NOTHING SERIOUS
"By the law came sin----" quoted Stephen Aikenhead.
"He only meant the Jewish law. Man, ye're hopeless." Dennehy tousled his
hair.
The February afternoon was mild; Stephen was a fanatic about open air,
if about nothing else. The four sat on the lawn at Shaylor's Patch, well
wrapped up--Stephen, Tora, and Dennehy in rough country wraps, Winnie in
a stately sealskin coat, the gift of Mrs. Lenoir. She had taken to
dressing Winnie, in spite of half-hearted remonstrances and with notable
results.
"But the deuce is," Stephen continued--this time on his own account and,
therefore, less authoritatively--"that when you take away the law, the
sin doesn't go too."
Winnie's story was by now known to these three good friends. Already it
was being discussed more as a problem than as a tragedy. Some excuse
might be found in Winnie's air and manner. She was in fine looks and
good spirits, interested and alert, distinctly resilient against the
blows of fortune and the miscarriage of theoretical experiments. So much
time and change had done for her.
"And it seems just as true of any other laws, even if he did mean the
Jewish, Dick," Stephen ended.
"Don't lots of husbands, tied up just as tight as anything or anybody
can tie them, cut loose and run away just the same?" asked Tora.
"And wives," added Winnie--who had done it, and had a right to speak.
"It's like the old dispute about the franchise and the agricultural
labourer. I remember my father telling me about it somewhere in the
eighties--when I was quite a small boy. One side said the labourer
oughtn't to have the vote till he was fit for it, the other said he'd
never be fit for it till he had it."
"Oh, well, that's to some extent like the woman question," Tora
remarked.
"Are we to change the law first or people first? Hope a better law will
make better people, or tell the people they can't have a better law till
they're better themselves?"
"Stephen, you've a glimmer of sense in you this afternoon."
"Well, Dick, we don't want to end by merely making things easier for
brutes and curs--male or female."
"I think you're a little wanting in the broad view to-day, Stephen.
You're too much affected by Winnie's particular case. Isn't it better to
get rid of brutes and curs anyhow? The quicker and easier, the better."
Tora was, as usual, uncompromising.
"Everybody seems to put a good point. That's the puzzle," said Stephen,
who was obviously enjoying the puzzle very much.
"Oh, ye're not even logical to-day, Tora," Dennehy complained, "which I
will admit you sometimes are, according to your wrong-headed principles.
Ye call the man a brute or a cur, and this and that--oh, ye meant
Godfrey! What's the man done that he hadn't a right to do on your own
showing? His manners were bad, maybe."
"It's our own showing that we're now engaged in examining, if you'll
permit us, Dick," Stephen rejoined imperturbably. "When a man's
considering whether he's been wrong, it's a pity to scold him; because
the practice is both rare and laudable."
"Oh, you mustn't even consider whether I've been wrong, Stephen," Winnie
cried. "Wrong in principle, I mean. As to the particular person--but I
don't want to abuse him, poor fellow. His environment----"
"That's a damnable word, saving your presence," Dennehy interrupted.
"Nowadays whenever a scoundrel does a dirty trick, he lays it to the
account of his environment."
"But that's just what I meant, Dick."
"Say the devil, and ye're nearer the mark, Winnie."
"Environment's more hopeful," Stephen suggested. "You see, we may be
able to change that. Over your _protégé_ we have no jurisdiction."
"He may have over you, though, some day! Oh, I'll go for a walk, and
clear my head of all your nonsense."
"Don't forget you promised to take me to the station after tea," said
Winnie.
"Forget it!" exclaimed Dick Dennehy in scorn indescribable. "Now will I
forget it--is it likely, Winnie?" He swung off into the house to get his
walking-stick.
Tora Aikenhead shook her head in patient reproof. No getting reason into
Dick's, no hope of it at all! It was just Dick's opinion of her.
A short silence followed Dennehy's departure. Then Stephen Aikenhead
spoke again.
"You've had a rough time, Winnie. Are you sorry you ever went in for
it?"
"No, it was the only thing to try; and it has resulted--or is just
going to--in my being free. But I did fail in one thing. I was much more
angry with Godfrey than I had any right to be. I was angry--yes, angry,
not merely grieved--because he left me, as well as because he was afraid
to do it in a straightforward way. I didn't live up to my theories
there."
"I don't know that I think any theory easy to live up to," said Tora.
"Is the ordinary theory of marriage easy to live up to either?"
"It's always interesting to see how few people live up to their
theories." Stephen smiled. "It seems to me your husband isn't living up
to his."
"No, he isn't, and it's rather consoling. I don't fancy it ever entered
his head that he would have to try it in practice himself. Rather your
own case, isn't it, Stephen? You've never really found what any--any
difficulty could mean to you."
"Oh, I know I'm accused of that. I can't help it; it's absolutely
impossible to get up a row with Tora. And even I don't say that you
ought to walk out of the house just for the fun of it!"
"We prove our theory best by the fact of the theory making no
difference," said Tora.
"I suppose that in the end it's only the failures who want theories at
all," Winnie mused.
"Probably--with the happy result of reducing, _pro tanto_, the practical
importance of the subject, without depriving it of its speculative
interest," laughed Stephen. "Love, union, parentage, partnership--it's
good to have them all, but, as life goes on, a lot of people manage with
the last two--or even with only the last. It grows into a pretty strong
tie. Well, Winnie, you seem to have come through fairly well, and I hope
you won't have much more trouble over the business."
"I shan't have any, to speak of. I've put it all in Hobart Gaynor's
hands. I went to see him and told him all he wanted to know. He's taken
charge of the whole thing; I really need hear no more about it. He was
awfully kind--just his dear old self." She smiled. "Well, short of
asking me to his house, you know."
"Oh, that's his wife," said Tora.
"Mrs. Gaynor seems to live up to her theories, at any rate," chuckled
Stephen.
"It's not so difficult to live up to your theories about other people.
It's about yourself," said Winnie.
"I think your going to Mrs. Lenoir's is such a perfect arrangement."
Tora characteristically ignored the large body of opinion which would
certainly be against her on the question.
"I'm very happy there--she's so kind. And I seem quite a fixture. I've
been there nearly two months, and now she says I'm to go abroad with her
in the spring." She paused for a moment. "The General's very kind too.
In fact I think he likes me very much."
"Who's the General? I don't know about him."
Winnie explained sufficiently, and added, "Of course he thinks I'm just
Miss Wilson. Mrs. Lenoir says it's all right, but I can't feel it's
quite straight."
"As he appears to be nearly seventy, and Mrs. Lenoir's friend, if
anybody's----" Stephen suggested.
Winnie smiled and blushed a little. "Well, you see, the truth is that
it's not only the General. He's got a son. Well, he's got three, but one
of them turned up about a fortnight ago."
"Oh, did he? Where from?"
"From abroad--on long leave. It's the eldest--the Major."
"Does he like you very much too, Winnie?"
Winnie looked across the lawn. "It seems just conceivable that he
might--complicate matters," she murmured. "I haven't spoken to Mrs.
Lenoir about that--aspect of it."
Stephen was swift on the scent of another problem. "Oh, and you mean, if
he did--well, show signs--how much ought he to be told about Miss
Wilson?"
"Yes. And perhaps even before the signs were what you'd call very
noticeable. Wouldn't it be fair? Because he doesn't seem to me at all
a--a theoretical kind of person. I should think his ideas are what you
might call----"
"Shall we say traditional--so as to be quite impartial towards the
Major?"
"Yes. And especially about women, I should think."
Stephen looked across at his wife, smiling. "Well, Tora?"
Without hesitation Tora gave her verdict. "If you'd done things that you
yourself knew or thought to be disgraceful, you ought to tell him before
he grows fond of you. But you're not bound to tell him what you've done,
on the chance of his thinking it disgraceful, when you don't."
"I expect it's more than a chance," Winnie murmured.
"I'm groping after Tora's point. I haven't quite got it. From the
Major's point of view, in the hypothetical circumstances we're
discussing, what's of importance is not what Winnie thinks, but what he
does."
"What's important to the Major," Tora replied, "is that he should fall
in love with a good woman. Good women may do what the Major thinks
disgraceful, but they don't do what they themselves think disgraceful.
Or, if they ever do, they repent and confess honestly."
"Oh, she's got an argument! She always has. Still, could a good woman
let herself be fallen in love with under something like false
pretences?"
"There will be no false pretences, Stephen. She will be--she practically
is--an unmarried woman, and, if she married him, she'd marry him as
such. The rest is all over."
"It may be atavistic--relics of my public school and so on--but it
doesn't seem to me quite the fair thing," Stephen persisted; "to keep
him in the dark about our young friend, Miss Wilson, I mean."
"I think I agree with you, Stephen." Winnie smiled. "If he does show
signs, that's to say!"
"Oh, only if he shows signs, of course. Otherwise, it's in no way his
business."
"Because, whatever his rights may be, why should I risk making him
unhappy? Besides, in a certain event, he might find out, when it
was--from his point of view--too late."
Stephen laughed. "At least admit, Tora, that from a merely practical
point of view, there's something to be said for telling people things
that they may find out for themselves at an uncomfortably late hour."
"Oh, I thought we were trying to get a true view of a man's--or a
woman's--rights in such a case," said Tora, with lofty scorn. "But it
seems I'm in a minority."
"You wouldn't be happy if you weren't, my dear. It's getting dusk, and
here comes Dick back. Let's go in to tea."
Dick Dennehy often grew hot in argument, but his vexation never lasted
long. Over tea he was in great spirits, and talked eagerly about a new
prospect which had opened before him. The post he held as correspondent
was a poor affair, ill-paid and leading to nothing. He had the chance of
being appointed a leader-writer on a London daily paper--a post offering
a great advance both in pay and in position. The only possible
difficulty arose from his religious convictions; they might, on
occasion, clash with the policy of the paper, in matters concerning
education for instance.
"But they're good enough to say they think so well of me in every other
way that the little matter may probably admit of adjustment."
"Now don't you go back on your theories--or really where are we?" said
Stephen chaffingly.
"I won't do that; I won't do that. I should be relieved of dealing with
those questions. And, Stephen, my boy, I'd have a chance of a decent
place to live in and of being able to put by my old age pension."
They all entered eagerly into the discussion of these rosy dreams, and
it was carried, _nem. con._, that Dick must build himself a 'week-end'
cottage at Nether End, as near as might be to Shaylor's Patch. Perhaps
Winnie could find one to suit her too!
"And we'll all sit and jaw till the curtain falls!" cried Stephen
Aikenhead, expressing his idea of a happy life.
"Ye're good friends here, for all your nonsense," said Dennehy. "I'd ask
no better."
"Moreover, Dick, you can marry. You can tie yourself up, as Tora puts
it, just as tightly as you like. Choose a woman, if possible, with some
breadth of view. I want you to have your chance."
"Oh, I'm not likely to be marrying." A cloud seemed to pass over his
cheery face. But it was gone in a moment. "Well, who'd look at me,
anyhow?"
"I think you'd make an excellent husband, Dick," said Winnie. "I should
marry you--yes, even tie you up--with the utmost confidence."
He gave her a queer look, half-humorous, half-resentful. "Don't be
saying such things, Winnie, or ye'll turn my head and destroy my peace
of mind."
"Oh, last time I flirted with you, you said you liked it!" she reminded
him, laughing.
On the way to the station, Winnie walked with her arm through his, for
the evening had fallen dark, and the country road was rough. With a
little pressure of her hand, she said, "I'm so glad--so glad--of the new
prospects, Dick. I believe in you, you know, though we do differ so
much."
He was silent for a moment, and then asked abruptly, "And what prospects
have you?"
"Oh, I suppose I'm rather like the politician who had his future behind
him. But I haven't made up my mind what to do. I'm living rather from
hand to mouth just now, and taking a holiday from thinking."
"Oh, I'll mind my own business, if that's what you mean."
"Dick, how can you? Of course it wasn't. Please don't be huffy about
nothing."
"I'm worried about you. Don't let those people up at the Patch get at
you again, Winnie--for pity's sake, don't! Take care of yourself, my
dear. My heart bleeds to see you where you stand to-day, and if you got
into any other trouble--you don't understand that you're a woman a man
might do bad as well as good things for."
Emotion was strong in his voice; Winnie lightly attributed it to his
nationality.
"Don't fret about me. I've got to pay for my blunders, and, if I've any
sense at all, I shall be wiser in future."
"If ye're ever inclined to another man, for God's sake try him, test
him, prove him. Ye can't afford another mistake, Winnie. It'd kill you,
wouldn't it?"
"I shouldn't--like it," she answered slowly. "Yes, I shall be cautious,
Dick. And it would take a good deal to make me what you call 'inclined
to' any man just yet." She broke into a laugh. "But it's your domestic
prospects that we were discussing this afternoon!"
"I have none," he answered shortly, almost sourly.
"Oh, you've only just begun to think of it," she laughed. "Don't despair
of finding somebody worthy some day!"
They had just reached the station--nearly a quarter of an hour ahead of
their time. Dennehy was going back to sleep at the Aikenheads', but he
sat down with her in the waiting-room under a glaring gas lamp, to wait
for the train. Seen in the light, Dennehy's face looked sad and
troubled. Winnie was struck by his expression.
"Dick," she said gently, "I hope we haven't been chaffing you when--when
there's something serious?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "No, no, ye couldn't call it serious."
"I believe it is, because you were in good spirits till we began about
that. Then you looked funny and--well, you don't look at all funny now.
If there is anything--oh, don't despair! And all good, good wishes, dear
Dick! Oh, what a pity this should come, just when everything else is
looking so bright for you!"
"I tell ye, Winnie, there's nothing serious."
Winnie nodded an entirely unreal acquiescence. "Very well, my friend,"
she said.
A long silence fell between them. In direct disobedience to a large
notice, Dennehy lit a cigarette and smoked it quickly, still looking sad
and moody. Winnie, troubled by his trouble and unconvinced by his
denial, was wondering why in the world she had never thought of such a
thing happening to Dick Dennehy. Why not? There was no reason; he was a
man, like the rest. Only we are in the habit of taking partial and
one-sided views of our friends and neighbours. The most salient aspect
of them alone catches our eye. To cover the whole ground we have neither
time nor, generally, opportunity. They come to stand, to us, for one
quality or characteristic--just as the persons in a novel or a play
often, perhaps generally, do, however much the writer may have
endeavoured to give the whole man on his canvas. Now the quality of
lover--of even potential lover--had never seemed to associate itself at
all necessarily or insistently with Dick Dennehy, as it did, at once and
of necessity, with Godfrey Ledstone. So Winnie had just not thought of
it. Yet she knew enough to understand how it is that this very kind of
man takes love hard, when it does chance to find him out--takes it hard
and keeps it long--long after the susceptible man has got over his
latest attack of recurrent fever. Was poor Dick Dennehy really hard hit?
"Who'd look at me, anyhow?" he had asked. Well, he certainly was not
handsome. But Winnie remembered her two handsome men. "I should like to
have a word with that girl!" she thought. Her reference was to Dick's
hard-hearted mistress.
But Winnie was not of the women--if indeed they exist--whose innocence
merges in denseness and who can successfully maintain for a twelvemonth
a total ignorance of the feelings of a man with whom they are thrown
into familiar acquaintance. Suddenly, some two minutes before her train
was due, her brain got to work--seized on the pieces of the puzzle with
its quick perception. Here was a man, naturally ardent, essentially
sanguine, in despair--surely about a woman? He did not deny the woman,
though he protested that the matter was not 'serious.' Merely to look at
him now proved it, for the moment at least, grievous. Well, for
'serious' she read practicable; for 'not serious' she substituted
hopeless. Then he had looked at her in that queer way; the words had
been all right, conceived in the appropriate vein of jocular flirtation;
but the look was out of joint. And then his extreme and emotional
concern for her welfare and prudent conduct! Would he, even though a
Celt, have felt that anxiety quite so keenly, if another and hopeless
affection had been dominating his mind? "Who'd look at me, anyhow?" That
protest his modesty made consistent with an aspiration for any lady; it
need not be taken too seriously. But his abrupt curt answer about his
prospects--"I have none"----?
The pieces of the puzzle seemed to fit pretty well, yet the proof was
not conclusive. Say that the evidence was consistent, rather than
demonstrative. Somehow, intangibly and beyond definition, there was
something in the man's bearing, in his attitude, in the totality of his
words and demeanour, which enforced the conviction. There even seemed an
atmosphere in the bare, dirty little waiting-room which contained and
conveyed it--something coming unseen from him to her, in spite of all
his dogged effort to resist the transference. He smoked a second
cigarette fiercely. Why, when he had been serene and cheerful all the
afternoon, should he be so suddenly overcome by the thought of an absent
woman that he could not or would not speak to or look at a friend to
whom he was certainly much attached?
The train rumbled into the station. "Here it is!" said Winnie, and rose
to her feet.
Dick Dennehy started and jumped up. For a second his eyes met hers.
"Come along and put me into a carriage," she added hastily, and made her
way at a quick pace to the train. "Where are the thirds?"
They found the thirds, and she got in. He shut the door, and stood by
it, waiting for the train to start.
"You've got a wrong idea. I tell ye it's not serious, Winnie."
He made his protest again, in a hard desperate voice. Then, with an
effort, he took a more ordinary tone.
"I'm full of business over this new idea--and with winding up the old
connection, if I do it. I mayn't be seeing you for a few weeks. You will
take care of yourself?"
"Surely if anybody's had a warning, I have! Good-bye, Dick."
She put her hand out through the window. He took it and pressed it, but
he never lifted his eyes to hers. A lurch back, a plunge forward, and
the train was started. "Good-bye, Dick!" she cried again. "Cheer up!"
Leaning out of the window, she saw him standing with his hands in his
pockets, looking after her. He called out something, which she heard
imperfectly, but it embraced the word 'fool,' and also the word
'serious.' She could supply a connexion for the latter, but travelled to
town in doubt as to the application of the former. Was it to her or to
himself that Dick Dennehy had applied the epithet? "Because it makes a
little difference," thought Winnie, snuggling down into the big collar
of her sealskin coat--quite out of place, by the way, in a third-class
carriage.