MR. YELVERTON'S MISSION.
On a Thursday evening in the race week--two days after the "Cup,"
Mrs. Duff-Scott took her girls to the Town Hall to one of a series of
concerts that were given at that time by Henri Ketten, the Hungarian
pianist, and the Austrian band that had come out to Melbourne to give
_éclat_ to the Exhibition.
It was a fine clear night, and the great hall was full when they
arrived, notwithstanding the fact that half-a-dozen theatres were
open and displaying their most attractive novelties, for music-loving
souls are pretty numerous in this part of the world, taking all things
into consideration. Australians may not have such an enlightened
appreciation of high-class music as, say, the educated Viennese,
who live and breathe and have their being in it. There are, indeed,
sad instances on record of a great artist, or a choice combination
of artists, having appealed in vain for sympathy to the Melbourne
public--that is to say, having found not numbers of paying and
applauding listeners, but only a select and fervent few. But such
instances are rare, and to be accounted for as the result, not of
indifference, but of inexperience. The rule is--as I think most of
our distinguished musical visitors will testify--that we are a people
peculiarly ready to recognise whatever is good that comes to us, and
to acknowledge and appreciate it with ungrudging generosity. And so
the Austrian band, though it had many critics, never played to a thin
audience or to inattentive ears; and no city in Europe (according
to his own death-bed testimony) ever offered such incense of loving
enthusiasm to Ketten's genius as burnt steadily in Melbourne from the
moment that he laid his fingers on the keyboard, at the Opera House,
until he took his reluctant departure. This, I hasten to explain (lest
I should be accused of "blowing"), is not due to any exceptional virtue
of discrimination on our part, but to our good fortune in having
inherited an enterprising and active intelligence from the brave men
who had the courage and energy to make a new country, and to that
country being such a land of plenty that those who live in it have easy
times and abundant leisure to enjoy themselves.
Mrs. Duff-Scott sailed into the hall, with her girls around her, and
many eyes were turned to look at them and to watch their progress to
their seats. By this time "the pretty Miss Kings" had become well-known
and much talked about, and the public interest in what they wore,
and what gentlemen were in attendance on them, was apt to be keen on
these occasions. To-night the younger girls, with their lovely hair
lifted from their white necks and coiled high at the back of their
heads, wore picturesque flowered gowns of blue and white stuff, while
the elder sister was characteristically dignified in black. And the
gentlemen in attendance upon them were Mr. Westmoreland, still devoted
to Eleanor, and the portly widower, whom Mrs. Duff-Scott had intended
for Elizabeth, but who was perversely addicted to Patty. The little
party took their places in the body of the hall, in preference to the
gallery, and seated themselves in two rows of three--the widower behind
Mrs. Duff-Scott, Patty next him behind Eleanor, and Elizabeth behind
Mr. Westmoreland. And when the concert began there was an empty chair
beside Elizabeth.
By-and-bye, when the overture was at an end--when the sonorous tinkling
and trumpeting of the orchestra had ceased, and she was listening, in
soft rapture, to Ketten's delicate improvisation, at once echo and
prelude, reminiscent of the idea that the band had been elaborating,
and prophetic of the beautiful Beethoven sonata that he was thus
tenderly approaching, Elizabeth was aware that the empty chair was
taken, and knew, without turning her head, by whom. She tried not to
blush and feel fluttered--she was too old, she told herself, for that
nonsense--but for half a minute or so it was an effort to control
these sentimental tendencies. He laid his light overcoat over the back
of his chair, and sat down quietly. Mrs. Duff-Scott looked over her
shoulder, and gave him a pleasant nod. Mr. Westmoreland said, "Hullo!
Got back again?" And then Elizabeth felt sufficiently composed to turn
and hold out her hand, which he took in a strong clasp that was not
far removed from a squeeze. They did not speak to each other; nor did
they look at each other, though Mr. Yelverton was speedily informed of
all the details of his neighbour's appearance, and she took no time to
ascertain that he looked particularly handsome in his evening dress
(but _she_ always thought him handsome; big nose, leather cheeks, red
moustache, and all), and that his well-cut coat and trousers were not
in their first freshness. Then the concert went on as before--but
not as before--and they sat side by side and listened. Elizabeth's
programme lay on her knee, and he took it up to study it, and laid it
lightly on her knee again. Presently she pointed to one and another of
the selections on the list, about which she had her own strong musical
feelings, and he looked down at them and nodded, understanding what
she meant. And again they sat back in their chairs, and gazed serenely
at the stage under the great organ, at Herr Wildner cutting the air
with his baton, or at poor Ketten, with his long, white, solemn face,
sitting at the piano in a bower of votive wreaths and bouquets, raining
his magic finger-tips like a sparkling cascade upon the keyboard,
and wrinkling the skin of his forehead up and down. But they had no
audible conversation throughout the whole performance. When, between
the two divisions of the programme, the usual interval occurred for the
relaxation and refreshment of the performers and their audience, Mr.
Westmoreland turned round, with his elbow over the back of his chair,
and appropriated an opportunity to which they had secretly been looking
forward. "So you've got back?" he remarked for the second time. "I
thought you were going to make a round of the country?"
"I shall do it in instalments," replied Mr. Yelverton.
"You won't have time to do much that way, if you are going home again
next month. Will you?"
"I can extend my time a little, if necessary."
"Can you? Oh, I thought there was some awfully urgent business that you
had to get back for--a new costermonger's theatre to open, or a street
Arab's public-house--eh?"
Mr. Westmoreland laughed, as at a good joke that he had got hold
of, but Mr. Yelverton was imperturbably grave. "I have business in
Australia just now," he said, "and I'm going to finish that first."
Here the portly widower, who had overheard the dialogue, leaned over
Patty to join in the conversation. He was a wealthy person of the
name of Smith, who, like Mr. Phillips's father in the _Undiscovered
Country_, had been in business "on that obscure line which divides
the wholesale merchant's social acceptability from the lost condition
of the retail trader," but who, on his retirement with a fortune, had
safely scaled the most exclusive heights of respectability. "I say," he
called out, addressing Mr. Yelverton, "you're not going to write a book
about us, I hope, like Trollope and those fellows? We're suspicious
of people who come here utter strangers, and think they can learn all
about us in two or three weeks."
Mr. Yelverton reassured him upon this point, and then Mrs. Duff-Scott
broke in. "You have not been to call on me yet, Mr. Yelverton."
"No. I hope to have that pleasure to-morrow," he replied. "I am told
that Friday is your reception day."
"Oh, you needn't have waited for that. Any day before four. Come
to-morrow and dine with us, will you? We are going to have a few
friends and a little music in the evening. I suppose you are fond of
music--being here."
Mr. Yelverton said he was very fond of music, though he did not
understand much about it, and that he would be very happy to dine with
her next day. Then, after a little more desultory talk, the orchestra
returned to the stage and began the second overture--from Mozart this
time--and they all became silent listeners again.
When at last the concert was over, Elizabeth and her "young man" found
themselves once more navigating a slow course together through a
crowd. Mrs. Duff-Scott, with Mr. Westmoreland and Eleanor, moved off
in advance; Mr. Smith offered his arm to Patty and followed; and so,
by the favour of fate and circumstances, the remaining pair were left
with no choice but to accompany each other. "Wait a moment," said Mr.
Yelverton, as she stepped out from her seat, taking her shawl--a soft
white Rampore chuddah, that was the fairy godmother's latest gift--from
her arms. "You will feel it cold in the passages." She stood still
obediently, and he put the shawl over her shoulders and folded one end
of it lightly round her throat. Then he held his arm, and her hand
was drawn closely to his side; and so they set forth towards the door,
having put a dozen yards between themselves and the rest of their party.
"You are living with Mrs. Duff-Scott, are you not?" he asked abruptly.
"Not quite that," she replied. "Mrs. Duff-Scott would like us to be
there always, but we think it better to be at home sometimes."
"Yes--I should think it is better," he replied.
"But we are with her very often--nearly every day," she added.
"Shall you be there to-morrow?" he asked, not looking at her. "Shall I
see you there in the evening?"
"I think so," she replied rather unsteadily. And, after a little while,
she felt emboldened to ask a few questions of him. "Are you really only
making a flying visit to Australia, Mr. Yelverton?"
"I had intended that it should be very short," he said; "but I shall
not go away quite yet."
"You have many interests at home--to call you back?" she ventured to
say, with a little timidity about touching on his private affairs.
"Yes. You are thinking of what Westmoreland said? He is a scoffer--he
doesn't understand. You mustn't mind what he says. But I should like,"
he added, as they drew near the door and saw Mrs. Duff-Scott looking
back for them, "I should very much like to tell you something about it
myself. I think--I feel sure--it would interest you. Perhaps I may have
an opportunity to-morrow night."
Here Mrs. Duff-Scott's emissary, Mr. Smith, who had been sent back
to his duty, claimed Elizabeth on her chaperon's behalf. She and her
lover had no time to say anything more, except good-night. But that
good-night--and their anticipations--satisfied them.
On reaching Mrs. Duff-Scott's house, where the girls were to sleep,
they found the major awaiting their return, and were hospitably
invited--along with Mr. Westmoreland, who had been allowed to "see them
safely home," on the box-seat of the carriage--into the library, where
they found a bright little fire in the grate, and refreshments on the
table. The little man, apparently, was as paternal in his dispositions
towards the orphans as his wife could desire, and was becoming quite
weaned from his bad club habits under the influence of his new
domestic ties.
"Dear me, _how_ nice!--_how_ comfortable!" exclaimed Mrs. Duff-Scott,
sailing up to the hearth and seating herself in a deep leather chair.
"Come in, Mr. Westmoreland. Come along to the fire, dears." And she
called her brood around her. Eleanor, who had caressing ways, knelt
down at her chaperon's feet on the soft oriental carpet, and she pulled
out the frills of lace round the girl's white neck and elbows with a
motherly gesture.
"Dear child!" she ejaculated fondly, "doesn't she"--appealing to her
husband--"remind you exactly of a bit of fifteenth century Nankin?"
"I should like to see the bit of porcelain, Nankin or otherwise, that
would remind me exactly of Miss Nelly," replied the gallant major,
bowing to the kneeling girl. "I would buy that bit, whatever price it
was."
"That's supposing you could get it," interrupted Mr. Westmoreland, with
a laugh.
"It is the very shade of blue, with that grey tinge in it," murmured
Mrs. Duff-Scott. But at the same time she was thinking of a new topic.
"I have asked Mr. Yelverton to dine with us to-morrow, my dear," she
remarked, suddenly, to her spouse. "We wanted another man to make up
our number."
"Oh, have you? All right. I shall be very glad to see him. He's a
gentlemanly fellow, is Yelverton. Very rich, too, they tell me. But we
don't see much of him."
"No," said Mr. Westmoreland, withdrawing his eyes from the
contemplation of Eleanor and her æsthetic gown, "he's not a society
man. He don't go much into clubs, Yelverton. He's one of the richest
commoners in Great Britain--give you my word, sir, he's got a princely
fortune, all to his own cheek--and he lets his places and lives in
chambers in Piccadilly, and spends nearly all his time when he's at
home in the slums and gutters of Whitechapel. He's got a mania for
philanthropy, unfortunately. It's an awful pity, for he really _would_
be a good fellow."
At the word "philanthropy," the major made a clandestine grimace to
Elizabeth, but composed his face immediately, seeing that she was not
regarding him, but gazing with serious eyes at the narrator of Mr.
Yelverton's peculiarities.
"He's been poking into every hole and corner," continued Mr.
Westmoreland, "since he came here, overhauling the factory places, and
finding out the prices of things, and the land regulations, and I don't
know what. He's just been to Sandhurst, to look at the mines--doing a
little amateur emigration business, I expect. Seems a strange thing,"
concluded the young man, thoughtfully, "for a rich swell of his class
to be bothering himself about things of that sort."
Mrs. Duff-Scott had been listening attentively, and at this she
roused herself and sat up in her chair. "It is the rich who _should_
do it," said she, with energy. "And I admire him--I admire him, that
he has given up his own selfish ease to help those whose lives are
hard and miserable. I believe the squalid wretchedness of places
like Whitechapel--though I have never been there--is something
dreadful--dreadful! I admire him," she repeated defiantly. "I think
it's a pity a few more of us are not like him. I shall talk to him
about it. I--I shall see if I can't help him."
This time Elizabeth did look at the major, who was making a feint of
putting his handkerchief to his eyes. She smiled at him sweetly, and
then she walked over to Mrs. Duff-Scott, put her strong arms round the
matron's shoulders, and kissed her fervently.