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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 74461 ***

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+  SUSPENSE

+

+

+  BY

+

+  HENRY SETON MERRIMAN

+

+  AUTHOR OF 'YOUNG MISTLEY,' 'THE PHANTOM FUTURE'

+  ETC.

+

+

+

+  IN THREE VOLUMES

+  VOL. II.

+

+

+

+  LONDON

+  RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON

+  Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen

+  1890

+

+  [_All rights reserved_]

+

+

+

+

+  Some there are who laugh and sing

+    While compassed round by sorrow;

+  To this ev'ning's gloom they bring

+    The sunshine of to-morrow.

+

+

+

+

+  CONTENTS OF VOL. II.

+

+

+  CHAPTER

+

+  I. AT SEA

+  II. SISTERS

+  III. ALICE RETURNS

+  IV. TO THE FRONT

+  V. UNDER FIRE

+  VI. TRIST ACTS

+  VII. QUICKSANDS

+  VIII. MASKED

+  IX. IN CASE OF WAR

+  X. A PROBLEM

+  XI. MRS. WYLIE LEADS

+  XII. THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE SEA

+  XIII. CROSS-PURPOSES

+  XIV. A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY

+

+

+

+

+SUSPENSE

+

+

+

+CHAPTER I.

+

+AT SEA.

+

+One fine day late in the autumn of eighteen hundred and seventy-six,

+a steamer emerged from the haze that lay over the Atlantic and the

+northern waters of the Bay of Biscay.  Those who were working in the

+fields behind the lighthouse of the Pointe de Raz saw her approach

+the land, sight the lighthouse, and then steer outwards again on a

+course due north through the channel dividing the Ile de Sein from

+the rocky headland jutting out from this most western point of Europe

+into the Atlantic.

+

+Those on board the steamer, looking across the blue waters, saw the

+faint outline of a high broken coast, and all round them a sea

+divided into races and smooth deep pools large enough to anchor a

+whole fleet had there been bottom within reach.  Islands, islets, and

+mere rocks; some jutting high up, some nestling low.  A dangerous

+coast, and a splendid fishing-ground.

+

+There were further points of interest on the waters; namely, a whole

+fleet of sardine-boats from Douarnenez and Audierne, scudding here

+and there with their bright brown sails, sometimes glowing in the

+sun, sometimes brooding darkly in the shadow.  It was a beautiful

+picture, because the colours were brilliant; the blue sea gradually

+merged into bright green, and finished off in the distance with

+yellow sand or deep-brown cliff.  The hills towards Breste, to the

+north, were faintly outlined in a shadowy haze of blue, while close

+at hand the long Atlantic sweep came bounding in and broke into

+dazzling white over the rocks.

+

+On the deck of the steamer the passengers paused in their afternoon

+promenade, and, leaning their arms on the high rail, contemplated the

+bright scene with evident satisfaction.  The small fishing-boats were

+of a more British build than most of them had seen for some years.

+The brown lug-sails were like the sails of an English fishing-boat,

+and many of these swarthy-faced wanderers had recollections of

+childhood which came surging into their minds at the sight of a blue

+sea with a brown sail on it.  The high rocky land might well be

+England, with its neat yellow lighthouse and low-roofed cottages

+nestling among the scanty foliage and careful cultivation.  It was so

+very different from Madras, so unlike Bombay, so infinitely superior

+to Hong Kong.  The breeze even was different from any that had

+touched their faces for many a day, and some of them actually felt

+cold--a sensation almost forgotten.

+

+The captain of this splendid steamer was a gentleman as well as a

+good sailor, and he endeavoured to make his passengers feel at home

+while under his care.  Therefore he now walked aft and stood beside

+the chair of a beautiful woman who was always alone, always

+indifferent, always repelling.

+

+'This is a pretty sight, Mrs. Huston,' he said pleasantly, without

+looking down at her, but standing beside her chair.  He gazed across

+the water towards the Pointe de Raz, with the good-natured patience

+of a man who does not intend to be snubbed.  Once, during his first

+voyage as commander, a woman had disappeared from the deck one dark

+night, and since then the shrewd 'passenger' captain had kept his eye

+upon pretty women who neither flirted nor quarrelled at sea.

+

+'Yes,' was the indifferent answer; and the sailor's keen gray eyes

+detected the fact that the fair lashes were never raised.

+

+'It brings the fact before one,' he continued, 'that we are getting

+near home.'

+

+'Yes,' with pathetic indifference.  She did not even make the

+pretence of looking up, and yet there was no visible interest in the

+book that lay upon her lap.

+

+The sailor moved a little, and leant his elbows upon the rail,

+looking round his ship with a critical and all-seeing eye.

+

+'I hope,' he said cheerily, 'that there is no one on board to whom

+the sight of Eddystone will not give unmitigated pleasure.  We shall

+be there before any of us quite realize that the voyage is drawing to

+an end.'

+

+Then the beautiful woman made a little effort.  The man's kindness of

+heart was so obvious, his disinterested desire to cheer her voluntary

+solitude was so gentlemanly in its feeling and so entirely free from

+any suggestion of inquisitiveness, that she, as a lady, could no

+longer treat him coldly.  All through the voyage this same quiet

+watchfulness over her comfort (which displayed itself in little

+passing acts, and never in words) had been exercised by the man,

+whose most difficult duties were not, perhaps, connected solely with

+the perils of the sea.  She raised her head and smiled somewhat

+wanly, and there was in the action and in the expression of her eyes

+a sudden singular resemblance to Brenda Gilholme.  But it was a weak

+copy.  There was neither the invincible pluck nor the unusual

+intellectuality to be discerned.

+

+'I shall be glad,' she said, 'to see England again.  Although the

+voyage has been very pleasant and very ... peaceful.  Thanks to you.'

+

+'Not at all,' he answered with breezy cheerfulness; 'I have done

+remarkably little to make things pleasant.  It has been a quiet

+voyage.  We are, I think, a quiet lot this time.  Invalids mostly--in

+body, or mind!'

+

+At these last words the lady looked up suddenly into the captain's

+pleasant face.  In her manner there was a faint suggestion of

+coquetry--so faint as only to be a very pleasing suggestion.  Women

+who have been flirts in former years have this glance, and they never

+quite lose it.  Personally speaking, I like it.  There comes from its

+influence an innocent and very sociable sensation of familiarity with

+old and young alike.  Someday I shall write a learned disquisition on

+the art and so-called vice of flirting.  Look out for it, reader.

+Mind and secure an early copy from your stationer.  From its

+thoughtful pages you cannot fail to glean some instructive matter.

+And ye, oh flirts! buy it up and show it to your friends; for it will

+be a defence of your maligned species.  Flirts are the salt of social

+existence.  A girl who cannot flirt is ... is ... well ... is not the

+girl for me.

+

+The mariner looked down into the sad face, and smiled in a

+comprehensive way which seemed in some inexplicable manner to bring

+them closer together.

+

+'Then,' said the lady, 'as I am in the enjoyment of rude health and

+likely to last for some years yet, I may infer that you know all

+about me.'

+

+The captain looked grave.

+

+'I know,' he answered, 'just little enough to be able to reply that I

+know nothing when people do me the honour of inquiring; and just

+sufficient to feel that your affairs are better left undiscussed by

+us.'

+

+She nodded her head, and sat looking at her own hands in a dull,

+apathetic way.  Woman-like, she acted in direct opposition to his

+most obvious hint.

+

+'I suppose,' she murmured, 'that gossips have been thrashing the

+whole question out with their customary zest.'

+

+'Ceylon is a hot-bed of gossips.  Everyone is up in his neighbour's

+affairs, and a fine voyage in a comfortable steamer is not calculated

+to still busy tongues!'

+

+She shrugged her shoulders indifferently, and looked up at him with a

+slight pout of her pretty lips.

+

+'Who cares?' she asked with well-simulated levity.  He, however, did

+not choose to appear as if he were deceived, which simple feat was

+well within his histrionic capabilities; for his life was one long

+succession of petty diplomatic efforts.

+

+'I think,' he said coolly, 'that you have done perfectly right in

+keeping yourself quite apart from the rest of them.'  He looked round

+upon the other passengers, seated or lolling about the deck, with a

+fatherly tolerance.  'And if I may suggest it, you cannot do better

+than to continue doing so for the next day or two.  Avoid more

+particularly the older women.  The jealousy of a young girl is

+dangerous, but the repelled patronage of an older woman, bristling

+with the consciousness of her own wearisome irreproachability, is

+infinitely more to be feared!'

+

+This remark from the lips of a man who undoubtedly knew more than is

+usually known of the feminine side of humanity appeared to suggest

+material for thought to the somewhat shallow brain of his hearer.

+She dropped the lightly reckless style at once, and the thought that

+this honest and simple-hearted sailor was in love with her slowly

+died a natural death.  There followed, moreover, upon its demise an

+uncomfortable suggestion that, although he was probably honest, he

+was not consequently simple-hearted--that he was, in fact, a match

+for her, and, knowing it, was not at that moment disposed to measure

+mental blades with her.

+

+'I am glad,' she said humbly, 'that my sister will be at Plymouth to

+meet me.'

+

+'Did you,' inquired the sailor, 'write from Port Said to Miss

+Gilholme?'

+

+She raised her head with a questioning air, but did not look up.

+

+'Miss Gilholme,' she repeated--'how do you know her name?'

+

+'Oh,' laughed the captain, 'I am a sort of walking directory.  There

+is a constant procession of men and women passing before me.  Many of

+them turn aside and say a few words.  Sometimes we find mutual

+acquaintances, sometimes only mutual interests.  Sometimes they pass

+by again, and on occasion we become friends.'

+

+'Then you have not met her?'

+

+'No--I have not had that pleasure.'

+

+'It _is_ a pleasure,' said the beautiful woman very earnestly.  Had

+she only known it, her face was infinitely lovelier in grave repose

+than in most piquante _bouderie_.

+

+'I can quite believe it,' replied the sailor, with a gallantry which

+even Mrs. Huston could not take as anything more than conventional.

+

+'She is my guardian angel!' murmured she pathetically.

+

+Her companion smiled slightly, in a very unsympathetic way.  His

+opinion of 'guardian angels' was taken from a practical and

+lamentably unpoetical point of view.  Having played the part himself

+on several occasions with more or less conspicuous success, he

+inclined to a belief that the glory of guardian angelism is of a

+negative description.  There are certain people in the world who will

+accept all and any service, and to whom the feeling of indebtedness

+is without a hint of shame.  In time they come to consider such

+service as has previously and hitherto been rendered them in the

+light of a precedent.  Gradually the debt seems to glide from the

+shoulders of the debtor to those of the creditor, and having once

+rendered a service, the renderer has simply placed himself under an

+obligation to continue doing so.

+

+When Mrs. Huston, therefore, mentioned the fact that her sister was

+her guardian angel, the pathos of the observation was somewhat lost

+upon her hearer; who, moreover, was slightly prejudiced against

+Brenda because such guardian angels as had crossed his path were of a

+weak and gullible nature.  He never made her acquaintance, but the

+impression thus conceived--though totally erroneous--was never

+dispelled by such small details of her story as came to his knowledge

+in later years.

+

+'I hear,' the captain went on to explain, in his cheery impersonal

+way, 'scraps of family histories here and there, and then am rather

+surprised to meet members of these families, or persons connected

+with them.'

+

+Mrs. Huston bravely quelled a desire to talk of her own affairs, and

+smiled vaguely.

+

+'I have no doubt,' she said with mechanical pleasantness, 'that we

+have a great many mutual acquaintances--if we only knew how to hit

+upon the vein.'

+

+'Of course we have--the world, and especially the Indian world, is

+very small.'

+

+'I wonder who they are?' murmured Mrs. Huston, raising her eyes to

+her companion's face.

+

+'Mention a few of your friends,' he suggested, looking down into her

+eyes somewhat keenly.

+

+'No--you begin!'

+

+He changed his position somewhat, and stood upright, free from the

+rail, but his glance never left her face.

+

+'Theodore Trist!'

+

+Instantly she averted her eyes.  For a moment she was quite off her

+guard, and her fingers strayed in a nervous, aimless way among the

+pages of her open book.  To her pale cheeks the warm colour mounted

+as if a glowing ruby reflection had suddenly been cast upon the

+delicate skin.

+

+She expressed no surprise by word or gesture, and there was a pause

+of considerable duration before at length she spoke.

+

+'Where is he now?' she asked in a low voice.

+

+The captain stroked his grizzled moustache reflectively.  He acted

+his part well, despite her sudden and lamentable failure.

+

+'Let me think ... He is in Constantinople to the best of my

+knowledge.  He is engaged in watching Eastern affairs.  It seems that

+Turkey and Russia cannot keep their hands off each other's throats

+much longer.  At present there is an armistice, but Trist has been

+through the late war between Servia and Turkey.'

+

+'Do you know him well?' she asked at length, after a second pause.

+

+'Yes.  He is a friend of mine.'

+

+'A great friend?'

+

+'I think I may say so.'

+

+'He is also a friend of ours--of my sister and myself,' said Mrs.

+Huston calmly.

+

+She had quite recovered her equanimity by now, and the pink colour

+had left her cheeks.

+

+'I have known him,' said the captain conversationally, 'for many

+years now.  Soon after he made his name he went out to the East with

+me, and we struck up a friendship.  He is not a man who makes many

+friends, I imagine.'

+

+'No,' murmured Mrs. Huston, in a voice which implied that the subject

+was not distasteful to her, but she preferred her companion to talk

+while she listened.

+

+'But,' continued the sailor, 'those who claim him as a friend have an

+unusual privilege.  He is what we vaguely call at sea a "good" man--a

+man upon whom it is safe to place reliance in any emergency, under

+all circumstances.'

+

+'Yes,' said the lady softly.

+

+'He has been doing wonderful work out in the East since the beginning

+of the insurrection.  We have a set of men out there such as no

+nation in the world could produce except England--fellows who go

+about with their lives literally in their hands, for they're

+virtually unprotected--men who are soldiers, statesmen, critics,

+writers and explorers all in one.  They run a soldier's risk without

+the recompense of a soldier's grave.  A statesman's craft must be

+theirs, while they are forced to keep two diplomatic requirements

+ever before their eyes.  England _must_ have news; the army

+authorities (whose word is law) _must_ be conciliated.  Travelling by

+day and night alike, never resting for many consecutive hours, never

+laying aside the responsibility that is on their shoulders, they are

+expected to write amidst the din of battle, on a gun-carriage

+perhaps, often in the saddle, and usually at night when the wearied

+army is asleep; they are expected, moreover, to write well, so that

+men sitting by their firesides in London, with books of reference at

+hand, may criticise and seek in vain for slip or error.  They are

+expected to criticise the stratagem of the greatest military heads

+around them without the knowledge possessed by the officers who

+dictate their coming and their going, throwing them a piece of stale

+news here and there as they would throw a bone to a dog.  All this,

+and more, is done by our war-correspondents; and amidst these

+wonderful fellows Theodore Trist stands quite alone, immeasurably

+superior to them all.'

+

+The vehement sailor was interrupted by the sound of the first

+dinner-bell, and a general stir on deck.  At sea, meal-times are

+hailed with a more visible joy than is considered decorous on land,

+and no time is lost in answering the glad summons.

+

+Mrs. Huston rose languidly from her seat and moved forward towards

+the spacious saloon staircase.

+

+'Yes,' she answered thoughtfully; 'Theo must be very clever.  It is

+difficult to realize that one's friends are celebrated, is it not?'

+

+The captain walked by her side, suiting his crisp, firm step to her

+languid gait, which was, nevertheless, very graceful in its rhythmic

+ease.  Her voice was clear, gentle, and somewhat indifferent.  On her

+face there was no other expression than the customary suggestion of

+pathetic apathy.

+

+'I suppose,' she continued in a conventional manner, 'that he will

+not be home for some time.'

+

+'No.  There will be a big war before this question is settled, and

+Trist will be in the thick of it.'

+

+With a slight inclination of the head she passed away from him and

+disappeared down the saloon stairs.  The captain turned away and

+mounted the little brass ladder leading to the bridge with

+sailor-like deliberation.

+

+'And, young woman,' he muttered to himself, 'you had better go down

+to your cabin and thank your God on your bended knees that Theodore

+Trist is not in England, nor likely to cross your path for many

+months to come.'

+

+He looked round him with his habitual cheery keenness, and said a few

+words to the second officer who was on duty.  Could he have seen

+Theodore Trist standing at that moment on the deck of a quick

+despatch-boat, racing through the Bosphorus and bound for England, he

+would not, perhaps, have laughed so heartily at a very mild joke made

+by his subordinate a few moments later.

+

+'And yet,' he reflected as he made his way below in answer to the

+second dinner-bell--'and yet she does not seem to me to be the sort

+of woman for Trist--not good enough!  Perhaps the gossips are wrong

+after all, and he does not care for her!'

+

+

+

+

+CHAPTER II.

+

+SISTERS.

+

+More than one idler in Plymouth Station, one morning in October,

+turned his head to look again at two women walking side by side on

+the platform near to the London train.  One, the taller of the two,

+was exceptionally beautiful, of a fair delicate type, with an almost

+perfect figure and a face fit for a model of the Madonna, so pure in

+outline was it, so innocent in its meaning.  The younger woman was

+slightly shorter.  She was clad in mourning, which contrasted

+somewhat crudely with the brighter costume of her companion.  It was

+evident that these two were sisters; they walked in the same easy

+way, and especially notable was a certain intrepid carriage of the

+head, which I venture to believe is essentially peculiar to high-born

+Englishwomen.

+

+By the side of her sister, Brenda Gilholme might easily pass

+unnoticed.  Mrs. Huston was, in the usual sense of the word, a

+beautiful woman, and such women live in an atmosphere of notoriety.

+Wherever they go they are worshipped at a distance by those beneath

+them in station, patronized by those above them, respected by their

+equals, because, forsooth, face and form are moulded with delicacy

+and precision.  The mind of such a woman is of little importance; the

+person is pleasing, and more is not demanded.  Only her husband will

+some day awaken to the fact that worship from a distance might have

+been more satisfactory.  The effect of personal beauty is a

+lamentable factor which cannot be denied.  All men, good and bad

+alike, come under its influence.  A lovely woman can twist most of us

+round her dainty finger with a wanton disregard for the powers of

+intellect or physical energy.

+

+Brenda was not beautiful; she was only pretty, with a dainty

+refinement of heart which was visible in her delicate face.  But her

+prettiness was in no way tainted with weakness, as was her sister's

+beauty.  She was strong and thoughtful, with a true woman's faculty

+for hiding these unwelcome qualities from the eyes of inferior men.

+She had grown up in the shadow of this beautiful sister, and men had

+not cared to seek for intellect where they saw only a reflected

+beauty.  She had passed through a social notoriety, but eager eyes

+had only glanced at her in passing.  She had merely been Alice

+Gilholme's sister, and now--here on Plymouth platform--Alice Huston

+was assuming her old superiority.  My brothers, think of this!  It

+must have been a wondrous love that overcame such drawbacks, that

+passed by with tolerance a thousand daily slights.  And Brenda's love

+for her sister accomplished all this.  Ah, and more!  In the days

+that followed there was a greater wrong--a wrong which only blind

+selfishness could have inflicted--and this also Brenda Gilholme

+forgave.

+

+The sisters had met on the steamboat landing a few moments

+previously.  A rattling drive through the town had followed, and now

+they were able to speak together alone for the first time.  There had

+been no display of emotion.  The beautiful lips had met lightly, the

+well-gloved fingers had clasped each other with no nervous hysterical

+fervour, and now it would seem that they had parted but a week ago.

+Emotion is tabooed in the school through which these two had

+passed--the school of nineteenth-century society--and, indeed, we

+appear to get along remarkably well without it.

+

+'My dear,' Mrs. Huston was saying, 'he will be home by the next boat

+if he can raise the money.  We cannot count on more than a week's

+start.'

+

+'And,' inquired Brenda, 'can he raise the money?'

+

+'Oh yes!  If he can get as far as the steamboat office without

+spending it.'

+

+Brenda looked at her sister in a curious way.

+

+'Spending it on what ... Alice?'

+

+'On--drink!'

+

+Mrs. Huston was not the woman to conceal any of her own grievances

+from quixotically unselfish motives.

+

+Brenda thought for some moments before replying.

+

+'Then,' she said at length, with some determination, 'we must make

+sure of our start, if, that is, you are still determined to leave

+him.'

+

+Mrs. Huston was looking down at her sister's neat black dress, about

+which there was a subtle air of refined luxury, which seems natural

+to some women, and part of their being.

+

+'Yes, yes, I suppose we must.  By the way, dear, you are in mourning

+... for whom?'

+

+'For Admiral Wylie,' replied Brenda patiently.

+

+'But it is two months--is it not?--since his death, and he was no

+relation.  I think it is unnecessary.  Black is so melancholy, though

+it suits your figure.'

+

+'I am living with Mrs. Wylie,' Brenda explained with unconscious

+irony.  'Are you still determined that you cannot live with your

+husband, Alice?'

+

+'My dear, he is a brute!  I am not an impulsive person, but I think

+that if he should catch me again, it is very probable that I should

+do something desperate--kill myself, or something of that sort.'

+

+'I do not think,' observed Brenda serenely, 'that you would ever kill

+yourself.'

+

+The beautiful woman laughed in an easy, lightsome way, which was one

+of her many social gifts.  It was such a pleasantly infectious laugh,

+so utterly light-hearted, and so ready in its vocation of filling up

+awkward pauses.

+

+'No, perhaps not.  But in the meantime, what is to become of me?

+Will Mrs. Wylie take me in for a day or two, or shall we seek

+lodgings?  I have some money, enough to last a month or so; but I

+must have two new dresses.'

+

+'Mrs. Wylie has kindly said that you can stay as long as you like.

+But, Alice, it would never do to stay in London.  You must get away

+to some small place on the sea-coast, or somewhere where you will not

+be utterly bored, and keep in hiding until he comes home, and I can

+find out what he intends to do.'

+

+'My dear, I shall be utterly bored anywhere except in London.  But

+Brenda, tell me ... you have got into a habit of talking exactly like

+Theo Trist!'

+

+Brenda met her sister's eyes with a bright smile.

+

+'How funny!' she exclaimed.  'I have not noticed it.'

+

+'No, of course; you--would not notice it.  When will he be home?'

+

+The girl stopped and looked critically at an advertisement suspended

+on the wall near at hand.  It was a huge representation of a coloured

+gentleman upon his native shore, making merry over a complicated pair

+of braces.  She had never seen the work of art before, and for some

+unknown reason in the months--ay, and in the years that followed--her

+dislike for it was almost nauseating in its intensity.

+

+'I don't know,' she replied indifferently.

+

+'We,' continued Mrs. Huston, following out her own train of thought,

+'are so helpless.  We want a man to stand by us.  Of course papa is

+of no use.  I suppose he is spouting somewhere about the country.  He

+generally is.'

+

+'No,' replied Brenda, with a wonderful tolerance.  'We cannot count

+on him.  He is in Ireland.  I had a postcard from him the other day.

+He said that I was not to be surprised or shocked to hear that he was

+in prison.  He is trying to get himself arrested.  It is, he says,

+all part of the campaign.'

+

+Again Mrs. Huston's pretty laughter made things pleasant and sociable.

+

+'I wonder what that means,' she exclaimed, smoothing a wrinkle out of

+the front of her jacket for the benefit of a military-looking man,

+with a cigar in his mouth, who stared offensively as he passed.

+

+Brenda shrugged her shoulders slightly, and said nothing.  She did

+not appear to attach a very great importance to her father's

+political movements, in which culpable neglect she was abetted by the

+whole of England.

+

+'What we require,' continued Mrs. Huston, 'is an energetic man with

+brains.'

+

+'I am afraid that energetic men with brains have in most cases their

+own affairs to look after.  It is only the idle ones with tongues who

+have time to devote to other people's business.'

+

+'The "brute," my dear, is clever; we must remember that.  And he is

+terribly obstinate.  There is a sort of stubborn bloodhoundism about

+him which makes me shiver when I think that he is even now after me,

+in all probability.'

+

+'We must be cool and cunning, and brave to fight against him,' said

+Brenda practically.

+

+At this moment the guard came forward, and held the door of their

+compartment invitingly open.  They got in, and found themselves

+alone.  They were barely seated, opposite to each other, when the

+train glided smoothly away.

+

+Brenda sat a little forward, with her gloved hand resting on the

+window, which had been lowered by the guard.  They were seated on the

+landward side of the train, and as she looked out her eyes rested on

+the rising hills to the north with a vague, unseeing gaze.

+

+A slight movement made by Mrs. Huston caused her at length to look

+across, and the two sisters sat for a second searching each other's

+eyes for the old heartwhole frankness which never seems to survive

+the death of childhood and the birth of separate interests in life.

+

+'Theo,' said the elder woman significantly at last, 'is brave and

+cool and cunning, Brenda.'

+

+The girl made an effort, but the old childish confidence was dead.

+From Theo Trist, the disciple of stoicism, she had perhaps learnt

+something of a creed which, if a mistaken one, renders its followers

+of great value in the world, for they never intrude their own private

+feelings upon public attention.  That effort was the last.  It was a

+beginning in itself--the first stone of a wall destined to rise

+between the two sisters, built by the gray hands of Time.

+

+'But,' suggested Brenda, 'Theo is in Bulgaria.'

+

+Mrs. Huston smiled with all the conscious power of a woman who,

+without being actually vain, knows the market value and the moral

+weight of her beauty.

+

+'Suppose I telegraphed to him that I wanted him to come to me at

+once.'

+

+Brenda fixed her eyes upon her sister's face.  For a second her

+dainty lip quivered.

+

+'You must not do that,' she said, in such a tone of invincible

+opposition that her sister changed colour, and looked somewhat

+hastily in another direction.

+

+'I suppose,' murmured the elder woman after a short silence, 'that it

+is quite impossible to find out when he may return?'

+

+'Quite impossible.  This "Eastern Question," as it is called, is so

+complicated that I have given up trying to follow it--besides, I do

+not see what Theo has to do with the matter.  We must act alone,

+Alice.'

+

+'But women are so helpless.'

+

+Brenda smiled in a slightly ironical way.

+

+'Why should they be?' she asked practically.  'I am not afraid of

+Captain Huston.  He is a gentleman, at all events.'

+

+'He _was_!' put in his wife bitterly.

+

+'And I suppose there is something left of his former self?'

+

+'Not very much, my dear.  At least, that phase of his present

+condition has been religiously hidden from my affectionate gaze.'

+

+Brenda drew her gloves pensively up her slim wrists, smoothing out

+the wrinkles in the black kid.  There was in her demeanour an air of

+capable attention, something between that accorded by a general to

+his aide-de-camp on the field of battle, and the keen watchfulness of

+a physician while his patient speaks.

+

+'Theo,' she said conversationally, 'would be a great comfort to us.

+He is so steadfast and so entirely reliable.  But we must do without

+him.  We will manage somehow.'

+

+'I am horribly afraid, Brenda.  It has just come to me; I have never

+felt it before.  You seem to take it so seriously, and ... and I

+expected to find Theo at home.'

+

+'Theo is one of the energetic men with brains who have their own

+affairs to attend to,' said Brenda, in her cheery way.  'We are not

+his affairs; besides, as I mentioned before, he is in Bulgaria--in

+his element, in the midst of confusion, insurrection, war.'

+

+'But,' repeated Mrs. Huston, with aggravating unconsciousness of the

+obvious vanity of her words, 'suppose I telegraphed for him?'

+

+Brenda laughed, and shook her head.

+

+'I have a melancholy presentiment that if you telegraphed for him he

+would not come.  There is a vulgar but weighty proverb about making

+one's own bed, which he might recommend to our notice.'

+

+'Then Theo must have changed!'

+

+Brenda raised her round blue eyes, and glanced sideways out of the

+window.  She was playing idly with the strap of the sash, tapping the

+back of her hand with it.

+

+'Theo,' she observed indifferently, 'is the incarnation of

+steadfastness.  He has not changed in any perceptible way.  But he

+is, before all else, a war-correspondent.  I cannot imagine that

+anyone should possess the power of dragging him away from the seat of

+war.'

+

+Mrs. Huston smiled vaguely for her own satisfaction.  Her imagination

+was apparently capable of greater things.  It was rather to be

+deplored that, when she smiled, the expression of her beautiful face

+was what might (by a true friend behind her back) be called a trifle

+vacuous.

+

+'He wrote,' continued the younger sister, 'a very good article the

+other day, which came just within the limits of my understanding.  It

+was upon the dangers of alliance; and he showed that an ally who, in

+any one way, might at some time prove disadvantageous, is better

+avoided from the very first.  It was _àpropos_ of the

+Turkish-Christian subjects welcoming a Russian invasion.  It seems to

+me, Alice, that our position is rather within the reach of that

+argument.'

+

+'Being a soldier's wife, I do not know much about military matters;

+but it seems to me that a retreat should be safely covered at all

+costs.'

+

+'Not at _all_ costs,' said Brenda significantly.  Her colour had

+changed, and there was a wave of pink slowly mounting over her throat.

+

+Mrs. Huston smiled serenely, and shrugged her shoulders.

+

+'I do not see,' she expostulated frankly, 'what harm there can be in

+calling in the aid of an old friend.'

+

+'I would rather work alone!' was Brenda's soft reply.

+

+And in those two casual remarks there lay hidden from the gaze of

+blinder mortals the story of two lives.

+

+

+

+

+CHAPTER III.

+

+ALICE RETURNS.

+

+In her pleasant room on the second-floor of Suffolk Mansions, Mrs.

+Wylie awaited the arrival of the two sisters.

+

+From without there came a suggestion of bustling life in the

+continuous hum of wheel-traffic and an occasional cry, not

+unmelodious, from enterprising news-vendors.  Within, everything

+spoke of peaceful, pleasant comfort.  There was a large table in the

+centre of the room literally covered with periodical and permanent

+literature--a pleasant table to sit by, for there was invariably

+something of interest lying upon it, a safe stimulant to

+conversation.  The dullest and shyest man could always find something

+to say to the ready listener who sat in a low cane-chair just beyond

+the table, near the fire, with her back to the window.  There were

+many strange ornaments about, and a number of curiosities such as

+women rarely purchase in foreign lands; also sundry small impedimenta

+suggestive of things nautical.

+

+Withal there was in the very atmosphere a sense of womanliness.  The

+subtle odours emanating from wooden constructions, conceived and

+executed by dusky strangers, were overpowered by the healthier and

+livelier smell of flowers.  Heliotrope nestled modestly in low vases

+from Venice.  There was also mignonette, and on the mantelpiece a

+great snowy bunch of Japanese anemones thrust into a bronze vase from

+that same distant land, all looking, as it were, in different

+directions, each carrying its graceful head in a different way, no

+two alike, and yet all lovely, as only God can make things.

+

+I cannot explain in what lay the charm of Mrs. Wylie's drawing-room,

+though it must have emanated from the lady herself.  There is no room

+like it that I know of, where both men and women experience a sudden

+feeling of homeliness, an entire sense of refined ease.  The

+surroundings were not too fragile for the touch of a man, and yet

+there was in them that subtle influence of grace and daintiness which

+appeals to the more delicate fibres of a woman's soul, and makes her

+recognise her own element.

+

+The widowed lady herself was little changed since we last met her in

+the Far North.  But those who knew her well were cognizant of the

+fact that the outward signs of late bereavement so gracefully worn

+were no cynical demonstration of a conventional grief.  The

+white-haired old man sleeping among the nameless sons of an Arctic

+land was as truly mourned by this cheerful Englishwoman as ever

+husband could desire.  There was perhaps a smaller show of cultivated

+grief, such as the world loves to contemplate, than was strictly in

+keeping with her widow's cap.  No lowered tones pulled up a harmless

+burst of hilarity.  No smothered sighs were emitted at inappropriate

+times in order to impress upon a world, already full enough of

+sorrow, the presence of an abiding woe.

+

+But Brenda Gilholme knew that the cure was incomplete.  She had

+carried through, to the end, the task left her by Theo Trist.  The

+_Hermione_ lay snugly anchored by the oozy banks of a Suffolk river,

+and Mrs. Wylie was, so to speak, herself again--that is to say, she

+was once more a woman full of ready sympathy, gay with the gay,

+sorrowing with the afflicted.  If Brenda in her analytical way saw

+and acknowledged the presence of a difference, it was perhaps nothing

+more than an overstrained feminine susceptibility.  At all events,

+the general world opined that Mrs. Wylie was as jolly as ever.

+Moreover, they insinuated in a good-natured manner that the Admiral

+was, after all, many years her senior, and that she in all human

+probability had some considerable span of existence to get through

+yet, which he could not have shared owing to advance of infirmity.

+

+One admirable characteristic had survived, however, this change in

+her life.  The cheery independence of this lady was untouched by the

+hand of sorrow.  It was her creed that at all costs a smile should be

+ready for the world.  Regardless of criticism, she trod her own path

+through a hypercritical generation; and by seeking to cast the light

+of a brave hopefulness upon it, she illuminated the road on which her

+near contemporaries held their way.  One great secret of her method

+was industry.  In her gentle womanliness she sought work, not afar,

+but in her own field, and found it as all women can find work if they

+seek truly.

+

+Even while she was awaiting the arrival of the sisters, she was not

+idle.  On her lap there lay a huge scrap-book, and with scissors and

+paste she was busy collecting and arranging in due order sundry

+newspaper cuttings.  That scrap-book will in after-years be

+historical, for it contained every word ever printed from the

+handwriting of Theodore Trist up to the date of the day when Mrs.

+Wylie sat alone in her drawing-room.  From its pages more than one

+book on the art of making war has since been compiled, and from those

+printed words more than one general of many nationalities would

+confess to having learnt something.

+

+The lady's quick ear detected the sound of a cab suddenly stopping,

+and when a bell rang a few moments later she laid aside her scissors

+and rose from her seat with no sign of surprise.

+

+'I wonder,' she said, 'of what tragedy or comedy this may be the

+beginning.'

+

+There was a certain matronly grace in her movements as she opened the

+door and drew Brenda Gilholme to her arms.

+

+'Alice has come with me!' said the girl.

+

+'Yes, dear,' replied Mrs. Wylie, and she proceeded to greet the

+taller sister with a kiss also, but of somewhat less warmth.

+

+Then the three ladies passed into the drawing-room together.  There

+was a momentary pause, during which Mrs. Huston mechanically loosened

+the strings of her smart little bonnet and looked round the room

+appreciatively.

+

+'How perfectly delicious,' she exclaimed, 'it is to see a comfortable

+English drawing-room again!  I almost kissed the maid who opened the

+door; she was such a pleasant contrast to sneaking Cingalese

+servants.'

+

+Mrs. Wylie smiled sympathetically, but became grave again

+instantaneously.  Her eyes rested for a second on Brenda's face.

+

+'Alice,' explained Brenda, coming forward to the fireplace and

+raising one neatly shod foot to the fender, 'does not give a very

+glowing account of Ceylon.'

+

+'Nor,' added Mrs. Huston with light pathos, 'of the blessed state of

+matrimony.'

+

+Mrs. Wylie drew forward a chair.

+

+'Sit down,' she said hospitably, 'and warm yourselves.  We will have

+some tea before you take your things off.'

+

+'And now Alice,' she resumed, after seating herself in the softly

+lined cane chair near the literary table, 'tell me all ... you wish

+to tell me.'

+

+'Oh,' replied the beautiful woman, removing her gloves daintily,

+'there is not much to tell.  Moreover, the story has not the merit

+even of novelty.  The raw material is lamentably commonplace, and I

+am afraid I cannot make a very interesting thing of it.  Wretched

+climate, horribly dull station, thirsty husband.  _Voilà tout!_'

+

+'To which, however,' suggested Mrs. Wylie with a peculiar intonation,

+'might perhaps be added military society and Indian habits.'

+

+The younger woman shrugged her shoulders and laughed.

+

+'Oh no!' she exclaimed irresponsibly.  'But all that is a question of

+the past, and the present is important enough to require some

+attention.'

+

+She extended her feet to the warmth of the fire, and contemplated her

+small boots with some satisfaction.

+

+'Yes...?'

+

+'I have bolted,' she said, replying to the inferred query, 'and he is

+in all probability after me.'

+

+Mrs. Wylie turned aside the screen which she was holding between her

+face and the fire.  Her intelligent eyes rested for a moment on the

+speaker's face, then she transferred her attention to Brenda, who

+stood near the mantelpiece with her two gloved hands resting on the

+marble.  The girl was gazing down between her extended arms into the

+fire, and a warm glow nestled rosily round her face.  The eyes were

+too sad for their years.

+

+'I am very sorry to hear it,' said the widow with conviction.

+

+'There was no alternative.  I could not stand it any longer.'

+

+'How did you manage it?' asked Mrs. Wylie quietly, almost too quietly.

+

+'Oh, I got rid of some jewellery, and there was a Captain Markynter

+who was kind enough to get my ticket and see me off!'

+

+A peculiar silence followed this cool remark.  Mrs. Wylie sat quite

+still, holding the palm screen before her face.  Brenda stood

+motionless as a statue.  Mrs. Huston curved her white wrist, and

+looked compassionately at a small red mark made by the button of her

+glove.  At length the uneasy pause was broken.  Without moving,

+Brenda spoke in a cool, clear voice, almost monotonous.

+

+'Alice,' she explained, 'is a great advocate for masculine

+assistance.  She considers us totally incapable of managing our own

+affairs, and powerless to act for ourselves.  She has been regretting

+all day that Theo should be away, and consequently beyond our call.'

+

+Mrs. Huston laughed somewhat forcedly, and drew in her feet.

+

+'It is like this,' she explained.  'If my husband catches me I think

+I shall probably kill myself!  Theo is so strong and reliable, and

+somehow ... so _capable_, that I naturally thought of him in my

+emergency.'

+

+'Naturally,' echoed Mrs. Wylie mechanically.

+

+At that moment she was not thinking whether her monosyllabic remark

+was cruelly sarcastic or simply silly.  Her whole mind was devoted to

+the study of Brenda's face, upon which the firelight glowed; but in

+the proud young features there was nothing legible--nothing beyond a

+somewhat anxious thoughtfulness.

+

+'I think,' continued Mrs. Huston, 'that we may count on a week's

+start.  My affectionate husband cannot be here before then.'

+

+To this neither lady made reply.  The servant came in, and in a few

+moments tea was served.  Brenda presided over the little basket

+table, and prepared each cup with a foreknowledge of the several

+tastes.  During this there was no word spoken.  From the nonchalance

+of the ladies' manner one might easily have imagined that the younger

+couple had just come in from a long day's shopping.

+

+'Have you,' asked the widow at length, as she stirred her tea

+placidly, 'thought of what you are doing?'

+

+'Oh yes!' was the laughing rejoinder, in which, however, there was no

+mirth.  'Oh yes!  I have thought, and thought, and thought, until the

+subject was thrashed out dry.  There was nothing else to do but

+think, and read yellow-backed novels, all the voyage home.'

+

+'Then,' murmured the widow, with gentle interrogation, 'this Captain

+Parminter did not come home with you?'

+

+Mrs. Huston changed colour, and her lips moved slightly.  She glanced

+towards Mrs. Wylie beneath her dark lashes, and answered with

+infinite self-possession:

+

+'No!  And his name is Markynter.'

+

+The palm-leaf did not move.  Presently, however, Mrs. Wylie laid it

+aside, and asked for some more tea.

+

+'Well,' she said cheerily, 'I suppose we must make the best of a very

+bad bargain.  What do you propose to do next?'

+

+In the most natural and confiding way imaginable, Mrs. Huston looked

+up towards her sister, who was still standing.  There was an almost

+imperceptible shrug of her shoulders.

+

+'Brenda,' she answered, 'says that I must run away and hide in some

+small village, which is not exactly a cheerful prospect.'

+

+'It would hardly do,' said Brenda, as if in defence of her own

+theory, 'to go down to Brighton and stay at the Bedford Hotel, for

+instance.'

+

+'If,' added Mrs. Wylie in the same tone, 'you really want to avoid

+your husband, you must certainly hide; but I do not see what you can

+gain by such a proceeding.  It can never be permanent, and you will

+soon get tired of chasing each other round England.'

+

+'Perhaps he will get tired of it first.'

+

+'If he does, what will your position be?  Somewhat ambiguous, I

+imagine.'

+

+'It cannot be worse than it is at present.'

+

+'Oh yes,' replied the widow calmly.  'It can!'

+

+She set her empty cup on the tray, and sat with her two hands clasped

+together on her lap.  She had not come through fifty years of life,

+this placid lady, without learning something of the world's ways, and

+she recognised instantly what Alice Huston's position was.  It was

+the old story which is told every day in all parts of the world, more

+especially, perhaps, in India--the wearisome tale of a mistaken

+marriage between a man of small intellect and a woman of less.  If

+both husband and wife be busy, the one with his bread-winning, the

+other with her babies, such unions may be a near approach to animal

+happiness--no more can be hoped for.  The very instincts of it are

+animal, and as such it is safe.  But if one or both be idle, the

+result is simply 'hell.'  No other expression can come near it.

+

+Captain Huston's military duties were not such as occupied more than

+a few hours of the week, and during the rest of his existence he was

+actively idle.  His mind was fallow; he was totally without resource,

+without occupation, without interest.  There is no man on earth to

+beat the ordinary British military officer in downright futile

+idleness.  The Spanish Custom-house official runs a close race with

+the Italian inn-keeper in this matter, but both enjoy their laziness,

+and are never bored.  When our commissioned defender is naturally of

+an idle turn of mind, he is intensely bored; his existence is one

+long yawn, and the faculty of enjoyment dies a natural death within

+his soul.  I can think of no more despicable sample of humanity than

+a man who cannot find himself something to do under all

+circumstances, and in all places; and surely no one can blame his

+Satanic majesty for a proverbial readiness to supply the deficiency

+from his own store of easy tasks.

+

+If Alice Gilholme had searched through the entire army-list, she

+could scarcely have found a man less suitable to be her husband than

+Captain Huston.  Petty, short-sighted jealousy on his part, vapid

+coquetry on hers, soon led to the inevitable end, and the result was

+thrown upon the hands of Brenda and Mrs. Wylie with easy nonchalance

+by the spoilt child of society.

+

+It was no sudden disillusionment for Brenda, but merely one more

+wretched curtain torn aside to display the hideous reality of human

+existence and human selfishness.  No thought of complaint entered the

+girl's head.  With a pathetic silence she simply applied herself to

+the task set before her, with no great hope of reaching a

+satisfactory solution.

+

+Before the three ladies had spoken further upon the subject chiefly

+occupying their thoughts, the drawing-room door was thrown open, and

+with studied grace William Hicks crossed the threshold.

+

+The hat that he carried daintily in his left hand was not quite the

+same in contour as those worn by his contemporaries.  To ensure this

+peculiarity, the artist was forced to send to Paris for his

+head-gear, where he paid a higher price and received an inferior

+article.  But the distinction conferred by a unique hat is

+practically immeasurable and without price.  Mr. Hicks' gloves were

+also out of the common; likewise his strangely-cut coat and misshapen

+continuations.

+

+The _tout ensemble_ was undoubtedly pleasing.  It must have been so,

+because he was obviously satisfied, and the artistic eye is the

+acknowledged arbitrator in matters of outward adornment, whether it

+be of mantelshelves or human forms divine.

+

+The three ladies turned to greet him with that ready feminine smile

+which is ever there to lubricate matters when the social wheel may

+squeak or grate.

+

+'Oh, bother!' whispered Brenda to herself, as she held out her hand.

+

+'What?' exclaimed Hicks, with languid surprise and visibly deep

+pleasure.  'Mrs. Huston!  I am delighted.  When I left my studio and

+plunged into all this mist and gloom this afternoon, I never thought

+that both would be dispelled so suddenly.'

+

+'Is it dispelled?' asked Mrs. Huston, glancing playfully towards the

+window.

+

+'In here it is.  But then,' he added, as he shook hands with Mrs.

+Wylie, 'there is never any mist or gloom in this room.'

+

+With a pleasant laugh, as if deprecating his own folly, he turned to

+greet Brenda, who had stood near the mantelpiece with her gloved hand

+extended.  Then his manner changed.  Moreover, it was a distinctly

+advantageous alteration.  One would have imagined, from the

+expression of his handsome but thoroughly weak face, that if there

+was anybody on earth whom he respected and admired, almost as much as

+he respected and admired William Hicks, that person was Brenda.

+

+For her he had no neatly-turned pleasantry--no easy, infectious laugh.

+

+'I did not know you were coming home, Mrs. Huston,' he said, turning

+again to that lady.  Then his social training enabled him to detect

+unerringly that he might be on a dangerous trail, and with ready

+skill he turned aside.  'This is not the best time of year,' he

+continued, 'to return to your native shores.  Personally I am rather

+disgusted with the shore in question, but we must surely hope for

+some more sunshine before we finally bid farewell to the orb of day

+for the winter.  We poor artists are the chief sufferers, I am sure.'

+

+'At all events,' put in Mrs. Wylie easily, 'you take it upon

+yourselves to grumble most.  There is always something to displease

+you--the want of daylight, the scarcity of buyers, or the hopeless

+stupidity of the hanging-committee.'

+

+'I think I confine my observations to the weather,' murmured Hicks,

+gazing sadly into the fire, towards which bourne Brenda's glance was

+also apparently directed, for she presently pressed the glowing coals

+down with the sole of her dainty boot, and quite lost the studied

+poesy of the artist's expression.  'I am, I think,' he continued

+humbly, 'independent of buyers and hanging-committees.  I do not

+exhibit at Burlington House, and you know I never sell.'

+

+'Indeed,' said Mrs. Huston, with slight interest, for the elder lady

+had turned away and was busy with her second cup of tea, which was

+almost cold.

+

+'No,' answered Hicks, with the eagerness that comes to egotistical

+talkers when they are sure of a new listener.  'No.  I don't care to

+enter into competition with men who depend more upon conventional

+training than natural talent.  The Royal Academy is only a human

+institution, and, perhaps, it is only natural that their own students

+should be favoured before all others.  I am not an Academy student,

+you know!'

+

+Mrs. Huston contented herself with no more compromising affirmative

+than a gracious inclination of the head.  It is just possible that,

+fresh from Ceylon, and consequently deplorably ignorant of artistic

+affairs as she was, the knowledge that William Hicks was not an

+Academy student had been denied her.  This most lamentable fact,

+however, if it existed, she concealed with all the cleverness of her

+sex, and Hicks came to the conclusion, later on, that she must have

+known.  He could not conceive it possible that a woman moving in

+intelligent circles, although in the outer rims thereof, and far from

+the living centre of Kensington, could be unaware of such an

+important item in his own personal history; this being no mean part

+of the artistic history of the nineteenth century.

+

+Enveloped as he was, however, in conceit, he had the good taste to

+perceive that his bewildering presence was on this particular

+occasion liable to be considered bliss of an alloyed description, and

+in a short time he took his leave.

+

+As he was moving round and saying good-bye, Mrs. Huston returned to

+the artistic question, from which they had never strayed very far.

+Indeed, art was somewhat apt to become a nauseating subject of

+conversation wherever William Hicks was allowed to influence matters

+to any extent.

+

+'You have never sent pictures to the Academy, then?' she asked

+innocently.

+

+'Oh no!' he answered with mild horror.  'Good-bye, so glad to see you

+home again.'

+

+And then he vanished.

+

+Mrs. Wylie watched his retreating figure with a pleasant and sociable

+expression on her intelligent face.

+

+'That,' she was reflecting, 'is a lie!'  She happened to know that

+Hicks had been refused a place on the walls of Burlington House.

+

+If I were a ghost, or if I ever come to be one, I shall not take up

+the old, time-worn craft of frightening people during the stilly

+hours.  Instead of such uninteresting work, I shall make a collection

+in a phantom pocket-book of asides and murmured reflections.  From

+such, an interesting study of earthly existence, and more

+particularly of social life, might well be made.

+

+On those phantom pages might, for instance, be inscribed the

+reflections of William Hicks as he made his way down the broad

+staircase of Suffolk Mansions.

+

+'Whew!' was their tenor; 'ran right into it.  She's left him; I could

+see that.  Seems to me she's on the verge of a catastrophe--divorce

+or separation, or something like that.'

+

+In the drawing-room Mrs. Wylie was saying reflectively to either or

+both of her companions:

+

+'This is the beginning of it.  That man will tell everyone he meets

+before going to bed to-night that you are home.  He did not ask where

+your husband was, which shows that he wanted to know; consequently he

+will wonder over it, and will take care to tell everyone what he is

+wondering about.'

+

+

+

+

+CHAPTER IV.

+

+TO THE FRONT.

+

+A week later Brenda was sitting in the same apartment again.  But

+this time she was alone.  From pure kindness of heart Mrs. Wylie had

+managed to allow the girl an afternoon's leisure, and Brenda was

+spending this very happily amidst her books and magazines.  She was,

+in her way, a literary person, this brilliant young scholar; but,

+belonging to a universal age, universality was also hers.  With the

+literary she could show herself well-read; with the purely

+pleasure-seeking she could also find sympathy.  In these times of

+mixed circles, men and women must needs be able to talk upon many

+subjects, whether they know aught about them or nothing.

+

+Brenda Gilholme was not, however, a brilliant talker.  She could have

+written well had she been moved thereto by that restless spirit which

+makes some people look upon existence as a blank without pens and

+paper.  But as yet she was content to read, and her young mind

+thirsted for the grasp of other folks' thoughts as a fisherman's

+fingers itch for the rod.

+

+During the last week Alice Huston's presence in Mrs. Wylie's

+household had not been an unmixed success.  There was a slight and

+almost imperceptible impatience in the widow's manner, in the

+inflection of her pleasant voice, in her very glance when her eyes

+rested upon her guest's gracious form.  Gradually the story had come

+out, and some details were related with unguarded carelessness,

+resulting in the conclusion, as far as Mrs. Wylie and Brenda were

+concerned, that Captain Huston might also have a story to tell,

+differing in tone and purport from that related by his wronged

+spouse.  Her case against her husband was not very clear, and in her

+relation of it there was in some vague way a sense of suppression and

+easy adaptation both pointing to the same end.  If Brenda felt this

+and drew her own conclusions from it, she allowed no sign of such

+conclusions to appear, but accepted the situation without comment.

+The natural result of this unfeminine behaviour was a wane of

+confidence between the sisters.  It is easy enough, even for the most

+reticent person, to make known to some chosen familiar certain

+details hitherto suppressed when once the subject is broached; but to

+continue confiding in a bosom friend who accepts all statements

+without surprise, horror or sympathy is a different matter.

+

+Brenda's manner of listening was neither forbidding nor indifferent.

+It was merely unenthusiastic, and its chief characteristic was a

+certain measured attention, as if the details were imprinting

+themselves indelibly upon a prepared mental surface, where they might

+well remain intact and legible for many years.  Mrs. Wylie, glancing

+at the two sisters over her book, or her palm-leaf screen, conceived

+a strange thought.  She imagined that she detected in Brenda's manner

+and demeanour a certain subtle resemblance to the manner and

+demeanour of one who was far away, and whose influence upon the

+girl's life could not well have been very great, namely, Theodore

+Trist.

+

+When the war-correspondent was not on active service, he lived in

+London, and, as was only natural to one of his calling, moved in such

+intervals in a circle of men and women influential in the political

+world.  He was a reticent speaker, but an excellent listener, and

+Mrs. Wylie, as the wife of an active naval politician, had many

+opportunities of watching in her placid way this strange young man

+among his fellows.  Theodore Trist's chief fault was, in her eyes, a

+lack of enthusiasm.  He waited too patiently on the course of events,

+and moved too guardedly when he moved at all.  It was a very womanly

+view of a man's conduct, and one held, I think, by nineteen out of

+twenty mothers who have brought brilliant sons into the world.

+

+These characteristics the widow now began to see developing subtly in

+the soul of Brenda Gilholme, and a keen study of the girl during this

+trying time only confirmed her suspicions.  She began to feel

+nervously sure that the companionship of Mrs. Huston was bad for her,

+and with this knowledge to urge her she calmly forced her way in

+between the two sisters.

+

+If Brenda lacked enthusiasm (which failure is characteristic of this

+calculating and practical generation), she atoned for the want by a

+wondrous steadfastness.  By word, and deed, and silence, she

+demonstrated continuously her intention to stand by her sister and do

+for her all that lay in her power.  In this spirit of dumb devotion

+Mrs. Wylie was pleased to see a suggestion of Theo Trist's soldierly

+obedience to the call of duty in which there was no question of

+personal inclination.  She may have been right.  Women see deeper

+into these subtle human influences than men.  There are many small

+powers at work in every-day life, guiding our social barque,

+withholding us or urging us on, dictating, commanding, approving, or

+disapproving; and the motive of these is woman's will.  The eye that

+guides is a woman's heart; the brake that checks is a woman's

+instinct.  Mrs. Wylie was probably, therefore, quite right in her

+supposition; for it is such men as Theo Trist who leave the impress

+of their individuality upon those who come in contact with them--men

+who speak little and listen well, who think deeply and never speak of

+their thoughts.  It is not your talkative man with a theory for every

+emergency, with a most wonderful and universal knowledge, who rules

+the world.  The influence of these is comparatively small.  Their

+experience is too vast to be personal, and thus loses weight.  Their

+theories are too indefinite, too sweeping, and too general for

+practical application to human affairs, which are things not to be

+generally treated at all.  We are a sheepish generation.  Our

+thoughts are held in common; we theorize in crowds and hold

+principles in a multitude, but God's grand individuality is not dead

+yet.  It lives somewhere in our hearts, and at strange odd moments we

+still act unaccountably, according to the dictates of that enfeebled

+organ.

+

+There is a subtle difference between the male and female intellects

+respecting anxiety.  Most women can conceal it better than their

+brothers and husbands when the necessity for concealment arises, but

+they suffer no less on that account.  In fact, the weight of it is

+greater and more wearing, because in solitude they brood over it more

+than men.  They have not the same power of laying it aside and taking

+up a book or occupation with the deliberate intention of courting

+absorption, as possessed by us.

+

+Brenda was apparently immersed in the pages of an intellectual

+monthly review, but at times her sweet innocent eyes wandered from

+the lines and rested meditatively on the glowing fire.  The girl was

+restless.  She moved each time she turned a page, glancing sometimes

+at the small clock on the mantelpiece, sometimes towards the window,

+whence an ever-waning light fell gloomily upon her.

+

+There was in her soul a vague sense of discomfort, which was as near

+an approach to imaginative anxiety as her strong nature could

+compass; and to this she was gradually giving way.  Her interest in

+the magazine upon her lap had never been else than perfunctory, and

+now she could not take in the meaning of the carefully rounded and

+somewhat affected phrases.

+

+Alice Huston had been a week in Mrs. Wylie's chambers, and there was

+no positive reason now to suppose that her husband was not in London.

+But the beautiful woman possessed little sense of responsibility, and

+none of consideration for others.  She simply refused to leave town

+until the following Monday, because, she argued, the sound of wheels,

+the gay whirl of life, was so intensely refreshing to her.  Mrs.

+Wylie would scarcely interfere, because she was not quite certain

+that Captain Huston was unfit to take care of his wife.  She could

+not decide whether it was better to keep them apart or to allow Alice

+to run into the danger of being followed and claimed by her husband.

+The widow had very successfully followed a placid principle of

+non-interference all through her life, and now she applied it to the

+calamitous affairs of Captain and Mrs. Huston.  She recognised very

+clearly that the man had made as evil a bargain as the woman.  In

+both there was good material, capable of being wrought into good

+results by advantageous circumstances.  The circumstance of their

+coming together and contracting a life-long alliance was

+disadvantageous to the last degree, _voilà tout_.  It was a matter

+for themselves to settle.  There are some people who, in a crisis,

+form themselves into a reserve--not necessarily out of range, but

+beyond the din and confusion of the melée: of these was Mrs. Wylie.

+If necessity demanded it, she was capable of leading an assault or

+withstanding an attack, but as a clear-headed, watchful commander of

+reserves she was incomparable.

+

+Brenda knew this.  She had an analytical way of studying such persons

+as influenced her daily life, and in most cases she arrived at a very

+accurate result.  That Mrs. Wylie was watching events, but would not

+influence them, she was well aware, and, moreover, she now felt that

+someone was needed who would calmly step to the front and act with a

+bold acceptance of responsibility.  That she herself was the person

+to take this position seemed undeniable.  There could be no one else.

+No other could be expected to assume the task.

+

+But there was another, and Brenda would not confess, even

+indefinitely in her own thoughts, that she knew it.

+

+At length she laid her book down, and sat gazing softly into the

+fire.  When the bell rang at the end of the long passage beside the

+kitchen-door, she never moved.  When the maid opened the drawing-room

+door, with the mumbled announcement of a name to whose possessor no

+door of Mrs. Wylie's was ever shut, Brenda failed to hear the name,

+and half turned her head without much welcome in her eyes.

+

+She was preparing to rise politely from her seat when a dark form

+passed between the window and herself.  There, upon the hearthrug,

+within touch of her black skirt, stood Theo Trist!  Theo--quiet,

+unemotional, strong as ever; Theo--with a brown face, and his bland,

+high forehead divided into two portions of white and of mahogany,

+where the fez had rested, keeping off the burning sun, but casting no

+shadow; Theo--to the fore, as usual, in his calm, reliable

+individuality, just at the moment when he was required.

+

+Brenda gave a little gasp, and the eyes that met his were, for a

+second, contracted with some quick emotion, which he thought was fear.

+

+'Theo!' she exclaimed, '_Theo!_'  Then she stopped short, checking

+herself suddenly, and as she rose he saw the frightened look in her

+eyes again.

+

+They shook hands, and for a brief moment neither seemed able to frame

+a syllable.  Brenda's lips were dry, and her throat was parched--all

+in a second.

+

+He looked round the room as if seeking someone, or the indication of

+a presence, such as a work-basket, a well-known book, or some similar

+token.  Brenda concluded that he was wondering where Mrs. Wylie might

+be, and suddenly she found power to speak in a steady, even voice.

+

+'Mrs. Wylie is out!' she said.  'I expect her in by tea-time.'

+

+He nodded his head--indicated the chair which she had just left--and,

+when she was seated, knelt down on the hearthrug, holding his two

+hands to the fire.

+

+'Where is Alice?' he asked, in a peculiar monotone.

+

+'She is out with Mrs. Wylie----  Then ... you know?'

+

+'Yes, Brenda, I know!' he answered gravely.

+

+The girl sat forward in her low chair, with her two arms resting upon

+her knees, her slim, white hands interlocked.  For a time she was off

+her guard, forgetting the outward composure taught in the school of

+which she was so apt a pupil.  She actually allowed herself to

+breathe hurriedly, to lean forward, and drink in with her eager eyes

+the man's every feature and every movement.  He was not looking

+towards her, but of her fixed gaze he was well aware.  The sound of

+her quick respiration was close to his ear; her soft, warm breath

+reached his cheek.  With all his iron composure, despite his cruel

+hold over himself, he wavered for a moment, and the hands held out to

+the glow of the fire shook perceptibly.  But his meek eyes never lost

+their settled expression of speculative contemplation.  Whatever

+other men might do, whatever women might suffer, Theodore Trist was

+sufficient for himself.  The flame leapt up, and fell again with a

+little bubbling sound, glowing ruddily upon the two faces.  He

+remained quite motionless, quite cold.  It was the face of the great

+Napoleon again--inscrutable, deep beyond the depth of human

+soundings, cruel and yet sweet--but the high forehead seemed to

+suggest an infinite possibility of something else; some lack of

+energy, or some great negation, which cancelled at one blow the

+resemblance that lay in lip and chin and profile.

+

+Presently Brenda leant back in the chair.  There was a screen on the

+table near her--Mrs. Wylie's palm-leaf--and she extended her hand to

+take it, holding it subsequently between her face and the fire, so

+that if Trist had turned his head he could not have seen anything but

+her slim, graceful form, her white hand and wrist, and the screen

+glowing rosily.  He did not turn, however, when he spoke.

+

+'I will tell you,' he said, 'how I came to know.'

+

+Before continuing, he rubbed his hands slowly together.  Then he rose

+from his knees and remained standing near the fire close to her, but

+without looking in her direction.  He seemed to be choosing his words.

+

+'I came home,' he said at length, 'from Gibraltar in an Indian

+steamer, a small boat with half a dozen passengers.  There was no

+doctor on board.  One evening I was asked to go forward and look at a

+second-class passenger who was suffering from ... from delirium

+tremens.'

+

+He stopped in an apologetic way, as if begging her indulgence for the

+use of those two words in her presence.

+

+'Yes...' she murmured encouragingly.

+

+'It was Huston.'

+

+As he spoke he turned slightly, and glanced down at her.  She had

+entirely regained her gentle composure now, and the colour had

+returned to her face.  Her attention was given to his words with a

+certain suppressed anxiety, but no surprise whatever.

+

+'Did,' she asked at length--'did he recognise you?'

+

+'No.'

+

+'And he never knew, and does not know now, that you were on board?'

+

+It would seem that he divined her thoughts, detecting the hidden

+importance of her question.

+

+'No,' he answered meaningly, as he turned and looked down at

+her--'no; but he has not forgotten my existence.'

+

+She raised her eyes quickly, but their glance stopped short suddenly

+at the elevation of his lips.  It was only by an effort that she

+avoided meeting his gaze.

+

+'I do not know,' she said with a short laugh, in an explanatory way,

+'much about ... about it.  Is it like ordinary delirium, where people

+talk in a broken manner without realizing what they are saying?'

+

+'Yes; it is rather like that.'

+

+She examined the texture of the screen with some attention.

+

+'Do you mind telling me, Theo,' she asked at length evenly, 'whether

+he mentioned your name?'

+

+Trist reflected for a moment.  He moved restlessly from one foot to

+the other, then spoke in a voice which betrayed no emotion beyond

+regret and a hesitating sympathy.

+

+'He said that Alice had run away to join her old lover--meaning me.'

+

+'Are you sure he meant ... you?'

+

+'He mentioned my name; there could be no doubt about it.'

+

+Brenda rose suddenly from her seat and crossed the room towards the

+window.  There she stood with her back towards him, a graceful, dark

+silhouette against the dying light, looking into the street.

+

+He moved slightly, but did not attempt to follow her.

+

+'It is rather strange,' she said at length, 'that the first name she

+mentioned on landing at Plymouth should be yours.'

+

+A look of blank surprise flashed across his face, and then he

+reflected gravely for some moments.

+

+'I am sorry to hear it,' he said slowly, 'because it would seem that

+my name has been bandied between them, and if that is the case my

+hands are tied.  I cannot help Alice as I should have liked to do.'

+

+'I told Alice some time ago that it would be much better for us to

+manage this ... this miserable affair without your help.'

+

+'You are equal to it,' he said deliberately.

+

+She laughed with a faint gleam of her habitual brightness.

+

+'Thank you.  That is a very pretty sentiment, but it is hardly the

+question.'

+

+'My help,' he continued, 'need not be obvious to every casual

+observer.  But I am not going to leave you to fight this out alone,

+Brenda.  I was forced to leave you once, and I am not going to do it

+again.  What does Mrs. Wylie say to it all?'

+

+'Nothing as yet.  She is waiting on events.'

+

+'Ah, then, she is in reserve as usual.  When the time comes, we may

+rely upon her help.  But until then...'

+

+'Theo,' interrupted Brenda in an agonized voice, 'the time _has_

+come!'

+

+She started back from the window, her face as white as her snowy

+throat, her eyes contracted with horror.

+

+'He is there!' she whispered hoarsely, pointing towards the

+window--'in the street.  Coming into the house!'

+

+Her little hands clutched his sleeve with a womanly abandonment of

+restraint, and he stood quite still in his self-reliant manhood.

+Then he found with surprise that his right arm was round her

+shoulders protecting her.

+

+'Come,' he said with singular calmness--'come into another room.

+I--see him here.'

+

+As he spoke he gently urged her towards the door, but she resisted,

+and for a moment there was an actual physical struggle.

+

+'No,' she said, 'I will see him.  It is better.  Alice may come in at

+any moment, and before then I must know how matters stand between

+them.'

+

+Trist hesitated, and at that moment the bell rang.  They stood side

+by side looking at the closed door, listening painfully.

+

+'Perhaps,' whispered Trist, 'the maid will say that Mrs. Wylie is

+out.'

+

+They could hear the light footstep of the servant, then the click of

+the latch.

+

+A murmur of words followed, ending in the raised tone of a male voice

+and a short sharp exclamation of fear from the maid.

+

+Instinctively Trist sprang towards the door.

+

+There was a sound of heavy footsteps in the passage.  Trist's fingers

+were on the handle.  He glanced towards Brenda appealingly.

+

+'Leave it!' she exclaimed.  'Let him come in.'

+

+Before the words were out of her lips the door was thrown open,

+concealing Theodore Trist.

+

+

+

+

+CHAPTER V.

+

+UNDER FIRE.

+

+A tall, well-built man entered the room hurriedly and stopped short,

+facing Brenda, who met his gaze with gentle self-possession.

+

+'Ah!' he muttered in a thick voice, and his unsteady hand went to his

+long fair moustache.

+

+It was a terribly unhealthy face upon which Brenda's eyes rested

+inquiringly.  The skin was cracked in places, and the cheeks were

+almost blue.  The eyelids were red and the eyes bloodshot, while

+there was a general suggestion of puffiness and discomfort in the

+swollen features.  The man was distinctly repulsive, and yet, with a

+small amount of tolerance, he was a figure to demand pity.  Despite

+his dissipated air, there was that indefinite sense of refinement

+which belongs to birth and breeding, and which never leaves a man who

+has once moved among gentlemen.  There was even a faint suggestion of

+military vanity in his dress and carriage, though his figure was by

+no means so smart as it must have been in bygone days.

+

+The room was rather dark, and he glanced round, failing to see Theo

+Trist, who was leaning against the wall behind him.

+

+'Ah!' he repeated; 'Brenda.  I suppose you are in it, too!'

+

+She made no reply, but stood before him in all her maidenly sweetness

+and strength, looking into his face through the twilight with clear

+and steady eyes which he hesitated to meet.  Into his weak soul a

+flood of bitter memories rushed tumultuously--memories of a time when

+he could meet those eyes without that sudden feeling of self-hatred

+which was gnawing at his heart now.  His tone was not harsh nor

+violent, but there was an undernote of determination which was not

+pleasant to the ear.

+

+'Tell me,' he continued thickly, 'where my wife is to be found.'

+

+Trist noticed that she never took her eyes off Huston's face, never

+glanced past the sleek, closely-cropped head towards himself.  In

+some subtle way her wish was conveyed to him--the wish that he should

+remain there and continue, if possible, to be unnoticed by Huston.

+This he did, leaning squarely against the wall, his meek eyes riveted

+on the girl's face with a calm, expectant attention.  From his

+presence Brenda gathered that strength and self-reliance which, I

+think, God intends women to gather from the companionship of men.

+

+'No, Alfred,' she answered, using his Christian name with a gentle

+diplomacy which made him waver for a moment and sway backwards upon

+his rigid legs; 'I must not tell you that yet.'

+

+'What right have you to withhold it?'

+

+'She is my sister.  I must do the best I can for her.'

+

+He laughed in an unpleasant way.

+

+'By throwing her into the path of the man she has always----'

+

+'Stop!' commanded Brenda.

+

+'Why?  Why should I stop?  I suppose Trist is in England.  That is

+why she came home, no doubt.'

+

+'She has never spoken to Theodore Trist since she married you.

+Besides, that is not the question.  Tell me why you want to find

+Alice.  What do you propose to do?'

+

+'That is _my_ affair!' he muttered roughly.  'You have no business to

+stand between man and wife.  If you persist in doing so, it must be

+at your own risk, and I tell you plainly that you run a chance of

+being roughly handled.'

+

+As he spoke he advanced a pace menacingly.  Still she never betrayed

+Trist's presence by the merest glance in his direction.  He, however,

+moved slightly, without making any sound.

+

+Huston looked slowly round the room with bloodshot, horrible eyes.

+

+'Tell me!' he hissed, thrusting forward his face so that she drew

+back--not from fear, but to avoid a faint aroma of stale cigar-smoke.

+

+'No!' she answered.

+

+'Deny that Trist loved Alice--if you dare!' he continued, in the same

+whistling voice.

+

+Still she never called for Trist's assistance.  She was very pale,

+and the last words seemed to strike her in the face as a blow.

+

+'I deny nothing!'

+

+'Tell me,' he shouted hoarsely, 'where Alice is!'

+

+'No!'

+

+'Then take _that_, you...'

+

+He struck her with his clenched fist on the shoulder--but she had

+seen his intention, and by stepping back avoided the full force of

+the blow.  She staggered a pace or two and recovered herself.

+

+Without a sound Trist sprang forward, and the same instant saw Huston

+fall to the ground.  He rolled over and over, a shapeless mass with

+limbs distended.  As he rolled, Trist kicked him as he never would

+have kicked a dog.

+

+'Oh ... h ... h ...!' shrieked the soldier.  'Who is that?'

+

+'It is Trist ... you _brute_!'

+

+But Huston lay motionless, with limp hands and open mouth.  He was

+insensible.

+

+Leaving him, Trist turned to Brenda, who was already holding him back

+with a physical force which even at that moment caused him a vague

+surprise.

+

+'Theo!  Theo!' she cried, 'what are you doing?'

+

+He looked into her face sharply, almost fiercely--and she caught her

+breath convulsively at the sight of his eyes.  They literally flashed

+with a dull blue gleam, which was all the more ghastly in so calm a

+face; for though he was ashen-gray in colour, his features were

+unaltered by any sign of passion.  Even in his wild rage this man was

+incongruous.

+

+'Has he hurt you?' he asked in a dull, hollow voice; and, while he

+spoke, his fingers skilfully touched her shoulder in a quick,

+searching way never learnt in drawing-rooms.

+

+'No--no!' she cried impatiently.  'But you have killed _him_!'

+

+She broke away from him and knelt on the floor, bending over the

+prostrate form of the soldier.  Her bosom heaved from time to time

+with a bravely suppressed sob.

+

+'Don't touch him,' said Trist, in an unconsciously commanding tone.

+'He is all right.'

+

+Obediently, she rose and stepped away, while he lifted the limp form,

+and placed it in a chair.

+

+Slowly Captain Huston opened his eyes.  He heaved a deep sigh, and

+sat gazing into the fire with a hopeless and miserable apathy.

+Behind him the two stood motionless, watching.  Presently he began to

+mutter incoherently, and Brenda turned away, sickened, from the

+woeful sight.

+

+'I wonder,' she whispered, 'if this sort of thing is to go on.'

+

+Trist's mobile lips were twisted a little as if he were in bodily

+pain, while he glanced at her furtively.  There was nothing for him

+to say--no hope to hold out.

+

+They moved away to the window together without speaking, both

+occupied with thoughts which could not well have been pleasant.

+Trist's features wore a grave, concentrated expression, totally

+unlike the philosophical and contemplative demeanour which he usually

+carried in the face of the world.  There was food enough for mental

+stones to grind, and he was not a man to take the most sanguine view

+of affairs.  His philosophy was of that rare school which is not

+solely confined to making the best of other folks' troubles.  His own

+checks and difficulties were those treated philosophically; while the

+griefs of others--more especially, perhaps, of Alice and

+Brenda--caused him an exaggerated anxiety.  It has been the

+experience of the present writer that women are infinitely better

+fitted to stand adversity than men.  There is a certain brave little

+smile which our less mobile lips can never frame.  But Theodore Trist

+had lived chiefly among men, and his human speciality was the

+fighting animal.  He knew a soldier as few of his contemporaries knew

+him; but of sweet woman-militant he was somewhat ignorant.

+

+Perhaps he took this trouble too seriously.  Of that I cannot give an

+opinion, for we all have an individual way of getting over our

+fences, and we never learn another.  Personally, I must confess to a

+penchant for those men who go steadily, with a cool, clear head, and

+a firm hand, realizing full well the risk they are about to run--men

+who do not put a _blind_ faith in luck, nor look invariably for

+Fortune's smiles.

+

+In Trist's place many would have uttered some trite consolatory or

+wildly hopeful remark, which would in no wise have deceived a young

+person of Brenda's austere discrimination.  In this, however, he fell

+lamentably short of his duty.  After a thoughtful pause he merely

+whispered:

+

+'Here we are again, Brenda--in a tight place.  There is some fatality

+which seems to guide our footsteps on to thorny pathways.  There is

+nothing to be done but face it.'

+

+'Is it,' she asked simply, 'a case for action, or must we wait upon

+events?'

+

+'I would suggest ... action.'

+

+'Yes...' she said, in little more than a whisper, after a pause, 'I

+think so too--more especially now ... that you suggest it.  Your

+natural bias is, as a rule, in the direction of masterly inactivity.'

+

+He smiled slowly.

+

+'Perhaps ... so!'

+

+'Therefore your conviction that action is necessary must be very

+strong before you would suggest it.'

+

+'I feel,' he said, with some deliberation, 'that it will be better to

+keep them apart in the meantime.'

+

+A strange, uneasy look passed across the girl's face.  It happened

+that there was only one man on all the broad earth whom she trusted

+implicitly--the man at her side--and for a second that one unique

+faith wavered.  With a sort of mental jerk--as of a person who makes

+a quick effort to recover a wavering balance--she restored her

+courageous trustfulness.

+

+'Yes,' she murmured, 'I am sure of it.'

+

+'And I suppose ... I suppose we must do it.  You and I, Brenda?'

+

+It was a wonderful thing how these two knew Alice Huston.  Her faults

+were never mentioned between them.  The infinite charity with which

+each looked upon these faults was a mutual possession, unhinted at,

+half concealed.  Brenda knew quite well what was written between the

+lines of his outspoken supposition, and replied to his unasked

+question with simple diplomacy.

+

+'Yes--_we_ must do it.'

+

+Trist moved a little.  He turned sideways, and glanced out of the

+window.  His attitude was that of a man whose hands were in his

+pockets, but he was more than half a soldier--a creature morally and

+literally without pockets--and his hands hung at his sides.

+

+'It is a ... a pretty strong combination.'

+

+She smiled, and changed colour so slightly that he no doubt failed to

+see it.

+

+'Yes,' she answered cheerfully.  'It succeeded once before.  But Mrs.

+Wylie is not quite herself yet, Theo!  That is why I don't want her

+to have any trouble in this matter.  We have no right to seek her

+aid.'

+

+The last words might easily have passed unheeded, but Brenda felt,

+even as she spoke them, that they contained another meaning;

+moreover, she recognised by his sudden silence that Trist was

+wondering whether this second suggestion had been intended.  Uneasily

+she raised her eyes to his face.  He was looking down at her gravely,

+and for some seconds their glances met.

+

+If an excuse to seek Mrs. Wylie's assistance was hard to find, much

+more so was it open to question respecting Trist's spontaneous help.

+Why should he offer it?  By what right could she accept it?  And

+while they looked into each other's eyes, these two wondered over

+those small questions.  There was a reason--the best reason of

+all--namely, that the offer was as spontaneous and natural as the

+acceptance of it.  But why--why this spontaneity?  Perhaps they both

+knew.  Perhaps she suspected, and suspected wrongly.  Perhaps neither

+knew definitely.

+

+At last she turned her head, and naturally her glance was directed

+downwards into Piccadilly.

+

+'There they are,' she whispered hurriedly, 'looking into the

+jeweller's shop opposite.  What are we to do, Theo?'

+

+He almost forestalled her question, so rapid was his answer.  There

+was no hesitation, no shirking of responsibility.  She had simply

+asked him, and simply he replied.

+

+'Go,' he said, 'and throw some things into a bag.  I will stay here

+and watch him.  When the bag is ready, leave it in the passage and

+come back here.  I will take it, go down, and take her straight away.'

+

+'Where?'

+

+'I don't know,' he replied, with a shrug of the shoulders.

+

+There was a momentary hesitation on the girl's part.  She perceived a

+terrible flaw in Trist's plan, and he divined her thoughts.

+

+'It will be all right,' he whispered.  'No one knows that I am in

+England.  I will telegraph to-night, and you can join her to-morrow.

+You ... can trust me, Brenda.'

+

+There was a faint smile of confidence on her face as she turned away

+and hurried from the room.

+

+Although her light footsteps were almost inaudible, the slight

+_frôlement_ of her dress seemed to rouse the stupefied man on the low

+chair near the fire.  Perhaps there was in the rhythm of her

+movements some subtle resemblance to the movements of his wife.  He

+raised his head and appeared to listen in an apathetic way, but

+presently his chin dropped heavily again upon his breast, and the

+dull eyes lost all light of intelligence.

+

+Trist turned away and looked out of the window.  The two ladies were

+still lingering near the jeweller's shop.  Alice Huston appeared to

+be pointing out to her companion some specially attractive ornament,

+and Mrs. Wylie was obeying with a patient smile.

+

+The war-correspondent smiled in a peculiar way, which might well have

+expressed some bitterness, had he been the sort of man to speak or

+think bitterly of anyone.  The whole picture was so absurdly

+characteristic, even to the small details--such as Mrs. Wylie's

+good-natured patience, scarce concealing her utter lack of interest

+in the jewellery, and Alice Huston's eyes glittering with reflex of

+the cold gleam of diamonds; for there is a light that comes into the

+eyes of some women at the mere mention of precious stones.

+

+While he was watching them the ladies turned and crossed the street,

+coming towards him.  He stepped back from the window in case one of

+them should raise her eyes, and at the same moment Brenda entered the

+room.

+

+She glanced towards Huston, who was rousing himself from the torpor

+which had followed his maltreatment at Trist's hands, and which was

+doubtless partly due to the drink-sodden condition of his mind and

+body.

+

+'All I want,' whispered the war-correspondent, following her glance,

+'is three minutes' start from that man.'

+

+'You had better go!' she answered anxiously below her breath.

+

+'Yes; they are on the stairs ... but ... tell me, Brenda, promise me

+on your honour, that he did not hurt you.'

+

+'I promise you,' she said, with a faint smile.

+

+Then he left her.

+

+

+

+

+CHAPTER VI.

+

+TRIST ACTS ON HIS OWN RESPONSIBILITY.

+

+As Mrs. Wylie made her way slowly and peacefully up the broad stairs,

+she suddenly found herself face to face with the man whom she had

+last seen in the still Arctic dawn, bearing the body of her dead

+husband down over the rocks towards her.  She gave a little gasp of

+surprise, but nothing more.  The next instant she was holding out her

+gloved hand to greet him.  But even she--practised, gifted woman of

+the world as she was--could not meet him with a smile.  In gravity

+they had parted, gravely they now met again.  He was not quite the

+same as other men to Mrs. Wylie, for there was the remembrance of an

+indefinite semi-bantering agreement made months before, while the

+sunshine of life seemed to be glowing round them both--an agreement

+that they should not be mere acquaintances, mere friends (although

+the friendship existing between an elderly woman and a young man is

+not of the ordinary, practical, every-day type--there is a suggestion

+of something more in it), and Trist had fulfilled the promise then

+given.

+

+He had taken her quite unawares, with that noiseless footstep of his

+which we noticed before, and the colour left her face for a moment.

+

+'_You!_' she exclaimed; 'I did not expect you.'

+

+As he took her hand his all-seeing gaze detected a slight indication

+of anxiety, and he knew that his presence was not at that moment

+desired by Mrs. Wylie.  Due credit is not always given to us men for

+the possession of eyes.  Our womenfolk are apt to forget that we move

+just as much as they, and in most cases infinitely more in the world,

+and among the world's shoals and quicksands.  We may not be so quick

+at reading superficial indications as our mothers, sisters, or wives;

+but I think many of us (while keeping vanity in bounds) are much more

+capable of perceiving when our presence is desired or distasteful

+than is usually supposed.  There are some of us, methinks, who, if

+chivalry failed to withhold our tongues, could tell of very decided

+preferences shown, and shown unsought; of glances, and even words,

+advanced to guide us whither the water runs smoothly.  And let us

+hope that if such have been the case, we turn to the rougher channel

+we love better, without a smile of self-conceit.

+

+Twice within the last hour Theodore Trist had perceived that there

+was a reason why those who held Alice Huston dearest should desire

+that he avoided meeting her.  What this reason was her own husband

+had unwittingly told him; confirming brutally what he had read in

+Brenda's unconsciously expressive face a few moments before.  And

+yet, in face of this undoubted knowledge, he seemed deliberately to

+court the danger that the two women feared, and sought to avert.

+

+He was not a man to be blinded by a false impression.  Nor was he one

+of those who act impulsively.  His mind was of too practical, too

+steady, and too concentrated a type to be suddenly conquered by a

+mere prompting of the heart.  At this juncture of his life he acted

+coolly and with foresight.  Of Alice Huston he knew enough to feel

+quite sure of his mastery over her.  If she loved him (which

+supposition had been thrown in his face many times since the evening

+when he had first been called upon to give assistance to those who

+stood in Captain Huston's little cabin), he did not appear in the

+least afraid of his own capability of killing that love.

+

+He turned from Mrs. Wylie and greeted the younger woman, who followed

+her, with a self-possessed smile; and from his manner even Mrs. Wylie

+could gather nothing, and she was no mean reader of human faces.  She

+glanced at them as they stood together on the stairs and asked

+herself a question:

+

+'What part is he playing, that of a scoundrel or a fool?'

+

+She could not conceive a third alternative just then, because she did

+not know Alice Huston so well as Theo Trist knew her.

+

+Before Mrs. Huston, who was blushing very prettily, had time to

+speak, Trist imparted his news with a certain rapid bluntness.

+

+'Your husband is upstairs,' he said.  'Brenda will keep him in the

+drawing-room for a few minutes.  I have a bag here with some

+necessaries for you.  Will you come with me, or will you go upstairs

+to your husband?'

+

+'Will ... I ... go with you?' stammered the beautiful woman in a

+frightened whisper.  'Where to, Theo?'

+

+Mrs. Wylie leant against the broad balustrade and breathed rapidly.

+She was really alarmed, but even fear could not conquer her

+indomitable placidity.

+

+'I will conduct you to a safe hiding-place to-night, and Brenda will

+join you to-morrow morning,' said Trist in a tone full of

+concentrated energy, though his eyes never lighted up.  'Be quick and

+decide, because Brenda is alone upstairs with ... him.'

+

+Mrs. Wylie's eyebrows moved imperceptibly beneath her veil.  She

+thought she saw light.

+

+Mrs. Huston played nervously with a tassel that was hanging from her

+dainty muff for the space of a moment; then she raised her eyes, not

+to Trist's face, but to Mrs. Wylie's.  Instantly she lowered them

+again.

+

+'I will go with you!' she said, almost inaudibly, and stood blushing

+like a schoolgirl between two lovers.

+

+Mrs. Wylie raised her head, sniffing danger like an old hen when she

+hears the swoop of long wings above the chicken-yard.  Her eyes

+turned from Alice Huston's face, with a slow impatience almost

+amounting to contempt, and rested upon Theodore Trist's meek orbs,

+raised to meet hers meaningly.  Then somehow her honest tongue found

+itself tied, and she said nothing at all.  The flood of angry words

+subsided suddenly from her lips, and she waited for the further

+commands of this soft-spoken, soft-stepping, soft-glancing man, with

+unquestioning obedience.

+

+He moved slightly, looked down at the bag in his hand, and then

+glanced comprehensively from the top of Mrs. Huston's smart bonnet to

+the sole of her small shoe.  He could not quite lay aside the old

+campaigner, and the beautiful woman was moved by a strange suspicion

+that this young man was not admiring her person, but considering

+whether her attire were fit for a long journey on a November evening.

+

+'Come, then!' he said.

+

+Still Mrs. Huston hesitated.

+

+Suddenly she appeared to make up her mind, for she went up two steps

+and kissed Mrs. Wylie with hysterical warmth.  This demonstration

+seemed to recall Trist to a due sense of social formula.  He

+returned, and shook hands gravely with the widow.

+

+'Go to Brenda!' he whispered, and the matron bowed her head.

+

+Again she raised her eyebrows, and there was a flicker of light in

+her eyes like that which gleams momentarily when a person is on the

+brink of a great discovery.

+

+The next minute she was running upstairs, while the footsteps of the

+two fugitives died away in the roar of traffic.

+

+'Theo,' she said to herself, while awaiting an answer to her summons

+at her own door, 'must be of a very confiding nature.  He expects

+such utter and such _blind_ faith at the hands of others.'

+

+The maid who opened the door was all eagerness to impart to her

+mistress certain vague details and incomprehensible sounds which had

+reached her curious ears.  She had a thrilling tale of how Captain

+Huston, 'lookin' that funny about the eyes,' had rung loudly and

+pushed roughly through the open door; how there had been loud words

+in the drawing-room, and then a noise like 'movin' a pianer'; how a

+silence had followed, and, finally, how Mr. Trist (and not Captain

+Huston, as might have been expected) had left just a minute ago.  But

+the evening milkman was destined, after all, to receive the first and

+unabridged account of these events.  Mrs. Wylie merely said, 'That

+will do, Mary,' in her unruffled way, and passed on.

+

+She entered the drawing-room, and found Brenda standing near the

+window, with one hand clasping the folds of the curtain.

+

+Captain Huston was sitting on a low chair beside the fire, weeping

+gently.  His bibulous sobs were the only sound that broke an

+unpleasant silence.  Brenda was engaged in adding to her experiences

+of men and their ways a further illustration tending towards

+contempt.  Her eyes were dull with pain, but she carried her small

+head with the usual demure serenity which was naught else but the

+outcome of a sweet, maidenly pride, as she advanced towards Mrs.

+Wylie.

+

+'He is quite gentle and tractable now!' she whispered.

+

+Mrs. Wylie took her hand within her fingers, clasping it with a soft

+protecting strength.

+

+'Is he ... tipsy?'

+

+'No!' answered Brenda, with a peculiar catch in her breath; 'he is

+only stupefied.'

+

+'Stupefied ... how?'

+

+'I ... I will tell you afterwards.'

+

+The quick-witted matron had already discovered that some of her

+furniture was slightly displaced, so she did not press her question.

+

+At this moment Captain Huston rose to his feet, and took up a

+position on the hearthrug.

+

+'I do not know,' he said, with concentrated calmness, 'whether the

+law has anything to say against people who harbour runaway wives;

+but, at all events, society will have an opinion on the subject.'

+

+He ignored the fact that he had in no way greeted Mrs. Wylie,

+addressing his remarks to both ladies impartially.  By both alike his

+attack was received in silence.

+

+'I will find her,' he continued.  'You need have no false hopes on

+that score.  All the Theodore Trists in the world (which is saying

+much--for scoundrels are common enough) will not be able to hide her

+for long!'

+

+Mrs. Wylie still held Brenda's hand within her own.  At the mention

+of Trist's name there was an involuntary contraction of the white

+fingers, and the widow suddenly determined to act.

+

+'Captain Huston,' she said gravely, 'when you are calmer, if you wish

+to talk of this matter again, Brenda and I will be at your service.

+At present I am convinced that it is better for your wife to keep

+away from you--though I shall be the first to welcome a

+reconciliation.'

+

+He shrugged his shoulders and walked slowly to the door.  It was

+Brenda who rang the bell.  Captain Huston passed out of the room

+without another word.

+

+It would almost seem that the ingenuous Mary anticipated the call,

+for she was waiting in the passage to show Captain Huston out.  She

+returned almost at once to the drawing-room, with a view (cloaked

+beneath a prepared question respecting tea) of satisfying her

+curiosity regarding the sound which had suggested the moving of a

+'pianer.'  But there was no sign of disorder; everything was in its

+place, and Brenda was standing idly near the mantelpiece.

+

+'We will take tea at once, Mary,' said Mrs. Wylie, unloosening her

+bonnet-strings.

+

+Mary was forced to retire, meditating as she went over the

+inscrutability and coldness of the ordinary British lady.

+

+'Ah!' sighed Mrs. Wylie, when the door was closed.  'Now tell me,

+Brenda!  What has happened?  Did these two men meet here?  I am quite

+in the dark, and have a sort of dazed feeling, as if I had been

+reading Carlyle at the French plays, and had got them mixed up.'

+

+'Theo came first,' answered Brenda, 'to warn us that Captain Huston

+had come home in the same steamer as himself, without, however,

+recognising him.  While we were talking, the other came in.  He did

+not see Theo, who was behind the door...'

+

+'I suppose he was tipsy?'

+

+'No; he was quite sober.  He looked horrible.  His eyes were

+bloodshot--his lips unsteady...'

+

+Mrs. Wylie stopped the description with a sharp, painful nod of her

+head.  To our shame be it, my brothers, she knew the rest!

+

+'Was he quite clear and coherent?'

+

+'Yes!'

+

+'But ... just now...' argued Mrs. Wylie, vainly endeavouring to make

+Brenda resume the narrative--'just now he was quite stupid?'

+

+'Yes.'

+

+'What happened, Brenda?'

+

+At this moment Mary brought in the tea and set it briskly down on a

+small table.  Brenda stepped forward, and began pouring out.

+

+'What happened, Brenda?' repeated Mrs. Wylie, when the door was

+closed.

+

+Then she approached, took the teapot from her hand, and by gentle

+force turned the motherless girl's face towards herself.

+

+'My darling,' she whispered, drawing the slim form to her breast,

+'why should you hide your tears from _me_?'

+

+I have endeavoured to make it clear that this girl was not an

+emotional being.  There were no hysterical sobs--merely a few silent

+tears, and the narrative was continued.

+

+'He came in, and asked me to tell him where Alice was.  I refused,

+and then...'

+

+'Then...?'

+

+'He tried to hit me.'

+

+'Tried ... Brenda?'

+

+'Well ... he just reached me.'

+

+'And ... Theo?' asked Mrs. Wylie.  'What did Theo do?'

+

+There was a short pause, during which both ladies attended to their

+cups with an unnatural interest.

+

+'I have never seen him like that before,' murmured the girl at

+length.  'I did not know that men were ever like that.  It was ...

+rather terrible ... almost suggestive of some wild animal.  He

+knocked him down and ... and kicked him round the room like a dog!'

+

+'My poor darling,' whispered Mrs. Wylie.  'I ought never to have left

+you here alone.  We might have guessed that that man Huston would be

+home soon.  Did he hurt you, Brenda?'

+

+'No; he frightened me a little, that was all.'

+

+'I am very glad you had Theo!'  Mrs. Wylie purposely turned away as

+she said these words.

+

+Brenda sipped her tea, and made no reply.

+

+It had been twilight when Mrs. Wylie returned home, and now it was

+almost dark.  The two ladies sat in the warm firelight, with their

+feet upon the fender.  Tea laid aside, they continued sitting there

+while the flames leapt and fell again, glowing on their thoughtful

+faces, gleaming on the simple jewellery at their throats.  From the

+restless streets came a dull, continuous roar as of the sea.  I hear

+it now as I write, and would fain lay aside the pen and wonder over

+it; for it rises and falls, swells and dies again, with a long, slow,

+mournful rhythm full of life, and yet joyless; soporific, and yet

+alive with movement.  There is no sound on earth like it except the

+hopeless song of breaking waves.  Both alike steal upon the senses

+with an indefinable suggestion of duration, almost amounting to a

+glimmer of what is called eternity.  Both alike reach the heart with

+a subtle, undeniable lovableness.  Londoners and sailors cannot

+resist its music, for both return to it in their age, whithersoever

+they may have wandered.

+

+Mrs. Wylie it was who moved at last, rising with characteristic

+determination, as if the pastime of thought were a vice not wisely

+encouraged.  She stood before Brenda in her widow's weeds, looking

+down through the dim light with a faint smile.

+

+'Come,' she said; 'we must get ready for dinner.  Remember that Mrs.

+Hicks is going to call for you at eight o'clock to take you to that

+Ancient Artists' Guild soirée.  I should put on a white dress if I

+were you, and violets.  The gifted William Hicks, whom we met in the

+Park this afternoon, asked what flowers he should bring, and I

+suggested violets.'

+

+Brenda laughed suddenly, but her hilarity finished in a peculiar,

+abrupt way.

+

+'Telle est la vie!' she murmured, as she rose obediently.  'What a

+labour this enjoyment sometimes is!'

+

+

+

+

+CHAPTER VII.

+

+QUICKSANDS.

+

+'Wot's this--runaway couple?' asked a pallid and slipshod waiter of

+his equally-unwholesome colleague in the dining-room attached to a

+large City railway-station.

+

+'D'no,' answered the second, with weary indifference; 'we don't offen

+see _that_ sort down 'ere.'

+

+'There's a sort,' continued the first attendant, pulling down his

+soup-stained waistcoat, 'o' haristocratic simplicity about them and

+their wants as pleases my poetic and 'igh-born soul.'

+

+'Indeed,' yawned the other with withering sarcasm.

+

+'Yes, indeed!'

+

+The sarcasm was treated with noble scorn by its victim, who was

+called away at that moment by a bumping sound within the

+lift-cupboard.

+

+In the meantime Trist and Alice Huston were turning their attention

+to dinner.

+

+The novelty of the situation pleased the lady vastly.  There was a

+spice of danger coupled with a sense of real security imparted by the

+presence of her calm and resourceful companion which she appreciated

+thoroughly.  For Trist there was, however, less enjoyment in the

+sense of novelty.  A war-correspondent is a man to whom few

+situations are, strictly speaking, novel, and it is, or should be,

+his chief study to acquire the virtue of adaptability, and never to

+allow himself to be carried away by the forces of environment.

+

+His sense of chivalry was too strong to allow the merest suggestion

+of weariness, but in his inmost heart there was a vague uneasiness at

+the thought that there was still an hour before the train for the

+east coast left, not the station where they were at present, but one

+near at hand.  He knew that to the fugitive every moment is of

+immeasurable value, but for the time being he feared no pursuit.  His

+measures had been too carefully taken for that, and all the private

+detectives in London could not approach this impenetrable strategist

+in cunning or foresight.

+

+Only an hour had passed since he and Alice Huston had met on the

+stairs of Suffolk Mansions, and since then the excellent construction

+of a London cab and the justly-praised smoothness of London roadways

+had effectually put a stop to any conversation of a connected or

+confidential nature.

+

+At first Alice had been too frightened to resent this, and

+subsequently the manner of her companion, which was at once

+reassuring and repelling, had checked her efforts.  Now the pallid

+waiters were almost within earshot, and Theodore Trist, who concealed

+a keen power of observation beneath a demeanour at times

+aggravatingly stolid, was fully aware that they were interested, and

+consequently inquisitive.  The result of this knowledge was a

+singular lack of the ordinary outward signs of mystery.  He spoke in

+rather louder tones than was his wont, told one or two amusing

+anecdotes, and laughed at them himself, while Mrs. Huston

+unconsciously aided him by smiling in a slightly weary way.  This

+last conjugal touch of human nature went far to convince the waiter

+that the two were after all nothing more interesting than husband and

+wife.

+

+'Theo, I have so _much_ to tell you,' whispered Mrs. Huston once when

+the waiter was exchanging civilities with the cook's assistant down a

+speaking-tube.

+

+'Yes,' replied Trist, interested in his bread; 'wait until we are in

+the train.'

+

+'Where are we going?'

+

+'I will tell you afterwards; these fellows might hear.  Will you have

+wine?  What shall it be, something light--say Niersteiner?'

+

+He softened his apparent brusqueness with a smile, and she blushed

+promptly, which was an unnecessary proceeding.  Trist's sang-froid

+was phenomenal.

+

+By a simple subterfuge, of which he was almost ashamed, he had

+obtained tickets to a small east-coast watering-place without leaving

+any trace whatever, and at seven o'clock they left Liverpool Street

+Station, in the same compartment, without having allowed the railway

+officials to perceive that they were acquainted.  There were but few

+first-class passengers in the train, and they were alone in the

+compartment.  The light provided was not a brilliant specimen of its

+kind; reading or pretending to read was out of the question.  There

+was nothing to do but talk, so Trist gave himself over to the tender

+mercies of his companion, and for the time vouchsafed his entire

+attention to the details of a story too common and too miserable to

+recapitulate here.  Probably you, who may turn these pages, know the

+story; if not, an old traveller takes the liberty of wishing that you

+never may.

+

+'And,' said Mrs. Huston between half-suppressed sobs, when the tale

+was told, 'I simply could not stand it any longer, so I came home.  I

+... I _hoped_, Theo, to find you in England, and when Brenda told me

+that you were in the East, busy with some horrid war, it was the last

+straw.  I wonder why people want to fight at all.  Why can't the

+world live in peace?'

+

+Trist tugged pensively at the arm-rest, and looked out into the

+darkness without replying.  He did not seem at that moment prepared

+to answer the extremely pertinent and relevant question propounded.

+If Mrs. Huston had expected a proper show of masculine emotion, she

+must have been slightly disappointed; for during no part of her

+narrative had the incongruous face opposite to her, beneath the

+ludicrous lamp, displayed aught else than a most careful and

+intelligent attention.  What she required was sympathy, not

+attention.  Her story was not calculated to withstand too close a

+study.  Being in itself emotional, it was eminently dependent upon an

+emotional reception; it was, in fact, a woman's narrative, fit for

+relation by a peaceful fireside, in the hush of twilight, on the top

+(so to speak) of tea and muffins, and to a woman's ear.  Retailed to

+a hard practical man of the world in a noisy train, where the more

+pathetic vocal inflections were inaudible; after dinner, and while

+narrator and listener wore thick wraps and gloves, it lost weight

+most lamentably.  She ought to have thought of these trifles, which,

+however, are no trifles.  You, dear madam, know better than to

+attempt to soften your husband's stony heart when he is protected by

+gloves, or boots, or top-coat.  Ah! these little things make a mighty

+difference.

+

+Trist was an ardent follower of that school of philosophy which seeks

+to ignore the emotions.  By means of cold suppression he would fain

+have wiped all passions out of human nature, and, having moved amidst

+bloodshed and among men engaged in bloodshed, he had learnt that our

+deepest feelings are, after all, mere matters of habit.  From the

+Eastern lands he knew so well, it is probable that he had brought

+back some reflection of that strange Oriental apathy of life which is

+incomprehensible to our more highly-strung Western intellects.

+

+When Mrs. Huston pushed her dainty veil recklessly up over the front

+of her bonnet, and made no pretence of hiding the tears that rendered

+her lovely face almost angelic in its pathos, Trist made no further

+acknowledgment of emotion than a momentary contraction of the

+eyelids.  He continued tugging pensively at the leather arm-rest,

+while his eyes only strayed at times from the flashing lights of

+peaceful village or quiet town to the beautiful form crouching

+against the sombre cushions opposite to him.

+

+'Oh  why ... did you ever let me marry him?' sobbed Alice miserably.

+

+He glanced at her with a peculiar twist of his lips, downwards, to

+one side.  Then he shrugged his shoulders very slightly.

+

+'I? ... What had I to do with it, Alice?'

+

+There was something in his voice, a certain dull concentration, which

+had the singular effect of checking her sobs almost instantaneously,

+although her breast heaved convulsively at short intervals, like the

+swell that follows a storm at sea, long after the rage has subsided.

+

+She touched her eyes prettily with a diminutive handkerchief, and

+made an effort to recover her serenity, smoothing a wrinkle out of

+the front of her dress.

+

+'Well,' she sighed, 'I suppose you had as much influence over me as

+anybody.  And ... and you never liked him, Theo.  I could see that,

+and lately the recollection of it has come back to me more vividly.'

+

+'You forget that I was in China at the time of your engagement.  My

+influence could not have been very effective at such a range--even if

+I had taken it upon myself to exert it, which would have been an

+unwarrantable liberty.'

+

+'I was so young,' she pleaded, 'and so inexperienced.'

+

+'Twenty-two,' he observed reflectively; 'and you had your choice, I

+suppose, of all the best men in London.'

+

+In some vague way Mrs. Huston's eyes conveyed a contradiction to this

+statement, although her lips never moved.  A man less dense than this

+war-correspondent appeared to be would have understood readily enough

+what that glance really signified.

+

+'I hope,' he continued imperturbably, 'that this misunderstanding is

+only temporary...'

+

+She laughed bitterly, and examined the texture of her lace

+handkerchief with a gracefully impatient poise of the head.

+

+'Huston ... loves you.'

+

+'And _you_,' she answered pertly, 'hate him!  Why?  Tell me why,

+Theo.'

+

+'I hate no one in the world,' he answered.  'Not on principle, but

+because I have met no one as yet whom I could hate.  There has

+invariably been some redeeming point.'

+

+'And what is my husband's redeeming point?'

+

+'His love for you,' answered Trist promptly, and with such calm

+assurance that his companion evacuated her false position at once,

+and returned to her original line of argument.

+

+'I only had Brenda,' she murmured sorrowfully; 'and she is like you.

+She listens and listens and listens, but never gives any real advice.'

+

+'If she had, would you have taken it?' suggested Trist.

+

+The graceful shoulders moved interrogatively and indifferently.

+

+'I suppose not.'

+

+During the silence that followed, Trist looked at his watch, openly

+and without disguise.  The journey, which was a short one, was almost

+half accomplished, and the train was now running at a breakneck pace

+through the level Suffolk meadows.  Hardly a light was visible over

+all the silent land.  There were no tunnels and no bridges,

+consequently the sounds of travel were reduced to a minimum.  It is

+the petty local trains that make the most noise; the great purposeful

+expresses run almost in silence.  In this, my brothers, I think we

+resemble trains in some degree.  There are those among us who make

+little way upon Life's iron track with a great noise; and those who

+travel far are silent.

+

+'I don't believe you care a fig what becomes of me!' said Mrs. Huston

+at length in a reckless way.

+

+He looked at her with a slow grave smile, but made no other answer.

+

+'Do you?' she asked coquettishly.

+

+He was quite grave now, and her breathing became slightly accelerated.

+

+'Yes!' quite simply.

+

+Presently Trist roused himself, as if from unpleasant reflections,

+and began talking about the future.

+

+'I should like to know,' he said, 'exactly what you think of doing,

+because I have not much time.  At any moment Russia may declare war

+against Turkey, and I shall have to go at once.'

+

+'If Russia declares war, I shall kill myself, I think.'

+

+He laughed, and changed his position, drawing in his feet, and

+leaning forward with his hands clasped between his knees.

+

+'No,' he said with genial energy, 'I would not do that, if I were

+you.  If I may be allowed to make a suggestion, it seems to me that

+you will do well to come to a distinct understanding with Huston,

+either through the mediation of Mrs. Wylie or by letter.  You cannot

+go on long like this.'

+

+'What sort of understanding?' she inquired, with that nonchalant

+impatience of detail which seems to be the special prerogative of

+beautiful women.

+

+'Ask him to give you three months to think over matters; at the

+expiration of that time you can have an interview with him, and come

+to some definite agreement respecting the future.'

+

+She sighed, and leant back wearily, looking at him in a curious,

+snake-like way beneath her lowered lids.

+

+'Three months will make no difference.'

+

+'Nevertheless ... try it.'

+

+'I want,' she said in a dull voice, '... a divorce!'

+

+For a moment a veil seemed to have been lifted from his eyes; all

+meekness vanished, and the glance was keen, far-sighted, almost cruel.

+

+'You cannot get that, Alice.  It is impossible!'

+

+She turned her face quite away from him and looked out of the window,

+jerking the arm-rest nervously.  Her breath clouded the glass.  She

+murmured something inaudible.

+

+'Eh?' he inquired.

+

+'I could make it possible,' she said jerkily, and her voice died away

+in a sickening little laugh.

+

+For some moments there was a horrible silence, and then Theo Trist

+spoke in a strange, thick voice, quite unlike his own.

+

+'Alice,' he said, 'do you ever think of Brenda?  Do you ever think of

+_anyone_ but yourself?'

+

+The words came as a cold and chilling surprise to Mrs. Huston, and

+she began slowly to realize that she had met with something which was

+entirely new to her.  She had come in contact with a man upon whom

+the effect of her beauty was of no account.  Her powers of

+fascination seemed suddenly to have left her, and across her mind

+there flashed a gleam of that unpleasant light by the aid of which we

+are at times enabled to see ourselves as others see us.  It was only

+natural and womanlike that she should resent the shedding of this

+light, and visit her resentment, not upon the disclosure made by it,

+but on the illuminator of the unpleasant scene.

+

+'Oh,' she muttered angrily, 'you are all against me!  No one cares

+for me; no one makes allowances.'

+

+Trist smiled in a slow, strong way which was infinitely pathetic.

+

+'No,' he said, 'no one makes allowances; you must never expect that.'

+

+Then Mrs. Huston's tears began to flow again, and the self-contained

+man opposite to her sat with white bloodless lips and contracted eyes

+staring into the blackness of the night.

+

+

+

+

+CHAPTER VIII.

+

+MASKED.

+

+The soirée of the Ancient Artists' Guild was in the full flow of its

+success.  There had been some excellent music, and the programme

+promised more.  The brilliancy of the attendance was equal to the

+highest hopes of the most ambitious committee.  Long hair and strange

+dresses vouched for the presence of self-conscious intellect; small

+receding foreheads, hopeless mouths, and fair but painted faces,

+announced the presence of that shade of aristocracy which prefers to

+patronize.

+

+William Hicks was not on the committee of the Ancient Artists, but he

+moved about from group to group, dispensed ices, and exchanged

+artistic jargon with a greater grace than was at the command of that

+entire august body.  By some subtle means, peculiarly his own, he

+managed to convey to many the erroneous idea that he was in some

+indefinite way connected with the obvious success of this soirée; and

+several stout ladies went so far as to thank him, later on, for a

+pleasant evening, which gratitude he graciously and deprecatingly

+disowned in such a way as to make it appear his due.  The pleasant

+evening had been in most cases spent between a nervous concern as to

+the effect produced by personal and filial adornment, and an

+ill-disguised contempt for common women who flaunt titles and

+diamonds (both uncoveted) in the faces of their superiors, possessing

+neither.  But we men cannot be expected to understand those things.

+

+Chiefly was William Hicks' devotion laid at Brenda's feet.  For her

+was reserved his sweetest smile, just tempered with that suggestion

+of poetic pathos which he knew well how to sprinkle over his mirth.

+To her ear was retailed the very latest witticism, culled from the

+brain of some other man, and skilfully reproduced, not as a cutting,

+but as a modest seedling.  To her side he returned most often, and

+over her chair stooped most markedly.

+

+It has been hinted already that Hicks, with all his talents and

+mental gifts, was not an observant man.  In certain small diplomacies

+of social life he was no match for the quiet-faced girl whom he was

+pleased to honour this evening with his conspicuous attention.

+

+She was miserably anxious, but she hid it from him; and he talked on,

+quite ignorant of the fact that she was in no manner heeding his

+words.  Her quick, acquired smile was ready enough; when an answer

+was required, she was equal to the occasion.  Ah! these social

+agonies!  There is a sort of pride in enduring them with cheerful

+stoicism.

+

+'I am glad,' murmured Hicks, with a deprecating smile, 'that my

+mother succeeded in dragging you here.  It is a sort of intellectual

+treat for me.  We painters are so incurably shoppy in our talk, that

+it is really a relief to have you at my mercy--so to speak.  This is

+a success, is it not?  There are a great many celebrities in the

+room.'

+

+'Indeed?'

+

+'Yes; and I always feel a slight difference in the atmosphere when

+there is someone present with a name one likes to hear.'

+

+He looked round the room with glistening eye and delicate nostrils

+slightly distended, as if sniffing his native atmosphere of Fame.

+

+'One can generally recognise a celebrated man or woman, I think,' he

+continued.  'There is an indefinite feeling of power--a strength of

+individuality which seems to hover round them like an invisible halo.'

+

+'Ye-es,' murmured Brenda vaguely.  A moment later she was conscious

+of having looked round the room as if in search of halos, and

+wondered uncomfortably whether her companion had seen the movement.

+

+Then a stout lady, with a very dark complexion, suddenly raised an

+exquisite voice, and a complete silence acknowledged its power

+instantaneously.  It was a quaint old song, with words that might

+have had no meaning whatever, beyond trite regrets for days that

+could never come again, had they been sung with less feeling--less

+true human sympathy.

+

+Brenda literally writhed beneath the flood of harmony.  She tried not

+to listen--tried vainly to look round her and think cynical thoughts

+about the hollow shams of society, but some specially deep and tender

+note would reach her heart, despite the wall of worldliness that she

+had built around it.  It would seem that that stout cheery woman

+could see through the smiles, through the affected masks, and

+penetrate to the heart, which is never quite safe from the sudden

+onslaught of youthful memories surviving still, youthful hopes since

+crushed, and youthful weaknesses never healed.

+

+Brenda looked round the room with a semi-interested little smile

+(such as we see in church sometimes when a preacher has got well hold

+of his audience), and suddenly her face grew white, her breath seemed

+to catch, and for some seconds there was no motion of her throat or

+bosom.  Respiration seemed to be arrested.  With an effort she

+recovered herself, and a great sigh of relief filled her breast.

+

+Among a number of men beneath the curtained doorway she had

+recognised an upright sturdy form, beside which the narrower

+shoulders and sunken chests of poetic and artistic celebrities seemed

+to shrink into insignificance.  The way in which this man carried his

+head distinguished him at once from those around him.  He was of

+quite a different stamp from his companions, most of whom depended

+upon some peculiarity of dress or hair to distinguish them from the

+very ordinary ruck of young men.

+

+Across that vast room Trist's eyes met Brenda's, and although his

+calm face changed in no way, betrayed by no slightest tremor that he

+had come with the wild hope of meeting her, his lips moved.

+

+'Thank God, I have done it!' he muttered, beneath the whirl of polite

+applause that greeted the stout lady's elephantine bow.

+

+At the other end of the room Hicks noticed with some surprise that

+Brenda drew her watch from her belt, and consulted it with particular

+attention.  She was counting the number of hours since she had last

+seen Theodore Trist, with signs of travel still visible on his dress

+and person, just starting off on a new journey, without rest or

+respite.  It was now midnight.  She had never thought that he would

+return the same night--in fact, she was sure that he had not intended

+to do so.  And here he was--calm, thoughtful, almost too cool as

+usual, without sign of fatigue or suggestion of hurry.  His dress was

+faultless, his appearance and demeanour politely indifferent.

+

+'I hope,' said Hicks meaningly, 'that you are not growing weary.  It

+is early yet.'

+

+He looked round the room, with a pleasant nod for an acquaintance

+here and there whom he had not seen before.

+

+'Oh no,' said Brenda lightly in reply.  'I just happened to wonder

+what the time might be.  I hope it was not rude.'

+

+He laughed forgivingly, still looking about him.

+

+'Ah!' he exclaimed in an altered tone.  'Is that not Trist?  Dear old

+Theo Trist!'

+

+'Yes.'

+

+Brenda had apparently followed the direction indicated by her

+companion's gaze, and was now looking towards the new-comer with an

+inimitable little smile which completely quashed all attempts to

+divine whether she were surprised, or pleased, or politely interested.

+

+Trist was making his way slowly across the room, exchanging greetings

+here and there.  Brenda, in her keen observant way, conceived a

+sudden idea that his manner was not quite natural.  Although of a

+kindly spirit, Trist was not a genial man with a smile full of

+affection for the merest acquaintance; and the girl, in some vague

+way, felt that he was shaking hands with men and women who were

+profoundly indifferent to him.  Indeed, he seemed to go out of his

+way to do so.

+

+'When did you get home?' she heard someone ask him; and the reply was

+delivered in clear tones, audible at a greater distance than Trist's

+voice usually was, as if with intention.

+

+'This afternoon,' he said.  'Only this afternoon.  I landed at

+Plymouth this morning.'

+

+The next moment he was standing before her with his brown face bowed,

+his hand extended.

+

+'You see, Brenda,' he said, 'I have turned up again.  A veritable

+dove without the leaf in my mouth.  I am an emblem of peace.'

+

+Instinctively, and without knowing her motive, she answered in the

+same way, conscious that it was his wish.

+

+'I am very glad to see you back,' she said.

+

+Then he turned to Hicks, and shook hands with more warmth than that

+ethereal being had expected.

+

+'You see, Hicks,' he said, 'I cannot resist flying at once to pay my

+respects at the shrine of Art--only arrived in London this afternoon,

+and here I am in full war-paint, with a flower in my coat and my

+heart in my eyes.  What pictures have I to admire?  You may as well

+tell me.'

+

+Hicks laughed in his semi-sad way, and mentioned a few pictures of

+note, which were carefully remembered by his hearer.  Then Trist

+turned to Brenda and offered her his arm.

+

+'Will you come,' he said, 'and have some tea or an ice, or something?'

+

+Brenda appeared to hesitate for a moment, then gave in with that

+reluctant alacrity which is to be observed when a lady is making a

+sacrifice of her own inclination.

+

+As they moved away together through the crowded room there was a

+sudden hush, and succeeding it a louder buzz of expectant

+conversation.  Trist looked over the heads of the people towards the

+little flower-bedecked platform at the end of the room.

+

+'Ah!' he said; 'Crozier is going to sing.  Shall we wait?  It is a

+pity to miss Sam Crozier.'

+

+Nevertheless he made no attempt to stop, and they passed through the

+doorway into a smaller gallery, which was almost deserted.

+

+'I am in luck to-night; everything I have attempted has been a

+success.  So we shall probably find the refreshment-room empty.'

+

+She laughed in a nervous way, and her touch upon his arm wavered.

+

+'We must run the risk,' he continued, 'of being talked about; but I

+must see you alone for a few minutes.  It is strange, Brenda, that we

+are always getting into hot water together.'

+

+'Oh!' she said indifferently, 'the risk is not very great.  People do

+not talk much about me.  Alice possesses that unfortunate monopoly in

+our family.'

+

+'That is why I must see you.'

+

+'Yes, ... I know.'

+

+They had passed through the smaller room and out of it into a

+brilliant corridor, whence a broad flight of stairs led up to the

+refreshment-room.

+

+'There is a sofa half-way up the stairs,' said Trist.  'It is a good

+position, quite out of earshot, and very visible--therefore harmless;

+let us occupy it!'

+

+When they were seated, Brenda leant back with that air of grave

+attention which was peculiarly hers, and which, I venture to think,

+is rarely met with in women.

+

+'When,' said Trist in a smooth and even tone, 'I got back to town, I

+figuratively tore my hair, and said to myself: "Where shall I find

+Brenda--where shall I find Brenda to-night?"  I took a hansom back to

+my rooms, changed, and then drove to Suffolk Mansions.  Mrs. Wylie

+told me where you were; I gave chase, and ... and I caught you.'

+

+The girl turned her face slightly, and her childlike blue eyes sought

+his with a quaint air of scrutiny.

+

+'When,' she said, 'you left Suffolk Mansions this afternoon with

+Alice, you had no intention of returning to London to-night.'

+

+There was no mistaking the deliberation of her assertion.  She was

+defying him--daring him to deny.

+

+He met her glance for a moment--no longer.

+

+'That,' he confessed airily, after a pause, 'is so!'

+

+'And,' continued the girl with more confidence, 'since that time your

+views respecting Alice have become modified or changed in some way,

+perhaps?'

+

+He moved with some uneasiness, and appeared particularly wishful to

+avoid encountering her frank gaze.  He clasped his two hands around

+his raised knee, and stared at the carpet with a non-committing

+silence which was almost Oriental in its density.

+

+'Brenda,' he whispered at length, 'I have had an awful scare!'

+

+She drew in a deep breath with a little shivering sound, and

+moistened her lips--first the lower, and then the upper.  There was a

+momentary gleam of short, pearly teeth, and the red Cupid's-bow of

+her mouth reassumed its usual contour of demure self-reliance.

+

+There was a long pause, during which the faint echo of distant

+applause came to their ears.

+

+'I wonder,' said the girl at length, 'how many men would have taken

+as much trouble as you have taken to-night for the sake of such a

+trifling affair as a woman's good name?'

+

+A dull red colour slowly mounted over her white throat to her face--a

+painful blush of intense shame, which she was too proud to attempt to

+hide.  The deliberation with which she spoke the words, and then held

+up her burning face that he might see, had he wished, was very

+characteristic.

+

+Trist himself changed colour, and his firm lips opened as if he were

+about to reply hastily.  He checked himself, however, and they sat

+through several painful moments without motion.

+

+During that time their two souls merged, as it were, into a complete

+understanding--so entire, so perfect and faithful, that no spoken

+words could ever have brought its semblance into existence.  He knew

+that his painful task was now finished, that Brenda now understood

+his reason for coming back to London at once.  Moreover, he was aware

+that she had divined the cause of his sudden geniality on first

+arriving at the soirée, and there was no need to tell her that all

+London could now find out, if it pleased, that the war-correspondent,

+Theodore Trist, had arrived home from the East that afternoon, and

+was seen by many in the evening at a public place of entertainment.

+

+But Brenda was not content with divination of motives.  It was her

+evil habit to proceed to analysis, and in this pastime she made a

+mistake.  Trist's motive in running away, as it were, from the

+dangerous proximity of a desperate and beautiful woman was clear; and

+although a large majority of men would, under the circumstances, have

+had the generosity to do the same, she was pleased to consider this

+act a most wondrous thing--her reason for doing so being that she was

+convinced that Trist loved her sister with all the cruel and taciturn

+strength of his nature.  This was an utter mistake, and Theo Trist

+was unaware of its existence.

+

+Ah! these little mistakes!  We spend a small portion of our lives in

+making them, and the rest in trying to repair.

+

+'Give me,' said Brenda, 'her address, and I will go to her to-morrow.'

+

+'She is at the Castle Hotel, Burgh Ferry, Suffolk.  There is a train

+from Liverpool Street Station leaving at ten o'clock to-morrow for

+Burgh Station, which is four miles from Burgh Ferry.'

+

+'I have heard of the place,' said Brenda composedly.  'Have you been

+there and back this evening?'

+

+'Yes.  I just had time to install Alice comfortably in the hotel,

+which is really nothing more than an inn, and is the largest house in

+the village.  I have a list for you--here it is--of things that Alice

+would like you to take to her to-morrow.'

+

+Brenda took the paper and glanced at it rapidly.

+

+'It is a long one,' she said with a short, hard laugh.  'Is she quite

+resigned to burying herself alive for a short time?'

+

+'Ye--es....  I put things rather strongly.  She has consented to

+communicate with her husband through Mrs. Wylie, with the view of

+coming to some sort of agreement.'

+

+The girl drew a sharp breath of relief.

+

+'There ... were ... a good many tears,' added Trist rather unevenly.

+'I would suggest a good supply of books,' he said a moment later in a

+practical way.  'It is a dreadfully dull little place (which makes it

+safer), and too much thinking is hardly desirable at the present

+time.'

+

+'It is questionable whether much thinking is profitable at any time.'

+

+Trist looked at her in a curious, doubtful way, and then he rose from

+his seat.

+

+'I will take you home now,' he said, 'if you are ready.  It is nearly

+one o'clock.'

+

+She rose a little wearily, and, lifting her gloved hand, skirmished

+deftly over her hair in order to make sure that it had not become

+deranged.  He noted the curve of her white arm, and the quick play of

+her fingers, while he stood erect and motionless, waiting.  No

+passing light of emotion was visible in his eyes, which possessed a

+strange, unreflective power of observation.  That round white arm was

+looked upon as a beautiful thing, and nothing more.  And she was a

+trifle weary.  Her face betrayed no sign of mental or natural anxiety.

+

+Then she took his arm, and they passed down the splendid stairs

+together.  Co-heirs to a truly human inheritance of sorrow, they bore

+their burden without complaint or murmur, with a self-reliance

+behoving children of an acute civilization.  For civilization will in

+time kill all human sympathy.

+

+'I will go home with you,' said Trist, 'because some precautions are

+necessary in order to escape observation on your journey to-morrow,

+and I have several suggestions to make.'

+

+

+

+

+CHAPTER IX.

+

+IN CASE OF WAR.

+

+As the winter settled over Europe--here with gloom and fog, there

+with bright keen frosts and dazzling snow--the feeling of anxiety

+respecting affairs in the East slowly subsided.  The general

+conviction was that Russia would not move against her hereditary

+Moslem enemy until the winter was over; for even hatred, sturdy weed

+though it may be, is killed by cold.

+

+Theodore Trist, fresh from those mysterious Oriental lands which are

+so much more romantic from a distance, gave no opinion upon the

+matter, because he was a practical business-man, and fully aware of

+the market value of his observations.

+

+By ten o'clock on the morning following the soirée of the Ancient

+Artists, he alighted from a hansom cab opposite the huge office of

+the journal to which his pen was pledged.  A few moments later he was

+shaking hands uneffusively with the editor.  This gentleman has been

+introduced before, and men at his age change little in appearance or

+habit.  His vast head was roughly picturesque as usual, his speech

+manly and to the point.

+

+'Glad to see you back,' he said, in a business-like way.  'Sit down.

+None the worse, I hope?' he added, in a softer tone, and accompanied

+his observation with a keen glance.  'None the worse for the smell of

+powder again?'

+

+'No,' was the answer.  'That smell never did any man much harm.'

+

+The editor smiled, and drew some straggling papers together upon his

+desk.

+

+'I want,' said Trist, after a pause, 'to make a lot of money.'

+

+'Ah!'

+

+'Enough,' continued Trist gravely, 'to put into something secure, and

+ensure a steady income in the piping times of peace.'

+

+The editor clasped his large hands gravely with fingers interlocked,

+and placed them on the desk in front of him.

+

+'That,' he said, with raised eyebrows, 'is bad.'

+

+'But natural,' suggested the younger man.

+

+'When a man of your age suddenly expresses a desire for something

+which...'

+

+'He has never had,' remarked Trist meekly.

+

+'Which he has never had or wished for, it is suggestive of a

+change--a radical change--in that man's plan of life.'

+

+Trist raised his square shoulders slightly and respectfully.

+

+'Now,' continued the editor, in his most solid and convincing way,

+'you--Theodore Trist--are the most brilliant war-correspondent of a

+brilliant and war-like generation.  You are, besides that, a clever

+fellow--perhaps an _exceptionally_ clever fellow.  But, my friend,

+there are many clever fellows in the world.  It is an age of keen

+competition, and the first man in the race must never look back to

+see whose step it is that he hears behind him.  We live in a time of

+specialities, and we must be content with specialities.  You are a

+born war-correspondent, and I suppose your ambition is to prove that

+you can do something else--write a novel, or edit a religious

+periodical--eh?'

+

+Trist laughed, and returned the gaze of a pair of remarkably bright

+eyes without hesitation.

+

+'No,' he answered.  'I am content with the mark I have made, but

+there is not sufficient money to be gained at it, considering how

+much it takes out of a man.  I am as strong as a horse yet, but I

+have noticed that there are some of us who, considering their years,

+are not the men they should be.  It is a desperately hard life, and

+we are constantly required.  If I live ten years longer, I shall be

+laid on the shelf, as far as active service goes.'

+

+The editor looked much relieved, and, moreover, made no pretence of

+concealing his feelings.

+

+'I have thought of that,' he said.  'Of course, we will take you on

+the editorial staff.'

+

+'Now...?'

+

+The elder man raised his head, and the kindly gray eyes searched his

+companion's face.

+

+'Ah!' he said slowly.  '_That_ is your game.  Have you lost your

+nerve?'

+

+'No.'

+

+'Then you contemplate some great change in your plan of life.'

+

+'Hardly,' returned Trist, with some deliberation; 'but I want to be

+prepared for such an emergency.'

+

+'I am very sorry to hear it.'

+

+'Why?'

+

+'Because you are too young yet.  And ... and, my boy, I don't want to

+lose the best war-correspondent that ever crossed a saddle.'

+

+The object of this honest flattery shrugged his shoulders.

+

+'There are plenty more coming on.'

+

+The great man shook his head.

+

+'Do you mean to tell me,' he asked, 'that you are going to turn your

+back upon a splendid career, and take up journalism?  Why, my dear

+fellow, even at my age I would willingly change my chair for your

+saddle, and men say that I am at the top of the journalistic tree.

+Come, be candid; why are you giving up active service?'

+

+'Because I am wanted at home, and because I must find some means of

+making a steady income.'

+

+'Will you take my advice?' asked the elder man humbly.

+

+They were like two friendly gladiators, these immovable journalists,

+each conscious of the strength that lay behind the gentle manner of

+the other, both anxious to avoid measuring steel.

+

+Trist laughed good-humouredly.

+

+'I will not promise.'

+

+'No; that would be asking too much from a man who has made his own

+way with his own hands.  My advice is: do nothing until the necessity

+arises.  At the first rumour of war we will talk this over again.  In

+the meantime, let us wait on events.  You will write your leaders as

+usual, and I suppose you are busy with something in book form?'

+

+'If,' answered Trist, 'there is war in Turkey, I will go, because I

+told you that I would, but that will be my last campaign.'

+

+The editor looked at him with kindly scrutiny; then he scratched his

+chin.

+

+'Why?' he asked deliberately, and with a consciousness of exceeding

+the bounds of polite non-interference.

+

+'I cannot tell you--yet.'

+

+There was a slight pause, during which neither moved, and the

+stillness in that little room which lay in the very heart of restless

+London was remarkable.

+

+The editor looked very grave.  There were no papers on his desk

+requiring immediate attention, but he held his pencil within his

+strong fingers ready, as it were, to add his notes to any news that

+might come before him.  The responsibility of a great journalist is

+only second to that of a Prime Minister in a country like England,

+where the voice of the people is heard and obeyed.  Had this man

+turned his attention to politics, he would perhaps have attained the

+Premiership; but he was a journalist, and from that small silent room

+his fiats went forth to the ready ears of half a nation.  Few men

+read more than one newspaper, and we have not yet got over the

+weakness of attaching undue importance to words that are set in type;

+consequently the influence of an important journal over the mind of

+the nation to which it dictates is practically incalculable.

+

+'You know,' said this modern Jove at length, 'as well as I do that

+there _will_ be war as soon as the winter is over.'

+

+In completion of his remark he nodded his vast head sideways, vaguely

+indicating the East.

+

+'Yes,' was the meek answer; 'that is so--a war which will begin in a

+one-sided way, and last longer than we quite expect; but I will go.'

+

+'I fancy,' remarked the editor after some reflection, 'that Russia

+will make a very common mistake, and underrate, or perhaps despise,

+her adversary.'

+

+Trist nodded his head.

+

+'They are sure to do that,' he said; 'but I suppose they will win in

+the end.'

+

+'And you will be on the losing side again.

+

+'Yes; I shall be on the losing side again.

+

+Both men relapsed into profound meditation.  Trist's meek eyes were

+fixed on the soft Turkey carpet--the only suggestion of ease or

+luxury about the room.  The editor glanced from time to time at his

+companion's strong face, and occupied himself with making small

+indentations in his blotting-pad with the point of a blacklead pencil.

+

+'Trist,' he said at length, 'I cannot do without you in this war.'

+

+'The war has not come yet.  Many things may happen before the spring;

+but I will not play you false.  You need never fear that.'

+

+Then he rose and buttoned his thick coat; for, like all great

+travellers, he wrapped himself up heavily in England.  It is only

+very young and quite inexperienced men who gather satisfaction from

+the bravado of wearing no top-coat in winter.

+

+'Good-bye,' he said; 'I must go up to the publishers.'

+

+'Good-bye,' replied the editor heartily; 'look in whenever you are

+passing.  I hope to see you one night soon at the Homeless Club; they

+are going to give you a dinner, I believe.'

+

+'Yes; I heard something of it.  It is very good of them, but

+embarrassing, and not strictly necessary.'

+

+Trist passed out of the small room into a long passage, and thence

+into what was technically called the shop--a large apartment, across

+which stretched a heavily-built deal counter, and of which the

+atmosphere was warm with the intellectual odour of printing-ink.

+

+The door-keeper, who persisted, in face of contradiction, in his

+conviction that Mr. Trist was a soldier, drew himself stiffly up and

+saluted as he held open the swing-door.  It was one of those cold

+blustering days which come in early November.  A dry biting

+south-east wind howled round every corner, and disfigured most

+physiognomies with patches of red, more especially in the nasal

+regions.  Nevertheless, the air was clear and brisk--just the day to

+kill weak folks and make strong people feel stronger.

+

+With his gloved hands buried in the pockets of his thick coat, the

+war-correspondent wandered along the crowded pavement of the Strand,

+rubbing shoulders with beggar and genius indifferently.

+

+He was not a man much given to useless reflections or observations

+upon matters climatic, and so absorbed was he in his thoughts that he

+would have been profoundly surprised to learn that a biting east wind

+was withering up humanity.  He looked into the shops, and presently

+became really interested in a display of rifles exposed in the

+unpretending window of a small establishment.

+

+It is strange how the sight of those tools or instruments with which

+we have at one time worked for our living affects us.  The present

+writer has seen an old soldier handle a bayonet in a curious

+reflective way which could not be misunderstood.  The ancient

+warrior's face, in some subtle sense, became hardened, and his manner

+changed.  I myself grasp a rope differently from men who have never

+trodden a moss-grown deck, and the curve of the hard strands within

+my fingers tells a tale of its own, and brings back, suddenly,

+ineffaceable pictures of the great seas.

+

+Theodore Trist stood still before the upright burnished barrels which

+the poet has likened to organ-pipes, and to his mind there came the

+memory of their music, and the roar of traffic round him was almost

+merged into the grand, deep voice of cannon.  It is in the midst of

+death that men realize fully the glorious gift of life, and those who

+have known the delirious joy of battle--have once tasted, as it were,

+the cup of life's greatest emotion--are aware that nothing but a

+battle-field can bring that maddening taste to their lips again.

+

+This contemplative man breathed harder and deeper as his eyes rested

+on lock and barrel, and for some time he stood hearing nothing round

+him, seeing nothing but the instruments of death.

+

+'Yes,' he murmured as he turned away at length.  'I _must_ go to the

+Russian war.  _One_ more campaign, and then ... then who knows?'

+

+

+

+

+CHAPTER X.

+

+A PROBLEM.

+

+Brenda left Mrs. Wylie at eleven o'clock, merely walking away from

+the door of Suffolk Mansions without wrap or luggage.  She did not

+know whether she was being watched or no, but her plans were so

+simple, and yet so cunning, that the question gave her little

+trouble.  Detection was impossible.  Trist had seen to that, and his

+strategy had been the subject of some subdued laughter the night

+before, because Brenda complained that she felt like an army.  He had

+unconsciously dictated to her, in his soft, suggestive way, and so

+complete were his instructions, so abject the obedience demanded,

+that there was some cause for her laughing dissatisfaction.  With

+intelligence, education, experience, reading, and money it is no

+difficult matter to evade the closest watcher, and Trist was not at

+all afraid of such means as lay at Captain Huston's disposal for

+tracing the hiding-place of his wife.

+

+When Mrs. Wylie found herself left alone, she proceeded placidly to

+await further events.  She was convinced that, sooner or later, the

+husband of her protégée would appear.  Whether this questionable

+honour would be conferred with bluster and righteous indignation, or

+with abject self-abuse, remained to be seen.  Neither prospect

+appeared to have the power of ruffling the lady's serene humour.  The

+morning newspaper received its usual attention, and subsequently

+there were some new books to be cut and glanced at.  Lunch had

+already been ordered--lunch for two, and something rather nice,

+because Theo Trist had invited himself to partake of the lone widow's

+hospitality.

+

+In her small way, Mrs. Wylie was likely to pass an eventful day, but

+the thought of it in nowise took away her interest in December's

+_Temple Bar_.  She was one of those happy and lovable women who are

+not in the habit of adding to their grievances by anticipating them;

+for it is an undeniable fact that sorrows as well as joys are

+exaggerated by anticipation.  Personally, I much prefer going out to

+get my hair cut as soon as ever I realize the necessity.  It is a

+mistake to put off the operation, because the scissors seem to hang

+over one's luxuriant locks with a fiendish click during the stilly

+hours.

+

+About twelve o'clock there was a knock at the door which shut off

+Mrs. Wylie's comfortable suite of rooms from the rest of the house.

+

+'Ah!' murmured the occupant of the drawing-room.  'Our violent

+friend.  Twelve o'clock: I must get him out of the house before Theo

+arrives.'

+

+She leant back and tapped the pages of her magazine pensively with an

+ivory paper-cutter, while her eyes rested on the door.

+

+In the course of a few moments there was audible the sound of

+murmuring voices, followed shortly by footsteps.

+

+The door was thrown open, and William Hicks made a graceful _entrée_,

+finished, as it were, by the delicately-tinted flower he carried in

+his gloved fingers.

+

+Mrs. Wylie rose at once with a most reprehensively deceitful smile of

+welcome.  She devoutly wished William Hicks in other parts as she

+offered her plump white hand to his grasp.

+

+The artist, with passable dissimulation, glanced round the room.  No

+sign or vestige of Brenda!  The rose was deftly dropped into his hat

+and set aside.  It had cost two shillings.

+

+'Ah!  Mrs. Wylie,' he exclaimed, 'I was half afraid you would be out

+shopping.  The wind is simply excruciating.'

+

+'Then warm yourself at once.  I am afraid I am alone.'

+

+Hicks was, in his way, a bold man.  He relied thoroughly upon a

+virtue of his own which he was pleased to call tact--others said its

+right name was 'cheek.'

+

+'Afraid!' he said reproachfully, and with an inquiring smile.

+

+'Yes--the girls are out.'

+

+He laughed in a pleasant deprecating way, and held his slim hands

+towards the fire.

+

+'How absurd you are!' he said.  'I merely ran in to ask if a lace

+handkerchief I found last night belonged to Miss Gilholme.'

+

+He began to fumble in his pockets without any great design of finding

+the handkerchief.  Mrs. Wylie spared him the trouble of going

+farther.'

+

+'Bring it another time,' she said.

+

+She knew the handkerchief trick well.  It is very simple, my brother:

+pick up a lace trifle anywhere about the ballroom, and with a slight

+draft upon your imagination, you have a graceful excuse to call at

+any house you may desire the next afternoon.  If there is not one to

+be found, one can easily buy such a thing, and it serves for years.

+No young man is complete without it.

+

+For some minutes William Hicks talked airily about the soirée of the

+Ancient Artists, throwing in here and there, in his pleasant way, a

+blast upon his individual instrument, of which the note was wearily

+familiar to his listener.

+

+At last, however, he let fall an observation which made Mrs. Wylie

+forgive him, 'à un coup,' his early call.

+

+'I met,' he said casually, 'that fellow ... Huston this morning.'

+

+Mrs. Wylie laid aside the paper-knife with which she had been

+trifling.  The action scarce required a moment of time, but in that

+moment she had collected her faculties, and was ready for him with

+all the alertness of her sex.

+

+'Ah!  What news had he?' she inquired suavely.

+

+'Oh, nothing much.  We scarcely spoke--indeed, I don't believe he

+recognised me at first.'

+

+Mrs. Wylie raised her eyebrows in astonishment.

+

+'He came yesterday,' she said, 'to get his wife; and Brenda has gone

+away, too, so I am all alone for a few days.'

+

+This was artistic, and the good lady was mentally patting herself on

+the back as she met Hicks's glance, in which disappointment and utter

+amazement were struggling for mastery.

+

+'I do not think,' continued she calmly, 'that I shall stay in town

+much longer.  I am expecting a houseful of quiet people--waifs and

+strays--at Wyl's Hall at Christmas, so must really think of going

+home.  But I will call on your mother before going.  Give her my love

+and tell her so.'

+

+William Hicks was not the man to make a social blunder.  He rose at

+once, and said 'Good-morning,' with his sweetest smile.  Then he

+bowed himself out of the room, taking the two-shilling rose with him.

+

+Mrs. Wylie reseated herself, and withheld her sigh of relief until

+the door had closed.  She then took up her book again, but presently

+closed its pages over her fingers, and lapsed into thought.

+

+'That young man,' she reflected, 'is finding his own level.  He may

+give trouble yet; but Brenda goes serenely on her way, quite

+unconscious of all these little games at cross-purposes of which she

+is the centre.'

+

+The good lady's reflections continued in this vein.  She leant back

+with that pleasant sense of comfort which was almost feline in its

+supple grace.  Her eyes contracted at times with a vague far-off

+anxiety--the reflex, as it were, of the sorrows of others upon her

+own placid life, from which all direct emotions were weeded now.

+

+When, at length, the sound of a bell awoke her from these day-dreams,

+she rose and arranged the cheery fireplace with a sudden access of

+energy.

+

+'I wonder,' she murmured, without emotion, 'who is coming now.'

+

+With a glance round the room to see that her stage was prepared, she

+reseated herself.

+

+Again the door opened, and this time the new arrival did not hurry

+into the room, but stood upon the threshold waiting.  Mrs. Wylie

+looked up with a pleasant expectancy.  It was Captain Huston.

+

+The soldier glanced round the room uneasily, and then he advanced

+towards the fire without attempting any sort of greeting.  Mrs. Wylie

+remained in her deep chair, and as the Captain came towards her, she

+watched him.  His unsteady hands gave his hat no rest.  Taking his

+stand on the hearthrug, he began at once in a husky voice.

+

+'I have come to you, Mrs. Wylie,' he said, 'because I suspect that

+you know where Alice is to be found.  This game of hide-and-seek to

+which she is treating me is hardly dignified, and it is distinctly

+senseless.  If I choose to take decided steps in the matter, I can,

+of course, have her hunted down like a common malefactor.'

+

+He spread his gaitered feet apart, and waited with confidence the

+result of this shot.

+

+'In the meantime,' suggested Mrs. Wylie, with unruffled sweetness,

+'it is really, perhaps, wiser that you should remain apart.  I

+sincerely trust that this is a mere temporary misunderstanding.  You

+are both young, and, I suppose, both hasty.  Think over it, Captain

+Huston, and do not press matters too much.  If, in a short time, you

+approach Alice with a few kind little apologies, I believe she would

+relent.  You must really be less hard on us women--make some

+allowance for our more tender nerves and silly susceptibilities.'

+

+By way of reply, he laughed in a rasping way, without, however, being

+actually rude.

+

+'I have an indistinct recollection of having heard that before,' he

+observed, with forced cynicism, 'or something of a similar nature.

+The kind little apologies you mention are due to me as much as they

+are to Alice.  Of course, she has omitted to draw your attention to

+sundry little flirtations...'

+

+The widow stopped him with a quick gesture of disgust.

+

+'I refuse,' she said deliberately, 'to listen to details.  Alice will

+tell you that I treated her in the same way.  These matters, Captain

+Huston, should be sacred between husband and wife.'

+

+'Well, I suppose you have Alice's story through Brenda?  It comes to

+the same thing.  I can see you are prejudiced against me.'

+

+Mrs. Wylie smiled patiently, with a suggestion of sympathy, which her

+companion seemed to appreciate.

+

+'The world,' she said, 'is sure to be prejudiced against you in the

+present case.  You must remember that the moral code is different for

+a pretty woman than for the rest of us.  Moreover, the husband is

+blamed in preference, because people attribute the original mistake

+of marrying to him.  I don't say that men are always to blame for

+mistaken marriages, but the initiative is popularly supposed to lie

+in their hands.'

+

+Captain Huston tugged at his drooping moustache pensively.  He walked

+to the window, with the assurance of one who knew his way amidst the

+furniture, and stood for some time looking down into the street.

+Presently he returned, avoiding Mrs. Wylie's eyes; but she saw his

+face, and her own grew suddenly very sympathetic.

+

+He played nervously with the ornaments upon the mantelpiece for some

+moments, deeply immersed in thought.  There was a chair drawn forward

+to the fire, at the opposite end of the fur hearthrug to that

+occupied by Mrs. Wylie.  This he took, sitting hopelessly with his

+idle hands hanging at either side.

+

+'What am I to do?' he asked, half cynically.

+

+Before replying, the widow looked at him--gauging him.

+

+'Do you really mean that?'

+

+'Of course--I am helpless.  A man is no match for three women.'

+

+'To begin with, you must have more faith in other people.  In myself

+... Brenda ... Theo Trist.'

+

+The last name was uttered with some significance.  Its effect was

+startling.  Huston's bloodshot eyes flashed angrily, his limp fingers

+clenched and writhed until the skin gave forth a creaking sound as of

+dry leather.

+

+'D--n Trist!' he exclaimed.  'I will shoot him if he comes across my

+path!'

+

+Mrs. Wylie did not shriek or faint, as ladies are usually supposed to

+do when men give way to violent language in their presence.  But

+there came into her eyes a slight passing shade of anxiety, which she

+suppressed with an effort.

+

+'But first of all,' she said, 'you must learn to restrain yourself.

+You must understand that bluster of any description is quite useless

+against myself or Theo.  Alice may be afraid, but Brenda is not; and

+with Alice fear is closely linked with disgust.  Do not forget that.'

+

+She spoke quite calmly, with a force which a casual observer would

+not have anticipated.  In her eagerness she leant forward, with a

+warning hand outstretched.

+

+'And,' he muttered, 'I suppose I am to suppress all my feelings, and

+go about the world like a marble statue.  It seems to me that that

+fellow Trist leaves his impression on you all.  His doctrine is

+imperturbability at any price.  It isn't mine!'

+

+'Nor mine, Captain Huston.  All I preach is a little more restraint.

+Theo goes too far, and his reticence leads to mistakes.  You have

+been misled.  You think that ... your wife and Theo Trist ... love

+each other.'

+

+The soldier looked at her steadily, his weak nether lip quivering

+with excitement.  Then he slowly nodded his head.

+

+'That--is my impression.'

+

+Mrs. Wylie evinced no hurry, no eagerness now.  She had difficult

+cards, and her full attention was given to playing them skilfully.

+She leant back again in her comfortable chair, and crossed her hands

+upon her lap.

+

+'Using primary argument,' she said concisely, 'and meeting opinion

+with opinion, I contend that you are mistaken.  I will be perfectly

+frank with you, Captain Huston, because you have a certain claim upon

+my honesty.  In some ways Alice is a weak woman.  It has been her

+misfortune to be brought up and launched upon society as a beauty; a

+man who marries such a woman is assuming a responsibility which

+demands special qualifications.  Judging from what I have observed, I

+am very much afraid that you possess these qualifications in but a

+small degree.  Do you follow me?'

+

+The man smiled in an awkward way.

+

+'Yes.  You were going to say, "I told you so."'

+

+'That,' returned the widow, 'is a remark I never make, because it is

+profitless.  Moreover, it would not be true, because I never told you

+so.  Circumstances have in a measure been against you.  You could

+scarcely have chosen a more dangerous part of the world in which to

+begin your married life than Ceylon.  As it happens, you did not

+choose, but it was forced upon you.  In England we live differently.

+A young married woman is thrown more exclusively upon the society of

+her husband; there is less temptation.  You will find it less

+difficult...'

+

+'Is married life to be described as a difficulty?' he interrupted.

+

+Mr. Wylie did not reply at once.  She sat with placidly crossed hands

+gazing into the fire.  There was a slight tension in the lines of her

+mouth.

+

+'Life,' she replied, 'in any form, in any sphere, in any

+circumstances, _is_ a difficulty.'

+

+After a moment she resumed in a more practical tone:

+

+'Again, Alice is scarcely the woman to make a soldier's wife in times

+of peace.  War ... would bring out her good points.'

+

+Huston moved restlessly.  Mrs. Wylie turned her soft gray eyes

+towards his face, and across her sympathetic features there passed an

+expression of real pain.  She had divined his next words before his

+lips framed them.

+

+'I am not a soldier, Mrs. Wylie.'

+

+'Resigned...?' she whispered.

+

+'No; turned out.'

+

+Unconsciously she was swaying backwards and forwards a little, as if

+in lamentation, while she rubbed one hand over the other.

+

+'Drink,' continued Huston harshly; '... drink, and Alice drove me to

+it.'

+

+There was a long silence in the room after this.  The glowing fire

+creaked and crackled at times; occasionally a cinder fell with

+considerable clatter into the fender, but neither of these people

+moved.  At last Mrs. Wylie looked up.

+

+'Captain Huston,' she said pleadingly.

+

+'Yes.'

+

+He looked across, and saw the tears quivering on her lashes.

+

+'Come back to me to-morrow morning,' was her prayer.  'I cannot ... I

+cannot advise you yet ... because I do not quite understand.  Theo

+Trist is coming to lunch to-day.  Will you come back to-morrow?'

+

+'I will,' he answered simply, and left the room.

+

+

+

+

+CHAPTER XI.

+

+MRS. WYLIE LEADS.

+

+As Theodore Trist mounted the broad bare staircase of Suffolk

+Mansions, his quick ears detected the sound of Mrs. Wylie's door

+being drawn forcibly to behind departing footsteps.

+

+He continued his way without increase of speed.  The person whose

+descent was audible came slowly to meet him, and in a few moments

+they were face to face upon a small stone-paved landing.

+

+Neither departed from the unwritten code by which Englishmen regulate

+their actions; they merely stared at each other.  Trist was

+unchanged, except for a slight heaviness in build--the additional

+weight, one might call it, of years and experience; but Huston was

+sadly altered since these two had met beneath a Southern sky.  Both

+were conscious of a sudden recollection of sandy plain and camp

+environments, and Huston changed colour slightly, or, to be more

+correct, he lost colour, and his eyes wavered.  He was painfully

+conscious of his disadvantage in this trifling matter of appearance,

+and he had reason to remember with dread the ruthless penetration of

+the calm soft eyes fixed upon him.  Years before he had suspected

+that Theodore Trist was cognizant of a trifling fact which had at

+times suggested itself to him--namely, that, despite braided coat and

+bright sword, despite Queen's commission and Sandhurst, he, Alfred

+Woodruff Charles Huston, was no soldier.

+

+Each looked at the other with the hesitation of men who, meeting,

+recognise a face, and half await a greeting of some description.  In

+a moment it was too late, and they passed on--one upstairs, the other

+down, with unconscious symbolism--having exchanged nothing more than

+that expectant, hesitating stare of mutual recognition and mutual

+curiosity.

+

+Each was at heart a gentleman, and under other circumstances, in the

+presence of a third person, or with the view of sparing a hostess

+anxiety, they would undoubtedly have shaken hands.  But here, beneath

+the eye of none but their God (who, in His wisdom, has purposely

+planted a tiny seed of divergence in our hearts), they saw no cause

+for acting that which could, at its best, have been nothing but a

+semi-truth.

+

+When Trist greeted Mrs. Wylie a few moments later, he detected her

+glance of anxiety; but it was against his strange principles to take

+the initiative, so he waited until she might speak.

+

+After a few commonplaces dexterously handled, she suddenly changed

+her tone.

+

+'Theo,' she said with that abruptness which invariably follows after

+hesitation on the brink of a difficult subject, 'there was a man in

+this room ten minutes ago who announced his fixed determination of

+shooting you the very next time you crossed his path.'

+

+The war-correspondent shrugged his shoulders, and turning sharply

+round, he kicked under the grate a small smoking cinder which had

+fallen far out into the fender.

+

+'That man's statements, whether in regard to things past or things

+future, should be accepted with caution.'

+

+'Then you met him on the stairs?'

+

+'Yes; I met him on the stairs....'

+

+'And...'

+

+'And he did not shoot,' said Trist with a short laugh as he turned

+and faced Mrs. Wylie.

+

+Then he did a somewhat remarkable thing--remarkable, that is, for a

+man who never gave way to a display of the slightest emotion,

+demonstrating either sorrow or joy, hatred or affection.  He took

+Mrs. Wylie's two hands within his, and forced her to sit in the deep

+basket-work chair near the fire with its back towards the window.

+

+Standing before her with his hands thrust into the pockets of his

+short serge jacket, he looked down at her with quizzical affection.

+

+'Some months ago,' he said, 'we made a contract; you are breaking

+that contract, unless I am very much mistaken.  You have allowed

+yourself to be anxious about me--is that not so?'

+

+The widow smiled bravely up into the grave young face.

+

+'I am afraid,' she began, '...yes, I am afraid you are right.  But

+the anxiety was not wholly on your account.'

+

+Trist turned slowly away.  The movement was an excess of caution, for

+his face was always impenetrable.

+

+'Ah!' he murmured.

+

+'I am very anxious about Alice and Brenda.'

+

+'Ah!' he murmured again, with additional sympathy.

+

+She did not proceed at once, so he leant back in the chair he had

+assumed, and waited with that peculiar patience which seemed to

+belong to Eastern lands, and which has been noticed before.

+

+'Theo,' she said at last, 'has it never struck you that your position

+with regard to those two girls is--to say the least of it--peculiar?'

+

+'From a social point of view?'

+

+'Yes.'

+

+'If,' he said in a louder tone, on his defence, as it were, 'I were

+constantly at home, society might have something to say about it.

+But, as it happens, I am never long in London, and consequently fail

+to occupy that prominent position in the public esteem or dislike to

+which my talents undoubtedly entitle me.'

+

+'Fortunately, gossip has not been rife about it.'

+

+'_Partly_ by good fortune, and partly by good management,' corrected

+Trist.  'With a little care, society is easily managed.'

+

+'A tiger is easily managed, but its humours cannot be foretold.'

+

+This statement was allowed to pass unchallenged, and before the

+silence was again broken, a servant announced that luncheon was

+ready.  Mrs. Wylie led the way, and Trist followed.  They were both

+rather absorbed during the dainty repast, and conversation was less

+interesting than the parlour-maid could have wished.

+

+Had Trist been less honest, he could have thrown off this sense of

+guilt which weighed upon him.  Like most reserved men, he was perhaps

+credited with a more versatile intellect than he really possessed.

+In his special line he was unrivalled, but that line was essentially

+manly, and the _finesse_ it required was of a masculine order.  That

+is to say, it was more straightforward, more honest, and less

+courageous, than the natural and instinctive _finesse_ of a woman.

+This vague struggle with an over-susceptible conscience handicapped

+Trist seriously during the _tête-à-tête_ meal, and rendered his

+conversation very dull.  He was quite conscious of this, and the

+effort he made to remedy the defect was hardly successful.  Men of

+his type--that is, men of a self-contained, self-reasoning

+nature--are too ready to consider themselves of that heavy material

+which forms the solid background of social intercourse.  Their very

+virtues, such as steadfastness, coolness, complete self-reliance, are

+calculated to prevent their shining in conversation, or in the

+lighter social amenities.  A little conversational impulse is

+required, a gay lightness of touch, and an easy divergence from

+opinions previously hazarded, in order to please the average

+listener; but these were sadly wanting in Theodore Trist.

+

+He was merely a strong, thoughtful man, who could think and reason

+quickly enough when such speed was necessary, but as a rule he

+preferred a slower and surer method.  He was ready enough to proffer

+an opinion when such was really in demand, and once spoken, this

+would change in no way.  It was the result of thought, and he forbore

+to uphold a conviction by argument.  Argument and thought have little

+in common.  One is froth drifting before the wind, the other a deep

+stream running always.  Trist held fixed opinions about most things,

+but it was part of his self-reliant and self-sufficing nature to take

+no pleasure whatever in convincing others that the opinion was

+valuable.  If men chose to think otherwise, he tacitly recognised

+their right to do so, and left them in peace.  Although he held

+certain doctrines upon the better or worse ways of getting through

+the span of a human life creditably, he was singularly averse to

+airing them in any manner.

+

+Now, Mrs. Wylie, in her keen womanliness, knew very well how to deal

+with this man.  She was quite aware that there was, behind his silent

+'laisser-aller,' a clearly-defined plan of campaign, a cut-and-dried

+theory or doctrine upon which his most trifling action was based.

+There was an object aimed at, and perhaps gained, in his every word.

+If Theodore Trist was a born strategist (of which I am firmly

+convinced), and carried his principles of warfare into the bitter

+strife of every-day existence, he had in Mrs. Wylie an ally or a foe,

+as the case might be, whose manœuvres were worthy of his regard.

+

+She possessed a woman's intuitive judgment, brightened, as it were,

+and rendered keener, by the friction of a busy lifetime; and added to

+this, she was in the habit of acting more spontaneously, and perhaps

+with a greater recklessness, than came within Trist's mental compass.

+These were her more womanly qualities, but her character had been

+influenced through many years by the manly, upright nature of her

+husband, and it was from him that she had acquired her rare doctrine

+of non-interference.  In woman's weaker nature there is a lamentable

+failing to which can be attributed a large portion of the sorrows to

+which the sex is liable.  This is an utter inability to refrain from

+adding a spoke to every wheel that may roll by.  Interference--silly,

+unjustifiable interference--in the affairs of others is woman's vice.

+She can no more keep her fingers out of other people's savoury pies

+than a cat can keep away from the succulent products of Yarmouth.  It

+has been said by cynical people that a woman cannot keep a secret,

+but that is a mistake.  If it be her own, she can keep it remarkably

+well; but if it be the property of someone else, she appears to

+consider it as a loan which must not be allowed to accrue interest.

+I have tried the effect of imparting to a woman whom it affected but

+slightly, and to a man whose life would be altered in some degree by

+it, a piece of news under the bond of secrecy--a bond which expired

+at a given date.  The man held his peace and went on his way through

+life unaffected, untroubled by the knowledge he possessed.  I studied

+him at moments when a glance or a word might have betrayed to

+observant eyes the fact that he was in possession of certain

+information.  He looked at me calmly, and with no dangerous glance of

+intelligence, subsequently talking in a manly, honest way which was

+in no degree a connivance at criminal suppression.  The date given

+had not yet arrived, but the knowledge was fresh in his mind, and he

+treated the matter in an honourable, business-like way.  I knew that

+my secret was buried in that man's brain as in a sepulchre.

+

+The woman was uneasy.  I could see that the secret oppressed her.

+She chafed at the thought that the date mentioned was still a long

+way ahead.  She longed to talk of the matter to me, with a view, no

+doubt, of craving permission to tell one person, who would certainly

+not repeat it.  By glance or significant silence she courted

+betrayal; and at one time she even urged me to impart the news to a

+mutual friend, in order, I take it, to form a channel or an outlet

+for her cooped-up volume of thought.  Finally, I discovered that she

+had forestalled the date, by writing to friends at a distance, who

+actually received the letters before the day, but were unable to

+reissue the news in time to incriminate her.

+

+It would appear that the same characteristic defect applies to the

+retention of a secret as to the restraint from interference.  Perhaps

+it is a weakness, not a vice.  Mrs. Wylie never sought confidences,

+as women, by nature unable to retain secrets, are prone to do.  Her

+doctrine of non-interference went so far as to embrace the small

+matter of passing details.  She placed entire reliance in Theodore

+Trist, and although his behaviour puzzled her, she refrained from

+asking an explanation of even the smallest act.  She was content that

+his leading motive could only be good, and therefore felt no great

+thirst to know the meaning of his minor actions.

+

+The cynical-minded may opine that I am describing an impossible

+woman.  The fault is due to this halting pen.  I once drew a woman

+who herself recognised the portrait--a critic said that the character

+was impossible and unnatural.

+

+Mrs. Wylie was very natural and very womanly, after all.  She had

+almost forced Theo Trist to invite himself to lunch, and her anxiety

+respecting Alice and Brenda had been made clear to him at once.  She

+would not interfere; but she could not surely have been expected to

+refrain from suggesting to him that the world and the world's

+opinion, if of no value to him, could not be ignored by two

+motherless women.

+

+She placed before him her views upon the matter, and then she

+proceeded to shelve the subject; but Trist failed to help her in

+this, contrary to her expectation.  He was distinctly dull during

+luncheon, and made no attempt to disguise his preoccupation.  Mrs.

+Wylie nibbled a biscuit while he was removing the outer rind of his

+cheese with absurd care, and waited patiently for him to say that

+which was undoubtedly on his lips.

+

+The maid had left the room; there was no fear of interruption.  Trist

+continued to amuse himself for some moments with a minute morsel of

+Gorgonzola; then he looked up, unconsciously trying the temper of his

+knife upon the plate while he spoke.

+

+'I had,' he said, 'an interview with my chief this morning.'

+

+'Ah!  Sir Edward, you mean?'

+

+'Yes,' slowly, 'Sir Edward.'

+

+Mrs. Wylie saw that she was expected to ask a question in order to

+keep the ball rolling.

+

+'What about?' she inquired pleasantly.

+

+'I informed him that I proposed burying the hatchet.'

+

+'You are not going to give up active service!' exclaimed Mrs. Wylie

+in astonishment.

+

+'I promised to go to one more campaign--the Russo-Turkish--which will

+come on in the spring, and after that I shall follow the paths of

+peace.'

+

+Mrs. Wylie rolled up her table-napkin, and inserted it meditatively

+into an ancient silver ring several sizes too large for it.

+

+'I used to think,' she murmured, 'that you would never follow the

+ways of peace.'  Then she looked across the table into his face with

+that indescribable contraction of the eyes which sometimes came even

+when her lips were smiling.

+

+'I am not quite sure of you now, Theo,' she added gently, as she rose

+and led the way towards the door.

+

+Trist reached the handle before her, and held the door open with that

+unostentatious politeness of his which made him different from the

+general run of society young men.  As she passed, he smiled

+reassuringly, and said in his monotonous way:

+

+'I am quite sure of myself.'

+

+'Not _too_ sure?' she inquired over her shoulder.

+

+'No.'

+

+In the drawing-room he succumbed to his hostess's Bohemian

+persuasions, and lighted a cigarette.  He seemed to have forgotten

+his own affairs.

+

+'About Alice,' he began--'que faire?'

+

+For some reason Mrs. Wylie avoided meeting his glance.

+

+'I told Alfred Huston,' she replied, after a pause, 'that I would

+communicate with Alice, and that I had hopes of their living happily

+together yet.'

+

+Her tone was eminently practical and business-like.  Trist answered

+in the same way.

+

+'I told Alice,' he said cheerily, 'that I would ask you to

+communicate with Huston, with the view of coming to some definite

+arrangement.  Hide-and-seek is a slow game after a time.'

+

+'What sort of arrangement?'

+

+'Well ... I suggested that he should agree to leave her unmolested

+for a certain time, during which she could think over it.'

+

+Mrs. Wylie's smile was a trifle wan and uncertain.

+

+'In fact, you made the best of it?'

+

+'Yes.  What else could I do?'

+

+The widow looked at him keenly.  It was hard to believe in

+disinterestedness like this; and it is a very human failing to doubt

+disinterestedness of any description.

+

+'I told Alfred Huston,' she said disconnectedly, 'that I trusted you

+to do your honest best for all concerned in this matter.'

+

+'Which statement Huston politely declined to confirm, I should

+imagine.'

+

+Mrs. Wylie shrugged her shoulders.  Denial was evidently out of the

+question.

+

+'Then my name was brought in?' asked Trist in a peculiar way.

+

+'Yes.'

+

+'By whom?'

+

+'By me.  It would have been worse than useless, Theo, to have

+attempted ignorance of your influence over the girls.'

+

+For a second time Trist avoided meeting his companion's glance.

+

+'I told Sir Edward,' he said, after a considerable space of time,

+'that I must be allowed to remain in England for some time to come;

+it seems to me that I should have done better had I asked to be sent

+away on active service without delay.'

+

+'I should hardly go so far as to say that, Theo,' remarked Mrs. Wylie

+placidly; 'but I think you must be very careful.  I only want to call

+your attention to the light in which your help is likely to appear in

+the eyes of the world.'

+

+'You have no...'--he hesitated before saying the word 'man,' but his

+listener gave a little quick nod as if to help him--'man to help you,

+except me; and it seems better that there should be someone whom you

+can play, as it were, against Huston's stronger cards--someone of

+whom he is afraid.'

+

+'Yes,' replied the lady with an affectionate smile; 'I quite

+understand your meaning; and I think you are right, although Alfred

+Huston is not an alarming person: he is very weak.'

+

+'When he is sober,' suggested Trist significantly.

+

+The sailor's widow was too brave a woman to be frightened by this

+insinuation, of which she took absolutely no notice.

+

+'And,' she continued, 'I am convinced that this reconciliation is

+more likely to be brought about if it is left entirely in my hands.

+Your influence, however subtle, will be detected by Alfred Huston,

+and the result will be disastrous.  Unless ... unless...'

+

+She stopped in a vague way, and moved restlessly.

+

+'Unless what?'

+

+'Unless you go to Alfred Huston and convince him by some means that

+there is no love between you and Alice.'

+

+The laughter with which he greeted this suggestion was a masterpiece

+of easy nonchalance--deep, melodious, and natural; but somehow Mrs.

+Wylie failed to join in it.

+

+'No,' he said; 'that would not do.  If Alice and I went together, and

+took all sorts of solemn affidavits, I doubt whether Huston would be

+any more satisfied than he is at present.  The only method

+practicable is for me to hold myself in reserve, while you manage

+this affair.'

+

+He had risen during this speech, and now held out his hand.

+

+'I have an appointment at the Army and Navy,' he said, 'and must ask

+you to excuse me if I run away.'

+

+Mrs. Wylie was left in her own drawing-room nonplussed.  She gazed at

+the door which had just closed behind her incomprehensible guest with

+mild astonishment.

+

+'That,' she reflected, 'is the first time that I have seen Theo have

+recourse to retreat.'

+

+

+

+

+CHAPTER XII.

+

+THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE SEA.

+

+It very often happens that the so-called equinoctial gales are behind

+their time, and do not arrive until Night has undoubtedly made good

+her victory over Day.  When such is the case, we have a mild

+November, with soft south-westerly breezes varying in strength

+according to the lie of the land or the individual experience of

+farmer or townsman.  At sea it blows hard enough in all good sooth,

+and there may be watery eyes at the wheel or on the forecastle; but

+there are no frozen fingers aloft, which is in itself a mercy.  There

+is a good hearty roar through the shrouds, and certain parts of the

+deck are always wet, but the clear horizon and rushing clouds

+overhead are full of brave exhilaration.

+

+On land, things are dirtier, more especially under foot, where the

+leaves lose all their crackle and subside odorously into mud.  Water

+stands on the roadways, and in ruts elsewhere; and curled

+beech-leaves float thereon in vague navigation, half waterlogged like

+any foreign timber-ship.  The tilled land, bearing in its bosom seed

+for next year's crops, or merely waiting fallow, is damp and soft and

+black; men walking thereon--rustic or sportsman--make huge

+impressions, and carry quite a weight on either foot.  The trees

+stand bare and leafless, though rapid green mouldy growths relieve

+the wet monochrome of bark or rind.

+

+Here, again, as at sea, the atmosphere is singularly gay and

+translucent.  Things afar off seem near, and new details in the

+landscape become apparent.  Any little bit of colour seems to gleam,

+almost to glow, and the greenness of the meadow is startling.

+Although there is an autumnal odour on the breeze, it has no sense of

+melancholy.  The clouds may be gray, but they are fraught with life,

+and one knows that there is brightness behind.  With motion,

+melancholy cannot live.

+

+The effect of this soft breeziness upon different people is apparent

+to the most casual of observers.  It freshens sailors up, and they

+pull on their oilskins with a cheery pugnacity; tillers of the land

+are busy, and wonder how long it will last; and hunting-men (provided

+only the land be not _too_ heavy) are wild with a joy which has no

+rival in times of peace; timid riders grow bold, and bold men

+reckless.  It is only folks who stay indoors that complain of

+depression.  For myself, I confess it makes me long to be at sea, and

+although I can see nothing but sky and chimney-pots over the

+ink-stand, the very shades of colour, of dark and light, are before

+me if I close my eyes.  It is a long rolling sweep of greeny gray,

+with here and there a tip of dirty white, and the line of horizon is

+hard and clear enough to please the veriest novice with the sextant.

+

+In November, 1876, there were a few days of such weather as I have

+attempted to describe, and Brenda, who spent that time on the east

+coast of England, in a manner learnt to associate soft winds and

+clear airs with the much-maligned county of Suffolk.  All through the

+rest of her life, through the long aimless years during which she

+learnt to love the verdant plains with their bare mud sea-walls, she

+only thought of Suffolk as connected with and forming part of soft

+autumnal melancholy.  She never again listened to the wail of the

+sea-gull without involuntarily waiting for the cheery cry of the

+snipe.  Never again did she look on a vast plain without experiencing

+a sense of incompleteness which could only have been dispelled by the

+murmurous voice of the sea breaking on to shingle.

+

+The human mind is strangely inconsistent in its reception and

+retention of impressions.  As in modern photography, the length of

+exposure seems to be of little consequence.  Without any tangible

+reason, and for no obvious use, certain incidents remain engraved

+upon our memory, while the detail of other events infinitely more

+important passes away, and only the result remains.

+

+Brenda and Alice only passed four days in the little hamlet selected

+for them by Theodore Trist as a safe hiding-place; but during that

+time a great new influence came into Brenda's soul.

+

+She had always been sensitive to the beauties of Nature.  A glorious

+landscape, a golden sunset, or the soft silver of moon-rise, had

+spoken to her in that silent language of Nature which appeals to the

+most prosaic heart at times; but never until now had one of earth's

+great wonders established a longing in her soul--a longing for its

+constant company which is naught else but passionate love.  She had

+hitherto looked upon the sea as an inconvenience to be overcome

+before reaching other countries.  Perhaps she was aware that this

+inconvenience possessed at times a charm, but not until now had she

+conceived it possible that she, Brenda Gilholme, should ever love it

+with an insatiable longing such as the love of sailors.  On board the

+_Hermione_ she had passed her apprenticeship; had, as the admiral was

+wont to say, learnt the ropes; but never had she loved the sea for

+its own grand incomprehensible sake as she loved it now.

+

+Its gray mournful humours seemed to sympathize with her own thoughts.

+Its monotonous voice, rising and falling on the shingle shore, spoke

+in unmistakable language, and told of other things than mere earthly

+joys and sorrows.

+

+I who write these lines learnt to love the sea many years ago, when I

+had naught else but water to look upon--from day to day, from morning

+till night, through the day and through the darkness, week after

+week, month after month.  The love crept into my heart slowly and

+very surely, like the love of a boy, growing into manhood, for some

+little maiden growing by his side.  And now, whether on its bosom or

+looking on it from the noisy shore, that love is as fresh as ever.

+The noise of breaking water thrills the man as it thrilled the

+boy--the smell of tar, even, makes me grave.

+

+Men may love their own country, but the sea, with its ever-varying

+humours, kind and cruel by turn, exacts a fuller devotion.  A woman

+once told me of her love for her native country.  She happened to be

+a practical, prosaic, middle-aged woman of the world.  We were seated

+on a gorgeous sofa in a blaze of artificial light, amidst artificial

+smiles, listening to the murmurs of artificial conversation.

+Something moved her; some word of mine fell into the well of her

+memory and set the still pool all rippling.  I listened in silence.

+She spoke of Dartmoor, and I think I understood her.  At the end I

+said:

+

+'What Dartmoor is to you, the sea is to me;' and she smiled in a

+strange, sympathetic way.

+

+That is the nearest approach that I have met of a love for land which

+is akin to the love of sea.

+

+In Brenda's case, as in all, this new-found passion influenced her

+very nature.  If love--love, I mean, of a woman--will alter a man's

+whole mode of life, of action, and of thought, surely these lesser

+passions leave their mark as well.

+

+Undoubtedly the girl caught from the great sea some of its patient

+contentment; for the ocean is always content, whether it be

+glistening beneath a cloudless sky, or rolling, sweeping onwards

+before the wind in broad gray curves.  Those who work upon the great

+waters are different from other men in the possession of a certain

+calm equanimity, which is like no other condition of mind.  It is the

+philosophy of the sea.

+

+At first Brenda had dreaded the thought of being imprisoned, as it

+were, in this tiny east coast fishing village with her sister.  This

+was no outcome of a waning love, but rather a proof that her feelings

+towards her sister were as true and loyal as ever.  She feared that

+Alice would lower herself in her sight.  She dreaded the necessary

+_tête-à-têtes_ because she felt that her sister's character had not

+improved, and could not well bear the searching light of a close

+familiarity.

+

+After the first hour or two, however, the sisters appeared to settle

+down into a routine of life which in no way savoured of familiarity.

+The last two years had hopelessly severed them, and now that they

+were alone together the gulf seemed to widen between them.

+

+Brenda was aware that some great change had come over her life or

+that of her sister.  They no longer possessed a single taste or a

+single interest in common.  Whether the fault lay entirely at her own

+door, or whether Alice were partially or wholly to blame, the girl

+did not attempt to decide.  She merely felt that it would be simple

+hypocrisy to pretend a familiarity she did not feel.  Yet she loved

+her sister, despite all.  The tie of blood is strangely strong in

+some people; with others it is no link at all.

+

+After an uncomfortable meal had been bravely sat out subsequent to

+Brenda's arrival, the younger sister announced her intention of going

+out for a long ramble down the coast.  Alice complained that she had

+no energy, predicted that the dismal flat land and muddy sea were

+about to prove fatal to her health, and subsided into a yellow-backed

+novel.  This was a fair sample of their life in exile.

+

+Alice deluged her weak intellect with fiction of no particular merit,

+and Brenda learnt to love the sea.  For her the bleak deserted shore,

+the long, low waves rolling in continuously, the dirty sweeping of

+sand-banks near the shore, and the endless fields of shingle,

+acquired a mournful beauty which few can find in such things.

+

+Only once was reference made to Theodore Trist, and then the subject

+was tacitly tabooed, much to the relief of Brenda.  This happened

+during the first evening of their joint exile.  Doubtless a sudden

+fit of communicativeness came over Alice just as they come to the

+rest of us--at odd moments, without any particular _raison d'être_.

+

+The miserable shuffling waiter had removed all traces of their simple

+evening meal, and Brenda was looking between the curtains across the

+sea, which shimmered beneath the rays of a great yellow moon.  Alice

+had taken up her novel, but its pages had no interest for her just

+then.  She had appropriated the only easy-chair in the room, and was

+leaning back against its worn leather stuffing with a discontented

+look upon her lovely face.  Her small red mouth had acquired of late

+a peculiar 'set' expression, as if the lips were habitually pressed

+close with an effort.

+

+'Theo,' she said, without looking towards the tall, slim form by the

+window, 'has changed.'

+

+Brenda moved the curtain a little more to one side, so that the old

+wooden rings rattled on the pole.  Then she leant her shoulder

+against the framework of the window, and turned her face towards the

+firelight.  Her gentle gaze rested on the beautiful form gracefully

+reclining in the deep chair.  She noted the easy repose of each limb,

+the proud poise of the golden head, and the clearcut profile showing

+white against the dingy background.  There was no glamour in her

+eyes, such as would have blinded the judgment of nine men out of ten;

+but there was in its place the great tie of sisterly love.

+

+Brenda, looking on that beauty, knew that it was the curse of her

+sister's life.  Instead of envying her, she was mentally meting out

+pity and allowance.

+

+'I suppose,' she said, without much encouragement in her manner,

+'that we have all changed in one way or another.'

+

+'But Theo has changed in more than one way.'

+

+'Has he?'

+

+'Yes.  His manner is quite different from what it used to be; and he

+seems self-absorbed--less energetic, less sympathetic.'

+

+Brenda did not answer at once.  She turned slightly, and looked out

+of the window, resting her fingers upon the old wooden framework.

+

+'You see,' she suggested, 'he has other interests in life now.  He is

+a great man, and has ambition.  It is only natural that he should be

+absorbed in his own affairs.'

+

+Mrs. Huston raised her small foot, and rested the heel of her slipper

+on the brass fender, while she contemplated the diminutive limb with

+some satisfaction.

+

+'I have met one or two great men,' she said meditatively, 'and I

+invariably found them very much like ordinary beings, rather less

+immersed in 'shop,' perhaps, and quite as interesting--not to say

+polite.'

+

+Brenda winced.

+

+'Was Theo not polite?'

+

+'Hardly, my dear.'

+

+As Mrs. Huston delivered herself of this opinion, with a faint tinge

+of bitterness in her manner, she turned and looked towards her

+sister, as if challenging her to attempt a palliation of Trist's

+conduct.

+

+Brenda neither moved nor spoke.  The moonlight, flooding through the

+diamond panes of the window, made her face look pale and wan.  There

+were deep shadows about her lips.  Without, upon the shingle, the sea

+boomed continuously with a low, dreamlike hopelessness.

+

+I wish I were a great artist, to be able to paint a picture of that

+small parlour in an east coast village inn.  But there would be a

+greater skill required than the mere technicalities of art.  These

+would be needed to deal successfully with the cross-lights of utterly

+different hues--the cold, green-tinted moonlight, the ruddy glow of

+burning driftwood washed from the deck of some Baltic trader; and the

+reflection of each in turn upon quaint old bureaux, bright with the

+polish of half a dozen generations; gleaming upon Indian curio, and

+shimmering over the glass of dim engravings.  All this would require

+infinite skill; but no brush or pencil could convey the old-day

+mournfulness that seemed to hang in the atmosphere.  Perhaps it found

+birth in the murmuring rise and fall of restless waves, or in the

+flicker of the fire, in the quick crackle of the sodden wood.  My

+picture should be called 'The Contrast,' and in the gloom of the low

+ceiling I should bring out with loving care two graceful forms--two

+lovely faces.

+

+The one--the more beautiful--in all the rosiness of young life,

+glowing in the firelight.  The other, pale and wan, with an exquisite

+beauty, delicate and yet strong, resolute and yet refined.  Of two

+working in the field, one is taken, the other remaineth.  Around us

+are many workers, and of every two we look upon, one seems to have

+the preference.  One has greater joy, the other greater sorrow; and,

+strive as we will, think as we will, argue as we will, we can never

+tell 'why.'  We can never satisfy that great question of the human

+mind.  Life has been called many things: I can express it in less

+than a word--in a mere symbol--?--a note of interrogation, the

+largest at the compositor's command.

+

+In this great field of ours, where we all work blindly, many are

+taken, and many left.  Moreover, those who would wish to go remain,

+and those who cling to work are taken.  She who grindeth best passeth

+first.

+

+Brenda never answered her sister's challenge.  She turned her eyes

+away, facing the cold moonlight, staring at the silver sea with eyes

+that saw no beauty there.

+

+'O God!' she whispered, glancing upwards into the glowing heavens

+with that instinct which comes alike to pagan and Christian, 'send a

+great war, so that Theo may go to it.'

+

+

+

+

+CHAPTER XIII.

+

+CROSS-PURPOSES.

+

+Mrs. Wylie had undertaken the task of reconciling Alice Huston and

+her husband without any great hope of success.  The widow's married

+life had been an exceptionally happy one, but even in her case there

+had been small drawbacks, mostly arising, it is true, from the

+untoward work of fate, but, nevertheless, undoubted drawbacks, and

+undeniably appertaining to married life.

+

+It would have been hard to find two people less calculated to

+assimilate satisfactorily than Alice and Alfred Huston; and yet there

+was love between them.

+

+The weak-minded soldier undoubtedly loved his wife: as for her, it

+would be hard to give a reliable opinion.  She was, I honestly

+believe, one of those beautiful women who go through life without

+ever knowing what love really is.

+

+With another woman for his helpmate, Huston might reasonably have

+been expected to reform his ways.  With another husband, Alice might

+have made a good and dutiful wife.

+

+Assuredly the task that had fallen upon Mrs. Wylie's handsome

+shoulders was not overburdened with hope.  She was, however, of an

+evenly sanguine temperament, and I think that it is such women as she

+who help us men along in life--women who trust for the best, and work

+for the best, without any high-flown ideals, without poetic notions

+respecting woman's influence and woman's aid; who, in fact, are

+desperately practical, and make a point of expecting less than they

+might reasonably get.

+

+Mrs. Wylie was by no means ignorant of the fact that a reconciliation

+between such a couple as Mr. and Mrs. Huston was not calculated to be

+of a very permanent or deeply-rooted character; but she had lived a

+good many years in a grade of society which delights to watch the

+inner life of others.  She had seen and heard of so many unsuitable

+matches, which, having been consummated, had proved the wonderful

+power of love.  It is only the very young and inexperienced who shake

+their heads upon hearing of an engagement, and prophesy unhappiness.

+No man can tell to what end love is working.  The wise are silent in

+such matters, because there are some mistakes which lead to good, and

+some wise actions of which the result is unmitigated woe.

+

+The widow therefore held her peace, and set to work as if there could

+be but one result to her efforts.  She communicated with Alice Huston

+in her hiding-place, with Captain Huston at the club of which he was

+still a member, and with Trist by word of mouth.  Brenda was, so to

+speak, in the enemy's country.  Her reports were therefore to be

+received, but no acknowledgment could be made.  In this respect she

+was like a spy, because she was without instruction from

+headquarters, and, nevertheless, had to act and report her action.

+

+Her first and, indeed, only communication reached Mrs. Wylie the

+morning after her interviews with Theo Trist and Captain Huston.  It

+was only a few words scribbled on the back of a visiting card, and

+slipped into an envelope previously addressed and stamped:

+

+

+'Whatever you do, keep Theo and Alice apart.'

+

+

+Mrs. Wylie turned the card over and read the neatly-engraved name on

+the other side.  Then she read the words aloud, slowly and

+thoughtfully, once more:

+

+'Whatever you do, keep Theo and Alice apart.'

+

+'Brenda knows,' reflected the practical woman of the world, 'that

+Huston is jealous of Theo.  She also knows that I am quite aware of

+this jealousy.  It would be unnecessary to warn me of it; therefore

+this means that Brenda has discovered a fresh reason.'

+

+She broke off her meditations at this point by rising almost

+hurriedly, and walking to the window.  For a considerable time she

+watched the passing traffic; then she returned to the fire-place.

+

+'Poor Brenda!' she murmured--'my poor Brenda!  And ... Alice is so

+silly!'

+

+The connection between these two observations may be a trifle obscure

+to the ordinary halting male intellect; but I think I know what Mrs.

+Wylie meant.

+

+Later on in the day she sent a note to Captain Huston, requesting him

+to come and see her, and by the same messenger despatched a few words

+to Theo Trist--her reserve force--forbidding him to come near.

+

+'My reserves,' she said to herself as she closed the envelope

+energetically, 'are thus rendered useless; but Brenda is reliable.  I

+must do as she tells me.'

+

+Captain Huston received the widow's note at his club.  It was only

+eleven o'clock, and, consequently, there was plenty of time before he

+need put in an appearance at Suffolk Mansions.  He was an idle man,

+and, like all idle men, fond of lounging about the streets gazing

+abstractedly into shops, and getting generally into the way of such

+foot-passengers as might have an object in their walk.

+

+There is no haven for loungers in London except Piccadilly in the

+morning, and to this spot the soldier turned his steps.  After

+inspecting the wares of a sporting tailor, he was preparing to cross

+the road with a view of directing his course down St. James's Street,

+when someone touched him on the shoulder.

+

+Huston turned with rather more alacrity than is usually displayed by

+a British gentleman with a clear conscience, and for some seconds

+gazed in a watery manner at a fair, insipid face, ornamented by a

+wondrous moustache.  There was a peculiarity about this moustache

+worth mentioning.  Although an essentially masculine adornment, it,

+in some subtle way, suggested effeminacy.

+

+'Mr. ... eh ... Hicks,' murmured Huston vaguely, and without much

+interest.

+

+Hicks forgave magnanimously this Philistine want of appreciation.

+

+'Yes, Captain Huston.  How are you?'

+

+'I? ... Oh!  I'm all right, thanks.'

+

+There was a faint suggestion of movement about the soldier's left leg

+as if intimating a desire to continue on its way towards St. James's

+Street; but this was ignored by Hicks in his own inimitable way.

+

+'I caught sight of you the other day,' he said graciously; 'and I

+also had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Huston at Mrs. Wylie's.'

+

+'Oh yes,' vaguely.

+

+The soldier made a violent effort, pulled himself together, and

+stepped into the road.  The artist stepped with him, and,

+furthermore, slipped his gloved hand within his companion's arm with

+a familiar ease which seemed to say that they would live or die

+together until the passage was safely accomplished.

+

+'How _is_ Mrs. Huston?' inquired he when they had reached the

+opposite pavement.

+

+That lady's husband looked very stolid as he answered:

+

+'Quite well, thanks.'

+

+He mentally wriggled, poor fellow, and in sympathy his arm became

+lifeless and repelling.  Hicks removed his hand from the

+unappreciative sleeve.

+

+'Do you know,' he asked pleasantly, 'whether Trist happens to be in

+town?'

+

+Huston began to feel uncomfortable.  He was afraid of this society

+prig, and honestly wished to save his wife's name from the ready

+tongue of slander.

+

+'I don't,' he answered abruptly--'why?'

+

+This sudden question in no way disconcerted Hicks, who met the

+soldier's unsteady, and would-be severe, gaze with bland innocence.

+

+'Because I happen to know a Russian artist who is very anxious to

+meet him, that is all.'

+

+'Ah!  I have seen him since I came home, but I could not say where he

+is now.'

+

+If Hicks had been a really observant man (such as he devoutly

+considered himself to be), he would have noticed that his companion

+raised a gloved finger to his cheek, and tenderly pressed a slight

+abrasion visible still just on the bone in front of the ear.

+

+'He is generally to be heard of,' said the artist in that

+innocently-significant tone which may mean much or nothing, according

+to the acuteness or foreknowledge of the listener, '... he is

+generally to be heard of at Suffolk Mansions.  That is to say, when

+Brenda is staying there.'

+

+Captain Huston's dull eyes were for a moment actually endowed with

+life.  He stroked his drooping moustache, which was apparently placed

+there by a merciful Providence for purposes of justifiable

+concealment, and his moral attitude became visibly milder.  He had

+just begun to realize that his own private affairs might not, after

+all, be of paramount importance to the whole of society.

+

+'Is there,' he asked with military nonchalance, 'supposed to be

+something between Trist and Brenda?'

+

+Hicks laughed, and, before replying, waved his hand gracefully to a

+friend in the stock-jobbing line, who had previously crossed the road

+in order to be recognised by him in passing.

+

+'Oh no,' he answered cheerfully; 'I did not mean that at all.  Now

+that I think of it, however, you were quite justified in taking it

+thus.  They have always been great friends--that was all I meant.

+Their mothers were related, I believe.'

+

+Captain Huston looked slightly disappointed.  He did not, however,

+display such eagerness to walk either faster or slower, or in some

+other direction, now.

+

+'Trist,' he observed as he opened his cigar-case sociably, 'is a

+queer fellow.  Have a cigar?'

+

+'Oh, I never smoke, you know--never.  No, thanks.'

+

+The captain grunted, and put his case back with a suppressed sigh.

+He had not known, but hoped.  Then he waited for a reply to his

+leading and ambiguous remark.

+

+'Yes,' mused Hicks at length; 'he is.  I dined with him the night he

+left for the Servian frontier.'

+

+This detail, interesting as it was, had but slight reference to the

+general characteristics of Theodore Trist.  Huston tried again after

+he had lighted his cigar.

+

+'One never knows where one has him.'

+

+Hicks looked mildly sympathetic.  He even gave the impression of

+being about to look in his pockets on the chance of finding the

+war-correspondent there.

+

+'No; he is always on the move.  I was once told that the Diplomatic

+Corps call him the Stormy Petrel, because he arrives before the

+hurricane.'

+

+'And sits smiling on the top of the waves afterwards, while we poor

+devils sink,' added the soldier with a disagreeable laugh.

+

+'He has not the reputation of being a coward,' said Hicks, who

+despised personal courage as a mere brute-like attribute.

+

+The man of arms did not like the turn of the conversation.

+

+'No; I believe not,' he said rather hurriedly, as if no man could be

+a coward.  'What I don't like about him is a certain air of mystery

+which he cultivates.  It pleases the women, I suppose.'

+

+'That,' suggested the other calmly, 'is probably part of his trade.

+If he talked much there would be nothing original left in him to

+write!  All these diplomatic fellows get that peculiar reticence of

+manner--a sort of want of frankness, as it were.  That is the great

+difference between art practised by the tongue, and art stimulated by

+the eye and created for the pleasure of the eye.'

+

+Huston looked at the burning end of his cigar with bibulous

+concentration.  He knew absolutely nothing about art, and cared less.

+It is just possible that, in his hideous ignorance, he doubted the

+purity of the pleasure vouchsafed by the pictorial productions of the

+artist at his side.

+

+'_We_,' continued Hicks, with a deprecating wave of the hand, 'can

+always be frank.  The bolder we are, the higher we aim, the ... eh

+... the better.'

+

+'Yes ... yes,' murmured Huston.  'But tell me--what made you think

+that Trist was out of town?'

+

+'Oh, nothing!' airily.  'Nobody stays in town at this time of the

+year unless they can't help it; that is all!  But I suppose these

+newspaper men hardly think of the seasons.  They do not seem to

+realize the difference between summer and winter--between joyous

+spring and dismal autumn.  I saw a man sketching the other day in a

+cold east wind on the Thames Embankment.  He was only a "black and

+white" man, you know; but he seemed to know something about drawing.

+His fingers were blue.'

+

+Like many weak-minded people, Alfred Huston was subject to sudden

+fits of obstinacy.  He felt now that Hicks wished to lead him away

+from the subject originally under discussion, and in consequence was

+instigated by a sudden desire to talk and hear more of Theodore Trist.

+

+'That is another thing,' he said, 'about Trist that I do not like.

+He pretends to despise personal discomfort.  It is mere affectation,

+of course, and on that account, perhaps, all the more aggravating.'

+

+'Carried away by enthusiasm, I suppose?'

+

+The soldier laughed.

+

+'Trist never was carried away by anything.  He sits on a box of

+cartridges, and writes in that beastly note-book of his as if he were

+at a review.  If all his countrymen were being slaughtered round him

+he would count them with his pencil and take a note of it.'

+

+Hicks gave a few moments' careful attention to the curl of his

+moustache.  Then he glanced curiously at his companion's vacant

+physiognomy.  There was evidently some motive in this sudden attack

+on Trist.  Both these men distrusted the war-correspondent, but were

+in no way prepared to test the value of that force which is said to

+arise from union.  They distrusted each other more.

+

+Presently they parted, each absorbed in his own selfish fears as

+before.  Here, again, was Vanity and her hideous sister Jealousy.  If

+one of these be not found at the bottom of all human misery, I think

+you will find the other.  With these two men both motives were at

+work.  Each was jealous of Trist, and neither would confess his

+jealousy to the other; while Vanity was wounded by the

+war-correspondent's simple silence.  He ignored them, and for that

+they hated him.  His own path was apparently mapped out in front of

+him, and he followed it without ostentation, without seeking comment

+or approbation.

+

+William Hicks was, as Mrs. Wylie had said, finding his own level.  He

+was beginning to come under the influence of a vague misgiving that

+his individuality was not such as commands the respect of the better

+sort of women.  In his own circle he was a demi-god; but the

+gratification to be gathered from the worship of a number of

+weak-kneed uncomely ladies was beginning to pall.  In fact, he had

+hitherto been intensely satisfied with the interesting creature

+called William Hicks; but now there was a tiny rift within the lute

+upon which he always played his own praises.  He had not hitherto

+realized that man is scarcely created for the purpose of being

+worshipped by the weaker sex, and lately there had been in his mind a

+vague desire to be of greater account among his fellow-men.  Of

+athletics, sport, or the more manly accomplishments he knew nothing;

+indeed, he had up to this period despised them as the pastime of

+creatures possessed of little or no intellect; now he was at times

+troubled by a haunting thought that it would have been as well had he

+been able to play lawn-tennis, to ride, or shoot, or row, or

+drive--or even walk ten miles at a stretch.  This was not the outcome

+of any natural taste for healthy exercise, but a mere calculation

+that such accomplishments carry with them a certain weight with

+energetic and well-found young ladies.  The curse of jealousy has a

+singular way of opening our eyes, _mes frères_, to sundry small

+shortcomings of which we were not aware before.  When I saw Angelina,

+for instance, dance with young Lightfoot in former days, my own

+fantastic toes suddenly became conscious of clumsiness.  Hicks was

+jealous of Theodore Trist, and while, in a half-hearted way,

+despising the sturdy philosopher's soldier-like manliness, he could

+not help feeling that Brenda Gilholme admired Trist for this same

+quality.  He was fully satisfied that he was in every other way a

+superior man to the war-correspondent, although the latter had made a

+deep mark upon the road he had selected to travel; but he wished,

+nevertheless, that he himself could assume at times the quiet

+strength of independence that characterized Trist's thoughts and

+actions.

+

+The young artist was celebrated in his own circle--that is to say,

+among a certain coterie of would-be artistic souls, whose talents ran

+more into words than into action.  They admired each other aloud, and

+themselves with a silent adoration wonderful to behold.  Most of them

+possessed sufficient means to live an idle, self-indulgent life in a

+small way.  Such pleasures as they could not afford were conveniently

+voted unprofitable and earthly.  They hung upon the outskirts of the

+best society, and were past-masters in the art of confusing the terms

+'having met' and 'knowing' as applied to living celebrities.  Among

+them were artists who had never exhibited a picture, authors who had

+never sold a book, and singers who had never faced an audience.  The

+vulgar crowd failed to appreciate them, and those who painted and

+sold, wrote and published, sang and made money, tolerantly laughed at

+them.  Hicks was clever enough to know that his mind was in reality

+of a slightly superior order, and weak enough to value its

+superiority much more highly than it deserved.  He was undoubtedly a

+clever fellow in his way, but a moderate income and a doting mother

+had combined to kill in him that modicum of ambition which is

+required to make men push forward continuously in the race of life.

+Had he been compelled to work for his daily bread, he might have been

+saved from the clutches of London society; but as a rising young

+artist, with pleasant manners and some social accomplishments, he was

+received with open arms, and succumbed to the enervating round of

+so-called pleasure.  He continued to be 'rising,' but never rose.

+

+Hicks did not confess deliberately to himself that he was in love

+with Brenda Gilholme, but he made no pretence of ignoring the fact

+that she occupied in his thoughts a place quite apart.  He respected

+her, and in that lay the great difference.  The unkempt and

+strangely-attired damsels who were pleased to throw themselves

+mentally at his feet were not such as command respect.  In his heart

+he despised them a little; for contempt is invariably incurred by

+affectation of any description.

+

+And so each went on his way--the idle soldier, the vain artist, and

+the absorbed journalist, each framing his life for good or

+evil--pressing upward, or shuffling down, according to his bent;

+each, no doubt, peering ahead, as sailors peer through rime and mist,

+striving to penetrate the blessed veil drawn across the future.  Ah!

+Let us, my brothers, thank God that, despite necromancer, astrologer,

+thought-reader, or chiromancer, we know absolutely nothing of what is

+waiting for us in the years to come.  Could we raise that veil, life

+would be hell.  Could we see the end of all our aims, our ambitions,

+our hopes, and our 'long, long thoughts,' there would be few of us

+courageous enough to go on with this strange experiment called human

+existence.  Could we see the end, no faith, no dogma, no _fanaticism_

+even, would have power to prevent us questioning the existence of the

+Almighty, because we could never reconcile the beginning to that end.

+The question would rise before us continuously: 'If such was to be

+the end, why was the beginning made?'  And turn this question as you

+will, explain it as you may, it is ever a question.  The only

+safeguard is suppression.  The question is not asked because life is

+so slow that the beginning is almost forgotten in the climax; and

+while we live through the earlier chapters, the last volume is

+inexorably closed.

+

+

+

+

+CHAPTER XIV.

+

+A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY.

+

+About ten o'clock on the evening of the third day after the meeting

+with Captain Huston, William Hicks entered a large and crowded

+ball-room with his usual pleasant condescension.

+

+The dance was of a semi-parliamentary character, and although the

+society papers were pleased to announce that all the 'best' people

+were out of town, there was a crowd of well-dressed men and women

+round the door when Hicks made his appearance.  There were many

+greetings to be exchanged, a few diplomatic dances to be asked for,

+and then the artist leisurely stroked his golden moustache as he

+looked critically round the room.

+

+His smiling face contracted into gravity for a moment, and it was

+only after a pause that he continued his investigations.

+

+'Trist!' he murmured to himself.  'Trist _here_?  What is the meaning

+of that?  Is it war, I wonder?  Or is Brenda coming?  I will find

+out.'

+

+Presently he moved away, and after some time joined a group of

+grave-faced elderly men, among whom Theo Trist was standing.  There

+were politicians among these gentlemen, and several faces were of a

+distinctly foreign type, while more than one language could be heard.

+Hicks looked a trifle out of his element amidst such surroundings,

+and the foreign languages troubled him.  No one looked towards him

+invitingly--not even Trist, who was talking with a broad-shouldered

+little man with a large head, and a peculiar listless manner which

+stamped him as an Oriental.  Hicks did not even know what language

+they were speaking.  It was not European in sound or intonation.

+Here and there he caught a word or a name.

+

+Once he heard Trist mention the name of a Russian general then

+scarcely known.  Though the pronunciation was rather different from

+that of most Englishmen, Hicks recognised the word 'Skobeleff,' and,

+glancing towards the smaller man, he saw upon his long, mournful

+features a singular look of uneasiness.

+

+There was something fascinating about the man's face which attracted

+the artist's attention, and he stood gazing with a greater fixity

+than is usually considered polite.  Without looking towards him, the

+Oriental was evidently aware of his attention, for he spoke to Trist,

+who turned with deliberate curiosity.

+

+'Ah, Hicks!' he said, 'how do you do?'

+

+Then he turned again to his unemotional companion and made a remark,

+which was received apathetically.

+

+Hicks had not wished to make his advent so prominent.  It now

+appeared as if he had sought out Trist for some special purpose, to

+make some important communication which could not brook delay.

+

+Trist evidently read his action thus, for he left the group of

+statesmen and joined him.  Hicks was equal to the occasion.

+

+'You remember,' he said confidentially, as he touched his companion's

+sleeve and they walked down the room together--'you remember what I

+once told you about the Hustons?'

+

+Trist's meek eyes rested upon the speaker's face with a persistence

+which was not encouraging to idle gossip.

+

+'The night I left for Servia?' he inquired.

+

+Hicks nodded his head.

+

+'Yes.  I remember.'

+

+The artist paused, and his gloved fingers sought the beauteous

+moustache.  Trist's calm eyes were not easy to meet.  They were so

+unconsciously scrutinizing.

+

+'Well, I saw Huston the other day,' he said at length.  'He has not

+improved in appearance.  In fact, I should say that there is some

+truth in the story I repeated to you.'

+

+There was no encouragement forthcoming, but Hicks was not lacking in

+assurance.  He was a true son of the pavement--that is to say, an

+individual radical.  His opinion was, in his own mind, worth that of

+Theodore Trist.

+

+'There are,' he continued, 'other stories going about at present.  Do

+you not think ... Trist ...--I mean, had we not better, for Brenda's

+sake, settle upon a certain version of the matter and stick to it?

+You and I, old fellow, are looked upon by the general world as

+something more than ordinary friends of Alice and Brenda.  Mrs. Wylie

+is not going out just now.  They have no one to stick up for them,

+except us.  If you know more than you care to confess, I am sorry if

+I am forcing your hand....'

+

+He paused again, and again his companion preserved that calm

+non-committing silence which he knew so well how to assume.  He held

+a hand which could not have been forced by a player possessing ten

+times the power and ten times the cunning of William Hicks.

+

+'But, Trist, I know what the London world is.  Something must be

+done.'

+

+Trist shrugged his shoulders imperceptibly.

+

+'Silence,' continued Hicks significantly, 'in this case would be a

+mistake.  I don't mind ... your knowing that it is not from mere

+curiosity that I am doing this.  Brenda ... I want to save ... her

+... from anything unpleasant.'

+

+At this point Trist appeared to relent.  It was not until afterwards

+that Hicks realized that he had learnt absolutely nothing from him.

+

+'What do you think ought to be done?' he asked gently.

+

+The question remained unanswered for some time, and then it was only

+met by another.

+

+'Is Brenda coming to-night?'

+

+'Yes.'

+

+'And Alice?'

+

+'No.'

+

+They walked through the brilliant rooms together, each wondering what

+lay behind the eyes of the other, each striving to penetrate the

+thoughts of the other, to divine his motives, to reach his heart.

+

+'I really think,' said Hicks at length, 'that it rests with you.  You

+must say what is to be done, what story is to be told, what farce is

+to be acted.  It seems to me that you know more about it than I do.

+Somehow I have lately dropped out of Mrs. Wylie's confidence, and ...

+and Brenda has not spoken to me about her sister.'

+

+'But,' said Trist, 'I know nothing of what you refer to as the common

+gossip of ... of all these.'

+

+He indicated the assembled multitude with a gesture which was

+scarcely complimentary.  Hicks looked uncomfortable, and bit his red

+lip nervously.

+

+'Don't be hard on us,' he pleaded with an unnatural laugh.  'I am one

+of them.'

+

+'Tell me,' said Trist with a sudden gravity of manner, '... tell me

+what they are saying.'

+

+'Well ... it is hardly fair to ask me.'

+

+'Why?'

+

+'Because you will not thank me for having told you.  We ... we don't,

+as a rule, give the benefit of the doubt, you know.'

+

+The elder man turned and looked at his companion with a slow smile.

+

+'My dear Hicks,' he said, 'it is many years since I gave up caring

+what the world might say, or expecting the benefit of the doubt.'

+

+'For yourself?'

+

+'Yes; for myself.  What do you mean?'

+

+'I mean that they are not giving Alice the benefit of the doubt

+either.'

+

+They happened just then to be near two chairs placed invitingly

+within an alcove by a soft-hearted hostess who had not yet forgotten

+her flirting-days.

+

+'Let us sit down,' said Trist, indicating these chairs.

+

+'Now,' he continued in a calm voice when they were seated, 'tell me

+what the world is saying about Alice.'

+

+Hicks was not devoid of a certain moral courage, and for once in his

+life he was actuated by a motive which was not entirely selfish.

+

+'They say,' he answered boldly, 'that she ran away from her husband

+to join you.'

+

+To some natures there is a vague enjoyment in imparting bad news, and

+the dramatic points in this conversation were by no means lost to

+William Hicks, who was a born actor.  His listener, however, received

+the news without the slightest indication of surprise or annoyance.

+He merely nodded his head and murmured:

+

+'Yes; what else?'

+

+'Oh ... nothing much--nothing, at least, that I have heard, except

+that Huston was supposed to have followed her home and caught her

+just in time.  He is also said to have announced his intention of

+shooting you at the first convenient opportunity.'

+

+Hicks ceased speaking, and waited for some exclamation of disgust,

+some heated denial or indignant proof of the utter falseness of the

+accusations made against Alice Huston.  None of these was

+forthcoming.  Theo Trist merely indicated his comprehension of the

+cruel words, and sat thinking.  Beneath that calm exterior the man's

+brain was very busy, and as he raised his head with a slight pensive

+frown Hicks recognised for the first time the resemblance to the

+great Corsican which was currently attributed to the

+war-correspondent.

+

+'Suppose,' said Trist at length, 'suppose that I were to walk

+arm-in-arm into this room with Huston.  Would that do?'

+

+'Can you manage it?' inquired the artist incredulously.

+

+'I think so; if I can only find him.  Suppose Huston were to dance

+with Brenda, and we were all to give it out that Alice is staying

+with her father in Cheltenham or somewhere.'

+

+Hicks' first inclination was towards laughter.  The proposal was made

+so simply and so readily that the whole affair appeared for a moment

+merely ludicrous.

+

+'Yes,' he said vaguely; 'that will do; that will do very well.  But

+... is Huston invited?'

+

+'I will manage that.'

+

+There was a peaceful sense of capability about this man before which

+all obstacles seemed to crumble away.  Hicks felt slightly

+dissatisfied.  His own part was too small in this social comedy.  The

+conduct of Brenda's affairs was slipping from his grasp, and yet he

+could do nothing but submit.  Trist had unconsciously taken command,

+and when command is unconscious it is also arbitrary.

+

+'I will go now and bring Huston,' he added presently, and without

+further words left his seat.

+

+Hicks caressed the golden moustache, and watched him as he moved

+easily through the gay, heedless throng--a sturdy, strong young

+figure, full of manhood, full of purpose, the absurdly meek eyes

+shunning rather than seeking the many glances of recognition that met

+him on his way.

+

+He went up to his hostess, and with her came apparently straight to

+the point, for Hicks saw the lady listen attentively and then

+acquiesce with a ready smile.

+

+Nearly half an hour elapsed before Brenda arrived.  She was one of a

+large party, and her programme had been in other hands before Hicks

+became possessed of it.  He glanced keenly down the column of

+hieroglyphics.  The initials were all genuine, but three dances had

+been kept by a little cross carefully inserted.  Hicks obtained two

+waltzes, and returned the card with his usual self-satisfied smile.

+He knew that Brenda expected Trist, although she was not looking

+round as if in search of anybody.  But he was fully convinced that

+there was some mystery on foot.  One dance, he had observed, which

+was marked with a cross, was a square.  Trist and Brenda had met by

+appointment--not as young men meet maidens every night in the year at

+dances for purposes of flirtation, or the more serious pastime of

+love-making, but to discuss some point of mutual interest.

+

+As a rival Hicks had no fear of Theodore Trist, who, he argued, was a

+very fine fellow in his way, but quite without social

+accomplishments.  He was a good dancer--that point he generously

+admitted--but beyond that he had nothing to recommend him in the eyes

+of a clever and experienced girl like Brenda, who had had the

+advantages of association with some of the most talented men of her

+day, and intimacy with himself, William Hicks.  There was only that

+trivial matter of athletic and muscular superiority, which really

+carried no great weight with a refined womanly intellect.  In a

+ball-room Theodore Trist, with his brown, grave face, his absorbed

+eyes, and his sturdy form, was distinctly out of place.  He had not

+even a white waistcoat, wore three studs in the front of his shirt,

+and sometimes even forgot to sport a flower in his coat.  His very

+virtues (of an old fashion), such as steadfastness, truth, and

+honesty, prevented him from shining in society.  Fortunately,

+however, for his own happiness he was without vanity, and therefore

+unconscious of his own shortcomings.  It is just within the scope of

+possibility that he was moved by no ambition to shine in society.

+

+While the first bars of the waltz were in progress, Hicks found

+Brenda.  He had little difficulty in doing so, because he had been

+watching her.  Moreover, she was dressed in black, which was a rare

+attire in that room.  In choosing this sombre garb she had made no

+mistake; the style suited exactly her slim, strong young form, and in

+contrast her neck and arms were dazzling in their whiteness.

+

+They began dancing at once, and Hicks was conscious that there was no

+couple in the room so perfectly harmonious in movement, so skilled,

+so intensely refined.

+

+'Trist,' he said presently in a confidential way, 'has been here.'

+

+'Indeed!' was the guarded reply, made with pleasant indifference.

+

+'Yes ... Brenda, he and I had a little talk, and, in consequence, he

+will be absent for some time, but he is coming back.'

+

+'What,' she inquired calmly, 'did you talk about?'

+

+All this time they were dancing, smoothly and with the indefatigable

+rhythm of skilled feet.

+

+'It has come to my knowledge,' he replied, 'that gossip has connected

+the names of Alice and Trist, and there are foolish stories going

+about concerning Huston, who is said to be searching for Trist with

+the intention of shooting him.  Trist has gone to bring Huston here;

+they will come into the room arm-in-arm.  We arranged it, and I think

+no further contradiction is required.'

+

+Had she winced he would have been aware of it, because his arm was

+round her yielding waist, and her hand was within his.  She turned

+her head slightly as if to assist him in steering successfully

+through a narrow place; and he, glancing down, saw that her face was

+as white as marble, but her step never faltered.  She drew a deep

+unsteady breath, and spoke in a grateful voice.

+

+'It is very good of you ... both,' she said simply.

+

+They continued dancing for some time before the silence was again

+broken.

+

+'Some day, Brenda,' whispered Hicks, while preserving with immaculate

+skill an indifferent face before the world, 'I will tell you why I

+was forced to interfere even at the risk of displeasing you.  Some

+other time, not now.'

+

+A peculiar contraction seemed to pass over her face, and it was only

+with an effort that she smiled while acknowledging a passing bow from

+a girl-acquaintance.

+

+Soon afterwards she began talking cheerily on a safer subject; and

+despite all his experience, all his cleverness, William Hicks could

+not bring the conversation round again to the topic she had shelved.

+

+Her spirits seemed to rise as the evening progressed.  There was a

+task before her, the dimensions of which were soon apparent.  Almost

+everyone in the room had heard something of Alice, and the only

+contradiction possible, until Trist and Huston arrived, lay in the

+brave carriage of a cheerful face before them all.

+

+There was a clock upon the mantelpiece of a small room where

+refreshments were set forth, and the merits of this secluded retreat

+were retailed by her to more than one of her partners.  The pointers

+of the dainty timepiece seemed to crawl--once or twice she listened

+for the beat of the pendulum.  Midnight came, and one o'clock.  Still

+there was no sign of Theodore Trist.  At two o'clock her chaperon

+suggested going home, and Brenda was compelled to apologize

+laughingly to several grumbling young men, who attempted to cut off

+her retreat at the door.

+

+The spacious hall was full of departing guests; through the open door

+came the hoarse confusing shouts of policemen and footmen.  Brenda

+pressed her hands together beneath her opera-cloak and shivered.

+

+Theodore Trist never returned, and his absence passed unnoticed by

+all except William Hicks, who waited till the end.

+

+

+

+END OF VOL.  II.

+

+

+

+BILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD.

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 74461 ***

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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of Suspense, Volume II (of 3), 

+by Henry Seton Merriman

+</title>

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+

+<body>

+<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 74461 ***</div>

+

+<h1>

+<br><br>

+  SUSPENSE<br>

+</h1>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p class="t3">

+  BY<br>

+</p>

+

+<p class="t2">

+  HENRY SETON MERRIMAN<br>

+</p>

+

+<p class="t4">

+  AUTHOR OF 'YOUNG MISTLEY,' 'THE PHANTOM FUTURE'<br>

+  ETC.<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="t3">

+  IN THREE VOLUMES<br>

+  VOL. II.<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="t3">

+  LONDON<br>

+  RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON<br>

+  Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen<br>

+  1890<br>

+</p>

+

+<p class="t4">

+  [<i>All rights reserved</i>]<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="poem">

+  Some there are who laugh and sing<br>

+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;While compassed round by sorrow;<br>

+  To this ev'ning's gloom they bring<br>

+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The sunshine of to-morrow.<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="t3b">

+  CONTENTS OF VOL. II.<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+  CHAPTER<br>

+</p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+  I. <a href="#chap01">AT SEA</a><br>

+  II. <a href="#chap02">SISTERS</a><br>

+  III. <a href="#chap03">ALICE RETURNS</a><br>

+  IV. <a href="#chap04">TO THE FRONT</a><br>

+  V. <a href="#chap05">UNDER FIRE</a><br>

+  VI. <a href="#chap06">TRIST ACTS</a><br>

+  VII. <a href="#chap07">QUICKSANDS</a><br>

+  VIII. <a href="#chap08">MASKED</a><br>

+  IX. <a href="#chap09">IN CASE OF WAR</a><br>

+  X. <a href="#chap10">A PROBLEM</a><br>

+  XI. <a href="#chap11">MRS. WYLIE LEADS</a><br>

+  XII. <a href="#chap12">THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE SEA</a><br>

+  XIII. <a href="#chap13">CROSS-PURPOSES</a><br>

+  XIV. <a href="#chap14">A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY</a><br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap01"></a></p>

+

+<p class="t2">

+SUSPENSE

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<h3>

+CHAPTER I.

+<br><br>

+AT SEA.

+</h3>

+

+<p>

+One fine day late in the autumn of

+eighteen hundred and seventy-six, a

+steamer emerged from the haze that

+lay over the Atlantic and the northern

+waters of the Bay of Biscay.  Those

+who were working in the fields behind

+the lighthouse of the Pointe de Raz saw

+her approach the land, sight the

+lighthouse, and then steer outwards again on

+a course due north through the channel

+dividing the Ile de Sein from the rocky

+headland jutting out from this most

+western point of Europe into the

+Atlantic.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Those on board the steamer, looking

+across the blue waters, saw the faint

+outline of a high broken coast, and all

+round them a sea divided into races and

+smooth deep pools large enough to

+anchor a whole fleet had there been

+bottom within reach.  Islands, islets, and

+mere rocks; some jutting high up, some

+nestling low.  A dangerous coast, and a

+splendid fishing-ground.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There were further points of interest

+on the waters; namely, a whole fleet

+of sardine-boats from Douarnenez and

+Audierne, scudding here and there with

+their bright brown sails, sometimes

+glowing in the sun, sometimes brooding

+darkly in the shadow.  It was a beautiful

+picture, because the colours were

+brilliant; the blue sea gradually merged

+into bright green, and finished off in the

+distance with yellow sand or deep-brown

+cliff.  The hills towards Breste, to the

+north, were faintly outlined in a shadowy

+haze of blue, while close at hand the

+long Atlantic sweep came bounding in

+and broke into dazzling white over the

+rocks.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+On the deck of the steamer the

+passengers paused in their afternoon

+promenade, and, leaning their arms on

+the high rail, contemplated the bright

+scene with evident satisfaction.  The

+small fishing-boats were of a more

+British build than most of them had seen

+for some years.  The brown lug-sails

+were like the sails of an English fishing-boat,

+and many of these swarthy-faced

+wanderers had recollections of childhood

+which came surging into their minds at

+the sight of a blue sea with a brown sail

+on it.  The high rocky land might well

+be England, with its neat yellow

+lighthouse and low-roofed cottages nestling

+among the scanty foliage and careful

+cultivation.  It was so very different

+from Madras, so unlike Bombay, so

+infinitely superior to Hong Kong.  The

+breeze even was different from any that

+had touched their faces for many a day,

+and some of them actually felt cold&mdash;a

+sensation almost forgotten.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The captain of this splendid steamer

+was a gentleman as well as a good sailor,

+and he endeavoured to make his

+passengers feel at home while under his

+care.  Therefore he now walked aft and

+stood beside the chair of a beautiful

+woman who was always alone, always

+indifferent, always repelling.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'This is a pretty sight, Mrs. Huston,'

+he said pleasantly, without looking down

+at her, but standing beside her chair.

+He gazed across the water towards the

+Pointe de Raz, with the good-natured

+patience of a man who does not intend

+to be snubbed.  Once, during his first

+voyage as commander, a woman had

+disappeared from the deck one dark

+night, and since then the shrewd

+'passenger' captain had kept his eye upon

+pretty women who neither flirted nor

+quarrelled at sea.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes,' was the indifferent answer;

+and the sailor's keen gray eyes detected

+the fact that the fair lashes were never

+raised.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'It brings the fact before one,' he

+continued, 'that we are getting near

+home.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes,' with pathetic indifference.  She

+did not even make the pretence of

+looking up, and yet there was no visible

+interest in the book that lay upon her lap.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The sailor moved a little, and leant

+his elbows upon the rail, looking round

+his ship with a critical and all-seeing

+eye.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I hope,' he said cheerily, 'that there

+is no one on board to whom the sight

+of Eddystone will not give unmitigated

+pleasure.  We shall be there before any

+of us quite realize that the voyage is

+drawing to an end.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Then the beautiful woman made a

+little effort.  The man's kindness of

+heart was so obvious, his disinterested

+desire to cheer her voluntary solitude

+was so gentlemanly in its feeling and

+so entirely free from any suggestion of

+inquisitiveness, that she, as a lady, could

+no longer treat him coldly.  All through

+the voyage this same quiet watchfulness

+over her comfort (which displayed itself

+in little passing acts, and never in words)

+had been exercised by the man, whose

+most difficult duties were not, perhaps,

+connected solely with the perils of the

+sea.  She raised her head and smiled

+somewhat wanly, and there was in the

+action and in the expression of her eyes

+a sudden singular resemblance to Brenda

+Gilholme.  But it was a weak copy.

+There was neither the invincible pluck

+nor the unusual intellectuality to be

+discerned.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I shall be glad,' she said, 'to see

+England again.  Although the voyage

+has been very pleasant and very

+... peaceful.  Thanks to you.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Not at all,' he answered with breezy

+cheerfulness; 'I have done remarkably

+little to make things pleasant.  It has

+been a quiet voyage.  We are, I think, a

+quiet lot this time.  Invalids mostly&mdash;in

+body, or mind!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At these last words the lady looked up

+suddenly into the captain's pleasant face.

+In her manner there was a faint suggestion

+of coquetry&mdash;so faint as only to be

+a very pleasing suggestion.  Women who

+have been flirts in former years have this

+glance, and they never quite lose it.

+Personally speaking, I like it.  There

+comes from its influence an innocent and

+very sociable sensation of familiarity with

+old and young alike.  Someday I shall

+write a learned disquisition on the art

+and so-called vice of flirting.  Look out

+for it, reader.  Mind and secure an early

+copy from your stationer.  From its

+thoughtful pages you cannot fail to glean

+some instructive matter.  And ye, oh

+flirts! buy it up and show it to your

+friends; for it will be a defence of your

+maligned species.  Flirts are the salt of

+social existence.  A girl who cannot flirt

+is ... is ... well ... is not the girl

+for me.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The mariner looked down into the sad

+face, and smiled in a comprehensive way

+which seemed in some inexplicable

+manner to bring them closer together.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Then,' said the lady, 'as I am in the

+enjoyment of rude health and likely to

+last for some years yet, I may infer that

+you know all about me.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The captain looked grave.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I know,' he answered, 'just little

+enough to be able to reply that I know

+nothing when people do me the honour

+of inquiring; and just sufficient to feel

+that your affairs are better left undiscussed

+by us.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She nodded her head, and sat looking

+at her own hands in a dull, apathetic way.

+Woman-like, she acted in direct opposition

+to his most obvious hint.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I suppose,' she murmured, 'that

+gossips have been thrashing the whole

+question out with their customary zest.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Ceylon is a hot-bed of gossips.

+Everyone is up in his neighbour's affairs,

+and a fine voyage in a comfortable steamer

+is not calculated to still busy tongues!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She shrugged her shoulders indifferently,

+and looked up at him with a

+slight pout of her pretty lips.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Who cares?' she asked with well-simulated

+levity.  He, however, did not

+choose to appear as if he were deceived,

+which simple feat was well within his

+histrionic capabilities; for his life was

+one long succession of petty diplomatic

+efforts.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I think,' he said coolly, 'that you

+have done perfectly right in keeping

+yourself quite apart from the rest of

+them.'  He looked round upon the other

+passengers, seated or lolling about the

+deck, with a fatherly tolerance.  'And

+if I may suggest it, you cannot do better

+than to continue doing so for the next

+day or two.  Avoid more particularly

+the older women.  The jealousy of a

+young girl is dangerous, but the repelled

+patronage of an older woman, bristling

+with the consciousness of her own wearisome

+irreproachability, is infinitely more

+to be feared!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+This remark from the lips of a man

+who undoubtedly knew more than is

+usually known of the feminine side of

+humanity appeared to suggest material

+for thought to the somewhat shallow

+brain of his hearer.  She dropped the

+lightly reckless style at once, and the

+thought that this honest and

+simple-hearted sailor was in love with her

+slowly died a natural death.  There

+followed, moreover, upon its demise an

+uncomfortable suggestion that, although

+he was probably honest, he was not

+consequently simple-hearted&mdash;that he was,

+in fact, a match for her, and, knowing

+it, was not at that moment disposed to

+measure mental blades with her.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I am glad,' she said humbly, 'that

+my sister will be at Plymouth to meet me.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Did you,' inquired the sailor, 'write

+from Port Said to Miss Gilholme?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She raised her head with a questioning

+air, but did not look up.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Miss Gilholme,' she repeated&mdash;'how

+do you know her name?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Oh,' laughed the captain, 'I am a

+sort of walking directory.  There is a

+constant procession of men and women

+passing before me.  Many of them turn

+aside and say a few words.  Sometimes

+we find mutual acquaintances, sometimes

+only mutual interests.  Sometimes they

+pass by again, and on occasion we

+become friends.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Then you have not met her?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No&mdash;I have not had that pleasure.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'It <i>is</i> a pleasure,' said the beautiful

+woman very earnestly.  Had she only

+known it, her face was infinitely lovelier

+in grave repose than in most piquante

+<i>bouderie</i>.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I can quite believe it,' replied the

+sailor, with a gallantry which even

+Mrs. Huston could not take as anything more

+than conventional.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'She is my guardian angel!' murmured

+she pathetically.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Her companion smiled slightly, in a

+very unsympathetic way.  His opinion

+of 'guardian angels' was taken from a

+practical and lamentably unpoetical point

+of view.  Having played the part

+himself on several occasions with more or

+less conspicuous success, he inclined to a

+belief that the glory of guardian angelism

+is of a negative description.  There

+are certain people in the world who will

+accept all and any service, and to whom

+the feeling of indebtedness is without a

+hint of shame.  In time they come to

+consider such service as has previously

+and hitherto been rendered them in the

+light of a precedent.  Gradually the

+debt seems to glide from the shoulders

+of the debtor to those of the creditor,

+and having once rendered a service, the

+renderer has simply placed himself under

+an obligation to continue doing so.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When Mrs. Huston, therefore, mentioned

+the fact that her sister was her

+guardian angel, the pathos of the

+observation was somewhat lost upon her hearer;

+who, moreover, was slightly prejudiced

+against Brenda because such guardian

+angels as had crossed his path were of

+a weak and gullible nature.  He never

+made her acquaintance, but the impression

+thus conceived&mdash;though totally

+erroneous&mdash;was never dispelled by such small

+details of her story as came to his

+knowledge in later years.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I hear,' the captain went on to

+explain, in his cheery impersonal way,

+'scraps of family histories here and

+there, and then am rather surprised to

+meet members of these families, or

+persons connected with them.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Huston bravely quelled a desire

+to talk of her own affairs, and smiled

+vaguely.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I have no doubt,' she said with

+mechanical pleasantness, 'that we have

+a great many mutual acquaintances&mdash;if

+we only knew how to hit upon the

+vein.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Of course we have&mdash;the world, and

+especially the Indian world, is very

+small.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I wonder who they are?' murmured

+Mrs. Huston, raising her eyes to her

+companion's face.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Mention a few of your friends,' he

+suggested, looking down into her eyes

+somewhat keenly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No&mdash;you begin!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He changed his position somewhat,

+and stood upright, free from the rail,

+but his glance never left her face.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Theodore Trist!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Instantly she averted her eyes.  For a

+moment she was quite off her guard,

+and her fingers strayed in a nervous,

+aimless way among the pages of her

+open book.  To her pale cheeks the

+warm colour mounted as if a glowing

+ruby reflection had suddenly been cast

+upon the delicate skin.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She expressed no surprise by word or

+gesture, and there was a pause of

+considerable duration before at length she

+spoke.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Where is he now?' she asked in a

+low voice.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The captain stroked his grizzled

+moustache reflectively.  He acted his

+part well, despite her sudden and

+lamentable failure.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Let me think ... He is in Constantinople

+to the best of my knowledge.

+He is engaged in watching Eastern

+affairs.  It seems that Turkey and Russia

+cannot keep their hands off each other's

+throats much longer.  At present there is

+an armistice, but Trist has been through

+the late war between Servia and Turkey.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Do you know him well?' she asked

+at length, after a second pause.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes.  He is a friend of mine.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'A great friend?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I think I may say so.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'He is also a friend of ours&mdash;of my

+sister and myself,' said Mrs. Huston

+calmly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She had quite recovered her equanimity

+by now, and the pink colour had

+left her cheeks.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I have known him,' said the captain

+conversationally, 'for many years now.

+Soon after he made his name he went

+out to the East with me, and we struck

+up a friendship.  He is not a man who

+makes many friends, I imagine.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No,' murmured Mrs. Huston, in a

+voice which implied that the subject

+was not distasteful to her, but she

+preferred her companion to talk while she

+listened.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'But,' continued the sailor, 'those

+who claim him as a friend have an

+unusual privilege.  He is what we

+vaguely call at sea a "good" man&mdash;a

+man upon whom it is safe to place

+reliance in any emergency, under all

+circumstances.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes,' said the lady softly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'He has been doing wonderful work

+out in the East since the beginning of

+the insurrection.  We have a set of men

+out there such as no nation in the world

+could produce except England&mdash;fellows

+who go about with their lives literally in

+their hands, for they're virtually

+unprotected&mdash;men who are soldiers, statesmen,

+critics, writers and explorers all in one.

+They run a soldier's risk without the

+recompense of a soldier's grave.  A

+statesman's craft must be theirs, while

+they are forced to keep two diplomatic

+requirements ever before their eyes.

+England <i>must</i> have news; the army

+authorities (whose word is law) <i>must</i> be

+conciliated.  Travelling by day and night

+alike, never resting for many consecutive

+hours, never laying aside the responsibility

+that is on their shoulders, they are

+expected to write amidst the din of

+battle, on a gun-carriage perhaps, often

+in the saddle, and usually at night when

+the wearied army is asleep; they are

+expected, moreover, to write well, so that

+men sitting by their firesides in London,

+with books of reference at hand, may

+criticise and seek in vain for slip or error.

+They are expected to criticise the stratagem

+of the greatest military heads around

+them without the knowledge possessed

+by the officers who dictate their coming

+and their going, throwing them a piece

+of stale news here and there as they

+would throw a bone to a dog.  All

+this, and more, is done by our

+war-correspondents; and amidst these

+wonderful fellows Theodore Trist stands quite

+alone, immeasurably superior to them all.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The vehement sailor was interrupted

+by the sound of the first dinner-bell, and

+a general stir on deck.  At sea, meal-times

+are hailed with a more visible joy

+than is considered decorous on land, and

+no time is lost in answering the glad

+summons.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Huston rose languidly from her

+seat and moved forward towards the

+spacious saloon staircase.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes,' she answered thoughtfully;

+'Theo must be very clever.  It is difficult

+to realize that one's friends are celebrated,

+is it not?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The captain walked by her side, suiting

+his crisp, firm step to her languid gait,

+which was, nevertheless, very graceful in

+its rhythmic ease.  Her voice was clear,

+gentle, and somewhat indifferent.  On

+her face there was no other expression

+than the customary suggestion of pathetic

+apathy.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I suppose,' she continued in a

+conventional manner, 'that he will not be

+home for some time.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No.  There will be a big war before

+this question is settled, and Trist will be

+in the thick of it.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+With a slight inclination of the head

+she passed away from him and disappeared

+down the saloon stairs.  The captain

+turned away and mounted the little brass

+ladder leading to the bridge with

+sailor-like deliberation.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'And, young woman,' he muttered to

+himself, 'you had better go down to your

+cabin and thank your God on your

+bended knees that Theodore Trist is not

+in England, nor likely to cross your path

+for many months to come.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He looked round him with his habitual

+cheery keenness, and said a few words to

+the second officer who was on duty.

+Could he have seen Theodore Trist

+standing at that moment on the deck of

+a quick despatch-boat, racing through

+the Bosphorus and bound for England,

+he would not, perhaps, have laughed so

+heartily at a very mild joke made by his

+subordinate a few moments later.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'And yet,' he reflected as he made his

+way below in answer to the second

+dinner-bell&mdash;'and yet she does not seem

+to me to be the sort of woman for Trist&mdash;not

+good enough!  Perhaps the gossips

+are wrong after all, and he does not care

+for her!'

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap02"></a></p>

+

+<h3>

+CHAPTER II.

+<br><br>

+SISTERS.

+</h3>

+

+<p>

+More than one idler in Plymouth

+Station, one morning in October, turned

+his head to look again at two women

+walking side by side on the platform near

+to the London train.  One, the taller of

+the two, was exceptionally beautiful, of a

+fair delicate type, with an almost perfect

+figure and a face fit for a model of the

+Madonna, so pure in outline was it, so

+innocent in its meaning.  The younger

+woman was slightly shorter.  She was

+clad in mourning, which contrasted

+somewhat crudely with the brighter

+costume of her companion.  It was

+evident that these two were sisters; they

+walked in the same easy way, and especially

+notable was a certain intrepid carriage

+of the head, which I venture to believe

+is essentially peculiar to high-born

+Englishwomen.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+By the side of her sister, Brenda

+Gilholme might easily pass unnoticed.

+Mrs. Huston was, in the usual sense of

+the word, a beautiful woman, and such

+women live in an atmosphere of

+notoriety.  Wherever they go they are

+worshipped at a distance by those beneath

+them in station, patronized by those

+above them, respected by their equals,

+because, forsooth, face and form are

+moulded with delicacy and precision.

+The mind of such a woman is of little

+importance; the person is pleasing, and

+more is not demanded.  Only her husband

+will some day awaken to the fact

+that worship from a distance might have

+been more satisfactory.  The effect of

+personal beauty is a lamentable factor

+which cannot be denied.  All men, good

+and bad alike, come under its influence.

+A lovely woman can twist most of us

+round her dainty finger with a wanton

+disregard for the powers of intellect or

+physical energy.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda was not beautiful; she was

+only pretty, with a dainty refinement of

+heart which was visible in her delicate

+face.  But her prettiness was in no way

+tainted with weakness, as was her sister's

+beauty.  She was strong and thoughtful,

+with a true woman's faculty for hiding

+these unwelcome qualities from the eyes

+of inferior men.  She had grown up in

+the shadow of this beautiful sister, and

+men had not cared to seek for intellect

+where they saw only a reflected beauty.

+She had passed through a social notoriety,

+but eager eyes had only glanced at her

+in passing.  She had merely been Alice

+Gilholme's sister, and now&mdash;here on

+Plymouth platform&mdash;Alice Huston was

+assuming her old superiority.  My

+brothers, think of this!  It must have

+been a wondrous love that overcame

+such drawbacks, that passed by with

+tolerance a thousand daily slights.  And

+Brenda's love for her sister accomplished

+all this.  Ah, and more!  In the days

+that followed there was a greater wrong&mdash;a

+wrong which only blind selfishness

+could have inflicted&mdash;and this also Brenda

+Gilholme forgave.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The sisters had met on the steamboat

+landing a few moments previously.  A

+rattling drive through the town had

+followed, and now they were able to

+speak together alone for the first time.

+There had been no display of emotion.

+The beautiful lips had met lightly, the

+well-gloved fingers had clasped each

+other with no nervous hysterical fervour,

+and now it would seem that they had

+parted but a week ago.  Emotion is

+tabooed in the school through which

+these two had passed&mdash;the school of

+nineteenth-century society&mdash;and, indeed,

+we appear to get along remarkably well

+without it.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'My dear,' Mrs. Huston was saying,

+'he will be home by the next boat if he

+can raise the money.  We cannot count

+on more than a week's start.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'And,' inquired Brenda, 'can he raise

+the money?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Oh yes!  If he can get as far as the

+steamboat office without spending it.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda looked at her sister in a curious way.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Spending it on what ... Alice?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'On&mdash;drink!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Huston was not the woman to

+conceal any of her own grievances from

+quixotically unselfish motives.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda thought for some moments

+before replying.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Then,' she said at length, with some

+determination, 'we must make sure of

+our start, if, that is, you are still

+determined to leave him.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Huston was looking down at her

+sister's neat black dress, about which

+there was a subtle air of refined luxury,

+which seems natural to some women,

+and part of their being.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes, yes, I suppose we must.  By

+the way, dear, you are in mourning

+... for whom?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'For Admiral Wylie,' replied Brenda

+patiently.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'But it is two months&mdash;is it not?&mdash;since

+his death, and he was no relation.

+I think it is unnecessary.  Black is

+so melancholy, though it suits your

+figure.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I am living with Mrs. Wylie,' Brenda

+explained with unconscious irony.  'Are

+you still determined that you cannot live

+with your husband, Alice?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'My dear, he is a brute!  I am not

+an impulsive person, but I think that if

+he should catch me again, it is very

+probable that I should do something

+desperate&mdash;kill myself, or something of

+that sort.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I do not think,' observed Brenda

+serenely, 'that you would ever kill yourself.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The beautiful woman laughed in an

+easy, lightsome way, which was one of

+her many social gifts.  It was such a

+pleasantly infectious laugh, so utterly

+light-hearted, and so ready in its vocation

+of filling up awkward pauses.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No, perhaps not.  But in the meantime,

+what is to become of me?  Will

+Mrs. Wylie take me in for a day or two,

+or shall we seek lodgings?  I have some

+money, enough to last a month or so;

+but I must have two new dresses.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Mrs. Wylie has kindly said that you

+can stay as long as you like.  But, Alice,

+it would never do to stay in London.

+You must get away to some small place

+on the sea-coast, or somewhere where

+you will not be utterly bored, and keep

+in hiding until he comes home, and I

+can find out what he intends to do.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'My dear, I shall be utterly bored

+anywhere except in London.  But

+Brenda, tell me ... you have got into

+a habit of talking exactly like Theo Trist!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda met her sister's eyes with a

+bright smile.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'How funny!' she exclaimed.  'I

+have not noticed it.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No, of course; you&mdash;would not

+notice it.  When will he be home?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The girl stopped and looked critically

+at an advertisement suspended on the wall

+near at hand.  It was a huge representation

+of a coloured gentleman upon his

+native shore, making merry over a

+complicated pair of braces.  She had never

+seen the work of art before, and for some

+unknown reason in the months&mdash;ay, and

+in the years that followed&mdash;her dislike for

+it was almost nauseating in its intensity.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I don't know,' she replied indifferently.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'We,' continued Mrs. Huston, following

+out her own train of thought, 'are

+so helpless.  We want a man to stand

+by us.  Of course papa is of no use.  I

+suppose he is spouting somewhere about

+the country.  He generally is.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No,' replied Brenda, with a wonderful

+tolerance.  'We cannot count on

+him.  He is in Ireland.  I had a postcard

+from him the other day.  He said

+that I was not to be surprised or shocked

+to hear that he was in prison.  He is

+trying to get himself arrested.  It is, he

+says, all part of the campaign.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Again Mrs. Huston's pretty laughter

+made things pleasant and sociable.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I wonder what that means,' she

+exclaimed, smoothing a wrinkle out of

+the front of her jacket for the benefit of

+a military-looking man, with a cigar in

+his mouth, who stared offensively as he passed.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda shrugged her shoulders slightly,

+and said nothing.  She did not appear to

+attach a very great importance to her

+father's political movements, in which

+culpable neglect she was abetted by the

+whole of England.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'What we require,' continued Mrs. Huston,

+'is an energetic man with brains.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I am afraid that energetic men with

+brains have in most cases their own

+affairs to look after.  It is only the

+idle ones with tongues who have time

+to devote to other people's business.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'The "brute," my dear, is clever; we

+must remember that.  And he is terribly

+obstinate.  There is a sort of stubborn

+bloodhoundism about him which makes

+me shiver when I think that he is even

+now after me, in all probability.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'We must be cool and cunning, and

+brave to fight against him,' said Brenda

+practically.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At this moment the guard came

+forward, and held the door of their

+compartment invitingly open.  They

+got in, and found themselves alone.

+They were barely seated, opposite to

+each other, when the train glided

+smoothly away.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda sat a little forward, with her

+gloved hand resting on the window,

+which had been lowered by the guard.

+They were seated on the landward side

+of the train, and as she looked out her

+eyes rested on the rising hills to the

+north with a vague, unseeing gaze.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+A slight movement made by Mrs. Huston

+caused her at length to look

+across, and the two sisters sat for a

+second searching each other's eyes for

+the old heartwhole frankness which

+never seems to survive the death of

+childhood and the birth of separate

+interests in life.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Theo,' said the elder woman significantly

+at last, 'is brave and cool and

+cunning, Brenda.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The girl made an effort, but the old

+childish confidence was dead.  From

+Theo Trist, the disciple of stoicism, she

+had perhaps learnt something of a creed

+which, if a mistaken one, renders its

+followers of great value in the world, for they

+never intrude their own private feelings

+upon public attention.  That effort was

+the last.  It was a beginning in itself&mdash;the

+first stone of a wall destined to rise

+between the two sisters, built by the

+gray hands of Time.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'But,' suggested Brenda, 'Theo is in Bulgaria.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Huston smiled with all the

+conscious power of a woman who,

+without being actually vain, knows the

+market value and the moral weight of

+her beauty.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Suppose I telegraphed to him that I

+wanted him to come to me at once.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda fixed her eyes upon her sister's

+face.  For a second her dainty lip

+quivered.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'You must not do that,' she said, in

+such a tone of invincible opposition

+that her sister changed colour, and

+looked somewhat hastily in another

+direction.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I suppose,' murmured the elder

+woman after a short silence, 'that it is

+quite impossible to find out when he

+may return?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Quite impossible.  This "Eastern

+Question," as it is called, is so

+complicated that I have given up trying to

+follow it&mdash;besides, I do not see what

+Theo has to do with the matter.  We

+must act alone, Alice.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'But women are so helpless.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda smiled in a slightly ironical

+way.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Why should they be?' she asked

+practically.  'I am not afraid of Captain

+Huston.  He is a gentleman, at all

+events.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'He <i>was</i>!' put in his wife bitterly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'And I suppose there is something

+left of his former self?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Not very much, my dear.  At least,

+that phase of his present condition has

+been religiously hidden from my

+affectionate gaze.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda drew her gloves pensively up

+her slim wrists, smoothing out the

+wrinkles in the black kid.  There was

+in her demeanour an air of capable

+attention, something between that accorded

+by a general to his aide-de-camp on the

+field of battle, and the keen watchfulness

+of a physician while his patient speaks.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Theo,' she said conversationally,

+'would be a great comfort to us.  He

+is so steadfast and so entirely reliable.

+But we must do without him.  We will

+manage somehow.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I am horribly afraid, Brenda.  It has

+just come to me; I have never felt it

+before.  You seem to take it so seriously,

+and ... and I expected to find Theo

+at home.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Theo is one of the energetic men

+with brains who have their own affairs

+to attend to,' said Brenda, in her cheery

+way.  'We are not his affairs; besides,

+as I mentioned before, he is in Bulgaria&mdash;in

+his element, in the midst of confusion,

+insurrection, war.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'But,' repeated Mrs. Huston, with

+aggravating unconsciousness of the

+obvious vanity of her words, 'suppose I

+telegraphed for him?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda laughed, and shook her head.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I have a melancholy presentiment

+that if you telegraphed for him he

+would not come.  There is a vulgar but

+weighty proverb about making one's

+own bed, which he might recommend

+to our notice.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Then Theo must have changed!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda raised her round blue eyes,

+and glanced sideways out of the window.

+She was playing idly with the strap of

+the sash, tapping the back of her hand

+with it.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Theo,' she observed indifferently, 'is

+the incarnation of steadfastness.  He

+has not changed in any perceptible way.

+But he is, before all else, a

+war-correspondent.  I cannot imagine that

+anyone should possess the power of

+dragging him away from the seat of war.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Huston smiled vaguely for her

+own satisfaction.  Her imagination was

+apparently capable of greater things.  It

+was rather to be deplored that, when she

+smiled, the expression of her beautiful

+face was what might (by a true friend

+behind her back) be called a trifle

+vacuous.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'He wrote,' continued the younger

+sister, 'a very good article the other day,

+which came just within the limits of my

+understanding.  It was upon the dangers

+of alliance; and he showed that an ally

+who, in any one way, might at some

+time prove disadvantageous, is better

+avoided from the very first.  It was

+<i>àpropos</i> of the Turkish-Christian

+subjects welcoming a Russian invasion.  It

+seems to me, Alice, that our position is

+rather within the reach of that argument.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Being a soldier's wife, I do not know

+much about military matters; but it

+seems to me that a retreat should be

+safely covered at all costs.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Not at <i>all</i> costs,' said Brenda

+significantly.  Her colour had changed, and

+there was a wave of pink slowly mounting

+over her throat.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Huston smiled serenely, and

+shrugged her shoulders.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I do not see,' she expostulated

+frankly, 'what harm there can be in

+calling in the aid of an old friend.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I would rather work alone!' was

+Brenda's soft reply.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+And in those two casual remarks there

+lay hidden from the gaze of blinder

+mortals the story of two lives.

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap03"></a></p>

+

+<h3>

+CHAPTER III.

+<br><br>

+ALICE RETURNS.

+</h3>

+

+<p>

+In her pleasant room on the second-floor

+of Suffolk Mansions, Mrs. Wylie awaited

+the arrival of the two sisters.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+From without there came a suggestion

+of bustling life in the continuous hum of

+wheel-traffic and an occasional cry, not

+unmelodious, from enterprising

+news-vendors.  Within, everything spoke of

+peaceful, pleasant comfort.  There was

+a large table in the centre of the room

+literally covered with periodical and

+permanent literature&mdash;a pleasant table to

+sit by, for there was invariably something

+of interest lying upon it, a safe

+stimulant to conversation.  The dullest and

+shyest man could always find something

+to say to the ready listener who sat in a

+low cane-chair just beyond the table,

+near the fire, with her back to the

+window.  There were many strange

+ornaments about, and a number of

+curiosities such as women rarely purchase

+in foreign lands; also sundry small

+impedimenta suggestive of things nautical.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Withal there was in the very atmosphere

+a sense of womanliness.  The

+subtle odours emanating from wooden

+constructions, conceived and executed by

+dusky strangers, were overpowered by

+the healthier and livelier smell of flowers.

+Heliotrope nestled modestly in low vases

+from Venice.  There was also mignonette,

+and on the mantelpiece a great

+snowy bunch of Japanese anemones

+thrust into a bronze vase from that same

+distant land, all looking, as it were, in

+different directions, each carrying its

+graceful head in a different way, no two

+alike, and yet all lovely, as only God can

+make things.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I cannot explain in what lay the charm

+of Mrs. Wylie's drawing-room, though

+it must have emanated from the lady

+herself.  There is no room like it that I

+know of, where both men and women

+experience a sudden feeling of homeliness,

+an entire sense of refined ease.  The

+surroundings were not too fragile for the

+touch of a man, and yet there was in

+them that subtle influence of grace and

+daintiness which appeals to the more

+delicate fibres of a woman's soul, and

+makes her recognise her own element.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The widowed lady herself was little

+changed since we last met her in the Far

+North.  But those who knew her well

+were cognizant of the fact that the outward

+signs of late bereavement so gracefully

+worn were no cynical demonstration

+of a conventional grief.  The white-haired

+old man sleeping among the

+nameless sons of an Arctic land was as

+truly mourned by this cheerful Englishwoman

+as ever husband could desire.

+There was perhaps a smaller show of

+cultivated grief, such as the world loves

+to contemplate, than was strictly in

+keeping with her widow's cap.  No lowered

+tones pulled up a harmless burst of

+hilarity.  No smothered sighs were

+emitted at inappropriate times in order

+to impress upon a world, already full

+enough of sorrow, the presence of an

+abiding woe.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+But Brenda Gilholme knew that the

+cure was incomplete.  She had carried

+through, to the end, the task left her by

+Theo Trist.  The <i>Hermione</i> lay snugly

+anchored by the oozy banks of a Suffolk

+river, and Mrs. Wylie was, so to speak,

+herself again&mdash;that is to say, she was

+once more a woman full of ready sympathy,

+gay with the gay, sorrowing with

+the afflicted.  If Brenda in her analytical

+way saw and acknowledged the presence

+of a difference, it was perhaps nothing

+more than an overstrained feminine

+susceptibility.  At all events, the general

+world opined that Mrs. Wylie was as

+jolly as ever.  Moreover, they insinuated

+in a good-natured manner that the

+Admiral was, after all, many years her

+senior, and that she in all human

+probability had some considerable span of

+existence to get through yet, which he

+could not have shared owing to advance

+of infirmity.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+One admirable characteristic had

+survived, however, this change in her life.

+The cheery independence of this lady

+was untouched by the hand of sorrow.

+It was her creed that at all costs a smile

+should be ready for the world.  Regardless

+of criticism, she trod her own path

+through a hypercritical generation; and

+by seeking to cast the light of a brave

+hopefulness upon it, she illuminated the

+road on which her near contemporaries

+held their way.  One great secret of her

+method was industry.  In her gentle

+womanliness she sought work, not afar,

+but in her own field, and found it as

+all women can find work if they seek

+truly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Even while she was awaiting the

+arrival of the sisters, she was not idle.

+On her lap there lay a huge scrap-book,

+and with scissors and paste she was busy

+collecting and arranging in due order

+sundry newspaper cuttings.  That scrap-book

+will in after-years be historical, for

+it contained every word ever printed from

+the handwriting of Theodore Trist up to

+the date of the day when Mrs. Wylie

+sat alone in her drawing-room.  From

+its pages more than one book on the art

+of making war has since been compiled,

+and from those printed words more than

+one general of many nationalities would

+confess to having learnt something.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The lady's quick ear detected the sound

+of a cab suddenly stopping, and when a

+bell rang a few moments later she laid

+aside her scissors and rose from her seat

+with no sign of surprise.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I wonder,' she said, 'of what tragedy

+or comedy this may be the beginning.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There was a certain matronly grace

+in her movements as she opened the

+door and drew Brenda Gilholme to her arms.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Alice has come with me!' said the girl.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes, dear,' replied Mrs. Wylie, and

+she proceeded to greet the taller sister

+with a kiss also, but of somewhat less warmth.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Then the three ladies passed into the

+drawing-room together.  There was a

+momentary pause, during which Mrs. Huston

+mechanically loosened the strings

+of her smart little bonnet and looked

+round the room appreciatively.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'How perfectly delicious,' she

+exclaimed, 'it is to see a comfortable

+English drawing-room again!  I almost

+kissed the maid who opened the door;

+she was such a pleasant contrast to

+sneaking Cingalese servants.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie smiled sympathetically,

+but became grave again instantaneously.

+Her eyes rested for a second on Brenda's

+face.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Alice,' explained Brenda, coming

+forward to the fireplace and raising one

+neatly shod foot to the fender, 'does not

+give a very glowing account of Ceylon.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Nor,' added Mrs. Huston with light

+pathos, 'of the blessed state of matrimony.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie drew forward a chair.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Sit down,' she said hospitably, 'and

+warm yourselves.  We will have some

+tea before you take your things off.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'And now Alice,' she resumed, after

+seating herself in the softly lined cane

+chair near the literary table, 'tell me all

+... you wish to tell me.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Oh,' replied the beautiful woman,

+removing her gloves daintily, 'there is

+not much to tell.  Moreover, the story

+has not the merit even of novelty.  The

+raw material is lamentably commonplace,

+and I am afraid I cannot make a

+very interesting thing of it.  Wretched

+climate, horribly dull station, thirsty

+husband.  <i>Voilà tout!</i>'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'To which, however,' suggested Mrs. Wylie

+with a peculiar intonation, 'might

+perhaps be added military society and

+Indian habits.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The younger woman shrugged her

+shoulders and laughed.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Oh no!' she exclaimed irresponsibly.

+'But all that is a question of the past,

+and the present is important enough to

+require some attention.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She extended her feet to the warmth

+of the fire, and contemplated her small

+boots with some satisfaction.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes...?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I have bolted,' she said, replying to

+the inferred query, 'and he is in all

+probability after me.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie turned aside the screen

+which she was holding between her face

+and the fire.  Her intelligent eyes rested

+for a moment on the speaker's face, then

+she transferred her attention to Brenda,

+who stood near the mantelpiece with

+her two gloved hands resting on the

+marble.  The girl was gazing down

+between her extended arms into the fire,

+and a warm glow nestled rosily round

+her face.  The eyes were too sad for their

+years.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I am very sorry to hear it,' said the

+widow with conviction.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'There was no alternative.  I could

+not stand it any longer.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'How did you manage it?' asked Mrs. Wylie

+quietly, almost too quietly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Oh, I got rid of some jewellery, and

+there was a Captain Markynter who was

+kind enough to get my ticket and see

+me off!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+A peculiar silence followed this cool

+remark.  Mrs. Wylie sat quite still,

+holding the palm screen before her face.

+Brenda stood motionless as a statue.

+Mrs. Huston curved her white wrist, and

+looked compassionately at a small red

+mark made by the button of her glove.

+At length the uneasy pause was broken.

+Without moving, Brenda spoke in a

+cool, clear voice, almost monotonous.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Alice,' she explained, 'is a great

+advocate for masculine assistance.  She

+considers us totally incapable of managing

+our own affairs, and powerless to act for

+ourselves.  She has been regretting all

+day that Theo should be away, and

+consequently beyond our call.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Huston laughed somewhat

+forcedly, and drew in her feet.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'It is like this,' she explained.  'If

+my husband catches me I think I shall

+probably kill myself!  Theo is so strong

+and reliable, and somehow ... so

+<i>capable</i>, that I naturally thought of him

+in my emergency.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Naturally,' echoed Mrs. Wylie mechanically.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At that moment she was not thinking

+whether her monosyllabic remark was

+cruelly sarcastic or simply silly.  Her

+whole mind was devoted to the study of

+Brenda's face, upon which the firelight

+glowed; but in the proud young features

+there was nothing legible&mdash;nothing

+beyond a somewhat anxious thoughtfulness.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I think,' continued Mrs. Huston,

+'that we may count on a week's start.

+My affectionate husband cannot be here

+before then.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+To this neither lady made reply.  The

+servant came in, and in a few moments

+tea was served.  Brenda presided over

+the little basket table, and prepared each

+cup with a foreknowledge of the several

+tastes.  During this there was no word

+spoken.  From the nonchalance of the

+ladies' manner one might easily have

+imagined that the younger couple had

+just come in from a long day's shopping.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Have you,' asked the widow at

+length, as she stirred her tea placidly,

+'thought of what you are doing?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Oh yes!' was the laughing rejoinder,

+in which, however, there was no mirth.

+'Oh yes!  I have thought, and thought,

+and thought, until the subject was

+thrashed out dry.  There was nothing

+else to do but think, and read

+yellow-backed novels, all the voyage home.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Then,' murmured the widow, with

+gentle interrogation, 'this Captain

+Parminter did not come home with you?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Huston changed colour, and her

+lips moved slightly.  She glanced

+towards Mrs. Wylie beneath her dark

+lashes, and answered with infinite

+self-possession:

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No!  And his name is Markynter.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The palm-leaf did not move.  Presently,

+however, Mrs. Wylie laid it

+aside, and asked for some more tea.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Well,' she said cheerily, 'I suppose

+we must make the best of a very bad

+bargain.  What do you propose to do next?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In the most natural and confiding

+way imaginable, Mrs. Huston looked up

+towards her sister, who was still standing.

+There was an almost imperceptible

+shrug of her shoulders.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Brenda,' she answered, 'says that I

+must run away and hide in some small

+village, which is not exactly a cheerful

+prospect.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'It would hardly do,' said Brenda, as

+if in defence of her own theory, 'to go

+down to Brighton and stay at the

+Bedford Hotel, for instance.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'If,' added Mrs. Wylie in the same

+tone, 'you really want to avoid your

+husband, you must certainly hide; but

+I do not see what you can gain by such

+a proceeding.  It can never be permanent,

+and you will soon get tired of

+chasing each other round England.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Perhaps he will get tired of it first.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'If he does, what will your position

+be?  Somewhat ambiguous, I imagine.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'It cannot be worse than it is at present.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Oh yes,' replied the widow calmly.  'It can!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She set her empty cup on the tray,

+and sat with her two hands clasped

+together on her lap.  She had not come

+through fifty years of life, this placid

+lady, without learning something of the

+world's ways, and she recognised instantly

+what Alice Huston's position was.  It

+was the old story which is told every

+day in all parts of the world, more

+especially, perhaps, in India&mdash;the

+wearisome tale of a mistaken marriage

+between a man of small intellect and a

+woman of less.  If both husband and

+wife be busy, the one with his bread-winning,

+the other with her babies, such

+unions may be a near approach to animal

+happiness&mdash;no more can be hoped for.

+The very instincts of it are animal, and

+as such it is safe.  But if one or both

+be idle, the result is simply 'hell.'  No

+other expression can come near it.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Captain Huston's military duties were

+not such as occupied more than a few

+hours of the week, and during the rest

+of his existence he was actively idle.

+His mind was fallow; he was totally

+without resource, without occupation,

+without interest.  There is no man on

+earth to beat the ordinary British

+military officer in downright futile

+idleness.  The Spanish Custom-house

+official runs a close race with the Italian

+inn-keeper in this matter, but both

+enjoy their laziness, and are never bored.

+When our commissioned defender is

+naturally of an idle turn of mind, he

+is intensely bored; his existence is one

+long yawn, and the faculty of enjoyment

+dies a natural death within his soul.  I

+can think of no more despicable sample

+of humanity than a man who cannot

+find himself something to do under all

+circumstances, and in all places; and

+surely no one can blame his Satanic

+majesty for a proverbial readiness to

+supply the deficiency from his own

+store of easy tasks.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+If Alice Gilholme had searched through

+the entire army-list, she could scarcely

+have found a man less suitable to be her

+husband than Captain Huston.  Petty,

+short-sighted jealousy on his part, vapid

+coquetry on hers, soon led to the

+inevitable end, and the result was thrown

+upon the hands of Brenda and Mrs. Wylie

+with easy nonchalance by the

+spoilt child of society.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It was no sudden disillusionment for

+Brenda, but merely one more wretched

+curtain torn aside to display the hideous

+reality of human existence and human

+selfishness.  No thought of complaint

+entered the girl's head.  With a pathetic

+silence she simply applied herself to the

+task set before her, with no great hope

+of reaching a satisfactory solution.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Before the three ladies had spoken

+further upon the subject chiefly occupying

+their thoughts, the drawing-room

+door was thrown open, and with studied

+grace William Hicks crossed the threshold.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The hat that he carried daintily in

+his left hand was not quite the same in

+contour as those worn by his contemporaries.

+To ensure this peculiarity, the

+artist was forced to send to Paris for his

+head-gear, where he paid a higher price

+and received an inferior article.  But

+the distinction conferred by a unique hat

+is practically immeasurable and without

+price.  Mr. Hicks' gloves were also out

+of the common; likewise his strangely-cut

+coat and misshapen continuations.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The <i>tout ensemble</i> was undoubtedly

+pleasing.  It must have been so, because

+he was obviously satisfied, and the

+artistic eye is the acknowledged

+arbitrator in matters of outward adornment,

+whether it be of mantelshelves or

+human forms divine.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The three ladies turned to greet him

+with that ready feminine smile which is

+ever there to lubricate matters when the

+social wheel may squeak or grate.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Oh, bother!' whispered Brenda to

+herself, as she held out her hand.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'What?' exclaimed Hicks, with

+languid surprise and visibly deep

+pleasure.  'Mrs. Huston!  I am delighted.

+When I left my studio and plunged into

+all this mist and gloom this afternoon, I

+never thought that both would be

+dispelled so suddenly.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Is it dispelled?' asked Mrs. Huston,

+glancing playfully towards the window.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'In here it is.  But then,' he added, as

+he shook hands with Mrs. Wylie, 'there

+is never any mist or gloom in this room.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+With a pleasant laugh, as if deprecating

+his own folly, he turned to greet

+Brenda, who had stood near the mantelpiece

+with her gloved hand extended.

+Then his manner changed.  Moreover,

+it was a distinctly advantageous

+alteration.  One would have imagined, from

+the expression of his handsome but

+thoroughly weak face, that if there was

+anybody on earth whom he respected

+and admired, almost as much as he

+respected and admired William Hicks,

+that person was Brenda.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+For her he had no neatly-turned

+pleasantry&mdash;no easy, infectious laugh.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I did not know you were coming

+home, Mrs. Huston,' he said, turning

+again to that lady.  Then his social

+training enabled him to detect unerringly

+that he might be on a dangerous trail,

+and with ready skill he turned aside.

+'This is not the best time of year,' he

+continued, 'to return to your native

+shores.  Personally I am rather disgusted

+with the shore in question, but we must

+surely hope for some more sunshine

+before we finally bid farewell to the orb

+of day for the winter.  We poor artists

+are the chief sufferers, I am sure.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'At all events,' put in Mrs. Wylie

+easily, 'you take it upon yourselves to

+grumble most.  There is always

+something to displease you&mdash;the want of

+daylight, the scarcity of buyers, or the

+hopeless stupidity of the hanging-committee.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I think I confine my observations to

+the weather,' murmured Hicks, gazing

+sadly into the fire, towards which bourne

+Brenda's glance was also apparently

+directed, for she presently pressed the

+glowing coals down with the sole of her

+dainty boot, and quite lost the studied

+poesy of the artist's expression.  'I am,

+I think,' he continued humbly, 'independent

+of buyers and hanging-committees.

+I do not exhibit at Burlington

+House, and you know I never sell.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Indeed,' said Mrs. Huston, with

+slight interest, for the elder lady had

+turned away and was busy with her

+second cup of tea, which was almost

+cold.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No,' answered Hicks, with the

+eagerness that comes to egotistical

+talkers when they are sure of a new

+listener.  'No.  I don't care to enter

+into competition with men who depend

+more upon conventional training than

+natural talent.  The Royal Academy is

+only a human institution, and, perhaps,

+it is only natural that their own students

+should be favoured before all others.

+I am not an Academy student, you know!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Huston contented herself with

+no more compromising affirmative than

+a gracious inclination of the head.  It is

+just possible that, fresh from Ceylon,

+and consequently deplorably ignorant of

+artistic affairs as she was, the knowledge

+that William Hicks was not an Academy

+student had been denied her.  This most

+lamentable fact, however, if it existed,

+she concealed with all the cleverness of

+her sex, and Hicks came to the

+conclusion, later on, that she must have

+known.  He could not conceive it possible

+that a woman moving in intelligent

+circles, although in the outer rims

+thereof, and far from the living centre of

+Kensington, could be unaware of such

+an important item in his own personal

+history; this being no mean part of

+the artistic history of the nineteenth

+century.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Enveloped as he was, however, in

+conceit, he had the good taste to perceive

+that his bewildering presence was on this

+particular occasion liable to be considered

+bliss of an alloyed description, and in a

+short time he took his leave.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+As he was moving round and saying

+good-bye, Mrs. Huston returned to the

+artistic question, from which they had

+never strayed very far.  Indeed, art was

+somewhat apt to become a nauseating

+subject of conversation wherever William

+Hicks was allowed to influence matters

+to any extent.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'You have never sent pictures to the

+Academy, then?' she asked innocently.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Oh no!' he answered with mild

+horror.  'Good-bye, so glad to see you

+home again.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+And then he vanished.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie watched his retreating

+figure with a pleasant and sociable

+expression on her intelligent face.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'That,' she was reflecting, 'is a

+lie!'  She happened to know that Hicks had

+been refused a place on the walls of

+Burlington House.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+If I were a ghost, or if I ever come

+to be one, I shall not take up the old,

+time-worn craft of frightening people

+during the stilly hours.  Instead of such

+uninteresting work, I shall make a

+collection in a phantom pocket-book of

+asides and murmured reflections.  From

+such, an interesting study of earthly

+existence, and more particularly of social

+life, might well be made.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+On those phantom pages might, for

+instance, be inscribed the reflections of

+William Hicks as he made his way down

+the broad staircase of Suffolk Mansions.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Whew!' was their tenor; 'ran right

+into it.  She's left him; I could see that.

+Seems to me she's on the verge of a

+catastrophe&mdash;divorce or separation, or

+something like that.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In the drawing-room Mrs. Wylie was

+saying reflectively to either or both of

+her companions:

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'This is the beginning of it.  That

+man will tell everyone he meets before

+going to bed to-night that you are home.

+He did not ask where your husband was,

+which shows that he wanted to know;

+consequently he will wonder over it, and

+will take care to tell everyone what he

+is wondering about.'

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap04"></a></p>

+

+<h3>

+CHAPTER IV.

+<br><br>

+TO THE FRONT.

+</h3>

+

+<p>

+A week later Brenda was sitting in the

+same apartment again.  But this time

+she was alone.  From pure kindness of

+heart Mrs. Wylie had managed to allow

+the girl an afternoon's leisure, and Brenda

+was spending this very happily amidst

+her books and magazines.  She was, in

+her way, a literary person, this brilliant

+young scholar; but, belonging to a

+universal age, universality was also hers.

+With the literary she could show herself

+well-read; with the purely pleasure-seeking

+she could also find sympathy.  In these

+times of mixed circles, men and women

+must needs be able to talk upon many

+subjects, whether they know aught about

+them or nothing.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda Gilholme was not, however, a

+brilliant talker.  She could have written

+well had she been moved thereto by that

+restless spirit which makes some people

+look upon existence as a blank without

+pens and paper.  But as yet she was

+content to read, and her young mind

+thirsted for the grasp of other folks'

+thoughts as a fisherman's fingers itch for

+the rod.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+During the last week Alice Huston's

+presence in Mrs. Wylie's household had

+not been an unmixed success.  There

+was a slight and almost imperceptible

+impatience in the widow's manner,

+in the inflection of her pleasant voice,

+in her very glance when her eyes rested

+upon her guest's gracious form.

+Gradually the story had come out, and

+some details were related with unguarded

+carelessness, resulting in the conclusion,

+as far as Mrs. Wylie and Brenda were

+concerned, that Captain Huston might

+also have a story to tell, differing in tone

+and purport from that related by his

+wronged spouse.  Her case against her

+husband was not very clear, and in her

+relation of it there was in some vague

+way a sense of suppression and easy

+adaptation both pointing to the same

+end.  If Brenda felt this and drew her

+own conclusions from it, she allowed no

+sign of such conclusions to appear, but

+accepted the situation without comment.

+The natural result of this unfeminine

+behaviour was a wane of confidence

+between the sisters.  It is easy enough,

+even for the most reticent person, to

+make known to some chosen familiar

+certain details hitherto suppressed when

+once the subject is broached; but to

+continue confiding in a bosom friend

+who accepts all statements without surprise,

+horror or sympathy is a different

+matter.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda's manner of listening was

+neither forbidding nor indifferent.  It

+was merely unenthusiastic, and its chief

+characteristic was a certain measured

+attention, as if the details were imprinting

+themselves indelibly upon a prepared

+mental surface, where they might well

+remain intact and legible for many years.

+Mrs. Wylie, glancing at the two sisters

+over her book, or her palm-leaf screen,

+conceived a strange thought.  She

+imagined that she detected in Brenda's

+manner and demeanour a certain subtle

+resemblance to the manner and demeanour

+of one who was far away, and

+whose influence upon the girl's life could

+not well have been very great, namely,

+Theodore Trist.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When the war-correspondent was not

+on active service, he lived in London,

+and, as was only natural to one of his

+calling, moved in such intervals in a

+circle of men and women influential in

+the political world.  He was a reticent

+speaker, but an excellent listener, and

+Mrs. Wylie, as the wife of an active

+naval politician, had many opportunities

+of watching in her placid way this strange

+young man among his fellows.  Theodore

+Trist's chief fault was, in her eyes,

+a lack of enthusiasm.  He waited too

+patiently on the course of events, and

+moved too guardedly when he moved at

+all.  It was a very womanly view of a

+man's conduct, and one held, I think, by

+nineteen out of twenty mothers who

+have brought brilliant sons into the world.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+These characteristics the widow now

+began to see developing subtly in the

+soul of Brenda Gilholme, and a keen

+study of the girl during this trying time

+only confirmed her suspicions.  She

+began to feel nervously sure that the

+companionship of Mrs. Huston was bad

+for her, and with this knowledge to urge

+her she calmly forced her way in between

+the two sisters.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+If Brenda lacked enthusiasm (which

+failure is characteristic of this calculating

+and practical generation), she atoned for

+the want by a wondrous steadfastness.

+By word, and deed, and silence, she

+demonstrated continuously her intention

+to stand by her sister and do for her all

+that lay in her power.  In this spirit of

+dumb devotion Mrs. Wylie was pleased

+to see a suggestion of Theo Trist's

+soldierly obedience to the call of duty in

+which there was no question of personal

+inclination.  She may have been right.

+Women see deeper into these subtle

+human influences than men.  There are

+many small powers at work in every-day

+life, guiding our social barque,

+withholding us or urging us on, dictating,

+commanding, approving, or disapproving;

+and the motive of these is woman's will.

+The eye that guides is a woman's heart;

+the brake that checks is a woman's

+instinct.  Mrs. Wylie was probably,

+therefore, quite right in her supposition;

+for it is such men as Theo Trist who

+leave the impress of their individuality

+upon those who come in contact with

+them&mdash;men who speak little and listen

+well, who think deeply and never speak

+of their thoughts.  It is not your

+talkative man with a theory for every

+emergency, with a most wonderful and

+universal knowledge, who rules the world.

+The influence of these is comparatively

+small.  Their experience is too vast to be

+personal, and thus loses weight.  Their

+theories are too indefinite, too sweeping,

+and too general for practical application

+to human affairs, which are things not to

+be generally treated at all.  We are a

+sheepish generation.  Our thoughts are

+held in common; we theorize in crowds

+and hold principles in a multitude, but

+God's grand individuality is not dead

+yet.  It lives somewhere in our hearts,

+and at strange odd moments we still act

+unaccountably, according to the dictates

+of that enfeebled organ.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There is a subtle difference between

+the male and female intellects respecting

+anxiety.  Most women can conceal it

+better than their brothers and husbands

+when the necessity for concealment arises,

+but they suffer no less on that account.

+In fact, the weight of it is greater and

+more wearing, because in solitude they

+brood over it more than men.  They

+have not the same power of laying it

+aside and taking up a book or occupation

+with the deliberate intention of courting

+absorption, as possessed by us.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda was apparently immersed in

+the pages of an intellectual monthly

+review, but at times her sweet innocent

+eyes wandered from the lines and rested

+meditatively on the glowing fire.  The

+girl was restless.  She moved each time

+she turned a page, glancing sometimes

+at the small clock on the mantelpiece,

+sometimes towards the window, whence

+an ever-waning light fell gloomily upon her.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There was in her soul a vague sense of

+discomfort, which was as near an approach

+to imaginative anxiety as her strong

+nature could compass; and to this she

+was gradually giving way.  Her interest

+in the magazine upon her lap had never

+been else than perfunctory, and now she

+could not take in the meaning of the

+carefully rounded and somewhat affected

+phrases.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Alice Huston had been a week in

+Mrs. Wylie's chambers, and there was

+no positive reason now to suppose that

+her husband was not in London.  But

+the beautiful woman possessed little sense

+of responsibility, and none of consideration

+for others.  She simply refused to leave

+town until the following Monday,

+because, she argued, the sound of wheels,

+the gay whirl of life, was so intensely

+refreshing to her.  Mrs. Wylie would

+scarcely interfere, because she was not

+quite certain that Captain Huston was

+unfit to take care of his wife.  She could

+not decide whether it was better to keep

+them apart or to allow Alice to run into

+the danger of being followed and claimed

+by her husband.  The widow had very

+successfully followed a placid principle

+of non-interference all through her life,

+and now she applied it to the calamitous

+affairs of Captain and Mrs. Huston.  She

+recognised very clearly that the man had

+made as evil a bargain as the woman.

+In both there was good material, capable

+of being wrought into good results by

+advantageous circumstances.  The

+circumstance of their coming together and

+contracting a life-long alliance was

+disadvantageous to the last degree, <i>voilà tout</i>.

+It was a matter for themselves to settle.

+There are some people who, in a crisis,

+form themselves into a reserve&mdash;not

+necessarily out of range, but beyond the

+din and confusion of the melée: of these

+was Mrs. Wylie.  If necessity demanded

+it, she was capable of leading an assault

+or withstanding an attack, but as a

+clear-headed, watchful commander of reserves

+she was incomparable.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda knew this.  She had an

+analytical way of studying such persons

+as influenced her daily life, and in most

+cases she arrived at a very accurate

+result.  That Mrs. Wylie was watching

+events, but would not influence them,

+she was well aware, and, moreover, she

+now felt that someone was needed who

+would calmly step to the front and act

+with a bold acceptance of responsibility.

+That she herself was the person to take

+this position seemed undeniable.  There

+could be no one else.  No other could

+be expected to assume the task.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+But there was another, and Brenda

+would not confess, even indefinitely in

+her own thoughts, that she knew it.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At length she laid her book down,

+and sat gazing softly into the fire.

+When the bell rang at the end of the

+long passage beside the kitchen-door,

+she never moved.  When the maid

+opened the drawing-room door, with

+the mumbled announcement of a name

+to whose possessor no door of

+Mrs. Wylie's was ever shut, Brenda failed

+to hear the name, and half turned her

+head without much welcome in her eyes.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She was preparing to rise politely

+from her seat when a dark form passed

+between the window and herself.  There,

+upon the hearthrug, within touch of

+her black skirt, stood Theo Trist!

+Theo&mdash;quiet, unemotional, strong as

+ever; Theo&mdash;with a brown face, and

+his bland, high forehead divided into

+two portions of white and of mahogany,

+where the fez had rested, keeping off

+the burning sun, but casting no shadow;

+Theo&mdash;to the fore, as usual, in his calm,

+reliable individuality, just at the moment

+when he was required.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda gave a little gasp, and the

+eyes that met his were, for a second,

+contracted with some quick emotion,

+which he thought was fear.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Theo!' she exclaimed, '<i>Theo!</i>'  Then

+she stopped short, checking herself

+suddenly, and as she rose he saw the

+frightened look in her eyes again.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+They shook hands, and for a brief

+moment neither seemed able to frame

+a syllable.  Brenda's lips were dry,

+and her throat was parched&mdash;all in a

+second.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He looked round the room as if

+seeking someone, or the indication of a

+presence, such as a work-basket, a

+well-known book, or some similar token.

+Brenda concluded that he was wondering

+where Mrs. Wylie might be, and

+suddenly she found power to speak in

+a steady, even voice.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Mrs. Wylie is out!' she said.  'I

+expect her in by tea-time.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He nodded his head&mdash;indicated the

+chair which she had just left&mdash;and,

+when she was seated, knelt down on

+the hearthrug, holding his two hands

+to the fire.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Where is Alice?' he asked, in a

+peculiar monotone.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'She is out with Mrs. Wylie&mdash;&mdash;  Then

+... you know?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes, Brenda, I know!' he answered

+gravely.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The girl sat forward in her low chair,

+with her two arms resting upon her

+knees, her slim, white hands interlocked.

+For a time she was off her guard,

+forgetting the outward composure taught

+in the school of which she was so apt

+a pupil.  She actually allowed herself to

+breathe hurriedly, to lean forward, and

+drink in with her eager eyes the man's

+every feature and every movement.  He

+was not looking towards her, but of her

+fixed gaze he was well aware.  The

+sound of her quick respiration was close

+to his ear; her soft, warm breath

+reached his cheek.  With all his iron

+composure, despite his cruel hold over

+himself, he wavered for a moment, and

+the hands held out to the glow of the

+fire shook perceptibly.  But his meek

+eyes never lost their settled expression

+of speculative contemplation.  Whatever

+other men might do, whatever

+women might suffer, Theodore Trist

+was sufficient for himself.  The flame

+leapt up, and fell again with a little

+bubbling sound, glowing ruddily upon

+the two faces.  He remained quite

+motionless, quite cold.  It was the

+face of the great Napoleon

+again&mdash;inscrutable, deep beyond the depth of

+human soundings, cruel and yet sweet&mdash;but

+the high forehead seemed to suggest

+an infinite possibility of something else;

+some lack of energy, or some great

+negation, which cancelled at one blow

+the resemblance that lay in lip and chin

+and profile.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Presently Brenda leant back in the

+chair.  There was a screen on the table

+near her&mdash;Mrs. Wylie's palm-leaf&mdash;and

+she extended her hand to take it, holding

+it subsequently between her face and the

+fire, so that if Trist had turned his head

+he could not have seen anything but her

+slim, graceful form, her white hand and

+wrist, and the screen glowing rosily.  He

+did not turn, however, when he spoke.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I will tell you,' he said, 'how I came

+to know.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Before continuing, he rubbed his hands

+slowly together.  Then he rose from his

+knees and remained standing near the

+fire close to her, but without looking in

+her direction.  He seemed to be choosing

+his words.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I came home,' he said at length,

+'from Gibraltar in an Indian steamer, a

+small boat with half a dozen passengers.

+There was no doctor on board.  One

+evening I was asked to go forward and

+look at a second-class passenger who

+was suffering from ... from delirium

+tremens.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He stopped in an apologetic way, as if

+begging her indulgence for the use of

+those two words in her presence.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes...' she murmured encouragingly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'It was Huston.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+As he spoke he turned slightly, and

+glanced down at her.  She had entirely

+regained her gentle composure now, and

+the colour had returned to her face.  Her

+attention was given to his words with a

+certain suppressed anxiety, but no

+surprise whatever.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Did,' she asked at length&mdash;'did he

+recognise you?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'And he never knew, and does

+not know now, that you were on

+board?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It would seem that he divined her

+thoughts, detecting the hidden importance

+of her question.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No,' he answered meaningly, as he

+turned and looked down at her&mdash;'no;

+but he has not forgotten my existence.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She raised her eyes quickly, but their

+glance stopped short suddenly at the

+elevation of his lips.  It was only by

+an effort that she avoided meeting his gaze.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I do not know,' she said with a short

+laugh, in an explanatory way, 'much

+about ... about it.  Is it like ordinary

+delirium, where people talk in a broken

+manner without realizing what they are

+saying?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes; it is rather like that.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She examined the texture of the screen

+with some attention.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Do you mind telling me, Theo,' she

+asked at length evenly, 'whether he

+mentioned your name?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist reflected for a moment.  He

+moved restlessly from one foot to the

+other, then spoke in a voice which

+betrayed no emotion beyond regret and a

+hesitating sympathy.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'He said that Alice had run away to

+join her old lover&mdash;meaning me.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Are you sure he meant ... you?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'He mentioned my name; there could

+be no doubt about it.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda rose suddenly from her seat

+and crossed the room towards the

+window.  There she stood with her

+back towards him, a graceful, dark

+silhouette against the dying light, looking

+into the street.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He moved slightly, but did not attempt

+to follow her.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'It is rather strange,' she said at length,

+'that the first name she mentioned on

+landing at Plymouth should be yours.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+A look of blank surprise flashed across

+his face, and then he reflected gravely

+for some moments.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I am sorry to hear it,' he said slowly,

+'because it would seem that my name

+has been bandied between them, and if

+that is the case my hands are tied.  I

+cannot help Alice as I should have liked

+to do.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I told Alice some time ago that it

+would be much better for us to manage

+this ... this miserable affair without

+your help.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'You are equal to it,' he said deliberately.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She laughed with a faint gleam of her

+habitual brightness.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Thank you.  That is a very pretty

+sentiment, but it is hardly the question.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'My help,' he continued, 'need not

+be obvious to every casual observer.

+But I am not going to leave you to fight

+this out alone, Brenda.  I was forced to

+leave you once, and I am not going to

+do it again.  What does Mrs. Wylie say

+to it all?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Nothing as yet.  She is waiting on

+events.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Ah, then, she is in reserve as usual.

+When the time comes, we may rely upon

+her help.  But until then...'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Theo,' interrupted Brenda in an

+agonized voice, 'the time <i>has</i> come!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She started back from the window,

+her face as white as her snowy throat,

+her eyes contracted with horror.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'He is there!' she whispered hoarsely,

+pointing towards the window&mdash;'in the

+street.  Coming into the house!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Her little hands clutched his sleeve

+with a womanly abandonment of

+restraint, and he stood quite still in

+his self-reliant manhood.  Then he

+found with surprise that his right arm

+was round her shoulders protecting

+her.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Come,' he said with singular calmness&mdash;'come

+into another room.  I&mdash;see him here.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+As he spoke he gently urged her

+towards the door, but she resisted, and

+for a moment there was an actual physical

+struggle.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No,' she said, 'I will see him.

+It is better.  Alice may come in

+at any moment, and before then I

+must know how matters stand between

+them.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist hesitated, and at that moment

+the bell rang.  They stood side by side

+looking at the closed door, listening

+painfully.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Perhaps,' whispered Trist, 'the maid

+will say that Mrs. Wylie is out.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+They could hear the light footstep of

+the servant, then the click of the latch.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+A murmur of words followed, ending

+in the raised tone of a male voice and a

+short sharp exclamation of fear from the maid.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Instinctively Trist sprang towards the door.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There was a sound of heavy footsteps

+in the passage.  Trist's fingers were on

+the handle.  He glanced towards Brenda

+appealingly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Leave it!' she exclaimed.  'Let him

+come in.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Before the words were out of her lips

+the door was thrown open, concealing

+Theodore Trist.

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap05"></a></p>

+

+<h3>

+CHAPTER V.

+<br><br>

+UNDER FIRE.

+</h3>

+

+<p>

+A tall, well-built man entered the

+room hurriedly and stopped short, facing

+Brenda, who met his gaze with gentle

+self-possession.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Ah!' he muttered in a thick voice,

+and his unsteady hand went to his long

+fair moustache.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It was a terribly unhealthy face upon

+which Brenda's eyes rested inquiringly.

+The skin was cracked in places, and the

+cheeks were almost blue.  The eyelids

+were red and the eyes bloodshot, while

+there was a general suggestion of

+puffiness and discomfort in the swollen

+features.  The man was distinctly

+repulsive, and yet, with a small amount of

+tolerance, he was a figure to demand pity.

+Despite his dissipated air, there was that

+indefinite sense of refinement which

+belongs to birth and breeding, and which

+never leaves a man who has once moved

+among gentlemen.  There was even a

+faint suggestion of military vanity in his

+dress and carriage, though his figure was

+by no means so smart as it must have

+been in bygone days.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The room was rather dark, and he

+glanced round, failing to see Theo Trist,

+who was leaning against the wall behind

+him.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Ah!' he repeated; 'Brenda.  I suppose

+you are in it, too!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She made no reply, but stood before

+him in all her maidenly sweetness and

+strength, looking into his face through

+the twilight with clear and steady eyes

+which he hesitated to meet.  Into his

+weak soul a flood of bitter memories

+rushed tumultuously&mdash;memories of a

+time when he could meet those eyes

+without that sudden feeling of self-hatred

+which was gnawing at his heart now.

+His tone was not harsh nor violent, but

+there was an undernote of determination

+which was not pleasant to the ear.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Tell me,' he continued thickly,

+'where my wife is to be found.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist noticed that she never took her

+eyes off Huston's face, never glanced past

+the sleek, closely-cropped head towards

+himself.  In some subtle way her wish

+was conveyed to him&mdash;the wish that he

+should remain there and continue, if

+possible, to be unnoticed by Huston.

+This he did, leaning squarely against the

+wall, his meek eyes riveted on the girl's

+face with a calm, expectant attention.

+From his presence Brenda gathered that

+strength and self-reliance which, I think,

+God intends women to gather from the

+companionship of men.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No, Alfred,' she answered, using his

+Christian name with a gentle diplomacy

+which made him waver for a moment

+and sway backwards upon his rigid legs;

+'I must not tell you that yet.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'What right have you to withhold it?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'She is my sister.  I must do the best

+I can for her.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He laughed in an unpleasant way.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'By throwing her into the path of the

+man she has always&mdash;&mdash;'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Stop!' commanded Brenda.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Why?  Why should I stop?  I

+suppose Trist is in England.  That is

+why she came home, no doubt.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'She has never spoken to Theodore

+Trist since she married you.  Besides,

+that is not the question.  Tell me why

+you want to find Alice.  What do you

+propose to do?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'That is <i>my</i> affair!' he muttered

+roughly.  'You have no business to

+stand between man and wife.  If you

+persist in doing so, it must be at your

+own risk, and I tell you plainly that you

+run a chance of being roughly handled.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+As he spoke he advanced a pace

+menacingly.  Still she never betrayed

+Trist's presence by the merest glance

+in his direction.  He, however, moved

+slightly, without making any sound.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Huston looked slowly round the room

+with bloodshot, horrible eyes.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Tell me!' he hissed, thrusting forward

+his face so that she drew back&mdash;not

+from fear, but to avoid a faint aroma

+of stale cigar-smoke.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No!' she answered.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Deny that Trist loved Alice&mdash;if you

+dare!' he continued, in the same whistling

+voice.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Still she never called for Trist's

+assistance.  She was very pale, and the last

+words seemed to strike her in the face

+as a blow.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I deny nothing!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Tell me,' he shouted hoarsely, 'where

+Alice is!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Then take <i>that</i>, you...'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He struck her with his clenched fist

+on the shoulder&mdash;but she had seen his

+intention, and by stepping back avoided

+the full force of the blow.  She staggered

+a pace or two and recovered herself.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Without a sound Trist sprang forward,

+and the same instant saw Huston fall to

+the ground.  He rolled over and over, a

+shapeless mass with limbs distended.

+As he rolled, Trist kicked him as he

+never would have kicked a dog.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Oh ... h ... h ...!' shrieked the

+soldier.  'Who is that?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'It is Trist ... you <i>brute</i>!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+But Huston lay motionless, with limp

+hands and open mouth.  He was insensible.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Leaving him, Trist turned to Brenda,

+who was already holding him back with

+a physical force which even at that

+moment caused him a vague surprise.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Theo!  Theo!' she cried, 'what are

+you doing?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He looked into her face sharply,

+almost fiercely&mdash;and she caught her

+breath convulsively at the sight of his

+eyes.  They literally flashed with a dull

+blue gleam, which was all the more

+ghastly in so calm a face; for though he

+was ashen-gray in colour, his features

+were unaltered by any sign of passion.

+Even in his wild rage this man was

+incongruous.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Has he hurt you?' he asked in a

+dull, hollow voice; and, while he spoke,

+his fingers skilfully touched her shoulder

+in a quick, searching way never learnt in

+drawing-rooms.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No&mdash;no!' she cried impatiently.  'But

+you have killed <i>him</i>!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She broke away from him and knelt

+on the floor, bending over the prostrate

+form of the soldier.  Her bosom heaved

+from time to time with a bravely

+suppressed sob.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Don't touch him,' said Trist, in an

+unconsciously commanding tone.  'He

+is all right.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Obediently, she rose and stepped away,

+while he lifted the limp form, and placed

+it in a chair.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Slowly Captain Huston opened his

+eyes.  He heaved a deep sigh, and sat

+gazing into the fire with a hopeless and

+miserable apathy.  Behind him the two

+stood motionless, watching.  Presently

+he began to mutter incoherently, and

+Brenda turned away, sickened, from the

+woeful sight.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I wonder,' she whispered, 'if this

+sort of thing is to go on.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist's mobile lips were twisted a little

+as if he were in bodily pain, while he

+glanced at her furtively.  There was

+nothing for him to say&mdash;no hope to hold out.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+They moved away to the window

+together without speaking, both occupied

+with thoughts which could not well

+have been pleasant.  Trist's features wore

+a grave, concentrated expression, totally

+unlike the philosophical and contemplative

+demeanour which he usually

+carried in the face of the world.  There

+was food enough for mental stones to

+grind, and he was not a man to take the

+most sanguine view of affairs.  His

+philosophy was of that rare school which is

+not solely confined to making the best of

+other folks' troubles.  His own checks

+and difficulties were those treated

+philosophically; while the griefs of

+others&mdash;more especially, perhaps, of Alice and

+Brenda&mdash;caused him an exaggerated

+anxiety.  It has been the experience of

+the present writer that women are

+infinitely better fitted to stand adversity

+than men.  There is a certain brave

+little smile which our less mobile lips

+can never frame.  But Theodore Trist

+had lived chiefly among men, and his

+human speciality was the fighting animal.

+He knew a soldier as few of his

+contemporaries knew him; but of sweet

+woman-militant he was somewhat

+ignorant.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Perhaps he took this trouble too

+seriously.  Of that I cannot give an

+opinion, for we all have an individual

+way of getting over our fences, and we

+never learn another.  Personally, I must

+confess to a penchant for those men who

+go steadily, with a cool, clear head, and

+a firm hand, realizing full well the risk

+they are about to run&mdash;men who do not

+put a <i>blind</i> faith in luck, nor look

+invariably for Fortune's smiles.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In Trist's place many would have

+uttered some trite consolatory or wildly

+hopeful remark, which would in no

+wise have deceived a young person of

+Brenda's austere discrimination.  In this,

+however, he fell lamentably short of his

+duty.  After a thoughtful pause he

+merely whispered:

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Here we are again, Brenda&mdash;in a

+tight place.  There is some fatality

+which seems to guide our footsteps on

+to thorny pathways.  There is nothing

+to be done but face it.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Is it,' she asked simply, 'a case

+for action, or must we wait upon

+events?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I would suggest ... action.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes...' she said, in little more

+than a whisper, after a pause, 'I think

+so too&mdash;more especially now ... that

+you suggest it.  Your natural bias is,

+as a rule, in the direction of masterly

+inactivity.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He smiled slowly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Perhaps ... so!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Therefore your conviction that action

+is necessary must be very strong before

+you would suggest it.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I feel,' he said, with some deliberation,

+'that it will be better to keep them

+apart in the meantime.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+A strange, uneasy look passed across

+the girl's face.  It happened that there

+was only one man on all the broad earth

+whom she trusted implicitly&mdash;the man

+at her side&mdash;and for a second that one

+unique faith wavered.  With a sort of

+mental jerk&mdash;as of a person who makes

+a quick effort to recover a wavering

+balance&mdash;she restored her courageous

+trustfulness.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes,' she murmured, 'I am sure of it.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'And I suppose ... I suppose we

+must do it.  You and I, Brenda?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It was a wonderful thing how these

+two knew Alice Huston.  Her faults

+were never mentioned between them.

+The infinite charity with which each

+looked upon these faults was a mutual

+possession, unhinted at, half concealed.

+Brenda knew quite well what was

+written between the lines of his

+outspoken supposition, and replied to his

+unasked question with simple diplomacy.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes&mdash;<i>we</i> must do it.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist moved a little.  He turned

+sideways, and glanced out of the window.

+His attitude was that of a man whose

+hands were in his pockets, but he was

+more than half a soldier&mdash;a creature

+morally and literally without pockets&mdash;and

+his hands hung at his sides.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'It is a ... a pretty strong combination.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She smiled, and changed colour so

+slightly that he no doubt failed to

+see it.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes,' she answered cheerfully.  'It

+succeeded once before.  But Mrs. Wylie

+is not quite herself yet, Theo!  That

+is why I don't want her to have any

+trouble in this matter.  We have no

+right to seek her aid.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The last words might easily have

+passed unheeded, but Brenda felt, even

+as she spoke them, that they contained

+another meaning; moreover, she

+recognised by his sudden silence that Trist

+was wondering whether this second

+suggestion had been intended.  Uneasily

+she raised her eyes to his face.

+He was looking down at her gravely,

+and for some seconds their glances met.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+If an excuse to seek Mrs. Wylie's

+assistance was hard to find, much

+more so was it open to question

+respecting Trist's spontaneous help.  Why

+should he offer it?  By what right

+could she accept it?  And while they

+looked into each other's eyes, these

+two wondered over those small

+questions.  There was a reason&mdash;the best

+reason of all&mdash;namely, that the offer

+was as spontaneous and natural as the

+acceptance of it.  But why&mdash;why this

+spontaneity?  Perhaps they both knew.

+Perhaps she suspected, and suspected

+wrongly.  Perhaps neither knew definitely.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At last she turned her head, and

+naturally her glance was directed

+downwards into Piccadilly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'There they are,' she whispered hurriedly,

+'looking into the jeweller's shop

+opposite.  What are we to do, Theo?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He almost forestalled her question, so

+rapid was his answer.  There was no

+hesitation, no shirking of responsibility.

+She had simply asked him, and simply

+he replied.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Go,' he said, 'and throw some things

+into a bag.  I will stay here and watch

+him.  When the bag is ready, leave it in

+the passage and come back here.  I will

+take it, go down, and take her straight away.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Where?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I don't know,' he replied, with a

+shrug of the shoulders.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There was a momentary hesitation on

+the girl's part.  She perceived a terrible

+flaw in Trist's plan, and he divined her

+thoughts.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'It will be all right,' he whispered.

+'No one knows that I am in England.

+I will telegraph to-night, and you can

+join her to-morrow.  You ... can

+trust me, Brenda.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There was a faint smile of confidence

+on her face as she turned away and

+hurried from the room.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Although her light footsteps were

+almost inaudible, the slight <i>frôlement</i> of

+her dress seemed to rouse the stupefied

+man on the low chair near the fire.

+Perhaps there was in the rhythm of her

+movements some subtle resemblance to

+the movements of his wife.  He raised

+his head and appeared to listen in an

+apathetic way, but presently his chin

+dropped heavily again upon his breast,

+and the dull eyes lost all light of

+intelligence.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist turned away and looked out of

+the window.  The two ladies were still

+lingering near the jeweller's shop.  Alice

+Huston appeared to be pointing out to

+her companion some specially attractive

+ornament, and Mrs. Wylie was obeying

+with a patient smile.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The war-correspondent smiled in a

+peculiar way, which might well have

+expressed some bitterness, had he been

+the sort of man to speak or think bitterly

+of anyone.  The whole picture was so

+absurdly characteristic, even to the small

+details&mdash;such as Mrs. Wylie's good-natured

+patience, scarce concealing her

+utter lack of interest in the jewellery,

+and Alice Huston's eyes glittering with

+reflex of the cold gleam of diamonds;

+for there is a light that comes into the

+eyes of some women at the mere mention

+of precious stones.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+While he was watching them the

+ladies turned and crossed the street,

+coming towards him.  He stepped back

+from the window in case one of them

+should raise her eyes, and at the same

+moment Brenda entered the room.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She glanced towards Huston, who was

+rousing himself from the torpor which

+had followed his maltreatment at Trist's

+hands, and which was doubtless partly

+due to the drink-sodden condition of his

+mind and body.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'All I want,' whispered the war-correspondent,

+following her glance, 'is

+three minutes' start from that man.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'You had better go!' she answered

+anxiously below her breath.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes; they are on the stairs ... but

+... tell me, Brenda, promise me on

+your honour, that he did not hurt you.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I promise you,' she said, with a faint

+smile.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Then he left her.

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap06"></a></p>

+

+<h3>

+CHAPTER VI.

+<br><br>

+TRIST ACTS ON HIS OWN RESPONSIBILITY.

+</h3>

+

+<p>

+As Mrs. Wylie made her way slowly

+and peacefully up the broad stairs, she

+suddenly found herself face to face with

+the man whom she had last seen in the

+still Arctic dawn, bearing the body of

+her dead husband down over the rocks

+towards her.  She gave a little gasp of

+surprise, but nothing more.  The next

+instant she was holding out her gloved

+hand to greet him.  But even she&mdash;practised,

+gifted woman of the world as

+she was&mdash;could not meet him with a

+smile.  In gravity they had parted,

+gravely they now met again.  He was

+not quite the same as other men to

+Mrs. Wylie, for there was the remembrance

+of an indefinite semi-bantering

+agreement made months before, while

+the sunshine of life seemed to be

+glowing round them both&mdash;an agreement

+that they should not be mere acquaintances,

+mere friends (although the friendship

+existing between an elderly woman

+and a young man is not of the ordinary,

+practical, every-day type&mdash;there is a

+suggestion of something more in it), and

+Trist had fulfilled the promise then given.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He had taken her quite unawares, with

+that noiseless footstep of his which we

+noticed before, and the colour left her

+face for a moment.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'<i>You!</i>' she exclaimed; 'I did not

+expect you.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+As he took her hand his all-seeing

+gaze detected a slight indication of anxiety,

+and he knew that his presence was not

+at that moment desired by Mrs. Wylie.

+Due credit is not always given to us men

+for the possession of eyes.  Our womenfolk

+are apt to forget that we move just

+as much as they, and in most cases

+infinitely more in the world, and among

+the world's shoals and quicksands.  We

+may not be so quick at reading superficial

+indications as our mothers, sisters,

+or wives; but I think many of us (while

+keeping vanity in bounds) are much

+more capable of perceiving when our

+presence is desired or distasteful than is

+usually supposed.  There are some of us,

+methinks, who, if chivalry failed to

+withhold our tongues, could tell of very

+decided preferences shown, and shown

+unsought; of glances, and even words,

+advanced to guide us whither the water

+runs smoothly.  And let us hope that if

+such have been the case, we turn to the

+rougher channel we love better, without

+a smile of self-conceit.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Twice within the last hour Theodore

+Trist had perceived that there was a

+reason why those who held Alice Huston

+dearest should desire that he avoided

+meeting her.  What this reason was her

+own husband had unwittingly told him;

+confirming brutally what he had read in

+Brenda's unconsciously expressive face a

+few moments before.  And yet, in face

+of this undoubted knowledge, he seemed

+deliberately to court the danger that the

+two women feared, and sought to avert.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He was not a man to be blinded by a

+false impression.  Nor was he one of

+those who act impulsively.  His mind

+was of too practical, too steady, and too

+concentrated a type to be suddenly

+conquered by a mere prompting of the

+heart.  At this juncture of his life he

+acted coolly and with foresight.  Of

+Alice Huston he knew enough to feel

+quite sure of his mastery over her.  If

+she loved him (which supposition had

+been thrown in his face many times since

+the evening when he had first been called

+upon to give assistance to those who

+stood in Captain Huston's little cabin),

+he did not appear in the least afraid of

+his own capability of killing that love.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He turned from Mrs. Wylie and

+greeted the younger woman, who followed

+her, with a self-possessed smile; and

+from his manner even Mrs. Wylie could

+gather nothing, and she was no mean

+reader of human faces.  She glanced at

+them as they stood together on the stairs

+and asked herself a question:

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'What part is he playing, that of a

+scoundrel or a fool?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She could not conceive a third alternative

+just then, because she did not know

+Alice Huston so well as Theo Trist knew her.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Before Mrs. Huston, who was blushing

+very prettily, had time to speak,

+Trist imparted his news with a certain

+rapid bluntness.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Your husband is upstairs,' he said.

+'Brenda will keep him in the drawing-room

+for a few minutes.  I have a bag

+here with some necessaries for you.

+Will you come with me, or will you go

+upstairs to your husband?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Will ... I ... go with you?'

+stammered the beautiful woman in a

+frightened whisper.  'Where to, Theo?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie leant against the broad

+balustrade and breathed rapidly.  She

+was really alarmed, but even fear could

+not conquer her indomitable placidity.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I will conduct you to a safe hiding-place

+to-night, and Brenda will join you

+to-morrow morning,' said Trist in a tone

+full of concentrated energy, though his

+eyes never lighted up.  'Be quick and

+decide, because Brenda is alone upstairs

+with ... him.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie's eyebrows moved imperceptibly

+beneath her veil.  She thought

+she saw light.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Huston played nervously with a

+tassel that was hanging from her dainty

+muff for the space of a moment; then

+she raised her eyes, not to Trist's face,

+but to Mrs. Wylie's.  Instantly she

+lowered them again.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I will go with you!' she said, almost

+inaudibly, and stood blushing like a

+schoolgirl between two lovers.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie raised her head, sniffing

+danger like an old hen when she hears

+the swoop of long wings above the

+chicken-yard.  Her eyes turned from

+Alice Huston's face, with a slow

+impatience almost amounting to contempt,

+and rested upon Theodore Trist's meek

+orbs, raised to meet hers meaningly.

+Then somehow her honest tongue found

+itself tied, and she said nothing at all.

+The flood of angry words subsided

+suddenly from her lips, and she waited

+for the further commands of this soft-spoken,

+soft-stepping, soft-glancing man,

+with unquestioning obedience.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He moved slightly, looked down at

+the bag in his hand, and then glanced

+comprehensively from the top of

+Mrs. Huston's smart bonnet to the sole of

+her small shoe.  He could not quite

+lay aside the old campaigner, and the

+beautiful woman was moved by a

+strange suspicion that this young man

+was not admiring her person, but

+considering whether her attire were fit for a

+long journey on a November evening.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Come, then!' he said.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Still Mrs. Huston hesitated.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Suddenly she appeared to make up

+her mind, for she went up two steps

+and kissed Mrs. Wylie with hysterical

+warmth.  This demonstration seemed to

+recall Trist to a due sense of social

+formula.  He returned, and shook hands

+gravely with the widow.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Go to Brenda!' he whispered, and

+the matron bowed her head.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Again she raised her eyebrows, and

+there was a flicker of light in her eyes

+like that which gleams momentarily

+when a person is on the brink of a great

+discovery.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The next minute she was running

+upstairs, while the footsteps of the two

+fugitives died away in the roar of traffic.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Theo,' she said to herself, while

+awaiting an answer to her summons at

+her own door, 'must be of a very

+confiding nature.  He expects such utter

+and such <i>blind</i> faith at the hands of

+others.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The maid who opened the door was

+all eagerness to impart to her mistress

+certain vague details and incomprehensible

+sounds which had reached her

+curious ears.  She had a thrilling tale of

+how Captain Huston, 'lookin' that funny

+about the eyes,' had rung loudly and

+pushed roughly through the open door;

+how there had been loud words in the

+drawing-room, and then a noise like

+'movin' a pianer'; how a silence had

+followed, and, finally, how Mr. Trist

+(and not Captain Huston, as might have

+been expected) had left just a minute

+ago.  But the evening milkman was

+destined, after all, to receive the first and

+unabridged account of these events.

+Mrs. Wylie merely said, 'That will do,

+Mary,' in her unruffled way, and passed on.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She entered the drawing-room, and

+found Brenda standing near the window,

+with one hand clasping the folds of the

+curtain.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Captain Huston was sitting on a low

+chair beside the fire, weeping gently.

+His bibulous sobs were the only sound

+that broke an unpleasant silence.  Brenda

+was engaged in adding to her experiences

+of men and their ways a further illustration

+tending towards contempt.  Her

+eyes were dull with pain, but she carried

+her small head with the usual demure

+serenity which was naught else but the

+outcome of a sweet, maidenly pride, as

+she advanced towards Mrs. Wylie.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'He is quite gentle and tractable

+now!' she whispered.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie took her hand within her

+fingers, clasping it with a soft protecting

+strength.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Is he ... tipsy?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No!' answered Brenda, with a peculiar

+catch in her breath; 'he is only

+stupefied.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Stupefied ... how?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I ... I will tell you afterwards.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The quick-witted matron had already

+discovered that some of her furniture

+was slightly displaced, so she did not

+press her question.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At this moment Captain Huston rose

+to his feet, and took up a position on

+the hearthrug.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I do not know,' he said, with

+concentrated calmness, 'whether the law

+has anything to say against people who

+harbour runaway wives; but, at all

+events, society will have an opinion on

+the subject.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He ignored the fact that he had in no

+way greeted Mrs. Wylie, addressing his

+remarks to both ladies impartially.  By

+both alike his attack was received in

+silence.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I will find her,' he continued.  'You

+need have no false hopes on that score.

+All the Theodore Trists in the world

+(which is saying much&mdash;for scoundrels

+are common enough) will not be able to

+hide her for long!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie still held Brenda's hand

+within her own.  At the mention of

+Trist's name there was an involuntary

+contraction of the white fingers, and the

+widow suddenly determined to act.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Captain Huston,' she said gravely,

+'when you are calmer, if you wish to

+talk of this matter again, Brenda and I

+will be at your service.  At present I am

+convinced that it is better for your wife

+to keep away from you&mdash;though I shall

+be the first to welcome a reconciliation.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He shrugged his shoulders and walked

+slowly to the door.  It was Brenda who

+rang the bell.  Captain Huston passed

+out of the room without another word.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It would almost seem that the

+ingenuous Mary anticipated the call, for

+she was waiting in the passage to show

+Captain Huston out.  She returned

+almost at once to the drawing-room,

+with a view (cloaked beneath a prepared

+question respecting tea) of satisfying her

+curiosity regarding the sound which had

+suggested the moving of a 'pianer.'  But

+there was no sign of disorder;

+everything was in its place, and Brenda

+was standing idly near the mantelpiece.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'We will take tea at once, Mary,'

+said Mrs. Wylie, unloosening her bonnet-strings.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mary was forced to retire, meditating

+as she went over the inscrutability

+and coldness of the ordinary British

+lady.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Ah!' sighed Mrs. Wylie, when the

+door was closed.  'Now tell me, Brenda!

+What has happened?  Did these two

+men meet here?  I am quite in the dark,

+and have a sort of dazed feeling, as if I

+had been reading Carlyle at the French

+plays, and had got them mixed up.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Theo came first,' answered Brenda,

+'to warn us that Captain Huston had

+come home in the same steamer as himself,

+without, however, recognising him.

+While we were talking, the other came

+in.  He did not see Theo, who was

+behind the door...'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I suppose he was tipsy?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No; he was quite sober.  He looked

+horrible.  His eyes were bloodshot&mdash;his

+lips unsteady...'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie stopped the description

+with a sharp, painful nod of her head.

+To our shame be it, my brothers, she

+knew the rest!

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Was he quite clear and coherent?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'But ... just now...' argued

+Mrs. Wylie, vainly endeavouring to

+make Brenda resume the narrative&mdash;'just

+now he was quite stupid?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'What happened, Brenda?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At this moment Mary brought in the

+tea and set it briskly down on a small

+table.  Brenda stepped forward, and began

+pouring out.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'What happened, Brenda?' repeated

+Mrs. Wylie, when the door was closed.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Then she approached, took the teapot

+from her hand, and by gentle force

+turned the motherless girl's face towards

+herself.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'My darling,' she whispered, drawing

+the slim form to her breast, 'why should

+you hide your tears from <i>me</i>?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I have endeavoured to make it clear

+that this girl was not an emotional

+being.  There were no hysterical

+sobs&mdash;merely a few silent tears, and the

+narrative was continued.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'He came in, and asked me to tell

+him where Alice was.  I refused, and

+then...'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Then...?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'He tried to hit me.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Tried ... Brenda?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Well ... he just reached me.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'And ... Theo?' asked Mrs. Wylie.

+'What did Theo do?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There was a short pause, during which

+both ladies attended to their cups with

+an unnatural interest.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I have never seen him like that

+before,' murmured the girl at length.  'I

+did not know that men were ever like

+that.  It was ... rather terrible

+... almost suggestive of some wild animal.

+He knocked him down and ... and

+kicked him round the room like a dog!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'My poor darling,' whispered Mrs. Wylie.

+'I ought never to have left you

+here alone.  We might have guessed

+that that man Huston would be home

+soon.  Did he hurt you, Brenda?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No; he frightened me a little, that

+was all.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I am very glad you had Theo!'  Mrs. Wylie

+purposely turned away as

+she said these words.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda sipped her tea, and made no reply.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It had been twilight when Mrs. Wylie

+returned home, and now it was almost

+dark.  The two ladies sat in the warm

+firelight, with their feet upon the fender.

+Tea laid aside, they continued sitting

+there while the flames leapt and fell

+again, glowing on their thoughtful faces,

+gleaming on the simple jewellery at their

+throats.  From the restless streets came a

+dull, continuous roar as of the sea.  I

+hear it now as I write, and would fain

+lay aside the pen and wonder over it;

+for it rises and falls, swells and dies again,

+with a long, slow, mournful rhythm full

+of life, and yet joyless; soporific, and yet

+alive with movement.  There is no sound

+on earth like it except the hopeless song

+of breaking waves.  Both alike steal

+upon the senses with an indefinable

+suggestion of duration, almost amounting

+to a glimmer of what is called eternity.

+Both alike reach the heart with a subtle,

+undeniable lovableness.  Londoners and

+sailors cannot resist its music, for both

+return to it in their age, whithersoever

+they may have wandered.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie it was who moved at last,

+rising with characteristic determination,

+as if the pastime of thought were a vice

+not wisely encouraged.  She stood before

+Brenda in her widow's weeds, looking

+down through the dim light with a faint

+smile.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Come,' she said; 'we must get ready

+for dinner.  Remember that Mrs. Hicks

+is going to call for you at eight o'clock

+to take you to that Ancient Artists' Guild

+soirée.  I should put on a white dress

+if I were you, and violets.  The gifted

+William Hicks, whom we met in the

+Park this afternoon, asked what flowers

+he should bring, and I suggested violets.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda laughed suddenly, but her

+hilarity finished in a peculiar, abrupt way.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Telle est la vie!' she murmured, as

+she rose obediently.  'What a labour

+this enjoyment sometimes is!'

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap07"></a></p>

+

+<h3>

+CHAPTER VII.

+<br><br>

+QUICKSANDS.

+</h3>

+

+<p>

+'Wot's this&mdash;runaway couple?' asked a

+pallid and slipshod waiter of his

+equally-unwholesome colleague in the

+dining-room attached to a large City

+railway-station.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'D'no,' answered the second, with

+weary indifference; 'we don't offen see

+<i>that</i> sort down 'ere.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'There's a sort,' continued the first

+attendant, pulling down his soup-stained

+waistcoat, 'o' haristocratic simplicity

+about them and their wants as pleases

+my poetic and 'igh-born soul.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Indeed,' yawned the other with

+withering sarcasm.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes, indeed!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The sarcasm was treated with noble

+scorn by its victim, who was called away

+at that moment by a bumping sound

+within the lift-cupboard.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In the meantime Trist and Alice

+Huston were turning their attention to

+dinner.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The novelty of the situation pleased

+the lady vastly.  There was a spice of

+danger coupled with a sense of real security

+imparted by the presence of her calm

+and resourceful companion which she

+appreciated thoroughly.  For Trist there

+was, however, less enjoyment in the

+sense of novelty.  A war-correspondent

+is a man to whom few situations are,

+strictly speaking, novel, and it is, or

+should be, his chief study to acquire

+the virtue of adaptability, and never to

+allow himself to be carried away by the

+forces of environment.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+His sense of chivalry was too strong

+to allow the merest suggestion of weariness,

+but in his inmost heart there was a

+vague uneasiness at the thought that

+there was still an hour before the train

+for the east coast left, not the station

+where they were at present, but one

+near at hand.  He knew that to the

+fugitive every moment is of immeasurable

+value, but for the time being he

+feared no pursuit.  His measures had

+been too carefully taken for that, and all

+the private detectives in London could

+not approach this impenetrable strategist

+in cunning or foresight.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Only an hour had passed since he and

+Alice Huston had met on the stairs of

+Suffolk Mansions, and since then the

+excellent construction of a London cab

+and the justly-praised smoothness of

+London roadways had effectually put a

+stop to any conversation of a connected

+or confidential nature.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At first Alice had been too frightened

+to resent this, and subsequently the

+manner of her companion, which was

+at once reassuring and repelling, had

+checked her efforts.  Now the pallid

+waiters were almost within earshot, and

+Theodore Trist, who concealed a keen

+power of observation beneath a

+demeanour at times aggravatingly stolid,

+was fully aware that they were interested,

+and consequently inquisitive.  The result

+of this knowledge was a singular lack of

+the ordinary outward signs of mystery.

+He spoke in rather louder tones than was

+his wont, told one or two amusing anecdotes,

+and laughed at them himself, while

+Mrs. Huston unconsciously aided him by

+smiling in a slightly weary way.  This

+last conjugal touch of human nature

+went far to convince the waiter that

+the two were after all nothing more

+interesting than husband and wife.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Theo, I have so <i>much</i> to tell you,'

+whispered Mrs. Huston once when the

+waiter was exchanging civilities with the

+cook's assistant down a speaking-tube.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes,' replied Trist, interested in his

+bread; 'wait until we are in the train.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Where are we going?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I will tell you afterwards; these

+fellows might hear.  Will you have

+wine?  What shall it be, something

+light&mdash;say Niersteiner?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He softened his apparent brusqueness

+with a smile, and she blushed promptly,

+which was an unnecessary proceeding.

+Trist's sang-froid was phenomenal.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+By a simple subterfuge, of which he

+was almost ashamed, he had obtained

+tickets to a small east-coast watering-place

+without leaving any trace whatever,

+and at seven o'clock they left

+Liverpool Street Station, in the same

+compartment, without having allowed

+the railway officials to perceive that they

+were acquainted.  There were but few

+first-class passengers in the train, and

+they were alone in the compartment.

+The light provided was not a brilliant

+specimen of its kind; reading or

+pretending to read was out of the question.

+There was nothing to do but talk, so

+Trist gave himself over to the tender

+mercies of his companion, and for the

+time vouchsafed his entire attention to

+the details of a story too common and

+too miserable to recapitulate here.

+Probably you, who may turn these pages,

+know the story; if not, an old traveller

+takes the liberty of wishing that you

+never may.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'And,' said Mrs. Huston between

+half-suppressed sobs, when the tale was told,

+'I simply could not stand it any longer,

+so I came home.  I ... I <i>hoped</i>, Theo, to

+find you in England, and when Brenda

+told me that you were in the East, busy

+with some horrid war, it was the last

+straw.  I wonder why people want to

+fight at all.  Why can't the world live

+in peace?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist tugged pensively at the arm-rest,

+and looked out into the darkness

+without replying.  He did not seem at that

+moment prepared to answer the extremely

+pertinent and relevant question

+propounded.  If Mrs. Huston had

+expected a proper show of masculine

+emotion, she must have been slightly

+disappointed; for during no part of her

+narrative had the incongruous face

+opposite to her, beneath the ludicrous lamp,

+displayed aught else than a most careful

+and intelligent attention.  What she

+required was sympathy, not attention.

+Her story was not calculated to withstand

+too close a study.  Being in itself

+emotional, it was eminently dependent

+upon an emotional reception; it was, in

+fact, a woman's narrative, fit for relation

+by a peaceful fireside, in the hush of

+twilight, on the top (so to speak) of tea

+and muffins, and to a woman's ear.

+Retailed to a hard practical man of the

+world in a noisy train, where the more

+pathetic vocal inflections were inaudible;

+after dinner, and while narrator and

+listener wore thick wraps and gloves, it

+lost weight most lamentably.  She ought

+to have thought of these trifles, which,

+however, are no trifles.  You, dear

+madam, know better than to attempt

+to soften your husband's stony heart

+when he is protected by gloves, or

+boots, or top-coat.  Ah! these little

+things make a mighty difference.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist was an ardent follower of that

+school of philosophy which seeks to

+ignore the emotions.  By means of cold

+suppression he would fain have wiped all

+passions out of human nature, and, having

+moved amidst bloodshed and among men

+engaged in bloodshed, he had learnt that

+our deepest feelings are, after all, mere

+matters of habit.  From the Eastern

+lands he knew so well, it is probable

+that he had brought back some reflection

+of that strange Oriental apathy of

+life which is incomprehensible to our

+more highly-strung Western intellects.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When Mrs. Huston pushed her dainty

+veil recklessly up over the front of her

+bonnet, and made no pretence of hiding

+the tears that rendered her lovely face

+almost angelic in its pathos, Trist made

+no further acknowledgment of emotion

+than a momentary contraction of the

+eyelids.  He continued tugging pensively

+at the leather arm-rest, while his eyes

+only strayed at times from the flashing

+lights of peaceful village or quiet town

+to the beautiful form crouching against

+the sombre cushions opposite to him.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Oh  why ... did you ever let me

+marry him?' sobbed Alice miserably.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He glanced at her with a peculiar

+twist of his lips, downwards, to one side.

+Then he shrugged his shoulders very

+slightly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I? ... What had I to do with it, Alice?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There was something in his voice, a

+certain dull concentration, which had the

+singular effect of checking her sobs almost

+instantaneously, although her breast heaved

+convulsively at short intervals, like the

+swell that follows a storm at sea, long

+after the rage has subsided.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She touched her eyes prettily with a

+diminutive handkerchief, and made an

+effort to recover her serenity, smoothing

+a wrinkle out of the front of her dress.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Well,' she sighed, 'I suppose you

+had as much influence over me as

+anybody.  And ... and you never liked

+him, Theo.  I could see that, and lately

+the recollection of it has come back to

+me more vividly.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'You forget that I was in China at

+the time of your engagement.  My influence

+could not have been very effective

+at such a range&mdash;even if I had taken it

+upon myself to exert it, which would

+have been an unwarrantable liberty.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I was so young,' she pleaded, 'and so

+inexperienced.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Twenty-two,' he observed reflectively;

+'and you had your choice, I suppose, of

+all the best men in London.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In some vague way Mrs. Huston's

+eyes conveyed a contradiction to this

+statement, although her lips never moved.

+A man less dense than this war-correspondent

+appeared to be would have

+understood readily enough what that

+glance really signified.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I hope,' he continued imperturbably,

+'that this misunderstanding is only

+temporary...'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She laughed bitterly, and examined the

+texture of her lace handkerchief with a

+gracefully impatient poise of the head.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Huston ... loves you.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'And <i>you</i>,' she answered pertly, 'hate

+him!  Why?  Tell me why, Theo.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I hate no one in the world,' he

+answered.  'Not on principle, but because

+I have met no one as yet whom I could

+hate.  There has invariably been some

+redeeming point.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'And what is my husband's redeeming point?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'His love for you,' answered Trist

+promptly, and with such calm assurance

+that his companion evacuated her false

+position at once, and returned to her

+original line of argument.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I only had Brenda,' she murmured

+sorrowfully; 'and she is like you.  She

+listens and listens and listens, but never

+gives any real advice.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'If she had, would you have taken it?'

+suggested Trist.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The graceful shoulders moved interrogatively

+and indifferently.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I suppose not.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+During the silence that followed, Trist

+looked at his watch, openly and without

+disguise.  The journey, which was a short

+one, was almost half accomplished, and

+the train was now running at a breakneck

+pace through the level Suffolk meadows.

+Hardly a light was visible over all the

+silent land.  There were no tunnels and

+no bridges, consequently the sounds of

+travel were reduced to a minimum.  It

+is the petty local trains that make the

+most noise; the great purposeful

+expresses run almost in silence.  In this,

+my brothers, I think we resemble trains

+in some degree.  There are those among

+us who make little way upon Life's iron

+track with a great noise; and those who

+travel far are silent.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I don't believe you care a fig what

+becomes of me!' said Mrs. Huston at

+length in a reckless way.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He looked at her with a slow grave

+smile, but made no other answer.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Do you?' she asked coquettishly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He was quite grave now, and her

+breathing became slightly accelerated.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes!' quite simply.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Presently Trist roused himself, as if

+from unpleasant reflections, and began

+talking about the future.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I should like to know,' he said,

+'exactly what you think of doing, because

+I have not much time.  At any moment

+Russia may declare war against Turkey,

+and I shall have to go at once.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'If Russia declares war, I shall kill

+myself, I think.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He laughed, and changed his position,

+drawing in his feet, and leaning forward

+with his hands clasped between his

+knees.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No,' he said with genial energy, 'I

+would not do that, if I were you.  If I

+may be allowed to make a suggestion, it

+seems to me that you will do well to

+come to a distinct understanding with

+Huston, either through the mediation of

+Mrs. Wylie or by letter.  You cannot

+go on long like this.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'What sort of understanding?' she

+inquired, with that nonchalant impatience

+of detail which seems to be the special

+prerogative of beautiful women.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Ask him to give you three months

+to think over matters; at the expiration

+of that time you can have an interview

+with him, and come to some definite

+agreement respecting the future.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She sighed, and leant back wearily,

+looking at him in a curious, snake-like

+way beneath her lowered lids.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Three months will make no difference.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Nevertheless ... try it.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I want,' she said in a dull voice,

+'... a divorce!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+For a moment a veil seemed to have

+been lifted from his eyes; all meekness

+vanished, and the glance was keen,

+far-sighted, almost cruel.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'You cannot get that, Alice.  It is

+impossible!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She turned her face quite away from

+him and looked out of the window,

+jerking the arm-rest nervously.  Her

+breath clouded the glass.  She murmured

+something inaudible.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Eh?' he inquired.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I could make it possible,' she said

+jerkily, and her voice died away in a

+sickening little laugh.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+For some moments there was a horrible

+silence, and then Theo Trist spoke

+in a strange, thick voice, quite unlike

+his own.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Alice,' he said, 'do you ever think

+of Brenda?  Do you ever think of

+<i>anyone</i> but yourself?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The words came as a cold and chilling

+surprise to Mrs. Huston, and she began

+slowly to realize that she had met with

+something which was entirely new to

+her.  She had come in contact with a

+man upon whom the effect of her beauty

+was of no account.  Her powers of

+fascination seemed suddenly to have left

+her, and across her mind there flashed

+a gleam of that unpleasant light by the

+aid of which we are at times enabled to

+see ourselves as others see us.  It was

+only natural and womanlike that she

+should resent the shedding of this light,

+and visit her resentment, not upon the

+disclosure made by it, but on the

+illuminator of the unpleasant scene.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Oh,' she muttered angrily, 'you are

+all against me!  No one cares for me;

+no one makes allowances.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist smiled in a slow, strong way

+which was infinitely pathetic.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No,' he said, 'no one makes allowances;

+you must never expect that.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Then Mrs. Huston's tears began to

+flow again, and the self-contained man

+opposite to her sat with white bloodless

+lips and contracted eyes staring into the

+blackness of the night.

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap08"></a></p>

+

+<h3>

+CHAPTER VIII.

+<br><br>

+MASKED.

+</h3>

+

+<p>

+The soirée of the Ancient Artists' Guild

+was in the full flow of its success.

+There had been some excellent music,

+and the programme promised more.

+The brilliancy of the attendance was

+equal to the highest hopes of the most

+ambitious committee.  Long hair and

+strange dresses vouched for the presence

+of self-conscious intellect; small receding

+foreheads, hopeless mouths, and fair but

+painted faces, announced the presence of

+that shade of aristocracy which prefers

+to patronize.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+William Hicks was not on the

+committee of the Ancient Artists, but he

+moved about from group to group, dispensed

+ices, and exchanged artistic jargon

+with a greater grace than was at the

+command of that entire august body.

+By some subtle means, peculiarly his

+own, he managed to convey to many

+the erroneous idea that he was in some

+indefinite way connected with the obvious

+success of this soirée; and several stout

+ladies went so far as to thank him, later

+on, for a pleasant evening, which gratitude

+he graciously and deprecatingly

+disowned in such a way as to make it

+appear his due.  The pleasant evening

+had been in most cases spent between a

+nervous concern as to the effect produced

+by personal and filial adornment, and

+an ill-disguised contempt for common

+women who flaunt titles and diamonds

+(both uncoveted) in the faces of their

+superiors, possessing neither.  But we

+men cannot be expected to understand

+those things.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Chiefly was William Hicks' devotion

+laid at Brenda's feet.  For her was

+reserved his sweetest smile, just tempered

+with that suggestion of poetic pathos

+which he knew well how to sprinkle over

+his mirth.  To her ear was retailed the

+very latest witticism, culled from the

+brain of some other man, and skilfully

+reproduced, not as a cutting, but as a

+modest seedling.  To her side he

+returned most often, and over her chair

+stooped most markedly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It has been hinted already that Hicks,

+with all his talents and mental gifts, was

+not an observant man.  In certain small

+diplomacies of social life he was no

+match for the quiet-faced girl whom

+he was pleased to honour this evening

+with his conspicuous attention.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She was miserably anxious, but she

+hid it from him; and he talked on, quite

+ignorant of the fact that she was in no

+manner heeding his words.  Her quick,

+acquired smile was ready enough; when

+an answer was required, she was equal to

+the occasion.  Ah! these social agonies!

+There is a sort of pride in enduring

+them with cheerful stoicism.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I am glad,' murmured Hicks, with a

+deprecating smile, 'that my mother

+succeeded in dragging you here.  It is a

+sort of intellectual treat for me.  We

+painters are so incurably shoppy in our

+talk, that it is really a relief to have you

+at my mercy&mdash;so to speak.  This is a

+success, is it not?  There are a great

+many celebrities in the room.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Indeed?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes; and I always feel a slight

+difference in the atmosphere when there is

+someone present with a name one likes

+to hear.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He looked round the room with

+glistening eye and delicate nostrils

+slightly distended, as if sniffing his native

+atmosphere of Fame.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'One can generally recognise a celebrated

+man or woman, I think,' he continued.

+'There is an indefinite feeling

+of power&mdash;a strength of individuality

+which seems to hover round them like

+an invisible halo.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Ye-es,' murmured Brenda vaguely.

+A moment later she was conscious of

+having looked round the room as if in

+search of halos, and wondered

+uncomfortably whether her companion had

+seen the movement.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Then a stout lady, with a very dark

+complexion, suddenly raised an exquisite

+voice, and a complete silence acknowledged

+its power instantaneously.  It

+was a quaint old song, with words that

+might have had no meaning whatever,

+beyond trite regrets for days that could

+never come again, had they been sung

+with less feeling&mdash;less true human

+sympathy.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda literally writhed beneath the

+flood of harmony.  She tried not to

+listen&mdash;tried vainly to look round her and

+think cynical thoughts about the hollow

+shams of society, but some specially

+deep and tender note would reach her

+heart, despite the wall of worldliness

+that she had built around it.  It would

+seem that that stout cheery woman

+could see through the smiles, through

+the affected masks, and penetrate to the

+heart, which is never quite safe from the

+sudden onslaught of youthful memories

+surviving still, youthful hopes since

+crushed, and youthful weaknesses never

+healed.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda looked round the room with a

+semi-interested little smile (such as we

+see in church sometimes when a preacher

+has got well hold of his audience), and

+suddenly her face grew white, her

+breath seemed to catch, and for some

+seconds there was no motion of her

+throat or bosom.  Respiration seemed

+to be arrested.  With an effort she

+recovered herself, and a great sigh of relief

+filled her breast.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Among a number of men beneath the

+curtained doorway she had recognised

+an upright sturdy form, beside which

+the narrower shoulders and sunken chests

+of poetic and artistic celebrities seemed

+to shrink into insignificance.  The way

+in which this man carried his head

+distinguished him at once from those

+around him.  He was of quite a different

+stamp from his companions, most of

+whom depended upon some peculiarity

+of dress or hair to distinguish them

+from the very ordinary ruck of young men.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Across that vast room Trist's eyes met

+Brenda's, and although his calm face

+changed in no way, betrayed by no

+slightest tremor that he had come with

+the wild hope of meeting her, his lips

+moved.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Thank God, I have done it!' he

+muttered, beneath the whirl of polite

+applause that greeted the stout lady's

+elephantine bow.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At the other end of the room Hicks

+noticed with some surprise that Brenda

+drew her watch from her belt, and

+consulted it with particular attention.  She

+was counting the number of hours since

+she had last seen Theodore Trist, with

+signs of travel still visible on his dress

+and person, just starting off on a new

+journey, without rest or respite.  It was

+now midnight.  She had never thought

+that he would return the same night&mdash;in

+fact, she was sure that he had not

+intended to do so.  And here he was&mdash;calm,

+thoughtful, almost too cool as

+usual, without sign of fatigue or suggestion

+of hurry.  His dress was faultless,

+his appearance and demeanour politely

+indifferent.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I hope,' said Hicks meaningly, 'that

+you are not growing weary.  It is early yet.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He looked round the room, with a

+pleasant nod for an acquaintance here

+and there whom he had not seen before.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Oh no,' said Brenda lightly in reply.

+'I just happened to wonder what the

+time might be.  I hope it was not rude.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He laughed forgivingly, still looking

+about him.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Ah!' he exclaimed in an altered tone.

+'Is that not Trist?  Dear old Theo Trist!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda had apparently followed the

+direction indicated by her companion's

+gaze, and was now looking towards the

+new-comer with an inimitable little

+smile which completely quashed all

+attempts to divine whether she were

+surprised, or pleased, or politely

+interested.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist was making his way slowly

+across the room, exchanging greetings

+here and there.  Brenda, in her keen

+observant way, conceived a sudden idea

+that his manner was not quite natural.

+Although of a kindly spirit, Trist was

+not a genial man with a smile full of

+affection for the merest acquaintance;

+and the girl, in some vague way, felt

+that he was shaking hands with men

+and women who were profoundly indifferent

+to him.  Indeed, he seemed to

+go out of his way to do so.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'When did you get home?' she heard

+someone ask him; and the reply was

+delivered in clear tones, audible at a

+greater distance than Trist's voice usually

+was, as if with intention.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'This afternoon,' he said.  'Only this

+afternoon.  I landed at Plymouth this

+morning.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The next moment he was standing

+before her with his brown face bowed,

+his hand extended.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'You see, Brenda,' he said, 'I have

+turned up again.  A veritable dove

+without the leaf in my mouth.  I am

+an emblem of peace.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Instinctively, and without knowing

+her motive, she answered in the same

+way, conscious that it was his wish.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I am very glad to see you back,' she said.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Then he turned to Hicks, and shook

+hands with more warmth than that

+ethereal being had expected.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'You see, Hicks,' he said, 'I cannot

+resist flying at once to pay my respects

+at the shrine of Art&mdash;only arrived in

+London this afternoon, and here I am in

+full war-paint, with a flower in my coat

+and my heart in my eyes.  What pictures

+have I to admire?  You may as well tell me.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Hicks laughed in his semi-sad way,

+and mentioned a few pictures of note,

+which were carefully remembered by his

+hearer.  Then Trist turned to Brenda

+and offered her his arm.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Will you come,' he said, 'and have

+some tea or an ice, or something?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda appeared to hesitate for a

+moment, then gave in with that reluctant

+alacrity which is to be observed when a

+lady is making a sacrifice of her own

+inclination.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+As they moved away together through

+the crowded room there was a sudden

+hush, and succeeding it a louder buzz

+of expectant conversation.  Trist looked

+over the heads of the people towards the

+little flower-bedecked platform at the

+end of the room.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Ah!' he said; 'Crozier is going to

+sing.  Shall we wait?  It is a pity to

+miss Sam Crozier.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Nevertheless he made no attempt to

+stop, and they passed through the doorway

+into a smaller gallery, which was

+almost deserted.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I am in luck to-night; everything I

+have attempted has been a success.  So

+we shall probably find the refreshment-room

+empty.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She laughed in a nervous way, and her

+touch upon his arm wavered.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'We must run the risk,' he continued,

+'of being talked about; but I must see

+you alone for a few minutes.  It is strange,

+Brenda, that we are always getting into

+hot water together.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Oh!' she said indifferently, 'the

+risk is not very great.  People do not

+talk much about me.  Alice possesses

+that unfortunate monopoly in our family.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'That is why I must see you.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes, ... I know.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+They had passed through the smaller

+room and out of it into a brilliant

+corridor, whence a broad flight of stairs

+led up to the refreshment-room.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'There is a sofa half-way up the

+stairs,' said Trist.  'It is a good position,

+quite out of earshot, and very visible&mdash;therefore

+harmless; let us occupy it!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When they were seated, Brenda leant

+back with that air of grave attention

+which was peculiarly hers, and which, I

+venture to think, is rarely met with in

+women.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'When,' said Trist in a smooth and

+even tone, 'I got back to town, I figuratively

+tore my hair, and said to myself:

+"Where shall I find Brenda&mdash;where

+shall I find Brenda to-night?"  I took a

+hansom back to my rooms, changed, and

+then drove to Suffolk Mansions.

+Mrs. Wylie told me where you were; I

+gave chase, and ... and I caught you.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The girl turned her face slightly, and

+her childlike blue eyes sought his with a

+quaint air of scrutiny.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'When,' she said, 'you left Suffolk

+Mansions this afternoon with Alice, you

+had no intention of returning to London

+to-night.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There was no mistaking the deliberation

+of her assertion.  She was defying

+him&mdash;daring him to deny.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He met her glance for a moment&mdash;no longer.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'That,' he confessed airily, after a

+pause, 'is so!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'And,' continued the girl with more

+confidence, 'since that time your views

+respecting Alice have become modified

+or changed in some way, perhaps?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He moved with some uneasiness, and

+appeared particularly wishful to avoid

+encountering her frank gaze.  He clasped

+his two hands around his raised knee,

+and stared at the carpet with a

+non-committing silence which was almost

+Oriental in its density.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Brenda,' he whispered at length, 'I

+have had an awful scare!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She drew in a deep breath with a

+little shivering sound, and moistened her

+lips&mdash;first the lower, and then the upper.

+There was a momentary gleam of short,

+pearly teeth, and the red Cupid's-bow of

+her mouth reassumed its usual contour of

+demure self-reliance.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There was a long pause, during which

+the faint echo of distant applause came

+to their ears.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I wonder,' said the girl at length,

+'how many men would have taken as

+much trouble as you have taken to-night

+for the sake of such a trifling affair as a

+woman's good name?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+A dull red colour slowly mounted

+over her white throat to her face&mdash;a

+painful blush of intense shame, which

+she was too proud to attempt to hide.

+The deliberation with which she spoke

+the words, and then held up her burning

+face that he might see, had he wished,

+was very characteristic.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist himself changed colour, and his

+firm lips opened as if he were about to

+reply hastily.  He checked himself, however,

+and they sat through several painful

+moments without motion.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+During that time their two souls

+merged, as it were, into a complete

+understanding&mdash;so entire, so perfect and

+faithful, that no spoken words could ever

+have brought its semblance into existence.

+He knew that his painful task was now

+finished, that Brenda now understood his

+reason for coming back to London at

+once.  Moreover, he was aware that she

+had divined the cause of his sudden geniality

+on first arriving at the soirée, and

+there was no need to tell her that all

+London could now find out, if it pleased,

+that the war-correspondent, Theodore

+Trist, had arrived home from the East

+that afternoon, and was seen by many

+in the evening at a public place of

+entertainment.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+But Brenda was not content with

+divination of motives.  It was her evil

+habit to proceed to analysis, and in this

+pastime she made a mistake.  Trist's

+motive in running away, as it were, from

+the dangerous proximity of a desperate

+and beautiful woman was clear; and

+although a large majority of men would,

+under the circumstances, have had the

+generosity to do the same, she was pleased

+to consider this act a most wondrous

+thing&mdash;her reason for doing so being

+that she was convinced that Trist loved

+her sister with all the cruel and taciturn

+strength of his nature.  This was an

+utter mistake, and Theo Trist was

+unaware of its existence.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Ah! these little mistakes!  We spend

+a small portion of our lives in making

+them, and the rest in trying to repair.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Give me,' said Brenda, 'her address,

+and I will go to her to-morrow.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'She is at the Castle Hotel, Burgh

+Ferry, Suffolk.  There is a train from

+Liverpool Street Station leaving at ten

+o'clock to-morrow for Burgh Station,

+which is four miles from Burgh Ferry.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I have heard of the place,' said Brenda

+composedly.  'Have you been there and

+back this evening?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes.  I just had time to install Alice

+comfortably in the hotel, which is really

+nothing more than an inn, and is the

+largest house in the village.  I have a

+list for you&mdash;here it is&mdash;of things that

+Alice would like you to take to her to-morrow.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda took the paper and glanced at

+it rapidly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'It is a long one,' she said with a short,

+hard laugh.  'Is she quite resigned to

+burying herself alive for a short time?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Ye&mdash;es....  I put things rather

+strongly.  She has consented to

+communicate with her husband through

+Mrs. Wylie, with the view of coming to some

+sort of agreement.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The girl drew a sharp breath of relief.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'There ... were ... a good many

+tears,' added Trist rather unevenly.  'I

+would suggest a good supply of books,'

+he said a moment later in a practical way.

+'It is a dreadfully dull little place (which

+makes it safer), and too much thinking

+is hardly desirable at the present time.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'It is questionable whether much

+thinking is profitable at any time.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist looked at her in a curious, doubtful

+way, and then he rose from his seat.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I will take you home now,' he said,

+'if you are ready.  It is nearly one

+o'clock.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She rose a little wearily, and, lifting

+her gloved hand, skirmished deftly over

+her hair in order to make sure that it

+had not become deranged.  He noted

+the curve of her white arm, and the

+quick play of her fingers, while he stood

+erect and motionless, waiting.  No passing

+light of emotion was visible in his

+eyes, which possessed a strange, unreflective

+power of observation.  That round

+white arm was looked upon as a beautiful

+thing, and nothing more.  And she was

+a trifle weary.  Her face betrayed no

+sign of mental or natural anxiety.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Then she took his arm, and they

+passed down the splendid stairs together.

+Co-heirs to a truly human inheritance of

+sorrow, they bore their burden without

+complaint or murmur, with a self-reliance

+behoving children of an acute civilization.

+For civilization will in time kill all human

+sympathy.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I will go home with you,' said Trist,

+'because some precautions are necessary

+in order to escape observation on your

+journey to-morrow, and I have several

+suggestions to make.'

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap09"></a></p>

+

+<h3>

+CHAPTER IX.

+<br><br>

+IN CASE OF WAR.

+</h3>

+

+<p>

+As the winter settled over Europe&mdash;here

+with gloom and fog, there with bright

+keen frosts and dazzling snow&mdash;the feeling

+of anxiety respecting affairs in the

+East slowly subsided.  The general

+conviction was that Russia would not move

+against her hereditary Moslem enemy

+until the winter was over; for even

+hatred, sturdy weed though it may be, is

+killed by cold.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Theodore Trist, fresh from those

+mysterious Oriental lands which are so

+much more romantic from a distance,

+gave no opinion upon the matter, because

+he was a practical business-man, and

+fully aware of the market value of his

+observations.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+By ten o'clock on the morning following

+the soirée of the Ancient Artists, he

+alighted from a hansom cab opposite

+the huge office of the journal to which

+his pen was pledged.  A few moments

+later he was shaking hands uneffusively

+with the editor.  This gentleman has

+been introduced before, and men at his

+age change little in appearance or habit.

+His vast head was roughly picturesque

+as usual, his speech manly and to the point.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Glad to see you back,' he said, in a

+business-like way.  'Sit down.  None

+the worse, I hope?' he added, in a softer

+tone, and accompanied his observation

+with a keen glance.  'None the worse

+for the smell of powder again?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No,' was the answer.  'That smell

+never did any man much harm.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The editor smiled, and drew some

+straggling papers together upon his desk.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I want,' said Trist, after a pause, 'to

+make a lot of money.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Ah!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Enough,' continued Trist gravely,

+'to put into something secure, and ensure

+a steady income in the piping times

+of peace.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The editor clasped his large hands

+gravely with fingers interlocked, and

+placed them on the desk in front of him.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'That,' he said, with raised eyebrows,

+'is bad.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'But natural,' suggested the younger man.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'When a man of your age suddenly

+expresses a desire for something

+which...'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'He has never had,' remarked Trist

+meekly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Which he has never had or wished

+for, it is suggestive of a change&mdash;a

+radical change&mdash;in that man's plan of

+life.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist raised his square shoulders

+slightly and respectfully.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Now,' continued the editor, in his

+most solid and convincing way,

+'you&mdash;Theodore Trist&mdash;are the most brilliant

+war-correspondent of a brilliant and war-like

+generation.  You are, besides that, a

+clever fellow&mdash;perhaps an <i>exceptionally</i>

+clever fellow.  But, my friend, there are

+many clever fellows in the world.  It is

+an age of keen competition, and the first

+man in the race must never look back to

+see whose step it is that he hears behind

+him.  We live in a time of specialities,

+and we must be content with specialities.

+You are a born war-correspondent, and I

+suppose your ambition is to prove that

+you can do something else&mdash;write a

+novel, or edit a religious periodical&mdash;eh?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist laughed, and returned the gaze

+of a pair of remarkably bright eyes

+without hesitation.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No,' he answered.  'I am content

+with the mark I have made, but there is

+not sufficient money to be gained at it,

+considering how much it takes out of a

+man.  I am as strong as a horse yet, but

+I have noticed that there are some of us

+who, considering their years, are not the

+men they should be.  It is a desperately

+hard life, and we are constantly required.

+If I live ten years longer, I shall be laid

+on the shelf, as far as active service goes.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The editor looked much relieved, and,

+moreover, made no pretence of concealing

+his feelings.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I have thought of that,' he said.

+'Of course, we will take you on the

+editorial staff.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Now...?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The elder man raised his head, and

+the kindly gray eyes searched his

+companion's face.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Ah!' he said slowly.  '<i>That</i> is your

+game.  Have you lost your nerve?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Then you contemplate some great

+change in your plan of life.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Hardly,' returned Trist, with some

+deliberation; 'but I want to be prepared

+for such an emergency.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I am very sorry to hear it.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Why?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Because you are too young yet.  And

+... and, my boy, I don't want to lose

+the best war-correspondent that ever

+crossed a saddle.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The object of this honest flattery

+shrugged his shoulders.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'There are plenty more coming on.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The great man shook his head.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Do you mean to tell me,' he asked,

+'that you are going to turn your back

+upon a splendid career, and take up

+journalism?  Why, my dear fellow, even at

+my age I would willingly change my

+chair for your saddle, and men say that

+I am at the top of the journalistic tree.

+Come, be candid; why are you giving

+up active service?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Because I am wanted at home, and

+because I must find some means of

+making a steady income.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Will you take my advice?' asked the

+elder man humbly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+They were like two friendly gladiators,

+these immovable journalists, each

+conscious of the strength that lay behind

+the gentle manner of the other, both

+anxious to avoid measuring steel.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist laughed good-humouredly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I will not promise.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No; that would be asking too much

+from a man who has made his own way

+with his own hands.  My advice is: do

+nothing until the necessity arises.  At

+the first rumour of war we will talk this

+over again.  In the meantime, let us

+wait on events.  You will write your

+leaders as usual, and I suppose you

+are busy with something in book form?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'If,' answered Trist, 'there is war in

+Turkey, I will go, because I told you

+that I would, but that will be my last

+campaign.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The editor looked at him with kindly

+scrutiny; then he scratched his chin.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Why?' he asked deliberately, and

+with a consciousness of exceeding the

+bounds of polite non-interference.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I cannot tell you&mdash;yet.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There was a slight pause, during

+which neither moved, and the stillness

+in that little room which lay in the

+very heart of restless London was

+remarkable.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The editor looked very grave.  There

+were no papers on his desk requiring

+immediate attention, but he held his

+pencil within his strong fingers ready,

+as it were, to add his notes to any news

+that might come before him.  The

+responsibility of a great journalist is only

+second to that of a Prime Minister in a

+country like England, where the voice

+of the people is heard and obeyed.  Had

+this man turned his attention to politics,

+he would perhaps have attained the

+Premiership; but he was a journalist,

+and from that small silent room his

+fiats went forth to the ready ears of

+half a nation.  Few men read more

+than one newspaper, and we have not

+yet got over the weakness of attaching

+undue importance to words that are set

+in type; consequently the influence of an

+important journal over the mind of the

+nation to which it dictates is practically

+incalculable.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'You know,' said this modern Jove at

+length, 'as well as I do that there <i>will</i>

+be war as soon as the winter is over.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In completion of his remark he nodded

+his vast head sideways, vaguely

+indicating the East.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes,' was the meek answer; 'that is

+so&mdash;a war which will begin in a one-sided

+way, and last longer than we quite

+expect; but I will go.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I fancy,' remarked the editor after

+some reflection, 'that Russia will make

+a very common mistake, and underrate,

+or perhaps despise, her adversary.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist nodded his head.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'They are sure to do that,' he said;

+'but I suppose they will win in the end.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'And you will be on the losing side again.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes; I shall be on the losing side again.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Both men relapsed into profound

+meditation.  Trist's meek eyes were fixed

+on the soft Turkey carpet&mdash;the only

+suggestion of ease or luxury about the room.

+The editor glanced from time to time

+at his companion's strong face, and

+occupied himself with making small indentations

+in his blotting-pad with the point

+of a blacklead pencil.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Trist,' he said at length, 'I cannot

+do without you in this war.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'The war has not come yet.  Many

+things may happen before the spring;

+but I will not play you false.  You need

+never fear that.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Then he rose and buttoned his thick

+coat; for, like all great travellers, he

+wrapped himself up heavily in England.

+It is only very young and quite

+inexperienced men who gather satisfaction

+from the bravado of wearing no top-coat

+in winter.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Good-bye,' he said; 'I must go up

+to the publishers.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Good-bye,' replied the editor heartily;

+'look in whenever you are passing.  I

+hope to see you one night soon at the

+Homeless Club; they are going to give

+you a dinner, I believe.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes; I heard something of it.  It is

+very good of them, but embarrassing,

+and not strictly necessary.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist passed out of the small room

+into a long passage, and thence into

+what was technically called the shop&mdash;a

+large apartment, across which stretched

+a heavily-built deal counter, and of

+which the atmosphere was warm with

+the intellectual odour of printing-ink.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The door-keeper, who persisted, in

+face of contradiction, in his conviction

+that Mr. Trist was a soldier, drew himself

+stiffly up and saluted as he held open

+the swing-door.  It was one of those

+cold blustering days which come in early

+November.  A dry biting south-east

+wind howled round every corner, and

+disfigured most physiognomies with

+patches of red, more especially in the

+nasal regions.  Nevertheless, the air was

+clear and brisk&mdash;just the day to kill

+weak folks and make strong people feel

+stronger.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+With his gloved hands buried in the

+pockets of his thick coat, the

+war-correspondent wandered along the crowded

+pavement of the Strand, rubbing shoulders

+with beggar and genius indifferently.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He was not a man much given to

+useless reflections or observations upon

+matters climatic, and so absorbed was he

+in his thoughts that he would have been

+profoundly surprised to learn that a biting

+east wind was withering up humanity.

+He looked into the shops, and presently

+became really interested in a display of

+rifles exposed in the unpretending window

+of a small establishment.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It is strange how the sight of those

+tools or instruments with which we have

+at one time worked for our living affects

+us.  The present writer has seen an old

+soldier handle a bayonet in a curious

+reflective way which could not be

+misunderstood.  The ancient warrior's face,

+in some subtle sense, became hardened,

+and his manner changed.  I myself grasp

+a rope differently from men who have

+never trodden a moss-grown deck, and

+the curve of the hard strands within my

+fingers tells a tale of its own, and brings

+back, suddenly, ineffaceable pictures of

+the great seas.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Theodore Trist stood still before the

+upright burnished barrels which the poet

+has likened to organ-pipes, and to his

+mind there came the memory of their

+music, and the roar of traffic round him

+was almost merged into the grand, deep

+voice of cannon.  It is in the midst of

+death that men realize fully the glorious

+gift of life, and those who have known

+the delirious joy of battle&mdash;have once

+tasted, as it were, the cup of life's

+greatest emotion&mdash;are aware that nothing

+but a battle-field can bring that maddening

+taste to their lips again.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+This contemplative man breathed harder

+and deeper as his eyes rested on lock and

+barrel, and for some time he stood hearing

+nothing round him, seeing nothing

+but the instruments of death.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes,' he murmured as he turned away

+at length.  'I <i>must</i> go to the Russian

+war.  <i>One</i> more campaign, and then

+... then who knows?'

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap10"></a></p>

+

+<h3>

+CHAPTER X.

+<br><br>

+A PROBLEM.

+</h3>

+

+<p>

+Brenda left Mrs. Wylie at eleven o'clock,

+merely walking away from the door of

+Suffolk Mansions without wrap or

+luggage.  She did not know whether she

+was being watched or no, but her plans

+were so simple, and yet so cunning, that

+the question gave her little trouble.

+Detection was impossible.  Trist had

+seen to that, and his strategy had been

+the subject of some subdued laughter the

+night before, because Brenda complained

+that she felt like an army.  He had

+unconsciously dictated to her, in his soft,

+suggestive way, and so complete were his

+instructions, so abject the obedience

+demanded, that there was some cause for

+her laughing dissatisfaction.  With

+intelligence, education, experience, reading,

+and money it is no difficult matter to

+evade the closest watcher, and Trist was

+not at all afraid of such means as lay at

+Captain Huston's disposal for tracing the

+hiding-place of his wife.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When Mrs. Wylie found herself left

+alone, she proceeded placidly to await

+further events.  She was convinced that,

+sooner or later, the husband of her

+protégée would appear.  Whether this

+questionable honour would be conferred

+with bluster and righteous indignation,

+or with abject self-abuse, remained to be

+seen.  Neither prospect appeared to have

+the power of ruffling the lady's serene

+humour.  The morning newspaper received

+its usual attention, and subsequently

+there were some new books to

+be cut and glanced at.  Lunch had

+already been ordered&mdash;lunch for two,

+and something rather nice, because Theo

+Trist had invited himself to partake of

+the lone widow's hospitality.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In her small way, Mrs. Wylie was

+likely to pass an eventful day, but the

+thought of it in nowise took away her

+interest in December's <i>Temple Bar</i>.  She

+was one of those happy and lovable

+women who are not in the habit of adding

+to their grievances by anticipating

+them; for it is an undeniable fact that

+sorrows as well as joys are exaggerated

+by anticipation.  Personally, I much

+prefer going out to get my hair cut as

+soon as ever I realize the necessity.  It

+is a mistake to put off the operation,

+because the scissors seem to hang over

+one's luxuriant locks with a fiendish click

+during the stilly hours.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+About twelve o'clock there was a

+knock at the door which shut off Mrs. Wylie's

+comfortable suite of rooms from

+the rest of the house.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Ah!' murmured the occupant of the

+drawing-room.  'Our violent friend.

+Twelve o'clock: I must get him out

+of the house before Theo arrives.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She leant back and tapped the pages

+of her magazine pensively with an ivory

+paper-cutter, while her eyes rested on the

+door.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In the course of a few moments there

+was audible the sound of murmuring

+voices, followed shortly by footsteps.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The door was thrown open, and

+William Hicks made a graceful <i>entrée</i>,

+finished, as it were, by the delicately-tinted

+flower he carried in his gloved

+fingers.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie rose at once with a most

+reprehensively deceitful smile of welcome.

+She devoutly wished William Hicks in

+other parts as she offered her plump

+white hand to his grasp.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The artist, with passable dissimulation,

+glanced round the room.  No sign or

+vestige of Brenda!  The rose was deftly

+dropped into his hat and set aside.  It

+had cost two shillings.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Ah!  Mrs. Wylie,' he exclaimed, 'I

+was half afraid you would be out shopping.

+The wind is simply excruciating.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Then warm yourself at once.  I am

+afraid I am alone.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Hicks was, in his way, a bold man.

+He relied thoroughly upon a virtue of

+his own which he was pleased to call

+tact&mdash;others said its right name was 'cheek.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Afraid!' he said reproachfully, and

+with an inquiring smile.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes&mdash;the girls are out.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He laughed in a pleasant deprecating

+way, and held his slim hands towards the fire.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'How absurd you are!' he said.  'I

+merely ran in to ask if a lace handkerchief

+I found last night belonged to Miss

+Gilholme.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He began to fumble in his pockets

+without any great design of finding the

+handkerchief.  Mrs. Wylie spared him

+the trouble of going farther.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Bring it another time,' she said.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She knew the handkerchief trick well.

+It is very simple, my brother: pick up a

+lace trifle anywhere about the ballroom,

+and with a slight draft upon your

+imagination, you have a graceful excuse

+to call at any house you may desire the

+next afternoon.  If there is not one to be

+found, one can easily buy such a thing,

+and it serves for years.  No young man

+is complete without it.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+For some minutes William Hicks

+talked airily about the soirée of the

+Ancient Artists, throwing in here and

+there, in his pleasant way, a blast upon

+his individual instrument, of which

+the note was wearily familiar to his

+listener.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At last, however, he let fall an

+observation which made Mrs. Wylie forgive

+him, 'à un coup,' his early call.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I met,' he said casually, 'that fellow

+... Huston this morning.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie laid aside the paper-knife

+with which she had been trifling.  The

+action scarce required a moment of time,

+but in that moment she had collected

+her faculties, and was ready for him with

+all the alertness of her sex.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Ah!  What news had he?' she inquired suavely.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Oh, nothing much.  We scarcely

+spoke&mdash;indeed, I don't believe he

+recognised me at first.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie raised her eyebrows in

+astonishment.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'He came yesterday,' she said, 'to get

+his wife; and Brenda has gone away,

+too, so I am all alone for a few days.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+This was artistic, and the good lady

+was mentally patting herself on the back

+as she met Hicks's glance, in which

+disappointment and utter amazement were

+struggling for mastery.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I do not think,' continued she calmly,

+'that I shall stay in town much longer.

+I am expecting a houseful of quiet

+people&mdash;waifs and strays&mdash;at Wyl's Hall at

+Christmas, so must really think of going

+home.  But I will call on your mother

+before going.  Give her my love and tell

+her so.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+William Hicks was not the man to

+make a social blunder.  He rose at

+once, and said 'Good-morning,' with his

+sweetest smile.  Then he bowed himself

+out of the room, taking the two-shilling

+rose with him.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie reseated herself, and withheld

+her sigh of relief until the door had

+closed.  She then took up her book

+again, but presently closed its pages over

+her fingers, and lapsed into thought.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'That young man,' she reflected, 'is

+finding his own level.  He may give

+trouble yet; but Brenda goes serenely on

+her way, quite unconscious of all these

+little games at cross-purposes of which

+she is the centre.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The good lady's reflections continued

+in this vein.  She leant back with that

+pleasant sense of comfort which was

+almost feline in its supple grace.  Her

+eyes contracted at times with a vague

+far-off anxiety&mdash;the reflex, as it were, of

+the sorrows of others upon her own

+placid life, from which all direct

+emotions were weeded now.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When, at length, the sound of a bell

+awoke her from these day-dreams, she

+rose and arranged the cheery fireplace

+with a sudden access of energy.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I wonder,' she murmured, without

+emotion, 'who is coming now.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+With a glance round the room to see

+that her stage was prepared, she reseated

+herself.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Again the door opened, and this time

+the new arrival did not hurry into the

+room, but stood upon the threshold

+waiting.  Mrs. Wylie looked up with

+a pleasant expectancy.  It was Captain

+Huston.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The soldier glanced round the room

+uneasily, and then he advanced towards

+the fire without attempting any sort of

+greeting.  Mrs. Wylie remained in her

+deep chair, and as the Captain came

+towards her, she watched him.  His

+unsteady hands gave his hat no rest.

+Taking his stand on the hearthrug, he

+began at once in a husky voice.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I have come to you, Mrs. Wylie,' he

+said, 'because I suspect that you know

+where Alice is to be found.  This game

+of hide-and-seek to which she is treating

+me is hardly dignified, and it is distinctly

+senseless.  If I choose to take decided steps

+in the matter, I can, of course, have her

+hunted down like a common malefactor.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He spread his gaitered feet apart, and

+waited with confidence the result of this

+shot.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'In the meantime,' suggested Mrs. Wylie,

+with unruffled sweetness, 'it is

+really, perhaps, wiser that you should

+remain apart.  I sincerely trust that this

+is a mere temporary misunderstanding.

+You are both young, and, I suppose,

+both hasty.  Think over it, Captain

+Huston, and do not press matters too

+much.  If, in a short time, you approach

+Alice with a few kind little apologies, I

+believe she would relent.  You must

+really be less hard on us women&mdash;make

+some allowance for our more tender

+nerves and silly susceptibilities.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+By way of reply, he laughed in a

+rasping way, without, however, being

+actually rude.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I have an indistinct recollection of

+having heard that before,' he observed,

+with forced cynicism, 'or something of

+a similar nature.  The kind little

+apologies you mention are due to me as much

+as they are to Alice.  Of course, she has

+omitted to draw your attention to sundry

+little flirtations...'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The widow stopped him with a quick

+gesture of disgust.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I refuse,' she said deliberately, 'to

+listen to details.  Alice will tell you that

+I treated her in the same way.  These

+matters, Captain Huston, should be

+sacred between husband and wife.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Well, I suppose you have Alice's

+story through Brenda?  It comes to the

+same thing.  I can see you are prejudiced

+against me.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie smiled patiently, with a

+suggestion of sympathy, which her

+companion seemed to appreciate.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'The world,' she said, 'is sure to be

+prejudiced against you in the present

+case.  You must remember that the

+moral code is different for a pretty

+woman than for the rest of us.  Moreover,

+the husband is blamed in preference,

+because people attribute the

+original mistake of marrying to him.  I

+don't say that men are always to blame

+for mistaken marriages, but the initiative

+is popularly supposed to lie in their

+hands.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Captain Huston tugged at his drooping

+moustache pensively.  He walked

+to the window, with the assurance of one

+who knew his way amidst the furniture,

+and stood for some time looking down

+into the street.  Presently he returned,

+avoiding Mrs. Wylie's eyes; but she saw

+his face, and her own grew suddenly

+very sympathetic.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He played nervously with the ornaments

+upon the mantelpiece for some

+moments, deeply immersed in thought.

+There was a chair drawn forward to the

+fire, at the opposite end of the fur

+hearthrug to that occupied by Mrs. Wylie.

+This he took, sitting hopelessly

+with his idle hands hanging at either side.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'What am I to do?' he asked, half cynically.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Before replying, the widow looked at

+him&mdash;gauging him.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Do you really mean that?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Of course&mdash;I am helpless.  A man

+is no match for three women.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'To begin with, you must have more

+faith in other people.  In myself

+... Brenda ... Theo Trist.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The last name was uttered with some

+significance.  Its effect was startling.

+Huston's bloodshot eyes flashed angrily,

+his limp fingers clenched and writhed

+until the skin gave forth a creaking

+sound as of dry leather.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'D&mdash;n Trist!' he exclaimed.  'I will

+shoot him if he comes across my path!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie did not shriek or faint, as

+ladies are usually supposed to do when

+men give way to violent language in

+their presence.  But there came into her

+eyes a slight passing shade of anxiety,

+which she suppressed with an effort.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'But first of all,' she said, 'you must

+learn to restrain yourself.  You must

+understand that bluster of any description

+is quite useless against myself or

+Theo.  Alice may be afraid, but Brenda

+is not; and with Alice fear is closely

+linked with disgust.  Do not forget that.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She spoke quite calmly, with a force

+which a casual observer would not have

+anticipated.  In her eagerness she leant

+forward, with a warning hand outstretched.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'And,' he muttered, 'I suppose I am

+to suppress all my feelings, and go about

+the world like a marble statue.  It seems

+to me that that fellow Trist leaves his

+impression on you all.  His doctrine is

+imperturbability at any price.  It isn't mine!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Nor mine, Captain Huston.  All I

+preach is a little more restraint.  Theo

+goes too far, and his reticence leads to

+mistakes.  You have been misled.  You

+think that ... your wife and Theo

+Trist ... love each other.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The soldier looked at her steadily, his

+weak nether lip quivering with excitement.

+Then he slowly nodded his head.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'That&mdash;is my impression.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie evinced no hurry, no

+eagerness now.  She had difficult cards,

+and her full attention was given to

+playing them skilfully.  She leant back

+again in her comfortable chair, and

+crossed her hands upon her lap.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Using primary argument,' she said

+concisely, 'and meeting opinion with

+opinion, I contend that you are

+mistaken.  I will be perfectly frank with

+you, Captain Huston, because you have

+a certain claim upon my honesty.  In

+some ways Alice is a weak woman.  It

+has been her misfortune to be brought

+up and launched upon society as a

+beauty; a man who marries such a

+woman is assuming a responsibility

+which demands special qualifications.

+Judging from what I have observed, I

+am very much afraid that you possess

+these qualifications in but a small degree.

+Do you follow me?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The man smiled in an awkward way.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes.  You were going to say, "I

+told you so."'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'That,' returned the widow, 'is a

+remark I never make, because it is

+profitless.  Moreover, it would not be true,

+because I never told you so.  Circumstances

+have in a measure been against

+you.  You could scarcely have chosen a

+more dangerous part of the world in

+which to begin your married life than

+Ceylon.  As it happens, you did not

+choose, but it was forced upon you.  In

+England we live differently.  A young

+married woman is thrown more exclusively

+upon the society of her husband;

+there is less temptation.  You will find

+it less difficult...'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Is married life to be described as a

+difficulty?' he interrupted.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mr. Wylie did not reply at once.

+She sat with placidly crossed hands

+gazing into the fire.  There was a slight

+tension in the lines of her mouth.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Life,' she replied, 'in any form, in

+any sphere, in any circumstances, <i>is</i> a

+difficulty.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+After a moment she resumed in a

+more practical tone:

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Again, Alice is scarcely the woman

+to make a soldier's wife in times of peace.

+War ... would bring out her good points.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Huston moved restlessly.  Mrs. Wylie

+turned her soft gray eyes towards his

+face, and across her sympathetic features

+there passed an expression of real pain.

+She had divined his next words before

+his lips framed them.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I am not a soldier, Mrs. Wylie.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Resigned...?' she whispered.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No; turned out.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Unconsciously she was swaying backwards

+and forwards a little, as if in lamentation,

+while she rubbed one hand over

+the other.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Drink,' continued Huston harshly;

+'... drink, and Alice drove me to it.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There was a long silence in the room

+after this.  The glowing fire creaked

+and crackled at times; occasionally a

+cinder fell with considerable clatter into

+the fender, but neither of these people

+moved.  At last Mrs. Wylie looked up.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Captain Huston,' she said pleadingly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He looked across, and saw the tears

+quivering on her lashes.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Come back to me to-morrow

+morning,' was her prayer.  'I cannot ... I

+cannot advise you yet ... because I do

+not quite understand.  Theo Trist is

+coming to lunch to-day.  Will you

+come back to-morrow?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I will,' he answered simply, and left

+the room.

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap11"></a></p>

+

+<h3>

+CHAPTER XI.

+<br><br>

+MRS. WYLIE LEADS.

+</h3>

+

+<p>

+As Theodore Trist mounted the broad

+bare staircase of Suffolk Mansions, his

+quick ears detected the sound of

+Mrs. Wylie's door being drawn forcibly to

+behind departing footsteps.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He continued his way without increase

+of speed.  The person whose descent

+was audible came slowly to meet him,

+and in a few moments they were face

+to face upon a small stone-paved landing.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Neither departed from the unwritten

+code by which Englishmen regulate

+their actions; they merely stared at

+each other.  Trist was unchanged,

+except for a slight heaviness in build&mdash;the

+additional weight, one might call

+it, of years and experience; but Huston

+was sadly altered since these two had

+met beneath a Southern sky.  Both were

+conscious of a sudden recollection of

+sandy plain and camp environments, and

+Huston changed colour slightly, or, to

+be more correct, he lost colour, and his

+eyes wavered.  He was painfully conscious

+of his disadvantage in this trifling

+matter of appearance, and he had reason

+to remember with dread the ruthless

+penetration of the calm soft eyes fixed

+upon him.  Years before he had

+suspected that Theodore Trist was

+cognizant of a trifling fact which had at

+times suggested itself to him&mdash;namely,

+that, despite braided coat and bright

+sword, despite Queen's commission and

+Sandhurst, he, Alfred Woodruff Charles

+Huston, was no soldier.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Each looked at the other with the

+hesitation of men who, meeting, recognise

+a face, and half await a greeting of

+some description.  In a moment it was

+too late, and they passed on&mdash;one

+upstairs, the other down, with unconscious

+symbolism&mdash;having exchanged nothing

+more than that expectant, hesitating

+stare of mutual recognition and mutual

+curiosity.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Each was at heart a gentleman, and

+under other circumstances, in the presence

+of a third person, or with the view of

+sparing a hostess anxiety, they would

+undoubtedly have shaken hands.  But here,

+beneath the eye of none but their God

+(who, in His wisdom, has purposely

+planted a tiny seed of divergence in our

+hearts), they saw no cause for acting that

+which could, at its best, have been

+nothing but a semi-truth.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When Trist greeted Mrs. Wylie a few

+moments later, he detected her glance of

+anxiety; but it was against his strange

+principles to take the initiative, so he

+waited until she might speak.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+After a few commonplaces dexterously

+handled, she suddenly changed

+her tone.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Theo,' she said with that abruptness

+which invariably follows after hesitation

+on the brink of a difficult subject, 'there

+was a man in this room ten minutes ago

+who announced his fixed determination

+of shooting you the very next time you

+crossed his path.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The war-correspondent shrugged his

+shoulders, and turning sharply round, he

+kicked under the grate a small smoking

+cinder which had fallen far out into the

+fender.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'That man's statements, whether in

+regard to things past or things future,

+should be accepted with caution.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Then you met him on the stairs?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes; I met him on the stairs....'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'And...'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'And he did not shoot,' said Trist

+with a short laugh as he turned and

+faced Mrs. Wylie.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Then he did a somewhat remarkable

+thing&mdash;remarkable, that is, for a man

+who never gave way to a display of the

+slightest emotion, demonstrating either

+sorrow or joy, hatred or affection.  He

+took Mrs. Wylie's two hands within his,

+and forced her to sit in the deep basket-work

+chair near the fire with its back

+towards the window.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Standing before her with his hands

+thrust into the pockets of his short serge

+jacket, he looked down at her with

+quizzical affection.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Some months ago,' he said, 'we

+made a contract; you are breaking that

+contract, unless I am very much

+mistaken.  You have allowed yourself to

+be anxious about me&mdash;is that not so?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The widow smiled bravely up into the

+grave young face.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I am afraid,' she began, '...yes, I

+am afraid you are right.  But the anxiety

+was not wholly on your account.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist turned slowly away.  The movement

+was an excess of caution, for his

+face was always impenetrable.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Ah!' he murmured.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I am very anxious about Alice and Brenda.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Ah!' he murmured again, with

+additional sympathy.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She did not proceed at once, so he

+leant back in the chair he had assumed,

+and waited with that peculiar patience

+which seemed to belong to Eastern

+lands, and which has been noticed

+before.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Theo,' she said at last, 'has it never

+struck you that your position with regard

+to those two girls is&mdash;to say the least of

+it&mdash;peculiar?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'From a social point of view?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'If,' he said in a louder tone, on his

+defence, as it were, 'I were constantly at

+home, society might have something to

+say about it.  But, as it happens, I am

+never long in London, and consequently

+fail to occupy that prominent position in

+the public esteem or dislike to which

+my talents undoubtedly entitle me.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Fortunately, gossip has not been rife

+about it.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'<i>Partly</i> by good fortune, and partly

+by good management,' corrected Trist.

+'With a little care, society is easily

+managed.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'A tiger is easily managed, but its

+humours cannot be foretold.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+This statement was allowed to pass

+unchallenged, and before the silence was

+again broken, a servant announced that

+luncheon was ready.  Mrs. Wylie led

+the way, and Trist followed.  They

+were both rather absorbed during the

+dainty repast, and conversation was less

+interesting than the parlour-maid could

+have wished.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Had Trist been less honest, he could

+have thrown off this sense of guilt which

+weighed upon him.  Like most reserved

+men, he was perhaps credited with a

+more versatile intellect than he really

+possessed.  In his special line he was

+unrivalled, but that line was essentially

+manly, and the <i>finesse</i> it required was of

+a masculine order.  That is to say, it

+was more straightforward, more honest,

+and less courageous, than the natural and

+instinctive <i>finesse</i> of a woman.  This

+vague struggle with an over-susceptible

+conscience handicapped Trist seriously

+during the <i>tête-à-tête</i> meal, and rendered

+his conversation very dull.  He was

+quite conscious of this, and the effort he

+made to remedy the defect was hardly

+successful.  Men of his type&mdash;that is,

+men of a self-contained, self-reasoning

+nature&mdash;are too ready to consider

+themselves of that heavy material which

+forms the solid background of social

+intercourse.  Their very virtues, such as

+steadfastness, coolness, complete self-reliance,

+are calculated to prevent their shining in

+conversation, or in the lighter social

+amenities.  A little conversational

+impulse is required, a gay lightness of

+touch, and an easy divergence from

+opinions previously hazarded, in order to

+please the average listener; but these

+were sadly wanting in Theodore Trist.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He was merely a strong, thoughtful

+man, who could think and reason

+quickly enough when such speed was

+necessary, but as a rule he preferred a

+slower and surer method.  He was

+ready enough to proffer an opinion when

+such was really in demand, and once

+spoken, this would change in no way.

+It was the result of thought, and he

+forbore to uphold a conviction by

+argument.  Argument and thought have

+little in common.  One is froth drifting

+before the wind, the other a deep stream

+running always.  Trist held fixed

+opinions about most things, but it was

+part of his self-reliant and self-sufficing

+nature to take no pleasure whatever in

+convincing others that the opinion was

+valuable.  If men chose to think otherwise,

+he tacitly recognised their right to do

+so, and left them in peace.  Although he

+held certain doctrines upon the better or

+worse ways of getting through the span of

+a human life creditably, he was singularly

+averse to airing them in any manner.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Now, Mrs. Wylie, in her keen

+womanliness, knew very well how to

+deal with this man.  She was quite

+aware that there was, behind his silent

+'laisser-aller,' a clearly-defined plan of

+campaign, a cut-and-dried theory or

+doctrine upon which his most trifling

+action was based.  There was an object

+aimed at, and perhaps gained, in his

+every word.  If Theodore Trist was a

+born strategist (of which I am firmly

+convinced), and carried his principles of

+warfare into the bitter strife of every-day

+existence, he had in Mrs. Wylie an ally

+or a foe, as the case might be, whose

+manœuvres were worthy of his regard.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She possessed a woman's intuitive

+judgment, brightened, as it were, and

+rendered keener, by the friction of a busy

+lifetime; and added to this, she was in

+the habit of acting more spontaneously,

+and perhaps with a greater recklessness,

+than came within Trist's mental

+compass.  These were her more womanly

+qualities, but her character had been

+influenced through many years by the

+manly, upright nature of her husband,

+and it was from him that she had acquired

+her rare doctrine of non-interference.

+In woman's weaker nature there

+is a lamentable failing to which can be

+attributed a large portion of the sorrows

+to which the sex is liable.  This is an

+utter inability to refrain from adding a

+spoke to every wheel that may roll by.

+Interference&mdash;silly, unjustifiable

+interference&mdash;in the affairs of others is woman's

+vice.  She can no more keep her fingers

+out of other people's savoury pies than a

+cat can keep away from the succulent

+products of Yarmouth.  It has been said

+by cynical people that a woman cannot

+keep a secret, but that is a mistake.  If

+it be her own, she can keep it remarkably

+well; but if it be the property of

+someone else, she appears to consider it

+as a loan which must not be allowed to

+accrue interest.  I have tried the effect

+of imparting to a woman whom it

+affected but slightly, and to a man whose

+life would be altered in some degree by

+it, a piece of news under the bond of

+secrecy&mdash;a bond which expired at a

+given date.  The man held his peace

+and went on his way through life

+unaffected, untroubled by the knowledge he

+possessed.  I studied him at moments

+when a glance or a word might have

+betrayed to observant eyes the fact that

+he was in possession of certain

+information.  He looked at me calmly, and

+with no dangerous glance of intelligence,

+subsequently talking in a manly, honest

+way which was in no degree a connivance

+at criminal suppression.  The

+date given had not yet arrived, but the

+knowledge was fresh in his mind, and he

+treated the matter in an honourable,

+business-like way.  I knew that my

+secret was buried in that man's brain as

+in a sepulchre.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The woman was uneasy.  I could see

+that the secret oppressed her.  She

+chafed at the thought that the date

+mentioned was still a long way ahead.

+She longed to talk of the matter to me,

+with a view, no doubt, of craving

+permission to tell one person, who would

+certainly not repeat it.  By glance or

+significant silence she courted betrayal;

+and at one time she even urged me to

+impart the news to a mutual friend, in

+order, I take it, to form a channel or an

+outlet for her cooped-up volume of

+thought.  Finally, I discovered that she

+had forestalled the date, by writing to

+friends at a distance, who actually

+received the letters before the day, but

+were unable to reissue the news in time

+to incriminate her.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It would appear that the same characteristic

+defect applies to the retention

+of a secret as to the restraint from

+interference.  Perhaps it is a weakness, not

+a vice.  Mrs. Wylie never sought

+confidences, as women, by nature unable to

+retain secrets, are prone to do.  Her

+doctrine of non-interference went so far

+as to embrace the small matter of passing

+details.  She placed entire reliance in

+Theodore Trist, and although his

+behaviour puzzled her, she refrained from

+asking an explanation of even the smallest

+act.  She was content that his leading

+motive could only be good, and therefore

+felt no great thirst to know the

+meaning of his minor actions.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The cynical-minded may opine that I

+am describing an impossible woman.

+The fault is due to this halting pen.  I

+once drew a woman who herself recognised

+the portrait&mdash;a critic said that

+the character was impossible and unnatural.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie was very natural and very

+womanly, after all.  She had almost

+forced Theo Trist to invite himself to

+lunch, and her anxiety respecting Alice

+and Brenda had been made clear to him

+at once.  She would not interfere; but

+she could not surely have been expected

+to refrain from suggesting to him that

+the world and the world's opinion, if of

+no value to him, could not be ignored by

+two motherless women.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She placed before him her views upon

+the matter, and then she proceeded to

+shelve the subject; but Trist failed to

+help her in this, contrary to her

+expectation.  He was distinctly dull during

+luncheon, and made no attempt to

+disguise his preoccupation.  Mrs. Wylie

+nibbled a biscuit while he was removing

+the outer rind of his cheese with absurd

+care, and waited patiently for him to say

+that which was undoubtedly on his lips.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The maid had left the room; there

+was no fear of interruption.  Trist

+continued to amuse himself for some

+moments with a minute morsel of

+Gorgonzola; then he looked up, unconsciously

+trying the temper of his knife

+upon the plate while he spoke.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I had,' he said, 'an interview with

+my chief this morning.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Ah!  Sir Edward, you mean?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes,' slowly, 'Sir Edward.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie saw that she was expected

+to ask a question in order to keep the

+ball rolling.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'What about?' she inquired pleasantly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I informed him that I proposed burying

+the hatchet.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'You are not going to give up active

+service!' exclaimed Mrs. Wylie in astonishment.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I promised to go to one more

+campaign&mdash;the Russo-Turkish&mdash;which will

+come on in the spring, and after that I

+shall follow the paths of peace.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie rolled up her table-napkin,

+and inserted it meditatively into an

+ancient silver ring several sizes too large

+for it.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I used to think,' she murmured,

+'that you would never follow the ways

+of peace.'  Then she looked across the

+table into his face with that indescribable

+contraction of the eyes which sometimes

+came even when her lips were smiling.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I am not quite sure of you now, Theo,'

+she added gently, as she rose and led the

+way towards the door.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist reached the handle before her,

+and held the door open with that

+unostentatious politeness of his which made

+him different from the general run of

+society young men.  As she passed, he

+smiled reassuringly, and said in his

+monotonous way:

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I am quite sure of myself.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Not <i>too</i> sure?' she inquired over her

+shoulder.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In the drawing-room he succumbed

+to his hostess's Bohemian persuasions, and

+lighted a cigarette.  He seemed to have

+forgotten his own affairs.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'About Alice,' he began&mdash;'que faire?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+For some reason Mrs. Wylie avoided

+meeting his glance.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I told Alfred Huston,' she replied,

+after a pause, 'that I would communicate

+with Alice, and that I had hopes of their

+living happily together yet.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Her tone was eminently practical and

+business-like.  Trist answered in the same

+way.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I told Alice,' he said cheerily, 'that

+I would ask you to communicate with

+Huston, with the view of coming to

+some definite arrangement.  Hide-and-seek

+is a slow game after a time.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'What sort of arrangement?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Well ... I suggested that he should

+agree to leave her unmolested for a

+certain time, during which she could think

+over it.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie's smile was a trifle wan

+and uncertain.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'In fact, you made the best of it?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes.  What else could I do?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The widow looked at him keenly.  It

+was hard to believe in disinterestedness

+like this; and it is a very human failing

+to doubt disinterestedness of any description.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I told Alfred Huston,' she said

+disconnectedly, 'that I trusted you to do

+your honest best for all concerned in this

+matter.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Which statement Huston politely

+declined to confirm, I should imagine.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie shrugged her shoulders.

+Denial was evidently out of the question.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Then my name was brought in?'

+asked Trist in a peculiar way.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'By whom?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'By me.  It would have been worse

+than useless, Theo, to have attempted

+ignorance of your influence over the

+girls.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+For a second time Trist avoided meeting

+his companion's glance.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I told Sir Edward,' he said, after a

+considerable space of time, 'that I must

+be allowed to remain in England for

+some time to come; it seems to me that

+I should have done better had I asked to

+be sent away on active service without

+delay.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I should hardly go so far as to say

+that, Theo,' remarked Mrs. Wylie

+placidly; 'but I think you must be

+very careful.  I only want to call your

+attention to the light in which your help

+is likely to appear in the eyes of the

+world.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'You have no...'&mdash;he hesitated

+before saying the word 'man,' but his

+listener gave a little quick nod as if to

+help him&mdash;'man to help you, except me;

+and it seems better that there should be

+someone whom you can play, as it were,

+against Huston's stronger cards&mdash;someone

+of whom he is afraid.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes,' replied the lady with an affectionate

+smile; 'I quite understand your

+meaning; and I think you are right,

+although Alfred Huston is not an

+alarming person: he is very weak.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'When he is sober,' suggested Trist

+significantly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The sailor's widow was too brave a

+woman to be frightened by this insinuation,

+of which she took absolutely no

+notice.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'And,' she continued, 'I am convinced

+that this reconciliation is more

+likely to be brought about if it is left

+entirely in my hands.  Your influence,

+however subtle, will be detected by Alfred

+Huston, and the result will be disastrous.

+Unless ... unless...'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She stopped in a vague way, and

+moved restlessly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Unless what?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Unless you go to Alfred Huston and

+convince him by some means that there

+is no love between you and Alice.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The laughter with which he greeted

+this suggestion was a masterpiece of

+easy nonchalance&mdash;deep, melodious, and

+natural; but somehow Mrs. Wylie failed

+to join in it.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No,' he said; 'that would not do.

+If Alice and I went together, and took

+all sorts of solemn affidavits, I doubt

+whether Huston would be any more

+satisfied than he is at present.  The

+only method practicable is for me to

+hold myself in reserve, while you manage

+this affair.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He had risen during this speech, and

+now held out his hand.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I have an appointment at the Army

+and Navy,' he said, 'and must ask you to

+excuse me if I run away.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie was left in her own

+drawing-room nonplussed.  She gazed at the

+door which had just closed behind her

+incomprehensible guest with mild astonishment.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'That,' she reflected, 'is the first time

+that I have seen Theo have recourse to

+retreat.'

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap12"></a></p>

+

+<h3>

+CHAPTER XII.

+<br><br>

+THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE SEA.

+</h3>

+

+<p>

+It very often happens that the so-called

+equinoctial gales are behind their time,

+and do not arrive until Night has

+undoubtedly made good her victory over

+Day.  When such is the case, we have

+a mild November, with soft south-westerly

+breezes varying in strength

+according to the lie of the land or the

+individual experience of farmer or

+townsman.  At sea it blows hard enough in

+all good sooth, and there may be watery

+eyes at the wheel or on the forecastle;

+but there are no frozen fingers aloft,

+which is in itself a mercy.  There is a

+good hearty roar through the shrouds,

+and certain parts of the deck are always

+wet, but the clear horizon and rushing

+clouds overhead are full of brave

+exhilaration.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+On land, things are dirtier, more

+especially under foot, where the leaves lose

+all their crackle and subside odorously

+into mud.  Water stands on the roadways,

+and in ruts elsewhere; and curled

+beech-leaves float thereon in vague

+navigation, half waterlogged like any foreign

+timber-ship.  The tilled land, bearing

+in its bosom seed for next year's crops,

+or merely waiting fallow, is damp and

+soft and black; men walking thereon&mdash;rustic

+or sportsman&mdash;make huge impressions,

+and carry quite a weight on either

+foot.  The trees stand bare and leafless,

+though rapid green mouldy growths

+relieve the wet monochrome of bark or

+rind.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Here, again, as at sea, the atmosphere

+is singularly gay and translucent.  Things

+afar off seem near, and new details in

+the landscape become apparent.  Any

+little bit of colour seems to gleam,

+almost to glow, and the greenness of

+the meadow is startling.  Although

+there is an autumnal odour on the

+breeze, it has no sense of melancholy.

+The clouds may be gray, but they are

+fraught with life, and one knows that

+there is brightness behind.  With motion,

+melancholy cannot live.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The effect of this soft breeziness upon

+different people is apparent to the most

+casual of observers.  It freshens sailors

+up, and they pull on their oilskins with

+a cheery pugnacity; tillers of the land

+are busy, and wonder how long it will

+last; and hunting-men (provided only

+the land be not <i>too</i> heavy) are wild with

+a joy which has no rival in times of

+peace; timid riders grow bold, and bold

+men reckless.  It is only folks who stay

+indoors that complain of depression.  For

+myself, I confess it makes me long to be

+at sea, and although I can see nothing

+but sky and chimney-pots over the

+ink-stand, the very shades of colour, of dark

+and light, are before me if I close my

+eyes.  It is a long rolling sweep of greeny

+gray, with here and there a tip of dirty

+white, and the line of horizon is hard

+and clear enough to please the veriest

+novice with the sextant.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In November, 1876, there were a few

+days of such weather as I have attempted

+to describe, and Brenda, who spent that

+time on the east coast of England, in a

+manner learnt to associate soft winds and

+clear airs with the much-maligned county

+of Suffolk.  All through the rest of her

+life, through the long aimless years

+during which she learnt to love the

+verdant plains with their bare mud

+sea-walls, she only thought of Suffolk as

+connected with and forming part of soft

+autumnal melancholy.  She never again

+listened to the wail of the sea-gull

+without involuntarily waiting for the cheery

+cry of the snipe.  Never again did she

+look on a vast plain without experiencing

+a sense of incompleteness which could

+only have been dispelled by the

+murmurous voice of the sea breaking on to

+shingle.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The human mind is strangely inconsistent

+in its reception and retention of

+impressions.  As in modern photography,

+the length of exposure seems to be of

+little consequence.  Without any tangible

+reason, and for no obvious use, certain

+incidents remain engraved upon our

+memory, while the detail of other events

+infinitely more important passes away,

+and only the result remains.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda and Alice only passed four days

+in the little hamlet selected for them by

+Theodore Trist as a safe hiding-place;

+but during that time a great new influence

+came into Brenda's soul.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She had always been sensitive to the

+beauties of Nature.  A glorious landscape,

+a golden sunset, or the soft silver

+of moon-rise, had spoken to her in that

+silent language of Nature which appeals

+to the most prosaic heart at times; but

+never until now had one of earth's great

+wonders established a longing in her

+soul&mdash;a longing for its constant company

+which is naught else but passionate love.

+She had hitherto looked upon the sea as

+an inconvenience to be overcome before

+reaching other countries.  Perhaps she

+was aware that this inconvenience

+possessed at times a charm, but not until

+now had she conceived it possible that

+she, Brenda Gilholme, should ever love

+it with an insatiable longing such as the

+love of sailors.  On board the <i>Hermione</i>

+she had passed her apprenticeship; had,

+as the admiral was wont to say, learnt the

+ropes; but never had she loved the sea

+for its own grand incomprehensible sake

+as she loved it now.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Its gray mournful humours seemed to

+sympathize with her own thoughts.  Its

+monotonous voice, rising and falling on

+the shingle shore, spoke in unmistakable

+language, and told of other things than

+mere earthly joys and sorrows.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I who write these lines learnt to love

+the sea many years ago, when I had

+naught else but water to look upon&mdash;from

+day to day, from morning till night,

+through the day and through the darkness,

+week after week, month after month.

+The love crept into my heart slowly and

+very surely, like the love of a boy,

+growing into manhood, for some little maiden

+growing by his side.  And now, whether

+on its bosom or looking on it from the

+noisy shore, that love is as fresh as ever.

+The noise of breaking water thrills the

+man as it thrilled the boy&mdash;the smell of

+tar, even, makes me grave.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Men may love their own country, but

+the sea, with its ever-varying humours,

+kind and cruel by turn, exacts a fuller

+devotion.  A woman once told me of

+her love for her native country.  She

+happened to be a practical, prosaic,

+middle-aged woman of the world.  We

+were seated on a gorgeous sofa in a blaze

+of artificial light, amidst artificial smiles,

+listening to the murmurs of artificial

+conversation.  Something moved her; some

+word of mine fell into the well of her

+memory and set the still pool all rippling.

+I listened in silence.  She spoke of

+Dartmoor, and I think I understood her.  At

+the end I said:

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'What Dartmoor is to you, the sea is

+to me;' and she smiled in a strange,

+sympathetic way.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+That is the nearest approach that I

+have met of a love for land which is

+akin to the love of sea.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In Brenda's case, as in all, this new-found

+passion influenced her very nature.

+If love&mdash;love, I mean, of a woman&mdash;will

+alter a man's whole mode of life, of

+action, and of thought, surely these lesser

+passions leave their mark as well.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Undoubtedly the girl caught from the

+great sea some of its patient contentment;

+for the ocean is always content, whether

+it be glistening beneath a cloudless sky,

+or rolling, sweeping onwards before

+the wind in broad gray curves.  Those

+who work upon the great waters are

+different from other men in the possession

+of a certain calm equanimity, which is

+like no other condition of mind.  It is

+the philosophy of the sea.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At first Brenda had dreaded the thought

+of being imprisoned, as it were, in this

+tiny east coast fishing village with her

+sister.  This was no outcome of a waning

+love, but rather a proof that her feelings

+towards her sister were as true and loyal

+as ever.  She feared that Alice would

+lower herself in her sight.  She dreaded

+the necessary <i>tête-à-têtes</i> because she felt

+that her sister's character had not

+improved, and could not well bear the

+searching light of a close familiarity.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+After the first hour or two, however,

+the sisters appeared to settle down into a

+routine of life which in no way savoured

+of familiarity.  The last two years had

+hopelessly severed them, and now that

+they were alone together the gulf seemed

+to widen between them.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda was aware that some great

+change had come over her life or that of

+her sister.  They no longer possessed a

+single taste or a single interest in common.

+Whether the fault lay entirely at her own

+door, or whether Alice were partially or

+wholly to blame, the girl did not attempt

+to decide.  She merely felt that it would

+be simple hypocrisy to pretend a familiarity

+she did not feel.  Yet she loved her

+sister, despite all.  The tie of blood is

+strangely strong in some people; with

+others it is no link at all.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+After an uncomfortable meal had been

+bravely sat out subsequent to Brenda's

+arrival, the younger sister announced her

+intention of going out for a long ramble

+down the coast.  Alice complained that

+she had no energy, predicted that the

+dismal flat land and muddy sea were

+about to prove fatal to her health, and

+subsided into a yellow-backed novel.

+This was a fair sample of their life in

+exile.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Alice deluged her weak intellect with

+fiction of no particular merit, and Brenda

+learnt to love the sea.  For her the

+bleak deserted shore, the long, low

+waves rolling in continuously, the dirty

+sweeping of sand-banks near the shore,

+and the endless fields of shingle, acquired

+a mournful beauty which few can find

+in such things.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Only once was reference made to

+Theodore Trist, and then the subject

+was tacitly tabooed, much to the relief

+of Brenda.  This happened during the

+first evening of their joint exile.

+Doubtless a sudden fit of communicativeness

+came over Alice just as they come

+to the rest of us&mdash;at odd moments,

+without any particular <i>raison d'être</i>.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The miserable shuffling waiter had

+removed all traces of their simple

+evening meal, and Brenda was looking

+between the curtains across the sea,

+which shimmered beneath the rays of a

+great yellow moon.  Alice had taken up

+her novel, but its pages had no interest

+for her just then.  She had appropriated

+the only easy-chair in the room, and was

+leaning back against its worn leather

+stuffing with a discontented look upon

+her lovely face.  Her small red mouth

+had acquired of late a peculiar 'set'

+expression, as if the lips were habitually

+pressed close with an effort.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Theo,' she said, without looking

+towards the tall, slim form by the

+window, 'has changed.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda moved the curtain a little

+more to one side, so that the old wooden

+rings rattled on the pole.  Then she

+leant her shoulder against the framework

+of the window, and turned her face

+towards the firelight.  Her gentle gaze

+rested on the beautiful form gracefully

+reclining in the deep chair.  She noted

+the easy repose of each limb, the proud

+poise of the golden head, and the

+clearcut profile showing white against the

+dingy background.  There was no

+glamour in her eyes, such as would have

+blinded the judgment of nine men out of

+ten; but there was in its place the great

+tie of sisterly love.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda, looking on that beauty, knew

+that it was the curse of her sister's life.

+Instead of envying her, she was mentally

+meting out pity and allowance.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I suppose,' she said, without much

+encouragement in her manner, 'that

+we have all changed in one way or another.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'But Theo has changed in more than

+one way.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Has he?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes.  His manner is quite different

+from what it used to be; and he seems

+self-absorbed&mdash;less energetic, less sympathetic.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda did not answer at once.  She

+turned slightly, and looked out of the

+window, resting her fingers upon the old

+wooden framework.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'You see,' she suggested, 'he has

+other interests in life now.  He is a

+great man, and has ambition.  It is only

+natural that he should be absorbed in his

+own affairs.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Huston raised her small foot,

+and rested the heel of her slipper on the

+brass fender, while she contemplated the

+diminutive limb with some satisfaction.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I have met one or two great men,'

+she said meditatively, 'and I invariably

+found them very much like ordinary

+beings, rather less immersed in 'shop,'

+perhaps, and quite as interesting&mdash;not to

+say polite.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda winced.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Was Theo not polite?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Hardly, my dear.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+As Mrs. Huston delivered herself of

+this opinion, with a faint tinge of

+bitterness in her manner, she turned and

+looked towards her sister, as if challenging

+her to attempt a palliation of Trist's

+conduct.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda neither moved nor spoke.

+The moonlight, flooding through the

+diamond panes of the window, made her

+face look pale and wan.  There were

+deep shadows about her lips.  Without,

+upon the shingle, the sea boomed

+continuously with a low, dreamlike

+hopelessness.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I wish I were a great artist, to be

+able to paint a picture of that small

+parlour in an east coast village inn.

+But there would be a greater skill

+required than the mere technicalities of

+art.  These would be needed to deal

+successfully with the cross-lights of

+utterly different hues&mdash;the cold,

+green-tinted moonlight, the ruddy glow of

+burning driftwood washed from the

+deck of some Baltic trader; and the

+reflection of each in turn upon quaint old

+bureaux, bright with the polish of half

+a dozen generations; gleaming upon

+Indian curio, and shimmering over the

+glass of dim engravings.  All this would

+require infinite skill; but no brush or

+pencil could convey the old-day

+mournfulness that seemed to hang in the

+atmosphere.  Perhaps it found birth in the

+murmuring rise and fall of restless waves,

+or in the flicker of the fire, in the quick

+crackle of the sodden wood.  My

+picture should be called 'The Contrast,'

+and in the gloom of the low ceiling I

+should bring out with loving care two

+graceful forms&mdash;two lovely faces.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The one&mdash;the more beautiful&mdash;in all

+the rosiness of young life, glowing in the

+firelight.  The other, pale and wan,

+with an exquisite beauty, delicate and

+yet strong, resolute and yet refined.  Of

+two working in the field, one is taken,

+the other remaineth.  Around us are

+many workers, and of every two we look

+upon, one seems to have the preference.

+One has greater joy, the other greater

+sorrow; and, strive as we will, think as

+we will, argue as we will, we can never

+tell 'why.'  We can never satisfy that

+great question of the human mind.

+Life has been called many things: I can

+express it in less than a word&mdash;in a mere

+symbol&mdash;<span style="font-size: larger; font-weight: bold">?</span>&mdash;a note of interrogation, the

+largest at the compositor's command.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In this great field of ours, where we

+all work blindly, many are taken, and

+many left.  Moreover, those who would

+wish to go remain, and those who

+cling to work are taken.  She who

+grindeth best passeth first.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brenda never answered her sister's

+challenge.  She turned her eyes away,

+facing the cold moonlight, staring at the

+silver sea with eyes that saw no beauty

+there.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'O God!' she whispered, glancing

+upwards into the glowing heavens with

+that instinct which comes alike to pagan

+and Christian, 'send a great war, so that

+Theo may go to it.'

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap13"></a></p>

+

+<h3>

+CHAPTER XIII.

+<br><br>

+CROSS-PURPOSES.

+</h3>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie had undertaken the task of

+reconciling Alice Huston and her husband

+without any great hope of success.  The

+widow's married life had been an

+exceptionally happy one, but even in her case

+there had been small drawbacks, mostly

+arising, it is true, from the untoward

+work of fate, but, nevertheless, undoubted

+drawbacks, and undeniably appertaining

+to married life.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It would have been hard to find two

+people less calculated to assimilate

+satisfactorily than Alice and Alfred Huston;

+and yet there was love between them.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The weak-minded soldier undoubtedly

+loved his wife: as for her, it would be

+hard to give a reliable opinion.  She was,

+I honestly believe, one of those beautiful

+women who go through life without

+ever knowing what love really is.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+With another woman for his helpmate,

+Huston might reasonably have been

+expected to reform his ways.  With another

+husband, Alice might have made a good

+and dutiful wife.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Assuredly the task that had fallen upon

+Mrs. Wylie's handsome shoulders was

+not overburdened with hope.  She was,

+however, of an evenly sanguine temperament,

+and I think that it is such women

+as she who help us men along in life&mdash;women

+who trust for the best, and work

+for the best, without any high-flown

+ideals, without poetic notions respecting

+woman's influence and woman's aid;

+who, in fact, are desperately practical,

+and make a point of expecting less than

+they might reasonably get.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie was by no means ignorant

+of the fact that a reconciliation between

+such a couple as Mr. and Mrs. Huston

+was not calculated to be of a very

+permanent or deeply-rooted character; but

+she had lived a good many years in a

+grade of society which delights to watch

+the inner life of others.  She had seen

+and heard of so many unsuitable matches,

+which, having been consummated, had

+proved the wonderful power of love.  It

+is only the very young and inexperienced

+who shake their heads upon hearing

+of an engagement, and prophesy

+unhappiness.  No man can tell to what

+end love is working.  The wise are silent

+in such matters, because there are some

+mistakes which lead to good, and some

+wise actions of which the result is

+unmitigated woe.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The widow therefore held her peace,

+and set to work as if there could be but

+one result to her efforts.  She communicated

+with Alice Huston in her hiding-place,

+with Captain Huston at the club

+of which he was still a member, and with

+Trist by word of mouth.  Brenda was,

+so to speak, in the enemy's country.

+Her reports were therefore to be received,

+but no acknowledgment could be made.

+In this respect she was like a spy, because

+she was without instruction from headquarters,

+and, nevertheless, had to act and

+report her action.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Her first and, indeed, only communication

+reached Mrs. Wylie the morning

+after her interviews with Theo Trist and

+Captain Huston.  It was only a few

+words scribbled on the back of a visiting

+card, and slipped into an envelope

+previously addressed and stamped:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+'Whatever you do, keep Theo and

+Alice apart.'

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+Mrs. Wylie turned the card over and

+read the neatly-engraved name on the

+other side.  Then she read the words

+aloud, slowly and thoughtfully, once

+more:

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Whatever you do, keep Theo and

+Alice apart.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Brenda knows,' reflected the practical

+woman of the world, 'that Huston is

+jealous of Theo.  She also knows that I

+am quite aware of this jealousy.  It would

+be unnecessary to warn me of it; therefore

+this means that Brenda has discovered

+a fresh reason.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She broke off her meditations at this

+point by rising almost hurriedly, and

+walking to the window.  For a considerable

+time she watched the passing traffic;

+then she returned to the fire-place.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Poor Brenda!' she murmured&mdash;'my

+poor Brenda!  And ... Alice is so silly!'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The connection between these two

+observations may be a trifle obscure to

+the ordinary halting male intellect; but

+I think I know what Mrs. Wylie meant.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Later on in the day she sent a note to

+Captain Huston, requesting him to come

+and see her, and by the same messenger

+despatched a few words to Theo Trist&mdash;her

+reserve force&mdash;forbidding him to come

+near.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'My reserves,' she said to herself as

+she closed the envelope energetically,

+'are thus rendered useless; but Brenda is

+reliable.  I must do as she tells me.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Captain Huston received the widow's

+note at his club.  It was only eleven

+o'clock, and, consequently, there was

+plenty of time before he need put in an

+appearance at Suffolk Mansions.  He was

+an idle man, and, like all idle men, fond

+of lounging about the streets gazing

+abstractedly into shops, and getting generally

+into the way of such foot-passengers as

+might have an object in their walk.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There is no haven for loungers in

+London except Piccadilly in the morning,

+and to this spot the soldier turned his

+steps.  After inspecting the wares of a

+sporting tailor, he was preparing to cross

+the road with a view of directing his

+course down St. James's Street, when

+someone touched him on the shoulder.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Huston turned with rather more

+alacrity than is usually displayed by a

+British gentleman with a clear

+conscience, and for some seconds gazed in

+a watery manner at a fair, insipid face,

+ornamented by a wondrous moustache.

+There was a peculiarity about this

+moustache worth mentioning.  Although an

+essentially masculine adornment, it, in

+some subtle way, suggested effeminacy.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Mr. ... eh ... Hicks,' murmured

+Huston vaguely, and without much interest.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Hicks forgave magnanimously this

+Philistine want of appreciation.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes, Captain Huston.  How are you?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I? ... Oh!  I'm all right, thanks.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There was a faint suggestion of movement

+about the soldier's left leg as if

+intimating a desire to continue on its way

+towards St. James's Street; but this was

+ignored by Hicks in his own inimitable way.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I caught sight of you the other day,'

+he said graciously; 'and I also had the

+pleasure of meeting Mrs. Huston at

+Mrs. Wylie's.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Oh yes,' vaguely.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The soldier made a violent effort,

+pulled himself together, and stepped

+into the road.  The artist stepped with

+him, and, furthermore, slipped his gloved

+hand within his companion's arm with a

+familiar ease which seemed to say that

+they would live or die together until the

+passage was safely accomplished.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'How <i>is</i> Mrs. Huston?' inquired he

+when they had reached the opposite

+pavement.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+That lady's husband looked very stolid

+as he answered:

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Quite well, thanks.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He mentally wriggled, poor fellow,

+and in sympathy his arm became lifeless

+and repelling.  Hicks removed his hand

+from the unappreciative sleeve.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Do you know,' he asked pleasantly,

+'whether Trist happens to be in town?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Huston began to feel uncomfortable.

+He was afraid of this society prig, and

+honestly wished to save his wife's name

+from the ready tongue of slander.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I don't,' he answered abruptly&mdash;'why?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+This sudden question in no way disconcerted

+Hicks, who met the soldier's

+unsteady, and would-be severe, gaze with

+bland innocence.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Because I happen to know a Russian

+artist who is very anxious to meet him,

+that is all.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Ah!  I have seen him since I came

+home, but I could not say where he is

+now.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+If Hicks had been a really observant

+man (such as he devoutly considered

+himself to be), he would have noticed that

+his companion raised a gloved finger to

+his cheek, and tenderly pressed a slight

+abrasion visible still just on the bone in

+front of the ear.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'He is generally to be heard of,' said

+the artist in that innocently-significant

+tone which may mean much or nothing,

+according to the acuteness or foreknowledge

+of the listener, '... he is generally

+to be heard of at Suffolk Mansions.

+That is to say, when Brenda is staying

+there.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Captain Huston's dull eyes were for a

+moment actually endowed with life.  He

+stroked his drooping moustache, which

+was apparently placed there by a merciful

+Providence for purposes of justifiable

+concealment, and his moral attitude

+became visibly milder.  He had just

+begun to realize that his own private

+affairs might not, after all, be of

+paramount importance to the whole of

+society.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Is there,' he asked with military

+nonchalance, 'supposed to be something

+between Trist and Brenda?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Hicks laughed, and, before replying,

+waved his hand gracefully to a friend in

+the stock-jobbing line, who had previously

+crossed the road in order to be recognised

+by him in passing.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Oh no,' he answered cheerfully; 'I

+did not mean that at all.  Now that I

+think of it, however, you were quite

+justified in taking it thus.  They have

+always been great friends&mdash;that was all

+I meant.  Their mothers were related, I

+believe.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Captain Huston looked slightly

+disappointed.  He did not, however, display

+such eagerness to walk either faster or

+slower, or in some other direction, now.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Trist,' he observed as he opened his

+cigar-case sociably, 'is a queer fellow.

+Have a cigar?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Oh, I never smoke, you know&mdash;never.

+No, thanks.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The captain grunted, and put his case

+back with a suppressed sigh.  He had

+not known, but hoped.  Then he waited

+for a reply to his leading and ambiguous

+remark.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes,' mused Hicks at length; 'he is.

+I dined with him the night he left for

+the Servian frontier.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+This detail, interesting as it was, had

+but slight reference to the general

+characteristics of Theodore Trist.  Huston

+tried again after he had lighted his

+cigar.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'One never knows where one has him.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Hicks looked mildly sympathetic.  He

+even gave the impression of being about

+to look in his pockets on the chance of

+finding the war-correspondent there.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No; he is always on the move.  I

+was once told that the Diplomatic Corps

+call him the Stormy Petrel, because he

+arrives before the hurricane.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'And sits smiling on the top of the

+waves afterwards, while we poor devils

+sink,' added the soldier with a disagreeable

+laugh.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'He has not the reputation of being a

+coward,' said Hicks, who despised personal

+courage as a mere brute-like attribute.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The man of arms did not like the turn

+of the conversation.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No; I believe not,' he said rather

+hurriedly, as if no man could be a coward.

+'What I don't like about him is a

+certain air of mystery which he cultivates.

+It pleases the women, I suppose.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'That,' suggested the other calmly,

+'is probably part of his trade.  If he

+talked much there would be nothing

+original left in him to write!  All these

+diplomatic fellows get that peculiar

+reticence of manner&mdash;a sort of want of

+frankness, as it were.  That is the great

+difference between art practised by the

+tongue, and art stimulated by the eye

+and created for the pleasure of the eye.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Huston looked at the burning end of

+his cigar with bibulous concentration.

+He knew absolutely nothing about art,

+and cared less.  It is just possible that,

+in his hideous ignorance, he doubted the

+purity of the pleasure vouchsafed by

+the pictorial productions of the artist at

+his side.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'<i>We</i>,' continued Hicks, with a deprecating

+wave of the hand, 'can always be

+frank.  The bolder we are, the higher

+we aim, the ... eh ... the better.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes ... yes,' murmured Huston.

+'But tell me&mdash;what made you think that

+Trist was out of town?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Oh, nothing!' airily.  'Nobody stays in

+town at this time of the year unless they

+can't help it; that is all!  But I suppose

+these newspaper men hardly think of the

+seasons.  They do not seem to realize

+the difference between summer and

+winter&mdash;between joyous spring and

+dismal autumn.  I saw a man sketching

+the other day in a cold east wind on the

+Thames Embankment.  He was only a

+"black and white" man, you know;

+but he seemed to know something about

+drawing.  His fingers were blue.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Like many weak-minded people,

+Alfred Huston was subject to sudden fits

+of obstinacy.  He felt now that Hicks

+wished to lead him away from the

+subject originally under discussion, and

+in consequence was instigated by a

+sudden desire to talk and hear more of

+Theodore Trist.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'That is another thing,' he said,

+'about Trist that I do not like.  He

+pretends to despise personal discomfort.

+It is mere affectation, of course, and on

+that account, perhaps, all the more

+aggravating.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Carried away by enthusiasm, I suppose?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The soldier laughed.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Trist never was carried away by

+anything.  He sits on a box of cartridges,

+and writes in that beastly note-book of

+his as if he were at a review.  If all

+his countrymen were being slaughtered

+round him he would count them with

+his pencil and take a note of it.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Hicks gave a few moments' careful

+attention to the curl of his moustache.

+Then he glanced curiously at his

+companion's vacant physiognomy.  There

+was evidently some motive in this sudden

+attack on Trist.  Both these men

+distrusted the war-correspondent, but were

+in no way prepared to test the value

+of that force which is said to arise

+from union.  They distrusted each other

+more.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Presently they parted, each absorbed

+in his own selfish fears as before.  Here,

+again, was Vanity and her hideous sister

+Jealousy.  If one of these be not found

+at the bottom of all human misery,

+I think you will find the other.  With

+these two men both motives were at

+work.  Each was jealous of Trist, and

+neither would confess his jealousy to the

+other; while Vanity was wounded by

+the war-correspondent's simple silence.

+He ignored them, and for that they

+hated him.  His own path was apparently

+mapped out in front of him, and

+he followed it without ostentation,

+without seeking comment or approbation.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+William Hicks was, as Mrs. Wylie

+had said, finding his own level.  He was

+beginning to come under the influence

+of a vague misgiving that his

+individuality was not such as commands the

+respect of the better sort of women.  In

+his own circle he was a demi-god; but

+the gratification to be gathered from the

+worship of a number of weak-kneed

+uncomely ladies was beginning to pall.

+In fact, he had hitherto been intensely

+satisfied with the interesting creature

+called William Hicks; but now there

+was a tiny rift within the lute upon

+which he always played his own praises.

+He had not hitherto realized that man is

+scarcely created for the purpose of being

+worshipped by the weaker sex, and

+lately there had been in his mind a

+vague desire to be of greater account

+among his fellow-men.  Of athletics,

+sport, or the more manly accomplishments

+he knew nothing; indeed, he had

+up to this period despised them as the

+pastime of creatures possessed of little

+or no intellect; now he was at times

+troubled by a haunting thought that it

+would have been as well had he been

+able to play lawn-tennis, to ride, or

+shoot, or row, or drive&mdash;or even walk

+ten miles at a stretch.  This was not the

+outcome of any natural taste for healthy

+exercise, but a mere calculation that

+such accomplishments carry with them

+a certain weight with energetic and

+well-found young ladies.  The curse of

+jealousy has a singular way of opening

+our eyes, <i>mes frères</i>, to sundry small

+shortcomings of which we were not

+aware before.  When I saw Angelina,

+for instance, dance with young Lightfoot

+in former days, my own fantastic toes

+suddenly became conscious of clumsiness.

+Hicks was jealous of Theodore

+Trist, and while, in a half-hearted way,

+despising the sturdy philosopher's soldier-like

+manliness, he could not help feeling

+that Brenda Gilholme admired Trist for

+this same quality.  He was fully satisfied

+that he was in every other way a superior

+man to the war-correspondent, although

+the latter had made a deep mark upon

+the road he had selected to travel; but

+he wished, nevertheless, that he himself

+could assume at times the quiet strength

+of independence that characterized Trist's

+thoughts and actions.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The young artist was celebrated in his

+own circle&mdash;that is to say, among a

+certain coterie of would-be artistic souls,

+whose talents ran more into words than

+into action.  They admired each other

+aloud, and themselves with a silent

+adoration wonderful to behold.  Most

+of them possessed sufficient means to

+live an idle, self-indulgent life in a small

+way.  Such pleasures as they could not

+afford were conveniently voted unprofitable

+and earthly.  They hung upon the

+outskirts of the best society, and were

+past-masters in the art of confusing the terms

+'having met' and 'knowing' as applied

+to living celebrities.  Among them were

+artists who had never exhibited a picture,

+authors who had never sold a book, and

+singers who had never faced an audience.

+The vulgar crowd failed to appreciate

+them, and those who painted and sold,

+wrote and published, sang and made

+money, tolerantly laughed at them.

+Hicks was clever enough to know that

+his mind was in reality of a slightly

+superior order, and weak enough to value

+its superiority much more highly than it

+deserved.  He was undoubtedly a clever

+fellow in his way, but a moderate

+income and a doting mother had combined

+to kill in him that modicum of ambition

+which is required to make men push

+forward continuously in the race of life.

+Had he been compelled to work for his

+daily bread, he might have been saved

+from the clutches of London society; but

+as a rising young artist, with pleasant

+manners and some social accomplishments,

+he was received with open arms,

+and succumbed to the enervating round

+of so-called pleasure.  He continued to

+be 'rising,' but never rose.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Hicks did not confess deliberately to

+himself that he was in love with Brenda

+Gilholme, but he made no pretence of

+ignoring the fact that she occupied in

+his thoughts a place quite apart.  He

+respected her, and in that lay the great

+difference.  The unkempt and

+strangely-attired damsels who were pleased to

+throw themselves mentally at his feet

+were not such as command respect.  In

+his heart he despised them a little; for

+contempt is invariably incurred by

+affectation of any description.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+And so each went on his way&mdash;the

+idle soldier, the vain artist, and the

+absorbed journalist, each framing his

+life for good or evil&mdash;pressing upward,

+or shuffling down, according to his bent;

+each, no doubt, peering ahead, as sailors

+peer through rime and mist, striving to

+penetrate the blessed veil drawn across

+the future.  Ah!  Let us, my brothers,

+thank God that, despite necromancer,

+astrologer, thought-reader, or chiromancer,

+we know absolutely nothing of

+what is waiting for us in the years to

+come.  Could we raise that veil, life

+would be hell.  Could we see the end

+of all our aims, our ambitions, our hopes,

+and our 'long, long thoughts,' there

+would be few of us courageous enough

+to go on with this strange experiment

+called human existence.  Could we see

+the end, no faith, no dogma, no

+<i>fanaticism</i> even, would have power to prevent

+us questioning the existence of the

+Almighty, because we could never

+reconcile the beginning to that end.  The

+question would rise before us continuously:

+'If such was to be the end, why

+was the beginning made?'  And turn

+this question as you will, explain it as

+you may, it is ever a question.  The

+only safeguard is suppression.  The

+question is not asked because life is so

+slow that the beginning is almost

+forgotten in the climax; and while we live

+through the earlier chapters, the last

+volume is inexorably closed.

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap14"></a></p>

+

+<h3>

+CHAPTER XIV.

+<br><br>

+A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY.

+</h3>

+

+<p>

+About ten o'clock on the evening of the

+third day after the meeting with Captain

+Huston, William Hicks entered a large

+and crowded ball-room with his usual

+pleasant condescension.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The dance was of a semi-parliamentary

+character, and although the society

+papers were pleased to announce that all

+the 'best' people were out of town,

+there was a crowd of well-dressed men

+and women round the door when Hicks

+made his appearance.  There were

+many greetings to be exchanged, a few

+diplomatic dances to be asked for, and

+then the artist leisurely stroked his

+golden moustache as he looked critically

+round the room.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+His smiling face contracted into

+gravity for a moment, and it was only

+after a pause that he continued his

+investigations.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Trist!' he murmured to himself.

+'Trist <i>here</i>?  What is the meaning of

+that?  Is it war, I wonder?  Or is

+Brenda coming?  I will find out.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Presently he moved away, and after

+some time joined a group of grave-faced

+elderly men, among whom Theo Trist

+was standing.  There were politicians

+among these gentlemen, and several

+faces were of a distinctly foreign type,

+while more than one language could be

+heard.  Hicks looked a trifle out of his

+element amidst such surroundings, and

+the foreign languages troubled him.

+No one looked towards him invitingly&mdash;not

+even Trist, who was talking with a

+broad-shouldered little man with a large

+head, and a peculiar listless manner

+which stamped him as an Oriental.

+Hicks did not even know what language

+they were speaking.  It was not

+European in sound or intonation.  Here

+and there he caught a word or a name.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Once he heard Trist mention the

+name of a Russian general then scarcely

+known.  Though the pronunciation was

+rather different from that of most

+Englishmen, Hicks recognised the word

+'Skobeleff,' and, glancing towards the

+smaller man, he saw upon his long,

+mournful features a singular look of uneasiness.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There was something fascinating

+about the man's face which attracted the

+artist's attention, and he stood gazing

+with a greater fixity than is usually

+considered polite.  Without looking

+towards him, the Oriental was evidently

+aware of his attention, for he spoke to

+Trist, who turned with deliberate curiosity.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Ah, Hicks!' he said, 'how do you do?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Then he turned again to his unemotional

+companion and made a remark,

+which was received apathetically.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Hicks had not wished to make his

+advent so prominent.  It now appeared

+as if he had sought out Trist for some

+special purpose, to make some important

+communication which could not brook

+delay.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist evidently read his action thus,

+for he left the group of statesmen and

+joined him.  Hicks was equal to the

+occasion.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'You remember,' he said confidentially,

+as he touched his companion's sleeve and

+they walked down the room together&mdash;'you

+remember what I once told you

+about the Hustons?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist's meek eyes rested upon the

+speaker's face with a persistence which

+was not encouraging to idle gossip.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'The night I left for Servia?' he inquired.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Hicks nodded his head.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes.  I remember.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The artist paused, and his gloved

+fingers sought the beauteous moustache.

+Trist's calm eyes were not easy to meet.

+They were so unconsciously scrutinizing.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Well, I saw Huston the other day,'

+he said at length.  'He has not improved

+in appearance.  In fact, I should say that

+there is some truth in the story I repeated

+to you.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There was no encouragement forthcoming,

+but Hicks was not lacking in

+assurance.  He was a true son of the

+pavement&mdash;that is to say, an individual

+radical.  His opinion was, in his own

+mind, worth that of Theodore Trist.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'There are,' he continued, 'other

+stories going about at present.  Do you

+not think ... Trist ...&mdash;I mean,

+had we not better, for Brenda's sake,

+settle upon a certain version of the

+matter and stick to it?  You and I,

+old fellow, are looked upon by the

+general world as something more than

+ordinary friends of Alice and Brenda.

+Mrs. Wylie is not going out just now.

+They have no one to stick up for them,

+except us.  If you know more than you

+care to confess, I am sorry if I am forcing

+your hand....'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He paused again, and again his companion

+preserved that calm non-committing

+silence which he knew so well how

+to assume.  He held a hand which

+could not have been forced by a player

+possessing ten times the power and ten

+times the cunning of William Hicks.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'But, Trist, I know what the London

+world is.  Something must be done.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Trist shrugged his shoulders imperceptibly.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Silence,' continued Hicks significantly,

+'in this case would be a

+mistake.  I don't mind ... your knowing

+that it is not from mere curiosity that I

+am doing this.  Brenda ... I want to

+save ... her ... from anything unpleasant.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At this point Trist appeared to relent.

+It was not until afterwards that Hicks

+realized that he had learnt absolutely

+nothing from him.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'What do you think ought to be

+done?' he asked gently.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The question remained unanswered for

+some time, and then it was only met by

+another.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Is Brenda coming to-night?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'And Alice?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'No.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+They walked through the brilliant

+rooms together, each wondering what

+lay behind the eyes of the other, each

+striving to penetrate the thoughts of the

+other, to divine his motives, to reach his

+heart.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I really think,' said Hicks at length,

+'that it rests with you.  You must say

+what is to be done, what story is to be

+told, what farce is to be acted.  It seems

+to me that you know more about it than

+I do.  Somehow I have lately dropped

+out of Mrs. Wylie's confidence, and

+... and Brenda has not spoken to me about

+her sister.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'But,' said Trist, 'I know nothing of

+what you refer to as the common gossip

+of ... of all these.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He indicated the assembled multitude

+with a gesture which was scarcely

+complimentary.  Hicks looked uncomfortable,

+and bit his red lip nervously.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Don't be hard on us,' he pleaded

+with an unnatural laugh.  'I am one

+of them.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Tell me,' said Trist with a sudden

+gravity of manner, '... tell me what

+they are saying.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Well ... it is hardly fair to ask me.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Why?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Because you will not thank me for

+having told you.  We ... we don't, as

+a rule, give the benefit of the doubt, you

+know.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The elder man turned and looked at

+his companion with a slow smile.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'My dear Hicks,' he said, 'it is many

+years since I gave up caring what the

+world might say, or expecting the benefit

+of the doubt.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'For yourself?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes; for myself.  What do you mean?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I mean that they are not giving Alice

+the benefit of the doubt either.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+They happened just then to be near

+two chairs placed invitingly within an

+alcove by a soft-hearted hostess who had

+not yet forgotten her flirting-days.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Let us sit down,' said Trist, indicating

+these chairs.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Now,' he continued in a calm voice

+when they were seated, 'tell me what

+the world is saying about Alice.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Hicks was not devoid of a certain

+moral courage, and for once in his life

+he was actuated by a motive which was

+not entirely selfish.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'They say,' he answered boldly, 'that

+she ran away from her husband to join

+you.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+To some natures there is a vague

+enjoyment in imparting bad news, and the

+dramatic points in this conversation were

+by no means lost to William Hicks, who

+was a born actor.  His listener,

+however, received the news without the

+slightest indication of surprise or

+annoyance.  He merely nodded his head and

+murmured:

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes; what else?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Oh ... nothing much&mdash;nothing,

+at least, that I have heard, except that

+Huston was supposed to have followed

+her home and caught her just in time.

+He is also said to have announced his

+intention of shooting you at the first

+convenient opportunity.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Hicks ceased speaking, and waited for

+some exclamation of disgust, some heated

+denial or indignant proof of the utter

+falseness of the accusations made against

+Alice Huston.  None of these was

+forthcoming.  Theo Trist merely indicated

+his comprehension of the cruel words,

+and sat thinking.  Beneath that calm

+exterior the man's brain was very busy,

+and as he raised his head with a slight

+pensive frown Hicks recognised for the

+first time the resemblance to the great

+Corsican which was currently attributed

+to the war-correspondent.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Suppose,' said Trist at length,

+'suppose that I were to walk arm-in-arm

+into this room with Huston.  Would

+that do?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Can you manage it?' inquired the

+artist incredulously.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I think so; if I can only find him.

+Suppose Huston were to dance with

+Brenda, and we were all to give it out

+that Alice is staying with her father in

+Cheltenham or somewhere.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Hicks' first inclination was towards

+laughter.  The proposal was made so

+simply and so readily that the whole

+affair appeared for a moment merely

+ludicrous.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes,' he said vaguely; 'that will do;

+that will do very well.  But ... is

+Huston invited?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I will manage that.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There was a peaceful sense of capability

+about this man before which all

+obstacles seemed to crumble away.

+Hicks felt slightly dissatisfied.  His own

+part was too small in this social comedy.

+The conduct of Brenda's affairs was

+slipping from his grasp, and yet he could

+do nothing but submit.  Trist had

+unconsciously taken command, and when

+command is unconscious it is also arbitrary.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'I will go now and bring Huston,' he

+added presently, and without further

+words left his seat.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Hicks caressed the golden moustache,

+and watched him as he moved easily

+through the gay, heedless throng&mdash;a

+sturdy, strong young figure, full of

+manhood, full of purpose, the absurdly meek

+eyes shunning rather than seeking the

+many glances of recognition that met

+him on his way.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He went up to his hostess, and with

+her came apparently straight to the point,

+for Hicks saw the lady listen attentively

+and then acquiesce with a ready smile.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Nearly half an hour elapsed before

+Brenda arrived.  She was one of a large

+party, and her programme had been in

+other hands before Hicks became

+possessed of it.  He glanced keenly down

+the column of hieroglyphics.  The

+initials were all genuine, but three

+dances had been kept by a little cross

+carefully inserted.  Hicks obtained two

+waltzes, and returned the card with his

+usual self-satisfied smile.  He knew that

+Brenda expected Trist, although she was

+not looking round as if in search of

+anybody.  But he was fully convinced that

+there was some mystery on foot.  One

+dance, he had observed, which was

+marked with a cross, was a square.

+Trist and Brenda had met by

+appointment&mdash;not as young men meet maidens

+every night in the year at dances for

+purposes of flirtation, or the more serious

+pastime of love-making, but to discuss

+some point of mutual interest.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+As a rival Hicks had no fear of Theodore

+Trist, who, he argued, was a very

+fine fellow in his way, but quite without

+social accomplishments.  He was a good

+dancer&mdash;that point he generously

+admitted&mdash;but beyond that he had nothing

+to recommend him in the eyes of a

+clever and experienced girl like Brenda,

+who had had the advantages of association

+with some of the most talented men

+of her day, and intimacy with himself,

+William Hicks.  There was only that

+trivial matter of athletic and muscular

+superiority, which really carried no great

+weight with a refined womanly intellect.

+In a ball-room Theodore Trist, with his

+brown, grave face, his absorbed eyes, and

+his sturdy form, was distinctly out of

+place.  He had not even a white waistcoat,

+wore three studs in the front of his

+shirt, and sometimes even forgot to sport

+a flower in his coat.  His very virtues

+(of an old fashion), such as steadfastness,

+truth, and honesty, prevented him from

+shining in society.  Fortunately,

+however, for his own happiness he was

+without vanity, and therefore unconscious

+of his own shortcomings.  It is just

+within the scope of possibility that he

+was moved by no ambition to shine in

+society.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+While the first bars of the waltz were

+in progress, Hicks found Brenda.  He

+had little difficulty in doing so, because

+he had been watching her.  Moreover,

+she was dressed in black, which was a

+rare attire in that room.  In choosing

+this sombre garb she had made no mistake;

+the style suited exactly her slim,

+strong young form, and in contrast her

+neck and arms were dazzling in their

+whiteness.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+They began dancing at once, and

+Hicks was conscious that there was no

+couple in the room so perfectly harmonious

+in movement, so skilled, so intensely

+refined.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Trist,' he said presently in a

+confidential way, 'has been here.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Indeed!' was the guarded reply,

+made with pleasant indifference.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Yes ... Brenda, he and I had a

+little talk, and, in consequence, he will

+be absent for some time, but he is coming

+back.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'What,' she inquired calmly, 'did you

+talk about?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+All this time they were dancing,

+smoothly and with the indefatigable

+rhythm of skilled feet.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'It has come to my knowledge,' he

+replied, 'that gossip has connected the

+names of Alice and Trist, and there are

+foolish stories going about concerning

+Huston, who is said to be searching for

+Trist with the intention of shooting him.

+Trist has gone to bring Huston here;

+they will come into the room arm-in-arm.

+We arranged it, and I think no

+further contradiction is required.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Had she winced he would have been

+aware of it, because his arm was round

+her yielding waist, and her hand was

+within his.  She turned her head slightly

+as if to assist him in steering successfully

+through a narrow place; and he, glancing

+down, saw that her face was as white as

+marble, but her step never faltered.  She

+drew a deep unsteady breath, and spoke

+in a grateful voice.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'It is very good of you ... both,'

+she said simply.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+They continued dancing for some time

+before the silence was again broken.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+'Some day, Brenda,' whispered Hicks,

+while preserving with immaculate skill

+an indifferent face before the world, 'I

+will tell you why I was forced to interfere

+even at the risk of displeasing you.

+Some other time, not now.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+A peculiar contraction seemed to pass

+over her face, and it was only with an

+effort that she smiled while acknowledging

+a passing bow from a girl-acquaintance.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Soon afterwards she began talking

+cheerily on a safer subject; and despite all

+his experience, all his cleverness, William

+Hicks could not bring the conversation

+round again to the topic she had shelved.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Her spirits seemed to rise as the

+evening progressed.  There was a task before

+her, the dimensions of which were soon

+apparent.  Almost everyone in the room

+had heard something of Alice, and the

+only contradiction possible, until Trist

+and Huston arrived, lay in the brave

+carriage of a cheerful face before them

+all.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There was a clock upon the mantelpiece

+of a small room where refreshments

+were set forth, and the merits of

+this secluded retreat were retailed by her

+to more than one of her partners.  The

+pointers of the dainty timepiece seemed

+to crawl&mdash;once or twice she listened for

+the beat of the pendulum.  Midnight

+came, and one o'clock.  Still there was

+no sign of Theodore Trist.  At two

+o'clock her chaperon suggested going

+home, and Brenda was compelled to

+apologize laughingly to several grumbling

+young men, who attempted to cut off her

+retreat at the door.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The spacious hall was full of departing

+guests; through the open door came

+the hoarse confusing shouts of policemen

+and footmen.  Brenda pressed her

+hands together beneath her opera-cloak

+and shivered.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Theodore Trist never returned, and

+his absence passed unnoticed by all

+except William Hicks, who waited till

+the end.

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="t3">

+END OF VOL.  II.

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="t4">

+BILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD.

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br><br></p>

+

+<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 74461 ***</div>

+</body>

+

+</html>

+

+

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