CYRIL'S FRIEND
Miss Strong did like to go and see. She looked at Miss Wentworth with
a make-believe of anger, and, rising to her feet, went quickly across
the room. Admission had already been given to the knocker. There
advanced towards the girl standing in the open door a man--who was not
Mr. Paxton.
"Mr. Franklyn! I thought----"
There was a note of disappointment in her voice. She stopped short, as
if desirous not to allow her self-betrayal to go too far. She moved a
little back, so as to allow the newcomer to enter the room.
This newcomer was a man of the medium height, about forty years of
age. His black hair was already streaked with grey. He had a firm,
clear-cut, clean-shaven mouth and chin, and a pair of penetrating
grey-black eyes, with which he had a trick of looking every one whom
he addressed squarely in the face. His manner, ordinarily, was grave
and deliberate, as if he liked to weigh each word he uttered. He held
Miss Strong's hand for a moment in his cool, close grasp.
"Well; you thought what?"
"I'm very glad to see you--you know I am; but I thought it was Cyril."
"Are you expecting him?"
"I was expecting him, but--it seems he hasn't come."
Turning to Miss Wentworth he greeted her. And it was to be noted that
as she offered him her hand a humorous twinkle beamed through her
glasses, and her whole face was lighted by a smile. He turned again to
Miss Strong.
"Have you heard the news?"
"What news?"
"Hasn't Cyril told you?"
"He told me something last night, but I really couldn't tell you quite
what it was he told me, and I haven't seen him since."
"He is in Brighton?"
"Is he? I was informed that he was stopping in town."
"You were informed? By whom?"
"By an acquaintance, who said that he saw him there."
Mr. Franklyn waited before speaking again. His unflinching eyes seemed
to be studying the lady's face. Probably he saw that there was
something unusual in her manner.
"That is strange. I was under the impression that he was in Brighton.
I have come from town specially to see him. I expected to find him
with you here."
"He did promise to meet me to-night. He hasn't kept his promise. I
don't understand why. To be plain with you, it rather troubles me.
"He promised to meet you?"
"He did most faithfully."
"And you have received no intimation from him to the effect that he
was not coming?"
"Not a word--not a line!"
"Then he may be here at any moment. Something has unexpectedly delayed
him. You are acquainted with him sufficiently well to be aware that
had anything occurred to cause him to alter his plans, he would
immediately have let you know. Your informant was wrong. I have had
inquiries made for him everywhere in town, and as a result have good
reason to believe that he is in Brighton."
"What is the news of which you were speaking?"
"Has Cyril said nothing to you about the Trumpit Gold Mine?"
"He referred to it casually the night before last in his usual strain,
as having been the cause of his destruction."
"That really is extraordinary. I confess I do not understand it. It is
so unlike Cyril to have communicated neither with you nor with me. Are
you sure that he said nothing more?"
"About the Trumpit Gold Mine? Not a word. What was there, what is
there to say? Do get it out!"
The young lady made an impatient movement with her foot. The gentleman
looked at her with amusement in his eyes. She was very well worth
looking at just then. Her hair was a little out of order; and, though
she might not have agreed with such a statement, it suited her when it
was slightly disarranged. Her cheeks were flushed. She held herself
very straight. Perhaps it was her tears which had lent brightness to
her eyes; they were bright. Her small, white teeth sparkled between
her blush-rose lips, which were slightly parted as if in repressed
excitement. She presented a pretty picture of a young lady who was in
no mood for trifling.
"I shall have much pleasure, Miss Strong, in getting it out. What seem
to be well-founded rumours have reached England that gold has been
found at last in considerable quantities. The shares have gone up with
a rush. When the Stock Exchange closed this afternoon they were
quoted at £12 10s. A little more than a week ago they were unsaleable
at twopence each."
"£12 10s.! oh, Mr. Franklyn! And has Cyril got rid of his?"
"Not a bit of it. They are in my strongbox. There are ten thousand of
them--Cyril is one of the largest holders, if he is not the largest;
and what that means at £12 10s. apiece you can calculate as well as
I."
"Oh, Mr. Franklyn!" The young lady brought her hands together with a
little clap. She turned in natural triumph towards her friend. "What
did I tell you? Now aren't you sorry for what you said last night?
Didn't I say that you hadn't the faintest notion of what you were
talking about?"
Miss Wentworth, though, as was to be expected, not so excited as the
lady who was principally concerned, evinced sufficiently lively signs
of interest.
"You certainly did, and I certainly hadn't; and while you left nothing
unsaid which you ought to have said, there can be no sort of doubt
whatever that I said everything which I ought to have left unsaid.
But, at the same time, I do beg leave to remark that Mr. Paxton need
not have worn such an air of mystery."
"Why?" Miss Strong tapped the toe of her slipper against the floor.
"He wasn't compelled to blurt out his affairs to all the world."
Miss Wentworth shrugged her shoulders.
"Certainly not--if I am all the world. Are you also all the world?
From what I gathered he did not make much of a confidante of you."
"Well, he wasn't forced to!" Suddenly Miss Strong made a wholly
irrational, but not wholly unnatural, movement in the direction of
Miss Wentworth's chair. She placed her hand upon that lady's
shoulders. And she kissed her twice, first on the lips, then on the
brow. And she exclaimed, "Never mind. I forgive you!"
Miss Wentworth was quite as demure as the occasion required. She
surveyed her emotional friend with twinkling eyes.
"Thank you very much indeed, my dear."
Miss Strong moved restlessly about the room, passing, as it seemed,
aimlessly from object to object.
"It is strange that he should have kept such news to himself! And not
have said a word about it! And now not coming after all!" She turned
to Mr. Franklyn. "I suppose that it is all quite true? That you have
not been building up my hopes simply to dash them down again?"
"I have given you an accurate statement of the actual position of
affairs when prices were made up for the day, as you may easily prove
yourself by a reference to an evening paper."
With her hands Miss Strong pushed back her hair from her temples.
"After all he had lost in Eries----"
Mr. Franklyn interposed a question.
"In Eries! Did he lose in Eries?"
"I am afraid he did, heavily. And then, in spite of that, on the same
day, to see his way to a quarter of a million!"
"A quarter of a million! Did he mention that precise amount?"
"I think he did,--I feel sure he did. Charlie, didn't you hear him
speak of a quarter of a million?"
Miss Wentworth, who from the depths of her easy chair had been
regarding the two almost as if they had been studies of interesting,
though contrasting, types of human nature, smiled as she replied--
"I believe that I did hear Mr. Paxton make a passing and, as it seemed
to me, a mysterious allusion to that insignificant sum."
"Then he must be acquainted with the movements of the markets." Mr.
Franklyn was the speaker. "Though I must tell you candidly, Miss
Strong, that at present I am very far from being prepared to advise
him to hold until his profits reach what Miss Wentworth, in a truly
liberal spirit, calls that insignificant sum. As things stand, he can
get out with half of it. If he waits for more, he may get nothing.
Indeed, it is an almost vital necessity of the situation that I should
see him at once. The shares are in my keeping. Without his direct
authority I can do nothing with them. After all, the boom may be but a
bubble; it may already have been blown to a bursting-point; in the
morning it may have been pricked. Such things are the commonplaces of
the Stock Exchange. In any case, it is absolutely necessary that he
should be on the spot, ready, if needful, to take prompt, instant
advantage of the turn of the market in whatever direction it may be.
Or, by the time that he does appear upon the scene, his shares may
again be unsaleable at twopence apiece, and all his profits may have
gone. Now, tell me, do you know where he stayed last night?"
"At Makell's Hotel. He nearly always does stay there when he is in
Brighton."
"It is possible, then, that he is there now; or, at any rate, that
they have news of him. I will go at once and inquire."
Miss Strong made a quick movement towards the speaker.
"Mr. Franklyn, mayn't I come with you?"
He hesitated.
"There is not the slightest necessity. If he is there I will bring him
back with me; if he is not I will either bring or send you news."
"You promise?"
"I do--certainly."
"You promise that you will let me hear as soon as you can--at
once--without a moment's delay?" The girl put her hand to her side.
Tears came into her eyes. "Mr. Franklyn, you don't know what all this
means to me. All day long I have been conscious of something hanging
over me, as it were, a cloud of catastrophe. That something very
strange either has happened, or shortly will happen, I am convinced.
It frightens me! So, if you wish to do me a kindness, you will not
keep me in suspense one moment longer than you can help."
Miss Strong had passed, so far as appearances went, instantly, without
any sort of warning, from a white heat of excitement to almost
preternatural coldness. One had only to look at her to perceive that
her mind was not at ease; nor, since mental and physical conditions
are closely allied, her body either. Mr. Franklyn proffered
reassurance.
"Believe me, Miss Strong, there is not the slightest real cause for
anxiety. The probability is that Cyril is looking for me, just as I am
looking for him; that, in fact, we are chasing each other. Anyhow, you
shall have news when I have news, and that without a second's delay. I
ought to find a cab upon the nearest stand. If I do, you ought to hear
from me in thirty minutes. But even if I don't, I think that I can
promise that you shall hear from me within the hour."