantry. + +The light falling full upon his profile revealed the rather +singular countenance that was his own. It was not in any +remarkable beauty that its distinction lay, for by the canons +of beauty that prevail it was not beautiful. The features +were irregular and inclined to harshness, the nose was too +abruptly arched, the chin too long and square, the complexion +too pallid. Yet a certain dignity haunted that youthful face, +of such a quality as to stamp it upon the memory of the merest +passer-by. The mouth was difficult to read and full of +contradictions; the lips were full and red, and you would +declare them the lips of a sensualist but for the line of +stern, almost grim, determination in which they met; and yet, +somewhere behind that grimness, there appeared to lurk a +haunting whimsicality; a smile seemed ever to impend, but +whether sweet or bitter none could have told until it broke. +The eyes were as remarkable; wide-set and slow-moving, as +becomes the eyes of an observant man, they were of an almost +greenish color, and so level in their ordinary glance as to +seem imbued with an uncanny penetration. His hair - he dared +to wear his own, and clubbed it in a broad ribbon of watered +silk - was almost of the hue of bronze, with here and there a +glint of gold, and as luxuriant as any wig. + +For the rest, he was scarcely above the middle height, of an +almost frail but very graceful slenderness, and very graceful, +too, in all his movements. In dress he was supremely elegant, +with the elegance of France, that in England would be +accounted foppishness. He wore a suit of dark blue cloth, +with white satin linings that were revealed when he moved; it +was heavily laced with gold, and a ramiform pattern broidered +in gold thread ran up the sides of his silk stockings of a +paler blue. Jewels gleamed in the Brussels at his throat, and +there were diamond buckles on his lacquered, red-heeled shoes. + +Sir Richard considered him with anxiety and some chagrin. +"Justin!" he cried, a world of reproach in his voice. "What +can you need to ponder?" + +"Whatever it may be," said Mr. Caryll, "it will be better that +I ponder it now than after I have pledged myself." + +"But what is it? What?" demanded the baronet. + +"I am marvelling, for one thing, that you should have waited +thirty years." + +Sir Richard's fingers stirred the papers before him in an +idle, absent manner. Into his brooding eyes there leapt the +glitter to be seen in the eyes of the fevered of body or of +mind. + +"Vengeance," said he slowly, "is a dish best relished when +'tis eaten cold." He paused an instant; then continued: "I +might have crossed to England at the time, and slain him. +Should that have satisfied me? What is death but peace and +rest?" + +"There is a hell, we are told," Mr. Caryll reminded him. + +"Ay," was the answer, "we are told. But I dursn't risk its +being false where Ostermore is concerned. So I preferred to +wait until I could brew him such a cup of bitterness as no man +ever drank ere he was glad to die." In a quieter, +retrospective voice he continued: "Had we prevailed in the +'15, I might have found a way to punish him that had been +worthy of the crime that calls for it. We did not prevail. +Moreover, I was taken, and transported. + +"What think you, Justin, gave me courage to endure the rigors +of the plantations, cunning and energy to escape after five +such years of it as had assuredly killed a stronger man less +strong of purpose? What but the task that was awaiting me? +It imported that I should live and be free to call a reckoning +in full with my Lord Ostermore before I go to my own account. + +"Opportunity has gone lame upon this journey. But it has +arrived at last. Unless - " He paused, his voice sank from +the high note of exaltation to which it had soared; it became +charged with dread, as did the fierce eyes with which he raked +his companion's face. "Unless you prove false to the duty +that awaits you. And that I'll not believe! You are your +mother's son, Justin." + +"And my father's, too," answered Justin in a thick voice; "and +the Earl of Ostermore is that same father." + +"The more sweetly shall your mother be avenged," cried the +other, and again his eyes blazed with that unhealthy, +fanatical light. "What fitter than the hand of that poor +lady's son to pull your father down in ruins?" He laughed +short and fiercely. "It seldom chances in this world that +justice is done so nicely." + +"You hate him very deeply," said Mr. Caryll pensively, and the +look in his eyes betrayed the trend of his thoughts; they were +of pity -but of pity at the futility of such strong emotions. + +"As deeply as I loved your mother, Justin." The sharp, rugged +features of that seared old face seemed of a sudden +transfigured and softened. The wild eyes lost some of their +glitter in a look of wistfulness, as he pondered a moment the +one sweet memory in a wasted life, a life wrecked over thirty +years ago - wrecked wantonly by that same Ostermore of whom +they spoke, who had been his friend. + +A groan broke from his lips. He took his head in his hands, +and, elbows on the table, he sat very still a moment, +reviewing as in a flash the events of thirty and more years +ago, when he and Viscount Rotherby - as Ostermore was then - +had been young men at the St. Germain's Court of James II. + +It was on an excursion into Normandy that they had met +Mademoiselle de Maligny, the daughter of an impoverished +gentleman of the chetive noblesse of that province. Both had +loved her. She had preferred - as women will - the outward +handsomeness of Viscount Rotherby to the sounder heart and +brain that were Dick Everard's. As bold and dominant as any +ruffler of them all where men and perils were concerned, young +Everard was timid, bashful and without assertiveness with +women. He had withdrawn from the contest ere it was well +lost, leaving an easy victory to his friend. + +And how had that friend used it? Most foully, as you shall +learn. + +Leaving Rotherby in Normandy, Everard had returned to Paris. +The affairs of his king gave him cause to cross at once to +Ireland. For three years he abode there, working secretly in +his master's interest, to little purpose be it confessed. At +the end of that time he returned to Paris. Rotherby was gone. +It appeared that his father, Lord Ostermore, had prevailed +upon Bentinck to use his influence with William on the errant +youth's behalf. Rotherby had been pardoned his loyalty to the +fallen dynasty. A deserter in every sense, he had abandoned +the fortunes of King James - which in Everard's eyes was bad +enough - and he had abandoned the sweet lady he had fetched +out of Normandy six months before his going, of whom it seemed +that in his lordly way he was grown tired. + +From the beginning it would appear they were ill-matched. It +was her beauty had made appeal to him, even as his beauty had +enamoured her. Elementals had brought about their union; and +when these elementals shrank with habit, as elementals will, +they found themselves without a tie of sympathy or common +interest to link them each to the other. She was by nature +blythe; a thing of sunshine, flowers and music, who craved a +very poet for her lover; and by "a poet" I mean not your mere +rhymer. He was downright stolid and stupid under his fine +exterior; the worst type of Briton, without the saving grace +of a Briton's honor. And so she had wearied him, who saw in +her no more than a sweet loveliness that had cloyed him +presently. And when the chance was offered him by Bentinck +and his father, he took it and went his ways, and this sweet +flower that he had plucked from its Normandy garden to adorn +him for a brief summer's day was left to wilt, discarded. + +The tale that greeted Everard on his return from Ireland was +that, broken-hearted, she had died - crushed neath her load of +shame. For it was said that there had been no marriage. + +The rumor of her death had gone abroad, and it had been +carried to England and my Lord Rotherby by a cousin of hers - +the last living Maligny - who crossed the channel to demand of +that stolid gentleman satisfaction for the dishonor put upon +his house. All the satisfaction the poor fellow got was a +foot or so of steel through the lungs, of which he died; and +there, may it have seemed to Rotherby, the matter ended. + +But Everard remained - Everard, who had loved her with a great +and almost sacred love; Everard, who swore black ruin for my +Lord Rotherby - the rumor of which may also have been carried +to his lordship and stimulated his activities in having +Everard hunted down after the Braemar fiasco of 1715. + +But before that came to pass Everard had discovered that the +rumor of her death was false - put about, no doubt, out of +fear of that same cousin who had made himself champion and +avenger of her honor. Everard sought her out, and found her +perishing of want in an attic in the Cour des Miracles some +four months later - eight months after Rotherby's desertion. + +In that sordid, wind-swept chamber of Paris' most abandoned +haunt, a son had been born to Antoinette de Maligny two days +before Everard had come upon her. Both were dying; both had +assuredly died within the week but that he came so timely to +her aid. And that aid he rendered like the noble-hearted +gentleman he was. He had contrived to save his fortune from +the wreck of James' kingship, and this was safely invested in +France, in Holland and elsewhere abroad. With a portion of it +he repurchased the chateau and estates of Maligny, which on +the death of Antoinette's father had been seized upon by +creditors. + +Thither he sent her and her child - Rotherby's child - making +that noble domain a christening-gift to the boy, for whom he +had stood sponsor at the font. And he did his work of love in +the background. He was the god in the machine; no more. No +single opportunity of thanking him did he afford her. He +effaced himself that she might not see the sorrow she +occasioned him, lest it should increase her own. + +For two years she dwelt at Maligny in such peace as the +broken-hearted may know, the little of life that was left her +irradiated by Everard's noble friendship. He wrote to her +from time to time, now from Italy, now from Holland. But he +never came to visit her. A delicacy, which may or may not +have been false, restrained him. And she, respecting what +instinctively she knew to be his feelings, never bade him come +to her. In their letters they never spoke of Rotherby; not +once did his name pass between them; it was as if he had never +lived or never crossed their lives. Meanwhile she weakened +and faded day by day, despite all the care with which she was +surrounded. That winter of cold and want in the Cour des +Miracles had sown its seeds, and Death was sharpening his +scythe against the harvest. + +When the end was come she sent urgently for Everard. He came +at once in answer to her summons; but he came too late. She +died the evening before he arrived. But she had left a +letter, written days before, against the chance of his not +reaching her before the end. That letter, in her fine French +hand, was before him now. + +"I will not try to thank you, dearest friend," she wrote. +"For the thing that you have done, what payment is there in +poor thanks? Oh, Everard, Everard! Had it but pleased God to +have helped me to a wiser choice when it was mine to choose!" +she cried to him from that letter, and poor Everard deemed +that the thin ray of joy her words sent through his anguished +soul was payment more than enough for the little that he had +done. "God's will be done!" she continued. "It is His will. +He knows why it is best so, though we discern it not. But +there is the boy; there is Justin. I bequeath him to you who +already have done so much for him. Love him a little for my +sake; cherish and rear him as your own, and make of him such a +gentleman as are you. His father does not so much as know of +his existence. That, too, is best so, for I would not have +him claim my boy. Never let him learn that Justin exists, +unless it be to punish him by the knowledge for his cruel +desertion of me." + +Choking, the writing blurred by tears that he accounted no +disgrace to his young manhood, Everard had sworn in that hour +that Justin should be as a son to him. He would do her will, +and he set upon it a more definite meaning than she intended. +Rotherby should remain in ignorance of his son's existence +until such season as should make the knowledge a very anguish +to him. He would rear Justin in bitter hatred of the foul +villain who had been his father; and with the boy's help, when +the time should be ripe, he would lay my Lord Rotherby in +ruins. Thus should my lord's sin come to find him out. + +This Everard had sworn, and this he had done. He had told +Justin the story almost as soon as Justin was of an age to +understand it. He had repeated it at very frequent intervals, +and as the lad grew, Everard watched in him - fostering it by +every means in his power - the growth of his execration for +the author of his days, and of his reverence for the sweet, +departed saint that had been his mother. + +For the rest, he had lavished Justin nobly for his mother's +sake. The repurchased estates of Maligny, with their handsome +rent roll, remained Justin's own, administered by Sir Richard +during the lad's minority and vastly enriched by the care of +that administration. He had sent the lad to Oxford, and +afterwards - the more thoroughly to complete his education - +on a two years' tour of Europe; and on his return, a grown and +cultured man, he had attached him to the court in Rome of the +Pretender, whose agent he was himself in Paris. + +He had done his duty by the boy as he understood his duty, +always with that grim purpose of revenge for his horizon. And +the result had been a stranger compound than even Everard +knew, for all that he knew the lad exceedingly well. For he +had scarcely reckoned sufficiently upon Justin's mixed +nationality and the circumstance that in soul and mind he was +entirely his mother's child, with nothing - or an +imperceptible little - of his father. As his mother's nature +had been, so was Justin's - joyous. But Everard's training of +him had suppressed all inborn vivacity. The mirth and +diablerie that were his birthright had been overlaid with +British phlegm, until in their stead, and through the blend, a +certain sardonic humor had developed, an ironical attitude +toward all things whether sacred or profane. This had been +helped on by culture, and - in a still greater measure - by +the odd training in worldliness which he had from Everard. +His illusions were shattered ere he had cut his wisdom teeth, +thanks to the tutelage of Sir Richard, who in giving him the +ugly story of his own existence, taught him the misanthropical +lesson that all men are knaves, all women fools. He +developed, as a consequence, that sardonic outlook upon the +world. He sought to take vos non vobis for his motto, +affected to a spectator in the theatre of Life, with the +obvious result that he became the greatest actor of them all. + +So we find him even now, his main emotion pity for Sir +Richard, who sat silent for some moments, reviewing that +thirty-year dead past, until the tears scalded his old eyes. +The baronet made a queer noise in his throat, something +between a snarl and a sob, and he flung himself suddenly back +in his chair. + +Justin sat down, a becoming gravity in his countenance. "Tell +me all," he begged his adoptive father. "Tell me how matters +stand precisely - how you propose to act." + +"With all my heart," the baronet assented. "Lord Ostermore, +having turned his coat once for profit, is ready now to turn +it again for the same end. From the information that reaches +me from England, it would appear that in the rage of +speculation that has been toward in London, his lordship has +suffered heavily. How heavily I am not prepared to say. But +heavily enough, I dare swear, to have caused this offer to +return to his king; for he looks, no doubt, to sell his +services at a price that will help him mend the wreckage of +his fortunes. A week ago a gentleman who goes between his +majesty's court at Rome and his friends here in Paris brought +me word from his majesty that Ostermore had signified to him +his willingness to rejoin the Stuart cause. + +"Together with that information, this messenger brought me +letters from his majesty to several of his friends, which I +was to send to England by a safe hand at the first +opportunity. Now, amongst these letters - delivered to me +unsealed - is one to my Lord Ostermore, making him certain +advantageous proposals which he is sure to accept if his +circumstances be as crippled as I am given to understand. +Atterbury and his friends, it seems, have already tampered +with my lord's loyalty to Dutch George to some purpose, and +there is little doubt but that this letter" - and he tapped a +document before him - "will do what else is to be done. + +"But, since these letters were left with me, come you with his +majesty's fresh injunctions that I am to suppress them and +cross to England at once myself, to prevail upon Atterbury and +his associates to abandon the undertaking." + +Mr. Caryll nodded. "Because, as I have told you," said he, +"King James in Rome has received positive information that in +London the plot is already suspected, little though Atterbury +may dream it. But what has this to do with my Lord +Ostermore?" + +"This," said Everard slowly, leaning across toward Justin, and +laying a hand upon his sleeve. "I am to counsel the Bishop to +stay his hand against a more favorable opportunity. There is +no reason why you should not do the very opposite with +Ostermore." + +Mr. Caryll knit his brows, his eyes intent upon the other's +face; but he said no word. + +"It is," urged Everard, "an opportunity such as there may +never be another. We destroy Ostermore. By a turn of the +hand we bring him to the gallows." He chuckled over the word +with a joy almost diabolical. + +"But how - how do we destroy him?" quoth Justin, who suspected +yet dared not encourage his suspicions. + +"How? Do you ask how? Is't not plain?" snapped Sir Richard, +and what he avoided putting into words, his eloquent glance +made clear to his companion. + +Mr. Caryll rose a thought quickly, a faint flush stirring in +his cheeks, and he threw off Everard's grasp with a gesture +that was almost of repugnance. "You mean that I am to enmesh +him . . . ." + +Sir Richard smiled grimly. "As his majesty's accredited +agent," he explained. "I will equip you with papers. Word +shall go ahead of you to Ostermore by a safe hand to bid him +look for the coming of a messenger bearing his own family +name. No more than that; nothing that can betray us; yet +enough to whet his lordship's appetite. You shall be the +ambassador to bear him the tempting offers from the king. You +will obtain his answers - accepting. Those you will deliver +to me, and I shall do the trifle that may still be needed to +set the rope about his neck." + +A little while there was silence. Outside, the rain, driven +by gusts, smote the window as with a scourge. The thunder was +grumbling in the distance now. Mr. Caryll resumed his chair. +He sat very thoughtful, but with no emotion showing in his +face. British stolidity was in the ascendant with him then. +He felt that he had the need of it. + +"It is . . . ugly," he said at last slowly. + +"It is God's own will," was the hot answer, and Sir Richard +smote the table. + +"Has God taken you into His confidence?" wondered Mr. Caryll. + +"I know that God is justice." + +"Yet is it not written that `vengeance is His own'?" + +"Aye, but He needs human instruments to execute it. Such +instruments are we. Can you - Oh, can you hesitate?" + +Mr. Caryll clenched his hands hard. "Do it," he answered +through set teeth. "Do it! I shall approve it when 'tis +done. But find other hands for the work, Sir Richard. He is +my father." + +Sir Richard remained cool. "That is the argument I employ for +insisting upon the task being yours," he replied. Then, in a +blaze of passion, he - who had schooled his adoptive son so +ably in self-control - marshalled once more his arguments. +"It is your duty to your mother to forget that he is your +father. Think of him only as the man who wronged your mother; +the man to whom her ruined life, her early death are due - her +murderer and worse. Consider that. Your father, you say!" +He mocked almost. "Your father! In what is he your father? +You have never seen him; he does not know that you exist, that +you ever existed. Is that to be a father? Father, you say! A +word, a name - no more than that; a name that gives rise to a +sentiment, and a sentiment is to stand between you and your +clear duty; a sentiment is to set a protecting shield over the +man who killed your mother! + +"I think I shall despise you, Justin, if you fail me in this. +I have lived for it," he ran on tempestuously. "I have reared +you for it, and you shall not fail me!" + +Then his voice dropped again, and in quieter tones + +"You hate the very name of John Caryll, Earl of Ostermore," +said he, "as must every decent man who knows the truth of what +the life of that satyr holds. If I have suffered you to bear +his name, it is to the end that it should remind you daily +that you have no right to it, that you have no right to any +name." + +When he said that he thrust his finger consciously into a raw +wound. He saw Justin wince, and with pitiless cunning he +continued to prod that tender place until he had aggravated +the smart of it into a very agony. + +"That is what you owe your father; that is the full extent of +what lies between you - that you are of those at whom the +world is given to sneer and point scorn's ready finger." + +"None has ever dared," said Mr. Caryll. + +"Because none has ever known. We have kept the secret well. +You display no coat of arms that no bar sinister may be +displayed. But the time may come when the secret must out. +You might, for instance, think of marrying a lady of quality, +a lady of your own supposed station. What shall you tell her +of yourself? That you have no name to offer her; that the +name you bear is yours by assumption only? Ah! That brings +home your own wrongs to you, Justin! Consider them; have them +ever present in your mind, together with your mother's +blighted life, that you may not shrink when the hour strikes +to punish the evildoer." + +He flung himself back in his chair again, and watched the +younger man with brooding eye. Mr. Caryll was plainly moved. +He had paled a little, and he sat now with brows contracted +and set teeth. + +Sir Richard pushed back his chair and rose, recapitulating. +"He is your mother's destroyer," he said, with a sad +sternness. "Is the ruin of that fair life to go unpunished? +Is it, Justin?" + +Mr. Caryll's Gallic spirit burst abruptly through its British +glaze. He crushed fist into palm, and swore: "No, by God! It +shall not, Sir Richard!" + +Sir Richard held out his hands, and there was a fierce joy in +his gloomy eyes at last. "You'll cross to England with me, +Justin?" + +But Mr. Caryll's soul fell once more into travail. "Wait!" he +cried. "Ah, wait!" His level glance met Sir Richard's in +earnestness and entreaty. "Answer me the truth upon your soul +and conscience: Do you in your heart believe that it is what +my mother would have had me do?" + +There was an instant's pause. Then Everard, the fanatic of +vengeance, the man whose mind upon that one subject was become +unsound with excess of brooding, answered with conviction: "As +I have a soul to be saved, Justin, I do believe it. More - I +know it. Here!" Trembling hands took up the old letter from +the table and proffered it to Justin. "Here is her own +message to you. Read it again." + +And what time the young man's eyes rested upon that fine, +pointed writing, Sir Richard recited aloud the words he knew +by heart, the words that had been ringing in his ears since +that day when he had seen her lowered to rest: "`Never let him +learn that Justin exists unless it be to punish him by the +knowledge for his cruel desertion of me.' It is your mother's +voice speaking to you from the grave," the fanatic pursued, +and so infected Justin at last with something of his +fanaticism. + +The green eyes flashed uncannily, the white young face grew +cruelly sardonic. "You believe it?" he asked, and the +eagerness that now invested his voice showed how it really was +with him. + +"As I have a soul to be saved," Sir Richard repeated. + +"Then gladly will I set my hand to it." Fire stirred through +Justin now, a fire of righteous passion. "An idea - no more +than an idea - daunted me. You have shown me that. I cross +to England with you, Sir Richard, and let my Lord Ostermore +look to himself, for my name - I who have no right to any name +- my name is judgment!" + +The exaltation fell from him as suddenly as it had mounted. +He dropped into a chair, thoughtful again and slightly ashamed +of his sudden outburst. + +Sir Richard Everard watched with an eye of gloomy joy the man +whom he had been at such pains to school in self-control. + +Overhead there was a sudden crackle of thunder, sharp and +staccato as a peal of demoniac laughter. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +AT THE "ADAM AND EVE" + + +Mr. Caryll, alighted from his traveling chaise in the yard of +the "Adam and Eve," at Maidstone, on a sunny afternoon in May. +Landed at Dover the night before, he had parted company with +Sir Richard Everard that morning. His adoptive father had +turned aside toward Rochester, to discharge his king's +business with plotting Bishop Atterbury, what time Justin was +to push on toward town as King James' ambassador to the Earl +of Ostermore, who, advised of his coming, was expecting him. + +Here at Maidstone it was Mr. Caryll's intent to dine, resuming +his journey in the cool of the evening, when he hoped to get +at least as far as Farnborough ere he slept. + +Landlady, chamberlain, ostler and a posse of underlings +hastened to give welcome to so fine a gentleman, and a private +room above-stairs was placed at his disposal. Before +ascending, however, Mr. Caryll sauntered into the bar for a +whetting glass to give him an appetite, and further for the +purpose of bespeaking in detail his dinner with the hostess. +It was one of his traits that he gave the greatest attention +to detail, and held that the man who left the ordering of his +edibles to his servants was no better than an animal who saw +no more than nourishment in food. Nor was the matter one to +be settled summarily; it asked thought and time. So he sipped +his Hock, listening to the landlady's proposals, and amending +them where necessary with suggestions of his own, and what +time he was so engaged, there ambled into the inn yard a +sturdy cob bearing a sturdy little man in snuff-colored +clothes that had seen some wear. + +The newcomer threw his reins to the stable-boy - a person of +all the importance necessary to receive so indifferent a +guest. He got down nimbly from his horse, produced an +enormous handkerchief of many colors, and removed his +three-cornered hat that he might the better mop his brow and +youthful, almost cherubic face. What time he did so, a pair +of bright little blue eyes were very busy with Mr. Caryll's +carriage, from which Leduc, Mr. Caryll's valet, was in the act +of removing a portmantle. His mobile mouth fell into lines of +satisfaction. + +Still mopping himself, he entered the inn, and, guided by the +drone of voices, sauntered into the bar. At sight of Mr. +Caryll leaning there, his little eyes beamed an instant, as do +the eyes of one who espies a friend, or - apter figure - the +eyes of the hunter when they sight the quarry. + +He advanced to the bar, bowing to Mr. Caryll with an air +almost apologetic, and to the landlady with an air scarcely +less so, as he asked for a nipperkin of ale to wash the dust +of the road from his throat. The hostess called a drawer to +serve him, and departed herself upon the momentous business of +Mr. Caryll's dinner. + +"A warm day, sir," said the chubby man. + +Mr. Caryll agreed with him politely, and finished his glass, +the other sipping meanwhile at his ale. + +"A fine brew, sir," said he. "A prodigious fine brew! With +all respect, sir, your honor should try a whet of our English +ale." + +Mr. Caryll, setting down his glass, looked languidly at the +man. "Why do you exclude me, sir, from the nation of this +beverage?" he inquired. + +The chubby man's face expressed astonishment. "Ye're English, +sir! Ecod! I had thought ye French!" + +"It is an honor, sir, that you should have thought me +anything." + +The other abased himself. "'Twas an unwarrantable +presumption, Codso! which I hope your honor'll pardon." Then +he smiled again, his little eyes twinkling humorously. "An ye +would try the ale, I dare swear your honor would forgive me. +I know ale, ecod! I am a brewer myself. Green is my name, +sir - Tom Green - your very obedient servant, sir." And he +drank as if pledging that same service he professed. + +Mr. Caryll observed him calmly and a thought indifferently. +"Ye're determined to honor me," said he. "I am your debtor +for your reflections upon whetting glasses; but ale, sir, is a +beverage I don't affect, nor shall while there are vines in +France." + +"Ah!" sighed Mr. Green rapturously. "'Tis a great country, +France; is it not, sir?" + +"'Tis not the general opinion here at present. But I make no +doubt that it deserves your praise." + +"And Paris, now," persisted Mr. Green. "They tell me 'tis a +great city; a marvel o' th' ages. There be those, ecod! that +say London's but a kennel to't." + +"Be there so?" quoth Mr. Caryll indifferently. + +"Ye don't agree with them, belike?" asked Mr. Green, with +eagerness. + +"Pooh! Men will say anything," Mr. Caryll replied, and added +pointedly: "Men will talk, ye see." + +"Not always," was the retort in a sly tone. "I've known men +to be prodigious short when they had aught to hide." + +"Have ye so? Ye seem to have had a wide experience." And Mr. +Caryll sauntered out, humming a French air through closed +lips. + +Mr. Green looked after him with hardened eyes. He turned to +the drawer who stood by. "He's mighty close," said he. +"Mighty close!" + +"Ye're not perhaps quite the company he cares for," the drawer +suggested candidly. + +Mr. Green looked at him. "Very like," he snapped. "How long +does he stay here?" + +"Ye lost a rare chance of finding out when ye let him go +without inquiring," said the drawer. + +Mr. Green's face lost some of its chubbiness. "When d'ye look +to marry the landlady?" was his next question. + +The man stared. "Cod!" said he. "Marry the - Are ye daft?" + +Mr. Green affected surprise. "I'm mistook, it seems. Ye +misled me by your pertness. Get me another nipperkin." + +Meanwhile Mr. Caryll had taken his way above stairs to the +room set apart for him. He dined to his satisfaction, and +thereafter, his shapely, silk-clad legs thrown over a second +chair, his waistcoat all unbuttoned, for the day was of an +almost midsummer warmth - he sat mightily at his ease, a +decanter of sherry at his elbow, a pipe in one hand and a book +of Mr. Gay's poems in the other. But the ease went no further +than the body, as witnessed the circumstances that his pipe +was cold, the decanter tolerably full, and Mr. Gay's pleasant +rhymes and quaint conceits of fancy all unheeded. The light, +mercurial spirit which he had from nature and his unfortunate +mother, and which he had retained in spite of the stern +training he had received at his adoptive father's hands, was +heavy-fettered now. + +The mild fatigue of his journey through the heat of the day +had led him to look forward to a voluptuous hour of indolence +following upon dinner, with pipe and book and glass. The hour +was come, the elements were there, but since he could not +abandon himself to their dominion the voluptuousness was +wanting. The task before him haunted him with anticipatory +remorse. It hung upon his spirit like a sick man's dream. It +obtruded itself upon his constant thought, and the more he +pondered it the more did he sicken at what lay before him. + +Wrought upon by Everard's fanaticism that day in Paris some +three weeks ago, infected for the time being by something of +his adoptive father's fever, he had set his hands to the task +in a glow of passionate exaltation. But with the hour, the +exaltation went, and reaction started in his soul. And yet +draw back he dared not; too long and sedulously had Everard +trained his spirit to look upon the avenging of his mother as +a duty. Believing that it was his duty, he thirsted on the +one hand to fulfill it, whilst, on the other, he recoiled in +horror at the thought that the man upon whom he was to wreak +that vengeance was his father - albeit a father whom he did +not know, who had never seen him, who was not so much as aware +of his existence. + +He sought forgetfulness in Mr. Gay. He had the +delicate-minded man's inherent taste for verse, a quick ear +for the melody of words, the aesthete's love of beauty in +phrase as of beauty in all else; and culture had quickened his +perceptions, developed his capacity for appreciation. For the +tenth time he called Leduc to light his pipe; and, that done, +he set his eye to the page once more. But it was like +harnessing a bullock to a cart; unmindful of the way it went +and over what it travelled, his eye ambled heavily along the +lines, and when he came to turn the page he realized with a +start that he had no impression of what he had read upon it. + +In sheer disgust he tossed the book aside, and kicking away +the second chair, rose lythely. He crossed to the window, and +stood there gazing out at nothing, nor conscious of the +incense that came to him from garden, from orchard, and from +meadow. + +It needed a clatter of hoofs and a cloud of dust approaching +from the north to draw his mind from its obsessing thoughts. +He watched the yellow body of the coach as it came furiously +onward, its four horses stretched to the gallop, postillion +lusty of lungs and whip, and the great trail of dust left +behind it spreading to right and left over the flowering +hedge-rows to lose itself above the gold-flecked meadowland. +On it came, to draw up there, at the very entrance to +Maidstone, at the sign of the "Adam and Eve." + +Mr. Caryll, leaning on the sill of his window, looked down +with interest to see what manner of travellers were these that +went at so red-hot a pace. From the rumble a lackey swung +himself to the rough cobbles of the yard. From within the inn +came again landlady and chamberlain, and from the stable +ostler and boy, obsequious all and of no interest to Mr. +Caryll. + +Then the door of the coach was opened, the steps were let +down, and there emerged - his hand upon the shoulder of the +servant - a very ferret of a man in black, with a parson's +bands and neckcloth, a coal-black full-bottomed wig, and under +this a white face, rather drawn and haggard, and thin lips +perpetually agrin to flaunt two rows of yellow teeth +disproportionately large. After him, and the more remarkable +by contrast, came a tall, black-faced fellow, very brave in +buff-colored cloth, with a fortune in lace at wrist and +throat, and a heavily powdered tie-wig. + +Lackey, chamberlain and parson attended his alighting, and +then he joined their ranks to attend in his turn - hat under +arm - the last of these odd travellers. + +The interest grew. Mr. Caryll felt that the climax was about +to be presented, and he leaned farther forward that he might +obtain a better view of the awaited personage. In the silence +he caught a rustle of silk. A flowered petticoat appeared - +as much of it as may be seen from the knee downwards - and +from beneath this the daintiest foot conceivable was seen to +grope an instant for the step. Another second and the rest of +her emerged. + +Mr. Caryll observed - and be it known that he had the very +shrewdest eye for a woman, as became one of the race from +which on his mother's side he sprang - that she was middling +tall, chastely slender, having, as he judged from her high +waist, a fine, clean length of limb. All this he observed and +approved, and prayed for a glimpse of the face which her +silken hood obscured and screened from his desiring gaze. She +raised it at that moment - raised it in a timid, frightened +fashion, as one who looks fearfully about to see that she is +not remarked - and Mr. Caryll had a glimpse of an oval face, +pale with a warm pallor - like the pallor of the peach, he +thought, and touched, like the peach, with a faint hint of +pink in either cheek. A pair of eyes, large, brown, and +gentle as a saint's, met his, and Mr. Caryll realized that she +was beautiful and that it might be good to look into those +eyes at closer quarters. + +Seeing him, a faint exclamation escaped her, and she turned +away in sudden haste to enter the inn. The fine gentleman +looked up and scowled; the parson looked up and trembled; the +ostler and his boy looked up and grinned. Then all swept +forward and were screened by the porch from the wondering eyes +of Mr. Caryll. + +He turned from the window with a sigh, and stepped back to the +table for the tinder-box, that for the eleventh time he might +relight his pipe. He sat down, blew a cloud of smoke to the +ceiling, and considered. His nature triumphed now over his +recent preoccupation; the matter of the moment, which +concerned him not at all, engrossed him beyond any other +matter of his life. He was intrigued to know in what relation +one to the other stood the three so oddly assorted travellers +he had seen arrive. He bethought him that, after all, the odd +assortment arose from the presence of the parson; and he +wondered what the plague should any Christian - and seemingly +a gentleman at that - be doing travelling with a parson. Then +there was the wild speed at which they had come. + +The matter absorbed and vexed him. I fear he was inquisitive +by nature. There came a moment when he went so far as to +consider making his way below to pursue his investigations in +situ. It would have been at great cost to his dignity, and +this he was destined to be spared. + +A knock fell upon his door, and the landlady came in. She was +genial, buxom and apple-faced, as becomes a landlady. + +"There is a gentleman below - " she was beginning, when Mr. +Caryll interrupted her. + +"I would rather that you told me of the lady," said + +"La, sir!" she cried, displaying ivory teeth, her eyes cast +upwards, hands upraised in gentle, mirthful protest. "La, +sir! But I come from the lady, too." + +He looked at her. "A good ambassador," said he, "should begin +with the best news; not add it as an afterthought. But +proceed, I beg. You give me hope, mistress." + +"They send their compliments, and would be prodigiously +obliged if you was to give yourself the trouble of stepping +below." + +"Of stepping below?" he inquired, head on one side, solemn +eyes upon the hostess. "Would it be impertinent to inquire +what they may want with me?" + +"I think they want you for a witness, sir." + +"For a witness? Am I to testify to the lady's perfection of +face and shape, to the heaven that sits in her eyes, to the +miracle she calls her ankle? Are these and other things +besides of the same kind what I am required to witness? If +so, they could not have sent for one more qualified. I am an +expert, ma'am." + +"Oh, sir, nay!" she laughed. "'Tis a marriage they need you +for." + +Mr. Caryll opened his queer eyes a little wider. "Soho!" said +he. "The parson is explained." Then he fell thoughtful, his +tone lost its note of flippancy. "This gentleman who sends +his compliments, does he send his name?" + +"He does not, sir; but I overheard it." + +"Confide in me," Mr. Caryll invited her. + +"He is a great gentleman," she prepared him. + +"No matter. I love great gentlemen." + +"They call him Lord Rotherby." + +At that sudden and utterly unexpected mention of his +half-brother's name - his unknown half-brother - Mr. Caryll +came to his feet with an alacrity which a more shrewd observer +would have set down to some cause other than mere respect for +a viscount. The hostess was shrewd, but not shrewd enough, +and if Mr. Caryll's expression changed for an instant, it +resumed its habitual half-scornful calm so swiftly that it +would have needed eyes of an exceptional quickness to have +read it. + +"Enough!" he said. "Who could deny his lordship?" + +"Shall I tell them you are coming?" she inquired, her hand +already upon the door. + +"A moment," he begged, detaining her. "'Tis a runaway +marriage this, eh?" + +Her full-hearted smile beamed on him again; she was a very +woman, with a taste for the romantic, loving love. "What +else, sir?" she laughed. + +"And why, mistress," he inquired, eying her, his fingers +plucking at his nether lip, "do they desire my testimony?" + +"His lordship's own man will stand witness, for one; but +they'll need another," she explained, her voice reflecting +astonishment at his question. + +"True. But why do they need me?" he pressed her. "Heard you +no reason given why they should prefer me to your chamberlain, +your ostler or your drawer?" + +She knit her brows and shrugged impatient shoulders. Here was +a deal of pother about a trifling affair. "His lordship saw +you as he entered, sir, and inquired of me who you might be." + +"His lordship flatters me by this interest. My looks pleased +him, let us hope. And you answered him - what?" + +"That your honor is a gentleman newly crossed from France." + +"You are well-informed, mistress," said Mr. Caryll, a thought +tartly, for if his speech was tainted with a French accent it +was in so slight a degree as surely to be imperceptible to the +vulgar. + +"Your clothes, sir," the landlady explained, and he bethought +him, then, that the greater elegance and refinement of his +French apparel must indeed proclaim his origin to one who had +so many occasions of seeing travelers from Gaul. That might +even account for Mr. Green's attempts to talk to him of +France. His mind returned to the matter of the bridal pair +below. + +"You told him that, eh?" said he. "And what said his lordship +then?" + +"He turned to the parson. `The very man for us, Jenkins,' +says he." + +"And the parson - this Jenkins - what answer did he make?" + +"`Excellently thought,' he says, grinning." + +"Hum! And you yourself, mistress, what inference did you +draw?" + +"Inference, sir?" + +"Aye, inference, ma'am. Did you not gather that this was not +only a runaway match, but a clandestine one? My lord can +depend upon the discretion of his servant, no doubt; for other +witness he would prefer some passer-by, some stranger who will +go his ways to-morrow, and not be like to be heard of again." + +"Lard, sir!" cried the landlady, her eyes wide with +astonishment. + +Mr. Caryll smiled enigmatically. "'Tis so, I assure ye, +ma'am. My Lord Rotherby is of a family singularly cautious in +the unions it contracts. In entering matrimony he prefers, no +doubt, to leave a back door open for quiet retreat should he +repent him later." + +"Your honor has his lordship's acquaintance, then?" quoth the +landlady. + +"It is a misfortune from which Heaven has hitherto preserved +me, but which the devil, it seems, now thrusts upon me. It +will, nevertheless, interest me to see him at close quarters. +Come, ma'am." + +As they were going out, Mr. Caryll checked suddenly. "Why, +what's o'clock?" said he. + +She stared, so abruptly came the question. "Past four, sir," +she answered. + +He uttered a short laugh. "Decidedly," said he, "his lordship +must be viewed at closer quarters." And he led the way +downstairs. + +In the passage he waited for her to come up with him. "You +had best announce me by name," he suggested. "It is Caryll." + +She nodded, and, going forward, threw open a door, inviting +him to enter. + +"Mr. Caryll," she announced, obedient to his injunction, and +as he went in she closed the door behind him. + +From the group of three that had been sitting about the +polished walnut table, the tall gentleman in buff and silver +rose swiftly, and advanced to the newcomer; what time Mr. +Caryll made a rapid observation of this brother whom he was +meeting under circumstances so odd and by a chance so +peculiar. + +He beheld a man of twenty-five, or perhaps a little more, tall +and well made, if already inclining to heaviness, with a +swarthy face, full-lipped, big-nosed, black-eyed, an obstinate +chin, and a deplorable brow. At sight, by instinct, he +disliked his brother. He wondered vaguely was Lord Rotherby +in appearance at all like their common father; but beyond that +he gave little thought to the tie that bound them. Indeed, he +has placed it upon record that, saving in such moments of high +stress as followed in their later connection, he never could +remember that they were the sons of the same parent. + +"I thought," was Rotherby's greeting, a note almost of +irritation in his voice, "that the woman said you were from +France." + +It was an odd welcome, but its oddness at the moment went +unheeded. His swift scrutiny of his brother over, Mr. +Caryll's glance passed on to become riveted upon the face of +the lady at the table's head. In addition to the beauties +which from above he had descried, he now perceived that her +mouth was sensitive and kindly, her whole expression one of +gentle wistfulness, exceeding sweet to contemplate. What did +she in this galley, he wondered; and he has confessed that +just as at sight he had disliked his brother, so from that +hour - from the very instant of his eyes' alighting on her +there - he loved the lady whom his brother was to wed, felt a +surpassing need of her, conceived that in the meeting of their +eyes their very souls had met, so that it was to him as if he +had known her since he had known anything. Meanwhile there +was his lordship's question to be answered. He answered it +mechanically, his eyes upon the lady, and she returning the +gaze of those queer, greenish eyes with a sweetness that gave +place to no confusion. + +"I am from France, sir." + +"But not French?" his lordship continued. + +Mr. Caryll fetched his eyes from the lady's to meet Lord +Rotherby's. "More than half French," he replied, the French +taint in his accent growing slightly more pronounced. "It was +but an accident that my father was an Englishman." + +Rotherby laughed softly, a thought contemptuously. Foreigners +were things which in his untraveled, unlettered ignorance he +despised. The difference between a Frenchman and a South Sea +Islander was a thing never quite appreciated by his lordship. +Some subtle difference he had no doubt existed; but for him it +was enough to know that both were foreigners; therefore, it +logically followed, both were kin. + +"Your words, sir, might be oddly interpreted. 'Pon honor, +they might!" said he, and laughed softly again with singular +insolence. + +"If they have amused your lordship I am happy," said Mr. +Caryll in such a tone that Rotherby looked to see whether he +was being roasted. "You wanted me, I think. I beg that +you'll not thank me for having descended. It was an honor." + +It occurred to Rotherby that this was a veiled reproof for the +ill manners of the omission. Again he looked sharply at this +man who was scanning him with such interest, but he detected +in the calm, high-bred face nothing to suggest that any +mockery was intended. Belatedly he fell to doing the very +thing that Mr. Caryll had begged him to leave undone: he fell +to thanking him. As for Mr. Caryll himself, not even the +queer position into which he had been thrust could repress his +characteristics. What time his lordship thanked him, he +looked about him at the other occupants of the room, and found +that, besides the parson, sitting pale and wide-eyed at the +table, there was present in the background his lordship's man +- a quiet fellow, quietly garbed in gray, with a shrewd face +and shrewd, shifty eyes. Mr. Caryll saw, and registered, for +future use, the reflection that eyes that are overshrewd are +seldom wont to look out of honest heads. + +"You are desired," his lordship informed him, "to be witness +to a marriage." + +"So much the landlady had made known to me." + +"It is not, I trust, a task that will occasion you any +scruples." + +"None. On the contrary, it is the absence of the marriage +might do that." The smooth, easy tone so masked the inner +meaning of the answer that his lordship scarce attended to the +words. + +"Then we had best get on. We are in haste." + +"'Tis the characteristic rashness of folk about to enter +wedlock," said Mr. Caryll, as he approached the table with his +lordship, his eyes as he spoke turning full upon the bride. + +My lord laughed, musically enough, but overloud for a man of +brains or breeding. "Marry in haste, eh?" quoth he. + +"You are penetration itself," Mr. Caryll praised him. + +"'Twill take a shrewd rogue to better me," his lordship +agreed. + +"Yet an honest man might worst you. One never knows. But the +lady's patience is being taxed." + +It was as well he added that, for his lordship had turned with +intent to ask him what he meant. + +"Aye! Come, Jenkins. Get on with your patter. Gaskell," he +called to his man, "stand forward here." Then he took his +place beside the lady, who had risen, and stood pale, with +eyes cast down and - as Mr. Caryll alone saw - the faintest +quiver at the corners of her lips. This served to increase +Mr. Caryll's already considerable cogitations. + +The parson faced them, fumbling at his book, Mr. Caryll's eyes +watching him with that cold, level glance of theirs. The +parson looked up, met that uncanny gaze, displayed his teeth +in a grin of terror, fell to trembling, and dropped the book +in his confusion. Mr. Caryll, smiling sardonically, stooped +to restore it him. + +There followed a fresh pause. Mr. Jenkins, having lost his +place, seemed at some pains to find it again - amazing, +indeed, in one whose profession should have rendered him so +familiar with its pages. + +Mr. Caryll continued to watch him, in silence, and - as an +observer might have thought, as, indeed, Gaskell did think, +though he said nothing at the time - with wicked relish. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE WITNESS + + +At last the page was found again by Mr. Jenkins. Having found +it, he hesitated still a moment, then cleared his throat, and +in the manner of one hurling himself forward upon a desperate +venture, he began to read. + +"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of God," +he read, and on in a nasal, whining voice, which not only was +the very voice you would have expected from such a man, but in +accordance, too, with sound clerical convention. The bridal +pair stood before him, the groom with a slight flush on his +cheeks and a bright glitter in his black eyes, which were not +nice to see; the bride with bowed head and bosom heaving as in +response to inward tumult. + +The cleric came to the end of his exordium, paused a moment, +and whether because he gathered confidence, whether because he +realized the impressive character of the fresh matter upon +which he entered, he proceeded now in a firmer, more sonorous +voice: "I require and charge you both as ye will answer on the +dreadful day of judgment." + +"Ye've forgot something," Mr. Caryll interrupted blandly. + +His lordship swung round with an impatient gesture and an +impatient snort; the lady, too, looked up suddenly, whilst Mr. +Jenkins seemed to fall into an utter panic. + +"Wha - what?" he stammered. "What have I forgot?" + +"To read the directions, I think." + +His lordship scowled darkly upon Mr. Caryll, who heeded him +not at all, but watched the lady sideways. + +Mr. Jenkins turned first scarlet, then paler than he had been +before, and bent his eyes to the book to read in a slightly +puzzled voice the italicized words above the period he had +embarked upon. "And also speaking unto the persons that shall +be married, he shall say:" he read, and looked up inquiry, his +faintly-colored, prominent eyes endeavoring to sustain Mr. +Caryll's steady glance, but failing miserably. + +"'Tis farther back," Mr. Caryll informed him in answer to that +mute question; and as the fellow moistened his thumb to turn +back the pages, Mr. Caryll saved him the trouble. "It says, I +think, that the man should be on your right hand and the woman +on your left. Ye seem to have reversed matters, Mr. Jenkins. +But perhaps ye're left-handed." + +"Stab me!" was Mr. Jenkins' most uncanonical comment. "I vow +I am over-flustered. Your lordship is so impatient with me. +This gentleman is right. But that I was so flustered. Will +you not change places with his lordship, ma'am?" + +They changed places, after the viscount had thanked Mr. Caryll +shortly and cursed the parson with circumstance and fervor. +It was well done on his lordship's part, but the lady did not +seem convinced by it. Her face looked whiter, and her eyes +had an alarmed, half-suspicious expression. + +"We must begin again," said Mr. Jenkins. And he began again. + +Mr. Caryll listened and watched, and he began to enjoy himself +exceedingly. He had not reckoned upon so rich an +entertainment when he had consented to come down to witness +this odd ceremony. His sense of humor conquered every other +consideration, and the circumstance that Lord Rotherby was his +brother, if remembered at all, served but to add a spice to +the situation. + +Out of sheer deviltry he waited until Mr. Jenkins had labored +for a second time through the opening periods. Again he +allowed him to get as far as "I charge and require you both +-," before again he interrupted him. + +"There is something else ye've forgot," said he in that sweet, +quiet voice of his. + +This was too much for Rotherby. "Damn you!" he swore, turning +a livid face upon Mr. Caryll, and failed to observe that at +the sound of that harsh oath and at the sight of his furious +face, the lady recoiled from him, the suspicion lately in her +face turning first to conviction and then to absolute horror. + +"I do not think you are civil," said Mr. Caryll critically. +"It was in your interests that I spoke." + +"Then I'll thank you, in my interests, to hold your tongue!" +his lordship stormed. + +"In that case," said Mr. Caryll, "I must still speak in the +interests of the lady. Since you've desired me to be a +witness, I'll do my duty by you both and see you properly +wed." + +"Now, what the devil may you mean by that?" demanded his +lordship, betraying himself more and more at every word. + +Mr. Jenkins, in a spasm of terror, sought to pour oil upon +these waters. "My lord," he bleated, teeth and eyeballs +protruding from his pallid face. "My lord! Perhaps the +gentleman is right. Perhaps - Perhaps - " He gulped, and +turned to Mr. Caryll. "What is't ye think we have forgot +now?" he asked. + +"The time of day," Mr. Caryll replied, and watched the puzzled +look that came into both their faces. + +"Do ye deal in riddles with us?" quoth his lordship. "What +have we to do with the time of day?" + +"Best ask the parson," suggested Mr. Caryll. + +Rotherby swung round again to Jenkins. Jenkins spread his +hands in mute bewilderment and distress. Mr. Caryll laughed +silently. + +"I'll not be married! I'll not be married!" + +It was the lady who spoke, and those odd words were the first +that Mr. Caryll heard from her lips. They made an excellent +impression upon him, bearing witness to her good sense and +judgment - although belatedly aroused - and informing him, +although the pitch was strained just now; that the rich +contralto of her voice was full of music. He was a judge of +voices, as of much else besides. + +"Hoity-toity!" quoth his lordship, between petulance and +simulated amusement. "What's all the pother? Hortensia, dear +- " + +"I'll not be married!" she repeated firmly, her wide brown +eyes meeting his in absolute defiance, head thrown back, face +pale but fearless. + +"I don't believe," ventured Mr. Caryll, "that you could be if +you desired it. Leastways not here and now and by this." And +he jerked a contemptuous thumb sideways at Mr. Jenkins, toward +whom he had turned his shoulder. "Perhaps you have realized +it for yourself." + +A shudder ran through her; color flooded into her face and out +again, leaving it paler than before; yet she maintained a +brave front that moved Mr. Caryll profoundly to an even +greater admiration of her. + +Rotherby, his great jaw set, his hands clenched and eyes +blazing, stood irresolute between her and Mr. Caryll. +Jenkins, in sheer terror, now sank limply to a chair, whilst +Gaskell looked on - a perfect servant - as immovable outwardly +and unconcerned as if he had been a piece of furniture. Then +his lordship turned again to Caryll. + +"You take a deal upon yourself, sir," said he menacingly. + +"A deal of what?" wondered Mr. Caryll blandly. + +The question nonplussed Rotherby. He swore ferociously. "By +God!" he fumed, "I'll have you make good your insinuations. +You shall disabuse this lady's mind. You shall - damn you! - +or I'll compel you!" + +Mr. Caryll smiled very engagingly. The matter was speeding +excellently - a comedy the like of which he did not remember +to have played a part in since his student days at Oxford, ten +years and more ago. + +"I had thought," said he, "that the woman who summoned me to +be a witness of this - this - ah wedding" - there was a whole +volume of criticism in his utterance of the word - "was the +landlady of the `Adam and Eve.' I begin to think that she was +this lady's good angel; Fate, clothed, for once, matronly and +benign." Then he dropped the easy, bantering manner with a +suddenness that was startling. Gallic fire blazed up through +British training. "Let us speak plainly, my Lord Rotherby. +This marriage is no marriage. It is a mockery and a villainy. +And that scoundrel - worthy servant of his master - is no +parson; no, not so much as a hedge-parson is he. Madame," he +proceeded, turning now to the frightened lady, "you have been +grossly abused by these villains." + +"Sir!" blazed Rotherby at last, breaking in upon his +denunciation, hand clapped to sword. "Do ye dare use such +words to me?" + +Mr. Jenkins got to his feet, in a slow, foolish fashion. He +put out a hand to stay his lordship. The lady, in the +background, looked on with wide eyes, very breathless, one +hand to her bosom as if to control its heave. + +Mr. Caryll proceeded, undismayed, to make good his accusation. +He had dropped back into his slightly listless air of thinly +veiled persiflage, and he appeared to address the lady, to +explain the situation to her, rather than to justify the +charge he had made. + +"A blind man could have perceived, from the rustling of his +prayer book when he fumbled at it, that the contents were +strange to him. And observe the volume," he continued, +picking it up and flaunting it aloft. "Fire-new; not a +thumbmark anywhere; purchased expressly for this foul venture. +Is there aught else so clean and fresh about the scurvy +thief?" + +"You shall moderate your tones, sir - " began his lordship in +a snarl. + +"He sets you each on the wrong side of him," continued Mr. +Caryll, all imperturbable, "lacking even the sense to read the +directions which the book contains, and he has no thought for +the circumstance that the time of day is uncanonical. Is more +needed, madame?" + +"So much was not needed," said she, "though I am your debtor, +sir." + +Her voice was marvelously steady, ice-cold with scorn, a royal +anger increasing the glory of her eyes. + +Rotherby's hand fell away from his sword. He realized that +bluster was not the most convenient weapon here. He addressed +Mr. Caryll very haughtily. "You are from France, sir, and +something may be excused you. But not quite all. You have +used expressions that are not to be offered to a person of my +quality. I fear you scarcely apprehend it." + +"As well, no doubt, as those who avoid you, sir," answered Mr. +Caryll, with cool contempt, his dislike of the man and of the +business in which he had found him engaged mounting above +every other consideration. + +His lordship frowned inquiry. "And who may those be?" + +"Most decent folk, I should conceive, if this be an example of +your ways." + +"By God, sir! You are a thought too pert. We'll mend that +presently. I will first convince you of your error, and you, +Hortensia." + +"It will be interesting," said Mr. Caryll, and meant it. + +Rotherby turned from him, keeping a tight rein upon his anger; +and so much restraint in so tempestuous a man was little short +of wonderful. "Hortensia," he said, "this is fool's talk. +What object could I seek to serve?" She drew back another +step, contempt and loathing in her face. "This man," he +continued, flinging a hand toward Jenkins, and checked upon +the word. He swung round upon the fellow. "Have you fooled +me, knave?" he bawled. "Is it true what this man says of you +- that ye're no parson at all?" + +Jenkins quailed and shriveled. Here was a move for which he +was all unprepared, and knew not how to play to it. On the +bridegroom's part it was excellently acted; yet it came too +late to be convincing. + +"You'll have the license in your pocket, no doubt, my lord," +put in Mr. Caryll. "It will help to convince the lady of the +honesty of your intentions. It will show her that ye were +abused by this thief for the sake of the guinea ye were to pay +him." + +That was checkmate, and Lord Rotherby realized it. There +remained him nothing but violence, and in violence he was +exceedingly at home - being a member of the Hell Fire Club and +having served in the Bold Bucks under his Grace of Wharton. + +"You damned, infernal marplot! You blasted meddler!" he +swore, and some other things besides, froth on his lips, the +veins of his brow congested. "What affair was this of yours?" + +"I thought you desired me for a witness," Mr. Caryll reminded +him. + +"I did, let me perish!" said Rotherby. "And I wish to the +devil I had bit my tongue out first." + +"The loss to eloquence had been irreparable," sighed Mr. +Caryll, his eyes upon a beam of the ceiling. + +Rotherby stared and choked. "Is there no sense in you, you +gibbering parrot?" he inquired. "What are you - an actor or a +fool?" + +"A gentleman, I hope," said Mr. Caryll urbanely. "What are +you?" + +"I'll learn you," said his lordship, and plucked at his sword. + +"I see," said Mr. Caryll in the same quiet voice that thinly +veiled his inward laughter - "a bully!" + +With more oaths, my lord heaved himself forward. Mr. Caryll +was without weapons. He had left his sword above-stairs, not +deeming that he would be needing it at a wedding. He never +moved hand or foot as Rotherby bore down upon him, but his +greenish eyes grew keen and very watchful. He began to wonder +had he indulged his amusement overlong, and imperceptibly he +adjusted his balance for a spring. + +Rotherby stretched out to lunge, murder in his inflamed eyes. +"I'll silence you, you - " + +There was a swift rustle behind him. His hand - drawn back to +thrust - was suddenly caught, and ere he realized it the sword +was wrenched from fingers that held it lightly, unprepared for +this. + +"You dog!" said the lady's voice, strident now with anger and +disdain. She had his sword. + +He faced about with a horrible oath. Mr. Caryll conceived +that he was becoming a thought disgusting. + +Hoofs and wheels ground on the cobbles of the yard and came to +a halt outside, but went unheeded in the excitement of the +moment. Rotherby stood facing her, she facing him, the sword +in her hand and a look in her eyes that promised she would use +it upon him did he urge her. + +A moment thus - of utter, breathless silence. Then, as if her +passion mounted and swept all aside, she raised the sword, and +using it as a whip, she lashed him with it until at the third +blow it rebounded to the table and was snapped. Instinctively +his lordship had put up his hands to save his face, and across +one of them a red line grew and grew and oozed forth blood +which spread to envelop it. + +Gaskell advanced with a sharp cry of concern. But Rotherby +waved him back, and the gesture shook blood from his hand like +raindrops. His face was livid; his eyes were upon the woman +he had gone so near betraying with a look that none might +read. Jenkins swayed, sickly, against the table, whilst Mr. +Caryll observed all with a critical eye and came to the +conclusion that she must have loved this villain. + +The hilt and stump of sword clattered in the fireplace, +whither she hurled it. A moment she caught her face in her +hands, and a sob shook her almost fiercely. Then she came +past his lordship, across the room to Mr. Caryll, Rotherby +making no shift to detain her. + +"Take me away, sir! Take me away," she begged him. + +Mr. Caryll's gloomy face lightened suddenly. "Your servant, +ma'am," said he, and made her a bow. "I think you are very +well advised," he added cheerfully and offered her his arm. +She took it, and moved a step or two toward the door. It +opened at that moment, and a burly, elderly man came in +heavily. + +The lady halted, a cry escaped her - a cry of pain almost - +and she fell to weeping there and then. Mr. Caryll was very +mystified. + +The newcomer paused at the sight that met him, considered it +with a dull blue eye, and, for all that he looked stupid, it +seemed he had wit enough to take in the situation. + +"So!" said he, with heavy mockery. "I might have spared +myself the trouble of coming after you. For it seems that she +has found you out in time, you villain!" + +Rotherby turned sharply at that voice. He fell back a step, +his brow seeming to grow blacker than it had been. "Father!" +he exclaimed; but there was little that was filial in the +accent. + +Mr. Caryll staggered and recovered himself. It had been +indeed a staggering shock; for here, of course, was his own +father, too. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +Mr. GREEN + + +There was a quick patter of feet, the rustle of a hooped +petticoat, and the lady was in the arms of my Lord Ostermore. + +"Forgive me, my lord!" she was crying. "Oh, forgive me! I +was a little fool, and I have been punished enough already!" + +To Mr. Caryll this was a surprising development. The earl, +whose arms seemed to have opened readily enough to receive +her, was patting her soothingly upon the shoulder. "Pish! +What's this? What's this?" he grumbled; yet his voice, Mr. +Caryll noticed, was if anything kindly; but it must be +confessed that it was a dull, gruff voice, seldom indicating +any shade of emotion, unless - as sometimes happened - it was +raised in anger. He was frowning now upon his son over the +girl's head, his bushy, grizzled brows contracted. + +Mr. Caryll observed - and with what interest you should well +imagine - that Lord Ostermore was still in a general way a +handsome man. Of a good height, but slightly excessive bulk, +he had a face that still retained a fair shape. Short-necked, +florid and plethoric, he had the air of the man who seldom +makes a long illness at the end. His eyes were very blue, and +the lids were puffed and heavy, whilst the mouth, Mr. Caryll +remarked in a critical, detached spirit, was stupid rather +than sensuous. He made his survey swiftly, and the result +left him wondering. + +Meanwhile the earl was addressing his son, whose hand was +being bandaged by Gaskell. There was little variety in his +invective. "You villain!" he bawled at him. "You damned +villain!" Then he patted the girl's head. "You found the +scoundrel out before you married him," said he. "I am glad +on't; glad on't!" + +"'Tis such a reversing of the usual order of things that it +calls for wonder," said Mr. Caryll. + +"Eh?" quoth his lordship. "Who the devil are you? One of his +friends?" + +"Your lordship overwhelms me," said Mr. Caryll gravely, making +a bow. He observed the bewilderment in Ostermore's eyes, and +began to realize at that early stage of their acquaintance +that to speak ironically to the Earl of Ostermore was not to +speak at all. + +It was Hortensia - a very tearful Hortensia now who explained. +"This gentleman saved me, my lord," she said. + +"Saved you?" quoth he dully. "How did he come to save you?" + +"He discovered the parson," she explained. + +The earl looked more and more bewildered. "Just so," said Mr. +Caryll. "It was my privilege to discover that the parson is +no parson." + +"The parson is no parson?" echoed his lordship, scowling more +and more. "Then what the devil is the parson?" + +Hortensia freed herself from his protecting arms. "He is a +villain," she said, "who was hired by my Lord Rotherby to come +here and pretend to be a parson." Her eyes flamed, her cheeks +were scarlet. "God help me for a fool, my lord, to have put +my faith in that man! Oh!" she choked. "The shame - the +burning shame of it! I would I had a brother to punish him!" + +Lord Ostermore was crimson, too, with indignation. Mr. Caryll +was relieved to see that he was capable of so much emotion. +"Did I not warn you against him, Hortensia?" said he. "Could +you not have trusted that I knew him - I, his father, to my +everlasting shame?" Then he swung upon Rotherby. "You dog!" +he began, and there - being a man of little invention - words +failed him, and wrath alone remained, very intense, but +entirely inarticulate. + +Rotherby moved forward till he reached the table, then stood +leaning upon it, scowling at the company from under his black +brows. "'Tis your lordship alone is to blame for this," he +informed his father, with a vain pretence at composure. + +"I am to blame!" gurgled his lordship, veins swelling at his +brow. "I am to blame that you should have carried her off +thus? And - by God! - had you meant to marry her honestly and +fittingly, I might find it in my heart to forgive you. But to +practice such villainy! To attempt to put this foul trick +upon the child!" + +Mr. Caryll thought for an instant of another child whose child +he was, and a passion of angry mockery at the forgetfulness of +age welled up from the bitter soul of him. Outwardly he +remained a very mirror for placidity. + +"Your lordship had threatened to disinherit me if I married +her," said Rotherby. + +"'Twas to save her from you," Ostermore explained, entirely +unnecessarily. "And you thought to - to - By God! sir, I +marvel you have the courage to confront me. I marvel!" + +"Take me away, my lord," Hortensia begged him, touching his +arm. + +"Aye, we were best away," said the earl, drawing her to him. +Then he flung a hand out at Rotherby in a gesture of +repudiation, of anathema. "But 'tis not the end on't for you, +you knave! What I threatened, I will perform. I'll +disinherit you. Not a penny of mine shall come to you. Ye +shall starve for aught I care; starve, and - and - the world +be well rid of a villain. I - I disown you. Ye're no son of +mine. I'll take oath ye're no son of mine!" + +Mr. Caryll thought that, on the contrary, Rotherby was very +much his father's son, and he added to his observations upon +human nature the reflection that sinners are oddly blessed +with short memories. He was entirely dispassionate again by +now. + +As for Rotherby, he received his father's anger with a +scornful smile and a curling lip. "You'll disinherit me?" +quoth he in mockery. "And of what, pray? If report speaks +true, you'll be needing to inherit something yourself to bear +you through your present straitness." He shrugged and +produced his snuff-box with an offensive simulation of +nonchalance. "Ye cannot cut the entail," he reminded his +almost apoplectic sire, and took snuff delicately, sauntering +windowwards. + +"Cut the entail? The entail?" cried the earl, and laughed in +a manner that seemed to bode no good. "Have you ever troubled +to ascertain what it amounts to? You fool, it wouldn't keep +you in - in - in snuff!" + +Lord Rotherby halted in his stride, half-turned and looked at +his father over his shoulder. The sneering mask was wiped +from his face, which became blank. "My lord - " he began. + +The earl waved a silencing hand, and turned with dignity to +Hortensia. + +"Come, child," said he. Then he remembered something. "Gad!" +he exclaimed. "I had forgot the parson. I'll have him +gaoled! I'll have him hanged if the law will help me. Come +forth, man!" + +Ignoring the invitation, Mr. Jenkins scuttled, ratlike, across +the room, mounted the window-seat, and was gone in a flash +through the open window. He dropped plump upon Mr. Green, who +was crouching underneath. The pair rolled over together in +the mould of a flowerbed; then Mr. Green clutched Mr. Jenkins, +and Mr. Jenkins squealed like a trapped rabbit. Mr. Green +thrust his fist carefully into the mockparson's mouth. + +"Sh! You blubbering fool!" he snapped in his ear. "My +business is not with you. Lie still!" + +Within the room all stood at gaze, following the sudden flight +of Mr. Jenkins. Then Lord Ostermore made as if to approach +the winnow, but Hortensia restrained him. + +"Let the wretch go," she said. "The blame is not his. What +is he but my lord's tool?" And her eyes scorched Rotherby +with such a glance of scorn as must have killed any but a +shameless man. Then turning to the demurely observant +gentleman who had done her such good service, "Mr. Caryll" +she said, "I want to thank you. I want my lord, here, to +thank you." + +Mr. Caryll bowed to her. "I beg that you will not think of +it," said he. "It is I who will remain in your debt." + +"Is your name Caryll, sir?" quoth the earl. He had a trick of +fastening upon the inconsequent, though that was scarcely the +case now. + +"That, my lord, is my name. I believe I have the honor of +sharing it with your lordship." + +"Ye'll belong to some younger branch of the family," the earl +supposed. + +"Like enough - some outlying branch," answered the +imperturbable Caryll - a jest which only himself could +appreciate, and that bitterly. + +"And how came you into this?" + +Rotherby sneered audibly - in self-mockery, no doubt, as he +came to reflect that it was he, himself, had had him fetched. + +"They needed another witness," said Mr. Caryll, "and hearing +there was at the inn a gentleman newly crossed from France, +his lordship no doubt opined that a traveller, here to-day and +gone for good tomorrow, would be just the witness that he +needed for the business he proposed. That circumstance +aroused my suspicions, and - " + +But the earl, as usual, seemed to have fastened upon the minor +point, although again it was not so. "You are newly crossed +from France?" said he. "Ay, and your name is the same as +mine. 'Twas what I was advised." + +Mr. Caryll flashed a sidelong glance at Rotherby, who had +turned to stare at his father, and in his heart he cursed the +stupidity of my Lord Ostermore. If this proposed to be a +member of a conspiracy, Heaven help that same conspiracy! + +"Were you, by any chance, going to seek me in town, Mr. +Caryll?" + +Mr. Caryll suppressed a desire to laugh. Here was a way to +deal with State secrets. "I, my lord?" he inquired, with an +assumed air of surprise. + +The earl looked at him, and from him to Rotherby, bethought +himself, and started so overtly that Rotherby's eyes grew +narrow, the lines of his mouth tightened. "Nay, of course +not; of course not," he blustered clumsily. + +But Rotherby laughed aloud. "Now what a plague is all this +mystery?" he inquired. + +"Mystery?" quoth my lord. "What mystery should there be?" + +"'Tis what I would fain be informed," he answered in a voice +that showed he meant to gain the information. He sauntered +forward towards Caryll, his eye playing mockingly over this +gentleman from France. "Now, sir," said he, "whose messenger +may you be, eh? What's all this - " + +"Rotherby!" the earl interrupted in a voice intended to be +compelling. "Come away, Mr. Caryll," he added quickly. "I'll +not have any gentleman who has shown himself a friend to my +ward, here, affronted by that rascal. Come away, sir!" + +"Not so fast! Not so fast, ecod!" + +It was another voice that broke in upon them. Rotherby +started round. Gaskell, in the shadows of the cowled +fireplace jumped in sheer alarm. All stared at the window +whence the voice proceeded. + +They beheld a plump, chubby-faced little man, astride the +sill, a pistol displayed with ostentation in his hand. + +Mr. Caryll was the only one with the presence of mind to +welcome him. "Ha!" said he, smiling engagingly. "My little +friend, the brewer of ale." + +"Let no one leave this room," said Mr. Green with a great +dignity. Then, with rather less dignity, he whistled shrilly +through his fingers, and got down lightly into the room. + +"Sir," blustered the earl, "this is an intrusion; an +impertinence. What do you want?" + +"The papers this gentleman carries," said Mr. Green, +indicating Caryll with the hand that held the pistol. The +earl looked alarmed, which was foolish in him, thought Mr. +Caryll. Rotherby covered his mouth with his hand, after the +fashion of one who masks a smile. + +"Ye're rightly served for meddling," said he with relish. + +"Out with them," the chubby man demanded. "Ye'll gain nothing +by resistance. So don't be obstinate, now." + +"I could be nothing so discourteous," said Mr. Caryll. "Would +it be prying on my part to inquire what may be your interest +in my papers?" + +His serenity lessened the earl's anxieties, but bewildered +him; and it took the edge off the malicious pleasure which +Rotherby was beginning to experience. + +"I am obeying the orders of my Lord Carteret, the Secretary of +State," said Mr. Green. "I was to watch for a gentleman from +France with letters for my Lord Ostermore. He had a messenger +a week ago to tell him to look for such a visitor. He took +the messenger, if you must know, and - well, we induced him to +tell us what was the message he had carried. There is so much +mystery in all this that my Lord Carteret desires more +knowledge on the subject. I think you are the gentleman I am +looking for." + +Mr. Caryll looked him over with an amused eye, and laughed. +"It distresses me," said he, "to see so much good thought +wasted." + +Mr. Green was abashed a moment. But he recovered quickly; no +doubt he had met the cool type before. "Come, come!" said he. +"No blustering. Out with your papers, my fine fellow." + +The door opened, and a couple of men came in; over their +shoulders, ere the door closed again, Mr. Caryll had a glimpse +of the landlady's rosy face, alarm in her glance. The +newcomers were dirty rogues; tipstaves, recognizable at a +glance. One of them wore a ragged bob-wig - the cast-off, no +doubt, of some gentleman's gentleman, fished out of the +sixpenny tub in Rosemary Lane; it was ill-fitting, and wisps +of the fellow's own unkempt hair hung out in places. The +other wore no wig at all; his yellow thatch fell in streaks +from under his shabby hat, which he had the ill-manners to +retain until Lord Ostermore knocked it from his head with a +blow of his cane. Both were fierily bottle-nosed, and neither +appeared to have shaved for a week or so. + +"Now," quoth Mr. Green, "will you hand them over of your own +accord, or must I have you searched?" And a wave of the hand +towards the advancing myrmidons indicated the searchers. + +"You go too far, sir," blustered the earl. + +"Ay, surely," put in Mr. Caryll. "You are mad to think a +gentleman is to submit to being searched by any knave that +comes to him with a cock-and-bull tale about the Secretary of +State." + +Mr. Green leered again, and produced a paper. "There," said +he, "is my Lord Carteret's warrant, signed and sealed." + +Mr. Caryll glanced over it with a disdainful eye. "It is in +blank," said he. + +"Just so," agreed Mr. Green. "Carte blanche, as you say over +the water. If you insist," he offered obligingly, "I'll fill +in your name before we proceed." + +Mr. Caryll shrugged his shoulders. "It might be well," said +he, "if you are to search me at all." + +Mr. Green advanced to the table. The writing implements +provided for the wedding were still there. He took up a pen, +scrawled a name across the blank, dusted it with sand, and +presented it again to Mr. Caryll. The latter nodded. + +"I'll not trouble you to search me," said he. "I would as +soon not have these noblemen of yours for my valets." He +thrust his hands into the pockets of his fine coat, and +brought forth several papers. These he proffered to Mr. +Green, who took them between satisfaction and amazement. +Ostermore stared, too stricken for words at this meek +surrender; and well was it for Mr. Caryll that he was so +stricken, for had he spoken he had assuredly betrayed himself. + +Hortensia, Mr. Caryll observed, watched his cowardly yielding +with an eye of stern contempt. Rotherby looked on with a dark +face that betrayed nothing. + +Meanwhile Mr. Green was running through the papers, and as +fast as he ran through them he permitted himself certain +comments that passed for humor with his followers. There +could be no doubt that in his own social stratum Mr. Green +must have been accounted something of a wag. + +"Ha! What's this? A bill! A bill for snuff! My Lord +Carteret'll snuff you, sir. He'll tobacco you, ecod! He'll +smoke you first, and snuff you afterwards." He flung the bill +aside. "Phew!" he whistled. "Verses! `To Theocritus upon +sailing for Albion.' That's mighty choice! D'ye write +verses, sir?" + +"Heyday! 'Tis an occupation to which I have succumbed in +moments of weakness. I crave your indulgence, Mr. Green." + +Mr. Green perceived that here was a weak attempt at irony, and +went on with his investigations. He came to the last of the +papers Mr. Caryll had handed him, glanced at it, swore +coarsely, and dropped it. + +"D'ye think ye can bubble me?'" he cried, red in the face. + +Lord Ostermore heaved a sigh of relief; the hard look had +faded from Hortensia's eyes. + +"What is't ye mean, giving me this rubbish?" + +"I offer you my excuses for the contents of my pockets," said +Mr. Caryll. "Ye see, I did not expect to be honored by your +inquisition. Had I but known - " + +Mr. Green struck an attitude. "Now attend to me, sir! I am a +servant of His Majesty's Government." + +"His Majesty's Government cannot be sufficiently +congratulated," said Mr. Caryll, the irrepressible. + +Mr. Green banged the table. "Are ye rallying me, ecod!" + +"You have upset the ink," Mr. Caryll pointed out to him. + +"Damn the ink!" swore the spy. "And damn you for a Tom o' +Bedlam! I ask you again - what d'ye mean, giving me this +rubbish?" + +"You asked me to turn out my pockets." + +"I asked you for the letter ye have brought Lord Ostermore." + +"I am sorry," said Mr. Caryll, and eyed the other +sympathetically. "I am sorry to disappoint you. But, then, +you assumed too much when you assumed that I had such a +letter. I have obliged you to the fullest extent in my power. +I do not think you show a becoming gratitude." + +Mr. Green eyed him blankly a moment; then exploded. "Ecod, +sir! You are cool." + +"It is a condition we do not appear to share." + +"D'ye say ye've brought his lordship no letter from France?" +thundered the spy. "What else ha' ye come to England for?" + +"To study manners, sir," said Mr. Caryll, bowing. + +That was the last drop in the cup of Mr. Green's endurance. +He waved his men towards the gentleman from France. "Find +it," he bade them shortly. + +Mr. Caryll drew himself up with a great dignity, and waved the +bailiffs back, his white face set, an unpleasant glimmer in +his eyes. "A moment!" he cried. "You have no authority to go +to such extremes. I make no objection to being searched; but +every objection to being soiled, and I'll not have the fingers +of these scavengers about my person." + +"And you are right, egad!" cried Lord Ostermore, advancing. +"Harkee, you dirty spy, this is no way to deal with gentlemen. +Be off, now, and take your carrion-crows with you, or I'll +have my grooms in with their whips to you." + +"To me?" roared Green. "I represent the Secretary of State." + +"Ye'll represent a side of raw venison if you tarry here," the +earl promised him. "D'ye dare look me in the eye? D'ye dare, +ye rogue? D'ye know who I am? And don't wag that pistol, my +fine fellow! Be off, now! Away with you!" + +Mr. Green looked his name. The rosiness was all departed from +his cheeks; he quivered with suppressed wrath. "If I go - +giving way to constraint - what shall you say to my Lord +Carteret?" he asked. + +"What concern may that be of yours, sirrah?'' + +"It will be some concern of yours, my lord." + +Mr. Caryll interposed. "The knave is right," said he. "It +were to implicate your lordship. It were to give color to his +silly suspicions. Let him make his search. But be so good as +to summon my valet. He shall hand you my garments that you +may do your will upon them. But unless you justify yourself +by finding the letter you are seeking, you shall have to +reckon with the consequences of discomposing a gentleman for +nothing. Now, sir! Is it a bargain?" Mr. Green looked him +over, and if he was shaken by the calm assurance of Mr. +Caryll's tone and manner, he concealed it very effectively. +"We'll make no bargains," said he. "I have my duty to do." +He signed to one of the bailiffs. "Fetch the gentleman's +servant," said he. + +"So be it," said Mr. Caryll. "But you take too much upon +yourself, sir. Your duty, I think, would have been to arrest +me and carry me to Lord Carteret's, there to be searched if +his lordship considered it necessary." + +"I have no cause to arrest you until I find it," Mr. Green +snapped impatiently. + +"Your logic is faultless." + +"I am following my Lord Carteret's orders to the letter. I am +to effect no arrest until I have positive evidence." + +"Yet you are detaining me. What does this amount to but an +arrest?" + +Mr. Green disdained to answer. Leduc entered, and Mr. Caryll +turned to Lord Ostermore. + +"There is no reason why I should detain your lordship," said +he, "and these operations - The lady - " He waved an +expressive hand, bent an expressive eye upon the earl. + +Lord Ostermore seemed to waver. He was not - he had never +been - a man to think for others. But Hortensia cut in before +he could reply. + +"We will wait," she said. "Since you are travelling to town, +I am sure his lordship will be glad of your company, sir." + +Mr. Caryll looked deep into those great brown eyes, and bowed +his thanks. "If it will not discompose your lordship - " + +"No, no," said Ostermore, gruff of voice and manner. "We will +wait. I shall be honored, sir, if you will journey with us +afterwards." + +Mr. Caryll bowed again, and went to hold the door for them, +Mr. Green's eyes keenly alert for an attempt at evasion. But +there was none. When his lordship and his ward had departed, +Mr. Caryll turned to Rotherby, who had taken a chair, his man +Gaskell behind him. He looked from the viscount to Mr. Green. + +"Do we require this gentleman?" he asked the spy. + +A smile broke over Rotherby's swam face. "By your leave, sir, +I'll remain to see fair play. You may find me useful, Mr. +Green. I have no cause to wish this marplot well," he +explained. + +Mr. Caryll turned his back upon him, took off his coat and +waistcoat. He sat down while Mr. Green spread the garments +upon the table, emptied out the pockets, turned down the +cuffs, ripped up the satin linings. He did it in a consummate +fashion, very thoroughly. Yet, though he parted the linings +from the cloth, he did so in such a manner as to leave the +garments easily repairable. + +Mr. Caryll watched him with interest and appreciation, and +what time he watched he was wondering might it not be better +straightway to place the spy in possession of the letter, and +thus destroy himself and Lord Ostermore, at the same time - +and have done with the task on which he was come to England. +It seemed almost an easy way out of the affair. His betrayal +of the earl would be less ugly if he, himself, were to share +the consequences of that betrayal. + +Then he checked his thoughts. What manner of mood was this? +Besides, his inclination was all to become better acquainted +with this odd family upon which he had stumbled in so +extraordinary a manner. Down in his heart of hearts he had a +feeling that the thing he was come to do would never be done - +leastways, not by him. It was in vain that he might attempt +to steel himself to the task. It repelled him. It went not +with a nature such as his. + +He thought of Everard, afire with the idea of vengence and to +such an extent that he had succeeded in infecting Justin +himself with a spark of it. He thought of him with pity +almost; pity that a man should obsess his life by such a +phantasm as this same vengeance must have been to him. Was it +worth while? Was anything worth while, he wondered. + +Lord Rotherby approached the table, and took up the garments +upon which Mr. Green had finished. He turned them over and +supplemented Mr. Green's search. + +"Ye're welcome to all that ye can find," sneered Mr. Green, +and turned to Mr. Caryll. "Let us have your shoes, sir." + +Mr. Caryll removed his shoes, in silence, and Mr. Green +proceeded to examine them in a manner that provoked Mr. +Caryll's profound admiration. He separated the lining from +the Spanish leather, and probed slowly and carefully in the +space between. He examined the heels very closely, going over +to the window for the purpose. That done, he dropped them. + +"Your breeches now," said he laconically. + +Meanwhile Leduc had taken up the coat, and with a needle and +thread wherewith he had equipped himself he was industriously +restoring the stitches that Mr. Green had taken out. + +Mr. Caryll surrendered his breeches. His fine Holland shirt +went next, his stockings and what other trifles he wore, until +he stood as naked as Adam before the fall. Yet all in vain. + +His garments were restored to him, one by one, and one by one, +with Leduc's aid, he resumed them. Mr. Green was looking +crestfallen. + +"Are you satisfied?" inquired Mr. Caryll pleasantly, his good +temper inexhaustible. + +The spy looked at him with a moody eye, plucking thoughtfully +at his lip with thumb and forefinger. Then he brightened +suddenly. "There's your man," said he, flashing a quick eye +upon Leduc, who looked up with a quiet smile. + +"True," said Mr. Caryll, "and there's my portmantle +above-stairs, and my saddle on my horse in the stables. It is +even possible, for aught you know, that there may be a hollow +tooth or two in my head. Pray let your search be thorough." + +Mr. Green considered him again. "If you had it, it would be +upon your person." + +"Yet consider," Mr. Caryll begged him, holding out his foot +that Leduc might put on his shoe again, "I might have supposed +that you would suppose that, and disposed accordingly. You +had better investigate to the bitter end." + +Mr. Green's small eyes continued to scrutinize Leduc at +intervals. The valet was a silent, serious-faced fellow. +"I'll search your servant, leastways," the spy announced. + +"By all means. Leduc, I beg that you will place yourself at +this interesting gentleman's disposal." + +What time Mr. Caryll, unaided now, completed the resumption of +his garments, Leduc, silent and expressionless, submitted to +being searched. + +"You will observe, Leduc," said Mr. Caryll, "that we have not +come to this country in vain. We are undergoing experiences +that would be interesting if they were not quite so dull, +amusing if they entailed less discomfort to ourselves. +Assuredly, it was worth while to cross to England to study +manners. And there are sights for you that you will never see +in France. You would not, for instance, had you not come +hither, have had an opportunity of observing a member of the +noblesse seconding and assisting a tipstaff in the discharge +of his duty. And doing it just as a hog wallows in foulness - +for the love of it. + +"The gentlemen in your country, Leduc, are too fastidious to +enjoy life as it should be enjoyed; they are too prone to +adhere to the amusements of their class. You have here an +opportunity of perceiving how deeply they are mistaken, what +relish may lie in setting one's rank on one side, in +forgetting at times that by an accident - a sheer, incredible +accident, I assure you, Leduc - one may have been born to a +gentleman's estate." + +Rotherby had drawn himself up, his dark face crimsoning. + +"D'ye talk at me, sir?" he demanded. "D'ye dare discuss me +with your lackey?" + +"But why not, since you search me with my tipstaff! If you +can perceive a difference, you are too subtle for me, sir." + +Rotherby advanced a step; then checked. He inherited mental +sluggishness from his father. "You are insolent!" he charged +Caryll. "You insult me." + +"Indeed! Ha! I am working miracles." + +Rotherby governed his anger by an effort. "There was enough +between us without this," said he. + +"There could not be too much between us - too much space, I +mean." + +The viscount looked at him furiously. "I shall discuss this +further with you," said he. "The present is not the time nor +place. But I shall know where to look for you." + +"Leduc, I am sure, will always be pleased to see you. He, +too, is studying manner's." + +Rotherby ignored the insult. "We shall see, then, whether you +can do anything more than talk." + +"I hope that your lordship, too, is master of other +accomplishments. As a talker, I do not find you very gifted. +But perhaps Leduc will be less exigent than I." + +"Bah!" his lordship flung at him, and went out, cursing him +profusely, Gaskell following at his master's heels. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MOONSHINE + +My Lord Ostermore, though puzzled, entertained no tormenting +anxiety on the score of the search to which Mr. Caryll was to +be submitted. He assured himself from that gentleman's +confident, easy manner - being a man who always drew from +things the inference that was obvious - that either he carried +no such letter as my lord expected, or else he had so disposed +of it as to baffle search. + +So, for the moment, he dismissed the subject from his mind. +With Hortensia he entered the parlor across the stone-flagged +passage, to which the landlady ushered them, and turned +whole-heartedly to the matter of his ward's elopement with his +son. + +"Hortensia," said he, when they were alone. "You have been +foolish; very foolish." He had a trick of repeating himself, +conceiving, no doubt, that the commonplace achieves +distinction by repetition. + +Hortensia sat in an arm-chair by the window, and sighed, +looking out over the downs. "Do I not know it?" she cried, +and the eyes which were averted from his lordship were charred +with tears - tears of hot anger, shame and mortification. +"God help all women!" she added bitterly, after a moment, as +many another woman under similar and worse circumstances has +cried before and since. + +A more feeling man might have conceived that this was a moment +in which to leave her to herself and her own thoughts, and in +that it is possible that a more feeling man had been mistaken. +Ostermore, stolid and unimaginative, but not altogether +without sympathy for his ward, of whom he was reasonably fond +- as fond, no doubt, as it was his capacity to be for any +other than himself - approached her and set a plump hand upon +the back of her chair. + +"What was it drove you to this?" + +She turned upon him almost fiercely. "My Lady Ostermore," she +answered him. + +His lordship frowned, and his eyes shifted uneasily from her +face. In his heart he disliked his wife excessively, disliked +her because she was the one person in the world who governed +him, who rode rough-shod over his feelings and desires; +because, perhaps, she was the mother of his unfeeling, +detestable son. She may not have been the only person living +to despise Lord Ostermore; but she was certainly the only one +with the courage to manifest her contempt, and that in no +circumscribed terms. And yet, disliking her as he did, +returning with interest her contempt of him, he veiled it, and +was loyal to his termagant, never suffering himself to utter a +complaint of her to others, never suffering others to censure +her within his hearing. This loyalty may have had its roots +in pride - indeed, no other soil can be assigned to them - a +pride that would allow no strangers to pry into the sore +places of his being. He frowned now to hear Hortensia's angry +mention of her ladyship's name; and if his blue eyes moved +uneasily under his beetling brows, it was because the +situation irked him. How should he stand as judge between +Mistress Winthrop - towards whom, as we have seen, he had a +kindness- and his wife, whom he hated, yet towards whom he +would not be disloyal? + +He wished the subject dropped, since, did he ask the obvious +question - in what my Lady Ostermore could have been the cause +of Hortensia's flight - he would provoke, he knew, a storm of +censure from his wife. Therefore he fell silent. + +Hortensia, however, felt that she had said too much not to say +more. + +"Her ladyship has never failed to make me feel my position - +my - my poverty," she pursued. "There is no slight her +ladyship has not put upon me, until not even your servants use +me with the respect that is due to my father's daughter. And +my father," she added, with a reproachful glance, "was your +friend, my lord." + +He shifted uncomfortably on his feet, deploring now the +question with which he had fired the train of feminine +complaint. "Pish, pish!" he deprecated, "'tis fancy, child - +pure fancy!" + +"So her Ladyship would say, did you tax her with it. Yet your +lordship knows I am not fanciful in other things. Should I, +then, be fanciful in this?" + +"But what has her ladyship ever done, child?" he demanded, +thinking thus to baffle her - since he was acquainted with the +subtlety of her ladyship's methods. + +"A thousand things," replied Hortensia hotly, "and yet not one +upon which I may fasten. 'Tis thus she works: by words, +half-words, looks, sneers, shrugs, and sometimes foul abuse +entirely disproportionate to the little cause I may +unwittingly have given." + +"Her ladyship is a little hot," the earl admitted, "but a good +heart; 'tis an excellent heart, Hortensia." + +"For hating-ay, my lord." + +"Nay, plague on't! That's womanish in you. 'Pon honor it is! +Womanish!" + +"What else would you have a woman? Mannish and raffish, like +my Lady Ostermore?" + +"I'll not listen to you," he said. "Ye're not just, +Hortensia. Ye're heated; heated! I'll not listen to you. +Besides, when all is said, what reasons be these for the folly +ye've committed?" + +"Reasons?" she echoed scornfully. "Reasons and to spare! Her +ladyship has made my life so hard, has so shamed and crushed +me, put such indignities upon me, that existence grew +unbearable under your roof. It could not continue, my lord," +she pursued, rising under the sway of her indignation. "It +could not continue. I am not of the stuff that goes to making +martyrs. I am weak, and - and - as your lordship has said - +womanish." + +"Indeed, you talk a deal," said his lordship peevishly. But +she did not heed the sarcasm. + +"Lord Rotherby," she continued, "offered me the means to +escape. He urged me to elope with him. His reason was that +you would never consent to our marriage; but that if we took +the matter into our hands, and were married first, we might +depend upon your sanction afterwards; that you had too great a +kindness for me to withhold your pardon. I was weak, my lord +- womanish," (she threw the word at him again) "and it +happened - God help me for a fool!- that I thought I loved +Lord Rotherby. And so - and so - " + +She sat down again, weakly, miserably, averting her face that +she might hide her tears. He was touched, and he even went so +far as to show something of his sympathy. He approached her +again, and laid a benign hand lightly upon her shoulder. + +"But - but - in that case - Oh, the damned villain! - why this +mock-parson?" + +"Does your lordship not perceive? Must I die of shame? Do +you not see?" + +"See? No!" He was thoughtful a second; then repeated, "No!" + +"I understood," she informed him, a smile - a cruelly bitter +smile - lifting and steadying the corner of her lately +quivering lip, "when he alluded to your lordship's straitened +circumstances. He has no disinheritance to fear because he +has no inheritance to look for beyond the entail, of which you +cannot disinherit him. My Lord Rotherby sets a high value +upon himself. He may - I do not know - he may have been in +love with me - though not as I know love, which is all +sacrifice, all self-denial. But by his lights he may have +cared for me; he must have done, by his lights. Had I been a +lady of fortune, not a doubt but he would have made me his +wife; as it was, he must aim at a more profitable marriage, +and meanwhile, to gratify his love for me - base as it was - +he would - he would - O God! I cannot say it. You +understand, my lord." + +My lord swore strenuously. "There is a punishment for such a +crime as this." + +"Ay, my lord - and a way to avoid punishment for a gentleman +in your son's position, even did I flaunt my shame in some +vain endeavor to have justice - a thing he knew I never could +have done." + +My lord swore again. "He shall be punished," he declared +emphatically. + +"No doubt. God will see to that," she said, a world of faith +in her quivering voice. + +My lord's eyes expressed his doubt of divine intervention. He +preferred to speak for himself. "I'll disown the dog. He +shall not enter my house again. You shall not be reminded of +what has happened here. Gad! You were shrewd to have smoked +his motives so!" he cried in a burst of admiration for her +insight. "Gad, child! Shouldst have been a lawyer! A +lawyer!" + +"If it had not been for Mr. Caryll - " she began, but to what +else she said he lent no ear, being suddenly brought back to +his fears at the mention of that gentleman's name. + +"Mr. Caryll! Save us! What is keeping him?" he cried. "Can +they - can they - " + +The door opened, and Mr. Caryll walked in, ushered by the +hostess. Both turned to confront him, Hortensia's eyes +swollen from her weeping. + +"Well?" quoth his lordship. "Did they find nothing?" + +Mr. Caryll advanced with the easy, graceful carriage that was +one of his main charms, his clothes so skilfully restored by +Leduc that none could have guessed the severity of the +examination they had undergone. + +"Since I am here, and alone, your lordship may conclude such +to be the case. Mr. Green is preparing for departure. He is +very abject; very chap-fallen. I am almost sorry for Mr. +Green. I am by nature sympathetic. I have promised to make +my complaint to my Lord Carteret. And so, I trust there is an +end to a tiresome matter." + +"But then, sir?" quoth his lordship. "But then - are you the +bearer of no letter?" + +Mr. Caryll shot a swift glance over his shoulder at the door. +He deliberately winked at the earl. "Did your lordship expect +letters?" he inquired. "That was scarcely reason enough to +suppose me a courier. There is some mistake, I imagine." + +Between the wink and the words his lordship was bewildered. + +Mr. Caryll turned to the lady, bowing. Then he waved a hand +over the downs. "A fine view," said he airily, and she stared +at him. "I shall treasure sweet memories of Maidstone." Her +stare grew stonier. Did he mean the landscape or some other +matter? His tone was difficult to read - a feature peculiar +to his tone. + +"Not so shall I, sir," she made answer. "I shall never think +of it other than with burning cheeks - unless it be with +gratitude to your shrewdness which saved me." + +"No more, I beg. It is a matter painful to you to dwell on. +Let me exhort you to forget it. I have already done so." + +"That is a sweet courtesy in you." + +"I am compounded of sweet courtesy," he informed her modestly. + +His lordship spoke of departure, renewing his offer to carry +Mr. Caryll to town in his chaise. Meanwhile, Mr. Caryll was +behaving curiously. He was tiptoeing towards the door, along +the wall, where he was out of line with the keyhole. He +reached it suddenly, and abruptly pulled it open. There was a +squeal, and Mr. Green rolled forward into the room. Mr. +Caryll kicked him out again before he could rise, and called +Leduc to throw him outside. And that was the last they saw of +Mr. Green at Maidstone. + +They set out soon afterwards, Mr. Caryll travelling in his +lordship's chaise, and Leduc following in his master's. + +It was an hour or so after candle-lighting time when they +reached Croydon, the country lying all white under a full moon +that sailed in a clear, calm sky. His lordship swore that he +would go no farther that night. The travelling fatigued him; +indeed, for the last few miles of the journey he had been +dozing in his corner of the carriage, conversation having long +since been abandoned as too great an effort on so bad a road, +which shook and jolted them beyond endurance. His lordship's +chaise was of an old-fashioned pattern, and the springs far +from what might have been desired or expected in a nobleman's +conveyance. + +They alighted at the "Bells." His lordship bespoke supper, +invited Mr. Caryll to join them, and, what time the meal was +preparing, went into a noisy doze in the parlor's best chair. + +Mistress Winthrop sauntered out into the garden. The calm and +fragrance of the night invited her. Alone with her thoughts, +she paced the lawn a while, until her solitude was disturbed +by the advent of Mr. Caryll. He, too, had need to think, and +he had come out into the peace of the night to indulge his +need. Seeing her, he made as if to withdraw again; but she +perceived him, and called him to her side. He went most +readily. Yet when he stood before her in an attitude of +courteous deference, she was at a loss what she should say to +him, or, rather, what words she should employ. At last, with +a half-laugh of nervousness, "I am by nature very inquisitive, +sir," she prefaced. + +"I had already judged you to be an exceptional woman," Mr. +Caryll commented softly. + +She mused an instant. "Are you never serious?" she asked him. + +"Is it worth while?" he counter-questioned, and, whether +intent or accident, he let her see something of himself. "Is +it even amusing - to be serious?" + +"Is there in life nothing but amusement?" + +"Oh, yes - but nothing so vital. I speak with knowledge. The +gift of laughter has been my salvation." + +"From what, sir?" + +"Ah - who shall say that? My history and my rearing have been +such that had I bowed before them, I had become the most +gloomy, melancholy man that steps this gloomy, melancholy +world. By now I might have found existence insupportable, and +so - who knows? I might have set a term to it. But I had the +wisdom to prefer laughter. Humanity is a delectable spectacle +if we but have the gift to observe it in a dispassionate +spirit. Such a gift have I cultivated. The squirming of the +human worm is interesting to observe, and the practice of +observing it has this advantage, that while we observe it we +forget to squirm ourselves." + +"The bitterness of your words belies their purport." + +He shrugged and smiled. "But proves my contention. That I +might explain myself, you made me for a moment serious, set me +squirming in my turn." + +She moved a little, and he fell into step beside her. A +little while there was silence. + +Presently - "You find me, no doubt, as amusing as any other of +your human worms," said she. + +"God forbid!" he answered soberly. + +She laughed. "You make an exception in my case, then. That +is a subtle flattery!" + +"Have I not said that I had judged you to be an exceptional +woman?" + +"Exceptionally foolish, not a doubt." + +"Exceptionally beautiful; exceptionally admirable," he +corrected. + +"A clumsy compliment, devoid of wit!" + +"When we grow truthful, it may be forgiven us if we fall short +of wit." + +"That were an argument in favor of avoiding truth." + +"Were it necessary," said he. "For truth is seldom so +intrusive as to need avoiding. But we are straying. There +was a score upon which you were inquisitive, you said; from +which I take it that you sought knowledge at my hands. Pray +seek it; I am a well, of knowledge." + +"I desired to know - Nay, but I have asked you already. I +desired to know did you deem me a very pitiful little fool?" + +They had reached the privet hedge, and turned. They paused +now before resuming their walk. He paused, also, before +replying. Then: + +"I should judge you wise in most things," he answered slowly, +critically. "But in the matter to which I owe the blessing of +having served you, I do not think you wise. Did you - do you +love Lord Rotherby?" + +"What if so?" + +"After what you have learned, I should account you still less +wise." + +"You are impertinent, sir," she reproved him. + +"Nay, most pertinent. Did you not ask me to sit in judgment +upon this matter? And unless you confess to me, how am I to +absolve you?" + +"I did not crave your absolution. You take too much upon +yourself." + +"So said Lord Rotherby. You seem to have something in common +when all is said." + +She bit her lip in chagrin. They paced in silence to the +lawn's end, and turned again. Then: "You treat me like a +fool," she reproved him. + +"How is that possible, when, already I think I love you." + +She started from him, and stared at him for a long moment. +"You insult me!" she cried angrily, conceiving that she +understood his mind. "Do you think that because I may have +committed a folly I have forfeited all claim to be respected - +that I am a subject for insolent speeches?" + +"You are illogical," said Mr. Caryll, the imperturbable. "I +have told you that I love you. Should I insult the woman I +have said I love?" + +"You love me?" She looked at him, her face very white in the +white moonlight, her lips parted, a kindling anger in her +eyes. "Are you mad?" + +"I a'n't sure. There have been moments when I have almost +feared it. This is not one of them." + +"You wish me to think you serious?" She laughed a thought +stridently in her indignation. "I have known you just four +hours," said she. + +"Precisely the time I think I have loved you." + +"You think?" she echoed scornfully. "Oh, you make that +reservation! You are not quite sure?" + +"Can we be sure of anything?" he deprecated. + +"Of some things," she answered icily. "And I am sure of one - +that I am beginning to understand you." + +"I envy you. Since that is so, help me - of your charity! - +to understand myself." + +"Then understand yourself for an impudent, fleering coxcomb," +she flung at him, and turned to leave him. + +"That is not explanation," said Mr. Caryll thoughtfully. "It +is mere abuse." + +"What else do you deserve?" she asked him over her shoulder. +"That you should have dared!" she withered him. + +"To love you quite so suddenly?" he inquired, and misquoted: +"`Whoever loved at all, that loved not at first sight?' +Hortensia!" + +"You have not the right to my name, sir." + +"Yet I offer you the right to mine," he answered, with humble +reproach. + +"You shall be punished," she promised him, and in high dudgeon +left him. + +"Punished? Oh, cruel! Can you then be - + + "`Unsoft to him who's smooth to thee? + Tigers and bears, I've heard some say, + For proffered love will love repay."' + +But she was gone. He looked up at the moon, and took it into +his confidence to reproach it. "'Twas your white face +beglamored me," he told it aloud. "See, how execrable a +beginning I've made, and, therefore, how excellent!" And he +laughed, but entirely without mirth. + +He remained pacing in the moonlight, very thoughtful, and, for +once, it seemed, not at all amused. His life appeared to be +tangling itself beyond unravelling, and his vaunted habit of +laughter scarce served at present to show him the way out. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +HORTENSIA'S RETURN + + +Mr. Caryll needs explaining as he walks there in the +moonlight; that is, if we are at all to understand him - a +matter by no means easy, considering that he has confessed he +did not understand himself. Did ever man make a sincere +declaration of sudden passion as flippantly as he had done, or +in terms-better calculated to alienate the regard he sought to +win? Did ever man choose his time with less discrimination, +or his words with less discretion? Assuredly not. To suppose +that Mr. Caryll was unaware of this, would be to suppose him a +fool, and that he most certainly was not. + +His mood was extremely complex; its analysis, I fear, may +baffle us. It must have seemed to you - as it certainly +seemed to Mistress Winthrop - that he made a mock of her; that +in truth he was the impudent, fleering coxcomb she pronounced +him, and nothing more. Not so. Mock he most certainly did; +but his mockery was all aimed to strike himself on the recoil +- himself and the sentiments which had sprung to being in his +soul, and to which - nameless as he was, pledged as he was to +a task that would most likely involve his ruin - he conceived +that he had no right. He gave expression to his feelings, yet +chose for them the expression best calculated to render them +barren of all consequence where Mistress Winthrop was +concerned. Where another would have hidden those emotions, +Mr. Caryll elected to flaunt them half-derisively, that +Hortensia might trample them under foot in sheer disgust. + +It was, perhaps, the knowledge that did he wait, and come to +her as an honest, devout lover, he must in honesty tell her +all there was to know of his odd history and of his bastardy, +and thus set up between them a barrier insurmountable. +Better, he may have thought, to make from the outset a mockery +of a passion for which there could be no hope. And so, under +that mocking, impertinent exterior, I hope you catch some +glimpse of the real, suffering man - the man who boasted that +he had the gift of laughter. + +He continued a while to pace the dewy lawn after she had left +him, and a deep despondency descended upon the spirit of this +man who accounted seriousness a folly. Hitherto his rancor +against his father had been a theoretical rancor, a thing +educated into him by Everard, and accepted by him as we accept +a proposition in Euclid that is proved to us. In its way it +had been a make-believe rancor, a rancor on principle, for he +had been made to see that unless he was inflamed by it, he was +not worthy to be his mother's son. Tonight had changed all +this. No longer was his grievance sentimental, theoretical or +abstract. It was suddenly become real and very bitter. It +was no longer a question of the wrong done his mother thirty +years ago; it became the question of a wrong done himself in +casting him nameless upon the world, a thing of scorn to +cruel, unjust humanity. Could Mistress Winthrop have guessed +the bitter self-derision with which he had, in apparent +levity, offered her his name, she might have felt some pity +for him who had no pity for himself. + +And so, to-night he felt - as once for a moment Everard had +made him feel - that he had a very real wrong of his own to +avenge upon his father; and the task before him lost much of +the repugnance that it had held for him hitherto. + +All this because four hours ago he had looked into the brown +depths of Mistress Winthrop's eyes. He sighed, and declaimed +a line of Congreve's: + +"`Woman is a fair image in a pool; who leaps at it is sunk.'" + +The landlord came to bid him in to supper. He excused +himself. Sent his lordship word that he was over-tired, and +went off to bed. + +They met at breakfast, at an early hour upon the morrow, +Mistress Winthrop cool and distant; his lordship grumpy and +mute; Mr. Caryll airy and talkative as was his habit. They +set out soon afterwards. But matters were nowise improved. +His lordship dozed in a corner of the carriage, while Mistress +Winthrop found more interest in the flowering hedgerows than +in Mr. Caryll, ignored him when he talked, and did not answer +him when he set questions; till, in the end, he, too, lapsed +into silence, and as a solatium for his soreness assured +himself by lengthy, wordless arguments that matters were best +so. + +They entered the outlying parts of London some two hours +later, and it still wanted an hour or so to noon when the +chaise brought up inside the railings before the earl's house +in Lincoln's Inn Fields. + +There came a rush of footmen, a bustle of service, amid which +they alighted and entered the splendid residence that was part +of the little that remained Lord Ostermore from the wreck his +fortunes had suffered on the shoals of the South Sea. + +Mr. Caryll paused a moment to dismiss Leduc to the address in +Old Palace Yard where he had hired a lodging. That done, he +followed his lordship and Hortensia within doors. + +From the inner hall a footman ushered him across an +ante-chamber to a room on the right, which proved to be the +library, and was his lordship's habitual retreat. It was a +spacious, pillared chamber, very richly panelled in damask +silk, and very richly furnished, having long French windows +that opened on a terrace above the garden. + +As they entered there came a swift rustle of petticoats at +their heels, and Mr. Caryll stood aside, bowing, to give +passage to a tall lady who swept by with no more regard for +him than had he been one of the house's lackeys. She was, he +observed, of middle-age, lean and aquiline-featured, with an +exaggerated chin, that ended squarely as boot. Her sallow +cheeks were raddled to a hectic color, a monstrous head-dress +- like that of some horse in a lord mayor's show - coiffed +her, and her dress was a mixture of extravagance and +incongruity, the petticoat absurdly hooped. + +She swept into the room like a battleship into action, and let +fly her first broadside at Mistress Winthrop from the +threshold. + +"Codso!" she shrilled. "You have come back! And for what +have you come back? Am I to live in the same house with you, +you shameless madam - that have no more thought for your +reputation than a slut in a smock-race?" + +Hortensia raised indignant eyes from out of a face that was +very pale. Her lips were tightly pressed - in resolution, +thought Mr. Caryll, who was very observant of her - not to +answer her ladyship; for Mr. Caryll had little doubt as to the +identity of this dragon. + +"My love - my dear - " began his lordship, advancing a step, +his tone a very salve. Then, seeking to create a diversion, +he waved a hand towards Mr. Caryll. "Let me present - " + +"Did I speak to you?" she turned to bombard him. "Have you +not done harm enough? Had you been aught but a fool - had you +respected me as a husband should - you had left well alone and +let her go her ways." + +"There was my duty to her father, to say aught of - " + +"And what of your duty to me?" she blazed, her eyes puckering +most malignantly. She reminded Mr. Caryll of nothing so much +as a vulture. "Had ye forgotten that? Have ye no thought for +decency - no respect for your wife?" + +Her strident voice was echoing through the house and drawing a +little crowd of gaping servants to the hall. To spare +Mistress Winthrop, Mr. Caryll took it upon himself to close +the door. The countess turned at the sound. + +"Who is this?" she asked, measuring the elegant figure with an +evil eye. And Mr. Caryll felt it in his bones that she had +done him the honor to dislike him at sight. + +"It is a gentleman who - who -" His lordship thought it +better, apparently, not to explain the exact circumstances +under which he had met the gentleman. He shifted ground. "I +was about to present him, my love. It is Mr. Caryll - Mr. +Justin Caryll. This, sir, is my Lady Ostermore." + +Mr. Caryll made her a profound bow. Her ladyship retorted +with a sniff. + +"Is it a kinsman of yours, my lord?" and the contempt of the +question was laden with a suggestion that smote Mr. Caryll +hard. What she implied in wanton offensive mockery was no +more than he alone present knew to be the exact and hideous +truth. + +"Some remote kinsman, I make no doubt," the earl explained. +"Until yesterday I had not the honor of his acquaintance. Mr. +Caryll is from France." + +"Ye'll be a Jacobite, no doubt, then," were her first, +uncompromising words to the guest. + +Mr. Caryll made her another bow. "If I were, I should make no +secret of it with your ladyship," he answered with that +irritating suavity in which he clothed his most obvious +sarcasms. + +Her ladyship opened her eyes a little wider. Here was a tone +she was unused to. "And what may your business with his +lordship be?" + +"His lordship's business, I think," answered Mr. Caryll in a +tone of such exquisite politeness and deference that the words +seemed purged of all their rudeness. + +"Will you answer me so, sir?" she demanded, nevertheless, her +voice quivering. + +"My love!" interpolated his lordship hurriedly, his florid +face aflush. "We are vastly indebted to Mr. Caryll, as you +shall learn. It was he who saved Hortensia." + +"Saved the drab, did he? And from what, pray?" + +"Madam!" It was Hortensia who spoke. She had risen, pale +with anger, and she made appeal now to her guardian. "My +lord, I'll not remain to be so spoken of. Suffer me to go. +That her ladyship should so speak of me to my face - and to a +stranger!" + +"Stranger!" crowed her ladyship. "Lard! And what d'ye +suppose will happen? Are you so nice about a stranger hearing +what I may have to say of you - you that will be the talk of +the whole lewd town for this fine escapade? And what'll the +town say of you?" + +"My love!" his lordship sought again to soothe her. "Sylvia, +let me implore you! A little moderation! A little charity! +Hortensia has been foolish. She confesses so much, herself. +Yet, when all is said, 'tis not she is to blame." + +"Am I?" + +"My love! Was it suggested?" + +"I marvel it was not. Indeed, I marvel! Oh, Hortensia is not +to blame, the sweet, pure dove! What is she, then?" + +"To be pitied, ma'am," said his lordship, stirred to sudden +anger, "that she should have lent an ear to your disreputable +son." + +"My son? My son?" cried her ladyship, her voice more and more +strident, her face flushing till the rouge upon it was put to +shame, revealed in all its unnatural hideousness. "And is he +not your son, my lord?" + +"There are moments," he answered hardily, "when I find it +difficult to believe." + +It was much for him to say, and to her ladyship, of all +people. It was pure mutiny. She gasped for air; pumped her +brain for words. Meantime, his lordship continued with an +eloquence entirely unusual in him and prompted entirely by his +strong feelings in the matter of his son. "He is a disgrace +to his name! He always has been. When a boy, he was a liar +and a thief, and had he had his deserts he had been lodged in +Newgate long ago - or worse. Now that he's a man, he's an +abandoned profligate, a brawler, a drunkard, a rakehell. So +much I have long known him for; but to-day he has shown +himself for something even worse. I had thought that my ward, +at least, had been sacred from his villainy. That is the last +drop. I'll not condone it. Damn me! I can't condone it. +I'll disown him. He shall not set foot in house of mine +again. Let him keep the company of his Grace of Wharton and +his other abandoned friends of the Hell Fire Club; he keeps +not mine. He keeps not mine, I say!" + +Her ladyship swallowed hard. From red that she had been, she +was now ashen under her rouge. "And, is this wanton baggage +to keep mine? Is she to disgrace a household that has grown +too nice to contain your son?" + +"My lord! Oh, my lord, give me leave to go," Hortensia +entreated. + +"Ay, go," sneered her ladyship. "Go! You had best go - back +to him. What for did ye leave him? Did ye dream there could +be aught to return to?" + +Hortensia turned to her guardian again appealingly. But her +ladyship bore down upon her, incensed by this ignoring; she +caught the girl's wrist in her claw-like hand. "Answer me, +you drab! What for did you return? What is to be done with +you now that y' are soiled goods? Where shall we find a +husband for you?" + +"I do not want a husband, madam," answered Hortensia. + +"Will ye lead apes in hell, then? Bah! 'Tis not what ye +want, my fine madam; 'tis what we can get you; and where shall +we find you a husband now?" + +Her eye fell upon Mr. Caryll, standing by one of the windows, +a look of profound disgust overplaying the usually immobile +face. "Perhaps the gentleman from France - the gentleman who +saved you," she sneered, "will propose to take the office." + +"With all my heart, ma'am," Mr. Caryll startled them and +himself by answering. Then, perceiving that he had spoken too +much upon impulse - given utterance to what was passing in his +mind - "I but mention it to show your ladyship how mistaken +are your conclusions," he added. + +The countess loosed her hold of Hortensia's wrist in her +amazement, and looked the gentleman from France up and down in +a mighty scornful manner. "Codso!" she swore, "I may take it, +then, that your saving her - as ye call it - was no accident." + +"Indeed it was, ma'am - and a most fortunate accident for your +son." + +"For my son? As how?" + +"It saved him from hanging, ma'am," Mr. Caryll informed her, +and gave her something other than the baiting of Hortensia to +occupy her mind. + +"Hang?" she gasped. "Are you speaking of Lord Rotherby?" + +"Ay, of Lord Rotherby - and not a word more than is true," put +in the earl. "Do you know - but you do not - the extent of +your precious son's villainy? At Maidstone, where I overtook +them - at the Adam and Eve - he had a make-believe parson, and +he was luring this poor child into a mock-marriage." + +Her ladyship stared. "Mock-marriage?" she echoed. "Marriage? +La!" And again she vented her unpleasant laugh. "Did she +insist on that, the prude? Y' amaze me!" + +"Surely, my love, you do not apprehend. Had Lord Rotherby's +parson not been detected and unmasked by Mr. Caryll, here - " + +"Would you ha' me believe she did not know the fellow was no +parson?" + +"Oh!" cried Hortensia. "Your ladyship has a very wicked soul. +May God forgive you!" + +"And who is to forgive you?" snapped the countess. + +"I need no forgiveness, for I have done no wrong. A folly, I +confess to. I was mad to have heeded such a villain." + +Her ladyship gathered forces for a fresh assault. But Mr. +Caryll anticipated it. It was no doubt a great impertinence +in him; but he saw Hortensia's urgent need, and he felt, +moreover, that not even Lord Ostermore would resent his +crossing swords a moment with her ladyship. + +"You would do well, ma'am, to remember," said he, in his +singularly precise voice, "that Lord Rotherby even now - and +as things have fallen out - is by no means quit of all +danger." + +She looked at this smooth gentleman, and his words burned +themselves into her brain. She quivered with mingling fear +and anger. + +"Wha' - what is't ye mean?" quoth she. + +"That even at this hour, if the matter were put about, his +lordship might be brought to account for it, and it might fare +very ill with him. The law of England deals heavily with an +offense such as Lord Rotherby's, and the attempt at a +mock-marriage, of which there is no lack of evidence, would so +aggravate the crime of abduction, if he were informed against, +that it might go very hard with him." + +Her jaw fell. She caught more than an admonition in his +words. It almost seemed to her that he was threatening. + +"Who - who is to inform?" she asked point-blank, her tone a +challenge; and yet the odd change in it from its recent +aggressiveness was almost ludicrous. + +"Ah - who?" said Mr. Caryll, raising his eyes and fetching a +sigh. "It would appear that a messenger from the Secretary of +State - on another matter - was at the Adam and Eve at the +time with two of his catchpolls, and he was a witness of the +whole affair. Then again," and he waved a hand doorwards, +"servants are servants. I make no doubt they are listening, +and your ladyship's voice has scarce been controlled. You can +never say when a servant may cease to be a servant, and become +an active enemy." + +"Damn the servants!" she swore, dismissing them from +consideration. "Who is this messenger of the secretary's? Who +is he?" + +"He was named Green. 'Tis all I know." + +"And where may he be found?" + +"I cannot say." + +She turned to Lord Ostermore. "Where is Rotherby?" she +inquired. She was a thought breathless. + +"I do not know," said he, in a voice that signified how little +he cared. + +"He must be found. This fellow's silence must be bought. +I'll not have my son disgraced, and gaoled, perhaps. He must +be found." + +Her alarm was very real now. She moved towards the door, then +paused, and turned again. "Meantime, let your lordship +consider what dispositions you are to make for this wretched +girt who is the cause of all this garboil." + +And she swept out, slamming the door violently after her. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +FATHER AND SON + + +Mr. Caryll stayed to dine at Stretton House. Although they +had journeyed but from Croydon that morning, he would have +preferred to have gone first to his lodging to have made - +fastidious as he was - a suitable change in his apparel. But +the urgency that his task dictated caused him to waive the +point. + +He had a half-hour or so to himself after the stormy scene +with her ladyship, in which he had played again - though in a +lesser degree - the part of savior to Mistress Winthrop, a +matter for which the lady had rewarded him, ere withdrawing, +with a friendly smile, which caused him to think her disposed +to forgive him his yesternight's folly. + +In that half-hour he gave himself again very seriously to the +contemplation of his position. He had no illusions on the +score of Lord Ostermore, and he rated his father no higher +than he deserved. But he was just and shrewd in his judgment, +and he was forced to confess that he had found this father of +his vastly different from the man he had been led to expect. +He had looked to find a debauched old rake, a vile creature +steeped in vice and wickedness. Instead, he found a weak, +easy-natured, commonplace fellow, whose worst sin seemed to be +the selfishness that is usually inseparable from those other +characteristics. If Ostermore was not a man of the type that +inspires strong affection, neither was he of the type that +provokes strong dislike. His colorless nature left one +indifferent to him. + +Mr. Caryll, somewhat to his dismay, found himself inclined to +extend the man some sympathy; caught himself upon the verge of +pitying him for being burdened with so very unfilial a son and +so very cursed a wife. It was one of his cherished beliefs +that the evil that men do has a trick of finding them out in +this life, and here, he believed, as shrew-ridden husband and +despised father, the Earl of Ostermore was being made to +expiate that sin of his early years. + +Another of Mr. Caryll's philosophies was that, when all is +said, man is little of a free agent. His viciousness or +sanctity is temperamental; and not the man, but his nature - +which is not self-imbued - must bear the responsibility of a +man's deeds, be they good or bad. + +In the abstract such beliefs are well enough; they are +excellent standards by which to judge where other sufferers +than ourselves are concerned. But when we ourselves are +touched, they are discounted by the measure in which a man's +deeds or misdeeds may affect us. And although to an extent +this might be the case now with Mr. Caryll, yet, in spite of +it, he found himself excusing his father on the score of the +man's weakness and stupidity, until he caught himself up with +the reflection that this was a disloyalty to Everard, to his +training, and to his mother. And yet - he reverted - in such +a man as Ostermore, sheer stupidity, a lack of imagination, of +insight into things as they really are, a lack of feeling that +would disable him from appreciating the extent of any wrong he +did, seemed to Mr. Caryll to be extenuating circumstances. + +He conceived that he was amazingly dispassionate in his +judgment, and he wondered was he right or wrong so to be. +Then the thought of his task arose in his mind, and it bathed +him in a sweat of horror. Over in France he had allowed +himself to be persuaded, and had pledged himself to do this +thing. Everard, the relentless, unforgiving fanatic of +vengeance, had - as we have seen - trained him to believe that +the avenging of his mother's wrongs was the only thing that +could justify his own existence. Besides, it had all seemed +remote then, and easy as remote things are apt to seem. But +now - now that he had met in the flesh this man who was his +father - his hesitation was turned to very horror. It was not +that he did not conceive, in spite of his odd ideas upon +temperament and its responsibilities, that his mother's' +wrongs cried out for vengeance, and that the avenging of them +would be a righteous, fitting deed; but it was that he +conceived that his own was not the hand to do the work of the +executioner upon one who - after all - was still his own +father. It was hideously unnatural. + +He sat in the library, awaiting his lordship and the +announcement of dinner. There was a book before him; but his +eyes were upon the window, the smooth lawns beyond, all +drenched in summer sunshine, and his thoughts were +introspective. He looked into his shuddering soul, and saw +that he could not - that he would not - do the thing which he +was come to do. He would await the coming of Everard, to tell +him so. There would be a storm to face, he knew. But sooner +that than carry this vile thing through. It was vile - most +damnably vile - he now opined. + +The decision taken, he rose and crossed to the window. His +mind had been in travail; his soul had known the pangs of +labor. But now that this strong resolve had been brought +forth, an ease and peace were his that seemed to prove to him +how right he was, how wrong must aught else have been. + +Lord Ostermore came in. He announced that they would be +dining alone together. "Her ladyship," he explained, "has +gone forth in person to seek Lord Rotherby. She believes that +she knows where to find him - in some disreputable haunt, no +doubt, whither her ladyship would have been better advised to +have sent a servant. But women are wayward cattle - wayward, +headstrong cattle! Have you not found them so, Mr. Caryll?" + +"I have found that the opinion is common to most husbands," +said Mr. Caryll, then added a question touching Mistress +Winthrop, and wondered would she not be joining them at table. + +"The poor child keeps her chamber," said the earl. "She is +overwrought - overwrought! I am afraid her ladyship - " He +broke off abruptly, and coughed. "She is overwrought," he +repeated in conclusion. "So that we dine alone." + +And alone they dined. Ostermore, despite the havoc suffered +by his fortunes, kept an excellent table and a clever cook, +and Mr. Caryll was glad to discover in his sire this one +commendable trait. + +The conversation was desultory throughout the repast; but when +the cloth was raised and the table cleared of all but the +dishes of fruit and the decanters of Oporto, Canary and +Madeira, there came a moment of expansion. + +Mr. Caryll was leaning back in his chair, fingering the stem +of his wine-glass, watching the play of sunlight through the +ruddy amber of the wine, and considering the extraordinarily +odd position of a man sitting at table, by the merest chance, +almost, with a father who was not aware that he had begotten +him. A question from his lordship came to stir him partially +from the reverie into which he was beginning to lapse. + +"Do you look to make a long sojourn in England, Mr. Caryll?" + +"It will depend," was the vague and half-unconscious answer, +"upon the success of the matter I am come to transact." + +There ensued a brief pause, during which Mr. Caryll fell again +into his abstraction. + +"Where do you dwell when in France, sir?" inquired my lord, as +if to make polite conversation. + +Mr. Caryll lulled by his musings into carelessness, answered +truthfully, "At Maligny, in Normandy." + +The next moment there was a tinkle of breaking glass, and Mr. +Caryll realized his indiscretion and turned cold. + +Lord Ostermore, who had been in the act of raising his glass, +fetched it down again so suddenly that the stem broke in his +fingers, and the mahogany was flooded with the liquor. A +servant hastened forward, and set a fresh glass for his +lordship. That done, Ostermore signed to the man to withdraw. +The fellow went, closing the door, and leaving those two +alone. + +The pause had been sufficient to enable Mr. Caryll to recover, +and for all that his pulses throbbed more quickly than their +habit, outwardly he maintained his lazily indifferent pose, as +if entirely unconscious that what he had said had occasioned +his father the least disturbance. + +"You - you dwelt at Maligny?" said his lordship, the usual +high color all vanished from his face. And again: "You dwelt +at Maligny, and - and - your name is Caryll." + +Mr. Caryll looked up quickly, as if suddenly aware that his +lordship was expressing surprise. "Why, yes," said he. "What +is there odd in that?" + +"How does it happen that you come to live there? Are you at +all connected with the family of Maligny? On your mother's +side, perhaps?" + +Mr. Caryll took up his wine-glass. "I take it," said he +easily, "that there was some such family at some time. But it +is clear it must have fallen upon evil days." He sipped at +his wine. "There are none left now," he explained, as he set +down his glass. "The last of them died, I believe, in +England." His eyes turned full upon the earl, but their +glance seemed entirely idle. "It was in consequence of that +that my father was enabled to purchase the estate." + +Mr. Caryll accounted it no lie that he suppressed the fact +that the father to whom he referred was but his father by +adoption. + +Relief spread instantly upon Lord Ostermore's countenance. +Clearly, he saw, here was pure coincidence, and nothing more. +Indeed, what else should there have been? What was it that he +had feared? He did not know. Still he accounted it an odd +matter, and said so. + +"What is odd?" inquired Mr. Caryll. "Does it happen that your +lordship was acquainted at any time with that vanished +family?" + +"I was, sir - slightly acquainted - at one time with one or +two of its members. 'Tis that that is odd. You see, sir, my +name, too, happens to be Caryll." + +"True - yet I see nothing so oddly coincident in the matter, +particularly if your acquaintance with these Malignys was but +slight." + +"Indeed, you are right. You are right. There is no such +great coincidence, when all is said. The name reminded me of +a - a folly of my youth. 'Twas that that made impression." + +"A folly?" quoth Mr. Caryll, his eyebrows raised. + +"Ay, a folly - a folly that went near undoing me, for had it +come to my father's ears, he had broke me without mercy. He +was a hard man, my father; a puritan in his ideas." + +"A greater than your lordship?" inquired Mr. Caryll blandly, +masking the rage that seethed in him. + +His lordship laughed. "Ye're a wag, Mr. Caryll - a damned +wag!" Then reverting to the matter that was uppermost in his +mind. "'Tis a fact, though - 'pon honor. My father would ha' +broke me. Luckily she died." + +"Who died?" asked Mr. Caryll, with a show of interest. + +"The girl. Did I not tell you there was a girl? 'Twas she +was the folly - Antoinette de Maligny. But she died - most +opportunely, egad! 'Twas a very damned mercy that she did. It +- cut the - the - what d'ye call it - knot?" + +"The Gordian knot?" suggested Mr. Caryll. + +"Ay - the Gordian knot. Had she lived and had my father +smoked the affair - Gad! he would ha' broke me; he would so!" +he repeated, and emptied his glass. + +Mr. Caryll, white to the lips, sat very still a moment. Then +he did a curious thing; did it with a curious suddenness. He +took a knife from the table, and hacked off the lowest button +from his coat. This he pushed across the board to his father. + +"To turn to other matters," said he; "there is the letter you +were expecting from abroad." + +"Eh? What?" Lord Ostermore took up the button. It was of +silk, interwoven with gold thread. He turned it over in his +fingers, looking at it with a heavy eye, and then at his +guest. "Eh? Letter?" he muttered, puzzled. + +"If your lordship will cut that open, you will see what his +majesty has to propose." He mentioned the king in a voice +charged with suggestion, so that no doubt could linger on the +score of the king he meant. + +"Gad!" cried his lordship. "Gad! 'Twas thus ye bubbled Mr. +Green? Shrewd, on my soul. And you are the messenger, then?" + +"I am the messenger," answered Mr. Caryll coldly. + +"And why did you not say so before?" + +For the fraction of a second Mr. Caryll hesitated. Then: +"Because I did not judge that the time was come," said he. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +TEMPTATION + + +His lordship ripped away the silk covering of the button with +a penknife, and disembowelled it of a small packet, which +consisted of a sheet of fine and very closely-folded and +tightly-compressed paper. This he spread, cast an eye over, +and then looked up at his companion, who was watching him with +simulated indolence. + +His lordship had paled a little, and there was about the lines +of his mouth a look of preternatural gravity. He looked +furtively towards the door, his heavy eyebrows lowering. + +"I think," he said, "that we shall be more snug in the +library. Will you bear me company, Mr. Caryll?" + +Mr. Caryll rose instantly. The earl folded the letter, and +turned to go. His companion paused to pick up the fragments +of the button and slip them into his pocket. He performed the +office with a smile on his lips that was half pity, half +contempt. It did not seem to him that there would be the +least need to betray Lord Ostermore once his lordship was +wedded to the Stuart faction. He would not fail to betray +himself through some act of thoughtless stupidity such as +this. + +In the library - the door, and that of the ante-room beyond +it, carefully closed - his lordship unlocked a secretaire of +walnut, very handsomely inlaid, and, drawing up a chair, he +sat down to the perusal of the king's letter. When he had +read it through, he remained lost in thought a while. At +length he looked up and across towards Mr. Caryll, who was +standing by one of the windows. + +"You are no doubt a confidential agent, sir," said he. "And +you will be fully aware of the contents of this letter that +you have brought me." + +"Fully, my lord," answered Mr. Caryll, "and I venture to hope +that his majesty's promises will overcome any hesitation that +you may feel." + +"His majesty's promises?" said my lord thoughtfully. "His +majesty may never have a chance of fulfilling them." + +"Very true, sir. But who gambles must set a stake upon the +board. Your lordship has been something of a gamester +already, and - or so I gather - with little profit. Here is a +chance to play another game that may mend the evil fortunes of +the last." + +The earl scanned him in surprise. "You are excellent well +informed," said he, between surprise and irony. + +"My trade demands it. Knowledge is my buckler." + +His lordship nodded slowly, and fell very thoughtful, the +letter before him, his eyes wandering ever and anon to con +again some portion of it. "It is a game in which I stake my +head," he muttered presently. + +"Has your lordship anything else to stake?" inquired Mr. +Caryll. + +The earl looked at him again with a gloomy eye, and sighed, +but said nothing. Mr. Caryll resumed. "It is for your +lordship to declare," he said quite coolly, "whether his +majesty has covered your stake. If you think not, it is even +possible that he may be induced to improve his offer. Though +if you think not, for my own part I consider that you set too +high a value on that same head of yours." + +Touched in his vanity, Ostermore looked up at him with a +sudden frown. "You take a bold tone, sir," said he, "a very +bold tone!" + +"Boldness is the attribute next to knowledge most essential to +my calling," Mr. Caryll reminded him. + +His lordship's eye fell before the other's cold glance, and +again he lapsed into thoughtfulness, his cheek now upon his +hand. Suddenly he looked up again. "Tell me," said he. "Who +else is in this thing? Men say that Atterbury is not above +suspicion. Is it - " + +Mr. Caryll bent forward to tap the king's letter with a rigid +forefinger. "When your lordship tells me that you are ready +to concert upon embarking your fortunes in this bottom, you +shall find me disposed, perhaps, to answer questions +concerning others. Meanwhile, our concern is with yourself." + +"Dons and the devil!" swore his lordship angrily. "Is this a +way to speak to me?" He scowled at the agent. "Tell me, my +fine fellow, what would happen if I were to lay this letter +you have brought me before the nearest justice?" + +"I cannot say for sure," answered Mr. Caryll quietly, "but it +is very probable it would help your lordship to the gallows. +For if you will give yourself the trouble of reading it again +- and more carefully - you will see that it makes +acknowledgment of the offer of services you wrote his majesty +a month or so ago." + +His lordship's eyes dropped to the letter again. He caught +his breath in sudden fear. + +"Were I your lordship, I should leave the nearest justice to +enjoy his dinner in peace," said Mr. Caryll, smiling. + +His lordship laughed in a sickly manner. He felt foolish - a +rare condition in him, as in most fools. "Well, well," said +he gruffly. "The matter needs reflection. It needs +reflection." + +Behind them the door opened noiselessly, and her ladyship +appeared in cloak and wimple. She paused there, unperceived +by either, arrested by the words she had caught, and waiting +in the hope of hearing more. + +"I must sleep on't, at least," his lordship was continuing. +"'Tis too grave a matter to be determined thus in haste." + +A faint sound caught the keen ears of Mr. Caryll. He turned +with a leisureliness that bore witness to his miraculous +self-control. Perceiving the countess, he bowed, and casually +put his lordship on his guard. + +"Ah!" said he. "Here is her ladyship returned." + +Lord Ostermore gasped audibly and swung round in an alarm than +which nothing could have betrayed him more effectively. "My - +my love!" he cried, stammering, and by his wild haste to +conceal the letter that he held, drew her attention to it. + +Mr. Caryll stepped between them, his back to his lordship, +that he might act as a screen under cover of which to dispose +safely of that dangerous document. But he was too late. Her +ladyship's quick eyes had flashed to it, and if the distance +precluded the possibility of her discovering anything that +might be written upon it, she, nevertheless, could see the +curious nature of the paper, which was of the flimsiest tissue +of a sort extremely uncommon. + +"What is't ye hide?" said she, as she came forward. "Why, we +are very close, surely! What mischief is't ye hatch, my +lord?"' + +"Mis - mischief, my love?" He smiled propitiatingly - hating +her more than ever in that moment. He had stuffed the letter +into an inner pocket of his coat, and but that she had another +matter to concern her at the moment she would not have allowed +the question she had asked to be so put aside. But this other +matter upon her mind touched her very closely. + +"Devil take it, whatever it may be! Rotherby is here." + +"Rotherby?" His demeanor changed; from conciliating it was of +a sudden transformed to indignant. "What makes he here?" he +demanded. "Did I not forbid him my house?" + +"I brought him," she answered pregnantly. + +But for once he was not to be put down. "Then you may take +him hence again," said he. "I'll not have him under my roof - +under the same roof with that poor child he used so +infamously. I'll not suffer it!" + +The Gorgon cannot have looked more coldly wicked than her +ladyship just then. "Have a care, my lord!" she muttered +threateningly. "Oh, have a care, I do beseech you. I am not +so to be crossed!" + +"Nor am I, ma'am," he rejoined, and then, before more could be +said, Mr. Caryll stepped forward to remind them of his +presence - which they seemed to stand in danger of forgetting. + +"I fear that I intrude, my lord," said he, and bowed in +leave-taking. "I shall wait upon your lordship later. Your +most devoted. Ma'am, your very humble servant." And he bowed +himself out. + +In the ante-room he came upon Lord Rotherby, striding to and +fro, his brow all furrowed with care. At sight of Mr. Caryll, +the viscount's scowl grew blacker. "Oons and the devil!" he +cried. "What make you here?" + +"That," said Mr. Caryll pleasantly, "is the very question your +father is asking her ladyship concerning yourself. Your +servant, sir." And airy, graceful, smiling that damnable +close smile of his, he was gone, leaving Rotherby very hot and +angry. + +Outside Mr. Caryll hailed a chair, and had himself carried to +his lodging in Old Palace Yard, where Leduc awaited him. As +his bearers swung briskly along, Mr. Caryll sat back and gave +himself up to thought. + +Lord Ostermore interested him vastly. For a moment that day +the earl had aroused his anger, as you may have judged from +the sudden resolve upon which he had acted when he delivered +him that letter, thus embarking at the eleventh hour upon a +task which he had already determined to abandon. He knew not +now whether to rejoice or deplore that he had acted upon that +angry impulse. He knew not, indeed, whether to pity or +despise this man who was swayed by no such high motives as +must have affected most of those who were faithful to the +exiled James. Those motives - motives of chivalry and +romanticism in most cases - Lord Ostermore would have despised +if he could have understood them; for he was a man of the type +that despises all things that are not essentially practical, +whose results are not immediately obvious. Being all but +ruined by his association with the South Sea Company, he was +willing for the sake of profit to turn traitor to the king de +facto, even as thirty years ago, actuated by similar motives, +he had turned traitor to the king de jure. + +What was one to make of such a man, wondered Mr. Caryll. If +he were equipped with wit enough to apprehend the baseness of +his conduct, he would be easily understood and it would be +easy to despise him. But Mr. Caryll perceived that he was +dealing with one who never probed into the deeps of anything - +himself and his own conduct least of all - and that a +deplorable lack of perception, of understanding almost, +deprived his lordship of the power to feel as most men feel, +to judge as most men judge. And hence was it that Mr. Caryll +thought him a subject for pity rather than contempt. Even in +that other thirty-year-old matter that so closely touched Mr. +Caryll, the latter was sure that the same pitiful shortcomings +might be urged in the man's excuse. + +Meanwhile, behind him at Stretton House, Mr. Caryll had left a +scene of strife between Lady Ostermore and her son on one side +and Lord Ostermore on the other. Weak and vacillating as he +was in most things, it seemed that the earl could be strong in +his dislike of his son, and firm in his determination not to +condone the infamy of his behavior toward Hortensia Winthrop. + +"The fault is yours," Rotherby sought to excuse himself again +- employing the old argument, and in an angry, contemptuous +tone that was entirely unfilial. "I'd ha' married the girl in +earnest, but for your threats to disinherit me." + +"You fool!" his father stormed at him, "did you suppose that +if I should disinherit you for marrying her, I should be +likely to do less for your luring her into a mock marriage? +I've done with you! Go your ways for a damned profligate - a +scandal to the very name of gentleman. I've done with you!" + +And to that the earl adhered in spite of all that Rotherby and +his mother could urge. He stamped out of the library with a +final command to his son to quit his house and never disgrace +it again by his presence. Rotherby looked ruefully at his +mother. + +"He means it,"' said he. "He never loved me. He was never a +father to me." + +"Were you ever greatly a son to him?" asked her ladyship. + +"As much as he would ha' me be," he answered, his black face +very sullen. "Oh, 'sdeath! I am damnably used by him." He +paced the chamber, storming. "All this garboil about +nothing!", he complained. "Was he never young himself? And +when all is said, there's no harm done. The girl's been +fetched home again." + +"Pshaw! Ye're a fool, Rotherby - a fool, and there's an end +on't," said his mother. "I sometimes wonder which is the +greater fool - you or your father. And yet he can marvel that +you are his son. What do ye think would have happened if you +had had your way with that bread-and-butter miss? It had been +matter enough to hang you." + +"Pooh!" said the viscount, dropping into a chair and staring +sullenly at the carpet. Then sullenly he added: "His lordship +would have been glad on't - so some one would have been +pleased. As it is - " + +"As it is, ye'd better find the man Green who was at +Maidstone, and stop his mouth with guineas. He is aware of +what passed." + +"Bah! Green was there on other business." And he told her of +the suspicions the messenger entertained against Mr. Caryll. + +It set her ladyship thinking. "Why," she said presently, +"'twill be that!" + +"'Twill be what, ma'am?" asked Rotherby, looking up. + +"Why, this fellow Caryll must ha' bubbled the messenger in +spite of the search he may have made. I found the popinjay +here with your father, the pair as thick as thieves - and your +father with a paper in his hand as fine as a cobweb. 'Sdeath! +I'll be sworn he's a damned Jacobite." + +Rotherby was on his feet in an instant. He remembered +suddenly all that he had overheard at Maidstone. "Oho!" he +crowed. "What cause have ye to think that?" + +"Cause? Why, what I have seen. Besides, I feel it in my +bones. My every instinct tells me 'tis so." + +"If you should prove right! Oh, if you should prove right! +Death! I'd find a way to settle the score of that pert fellow +from France, and to dictate terms to his lordship at the same +time." + +Her ladyship stared at him. "Ye're an unnatural hound, +Rotherby. Would ye betray your own father?" + +"Betray him? No! But I'll set a term to his plotting. Egad! +Has he not lost enough in the South Sea Bubble, without +sinking the little that is left in some wild-goose Jacobite +plot?" + +"How shall it matter to you, since he's sworn to disinherit +you?" + +"How, madam?" Rotherby laughed cunningly. "I'll prevent the +one and the other - and pay off Mr. Caryll at the same time. +Three birds with one stone, let me perish!" He reached for +his hat. "I must find this fellow Green." + +"What will you do?" she asked, a slight anxiety trembling in +her voice. + +"Stir up his suspicions of Caryll. He'll be ready enough to +act after his discomfiture at Maidstone. I'll warrant he's +smarting under it. If once we can find cause to lay Caryll by +the heels, the fear of the consequences should bring his +lordship to his senses. 'Twill be my turn then." + +"But you'll do nothing that - that will hurt your father?" she +enjoined him, her hand upon his shoulder. + +"Trust me," he laughed, and added cynically: "It would hardly +sort with my interests to involve him. It will serve me best +to frighten him into reason and a sense of his paternal duty." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE CHAMPION + + +Mr. Caryll was well and handsomely housed, as became the man +of fashion, in the lodging he had taken in Old Palace Yard. +Knowing him from abroad, it was not impossible that the +government - fearful of sedition since the disturbance caused +by the South Sea distress, and aware of an undercurrent of +Jacobitism - might for a time, at least, keep an eye upon him. +It behooved him, therefore, to appear neither more nor less +than a lounger, a gentleman of pleasure who had come to London +in quest of diversion. To support this appearance, Mr. Caryll +had sought out some friends of his in town. There were +Stapleton and Collis, who had been at Oxford with him, and +with whom he had ever since maintained a correspondence and a +friendship. He sought them out on the very evening of his +arrival - after his interview with Lord Ostermore. He had the +satisfaction of being handsomely welcomed by them, and was +plunged under their guidance into the gaieties that the town +afforded liberally for people of quality. + +Mr. Caryll was - as I hope you have gathered - an agreeable +fellow, very free, moreover, with the contents of his +well-equipped purse; and so you may conceive that the town +showed him a very friendly, cordial countenance. He fell into +the habits of the men whose company he frequented; his days +were as idle as theirs, and spent at the parade, the Ring, the +play, the coffeehouse and the ordinary. + +But under the gay exterior he affected he carried a spirit of +most vile unrest. The anger which had prompted his impulse to +execute, after all, the business on which he was come, and to +deliver his father the letter that was to work his ruin, was +all spent. He had cooled, and cool it was idle for him to +tell himself that Lord Ostermore, by his heartless allusion to +the crime of his early years, had proved himself worthy of +nothing but the pit Mr. Caryll had been sent to dig for him. +There were moments when he sought to compel himself so to +think, to steel himself against all other considerations. But +it was idle. The reflection that the task before him was +unnatural came ever to revolt him. To gain ease, the most +that he could do - and he had the faculty of it developed in a +preternatural degree - was to put the business from him for +the time, endeavor to forget it. And he had another matter to +consider and to plague him - the matter of Hortensia Winthrop. +He thought of her a great deal more than was good for his +peace of mind, for all that he pretended to a gladness that +things were as they were. Each morning that he lounged at the +parade in St. James's Park, each evening that he visited the +Ring, it was in the hope of catching some glimpse of her among +the fashionable women that went abroad to see and to be seen. +And on the third morning after his arrival the thing he hoped +for came to pass. + +It had happened that my lady had ordered her carriage that +morning, dressed herself with the habitual splendor, which but +set off the shortcomings of her lean and angular person, +egregiously coiffed, pulvilled and topknotted, and she had +sent a message amounting to a command to Mistress Winthrop +that she should drive in the park with her. + +Poor Hortensia, whose one desire was to hide her face from the +town's uncharitable sight just then, fearing, indeed, that +Rumor's unscrupulous tongue would be as busy about her +reputation as her ladyship had represented, attempted to +assert herself by refusing to obey the command. It was in +vain. Her ladyship dispensed with ambassadors, and went in +person to convey her orders to her husband's ward, and to +enforce them. + +"What's this I am told?" quoth she, as she sailed into +Hortensia's room. "Do my wishes count for nothing, that you +send me pert answers by my woman?" + +Hortensia rose. She had been sitting by the window, a book in +her lap. "Not so, indeed, madam. Not pert, I trust. I am +none so well, and I fear the sun." + +"'Tis little wonder," laughed her ladyship; "and I'm glad +on't, for it shows ye have a conscience somewhere. But 'tis +no matter for that. I am tender for your reputation, +mistress, and I'll not have you shunning daylight like the +guilty thing ye know yourself to be." + +"'Tis false, madam," said Hortensia, with indignation. "Your +ladyship knows it to be false." + +"Harkee, ninny, if you'd have the town believe it false, +you'll show yourself - show that ye have no cause for shame, +no cause to hide you from the eyes of honest folk. Come, +girl; bid your woman get your hood and tippet. The carriage +stays for us." + +To Hortensia her ladyship's seemed, after all, a good +argument. Did she hide, what must the town think but that it +confirmed the talk that she made no doubt was going round +already. Better to go forth and brave it, and surely it +should disarm the backbiters if she showed herself in the park +with Lord Rotherby's own mother. + +It never occurred to her that this seeming tenderness for her +reputation might be but wanton cruelty on her ladyship's part; +a gratifying of her spleen against the girl by setting her in +the pillory of public sight to the end that she should +experience the insult of supercilious glances and lips that +smile with an ostentation of furtiveness; a desire to put down +her pride and break the spirit which my lady accounted +insolent and stubborn. + +Suspecting naught of this, she consented, and drove out with +her ladyship as she was desired to do. But understanding of +her ladyship's cruel motives, and repentance of her own +acquiescence, were not long in following. Soon - very soon - +she realized that anything would have been better than the +ordeal she was forced to undergo. + +It was a warm, sunny morning, and the park was crowded with +fashionable loungers. Lady Ostermore left her carriage at the +gates, and entered the enclosure on foot, accompanied by +Hortensia and followed at a respectful distance by a footman. +Her arrival proved something of a sensation. Hats were swept +off to her ladyship, sly glances flashed at her companion, who +went pale, but apparently serene, eyes looking straight before +her; and there was an obvious concealing of smiles at first, +which later grew to be all unconcealed, and, later still, +became supplemented by remarks that all might hear, remarks +which did not escape - as they were meant not to escape - her +ladyship and Mistress Winthrop. + +"Madam," murmured the girl, in her agony of shame, "we were +not well-advised to come. Will not your ladyship turn back?" + +Her ladyship displayed a vinegary smile, and looked at her +companion over the top of her slowly moving fan. "Why? Is't +not pleasant here?" quoth she. "'Twill be more agreeable +under the trees yonder. The sun will not reach you there, +child." + +"'Tis not the sun I mind, madam," said Hortensia, but received +no answer. Perforce she must pace on beside her ladyship. + +Lord Rotherby came by, arm in arm with his friend, the Duke of +Wharton. It was a one-sided friendship. Lord Rotherby was +but one of the many of his type who furnished a court, a +valetaille, to the gay, dissolute, handsome, witty duke, who +might have been great had he not preferred his vices to his +worthier parts. + +As they went by, Lord Rotherby bared his head and bowed, as +did his companion. Her ladyship smiled upon him, but +Hortensia's eyes looked rigidly ahead, her face a stone. She +heard his grace's insolent laugh as they passed on; she heard +his voice - nowise subdued, for he was a man who loved to let +the world hear what he might have to say. + +"Gad! Rotherby, the wind has changed! Your Dulcinea flies +with you o' Wednesday, and has ne'er a glance for you o' +Saturday! I' faith! ye deserve no better. Art a clumsy +gallant to have been overtaken, and the maid's in the right +on't to resent your clumsiness." + +Rotherby's reply was lost in a splutter of laughter from a +group of sycophants who had overheard his grace's criticism +and were but too ready to laugh at aught his grace might deign +to utter. Her cheeks burned; it was by an effort that she +suppressed the tears that anger was forcing to her eyes. + +The duke, 'twas plain, had set the fashion. Emulators were +not wanting. Stray words she caught; by instinct was she +conscious of the oglings, the fluttering of fans from the +women, the flashing of quizzing-glasses from the men. And +everywhere was there a suppressed laugh, a stifled exclamation +of surprise at her appearance in public - yet not so stifled +but that it reached her, as it was intended that it should. + +In the shadow of a great elm, around which there was a seat, a +little group had gathered, of which the centre was the +sometime toast of the town and queen of many Wells, the Lady +Mary Deller, still beautiful and still unwed - as is so often +the way of reigning toasts - but already past her pristine +freshness, already leaning upon the support of art to maintain +the endowments she had had from nature. She was accounted +witty by the witless, and by some others. + +Of the group that paid its court to her and her companions - +two giggling cousins in their first season were Mr. Caryll and +his friends, Sir Harry Collis and Mr. Edward Stapleton, the +former of whom - he was the lady's brother-in-law - had just +presented him. Mr. Caryll was dressed with even more than his +ordinary magnificence. He was in dove-colored cloth, his coat +very richly laced with gold, his waistcoat - of white brocade +with jeweled buttons, the flower-pattern outlined in finest +gold thread - descended midway to his knees, whilst the +ruffles at his wrists and the Steinkirk at his throat were of +the finest point. He cut a figure of supremest elegance, as +he stood there, his chestnut head slightly bowed in deference +as my Lady Mary spoke, his hat tucked under his arm, his right +hand outstretched beside him to rest upon the gold head of his +clouded-amber cane. + +To the general he was a stranger still in town, and of the +sort that draws the eye and provokes inquiry. Lady Mary, the +only goal of whose shallow existence was the attention of the +sterner sex, who loved to break hearts as a child breaks toys, +for the fun of seeing how they look when broken - and who, +because of that, had succeeded in breaking far fewer than she +fondly imagined - looked up into his face with the "most +perditiously alluring" eyes in England - so Mr. Craske, the +poet, who stood at her elbow now, had described them in the +dedicatory sonnet of his last book of poems. (Wherefore, in +parenthesis be it observed, she had rewarded him with twenty +guineas, as he had calculated that she would.) + +There was a sudden stir in the group. Mr. Craske had caught +sight of Lady Ostermore and Mistress Winthrop, and he fell to +giggling, a flimsy handkerchief to his painted lips. "Oh, +'Sbud!" he bleated. "Let me die! The audaciousness of the +creature! And behold me the port and glance of her! Cold as +a vestal, let me perish!" + +Lady Mary turned with the others to look in the direction he +was pointing - pointing openly, with no thought of +dissembling. + +Mr. Caryll's eyes fell upon Mistress Winthrop, and his glance +was oddly perceptive. He observed those matters of which Mr. +Craske had seemed to make sardonic comment: the erect +stiffness of her carriage, the eyes that looked neither to +right nor left, and the pallor of her face. He observed, too, +the complacent air with which her ladyship advanced beside her +husband's ward, her fan moving languidly, her head nodding to +her acquaintance, as in supreme unconcern of the stir her +coming had effected. + +Mr. Caryll had been dull indeed, knowing what he knew, had he +not understood to the full the humiliation to which Mistress +Hortensia was being of purpose set submitted. + +And just then Rotherby, who had turned, with Wharton and +another now, came by them again. This time he halted, and his +companions with him, for just a moment, to address his mother. +She turned; there was an exchange of greetings, in which +Mistress Hortensia standing rigid as stone - took no part. A +silence fell about; quizzing-glasses went up; all eyes were +focussed upon the group. Then Rotherby and his friends +resumed their way. + +"The dog!" said Mr. Caryll, between his teeth, but went +unheard by any, for in that moment Dorothy Deller - the +younger of the Lady Mary's cousins - gave expression to the +generous and as yet unsullied little heart that was her own. + +"Oh, 'tis shameful!" she cried. "Will you not go speak with +her, Molly?" + +The Lady Mary stiffened. She looked at the company about her +with an apologetic smile. "I beg that ye'll not heed the +child," said she. "'Tis not that she is without morals - but +without knowledge. An innocent little fool; no worse." + +"'Tis bad enough, I vow," laughed an old beau, who sought fame +as a man of a cynical turn of humor. + +"But fortunately rare," said Mr. Caryll dryly. "Like charity, +almost unknown in this Babylon." + +His tone was not quite nice, although perhaps the Lady Mary +was the only one to perceive the note of challenge in it. But +Mr. Craske, the poet, diverted attention to himself by a +prolonged, malicious chuckle. Rotherby was just moving away +from his mother at that moment. + +"They've never a word for each other to-day!" he cried. "Oh, +'Sbud! not so much as the mercy of a glance will the lady +afford him." And he burst into the ballad of King Francis: + + "Souvent femme varie, + Bien, fol est qui s'y fie!" + +and laughed his prodigious delight at the aptness of his +quotation. + +Mr. Caryll put up his gold-rimmed quizzing-glass, and directed +through that powerful weapon of offence an eye of supreme +displeasure upon the singer. He could not contain his rage, +yet from his languid tone none would have suspected it. +"Sir," said he, "ye've a singular unpleasant voice." + +Mr. Craske, thrown out of countenance by so much directness, +could only stare; the same did the others, though some few +tittered, for Mr. Craske, when all was said, was held in no +great esteem by the discriminant. + +Mr. Caryll lowered his glass. "I've heard it said by the +uncharitable that ye were a lackey before ye became a +plagiarist. 'Tis a rumor I shall contradict in future; 'tis +plainly a lie, for your voice betrays you to have been a +chairman." + +"Sir - sir - " spluttered the poetaster, crimson with anger +and mortification. "Is this - is this - seemly - between +gentlemen?" + +"Between gentlemen it would not be seemly," Mr. Caryll agreed. + +Mr. Craske, quivering, yet controlling himself, bowed stiffly. +"I have too much respect for myself - " he gasped. + +"Ye'll be singular in that, no doubt," said Mr. Caryll, and +turned his shoulder upon him. + +Again Mr. Craske appeared to make an effort at self-control; +again he bowed. "I know - I hope - what is due to the Lady +Mary Deller, to - to answer you as - as befits. But you shall +hear from me, sir. You shall hear from me." + +He bowed a third time - a bow that took in the entire company +- and withdrew in high dudgeon and with a great show of +dignity. A pause ensued, and then the Lady Mary reproved Mr. +Caryll. + +"Oh, 'twas cruel in you, sir," she cried. "Poor Mr. Craske! +And to dub him plagiarist! 'Twas the unkindest cut of all!" + +"Truth, madam, is never kind." + +"Oh, fie! You make bad worse!" she cried. + +"He'll put you in the pillory of his verse for this," laughed +Collis. "Ye'll be most scurvily lampooned for't." + +"Poor Mr. Craske!" sighed the Lady Mary again. + +"Poor, indeed; but not in the sense to deserve pity. An +upstart impostor such as that to soil a lady with his +criticism!" + +Lady Mary's brows went up. "You use a singular severity, +sir," she opined, "and I think it unwise in you to grow so hot +in the defence of a reputation whose owner has so little care +for it herself." + +Mr. Caryll looked at her out of his level gray-green eyes; a +hot answer quivered on his tongue, an answer that had crushed +her venom for some time and had probably left him with a +quarrel on his hands. Yet his smile, as he considered her, +was very sweet, so sweet that her ladyship, guessing nothing +of the bitterness it was used to cover, went as near a smirk +as it was possible for one so elegant. He was, she judged, +another victim ripe for immolation on the altar of her +goddessship. And Mr. Caryll, who had taken her measure very +thoroughly, seeing something of how her thoughts were running, +bethought him of a sweeter vengeance. + +"Lady Mary," he cried, a soft reproach in his voice, "I have +been sore mistook in you if you are one to be guided by the +rabble." And he waved a hand toward the modish throng. + +She knit her fine brows, bewildered. + +"Ah!" he cried, interpreting her glance to suit his ends, +"perish the thought, indeed! I knew that I could not be +wrong. I knew that one so peerless in all else must be +peerless, too, in her opinions; judging for herself, and +standing firm upon her judgment in disdain of meaner souls - +mere sheep to follow their bell-wether." + +She opened her mouth to speak, but said nothing, being too +intrigued by this sudden and most sweet flattery. Her mere +beauty had oft been praised, and in terms that glowed like +fire. But what was that compared with this fine appreciation +of her less obvious mental parts - and that from one who had +seen the world? + +Mr. Caryll was bending over her. "What a chance is here," he +was murmuring, "to mark your lofty detachment - to show how +utter is your indifference to what the common herd may think." + +"As - as how?" she asked, blinking up at him. + +The others stood at gaze, scarce yet suspecting the drift of +so much talk. + +"There is a poor lady yonder, of whose fair name a bubble is +being blown and pricked. I dare swear there's not a woman +here durst speak to her. Yet what a chance for one that +dared! How fine a triumph would be hers!" He sighed. +"Heigho! I almost wish I were a woman, that I might make that +triumph mine and mark my superiority to these painted dolls +that have neither wit nor courage." + +The Lady Mary rose, a faint color in her cheeks, a sparkle in +her fine eyes. A great joy flashed into Mr. Caryll's in quick +response; a joy in her - she thought with ready vanity - and a +heightening admiration. + +"Will you make it yours, as it should be - as it must ever be +- to lead and not to follow?" he cried, flattering +incredibility trembling in his voice. + +"And why not, sir?" she demanded, now thoroughly aroused. + +"Why not, indeed - since you are you?" quoth he. "It is what +I had hoped in you, and yet - and yet what I had almost feared +to hope." + +She frowned upon him now, so excellently had he done his work. +"Why should you have feared that?" + +"Alas! I am a man of little faith - unworthy, indeed, your +good opinion since I entertained a doubt. It was a +blasphemy." + +She smiled again. "You acknowledge your faults with such a +grace," said she, "that we must needs forgive them. And now +to show you how much you need forgiveness. Come, children," +she bade her cousins - for whose innocence she had made +apology but a moment back. "Your arm, Harry," she begged her +brother-in-law. + +Sir Harry obeyed her readily, but without eagerness. In his +heart he cursed his friend Caryll for having set her on to +this. + +Mr. Caryll himself hung upon her other side, his eyes toward +Lady Ostermore and Hortensia, who, whilst being observed by +all, were being approached by few; and these few confined +themselves to an exchange of greetings with her ladyship, +which constituted a worse offence to Mistress Winthrop than +had they stayed away. + +Suddenly, as if drawn by his ardent gaze, Hortensia's eyes +moved at last from their forward fixity. Her glance met Mr. +Caryll's across the intervening space. Instantly he swept off +his hat, and bowed profoundly. The action drew attention to +himself. All eyes were focussed upon him, and between many a +pair there was a frown for one who should dare thus to run +counter to the general attitude. + +But there was more to follow. The Lady Mary accepted Mr. +Caryll's salutation of Hortensia as a signal. She led the way +promptly, and the little band swept forward, straight for its +goal, raked by the volleys from a thousand eyes, under which +the Lady Mary already began to giggle excitedly. + +Thus they reached the countess, the countess standing very +rigid in her amazement, to receive them. + +"I hope I see your ladyship well," said Lady Mary. + +"I hope your ladyship does," answered the countess tartly. + +Mistress Winthrop's eyes were lowered; her cheeks were +scarlet. Her distress was plain, born of her doubt of the +Lady Mary's purpose, and suspense as to what might follow. + +"I have not the honor of your ward's acquaintance, Lady +Ostermore," said Lady Mary, whilst the men were bowing, and +her cousins curtseying to the countess and her companion +collectively. + +The countess gasped, recovered, and eyed the speaker without +any sign of affection. "My husband's ward, ma'am," she +corrected, in a voice that seemed to discourage further +mention of Hortensia. + +"'Tis but a distinction," put in Mr. Caryll suggestively. + +"Indeed, yes. Will not your ladyship present me?" The +countess' malevolent eyes turned a moment upon Mr. Caryll, +smiling demurely at Lady Mary's elbow. In his face - as well +as in the four words he had uttered - she saw that here was +work of his, and he gained nothing in her favor by it. +Meanwhile there were no grounds - other than such as must have +been wantonly offensive to the Lady Mary, and so not to be +dreamed of - upon which to refuse her request. The countess +braced herself, and with an ill grace performed the brief +ceremony of presentation. + +Mistress Winthrop looked up an instant, then down again; it +was a piteous, almost a pleading glance. + +Lady Mary, leaving the countess to Sir Harry Stapleton, Caryll +and the others, moved to Hortensia's side for a moment she was +at loss what to say, and took refuge in a commonplace. + +"I have long desired the pleasure of your acquaintance," said +she. + +"I am honored, madam," replied Hortensia, with downcast eyes. +Then lifting them with almost disconcerting suddenness. "Your +ladyship has chosen an odd season in which to gratify this +desire with which you honor me." + +Lady Mary laughed, as much at the remark as for the benefit of +those whose eyes were upon her. She knew there would not be +wanting many who would condemn her; but these should be far +outnumbered by those who would be lost in admiration of her +daring, that she could so fly in the face of public opinion; +and she was grateful to Mr. Caryll for having suggested to her +a course of such distinction. + +"I could have chosen no better season," she replied, "to mark +my scorn of evil tongues and backbiters." + +Color stained Hortensia's cheek again; gratitude glowed in her +eyes. "You are very noble, madam," she answered with +flattering earnestness. + +"La!" said the Lady Mary. "Is nobility, then, so easily +achieved?" And thereafter they talked of inconsequent +trifles, until Mr. Caryll moved towards them, and Lady Mary +turned aside to speak to the countess. + +At Mr. Caryll's approach Hortensia's eyes had been lowered +again, and she made no offer to address him as he stood before +her now, hat under arm, leaning easily upon his amber cane. + +"Oh, heart of stone!" said he at last. "Am I not yet +forgiven?" + +She misread his meaning - perhaps already the suspicion she +now voiced had been in her mind. She looked up at him +sharply. "Was it - was it you who fetched the Lady Mary to +me?" she inquired. + +"Lo!" said he. "You have a voice! Now Heaven be praised! I +was fearing it was lost for me - that you had made some awful +vow never again to rejoice my ears with the music of it." + +"You have not answered my question," she reminded him. + +"Nor you mine," said he. "I asked you am I not yet forgiven." + +"Forgiven what?" + +"For being born an impudent, fleering coxcomb - twas that you +called me, I think." + +She flushed deeply. "If you would win forgiveness, you should +not remind me of the offence," she answered low. + +"Nay," he rejoined, "that is to confound forgiveness with +forgetfulness. I want you to forgive and yet to remember." + +"That were to condone." + +"What else? 'Tis nothing less will satisfy me." + +"You expect too much," she answered, with a touch that was +almost of sternness. + +He shrugged and smiled whimsically. "It is my way," he said +apologetically. "Nature has made me expectant, and life, +whilst showing me the folly of it, has not yet cured me." + +She looked at him, and repeated her earlier question. "Was it +at your bidding that Lady Mary came to speak with me?" + +"Fie!" he cried. "What insinuations do you make against her?" + +"Insinuations?" + +"What else? That she should do things at my bidding!" + +She smiled understanding. "You have a talent, sir, for +crooked answers." + +"'Tis to conceal the rectitude of my behavior." + +"It fails of its object, then," said she, "for it deludes no +one." She paused and laughed at his look of assumed +blankness. "I am deeply beholden to you," she whispered +quickly, breathing at once gratitude and confusion. + +"Though I don't descry the cause," said he, "'twill be +something to comfort me." + +More he might have added then, for the mad mood was upon him, +awakened by those soft brown eyes of hers. But in that moment +the others of that little party crowded upon them to take +their leave of Mistress Winthrop. + +Mr. Caryll felt satisfied that enough had been done to curb +the slander concerning Hortensia. But he was not long in +learning how profound was his mistake. On every side he +continued to hear her discussed, and in such terms as made his +ears tingle and his hands itch to be at work in her defence; +for, with smirks and sneers and innuendoes, her escapade with +Lord Rotherby continued to furnish a topic for the town as her +ladyship had sworn it would. Yet by what right could he +espouse her cause with any one of her defamers without +bringing her fair name into still more odious notoriety? + +And meanwhile he knew that he was under strict surveillance +from Mr. Green; knew that he was watched wherever he went; and +nothing but his confidence that no evidence could be produced +against him allowed him to remain, as he did, all unconcerned +of this. + +Leduc had more than once seen Mr. Green about Old Palace Yard, +besides a couple of his underlings, one or the other of whom +was never absent from the place, no doubt with intent to +observe who came and went at Mr. Caryll's. Once, indeed, +during the absence of master and servant, Mr. Caryll's lodging +was broken into, and on Leduc's return he found a confusion +which told him how thoroughly the place had been ransacked. + +If Mr. Caryll had had anything to hide, this would have given +him the hint to take his precautions; but as he had nothing +that was in the least degree in incriminating, he went his +ways in supremest unconcern of the vigilance exerted over him. +He used, however, a greater discretion in the resorts he +frequented. And if upon occasion he visited such Tory +meeting-places as the Bell Tavern in King Street or the +Cocoa-Tree in Pall Mall, he was still more often to be found +at White's, that ultra-Whig resort. + +It was at this latter house, one evening three or four days +after his meeting with Hortensia in the park, that the chance +was afforded him at last of vindicating her honor in a manner +that need not add to the scandal that was already abroad, nor +serve to couple his name with hers unduly. And it was Lord +Rotherby himself who afforded him the opportunity. + +The thing fell out in this wise: Mr. Caryll was at cards with +Harry Collis and Stapleton and Major Gascoigne, in a room +above-stairs. There were at least a dozen others present, +some also at play, others merely lounging. Of the latter was +his Grace of Wharton. He was a slender, graceful gentleman, +whose face, if slightly effeminate and markedly dissipated, +was nevertheless of considerable beauty. He was very splendid +in a suit of green camlett and silver lace, and he wore a +flaxen periwig without powder. + +He was awaiting Rotherby, with whom - as he told the company - +he was for a frolic at Drury Lane, where a ridotto was +following the play. He spoke, as usual, in a loud voice that +all might hear, and his talk was loose and heavily salted as +became the talk of a rake of his exalted rank. It was chiefly +concerned with airing his bitter grievance against Mrs. +Girdlebank, of the Theatre Royal, of whom he announced himself +"devilishly enamoured." + +He inveighed against her that she should have the gross +vulgarity to love her husband, and against her husband that he +should have the audacity to play the watchdog over her, and +bark and growl at the duke's approach. + +"A plague on all husbands, say I," ended the worthy president +of the Bold Bucks. + +"Nay, now, but I'm a husband myself, gad!" protested Mr. +Sidney, who was quite the most delicate, mincing man of +fashion about town, and one of that valetaille that hovered +about his Grace of Wharton's heels. + +"'Tis no matter in your case," said the duke, with that +contempt he used towards his followers. "Your wife's too ugly +to be looked at." And Mr. Sidney's fresh protest was drowned +in the roar of laughter that went up to applaud that brutal +frankness. Mr. Caryll turned to the fop, who happened to be +standing at his elbow. + +"Never repine, man," said he. "In the company you keep, such +a wife makes for peace of mind. To have that is to have +much." + +Wharton resumed his railings at the Girdlebanks, and was still +at them when Rotherby came in. + +"At last, Charles!" the duke hailed him, rising. "Another +minute, and I had gone without you." + +But Rotherby scarce looked at him, and answered with unwonted +shortness. His eyes had discovered Mr. Caryll. It was the +first time he had run against him since that day, over a week +ago, at Stretton House, and at sight of him now all Rotherby's +spleen was moved. He stood and stared, his dark eyes +narrowing, his cheeks flushing slightly under their tan. +Wharton, who had approached him, observing his sudden halt, +his sudden look of concentration, asked him shortly what might +ail him. + +"I have seen someone I did not expect to find in a resort of +gentlemen," said Rotherby, his eyes ever on Mr. Caryll, who - +engrossed in his game - was all unconscious of his lordship's +advent. + +Wharton followed the direction of his companion's gaze, and +giving now attention himself to Mr. Caryll, he fell to +appraising his genteel appearance, negligent of the +insinuation in what Rotherby had said. + +"'Sdeath!" swore the duke. "'Tis a man of taste - a travelled +gentleman by his air. Behold me the grace of that +shoulder-knot, Charles, and the set of that most admirable +coat. Fifty guineas wouldn't buy his Steinkirk. Who is this +beau?" + +"I'll present him to your grace," said Rotherby shortly. He +had pretentions at being a beau himself; but his grace - +supreme arbiter in such matters - had never yet remarked it. + +They moved across the room, greetings passing as they went. +At their approach, Mr. Caryll looked up. Rotherby made him a +leg with an excessive show of deference, arguing irony. "'Tis +an unlooked-for pleasure to meet you here, sir," said he in a +tone that drew the attention of all present. + +"No pleasures are so sweet as the unexpected," answered Mr. +Caryll, with casual amiability, and since he perceived at once +the errand upon which Lord Rotherby was come to him, he went +half-way to meet him. "Has your lordship been contracting any +marriages of late?" he inquired. + +The viscount smiled icily. "You have quick wits, sir," said +he, "which is as it should be in one who lives by them." + +"Let your lordship be thankful that such is not your own +case," returned Mr. Caryll, with imperturbable good humor, and +sent a titter round the room. + +"A hit! A shrewd hit, 'pon honor!" cried Wharton, tapping his +snuff-box. "I vow to Gad, Ye're undone, Charles. Ye'd better +play at repartee with Gascoigne, there. Ye're more of a +weight." + +"Your grace," cried Rotherby, suppressing at great cost his +passion, "'tis not to be borne that a fellow of this condition +should sit among men of quality." And with that he swung +round and addressed the company in general. "Gentlemen, do +you know who this fellow is? He has the effrontery to take my +name, and call himself Caryll." + +Mr. Caryll looked a moment at his brother in the silence that +followed. Then, as in a flash, he saw his chance of +vindicating Mistress Winthrop, and he seized it. + +"And do you know, gentlemen, who this fellow is?" he inquired, +with an air of sly amusement. "He is - Nay, you shall judge +for yourselves. You shall hear the story of how we met; it is +the story of his abduction of a lady whose name need not be +mentioned; the story of his dastardly attempt to cozen her +into a mock-marriage." + +"Mock -mock-marriage?" cried the duke and a dozen others with +him, some in surprise, but most in an unbelief that was +already faintly tinged with horror - which argued ill for my +Lord Rotherby when the story should be told. + +"You damned rogue - " began his lordship, and would have flung +himself upon Caryll, but that Collis and Stapleton, and +Wharton himself, put forth hands to stay him by main force. + +Others, too, had risen. But Mr. Caryll sat quietly in his +chair, idly fingering the cards before him, and smiling +gently, between amusement and irony. He was much mistaken if +he did not make Lord Rotherby bitterly regret the initiative +he had taken in their quarrel. + +"Gently, my lord," the duke admonished the viscount. "This - +this gentleman has said that which touches your honor. He +shall say more. He shall make good his words, or eat them. +But the matter cannot rest thus." + +"It shall not, by God!" swore Rotherby, purple now. "It shall +not. I'll kill him like a dog for what he has said." + +"But before I die, gentlemen," said Mr. Caryll, "it were well +that you should have the full story of that sorry adventure +from an eye-witness." + +"An eye-witness? Were ye present?" cried two or three in a +breath. + +"I desire to lay before you all the story of how we met my +lord there and I. It is so closely enmeshed with the story of +that abduction and mock-marriage that the one is scarce to be +distinguished from the other." + +Rotherby writhed to shake off those who held him. + +"Will ye listen to this fellow?" he roared. "He's a spy, I +tell you - a Jacobite spy!" He was beside himself with anger +and apprehension, and he never paused to weigh the words he +uttered. It was with him a question of stopping his accuser's +mouth with whatever mud came under his hands. "He has no +right here. It is not to be borne. I know not by what means +he has thrust himself among you, but - " + +"That is a knowledge I can afford your lordship," came +Stapleton's steady voice to interrupt the speaker. "Mr. +Caryll is here by my invitation." + +"And by mine and Gascoigne's here," added Sir Harry Collis, +"and I will answer for his quality to any man who doubts it." + +Rotherby glared at Mr. Caryll's sponsors, struck dumb by this +sudden and unexpected refutation of the charge he had leveled. + +Wharton, who had stepped aside, knit his brows and flashed his +quizzing-glass - through sheer force of habit - upon Lord +Rotherby. Then: + +"You'll pardon me, Harry," said he, "but you'll see, I hope, +that the question is not impertinent; that I put it to the end +that we may clearly know with whom we have to deal and what +consideration to extend him, what credit to attach to the +communication he is to make us touching my lord here. Under +what circumstances did you become acquainted with Mr. Caryll?" + +"I have known him these twelve years," answered Collis +promptly; "so has Stapleton, so has Gascoigne, so have a dozen +other gentlemen who could be produced, and who, like +ourselves, were at Oxford with him. For myself and Stapleton, +I can say that our acquaintance - indeed, I should say our +friendship - with Mr. Caryll has been continuous since then, +and that we have visited him on several occasions at his +estate of Maligny in Normandy. That he habitually inhabits +the country of his birth is the reason why Mr. Caryll has not +hitherto had the advantage of your grace's acquaintance. Need +I say more to efface the false statement made by my Lord +Rotherby?" + +"False? Do you dare give me the lie, sir?" roared Rotherby. + +But the duke soothed him. Under his profligate exterior his +Grace of Wharton concealed - indeed, wasted - a deal of +shrewdness, ability and inherent strength. "One thing at a +time, my lord," said the president of the Bold Bucks. "Let us +attend to the matter of Mr. Caryll." + +"Dons and the devil! Does your grace take sides with him?" + +"I take no sides. But I owe it to myself - we all owe it to +ourselves - that this matter should be cleared." + +Rotherby leered at him, his lip trembling with anger. "Does +the president of the Bold Bucks pretend to administrate a +court of honor?" he sneered heavily. + +"Your lordship will gain little by this," Wharton admonished +him, so coldly that Rotherby belatedly came to some portion of +his senses again. The duke turned to Caryll. "Mr. Caryll," +said he, "Sir Harry has given you very handsome credentials, +which would seem to prove you worthy the hospitality of +White's. You have, however, permitted yourself certain +expressions concerning his lordship here, which we cannot +allow to remain where you have left them. You must retract, +sir, or make them good." His gravity, and the preciseness of +his diction now, sorted most oddly with his foppish airs. + +Mr. Caryll closed his snuff-box with a snap. A hush fell +instantly upon the company, which by now was all crowding +about the little table at which sat Mr. Caryll and his three +friends. A footman who entered at the moment to snuff the +candles and see what the gentlemen might be requiring, was +dismissed the room. When the door had closed, Mr. Caryll +began to speak. + +One more attempt was made by Rotherby to interfere, but this +attempt was disposed of by Wharton, who had constituted +himself entirely master of the proceedings. + +"If you will not allow Mr. Caryll to speak, we shall infer +that you fear what he may have to say; you will compel us to +hear him in your absence, and I cannot think that you would +prefer that, my lord." + +My lord fell silent. He was breathing heavily, and his face +was pale, his eyes angry beyond words, what time Mr. Caryll, +in amiable, musical voice, with its precise and at moments +slightly foreign enunciation, unfolded the shameful story of +the affair at the "Adam and Eve," at Maidstone. He told a +plain, straightforward tale, making little attempt to +reproduce any of its color, giving his audience purely and +simply the facts that had taken place. He told how he himself +had been chosen as a witness when my lord had heard that there +was a traveller from France in the house, and showed how that +slight circumstance had first awakened his suspicions of foul +play. He provoked some amusement when he dealt with his +detection and exposure of the sham parson. But in the main he +was heard with a stern and ominous attention - ominous for +Lord Rotherby. + +Rakes these men admittedly were with but few exceptions. No +ordinary tale of gallantry could have shocked them, or +provoked them to aught but a contemptuous mirth at the expense +of the victim, male or female. They would have thought little +the worse of a man for running off with the wife, say, of one +of his acquaintance; they would have thought nothing of his +running off with a sister or a daughter - so long as it was +not of their own. All these were fair game, and if the +husband, father or brother could not protect the wife, sister +or daughter that was his, the more shame to him. But though +they might be fair game, the game had its rules - anomalous as +it may seem. These rules Lord Rotherby - if the tale Mr. +Caryll told was true - had violated. He had practiced a +cheat, the more dastardly because the poor lady who had so +narrowly escaped being his victim had nether father nor +brother to avenge her. And in every eye that was upon him +Lord Rotherby might have read, had he had the wit to do so, +the very sternest condemnation. + +"A pretty story, as I've a soul!" was his grace's comment, +when Mr. Caryll had done. "A pretty story, my Lord Rotherby. +I have a stomach for strong meat myself. But - odds my life! +- this is too nauseous!" + +Rotherby glared at him. "'Slife! your grace is grown very +nice on a sudden!" he sneered. "The president of the Bold +Bucks, the master of the Hell Fire Club, is most oddly +squeamish where the diversions of another are concerned." + +"Diversions?" said his grace, his eyebrows raised until they +all but vanished under the golden curls of his peruke. +"Diversions? Ha! I observe that you make no attempt to deny +the story. You admit it, then?" + +There was a stir in the group, a drawing back from his +lordship. He observed it, trembling between chagrin and rage. +"What's here?" he cried, and laughed contemptuously. "Oh, ah! +You'll follow where his grace leads you! Ye've followed him +so long in lewdness that now yell follow him in conversion! +But as for you, sir," and he swung fiercely upon Caryll, "you +and your precious story - will you maintain it sword in hand?" + +"I can do better," answered Mr. Caryll, "if any doubts my +word." + +"As how?" + +"I can prove it categorically, by witnesses." + +"Well said, Caryll," Stapleton approved him. + +"And if I say that you lie - you and your witnesses?" + +"'T is you will be liar," said Mr. Caryll. + +"Besides, it is a little late for that," cut in the duke. + +"Your grace," cried Rotherby, "is this affair yours?" + +"No, I thank Heaven!" said his grace, and sat down. + +Rotherby scowled at the man who until ten minutes ago had been +his friend and boon companion, and there was more of contempt +than anger in his eyes. He turned again to Mr. Caryll, who +was watching him with a gleam of amusement - that infernally +irritating amusement of his - in his gray-green eyes. + +"Well?" he demanded foolishly, "have you naught to say?" + +"I had thought," returned Mr. Caryll, "that I had said +enough." And the duke laughed aloud. + +Rotherby's lip was curled. "Ha! You don't think, now, that +you may have said too much?" + +Mr. Caryll stifled a yawn. "Do you?" he inquired blandly. + +"Ay, by God! Too much for a gentleman to leave unpunished." + +"Possibly. But what gentleman is concerned in this?" + +"I am!" thundered Rotherby. + +"I see. And how do you conceive that you answer the +description?" + +Rotherby swore at him with great choice and variety. "You +shall learn," he promised him. "My friends shall wait on you +to-night." + +"I wonder who will carry his message?" ventured Collis to the +ceiling. Rotherby turned on him, fierce as a rat. "It is a +matter you may discover to your cost, Sir Harry," he snarled. + +"I think," put in his grace very languidly, "that you are +troubling the harmony that is wont to reign here." + +His lordship stood still a moment. Then, quite suddenly, he +snatched up a candlestick to hurl at Mr. Caryll. But he had +it wrenched from his hands ere he could launch it. + +He stood a moment, discomfited, glowering upon his brother. +"My friends shall wait on you to-night," he repeated. + +"You said so before," Mr. Caryll replied wearily. "I shall +endeavor to make them welcome." + +His lordship nodded stupidly, and strode to the door. His +departure was observed in silence. On every face he read his +sentence. These men - rakes though they were, professedly - +would own him no more for their associate; and what these men +thought to-night not a gentleman in town but would be thinking +the same tomorrow. He had the stupidity to lay it all to the +score of Mr. Caryll, not perceiving that he had brought it +upon himself by his own aggressiveness. He paused, his hand +upon the doorknob, and turned to loose a last shaft at them. + +"As for you others, that follow your bell-wether there," and +he indicated his grace, whose shoulder was towards him, "this +matter ends not here." + +And with that general threat he passed out, and that snug room +at White's knew him no more. + +Major Gascoigne was gathering up the cards that had been flung +down when first the storm arose. Mr. Caryll bent to assist +him. And the last voice Lord Rotherby heard as he departed +was Mr. Caryll's, and the words it uttered were: "Come, Ned; +the deal is with you." + +His lordship swore through his teeth, and went downstairs +heavily. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +SPURS TO THE RELUCTANT + + +Before Mr. Caryll left White's - which he did at a +comparatively early hour, that he might be at home to receive +Lord Rotherby's friends - not a man present but had offered +him his services in the affair he had upon his hands. +Wharton, indeed, was not to be denied for one; and for the +other Mr. Caryll desired Gascoigne to do him the honor of +representing him. + +It was a fine, dry night, and feeling the need for exercise, +Mr. Caryll set out to walk the short distance from St. +James's Street to his lodging, with a link-boy, preceding him, +for only attendant. Arrived home, he was met by Leduc with +the information that Sir Richard Everard was awaiting him. He +went in, and the next moment he was in the arms of his +adoptive father. + +Greetings and minor courtesies disposed of, Sir Richard came +straight to the affair which he had at heart. "Well? How +speeds the matter?" + +Mr. Caryll's face became overcast. He sat down, a thought +wearily. + +"So far as Lord Ostermore is concerned, it speeds - as you +would wish it. So far as I am concerned" - he paused and +sighed - "I would that it sped not at all, or that I was out +of it." + +Sir Richard looked at him with searching eyes. "How?" he +asked. "What would you have me understand?" + +"That in spite of all that has been said between us, in spite +of all the arguments you have employed, and with which once, +for a little while, you convinced me, this task is loathsome +to me in the last degree. Ostermore is my father, and I can't +forget it." + +"And your mother?" Sir Richard's tone was sad, rather than +indignant; it spoke of a bitter disappointment, not at the +events, but at this man whom he loved with all a father's +love. + +"It were idle to go over it all again. I know everything that +you would - that you could - say. I have said it all to +myself again and again, in a vain endeavor to steel myself to +the business to which you plighted me. Had Ostermore been +different, perhaps it had been easier. I cannot say. As it +is, I see in him a weakling, a man of inferior intellect, who +does not judge things as you and I judge them, whose life +cannot have been guided by the rules that serve for men of +stronger purpose." + +"You find excuses for him? For his deed?" cried Sir Richard, +and his voice was full of horror now; he stared askance at his +adoptive son. + +"No, no! Oh, I don't know. On my soul and conscience, I +don't know!" cried Mr. Caryll, like one in pain. He rose and +moved restlessly about the room. "No," he pursued more +calmly, "I don't excuse him. I blame him - more bitterly than +you can think; perhaps more bitterly even than do you, for I +have had a look into his mind and see the exact place held +there by my mother's memory. I can judge and condemn him; but +I can't execute him; I can't betray him. I don't think I +could do it even if he were not my father." + +He paused, and leaning his hands upon the table at which Sir +Richard sat, he faced him, and spoke in a voice of earnest +pleading. "Sir Richard, this was not the task to give me; or, +if you had planned to give it me, you should have reared me +differently; you should not have sought to make of me a +gentleman. You have brought me up to principles of honor, and +you ask me now to outrage them, to cast them off, and to +become a very Judas. Is't wonderful I should rebel?" + +They were hurtful words to Sir Richard - the poor fanatic +whose mind was all unsound on this one point, who had lived in +contemplation of his vengeance as a fasting monk lives through +Lent in contemplation of the Easter plenty. The lines of +sorrow deepened in his face. + +"Justin," he said slowly, "you forget one thing. Honor is to +be used with men of honor; but he who allows his honor to +stand a barrier between himself and the man who has wronged +him by dishonor, is no better than a fool. You speak of +yourself; you think of yourself. And what of me, Justin? The +things you say of yourself apply in a like degree - nay, even +more - to me." + +"Ah, but you are not his son. Oh, believe me, I speak not +hastily or lightly. I have been torn this way and that in +these past days, until at moments the burden has been heavier +than I could bear. Once, for a little while, I thought I +could do all and more than you expect of me - the moment, +indeed, in which I took the first step, and delivered him the +letter. But it was a moment of wild heat. I cooled, and +reflection followed, and since then, because so much was done, +I have not known an instant's peace of mind; I have endeavored +to forget the position in which I am placed; but I have +failed. I cannot. And if I go through with this thing, I +shall not know another hour in life that is not poisoned by +remorse." + +"Remorse?" echoed Sir Richard, between consternation and +anger. "Remorse?" He laughed bitterly. "What ails thee, boy? +Do you pretend that Lord Ostermore should go unpunished? Do +you go so far as that?" + +"Not so. He has made others suffer, and it is just - as we +understand justice - that he should suffer in his turn. +Though, when all is said, he is but a poor egotist, too +dull-witted to understand the full vileness of his sin. He is +suffering, as it is - cursed in his son; for `the father of a +fool hath no joy.' He hates this son of his, and his son +despises him. His wife is a shrew, a termagant, who embitters +every hour of his existence. Thus he drags out his life, +unloving and unloved, a thing to evoke pity." + +"Pity?" cried Sir Richard in a voice of thunder. "Pity? Ha! +As I've a soul, Justin, he shall be more pitiful yet ere I +have done with him." + +"Be it so, then. But - if you love me - find some other hand +to do the work." + +"If I love you, Justin?" echoed the other, and his voice +softened, his eyes looked reproachfully upon his adoptive +child. "Needs there an `if' to that? Are you not all I have +- my son, indeed?" + +He held out his hands, and Justin took them affectionately and +pressed them in his own. + +"You'll put these weak notions from your mind, Justin, and +prove worthy the noble lady who was your mother?" + +Mr. Caryll moved aside again, hanging his head, his face pale +and troubled. Where Everard's arguments must fail, his own +affection for Everard was like to conquer him. It was very +weak in him, he told himself; but then his love for Everard +was strong, and he would fain spare Everard the pain he knew +he must be occasioning him. Still he did battle, his +repugnance up in arms. + +"I would you could see the matter as I see it," he sighed. +"This man grown old, and reaping in his old age the fruits of +the egotism he has sown. I do not believe that in all the +world there is a single soul would weep his lordship's death - +if we except, perhaps, Mistress Winthrop." + +"And do you pity him for that?" quoth Sir Richard coldly. +"What right has he to expect aught else? Who sows for +himself, reaps for himself. I marvel, indeed, that there +should be even one to bewail him - to spare him a kind +thought." + +"And even there," mused Mr. Caryll, "it is perhaps gratitude +rather than affection that inspires the kindness." + +"Who is Mistress Winthrop?" + +"His ward. As sweet a lady, I think, as I have ever seen," +said Mr. Caryll, incautious enthusiasm assailing him. Sir +Richard's eyes narrowed. + +"You have some acquaintance with her?" he suggested. + +Very briefly Mr. Caryll sketched for the second time that +evening the circumstances of his first meeting with Rotherby. + +Sir Richard nodded sardonically. "Hum! He is his father's +son, not a doubt of that. 'Twill be a most worthy successor +to my Lord Ostermore. But the lady? Tell me of the lady. +How comes she linked with them?" + +"I scarce know, save from the scraps that I have heard. Her +father, it would seem, was Ostermore's friend, and, dying, he +appointed Ostermore her guardian. Her fortune, I take it, is +very slender. Nevertheless, Ostermore, whatever he may have +done by other people, appears in this case to have discharged +his trust with zeal and with affection. But, indeed, who +could have done other where that sweet lady was concerned? You +should see her, Sir Richard!" He was pacing the room now as +he spoke, and as he spoke he warmed to his subject more and +more. "She is middling tall, of a most dainty slenderness, +dark-haired, with a so sweet and saintly beauty of face that +it must be seen to be believed. And eyes - Lord! the glory of +her eyes! They are eyes that would lead a man into hell and +make him believe it heaven + + "'Love doth to her eyes repair + To help him of his blindness.'" + +Sir Richard watched him, displeasure growing in his face. +"So!" he said at last. "Is that the reason?" + +"The reason of what?" quoth Mr. Caryll, recalled from his +sweet rapture. + +"The reason of these fresh qualms of yours. The reason of all +this sympathy for Ostermore; this unwillingness to perform the +sacred duty that is yours." + +"Nay - on my soul, you do me wrong!" cried Mr. Caryll +indignantly. "If aught had been needed to spur me on, it had +been my meeting with this lady. It needed that to make me +realize to the bitter full the wrong my Lord Ostermore has +done me in getting me; to make me realize that I am a man +without a name to offer any woman." + +But Sir Richard, watching him intently, shook his head and +fetched a sigh of sorrow and disdain. "Pshaw, Justin! How we +befool ourselves! You think it is not so; you try to think it +is not so; but to me it is very plain. A woman has arisen in +your life, and this woman, seen but once or twice, unknown a +week or so ago, suffices to eclipse the memory of your mother +and turns your aim in life - the avenging of her bitter wrongs +- to water. Oh, Justin, Justin! I had thought you stronger." + +"Your conclusions are all wrong. I swear they are wrong!" + +Sir Richard considered him sombrely. "Are you sure - quite, +quite sure?" + +Mr. Caryll's eyes fell, as the doubt now entered his mind for +the first time that it might be indeed as Sir Richard was +suggesting. He was not quite sure. + +"Prove it to me, Justin," Everard pleaded. "Prove it by +abandoning this weakness where my Lord Ostermore is concerned. +Remember only the wrong he has done. You are the incarnation +of that wrong, and by your hand must he be destroyed." He +rose, and caught the younger man's hands again in his own, +forced Mr. Caryll to confront him. "He shall know when the +time comes whose hand it was that pulled him down; he shall +know the Nemesis that has lain in wait for him these thirty +years to smite him at the end. And he shall taste hell in +this world before he goes to it in the next. It is God's own +justice, boy! Will you be false to the duty that lies before +you? Will you forget your mother and her sufferings because +you have looked into the eyes of this girl, who - " + +"No, no! Say no more!" cried Mr. Caryll, his voice trembling. + +"You will do it," said Sir Richard, between question and +assertion. + +"If Heaven lends me strength of purpose. But it asks much," +was the gloomy answer. "I am to see Lord Ostermore to-morrow +to obtain his answer to King James' letter." + +Sir Richard's eyes gleamed. He released the other's hands, +and turned slowly to his chair again. "It is well," he said +slowly. "The thing asks dispatch, or else some of his +majesty's real friends may be involved." + +He proceeded to explain his words. "I have talked in vain +with Atterbury. He will not abandon the enterprise even at +King James' commands. He urges that his majesty can have no +conception of how the matter is advanced; that he has been +laboring like Hercules, and that the party is being swelled by +men of weight and substance every day; that it is too late to +go back, and that he will go forward with the king's consent +or without it. Should he or his agents approach Ostermore, in +the meantime, it will be too late for us to take such measures +as we have concerted. For to deliver up Ostermore then would +entail the betrayal of others, which is not to be dreamt of. +So you'll use dispatch." + +"If I do the thing at all, it shall be done to-morrow," +answered Mr. Caryll. + +"If at all?" cried Sir Richard, frowning again. "If at all?" + +Caryll turned to him. He crossed to the table, and leaning +across it, until his face was quite close to his adoptive +father's. "Sir Richard," he begged, "let us say no more +to-night. My will is all to do the thing. It is my - my +instincts that rebel. I think that the day will be carried by +my will. I shall strive to that end, believe me. But let us +say no more now." + +Sir Richard, looking deep into Mr. Caryll's eyes, was touched +by something that he saw. "My poor Justin!" he said gently. +Then, checking the sympathy as swiftly as it rose: "So be it, +then," he said briskly. "You'll come to me to-morrow after +you have seen his lordship?" + +"Will you not remain here?" + +"You have not the room. Besides, Sir Richard Everard - is too +well known for a Jacobite to be observed sharing your lodging. +I have no right at all in England, and there is always the +chance of my being discovered. I would not pull you down with +me. I am lodged at the corner of Maiden Lane, next door to +the sign of Golden Flitch. Come to me there to-morrow after +you have seen Lord Ostermore." He hesitated a moment. He was +impelled to recapitulate his injunctions; but he forbore. He +put out his hand abruptly. "Good-night, Justin." + +Justin took the hand and pressed it. The door opened, and +Leduc entered. + +"Captain Mainwaring and Mr. Falgate are here, sir, and would +speak with you," he announced. + +Mr. Caryll knit his brows a moment. His acquaintance with +both men was of the slightest, and it was only upon reflection +that he bethought him they would, no doubt, be come in the +matter of his affair with Rotherby, which in the stress of his +interview with Sir Richard had been quite forgotten. He +nodded. + +"Wait upon Sir Richard to the door, Leduc," he bade his man. +"Then introduce these gentlemen." + +Sir Richard had drawn back a step. "I trust neither of these +gentlemen knows me," he said. "I would not be seen here by +any that did. It might compromise you." + +But Mr. Caryll belittled Sir Richard's fears. "Pooh! 'Tis +very unlike," said he; whereupon Sir Richard, seeing no help +for it, went out quickly, Leduc in attendance. + +Lord Rotherby's friends in the ante-room paid little heed to +him as he passed briskly through. Surveillance came rather +from an entirely unsuspected quarter. As he left the house +and crossed the square, a figure detached itself from the +shadow of the wall, and set out to follow. It hung in his +rear through the filthy, labyrinthine streets which Sir +Richard took to Charing Cross, followed him along the Strand +and up Bedford Street, and took note of the house he entered +at the corner of Maiden Lane. + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE ASSAULT-AT-ARMS + +The meeting was appointed by my Lord Rotherby for seven +o'clock next morning in Lincoln's Inn Fields. It is true that +Lincoln's Inn Fields at an early hour of the day was accounted +a convenient spot for the transaction of such business as +this; yet, considering that it was in the immediate +neighborhood of Stretton House, overlooked, indeed, by the +windows of that mansion, it is not easy to rid the mind of a +suspicion that Rotherby appointed that place of purpose set, +and with intent to mark his contempt and defiance of his +father, with whom he supposed Mr. Caryll to be in some league. + +Accompanied by the Duke of Wharton and Major Gascoigne, Mr. +Caryll entered the enclosure promptly as seven was striking +from St. Clement Danes. They had come in a coach, which they +had left in waiting at the corner of Portugal Row. + +As they penetrated beyond the belt of trees they found that +they were the first in the field, and his grace proceeded with +the major to inspect the ground, so that time might be saved +against the coming of the other party. + +Mr. Caryll stood apart, breathing the freshness of the sunlit +morning, but supremely indifferent to its glory. He was +gloomy and preoccupied. He had slept ill that night after his +interview with Sir Richard, tormented by the odious choice +that lay before him of either breaking with the adoptive +father to whom he owed obedience and affection, or betraying +his natural father whom he had every reason to hate, yet who +remained his father. He had been able to arrive at no +solution. Duty seemed to point one way; instinct the other. +Down in his heart he felt that when the moment came it would +be the behests of instinct that he would obey, and, in obeying +them, play false to Sir Richard and to the memory of his +mother. It was the only course that went with honor; and yet +it was a course that must lead to a break with the one friend +he had in the world - the one man who stood to him for family +and kin. + +And now, as if that were not enough to plague him, there was +this quarrel with Rotherby which he had upon his hands. That, +too, he had been considering during the wakeful hours of that +summer night. Had he reflected he must have seen that no +other result could have followed his narrative at White's last +night; and yet it was a case in which reflection would not +have stayed him. Hortensia Winthrop's fair name was to be +cleansed of the smirch that had been cast upon it, and Justin +was the only man in whose power it had lain to do it. More +than that - if more were needed - it was Rotherby himself, by +his aggressiveness, who had thrust Mr. Caryll into a position +which almost made it necessary for him to explain himself; and +that he could scarcely have done by any other than the means +which he had adopted. Under ordinary circumstances the matter +would have troubled him not at all; this meeting with such a +man as Rotherby would not have robbed him of a moment's sleep. +But there came the reflection - belatedly - that Rotherby was +his brother, his father's son; and he experienced just the +same degree of repugnance at the prospect of crossing swords +with him as he did at the prospect of betraying Lord +Ostermore. Sir Richard would force upon him a parricide's +task; Fate a fratricide's. Truly, he thought, it was an +enviable position, his. + +Pacing the turf, on which the dew still gleamed and sparkled +diamond-like, he pondered his course, and wondered now, at the +last moment, was there no way to avert this meeting. Could +not the matter be arranged? He was stirred out of his musings +by Gascoigne's voice, raised to curse the tardiness of Lord +Rotherby. + +"'Slife! Where does the fellow tarry? Was he so drunk last +night that he's not yet slept himself sober?" + +"The streets are astir," put in Wharton, helping himself to +snuff. And, indeed, the cries of the morning hawkers reached +them now from the four sides of the square. "If his lordship +does not come soon, I doubt if we may stay for him. We shall +have half the town for spectators." + +"Who are these?" quoth Gascoigne, stepping aside and craning +his neck to get a better view. "Ah! Here they come." And he +indicated a group of three that had that moment passed the +palings. + +Gascoigne and Wharton went to meet the newcomers. Lord +Rotherby was attended by Mainwaring, a militia captain - a +great, burly, scarred bully of a man - and a Mr. Falgate, an +extravagant young buck of his acquaintance. An odder pair of +sponsors he could not have found had he been at pains to +choose them so. + +"Adso!" swore Mr. Falgate, in his shrill, affected voice. "I +vow 'tis a most ungenteel hour, this, for men of quality to be +abroad. I had my beauty sleep broke into to be here in time. +Lard! I shall be dozing all day for't!" He took off his hat +and delicately mopped his brow with a square of lace he called +a handkerchief. + +"Shall we come to business, gentlemen?" quoth Mainwaring +gruffly. + +"With all my heart," answered Wharton. "It is growing late." + +"Late! La, my dears!" clucked Mr. Falgate in horror. "Has +your grace not been to bed yet?" + +"To save time," said Gascoigne, "we have made an inspection of +the ground, and we think that under the trees yonder is a spot +not to be bettered." + +Mainwaring flashed a critical and experienced eye over the +place. "The sun is - So?" he said, looking up. "Yes; it +should serve well enough, I - " + +"It will not serve at all," cried Rotherby, who stood a pace +or two apart. "A little to the right, there, the turf is +better." + +"But there is no protection," put in the duke. "You will be +under observation from that side of the square, including +Stretton House." + +"What odds?" quoth Rotherby. "Do I care who overlooks us?" +And he laughed unpleasantly. "Or is your grace ashamed of +being seen in your friend's company?" + +Wharton looked him steadily in the face a moment, then turned +to his lordship's seconds. "If Mr. Caryll is of the same mind +as his lordship, we had best get to work at once," he said; +and bowing to them, withdrew with Gascoigne. + +"See to the swords, Mainwaring," said Rotherby shortly. +"Here, Fanny!" This to Falgate, whose name was Francis, and +who delighted in the feminine diminutive which his intimates +used toward him. "Come help me with my clothes." + +"I vow to Gad," protested Mr. Falgate, advancing to the task. +"I make but an indifferent valet, my dear." + +Mr. Caryll stood thoughtful a moment when Rotherby's wishes +had been made known to him. The odd irony of the situation - +the key to which he was the only one to hold - was borne in +upon him. He fetched a sigh of utter weariness. + +"I have," said he, "the greatest repugnance to meeting his +lordship." + +"'Tis little wonder," returned his grace contemptuously. "But +since 'tis forced upon you, I hope you'll give him the lesson +in manners that he needs." + +"Is it - is it unavoidable?" quoth Mr. Caryll. + +"Unavoidable?" Wharton looked at him in stern wonder. + +Gascoigne, too, swung round to stare. "Unavoidable? What can +you mean, Caryll?" + +"I mean is the matter not to be arranged in any way? Must the +duel take place?" + +His Grace of Wharton stroked his chin contemplatively, his eye +ironical, his lip curling never so slightly. "Why," said he, +at length, "you may beg my Lord Rotherby's pardon for having +given him the lie. You may retract, and brand yourself a liar +and your version of the Maidstone affair a silly invention +which ye have not the courage to maintain. You may do that, +Mr. Caryll. For my own sake, let me add, I hope you will not +do it." + +"I am not thinking of your grace at all," said Mr. Caryll, +slightly piqued by the tone the other took with him. "But to +relieve your mind of such doubts as I see you entertain, I can +assure you that it is out of no motives of weakness that I +boggle at this combat. Though I confess that I am no +ferrailleur, and that I abhor the duel as a means of settling +a difference just as I abhor all things that are stupid and +insensate, yet I am not the man to shirk an encounter where an +encounter is forced upon me. But in this affair - " he +paused, then ended - "there is more than meets your grace's +eye, or, indeed, anyone's." + +He was so calm, so master of himself, that Wharton perceived +how groundless must have been his first notion. Whatever +might be Mr. Caryll's motives, it was plain from his most +perfect composure that they were not motives of fear. His +grace's half-contemptuous smile was dissipated. + +"This is mere trifling, Mr. Caryll," he reminded his +principal, "and time is speeding. Your withdrawal now would +not only be damaging to yourself; it would be damaging to the +lady of whose fair name you have made yourself the champion. +You must see that it is too late for doubts on the score of +this meeting." + +"Ay - by God!" swore Gascoigne hotly. "What a pox ails you, +Caryll?" + +Mr. Caryll took off his hat and flung it on the ground behind +him. "We must go on, then," said he. "Gascoigne, see to the +swords with his lordship's friend there." + +With a relieved look, the major went forward to make the final +preparations, whilst Mr. Caryll, attended by Wharton, rapidly +divested himself of coat and waistcoat, then kicked off his +light shoes, and stood ready, a slight, lithe, graceful figure +in white Holland shirt and pearl-colored small clothes. + +A moment later the adversaries were face to face - Rotherby, +divested of his wig and with a kerchief bound about his +close-cropped head, all a trembling eagerness; Mr. Caryll with +a reluctance lightly masked by a dangerous composure. + +There was a perfunctory salute - a mere presenting of arms - +and the blades swept round in a half-circle to their first +meeting. But Rotherby, without so much as allowing his steel +to touch his opponent's, as the laws of courtesy demanded, +swirled it away again into the higher lines and lunged. It +was almost like a foul attempt to take his adversary unawares +and unprepared, and for a second it looked as if it must +succeed. It must have succeeded but for the miraculous +quickness of Mr. Caryll. Swinging round on the ball of his +right foot, lightly and gracefully as a dancing master, and +with no sign of haste or fear in his amazing speed, he let the +other's hard-driven blade glance past him, to meet nothing but +the empty air. + +As a result, by the very force of the stroke, Rotherby found +himself over-reached and carried beyond his point of aim; +while Mr. Caryll's sideward movement brought him not only +nearer his opponent, but entirely within his guard. + +It was seen by them all, and by none with such panic as +Rotherby himself, that, as a consequence of his quasi-foul +stroke, the viscount was thrown entirely at the mercy of his +opponent thus at the very outset of the encounter, before +their blades had so much as touched each other. A +straightening of the arm on the part of Mr. Caryll, and the +engagement would have been at an end. + +Mr. Caryll, however, did not straighten his arm. He was +observed to smile as he broke ground and waited for his +lordship to recover. + +Falgate turned pale. Mainwaring swore softly under his +breath, in fear for his principal; Gascoigne did the same in +vexation at the opportunity Mr. Caryll had so wantonly wasted. +Wharton looked on with tight-pressed lips, and wondered. + +Rotherby recovered, and for a moment the two men stood apart, +seeming to feel each other with their eyes before resuming. +Then his lordship renewed the attack with vigor. + +Mr. Caryll parried lightly and closely, plying a beautiful +weapon in the best manner of the French school, and opposing +to the ponderous force of his antagonist a delicate +frustrating science. Rotherby, a fine swordsman in his way, +soon saw that here was need for all his skill, and he exerted +it. But the prodigious rapidity of his blade broke as upon a +cuirass against the other's light, impenetrable guard. + +His lordship broke ground, breathed heavily, and sweated under +the glare of the morning sun, cursing this swordsman who, so +cool and deliberate, husbanded his strength and scarcely +seemed to move, yet by sheer skill and address more than +neutralized his lordship's advantages of greater strength and +length of reach. + +"You cursed French dog!" swore the viscount presently, between +his teeth, and as he spoke he made a ringing parade, feinted, +beat the ground with his foot to draw off the other's +attention, and went in again with a full-length lunge. "Parry +that, you damned maitre-d'armes" he roared. + +Mr. Caryll answered nothing; he parried; parried again; +delivered a riposte whenever the opportunity offered, or +whenever his lordship grew too pressing, and it became +expedient to drive him back; but never once did he stretch out +to lunge in his turn. The seconds were so lost in wonder at +the beauty of this close play of his that they paid no heed to +what was taking place in the square about them. They never +observed the opening windows and the spectators gathering at +them - as Wharton had feared. Amongst these, had either of +the combatants looked up, he would have seen his own father on +the balcony of Stretton House. A moment the earl stood there, +Lady Ostermore at his side; then he vanished into the house +again, to reappear almost at once in the street, with a couple +of footmen hurrying after him. + +Meanwhile the combat went on. Once Lord Rotherby had +attempted to fall back for a respite, realizing that he was +winded. But Mr. Caryll denied him this, attacking now for the +first time, and the rapidity of his play was such that +Rotherby opined - the end to be at hand, appreciated to the +full his peril. In a last desperate effort, gathering up what +shreds of strength remained him, he repulsed Mr. Caryll by a +vigorous counter attack. He saw an opening, feinted to +enlarge it, and drove in quickly, throwing his last ounce of +strength into the effort. This time it could not be said to +have been parried. Something else happened. His blade, +coming foible on forte against Mr. Caryll's, was suddenly +enveloped. It was as if a tentacle had been thrust out to +seize it. For the barest fraction of a second was it held so +by Mr. Caryll's sword; then, easily but irresistibly, it was +lifted out of Rotherby's hand, and dropped on the turf a +half-yard or so from his lordship's stockinged feet. + +A cold sweat of terror broke upon him. He caught his breath +with a half-shuddering sob of fear, his eyes dilating wildly - +for Mr. Caryll's point was coming straight as an arrow at his +throat. On it came and on, until it was within perhaps three +inches of the flesh. + +There it was suddenly arrested, and for a long moment it was +held there poised, death itself, menacing and imminent. And +Lord Rotherby, not daring to move, rooted where he stood, +looked with fascinated eyes along that shimmering blade into +two gleaming eyes behind it that seemed to watch him with a +solemnity that was grim to the point of mockery. + +Time and the world stood still, or were annihilated in that +moment for the man who waited. + +High in the blue overhead a lark was pouring out its song; but +his lordship heard it not. He heard nothing, he was conscious +of nothing but that gleaming sword and those gleaming eyes +behind it. + +Then a voice - the voice of his antagonist - broke the +silence. "Is more needed?" it asked, and without waiting for +a reply, Mr. Caryll lowered his blade and drew himself +upright. "Let this suffice," he said. "To take your life +would be to deprive you of the means of profiting by this +lesson." + +It seemed to Rotherby as if he were awaking from a trance. +The world resumed its way. He breathed again, and +straightened himself, too, from the arrested attitude of his +last lunge. Rage welled up from his black soul; a crimson +flood swept into his pallid cheeks; his eyes rolled and blazed +with the fury of the mad. + +Mr. Caryll moved away. In that quiet voice of his: "Take up +your sword," he said to the vanquished, over his shoulder. + +Wharton and Gascoigne moved towards him, without words to +express the amazement that still held Rotherby glared an instant +longer without moving. Then, doing as Mr. Caryll had bidden him, +he stooped to recover his blade. A moment he held it, looking +after his departing adversary; then with swift, silent stealth +he sprang to follow. His fell intent was written on his face. + +Falgate gasped - a helpless fool - while Mainwaring hurled +himself forward to prevent the thing he saw impended. Too +late. Even as he flung out his hands to grapple with his +lordship, Rotherby's arm drove straight before him and sent +his sword through the undefended back of Mr. Caryll. + +All that Mr. Caryll realized at first was that he had been +struck a blow between the shoulder blades; and then, ere he +could turn to inquire into the cause, he was amazed to see +some three inches of steel come through his shirt in front. +The next instant an exquisite, burning, searing pain went +through and through him as the blade was being withdrawn. He +coughed and swayed, then hurtled sideways into the arms of +Major Gascoigne. His senses swam. The turf heaved and rolled +as if an earthquake moved it; the houses fronting the square +and the trees immediately before him leaped and danced as if +suddenly launched into grotesque animation, while about him +swirled a wild, incoherent noise of voices, rising and +falling, now loud, now silent, and reaching him through a +murmuring hum that surged about his ears until it shut out all +else and consciousness deserted him. + +Around him, meanwhile, a wild scene was toward. + +His Grace of Wharton had wrenched away the sword from +Rotherby, and mastered by an effort his own impulse to use it +upon the murderer. Captain Mainwaring - Rotherby's own +second, a man of quick, fierce passions - utterly unable to +control himself, fell upon his lordship and beat him to the +ground with his hands, cursing him and heaping abuse upon him +with every blow; whilst delicate Mr. Falgate, in the +background, sick to the point of faintness, stood dabbing his +lips with his handkerchief and swearing that he would rot +before he allowed himself again to be dragged into an affair +of honor. + +"Ye damned cutthroat!" swore the militia captain, standing +over the man he had felled. "D'ye know what'll be the fruits +of this? Ye'll swing at Tyburn like the dirty thief y' are. +God help me! I'd give a hundred guineas sooner than be mixed +in this filthy business." + +"'Tis no matter for that now," said the duke, touching him on +the shoulder and drawing him away from his lordship. "Get up, +Rotherby." + +Heavily, mechanically, Rotherby got to his feet. Now that the +fit of rage was over, he was himself all stricken at the thing +he had done. He looked at the limp figure on the turf, +huddled against the knee of Major Gascoigne; looked at the +white face, the closed eyes and the stain of blood oozing +farther and farther across the Holland shirt, and, as white +himself as the stricken man, he shuddered and his mouth was +drawn wide with horror. + +But pitiful though he looked, he inspired no pity in the Duke +of Wharton, who considered him with an eye of unspeakable +severity. "If Mr. Caryll dies," said he coldly, "I shall see +to it that you hang, my lord. I'll not rest until I bring you +to the gallows." + +And then, before more could be said, there came a sound of +running steps and labored breathing, and his grace swore +softly to himself as he beheld no other than Lord Ostermore +advancing rapidly, all out of breath and apoplectic of face, a +couple of footmen pressing close upon his heels, and, behind +these, a score of sightseers who had followed them. + +"What's here?" cried the earl, without glancing at his son. +"Is he dead? Is he dead?" + +Gascoigne, who was busily endeavoring to stanch the bleeding, +answered without looking up: "It is in God's hands. I think +he is very like to die." + +Ostermore swung round upon Rotherby. He had paled suddenly, +and his mouth trembled. He raised his clenched hand, and it +seemed that he was about to strike his son; then he let it +fall again. "You villain!" he panted, breathless from running +and from rage. "I saw it! I saw it all. It was murder, and, +as God's my life, if Mr. Caryll dies, I shall see to it that +you hang - I, your own father." + +Thus assailed on every side, some of the cowering, shrinking +manner left the viscount. His antagonism to his father +spurred him to a prouder carriage. He shrugged indifferently. +"So be it," he said. "I have been told that already. I don't +greatly care." + +Mainwaring, who had been stooping over Mr. Caryll, and who had +perhaps more knowledge of wounds than any present, shook his +head ominously. + +"'Twould be dangerous to move him far," said he. "'Twill +increase the hemorrhage." + +"My men shall carry him across to Stretton House," said Lord +Ostermore. "Lend a hand here, you gaping oafs." + +The footmen advanced. The crowd, which was growing rapidly +and was watching almost in silence, awed, pressed as close as +it dared upon these gentlemen. Mainwaring procured a couple +of cloaks and improvised a stretcher with them. Of this he +took one corner himself, Gascoigne another, and the footmen +the remaining two. Thus, as gently as might be, they bore the +wounded man from the enclosure, through the crowd that had by +now assembled in the street, and over the threshold of +Stretton House. + +A groom had been dispatched for a doctor, and his Grace of +Wharton had compelled Rotherby to accompany them into his +father's house, sternly threatening to hand him over to a +constable at once if he refused. + +Within the cool hall of Stretton House they were met by her +ladyship and Mistress Winthrop, both pale, but the eyes of +each wearing a vastly different expression. + +"What's this?" demanded her ladyship, as they trooped in. +"Why do you bring him here?" + +"Because, madam," answered Ostermore in a voice as hard as +iron, "it imports to save his life; for if he dies, your son +dies as surely - and on the scaffold." + +Her ladyship staggered and flung a hand to her breast. But +her recovery was almost immediate. "'Twas a duel - " she +began stoutly. + +"'Twas murder," his lordship corrected, interrupting - +"murder, as any of these gentlemen can and will bear witness. +Rotherby ran Mr. Caryll through the back after Mr. Caryll had +spared his life." + +"'Tis a lie!" screamed her ladyship, her lips ashen. She +turned to Rotherby, who stood there in shirt and breeches and +shoeless, as he had fought. "Why don't you say that it is a +lie?" she demanded. + +Rotherby endeavored to master himself. "Madam," he said, +"here is no place for you." + +"But is it true? Is it true what is being said?" + +He half-turned from her, with a despairing movement, and +caught the sharp hiss of her indrawn breath. Then she swept +past him to the side of the wounded man, who had been laid on +a settle. "What is his hurt?" she inquired wildly, looking +about her. But no one spoke. Tragedy - more far than the +tragedy of that man's possible death - was in the air, and +struck them all silent. "Will no one answer me?" she +insisted. "Is it mortal? Is it?" + +His Grace of Wharton turned to her with an unusual gravity in +his blue eyes. "We hope not, ma'am," he said. "But it is as +God wills." + +Her limbs seemed to fail her, and she sank down on her knees +beside the settle. "We must save him," she muttered +fearfully. "We must save his life. Where is the doctor? He +won't die! Oh, he must not die!" + +They stood grouped about, looking on in silence, Rotherby in +the background. Behind him again, on the topmost of the three +steps that led up into the inner hall, stood Mistress +Winthrop, white of face, a wild horror in the eyes she riveted +upon the wounded and unconscious man. She realized that he +was like to die. There was an infinite pity in her soul - +and, maybe, something more. Her impulse was to go to him; her +every instinct urged her. But her reason held her back. + +Then, as she looked, she saw with a feeling almost of terror +that his eyes were suddenly wide open. + +"Wha - what?" came in feeble accents from his lips. + +There was a stir about him. + +"Never move, Justin," said Gascoigne, who stood by his head. +"You are hurt. Lie still. The doctor has been summoned." + +"Ah!" It was a sigh. The wounded man closed his eyes a +moment, then re-opened them. "I remember. I remember," he +said feebly. "It is - it is grave?" he inquired. "It went +right through me. I remember!" He surveyed himself. +"There's been a deal of blood lost. I am like to die, I take +it." + +"Nay, sir, we hope not - we hope not!" It was the countess +who spoke. + +A wry smile twisted his lips. "Your ladyship is very good," +said he. "I had not thought you quite so much my well-wisher. +I - I have done you a wrong, madam." He paused for breath, +and it was not plain whether he spoke in sincerity or in +sarcasm. Then with a startling suddenness he broke into a +soft laugh and to those risen, who could not think what had +occasioned it, it sounded more dreadful than any plaint he +could have uttered. + +He had bethought him that there was no longer the need for him +to come to a decision in the matter that had brought him to +England, and his laugh was almost of relief. The riddle he +could never have solved for himself in a manner that had not +shattered his future peace of mind, was solved and well solved +if this were death. + +"Where - where is Rotherby?" he inquired presently. + +There was a stir, and men drew back, leaving an open lane to +the place where Rotherby stood. Mr. Caryll saw him, and +smiled, and his smile held no tinge of mockery. "You are the +best friend I ever had, Rotherby," he startled all by saying. +"Let him approach," he begged. + +Rotherby came forward like one who walks in his sleep. "I am +sorry," he said thickly, "cursed sorry." + +"There's scarce the need," said Mr. Caryll. "Lift me up, +Tom," he begged Gascoigne. "There's scarce the need. You +have cleared up something that was plaguing me, my lord. I am +your debtor for - for that. It disposes of something I could +never have disposed of had I lived." He turned to the Duke of +Wharton. "It was an accident," he said significantly. "You +all saw that it was an accident." + +A denial rang out. "It was no accident!" cried Lord +Ostermore, and swore an oath. "We all saw what it was." + +"I'faith, then, your eyes deceived you. It was an accident, I +say - and who should know better than I?" He was smiling in +that whimsical enigmatic way of his. Smiling still he sank +back into Gascoigne's arms. + +"You are talking too much," said the Major. + +"What odds? I am not like to talk much longer." + +The door opened to admit a gentleman in black, wearing a +grizzle wig and carrying a gold-headed cane. Men moved aside +to allow him to approach Mr. Caryll. The latter, not noticing +him, had met at last the gaze of Hortensia's eyes. He +continued to smile, but his smile was now changed to +wistfulness under that pitiful regard of hers. + +"It is better so," he was saying. "Better so!" + +His glance was upon her, and she understood what none other +there suspected - that those words were for her alone. + +He closed his eyes and swooned again, as the doctor stooped to +remove the temporary bandages from his wound. + +Hortensia, a sob beating in her throat, turned and fled to her +own room. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +SUNSHINE AND SHADOW + +Mr. Caryll was almost happy. + +He reclined on a long chair, supported by pillows cunningly +set for him by the deft hands of Leduc, and took his ease and +indulged his day-dreams in Lord Ostermore's garden. He sat +within the cool, fragrant shade of a privet arbor, interlaced +with flowering lilac and laburnum, and he looked out upon the +long sweep of emerald lawn and the little patch of ornamental +water where the water-lilies gaped their ivory chalices to the +morning sun. + +He looked thinner, paler and more frail than was his habit, +which is not wonderful, considering that he had been four +weeks abed while his wound was mending. He was dressed, again +by the hands of the incomparable Leduc, in a deshabille of +some artistry. A dark-blue dressing-gown of flowered satin +fell open at the waist; disclosing sky-blue breeches and +pearl-colored stockings, elegant shoes of Spanish leather with +red heels and diamond buckles. His chestnut hair had been +dressed with as great care as though he were attending a +levee, and Leduc had insisted upon placing a small round patch +under his left eye, that it might - said Leduc - impart +vivacity to a countenance that looked over-wan from his long +confinement. + +He reclined there, and, as I have said, was almost happy. + +The creature of sunshine that was himself at heart, had broken +through the heavy clouds that had been obscuring him. An +oppressive burden was lifted from his mind and conscience. +That sword-thrust through the back a month ago had been +guided, he opined, by the hand of a befriending Providence; +for although he had, as you see, survived it, it had none the +less solved for him that hateful problem he could never have +solved for himself, that problem whose solution,- no matter +which alternative he had adopted - must have brought him +untold misery afterwards. + +As it was, during the weeks that he had lain helpless, his +life attached to him by but the merest thread, the chance of +betraying Lord Ostermore was gone, nor - the circumstances +being such as they were - could Sir Richard Everard blame him +that he had let it pass. + +Thus he knew peace; knew it as only those know it who have +sustained unrest and can appreciate relief from it. + +Nature had made him a voluptuary, and reclining there in an +ease which the languor born of his long illness rendered the +more delicious, inhaling the tepid summer air that came to him +laden with a most sweet attar from the flowering rose-garden, +he realized that with all its cares life may be sweet to live +in youth and in the month of June. + +He sighed, and smiled pensively at the water-lilies; nor was +his happiness entirely and solely the essence of his material +ease. This was his third morning out of doors, and on each of +the two mornings that were gone Hortensia had borne him +company, coming with the charitable intent of lightening his +tedium by reading to him, but remaining to talk instead. + +The most perfect friendliness had prevailed between them; a +camaraderie which Mr. Caryll had been careful not to dispel by +any return to such speeches as those which had originally +offended but which seemed now mercifully forgotten. + +He was awaiting her, and his expectancy heightened for him the +glory of the morning, increased the meed of happiness that was +his. But there was more besides. Leduc, who stood slightly +behind him, fussily, busy about a little table on which were +books and cordials, flowers and comfits, a pipe and a +tobacco-jar, had just informed him for the first time that +during the more dangerous period of his illness Mistress +Winthrop had watched by his bedside for many hours together +upon many occasions, and once - on the day after he had been +wounded, and while his fever was at its height - Leduc, +entering suddenly and quietly, had surprised her in tears. + +All this was most sweet news to Mr. Caryll. He found that +between himself and his half-brother there lay an even deeper +debt than he had at first supposed, and already acknowledged. +In the delicious contemplation of Hortensia in tears beside +him stricken all but to the point of death, he forgot entirely +his erstwhile scruples that being nameless he had no name to +offer her. In imagination he conjured up the scene. It made, +he found, a very pretty picture. He would smoke upon it. + +"Leduc, if you were to fill me a pipe of Spanish - " + +"Monsieur has smoked one pipe already," Leduc reminded him. + +"You are inconsequent, Leduc. It is a sign of advancing age. +Repress it. The pipe!" And he flicked impatient fingers. + +"Monsieur is forgetting that the doctor - " + +"The devil take the doctor," said Mr. Caryll with finality. + +"Parfaitement!" answered the smooth Leduc. "Over the bridge +we laugh at the saint. Now that we are cured, the devil take +the doctor by all means." + +A ripple of laughter came to applaud Leduc's excursion into +irony. The arbor had another, narrower entrance, on the left. +Hortensia had approached this, all unheard on the soft turf, +and stood there now, a heavenly apparition in white flimsy +garments, head slightly a-tilt, eyes mocking, lips laughing, a +heavy curl of her dark hair falling caressingly into the +hollow where white neck sprang from whiter shoulder. + +"You make too rapid a recovery, sir," said she. + +"It comes of learning how well I have been nursed," he +answered, making shift to rise, and he laughed inwardly to see +the red flush of confusion spread over the milk-white skin, +the reproachful shaft her eyes let loose upon Leduc. + +She came forward swiftly to check his rising; but he was +already on his feet, proud of his return to strength, vain to +display it. "Nay," she reproved him. "If you are so +headstrong, I shall leave you." + +"If you do, ma'am. I vow here, as I am, I hope, a gentleman, +that I shall go home to-day, and on foot." + +"You would kill yourself," she told him. + +"I might kill myself for less, and yet be justified." + +She looked her despair of him. "What must I do to make you +reasonable?" + +"Set me the example by being reasonable yourself, and let +there be no more of this wild talk of leaving me the very +moment you are come. Leduc, a chair for Mistress Winthrop!" +he commanded, as though chairs abounded in a garden nook. But +Leduc, the diplomat, had effaced himself. + +She laughed at his grand air, and, herself, drew forward the +stool that had been Leduc's, and sat down. Satisfied, Mr. +Caryll made her a bow, and seated himself sideways on his long +chair, so that he faced her. She begged that he would dispose +himself more comfortably; but he scorned the very notion. + +"Unaided I walked here from the house," he informed her with a +boastful air. "I had need to begin to feel my feet again. +You are pampering me here, and to pamper an invalid is bad; it +keeps him an invalid. Now I am an invalid no longer." + +"But the doctor - " she began. + +"The doctor, ma'am, is disposed of already," he assured her. +"Very definitely disposed of. Ask Leduc. He will tell you." + +"Not a doubt of that," she answered. "Leduc talks too much." + +"You have a spite against him for the information he gave me +on the score of how and by whom I was nursed. So have I. +Because he did not tell me before, and because when he told me +he would not tell me enough. He has no eyes, this Leduc. He +is a dolt, who only sees the half of what happens, and only +remembers the half of what he has seen." + +"I am sure of it," said she. + +He looked surprised an instant. Then he laughed. "I am glad +that we agree." + +"But you have yet to learn the cause. Had this Leduc used his +eyes or his ears to better purpose, he had been able to tell +you something of the extent to which I am in your debt." + +"Ah?" said he, mystified. Then: "The news will be none the +less welcome from your lips, ma'am," said he. "Is it that you +are interested in the ravings of delirium, and welcomed the +opportunity of observing them at first hand? I hope I raved +engagingly, if so be that I did rave. Would it, perchance, be +of a lady that I talked in my fevered wanderings? - of a lady +pale as a lenten rose, with soft brown eyes, and lips that - " + +"Your guesses are all wild," she checked him. "My debt is of +a more real kind. It concerns my - my reputation." + +"Fan me, ye winds!" he ejaculated. + +"Those fine ladies and gentlemen of the town had made my name +a by-word," she explained in a low, tense voice, her eyelids +lowered. "My foolishness in running off with my Lord Rotherby +- that I might at all cost escape the tyranny of my Lady +Ostermore" (Mr. Caryll's eyelids flickered suddenly at that +explanation) - "had made me a butt and a jest and an object +for slander. You remember, yourself, sir, the sneers and +oglings, the starings and simperings in the park that day when +you made your first attempt to champion my cause, inducing the +Lady Mary Deller to come and speak to me." + +"Nay, nay - think of these things no more. Gnats will sting; +'tis in their nature. I admit 'tis very vexing at the time; +but it soon wears off if the flesh they have stung be healthy. +So think no more on't." + +"But you do not know what follows. Her ladyship insisted that +I should drive with her a week after your hurt, when the +doctor first proclaimed you out of danger, and while the town +was still all agog with the affair. No doubt her ladyship +thought to put a fresh and greater humiliation upon me; you +would not be present to blunt the edge of the insult of those +creatures' glances. She carried me to Vauxhall, where a +fuller scope might be given to the pursuit of my shame and +mortification. Instead, what think you happened?" + +"Her ladyship, I trust, was disappointed." + +"The word is too poor to describe her condition. She broke a +fan, beat her black boy and dismissed a footman, that she +might vent some of the spleen it moved in her. Never was such +respect, never such homage shown to any woman as was shown to +me that evening. We were all but mobbed by the very people +who had earlier slighted me. + +"'Twas all so mysterious that I must seek the explanation of +it. And I had it, at length, from his Grace of Wharton, who +was at my side for most of the time we walked in the gardens. +I asked him frankly to what was this change owing. And he +told me, sir." + +She looked at him as though no more need be said. But his +brows were knit. "He told you, ma'am?" he questioned. "He +told you what?" + +"What you had done at White's. How to all present and to my +Lord Rotherby's own face you had related the true story of +what befell at Maidstone - how I had gone thither, an +innocent, foolish maid, to be married to a villain, whom, like +the silly child I was, I thought I loved; how that villain, +taking advantage of my innocence and ignorance, intended to +hoodwink me with a mock-marriage. + +"That was the story that was on every lip; it had gone round +the town like fire; and it says much for the town that what +between that and the foul business of the duel, my Lord +Rotherby was receiving on every hand the condemnation he +deserves, while for me there was once more - and with heavy +interest for the lapse from it - the respect which my +indiscretion had forfeited, and which would have continued to +be denied me but for your noble championing of my cause. + +"That, sir, is the extent to which. I am in your debt. Do +you think it small? It is so great that I have no words in +which to attempt to express my thanks." + +Mr. Caryll looked at her a moment with eyes that were very +bright. Then he broke into a soft laugh that had a note of +slyness. + +"In my time," said he, "I have seen many attempts to change an +inconvenient topic. Some have been artful; others artless; +others utterly clumsy. But this, I think, is the clumsiest of +them all. Mistress Winthrop, 'tis not worthy in you." + +She looked puzzled, intrigued by his mood. + +"Mistress Winthrop," he resumed, with an entire change of +voice. "To speak of this trifle is but a subterfuge of yours +to prevent me from expressing my deep gratitude for your care +of me." + +"Indeed, no - " she began. + +"Indeed, yes," said he. "How can this compare with what you +have done for me? For I have learnt how greatly it is to you, +yourself, that I owe my recovery - the saving of my life." + +"Ah, but that is not true. It - " + +"Let me think so, whether it be true or not," he implored her, +eyes between tenderness and whimsicality intent upon her face. +"Let me believe it, for the belief has brought me happiness - +the greatest happiness, I think, that I have ever known. I +can know but one greater, and that - " + +He broke off suddenly, and she observed that the hand he had +stretched out trembled a moment ere it was abruptly lowered +again. It was as a man who had reached forth to grasp +something that he craves, and checked his desire upon a sudden +thought. + +She felt oddly stirred, despite herself, and oddly +constrained. It may have been to disguise this that she half +turned to the table, saying: "You were about to smoke when I +came." And she took up his pipe and tobacco - jar to offer +them. + +"Ah, but since you've come, I would not dream," he said. + +She looked at him. The complete change of topic permitted it. +"If I desired you so to do?" she inquired, and added: "I love +the fragrance of it." + +He raised his brows. "Fragrance?" quoth he. "My Lady +Ostermore has another word for it." He took the pipe and jar +from her. "'Tis no humoring, this, of a man you imagine sick +- no silly chivalry of yours?" he questioned doubtfully. "Did +I think that, I'd never smoke another pipe again." + +She shook her head, and laughed at his solemnity. "I love the +fragrance," she repeated. + +"Ah! Why, then, I'll pleasure you," said he, with the air of +one conferring favors, and filled his pipe. Presently he +spoke again in a musing tone. "In a week or so, I shall be +well enough to travel." + +"'Tis your intent to travel?" she inquired. + +He set down the jar, and reached for the tinderbox. "It is +time I was returning home," he explained. + +"Ah, yes. Your home is in France." + +"At Maligny; the sweetest nook in Normandy. 'Twas my mother's +birthplace, and 'twas there she died." + +"You have felt the loss of her, I make no doubt." + +"That might have been the case if I had known her," answered +he. "But as it is, I never did. I was but two years old - +she, herself, but twenty - when she died." + +He pulled at his pipe in silence a moment or two, his face +overcast and thoughtful. A shallower woman would have broken +in with expressions of regret; Hortensia offered him the +nobler sympathy of silence. Moreover, she had felt from his +tone that there was more to come; that what he had said was +but the preface to some story that he desired her to be +acquainted with. And presently, as she expected, he continued. + +"She died, Mistress Winthrop, of a broken heart. My father +had abandoned her two years and more before she died. In +those years of repining - ay, and worse, of actual want - her +health was broken so that, poor soul, she died." + +"O pitiful!" cried Hortensia, pain in her face. + +"Pitiful, indeed - the more pitiful that her death was a +source of some slight happiness to those who loved her; the +only happiness they could have in her was to know that she was +at rest." + +"And - and your father?" + +"I am coming to him. My mother had a friend - a very noble, +lofty-minded gentleman who had loved her with a great and +honest love before the profligate who was my father came +forward as a suitor. Recognizing in the latter - as he +thought in his honest heart - a man in better case to make her +happy, this gentleman I speak of went his ways. He came upon +her afterwards, broken and abandoned, and he gathered up the +poor shards of her shattered life, and sought with tender but +unavailing hands to piece them together again. And when she +died he vowed to stand my friend and to make up to me for the +want I had of parents. 'Tis by his bounty that to-day I am +lord of Maligny that was for generations the property of my +mother's people. 'Tis by his bounty and loving care that I am +what I am, and not what so easily I might have become had the +seed sown by my father been allowed to put out shoots." + +He paused, as if bethinking himself, and looked at her with a +wistful, inquiring smile. "But why plague you," he cried, +"with this poor tale of yesterday that will be forgot +to-morrow?" + +"Nay - ah, nay," she begged, and put out a hand in impulsive +sympathy to touch his own, so transparent now in its +emaciation. "Tell me; tell me!" + +His smile softened. He sighed gently and continued. "This +gentleman who adopted me lived for one single purpose, with +one single aim in view - to avenge my mother, whom he had +loved, upon the man whom she had loved and who had so ill +repaid her. He reared me for that purpose, as much, I think, +as out of any other feeling. Thirty years have sped, and +still the hand of the avenger has not fallen upon my father. +It should have fallen a month ago; but I was weak; I +hesitated; and then this sword-thrust put me out of all case +of doing what I had crossed from France to do." + +She looked at him with something of horror in her face. "Were +you - were you to have been the instrument?" she inquired. +"Were you to have avenged this thing upon your own father?" + +He nodded slowly. "'Twas to that end that I was reared," he +answered, and put aside his pipe, which had gone out. "The +spirit of revenge was educated into me until I came to look +upon revenge as the best and holiest of emotions; until I +believed that if I failed to wreak it I must be a craven and a +dastard. All this seemed so until the moment came to set my +hand to the task. And then - " He shrugged. + +"And then?" she questioned. + +"I couldn't. The full horror of it burst upon me. I saw the +thing in its true and hideous proportions, and it revolted +me." + +"It must have been so," she approved him. + +"I told my foster-father; but I met with neither sympathy nor +understanding. He renewed his old-time arguments, and again +he seemed to prove to me that did I fail I should be false to +my duty and to my mother's memory - a weakling, a thing of +shame." + +"The monster! Oh, the monster! He is an evil man for all +that you have said of him." + +"Not so. There is no nobler gentleman in all the world. I +who know him, know that. It is through the very nobility of +it that this warp has come into his nature. Sane in all +things else, he is - I see it now, I understand it at last - +insane on this one subject. Much brooding has made him mad +upon this matter - a fanatic whose gospel is Vengeance, and, +like all fanatics, he is harsh and intolerant when resisted on +the point of his fanaticism. This is something I have come to +realize in these past days, when I lay with naught else to do +but ponder. + +"In all things else he sees as deep and clear as any man; in +this his vision is distorted. He has looked at nothing else +for thirty years; can you wonder that his sight is blurred?" + +"He is to be pitied then," she said, "deeply to be pitied." + +"True. And because I pitied him, because I valued his regard +-however mistaken he might be - above all else, I was +hesitating again - this time between my duty to myself and my +duty to him. I was so hesitating - though I scarce can doubt +which had prevailed in the end - when came this sword-thrust +so very opportunely to put me out of case of doing one thing +or the other." + +"But now that you are well again?" she asked. + +"Now that I am well again - I thank Heaven that it will be too +late. The opportunity that was ours is lost. His - my father +should now be beyond our power." + +There ensued a spell of silence. He sat with eyes averted +from her face - those eyes which she had never known other +than whimsical and mocking, now full of gloom and pain - +riveted upon the glare of sunshine on the pond out yonder. A +great sympathy welled up from her heart for this man whom she +was still far from understanding, and who, nevertheless - +because of it, perhaps, for there is much fascination in that +which puzzles - was already growing very dear to her. The +story he had told her drew her infinitely closer to him, +softening her heart for him even more perhaps than it had +already been softened when she had seen him - as she had +thought - upon the point of dying. A wonder flitted through +her mind as to why he had told her; then another question +surged. She gave it tongue. + +"You have told me so much, Mr. Caryll," she said, "that I am +emboldened to ask something more." His eyes invited her to put +her question. "Your - your father? Was he related to Lord +Ostermore?" + +Not a muscle of his face moved. "Why that?" he asked. + +"Because your name is Caryll," said she. + +"My name?" he laughed softly and bitterly. "My name?" He +reached for an ebony cane that stood beside his chair. "I had +thought you understood." He heaved himself to his feet, and +she forgot to caution him against exertion. "I have no right +to any name," he told her. "My father was a man too full of +worldly affairs to think of trifles. And so it befell that +before he went his ways he forgot to marry the poor lady who +was my mother. I might take what name I chose. I chose +Caryll. But you will understand, Mistress Winthrop," and he +looked her fully in the face, attempting in vain to dissemble +the agony in his eyes - he who a little while ago had been +almost happy - "that if ever it should happen that I should +come to love a woman who is worthy of being loved, I who am +nameless have no name to offer her." + +Revelation illumined her mind as in a flash. She looked at +him. + +"Was - was that what you meant, that day we thought you dying, +when you said to me - for it was to me you spoke, to me alone +- that it was better so?" + +He inclined his head. "That is what I meant," he answered. + +Her lids drooped; her cheeks were very white, and he remarked +the swift, agitated surge of her bosom, the fingers that were +plucking at one another in her lap. Without looking up, she +spoke again. "If you had the love to offer, what would the +rest matter? What is a name that it should weigh so much?" + +"Heyday!" He sighed, and smiled very wistfully. "You are +young, child. In time you will understand what place the +world assigns to such men as I. It is a place I could ask no +woman to share. Such as I am, could I speak of love to any +woman?" + +"Yet you spoke of love once to me," she reminded him, scarcely +above her breath, and stabbed him with the recollection. + +"In an hour of moonshine, an hour of madness, when I was a +reckless fool that must give tongue to every impulse. You +reproved me then in just the terms my case deserved. +Hortensia," he bent towards her, leaning on his cane, "'tis +very sweet and merciful in you to recall it without reproach. +Recall it no more, save to think with scorn of the fleering +coxcomb who was so lost to the respect that is due to so sweet +a lady. I have told you so much of myself to-day that +you may." + +"Decidedly," came a shrill, ironical voice from the arbor's +entrance, "I may congratulate you, sir, upon the prodigious +strides of your recovery." + +Mr. Caryll straightened himself from his stooping posture, +turned and made Lady Ostermore a bow, his whole manner changed +again to that which was habitual to him. "And no less +decidedly, my lady," said he with a tight-lipped smile, "may I +congratulate your ladyship's son upon that happy circumstance, +which is - as I have learned - so greatly due to the steps +your ladyship took - for which I shall be ever grateful - to +ensure that I should be made whole again." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE FORLORN HOPE + + +Her ladyship stood a moment, leaning upon her cane, her head +thrown back, her thin lip curling, and her eyes playing over +Mr. Caryll with a look of dislike that she made no attempt to +dissemble. + +Mr. Caryll found the situation redolent with comedy. He had a +quick eye for such matters; so quick an eye that he deplored +on the present occasion her ladyship's entire lack of a sense +of humor. But for that lamentable shortcoming, she might have +enjoyed with him the grotesqueness of her having - she, who +disliked him so exceedingly - toiled and anguished, robbed +herself of sleep, and hoped and prayed with more fervor, +perhaps, than she had ever yet hoped and prayed for anything, +that his life might be spared. + +Her glance shifted presently from him to Hortensia, who had +risen and who stood in deep confusion at having been so found +by her ladyship, and in deep agitation still arising from the +things he had said and from those which he had been hindered +from adding by the coming of the countess. + +The explanations that had been interrupted might never be +renewed; she felt they never would be; he would account that +he had said enough; since he was determined to ask for +nothing. And unless the matter were broached again, what +chance had she of combatting his foolish scruples; for foolish +she accounted them; they were of no weight with her, unless, +indeed, to heighten the warm feeling that already she had +conceived for him. + +Her ladyship moved forward a step or two, her fan going gently +to and fro, stirring the barbs of the white plume that formed +part of her tall head-dress. + +"What were you doing here, child?" she inquired, very coldly. + +Mistress Winthrop looked up - a sudden, almost scared glance +it was. + +"I, madam? Why - I was walking in the garden, and seeing Mr. +Caryll here, I came to ask him how he did; to offer to read to +him if he would have me." + +"And the Maidstone matter not yet cold in its grave!" +commented her ladyship sourly. "As I'm a woman, it is +monstrous I should be inflicted with the care of you that have +no care for yourself." + +Hortensia bit her lip, controlling herself bravely, a spot of +red in either cheek. Mr. Caryll came promptly to her rescue. + +"Your ladyship must confess that Mistress Winthrop has +assisted nobly in the care of me, and so, has placed your +ladyship in her debt." + +"In my debt?" shrilled the countess, eyebrows aloft, +head-dress nodding. "And what of yours?" + +"In my clumsy way, ma'am, I have already attempted to convey +my thanks to her. It might be graceful in your ladyship to +follow my example." + +Mentally Mr. Caryll observed that it is unwise to rouge so +heavily as did Lady Ostermore when prone to anger and to +paling under it. The false color looks so very false on such +occasions. + +Her ladyship struck the ground with her cane. "For what have +I to thank her, sir? Will you tell me that, you who seem so +very well informed." + +"Why, for her part in saving your son's life, ma'am, if you +must have it. Heaven knows," he continued in his +characteristic, half-bantering manner, under which it was so +difficult to catch a glimpse of his real feelings, "I am not +one to throw services done in the face of folk, but here have +Mistress Winthrop and I been doing our best for your son in +this matter; she by so diligently nursing me; I by responding +to her nursing - and your ladyship's - and so, recovering from +my wound. I do not think that your ladyship shows us a +becoming gratitude. It is but natural that we fellow-workers +in your ladyship's and Lord Rotherby's interests, should have +a word to say to each other on the score of those labors which +have made us colleagues." + +Her ladyship measured him with a malignant eye. "Are you +quite mad, sir?" she asked him. + +He shrugged and smiled. "It has been alleged against me on +occasion. But I think it was pure spite." Then he waved his +hand towards the long seat that stood at the back of the +arbor. "Will your ladyship not sit? You will forgive that I +urge it in my own interest. They tell me that it is not good +for me to stand too long just yet." + +It was his hope that she would depart. Not so. "I cry you +mercy!" said she acidly, and rustled to the bench. "Be +seated, pray." She continued to watch them with her baleful +glance. "We have heard fine things from you, sir, of what you +have both done for my Lord Rotherby," she gibed, mocking him +with the spirit of his half-jest. "Shall I tell you more +precisely what 'tis he owes you?" + +"Can there be more?" quoth Mr. Caryll, smiling so amiably that +he must have disarmed a Gorgon. + +Her ladyship ignored him. "He owes it to you both that you +have estranged him from his father, set up a breach between +them that is never like to be healed. 'Tis what he owes you." + +"Does he not owe it, rather, to his abandoned ways?" asked +Hortensia, in a calm, clear voice, bravely giving back her +ladyship look for look. + +"Abandoned ways?" screamed the countess. "Is't you that speak +of abandoned ways, ye shameless baggage? Faith, ye may be +some judge of them. Ye fooled him into running off with you. +'Twas that began all this. Just as with your airs and +simpers, and prettily-played innocences you fooled this other, +here, into being your champion." + +"Madam, you insult me!" Hortensia was on her feet, eyes +flashing, cheeks aflame. + +"I am witness to that," said Lord Ostermore, coming in through +the side-entrance. + +Mr. Caryll was the only one who had seen him approach. The +earl's face that had wont to be so florid, was now pale and +careworn, and he seemed to have lost flesh during the past +month. He turned to her ladyship. + +"Out on you!" he said testily, "to chide the poor child so!" + +"Poor child!" sneered her ladyship, eyes raised to heaven to +invoke its testimony to this absurdity. "Poor child." + +"Let there be an end to it, madam," he said with attempted +sternness. "It is unjust and unreasonable in you." + +"If it were that - which it is not - it would be but following +the example that you set me. What are you but unreasonable +and unjust - to treat your son as you are treating him?" + +His lordship crimsoned. On the subject of his son he could be +angry in earnest, even with her ladyship, as already we have +seen. + +"I have no son," he declared, "there is a lewd, drunken, +bullying profligate who bears my name, and who will be Lord +Ostermore some day. I can't strip him of that. But I'll +strip him of all else that's mine, God helping me. I beg, my +lady, that you'll let me hear no more of this, I beg it. Lord +Rotherby leaves my house to-day - now that Mr. Caryll is +restored to health. Indeed, he has stayed longer than was +necessary. He leaves to-day. He has my orders, and my +servants have orders to see that he obeys them. I do not wish +to see him again - never. Let him go, and let him be thankful +- and be your ladyship thankful, too, since it seems you must +have a kindness for him in spite of all he has done to +disgrace and discredit us - that he goes not by way of Holborn +Hill and Tyburn." + +She looked at him, very white from suppressed fury. "I do +believe you had been glad had it been so." + +"Nay," he answered, "I had been sorry for Mr. Caryll's sake." + +"And for his own?" + +"Pshaw!" + +"Are you a father?" she wondered contemptuously. + +"To my eternal shame, ma'am!" he flung back at her. He +seemed, indeed, a changed man in more than body since Mr. +Caryll's duel with Lord Rotherby. "No more, ma'am - no more!" +he cried, seeming suddenly to remember the presence of Mr. +Caryll, who sat languidly drawing figures on the ground with +the ferrule of his cane. He turned to ask the convalescent +how he did. Her ladyship rose to withdraw, and at that moment +Leduc made his appearance with a salver, on which was a bowl +of soup, a flask of Hock, and a letter. Setting this down in +such a manner that the letter was immediately under his +master's eyes, he further proceeded to draw Mr. Caryll's +attention to it. It was addressed in Sir Richard Everard's +hand. Mr. Caryll took it, and slipped it into his pocket. +Her ladyship's eyebrows went up. + +"Will you not read your letter, Mr. Caryll?" she invited him, +with an amazingly sudden change to amiability. + +"It will keep, ma'am, to while away an hour that is less +pleasantly engaged." And he took the napkin Leduc was +proffering. + +"You pay your correspondent a poor compliment," said she. + +"My correspondent is not one to look for them or need them," +he answered lightly, and dipped his spoon in the broth. + +"Is she not?" quoth her ladyship. + +Mr. Caryll laughed. "So feminine!" said he. "Ha, ha! So +very feminine - to assume the sex so readily." + +"'Tis an easy assumption when the superscription is writ in a +woman's hand." + +Mr. Caryll, the picture of amiability, smiled between +spoonfuls. "Your ladyship's eyes preserve not only their +beauty but a keenness beyond belief." + +"How could you have seen it from that distance, Sylvia?" +inquired his practical lordship. + +"Then again," said her ladyship, ignoring both remarks, "there +is the assiduity of this fair writer since Mr. Caryll has been +in case to receive letters. Five billets in six days! Deny +it if you can, Mr. Caryll." + +Her playfulness, so ill-assumed, sat more awkwardly upon her +than her usual and more overt malice towards him. + +"To what end should I deny it?" he replied, and added in his +most ingratiating manner another of his two-edged compliments. +"Your ladyship is the model chatelaine. No happening in your +household can escape your knowledge. His lordship is greatly +to be envied." + +"Yet, you see," she cried, appealing to her husband, and even +to Hortensia, who sat apart, scarce heeding this trivial +matter of which so much was being made, "you see that he +evades the point, avoids a direct answer to the question that +is raised." + +"Since your ladyship perceives it, it were more merciful to +spare my invention the labor of fashioning further +subterfuges. I am a sick man still, and my wits are far from +brisk." He took up the glass of wine Leduc had poured for +him. + +The countess looked at him again through narrowing eyelids, +the playfulness all vanished. "You do yourself injustice, +sir, as I am a woman. Your wits want nothing more in +briskness." She rose, and looked down upon him engrossed in +his broth. "For a dissembler, sir," she pronounced upon him +acidly, "I think it would be difficult to meet your match." + +He dropped his spoon into the bowl with a clatter. He looked +up, the very picture of amazement and consternation. + +"A dissembler, I?" quoth he in earnest protest; then laughed +and quoted, adapting + + "'Tis not my talent to conceal my thoughts + Or carry smiles and sunshine in my face + Should discontent sit heavy at my heart." + +She looked him over, pursing her lips. "I've often thought +you might have been a player," said she contemptuously. + +"I'faith," he laughed, "I'd sooner play than toil." + +"Ay; but you make a toil of play, sir." + +"Compassionate me, ma'am," he implored in the best of humors. +"I am but a sick man. Your ladyship's too keen for me." + +She moved across to the exit without answering him. "Come, +child," she said to Hortensia. "We are tiring Mr. Caryll, I +fear. Let us leave him to his letter, ere it sets his pocket +afire." + +Hortensia rose. Loath though she might be to depart, there +was no reason she could urge for lingering. + +"Is not your lordship coming?" said she. + +"Of course he is," her ladyship commanded. "I need to speak +with you yet concerning Rotherby," she informed him. + +"Hem!" His lordship coughed. Plainly he was not at his ease. +"I will follow soon. Do not stay for me. I have a word to +say to Mr. Caryll." + +"Will it not keep? What can you have to say to him that is so +pressing?" + +"But a word - no more." + +"Why, then, we'll stay for you," said her ladyship, and threw +him into confusion, hopeless dissembler that he was. + +"Nay, nay! I beg that you will not." + +Her ladyship's brows went up; her eyes narrowed again, and a +frown came between them. "You are mighty mysterious," said +she, looking from one to the other of the men, and bethinking +her that it was not the first time she had found them so; +bethinking her, too - jumping, woman-like, to rash conclusions +- that in this mystery that linked them might lie the true +secret of her husband's aversion to his son and of his oath a +month ago to see that same son hang if Mr. Caryll succumbed to +the wound he had taken. With some women, to suspect a thing +is to believe that thing. Her ladyship was of these. She set +too high value upon her acumen, upon the keenness of her +instincts. + +And if aught were needed to cement her present suspicions, Mr. +Caryll himself afforded that cement, by seeming to betray the +same eagerness to be alone with his lordship that his lordship +was betraying to be alone with him; though, in truth, he no +more than desired to lend assistance to the earl out of +curiosity to learn what it was his lordship might have to say. + +"Indeed," said he, "if you could give his lordship leave, +ma'am, for a few moments, I should myself be glad on't." + +"Come, Hortensia," said her ladyship shortly, and swept out, +Mistress Winthrop following. + +In silence they crossed the lawn together. Once only ere they +reached the house, her ladyship looked back. "I would I knew +what they are plotting," she said through her teeth. + +"Plotting?" echoed Hortensia. + +"Ay - plotting, simpleton. I said plotting. I mind me 'tis +not the first time I have seen them so mysterious together. +It began on the day that first Mr. Caryll set foot at Stretton +House. There's a deal of mystery about that man - too much +for honesty. And then these letters touching which he is so +close - one a day - and his French lackey always at hand to +pounce upon them the moment they arrive. I wonder what's at +bottom on't! I wonder! And I'd give these ears to know," she +snapped in conclusion as they went indoors. + +In the arbor, meanwhile, his lordship had taken the rustic +seat her ladyship had vacated. He sat down heavily, like a +man who is weary in body and in mind, like a man who is +bearing a load too heavy for his shoulders. Mr. Caryll, +watching him, observed all this. + +"A glass of Hock?" he suggested, waving his hand towards the +flask. "Let me play host to you out of the contents of your +own cellar." + +His lordship's eye brightened at the suggestion, which +confirmed the impression Mr. Caryll had formed that all was +far from well with his lordship. Leduc brimmed a glass, and +handed it to my lord, who emptied it at a draught. Mr. Caryll +waved an impatient hand. "Away with you, Leduc. Go watch the +goldfish in the pond. I'll call you if I need you." + +After Leduc had departed a silence fell between them, and +endured some moments. His lordship was leaning forward, +elbows on knees, his face in shadow. At length he sat back, +and looked at his companion across the little intervening +space. + +"I have hesitated to speak to you before, Mr. Caryll, upon the +matter that you know of, lest your recovery should not be so +far advanced that you might bear the strain and fatigue of +conversing upon serious topics. I trust that that cause is +now so far removed that I may put aside my scruples." + +"Assuredly - I am glad to say - thanks to the great care you +have had of me here at Stretton House." + +"There is no debt between us on that score," answered his +lordship shortly, brusquely almost. "Well, then - " He +checked, and looked about him. "We might be approached +without hearing any one," he said. + +Mr. Caryll smiled, and shook his head. "I am not wont to +neglect such details," he observed. "The eyes of Argus were +not so vigilant as my Leduc's; and he understands that we are +private. He will give us warning should any attempt to +approach. Be assured of that, and believe, therefore, that we +are more snug here than we should be even in your lordship's +closet." + +"That being so, sir - hem! You are receiving letters daily. +Do they concern the business of King James?" + +"In a measure; or, rather, they are from one concerned in it." + +Ostermore's eyes were on the ground again. There fell a +pause, Mr. Caryll frowning slightly and full of curiosity as +to what might be coming. + +"How soon, think you," asked his lordship presently, "you will +be in case to travel?" + +"In a week, I hope," was the reply. + +"Good." The earl nodded thoughtfully. "That may be in time. +I pray it may be. 'Tis now the best that we can do. You'll +bear a letter for me to the king?" + +Mr. Caryll passed a hand across his chin, his face very grave. +"Your answer to the letter that I brought you?" + +"My answer. My acceptance of his majesty's proposals." + +"Ha!" Mr. Caryll seemed to be breathing hard. + +"Your letters, sir - the letters that you have been receiving +will have told you, perhaps, something of how his majesty's +affairs are speeding here?" + +"Very little; and from that little I fear that they speed none +too well. I would counsel your lordship," he continued slowly +- he was thinking as he went - "to wait a while before you +burn your boats. From what I gather, matters are in the air +just now." + +The earl made a gesture, brusque and impatient. "Your +information is very scant, then," said he. + +Mr. Caryll looked askance at him. + +"Pho, sir! While you have been abed, I have been up and +doing; up and doing. Matters are being pushed forward +rapidly. I have seen Atterbury. He knows my mind. There +lately came an agent from the king, it seems, to enjoin the +bishop to abandon this conspiracy, telling him that the time +was not yet ripe. Atterbury scorns to act upon that order. +He will work in the king's interests against the king's own +commands even." + +"Then, 'tis possible he may work to his own undoing," said Mr. +Caryll, to whom this was, after all, no news. + +"Nay, nay; you have been sick; you do not know how things have +sped in this past month. Atterbury holds, and he is right, I +dare swear - he holds that never will there be such another +opportunity. The finances of the country are still in chaos, +in spite of all Walpole's efforts and fine promises. The +South Sea bubble has sapped the confidence in the government +of all men of weight. The very Whigs themselves are shaken. +'Tis to King James, England begins to look for salvation from +this topsy-turveydom. The tide runs strongly in our favor. +Strongly, sir! If we stay for the ebb, we may stay for good; +for there may never be another flow within our lifetime." + +"Your lordship is grown strangely hot upon this question," +said Caryll, very full of wonder. + +As he understood Ostermore, the earl was scarcely the +sentimentalist to give way to such a passion of loyalty for a +weaker side. Yet his lordship had spoken, not with the cold +calm of the practical man who seeks advantage, but with all +the fervor of the enthusiast. + +"Such is my interest," answered his lordship. "Even as the +fortunes of the country are beggared by the South Sea Company, +so are my own; even as the country must look to King James for +its salvation, so must I. At best 'tis but a forlorn hope, I +confess; yet 'tis the only hope I see." + +Mr. Caryll looked at him, smiled to himself, and nodded. So! +All this fire and enthusiasm was about the mending of his +personal fortunes - the grubbing of riches for himself. Well, +well! It was good matter wasted on a paltry cause. But it +sorted excellently with what Mr. Caryll knew of the nature of +this father of his. It never could transcend the practical; +there was no imagination to carry it beyond those narrow +sordid confines, and Mr. Caryll had been a fool to have +supposed that any other springs were pushing here. Egotism, +egotism, egotism! Its name, he thought, was surely Ostermore. +And again, as once before, under the like circumstances, he +found more pity than scorn awaking in his heart. The whole +wasted, sterile life that lay behind this man; the unhappy, +loveless home that stood about him now in his declining years +were the fruits he had garnered from that consuming love of +self with which the gods had cursed him. + +The only ray to illumine the black desert of Ostermore's +existence was the affection of his ward, Hortensia Winthrop, +because in that one instance he had sunk his egotism a little, +sparing a crumb of pity - for once in his life - for the +child's orphanhood. Had Ostermore been other than the man he +was, his existence must have proved a burden beyond his +strength. It was so barren of good deeds, so sterile of +affection. Yet encrusted as he was in that egotism of his - +like the limpet in its shell - my lord perceived nothing of +this, suffered nothing of it, understanding nothing. He was +all-sufficient to himself. Giving nothing, he looked for +nothing, and sought his happiness - without knowing the quest +vain - in what he had. The fear of losing this had now in his +declining years cast, at length, a shadow upon his existence. + +Mr. Caryll looked at him almost sorrowfully. Then he put by +his thoughts, and broke the silence. "All this I had +understood when first I sought you out," said he. "Yet your +lordship did not seem to realize it quite so keenly. Is it +that Atterbury and his friends -?" + +"No, no," Ostermore broke in. "Look'ee! I will be frank - +quite frank and open with you, Mr. Caryll. Things were bad +when first you came to me. Yet not so bad that I was driven +to a choice of evils. I had lost heavily. But enough +remained to bear me through my time, though Rotherby might +have found little enough left after I had gone. While that +was so, I hesitated to take a risk. I am an old man. It had +been different had I been young with ambitions that craved +satisfying. I am an old man; and I desired peace and my +comforts. Deeming these assured, I paused ere I risked their +loss against the stake which in King James's name you set upon +the board. But it happens to-day that these are assured no +longer," he ended, his voice breaking almost, his eyes +haggard. "They are assured no longer." + +"You mean?" inquired Caryll. + +"I mean that I am confronted by the danger of beggary, ruin, +shame, and the sponging-house, at best." + +Mr. Caryll was stirred out of his calm. "My lord!" he cried. +"How is this possible? What can have come to pass?" + +The earl was silent for a long while. It was as if he +pondered how he should answer, or whether he should answer at +all. At last, in a low voice, a faint tinge reddening his +face, his eyes averted, he explained. It shamed him so to do, +yet must he satisfy that craving of weak minds to unburden, to +seek relief in confession. "Mine is the case of Craggs, the +secretary of state," he said. "And Craggs, you'll remember, +shot himself." + +"My God," said Mr. Caryll, and opened wide his eyes. "Did you +-?" He paused, not knowing what euphemism to supply for the +thing his lordship must have done. + +His lordship looked up, sneering almost in self-derision. "I +did," he answered. "To tell you all - I accepted twenty +thousand pounds' worth of South Sea stock when the company was +first formed, for which I did not pay other than by lending +the scheme the support of my name at a time when such support +was needed. I was of the ministry, then, you will remember." + +Mr. Caryll considered him again, and wondered a moment at the +confession, till he understood by intuition that the matter +and its consequences were so deeply preying upon the man's +mind that he could not refrain from giving vent to his fears. +Presently + +"And now you know," his lordship added, "why my hopes are all +in King James. Ruin stares me in the face. Ruin and shame. +This forlorn Stuart hope is the only hope remaining me. +Therefore, am I eager to embrace it. I have made all plain to +you. You should understand now." + +"Yet not quite all. You did this thing. But the inspection +of the company's books is past. The danger of discovery, at +least, is averted. Or is it that your conscience compels you +to make restitution?" + +His lordship stared and gaped. "Do you suppose me mad?" he +inquired, quite seriously. "Pho! Others were overlooked at +the time. We did not all go the way of Craggs and Aislabie +and their fellow-sufferers. Stanhope was assailed afterward, +though he was innocent. That filthy fellow, the Duke of +Wharton, from being an empty fop turned himself on a sudden +into a Crown attorney to prosecute the peculators. It was an +easy road to fame for him, and the fool had a gift of +eloquence. Stanhope's death is on his conscience - or would +be if he had one. That was six months ago. When he +discovered his error in the case of Stanhope and saw the fatal +consequences it had, he ceased his dirty lawyer's work. But +he had good grounds upon which to suspect others as highly +placed as Stanhope, and had he followed his suspicions he +might have turned them into certainties and discovered +evidence. As it was, he let the matter lie, content with the +execution he had done, and the esteem into which he had so +suddenly hoisted himself - the damned profligate!" + +Mr. Caryll let pass, as typical, the ludicrous want of logic +in Ostermore's strictures of his Grace of Wharton, and the +application by him to the duke of opprobrious terms that were +no whit less applicable to himself. + +"Then, that being so, what cause for these alarms some six +months later?" + +"Because," answered his lordship in a sudden burst of passion +that brought him to his feet, empurpled his face and swelled +the veins of his forehead, "because I am cursed with the +filthiest fellow in England for my son." + +He said it with the air of one who throws a flood of light +where darkness has been hitherto, who supplies the key that +must resolve at a turn a whole situation. But Mr. Caryll +blinked foolishly. + +"My wits are very dull, I fear," said he. "I still cannot +understand." + +"Then I'll make it all clear to you," said his lordship. + +Leduc appeared at the arbor entrance. + +"What now?" asked Mr. Caryll. + +"Her ladyship is approaching, sir," answered Leduc the +vigilant. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +LADY OSTERMORE + + +Lord Ostermore and Mr. Caryll looked across the lawn towards +the house, but failed to see any sign of her ladyship's +approach. + +Mr. Caryll raised questioning eyes to his servant's stolid +face, and in that moment caught the faintest rustle of a gown +behind the arbor. He half-turned to my lord, and nodded +slightly in the direction of the sound, a smile twisting his +lips. With a gesture he dismissed Leduc, who returned to the +neighborhood of the pond. + +His lordship frowned, angered by the interruption. Then: "If +your ladyship will come inside," said he, "you will hear +better and with greater comfort." + +"Not to speak of dignity," said Mr. Caryll. + +The stiff gown rustled again, this time without stealth. The +countess appeared, no whit abashed. Mr. Caryll rose politely. + +"You sit with spies to guard your approaches," said she. + +"As a precaution against spies," was his lordship's curt +answer. + +She measured him with a cool eye. "What is't ye hide?" she +asked him. + +"My shame," he answered readily. Then after a moment's pause, +he rose and offered her his seat. "Since you have thrust +yourself in where you were not bidden, you may hear and +welcome, ma'am," said he. "It may help you to understand what +you term my injustice to my son." + +"Are these matters wherewith to importune a stranger - a +guest?" + +"I am proposing to say in your presence what I was about to +say in your absence," said he, without answering her question. +"Be seated, ma'am." + +She sniffed, closed her fan with a clatter, and sat down. Mr. +Caryll resumed his long chair, and his lordship took the +stool. + +"I am told," the latter resumed presently, recapitulating in +part for her ladyship's better understanding, "that his Grace +of Wharton is intending to reopen the South Sea scandal, as +soon as he can find evidence that I was one of those who +profited by the company's charter." + +"Profited?" she echoed, between scorn and bitter amusement. +"Profited, did ye say? I think your dotage is surely upon you +- you that have sunk nigh all your fortune and all that you +had with me in this thieving venture - d'ye talk of profits?" + +"At the commencement I did profit, as did many others. Had I +been content with my gains, had I been less of a trusting +fool, it had been well. I was dazzled, maybe, by the glare of +so much gold. I needed more; and so I lost all. That is evil +enough. But there is worse. I may be called upon to make +restitution of what I had from the company without +paying for it - I may give all that's left me and barely cover +the amount, and I may starve and be damned thereafter." + +Her ladyship's face was ghastly. Horror stared from her pale +eyes. She had known, from the beginning, of that twenty +thousand pounds' worth of stock, and she had had - with his +lordship - her anxious moments when the disclosures were being +made six months ago that had brought the Craggses, Aislabie +and a half-dozen others to shame and ruin. + +His lordship looked at her a moment. "And if this shipwreck +comes, as it now threatens," he continued, "it is my son I +shall have to thank for't." + +She found voice to ask: "How so?" courage to put the question +scornfully. "Is it not rather Rotherby you have to thank that +the disclosures did not come six months ago? What was it +saved you but the friendship his Grace of Wharton had for +Charles?" + +"Why, then," stormed his lordship, "did he not see to't that +he preserved that friendship? It but needed a behavior of as +much decency and honor as Wharton exacts in his associates - +and the Lord knows how much that is!" he sneered. "As it is, +he has gone even lower than that abandoned scourer; so low +that even this rakehell duke must become his enemy for his own +credit's sake. He attempts mock-marriages with ladies of +quality; and he attempts murder by stabbing through the back a +gentleman who has spared his worthless life. Not even the +president of the Hell Fire Club can countenance these things, +strong stomach though he have for villainy. It is something +to have contrived to come so low that even his Grace of +Wharton must turn upon him, and swear his ruin. And so that +he may ruin him, his grace is determined to ruin me. Now you +understand, madam - and you, Mr. Caryll." + +Mr. Caryll understood. He understood even more than his +lordship meant him to understand; more than his lordship +understood, himself. So, too, did her ladyship, if we may +judge from the reply she made him. + +"You fool," she railed. "You vain, blind, selfish fool! To +blame Rotherby for this. Rather should Rotherby, blame you +that by your damned dishonesty have set a weapon against him +in his enemy's hands." + +"Madam!" he roared, empurpling, and coming heavily to his +feet. "Do you know who I am?" + +"Ay - and what you are, which is something you will never +know. God! Was there ever so self-centered a fool? +Compassionate me, Heaven!" She rose, too, and turned to Mr. +Caryll. "You, sir," she said to him, "you have been dragged +into this, I know not why." + +She broke off suddenly, looking at him, her eyes a pair of +gimlets now for penetration. "Why have you been dragged into +it?" she demanded. "What is here? I demand to know. What +help does my lord expect from you that he tells you this? Does +he - " She paused an instant, a cunning smile breaking over +her wrinkled, painted face. "Does he propose to sell himself +to the king over the water, and are you a secret agent come to +do the buying? Is that the answer to this riddle?" + +Mr. Caryll, imperturbable outwardly, but very ill at ease +within, smiled and waved the delicate hand that appeared +through the heavy ruffle at his wrist. "Madam, indeed - ah - +your ladyship goes very fast. You leap so at conclusions for +which no grounds can exist. His lordship is so overwrought - +as well he may be, alas! - that he cares not before whom he +speaks. Is it not plainly so?" + +She smiled very sourly. "You are a very master of evasion, +sir. But your evasion gives me the answer that I lack - that +and his lordship's face. I drew my bow at a venture; yet +look, sir, and tell me, has my quarrel missed its mark?" + +And, indeed, the sudden fear and consternation written on my +lord's face was so plain that all might read it. He was - as +Mr. Caryll had remarked on the first occasion that they met - +the worst dissembler that ever set hand to a conspiracy. He +betrayed himself at every step, if not positively, by +incautious words, why then by the utter lack of control he had +upon his countenance. + +He made now a wild attempt to bluster. "Lies! Lies!" he +protested. "Your ladyship's a-dreaming. Should I be making +bad worse by plotting at my time of life? Should I? What can +King James avail me, indeed?" + +"'Tis what I will ask Rotherby to help me to discover," she +informed him. + +"Rotherby?" he cried. "Would you tell that villain what you +suspect? Would you arm him with another weapon for my +undoing?" + +"Ha!" said she. "You admit so much, then?" And she laughed +disdainfully. Then with a sudden sternness, a sudden nobility +almost in the motherhood which she put forward - "Rotherby is +my son," she said, "and I'll not have my son the victim of +your follies as well as of your injustice. We may curb the +one and the other yet, my lord." + +And she swept out, fan going briskly in one hand, her long +ebony cane swinging as briskly in the other. + +"O God!" groaned Ostermore, and sat down heavily. + +Mr. Caryll helped himself copiously to snuff. "I think," said +he, his voice so cool that it had an almost soothing +influence, "I think your lordship has now another reason why +you should go no further in this matter." + +"But if I do not - what other hopes have I? Damn me! I'm a +ruined man either way." + +"Nay, nay," Mr. Caryll reminded him. "Assuming even that you +are correctly informed, and that his Grace of Wharton is +determined to move against you, it is not to be depended that +he will succeed in collecting such evidence as he must need. +At this date much of the evidence that may once have been +available will have been dissipated. You are rash to despair +so soon." + +"There is that," his lordship admitted thoughtfully, a little +hopefully, even; "there is that." And with the resilience of +his nature - of men who form opinions on slight grounds, and, +therefore, are ready to change them upon grounds as slight - +"I' faith! I may have been running to meet my trouble. 'Tis +but a rumor, after all, that Wharton is for mischief, and - as +you say - as like as not there'll be no evidence by now. +There was little enough at the time. + +"Still, I'll make doubly sure. My letter to King James can do +no harm. We'll talk of it again, when you are in case to +travel." + +It passed through Mr. Caryll's mind at the moment that Lady +Ostermore and her son might between them brew such mischief as +might seriously hinder him from travelling, and he was very +near the truth. For already her ladyship was closeted with +Rotherby in her boudoir. + +The viscount was dressed for travelling, intent upon +withdrawing to the country, for he was well-informed already +of the feeling of the town concerning him, and had no mind to +brave the slights and cold-shoulderings that would await him +did he penetrate to any of the haunts of people of quality and +fashion. He stood before his mother now, a tall, lank figure, +his black face very gloomy, his sensual lips thrust forward in +a sullen pout. She, in a gilt arm-chair before her +toilet-table, was telling him the story of what had passed, +his father's fear of ruin and disgrace. He swore between his +teeth when he heard that the danger threatened from the Duke +of Wharton. + +"And your father's destitution means our destitution - yours +and mine; for his gambling schemes have consumed my portion +long since." + +He laughed and shrugged. "I marvel I should concern myself," +said he. "What can it avail me to save the rags that are left +him of his fortune? He's sworn I shall never touch a penny +that he may die possessed of." + +"But there's the entail," she reminded him. "If restitution +is demanded, the Crown will not respect it. 'Twill be another +sop to throw the whining curs that were crippled by the +bubble, and who threaten to disturb the country if they are +not appeased. If Wharton carries out this exposure, we're +beggars - utter beggars, that may ask an alms to quiet +hunger." + +"'Tis Wharton's present hate of me," said he thoughtfully, and +swore. "The damned puppy! He'd make a sacrifice of me upon +the altar of respectability, just as he made a sacrifice of +the South Sea bubblers. What else was the stinking rakehell +seeking but to put himself right again in the eyes of a town +that was nauseated with him and his excesses? The +self-seeking toad that makes virtue his profession - the +virtue of others - and profligacy his recreation!" He smote +fist into palm. "There's a way to silence him." + +"Ah?" she looked up quickly, hopefully. + +"A foot or so of steel," Rotherby explained, and struck the +hilt of his sword. "I might pick a quarrel with him. 'Twould +not be difficult. Come upon him unawares, say, and strike +him. That should force a fight." + +"Tusk, fool! He's all empanoplied in virtue where you are +concerned. He'd use the matter of your affair with Caryll as +a reason not to meet you, whatever you might do, and he'd set +his grooms to punish any indignity you might put upon him." + +"He durst not." + +"Pooh! The town would all approve him in it since your +running Caryll through the back. What a fool you were, +Charles." + +He turned away, hanging his head, full conscious, and with no +little bitterness, of how great had been his folly. + +"Salvation may lie for you in the same source that has brought +you to the present pass - this man Caryll," said the countess +presently. "I suspect him more than ever of being a Jacobite +agent." + +"I know him to be such." + +"You know it?" + +"All but; and Green is assured of it, too." He proceeded to +tell her what he knew. "Ever since Green met Caryll at +Maidstone has he suspected him, yet but that I kept him to the +task he would have abandoned it. He's in my pay now as much +as in Lord Carteret's, and if he can run Caryll to earth he +receives his wages from both sides." + +"Well - well? What has he discovered? Anything?" + +"A little. This Caryll frequented regularly the house of one +Everard, who came to town a week after Caryll's own arrival. +This Everard - Sir Richard Everard is known to be a Jacobite. +He is the Pretender's Paris agent. They would have laid him +by the heels before, but that by precipitancy they feared to +ruin their chances of discovering the business that may have +brought him over. They are giving him rope at present. +Meanwhile, by my cursed folly, Caryll's visits to him were +interrupted. But there has been correspondence between them." + +"I know," said her ladyship. "A letter was delivered him just +now. I tried to smoke him concerning it. But he's too +astute." + +"Astute or not," replied her son, "once he leaves Stretton +House it should not be long ere he betrays himself and gives +us cause to lay him by the heels. But how will that help us?" + +"Do you ask how? Why, if there is a plot, and we can discover +it, we might make terms with the secretary of state to avoid +any disclosure Wharton may intend concerning the South Sea +matter." + +"But that would be to discover my father for a Jacobite! What +advantage should we derive from that? 'Twould be as bad as +t'other matter." + +"Let me die, but ye're a slow-witted clod, Charles. D'ye +think we can find no way to disclose the plot and Mr. Caryll - +and Everard, too, if you choose - without including your +father? My lord is timidly cautious, and you may depend he'll +not have put himself in their hands to any extent just yet." + +The viscount paced the chamber slowly in long strides, head +bent in thought, hands clasped behind him. "It will need +consideration," said he. "But it may serve, and I can count +upon Green. He is satisfied that Caryll befooled him at +Maidstone, and that he kept the papers he carried despite the +thoroughness of Green's investigations. Moreover, he was +handled with some roughness by Caryll. For that and the other +matter he asks redress - thirsts for it. He's a very willing +tool, as I have found." + +"Then see that you use him adroitly to your work," said his +mother. "Best not leave town at present, Charles." + +"Why, no," said he. "I'll find me a lodging somewhere at +hand, since my fond sire is determined I shall pollute no +longer the sacrosanctity of his dwelling. Perhaps when I have +pulled him out of this quicksand, he will deign to mitigate +the bitterness of his feelings for me. Though, faith, I find +life endurable without the affection he should have +consecrated to me." + +"Ay," she said, looking up at him. "You are his son; too much +his son, I fear. 'Tis why he dislikes you so intensely. He +sees in you the faults to which he is blind in himself." + +"Sweet mother!" said his lordship, bowing. + +She scowled at him. She could deal in irony herself - and +loved to - but she detested to have it dealt to her. + +He bowed again; gained the door, and would have passed out but +that she detained him. + +"'Tis a pity, on some scores, to dispose so utterly of this +Caryll," she said. "The pestilent coxcomb has his uses, and +his uses, like adversity's, are sweet." + +He paused to question her with his eyes. + +"He might have made a husband for Hortensia, and rid me of the +company of that white-faced changeling." + +"Might he so?" quoth the viscount, face and voice, +expressionless. + +"They were made for each other," her ladyship opined. + +"Were they so?" + +"Ay - were they. And faith they've discovered it. I would +you had seen the turtles in the arbor an hour ago, when I +surprised them." + +His lordship attempted a smile, but achieved nothing more than +a wry face and a change of color. His mother's eyes, +observing these signs, grew on a sudden startled. + +"Why, fool," quoth she, "do you hold there still? Art not yet +cured of that folly?" + +"What folly, ma'am?" + +"This folly that already has cost you so much. 'Sdeath! As +I'm a woman, if you'd so much feeling for the girl, I marvel +ye did not marry her honestly and in earnest when the chance +was yours." + +The pallor of his face increased. He clenched his hands. "I +marvel myself that I did not," he answered passionately - and +went out, slamming the door after him, and leaving her +ladyship agape and angry. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +LOVE AND RAGE + + +Lord Rotherby, descending from that interview with his mother, +espied Hortensia crossing the hall below. Forgetting his +dignity, he quickened his movements, and took the remainder of +the stairs two at a stride. But, then, his lordship was +excited and angry, and considerations of dignity did not +obtain with him at the time. For that matter, they seldom +did. + +"Hortensia! Hortensia!" he called to her, and at his call she +paused. + +Not once during the month that was past - and during which he +had, for the most part, kept his room, to all intents a +prisoner - had she exchanged so much as a word with him. +Thus, not seeing him, she had been able, to an extent, to +exclude him from her thoughts, which, naturally enough, were +reluctant to entertain him for their guest. + +Her calm, as she paused now in acquiescence to his bidding, +was such that it almost surprised herself. She had loved him +once - or thought so, a little month ago - and at a single +blow he had slain that love. Now love so slain has a trick of +resurrecting in the guise of hate; and so, she had thought at +first had been the case with her. But this moment proved to +her now that her love was dead, indeed, since of her erstwhile +affection not even a recoil to hate remained. Dislike she may +have felt; but it was that cold dislike that breeds a deadly +indifference, and seeks no active expression, asking no more +than the avoidance of its object. + +Her calm, reflected in her face of a beauty almost spiritual, +in every steady line of her slight, graceful figure, gave him +pause a moment, and his hot glance fell abashed before the +chill indifference that met him from those brown eyes. + +A man of deeper sensibilities, of keener perceptions, would +have bowed and gone his way. But then a man of deeper +sensibilities would never have sought this interview that the +viscount was now seeking. Therefore, it was but natural that +he should recover swiftly from his momentary halt, and step +aside to throw open the door of a little room on the right of +the hall. Bowing slightly, he invited her to enter. + +"Grant me a moment ere I go, Hortensia," he said `between +command and exhortation. + +She stood cogitating him an instant, with no outward sign of +what might be passing in her mind; then she slightly inclined +her head, and went forward as he bade her. + +It was a sunny room, gay with light color and dainty +furnishings, having long window-doors that opened to the +garden. An Aubusson carpet of palest green, with a festoon +pattern of pink roses, covered two-thirds of the blocked, +polished floor. The empanelled walls were white, with here a +gilt mirror, flanked on either side by a girandole in ormolu. +A spinet stood open in mid-chamber, and upon it were sheets of +music, a few books and a bowl of emerald-green ware, charged +now with roses, whose fragrance lay heavy on the air. There +were two or three small tables of very dainty, fragile make, +and the chairs were in delicately-tinted tapestry illustrating +the fables of La Fontaine. + +It was an apartment looked upon by Hortensia as her own +withdrawing-room, set apart for her own use, and as that the +household - her very ladyship included - had ever recognized +it. + +His lordship closed the door with care. Hortensia took her +seat upon the long stool that stood at the spinet, her back to +the instrument, and with hands idle in her lap - the same cold +reserve upon her countenance-she awaited his communication. + +He advanced until he was close beside her, and stood leaning +an elbow on the corner of the spinet, a long and not +ungraceful figure, with the black curls of his full-bottomed +wig falling about his swarthy, big-featured face. + +"I have but my farewells to make, Hortensia," said he. "I am +leaving Stretton House, to-day, at last." + +"I am glad," said she, in a formal, level voice, "that things +should have fallen out so as to leave you free to go your +ways." + +"You are glad," he answered, frowning slightly, and leaning +farther towards her. "Ay, and why are you glad? Why? You +are glad for Mr. Caryll's sake. Do you deny it?" + +She looked up at him quite calm and fearlessly. "I am glad +for your own sake, too." + +His dark brooding eyes looked deep into hers, which did not +falter under his insistent gaze. "Am I to believe you?" he +inquired. + +"Why not? I do not wish your death." + +"Not my death - but my absence?" he sneered. "You wish for +that, do you not? You would prefer me gone? My room is +better than my company just now? 'Tis what you think, eh?" + +"I have not thought of it at all," she answered him with a +pitiless frankness. + +He laughed, soft and wickedly. "Is it so very hopeless, then? +You have not thought of it at all by which you mean that you +have not thought of me at all." + +"Is't not best so? You have given me no cause to think of you +to your advantage. I am therefore kind to exclude you from my +thoughts." + +"Kind?" he mocked her. "You think it kind to put me from your +mind - I who love you, Hortensia!" + +She rose upon the instant, her cheeks warming faintly. "My +lord," said she, "I think there is no more to be said between +us." + +"Ah, but there is," he cried. "A deal more yet." And he left +his place by the spinet to come and stand immediately before +her, barring her passage to the door. "Not only to say +farewell was it that I desired to speak with you alone here." +His voice softened amazingly. "I want your pardon ere I go. +I want you to say that you forgive me the vile thing I would +have done, Hortensia." Contrition quivered in his lowered +voice. He bent a knee to her, and held out his hand. "I will +not rise until you speak my pardon, child." + +"Why, if that be all, I pardon you very readily," she +answered, still betraying no emotion. + +He frowned. "Too readily!" he cried. "Too readily for +sincerity. I will not take it so." + +"Indeed, my lord, for a penitent, you are very difficult to +please. I pardon you with all my heart." + +"You are sincere?" he cried, and sought to take her hands; but +she whipped them away and behind her. "You bear me no +ill-will?" + +She considered him now with a calm, critical gaze, before +which he was forced to lower his bold eyes. "Why should I +bear you an ill-will?" she asked him. + +"For the thing I did - the thing I sought to do." + +"I wonder do you know all that you did?" she asked him, +musingly. "Shall I tell you, my lord? You cured me of a +folly. I had been blind, and you made me see. I had +foolishly thought to escape one evil, and you made me realize +that I was rushing into a worse. You saved me from myself. +You may have made me suffer then; but it was a healing hurt +you dealt me. And should I bear you an ill-will for that?" + +He had risen from his knee. He stood apart, pondering her +from under bent brows with eyes that were full of angry fire. + +"I do not think," she ended, "that there needs more between +us. I have understood you, sir, since that day at Maidstone +- I think we were strangers until then; and perhaps now you +may begin to understand me. Fare you well, my lord." + +She made shift to go, but he barred her passage now in +earnest, his hands clenched beside him in witness of the +violence he did himself to keep them there. "Not yet," he +said, in a deep, concentrated voice. "Not yet. I did you a +wrong, I know. And what you say - cruel as it is - is no more +than I deserve. But I desire to make amends. I love you, +Hortensia, and desire to make amends." + +She smiled wistfully. "'Tis overlate to talk of that." + +"Why?" he demanded fiercely, and caught her arms, holding her +there before him. "Why is it overlate?" + +"Suffer me to go," she commanded, rather than begged, and made +to free herself of his grasp. + +"I want you to be my wife, Hortensia - my wedded wife." + +She looked at him, and laughed; a cold laugh, disdainful, yet +not bitter. "You wanted that before, my lord; yet you +neglected the opportunity my folly gave you. I thank you - +you, after God - for that same neglect." + +"Ah, do not say that!" he begged, a very suppliant again. "Do +not say that! Child, I love you. Do you understand?" + +"Who could fail to understand, after the abundant proof you +have afforded me of your sincerity and your devotion?" + +"Do you rally me?" he demanded, letting through a flash of the +anger that was mounting in him. "Am I so poor a thing that +you whet your little wit upon me?" + +"My lord, you are paining me. What can you look to gain by +this? Suffer me to go." + +A moment yet he stood, holding her wrists and looking down +into her eyes with a mixture of pleading and ferocity in his. +Then he made a sound in his throat, and caught her bodily to +him; his arms, laced about her, held her bound and crushed +against him. His dark, flushed face hovered above her own. + +Fear took her at last. It mounted and grew to horror. "Let +me go, my lord," she besought him, her voice trembling. "Oh, +let me go!" + +"I love you, Hortensia! I need you!" he cried, as if wrung by +pain, and then hot upon her brow and cheeks and lips his +kisses fell, and shame turned her to fire from head to foot as +she fought helplessly within his crushing grasp. + +"You dog!" she panted, and writhing harder, wrenched free a +hand and arm. Blindly she beat upwards into that evil satyr's +face. "You beast! You toad! You coward!" + +They fell apart, each panting; she leaning faint against the +spinet, her bosom galloping; he muttering oaths decent and +other - for in the upward thrusting of her little hand one of +its fingers had prodded at an eye, and the pain of it - which +had caused him to relax his hold of her - stripped what little +veneer remained upon the man's true nature. + +"Will you go?" she asked him furiously, outraged by the +vileness of his ravings. "Will you go, or must I summon +help?" + +He stood looking at her, straightening his wig, which had +become disarranged in the struggle, and forcing himself to an +outward calm. "So," he said. "You scorn me? You will not +marry me? You realise the chance, eh? And why? Why?" + +"I suppose it is because I am blind to the honor of the +alliance," she controlled herself to answer him. "Will you +go?" + +He did not move. "Yet you loved me once - " + +"'Tis a lie!" she blazed. "I thought I did - to my undying +shame. No more than that, my lord - as I've a soul to be +saved." + +"You loved Me," he insisted. "And you would love me still but +for this damned Caryll - this French coxcomb, who has crawled +into your regard like the slimy, creeping thing he is." + +"It sorts well with your ways, my lord, that you could say +these things behind his back. You are practiced at stabbing +men behind." + +The gibe, with all the hurtful, stinging quality that only +truth possesses, struck his anger from him, leaving him limp +and pale. Then he recovered. + +"Do you know who he is - what he is?" he asked. "I will tell +you. He's a spy - a damned Jacobite spy, whom a word from me +will hang." + +Her eyes lashed him with her scorn. "I were a fool did I +believe you," was her contemptuous answer. + +"Ask him," he said, and laughed. He turned and strode to the +door. Paused there, sardonic, looking back. "I shall be +quits with you, ma'am. Quits! I'll hang this pretty turtle +of yours at Tyburn. Tell him so from me." + +He wrenched the door open, and went out on that, leaving her +cold and sick with dread. + +Was it but an idle threat to terrorize her? Was it but that? +Her impulse was to seek Mr. Caryll upon the instant that she +might ask him and allay her fears. But what right had she? +Upon what grounds could she set a question upon so secret a +matter? She conceived him raising his brows in that +supercilious way of his, and looking her over from head to toe +as though seeking a clue to the nature of this quaint thing +that asked him questions. She pictured his smile and the jest +with which he would set aside her inquiry. She imagined, +indeed, just what she believed would happen did she ask him; +which was precisely what would not have happened. Imagining +thus, she held her peace, and nursed her secret dread. And on +the following day, his weakness so far overcome as to leave +him no excuse to linger at Stretton House, Mr. Caryll took his +departure and returned to his lodging in Old Palace Yard. + +One more treasonable interview had he with Lord Ostermore in +the library ere he departed. His lordship it was who reopened +again the question, to repeat much of what he had said in the +arbor on the previous day, and Mr. Caryll replied with much +the same arguments in favor of procrastination that he had +already employed. + +"Wait, at least," he begged, "until I have been abroad a day +or two, and felt for myself how the wind Is setting." + + +"'Tis a prodigiously dangerous document," he declared. "I +scarce see the need for so much detail." + +"How can it set but one way?" + +"'Tis a question I shall be in better case to answer when I +have had an opportunity of judging. Meanwhile, be assured I +shall not sail for France without advising you. Time enough +then to give me your letter should you still be of the same +mind." + +"Be it so," said the earl. "When all is said, the letter will +be safer here, meantime, than in your pocket." And he tapped +the secretaire. "But see what I have writ his majesty, and +tell me should I alter aught." + +He took out a drawer on the right - took it out bodily - then +introduced his hand into the opening, running it along the +inner side of the desk until, no doubt, he touched a spring; +for suddenly a small trap was opened. From this cavity he +fished out two documents - one the flimsy tissue on which King +James' later was penned; the other on heavier material Lord +Ostermore's reply. He spread the latter before him, and +handed it to Mr. Caryll, who ran an eye over it. + +It was indited with stupid, characteristic incaution; +concealment was never once resorted to; everywhere expressions +of the frankest were employed, and every line breathed the +full measure of his lordship's treason and betrays the +existence of a plot. + +Mr. Caryll returned it. His countenance was grave. + + +"I desire his majesty to know how whole-heartedly I belong to +him." + +"'Twere best destroyed, I think. You can write another when +the time comes to dispatch it." + +But Ostermore was never one to take sensible advice. "Pooh! +'Twill be safe in here. 'Tis a secret known to none." He +dropped it, together with King James' letter, back into the +recess, snapped down the trap, and replaced the drawer. +Whereupon Mr. Caryll took his leave, promising to advise his +lordship of whatever he might glean, and so departed from +Stretton House. + +My Lord Rotherby, meanwhile, was very diligent in the business +upon which he was intent. He had received in his interview +with Hortensia an added spur to such action as might be +scatheful to Mr. Caryll. His lordship was lodged in Portugal +Row, within a stone's throw of his father's house, and there, +on that same evening of his moving thither, he had Mr. Green +to see him, desiring news. + +Mr. Green had little to impart, but strong hope of much to be +garnered presently. His little eyes twinkling, his chubby +face suffused in smiles, as though it were an excellent jest +to be hunting knowledge that should hang a man, the spy +assured Lord Rotherby that there was little doubt Mr. Caryll +could be implicated as soon as he was about again. + +"And that's the reason - after your lordship's own express +wishes - why so far I have let Sir Richard Everard be. It may +come to trouble for me with my Lord Carteret should it be +smoked that I have been silent on the matters within my +knowledge. But - " + +"Oh, a plague on that!" said his lordship. "You'll be well +paid for your services when you've rendered them. And, +meanwhile, I understand that not another soul in London - that +is, on the side of the government - is aware of Sir Richard's +presence in town. So where is your danger?" + +"True," said Mr. Green, plump hand caressing plumper chin. +"Had it not been so, I should have been forced to apply to the +secretary for a warrant before this." + +"Then you'll wait," said his lordship, "and you'll act as I +may direct you. It will be to your credit in the end. Wait +until Caryll has enmeshed himself by frequent visits to Sir +Richard's. Then get your warrant - when I give the word - and +execute it one fine night when Caryll happens to be closeted +with Everard. Whether we can get further evidence against him +or not, that circumstance of his being found with the +Pretender's agent should go some way towards hanging him. The +rest we must supply." + +Mr. Green smiled seraphically. "Ecod! I'd give my ears to +have the slippery fellow safe. Codso! I would. He bubbled +me at Maidstone, and I limped a fortnight from the kick he +gave me." + +"He shall do a little more kicking - with both feet," said his +lordship with unction. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +MR. GREEN EXECUTES HIS WARRANT + + +Five days later, Mr. Caryll - whose recovery had so far +progressed that he might now be said to be his own man again - +came briskly up from Charing Cross one evening at dusk, to the +house at the corner of Maiden Lane where Sir Richard Everard +was lodged. He observed three or four fellows lounging about +the corner of Chandos street and Bedford street, but it did +not occur to him that from that point they could command Sir +Richard's door - nor that such could be their object - until, +as he swung sharply round the corner, he hurtled violently +into a man who was moving in the opposite direction without +looking whither he was going. The man stepped quickly aside +with a murmured word of apology, to give Mr. Caryll the wall +that he might pass on. But Mr. Caryll paused. + +"Ah, Mr. Green!" said he very pleasantly. "How d'ye? Have ye +been searching folk of late?" + +Mr. Green endeavored to dissemble his startled expression in a +grin that revealed his white teeth. "Ye can't forgive me that +blunder, Mr. Caryll," said he. + +Mr. Caryll smiled fondly upon him. "From your manner I take +it that on your side you practice a more Christian virtue. It +is plain that you forgive me the sequel." + +Mr. Green shrugged and spread his hands. "You were in the +right, sir; you were in the right," he explained. "Those are +the risks a man of my calling must run. I must suffer for my +blunders." + +Mr. Caryll continued to smile. But that the light was +failing, the spy might have observed a certain hardening in +the lines of his mouth. "Here is a very humble mood," said +he. "It is like the crouch before the spring. In whom do you +design to plant your claws? - yours and your friends yonder." +And he pointed with his cane across the street towards the +loungers he had observed. + +"My friends?" quoth Mr. Green, in a voice of disgust. "Nay, +your honor! No friends of mine, ecod! Indeed, no!" + +"No? I am at fault, then. Yet they look as if they might be +bumbailiffs. 'Tis the kind ye herd with, is't not? Give you +good-even, Mr. Green." And he went on, cool and unconcerned, +and turned in through the narrow doorway by the glover's shop +to mount the stairs to Sir Richard's lodging. + +Mr. Green stood still to watch him go. Then he swore through +his teeth, and beckoned one of those whose acquaintance he had +disclaimed. + +"'Tis like him, ecod! to have gone in in spite of seeing me +and you! He's cool! Damned cool! But he'll be cooler yet, +codso!" Then, briskly questioning his satellite: "Is Sir +Richard within, Jerry?" + +"Ay," answered Jerry - a rough, heavily-built tatterdemalion. +"He's been there these two hours." + +"'Tis our chance to nab 'em both, then-our last chance, maybe. +The game is up. That fine gentleman has smoked it." He was +angry beyond measure. Their plans were far from ripe, and yet +to delay longer now that their vigilance was detected was, +perhaps, to allow Sir Richard to slip through their fingers, +as well as the other. "Have ye your barkers?" he asked +harshly. + +Jerry tapped a heavily bulging pocket, and winked. Mr. Green +thrust his three-cornered hat a-cock over one eye, and with +his hands behind the tails of his coat, stood pondering. "Ay, +pox on't!" he grumbled. "It must be done to-night. I dursn't +delay longer. We'll give the gentlemen time to settle +comfortably; then up we go to make things merry for 'em." And +he beckoned the others across. + +Meanwhile Mr. Caryll had gone up with considerable misgivings. +The last letter he had received from Sir Richard - that day at +Stretton House - had been to apprise him that his adoptive +father was on the point of leaving town but that he would be +returned within the week. The business that had taken him had +been again concerned with Atterbury the obstinate. Upon +another vain endeavor to dissuade the bishop from a scheme his +king did not approve had Sir Richard journeyed to Rochester. +He had had his pains for nothing. Atterbury had kept him +there, entertaining him, and seeking in his turn to engulf the +agent in the business that was toward - business which was +ultimately to suck down Atterbury and his associates. Sir +Richard, however, was very firm. And when at last he left +Rochester to return to town and his adoptive son, a coolness +marked the parting of those two adherents of the Stuart +dynasty. + +Returned to London - whence his absence had been marked with +alarm by Mr. Green - Sir Richard had sent a message to Mr. +Caryll, and the latter made haste to answer it in person. + +His adoptive father received him with open arms, and such a +joy in his face, such a light in his old eyes as should have +gladdened his visitor, yet only served sadden him the more. +He sighed as Sir Richard thrust him back that he might look at +him. + +"Ye're pale, boy," he said, "and ye look thinner." And with +that he fell to reviling the deed that was the cause of this, +Rotherby and the whole brood of Ostermore. + +"Let be," said Mr. Caryll, as he dropped into a chair. +"Rotherby is undergoing his punishment. The town looks on him +as a cut-throat who has narrowly escaped the gallows. I +marvel that he tarries here. An I were he, I think I'd travel +for a year or two." + +"What weakness made you spare him when ye had him at the point +of your sword?" + +"That which made me regret that I had him there; the +reflection that he is my brother." + +Sir Richard looked at him in some surprise. "I thought you of +sterner stuff, Justin," he said presently, and sighed, passing +a long white hand across his bony brow. "I thought I had +reared you to a finer strength. But there! What of Ostermore +himself?" + +"What of him?" + +"Have you not talked again with him of the matter of going +over to King James?" + +"To what end, since the chance is lost? His betrayal now +would involve the betrayal of Atterbury and the others - for +he has been in touch with them." + +"Has he though? The bishop said naught of this." + +"I have it from my lord himself - and I know the man. Were he +taken they'd wring out of him whatever happened to be in him. +He has no discretion. Indeed, he's but a clod, too stupid +even to be aware of his own stupidity." + +"Then what is to be done?" inquired Sir Richard, frowning. + +"We'd best get home to France again." + +"And leave matters thus?" He considered a moment, and shook +his head, smiling bitterly. "Could that content you, Justin? +Could you go as you have come - taking no more than you +brought; leaving that man as you found him? Could you?" + +Mr. Caryll looked at the baronet, and wondered for a moment +whether he should persevere in the rule of his life and deal +quite frankly with him, telling him precisely what he felt. +Then he realized that he would not be understood. He could +not combat the fanaticism that was Sir Richard's in this +matter. If he told him the truth; how he loathed the task; +how he rejoiced that circumstances had now put it beyond his +reach - all he would achieve would be to wound Sir Richard in +his tenderest place and to no purpose. + +"It is not a matter of what I would," he answered slowly, +wearily almost. "It is a matter of what I must. Here in +England is no more to be done. Moreover, there's danger for +you in lingering, or I'm much mistaken else." + +"Danger of what?" asked Sir Richard, with indifference. + +"You are being spied upon." + +"Pho! I am accustomed to it. I have been spied upon all my +life." + +"Like enough. But this time the spies are messengers from the +secretary of state. I caught a glimpse of them lurking about +your doorway - three or four at least - and as I entered I all +but fell over a Mr. Green - a most pertinacious gentleman with +whom I have already some acquaintance. He is the very man who +searched me at Maidstone; he has kept his eye upon me ever +since, which has not troubled me. But that he should keep an +eye on you means that your identity is suspected, and if that +be so - well, the sooner we are out of England the better for +your health." + +Sir Richard shook his head calmly. The fine-featured, lean +old face showed no sign of uneasiness. "A fig for all that!" +said he. "I go not thus - empty-handed as I came. After all +these years of waiting." + +A knock fell upon the door, and Sir Richard's man entered. +His face was white, his eyes startled. + +"Sir Richard," he announced, his voice lowered portentously, +"there are some men here who insist upon seeing you." + +Mr. Caryll wheeled in his chair. "Surely they did not ask for +him by name?" he inquired in the same low key employed by the +valet. + +The man nodded in silence. Mr. Caryll swore through his +teeth. Sir Richard rose. + +"I am occupied at present," he said in a calm voice. "I can +receive nobody. Desire to know their business. If it +imports, bid them come again to-morrow." + +"It is over-urgent for that, Sir Richard Everard," came the +soft voice of Mr. Green, who thrust himself suddenly forward +past the servant. Other figures were seen moving behind him +in the ante-room. + +"Sir," cried Sir Richard angrily. "This is a most insolent +intrusion. Bentley, show this fellow the door." + +Bentley set a hand on Mr. Green's shoulder. Mr. Green nimbly +twisted out of it, and produced a paper. "I have here a +warrant for your apprehension, Sir Richard, from my Lord +Carteret, the secretary of state." + +Mr. Caryll advanced menacingly upon the tipstaff. Mr. Green +stepped back, and fell into a defensive attitude, balancing a +short but formidable-looking life-preserver. + +"Keep your distance, sir, or 'twill be the worse for you," he +threatened. "Hi!" he called. "Jerry! Beattie!" + +Jerry, Beattie, and two other ruffians crowded to the doorway, +but advanced little beyond the threshold. Mr. Caryll turned +to Sir Richard. But Mr. Green was the first to speak. + +"Sir Richard," said he, "you'll see that we are but +instruments of the law. It grieves me profoundly to have you +for our object. But ye'll see that 'tis no affair of ours, +who have but to do the duty that we're ordered. Ye'll not +give these poor fellows trouble, I trust. Ye'll surrender +quietly." + +Sir Richard's answer was to pull open a drawer in the +writing-table, by which he was standing, and whip out a +pistol. + +What exactly he may have intended, he was never "allowed to +announce. An explosion shook the room, coming from the +doorway, upon which Mr. Caryll had turned his shoulder; there +was a spurt of flame, and Sir Richard collapsed forward onto +the table, and slithered thence to the ground. + +Jerry, taking fright at the sight of the pistol Sir Richard +had produced, had forestalled what he supposed to be the +baronet's intentions by firing instantly upon him, with this +disastrous result. + +Confusion ensued. Mr. Caryll, with no more thought for the +tipstaves than he had for the smoke in his eyes or the stench +of powder in his nostrils, sped to Sir Richard. In a passion +of grief and anxiety, he raised his adoptive father, aided by +Bentley, what time Mr. Green was abusing Jerry, and Jerry was +urging in exculpation how he had acted purely in Mr. Green's +interest, fearing that Sir Richard might have been on the +point of shooting him. + +The spy went forward to Mr. Caryll. "I am most profoundly +sorry - " he began. + +"Take your sorrow to hell," snarled Mr. Caryll, his face +livid, his eyes blazing uncannily. "I believe ye've murdered +him." + +"Ecod! the fool shall smart for't if Sir Richard dies," +grumbled Mr. Green. + +"What's that to me? You may hang the muckworm, and what shall +that profit any one? Will it restore me Sir Richard's life? +Send one of your ruffians for a doctor, man. And bid him +hasten." + +Mr. Green obeyed with alacrity. Apart from his regrets at +this happening for its own sake, it would suit his interests +not at all that Sir Richard should perish thus. Meanwhile, +with the help of the valet, who was blubbering like a child - +for he had been with Sir Richard for over ten years, and was +attached to him as a dog to its master - they opened the +wounded man's sodden waistcoat and shirt, and reached the +hurt, which was on the right side of the breast. + +Between them they lifted him up gently. Mr. Green would have +lent a hand, but a snarl from Mr. Caryll drove him back in +sheer terror, and alone those two bore the baronet into the +next room and laid him on his bed. Here they did the little +that they could; propping him up and stemming the bleeding, +what time they waited through what seemed a century for the +doctor's coming, Mr. Caryll mad - stark mad for the time - +with grief and rage. + +The physician arrived at last - a small, bird-like man under a +great gray periwig, with pointed features and little eyes that +beamed brightly behind horn-rimmed spectacles. + +In the ante-room he was met by Mr. Green, who in in a few +words told him what had happened. Then the doctor entered the +bedchamber alone, and deposing hat and cane, went forward to +make his examination. + +Mr. Caryll and Bentley stood aside to give place to him. He +stooped, felt the pulse, examined the lips of the wound, +estimating the locality and direction of the bullet, and his +mouth made a clucking sound as of deprecation. + +"Very deplorable, very deplorable!" he muttered. "So hale a +man, too, despite his years. Very deplorable!" He looked up. +"A Jacobite, ye say he is, sir?" + +"Will he live?" inquired Mr. Caryll shortly, by way of +recalling the man of medicine to the fact that politics was +not the business on which he had been summoned. + +The doctor pursed his lips, and looked at Mr. Caryll over the +top of his spectacles. "He will live - ", + +"Thank God!" breathed Mr. Caryll. + +" - perhaps an hour," the doctor concluded, and never knew how +near was Mr. Caryll to striking him. He turned again to his +patient, producing a probe. "Very deplorable!" Mr. Caryll +heard him muttering, parrot-like. + +A pause ensued, and a silence broken only by occasional +cluckings from the little doctor, and Mr. Caryll stood by, a +prey to an anguish more poignant than he had ever known. At +last there was a groan from the wounded man. Mr. Caryll +started forward. + +Sir Richard's eyes were open, and he was looking about him at +the doctor, the valet, and, lastly, at his adopted son. He +smiled faintly at the latter. Then the doctor touched Mr. +Caryll's sleeve, and drew him aside. + +"I cannot reach the bullet," he said. "But 'tis no matter for +that." He shook his head solemnly. "The lung has been +pierced. A little time now, and - I can do nothing more." + +Mr. Caryll nodded in silence, his face drawn with pain. With +a gesture he dismissed the doctor, who went out with Bentley. + +When the valet returned, Mr. Caryll was on his knees beside +the bed, Sir Richard's hand in his, and Sir Richard was +speaking in a feeble, hoarse voice - gasping and coughing at +intervals. + +"Don't - don't grieve, Justin," he was saying. "I am an old +man. My time must have been very near. I - I am glad that it +is thus. It is much better than if they had taken me. They'd +ha' shown me no mercy. 'Tis swifter thus, and - and easier." + +Silently Justin wrung the hand he held. + +"You'll miss me a little, Justin," the old man resumed +presently. "We have been good friends, lad - good friends for +thirty years." + +"Father!" Justin cried, a sob in his voice. + +Sir Richard smiled. "I would I were your father in more than +name, Justin. Hast been a good son to me - no son could have +been more than you." + +Bentley drew nigh with a long glass containing a cordial the +doctor had advised. Sir Richard drank avidly, and sighed +content when he returned the glass. "How long yet, Justin?" +he inquired. + +"Not long, father," was the gloomy answer. + +"It is well. I am content. I am happy, Justin. Believe me, +I am happy. What has my life been? Dissipated in the pursuit +of a phantom." He spoke musingly, critically calm, as one who +already upon the brink of dissolution takes already but an +impersonal interest in the course he has run in life. + +Judging so, his judgment was clearer than it had yet been; it +grew sane, and was freed at last from the hackles of +fanaticism; and there was something that he saw in its true +proportions. He sighed heavily. + +"This is a judgment upon me," he said presently. He turned his +great eyes full upon Justin, and their dance was infinitely +wistful. "Do you remember, Justin, that night at your lodging +- that first night on which we talked here in London of the +thing you were come to do - the thing to which I urged you? +Do you recall how you upbraided me for having set you a task +hat was unworthy and revolting?" + +"I remember," answered Justin, with an inward shudder, fearful +of what might follow. + +"Oh, you were right, Justin; right, and I was entirely wrong - +wickedly wrong. I should have left vengeance to God. He is +wreaking it. Ostermore's whole life has been a punishment; +his end will be a punishment. I understand it now. We do no +wrong in life, Justin, for which in this same life payment is +not exacted. Ostermore has been paying. I should have been +content with that. After all, he is your father in the flesh, +and it was not for you to raise your hand against him. 'Tis +what you have felt, and I am glad you should have felt it, for +it proves your worthiness. Can you forgive me?" + +"Nay, nay, father! Speak not of forgiveness." + +"I have sore need of it." + +"Ah, but not from me; not from me! What is there I should +forgive? There is a debt between us I had hoped to repay some +day when you were grown truly old. I had looked to tend you +in your old age, to be the comfort of it, and the support that +you were to my infancy." + +"It had been sweet, Justin," sighed Sir Richard, smiling upon +his adopted son, and putting forth an unsteady hand to stroke +the white, drawn face. "It had been sweet. It is sweet to +hear that you so proposed." + +A shudder convulsed him. He sank back coughing, and there was +froth and blood on his lips. Reverently Justin wiped them, +and signed for the cordial to Bentley, who stood, numbed, in +the background. + +"It is the end," said Sir Richard feebly. "God has been good +to me beyond my deserts, and this is a crowning mercy. +Consider, Justin, it might have been the gibbet and a crowd - +instead of this snug bed, and you and Bentley here - just two +good friends." + +Bentley, losing all self-control at this mention of himself, +sank weeping to his knees. Sir Richard put out a hand, and +touched his head. + +"You will serve Mr. Caryll, Bentley. You'll find him a good +master if you are as good a servant to him as you have been to +me." + +Then suddenly he made the quick movement of one who bethinks +himself of something. He waved Bentley away. + +"There is a case in the drawer yonder," he said, when the +servant was beyond earshot. "It contains papers that concern +you - certificates of your birth and of your mothers death. I +brought them with me as proofs of your identity, against the +time when the hour of vengeance upon Ostermore should strike. +They twill serve no purpose now. Burn them. They are best +destroyed." + +Mr. Caryll nodded understanding, and on Sir Richard's part +there followed another fight for breath, another attack of +coughing, during which Bentley instinctively approached again. + +When the paroxysm was past, Sir Richard turned once more to +Justin, who was holding him in his arms, upright, to ease his +breathing. "Be good to Bentley," he murmured, his voice very +faint and exhausted now. "You are my heir, Justin. All that +I have - I set all in order ere I left Paris. It - it is +growing dark. You have not snuffed the candles, Bentley. +They are burning very low." + +Suddenly he started forward, held as he was in Justin's arms. +He half-raised his arms, holding out his hands toward the foot +of the bed. His eyes dilated; the expression of his livid +face grew first surprised, then joyous - beatific. +"Antoinette!" he cried in a loud voice. "Antoi - " + +And thus, abruptly, but in great happiness, he passed. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +AMID THE GRAVES + + +What time Sir Richard had been dying in the inner room, Mr. +Green and two of his acolytes had improved the occasion by +making a thorough search in Sir Richard's writing-table and a +thorough investigation of every scrap of paper found there. +From which you will understand how much Mr. Green was a +gentleman who set business above every other consideration. + +The man who had shot Sir Richard had been ordered by Mr. Green +to take himself off, and had been urged to go down on his +knees, for once in a way, and pray Heaven that his rashness +might not bring him to the gallows as he so richly deserved. + +His fourth myrmidon Mr. Green had dispatched with a note to my +Lord Rotherby, and it was entirely upon the answer he should +receive that it must depend whether he proceeded or not, +forthwith, to the apprehension of Mr. Caryll. Meanwhile the +search went on amain, and was extended presently to the very +bedroom where the dead Sir Richard lay. Every nook and cranny +was ransacked; the very mattress under the dead man was +removed, and investigated, and even Mr. Caryll and Bentley had +to submit to being searched. But it all proved fruitless. +Not a line of treasonable matter was to be found anywhere. To +the certificates upon Mr. Caryll the searcher made the mistake +of paying but little heed in view of their nature. + +But if there were no proofs of plots and treasonable dealings, +there was, at least, abundant proof of Sir Richard's identity, +and Mr. Green appropriated these against any awkward inquiries +touching the manner in which the baronet had met his death. + +Of such inquiries, however, there were none. It was formally +sworn to Lord Carteret by Green and his men that the +secretary's messenger, Jerry - the fellow owned no surname - +had shot Sir Richard in self-defence, when Sir Richard had +produced firearms upon being arrested on a charge of high +treason, for which they held the secretary's own warrant. + +At first Lord Carteret considered it a thousand pities that +they should not have contrived matters better so as to take +Sir Richard alive; but upon reflection he was careful not to +exaggerate to himself the loss occasioned by his death, for +Sir Richard, after all, was a notoriously stubborn man, not in +the least likely to have made any avowals worth having. So +that his trial, whilst probably resulting sterile of such +results as the government could desire, would have given +publicity to the matter of a plot that was hatching; and such +publicity at a time of so much unrest was the last thing the +government desired. Where Jacobitism was concerned, Lord +Carteret had the wise discretion to proceed with the extremest +caution. Publicity might serve to fan the smouldering embers +into a blaze, whereas it was his cunning aim quietly to stifle +them as he came upon them. + +So, upon the whole, he was by no means sure but that Jerry had +done the state the best possible service in disposing thus +summarily of that notorious Jacobite agent, Sir Richard +Everard. And his lordship saw to it that there was no inquiry +and that nothing further was heard of the matter. + +As for Lord Rotherby, had the affair transpired twenty-four +hours earlier, he would certainly have returned Mr. Green a +message to effect the arrest of Mr. Caryll upon suspicion. +But as it chanced, he had that very afternoon received a visit +from his mother, who came in great excitement to inform him +that she had forced from Lord Ostermore an acknowledgment that +he was plotting with Mr. Caryll to go over to King James. + +So, before they could move further against Mr. Caryll, it +behooved them to ascertain precisely to what extent Lord +Ostermore might not be incriminated, as otherwise the arrest +of Caryll might lead to exposures that would ruin the earl +more thoroughly than could any South Sea bubble revelations. +Thus her ladyship to her son. He turned upon her. + +"Why, madam," said he, "these be the very arguments I used +t'other day when we talked of this; and all you answered me +then was to call me a dull-witted clod, for not seeing how the +thing might be done without involving my lord." + +"Tcha!" snapped her ladyship, beating her knuckles impatiently +with her fan. "A dull-witted clod did I call you? 'Twas +flattery - sheer flattery; for I think ye're something worse. +Fool, can ye not see the difference that lies betwixt your +disclosing a plot to the secretary of state, and causing this +Caryll to disclose it - as might happen if he were seized? +First discover the plot - find out in what it may consist, and +then go to Lord Carteret to make your terms." + +He looked at her, out of temper by her rebuke. "I may be as +dull as your ladyship says - but I do not see in what the +position now is different from what it was." + +"It isn't different - but we thought it was different," she +explained impatiently. "We assumed that your father would not +have betrayed himself, counting upon his characteristic +caution. But it seems we are mistook. He has betrayed +himself to Caryll. And before we can move in this matter, we +must have proofs of a plot to lay before the secretary of +state." + +Lord Rotherby understood, and accounted himself between Scylla +and Charybdis, and when that evening Green's messenger found +him, he gnashed his teeth in rage at having to allow this +chance to pass, at being forced to temporize until he should +be less parlously situated. He returned Mr. Green an urgent +message to take no steps concerning Mr. Caryll until they +should have concerted together. + +Mr. Green was relieved. Mr. Caryll arrested might stir up +matters against the slayer of Sir Richard, and this was a +business which Mr. Green had prevision enough to see his +master, Lord Carteret, would prefer should not be stirred up. +He had a notion, for the rest, that if Mr. Caryll were left to +go his ways, he would not be likely to give trouble touching +that same matter. And he was right in this. Before his +overwhelming sense of loss, Mr. Caryll had few thoughts to +bestow upon the manner in which that loss had been sustained. +Moreover, if he had a quarrel with any one on that account, it +was with the government whose representative had issued the +warrant for Sir Richard's arrest, and no more with the +wretched tipstaff who had fired the pistol than with the +pistol itself. Both alike were but instruments, of slightly +different degrees of insensibility. + +For twenty-four hours Mr. Caryll's grief was overwhelming in +its poignancy. His sense of solitude was awful. Gone was the +only living man who had stood to him for kith and kin. He was +left alone in the world; utterly alone. That was the +selfishness of his sorrow - the consideration of Sir Richard's +death as it concerned himself. + +Presently an alloy of consolation was supplied by the +reflection of Sir Richard's own case - as Sir Richard himself +had stated it upon his deathbed. His life had not been happy; +it had been poisoned by a monomania, which, like a worm in the +bud, had consumed the sweetness of his existence. Sir Richard +was at rest. And since he had been discovered, that shot was, +indeed, the most merciful end that could have been measured +out to him. The alternative might have been the gibbet and +the gaping crowd, and a moral torture to precede the end. +Better - a thousand times better - as it was. + +So much did all this weigh with him that when on the following +Monday he accompanied the body to its grave, he found his +erstwhile passionate grief succeeded by an odd thankfulness +that things were as they were, although it must be confessed +that a pang of returning anguish smote him when he heard the +earth clattering down upon the wooden box that held all that +remained of the man who had been father, mother, brother and +all else to him. + +He turned away at last, and was leaving the graveyard, when +some one touched him on the arm. It was a timid touch. He +turned sharply, and found himself looking into the sweet face +of Hortensia Winthrop, wondering how came she there. She wore +a long, dark cloak and hood, but her veil was turned back. A +chair was waiting not fifty paces from them along the +churchyard wall. + +"I came but to tell you how much I feel for you in this great +loss," she said. + +He looked at her in amazement. "How did you know?" he asked +her. + +"I guessed," said she. "I heard that you were with him at the +end, and I caught stray words from her ladyship of what had +passed. Lord Rotherby had the information from the tipstaff +who went to arrest Sir Richard Everard. I guessed he was your +- your foster-father, as you called him; and I came to tell +you how deeply I sorrow for you in your sorrow." + +He caught her hands in his and bore them to his lips, reckless +of who might see the act. "Ah, this is sweet and kind in +you," said he. + +She drew him back into the churchyard again. Along the wall +there was an avenue of limes - a cool and pleasant walk +wherein idlers lounged on Sundays in summer after service. +Thither she drew him. He went almost mechanically. Her +sympathy stirred his sorrow again, as sympathy so often does. + +"I have buried my heart yonder, I think," said he, with a wave +of his hand towards that spot amid the graves where the men +were toiling with their shovels. "He was the only living +being that loved me." + +"Ah, surely not," said she, sorrow rather than reproach in her +gentle voice. + +"Indeed, yes. Mine is a selfish grief. It is for myself that +I sorrow, for myself and my own loneliness. It is thus with +all of us. When we argue that we weep the dead, it would be +more true to say that we bewail the living. For him - it is +better as it is. No doubt it is better so for most men, when +all is said, and we do wrong to weep their passing." + +"Do not talk so," she said. "It hurts." + +"Ay - it is the way of truth to hurt, which is why, hating +pain, we shun truth so often." He sighed. "But, oh, it was +good in you to seek me, to bring me word with your own lips of +your sweet sympathy. If aught could lighten the gloom of my +sorrow, surely it is that." + +They stepped along in silence until they came to the end of +the avenue, and turned. It was no idle silence: the silence +of two beings who have naught to say. It was a grave, +portentous silence, occasioned by the unutterable much in the +mind of one, and by the other's apprehension of it. At last +she spoke, to ask him what he meant to do. + +"I shall return to France," he said. "It had perhaps been +better had I never crossed to England." + +"I cannot think so," she said, simply, frankly and with no +touch of a coquetry that had been harshly at discord with time +and place. + +He shot her a swift, sidelong glance; then stopped, and +turned. "I am glad on't," said he. "'Twill make my going the +easier." + +"I mean not that," she cried, and held out her hands to him. +"I meant not what you think - you know, you know what 'twas I +meant. You know - you must - what impulse brought me to you +in this hour, when I knew you must need comfort. And in +return how cruel, were you not - to tell me that yonder lay +buried the only living being that - that loved you?" + +His fingers were clenched upon her arm. "Don't - don't!" he +implored hoarsely, a strange fire in his eyes, a hectic flush +on either cheek. "Don't! Or I'll forget what I am, and take +advantage of this midsummer folly that is upon you." + +"Is it no more than folly, Justin?" she asked him, brown eyes +looking up into gray-green. + +"Ay, something more - stark madness. All great emotions are. +It will pass, and you will be thankful that I was man enough - +strong enough - to allow it the chance of passing." + +She hung her head, shaking it sorrowfully. Then very softly: +"Is it no more than the matter of - of that, that stands +between us?" she inquired. + +"No more than that," he answered, "and yet more than enough. +I have no name to offer any woman." + +"A name?" she echoed scornfully. "What store do you think I +lay by that? When you talk so, you obey some foolish +prejudice; no more." + +"Obedience to prejudices is the whole art of living," he +answered, sighing. + +She made a gesture of impatience, and went on. "Justin, you +said you loved me; and when you said so much, you gave me the +right - or so I understood it - to speak to you as I am doing +now. You are alone in the world, without kith or kin. The +only one you had - the one who represented all for you - lies +buried there. Would you return thus, lonely and alone, to +France?" + +"Ah, now I understand!" he cried. "Now I understand. Pity is +the impulse that has urged you - pity for my loneliness, is't +not, Hortensia?" + +"I'll not deny that without the pity there might not have been +the courage. Why should I - since it is a pity that gives you +no offense, a pity that is rooted firmly in - in love for you, +my Justin?" + +He set his hands upon her shoulders, and with glowing eyes +regarded her. "Ah, sweet!" said he, "you make me very, very +proud." + +And then his arms dropped again limply to his sides. He +sighed, and shook his head drearily. "And yet - reflect. +When I come to beg your hand in marriage of your guardian, +what shall I answer him of the questions he will ask me of +myself - touching my family, my parentage and all the rest +that he will crave to know?" + +She observed that he was very white again. "Need you enter +into that? A man is himself; not his father or his family." +And then she checked. "You make me plead too much," she said, +a crimson flood in her fair cheeks. "I'll say no more than I +have said. Already have I said more than I intended. And you +have wanted mercy that you could drive me to it. You know my +mind - my - my inmost heart. You know that I care nothing for +your namelessness. It is yours to decide what you will do. +Come, now; my chair is staying for me." + +He bowed; he sought again to convey some sense of his +appreciation of her great nobility; then led her through the +gate and to her waiting chair. + +"Whatever I may decide, Hortensia" was the last thing he said +to her, "and I shall decide as I account best for you, rather +than for myself; and for myself there needs no thought or +hesitation - whatever I may decide, believe me when I say from +my soul that all my life shall be the sweeter for this hour." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE GHOST OF THE PAST + + +Temptation had seized Mr. Caryll in a throttling grip, and for +two whole days he kept the house, shunning all company and +wrestling with that same Temptation. In the end he took a +whimsical resolve, entirely worthy of himself. + +He would go to Lord Ostermore formally to ask in marriage the +hand of Mistress Winthrop, and he would be entirely frank with +the earl, stating his exact condition, but suppressing the +names of his parents. + +He was greatly taken with the notion. It would create a +situation ironical beyond any, grotesque beyond belief; and +its development should be stupendously interesting. It +attracted him irresistibly. That he should leave it to his +own father to say whether a man born as he was born might +aspire to marry his father's ward, had in it something that +savored of tragi-comedy. It was a pretty problem, that once +set could not be left unsolved by a man of Mr. Caryll's +temperament. And, indeed, no sooner was the idea conceived +than it quickened into a resolve upon which he set out to act. + +He bade Leduc call a chair, and, dressed in mourning, but with +his habitual care, he had himself carried to Lincoln's Inn +Fields. + +Engrossed as he was in his own thoughts, he paid little heed +to the hum of excitement about the threshold of Stretton +House. Within the railed enclosure that fronted the mansion +two coaches were drawn up, and a little knot of idlers stood +by one of these in busy gossip. + +Paying no attention to them, Mr. Caryll mounted the steps, nor +noticed the gravity of the porter's countenance as he passed +within. + +In the hall he found a little flock of servants gathered +together, and muttering among themselves like conspirators in +a tragedy; and so engrossed that they paid no heed to him as +he advanced, nor until he had tapped one of them on the +shoulder with his cane - and tapped him a thought +peremptorily. + +"How now?" said he. "Does no one wait here?" + +They fell apart a little, and stood at attention, with +something curious in their bearing, one and all. + +"My service to his lordship, and say that I desire to speak +with him." + +They looked at one another in hesitation for a moment; then +Humphries, the butler, came forward. "Your honor'll not have +heard the news?" said he, a solemn gravity in face and tone. + +"News?" quoth Mr. Caryll sharply, intrigued by so much show of +mystery. "What news?" + +"His lordship is very ill, sir. He had a seizure this morning +when they came for him." + +"A seizure?" said Mr. Caryll. And then: "When they came for +him?" he echoed, struck by something odd in the man's +utterance of those five words. "When who came for him?" + +"The messengers, sir," replied the butler dejectedly. "Has +your honor not heard?" And seeing the blank look on Mr. +Caryll's face, he proceeded without waiting for an answer: +"His lordship was impeached yesterday by his Grace of Wharton +on a matter concerning the South Sea Company, and Lord +Carteret - the secretary of state, your honor - sent this +morning to arrest him." + +"'Sdeath!" ejaculated Mr. Caryll in his surprise, a surprise +that was tempered with some dismay. "And he had a seizure, ye +say?" + +"An apoplexy, your honor. The doctors are with him now; Sir +James, himself, is here. They're cupping him - so I hear from +Mr. Tom, his lordship's man. I'd ha' thought your honor would +ha' heard. 'Tis town talk, they say." + +Mr. Caryll would have found it difficult to have said exactly +what impression this news made upon him. In the main, +however, he feared it left him cold. + +"'Tis very regrettable," said he. He fell thoughtful a +moment. Then: "Will you send word to Mistress Winthrop that I +am here, and would speak with her, Humphries?" + +Humphries conducted Mr. Caryll to the little white and gold +withdrawing-room that was Hortensia's. There, in the little +time that he waited, he revolved the situation as it now +stood, and the temptation that had been with him for the past +three days rose up now with a greater vigor. Should Lord +Ostermore die, Temptation argued, he need no longer hesitate. +Hortensia would be as much alone in the world as he was; +worse, for life at Stretton House with her ladyship - from +which even in the earl's lifetime she had been led to attempt +to escape - must be a thing unbearable, and what alternative +could he suggest but that she should become his wife? + +She came to him presently, white-faced and with startled eyes. +As she took his outstretched hands, she attempted a smile. +"It is kind in you to come to me at such a time," she said. + +"You mistake," said he, "as is but natural. I had not heard +what had befallen. I came to ask your hand in marriage of his +lordship." + +Some faint color tinged her cheeks. "You had decided, then?" + +"I had decided that his lordship must decide," he answered. + +"And now?" + +"And now it seems we must decide for ourselves if his lordship +dies." + +Her mind swung to the graver matter. "Sir James has every +hope," she said, and added miserably: "I know not which to +pray for, his recovery or his death." + +"Why that?" + +"Because if he survive it may be for worse. The secretary's +agent is even now seeking evidence against him among his own +papers. He is in the library at this moment, going through +his lordship's desk." + +Mr. Caryll started. That mention of Ostermore's desk brought +vividly before his mind the recollection of the secret drawer +wherein the earl had locked away the letter he had received +from King James and his own reply, all packed as it was, with +treason. If that drawer were discovered, and those papers +found, then was Ostermore lost indeed, and did he survive this +apoplexy, it would be to surrender his head upon the scaffold. + +A moment he considered this, dispassionately. Then it broke +upon his mind that were this to happen, Ostermore's blood +would indirectly be upon his own head, since for the purpose +of betrayal had he sought him out with that letter from the +exiled Stuart - which, be it remembered, King James himself +had no longer wished delivered. + +It turned him cold with horror. He could not remain idle and +let matters run their course. He must avert these discoveries +if it lay within his power to do so, or else he must submit to +a lifetime of remorse should Ostermore survive to be attainted +of treason. He had made an end - a definite end - long since +of his intention of working Ostermore's ruin; he could not +stand by now and see that ruin wrought as a result of the +little that already he had done towards encompassing it. + +"His papers must be saved," he said shortly. "I'll go to the +library at once." + +"But the secretary's agent is there already," she repeated. + +"'Tis no matter for that," said he, moving towards the door. +"His desk contains that which will cost him his head if +discovered. I know it," he assured her, and left her cold +with fear. + +"But, then, you - you?" she cried. "Is it true that you are a +Jacobite?" + +"True enough," he answered. + +"Lord Rotherby knows it," she informed him. "He told me it +was so. If - if you interfere in this, it - it may mean your +ruin." She came to him swiftly, a great fear written or her +winsome face. + +"Sh," said he. "I am not concerned to think of that at +present. If Lord Ostermore perishes through his connection +with the cause, it will mean worse than ruin for me - though +not the ruin that you are thinking of." + +"But what can you do?" + +"That I go to learn." + +"I will come with you, then." + +He hesitated a moment, looking at her; then he opened the +door, and held it for her, following after. He led the way +across the hall to the library, and they went in together. + +Lord Ostermore's secretaire stood open, and leaning over it, +his back towards them was a short, stiffly-built man in a +snuff-colored coat. He turned at the sound of the closing +door, and revealed the pleasant, chubby face of Mr. Green. + +"Ha!" said Mr. Caryll. "Mr. Green again. I declare, sir, +ye've the gift of ubiquity." + +The spy stood up to regard him, and for all that his voice +inclined to sharpness when he spoke, the habitual grin sat +like a mask upon the mobile features. "What d'ye seek here?" + +"Tis what I was about to ask you - what you are seeking; for +that you seek is plain. I thought perhaps I might assist +you." + +"I nothing doubt you could," answered Mr. Green with a fresh +leer, that contained this time something ironic. "I nothing +doubt it! But by your leave, I'll pursue my quest without +your assistance." + +Mr. Caryll continued, nevertheless, to advance towards him, +Mistress Hortensia remaining in the background, a quiet +spectator, betraying nothing of the anxieties by which she was +being racked. + +"Ye're mighty curt this morning, Mr. Green," said Mr. Caryll, +very airy. "Ye're mighty curt, and ye're entirely wrong so to +be. You might find me a very useful friend." + +"I've found you so before," said Mr. Green sourly. + +"Ye've a nice sense of humor," said Mr. Caryll, head on one +side, contemplating the spy with admiration in his glance. + +"And a nicer sense of a Jacobite," answered Mr. Green. + +"He will have the last word, you perceive," said Mr. Caryll to +Hortensia. + +"Harkee, Mr. Caryll," quoth Mr. Green, quite grimly now. "I'd +ha' laid you by the heels a month or more ago, but for certain +friends o' mine who have other ends to serve." + +"Sir, what you tell me shocks me. It shakes the very +foundations of my faith in human nature. I have esteemed you +an honest man, Mr. Green, and it seems - on your own +confessing - that ye're no better than a damned rogue who +neglects his duty to the state. I've a mind to see Lord +Carteret, and tell him the truth of the matter." + +"Ye shall have an opportunity before long, ecod!" said Mr. +Green. "Good-morning to you! I've work to do." And he +turned back to the desk. + +"'Tis wasted labor," said Mr. Caryll, producing his snuff-box, +and tapping it. "You might seek from now till the crack of +doom, and not find what ye seek - not though you hack the desk +to pieces. It has a secret, Mr. Green. I'll make a bargain +with you for that secret." + +Mr. Green turned again, and his shrewd, bright eyes scanned +more closely that lean face, whose keenness was all dissembled +now in an easy, languid smile. "A bargain?" grumbled the spy. +"I' faith, then, the secret's worthless." + +"Ye think that? Pho! 'Tis not like your usual wit, Mr. +Green. The letter that I carried into England, and that you +were at such splendid pains to find at Maidstone, is in here." +And he tapped the veneered top of the secretaire with his +forefinger. "But ye'll not find it without my help. It is +concealed as effectively - as effectively as it was upon my +person when ye searched me. Now, sir, will ye treat with me? +It'll save you a world of labor." + +Mr. Green still looked at him. He licked his lips +thoughtfully, cat-like. "What terms d'ye make?" he inquired, +but his tone was very cold. His busy brain was endeavoring to +conjecture what exactly might be Mr. Caryll's object in this +frankness which Mr. Green was not fool enough to believe +sincere. + +"Ah," said Mr. Caryll. "That is more the man I know." He +tapped his snuff-box, and in that moment memory rather than +inspiration showed him the thing he needed. "Did ye ever see +`The Constant Couple,' Mr. Green?" he inquired. + +"`The Constant Couple'?" echoed Mr. Green, and though +mystified, he must air his little jest. "I never saw any +couple that was constant - leastways, not for long." + +"Ha! Ye're a roguish wag! But `The Constant Couple' I mean +is a play." + +"Oh, a play! Ay, I mind me I saw it some years ago, when +'twas first acted. But what has that to do with - " + +"Ye'll understand in a moment," said Mr. Caryll, with a smile +the spy did not relish. "D'ye recall a ruse of Sir Harry +Wildairs to rid himself of the company of an intrusive old +fool who was not wanted? D'ye remember what 'twas he did?" + +Mr. Green, his head slightly on one side, was watching Mr. +Caryll very closely, and not without anxiety. "I don't," said +he, and dropped a hand to the pocket where a pistol lay, that +he might be prepared for emergencies. "What did he do?" + +"I'll show you," said Mr. Caryll. "He did this." And with a +swift upward movement, he emptied his snuff-box full into the +face of Mr. Green. + +Mr. Green leapt back, with a scream of pain, hands to his +eyes, and quite unconsciously set himself to play to the life +the part of the intrusive old fellow in the comedy. Dancing +wildly about the room, his eyes smarting and burning so that +he could not open them, he bellowed of hell-fire and other hot +things of which he was being so intensely reminded. + +"'Twill pass," Mr. Caryll consoled him. "A little water, and +all will be well with you." He stepped to the door as he +spoke, and flung it open. "Ho, there! Who waits?" he called. + +Two or three footmen sprang to answer him. He took Mr. Green, +still blind and vociferous, by the shoulders, and thrust him +into their care. "This gentleman has had a most unfortunate +accident. Get him water to wash his eyes - warm water. So! +Take him. 'Twill pass, Mr. Green. 'Twill soon pass, I assure +you." + +He shut the door upon them, locked it, and turned to +Hortensia, smiling grimly. Then he crossed quickly to the +desk, and Hortensia followed him. He sat down, and pulled out +bodily the bottom drawer on the right inside of the upper part +of the desk, as he had seen Lord Ostermore do that day, a +little over a week ago. He thrust his hand into the opening, +and felt along the sides for some moments in vain. He went +over the ground again slowly, inch by inch, exerting constant +pressure, until he was suddenly rewarded by a click. The +small trap disclosed itself. He pulled it up, and took some +papers from the recess. He spread them before him. They were +the documents he sought - the king's letter to Ostermore, and +Ostermore's reply, signed and ready for dispatch. "These must +be burnt," he said, "and burnt at once, for that fellow Green +may return, or he may send others. Call Humphries. Get a +taper from him." + +She sped to the door, and did his bidding. Then she returned. +She was plainly agitated. "You must go at once," she said, +imploringly. "You must return to France without an instant's +delay." + +"Why, indeed, it would mean my ruin to remain now," he +admitted. "And yet - " He held out his hands to her. + +"I will follow you," she promised him. "I will follow you as +soon as his lordship is recovered, or - or at peace." + +"You have well considered, sweetheart?" he asked her, holding +her to him, and looking down into her gentle eyes. + +"There is no happiness for me apart from you." + +Again his scruples took him. "Tell Lord Ostermore - tell him +all," he begged her. "Be guided by him. His decision for you +will represent the decision of the world." + +"What is the world to me? You are the world to me," she +cried. + +There was a rap upon the door. He put her from him, and went +to open. It was Humphries with a lighted taper. He took it, +thanked the man with a word, and shut the door in his face, +ignoring the fact that the fellow was attempting to tell him +something. + +He returned to the desk. "Let us make quite sure that this is +all," he said, and held the taper so that the light shone into +the recess. It seemed empty at first; then, as the light +penetrated farther, he saw something that showed white at the +back of the cachette. He thrust in his hand, and drew out a +small package bound with a ribbon that once might have been +green but was faded now to yellow. He set it on the desk, and +returned to his search. There was nothing else. The recess +was empty. He closed the trap and replaced the drawer. Then +he sat down again, the taper at his elbow, Mistress Winthrop +looking on, facing him across the top of the secretaire, and +he took up the package. + +The ribbon came away easily, and some half-dozen sheets fell +out and scattered upon the desk. They gave out a curious +perfume, half of age, half of some essence with which years +ago they had been imbued. Something took Mr. Caryll in the +throat, and he could never explain whether it was that perfume +or some premonitory emotion, some prophetic apprehension of +what he was about to see. + +He opened the first of those folded sheets, and found it to be +a letter written in French and in an ink that had paled to +yellow with the years that were gone since it had been penned. +The fine, pointed writing was curiously familiar to Mr. +Caryll. He looked at the signature at the bottom of the page. +It swam before his eyes - ANTOINETTE-"Celle qui l'adore, +Antoinette," he read, and the whole world seemed blotted out +for him; all consciousness, his whole being, his +every sense, seemed concentrated into his eyes as they gazed +upon that relic of a deluded woman's dream. + +He did not read. It was not for him to commit the sacrilege +of reading what that girl who had been his mother had written +thirty years ago to the man she loved - the man who had proved +false as hell. + +He turned the other letters over; opened them one by one, to +make sure that they were of the same nature as the first, and +what time he did so he found himself speculating upon the +strangeness of Ostermore's having so treasured them. Perhaps +he had thrust them into that secret recess, and there +forgotten them; 'twas an explanation that sorted better with +what Mr. Caryll knew of his father, than the supposition that +so dull and practical and self-centered a nature could have +been irradiated by a gleam of such tenderness as the hoarding +of those letters might have argued. + +He continued to turn them over, half-mechanically, forgetful +of the urgent need to burn the treasonable documents he had +secured, forgetful of everything, even Hortensia's presence. +And meantime she watched him in silence, marvelling at this +delay, and still more at the gray look that had crept into his +face. + +"What have you found?" she asked at last. + +"A ghost," he answered, and his voice had a strained, metallic +ring. He even vented an odd laugh. "A bundle of old +love-letters." + +"From her ladyship?" + +"Her ladyship?" He looked up, an expression on his face which +seemed to show that he could not at the moment think who her +ladyship might be. Then as the picture of that bedaubed, +bedizened and harsh-featured Jezebel arose in his mind to +stand beside the sweet girl - image of his mother - as he knew +her from the portrait that hung at Maligny - he laughed again. +"No, not from her ladyship," said he. "From a woman who loved +him years ago." And he turned to the seventh and last of +those poor ghosts-the seventh, a fateful number. + +He spread it before him; frowned down on it a moment with a +sharp hiss of indrawn breath. Then he twisted oddly on his +chair, and sat bolt upright, staring straight before him with +unseeing eyes. Presently he passed a hand across his brow, +and made a queer sound in his throat. + +"What is it?" she asked. + +But he did not answer; he was staring at the paper again. A +while he sat thus; then with swift fevered fingers he took up +once more the other letters. He unfolded one, and began to +read. A few lines he read, and then - "O God!" he cried, and +flung out his arms under stress of 'his emotions. One of them +caught the taper that stood upon the desk; and swept it, +extinguished, to the floor. He never heeded it, never gave a +thought to the purpose for which it had been fetched, a +purpose not yet served. He rose. He was white as the dead +are white, and she observed that he was trembling. He took up +the bundle of old letters, and thrust them into an inside +pocket of his coat. + +"What are you doing?" she cried, seeking at last to arouse him +from the spell under which he appeared to have fallen. "Those +letters - " + +"I must see Lord Ostermore," he answered wildly, and made for +the door, reeling like a drunkard in his walk. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE END OF LORD OSTERMORE + +In the ante-room communicating with Lord Ostermore's bedroom +the countess was in consultation with Rotherby, who had been +summoned by his mother when my lord was stricken. + +Her ladyship occupied the window-seat; Rotherby stood beside +her, leaning slightly against the frame of the open window. +Their conversation was earnest and conducted in a low key, and +one would naturally have conjectured that it had for subject +the dangerous condition of the earl. And so it had - the +dangerous condition of the earl's political, if not physical, +affairs. To her ladyship and her son, the matter of their own +future was of greater gravity than the matter of whether his +lordship lived or died - which, whatever it may be, is not +unreasonable. Since the impeachment of my lord and the coming +of the messengers to arrest him, the danger of ruin and +beggary were become more imminent - indeed, they impended, and +measures must be concerted to avert these evils. By +comparison with that, the earl's succumbing or surviving was a +trivial matter; and the concern they had manifested in Sir +James' news - when the important, well-nourished physician who +had bled his lordship came to inform them that there was hope +- was outward only, and assumed for pure decorum's sake. + +"Whether he lives or dies," said the viscount pertinently, +after the doctor had departed to return to his patient, "the +measures to be taken are the same." And he repeated the +substance of their earlier discussions upon this same topic. +"If we can but secure the evidence of his treason with +Caryll," he wound up, "I shall be able to make terms with Lord +Carteret to arrest the proceedings the government may intend, +and thus avert the restitution it would otherwise enforce." + +"But if he were to die," said her ladyship, as coldly, +horribly calculating as though he were none of hers, "there +would be an end to this danger. They could not demand +restitution of the dead, nor impose fines upon him." + +Rotherby shook his head. "Believe not that, madam," said he. +"They can demand restitution of his heirs and impose their +fines upon the estate. 'Twas done in the case of Chancellor +Craggs, though he shot himself." + +She raised a haggard face to his. "And do you dream that Lord +Carteret would make terms with you?" + +"If I can show him - by actual proof - that a conspiracy does +exist, that the Stuart supporters are plotting a rising. +Proof of that should be of value to Lord Carteret, of +sufficient value to the government to warrant the payment of +the paltry price I ask - that the impeachment against my +father for his dealings with the South Sea Company shall not +be allowed. + +"But it might involve the worse betrayal of your father, +Charles, and if he were to live - " + +"'Sdeath, mother, why must you harp on that? I a'n't the fool +you think me," he cried. "I shall make it a further condition +that my father have immunity. There will be no lack of +victims once the plot is disclosed; and they may begin upon +that coxcomb Caryll - the damned meddler who is at the bottom +of all this garboil." + +She sat bemused, her eyes upon the sunlit gardens below, where +a faint breeze was stirring the shrub tops. + +"There is," she said presently, "a secret drawer somewhere in +his desk. If he has papers they will, no doubt, be there. +Had you not best be making search for them?" + +He smiled darkly. "I have seen to that already," he replied. + +"How?" excitedly. "You have got the papers?" + +"No; but I have set an experienced hand to find them, and one, +moreover, who has the right by virtue of his warrant - the +messenger of the secretary of state." + +She sat up, rigid. "'Sdeath! What is't ye mean?" + +"No need for alarm," he reassured her. "This fellow Green is +in my pay, as well as in the secretary's, and it will profit +him most to keep faith with me. He's a self-seeking dog, +content to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, so that +there be profit in it, and he'd sacrifice his ears to bring +Mr. Caryll to the gallows. I have promised him that and a +thousand pounds if we save the estates from confiscation." + +She looked at him, between wonder and fear. "Can ye trust +him?" she asked breathlessly. + +He laughed softly and confidently. "I can trust him to earn a +thousand pounds," he answered. "When he heard of the +impeachment, he used such influence as he has to be entrusted +with the arrest of his lordship; and having obtained his +warrant, he came first to me to tell me of it. A thousand +pounds is the price of him, body and soul. I bade him seek +not only evidence of my lord's having received that plaguey +stock, but also papers relating to this Jacobite plot into +which his lordship has been drawn by our friend Caryll. He is +at his work at present. And I shall hear from him when it is +accomplished." + +She nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "You have very well +disposed, Charles," she approved him. "If your father lives, +it should not be a difficult matter - " + +She checked suddenly and turned, while Rotherby, too, looked +up and stepped quickly from the window-embrasure where he had +stood. + +The door of the bedroom had been suddenly pulled open, and Sir +James came out, very pale and discomposed. + +"Madam - your ladyship - my lord!" he gasped, his mouth +working, his hands waving foolishly. + +The countess rose to confront him, tall, severe and harsh. +The viscount scowled a question. Sir James quailed before +them, evidently in affliction. + +"Madam - his lordship," he said, and by his eloquent gesture +of dejection announced what he had some difficulty in putting +into words. + +She stepped forward, and took him by the wrist. "Is he +dying?" she inquired. + +"Have courage, madam," the doctor besought her. + +The apparent irrelevancy of the request at such a moment, +angered her. Her mood was dangerously testy. And had the +doctor but known it, sympathy was a thing she had not borne +well these many years. + +"I asked you was he dying," she reminded him, with a cold +sternness that beat aside all his attempts at subterfuge. + +"Your ladyship - he is dead," he faltered, with lowered eyes. + +"Dead?" she echoed dully, and her hand went to the region of +her heart, her face turned livid under its rouge. "Dead?" she +said again, and behind her, Rotherby echoed the dread word in +a stupor almost equal to her own. Her lips moved to speak, +but no words came. She staggered where she stood, and put her +hand to her brow. Her son's arms were quickly about her. He +supported her to a chair, where she sank as if all her joints +were loosened. + +Sir James flew for restoratives; bathed her brow with a +dampened handkerchief; held strong salts to her nostrils, and +murmured words of foolish, banal consolation, whilst Rotherby, +in a half-dreaming condition, stunned by the suddenness of the +blow, stood beside her, mechanically lending his assistance +and supporting her. + +Gradually she mastered her agitation. It was odd that she +should feel so much at losing what she valued so little. +Leastways, it would have been odd, had it been that. It was +not - it was something more. In the awful, august presence of +death, stepped so suddenly into their midst, she felt herself +appalled. + +For nigh upon thirty years she had been bound by legal and +churchly ties in a loveless union with Lord Ostermore - +married for the handsome portion that had been hers, a portion +which he had gamed away and squandered until, for their +station, their circumstances were now absolutely straitened. +They had led a harsh, discordant life, and the coming of a +son, which should have bridged the loveless gulf between them, +seemed but to have served to dig it wider. And the son had +been just the harsh, unfeeling offspring that might be looked +for from such a union. Thirty years of slavery had been her +ladyship's, and in those thirty years her nature had been +soured and warped, and what inherent sweetness it may once +have known had long since been smothered and destroyed. She +had no cause to love that man who had never loved her, never +loved aught of hers beyond her jointure. And yet, there was +the habit of thirty years. For thirty years they had been +yoke-fellows, however detestable the yoke. But yesterday he +had been alive and strong, a stupid, querulous thing maybe, +but a living. And now he was so much carrion that should be +given to the earth. In some such channel ran her ladyship's +reflections during those few seconds in which she was +recovering. For an instant she was softened. The long-since +dried-up springs of tenderness seemed like to push anew under +the shock of this event. She put out a hand to take her +son's. + +"Charles!" she said, and surprised him by the tender note. + +A moment thus; then she was herself again. "How did he die?" +she asked the doctor; and the abruptness of the resumption of +her usual manner startled Sir James more than aught in his +experience of such scenes. + +"It was most sudden, madam," answered he. "I had the best +grounds for hope. I was being persuaded we should save him. +And then, quite suddenly, without an instant's warning, he +succumbed. He just heaved a sigh, and was gone. I could +scarcely believe my senses, madam." + +He would have added more particulars of his feelings and +emotions - for he was of those who believe that their own +impressions of a phenomenon are that phenomenon's most +interesting manifestations - but her ladyship waved him +peremptorily into silence. + +He drew back, washing his hands in the air, an expression of +polite concern upon his face. "Is there aught else I can do +to be of service to your ladyship?" he inquired, solicitous. + +"What else?" she asked, with a fuller return to her old self. +"Ye've killed him. What more is there you can do?" + +"Oh, madam - nay, madam! I am most deeply grieved that my - my +- " + +"His lordship will wait upon you to the door," said she, +designating her son. + +The eminent physician effaced himself from her ladyship's +attention. It was his boast that he could take a hint when +one was given him; and so he could, provided it were broad +enough, as in the present instance. + +He gathered up his hat and gold-headed cane - the unfailing +insignia of his order - and was gone, swiftly and silently. + +Rotherby closed the door after him, and returned slowly, head +bowed, to the window where his mother was still seated. They +looked at each other gravely for a long moment. + +"This makes matters easier for you," she said at length. + +"Much easier. It does not matter now how far his complicity +may be betrayed by his papers. I am glad, madam, to see you +so far recovered from your weakness." + +She shivered, as much perhaps at his tone as at the +recollections he evoked. "You are very indifferent, Charles," +said she. + +He looked at her steadily, then slightly shrugged. "What need +to wear a mask? Bah! Did he ever give me cause to feel for +him?" he asked. "Mother, if one day I have a son of my own, I +shall see to it that he loves me." + +"You will be hard put to it, with your nature, Charles," she +told him critically. Then she rose. "Will you go to him with +me?" she asked. + +He made as if to acquiesce, then halted. "No," he said, and +there was repugnance in his tone and face. "Not - not now." + +There came a knocking at the door, rapid, insistent. Grateful +for the interruption, Rotherby went to open. + +Mr. Green staggered forward with swollen eyes, his face +inflamed with rage, and with something else that was not quite +apparent to Rotherby. + +"My lord!" he cried in a loud, angry voice. + +Rotherby caught his wrist and checked him. "Sh! sir," he said +gravely. "Not here." And he pushed him out again, her +ladyship following them. + +It was in the gallery - above the hall, in which the servants +still stood idly about - that Mr. Green spattered out his +wrathful tale of what had befallen in the library. + +Rotherby shook him as if he had been a rat. "You cursed +fool!" he cried. "You left him there - at the desk?" + +"What help had I?" demanded Green with spirit. "My eyes were +on fire. I couldn't see, and the pain of them made me +helpless." + +"Then why did ye not send word to me at once, you fool?" + +"Because I was concerned only to stop my eyes from burning," +answered Mr. Green, in a towering rage at finding reproof +where he had come in quest of sympathy. "I have come to you +at the first moment, damn you!" he burst out, in full +rebellion. "And you'll use me civilly now that I am come, or +- ecod! - it'll be the worse for your lordship." + +Rotherby considered him through a faint mist that rage had set +before his eyes. To be so spoken to - damned indeed! - by a +dirty spy! Had he been alone with the man, there can be +little doubt but that he would have jeopardized his very +precarious future by kicking Mr. Green downstairs. But his +mother saved him from that rashness. It may be that she saw +something of his anger in his kindling eye, and thought it +well to intervene. + +She set a hand on his sleeve. "Charles!" she said to him in a +voice that was dead cold with warning. + +He responded to it, and chose discretion. He looked Green +over, nevertheless. "I vow I'm very patient with you," said +he, and Green had the discretion on his side to hold his +tongue. "Come, man, while we stand talking here that knave +may be destroying precious evidence." + +And his lordship went quickly down the stairs, Mr. Green +following hard upon his heels, and her ladyship bringing up +the rear. + +At the door of the library Rotherby came to a halt, and turned +the handle. The door was locked. He beckoned a couple of +footmen across the hall, and bade them break it open. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +Mr. CARYLL'S IDENTITY + + +"I must see Lord Ostermore!" had been Mr. Caryll's wild cry, as +he strode to the door. + +From the other side of it there came a sound of steps and +voices. Some one was turning the handle. + +Hortensia caught Mr. Caryll by the sleeve. "But the letters!" +she cried frantically, and pointed to the incriminating papers +which he had left, forgotten, upon the desk. + +He stared at her a moment, and memory swept upon him in a +flood. He mastered the wild agitation that had been swaying +him, thrust the paper that he was carrying into his pocket, +and turned to go back for the treasonable letters. + +"The taper!" he exclaimed, and pointed to the extinguished +candle on the floor. "What can we do?" + +A sharp blow fell upon the lock of the door. He stood still, +looking over his shoulder. + +"Quick! Make haste!" Hortensia admonished him in her +excitement. "Get them! Conceal them, at least! Do the best +you can since we have not the means to burn them." + +A second blow was struck, succeeded instantly by a third, and +something was heard to snap. The door swung open, and Green +and Rotherby sprang into the room, a brace of footmen at their +heels. They were followed more leisurely by the countess; +whilst a little flock of servants brought up the rear, but +checked upon the threshold, and hung there to witness events +that held out such promise of being unusual. + +Mr. Caryll swore through set teeth, and made a dash for the +desk. But he was too late to accomplish his object. His hand +had scarcely closed upon the letters, when he was, himself, +seized. Rotherby and Green, on either side of him, held him +in their grasp, each with one hand upon his shoulder and the +other at his wrist. Thus stood he, powerless between them, +and, after the first shock of it, cool and making no effort to +disengage himself. His right hand was tightly clenched upon +the letters. + +Rotherby called a servant forward. "Take those papers from +the thief's hand," he commanded. + +"Stop!" cried Mr. Caryll. "Lord Rotherby, may I speak with +you alone before you go further in a matter you will bitterly +regret?" + +"Take those papers from him," Rotherby repeated, swearing; and +the servant bent to the task. But Mr. Caryll suddenly +wrenched the hand away from the fellow and the wrist out of +Lord Rotherby's grip. + +"A moment, my lord, as you value your honor and your +possessions!" he insisted. "Let me speak with Lord Ostermore +first. Take me before him." + +"You are before him now," said Rotherby. "Say on!" + +"I demand to see Lord Ostermore." + +"I am Lord Ostermore," said Rotherby. + +"You? Since when?" said Mr. Caryll, not even beginning to +understand. + +"Since ten minutes ago," was the callous answer that first +gave that household the news of my lord's passing. + +There was a movement, a muttering among the servants. Old +Humphries broke through the group by the door, his heavy chops +white and trembling, and in that moment Hortensia turned, +awe-stricken, to ask her ladyship was this true. Her ladyship +nodded in silence. Hortensia cried out, and sank to a chair +as if beaten down by the news, whilst the old servant, +answered, too, withdrew, wringing his hands and making foolish +laments; and the tears of those were the only tears that +watered the grave of John Caryll, fifth Earl of Ostermore. + +As for Mr. Caryll, the shock of that announcement seemed to +cast a spell upon him. He stood still, limp and almost +numbed. Oh, the never-ceasing irony of things! That his +father should have died at such a moment. + +"Dead?" quoth he. "Dead? Is my lord dead? They told me he +was recovering." + +"They told you false," answered Rotherby. "So now - those +papers!" + +Mr. Caryll relinquished them. "Take them," he said. "Since +that is so - take them." + +Rotherby received them himself. "Remove his sword," he bade a +footman. + +Mr. Caryll looked sharply round at him. "My sword?" quoth he. +"What do you mean by that? What right?" + +"We mean to keep you by us, sir," said Mr. Green on his other +side, "until you have explained what you were doing with those +papers - what is your interest in them." + +Meanwhile a servant had done his lordship's bidding, and Mr. +Caryll stood weaponless amid his enemies. He mastered himself +at once. Here it was plain that he must walk with caution, +for the ground, he perceived, was of a sudden grown most +insecure and treacherous. Rotherby and Green in league! It +gave him matter for much thought. + +"There's not the need to hold me," said he quietly. "I am not +likely to tire myself by violence. There's scarcely necessity +for so much." + +Rotherby looked up sharply. The cool, self-possessed tone had +an intimidating note. But Mr. Green laughed maliciously, as +he continued to mop his still watering eyes. He was +acquainted with Mr. Caryll's methods, and knew that, probably, +the more at ease he seemed, the less at ease he was. + +Rotherby spread the letters on the desk, and scanned them with +a glowing eye, Mr. Green at his elbow reading with him. The +countess swept forward that she, too, might inspect this find. + +"They'll serve their turn," said her son, and added to Caryll: +"And they'll help to hang you." + +"No doubt you find me mentioned in them," said Mr. Caryll. + +"Ay, sir," snapped Green, "if not by name, at least as the +messenger who is to explain that which the writers - the royal +writer and the other - have out of prudence seen fit to +exclude." + +Hortensia looked up and across the room at that, a wild fear +clutching at her heart. But Mr. Caryll laughed pleasantly, +eyebrows raised as if in mild surprise. "The most excellent +relations appear to prevail between you," said he, looking +from Rotherby to Green. "Are you, too, my lord, in the +secretary's pay." + +His lordship flushed darkly. "You'll clown it to the end," he +sneered. + +"And that's none so far off," snarled Mr. Green, who since the +peppering of his eyes, had flung aside his usual cherubic air. +"Oh, you may sneer, sir," he mocked the prisoner. "But we +have you fast. This letter was brought hither by you, and +this one was to have been carried hence by you." + +"The latter, sir, was a matter for the future, and you can +hardly prove what a man will do; so we'll let that pass. As +for the former - the letter which you say I brought - you'll +remember that you searched me at Maidstone - " + +"And I have your admission that the letter was upon you at the +time," roared the spy, interrupting him - "your admission in +the presence of that lady, as she can be made to witness." + +Mistress Winthrop rose. "'Tis a lie," she said firmly. "I +can not be made to witness." + +Mr. Caryll smiled, and nodded across to her. "'Tis vastly +kind in you, Mistress Winthrop. But the gentleman is +mistook." He turned to Green. "Harkee, sirrah did I admit +that I had carried that letter?" + +Mr. Green shrugged. "You admitted that you carried a letter. +What other letter should it have been but that?" + +"Nay," smiled Mr. Caryll. "'Tis not for you to ask me. +Rather is it for you to prove that the letter I admitted +having carried and that letter are one and the same. 'Twill +take a deal of proving, I dare swear." + +"Ye'll be forsworn, then," put in her ladyship sourly. "For I +can witness to the letter that you bore. Not only did I see +it - a letter on that same fine paper - in my husband's hands +on the day you came here and during your visit, but I have his +lordship's own word for it that he was in the plot and that +you were the go-between." + +"Ah!" chuckled Mr. Green. "What now, sir? What now? By what +fresh piece of acrobatics will you get out of that?" + +"Ye're a fool," said Mr. Caryll with calm contempt, and +fetched out his snuff-box. "D'ye dream that one witness will +suffice to establish so grave a charge? Pah!" He opened his +snuff-box to find it empty, and viciously snapped down the lid +again. "Pah!" he said again, "ye've cost me a whole boxfull +of Burgamot." + +"Why did ye throw it in my face?" demanded Mr. Green. "What +purpose did ye look to serve but one of treason? Answer me +that!" + +"I didn't like the way ye looked at me. 'Twas wanting +respect, and I bethought me I would lessen the impudence of +your expression. Have ye any other foolish questions for me?" +And he looked again from Green to Rotherby, including both in +his inquiry. "No?" He rose. "In that case, if you'll give me +leave, and - " + +"You do not leave this house," Rotherby informed him. + +"I think you push hospitality too far. Will you desire your +lackey to return me my sword? I have affairs elsewhere." + +"Mr. Caryll, I beg that you will understand," said his +lordship, with a calm that he was at some pains to maintain, +"that you do not leave this house save in the care of the +messengers from the secretary of state." + +Mr. Caryll looked at him, and yawned in his face. "Ye're +prodigiously tiresome," said he, "did ye but know how I detest +disturbances. What shall the secretary of state require of +me?" + +"He'll require you on a charge of high treason," said Mr. +Green. + +"Have you a warrant to take me?" + +"I have not, but - " + +"Then how do you dare detain me, sir?" demanded Mr. Caryll +sharply. "D'ye think I don't know the law?" + +"I think you'll know a deal more of it shortly," countered Mr. +Green. + +"Meanwhile, sirs, I depart. Offer me violence at your peril." +He moved a step, and then, at a sign from Rotherby, the +lackey's hands fell on him again, and forced him back and down +into his chair. + +"Away with you for the warrant," said Rotherby to Green. +"We'll keep him here till you return." + +Mr. Green grinned at the prisoner, and was gone in great +haste. + +Mr. Caryll lounged back in his chair, and threw one leg over +the other. "I have always endeavored," said he, "to suffer +fools as gladly as a Christian should. So since you insist, +I'll be patient until I have the ear of my Lord Carteret - +who, I take it, is a man of sense. But if I were you, my +lord, and you, my lady, I should not insist. Believe me, +you'll cut poor figures. As for you, my lord, ye're in none +such good odor, as it is." + +"Let that be," snarled his lordship. + +"If I mention it at all, I but do so in your lordship's own +interests. It will be remembered that ye attempted to murder +me once, and that will not be of any great help to such +accusations as you may bring against me. Besides which, there +is the unfortunate circumstance that it's widely known ye're +not a man to be believed." + +"Will you be silent?" roared his lordship, in a towering +passion. + +"If I trouble myself to speak at all, it is out of concern for +your lordship," Mr. Caryll insisted sweetly. "And in your own +interest, and your ladyship's, too, I'd counsel you to hear me +a moment without witnesses." + +His tone was calculatedly grave. Lord Rotherby looked at him, +sneering; not so her ladyship. Less acquainted with his ways, +the absolute confidence and unconcern of his demeanor was +causing her uneasiness. A man who was perilously entrammelled +would not bear himself so easily, she opined. She rose, and +crossed to her son's side. + +"What have you to say?" she asked Mr. Caryll. + +"Nay, madam," he replied, "not before these." And he +indicated the servants. + +"'Tis but a pretext to have them out of the room," said +Rotherby. + +Mr. Caryll laughed the notion to scorn. "If you think that - +I give you my word of honor to attempt no violence, nor to +depart until you shall give me leave," said he. + +Rotherby, judging Mr. Caryll by his knowledge of himself, +still hesitated. But her ladyship realized, in spite of her +detestation of the man, that he was not of the temper of those +whose word is to be doubted. She signed to the footmen. + +"Go," she bade them. "Wait within call." + +They departed, and Mr. Caryll remained seated for all that her +ladyship was standing; it was as if by that he wished to show +how little he was minded to move. + +Her ladyship's eye fell upon Hortensia. "Do you go, too, +child," she bade her. + +Instead, Hortensia came forward. "I wish to remain, madam," +she said. + +"Did I ask you what you wished?" demanded the countess. + +"My place is here," Hortensia explained. "Unless Mr. Caryll +should, himself, desire me to depart." + +"Nay, nay," he cried, and smiled upon her fondly - so fondly +that the countess's eyes grew wider. "With all my heart, I +desire you to remain. It is most fitting you should hear that +which I have to say." + +"What does it mean?" demanded Rotherby, thrusting himself +forward, and scowling from one to the other of them. "What +d'ye mean, Hortensia?" + +"I am Mr. Caryll's betrothed wife," she answered quietly. + +Rotherby's mouth fell open, but he made no sound. Not so her +ladyship. A peal of shrill laughter broke from her. "La! +What did I tell you, Charles?" Then to Hortensia: "I'm sorry +for you, ma'am," said she. "I think ye've been a thought too +long in making up your mind." And she laughed again. + +"Lord Ostermore lies above stairs," Hortensia reminded her, +and her ladyship went white at the reminder, the indecency of +her laughter borne in upon her. + +"Would ye lesson me, girl?" she cried, as much to cover her +confusion as to vent her anger at the cause of it. "Ye've an +odd daring, by God! Ye'll be well matched with his impudence, +there." + +Rotherby, singularly self-contained, recalled her to the +occasion. + +"Mr. Caryll is waiting," said he, a sneer in his voice. + +"Ah, yes," she said, and flashing a last malignant glance upon +Hortensia, she sank to a chair beside her, but not too near +her. + +Mr. Caryll sat back, his legs crossed, his elbows on his +chair-arms, his finger-tips together. "The thing I have to +tell you is of some gravity," he announced by way of preface. + +Rotherby took a seat by the desk, his hand upon the +treasonable letters. "Proceed, sir," he said, importantly. +Mr. Caryll nodded, as in acknowledgment of the invitation. + +"I will admit, before going further, that in spite of the +cheerful countenance I maintained before your lordship's +friend, the bumbailiff, and your lackeys, I recognize that you +have me in a very dangerous position." + +"Ah!" from his lordship in a breath of satisfaction, and + +"Ah!" from Hortensia in a gasp of apprehension. + +Her ladyship retained a stony countenance, and a silence that +sorted excellently with it. + +"There is," Mr. Caryll proceeded, marking off the points on +his fingers, "the incident at Maidstone; there is your +ladyship's evidence that I was the bearer of just such a +letter on the day that first I came here; there is the +dangerous circumstance - of which Mr. Green, I am sure, will +not fail to make a deal - of my intimacy with Sir Richard +Everard, and my constant visits to his lodging, where I was, +in fact, on the occasion when he met his death; there is the +fact that I committed upon Mr. Green an assault with my snuff +box for motives that, after all, admit of but one acceptable +explanation; and, lastly, there is the circumstance that, +apparently, if interrogated, I can show no good reason why I +should be in England at all, where no apparent interest has +called me or keeps me. + +"Now, these matters are so trivial that taken separately they +have no value whatever; taken conjointly, their value is not +great; they do not contain evidence enough to justify the +hanging of a dog. And yet, I realize that disturbed as the +times are, fearful of sedition as the government finds itself +in consequence of the mischief done to public credit by the +South Sea disaster, and ready as the ministry is to see plots +everywhere and to make examples, pour discourager les autres, +if the accusation you intend is laid against me, backed by +such evidence as this, it is not impossible - indeed, it is +not improbable - that it may - ah - tend to shorten my life." + +"Sir," sneered Rotherby, "I declare you should have been a +lawyer. We haven't a pleader of such parts and such lucidity +at the whole bar." + +Mr. Caryll nodded his thanks. "Your praise is very +flattering, my lord," said he, with a wry smile, and then +proceeded: "It is because I see my case to be so very nearly +desperate, that I venture to hope you will not persevere in +the course you are proposing to adopt." + +Lord Rotherby laughed noiselessly. "Can you urge me any +reasons why we should not?" + +"If you could urge me any reasons why you should," said Mr. +Caryll, "no doubt I should be able to show you under what +misapprehensions you are laboring." He shot a keen glance at +his lordship, whose face had suddenly gone blank. Mr. Caryll +smiled quietly. "There is in this something that I do not +understand," he resumed. "It does not satisfy me to suppose, +as at first might seem, that you are acting out of sheer +malice against me. You have scarcely cause to do that, my +lord; and you, my lady, have none. That fool Green - patience +- he conceives that he has suffered at my hands. But without +your assistance Mr. Green would be powerless to hurt me. +What, then, is it that is moving you?" + +He paused, looking from one to the other of his declared +enemies. They exchanged glances - Hortensia watching them, +breathless, her own mind working, too, upon this question that +Mr. Caryll had set, yet nowhere finding an answer. + +"I had thought," said her ladyship at last, "that you promised +to tell us something that it was in our interest to hear. +Instead, you appear to be asking questions." + +Mr. Caryll shifted in his chair. One glance he gave the +countess, then smiled. "I have sought at your hands the +reasons why you should desire my death," said he slowly. "You +withhold them. Be it so. I take it that you are ashamed of +them; and so, their nature is not difficult to conjecture." + +"Sir - " began Rotherby, hotly, half-starting from his seat. + +"Nay, let him trundle on, Charles," said his mother. "He'll +be the sooner done." + +"Instead," proceeded Mr. Caryll, as if there had been no +interruption, "I will now urge you my reasons why you should +not so proceed." + +"Ha!" snapped Rotherby. "They will need to be valid." + +Mr. Caryll twisted farther round, to face his lordship more +fully. "They are as valid," said he very impressively - so +impressively and sternly that his hearers felt themselves +turning cold under his words, filled with some mysterious +apprehension. "They are as valid as were my reasons for +holding my hand in the field out yonder, when I had you at the +mercy of my sword, my lord. Neither more nor less. From +that, you may judge them to be very valid." + +"But ye don't name them," said her ladyship, attempting to +conquer her uneasiness. + +"I shall do so," said he, and turned again to his lordship. +"I had no cause to love you that morning, nor at any time, my +lord; I had no cause to think - as even you in your heart must +realize, if so be that you have a heart, and the intelligence +to examine it - I had no cause to think, my lord, that I +should be doing other than a good deed by letting drive my +blade. That such an opinion was well founded was proven by +the thing you did when I turned my back upon you after sparing +your useless life." + +Rotherby broke in tempestuously, smiting the desk before him. +"If you think to move us to mercy by such - " + +"Oh, not to mercy would I move you," said Mr. Caryll, his hand +raised to stay the other, "not to mercy, but to horror of the +thing you contemplate." And then, in an oddly impressive +manner, he launched his thunderbolt. "Know, then, that if +that morning I would not spill your blood, it was because I +should have been spilling the same blood that flows in my own +veins; it was because you are my brother; because your father +was my father. No less than that was the reason that withheld +my hand." + +He had announced his aim of moving them to horror; and it was +plain that he had not missed it, for in frozen horror sat they +all, their eyes upon him, their cheeks ashen, their mouths +agape - even Hortensia, who from what already Mr. Caryll had +told her, understood now more than any of them. + +After a spell Rotherby spoke. "You are my brother?" he said, +his voice colorless. "My brother? What are you saying?" + +And then her ladyship found her voice. "Who was your mother?" +she inquired, and her very tone was an insult, not to the man +who sat there so much as to the memory of poor Antoinette de +Maligny. He flushed to the temples, then paled again. + +"I'll not name her to your ladyship," said he at, last, in a +cold, imperious voice. + +"I'm glad ye've so much decency," she countered. + +"You mistake, I think," said he. "'Tis respect for my mother +that inspires me." And his green eyes flashed upon the +painted hag. She rose up a very fury. + +"What are you saying?" she shrilled. "D'ye hear the filthy +fellow, Rotherby? He'll not name the wanton in my presence +out of respect for her." + +"For shame, madam! You are speaking of his mother," cried +Hortensia, hot with indignation. + +"Pshaw! 'Tis all an impudent lie - a pack of lies!" cried +Rotherby. "He's crafty as all the imps of hell." + +Mr. Caryll rose. "Here in the sight of God and by all that I +hold most sacred, I swear that what I have said is true. I +swear that Lord Ostermore - your father - was my father. I +was born in France, in the year 1690, as I have papers upon me +that will prove, which you may see, Rotherby." + +His lordship rose. "Produce them," said he shortly. + +Mr. Caryll drew from an inner pocket of his coat the small +leather case that Sir Richard Everard had given him. From +this he took a paper which he unfolded. It was a certificate +of baptism, copied from the register of the Church of St. +Antoine in Paris. + +Rotherby held out his hand for it. But Mr. Caryll shook his +head. "Stand here beside me, and read it," said he. + +Obeying him, Rotherby went and read that authenticated copy, +wherein it was declared that Sir Richard Everard had brought +to the Church of St. Antoine for baptism a male child, which +he had declared to be the son of John Caryll, Viscount +Rotherby, and Antoinette de Maligny, and which had received in +baptism the name of Justin. + +Rotherby drew away again, his head sunk on his breast. Her +ladyship was seated, her eyes upon her son, her fingers +drumming absently at the arms of her chair. Then Rotherby +swung round again. + +"How do I know that you are the person designated there - this +Justin Caryll?" + +"You do not; but you may. Cast your mind back to that night +at White's when you picked your quarrel with me, my lord. Do +you remember how Stapleton and Collis spoke up for me, +declared that they had known me from boyhood at Oxford, and +had visited me at my chateau in France? What was the name of +that chateau, my lord - do you remember?" + +Rotherby looked at him, searching his memory. But he did not +need to search far. At first glance the name of Maligny had +seemed familiar to him. "It was Maligny," he replied, "and +yet - " + +"If more is needed to convince you, I can bring a hundred +witnesses from France, who have known me from infancy. You +may take it that I can establish my identity beyond all +doubt." + +"And what if you do?" demanded her ladyship suddenly. "What +if you do establish your identity as my lord's bastard? What +claim shall that be upon us?" + +"That, ma'am," answered Mr. Caryll very gravely, "I wait to +learn from my brother here." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE LION'S SKIN + +For a spell there was utter silence in that spacious, pillared +chamber. Mr. Caryll and her ladyship had both resumed their +chairs: the former spuriously calm; the latter making no +attempt to conceal her agitation. Hortensia leant forward, an +eager spectator, watching the three actors in this +tragicomedy. + +As for Rotherby, he stood with bent head and furrowed brow. +It was for him to speak, and yet he was utterly at a loss for +words. He was not moved at the news he had received, so much +as dismayed. It dictated a course that would interfere with +all his plans, and therefore a course unthinkable. So he +remained puzzled how to act, how to deal with this unexpected +situation. + +It was her ladyship who was the first to break the silence. +She had been considering Mr. Caryll through narrowing eyes, +the corners of her mouth drawn down. She had caught the name +of Maligny when it was uttered, and out of the knowledge which +happened to be hers - though Mr. Caryll was ignorant of this - +it set her thinking. + +"I do not believe that you are the son of Mademoiselle de +Maligny," she said at last. "I never heard that my lord had a +son; I cannot believe there was so much between them." + +Mr. Caryll stared, startled out of his habitual calm. +Rotherby turned to her with an exclamation of surprise. +"How?" he cried. "You knew, then? My father was - " + +She laughed mirthlessly. "Your father would have married her +had he dared," she informed them. "'Twas to beg his father's +consent that he braved his banishment and came to England. +But his father was as headstrong as himself; held just such +views as he, himself, held later where you were concerned. He +would not hear of the match. I was to be had for the asking. +My father was a man who traded in his children, and he had +offered me, with a jointure that was a fortune, to the Earl of +Ostermore as a wife for his son." + +Mr. Caryll was listening, all ears. Some light was being shed +upon much that had lain in darkness. + +"And so," she proceeded, "your grandfather constrained your +father to forget the woman he had left in France, and to marry +me. I know not what sins I had committed that I should have +been visited with such a punishment. But so it befell. Your +father resisted, dallying with the matter for a whole year. +Then there was a duel fought. A cousin of Mademoiselle de +Maligny's crossed to England, and forced a quarrel upon your +father. They met, and M. de Maligny was killed. Then a +change set in in my lord's bearing, and one day, a month or so +later, he gave way to his father's insistence, and we were +wed. But I do not believe that my lord had left a son in +France - I do not believe that had he done so, I should not +have known it; I do not believe that under such circumstances, +unfeeling as he was, he would have abandoned Mademoiselle de +Maligny." + +"You think, then," said Rotherby, "that this man has raked up +this story to - " + +"Consider what you are saying," cut in Mr. Caryll, with a +flash of scorn. "Should I have come prepared with documents +against such a happening as this?" + +"Nay, but the documents might have been intended for some +other purpose had my lord lived - some purpose of extortion," +suggested her ladyship. + +"But consider again, madam, that I am wealthy - far wealthier +than was ever my Lord Ostermore, as my friends Collis, +Stapleton and many another can be called to prove. What need, +then, had I to extort?" + +"How came you by your means, being what you say you are?" she +asked him. + +Briefly he told her how Sir Richard Everard had cared for him, +for his mother's sake; endowed him richly upon adopting him, +and since made him heir to all his wealth, which was +considerable. "And for the rest, madam, and you, Rotherby, +set doubts on one side. Your ladyship says that had my lord +had a son you must have heard of it. But my lord, madam, +never knew he had a son. Tell me - can you recall the date, +the month at least, in which my lord returned to England?" + +"I can, sir. It was at the end of April of '89. What then?" + +Mr. Caryll produced the certificate again. He beckoned +Rotherby, and held the paper under his eyes. "What date is +there - the date of birth?" + +Rotherby read: "The third of January of 1690." + +Mr. Caryll folded the paper again. "That will help your +ladyship to understand how it might happen that my lord +remained in ignorance of my birth." He sighed as he replaced +the case in his pocket. "I would he had known before he +died," said he, almost as if speaking to himself. + +And now her ladyship lost her temper. She saw Rotherby +wavering, and it angered her; and angered, she committed a +grave error. Wisdom lay in maintaining the attitude of +repudiation; it would at least have afforded some excuse for +her and Rotherby. Instead, she now recklessly flung off that +armor, and went naked down into the fray. + +"A fig for't all!" she cried, and snapped her fingers. She +had risen, and she towered there, a lean and malevolent +figure, her head-dress nodding foolishly. "What does it +matter that you be what you claim to be? Is it to weigh with +you, Rotherby?" + +Rotherby turned grave eyes upon her. He was, it seemed, not +quite rotten through and through; there was still in him - in +the depths of him - a core that was in a measure sound; and +that core was reached. Most of all had the story weighed with +him because it afforded the only explanation of why Mr. Caryll +had spared his life that morning of the duel. It was a matter +that had puzzled him, as it had puzzled all who had witnessed +the affront that led to the encounter. + +Between that and the rest - to say nothing of the certificate +he had seen, which he could not suppose a forgery - he was +convinced that Mr. Caryll was the brother that he claimed to +be. He gathered from his mother's sudden anger that she, too, +was convinced, in spite of herself, by the answers Mr. Caryll +had returned to all her arguments against the identity he +claimed. + +He hated Mr. Caryll no whit less for what he had learnt; if +anything, he hated him more. And yet a sense of decency +forbade him from persecuting him now, as he had intended, and +delivering to the hangman. From ordinary murder, once in the +heat of passion - as we have seen - he had not shrunk. But +fratricide appeared - such is the effect of education - a far, +far graver thing, even though it should be indirect fratricide +of the sort that he had contemplated before learning that this +man was his brother. + +There seemed to be one of two only courses left him: to +provide Mr. Caryll with the means of escape, or else to +withhold such evidence as he intended to supply against him, +and to persuade - to compel, if necessary - his mother to do +the same. When all was said, his interests need not suffer +very greatly. His position would not be quite so strong, +perhaps, if he but betrayed a plot without delivering up any +of the plotters; still, he thought, it should be strong +enough. His father dead, out of consideration of the signal +loyalty his act must manifest, he thought the government would +prove grateful and forbear from prosecuting a claim for +restitution against the Ostermore estates. + +He had, then, all but resolved upon the cleaner course, when, +suddenly, something that in the stress of the moment he had +gone near to overlooking, was urged upon his attention. + +Hortensia had risen and had started forward at her ladyship's +last words. She stood before his lordship now with pleading +eyes, and hands held out. "My lord," she cried, "you cannot +do this thing! You cannot do it!" + +But instead of moving him to generosity, by those very words +she steeled his heart against it, and proved to him that, +after all, his potentialities for evil were strong enough to +enable him to do the very thing she said he could not. His +brow grew black as midnight; his dark eyes raked her face, and +saw the agony of apprehension for her lover written there. He +drew breath, hissing and audible, glanced once at Caryll; +then: "A moment!" said he. + +He strode to the door and called the footmen, then turned +again. + +"Mr. Caryll," he said in a formal voice, "will you give +yourself the trouble of waiting in the ante-room? I need to +consider upon this matter." + +Mr. Caryll, conceiving that it was with his mother that +Rotherby intended to consider, rose instantly. "I would +remind you, Rotherby, that time is pressing," said he. + +"I shall not keep you long," was Rotherby's cold reply, and +Mr. Caryll went out. + +"What now, Charles?" asked his mother. "Is this child to +remain?" + +"It is the child that is to remain," said his lordship. "Will +your ladyship do me the honor, too, of waiting in the +ante-room?" and he held the door for her. + +"What folly are you considering?" she asked. + +"Your ladyship is wasting time, and time, as Mr. Caryll has +said, is pressing." + +She crossed to the door, controlled almost despite herself by +the calm air of purpose that was investing him. "You are not +thinking of - " + +"You shall learn very soon of what I am thinking, ma'am. I +beg that you will give us leave." + +She paused almost upon the threshold. "If you do a rashness, +here, remember that I can still act without you," she reminded +him. "You may choose to believe that that man is your +brother, and so, out of that, and" - she added with a cruel +sneer at Hortensia - "other considerations, you may elect to +let him go. But remember that you still have me to reckon +with. Whether he prove of your blood or not, he cannot prove +himself of mine - thank God!" + +His lordship bowed in silence, preserving an unmoved +countenance, whereupon she cursed him for a fool, and passed +out. He closed the door, and turned the key, Hortensia +watching him in a sort of horror. "Let me go!" she found +voice to cry at last, and advanced towards the door herself. +But Rotherby came to meet her, his face white, his eyes +glowing. She fell away before his opening arms, and he stood +still, mastering himself. + +"That man," he said, jerking a backward thumb at the closed +door, "lives or dies, goes free or hangs, as you shall decide, +Hortensia." + +She looked at him, her face haggard, her heart beating high in +her throat as if to suffocate her. "What do you mean?" she +asked. + +"You love him!" he growled. "Pah! I see it in your eyes - in +your tremors - that you do. It is for him that you are +afraid, is't not?" + +"Why do you mock me with it?" she inquired with dignity. + +"I do not mock you, Hortensia. Answer me! Is it true that +you love him?" + +"It is true," she answered steadily. "What is't to you?" + +"Everything!" he answered hotly. "Everything! It is Heaven +and Hell to me. Ten days ago, Hortensia, I asked you to marry +me - " + +"No more," she begged him, an arm thrown out to stay him. + +"But there is more," he answered, advancing again. "This time I +can make the offer more attractive. Marry me, and Caryll is not +only free to depart, but no evidence shall be laid against him. +I swear it! Refuse me, and he hangs as surely - as surely as you +and I talk together here this moment." + +Cold eyes scathed him with contempt. "God!" she cried. "What +manner of monster are you, my lord? To speak so - to speak of +marriage to me, and to speak of hanging a man who is son to +that same father of yours who lies above stairs, not yet +turned cold. Are you human at all?" + +"Ay - and in nothing so human as in my love for you, +Hortensia." + +She put her hands to her face. "Give me patience!" she +prayed. "The insult of it after what has passed! Let me go, +sir; open that door, and let me go." + +He stood regarding her a moment, with lowering brows. Then he +turned, and went slowly to the door. "He dies, remember!" +said he, and the words, the sinister tone and the sinister +look that was stamped upon his face, shattered her spirit as +at a blow. + +"No, no!" she faltered, and advanced a step or two. "Oh, have +pity!" + +"When you show me pity," he answered. + +She was beaten. "You - you swear to let him go - to see him +safely out of England - if - if I consent?" + +His eyes blazed. He came back swiftly, and she stood, a +frozen thing, passively awaiting him; a frozen thing, she let +him take her in his arms, yielding herself in horrific +surrender. + +He held her close a moment, the blood surging to his face, and +glowing darkly through the swarthy skin. "Have I conquered, +then?" he cried. "You'll marry me, Hortensia?" + +"At that price," she answered piteously, "at that price." + +"Shalt find me a gentle, loving husband, ever. I swear it +before Heaven!" he vowed, the ardor of his passion softening +his nature, as steel is softened in the fire. + +"Then be it so," she said, and her tone was less cold, for she +began to glow, as it were, with the ardor of the sacrifice +that she was making - began to experience the exalted ecstasy +of martyrdom. "Save him, and you shall find me ever a dutiful +wife to you, my lord - a dutiful wife." + +"And loving?" he demanded greedily. + +"Even that. I promise it," she answered. + +With a hoarse cry, he stooped to kiss her; then, with an +oath, he checked, and flung her from him so violently that she +hurtled to a chair and sank to it, overbalanced. "No," he +roared, like a mad thing now. "Hell and damnation - no!" + +A wild frenzy of jealousy had swept aside his tenderness. He +was sick and faint with the passion of it of this proof of how +deeply she must love that other man. He strove to control his +violence. He snarled at her, in his endeavors to subdue the +animal, the primitive creature that he was at heart. "If you +can love him so much as that, he had better hang, I think." +He laughed on a high, fierce note. "You have spoke his +sentence, girl! D'ye think I'd take you so - at second hand? +Oh, s'death! What d'ye deem me?" + +He laughed again - in his throat now, a quivering; half- +sobbing laugh of anger - and crossed to the door, her eyes +following him, terrified; her mind understanding nothing of +this savage. He turned the key, and flung wide the door with +a violent gesture. "Bring him in!" he shouted. + +They entered - Mr. Caryll with the footmen at his heels, a +frown between his brows, his eyes glancing quickly and +searchingly from Rotherby to Hortensia. After him came her +ladyship, no less inquisitive of look. Rotherby dismissed the +lackeys, and closed the door again. He flung out an arm to +indicate Hortensia. + +"This little fool," he said to Caryll, "would have married me +to save your life." + +Mr. Caryll raised his brows. The words relieved his fears. +"I am glad, sir, that you perceive she would have been a fool +to do so. You, I take it, have been fool enough to refuse the +offer." + +"Yes, you damned play-actor! Yes!" he thundered. "D'ye think +I want another man's cast-offs?" + +"That is an overstatement," said Mr. Caryll. "Mistress +Winthrop is no cast-off of mine." + +"Enough said!" snapped Rotherby. He had intended to say much, +to do some mighty ranting. But before Mr. Caryll's cold +half-bantering reduction of facts to their true values, he +felt himself robbed of words. "You hang!" he ended shortly. + +"Ye're sure of that?" questioned Mr. Caryll. + +"I would I were as sure of Heaven." + +"I think you may be - just about as sure," Mr. Caryll +rejoined, entirely unperturbed, and he sauntered forward +towards Hortensia. Rotherby and his mother watched him, +exchanging glances. + +Then Rotherby shrugged and sneered. "'Tis his bluster," said +he. "He'll be a farceur to the end. I doubt he's +half-witted." + +Mr. Caryll never heeded him. He was bending beside Hortensia. +He took her hand, and bore it to his lips. "Sweet," he +murmured, "'twas a treason that you intended. Have you, then, +no faith in me? Courage, sweetheart, they cannot hurt me." + +She clutched his hands, and looked up into his eyes. "You but +say that to comfort me!" she cried. + +"Not so," he answered gravely. "I tell you no more than what +is true. They think they hold me. They will cheat, and lie +and swear falsely to the end that they may destroy me. But +they shall have their pains for nothing." + +"Ay - depend upon that," Rotherby mocked him. "Depend upon it +- to the gallows." + +Mr Caryll's curious eyes smiled upon his brother, but his lips +were contemptuous. "I am of your own blood, Rotherby - your +brother," he said again, "and once already out of that +consideration I have spared your life - because I would not +have a brother's blood upon my hands." He sighed, and +continued: "I had hoped that you had enough humanity to do the +same. I deplore that you should lack it; but I deplore it for +your own sake, because, after all, you are my brother. Apart +from that, it matters nothing to me." + +"Will it matter nothing when you are proved a Jacobite spy?" +cried her ladyship, enraged beyond endurance by this calm +scorn of them. "Will it matter nothing when it is proved that +you carried that letter, and would have carried that other - +that you were empowered to treat in your exiled master's name? +Will that matter nothing?" + +He looked at her an instant, then, as if utterly disdaining to +answer her, he turned again to Rotherby. "I were a fool and +blind, did I not see to the bottom of this turbid little +puddle upon which you think to float your argosies. You are +selling me. You are to make a bargain with the government to +forbear the confiscations your father has incurred out of +consideration of the service you can render by disclosing this +plot, and you would throw me in as something tangible - in +earnest of the others that may follow. Have I sounded the +depths of your intent?" + +"And if you have - what then?" demanded sullen Rotherby. + +"This, my lord," answered Mr. Caryll, and he quoted: "`The man +that once did sell the lion's skin while the beast lived, was +killed with hunting him. Remember that!"' + +They looked at him, impressed by the ringing voice in which he +had spoken-a voice in which the ring was of mingled mockery +and exultation. Then her ladyship shook off the impression, +and laughed. + +"With what d'ye threaten us?" she asked contemptuously. + +"I - threaten, ma'am? Nay, I am incapable of threatening. I +do not threaten. I have reasoned with you, exhorted you, +shown you cause why, had you one spark of decency left, you +would allow me to depart and shield me from the law you have +invoked to ruin me. I have hoped for your own sakes that you +would be moved so to do. But since you will not - " He +paused and shrugged. "On your own heads be it." + +"On our own heads be what?" demanded Rotherby. + +But Mr. Caryll smiled, and shook his head. "Did you know all, +it might indeed influence your decision; and I would not have +that happen. You have chosen, have you not, Rotherby? You +will sell me; you will hang me - me, your father's son. Poor +Rotherby! From my soul I pity you!" + +"Pity me? Death! You impudent rogue! Keep your pity for +those that need it." + +"That is why I offer it you, Rotherby," said Mr. Caryll, +almost sadly. "In all my life, I have not met a man who stood +more sorely in need of it, nor am I ever like to meet +another." + +There was a movement without, a tap at the door; and Humphries +entered to announce Mr. Green's return, accompanied by Mr. +Second Secretary Templeton, and without waiting for more, he +ushered them into the room. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE HUNTERS + + +To the amazement of them all, there entered a tall gentleman +in a full-bottomed wig, with a long, pale face, a resolute +mouth, and a pair of eyes that were keen, yet kindly. Close +upon the heels of the second secretary came Mr. Green. +Humphries withdrew, and closed the door. + +Mr. Templeton made her ladyship a low bow. + +"Madam," said he very gravely, "I offer your ladyship - and +you, my lord - my profoundest condolence in the bereavement +you have suffered, and my scarcely less profound excuses for +this intrusion upon your grief." + +Mr. Templeton may or may not have reflected that the grief +upon which he deplored his intrusion was none so apparent. + +"I had not ventured to do so," he continued, "but that your +lordship seemed to invite my presence." + +"Invited it, sir?" questioned Rotherby with deference. "I +should scarcely have presumed so far as to invite it." + +"Not directly, perhaps," returned the second secretary. His +was a deep, rich voice, and he spoke with great +deliberateness, as if considering well each word before +allowing it utterance. "Not directly, perhaps; but in view of +your message to Lord Carteret, his lordship has desired me to +come in person to inquire into this matter for him, before +proceeding farther. This fellow," indicating Green, "brought +information from you that a Jacobite - an agent of James +Stuart - is being detained here, and that your lordship has a +communication to make to the secretary of state." + +Rotherby bowed his assent. "All I desired that Mr. Green +should do meanwhile," said he, "was to procure a warrant for +this man's arrest. My revelations would have followed that. +Has he the warrant?" + +"Your lordship may not be aware," said Mr. Templeton, with an +increased precision of diction, "that of late so many plots +have been disclosed and have proved in the end to be no plots +at all, that his lordship has resolved to proceed now with the +extremest caution. For it is not held desirable by his +majesty that publicity should be given to such matters until +there can be no doubt that they are susceptible to proof. +Talk of them is disturbing to the public quiet, and there is +already disturbance enough, as it unfortunately happens. +Therefore, it is deemed expedient that we should make quite +sure of our ground before proceeding to arrests." + +"But this plot is no sham plot," cried Rotherby, with the +faintest show of heat, out of patience with the other's +deliberateness. "It is a very real danger, as I can prove to +his lordship." + +"It is for the purpose of ascertaining that fact," resumed the +second secretary, entirely unruffled, "for the purpose of +ascertaining it before taking any steps that would seem to +acknowledge it, that my Lord Carteret has desired me to wait +upon you - that you may place me in possession of the +circumstances that have come to your knowledge." + +Rotherby's countenance betrayed his growing impatience. "Why, +for that matter, it has come to my knowledge that a plot is +being hatched by the friends of the Stuart, and that a rising +is being prepared, the present moment being considered +auspicious, while the people's confidence in the government is +shaken by the late South Sea Company disaster." + +Mr. Templeton wagged his head gently. "That, sir - if you +will permit the observation - is the preface of all the +disclosures that have lately been made to us. The +consolation, sir, for his majesty's friends, has been that in +no case did the subsequent matter make that preface good." + +"It is in that particular, then, that my disclosures shall +differ from those others," said Rotherby, in a tone that +caused Mr. Templeton afterwards to describe him as "a damned +hot fellow." + +"You have evidence?" + +"Documentary evidence. A letter from the Pretender himself +amongst it." + +A becoming gravity overspread Mr. Templeton's clear-cut face. +"That would be indeed regrettable," said he. It was plain +that whatever the second secretary might display when the plot +was disclosed to him, he would display none of that +satisfaction upon which Rotherby had counted. "To whom, sir, +let me ask, is this letter indited?" + +"To my late father," answered his lordship. + +Mr. Templeton made an exclamation, whose significance was not +quite clear. + +"I have discovered it since his death," continued Rotherby. +"I was but in time to wrest it from the hands of that spy of +the Pretender's, who was in the act of destroying it when I +caught him. My devotion to his majesty made my course clear, +sir - and I desired Mr. Green to procure a warrant for this +traitor's arrest." + +"Sir," said Mr. Templeton, regarding him with an eye in which +astonishment was blent with admiration, "this is very loyal in +you - very loyal under the - ah - peculiar circumstances of +the affair. I do not think that his majesty's government, +considering to whom this letter was addressed, could have +censured you even had you suppressed it. You have conducted +yourself, my lord - if I may venture upon a criticism of your +lordship's conduct - with a patriotism worthy of the best +models of ancient Rome. And I am assured that his majesty's +government will not be remiss in signifying appreciation of +this very lofty loyalty of yours." + +Lord Rotherby bowed low, in acknowledgment of the compliment. +Her ladyship concealed a cynical smile under cover of her fan. +Mr. Caryll - standing in the background beside Hortensia's +chair - smiled, too, and poor Hortensia, detecting his smile, +sought to take comfort in it. + +"My son," interposed the countess, "is, I am sure, gratified +to hear you so commend his conduct." + +Mr. Templeton bowed to her with a great politeness. "I should +be a stone, ma'am, did I not signify my - ah - appreciation of +it." + +"There is a little more to follow, sir," put in Mr. Caryll, in +that quiet manner of his. "I think you will find it blunt the +edge of his lordship's lofty loyalty - cause it to savor less +like the patriotism of Rome, and more like that of Israel." + +Mr. Templeton turned upon him a face of cold displeasure. He +would have spoken, but that whilst he was seeking words of a +becoming gravity, Rotherby forestalled him. + +"Sir," he exclaimed, "what I did, I did though my ruin must +have followed. I know what this traitor has in mind. He +imagines I have a bargain to make. But you must see, sir, +that in no sense is it so, for, having already surrendered the +facts, it is too late now to attempt to sell them. I am ready +to yield up the letters that I have found. No consideration +could induce me to do other; and yet, sir, I venture to hope +that in return, the government will be pleased to see that I +have some claim upon my country's recognition for the signal +service I am rendering her - and in rendering which I make a +holocaust of my father's honor." + +"Surely, surely, sir," murmured Mr. Templeton, but his +countenance told of a lessening enthusiasm in his lordship's +Roman patriotism. "Lord Carteret, I am sure, would never +permit so much - ah - devotion to his majesty to go +unrewarded." + +"I only ask, sir - and I ask it for the sake of my father's +name, which stands in unavoidable danger of being smirched - +that no further shame be heaped upon it than that which must +result from the horror with which the discovery of this plot +will inspire all right-thinking subjects." + +Mr. Caryll smiled and nodded. He judged in a detached spirit +- a mere spectator at a play - and he was forced to admit to +himself that it was subtly done of his brother, and showed an +astuteness in this thing, at least, of which he had never +supposed him capable. + +"There is, sir," Rotherby proceeded, "the matter of my +father's dealings with the South Sea Company. He is no longer +alive to defend himself from the accusations - from the +impeachment which has been levelled against him by our enemy, +the Duke of Wharton. Therefore, it might be possible to make +it appear as if his dealings were - ah - not - ah - quite such +as should befit an upright gentleman. There is that, and +there is this greater matter against him. Between the two, I +should never again be able to look my fellow-countrymen in the +face. Yet this is the more important since the safety of the +kingdom is involved; whilst the other is but a personal +affair, and trivial by comparison. + +"I will beg, sir, that out of consideration for my disclosing +this dastardly conspiracy - which I cannot do without +disclosing my father's misguided share in it - I will implore, +sir, that out of that consideration, Lord Carteret will see +fit to dispose that the South Sea Company affair is allowed to +be forgotten. It has already been paid for by my father with +his life." + +Mr. Templeton looked at the young man before him with eyes of +real commiseration. He was entirely duped, and in his heart +he regretted that for a moment he could have doubted +Rotherby's integrity of purpose. + +"Sir," he said, "I offer you my sympathy - my profoundest +sympathy; and you, my lady. + +"As for this South Sea Company affair, well - I am empowered +by Lord Carteret to treat only of the other matter, and to +issue or not a warrant for the apprehension of the person you +are detaining, after I have investigated the grounds upon +which his arrest is urged. Nevertheless, sir, I think I can +say - indeed, I think I can promise - that in consideration of +your readiness to deliver up these letters, and provided their +nature is as serious as you represent, and also in +consideration of this, your most signal proof of loyalty, Lord +Carteret will not wish to increase the load which already you +have to bear." + +"Oh, sir!" cried Rotherby in the deepest emotion, "I have no +words in which to express my thanks." + +"Nor I," put in Mr. Caryll, "words in which to express my +admiration. A most excellent performance, Rotherby. I had +not credited you with so much ability." + +Mr. Templeton frowned upon him again. "Ye betray a singular +callousness, sir," said he. + +"Nay, sir; not callousness. Merely the ease that springs from +a tranquil conscience." + +Her ladyship glanced across at him, and sneered audibly. "You +hear the poisonous traitor, sir. He glories in a tranquil +conscience, in spite of this murderous matter to which he +stood committed." + +Rotherby turned aside to take the letters from the desk. He +thrust them into Mr. Templeton's hands. "Here, sir, is a +letter from King James to my father, and here is a letter from +my father to King James. From their contents, you will gather +how far advanced are matters, what devilries are being hatched +here in his majesty's dominions." + +Mr. Templeton received them, and crossed to the window that he +might examine them. His countenance lengthened. Rotherby +took his stand beside his mother's chair, both observing Mr. +Caryll, who, in his turn, was observing Mr. Templeton, a faint +smile playing round the corners of his mouth. Once they saw +him stoop and whisper something in Hortensia's ear, and they +caught the upward glance of her eyes, half fear, half +question. + +Mr. Green, by the door, stood turning his hat in his hands, +furtively watching everybody, whilst drawing no attention to +himself - a matter in which much practice had made him +perfect. + +At last Templeton turned, folding the letters. "This is very +grave, my lord," said he, "and my Lord Carteret will no doubt +desire to express in person his gratitude and his deep sense +of the service you have done him. I think you may confidently +expect to find him as generous as you hope." + +He pocketed the letters, and raised a hand to point at Mr. +Caryll. "This man?" he inquired laconically. + +"Is a spy of King James's. He is the messenger who bore my +father that letter from the Pretender, and he would no doubt +have carried back the answer had my father lived." + +Mr. Templeton drew a paper from his pocket, and crossed to the +desk. He sat down, and took up a quill. "You can prove this, +of course?" he said, testing the point of his quill upon his +thumb-nail. + +"Abundantly," was the ready answer. "My mother can bear +witness to the fact that 'twas he brought the Pretender's +letter, and there is no lack of corroboration. Enough, I +think, would be afforded by the assault made by this rogue +upon Mr. Green, of which, no doubt, you are already informed, +sir. His object - this proved object - was to possess himself +of those papers that he might destroy them. I but caught him +in time, as my servants can bear witness, as they can also +bear witness to the circumstance that we were compelled to +force an entrance here, and to use force to him to obtain the +letters from him." + +Mr. Templeton nodded. "'Tis a clear case, then," said he, and +dipped his pen. + +"And yet," put in Mr. Caryll, in an indolent, musing voice, +"it might be made to look as clear another way." + +Mr. Templeton scowled at him. "The opportunity shall be +afforded you," said he. "Meanwhile - what is your name?" + +Mr. Caryll looked whimsically at the secretary a moment; then +flung his bomb. "I am Justin Caryll, Sixth Earl of Ostermore, +and your very humble servant, Mr. Secretary." + +The effect was ludicrous - from Mr. Caryll's point of view - +and yet it was disappointing. Five pairs of dilating eyes +confronted him, five gaping mouths. Then her ladyship broke +into a laugh. + +"The creature's mad - I've long suspected it." And she meant +to be taken literally; his many whimsicalities were explained +to her at last. He was, indeed, half-witted, as he now +proved. + +Mr. Templeton, recovering, smote the table angrily. He +thought he had good reason to lose his self-control on this +occasion, though it was a matter of pride with him that he +could always preserve an unruffled calm under the most trying +circumstances. "What is your name, sir?" he demanded again. + +"You are hard of hearing, sir, I think. I am Lord Ostermore. +Set down that name in the warrant if you are determined to be +bubbled by that fellow there and made to look foolish +afterwards with my Lord Carteret." + +Mr. Templeton sat back in his chair, frowning; but more from +utter bewilderment now than anger. + +"Perhaps," said Mr. Caryll, "if I were to explain, it would +help you to see the imposture that is being practiced upon +you. As for the allegations that have been made against me - +that I am a Jacobite spy and an agent of the Pretender's - " +He shrugged, and waved an airy hand. "I scarce think there +will remain the need for me to deny them when you have heard +the rest." + +Rotherby took a step forward, his face purple, his hands +clenched. Her ladyship thrust out a bony claw, clutched at +his sleeve, and drew him back and into the chair beside her. +"Pho! Charles," she said; "give the fool rope, and he'll hang +himself, never doubt it - the poor, witless creature." + +Mr. Caryll sauntered over to the secretaire, and leaned an +elbow on the top of it, facing all in the room. + +"I admit, Mr. Secretary," said he, "that I had occasion to +assault Mr. Green, to the end that I might possess myself of +the papers he was seeking in this desk." + +"Why, then - " began Mr. Templeton. + +"Patience, sir! I admit so much, but I admit no more. I do +not, for instance, admit that the object - the object itself - +of my search was such as has been represented." + +"What then? What else?" growled Rotherby. + +"Ay, sir - what else?" quoth Mr. Templeton. + +"Sir," said Mr. Caryll, with a sorrowful shake of, the head, +"I have already startled you, it seems, by one statement. I +beg that you will prepare yourself to be startled by another." +Then he abruptly dropped his languor. "I should think twice, +sir," he advised, "before signing that warrant, were I in your +place, to do so would be to render yourself the tool of those +who are plotting my ruin, and ready to bear false witness that +they may accomplish it. I refer," and he waved a hand towards +the countess and his brother, "to the late Lord Ostermore's +mistress and his natural son, there." + +In their utter stupefaction at the unexpectedness and seeming +wildness of the statement, neither mother nor son could find a +word to say. No more could Mr. Templeton for a moment. Then, +suddenly, wrathfully: "What are you saying, sir?" he roared. + +"The truth, sir." + +"The truth?" echoed the secretary. + +"Ay, sir - the truth. Have ye never heard of it?" + +Mr. Templeton sat back again. "I begin to think," said he, +surveying through narrowing eyes the slender graceful figure +before him, "that her ladyship is right that you are mad; +unless - unless you are mad of the same madness that beset +Ulysses. You remember?" + +"Let us have done," cried Rotherby in a burst of anger, +leaping to his feet. "Let us have done, I say! Are we to +waste the day upon this Tom o' Bedlam? Write him down as +Caryll - Justin Caryll - 'tis the name he's known by; and let +Green see to the rest." + +Mr. Templeton made an impatient sound, and poised his pen. + +"Ye are not to suppose, sir," Mr. Caryll stayed him, "that I +cannot support my statements. I have by me proofs - +irrefragable proofs of what I say." + +"Proofs?" The word seemed to come from, every member of that +little assembly - if we except Mr. Green, whose face was +beginning to betray his uneasiness. He was not so ready as +the others to believe, that Mr. Caryll was mad. For him, the +situation asked some other explanation. + +"Ay - proofs," said Mr. Caryll. He had drawn the case from +his pocket again. From this he took the birth-certificate, +and placed it before Mr. Templeton, "Will you glance at that, +sir - to begin, with? - " + +Mr. Templeton complied. His face became more and more grave. +He looked at Mr. Caryll; then at Rotherby, who was scowling, +and at her ladyship, who was breathing hard. His glance +returned to Mr. Caryll. + +"You are the person designated here?" he inquired. + +"As I can abundantly prove," said Mr. Caryll. "I have no lack +of friends in London who will bear witness to that much." + +"Yet," said Mr. Templeton, frowning, perplexed, "this does not +make you what you claim to be. Rather does it show you to be +his late lordship's - " + +"There's more to come," said Mr. Caryll, and placed another +document before the secretary. It was an extract from the +register of St. Etienne of Maligny, relating to his mother's +death. + +"Do you know, sir, in what year this lady went through a +ceremony of marriage with my father - the late Lord Ostermore? +It was in 1690, I think, as the lady will no doubt confirm." + +"To what purpose, this?" quoth Mr. Templeton. + +"The purpose will be presently apparent. Observe that date," +said Mr. Caryll, and he pointed to the document in Mr. +Templeton's hand. + +Mr. Templeton read the date aloud - "1692" - and then the name +of the deceased - "Antoinette de Beaulieu de Maligny. What of +it?" he demanded. + +"You will understand that when I show you the paper I took +from this desk, the paper that I obtained as a consequence of +my violence to Mr. Green. I think you will consider, sir, +that if ever the end justified the means, it did so in this +case. Here was something very different from the paltry +matter of treason that is alleged against me." + +And he passed the secretary a third paper. + +Over Mr. Templeton's shoulder, Rotherby and his mother, who - +drawn by the overpowering excitement that was mastering them - +had approached in silence, were examining the document with +wide-open, startled eyes, fearing by very instinct, without +yet apprehending the true nature of the revelation that was to +come. + +"God!" shrieked her ladyship, who took in the meaning of this +thing before Rotherby had begun to suspect it. "'Tis a +forgery!" + +"That were idle, when the original entry in the register is to +be seen in, the Church of St. Antoine, madam," answered Mr. +Caryll. "I rescued that document, together with some letters +which my mother wrote my father when first he returned to +England - and which are superfluous now - from a secret drawer +in that desk, an hour ago." + +"But what is it?" inquired Rotherby huskily. "What is it?" + +"It is the certificate of the marriage of my father, the late +Lord Ostermore, and my mother, Antoinette de Maligny, at the +Church of St. Antoine in Paris, in the year 1689." He turned +to Mr. Templeton. "You apprehend the matter, sir?" he +demanded, and recapitulated. "In 1689 they were married; in +1692 she died; yet in 1690 his lordship went through a form of +marriage with Mistress Sylvia Etheridge, there." + +Mr. Templeton nodded very gravely, his eyes upon the document +before him, that they might avoid meeting at that moment the +eyes of the woman whom the world had always known as the +Countess of Ostermore. + +"Fortunate is it for me," said Mr. Caryll, "that I should have +possessed myself of these proofs in time. Does it need more +to show how urgent might be the need for my suppression - how +little faith can be attached to an accusation levelled against +me from such a quarter?" + +"By God - " began Rotherby, but his mother clutched his wrist. + +"Be still, fool!" she hissed in his ear. She had need to keep +her wits about her, to think, to weigh each word that she +might utter. An abyss had opened in her path; a false step, +and she and her son were irrevocably lost - sent headlong to +destruction. Rotherby, already reduced to the last stage of +fear, was obedient as he had never been, and fell silent +instantly. + +Mr. Templeton folded the papers, rose, and proffered them to +their owner. "Have you any means of proving that this was the +document you sought?" he inquired. + +"I can prove that it was the document he found." It was +Hortensia who spoke; she had advanced to her lover's side, and +she controlled her amazement to bear witness for him. "I was +present in this room when he went through that desk, as all in +the house know; and I can swear to his having found that paper +in it." + +Mr. Templeton bowed. "My lord," he said to Caryll, "your +contentions appear clear. It is a matter in which I fear I +can go no further; nor do I now think that the secretary of +state would approve of my issuing a warrant upon such +testimony as we have received. The matter is one for Lord +Carteret himself." + +"I shall do myself the honor of waiting upon his lordship +within the hour," said the new Lord Ostermore. "As for the +letter which it is alleged I brought from France - from the +Pretender," - he was smiling now, a regretful, deprecatory +smile, "it is a fortunate circumstance that, being suspected +by that very man Green, who stands yonder, I was subjected, +upon my arrival in England, to a thorough search at Maidstone +- a search, it goes without saying, that yielded nothing. I +was angry at the time, at the indignity I was forced to +endure. We little know what the future may hold. And to-day +I am thankful to have that evidence to rebut this charge." + +"Your lordship is indeed to be congratulated," Mr. Templeton +agreed. "You are thus in a position to clear yourself of even +a shadow of suspicion." + +"You fool!" cried she who until that hour had been Countess of +Ostermore, turning fiercely upon Mr. Templeton. "You fool!" + +"Madam, this is not seemly," cried the second secretary, with +awkward dignity. + +"Seemly, idiot?" she stormed at him. "I swear, as I've a soul +to be saved, that in spite of all this, I know that man to be +a traitor and a Jacobite - that it was the letter from the +king he sought, whatever he may pretend to have found." + +Mr. Templeton looked at her in sorrow, for all that in her +overwrought condition she insulted him. "Madam, you might +swear and swear, and yet no one would believe you in the face +of the facts that have come to light." + +"Do you believe me?" she demanded angrily. + +"My beliefs can matter nothing," he compromised, and made her +a valedictory bow. "Your servant, ma'am," said he, from force +of habit. He nodded to Rotherby, took up his hat and cane, +and strode to the door, which Mr. Green had made haste to open +for him. From the threshold he bowed to Mr. Caryll. "My +lord," said he, "I shall go straight to Lord Carteret. He +will stay for you till you come." + +"I shall not keep his lordship waiting," answered Caryll, and +bowed in his turn. + +The second secretary went out. Mr. Green hesitated a moment, +then abruptly followed him. The game was ended here; it was +played and lost, he saw, and what should such as Mr. Green be +doing on the losing side? + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE LION + + +The game was played and lost. All realized it, and none so +keenly as Hortensia, who found it in her gentle heart to pity +the woman who had never shown her a kindness. + +She set a hand upon her lover's arm. "What will you do, +Justin?" she inquired in tones that seemed to plead for mercy +for those others; for she had not paused to think - as another +might have thought - that there was no mercy he could show +them. + +Rotherby and his mother stood hand in hand; it was the woman +who had clutched at her son for comfort and support in this +bitter hour of retribution, this hour of the recoil upon +themselves of all the evil they had plotted. + +Mr. Caryll considered them a moment, his face a mask, his mind +entirely detached. They interested him profoundly. This +subjugation of two natures that in themselves were arrogant +and cruel was a process very engrossing to observe. He tried +to conjecture what they felt, what thoughts they might be +harboring. And it seemed to him that a sort of paralysis had +fallen on their wits. They were stunned under the shock of +the blow he had dealt them. Anon there would be railings and +to spare -against him, against themselves, against the dead +man above stairs, against Fate, and more besides. For the +present there was this horrid, almost vacuous calm. + +Presently the woman stirred. Instinct - the instinct of the +stricken beast to creep to hiding - moved her, while reason +was still bound in lethargy. She moved to step, drawing at +her son's hand. "Come, Charles," she said, in a low, hoarse +voice. "Come!" + +The touch and the speech awakened him to life. "No!" he cried +harshly, and shook his hand free of hers. "It ends not thus." + +He looked almost as he would fling himself upon his brother, +his figure erect now, defiant and menacing; his face ashen, +his eyes wild. "It ends not thus!" he repeated, and his voice +rang sinister. + +"No," Mr. Caryll agreed quietly. "It ends not thus." + +He looked sadly from son to mother. "It had not even begun +thus, but that you would have it so. You would have it. I +sought to move you to mercy. I reminded you, my brother, of +the tie that bound us, and I would have turned you from +fratricide, I would have saved you from the crime you +meditated - for it was a crime." + +"Fratricide!" exclaimed Rotherby, and laughed angrily. +"Fratricide!" It was as if he threatened it. + +But Mr. Caryll continued to regard him sorrowfully. From his +soul he pitied him; pitied them both - not because of their +condition, but because of the soullessness behind it all. To +him it was truly tragic, tragic beyond anything that he had +ever known. + +"You said some fine things, sir, to Mr. Templeton of your +regard for your father's memory," said Mr. Caryll. "You +expressed some lofty sentiments of filial piety, which almost +sounded true - which sounded true, indeed, to Mr. Templeton. +It was out of interest for your father that you pleaded for +the suppression of his dealings with the South Sea Company; +not for a moment did you consider yourself or the profit you +should make from such suppression." + +"Why this?" demanded the mother fiercely. "Do you rally us? +Do you turn the sword in the wound now that you have us at +your mercy - now that we are fallen?" + +"From what are you fallen?" Mr. Caryll inquired. "Ah, but let +that pass. I do not rally, madam. Mockery is far indeed from +my intention." He turned again to Rotherby. "Lord Ostermore +was a father to you, which he never was to me - knew not that +he was. The sentiments you so beautifully expressed to Mr. +Templeton are the sentiments that actuate me now, though I +shall make no attempt to express them. It is not that my +heart stirs much where my Lord Ostermore is concerned. And +yet, for the sake of the name that is mine now, I shall leave +England as I came - Mr. Justin Caryll, neither more nor less. + +"In the eyes of the world there is no slur upon my mother's +name, because her history - her supposed history - was +unknown. See that none ever falls on it, else shall you find +me pitiless indeed. See that none ever falls on it, or I +shall return and drive home the lesson that, like Antinous, +you've learnt - that 'twixt the cup and lip much ill may grow' +- and turn you, naked upon a contemptuous world. Needs more +be said? You understand, I think." + +Rotherby understood nothing. But his mother's keener wits +began to perceive a glimmer of the truth. "Do you mean that - +that we are to - to remain in the station that we believed our +own?" + +"What else?" + +She stared at him. Here was a generosity so weak, it seemed +to her, as almost to provoke her scorn. "You will leave your +brother in possession of the title and what else there may +be?" + +"You think me generous, madam," said he. "Do not misapprehend +me. I am not. I covet neither the title nor estates of +Ostermore. Their possession would be a thorn in my flesh, a +thorn of bitter memory. That is one reason why you should not +think me generous, though it is not the reason why I cede +them. I would have you understand me on this, perhaps the +last time, that we may meet. + +"Lord Ostermore, my father, married you, madam, in good +faith." + +She interrupted harshly. "What is't you say?" she almost +screamed, quivering with rage at the very thought of what her +dead lord had done. + +"He married you in good faith," Mr. Caryll repeated quietly, +impressively. "I will make it plain to you. He married you +believing that the girl-wife he had left in France was dead. +For fear it should come to his father's knowledge, he kept +that marriage secret from all. He durst not own his marriage +to his father." + +"He was not - as you may have appreciated in the years you +lived with him - a man of any profound feeling for others. +For himself he had a prodigiously profound feeling, as you may +also have gathered. That marriage in France was troublesome. +He had come to look upon it as one of his youth's follies - as +he, himself, described it to me in this house, little knowing +to whom he spoke. When he received the false news of her +death - for he did receive such news from the very cousin who +crossed from France to avenge her, believing her dead himself +- he rejoiced at his near escape from the consequences of his +folly. Nor was he ever disabused of his error. For she had +ceased to write to him by then. And so he married you, madam, +in good faith. That is the argument I shall use with my Lord +Carteret to make him understand that respect for my father's +memory urges me to depart in silence - save for what I must +have said to escape the impeachment with which you threatened +me." + +"Lord Carteret is a man of the world. He will understand the +far-reaching disturbance that must result from the disclosure +of the truth of this affair. He will pledge Mr. Templeton to +silence, and the truth, madam, will never be disclosed. That, +I think, is all, madam." + +"By God, sir," cried Rotherby, "that's damned handsome of +you!" + +"You epitomize it beautifully," said Mr. Caryll, with a +reversion to his habitual manner. + +His mother, however, had no words at all. She advanced a step +towards Mr. Caryll, put out her hands, and then - portent of +portents! - two tears were seen to trickle down her cheeks, +playing havoc, ploughing furrows in the paint that overlaid +them. + +Mr. Caryll stepped forward quickly. The sight of those tears, +springing from that dried-up heart - withered by God alone +knew what blight - washing their way down those poor bedaubed +cheeks, moved him to a keener pity than anything he had ever +looked upon. He took her hands, and pressed them a moment, +giving way for once to an impulse he could not master. + +She would have kissed his own in the abasement and gratitude +of the moment. But he restrained her. + +"No more, your ladyship," said he, and by thus giving her once +more the title she had worn, he seemed to reinstate her in the +station from which in self-defence he had pulled her down. +"Promise that you'll bear no witness against me should so much +be needed, and I'll cry quits with you. Without your +testimony, they cannot hurt me, even though they were disposed +to do so, which is scarcely likely." + +"Sir - sir - " she faltered brokenly. "Could you - could you +suppose - " + +"Indeed, no. So no more, ma'am. You do but harass yourself. +Fare you well, my lady. If I may trespass for a few moments +longer upon the hospitality of Stretton House, I'll be your +debtor." + +"The house - and all - is yours, sir," she reminded him. + +"There's but one thing in it that I'll carry off with me," +said he. He held the door for her. + +She looked into his face a moment. "God keep you!" said she, +with a surprising fervor in one not over-fluent at her +prayers. "God reward you for showing this mercy to an old +woman - who does not deserve so much." + +"Fare you well, madam," he said again, bowing gravely. "And +fare you well, Lord Ostermore," he added to her son. + +His brother looked at him a moment; seemed on the point of +speaking, and then - taking his cue, no doubt, from his +mother's attitude - he held out his hand. + +Mr. Caryll took it, shook it, and let it go. After all, he +bethought him, the man was his brother. And if his bearing +was not altogether cordial, it was, at least, a clement +imitation of cordiality. + +He closed the door upon them, and sighed supreme relief. He +turned to face Hortensia, and a smile broke like sunshine upon +his face, and dispelled the serious gloom of his expression. +She sprang towards him. + +"Come now, thou chattel, that I am resolved to carry with me +from my father's house," said he. + +She checked in her approach. "'Tis not in such words that +I'll be wooed," said she. + +"A fig for words!" he cried. "Art wooed and won. Confess +it." + +"You want nothing for self-esteem," she informed him gravely. + +"One thing, Hortensia," he amended. "One thing I want - I +lack - to esteem myself greater than any king that rules." + +"I like that better," she laughed, and suddenly she was in +tears. "Oh, why do you mock, and make-believe that your heart +is on your lips and nowhere else?" she asked him. "Is it your +aim to be accounted trifling and shallow - you who can do such +things as you have done but now? Oh, it was noble! You made +me very proud." + +"Proud?" he echoed. "Ah! Then it must be that you are +resolved to take this impudent, fleering coxcomb for a +husband," he said, rallying her with the words she had flung +at him that night in the moonlit Croydon garden. + +"How I was mistook in you!" quoth she. + +He made philosophy. "'Tis ever those in whom we are mistook +that are best worth knowing," he informed her. "The man or +woman whom you can read at sight, is read and done with." + +"Yet you were not mistook in me," said she. + +"I was," he answered, "for I deemed you woman." + +"What other have you found me?" she inquired. + +He flung wide his arms, and bade her into them. "Here to my +heart," he cried, "and in your ear I'll whisper it." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Etext of The Lion's Skin, by Rafael Sabatini + |