LEE ENJOYS HIMSELF
Lee sat down behind the table and began to point a quill. Frank
took a chair opposite him.
'Mr. Hay,' said Lee, 'we may as well come to the point at once. My
daughter cannot marry you. I have chosen her a husband.'
'I am glad to come to the point at once,' said Frank. 'Miss
Chartres bade me tell you that she will have no husband but me.
She sends you this message: You may kill her, but you cannot force
her to marry against her will.'
'I am sorry her message is so commonplace. It indicates that her
novel-reading has not been eclectic, to say the least; and, which
is of more importance to me, it lowers the tone of the present
work. That, of course, you don't understand; but no matter. Force
her to marry against her will? Surely not. _You_ know, if _she_
doesn't, that people never act against their wills. We will change
her will, or kill it.'
'Which would be to kill her.'
'I'm not so sure of that. It will be an interesting experiment. I
understand you to say that by the time my daughter's will has been
conquered, her body must be so reduced that death will ensue. Now,
I do not think so. What will you wager that she does not survive
the subjugation of her will?'
There was a pause before Frank replied, which gave his answer an
appearance of deliberation it did not possess. He was so
astonished at the beaming satisfaction on Lee's face, utterly
incompatible under any hypothesis he could think of, with the
cold-blooded, heartless suggestion regarding Muriel, that words
were denied him for a second or two. When they did come, slowly
and vehemently, they had more reference to the character of the
wagerer than the matter of the villainous bet.
'You are a scoundrel!'
Lee laid down the quill with which he had been dallying, and
settled himself comfortably in his chair. He expected to derive
great pleasure from this interview. Hitherto he had been dealing
with women and servants; he was now to have a foeman worthy of his
steel.
'I am a scoundrel,' he said, weighing each word. 'That is your
position. Now, how will you defend it?'
The momentary blankness on Frank's face made Lee fear he had been
too precipitate, and had routed the young man with this wholly
unexpected turn, putting an end to the intellectual enjoyment he
had anticipated. So when the blankness left Frank's face, the
child-like happiness which dwelt in every line of Lee's could only
be matched by the pictured countenance of some rapt and smiling
medieval saint. The young man, concluding that he had to deal with
what the world calls a 'character,' met him on his own ground.
'Your imperturbability under the accusation is the best proof, I
think.' He said this mildly and collectedly, not wishing to give
Lee the advantage of his coolness.
'A very fair answer,' said Lee. 'I shall allow you this stroke by
way of compensation. Poor fellow, you will have a sore heart for a
while, I imagine. You're not a fool, and you're good-looking. I
think more of my daughter on your account.'
Lee resumed the quill, and began to write with a perfect
assumption of unconcern. Frank stood up, put both hands on the
table, leant forward a little, and delivered himself of a short
speech. His blood was up, and he spoke very little above a
whisper.
'Mr. Chartres, you have the right to control the actions of your
daughter. You are going to abuse that right. I shall interfere.
Your daughter loves me; you are going to force her from me; I
shall do all I can to prevent you. I love your daughter; I shall
stick at nothing to obtain her: Mr. Chartres, I shall succeed.'
The practical novelist positively trembled with delight.
'I like you, young man,' he cried; 'and I believe you will
improve. I think you will be unconsciously my best collaborateur.
Both your character and Muriel's will be tested, illuminated, and
strengthened for good or evil, in the course of this work, and
that immediately. Who would write who has once tasted the
pleasures of this new fiction! This is a foreign language to you.
Some day I may teach you its whole secret. In the meantime regard
me as a student of character, who, tired of books, of the dead
subject, has taken to vivisection--vivisection of the soul. Well,
sir, it is to be a duel, then. Good. I have a suspicion you
imagine it is your bold bearing that makes me so placid. You are
mistaken. It is my habit in opposition. I learnt it in the jungle,
shooting tigers. My gun is always heavily loaded. I take a
deliberate aim. If I shoot a tiger, it is killed; if a turtle-dove,
it is blown to pieces. You comprehend.'
'Me, the turtle-dove; yes. And the bereaved mate will peck herself
to death,' said Frank with considerable coolness.
'In a cage we can force her to live,' said Lee.
Frank had thought to meet Lee on his own ground, but found himself
wholly at sea. He would strike out boldly till he touched land
again.
'I am astonished,' he said, 'that a man like you, who seem to
trample on conventionalities should arrogate to himself that
absurd authority claimed by some fathers over the hands of their
daughters.'
'And what if it were because parental jurisdiction over marriage
is becoming a thing of the past that I make myself absolute?'
'That would be very foolish,' said Frank, forgetting with whom he
was dealing.
'That is no argument, my good sir,' came from Lee at once, and
Frank saw his mistake.
'You see,' continued Lee, 'the idea of the parent is changing. The
popular parent is the servant of his children. Now, whenever an
idea, an opinion--a song, a faith, a show--becomes popular, I know
at once it has some inherent weakness, some hollow lie; for the
world is weak and false, and all kinds of froth and flame commend
themselves to it. An opinion is like a jug of beer: the foaming
head attracts the youth; the old toper blows it off.'
'You think yourself clever, but this is rank sophistry.'
'No argument again. Go away, Mr. Hay, and learn to do something
besides assert. Come back and have a talk as soon as you really
have something to say.'
Frank walked slowly to the door. He was endeavouring to estimate
Lee. Did all fathers treat unsuitable candidates for their
daughters' hands to such a dose of brusque philosophy? Surely not.
Then, did all fathers returned from India with dark skins, and,
presumably, no livers, behave in this fashion? He could not
believe it. He returned to the charge.
'Why are you so ill-bred?' he asked.
'I am not ill-bred. Had I received you with anything but a
downright refusal your hopes would have risen. Had I agreed with
you in anything, you would have thought, "I may manage him yet." I
have been kind to you. I have been most polite. I have not
deceived you for an instant. Do not think that the suave manner is
the sign of the kind heart. What is called politeness is, as you
know, the commonest form of hypocrisy; courtesy has become
etiquette, and the gentleman is the ghost of a dead chivalry.'
'You are a braggart as well as a sophist. You----'
'Go away till you learn to do other than assert and call names.'
'I will speak. You said a little while ago that when an opinion
became popular, you, in effect, adopted its converse.'
'Too hard and fast; but go on.'
'Marriage is coming to be regarded more and more as a mere civil
relation; you will, I have no doubt, look upon it as a sacred
thing. If the heart does not go along with a holy ordinance, it is
the blackest sin to take part in it. Will you play the devil to
your own daughter?'
'Ah, this is better!' said Lee with glistening eyes. 'In the same
way any marriage not consented to by the woman's father must be
unholy also. Two evils you see.'
'Who can doubt which is the less?'
'Now you are the sophist. There is no less or greater evil; it is
all tarred with the same stick. But, to take a broader view. I
firmly believe that marriages are made in heaven; therefore I
should suppose, a marriage as ordained by heaven, happens once in
fifty years, and it seems to me as likely that the decree of fate
would be fulfilled in the father's choice as in the daughter's;
and much more so when the father is a past master in the study of
character.'
Frank was exasperated.
'Have you no heart?' he said.
The smile on Lee's face told him what a commonplace he had
uttered. Smothering his emotion, he said, 'You teach me how to
think and how to act. Marriages _are_ made in heaven, and you were
not married. If you had been you would have loved your daughter. A
man of your no-principles must be answered as the fool
is--according to his folly. And indeed you are a kind of fool, and
a bad kind. I said before, thoughtlessly, that I would stick at
nothing in endeavouring to make Miss Chartres my wife. Now I
repeat it with full purpose.'
'Good,' said Lee, rubbing his hands. 'Still a little too much
nicknaming, but, on the whole, good. You are a capital
collaborateur. I have taught you how to think and act already. Are
you not astonished at yourself? What would they think at your
debating club of this talk of ours? If you like it, come back and
have some more.'
Frank went to the door in silence, but returned again.
'Ah!' exclaimed Lee. '"He often took leave, but was loath to
depart!" What! Is it meant to be considered by me evidence of your
determined spirit? Eh? Is it a dodge?'
'Ill-doers are ill-dreaders,' said Frank. 'I am not going to speak
for myself, but for Muriel. You have talked of her as if she were
a thing that you could turn to any use, and you have spoken of
caging her. I perceive you to be most irrational and obstinate. I
can imagine your going great lengths to obtain a desired end.
Promise me that you will not use physical force in any----'
'I never make promises.'
'Then,' pursued Frank in a tone of entreaty that had mastered his
voice to his great annoyance, for he felt that it was enjoyed like
a sacrifice by the apparently infernal spirit whom he
addressed--'I demand to know what weapons you will use. Will you
employ force?'
'I am always armed to the teeth.'
'You mean you are unscrupulous.'
'Yes.'
'It is impossible to reason with you, I defy you. Why, you are an
insolent, cold-blooded villain, and deserve a horsewhipping.'
'I will take an early opportunity of presenting you with a
horsewhip to attempt the administration of one,' said Lee with
perfect good humour.
'Let it be very soon,' said Frank, going, 'for when you are my
father-in-law I will decline the offer.'
Lee rose to his feet. 'You wish this colloquy to end
theatrically,' he said. 'I will disappoint you. You may marry my
daughter, if you can.'