NETTIE HARDING had spent at least six weeks at Low Wood when she sat one
afternoon on the lawn, gazing before her reflectively, with a book
turned upside-down upon her knee. She had at one time wondered why she
lingered there, though she found the company of Hester Earle congenial,
and Hester's father had pressed her to extend her visit, while other
reasons that appeared more or less convincing had not been wanting. The
Northrop valley was very pretty, and the quiet, well-ordered life her
English friends led pleasant, as a change from the turmoil of commercial
enterprise and the fierce activity of the search for pleasure she had
been accustomed to in America. The tranquillity of the green, peaceful
country appealed to her, and she found interesting the quietly spoken
men and women who so decorously directed what was done in it, partly
because the type was new to her.
That, however, was at the beginning, for by and by she was willing to
admit that Northrop might grow wearisome if she saw too much of it, and
she could no longer hide from herself the fact that she had a more
cogent reason for dallying there. She felt, though as yet it appeared
quite likely that she might be mistaken, she was picking up the threads
of a drama, the plot of which had been imperfectly revealed to her. This
in itself was interesting, for she had at least as much inquisitiveness
as most of her sex, and she was sensible of a little thrill of
pleasurable excitement when the scent grew hotter. Still, she never
asked an indiscreet question, and waited with a patience that is not
usually a characteristic of the women of her nation until she was
certain.
Miss Wayne, she decided, was at least very like the woman Appleby had
pictured to her; but she was difficult to understand, for Violet seldom
displayed her feelings, and her cold serenity baffled the observer. Tony
Palliser, of whom she had contrived to see a good deal, was an easier
and less interesting study. Nettie was naively witty, and could assume
American mannerisms with excellent effect when she chose while Tony was
fond of being amused, and Violet Wayne apparently devoid of any small
jealousy. Thus he spent a good deal of time hanging about Miss Harding,
and would have been painfully astonished had he discovered what she
thought of him. Languid good nature and the faculty of idling time away
very gracefully did not appeal to her, for even pleasure is pursued with
grim strenuousness in her country. He was, she fancied, just such a man
as the one Appleby had sacrificed himself for; but she surmised that
there were a good many men of that kind in England, and Appleby had told
his story in a fashion that made the identification of the scene and the
persons concerned in it difficult. Nettie felt also that should
conviction be forced upon her she would still have to decide what her
course would be.
She felt for Appleby a quiet esteem and a kindliness which just stopped
short of tenderness. She was an American, and could hold her own with
most men in the art of flirtation, but she was also capable of a
camaraderie that was characterized by frank sincerity and untainted by
any affectation of love-making for one of the opposite sex. That being
so, she felt it was incumbent upon her to discharge the obligation she
owed him if opportunity afforded, though she knew that the indiscreet
meddler not infrequently involves in disaster those she would benefit.
By and by there was a step behind her, and she saw Hester Earle
regarding her with a twinkle in her eyes.
"If there had been anybody else to see you--Tony Palliser, for example--
one could almost have fancied you had assumed that becomingly pensive
pose," she said. "You would make a picture of ingenuous contemplation."
Nettie laughed. "Well," she said, "I feel very like a torpedo. Anyway, I
didn't put it on, though I'm open to admit that there's quite a trace of
the peacock about me."
"That is evidently American hyperbole," said Hester. "Talk English,
Nettie. I don't understand."
She seated herself on the mossy wall close by, and noticed that her
companion was meditatively watching two figures approaching by a path
through a wheatfield. They were just recognizable as Tony and Violet
Wayne, and were evidently unaware of being observed, for the man
stooped, and, plucking what appeared to be a poppy from among the corn,
offered it to his companion. The pair stopped a moment, and the man
seemed to be desirous of fastening it in the girl's dress.
"The peacock," said Nettie in the drawl she assumed only when it suited
her, "is easy. They're vain, you know, and I wouldn't figure it was
worth while to spread out my best tail before men like Tony Palliser.
I'm quite fond of being looked at, too."
"One would fancy you could scarcely find fault with him on that
account," said Hester dryly. "But the torpedo?"
"That's a little harder. I suppose you never felt as if you were full of
explosives, and could go off when you wanted and scatter destruction
around. A torpedo doesn't appear a very terrible thing, you know. It's
nice and round and shiny. I've seen one. Julian showed it me."
"Nobody goes off in England--at least not among the people we care to mix
with," said Hester. "We send those who seem inclined to behave in that
fashion out to the colonies or America. People appear to rather like
explosions there."
"Still, you must get a little shake up now and then. Did nothing
startling and unexpected ever happen at Northrop?"
Hester Earle was English, and proud of the decorous tranquillity of the
life she led. "No," she said. "That is, nothing really worth mentioning.
Where did you get charged with explosives, Nettie?"
Nettie felt that one of the stoutest threads she had laid her fingers
upon had snapped in a most unexpected manner, but she had observed the
British character, and was not quite convinced. It was, she reflected,
after all a question of what Hester Earle considered worthy of mention.
"In Cuba," she said. "Now, I was worrying about something, and because
you are one of those quiet persons who think a good deal I'd like your
opinion. Suppose you or somebody else had a friend who was in trouble
through other people's fault, and would not say a word to clear himself,
and you found how you could make things straight for him? The answer to
that seems easy, but it gets complicated by the fact that to do it you
would have to stir up no end of mud and startle quite a few nice easy-
going people."
"Speaking generally, I should leave the mud alone, and feel that the
friend knew best. After all, he may have been to blame."
"No," said Nettie. "The man I was thinking of never did a mean thing in
his life."
"Then you can ask Violet Wayne. She is even quieter than I am, and I
believe she thinks a good deal."
Tony and his companion joined them then, and Violet took her place
beside Nettie, while the man sat down on the smooth strip of turf that
sloped to the sunken tennis lawn.
"You seem to have been discussing something serious," he said.
"Yes," said Hester. "Nettie has been comparing herself with a torpedo,
and wished to know whether it would be desirable for her to go off or
not. I recommended her to submit the case to Violet. Hadn't you better
begin, Nettie? You rather like an audience."
Nettie was seldom abashed, and the position appealed to her. She had
only vague surmises to go upon, and one of the clues had snapped, but
the rest might hold, while such an opportunity of discovering the
sentiments of the woman who might prove to be most involved could
scarcely occur again. It was accordingly with a little thrill of
excitement she put the question a trifle more concisely than she had
done to Hester, and though she smiled at the others, watched Tony
closely. He was certainly astonished, though the case was so outlined
that it could scarcely be identified with his own; but his indolent
carelessness stood him in good stead, and he sat still, listening with
no great show of interest until Nettie concluded.
"Of course, what I have told you concerns somebody in Cuba and not
England," she said. "Now, the point is, would it be better to leave the
people alone who seem quite content with everything as it is? One of
them would be hurt considerably if the truth came out!"
There was a little silence, and once more Violet Wayne was sensible of
the vague apprehension which had troubled her more frequently of late,
but she met Nettie's inquiring glance with steady eyes.
"Still, I think it would be better for that person to know the truth,"
she said.
"I am not quite sure," said Hester reflectively. "We will surmise that
he or she is happy in the deception, and it would last all her life. In
that case would it be a kindness to undeceive her?"
"I think so. If, as you seem to assume, the person were a woman she
would probably discover the truth herself. Deceptions seldom continue,
and if the awakening must come it would come better sooner than later."
Nettie was watching Tony, who lay now endeavoring to pluck a daisy out
of the turf. The task seemed to occupy all his attention. "You haven't
decided yet?" she said.
Tony assumed an attitude of languid reflection, though it was evident to
Nettie that his fingers, stained a little with the soil, were not quite
steady. He may have realized this, for he rubbed them in the grass with
slow deliberation.
"Well," he said, "it seems to me that if one is dreaming something very
nice it would be better to let him sleep as long as possible, and a
blunder to waken him to unpleasant realities. There's another point,
too. You seem to have overlooked the person who did the wrong."
"I don't think I mentioned that there was one!"
"Still, you led us to believe that wrong had been done. That, of course,
implies that somebody must have perpetrated it, and I expect you will
think me warranted in assuming it was a man. Well, you see, he mayn't
have meant to do any harm at all, and be sincerely sorry. Wouldn't he
deserve a little consideration? People are forced into doing a thing
they don't want to now and then."
Nettie watched him thoughtfully. Tony's face was indifferent, but she
fancied that he, at least, desired to convince himself.
"Tony's question is unnecessary," said Violet Wayne. "If the man were
sincerely sorry there would be an end of the difficulty. He would put it
straight by making reparation."
"He might find it difficult," said Hester.
Tony seemed to wince, and once more turned his attention to the daisy,
but when the rest sat silent he glanced at Violet.
"I rather think we are getting away from the point, but since you seem
to expect it I'll take up that man's brief," he said. "Well, we will
assume that he is a well-intentioned person who has only slipped up
once, and is trying to make up for what he has done. Now, if he were
left alone, such a man might go straight all the rest of his life."
"That's specious, but distinctly unorthodox," said Hester. "Who had
those beautifully illuminated tables of the law put up in Northrop
church, Tony?"
Nettie laughed to conceal her interest. "But John P. Robinson, he says
they didn't know everything down in Judee. That's latter day American,
but it's what a good many people seem to think. Please go on, Mr.
Palliser."
"I can't go very far. Still, we'll try to picture such a man giving
liberally where it's wanted, going straight, and doing what good he can
all round. We'll say the lives of other people who believe in him are
bound up in his, and their happiness depends upon his holding their
confidence. Now, would it be a kindness to anybody to bring everything
down crashing about his head?"
He stopped, and glanced with a curious half-veiled appeal in his eyes at
Violet, but she shook her head, and the gravity Nettie had once or twice
wondered at crept into her face. It showed perfect in its contour and
modelling under the big hat, but its clear pallor was more noticeable
just then, and it seemed to Nettie very cold. Then she smiled faintly.
"It is a very old question. Can a man be pardoned and retain the
offence? Still, I think it was answered decisively," she said.
Tony said nothing, and, as none of the others appeared inclined to talk,
the stillness of the afternoon made itself felt. The pale yellow
sunshine lay hot upon the lawn, and the soft murmur of the river came up
across the corn, which, broken by dusky woodlands steeped in slumbrous
shadow and meadow no longer green, rolled back in waves of ruddy bronze
into the valley. Beyond it the hillsides, narrowing in, faded blurred
and dim into the hazy distance. Still, the eyes of Tony and Violet Wayne
were fixed upon the raw blotch of brickwork rising against the green
woods above a flashing pool of the river. The rushy meadows and barren
hillside environing it were now worth the best plough land on the
Northrop estate, and, as both of those who looked at them remembered
then, they had been intended as Appleby's inheritance.
It was Hester who broke the silence. "Your question has been answered,
Nettie," she said. "It is decided that the person who did the wrong is
the one to right it; and now we'll change the topic. The entertainment
we had at Darsley was, as you know, an immense success, so great,
indeed, that as we still want money we have decided to have another."
"Still, it seems to me you can't consistently inflict any more tickets
on the Darsley tradesmen," said Tony, who appeared desirous of
concealing his relief. "The fact is, I was rather sorry for one or two
of them. Rawley told me he had to buy at least two half-crown tickets
from each of his leading supporters. I don't think it would be decent to
bleed them any more."
Hester laughed. "That difficulty has been provided for, and I told
everybody that I sent tickets to that it would be conducive to success
if when they broached the subject they paid their bills. This time we
intend to put the screw on our friends. You see, it is some time since
we had any little relaxation among ourselves."
"A concert isn't really very amusing," said Tony. "Anyway, not when you
have to sing at it."
"That depends. This one will be; and since it isn't exactly a concert it
will have the virtue of novelty. We intend to hold it here by moonlight
and limelight on the lawn. The tickets will be invitation ones at half-
a-guinea."
"Where will you get your limelights from? I believe that kind of thing
costs a good deal," said Tony.
"I don't know. The privilege of being allowed to supply them has been
allotted to Mr. Anthony Palliser. He is also put down for a song."