It did not take Miss Fanny Gibbs very long to discover that her cousin's
new post held for her an interest beyond that which an unusually
congenial situation might be expected to hold.
In Miss Gibbs' world one's "job" was generally of very secondary
importance to one's private affairs; and the fact is not to be wondered
at when one remembers that the life of the average shop or business girl
can by no manner of means be called either pleasant or exciting.
Hitherto Toni had been fully in accord with her cousin's opinion.
Although the robust, if promiscuous, flirtations in which Fanny, before
her engagement, had indulged freely had never appealed to the more
fastidious Toni, she had always been quite ready to join in any fun
which might be going. She had eaten sweets gaily in the cheap seats of
theatre or picture-palace, had made one at the many informal and
harmless little gatherings for which Fanny had a taste; and had
cheerfully and quite normally grumbled if detained at the office one
moment longer than she considered fair.
But of late Antonia had altered strangely; and Fanny's shrewd eyes noted
the change almost from the first.
To begin with, Toni was always in a fidget to get to work. Miss Gibbs
took her annual week's holiday just then, and had plenty of time to note
her cousin's behaviour; and the way in which Toni swallowed her
breakfast and clad herself for the start was a revelation to one who
knew her former dilatory nature.
Toni had always been careful of her appearance--more so than her cousin
considered at all necessary; but now she was absolutely ridiculous, so
thought Fanny, with her new Peter-Pan collars and her fussy attention to
her pretty hands, set off by tiny lace cuffs to match the collars. Her
black frock, only a year old, was perfectly good and serviceable yet;
but the extravagant creature must needs make herself another one in her
spare time, and never had she been so particular about the cut, nor so
incessant in her demands on Fanny for a helping hand with the
"trying-on." She bought herself a new hat, too, a little soft affair in
which she looked perfectly delicious; and as the days went by it seemed
to Fanny that her cousin was growing prettier and more attractive every
week, with a still more bewitching colour in her rounded cheeks, and a
still more sparkling light in her Southern eyes.
Yet even her woman's wit could not fathom the mystery of Toni's new joy
in life. When interrogated concerning her employers, Toni was always
vague. That there were two of them Fanny knew; but from Toni's extremely
colourless description, Miss Gibbs gathered that neither was at all what
the girls called interesting; and Mr. Rose, at least, almost
middle-aged. (Heaven knows what flight of fancy on the part of
Toni--Toni, whose magic romance was the shyest, most delicate fantasy in
the world--was responsible for that fallacy!)
That Barry was younger Fanny understood; but so lightly did Toni touch
upon his kindness that Fanny could not be accused of density in her
conception of him as a nonentity in whom her little cousin could take no
interest.
Yet that someone was responsible for Toni's sudden outburst of new
beauty Miss Gibbs felt assured; and it gradually dawned upon her that
there were other men about the place to whom Miss Antonia Gibbs might
well appeal.
When questioned about these others, the subordinates who were workers
like herself, Antonia at first stared, then coloured impatiently, and
finally laughed, with a queer note of impishness in her laughter which
puzzled Fanny more than ever.
That she, who was privileged to breathe the same atmosphere as Owen
Rose, could be supposed even to realize the existence of any outsider
was in itself absurd, if not almost insulting; but Toni was quick to see
that here was the opportunity she sought to conceal her wonderful,
presumptuous dream.
For she was in love--she knew it now--wildly, deliriously, gloriously in
love with Owen. To her he was the embodiment of all that was most noble,
most god-like in man. His voice was music, his commands gifts, his rare
vexation as the frown of Jove. She trembled and turned pale at his
footstep, and when he spoke to her suddenly her heart throbbed and her
colour came and went until she felt as though he must observe her
emotion.
In a word, she was in love; and when it is remembered that on one side
of her Toni was purely of the South--the glowing, ardent, passionate
South--it is not to be wondered at that this new emotion dominated her
whole being to the exclusion of all else.
Her love, indeed, was pathetic in its young ignorance. Anyone could have
told her that she was wasting her treasure, that it was the act of a
fool to pour out her priceless gift at the feet of one who did not want
it, who would consider it a mere presumption.
Her place in Owen's life was that of a servant, a subordinate; and her
common sense should have told her that in that light alone would Owen
inevitably behold her. Vaguely she realized this--knew well enough that
he never thought of her save as his more or less useful secretary, but
after all, she could not be expected to reason out this thing too
closely. Its very vagueness, indeed, lent it charm. Her love was veiled,
as it were, in a most delicate, most diaphanous mist, which took from it
all earthliness, and left it intangible, magical as some gift from
fairyland. So far, no hint of desire had entered into it. It was all
unselfish, girlish adoration, an almost childish reverence for one
immeasurably her superior; and though she made her new dress and
adjusted her little bits of muslin and lace with scrupulous care, it was
not so much in the hope that she might find favour in Owen's eyes as in
the personal longing to make herself more worthy of the love within her.
It never entered her head that Owen would suspect her secret. Indeed,
the whole affair was so dream-like, of so unsubstantial, so gossamer a
lightness, that merely to speculate upon her romance would have been to
shatter it, as one might put a finger through a fairy cobweb.
She loved--and at present that was enough. To be with Owen daily, to sit
in the same room, breathe the same air, obey his wishes, help him with
his work, was all she desired; and being at heart an incurable little
optimist, she was content to weave her rose-coloured dreams, spin her
shining web, with no anxiety about the future to shadow and darken her
thoughts.
Yet Barry, with his quick intuition, was uncannily aware of the girl's
infatuation; and it was Barry who, through his very knowledge of her
secret, precipitated the inevitable revelation.
* * * * *
One day during Toni's absence for lunch the two men were sitting
together in Owen's room when Owen suddenly threw a large unmounted
photograph across to his friend.
"What's this, Owen? Oh--your house at Willowhurst, isn't it? By Jove,
it's a lovely place--I wonder you don't live there."
The moment he had spoken he would willingly have recalled his words, but
Owen gave him no time.
"You forget--I was going to live there!" His smile was forced. "The
people who have had it for years cleared out last October, and it was
all put in apple-pie order then, in anticipation of my wife's arrival."
Barry, red and embarrassed, said nothing, but examined the photograph
with unnecessary minuteness.
"Seems a pity the place should stand idle," went on Owen musingly. "It's
a jolly old house, and been in the family for centuries--built before
the river became fashionable--and the grounds are really fine; some
gorgeous old trees and shrubs in them."
"How far from town?" Barry put the first question that suggested itself.
"Oh, not far--twenty or thirty miles. You can get up easily in a car or
by a fast train. Greenriver--that's the house--is really charmingly
situated, with big grounds at the back, and the river just beneath the
house."
"You lived there as a youngster?"
"Yes. When my father died my mother couldn't bear to live there, and we
let the place. After her death I could have gone back, but somehow I
didn't want to. It was only when I met Vivian----"
He broke off suddenly, and springing to his feet, began to pace up and
down.
"By Jove, Barry, what fools we men make of ourselves over women! Just
because Vivian was kind, smiled on me, seemed really interested in my
affairs, I told her everything--all sorts of things I haven't even told
you, old chap! We used to go for strolls together in the summer
evenings--once or twice we motored down to Richmond and went for a walk
in the park ... we used to talk about all sorts of things ... women are
the very deuce for leading men on to talk. They pretend to be so
interested, ask such gentle little questions, are so sympathetic, so
kind ... and when it comes to sport, a girl like Vivian can talk as well
as any man."
He sighed impatiently.
"We didn't talk sentiment--those days. We were chums--the best of
chums ... discussed flying, motoring--she used to drive a little car
of her own. Sometimes we played golf--and, by Jove, she could pretty
nearly beat me! She was interested in all the things I liked, was a
rattling good shot with a rifle, and hadn't a nerve in her. Clever, too;
could talk on all sorts of subjects, and had read books I'd never even
heard of! She spoke three or four languages ... but--but it wasn't
that."
He broke off in his rambling talk to light a cigarette, and then
continued, in the same musing tone.
"It was something else. She was so handsome, so--so fine, somehow. I
used to think, when we were engaged, that she was like Brunhilde, or
some of the other Wagnerian heroines. Sometimes I couldn't help
thinking"--he coloured--"what splendid children a woman like that would
have. She ... she satisfied one, somehow. You knew she was sound in
every way--the sort of woman one would always be proud of--and when I
thought of her as the mistress of Greenriver, I----"
He threw away his cigarette impatiently.
"What a fool I am! What a damned fool you must think me, raving about a
woman who played me the shabbiest trick a woman could play! God! When I
think of it--think how I was deceived, I--I hate the woman! I hate
myself for being such a fool, but I hate her more! Well, she's married
now--good luck to her!--and there's only one thing for me to do; I must
get married too!"
"But why?" Barry's blue eyes were very kindly as they looked at his
friend. "Why not go on as you are for a bit longer?"
"Why not?" He stretched out his arms with a curious, restless gesture.
"Because I've got unsettled, I suppose. You see, when you've looked on
yourself as practically a married man, planned everything, renounced
your bachelor ways and anticipated a new and more settled existence,
well, somehow you can't go back to the old state of things. There's the
house, too. I feel as though I wanted to live in it again--the servants
are clamouring for me to go there. I promised, you know, and the river
is so lovely in the summer...."
"Well, why not go down and have a car?"
"Go there--alone?" He spoke bitterly. "No, thanks. That would be folly.
I meant to go with my wife----"
Suddenly he stopped in his restless pacing and faced Barry with gleaming
eyes.
"By gad, Barry! Why shouldn't I take my wife there after all?"
"Your wife?" Even the quick-witted Barry was at fault.
"Yes. My wife." He laughed at the other man's face. "Oh, I'm not married
yet, but why shouldn't I be? I swore I'd marry the first woman who'd
have me, and it's just occurred to me--Barry, do you thing she _would_
have me?"
"She? _What_ she?" demanded Barry in justifiable bewilderment.
"Why, our excellent little secretary and typist--our Miss Gibbs--our
Antonia, known at home as Toni!"
Barry's boyish face flushed crimson, and for a second he looked so angry
that Owen stared in genuine amazement.
"Well, Barry, what's up? I assure you my intentions are strictly
honourable! If she'll have me, she shall step into the shoes vacated by
Miss Vivian Rees, and succeed to the house, the car, the boats, and all
the rest of the worldly goods which weren't sufficient to tempt my
beautiful _fiancée_!"
"See here, Owen." Barry's voice was quiet. "I suppose you're ragging,
but let me tell you I think the rag's in execrable taste, and I'll be
obliged if you'll drop the subject."
For a second Owen seemed about to retort in the same tone. Then, quite
suddenly, his face changed.
"Say, Barry, why all these frills? You surely didn't think I meant any
harm--any disrespect to the girl?"
"Of course not." He spoke rather coldly. "Only--well, I don't like to
hear you joking about marrying Miss Gibbs. She's a decent little thing,
and far too good to be made a cat's paw in a game of revenge."
Owen looked at his friend quietly.
"You're right, Barry, and if I were only joking it would be a bit
low-down. But suppose I mean it? Suppose I ask the girl to marry me,
quite quietly, not entering into any heroics or telling any condemned
lies, and she accepts me, what then?"
Barry's heart gave a sudden throb of dismay. There was something behind
Owen's calm manner which made him feel vaguely uneasy. Could it be that
Owen too had surprised Toni's pitiful little secret--that he knew--had
known all along that the girl was not so indifferent to him as she
wished to appear?
For the moment Barry was nonplussed. If it were so, if Owen knew, and,
knowing, chose to take the risk of the girl's acceptance, had he any
right to interfere?
That Toni would accept, Barry felt almost convinced; and yet, fond as he
was of his friend, fond as he was, too, of the girl with whom he had
worked during these weeks of spring, Barry was clear-sighted enough to
feel assured that such a marriage would not make for happiness.
It might answer for a time. If Toni wore genuinely attached to Rose, as
Barry was inclined to believe, it was possible--nay, probable--that her
affection for him would bring out the best in Owen's nature, and he
would repay that affection with a real and kindly consideration. But
when the first freshness had worn off, when Owen should have grown used
to the girl's shy gratitude and devotion, when her prettiness, her
radiant youth, her naïve simplicity should have ceased to charm, what
then would remain?
For all his sporting instincts Owen was primarily a man of letters,
versatile, brilliant, even distinguished in his way; and Barry foresaw a
bitter disillusionment for each of the pair when the real dissimilarity
of their natures should, as must inevitably happen, become apparent to
both.
To Toni, who never willingly opened a book, her husband's delight and
absorption in the masterpieces of literature must be a constant wonder;
while to Rose, Toni's ignorance, her youthful, unashamed lack of
interest in the "things which matter" would be a perpetual irritation.
Although not so brilliant as his friend, Barry experienced at times
flashes of almost uncanny insight; and as he contemplated the
possibility of this marriage he had a sudden clear conviction that it
would not, could not, turn out successfully.
"See here, Owen"--he faced the other man resolutely--"you must know the
thing is quite impossible. Miss Gibbs is a nice little girl, a pretty
little thing and as straight as a die. But she is not your equal in any
sense; neither socially nor intellectually; and though you may not
believe it, you would regret the marriage in a week."
Owen looked at him, half-affectionately, half-quizzically, for a moment.
"Why should I, Barry? Toni may not be of very exalted birth, but she is
a hundred times more ladylike than half the flappers one meets in
Society nowadays, with their cigarette-cases, their bridge purses and
their slangy talk. One of those loud young women would be the death of
me in a week--and you know Toni's voice is delightfully soft, with quite
a Southern intonation--caught in Italy, I expect."
"But what of her education--or lack of it?" Barry went on relentlessly.
"You know quite well that the girl is a little ignoramus in reality. She
has read nothing, been nowhere, learned precious little; and she has no
more conversation than--than a Persian cat."
"That's a bad simile," said Owen calmly. "A Persian cat doesn't talk
much, I admit, but it is a most fascinating piece of mystery when it
sits still and says nothing. And Miss Gibbs may in reality be just as
mysterious."
"Oh, you're impossible!" Barry spoke impatiently, and Owen's manner
changed.
"Come, Barry, confess the truth. You're afraid Toni will jump at me--to
put it baldly. You know"--for a second he hesitated--"you know, Barry,
I'm not blind, and I can't help seeing that the girl has ... well, taken
a fancy to me; and if that is so, seeing that the woman I wanted
wouldn't have me, why shouldn't I offer myself to the one who ... would
perhaps take me if I asked her to?"
"You really mean to ask her, then?"
"Yes. I know you won't approve, old chap, but I'm going to do it all the
same. The girl may refuse me, you know, and then there'll be no harm
done."
And nothing could move him from the attitude he had adopted. The utmost
concession Barry could wring from him was a promise to wait for a week
at least before carrying out his plan; and during the whole of that week
Barry did his utmost to dissuade his friend from taking a step which he
foresaw would end in disaster.
He argued, cajoled, even thundered, in vain. He spoke of disparity of
tastes, of habits, of views on life in general; and Owen laughingly
reminded him that dissimilarity in tastes was supposed to be a good
foundation for wedded happiness.
He pointed out that although Antonia herself was a lady in the best
sense of the word, neither he nor Owen knew anything of her family; and
he endeavoured to alarm Rose by his vigorous sketch of her possibly
undesirable relations.
"I tell you the girl's an orphan," said Owen, smiling as Barry finished
painting an imaginary portrait of a very unattractive mother-in-law.
"She lives with an uncle and aunt and a family of cousins somewhere
Brixton way."
"Then I suppose the wedding will take place in Brixton," said Barry,
with an assumption of polite interest, and Owen coloured in spite of
himself.
"No--at least, not in a church. I can't face a regular wedding, Barry,
seeing my bride isn't the one I expected to lead to the altar. I think
the Registrar will have to tie the knot, and we'll dispense with all the
fuss of satins and veils and white flowers that I was dreading with all
my heart!"
Something in his tone--a hint of dreary disappointment, of a
wretchedness hitherto well concealed, made Barry feel compunction for
his own rough handling of what must have been in reality a sore subject;
and quite suddenly he abandoned his own superior, not to say
condemnatory, attitude for a more human, more sympathetic frame of mind.
"I say, old chap"--Owen's eyes lightened with pleasure at the friendly
tone--"I've been an awful beast all this time. The fact is, I've thought
only of the girl's point of view. It didn't seem fair she should be used
as a sort of tool to make your position easier; but after all, I believe
on my soul she'd ask nothing better than to marry you; and I know you'd
treat her decently, so--so if----"
"If I like to do it, you'll give me your blessing, eh, Barry?" Owen's
smile was a little melancholy. "Well, I'll take advantage of your
permission and put it to the little girl herself. She may refuse me, of
course--Miss Rees didn't find me irresistible, did she?" A hint of the
deadly wound she had dealt him coloured his tone. "But unless I'm a
conceited fool I believe I have a sporting chance at least--and I'd like
to show Lady Saxonby she's not the only woman in the world for me!"
At that moment Toni herself entered the room; and with an effort both
men greeted her as usual, and proceeded to the ordinary routine of the
day's work without giving her any indication that she had interrupted a
discussion of the highest importance to herself.