"Gratitude, eh?" said Lord Carboro' suddenly.
"Yes, my lord," said the MC, who was perspiring profusely.
"Deuced dangerous thing, Denville. Are you sure?"
"My lord, I have my child's word, and that is sacred."
"Hah!" ejaculated Lord Carboro', "you are right. Bless her! she is as
sweet and true as she is beautiful. She stands alone here in her
youthful dignity. Damme, Denville, I always look upon her as some
beautiful Greek goddess, and I would have sooner gone to her funeral
than seen that _roue_ Rockley win her. I would, damme."
"My lord, so would I," said Denville huskily.
"And you would sooner go to her funeral than see her my wife, eh?" said
the old beau abruptly.
"My lord, I did not say so."
"Nor think it?"
Stuart Denville, MC of Saltinville, stood there out on the hazy Downs,
trembling, obsequious, tossed by his emotions. It was so dazzling, this
suggestion of an offer for his child's hand. May had married a rich
man; but for Claire, his beautiful child, to become the wife of a
wealthy nobleman--to become Countess of Carboro'! It was such an
exaltation--greater than his highest dreams. But before him stood that
withered old man, scanning him with his sharp eyes, and ready to probe
him with his bitterly venomed tongue. He, to be the husband of his
beautiful child. It was sacrilege.
"We agreed to be quite frank," said Lord Carboro' sharply.
Denville drew a long breath, and biting his lip, called up before his
mental vision the sweet soft face of his child wearing a new horror as
he bore her this news, and trampling down, as it were, the great
temptation, he cast off his mincing ways, his servile politeness, and in
a quick, firm voice exclaimed:
"Will your lordship commence and set me the example? What do you mean?"
"Come, I like that, Denville. Spoken like a man. Well, I'll be frank.
I have long been thinking of your child, and watching her, and as I have
watched her I have loved--no, that is absurd at my age--my liking for
her has grown. I have put it off and it has come back, and I have put
it off again as I have heard some bit of scandal, but she has always
come out of it so spotless and well that I have grown more--well,
infatuated."
He paused for a minute, and then went on speaking earnestly.
"Then came that horror at your house, just as I had made up my mind to
speak to you; and I said no: it was impossible; but the feeling grew.
Yes, man, even at my age."
Denville bowed, and drew himself up very stiffly.
"I waited, Denville, and was about to speak to you when this affair with
Rockley and the duel took place, and I stopped at home and swore
horribly; but the feeling still grew and grew, and as that has all
passed away, I now ask you if you will give me your consent. I ask you
as a gentleman, Denville, to address her and ask her if she will be my
wife."
Denville did not answer, for a tremendous struggle was going on within
his breast, and it was hard to say which side would win.
"Hah!" said Lord Carboro', speaking quickly; "you say I am very old.
Granted. That I ought to think of my coffin instead of a wife.
Granted. That I am an old fool; but there I join issue."
Denville had raised his hands deprecatingly.
"I am not an old fool, Denville."
"No, my lord, you are not."
"I'll tell you why. I have said to myself that if this beautiful young
creature swore to be my faithful wife I could trust her. She would be a
sweet companion for my declining years; and, God bless her! if she
consented, I would repay her for the sacrifice. In a few years I should
leave her young, rich, titled, and free to choose some more suitable
companion than the old man she had tended to his grave."
There were no marks lying on the ground as those two elderly men stood
face to face alone on the short turf of the Downs; but it seemed as if
they must have dropped a tear.
Neither spoke for some minutes, and then it was the Master of the
Ceremonies.
"My lord," he said firmly, "you have given me this commission for my son
as a bribe."
"No, no, Denville, I swear I have not."
"Take it back, my lord, for what you ask is impossible."
"Impossible?"
"Fate has been very hard to me, my lord, and the burden has been too
heavy at times to bear; but I cannot do this thing. I love my child too
well."
They stood gazing out to sea for some minutes, and only the rushing of
the wind was heard, or the wailing cry of the gulls, but at last Lord
Carboro' spoke.
"Denville, I did not know you," he said gravely. "I thought I had to
deal with a different man; but don't let us be hasty. As to the
commission, it is your boy's, and may he deserve it. As to what we have
said, let us wait. Don't refuse me absolutely, and don't say a word to
Miss Denville. Give me leave to visit at your house, and let matters
slide for a few months. Things may shape themselves so that you may
change your mind; do you consent to this?"
"It would be like buoying your lordship up with false hopes."
"That is my look-out, sir; do you consent?"
"I am your lordship's obedient, humble servant."
"You are the man I offer to make my father-in-law? Answer me, sir, like
a man."
"I consent."
"That's better. Denville, your hand. In future I shall know you as the
man I have seen to-day. I never respected you one half so much before."
Volume Two, Chapter XI.