In Which Complications Become More Complicated
And stick to it I did. From that day--the day of our drive to
Wrayton--on through those wonderful summer days in which she and
Hephzy and I were together at the rectory, not once did I attempt to
remonstrate with my “niece” concerning her presumption in inflicting her
presence upon us or in spending her money, as she thought it--our money
as I knew it to be--as she saw fit. Having learned and relearned my
lesson--namely, that I lacked the courage to tell her the truth I had
so often declared must be told, having shifted the responsibility to
Hephzy's shoulders, having admitted and proclaimed myself, in that
respect at least, a yellow dog, I proceeded to take life as I found it,
as yellow dogs are supposed to do.
And, having thus weakly rid myself of care and responsibility, I began
to enjoy that life. To enjoy the freedom of it, and the novelty of
the surroundings, and the friendship of the good people who were our
neighbors. Yes, and to enjoy the home life, the afternoons on the tennis
court or the golf course, the evenings in the drawing-room, the “teas”
on the lawn--either our lawn or someone else's--the chats together
across the dinner-table; to enjoy it all; and, more astonishing still,
to accept the companionship of the young person who was responsible for
our living in that way as a regular and understood part of that life.
Not that I understood the young person herself; no Bayport quahaug, who
had shunned female companionship as I had for so long, could be expected
to understand the whims and changing moods of a girl like Frances
Morley. At times she charmed and attracted me, at others she tormented
and irritated me. She argued with me one moment and disagreed the next.
She laughed at Hephzy's and my American accent and idioms, but when
Bayliss, Junior, or one of the curates ventured to criticize an
“Americanism” she was quite as likely to declare that she thought it
“jolly” and “so expressive.” Against my will I was obliged to join in
conversations, to take sides in arguments, to be present when callers
came, to make calls. I, who had avoided the society of young people
because, being no longer young, I felt out of place among them, was now
dragged into such society every day and almost every evening. I did
not want to be, but Little Frank seemed to find mischievous pleasure in
keeping me there.
“It is good for you,” she said, on one occasion, when I had sneaked
off to my room and the company of the “British Poets.” “Auntie says you
started on your travels in order to find something new to write about.
You'll never find it in those musty books; every poem in them is at
least seventy years old. If you are going to write of England and my
people you must know something about those that are alive.”
“But, my dear young lady,” I said, “I have no intention of writing of
your people, as you call them.”
“You write of knights and lords and ladies and queens. You do--or you
did--and you certainly know nothing about THEM.”
I was quite a bit ruffled. “Indeed!” said I. “You are quite sure of
that, are you?”
“I am,” decidedly. “I have read 'The Queen's Amulet' and no queen
on earth--in England, surely--ever acted or spoke like that one. An
American queen might, if there was such a thing.”
She laughed and, provoked as I was, I could not help laughing with her.
She had a most infectious laugh.
“My dear young lady--” I began again, but she interrupted me.
“Don't call me that,” she protested. “You're not the Archbishop of
Canterbury visiting a girl's school and making a speech. You asked me
not to call you 'Uncle Hosea.' If you say 'dear young lady' to me again
I shall address you publicly as 'dear old Nunky.' Don't be silly.”
I laughed again. “But you ARE young,” I said.
“Well, what of it. Perhaps neither of us likes to be reminded of our
age. I'm sure you don't; I never saw anyone more sensitive on the
subject. There! there! put away those silly old books and come down to
the drawing-room. I'm going to sing. Mr. Worcester has brought in a lot
of new music.”
Reluctantly I closed the volume I had in my hand.
“Very well,” I said; “I'll come if you wish. But I shall only be in the
way, as I always am. Mr. Worcester didn't plead for my company, did he?
Do you know I think he will bear up manfully if I don't appear.”
She regarded me with disapproval.
“Don't be childish in your old age,” she snapped, “Are you coming?”
I went, of course, and--it may have been by way of reward--she sang
several old-fashioned, simple ballads which I had found in a dog's-eared
portfolio in the music cabinet and which I liked because my mother used
to sing them when I was a little chap. I had asked for them before and
she had ignored the request.
This time she sang them and Hephzy, sitting beside me in the darkest
corner reached over and laid a hand on mine.
“Her mother all over again,” she whispered. “Ardelia used to sing
those.”
Next day, on the tennis court, she played with Herbert Bayliss against
Worcester and me, and seemed to enjoy beating us six to one. The only
regret she expressed was that she and her partner had not made it a
“love set.”
Altogether she was a decidedly vitalizing influence, an influence that
was, I began to admit to myself, a good one for me. I needed to be kept
alive and active, and here, in this wide-awake household, I couldn't be
anything else. The future did not look as dull and hopeless as it had
when I left Bayport. I even began to consider the possibilities
of another novel, to hope that I might write one. Jim Campbell's
“prescription,” although working in quite a different way from that
which he and I had planned, was working nevertheless.
Matthews, at the Camford Street office, was forwarding my letters and
honoring my drafts with promptness. I received a note each week from
Campbell. I had written him all particulars concerning Little Frank and
our move to the rectory, and he professed to see in it only a huge joke.
“Tell your Miss Cahoon,” he wrote, “that I am going to turn Spiritualist
right away. I believe in dreams now, and presentiments and all sorts
of things. I am trying to dream out a plot for a novel by you. Had a
roof-garden supper the other night and that gave me a fine start, but
I'll have to tackle another one before I get sufficient thrills to
furnish forth one of your gems. Seriously though, old man, this whole
thing will do you a world of good. Nothing short of an earthquake would
have shaken you out of your Cape Cod dumps and it looks to me as if you
and--what's her name--Hephzibah, had had the quake. What are you going
to do with the Little Frank person in the end? Can't you marry her off
to a wealthy Englishman? Or, if not that, why not marry her yourself?
She'd turn a dead quahaug into a live lobster, I should imagine, if
anyone could. Great idea! What?”
His “great idea” was received with the contempt it deserved. I tore up
the letter and threw it into the waste basket.
But Hephzy herself spoke of matrimony and Little Frank soon after
this. We were alone together; Frances had gone on a horseback ride with
Herbert Bayliss and a female cousin who was spending the day at “Jasmine
Gables.”
“Hosy,” said Hephzy, “do you realize the summer is half over? It's the
middle of July now.”
So it was, although it seemed scarcely possible.
“Yes,” she went on. “Our lease of this place is up the first of October.
We shall be startin' for home then, I presume likely, sha'n't we.”
“I suppose so. We can't stay over here indefinitely. Life isn't all
skittles and--and tea.”
“That's so. I don't know what skittles are, but I know what tea is. Land
sakes! I should say I did. They tell me the English national flower is
a rose. It ought to be a tea-plant blossom, if there is such a thing.
Hosy,” with a sudden return to seriousness, “what are we goin' to do
with--with HER when the time comes for us to go?”
“I don't know,” I answered.
“Are you going to take her to America with us?”
“I don't know.”
“Humph! Well, we'll have to know then.”
“I suppose we shall; but,” defiantly, “I'm not going to worry about it
till the time comes.”
“Humph! Well, you've changed, that's all I've got to say. 'Twan't so
long ago that you did nothin' BUT worry. I never saw anybody change the
way you have anyway.”
“In what way?”
“In every way. You aren't like the same person you used to be. Why,
through that last year of ours in Bayport I used to think sometimes you
were older than I was--older in the way you thought and acted, I mean.
Now you act as if you were twenty-one. Cavortin' around, playin' tennis
and golf and everything! What has got into you?”
“I don't know. Jim Campbell's prescription is taking effect, I guess.
He said the change of air and environment would do me good. I tell you,
Hephzy, I have made up my mind to enjoy life while I can. I realize as
well as you do that the trouble is bound to come, but I'm not going to
let it trouble me beforehand. And I advise you to do the same.”
“Well, I've been tryin' to, but sometimes I can't help wonderin' and
dreadin'. Perhaps I'm havin' my dread for nothin'. It may be that, by
the time we're ready to start for Bayport, Little Frank will be provided
for.”
“Provided for? What do you mean?”
“I mean provided for by somebody else. There's at least two candidates
for the job: Don't you think so?”
“You mean--”
“I mean Mr. Worcester and Herbert Bayliss. That Worcester man is a gone
case, or I'm no judge. He's keepin' company with Frances, or would, if
she'd let him. 'Twould be funny if she married a curate, wouldn't it.”
“Not very,” I answered. “Married life on a curate's salary is not my
idea of humor.”
“I suppose likely that's so. And I can't imagine her a minister's wife,
can you?”
I could not; nor, unless I was greatly mistaken, could the young lady
herself. In fact, anything as serious as marriage was far from her
thoughts at present, I judged. But Hephzy did not seem so sure.
“No,” she went on, “I don't think the curate's got much chance. But
young Doctor Bayliss is different. He's good-lookin' and smart and he's
got prospects. I like him first-rate and I think Frances likes him,
too. I shouldn't wonder if THAT affair came to somethin'. Wouldn't it be
splendid if it did!”
I said that it would. And yet, even as I said it, I was conscious of a
peculiar feeling of insincerity. I liked young Bayliss. He was all that
Hephzy had said, and more. He would, doubtless, make a good husband for
any girl. And his engagement to Frances Morley might make easier the
explanation which was bound to come. I believed I could tell Herbert
Bayliss the truth concerning the ridiculous “claim.” A man would be
susceptible to reason and proof; I could convince him. I should have
welcomed the possibility, but, somehow or other, I did not. Somehow or
other, the idea of her marrying anyone was repugnant to me. I did not
like to think of it.
“Oh dear!” sighed Hephzy; “if only things were different. If only she
knew all about her father and his rascality and was livin' with us
because she wanted to--if that was the way of it, it would be so
different. If you and I had really adopted her! If she only was your
niece.”
“Nonsense!” I snapped. “She isn't my niece.”
“I know it. That's what makes your goodness to her seem so wonderful
to me. You treat her as if you cared as much as I do. And of course you
don't. It isn't natural you should. She's my sister's child, and she's
hardly any relation to you at all. You're awful good, Hosy. She's
noticed it, too. I think she likes you now a lot better than she did;
she as much as said so. She's beginning to understand you.”
“Nonsense!” I said again. Understand me! I didn't understand myself.
Nevertheless I was foolishly pleased to hear that she liked me. It was
pleasant to be liked even by one who was destined to hate me later on.
“I hope she won't feel too hard against us,” continued Hephzy. “I can't
bear to think of her doin' that. She--she seems so near and dear to me
now. We--I shall miss her dreadfully when it's all over.”
I think she hoped that I might say that I should miss her, also. But I
did not say anything of the kind.
I was resolved not to permit myself to miss her. Hadn't I been scheming
and planning to get rid of her ever since she thrust herself upon us? To
be sorry when she, at last, was gotten rid of would be too idiotic.
“Well,” observed Hephzy, in conclusion, “perhaps she and Doctor Bayliss
will make a match after all. We ought to help it all we can, I suppose.”
This conversation had various effects upon me. One was to make me
unaccountably “blue” for the rest of that day. Another was that I
regarded the visits of Worcester and Herbert Bayliss with a different
eye. I speculated foolishly concerning those visits and watched both
young gentlemen more closely.
I did not have to watch the curate long. Suddenly he ceased calling at
the rectory. Not altogether, of course, but he called only occasionally
and his manner toward my “niece” was oddly formal and constrained. She
was very kind to him, kinder than before, I thought, but there was a
difference in their manner. Hephzy, of course, had an explanation ready.
“She's given him his clearance papers,” was her way of expressing it.
“She's told him that it's no use so far as he's concerned. Well, I never
did think she cared for him. And that leaves the course clear for the
doctor, doesn't it.”
The doctor took advantage of the clear course. His calls and invitations
for rides and tennis and golf were more frequent than ever. She must
have understood; but, being a normal young woman, as well as a very,
very pretty one, she was a bit of a coquette and kept the boy--for,
after all, he was scarcely more than that--at arm's length and in a
state of alternate hope and despair. I shared his varying moods. If he
could not be sure of her feelings toward him, neither could I, and I
found myself wondering, wondering constantly. It was foolish for me
to wonder, of course. Why should I waste time in speculation on that
subject? Why should I care whether she married or not? What difference
did it make to me whom she married? I resolved not to think of her at
all. And that resolution, like so many I had made, amounted to nothing,
for I did think of her constantly.
And then to add a new complication to the already over-complicated
situation, came A. Carleton Heathcroft, Esquire.
Frances and Herbert Bayliss were scheduled for nine holes of golf on the
Manor House course that morning. I had had no intention of playing. My
projected novel had reached the stage where, plot building completed, I
had really begun the writing. The first chapter was finished and I had
intended beginning the second one that day. But, just as I seated myself
at the desk in the Reverend Cole's study, the young lady appeared and
insisted that the twosome become a threesome, that I leave my “stupid
old papers and pencils” and come for a round on the links. I protested,
of course, but she was in one of her wilful moods that morning and
declared that she would not play unless I did.
“It will do you good,” she said. “You'll write all the better this
afternoon. Now, come along.”
“Is Doctor Bayliss as anxious for my company as you seem to be?” I asked
maliciously.
She tossed her head. “Of course he is,” she retorted. “Besides it
doesn't make any difference whether he is or not. _I_ want you to play,
and that is enough.”
“Humph! he may not agree with you.”
“Then he can play by himself. It will do him good, too. He takes
altogether too much for granted. Come! I am waiting.”
So, after a few more fruitless protests, I reluctantly laid aside the
paper and pencils, changed to golfing regalia and, with my bag of clubs
on my shoulder, joined the two young people on the lawn.
Frances greeted me very cordially indeed. Her clubs--I had bought them
myself on one of my trips to London: having once yielded, in the matter
of the tennis outfit, I now bought various little things which I thought
would please her--were carried by Herbert Bayliss, who, of course, also
carried his own. His greeting was not as enthusiastic. He seemed rather
glum and out of sorts. Frances addressed most of her conversation to me
and I was inclined to think the pair had had some sort of disagreement,
what Hephzy would have called a “lover's quarrel,” perhaps.
We walked across the main street of Mayberry, through the lane past the
cricket field, on by the path over the pastures, and entered the great
gate of the Manor, the gate with the Carey arms emblazoned above it.
Then a quarter of a mile over rolling hills, with rare shrubs and
flowers everywhere, brought us to the top of the hill at the edge of the
little wood which these English people persisted in calling a “forest.”
The first tee was there. You drove--if you were skillful or lucky--down
the long slope to the green two hundred yards away. If you were neither
skillful nor lucky you were quite as likely to drive into the long grass
on either side of the fair green. Then you hunted for your ball and,
having found it, wasted more or less labor and temper in pounding it out
of the “rough.”
At the first tee a man arrayed in the perfection of natty golfing togs
was practicing his “swing.” A caddy was carrying his bag. This of itself
argued the swinger a person of privilege and consequence, for caddies on
those links were strictly forbidden by the Lady of the Manor. Why they
were forbidden she alone knew.
As we approached the tee the player turned to look at us. He was not a
Mayberryite and yet there was something familiar in his appearance. He
regarded us for a moment and then, dropping his driver, lounged toward
me and extended his hand.
“Oh, I say!” he exclaimed. “It is you, isn't it! How do you do?”
“Why, Mr. Heathcroft!” I said. “This is a surprise.”
We shook hands. He, apparently, was not at all surprised.
“Heard about your being here, Knowles,” he drawled. “My aunt told me;
that is, she said there were Americans at the rectory and when she
mentioned the name I knew, of course, it must be you. Odd you should
have located here, isn't it! Jolly glad to see you.”
I said I was glad to see him. Then I introduced my companions.
“Bayliss and I have met before,” observed Heathcroft. “Played a round
with him in the tournament last year. How do, Bayliss? Don't think
Miss Morley and I have met, though. Great pleasure, really. Are you a
resident of Mayberry, Miss Morley?”
Frances said that she was a temporary resident.
“Ah! visiting here, I suppose?”
“Yes. Yes, I am visiting. I am living at the rectory, also.”
“Miss Morley is Mr. Knowles's niece,” explained Bayliss.
Heathcroft seemed surprised.
“Indeed!” he drawled. “Didn't know you had a niece, Knowles. She wasn't
with you on the ship, now was she.”
“Miss Morley had been living in England--here and on the Continent,” I
answered. I could have kicked Bayliss for his officious explanation of
kinship. Now I should have that ridiculous “uncle” business to contend
with, in our acquaintance with Heathcroft as with the Baylisses and the
rest. Frances, I am sure, read my thoughts, for the corners of her mouth
twitched and she looked away over the course.
“Won't you ask Mr. Heathcroft to join our game--Uncle?” she said. She
had dropped the hated “Hosea,” I am happy to say, but in the presence
of those outside the family she still addressed me as “Uncle.” Of course
she could not do otherwise without arousing comment, but I did not like
it. Uncle! there was a venerable, antique quality in the term which
I resented more and more each time I heard it. It emphasized the
difference in our ages--and that difference needed no emphasis.
Heathcroft looked pleased at the invitation, but he hesitated in
accepting it.
“Oh, I shouldn't do that, really,” he declared. “I should be in the way,
now shouldn't I.”
Bayliss, to whom the remark was addressed, made no answer. I judged that
he did not care for the honor of the Heathcroft company. But Frances,
after a glance in his direction, answered for him.
“Oh, not in the least,” she said. “A foursome is ever so much more
sporting than a threesome. Mr. Heathcroft, you and I will play Doctor
Bayliss and--Uncle. Shall we?”
Heathcroft declared himself delighted and honored. He looked the
former. He had scarcely taken his eyes from Miss Morley since their
introduction.
That match was hard fought. Our new acquaintance was a fair player
and he played to win. Frances was learning to play and had a natural
aptitude for the game. I played better than my usual form and I needed
to, for Bayliss played wretchedly. He “dubbed” his approaches and
missed easy putts. If he had kept his eye on the ball instead of on
his opponents he might have done better, but that he would not do. He
watched Heathcroft and Miss Morley continually, and the more he watched
the less he seemed to like what he saw.
Perhaps he was not altogether to blame, everything considered. Frances
was quite aware of the scrutiny and apparently enjoyed his discomfiture.
She--well, perhaps she did not precisely flirt with A. Carleton
Heathcroft, but she was very, very agreeable to him and exulted over the
winning of each hole without regard to the feelings of the losers. As
for Heathcroft, himself, he was quite as agreeable to her, complimented
her on her playing, insisted on his caddy's carrying her clubs, assisted
her over the rough places on the course, and generally acted the gallant
in a most polished manner. Bayliss and I were beaten three down.
Heathcroft walked with us as far as the lodge gate. Then he said good-by
with evident reluctance.
“Thank you so much for the game, Miss Morley,” he said. “Enjoyed it
hugely. You play remarkably well, if you don't mind my saying so.”
Frances was pleased. “Thank you,” she answered. “I know it isn't
true--that about my playing--but it is awfully nice of you to say it. I
hope we may play together again. Are you staying here long?”
“Don't know, I'm sure. I am visiting my aunt and she will keep me as
long as she can. Seems to think I have neglected her of late. Of course
we must play again. By the way, Knowles, why don't you run over and meet
Lady Carey? She'll be awfully pleased to meet any friends of mine. Bring
Miss Morley with you. Perhaps she would care to see the greenhouses.
They're quite worth looking over, really. Like to have you, too,
Bayliss, of course.”
Bayliss's thanks were not effusive. Frances, however, declared that
she should love to see the greenhouses. For my part, common politeness
demanded my asking Mr. Heathcroft to call at the rectory. He accepted
the invitation at once and heartily.
He called the very next day and joined us at tea. The following
afternoon we, Hephzy, Frances and I, visited the greenhouses. On this
occasion we met, for the first time, the lady of the Manor herself. Lady
Kent Carey was a stout, gray-haired person, of very decided manner and
a mannish taste in dress. She was gracious and affable, although I
suspected that much of her affability toward the American visitors was
assumed because she wished to please her nephew. A. Carleton Heathcroft,
Esquire, was plainly her ladyship's pride and pet. She called him
“Carleton, dear,” and “Carleton, dear” was, in his aunt's estimation,
the model of everything desirable in man.
The greenhouses were spacious and the display of rare plants and flowers
more varied and beautiful than any I had ever seen. We walked through
the grounds surrounding the mansion, and viewed with becoming reverence
the trees planted by various distinguished personages, His Royal
Highness the Prince of Wales, Her late Majesty Queen Victoria,
Ex-President Carnot of France, and others. Hephzy whispered to me as we
were standing before the Queen Victoria specimen:
“I don't believe Queen Victoria ever planted that in the world, do
you, Hosy. She'd look pretty, a fleshy old lady like her, puffin' away
diggin' holes with a spade, now would she!”
I hastily explained the probability that the hole was dug by someone
else.
Hephzy nodded.
“I guess so,” she added. “And the tree was put in by someone else and
the dirt put back by the same one. Queen Victoria planted that tree the
way Susanna Wixon said she broke my best platter, by not doin' a single
thing to it. I could plant a whole grove that way and not get a bit
tired.”
Lady Carey bade us farewell at the fish-ponds and asked us to come
again. Her nephew, however, accompanied us all the way home--that is, he
accompanied Frances, while Hephzy and I made up the rear guard. The next
day he dropped in for some tennis. Herbert Bayliss was there before
him, so the tennis was abandoned, and a three-cornered chat on the
lawn substituted. Heathcroft treated the young doctor with a polite
condescension which would have irritated me exceedingly.
From then on, during the fortnight which followed, there was a great
deal of Heathcroft in the rectory social circle. And when he was
not there, it was fairly certain that he and Frances were together
somewhere, golfing, walking or riding. Sometimes I accompanied them,
sometimes Herbert Bayliss made one of the party. Frances' behavior to
the young doctor was tantalizingly contradictory. At times she was very
cordial and kind, at others almost cold and repellent. She kept the
young fellow in a state of uncertainty most of the time. She treated
Heathcroft much the same, but there was this difference between
them--Heathcroft didn't seem to mind; her whims appeared to amuse rather
than to annoy him. Bayliss, on the contrary, was either in the seventh
heaven of bliss or the subcellar of despair. I sympathized with him, to
an extent; the young lady's attitude toward me had an effect which, in
my case, was ridiculous. My reason told me that I should not care at
all whether she liked me or whether she didn't, whether I pleased or
displeased her. But I did care, I couldn't help it, I cared altogether
too much. A middle-aged quahaug should be phlegmatic and philosophical;
I once had a reputation for both qualities, but I seemed to possess
neither now.
I found myself speculating and wondering more than ever concerning the
outcome of all this. Was there anything serious in the wind at all?
Herbert Bayliss was in love with Frances Morley, that was obvious now.
But was she in love with him? I doubted it. Did she care in the least
for him? I did not know. She seemed to enjoy his society. I did not want
her to fall in love with A. Carleton Heathcroft, certainly. Nor, to be
perfectly honest, did I wish her to marry Bayliss, although I like him
much better than I did Lady Carey's blasé nephew. Somehow, I didn't
like the idea of her falling in love with anyone. The present state
of affairs in our household was pleasant enough. We three were happy
together. Why could not that happiness continue just as it was?
The answer was obvious: It could not continue. Each day that passed
brought the inevitable end nearer. My determination to put the thought
of that end from my mind and enjoy the present was shaken. In the
solitude of the study, in the midst of my writing, after I had gone to
my room for the night, I found my thoughts drifting toward the day in
October when, our lease of the rectory ended, we must pack up and go
somewhere. And when we went, would she go with us? Hardly. She
would demand the promised “settlement,” and then--What then?
Explanations--quarrels--parting. A parting for all time. I had reached
a point where, like Hephzy, I would have gladly suggested a real
“adoption,” the permanent addition to our family of Strickland Morley's
daughter, but she would not consent to that. She was proud--very proud.
And she idolized her father's memory. No, she would not remain under any
such conditions--I knew it. And the certainty of that knowledge
brought with it a pang which I could not analyze. A man of my age and
temperament should not have such feelings.
Hephzy did not fancy Heathcroft. She had liked him well enough during
our first acquaintance aboard the steamer, but now, when she knew him
better, she did not fancy him. His lofty, condescending manner irritated
her and, as he seemed to enjoy joking at her expense, the pair had some
amusing set-tos. I will say this for Hephzy: In the most of these she
gave at least as good as she received.
For example: we were sitting about the tea-table on the lawn, Hephzy,
Frances, Doctor and Mrs. Bayliss, their son, and Heathcroft. The
conversation had drifted to the subject of eatables, a topic suggested,
doubtless, by the plum cake and cookies on the table. Mr. Heathcroft was
amusing himself by poking fun at the American custom of serving cereals
at breakfast.
“And the variety is amazing,” he declared. “Oats and wheat and corn!
My word! I felt like some sort of animal--a horse, by Jove! We feed our
horses that sort of thing over here, Miss Cahoon.”
Hephzy sniffed. “So do we,” she admitted, “but we eat 'em ourselves,
sometimes, when they're cooked as they ought to be. I think some
breakfast foods are fine.”
“Do you indeed? What an extraordinary taste! Do you eat hay as well, may
I ask?”
“No, of course we don't.”
“Why not? Why draw the line? I should think a bit of hay might be
the--ah--the crowning tit-bit to a breakfasting American. Your horses
and donkeys enjoy it quite as much as they do oats, don't they?”
“Don't know, I'm sure. I'm neither a horse nor a donkey, I hope.”
“Yes. Oh, yes. But I assure you, Miss Morley, I had extraordinary
experiences on the other side. I visited in a place called Milwaukee and
my host there insisted on my trying a new cereal each morning. We did
the oats and the corn and all the rest and, upon my word, I expected
the hay. It was the only donkey food he didn't have in the house, and I
don't see why he hadn't provided a supply of that.”
“Perhaps he didn't know you were comin',” observed Hephzy, cheerfully.
“Won't you have another cup, Mrs. Bayliss? Or a cooky or somethin'?”
The doctor's wife consented to the refilling of her cup.
“I suppose--what do you call them?--cereals, are an American custom,”
she said, evidently aware that her hostess's feelings were ruffled.
“Every country has its customs, so travelers say. Even our own has some,
doubtless, though I can't recall any at the moment.”
Heathcroft stroked his mustache.
“Oh,” he drawled, “we have some, possibly; but our breakfasts are not as
queer as the American breakfasts. You mustn't mind my fun, Miss Cahoon,
I hope you're not offended.”
“Not a bit,” was the calm reply. “We humans ARE animals, after all, I
suppose, and some like one kind of food and some another. Donkeys like
hay and pigs like sweets, and I don't know as I hadn't just as soon live
in a stable as a sty. Do help yourself to the cake, Mr. Heathcroft.”
No, our aristocratic acquaintance did not, as a general rule, come out
ahead in these little encounters and I more than once was obliged to
suppress a chuckle at my plucky relative's spirited retorts. Frances,
too, seemed to appreciate and enjoy the Yankee victories. Her prejudice
against America had, so far as outward expression went, almost
disappeared. She was more likely to champion than criticize our ways and
habits now.
But, in spite of all this, she seemed to enjoy the Heathcroft society.
The two were together a great deal. The village people noticed the
intimacy and comments reached my ears which were not intended for them.
Hephzy and I had some discussions on the subject.
“You don't suppose he means anything serious, do you, Hosy?” she asked.
“Or that she thinks he does?”
“I don't know,” I answered. I didn't like the idea any better than she
did.
“I hope not. Of course he's a big man around here. When his aunt dies
he'll come in for the estate and the money, so everybody says. And
if Frances should marry him she'd be--I don't know whether she'd be a
'Lady' or not, but she'd have an awful high place in society.”
“I suppose she would. But I hope she won't do it.”
“So do I, for poor young Doctor Bayliss's sake, if nothin' else. He's so
good and so patient with it all. And he's just eaten up with jealousy;
anybody can see that. I'm scared to death that he and this Heathcroft
man will have some sort of--of a fight or somethin'. That would be
awful, wouldn't it!”
I did not answer. My apprehensions were not on Herbert Bayliss's
account. He could look out for himself. It was Frances' happiness I was
thinking of.
“Hosy,” said Hephzy, very seriously indeed, “there's somethin' else. I'm
not sure that Mr. Heathcroft is serious at all. Somethin' Mrs. Bayliss
said to me makes me feel a little mite anxious. She said Carleton
Heathcroft was a great lady's man. She told me some things about him
that--that--Well, I wish Frances wasn't so friendly with him, that's
all.”
I shrugged my shoulders, pretending more indifference than I felt.
“She's a sensible girl,” said I. “She doesn't need a guardian.”
“I know, but--but he's way up in society, Lady Carey's heir and all
that. She can't help bein' flattered by his attentions to her. Any girl
would be, especially an English girl that thinks as much of class and
all that as they do over here and as she does. I wish I knew how she did
feel toward him.”
“Why don't you ask her?”
Hephzy shook her head. “I wouldn't dare,” she said. “She'd take my head
off. We're on awful thin ice, you and I, with her, as it is. She treats
us real nicely now, but that's because we don't interfere. If I should
try just once to tell her what she ought to do she'd flare up like a
bonfire. And then do the other thing to show her independence.”
“I suppose she would,” I admitted, gloomily.
“I know she would. No, we mustn't say anything to her. But--but you
might say somethin' to him, mightn't you. Just hint around and find
out what he does mean by bein' with her so much. Couldn't you do that,
Hosy?”
I smiled. “Possibly I could, but I sha'n't,” I answered. “He would tell
me to go to perdition, probably, and I shouldn't blame him.”
“Why no, he wouldn't. He thinks you're her uncle, her guardian, you
know. You'd have a right to do it.”
I did not propose to exercise that right, and I said so, emphatically.
And yet, before that week was ended, I did do what amounted to that very
thing. The reason which led to this rash act on my part was a talk I had
with Lady Kent Carey.
I met her ladyship on the putting green of the ninth hole of the golf
course. I was playing a round alone. She came strolling over the green,
dressed as mannishly as usual, but carrying a very feminine parasol,
which by comparison with the rest of her get-up, looked as out of place
as a silk hat on the head of a girl in a ball dress. She greeted me very
affably, waited until I putted out, and then sat beside me on the bench
under the big oak and chatted for some time.
The subject of her conversation was her nephew. She was, apparently,
only too glad to talk about him at any time. He was her dead sister's
child and practically the only relative she had. He seemed like a son to
her. Such a charming fellow, wasn't he, now? And so considerate and kind
to her. Everyone liked him; he was a great favorite.
“And he is very fond of you, Mr. Knowles,” she said. “He enjoys your
acquaintance so much. He says that there is a freshness and novelty
about you Americans which is quite delightfully amusing. This
Miss--ah--Cahoon--your cousin, I think she is--is a constant joy to him.
He never tires of repeating her speeches. He does it very well, don't
you think. He mimics the American accent wonderfully.”
I agreed that the Heathcroft American accent was wonderful indeed. It
was all that and more. Lady Carey went on.
“And this Miss Morley, your niece,” she said, poking holes in the turf
with the tip of her parasol, “she is a charming girl, isn't she. She and
Carleton are quite friendly, really.”
“Yes,” I admitted, “they seem to be.”
“Yes. Tell me about your niece, Mr. Knowles. Has she lived in England
long? Who were her parents?”
I dodged the ticklish subject as best I could, told her that Frances'
father was an Englishman, her mother an American, and that most of the
young lady's life had been spent in France. I feared more searching
questions, but she did not ask them.
“I see,” she said, nodding, and was silent for a moment. Then she
changed the subject, returning once more to her beloved Carleton.
“He's a dear boy,” she declared. “I am planning great things for him.
Some day he will have the estate here, of course. And I am hoping to
get him the seat in Parliament when our party returns to power, as it
is sure to do before long. He will marry then; in fact everything is
arranged, so far as that goes. Of course there is no actual engagement
as yet, but we all understand.”
I had been rather bored, now I was interested.
“Indeed!” said I. “And may I ask who is the fortunate young lady?”
“A daughter of an old friend of ours in Warwickshire--a fine family, one
of the oldest in England. She and Carleton have always been so fond of
each other. Her parents and I have considered the affair settled for
years. The young people will be so happy together.”
Here was news. I offered congratulations.
“Thank you so much,” she said. “It is pleasant to know that his future
is provided for. Margaret will make him a good wife. She worships him.
If anything should happen to--ah--disturb the arrangement her heart
would break, I am sure. Of course nothing will happen. I should not
permit it.”
I made some comment, I don't remember what. She rose from the bench.
“I have been chatting about family affairs and matchmaking like a
garrulous old woman, haven't I,” she observed, smiling. “So silly of me.
You have been charmingly kind to listen, Mr. Knowles. Forgive me, won't
you. Carleton dear is my one interest in life and I talk of him on the
least excuse, or without any. So sorry to have inflicted my garrulity
upon you. I may count upon you entering our invitation golf tournament
next month, may I not? Oh, do say yes. Thank you so much. Au revoir.”
She moved off, as imposing and majestic as a frigate under full sail. I
walked slowly toward home, thinking hard.
I should have been flattered, perhaps, at her taking me into confidence
concerning her nephew's matrimonial projects. If I had believed the
“garrulity,” as she called it, to have been unintentional, I might have
been flattered. But I did not so believe. I was pretty certain there was
intention in it and that she expected Frances and Hephzy and me to take
it as a warning. Carleton dear was, in her eyes, altogether too friendly
with the youngest tenant in Mayberry rectory. The “garrulity” was a
notice to keep hands off.
I was not incensed at her; she amused me, rather. But with Heathcroft I
was growing more incensed every moment. Engaged to be married, was he!
He and this Warwickshire girl of “fine family” had been “so fond” of
each other for years. Everything was understood, was it? Then what did
he mean by his attentions to Frances, attentions which half of Mayberry
was probably discussing at the moment? The more I considered his conduct
the angrier I became. It was the worst time possible for a meeting with
A. Carleton Heathcroft, and yet meet him I did at the loneliest and most
secluded spot in the hedged lane leading to the lodge gate.
He greeted me cordially enough, if his languid drawl could be called
cordial.
“Ah, Knowles,” he said. “Been doing the round I see. A bit stupid by
oneself, I should think. What? Miss Morley and I have been riding. Had a
ripping canter together.”
It was an unfortunate remark, just at that time. It had the effect of
spurring my determination to the striking point. I would have it out
with him then and there.
“Heathcroft,” I said, bluntly, “I am not sure that I approve of Miss
Morley's riding with you so often.”
He regarded me with astonishment.
“You don't approve!” he repeated. “And why not? There's no danger. She
rides extremely well.”
“It's not a question of danger. It is one of proprieties, if I must
put it that way. She is a young woman, hardly more than a girl, and she
probably does not realize that being seen in your company so frequently
is likely to cause comment and gossip. Her aunt and I realize it,
however.”
His expression of surprise was changing to one of languid amusement.
“Really!” he drawled. “By Jove! I say, Knowles, am I such a dangerously
fascinating character? You flatter me.”
“I don't know anything concerning your character. I do know that there
is gossip. I am not accusing you of anything. I have no doubt you have
been merely careless. Your intentions may have been--”
He interrupted me. “My intentions?” he repeated. “My dear fellow, I have
no intentions. None whatever concerning your niece, if that is what you
mean. She is a jolly pretty girl and jolly good company. I like her and
she seems to like me. That is all, upon my word it is.”
He was quite sincere, I was convinced of it. But I had gone too far to
back out.
“Then you have been thoughtless--or careless,” I said. “It seems to me
that you should have considered her.”
“Considered her! Oh, I say now! Why should I consider her pray?”
“Why shouldn't you? You are much older than she is and a man of the
world besides. And you are engaged to be married, or so I am told.”
His smile disappeared.
“Now who the devil told you that?” he demanded.
“I was told, by one who should know, that you were engaged, or what
amounts to the same thing. It is true, isn't it?”
“Of course it's true! But--but--why, good God, man! you weren't under
the impression that I was planning to marry your niece, were you? Oh, I
say! that would be TOO good!”
He laughed heartily. He did not appear in the least annoyed or angry,
but seemed to consider the whole affair a huge joke. I failed to see the
joke, myself.
“Oh, no,” he went on, before I could reply, “not that, I assure you. One
can't afford luxuries of that kind, unless one is a luckier beggar than
I am. Auntie is attending to all that sort of thing. She has me booked,
you know, and I can't afford to play the high-spirited independent with
her. I should say not! Rather!”
He laughed again.
“So you think I've been a bit too prevalent in your niece's
neighborhood, do you?” he observed. “Sorry. I'd best keep off the lawn a
bit, you mean to say, I suppose. Very well! I'll mind the notice boards,
of course. Very glad you spoke. Possibly I have been a bit careless. No
offence meant, Knowles, and none taken, I trust.”
“No,” I said, with some reluctance. “I'm glad you understand my--our
position, and take my--my hint so well. I disliked to give it, but I
thought it best that we have a clear understanding.”
“Of course! Stern uncle and pretty niece, and all that sort of thing.
You Americans are queer beggars. You don't strike me as the usual type
of stern uncle at all, Knowles. Oh, by the way, does the niece know that
uncle is putting up the notice boards?”
“Of course she doesn't,” I replied, hastily.
His smile broadened. “I wonder what she'll say when she finds it out,”
he observed. “She has never struck me as being greatly in awe of
her relatives. I should call HER independent, if I was asked. Well,
farewell. You and I may have some golf together still, I presume? Good!
By-by.”
He sauntered on, his serene coolness and calm condescension apparently
unruffled. I continued on my way also. But my serenity had vanished. I
had the feeling that I had come off second-best in the encounter. I had
made a fool of myself, I feared. And more than all, I wondered, as he
did, what Frances Morley would say when she learned of my interference
in her personal affairs.
I foresaw trouble--more trouble.