The exclamation possessive which had escaped Wagram as he contemplated
Hilversea Court and its fair and goodly appurtenances, was, as a matter
of hard fact, somewhat "previous," in that these enviable belongings
would not be actually and entirely his until the death of his father; an
eventuality which he devoutly hoped might be delayed for many and many a
long year. Yet, practically, the place might as well have been his own;
for since the motor car accident which had, comparatively speaking,
recently cut short the life of his elder brother, and he had taken up
his quarters at Hilversea, the old Squire had turned over to him the
whole management, even to the smallest detail. And he had grown to love
the place with a love that was well-nigh ecstatic. Every stick and
stone upon it, every leaf and blade of grass seemed different somehow to
the like products as existing beyond the boundary; and there were times
when the bare consciousness that he was destined to pass the remaining
half of his life here, was intoxicating, stupefying--too good indeed to
last. It seemed too much happiness for a world whose joys are
notoriously fleeting.
While hurriedly dressing for dinner Wagram's mind reverted to the recent
adventure. The old Squire had procured the African antelopes at
considerable trouble and expense; in fact, had made a hobby of it. He
would certainly not be pleased at the outcome of the said adventure; and
the duty of breaking distasteful news to anybody was not a palatable one
to himself. And the girl? She seemed a nice enough girl, and
unmistakably an attractive one; and at the thought of her Wagram got out
a telegraph form and indited a hasty "wire" to the London agency of a
well-known cycle firm. Then he went down, a little late, to find his
father ready and waiting.
The old Squire was a tall man of very refined appearance, and carried
his stature, in spite of his fourscore years, without stoop or bend, and
this, with his iron-grey moustache, would cause strangers to set him
down as a fine specimen of an old soldier--which was incorrect, for he
had spent the working period of his life in the Diplomatic Service.
"Well, Wagram, and what have you been doing with yourself?" he said, as
they passed into a gem of a panelled room looking out upon a lovely
picture of smooth sward and feathery elms. It was the smaller
dining-room, always used when father and son were alone together.
"Oh, I crept around with the rabbit rifle--a sort of combination of
keeping my hand in, and at the same time admiring the evening effects."
"Did you get any good shots?"
"H'm, rather," thought Wagram to himself drily. Then aloud, "Do you
know anybody in Bassingham, father, by name Calmour?"
"Calmour? Calmour?" repeated the old man dubiously. "I seem to know
the name too, but for the life of me I can't fit it with an owner.
Rundle," as the butler entered, "do I know any Calmour in Bassingham?"
"Well, sir, it's Major Calmour. Lives at Siege House, just this side of
the bridge, sir." And Wagram thought to detect a subtle grin drooping
the corners of the man's well-trained mouth as he filled the Squire's
glass.
"To be sure, to be sure. Now it all comes back. Major Calmour! Ho--
ho--ho! Wagram, that's the man right enough. Why? Has he been writing
to you about anything?"
"No. But--who is he, anyway?"
"He is a retired army veterinary surgeon, addicted to strong drink, and
a wholly unnecessarily lurid way of expressing himself."
"I know the species. What sort of a crowd are his descendants?"
"His descendants? I believe they are many. Their female parent was,
they say, even more partial to _aqua vita_ than their male; indeed,
report sayeth that she died thereof. One, by the way, obtained large
damages from Vance's eldest fool in an action for breach of promise. I
believe the family has been living on it ever since."
"Which of them was that?" said Wagram carelessly, wondering if it was
the heroine of the afternoon's adventure.
"I don't remember. Which of them was it, Rundle?"
"I believe it was the second of the young ladies, sir," supplied the
butler, who, being an old and privileged and, withal, discreet family
servant, was often consulted by the Squire as to local and personal
matters when memory proved defective. The answer, no name having been
mentioned, of course conveyed no information to Wagram. So the heroine
of the adventure was the daughter of a tippling and disreputable ex-Army
vet. Well, she was not lacking in pluck and readiness of resource, at
any rate.
"I made the acquaintance of one of the girls this afternoon, father, and
that in rather a queer way," he said.
"Ah, really; and how was that?"
Then Wagram told the story, told it graphically, too. The Squire,
listening, was taken quite out of himself.
"Why didn't you shoot the brute, Wagram? You had the rifle."
"Oh, I didn't want to do that as long as it could possibly be avoided.
It couldn't in the long run. But the girl shot him instead. Had to."
"The girl shot him?"
"Yes! I'm coming to that." And then as he narrated the progress of his
hand-to-hand struggle, and the relief just in the nick of time, the
Squire burst forth with:
"Splendid! Splendid! There's nerve for you. You'd certainly have been
killed Wagram. Why, man, did you think you were a match for the beast
by sheer force of strength? Why, you might as well have tried the same
thing on with a bull. Ah well, it's a pity, but it's lucky it was no
worse. Lucky too, you were about, or that poor girl would have been
killed or, at best, seriously injured. But how did the thing get out?
This is within Hood's responsibility."
"I sent him at once to see," answered Wagram. "Perrin opined that it
jumped the palisade, and that's not impossible. I gave them particular
instructions about the head. It's worth keeping. We'd better send it
to Rowland Ward's to be set up."
"Yes." And then the old squire became rather grave and absent-minded,
and both men ate their dinner for a while in silence. In the mind of
the elder was running the thought of what an awful thing had been
avoided. His son might easily have met his death--this son from whom he
had been estranged for years, and from whom now, he wondered how he
could have spent those years of his old age apart. His glance wandered
furtively to a portrait upon the wall. It was that of another son--a
younger one--Wagram's half-brother; a handsome, reckless face, but there
was a shifty look in the narrowness between the eyes, that even the
travesty of the portrait painter's art could not altogether hide. For
years past this one's whereabouts had been a mystery; even his fate--
even were he alive or dead. He had left home in a hurry and in anger,
had left perforce to avoid a great scandal and disgrace, wherein,
moreover, a question of felony was involved. This had befallen more
than ten years earlier, and almost ever since nothing had been heard of
the exile. When last heard of he was in Australia, then to all
inquiries there was a blank, and as time went on, more and more did
those he had left assume that he was dead.
For the wanderer's own sake, the old squire in his heart of hearts could
almost have brought himself to hope so. For of Everard Wagram the best
description had been "a bad lot"--an all round bad lot, and for years
his father and brother had lived in secret dread of any day hearing he
had come to a bad end. Now gazing at the portrait, the old man was
furtively making comparison between its original and Wagram; wondering,
too, for the hundredth time, not that there should be any difference
between them, but that their characters should be so entirely and
completely divergent. But they were of different mothers, and behind
this fact lay a good deal. They had both had the same chances, but
different mothers, and the younger man had gone utterly to the bad.
"Did you say the young lady's bicycle was smashed, Wagram?" said the
Squire at last, reverting to the adventure.
"All to smithereens. But I've drawn up a wire to Gee and Vincent to
send her the latest thing up to date, and that sharp. I've also written
Warren to let her have one on hire until it comes."
"Yes, that's quite right. But I doubt if it'll end there. Calmour's
quite capable of threatening an action for damages with a view to
compromise. He's a most astonishing cad, and chronically hard up."
"Poor devil. In the latter line he has my sympathy," said Wagram. "But
it wasn't he who got damaged, it was the girl."
"That's just it, and that's where he'll score. If she's put in the box,
from your description of her the conscientious and respectable British
jury that won't give her damages doesn't exist."
"I can hardly think she'd be a party to anything of that sort," rejoined
Wagram. "She seemed to me a nice sort of a girl; too nice, in fact, to
lend herself to that kind of thing."
The Squire's head shot up quickly, and for a moment he looked at his son
with grave concern. The two were alone together now.
"Don't you know lovely woman better than that even by this time,
Wagram?" he said.
"Well, I ought to," was the answer, beneath the tone of which lurked a
bitterness of rancour, such as seldom indeed escaped this man, normally
so equable and self-possessed with regard to the things, so tolerant and
considerate towards the persons, about him.
"I should say so," assented the Squire; "and I'll bet you five guineas
your acquaintance with this one doesn't end where it begun."
"I don't see how it can. If it hadn't been for her I should almost
certainly have lost my life."
"If it hadn't been for her your life would not have been in danger, so
the situation is even all round."
Wagram laughed.
"There's something in that, father. But you say these are absolutely
impossible people?"
"Absolutely and entirely--dangerous as well. Didn't I tell you just now
about one of them and Vance's eldest idiot? Why, for all we know, it
may have been your heroine of to-day."
"It may, of course. Still I have an instinct that it was probably one
of the others. Wouldn't it be the right thing if I were to call and
inquire after the girl, make sure she's none the worse for her spill.
It would be only civil, you know."
"Civil but risky. If you did that it wouldn't be long before Calmour
and some of them returned it. They'd jump at the opportunity. A
Calmour at Hilversea! Phew! It would be about as much in place as a
cow in a church."
"That makes it awkward certainly."
"Doesn't it? Besides, I don't see that what you suggest is in the least
necessary. The girl on your own showing, wasn't hurt. Her bicycle got
smashed, and we are sending her a new one, probably ten times as good as
the one she had before. Moreover we've lost one of our African
antelopes. Upon my word I think the house of Calmour is far more
indebted to us than we are to it. Just shut that window, Wagram. It's
beginning to get a little chilly."
The sweet, distilling air of meadow and closing flower greeted Wagram's
nostrils as he lingered while obeying, and from the gloaming woodlands
came the weird, musical hooting of owls, and again he felt that intense,
ecstatic thrill of possession sweep through his being. And as he turned
from the window, he heard the Squire repeat, this time half to himself:
"A Calmour at Hilversea! Pho!"