HOW BERRY SOUGHT COMFORT IN VAIN, AND NOBBY SLEPT UPON A QUEEN'S BED.
Time was getting on.
The season at Pau was approaching the end of its course. Already
villas and flats and servants were being engaged for the winter to
come. We had been asked definitely whether we proposed to return and,
if so, whether we wished again to occupy the excellent villa we had.
Not knowing what answer to make to the first question, we had passed to
the second--somewhat illogically. The second had proved more heatedly
disputable than the first. Finally Jill had looked up from a letter to
Piers and put in her oar with a splash.
"The villa's all right," she announced. "Everyone says it's the best,
and so should we, if we didn't live in it. It's what's inside that's
so awful. Even one decent sofa would make all the difference."
In silence we pondered her words.
At length--
"I confess," said Berry, "that the idea of having a few chairs about in
which you can sit continuously for ten minutes, not so much in comfort
as without fear of contracting a bed-sore or necrosis of the coccyx,
appeals to me. Compared with most of the 'sitzplatz' in this here
villa, an ordinary church pew is almost voluptuous. The beastly things
seem designed to promote myalgia."
"Yet they do know," said I. "The French, I mean. Look at their beds."
"Exactly," replied my brother-in-law. "That's the maddening part of
it. Every French bed is an idyll--a poem of repose. The upholsterer
puts his soul into its creation. A born genius, he expresses himself
in beds. The rest of the junk he turns out..." He broke off and
glanced about the room. His eye lighted upon a couch, lozenge-shaped,
hog-backed, featuring the Greek-Key pattern in brown upon a brick-red
ground and surrounded on three sides by a white balustrade some three
inches high. "Just consider that throne. Does it or does it not
suggest collusion between a private-school workshop, a bricklayer's
labourer, and the Berlin branch of the Y.W.C.A.?"
"If," said Daphne, "it was only the chairs, I wouldn't mind. But it's
everything. The sideboard, for instance----"
"Ah," said her husband, "my favourite piece. The idea of a double
cabin-washstand is very beautifully carried out. I'm always expecting
Falcon to press something and a couple of basins to appear. Then we
can wash directly after the asparagus."
"The truth is," said Adèle, "these villas are furnished to be let. And
when you've said that, you've said everything."
"I agree," said I. "And if we liked Pau enough to come back next
autumn, the best thing to do is to have a villa of our own. I'm quite
ready to face another three winters here, and, if everyone else is, it
'ld be worth while. As for furniture, we can easily pick out enough
from Cholmondely Street and White Ladies."
There was a moment's silence.
Then--
"I'm on," said Jonah, who had caught three splendid salmon in the last
two days. "This place suits me."
"And me," said Adèle warmly.
My sister turned to her husband.
"What d'you think, old chap?"
Berry smiled beatifically. A far-away look came into his eyes.
"I shall personally superintend," he announced, "the removal and
destruction of the geyser."
Amid some excitement the matter was then and there decided.
The more we thought upon it, the sounder seemed the idea. The place
suited us all. To have our things about us would be wholly delightful.
Provided we meant for the future to winter abroad, we should save money.
Pleasedly we proceeded to lunch.
Throughout the meal we discussed what manner of house ours must be,
situation, dimensions, aspect. We argued amiably about its garden and
curtilage. We determined to insist upon two bathrooms. By the time
the cheese was served, we had selected most of the furniture and were
bickering good-temperedly about the style of the wall-papers.
Then we rang up a house-agent, to learn that he had no unfurnished
villa "to let" upon his books. He added gratuitously that, except for
a ruined château upon the other side of Tarbes, he had nothing "for
sale" either.
So soon as we had recovered, we returned to the charge...
The third agent we addressed was not quite certain. There was, he
said, a house in the town--_très solids, très serieuse, dans un
quartier chic_. It would, he thought, be to our liking. It had, for
instance, _une salle de fête superbe_. He was not sure, however, that
it was still available. A French gentleman was much attracted, and had
visited it three times.
We were greatly disgusted and said so. We did not want a house in the
town. We wanted....
Finally we succumbed to his entreaties and promised to view the villa,
if it was still in the market. He was to ring us up in ten minutes'
time....
So it happened that half an hour later we were standing curiously
before the great iron gates of a broad shuttered mansion in the Rue
Mazagran, Pau, while the agent was alternately pealing the bell for the
caretaker and making encouraging gestures in our direction.
Viewed from without, the villa was not unpleasing. It looked extremely
well-built, it stood back from the pavement, it had plenty of elbow
room. The street itself was as silent as the tomb. Perhaps, if we
could find nothing else.... We began to wonder whether you could see
the mountains from the second floor.
At last a caretaker appeared, I whistled to Nobby, and we passed up a
short well-kept drive.
A moment later we had left the sunlight behind and had entered a huge
dim hall.
"Damp," said Berry instantly, sniffing the air. "Damp for a monkey. I
can smell the good red earth."
Daphne sniffed thoughtfully.
"I don't think so," she said. "When a house has been shut up like
this, it's bound to----"
"It's wonderful," said her husband, "what you can't smell when you
don't want to. Never mind. If you want to live over water, I don't
care. But don't say I didn't warn you. Besides, it'll save us money.
We can grow moss on the floors instead of carpets."
"It does smell damp," said Adèle, "but there's central heating. See?"
She pointed to a huge radiator. "If that works as it should, it'll
make your carpets fade."
Berry shrugged his shoulders.
"I see what it is," he said. "You two girls have scented cupboards. I
never yet knew a woman who could resist cupboards. In a woman's eyes a
superfluity of cupboards can transform the most poisonous habitation
into a desirable residence. If you asked a woman what was the use of a
staircase, she'd say, 'To put cupboards under.'"
By now the shutters had been opened, and we were able to see about us.
As we were glancing round, the caretaker shuffled to a door beneath the
stairs.
"Here is a magnificent cupboard," she announced. "There are many
others."
As we passed through the house, we proved the truth of her words. I
have never seen so many cupboards to the square mile in all my life.
My wife and my sister strove to dissemble their delight. At length
Cousin Jill, however, spoke frankly enough.
"They really are beautiful. Think of the room they give. You'll be
able to put everything away."
Berry turned to me.
"Isn't it enough to induce a blood-clot? 'Beautiful.' Evil-smelling
recesses walled up with painted wood. Birthplaces of mice.
Impregnable hot-beds of vermin. And who wants to 'put everything
away'?"
"Hush," said I. "They can't help it. Besides---- Hullo! Here's
another bathroom."
"Without a bath," observed my brother-in-law. "How very convenient!
Of course, you're up much quicker, aren't you? I suppose the idea is
not to keep people waiting. Come along." We passed into a bedroom.
"Oh, what a dream of a paper! 'Who Won the Boat-race, or The Battle of
the Blues.' Fancy waking up here after a heavy night. I suppose the
designer was found 'guilty, but insane.' Another two cupboards?
Thanks. That's fifty-nine. And yet another? Oh, no. The backstairs,
of course. As before, approached by a door which slides to and fro
with a gentle rumbling noise, instead of swinging. The same warranted
to jam if opened hastily. Can't you hear Falcon on the wrong side with
a butler's tray full of glass, wondering why he was born? Oh, and the
bijou spiral leads to the box-room, does it? I see. Adèle's American
trunks, especially the five-foot cube, will go up there beautifully.
Falcon will like this house, won't he?"
"I wish to goodness you'd be quiet," said Daphne. "I want to think."
"It's not me," said her husband. "It's that Inter-University
wall-paper. And now where's the tower? I suppose that's approached by
a wire rope with knots in it?"
"What tower?" said Adèle.
"_The_ tower. The feature of the house. Or was it a ballroom?"
"Ah," I cried, "the ballroom! I'd quite forgotten." I turned to the
agent. "Didn't you say there was a ballroom?"
"But yes, _Monsieur_. On the ground-floor. I will show it to you at
once."
We followed him downstairs in single file, and so across the hall to
where two tall oak doors were suggesting a picture-gallery. For a
moment the fellow fumbled at their lock. Then he pushed the two open.
I did not know that, outside a palace, there was such a chamber in all
France. Of superb proportions, the room was panelled from floor to
ceiling with oak--richly carved oak--and every handsome panel was
outlined with gold. The ceiling was all of oak, fretted with gold.
The floor was of polished oak, inlaid with ebony. At the end of the
room three lovely pillars upheld a minstrels' gallery, while opposite a
stately oriel yawned a tremendous fireplace, with two stone seraphim
for jambs.
In answer to our bewildered inquiries, the agent explained excitedly
that the villa had been built upon the remains of a much older house,
and that, while the other portions of the original mansion had
disappeared, this great chamber and the basement were still surviving.
But that was all. Beyond that it was once a residence of note, he
could tell us nothing.
Rather naturally, we devoted more time to the ballroom than to all the
rest of the house. Against our saner judgment, the possession of the
apartment attracted us greatly. It was too vast to be used with
comfort as a sitting-room. The occasions upon which we should enjoy it
as '_une salle de fête_,' would be comparatively few. Four ordinary
_salons_ would require less service and fuel. Yet, in spite of
everything, we wanted it very much.
The rest of the house was convenient. The parlours were fine and airy;
there were two bathrooms; the bedrooms were good; the offices were
admirable. As for the basement, we lost our way there. It was
profound. It was also indubitably damp. There the dank smell upon
which Berry had remarked was most compelling. In the garden stood a
garage which would take both the cars.
After a final inspection of the ballroom, we tipped the caretaker,
promised to let the agent know our decision, and, to the great
inconvenience of other pedestrians, strolled talkatively through the
streets towards the Boulevard.
"I suppose," said Adèle, "those were the other people."
"Who were the other people?" I demanded.
"The two men standing in the hall as we came downstairs."
"I never saw them," said I. "But if you mean that one of them was the
fellow who's after the house, I fancy you're wrong, because the agent
told me he'd gone to Bordeaux."
"Well, I don't know who they were, then," replied my wife. "They were
talking to the caretaker. I saw them through the banisters. By the
time we'd got down, they'd disappeared. Any way, it doesn't matter.
Only, if it was them, it looks as if they were thinking pretty
seriously about it. You don't go to see a house four times out of
curiosity."
"You mean," said Berry, "that if we're fools enough to take it, we'd
better get a move on."
"Exactly. Let's go and have tea at Bouzom's, and thrash it out there."
No one of us, I imagine, will ever forget that tea.
Crowded about a table intended to accommodate four, we alternately
disputed and insulted one another for the better part of two hours.
Not once, but twice of her agitation my sister replenished the teapot
with Jill's chocolate, and twice fresh tea had to be brought. Berry
burned his mouth and dropped an apricot tartlet on to his shoe. Until
my disgust was excited by a nauseous taste, I continued to drink from a
cup in which Jonah had extinguished a cigarette.
Finally Berry pushed back his chair and looked at his watch.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "we came here this memorable afternoon
to discuss the advisability of taking a certain messuage--to wit, the
Villa Buichi--for the space of three years. As a result of that
discussion I have formed certain conclusions. In the first place, I am
satisfied that to dwell with you or any of you in the Villa Buichi or
any other habitation for the space of three years presents a prospect
so horrifying as to belittle Death itself. Secondly, while my main
object in visiting the said messuage was to insure, if possible,
against the future contraction of some complaint or disease of the
hams, I have, I fear, already defeated that object by sitting for
upwards of ninety minutes upon a chair which is rather harder than the
living rock, and whose surface I have reason to believe is studded with
barbs. Thirdly, whilst we are all agreed that a rent of fourteen
thousand francs is grotesque, I'd rather pay twice that sum out of my
own pocket than continue an argument which threatens to affect my mind.
Fourthly, the house is not what we want, or where we want it. The
prospect of wassailing in your own comic banqueting-hall is alluring,
but the French cook believes in oil, and, to us, living in the town,
every passing breeze will offer indisputable evidence, not only of the
lengths to which this belief will go, but of the Pentateuchal effects
which can be obtained by a fearless application of heat to rancid
blubber. Fifthly, since we can get nothing else, and the thought of
another winter in England is almost as soul-shaking as that of living
again amid French furniture, I suppose we'd better take it, always
provided they fill up the basement, put on a Mansard roof, add a few
cupboards, and reduce the rent. Sixthly, I wish to heaven I'd never
seen the blasted place. Lastly, I now propose to repair to the _Cercle
Anglais_, or English Club, there in the privacy of the _lavabo_ to
remove the traces of the preserved apricot recently adhering to my
right shoe, and afterwards to ascertain whether a dry Martini, cupped
in the mouth, will do something to relieve the agony I am suffering as
the direct result of concentrating on this rotten scheme to the
exclusion of my bodily needs. But there you are. When the happiness
of others is at stake, I forget that I exist."
With that, he picked up his hat and, before we could stop him, walked
out of the shop.
With such an avowal ringing in our ears, it was too much to expect that
he would remember that he had ordered the tea, and had personally
consumed seven cakes, not counting the apricot tart.
However...
I followed him to the Club, rang up the agent, and offered to take the
house for three years at a rent of twelve thousand francs. He promised
to telephone to our villa within the hour.
He was as good as his word.
He telephoned to say that the French gentleman, who had unexpectedly
returned from Bordeaux, had just submitted an offer of fourteen
thousand francs. He added that, unless we were prepared to offer a
higher rent, it would be his duty to accept that proposal.
After a moment's thought, I told him to do his duty and bade him adieu.
* * * * *
That night was so beautiful that we had the cars open.
As we approached the Casino--
"Let's just go up the Boulevard," said Daphne. "This is too lovely to
leave."
I slowed up, waited for Jonah to come alongside, and then communicated
our intention to continue to take the air.
The Boulevard being deserted, Ping and Pong proceeded slowly abreast....
A sunset which had hung the sky with rose, painted the mountain-tops
and turned the West into a blazing smeltery of dreams, had slowly
yielded to a night starlit, velvety, breathless, big with the gentle
witchcraft of an amber moon. Nature went masked. The depths upon our
left seemed bottomless; a grey flash spoke of the Gave de Pau: beyond,
the random rise and fall of a high ridge argued the summit of a
gigantic screen--the foothills to wit, odd twinkling points of yellow
light, seemingly pendent in the air, marking the farms and villas
planted about their flanks. And that is all. A row of poplars,
certainly, very correct, very slight, very elegant, by the way that we
take for Lourdes--the row of poplars should be recorded; the luminous
stars also, and a sweet white glow in the heaven, just where the ridge
of the foothills cuts it across--a trick of the moonlight, no doubt....
Sirs, it is no such trick. That misty radiance is the driven snow
resting upon the peaks of the Pyrenees. The moon is shining full on
them, and, forty miles distant though they are, you see them rendering
her light, as will a looking-glass, and by that humble office clothing
themselves with unimaginable splendour.
As we stole into the Place Royale--
"Every minute," announced Adèle, "I'm more and more thankful that we're
quit of the Villa Buichi. We should have been simply mad to have taken
a house in the town."
"There you are," said Berry. "My very words. Over and over again I
insisted----"
"If you mean," said Jonah, "that throughout the argument you confined
yourself to destructive criticism, deliberate confusion of the issues,
and the recommendation of solutions which you knew to be impracticable,
I entirely agree."
"The trouble with you," said Berry, "is that you don't appreciate the
value of controversy. I don't blame you. Considering the backlash in
your spinal cord, I think you talk very well. It's only when----"
"What exactly," said Adèle, bubbling, "is the value of controversy?"
"Its unique ability," said Berry, "to produce the truth. The hotter
the furnace of argument, the harder the facts which eventually emerge.
That's why I never spare myself. I don't pretend it's easy, but then
I'm like that. Somebody offers you a drink. The easiest way is to
refuse. But I don't. I always ask myself whether my health demands
it."
There was an outraged silence.
Then--
"I have noticed," I observed, "that upon such occasions your brain
works very fast. Also that you invariably choose the--er--harder path."
"Nothing is easier," said Berry, "than to deride infirmity." Having
compassed the Place Royale, we returned to the Boulevard. "And now, if
you've quite finished maundering over the beauties of a landscape which
you can't see, supposing we focussed on the object with which we set
out. I've thought out a new step, I want to show you. It's called
'The Slip Stitch.' Every third beat you stagger and cross your legs
above the knee. That shows you've been twice to the Crusades. Then
you purl two and cast four off. If you're still together, you get up
and repeat to the end of the row knitways, decreasing once at every
turn. Then you cast off very loosely."
Happily the speaker was in the other car, so we broke away and fled up
the Rue du Lycée....
The dancing-room was crowded. Every English visitor seemed to be
there, but they were not all dancing, and the floor was just pleasantly
full.
As we came in, I touched Adèle on the arm.
"Will you dance with me, lass?"
I was not one moment too soon.
As I spoke, two gallants arrived to lodge their claims.
"I've accepted my husband," said Adèle, smiling.
She had to promise the next and the one after.
Whilst we were dancing, she promised the fourth and the fifth.
"I can see," said I, "that I'm in for my usual evening. Of course,
we're too highly civilised. I feed you, I lodge you, I clothe you"--I
held her off and looked at her--"yes, with outstanding success. You've
a glorious colour, your eyes are like stars, and your frock is a
marvel. In fact, you're almost too good to be true. From your
wonderful, sweet-smelling hair to the soles of your little pink feet,
you're an exquisite production. Whoever did see such a mouth? I
suppose you know I married you for your mouth? And your throat?
And--but I digress. As I was saying, all this is due to me. If I fed
you exclusively on farinaceous food, you'd look pale. If I locked you
out of nights, you'd look tired. If I didn't clothe you, you'd
look--well, you wouldn't be here, would you? I mean, I know we move
pretty fast nowadays, but certain conventions are still observed. Very
well, then. I am responsible for your glory. I bring you here, and
everybody in the room dances with you, except myself. To complete the
comedy, I have only to remind you that I love dancing, and that you are
the best dancer in the room. I ask you."
"That's just what you don't do," said Adèle, with a maddening smile.
"If you did...."
"But----"
"Certain conventions," said Adèle, "are still observed. Have I ever
refused you?"
"You couldn't. That's why I don't ask you."
"O-o-oh, I don't believe you," said Adèle. "If it was Leap Year----"
"Pretend it is."
"--and I wanted to dance with you----"
"Pretend you do."
The music stopped with a crash, and a moment later a Frenchman was
bowing over my wife's hand.
"May I come for a dance later?" he asked.
"Not this evening. I've promised the next four----"
"There will, I trust, be a fifth?"
"--and, after that, I've given my husband the lot. You do understand,
don't you? You see, I must keep in with him. He feeds me and lodges
me and clothes me and----"
The Frenchman bowed.
"If he has clothed you to-night, Madame, I can forgive him anything."
We passed to a table at which Berry was superintending the icing of
some champagne.
"Ah, there you are!" he exclaimed. "Had your evening dance? Good. I
ordered this little hopeful _pour passer le temps_. They've two more
baubles in the offing, and sharp at one-thirty we start on fried eggs
and beer. Judging from the contracts into which my wife has entered
during the last six minutes, we shall be here till three." Here he
produced and prepared to inflate an air-cushion. "The great wheeze
about these shock-absorbers is not to----"
There was a horrified cry from Daphne and a shriek of laughter from
Adèle and Jill.
"I implore you," said my sister, "to put that thing away."
"What thing?" said her husband, applying the nozzle to his lips.
"That cushion thing. How could you----"
"What! Scrap my blow-me-tight?" said Berry. "Darling, you rave.
You're going to spend the next four hours afloat upon your beautiful
toes, with a large spade-shaped hand supporting the small of your back.
I'm not. I'm going to maintain a sitting posture, with one of the
'nests for rest' provided by a malignant Casino directly intervening
between the base of my trunk and the floor. Now, I know that
intervention. It's of the harsh, unyielding type. Hence this
air-pocket."
With that, he stepped on to the floor, raised the air-cushion as if it
were an instrument of music, and, adopting the attitude and manners of
a cornet soloist, exhaled into the nozzle with all his might.
There was a roar of laughter.
Then, mercifully, the band started, and the embarrassing attention of
about sixty pairs of eyes was diverted accordingly.
A moment later my brother-in-law and I had the table to ourselves.
"And now," said Berry, "forward with that bauble. The Rump Parliament
is off."
Perhaps, because it was a warm evening, the Casino's furnaces were in
full blast. After a while the heat became oppressive. Presently I
left Berry to the champagne and went for a stroll in the Palmarium.
As I was completing my second lap--
"Captain Pleydell," said a dignified voice.
I turned to see Mrs. Waterbrook, leaning upon a stick, accompanied by a
remarkably pretty young lady with her hair down her back.
I came to them swiftly.
"Have you met with an accident?" I inquired.
"I have. I've ricked my ankle. Susan, this is Captain Pleydell, whose
cousin is going to marry Piers. Captain Pleydell, this is Susan--my
only niece. Now I'm going to sit down." I escorted her to a chair.
"That's better. Captain Pleydell, have you seen the Château?"
"Often," said I. "A large grey building with a red keep, close to the
scent-shop."
"One to you," said Mrs. Waterbrook. "Now I'll begin again. Captain
Pleydell, have you seen the inside of the Château?"
"I have not."
"Then you ought," said Mrs. Waterbrook, "to be ashamed of yourself.
You've been six months in Pau, and you've never taken the trouble to go
and look at one of the finest collections of tapestries in the world.
What are you doing to-morrow morning?"
"Going to see the inside of the Château," I said.
"Good. So's Susan. She'll meet you at the gate on the Boulevard at
half-past ten. She only arrived yesterday, and now her mother wants
her, and she's got to go back. She's wild to see the Château before
she goes, and I can't take her because of this silly foot."
"I'm awfully sorry," said I. "But it's an ill wind, etc."
"Susan," said Mrs. Waterbrook, "that's a compliment. Is it your first?"
"No," said Susan. "But it's the slickest."
"The what?" cried her aunt.
"I mean, I didn't see it coming."
I began to like Susan.
"'Slickest,'" snorted Mrs. Waterbrook. "Nasty vulgar slang. If you
were going to be here longer, Captain Pleydell's wife should give you
lessons in English. She isn't a teacher, you know. She's an
American--with a silver tongue. And there's that wretched bell." She
rose to her feet. "If I'd remembered that Manon had more than three
acts, I wouldn't have come." She turned to me. "Is Jill here
to-night?"
"She is."
"Will you tell her to come and find us in the next interval?"
"I will."
"Good. Half-past ten to-morrow. Good night."
On the way to the doors of the theatre she stopped to speak with
someone, and Susan came running back.
"Captain Pleydell, is your wife here?"
I nodded.
"Well, then, when Jill's with Aunt Eleanor, d'you think I could--I
mean, if you wouldn't mind, I'd--I'd love a lesson in English."
I began to like Susan more than ever.
"I'll see if she's got a spare hour to-morrow," I said. "At half-past
ten."
Susan knitted her brows.
"No, don't upset that," she said quickly. "It doesn't matter. I want
to be able to tell them I had you alone. But if I could say I'd met
your wife, too, it'd be simply golden."
As soon as I could speak--
"You wicked, forward child," I said. "You----"
"Toodle-oo," said Susan. "Don't be late."
Somewhat dazedly I turned in the direction of the _salle de danse_--so
dazedly, in fact, that I collided with a young Frenchman who was
watching the progress of _le jeu de boule_. This was hardly
exhilarating. Of the seven beings gathered about the table, six were
croupiers and the seventh was reading _Le Temps_.
I collided roughly enough to knock a cigarette out of my victim's hand.
"Toodle-oo--I mean _pardon, Monsieur. Je vous demande pardon._"
"It's quite all right," he said, smiling. "I shouldn't have been
standing so far out."
I drew a case from my pocket.
"At least," I said, "you'll allow me to replace the cigarette"--he took
one with a laugh--"and to congratulate you upon your beautiful English."
"Thank you very much. For all that, you knew I was French."
"In another minute," said I, "I shall be uncertain. And I'm sure you'd
deceive a Frenchman every time."
"I do frequently. It amuses me to death. Only the other day I had to
produce my passport to a merchant at Lyons before he'd believe I was a
foreigner."
"A foreigner?" I cried, with bulging eyes. "Then you are English."
"I'm a pure-bred Spaniard," was the reply. "I tell you, it's most
diverting. Talk about ringing the changes. I had a great time during
the War. I was a perfect mine of information. It wasn't strictly
accurate, but Germany didn't know that. As a double-dyed traitor, they
found me extremely useful. As a desirable neutral, I cut a great deal
of ice. And now I'm loafing. I used to take an interest in the
prevention of crime, but I've grown lazy."
For a moment or two we stood talking. Then I asked him to come to our
table in the dancing-room. He declined gracefully.
"I'm Spanish enough to dislike Jazz music," he said.
We agreed to meet at the Club on the following day, and I rejoined
Berry to tell him what he had missed.
I found the fifth dance in full swing and my brother-in-law in high
dudgeon.
As I sat down, he exploded.
"This blasted breath-bag is a fraud. If you blow it up tight, it's
like trying to sit on a barrel. If you fill it half full, you mustn't
move a muscle, or the imprisoned air keeps shifting all over the place
till one feels sick of one's stomach. In either case it's as hard as
petrified bog-oak. If you only leave an imperial pint in the vessel,
it all goes and gathers in one corner, thus conveying to one the
impression that one is sitting one's self upon a naked chair with a
tennis-ball in one's hip-pocket. If one puts the swine behind one, it
shoves one off the seat altogether. It was during the second phase
that one dropped or let fall one's cigar into one's champagne. One
hadn't thought that anything could have spoiled either, but one was
wrong."
I did what I could to soothe him, but without avail.
"I warn you," he continued, "there's worse to come. Misfortunes hunt
in threes. First we fool and are fooled over that rotten villa. Now
this balloon lets me down. You wait."
I decided that to argue that the failure of the air-cushion could
hardly be reckoned a calamity would be almost as provocative as to
suggest that the immersion of the cigar should rank as the third
disaster, so I moistened the lips and illustrated an indictment of our
present system of education by a report of my encounter with Susan.
Berry heard me in silence, and then desired me to try the chairs at the
Château, and, if they were favouring repose, to inquire whether the
place would be let furnished. Stifling an inclination to assault him,
I laughed pleasantly and related my meeting with the engaging Spaniard.
When I had finished--
"How much did you lend him?" inquired my brother-in-law. "Or is a pal
of his taking care of your watch?"
The fox-trot came to an end, and I rose to my feet.
"The average weight," I said, "of the spleen is, I believe, six ounces.
But spleens have been taken weighing twenty pounds."
"Net or rod?" said Berry.
"Now you see," I continued, "why you're so heavy on the chairs."
With that, I sought my wife and led her away to watch the Baccarat....
Before we had been in the gaming room for twenty seconds, Adèle caught
me by the arm.
"D'you see that man over there, Boy? With a bangle on his wrist?"
"And a shirt behind his diamond? I do."
"That's one of the men I saw in the Villa Buichi."
"The devil it is," said I. "Then I take it he's the new lessee. Well,
well. He'll go well with the ballroom, won't he?"
It was a gross-looking fellow, well-groomed and oily. His fat hands
were manicured and he was overdressed. He gave the impression that
money was no longer an object. As if to corroborate this, he had been
winning heavily. I decided that he was a bookmaker.
While I was staring, Adèle moved to speak with a friend.
"And who," said a quiet voice, "is attracting such faithful attention?"
It was the Spaniard.
"You see that fat cove?" I whispered. "He did us out of a house
to-day. Overbid us, you know."
My companion smiled.
"No worse than that?" he murmured. "You must count yourselves lucky."
I raised my eyebrows.
"You know him?"
The other nodded.
"Not personally, of course," he said. Then: "I think he's retired now."
"What was he?" said I.
"The biggest receiver in France."
* * * * *
Ere we retired to rest, my brother-in-law's prophecy that there was
'worse to come' was distressingly fulfilled.
As the 'evening' advanced, it improved out of all knowledge. The later
the hour, the hotter became the fun. Berry's ill humour fell away.
Adèle and I danced furiously together. Vain things were imagined and
found diverting. Hospitality was dispensed. The two spare 'baubles'
were reinforced....
Not until half-past two was the tambourine of gaiety suffered to tumble
in its tracks.
We climbed into the cars flushed and hilarious....
Late though we were, whenever we had been dancing there was one member
of the household who always looked for our return and met us upon our
threshold.
Nobby.
However silently the cars stole up the drive, by the time the door was
opened, always the Sealyham was on parade, his small feet together, his
tail up, his rough little head upon one side, waiting to greet us with
an explosion of delight. In his bright eyes the rite was never stale,
never laborious. It was the way of his heart.
Naturally enough, we came to look for his welcome. Had we looked in
vain some night, we should have been concerned....
We were concerned this night.
We opened the door to find the hall empty.
Nobby was not upon parade.
Tired as we were, we searched the whole house. Presently I found a
note upon my pyjamas.
_SIR,_
_Must tell you we cannot find Nobby, the chauffeur and me looking
everywhere and Fitch as been out in Pau all evening in quest. Hoping
his whereabouts is perhaps known to you,_
_Yours respectfully,
J. FALCON._
I was at the Villa Buichi the following morning by a quarter to ten.
It seemed just possible that the terrier was there a captive. That he
was with us before we visited the house we well remembered. Whether he
had entered with us and, if so, left when we did, we could not be sure.
We had had much to think about....
The caretaker took an unconscionable time to answer the bell, and when
I had stated my business, stoutly refused to let me search the villa
without an order. My offer of money was offensively refused. I had to
content myself with standing within the hall and whistling as loud as I
could. No bark replied, but I was not satisfied, and determined to
seek the agent and obtain a permit, the moment that Susan and I had
'done' the Château.
It was in some irritation that I made my way to the Boulevard. I had
no desire to see the inside of the Château then or at any time; I
particularly wished to prosecute my search for the Sealyham without
delay. I had had less than four hours' sleep, and was feeling rotten.
In a smart white coat and skirt and a white felt hat over one eye,
Susan looked most attractive. Her fresh, pretty face was glowing, her
wonderful golden hair was full of lights, and the line of her slim
figure, as--hands thrust deep into her coat-pockets--she leaned her
small back against the balustrade, was more than dainty. Her little
feet and ankles were those of a thoroughbred.
As I descended from the car--
"I say," said Susan, "I've got a stone in my shoe. Where can I get it
out?"
I eyed her severely.
"You will have a lot to tell them," I said, "won't you? Go on. Get
into the car."
She climbed in, sat down and leaned back luxuriously. Then she thrust
out a foot with the air of a queen....
When I had replaced her shoe, she thanked me with a shy smile. Then--
"I say," she said suddenly, "don't let's go to the Château. I don't
want to see the rotten place. Let's go for a drive instead--somewhere
where you can let her out. And on the way back you can take me to get
some gloves."
"Susan," said I, "there's nothing doing. I know a drive in a
high-powered car sounds a good deal more _chic_ than being shown round
a Château, but you can't have everything. Orders is orders. Besides,
I've lost my dog, and I want to get a move on. But for that, you
should have done the Château and had your drive into the bargain. As
it is...."
Susan is a good girl.
The moment she heard of my trouble, she was out of the car and haling
me up to the Château as if there was a mob at our heels....
I was not in the mood for sightseeing, but my annoyance went down
before the tapestries as wheat before the storm.
Standing before those aged exquisites--those glorious embodiments of
patience infinite, imagination high, and matchless craftsmanship, I
forgot everything. The style of them was superb. They had quality.
About them was nothing mean. They were so rich, so mellow, so
delicate. There was a softness to the lovely tones no brush could ever
compass. Miracles of detail, marvels of stately effect, the panels
were breathing the spirit of their age. Looking upon them, I stepped
into another world. I heard the shouts of the huntsmen and the
laughter of the handmaidens, I smelled the sweat of the chargers and
the sweet scent of the grapes, I felt the cool touch of the shade upon
my cheeks. Always the shouts were distant, the scent faint, the
laughter low. I wandered up faery glades, loitered in lazy markets,
listened to the music of fountains, sat before ample boards, bowed over
lily-white hands....
Here, then, was magic. Things other than silk went to the weaving of
so potent a spell. The laborious needle put in the dainty threads: the
hearts of those that plied it put in most precious memories--treasures
of love and laughter ... the swift brush of lips ... the echo of a call
in the forest ... a patch of sunlight upon the slope of a hill ... such
stuff, indeed, as dreams are made on....
And there is the bare truth, gentlemen, just as I have stumbled upon
it. The tapestries of Pau are dreams--which you may go and share any
day except Sundays.
We had almost finished our tour of the apartments, and were standing in
the Bedroom of Jeanne d'Albret, staring at a beautiful Gobelin, when I
heard the "flop" of something alighting upon the floor.
With one consent, the keeper, Susan, and I swung on our heels.
Advancing stiffly towards us and wagging his scrap of a tail was a
small grey-brown dog. His coat was plastered with filth, upon one of
his ears was a blotch of dried blood, his muzzle and paws might have
been steeped in liquid soot. He stank abominably.
I put up a hand to my head.
"Nobby?" I cried, peering. And then again, "_Nobby?_"
The urchin crept to my feet, put his small dirty head on one side,
lowered it to the ground, and then rolled over upon his back. With his
legs in the air, he regarded me fixedly, tentatively wagging his tail.
Dazedly I stooped and patted the mud upon his stomach....
The bright eyes flashed. Then, with a squirm, the Sealyham was on his
feet and leaping to lick my face.
"B-b-but," shrieked Susan, shaking me by the arm, "is this the--the dog
you'd lost?"
"Yes," I shouted, "it is!"
Not until then did the custodian of the apartments find his tongue.
"It is your dog, then!" he raved. "He has marched with us all the
time, and I have not seen him. Without an attachment in all these
noble rooms! _Mon Dieu!_ dogs may not enter even the grounds, but he
must junket in the Château, all vile as he is and smelling like twenty
goats."
"Listen," said I. "It's my dog all right, but I never brought him.
I've been looking all over Pau. What on earth----"
"But you must have brought him. It is evident. Myself I have shut all
the doors. No one has the keys except me. It is impossible."
I pointed to the carved bedstead.
"See for yourself," said I. "He's just jumped down."
The keeper ran to the bed and peered behind the gorgeous parapet. Then
he let out a scream of agony.
"Ah, it is true. Ten thousand devils! That so beastly a dog should
have soiled Jeanne d'Albret's bed! Observe the nest he has made in her
counterpane. _Mon Dieu!_ it is scandalous. _Monsieur_, you will
answer for this."
"I shall do nothing of the sort," said I. "But, unless you keep your
mouth shut, you will. You shouldn't have let him get in."
I thought the fellow would have choked.
"But it was not I that---- A-a-ah!" he screamed. "See how he
approaches the Queen's screen, to destroy it as he has destroyed her
bed."
"Nonsense," I said shortly. "He's very struck with the furniture.
That's all. Anybody would be. But how the deuce...."
With tears in his eyes the keeper besought me to remove my dog
forthwith.
In the circumstances, it seemed best to comply, so, wishing very much
that Nobby could speak for himself, I tied my handkerchief to his
collar and, with Susan chattering excitedly and clinging to my arm,
followed our gibbering guide to the foot of the great staircase.
"He must have followed him in," cried Susan. "He simply must. I
looked at the chimney, but it's stopped up, and the man says there's no
other door. And you know he unlocked each one as we came to it this
morning."
"But why's he so filthy?" I said. "And how did he fetch up here?
Let's see. He must have come with us as far as Bouzom's. That's only
five minutes from here. Then we forgot all about him and left him
outside. We were there for ages. I suppose he got fed up with waiting
or found a pal or something, and drifted down here. All the same...."
I turned to the custodian and took out a fifty-franc note. "He doesn't
usually pay so much for a room, but, as this isn't a hotel and he had
Jeanne d'Albret's bed...."
The money passed in silence.
I fancy the keeper dared not trust himself to speak.
After all, I was very thankful that Nobby was found.
As we passed out of the gate, a sudden thought came to me, and I turned
back.
"I say," I cried, "when last did you visit that room?"
"The Queen's room, _Monsieur_?"
I nodded.
"Yesterday morning, Monsieur. At nine o'clock."
You could have knocked me down.
I walked towards the car like a man in a dream.
The business smacked of a conjuring trick.
Having lost the terrier in the town, I had been sent to view the
Château against my will, there to discover my missing chattel in a
locked chamber upon the second floor.
To add to the confusion of my wits, Susan was talking furiously.
"...I've read of such things. You know. In case of a revolution, for
the king to escape. They say there's one at Buckingham Palace."
"One what?" said I abstractedly.
"Underground passage," said Susan. "Leading out into the open. The
one from Buckingham Palace goes into a house, I suppose it was country
once, and then the ground was built over, or, of course, it might
always have led into the house, and they just had loyal people living
there or someone from the Court, so that----"
"Heaven and earth!" I roared. "The Villa Buichi."
Susan recoiled with a cry.
I caught her white arm.
"Susan," I yelled, "you've got it in one! The last time we saw him was
there. It's a house we saw yesterday. We thought of taking it, but,
as soon as he saw us coming, another chap got in quick."
"What a shame!" said Susan. "If only you'd had it, you'd 've been able
to go and look at the tapestries whenever you---- Oh, whatever's the
matter?"
I suppose my eyes were blazing. I know my brain was.
The murder was out.
"I must see my friend, the Spaniard," I said. "He's made a mistake.
_The biggest receiver in France has not retired_."
Susan stared at me with big eyes.
With a smile, I flung open its door and waved her into the car....
I followed her in.
Then I put my arm round her waist and kissed her pink cheek.
"Now," said I, "you _will_ have something to tell them."
Susan gurgled delightedly.
* * * * *
The French are nothing if not artistic. They are also good showmen.
It was largely due to the interest of Señor Don Fedriani that, five
days later, I had the privilege of sitting for fifty minutes upon an
extremely uncomfortable chair in the Oratory of Jeanne d'Albret, and
listening at intervals, by means of a delicate instrument, to the
biggest receiver in France and his confederates stumbling still more
uncomfortably along a dank and noisome passage towards penal servitude
for life.
Had he known that the Villa Buichi was surrounded, that the caretaker
was already in custody, that a file of soldiers was following a quarter
of a mile in his rear, and that the van which was to take him to prison
was waiting in the Château's courtyard, my gentleman, who had 'lived
soft,' could not have been more outspoken about the condition of his
path.
Not until he had quite finished and had inquired in a blasphemous
whisper if all were present, was the strip of magnesium ignited and the
photograph made....
I have a copy before me.
The knaves are not looking their best, but the grouping is superb.
_The Toilet of Venus_ makes a most exquisite background.