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C. Snaith</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. 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. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The time spirit</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>A romantic tale</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: J. C. Snaith</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 24, 2022 [eBook #68398]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: D A Alexander and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by University of California libraries)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TIME SPIRIT ***</div> - -<div class="figcenter hide" style="width: 35%"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Cover" /> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p class="ph1">THE TIME SPIRIT</p></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> -<a id="i_frontispiece"><img src="images/i_frontispiece.jpg" width="300" alt="Three pairs of eyes met in challenge" -title="" /></a></div></div> - -<p class="caption">Three pairs of eyes met in challenge<br /> -<span class="right3">[Page <a href="#Page_84">84</a>]</span></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h1>THE<br /> -TIME SPIRIT</h1></div> - -<p class="ph3 center"><i>A Romantic Tale</i></p> - -<p class="center">BY</p> - -<p class="ph2 center no-indent">J. C. SNAITH</p> - -<p class="center no-indent p4b">AUTHOR OF “THE COMING,” “THE SAILOR,” ETC.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 70px;"> -<img src="images/i_title.jpg" width="70" alt="Publishers Logo" /></div> - -<p class="ph3 p4">D. APPLETON AND COMPANY<br /> -NEW YORK    1918 -</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p class="p6b center no-indent"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1918, by</span><br /> -D. APPLETON AND COMPANY</p></div> - -<p class="center no-indent">Printed in the United States of America</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph2 nobreak">CONTENTS</p> -</div> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" summary="CONTENTS"> -<tr><td class="tdbr"><small>CHAPTER</small></td> -<td> </td> -<td class="tdc"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdbr">I.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Arrival</span></td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdbr">II.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Aunt Annie and Aunty Harriet</span></td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdbr">III.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Flowing Water</span></td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdbr">IV.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Bridport House</span></td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdbr">V.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Alarums and Excursions</span></td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_120">120</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdbr">VI.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Plot and Counterplot</span></td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_149">149</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdbr">VII.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Tragic Coil</span></td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_170">170</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdbr">VIII.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Busy Morning</span></td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_186">186</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdbr">IX.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">An Interlude</span></td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_210">210</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdbr">X.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Time’s Revenge</span></td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_232">232</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdbr">XI.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Bomb</span></td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_253">253</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdbr">XII.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Ardors and Endurances</span></td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_273">273</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdbr">XIII.</td> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Everything for the Best</span></td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_293">293</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph2 nobreak">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</p> -</div> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" summary="ILLUSTRATIONS"> -<tr><td class="tdl"> </td> -<td class="tdbr"><small>FACING<br /> -PAGE</small></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Three pairs of eyes met in challenge</td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#i_frontispiece">Frontispiece</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">“How did you come by it, Joe?”</td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#illo1">24</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">“You give up your young man—simply because of that?”</td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#illo2">198</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">“We mustn’t build castles,” she sighed, and the light<br /> -<span class="hang">fringed her eyelids</span></td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#illo3">296</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph1 nobreak" id="THE_TIME_SPIRIT">THE TIME SPIRIT</p> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I<br /> -THE ARRIVAL</h2> - -<p class="ph2">I</p> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">T</span>he</span> fog of November in its descent upon Laxton, -one of London’s busiest suburbs, had effaced the -whole of Beaconsfield Villas, including the Number -Five on the fanlight over the door of the last house -but two in the row. To a tall girl in black on her way -from the station this was a serious matter. She was -familiar with the lie of the land in the light of day -and in darkness less than Cimmerian, but this evening -she had to ask a policeman, a grocer’s boy, and a -person of no defined status, before a kid-gloved hand -met the knocker of her destination.</p> - -<p>It was the year 1890. Those days are very distant -now. Victoria the Good was on the throne of Britain. -W.G. went in first for Gloucestershire; Lohmann and -Lockwood bowled for Surrey. The hansom was still -the gondola of London. The Tube was not, and eke -the motor-bus. The <i>Daily Mail</i> had not yet invented -Lord Northcliffe. Orville Wright had not made good. -William Hohenzollern used to come over to see his -grandmother.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span></p> - -<p>Indeed, on this almost incredibly distant evening in -the world’s history, his grandmother in three colors -and a widow’s cap, with a blue ribbon across her bosom, -surmounted the sitting-room chimney-piece of Number -Five, Beaconsfield Villas. And at the other end of the -room, over the dresser, was an old gentleman with a -beard, by common consent the wisest man in the realm, -who talked about “splendid isolation,” and gave Heligoland -to deep, strong, patient Germany in exchange for -a tiny strip of Africa.</p> - -<p>Yes, there were giants in those days. And no doubt -there are giants in these. But it is not until little Miss -Clio trips in with her scroll that we shall know for -certain, shall we?</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>At the first crisp tap the door of Number Five -was flung open.</p> - -<p>“Harriet, so here you are!”</p> - -<p>There was welcome in the eyes as well as in the voice -of the eager, personable creature who greeted the visitor. -There was welcome also in the gush of mingled gas and -firelight from a cosy within.</p> - -<p>“How are you, Eliza?”</p> - -<p>The tall girl asked the question, shut the door, and -kissed her sister, all in one breath, so that only a -minute quantity of a London “partickler” was able to -follow her into the room.</p> - -<p>The hostess pressed Harriet into a chair, as near the -bright fire as she could be persuaded to sit.</p> - -<p>“What a night! I was half afraid you wouldn’t -face it.”</p> - -<p>“I always try to keep a promise.” The quiet, firm<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span> -voice had a gravity and a depth which made it sound -years older than that of the elder sister.</p> - -<p>“I know you do—and that’s a lot to say of anyone. -How’s your health, my dear? It’s very good to -see you after all these months.”</p> - -<p>Chattering all the time with the artlessness of a -nature wholly different from that of her visitor, Eliza -Kelly took the kettle from the hob and made the tea.</p> - -<p>Beyond a superficial general likeness there was -nothing to suggest the near relationship of these two. -The air and manner which invested the well-made coat -and skirt, the lady-like muff and stole, with a dignity -rather austere, were not to be found in the unpretentious -front parlor opening on to the street, or in its -brisk, voluble, easy-going mistress.</p> - -<p>“Harriet, you are really all right again?” Eliza impulsively -poured out the tea before it had time to brew, -thereby putting herself to the trouble of returning it to -the pot.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes.” Harriet removed her gloves elegantly. -She was quite a striking-looking creature of nine-and-twenty. -In spite of a recent illness, she had an air -of strength and virility. The face and brow had been -cast in a mold of serious beauty, the eyes, a clear deep -gray, were strongholds of good sense. Even without -the aid of a considered, rather formidable manner, -this young woman would have exacted respect anywhere.</p> - -<p>“Take a muffin while it’s warm.”</p> - -<p>Harriet did so.</p> - -<p>“I had no idea your illness was going to be so bad.”</p> - -<p>The younger woman would not own that her illness<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span> -had been anything of the kind; she was even inclined -to make light of it.</p> - -<p>“Why, you’ve been away weeks and weeks. And -Aunt Annie says you’ve had to have an operation.”</p> - -<p>“Only a slight one.” The tone was casual. “Nothing -to speak of.”</p> - -<p>“Nothing to speak of! Aunt Annie says you have -been at Brighton I don’t know how long.”</p> - -<p>“Well, you know,” said Harriet in a discreet, rather -charming voice, “they thought I was run down and -that I ought to have a good rest. You see, the long -illness of her Grace was very trying for those who had -to look after her.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose so. Although her Grace has been dead -nearly two years. Anyhow, I hope the Family paid -your expenses.” The elder sister and prudent housewife -looked at Harriet keenly.</p> - -<p>“Everything, even my railway fare.” A fine note -came into the voice of Harriet Sanderson.</p> - -<p>“Lucky you to be in such service,” said Eliza in a -tone of envy.</p> - -<p>Slowly the color deepened in Harriet’s cheek.</p> - -<p>“By the way, what are you doing at Buntisford? -Does it mean you’ve left Bridport House for good?”</p> - -<p>“It does, I suppose.”</p> - -<p>“But I thought Buntisford had been closed for years?”</p> - -<p>“His Grace had it opened again, so that he can go -down there when he wants to be quiet. He was always -fond of it. There’s a bit of rough shooting and a -river, and it’s within thirty miles of London; he finds -it very convenient. Of course, it’s quite small and easy -to manage.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span></p> - -<p>“What is your position there?”</p> - -<p>“I’m housekeeper,” said Harriet. “That is to say, -I manage everything.”</p> - -<p>The elder sister looked at her with incredulity, in -which a little awe was mingled. “Housekeeper—to the -Duke of Bridport—and you not yet thirty, Hattie. -Gracious, goodness, what next!”</p> - -<p>The visitor smiled at this simplicity. “It’s hardly -so grand as it sounds. The house doesn’t need much -in the way of servants; the Family never go there. -His Grace comes down now and again for a week-end -when he wants to be alone. Just himself—there’s never -anyone else.”</p> - -<p>“But housekeeper!” Eliza was still incredulous. “At -twenty-nine! I call it wonderful.”</p> - -<p>“Is it so remarkable?” Harriet’s calmness seemed -a little uncanny.</p> - -<p>“The dad would have thought so, had he lived to see -it. He always thought the world of the Family.”</p> - -<p>The younger sister smiled at this artlessness.</p> - -<p>“Every reason to do so, no doubt,” she said with a -brightening eye and a rush of warmth to her voice. -“I am sure there couldn’t be better people in this world -than the Dinnefords.”</p> - -<p>“That was the father’s opinion, anyway. He always -said they knew how to treat those who served them.”</p> - -<p>“Not a doubt of that,” said Harriet. “They have -been more than good to me.” The color flowed over -her face. “And his Grace often speaks of the father. -He says he was his right hand at Ardnaleuchan, and -that he saved him many a pound in a twelvemonth.”</p> - -<p>“I expect he did,” said Eliza, her own eyes kindling.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span> -“He simply worshiped the Family. Mother used to -declare that he would have sold his soul for the -Dinnefords.”</p> - -<p>“He was a very good man,” said Harriet simply.</p> - -<p>“It would have been a proud day for him, Hattie, -had he lived to see you where you are now. And not -yet thirty—with all your life before you.”</p> - -<p>But the words of the elder sister brought a look of -constraint to the face of Harriet. Mistaking the cause, -Eliza was puzzled. “And it won’t be my opinion only,” -she said. “Aunt Annie I’m sure will think as I do. -She’ll say you’ve had a wonderful piece of luck.”</p> - -<p>“But the position <i>does</i> mean great responsibility”—there -was a sudden change in Harriet’s tone.</p> - -<p>Eliza kept her eyes on the face of the younger woman, -that fine Scots face, so full of resolution and character. -“Whatever it may be, Hattie, I’m thinking you’ll just -about be able to manage it.”</p> - -<p>“I mean to try.” Harriet spoke very slowly and -softly. “I mean to show myself worthy of his Grace’s -confidence.”</p> - -<p>The elder sister smiled an involuntary admiration; -there was such a calm force about the girl. “And, of -course, it means that you are made for life.”</p> - -<p>But in the eyes of Harriet was a fleck of anxiety. -“Ah! you don’t know. It’s a big position—an awfully -big position.”</p> - -<p>Eliza agreed.</p> - -<p>“There are times when it almost frightens me.” -Harriet spoke half to herself.</p> - -<p>“Everything has to run like clockwork, of course,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span> -said the sympathetic Eliza. “And it’s bound to make -the upper servants at Bridport House very jealous.”</p> - -<p>“It may.” The deep tone had almost an edge of -disdain. “Anyhow it doesn’t matter. I don’t go to -Bridport House now.”</p> - -<p>“But you can’t tell me, my dear, that they like to hear -of her Grace’s second maid holding the keys in the -housekeeper’s room.”</p> - -<p>The calm Harriet smiled. “But it’s only Buntisford, -after all. You speak as if it was Bridport House or -Ardnaleuchan.”</p> - -<p>Eliza shook a knowledgeable head. “They won’t like -it all the same, Hattie. The dad wouldn’t have, for -one. He was all his life on the estate, but he was turned -fifty before he rose to be factor at Ardnaleuchan.”</p> - -<p>“Well, Eliza”—there was a force, a decision in the -words which made an end of criticism—“it’s just a -matter for the Duke. The place is not of my seeking. -I was asked to take it—what else could I do?”</p> - -<p>“Don’t think I blame you. If it’s the wish of his -Grace there is no more to be said. Still, there’s no -denying you’ve a big responsibility.”</p> - -<p>At these words a shadow came into the resolute eyes.</p> - -<p>Said the elder sister reassuringly, “You’ll be equal to -the position, never fear. That head of yours is a good -one, Hattie. Even Aunt Annie admits that. By the -way, have you seen her lately?”</p> - -<p>“Seen—Aunt Annie?” said Harriet defensively. The -sudden mention of that name produced an immediate -change of tone in her distinguished niece.</p> - -<p>“She’s been asking about you. She wants very much -to see you.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span></p> - -<p>The shadow deepened in Harriet’s eyes. But an -instant later she had skillfully covered an air of growing -constraint by a conventional question.</p> - -<p>“How’s Joe, Eliza?”</p> - -<p>“Pretty much as usual. He’ll be off duty soon.”</p> - -<p>Joe Kelly was Eliza’s husband, and a member of the -Metropolitan police force. In the eyes of her family, -Eliza Sanderson had married beneath her. But Joe, if a -rough diamond, was a good fellow, and Eliza could afford -not to be over-sensitive on the score of public opinion. -Joe had no superficial graces, it was as much as he could -do to write a line in his notebook, high rank in his calling -was not prophesied by his best friends, but his wife -knew she was well off. They had been married eight -years, and if only Providence had blessed a harmonious -union in a becoming manner, Eliza Kelly would not -have found it in her heart to envy the greatest lady in -the land. But Providence had not done so, the more -was the pity.</p> - -<p>“By the way,”—Eliza suddenly broke a silence—“there’s -a piece of news for you, Hattie. A friend is -coming to see you at five.”</p> - -<p>“A friend—to see me!”</p> - -<p>“To see you, my dear. In fact, I might say an admirer. -Can’t you guess who?”</p> - -<p>“I certainly can’t.”</p> - -<p>“Then I think you ought.” Mischief had yielded to -laughter of a rather quizzical kind.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t know that I had any admirers—in Laxton.”</p> - -<p>The touch of manner delicately suggested ducal circles.</p> - -<p>“You can have a husband for the asking, our Harriet.”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span> -The eternal feminine was now in command of the situation.</p> - -<p>Harriet frowned.</p> - -<p>“I can’t think who it can be.”</p> - -<p>“No?” laughed the tormentress. “You are not going -to tell me you have forgotten the young man you met -the last time you were here?”</p> - -<p>It seemed that the distinguished visitor had.</p> - -<p>“I do call that hard lines,” mocked Eliza. “You have -really forgotten him?”</p> - -<p>“I really have!”</p> - -<p>“He has talked of you ever since. When was Miss -Sanderson coming again? Could he be invited to meet -her? He wanted to see her aboot something verra impoortant.”</p> - -<p>A light dawned upon Harriet’s perplexity.</p> - -<p>“Surely you don’t mean—you don’t mean that red-headed -young policeman——?”</p> - -<p>“Dugald Maclean. Of course, I do. He has invited -himself to meet you at five o’clock.” Eliza sat back in -her chair and laughed at the face of Harriet, but the -face of Harriet showed it was hardly a laughing matter.</p> - -<p>“Well!” she cried. Her eyes were smiling, yet they -could not veil their look of deep annoyance.</p> - -<p>“Now, Hattie,” admonished the voice of maternal -wisdom, “there’s no need to take offense. Don’t forget -you are twenty-nine, Dugald Maclean is a smart young -man, and Joe says he’ll make his way in the world. -Of course, you hold a very high position now, but if -you don’t want to find yourself on the shelf it’s time -you began to think very seriously about a husband.”</p> - -<p>“We will change the subject, if you don’t mind.”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span> -The tone revealed a wide gulf between the outlook of -Eliza Kelly and that of a confidential retainer in the -household of the Duke of Bridport.</p> - -<p>“Very well, my dear. But don’t bite. Have the last -piece of muffin. And then I’ll toast another for Constable -Maclean.”</p> - -<p class="ph2">II</p> - -<p>The clock on the chimney-piece struck five. Before -its last echo had died there came a loud knock on the -front door.</p> - -<p>Constable Maclean was a ruddy young Scotsman. He -was tall, lean, large-boned, with prominent teeth and -ears. Although freckled like a turkey’s egg, he was not -a bad-looking fellow. His boots, however, took up a -lot of space in a small room, and the manner of his -entrance suggested that the difficult operation known as -“falling over oneself” was in the act of consummation. -But there was an intense earnestness in his manner, and -a personal force in his look, which gave a redeeming -grace of character to a shy awkwardness, verging on -the grotesque.</p> - -<p>“Good afternune,” said Constable Maclean, removing -his helmet with a polite grimace.</p> - -<p>One of the ladies shook hands, the other welcomed -the young man with a cordial good-evening and bade him -sit down. Constable Maclean, encumbered with a -regulation overcoat, sat down rather like a performing -bear.</p> - -<p>At first conversation languished. Yet no welcome -could have been more cordial than Eliza’s. She felt like -a mother to this young man. It was her nature to feel<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span> -like a mother to every young man. Moreover, Dugald -Maclean, as he sat perspiring with nervousness on the -edge of a chair much too small for him, seemed to need -some large-hearted woman to feel like a mother towards -him.</p> - -<p>Miss Harriet Sanderson was to blame, no doubt, for -the young policeman’s aphasia. Her coolness and ease, -with a half quizzical, half ironical look surmounting it, -seemed to increase the bashfulness of Dugald Maclean -whenever he ventured to look at her out of the tail of -his eye.</p> - -<p>It was clear that the young man was suffering acutely. -Nature had intended him to be expansive—not in the -Sassenach sense perhaps,—but given the time and the -place and a right conjunction of the planets, Dugald -Maclean had social gifts, at least they were so assessed -at Carrickmachree in his native Caledonia. Moreover, -he was rather proud of them. He was an ambitious -and gifted young police officer. For many moons he -had been looking forward to this romantic hour. Since -a first chance meeting with the semi-divine Miss -Sanderson he had been living in the hope of a second, -yet now by the courtesy of Providence it was granted -to him he might never have seen a woman before.</p> - -<p>The lips of Constable Maclean were dry, his tongue -clove to the roof of an amazingly capacious mouth. As -for Miss Sanderson, mere silence began to achieve -wonders in the way of gentle, smiling irony. But the -hostess was more humane. For one thing she was married, -and although Fate had been cruel, she had a sacred -instinct which made her regard every young man as a -boy of her own.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span></p> - -<p>Every moment the situation became more delicate, -but Eliza’s handling of it was superb. She brewed a -fresh cup of tea for Constable Maclean, and then plied -the toasting-fork to such purpose that the young man -became so busy devouring muffins that for a time he -forgot his shame. Eliza could toast and butter a muffin -with anyone, Constable Maclean could eat a muffin with -anyone—thus things began to go better. And when, -without turning a hair, the young man entered upon his -third muffin, Miss Sanderson dramatically unbent.</p> - -<p>“Allow me to give you another cup of tea.” The -voice was melody.</p> - -<p>A succession of guttural noises, which might be interpreted -as “Thank ye kindly, miss,” having come -apparently from the boots of Constable Maclean, Miss -Harriet Sanderson handed him a second cup of tea.</p> - -<p>Still, the conversation did not prosper. But the perfect -hostess, kneeling before the fire in order to toast -muffin the fifth, had still her best card to play. It was -the ace of trumps, in fact, and when she rose to spread -butter over a sizzling, delicious, corrugated surface, she -decided that the time had come to make use of it.</p> - -<p>Perhaps the factor in the situation which moved her -to this step was that only one muffin now remained for -her husband when he came off duty half-an-hour hence, -and that his young colleague of the X Division seemed -ready to go on devouring them until the crack of doom.</p> - -<p>“That reminds me,” Eliza suddenly remarked as she -cut the fifth muffin in half, “I promised Mrs. Norris I -would go across after tea to have a look at her latest.”</p> - -<p>“You are not going out, Eliza, such a night as this?” -said Harriet in a voice of consternation.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span></p> - -<p>“A promise is a promise, my dear, you know that. -Mrs. Norris has just had her sixth—the sweetest little -boy. Some people have all the luck.”</p> - -<p>“But the fog—you can’t see a yard in front of you!”</p> - -<p>“It’s only just across the street, my dear.”</p> - -<p class="ph2">III</p> - -<p>As soon as Eliza, hatted and cloaked, had gone to -see Mrs. Norris’s latest, a change came over Constable -Maclean. He was a young man of big ideas. But all -that they had done for him so far was to turn life into -a tragedy. By nature fiercely sensitive, the shyness -which made his life a burden had a trick of crystallizing -at the most inconvenient moments into a kind of dumb -madness. A crisis of this kind was upon him now. -Yet he had a will of iron. And in order to keep faith -with the highest law of his being that will was always -forcing him to do things, and say things, which people -who did not happen to be Dugald Maclean could only -regard as perfectly amazing.</p> - -<p>His acquaintance with Miss Sanderson was very -slight. They came from neighboring villages in their -native Scotland; many times he had gazed from afar on -his beautiful compatriot, but only once before could he -really be said to have met her. That was months ago, -in that very room, when he had been but a few days in -London. Since then a very ambitious young man had -thought about her a great deal. The force and charm -of her personality had cast a spell upon him; this was -a demonic woman if ever there was one; he had hardly -guessed that such creatures existed. It would be wrong -to say that he was in love with her; his passion was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span> -centered upon ideas and not upon people; yet Harriet -Sanderson was already marked in the catalogue as the -property of Dugald Maclean.</p> - -<p>“Do you like vairse?” inquired the young man, with -an abruptness which startled her.</p> - -<p>The unexpected question was far from the present -plane of her thoughts, but it was answered to the best -of her ability.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I like it very much,” she said, tactfully.</p> - -<p>“I’m gled.” Constable Maclean unbuttoned his great -coat.</p> - -<p>Somewhere in the mind of Harriet lurked the romantic -hope that this remarkable young man was about to -produce a hare or a rabbit after the manner of a wonder-worker -at the Egyptian Hall. But in this she was disappointed. -He simply took forth from an inner pocket -of his tunic several sheets of neatly-folded white foolscap, -and handed them to Miss Sanderson without a word. He -then folded his arms Napoleonically and watched the -force of their impact upon her.</p> - -<p>“You wish me to read <i>this</i>?” she asked, after a brief -but sharp mingling of confusion and surprise.</p> - -<p>The young man nodded.</p> - -<p>With fingers that trembled a little, she unrolled the -sheets of a fair, well-written copy of “Urban Love, a -trilogy.”</p> - -<p>She read the poem line by line, ninety-six in all, with -the face of a sphinx.</p> - -<p>“What do ye think o’ it, Miss Sanderrson?” There -was a slight tremor in the voice of the author. The -silence which had followed the reading of “Urban Love,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span> -a trilogy” had proved a little too much, even for that will -of iron.</p> - -<p>“It is very nice, if I may say so, very nice indeed,” said -Miss Sanderson cautiously.</p> - -<p>“I’ll be doin’ better than that, I’m thinkin’.” A certain -rigidity came into the voice of the author of the -poem. The word “nice,” was almost an affront; it had -come upon his ear like a false quantity upon that of a -classical scholar.</p> - -<p>“Did you really do it all by yourself?” The inquiry -was due less to the performance, which Harriet was -quite unable to judge, than to the author’s almost terrible -concentration of manner, which clearly implied -that it would not do to take such an achievement for -granted.</p> - -<p>“Every worrd, Miss Sanderrson. Except——”</p> - -<p>“Except what, Mr. Maclean?”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Lonie, the Presbyterian Minister, helped me a -bit wi’ the scansion.”</p> - -<p>“If I may say so, I think it is remarkably clever.”</p> - -<p>It appeared, however, that these pages were only the -opening stanzas of a poem which was meant to have -many. They were still in the limbo of time, behind -the high forehead of the author, but upon a day they -would burst inevitably upon an astonished world. -Would Miss Sanderson accept the dedication?</p> - -<p>Miss Sanderson, blushing a little from acute surprise, -said that nothing would give her greater pleasure. She -was amazed, she wanted to laugh, but the intense, almost -truculent earnestness of the young man had put an -enchantment upon her.</p> - -<p>But all this was simply a prelude to the great drama<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span> -of the emotions which Constable Maclean had now to -unfold. He had broken the ice with the charmer. The -butterfly was pinned down with “Urban Love, a trilogy,” -through its breast. Miss Sanderson had never had time -for reading, therefore she was in nowise literary. Thus, -perhaps, it was less the merit of the work itself, which -must be left to the judgment of scholars, than the force, -the audacity, the driving-power of its author which -seemed almost to deliver her captive into his hands.</p> - -<p>She, it seemed, was its <i>onlie</i> true begetter. The poem -was in her honor. Heroica, calm and fair, was the protagonist -of “Urban Love, a trilogy,” and she was Heroica. -The position was none of her seeking, but it carried with -it grave responsibilities.</p> - -<p>In the first place it exposed her to an offer of marriage. -“Urban Love, a trilogy,” had broken so much -of the ice that Dugald Maclean plunged horse, foot and -artillery through the hole it had made. At the moment -he could not lead Heroica to the altar; it would hardly -be prudent for a young constable of eight months’ standing -to offer to do so, but he sincerely hoped that she -would promise to wait for him.</p> - -<p>Galled by the spur of ambition, Dugald Maclean took -the whole plunge where smaller men would have been -content merely to try the depth of the water.</p> - -<p>Miss Sanderson was frozen with astonishment. It was -true that “Urban Love, a trilogy,” had half prepared -her for a declaration in form, but she had not foreseen -the swiftness of the onset. This was her first experience -of the kind, but she was a woman of the world and -she gathered her dignity about her like a garment.</p> - -<p>“Ye’re no offendit, Miss Sanderrson?” There was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span> -something titanic in the slow mustering of his forces to -break an arid pause.</p> - -<p>“I am not offended, Mr. Maclean.” The tone of Miss -Sanderson said she was offended a little. “But I do -think——”</p> - -<p>“What do ye think, Miss Sanderrson?” The naïveté -of the young man provoked a sharp intake of breath.</p> - -<p>“I think, Mr. Maclean”—the candor of Miss Sanderson -was deliberate but not unkind—“if I were you, before I -offered to marry anybody, I should try seriously to -better myself.”</p> - -<p>The words, pregnant and uncompromising, were -masked by a tone so deep and calm that a first-rate intellect -was able to treat them on their merits. In spite -of a flirtation with the Muses, this young man was a -remarkable combination of wild audacity and extreme -shrewdness. He had a power of mind which enabled -him to distinguish the false from the true. Thus he -saw at once, without resentment or pique, that the advice -of Heroica was that of a friend.</p> - -<p>She had a strong desire to box the ears of this rawboned -young policeman for his impertinence; but at heart this -was a real woman, and the dynamic forces of her sex -were strong in her. It was hard to keep from laughing -in the face of this young man in a hurry, who rushed -his fences in a way that was simply grotesque; yet she -could not help admiring the power within him, and she -wished him well.</p> - -<p>“It’s gude advice, Miss Sanderrson.” His tone of -detachment drew a ripple from lips that laughed very -seldom. “I’m thinkin’ I’ll tak’ it. But ye’ll bear the -matter in mind?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span></p> - -<p>“I make no rash promises, Mr. Maclean.”</p> - -<p>“Well, if ye won’t, ye won’t. But I’m thinkin’ I’d -work the better at the Latin if I could count on ye.”</p> - -<p>“Studying Latin, are you, Mr. Maclean?” The surprise -of Miss Sanderson was rather respectful.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Lonie is learnin’ me,” said the young man, with -a slight touch of vainglory. “And I’m thinkin’ he’ll -verra soon be learnin’ me the Greek.”</p> - -<p>“Are you going to college?”</p> - -<p>“Maybe ay. Maybe no. You never can tell where -a pairson may get to. Anyhow I’m learnin’ to speak the -language. Ae day I’ll be as gude at the Saxon as you -and your sister have become, Miss Sanderrson.”</p> - -<p>It was hard not to smile, yet she knew her countrymen -too well to treat such a matter lightly.</p> - -<p>“And I’ve a’ready set aboot writin’ for the papers.”</p> - -<p>“Begun already to write for the papers, have you, Mr. -Maclean?” This was not a young man to smile at. -“Well, wherever you may get to,” Miss Sanderson’s tone -was softer than any she had yet used, “I am sure I -wish you well.”</p> - -<p>“Thank ye,” said the young man dryly. “But why -not gie a pairson a helping hand?”</p> - -<p>“I am not sure that I like you well enough.” Such -candor was extorted by the seriousness with which she -was now having to treat him. “You see, Mr. Maclean, -it is all so sudden. We have only met once before.”</p> - -<p>“May I hope, Miss Sanderrson?”</p> - -<p>Suddenly he moved his chair towards her and took -her hand.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Maclean, you may not.” The hand was withdrawn -firmly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span></p> - -<p>“Well, think it owre, Miss Sanderson.”</p> - -<p>The young man moved back his chair to its first position -in order to restore the <i>status quo</i>.</p> - -<p>Harriet shook her head. And then all at once, to the -deep consternation of Constable Maclean, she broke into -an anguish of laughter, which good manners, try as they -might, were not able to control.</p> - -<p class="ph2">IV</p> - -<p>In the midst of this unseemly behavior on the part -of Miss Sanderson, the door next the street was flung -open with violence. A figure Homeric of aspect emerged -from the night.</p> - -<p>It was that of Constable Joseph Kelly, of the Metropolitan -Police; an ornament of the X Division, a splendid -man to look at, nearly six feet high. Broad of girth, -proportioned finely, his helmet crowned him like a hero -of old. His face, richly tinted by daily and nightly -exposure to the remarkable climate of London, was the -color of a ripe apple, and there presided in it the almost -god-like good-humor of the race to which he belonged.</p> - -<p>This emblem of superb manhood was laden heavily. -There was his long overcoat, a tremendous, swelling -affair; there was his furled oilskin cape; at one side of -his girdle was his truncheon-case, his lamp at the other -side of it; in his left hand was a modest basket which -had contained his dinner, and in his right was a larger -wicker arrangement which might have contained anything.</p> - -<p>“Is that our Harriet?” said Constable Kelly, in the act -of closing the door deftly with his heel. “Good evening, -gal. Pleased to see you.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span></p> - -<p>He set down the large basket on the floor in a rather -gingerly manner, placed the small one on the table, came -to Harriet, kissed her audibly, and then turned to the -room’s second occupant with an air of surprise.</p> - -<p>“Hello, Scotchie! What are <i>you</i> doing here?”</p> - -<p>Before Dugald Maclean could answer the question he -was in the throes of a second attack of dumb madness. -This malady made his life a burden. When only one -person was by he seldom had difficulty in expressing -himself, but any addition to the company was apt to -plunge him into hopeless defeat.</p> - -<p>“Up to no good, I expect.” Joseph Kelly, disapproval -in his eyes, answered his own question, since other answer -there was none. “I never see such a feller. Been -mashing you, Harriet, by the look of him.”</p> - -<p>It was a bow drawn at a venture by a shrewd colleague -of the X Division. An immediate effusion of rose pink -to the young man’s freckled countenance was full of -information for a close observer.</p> - -<p>“Durn me if he hasn’t!” Gargantuan laughter rose to -the ceiling.</p> - -<p>Harriet blushed. But the look in her face was not -discomfiture merely. There was plain annoyance and a -look of rather startled anxiety for which the circumstances -could hardly account.</p> - -<p>“Scotchie, you’re a nonesuch.” But Joe suddenly -lowered his voice in answer to the alarm in the face of -his sister-in-law. “You are the limit, my lad. Do you -know what he did last week, Harriet? I’ll tell you.”</p> - -<p>“Let me make you a cup of tea, Joe.” And his sister-in-law, -who seemed oddly agitated by his arrival, rose -in the humane hope of diverting the attack.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span></p> - -<p>But the story was too good to remain untold.</p> - -<p>“It’ll take the X Division twenty years to live it down.” -Kelly throbbed and gurgled like a donkey-engine as he -fixed his youthful colleague with a somber eye. “This -young feller, what do you think he did last week?”</p> - -<p>“The kettle will soon boil, Joe.”</p> - -<p>“Harriet!”—the rich rolling voice thrilled dramatically—“about -midnight, last Monday week as ever was, this -smart young officer saw an old party in an eyeglass and -a topper and a bit o’ fur round his overcoat, standin’ on -the curb at Piccadilly Circus. He strolls up, taps him -on the shoulder, charges him with loitering with intent -and runs him in.”</p> - -<p>“Here’s your tea, Joe.” The voice was sweetly polite.</p> - -<p>“And who do you think the old party was, my gal? -Only a Director of the Bank of England—that’s all. -The rest of the Force is guying us proper. They want -to know when we are going to lock up the Governor.”</p> - -<p>“Joe, your tea!”</p> - -<p>“We’ll never get over it, gal, not in my time. -Scotchie, you are too ambitious. There isn’t scope for -your abilities in the Metropolitan Force. Turn your -attention to some other branch of the law. You ought -to take chambers in the Temple, you ought, my lad.”</p> - -<p>But in answer to the look in the eyes of Harriet, her -brother-in-law checked the laugh that rose again to his -lips. There was a strange anxiety upon her face, an -anxiety that was now in some way communicated to him. -It was clear from the glances they exchanged and the -silence that ensued, that both were much embarrassed by -the presence of Maclean.</p> - -<p>However, after the young man had entered upon a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span> -struggle for words with which to meet this persiflage and -they had refused to come forth, he suddenly noticed that -the hands of the clock showed a quarter to six and he -rose determinedly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, it’s time you went on duty,” said the sardonic -Kelly with an air of relief.</p> - -<p>Constable Maclean, feeling much was at stake, made -a great effort to achieve a dignified exit. He was an odd -combination of the thick-skinned and the hypersensitive. -At this moment the shattering wit of his peer of the X -Division made him wish he had never been born, but he -was too dour a fighter to take it lying down.</p> - -<p>“Gude-nicht, Miss Sanderrson.” With one more -grimace he offered a hand not indelicately.</p> - -<p>“Good-night, Mr. Maclean.” The tone of studied -kindness was a salve for his wounds. The effrontery -of this young man did not call for pity. And yet it was -his to receive it from the sterling heart of a true -woman.</p> - -<p>The smile, the arch glance, the ready handshake did -so much to restore Dugald Maclean in his own esteem, -that he was able to retire with even a touch of swagger, -which somehow, in spite of an awkwardness almost -comically ursine, sat uncommonly well on such a dashing -young policeman.</p> - -<p>Indeed, the exit of Constable Maclean came very near -the point of bravado. For as he passed the large wicker -basket which Kelly had placed on the floor, the young -man turned audaciously upon his tormentor. Said he -with a grin of sheer defiance:</p> - -<p>“What hae ye gotten i’ the basket, Joe?”</p> - -<p>“Never you mind. ’Op it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span></p> - -<p>Less out of natural curiosity, which however was -very great, than a desire to show all whom it might -concern that he was again his own man, Dugald Maclean -laid his hand on the lid of the basket.</p> - -<p>“What hae ye gotten, Joe? Rabbuts?”</p> - -<p>“If you must know, it’s a young spannil.” The -answer came with rather truculent hesitation.</p> - -<p>“A young spannil, eh? I’m thinkin’ I’ll hae a look.”</p> - -<p>“Be off about your duty, my lad.” Joe began to look -threatening.</p> - -<p>“Juist a speir.”</p> - -<p>“’Op it, I tell you.”</p> - -<p>But in open defiance, Dugald Maclean had already -begun to untie the string which held the lid of the basket -in place. The majestic Kelly rose from his tea. Without -further words he seized the young man firmly from -behind by the collar of his coat. And then he hustled -him as far as the door in a very efficient professional -manner, straight into the arms of Eliza, who at that -moment was in the act of entering it.</p> - -<p class="ph2">V</p> - -<p>At the open door there was a brief scurry of laughter -and protest which ended in a riot of confusion. And -then happened an odd thing. But of the three persons -struggling upon the threshold of Number Five only one -was aware of it, and he had the wit to raise a great voice -to its highest pitch in order to conceal a fact so remarkable.</p> - -<p>“For heaven’s sake hold your noise, Joe, else you’ll -frighten the neighbors,” said Eliza, getting in it at last<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span> -and indulging in suppressed shrieks at the manner of -Dugald Maclean’s putting out.</p> - -<p>An instant later, the young policeman was in the street -and the door of Number Five, Beaconsfield Villas, had -closed upon him. But his singular exit was merely the -prelude to an incident far more amazing.</p> - -<p>In the uproar of Joe had been fell design. As soon -as it ceased the reason for it grew apparent. An incredible -sound was filling the room.</p> - -<p>“Whatever’s that!” Eliza almost shrieked in sheer -wonderment.</p> - -<p>Harriet’s behavior was different. For a moment she -was spellbound. The look in her eyes verged upon -horror.</p> - -<p>It seemed that a child was crying lustily.</p> - -<p>“Wherever can it be!” cried the frantic Eliza.</p> - -<p>A wild glance round the room told Eliza that there -was only one place in which it could be. Her eyes fell -at once on the large wicker basket, which had been set -on the floor near the fire.</p> - -<p>“Well, in all my born days!”</p> - -<p>She rushed to the basket and began furiously to untie -the lid. But the maxim “the more haste the less speed” -was as true in 1890 as it is today. Eliza’s fingers merely -served to double and treble knot the string.</p> - -<p>Uncannily calm, Harriet rose from the table, the bread -knife in her hand. In silence she knelt by the hearth -and cut the knot. The deliberation of her movements -was in odd contrast to Eliza’s frenzy.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> -<a id="illo1"><img src="images/i_024.jpg" width="300" alt="“How did you come by it, Joe?”" title="" /></a></div> - -<p class="caption">“How did you come by it, Joe?”</p> - -<p class="p2">The lid was off the basket in a trice. And the sight -within further emphasized the diverse bearing of the -two women. Harriet rose a statue; Eliza knelt in an -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span>ecstasy. One seemed to gloat over the sight that met -her eyes; the other, with the gaze of Jocasta, stood turned -to stone.</p> - -<p>It was the sweetest little baby. In every detail immaculate, -bright as a new pin, its long clothes were of a fine -quality, and it was wrapped in a number of shawls. A -hot-water bottle was under its tiny toes, and a bottle of -milk by its side.</p> - -<p>Eliza’s first act was to take the creature out of its -receptacle. And then began the business of soothing it. -Near the fire was a large rocking-chair, made for motherhood, -and here sat Eliza, the foundling upon her knee. -Evidently it had a charming disposition. For in two -shakes of a duck’s tail it was taking its milk as if nothing -had happened. Yet the calm, tense Harriet had a little -to do with that. The milk was her happy thought. -Moreover, she tested its quality and temperature with -quite an air of experience. And the effect of the milk -was magical.</p> - -<p>As soon as sheer astonishment and the cares of -motherhood would permit, a number of searching questions -were put to Constable Kelly.</p> - -<p>“How did you come by it, Joe?” was question the -first.</p> - -<p>Before committing himself in any way, Joe scratched -a fair Saxon poll like a very wise policeman, indeed. -It was as if he had said, “Joseph Kelly, my friend, -anything you say now will be used in evidence against -you.”</p> - -<p>At last, cocking at Harriet a cautious eye, he replied -impressively, “I’ll tell you.” But it was not until Eliza<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span> -had imperiously repeated the question that he came to -the point of so doing.</p> - -<p>So accustomed was Joseph Kelly to the giving of evidence -that unconsciously he assumed the air of one upon -his oath.</p> - -<p>“I was <i>perceding</i>” said he, “about twenty-past four -through Grosvenor Square, on my way to Victoria, when -I see through the fog this bloomin’ contraption on a -doorstep.”</p> - -<p>“What was the number?” Eliza asked.</p> - -<p>“I was so flabbergasted, I forgot to look.”</p> - -<p>“Well, really, Joe!”</p> - -<p>“When I saw what was in the basket, I was so took, -as you might say, that it was not until I was at the end -of the street that I thought of looking for the number. -And then it was too late to swear to the house.”</p> - -<p>“In Grosvenor Square?” said Harriet.</p> - -<p>“I’m not <i>per</i>cisely sure. The fog was so thick in -Mayfair you could hardly see your hand before you. It -may have been one of them cross streets going into Park -Lane.”</p> - -<p>“A nice one you are, Joe.” And Eliza began to croon -softly to the babe in her arms.</p> - -<p>Kelly stroked his head perplexedly.</p> - -<p>“I am,” he said, solemnly. “A proper guy I’ll look -when I take it to the Yard tomorrow and they ask me -how I come by it.”</p> - -<p>“Take it to the where?” asked Eliza sharply.</p> - -<p>“To Scotland Yard the first thing in the morning, to -the Lost Property Department.”</p> - -<p>“There’s going to be no Scotland Yard for this sweet -lamb.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span></p> - -<p>“If I had done my duty it’d ha’ gone there tonight.”</p> - -<p>Said Eliza: “You haven’t done it, Joe, so it’s no use -talking. And if I have a say in the matter, you are not -going to do it now.”</p> - -<p>Here were the makings of a very pretty quarrel. But -Eliza had one signal advantage. She knew her own -mind, whereas Joe evidently did not know his. By his -own admission he had already been guilty of a grave -lapse of duty. And in Eliza’s view that was a strong -argument why the creature should stay where it was. -It would be foolish for Joe to give himself away by -taking it to Scotland Yard.</p> - -<p>The argument was sound as far as it went, but when -it came to the business of the Metropolitan Force, Joe -was a man with a conscience. As he said, with a dour -look at Harriet, two wrongs didn’t make a right, and to -suppress the truth by keeping the kid would not clear -him.</p> - -<p>But Eliza was adamant. Joe had made a fool of himself -already. He had nothing to gain by landing himself -deeper in the mire, whereas the heart of a mother had -yearned a long eight years for the highest gift of Providence. -The truth was that from the outset Joseph Kelly -had precious little chance of doing his duty in the matter.</p> - -<p>Perhaps he knew that. At any rate he did not argue -his case as strongly as he might have done. And Eliza, -rocking the babe on her knee, in the seventh heaven of -bliss, rent Joe in pieces, laughed him to scorn. Harriet, -standing by, a curious look on her face, well knew how -to second her; yet the younger woman did not say a -word.</p> - -<p>In a very few minutes Joe had hauled down his flag.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span> -Really he had not a chance. It was a very serious lapse -from the path of duty, but what could he do, the -simpleton!</p> - -<p>“‘Finding is keeping’ with this bairn,” said the triumphant -Eliza.</p> - -<p>It was then that the silent, anxious, hovering Harriet -claimed a share of the spoils of victory.</p> - -<p>“Eliza,” she said, “if you are to be the sweet thing’s -mother, I must be its godmother.”</p> - -<p>“You shall be, my dear.”</p> - -<p>Harriet sealed the compact by a swift, stealthy kiss -upon the cheek of the foundling, who now slept like a -cherub on the knee of its new parent.</p> - -<p>“The lamb!” whispered Eliza.</p> - -<p>Tears of happiness came into the eyes of the mother-elect. -Harriet turned suddenly away as if unable to bear -the sight of them.</p> - -<p>Said Joe to himself: “This is what I call a rum -’un.” But even in the moment of his overthrow, he did -not forget the philosophical outlook of that august body -of men, whose trust he had betrayed. He turned to his -long neglected cup of tea, now cold alas! and swallowed -it at a gulp. He then went on with the solemn business -of toasting bread and eating it.</p> - -<p>To add to Joe’s sense of defeat, the two women paid -him no more attention now than if he had not been in -the room at all.</p> - -<p>“The sweetest thing!” whispered the one ecstatically.</p> - -<p>“What shall we call it?” whispered the other.</p> - -<p>“A boy or a girl?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, a girl.”</p> - -<p>“How do you know?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span></p> - -<p>“By its mouth. A boy could never have a mouth like -that.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know that, my dear. I’ve seen boys with -mouths——”</p> - -<p>“But look at the dimples, my dear.”</p> - -<p>“I have seen boys with dimples——”</p> - -<p>“——Joe Kelly, you are the durnedest fool alive.” -This emotioned statement was the grace to a very substantial -slice of buttered toast. Joe ate steadily, but -his countenance now bore a family likeness to that of -a bear.</p> - -<p>“Suppose we say Mary? It’s the best name there is, -I always think.”</p> - -<p>“But it may turn out a George, my dear. I hope it -will.”</p> - -<p>“I feel sure it’s a Mary,” affirmed the godmother of -the sleeping babe. “I wonder who are the parents?”</p> - -<p>“Whoever’s child it may be,” said the mother-elect, -“one thing is sure. They are people well up. I don’t -think I ever saw a child so cared for. And, my dear, -look at the shape of that chin and the set of that ear. -And that lovely hand—a perfect picture with its filbert -nails. Look at the fall of those eyelids. No wonder it -comes out of Grosvenor Square.”</p> - -<p>“Grosvenor Square I’ll not swear to,” came a further -interpellation from the table.</p> - -<p>“Get on with your tea, Joe,” said the mother-elect. -“What we are talking of is no concern of yours.”</p> - -<p>The miserable Joe took off his boots and put on a -pair of carpet slippers.</p> - -<p>“You’ve made a bad slip-up, my boy,” he remarked, as -he did so.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span></p> - -<p>The two women continued to croon over the wonder-child. -Joe took a pipe, filled it with shag and lit it -dubiously. This was a bad business. He was a great -philosopher, as all policemen are, but whenever a grim -eye strayed across the hearth, it was followed by a frown -and a grunt of perplexity.</p> - -<p>Joe smoked solemnly. The women prattled on. But -quite suddenly, like a bolt from a clear sky, there came -a very unwelcome intrusion. The street door was flung -open and a young constable entered breathlessly.</p> - -<p>Dugald Maclean was received with surprise, anger, -and dismay. “Now then, my lad, what about it?” demanded -Joe, with a snarl of suppressed fury.</p> - -<p>“I’m seekin’ ‘Urban Love, a trilogy,’” proclaimed -Dugald Maclean; and he spoke as if the fate of the -empires hung upon his finding it.</p> - -<p>“Seekin’ what, you durned Scotchman?” said the -alarmed and disgusted Joe.</p> - -<p>With deadly composure, Harriet rose from the side of -the sleeping babe.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Maclean, it is there,” she said, icily. And she -pointed to the table where the precious manuscript reclined.</p> - -<p>“Thank ye,” said Dugald, coolly. And he proceeded -to button into his tunic “Urban Love, a trilogy.”</p> - -<p>But the mischief was done. The alert eye of an ambitious -police constable had traveled from the open basket -at one side of the fire to the object at the other, sleeping -gently now upon Eliza’s knee. A slow grin crept over -a freckled but vulpine countenance.</p> - -<p>“Blame my cats,” he muttered, “so there’s the young -spannil.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span></p> - -<p>Joe rose majestically. He said not a word, but again -taking the intruder very firmly by the collar of his regulation -overcoat, hustled him with quiet truculence through -the open door into the street. Closing the door and turning -the key, he then went back to his meditations, looking -more than ever like a disgruntled bear.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II<br /> -AUNT ANNIE AND AUNTY HARRIET</h2></div> - -<p class="ph2">I</p> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">A</span>unt Annie</span> was the first to be told the great -news. In the view of both nieces it was in the -natural order of things that this august lady -should take precedence of the rest of the world. She -was so incontestably the family “personage,” the eminence -she occupied was such a dizzy one, that it would -have been just as unthinkable not to grant her priority in -a matter of such vital importance, as it would have been -to deny it to Queen Victoria in an affair of State.</p> - -<p>In point of fact, Aunt Annie, within her own orbit, -was the counterpart and reflection of her Sovereign. In -an outlook they were alike, they were alike in the range -of their ideas, and well-informed people had said that -they had tricks of speech and manner in common. This -may have been a little in excess of the truth, one of those -genial pleasantries it is the part of wisdom to accept in -the spirit in which they are offered, but it would be wrong -to deny that in the suburb of Laxton Aunt Annie took -rank as a very great lady.</p> - -<p>It is true that she lived in a small and modest house -in an unpretentious street, but all the world knew that -the flower of her years had been passed in abodes very<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span> -different. And not only that, it was also known that -every year on her birthday, the twenty-sixth of March, -those whom it is hardly right to mention in these humble -pages came to call on her. On the twenty-sixth of every -March, sometime in the afternoon, a remarkable equipage -would appear before the chaste precincts of “Bowley,” -Croxton Park Road. At that hour every self-respecting -pair of eyes in the immediate neighborhood would be -ambushed discreetly behind curtains in order to watch the -descent of a real live princess with a neat parcel.</p> - -<p>The contents of the parcel were said to vary from -year to year. Now it would be a piece of choice needlework, -fashioned by the accomplished hands of Royalty -itself, which would take the shape of a cushion or a footstool, -now a framed photograph of Prince Adolphus or -Princess Geraldine in significant stages of their adolescence, -now a chart of the august features of even more -important members of the family. Many were the historical -objects disposed about Aunt Annie’s sitting-room, -which the elect of the neighborhood had the privilege of -seeing and handling when they came to call upon her. -But when all was said, the undoubted gem of the collection -was a superb edition, bound in full calf, of the -Poems of A. L. O. E., with a certain signature upon the -fly-leaf. This was always kept under glass.</p> - -<p>It chanced that Aunt Annie had invited herself to tea -at Number Five, Beaconsfield Villas, the day after the -arrival of the babe. This was strictly in accord with -rule and precedent. She was far too much a personage -to be invited by her niece Eliza, but if she intimated by -a letter, which was the last word in precision, that she -proposed to call on a certain day, Eliza humbly and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span> -gratefully overhauled the best tea service and polished -the lacquer tray which was only used on State occasions.</p> - -<p>Not merely the mother-elect, but also godmother -Harriet, saw the hand of a very special Providence in -the impending visit of Aunt Annie to Beaconsfield Villas. -It was only right and fit that the news should be first told -to her. The matter must have her sanction. By comparison -the rest of the world was of small account. The -entire clan Sanderson lived in awe of her, and particularly -her imprudent and démodé niece Eliza. The -prestige of Aunt Annie was immense, and it did not make -things easier for those who lived within the sphere of -her influence that the old lady was fully alive to the -fact.</p> - -<p>Eliza confided to Harriet that she would breathe more -freely when the morrow’s visit had taken place. Harriet -boldly said it didn’t really matter what view Aunt Annie -took of the affair. But Eliza knew better. In spite of -the joys of vicarious motherhood, there could be no -peace of mind for Eliza until the fateful day was over.</p> - -<p>Half-past four in the afternoon was the hour mentioned -in the official note. And it was then, punctual to -the minute, that a vehicle of antique design even for that -remote period of the world’s history, in charge of a -Jehu to match it, drew up on the cobblestones exactly -opposite Number Five. The fog had cleared considerably -since the previous evening, therefore three urchins, -spellbound by the appearance of such a turnout in their -own private thoroughfare, beheld the slow and stately -emergence of a superbly Victorian bonnet of the most -authentic design and a black mantle of impressive simplicity.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span></p> - -<p>Jehu, like the equipage itself, jobbed for the occasion, -was the mirror of true courtliness. He had an uncle in -the Royal stables, therefore he knew the deference due -to the august Miss Sanderson. In promoting her descent -from the chariot he did not actually take off his hat, but -he stood with it off in spirit; a fact sufficiently clear to -the three youthful onlookers, one of whom remarked in -a voice of awe, “It’s the mayoress.”</p> - -<p>Eliza, quaking over her best tea service on its elegant -tray, knew without so much as a glance through the -window that Aunt Annie had come. But she waited for -the knock. And then apronless, in her best dress, with -never a hair out of place, she opened the door with a -certain slow stateliness. Before her <i>mésalliance</i> she had -had great prospects as lady’s maid.</p> - -<p>“Good morning, dear Eliza.”</p> - -<p>It was four o’clock in the afternoon, but the distinguished -visitor undoubtedly said, “Good morning, dear -Eliza.” Moreover, she offered a large and rigid cheek -and Eliza pecked at it rather nervously.</p> - -<p>The door of Number Five closed upon Jehu, upon his -wonderful and fearful machine, and also upon the general -public.</p> - -<p>“And how is Joseph?”</p> - -<p>“Nicely, thank you, Aunt Annie. I hope <i>you</i> are quite -well.”</p> - -<p>“As well as my rheumatism will permit.”</p> - -<p>“Won’t you take off your things?”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, no, my dear.”</p> - -<p>Aunt Annie would rather have died than take off her -things in that house. In her heart she had never been -able to forgive Eliza her marriage. Joseph Kelly was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span> -a worthy fellow no doubt, a good husband, and a conscientious -police officer, but by no exercise of the imagination -could he ever occupy the plane of a Sanderson. It -may have been mere pride of family but then pride of -family is a queer thing.</p> - -<p>Poor Eliza had fallen sadly from grace. She had come -down in the world, whereas a true Sanderson always -made a point of going up in it. Even if Eliza’s relations -as a whole were inclined to take a sympathetic view of -her marriage, the one among them who really counted, -was never quite able to overlook the fact in her dealings -with her. Eliza had cause to feel nervous for Aunt -Annie was never so impressive as when she entered the -modest front parlor of Number Five.</p> - -<p>It was easy for Aunt Annie to do that, because nature -was on her side. With the honorable exception of her -friend, Alderman Bradbury, the present mayor of the -borough, she had more personality than anyone in -Laxton. For forty years she had moved in the highest -circles in the land. Moreover, she had moved in them -modestly, discreetly, with the most punctilious good -sense. She had known her place exactly, had kept it, -therefore, with ever increasing honor and renown; but -the spirit of imperious self-discipline which had entered -into her in the process, sternly required that ordinary -people in their dealings with her should know their -place, too, and also be careful to keep it. In the domestic -circle Aunt Annie was a pitiless autocrat, and in public -life even the Mayor of Laxton and its leading Aldermen -did not withhold their deference when she condescended -to converse with them upon matters relating to the infant -life of the borough.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span></p> - -<p>No wonder Laxton’s leading inhabitants kow-towed -to Aunt Annie. No wonder niece Eliza cowered in spirit -when she superbly entered that modest dwelling and sat -in its most capacious chair. Tea was offered her, without -sugar and with only a very little milk according to -her stoical custom.</p> - -<p>“Thankee, my dear.”</p> - -<p>The great lady removed a black kid glove, and -coquetted with a delicate slice of bread and butter. If -you have lived in palaces most of your days you know -that simplicity in all things is the true art of life. Right -at the back, as Eliza well knew, Aunt Annie was by no -means so simple as she made a point of seeming. Her -tastes and manners were modeled upon a sublime Original, -but as the memoirs of the time have shown in the -one case that things may not be always what they seem, -the same held true in the other.</p> - -<p>Eliza had never felt so nervous in her life. Even the -historic hour in which she had first announced her -engagement to Joe could hardly compare with this. But -it was not until Aunt Annie had passed to her second -piece of bread and butter that the thunderbolt fell.</p> - -<p>“A cradle, my dear!”</p> - -<p>It was quite true that a cradle was in the chimney -corner, within three yards of Laxton’s leading authority -on the subject. Moreover, it was a cradle of the latest -design, a cradle of the most elegant contour, it was a -cradle provided with springs and lace curtains.</p> - -<p>Eliza blushed hotly and murmured something about -Harriet having had it sent that morning. And then all -at once she became so confused that she began to pour<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span> -out her own tea into the slop-basin instead of the cup -provided for the purpose.</p> - -<p>“Harriet who, my dear?”</p> - -<p>There was only one Harriet, and Eliza knew that Aunt -Annie knew that. It was a mere ruse to gain time—if -such a word can be used without impropriety in such -connection. Eliza sought to cover her confusion by a -sedulous holding of the tongue, and by an attempt to -pour out her tea as if she really knew what she was -about.</p> - -<p>“What is there in it?”</p> - -<p>The demand was point-blank. It was almost passionate.</p> - -<p>Without waiting to be told what there was in it, Aunt -Annie rose, tea cup and all, and with the glower of a -sibyl drew aside the curtains.</p> - -<p class="ph2">II</p> - -<p>Mary was sleeping. Empirical science had proved her -beyond a doubt to be a Mary. And she was sleeping -as the best Marys do at the age of one month and a -bittock, with her thumb in her mouth—if they are -allowed to do so.</p> - -<p>To say that Aunt Annie was taken aback would be -like saying that Zeus was a little offended with certain -events when he blew the planet Earth out of the firmament -in the year 19—. However!—it was as much as -Aunt Annie could do to believe the evidence of her eyes. -She fronted her niece augustly.</p> - -<p>“And you never told <i>me</i>, my dear.”</p> - -<p>“It didn’t come till last evening,” stammered Eliza.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span></p> - -<p>But a leading authority, even upon a subject so recondite, -is not deceived in that way.</p> - -<p>“The child is five weeks old if it’s an hour,” scornfully -affirmed the expert. “Besides,”—the eye of the expert -transfixed her niece piercingly—“do you suppose—a -woman of my experience—needs to be told—but why -pursue the subject!”</p> - -<p>For the moment Eliza felt so guilty that she was quite -unable to pursue the subject. Yet there was no reason -why she should allow herself to be overwhelmed, except -that Aunt Annie had an almost sublime power of putting -people in the wrong. The situation in sheer grandeur -and magnitude was altogether too much for her. And -the mind of Aunt Annie, capable of volcanic energy -when dealing with the subject it had made its own, had -already traveled an alarming distance before Eliza could -impose any check upon it.</p> - -<p>“A very fine child—a very fine child indeed—but——!”</p> - -<p>The portentous gravity of the words should have -brought a chill to the soul of Eliza. But for some odd -reason it caused her to laugh hysterically.</p> - -<p>“It is not a laughing matter,” said the face of Aunt -Annie; her stern lips made no comment on the preposterous -behavior of her niece.</p> - -<p>“She’s mine,” gasped Eliza, when laughter had brought -her to the verge of tears.</p> - -<p>“Tell that to the Marines,” said the face of Aunt -Annie. In fact the face of Aunt Annie said more -than that. It said, “Eliza, I should like to give -you the soundest shaking you have ever had in your -life.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span></p> - -<p>“Joe and I have adopted it,” gurgled Eliza at last.</p> - -<p>Aunt Annie drew herself up to her full, formidable, -dragoon-like height of five feet ten inches, and gazed -sublimely down from that Olympian elevation.</p> - -<p>“Then why not say so, my dear, in so many -words, without making yourself so profoundly ridiculous?”</p> - -<p class="ph2">III</p> - -<p>With tingling ears, Eliza humbly admitted her fault. -But as soon as she had done so, there arose a serious -problem, for a simple creature in whose sight the truth, -the whole truth and nothing but the truth was very precious. -Aunt Annie began to ask questions—questions -which forbade a person of ordinary discretion to answer -with candor.</p> - -<p>Whose was the child? What was its origin? What -did the parents——? Why did the parents——? -When did the parents——? Did Eliza fully realize the -grave nature of the responsibility she was taking upon -herself?</p> - -<p>It was the last question of the series that Eliza -answered first. And this she did for a sufficient reason: -to answer the others was wholly beyond her power.</p> - -<p>“We may be doing a very unwise thing,” said Eliza. -“Joe and I know that.”</p> - -<p>“I am sure I hope you do, my dear. But tell me, -where did you get it?”</p> - -<p>The voice of truth enjoined on a doorstep in -Grosvenor Square, but the voice of prudence said otherwise. -And the voice of prudence sounded a very clear -and masterful note in Eliza’s ear, for Joe, Harriet, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span> -she were fully agreed that the true story must -not be given to the world. Diplomacy was called -for. Such a forthright creature was quite unversed -in that dubious art, but she must prepare to use -it now.</p> - -<p>“I promised I wouldn’t tell.” Alas! that crude -formula was all in the way of guile that poor flustered -Eliza could muster at the moment.</p> - -<p>Less by instinctive cleverness than by divine -accident there was a world of meaning, however, in that -faltering tone. And a word to the wise is sufficient. -There was not a wiser woman in England than Aunt -Annie, except—of course, that is to say!—speaking -merely for the lieges of the realm—.</p> - -<p>“Very well, I don’t press the question.” It was the -tone she had once accidentally overheard a very great -Personage use to Lord Gr-nv-lle.</p> - -<p>Eliza sighed relief.</p> - -<p>“But, let me say this,” Aunt Annie looked steadily -at her niece. “I ask no questions in regard to the parents, -but whoever they may be, you must know that you run -a risk. The offspring of a regular union are often unsatisfactory, -the offspring of an irregular union, although -I praise heaven I have had no personal experience of -them, always bring sorrow to those with whom they -have to do.”</p> - -<p>Eliza could only reply that the creature was such a -dear lamb that she was quite prepared to take the risk. -Aunt Annie shook a solemn head at her niece, and then -surveyed the infant in true professional style. The babe -still slept. Before the great critic and connoisseur made -any comment she removed the thumb from the delightful<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span> -mouth. And the act was done with such delicacy as -not to bring a cloud to the dreams of this wonderful -Mary.</p> - -<p>This was a rosebud of a creature, and she lay in her -grand cradle as if she simply defied even the highest -criticism to dispute the fact. Certainly one who knew -what babies were did not try to do so. Only one remark -was offered at that moment, but to the initiated it was -worth many volumes.</p> - -<p>“Whoever’s child it may be,” said Aunt Annie, “and -mind I don’t go into that, it is not a child of common -parents.”</p> - -<p class="ph2">IV</p> - -<p>For some odd reason, Eliza was so intensely flattered -by Aunt Annie’s words, that she felt a desire to hug -her. None knew so well as Eliza that it was not a child -of common parents, but it was not the way of this -expert to say so. The wonderful creature was “wrapt -in mystery,” but the hallmark of quality must have been -stamped very deep for such a one as Aunt Annie to -commit herself to any such statement. Her standard was -princes and princesses. Every babe in Christendom was -judged thereby, and there was perhaps one in a million -that could hope to survive the test.</p> - -<p>A miracle had happened, but it was really too much to -expect that the cradle would have a share in it. Aunt -Annie shook her head over the cradle. It had too many -fal-lals. She approved neither its curtains nor its air of -grandeur. She was a believer in plainness and simplicity. -If before incurring an unwarrantable expense, -her niece had only mentioned the matter, the great lady<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span> -would have gone to Armitt’s personally and have -arranged for a replica of the hygienic but unpretentious -design supplied by that famous firm to the Nursery over -which she had presided.</p> - -<p>Eliza, however, could accept no responsibility for the -cradle. Harriet had sent it that morning quite unexpectedly. -Aunt Annie was a little surprised that the -taste of Bridport House in cradles was not a little surer. -Yet upon thinking the matter over she found she was -less surprised than she thought she was. The Dinnefords -were a good family, the Duke was esteemed, his -late Duchess, for a brief period, had been Mistress of -the Posset, but after all Bridport House was not Bowley. -After all a Gulf was fixed.</p> - -<p>It was vain for Eliza to show how disappointed Harriet -would be; the cradle had so clearly cost a great -deal of money. It had cost too much money, that was -the head and front of the cradle’s offending. There -was an air of the parvenu about it. Such a cradle would -never have been tolerated at Bowley, nay, it was open to -doubt whether it would have been tolerated at Bridport -House.</p> - -<p>Aunt Annie was still discoursing upon cradles out of -a full mind, when Harriet herself came on the scene. -She was spending a few days at Number Five, Beaconsfield -Villas before going down to Buntisford, and she had -now returned from a day’s shopping in London. She -knew that Aunt Annie was coming to tea, yet in spite -of being forewarned, the sight of the dominant old lady -seated at the table seemed to dash her at once.</p> - -<p>For one thing, perhaps they were not the greatest of -friends. It may have been that Bowley set too high<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span> -a value upon itself in the eyes of Bridport House, it -may have been that Bridport House held itself too independent -in the eyes of Bowley. The clan Sanderson, -one and all, revered Aunt Annie; there was no gainsaying -that her career had been immensely distinguished; -but at this moment Harriet’s greeting certainly seemed -just a little perfunctory; it might even be said to have -a covert antagonism.</p> - -<p>Harriet’s health was tenderly inquired after, she was -solemnly congratulated on her recent appointment, which -did her much credit and conferred honor upon her -family; but it was soon apparent that there was only -one subject, to which, at that moment, Harriet could -give her mind. Had she been the mother of the babe, -instead of the godmother merely, her impatience to draw -aside the curtains of the cradle could hardly have been -greater, or her delight in looking upon a ravishing spectacle -when she had done so.</p> - -<p>Even the stern criticism of those curtains she did not -heed, until she had gazed her fill. It was a babe in -a million. And when at last she was up against the -curtains, so to speak, instead of meeting the curtains -fairly and squarely, she began to paint extravagant pictures -of the future.</p> - -<p>Her name was Mary. That was settled. She was -to be brought up most carefully; indeed, it was decided -already that she was to have a first-rate education.</p> - -<p>“A first-rate education!” There was a slight curl -of a critical lip.</p> - -<p>“Why not?” inquired godmother Harriet.</p> - -<p>“The expense, my dear!”</p> - -<p>“I think I shall be able to afford it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span></p> - -<p>“<i>You</i>, my dear,” said Aunt Annie, rather pointedly.</p> - -<p>“I am the godmother,” said Harriet, with the light of -battle in her eyes.</p> - -<p>“So I hear. But don’t forget she is to be the child -of a police constable.”</p> - -<p>“She is not the child of a police constable,” said Harriet, -with a mounting color.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know whose child she is. That is a question -I prefer to avoid. But in my humble opinion it -will be a grave mistake to educate her above the class to -which it has pleased Providence to call her. No good -can come of it.”</p> - -<p>“That’s nonsense!” The fine voice had a slight tremble -in it.</p> - -<p>Aunt Annie looked down her large nose. “At any -rate, that has always been my view. And it has always -been the view of, I will not say who. It is very perilous -to tamper with the order of Divine Providence. And -I am surprised that one who has been called to a position -of high responsibility should think otherwise.”</p> - -<p>The quick flush upon Harriet’s cheek showed that the -old lady had got home. She was always formidable -at close quarters; even Harriet had to be wary in trying -a fall with her.</p> - -<p>“The child must have a good, sensible upbringing. -Let her be taught cooking, sewing, plain needlework, and -so on. And <i>I</i> shall be very glad to give a little advice -from time to time. But I repeat it will be most unwise -to set her up, no matter who her parents may be, above -the station in life to which it has pleased Providence -to call her.”</p> - -<p>Again the light of battle darkened the eyes of Harriet.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span></p> - -<p>“It is early days at present to talk about it,” she -said. And she laughed suddenly in a high-pitched key.</p> - -<p class="ph2">V</p> - -<p>Water flowed under London Bridge. The flight of -time demanded that Mary should fulfill her promise of -being the most wonderful child ever seen. She did not -fail, but grew in grace and beauty like a flower. At the -date of her arrival her age was deemed to be one month. -By the time it had been multiplied by twelve a personality -had begun to emerge, twelve months later it was -possible to gauge it.</p> - -<p>There never was such a child. Eliza held that opinion -from the first, and godmother Harriet shared it. Aunt -Annie was more discreet, but her actions expressed an -interest of the highest kind. From the moment she had -committed herself to the memorable statement that -“Whoever’s child she may be, she is not a child of common -parents,” there was really no more to be said. -But as the months passed and Mary became Mary yet -more definitely, the old lady, to the astonishment of both -her nieces, began to identify herself intimately with the -fortunes of the creature.</p> - -<p>The critical age of two was safely passed. And the -age of three found Mary more than ever the cynosure -of Number Five, Beaconsfield Villas. The infant had -such health, her eyes were so blue, her laugh was so -gay, her rose-bloom tints were so dazzling, that the -childless hearth of the Kellys’ was somehow touched -with the hues of Paradise. In moments of gloom Joe -had his doubts, and now and again expressed them.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span> -He had certainly done very wrong, the whole matter -was most irregular, but the look in Eliza’s face was a -living contradiction to official pessimism.</p> - -<p>In the meantime Aunt Annie sat many an hour, spectacles -on nose, making “undies” for her new niece. -The old lady was much courted by the rest of her -family. Even amid the remoter outposts of the clan, -her word was law. Apart from the romance of her -career, she enjoyed a substantial pension, she owned -house property, and the stocking in which she kept her -savings was known to be a long one. But beyond all -things was the woman herself. It was sheer weight of -character that gave her such a special place among her -peers.</p> - -<p>The clan Sanderson was extensive, and inclined to -exclude. There were Sandersons holding positions of -trust in various parts of London and the country. There -was Mr. George Sanderson, who was in a bank at Surbiton, -who, if he did not actually share the apex with -his cousin Annie, was immensely looked up to; there -was Francis, who, from very small beginnings, had -blossomed into a chartered accountant; there was young -Lawrence, of the new generation, who had given up -being a page boy in very good service, for the lures -of journalism. He was far from being approved by his -Aunt Annie, and he had not the sanction of his Uncle -George, but he was understood to be doing very well, -and if he only kept on long enough and made sufficiently -good in this eccentric way of life, the mandarins -of the family might regard him a little more hopefully. -Finally, there was Harriet. Hers was a truly remarkable -case.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span></p> - -<p>At the age of twenty-nine, without special training -or any particular influence, she had been made housekeeper -to the Duke of Bridport at Buntisford Hall, -Essex. The more modern minds among the clan might -affect to despise a success of that kind, but for generations -there had been a sort of feudal connection between -the great house of Dinneford and the honest -race of yeomen who had served it. Chartered Accountant -Francis might smile in a superior way, young -Lawrence of Fleet Street, a perfect anarchist of a fellow, -might scoff, but every true-blue Sanderson of the older -generation was amazed at Harriet’s achievement, and -felt a personal pride in it.</p> - -<p>Aunt Annie, who had a temperamental dislike of Harriet, -was the first to admit that the rise of her niece had -been very remarkable. The august Miss Sanderson -was an unequaled judge of what Mr. George Sanderson -called “general conditions.” Her own historical -career had given her peculiar facilities for gauging the -lie of a country, socially speaking, her sense of values -was absolutely correct, and she was constrained to admit, -much as it hurt her to do so, that Harriet’s success -had no parallel in her experience.</p> - -<p>Eliza Kelly occupied a very different place in the -hierarchy. She was perilously near the base of the -statue. Her brothers, her sisters, her uncles, her cousins, -and her aunts, had always made a practice of going -up in the world, but she had unmistakably come down -in it. It was not that they had anything against Joe -personally. He was sober, honest, a good husband, and -he well knew the place allotted to him by an all-wise -Providence. But when the best had been said for him<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span> -he was not, and could never hope to be, a Sanderson.</p> - -<p>It was, therefore, the more surprising that Aunt Annie -should take so great an interest in the waif that the -Kellys had adopted. None knew the name of its parents, -none so much as ventured to hint at the source of its -origin, yet the mandarin-in-chief accepted it as soon as -she set eyes upon it, and month by month, year by year, -to the increasing surprise of the clan as a whole, her -regard for the creature waxed in ever growing proportions.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Francis—A Miss Best, of Sheffield—had given an -account of her afternoon call at Bowley, which she -had timed as usual for the day after Royalty had paid -its annual visit. Mrs. F.—in the family, she was always -Mrs. F.—had then seen Mary for the first time. And -although she had five of her own, the child had made a -great impression. She was like a fairy, with vivid eyes -and wonderful hair, which Aunt Annie used to brush -over a stick every time she came to Croxton Park -Road; her clothes were simple and in perfect taste, but -of a style and quality far beyond the reach of Mrs. -F.’s own progeny. She was then a little more than -three, and not only Mrs. F., but <i>others</i>, according to -Aunt Annie’s account of the matter, had been greatly -struck by her. She certainly made a picture with her -dainty limbs, her laughing eyes, her flaxen curls. All -the same, it was very absurd that the child should -be turned out in that way. Eliza and Joe could not -possibly afford it, and if the old lady was responsible, -as was feared was the case, she ought to have had more -sense than to set her up in that way.</p> - -<p>As the result of inquiries, Mrs. F. felt bound to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span> -make in the matter, and there were very few matters -in which Mrs. F. did not feel bound to make inquiries -of one kind or another, it appeared that Aunt Annie -was not responsible for her clothes. The clothes lay at -the door of godmother Harriet. She had insisted on -choosing them, and had further insisted on sharing the -considerable expense they involved. Mrs. F. gathered -that in the opinion of Aunt Annie and also in that of -Eliza, godmother Harriet was inclined to abuse her -position. She was always insisting. No detail of the -creature’s upbringing escaped her interference. She -must have her say in everything; indeed, she came over -from Buntisford regularly once a week for the purpose -of having it. At Beaconsfield Villas, and also at Bowley, -she took a very high tone, which Eliza and Aunt -Annie strongly resented. But it seemed there was no -remedy. Harriet was the godmother, she had her rights, -her will was as imperious as Aunt Annie’s own—and -her purse seemed fathomless.</p> - -<p>As soon as Mary was four, it was settled that she -should go every morning to Bowley to be taught her -letters. And she must be taken there by a girl “who -spoke nicely.” It seemed that a girl, who spoke nicely, -was a rather rare bird in Laxton. At any rate Eliza -having been compelled in the first place to yield to a -nursemaid, had many to review before one was found -whose style of delivery could satisfy the fastidious ear -of Aunty Harriet.</p> - -<p>Eliza might be piqued by such “officiousness,” but she -could not deny that Harriet had reason on her side. Perhaps -it was overdoing things a bit for people in their -position, but Eliza, if fallen from high estate, was still<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span> -at heart a Sanderson. Therefore she knew what was -what. And the secret was hers that the child’s real home -was a long way from Number Five, Beaconsfield Villas, -Laxton. Eliza could never quite forget the source of -origin of her adopted daughter.</p> - -<p>Every month that went by seemed to make it increasingly -difficult to forget that. Princess Geraldine herself, -that figure of legend who used to call at Bowley -every twenty-sixth of March, could never have been -in more devout or judicious hands than little Mistress -Mary in that of the Council of Three, not to mention -those of Miss Sarah Allcock, specially coöpted. -No child so tended and cared for, whose welfare was -so carefully studied by experts, could have failed to -grow in beauty and grace. She was so perfectly charming -and superb when in the charge of the discreet Miss -Allcock, she took the air with her wonderful hair, her -patrician features and her white socks, that the nearest -neighbors began to resent it. It was considered rather -swank on the part of the Kellys to set up such a child -at all. They were surprised that Joe, a popular man, -should not have a truer sense of the fitness of things. -They were less surprised at Mrs. Joe, who was not -quite so popular. But Joe was a sensible fellow, and -he should have seen to it that the child did not become -the talk of the neighborhood.</p> - -<p>Yet, after all, it may not have been so much the fault -of Joe or of Eliza, his wife, that the child became the -talk of the neighborhood. In the purview of local -society, whose salon was Mrs. Connor’s, the greengrocer’s -lady, at the end of the street, the blame lay -at the door of Miss Sarah Allcock. The truth was the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span> -incursion of Miss Allcock was keenly resented by the -local ladies. She was altogether too fine—yet the odd -thing was that she was not fine at all. But she was -in every way uncommonly superior. No greater tribute -could have been paid to the social supremacy of the presiding -genius of Croxton Park Road, or to the strength -of character of Aunty Harriet, than that such a one -as Miss Allcock should condescend to Beaconsfield Villas. -Truth to tell, Miss Allcock was a remote connection of -the clan Sanderson, although never admitted as such by -the mandarins. But she knew there were strings to -pull, and a good place had been guaranteed her when she -really started out in service.</p> - -<p>All the same, as far as the neighbors were concerned, -Miss Sarah Allcock was an error of judgment. She was -amazingly neat and trim, she had the true Sanderson -refinement of manner and address, she was fond of -airing her voice to her charge with all sorts of subtle -Mayfair inflections, and she looked <i>away</i> from the neighbors -as if they were dirt. As if they were dirt—that -was the gravamen of their complaint in the sympathetic -ear of Mrs. Bridgit Connor.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Bridgit Connor, the greengrocer’s wife, was a -widespread lady of Irish descent, of great but fluctuating -charm, and unfailing volubility. Her vocabulary was -immense, but scorn often taxed it. Her scorn of Miss -Allcock taxed it to the breaking point. Born on a -bog and descended in the remote past from the kings of -the earth, Mrs. Connor had facilities of speech and gesture -denied to the common run of her kind. She avenged -the slights put by Miss Allcock upon herself and friends -by alluding to that lady’s charge in a loud voice whenever<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span> -opportunity offered as “a by-blow,” or “a no-man’s -child.”</p> - -<p>When Mary was five there arose the grand question -of her education proper. At first a great clash of wills -was threatened. Aunt Annie had her views. Aunty -Harriet had hers. Eliza, being merely “the mother,” was -not allowed to have any. Aunty Harriet thought perhaps -the kindergarten. Aunt Annie did not believe in such -new-fangled nonsense. Besides no kindergarten would -take her.</p> - -<p>“Why not?” asked Aunty Harriet. But as she spoke -there came a slight flush to the proud face.</p> - -<p>“Because they won’t,” said Aunt Annie with stern -finality. “All schools of the better sort are very particular.”</p> - -<p>Aunty Harriet bit her lip sharply. She retorted, perhaps -unwisely, that if they were not very particular -they would cease to be schools of the better sort.</p> - -<p>“Quite so,” said Aunt Annie.</p> - -<p>For the moment it looked as if daggers were going -to be drawn. These two were always at the verge of -conflict. Both were impatient of any kind of opposition, -and in the matter of young Mistress Mary they seldom -saw eye to eye. Aunt Annie did not disguise her opinion -that Aunty Harriet was inclined to take too much upon -herself, and Aunty Harriet had no difficulty in returning -the compliment.</p> - -<p>But Harriet had great common sense, and she was -a woman of action. She was not the one tamely to -accept the decree about schools of the better sort, but -began to make researches of her own into the subject. -She was very hard to please, both in regard to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span> -style of the school and the condition of the scholars, -and when at last one had been found which met the -case, there arose the difficulties Aunt Annie had predicted. -A child of parentage unknown, adopted by the -family of a police constable, did not commend herself -to the Misses Lippincott of Broadwood House Academy. -To Aunty Harriet this seemed a great pity; the school -presided over by those ladies was exactly suitable. Its -tone was high but not pretentious; the small daughters -and the smaller sons of Laxton’s leading tradesmen -mingled with those of its professional classes, and its -reputation was so good that Aunty Harriet, after a discreet -interview with the elder Miss Lippincott, a bishop’s -daughter and a university graduate, set her mind upon it.</p> - -<p>Howbeit, the austere Miss Lippincott showed no inclination -to receive the adopted child of a police constable -as a pupil at Broadwood House Academy. This was not -conveyed to Miss Harriet Sanderson in so many words, -but in the course of the next day she received a letter, -delicately-worded, to that effect. However, she did not -give in, as smaller and weaker people might have done, -but she put her pride in her pocket and, looking the -facts in the face, went to take counsel at Bowley.</p> - -<p>“What did I tell you, my dear!” said Aunt Annie. -To refrain from that observation would have been superhuman. -But the observation duly made, the old lady -also revealed the divine gift of common sense. From -all that she had heard the establishment of the Misses -Lippincott was immensely desirable. Moreover, she -clearly remembered the Bishop, their late father, coming -to spend the week-end at the real Bowley, and hearing -him preach a singularly moving sermon in the little<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span> -parish church. Small wonder, then, that the tone of -Broadwood House Academy was “exactly right” in every -human particular; besides, Aunt Annie had met and -approved Miss Priscilla Lippincott on two occasions. -Therefore, the old lady promised Aunty Harriet that she -herself would see what could be done in the matter.</p> - -<p>The first thing Aunt Annie did was to induce the -Mayoress, Mrs. Alderman Bradbury, to say a word on -the child’s behalf. She promptly followed up this piece -of strategy by ordering her state chariot to drive Mistress -Mary and herself to Broadwood House Academy.</p> - -<p>The child was looking her best. Her carefully-brushed -tresses shone like woven sunbeams, her slight, trim form -was clothed with taste and elegance, her laughing eyes -were frankly unabashed by the demure Miss Priscilla, -nay, even by the august Miss Lippincott herself. The -effect she made was entirely favorable. Besides, the -Mayoress had taken the trouble to call the previous afternoon -in order to speak for her, and Miss Sanderson, -as the Misses Lippincott knew, was looked up to in Laxton; -therefore, out of regard for all the circumstances, -a point was waived and little Miss Kelly was reluctantly -admitted to Broadwood House Academy.</p> - -<p class="ph2">VI</p> - -<p>The Misses Lippincott never had cause to rue their -temerity. Little Miss Kelly remained in their care until -she was big Miss Kelly, a brilliant and dashing creature -with a quite extraordinary length of black stocking. -Neither Miss Lippincott nor Miss Priscilla ever regretted -her democratic action. In fact, it was a source of jealous<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span> -remark, even among the most distinguished scholars of -Broadwood House Academy, that not one of them could -wear the black beaver hat with the purple ribbon and its -gold monogram B. H. A., or the blue ulster with gilt buttons, -in quite the way that these modish emblems were -worn by Mary Kelly.</p> - -<p>It greatly annoyed Ethel Cliffe, who lived in The -Park, and was a daughter of Sir Joseph, three times -Mayor of Laxton, that in looks and popularity she had -to yield to the offspring of very much humbler parents, -who lived in quite an obscure part of the borough. But -it had to be. Year by year the cuckoo that had entered -the nest grew in beauty and favor, while the legitimate -denizens of Broadwood House could only bite their lips -and marvel. In the opinion of Ethel Cliffe and her -peers, old Dame Nature must be a perfect idiot not to -know her business a bit better.</p> - -<p>It was not that Mary Kelly made enemies. Her -disposition was open, free, and fearless; her heart was -gold. Then, too, in most things, she was amazingly -quick. She never made any bones about reading, writing, -arithmetic, geography, and so on, she was good at -freehand drawing, and the use of the globes, in Swedish -drill and ball games, particularly at hockey, she was -wonderful, and in music and dancing there was none -in the school to compare with her. The only things in -which she did not really excel were plain needlework -and religious knowledge. These bored her to tears—except -that she proudly reserved her tears for matters -which seemed of more consequence.</p> - -<p>As Mary Kelly’s stockings got longer and longer the -supremacy of Ethel Cliffe grew even less secure. Even<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span> -at Broadwood House Academy it was impossible to subsist -entirely on your social eminence. Ethel had openly -sneered at the outsider upon her first intrusion in the -fold; the only daughter of a very recent knight found it -hard to breathe the same air as the offspring of a humble -police constable. But Dame Nature, in her ignorant way, -bungled the whole thing so miserably, that while Ethel -was always very near the bottom of the class, Mary -was generally at the top of it; Ethel was heavy and -humorless, and inclined to take refuge in her dignity, -Mary was <i>bon enfant</i>, with very little in the way of dignity -in which to take refuge. And in proof of that, a -story was told of her, soon after she passed the age of -ten, which ran like wildfire throughout Broadwood -House Academy.</p> - -<p>It seemed that in the vicinity of Mary’s undistinguished -home were certain rude boys. Foremost among -them was Mrs. Connor’s Michael, the youngest and not -the least vocal of her numerous progeny. And it often -happened that Michael was <i>en route</i> from his own seat of -learning, where manners did not appear to be in the curriculum, -when Mistress Mary was on the way home -from Broadwood House Academy, where manners undoubtedly -were. In the opinion of Michael’s mother the -Connors were quite as good as the Kellys—very much -better if it came to that!—and this tradition had been -freely imbibed by her youngest hope. The Connors were -quite as good as the Kellys, Michael was always careful to -inform his peers, but the haughty beauty of Beaconsfield -Villas, in her beaver hat and blue ulster with gilt -buttons did not share that view. She had simply not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span> -so much as a look for Michael and his friends. This -aloofness galled them bitterly.</p> - -<p>Had she only known such aristocratic indifference -was rather cruel. For Michael’s one distinction among -his mates, apart from his skill as a marble-player, which -was very considerable, was that he lived in the same -street as Miss Kelly. She was out and away the most -wonderful creature ever seen in that part of Laxton. -It was hard to forgive her for carrying her head in the -way she did, yet it somehow added still greater piquancy -to a personality that simply haunted the manly bosoms of -the neighborhood. But her aloofness was felt to be such -a reflection upon Michael himself, that at last that warrior -was moved to a desperate course.</p> - -<p>He took the extreme measure of offering Miss Kelly -his best blood alley. But it was in vain; Miss Kelly -would have none of his best blood alley, or of its owner. -Michael then decided upon war.</p> - -<p>In discussing the Kellys on the domestic hearth, -he had heard his mother cast grave doubts upon the -ancestry of their so-called daughter. Therefore, the -spirit of revenge, rankling in Michael’s tormented breast, -urged him to adopt a certain rhyme, current at the time, -for the chastening of this haughty charmer. Together -with a few chosen braves he lay in ambush for her as -she wended her proud way home from Broadwood -House Academy. As soon as Mary Kelly hove in sight -round the corner of Grove Street, S.E., these heroes -burst into song:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I am Mary Plantagenet.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">What would imagine it?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Eyes full of liquid fire,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Hair bright as jet.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No one knows my history</div> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">I am wrapt in mystery</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I am the she-ro</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of a penny novelette.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>On the occasion of the first performance, Miss Kelly -did not deign to take the slightest notice. But after -it had been repeated a number of times with increasing -<i>réclame</i>, it grew more than she could brook. One -never-to-be-forgotten Friday evening, in the fall of the -year, she suddenly handed her satchel of books to her -friend, Rose Pierce, and with decks cleared for action -and the flame of battle in her eyes, bore down upon the -foe. Michael Conner afterwards took his book oath to -the effect that he was not a coward. But the beaver hat, -the purple ribbon, the blue ulster and the gilt buttons -put the fear of God into him very surely. He ran. Alas, -he was a stocky youth, not exactly an Ormonde, even in -his best paces, whereas Mary Plantagenet, black stockings -and all, moved like a thoroughbred. She chased him -remorselessly the whole length of Longmore Street, -through the Quadrant, finally cornered him in a blind -alley in which he had the bad judgment to seek refuge, -and soundly boxed his ears.</p> - -<p>As far as Mary Kelly was concerned the incident was -closed from that moment. Michael Connor very wisely -decided to close it also. He returned to his marble-playing -a chastened boy. But Rose Pierce, the daughter -of Laxton’s leading physician, told the story breathlessly -at Broadwood House Academy on the following morning. -All agreed that the prestige of the school had been -seriously impaired, but Miss Kelly was Mary Plantagenet -from that time on.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span></p> - -<p class="ph2">VII</p> - -<p>By the time Mary was fourteen, Broadwood House -Academy had taught her most of what it knew. Then -arose the question of her future. The Kellys were -people in humble circumstances, and it was felt that the -child must be put in the way of getting a living. Eliza -suggested a shop, Aunt Annie shorthand and typewriting, -as she was so quick at her books, but Aunty Harriet -vetoed them promptly. And as year by year that autocrat—promoted -since the Duke’s breakdown in health -to the very important post of housekeeper at Bridport -House, Mayfair—had supported the operations of a -strong will with an active power of the purse, she -carried the day as usual. Mary must be a hospital nurse.</p> - -<p>To this scheme, however, there was one serious drawback. -No hospital would admit her for training until she -was twenty-one. The problem now was, what she should -do in the meantime. In order to meet it the Misses Lippincott -allowed her to stay on as a special pupil at Broadwood -House. Paying no fees, she gave a hand with the -younger children, and was able to continue the study of -music, for which she showed a special aptitude.</p> - -<p>For a time this plan answered very well. The Misses -Lippincott had a great regard for Mary. In every way -she was a credit to the school. Her natural gifts were -of so high an order that these ladies felt that a career -was open to her. There was nothing she might not -achieve if she set her mind upon it, always excepting -plain needlework and religious knowledge, and perhaps -freehand drawing, in which she was a little disappointing -also. Brimming with vitality and the joy of life and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span> -yet with her gay enthusiasm was now coming to be -mingled a certain ambition.</p> - -<p>As month by month she grew into a creature of charm -and magnetism, she seemed to learn the power within -herself. But that discovery brought the knowledge that -she was a bird in a cage. The daily round began to pall. -A rare spirit had perceived bars. Broadwood House -Academy was dear to her, but she now craved a larger, -a diviner air.</p> - -<p>It chanced that she was to be put in the way of her -desire. Once a week there came to the school a Miss -Waddington, to give lessons in dancing. A pupil of the -famous Madame Lemaire, of Park Street, Chelsea, this -lady was an accomplished, as well as a very knowledgeable -person. From the first she had been greatly attracted -by Mary Kelly. An instructed eye saw at once -that the girl had personality. Not only was it expressed -in form and feature, it was in her outlook, her ideas. -There was a rhythm in all that she did, a poetry in the -smallest of her actions.</p> - -<p>This girl was like no other. And Miss Waddington -grew so much impressed that at last came the proud day, -when by permission of the Misses Lippincott, Mary was -taken to Park Street to the academy, in order that her -gifts might be assessed by “Madame.”</p> - -<p>The opinion of that famous lady, promulgated in due -course, caused a nine days’ wonder at Broadwood House. -Madame Lemaire, it seemed, had been so much smitten -by the lithe charm of young Miss Kelly, that she offered -to take her in at Park Street and train her free of -charge for three years.</p> - -<p>At once the girl grew wild to take her chance. It<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span> -meant escape from a life that had already begun to cast -long shadows. But her home people saw the thing in -a very different light. In their opinion there was a -wide gulf between the respectability of Broadwood -House and the licentious freedom of Chelsea. Joe and -Eliza were at one with Aunt Annie and Aunty Harriet -in saying “No” to the proposal.</p> - -<p>Mistress Mary, however, was now rising sixteen with -a rapidly developing character of her own. Therefore -she did not let the strength of opposition daunt her. -She set her mind firmly upon Park Street and Madame -Lemaire; and very soon, to the intense surprise and -chagrin of “her relations,” she had contrived to get the -Misses Lippincott on her side.</p> - -<p>Very luckily for Mary, those ladies were open-minded -and worldly wise. They saw that the career of a highly-trained -dancer had prospects far beyond those of a half-educated -schoolmistress. Mary was rapidly becoming an -asset of Broadwood House, but the ladies, although perhaps -a little dubious, allowed themselves to be overpersuaded -by Miss Waddington and the girl herself.</p> - -<p>There followed a pretty to-do. Aunt Annie was horrified. -Such a career, with all deference to the Misses -Lippincott, hardly sounded respectable. As for Aunty -Harriet, with her usual energy, she made first-hand inquiries -in regard to Madame Lemaire. She found that -the name of that lady stood high in her profession. But -alas! one thing leads to another. Aunty Harriet, who -had a shrewd knack of taking long views, had already -espied the cloven hoof of the theater. It seemed inevitable -that such a girl as Mary should drift towards it.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span> -And of that sinister institution Aunty Harriet had a -pious horror.</p> - -<p>Therefore she opposed Park Street sternly. But the -girl fully knew her own mind and meant from the first -to have her way. And she played her cards so well that -she got it somehow. No doubt it was judicious aid from -an influential quarter that finally carried the day. Be -that as it may, in spite of all sorts of gloomy prophecies, -Mary was able to accept an offer which was to change -completely the current of her life.</p> - -<p class="ph2">VIII</p> - -<p>The move to Chelsea closed an epoch. At once Mary -found herself in a new and fascinating world. Part of -the arrangement with Madame Lemaire was that she -should “live in” at Park Street, and have freedom to -take a fourpenny ’bus on Sundays to Beaconsfield Villas. -This was greatly to Mary’s liking. Chelsea, as she -soon discovered, had an air more rarefied than Laxton; -somehow it had a magic which opened up new vistas. -She had been by no means unhappy at Broadwood -House, her foster-parents had treated her with every -kindness, but she could not help feeling that by comparison -with the new life, the old one was rather deadly.</p> - -<p>Of course, it would have been black ingratitude to -admit anything of the kind. Still, the fact was there. -Park Street had a freedom, a gayety, a careless bonhomie -far removed from the austerity of Broadwood House. -Her life had been enlarged. The hours were long, the -work was hard, but her heart was in it, and the novel -charm of her surroundings was a perpetual delight.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span></p> - -<p>A month of Park Street brought more knowledge -of the world than a lustrum of Broadwood House. -Madame Lemaire’s establishment was a famous one, -in fact the resort of fashion; to the perceptive Mary the -people with whom she had now to rub shoulders had -real educational value.</p> - -<p>The girl was one of a number of articled pupils, who -were taught dancing in order to teach it again. With all -of these she got on well. Immensely likeable herself, -she had an instinct for liking others. And she was now -among a rather picked lot, a little Bohemian perhaps in -the general range of their ideas, but friendly, amusing, -and at heart “good sorts.” Madame knew her business -thoroughly. She seldom erred as to the character and -capacity of those whom she chose to help her in return -for a valuable training.</p> - -<p>Some of the girls who passed through her hands found -their way on to the stage. Distinguished names were -among them. Indeed, the atmosphere of Park Street -was semi-theatrical. Dancing, elocution, singing, physical -culture, and fencing were the subjects taught at -Madame Lemaire’s academy.</p> - -<p>Mary remained nearly three years at Park Street. In -that time she came on amazingly. Awake from the first -to a knowledge of her gifts, she was secretly determined -to use them in the carving out of a career. Broadwood -House had sown the seed of ambition; under the able -tutelage of Madame Lemaire it was to bear fruit. Stimulated -by the outlook of her new friends, soon she began -to feel the lure of a larger life. She craved for self-expression -through the emotions, and all her energies -were bent upon the satisfaction of a vital need.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span></p> - -<p>In the early stages she owed much to Madame Lemaire, -who approved her ambition to the full. Here was -a talent, and that lady did all in her power to fit a brilliant -pupil for the field best suited to it. Unknown to Aunty -Harriet, who still cherished the idea of a hospital at the -age of twenty-one, unknown to Aunt Annie, who would -have been horrified, unknown to Beaconsfield Villas, -Mary with the future always before her, set to work -under the ægis of Madame to make her dreams come -true.</p> - -<p>After many diligent months, in the course of which a -singularly dainty pair of feet were reënforced by a very -serviceable soprano, there came the day when she was -given her chance. A theatrical manager, who made a -point of attending the annual display of Madame’s pupils -at the Terpsichorean Hall, was so struck by her abilities -that he offered her an engagement. It was true that it -was merely to understudy in the provinces a small part -in a musical comedy. But it was a beginning, if an humble -one, and its acceptance was strongly advised. It meant -the opening of the magic door at which so many are -doomed to knock in vain. This girl should go far; but -if the new life proved too hard, Madame would be more -than willing for her to return to Park Street as a member -of her staff.</p> - -<p>Alarums and excursions followed. Before a decision -could be made the girl felt in honor bound to consult -godmother Harriet. So intensely had that lady the welfare -of Mary at heart, that she never failed to visit -Park Street once a week when in London. There was -a very real bond of sympathy between them, which time -had deepened. Yet hitherto Mary had not ventured<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span> -to disclose the scope and nature of her plans. Alas! -she had now to launch a bolt from the blue.</p> - -<p>The blow fell one Wednesday afternoon when Aunty -Harriet came as usual to drink a weekly cup of tea at -Park Street with her adopted niece. Aunty Harriet, -although she prided herself upon being a woman of the -world, was unable to entertain such an idea for a moment. -Years ago it had been decided that Mary was to -be a hospital nurse. But Mary, now a strong-willed -creature of eighteen had made her own decision. For -many a month she had been working hard, unknown to -her friends, in order to seize the chance when it came. -Moreover, she felt within herself that she had found her -true vocation.</p> - -<p>Aunty Harriet took a high tone. Three years before -she had met defeat at the hands of this headstrong young -woman in alliance with the Misses Lippincott. In secret, -and for a reason only known to herself, she had never -ceased to deplore that fact. She made up her mind that -she would not be overcome a second time. But she was -quite unable to shake the girl’s determination. And there -was Madame Lemaire to reckon with. Indeed, that -worldly-wise person seconded her clever pupil in the -way the Broadwood House ladies had. Nor was it luck -altogether that for a second time brought the girl such -powerful backing when she needed it most. Behind the -engaging air of simple frankness was a will that nothing -could shake.</p> - -<p>The end of the matter was that two powerful natures -came perilously near the point of estrangement. Both -had fully made up their minds. That memorable Wednesday -afternoon saw a veritable passage of arms, in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span> -course of which Mary, her back to the wall, at last threw -down the gage of battle.</p> - -<p>Her blunt refusal to submit to dictation came as a -shock to Harriet, whose distress seemed out of all proportion -to its cause. But to her the project was so -demoralizing that she fought against it tooth and nail. -She enlisted Aunt Annie, now very infirm and less active -as a power, and the girl’s home people at Beaconsfield -Villas. But all opposition was vain. The young Amazon -had cast the die for better or for worse. To Harriet’s -consternation she took the manager’s offer. Disaster -was predicted. There were heavy hearts in Laxton, but -the heaviest of all was at Bridport House, Mayfair.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III<br /> -FLOWING WATER</h2></div> - -<p class="ph2">I</p> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">O</span>n</span> a spring afternoon, Mary at ease, novel in lap, -let her mind flow over the years in their passing. -Four had gone by since she had defied -her family, in order to embrace a career, which in their -view was full of peril. But in spite of that, so far she -had escaped disaster. And fortune had been amazingly -kind in the meantime.</p> - -<p>On the table near Mary’s elbow were five cups on a -tray, and opposite, also at ease, with her hands behind -her shrewd head, was Milly Wren. Mary had just begun -to share a very comfortable flat with Milly and Milly’s -mother.</p> - -<p>Milly herself, in Mary’s opinion, was more than -worthy of her surroundings. Loyal, sympathetic, full -of courage, she had served a far longer apprenticeship -to success than Mary had. She had “made good” in the -face of heavy odds.</p> - -<p>Milly had not a great talent. Force of character and -singleness of aim had brought her to the top, and only -these, as she well knew, would keep her there. But with -Mary it was a different story. All sorts of fairies had -attended her birth. She had every gift for the career<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span> -she had chosen, moreover, she had them in abundance. -Milly, who had gone up the ladder a step at a time, would -have been more than human had she not envied her -friend the qualities she wore with the indifference of a -regular royal queen.</p> - -<p>The clock on the chimney-piece struck four.</p> - -<p>“I’m feeling quite excited,” Milly suddenly remarked.</p> - -<p>From the depths of the opposite chair came the note -which for six months now had cast a spell upon London.</p> - -<p>“He mustn’t know that,” laughed Mary. “Dignity, -my child, touched with hauteur, is the prescription for a -marquis. At least that’s according to the book of the -words.” And she gayly waved the novel she had neglected -for nearly an hour.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Sonny,” said Milly Wren, “I wasn’t thinking of -<i>him</i>. I was thinking of the friend he is bringing, who -is simply dying to know you.”</p> - -<p>Mary knew this was quite true, for that was Milly’s -way.</p> - -<p>“Oh, is he!” If the tone was disdain, its sting was -masked by gentle irony and humor. These airs and -graces didn’t make enemies, they so frankly belonged -to the wonderful Mary Lawrence—her name in the -theater. That which might have been mere petulance in -a nature thinner of texture, became with her a half-royal -impatience for the more trivial aspects of the -human comedy.</p> - -<p>“But I want to see him,” persisted Milly. “Sonny -thinks no end of him.”</p> - -<p>“Then I’m sure he’s nice.”</p> - -<p>“Why do you think so?” Milly was a little intrigued -by the warmth of the words.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span></p> - -<p>“Because Lord Wrexham is charming.”</p> - -<p>Milly laughed. The naïve admiration was unexpected, -the slightly too respectful air was puzzling. Milly herself -was so <i>blasé</i> in regard to the peerage that such an -attitude of mind seemed almost provincial. Yet she -would have been the first to own that it was the only -thing about her enigmatic friend which suggested anything -of the kind.</p> - -<p>“Sonny says he raves about you.”</p> - -<p>“It’s <i>his funeral</i>.” The laugh was honestly gay. “He’ll -be very disappointed, poor lad.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t fish.”</p> - -<p>“I never fish in shallow waters, Miss Wren.”</p> - -<p>“You are the most shameless angler I know. But -you do it so beautifully that people don’t realize what -you are at.”</p> - -<p>“Unconsciously—say unconsciously,” came a flash -from the opposite chair.</p> - -<p>“So I used to think. Before I really knew you I -thought everything you said and did just happened so. -But now I am not quite sure that you have not thought -everything out beforehand.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t make me out a horror.”</p> - -<p>“Anyway you are much the cleverest creature I have -ever met. You are so deep that there is no fathoming -you. Somehow you are not the least ordinary in anything.”</p> - -<p>Mary abruptly brought the conversation back to -Sonny and his friend. The latter, it seemed, had first -gazed on the famous Miss Lawrence in New York, at -the Pumpernickel Theater, the previous year.</p> - -<p>“An American?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span></p> - -<p>“No,” said Milly. “But he’s seen a lot of life out -West.”</p> - -<p>Before other questions could rise to Mary’s lips, Mrs. -Wren came in. Milly’s mother was an elderly lady who -had been on the stage. In the first flight of her -profession, life had given her many a shrewd knock, -but in the process she had picked up a considerable -knowledge of the world and its ways. She lived for -Milly, in whom her every thought was centered, for in -the daughter the mother lived again. Intensely ambitious -for her, Mrs. Wren was a little inclined to resent -the intrusion within the nest of a bird of such dazzling -plumage as Mary Lawrence. At the same time that -honest woman well knew that her daughter had more -to gain than she had to lose by sharing a roof with such -a supremely attractive stable companion.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wren found it very difficult to place Mary -Lawrence. In ideas and outlook, in the face she showed -to the world, she was far from being a typical member -of her calling as the good lady knew it. As Mrs. Wren -reckoned success, this girl had won it on two continents -almost too abundantly, but she seemed to hold it very -cheap. Perhaps it had been gained too easily. Milly’s -mother, rather jealous, rather ambitious as she was, -could hardly find it in her heart to say it was undeserved, -but Mary Lawrence took the high gifts of fortune so -much for granted, almost as if they were a birthright, -that the mother of her friend, remembering the long -years of her own thornily-crowned servitude, and Milly’s -hard struggle “to arrive,” could not help a feeling of -secret envy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span></p> - -<p>“His lordship coming to tea?” said Mrs. Wren, with -a demure glance at the five cups on the tray.</p> - -<p>None knew so well as she that his lordship was coming -to tea. She had made elaborate preparations in toilette -and confectionery in order to receive him. But the -phrase rose so histrionically to her lips that she simply -couldn’t resist it. Somehow it made such a perfect -entrance, for Milly’s mother carried a sense of the -theater into private life.</p> - -<p>It would have been heartless of Milly, who belonged -to another generation, to have uttered the words on her -tongue. And those words were, “You know perfectly -well that Sonny is coming.”</p> - -<p>“He said he was,” Milly’s reply was given with a -patient smile that concealed an infinity of boredom. -Her mother, fussy, trite, rather exasperating, had never -quite learned amid all her jousts with the world, to -acquire the golden mean. There were times when she -sorely tried her clever and ambitious daughter, whose -patience was little short of angelic.</p> - -<p>“What’s the name of the friend he is bringing?”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Dinneford.”</p> - -<p>“Not another lord?” The tone of Mrs. Wren had -a tiny note of disappointment.</p> - -<p>“A rich commoner,” said Milly with a laugh. “At -least Sonny says he will be one of the richest men in -England when his uncle dies. His uncle, I believe, is a -great swell.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t doubt it, dear,” said Mrs. Wren.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span></p> - -<p class="ph2">II</p> - -<p>An electric bell was heard to buzz.</p> - -<p>“They are here,” said Mrs. Wren in a tone with a -thrill in it.</p> - -<p>A neat parlor maid announced “Lord Wrexham, Mr. -Dinneford,” and two stalwart young men entered cheerily. -They were hearty upstanding fellows, curiously -alike in manner, appearance, dress, yet in the thousand -and one subtleties of character immutably different. -But this was not a moment for the fine shades. They -came into the room unaffectedly, without shyness, and -warmly took the hands of welcome that were offered -them.</p> - -<p>Wrexham, a subaltern of the Pinks of three years’ -standing, was an attractive but rather irresolute young -man. He knew that he was perilously near forbidden -ground. If not exactly in the toils of an infatuation, -the charms of Milly were growing day by day upon -an impressionable mind. Fully content as yet to live -in the moment, a wiser young man might have begun -to pay the future some little attention.</p> - -<p>As for the lively, headstrong, unconventional Jack -Dinneford, at present at a loose end in London, to whom -Wrexham himself had been appointed as a sort of unofficial -bear-leader by the express desire of Bridport -House, that warrior was on a voyage of discovery. In -common with half the males of his age in the metropolis -he was already in the thrall of the wonderful Princess -Bedalia. In the opinion of connoisseurs she was the -only one of her kind; for the past two hundred nights -she had played “to capacity” at the Frivolity Theater,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span> -and even Jack Dinneford, who in one way or another -had seen a goodish bit of the Old World and the New, -could not repress an exquisite little thrill as her highness -rose with rare politeness to receive him.</p> - -<p>“She’s even more stunning than I guessed,” was the -thought in Jack’s mind at the moment of presentation. -He could almost feel the magnetism in her finger tips. -She was so alive in every nerve that it would have called -for no great power of imagination to detect vibration -all round her.</p> - -<p>“I feel greatly honored in meeting you,” said the -young man with transparent honesty. He was no -subscriber evidently to the maxim, “Language was given -us to conceal our thoughts.” Somehow she couldn’t help -liking him for it.</p> - -<p>“The honor is mine.” The response was so ready, the -humor behind it so genuine, that they both laughed -whole-heartedly and became friends on the spot. There -was no nonsense about Princess Bedalia, and the same -applied to the brown-faced clear-eyed owner of the -fanciful scarf pin.</p> - -<p>The neat parlor maid brought tea. Wrexham, after -a little amiable chaffing of Mrs. Wren, whom he had -met on at least six occasions, provided Milly with tea -and a macaroon, took the like for himself, and sat beside -her without a care in the wide world. She was -forbidden fruit; thus to frail humanity in its present -phase she conveyed an idea of Paradise. Such a view -was quite absurd, allowing even for the fact that Milly -was an engaging creature, with a good heart, a ready -tongue, a rather special kind of prettiness, and a particularly -shrewd head.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span></p> - -<p>Jack Dinneford on the opposite sofa had stronger -warrant for his emotions. This girl whom he had first -seen in New York before the news of a great inheritance -had come to him, whom he had since viewed ten times -from the stalls of the Frivolity Theater, was a personality. -There was no doubt about that. And as he discovered -at once their minds marched together. They -saw men and events at the same angle. A phrase of -either would draw forth an instant counterpart; in five -minutes they had turned the whole universe into mockery, -but without letting go of the fact that they were -complete strangers colloguing for the first time.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wren withdrew presently on the pretext that -she had letters to write. A very pleasant hour quickly -sped. Each of these four people was in the mood to -enjoy. Life in spite of its hazards, was no bad thing -at the moment. Wrexham, a thorough gentleman, was -an immensely likeable young man. And while he basked -in present happiness a certain resolution began to take -shape in his mind.</p> - -<p>As for Jack Dinneford at the other side of the room, -his thoughts followed a humbler course. But he was -an elemental, a very dangerous fellow if once he began -to play with ideas. At present he suffered from the -drawback of being no more than the nephew of his uncle; -therefore his sensations were not exactly those of -Wrexham, who was a natural caster of the handkerchief. -But in this fatal hour Jack was heavily smitten.</p> - -<p>He had met few girls in his twenty-four years of -existence. In his naïf way he confessed as much to Miss -Lawrence. She was amused by the confession and led -him to make others. This was easy because he liked<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span> -talking about himself, that is to say, with such a girl -as Mary Lawrence inciting him humorously to reveal -the piquant details of a life not without its adventures, he -would have had to be much less primitive than he was -to have resisted the lure of the charmer.</p> - -<p>She was unaffectedly interested. She differed from -Mr. Dinneford inasmuch as she had met many young -men. Therefore, her heart was not worn on her sleeve -for daws to peck at. But he was a new type, and she -confessed gayly to Milly as soon as he had gone, she -found him very amusing.</p> - -<p class="ph2">III</p> - -<p>So much happened in the crowded month that followed, -that at London Bridge the Thames might be -said to be in spate. The two young men were often -at the theater, and now and again Mary and Milly, -chaperoned by Mrs. Wren, would accept an invitation -to supper at a restaurant. Then there were the happy -hours these four people were able to snatch from their -various duties, which they spent under the trees in the -Park. These were golden days indeed, but—the shadow -of the policeman could already be seen creeping up. -The senior subaltern had been constrained one fine -morning to take Wrexham so far into his confidence as -to inform him with brutal precision, that if a man in -the Household Cavalry marries an actress, he leaves the -regiment.</p> - -<p>The young man was intensely annoyed. Wisdom was -not his long suit, and although an excellent fellow -according to his lights, right at the back was the arrogance<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span> -of old marquisate. His answer to the senior subaltern -was to arrange a most agreeable up-river excursion -for the following Sunday. On returning late -in the evening to the flat, Milly was in rather a flutter.</p> - -<p>Mary, who had been one of the merry party, was -troubled. She had certain instincts which went very -deep, and these warned her of breakers ahead. She -had a great regard for Milly, and the more she knew -of Wrexham the better she liked him. But she saw -quite clearly that difficulties must arise if the thing went -on, and that very powerful opposition would have to -be faced in several quarters.</p> - -<p>Moreover, she had now her own problem to meet; -Jack had begun to force the pace. And Mary, who -had a sort of sixth sense in these matters, had already -felt this to be an inconvenience. From the first she -had found him delightful. Day by day this feeling had -grown. An original, with a strong will and a keen sense -of humor, he differed from his friend Wrexham inasmuch -that he knew his own mind. He returned from the -river fully determined to marry Mary Lawrence.</p> - -<p>Perhaps this heroic resolve may have been forced -upon him by the knowledge of other Richmonds in -the field. Mary was famous and admired. It savored -of presumption for such a one as himself, in receipt -of a modest two thousand a year from his kinsman, the -Duke, to butt in where men far richer were content to -walk delicately. But he was “next in” at Bridport -House, he was heir to a great name, therefore, at the -lowest estimate, he was a quite considerable <i>parti</i>. This -fact must stand his excuse, although he was far too<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span> -astute to make it one in the difficult game he was about -to play.</p> - -<p>Jack was not afflicted with subtlety in any form, he -was not even a close observer, but he understood well -enough that it was going to be a man’s work to persuade -Mary Lawrence to marry him. She had an immense -independence, to which, of course, she was fully entitled, -a wide field of choice, and under the delightfully -amusing give-and-take which endeared her to Bohemia -was a fastidious reserve which somehow hinted at -other standards. Even allowing for a lover’s partiality -this girl was to cut to a pattern far more imposing than -Milly Wren. Her qualities were positive, whereas Milly -had prettiness merely, a warm heart, a factitious charm. -However, as soon as this sportsman had made up his -mind to tackle the stiffest fence that a Nimrod has to -face, he decided at once that the hour had come to -harden his heart and go at the post and rails in style.</p> - -<p>The next evening, as he strolled with Mary under the -trees, he may have been thinking in metaphor, when he -let his eyes dwell on the riders in the Row.</p> - -<p>“How jolly they look!” he said. And then at the -instance of a concrete thought—“By Jove, an idea! -Tomorrow morning, if I job a couple of gees, will you -come for a ride?”</p> - -<p>The response was a ready one. “I should love to, -if you are not afraid to be seen with an absolute duffer.”</p> - -<p>“That’s a bargain. But they may be screws, as there -doesn’t seem enough decent ones to go round at this -time of the year.”</p> - -<p>“I know nothing about horses,” was the laughing -reply, “except just enough not to look a hired horse<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span> -in the knees. And the worse my mount the better for -me, at least it reduces my chance of biting the tan.”</p> - -<p>“I expect you are a good deal better than you admit.”</p> - -<p>She was woman enough to ask why he should think -so.</p> - -<p>“You have the look of a goer,” he said, as his eye -sought involuntarily the long slender line of a frame -all suppleness, delicacy, and power.</p> - -<p>“Wait till tomorrow. In the meantime I warn you -that you’re almost certain to be disgraced in the sight -of the town.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s risk it anyway,” said the young man delightedly.</p> - -<p>In a very few minutes, however, Mary seriously -regretted a rash promise. They had only gone a few -yards farther, Jack still inclined to exult at the pact into -which he had lured her, when both were brought up -short by a sudden clear “Hello!” from the other side -of the rails.</p> - -<p>Jack had been hailed by a couple of long, lean young -women with mouse-colored hair, on a couple of long, -lean mouse-colored horses. They were followed at a -respectful distance by a very smart groom on a good-looking -chestnut. The set of the close-fitting black -habits and the absolute ease of the wearers denoted the -expert horse-woman.</p> - -<p>“Hello, Madge—hello, Blanche!” The casual greeting -was punctuated by a wave, equally casual, of the -young man’s hand.</p> - -<p>As the two riders went slowly by they let their eyes -rest upon Mary. The look she received did not amount -to a stare, but it had a cool impertinence which somehow -roused her fighting instinct. Unconsciously she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span> -gave it back. On both sides was a frank curiosity -discreetly veiled, but the honors, if honors there were -in the matter, were with the occupants of the saddle. -Somehow that seemed so clearly to have been the place -for generations of these lean young women with their -rigidity of line, their large noses, their cool appraising -air of which they were wholly unconscious.</p> - -<p>Who are <i>they</i>? was their reaction upon Mary Lawrence.</p> - -<p>Who is <i>she</i>? was her reaction upon these horsewomen.</p> - -<p>“A couple of my cousins.” The young man carelessly -answered a question that Mary was too proud to ask.</p> - -<p class="ph2">IV</p> - -<p>Mary’s riding had been confined to a few lessons -shared with Milly at the Brompton School of Equitation, -and Milly was urged to make a third on the morrow. -Mrs. Wren felt it to be the due of the proprieties that -she should do so, but Milly herself, apart from the fact -that she was shy of appearing in the Row, was quite convinced -that it would not be the act of “a sport” to overlook -the ancient maxim, “Two are company, three -a crowd.” Therefore the invitation was declined. And -this discreet action on the part of Milly gave Fate the -opportunity for which it had seemed to be looking for -some little time past.</p> - -<p>It was about twenty minutes to eleven in the forenoon -of a perfect first of June that Jack Dinneford rode -up gayly to the flat in Broad Place, leading a horse -very likely-looking, but warranted quiet. It was a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span> -fair presumption that the guarantee covered the fact -of its disposition, since it had made the perilous journey -from the jobmaster’s, three doors out of Park Lane, -and across the No Man’s Land yclept Hyde Park -Corner, that terrible and trappy maze, without a suspicion -of mental stress.</p> - -<p>Jack’s best hunting voice ascended to an open window -of the second story. The complete horsewoman, in -every detail immaculate, came on to the little balcony -of Number 16, Victoria Mansions.</p> - -<p>“What a gorgeous day!”</p> - -<p>“A ripper!”</p> - -<p>If excitement there was on the side of either, self-mastery -concealed it. Yet an inconvenient pressure of -emotion was shared by both just then. In spite of a liberal -share of self-confidence and a will under strong -control Mary could hardly refrain from the hope that -she was not going to make a perfect fool of herself. -As soon as she beheld the upstanding chestnut below -with its slender legs and thin tail, she winged an involuntary -prayer to Allah that there were no tricks in -its repertory unbecoming a horse and a gentleman. -As for Jack, the presence of all the horses in the world -would not have excited him. It was not in him to be -excited by things of that kind, that is to say, it was -part of his religion not to be excited by them; all the -same there was a genuine, nay, almost terrible thrill in -his heart this morning.</p> - -<p>In the course of a rather wakeful night he had made -up his mind “to come to the ’osses” in sober verity. -To the best of his present information the gods, in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span> -absence of the unforeseen, would discuss the matter -privately about twelve o’clock.</p> - -<p>“Blanche and Marjorie will have something to look -at,” was the proud thought in the mind of the young -man as the complete Diana, fit to greet Aurora and her -courses, emerged from the Otis elevator and took the -front of Broad Place with beauty.</p> - -<p>“I wish these clothes were a little less smart, and not -quite so new,” was the first thought in the mind of -Diana. “I am sure they are both of them ‘Cats,’” was -the thought which followed close upon its heels. Until -that hour it had never been her lot to harbor such vain -companions. This gay spirit to whom the fairies had -been kind had always seemed to breathe a larger, a -diviner air. Such self-consciousness shamed her; but -after all <i>those two</i> with their old habits and their odd -perfection were more to blame than she.</p> - -<p>Truth to tell, in the last seventeen hours a subtle, -rather horrid change had taken place in her. Up till -six o’clock the previous evening she had always been -nobly sure of herself, regally self-secure. Always when -she had measured herself against others of her age -and sex she had had a feeling of having been born to the -purple. Somewhere, deep down, she had seemed to -have illimitable reserves to draw upon when the creatures -of her own orbit had forced her to a reluctant -comparison. In all her dealings with her peers, she had -felt that she had a great deal in hand. But Marjorie -and Blanche, whoever Marjorie and Blanche might be, -had seemed to alter all that with a glance of their -ironical eyes.</p> - -<p>Jack fixed her in the saddle of the tall horse and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span> -lengthened her stirrup with quite a professional air, -while Milly and her mother watched the proceedings -in a rather thrilled silence from the balcony of Number -Sixteen. Their minds were dominated by a single -thought, which, however, bore one aspect in the mind -of Mrs. Wren, another in the mind of the faithful Milly.</p> - -<p>“She is <i>set</i> on marrying him?”—Mrs. Wren.</p> - -<p>“He is so nice, I hope he won’t disappoint her?”—Milly -the faithful.</p> - -<p>The cavalcade started. As if no such people as -Marjorie and Blanche existed in the world, Mary waved -the yellow-gloved hand of an excited schoolgirl to the -balcony of Victoria Mansions. Jack accompanied it -with an upward glance and a gravely-lifted hat.</p> - -<p>In the maelstrom of promiscuous vehicles which -makes Knightsbridge a thoroughfare inimical to man, -Jack took charge of the good-looking hireling. With -solemn care he piloted the upstanding one and his rather -anxious rider into the calm of Albert Gate.</p> - -<p>“I hope you are comfortable,” he found time to say; -moreover, he found time to say it so nicely and sincerely, -almost as if his only hope of happiness, here and hereafter, -depended upon the answer, that the answer came -promptly in the form of a gay “Yes,” although had she -been quite honest she would have said she had never -felt less comfortable in her life. Her horse was such a -mountain of a fellow, that she might have been perched -on the top of a very old-fashioned velocipede. Then the -saddle was very different from the one at the riding -school. It had much less room and fewer <i>points d’appui</i> -to offer. As soon as her knee tried to grip the pommel -she knew that she must not hope to get friends with it.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span> -She had embarked on a very rash adventure. And if -she didn’t make a sorry exhibition of herself in the eyes -of All London, including <i>those two</i>, she would have -cause to thank her private stars, who, to give them -their due, had certainly looked after her very well so far.</p> - -<p>“It’s very sporting of her,” said Expert Knowledge -to Jack Dinneford.</p> - -<p>“I hope the gee won’t play the fool,” said Jack Dinneford -to Expert Knowledge.</p> - -<p class="ph2">V</p> - -<p>Hardly had they entered the Row, when Providence, -of <i>malice prepense</i>, as it seemed, threw them right across -the path of the enemy. Cousin Marjorie and Cousin -Blanche, walking their horses slowly along by the rails, -were within a very few yards. Moreover, they were -coming towards them. Mary, aided by the sixth sense -given to woman, was aware of a subtle intensity of gaze -upon her, even before she could trace the source of its -origin. She could feel it upon her—upon her and everything -that was hers, from the crown of her rather too -modish hat to the tip of her tall friend’s fetlock.</p> - -<p>“Good morning, Jack,” said a clear, strong voice.</p> - -<p>“Hello,” the tone of Jack was amazingly casual—“here -you are again.”</p> - -<p>There was a moment’s maneuvering, in the course of -which three pairs of feminine eyes met in challenge, -and then Cousin Blanche and Cousin Marjorie, smart -groom and all, passed on without offering a chance of -coming to closer quarters. Their tactics had been calculated -so nicely that it was impossible to say whether<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span> -discourtesy was or was not intended. But there was a -subtle air about these ironically self-confident young -women which prevented Mary from giving them the -benefit of the doubt.</p> - -<p>For a moment she felt inclined to rage within. And -then she bit her lip and laughed. A moment later a -sudden peck of the tall horse told her that it would be -wise for the present to give him an undivided mind. -Soon, however, Cousin Marjorie and Cousin Blanche -were forgotten in the delights and the perils of the -discreet canter into which she found herself launched. -It was a perfect morning for the Row. The play of -the sun on the bright leaves, the power of its rays -softened by a breeze from the east, the sense of rapid -motion, the kaleidoscope of swiftly changing figures -through which they passed, filled her with a zest of life, -a feeling of high romance which left no room for smaller -and meaner affairs. And the stride of the tall horse, -as soon as she got used to it, was such a thing of delight -in itself, that she even forgot the strange saddle and -her general fears.</p> - -<p>They rode for an enchanted hour. And somehow, in -the course of it, the life forces became more insurgent. -Somehow they deepened, expanded, grew more imperious. -Jack was a real out-of-doors man, who believed that -hunting, shooting, field sports, and fresh air were the -highest good. His look of lordly health, mingled with -a charmingly delicate protectiveness, appealed to her in a -very special way. For some weeks she had known that she -was beginning to like him perilously much. But it was -not until she had returned rather tired and rather hot<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span> -to Victoria Mansions, had had a delicious bath, and a -very good luncheon indeed that she began at last to -realize that she was fairly up against the acute problem -of Jack Dinneford.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.<br /> -BRIDPORT HOUSE</h2></div> - -<p class="ph2">I</p> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">I</span>n</span> the meantime Cousin Marjorie and Cousin -Blanche enjoyed their ride very much. It was the -one thing they really did enjoy in London.</p> - -<p>They were two ordinary young women, yet even so -late in the Old World’s history as the year 1913, their -own private cosmos could not quite make up its mind -to regard them in that light. Cousin Marjorie and -Cousin Blanche had surprisingly little to say for themselves. -They were modest, unassuming girls, without -views or ideas, very proper, very dull, absurdly conventional; -in the eyes of some people as plain as the proverbial -pikestaff, passably good-looking in the sight of -others; in fact, a more commonplace pair of young women -would have been hard to find anywhere, yet deep in the -hearts of the Ladies Dinneford was the sure faith that -the world at large did not subscribe to any such opinion.</p> - -<p>It was not merely that they rode rather well. They -passed other members of their sex in the Row that -morning who rode quite as well as themselves. No, -proficiency in the saddle, the one accomplishment they -could boast, of which they were unaffectedly modest, was -far from explaining the particular angle at which the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span> -world chose to view them. Not that in any way they -were fêted or acclaimed. As far as the vast majority -of their fellow-creatures were concerned they were not -people to look at twice. But here and there a glance -of recognition or curiosity would greet them, winged by -a smile, now of mere interest, now of an irony faintly -perceptible.</p> - -<p>Life had been very kind to Cousin Marjorie and -Cousin Blanche, yet they did not look conspicuously -happy. With both hands it had lavished upon them its -material best, but the gifts of fortune were taken as -a matter of mere personal right. Providence owed it -to the order of things they stood for. Far from being -grateful, they were a little bored by its attentions. -Moreover, these young women had not learned to regard -people to whom the fairies had been less kind with either -insight or sympathy. Their judgments were objective, -therefore they were a little hard, a little lacking in tolerance.</p> - -<p class="ph2">II</p> - -<p>“The stage!” said Marjorie with a straight-lipped smile, -a rather famous part of her importance.</p> - -<p>“You think so?” said Blanche sleepily. But she was -not at all sleepy, else she would not have been able to -handle the Tiger, a recent purchase, in the way she was -doing at the moment.</p> - -<p>“No mistaking it, my dear.”</p> - -<p>“Good-looking, though,” lisped the somnolent Blanche, -giving the Tiger a very shrewd kick with a roweled heel. -“Reminds me of some one.”</p> - -<p>The Tiger, worried by a bit that he didn’t like, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span> -greatly affronted by the heel of his new mistress, which -he liked still less, then began to behave in a way which -for some little time quite forbade any further discussion -of the subject.</p> - -<p>For the rest of the morning, however, it was never -far from the minds of these ladies. Two or three times -they caught sight in the distance of Jack and his charge. -A striking-looking girl, but she didn’t in the least know -how to ride. And somehow from that fact Blanche and -Marjorie seemed to draw spiritual consolation.</p> - -<p>At twelve o’clock they left the Park. The policeman -at the gate pulled himself together and regarded them -respectfully. An elderly lady in a high-hung barouche -of prehistoric design, drawn by a superb pair of horses -and surmounted by a romantic-looking coachman and -footman, called out to them in a remarkably strident -voice as they passed her, “I am coming to luncheon.”</p> - -<p>“Bother!” said Marjorie to Blanche.</p> - -<p>“Bother!” said Blanche to Marjorie.</p> - -<p>They went along Park Lane, as far as Mount Street, -turned up that bleak thoroughfare, took the second turning -to the right, and finally entered the courtyard of the -imposing residence known as Bridport House. Before -its solemn portals they dismounted with the help of the -smart groom. In the act of doing so they encountered -a tall, rather distinguished-looking man, who was coming -down the steps. He was about forty-two, clean-shaven, -with sandy hair; and his clothes had an air of such -extreme correctness as to suggest that they had been -donned for a special occasion.</p> - -<p>The departing visitor bowed elaborately to the two -ladies, but each returned the greeting with an abbreviated<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span> -nod, backed by an intent smile peculiarly her own. -There might be courtesy carried to the verge of homage -on the one side, but on the other was an aloofness cold -and quizzical.</p> - -<p>As soon as Blanche and Marjorie had gained the -ample precincts of Bridport House each looked demurely -at the other, and then yielded a laugh, which seemed to -mean a great deal more than it expressed.</p> - -<p>“Been to see papa, I suppose,” said Blanche, as she -waddled duck fashion towards a white marble staircase -of grandiose design, whose cinquecento air could not -save it from a slight suspicion of the rococo.</p> - -<p>“My dear!” came Marjorie’s crescendo.</p> - -<p>Again they looked at each other, again their laughter -snarled and crackled not unpleasantly.</p> - -<p>At one o’clock luncheon was announced. Ten minutes -later a well-bathed and carefully re-clothed Marjorie -and a Blanche to match entered an enormous dining-room, -which, in spite of its profusion of servants in -livery, had the air of a crypt.</p> - -<p>“Good morning, father. Very pleasant to see you -down.”</p> - -<p>Each word of Blanche was charmingly punctuated by -a little pause, which might have been taken for filial -regard by those who heard it. But the rather acid-looking -gentleman, who sat at the head of the table, -with a face like a cameo a little out of drawing, and a -bowl of arrowroot in front of him, paid such slight -attention to Blanche that she might not have spoken -at all.</p> - -<p>“Good morning, Aunt Charlotte,” said Marjorie coolly, -taking up her own cue. She surveyed the other occupants<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span> -of the table with a quietly ironical eye. And then -as she seated herself at her leisure, as far as she could -get from the object of her remarks, she proceeded in the -peculiar but remarkably agreeable voice which she had -in common with her father and sisters: “Odd we should -run into you coming out of the Park.”</p> - -<p>“Why odd?” said Aunt Charlotte, an elderly, large-featured -blonde, whose theory of life was as far as possible -not to cherish illusions on any subject. “I always -go in at twelve, you always come out at twelve. Nothing -odd about it. Thank you!”</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” meant, “Yes, I will take claret.” It -also meant, “Get on with your luncheon, Marjorie, and -don’t be absurd. Life is too complicated nowadays for -such small talk as yours to interest an intelligent person.”</p> - -<p>Aunt Charlotte, if not consciously rude, was by nature -exceedingly dominant. For twenty-five years, in one -way or another, Bridport House had known her yoke. -She was the Duke’s only surviving sister, and she lived -in Hill Street, among the dowagers. Her status was <i>nil</i>, -but her love of power was so great that she had gained -an uncomfortable ascendancy in the family councils. -While free to admire Aunt Charlotte’s wisdom, which -was supposed to be boundless, the Dinneford ladies dislike -her in the marrow of their bones. But Fate had -played against them. Their father had been left a -widower with a young family, and from the hour of his -loss his sister had taken upon herself to mother it. She -had done so to her own satisfaction, but the objects of -her regard bore her no gratitude. From Sarah, -who was thirty-nine, to Marjorie, who was twenty-eight, -they were ever ready to try a fall with Aunt Charlotte.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span></p> - -<p>As for their father, he had an active dislike of her. -He had cause, no doubt. More than once he had tried -to break the spell of her dominion, but somehow it had -always proved too strong for him. It was not that he -was a weak man altogether, but there is a type born to -female tyranny, an affair of the stars, of human destiny. -Charlotte despised her brother. In her view he was a -lath painted to look like iron, but insight into character -was not her strength. She owed her position in the -family to dynamic power, to force of will; but in her -own mind it was always ascribed to the fact that she -acted invariably from the highest motives.</p> - -<p>“Muriel not here,” said the conversational Marjorie, -looking across the table to Sarah.</p> - -<p>“Gone to the East End, I believe, to one of her committees.”</p> - -<p>It would have been nearer the truth for the eldest -flower, who was dealing with a recalcitrant fragment of -lobster in a masterful manner, to have said that Muriel -had gone to luncheon at Hayes with the Penarths. But -Sarah, who did not approve of Muriel, and still less of -the Penarths, was content with a general statement whose -flagrant inaccuracy somehow crystallized her attitude -towards them both. Muriel had become frankly impossible. -The higher expediency could no longer take her -seriously.</p> - -<p>But there are degrees of wisdom, even among the elect. -Sarah’s place was assured at Minerva’s Court, but Marjorie -and Blanche were wiser perhaps in matters equine -than in other things. Where angels feared to tread -Blanche, at any rate, for reasons of her own, had sometimes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span> -been known to butt in. A classical instance was -about to be furnished.</p> - -<p>“Do tell me.” Blanche suddenly looked Sarah -straight in the eyes. “Has Sir Dugald been to see -father?”</p> - -<p>There was a long moment’s pause in which Sarah -maintained a stranglehold upon the lobster, while Lady -Wargrave and the Duke, who knew they were being -“ragged” by a past mistress in the art, glared daggers -down the table.</p> - -<p>“I believe so,” said Sarah in an exceedingly dry voice, -followed by a hardly perceptible glance at the servants.</p> - -<p class="ph2">III</p> - -<p>Over the coffee cups, in the solemn privacy of the -blue drawing-room, the Dinneford ladies grew a little -less laconic. They were in a perfect hurricane of great -events. Even they, who seldom use two words if one -would suffice, had to make some concession to the pressure -of history.</p> - -<p>“His mother, I understand,” said Aunt Charlotte, seating -herself massively in the center of her floridly -Victorian picture, “kept the village shop at Ardnaleuchan.”</p> - -<p>“Then I’ve bought bull’s-eye peppermints of her,” said -Sarah, with a touch of acid humor which somehow -became her quite well.</p> - -<p>“But it’s so serious”—Lady Wargrave stirred her -coffee. “Still he’s been given the Home Office—so she -thinks she moves with the times, no doubt.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span></p> - -<p>“<i>Has</i> been given the Home Office?” said Blanche, -suddenly achieving an air of intelligence.</p> - -<p>“The papers say so,” said Sarah dryly. “But I don’t -think that excuses him.”</p> - -<p>“Or Muriel,” interpolated Aunt Charlotte with venom. -“What did your father say to the man?”</p> - -<p>“He was deplorably rude, I believe—even for father. -He said the man had the hide of a rhinoceros, so obviously -he had tested it.”</p> - -<p>“All very amazing. It is charity to assume that Muriel -is out of her mind.”</p> - -<p>“One can’t be sure,” said Sarah weightily. “She says -he has such a good head that one day he <i>must</i> be Prime -Minister. After all, she will be a Prime Minister’s -wife!”</p> - -<p>“But a Radical Prime Minister’s wife!”</p> - -<p>“He may rat,” said Sarah, with judicious optimism.</p> - -<p>“He may,” said Lady Wargrave, looking down her -long nose. “But there never was a matter in which I -felt less hopeful. What does your father think?”</p> - -<p>“The man’s a red rag. Don’t you remember the -shameful way he attacked poor father on the Land -Question two years ago? What was it he called him in -the House of Commons?”</p> - -<p>“‘The Great Panjandrum, with little round button on -top,’” quoted the solemn Marjorie, whose chief social -asset was an amazing memory.</p> - -<p>“And after that he dares to come here!” Aunt Charlotte -quivered majestically. “Didn’t your father kick -him downstairs?”</p> - -<p>“I think he would have done—but for his infirmity,” -said Sarah judicially.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span></p> - -<p>“I had forgotten his gout, poor man. At least, I -hope he ordered the servants to throw the creature into -the street.”</p> - -<p>“One hardly does that, does one?—with his Majesty’s -Secretaries of State,” said Blanche, whose sleepy voice -had an odd precision which made each word bite like an -acid.</p> - -<p>Aunt Charlotte hooded her eyes like a cobra to look -at Blanche. But she didn’t say anything. Only experts -could handle Blanche, and even these must abide the -whim of the goddess opportunity.</p> - -<p>“After all, why fuss?” continued Blanche with a muted -laugh which had the power of annoying all the other -ladies extremely. “If one has to marry one might as -well marry a Prime Minister.”</p> - -<p>This was such a sublime expression of the obvious, -that even Lady Wargrave, who contested everything on -principle, was dumb before it. Blanche was therefore -able to retire in perfect order to the comatose, her natural -state. But in the next moment she reëmerged, so that -a little private thunderbolt she had been diligently nursing -through the whole luncheon might shake the rather -strained peace of the blue drawing-room. She was quite -sure that it would be a pleasure to launch it when the -moment came. A sudden pause in the great topic of -Muriel’s <i>affaire</i> told her it had now arrived.</p> - -<p>“We saw Jack riding with that girl.” So sleepy was -the voice of Blanche as it made this announcement that -it seemed a wonder she could keep awake.</p> - -<p>“What girl?” Aunt Charlotte walked straight into -Blanche’s little trap.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, you <i>didn’t</i> know.” Blanche suppressed a yawn. -“It’s a rather long story.”</p> - -<p>Still it had to be told. And Blanche, just able to keep -awake, told it circumstantially. The Tenderfoot—the -heir’s own name for himself, which Blanche made a point -of using in conversation with Aunt Charlotte because -that lady considered it vulgar—had been seen at the -Savoy with a girl, he had been seen in the Park with a -girl, he had been seen motoring with a girl; in fact, he -had been going about with a girl for several weeks.</p> - -<p>“And you never told <i>me</i>,” said Lady Wargrave with -the air of a tragedy queen. She looked from Blanche -to Sarah, from Sarah to Marjorie. A light of sour -sarcasm in the eye of the eldest flower was all the comfort -she took from the survey.</p> - -<p>“Who is the girl? Tell me.”</p> - -<p>Blanche inclined to think an actress. But she was not -sure.</p> - -<p>“Inquiries will have to be made at once.” Already -Aunt Charlotte was a caldron of energy. “Steps will -have to be taken. It is the first I have heard of it. But -I feel I ought to have been told sooner.”</p> - -<p>Blanche fearlessly asked why.</p> - -<p>“Why!” Aunt Charlotte gave a little snort. At such -a moment mere words were futile. Then she said, -“I shall go at once to your father.”</p> - -<p>“But what can <i>he</i> do?”</p> - -<p>“Do?” Aunt Charlotte gave a second little snort. -Mere words again revealed their limitations.</p> - -<p>“Yes?” Blanche placidly pursued the Socratic -method, to the increasing fury of Aunt Charlotte.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span></p> - -<p>“He can tell him what he thinks of him and threaten -to cut off supplies.”</p> - -<p>“Much he’ll care for that!” The cynicism of Blanche -revolted Aunt Charlotte.</p> - -<p>That lady, whose forte, after all, was plain common sense, -knew that Blanche was right. But in spite of -that knowledge, the resolute energy which made her so -much disliked impelled her to go at once to lay the -matter before the head of the house.</p> - -<p>Lady Wargrave found her brother in the smaller -library, long dedicated by custom to his sole use. It was -one of the less pretentious and therefore least uncomfortable -rooms in a house altogether too large to be -decently habitable.</p> - -<p>For many years the Duke had been at the mercy of a -painful malady which had taken all the pleasure out of -his life. He was nearly seventy now, a man strikingly -handsome in spite of a sufferer’s mouth and eyes weary -with pain and cynicism. When his sister entered the -room she found him deployed on an invalid chair, the -<i>Quarterly Review</i> on a book-rest in front of him, and a -wineglass containing medicine at his elbow. And to -Lady Wargrave’s clear annoyance, a tall, gray-haired, -rather austere-looking, but decidedly handsome woman, -stood by the Adam chimney-piece, a bottle in one hand, -a teaspoon in the other.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps you will be kind enough to leave us, Mrs. -Sanderson,” said Lady Wargrave, in a tone which -sounded needlessly elaborate.</p> - -<p>Harriet Sanderson, without so much as a temporary -relaxation of muscle of her strong face, withdrew at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span> -once very silently from the room. The bottle and the -teaspoon went with her.</p> - -<p>As soon as the door had closed Lady Wargrave said, -“Johnnie, once more I feel bound to protest against the -presence of the housekeeper in the library. If the state -of your health really calls for such attention I will -engage a trained nurse.”</p> - -<p>The Duke took up the <i>Quarterly Review</i> with an air -of stolid indifference.</p> - -<p>“I’ll get one at once,” she persisted. “There’s a -capable person who nursed Mary Devizes.”</p> - -<p>The Duke seemed unwilling to discuss the question, -but at last, yielding to pressure, he said in a tone of dry -exasperation:</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Sanderson is quite capable of looking after me. -She understands my ways, I understand hers.”</p> - -<p>“No one doubts her competence.” The rejoinder was -tart and hostile. “But that is hardly the point. The -library is not the place for the housekeeper.”</p> - -<p>“I choose to have her here. In any case it is entirely -my affair.”</p> - -<p>“People talk.”</p> - -<p>“Let ’em.”</p> - -<p>“It’s an old quarrel, my friend.” Growing asperity -was in the voice of Charlotte. “You know my views -on the subject of Mrs. Sanderson. We none of us like -the woman. Considering the position she holds she has -always taken far too much upon herself.”</p> - -<p>The Duke shook his head. “I must be the judge of -that,” he said.</p> - -<p>“But surely it is a matter for the women of your -family.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span></p> - -<p>“With all submission, it’s a matter for me. I find the -present arrangement entirely satisfactory, and I don’t -recognize the right of anyone to interfere.”</p> - -<p>The Duke’s tone grated like a file upon his sister’s -ear. This was an ancient quarrel that in one form or -another had been going on for very many years. The -housekeeper at Buntisford and more recently at Bridport -House had been a thorn in the flesh of Charlotte almost -from the day her sister-in-law died, but the Duke had -always been Mrs. Sanderson’s champion. Time and -again her overthrow had been decided upon by the ladies -of the Family, but up till now the perverse determination -of his Grace had proved too much for them and all -their careful schemes.</p> - -<p>They had reached the usual impasse. Therefore, for -the time being, Charlotte had once more to swallow her -feelings. Besides, other matters were in the air, matters -of an interest more vital if of a nature less permanent.</p> - -<p>As a preliminary it was necessary to glance at Muriel -and her vagaries, before coming to grips with the even -more momentous affair which had just been brought to -Lady Wargrave’s notice. In answer to his sister’s, -“What have you said to Maclean?” the Duke, who -had swallowed most of the formulas and had digested -them pretty thoroughly, expressed himself characteristically.</p> - -<p>“I told him that before I could even begin to consider -the question he would have to rat.”</p> - -<p>“Was that wise?” said Charlotte, frowning. “Why -commit oneself to the possibility of having to take the -man seriously?”</p> - -<p>Her brother laughed. “He’s a very sharp fellow. A<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span> -long Scotch head, abominably full of brains. If we could -get him on our side perhaps he might pull us together.”</p> - -<p>“You know, of course, that his mother kept the village -shop at Ardnaleuchan?”</p> - -<p>“So he tells me.”</p> - -<p>“Do you like the prospect of such a son-in-law?”</p> - -<p>“Frankly, Charlotte, I don’t. A tiresome business at -the best of it. But there it is.”</p> - -<p>“Ought one to treat it so coolly?”</p> - -<p>His Grace laid the <i>Quarterly Review</i> on the book-rest -and plucked a little peevishly at the tuft of hair on -his chin.</p> - -<p>“The times are changing, you see. We are on the -eve of strange things. Still, I took the liberty of telling -him that as long as he remained a Radical and went up -and down the country blackguarding me and mine, I -should refuse to know him.”</p> - -<p>“And what said our fine gentleman?”</p> - -<p>“He was amused. Whether he takes the hint remains -to be seen. In any event it commits us to nothing.”</p> - -<p>Charlotte shook a dubious head. “You’re shaping for -a compromise, my friend. And in my view this is not -a case for one.”</p> - -<p>“If she is set on marrying the brute what’s going to -stop her?”</p> - -<p>The question was meant for a poser and a poser it -proved. Somehow it left no ground for argument. -Therefore, without further preface or apology, Lady -Wargrave turned to a matter of even more vital consequence.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span></p> - -<p class="ph2">IV</p> - -<p>By an odd chain of events, Jack Dinneford was heir -apparent to the dukedom of Bridport. In the course -of a brief twelve months two intervening lives had -petered out. One had been Lyme, the Duke’s only -surviving son, who at the age of thirty-five had been -killed in a shooting accident—a younger son, never a -good life, had died some years earlier—the other had -been the Duke’s younger brother, who six months ago -had died without male issue. The succession in consequence -would now have to pass to an obscure and rather -neglected branch of the family, represented by a young -man of twenty-four, the son of a Norfolk parson.</p> - -<p>Jack’s father, at the time of his death, had held a -family living. A retiring, scholarly man, he had never -courted the favors of the great, and the great, little -suspecting that their vicarious splendors might one day -be his, had paid him little attention. Blessed with -progeny of the usual clerical abundance and without -means apart from his stipend, the incumbent of Wickley-on-the-Wold -had been hard set to educate his children -in a manner becoming their august lineage. Even Jack, -the eldest of five, had to be content with four years at -one of the smaller public schools. It was true that -afterwards he had the option of Oxford or Sandhurst, -but by the time the young man had reached the age of -nineteen he had somehow acquired an independence of -character which did not take kindly to either.</p> - -<p>One fine day, with a spare suit of clothes and a -hundred pounds or so in his pocket, he set out in the -most casual way to see the world, and to make his fortune.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span> -He went to Liverpool, shipped before the mast -as an ordinary seaman for the sake of the experience, -and made the voyage round the Horn to San Francisco. -For the next two years he prospected up and down the -Americas earning a living, picking up ideas, and enlarging -his outlook by association with all sorts and conditions -of men, and finally invested all the capital he could -scrape together in a business in Vancouver.</p> - -<p>After eighteen months of the new life came the news -of his father’s death. The brothers and sisters it seemed -were rather better provided for than there had been -reason to expect. At any rate, Mabel and Iris would -have a roof over their heads, Bill had passed into Sandhurst, -and Frank was at Cambridge. Therefore Jack, -little guessing what Fate had in store, decided to stay -as he was, in the hope that in a few years he would have -made his pile. He had a taste for hard work, and the -new land offered opportunities denied by the old.</p> - -<p>Some months later he received an urgent summons -to return home. He had suddenly and unexpectedly -become next of kin to the Duke of Bridport. The news -was little to the young man’s taste. He was very loth to -give up a growing business for a life of parasitic idleness -under the ægis of the titular great. But the circumstances -seemed to make it imperative. The powers that -were had not the slightest doubt that it was his bounden -duty to go into training at once. He must fit himself -for the dizzy eminence to which it had pleased Providence -to call him.</p> - -<p>Sadly enough the tiro sold out, returned to England, -and in due course reported himself at Bridport House. -It was the first time he had been there. He was such<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span> -a distant kinsman that he had never taken the ducal -connection seriously.</p> - -<p>The family’s reception of the Tenderfoot—his own -humorous name for himself—amused him considerably, -yet at the same time it filled him with a subtle annoyance. -Five fruitful years out West had made him an iconoclast. -He saw with awakened eyes the arid and sterile pomposities -which were doing their best to put the old land -out of the race. Bridport House was going to spell -boredom and worse for Jack Dinneford.</p> - -<p>Still the Duke, as became a man of the world, soon got -to the root of the trouble, and having the welfare of -a time-honored institution at heart, was at pains to deal -with the novice tactfully. All the same, he was far -from being pleased by the tricks of Providence. But -he made the young man an allowance of two thousand a -year, and exhorted him not to get into mischief; and the -Dinneford ladies, who were prepared to be kind to the -Tenderfoot and to be more amused by his “originality” -than they confessed to each other, chose some rooms for -him in Arlington Street, looked after his general welfare, -and began to make plans for the future of Bridport -House. Aunt Charlotte took him at once under an ungracious -wing, and found him a bear-leader in the person -of her nephew Wrexham, a subaltern of the Pinks, a -picturesque young man, reputed a paragon of all the -Christian virtues, and a martyr to a sense of duty.</p> - -<p>From this model of discretion the tiro soon received a -hint. Cousin Sarah owned to thirty-eight in the glare -of Debrett, Cousin Muriel had other views apparently, -but there remained Cousin Blanche and Cousin Marjorie—the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span> -heir could take his choice, but the ukase had gone -forth that one of them it must be.</p> - -<p>The Tenderfoot did not feel in a marrying mood just -then, but he had chivalry enough not to say so to his -mentor, who as the messenger of Eros began to disclose -quite a pretty turn of humor. It was not seemly to offer -advice in such a delicate matter, but Blanche was a -nailer to hounds, although she never kept awake after -dinner, while Marjorie’s sphere was church decoration in -times of festival, in the course of which she generally -had an <i>affaire</i> with a curate.</p> - -<p>Face to face with a problem which in one way or -another was kept ever before his eyes, the poor Tenderfoot -seemed to feel that if wive he must in the charmèd -circle, and the relentless Wrexham assured him that it -was a solemn duty, perhaps there was most to be said -for Cousin Marjorie. She was not supremely attractive -it was true. The Dinneford girls, one and all, were -famous up and down the island for a resolute absence of -charm. And the Dinneford frontispiece, imposing -enough in the male, when rendered in terms of the female -somehow seemed to lack poetry. Still Cousin Marjorie -was not yet thirty and her general health was excellent.</p> - -<p>The heir had now been settled in Arlington Street six -months. And with nothing in the world to do but learn -to live a life which threatened to bore him exceedingly, -time began to hang upon his hands. Moreover, the -prospect of having presently to lead Cousin Marjorie to -the altar merely increased a sense of malaise. Here -was an arbitrary deepening of the tones of a picture -which heaven knew was dark enough already. For a -modern and virile young man, life at Bridport House<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span> -would only be tolerable under very happy conditions. -To be yoked, willy-nilly, to one of its native denizens -for the rest of one’s days, seemed a hardship almost -too great to be borne.</p> - -<p>While the Tenderfoot was in this frame of mind, -which inclined him to temporize, he decided to put off -the dark hour as long as he could. And then suddenly, -while still besieged by doubt, the hypnotic Princess -Bedalia swam into his ken.</p> - -<p class="ph2">V</p> - -<p>“It was bound to happen,” said Lady Wargrave. -“That young man has far too much time on his hands. -A thousand pities he didn’t go into the army.”</p> - -<p>“Too old, too old.” Her brother frowned portentously. -“This promises to be a very tiresome business. -Charlotte, I must really ask you to lose no time in -seeing that the fellow marries.”</p> - -<p>It was now Charlotte’s turn to frown. And this she -did as a prelude to a frankness which verged upon the -brutal.</p> - -<p>“All very well, my friend, but perhaps you’ll tell me -how it’s to be done. Neither Marjorie nor Blanche has -the least power of attraction. They’re hopeless. And -please remember this young man has been five years in -America.”</p> - -<p>“I would to God he had stayed there!”</p> - -<p>The futile outburst of his Grace set Charlotte glowering -like a sibyl. She was constrained to own that it was -all intensely annoying. He was a common young man. -He had none of the Dinneford feeling about things.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span></p> - -<p>“Quite so, Charlotte.” The ducal irritation was growing -steadily. “But don’t rub it in. That won’t help -us. Let us think constructively. You see the trouble -is that this fellow has a rather democratic outlook.”</p> - -<p>“Then I’m afraid there’s no remedy,” said Charlotte, -“unless the girls have the brains to help us, which, of -course, they haven’t.”</p> - -<p>His Grace became more thunderous. “Let us hope -he’ll have the good feeling to try to look at things as we -do,” he said after a rather arid pause.</p> - -<p>“I’m not sure that we’ve a right to expect it,” was the -frank rejoinder.</p> - -<p>“Why not?”</p> - -<p>“His branch of the family has no particular cause to -be grateful to us.”</p> - -<p>“Our father gave his father a living, didn’t he?” said -the Duke sharply.</p> - -<p>“Yes, but nothing else—unless it was a day’s shooting -now and again, which he didn’t accept.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t see what else he could have given him.”</p> - -<p>“An eye ought to have been kept on this young man.”</p> - -<p>“You can depend upon it, Charlotte, many things -would have been ordered differently had there been -reason to suppose that this confounded fellow would be -next in here. As it is we have to make the best of a -sorry business.”</p> - -<p>“Sorry enough,” Charlotte admitted. “There I am -with you. But I’ll have inquiries made about this chorus -girl. And in the meantime, Johnnie, perhaps you will -speak to him firmly and quietly without losing your -temper.”</p> - -<p>“And my last word to you, Charlotte,” countered his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span> -Grace, “is to see that he loses no time in marrying.”</p> - -<p>“Easy, my friend, to issue a ukase.” And the redoubtable -Charlotte smiled grimly.</p> - -<p class="ph2">VI</p> - -<p>Soon after four the same afternoon Jack returned -to Broad Place in the garb of civilization. He was in -great heart. Milly had some good-natured chaff to offer -as to Mary’s need of sticking plaster. But the young -man turned this persiflage aside with such a serious air -that the quick-witted Milly knew it for an omen. Having -learned the set of the wind she soon found a pretext for -leaving them together.</p> - -<p>Milly’s sense of a coming event, which her sudden -flight from the room had seemed to make the more -inevitable, was shared by Mary. Somehow she felt that -the moment of moments had come. This thing had -to be. But as a hand brown and virile quietly took hers -in a strong grip, she began almost bitterly to deplore the -whole business. And yet, when all was said, she was -absolutely thrilled. He was so truly a man that a girl, -no matter what her talent and quality, could hardly -refrain from pride in his homage.</p> - -<p>There was no beating about the bush.</p> - -<p>“Will you marry me?” he said.</p> - -<p>She grew crimson. How she had dreaded that long -foreseen question! Days ago common sense and worldly -prudence had coldly informed her that there could only -be one possible answer. The case of Milly herself had -furnished a sinister parallel. And the sensitive, perhaps -over-sensitive pride of one who had begun at the bottom -of the ladder, revolted from all the ensuing complications.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span> -Such a situation seemed now to involve her in -mysteries far down within, at the very core of being—mysteries -she had hardly been aware of until that -moment.</p> - -<p>Again the question. She looked away, quite unable -just then to meet his eyes. Her will was strong, her -determination clear, but in spite of herself a deadly feeling -crept upon her that she was a bird in a snare. -Certain imponderables were in the room. The life -forces were calling to each other; there was a curious -magnetism in the very air they breathed.</p> - -<p>She had meant and intended “No,” but every instant -made that little word more difficult to utter. A dominant -nature had stolen the keys of her heart before she knew -it. And as she fought against the inevitable, a subtle -trick of the ape on the chain in the human breast, -weighed the scales unfairly. Cousin Blanche and Cousin -Marjorie were flung oddly, irrelevantly, fantastically, -upon the curtain of her mind. The challenge of their -ironical eyes was like a knife in the flesh. And then -that private, particular devil, of whose existence, until -that moment, she had been unaware, suddenly forced her -to take up the gage those eyes had flung.</p> - -<p class="ph2">VII</p> - -<p>“Do tell me!” cried Milly the breathless.</p> - -<p>The sight of a lone, troubled Mary in the little sitting-room, -the look on her face as she twisted a handkerchief -into knots and coils had been too much for Milly. She -was a downright person and the silence of Mary was -so trying to a forthcoming nature that the query at the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span> -tip of Milly’s tongue seemed likely to burn a hole in it.</p> - -<p>“Has he—have you—did he——?” The demand was -indelicate, but it sprang from the depths as Milly -measured them. Suddenly she saw tears.</p> - -<p>“I am so glad, I am so <i>very</i> glad!”</p> - -<p>Mary smiled, but the look in her eyes had the power -to startle the affectionate Milly.</p> - -<p>“He is the luckiest man I know, but he is such a dear -that he deserves to be.” It was a peculiarity of Mary’s -that she didn’t like kissing, but Milly in a burst of loyal -affection was guilty of a sudden swoop upon her friend.</p> - -<p>“Oh, don’t,” said Mary, in a voice from which all the -accustomed gayety was gone.</p> - -<p>Milly gazed in consternation.</p> - -<p>“You—you have not refused him?”</p> - -<p>“No.” And then there came a sudden flame. “I’m -a selfish, egotistical wretch.”</p> - -<p>“As long as you have not refused him,” said Milly, -breathing again. “All the same, I call you a very odd -girl.”</p> - -<p>But Mary was troubled, Milly perplexed.</p> - -<p>“You ought to be the happiest creature alive. What’s -the matter?”</p> - -<p>“I’m thinking of his friends.”</p> - -<p>“If they choose to be stupid, it’s their own lookout.”</p> - -<p>“It mayn’t be stupidity,” said Mary, giving her handkerchief -a bite. “I know nothing about him, except——”</p> - -<p>“Except?”</p> - -<p>“That he’s above me socially.”</p> - -<p>“I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you,” said -Milly robustly. “If they like to be snobs it’s their own -funeral.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span></p> - -<p>But Mary, having burned her boats, was afflicted now -by Cousin Blanche and Cousin Marjorie. They were -looking down upon her from their tall horses. It was -not that she feared them in the least, but she knew that -lurking somewhere in an oddly constituted mind was a -certain awe of the things for which they stood.</p> - -<p>“I can’t explain my feelings,” said Mary. “I only -know they are horribly real. I feel there’s a gulf between -Jack and me—and a word won’t bridge it.” And -her voice trailed off miserably.</p> - -<p>“That’s weak,” said Milly severely. “I know what -you mean, but you exaggerate the difference absurdly. -Sonny is miles above me socially, but I’ll make him as -good a wife as any of his own push, see if I don’t—if -he gives me the chance! And in some ways I can make -him a better.”</p> - -<p>“How?”</p> - -<p>“Because I began right down there.” Milly pointed -to the carpet. “I know the value of things, I shall be -able to see that no one takes advantage of him, whereas -a girl who has been spoon-fed all her life couldn’t do -that.”</p> - -<p>The honest Mary had to allow that there was something -to be said for the point of view, yet she would not admit -that it covered all the facts of the case.</p> - -<p>“Please don’t suppose my ideas have anything to do -with you and Lord Wrexham.” Her gravity made Milly -feel quite annoyed. “I am merely thinking of myself. -And there’s something in me, for which I can’t account, -which says that it may be wrong, it may be wickedly -wrong, for me to marry Jack.”</p> - -<p>“It certainly will be if that’s how you look at it,” said<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span> -Milly scornfully. “Why not make the most of your -luck? I’m sure it’s right. After all Providence knows -better than anybody. And Jack knows he’s got to be -a duke.”</p> - -<p>“Got to be what?” Mary jumped out of her chair.</p> - -<p>“You didn’t know?”</p> - -<p>“Of course, I didn’t.” She was simply aghast. In a -state of excitement which quite baffled Milly, she paced -the room.</p> - -<p>“You <i>odd</i> creature!” The mantle of the arch dissembler -had now descended upon Milly.</p> - -<p>Truth to tell, she and her mother had had a shrewd -suspicion of Mary’s ignorance. They had learned from -Wrexham that Jack Dinneford, owing to a series of -deaths in a great family, had quite unexpectedly become -the next-of-kin to the Duke of Bridport. Such a -prospect was so little to the young man’s taste that as -far as he could he always made a point of keeping the -skeleton out of sight. Rightly or wrongly he had not -said a word to Mary on the subject, and she with a -pride a little overstrained, no doubt, had allowed herself -no curiosity in regard to his worldly status. For whatever -it might be it was obviously far removed from that -of a girl of no family who had to get her own living as -well as she could.</p> - -<p>The news was stunning. As Mary walked about the -room the look on her face was almost tragic.</p> - -<p>“I think you ought to have told me,” she said at last.</p> - -<p>“We thought you knew,” was Milly’s reply. This -was a deliberate story. Mrs. Wren and herself in discussing -the romantic news had concluded the exact opposite. -But out of a true regard for Mary’s welfare, as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span> -they conceived it, they had decided to let her find out for -herself. She was such an odd girl in certain ways that -mother and daughter felt that the real truth about Jack -Dinneford might easily prove his overthrow. Thus with -a chaste conscience Milly now lied royally.</p> - -<p>Mary, alas! was so resentful of the <i>coup</i> of fortune -and her friends, that for a moment she was tempted to -fix a quarrel on Milly. But Milly’s cunning was too -much for her. She stuck to the simple statement that -she thought she knew. There was no gainsaying it. -And if blame there was in the matter it surely lay at -the door of her own proud self.</p> - -<p>Mary was still in the throes of an unwelcome discovery -when Mrs. Wren came into the room. The -appearance of that lady seemed to add fuel to the flame. -Her felicitations, a little overwhelming in their exuberance, -were in nowise damped by the girl’s dejection. To -Mrs. Wren such an attitude of mind was not merely -unreasonable, it was unchristian. To call in question -the highest gifts of Providence betrayed a kink in a -charming character.</p> - -<p>“Fancy, my dear—a duchess. You’ll be next in rank -to royalty.”</p> - -<p>It was so hard for the victim to smother the tempest -within that for the moment she dare not trust herself -to speak.</p> - -<p>“You’re very naughty,” said Mrs. Wren. “Why, you -ought to offer up a prayer. You’ve had success too -easily, the road has been too smooth. If you’d had a -smaller talent and you’d had an awful struggle to get -there, you’d know better than to crab your luck.”</p> - -<p>A strong will now came to Mary’s aid. And the calm<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span> -force of her answer, when at last she was able to make -it, astonished Milly and her mother. “That’s one side -of the case, Mrs. Wren,” she said in a new tone. “But -there’s another, you know.”</p> - -<p>“There is only one side for you, my dear,” said the -older woman stoutly. “Take your chances while you -may—that’s my advice. Your luck may turn. You’ll -not always be what you are now. Suppose you have -a bad illness?”</p> - -<p>“I’m thinking of his side of the case.” The tone -verged upon sternness.</p> - -<p>“You have quite enough to do to think of your own. -Don’t throw chances away. I have had forty years’ -experience of a very hard profession, and even you top -sawyers are on very thin ice. And remember, the cards -never forgive. Girls who have a lone hand to play, mustn’t -hold their heads too high. If they do they’ll live to -regret it. And you mustn’t think these swells can’t box -their own corner. They’ve nothing to learn in looking -after Number One. A girl of your sort is quite equal -to any of these drawing-room noodles and Mr. Dinneford -knows that better than I do.”</p> - -<p>“But that’s impossible. I can never be as they are.”</p> - -<p>“You needn’t let that worry you. A lot of stuck-up -dunces that all the world kow-tows to!”</p> - -<p>“It isn’t that I think they are nicer or cleverer or -wiser than other people. But they are born to certain -things, they have been bred to them for generations, and -it surely stands to reason that they are better at their own -game than a mere outsider can hope to be.”</p> - -<p>“Fiddle-de-dee!” said Mrs. Wren. “I hope you are -not such a goose as to take swelldom at its own valuation.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span> -It’s all a bluff, my dear. Your humble servant, -Jane Wren, could have been as good a duchess as the -best of ’em if she had been given the chance. I don’t -want to be fulsome, my dear, but I’ll back a girl of your -brains against Lady Agatha Fitzboodle or any other -titled snob.”</p> - -<p>“But I don’t want to be pitted against anybody!”</p> - -<p>“That’s nonsense.” Mrs. Wren shook a worldly-wise -head. “As for being an outsider, a girl can’t be more -than a lady just as a man can’t be more than a gentleman. -And if you are a lady and have always gone straight -you needn’t fear comparison with the highest in the -land.”</p> - -<p>Mary shook a head of sadness and perplexity.</p> - -<p>“Somehow it doesn’t seem right to mix things in that -way,” she said.</p> - -<p>“It’s the only way that keeps ’em going,” said Mrs. -Wren scornfully. “And well they know it. At least -nature knows it. Look at Wrexham! Do you mean -to say that his inbred strain wouldn’t be improved by -Milly? And it’s the same with you and Mr. Dinneford. -It’s Nature at the back of it all. It’s the call of the -blood. If these old families keep on intermarrying long -enough dry rot sets in.”</p> - -<p>Mary stood a picture of woe.</p> - -<p>“You odd creature!” said Mrs. Wren. “I’ve never -met a girl with such ideas as yours. I really believe -you are quite as narrow and as prejudiced as Lady -Agatha Fitzboodle. To hear you talk one would think -you believed rank to be a really important matter.”</p> - -<p>Incredulous eyes were opened upon the voluble dame.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span></p> - -<p>“Of course it is.” But the girl’s solemnity was a -little too much.</p> - -<p>“My dear!” A gust of ribald laughter overwhelmed -her. “Hasn’t it ever struck you that the so-called aristocracy -racket is all a bluff?”</p> - -<p>“Surely, it can’t be.” The tone was genuine dismay.</p> - -<p>“Every word of it, my dear. There’s only one thing -behind it and that’s money. If Wrexham ever sticks a -coronet on the head of my Milly and robes her in ermine -she’ll be the equal of any in the land, just as old Bill -Brown who was in the last birthday honors is as good a -peer as the best of ’em now that his soap business has -brought him into Park Lane. I knew Bill when he -hadn’t a bob. It’s just a matter of L.S.D. As for the -frills, they are all my eye and Elizabeth Martin. When -my Milly gets among them, it won’t take her a week to -learn all their tricks. They are just so many performing -dogs.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t understand, you don’t understand!” The -tone was tragic.</p> - -<p class="ph2">VIII</p> - -<p>A night’s reflection convinced the girl that there was -only one thing to be done. The engagement must end. -But as she soon found, it was easier to make the resolve -than to carry it out. To begin with, it was terribly irksome, -in present circumstances, to give effect to her -decision and to back it with reasons.</p> - -<p>Her début in the Row had been so successful that a -ride had been arranged for the next morning. But it -was spoiled completely by the specter now haunting her.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span> -In what terms could she tell him that she had changed -her mind? How could she defend a proceeding so -unwarrantable?</p> - -<p>It was not until later in the day, when they took a -stroll under the trees in the Park, that she forced herself -to grasp the nettle boldly.</p> - -<p>Jack, as she had foreseen, was immeasurably astonished. -He called, at once, for her reasons. And they -were terribly difficult to put into words. At last she was -driven back upon the cardinal fact that he had concealed -his true position.</p> - -<p>He repudiated the charge indignantly. In the first -place, he had taken it for granted that she knew his position, -in the second, he always made a point of leaving it -as much as possible outside his calculations.</p> - -<p>“But isn’t that just what one oughtn’t to do?” she -said, as they took possession of a couple of vacant chairs.</p> - -<p>“To me the whole thing’s absurd,” was the rejoinder. -“It’s only by the merest fluke that I have to succeed to -the title, and I find it quite impossible to feel about things -as Bridport House does. The whole business is a great -bore, and if a way out could be found I’d much rather -stay as I am.”</p> - -<p>“But isn’t that just a wee bit selfish, my dear—if you -don’t think me a prig?”</p> - -<p>“If you are quite out of sympathy with an antediluvian -system, if you disbelieve in it, if you hate it in the -marrow of your bones, where’s the virtue in sacrificing -yourself in order to maintain it?”</p> - -<p>“Noblesse oblige!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but does it? A dukedom, in my view, is just an -outworn convention, a survival of a darker age.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span></p> - -<p>“It stands for something.”</p> - -<p>“What does it stand for?—that’s the point. There’s -no damned merit about it, you know. Any fool can be -a duke, and they mostly are.”</p> - -<p>Mary, if a little amused, was more than a little -shocked.</p> - -<p>“I’m sure it’s not right to think that,” she declared -stoutly. “I would say myself, although one oughtn’t to -have a say on the subject, that it’s the duty of your sort -of people to keep things going.”</p> - -<p>“They are not my sort of people. I was pitchforked -among them. And if you don’t believe in them and the -things it is their duty to keep going what becomes of -your theory, Miss Scrupulous?”</p> - -<p>“But that’s Socialism,” said Mary with solemn eyes.</p> - -<p>“No, it’s the common sense of the matter. All this -centralization of power in the hands of a few hard-shells -like my Uncle Albert—he’s not my uncle really—is very -bad for the State. He owns one-fifth of Scotland, and -the only things he ever really takes seriously are his -meals and his health.”</p> - -<p>“He stands for something all the same.”</p> - -<p>The young man laughed outright.</p> - -<p>“I know I’m a prig.” The blushing candor disarmed -him. “But if one has a great bump of reverence I suppose -one can’t help exaggerating one’s feelings a little.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose not,” laughed the young man. And then -there was a pause. “By jove,” he said at the end of -it, “you’d be the last word in duchesses.”</p> - -<p>“You won’t get Bridport House to think so.”</p> - -<p>“So much the worse for Bridport House. Of course, -I admit it has other views for me. But the trouble is,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span> -as always in these close corporations, they haven’t the -art of seeing things as they are.”</p> - -<p>Mary shook a troubled head, but the argument seemed -to find its way home.</p> - -<p>“The truth of the matter is,” he suddenly declared, -“you are afraid of Bridport House.”</p> - -<p>Without shame she confessed that Bridport House -was bound to be very hostile, and was there not every -reason for such an attitude? Jack, however, would not -yield an inch upon that count, or on any other if it came -to that. He was a primitive creature in whom the call -of the blood was paramount. Moreover, he was a very -tenacious fellow. And these arguments of hers, strongly -urged and boldly stated, did not affect his point of view. -The ban of Fortune was purely artificial, it could not be -defended. She was fain, therefore, to carry the war to -the enemy’s country. But if she gently hinted a change -of egotism he countered it astutely with the subtler one -of sentimentalism. Each confessed the other partially -right, but so far from clearing the air it seemed to make -the whole matter more complex. The upshot was that -he called upon her to find a valid reason, otherwise he -refused point-blank to give her up.</p> - -<p>“Just think,” he said, tracing her name on the gravel -with a walking-stick, “how hollow the whole business is. -How many of Uncle Albert’s ‘push’ have married American -wives without a question? And why do they, when -they wouldn’t think of giving English girls of the same -class an equal chance? In the first place, for the sake -of the dollars, in the second, because it is so easy for -them to shed their relations and forget their origin.”</p> - -<p>But so wide was the gulf between their points of view<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span> -that mere argument could not hope to bridge it. If she -was in grim earnest, so was he; moreover she had -entered into a compact he was determined she should -fulfill. Before consenting to release her she would have -to show very good cause at any rate.</p> - -<p>Suddenly, in the give-and-take of conflict, Laxton -came into her mind. The memory of Beaconsfield -Villas, the whimsical creatures of another orbit, and the -childhood which now seemed ages away, fired her with -a new idea. She would take him to see the humble -people among whom she had been brought up.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V<br /> -ALARUMS AND EXCURSIONS</h2></div> - -<p class="ph2">I</p> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">T</span>he</span> flight of time had affected Beaconsfield Villas -surprisingly little. Laxton itself had deferred to -Anno Domini in many subtle ways; it had its -electric trams and motor-buses, and the suburb had -doubled in size, but no epoch-making changes were visible -in the front sitting-room of Number Five. In that -homely interior the cosmic march and profluence was -simply revealed by a gramophone, the gift of Mary, on -the top of the sewing machine in the corner, and by the -accession to the walls of lithograph portraits of the son -and grandson of the august lady who still held pride of -place over the chimney-piece.</p> - -<p>The afternoon was stifling even for South London in -the middle of June. And Joseph Kelly, who had attained -the rank of sergeant in the Metropolitan Police -Force, not having to go on duty until six o’clock that -evening, was seated coatless and solemn, spectacles on -nose, smoking a well-colored clay and reading the <i>Daily -Mail</i>. At the level of his eyes, in portentous type was, -“Laxton Bye-Election. A Sharp Contest. New Home -Secretary’s Chances.” Joe was a shade stouter than of -yore, his face was even redder, a thinning thatch had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span> -turned gray, but in all essentials the man himself was -still the genial cockney of one-and-twenty years ago.</p> - -<p>The outer door of the sitting-room, which was next -the street, was wide open to invite the air. But ever -and again there rose such a fierce medley of noises from -a mysterious cause a little distance off, that at last Joe -got up from his chair, and waddling across the room in -a pair of worn list slippers, banged the door against -the sounds from the street which had the power to annoy -him considerably.</p> - -<p>Hardly had Joe shuffled back to his chair and his -newspaper when the door was flung open again and an -excited urchin thrust a tousled head into the room.</p> - -<p>“‘Vote for Maclean an’ a free breakfast-table’!”</p> - -<p>The law in the person of Sergeant Kelly rose from -its chair majestically.</p> - -<p>“If you ain’t off—my word!”</p> - -<p>Headlong flight of the urchin. Joe closed the door -with violence and sat down again. But the incident had -unsettled him. He seemed unable to fix his mind on -the newspaper. And the noises in the street waxed ever -louder. Now they took the form of cheers and counter -cheers, now of hoots, cat-calls and shouts of derision. At -last the tumult rose to such a pitch that it drew Eliza -from an inner room.</p> - -<p>The years had changed her rather more than her husband. -But she was still the active, capable, bustling -housewife, with a keen eye for the world and all that -was passing in it.</p> - -<p>“They are making noise enough to wake the dead.” -Eliza looked eagerly through the window.</p> - -<p>“I wish that durned Scotchman hadn’t set his committee-room<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span> -plumb oppersite Number Five, Beaconsfield -Villas,” was Joe’s sour comment.</p> - -<p>At that moment the all-embracing eye of a relentless -housewife swooped down upon a card lying innocently -on the linoleum. It had been flung there by the recent -visitor. Eliza picked it up and read:</p> - -<div class="bbox"> -<p class="left no-indent">Vote for Maclean, thus:<br /> -<span class="left2"><span class="smcap">Maclean</span></span>  X<br /> -<span class="left2"><span class="smcap">Whitley</span>.</span></p></div> - -<p>On the back of the card was a portrait of Sir Dugald -Maclean, M.P.</p> - -<p>Eliza gazed at it in astonishment mingled with awe.</p> - -<p>“I am bound to say he is a better-favored jockey than -when he came a-courting our Harriet. Look, Joe!”</p> - -<p>With scornful vehemence, Joe declined the invitation.</p> - -<p>Eliza was sternly advised to tear up the card, but -instead she chose to set it on the chimney-piece. The -rash act was too much for her lord. Once more he rose -from his chair, tore the card into little pieces and flung -them into a grate artistically decorated with colored -paper.</p> - -<p>“You are jealous!” said Eliza, laughing.</p> - -<p>“Of the likes of him! Holy smoke! But if you think -we are going to have such trash in the same room as the -Marquis, you make an error.”</p> - -<p>The words had hardly been uttered when shouts yet -more piercing came from the street. Eliza made a hasty -return to the window.</p> - -<p>“Come and look, Joe!” she cried breathlessly. “Here<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span> -he is with his top hat and eyeglass. He’s that dossy -you wouldn’t know him. He’s dressed up like a tailor’s -dummy.”</p> - -<p>But Joe declined to budge.</p> - -<p>“It fairly makes me sick to think of the feller,” he -said.</p> - -<p>A little later, when the tumult in the street had died -down a bit, Joe settled himself in his chair for an afternoon -nap. Eliza, duly noting the symptoms, retired on -tiptoe to another room, closing the door after her gently. -But today, alas, the skyey influences were adverse. Joe -had barely entered oblivion when a smart tap at the street -door shattered this precarious peace. With a grudge -against society he rose once more, shambled across the -room and flung open the door, half expecting to find that -the urchin had returned to torment him. A dramatic -surprise was in store. On the threshold was a creature -so stylishly trim that even the blasé eye of the Metropolitan -Force was sensibly thrilled in beholding her. “A -bit of class” without a doubt, although adorned by the -colors of the People’s Candidate, and surprisingly cool -in sheer defiance of the thermometer.</p> - -<p>“Good afternoon!” The tone of half-confidential intimacy -was quite irresistible. “May I have a little talk -with you?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly, miss.” The unconscious gallantry of an -impressionable policeman was more than equal to the -occasion. “Step inside and make yourself at home.”</p> - -<p>When Joe came to review the incident afterwards, it -seemed very surprising that he should have yielded so -easily to the impact of this elegant miss. For instinctively -he knew her business. Moreover, the last thing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span> -he desired at that moment was to be troubled by her or -by it. But he had been taken by surprise, and in all -circumstances he would have needed ample notice to -deny a lady. He had a great but impersonal regard for -a lady, as some people have for a Rembrandt or a Corot -or a Jan van Steen. And although the fact was not -important, perhaps his sense of humor was a little -touched by such a young woman taking the trouble to -come and talk to such a man as himself.</p> - -<p>“I am here,” said the voice of the dove, as soon as its -owner had subsided gracefully upon a chair covered with -horsehair, “to ask your vote and interest for Sir Dugald -Maclean, the People’s Candidate.”</p> - -<p>The prophetic soul of Joe had told him that already. -But again the sense of humor, the fatal gift, may have -intervened. Had the elegant miss had any <i>nous</i>, she -would have known that a sergeant of the X Division has -not a vote to bestow. In justice to the fair democrat, -Joe might have reflected that in the absence of his tunic -there was nothing to show his status. However, he -didn’t trouble to do that. It was enough for him that -she was on a fool’s errand. But Joe was a man of the -world as well as a connoisseur of the human female. A -picturesque personality intrigued him. Moreover, it was -working for a cause that Joe despised from the depths -of his soul. So much was she “the real thing” that she -had even turned on a melodious lisp for his benefit; yet -he had no particular wish, even under these flattering -auspices, to discuss the people and their champion. He -had quite made up his mind about both. But, the -Machiavellian thought occurred to him, here was a -dangerous implement in the hands of the foe, therefore<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span> -it would be the part of wisdom to waste a little of her -time.</p> - -<p>“‘Government of the people, by the people, for the -people,’” lisped the siren, “that, of course, as you may -know, is what Sir Dugald stands for.”</p> - -<p>“Does he!” reflected Joe. With a roguish smile he -looked the speaker over from her expensive top to her -equally expensive toe.</p> - -<p>“You <i>do</i> believe in the people?” said the siren with a -rather dubious air.</p> - -<p>“Since you ask the question, miss,” said Joe, “I am -bound to say I don’t, and never have done.”</p> - -<p>“Not believe in the <i>people!</i>” It didn’t seem possible.</p> - -<p>“If you’d seen as much of the people as I have, miss,” -said Joe grimly, “I’m thinking you’d not be quite so set -up with ’em.”</p> - -<p>The tone of conviction disconcerted the fair canvasser. -Somehow she had not expected it. In the course of her -present ministrations it was the first time she had met -that point of view. Laxton’s working-class, which -for several days had been honored by her delicate flatteries, -had shown such a robust faith in itself and had -purred so responsively to her blandishments that she -now took for granted that in all circumstances it would -fully share her own enthusiasm for it. But this rubicund, -coatless Briton, with eyes of half truculent humor, -was a little beyond her. Gloves were needed to handle -him; otherwise fingers of such flowerlike delicacy stood -a chance of being bruised.</p> - -<p>“May one ask what you have against them?” lisped -the people’s champion, opening large round eyes.</p> - -<p>“Nothing particular, miss,” said Joe urbanely. “But<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span> -you ask me whether I believe in ’em and I say I don’t. -Mind you, the people are all right in their place. I’ve -not a word to say against ’em personally. Of a Monday -morning at Vine Street, when the Court has been swep’ -an’ dusted and his Worship has returned from his Sunday -in the country, we always try to make ’em welcome. -‘Let ’em all come,’ that’s the motto of the Metropolitan -Force. But as for <i>believing</i> in ’em, that’s another story.”</p> - -<p>This was rather baffling for the people’s champion. -She was at a loss. But her faith was sublime. This -odd, crass, heavy-witted plebeian who denied his kind was -a sore problem even for the bringer of the light. Still, -she stuck to her guns gallantly.</p> - -<p>“‘Government of the people, by the people, for the -people.’” Lisping the battle cry of Demos she returned -stoutly to the charge. Sacred formulas flowed from her -lips in a stream of charming pellucidity.</p> - -<p>“Ah, you don’t know ’em, miss,” ejaculated Joe, at -intervals.</p> - -<p>It was a pretty joust; vicarious enthusiasm on the one -side, first-hand experience on the other. But Joe was -a rock. The fair canvasser took forth every weapon -of an elegantly-furnished armory, yet without avail.</p> - -<p>“I don’t hold with the people, miss, not in no shape -nor form.”</p> - -<p>The tone was so final that at last a sense of defeat -came upon this Amazon. She was still seated, however, -without having quite made up her mind to the inevitable, -on her grand chair in the front sitting-room of Number -Five, Beaconsfield Villas, when Fate intervened in quite -a remarkable way.</p> - -<p>All of a sudden, there appeared on the threshold of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span> -open door a figure tall, fine and unheralded. It was that -of Harriet Sanderson.</p> - -<p>“Anybody at home?” she inquired gayly.</p> - -<p>The unexpected visitor was looking very handsome -and distinguished in a well-cut black coat and skirt, and -a large hat too plain for fashion, but very far from -<i>démodé</i>. She came into the room with that almost proprietary -air she was never without in her intercourse -with her own people. But it was about to suffer an -eclipse.</p> - -<p>Harriet just had time to greet her brother-in-law with -a happy mingling of the <i>bon camarade</i> and the woman of -the world, her fixed attitude towards such an Original, -whom somehow she could not help liking and respecting, -when her eyes met suddenly those of the fair canvasser.</p> - -<p>For a moment an intense surprise forbade either to -speak. But the people’s champion was the first to overcome -the shock.</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Sanderson!” she exclaimed.</p> - -<p>The change in Harriet was immediate and dramatic.</p> - -<p>“Lady Muriel!” A slight flush of a fine face accompanied -the tone of awe.</p> - -<p>The visitor rose. And in the act of so doing an accession -of great ladyhood, almost entirely absent a few -minutes ago, seemed automatically to enter her manner.</p> - -<p>“What a small world it is!” she laughed. “Fancy -meeting you here!”</p> - -<p>By now the iron will of the secretly annoyed and oddly -discomposed Harriet was able to reassert itself.</p> - -<p>“It is a small world, my lady.” The tone was a very -delicate mingling of aloofness and respect.</p> - -<p>Brief explanations followed. These quickly culminated<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span> -in the presentation of Joe, who then became the -most embarrassed of the three. Unawares and in his -shirt sleeves, he had been entertaining an angel. And to -one of Conservative views, with a profound reverence -for law, order and all established things, this seemed to -verge upon indecency. A mere “one of Scotchie’s lady -canvassers” had been magically transformed, in the -twinkling of an eye, into Lady Muriel Dinneford, the -third daughter of one whom Number Five, Beaconsfield -Villas, always alluded to as “his Grace.”</p> - -<p class="ph2">II</p> - -<p>It was the work of a few tactful minutes for Lady -Muriel to effect a discreet retirement from the scene. -Yet so deeply had she been engaged by Joe’s contumacy, -and at the back of a mind which was making the most -heroic efforts to be “broad” was such a sense of amusement, -that she declared her intention of returning anon -with the People’s Candidate, if he could possibly spare -a few minutes from his multifarious duties, in order that -the <i>coup de grâce</i> might be given to Mr. Kelly’s dangerous -heresies.</p> - -<p>The withdrawal of the distinguished visitor across the -street to the Candidate’s committee room left a void -which for a few tense moments only wonder could fill.</p> - -<p>It was Joe who broke the silence which, like a pall, -had suddenly descended upon the front parlor of Number -Five.</p> - -<p>“If that don’t beat Banagher,” he said. “Fancy one -of the Fam’ly taking the trouble to come a canvassin’ -for Scotchie!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span></p> - -<p>Keen humor and acute annoyance contended now in -the eloquent face of Harriet.</p> - -<p>“Pray, why shouldn’t she canvass for Sir Dugald -Maclean”—the level voice was pitched in a very quiet -key—“if she really believes in his principles?”</p> - -<p>“How can she believe in ’em, gal?”</p> - -<p>“Why not?”</p> - -<p>“How can a blue blood believe in that sort of a feller?”</p> - -<p>“Sir Dugald is a remarkably clever man. One of -the cleverest men in England, some people think.”</p> - -<p>“That’s nothing to do with the matter. It’s character -that counts.”</p> - -<p>“There’s nothing against his character, I believe. At -any rate, Lady Muriel is going to marry him.”</p> - -<p>The state of Joe’s feelings forbade an immediate reply. -And when reply he did, it was in a tone of scorn. Said -he: “‘Government of the people, by the people, for the -people!’ Harriet, for a dead beat fool give me a blue -blood aristocrat.”</p> - -<p>“Joe,” came the answer, with a gleam of humor and -malice, “I really think you should learn to speak of our -governing class a little more respectfully.”</p> - -<p>This was rather hard. She ought to have realized that -it was because Joe respected them so much that he now -desired to chasten them.</p> - -<p>“Scotchie of all people!” he muttered.</p> - -<p>“There’s no accounting for taste, you know.” There -was a sudden flash of a very handsome pair of eyes.</p> - -<p>“O’ course there ain’t,” said Joe, sorrowfully malicious. -“You may have forgot there was a time when -Scotchie came a-courtin’ you.”</p> - -<p>“Do you suppose I am ever likely to forget it!” said<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span> -Harriet, with a cool cynicism which took the simple -Joseph completely out of his depth.</p> - -<p>“Well, it’s a queer world, I must say.”</p> - -<p>“It is,” his sister-in-law agreed.</p> - -<p>At that moment, Eliza came into the room. The -visit of Harriet was so unexpected as to take her by -surprise. But the cause of it was soon disclosed. Harriet -was troubled about Mary. Ever since the girl, -against the wishes and advice of her friends, had taken -what they felt to be a fatal step, there had been a gradual -drifting apart. Harriet had kept in touch with her as -well as she could, but she had not been able to stifle -her own private fears. The peril of such a career, even -when crowned by success, was in her opinion, difficult -to exaggerate. She disapproved of the friendship -with the Wrens, and had strongly opposed Mary’s living -with them. But as the girl rose in her profession, -Harriet’s hold upon her grew still less. And now at -second and third hand had come news which had greatly -upset her.</p> - -<p>With the tact for which she was famous, Harriet -did not speak of this in the presence of Joe. She accompanied -Eliza to the privacy of the best bedroom, ostensibly -to “take off her things,” but really to discuss a -matter which for the past week had filled her with misgiving.</p> - -<p>In the meantime, Joe in the parlor set himself doggedly -to compass the nap that so far had been denied him. -In spite of the noises in the street and romantic appearance -of a real live member of the Family in his -humble abode, he had just begun to doze when the ban of -Fate fell once more upon him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span></p> - -<p>From the strange welter in the amazing world outside -there now emerged a large open motor. And royally it -drew up before the magic door of Number Five. Two -persons were seated in the car. One was no less than -Princess Bedalia. The other was the humblest and yet -the boldest of her adorers.</p> - -<p class="ph2">III</p> - -<p>The idea itself had been Mary’s that they should use -a fine afternoon in motoring into Laxton, in order to see -her parents. Behind this simple plan was fell design. -A week had passed since that conversation under the -trees in the Park in which she had sought in vain for -her release. But so shallow had her reasoning appeared -that Jack declined to take it seriously. He had her -promise, and he felt he had every right to hold her to -it. Unless she could show a real cause for revoking it, -he was fully determined not to give her up.</p> - -<p>In desperation, therefore, she had hit on the expedient, -a poor and vain one, no doubt, of taking him to see those -humble people whom she called father and mother. In the -course of her twenty odd years up and down the world -she had had intimations from various side winds and -divers little birds that she was an adopted child. Her -real parentage and the circumstances of her birth were -an impenetrable mystery and must always be so, no -doubt, but her feeling for the Kellys was one of true affection -and perfect loyalty. Not by word or deed had -she hinted at the possession of knowledge which had -come to her from other sources.</p> - -<p>In the circumstances of the case she now allowed herself -to imagine that a visit to her home people in their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span> -native habit as they dwelt might help to cure Jack of his -infatuation. An insight into things and men told her that -Beaconsfield Villas must be whole worlds away from any -sphere in which he had moved hitherto. Nor would he -be likely to suspect, as she was shrewdly aware, that a -creature so sophisticated as herself had risen from such -humble beginnings. She had a ferocious pride of her -own, but it was not of the kind that meanly denies -its origin.</p> - -<p>“Father,” was her gay greeting to the astonished and -still coatless Joe, “I’ve brought somebody to see you.”</p> - -<p>Jack, wearing a dustcoat and other appurtenances of -the chauffeur’s craft, had followed upon the heels of -Princess Bedalia into the front parlor of Number Five. -In response to the young man’s bow, Kelly offered a -rather dubious hand. As became a symbol of law and -order and a member of the straitest sect of the Pharisees, -he didn’t feel inclined to encourage Mary in gallivanting -up and down the land. Nor did he feel inclined to give -countenance to any promiscuous young man she might -bring to the house.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Dinneford—my father, Police-Sergeant Kelly.” -It was a delightfully formal introduction, but rather -wickedly contrived.</p> - -<p>Jack was so taken aback that he felt as if a feather -might have downed him. But even to the lynx eyes of -Mary, which were covertly upon him, not a trace of his -feelings was visible. He merely bowed a second time, -perhaps a little more gravely than the first.</p> - -<p>“Pleased to meet you, sir,” said Sergeant Kelly, in -a voice which showed pretty clearly that he was overstating -the truth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span></p> - -<p>Mary could not repress the rogue’s laugh that sprang -to her lips.</p> - -<p>“Where’s my old mumsie?” she gayly demanded, partly -in the hope of concealing her wicked merriment.</p> - -<p>“Upstairs with your Aunty Harriet.”</p> - -<p>“Aunt Harriet here!” The tone was full of surprise. -And then the charming voice took a turn affectionately -non-committal. “What luck! It seems an age since I -saw her.”</p> - -<p>In spite of himself, Joe could not help being a little in -awe of the girl. She was so remarkably striking that -every time he saw her it became harder to keep up the -pretense of blood relationship. She had developed into -the finest young woman he had ever met. Her official -father was very proud of her, the affection she inspired -in him was true and real, but at the moment he was -more than a little embarrassed by the impact of an -immensely distinguished personality.</p> - -<p>However, in spite of such beauty and charm, he was -determined to do his duty by her; as became a father and -a man he felt bound to admonish her.</p> - -<p>“Since you took up with those people, none of us -have been seeing much of you,” he forced himself to say, -in his most magisterial manner.</p> - -<p>“Old story!”</p> - -<p>“It’s true and you know it.” Joe declined on principle -to be softened by her blandishments.</p> - -<p>“Wicked old story!” She took him by the shoulders -and shook him; and then she sighed as a mother might -have done, and gazed into his solemn face. “Father,” -she said, “you are an old and great dear.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span></p> - -<p>“Get along with you!” said Joe sternly, but in spite of -himself he couldn’t help laughing.</p> - -<p>“I’ll leave you and Mr. Dinneford to have a little crack -while I take this to my mumsie.” Brandishing an important-looking -milliner’s box, she left the room in a laughing -search of Eliza.</p> - -<p>As soon as Jack found himself alone with Mary’s -father a period of constraint ensued. It would have -been wrong to deny that his reception had been the reverse -of cordial. The sensitiveness of a lover, in duty -bound to walk delicately, made no secret of that. Moreover, -he was still so astonished at Mary’s paternity that -he felt quite at a loss. Nature had played an amazing -trick. Somehow this serio-comic London copper in half-mufti, -was going to make it very difficult to exercise -the deference due to a prospective father-in-law.</p> - -<p>An acute silence was terminated by Joe’s “Won’t you -sit down, sir?”</p> - -<p>Jack sat down; and then Mary’s father, torn between -stern disapproval and the humane feelings of a host, -invited the young man solemnly to a glass of beer.</p> - -<p>“Thank you very much,” said Jack, with admirable -gravity.</p> - -<p>Murmuring “excuse me a minute,” Joe went to draw -the beer. Left alone the young man tried to arrange -his thoughts; also he took further stock of his surroundings. -He had yet to overcome a powerful feeling of surprise. -It was hard to believe that Princess Bedalia, in -the view of her <i>fiancé</i>, the very last word in modern -young women, should have sprung from such a <i>milieu</i> -as Number Five, Beaconsfield Villas. It was a facer. -Yet somehow the chasm between Mary and her male<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span> -parent seemed almost to enhance her value. She was so -superb an original that she defied the laws of nature.</p> - -<p>The young man was engulfed in an odd train of speculation -when Mary’s father returned with the beer. He -poured out two glasses, gave one to the visitor, took -one himself, and after a solemn “Good health, sir!” -solemnly drank it.</p> - -<p>Jack returned the “Good health!” and followed the -rest of the ritual. And then feeling rather more his -own man, he made an effort to come to business. But -it was only possible to do that by means of a directness -verging upon the indelicate.</p> - -<p>“Sergeant Kelly,” he said, “have you any objection -to my marrying Mary?”</p> - -<p>No doubt the form of the question was a little unwise. -At least it exposed the young man to the prompt rejoinder:</p> - -<p>“I know nothing whatever about you, sir.”</p> - -<p>“My name is Dinneford”—he could not refrain from -laughing a little at the portentous gravity of a prospective -father-in-law. “And I think I can claim that I have -always passed as respectable.”</p> - -<p>“Glad to hear it, sir,” said Joe, the light of a respectful -humor breaking upon him. And then measuring -the young man with the eye of professional experience. -“May I ask your occupation?”</p> - -<p>“No occupation.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t like the sound o’ that.” Sergeant Kelly sagely -shook his head.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps it isn’t quite so bad as it sounds,” said the -young man. “At present, you see, I am a kind of understudy -to a sort of uncle I have. I am in training as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span> -you might say, so that one day I may follow in his -footsteps.”</p> - -<p>“An actor,” said the dubious Joe. He didn’t mind -actors personally, but impersonally he didn’t quite hold -with the stage.</p> - -<p>“Not exactly,” said the young man coolly, but with -a smile. “And yet he is in his way. In fact, you might -call him a prince of comedians.”</p> - -<p>“I’m sorry, sir.” Sergeant Kelly measured each word -carefully. “But I’m afraid that’s only a very little in -his favor.”</p> - -<p>“I’m sorry, too,” said Jack. “My uncle is a duke, -and the deuce of it is, I have to succeed him.”</p> - -<p>“A duke!” Sergeant Kelly’s tone of rather pained -surprise made it clear that such a romantic circumstance -greatly altered the aspect of the case. It also implied -that he was far from approving an ill-timed jest -on a sacred subject. His brow knitted to a heavy frown. -“Well, sir, I can only say that if such is the case you -have no right to come a-courting our Mary.”</p> - -<p>“For why not, Sergeant Kelly?”</p> - -<p>“You know why not, sir, as well as I do. She’s a -fine gal, although I say it who ought not, but that will -not put her right with your friends. They will expect -you to take a wife of your own sort.”</p> - -<p>“But that’s rather my look-out, isn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir, it is,” said Joe, with the air of a warrior, -“but as you have asked me, there’s my opinion. The -aristocracy’s the aristocracy, the middle-class is the middle-class, -and the lower orders are the lower orders—there -they are and you can’t alter ’em. At least, that’s -my view of the matter.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span></p> - -<p>Jack forced a wry smile. Mary was a chip of the old -block. Such an uncompromising statement seemed at -any rate to explain the force of her conviction upon -this vexed subject.</p> - -<p>“Excuse the freedom, sir,” said the solemn Joe, “but -you young nobs who keep on marrying out of your -class are undermining the British Constitution. What’s -to become of law and order if you go on mixing things -up in the way you are doing?”</p> - -<p>The young man proceeded to do battle with the -Philistine. But the weapons in his armory were none -of the brightest with which to meet the crushing onset of -the foe.</p> - -<p>“It’s no use, sir. As I say, the aristocracy’s the aristocracy, -the middle-class is the middle-class, and the -lower orders are the lower orders—there they are and -you can’t alter ’em. You don’t suppose I’ve reggerlated -the traffic at Hyde Park Corner all these years -not to know <i>that</i>.”</p> - -<p>In the presence of such a conviction, the best of Jack’s -arguments seemed vain, futile and shallow. Fate had -charged Joseph Kelly with the solemn duty of maintaining -the fabric of society, and in his purview, no argument -however cunning, could set that fact aside.</p> - -<p class="ph2">IV</p> - -<p>While these two were still at grips, each meeting the -arguments of the other with a sense of growing impatience, -the cause of the trouble intervened. Mary came -into the room, leading her mother by the hand. With -the face of a sphinx followed Harriet.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span></p> - -<p>The blushing Eliza was adorned with a fine coat which -had come in the milliner’s box. Mary had laughingly -insisted on her mother appearing in it, in spite of Eliza’s -firm conviction that “it was much too grand.”</p> - -<p>“My word, mother!” roared Joe, at the sight of her -splendor. “I’m thinking I’ll have to keep an eye on -<i>you</i>.”</p> - -<p>The visitor was promptly introduced, first to the wearer -of the coat, who offered a shy and embarrassed hand, -and then to Aunt Harriet, who stood mute and pale -in the background.</p> - -<p>“Why—why, Mrs. Sanderson,” said the young man, -“fancy meeting you here!”</p> - -<p>“You have met before?” said Mary, innocently.</p> - -<p>“We meet very often.”</p> - -<p>“Really?”</p> - -<p>“Why, yes. Mrs. Sanderson is Uncle Albert’s right -hand at Bridport House.”</p> - -<p>A pin might have been heard to fall in the silence that -followed. The blood fled from Mary’s cheeks; they -grew as pale as those of her aunt. Even the knowledge -that had recently come to her had not connected Jack -with Bridport House. No attempt had been made to -realize exactly who and what he was. It had been -enough that he belonged to a world beyond her own. -And now as this new and astonishing fact presented -itself she saw the strongest possible justification for the -attitude she had taken up.</p> - -<p>As for Harriet, stern and unbending in the background, -she was like an Antigone who abides the decree. Her -fears were realized. The worst had happened. Fate<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span> -had played such a subtle and unworthy trick that the -instinct uppermost was to resent it bitterly.</p> - -<p>The feelings of the girl were very similar. But her -strength of character and the independence of her position -enabled her to take charge of a situation delicate -and embarrassing. In a rather high-pitched voice, she -began to talk generalities in order to bridge if possible -the arid pauses which were always threatening to submerge -the conversation. But at the back of her mind -was a growing sense that secret forces are always at -work in this strange world we inhabit—forces which -have a peculiar malice of their own.</p> - -<p>And yet, hopeless as the position had suddenly become -for these five people, the fates had one more barb -in their quiver. And it was of so odd a kind that it -was as if the stars in their courses were bent upon -seeing what mischief they could contrive in this particular -matter. A sudden sharp rap from the knocker of the -front door fell into the midst of the growing embarrassment. -Joe, welcoming this diversion as relief to a -tension that was almost intolerable, went at once to -attend the cause of it.</p> - -<p>“As I’m a living man,” came a lusty voice from the -threshold, “if it isn’t old Joe Kelly.”</p> - -<p>The People’s Candidate, rosetted, dauntless and triumphant, -accompanied by the lady of his choice, stepped -heroically into the small room. Twenty-three years had -wrought a very remarkable change in a very remarkable -man. In that time Dugald Maclean had bent all the -powers of his genius to a task that Miss Harriet Sanderson -had discreetly imposed upon the author of “Urban -Love, a Trilogy.” And now he came in, every inch<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span> -a victor, he had not looked to find his monitress. But -there she was, pale, grim, yet somehow oddly distinguished -in the background of a room curiously familiar. -It was to her that his eyes leapt.</p> - -<p>“Why, Miss Sanderson!” he said, with a conqueror’s -laugh, in which there was no trace of the tongue-tied -youth of three and twenty years ago. Offering a conqueror’s -hand, he went forward to greet her.</p> - -<p>Harriet yielded hers with a vivid blush. And as she -did so, she was suddenly aware of two swordlike orbs -piercing her right through.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t know Mrs. Sanderson was a friend of -yours,” said the honeyed voice of Lady Muriel.</p> - -<p>“A very old friend,” said Sir Dugald gayly.</p> - -<p>At that moment, however, it was necessary for Lady -Muriel to curb her curiosity. Since her exit from that -room half-an-hour ago other people had gathered in it. -She had hardly spoken when her astonished eyes fell -upon Cousin Jack. Their recognition of each other was -mutually incredulous. Yet there was really no reason -why it should have been. It was known to the young -man that Muriel had been refused permission to marry -a politician already on the high road to place and power, -and it was known to her that Jack had been going about -with an actress.</p> - -<p>“A family party,” said Jack, as their eyes met. “Let -me introduce Miss Lawrence—Lady Muriel Dinneford.”</p> - -<p>An exchange of aloof bows followed. And then, -although very careful to seem to do nothing of the kind, -each measured the other with an eye as hard and bright -as a diamond. To neither was the result of this scrutiny -exactly pleasant. It came upon Cousin Muriel with a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span> -little shock of surprise that “the Chorus Girl” should -look just as she did, and that she knew how to bear -herself in a way that did not yield an inch to the -enemy, yet at the same time scrupulously refrained from -offering battle. Here was beauty of a very compelling -kind, and in the hostile view of its present beholder -something more valuable. The distinguished air, the look -of breeding, went some way to excuse a deplorable infatuation. -But as far as “the Chorus Girl” herself was concerned, -a little over-sensitive as circumstances may have -made her on the score of her own dignity, it was far from -pleasant to detect in this authentic member of the family -that power of conveying subtle insult, without speech -or look, which belonged to the two others, presumably -her sisters, whom she had met in the Park.</p> - -<p>Somehow the girl felt a keen rage within. It may -have been the world of unconscious arrogance behind -that aloof nod, it may have been the implicit challenge -in the lidded glance down the long straight nose. But -whatever the cause, Mary suddenly felt a surge of -resentment in her very bones.</p> - -<p>In the meantime, the People’s Candidate was playing -his part to perfection. The flight of time had wrought -wonders in this champion of Demos. He was no longer -tongue-tied and awkward; even the roll of his “r’s” was -so diminished that Ardnaleuchan would hardly have -known its child. Everything was in perfect harmony. -After a few brief passages with Harriet, audaciously -humorous, in which homage was paid to old times, he -turned with a sportsman’s eye to exchange a ready quip -with Joe and Eliza.</p> - -<p>Joe, in his heart, was scandalized. A Tory to the bone,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span> -in his view the social hierarchy was part of the cosmic -order. It was unchanging, immutable. “Scotchie” was -a charlatan, tongue in cheek; a mountebank of a fellow -whom it was amazing that honest men, let alone high-born -women, could not see through. Joe was determined -to have no truck with him, but the People’s -Candidate with a bonhomie which the former colleague -of the X Division was inclined to regard as mere brazenness, -seemed quite determined not to take rebuffs from -an old friend.</p> - -<p>“You haven’t a vote, Joe, I know,” said Maclean, “but -you are a man of influence here and I want you to -speak for me with your pals.”</p> - -<p>Joe shook a solemn head.</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe in your principles,” said he.</p> - -<p>The voice, a growl of indignation, struck the ear of -Lady Muriel a veritable blow. In spite of “the breadth” -she was trying so hard to cultivate, the laws of her -being demanded that these humble people should grovel. -They were of another caste, another clay; somehow -Joe’s blunt skepticism gave her a sense of personal -affront.</p> - -<p>“You have not a vote, Mr. Kelly,” she interposed, in -a sharp tone. “Pray, why didn’t you tell me? A canvasser’s -time is valuable.”</p> - -<p>“Your ladyship never asked the question.”</p> - -<p>“But you knew, surely, my object in coming?”</p> - -<p>“I did,” said Joe coolly, with a slightly humorous air. -“And I thought your ladyship so dangerous that the -best thing I could do was to get you barking up the -wrong tree.”</p> - -<p>The answer delighted Maclean. He threw up his head<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span> -and laughed like a school boy. But in the midst of a -mirth that his fiancée was quite incapable of sharing -with him, Jack and Mary rose to go. They had been -waiting to seize the first chance which offered in order -to escape from a decidedly irksome family party.</p> - -<p class="ph2">V</p> - -<p>As Mary and Jack took leave, the penetrating eye -of the new Home Secretary regarded them. The two -men had not met before, but they were known to each -other by hearsay. Jack had heard little good of Maclean—Sir -Dugald had heard even less good of Jack. A light -of amused malice sprang to their eyes in the moment -of recognition. But from those of the Scotsman it -quickly passed. For almost at once his attention was -caught by the affectionate intimacy of the good-bys bestowed -upon Joe, Eliza, and Harriet by a girl of quite -remarkable interest.</p> - -<p>Was it possible? The live thought flashed through -Sir Dugald’s mind. In an instant it had leapt to the -November evening of the year 1890. Immense quantities -of water had flowed under the bridge since that -far distant hour. And if this vivid, unforgettable girl -was the creature he now suspected that she must be, -here was one example the more of the romance of -time, nature and circumstance.</p> - -<p>As soon as Mary and Jack were away on what they -called a joy-ride to Richmond, all Sir Dugald’s doubts -in the matter were laid at rest. At once there followed -a few brief, but pitiless and bitter passages between -Harriet Sanderson and Lady Muriel.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span></p> - -<p>“Tell me, Mrs. Sanderson,” said the younger woman -in a tone of ice, “is Miss Lawrence a connection of -yours?”</p> - -<p>“My niece, my lady,” said Harriet, an odd tremor in -her voice.</p> - -<p>“A daughter, I presume, of your sister and her husband?”</p> - -<p>“That is so, my lady.” Harriet’s tone was slowly -deepening to that of her questioner.</p> - -<p>“Of course, the matter will have to be mentioned at -once to my father. And I’m afraid the consequences -cannot fail to be serious. You must feel that it is -very wrong to have connived at such a state of things.”</p> - -<p>Harriet’s reply, brief but considered, made with a sudden -flush of color and a lighted eye, was a cold denial. -It was a short but painful scene, and its three witnesses -would gladly have been spared it. Lady Muriel -had lost a little of her poise. In spite of her “breadth” -she was simply horrified by her discovery. She could -not believe that Harriet spoke the truth. And the cunning, -the duplicity, the chicane of a retainer who had -held a privileged position for so many years filled her -with an inward fury that was almost beyond control.</p> - -<p>“One could not have believed it to be possible,” she -said, in a voice that trembled ominously. And having -discharged that Parthian bolt, she withdrew with the -People’s Candidate in order to canvass the next house -in the street.</p> - -<p class="ph2">VI</p> - -<p>Such a departure left consternation in its train. After -a moment of complete silence, Eliza burst into a sudden<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span> -flood of tears, Joe put on his tunic with the air of a -tragedian, but Harriet remained immovable as a statue.</p> - -<p>“This comes of the stage,” wailed poor Eliza.</p> - -<p>Joe felt the times themselves were to blame, at any rate -they were sadly out of joint.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know what things are coming to,” he said, -flinging his slippers into a corner and putting on his -boots. “Things are all upside down these days and no -mistake.”</p> - -<p>Harriet blamed no one. She merely stood white and -shaken, a picture of tragic unhappiness.</p> - -<p>“Gal,” said Joe, turning to her a Job’s comforter, “one -thing is sure. You are going to lose your place.”</p> - -<p>Harriet bit her lip, coldly disdaining a reply.</p> - -<p>“As sure as eggs that’ll be the upshot,” proceeded Joe. -“I’m sorry I let that jockey go without giving him a -bit of my mind.”</p> - -<p>“He is not to blame,” said Harriet tensely.</p> - -<p>“Who is, then?”</p> - -<p>“You and me, Joe,” sobbed Eliza, “for letting her -go on the stage.”</p> - -<p>“There was no stopping her—you know that well -enough. As soon as she took up her dancing we lost -all control of her. But we’ve got to be pretty sensible -now. A nice tangle things are in, and they’ll take a bit -of straightening out.”</p> - -<p>Harriet shook a mournful head.</p> - -<p>“What can people like ourselves possibly do?” she -asked.</p> - -<p>“I’ve a great mind,” said Joe, “to step as far as -Bridport House and have a few words with his Grace.”</p> - -<p>“That’s merely preposterous,” said Harriet decisively.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span></p> - -<p>“The matter must be brought to his notice at once, -any way,” said Joe doggedly.</p> - -<p>“You can count upon that,” said Harriet grimly.</p> - -<p>“But it’ll be one side only. And there’s the other, -my gal.”</p> - -<p>“What other?” Harriet asked with a drawn smile.</p> - -<p>“Her side. She is not going to be made a fool of by -anyone if I can help it.”</p> - -<p>Said Harriet very gravely: “Joe, I sincerely hope -you will not meddle in this. I am quite sure that -any interference of ours will be most unwise.”</p> - -<p>But Joe shook the head of a warrior.</p> - -<p>“There you’re wrong. This is our affair and we’ve -got to see it through.”</p> - -<p>“Far better let the matter alone.”</p> - -<p>“When we adopted that girl,” said Joe, “we took a -great responsibility on ourselves, and we’ve got to live -up to it. In my opinion that young man means no -good.”</p> - -<p>“You have no right to say that,” said Harriet quickly.</p> - -<p>“I’ve a right to say what I think. And you know as -well as I do that the likes o’ him don’t condescend to the -likes o’ her with any good intention.”</p> - -<p>Harriet flushed darkly.</p> - -<p>“I am quite sure that Mr. Dinneford would always -behave like a gentleman,” she said sternly.</p> - -<p>“That is more than you know.”</p> - -<p>“You seem to forget that he is one of the Family.”</p> - -<p>Joe laughed rather sardonically. “I don’t blame you -for being so set up with your precious Family,” he said. -“It is only right that you should be—but I know what -I know. Human nature’s human nature.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span></p> - -<p>Harriet shook her head. Not for a moment could -she accept this point of view. Moreover, she strongly -urged that there must not be interference of any kind -with Bridport House.</p> - -<p>“That’s as may be,” said Joe stoutly. “But you can -take your oath that I mean to see justice done in the -matter.”</p> - -<p>“You talk as if she was your own daughter,” said -Harriet, who was growing deeply annoyed.</p> - -<p>“Ever since I gave her my name and my roof, I have -looked on her as a gal of my own.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, that we have,” chimed Eliza tearfully. “And -I am sure that Joe is right to take the matter up.”</p> - -<p>Again Harriet dissented. In her view, and she did -not hesitate to express it forcibly, it would be sheer folly -for people like themselves to meddle in such a delicate -affair.</p> - -<p>“It seems to me,” said Eliza bitterly, “that rather than -go against Bridport House, you would ruin the girl.”</p> - -<p>The words struck home. Eliza had long looked up -to her younger sister. The position she held was one -of honor, but Harriet’s exaggerated concern for an -imposing machine of which she was no more than a very -humble cog, somehow aroused Eliza’s deepest feelings.</p> - -<p>“It is a very wicked thing to say.” And in the eyes -of Harriet was an odd look.</p> - -<p>“You set these grandees above everything in the -world,” Eliza taunted. “Like the Dad, you simply worship -them.”</p> - -<p>A deadly pallor overspread Harriet’s face. Her -eyes grew grim with pain and anger. But a powerful<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span> -nature, schooled to self-discipline, fought for control and -was able to gain it.</p> - -<p>“It’s a futile discussion,” she said suddenly, in a -changed tone. And then she added with an earnestness -strangely touching. “Joe, I implore you not to take any -step in the matter without first consulting me.”</p> - -<p>The solemn words seemed to gain finality from the -fact that Harriet Sanderson then walked abruptly out -of the house.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI<br /> -PLOT AND COUNTERPLOT</h2></div> - -<p class="ph2">I</p> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">T</span>he Duke</span>, in his morning-room, was reading a -letter which had just come to him by post. As -he folded it neatly and returned it to an envelope -which bore the stamp of the south-eastern postal district, -the light of humor played over an expressive face. And -when, after much reflection, he took the letter again from -its envelope and solemnly re-read it, the look deepened to -the verge of the saturnine.</p> - -<p>Still pondering what he plainly considered to be -a priceless document, a succession of odd grimaces caused -him to purse his lips and to frown perplexedly. At last -he dropped his glasses and broke into a guffaw.</p> - -<p>Lying back in his invalid’s chair, still in the throes -of an infrequent laughter, he was presently brought back -to the plane of gravity by the unexpected arrival of -Lady Wargrave upon the scene.</p> - -<p>She entered the room with a gladiatorial air.</p> - -<p>The face of his Grace underwent a sudden change at -the sight of this unwelcome visitor.</p> - -<p>Charlotte seated herself ponderously. And then having -allowed a moment’s pause for dramatic effect, she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span> -said, marking her brother with an intent eye, “The plot -thickens.”</p> - -<p>“Plot?” he said, warily.</p> - -<p>“Do you wish me to believe that you have not heard -the latest development?”</p> - -<p>“Why speak in riddles, Charlotte?” He was trying -to suppress a growing irritability.</p> - -<p>Charlotte smiled frostily. “One should make allowances, -no doubt, for natural simplicity. But even to -the aloofness of philosophers there’s a limit, my friend. -You must know that there is only one subject in all -our minds just now.”</p> - -<p>The Duke, a concentrated gaze upon Charlotte, did -not allow himself to admit anything of the kind. For -one thing they were lifelong adversaries. Charlotte was -a meddlesome woman, an intriguer and a busybody in the -sacred name of Family. They had tried many a fall -with each other in the past, and although Providence in -making Albert John the head of the house had given -him an unfair advantage, he was often hard set by Charlotte’s -malice and persistency.</p> - -<p>“Have you spoken to that young wretch?” Charlotte -lost no time in coming boldly to the horses.</p> - -<p>“I have not,” was the sour reply.</p> - -<p>“Is it quite wise, do you think, to let the grass grow -under your feet?—particularly having regard to the fact -that the person happens to be a niece of Mrs. Sanderson’s.” -This was a very shrewd blow, whose manner -of delivery had been most carefully considered beforehand. -Indeed, so neatly was it planted now that his -Grace got the shock of his life. The surprise was so -painfully sharp that he found it hard to meet the foe<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span> -without flinching. He had to make a great effort to -hold himself in hand. And Charlotte, a cold eye upon -him, followed up in an extremely businesslike manner. -She had a very strong hand to play and a true warrior, -if ever there was one, she was set on wringing out -of it the last ounce of advantage. There had come to -her at last, after many a year of watching and waiting, -an opportunity beyond her hopes and her prayers.</p> - -<p>“Last evening poor Sarah came to me in great distress,” -proceeded Charlotte. “Muriel, it appears, had -been electioneering in the constituency of a certain person, -and in the course of her wanderings up and down -the suburbs, she found herself quite by chance at the -house of Mrs. Sanderson’s brother-in-law.”</p> - -<p>By this time his Grace had sufficiently recovered from -the blow that had been dealt him to ask how Muriel had -contrived to make that particular discovery.</p> - -<p>It seemed that she had found Mrs. Sanderson there.</p> - -<p>“The long arm of coincidence,” opined his Grace with -a wry smile. He opined further that the whole thing -began to sound uncommonly like a novel.</p> - -<p>“Sober reality, I assure you, Johnnie. And sober -reality can beat any novel in the power of the human -mind to invent, that’s why it’s so stupid to write them. -Muriel entered the house by chance, Mrs. Sanderson -came there, and presently, if you please, Master Jack -arrived by motor with the young person. By the way, -Muriel says she is very good looking.”</p> - -<p>“Quite a family party.” His Grace achieved a light -tone with difficulty. “But I incline to think, Charlotte, -you a little overstate the facts.”</p> - -<p>“It is the story Muriel told Sarah.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span></p> - -<p>“Well, I am very unwilling to believe that Mrs. Sanderson -knew what was going on.”</p> - -<p>“Pray, why not?” He was raked by a goshawk’s -eye.</p> - -<p>“She would have told me.”</p> - -<p>Somehow those lame, impotent words revealed a man -badly hit. Charlotte saw that at once, and forthwith -proceeded to turn the fact to pitiless advantage. A -gust of coarse laughter swept the room.</p> - -<p>“Johnnie, it’s the first time I’ve read you a fool. -Simple Simon! Do you think a woman who has learned -to play her cards like that is the one to give away -her hand?”</p> - -<p>This was a second blow planted neatly on the vizor -of his Grace. In spite of his armor of cynicism he -could be seen to wince a little. And the silence which -followed enabled the implacable foe to perceive that he -was shaken worse than it seemed reasonable to expect -him to be.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps you’ll now permit her to be sent away. A -sordid intriguer. She must go at once.”</p> - -<p>In the trying moment which followed, the Duke, badly -hipped, fought valiantly to pull himself together. But -somehow he only just managed to do so.</p> - -<p>“You make a mistake, Charlotte,” he said, with an -effort that clearly hurt him. “She is not that kind of -person. You always have made that mistake. She is a -superior woman in every way. At least, I have always -found her so. I can’t imagine such a woman intriguing -for anybody.”</p> - -<p>“Shows how little you know ’em, Johnnie.” Another -Gargantuan gust swept the room. “Every woman intrigues<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span> -unless she’s a born fool, and this housekeeper -nurse of yours is very far from being that—believe -me.”</p> - -<p>For a brief, but uncomfortable moment the Duke -thought the matter over with an air of curious perplexity. -Then he said abruptly and with defiance:</p> - -<p>“I must have further information.”</p> - -<p>“Sarah has the details. It would be well, no doubt, -to have her views on the matter.”</p> - -<p>Whereupon Charlotte rose massively, crossed to the -bell and rang it in order that a much tormented male -should enjoy this further privilege.</p> - -<p class="ph2">II</p> - -<p>The eldest daughter of the house, when she came -on the scene, found the atmosphere decidedly electric. -Her father was glaring with very ominous eyes; while -it was clear from the look on the face of Aunt Charlotte -that she was under the impression that she had -downed him at last. No doubt she had, but if those eyes -meant anything there was still a lot of fight in the stricken -warrior.</p> - -<p>Sarah herself was a long, thin, flat-chested person. -Totally devoid of imagination, her horizon was so limited -that outside the Family nothing or nobody mattered. -And yet she was not in the least domesticated. In -fact, she was not in the least anything. She was nobly -and consistently null, without opinions or ideas, without -humor, charm or amenity. Her mental outlook had -somehow thrown back to the 1840’s, yet with all her -limitations, apart from which very little remained of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span> -her, she was a thoroughly sound, exceedingly honest -Christian gentlewoman of thirty-eight.</p> - -<p>Sarah, it seemed, having heard Muriel’s story, had -taken counsel of the dowager. And at once realizing the -extreme gravity of the whole affair, both ladies determined -to make the most of a long-sought opportunity -to give the housekeeper her quietus. Sarah herself, who -was inclined to be embittered and vindictive on this particular -point, fell in only too readily with Aunt Charlotte’s -desire to take full advantage of such a golden -chance. Called upon now to divulge all that she knew, -the eldest daughter re-told Muriel’s remarkable story -of her meeting with Mrs. Sanderson, Jack and the girl, -in the course of political endeavors at Laxton. The -story, amazing as it was, was undoubtedly authentic.</p> - -<p>“Of course, father,” was Sarah’s conclusion, very -pointedly expressed, “she will simply <i>have</i> to go. And -the sooner the better, as no doubt you agree.”</p> - -<p>To Sarah’s deep annoyance, however, her sire seemed -very far from agreeing.</p> - -<p>“There is no direct evidence of collusion,” he said. -“And knowing Mrs. Sanderson to be an old and tried -servant, who has always had our welfare at heart, I -am very unwilling to place such a construction upon what -may be no more than a rather odd coincidence.”</p> - -<p>Sarah was too deeply angry to reply. But she looked -on grimly while the ruthless Charlotte showly marshaled -her forces. The quarrel was a very pretty one. Yet -the Duke, now his back was to the wall, was able to -take excellent care of himself. Moreover, he flatly declined -to hear a worthy woman traduced until she had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span> -had a chance of meeting charges so recklessly, and as -it seemed, malevolently brought against her.</p> - -<p>“From the way in which you speak of her,” said the -incensed Charlotte, “you appear to regard her as a person -of importance.”</p> - -<p>“Charlotte, I regard her as thoroughly honest, trustworthy, -competent—in fact a good woman in every way.”</p> - -<p>“You willfully blind yourself, Johnnie. This creature -has thrown dust in your eyes. But it will be no more -than you deserve if one day her niece is installed as mistress -here. You will not live to see it, yet it would be -no more than bare justice if you did.”</p> - -<p>“Pernicious nonsense,” rejoined his Grace. “Perhaps -in the circumstances it would be well to hear what Mrs. -Sanderson has to say for herself.”</p> - -<p>“She is bound to lie.”</p> - -<p>Somehow the precision of the language stung his -Grace.</p> - -<p>“You are not entitled to say that,” he flashed.</p> - -<p>“It is the common sense of the situation and one has a -perfect right to express it.”</p> - -<p>“Not here, Charlotte—not in this room before me. If -I trust people implicitly—there are not many that I do—I -trust them implicitly, and I can’t allow even <i>privileged</i> -people to speak of them in that way—at any rate, in my -presence.”</p> - -<p>This explosion was so unlooked for that it took the -ladies aback. In all the years they had fought him -they had never seen him moved so deeply. A new -Albert John had suddenly emerged. Never before had the -head of the house allowed these enemies to catch a -glimpse of such quixotic, such fantastic chivalry. Charlotte<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span> -was sourly amused, Sarah, amazed; but both ladies -were deeply angry.</p> - -<p>However, they had fully made up their minds that -the housekeeper must go. Indeed, that had been already -arranged at the after-dinner conference at Hill Street the -previous evening. They were convinced that a woman -whom they intensely disliked, whose peculiar position -they greatly resented, was at last driven into a corner. -The Duke’s indecently bold defense of her had taken -them by surprise, but it only made them the more determined -to push their present advantage ruthlessly home.</p> - -<p class="ph2">III</p> - -<p>Suddenly Sarah rose and pressed the bell. She demanded -of the servant who answered it that Mrs. Sanderson -should appear.</p> - -<p>Harriet, already apprised of Lady Wargrave’s arrival, -came at once. She was quite prepared for a painful -scene. Only too well had she reason to know the -state of feeling in regard to herself. She had always -been so able and discreet that she had enforced the -outward respect of those whom she served so loyally. -But she well knew that she was not liked by the -ladies of the house, and that the special position she -had come to hold owing to the decline of the Duke’s -health, was a <i>casus belli</i> between him and the members -of his family. She had long been aware that in the -opinion of the Dinneford ladies it was no part of a -housekeeper’s functions to act as a trained nurse to their -invalid father.</p> - -<p>Harriet had a natural awe of Lady Wargrave, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span> -she shared with all under that roof; for Lady Sarah -she had the deep respect which she extended to every -member of the august clan it had been her privilege -to serve for so many years. In the devout eyes of -Harriet Sanderson each unit of that clan was not as -other men and women. In the matter of Bridport House -and all that it stood for, she was more royalist than the -king.</p> - -<p>From the dark hour, a week ago now, in which the -news had come by a side wind, that the fates by a -stroke of perverse cruelty, as it seemed, had thrown -Mary across the path of Mr. Dinneford, she had hardly -known how to lay her head on her pillow. To her -mind the whole thing was simply calamitous. It had -thrown her into a state of profound unhappiness. She -now came into the room looking worn and ill, yet fully -prepared for short shift to be meted out to her by -those whom she found assembled there.</p> - -<p>The ladies looked for defiance, no doubt. And they -may have looked for an undercurrent of malicious triumph. -Yet if they expected either of these things their -mistake was at once very clear. It was hard to find a -trace of the successful intriguer in the haggard cheeks -and somber eyes of the woman before them. But to -minds such as theirs portents of this kind could not -be expected to weigh in the scale against their preconceived -ideas.</p> - -<p>It was left to Lady Wargrave to fix the charge. And -this she did with a blunt precision which was itself -a form of insult. The icy tones were scrupulously -polite, nothing was said which one in her position was -not entitled to say in such circumstances, yet the whole<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span> -effect was so deadly in its venom as to be absolutely -pitiless.</p> - -<p>At first Harriet was overwhelmed. The force of the -attack was beyond anything she had looked for. Moreover, -it seemed to fill the Duke, an unwilling auditor, -with anger and pain. He moved uneasily in his chair, -yet he was not able to check the cold torrent of quasi-insult -by word of mouth, for none knew better than -Lady Wargrave how to administer castigation without -going outside the rules of the game.</p> - -<p>Even when the shock of the first blows was past, -Harriet could find no means of defending herself. She -was a very proud woman. Her blamelessness in what -she could only regard as a very odious matter was so -clear to her own mind that it did not seem to call for -re-statement. She, too, said nothing. But a hot flush -came upon the thin cheek.</p> - -<p>Lady Wargrave grew more and more incensed by a -silence, the cause of which she completely mistook.</p> - -<p>“You have been nearly thirty years here, Mrs. Sanderson, -and you have been guilty of a wicked abuse of -trust.”</p> - -<p>The painful pause which followed this final blow was -broken at last by the Duke.</p> - -<p>“You must forgive me, Charlotte, if I say that the -facts of the case as they have been presented, hardly -justify such a statement.”</p> - -<p>The tone was honey. And it was in such ironical -contrast to Charlotte’s own that nothing could have -shown more clearly the wide gulf between their points -of view or the envenomed strife of many years now coming -to a head.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span></p> - -<p>“They prove the charge to the hilt.” The hawk’s eyes -of Charlotte contracted ominously.</p> - -<p>“What charge?—if you don’t mind stating it explicitly.”</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Sanderson has used her position here to make -her niece known to the future head of this house, she -has connived at their intimacy, she appears to have fostered -it in every way.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t think you are entitled to say that, Charlotte.” -The Duke spoke slowly and pointedly, and then -he turned to Harriet with an air of such delicate politeness -that it added fuel to the flame which was withering -her traducers. “If it is not asking too much, Mrs. Sanderson,” -he said, with a smile of grave kindness, “I -should personally be very grateful if you would be -wicked enough to defend yourself. Let me say at once -that I am far from accepting the construction Lady -Wargrave has placed on the matter. But her zeal for a -time-honored institution is so great that if her judgment -is outrun, it seems only kind to forgive her.”</p> - -<p>Such oblique but resounding blows in the sconce of -Charlotte filled her with a fury hard to hold in check.</p> - -<p>“What defense is possible?” Her voice was like -a crane. “The facts are there to look at. Mrs. Sanderson’s -niece has extracted a promise of marriage.”</p> - -<p>The Duke turned to Harriet rather anxiously.</p> - -<p>“I sincerely hope Lady Wargrave has been misinformed,” -he said.</p> - -<p>Harriet flushed.</p> - -<p>“I only know”—speech for her had become almost -intolerably difficult—“that Mr. Dinneford has asked my -brother-in-law’s consent to his marrying her.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span></p> - -<p>The Duke may have been deeply annoyed, but not a -line of his face betrayed him.</p> - -<p>“Who is your brother-in-law, Mrs. Sanderson?”</p> - -<p>Harriet told him.</p> - -<p>“A very honest man”—the Duke checked a laugh—“I -have been honored by a letter from him this morning.”</p> - -<p>Even the lacerated Harriet could not forbear to smile.</p> - -<p>“I am sure,” said she, “he will not let Mary marry -Mr. Dinneford if he can help it.”</p> - -<p>“Why not?” sharply interposed Lady Wargrave.</p> - -<p>“Why not, Charlotte?” Her brother took upon himself -to answer the question. “Because Sergeant Kelly -is a very sensible and enlightened man who evidently -tries to see things in their right relation.”</p> - -<p>“Fiddle-de-dee!” said Charlotte, with the bluntness -for which she was famous. “Depend upon it, he knows -as well as anybody on which side his bread is buttered.”</p> - -<p>Her brother shook his head. “I think,” he said, “if you -had had the privilege of reading Sergeant Kelly’s letter -you would be agreeably surprised. At any rate, he -seems quite to share your view of the sacredness of the -social fabric.”</p> - -<p>“Let us look at the facts,” said Charlotte. “This -marriage has to be prevented at all costs. And I hope -it is not too much to ask Mrs. Sanderson that she will -give us any assistance which may lie in her power.”</p> - -<p>The look upon Lady Wargrave’s face, as she made the -request, clearly implied that help from such a quarter -must, in the nature of things, be negligible. But in spite -of the covert insult in the tone and manner of the dowager, -Harriet replied very simply that there was nothing -she would leave undone to prevent such a catastrophe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span></p> - -<p>“I am quite sure, Mrs. Sanderson, we can count upon -that,” said the Duke, in a tone which softened considerably -the humiliating silence with which the promise had -been received.</p> - -<p>“To begin with,” said the Duke, turning to Harriet, -“I shall ask your brother-in-law to come and see me. -Evidently he is one of these sensible, straightforward -men who can be trusted to take a large view of things.”</p> - -<p>The face of Lady Wargrave expressed less optimism.</p> - -<p>“There is one question I would like to put to Mrs. -Sanderson,” she suddenly interposed. It seemed that she -had reserved for a final attack the weapon on which she -counted most. “Be good enough to tell me this.” The -ruthless eye was fixed on Harriet. “How long, Mrs. -Sanderson, have you known of Mr. Dinneford’s intimacy -with your niece?”</p> - -<p>There was a slight but painful pause, and it was broken -by a rather faltering reply.</p> - -<p>“It is just a week since I first heard of it, my lady.”</p> - -<p>“Just a week! And in the whole of that time you have -not thought well to mention the matter?”</p> - -<p>The tone cut like a knife. And the stab it dealt was -so deep that Harriet was unable to answer the question -which propelled it.</p> - -<p>“<i>Why didn’t</i> you mention it, Mrs. Sanderson?”</p> - -<p>The blood fled suddenly from Harriet’s cheek. She -grew nervous and confused.</p> - -<p>“Please answer the question.” There was now a ring -of triumph in the pitiless tone.</p> - -<p>“I wished to spare his Grace unpleasantness,” stammered -Harriet.</p> - -<p>“Very thoughtful of you, Mrs. Sanderson,” said Lady<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span> -Wargrave, bitingly. “No doubt his Grace appreciates -your regard for his feelings. But even if that was the -motive, surely it was your duty to report the matter -to Lady Sarah as soon as it came to your knowledge.”</p> - -<p>The hesitation of Harriet grew exceedingly painful to -witness.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” she said at last. Tears suddenly sprang to -her eyes. “I begin to see now that it <i>was</i> my duty. I -wish very much that I <i>had</i> mentioned the matter to -Lady Sarah.”</p> - -<p>Both ladies were so fully set on the overthrow of this -serpent that the air of touching, exquisite simpleness -went for nothing. But in any case they would have been -too obtuse to notice it.</p> - -<p>“We all wish that.” Lady Wargrave pursued her advantage -pitilessly. “And I am sure I speak for his -Grace as well as for the rest of us.” She trained a -look of malicious triumph upon the perplexed and -frowning face of her brother.</p> - -<p>As became a consummate tactician who now had the -affair well in hand, Charlotte gave the Duke a moment to -intervene if he felt inclined to do so. But she well knew, -a kind of instinct told her, that the attack had succeeded -completely. The housekeeper made such a feeble -attempt to parry it, that for the time being her champion -was dumb. Nor was this surprising. In the opinion -of both ladies the sinister charge of collusion had -now been proved to the hilt.</p> - -<p>Lady Wargrave having given her brother due opportunity -for a further defense of Mrs. Sanderson, which -he had quite failed to grasp, proceeded coldly and at -leisure to administer the <i>coup de grâce</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span></p> - -<p>“I am afraid, Mrs. Sanderson,” she said, “that in -these circumstances only one course is open to you now.”</p> - -<p>She was too adroit, however, to state exactly what -that course was. She was content merely to suggest it. -But Harriet did not need to be told what the particular -alternative was that her ladyship had in mind.</p> - -<p>“You wish me to resign my position,” she said, in a -low calm voice. She turned with tears in her eyes -to the eldest daughter of the house. “I beg leave to -give a month’s notice from today, my lady. If you -would like me to go sooner, I will do so at any time you -wish.”</p> - -<p>The words and manner showed a consideration wholly -lacking in the measure meted out to herself. There -was so little of pride or of wounded dignity that the -tears were running in a stream down the pale cheeks. -Uppermost in Harriet Sanderson was still a feeling of -profound veneration for those to whom she had dedicated -the best years of her life.</p> - -<p class="ph2">IV</p> - -<p>The ladies of the Family had won the day. Mrs. Sanderson -was going. It was an occasion for rejoicing. -She had intrigued disgracefully; moreover, it had long -felt that this clever, unscrupulous, plausible woman had -gained a dangerous ascendancy over the head of the -house. But Aunt Charlotte, it seemed, with the tactical -skill for which she was famous, had driven her into a -corner and had forced her to surrender.</p> - -<p>In the opinion of Sarah, Mrs. Sanderson had behaved -very well. It was, of course, impossible to trust<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span> -that sort of person; but to give the woman her due, she -had appeared to feel her position acutely; she had promised, -moreover, to undo as far as in her lay the mischief -she had caused. The ladies saw no inconsistency -in that. They had formed a low opinion of Mrs. Sanderson—for -what reason they didn’t quite know—but -now that she had received her <i>congée</i> and they were to -have their own way at last there would be no harm in -taking up a magnanimous attitude towards her.</p> - -<p>As far as it went this was well enough, but a serious -and solemn task had been imposed upon various people -by the circumstances of the case. It now seemed of -vital importance to those concerned that Jack should -become engaged to Marjorie without further delay. -With that end in view the ladies of the Family were -now working like beavers. But all they had done so -far had not been enough. In vain had the lure been -laid in sight of the bird. In vain had they used the -arts and the subtleties of their sex. For several weeks -now Jack and Marjorie had been thrown together on -every conceivable pretext, yet the only result had been -that the future head of Bridport House had re-affirmed -a fixed intention of taking a wife from the stage.</p> - -<p>Three days after Lady Wargrave had gained her signal -triumph over Mrs. Sanderson, the Duke was at home -to an odd visitor. In obedience to the written request -of his Grace’s private secretary, Sergeant Kelly presented -himself about noon at Bridport House.</p> - -<p>Fortunately, Joe had been able to arrange for a day -off for the purpose. Thus the dignity of man, also the -dignity of the Metropolitan Force, were upheld by impressive -mufti. He had discarded uniform for his best<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span> -Sunday cutaway, old and rather shining it was true, but -black and braided, with every crease removed by Eliza’s -iron; a pair of light gray trousers, superbly checked; a -white choker tie and a horse-shoe pin; while to crown -all, a massive gold albert, a recent gift from Mary, was -slung across a noble expanse of broadcloth waistcoat.</p> - -<p>“Good morning, Sergeant Kelly,” said a musical voice, -as soon as the visitor was announced. The Duke in the -depths of his invalid chair looked at him from under -the brows of a satyr. “Excuse my rising. I’m a bit -below the weather, as you see.”</p> - -<p>Joe, secretly prepared for anything in the matter of -his reception, was impressed most favorably by such a -greeting. Somehow the note of cordiality was so exactly -that of one man of the world to another, that Joe was -conscious of a subtle feeling of flattery. He was invited -to sit, and he sat on the extreme verge of a Sheraton -masterpiece, pensively twisting between his hands a -brand-new bowler hat purchased that morning en route -to Bridport House.</p> - -<p>“Sergeant Kelly,” said the Duke, speaking with a directness -that Joe admired, “I liked your letter. It was -that of a sensible man.”</p> - -<p>“Good of your Grace to say so,” said Joe, a nice mingling -of dignity and deference.</p> - -<p>“I agree with you that the matter is extremely -vexatious.”</p> - -<p>Joe took a long breath. “It’s haggeravating, sir,” -said he.</p> - -<p>“Quite so,” said his Grace, with a whimsical smile. -“But as a matter of curiosity, may I ask what had led -you to that conclusion?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span></p> - -<p>“Just this, sir.” Joe laid the new bowler hat on the -carpet, squared his shoulders and fixed the Duke with his -eye. “The aristocracy’s the aristocracy, the middle-class -is the middle-class, and the lower h’orders are the lower -h’orders—there they are and you can’t alter ’em. Leastways -that was the opinion of the Marquis.”</p> - -<p>“I’m not sure that I know your friend,” said the Duke -with charming urbanity, “but I’m convinced his views -are sound. If I read your letter aright, you are as -much opposed to the suggested alliance between your -daughter and my kinsman as I am myself.”</p> - -<p>“That is so, your Grace. It simply won’t do.”</p> - -<p>“I quite agree,” said the Duke, “but from your point -of view—why won’t it? I ask merely for information.”</p> - -<p>“Why won’t it, sir?” said Joe, surprisedly. “Don’t -I say the aristocracy’s the aristocracy?”</p> - -<p>“In other words you disapprove of them on principle?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir, it’s because I respect ’em so highly,” said -Joe, with a simple largeness that bore no trace of the -sycophant. “I’ve not reggerlated the traffic at Hyde Park -Corner all these years without learning that it won’t -do to keep on mixing things up in the way we’re -doing at present. Things are in a state of flux, as -you might say.”</p> - -<p>“Profoundly true,” said the Duke, with a fine appearance -of gravity. “And I have asked you to come here, -Sergeant Kelly, to advise me in a very delicate matter. -In the first place, I assume that you have withheld your -consent to this ridiculous marriage.”</p> - -<p>“That is so, your Grace. But the young parties are -that headstrong they may not respect their elders. I -told the young gentleman what my feeling was, and I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span> -told the girl, but I’m sorry to say they laughed at me. -Yes, sir, society is in a state of flux and no mistake.”</p> - -<p>“Well, Sergeant Kelly, what’s to be done?”</p> - -<p>“I should like your Grace to speak a word to the -parties. Seemingly they take no notice of me. But perhaps -they might of you, sir.”</p> - -<p>The Duke smiled and shook his head.</p> - -<p>“Well, sir, they only laugh at me,” said Joe. “But -with you it would be different.” And then with admirable -directness: “Why not see the girl and give her -your views in the matter? She’s very sensible and -she’s been well brought up.”</p> - -<p>The Duke looked at his visitor steadily. If his Grace -was in search of <i>arrière pensée</i>, he failed to find a sign -of it in that transparently honest countenance.</p> - -<p>“A bold suggestion,” he said, with a smile. “But I -don’t know that I have any particular aptitude for handling -headstrong young women.”</p> - -<p>Joe promptly rebutted the ducal modesty. “Your -words would carry weight, sir. She’s a girl who knows -what’s what, I give you my word.”</p> - -<p>The Duke could hardly keep from laughing outright at -the sublime seriousness of this old bobby. But at the -same time curiosity stirred him. What sort of a girl -was this who owned such a genial grotesque of a father? -It would impinge on the domain of comic opera to instal -such a being as the future châtelaine of Bridport House. -Still, as his visitor shrewdly said, society was in a state -of flux.</p> - -<p>“My own belief is,” said Joe, “that she’s the best girl -in England, and if your Grace would set your point of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span> -view before her as you have set it before me, I’m thinking -she’d do her best to help us.”</p> - -<p>The Duke was impressed by such candor, such openness, -such simplicity. After all, there was just a chance -that things might take a more hopeful turn.</p> - -<p>“She’s not one to go where she’s not wanted, sir,” -said Joe. “And my belief is that if you have a little -talk with her and let her know how you feel about it, -you may be spared a deal o’ trouble.”</p> - -<p>“You really think that?” said the Duke with a sigh -of relief.</p> - -<p>“I do, sir. Leastways, if you ain’t, Joseph Kelly will -be disappointed.”</p> - -<p>Such disinterestedness was not exactly flattering, yet -the Duke was touched by it. Indeed, Sergeant Kelly’s -sturdy common sense was so reassuring that he was -invited to have a cigar. At the request of his host, he -pressed the bell, one long and one short, and in the process -of time a servant appeared with a box of Coronas. -Joe chose one, smelt it, placed it to his ear and then -put it sedately in his pocket.</p> - -<p>“I’ll not smoke it now, sir,” he said urbanely. “I’ll keep -it until I can really enjoy it.”</p> - -<p>He was graciously invited to take several. With an -air of polite deprecation he helped himself to three more. -Then he realized that the time had come to withdraw.</p> - -<p>The parting was one of mutual esteem. If the girl -would consent to pay a visit to Bridport House, the Duke -would see her gladly. But again his Grace affirmed that -he was not an optimist. Society <i>was</i> in a state of flux, -he quite agreed, democracy was knocking at the gate -and none knew the next turn in the game. Still the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span> -Duke was not unmindful of Sergeant Kelly’s remarkable -disinterestedness, and took a cordial leave of him, fully -prepared to follow his advice in this affair of thorns.</p> - -<p>As soon as the door had closed upon the dignified form -of Sergeant Kelly, the Duke lay back in his chair fighting -a storm of laughter. Cursed with a sense of humor, -at all times a great handicap for such a one as himself, -its expression had seldom been less opportune or more -uncomfortable. For there was really nothing to laugh -at in a matter of this kind. The thing was too grimly -serious.</p> - -<p>Still, for the moment, this amateur of the human comedy -was the victim of a divided mind. He wanted to -laugh until he ached over this solemn policeman upholding -the fabric of society.</p> - -<p>“By gad, he’s right,” Albert John ruminated, as he -dipped gout-ridden fingers in his ravished cigar box. -“Things <i>are</i> in a state of flux.” He cut off the end of -a cigar. “My own view is that this monstrous bluff -which these poor fools have allowed some of us to put -up since the Conquest, more or less, will mighty soon -be about our ears. However,”—Albert John placed -the cigar between his lips—“it hardly does to say so.”</p> - -<p>For a time this was the sum of his reflections. Then -he pressed the bell at his elbow and the servant reappeared.</p> - -<p>“Ask Mr. Twalmley to be good enough to telephone -to Mr. Dinneford. I wish to see him at once.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII<br /> -A TRAGIC COIL</h2></div> - -<p class="ph2">I</p> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">M</span>ary</span>, breakfasting late and at leisure, before -her ride at eleven, had propped the <i>Morning -Post</i> against the coffee-pot. Milly was arranging -roses in a blue bowl.</p> - -<p>“I’m miserable!” Mary suddenly proclaimed. She -had let her eyes stray to the column devoted to marriage -and the giving in marriage, and at last she had flung the -paper away from her.</p> - -<p>“Get on with your breakfast,” said the practical Milly. -“I’ve really no patience with you.”</p> - -<p>Mary rose from the table with big trouble in her face.</p> - -<p>“You’re a gaby,” said Milly, scornfully. “If everybody -was like you there’d be no carrying on the world -at all. You’re absurd. Mother is quite annoyed with -you, and so am I.”</p> - -<p>“I’m simply wretched.” The tone was very far from -that of the fine resolute creature whom Milly adored.</p> - -<p>The truth was Mary had been following a policy of -drift and it was beginning to tell upon her. Nearly a -week had gone since the visit to Laxton had disclosed a -state of things which had trebly confounded confusion. -Besides, that ill-timed pilgrimage had given duty a sharper<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span> -point, a keener edge, but as yet she had not gathered -the force of will to meet the hard logic of the matter -squarely.</p> - -<p>In spite of a growing resolve to make an end of a -situation that all at once had become intolerable, she had -weakly consented to ride that morning with Jack as -usual. So far he had proved the stronger, no doubt -because two factors of supreme importance were on his -side. One was the promise into which very incautiously -she had let herself be lured, to which he had ruthlessly -held her, the other the simple fact that she was deeply -in love with him. It had been very perilous to temporize, -yet having been weak enough to do so, each passing -day tightened her bonds. The little scheme had -failed. Laxton had caused not the slightest change in -his attitude; he was not the kind of man to be influenced -by things of that kind; only a simpleton like herself -would expect him to be! No, the plain truth was he was -set more than ever on not giving her up, and it was going -to be a desperate business to compel him. To make -matters worse his attraction for her was great. There -was a force, a quality about him which she didn’t know -how to resist. When they were apart she made resolves -which when they were together she found herself unable -to keep. The truth was, the cry of nature was too -strong.</p> - -<p>Milly looked up from her roses to study a picture of -distraction.</p> - -<p>“You odd creature.” A toss of a sagacious head.</p> - -<p>The charge was admitted frankly, freely, and fully.</p> - -<p>“I don’t understand you in the least.” A wrinkling -of a pert nose.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span></p> - -<p>“I don’t understand myself.”</p> - -<p>Milly looked at her wonderingly. “I really don’t. -You are quite beyond me. If you were actually afraid -of these people, which I don’t for a moment think you -are, one might begin to see what’s at the back of your -absurd mind.”</p> - -<p>“Why don’t you think I’m afraid of them?” Mary -in spite of herself was a little amused by the downrightness.</p> - -<p>The question brought her right up against an eye -of very honest admiration.</p> - -<p>“Because, Miss Lawrence, it simply isn’t in you to be -afraid of anybody.”</p> - -<p>Princess Bedalia shook a rueful head. “You say that -because you don’t know all. I’m in a mortal funk of -Bridport House.”</p> - -<p>“That I won’t believe,” said the robust Milly. “And -if a fit of high-falutin’ sentiment, for which you’ll get -not an ounce of credit, causes you to throw away your -happiness, and turn your life into a sob-story, neither -my mother nor I will ever forgive you, so there!”</p> - -<p>“You seem to forget that I am the housekeeper’s -niece.”</p> - -<p>“As though it mattered.” The pert nose twitched -furiously. “As though it matters a row of little apples. -You are yourself—your big and splendid self. Any man -is lucky to get you.”</p> - -<p>But the large, long-lashed eyes were full of pain. -“We look at things so differently. I can’t explain what -I mean or what I feel, but I want to see the whole thing, -if I can, as others see it.”</p> - -<p>“We are the others—mother and I,” said Milly,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span> -stoutly. “But as we are not titled snobs with Bridport -House stamped on our notepaper, I suppose we don’t -count.”</p> - -<p>“That’s not fair.” A curious look came into Mary’s -face, which Milly had noticed before and, for a reason -she couldn’t explain, somehow resented. “They have -their point of view and it’s right that they should have. -Without it they wouldn’t be what they are, would they?”</p> - -<p>“You speak as if they were better than other people.”</p> - -<p>“Why, of course.”</p> - -<p>“I shall begin to think you are as bad as they are,” -Milly burst out impatiently. “You are the oddest creature. -I can understand your not going where you are -not wanted, but that’s no reason why you should fight -for the other side.”</p> - -<p>“I want them to have fair play.”</p> - -<p>“It’s more than they mean you to have, any way.”</p> - -<p>“One oughtn’t to say that.” The tone had a quaint -sternness, charming to the ear, yet with a great power -of affront for the soul of Milly.</p> - -<p>“Miss Lawrence,” said that democrat, “you annoy me. -If you go on like this before mother she’ll shake you. -The trouble with you”—a rather fierce recourse to a -cigarette—“is that you are a bit of a prig. You must -admit that you are a bit of a prig, aren’t you now?”</p> - -<p>“More than a bit of one,” sighed Mary. And then -the light of humor broke over her perplexity. In the -eyes of Milly this was her great saving clause; and in -spite of an ever-deepening annoyance with her friend -for the hay she was making of such amazingly brilliant -prospects, she could not help laughing at the comic look -of her now.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span></p> - -<p>“You are much too clever to take things so seriously,” -said Milly. “You are not the least bit of a prig in anything -else, and that’s why you made me so angry. Be -sensible and follow your luck. Jack should know far -better than you. Besides, if you didn’t mean to keep -your word, why did you give it?”</p> - -<p>This was a facer, as the candid Milly intended it to be.</p> - -<p>“Because I was a fool.” At the moment that seemed -the only possible answer.</p> - -<p class="ph2">II</p> - -<p>The argument had not gone farther when a rather -strident “coo-ee” ascending from the pavement below -found its way through the open window.</p> - -<p>“Diana, you are wanted.” The impulsive Milly ran -on to the little balcony to wave a hand of welcome to a -young man in the street.</p> - -<p>It was the intention, however, of the young man in the -street, as soon as he could find someone to look after -his horses, to come up and have a talk with Mary. To -the quick-witted person to whom he made known that -resolve, he seemed much graver than usual. It hardly -required any special clairvoyance on the part of Milly to -realize that something was in the wind.</p> - -<p>Three minutes later, Jack had found his way up and -Milly had effaced herself discreetly. This morning that -warrior was not quite the serenely humorous self whom -his friends found so engaging. Recent events had annoyed -him, disquieted him, upset him generally, and the -previous afternoon they had culminated in a long and -unsatisfactory interview at Bridport House.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span></p> - -<p>Those skilled in the signs might have told, from the -young man’s manner, that he had cast himself for a big -thinking part. This morning he was “all out” for diplomacy. -He would like Mary to know that his back was to -the wall, and that he must be able to count on her implicitly -in the stern fight ahead; but the crux of the problem -was, and for that reason he felt such a great need of -cunning, if he let her know the full force and depth of -the opposition the effect upon her might be the reverse -of what he intended. Even apart from the stab to her -pride, she was quite likely to make it a pretext for -further quixotism. Therefore, Mr. John Dinneford had -decided to walk very delicately indeed this morning.</p> - -<p>His Grace, it appeared, had asked to see the lady in -the case. Jack, however, scenting peril in the request, -had by no means consented lightly to that. Diplomacy, -assuming a very large D, had promptly assured him that -his kinsman and fiancée were far too much birds of a -feather; their method of looking at large issues was -ominously alike. Mary had developed what Jack called -“the Aunt Sanderson viewpoint” to an alarming degree. -Aunt Sanderson, no doubt, had acquired it in the first -place from the fountain head; its authenticity therefore -made it the more perilous.</p> - -<p>“Uncle Albert sends his compliments and hopes you’ll -be kind enough to go and see him.” The statement was -made so casually that it was felt to be a masterpiece of -the non-committal. He would defy anyone to tell from -his tone how he had fought the old wretch, how he had -tried to outwit him, how he had done his damnedest to -short-circuit a most mischievous resolve.</p> - -<p>“Now.” The diplomatist took her boldly by a very<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span> -fine pair of shoulders, and so made a violent end of the -pause which had followed the important announcement. -“Whatever you do, be careful not to give away the whole -position. There’s a cunning old fox to deal with, and -if he finds the weak spot, we’re done.”</p> - -<p>“You mean he thinks as I do?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t say he does exactly, but, of course, he may. -When you come to Bridport House, you are up against -all sorts of crassness.”</p> - -<p>“Or common sense, whichever you choose to call it,” -said the troubled Mary.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you go playing for them.” He shook the fine -shoulders in a masterful colonial manner. “If you do, -I’ll never forgive you. Bridport House can be trusted -to take very good care of itself. We’ve got to keep our -own end going. If we have really made up our minds -to get married, no one has a right to prevent us, and it’s -up to you to let his Grace know that.”</p> - -<p>Again came the look of trouble. “But suppose I don’t -happen to think so?”</p> - -<p>“I think so for you. In fact, I think it so strongly -that I intend to answer for both.”</p> - -<p>She could not help secretly admiring this cool audacity. -At any rate, it was the speech of a man who knew his -own mind, and in spite of herself it pleased her.</p> - -<p>“Now, remember.” Once more the over-bold wooer -resorted to physical violence: “You simply can’t afford -to enjoy the luxury of your fine feelings in this scene -of the comedy. As I say, he’s a cunning old fox and -he’ll play on them for all he’s worth.”</p> - -<p>“But why should he?”</p> - -<p>“Because he knows you are Mrs. Sanderson’s niece.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span></p> - -<p>“In his opinion that would make one the less likely -to have them, wouldn’t it?” She tried very hard to -keep so much as a suspicion of bitterness out of her tone, -yet somehow it seemed almost impossible to do that.</p> - -<p>“He’s not exactly a fool. Nobody knows better than -he that your Aunt Sanderson is more royalist than the -king. And my view is that he and she have laid their -heads together in order to work upon your scruples.”</p> - -<p>“Pray, why shouldn’t they? Isn’t it right that they -should?”</p> - -<p>“There you go!” he said sternly. “Now, look here.” -In the intensity of the moment his face was almost -touching hers. “I’m next in at Bridport House, so this -is my own private funeral. But I just want to say this. -A man can’t go knocking about the world in the way -I have done without getting through to certain things. -And as soon as that happens one no longer sees Bridport -House at the angle at which it sees itself. White marble -and precedence were all very well in the days of Queen -Victoria, but they won’t build airships, you know.”</p> - -<p>“I never heard of a duchess building airships.”</p> - -<p>“It’s the duke who is going to do the building. The -particular hobo I’m figuring on has got to take a hand in -all sorts of stunts at this moment of the world’s progress -which will make his distinguished forbears turn in their -graves, no doubt. It seems to me he’s got to do a single -on the big time, as they say in vaudeville, and the finest -girl in the western hemisphere must keep him up to his -job.”</p> - -<p>“‘Some’ talk,” said Mary, with a smile rather drawn -and constrained.</p> - -<p>“You see”—the force of his candor amused her considerably—“I’ve<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span> -drawn a big prize in the lottery, and if -I let myself be robbed of it by other people’s tomfool -tricks, I’m a guy, a dead-beat, an out and out dud.”</p> - -<p>“But don’t you see,” she urged, laughing a little, -although suffering bitterly, “how cruel it would be for -them, poor souls? We <i>must</i> think of them a little.”</p> - -<p>“Why should they come in at all?”</p> - -<p>“I really think they ought, poor dears. After all, they -stand for something.” She recalled their former talk on -this vexed subject.</p> - -<p>“What do they stand for?—that’s the point. They -are an inbred lot, a mass of conceit and silly prejudice. -I’m sorry to give them away like this, but, after all, they -are only very distant relations to whom I owe nothing, -and they have a trick of annoying me unspeakably.”</p> - -<p>“I won’t have you say such things.” The stern line -of a truly adorable mouth was a delight, a challenge. -“You are one of them, whether you want to be or -whether you don’t, and it’s your duty to stand by them. -<i>Noblesse oblige</i>, you know.”</p> - -<p>“And that means a scrupulous respect for the feelings -of other people, if it means anything. No, let us see -things as they are and come down to bedrock.” And as -the Tenderfoot spoke after this manner, he took a hand -of hers in each of his in a fashion at once whimsical, -delicate, and loverlike. Somehow he had the power to -put an enchantment upon her. “You’ve got to marry me -whatever happens.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, don’t ask me to do that.” Black trouble was -now in her eyes. “Don’t ask me to go where I’m not -wanted.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly you shan’t. We can do without Bridport<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</span> -House, and if they can do without us, by all means -let ’em.”</p> - -<p>“But they are in a cleft stick, aren’t they? If you -insist, they will simply have to climb down, and that’s -why it would be cruel to make them. Don’t be too hard -upon them—<i>please</i>!” A sudden change of voice, rich -and surprising, held him like magic. “Somehow they -don’t quite seem to deserve it. They have their points. -And they are really rather big and fine if you see them -as I do.”</p> - -<p>“They are crass, conceited, narrow, ossified. They -think the world was made for ’em, instead of thinking -they were made for the world. It’s time they had a -lesson. And you and I have got to teach ’em.” He -took her wrists and drew her to him. “We’ve got to -larn ’em to be toads—you and me.”</p> - -<p>“On these grounds you command me!” The flash -of glorious eyes was a direct challenge.</p> - -<p>“No, on these—you darling.” And he took her in -his arms and held her in a grip of iron.</p> - -<p class="ph2">III</p> - -<p>“Please, please!”</p> - -<p>Reluctantly he let her go—provisionally and on -sufferance.</p> - -<p>But there was something in her face that looked like -fear. The observant lover saw it at once, and the invincible -lover tried to dispel it.</p> - -<p>“Why take it tragically?” he said. “It’s a thing to -laugh at, really.”</p> - -<p>She shook a solemn head. “We <i>must</i> think of them—you -must at any rate. You are all they have, and you<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span> -are bound to play for them as well as you know how—aren’t -you, my dear?” The soft fall of her voice laid -a siren’s spell upon him. His eyes glowed as he looked -at her.</p> - -<p>“No, I don’t see it in that way,” he said. “Somehow -I can’t. It’s my colonial outlook, I daresay—anyhow -there it is—simply us two. The bedrock of the matter -is you and me? And when you get down to that, other -people don’t come in, do they?”</p> - -<p>Again she shook a head rather woeful in its defiance. -“Poor Aunt Harriet came to me yesterday. I wish you -could have seen her. This means the end of the world -for her. She almost went down on her knees to implore -me not to marry you.”</p> - -<p>The Tenderfoot snorted with impatience. “That’s -where this old one-horse island gets me all the time. -Things are all wrong here. They’re positively medieval.”</p> - -<p>“You forget”—the tone of the voice was stern dissent—“she’s -been thirty years a servant in the Family.”</p> - -<p>“That should make her all the prouder to see her niece -married to the head of it.” He was determined to stand -his ground.</p> - -<p>“Yes, but she understands what it means to them. -She has thought herself into their skins; she lives and -moves and has her being in Bridport House. Dear soul, -it makes me weep to think of her! She almost forced -me to give you up.”</p> - -<p>“You can’t do that, not on grounds of that kind.”</p> - -<p>“Why can’t I?”</p> - -<p>“Because I won’t let you.” She was bound to admire -this masculine decision. “Your Aunt Sanderson is a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span> -woman of fine character and Uncle Albert has a great regard -for her, but why let ourselves be sidetracked by -prejudice? You see this is the call of the blood, and—under -Providence!—it means the grafting of a very valuable -new strain upon a pretty effete one. I mean no disrespect -to Bridport House, but look what the system of -intermarriage has done for it. From all one hears poor -Lyme was better out of the world than in it. And that -parcel of stupid women! And, of course, I should never -have been here at all if another couple of consumptive -cousins hadn’t suddenly decided to hand in their checks. -So much for the feudal system, so much for inbreeding -and marrying to order. No, it won’t do!”</p> - -<p>In spite of her own deep conviction, she could not -hope to shake such force and such sincerity. She was -bound to admit the strength of his case. But the power -of his argument left her in a miserable dilemma, from -which there seemed but one means of escape. There -must be no half-measures.</p> - -<p>“Let us be wise and make an end now,” she said very -softly.</p> - -<p>“It’s not playing fair if you do,” was the ruthless -answer. “Besides, as I say, Uncle Albert wants to see -you.”</p> - -<p>“I am quite sure it would be far better to end it all -now.”</p> - -<p>“You must go and see Uncle Albert before we decide -upon anything,” he said determinedly.</p> - -<p>“I don’t mind doing that, if really he wishes it.” -There was a queer little note of reverence in her tone, -which the Tenderfoot, having intelligently anticipated, -was inclined to resent as soon as he heard it. “I don’t<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span> -know why he should trouble himself with me, but I’ll -go as he asks me to. But whatever happens we can’t -possibly get married, unless——”</p> - -<p>“Unless what?” he demanded sternly.</p> - -<p>“Unless the head of the house gives a full and free -consent, and of course he’ll never do that.”</p> - -<p>“It remains to be seen, doesn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no, it’s all so clear. Poor Aunt Harriet has -made me realize that. I never saw anyone so upset as -she was yesterday; she nearly broke down, poor dear. -She has made me see that there is so much at stake for -them all, that it simply becomes one’s duty not to go on.”</p> - -<p>“Rubbish! Rubbish! Rubbish!” The Tenderfoot -suddenly became tempestuous. “Mere parochialism, I -assure you. I’ve been back six months, and every day it -strikes me more and more what a lot we’ve got to learn. -Our so-called social fabric is mainly bunkum. Half the -prejudice in these islands is a mere cloak for damnable -incompetence. Forgive my saying just what is in my -mind, but this flunkeyism of ours—try to keep the -daggers out of your eyes, my charmer!—fairly gets one -all the time. In one form or another one’s always up -against it.”</p> - -<p>“It isn’t flunkeyism at all.” The air of outrage was -nothing less than adorable.</p> - -<p>“Let me finish——”</p> - -<p>“Under protest!” Her face was aglow with the light -of battle.</p> - -<p>“It’s perfectly absurd to take a mere pompous stunt -like Bridport House at its own valuation.”</p> - -<p>“I won’t have you vulgar—I won’t allow you to be -vulgar!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span></p> - -<p>“Be it so, Miss Prim—but I don’t apologize. One’s -uncles, cousins, aunts, they are all alike, whether they -are yours or mine. They simply grovel before material -greatness—the greatness that comes of money—that begins -and ends with money.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t be rude, sir!” The stamp of a particularly -smart riding boot, and a flash of angry eyes were as -barbs to this fiat.</p> - -<p>“They are all so set on things that don’t matter a bit, -that they lose sight altogether of the one thing that is -really important.”</p> - -<p>“Pray, what is that?” The eyes held now a lurking, -troubled smile; for him at that moment, their fascination -verged upon the tragic.</p> - -<p>Suddenly both the slender wrists were seized by this -forcible thinker. “Why the time spirit, you charmer. -And that just asks one simple question. Do you love -me—or do you not?”</p> - -<p class="ph2">IV</p> - -<p>She tried to keep her eyes from his.</p> - -<p>“You can’t hide the truth,” he cried triumphantly. -“And if you think I’m going to lose you for the sake of -some stupid piece of prejudice you don’t know what it -means to live five years in God’s own country.”</p> - -<p>She seemed to shrink into herself. “Don’t you see the -impossibility of the whole thing?” she gasped.</p> - -<p>“Frankly, I don’t, or I wouldn’t be such a cad as to -badger you. If you marry me an effete strain is going -to be your debtor. Just look at them—poor devils! -Look at the two who died untimely. That’s the feudal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span> -system of marriage working to a logical conclusion. -And if I put it squarely to my kinsman, Albert John, -who is by no means a fool, he’d be the first to admit -it. No, it doesn’t matter what your arguments are, if -you override the call of the blood sooner or later there’s -bound to be big trouble.”</p> - -<p>The conviction of the tone, the urgency of the manner -were indeed hard to meet. From the only point of view -that really mattered it was impossible to gainsay him, -and she was far too intelligent to try. Suddenly she -broke away from him and in a wretched state of indecision -and unhappiness flung herself into a chair.</p> - -<p>“The whole thing’s as clear as daylight.” Pitilessly -he followed up the advantage he had won. “There’s -really no need to state it. And once more, to come down -to bedrock, far better to make an end of Bridport House -and all that it stands for—just what it does stand for I -have not been able to make out—than that it should -perpetuate a race of inbred incompetents who are merely -a fixed charge on the community.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you don’t see—you don’t see!” The words were -rather feeble, and rather wild, but just then they were -all she could offer. Yet in spite of herself, and in spite -of the half-promise the intensely unhappy Aunt Harriet -had wrung from her on the previous afternoon, the clear-cut -determination of this young man, his force and his -breadth, his absolute conviction were beginning to tell -heavily.</p> - -<p>“You are going to Bridport House to have a word -with my kinsman. And if you’re true blue—and I know -you are that—you will make him see honest daylight. -And it ought to be easy, because he has only to look<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span> -at you—the finest thing up to now that has found its -way on to this old planet, in order to realize that he’s -right up against it.”</p> - -<p>He knew his own mind and she didn’t know hers. -Such a man was terribly hard to resist.</p> - -<p>“He says any morning at twelve. I suggest tomorrow.”</p> - -<p>“You insist?” She was struggling helplessly in -meshes of her own weaving.</p> - -<p>“I insist. And my last word is that if you let the -old beast down us, as of course he’ll try to do, I go back -to B. C. and remain a single man to the end of my days. -And I’m not out for that, as long as there is half a chance -of something better. So that’s that.” In the style of -the great lover he laid a hand on each shoulder, looked -into the troubled eyes and kissed her. “And now, if -you please, we will witch the world with noble horsemanship.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII<br /> -A BUSY MORNING</h2></div> - -<p class="ph2">I</p> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">T</span>he</span> next morning was a busy one for his Grace, -and it also marked a tide in the affairs of Bridport -House. Soon after ten the ball opened with -the inauspicious arrival of Lady Wargrave. The head -of the Family had just unfolded his newspaper and put -on his spectacles when her ladyship was announced.</p> - -<p>As the redoubtable Charlotte entered the room, the hard -glitter of her eyes and the forward thrust of a dominant -chin were ominous indeed. Bitter experience made her -brother only too keenly alive to these portents.</p> - -<p>Without any beating about the bush she came at once -to the point.</p> - -<p>“What’s this I hear, Johnnie? Sarah tells me you -have revoked that woman’s notice.”</p> - -<p>“Woman!” temporized his Grace. “What woman?” -The tone was velvet.</p> - -<p>She glowered at him.</p> - -<p>“There’s only one woman in this household, my -friend.”</p> - -<p>The Duke laid down his <i>Times</i> with an air of extremely -well assumed indifference. Were the parish -pump and the minor domesticities all she could find to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</span> -interest her, while all sorts of Radical infamies played -Old Harry with the British Constitution?</p> - -<p>Lady Wargrave, however, was well inured to this -familiar gambit.</p> - -<p>“Come, Johnnie,” she said tartly, “don’t waste time. -The matter’s too serious. Sarah says you have asked -Mrs. Sanderson to stay on.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I have asked her to be good enough to reconsider -her decision,” said his Grace in the slightly forensic -manner of the gilded chamber.</p> - -<p>“On what grounds, may one ask?”</p> - -<p>“I merely put it to her”—he now began to choose each -word with a precision that made his sister writhe—“that -she was indispensable to the general comfort and well-being -of a man as old and gout-ridden as myself.”</p> - -<p>“Did you, indeed!”</p> - -<p>It was a facer. And yet it might have been foreseen. -Perhaps the ladies had been a little too elated by their -<i>coup de main</i>; or, had they assumed too confidently that -at last they had made an end of a shameless intriguer?</p> - -<p>Yes, a facer. Charlotte could have slain her brother. -He had given away the whole position. It was the act -of a traitor. In a voice shaken with anger she proceeded -in no measured terms to tell him what she thought of -him.</p> - -<p>His Grace bore the tirade calmly and with fortitude. -He had an instinct for justice—long a source of inconvenience -to its possessor!—which now insisted that there -was something to be said for the enemy point of view. -Still he might not have borne its presentment so patiently -had Charlotte not shown her usual cunning. “She did -not speak for herself,” she was careful to assure him,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</span> -“but for the sake of the Family as a whole.” The presence -of this woman at Bridport House could no longer -be tolerated.</p> - -<p>To this the Duke said little, but he committed himself -to the statement that Mrs. Sanderson was much maligned -and that they all owed a great deal to her devotion.</p> - -<p>This was too much for Charlotte. She bubbled over. -“You must be mad!” Her voice was like the croak of -a raven.</p> - -<p>“Personally,” rejoined his mellifluous Grace, “I am -particularly grateful that she has consented to stay on.”</p> - -<p>“You’re mad, my friend.”</p> - -<p>“So are we all.” His Grace folded the <i>Times</i> imperturbably.</p> - -<p>Lady Wargrave was defeated. She abruptly decided -to drop the subject. However, she did not quit the room -until one last bolt had been winged at her adversary, -yet in order to propel it she had to impose an iron -restraint on her feelings.</p> - -<p>“Before I go”—she turned as she got to the door—“there’s -something else I should like to say. Jack’s -mother is in town and is staying with me. Like all the -Parington’s she has plenty of sense. She will welcome -the Marjorie arrangement—thinks it quite providential—has -told her son so—and she looks to you as the head -of the Family to see that it doesn’t miscarry.”</p> - -<p>Her brother’s ugly mouth and explosive eyes were not -lost upon Charlotte, but before he could reply she had -made a strategic retirement. Did these futile women expect -him to play the matrimonial agent? The mere suggestion -was infuriating, yet well he knew the extreme -urgency of the matter. The whole situation called for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</span> -great delicacy. A combination of subtle finesse and iron -will was needed if the institution to which he pinned -his faith was not to be shaken to its foundations.</p> - -<p class="ph2">II</p> - -<p>Lady Wargrave had gone but a few minutes when -Jack arrived at Bridport House. He had to inform his -kinsman that Mary Lawrence would appear at twelve -o’clock.</p> - -<p>The Duke was in a vile temper. Charlotte had fretted -it already; moreover, the disease from which he suffered -had undermined it long ago; and at the best of -times the mere sight of this young Colonial, with his wild -ideas, was about as much as he could bear. However, -he was too astute a man and far too well found in the -ways of his world not to be able to mask his feelings on -an occasion of this magnitude. The fellow was a perpetual -source of worry and annoyance, yet so much was -at stake that the Duke, in order to deal with him, summoned -all the bonhomie of a prospective father-in-law. -If anything could have bridged the gulf such tones of -honey must surely have done so.</p> - -<p>Jack, however, was in no mood to accept soft speeches, -no matter how flattering to the self-esteem of a raw -Colonial! He was determined to put all to the touch. -These people must learn the limit of their power. And -as it was the Tenderfoot’s habit to leave nothing to -chance he began with the bold but simple declaration that -nothing would induce him to give up the finest girl in -the country. And he hoped when Mary appeared at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span> -twelve o’clock his kinsman would bear in mind that very -important fact.</p> - -<p>Months ago his Grace had begun to despair of the -rôle of the modern Chesterfield. Even since the young -ass had first reported himself at Bridport House, very -sound advice, based on intimate knowledge and first-hand -experience, had been lavished upon him. The best had -been done to correct the republican ideas he had gathered -in the western hemisphere. He lacked nothing in the -way of counsel and precept. But the seed had fallen on -unreceptive soil, nay, on ground singularly barren. -From the first the novice had shown precious little inclination -to heed the fount of wisdom.</p> - -<p>The Duke asked the young man to look at the matter -in a common sense way. He would have an extraordinarily -difficult place to fill; therefore, it was his clear -duty to trust those who knew the ropes. The lady of -his choice was a case for experts. Special qualities, inherited -aptitudes were needed in the wife he married! -Surely he must realize that?</p> - -<p>The Tenderfoot said bluntly that he did and that Mary -Lawrence had them.</p> - -<p>His Grace managed to hold a growing impatience in -check. But the answer of the novice had revealed such a -confusion of ideas that it was hard to treat it seriously.</p> - -<p>“Unless a woman has been born to the thing and bred -up in it, how can she hope to be equal to the task?”</p> - -<p>“Plenty of ’em are,” said the Tenderfoot. “Anyhow -they seem to make a pretty good bluff at it.”</p> - -<p>His Grace shook a somber head.</p> - -<p>“You can’t deny that the Upper Crust is always being -recruited from the people underneath.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span></p> - -<p>“Immensely to the detriment of the Constitution,” said -his Grace forensically.</p> - -<p>“It won’t be so in this case,” said the Tenderfoot. -“Any family is devilish lucky that persuades Mary -Lawrence to enter it. She’s a very exceptional girl. -And when you see her, sir, I’m sure you’ll say so.”</p> - -<p>“A young woman of ability, no doubt.” The Duke -was growing irritated beyond measure, yet he was determined -to give no hint of his frame of mind. “These—these -bohemians always are. But if you’ll allow me to -say so, the mere fact that she is ready to undertake -responsibilities of which she can know nothing proves -the nature of her limitations.”</p> - -<p>The hit was so palpable that Jack felt bound to counter -it as well as he could. But his eagerness to do so led -him into a tragic blunder. “That’s where you do her an -injustice,” he said, not giving himself time to weigh his -words. “She didn’t know that she might have to be a -duchess when she promised to marry me.”</p> - -<p>The folly of such a speech was apparent to the young -man almost before it was uttered. A sudden heightening -of a concentrated gaze made him curse his own -damnable impetuosity. He saw at once that the admission -would be used against him; moreover, an intense -desire that Mary should have fair play led him into -further pitfalls. “The odd thing is,” he said in his -blunderer’s way, “that she happens to see things here at -the angle at which you see them, sir. At least, I always -tell her so.”</p> - -<p>His kinsman smiled. “That gives us hope at any -rate.” And he even showed a glint of cheerfulness.</p> - -<p>The Tenderfoot had a desire to bite off his tongue.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</span> -He felt himself floundering deeper and deeper into a -morass. A sickening sensation crept upon him that he -had put himself at the mercy of this crafty old Jesuit.</p> - -<p>“Now, sir, don’t go taking an unfair advantage of -anything I may have told you.” The sheer impotence of -such a speech served only to emphasize his tragic folly.</p> - -<p>By now there was a sinister light in the eyes of his -Grace. The unlucky Tenderfoot could hardly stifle a -groan of vexation. Only a born idiot would have taken -pains to put such a weapon in the hands of the enemy!</p> - -<p>Overcome by a sudden hopeless anger the young man -rose from his chair and fled the room. His course was -not stayed until he had passed headlong down the white -marble staircase and out of doors into a golden morning -of July. For the next two hours he ranged the Park -grass. It was the only means he had of working off an -irritation and self-disgust that were almost unbearable.</p> - -<p class="ph2">III</p> - -<p>Youth and inexperience might have put a weapon into -the hand of his Grace, yet when the clock on the -chimneypiece struck twelve he was in a very evil mood. -The task before him was not at all to his taste; and the -more he considered it the less he liked the part he had -now to play.</p> - -<p>From various sources he had heard enough of the girl -to stimulate his curiosity. Apart from a lover’s hyperbole, -of which he took no account whatever, impartial -observers, viewing her from afar, had commented upon -her; moreover, there was the extremely piquant nature -of her antecedents. She was a niece of the faithful<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</span> -Sanderson, she was also the daughter of a police constable.</p> - -<p>The Duke was apt to plume himself that his instinct -for diplomacy amounted to second nature. But, he ruefully -reflected, his powers in this direction were likely -to be tested to the full. His task seemed to bristle with -difficulties. Bridport House was no place for a young -woman of this kind, but it was not going to be an easy -matter to tell her that in just so many words. The best -he had to hope for was that she would prove a person -of common sense.</p> - -<p>When at five minutes past the hour Miss Lawrence -was announced, for one reason or another, the Duke was -in a state of inconvenient curiosity. And as if the mere -circumstances of the case did not themselves suffice, a -chain of odd and queer reflections chose to assail his -mind at the very moment of her appearance.</p> - -<p>It was terribly inconvenient for his Grace to rise from -his chair, mainly for the reason that one swollen, snowbooted -foot reclined at ease on another. But with an -effort that wrung him with pain he contrived to stand up.</p> - -<p>“Please don’t move,” said a voice deep, clear, and -musical, while he was still in the act of rising. “Oh, -don’t—please!”</p> - -<p>But without making any immediate reply the Duke -poised himself as well as he could on one foot, more or -less in the manner of an emu, and bowed rather grimly. -The dignity of the whole proceeding was perhaps slightly -over-emphasized, it was almost as if he intended to -overawe his visitor with the note of the grand seigneur.</p> - -<p>Whether this was the case or not the bow was returned; -and slight as it was, it had a dignity that matched<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</span> -his own. Also it was touched ever so gently with -humor. A pair of gravely-searching eyes met the -hooded, serious, half-ironical orbs of his Grace.</p> - -<p>“Nice of you to come and see an invalid,” he said -slowly, very slowly, with a good deal of manner.</p> - -<p>“A great pleasure,” she smiled from the topmost inch -of her remarkable height.</p> - -<p>While these brief, and on his part decidedly painful -maneuvers had been going on, the man of the world had -been busily seeking something of which so far he had -not been able to find a trace. In manner and bearing -there was not a flaw.</p> - -<p>Already the expert’s eye had been struck by a look of -distinction that was extraordinary. She was undoubtedly -handsome, nay, more than handsome; she had the -subtle look of race which gives to beauty a <i>cachet</i>, a -quality of permanence. Her height was beyond the common, -but every line of the long, slim frame was a thing -of elegance, of molded delicacy. She was perhaps a -shade too thin, but it gave her an indefinable style which -charmed, in spite of himself, this shrewd, instructed observer. -Then her dress and her hat, her neat gloves and -boots, although they were models of reticence, were all -touched by a subtle air of fashion which seemed somehow -to reflect their wearer.</p> - -<p>The “Chorus Girl” was in the nature of a surprise. -The Duke indicated a chair, on the edge of which she -perched, straight as a willow, her chin held steadily, her -amused eyes veiled with a becoming gravity. As the -Duke painfully reseated himself he felt a cool scrutiny -upon him. And that very quality of coolness was a -little provocative. In the circumstances of the case it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</span> -had hardly a right to be there. To himself it -was most proper, but in this young woman, a police -constable’s daughter, who earned her living in the theater, -a little embarrassment of some kind would have been -an added grace. If anything however she had more composure -than he; and in spite of the charm and the power -of a personality that was vivid yet clear-cut, he could -not help resenting the fact just a little.</p> - -<p>When at last he had slowly resettled himself on his -two chairs he turned eyes of ironical power full upon -her. Yes, she was amazingly handsome, and she reminded -him strangely of a face he had seen. “I wonder -if you know why I have asked you to be so kind -as to come here,” were the first words he spoke. And -he seemed to weigh each one very carefully before he -uttered it.</p> - -<p>“I think I do, at least I think I may guess.” The -note of absolute frankness was so much more than he -had a right to look for that it pleased him more than -it need have done.</p> - -<p>“Well?” he said, with a gentleness in his voice of -which he was not aware.</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid I’ve been causing a lot of trouble.” The -tone of regret was so perfectly sincere that it threw -him off his guard. He had not expected this, nay, he -had looked for something totally different. The girl was -a lady, no matter what her private circumstances might -be, and with a sudden deep annoyance he felt that it -was going to be supremely difficult to say in just so -many words what he had to say.</p> - -<p>To his relief, however, she seemed with the <i>flair</i> of her -sex at once to divine his difficulty. This splendid-looking<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</span> -old man, every inch of whom was grand seigneur, poor -old snowboot included! was already asking mutely for -her help in a situation that she knew he must dislike -intensely. In his odd silence, in the defensive arrogance -of his manner there was appeal to her own fineness. -She could not help feeling an instinctive sympathy with -this old grandee, who at the very outset was finding -himself unequal to the task imposed upon him by the -circumstances of the case.</p> - -<p>They entered on a long pause, and it was left to her -to break it.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t know when I promised to marry Jack that -he would be the next Duke of Bridport,” she said very -slowly at last.</p> - -<p>The simple speech was intended to help him, a fact -of which he was well aware. And with a sense of acute -annoyance he felt a latent chivalry begin to stir him; it -was a chord that she, of all people, had no right to -touch.</p> - -<p>“Didn’t you?” he said; and in the grip of this new -emotion it would have been not unpleasant to add -“My dear.”</p> - -<p>“Of course I’m much to blame,” she went on, encouraged -by his tone. “I realize that one ought to have -made inquiries.”</p> - -<p>He was clearly puzzled. From under heavily knitted -brows his keen eyes peered at her. “But why?” An -instinct for fair play framed the question on her behalf.</p> - -<p>A note of pain entered the charming voice. “Oh, one -ought,” she said. “It was one’s duty to know who and -what he was and all about him.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</span></p> - -<p>“Forgive me if I don’t altogether agree.” In spite of -himself he was being conquered by this largeness and -magnanimity. So fully was he prepared for something -else that he was now rather at a loss. “In any case,” he -said, “the fault hardly seems to be yours.”</p> - -<p>“It is kind of you to say that.” A pair of wide eyes, -long-lashed and luminous, which seemed oddly familiar, -raked him with a wonderful candor. “But I seem to -be giving enormous trouble to others—trouble it would -have been easy to spare them.”</p> - -<p>Again his Grace dissented. Surprise was growing, -along with that other, that even more inconvenient emotion -which was now driving him hard.</p> - -<p>“Don’t overlook your own side of the case,” he was -constrained to say.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, there’s that—but one doesn’t like to insist -on it.”</p> - -<p>“Why not?”</p> - -<p>“The other is so much more important.”</p> - -<p>She felt his deep eyes searching hers, but except a -little veiled amusement, they had nothing to conceal.</p> - -<p>“I am by no means sure that it is.” To his own -clear annoyance, the fatal instinct for justice began to -take a hand in his overthrow. “As the matter has been -represented to me there is no doubt, if you took it to a -court of law, that you would get substantial damages.”</p> - -<p>“As if one could!” She suddenly crimsoned.</p> - -<p>“If I have hurt you in any way, I beg your pardon,” -he said at once with a simple humility for which she -honored him. “After all, if you decide not to marry -my relation you give up a position which most people -allow to be exceptional.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</span></p> - -<p>“Yes—but if one has never aspired to it!”</p> - -<p>He grew more puzzled.</p> - -<p>“Can you afford to be so fastidious?—if you don’t -think the question impertinent?”</p> - -<p>“I have my living to earn,” she said very simply, “but -of course I don’t want that to enter into the case.”</p> - -<p>“Naturally. Of course. Let me put another question—if -it is not impertinent?” The eyes of the Duke had -now a grave amusement, but they had also something else. -“I suppose you care a good deal for this young man?”</p> - -<p>She simply stared at him in a kind of bewilderment.</p> - -<p>Such an answer, unexpectedly swift, nobly complete, -seemed to disconcert him a little.</p> - -<p>“And—and without a word you give him up for the -sake of other people?”</p> - -<p>“Yes—if they insist upon it.”</p> - -<p>“If they insist upon it!” He shook his head at her -in rather uneasy surprise.</p> - -<p>“I have told Jack that I cannot marry him unless he -has your full consent.”</p> - -<p>Again the wide gray eyes looked out fearlessly upon -the rather bewildered gentleman. They could hardly -refrain from a smile at his growing perplexity. But there -was something other than perplexity in his tone when -at last he said, “You know of course that I cannot -possibly give it.”</p> - -<p>“Of course not.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> -<a id="illo2"><img src="images/i_198.jpg" width="300" alt="“You give up your young man—simply because of that?””" title="" /></a></div> - -<p class="caption">“You give up your young man—simply because of that?”</p> - -<p class="p2">The unhesitating reply seemed to increase his surprise. -This girl was taking him into deeper places than -he had ever been in before. He shook his head at her -in a whimsical fashion which she thought quite charming. -“It hardly does, you know, to be too bright and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</span>good for human nature’s daily food,” he said with a -softness in his deep voice, which was enchanting.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’m very far from being that.” She smiled -and shook her head. “I won’t own that I’m as bad as -all that—at least I hope I’m not.”</p> - -<p>“But if you insist on being so uncommonly self-sacrificing, -you’re in danger, aren’t you?”</p> - -<p>“One can’t call it self-sacrifice altogether.”</p> - -<p>“Afraid of being bored, eh?”</p> - -<p>“I could never be bored with Jack,” she said gravely. -“But I don’t see why one should pat oneself on the back -for trying to live up to one’s principles.”</p> - -<p>“Principles! May I ask what principles are involved -in a case of this kind?”</p> - -<p>“‘Do unto others as you would be done by.’ It’s -rather priggish, I admit, but it’s a splendid motto, if only -one is equal to it. As a rule it is much too much for -me, but in this case I want to do my best to live up -to it.”</p> - -<p>“There you go again.” The old man shook an amused -finger at her. “Why it’s altruism, there’s no other word -for it.”</p> - -<p>“It’s common sense—if one is able to think through -to it.”</p> - -<p>“And that is why,” he said, with almost the air of a -father, “you give up your young man—simply because -of that?”</p> - -<p>She nodded. But her smile was rather drawn.</p> - -<p>“Tell me, Miss Lawrence”—the curiosity of his Grace -was mounting to a pitch that enabled him to match her -frankness with his own—“why are you so sure that -you will be unacceptable here?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</span></p> - -<p>“It stands to reason, I’m afraid. If I lived at Bridport -House and the future head of the Family married -the housekeeper’s niece, I should be bound to look on it as -a perfectly hopeless arrangement.”</p> - -<p>He honored this candor. Choosing his words with -great delicacy, he could but pay homage to such clear-sighted -honesty. “I only hope you will not blame us too -much,” he said finally, with an odd change of voice.</p> - -<p>“I don’t blame you at all. You are as you are. If I -lived here I am sure those would be my feelings.”</p> - -<p>The old man was touched by this generosity. Lest he -should overrate it, however, she added quickly with a -flash of pride, “Besides, I should simply hate to go where -I was not wanted.”</p> - -<p>Patrician to the bone, he admired that, too. Every -inch of her rang true. Somehow it had become terribly -difficult to treat her in the only way the circumstances -permitted. But no matter what his private feelings, he -must hold them in check.</p> - -<p>“Well, I think, Miss Lawrence,” he said, with a return -to the dryness of the man of the world, “you ought -to congratulate yourself that you don’t live here.” But -suddenly his voice trailed off. “You would not be half so -fine as you are”—after all, he couldn’t conceal that a -deeply-stirred old man was speaking—“had you been -born and bred in a hot-house.”</p> - -<p>She flushed at the unexpected words. Quite suddenly -her eyes brimmed with tears.</p> - -<p>“If I have said anything that wounds I humbly apologize,” -he said, with a gentleness that to her was adorable.</p> - -<p>“Oh, no! It is only that I had not expected to have -such a compliment paid me.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</span></p> - -<p>“Well, it’s a sincere one.” As he looked at her strange -thoughts came into his mind; his voice began to shake -in a queer way. “And it is paid you by an old man -who is not very wise and not very happy.” As he -continued to look at her his voice underwent further -surprising changes. “I wish we could have had you -with us. There is not one of us here fit to tie your shoe-lace, -my dear.”</p> - -<p>Such a speech gave pain rather than pleasure. -She saw him a feudal chieftain, the head of a sacred -order. Was it quite fit and proper that he should speak -in that way to the humblest of his vassals? She would -never be able to forget his words, but in that room, -with the spirit of place enfolding her like some exquisite -garment, she could almost have wished that they had not -been uttered.</p> - -<p>Suddenly she rose to go. As he regarded her in all -the salient perfection of mind and mansion, it seemed too -bitterly ironical that he should bar the door against her. -Why were they not on their knees thanking heaven for -such a creature!</p> - -<p>“You must forgive us, even if Fate is not likely to,” -he said, thinking aloud.</p> - -<p>“Please don’t let us look at it in that way,” was the -quick rejoinder. “We all have our places in the world. -And, after all, one ought to remember that it is very -much easier to be Mary Lawrence than to be Duchess -of Bridport.”</p> - -<p>The old man shook his head dolefully, and then, in -spite of her earnest prayer that he should stay as he -was, he rose with a great effort to say good-by. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</span> -deeply-lined face was a complex of many emotions as -he did so.</p> - -<p>In the very act of taking leave, her eyes, magnetized -by the room itself, strayed round it almost wistfully. -Somehow it meant so much that they hardly knew how -to tear themselves away. Involuntarily the Duke’s eyes -followed hers to a masterpiece among masterpieces on -the farther wall. He could trace all that was in her -mind, and the knowledge seemed to increase his pain -and his perplexity.</p> - -<p>“There’s something wonderful in this room,” she said, -half to herself. “Something one can’t put into words. -It’s like nothing else. I suppose it’s a kind of harmony.”</p> - -<p>The Duke didn’t speak, but slowly brought back his -eyes to look at her. His favorite room held treasures -of many kinds, yet as he well knew he was wantonly -casting away a gem rarer than any in his collection. -His eyes were upon a noble profile instinct with the -dignity of an old race. Here was artistry surer, even -more exquisite than Corot’s. He could not repress a sigh -of vexation.</p> - -<p>Unwilling to part with her, he still detained her even -when she had turned to go. “One moment, Miss Lawrence,” -he said. “Do these things speak to you?” Near -his elbow was a wonderful cabinet of Chinese lacquer -which housed a collection of old French snuffboxes. He -opened it for her inspection, and with a little air of connoisseurship -she gazed at the rarities within.</p> - -<p>“They <i>are</i> lovely,” she said eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Honor me by choosing one as a token of my gratitude.”</p> - -<p>She hesitated to take him at his word, but he was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</span> -so much in earnest that it would have seemed unkind to -refuse.</p> - -<p>“May I choose any one of them?”</p> - -<p>“Please. And I hope you will do me the honor of -choosing the best.”</p> - -<p>Put on her mettle she brought instinct rather than -knowledge to bear on a fine collection, and chose a -charming Louis Quinze.</p> - -<p>“You have a <i>flair</i>,” said the Duke, laughing. “That -is the one. I am so glad you found it. I should not -like you to have less than the best. Good-by!” Again -he took her hand and his voice had a father’s affection -in it. Then he pressed the bell, opened the door, and -ushered her into the care of a servant with an air of -solicitude which she felt to be quite extraordinary. As -he did so he apologized with a humility that seemed -almost excessive for his inability to accompany her downstairs.</p> - -<p class="ph2">IV</p> - -<p>As soon as the girl had gone, the Duke returned -painfully to his chair. He was now the prey of very -odd sensations, and they began to crystallize at once into -emotion as deep as any he had ever felt. Something -had happened at this interview which left him now -with a feeling of numb surprise. The entrance of this -girl into that room had brought something into his life, -her going away had taken something out of it. Almost -in the act of meeting a subtle bond had seemed to arise -between them. It was as if each had a sixth sense -in regard to the other. Their minds had marched so -perfectly together that it was hard to realize that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</span> -this was the first time they had met. This rare creature -had touched cords which had long been forgotten, -even had they been known to exist, in the slightly dehumanized -thing he called himself.</p> - -<p>Shaken as he had never been in his life, his mind was -held by the thought of her long after she had gone. -Mystified, disconcerted, rather forlorn, a harrowing idea -was beginning to torment him. At last he could bear -it no longer. Rising from his chair with a stifled impatience, -he made his way out of the room leaning heavily -upon his stick. He went along the corridor as far as the -head of the central staircase. Here he stood a long -while in contemplation of a large, rather florid picture -by Lawrence. The subject was a young woman of distinguished -beauty, a portrait of his famous grandmother, -the wife of Bridport’s second duke. Apart from her -appearance, which had been greatly celebrated, she had -had a reputation for wit and charm; her memoirs of the -’Thirties had long taken rank as a classic; and no annals -of the time were complete without the mention of her -name.</p> - -<p>The prey of some very unhappy thoughts, the Duke -stood long immersed in the picture before him. The -resemblance he sought to trace had grown so plain that -it provoked a shiver. The line of the cheek, the shape of -the eyes, the curve of the chin, the poise of the head on -the long and slender throat were identical with the living -replica he had just seen.</p> - -<p>At last he returned to his room and rang the bell. To -the servant who answered it, he said: “Ask Mrs. Sanderson -to come to me.”</p> - -<p>The summons was promptly obeyed. But as Harriet<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</span> -came into the room she bore a small tray containing -a wine-glass, a teaspoon, and a bottle of medicine. At -the sight of these the Duke made a grimace like a -petulant child.</p> - -<p>“I am sure the new medicine does you a great deal of -good.” The tone was quite maternal in its tenderness.</p> - -<p>“You think so?” The words were dubious; all the -same her voice and look seemed to have an odd power -of reassurance.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, I think there can be no doubt of it.” She -measured the dose gravely.</p> - -<p>“Well, I take your word, I take your word.” And -he drank the bitter draught.</p> - -<p>She put back the glass on the tray, but as she was -about to leave the room she was abruptly detained. -“Don’t go,” he said. “Sit and let us talk a little.”</p> - -<p>She sat down.</p> - -<p>“Did you know,” he said, and the unexpectedness of -the words threw her off her guard, “that I have just -had a visit from—from your niece?”</p> - -<p>“Mary!” She clutched her dress. “Mary—here!” -A sudden tide of crimson flowed in the startled face. -But the next instant it had grown white. “No, I didn’t -know,” she said. And then, her soul in her eyes, she -waited for his next words.</p> - -<p>There was one stifling moment of silence, then he -said: “Of course you know what is in my mind?”</p> - -<p>She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.</p> - -<p>While he searched his memory silence came again, and -now it had the power to hurt them both. “Haven’t you -always led me to believe,” he said in a voice of curious -intensity, “that she was a nurse in a hospital?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</span></p> - -<p>Harriet did not reply at once. But at last she said, -“Yes, I have always wanted you to think so.”</p> - -<p>He looked at her white face, and suddenly checked -the words that rose to his tongue. Whatever those may -have been, there was an immense solicitude in his manner -when he spoke again. “It is not for me,” he said, -“to question anything you may have said, or anything -you may have done.”</p> - -<p>“I did everything I could to carry out your wishes.” -Her voice trembled painfully. “And I—I——”</p> - -<p>“And you didn’t like to tell me,” he said gently.</p> - -<p>“Yes. I couldn’t bear to tell you that she had insisted -on choosing the life of all others you would have -the least desired for her.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t think that I complain,” he said. “I know -you must have had a good reason. You have always -been very considerate. But it looks as if the stars in -their courses have managed to play a scurvy trick.”</p> - -<p>“That they have!” Once more the swift color flowed -over a fine face.</p> - -<p>Suddenly she pressed her fingers to her eyelids to -repress the quick tears.</p> - -<p>“Never mind,” he said. “The gods have been a little -too much for us, but things might have been worse.”</p> - -<p>Tearfully she agreed.</p> - -<p>“The other day when I talked with that excellent fellow, -your brother-in-law, it didn’t occur to me who this -girl really was. I don’t think I was ever told that she -had been adopted by your family.”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Harriet, very simply.</p> - -<p>“Do your friends know the truth of the matter?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</span></p> - -<p>“I don’t think they have a suspicion—not of the real -truth,” she said slowly.</p> - -<p>“Has anyone?”</p> - -<p>“Not a soul that I know of.”</p> - -<p>“The girl herself, is she also in ignorance?”</p> - -<p>“She knows, I believe, that she is only the adopted -child of my sister and her husband, but I don’t think -she has gone at all deeply into the matter.”</p> - -<p>“Tell me this”—the mere effort of speech seemed to -cost him infinite pain—“do you think there is a means -open to anyone of learning the truth at this time of day?”</p> - -<p>“My brother-in-law knew from the first that the child -was mine, but I feel sure the real truth can never come -out now.”</p> - -<p>Impassive as he was, a shade of evident relief came -into his face. But the look of strain in his eyes deepened -to actual pain as he said, “No doubt we ought to -be glad that it is so. At the same time, I think you’ll -agree, that we have a duty to face which may prove extraordinarily -difficult.”</p> - -<p>Harriet did not speak, but suddenly she bent her head -in a quivering assent.</p> - -<p>“You see,” he said slowly, “we can no longer burke -the fact that something is due to the girl herself.”</p> - -<p>Harriet’s eyes suddenly filled with an intensity of suffering -he could not bear to look at.</p> - -<p>“You know the position, of course?” he said gently, -after a pause.</p> - -<p>“I know she has promised to marry Mr. Dinneford.”</p> - -<p>“But only if I give my consent.”</p> - -<p>“I am sure that is right.” A note of relief came into<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</span> -her tone. “She has done exactly as one could have -wished.”</p> - -<p>“If one could only see the thing as clearly as you do!” -he said with a reluctant shake of the head. “At any rate -let us try to be as just as the circumstances will allow -us to be.”</p> - -<p>“Can we hope to do justice and not hurt other people?”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid that’s impossible, as things are. But for -a moment let us try to consider the whole matter from -her point of view. Perhaps you’ll allow me to say at -once that the course you insisted on taking seems to have -justified itself completely. She is a girl to be proud of; -and she appears to be living a happy and useful life. -One sees now how wise it was not to take half-measures. -She has been allowed to fight her own battle with the -gifts of the good God, and the result does your foresight -the highest credit.”</p> - -<p>The judicial words, very simply uttered, brought a -flood of color to the pale cheeks. But listening with -bent head, she did not look up, nor did she say a word -in reply.</p> - -<p>“The heroic method has proved to be the right one, -but I think now we have to be careful not to take any unfair -advantage of that fact. It’s a terribly difficult case, -but as far as we can we ought not to overlook what is -due to the girl herself.”</p> - -<p>“But the others!” said Harriet with fear in her eyes.</p> - -<p>“Yes, a terribly difficult situation.” The Duke sighed. -“But for the moment let us try to see the matter simply -as it affects her. She has been made to suffer a grievous -injustice so that others might benefit. The question is, -must she still be made to sacrifice herself?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</span></p> - -<p>Harriet had no answer to give. The long silence which -followed was almost unendurable in its intensity.</p> - -<p>“Well?” he said at last, as he looked at her white face.</p> - -<p>She shook her head mutely, unable to speak, unable -to meet his eyes. Tears crept again along her eyelids.</p> - -<p>“You wish me to decide?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” she said at last.</p> - -<p>He looked at her now with the light of pity in his -face. Not at once did he speak, and when he did it was -with a clear, a too-clear perception of the impotence of -his words.</p> - -<p>“The truth is,” he said, “the problem is beyond me.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX<br /> -AN INTERLUDE</h2></div> - -<p class="ph2">I</p> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">A</span>s</span> Mary made her way from Bridport House -across the Park, in the direction of Broad Place -and luncheon, it came suddenly upon her that she -was in a state of the most abject misery she had ever -been in. It was a gorgeous midday of July, but the world -had ceased to be habitable. She had come up against -a blank wall. At that moment there was nothing in life -to make it worth while.</p> - -<p>In the ordeal she had just passed through a fierce -pride had forbade her to show one glimpse of her real -feelings. She had carried off the whole scene with almost -an air of comedy, for she was determined that -“those people” should not realize what wounds it was -in their power to deal. But Dame Nature, now that -she had the high-mettled creature to herself, was having -something to say to her on the matter. A price was -being exacted for these heroics and for this stoicism.</p> - -<p>The Duke had left an impression of fine chivalry -on a perceptive mind, but in spite of that, now they -were no longer face to face, her deepest feeling was an -angry resentment. Life was not playing fair. In the -course of a strenuous three and twenty years she had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</span> -rubbed shoulders with all sorts of men and women, but -in spite of an honest catholicity of outlook, she had come -to the conclusion already that there was only one kind -for which she had any real use. It was not a question of -loaves and fishes, or a puerile snobbishness; it was simply -that one of the deepest instincts she had, the sense of the -artist, demanded a setting.</p> - -<p>Walking along, blind to everything but the misery of -this reaction, she was suddenly brought up short, thrown -as it were against the world in its concrete reality, by the -knowledge that a pair of eyes was devouring her. Cutting -across her path at an acute angle as he converged -upon her from the direction of Kensington Gardens was -a man wholly absorbed in the occupation of looking at -her. With a start she awoke to the force of his gaze; -her subconscious perception of it was so strong that it -even aroused a tacit hostility.</p> - -<p>Who was this large, lean, top-hatted creature striding -towards her in a pair of aggressively checked trousers? -Where had she seen that freckled face, those bold eyes, -those prognathous jaws? As he came on he caught her -gaze and fixed it; but she dropped her eyes at once, -adroitly giving him only the line of her cheek to look -at. Whoever he was, he was not a gentleman!</p> - -<p>In the next moment, however, she had begun to realize -that he was outside and beyond any trite symbol of -that kind. He was less a man than a natural force; -moreover, as soon as he had passed her, he stopped -abruptly and turned round to follow her with his eyes. -She did not need to turn round herself to verify her -sense of the act, even had personal dignity not intervened -to prevent her.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</span></p> - -<p>She felt annoyed. Again she asked herself who he -could be. When and where had she seen him? And then -a light broke. It may have been the checked trousers, it -may have been the prognathous jaws, but her mind was -suddenly flung back upon that recent visit to Beaconsfield -Villas, and a certain unforgettable scene. This -slightly fantastic figure was no less a person than -Lady Muriel’s fiancé, the new Home Secretary.</p> - -<p class="ph2">II</p> - -<p>Crossing to Broad Place she could not check a laugh. -Wounded, angry, humiliated by the pressure of a recent -event, there still lurked in her a true appreciation of the -human comedy. What a pill for Bridport House to -have to swallow! It was poetic justice that the pride -which strained at a gnat so harmless as herself should -have to gulp a real live camel in the person of the -Right Honorable Gentleman.</p> - -<p>But the laugh, after all, was hollow. Tears of vexation -leaped to her eyes. And they owed more to the -perception of her own inadequacy in this smarting hour -than to the act of Fate. “Wretch that I am!” She was -ready to chasten herself with scorpions as she crossed -the familiar path into Albert Gate.</p> - -<p>Within a very few yards were the loyal, warm-hearted -friends of her own orbit. And there, alas! was the rub. -Her own orbit could not satisfy her now. She craved -something that all their kindness, their cheerfulness, their -frank affection could not give. “Just common or garden -snobbishness, my dear, that’s the nature of your complaint,” -whispered a monitor within. “You are no better<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</span> -than anyone else when you are invited to call on a duke -in Mount Street.”</p> - -<p>That might be true, or it might not, but sore and rebellious -as she was, she was strongly inclined to dispute -the verdict. After all, her feeling went infinitely deeper. -It was futile, however, to analyze it now. This was not -the place nor was there present opportunity. She glanced -at the watch on her wrist. It was one o’clock.</p> - -<p>The watch on her wrist was as hostile as everything -else in her little world just now. Even one o’clock had -a sharp sting of its own. “Don’t be late for lunch,” -had been Milly’s parting words. “Charley Cheesewright -is coming. And he’s dying to meet you.”</p> - -<p>She managed to navigate the vortex of Knightsbridge -without knowing that she did so; and then, all at once, -she realized that she was within twenty yards of Victoria -Mansions, and that a rather overdressed young man was -a few yards ahead.</p> - -<p>With a feeling akin to nausea she pulled up in time -to watch this short, squat figure disappear within the -precincts of Number Five. For a reason she couldn’t explain -she was quite sure that this was none other than -Mr. Charles Cheesewright. She didn’t know him; if a -back view meant anything she had no wish to know -him; certainly she had no desire to make his acquaintance -going up in the lift.</p> - -<p>She hung back a discreet three minutes on the pavement -of Broad Place before daring to enter the vestibule -of Number Five, Victoria Mansions. By then the coast -was clear; Mr. Charles Cheesewright, apparently, had -gone up in the Otis elevator. And she stood on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</span> -mat, drawn and tense, a figure of tragedy, waiting for -the Otis elevator to come down again.</p> - -<p class="ph2">III</p> - -<p>At last the Otis elevator came down and she went -up in it. And then confronted by the door of the flat, -she peered through the glass panel to make sure that -Mr. Charles Cheesewright was not standing the other -side of it; then she opened it with a furtive key, slipped -in, and stole past the half-open door of the tiny drawing-room -through which came the penetrating accents of Mrs. -Wren attuned to the reception of “company.”</p> - -<p>Once in her own room her first act was to look in -the glass with a lurking sense of horror; the second was -to decide, which she instantly did, that it would be quite -impossible to meet Mr. Cheesewright, and that she didn’t -need any luncheon.</p> - -<p>By the time she had taken off her hat and made herself -a little more presentable, both these decisions had grown -immutable. She could <i>not</i> meet Mr. Cheesewright, she -did <i>not</i> want any luncheon. All she needed was complete -solitude, and perhaps a cigarette. But all too soon was -she ravished of even these modest requirements. Milly -burst suddenly into the room.</p> - -<p>“Twenty past one!” she cried reproachfully. “I didn’t -hear you come in. We are waiting for you.”</p> - -<p>Mary saw that her plan must be given up. If she -really meant to forgo a meal and the honor of Mr. -Cheesewright’s acquaintance there would have to be a -satisfactory explanation. But what explanation could -she make? Certainly none that would conceal the truth.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</span> -And at that moment she wished almost savagely for it to -be concealed. Confronted by a choice of evils she made a -dash at the less.</p> - -<p>“I’m so sorry. I’ll be with you in one minute.”</p> - -<p>Sheer pride forced her tone to a superhuman lightness, -verging on gayety. But there was a formidable -member of her sex to deal with. In spite of that heroic -note, Milly was not to be taken in; she looked at the -dissembler with eyes that saw a great deal too much. -“I expect you’ve taken a pretty bad toss, my fine lady,” -they seemed to say.</p> - -<p>“I’ll be with you in one minute,” repeated Mary, with -burning cheeks and a beating heart. But Milly continued -to stare. Suddenly she laid impulsive hands on her -shoulders and gave her a kiss.</p> - -<p>Mary didn’t like kissing. Her friend’s proneness to -the habit always irritated her secretly; this present indulgence -in it brought Mary as near to active dislike as -it would have been possible for her to get.</p> - -<p>Milly went back to the drawing-room seething with an -excited curiosity. Before she could make up her mind -to follow Mary stood a long moment in black despair; -and then “biting on the bullet,” as the soldiers say, she -went to join the others.</p> - -<p>“Naughty girl!” was the arch reception of Mrs. Wren. -“I’m very cross. Didn’t you promise not to be late? -But if you must call before lunch on dukes in Park Lane -I suppose people like us will have to take the consequences.”</p> - -<p>Mary would gladly have given a year’s salary for the -head of Mrs. Wren on a charger, but Milly intervened<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</span> -neatly with the presentation of Mr. Cheesewright, in itself -a little masterpiece of quiet humor.</p> - -<p>Princess Bedalia’s reception of Mr. Charles Cheesewright -was perhaps the severest test to which her -sterling goodness had been exposed. Every nerve was on -edge. She wanted to slay Mr. Cheesewright, braided -coat, turquoise tie-pin, diamond sleeve links, immaculate -coiffure and all. But for the sake of Milly she dragooned -her feelings to the pitch of bowing quite charmingly.</p> - -<p>Luncheon, after all, was not so bad. Mrs. Wren was -frankly at her worst and most tactless; her one idea -was to impress the guest, to let him see that money was -not everything, and that judged by her standards he was -a most ordinary young man. For such a democrat her -table talk was surprisingly full of Debrett. It was all -very lacerating, but Mary continued to play up as well -as she knew how. And by the time the meal was half -over the reward of pure unselfishness came to her in -the shape of a quite unexpected liking for Mr. Charles -Cheesewright.</p> - -<p>By all the rules of the game, that is, if mere outward -appearance went for anything, Mr. Cheesewright should -have been insufferable. But at close quarters, with -curried prawns and chablis before him, and a very fine -girl opposite, he was nothing of the kind. Mrs. Wren -had confided to Mary a week ago, “that she was afraid -from what she had heard, that he was not out of the top -drawer.” The statement had been provoked by an odious -comparison with Wrexham, “who,” declared Milly -in her most aboriginal manner, “had, as far as mother -was concerned, simply queered the pitch for everybody.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</span></p> - -<p>Perhaps in the eyes of Mary it was Mr. Cheesewright’s -supreme merit that, in spite of his clothes, he was modestly -content to be his humble self. In every way he -was a very middling young man. But he knew that he -was and, in Mary’s opinion, that somehow saved him -from being something worse. Mrs. Wren was far from -agreeing. His face and form were plebeian, but there -was no reason why he should take them lying down. He -was Eton and Cambridge certainly—or was it Harrow -and Oxford?—anyhow an adequate expression of a -sound convention; and it was for that reason no doubt -that all through a particularly trying meal he kept up -his end bravely. In fact, he did so well that he earned -the gratitude of the young woman opposite, although he -was far from suspecting that he had done anything of -the kind.</p> - -<p>She had begun by counting the minutes and in looking -ahead to the time when she could retire with her wounds. -But there was a peculiar virtue in the meal; at any rate -it agreed so well with the natural constitution of Mr. -Charles Cheesewright that he was able to relieve the -tension of the little dining-room without knowing it. -He wasn’t brilliant, certainly, but he talked plainly, -sanely, modestly about the things that mattered; the -Brodotsky Venus at the Portman Gallery, the miserable -performance of Harrow, the new play at the Imperial, -the sure defeat of America’s Big Four, Mr. Jarvey’s new -novel, the prospect of the Kaiser lifting the pot at -Cowes, and other matters of international importance, so -that by the time coffee and crême-de-menthe had rounded -up the meal, Mary was inclined to feel sorry that it was -at an end.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</span></p> - -<p>When a few minutes before three Mr. Cheesewright -went his way—to have a net at Lord’s Cricket Ground—the -famous Princess Bedalia felt a pang of regret. -He had played a pretty good innings already, even if he -didn’t seem to know it. And the honest shake of her -hand did its best to tell him so.</p> - -<p class="ph2">IV</p> - -<p>As soon as Mr. Cheesewright had gone, Mary prepared -to go too. But before she could retire Milly and -her mother were at her. Both had a pretty shrewd -suspicion that she had been making a sorry mess of -things at Bridport House. These ladies, however, were -so cunning, that they did not show their hands at once. -To begin with, they exchanged a glance full of meaning, -and then as Mary got up and made for the door, -Mrs. Wren commanded her to sit down again and tell -them what she thought of Charley. That was guile. -She didn’t in the least want to know what anyone -thought of Charley; besides, it would have been quite -possible for Mary to deliver her verdict even as she stood -with the knob of the door in her hand.</p> - -<p>“I like him—<i>immensely</i>!” she said, returning to the -sofa in deference to Mrs. Wren.</p> - -<p>Mother and daughter looked at her searchingly, with -eyes that questioned.</p> - -<p>“I like him—immensely!” she repeated.</p> - -<p>“He’s not the kind of man,” said Mrs. Wren with an -air of vexation, “I should have written home about when -I was a girl.”</p> - -<p>“What’s wrong with him?” said Milly, bridling. “Why -do you always crab him, mother?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</span></p> - -<p>“I—crab him!” Mrs. Wren’s air was the perfection -of injured innocence. “Nothing of the kind. It isn’t -his fault he’s not a blue blood—and if my lord of -Wrexham’s form is anything to go by, he may be none -the worse for that.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, of course, as far as you are concerned -Wrexham’s the fly in the ointment,” said Milly with a -sudden flutter of anger.</p> - -<p>Mary would have given much to escape, but to have -fled with thunder and forked lightning in the air would -have been an act of cowardice, not to say treachery.</p> - -<p>The truth was Mrs. Wren still had other views for -Milly, but up till now Wrexham had disappointed her. -Moreover, both these clear-headed and extremely practical -ladies were inclined to think he would continue to -do so. For one thing he was under the thumb of his -family, who were as hostile as they could be; again -Wrexham was a bit of a weakling who didn’t quite know -his own mind. Certainly he had a regard for Milly, but -whether it would enable him to wear a martyr’s crown -was very doubtful. Milly, at any rate, had allowed a -second Richmond to enter the field of her affections, in -the shape of Mr. Charles Cheesewright, the sole inheritor -of Cheesewright’s Mixture, a young man of obscure -antecedents but of considerable wealth. So far Mr. -Cheesewright had received small encouragement from -Mrs. Wren, and Milly herself had been very guarded in -her attitude; yet it was as plain as could be that one of -the more expensive of the public schools and one of the -older universities had made a little gentleman of Mr. -Cheesewright. “But,” as Milly said, “the truth was -Wrexham had simply queered the pitch for everybody.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</span></p> - -<p>Mary, as the friend of all parties, including Mr. -Cheesewright, who had unexpectedly found favor in her -sight, felt it to be her duty to stay in the room, so that, -if possible, oil might be poured on the troubled waters. -She had sense of acute discomfort, it was true; and it -was not made less by the sure knowledge that the heavy -weapons mother and daughter were using for the benefit -of each other would soon be turned against herself.</p> - -<p>There was not long to wait for this prophecy to be -fulfilled. As soon as the ladies had cut off her retreat, -they dropped the academic subject of Mr. Cheesewright -and bluntly demanded to know what was the matter. -It was vain for Mary to try to parry this expected attack. -Her friends, when their feelings were deeply stirred, -indulged in a sledge-hammer style of warfare, against -which any ordinary kind of defense was powerless.</p> - -<p>“Don’t tell me,” said Mrs. Wren, “that you have let -them bully you into giving him up!”</p> - -<p>This was what Milly was wont to call her mother’s -“old Sadler’s Wells touch” with a vengeance. The -victim bit her lip sharply, but she could not prevent the -color from rushing to her cheeks and giving her completely -away.</p> - -<p>“Why, of course she has!” cried Milly, looking at -her pitilessly. “I knew she would. I told you, my dear, -she was set on doing something fantastic. And here -have I been telling Charley that one day she would be a -duchess.”</p> - -<p>“I call it soppy,” said Mrs. Wren.</p> - -<p>“Downright mental flabbiness,” cried Milly. “It’s the -sort of thing a girl would do in the <i>Family Herald</i>.”</p> - -<p>Mary quailed before these taunts. Even if her friends<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</span> -had an unconventional way of expressing themselves, it -did not blind her to the poignant nature of their emotions. -In the tone of mother and daughter was a note -which showed how deeply they were wounded by her -moral weakness—they could consider it nothing else. -And the bitterness of the attack was the measure of their -devotion. Mrs. Wren could hardly restrain her tongue, -Milly was at the verge of tears. Such a girl as Mary -Lawrence had no right to wreck two lives for a mere -whim.</p> - -<p>“You are nothing but a fool,” said Mrs. Wren. -“You’ll never get such a chance again. I’d like to shake -you.”</p> - -<p>Mary had no fight left in her. She sat on the sofa -a picture of dismay. For the first time she saw mother -and daughter as they really were, in all their native -crudeness; yet when the worst was said of them they -had a generosity of soul which made them suffer on -her account; and that fact alone seemed to leave her at -their mercy.</p> - -<p>“You’ve no right to let them ruin your life and his,” -said Milly pitilessly.</p> - -<p>“One simply can’t go where one isn’t wanted,” said -Mary at last with a face of ashes.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wren took up the phrase, the first the girl had -been able to utter in her own defense, and flung it back. -“Not wanted forsooth! Who are they that they should -pick and choose! A dead charge on the community—neither -more nor less.”</p> - -<p>“No one can’t,” said Mary, tormentedly. “How could -one!”</p> - -<p>“Rubbish!” said Mrs. Wren. “You can’t afford to be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</span> -so proud. From the way you talk you might be the -Queen of England.”</p> - -<p>The girl shook her head. “And it isn’t quite fair -that they should have to put up with me.”</p> - -<p>Those unfortunate words were made to recoil upon -her heavily. Both her assailants were frankly amazed -that she should want to look at the matter from the -enemy point of view. To such a mind as Mrs. Wren’s -it could only mean that Bridport House had hypnotized -her with the semblance of place and power.</p> - -<p>“I could shake you,” re-affirmed the good lady. “A -girl as first-rate as you are has no right to be a snob.”</p> - -<p>Somehow that barb was horrible. Nothing wounds -like the truth.</p> - -<p>Strong in the conviction that “she had got her” Mrs. -Wren proceeded. “You set as high a value on these -people as they set on themselves. It’s noodles like you -who keep them up. What use are they anyway, except -to play the fool with honest folk?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, that’s right,” said Milly with flashing eyes, as -she took up the parable. “Wrexham’s one of the same -push. His lot simply won’t look at me, yet I consider -myself the equal of anyone. And I should make a very -good countess.”</p> - -<p>Mary could only gasp. She was rather overcome by -this naïveté.</p> - -<p>“So you would, my dear,” said Mrs. Wren. “And -one of these days you will be a countess—if you don’t -throw yourself away on Tom, Dick, and Harry in the -meantime.”</p> - -<p>Mary was hard set not to break out in a hysterical -laugh. She was in the depths if ever soul was, yet the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</span> -sense of humor is immortal and survives every torment.</p> - -<p>Fate, however, had not yet given the last turn to the -screw.</p> - -<p class="ph2">V</p> - -<p>At this moment the neat parlormaid came into the -room.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Dinneford!” she announced.</p> - -<p>Jack stood a moment on the threshold to gaze at the -three occupants. He was rather like a sailor who fears -foul weather and has not the courage to read the sky.</p> - -<p>“I’m glad you’ve come, young man,” said Mrs. Wren, -getting up to receive him. And she added almost at -once, for it was never her way to beat about the bush, -“We are giving her the finest talking to she has ever had -in her life.”</p> - -<p>Jack nearly groaned. The look of the three of them -had told him already that she must have made a fearful -hash of things.</p> - -<p>By now the Tenderfoot had risen very high in Mrs. -Wren’s favor. To begin with he would one day be the -indubitable sixth Duke of Bridport—a handicap, no -doubt, in the sight of some types of democrat, but apparently -not, in the eyes of Mrs. Wren, an insuperable -barrier. Again, she was a pretty shrewd judge of a -man, and this one had passed all his examinations so -far with flying colors. He was absolutely straightforward, -absolutely honorable; moreover, he knew his -own mind—whereby he had a signal advantage over his -stable companion, who, in spite of great merits, was lacking -in character.</p> - -<p>“Yes, we are setting her to rights,” said Milly,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</span> -wrinkling a nose of charming pugnacity. The face of -the culprit was tense and rather piteous, but Jack’s -glance at it was perfectly remorseless.</p> - -<p>“I knew she would,” he groaned.</p> - -<p>“Knew she would what?” demanded Mrs. Wren.</p> - -<p>“Let Uncle Albert down her,” was the prompt rejoinder.</p> - -<p>“That didn’t want much guessing,” said Milly bitterly.</p> - -<p>“Bridport-House-itis! That’s her trouble,” said Mrs. -Wren. “And she seems to have quite a bad form of -the disease. I can’t understand such a girl, I can’t really. -To me she’s unnatural. If I found people ‘coming the -heavy’ over me, I should just set my back to the wall and -say, ‘Very well, my fine friends, I’m now going to let -you see that Jane Wren is every bit as good as you are.’”</p> - -<p>“So would any other reasonable being.” And that unpremeditated -speech of the Tenderfoot’s would have -made Mrs. Wren his friend for life, had she not become -so already.</p> - -<p>“That’s what I call sensible,” said she. “And there’s -only one thing for you to do now, young man, and that -is to take her straight away and marry her.”</p> - -<p>At this point Mary got up from her sofa. But Mrs. -Wren held one great advantage; she had her back to -the door. “You don’t leave this room, my fine lady”—again -“the old Sadler’s Wells touch,” and Jack and Milly -could not deny that it was rather superb—“until you -realize that we all think alike in this matter.”</p> - -<p>“Quite so,” said the Tenderfoot, immensely stimulated -by this powerful backing. “Let us try to see the thing -as it is. This isn’t a case for high falutin’ sentiment.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</span> -Bridport House is steeped in crass idiocy; all the more -reason, I say, that we give it no encouragement.”</p> - -<p>“Quite so,” chimed Mrs. Wren.</p> - -<p>“Quite so,” chimed Milly, who was irresistibly reminded -of a recent command performance of “Money.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wren shook a histrionic finger at the luckless -Mary, whose eyes were seeking rather wildly a means -of escape. “Don’t speak! Don’t venture to say a -word!” The victim had not shown the least disposition -to do so. “You simply haven’t a leg to stand on, you -know.”</p> - -<p>It was a shameful piece of bullying but the victim -bore it stoically. And it did not go on for long. -Neither Mrs. Wren nor Milly was exactly a fool. As -soon as they saw that main force was not likely to help -them, and that more harm than good might be done by -it, they decided to leave the whole matter to Jack. They -had expressed their own point of view very fully, they -knew that he could be trusted to make the most of his -case; besides, when all was said, he was the person best -able to deal with an entirely vexatious affair.</p> - -<p>Of a sudden, the astute Milly flung a swift glance at -her mother and got up from her chair. And without -another word on the subject, this pair of conspirators -dramatically withdrew.</p> - -<p class="ph2">VI</p> - -<p>Such an exit from the scene was far more eloquent -than words. And its immediate effect was to plunge -Jack and Mary with a haste that was hardly decent, into -what both felt was perilously like a final crisis. Its very -nature was of a sort that a finer diplomacy would have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</span> -been careful to avoid. But Jack, baffled and angry, was -not in a mood to temporize; besides, that was never his -way.</p> - -<p>The fine shades of emotion were not for him, but he -had the perception to feel that if he remained five -minutes longer in that little room the game might be lost -irretrievably. In fact, it seemed to be lost already. The -specter of defeat was hovering round him; nay, it was -embodied in the very atmosphere he breathed.</p> - -<p>Knowing the moment to be full of peril, he determined -to force himself to the greatest delicacy of which he was -capable, for this might prove the final throw. The look -in her eyes seemed to tell him that all was lost, but he -would set the thought aside and act as if he were not -aware of it.</p> - -<p>A long and very trying pause lent weight to this decision, -and then at last he said in a tone altogether different -from the one he had recently used, “Tell me, why are -you so determined to keep a hardshell like Uncle Albert -on his pedestal?”</p> - -<p>The form of the question provoked a wry little smile. -“We poor females are by nature conservative.”</p> - -<p>“You are that,” he said. “Take you and me. We’ve -both seen the world. And the world has changed me -altogether, but I should say it hasn’t changed you at all.”</p> - -<p>“No; I don’t think it has,” she admitted ruefully, “in -the things that are really important.”</p> - -<p>“Six years ago, before I went West, I saw Bridport -House at pretty much the same angle you see it now. -But I suppose if you get lumbering timber, or living by -your wits, or looking for gold in the Yukon, it mighty -soon comes home to you that it is only realities that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</span> -count. And the cold truth is that Bridport House simply -isn’t a reality at all.”</p> - -<p>“There I can’t agree with you,” she said with a simple -valor he was bound to admire. “I haven’t seen the -Yukon, but I’ve seen Bridport House and it’s intensely -real to me. Somehow the place is quite wonderful. It -works upon one like a charm.”</p> - -<p>“I was a fool to let you go there.”</p> - -<p>“But it only confirms my guesses.”</p> - -<p>“Why, you are as bad as your Aunt Sanderson,” he -burst out. “And you haven’t her excuse. One can -understand her point of view, although it’s very extreme, -and absurdly overdone, but yours, if you’ll let me say so, -is merely fanciful. Why you should be absolutely the -last person in the world to be hypnotized by mere rank -and pride of place.”</p> - -<p>“It isn’t that at all.”</p> - -<p>“What is it, then?”</p> - -<p>“It’s something I can’t explain, a kind of instinct, I -suppose. Please don’t think I’m overawed by vain -shows. But there is such a thing as tradition, at least -there is to me, and every stick and stone of that house -simply glows with it.”</p> - -<p>“Mere sentiment!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes—I know—but sentiment’s the thing that rules -the world.”</p> - -<p>“Plain, practical common sense rules the world.”</p> - -<p>“I mean the only world worth living in.”</p> - -<p>He could do nothing with her, and the fact was now -hurting him horribly. A man used to his own way, of -clear vision, and strong will, he could not bear the -thought of being sidetracked or thwarted. Besides, her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</span> -reasoning was demonstrably false. He was growing bitterly -annoyed but, after all, such a solicitude for others -only added to her value. Moreover, here was a nature -almost fantastically fine, and for decency’s sake he must -constrain his egotism to respect her scruples.</p> - -<p>But the sense of defeat was hard to bear. Since that -morning’s fatal visit to the Mecca of tradition her will -had crystallized. There seemed little hope of shaking it -now.</p> - -<p>“Let me ask one question,” he said tensely. “Do you -still care for me?”</p> - -<p>Before she could answer the question her breath came -quickly, her color mounted. And then she said in a low -voice, “I do—I always shall.”</p> - -<p>It was no use telling her she was a fool. She was -grotesquely in the wrong, even if she was sublimely in -the right. He would like to have shaken her—and yet -how dare he sully her with a point of view which was -purely personal?</p> - -<p>“I expect that old barbarian is laughing finely in his -sleeve,” he said with a sudden descent to another plane.</p> - -<p>“You don’t read him right.” A warm throb of feeling -was in her voice. “He’s quite deep and true—and kind, -so kind you would hardly believe. When I went there -this morning I felt I was going to hate him, and yet I -find I can’t.”</p> - -<p>“You are an idealist,” he said. “And you’ve tuned up -that old cracked file to the pitch of your own sackbut -and psaltery. He’s not fine in any way if you see him -as I do—but I’m an earthworm, of course. He’s just -a hardshell and an unbeliever, who runs tradition for all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</span> -it’s worth, because that means loaves and fishes for him -and his.”</p> - -<p>She countered this speech staunchly; it was not worthy -of him. And yet the tone of reproof was so gentle that -it gave him new courage. Besides, he was a born fighter -and the mere thought of losing such a prize was more -than he could bear.</p> - -<p>“You can’t go back on your word,” he burst out with -sudden defiance. “You made a promise that you’re -bound to keep.”</p> - -<p>The look in her eyes asked for pity. “Oh! I could -never go there,” she shivered, “among all those hostile -women.”</p> - -<p>“We will keep a thousand miles away from them.”</p> - -<p>“They have told me I’m not good enough.”</p> - -<p>“Like their damned impertinence!” He flushed with -anger.</p> - -<p>“But I promised this morning that I wouldn’t.”</p> - -<p>“You first promised me that you would.”</p> - -<p>Again he had her cornered. It was almost the act of -a cad to drive her so hard, but he was an elemental who -had simply to obey the laws of his being. It seemed -madness and damnation to let her go. And yet there -were tears in her eyes which he dare not look at. If he -saw them he was done.</p> - -<p>With a kind of savage joy he felt her weaken a little -at the impact of his will. It was a piece of cruelty for -which there was no help, a form of bullying he could -not avoid.</p> - -<p>“The best thing we can do,” he said suddenly, “is to -get married at once and then clear off to Canada. Then -we shall be beyond the jurisdiction of Bridport House.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</span></p> - -<p>“That old man would never forgive me,” was the -simple reply. “It would make the whole thing quite -hopeless for everybody.”</p> - -<p>He checked the words at the tip of his tongue. She -had no right to play for the other side, but there was -something in her bearing which shamed him to silence. -For the first time he was torn; this immolation of self -might be a deeper wisdom; at least he felt thin and -shallow in its presence.</p> - -<p>“Won’t you help me?” She laid a hand on his. -Tears were now running down her cheeks.</p> - -<p>He caught his breath sharply at the unexpected appeal; -it was like the fixing of a knife. There was no alternative; -he saw at once with fatal clearness that these four -little words cut the ground from under his feet.</p> - -<p>“Of course I will,” he said miserably, “if that is how -you really feel about it.”</p> - -<p>She bowed her head in the moment’s intensity. -“Thank you,” she said softly.</p> - -<p>He could only gasp. Here was the end.</p> - -<p>“We must forget each other,” she said stoically.</p> - -<p>“Or ask the sun and moon to stand still,” he said. “I -shall never marry anyone else.”</p> - -<p>She gave him the honest hand of the good comrade -and he took it to his lips.</p> - -<p>“I shall go back to Canada.”</p> - -<p>“Won’t you stay and help them?”</p> - -<p>“No,” he said, “these stupid people have got on my -nerves. Besides, this city is not big enough to hold us -both just now.”</p> - -<p>“I intend to go to Paris and study for the opera.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</span></p> - -<p>“No,” he said decisively. “This time next week I shall -be on my way back to Vancouver, unless——”</p> - -<p>“Unless——?”</p> - -<p>“Unless Bridport House can be made to forget the -Parish Pump in the meantime. And there’s hardly a -chance of that.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X<br /> -TIME’S REVENGE</h2></div> - -<p class="ph2">I</p> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">H</span>is</span> Grace had had such a very bad night that -he was only just able to reach his morning-room -by the discreet hour of eleven. He was -so exceedingly irritable that even the presence of the -<i>Times</i> on the little table at his elbow was almost too -much for him. And barely had he settled himself in -his chair and put on his spectacles when an acute annoyance -with the nature of things was further increased by -the ill-timed appearance of his private secretary, Mr. -Gilbert Twalmley.</p> - -<p>Mr. Twalmley so well understood the art of being -agreeable, that, of itself, his appearance was seldom if -ever unwelcome; had the fact been otherwise it is reasonably -certain that long ago he would have had to seek -some other sphere of usefulness. And even on this sinister -morning Mr. Twalmley was not the head and front -of his own offending; the germ of unpopularity was in -the message that he bore.</p> - -<p>“Sir Dugald Maclean has rung up, sir. He would -like to know if you can see him on a matter of urgent -importance.”</p> - -<p>“When?” said the Duke sourly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</span></p> - -<p>“He will come round at once.”</p> - -<p>The fact was clear that his Grace was not in a mood -to receive anyone just then, least of all Sir Dugald -Maclean, who at any time was far from being <i>persona -gratissima</i> at Bridport House. But after a mental struggle, -which if quite short was rather grim, he allowed -public policy to override his private feelings.</p> - -<p>“I suppose I’d better,” he said with something -ominously like a groan of disgust.</p> - -<p class="ph2">II</p> - -<p>Even when the decision was taken and Mr. Twalmley -had gone to make it known, the Duke was not quite clear -in his mind as to why he should submit to such an ordeal. -Was it really necessary to see this man? Would any -purpose be served by his so doing?</p> - -<p>This morning the Duke was in a mood of vacillation, -itself the sequel to a night of physical and mental torment. -Men and events and Nature’s own self were conspiring -against him; the future and the past were alike -in their menace; he could see nothing ahead but a vista -of anxiety.</p> - -<p>Waiting for this man whom he disliked so intensely, -he tried at first to fix his mind on the morning’s news, -and failed lamentably. For one thing the paper itself -was a sinister portent of the times. But there were -others, and in the interval of waiting for an unwelcome -visitor his Grace reviewed them gloomily.</p> - -<p>Albert John had lived to see dark days. At heart a -time-server and a cynic, his strongest wish had been to -go to the grave in the faith of his fathers. In the beginning -none had realized more clearly than he that dukes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</span> -were not as other men. Born to that convenient dogma, -or at least having imbibed it with the milk of infancy, it -was in the very marrow of his bones. But now, it would -seem, the Time Spirit had overtaken the order to which -he belonged.</p> - -<p>Twin portents of that fact had hovered all night round -his pillow. First came the business of Jack and the -lady of his choice, who at close quarters had proved to -be so much more than his Grace had bargained for; -then there was the minor yet entirely vexing complication -of Muriel and her Berserker of a Radical.</p> - -<p>Compared with the first gigantic issue, the second was -a mere sideshow, which in a happier hour his Grace -would have treated with sardonic contempt. After all, -did it greatly matter if Muriel had the ill taste to prefer -an obvious political thruster and <i>arriviste</i> to a state of -single blessedness? The heavens were not likely to fall -in either case. The man was a cad and there was no -more to be said, yet even Albert John was not quite able -to maintain the standpoint of High Olympus. Such a -mountebank of a fellow ought not to count, yet when the -best had been said there was something about the brute -which rankled horribly.</p> - -<p>Some years before, in a historic speech in the Gilded -Chamber, the Duke had drawn a lurid picture of democracy -knocking at the gate. His words were so -nakedly obvious that in a single morning they awoke to -fame throughout a flattered and delighted island. -Everybody had known for a generation that democracy -was knocking at the gate, but the true art of prophecy as -a going concern is to predict the event the day after it -happens.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</span></p> - -<p>His Grace of Bridport, in the course of an admired -speech, left no doubt as to his own feeling in the matter. -He conceived it to be his duty to hold the gate as long -as possible against the mob. But his memorable remarks, -a little touched, no doubt, with the crudity of one -who spoke seldom, gave opportunity for a thruster in -the person of a rising Scots publicist to convulse the -Lower House with his fanciful portrait of the Great -Panjandrum of Bridport House with little round button -on top.</p> - -<p>That had happened some years ago. But the -alchemies of time had now prepared a charming comedy -for the initiated. The temerarious Scotsman, moving -from triumph to triumph, had determined to consolidate -his fortunes by marrying the third daughter of the house -of Dinneford.</p> - -<p>When Sir Dugald’s decision became known to the -Duke, his amazement took a very caustic turn. He had -never forgiven the fellow for so savagely flaunting him -as a trophy at the end of a pole. “<i>Rien qui blesse comme -la vérité.</i>” It was therefore hard for his Grace to -knuckle down to this adventurer. Besides, had Sir -Dugald’s opinions been other than they were, one of his -kidney must not look for a welcome at Bridport House.</p> - -<p>Democracy was knocking at the gate with a vengeance. -Muriel’s affair had shaken the Family to its base. For -some little time past it was known that she was cultivating -breadth. Her coquettings with that dangerous tendency -had affected her diet, her clothes, her reading, as -well as her social and mental outlook. She had formed -quite a habit of emerging from the Times Book Club -with all kinds of highbrows in a strap. She had made<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</span> -odd friendships, she had joined queer movements, and -from time to time she regaled very remarkable people -with tea and cake at Bridport House.</p> - -<p>To all this there could only be one end. First she -consulted her oculist and changed her glasses, and then -she fell in love. She was the first of the Bridport ladies -to enter that state; thus she was less a portent than a -phenomenon. Sarah, Blanche, and Marjorie gave her -the cold shoulder, and Aunt Charlotte frowned, but there -was no getting over the sinister fact that Breadth had -at last undone her. Sir Dugald had recently been seen -for the first time in one of the smaller and less uncomfortable -drawing-rooms of Bridport House. The Dinneford -ladies seldom read the newspapers, at least the political -part of them, being beyond all things “healthy-minded” -women; therefore they knew little of the facts -of his career. Moreover, they were in happy ignorance -of the attack he had launched three years ago upon their -sire. But it cannot be said of Muriel that she was -equally innocent. Evil communications corrupt good -manners; Breadth had made a recourse to politics inevitable. -And the slight importance she attached to a -certain incident was, to say the least, unfilial.</p> - -<p>In the cool, appraising eyes of Sarah, Blanche, and -Marjorie, the bold Sir Dugald was set down already as -a freak of nature. They were not used to that sort of -person at Bridport House. Unfortunately such an attitude -forbade any just perception of the man himself. -His career was still in the making, and in the view of -keen but unsympathetic observers who had followed it -from the start, the hapless Muriel had been marked down -in order that she might advance him in it. Moreover, up<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</span> -till now, his ambition had never known defeat, particularly -when inflamed by a worthy object.</p> - -<p>According to biographies of the People’s Champion, -portrait on cover, price one shilling net, which flooded -the bookstalls of his adopted country, his life had been a -fine expression of the deep spiritual truth, “God helps -those who help themselves.” His career had been truly -remarkable, yet in the opinion of qualified judges it was -only just beginning. In the person of Sir Dugald -Maclean, Democracy was knocking at the gate with a -vengeance. Its keepers must be up and doing lest Demos -ravish the citadel within and get clear away with the -pictures, the heirlooms and the gold plate.</p> - -<p>“She must be out of her mind,” declared the Duke at -the first announcement of the grisly tidings. Lady -Wargrave went further. “She is out of her mind,” -trumpeted the sage of Hill Street.</p> - -<p>There were alarums and excursions, there was a pretty -todo. But Muriel had grown so Broad that she treated -the matter very lightly. The ruthless Sir Dugald had -tied her to the wheel of his car; he was now determined -to lead her to the altar with or without the sanction of -his Grace.</p> - -<p class="ph2">III</p> - -<p>All too soon for the Duke’s liking in this hour of fate, -Sir Dugald arrived for his interview. At any time he -was a bitter pill for his Grace to swallow; just now, in -the light of present circumstances, it called for the virtue -of a stoic to receive him at all.</p> - -<p>Now these adversaries met again certain ugly memories -were in their minds. But the advantage was with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</span> -the younger man who could afford to be secretly amused -by the business in hand. A semblance of respect, to be -sure, was in his bearing, but that was no more than -homage paid by worldly wisdom to the spirit of place. -Right at the back lay the mind of the cool calculator, -which in certain aspects had an insight almost devilish -into the heart of material man. Well he knew the hostility -of this peevish, brooding invalid. He was in a -position to flout it; yet, after all, the man who now received -him would have been rather more than human -had he not hated him like poison.</p> - -<p>Sir Dugald could afford to smile at this figure of -impotence; yet the Duke, in his way, was no mean adversary. -Up to a point his mind was extremely vigorous. -The will to prevail against encroachment on the privileges -of his class was still strong. Besides physical suffering -had not yet bereft him of a maliciously nice -appreciation of the human comedy. It may even have -been that which now enabled him to receive “the -thruster.”</p> - -<p>As Sir Dugald entered the room he was keenly aware -that the eyes of a satyr were fixed upon him. And the -picture of a rather fantastic helplessness, propped in its -chair, was not without its pathos. The old lion, stricken -sore, would have given much to rend the intruder, but -he was in the grip of Fate.</p> - -<p>The success of Sir Dugald had been magical, but luck -had played no part in it, beyond the period of the world’s -history and the particular corner of the globe in which -he happened to be born. He had got as far as he had in -a time comparatively short for the simple reason that he -was a man of quite unusual powers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</span></p> - -<p>No man could have had a truer perception of the conditions -among which he had been cast than Dugald -Maclean, no man could have had a stronger grasp of -certain forces, or of the alchemy transmuting them into -things undreamt of; no man could have had a bolder -outlook upon the whole amazing phantasmagoria evolved -by the cosmic dust out of the wonders within itself. The -Duke had the cynicism of the materialist; the man who -faced him now had the vision of him who sees too much.</p> - -<p>The Duke, with a great air and a courtesy which was -second nature, begged his visitor to forgive his being as -he was.</p> - -<p>Sir Dugald, with a mechanical formula and a mechanical -smile, responded with a ready sympathy. But while -their conventional phrases flowed, each marked the other -narrowly, like a pair of strange brigands colloguing for -the first time on the side of a mountain. It was as if -each knew the other for a devil of a fellow, yet not quite -such a devil of a fellow as he judges himself to be.</p> - -<p>Efficiency was the watchword of Maclean. There was -no beating about the bush. He knew what he wanted -and had come to see that he got it. In a cool, aloof, -rather detached way he lost no time in putting forward -the demand he had made at a former meeting.</p> - -<p>“But one has been led to infer from your speeches,” -said the Duke, bluntly, “and the facts of your career, that -you stand for an order of things very different from -those obtaining here.”</p> - -<p>“Up to a point, yes,” was the ready answer. “But -only up to a point. In order to govern efficiently it is -wise to aim at a centralization of power. The happiest -communities are those in which power is in the hands<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</span> -of the few. Now there is much in the social hierarchy, -even as at present constituted, which deserves to survive -the shock of battle that will soon be upon us. It ought -to survive, for it has proved its worth. And in identifying -myself with it I shall be glad when the time comes -to help your people here if only you will help me now.”</p> - -<p>“In a word, you are ready to throw over your friends,” -said the Duke with a narrowing eye.</p> - -<p>“By no means! I have not the least intention of -doing that.”</p> - -<p>His Grace was hard to convince; besides the man’s -nonchalance incensed him. “Well, as I have told you -already, the only terms on which we can begin to think -of having you here are that you quit your present stable.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you think you take a parochial view?” The -considered coolness had the power to infuriate. “Whichever -stable one happens to occupy at the moment is not -very material. It is simply a means to an end.”</p> - -<p>“To what end?”</p> - -<p>“The better government of the country—of the Empire, -if you prefer it.”</p> - -<p>“You aim at the top?”</p> - -<p>“Undoubtedly. And I think I shall get there.”</p> - -<p>The note of self-confidence was a little too much for -his Grace. He shot out an ugly lower lip and plucked -savagely at the small tuft of hair upon it. “That remains -to be seen, my friend.” And he added in a tone of ice, -“When you have got there you can come and ask me -again.”</p> - -<p>“But it is going to take time,” Sir Dugald spoke lightly -and readily, not deigning to accept the challenge.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</span> -“Meanwhile Lady Muriel and I would like to get married.”</p> - -<p>It seemed, however, that the Duke had made up his -mind in the matter quite definitely. There must be a coat -of political whitewash for a dirty dog before he could -hope to receive any kind of official sanction as a son-in-law. -Such in effect was the last word of his Grace; -and it was delivered with a point that was meant to -lacerate.</p> - -<p>It did not fail of its effect. Somehow the ducal brand -of cynicism was edged like a razor, and the underlying -contempt poisoned the wounds it dealt. The man who -had sprung from the people, who in accordance with -the brutal innuendo of the man of privilege would be -only too ready to throw them over as soon as they had -served his turn, was powerless before it. At this -moment, as he was ruefully discovering, place and power -did not hesitate to use loaded dice.</p> - -<p>Sir Dugald was savagely angry. In spite of an iron -self-control, the cold insolence of one who made no secret -of the fact that he regarded the man before him as other -clay was hard to bear. A career of success, consistent -and amazing, had given Sir Dugald a pretty arrogance of -his own. And he was a very determined man playing -for victory.</p> - -<p class="ph2">IV</p> - -<p>It was clear from the Duke’s manner that as far as -he was concerned the interview was at an end. But Sir -Dugald had made up his mind to carry the matter a step -farther. He was a bold man, his position was stronger<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</span> -than his Grace had reason to guess, moreover, a powerful -will had been reënforced by a growing animosity.</p> - -<p>“Before I go,” said Sir Dugald, “there is one last word, -and to me it seems of great importance.”</p> - -<p>The Duke sat silent, a stony eye fixed upon his visitor.</p> - -<p>“First, let me say as one man of the world to another, -that your objection to my marrying Lady Muriel is injudicious.”</p> - -<p>“No doubt—from your point of view. But we won’t -go into that.”</p> - -<p>“On the contrary, I think we had better. As I say, -it is injudicious. We have fully made up our minds to -marry. You can’t hinder us, you know—so why make -things uncomfortable?”</p> - -<p>“Because I dislike it, sir—I dislike it intensely!” His -Grace was suddenly overwhelmed by his feelings.</p> - -<p>“Do you mind stating the grounds of your objection?”</p> - -<p>“It would be tedious to enumerate them.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I’d like you to realize the advantages of letting -things go on as they are.”</p> - -<p>“There are none so far as one can see at the moment.”</p> - -<p>“We are coming to them now,” said Sir Dugald -blandly. “In the first place, has it occurred to you that -I may know the history of Mr. Dinneford’s fiancée?”</p> - -<p>The Duke stared fixedly at the man before him. -“What do you mean?” he said.</p> - -<p>“Suppose one happens to know her secret?”</p> - -<p>“Her secret!”</p> - -<p>“Her origin and early history.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“Is there really any need to ask the question?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</span></p> - -<p>The Duke shook his head perplexedly. “I’m afraid -I don’t follow you.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Sir Dugald coolly, “it happens that you -are the one man in the world who is in a position to -answer the question I have ventured to ask.”</p> - -<p>They looked at each other. A rather deadly silence -followed.</p> - -<p>“The question you have ventured to ask.” The Duke -repeated the words slowly, but with a reluctance and a -venom he could not conceal.</p> - -<p>“You know perfectly well what I mean.” The tone, -direct and cool, was exasperating.</p> - -<p>“Are you trying to blackmail me?” There was an -ugly light in the Duke’s eyes.</p> - -<p>Sir Dugald laughed. “Why put the matter so -crudely?” he said. “I am merely anxious that justice -should be done. You ought to be grateful to Providence -for giving you this opportunity.”</p> - -<p>“Opportunity?”</p> - -<p>“To right the wrong that has been committed.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t understand.”</p> - -<p>“I refer to Miss Lawrence’s parentage.”</p> - -<p>“One fails to see that her parentage is any business of -yours or mine.”</p> - -<p>“It is certainly business of yours,” was the sardonic -answer; “and it is going to be mine because I am determined -that matters shall take their present course. -Lady Muriel and I intend to marry, and Mr. Dinneford -and Miss Lawrence ought to marry.”</p> - -<p>The Duke gazed at him with an air of blank stupefaction.</p> - -<p>“I invite you to give the matter very careful consideration.”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</span> -Sir Dugald had constrained a harsh accent to -the point of mellowness. “Let me say at once that if -you don’t withdraw your opposition it is in my power -to make myself rather unpleasant.”</p> - -<p>“Nature has relieved you of any obligation in that -matter. You are the most unpleasant man I have ever -had to do with.”</p> - -<p>“Let me outline the position.” The mellifluous note -spurred his Grace to fury. “Mr. Dinneford and Miss -Lawrence, Lady Muriel and I are determined to marry -and we must have your consent.”</p> - -<p>“And if I don’t give it?” The tone matched the truculent -eyes.</p> - -<p>“I may be tempted to use my knowledge in a way -which will be much more disagreeable than the things -you wish to prevent.”</p> - -<p>“Do I understand this to be a threat?”</p> - -<p>Sir Dugald smiled darkly.</p> - -<p>“Very well!” Defiance and resentment rode the Duke -very hard. “Use your knowledge as you like. You are -a scoundrel.”</p> - -<p>“A hard name.” Again the Duke was met by a saturnine -Scottish smile. “But my motives are sound.”</p> - -<p>“So are mine.” The Duke’s voice shook with fury. -“If you are not careful I will have you put out of the -house.”</p> - -<p>“We are not living in the Middle Ages, you know.”</p> - -<p>“More’s the pity. I’d have found a short way with -you then, my friend. Your wanting to marry Muriel -is bad enough, your interference with Dinneford is an -outrage.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</span></p> - -<p>“In the circumstances I feel it to be my duty to do -what I can in an exceedingly delicate matter.”</p> - -<p>“Self-interest, sir, that’s all your duty amounts to.” -But the Duke was now thoroughly alarmed, and he saw -that recrimination was not going to help him. “Tell -me,” he said in a tone more conciliatory than he had yet -used, “exactly on what ground you are standing?”</p> - -<p>“In the first place, there is a very remarkable family -likeness.”</p> - -<p>“And you base your allegation upon a mere conjecture -of that kind!” said the Duke scornfully.</p> - -<p>“Upon far more than that, believe me. I have very -strong and direct evidence which at the present moment -I prefer not to disclose.”</p> - -<p>The Duke paused at this bold statement. He turned -a basilisk’s eye upon his adversary, but Sir Dugald -offered a mask, behind which, as his Grace well knew, -lurked unlimited depth and cunning. One thing was -clear: a man of this kidney was not likely to venture -such a <i>coup</i> without having carefully weighed his resources. -In any case there cannot be smoke unless there -is fire. A certain amount of knowledge must be in the -possession of Maclean; the question was how much, and -what use was he prepared to make of it?</p> - -<p>“Do I understand,” said the Duke after a moment of -deep thought, “that you have spoken of this matter to -Mr. Dinneford?”</p> - -<p>“I have not yet done so.”</p> - -<p>“Or to Miss Lawrence?”</p> - -<p>“No—nor to Mrs. Sanderson.”</p> - -<p>The Duke’s look of concentration at the mention of -that name was not lost upon Sir Dugald. It had the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</span> -effect of hardening the ironical smile which for some -little time now had hung round his lips.</p> - -<p>“May I ask you,” said the Duke with the air of a man -pretty badly hipped, “not to speak of this matter to anyone -until there has been an opportunity for further discussion?”</p> - -<p>The abrupt change in the tone confessed a moral weakness -which Sir Dugald was quick to notice. But he fell -in with the suggestion, with a show of ready magnanimity -for which the Duke could have slain him. There was -no wish to cause avoidable unpleasantness. Sir Dugald -was good enough to say that it was in the interests of -all parties that the skeleton should be kept in the cupboard. -The matter was bound to give pain to a number -of innocent people, and if the Duke, even at the eleventh -hour, would be reasonable he might depend upon it that -Sir Dugald Maclean would be only too happy to follow -his example.</p> - -<p class="ph2">V</p> - -<p>Upon the retirement of the unwelcome visitor, the -Duke gave himself up to a state of irritation verging on -fury. Unprepared for this new turn of the game, taken -at a complete disadvantage by a man of few scruples -and diabolical cleverness, he was now horribly smitten by -a sense of having said things he ought not to have said. -On one point he was clear. In the shock of the unforeseen -he had yielded far too much to the impact of a -scoundrel.</p> - -<p>The position seen as a whole was one of very grave -difficulty, and the instinct now dominating his mind was -to seek a port against a storm which threatened at any<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</span> -moment to burst upon him. It was of vital importance -that certain facts should be kept from certain people; -otherwise there could be little doubt that the private -cosmos of Albert John, fifth Duke of Bridport, would -fall about his ears.</p> - -<p>Alone with his fluttered thoughts, the Duke spent a -bad half-hour trying to marshal them in battle array. -Face to face with a situation dangerous, disagreeable, -unforeseen, it would call for much tactical skill to fend -off disaster. Never in his life had he found it so hard -to choose a line of action. At last, the prey of doubt, -he rang for Harriet Sanderson.</p> - -<p>She came to him at once and he told her promptly of -Sir Dugald’s visit. And then, his eyes on her face, he -went on to tell her there was reason to fear that a secret -had been penetrated which he had always been led to -believe was known only to her and to himself.</p> - -<p>Watching her narrowly while he spoke he saw his -words go home. She stood a picture of dismay.</p> - -<p>“I wonder if the man really can know all?” he said -finally.</p> - -<p>At first she made no attempt to answer the question; -but after a while, in a low, rather frightened voice, she -said, “I don’t think he can know possibly.”</p> - -<p>He searched her troubled eyes, almost as if he doubted. -“Perhaps you will tell me this.” He spoke in a tone of -growing anxiety. “Would you say there is anything like -a marked family resemblance?”</p> - -<p>“A very strong one, I’m afraid.”</p> - -<p>“It is confined, I hope, to the picture at the top of the -stairs?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no—at least to my mind——”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</span></p> - -<p>“Yes?”</p> - -<p>“She has her father’s eyes.”</p> - -<p>“Very interesting to know that.” The Duke laughed, -but it was a curious note in which there was not a grain -of mirth. “Yet, even assuming that to be the case, it -would take a bold man to jump to such a conclusion. -Surely he would need better ground to go upon.”</p> - -<p>“I am sorry to say he has much more than a mere -likeness to help him.” As Harriet spoke the bright color -ran from neck to brow. “He happened to be at my -brother-in-law’s on the evening the child was first -brought to the house.”</p> - -<p>That simple fact was far more than the Duke had -bargained for. A look of dismay came upon him, he -shook an ominous head. “It throws a new light on the -matter,” he said, after a pause, painful in its intensity. -“Now tell me this—did he see the child?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes!”</p> - -<p>“That helps him to put two and two together at any -rate.” A look of tragic concern came into his face. -“What an amazing world!”</p> - -<p>She agreed that the world was amazing. And in spite -of the strange unhappiness in her eyes she could not help -smiling a little as a surge of memories came upon her. -She sighed softly, even tenderly as she made the confession. -“To my mind, Sir Dugald Maclean is one of the -most amazing men in it.”</p> - -<p>“Have you any particular reason for saying that?”—The -gaze was disconcerting in its keenness—“apart, I -mean, from the mere obvious facts of his career?”</p> - -<p>“It is simply that I have watched him rise,” said<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</span> -Harriet, between a smile and a sigh. “When I knew -him first he was a London policeman.”</p> - -<p>“How in the world did he persuade Scotland Yard to -part with him?” scoffed his Grace. “One would have -thought such a fellow would have been worth his weight -in gold.”</p> - -<p>She could not repress a laugh which to herself seemed -to verge on irreverence. “My brother-in-law says he -soon convinced them he was far too ambitious for the -Metropolitan Police Force.”</p> - -<p>“I should say so!”</p> - -<p>“And then he studied the law and got into parliament.”</p> - -<p>“And made his fortune by backing a downtrodden -people against a vile aristocracy.” The Duke’s smile was -so sour that it became a grimace. “In other words a -self-made man.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes—entirely!” The sudden generous warmth -of admiration in Harriet’s tone surprised the Duke. -“When one considers the enormous odds against him and -what he has been able to do at the age of forty-two, -it seems only right to think of him as wonderful.”</p> - -<p>“Personally,” said his Grace, “I prefer to regard him -as an unscrupulous scoundrel.”</p> - -<p>Harriet dissented with a smile. “A great man,” she -said softly.</p> - -<p>“Let us leave it at a very dangerous man. He is a -real menace, not only to us, but to the country. Anyhow, -we have now to see that he doesn’t bring down the -house about our ears.”</p> - -<p>There was something in the tone that swept the color -from Harriet’s face. “That I realize.” Her voice -trembled painfully. “Oh, I do hope he has not mentioned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</span> -the matter to Mary.” And she plucked at her -dress in sudden alarm.</p> - -<p>“Not yet, I think,” said the Duke venomously. “He -is too sure a hand to spring his mine before the time -is ripe. Meanwhile we are forearmed; let us take every -precaution against him.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, we must!” Her eyes were tragic.</p> - -<p>“A devilish mischance,” said the Duke slowly, “a devilish -mischance that he, of all men, has been able to hit -the trail.”</p> - -<p class="ph2">VI</p> - -<p>When Harriet had gone from the room, the Duke -surrendered again to his thoughts. By now they were -almost intolerable. Pulled this way and that by a conflict -of emotion that was cruel, he was brought more than -once to the verge of a decision he had not the courage to -make. The situation was forcing it upon him, yet so -much was involved, so much was at stake that a weak -man at bottom, he was ready to grasp at anything which -held a slender hope of putting off the evil day. Two -interests were vitally opposed; he sought to do justice to -both, yet as far as he could see at the moment, any -reconciliation between them was impossible.</p> - -<p>He was in a state of bitter, ever-growing embarrassment, -when Jack was unexpectedly announced.</p> - -<p>His Grace was not able to detach himself sufficiently -from the maelstrom within to observe the hue of resolution -in the bearing of a rather unwelcome visitor.</p> - -<p>“Good morning, sir,” said the young man coolly, with -an aloofness that came near to sarcasm. And then in -a tone of very simple matter of fact, he said, “I have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</span> -merely called to ask if you will give a formal consent to -my marrying Mary Lawrence.”</p> - -<p>From the particular way in which the question was -put it was easy to deduce an ultimatum. But it came at -an unlucky moment. So delicately was the Duke poised -between two contending forces, that a point-blank demand -was quite enough to turn the scale. His Grace -replied at once that he was not in a position to give -consent.</p> - -<p>Jack was prepared for a refusal. The nature of the -case had made it seem inevitable. But there and then -he issued a ukase. His kinsman should have a week in -which to think over the matter. And if in that time the -Duke did not change his mind he would return to Canada.</p> - -<p>The threat was taken very coolly, but his Grace was -far more concerned by it than he allowed Jack to see. -In fact, he was very much annoyed. Here was an end -to the plan which had been formed for the general -welfare of Bridport House. Such conduct was inconsiderate, -tiresome, irrational. But it was not merely the -inconvenience it was bound to cause which was so -troublesome. There was still the other aspect of the -case. He could not rid himself of the feeling that a -cruel injustice was being done to an innocent and defenseless -person, and that the whole blame of it must lie -at his own door.</p> - -<p>He had been given a week in which to think the matter -over, in which to examine it in all its bearings. Just -now he was not in a mood to urge the least objection to -Jack’s departure; all the same one frankly an autocrat -resented it deeply. Let the fellow go and be damned to -him! But in spite of the philosophic air with which he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</span> -sent the young fool about his business, his Grace realized -as soon as he was alone that it was quite impossible to -shut his eyes to certain facts. Vital issues were involved -and it was no use shirking them. Even if he had now -made up his mind to steel his heart against gross and -rather brutal injustice, so that the common weal might -prosper, nothing could alter the human aspect of a matter -that galled him bitterly.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI<br /> -A BOMB</h2></div> - -<p class="ph2">I</p> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">I</span>t</span> is a bad business, no doubt, when a statesman -stoops to sentiment. Unluckily for the Duke, now -that a brain cool and clear was needed in a critical -hour, it had become miserably overclouded by a sense of -chivalry. It was very inconvenient. Never in his life -had he found a decision so hard to reach, and even when -it had been arrived at he could not dismiss the girl from -his mind. She had impressed him in such a remarkable -way that it was impossible to forget her.</p> - -<p>Beyond all things a man of the world, one fact stood -out with exemplary clearness. If this girl could have -been taken upon her merits she would have been an -almost ideal mate for the heir to Bridport House. She -had shown such a delicate regard for his welfare, so right -had been her feeling in the whole affair, that, even apart -from mere justice, it seemed wrong to exclude her from -a circle she could not fail to grace. In the matter of -Bridport House her instinct was so divinely right that -no girl in the land was more naturally fitted to help a -tiro through his novitiate.</p> - -<p>A sad coil truly! And Jack had gone but a very few<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</span> -minutes, when the matter took another and wholly unexpected -turn. The prelude to a historic incident was the -appearance of Sarah on the scene.</p> - -<p>The eldest flower, the light of battle in her gray eyes, -was plainly bent on mischief. So much was clear as -soon as she came into the room. She had not been able -to forgive her father for revoking Mrs. Sanderson’s -notice. It had been a wanton dashing of the cup from -lips but little used to victory; and the act had served -to embitter a situation which by now was almost unbearable.</p> - -<p>Sarah had come of fell purpose, but before playing her -great <i>coup</i>, she opened lightly in the manner of a skirmisher. -Muriel, it seemed, was the topic that had brought -her there; at any rate, it was the topic on which she -began, masking with some astuteness the one so much -more sinister that lay behind.</p> - -<p>“Father, I suppose you know that Muriel has quite -made up her mind to get married?”</p> - -<p>“So I gather.” Detachment could hardly have been -carried farther.</p> - -<p>“Such a pity,” Sarah lightly pursued, “but I’m afraid -there’s nothing to be done. She was always obstinate.”</p> - -<p>“Always a fool,” muttered his Grace.</p> - -<p>“I’ve been discussing the matter with Aunt Charlotte.”</p> - -<p>The Duke nodded, but his portentous eyes asked Sarah -not to claim one moment more of his time than the circumstances -rendered absolutely necessary.</p> - -<p>“Aunt Charlotte feels very strongly that it will be wise -for you to give your consent.”</p> - -<p>“Why?” The Duke yawned, but the look in his face -was not of the kind that goes with mere boredom. “Any<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</span> -specific ground for the suggestion?” He scanned Sarah -narrowly, with heavily-lidded eyes.</p> - -<p>“On general grounds only, I believe.”</p> - -<p>The Duke was more than a little relieved, but he was -content to express the fact by transferring his gaze to -the book-rest in front of him.</p> - -<p>“She thinks it will be in the interests of everyone to -make the best of a most tiresome and humiliating business. -And, after all, he is certain to be Prime Minister -within the next ten years.”</p> - -<p>“Who tells you that?”</p> - -<p>“Last night at dinner I met Harry Truscott, and that’s -his prediction. He says Sir Dugald Maclean is the big -serpent that swallows all the little serpents.”</p> - -<p>“Uncommonly true!” His Grace made a wry mouth. -“Still, that’s hardly a reason why we should receive the -reptile here.”</p> - -<p>“No, of course. I quite agree. But Aunt Charlotte -thinks there is nothing to gain by standing out. Muriel -has quite made up her foolish mind. So the dignified -thing seems to be to make the best of a miserable -business.”</p> - -<p>“It may be,” said his Grace. “But personally I should -be grateful if Charlotte would mind her own affairs.”</p> - -<p>The tone implied quite definitely that he had no wish -to pursue the topic; nay, it even invited Sarah to make -an end of their talk and to go away as soon as possible. -Clearly he was far from understanding that it was little -more than a red herring across the trail of a sinister -intention. But the fact was revealed to him by her next -remarks.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, by the way, father,” she said casually, or at least -with a lightness of tone that was misleading, “there’s one -other matter. I’ve been thinking the situation out.”</p> - -<p>“Situation!” groped his Grace.</p> - -<p>“That has been created.” Sarah’s tone was almost -infantile—“by your insisting that Mrs. Sanderson should -stay on.”</p> - -<p>“Well, what of it, what of it?”</p> - -<p>“It simply makes the whole thing impossible.” Sarah -had achieved the voice of the dove. “So long as this -woman remains in the house one feels that one cannot -stay here.”</p> - -<p>“Why not?”</p> - -<p>“Because”—Sarah fixed a deliberate eye on the face -of her sire—“neither Aunt Charlotte nor I think that the -present arrangement is quite seemly.”</p> - -<p class="ph2">II</p> - -<p>The attack had been neatly launched, and she saw by -the look on her father’s face that it had gone right home. -She was a slow-witted, rather crass person, with a kind -of heavy conceit of her own, but like all the other Dinneford -ladies, at close quarters she was formidable. The -button was off her foil. It was her intention to wound. -And at the instant she struck, his Grace was unpleasantly -aware of that fact.</p> - -<p>“What d’ye mean?” It was his recoil from the stroke.</p> - -<p>“I have talked over the matter with Aunt Charlotte. -She agrees with me that the present arrangement is quite -hopeless. And she thinks that as you are unwilling for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</span> -Mrs. Sanderson to be sent away, the only course for -Blanche, Marjorie, and myself is to leave the house.”</p> - -<p>The face of her father grew a shade paler, but for the -moment that was the only expression of the inward fury. -He saw at once that the dull fool who dared to beard -him was no more than a cat’s-paw of the arch-schemer. -The mine was Charlotte’s, even if fired by a hand infinitely -less cunning.</p> - -<p>“Is this a threat?” The surge of his rage was hard -to control.</p> - -<p>“You leave us no alternative,” said Sarah doughtily. -“Aunt Charlotte thinks in the circumstances we shall be -fully justified in going to live with her. I think so, too; -and I don’t doubt that Blanche and Marjorie will see the -matter in the same light.”</p> - -<p>“What do you think you will gain?” His voice shook -with far more than vexation. “The proposal simply -amounts to the washing of dirty linen in public.”</p> - -<p>“There is such a thing as personal dignity, father,” -said Sarah in her driest tone.</p> - -<p>“No doubt; but how you are going to serve it by -dancing to the piping of Charlotte I can’t for the life of -me see.”</p> - -<p>Sarah, however, could see something else. The blow -had met already with some success. And she was fully -determined to follow up a first advantage.</p> - -<p>“Well, father”—her words were of warriorlike conciseness—“if -you still insist on Mrs. Sanderson’s presence -here, that is the course we intend to take.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” A futile monosyllable, yet at that moment full -of meaning.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</span></p> - -<p class="ph2">III</p> - -<p>The ultimatum delivered, Sarah promptly retired. -She took away from the interview a pleasing consciousness -that the honors were with her. And this sense of -nascent victory had not grown less by half-past one when -she reached Hill Street in time to lunch with Aunt Charlotte.</p> - -<p>It was a rather cheerless and ascetic meal, but both -ladies were in such excellent fighting trim that the -meagerness of the fare didn’t matter. Sarah was sure -that she had scored heavily. A well-planted bomb had -wrought visible confusion in the ranks of the foe. “He -sees that it places him in a most awkward position,” was -her summary for the grim ears of the arch-plotter.</p> - -<p>“One knew it would.” There were times when Aunt -Charlotte had a striking personal resemblance to Moltke; -and just now, beyond a doubt, she bore an uncanny likeness -to that successful Prussian.</p> - -<p>“He hates the idea of what he calls washing dirty linen -in public.”</p> - -<p>“Lacks moral courage as usual.” The remark was -made in an undertone to the coal-scuttle.</p> - -<p>“I hope——.” But Sarah suddenly bit off the end of -her sentence. After all, there are things one cannot -discuss.</p> - -<p>“You hope what?” The eye of Aunt Charlotte fixed -her like a kite.</p> - -<p>“No need to say what one hopes,” said Sarah dourly.</p> - -<p>“I agree.” Aunt Charlotte took a sip of hot water and -munched a peptonized biscuit with a kind of savage glee. -“But we have to remember that the ice is very thin. One<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</span> -has always felt that—well, you know what one means. -One has felt sometimes that your father....”</p> - -<p>Sarah agreed. For more years than she cared to remember -she....</p> - -<p>“Quite so,” Aunt Charlotte took another biscuit. -“And everybody must know.... However, the time -has now come to make an end.”</p> - -<p>“I am sure it has,” said Sarah.</p> - -<p>“Still we are playing it up very high,” said the great -tactician. “And we shall do well to remember....”</p> - -<p>“I agree,” said Sarah cryptically.</p> - -<p>Misgiving they might have, but just now the uppermost -feeling was pride in their work and a secret satisfaction. -There could be no doubt that the blow had gone home. -At last they had taken the measure of his Grace, they -had found his limit, the point had been reached beyond -which he would not go.</p> - -<p>“<i>Au fond</i> a coward,” Aunt Charlotte affirmed once -more, for the benefit of the coal-scuttle. And then for -the benefit of Sarah, with a ring of triumph, “Always -sets too high a value on public opinion, my dear.”</p> - -<p>Such being the case the conspirators had every right -to congratulate themselves. And as if to confirm their -victory, there came presently by telephone a most urgent -message from Mount Street. Charlotte was to go round -at once.</p> - -<p>“There, what did I tell you!” said that lady. And she -sublimely ordered her chariot.</p> - -<p class="ph2">IV</p> - -<p>Enroute to Bridport House, the redoubtable Charlotte -did not allow herself to question that the foe was at the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</span> -point of hauling down the flag. His hurry to do so was a -little absurd, but it was so like him to throw up the sponge -at the mere threat of publicity. This indecent haste to -come to terms deepened a contempt which had lent a -grim enjoyment to a long hostility.</p> - -<p>However, the reception in store for her ladyship in the -smaller library did much to modify her views. She was -received by her brother with an air of menace which almost -verged upon truculence.</p> - -<p>“Charlotte”—there was a boldness of attack for which -she was by no means prepared—“the time has now come -to make an end of this comedy.”</p> - -<p>She fully agreed, yet the sixth sense given to woman -found occasion to warn her that she didn’t know in the -least to what she was agreeing.</p> - -<p>“You would have it so, you know.”</p> - -<p>He was asked succinctly to explain.</p> - -<p>“Well, it’s a long story.” Already there was a note in -the mordant voice which his sister heard for the first -time. “A long, a strange, and if you will, a romantic -story. And let me say that it is by no wish of my own -that I tell it. However, Fate is stronger than we are -in these little matters, and no doubt wiser.”</p> - -<p>“No doubt,” said Charlotte drily. But somehow that -note in his voice made her uneasy, and the look in his -face seemed to hold her every nerve in a vise. “You are -speaking in riddles, my friend,” she added with a little -flutter of impatience.</p> - -<p>“It may be so, but before I go on I want you clearly -to understand that it is you, not I, who insist on bringing -the roof down upon us.”</p> - -<p>Charlotte’s only reply was to sit very upright, with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</span> -her sarcastic mouth drawn in a rigid line. She could not -understand in the least what her brother was driving -at, but in his manner was a new, a strange intensity which -somehow gave her a feeling of profound discomfort.</p> - -<p>“You don’t realize what you are doing,” he said. -“Still you are not to blame for that. But the time has -come to pull aside the curtain, and to let you know what -we all owe a woman who has been cruelly maligned.”</p> - -<p>Charlotte stiffened perceptibly at these words. After -all, the case was no more and no less than for more -than twenty years she had known it to be. Still open -confession was good for the soul! It was a sordid -intrigue, an intrigue of a nature which simply made her -loathe the man opposite. How dare he—and with a -servant in his own house! If looks could have slain, -his Grace would have been spared the necessity to continue -a very irksome narrative.</p> - -<p>“Make provision for her and send her away.” The -sharp voice was like the crack of a gun.</p> - -<p>The Duke raised himself slowly and painfully on his -elbows. “Hold your tongue,” he said. And his eyes -struck at her. “Be good enough to forgo all comment -until you have heard the whole story.”</p> - -<p>It was trying Charlotte highly, but she set herself determinedly -to listen.</p> - -<p>“Do you remember when she first came here, as second -maid to poor Rachel, a fine, upstanding, gray-eyed Scots -girl, one of the most beautiful creatures you ever saw? -Do you remember her devotion? No, I see you have -forgotten.” He closed his eyes for an instant, while the -woman opposite kept hers fixed steadily upon him. -“Well, I don’t excuse myself. But Rachel and I were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</span> -never happy; the plain truth is we ought not to have -married. It was a family arrangement and it recoiled -upon us. The Paringtons are an effete lot and the same -can be said of us Dinnefords. Nature asked for something -else.”</p> - -<p>Now that he had unlocked the doors of memory a -growing emotion became too much for the Duke, and for -a moment he could not go on. His sister, in the meantime, -continued to hold him with pitiless eyes.</p> - -<p>“One might say,” he went on, “that it was the call -of the blood. I remember her first as the factor’s -daughter, a long-legged creature in a red tam-o’-shanter, -running about the woods of Ardnaleuchan. You haven’t -forgotten Donald Sanderson, the father?”</p> - -<p>“No, I haven’t forgotten him,” said Charlotte.</p> - -<p>“That was a fine fellow. ‘Man Donald’ as our father -used to call him, helped me to stalk my first stag. We -ranged the woods together days on end. I sometimes -think I owe more to that man than to any other human -being.”</p> - -<p>Again he was silent, but the eyes of his sister never -left his face.</p> - -<p>“Yes, it was the call of the blood.” He sighed as he -passed his handkerchief over his face which was now -gray and glistening. “As I say, Rachel and I ought -not to have married; we didn’t suit each other. Our -marriage was a family arrangement. It had almost -ceased to be tolerable long before the end, but we kept -our compact as well as we could, for we were determined -that other people should not suffer. And then -came Rachel’s long illness, and the girl’s wonderful devotion—do -you remember how Rachel would rather have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</span> -her with her than any of the nurses? And then she -died, and of course that altered everything.”</p> - -<p>Lady Wargrave sat as if carved out of stone, her eyes -still upon the bleak face of the invalid. “Is that all?” -she said.</p> - -<p>“No, it is not. There’s more to tell.”</p> - -<p>“Tell it then so that we may have done with it.” Charlotte’s -voice quivered.</p> - -<p>“Very well, since you insist.” The softness of the -tone was surprising, yet to Charlotte it said nothing. -“Rachel died and everything, as I say, was altered. ‘Man -Donald’s’ daughter became the only woman who ever -really meant anything to me. Somehow I felt I couldn’t -do without her. And to make an end of a long and -tedious story, finally I married her.”</p> - -<p>“You <i>married</i> her!” Lady Wargrave sat as if she -had swallowed a poker.</p> - -<p>“Yes, but before doing so I made a condition. Things -were to go on as they were, provided....”</p> - -<p>“... provided!” Excitement fought curiosity in -Charlotte’s angry voice.</p> - -<p>“... she didn’t bring a boy into the world.”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid I don’t understand.” Charlotte’s voice -cracked in the middle.</p> - -<p>“It was quite a simple arrangement, and in the circumstances -it seemed the best. So long as there was no -man child to complicate the thing unduly, the world -was to be kept out of our secret. At the time it seemed -wise and right to do that. Otherwise it would have -meant a fearful upset for everybody.”</p> - -<p>“Is one to understand,” gasped Charlotte, “that when -Rachel died you actually married this—this woman?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</span></p> - -<p>The Duke nodded. “But I made the condition that -our secret should be rigidly guarded—always assuming -that Fate did not prove too much for us. She went -to the little house on the river at Buntisford, where -I used to go for the fishing and shooting. And she gave -me ten years of happiness—the only happiness I have -known. And then came my breakdown, since when she -has nursed me with more than a wife’s devotion.” His -voice failed suddenly and he lay back in his chair with -closed eyes.</p> - -<p>It was left to Charlotte to break the irksome silence -that followed.</p> - -<p>“How could you be so mad!” She spoke under her -breath not intending her words to be heard, but a quick -ear caught them.</p> - -<p>“Nay,” he said in the tone that was so new to her, -“it was the only thing to do. It was the call of the -blood. And this was a devoted woman, a woman one -could trust implicitly.”</p> - -<p>“Madness, my friend, madness!”</p> - -<p>He shook his head somberly. “All life is a madness, -if you will a divine madness. It is a madness that damns -the consequences. By taking too much thought for the -morrow we entomb ourselves. When Rachel died life -meant for me the woman of my choice. And, Charlotte, -let me say this”—he raised himself in his chair and -looked at his sister fixedly—“she is the best woman I -have ever known.”</p> - -<p>For a moment she sat a picture of bewilderment, and -then in a voice torn with emotion she said, “Out of regard -for the others things had better go on as they are.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</span> -But perhaps you will tell me, are there any children of -this marriage?”</p> - -<p>“There is one child.”</p> - -<p>Charlotte caught her breath sharply.</p> - -<p>“A girl. And in accordance with our compact she -has been brought up in complete ignorance of her paternity. -It seemed wise that she should know nothing. -Her mother had her reared among her own people, because -it was her mother’s express wish that the children -of the first marriage should suffer no prejudice; and at -the present time neither the girl herself nor the world -at large is any the wiser.”</p> - -<p>Charlotte began to breathe a little more freely. “At -all events,” she said, “that fact seems to confirm one’s -opinion that things had better go on as they are.”</p> - -<p>But her brother continued to gaze at her with somber -eyes. “Charlotte,” he said very slowly, “you have forced -me to tell a story I had hoped would never be told in -my lifetime. I have had to suffer your suspicions, but -now that you are in the secret, you must share its responsibilities.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t understand you,” said Lady Wargrave bluntly.</p> - -<p>“I will explain. A horrible injustice has been done -this girl, the child of the second marriage. So much -is clear to you, no doubt?”</p> - -<p>Lady Wargrave’s only reply was to tighten her lips.</p> - -<p>“You wish me to be still more explicit?”</p> - -<p>She invited him to be so.</p> - -<p>“Well, as far as I can I will be.” His air was simple -matter of fact. “But I warn you that we are now at -the point where we have to realize that Fate is so much -stronger than ourselves.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</span></p> - -<p>A momentary hesitation drew a harsh, “Go on, let me -hear the worst.”</p> - -<p>“Can’t you guess who this girl is?” he said abruptly.</p> - -<p>“Pray, why should one?”</p> - -<p>“She is the girl Jack wants to marry.”</p> - -<p>A long silence followed this announcement. It would -have been kind perhaps had he helped his sister to break -it, but a clear perception of the first thought in her mind -had raised a barrier. With a patience that was half-malicious -he waited for a speech that he knew was bound -to come.</p> - -<p>“It was to have been expected,” she said at last with -something perilously like a snarl of subdued anger.</p> - -<p>“Why expected?” They were the words for which he -had waited, and he seized them promptly.</p> - -<p>“She has been too much for you, my friend.”</p> - -<p>“Whom do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“The mother, of course. She has planned this marriage -so that she might be revenged upon us here.”</p> - -<p>He was quite ready to do Charlotte the justice of allowing -that it was the only view she was likely to hold. The -pressure of mere facts was too heavy. Words of his -would be powerless against them; and yet he was determined -to use every means at his command to clear -that suspicion from her mind.</p> - -<p>“I hope you will believe me when I tell you she is -entirely innocent,” he said in a voice of sudden emotion.</p> - -<p>Charlotte slowly shook her head, but it was a gesture -of defeat. She was beyond malice now.</p> - -<p>“Charlotte, I give you my word that she had no part -in it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</span></p> - -<p>His sister looked at him pityingly. “It is impossible -to believe that,” she said without bitterness.</p> - -<p>“So I see. But it is my duty to convince you.”</p> - -<p>For a moment he fought a growing emotion, and then -his mind suddenly made up, he pressed the button of the -electric bell that was near his elbow.</p> - -<p class="ph2">V</p> - -<p>The familiar summons was answered by Harriet herself. -As she came into the room her rather scared eyes -were caught at once by the profile of the dowager. But -the reception in store for her was far from being of -the kind she had reason to expect, for which she had -had too little time to prepare.</p> - -<p>To begin with Lady Wargrave rose to receive her. -And that stately and considered act was supplemented -by the simple words of the Duke.</p> - -<p>“She knows everything,” he said from the depths of -his invalid chair, without a suspicion of theatricality.</p> - -<p>Harriet, all the color struck from her face, shrank back, -a picture of horror and timidity.</p> - -<p>“Sit down, my dear, and let us hold a little family -council.” That note of intimacy and affection was so -strange in Charlotte’s ear, that it hit her almost as hard -as the previous words had hit the wife of his bosom. -However, the two ladies sat, and the Duke with a nonchalance -that hardly seemed credible, went on in a -quietly domestic voice, as he turned to Harriet again. -“We shall value your help and advice, if you feel inclined -to give it, in this matter of Mary and the young -man Dinneford.”</p> - -<p>At this amazing speech Lady Wargrave stirred uneasily<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</span> -on her cushion of thorns. She breathed hard, her -mordant mouth grew set, in her grim eyes were unutterable -things.</p> - -<p>“One moment, Johnnie,” she interposed. “Does Mrs.—er -Sanderson quite understand what it means to us?”</p> - -<p>“Perfectly,” he said, “no one better.” The depth of -the tone expressed far more than those dry words. “It -may help matters,” he added, turning to Harriet again, -“if I say at once that we are going to ask you to make -two decisions in the name of the people you have served -so long and so faithfully. And the first is this: Since, -as you will see I have been forced, much against my will, -to let a third person into our secret, you have now the -opportunity of taking your true position in the sight of -the world.”</p> - -<p>Lady Wargrave shivered. Somehow this was a turn -of the game she had not been able to foresee.</p> - -<p>“That is to say,” the Duke went on, “you have now, -as far as I am concerned, full liberty to assume your true -style and dignity as mistress here. For more than twenty -years you have sacrificed yourself for others, but the -time has now come when you need do so no longer. -What do you say?”</p> - -<p>Harriet did not speak. Lady Wargrave was silent -also, but a kind of stony horror was freezing her. The -whole situation had become so fantastic that she felt the -inadequacy of her emotions.</p> - -<p>“You shall have a perfectly free hand,” the Duke went -on. “Assume your position now, and good care shall -be taken that you are amply maintained in it. What do -you say, my dear?” he added gently.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</span></p> - -<p>Tears were melting her now, and she was unable to -speak.</p> - -<p>“Well, think it over,” said his Grace. “And be assured -that whichever course you take, it will be the right -one. We owe you more than we can repay. However, -that is only one issue, and there is another, which is -hardly less important.”</p> - -<p>Lady Wargrave stirred again on her cushion. For a -moment there was not a sound to be heard in the room.</p> - -<p>“You see,” the Duke went on, “I’ve been giving -anxious thought to—to this girl of ours. And I really -don’t see, having regard to all the circumstances, why -justice should any longer be denied her. No matter who -the man is, he is lucky to get her. And, as I understand, -they are a very devoted couple.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, they are!” The words were Harriet’s and -they were uttered in a tone broken by emotion.</p> - -<p>“Well, you shall make the decision,” he said. “You -know, of course, how the matter stands.” Harriet -bowed her head in assent, and his Grace turned an eye -bright with malice upon the Dowager. “You see, Charlotte, -this girl of ours, brought up in a very humble -way, and left to fight her own battle, under the providence -of the good God, absolutely declines to come -among us unless she has the full and free consent of the -head of the clan. So far that consent has not been given, -and if in the course of the next week it is not forthcoming, -the young man Dinneford threatens to return -to Canada.”</p> - -<p>“I see.” The walls of Charlotte’s world had fallen in, -her deepest feelings had been outraged, but she was still -perfect mistress of herself. She turned her hard eyes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</span> -upon Harriet, but in them now was a look very different -from the one that had been wont to regard the housekeeper.</p> - -<p>Much had happened in a very little time, but to the -last a fine tactician, Charlotte had contrived to keep her -head. She was in the presence of calamity, she had met -a blow that would have broken a weaker person in -pieces, but already a line of action was formed in her -mind. One thing alone could save them, and that the -continued goodwill of the woman they had so long misjudged -and traduced.</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Sanderson”—she used the old name unconsciously—“we -owe you a great deal.” It was not easy -to make the admission, even if common justice rather -than policy called for it. “I hope now you will let us -add to the debt.”</p> - -<p>The Duke was forced to admire the dignity and the -directness of the appeal. He knew how hard she had -been hit. But that was not all. Marking his sister’s -tone, intently watching her grim face, he saw how completely -her attitude had changed. The other woman had -conquered, but in spite of all he had suffered at the -hands of Charlotte, it was difficult not to feel a certain -respect as well as a certain pity for her in the hour of -her defeat.</p> - -<p>By this, Harriet, too, had become mistress of herself. -She, also, had suffered much, but she had never played -for victory, and she was very far from the thought of it -now. “I have but one wish,” she said.</p> - -<p>“And that is?” His tone was strangely gentle for -her voice had failed suddenly.</p> - -<p>“To do what is right.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</span></p> - -<p>The simplicity of the words held them silent. Brother -and sister looked at her with a kind of awe in their eyes. -It was as if another world had opened to their rather -bewildered gaze.</p> - -<p>“I want to do right to those who have been so good to -me, and to my father and my grandfather before me.”</p> - -<p>Somehow that speech, gentleness itself, yet sharp as -a sword, brought the blood to Lady Wargrave’s face. -In a flash she saw and felt the justification of her -brother’s amazing deed. This devoted woman in her selflessness -held the master key to life and Fate; in a flash -of insight she saw that groundlings and grovelers like -themselves were powerless before it. Somehow those -words, that bearing, solved the mystery. She could no -longer blame her brother; he had been caught in the toils -of an irresistible force.</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Sanderson”—there was reverence now in the -harsh voice—“you are the best judge of what is right. -We are content to leave the matter to your discretion.” -Even if the accomplished tactician was uppermost in -Charlotte’s words, in the act of uttering them was a large -rather noble simplicity.</p> - -<p>The Duke nodded acquiescence.</p> - -<p>“I should like the present arrangement to go on,” said -Harriet. “Perhaps the truth will have to be known -some time, but let it come out after we are dead, when -it can hurt nobody.”</p> - -<p>Lady Wargrave drew a long breath of relief and gratitude.</p> - -<p>“You are very wise,” she said.</p> - -<p>But the Duke took her up at once with a saturnine<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</span> -smile. “You seem to forget, Charlotte, that the existing -arrangement can no longer go on.”</p> - -<p>“Pray, why not?”</p> - -<p>“You have just been kind enough to tell us,” he said -bitingly, “that Sarah and the girls are going to live with -you at Hill Street—except, of course, on one condition!”</p> - -<p>Their eyes met. Suddenly they smiled frostily at each -other.</p> - -<p>“If you care to leave the matter to me,” said Charlotte, -“I will see to that.”</p> - -<p>“But that woman, Sarah,” he persisted. “She’s so -obstinate that we may have to tell her.”</p> - -<p>Charlotte shook her head doughtily. “I think I shall -be able to manage her.”</p> - -<p>“So be it.” He smiled grimly. “Anyhow we shall be -very glad to leave that matter in your hands.”</p> - -<p>“With perfect safety, I think you may do that.” And -Charlotte, sore and embittered as she was, rounded off -this comfortable assurance with a long sigh of relief.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII<br /> -ARDORS AND ENDURANCES</h2></div> - -<p class="ph2">I</p> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">“T</span>here,</span>” cried Mary upon a note of triumph.</p> - -<p>An excited wave of that delightful journal, the -<i>Morning Post</i>, accompanied the pæan. And then -it was hurled across the breakfast-table with deft precision -into the lap of Milly.</p> - -<p>“A marriage has been arranged,” said the courier of -Hymen, “and will shortly take place between Charles, -only son of the late Simeon Cheesewright and Mrs. -Cheesewright, of Streatham Hill, and Mildred Ulrica, -younger daughter of the late H. Blandish Wren and Mrs. -Wren, 5, Victoria Mansions, Broad Place, Knightsbridge, -W.”</p> - -<p>Again arose the triumphant cry.</p> - -<p>But Mrs. Wren, excavating the interior of a boiled -egg, felt it to be her duty to check this unbridled enthusiasm. -For some days past, with rather mournful -iteration, she had let it be known that the impending -announcement could not hope to receive her unqualified -approval.</p> - -<p>In the first place, as she frankly admitted, the Marquis -had spoiled her. She had to confess that he had proved<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</span> -sadly lacking in backbone when brought to the test, but -his sternest critics could not deny that “before everything -he was a gentleman.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wren ascribed her own pure taste in manhood -to the fact that she had begun her career in the legitimate -drama under the ægis of Mr. Painswick at the Theater -Royal, Edinburgh. He, too, had been before everything -a gentleman. Mr. Painswick had shaped Lydia Mifflin, -as she was then, in his own inimitable mold. Upon a -day she was to play Grace to his Digby Grant in “The -Two Roses.” Then it was, as she had always felt, that -she had touched her high-water mark; and the signal -occasion was ever afterwards a beacon in her life. From -that bright hour the Mr. Painswick standard had regulated -the fair Lydia’s survey of the human male. Even -the late lamented Mr. H. Blandish Wren, who was without -a peer in “straight” comedy, whose Steggles in “London -Assurance” had never been surpassed, even that paladin——. -Still it isn’t quite fair to give away State -secrets!</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wren had once said of Charles Cheesewright -“that he was not out of the top drawer.” However, if -he was not of the caste of Vere de Vere she had to own -that “he had points.” He was one of those young men -who mean more than they say, who do better than they -promise, who clothe their thoughts with actions rather -than words. Also, he had two motors—a Daimler and -a Rolls-Royce, he had rooms in the Albany, and though -perhaps just a little inclined to overdress, he had such -a sure taste in jewelry that he took his fiancée once a -week to Cartier’s. And beyond everything else, he had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</span> -the supreme advantage over my lord that he knew his -own mind pretty clearly.</p> - -<p>In the opinion of Princess Bedalia, Milly was an extremely -lucky girl. Her young man was a simple, good -fellow, honest as the day, he was incapable of any kind -of meanness, he was very rich, and, what was hardly -less important, he was very much in love. Milly, however, -who had her mother’s knack of seeing men and -events objectively, did not yield a final graceful assent -until she extorted a promise from Mr. Charles that he -would suffer the rape of his mustache, at the best a mere -scrub of an affair, and that he would solemnly eschew -yellow plush hats which made him look like a piano-tuner.</p> - -<p>Still, on this heroic morning, in the middle of July, -Mrs. Wren seemed less pleased with the world than she -had reason to be. She did some sort of justice to her -egg, but she wouldn’t look at the marmalade. If the -truth must be told, a rather histrionic mind was still -haunted by the shade of the noble Marquis. As Milly, -in one of her moments of engaging candor, had told -Mary already, as far as her mother was concerned Wrexham -had simply queered the pitch for everybody.</p> - -<p>Certainly that lady felt it to be her duty to rebuke -Mary’s enthusiasm. There was nothing to make a song -about. Milly was simply throwing herself away. If -everyone had had their rights, she would have been Lady -W., with a coronet on her notepaper. As it was, there -was really nothing so very wonderful in being the wife -of an overdressed tobacconist.</p> - -<p>Mary cried “Shame,” and for her pains was sternly -admonished. One who has made such hay of her own<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</span> -dazzling matrimonial chances must not venture to say a -word. She who might have queened it among the highest -in the land merely by substituting the big word “Yes” -for the small word “No” must forever hold her peace on -this vexed subject. But Mary was in such wild spirits -at the announcement in the <i>Morning Post</i> that she refused -to be browbeaten. She continued to sing the -praises of “Charley” in spite of the clear annoyance of -Mrs. Wren. The good lady was unable to realize that -the girl was trying with might and main to stifle an ache -that was almost intolerable.</p> - -<p>“What ho!” Milly suddenly exclaimed, withdrawing -a slightly <i>retroussé</i> but decidedly charming nose from -Page 5 of the <i>Morning Post</i>, “so they’ve actually made -Uncle Jacob a Bart.”</p> - -<p>“My dear, you mean a baronet. Who?—made who -a baronet?” Mrs. Wren laid down an imperious egg-spoon.</p> - -<p>“Jacob Cheesewright, Esquire, M.P. for Bradbury, a -rich manufacturer and prominent philanthropist. He’s -in the honor list just issued by the King’s government.”</p> - -<p>“Hooray!” Mary indulged in an enthusiastic wave -of the tea-pot which happily was rather less than half -full. “Which means, my dear Miss Wren, that one of -these days there’s just a chance of your being my lady.”</p> - -<p>“As though that could possibly matter!” cried Milly -upon a note of the finest scorn imaginable.</p> - -<p>“As though that could possibly matter!” Mary’s reproduction -of the note in question was so humorously -exact that it sent her victim into a fit of laughter.</p> - -<p>But Mrs. Wren had her word to say on the subject. In<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</span> -her opinion, which was that of all sensible people, it mattered -immensely.</p> - -<p>“As though it could!” persisted Milly.</p> - -<p>“My dear,” said Mrs. Wren, “that is shallow and ignorant. -A baronetcy is a baronetcy. All people of -breeding think so, anyway.”</p> - -<p>The prospect of Uncle Jacob’s elevation had already -been canvassed in Broad Place by Charles, his nephew. -There was evidently something in the wind Whitehall -way. Uncle Jacob had professed such a heroic indifference -to Aunt Priscilla’s intelligent anticipations, that -even Charles, his nephew, the simplest of simple souls, -and a singularly unworldly young man, had been constrained -to take an interest in the matter. As for Aunt -Priscilla, she had been in such a state of flutter for the -past two months, that the upper servants at Thole Park, -Maidstone, even had visions of an earldom. Still, as -Mr. Bryant, the butler, who in his distinguished youth -had graduated at Bridport House, Mayfair, remarked to -Mrs. Jennings the housekeeper in his statesmanlike way, -“The Limit for baby’s underclothing is a baronetcy.”</p> - -<p class="ph2">II</p> - -<p>Breakfast was just at an end when the trim parlormaid -came into the room with a portentous-looking -milliner’s box. It had that moment arrived, and on examination -was found to contain a long coat of sable. -This enchanting garment was with Mary’s best wishes -for future happiness.</p> - -<p>The donor was scolded roundly for her lavishness, but -Milly was delighted by the gift, and Mrs. Wren, who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</span> -had professed a stern determination to be no longer -friends with Mary was rather touched. She well knew -that she was a person “to bank on.” Besides, Mrs. Wren -had an honest admiration for a fine talent and the unassumingness -with which it was worn. She was incapable -of making an enemy, for her one idea was to -bring pleasure to other people. If ever human creature -had been designed for happiness it must have been this -girl, yet none could have been more fully bent on casting -it willfully away.</p> - -<p>As a fact, both Milly and her mother had been much -troubled by the course of recent events. The previous -afternoon Jack had taken a sad farewell of his friends -in Broad Place. His passage was already booked in the -<i>Arcadia</i>, which that very Saturday was to sail from -Liverpool to New York. All his hopes had proved futile, -all his arguments vain. Mary could not be induced to -change her mind, which even at the eleventh hour he had -ventured to think was just possible. In those last desperate -moments, strength of will had enabled her to stick -to her resolve. And in the absence of any intimation -from Bridport House the Tenderfoot had been driven -to carry out his threat. Yet up till the very last he had -tried his utmost to persuade the girl he loved to merge -her own life in his and accompany him to that new world -where a career awaited him.</p> - -<p>Perhaps these efforts had not been wholly reasonable. -She had a real vocation for the theater if ever girl had, -even if he had a real vocation for jobbing land. But -allowance has to be made for a strong man in love. He -was in sorry case, poor fellow, but her sense of duty to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</span> -others was so strong, that even if it meant tragic unhappiness -for both, as it surely must, she still sought -the courage not to yield.</p> - -<p>Such a decision was going to cost a very great deal. -The previous afternoon, at the moment of parting, -she had been fully aware of that, and hour by hour -since she had realized it with a growing intensity. A -stern effort of the will had been needed for Princess -Bedalia to achieve her five hundred-and-sixty-second appearance -that evening; she had spent a miserable night -and now, in spite of the whole-heartedness with which -she threw herself into Milly’s affairs, her laugh was -pitched a little too high.</p> - -<p>Since the visit to Bridport House she had come to -know her own mind quite definitely. She was deeply in -love with Jack, but unless the powers that were gave -consent, she was now resolved never to marry him. In -vain her friends continued to assure her that such an -attitude was wrong. In vain the Tenderfoot declared -it to be simply preposterous. Cost what it might, it had -become a point of honor not to yield. To one of such -clear vision, with, as it seemed, a rather uncanny insight -into the workings of worlds beyond her own, it was -of vital importance to study the interests of Bridport -House.</p> - -<p>Milly, even if very angry with her friend, could not -help admiring this devotion to a quixotic sense of right, -and the force of character which faced the issue so unflinchingly. -She could not begin to understand the point -of view, but she well knew what it was going to cost. -And this morning, in spite of the pleasant and piquant<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</span> -drama of her own affairs, she could not rid herself of a -feeling of distress on Mary’s account. Now it had come -“to footing the bill,” a heavy price would have to be -paid. And to Milly’s shrewd, engagingly material mind, -the whole situation was exasperating.</p> - -<p>So much for the thoughts uppermost in a loyal heart, -while the misguided cause of them danced a <i>pas seul</i> in -honor of the morning’s news. Milly, indeed, as she -gazed in the glass over the chimney-piece to see what -sort of a figure she made in the coat of sable, was much -nearer tears than was either seemly or desirable. Still, -in spite of that, she was able to muster a healthy curiosity -upon the subject of her appearance. Fur has a -trick of making common people look more common, and -uncommon people look more uncommon, a trite fact of -which Milly, the astute, was well aware. It was pleasant -to find at any rate that a moment’s fleeting survey set all -her doubts at rest upon that important point. The coat, -a dream of beauty, became her quite miraculously. What -a virtue there was in that deep, rich gloss! It gave new -values to the eyes, the hair, the rounded chin, even the -piquant nose of the wearer.</p> - -<p>“You’re a dear!” Milly burst out, as she turned aside -from the glass. But the person to whom the tribute was -offered was quite absorbed in looking through the open -window. Indeed, at that very moment a succession of -royal toots from a motor horn ascended from the precincts -of Broad Place, and Mary ran out on to the -veranda with a view halloa. Then, her face full of -humor and eloquence, she turned to look back into the -room with the thrilling announcement: “Charley’s here!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</span></p> - -<p class="ph2">III</p> - -<p>In two minutes, or rather less as time is measured in -Elysium, Mr. Charles Cheesewright had entered that -pleasant room with all the gay assurance of an accepted -suitor.</p> - -<p>“How awfully well it reads, doesn’t it?” he said, taking -up the <i>Morning Post</i> with the fingers of a lover.</p> - -<p>“Uncle Jacob’s baronetcy?” said Mary, with an eye of -bold mischief.</p> - -<p>“Oh, no! That’s a bit of a bore,” said Mr. Charles -with a polite grimace.</p> - -<p>“Why a bore?”</p> - -<p>“Uncle Jacob has no heir and he’s trying to arrange -for me to be the second bart.”</p> - -<p>Princess Bedalia looked with a royal air at her favorite. -“The truth is, dear Charles, you are shamelessly pleased -about the whole matter.”</p> - -<p>“Well, ye-es, I am.” Charles was hopelessly cornered, -but like any other self-respecting Briton he was quite -determined to put as good a face as possible upon a most -damaging admission. “I am so awfully pleased for -Milly. And, of course, for Uncle Jacob.”</p> - -<p>“Not to mention Aunt Priscilla,” interposed Milly. It -was her proud boast that she had already tried a fall -with Aunt Priscilla, had tried it, moreover, pretty successfully. -That lady, within her own orbit, was a great -light, but Miss Wren had proved very well able for her -so far. The Aunt Priscillas of the world were not going -to harry Miss Wren, and it was by no means clear that -this simple fact did not count as much to her honor in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</span> -the sight of Uncle Jacob as it undoubtedly did in the -sight of Charles, his nephew.</p> - -<p>At any rate, Mr. Charles had come that morning to -Broad Place on a diplomatic mission. It seemed that -Uncle Jacob had made the sporting suggestion that the -happy pair should motor down to Thole Park, Maidstone, -for luncheon, that Charles, whose only merit in the sight -of heaven was that he was “plus one” at North Berwick, -should afterwards give careful consideration to the new -nine-hole course which had been laid out in front of the -house by the renowned Alec Thomson of Cupar, while -Milly had a little heart-to-heart talk with Aunt Priscilla.</p> - -<p>In a word, it began to look like being quite a good -world for Charles and Milly. And even Mrs. Wren was -constrained to admit it. Sheer human merit was becoming -a little too much for the higher criticism. And daily -these twain were discovering new beauties in each other. -For one thing, Charles’s upper lip was now as smooth -as a baby’s, and a mouth so firm and manly was thereby -disclosed that it really seemed a pity to hide it. Moreover, -for a fortnight past, in subtle, unsuspected ways he -had been bursting forth into fine qualities. This morning, -for instance, he seemed to have added a cubit to his -stature. He was in the habit of saying in regard to -himself that “he was not a flyer,” but really if you saw -him at the angle Milly did, and you came to think about -him in her rational manner, it began to seem after all -he might turn out a bit of one. If only he could be -persuaded to give up his piano-tuner’s hat there would -be hope for him anyway.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</span></p> - -<p class="ph2">IV</p> - -<p>Milly had scarcely left the room to put on her things -before she was back in it. And she returned in such -a state of excitement that she could hardly speak. The -cause of it, moreover, following hard upon her heels, was -a wholly unexpected visitor.</p> - -<p>“He was just coming in at the front door,” Milly -explained, as soon as the state of her emotions would -allow her to do so. “I was never so taken aback in my -life. Why, a feather would have downed me.”</p> - -<p>In that moment of drama it was not too much to say -that a feather would have had an equal effect upon Mary. -If human resolve stood for anything, and it stood for a -good deal in the case of Jack Dinneford, he should have -been on his way to Liverpool. At six o’clock the previous -evening they had parted heroically, not expecting -to see each other again. For seventeen hours or so, -they had been steeling their wills miserably. About -2 a.m., the hour when ghosts walk and pixies dance the -foxtrot, both had felt that, after all, they would not be -strong enough to bear the self-inflicted blow. But daylight -had found them true to the faith that was in them. -She had just enough fortitude not to telephone a change -of mind, he was just man enough to decide not to miss -the 10.5 from Euston.</p> - -<p>Still, when the best has been said for it, the human -will is but a trivial affair. Man is not much when the -Fates begin to weave their magic web. A taxi was actually -at the door of Jack’s chambers, nay, his luggage had -even been strapped into the front of the vehicle, when -there came an urgent message by telephone from Bridport<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</span> -House to say that his Grace most particularly desired -that Mr. Dinneford and Miss Lawrence would come -to luncheon at half-past one.</p> - -<p>What was a man to do? To obey the command was, -of course, to forgo all hope of sailing by the <i>Arcadia</i>. -To ignore it was to forgo all hope of entering Elysium. -In justice to Mr. Dinneford it took him rather less than -one minute to decide. His servant was promptly ordered -to unship his gear and dismiss the taxi.</p> - -<p>It was the nearest possible shave. His Grace had -run matters so fine, that had he delayed his communication -another two minutes, the Tenderfoot would have -been on his way to New York. Some miraculous change -of plan had occurred at the fifty-ninth minute of the -eleventh hour. Exactly what it was must now be the -business of a distracted lover to find out.</p> - -<p>Jack’s totally unexpected return to Broad Place was -in itself an epic. And his unheralded appearance had -such an effect upon Mary, upon Milly, upon Mrs. Wren, -that he regretted not having had the forethought to telephone -his change of plans. He came as a bolt from -the blue, bringing with him an immensely difficult -moment; and the presence of Mr. Charles Cheesewright, -of whom Jack only knew by hearsay, undoubtedly added -to its embarrassments.</p> - -<p>Before anything could be done, even before the excited -Milly could interpose a “Tell me, is it all right?” it was -necessary for these paladins to be made known to each -other. There was wariness on the part of both in the -process. Neither was quite able to accept the other on -trust. But a brief taking of the moral temperature by -two members of the sex which inclines to reserve convinced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</span> -the one that Wrexham’s successor had the air and -the look of a good chap, and what was quite as important, -convinced the other that the heir to the dukedom -was not the least of a swankpot. All of which was so -far excellent.</p> - -<p>A desire to ask a thousand questions was simply burning -holes in Milly. But she had to endure the torments -of martyrdom. Questions could not be asked in the -presence of Charles. It called for a great effort to behave -as if the bottom had not fallen out of the universe. -In the most heroic way she kept the conversation at a -diplomatic level, remarking among other things that it -was an ideal day for motoring, which finally reminded -her that she must really go and put on her hat.</p> - -<p>“And don’t forget a thick veil,” Mary called after her, -in a voice of superhuman detachment.</p> - -<p>The business of not letting the innocent Charles into -the secret was a superb piece of comedy. There is really -no need to write novels or to go to the play. They are -the stuff our daily lives are made of. The way in which -these four people set themselves to hoodwink a Simple -Simon of a fifth was quite a rich bit of humor. Little -recked Mr. Charles Cheesewright that the heavens had -just opened in Broad Place.</p> - -<p>At last Milly returned <i>cap-à-pie</i>, and then by the mercy -of Divine Providence Mr. Charles suddenly remembered -that it was a long way to Maidstone and that it was now -a quarter past eleven.</p> - -<p>“I’m quite ready when you are,” said Milly to her -cavalier, with all the guile of a young female serpent. -Mr. Charles shook hands gravely and Britishly all round, -and Mary wished them a pleasant journey, and Mrs.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</span> -Wren “hoped they would wrap up well,” and then Milly -stepped deftly back three paces from the door, saying, -“You know the way down, Charley,” as clear an intimation -as any young man could desire that it was up to him -to lead it.</p> - -<p>Charles led the way accordingly, and then came Milly’s -chance.</p> - -<p>“What <i>has</i> happened?”</p> - -<p>“Uncle Albert has sent for us.”</p> - -<p>“For both?”</p> - -<p>“For both!”</p> - -<p>Just for a moment Mary’s feelings nearly proved too -much for her. Having come to despair of Bridport -House, there had been no reason to hope for this sudden -change of front. She simply couldn’t fathom it. That -was also true of Milly. And as the significance of the -whole thing rushed upon that imperious creature, she -turned to Mary in the manner of Helen, the Spartan -Queen. “A last word to you, Miss Lawrence!” Her -voice trembled with excitement. “If you do anything -idiotic, I’ll never speak to you again. And that’s -official!”</p> - -<p class="ph2">V</p> - -<p>As the crow flies, it is just nine minutes from Broad -Place to Bridport House. Therefore they had time to -burn. And as it was such a perfect day for motoring, -it was a day equally well adapted for sitting under the -trees in the Park.</p> - -<p><i>Force majeure</i> was applied so vigorously by Mrs. -Wren, with timely aid from the Tenderfoot, that Mary -was not given half a chance to jib at this new and amazing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</span> -turn of fortune’s shuttle. She must wear her new -hat with the roses—Mrs. Wren. She must wear -Raquin’s biscuit-colored masterpiece—Mr. Dinneford. -Her diamond earrings thought Mrs. Wren. Mr. Dinneford -thought her old-fashioned seed pearl. There was -never really any question of her going to luncheon at -Bridport House at 1.30. Her friends and counselors did -not even allow it to arise. The only thing that need -trouble her was how she looked when she got there.</p> - -<p>En route she made a picture of immense distinction -beyond a doubt. Whether it was the hat with the roses, -or the sunshine of July, or the dress of simple muslin, -which on second thoughts seemed more in keeping with -the occasion than the Raquin masterpiece, and in the -opinion of Mrs. Wren had the further merit “that it gave -her eyes a chance,” or her favorite earrings which Aunt -Harriet had given her as a little girl; or the fact that Jack -walked beside her, and that Happiness is still the greatest -of Court painters, who shall say?—but in the course of -a pilgrimage from Albert Gate to the Marble Arch and -half way back again, she certainly attracted more than -her share of the public notice. In fact, with her fine -height and her lithe grace she actually provoked a hook-nosed, -hard-featured dame in a sort of high-hung -barouche to turn in the most deliberate manner and look -at her. Or it may have been because the Tenderfoot in -passing had raised a reluctant, semi-ironical hat.</p> - -<p>“Aunt Charlotte,” said he.</p> - -<p>“I hope Aunt Charlotte is not as disagreeable as she -looks,” was Mary’s thought, but doubtless remembering -in the nick of time Talleyrand’s famous maxim, she -merely said, “What a <i>clever</i> face!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</span></p> - -<p>“Is it?” said Jack, unconcernedly. But his mind was -on other things, perhaps.</p> - -<p>As a matter of fact, it <i>was</i> on other things.</p> - -<p>“Let’s sit here five minutes,” he said, as they came to -a couple of vacant chairs. “Then I’ll tell you a bit of -news.”</p> - -<p>They sat accordingly. And the bit of news was the -following:</p> - -<p>“Muriel’s hooked it.”</p> - -<p>Respect for her mother tongue caused Mary to demand -a repetition of this cryptic statement.</p> - -<p>“Hooked it with her Radical,” Jack amplified. “They -were married yesterday morning, quite quietly, ‘owing -to the indisposition of his Grace,’ the papers say. And -they are now in Scotland on their honeymoon.”</p> - -<p>“Let us hope they’ll be happy,” said Mary. “She has -a very brilliant husband, at any rate.”</p> - -<p>“Not a doubt of that. If brains breed happiness, -they’ll be all right.”</p> - -<p>But do brains breed happiness? that was the question -in their minds at the moment. Aunt Charlotte had -brains undoubtedly, but as she passed them three minutes -since no one could have said that she looked happy. The -Duke had brains, but few would have said that he was -happy. Mary herself had brains, and they had brought -her within an ace of wrecking her one chance of real -happiness.</p> - -<p>They were in the midst of this philosophical inquiry, -when Chance, that prince of magicians, gave the kaleidoscope -a little loving shake, and hey! presto! the other side -of the picture was laughingly presented to them.</p> - -<p>A rather lop-sided young man in a brown bowler hat<span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</span> -was marching head in air along the gravel in front of -them. One shoulder was a little higher than its neighbor, -his clothes looked shabby in the sun of July, his -gait was slightly grotesque, yet upon his face was a smile -of rare complacency. In one hand he held a small girl -of five, and in the other a small boy to match her; and -that may have been why at this precise moment he looked -as if he had just acquired a controlling interest in the -planet. And yet there must have been some deeper, -subtler reason for this young man’s air of power mingled -with beatitude.</p> - -<p>Rather mean of mansion as he was, it was impossible -for two shrewd spectators of the human comedy on the -Park chairs to ignore him as he swung gayly by. In -spite of his impossible hat and his weird trousers, the -mere look on his face was almost cosmic in its significance, -he was so clearly on terms with heaven. But in -any case he would have forcibly entered their scheme of -existence. Just as he came level with them he chanced -to lower his gaze abruptly and by doing so caught the -fascinated eyes of Mary fixed upon his face.</p> - -<p>“Good morning, Miss Lawrence. What a nice day!”</p> - -<p>He was not in a position to take off his hat, but he -enforced a hearty greeting with a superb bow, and passed -jauntily on.</p> - -<p>The Tenderfoot could not help being amused. “Who’s -your friend?” He turned a quizzical eye upon a countenance -glowing with mischief.</p> - -<p>“That’s Alf.”</p> - -<p>“In the name of all that’s wonderful, who is Alf?” -The tone was expostulation all compact, but as mirth was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</span> -frankly uppermost, even the most sensitive democrat -could hardly have resented it.</p> - -<p>“He’s a man on a newspaper.”</p> - -<p>“I see,” said the Tenderfoot. But somehow it didn’t -explain him.</p> - -<p>“An old friend, my dear, and he’s now the Press, with -a capital letter. The other day he interviewed me for -his paper.”</p> - -<p>“How could you let him?” gasped the Tenderfoot.</p> - -<p>“For the sake of old times.” Suddenly she loosed her -famous note. “That little man is in my stars. He dates -back to my earliest flapperdom, when my great ambition -was to kill him. He was the greengrocer’s boy in the -next street, and he used to call after me:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“‘I am Mary Plantagenet;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who would imagine it?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Eyes full of liquid fire,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Hair bright as jet;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No one knows my hist’ry,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I am wrapt in myst’ry,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I am the She-ro</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of a penny novelette.’”</div> - </div></div></div> - -<p>“Well, I hope,” said the Tenderfoot, “you jolly well -lammed into him for such a piece of infernal cheek.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I did,” she confessed. “One day I turned on -him and boxed his ears, and I’m bound to say he’s been -very respectful ever since. It was very amusing to be -reminded of his existence when he turned up the other -day. He paid me all sorts of extravagant compliments; -he seems to hold himself responsible for any success I -may have had.”</p> - -<p>“Nice of him.”</p> - -<p>“He says he has written me up for the past two years;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</span> -and that when he edits a paper of his own, and he’s -quite made up his mind that it won’t be long before he -does, I can have my portrait in it as often as I want.”</p> - -<p>“<i>My</i> Lord!”</p> - -<p>“All very honestly meant,” laughed Mary Plantagenet. -“It is very charming of Alf—a <i>nom de guerre</i>, by the -way. His real name is Michael Conner, but now he’s -Alf of the <i>Millennium</i>. And the other day at our interview, -when he came to talk of old times, somehow I -couldn’t help loving him.”</p> - -<p>“What, love—<i>that</i>!”</p> - -<p>“There’s something to love in everybody, my dear. It’s -really very easy to like people if you hunt for the positive—if -that’s not a high brow way of putting it! The -other day when Alf began to talk of his ambitions, and -of the wife he had married, and of the little Alfs and -the little Alfesses, I thought the more there are of you -the merrier, because after all you are rather fine, you -are good for the community, and you make this old world -go round. Anyhow we began as enemies, and now we -are friends ‘for keeps,’ and both Alf and I are so much -the better for knowing it.”</p> - -<p>“I wonder!”</p> - -<p>“Of course we are. And when Alf is a great editor, -as he means to be, and he is able to carry out his great -scheme of founding a Universal Love and Admiration -Society, for the purpose of bringing out the best in -everybody, including foreign nations—his very own idea, -and to my mind a noble one—he has promised to make -me an original member.”</p> - -<p>“A very original member!” The Tenderfoot scoffed.</p> - -<p>But sitting there in the eye of the morning, with the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</span> -gentle leaves whispering over his head, and the finest -girl in the land by his side drawing a fanciful picture of -“Alf” on the gravel with the point of her sunshade, he -was not in the mood for mockery. The world was so -full of a number of things, that it seemed but right and -decent to have these large and generous notions. Let -every atom and molecule that made up the pageant of -human experience overflow in love and admiration of -its neighbor. He was a dud himself, his dwelling-place -was <i>en parterre</i>, yet as heaven was above him and She -was at his elbow, there was no denying that the little man -who had just passed out of sight had laid hold somehow -of a divine idea.</p> - -<p>Yes, the ticket for the future was Universal Love and -Admiration, at any rate for the heirs of the good God. -Not a doubt that! He didn’t pretend to be a philosopher, -or a poet, but even he could see that yonder little -scug in the brown pot hat was a big proposition.</p> - -<p>“I wonder,” he mused aloud, “how the little bounder -came to think of <i>that</i>?”</p> - -<p>“He says it came to him in his sleep.” And the artist -at his elbow gave one final masterful curl to the amazing -trousers of the latest benefactor of the human species.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII<br /> -EVERYTHING FOR THE BEST</h2> - -<p class="ph2">I</p> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">J</span>ack</span> glanced at the watch on his wrist. By the -mercy of Allah there were fifty minutes yet. A -whole fifty minutes yet to stay in heaven. And -then....</p> - -<p>Suddenly hard set by thoughts which had no right to -be there he looked up and away in the direction of Bridport -House.</p> - -<p>“There they go!” He gave the pavement artist a -little prod.</p> - -<p>“Who—goes—where?”</p> - -<p>“Cousin Blanche and Cousin Marjorie.”</p> - -<p>True enough! Sublimely unconscious of two pairs of -amused eyes upon them, Cousin Blanche and Cousin -Marjorie were passing slowly by. As usual at that hour -they were riding their tall horses. And they became -their tall horses so remarkably well that they might have -belonged to the train of Artemis. In the saddle, at any -rate, Cousin Blanche and Cousin Marjorie looked hard -to beat.</p> - -<p>“Now for your precious theory,” said the Tenderfoot -with malice. “Here’s your chance to hunt for the -positive.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</span></p> - -<p>She fixed her eyes on the slowly-receding enemy. -“Well, in the first place, my dear, those old-fashioned -habits become them marvelously.”</p> - -<p>“No use for that sort of kit myself,” growled the -hostile critic.</p> - -<p>“Then they are so much a part of their horses they -might be female centaurs.”</p> - -<p>“And about as amusing as female centaurs.”</p> - -<p>“But we are hunting for the positive, aren’t we? We -are trying ‘to affirm something,’ as Alf would say. Now -those two and their horses are far grander works of -art than anything that ever came out of Greece or Italy. -It has taken millions of years to produce them and they -are so perfect in their way that one wonders how they -ever came to be produced at all.”</p> - -<p>“You might say that of anything or anybody—if you -come to think of it.”</p> - -<p>“Of course. I agree. And so would Alf. And -that’s why universal love and admiration are so proper -and natural.”</p> - -<p>“Wait till you are really up against ’em and then -you’ll see.”</p> - -<p>“The more I’m up against them—if I am to be up -against them—the more I shall love and admire them, -not for what they are perhaps, but for what they might -be if only they’d take a little trouble over their parts in -this wonderful Play, which I’m quite sure the Author -meant to be so very much finer than we silly amateurs -ever give it a chance of becoming.”</p> - -<p>The sunshade began to scratch the gravel again, while -Jack Dinneford sighed over its owner’s crude philosophy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</span></p> - - -<p>Presently he began to realize again that they were in -a fool’s paradise. Surely they were taking a climb down -too much for granted. Why should these hardshells -give in so inexplicably? It was in the nature of things -for a flaw to lurk under all this fair-seeming. Only -fools would ever build on such a sublime pretense as -Bridport House. Was it rational to expect its denizens -to behave like ordinary sensible human people?</p> - -<p>In order to sidetrack his fears he turned again to -watch the labors of the pavement artist. The tip of a -gifted sunshade was doing wonderful things with the -gravel. It had just evolved a <i>chef d’œuvre</i>, which however -was only apparent to the eye of faith.</p> - -<p>“Who do you imagine that is?”</p> - -<p>Imagination was certainly needed. It would not have -been possible otherwise to see a resemblance to anything -human.</p> - -<p>“That is his lamp,” hovered the sunshade above this -masterpiece. “That is his truncheon. Those are his -boots. That is his overcoat. And there we have his -helmet. And there,” the tip of the sunshade traced -slowly, “the noble profile of the greatest dear in existence.”</p> - -<p>At that he was bound to own that had the Park gravel -been more sensitive, here would have been a living portrait -of Sergeant Kelly of the X Division. And even if -it was only visible to the eye of faith it was pretext -enough for honest laughter.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“No one knows her hist’ry,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She is wrapt in myst’ry,”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>he quoted softly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</span></p> - -<p>It was quite true. Various zephyrs and divers little -birds had whispered the romantic fact in their ears long -ago. But what did it matter? It was but one plume -more in the cap of the Magician, a mere detail in that -pageant of which Mystery itself is the last expression.</p> - -<p>There may have been wisdom in their laughter. At -any rate it seemed to give them a kind of Dutch courage -for the ordeal that was now so near. But a rather -forced gayety did not long continue; it was soon merged -in a further piece of news which Jack suddenly remembered.</p> - -<p>“By the way,” he announced, “there’s more trouble at -Bridport House. My cousins, I hear, are going to live -with Aunt Charlotte.”</p> - -<p>She was obliged to ask why, but he had to own that -it was beyond his power to answer her question. All -that he knew was that his cousins were “at serious outs” -with their father, and that according to recent information -they were on the point of leaving the paternal roof.</p> - -<p>The Tenderfoot, however, in professing a diplomatic -ignorance of a matter to which he had indiscreetly referred, -had only pulled up in the nick of time. He knew -rather more than he said. “There’s a violent quarrel -about Mrs. Sanderson,” was at the tip of his tongue, but -happily he saw in time that such words in such circumstances -would be pure folly. Nay, it was folly to have -drifted into these perilous waters at all; and in the face -of a suddenly awakened curiosity, he proceeded at once -to steer the talk into a safer channel.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> -<a id="illo3"><img src="images/i_296.jpg" width="300" alt=" “We mustn’t build castles,” she sighed, and the light -fringed her eyelids" title="" /></a></div> - -<p class="caption"> “We mustn’t build castles,” she sighed, and the<br /> -light fringed her eyelids</p> - -<p class="p2">After all, that was not very difficult. As they sat under -the whispering leaves, gazing a little wistfully at the -pomp of a summer’s day, heaven was so near that it -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</span>hardly seemed rational to be giving a thought to those -who dwelt in spheres less halcyon. The previous evening -at six o’clock they had parted for ever in this very -spot. But a swift turn of Fate’s shuttle had changed -everything.</p> - -<p>As now they tried to understand what had occurred, -it was hard to keep from building castles. An absurd -old planet might prove, after all, such a wonderful place. -When you are four-and-twenty and in love, and the -crooked path suddenly turns to the straight, and the -future is seen through magic vistas just ahead, surprising -things are apt to arise, take shape, acquire a hue, a -meaning. The light that never was on sea or land is -quite likely to be found south of the Marble Arch and -north of Hyde Park Corner. They were on the threshold -of a very wonderful world. What gifts were -theirs! Health, youth, a high-hearted joy in existence, -here were the keys of heaven. Life was what they -chose to make it.</p> - -<p>Poetry herself clothed them as with a garment. But -not for a moment must they forget, even amid the dangerous -joys of a rather wild reaction, that all might be -illusion. Voices whispered from the leaves that as yet -they were not out of the wood. Jack, it is true, was fain -to believe that the latest act of Bridport House implied a -very real change of heart. For all that, as the hour of -Fate drew on, he could not stifle a miserable feeling of -nervousness. And Mary, too, in spite of a proud surface -gayety, felt faint within. The dream was far too good -to be true.</p> - -<p>“Of <i>course</i> it’s a climb down,” said Jack, whistling to -keep up his courage. “Do you suppose Uncle Albert<span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</span> -would have sent for us like this unless he meant to chuck -up the sponge?”</p> - -<p>“We mustn’t build castles,” she sighed, and the light -fringed her eyelids.</p> - -<p>“We’ll build ’em as high as the moon!”</p> - -<p>She shook a whimsical head. And then the goad of -youth drove her to a smile of perilous happiness. All -sorts of subtle fears were lurking in that good, shrewd -brain of hers. They were on the verge of chaos and -Old Night—yet she had not the heart to rebuke him.</p> - -<p>The dread hour of one-thirty was now so very near, -that it was idle to disguise the fact that one at least of -the two people on the Park chairs had grown extremely -unhappy. Mary was quite sure that a horrible ordeal -was going to prove too much for her. It was hardly -less than madness to have yielded in the way she had. -But qualms were useless, fears were vain. There was -only one thing to do. She must set her teeth and go -and face the music.</p> - -<p class="ph2">II</p> - -<p>Punctual to the minute they were at the solemn portals -of Bridport House. And then as a servant in a grotesque -livery piloted them across an expanse of rather -pretentious hall into a somber room, full of grandiose -decoration and Victorian furniture, a grand fighting spirit -suddenly rose in one whose need of it was sore. Mary -was quaking in her shoes, yet the joy of battle came upon -her in the queerest, most unexpected way. It was as if -a magician had waved his wand and all the paltry emotions -of the past hour were dispelled. Perhaps it was -that deep down in her slept an Amazon. Or a clear conscience<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</span> -may have inspired her; at any rate she had no -need to reproach herself just then. She could look the -whole world in the face. Her attitude had been sensitively -correct; if other people did not appreciate that -simple fact, so much the worse for other people!</p> - -<p>A long five minutes they waited in that large and -dismal room, a slight flush of anxiety upon their faces, -their hearts beating a little wildly, no doubt. In all -that time not a word passed between them; the tension -was almost more than they could bear. If Fate had -kept till the last one final scurvy trick it would be too -horrible! And then suddenly, in the midst of this grim -thought, an old man came hobbling painfully in. Both -were struck at once by the look of him. There was -something in the bearing, in the manner, in the play of -the rather exquisite face which spoke to them intimately. -For a reason deeply obscure, which Jack and Mary were -very far from comprehending, the welcome he gave her -was quite touching. It was full of a simple kindness, -spontaneous, unstudied, oddly caressing.</p> - -<p>Jack, amazed not a little by the heart-on-the-sleeve -attitude of this old barbarian, could only ascribe it to the -desire of a finished man of the world to put the best -possible face on an impossible matter. Yet, somehow, -that cynical view did not seem to cover the facts of -the case.</p> - -<p>In a way that hardly belonged to a tyrant and an -autocrat, the old man took one of the girl’s hands into -the keeping of his poor enfeebled ones, and was still -holding it when his sister and his eldest daughter came -into the room. Both ladies were firm in the belief that -this was the most disagreeable moment of their lives.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</span> -Still it was their nature to meet things heroically, and -they now proceeded to do so.</p> - -<p>The picture their minds had already formed of this -girl was not a pleasing one. But as far as Lady Wargrave -was concerned it was shattered almost instantly. -The likeness between father and daughter was amazing. -She had, in quite a remarkable degree, the look -of noblesse the world had always admired in him, with -which, however, he had signally failed to endow the -daughters of the first marriage. But there was far more -than a superficial likeness to shatter preconceived ideas. -Another, more virile strain was hers. The mettle of -the pasture, the breath of the moorland, had given her -a look of purpose and fire, even if the grace of the -salon had yielded much of its own peculiar amenity. -Whatever else she might be, the youngest daughter of -the House of Dinneford was a personality of a rare but -vivid kind.</p> - -<p>As soon as the Duke realized that the ladies had entered -the room, he gravely presented the girl, but with -a touch of chivalry that she simply adored in him. The -little note of homage melted in the oddest way the half-fierce -constraint with which she turned instinctively to -meet these enemies. Sarah bowed rather coldly, but -Aunt Charlotte came forward at once with a proffered -hand.</p> - -<p>“My sister,” murmured his Grace. In his eyes was a -certain humor and perhaps a spice of malice.</p> - -<p>For a moment speech was impossible. The girl looked -slowly from one to the other, and then suddenly it came -upon her that these people were old and hard hit. She -felt a curious revulsion of feeling. Their surrender was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</span> -unconditional, and woman’s sixth sense told her what -their thoughts must be. They must be suffering horribly. -All at once the fight went out of her.</p> - -<p>In a fashion rather odd, with almost the naïveté of a -child, she turned aside in a deadly fight with tears, that -she managed to screw back into her eyes.</p> - -<p>It was left to Lady Wargrave to break a silence which -threatened to become bitterly embarrassing: “Come over -here and talk to me,” she said with a directness the girl -was quick to obey.</p> - -<p>Lady Wargrave led the way to a couple of empty -chairs near a window, Mary following with a kind sick -timidity she had never felt before, and a heart that -beat convulsively. What could the old dragon have to -say to her? Even now she half expected a talon.</p> - -<p>The Dowager pointed to a chair, sat down grimly, and -then said abruptly, “I hope you will be happy.”</p> - -<p>There was something in the words that threw the -girl into momentary confusion. The fact was a miracle -had occurred and her bewilderment was seeking a reason -for it. Only one explanation came to her, and it -was that these great powers, rather than suffer Jack to -depart, were ready to make the best of his fiancée. There -was not much comfort in the theory, but no other was -feasible. Place and power, it seemed, were caught in -meshes of their own weaving. And yet bruised in pride -as she was by a situation for which she was not to blame, -the rather splendid bearing of these old hard-bitten warriors -touched a chivalry far down. Deep called unto -deep. At the unexpected words of the griffin, she had -again to screw the tears back into her eyes. And then -she said in a voice that seemed to be stifling her, “It’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</span> -not my fault. I didn’t know.... I didn’t want this.... -If you will.... If you will help me I will do my best -... not ... to....”</p> - -<p>The eyes of the Dowager searched her right through.</p> - -<p>“No, you are not to blame,” she said judicially. “We -are all going to help you,” and then in a voice which -cracked in the middle she added, to her own surprise, -“my dear.”</p> - -<p class="ph2">III</p> - -<p>At luncheon the girl had the place of honor at the -right hand of his Grace. It was a rather chastened assembly. -The arrival of the cuckoo in the nest was a -fitting climax to Muriel. Both episodes were felt to be -buffets of a wholly undeserved severity; they might -even be said to have shaken a sublime edifice to its base. -Not for a moment had the collective wisdom of the -Dinneford ladies connived at Muriel’s Breadth, nor had -it in any way countenanced the absurd fellow Jack in his -infatuation for a chorus girl.</p> - -<p>Simple justice, however, compelled these stern critics -to own that Bridport’s future duchess had come as a -rather agreeable surprise. She differed so much from -the person they had expected. They couldn’t deny that -she was a personality. Moreover, there was a force, a -distinction that might hope to mold and even harmonize -with her place in the table of precedence. So good were -her manners that the subtle air of the great world might -one day be hers.</p> - -<p>It amazed them to see the effect she had already had -on their fastidious and difficult parent. He was talking -to her of men and events and times past in a way he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</span> -had not talked for years. He discoursed of the great -ones of his youth, the singers and dancers of the ’Sixties -when he was at the Embassy at Paris and ginger was hot -in the mouth. Then by a process of gradation he went -on to tell his old stories of Gladstone and Dizzy, to discuss -books and politics and the pictures in the Uffizi, and -to cap with tales of his own travels an occasional brief -anecdote, wittily told, of her own tours in America and -South Africa.</p> - -<p>Sarah, Blanche, and Marjorie could not help feeling -hostile, yet it was clear that this remarkable girl had put -an enchantment on their father. While he talked to her -the table, the room, the people in it seemed to pass beyond -his ken. Candor bred the thought that it was not -to be wondered at, her way of listening was so delightful. -The beautiful head—it hurt them to admit the fact yet -there it was—bent towards him in a kind of loving reverence, -changing each phrase of his into something rare -and memorable by a receptivity whose only wish was to -give pleasure to a poor old man struggling with a basin -of arrowroot—that sight and the sense of a presence alive -in every nerve, a voice of pure music, and a face incapable -of evil: was it surprising that a spell was cast -upon their sire? Take her as one would she was a real -natural force—an original upon whom the fairies had -lavished many gifts.</p> - -<p>The family chieftain was renewing his youth, but only -Charlotte understood why. In common with the rest of -the world, Sarah, Blanche, and Marjorie were to be kept -in ignorance of the truth—for the present at any rate. -But already the Dinneford ladies had taken further counsel -of the sage of Hill Street, and upon her advice all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</span> -thought of secession from Bridport House had been -given up. Reflection had convinced Lady Wargrave, now -in possession of the light, that the true interests of the -Family would be served by silence and submission. After -all, Mrs. Sanderson was an old and valued retainer; her -integrity was beyond question; her devotion and single-minded -regard for their father’s welfare ought not to be -forgotten!</p> - -<p>Taking all the circumstances into account, it was in -Aunt Charlotte’s opinion, a case for humble pie. And to -do the ladies no injustice they were ready to consume it -gracefully. Jack, after all, was quite a distant connection; -and what was even more important in their sight, -the girl herself was presentable. Their father, at any -rate, made no secret of the fact that he found her sympathetic. -Nay, he was even a little carried away by her. -As the meal went on, his manner towards her almost -verged upon affection; and at the end, in open defiance -of his doctors, he went to the length of wishing her -happiness in a glass of famous Madeira.</p> - -<p class="ph2">IV</p> - -<p>At five minutes past three Mary and Jack awoke with -a start from a dream fantasy, to find themselves breathing -the ampler air of Park Lane. Even then they could -not quite grasp the meaning of all that had happened. -Unconditional surrender indeed, yet so sudden, so causeless, -so mysterious. Why had this strange thing come -to be?</p> - -<p>But just now they were not in a mood to question -the inscrutable wisdom of the good God. Behind the -curtain of appearances the sun shone more bravely than<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</span> -ever, the dust of July lay a shade lighter on the trees -across the road. No, there was really no need for Providence -to give an account of itself at that moment; the -nature of things called for no analysis.</p> - -<p>“I’ve fallen in love with that old man.”</p> - -<p>Even if Jack heard the words he was not in a position -to offer comment upon them, for he was in the act of -summoning a taxi from the lee of the Park railings.</p> - -<p>“Where shall we go?”</p> - -<p>“To the moon and back again?”</p> - -<p>And why not! It is not very far to the moon if you -get hold of the right kind of vehicle. But MX 54,906 -proved on inspection hardly to be adapted for the purpose; -at any rate Jack came to the conclusion after a -mere glance at the tires that Hampton Court, via Richmond -and Elysium, would meet the case equally well.</p> - -<p class="ph2">V</p> - -<p>Meanwhile his Grace in his favorite chair in his -favorite room, was doing his best to envisage “The -Outlook for Democracy,” with the aid of the <i>Quarterly -Review</i>. Of a sudden the clock on the chimneypiece -chimed a quarter past three, and he laid down an article -perfect alike in form, taste and scholarship, with the air -of one who expects something to happen.</p> - -<p>Something did happen. In almost the same moment, -the housekeeper, Mrs. Sanderson, came into the room. -She carried a tray containing a glass, a spoon, and a -bottle.</p> - -<p>His Grace shook his head. “I’ve had a glass of -Madeira.”</p> - -<p>“How could you be so unwise!” It was the gentle,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</span> -half-smiling tone of a mother who reproves a very dear -but willful child.</p> - -<p>She measured the draught inflexibly and he drank -it like a man. As he returned the glass to the tray he -sighed a little, and then with a whimsical glance upwards -he said slowly and softly, “She has her mother’s brains.”</p> - -<p>As she looked down upon him, he saw the color darkening -a strong and beautiful face. “And her father’s -eyes.” The warmth of her voice almost stifled the words.</p> - -<p>For nearly a minute there was so deep a silence that -even the clock on the chimneypiece was lost in it. And -then very slowly and gently, as one who thinks aloud, -he said, “I am trying to remember those words of Milton.” -He closed his eyes with a smile of perplexity. -“Ah, yes, yes. I have them now:</p> - -<p>“‘He for God only, she for God in him.’”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="transnote"><div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph2 nobreak"><span class="smcap">Transcriber’s Notes:</span></p> -</div> - -<p>On pages 43 and 51, Number Five Beaconsfield has been changed to -Number Five, Beaconsfield.</p> - -<p>On page 53, universed has been changed to unversed.</p> - -<p>On page 58, spirt has been changed to spirit.</p> - -<p>On page 59, réclamce has been changed to réclame.</p> - -<p>On pages 72 and 218, a period has been added to Mrs.</p> - -<p>On page 88, Majorie has been changed to Marjorie.</p> - -<p>On page 90, Majorie’s has been changed to Marjorie’s.</p> - -<p>On pages 97, 107 and 117, commonsense has been changed to common sense.</p> - -<p>On page 102, the single quote has been removed from America’s.</p> - -<p>On page 130, the single quote has been removed from Wren’s.</p> - -<p>On page 143, decidely has been changed to decidedly.</p> - -<p>On page 163, cause has been changed to course.</p> - -<p>On page 188, the single quote has been removed from Parington’s.</p> - -<p>On page 235, Panjandram has been changerd to Panjandrum.</p> - -<p>On page 239, efficiency has been changed to efficiently.</p> - -<p>On page 259, redoutable has been changed to redoubtable.</p> - -<p>On page 266, a closing double quote has been added to “Whom do you mean?.</p> - -<p>On page 267, familar has been changed to familiar.</p> - -<p>On page 274, financée has been changed to fiancée.</p> - -<p>On page 290, green-grocer’s has been changed to greengrocer’s.</p> - -<p>On page 302, undeservedly has been changed to undeserved.</p> - -<p>On page 305, a closing double quote has been added to the last sentence.</p> - -<p>All other hyphenation and variant/archaic spellings have been retained.</p> - -<p>Illustrations in the midst of a paragraph have been moved to avoid -interrupting the paragraph flow.</p></div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TIME SPIRIT ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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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