"I say, don't be in such a jolly hurry. You're all right here, you
know. I want to talk to you."
"You really must excuse me now, Claud; I have not been well, and I'm
going back to my room."
"Of course you haven't been well, Kitty--I say, I shall call you Kitty,
you know--you can't expect to be well moping upstairs in your room.
I'll soon put you right, better than that solemn-looking Doctor. You
want to be out in the woods and fields. I know the country about here
splendidly. I say, you ride, don't you?"
"I? No."
"Then I'll teach you. Get your old maid to make you a good long skirt--
that will do for a riding-habit at first--I'll clap the side-saddle on
my cob, and soon show you how to ride like a plucky girl should. I say,
Kitty, I'll hold you on at first--tight."
The speaker smiled at her, and the girl shrank from him, but he did not
see it.
"You'll soon ride, and then you and I will have the jolliest of times
together. I'll make you ride so that by this time next year you'll
follow the hounds, and top a hedge with the best of them."
"Oh, no, I have no wish to ride, Claud."
"Yes, you have. You think so now, because you're a bit down; but you
wait till you're on the cob, and then you'll never want to come off. I
don't. I say, you haven't seen me ride."
"No, Claud; but I must go now."
"You mustn't, coz. I'm going to rouse you up. I say, though, I don't
want to brag, but I can ride--anything. I always get along with the
first flight, and a little thing like you after I've been out with you a
bit will astonish some of them. I shall keep my eye open, and the first
pretty little tit I see that I think will suit you, I shall make the
guv'nor buy."
"I beg that you will not, Claud."
"That's right, do. Go down on your poor little knees and beg, and I'll
get the mount for you all the same. I know what will do you good and
bring the blood into your pretty cheeks. No, no, don't be in such a
hurry. I won't let you go upstairs and mope like a bird with the pip.
You never handled a gun, I suppose?"
"No, never," said Kate, half angrily now; "of course not."
"Then you shall. You can have my double-barrel that father bought for
me when I was a boy. It's light as a feather, comes up to the shoulder
splendidly, and has no more kick in it than a mouse. I tell you what,
if it's fine this afternoon you shall put on thick boots and a hat, and
we'll walk along by the fir plantations, and you shall have your first
pop at a pheasant."
"I shoot at a pheasant!" cried Kate in horror.
"Shoo!" exclaimed Claud playfully. "Yes, you have your first shot at a
pheasant. Shuddering? That's just like a London girl. How horrid,
isn't it?"
"Yes, horrible for a woman."
"Not a bit of it. You'll like it after the first shot. You'll be ready
enough to shove in the cartridges with those little hands, and bring the
birds down. I say, I'll teach you to fish, too, and throw a fly.
You'll like it, and soon forget all the mopes. You've been spoiled; but
after a month or two here you won't know yourself. Don't be in such a
hurry, Kitty."
"Don't hold my hand like that, Claud; I must really go now," said Kate,
whose troubled face was clouded with wonder, vexation, and something
approaching fear. "I really wish to go into the house."
"No, you don't; you want to stop with me. I shan't have a chance to
talk to you again, with old Garstang here. I say, I saw you come out to
have this little walk up and down here. I was watching and came after
you to show you the way about the grounds."
"It was very kind of you, Claud. Thank you; but let me go in now."
"Shan't I don't get a chance to have a walk with such a girl as you
every day. I am glad you've come. It makes our house seem quite
different."
"Thank you for saying so--but I feel quite faint now."
"More need for you to stop in the fresh air. You faint, and I'll bring
you to again with a kiss. That's the sort of thing to cure a girl who
faints."
She looked at him in horror and disgust, as he burst into a boisterous
laugh.
"I suppose old Garstang isn't a bad sort but we don't much like him
here. I say, what do you think of Harry Dasent?"
"I--I hardly know," said Kate, who was trying her best to get back along
the path by some laurels to where the conservatory door by the
drawing-room stood open. "I have seen so little of him."
"So much the better for you. He's not a bad sort of a fellow for men to
know, but he's an awful cad with girls. Not a bit of a gentleman. You
won't see much more of him, though, for the guv'nor says he won't have
him here. I say, a month ago it would have made me set up on bristles,
because I want him for a mate, but I don't mind now you've come. We'll
be regular pals, and go out together everywhere. I'll soon show you
what country life is. Oh, well, if you will go in now I won't stop you.
I'll go and have the little gun cleaned up, and--I say, come round the
other way; I haven't shown you the dogs."
"No, no--not now, please, Claud. I really am tired out and faint."
He still kept her hand tightly under his arm, in spite of her effort to
withdraw it, and followed her into the conservatory, which was large and
well-filled with ornamental shrubs and palms.
"Well, you do look a bit tired, dear, but it becomes you. I say, I am
so glad you've come. What a pretty little hand this is. You'll give me
a kiss before you go?"
She started from him in horror.
"Nobody can't see here. Just one," he whispered, as he passed his arm
round her waist; and before she could struggle free he had roughly
kissed her twice.
"Um-m-m," exclaimed Mrs Wilton, in a soft simmering way. "Claud,
Claud, my dear, shocking, shocking! Oh, fie, fie, fie! You shouldn't,
you know. Anyone would think you were an engaged couple."
"Aunt, dear!" cried Kate, in an agitated voice, as she clung to that
lady, but no further words would come.
"Oh, there, there, my dear, don't look like that," cried Mrs Wilton.
"I'm not a bit cross. Why, you're all of a flutter. I wasn't blaming
you, my dear, only that naughty Claud. It was very rude of him, indeed.
Really, Claud, my dear, it is not gentlemanly of you. Poor Kate is
quite alarmed."
"Then you shouldn't have come peeping," cried the oaf, with a boisterous
laugh.
"Claud! for shame! I will not allow it. It is not respectful to your
mamma. Now, come in, both of you. Mr Garstang is here--with your
father, Claud, my love; and I wish you to be very nice and respectful to
him, for who knows what may happen? Kate, my dear, I never think
anything of money, but when one has rich relatives who have no children
of their own, I always say that we oughtn't to go out of our way to
annoy them. Henry Dasent certainly is my sister's child, but one can't
help thinking more of one's own son; and as Harry is nothing to Mr
Garstang, I can't see how he can help remembering Claud very strongly in
his will."
"Doesn't Claud wish he may get it!" cried that youth, with a grin. "I'm
not going to toady old Garstang for the sake of his coin."
"Nobody wishes you to, my dear; but come in; they must be done with
their business by now. Come, my darling. Why, there's a pretty bloom
on your cheeks already. I felt that a little fresh air would do you
good. They're in the library; come along. We can go in through the
verandah. Don't whistle, Claud, dear; it's so boyish."
They passed together out of the farther door of the conservatory into
the verandah, and as they approached an open window, a smooth bland
voice said:
"I'll do the best I can, Mr Wilton; but I am only the agent. If I
stave it off, though, it can only be for a short time, and then--Ah, my
dear child!"
John Garstang, calm, smooth, well-dressed and handsome, rose from one of
the library chairs as Kate entered with her aunt, and held out both his
hands: "I am very glad to see you again--very, very sorry to hear that
you have been so ill. Hah!" he continued, as he scrutinised the
agitated face before him in a tender fatherly way, "not quite right yet,
though," and he led her to a chair near the fire. "That rosy tinge is a
trifle too hectic, and the face too transparently white. You must take
care of her, Maria Wilton, and see that she has plenty of this beautiful
fresh air. I hope she is a good obedient patient."
"Ve-ry, ve-ry, good indeed, John Garstang, only a little too much
disposed to keep to her room."
"Oh, well, quite natural, too," said Garstang, smiling. "What we all do
when we are ailing. But there, we must not begin a discussion about
ailments. I'm very glad to see you again, though, Kate, and
congratulate you upon being here."
"Thank you, Mr Garstang," she replied, giving him a wistful look, as a
feeling of loneliness amongst these people made her heart seem to
contract.
"Well, Wilton, I don't think we need talk any more about business?"
"Oh, we're not going to stay," cried Mrs Wilton. "Come, Kate, my
child, and let these dreadful men talk."
"By no means," said Garstang; "sit still, pray. We shall have plenty of
time for anything more we have to say over a cigar to-night, for I've
come down to throw myself upon your hospitality for a day or two."
"Of course, of course," said Wilton, quickly; "Maria has a room ready
for you."
"Yes, your old room, John Garstang; and it's beautifully aired, and just
as you like it."
"Thank you, Maria. You aunt always spoils me, Kate, when I come down
here. I look upon the place as quite an oasis in the desert of drudgery
and business; and at last I have to drag myself away, or I should become
a confirmed sybarite."
"Well, why don't you?" said Claud. "Only wish I had your chance."
"My dear Claud, you speak with the voice of one-and-twenty. When you
are double your age you will find, as I do, that money and position and
life's pleasures soon pall, and that the real enjoyment of existence is
really in work."
"Walker!" said Claud, contemptuously.
Garstang laughed merrily, and while Wilton and his wife frowned and
shook their heads at their son, he turned to Kate.
"It is of no use to preach to young people," he said, "but what I say is
the truth. Not that I object to a bit of pleasure, Claud, boy. I'm
looking forward to a few hours with you, my lad--jolly ones, as you call
them, and as I used. How about the pheasants?"
"More than you'll shoot."
"Sure to be. My eye is not so true as it was, Maria."
"Stuff! You look quite a young man still."
"Well, I feel so sometimes. What about the pike in the lake, Claud?
Can we troll a bit?"
"It's chock full of them. The weeds are rotten and the pike want
thinning down. Will you come?"
"Will I come! Indeed I will; and I'd ask your cousin to come on the
lake with us to see our sport, but it would not be wise. How is the
bay?"
"Fit as a fiddle. Say the word and I'll have him round if you're for a
ride."
"After lunch, my dear, after lunch," said Mrs Wilton.
"Yes, after lunch I should enjoy it," said Garstang.
"Two, sharp, then," said Claud.
"Yes, two, sharp," replied Garstang, consulting his watch. "Quarter to
one now."
"Yes, and lunch at one."
"By the way," said Garstang, "Harry said he had been down here, and you
gave him some good sport. I'm afraid I have made a mistake in tying him
down to the law."
Wilton moved uneasily in his chair and darted an angry look at his wife,
who began to fidget, and looked at Kate and then at her son.
Garstang did not seem to notice anything, but smiled blandly, as he
leaned back in his chair.
"Oh, yes, he blazed away at the pheasants," said Claud, sneeringly; "but
he only wounded one, and it got away."
"That's bad," said Garstang. "But then he has not had your experience,
Master Claud. It's very good of you, though, James, to have him down,
and of you, Maria, to make the boy so welcome. He speaks very
gratefully about you."
"Oh, it isn't my doing, John Garstang," said the lady, hurriedly; "but
of course I am bound to make him welcome when he comes;" and she uttered
a little sigh as she glanced at her lord again, as if feeling satisfied
that she had exonerated herself from a serious charge.
"Ah, well, we'll thank the lord of the manor, then," said Garstang,
smiling at Kate.
"Needn't thank me," said Wilton, gruffly. "I don't interfere with
Claud's choice of companions. If you mean that I encourage him to come
and neglect his work you are quite out. You must talk to Claud."
"I don't want him," cried that gentleman.
"But I think I understood him to say that you had asked him down again."
"Not I," cried Claud. "He'd say anything."
"Indeed! I'm sorry to hear this. In fact, I half expected to find him
down here, and if I had I was going to ask you, James, if you thought it
would be possible for you to take him as--as--well, what shall I say?--a
sort of farm pupil."
"I?" cried Wilton, in dismay. "What! Keep him here?"
"Well--er--yes. He has such a penchant for country life, and I thought
he would be extremely useful as a sort of overlooker, or bailiff, while
learning to be a gentleman-farmer."
"You keep him at his desk, and make a lawyer of him," said Wilton
sourly. "He'll be able to get a living then, and not have to be always
borrowing to make both ends meet. There's nothing to be made out of
farming."
"Do you hear this, Kate, my dear?" said Garstang, with a meaning smile.
"It is quite proverbial how the British farmer complains."
"You try farming then, and you'll see."
"Why not?" said Garstang, laughingly, while his host writhed in his
seat. "It always seems to me to be a delightful life in the country,
with horses to ride, and hunting, shooting and fishing."
"Oh, yes," growled Wilton, "and crops failing, and markets falling, and
swine fever, and flukes in your sheep, and rinderpest in your cattle,
and the bank refusing your checks."
"Oh, come, come, not so bad as that! You have fine weather as well as
foul," said Garstang, merrily. "Then Harry has not been down again,
Claud?"
"No, I haven't seen him since he went back the other day," said Claud,
and added to himself, "and don't want to."
"That's strange," said Garstang, thoughtfully. "I wonder where he has
gone. I daresay he will be back at the office, though, by now. I don't
like for both of us to be away together. When the cat's away the mice
will play, Kate, as the old proverb says."
"Then why don't you stop at the office, you jolly old sleek black tom,
and not come purring down here?" said Claud to himself. "Bound to say
you can spit and swear and scratch if you like."
There was a dead silence just then, which affected Mrs Wilton so that
she felt bound to say something, and she turned to the visitor.
"Of course, John Garstang, we don't want to encourage Harry Dasent here,
but if--"
"Ah, here's lunch ready at last," cried Wilton, so sharply that his wife
jumped and shrank from his angry glare, while the bell in the little
wooden turret went on clanging away.
"Oh, yes, lunch," she said hastily. "Claud, my dear, will you take your
cousin in?"
But Garstang had already arisen, with bland, pleasant smile, and
advanced to Kate.
"May I?" he said, as if unconscious of his sister-in-law's words; and at
that moment a servant opened the library door as if to announce the
lunch, but said instead:
"Mr Harry Dasent, sir!"
That gentleman entered the room.