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diff --git a/old/67606-0.txt b/old/67606-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d71e591..0000000 --- a/old/67606-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5716 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Slaves of Society, by Allen Upward - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Slaves of Society - A Comedy in Covers - -Author: Allen Upward - -Release Date: March 11, 2022 [eBook #67606] - -Language: English - -Produced by: D A Alexander, David E. Brown, Access Services at Purdue - University Library, West Lafayette, Indiana, and the Online - Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This - file was produced from images generously made available by - The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SLAVES OF SOCIETY *** - - - - - - THE SLAVES - OF SOCIETY - - A Comedy in Covers - - _By_ THE MAN WHO - HEARD SOMETHING - - [Illustration] - - NEW YORK AND LONDON - HARPER & BROTHERS - 1900 - - - - -Copyright, 1900, by HARPER & BROTHERS. - -_All rights reserved._ - - - - -CONTENTS - - - SCENE PAGE - - I. A MOTHER’S CARES 1 - - II. THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE 19 - - III. THE SLAVE OF ALDERMAN DOBBIN 28 - - IV. THE NOTORIOUS BELLE YORKE 55 - - V. A PERSON OF IMPORTANCE 82 - - VI. WHAT PEOPLE SAID 98 - - VII. A QUESTION OF CHEMISTRY 115 - - VIII. CINDERELLA 128 - - IX. AND THE PRINCE 143 - - X. “A MARRIAGE HAS BEEN ARRANGED” 158 - - XI. “AND WILL SHORTLY TAKE PLACE” 172 - - XII. THE LONG ARM OF MR. DESPENCER 189 - - XIII. THE MARCHIONESS AT BAY 214 - - XIV. PISTOLS FOR TWO 224 - - XV. A MISFORTUNE FOR SOCIETY 237 - - - - -THE SLAVES OF SOCIETY - - - - -SCENE I - -A MOTHER’S CARES - - -“After all,” sighed the marchioness, as she conveyed a three-cornered -piece of muffin from the silver chafing-dish to her mouth, and nibbled -delicately at one of the corners--“after all, what are we but slaves of -society?” - -Mr. Despencer extended a hand almost as white and slender as the -marchioness’s own, and abstracted a small cube of sugar from the -porcelain basin, of the thinness and transparency of a sea-shell, on -the marchioness’s silver tray, while he meditated a becoming response. - -“Yes,” he exclaimed, giving his head a slow, mournful movement from -side to side, “you are right. We are no better off than prisoners on -the treadmill. Even you are but a bird of paradise held captive in a -gilded cage.” - -The bird of paradise removed the piece of muffin from its beak to -turn a pair of bright, steel-blue eyes on the speaker, gazing at him -for some moments as though in doubt whether to accept this beautiful -sentiment as a tribute or to rebuke it as a familiarity. - -The cage so feelingly referred to was one of a set of drawing-rooms on -the first floor of a mansion in Berkeley Square--that is to say, in -the heart of that restricted area within which society requires its -bond-servants to reside during the spring and early summer. The gilding -consisted in a mural decoration of the very latest and most artistic -design, representing a number of Japanese dragons going through a kind -of dragon drill, apparently adapted to develop their tail muscles -according to the system of Mr. Sandow; in curtains of lemon-colored -silk on each side of the window and other curtains of lemon-colored -plush across the doorways; in a carpet of that rich but chaotic pattern -which has been compared to the poetical style of the late Robert -Montgomery, and in a thicket of fantastic and inconvenient chairs, -of china-laden cabinets and palms in Satsuma jars, which would have -rendered it extremely hazardous for the gymnastic dragons to have come -down from the walls and transferred their exercises to the floor of the -apartment. - -The inhabitant of this dungeon was a handsome young woman of forty, -or possibly forty-five, with the fresh complexion and vivacious -expression of a girl, united with a certain massiveness of outline, the -inseparable distinction of the British matron. Just at this moment, -moreover, her features were hardened into that business-like aspect -which the British matron assumes when she is engaged in doing that duty -which England expects of her no less than of its sea-faring population. - -Her companion looked even younger than the marchioness. A rather pale -face, set off by a carefully cultivated black mustache, gave him that -air of concealed wickedness which women find so interesting. His attire -was a little too elegant to be in perfect taste. His bow was tied with -an artistic grace repugnant to the feelings of an English gentleman. -He was a typical specimen of that class of man whom men instinctively -taboo and women instinctively confide in; who are blackballed in the -best clubs and invited to all the best country-houses, who have no male -friends, and are on intimate terms with half our peeresses. Sometimes -these men end by getting found out, and sometimes they marry a dowager -countess with money--and a temper. As yet neither fate had overtaken -Mr. Despencer. - -The marchioness decided that her companion had been familiar. - -“Don’t be ridiculous!” she said, with some sharpness. “I sent for you -because I want your assistance.” - -Despencer meekly submitted to the reproof. - -“You know I am always at your disposal,” he murmured. - -The marchioness glanced at him with a questioning air, much as King -John may be supposed to have glanced at Hubert before proceeding to -introduce the subject of Prince Arthur’s eyes. - -“They tell me you are horribly wicked,” she remarked, in the tone of -one who pays a distinguished compliment, “so I feel I can rely on you.” - -“In that case I must positively ask you to go into another room,” -returned Despencer, with his best smile. “In your presence I find my -better instincts overpower me.” - -The marchioness leaned back in her chair, and half closed her eyes with -an expression of well-bred fatigue. - -“Please don’t begin to say clever things. I want to talk sensibly.” -She reopened her eyes. “You see, I can’t speak to the marquis -because--well, he is rather old-fashioned in some of his ideas; so I -have to fall back on you.” - -Despencer slightly shrugged his shoulders. - -“Lord Severn is certainly a trifle out of date. He belongs to the -solid-tire period.” - -“Exactly!” exclaimed the marchioness, with some eagerness. The next -moment she recollected herself and frowned. Even the fireside cat will -sometimes protrude its claws from under their velvet caps, and the -marchioness was not quite sure that she had not felt a scratch. She -frowned beautifully--the marchioness’s frown was celebrated. Then she -observed: “Though I think it is extremely impertinent of you to say so. -Please to remember that the marquis is my husband.” - -“Ah! to be sure he is. I apologize. It is so difficult to keep in mind -these legal distinctions.” - -This time the marchioness felt certain she had been scratched. She -glanced furtively at her companion, who preserved the composure of -entire innocence as he set down his empty teacup on a small ebony -stool, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and made himself more at ease by -drawing back into his chair and crossing his superbly trousered legs. -After a little pause, she asked suddenly: - -“You know Mr. Hammond?” - -“No.” The word was spoken with a touch of disdain. - -“Not know Mr. Hammond! Why, I thought Hammond’s ales were drunk in all -the clubs?” - -“It doesn’t follow that you know a man because you drink his beer. But -I have heard of him. Isn’t he rather an outsider?” - -The marchioness looked indignant. - -“He is run after by all the best people,” she remonstrated. - -“Yes, but is he worth it?” returned Despencer. - -“He is worth two millions,” retorted the marchioness. - -Despencer sat up in his chair and glanced at her. - -“Rather a loud kind of man, they tell me,” he observed. - -“They tell me it is the thing to be loud now,” said his companion. - -“The sort of man that takes ballet-girls to Richmond?” - -“The sort of man that every mother in England would welcome as a -son-in-law.” - -Despencer smiled compassionately and leaned back in his chair again. - -“Oh, quite so. There could be no possible objection to him as a -son-in-law. I thought you meant as an acquaintance.” - -“Don’t be so insolent,” said the marchioness; “but listen. A man like -that ought to marry, and to marry well. If he were to fall into the -clutches of some vulgar adventuress, I should regard it as a misfortune -for society.” - -“This is very noble of you,” murmured her companion. - -She went on: “We are all so wretchedly poor in society now that we -can’t afford to lose two millions. Besides, with his money and a seat -in Parliament, they are sure to make him a peer.” - -“I should think that very likely. The House of Lords is the one club in -London where you can’t be blackballed.” - -The marchioness condescended to smile. - -“How wretchedly jealous and spiteful you are to-day! To come to the -point. I have determined to do my duty to society by marrying Victoria -to this man.” - -“Congratulations! Let me see, ought I to call you a Spartan mother, or -a Roman one? I really forget.” - -The marchioness raised her hand in languid remonstrance. - -“I begged you just now not to be clever. Unfortunately, there is an -obstacle in the way.” - -“Ah! I think I have heard something about a gallant cousin?” Despencer -suggested. - -“No, no. Victoria has far too much sense for that sort of thing. -Besides, I don’t allow Gerald here now. No, the obstacle I mean is not -a man, but a woman.” - -“Ah! now I see it is going to be serious. Who is she?” - -“Belle Yorke.” - -“Belle Yorke!” Even Despencer’s careful training did not enable him -to hide his stupefaction on hearing the name. “The celebrated Belle -Yorke?” he asked, staring hard at the marchioness. - -“The notorious Belle Yorke,” was the scornful answer. “I understand she -is all the rage at the music-halls just now, and Mr. Hammond is among -her admirers.” - -“He is not the only one,” said Despencer, dryly. - -“Why do you look like that?” demanded the marchioness. “Is there some -mystery about Belle Yorke?” - -“Oh no! Oh, dear no! Very little mystery, I should say,” and Despencer -smiled. - -The marchioness detected a history in the smile. - -“Then there is some scandal?” she asked, eagerly, lowering her voice as -people do when they do not wish to be overheard by their conscience. “I -felt sure of it. I read in a paper only the other day that all those -people on the stage were alike. Ahem! Mr. Despencer--what do people -_say_?” - -Despencer gave another light shrug. He shrugged consummately. -Despencer’s shrugs were as celebrated as the marchioness’s frowns. - -“What do people generally say? It is the usual story: the usual little -cottage at Hammersmith, the usual widowed mother, and the usual friend -who pays the rent.” - -The marchioness’s look of horror would have deceived experts. - -“How utterly depraved and shocking! I never dreamed it was so bad as -that! I almost wish you hadn’t told me anything about it. Ahem! Mr. -Despencer--what do they say is the friend’s name?” - -“Oh, really!” For a moment Despencer looked startled, then he smiled -queerly. “That is not at all a nice question. I really don’t think you -ought to ask me that. I have such a dislike for scandal.” - -“So have I, except when I am listening to it in the interest of -propriety,” was the firm answer. “I insist on knowing the friend’s -name.” - -“Well, I have heard the lease is in the name of a Mr. Brown.” - -“Brown? Nonsense! That must be an assumed name.” - -“Very likely. In these cases I believe it is not usual to put the -gentleman’s real name in the lease.” - -“Then--then--Mr. Despencer, what is the real name?” - -“Oh, marchioness!” Despencer drew back and shook his head -reproachfully. “Really, you will bore me if you go on. I couldn’t even -guess the gentleman’s real name. It might be anything--Smith, or Jones, -or President Kruger. It might be Hammond.” - -The marchioness shook her head with conviction. - -“It isn’t Hammond. I see you don’t understand the situation.” An -ironical smile played for a moment on her companion’s face. “No, if it -were only idle folly, I should try to shut my eyes to it. But I haven’t -told you the worst. I hear that Mr. Hammond’s admiration for this -person is perfectly honorable.” - -“That does sound bad!” Despencer returned, gravely. “But I warned you -against the man. I told you he was an outsider.” - -“You are not to be so flippant,” said the marchioness, crossly. -“Remember, you are talking to a mother whose child’s happiness is at -stake, and tell me what I am to do. You see, the poor man evidently -believes that this girl is perfectly proper.” - -“Oh, he won’t believe _that_ long, you may be quite sure.” - -“The question is, who will undertake to open his eyes? It will really -be doing him a kindness.” - -“Yes; but people are so ungrateful for kindness,” objected the other. -“Does this man Hammond know the marquis?” he asked, after a little -hesitation. - -“I expect so. But it is quite useless to think of him. He mustn’t be -brought into it.” - -Despencer smiled discreetly, as if he thought it might be rather -difficult to keep the marquis out. - -“Now, Mr. Despencer, you are my only hope,” pursued the marchioness. “I -appeal to you in the interests of society.” - -“You know I am your slave, marchioness. But it will be a difficult -thing to manage. I almost think--” - -Despencer broke off, and gazed thoughtfully at his companion. - -“Well, what is it? What do you suggest?” - -“I fancy that the best thing you can do, if you wish to bring matters -to a head, is to have Miss Yorke here.” - -“Mr. Despencer!” - -“Why not? You see, it isn’t as though she weren’t quite respectable. -There may be rumors about her, but then there are rumors about -everybody. If we paid attention to rumors, we should all have to shut -ourselves up like hermits; except you, there is not a woman in London -whom I could visit. As long as nothing is _known_ about her, you will -be quite safe in having her here--of course, I mean professionally.” - -The marchioness looked a little relieved. - -“That doesn’t sound quite so bad,” she admitted. “I could have her -at my concert, and let her sing something. I suppose she wouldn’t be -altogether too frightfully improper?” - -“Oh, dear no! you needn’t fear anything of that kind. Improper songs -are quite gone out at the halls now. All Belle Yorke’s are about -seamstresses who starve to death in the East End, and ragged boys who -insist on taking off their jackets to wrap them round their little -sisters on doorsteps in the snow. She makes people cry like anything. I -have seen a stockbroker sobbing in the stalls of the Empire as if his -heart would break when the ragged boy gets frozen to death, and the -little sister wonders why he doesn’t answer her any more.” - -“How sweetly touching! I shall insist on her singing that one here. I -am sure I shall cry.” The marchioness lifted a small gold watch, the -size of a bean, that swung from a brooch on her left shoulder. “Can you -reach the bell? I must speak to Victoria before anybody comes.” - -Despencer rose, and walked across the room to press a small malachite -knob placed in the wall beside the fireplace, in accordance with -that mysterious law of connection which every one must have observed, -though we believe it has never been decided whether the bell is an -acquired characteristic of the fireplace, or the fireplace an acquired -characteristic of the bell. - -A perfectly constructed machine, bearing considerable resemblance to -a human being, attired in a chocolate-colored suit relieved with pink -braid, opened the door, and glided noiselessly into the room, stopping -with a slight jerk, as though the clockwork had run down, at about -three paces inside. - -“That is settled, then,” the marchioness was saying when the machine -entered. “I shall get her here, and see what she is like.” Her ladyship -turned to the machine. “Go and find Lady Victoria, and tell her I want -to speak to her.” - -The machine made an inclination, revolved on its castors, and -noiselessly disappeared. The marchioness continued: - -“I must have Mr. Hammond here as well, I suppose?” - -“That is indispensable,” was the answer. “And, by the way, I think it -will be better not to say anything beforehand to Lord Severn.” - -The marchioness looked surprised. - -“Why?” she demanded. - -Despencer gave another shrug. - -“I thought we agreed just now that he was a trifle Early Victorian in -some of his ideas. He may have heard the rumors, you know.” - -The marchioness had caught a step approaching. She raised her hand with -a warning gesture. - -“Not a word before Victoria!” - - - - -SCENE II - -THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE - - -While the marchioness was confiding her maternal anxieties to Mr. -Despencer’s sympathetic ear, her daughter, Lady Victoria Mauleverer, -was engaged in calmly defying her affectionate parent’s behests. - -She was now in the adjoining room; but the dust which yet lingered -on her small and delicately made shoes of dark green kid would have -revealed to the eye of one of those marvels of astuteness who formerly -flourished, and, for aught we know, flourish still in the pages of the -popular monthlies, that she had recently returned from out of doors. -Her perfectly plain skirt, not quite long enough to conceal the shoes -already mentioned, might have suggested further that the excursion -had not been wholly unconnected with a bicycle. Further incriminating -evidence was supplied by a dark cloth jacket, similar in design to that -worn by the steward on board a yacht, but ornamented with a number of -oxidized steel buttons of the size of crown pieces, and by a straw hat -indistinguishable from those ordinarily worn by undergraduates. - -In spite of these evidences of that removal of the barrier between the -sexes which is the crowning triumph of our civilization, Lady Victoria -was a most attractive girl. She was not quite so youthful as the -marchioness, but that could hardly have been expected. At twenty, one -is usually a hardened woman of the world; at forty, one begins to be an -innocent little thing. - -We have hinted that Lady Victoria had just returned from a bicycle -ride. It is necessary to add that she had not returned alone. - -The companion who had escorted her, not only to the door of the house, -but up-stairs, to that of the drawing-room, was a tall, fine-looking -man of twenty-eight or thirty, whose whole surface, from his boots to -his forehead, gleamed with that excess of physical polish which is the -religion of the British soldier. It is not the only religion which -demands some intellectual sacrifice on the part of its votaries. - -As soon as the two were inside the room, Lady Victoria turned to her -companion. - -“How can you be so imprudent, Gerald! Do you know my mother is in the -next room?” - -Captain Mauleverer walked boldly forward, and sat down without waiting -to be asked. - -“Certainly,” he answered, coolly. “That is the reason why I have come -into this room. It was not my aunt whom I wanted to see. You know, we -are barely on speaking terms.” - -“You needn’t tell me that. I assure you my mother has taken good care -to let me know her opinion of you. I warn you plainly that if she -comes in and finds you here, I shall abandon you to her.” - -Captain Mauleverer tried to look unconcerned. - -“I didn’t think you were such a coward as that, Vick,” he remonstrated. -“But, after all, I don’t see that I have done anything so very -dreadful. She can’t forbid me the house altogether, you know. I’m her -own husband’s nephew.” - -Lady Victoria smiled with good-natured scorn. - -“That’s nothing. You don’t know my mother. She wouldn’t hesitate to -forbid her husband the house, if she wanted to. Husbands occupy a very -uncertain position in society nowadays; they are only tolerated.” - -“Is that a warning for me, I wonder?” - -Something in her cousin’s tone, and the look with which he accompanied -the question, brought out an impatient frown on Victoria’s face. She -walked over to the window, and stood tapping her foot against the -floor. - -“Don’t be ridiculous, Gerald! You know as well as I do that it is not -the slightest use for this sort of thing to go on.” - -She kept her back turned on him while she spoke. There was a touch of -softness in his voice as he answered: - -“It has gone on a long time, Vick, hasn’t it?” - -“A great deal too long,” was the reply, spoken with decision. “You know -it is perfectly hopeless. You can’t afford me; I have told you so over -and over again. Why on earth don’t you go and invest yourself in a -pork-butcher’s daughter from Chicago, like everybody else?” - -She turned on him with some fierceness as she put the question. The -captain looked up at her reproachfully as he exclaimed: - -“What a hateful girl you are to talk like that! You know perfectly well -that you love me.” - -“Don’t be vulgar, Gerald!” was the sharp rebuke. “What has that to do -with the question? You know I am for sale, just like the Zulu women. I -don’t know exactly how many cows I am worth, but I know I am one of the -most expensive girls in London.” - -Captain Mauleverer pulled his mustache, gazing at her with -ill-concealed admiration. - -“Well, anyway, that is no reason why I shouldn’t look in at the -shop-window,” he retorted, cheerfully. - -It was at this moment that the machine despatched by the marchioness -entered the room to summon Victoria to her mother’s presence. - -“Is there any one with the marchioness?” she inquired. - -The machine believed that Mr. Despencer was with her ladyship. - -“Very good; I’ll come.” - -As soon as the machine had withdrawn to its subterranean abode, Captain -Mauleverer asked, in the tone of a man who really desires information: - -“Who on earth _is_ that man?” - -Victoria looked blandly surprised. - -“Mr. Despencer, do you mean? I haven’t the slightest idea.” - -It was the captain’s turn to look surprised. - -“Why, I thought he was constantly in the house.” - -Victoria lifted her shoulders with fine disgust. - -“Yes, but I don’t know him. He is not anybody, you know. I call him the -Ladies’ Journal. He is not received; he circulates. My mother takes him -in, but I don’t.” - -“Is he one of those writing chaps?” inquired the captain, with military -contempt. - -“I dare say. He may be the Poet Laureate for aught I know. But you must -really go away now, or there will be a row.” - -“And when may I come back?” - -“It would be much better if you didn’t come back at all.” - -Captain Mauleverer shook his head as he rose reluctantly. - -“It’s no good talking like that, Vick. You have got to put up with me, -so you may as well make the best of it.” - -“Gerald! what nonsense!” Victoria spoke as though she were exceedingly -cross. “Go away directly; do you hear?” - -“You haven’t told me when I may see you again yet,” returned the -obstinate Gerald. - -“I am not going to do anything of the kind.” - -“Then I shall stay here and compromise you,” said Gerald, preparing to -sit down again. - -“Well”--she lowered her voice, with a glance towards the door of -communication with the next room--“my mother has a concert on Thursday -night.” - -Captain Mauleverer brightened up. - -“But if you come to it, I sha’n’t let you speak to me.” - -“Won’t you?” He walked slowly towards her. - -As Captain Mauleverer went out of the room by one door to go -down-stairs and out of the house, Lady Victoria went through the other -into the presence of her mother and Mr. Despencer. - - - - -SCENE III - -THE SLAVE OF ALDERMAN DOBBIN - - -“Yes, mother?” - -Lady Victoria bowed slightly to Despencer, who had risen at her -entrance, and walked across to where the marchioness was seated. - -The marchioness gazed at her daughter as if she had been a -chimney-sweeper. - -“You dreadful child! You know this is my day, and you come in like -that! Have you no regard for people’s feelings?” - -Victoria smiled disdainfully. - -“I suppose you mean Mr. Despencer’s feelings?” she observed. - -“I mean the feelings of society,” returned her mother sternly. “You are -more like an anarchist than a well-bred girl.” - -Lady Victoria indulged in the tiniest of yawns. - -“I think the anarchists are very interesting people,” she remarked. -“If it weren’t for them, there would be nothing to read about in the -papers.” - -“There would be China,” returned the marchioness in a shocked voice. - -The marchioness considered herself a politician. Her husband had once -been Master of the Deerhounds. - -“Bother China!” said Lady Victoria, dropping into a chair. “Is that -what you sent for me about?” - -The marchioness raised her eyes in mute appeal to the ceiling. - -“I sent for you because I wanted to speak to you privately before -anybody comes.” - -Despencer, who had been about to sit down again, stood up, and moved -towards the door. The marchioness recalled him. - -“Where are you going?” - -“I thought you wanted to be alone.” - -“Don’t be absurd! I don’t count you.” - -“Perhaps Lady Victoria does,” Despencer suggested, with a rather -nervous glance in her direction. - -Lady Victoria did not condescend to return the look. - -“Pray, don’t trouble yourself about me, Mr. Despencer,” she said, -negligently. “I assure you I never know that you are in the room.” - -“Don’t be rude, Victoria!” said her mother, more crossly than she had -spoken yet. “Mr. Despencer is one of your best friends.” - -“I suppose that means he has been saying something unpleasant about -me?” was the retort. - -Despencer ventured to interpose. - -“I may be a poet, but my imagination doesn’t carry me so far as that,” -he said, in his most insinuating tones. - -Lady Victoria gave him one crushing look, and turned to the marchioness. - -“My dear mother, I wish you wouldn’t train Mr. Despencer to say these -silly things. Surely he is not a suitor for my hand?” - -“Be quiet, Victoria!” said her indignant parent. “From the way you -treat him he might be your husband. But I’m sure it isn’t a thing for -you to joke about. Do you remember that this is your third season, and -that you are nearly twenty?” - -Her daughter smiled in good-tempered derision. - -“I think, as there is only Mr. Despencer here, I may as well remember -that it is my fourth season, and that I am over twenty-one.” - -The marchioness passed over the correction. - -“All the more reason that you should seriously consider your position. -The question is whether you really intend to be married or not.” - -“Surely it isn’t a question of my intentions. You had better ask the -men theirs. I presume they know I am in stock by this time.” - -“It is idle to talk like that. I have offered you three men already, -and you found fault with each of them.” The marchioness spoke with real -feeling. “There was Sir Humphrey Bewley, a most eligible man, who quite -raved about you. You complained that he was too old.” - -“Old! He was prehistoric. He used to get excited about the Conquest.” - -“Then you shouldn’t have encouraged him. You let him spend a fortune in -jewelry for you.” - -“That was because I mistook his intentions. I thought he wanted to -adopt me.” - -The marchioness gasped. - -“Don’t talk like that! Then there was the Earl of Mullet. You objected -to him because he was a Scotchman.” - -“And took snuff. Put down the snuff.” - -“He wouldn’t have made you take it. And last year you refused Mr. -Jacobson, whose father owns three gold mines. You said he was a Jew.” - -“No, excuse me, I merely said his father had been one.” - -The marchioness shook herself impatiently. - -“The Jews are most respectable,” she proclaimed, “when they are rich -enough. They go everywhere.” - -“Except to the Holy Land, marchioness.” - -The interruption came from Despencer. If he threw in the remark with -the hope of propitiating Lady Victoria it was a failure. That young -lady took not the slightest notice. Her mother glared at the traitor -for an instant, and continued as though he had not spoken. - -“It is high time you made up your mind. Now, there is Mr. Hammond, -who has promised to come here this afternoon. He has been paying you -attentions for some time. You can’t say anything against him.” - -Victoria had changed color slightly at the mention of this name. But -she responded, in the same tone of languid indifference: - -“I have nothing to say against him, except that so far his intentions -have not been very oppressive. He has danced with me three times, and -he once peeled me an orange, but you can hardly found a breach of -promise case on that.” - -“I’m not sure,” ventured the unabashed Despencer. “I fancy something -might be made out of the orange.” - -Before the marchioness could proceed with her lecture, the door opened, -and the voice of the machine announced, “Mr. Hammond!” - -“Bother the man!” muttered the marchioness, impatiently, as she rose to -receive him. “He is a quarter of an hour too soon. This is so good of -you!” she exclaimed, in an altered voice, as the form of the visitor -appeared in the doorway. - -Mr. Hammond entered. - -About his personal appearance there was nothing remarkable. It is bad -form to look remarkable, and much of John Hammond’s life had been -devoted to avoiding everything in the way of bad form. His attire was -in every respect a perfect replica of that of any other hundred men to -be met between Waterloo Place and Hyde Park Corner of an afternoon in -the London season. He was clean-shaven, and his clear-cut features were -those of an able man, not yet entered upon middle age, who has been -accustomed to have the world at his feet, and whose only anxieties have -been caused to him by his own ambition. - -John Hammond was a favorable representative of the class which is -gradually replacing the last remains of our feudal aristocracy. The -Hammond fortune had been created by his father, so that he was not -a self-made man. In the sense in which the word is used to-day, he -was undoubtedly a gentleman. He had been educated at the best public -school--that is to say, the most expensive--in England, and in the most -fashionable college of the most fashionable university. He had been -in the best set, both at school and at college, an advantage which -his smartness as a wicket-keeper and his inherited millions perhaps -contributed about equally to procure. He had taken a good degree; he -now took a cold bath every morning, rode to hounds, and sat in the -House of Commons as a Conservative. - -But John Hammond lacked one thing, which neither money nor merit could -procure. He had not been born and reared in an ancestral mansion, built -in the days of the Tudors or the Stuarts, on the site of a Norman keep. -He had not wandered as a child through dusty galleries from whose -oak-panelled walls looked down the portraits of dead generations of his -name. He had not heard from his nurse the story of the loyal ancestor -who fought for King Charles, and of the wicked ancestor who killed his -rival in a duel, and of the beautiful ancestress in whose praise poems -had been written by Waller or by Davenant. He had not roamed as a boy -through hereditary woodlands, and bullied the keepers’ sons whose -forefathers had served his from time immemorial. He had not grown up -with the feeling in his blood that all this was part of him, and he was -part and lord of it. He was only lord of a brewery, in which his father -had once brewed with his own hands. - -If John Hammond had been brought up in that other environment, he might -not have set store by it. If his lot had not cast him among those to -whom such things were matter of course he might not have felt the -deprivation. He knew well enough that he had advantages which, in the -world’s estimation, far outweighed those which he was without. He knew -that he lived in an age when the homage which birth pays to wealth is -open and unashamed. He had seen peers bringing their wives to wait in -the halls of African Jews. He had heard of mysterious checks received -by men of Norman lineage from millionaires who sprang up in a night -like monstrous toadstools, and decayed, leaving the air poisoned all -around them. He had seen the noblest blood of England in the dock, and -the oldest blood of Scotland warned off the turf. - -His reason told him that he was immensely the superior of such men; but -no man’s beliefs, any more than his actions, are governed by reason. -The acute logician who has failed to prove to himself the existence -of a God takes refuge in the infallibility of a man. John Hammond’s -instinct told him that the boasts of low-born poets were not altogether -truth, that the blood of the Howards did not lose all its virtues even -in the veins of sots and slaves, that a gentleman was as much above -a king’s might as an honest man was, and that neither kind heart nor -simple faith could take the place of one drop of Norman blood. - -Every man’s character has its weak spot, and this was the weak spot -in John Hammond’s. There were moments when he despised himself for -the halo with which his imagination encircled the heads of the caste -into which he had not been born. There were other moments when he felt -inclined to marry the Lady Victoria Mauleverer. - -Mr. Hammond entered. - -“I’m afraid you find me brutally punctual, marchioness,” he said, in -a vigorous, masculine voice that seemed to go through the atmosphere -of the drawing-room like a breath of fresh air. “That is the worst of -business habits. I wanted to wait down in the hall till somebody else -came, but they wouldn’t let me.” - -The marchioness smiled graciously, with a horrible inward misgiving -that Mr. Hammond had overheard her rash protest against his arrival. - -“But you needn’t talk to me unless you like,” he added, remorselessly, -as he finished shaking hands with the two women. “I will sit still and -look at photographs. Is this a new one of Lord Severn?” - -“You are not a moment too soon,” the dismayed marchioness hastened to -say. “Do you know Mr. Cyril Despencer, Mr. Hammond?” The two men bowed -with mutual distrust. “I assure you we were absolutely dying when you -came.” - -“Really! I must apply for a medal from the Royal Humane Society for -saving life.” He turned to Victoria, who had dropped into her chair -again with an elaborate assumption of being bored to distraction. “Lady -Victoria, you are looking remarkably well for a corpse.” - -He laid down the marquis’s photograph, and placed himself in a chair -beside the young woman. She barely raised her head. - -“Thanks. I will tell my maid what you say. She will be glad of a little -encouragement, poor thing!” - -The marchioness gave a low moan. - -“Victoria! I hope you are accustomed to the modern girl, Mr. Hammond.” - -“The modern girl is my particular hobby,” was the grave answer. “I -may say that I collect her. I keep an album at home, in which I get -young ladies to record their most secret thoughts and yearnings for my -especial benefit. It is such interesting reading.” He turned again to -the scornful beauty beside him. “Mayn’t I put you in my album?” - -“I hardly know. I am afraid I should shock you; I am so perfectly -depraved,” drawled Victoria. “You would have to keep me apart, like -those very select works of which only a hundred copies are printed on -hand-made paper and sold by private subscription to scholars.” - -“Victoria!” There was a note of real distress in the marchioness’s -voice. “What are you talking about?” - -“I dare say Mr. Hammond knows,” was the reply, in the same unmoved tone. - -“Perhaps Mr. Hammond collects those works as well. They are generally -written by young ladies,” Despencer interposed. - -Hammond turned and looked at him as if a dog had barked. - -“Yes; but I think I have got a volume of yours on the same shelf, if -you are the author of _Fig Leaves_.” - -Despencer became loftily indifferent. - -“I remember writing a book with that name when I was a boy. Do people -still read it?” - -“No; but they still look at the illustrations.” - -The marchioness came to the rescue of her satellite. - -“Ah! but Mr. Despencer has reformed since then,” she said, with -unction. “He is writing a novel in favor of marriage.” - -“How daring!” Hammond answered. “Of course it will be refused by the -libraries.” - -“Come, I sha’n’t allow you to say that marriage is improper,” said the -marchioness, with an earnestness that was slightly clumsy. “We still -marry in society.” - -“You don’t say so!” Hammond pretended to exclaim. “I fancied it had -quite gone out. Isn’t it considered a rather middle-class thing to do?” - -The marchioness refused to be baffled. - -“How horrid and cynical of you to talk like that! You know that you -ought to get married yourself. Society expects it of you.” - -Hammond shook his head. - -“My dear marchioness, the views of society are the last thing I think -of considering. My life is ordered by the views of Alderman Dobbin.” - -“Alderman Dobbin? That person you asked me to send a card to? Who is -he?” - -“Really, this ignorance is discreditable to you, marchioness. Alderman -Dobbin is the autocrat of the constituency I have the honor to -represent, the Chairman of the Tooting Conservative Association. In me -you behold Alderman Dobbin’s slave. He is my moral mentor and political -taskmaster. Since I sat for Tooting I have ceased to be a free citizen -with thoughts or ideas of my own. I am a mere puppet, the strings of -which are pulled by him. The lips may be the lips of Hammond, but the -voice is the voice of Alderman Dobbin.” - -Lady Victoria raised her head with an appearance of interest during -this speech. She now remarked: - -“From what you say, I am sure he is a charming person. You have made me -quite in love with him. I shall flirt with him when he comes.” - -Hammond gazed at her with stern reproach. - -“Lady Victoria, you commit yourself most painfully. Alderman Dobbin -is married. Alderman Dobbin is the father of a large family. Alderman -Dobbin, moreover, is a church-warden, and in the High Street of Tooting -the sinner trembles when he passes the shop which bears Alderman -Dobbin’s name and superscription.” - -“Don’t you see that you are simply making me more determined by all -this?” returned Victoria. “I shall feel like the loreley, or whatever -they call it, luring the well-conducted fisherman to his destruction.” - -“Did you say he kept a shop?” put in the marchioness, who already began -to see in the alderman a possible ally. “What does he sell?” - -“Boots. Since I was returned for Tooting my unworthy feet have been -clothed in Alderman Dobbin’s handiwork. The shoes which I have on are -made of a substance which he supposes to be patent leather. They are -his choice, not mine. I am as wax in his hands. If he required me to -wear Wellingtons, I should obey. At his bidding I have changed my -tailor and discharged my groom; and if ever I want to choose a wife I -shall first have to ask Alderman Dobbin’s consent.” - -“I have no doubt he is a very sensible man, and you could not do -better than take his advice,” said the marchioness, who was quite -serious. “I am very glad he is coming here. We don’t see nearly enough -of the--er--the other classes. When my husband was Master of the -Deerhounds, I once gave a thing they called a Primrose Tea down at our -place in Worcestershire, but I didn’t speak to any of the creatures -that came to it, except one dreadful person, who, they told me, was -a justice of the peace. He called me ‘My lady,’ exactly like that -delightful character who wants to murder everybody in one of somebody’s -novels.” - -“I expect the alderman will call you ‘ma’am,’” observed Hammond, -reflectively. - -“I once knew a solicitor in a Welsh town,” said Despencer, slowly, -“where they had just elected a peer of royal descent as mayor, and this -solicitor urged that they should return another solicitor, who happened -to be a Jubilee knight, to the town council, in order that his lordship -might have some one of his own rank to talk to.” - -This time it was the marchioness who administered a snub to the unlucky -speaker. She observed severely: - -“As soon as any gentleman, in whatever position, has received the -accolade of his sovereign, he ceases, in my opinion, to be a proper -subject for ridicule.” - -Just as this rebuke was ended the door opened quickly, and a small, -insignificant-looking man in a rather shabby lounge suit strolled into -the room. On catching sight of the group round the marchioness he -stopped short, and looked as if meditating flight. - -The marchioness promptly took him into custody. - -“Pray come in, George! This is quite too charmingly domestic and -suburban,” she observed, addressing the company generally. “My husband -has actually come home to tea.” - -The Marquis of Severn, who was generally supposed to haunt a small dark -room somewhere near the kitchen stairs, called by courtesy the library, -was plainly disconcerted by the position in which he found himself. - -“I’m really very sorry, Jane; but I didn’t know you had a party on.” -By this time he had succeeded in recognizing the two men. He gave -Despencer a careless nod, and walked across the room to shake hands -with Hammond. “How d’ye do? I see you know my women,” he remarked. - -“My dear father,” Victoria remonstrated, “if you are not careful you -will wake up some day and find yourself covered with moss. Mr. Hammond -and I are all but engaged.” - -“Victoria!” came in tones of stifled anguish from the marchioness. - -“Don’t you believe her, Severn,” laughed Hammond. “I haven’t given your -daughter the slightest encouragement--as yet.” - -“Well, you should have my consent, if it counted for anything,” said -the marquis, beginning to make his retreat from the room. - -Again his wife’s voice arrested him. - -“George, now you have come in, you must stay, you know. I should -consider it very marked if you went away.” - -“You don’t want me, Jane; I should only be in the way,” he objected, -feebly. - -“You underrate your social powers, George. Besides, I don’t ask you to -talk to any one. I only want you to show yourself.” - -“If that’s all, I’m sure I needn’t stay. But I leave you my photograph.” - -With these words Lord Severn made a bolt for it, and succeeded in -getting out of hearing before his wife could launch a fresh injunction. - -The marchioness bit her lip in some embarrassment. Despencer caught her -eye and managed to infuse a certain meaning into his look, as he asked -aloud: - -“Who are you going to have to sing on Thursday night?” - -The marchioness took her cue with the dexterity of an old diplomatist. -She leaned back in her chair with an air of utter unconcern, as she -responded: - -“I have almost forgotten. Some people they recommended to me at the -music-seller’s.” She raised her hand to her brow, as though studying to -recollect. “Let me see. Oh yes, there is one woman who I believe is -perfectly charming. They told me that at the music-halls all the young -men were dying for her.” - -Hammond moved his head rather abruptly to look at the speaker. - -“Do you remember her name?” he asked. - -“I think she calls herself Belle Yorke. Why, have you seen her?” - -The marchioness’s expression was one of innocent surprise at the strong -interest plainly depicted on her listener’s countenance. - -Before he could reply to her, the conversation was again interrupted. -The machine had brought a Dowager Lady Rollox and an Honorable Edith -Rollox to see his mistress. - -The marchioness seized the occasion with the instinct of a match-maker. - -“Come and help me to talk to these stupid people,” she breathed -hurriedly in Despencer’s ear, as she rose and went to meet the -newcomers. Despencer meekly obeyed. - -The little piece of by-play between her mother and Despencer had not -been lost on the Lady Victoria Mauleverer. As soon as she and Hammond -were left together she inquired, with an air of doubt: - -“Do you know anything about this Belle Yorke?” - -Hammond roused himself with a start from his reflections. - -“I? Belle Yorke? Yes, yes. I know something about her.” - -“I hope there’s nothing wrong about her coming here?” pursued Victoria, -with superb coolness. “She won’t do anything dreadful, will she?” - -Hammond braced himself up. - -“I have the honor of being a friend of Miss Yorke’s, and I respect her -as much as any other lady of my acquaintance,” he said firmly. - -“I beg your pardon,” Victoria said, lightly. “I only asked because my -mother is so very indiscreet. She makes me quite giddy sometimes. One -meets such very queer people in this house--the Ladies’ Journal, for -instance.” - -“Meaning?” - -“Oh, don’t you know? It’s what we call Mr. Despencer behind his back. -He is so well informed, you know, on certain subjects.” - -“I wonder what you call me behind my back.” - -“Oh, we think very highly of you, I can tell you. I believe my mother -is quite anxious that I should marry you.” - -“Let me see, I rather fancy I am engaged just now, but I shall be -charmed to break it off.” - -“I hope Alderman Dobbin will approve of me.” - -Hammond affected to shake his head in doubt. - -“You will have to satisfy him as to your moral character.” - -“That will be rather difficult,” Victoria admitted. “Perhaps you had -better not let him know that I cycle.” She glanced down at her costume -as she spoke. “But I must really go and put on decent things before -anybody else comes, or the alderman may hear of it. We shall see you at -the concert, I suppose?” - -“Yes, and the alderman,” said Hammond. - -He was slipping away a few minutes later, when he found himself -intercepted in the doorway by Despencer. - -Despencer addressed him in a confidential tone. - -“I say, you heard what the marchioness said just now. Do you think any -one ought to give a hint to Lord Severn?” - -“Why, what about?” asked Hammond, surprised. - -“About Belle Yorke. She oughtn’t to come here, you know.” - -“Why not?” demanded Hammond, frowning angrily. - -“Didn’t you know?” Despencer’s expression became that of a man who -finds he has innocently committed himself. “Perhaps I ought not to have -spoken to you about it; but I thought the story was public property.” - -“What story? I wish you would speak out.” - -Despencer glanced round cautiously, and lowered his voice. - -“Of course it may be only idle rumor. But they say that she is living -under his protection.” - -“That is false!” said Hammond. - - - - -SCENE IV - -THE NOTORIOUS BELLE YORKE - - -Miss Yorke was out, but the servant, whose dishevelled coiffure -indicated that she had been interrupted in the midst of her afternoon -toilette, thought that Miss Yorke would be in directly. Would the -gentleman like to step in and wait? - -The gentleman accepted the invitation, giving his name as Hammond. He -found himself in one of those curious apartments characteristic of the -suburbs of London, and known as parlors, a word believed to be derived -from the French. Like the rooms of state in Buckingham Palace, the -parlor does not enter into the daily life of the household, but is -reserved for occasions of ceremony, and more particularly, as its name -indicates to the learned, for interviews with visitors. The parlor of -the notorious Belle Yorke was more old-fashioned in appearance than -most rooms of its class. The furniture was veneered in rosewood. There -was a round table in the centre, covered with a cloth over which the -deadly gift-book and the paralyzing parlor-game were disposed with a -carelessness which spoke of greater care. There was a sofa, attired -in a chintz dressing-gown. There were two easy-chairs flanking the -fireplace, one with arms for the gentleman, and one without for the -lady, as in old crinoline days, and there were six little chairs to -match, all irresistibly suggestive of one of those ancient tombs on -which the father and mother are represented kneeling opposite each -other, each with a row of children behind. There was a species of -disguised wash-stand, called a chiffonnier, ranged against one side of -the room, and a piano against another. The walls were hung with prints, -chiefly Scriptural subjects, among which the place of honor was taken -by an engraving representing the marriage of the Prince and Princess of -Wales. It was a scene of primeval simplicity and Nonconformist peace. - -Hammond looked about him with a sense of intrusion, as he found himself -for the first time in Belle Yorke’s home. It was utterly unlike -anything he had expected to find. Belle Yorke lived in that part of -Hammersmith which had not yet succeeded in covering itself with flats -and calling itself West Kensington. The house outside was small and -unpretentious; but so are the outsides of many houses which are gay -enough within. Miss Yorke’s appearance on the boards was too recent -for her yet to have furnished a miniature palace and set up a brougham -on the proceeds of the public favor. But the domestic, old-fashioned -air which pervaded the whole place came on Hammond as a surprise and a -rebuke. - -The servant who had just shown him in asked a question which further -opened his eyes. - -“Would you like to see Mrs. Yorke, sir?” - -Hammond started. - -“Is that Miss Yorke’s mother?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Does she live here?” - -The servant opened her eyes. - -“Lor’, yes, sir! This is ’er ’ouse!” - -Hammond considered for a minute. - -“Well, you can tell Mrs. Yorke I am here, if you like.” - -The servant nodded and went out, leaving him to his reflections. - -In love, as in war, there is an armed neutrality when the period -of friendship has passed away, but neither side is yet ready for a -declaration. Just such a stage had been reached in the joint history of -John Hammond and Belle Yorke. - -He had met her in Bohemia, that pleasant country which the passing -tourist sees only in its brightest garb, when the trees are green -in the valleys and the vines are ripening in the warm sunshine. The -manners of Bohemia are freer than those of other lands, and among -that friendly folk the course of acquaintanceship between a man and a -woman is not curbed and governed and interpreted quite as it is in the -dominions of society. - -So the millionaire had drifted into a friendship with the music-hall -singer without any after-thought; and when the after-thought had -gradually grown up of its own accord, he had found it the most -comfortable plan to shut his eyes to it and make believe it was not -there. - -If he had been ten years younger, the Marchioness of Severn might have -despaired of her son-in-law. But he had come to that age when life -begins to change its aspect; when the white blossom of romance with -which it tempts the eye of youth begins to shed its petals, and the red -fruit of ambition is disclosed. John Hammond was still young enough to -love, but he was old enough to count the cost. - -For some time he had been doing his best to convince himself that he -had not the slightest intention of marrying Belle Yorke. He had grown -more and more assured of this; and, naturally, the more confident he -became of his resolution to give her up, the more her charm for him -increased. He set up the old, old debtor-and-creditor account between -prudence and inclination. He did penance for his friendship with Belle -Yorke by his flirtation with Lady Victoria Mauleverer, and repaid -himself for his attentions to Lord Severn’s daughter with a smile from -the singer. - -To a man in such a state of self-deception Despencer’s poison came as -a tonic. His wrath at hearing her attacked, and the necessity he felt -of being able to rebut the accusation, were the measure of his love for -the woman he had resolved never to love. - -It was twenty-four hours since the little episode at the Marchioness of -Severn’s. Hammond’s blunt contradiction had glided harmless off the -imperturbable Despencer, who had murmured some vague apology and made -his escape, leaving his sting behind. There was no wisdom in rubbing it -in then. It was better to let it rankle during the interval before the -concert. It was then that Despencer intended to play out his winning -cards. - -Despencer’s words had been the first intimation to Hammond of the -existence of any such ill report. Promptly as he had spurned it, the -incident had served to remind him roughly of how little he really knew -of this girl who had come to hold such a large place in his life. He -had seen much of her in Bohemia, enough for those lookers-on who always -see our motives and aims so much more clearly than we do ourselves to -write him down her lover. But then no one lives altogether in Bohemia. -Even the oldest inhabitants are only migratory; like the swallows, -they have their seasons of coming and of flight, and who knows in -what strange lands they spend the other periods of their existence! -Intimate as they were in that sunlit region, Hammond felt that there -were reserves in the singer’s life. One of those reserves was her home, -which she had steadily avoided showing him. He knew as little of her -private life, indeed, as any stranger in the stalls who heard her sing. - -He had come away from the house in Berkeley Square resolving to dismiss -the slander from his mind. He spent the next night and morning in the -vain effort, and in the afternoon he came to Belle Yorke’s house. It -was not till he found himself waiting alone in the little parlor, -surrounded by the Scriptural prints and parlor games, that Hammond -began to ask himself what madness had brought him to such a place with -any thought of evil in his heart. - -He was not left alone for very long. He heard steps outside, and the -sound of the door-handle turning in the lock. He rose to his feet, -expecting to see Belle Yorke’s mother. Instead there entered a small -boy in knickerbockers, apparently about twelve or thirteen years of age. - -The boy seemed to be quite as much surprised to see Hammond as Hammond -was to see him. He stood in the doorway, frankly staring at the -visitor. Hammond had time to notice that he wore a black cloth band on -the sleeve of his plain homespun jacket. - -“Come in, my boy; don’t be afraid,” he said, with that awkward -patronage by which grown-up people render themselves so supremely -ridiculous to the intelligent modern child. - -“I’m not afraid,” the boy replied, boldly, advancing into the room. -“Why should I be afraid of you?” - -It was not a question which the man found it easy to reply to. He -smiled, and then asked, rather lamely: - -“And what might your name be?” - -The justly offended youth retorted mercilessly: - -“It might be Napoleon Bonaparte, but, as it happens, it’s Robert -Mainwaring Yorke.” - -Hammond felt that he had put himself in the wrong. He tried to address -the boy like one on his own level. - -“I called here to see Miss Belle Yorke. She is your sister, I suppose?” - -Robert Mainwaring Yorke had not yet lost his sense of irritation. - -“Well, you don’t think she’s my mother, do you?” he replied, with -severity. “She’s my eldest sister,” he condescended to explain. - -“Oh, then there are several of you?” said Hammond, wonderingly. It was -the first time he had ever heard of Belle Yorke’s family. - -“What do you think?” returned the boy. “There’s Lizzie--that’s -my second sister; and Arthur--he’s a year younger than me; and -Reggie--he’s a year younger; and the kid--he’s only four. Anything else -you’d like to know?” - -“And who is Mr. Yorke?” asked Hammond. - -“I’m Mr. Yorke.” - -“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Hammond began, and then, catching -sight of the black band, stopped, as though he had bitten his tongue. - -“Father’s dead,” Mr. Yorke explained, unconcernedly. “He died last -winter, and I’m the head of the family.” - -“I didn’t know; I beg your pardon. Your sister is not in mourning.” - -“He wasn’t her father. Belle’s only my half-sister. Her father died -when she was a kid.” - -“I see. And I suppose your mother married again?” - -“I suppose so, or I shouldn’t be here.” - -A fresh thought occurred to Hammond. If what the boy said was true, -he did not even know Belle Yorke’s real name. He was on the point of -putting a question to the boy, but restrained himself. He had no right -to seek that information from any one but Belle Yorke herself. - -Mr. Yorke seized the opportunity to put in a word for the absent. - -“Mind you, I look on Belle as just as good as a whole sister,” he -remarked. “I don’t make any difference.” - -Hammond smiled. - -“She is kind to you, then?” At least he might have the pleasure of -listening to Belle Yorke’s praise. - -“Well, I don’t know that you can call it kind,” said the boy, with -another touch of resentment at the implied inferiority. “She’s just -like any other sister. She knits my stockings for me, and does whatever -I want her to. She’s not a bad sort.” - -“She must be fond of you,” observed the man, gazing at the ungrateful -little wretch with wondering amusement. - -“Yes, oh, she’s fond of me! When I had the chicken-pox she took me to -Brighton for a fortnight, all at her own expense, and stayed with me -all the time, and wouldn’t go out anywhere, though she had lots of -invitations. Belle’s very good in that way.” - -The man felt a strong inclination to shake Belle Yorke’s callous -brother, as he thus grudgingly praised her. It was with an uneasy, -self-reproachful feeling that he put the next question: - -“Your sister must make a good many friends by her singing?” - -Mr. Yorke nodded superciliously. - -“Yes; but she doesn’t care much for that lot; they’re not very -respectable, we think. We don’t like her going on the stage at all; but -she wanted to do something to earn her living. As soon as ever I’m a -man, and get rich, I’m going to take her out of that and have her live -with me.” - -Hammond looked up, pleased. - -“Why, the little chap’s a brick, after all!” he mentally ejaculated. - -“She’ll make a very good housekeeper,” concluded Mr. Yorke. - -Hammond started to his feet. - -“I can’t question this child,” he said to himself. And turning to the -boy, he said, abruptly: “Will you ask your mother if I can see her?” - -Mr. Yorke instantly responded to the tone of authority and became -respectful. - -“Yes, sir,” he answered, and promptly went out of the room. - -“By Heaven, I have a great mind to bolt!” exclaimed Hammond as the door -closed. “I feel like a miserable spy.” - -Before he could act on his impulse the door opened again, and Belle -Yorke’s mother came in. - -Hammond rose. He saw before him a woman who had once been eminently -handsome. She was dressed in the deep mourning of a widow, and to this -fact, perhaps, was due the impression of melancholy produced by her -appearance. She looked at him with large, apprehensive eyes, as she -murmured the conventional expressions which people exchange when they -meet. But she did not offer him her hand. - -As soon as both were seated, Mrs. Yorke said: - -“I understand you have called to see my daughter?” - -“Yes. Perhaps she has mentioned my name to you some time?” - -“She has. She has often spoken of you. But she didn’t tell me that you -were coming here.” - -Hammond bit his lip. - -“You mean, she told you that I was not coming--that she had discouraged -me from visiting her?” - -“No, no; I didn’t mean that,” Mrs. Yorke stammered. “I am sure that -there is no one whom my daughter would be more pleased to see here than -you, if she received any visitors at all outside our friends in the -neighborhood. But she has made it a fixed rule not to invite any of the -acquaintances she makes on the stage to come here.” - -Hammond listened to this explanation with a feeling of relief. It -was something to find that if he were excluded the exclusion was not -personal to him. - -“Please deal frankly with me, Mrs. Yorke,” he said. “If you think Miss -Yorke would consider my visit an intrusion, tell me so, and I will go -away before she comes.” - -“Not an intrusion; that is scarcely the word. But I am afraid she will -be disturbed at finding you here.” - -“But why? Surely there is no harm in a friend like myself calling on -her beneath her own mother’s roof?” - -Mrs. Yorke gave a questioning glance at him. - -“I hardly know what to say to you, Mr. Hammond. You call yourself my -daughter’s friend, but what do you really know about her?” - -Hammond was silenced. He recalled the discovery that he had just made, -that he did not even know the true name of the girl whom he had come -to question, and he began to feel vaguely uncomfortable. He answered, -rather lamely: - -“I can only say that it is my greatest ambition that you and your -daughter should include me among your friends.” - -Mrs. Yorke shook her head with a resolution that had a certain sadness -in it. - -“How can you be our friend? What is there in common between you and us? -It would have been better if you had not come here, Mr. Hammond.” - -“Why do you say that?” he protested. “Why should you think it necessary -to keep me at arm’s length like this?” - -“Surely you must see that for yourself. You know well enough what the -world thinks of such friendships between a gentleman in your position -and a singer on the music-hall stage. What impression would it make on -your mind, if you found my daughter receiving the visits of one of -your society friends?” - -Hammond was staggered by this unconscious reference to his own doubts. -He could only reply: - -“That would depend on many things--for instance, whether I believed him -to be actuated by the same motives as myself.” - -“I do not see what difference his motives could make. It is impossible -for me to look upon attentions from one in your position as likely to -lead to any good result.” - -“But why not?” Hammond pleaded, earnestly. “It is true that, as you -say, I know but little of Miss Yorke. But that little has been enough -to make me wish to know more. Is there any reason why I should not? I -will be plain with you, on condition that you will be plain with me. Is -there any reason why you should not allow me to visit your house on the -footing of one who means to ask you for your daughter’s hand?” - -Mrs. Yorke recoiled. Instead of showing common surprise at the -question, or that gratification which the ordinary mother feels when -such words are addressed to her by a man far her child’s superior in -wealth and station, an anxious, frightened look came into her eyes. - -“No, you must not think of that!” she exclaimed, hastily; and then -added, in a calmer tone: “Such a marriage would be impossible. The -difference between her and you is too great.” - -“It has been crossed before now,” returned Hammond. “If you have no -better reason for your refusal than that, I shall stay.” And he settled -himself firmly in his chair. - -Mrs. Yorke wrung her hands. - -“Why do you compel me like this? I have another reason--don’t ask me -what it is!--for telling you that this cannot be.” - -Hammond started, and gazed at her with a new apprehension, not less -than her own. He could scarcely muster up courage to put his next -question. - -“I must ask you. You have gone too far, and I have gone too far, to -draw back now.” - -“I cannot tell you.” - -“Then I shall ask your daughter herself.” - -“No, anything but that!” She rose to her feet, trembling. “I beg you, I -ask you as a gentleman, to go, and leave us.” - -Hammond rose dismayed. He had taken two steps towards the door when it -was thrown open and Belle Yorke stood revealed on the threshold. - -The notorious Belle Yorke did not look the part. People said it was her -air of bright, girlish innocence, so foreign to the footlights, which -was the secret of her success. When she tripped on to the stage from -behind the painted side scenes, looking as if she had just come out -of some rustic cottage in that far-off land called “the country,” and -began singing one of her simple ballads, in a voice clear and fresh as -the tinkle of a brook among the hills, they said it was the contrast -with all her surroundings which caused such a thrill of emotion to go -through the jaded audience. Of course no one believed that it was real -innocence and real freshness. Belle Yorke was simply a little more -clever than her professional sisters, and had thought out a “turn” -which had the advantage of novelty; that was all. But it was very well -done, so well that some quite hardened men of the world were ashamed -afterwards to recall how far they had yielded to the spell. They -declared that she made up better than any other woman on the stage, and -that hers was the art which conceals art, except, of course, from such -complete judges as themselves. - -Those who had met her off the stage found, to their surprise, perhaps -to their disappointment, that Belle Yorke seen close at hand was -very much like Belle Yorke upon the boards. She was not to be found -drinking brandy in the bar while she was waiting for her turn to go -on. She did not go from the music-hall to a fashionable restaurant, -and sit in public with a group of male admirers round her. She was -generally seen slipping out quietly and going off on foot, or, if she -found herself threatened with companionship, she took refuge in a cab. -There was clearly some mystery underneath such conduct, and the mystery -could be of only one kind. - -Belle Yorke was friendly but not familiar with her stage associates. -Perhaps there is no course which gives more offence than that. It is -much easier to forgive downright rudeness than the perfect courtesy -which makes others keep their distance. Some of the affronted ones were -women, and the charity of women for women, as a rule, is not of the -kind which covereth a multitude of sins. The eyes that began to watch -Belle Yorke were robbed of sleep by jealousy. Something like a throb -of exultation went through the ranks of those to whom Belle Yorke’s -innocence was a stumbling-block when it was discovered that Belle Yorke -had a friend. - -Mr. Despencer, to do him justice, had not invented, nor had he -originated, the report which he had mentioned to the marchioness, and -repeated to Hammond. It goes without saying that he believed it to be -true. Such reports are like Euclid’s axioms: no one requires to have -them demonstrated. It had not even occurred to him that he was doing -an injury to Belle Yorke in repeating it; nor did it injure her in the -eyes of the public, nor in those of the managers of the music-halls. -What a woman loses in reputation she gains in celebrity. As soon as -Belle Yorke’s manager heard that she was protected by the Marquis of -Severn he rubbed his hands and silently raised her salary. - -When Belle Yorke opened the door and saw who was in her mother’s parlor -she stood still, betrayed into a stifled cry and a blush that would not -be stifled. Then she stepped in slowly, and laid down on the table -some paper bags which she was carrying in her hands. - -A pang of compunction shot through Hammond’s breast as she raised her -eyes to his. There was something in Belle Yorke’s eyes which touched -most people. They were always laughing, and yet somehow it always -seemed as though they were laughing in order to keep themselves from -tears. Looking into their clear depths, the man felt ashamed of his -errand, and ashamed of his presence there, and he stood before her -unable to speak. - -It was she who found words first. - -“This is too bad of you, Mr. Hammond! You had no business to come here. -You know I don’t allow it.” - -But there was something in the voice that undid the reproach of the -words. Hammond’s courage came back to him again. - -“I have no defence to make,” he answered, in the same light vein. “The -temptation was too strong for me, and I yielded to it. I plead the -First Offenders’ Act.” - -Belle turned gayly to her mother, who had concealed, by a strong -effort, all traces of her recent agitation. - -“What punishment shall we give him? I think, sir, you shall be -sentenced to stay to tea.” - -She opened the paper bags, and produced a store of those fearful and -wonderful delicacies variously named crumpets, or pikelets, and said to -have been invented by a member of the medical profession. - -“You see you are in luck. To-day is Bobby’s birthday, and we are going -to have a cake and all sorts of luxuries.” - -Hammond began to feel like a man in a dream. He had walked straight -out of tragedy into comedy. He had come to Hammersmith in search of an -answer to the most terrible question which can present itself to a man -who loves a woman, and he found himself in the midst of a children’s -tea-party. Perhaps this was the answer, the best of answers, to the -doubt which had striven to effect a lodgment in his mind. Sitting -there, in the midst of Belle Yorke’s little brothers and sisters, as -they trooped into the feast, watching her feed the hungry swarm, he -found his dark thoughts dying away of themselves. Such an atmosphere -was fatal to them; they could not live in it. - -So the millionaire forgot his millions and his marchionesses and his -ambitions, and threw himself into the spirit of the festival with such -cordiality that he won the children’s hearts. Mr. Yorke, forgetting -his former animosity, cut him the biggest slice of the birthday-cake -with his own hands, and edified him with a full, true, and particular -account of his exploits on the football field in that famous match -between the Hammersmith Juniors and the Brook Green Stars, which is now -matter of history. Master Reginald Yorke insisted on sitting on the -stranger’s knee, and sharing with him the contents of a paper of brown -sweetmeats, highly flavored with peppermint, which he called bull’s -eyes. Belle’s grateful looks repaid him for his submission to these -outrages, and when he rose reluctantly to go away he felt there was a -new tie between them, stronger than there had been before. - -“May I come to tea again, some time?” he pleaded, as she went with him -to the door. - -“When you are asked,” said Belle. - - - - -SCENE V - -A PERSON OF IMPORTANCE - - -In a substantially-built house in the important suburb of Tooting, in -a dining-room full of substantial furniture in that school of design -which is the glory of Britain and the stupefaction of surrounding -nations, sat Alderman Dobbin, J. P., reading the _Church Gazette_, and -breathing Protestantism at every pore. - -The person of Alderman Dobbin was not less substantial than the chair -which supported it. It was the hour of three in the afternoon; the -alderman had just achieved a dinner of solid and ample materials, and -a gentle flush which overspread his broad face was due perhaps equally -to the silent struggle going on in the region of his waistcoat and to -indignation at the insidious practices of Rome. - -It is not till a gigantic public evil begins to affect us personally -that we become really in earnest for its redress. Alderman Dobbin had -long marked the stealthy encroachment of ritual in the Church from -afar with inward misgiving. But when the arising of a new vicar of the -most lawless school brought the mischief to the door of the alderman’s -own pew, when the audacious cleric presumed to burn frankincense or -some such idolatrous drug under the alderman’s own nostrils, then, in -his own words, he realized that we were on the verge of a revolution. -It was fortunate indeed for the offender that the ordinary justice -of the peace has no jurisdiction in ecclesiastical causes. Alderman -Dobbin did not brawl in the church--such a man could not brawl; but -he wrote a letter to the paper, and he intimated to his vicar in the -privacy of the vestry that he should reconsider his attitude towards -disestablishment. - -To the culprit, standing on the great peaks of Catholic verity, -clasping hands with sixty generations of apostles, fathers, saints, and -bishops, his rebellious church-warden naturally mattered no more than a -gnat buzzing round the altar. His spiritual predecessors had cast down -emperors from their thrones, and given away largess of kingdoms. Was -he to surrender the Œcumenical splendors of the Church at the bidding -of an obscure suburban tradesman? If this impertinent boot-maker -represented the feelings of the laity, so much the worse for the laity. -The Church could get on without _them_, but not without its apostolic -priesthood. - -Such disdain, to the worthy alderman, was at once an outrage and a -revelation. It is possible that there are social circles in which even -an alderman is not removed beyond the reach of rivalry; but in the -meridian of Tooting, where Alderman Dobbin had passed his life, and -where his high office, together with his equally high moral character, -had hitherto secured him universal deference, he felt himself to be an -important personage. After all, importance is a question of standpoint. -Every one has some one to look up to him. Though you be but a youth of -lowly birth, engaged in mercantile pursuits, with a stipend of no more -than thirty weekly shillings, yet to the landlady who tolls you in a -moiety of that sum you are a power whose favor is to be conciliated, -and whose wrath is to be dreaded. To the drudge in the basement who -blacks your boots and watches you through the area railings as you -issue forth of a morning you are as a god moving on Olympus; the -conductor who takes you to your work in his omnibus holds you for an -undoubted member of the aristocracy; and the drunken artisan on the -roof, earning his pound a day on every day that he can spare from the -public-house, hates you for your pride and luxury. - -Novelists, it is said, are thought much of by young reporters on the -provincial press. The secret of true happiness is to turn away from -beholding those who are better off than ourselves, and keep the gaze -steadily fixed on those who are worse off; and this secret Alderman -Dobbin had mastered. Free from that itching to grovel to some one above -him which torments so many unfortunate people, he was satisfied with -being grovelled to by his inferiors. Thus it was that he had been able -to live in the enjoyment of his own greatness without envying that of -others. There might be such persons as dukes and archbishops in the -world--he was Alderman Dobbin. - -So much the greater was the shock administered to his mind by the -unveiled disrespect of the vicar. The alderman’s evangelical zeal -had received a new edge; and, at the same time, by a natural chain -of cause and effect, he was in a mood peculiarly susceptible to the -blandishments of one of those magnates of the earth before whom even -Oxford divines are but as dust. Such a one was even now approaching -the aldermanic dwelling. - -A sound of horses’ hoofs and carriage wheels aroused the nodding -alderman, and drew him hastily to the window. He beheld a carriage and -pair of the most brilliant lustre drawing up in front of his door, -and a woman of stately presence looking out, while a liveried footman -ascended the steps and rang the bell. The excited master of the house -could scarcely refrain from bursting out into the hall, to anticipate -the lagging motions of the housemaid. At last that young female, having -arranged her cap to her satisfaction, could be heard flouncing past -the dining-room door. A short colloquy followed, and the occupant of -the carriage emerged, attended by a fashionably dressed gentleman, and -entered the house. There was a sound of doors opening and shutting. -Finally, the housemaid came to her impatient master. - -“A lady by the name of Seven, and a gentleman, to see you, sir.” - -“Seven?” The alderman reflected for a moment, and then his eye fell -on a card of invitation which had occupied a prominent place on the -mantel-piece and in his thoughts for several days past. “You mean Lady -Severn,” he cried out--“the Marchioness of Severn!” - -“Yes, sir; ‘Lady Severn’ was what she said, sir.” - -The alderman cast a glance of despair at his trousers. - -“Run and get me the clothes-brush. No--I must change--there isn’t time! -Here, run up-stairs and get me my Sunday coat, while I brush these -things.” - -The marchioness and her companion, seated in the drawing-room, were -aware of a commotion outside. - -“I am afraid we have thrown the establishment into confusion,” the -gentleman remarked. - -“These sort of people always lose their heads if any one comes to see -them unexpectedly,” the marchioness responded. “I suppose they never -visit each other; their houses are too small.” - -“Probably it is because they would only bore each other to death if -they did. No one in the middle classes ever breaks the moral law, I -understand, and so they have nothing interesting to talk about.” - -The marchioness frowned severely. - -“Silence! Remember you are on your good behavior. You are not to shock -this dear, good person.” - -The “dear, good person” interrupted the conversation by his appearance. -He advanced to the marchioness, and shook hands with so much real -regard that her rings were crushed into the flesh. - -“I’m delighted to see your ladyship--delighted! It’s so kind of you to -come.” He turned to her companion. “And you, my lord.” - -In Tooting it is not the custom for married ladies to drive about -paying visits with gentlemen other than their husbands or near -relations. The marchioness forced a somewhat unnatural smile as she -explained: - -“Er--let me--Mr. Despencer, a friend of mine.” - -A look of hopeless bewilderment appeared on the alderman’s speaking -countenance. Despencer skilfully put in: - -“A friend of Mr. Hammond’s as well. The marchioness thought it better -for me to come here with her.” - -The tension was relieved. Alderman Dobbin seated himself facing his -visitors, while the marchioness opened the conversation. - -“I have taken the liberty of coming here, Mr. Dobbin, without waiting -till you came to my house, because I wanted to have a private chat with -you. You know how difficult it is to get five minutes’ conversation -with any one in those crushes.” - -The alderman bowed, much gratified at being supposed to know anything -whatever on the subject. - -“Of course, what I am going to say to you is in confidence,” the -marchioness proceeded. “I am sure you would not dream of mentioning to -Mr. Hammond that we had been here.” - -“Certainly not. Your ladyship may trust me absolutely. Not a soul shall -know of it.” - -“I have heard Mr. Hammond speak of you so often that I feel you are -quite an old friend. No doubt he has talked of us to you?” - -The alderman smiled feebly. He would have given a good deal to be able -to say yes, but could not quite bring himself to it. - -“Perhaps I ought to say he has talked of my daughter, Lady Victoria?” - -Alderman Dobbin had never heard of such a person as Lady Victoria. His -smile became feebler still. The marchioness coughed discreetly, and -glanced towards Despencer. He came gallantly to the rescue. - -“It has been understood for some time that Mr. Hammond was likely to -marry Lady Victoria, as, of course, you know.” - -“Yes, of course; quite so,” jerked out the alderman, deeply ashamed of -his ignorance on the point. - -The marchioness heaved a sigh. - -“I need not ask if the match had your approval, Mr. Dobbin, because -I am sure that you, as a friend of Mr. Hammond’s, must see what an -advantage such a connection would be to him in his political career.” - -“Certainly, your ladyship. Nothing could be better. It would go a long -way in Tooting.” - -“Ah! And now, do you know, I am almost afraid that the idea will have -to be abandoned. I hesitate whether I ought to allow my daughter to -think of Mr. Hammond any longer.” - -“Dear me! I am very sorry to hear your ladyship say that.” - -Her ladyship shook her head sadly. - -“Yes. I have no doubt you understand the reason.” - -The alderman’s face again clearly betraying that he had not the -remotest idea of the reason, Despencer came to his assistance once -more. - -“The marchioness refers to Mr. Hammond’s attentions to this music-hall -singer, Belle Yorke.” - -Alderman Dobbin sat horror-struck. He was not acquainted with Belle -Yorke by name, but of music-hall singers as a class his ideas could -only have been expressed in language severely Biblical. The marchioness -hastened to drive the nail home. - -“All his friends must share the same feelings about this unfortunate -attachment,” she observed, in a tone of sympathetic condolence. “What -effect, in your opinion, Mr. Dobbin, would his marrying a girl of that -kind have on his position here?” - -“He would never get in for Tooting again. The Liberals have got a -very strong candidate--Sir Thomas Huggins, a baronet. I dare say your -ladyship knows him?” - -Her ladyship was not quite sure whether she had met Sir Thomas Huggins. - -“His social influence here is very strong. His wife, Lady Huggins, -gives a garden-party every summer, and many Primrose Dames go to it. We -are beginning to be afraid for the seat, as it is.” - -“Then you consider, speaking as a judge of the political situation, -that if Mr. Hammond were to marry beneath him, instead of making such -a match as it is in his power to do, it would seriously affect his -prospects?” - -“It would be fatal to them, my lady.” - -The marchioness looked up at the ceiling. - -“What a pity he has no wise and candid friend to point this out to him, -and remonstrate with him on behalf of the--er--the party!” - -Curiously enough, there was just such a wise and candid friend in the -room ready and willing to undertake the task. - -“Your ladyship may leave it to me,” said the eager alderman. “I will -take it on myself to point out to Mr. Hammond the--the--” - -“Political situation,” suggested Despencer. - -The marchioness threw a smile of admiration at the wise and candid -friend. - -“The very thing!” she exclaimed, with a fine assumption of having been -taken entirely by surprise. “No one else could do this so well. I have -no doubt that a few judicious words from you will be sufficient to open -Mr. Hammond’s eyes. Ahem! Have the--er--the rumors about this young -woman reached you?” - -“What rumors, my lady? I haven’t heard anything about her.” - -The marchioness raised her eyebrows, and then appealed by an eloquent -look to Mr. Despencer. Despencer shook his head with the air of a good -man whose righteous soul was vexed by the bare recollection of others’ -iniquity. - -“I see you don’t know the worst,” he remarked, gravely. “If there were -nothing more against Miss Yorke than the mere fact of her being on the -music-hall stage it would not matter so much. But--” - -Another head-shake completed the sentence, and told the horrified -alderman far more than any words could have done. - -“Poor girl! let us hope it is not all true,” murmured the marchioness, -with Christian compassion. - -A minute or two later she rose to go. The alderman, aware from sundry -creaking sounds overhead that his wife was hurrying through a frantic -toilet up-stairs, remonstrated. - -“Won’t your ladyship stay and have a cup of tea? I expect Mrs. Dobbin -to come in every minute.” - -“I am _so_ sorry. I particularly wish to make Mrs. Dobbin’s -acquaintance, but I am afraid I cannot stay another moment. Some other -day, if you will allow me, I hope to come out and call on her. But -you see this is quite a confidential visit. What a charming situation -you have here! Quite rural, I declare! It reminds me of our place in -Worcestershire.” - -Mr. Despencer added his testimony that it was very like the Marquis of -Severn’s place in Worcestershire--indeed it was, for there were grass -and laurel-bushes in both. - -The visitors tore themselves away at last, and disappeared, a vision -of varnished panels and gleaming harness and tossing horses’ heads and -flying dust. And what did Alderman Dobbin do when they were gone? - -He did what every other well-conducted alderman in his situation would -have done. He went forth into the town and bought a peerage. - -Then he shut himself up in his counting-house, and sat down to write a -letter. - - - - -SCENE VI - -WHAT PEOPLE SAID - - -“Mr. Hammond!” - -Thus proclaimed the machine stationed outside the door of the principal -drawing-room in Berkeley Square. It was the night of the marchioness’s -concert, and a stream of splendidly clad dames, rustling in silk and -velvet, and flashing in pearls and diamonds, and of meanly clad men, -disguised as waiters, except for an occasional red or blue ribbon, -slightly suggestive of that worn by a pet cat, was flowing up the -stairs, and through the doorway, where the machine checked them off -one by one like an automatic turnstile. And the proclamations were by -no means a mere empty ceremony, for without them the marchioness would -have been quite ignorant of the names of at least half of those with -whom she was shaking hands on the other side of the threshold. - -The hygienic regulations by which every Board-School child is entitled -to a fixed number of cubic feet of space do not apply to the guests -of marchionesses, and it was becoming difficult to move through the -concert-room without inflicting physical injury on others. The wiser of -the late arrivals, or those more familiar with the locality, backed out -as soon as they had mumbled the necessary formula of greeting to their -hostess, and took refuge in a smaller drawing-room, where the Lady -Victoria was holding a levee of her own particular friends. It was to -this room that Hammond made his way after bowing over the marchioness’s -hand. - -Directly he lifted the curtain which screened the open doorway, Lady -Victoria, clad in white, with a string of turquoise forget-me-nots -round her bared neck, deserted a group of half a dozen other admirers, -and came towards him with a frankness which would have jarred harshly -on her mother’s notions of finesse. - -“That is right, Mr. Hammond. I am so glad you have come into this room. -It is cool, it is comfortable, and, what is better, you can’t hear a -note of the music.” - -“You have forgotten to mention that you are in this room,” replied -Hammond. “But I share your views about the music. If we have got to -pretend to enjoy art, why can’t it be painting or poetry, or something -that won’t positively annoy us?” - -“It wouldn’t do for my mother to hear me,” said Victoria, “but I may as -well confess to you that I have absolutely no accomplishments. I don’t -play the violin, I don’t model in clay, and I don’t even write answers -to questions on etiquette in the _Young Ladies’ Journal_.” - -“Surely you kodak?” Hammond pleaded. - -Before Lady Victoria could clear herself from the charge, the voice of -the machine sounded through the curtain: - -“_The Dean of Colchester!_” - -Hammond turned pale. - -“Whatever is the dean doing here?” he gasped. - -Victoria shrugged her shoulders. - -“My mother likes to have the higher clergy at her parties. She thinks -their costume gives variety.” - -“Whenever I meet that man he asks me for a subscription,” Hammond was -beginning, when the dean himself, forewarned by some preternatural -intuition, turned aside from the reception-room and came through the -curtain. - -A glad light beamed out on his face as he bore down upon the pair. - -“And how is Lady Victoria? I need not ask. Mr. Hammond, this is -fortunate!” - -Hammond gave a smile, like that of Mr. Charles Hawtrey on the stage -when his stage mother-in-law enters and announces that she has come to -spend a stage-day with him. - -“How much this time, dean?” - -The Dean of Colchester drew back; then he put his head on one side and -smiled indulgently on his victim. - -“He is too bad, isn’t he?” This was to Lady Victoria. “But, do you -know, I really was going to write to you this week.” - -“How much?” Hammond repeated, drearily. - -“Lady Victoria, I appeal to you. I am sure you must think me quite -mercenary.” - -“Hadn’t you better tell him?” suggested the matter-of-fact Victoria. - -The dean shook his head in protest. - -“I am actually silenced. The fact is that we are just raising a fund to -restore the north tower of the Cathedral, and I thought that, as you -had been so generous before, you might possibly see your way to give us -some assistance.” - -“How much?” - -“No, really! But if you did feel disposed to do something, however -small--” - -The voice of the machine was again heard in the offing: - -“_Mr. Septimus Jones!_” - -“You had better make haste,” said Victoria to the dean. - -The dean cast an imploring look at Hammond. - -“I am so ashamed! May I really throw myself on your generosity?” - -“How much?” - -“I couldn’t possibly--” The curtain was lifted from outside. “Well, -fifty pounds?” Hammond took out a pocket-book and began to scribble -a memorandum in it. “This is too good of you. I assure you I never -expected it.” - -The curtain had admitted a pale youth, with light-colored hair, parted -in the middle, who held a pair of gloves furtively in one hand, having -plainly just made the discovery that no one else had brought gloves, -and being distracted in consequence by a desire to smuggle them into a -pocket unperceived. - -Victoria greeted him with suspicious cordiality. - -“It is too bad of you to come so late, Mr. Jones. I haven’t enjoyed -myself a bit.” - -“No, Lady Victoria, you mustn’t blame me.” At this point he made an -effort to slip the hand which contained the gloves into a tail-pocket, -but catching the unconscious eye of the dean fixed, as he supposed, on -the offending articles, he drew them out again hastily. “I couldn’t get -here sooner. My brougham wasn’t ready.” - -“You should have come in a cab.” - -“No, Lady Victoria, I am sure you don’t mean that I could have come in -a horrid cab. I would as soon walk.” - -“Don’t you ride a bicycle?” - -“Oh yes, Lady Victoria, of course I ride a bicycle--in the morning, in -the Park, you know, but not in the streets. You don’t mean that I could -have come here on a bicycle, do you?” - -By this time he had dexterously transferred the gloves to his other -hand, and was again cautiously feeling his way round to his coat-tails, -when a sudden movement of Hammond’s, who had just completed his -business with the dean, caused the unfortunate youth to take fright and -once more relinquish his half-executed design. - -“I am afraid you are not in earnest, Mr. Jones.” - -“Oh yes, Lady Victoria, I am very earnest. Everybody says I am very -earnest. I take life quite seriously--I do, indeed. I go to all sorts -of lectures and that kind of thing, you know, to improve my mind.” - -“You will have to be careful, then,” put in Hammond as he came up, “or -they will make you give them a testimonial, and advertise you in all -the papers as a marvellous cure.” - -Mr. Jones shrank back. - -“Ah, now, Hammond, I am afraid of you, because you are so sarcastic. He -was sarcastic then, wasn’t he, Lady Victoria?” - -“Not very,” replied the person appealed to. The next instant she gave -an imperceptible start. - -“_Captain Mauleverer!_” - -“But if you two are going to quarrel I shall go into the next room,” -Victoria went on, quickly, beginning to move away. - -“Oh no, Lady Victoria,” Mr. Jones remonstrated; “I never quarrel. I am -a subscriber to the Peace Society--I really am.” - -The Dean of Colchester looked round. - -“Then I can leave you in perfect safety,” retorted Victoria, gliding -off. - -“Dear me! I am afraid that Lady Victoria is sarcastic, too,” Mr. Jones -observed, sagaciously, looking after her. “Don’t you think so, Hammond?” - -“I have suspected her of it sometimes; but she never admits it, and it -is so difficult to prove these things.” - -“I will ask the dean; I am sure he is not sarcastic--are you, dean?” - -“My dear fellow,” Hammond interrupted, “I am surprised that you should -ask such a question. A sarcastic dean would be a moral outrage. You -might as well speak of a malicious cathedral.” - -The dean thought of his fifty pounds, and smiled like an early -Christian martyr commencing an interview with a sharp-set lion. - -At this point Hammond’s attention was diverted by the entrance of -the latest arrival. As he turned away to greet him, the dean laid a -caressing hand on Mr. Jones’s arm. - -“Did I hear you say just now that you were a subscriber to--” - -Mr. Jones gave a glance round. He was alone with the dean, and the -dean was on the wrong side of him. There was no human eye to see the -deed. With one swift movement he succeeded in depositing his gloves in -their long-sought hiding-place, and then suffered himself to fall an -unresisting prey to the north tower of the Colchester Cathedral. - -Captain Mauleverer’s face wore a decidedly cross expression as he came -into the room. At the sight of Hammond it lighted up, and the two -shook hands like old friends. - -“So you patronize my aunt’s menagerie?” the captain observed, -disrespectfully. - -“Well, yes.” - -“I should have thought you had too much sense.” - -“My dear fellow, you are here yourself,” returned Hammond. - -The captain gave an impatient shrug. - -“I know, but I shouldn’t be if I could help it. It’s a beastly bore. -You can’t smoke, and you can’t drink, and you are expected to sit -beside some sentimental woman of fifty and let her gush to you over -some beastly novel you haven’t read, and wouldn’t understand if you -had.” - -Hammond shook his head with a reproving smile. - -“Yes, but you should remember that we are not here to please ourselves. -We are here to please society.” - -“Why should you care about society? You’re not a damned pauper like -me. You have everything you want.” - -“No one on the face of the earth has everything he wants,” Hammond -retorted. “But I see what it is; you are out of sorts. What’s the -matter?” - -Mauleverer’s only answer was a despairing shrug. - -“Been backing a horse?” - -“No, it’s not that.” - -“What is it, then? Cards?” - -“No.” - -“Not drink?” in a tone of incredulity. - -“No, no.” - -“Tell me.” - -The captain hesitated for a moment before he gave the answer: - -“Girl.” - -Hammond let a mild exclamation of surprise escape him. Then he looked -at his friend with a certain air of sympathy. - -“What should you say if I were to tell you that you and I were in the -same boat, old man?” - -“You?” The other stared at him in amazement. “You don’t mean to say -that there is any girl in England who would refuse you?” - -“Suppose there were a girl whom I hadn’t the courage to ask, not -because I was afraid of her refusing me, but because I was afraid of -her accepting me?” - -“I don’t understand.” - -“Suppose I had to choose between her and my ambition? Suppose I knew -that if I were to ask her to be my wife I might have to abandon my -whole career, because society would forbid the banns?” - -“I never thought of that,” murmured his friend. - -“This very morning,” Hammond went on, “I had a letter from a man who -thinks he is acting in my interests to warn me against the woman I -love.” - -“That is rather rough on you, old man.” - -Hammond smiled bitterly. - -“You see, even a damned millionaire can’t have everything he wants.” - -“_Miss Yorke!_” - -The name caused a sensation. Heads were turned from all directions, and -the Dean of Colchester and his victim hurried back to the neighborhood -of the doorway where Hammond and Mauleverer were standing. At the -same time Mr. Despencer slipped in from the next room, and stealthily -approached the group. - -“What Miss Yorke is that?” asked Mauleverer, innocently. - -“_The_ Miss Yorke, I believe, popularly known as Belle Yorke,” -Despencer took it on himself to answer. He affected to keep his eyes -turned away from Hammond. - -“Belle Yorke!” exclaimed Mr. Septimus Jones, with enthusiasm. “Oh, I -dote upon her! I think she is perfectly lovely--don’t you, Hammond?” - -“Yes.” - -The Dean of Colchester gave a sound like an ecclesiastical purr. - -“Now, this is very fortunate! I have so often wished to see her, but, -of course, I daren’t go to those places where she sings. It is so -thoughtful of the marchioness to bring her here. Ahem! isn’t there -something or other _said_ about her?” - -“They say plenty of things about her, but God knows how much of it is -true,” remarked Mauleverer. - -“Oh, but Mauleverer,” Mr. Jones burst in, “you know when people say so -much it must be some of it true, mustn’t it?” - -Hammond turned and looked at the three men, one after the other, and -then his eyes wandered to Despencer, who was standing by, with a sneer -on his thin lips. Here were these four men all looking at the matter -from different points of view, none of them apparently with any reason -to wish ill to Belle Yorke, two of them evidently friendly towards -her, and yet they all doubted her alike. - -Before he could speak he saw a sudden change come over their faces. -A man had just come hurriedly through the doorway leading from the -reception-room. It was the Marquis of Severn; and he was in full dress, -with the blue ribbon of the Garter across his shirt-front. He caught -sight of his nephew, and strode up to him, his face working with -emotion. - -“Here, Gerald, come this way; I want to speak to you!” he exclaimed, -without heeding the presence of the others. - -He seized Mauleverer’s arm, and half led, half thrust him out of -the room. One or two of the by-standers saw what was happening, and -smiled. Hammond turned sharply on Despencer, whose smile was peculiarly -malicious. - -“I shall be obliged if you can come with me into the conservatory for -five minutes. I wish to speak to you privately,” he said. - -Despencer bowed with an air of bland unconcern, and followed him, while -the voice outside sounded again: - -“_Alderman Dobbin!_” - - - - -SCENE VII - -A QUESTION OF CHEMISTRY - - -In order to reach the conservatory Hammond and Despencer had to thread -their way through the concert-room. But their task was rendered easier -by the fact that Belle Yorke was just standing up to sing. The mob, -attracted partly by her reputation as a singer, and partly by the story -in circulation about her and their host, whose hurried exit on her -appearance had not gone unremarked, were crowding towards that end of -the saloon where the piano stood, and thus the two men were able to -make their way round the wall at the deserted end. - -As Hammond had anticipated, they found the conservatory empty. It was -little more than a long, narrow balcony, roofed over with glass, and -running along the side of the house. - -Hammond was the first to reach it, but he stood back to allow Despencer -to enter. Despencer walked past him after a deprecating shrug and bow, -and then turned to meet his questioner, who came in quickly, shutting -the door behind them. - -For a moment the two men stood face to face, scrutinizing each other -like two duellists who are uncertain of each other’s play. Hammond’s -gaze was stern and threatening. Despencer’s, equally unflinching, was -that of a man who does not quite know what is required of him, but has -nothing to fear or to conceal. - -The situation was exactly what he had foreseen and desired. His former -reference to Belle Yorke had had the appearance of being accidental. He -had been far too clever to seek to press it home at the time. Now, if -Hammond himself chose to revive the subject of his own accord, anything -that Despencer might say would appear to be dragged out of him against -his will. He felt perfectly satisfied with his play, so far. He still -held all his best cards in reserve, and he had thrown the lead into his -adversary’s hands. - -“Well, what is the mystery?” he said, lightly, after waiting some time -for Hammond to speak. - -“I want to ask you for some explanation of what you said the other -afternoon.” - -Despencer was mildly amazed. - -“What did I say? I really don’t remember,” he murmured. - -“About Miss Yorke. You referred to some story about her--some report -connecting her name with Lord Severn’s.” - -Despencer drew back; his manner became reproachful. - -“Oh, but, my dear sir, you must see that that was pure inadvertence on -my part. I was not to know that the lady was a friend of yours.” - -It was impossible to quarrel with a man who showed himself so perfectly -polite and, at the same time, so perfectly indifferent. Hammond’s tone -lost some of its hostility. - -“That is not the point. Till you spoke, I had never heard of the -existence of this--slander.” The momentary hesitation before the word -did not escape the watchful Despencer. “You have spoken, fortunately or -unfortunately, and, now I have heard of it, I cannot rest till I know -more.” - -“Is that necessary?” - -The tone in which the question was put made it a friendly remonstrance, -as much as if Despencer had said: “My dear fellow, you want to think -well of this woman. Why persist in making me undeceive you?” - -Hammond felt the implied warning in all its force. Nevertheless he -answered: - -“Yes, it is necessary. The matter cannot end like this; I have a motive -for pursuing it. You heard what those other men said when Miss Yorke -was announced. I must be able to satisfy myself that this statement is -without foundation.” - -Despencer could not quite resist a sneer. - -“I should think that was easy enough. You have only to ask the lady if -she knows Lord Severn.” - -Hammond frowned impatiently as he said, aloud, but rather to himself -than to Despencer: - -“And what will be her answer?” - -Despencer smiled compassionately. - -“Judging from my own experience in such cases, I should say that the -lady’s answer would be ‘No.’” - -For a minute Hammond stood irresolute. Despencer’s sneer had shown him -where he stood. Instead of silencing a slanderer, he was discussing the -truth of the slander with the man who had uttered it. If he had really -had confidence in the woman he had undertaken to defend, it was to her, -not to this cynical stranger, that he ought to have been addressing his -inquiries. He felt bitterly conscious of his false position, yet he -could not resist going on. - -“Where did you hear this rumor?” he asked, after a brief pause, during -which Despencer had closely watched every shade of expression on his -face. - -“I can hardly tell you, I have heard it from so many quarters,” was the -careless reply. “I thought everybody knew it.” - -“Do you mean by that that everybody believes it?” demanded Hammond. - -“Yes; but that is no reason why you should, if you would rather not. -Take my advice, treat it as a mere passing calumny, and forget all -about it.” - -Hammond glanced at him questioningly. - -“And you, Despencer--of course, you believe this?” - -“Well, yes; but I shall be happy to withdraw it.” - -Despencer’s mocking smile was lost upon Hammond. He muttered: - -“I must get at the truth.” - -“Far better not,” observed the cynic. “The truth is sometimes very -disagreeable. I myself much prefer to be told pleasant falsehoods.” - -“And to tell them, I suppose?” - -Despencer did not wince. - -“I am always anxious to oblige,” he answered, pointedly. - -“You have no prejudice against Miss Yorke?” was Hammond’s next question. - -“I have no prejudices at all, I can assure you. I am a most -broad-minded person.” - -“It would make no difference to you, I suppose, if this report were -true? It wouldn’t injure her in your opinion?” - -“On the contrary, it would greatly increase my respect for her.” - -Hammond seemed to be trying to sound the depths of his companion’s -character. - -“I congratulate you. But you wouldn’t marry her?” - -Despencer drew back, and shook his head with an amused air. - -“Oh no! I am afraid I am not broad-minded enough for that.” - -“Why not?” - -“I couldn’t outrage decency, you know. Society would think me worse -than the marquis.” - -“Damn society!” - -“Oh, it is damned already,” said Despencer, quickly. “But even down -below there are certain regulations which must be respected. There is -an etiquette of Pandemonium.” - -Hammond gave him another thoughtful look. - -“You are a very clever man, Despencer, but, do you know, you almost -make immorality tedious. If you are not careful, people will begin to -get bored by vice, and virtue will become the fashion.” - -“That is not a bad idea. There is always something attractive in -novelty.” - -Again Hammond reflected for a minute, and again he resumed his -questioning. - -“Tell me, has the marchioness heard this rumor?” - -Despencer had not been expecting this question, and it nearly threw him -off his guard. His eye met Hammond’s for a moment before he answered. - -“I should hardly think so, or she wouldn’t have had her here. That -would have been too daring, even for her.” - -“It would be equally daring for her to come here if there were anything -in it. Surely her very presence here proves her innocence?” - -“Yes; but what about Lord Severn’s absence? You saw him hurry out the -moment she arrived?” - -“My God, yes!” The words were dragged from Hammond in a burst of -anguish. “There is some damned mystery in this!” he muttered between -his teeth. - -“Of course, it may be a mere coincidence,” the tempter threw in, -artfully. “But I am always so suspicious of coincidences.” - -Hammond was not listening. A new idea had occurred to him. - -“I have a great mind to go to Severn himself, and put myself in his -hands. But, then, of course, one couldn’t trust him,” he added, -regretfully. - -“He is a man of honor,” objected the other. - -“And when the good name of a woman is at stake, men of honor always -lie,” was the stern retort. “Oh would to Heaven you had either never -told me this, or else proved it up to the very hilt.” - -“I didn’t speak out of any zeal for morality, you may be sure. I had -simply heard the common talk, and I naturally assumed that it was true.” - -“Why?” - -Despencer gave a delicate, self-satisfied smile. - -“When there is any doubt, I always believe the worst. I find I am -seldom wrong.” - -Hammond stepped back, with an indignant gesture. He was beginning to -feel ashamed of the discussion. - -“And you can stand like that and smile away a reputation!” he -exclaimed. “I wonder what they made you of.” - -“I believe a chemical analysis of me would yield the ordinary results,” -returned Despencer, with unruffled composure. “I rather think that -hydrogen is the principal ingredient.” - -Hammond gave a short laugh. - -“Despencer, I begin actually to respect you. It can be no easy thing to -attain to such a height of perfect brutality as yours. You must have -taken great pains with yourself.” - -“You may say what you like, Hammond, as long as you are not violent. I -always draw the line at violence.” - -“Do you have to draw it often?” - -Even the trained and admirable temper of Despencer gave way under this -taunt, and a red flush suffused his pale cheeks. - -“Hammond, do you mean to be insulting?” - -“Why, do you mind much? I should have thought the hydrogen would have -stood it.” - -The words were drowned in a sudden crash of music and hand-clapping as -the door behind them opened, and Captain Mauleverer came through with -Belle Yorke on his arm. - -Despencer drew to one side with a bow as they approached. - -“Ah, captain, taking Lord Severn’s place, I see,” he remarked, with a -sarcastic emphasis intended for Hammond’s ear, and passed back into the -concert-room. - -Mauleverer stared after him as if he had been some noxious animal. - -“What has that damned cad--beg pardon, Miss Yorke--been doing here?” he -demanded of Hammond. - -“Oh, only taking away some one’s character.” - -“Not mine, I hope,” said Belle, with a smile. - -“No, not in Hammond’s hearing, I’ll swear,” said the loyal captain. - -“It was too bad of you to go outside just as I was going to sing,” -said Belle to the silent Hammond. “I shall expect an explanation.” - -“I have been waiting here to give it to you,” was the grave answer. - -“You seem quite serious about it. I am sure Mr. Despencer has been -saying something against me.” - -Captain Mauleverer put in a word. - -“I can’t let you give your explanation now, because Miss Yorke has -promised to sit out this next piece with me. You must wait your turn, -old fellow.” - -“What does Miss Yorke say?” asked the other. - -“I say what they say at the libraries about the book of the season. You -shall have me when the captain has done with me.” She turned merrily -to the captain. “But you mustn’t skip, you know. I shall allow you -fourteen minutes for perusal.” - -“I want to read you through,” said Hammond. And he went out. - - - - -SCENE VIII - -CINDERELLA - - -“How very sober Mr. Hammond seems to-night! I hope he isn’t going to be -cross.” - -Though she spoke gayly enough, a vague sense of ill was stealing over -her. She sat down on a low cane settee, over which flowering shrubs -made a sort of canopy, and a sadness seemed to breathe in the heavy -scent of tuberose and stephanotis. - -Captain Mauleverer placed himself beside her, and looked at her with a -certain respectful pity as he answered: - -“That isn’t likely. I’m sure it wouldn’t be easy to be cross with you, -Miss Yorke.” - -Belle detected something in his voice which increased her foreboding. - -“You look as grave as Mr. Hammond. Is anything the matter?” - -“Yes, I’m afraid there is.” - -The moment he had spoken the words he wished them unuttered. The light -faded out of the beautiful eyes, and a pathetic sadness took its place. - -“Oh, please don’t tell me that!” she pleaded. “I am enjoying myself so -much this evening.” - -“Are you? I am glad of that,” said Mauleverer, tugging uneasily at his -mustache. - -“Yes; I have never been to a place like this before, you know, and -it is all so strange and beautiful. I am a little bit afraid of the -Marchioness of Severn, but every one else has been so kind that -I haven’t felt myself a stranger. I feel almost like the little -chimney-sweep who wandered by accident into the state bedroom of the -castle, and turned out to be the rightful heir. Please don’t send me -back to my chimney.” - -The captain swallowed something in his throat. - -“I wish I hadn’t promised to, but the fact is I have undertaken to give -you a message.” - -This time Belle turned to him with a look of something like alarm. - -“Can’t you put it off till to-morrow? Do let me have my dream out -to-night.” - -Mauleverer shook himself. - -“Hang it! I have a great mind to,” he exclaimed. - -“Please do, if it is an unkind message. I didn’t think I had any -enemies.” - -“You have none--at least, I don’t believe you have. It isn’t that. What -I have promised to tell you is something about yourself, something you -ought to know.” - -“Something about myself! Oh, what do you mean? I haven’t been doing -anything wrong, have I?” - -Captain Mauleverer bit his lip and looked more than half inclined to -run away. Then he said, slowly: - -“Perhaps I should have said--something about your father.” - -“My father!” She gazed at him in astonishment. “But he is dead! He died -before I was born.” - -“No!” - -The answer struck her dumb. She sat still and pressed her hand against -her heart. The man replied to her unspoken questions with a grave shake -of the head. - -“My father is not dead? Oh, Captain Mauleverer, what are you saying? -What do you know about him?” - -“I wish I didn’t have to speak to you like this. Your father is alive.” - -“And they have always told me he was dead! My mother-- Captain -Mauleverer, are you _sure_ of what you say?” - -“I am. I know your father.” - -“Then why--” She broke off in the midst of the question and wrung her -hands. “Ah! I begin to understand. My father has done something that -has made them hide his existence from me. And you are going to tell me -what it is.” - -“I--well, I promised that I would.” - -She gave a half-sob. - -“You may go on now. I find that I am only the little chimney-sweeper -after all. But stay!” A fresh thought struck her with overwhelming -force. “Perhaps this is some mistake after all. You say my father is -alive, but did you know that my mother had been married again?” - -The captain clenched his fists. - -“God forgive me--I _can’t_ tell you!” - -“Then--then there is only one explanation, Captain Mauleverer.” She hid -her face in her hands for a minute, and then raised it again and looked -him bravely in the face. “Is that it? Tell me the truth.” - -Mauleverer sprang from his seat. - -“No, I’m damned if I do!” - -A burst of music and a babble of tongues told them that the door had -opened again, and some one else was coming in. It was the Marchioness -of Severn, and she was alone. - -Belle rose from her seat dry-eyed. - -“Ah, Miss Yorke, they told me I should find you here. That will do, -Gerald. Miss Yorke and I are going to have a little talk. Pray sit down -again.” - -Belle resumed her seat in silence, with an inward dread of what was -in store for her next, while Captain Mauleverer walked off with the -hang-dog air of a man who feels he has made a brute of himself. - -The marchioness sat down beside her guest. - -“I have to thank you for a most delightful evening. You sang most -charmingly. I almost wish I hadn’t asked you for that one called -‘Little Willy,’ though. I am so sensitive. You almost made me cry--you -did, indeed.” - -Belle stole a timid glance at her. - -“It is very kind of you to praise me so much. That song of mine has -always been a favorite.” - -“I don’t wonder at it. Dear, sweet little thing, freezing to death -like that! Why didn’t some one give him a seal-skin jacket? And do you -really sing things like that at those dreadful places in Leicester -Square?” - -Belle began to feel uncomfortable. The patronage it was difficult to -resent, but the hinted disparagement roused her courage. - -“I am sorry you think them dreadful,” she said, modestly but quite -firmly, “because, you know, I have to sing there for my living.” - -The marchioness’s determined good-nature was not to be turned aside. - -“No, no; of course, I ought not to have called them that before you. -But one reads such shocking things about them in the newspapers when -they apply for their licenses to the County Council. I’m sure I hope it -isn’t half of it true.” - -“I hope you won’t be offended if I stand up for them,” Belle persisted, -bravely. “I must be loyal to my own profession, mustn’t I?” - -“Of course! Of course! Most properly. I hope--in fact, I am sure, -that they have done you no harm. But I have heard so much about these -places, and the life, that it makes me feel the very gravest doubt. I -take an interest in you, Miss Yorke, and I should be so sorry if you -were to lower yourself by your connection with the music-halls.” - -Still bleeding from the wound dealt her in all respectful kindness by -the man who had been with her just before, Belle roused herself to ward -off the more envenomed stabs of the woman who was with her now. - -“I don’t intend to lower myself, or to let myself be lowered, by any -place I may go to,” she said, with dignity, looking the marchioness in -the face. - -The marchioness smiled on her like a mother. - -“That is right. I am so glad to hear you say that. But you can’t be too -careful, you know. The world is so censorious. Society has very keen -ears for the least whisper against a woman’s name.” - -This time Belle realized that there was some serious purpose beneath -her persecutor’s moralizing. She turned on her indignantly. - -“I hope you don’t mean that society has been listening to any whispers -against my name!” she cried. - -The marchioness put out her hands with a soothing gesture. - -“Oh, no--not yet, at all events. Still, as I say, you cannot be too -careful in your unfortunate position. I thought I ought to take the -opportunity of giving you a friendly warning. It is so easy to check a -thing of this kind at the outset, but afterwards it may be too late.” - -“I am afraid I don’t understand you yet,” said Belle, in a carefully -measured voice which would have betrayed the rising anger to a duller -ear than the Marchioness of Severn’s. “Do you mean to say that there -is anything for me to check?” - -The marchioness, becoming slightly nervous, tried to beat about the -bush. - -“No, no; I won’t go so far as that. I don’t put it in that way--merely -a possibility, that is all. Of course, it is very natural that the men -who go to such places should admire you, with your voice and figure; -only don’t let one particular man admire you more openly than the rest. -You understand me?” - -Belle’s voice became cold and metallic. - -“Do you mean that there is some one whose name has been associated with -mine as an admirer more than the rest?” - -The marchioness bowed and smiled. - -“That is just it. You have put it very nicely.” - -“May I ask you to tell me his name?” - -The marchioness threw a glance of mild reproach at her young friend. - -“Surely, my dear Miss Yorke, you must know that! Every one tells me -that his attentions have been most marked--Mr. Hammond.” - -The marchioness brought out the name with a jerk, watching her victim -keenly the while. But Belle gave her no assurance, by so much as the -flutter of an eyelid, that the shaft had gone home. - -“Mr. Hammond’s attentions to me have always been perfectly respectful.” - -The marchioness positively bubbled over with shame at the implied -suggestion that she had thought otherwise. - -“Of course! Naturally! But you _know_, my dear girl, that society will -take a _very_ different view. Society is _so_ incredulous. It _never_ -believes that a man’s friendship for a woman is perfectly respectful.” - -“Not when he asks her to become his wife?” Belle could not resist the -question. - -“That is quite different.” The marchioness suddenly became the great -lady. “We are not talking of that, as you know. Mr. Hammond is not one -of those foolish young men who marry a girl out of their own class and -regret it ever afterwards. You must put that idea out of your head at -once, believe me. I am speaking as your friend and as a woman of the -world.” - -Belle looked at her friend for a moment with a silence that had -something satirical in it. - -“What is Mr. Hammond’s class?” - -“Don’t you know? Mr. Hammond is a millionaire. He moves in the very -best society. He could marry almost any woman in England, except -royalty. I know dukes, even, who would feel honored by an alliance with -Mr. Hammond.” - -All this time it had not occurred to Belle, in her simplicity, that she -could possibly be regarded by the great lady beside her as a rival, and -a dangerous rival, to her own daughter. She only felt that something -very dear to her was at stake, and she wrestled for it blindly. - -“Is that simply because he is rich?” she demanded, with the scorn -which youth always feels for wealth. - -“Not entirely,” the marchioness answered, mildly, “though, of course, -that has a great deal to do with it. But Mr. Hammond comes of a most -respectable family, I believe. I have heard that his father was quite a -gentleman towards the end of his life. And then he has a fine political -career before him; he is in Parliament, and may be in the Cabinet. You -can’t expect him to throw all that away to marry you, my dear.” - -Belle began to fear that she was going to be beaten. - -“And would he? Would it be such a very great disgrace?” she murmured -below her breath. - -“_I_ don’t say that it would,” replied her deeply sympathizing friend; -“but society would consider it so. You see, we can none of us do all -that we like. There are many things that I should like to do, but I -dare not. We all feel inclined to rebel sometimes and gratify our own -inclinations, but we are restrained by a higher law.” - -“What higher law is there than the loyal instinct of our own hearts?” -demanded Belle, with a flash of indignation. - -“My dear, the prejudices of society! Its feelings must be respected. We -have to mould our lives accordingly.” - -“Why? Why should we obey such a code? Why should we cringe to this -bogie you call society? Why should we make ourselves slaves to one -another’s shadows?” - -The marchioness drew herself up and regarded her young friend with real -pain. - -“Miss Yorke, you quite surprise me. I am shocked to hear you use such -language. Do you realize what you are saying? You called society a -bogie!” - -“I was wrong. It is something more.” - -“It is true that its dictates sometimes appear harsh and unreasonable, -but that is the same for all of us. Why should you expect to be an -exception to the rule more than others?” - -“Shall I tell you?” All the bitterness of her newly acquired knowledge -rang out in Belle’s voice. “Because I am one of the victims of society; -because it placed its brand upon me before ever I was born. Society has -made me an outlaw, and therefore I owe it no allegiance, and I will -give it none. You tell me that because I am a public singer I have no -right to the friendship of an honorable man; that there are whispers in -circulation against my name already. Let them whisper! I have done with -all that. I shall not abandon my friends at society’s bidding, and I -won’t give up the man I love because it tells me--I won’t do it!” - -The marchioness rose, deeply shocked and grieved. - -“Really, I can’t stay here--” - -Again the sudden loudness of the sounds from the concert-room. Again -the door stood open, and John Hammond in the doorway. - - - - -SCENE IX - -AND THE PRINCE - - -The moment she saw who had come into the conservatory the marchioness -sat down again promptly, and with a decision which spoke volumes for -her intention to remain. - -Hammond advanced, and recognized the marchioness with a look of wonder. - -“Where is Mauleverer?” he inquired. - -“I sent Gerald away,” replied the marchioness, with an intonation which -plainly added: “And I should like to send you away, too.” - -“That was considerate of you,” retorted Hammond, with a pleasant smile. - -There was a vacant space on the seat between the two women, and he took -possession of it with a cool deliberateness which appeared to cause the -marchioness some dismay. - -“I wanted to have a little private chat with Miss Yorke,” she observed, -stiffly. - -“The very thing I wanted, too. You have done me out of my turn, -hasn’t she, Miss Yorke? You are positively quite a cuckoo, my dear -marchioness.” - -The marchioness made a painful effort to smile. - -“I am not at all sure that I shall allow you to speak to Miss Yorke,” -she responded, trying to look past him at Belle herself. - -On Hammond’s entrance Belle had shrunk back with a certain apprehension -which had afforded secret satisfaction to her hostess. She now waited -in silence, nervously plucking at the leaves of a camellia which -brushed her shoulder where she sat. - -“Now she is under my roof,” pursued the marchioness, “I feel in the -position of her guardian. I regard you as a very dangerous character.” - -A smile of bitter irony gleamed for a moment on Hammond’s lips. - -“I rather think you must be right. I don’t know why it is, but I am -feeling in a peculiarly lawless mood this evening. If Miss Yorke were -not here, I am not at all sure that your diamonds would be safe.” - -Something in the manner of this speech, rather than in the words, -caused the marchioness to move several inches farther off along the -settee. It was a distinct shock to her to hear the Severn diamonds made -the subject of coarse jocularity. The one in the centre of her bosom -had been given to the first Mauleverer by King John as a reward for -resisting the agitation for Magna Charta. Those in the tiara above her -forehead had been brought into the family by a left-handed daughter of -John of Gaunt. The value of the whole was nearly a year’s income of the -much-mortgaged Severn estates. - -“Really, Mr. Hammond, you speak so strangely that if I didn’t know you -so well I should think something was the matter with you.” - -It was necessary to let her ladyship see clearly that she was out of -place. Hammond cast on her a look which she had not seen in his eyes -before. - -“Do you know me well? Does any of us know another well? Don’t we, most -of us, drift through life with our eyes half closed, ignorant of our -aims, ignorant of our very natures, till some shock comes to awaken us, -and in the moment of trial we find out for the first time who and what -we really are?” - -A subtle instinct told him, before he had finished speaking, that his -words were being eagerly followed by the girl who sat on his right -hand. On the marchioness they fell with something of the effect of a -cold spray. She shivered and got up. - -“Ah, yes, of course, all that is very true, no doubt,” she murmured, -hastily. “But I must really be going back to look after the people.” -She turned a feline glance on Belle. “I wouldn’t sit out here too long -if I were you, Miss Yorke; you may catch cold.” - -“Thank you; I am not afraid of that,” was the quiet answer. - -The marchioness turned her eyes from one to the other, pursed up her -lips with severity, and reluctantly retreated. - -Hammond watched her exit with a sarcastic smile. - -“I am afraid the marchioness believes I have been drinking,” he -observed. - -The cynicism jarred on Belle as harshly as the seriousness had jarred -on the marchioness. There is no woman who can respond to a man through -all his moods, not even she who loves him best. - -“I wonder how much truth there is in what you said just now?” - -Hammond turned and fixed an earnest gaze on her. He saw her for the -first time in his experience with a troubled brow, but he never guessed -the cause. There is no man who can follow a woman through all her -moods, not even he who loves her best. - -“That is what I wanted to ask you,” he said, in answer to her -question. “We two have known each other for some time, haven’t we; but -how much do I know of you, or you of me?” - -Belle felt what was coming. She saw it in his eye, she heard it in his -voice. Desperately she resolved to meet it half-way. - -“I have been finding that out this evening. Since I have come here I -have understood for the first time what you are and what I am. Mr. -Hammond, after this evening we must not meet again.” - -“Belle! Why do you say that?” - -There was a note of anguish in his voice. He had been fighting a battle -with himself all this time. It had never occurred to him that there -might be another to overcome besides. - -She looked him steadily in the face. - -“Why do you call me Belle?” - -“I thought we were friends,” he said. But he blushed as he said it. - -“What kind of friends? Would your friendship with Lady Victoria -allow you to call her by her Christian name? Don’t you see that the -difference between her and me makes our friendship impossible?” - -“Don’t you trust me, then?” asked the man. - -“You have no right to ask me for my trust. You and I belong to -different worlds. Where there is no equality there can be no -friendship. It would have been better if we had never met.” - -She spoke with a certain rigidity which baffled him. He did not know -that the poor girl was but repeating the bitter lesson which had just -been taught to her. - -“But why,” he eagerly demanded--“why should you suddenly take this tone -with me? I was going to ask you for your confidence. I meant to beg you -to let me take your part against your enemies, and you rebuff me at the -outset like this.” - -“Have I enemies? I didn’t know that.” She spoke with a pathetic -resignation. She had heard too much within the last half-hour to be -much moved by any new disclosure. “But there is all the more reason -that I should give them no handle against me. Consider what society -is likely to think of such a friendship as ours--you, a public man, -wealthy, ambitious, honored by the world, with a great career before -you, and I a humble singer, whose very calling makes her name a mark -for every spiteful tongue.” - -“Why should we be afraid of what society thinks or says?” - -“You can afford to ask that. You are a man, and can defy society; I am -a woman, and to me its breath means life or death.” - -Hammond sat silent for a minute; he felt that all this conversation was -insincere. It was but the preface to what he had come there to say. How -was he to pave the way for the questions he had resolved to put? - -“Tell me,” he said, earnestly, “have I ever given you cause to think of -me as other than an honorable man?” - -Belle turned and looked at him. - -“No,” was all she said. - -“Will you let me tell you something--something that it may be painful -for you to hear?” - -Belle’s eyes opened wide. The apprehension of what was coming shone -out in them, and Hammond, mistaking the meaning of that apprehension, -faltered in his purpose. - -“Speak! What is it?” she commanded. - -“It is something which concerns yourself.” - -Was he going to repeat to her the gossip at which the marchioness -had only hinted, to tell her to her face that their names had been -joined in the world’s calumnious breath? She gazed at him in absolute -bewilderment. - -“Tell it me--quickly!” she breathed. - -“I am ashamed to repeat such a slander. Yet, since it is in -circulation, it is only right that you should know it, if only that you -may cause it to be crushed.” - -“Yes; please go on.” - -“They say--they pretend--they connect your name with--” - -“With yours, sir?” She sat upright, with flashing eyes. - -“Great heavens, no!” He stared back at her with little less amazement -than her own. - -She sank slowly down again, the anger in her face changing to deepest -scorn. - -“With whose, then?” - -“With the Marquis of Severn’s.” - -“What!” She started up again in sheer astonishment. “Who dares? I have -never seen nor spoken to him in my life!” - -“Thank God!” - -Not till he had heard the denial did the man realize what a burden it -had lifted from his heart; and yet he believed that he loyally loved -this woman. - -“Who dares to slander me? Who dares to smirch my name with falsehoods?” -Come what might, he should not go away doubting her. - -“It was that man Despencer who told me first.” - -“And you listened to him--you, an honorable man, and my friend?” - -Hammond bowed his head. He thought he could bear her reproaches now. - -“Go on; you can say nothing to me that I have not said already to -myself. I have been a brute, a fool; I know it. I did give him the lie -once, but his words rankled in my mind, and I could not rest till I had -had the charge disproved.” - -“If you are satisfied, go.” - -Hammond started and shivered. He had not heard that tone before; he had -not seen that deeply resolute expression, in which Belle’s face was set -like stone. - -“Oh, not like this! You will forgive me, Belle? You must! This lie has -tortured me far worse than you.” - -He might have made the excuse that he had only repeated the slander -for her sake, and not for the satisfaction of his own doubts. But he -scorned to stoop to subterfuge with her. - -“Why should I? Your good opinion or your friendship are nothing to me -any longer.” - -“My good opinion--friendship! Ah, it is more than that! You know, you -must know, that I have loved you all the time!” - -“So much the worse. For you to speak of love to me is only another -insult.” - -“I did not mean to insult you,” was the humble answer. “I meant to -offer you the love that a man offers to his betrothed.” - -“Does a man cast suspicions on his betrothed?” - -“I have not cast suspicions. My worst fault is to have listened to -those of others. There is no love without jealousy.” - -“There is no love without perfect trust. If a man really loves a woman, -does he set himself to doubt her, to gather up the malicious tattle -of her enemies, and carry it to her, like an accusing judge, and ask -her to clear herself? Ah, no! If he loves her, he first crushes the -slander and the enemy together, and then comes to tell her what he has -done.” - -“Listen to me.” - -“Wait! But I cannot expect to be treated like that. My good name is -of no importance to me; I am public property. There would be nothing -to talk about in the club smoking-rooms if we poor singers were to be -respected. It is natural that we should be bad. And so you come to me -and repeat the accusations which you had not the courage to despise. -And that is your love!” - -“I implore you--” - -“No! With us poor girls it is different. We have not your prudence and -self-restraint. Where we love we do not ask for references. We give our -hearts without reserve, and from the moment we have given them, instead -of searching for stains on the character of the man we love, we set -ourselves to see only the good in him; we shut our eyes to the evil; -we screen his faults; if others attack him, we defend him; and if the -world casts him out, we cling to him all the more.” - -Her voice sank down and ended in a sob. Hammond clasped his hands -together in despair. - -“Why did I ever hesitate? I was a coward. I dreaded the idea of even a -whisper being raised against my wife. Forgive me.” - -“And you were right. Yes, I forgive you.” - -The answer came softly, and the man’s heart was thrilled to the core. - -“And something more,” he pleaded passionately. “Tell me that you love -me like that.” - -Belle slowly, gently shook her head. - -“No. Why do you make it so hard for me? Leave me, I entreat you.” - -Hammond turned faint. - -“You do not love me, then?” he gasped. - -She gave him a despairing look, and answered passionately: - -“No! I don’t love you--I don’t love you!” - -He rose up, without another word, and went away from her. The next -instant, as the door closed behind him, Belle sank down on the seat, -like a flower whose stem is broken, and the tears began to come like -rain. - -A door at the far end of the conservatory softly opened, and a man -stepped through and came towards her, with his finger on his lips. - -It was the Marquis of Severn. - - - - -SCENE X - -“A MARRIAGE HAS BEEN ARRANGED” - - -The most secluded place in the house in Berkeley Square was the -picture-gallery. The most secluded spot in the picture-gallery was the -Lovers’ Window. - -The gallery itself ran across the back of the house on the second -floor, and was thus outside the legitimate bounds within which the -concert guests were entitled to wander. It was approached by a door -at each end, giving on to the staircase, and the walls were hung with -pictures, chiefly of the faded, washed-out schools of Lawrence and -Constable. - -The window was a deep and lofty bay, almost a little room, in the -centre of the gallery. A cushioned seat, like a divan, ran round -the bay, and on either side of the opening hung a thick curtain of -dark-purple velvet. - -In this sequestered nook no sound of the concert going on below could -be heard. It was no doubt for this reason that the Lady Victoria -Mauleverer had come thither, and was now reclining on the divan, with -one beautiful white elbow resting on the sill of the open window. - -As it happened, she was not alone. Captain Gerald Mauleverer, guided -possibly by some cousinly instinct, had also sought a refuge from the -music in the same spot. He was sitting near her, and regarding her with -a reproachful countenance. - -“Do you know what my aunt has been telling me about you?” he began. - -Victoria gave a shrug of the most supreme indifference. - -“No; but I have no doubt it was something interesting. My mother has so -much imagination.” - -“She told me that you were as good as engaged.” - -“Did she? Ah, well, I suppose she has found a purchaser for me at last.” - -“How can you!” Gerald stamped his foot. “Who is it?” - -“She did tell me his name, but I have forgotten it,” drawled Victoria. -“I can tell you his income, though.” - -Her cousin looked at her, half angry and half pleased. - -“Thank Heaven, you don’t care for him! I believe I have your heart, -after all.” - -“My what?” asked Victoria, in a tone of surprised curiosity. - -“Your heart, you hateful creature.” - -“What childish words you use, Gerald! I couldn’t understand what you -meant. No; I suppose I shall be bought complete, with all fittings, but -I don’t fancy a heart is mentioned in the inventory.” - -“Have you really promised to marry this man, Vick?” - -His cousin put her head on one side and considered. - -“It hasn’t got quite to that point. The customer hasn’t actually given -the order yet, but my mother is an expert saleswoman, and I have no -doubt that by the next time you see me I shall have the usual ticket on -to show that I am disposed of.” - -The captain gnawed his mustache as his eyes sought in vain to fix those -of the insolent beauty. - -“Hang it! don’t you care a little bit? I have loved you for years. Does -it all go for nothing with you?” - -Victoria sat up and became business-like. - -“Stupid fellow, why can’t you look at it rationally, like I do? There, -I will give in to you so far as to say that I would much rather you -bought me than anybody else. I would even give a discount in your -case; you should have me at store prices. But what is the use? We -couldn’t live together. You know they separate married couples in the -workhouse.” - -“I have eight hundred a year,” the man protested. - -“That would pay for my frocks. Any debts?” - -“Well, I have a little paper out,” he reluctantly admitted. - -“So I thought. Small income, large debts--” - -“No, not large debts.” - -“Several thousands, I have no doubt. Large debts, no occupation--” - -“Don’t you count the army?” he interrupted. - -“Certainly not,” was the firm answer. “I mean an occupation by which -you can earn a living. No occupation, idle habits, expensive tastes--” - -“No, Vick!” His tone became one of honest indignation. “No, you can’t -charge me with that, you know. I may be idle, but you can’t charge me -with extravagance.” - -“What do you pay for your cigars?” the merciless inquisitor demanded. - -“A shilling. I get them at a little shop in Jermyn Street that nobody -else knows of, and they are worth double the money.” - -“Gerald!” - -“No, really, Vick, you have no right to talk to me like that. -If there’s one thing that I do pride myself on, it is that I am -economical.” - -“What is the use of being economical on nothing?” She turned and looked -him full in the face. “I will be serious with you, Gerald. If you had -any means at all, any real income or prospect of it, I would throw -over all the millionaires in Christendom to-morrow, but as it is--!” A -despairing gesture completed the sentence. - -“Why can’t you wait for me, then?” exclaimed the desperate captain. -“Give me a chance, and I will go out and raid the Transvaal, or do -something desperate.” - -“I didn’t know there was anything very desperate in raiding the -Transvaal,” retorted Victoria, resuming her cynical vein. “I thought -the worst thing you exposed yourself to was to have poetry written -about you in the papers.” - -A door opened at the end of the gallery, and Gerald hastily rose to his -feet. - -“Ah! I felt sure we should be interrupted,” said Victoria. “I believe -my mother has me shadowed. Don’t go, Gerald,” she added, loudly enough -for her parent to hear as she bore down upon the pair, the faithful -Despencer following in the wake. - -The marchioness came to a full stop at the opening, with a dramatic -start. - -“Victoria! I thought I had forbidden you to behave like this!” - -Her daughter gave an amused smile. - -“My dear mother, I thought we agreed only the other day that I was of -age.” - -The marchioness turned on her nephew as a less dangerous adversary. - -“As for you, Gerald, I am surprised at you. You ought to know better -than to come and sit here with your cousin.” - -Victoria gallantly came to his rescue. - -“If you and Mr. Despencer want to sit here, we will go away,” she -offered, sweetly. - -The marchioness recoiled, and gazed at her like King Lear listening to -Goneril’s complaints about his knights. - -“When you are married I shall wash my hands of you, and if your -unfortunate husband likes to let you carry on an open flirtation with -your cousin, he may,” she said, viciously. “But while you are on my -hands I am determined to put a stop to these clandestine doings. You -hear me, Gerald?” - -Gerald felt that he must stand by his cousin. - -“Yes, aunt,” he said, with unlooked-for courage; “but I don’t see how -our flirtation can be open and yet clandestine at the same time. It -must be one or the other, you know.” - -As the action was becoming general, the marchioness with a look brought -up her light cavalry in the person of Despencer. - -“I don’t know that,” he interposed. “There is no better concealment -sometimes than a parade of openness.” - -“Really, mamma, this won’t do!” Victoria protested. “I have schooled -myself to bear Mr. Despencer’s compliments, but I really don’t think I -can stand him as a moralist. I must draw the line somewhere.” - -The marchioness threw her broad shield over her luckless ally. - -“Mr. Despencer was not speaking to you, and I will not allow you to -talk like that when he is only acting in your true interests.” - -“Well, then, I wish he wouldn’t,” was the rebellious answer. “One’s -true interests are always so singularly unpleasant. How should you like -it if Gerald or somebody were to begin acting in your true interests?” - -The marchioness looked alarmed. - -“There, that will do,” she said, hurriedly. “Understand me, Gerald, I -particularly wish to speak to Victoria for a minute by herself. You -won’t refuse a mother’s request?” - -“Not when she is a woman,” returned the reckless youth. And he strolled -off. - -The marchioness watched him safely through the door of the gallery, and -then seated herself by her daughter’s side. - -“Thank Heaven, we have got rid of him in time!” - -“Why, is anything particular going to happen?” Victoria inquired, -carelessly. - -The marchioness glowed with triumph. - -“Mr. Hammond is coming here to propose to you!” - -“Is that all?” said Victoria. - -Despencer was becoming anxious to withdraw before being favored with -any more of Lady Victoria’s sarcasms. The only way to escape was to -take her part against the marchioness. He therefore remarked: - -“A most simple occurrence, which might happen to anybody.” - -His patroness turned to him indignantly. - -“Mr. Despencer, do you wish to encourage her?” - -“I fancy Lady Victoria requires no encouragement from me. She appears -to face the situation with admirable nerve. Breeding will tell.” - -“Go away, directly!” ordered the marchioness. - -“Yes; where to?” - -The marchioness hesitated a moment. - -“To the end of the gallery.” Despencer began to move away. “And wait -there for me.” - -“Am I not always waiting for you, marchioness?” - -And with a graceful bow to both ladies, he retired to the opposite door -to that by which they had just entered. - -“Aren’t you a little rough with the poor creature?” asked Victoria, in -a tone of compassion as he disappeared. “You will break him some day.” - -“Do you realize what I have just told you?” said her mother, ignoring -the remark. - -“I have forgotten. Wasn’t it something about an offer of marriage? Who -did you say it was this time?” - -“You will drive me distracted! Now, listen to me; this may be your last -chance. If you refuse Mr. Hammond you may never get another offer.” - -“There is always Gerald to fall back upon.” - -“Another decent offer, I mean,” was the stern retort. “Of course, you -can always marry. I dare say a dean or a county court judge, or some -one of that sort, would be willing to take you with nothing but your -clothes. But this is the last respectable match I shall offer you. I -have taken the greatest pains to bring this man to the point, and if -you refuse him now I sha’n’t try again.” - -“You frighten me, mother. I hope you haven’t been resorting to extreme -measures against Mr. Hammond! You haven’t been putting pressure on him -by threatening to reveal his past?” - -The marchioness shook her head impatiently. - -“Answer me plainly, Victoria: do you intend to accept him?” - -“Are you sure he is going to propose?” - -“Morally sure. He just asked me where he was likely to find you, and I -told him I thought you would be here about this time.” - -“How did you know that?” asked Victoria, with interest. - -“Because I meant to look for you myself and send you here,” was the -resolute answer. “In these matters I leave nothing to chance.” - -“You _have_ taken pains!” exclaimed her daughter, with genuine -admiration. “But you don’t know that he is going to propose. He may -only be going to say good-bye.” - -“Nonsense! I know perfectly well. I can always tell when a man is going -to propose. My judgment has never been deceived.” - -Victoria affected to conceal a yawn. - -“Well, I am much obliged to you for warning me. I shall be prepared.” - -“And you will accept him, won’t you, like a good girl?” pleaded the -marchioness, with maternal tenderness. - -“I haven’t the slightest idea what I shall do,” was the callous reply. -“I hope he won’t be sentimental over it.” - -“Victoria! Do you refuse to do your duty to society and to your -parents?” - -Victoria was mildly annoyed. - -“There, now _you_ are going to be sentimental!” she protested. - -The marchioness rose to her feet in real anger. - -“You shameful, depraved, ungrateful child! You wish to break your -mother’s heart!” - -Victoria darted a strange look at her mother, which the marchioness was -unable to meet. Then she observed, quietly: - -“Don’t you think the less we say about hearts the better, mamma?” - -The marchioness was opening her lips to reply, when her face suddenly -changed, a beautiful smile replacing the angry frown. Hammond had just -entered the gallery. - - - - -SCENE XI - -“AND WILL SHORTLY TAKE PLACE” - - -It is generally the first impulse of a man who has been rejected by the -woman he loves to offer himself to the woman who loves him. When the -sun has set the light of the moon becomes precious. - -John Hammond did not believe that the Lady Victoria Mauleverer did him -the honor to love him after the fashion in which he loved Belle Yorke. -But the frankness with which she conducted their mutual flirtation made -him think of her as more sincere than the over-innocent maidens who -pretended to turn shy at his approach, and practised the blushes which -they had been taught by a Bond Street professor at a guinea a blush. He -felt that there was something flattering to him in her disdain of the -small arts of cajolery, and he told himself that the preference which -she so plainly showed for him must needs be genuine. - -It does not require very much to convince a man of any self-confidence -that he possesses a woman’s regard. The very cynicism with which -Victoria discussed their relations might be the cloak of a deeper -feeling, which she was too proud to confess until its return was -assured. In his present mood, however, Hammond felt no desire to -penetrate beneath that surface good-comradeship, which was all that -either he or Victoria had yet shown to the other. He could not have -gone from his interview with Belle to make love to another woman. He, -no more than Victoria, desired to be sentimental. Nevertheless, it -soothed him to think that this woman, who was willing to meet him in -his own spirit of indifference, might be secretly more fond of him than -he was of her. - -It seemed to him that the die was cast, and that he could not too soon -put it out of his own power to recall the throw. He had fought out the -struggle between Love and Ambition, and in the moment of surrendering -to Love, Love had failed him. Well, Ambition was left. The marchioness -had correctly diagnosed the symptoms, though she had little idea of -their cause. John Hammond had come to propose to Victoria. - -It only remained for the forethoughtful parent to get herself out of -the way. - -“It is too bad of you, Mr. Hammond!” she exclaimed, with the -playfulness of a boa-constrictor. “I believe you knew I was here, and -waited down below on purpose for me to go away.” - -Hammond smiled rather wearily. - -“Now, that is very artful of you, marchioness. The truth is that you -are going away just because I have come.” - -“You are perfectly right, Mr. Hammond,” remarked Victoria. - -Her mother wrenched her lips into the similitude of a smile. - -“I see what it is,” she said, with immense slyness. “You two have an -understanding, and you want to get rid of me. Very well, I sha’n’t -interfere with your little plans. I always know when I am in the way. -Good-bye. Good-bye.” - -The devoted parent nodded and smiled herself out of the gallery, -consumed with a frantic inward longing to take her stubborn child by -the shoulders and shake her into a more becoming frame of mind. - -It was fortunate that she could not hear that child’s first remark -after she had gone. - -“My poor mother amuses me very much. She thinks she is such a deep -schemer, and she is so transparent all the time.” - -“You mustn’t ask me to take sides with an undutiful daughter,” -responded Hammond. “May I sit down? I am lucky in finding you here.” - -“There isn’t much luck about it,” said Victoria, bluntly, as she made -way for him to sit beside her. “My mother knew you were coming, and -ordered me to remain here to meet you.” - -“The marchioness is very considerate,” replied Hammond, fairly taken -aback by this extraordinary confidence. - -“Yes, but I find it a little embarrassing sometimes,” Victoria -remarked. “She is so very barefaced, you know. She positively throws me -at eligible men. I hope you don’t mind having me thrown at you?” - -“On the contrary, I find it rather agreeable than otherwise. You don’t -hurt at all.” - -“I am so glad. Tell me when you are tired, and I will make her leave -off and throw me at some one else.” - -“Isn’t there another alternative?” Hammond saw a faint color come into -Victoria’s cheeks as he spoke, and went on quietly. “Do you know, I -wanted to see you, to consult you about a letter that I received this -morning.” - -He put his hand into his breast pocket and drew out a blue envelope of -the inconvenient oblong shape still in use by so-called business men. -Victoria continued to recline in the same lazy attitude on the divan, -but she watched him keenly out of the corner of her eyes. - -“How interesting!” she murmured, as he drew out a closely written sheet -and unfolded it. “I hope it is an anonymous letter taking away my -character.” - -“No; curiously enough, it is from one who has a very high opinion of -you.” - -Victoria became more languid still. - -“I am dying to hear it.” - -“You shall.” He began to read aloud: - - “‘BOOT AND SHOE EMPORIUM, - “HIGH STREET, TOOTING.’” - -“I know who it is from!” Victoria exclaimed, eagerly. “That delightful -alderman!” - -“Don’t interrupt, please. ‘_My dear Mr. Hammond--_’” - -“How sweetly friendly!” - -“Hush! ‘_It is with considerable reluctance that I have consented, at -the request of many of your leading supporters in the Division, to -address you on a subject of great delicacy and importance--_’” - -“Mysterious creature!” - -“‘_I refer to the question of your marriage--_’” - -“This is most interesting!” - -Hammond frowned sternly at the fair interrupter. - -“Wait! ‘_Some time ago it was generally rumored in the constituency -that you were likely to lead to the altar Lady Victoria Hildegonde Jane -Beauchamp-Mauleverer_, only _daughter of the most noble the Marquis of -Severn, K.G.--_’” - -“He must have looked me up in Whitaker’s ‘Titled Persons.’” - -“‘_And the news gave us the greatest satisfaction, as it was felt that -by so doing you would greatly strengthen your social prestige, and -thereby deprive the Liberals of their advantage in having secured a -baronet as their candidate--_’” - -“He quite crushes you there.” - -“‘_But I regret to state that a report has now reached us that this -marriage is not likely to come off, and your enemies have the audacity -to allege that you are contemplating a union with a singer on the -music-hall stage whose name has been a target for the breath of -scandal. Your friends have, of course, indignantly denied the rumor, -but we think it would be desirable in your interest that you should -at once write me a formal contradiction, which could be inserted, if -necessary, in the local press. Trusting you will see your way to do -this, and apologizing for the liberty I have taken, with very kind -regards, I am, yours sincerely_, - - “‘EDWARD DOBBIN.’” - - -“He gets rather prosy towards the end, doesn’t he?” commented Victoria, -who had listened in silence to that part of the letter. - -“You haven’t heard the postscript,” said Hammond. “‘P.S.--_If you -could at the same time authorize me to announce your engagement to Lady -Beauchamp-Mauleverer, we consider it would have an excellent effect._’” - -“Artful old thing! He is almost as bad as my mother.” - -Hammond folded up the letter and put it back in his pocket. - -“Well, now, what do you advise me to do?” - -“Oh, send the contradiction, by all means.” - -“And what about the further announcement?” - -Their eyes met seriously for the first time. Victoria answered, in the -same light tone: - -“Well, it seems a pity to disappoint him.” - -“Then you won’t contradict it?” - -“No, I never write to the papers.” - -Hammond bent forward respectfully. - -“Thank you. May I kiss your hand?” - -“If you will promise not to be sentimental,” said Victoria, yielding -gracefully. - -“I think I can promise that,” said Hammond, with secret bitterness. -And he bowed over the white fingers, wondering if this woman really -wished to be his wife, while Victoria wondered in her turn why on earth -this man wanted to marry her. - -They were not left long in their mutual embarrassment. The marchioness -was burning with impatience to learn the result of her arduous -campaign, and as soon as she thought she had given the lovers time -enough to adjust matters she returned to the spot, Despencer being -admitted to share the anticipated triumph. - -“So you are still here!” the mother exclaimed, with innocent surprise. -“I hope that girl has not been shocking you very much, Mr. Hammond?” - -“Well, she has, rather,” he answered, dryly. “She has promised to be my -wife!” - -“My dear child!” The loving mother rushed to fold her daughter in a -close embrace, to which Victoria submitted with silent scorn. “This -is sudden, but I cannot say it takes me altogether by surprise. -A mother’s eye sees so much,” added the marchioness, plaintively, -implying that she had long watched over her child’s secret love and -seen it grow from day to day. - -Despencer stood viewing the touching scene with an ironical smile. “She -will overdo this if she isn’t careful,” was his unspoken comment. - -The marchioness turned to her new son. - -“I give her to you, John, because I know you will make her happy. If -I had had the choice of a son-in-law, there is no one I should have -preferred to you.” - -As a bald matter of fact, there had been a slight element of choice -about it. - -Hammond bowed with due gratitude. - -“Let me offer my congratulations, too, if I may,” Despencer put in. -“This sort of thing quite touches me.” - -“Thank you,” said Hammond, curtly. “I hope to have the pleasure of -speaking to the marquis in the morning,” he added to the marquis’s -wife. - -“I will prepare him for it. I am sure you will find him ready to -welcome you as a son,” responded the marchioness, with enthusiasm. - -Victoria rose from her seat. - -“There, that will do, mother. You are not good at domestic sentiment; -it isn’t in your line. Can’t we go and bill and coo somewhere else?” -she said to her betrothed. - -“What a child!” murmured her parent, still deeply affected. “Take care -of her, John.” - -John intimated his disposition to do so by a bow, and the marchioness -and Despencer found themselves alone. The latter hastened to console -his companion. - -“Don’t mind her, marchioness. You did that very well, indeed. The -maternal embrace was perfect.” - -The marchioness sat down on the divan and heaved a deep sigh of -satisfaction. - -“You may be as rude as you like now,” she observed, mildly, “because -you have been so clever and wicked in managing this for me. I suppose -it is quite settled now. He won’t go back to that horrid girl again?” - -Despencer placed himself on the seat beside the marchioness at the -exact distance which he thought safe, as he replied: - -“I think not. The game is not quite finished yet. I am still waiting to -play my ace of trumps.” - -The marchioness was too full of her triumph to heed the last words. - -“We had better announce this in the papers at once,” she remarked, -pursuing her own line of thought. “One cannot make too sure.” - -“You will have to wait till he has seen Lord Severn,” suggested the -prudent Despencer. - -The marchioness made a grimace. - -“I suppose so. How tiresome all this etiquette is! I sometimes wish I -could go and be a curate’s wife in the country.” - -This pathetic yearning failed to move the callous listener. He retorted: - -“I believe there is no more rigid code of etiquette than that which -obtains among curates’ wives in the country. I used to know three -curates’ wives and one rector’s, but they have all dropped me. I never -knew why.” - -“I am afraid you must have a dreadful reputation,” said the -marchioness, admiringly. “I positively don’t think I ought to stay here -alone with you. Do you know they call this the Lovers’ Window?” - -Despencer’s eyes fell on the marchioness, and he ventured two and a -half inches nearer. - -“What a romantic situation! You ought not to have told me that. -Remember that I am a poet.” - -“I am afraid you are only mocking me,” said the marchioness, lowering -her eyes with a bashfulness which, regarded as a work of art, was -beautiful. “I believe you are a heartless cynic.” - -Despencer moved an inch nearer along the divan as he protested-- - -“No, you are quite wrong. You must not judge me by outward appearances, -or you will be deceived. The fact is, I am a hypocrite. I pretend to -be more worldly and wicked than I really am. If you could look into my -heart you would be surprised.” - -“I have no doubt of that. But you are not going to persuade me that I -should find much innocence there.” - -“Ah! but, my dear marchioness, why speak of it like that? Think how -uninteresting innocence is. Believe me, innocence has been sadly -overpraised by people who knew very little about it. For my part, I -much prefer experience. One is a blank page, the other is a romance, -generally of the kind that is not allowed on the railway book-stalls.” - -The marchioness was not insensible to the subtle flattery. Her voice -became actually soft. - -“You are not going to pretend to me that there is anything romantic -about an old woman who will soon be forty.” (The marchioness’s own age -in society was thirty-seven.) - -Despencer moved six inches closer. But there was no softening in his -voice; that was where he had the advantage over the marchioness. - -“Every woman is romantic when she is seated in the Lovers’ Window with -a man,” he murmured in her ear. - -What might have happened next it is impossible even to imagine. What -did happen was that both started violently apart, and rose to their -feet at the same time, the marchioness exclaiming, in a tone of subdued -consternation, “Of all men in the world, my husband!” - -The Marquis of Severn had come in very quietly by the door at the -farther end of the gallery. As his wife and her companion came rather -awkwardly out on to the floor of the gallery, he walked past them into -the window, scarcely heeding their presence, and stood with his back -towards them, looking out at the slowly rising moon. - -Throwing an impatient frown behind her, the marchioness led the way out -by the other door. Just as they reached it it was opened from without, -revealing on the threshold Belle Yorke. - -The marchioness stopped abruptly, and directed an astonished and -inquisitive glance from Belle to her husband, and from her husband -to Belle. Then she took hold of Despencer’s arm and marched off in -formidable silence. - - - - -SCENE XII - -THE LONG ARM OF MR. DESPENCER - - -George, Marquis of Severn, was one of those unfortunate men who are out -of sympathy with the class into which they have been born. As a yeoman, -farming his own land, he would have been contented; as a marquis, he -was miserable. His rank was irksome to him, he was bored by dignity, he -took no interest in politics, and detested what is called society. - -If his lot had lain in a humbler sphere of life, he would have had a -wife of his own choice, and been a good husband and father. As it was, -he had married a woman selected for him by his people, and with whom -he had not a thought in common. She was not his wife--she was merely -his marchioness. He felt himself a stranger in his own household; his -very children grew up to regard him with good-natured contempt, and the -people with whom Lady Severn surrounded herself were hardly conscious -that there was such a person as Lord Severn in existence. - -By natural disposition George Mauleverer was the reverse of a -libertine. He was fitted for domestic happiness as it is understood -by the middle classes. The irony of his fate compelled him to seek it -away from his own hearth, under conditions fatal to its permanence. The -woman whom he had taken as his second wife, and whom he would willingly -have continued to treat as such, was too much like himself to rest -satisfied in a life which outraged the social and moral prejudices of -her class. She could not find satisfaction any more than he in that -restless, artificial form of existence which is known as a life of -pleasure. She hated the gay sisterhood of St. John, and yearned after -the respectability in which she had been reared. To these motives for -breaking off the connection was added, after a few years, the decisive -one of religion. A sermon convicted her of living in sin, and she -resolved to return to the paths of righteousness. - -George Mauleverer could not oppose her determination. He sorrowfully -recognized that she was in the right, and assisted her efforts to -regain her natural place in the world. In due course she found a -husband, and from that moment all intercourse between the two came to -an end. - -The only right which the man reserved to himself was that of watching -over the child of their former union. He had done this under an -assumed name, and in the character of a godfather. Neither he nor -the mother had contemplated the necessity of revealing the truth to -their daughter. But they had reckoned without the world. Just as Belle -was growing into womanhood her stepfather died, and her mother was -threatened with disastrous poverty. In that strait she would not -consent to take money from her old lover. As a lesser evil, she allowed -her daughter to turn her talents to account on the stage. - -It had occurred neither to her nor to Belle’s father that the secret -which had been kept so successfully while Belle remained in the -obscurity of middle-class life might be endangered by the publicity -which she must now incur. The father continued to associate with his -daughter under the name by which she knew him. But Belle’s comings and -goings now fell under the eyes of more than one who knew the Marquis -of Severn. London is not such a large place as some of us are apt to -suppose; or, rather, within the small area covered by a dozen theatres -and restaurants which some of us are apt to mistake for London, there -is not much more real privacy than in a village for those whose doings -happen to be of interest to the lookers-on. - -It did not take long for the world of Piccadilly Circus to discover -the identity of the quiet, badly dressed, middle-aged man who was seen -from time to time in the company of the celebrated Belle Yorke. Further -than that the world could hardly be expected to inquire. It drew its -own conclusions, and very naturally judged others by itself. - -No whisper of the discovery had yet reached the ears of the Marquis -of Severn. When he heard his daughter’s name announced in his wife’s -drawing-room, he had realized for the first time the danger and falsity -of his position. At once he made up his mind that it was necessary for -Belle to know the truth. The merest accident, the sight of one of his -portraits, might lead to a scandal. He dared not run the risk of going -up to her himself before the crowd. He escaped into another room, and, -finding his nephew there, resolved to intrust him with the task of -speaking to Belle. - -Gerald had always had a loyal regard for his homely and despised -uncle. He listened to his confession with sympathy, and undertook to -warn Belle that she was in her father’s house. But he had carried -out his task imperfectly. The marquis realized that he must himself -complete the revelation which Gerald had begun. He had found Belle for -a moment by herself, and had arranged this meeting in a spot where he -expected to be free from interruption. - -“Why should the marchioness look at you like that?” asked Belle, in -perfect innocence, as she came towards the window, where her father was -waiting for her. - -“That is one of the things that I have to tell you,” he answered, -gravely. “But sit down, my dear, sit down.” - -She obeyed, and gazed up at him wonderingly as he stood before her. - -“I thought it better to bring you here,” he explained. “We might have -been disturbed down-stairs, but no one ever comes here except the -members of the family.” - -Belle opened her eyes. - -“Are you, then--what about you? Are you a member of the same family as -the Marchioness of Severn?” - -The marquis bowed his head. - -“Yes, I am a member of the family. That is what I want to speak to you -about. I want to tell you a family secret.” - -“But why? Why should you tell me?” she gasped, with something like -dismay. “I don’t belong to the Marquis of Severn’s family.” - -Her father stifled a groan. - -“Suppose I were to tell you that you did?” he said in a low voice. - -The recollection of her interview with Captain Mauleverer rushed over -Belle. She shrank back and raised her hands as though for protection. - -“No; this--this isn’t the secret, is it?” she whispered. - -“Listen,” was the answer. “I have just spoken to Gerald, and he tells -me that he only delivered half of the message he was to have given you -this evening. Do you think you can bear to hear the rest?” - -Again she held up her hands with that pathetic, deprecating gesture. - -“Wait! Don’t tell it to me too quickly! Give me time to think a little, -won’t you?” - -“Poor child!” - -He turned away his head, unable to face the sight of her distress, and -silence reigned for a minute. Belle was the first to speak. - -“Captain Mauleverer told me that my father was still alive. That is -true, then?” - -“Yes, that is true.” - -“And that--that-- Oh, tell it me as kindly as you can!” - -The marquis caught his breath. - -“Your father is a damned villain!” he cried out. - -“Don’t speak so harshly as that!” she implored. “Don’t make him out -worse than you can help. Remember, I am his daughter, after all.” - -“You are too good for him, Belle. He doesn’t deserve that you should -call yourself his daughter.” - -She looked up quickly. - -“You know him, then?” - -“Yes, I know him.” - -“Then--is he a relation of Lord Severn’s?” - -“He is Lord Severn.” - -“Ah!” In the midst of her astonishment a bitter thought came into her -mind. “Now I begin to understand. So that is why Lord Severn left the -house the moment I arrived, without seeing me.” - -“Yes, that is the reason.” - -“And why was I asked to come here, then? Why did he let his wife bring -me here to sing for hire in my own father’s house? Oh, it was cruel, -cruel!” - -The marquis shook beneath the reproach. - -“He did not know; the marchioness arranged it without telling him. Your -father knew nothing of it till you were here.” - -“And the marchioness?” she demanded, with sudden fire. - -“The marchioness has never heard that you are his daughter. It has been -kept a secret from every one.” - -The expression of Belle’s face became hard. - -“I see. Lord Severn is a great nobleman, I suppose, and he was ashamed -of the poor little music-hall singer whom he had cast off as soon -as she was born, and whom he never wished to see. So that is why he -ordered his nephew to speak to me, to warn me off the premises, lest -I should embarrass him before his noble wife and daughter. And now he -has sent you to complete the work.” She rose to her feet in bitter -indignation. “Well, you may tell my father that he has no need to fear. -I will not trouble him; I will go.” - -Every word stung the marquis like the knot of a lash. - -“Stop!” he cried, passionately. “What are you thinking of? You cannot -go like this.” - -“And do you think,” said Belle, turning on him with flashing eyes, -“that now I know the truth I will stop another moment beneath the roof -of a father who considers me a disgrace to him? I will go, if I should -have to walk the whole way home barefoot!” - -“No, stay; you don’t understand! My God, that you should take it like -this! Your father is not ashamed of you, but of himself. It is he who -disgraces you, not you him. He went away because he had not the courage -to meet you, and to tell you with his own lips the injury he had done -you.” - -“Is that the truth?” She gazed at him in doubt, a half-formed suspicion -beginning to struggle faintly for entrance to her mind. “Then why has -he never come near me since I was born? Why has he let me grow up in -ignorance that I had a father? Why has he never cast one glance of pity -towards his nameless child?” - -The marquis stood silent, eager to answer, and yet afraid. She went on -with increasing vehemence: - -“No, I am not his child; the Lady Victoria is his child. She has sat -upon his knee; I never have. She bears his name, and is protected by -his rank; I bear a name to which I have no right, and have no one to -protect me. She has been reared in her father’s house, among riches -and splendor; I have grown up in obscurity, and have had to go out to -battle with the world. She meets in her father’s drawing-room the men -whom I meet in the street. No; you are wrong in telling me that Lord -Severn is my father. I have no father. Lady Victoria is his daughter, -but I am only his orphan.” - -The marquis broke down. - -“Belle, don’t make it too hard for me,” he said, humbly. “Your father -has not been quite so bad as that. He has watched over you, but, like a -coward, in disguise.” - -For a minute she stood with heaving breast gazing at him, while his -own eyes were cast down before her. - -“Father! You!” The words escaped slowly from her lips at last. - -Her father gave a bitter sigh. - -“If we men could foresee these moments in our lives, we should not sin -so lightly. Yes, I have done you the greatest injury that a father can -do his child. I have tried all these years to persuade myself that the -best atonement I could make was to keep you in ignorance of the truth; -but now the truth has been forced from me, and you see me ashamed to -look you in the face.” - -“Don’t speak like that!” said his daughter, gently; “don’t look away -from me! Why, I thought I had no father, but now--” - -He looked up swiftly, a new hope in his eyes. - -“You are going to forgive me, my child?” he said, and trembled. - -“No,” said Belle, simply, “I am going to love you.” - -He uttered a cry, and clasped her to him. - -“After all,” she said presently with a tearful smile, “I was only -a poor little music-hall singer before. It isn’t as if I had much -character to lose, is it?” - -“You are very good to me, my child. If you knew how often I have wanted -to tell you who I was, and been afraid to do it! The Fates prepare some -rough places for us, but the beds we make for ourselves are the hardest -to lie on.” - -“Does any one else know of this, father?” Belle asked. - -“No one knows it except Gerald, and I can trust him. This must be a -secret between us two, Belle. It is the one favor I have to ask of you; -and I don’t ask it for my own sake, but for the sake of my family.” - -“For the sake of the Marchioness of Severn. I understand.” There was a -touch of resentment in her voice. “She has been good enough to speak to -me since I came to this house; she has explained to me the gulf that -separates her world from mine.” - -“My child! If you knew how bitter it is to me not to be able to spare -you such things! But what motive could she have had for speaking to you -like that? She can have no suspicion of the truth, surely?” - -“Oh, no. She simply wished to point out to me how unworthy I was to -receive the honorable addresses of a gentleman such as her daughter -might accept.” - -“What man is that?” - -“Mr. John Hammond.” - -The marquis started. It was the first time he had heard Hammond’s name -in connection with Belle’s, and he was not ignorant of his wife’s -designs on behalf of Victoria. - -“The very man!” he exclaimed. “And you--what have you done?” - -“I have taken her ladyship’s good advice,” said Belle, proudly. “I have -refused Mr. Hammond.” - -Her father stood and gazed at her in consternation. This rivalry -between his two daughters, the rich one and the poor one, came on him -as an unexpected shock. Suddenly there came a sound of the door opening -at the end of the gallery. - -“We must not be seen!” burst from his lips; and, without pausing to -consider the possible consequences, he seized hold of the curtains and -drew them across the opening. - -There had been two persons outside the door, and they entered together. -One was Despencer, the other was John Hammond. - -It was not in Despencer’s nature to be revengeful, but he had not been -left entirely unmoved by Hammond’s biting taunts during their interview -in the conservatory. But for them he might have been satisfied with the -success already achieved. His only motive in denouncing Belle Yorke -in the first place had been to bring about the engagement which he -had just seen ratified. It was Hammond’s insulting treatment of him -which had given him a personal interest in the affair. He yielded to -the temptation of proving himself right and scoring off the man who -had disbelieved him. As soon as he could manage his escape from the -marchioness, he went to seek Hammond and bring him to the spot where he -had left the marquis and Belle Yorke together. - -Hammond at first refused to listen. Belle had assured him with her -own lips that she had never even seen the man with whom her name was -coupled. But Despencer’s statement compelled him to action. Wondering, -reluctant, and dismayed, he allowed himself to be dragged into the -gallery. - -Both men as they entered glanced eagerly in the direction of the -window. The next instant both stopped abruptly, and their eyes met. -Despencer’s filled with malicious triumph, Hammond’s with the deepest -mortification. - -The curtains were closed. Who was behind them? - -“Now, if you wish to know the truth, draw that curtain,” the tempter -whispered. Then he walked slowly out of the gallery, watching Hammond -as he went. - -Left to himself, Hammond stood in silent anguish, his gaze fixed on the -velvet folds which spared him the sight of the falsehood of the woman -he loved. Fresh from his betrothal to Victoria, he had forgotten her -already, so much greater was the bitterness of finding that his love -was misplaced than the bitterness of having it rejected. He thought he -could hear that Belle should not love him, but he found he could not -bear that she should love another. - -Face to face with that curtain, there seemed to be no more room for -doubt. Despencer might not be a man of honor, but he could not, he -dared not, have brought Hammond there unless he were sure of the -result. What inducement had Despencer to lie? None. And Belle? Alas! it -was evident that she had only too much. - -He took a step towards the curtain, and then drew back. What right -had he to lift it? What right had he, the promised husband of Lady -Victoria, to test the faith of the woman who had just refused his hand? -Reason bade him go away, satisfied with the silent testimony of that -damning screen. - -But reason is a mere lawyer, whose client is passion. John Hammond -could no more leave that gallery without drawing the curtain than -the steel can detach itself from the magnet. It did not take long to -reason himself into the belief that to go away now would be disloyalty -to Belle herself; it would be to accept Despencer’s word against hers -without inquiry. He stepped forward again, and his hand was stretched -out towards the curtain, when he was arrested by the entrance of a man -at the opposite door. - -Captain Mauleverer had taken advantage of his dismissal by the -marchioness to wander off to a nook at the top of his uncle’s house and -indulge in a quiet smoke. Returning through the gallery, where he had -half hoped to find Victoria waiting for him, he was surprised to find -himself in the presence of Hammond. - -“Why, Hammond, what are you doing here all by yourself?” he exclaimed -as he came up. - -Hammond drew back a few steps from the curtain. - -“What am I doing?” He raised his voice and glanced towards the purple -folds as though he would have looked through them to see the effect of -his words. “I am wondering why it is that we men are ever fools enough -to expect truth from the lips of a woman.” - -“Is that all?” returned Mauleverer, his own mood in harmony with his -friend’s. “I didn’t know that any sensible man ever did. I’m sure I -don’t.” - -“Why, what is wrong with you?” asked the other, incredulously. “You -haven’t been deceived by the woman you trusted?” - -“It seems to me we all have,” was the bitter answer. “Don’t you -remember what I was telling you about down-stairs?” - -“Ah, yes; I had forgotten it. You mean that girl? Why, have you just -discovered that she really loves another man?” - -“Not that exactly. She loves me, or she pretends to, but she has sold -herself to the other man.” - -“She doesn’t love you!” The words were pronounced with an emphasis -which Mauleverer could not understand, and which was not meant for his -ears. “They all pretend, if not in words, in looks and actions. It is -their occupation, like politics with us. I knew a woman once who made -me think she loved me. She never said so, you understand, but led me -on, and laughed at me in her sleeve all the while. Depend upon it, this -girl of yours is like her. She has some secret lover in the background, -some man whom she has sworn to you that she has never seen.” - -There were three listeners to that savage outburst--two men and a -woman; but only the woman understood. - -The captain remonstrated. - -“I don’t think that of her. No; hang it! the girl is straight enough. -She doesn’t think me worth deceiving; I am too poor.” - -“I see. Then it is the other man she is deceiving, and you are the -lover in the background. You see, it comes to the same thing. I told -you they were all alike.” - -“It’s not her fault, damn it!” said the loyal Gerald. “She has got to -marry the brute; her people have driven her into it.” - -“Why?” - -“You needn’t ask. Money. It’s some infernal millionaire like you.” - -Hammond started. For the first time he turned his attention from the -unseen listeners to this dialogue to the man who was speaking to him. - -“Who? What did you say? Who is this man?” - -“I don’t know his name; she wouldn’t tell me,” replied the suspicious -captain. “What does it matter to me who he is?” - -“Do I know the girl?” - -“Yes. I don’t mind telling you, old man; it’s my cousin Victoria.” - -“What!” The word burst from Hammond like a bullet. His eyes sought the -curtain. “Are all women traitors?” he cried. - -And striding to the curtains, he dragged them back. There in the light -of the moon stood the two who had overheard every word. The marquis had -his arm round Belle’s neck, and her face was hidden in her father’s -breast. - -“It is true!” gasped Hammond. - -A tremendous silence followed. How long it lasted none of the four -could tell. At length the marquis broke it. - -“Well, sir?” he said, looking Hammond full in the face with a certain -dignity for which the other had not been prepared. - -“I beg your pardon, marquis. I was told that you and this lady were -strangers, and I believed it, like a fool.” - -He had turned on his heel to withdraw, when he was made aware that some -one else was coming on the scene. He glanced towards the door, and then -with a bow of silent apology drew the curtains across again as he had -found them. This done, he turned round and stood facing whoever might -come in. - -He had expected Despencer, and he was right. But Despencer had not come -alone. He had had another object in view all this time, and what that -object was was now revealed. Having arranged for what promised to be a -stormy scene between Hammond and the Marquis of Severn, having fired -his train and calculated the time required for it to reach the mine, he -had now brought the marchioness to witness the explosion. - -The marchioness entered quickly, her face alight with suspicion. -Despencer had skilfully aroused her expectations, without committing -himself to any definite statement. Her eye instantly fell on the -curtain, and she divined that it concealed a mystery. - -“Why is that curtain closed?” she demanded, advancing towards it. “Is -there any one in the window?” - -There was just one instant in which Hammond hesitated, nearly carried -away by the temptation to let her draw back the curtain and overwhelm -those two by whom he deemed that he had been deceived. Then, just as -the horrified Gerald was about to step forward, Hammond planted himself -right in front of the marchioness. - -“No!” he said, firmly. “There is no one there.” - -She stopped unwillingly and looked at him. He looked at her, and to -that look she yielded. - -A moment afterwards he was leading her out of the gallery on his arm, -while Captain Mauleverer escorted Despencer in the rear. - - - - -SCENE XIII - -THE MARCHIONESS AT BAY - - -“Has anything happened?” - -“The worst has happened.” - -It was the morning after the concert, and the sedulous Despencer had -called upon his exacting patroness, as in duty bound. The marchioness -had only just descended; she had made a hurried toilette, and in -consequence the pearl powder was not quite so delicately shaded off -round her neck as usual, and her waist was at least half an inch wider -than its wont. - -Such touching traces of maternal anxiety were not lost on the observant -Despencer. There is no eye like that of love. - -“Why, what is it? You alarm me,” he said, lazily sinking into a chair -in front of the marchioness. They were in her boudoir, an apartment -which ladies reserve for the reception of gentlemen who do not happen -to be married to them. The Marquis of Severn had not been in his wife’s -boudoir for ten years. - -“That man Hammond has had the audacity to send a note to Victoria -this morning asking her to release him from their engagement,” the -marchioness announced. - -“Why on earth has he done that?” - -“He says he finds he has mistaken the nature of his feelings for her,” -said the marchioness, with fine scorn. - -“What a ridiculous idea! As if his feelings had anything to do with it! -The man must be a scoundrel.” - -“He is worse,” said the marchioness with conviction; “he is a fool. Oh, -if I had only sent the announcement to the papers last night; then they -could neither of them have backed out of it.” - -“What does Lady Victoria say?” inquired her friend, cautiously. - -“She pretends to be perfectly indifferent. She treats the affair as if -it were more my concern than hers. That is what is so hard. If she only -took a proper interest in her own position, I should not be afraid; but -when I have to deal with a man who says he doesn’t want to marry my -daughter, and a daughter who says she doesn’t want to marry him, what -am I, as a mother, to do?” - -She gazed plaintively at Despencer, who considerately shook his head. - -“It is a difficult position, certainly, but I don’t despair,” he -remarked, encouragingly. “I have the very greatest confidence in you, -marchioness. I shall be quite interested to see how you get on.” - -“Don’t be so heartless and unfeeling! I consider this is as much your -business as mine. You helped to bring about the engagement, and now you -ought to support me in holding this man to his word.” - -“Well, if you are going to bring an action, I shall be delighted to -give evidence, but I don’t see what else I can do.” He paused a moment, -and then asked, in a different tone: “Have you any idea of the cause -of this sudden change? I thought everything was going so smoothly last -night.” - -The marchioness gave an emphatic nod. - -“That is just what I want to know. I suspect that it has something to -do with that scene in the picture-gallery, and I am determined to get -at the truth about it.” - -“Really!” Despencer regarded her with an amused smile. “Do you know, I -quite envy you. You are so energetic, and so hopeful.” - -“You mean by that, I suppose, that you don’t think I shall succeed?” - -He shrugged his shoulders with bland deprecation. - -“Well, I can only say that in the course of my experience I have -several times tried to get at the truth where a man and a woman were -concerned, and _I_ never succeeded. You may be more fortunate.” - -The marchioness darted a suspicious look at him. - -“One thing I mean to know anyway, and that is, who were behind that -curtain.” - -Despencer stole a glance at her sideways. - -“There I think you are unwise. It is always so much better _not_ to -know who are behind the curtain.” - -The marchioness sat up and frowned in earnest. - -“That shows that you think it was my husband and Belle Yorke. Mr. -Despencer, I can see that there is some connection between those two, -and that you know all about it.” - -Despencer smiled pleasantly, with the satisfaction of a general who -sees the enemy march straight into the ambush he has prepared. He could -even afford to play with his victim. - -“Oh, my dear marchioness, what do you take me for?” he returned, with -an insincerity not intended to deceive. “Am I a necromancer? Am I the -author of ‘Who’s Who’?” - -But, much to his inward disappointment, he was saved from further -questioning by the entrance at this juncture of the marchioness’s -nephew, to whom she had sent an urgent summons before Despencer’s -arrival. - -Captain Mauleverer came in looking very guilty and ashamed, though he -made a poor bravado of ignorance. - -“Yes, aunt, what is it?” he inquired, scarcely troubling to acknowledge -Despencer’s presence by a nod. - -“Sit down, please,” ordered the marchioness. “I want you to tell me -exactly what passed in the picture-gallery last night before I came in.” - -Gerald sat down with ill-concealed reluctance. - -“I am afraid there is nothing I can tell you,” he stammered. - -“Oh, yes, there is,” his aunt retorted. “What were you and Mr. Hammond -doing there?” - -“I am not aware that we were doing anything,” was the sullen answer. -“We met there by accident, and we fell into conversation.” - -“What was the conversation about?” pursued the relentless examiner. - -“I’m afraid I can’t even tell you that.” - -“Do you know that Mr. Hammond is engaged to your cousin Victoria?” - -“I gathered something of the kind from what he said.” - -The marchioness pounced on the admission. - -“So much the better. You hear that, Mr. Despencer?” - -“Certainly. Most damaging evidence. He can’t possibly get out of that,” -murmured the faithful one. - -“My dear aunt!” exclaimed the startled captain, “surely you don’t -anticipate any trouble with Hammond, do you?” - -“Never mind. You say that he has made the engagement a subject of -conversation among his friends, and that is sufficient to bind him as -an honorable man.” - -“But, good heavens! I didn’t say that,” protested her unfortunate -nephew. - -The marchioness turned coldly to her ally. - -“Mr. Despencer, you heard?” - -“Most distinctly,” said the witness. “Nothing could be clearer.” - -The captain became desperate. He tried to explain: - -“No--but really, it was from Victoria that I heard of it first, only -she didn’t mention Hammond’s name.” - -The marchioness smiled cruelly. - -“Very good. Then I shall be able to tell him that she has also -announced the engagement among _her_ friends.” She turned to Despencer. -“What do you say to that?” - -“It is absolutely conclusive. It doesn’t leave him a single loop-hole.” - -The miserable captain writhed helplessly, like a victim in the hands of -the Holy Office, finding every answer twisted into a fresh heresy. - -“Look here, do you mean to say that there is a chance of his breaking -it off?” he asked the marchioness. - -“Not the very slightest,” was the grim response; “but he may try to.” -All at once her manner became coaxing. “Now, I trust to you, Gerald, -as a gentleman, not to stand in your cousin’s way. You can’t marry her -yourself, as you know perfectly well, and therefore you ought not to -prevent her making a good match.” - -“I am not likely to,” he answered, gloomily. “As long as Vick and -Hammond are engaged, I am out of it altogether.” - -The marchioness looked extremely relieved. - -“That is right,” she said, approvingly. “I knew I could rely on your -good feelings not to let two millions go out of the family. But now, -are you quite sure, Gerald, that you said nothing to Mr. Hammond last -night that might have led him to suspect that there was something -between you and Victoria?” - -Gerald, conscious of having assured Hammond with considerable -earnestness that Victoria loved himself, turned red as he stammered: - -“Oh--er--well--I don’t know; the fact is, you see, I didn’t -understand--” - -His aunt came to his relief. - -“Exactly. I thought as much. Now, Gerald, I shall be seeing Mr. Hammond -this morning, and I leave it to your sense of honor to go and speak to -him and put things right first. You understand me?” - -The wretched Mauleverer rose to go out. On his way to the door he -caught Despencer’s mocking smile, and longed to kick him. As soon as he -was gone, the other, unconscious of the peril he had run, uttered the -words: - -“Marchioness, you are a great woman!” - - - - -SCENE XIV - -PISTOLS FOR TWO - - -John Hammond, although a bachelor, lived in a very good house, in the -same neighborhood as Lord Severn’s, and, strange as it may appear to -the author of _The Christian_, he possessed more than one teaspoon. -When he had hospital nurses of doubtful character to tea, which was -extremely seldom, he did not even wait on them himself; he kept -servants for that very purpose. Possibly those extraordinary facts may -be accounted for by his not being a wicked lord, nor even a misguided -baronet. - -John Hammond was seated at home on the morning after the concert, -considering his position. Immediately after the scene in the -picture-gallery overnight he had come away, feeling as if his world -had crumbled into ruin around him. He had saved the woman he loved from -the marchioness’s scorn; he could not save her from his own. And the -other woman, whom he had considered his friend, to whom he had offered -himself in all good-will, believing that she had affection to give him, -if not love--he had discovered that her heart was engaged, and that she -regarded marriage with him as a hateful necessity. - -He had sent her a note, brief, courteous, and dignified. In it he had -not used one word that might seem to accuse her; he had taken the -entire blame upon himself. He had stated simply that he found he could -not offer her the love of a husband, and he had placed himself in her -hands. Now he was waiting for her answer. - -But though he was waiting to hear from Lady Victoria, he was thinking -of Belle Yorke. There are two kinds of misfortune which sometimes come -upon a man at the same time; and one makes a public arrival, and -it harasses him a great deal, but the other comes in silence and in -secrecy, and it wrecks his life. - -There was a knock at the door, and a footman announced Captain -Mauleverer. - -For the first time in the history of their friendship the two men faced -each other with mutual embarrassment. The captain, like a sensible man, -went straight at his fence. - -“Look here, Hammond, I am awfully sorry I made such an ass of myself -last night. I’m afraid I have given you a wrong impression about -Victoria.” - -“No. Why should you say that?” Hammond replied in a tone of -indifference. - -Mauleverer looked at him anxiously. - -“I’m afraid I have led you to think there was something between us, -that she--well, in fact, that she cared about me.” - -Hammond gave a weary shrug. - -“What of it? What does it matter?” - -“It’s very decent of you to take it so well,” said the puzzled captain. -“I was afraid that I might have unwittingly injured her in your mind.” - -“No, oh no; don’t think that. There was no hypocrisy about Lady -Victoria, I can assure you. She didn’t pretend to be in love with me, -and I didn’t pretend to be in love with her.” - -“You asked her to marry you,” observed the other, in a tone of -remonstrance. - -“I know; I did it to please my constituents, as she was aware. A public -man has to do that sort of thing.” - -“Surely you expected her to care for you in time?” - -“No; I merely expected her to canvass for me.” - -Mauleverer began to feel baffled by this cynical indifference. - -“You seem to take a very curious tone,” he said, after a moment. “Of -course, you understand that, whatever feeling I may have had for her -in the past, I shall never think of her again except as a cousin.” - -In spite of his own inward trouble, Hammond could not resist a smile at -the honest captain’s efforts to plead against himself. He gave him an -amused glance as he retorted: - -“I am afraid that is rather ambiguous. I have known cousins who were -very much attached to each other.” - -“Hammond, do you doubt me when I tell you that from this moment -Victoria will be perfectly indifferent to me?” - -“Well, you piled it on pretty strongly last night, you know. I can’t -help thinking that you are rather more fond of her than you pretend. -But there is no need to get excited about it; it makes no difference to -me.” - -Mauleverer gazed at him in dismay. - -“Is that the way in which you speak about your future wife?” - -“No,” said Hammond, shaking his head decidedly. - -“Hammond, what does this mean? You say that my attachment to Victoria -makes no difference to you, and yet you no longer wish to marry her?” - -“It means that I have made a mistake, and that I have to get out of it -the best way I can.” - -“Old man, this is my doing. This is because of what I said to you last -night.” - -“No.” Hammond became earnest for the first time. “I am very glad you -said what you did, because if I had had the vanity to think that Lady -Victoria cared twopence about me, you would have undeceived me. But the -reason why I have determined not to marry her is not merely because -I believe she loves you, but because I have discovered that I love -another woman too well ever to marry any one besides.” - -“Great heavens! Is that it?” Mauleverer exclaimed. He recalled the -scene of last night, and began dimly to understand it. - -Hammond proceeded to enlighten him. - -“Did you think that I was jealous of you? Why, man, if I had loved -your cousin with one-hundredth part of the love I have for that other, -I should have taken you by the throat last night when you said what you -did. Jealous of you? No, but of that man whose years protect him from -my anger, though they have not protected youth and innocence from him. -It is Lord Severn, not you, who has robbed me of the woman I love; and -let me tell you that if I had no other reason for breaking the hollow, -lying pledge I gave last night, I would sooner cut off this hand than -give it to the daughter of the man who is guilty of Belle Yorke’s -betrayal!” - -“My God!” - -Mauleverer sat transfixed as the whole truth of the situation burst -upon him. Twice he opened his lips to speak, and twice he recollected -that the secret had been intrusted to his honor. He was on the point of -springing to his feet to go, when the door opened and the footman came -in. - -“A Mr. Yorke, sir, wishes to see you. He is in the hall,” announced -the stately creature with icy impassibility. - -“Mr. Yorke?” repeated Hammond, bewildered. - -“He is a rather young man, sir.” The information was vouchsafed with a -crushing absence of emotion. “I should judge him to be about thirteen.” - -Hammond started and changed color. Then he said with quiet emphasis: - -“Show the young gentleman in.” - -If ever footman permitted himself to show human feelings, assuredly a -faint gleam of something resembling surprise played across the visage -of that footman as he withdrew. - -“Who is it?” asked Mauleverer, amused. - -“Belle Yorke’s brother.” - -The footman threw open the door. With perfect self-control, with a -beautiful unconsciousness of whether he was announcing a member of the -royal family or a detective with a warrant for his master’s arrest, he -uttered the words: - -“Mr. Yorke.” - -The captain saw a rather undersized boy in knickerbockers, with his -fists tightly clenched and a flush of excitement on his cheeks, who -walked boldly into the centre of the room, and there stood still. - -Hammond, who had already risen, went towards the boy with extended -hand. Mr. Yorke drew back, and kept his own hands down by his side. - -“I’d rather not shake hands with you, please, Mr. Hammond.” - -The man started, and dropped his hand with a strange look. - -“Will you sit down?” he asked, quietly. - -“I’d rather not, please.” - -Hammond bowed, and remained standing himself. - -“I’ve come to see you about my sister. Miss Belle Yorke. She hasn’t any -father, you know, so I’m her protector.” - -“Yes, my boy, I’m sure you are,” said Hammond, very gently. - -Mr. Yorke went on, with a certain feverish energy: - -“It’s rather difficult for me to speak to you, because I don’t know -exactly what you’ve done to Belle; but I know it’s your doing, whatever -it is, because you used to be her sweetheart, and now she says she -shall never see you any more. You’ve broken her heart, and she wouldn’t -eat any breakfast this morning, and mother says she will give up the -stage; and I believe she’s been crying, though she won’t own to it. And -I don’t think you’re a gentleman, Mr. Hammond.” - -Hammond’s head was drooping on his breast. - -“God knows that!” he muttered. - -“So I have come here to tell you that I consider you’ve no right to -treat Belle like that, and I’m not going to stand it. And as soon as -I’m old enough, I’m going to challenge you to a duel.” - -“My child!” - -The exclamation burst from the man unawares. Mr. Yorke turned very red. - -“I think it’s very offensive of you to call me that,” he said, -wrathfully, “and it isn’t treating me as you ought to.” - -“I beg your pardon,” said the man, humbly. - -“And if you think,” Mr. Yorke went on fiercely, “that you can take -advantage of my being young to refuse me satisfaction, I shall think -you’re not very honorable, because you knew Belle had only me to -protect her when you broke her heart. And I’ve come here to ask you, -as a gentleman, to wait till I am twenty-one, so that I can fight you. -It’s only eight years and two months, and I expect you to give me your -word of honor that you will wait till then.” - -“I will wait.” - -“Thank you, sir.” Mr. Yorke became more friendly. “It’s only fair -for me to tell you that I’m going to save up and buy a revolver and -practise every day, so you had better do the same. I don’t want to -take any advantage of you.” - -“You’re a brave fellow,” said Hammond. - -“Then I think that’s all. Good-morning, Mr. Hammond.” - -“Good-morning, Mr. Yorke.” - -Hammond rang the bell, and advanced to open the door of the room. Mr. -Yorke was half-way out when he paused in the doorway. - -“I say, Mr. Hammond,” he said, his manner suddenly changing to thorough -boyishness, “do you mind promising me, as a great favor, that you -won’t tell mother or Belle about this, or they mightn’t let me buy the -revolver?” - -Hammond bowed kindly. - -“I promise.” - -The footman appeared outside. - -“Show Mr. Yorke out.” - -Mr. Yorke, regaining his dignity, made his exit in state, leaving the -two men looking at each other. - -“By Jove! that was a little trump!” Mauleverer burst out as the door -closed. “Not much the matter with the modern child, after all.” - -Hammond nodded as he cast himself wearily into a chair. - -“Do you mind going now, old man?” he said, bluntly. - -Mauleverer sprang up with a sudden recollection, hurried out on to the -pavement, hailed the nearest cab, and dashed off to Berkeley Square. - - - - -SCENE XV - -A MISFORTUNE FOR SOCIETY - - -Hammond was not left to himself for very long. The marchioness waited -to give her nephew time to clear the way, and then took the field in -person. - -When he heard her name, a sardonic smile crossed Hammond’s lips. He -stood up to receive her, a very different man to the one whom Belle -Yorke’s brother had encountered. - -The marchioness walked in with an angry gleam in her eyes. Hammond at -once proceeded to draw first blood. - -“Show Mr. Despencer in!” he called out to the footman, looking out -through the door as if in the expectation of seeing that gentleman -outside. - -“Mr. Despencer is not with me, Mr. Hammond,” said the marchioness -shortly, biting her lips. - -Mr. Hammond affected to be surprised. - -“I apologize!” he exclaimed, as the footman withdrew. “But this is very -good of you, marchioness. Where will you sit?” - -The marchioness planted herself in an arm-chair. - -“I suppose you know, Mr. Hammond, why I have called?” - -Hammond seated himself comfortably in another easy-chair opposite, and -crossed his legs. - -“No, unless it’s about that unfortunate affair last evening.” - -“Mr. Hammond!” The marchioness darted a glance of withering rebuke at -the recalcitrant suitor. “Is that the way in which you refer to the -fact that you are engaged to my daughter Victoria?” - -“_Was_ engaged, excuse me, marchioness,” he corrected, with easy -good-nature. “Didn’t you know that I had written to Lady Victoria to -beg off?” - -“It is in consequence of your extraordinary letter that I have come -here,” said the marchioness, scowling. “I trust you will have the good -sense and right feeling to withdraw it before my daughter is compelled -to give it any reply.” - -“I am afraid I can’t oblige you.” - -The answer was given quietly enough, but the marchioness looked in his -face and saw something there which she did not like. - -“Have you considered the effect of such a step as this on my daughter’s -reputation?” she demanded, with dignity. - -“I don’t see that it need go beyond ourselves,” Hammond replied. -“Nobody else knows of it but Mr. Despencer, and your influence with -him--” - -The marchioness interrupted, breathing angrily: - -“You are utterly wrong there. The engagement is public property. I -understand you yourself have freely mentioned it to your friends.” - -“I? Never!” - -He stared at her in amazement. - -“Pardon me, I have proof of what I say,” she affirmed. “And Victoria -has done the same. She has mentioned it to her friends.” - -“I am sorry to hear that.” - -The marchioness began to hope. - -“You must see that, under the circumstances, you have no alternative, -as a gentleman, but to withdraw your letter.” - -“I am afraid I don’t see it. I would much rather leave myself in Lady -Victoria’s hands.” - -“Have you no regard for her feelings, pray?” - -“Every regard. If she tells me that she still wishes to marry me, I -shall keep my word.” - -“You have no right whatever to throw the decision on her. Have you no -consideration for her parents?” - -Hammond’s lip curled. - -“I’m afraid I haven’t.” - -The marchioness glared at him. - -“Mr. Hammond, are you a gentleman?” - -“Well, it is rather a question, isn’t it?” he responded, with a -cheerful smile which drove her frantic. - -“Do you know that our family is one of the oldest in Great Britain?” -she demanded, after a moment’s pause. - -“Precisely. And mine is one of the newest. It would really have been a -_mésalliance_, my dear marchioness.” - -The marchioness could hardly believe her ears. - -“Have you _no_ regard for descent?” she gasped. “My daughter has royal -blood in her veins, Mr. Hammond.” - -“Ah! there you have me at a disadvantage,” he returned. “All my female -ancestors were respectable married women.” - -The marchioness turned crimson. It was well known that the royal blood -in the house of Mauleverer had entered it by irregular channels. - -“I am not accustomed to this kind of language,” she proclaimed, rising. -“I shall request the marquis to call on you.” - -“That will suit me a great deal better. I shall be able to talk to the -marquis,” was the grim answer. - -The marchioness swept towards the door. - -“I see I have made a mistake in coming here. I begin to ask myself -whether you were really aware of what you were doing yesterday.” - -Hammond smiled pleasantly. - -“Ah, now, that sounds like rather a good explanation. I can say I was -intoxicated, can’t I?” - -“Well--” - -The marchioness broke off short, her eyes fixed in stony horror on the -doorway. - -“Lady Victoria Mauleverer and Mr. Despencer!” - -Victoria had been still considering how to deal with the letter she -had received from Mr. Hammond, when the treacherous Despencer had come -and informed her that her mother was on the way to her lover’s house to -bring him to book. Her mind was instantly made up. She put on a hat, -impressed Despencer into the service, ordered a hansom, and drove off -on the track of her parent. - -The two newcomers were in the room, and the door had closed on the -departing footman, before the marchioness recovered herself. - -“Victoria, you will oblige me by leaving this house immediately. I -order it.” - -Victoria laughed negligently. - -“How absurd you are this morning, mother! You keep forgetting that I -am over twenty-one,” she remarked. Then, crossing over to Hammond, she -held out her hand with frank good-will. “Good-morning, Mr. Hammond!” - -The sight of her daughter calmly shaking hands with the man who had -jilted her, as if nothing had happened, nearly turned her mother’s hair -gray. Fortunately it was from the best maker, and could not turn gray. - -“Victoria,” she said, in a suffocated voice, “if you have no respect -for yourself, perhaps you will have some respect for me! Mr. Hammond -has grossly insulted me. Mr. Despencer, will you be good enough to take -me to my carriage?” - -“No, he can’t do that yet,” interposed Victoria. “I brought him here as -my chaperon, and I haven’t done with him.” - -Despencer glanced from the daughter to the mother. The contest was -between fear and love. - -“I apologize for being so badly constructed,” he murmured, “but I don’t -take in halves. Will it do if I give somebody my visiting-card?” - -“I shall not go till you do, Victoria. I decline to leave you alone -with Mr. Hammond again,” the marchioness said, spitefully. - -“Please don’t be impressive,” was Victoria’s unkind reply. Then, -turning to Hammond and speaking rapidly, she went on: “I got that -amusing note of yours. I came round to tell you that of course I quite -understood that it was all a joke last night. We ought not to have -said anything to my mother, because she is so easily taken in, and -she believed we were quite serious. But I enjoyed the fun myself very -much, and I mean to make Gerald awfully jealous about you when we are -married.” - -The marchioness blinked her eyes as though a sword had flashed before -them, as she saw herself thus shamefully discarded and her last hope -gone by the board. As for Despencer, he regarded Victoria with the -admiring glance of an artist for a brilliant piece of work, in a kind -which he understands. - -Hammond bowed gratefully. - -“Lady Victoria, you can do anything you like with Mauleverer and me -except make us quarrel.” - -The marchioness came to herself. - -“What do you mean by talking about marrying Gerald?” she demanded. - -“My dear mother, I suppose we must marry some time. We have been -engaged long enough.” - -“Engaged!” the poor marchioness could only ejaculate. - -“Well, I thought everybody in London knew that,” said Victoria, calmly. -“I am sure Mr. Hammond did.” - -“Excellent!” Despencer murmured to himself. “She has come off with -flying colors.” - -“Engaged to a pauper!” the marchioness exclaimed, tragically. “And, -pray, what do you propose to live on?” - -“Oh, that is quite settled,” her daughter answered. “I have arranged to -open a milliner’s shop in Piccadilly.” - -“I thought everybody in London knew that,” remarked Despencer -heartlessly. - -It was the stab of Brutus. The marchioness turned a look on the traitor -that should have rooted him to the floor. - -“Mis-ter De-spencer!” - -“Yes, marchioness?” - -There had been a sound of wheels below. A carriage had driven up to the -door. Captain Mauleverer had not been idle during the hour which had -elapsed since his departure. Footsteps ascended the staircase; the door -leading into an adjoining room was opened and shut. Then-- - -“_The Marquis of Severn!_” - -As the marquis entered the room which his wife and daughter were in -already, Hammond took a step forward, looking very pale and determined. -Lady Victoria drew quietly towards a window, followed by Despencer. The -marchioness, standing in the centre of the room, addressed her husband: - -“George! Do you know what has happened?” - -The marquis, after his first momentary surprise at finding them there, -had taken no notice of any one but Hammond, on whom his eyes were fixed -with an expression of mingled reproach and excuse. The excuse Hammond -thought he understood, but the reproach puzzled him. - -“I know too much,” the marquis began. “Hammond, I have something to say -to you.” - -“Hadn’t we better wait till we are by ourselves?” said Hammond, with a -significant look. “I have something to say to you as well.” - -The marquis glanced round, first at his wife and then at Despencer. - -“No, I cannot have too many listeners, for I have to crush a slander -and to make a reparation.” He stepped to the door and opened it. “Come -in, Gerald!” - -Captain Mauleverer came in, but not alone. Clinging to his arm, with -downcast head, as if she almost feared to see her lover’s remorse, came -Belle. - -“Great God!” As the oath burst from him all the blood in his veins -surged up to Hammond’s heart, and ebbed away again, leaving him white -and faint. It needed not for Belle’s father to speak, the mere sight of -her convicted him. - -The marquis spoke, drawing Belle to him, and facing each of his -listeners in turn with a brave dignity. - -“I have just learned, within the last hour, that this young lady has -been made the victim of one of the blackest falsehoods ever uttered, a -falsehood in which my name is connected with hers. It is true that she -and I are connected. We have been connected for nearly twenty years, -and all that time I have endeavored, rightly or wrongly, to keep the -fact of our connection a secret from the world. How that secret has -been penetrated I do not know; but now that I do know the damnable -interpretation which has been placed upon my conduct, I am determined -to proclaim the truth to the whole world. I cannot atone for the injury -I have done her in the past, but I will at least do my best to guard -her in the present. Hammond, this is my daughter.” - -A profound silence succeeded. The marchioness was frightened. Despencer -was conscious of a faint emotion to which he had long been a stranger, -and which he supposed to be honest shame. Hammond was too much moved -to speak. Victoria hesitated only for an instant, then she went up to -Belle impulsively and kissed her on the cheek. - -“Lord Severn,” said Hammond, slowly, as soon as he could master -himself, “you have done me the greatest service one man can do to -another, and you have crushed me.” - -“George!” ventured the marchioness. - -Her husband frowned. - -“Go home, Jane!” he said, curtly. - -And that great woman walked out of the room as crestfallen as a small -urchin that has been caught doing mischief and spanked. - -Despencer followed of his own accord, without doing more than whisper -to Hammond as he passed: - -“I never apologize, and I never commit suicide, but I mean to be very -firm with that marchioness.” - -Victoria took her cousin’s arm. - -“And I couldn’t think why Mr. Hammond jilted me this morning,” she -laughed. - -“I can’t think why he ever proposed to you,” retorted Gerald, smartly. - -And they, too, went out. - -The marquis stood silent for a minute, his daughter leaning on his arm. -She had not yet dared to look up at Hammond. - -“Is there anything else that you would like to say?” - -Hammond started at the question. The color began slowly to return to -his face. - -“I should like you to beg your daughter to forgive me--if she ever can.” - -The marquis looked down at Belle and gently patted the head that rested -on his arm. - -“What do you say?” he asked her. - -The eyes remained downcast. The answer came, very soft and low: - -“Tell him that it wasn’t his fault, and, if it was, I had forgiven him -already.” - -Her father looked back again at Hammond. - -“Anything else?” - -Hammond began to tremble. There was color enough, and to spare, in his -face now. - -“Yesterday evening your daughter told me that she did not love me. I -should like you to ask her if there is any hope that she will ever -change her mind.” - -“Well, my dear?” - -It was Belle’s turn to tremble. - -“Tell him--tell him that I shall never change my mind. But”--she raised -her eyes at last, with that look which only comes into a woman’s eyes -once in her life, and which only one man sees there--“but--that I don’t -always speak the truth.” - -The Marquis of Severn went out quietly, leaving them together. - - -THE END - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: - - - Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. - - Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. - - Archaic or alternate spelling has been retained from the original. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SLAVES OF SOCIETY *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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