"I say it's a shame, father, and a disgrace to you."
"And I say you are a confounded insolent young puppy; and if you dare to
speak to me again like that--"
"Oh, hush, Edward dear! Denis, my boy, pray don't!"
"But I shall be ashamed to go about the place, mamma. It is so mean and
petty."
"How dare you, sir! how dare you!" cried Lord Pinemount. "Don't dictate
to me. I've put up with too much, and I mean to end it all. How dare
he--a confounded Yankee!"
"Doctor Salado is an English gentleman, father."
"Nothing of the sort, sir. Look at his name. Comes here from nobody
knows where."
"Yes, they do, sir. He comes here from Iquique, and he is one of the
most famous naturalists of the day."
"I don't care what he is. Comes here, I say; and just as at last that
wretched old woman dies, and the Sandleighs is in the market--a place
that ought by rights to belong to the manor--he must bid over that idiot
Markby's head, and secure the place. I told Markby distinctly that I
wanted that cottage and grounds. Went at such a price, he said. Fool!
And then, when I offered this miserable foreign adventurer five hundred
pounds to give it up, he must send me an insulting message."
"It was only a quiet letter, my dear," said Lady Pinemount, "to say that
he had taken a fancy to the place, and preferred to keep it."
"You mind your own business," said his lordship, his florid face growing
slightly apoplectic of aspect. "I'm not blind. But I won't have it.
You write and ask the Elsgraves here; and you, Denis, recollect that I
expect you to be civil to Hilda Elsgrave. The Earl and I quite
understand each other about that."
"If you expect me to begin paying attentions to a girl whom I dislike,
and who dislikes me, sir," said the young man firmly, "I'm afraid you
will be disappointed."
"No, sir: look here--"
"Edward, my love--"
"Hold--your--tongue. I'm master while I live, and I'll have my way.
You, Denis, you've got to marry Hilda; and if I hear of your hanging
about the Sandleighs again, and talking to that half-bred Spanish
hussy--"
"Look here, father: when you insult Miss Salado, you insult me."
"Silence, sir!" roared his lordship. "Listen to what I say. Insult
you! Puppy! How dare you! The father's an adventurer, and you're mad
after a big-eyed adventuress."
"She is a lady, sir."
"Silence! And as for you, Lady Pinemount, you must have been mad to
call upon them. That was the beginning of the mischief."
"Miss Salado is a very sweet, refined girl, Edward," said her ladyship
quietly, "and it was a social duty to call."
"Then you've done your duty, and there's an end of it. I won't have it,
and I won't have the fellow staring over into my park. Coming and
sticking himself there! Won't sell the place again, won't he? Never
another inch of timber or head of beasts does that auctioneer sell for
me."
The Honourable Denis Rolleston was about to speak, but a meaning look
from handsome, dignified Lady Pinemount silenced him, and the angry head
of the family rose from his half finished lunch and paced the room.
"Taken a fancy to the place, has he? I'll make him take a fancy to go.
The sooner he's out of Lescombe the better. Like to buy the manor,
perhaps? But I'll make it too hot for him. And you, Denis, understand
me at once. I can't interfere about the title; but look here, sir, you
marry as I wish you to,--keep up the dignity of our family tree. You
are the head, sir, but if you don't do as I tell you, sir, not a penny
do you have to support the title, for I'll disinherit you. Yes, sir,
you think you're a devilish fine branch, no doubt, but damme, I'll saw
you off!"
As his lordship spoke, he bounced out of the dining-room, banged the
door, and directly after mother and son saw him going straight across
the fields to inspect the hoarding he had ordered to be put up.
"I am very sorry, Denis, my dear," said Lady Pinemount.
"Can't be helped, mother dear," said the young man, passing his arm
round her and walking up towards the window, where they stood watching
his lordship's diminishing figure. "I want to be a good son, and I
never kick against the dad's eccentricities, except when they are too
bad. That is such a petty, ungentlemanly trick--an insult to as fine a
fellow as ever breathed, and--"
"You do love Veronica, my boy?" said Lady Pinemount, gazing wistfully at
her son.
"Love her?" said the young man, with his frank, handsome English face
lighting. "Mother dear, could I pick out a sweeter wife?"
Lady Pinemount sighed, and kissed her son.