By the end of September, Owen's book was finished; and on a beautiful
autumn morning he and Toni set off in the car on a journey to town,
where a publisher, who was also a personal friend, was waiting to
receive the manuscript.
Mr. Anson was a kindly, energetic man of middle age; and he had secretly
long expected Owen to turn novelist; so that he accepted the bulky
manuscript with a real curiosity as to its value.
He promised to let the author know his decision at an early date; and
then invited Owen and his wife to lunch with him at the Carlton, an
invitation which Owen accepted at once, rather to Toni's dismay.
They were his sole guests; and beneath his kind and courteous manner,
Toni lost her shyness and charmed her host by her girlish simplicity and
directness.
It happened that the conversation turned on the bungalows which lined
the banks of the river as it flowed through Willowhurst; and presently
Mr. Anson asked a question.
"You've got Vyse down there, haven't you? You know the chap I mean--the
portrait-painter."
"I don't think so." Owen was puzzled. "At least I have not heard of him
being there. Have you, Toni?"
"Yes--Mr. Anson means Mr. Herrick," said Toni quietly. "He told me the
other day he had changed his name."
"Ah yes, I remember now--something about some money, I believe. You know
him, Mrs. Rose?"
"Yes. He fished me out of the river one day when I had fallen in," said
Toni smiling. "And he has been to see us several times--but I didn't
know he was famous," she finished naïvely.
"Didn't you? Why, he is--or was--one of the foremost men in his own line
until there was the trouble with his wife."
"Surely you don't mean that jewel affair?" Owen asked meditatively.
"Didn't Vyse's wife steal a pearl necklace or something of the sort? I
seem to remember something about it--though I did not connect it with
this chap."
"His wife--who was one of the prettiest Irish girls I ever saw--got a
valuable necklace on approval and pawned it for money to pay her debts,
yes. Poor fellow, it broke him up completely."
"Really?" Owen was interested. "Where is she--the wife--now? Did he
leave her, or what happened?"
"She is in prison," returned the other man slowly. "I understand her
time is nearly up, and I am wondering what they will do when she comes
out again."
"In prison--ah yes, I recollect the affair now, though I was away at the
time. Got eighteen months, didn't she?"
"Yes. It was the most painful experience I've ever had, to listen to her
being sentenced." Mr. Anson's florid face grew grave. "It happened that
her Counsel was a nephew of mine, and I promised to hear him handle the
case. But, of course, it was hopeless from the start."
"The husband--this chap Herrick--was blameless, I suppose?"
"Quite. He knew nothing about it, though the girl tried her hardest to
implicate him. He did his best, too, would have sworn anything to clear
her and take the blame, but her lies were all so dreadfully patent it
was no use. In the end she told the truth, thinking it would help her;
but it was too late then."
"She took it badly?"
"Terribly. She cried and shrieked for mercy, fought like a tiger with
the officials who tried to take her away, and screamed reproaches at her
husband, till everyone was sick of the scene. Of course, she never
dreamed they would send her--a lady, and a delicate bit of a girl,
too--to prison like a common thief, and she completely lost her
self-control when she realized what was going to happen. It was a relief
to everyone when she gave one last cry and fainted right away."
"Hard lines on the husband," said Owen, reflectively.
"Deuced hard lines--and he as decent a fellow as ever stepped. Why he
ever married her, God only knows. She didn't care a bit for him--wasted
his money and then reviled him because he'd no more. Of course, she came
of a rotten stock--wasters and gamblers every one--and this was how the
hereditary taint came out in her."
"She must have served most of her sentence by now?"
"Comes out next week. I wonder what he will do with her. She's not the
sort of woman to live in a shanty by the riverside, and yet he can't
very well bring her back to town."
"I wonder?" Owen glanced at his watch. "I say, Anson, I don't want to be
rude--after our excellent lunch!--but I've an appointment at the office
at three and it's a quarter to now."
"All right, my boy, I won't detain you." Anson rose at once. "I'm glad
you keep an eye on the _Bridge_--it's a fine little review and going
ahead all the time."
Owen's face brightened at this authoritative praise.
"I'm glad you think go. Of course, we are jolly lucky in our staff, and
we've got the best sort of contributors, too."
"Yes. By the way, how on earth have you managed to get all this stuff
turned out with a disabled arm?" He patted the thick packet of
manuscript and glanced at Owen's inconspicuous sling wonderingly.
"Perhaps Mrs. Rose helped you?" He looked, with a smile, at Toni.
"No." She coloured hotly. "I did not help at all."
"Miss Loder--my secretary at the office--came down to help me," said
Owen easily. "She is used to the work, you see, and does it
excellently."
"I see." The kindly eyes had seen Ton's flush. "Well, no doubt Mrs. Rose
is satisfied to inspire your work and let others do the manual labour.
The power behind the throne, eh, Mrs. Rose? That's what women used to
be, bless them, before these dreadful Suffragettes arose to destroy
woman's real influence by violence and wrongheadedness."
"I expect my wife is jolly thankful the book's finished," said Owen
laughing. "She has had a pretty thin time while I've been writing it.
But now I suppose there will be a lull of a few weeks?"
"Oh, I won't keep you long," said Mr. Anson genially. "I'll send the
manuscript to the reader to-night, and let you know as soon as
possible."
They parted from their host on the pavement out side the Carlson, and
Owen turned to Toni.
"Now, dear, what will you do? Will you come with me to the office, or
have you any shopping?"
Toni bit her lip nervously. She had a request to make, and did not know
how to set about it.
"Well?" Owen watched her, wondering why she looked embarrassed.
"Owen, would you mind if I went to Brixton to see my aunt? I--I'm afraid
they think I'm a little unkind, and after all they have always been good
to me."
"Why, Toni"--Owen was genuinely surprised--"you don't mean to say you
are afraid to ask me that! Of course you can go. I'll come to fetch you
when I've finished my work, if you like."
"Will you?" She knew how such a visit would gratify her aunt. "Shall I
take a taxi, then, Owen? You'll want the car."
"Yes, I think that would be best, then you can stay as long as possible.
What time shall I come, Toni? Half-past five or so?"
"Yes. That will be lovely. Then we'll have a jolly ride home."
He called a taxi accordingly and installed Toni therein; and he stood
back to watch her gliding away from him in the mellow September
sunshine, before he hurried to the office where Barry was impatiently
awaiting his arrival.
Toni found several members of the Gibbs family at home when at length
she reached her destination.
Being Thursday, Fanny was enjoying her weekly holiday, and was delighted
to see Toni; more especially because she had a piece of news to confide
which appealed strongly to Fanny's romantic nature.
When the first greetings were over, and Mrs. Gibbs had retired with the
hospitable intention of "putting on the kettle," Fanny beckoned
mysteriously to Toni to mount the narrow stairs leading to the room the
girls had formerly shared in common.
Toni mounted obediently; and for a second she forgot to wonder what Miss
Gibbs' extraordinary signals might imply, for a sudden feeling of
gratitude to Owen for having lifted her out of this dingy atmosphere
flooded her impressionable nature.
Surely when she too had slept beneath this low ceiling the room had not
been quite so small, so stuffy. The wall-paper was the one she and Fanny
had themselves chosen years ago, but it was oddly faded and dirty now,
and in one corner a great piece had peeled off, hanging in strips and
disclosing the plaster behind. The common furniture, too--the rickety
deal dressing-table, the broken chair, the unpainted iron
bedsteads--thinking of her own airy, spacious, bedroom with its shining
toilet-table, its linen bedspread, its big windows opening on to a view
of the river and the fields beyond, Toni wondered how she had ever
endured life in these sordid, depressing surroundings.
Luckily Fanny was too full of her news to notice Toni's involuntary
shudder as she looked round the close little bedroom; and barely waiting
to shut the door she blurted out her tidings.
"Toni, you remember Lennie Dowson--the fellow who was sweet on you?"
Toni nodded casually, her eyes still roaming round her, and Fanny felt
vaguely disappointed that the subject was so evidently uninteresting.
"Well, he's going to Sutton, three miles from Willowhurst, and I truly
believe it's because he wants to be near you!"
She had succeeded in arousing Toni's interest at last.
"Leonard Dowson? Do you mean the dentist? But what on earth will he do
in Sutton?"
"Look at people's teeth, I suppose," returned Miss Gibbs practically.
"He was in night before last, and he told Ma he was sick of London, and
this was a change for the better. It is a town, isn't it. And I s'pose
people by the river have toothache same as us, don't they?"
"It is a town--of a sort," said Toni, "but I shouldn't have thought Mr.
Dowson would have settled there. He always said London was the one place
in the world for him."
"That was when you were there," returned Fanny sagely. "I don't b'lieve
he's ever got over you, Toni. Ma says she never saw such a change in
anyone, and you know he was always fond of you. That's why he's going to
Sutton, you may take my word for it."
To Fanny's surprise Toni spoke coldly.
"I really can't imagine how you can be so silly, Fanny. How can it
affect Mr. Dowson where I am? I'm married now, and anyway he was never
anything to me."
"Still, he might be faithful to his first love," giggled Fanny.
"Fanny!" Toni faced her angrily. "You are simply odious when you talk
like that. Leonard Dowson's first love, indeed? If he says that about me
it is simply impertinence, and I don't care to hear you talk such
nonsense."
She got up indignantly as she spoke and moved to the door.
"If that is all you have got to say," she said, "I will go and talk to
Auntie." And she had the door open before Fanny found her tongue.
Then:
"Oh, I say, Toni, don't be horrid and stuck-up." Fanny's wail brought
Toni to a standstill. "If you _are_ Mr. Rose's wife, and a fine lady,
and in with a lot of smart people, you needn't go and be nasty to your
own cousin."
Something in her voice brought Toni quickly back into the room.
"Don't be silly, Fan!" She spoke impetuously. "Of course I am not being
stuck-up; you know I wouldn't be nasty to you for the world, but I do so
hate that sort of talk about men being fond of you and all that."
"Well, I didn't know you minded," said Fanny humbly, and Toni's heart
smote her.
"Oh, Fan, I don't mind--really--and I didn't mean to be cross. Now tell
me, how do you like my frock? It's the first time I've had it on."
And in the ensuing animated discussion on frocks and frills Fanny lost
that queer, uncomfortable sense of inferiority which had sprung to birth
beneath Toni's manner.
Somehow, after that Toni found the time drag. She was gentle and
friendly with her aunt, affectionate towards Lu, cordial with her uncle
and the rest; but she found herself longing for Owen's arrival as a
signal for her release.
The good-natured chatter, the well-meant inquisitiveness which found
vent in a ceaseless inquiry into the details of her new life, the noisy
jokes and laughter, the very persistence of the hospitality which filled
her cup and plate over and over again--they all jarred this afternoon;
and quite involuntarily Toni sighed for the peace and spaciousness, the
gracious calm and tranquillity of Greenriver.
When Owen at last arrived it was with an inward glee that Toni heard the
clock strike six; for now his visit must of necessity be short.
Possibly Owen saw her pallor, for he announced almost at once that
although he regretted the fact, he must carry off his wife without
delay; and after a brief interchange of courtesies, the family escorted
Toni to the car, whose glories most of them now beheld for the first
time.
As Owen was still unable to drive, he took his seat by Toni in the body
of the car; and when they were safely away Toni turned to him with a
sigh of pleasure.
"Owen, I thought you were never coming."
"Was I very long?" Owen was struck by her tone. "What's the matter,
Toni? Are you tired, dear, or have the cousins been too much for you?"
"Oh, no, not exactly," Toni was always loyal, but to-day her loyalty had
been severely tried. "But I can't help comparing the house with
Greenriver, and I was longing all the time to get back to the garden and
the big rooms."
Owen did not smile at her naïve confession.
"You like your home, Toni? Greenriver pleases you?"
"I think it's the loveliest house in the world," Toni said fervently.
"And sometimes I can hardly believe it is I who live there. You see, all
my life I have been used to little houses, and it seems almost
incredible that I should have the right to go about as I like--and even
pick the flowers in the garden."
"Poor little Toni." Her gratitude touched Owen. "Sometimes I have
fancied you found it rather dull. I have been obliged to leave you so
much alone lately; but now we can have a holiday until the book's fate
is decided."
"Will you be busy then?"
"Well, there will be the proofs to revise. And, to tell you the truth,
Toni, I'm dying to get to work on another story."
"Are you? But what about the _Bridge_?"
"Oh, I won't neglect that, of course. But everything is running smoothly
there and Barry is turning out trumps, too. He has grasped the whole
thing as I never expected him to do. He's going to get a bigger salary
almost at once, and then I suppose he will marry Miss Lynn."
He gave a sudden exclamation as the car swerved aside to avoid a
lumbering cart which took up more than its share of the road.
"What's Fletcher doing, confound him? I say, Toni, this wretched arm of
mine doesn't seem to me to be getting on very well. The bone's knit all
right, but I have a fearful lot of pain in it sometimes."
"Oh, have you, Owen?" Toni grew pale in an instant. "What does Dr. Mayne
say? You saw him a few days ago, didn't you?"
"Yes, but I don't think he knows very much about it. He's a nice old
chap, but a bit behind the times. I have a good mind to go and see some
man in town one day next week. It's such a confounded handicap for a
writer not to be able to hold a pen."
"What about your proofs?" Her heart sank as she asked the question.
"Oh, Miss Loder can do those--under my supervision," he said carelessly.
"I'm not bothering about them so much as about my new book; and I've
been commissioned to write a series of articles for the _Lamp_, which
really ought to be put in hand at once."
For a moment there was silence. Then:
"Could I do your proofs?" Toni said, in a voice which shook in spite of
all her efforts.
"Oh, it's awfully sweet of you, dear." Owen tried his hardest to avoid
hurting her. "But there is no occasion to worry you. I don't like to see
you bending over a desk when there is no need. Miss Loder has to do
something, anyway, and she might just as well do my work as anyone's."
"Must she come down to Greenriver?" Now Toni's voice betrayed her, and
Owen looked up sharply.
"Why not? Do you mean you would rather she did not come?"
"Much rather." For once Toni's inward feelings burst their bounds,
driving her to open revolt. "I don't like Miss Loder about all day--I
never feel free--there's an oppression in the air so long as she is in
the house."
Owen was surprised and annoyed by this speech; and showed his annoyance
plainly.
"Don't you think you are rather prejudiced, Toni? You have never liked
the girl, and I can't imagine why. She does her work well, and doesn't
interfere with you in the least."
"Interfere with me--no, perhaps not," said Toni, her breast heaving
stormily, her cheeks very red. "She laughs at me, though, which is
worse--sneers--oh, I know she thinks I'm a little fool, and so I am; but
I am at least your wife--the mistress of Greenriver, and she might
remember that and treat me with a little more respect."
"Respect? My dear Toni, you are talking nonsense. How should the girl
treat you? She is always polite," said Owen, "and you know after all she
is ten years older than you----"
"Only ten?" Toni's assumption of surprise was excellently done. "I
thought she was much more--she always seems to me so staid--so--so
middle-aged."
Owen's brow cleared suddenly and he burst out laughing.
"You silly little thing! Compared with you, Miss Loder _is_ middle-aged,
but she's a rattling secretary and I don't like to hear her abused.
Still, if you dislike the idea of her coming, I'll go to town, or do
without her. After all, I must not get too dependent on the girl--I'm
afraid I'm growing lazy. But if my arm still bothers me----"
Instantly Toni's anger melted away and a rush of affection and sympathy
took its place.
"I'm sorry, Owen--I didn't mean to be cross. I was talking nonsense--of
course you must have Miss Loder, I suppose I am jealous of her--because
she is so clever, and I'm such a little idiot."
"I don't want a clever wife, thank you," laughed Owen, little dreaming
how his careless words cut into the quivering soul of the girl beside
him. "I want a pretty, lively, jolly little girl--half Italian for
choice--who is a cross between a wood-nymph and--sometimes--a
tiger-cat--or kitten! And it seems to me I have got just exactly what I
want."
With an effort Toni smiled, in response to his good-natured jesting; and
Owen never knew that his well-meant words caused Toni to shed tears
before she slept that night.