"I am not going to stay," said Jack Melland; and whatever his faults
might be, he looked and spoke like a man who knew his own mind, and
would abide thereby.
His three companions stared at him in silence, and one of the three at
least felt a distinct sinking of the heart.
"I was beginning to like him; we got on quite famously at dinner, and I
thought we were going to have ever such a good time together. Now we
shall be a wretched uncomfortable three, and Mr Druce will like Ruth
best, and I shall be out in the cold. How horrid! How perfectly
horrid!" grumbled Mollie to herself.
Just because she was so perturbed, however, she would not allow herself
to speak, but put on an elaborate display of indifference, while Victor
asked curiously--
"You mean that? May one ask your reason?"
"Oh, certainly. I never looked upon myself as having the slightest
claim upon Mr Farrell, and I don't care to ruin my business prospects
for the sake of an off-chance. Besides, the whole position is
unpleasant; I object to being kept `on approval,' with the consciousness
that if I allow myself to be ordinarily agreeable I shall at once be
credited with sponging for the old man's favour. I am quite satisfied
with my own lot, without any outside assistance."
"Don't you care about money, then?" asked Ruth timidly.
Jack Melland threw back his head with an air of masterful complacency.
"I care about making money. That is to say, I love my work, and wish it
to be successful, but I am keen on it more for the sake of the interest
and occupation than for what it brings. A few hundreds a year supply
all that I want, and I should not care to be burdened with a big
fortune. If you come into this place, Miss Farrell, I shall be grateful
to you if you will ask me down for a few days' shooting in the autumn,
but I shall never envy you your responsibility. To kick my heels here
in idleness for three solid months, and know that the business was
suffering for want of my presence--nothing would induce me to do it!"
But at this Mollie found her tongue, indignation spurring her to speech.
"You are not very polite to the rest of us! I should not have thought
it would be such a great hardship to stay in a lovely big house with
three young companions, when summer was coming on, too! I should think
there are one or two people in the world who would like it even a little
better than poking in a stuffy office from morning until night. But
there's no accounting for tastes. When you are grilling with heat in
the City you can think of us sitting under the trees eating
strawberries, and thank Fate you are so much better off. We promise not
to send you any. It might remind you too painfully of the country!"
"Mollie!" cried Ruth in sharp reproof; but Jack laughed with good-
natured amusement.
"Oh, I deserve it, Miss Farrell! My remarks sounded horribly
discourteous. I assure you if I had the time to spare I should
thoroughly enjoy staying on for a time under the present conditions; but
as it is quite impossible to remain for three months, I might as well
depart at once. I don't suppose Mr Farrell will wish to keep me under
the circumstances."
It appeared, however, Jack Melland was wrong in his surmise, for when he
announced his decision to his host before bidding him good-night, the
old man looked at him coldly and replied--
"I thought I had explained that we would discuss objections at a later
date. May I ask what limit you had mentally fixed to your visit when
you did me the honour of accepting my invitation?"
"I hardly know--this is Monday. I thought, perhaps until Saturday, or,
at the longest, a week."
Mr Farrell waved his hand in dismissal.
"We will leave it for a week, then. On Monday morning next I will
discuss the position as fully as you wish. Now, if either of you young
gentlemen cares to smoke, the billiard-room is at your service. Please
ring for anything you require. Meantime, as it is past my usual hour
for retiring, I wish you a very good-night."
"Checkmate, old fellow!" cried Victor Druce, as the door closed behind
the stooping figure; but Jack deigned no reply.
The cloud had returned to his forehead, his nostrils were curved with
annoyance and thwarted self-will.
The cloud was still there when he came down to breakfast next morning,
and did not lighten even at the sight of the well-appointed breakfast-
table, and the two pretty girls who were seated thereat. Some meals may
be more attractive abroad than at home. A French dinner, for example,
has certain points above an English dinner; but we give way to none as
regards our breakfast--that most delightful of meals to the strong and
healthy, especially in springtime, when the sunshine pours in at the
open window, and the scent of flowers mingles with the aroma of freshly
made coffee.
The breakfast-table of the Court had all the attractions which one
instinctively associates with old country houses. The massive, old-
fashioned silver, the revolving stand in the centre, the plentiful
display of covered dishes to supplement the cold viands on the
sideboard; and, as Mr Farrell invariably remained in his own room until
lunch-time, the restraint of his presence was removed.
Little Mrs Wolff busied herself with the duties behind the urn, and
Ruth and Mollie in serge skirts and spick and span white blouses looked
as fresh as paint, and a great many times as pretty. They were laughing
and chatting with Victor Druce, who had donned Norfolk jacket and
knickerbockers, and was quite the country gentleman both in appearance
and in his manner of leisurely good-humour.
The entrance of Jack in what are technically called "Store clothes,"
with a gloomy frown upon his forehead, seemed to strike a jarring note
in this cheerful scene, and both girls were conscious of a distinct
feeling of grievance against the offender. Was it so dreadful a fate to
be doomed to spend a whole week in their society? Need a man look as if
his last hope in life were extinguished because Fate kept him away from
the City for seven days, and placed him instead in the sweet green
country, with three companions of his own age who--to put it mildly--
were not perfect ogres in appearance!
The necessary greetings were observed. Jack helped himself to a bowl of
porridge, and, looking up, asked discontentedly--
"Hasn't the newspaper arrived?"
"Not yet, sir; it will be here by ten o'clock, sir," the butler replied;
and Mollie pulled down her lip with an expression of solemn propriety,
and added--
"But perhaps I can relieve your anxiety in the meantime. Cotton is down
twenty points, very strong and steady, and the Bears are making
fortunes. `Mauds' are fluctuating, but `Louisa Christinas' are in great
demand; everybody is rushing after them. The Bank rate is ten and a
half, and Consols have gone up two per cent. General market firm, with
a tendency to drop."
"My good child, what nonsense are you talking!" cried Ruth aghast, and
the two young men exchanged glances and burst into a laugh; even Jack
laughed, though such a feat had seemed impossible a moment before.
"What a thrilling report! You make me more impatient than ever. It is
just like my luck to be out of the way when there is a chance of a good
thing, though, after all, I don't know if the wisest plan would not be
to sell everything one had, and put the money in the bank--eh, Druce?
Ten and a half per cent! Where do you get your knowledge, Miss Mary?"
"Oh, I see things in the newspapers, and I hear the pater talking to his
friends. Don't call me `Miss Mary' please, it sounds far too quiet and
proper for me. I am never called anything but Mollie, except when I
overspend my allowance, and mother feels it her duty to scold me. Are
you on the Stock Exchange, Mr Melland? What sort of business is it
which you find so attractive?"
"I am afraid you would not be much wiser if I tried to explain. We are
what is called `brokers'; but there are an endless variety of businesses
under the same name. I have nothing, however, to do with `Mauds' and
`Christinas'!"
"Neither have I," volunteered Victor smilingly, "To tell the truth, I
have no money to invest, Briefs don't come my way, and I am at present
occupied listening to more fortunate fellows, and thinking how much
better I could plead myself. It palls at times, but I am fond of the
profession, and have no wish to change it."
"No," said Mollie reflectively. "The wigs _are_ becoming!" and when the
two young men leant back in their chairs and roared with laughter, she
blushed and pouted, and looked so pretty that it did one good to see
her.
The three earlier comers had finished their meal by this time, but they
sat still until Jack had disposed of the toast and marmalade which makes
the last breakfast course of every self-respecting Briton; then they
rose one after the other, strolled over to the open window, and faced
the question of the day--
"What shall we do?"
It was Ruth who spoke, and at the sound of her words the shadow came
back to Jack's brow.
"Yes, what shall we do? Think of it--three months--twelve weeks--
eighty-four separate days to lounge away with the same question on your
lips! I'd rather be sentenced to hard labour at once. Life is not
worth living without work. I'd rather be a clerk on sixty pounds a year
than stagnate as a country squire."
"You would be a very bad squire if you did stagnate!" cried Mollie
spiritedly, throwing back her little head, and looking up at him with a
flash of the grey eyes. "You would have your tenants to look after, and
your property to keep in order, and the whole village looking to you to
lead every scheme of pleasure or improvement, and the vicar looking to
you to be his right hand, and all the growing boys looking to you to
help them to a start in life, and the old people expecting you to make
their last days easy. You would be the hardest-worked man in the
country if you did half the work that was waiting for you, and it would
be unselfish work, too--thinking of others, and not of yourself."
Jack looked at her, and his face softened.
"That's true," he said frankly. "I'm sorry! You are right, and I am
wrong. I'm in a bad temper, and can't see things in their right light
to-day. Of course, if one really settled down to it, there would be
plenty to do; it's when one is only playing with the position that time
drags."
"Well, it ought not to drag to-day, at all events. We must be very dull
if we cannot amuse ourselves in surveying the domain, and seeing all
there is to be seen. I am going to put on my hat this minute and
examine the gardens, and go down to the stables to look at the horses.
If anyone likes to come too, they may, but my plans are fixed," cried
Mollie, nodding her saucy head; and at the magic word "stables," a ray
of interest lit up the two masculine faces.
Ten minutes later the four young people were strolling down the drive,
the girls with serge coats over their white blouses, and sailor-hats on
their heads, the men wearing their cloth caps with an evident air of
enjoyment. They turned the corner of the house, and coming round to the
south side uttered simultaneous exclamations of surprise and delight.
Along the entire length of the house ran an enormously wide terrace
edged with a balustrade, from the centre of which a flight of marble
steps led to an Italian garden, its green sward and stiffly outlined
flower-beds flanked by a quantity of curiously cut shrubs.
Beyond this garden the ground dipped sharply, showing first a glade of
trees whose fresh spring foliage contrasted with the dark colours of the
evergreens; then came a glimpse of a lake, a sweep of park; and beyond
all a glorious, wide-stretching view over the countryside. Perched upon
one of the highest sites for miles around, this terraced walk afforded
such a panorama of beauty as is rarely to be found even in our well-
favoured isles, and withal the beauty was of that peaceful, home-like
nature which irresistibly endears itself to the heart.
The four young people stood in silence gazing from side to side, and
into each mind, even that of the rebellious Jack himself, there crept
the same thought. This was indeed a goodly heritage, whose owner would
be an enviable person! The possibility of possessing it as a home was
worth a far greater sacrifice than anything which had been demanded of
themselves.
In those few minutes of silence dreams ran riot, and finally found vent
in words.
"When the Court belongs to me I shall have an awning put up on this
terrace and sit here all day long," said Mollie; as usual the first to
break the silence.
"I shall have a table brought out, and breakfast here every fine
morning," said Ruth.
"I'll smoke here after dinner!" said Victor.
"I'll do ditto in every case!" said Jack, then caught himself up
sharply--"when I come to visit the Chosen, that is to say! Of course,
I'm out of the running. What are you smiling at, Miss Mollie?" For,
turning towards her, he had seen the grey eyes light up with a merry
twinkle. She shook her head, however, refusing to gratify his
curiosity, and sped rapidly down the broad marble steps.
"He is beginning to have qualms! The very first morning, and for a
moment his resolution wavered. The spell is working," she told herself
triumphantly; for, despite his lack of gallantry, both girls had already
candidly admitted that upon Jack's going or staying depended a great
part of the pleasure of the next three months. "Don't persuade him;
don't mention the subject at all. Let him think we don't care how he
decides. Men are contradictious creatures, and the less he is urged the
more likely he is to give way," argued Ruth the experienced. And Mollie
dutifully agreed.