MAN PROPOSES
Everyone, without exception, was glad that Hench had returned, for he
appeared to be a favourite with all. And not the least pleased to see
him was the boy Simon Jedd, commonly called "Bottles." He was a
freckled, red-haired, laughing youngster of fifteen, with a wide mouth
and a snub nose, not by any manner of means handsome, but genial and
cheerful and extremely honest. He helped Amelia with the house-work,
ran errands, waited at table, cleaned the boots of the paying guests,
and earned his scanty wages by making himself uncommonly useful on all
and every occasion. But being a restless youth, and much given at odd
moments to reading books of highly-coloured adventure in the form of
penny stories, he had a soul above his drudgery, and longed with all
his heart to face dangers of the most pronounced kind. Such a lad was
bound to have some sort of actual hero to worship and adore.
In Hench, Bottles saw exactly the pioneering type, which was his ideal
of perfect manhood, and he looked upon the young man as the model of
all the virtues which most appealed to him. This being the case, he
never could do enough to prove his devotion. No bed was so well made
as that of Hench; no room was kept so spotlessly clean, and no boots
were so highly polished. Half amused and half touched by this genuine
hero-worship, Hench lent the boy books of travel, told him about his
adventures in far lands, gave him odd shillings to patronize the local
picture palace and music-hall, and generally treated him in a way
which made the heart of the boy swell with pride. It was no wonder
that Bottles adored him and could never do enough for him.
On the morning after his return, Hench found his clothes well brushed,
his bath ready, and a cup of tea at his elbow, while Bottles hovered
round the room wondering what else he could do to show his rejoicing
spirit. In his shabby patched clothes, and wearing an apron of green
baize, Bottles grinned respectfully when Hench sat up in bed to drink
his tea. He also supplied him with small-beer chronicles concerning
events which had taken place in The Home of the Muses during his
hero's absence. Hench cared very little for such gossip, but allowed
Bottles to prattle on because it pleased the lad. And certainly Master
Jedd might have been a detective, so full and clever was his report.
In the course of his narrative he arrived at Spruce. Then Hench really
did listen, for, simple as he was, he began to wonder if the Nut had
given his true reason for this visit to Bethnal Green.
"Such a swell as he is, ain't he?" babbled Bottles, who was now
slipping links and studs into Hench's shirt. "I never did see a cove
come with so many boxes, sir. Must be rich, I think, though he ain't
free with his money. Says he knew you at school, sir, he does. True,
ain't it?"
"Quite true, Bottles!" replied Hench, nodding. "I haven't seen him for
eight or more years."
"And you don't like him now you do see him, do you, sir?"
"Why should you say that?"
"Well, sir"--Bottles scratched his scarlet poll--"he don't seem to me
to be quite your style. There ain't no Buffalo Bill, Pathfinder
business about him. If you don't mind my saying so, sir, I don't think
it's cricket his winning all that foreign lady's jewellery at cards,
nohow."
"That's none of your business, Bottles."
"Sorry, sir. But I can't help seeing and thinking when I do see. And
what's a swell like him doing down here, I'd like to know?"
"You'd better ask him."
"And get a clip on the ears for my pains, sir. Not me. Though I dessay
he ain't the cove to hit out."
"Too kind-hearted?" asked Hench, amused.
"Well," said Bottles slowly, "I shouldn't use them words myself. Mr.
Spruce is the kind of feller who'd trip you up when you wasn't
looking; but I don't think he'd meet any one's eye straight. Seems to
me as he might have done a glide, if you take me, sir."
"I don't take you, Bottles?"
"Bolted, mizzled, cut away," explained the boy earnestly. "Swells
don't come to this place for fun."
"Don't be a fool, boy. Mr. Spruce has only come here to gather
material for a book he is writing."
"Oh, he says that, do he, sir? Well, I don't think! Ho! I'll keep my
eye on all the illustrated papers and see if his picture's in 'em."
"Why should his picture be in them?"
Bottles shook his head mysteriously and skipped lightly towards the
door. He saw that Hench did not approve of his groundless suspicions,
so made up his mind to say no more. All the same, having got the idea
that Spruce had "done something" into his head, which came from
reading too many penny-dreadful romances, he made up his mind to watch
the Nut. This he did not tell his hero lest he should be forbidden to
"follow the trail," as he put it. Therefore he held his tongue and
removed himself swiftly.
While Hench took his bath and dressed slowly, he wondered if by
chance the boy had hit the mark. It did appear to be strange that a
well-to-do and fashionable young man should come and live amidst such
sordid surroundings. Spruce's story of gathering material for a novel
was plausible enough, yet somehow it did not ring true. Hench, as the
Nut thought with some degree of truth, was a very simple and
unsuspicious person, but he was not quite such a fool as Mr. Spruce
imagined him to be. Affable as the young man had been, and pleased as
he was with his old schoolfellow's offer of pecuniary aid, he could
not bring himself to like the Cherub. His dandified dress, his
mincing ways, his gorgeous array and use of perfume, irritated the
rough-and-ready manhood of Hench. He sensed something poisonous about
the little man, and resolved very rightly to be wary in his dealings
with him. Moreover, Spruce was altogether too curious about matters
which did not concern him, though why he should be so Hench was unable
to say. The Nut had made himself acquainted with the affairs of every
one in the house since his arrival, and knew much which could not
possibly interest him. However, if he had come to Bethnal Green to
plot and contrive, it would be a case of diamond cut diamond, for
Hench guessed that Bottles would keep his eye on the little man's
doings. And the eye of Bottles was sharp, while the brain of Bottles
was keen; so the schemes of Mr. Spruce would be baffled in the end,
always presuming that he really had any.
"But it's all bosh," said Hench aloud to himself, as he made ready to
go down to breakfast. "Spruce has come here to write a book, and it's
silly of me to make a mountain out of a molehill. I daresay he'll
grow tired of this dull life here and cut away back to the West End.
Upon my word I shan't be sorry when he goes. Strange that Bottles
should dislike him so thoroughly. He's a sharp lad, is Bottles, and
doesn't usually make mistakes."
Having unloaded his mind in this soliloquy, Hench descended to
breakfast and enjoyed that meal all alone, as he was late and every
one was out. Spruce, indeed, was having breakfast in his room, and of
this Hench was glad, as he always liked to read the newspaper while
drinking his coffee. This would have been impossible had such a
chattering magpie as the Nut been present. But he did not escape the
attentions of his old schoolfellow entirely, for Spruce made his
appearance just as he finished eating. The Nut wore a suit of
cream-coloured serge with a black necktie, black boots, black gloves,
and a black hat of soft felt. Hench stared.
"I say, you look like a negative," he remonstrated. "Don't go out in
that get-up or you'll be mobbed."
"Oh, no," said Spruce smoothly; "only pointed at. I'm accustomed to
that, as I have put on a different suit every day since coming here.
It must be a pleasure for these Bethnal Green rotters to see a
well-dressed man."
"I don't mind a fellow being well dressed," retorted Hench with
emphasis, "but I do object to over-dressing."
Spruce shrugged his shoulders. "You never did care to look decent."
"I'm decent enough; confound your impudence!"
"What with that shaggy beard and shabby clothes, and----"
"There! There! Keep off the grass, Spruce. My clothes are well enough,
although I do admit my beard is a trifle out of place. But when I
returned from South America six months ago I never bothered to shave.
Too much trouble."
"Well, if I were a good-looking chap such as you are, I would pay more
attention to my appearance. Coming out for a walk?"
"No. Not with you in that get-up!"
Spruce laughed. "Rum sort of chap you are to object to a fellow
dressing decently. However, have it your own way. I'll see you this
afternoon."
Hench nodded absently and filled his pipe, while Spruce departed to
delight the jeering inhabitants of Bethnal Green. And they did jeer,
in what Spruce considered their coarse, common, vulgar way, but did
not manage to upset him in the least. He was much too conceited to
think that he could possibly be wrong in his selection of clothes. And
it must be confessed that, as the day was hot even for July, he looked
wonderfully cool and comfortable in his white garb. The men jeered,
but for the most part the women admired him, and so long as he gained
admiration from the fair sex Spruce was wholly content. So he screwed
in his eye-glass and strutted and smiled, and made a progress through
the main streets of Bethnal Green with a heroism worthy of a better
cause. And it was heroism in a way to venture amongst the great
unwashed in such fantastic clothes, although in Spruce it took the
form of absolute vanity, and a certainty that he was "a thing of
beauty and a joy for ever."
As the day was warm and sunny the Nut did not return to luncheon, but
enjoyed that meal in a City restaurant. He did not risk travelling
beyond Fleet Street, lest he should stumble against some former friend
who certainly would not be amiably disposed. Like the Peri, Spruce
stood at the Gates of Paradise, but did not dare to venture in, so
after a long look up the Strand, which was closed to him, he returned
gloomily to Bethnal Green. But by the time he reached The Home of the
Muses, he felt much better, as his nature was too shallow for him to
be impressed strongly by any emotion--sorrowful or joyful. It was late
in the afternoon when he entered the dingy drawing-room, and here he
found Hench and Madame Alpenny enjoying the regulation tea. Zara,
it appeared, was lying down to refresh herself for the evening's
performance, and Bracken was attending a rehearsal. As for Mrs. Tesk,
her mind was engaged with the approaching dinner, and she was
consulting the cook in the kitchen.
As soon as Bottles, who was attending to the meal, saw Spruce stepping
in he became at once upon the alert, and devoured him with his light
blue eyes. Hench, noticing this espionage, sent the lad away to get
fresh tea, as he did not approve of Bottles watching and listening to
what did not concern him. Madame Alpenny smiled blandly when Spruce
entered and complimented him on his cool looks. She was hot herself,
and this was little to be wondered at, as she wore her constant black
dress with the orange spots, her picture hat and her heavy bead
mantle. The Nut wondered if she had any other clothes, as she never
seemed to wear another garb.
"You are just in time, Mr. Spruce," said Madame Alpenny in her lively
way, and after she had paid her compliment. "Tell me what you know of
Mr. Hench here."
Spruce stared. "Why do you ask me that?"
"Indeed you may well ask," said Hench with a frown, "as you cannot
answer the question. But Madame here will not permit me to pay
attention to Mademoiselle Zara until she knows more about me."
"I am a good mother, you see, and must consider my daughter's
happiness," was the reply of the Hungarian lady, as she took the
freshly filled teapot from Bottles and sent him out of the room again.
"If that is the case," said Spruce politely, "then you must allow her
to become Mrs. Bracken."
"Certainly I shall not. Ah, but you are smiling."
"Indeed, I think your daughter will only be happy with Bracken,"
insisted the Nut lightly. "He loves her, and I think that she loves
him."
"In that case," commented Madame with a shrug and glancing at Hench,
"there is no chance for you."
"I admire Mademoiselle Zara and wish to make her my wife," said Hench
steadily. "I am young and strong, and will soon make a fortune."
"So far you have been unsuccessful," she replied dryly; "and for my
daughter I prefer a ready-made fortune." Her eyes rested on Spruce as
she spoke. The little man did not take the hint, but chuckled softly
in his hateful fashion, so she was obliged to go on. "Tell me, Mr.
Spruce, what do you know of Mr. Hench?"
"Only that he is the best fellow in the world."
Hench frowned. "I don't see how you can swear to that, seeing we have
not met for eight years."
"Oh, you were always a good sort of chap," said Spruce gaily. "If you
don't mind my saying so, you haven't enough brains to be wicked. It
takes a clever person to sin properly."
"Ah, but you will amuse yourself with this talk," broke in Madame,
smiling. "I want a good man for my daughter."
"Take Bracken, then. He's a bit of a bounder, but decent enough."
The old woman pursed up her lips and shook her head. After a few
moments of reflection she spoke freely. "My daughter must marry money,
and neither you, Mr. Hench, nor Mr. Bracken have any money. I will not
allow you to pay your addresses to her. Nor will Zara receive them.
She is a good girl and loves her old mother."
"Well, Hench," said Spruce, when this speech was ended, "now you know.
Are you not heart-broken?"
"No!" retorted Hench sharply. "Nor am I defeated. Zara will decide."
"She will decide what I order her to decide!" cried Madame Alpenny
furiously. "And my daughter is not for you, Mr. Hench!"
"I should prefer to discuss that question privately," said the young
man in a stiff, haughty way; "there is no need for Mr. Spruce to be
present."
"Oh, don't say that," chimed in the Nut reproachfully; "I may be able
to help you, old fellow. You don't go the right way to work."
"It's my own way," snapped Hench restlessly, and objecting to
interference.
"Then it's the wrong way," snapped Spruce in his turn. "Remember that
Madame Alpenny thinks you are a mystery. Use that to help you."
"In what way?" Hench opened his brown eyes.
"Mysterious persons are always interesting, and if Madame here finds
that you may turn out to be some one great, who knows but what she may
change her mind?"
"Are you something great?" asked the lady, addressing Hench quickly.
"No. I am nobody, and will remain nobody. Why should you think that I
am, what you call, a mystery?"
"It is hard to say," she answered dreamily and staring hard at him.
"I have seen eyes like yours somewhere. They are connected with a
story--a kind of family mystery. But I can't remember to whom those
eyes belonged."
"Perhaps you have met our friend here before," suggested the Nut
eagerly.
"No!" said Madame positively, and Hench also shook his head. "I met
him here for the first time. The person who had eyes like him I
met--or I fancy I met--some twenty years ago. But it is all vague and
uncertain. Yet I feel that the story I allude to is here"--she touched
her forehead--"a mere word will bring it back to my memory."
"Then let us try and find the magic word," cried the irrepressible
Spruce. "I am desperately curious myself to fathom a mystery which the
person concerned in it does not guess."
"Meaning me," said Hench tartly. "You are talking rubbish."
"Sense, sense, common-sense. When the mystery is discovered you may be
able to marry Mademoiselle Zara."
"There is no mystery about me, I tell you."
"Well, I am not so sure of that," remarked the little man, in spite
of his friend's frown. "You don't know anything about your family, as
you admitted to me. Yet I dare swear that those papers you are to
inspect at your lawyers' in a few weeks, when you arrive at the age of
twenty-five, may contain a history which will astonish you."
"Papers at your lawyers'," echoed Madame Alpenny, looking excited; "is
that so?" Hench reluctantly admitted that such was the case. "But I
don't suppose that anything I don't know will come to my knowledge."
"Who knows," observed the old lady thoughtfully. "Mr. Spruce is right.
This hint of mystery interests me in you and makes me more ready to
entertain your proposal to marry Zara. If you turned out to be
wealthy----"
"I never will, I tell you," insisted Hench crossly.
"Then why are these mysterious papers in existence? No! believe me,
they have a story to tell. I am better disposed towards you because of
those papers, as who knows to what they may lead. Mr. Spruce is right
about a mystery interesting me, and I congratulate Mr. Spruce. He
ought to be in the diplomatic service. His knowledge of human nature
does him credit."
Evidently both Madame and the Cherub were bent upon building a castle
in the air, as Hench could not think that the papers in question were
likely to make him a rich man. His father had never been rich, and
knowing the sybaritism of his deceased parent, the young man was
pretty certain that if there had been any money about, the elder Hench
would have obtained it to waste. "You are both wrong," he said
gloomily. "There is not likely to be a fortune waiting for me when I
read those papers. My name is a commonplace one, and I have every
reason to believe that my family is commonplace also. My father never
gave me any information about his parents. All I know is that his name
was Owain Hench, as mine is, and that he once or twice remarked that
his youth had been passed in some Welsh place, called Rhaiadr!"
The effect of this last word on Madame was astonishing. She turned
quite pale with sudden emotion, her large dark eyes blazed into vivid
life and she clapped her hands loudly. "Rhaiadr! Owain of Rhaiadr! The
word means water tumbling over a rock--a waterfall. Ah, yes, and so
they call a torrent in the barbarous country of Wales."
Hench stared at her, not understanding this outburst, but Spruce, much
more alive to what was meant, laughed and nodded. "We have hit upon
the magic word, it seems," he observed, all on the alert for
knowledge. "Tell us who was the owner of the eyes which were like
those of Hench's, Madame?"
"Your father had such eyes," said Madame, turning to the astonished
man.
"My father!"--Hench started to his feet--"you have never met my
father. Why, he died about five years ago."
Madame nodded complacently and signed that he should seat himself
again. "Ah, is that so? He is dead, then. Oh, but I did meet him, Mr.
Hench. Some twenty years back--it was in Buda Pesth. I remember it
all"--she pressed her jewelled fingers to her forehead--"it all comes
back to me."
"Tell us about it, then," suggested Spruce eagerly. "Bah!" said Hench
rather rudely, "it's all imagination."
"Indeed it is not," protested Madame, gesticulating. "If it were so,
how would I know that Rhaiadr meant a waterfall and was in Wales, a
country I know nothing about? Owain of Rhaiadr!--that is what your
father called himself."
"Owain is my Christian name, and was my father's before me. But we
don't live in the Middle Ages, when a man was known by his first name
being connected with a town, or village, or county, or country. Owain
Hench of Rhaiadr, if you like, Madame."
The woman shook her head and her eyes sparkled like diamonds. "Ah, but
it is not so. Owain of Rhaiadr was what your father said. I remember
we were sitting on the terrace of the hotel, and feeling ill, he
sought my sympathy. Ah, my friend, and more than my sympathy. He
wished to marry me."
"Marry you!" Hench stared at the withered old woman in amazement.
"Why not? I was a handsome young widow in those days and had some
money. Afterwards I lost it, being unlucky at cards."
"Well, let us hope that to make up for your loss you were lucky in
love," said Spruce affably.
"No! I did not wish to marry again, as I was devoted to the memory of
my English husband. But I liked your father, Mr. Hench, even though I
refused to become his wife. He was not rich, you understand, so it was
useless for me to marry a poor man. But I liked him because he was
well-bred and sympathetic in many ways. How it all comes back to me. I
told him of my daughter, who was with her nurse in the gardens below
the terrace, and he informed me that he had a son of four or five, who
was in England being looked after by strangers."
"By strangers," echoed Hench bitterly; "that is true. All my life I
have had to do with strangers."
"Ah, but, my friend, it was not the fault of your good father," said
Madame in a hurried tone. "His young wife--your mother--died early,
and it was impossible for your father to travel about the Continent
with a baby--as you were."
"A baby of over four years old could have travelled well enough," said
Hench in a sombre tone; "but my father never cared about me over-much.
He----" here the young man checked himself, as he did not wish to
discuss his father in the presence of Spruce, although he might have
done so with Madame Alpenny, since he desired to marry her daughter.
After a pause he continued: "Well, did my father tell you his family
history?"
It was quite one minute before the old lady answered this question.
She reflected deeply, with her eyes searching his handsome face, then
shook her head sadly. "No! We were not so confidential as that. We met
several times again, but as I refused to marry him, your father went
away to Paris. I never saw him again, but the memory of his eyes
remained, and those same eyes you now use to look at me suggested my
old romance."
"They would not have done so but for the magic word Rhaiadr," said
Spruce in brisk tones. "Well, Hench, you see that there is a mystery."
"There is not," declared the young man sharply and much vexed. "Your
mystery resolves itself into what Madame here calls her romance. My
father asked her to marry him and she refused. Very wisely, I think,"
he added, as if to himself--"she would never have been happy."
Madame overheard him, shrugged her shoulders, and rose, looking more
shapeless in figure and more untidy in dress than ever. "In any case,
I have never been happy," she said sadly, "so it does not matter. But
I am now inclined to consider your proposal to pay attentions to
Zara."
"He is not yet rich, remember," put in Spruce, grinning.
"Mind your own business," said Hench vehemently.
"No"--Madame's tone was peculiar--"and perhaps he never may be rich.
But if Zara likes you, I am not sure but what I will not allow you to
marry her. No, I have not yet quite made up my mind. Give me time to
think"--she moved ponderously towards the door. "Owain of Rhaiadr! Ah,
if you were only able to call yourself that. Well, who knows," and
with a mysterious nod she disappeared.
"Queer thing, coming across an old flame of your father's in Queer
Street," said the Nut affably. "What do you think?"
"I think," said Hench in anything but an amiable tone, "that you had
better mind your own damned business."
Spruce was by no means offended. "As you will, although you should be
sensible enough to use my brains to help you with your family
mystery."
"There is no mystery. How often am I to repeat that?" And Hench walked
away fuming with rage at the little man's persistence.