MR. LEVINGER PUTS A CASE.
At dinner Henry found himself seated between Mr. Levinger and his daughter.
Naturally enough he began to make conversation to the latter, only to find
that, either from shyness or for some other reason, she would not talk in
public, but contented herself with replies that were as monosyllabic as she
could make them.
Somewhat disappointed, for their short _tête-à-tête_
interview had given promise of better things, Henry turned his attention to her
father, and soon discovered that he was a most interesting and brilliant
companion. Mr. Levinger could talk well on any subject and, whatever the matter
he touched, he adorned it by an aptness and facility of illustration truly
remarkable in a man who for twenty years and more was reported to have been
little better than a hermit. At length they settled down to the discussion of
archæological questions, in which, as it chanced, Henry took an
intelligent interest, and more particularly of the flint weapons used by the
early inhabitants of East Anglia. Of these, as it appeared, Mr. Levinger
possessed one of the best collections extant, together with a valuable and
unique series of ancient British, Danish and Saxon gold ornaments and arms.
The subject proved so mutually agreeable, indeed, that before dinner was over
Mr. Levinger had given, and Henry had accepted, an invitation to stay a night
or two at Monk’s Lodge and inspect these treasures,—this, be it
said, without any arrière-pensée,—at any rate, so far as
the latter was concerned.
In the silence that followed this pleasant termination to their talk Henry
overheard Milward pumping Miss Levinger.
“Miss Graves tells me,” he was saying, “er—that you
live in that delightful old house beyond—er—Bradmouth—the one
that is haunted.”
“Yes,” she answered, “if you mean Monk’s Lodge. It is
old, for the friars used it as a retreat in times of plague, and after that it
became a headquarters of the smugglers; but I never heard that it was
haunted.”
“Oh! pray don’t rob me of my illusion, Miss Levinger. I drove past
there with your neighbours the Marchams; and Lady Marcham, the
dowager—the one who wears an eye-glass I mean—assured me that it
was haunted by a priest running after a grey nun, or a grey nun running after a
priest, which seems more likely; and I am certain she cannot be mistaken: she
never was about anything yet, spiritual or earthly, except her own age.”
“Lady Marcham may have seen the ghost: I have not,” said Emma.
“Oh, I have no doubt that she has seen it: she sees everything. Of course
you know her? She is a dear old soul, isn’t she?”
“I have met Lady Marcham; I do not know her,” answered Emma.
“Not know Lady Marcham!” said Milward, in affected surprise;
“why, I should have thought that it would have been as easy to escape
knowing the North Sea when one was on it; she is positively _surrounding._
What _do_ you mean, Miss Levinger?”
“I mean that I have not the honour of Lady Marcham’s
acquaintance,” she replied, in an embarrassed voice.
“If that cad does not stop soon, I shall shut him up!” reflected
Henry.
“What! have you quarrelled with her, then?” went on Milward
remorselessly. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, for she is a bad
enemy; and, besides, it must be so awkward, seeing that you have to meet her at
every house about there.”
Emma looked round in despair; and just as Henry was wondering how he could
intervene without showing the temper that was rapidly getting the mastery of
him, with a polite “Excuse me” Mr. Levinger leant across him.
“Perhaps you will allow me to explain, Mr. Milward,” he said, in a
particularly clear and cutting voice. “I am an invalid and a recluse.
What I am my daughter must be also. I have not the honour of the acquaintance
of Lady Marcham, or of any other of the ladies and gentlemen to whom you refer.
Do I make myself plain?”
“Oh, perfectly, I assure you.”
“I am glad, Mr. Milward, since, from what I overheard of your remarks
just now, I gathered that you are not very quick of comprehension.”
At this point Lady Graves rose with a certain haste and left the room, followed
by Miss Levinger and her daughter. Thereupon Sir Reginald fell into talk with
Mr. Levinger, leaving Henry and Mr. Milward together.
“Can you tell me who our friend there is?” the latter asked of
Henry. “He seems a very touchy as well as a retired person. I should not
have thought that there was anything offensive in my suggesting that his
daughter knew Lady Marcham.”
“Perhaps you insisted upon the point a little too much,” said Henry
drily. “I am not very well posted about Mr. Levinger myself, although my
father has known him all his life; but I understand that he is a rich man, who,
from one reason and another, has been more or less of a hermit for many
years.”
“By George! I have it now,” said Milward. “He’s the man
who was very popular in our mothers’ days, then married a wealthy cook or
some one of that sort, and was barred by the whole neighbourhood. Of course I
have put my foot into it horribly. I am sorry, for really I did not mean to
hurt his daughter’s feelings.”
“I am sure I am glad to hear that you did so inadvertently,”
answered Henry rather gruffly. “Won’t you have a cigarette?”
The rest of the evening passed quietly enough; almost too quietly, indeed, for
Emma, dismayed by her former experiences, barricaded herself in a corner behind
an enormous photograph album; and Ellen, irritated by a scene which jarred upon
her and offended her sense of the social proprieties, grew somewhat tart in
speech, especially when addressing her admirer, who quailed visibly beneath her
displeasure. Mr. Levinger noticed with some amusement, indeed, that, however
largely he might talk, Mr. Milward was not a little afraid of the young lady to
whom he was paying his court.
At length the party broke up. Mr. Milward retired to his own place, Upcott
Hall, which was situated in the neighbourhood, remarking as he went that he
hoped to see them all at church on the morrow in the afternoon; whereon Henry
resolved instantly that he would not attend divine service upon that occasion.
Then Sir Reginald and Lady Graves withdrew to bed, followed by Ellen and Emma
Levinger; but, somewhat to his surprise, Henry having announced his intention
of smoking a pipe in the library, Mr. Levinger said that he also smoked, and
with his permission would accompany him.
At first the conversation turned upon Mr. Milward, of whom Henry spoke in no
complimentary terms.
“You should not judge him so harshly,” said Levinger: “I have
seen many such men in my day. He is not a bad fellow at bottom; but he is rich
and an only child, and has been spoilt by a pack of women—wants taking
down a peg or two, in short. He will find his level, never fear. Most of us do
in this world. Indeed, unless my observation is at fault,” Mr. Levinger
added significantly, “there is a lady in this house who will know how to
bring him down to it. But perhaps you will think that is no affair of
mine.”
Henry was somewhat mystified by this allusion, though he guessed that it must
have reference to Ellen. Of the state of affairs between Mr. Milward and his
sister he was ignorant; indeed, he disliked the young gentleman so much himself
that, except upon the clearest evidence, it would not have occurred to him that
Ellen was attracted in this direction. Mr. Levinger’s remark, however,
gave him an opening of which he availed himself with the straightforwardness
and promptitude which were natural to him.
“It seems, Mr. Levinger,” he said, “from what I have heard
since I returned home, that all our affairs are very much your own, or _vice
versa._ I don’t know,” he added, hesitating a little, “if
it is your wish that I should speak to you of these matters now. Indeed, it
seems a kind of breach of hospitality to do so; although, if I understand the
position, it is we who are receiving your hospitality at this moment, and not
you ours.”
Mr. Levinger smiled faintly at this forcible way of putting the situation.
“By all means speak, Captain Graves,” he said, “and let us
get it over. I am exceedingly glad that you have come home, for, between
ourselves, your late brother was not a business man, and I do not like to
distress Sir Reginald with these conversations—for I presume I am right
in supposing that you allude to the mortgages I hold over the Rosham
property.”
Henry nodded, and Mr. Levinger went on: “I will tell you how matters
stand in as few words as possible.” And he proceeded to set out the
financial details of the encumbrances on the estate, with which we are already
sufficiently acquainted for the purposes of this history.
“The state of affairs is even worse than I thought,” said Henry,
when he had finished. “It is clear that we are absolutely bankrupt; and
the only thing I wonder at, Mr. Levinger,” he added, with some
irritation, “is that you, a business man, should have allowed things to
go so far.”
“Surely that was my risk, Captain Graves,” he answered. “It
is I who am liable to lose money, not your family.”
“Forgive me, Mr. Levinger, there is another side to the question. It
seems to me that we are not only paupers, we are also defaulters, or something
like it; for if we were sold up to the last stick to-morrow we should not be
able to repay you these sums, to say nothing of other debts that may be owing.
To tell you the truth, I cannot quite forgive you for putting my father in this
position, even if he was weak enough to allow you to do so.”
“There is something in what you say considered from the point of view of
a punctiliously honest man, though it is an argument that I have never had
advanced to me before,” replied Mr. Levinger drily. “However, let
me disabuse your mind: the last loan of ten thousand pounds, which, I take it,
leaving interest out of the count, would about cover my loss were the security
to be realised to-day, was not made at the instance of your father, who I
believe did not even know of it at the time. If you want the facts, it was made
because of the earnest prayer of your brother Reginald, who declared that this
sum was necessary to save the family from immediate bankruptcy. It is a painful
thing to have to say, but I have since discovered that it was your brother
himself who needed the money, very little of which found its way into Sir
Reginald’s pocket.”
[Illustration: ]
‘Forgive me, Mr. Levinger, there
is another side to the question.’
At this point Henry rose and, turning his back, pretended to refill his pipe.
He dared not trust himself to speak, lest he might say words that should not be
uttered of the dead; nor did he wish to show the shame which was written on his
face. Mr. Levinger saw the movement and understood it. Dropping the subject of
Reginald’s delinquencies, he went on:
“You blame me, Captain Graves, for having acted as no business man should
act, and for putting temptation in the path of the weak. Well, in a sense I am
still a business man, but I am not an usurer, and it is possible that I may
have had motives other than those of my own profit. Let us put a hypothetical
case: let us suppose that once upon a time, many years ago, a young fellow of
good birth, good looks and fair fortune, but lacking the advantages of careful
education and not overburdened with principle, found himself a member of one of
the fastest and most expensive regiments of Guards. Let us suppose that he
lived—well, as such young men have done before and since—a life of
extravagance and debauchery that very soon dissipated the means which he
possessed. In due course this young man would not improbably have betaken
himself to every kind of gambling in order to supply his pocket with money.
Sometimes he would have won, but it is possible that in the end he might have
found himself posted as a defaulter because he was unable to pay his racing
debts, and owing as many thousands at cards as he possessed five-pound notes in
the world.
“Such a young man might not unjustly have hard things said of him; his
fellow-officers might call him a scamp and rake up queer stories as to his
behaviour in financial transactions, while among outsiders he might be branded
openly as no better than a thief. Of course the regimental career of this
imaginary person would come to a swift and shameful end, and he would find
himself bankrupt and dishonoured, a pariah unfit for the society of gentlemen,
with no other opening left to him than that which a pistol bullet through the
head can offer. It is probable that such a man, being desperate and devoid of
religion, might determine to take this course. He might almost be in the act of
so doing, when he, who thought himself friendless, found a friend, and that
friend one by whom of all others he had dealt ill.
“And now let us suppose for the last time that this friend threw into the
fire before his eyes that bankrupt’s I.O.U.’s, that he persuaded
him to abandon his mad design of suicide, that he assisted him to escape his
other creditors, and, finally, when the culprit, living under a false name, was
almost forgotten by those who had known him, that he did his best to help him
to a fresh start in life. In such a case, Captain Graves, would not this
unhappy man owe a debt of gratitude to that friend?”
Mr. Levinger had begun the putting of this “strange case” quietly
enough, speaking in his usual low and restrained voice; but as he went on he
grew curiously excited—so much so, indeed, that, notwithstanding his
lameness, he rose from his chair, and, resting on his ebony stick, limped
backwards and forwards across the room—while the increasing clearness and
emphasis of his voice revealed the emotion under which he was labouring. As he
asked the question with which his story culminated, he halted in his march
directly opposite to the chair upon which Henry was sitting, and, leaning on
his stick, looked him in the face with his piercing brown eyes.
“Of course he would,” answered Henry quietly.
“Of course he would,” repeated Mr. Levinger. “Captain Graves,
that story was my story, and that friend was your father. I do not say that it
is all the story, for there are things which I cannot speak of, but it is some
of it—more, indeed, than is known to any living man except Sir Reginald.
Forgiving me my sins against him, believing that he saw good in me, your father
picked me out of the mire and started me afresh in life. When I came to these
parts an unknown wanderer, he found me work; he even gave me the agency of this
property, which I held till I had no longer any need of it. I have told you all
this partly because you are your father’s son, and partly because I have
watched you and followed your career from boyhood, and know you to be a man of
the strictest honour, who will never use my words against me.
“I repeat that I have not told you everything, for even since those days
I have been no saint,— a man who has let his passions run riot for years
does not grow good in an hour, Captain Graves. But I trust that you will not
think worse of me than I deserve, for it still pains me to lose the good
opinion of an upright man. One thing at least I have done—though I
borrowed from my daughter to do it, and pinched myself till I am thought to be
miserly—at length I have paid back all those thousands that I owed,
either to my creditors or to their descendants: yes, not a month ago I settled
the last and heaviest claim. And now, Captain Graves, you will understand why I
have advanced moneys beyond their value upon mortgage of the Rosham estates.
Your father, who has long forgotten or rather ignored the past, believes it to
have been done in the ordinary way of business; I have told you the true
reason.”
“Thank you,” said Henry. “Of course I shall respect your
confidence. It is not for me to judge other men, so I hope that you will excuse
my making any remarks about it. You have behaved with extreme generosity to my
father, but even now I cannot say that I think your conduct was well advised:
indeed, I do not see how it makes the matter any better for us. This money
belongs to you, or to your daughter”—here Henry thought that Mr.
Levinger winced a little—“and in one way or another it must be paid
or secured. I quite understand that you do not wish to force us into
bankruptcy, but it seems that there is a large amount of interest overdue,
putting aside the question of the capital, and not a penny to meet it with.
What is to be done?”
Mr. Levinger sat down and thought awhile before he answered.
“You have put your finger on the weak spot,” he said presently:
“this money is Emma’s, every farthing of it, for whatever I have
saved out of my life interest has gone towards the payment of my own debts, and
after all I have no right to be generous with my daughter’s fortune. Not
long ago I had occasion to appoint a guardian and trustee for her under my
will, a respectable solicitor whose name does not matter, and it was owing to
the remonstrances that he made when he accepted the office that I was obliged
to move in this matter of the mortgages, or at least of the payment of the
interest on them. Had it been my own money I would never have consented to
trouble your father, since fortunately we have enough to live upon in our quiet
way without this interest; but it is not.”
“Quite so,” said Henry. “And therefore again I ask, what is
to be done?”
“Done?” answered Mr. Levinger: “at present, nothing. Let
things go awhile, Captain Graves; half a year’s interest more or less can
make no great difference. If necessary, my daughter must lose it, and after all
neither she nor any future husband of hers will be able to blame me for the
loss. When these mortgages were made there was plenty of cover: who could
foresee that land would fall so much in value? Let matters take their course;
this is a strange world, and all sorts of unexpected things happen in it. For
aught we know to the contrary, within six months Emma may be dead, or,”
he added, “in some position in which it would not be necessary that
payment should be made to her on account of these mortgages.”
For a moment he hesitated, as though wondering whether it would be wise to say
something which was on the tip of his tongue; then, deciding that it would not,
Mr. Levinger rose, lit a candle, and, having shaken Henry warmly by the hand,
he limped off to bed.
When he had gone Henry filled himself another pipe and sat down to think. Mr.
Levinger puzzled him; there was something attractive about him, something
magnetic even, and yet he could not entirely trust him. Even in his confidences
there had been reservations: the man appeared to be unable to make up his mind
to tell all the truth. So it was also with his generosity towards Sir Reginald:
he had been generous indeed, but it seemed that it was with his
daughter’s money. Thus too with his somewhat tardy honesty: he had paid
his debts even though “he had borrowed from his daughter to do so.”
To Henry’s straightforward sense, upon his own showing Mr. Levinger was a
curious mixture, and a man about whom as yet he could form no positive judgment.
From the father his thoughts travelled to the daughter. It was strange that she
should have produced so slight an impression upon him when he had met her
nearly two years before. Either she was much altered, or his appreciative
powers had developed. Certainly she impressed him now. There was something very
striking about this frail, flaxen-haired girl, whose appearance reminded him of
a Christmas rose. It seemed odd that such a person could have been born of a
mother of common blood, as he understood the late Mrs. Levinger to have been,
for Emma Levinger looked “aristocratic” if ever woman did.
Moreover, it was clear that she lacked neither intellect nor dignity—her
conversation, and the way in which she had met the impertinences of the
insufferable Milward, proved it.
This was the lady whom Ellen had declared to be “half in love with
him.” The idea was absurd, and the financial complications which
surrounded her repelled him, causing him to dismiss it impatiently. Yet, as
Henry followed Mr. Levinger’s example and went to bed, a voice in his
heart told him that a worse fate might befall a man.