Mr Jabez was got up wonderfully for his visit to Miss Carr. His white
waistcoat might have been carved in marble, and his white cravat was the
stiffest ever made; but there was a good deal of the natural gentleman
in the old man, and he took Miss Carr down to dinner with all the
ceremony of the old school.
Everything was expressly arranged to be very simple, and in a very few
minutes Mr Jabez was quite at his ease, while after a glass of sherry
the old man became pleasantly chatty, and full of anecdote, but always
treating his hostess with the most chivalrous respect, making a point of
rising to open the door for her when she quitted the room, and we were
supposed to be left to our wine.
"Hah, Grace," he said, coming back to the table, and taking a long pinch
of snuff; "now I feel a man again. I'll just have three more pinches,
and then we'll go upstairs to that angel. Good heavens!"
"What is the matter?" I said, as, instead of sitting down, he began to
walk up and down the dining-room, taking pinch after pinch of snuff.
"Good heavens!" he exclaimed again.
"Is anything the matter, Mr Jabez?" I exclaimed.
"Good heavens! I say, Good heavens!" he repeated.
"What do you mean?" I said.
"Good heavens! Only to think of it, Grace!"
Another pinch of snuff.
"Only to think, my lad, that he might have had that woman--that lady! A
girl as beautiful in her mind as she is in her face. Why, Grace, my
boy, I'm an old snuffy bachelor because my opportunity never came, but
if I could have married such a woman as that--Hah! some men are born to
be fools!"
"And you think Mr Lister was a fool?"
"Fool, sir? He was ten thousand times worse. But there! the sun don't
shine on me every day, my boy! We'll go upstairs at once, and let it
shine upon me again."
I never liked Mr Jabez one-half so well before. It was delightful to
me, who quite worshipped Miss Carr, to see the old man's genuine
admiration. He seemed quite transformed, and looked younger. In fact,
no sooner were we upstairs, where Miss Carr was sitting with the urn
singing on the tea-table, than he relieved me of a difficulty by opening
the question of business himself.
"My dear young lady," he said, as he sat down, and began rubbing one
thin little leg, "I know you'll excuse me for speaking so familiarly,
but,"--he smiled--"I'm over sixty, and I should think you are not more
than twenty-five."
Miss Carr smiled, and he went on.
"Our young friend Grace here tells me that you would like me to perform
a little commission for you. I only wish to say that you may command me
in any way, and to the best of my ability the work shall be done."
"Thank you, Mr Rowle," said our hostess. "Antony Grace said he felt
sure I could not have a more suitable and trustworthy agent."
"I thank Antony Grace," said the old man, bowing to me ceremoniously,
and taking out his snuff-box, which he hastily replaced.
"The fact is," said Miss Carr, hesitating, and her voice trembled and
her face flushed slightly as she spoke, "I--oh, I will be plain," she
said, as if determined to cast off all false shame; "Mr Rowle, I trust
to you not to put a false construction on this act of mine. I am rich--
I am my own mistress, and I will do as I please, whatever the world may
say."
"You are rich, you are your own mistress, and you have a right to do as
you please, my dear young lady, whatever the world may say," assented
Mr Jabez, tapping the lid of his snuff-box, which seemed as if it would
not keep out of his hand.
"The fact is, Mr Rowle," continued Miss Carr, "there is a gentleman--a
friend of Antony Grace here, who is struggling to perfect a new
invention--a great invention."
Mr Jabez bowed, gazing at her animated countenance with open admiration
the while.
"To perfect this invention, money is wanted."
"Exactly," said Mr Jabez, tapping his box softly. "Money is always
useful."
"I wish this gentleman to have that money--as much as is necessary."
"You are rich; you are your own mistress; you have a right to do as you
please, my dear young lady, whatever the world may say," said Mr Jabez,
harping upon her words once more. "It is easily settled. Give it him."
"No," said Miss Carr, speaking with animation, "it is not easy. You
forget what I say. This inventor is a gentleman."
"And would be too proud to take the money?" said Mr Jabez quickly.
"Yes," said Miss Carr. "He would not stoop to be under such an
obligation. He would feel insulted--that he was lowering himself. I
wish to help him," she said excitedly. "I would do anything to help
him; but my hands are tied."
"Humph!" ejaculated Mr Jabez softly; "and you want me to help you?"
"Yes, oh yes! And you will?" cried Miss Carr.
"Of course I will, my dear young lady," said the old man; "but this
requires thought. Would you excuse me if I took just one little pinch?"
"Oh, my dear Mr Rowle," cried Miss Carr, "pray do not use ceremony
here. I asked you to come to me as a friend. Pray consider that you
are one."
"Hah!" sighed Mr Jabez. "Now I can get on. Well, my dear young lady,
surely we can find a way. In the first place, who is the gentleman?"
Miss Carr looked at me.
"Mr Hallett," I said, coming to her help.
"What? Our Mr Hallett?" said Mr Jabez.
"Yes, Mr Rowle."
"Hum! Well, I'm not surprised," he said. "He certainly always did seem
to be a gentleman, and I was very sorry that he left our place. So he
is working on a great invention, eh? Well, he is just the man who
would. Then, the first thing is, how is it to be done?"
"Antony Grace thinks, Mr Rowle, that as you have the reputation of
being a wealthy man--"
"Wealthy! why I lost five hundred pounds slap the other day by--Dear me!
Bless my soul! Oh, tut--tut--tut! What an ass I am!" he muttered,
taking refuge in a tremendous pinch of snuff, half of which powdered his
white waistcoat and cravat.
"I am very sorry to hear that," said Miss Carr quietly.
"Oh, it was nothing. Pray go on, my dear young lady."
"Antony Grace thought that you might seek him out, and get into his
confidence a little, and at last, after a show of interest in his work,
ask him to let you become a sharer in the affair, on condition of your
finding the necessary funds."
"Of your money?" said the old man, with a slight show of suspicion.
"Of course, Mr Rowle. Then, if he would consent, which he might do,
thinking that he was favouring you, the matter would be settled."
"To be sure. Of course," said Mr Jabez thoughtfully. "And how far
would you go, my dear young lady--forty or fifty pounds?"
"As far as was necessary, Mr Rowle. As many hundreds as he required."
Mr Jabez tapped his box, and sat thinking, gazing wonderingly and full
of admiration at the animated countenance before him, as he softly bowed
his head up and down.
"And you will do this for me, Mr Rowle?" she said.
"If you will trust me, Miss Carr, I will be your steward in this
matter," he said quietly.
"And keep my secret? He must not know."
"I will be as silent as the grave, my dear, and I thank you for placing
so much confidence in me."
A few preliminaries and the thing was settled. Then, after tea, Miss
Carr sang to the old man a couple of old-fashioned ballads, and he left
soon after, I walking home with him, after arranging that I was to take
him to Great Ormond Street the following evening, as if after a casual
meeting and a desire to see Hallett again. The rest was to be left to
chance.
The old man was very quiet and thoughtful, but I noticed that our
leave-taking was a great deal warmer than it had ever been before, and I
went back to my lodgings hopeful and eager, feeling that the sun was
about to shine at last upon poor Hallett's venture, respecting which I,
with him, would not own now that there could be such a thing as failure.