V.

Anybody who had closely considered Dare at this time would have

discovered that, shortly after the arrival of the Royal Horse Artillery

at Markton Barracks, he gave up his room at the inn at Sleeping-Green

and took permanent lodgings over a broker’s shop in the town

above-mentioned. The peculiarity of the rooms was that they commanded

a view lengthwise of the barrack lane along which any soldier, in the

natural course of things, would pass either to enter the town, to call

at Myrtle Villa, or to go to Stancy Castle.

Dare seemed to act as if there were plenty of time for his business.

Some few days had slipped by when, perceiving Captain De Stancy walk

past his window and into the town, Dare took his hat and cane, and

followed in the same direction. When he was about fifty yards short of

Myrtle Villa on the other side of the town he saw De Stancy enter its

gate.

Dare mounted a stile beside the highway and patiently waited. In about

twenty minutes De Stancy came out again and turned back in the direction

of the town, till Dare was revealed to him on his left hand. When De

Stancy recognized the youth he was visibly agitated, though apparently

not surprised. Standing still a moment he dropped his glance upon the

ground, and then came forward to Dare, who having alighted from the

stile stood before the captain with a smile.

‘My dear lad!’ said De Stancy, much moved by recollections. He held

Dare’s hand for a moment in both his own, and turned askance.

‘You are not astonished,’ said Dare, still retaining his smile, as if to

his mind there were something comic in the situation.

‘I knew you were somewhere near. Where do you come from?’

‘From going to and fro in the earth, and walking up and down in it, as

Satan said to his Maker.--Southampton last, in common speech.’

‘Have you come here to see me?’

‘Entirely. I divined that your next quarters would be Markton, the

previous batteries that were at your station having come on here. I have

wanted to see you badly.’

‘You have?’

‘I am rather out of cash. I have been knocking about a good deal since

you last heard from me.’

‘I will do what I can again.’

‘Thanks, captain.’

‘But, Willy, I am afraid it will not be much at present. You know I am

as poor as a mouse.’

‘But such as it is, could you write a cheque for it now?’

‘I will send it to you from the barracks.’

‘I have a better plan. By getting over this stile we could go round

at the back of the villas to Sleeping-Green Church. There is always a

pen-and-ink in the vestry, and we can have a nice talk on the way. It

would be unwise for me to appear at the barracks just now.’

‘That’s true.’

De Stancy sighed, and they were about to walk across the fields

together. ‘No,’ said Dare, suddenly stopping: my plans make it

imperative that we should not run the risk of being seen in each other’s

company for long. Walk on, and I will follow. You can stroll into the

churchyard, and move about as if you were ruminating on the epitaphs.

There are some with excellent morals. I’ll enter by the other gate, and

we can meet easily in the vestry-room.’

De Stancy looked gloomy, and was on the point of acquiescing when he

turned back and said, ‘Why should your photograph be shown to the chief

constable?’

‘By whom?’

‘Somerset the architect. He suspects your having broken into his office

or something of the sort.’ De Stancy briefly related what Somerset had

explained to him at the dinner-table.

‘It was merely diamond cut diamond between us, on an architectural

matter,’ murmured Dare. ‘Ho! and he suspects; and that’s his remedy!’

‘I hope this is nothing serious?’ asked De Stancy gravely.

‘I peeped at his drawing--that’s all. But since he chooses to make that

use of my photograph, which I gave him in friendship, I’ll make use of

his in a way he little dreams of. Well now, let’s on.’

A quarter of an hour later they met in the vestry of the church at

Sleeping-Green.

‘I have only just transferred my account to the bank here,’ said De

Stancy, as he took out his cheque-book, ‘and it will be more convenient

to me at present to draw but a small sum. I will make up the balance

afterwards.’

When he had written it Dare glanced over the paper and said ruefully,

‘It is small, dad. Well, there is all the more reason why I should

broach my scheme, with a view to making such documents larger in the

future.’

‘I shall be glad to hear of any such scheme,’ answered De Stancy, with a

languid attempt at jocularity.

‘Then here it is. The plan I have arranged for you is of the nature of a

marriage.’

‘You are very kind!’ said De Stancy, agape.

‘The lady’s name is Miss Paula Power, who, as you may have heard since

your arrival, is in absolute possession of her father’s property and

estates, including Stancy Castle. As soon as I heard of her I saw what

a marvellous match it would be for you, and your family; it would make

a man of you, in short, and I have set my mind upon your putting no

objection in the way of its accomplishment.’

‘But, Willy, it seems to me that, of us two, it is you who exercise

paternal authority?’

‘True, it is for your good. Let me do it.’

‘Well, one must be indulgent under the circumstances, I suppose....

But,’ added De Stancy simply, ‘Willy, I--don’t want to marry, you know.

I have lately thought that some day we may be able to live together,

you and I: go off to America or New Zealand, where we are not known, and

there lead a quiet, pastoral life, defying social rules and troublesome

observances.’

‘I can’t hear of it, captain,’ replied Dare reprovingly. ‘I am what

events have made me, and having fixed my mind upon getting you settled

in life by this marriage, I have put things in train for it at an

immense trouble to myself. If you had thought over it o’ nights as much

as I have, you would not say nay.’

‘But I ought to have married your mother if anybody. And as I have not

married her, the least I can do in respect to her is to marry no other

woman.’

‘You have some sort of duty to me, have you not, Captain De Stancy?’

‘Yes, Willy, I admit that I have,’ the elder replied reflectively. ‘And

I don’t think I have failed in it thus far?’

‘This will be the crowning proof. Paternal affection, family pride, the

noble instincts to reinstate yourself in the castle of your ancestors,

all demand the step. And when you have seen the lady! She has the figure

and motions of a sylph, the face of an angel, the eye of love itself.

What a sight she is crossing the lawn on a sunny afternoon, or gliding

airily along the corridors of the old place the De Stancys knew so well!

Her lips are the softest, reddest, most distracting things you ever saw.

Her hair is as soft as silk, and of the rarest, tenderest brown.’

The captain moved uneasily. ‘Don’t take the trouble to say more, Willy,’

he observed. ‘You know how I am. My cursed susceptibility to these

matters has already wasted years of my life, and I don’t want to make

myself a fool about her too.’

‘You must see her.’

‘No, don’t let me see her,’ De Stancy expostulated. ‘If she is only half

so good-looking as you say, she will drag me at her heels like a

blind Samson. You are a mere youth as yet, but I may tell you that the

misfortune of never having been my own master where a beautiful face

was concerned obliges me to be cautious if I would preserve my peace of

mind.’

‘Well, to my mind, Captain De Stancy, your objections seem trivial. Are

those all?’

‘They are all I care to mention just now to you.’

‘Captain! can there be secrets between us?’

De Stancy paused and looked at the lad as if his heart wished to confess

what his judgment feared to tell. ‘There should not be--on this point,’

he murmured.

‘Then tell me--why do you so much object to her?’

‘I once vowed a vow.’

‘A vow!’ said Dare, rather disconcerted.

‘A vow of infinite solemnity. I must tell you from the beginning;

perhaps you are old enough to hear it now, though you have been too

young before. Your mother’s life ended in much sorrow, and it was

occasioned entirely by me. In my regret for the wrong done her I swore

to her that though she had not been my wife, no other woman should stand

in that relationship to me; and this to her was a sort of comfort. When

she was dead my knowledge of my own plaguy impressionableness, which

seemed to be ineradicable--as it seems still--led me to think what

safeguards I could set over myself with a view to keeping my promise to

live a life of celibacy; and among other things I determined to forswear

the society, and if possible the sight, of women young and attractive,

as far as I had the power to do.’

‘It is not so easy to avoid the sight of a beautiful woman if she

crosses your path, I should think?’

‘It is not easy; but it is possible.’

‘How?’

‘By directing your attention another way.’

‘But do you mean to say, captain, that you can be in a room with a

pretty woman who speaks to you, and not look at her?’

‘I do: though mere looking has less to do with it than mental

attentiveness--allowing your thoughts to flow out in her direction--to

comprehend her image.’

‘But it would be considered very impolite not to look at the woman or

comprehend her image?’

‘It would, and is. I am considered the most impolite officer in the

service. I have been nicknamed the man with the averted eyes--the man

with the detestable habit--the man who greets you with his shoulder,

and so on. Ninety-and-nine fair women at the present moment hate me like

poison and death for having persistently refused to plumb the depths of

their offered eyes.’

‘How can you do it, who are by nature courteous?’

‘I cannot always--I break down sometimes. But, upon the whole,

recollection holds me to it: dread of a lapse. Nothing is so potent as

fear well maintained.’

De Stancy narrated these details in a grave meditative tone with his

eyes on the wall, as if he were scarcely conscious of a listener.

‘But haven’t you reckless moments, captain?--when you have taken a

little more wine than usual, for instance?’

‘I don’t take wine.’

‘O, you are a teetotaller?’

‘Not a pledged one--but I don’t touch alcohol unless I get wet, or

anything of that sort.’

‘Don’t you sometimes forget this vow of yours to my mother?’

‘No, I wear a reminder.’

‘What is that like?’

De Stancy held up his left hand, on the third finger of which appeared

an iron ring.

Dare surveyed it, saying, ‘Yes, I have seen that before, though I never

knew why you wore it. Well, I wear a reminder also, but of a different

sort.’

He threw open his shirt-front, and revealed tattooed on his breast the

letters DE STANCY; the same marks which Havill had seen in the bedroom

by the light of the moon.

The captain rather winced at the sight. ‘Well, well,’ he said hastily,

‘that’s enough.... Now, at any rate, you understand my objection to know

Miss Power.’

‘But, captain,’ said the lad coaxingly, as he fastened his shirt;

‘you forget me and the good you may do me by marrying? Surely that’s a

sufficient reason for a change of sentiment. This inexperienced sweet

creature owns the castle and estate which bears your name, even to the

furniture and pictures. She is the possessor of at least forty thousand

a year--how much more I cannot say--while, buried here in Outer Wessex,

she lives at the rate of twelve hundred in her simplicity.’

‘It is very good of you to set this before me. But I prefer to go on as

I am going.’

‘Well, I won’t bore you any more with her to-day. A monk in

regimentals!--‘tis strange.’ Dare arose and was about to open the door,

when, looking through the window, Captain De Stancy said, ‘Stop.’ He

had perceived his father, Sir William De Stancy, walking among the

tombstones without.

‘Yes, indeed,’ said Dare, turning the key in the door. ‘It would look

strange if he were to find us here.’

As the old man seemed indisposed to leave the churchyard just yet they

sat down again.

‘What a capital card-table this green cloth would make,’ said Dare, as

they waited. ‘You play, captain, I suppose?’

‘Very seldom.’

‘The same with me. But as I enjoy a hand of cards with a friend, I don’t

go unprovided.’ Saying which, Dare drew a pack from the tail of his

coat. ‘Shall we while away this leisure with the witching things?’

‘Really, I’d rather not.’

‘But,’ coaxed the young man, ‘I am in the humour for it; so don’t be

unkind!’

‘But, Willy, why do you care for these things? Cards are harmless enough

in their way; but I don’t like to see you carrying them in your pocket.

It isn’t good for you.’

‘It was by the merest chance I had them. Now come, just one hand, since

we are prisoners. I want to show you how nicely I can play. I won’t

corrupt you!’

‘Of course not,’ said De Stancy, as if ashamed of what his objection

implied. ‘You are not corrupt enough yourself to do that, I should

hope.’

The cards were dealt and they began to play--Captain De Stancy

abstractedly, and with his eyes mostly straying out of the window upon

the large yew, whose boughs as they moved were distorted by the old

green window-panes.

‘It is better than doing nothing,’ said Dare cheerfully, as the game

went on. ‘I hope you don’t dislike it?’

‘Not if it pleases you,’ said De Stancy listlessly.

‘And the consecration of this place does not extend further than the

aisle wall.’

‘Doesn’t it?’ said De Stancy, as he mechanically played out his cards.

‘What became of that box of books I sent you with my last cheque?’

‘Well, as I hadn’t time to read them, and as I knew you would not like

them to be wasted, I sold them to a bloke who peruses them from morning

till night. Ah, now you have lost a fiver altogether--how queer! We’ll

double the stakes. So, as I was saying, just at the time the books came

I got an inkling of this important business, and literature went to the

wall.’

‘Important business--what?’

‘The capture of this lady, to be sure.’

De Stancy sighed impatiently. ‘I wish you were less calculating, and had

more of the impulse natural to your years!’

‘Game--by Jove! You have lost again, captain. That makes--let me

see--nine pounds fifteen to square us.’

‘I owe you that?’ said De Stancy, startled. ‘It is more than I have in

cash. I must write another cheque.’

‘Never mind. Make it payable to yourself, and our connection will be

quite unsuspected.’

Captain De Stancy did as requested, and rose from his seat. Sir William,

though further off, was still in the churchyard.

‘How can you hesitate for a moment about this girl?’ said Dare, pointing

to the bent figure of the old man. ‘Think of the satisfaction it would

be to him to see his son within the family walls again. It should be a

religion with you to compass such a legitimate end as this.’

‘Well, well, I’ll think of it,’ said the captain, with an impatient

laugh. ‘You are quite a Mephistopheles, Will--I say it to my sorrow!’

‘Would that I were in your place.’

‘Would that you were! Fifteen years ago I might have called the chance a

magnificent one.’

‘But you are a young man still, and you look younger than you are.

Nobody knows our relationship, and I am not such a fool as to divulge

it. Of course, if through me you reclaim this splendid possession, I

should leave it to your feelings what you would do for me.’

Sir William had by this time cleared out of the churchyard, and the pair

emerged from the vestry and departed. Proceeding towards Markton by the

same bypath, they presently came to an eminence covered with bushes of

blackthorn, and tufts of yellowing fern. From this point a good view of

the woods and glades about Stancy Castle could be obtained. Dare

stood still on the top and stretched out his finger; the captain’s eye

followed the direction, and he saw above the many-hued foliage in the

middle distance the towering keep of Paula’s castle.

‘That’s the goal of your ambition, captain--ambition do I say?--most

righteous and dutiful endeavour! How the hoary shape catches the

sunlight--it is the raison d’etre of the landscape, and its possession

is coveted by a thousand hearts. Surely it is an hereditary desire of

yours? You must make a point of returning to it, and appearing in the

map of the future as in that of the past. I delight in this work of

encouraging you, and pushing you forward towards your own. You are

really very clever, you know, but--I say it with respect--how comes it

that you want so much waking up?’

‘Because I know the day is not so bright as it seems, my boy. However,

you make a little mistake. If I care for anything on earth, I do care

for that old fortress of my forefathers. I respect so little among the

living that all my reverence is for my own dead. But manoeuvring, even

for my own, as you call it, is not in my line. It is distasteful--it is

positively hateful to me.’

‘Well, well, let it stand thus for the present. But will you refuse me

one little request--merely to see her? I’ll contrive it so that she may

not see you. Don’t refuse me, it is the one thing I ask, and I shall

think it hard if you deny me.’

‘O Will!’ said the captain wearily. ‘Why will you plead so? No--even

though your mind is particularly set upon it, I cannot see her, or

bestow a thought upon her, much as I should like to gratify you.’