“Quite so, my dear fellow, quite so,” said Lord Caterham.
He had used the same words three times already, each time in the hope
that they would end the interview and permit him to escape. He disliked
very much being forced to stand on the steps of the exclusive London
club to which he belonged and listen to the interminable eloquence of
the Hon. George Lomax.
Clement Edward Alistair Brent, ninth Marquis of Caterham, was a small
gentleman, shabbily dressed, and entirely unlike the popular conception
of a Marquis. He had faded blue eyes, a thin melancholy nose, and a
vague but courteous manner.
The principal misfortune of Lord Caterham’s life was to have succeeded
his brother, the eighth Marquis, four years ago. For the previous Lord
Caterham had been a man of mark, a household word all over England. At
one time Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, he had always bulked
largely in the counsels of the Empire, and his country seat, Chimneys,
was famous for its hospitality. Ably seconded by his wife, a daughter
of the Duke of Perth, history had been made and unmade at informal
week-end parties at Chimneys, and there was hardly anyone of note in
England—or indeed in Europe—who had not, at one time or another,
stayed there.
That was all very well. The ninth Marquis of Caterham had the utmost
respect and esteem for the memory of his brother. Henry had done that
kind of thing magnificently. What Lord Caterham objected to was the
assumption that he was bound to follow in his brother’s footsteps,
and that Chimneys was a National possession rather than a private
country house. There was nothing that bored Lord Caterham more than
politics—unless it was politicians. Hence his impatience under the
continued eloquence of George Lomax. A robust man, George Lomax,
inclined to _embonpoint_, with a red face and protuberant eyes, and an
immense sense of his own importance.
“You see the point, Caterham? We can’t—we simply can’t afford a
scandal of any kind just now. The position is one of the utmost
delicacy.”
“It always is,” said Lord Caterham, with a flavour of irony.
“My dear fellow, I’m in a position to _know_!”
“Oh, quite so, quite so,” said Lord Caterham, falling back upon his
previous line of defence.
“One slip over this Herzoslovakian business and we’re done. It is most
important that the Oil concessions should be granted to a British
company. You must see that?”
“Of course, of course.”
“Prince Michael Obolovitch arrives the end of the week, and the whole
thing can be carried through at Chimneys under the guise of a shooting
party.”
“I was thinking of going abroad this week,” said Lord Caterham.
“Nonsense, my dear Caterham, no one goes abroad in early October.”
“My doctor seems to think I’m in rather a bad way,” said Lord Caterham,
eyeing a taxi that was crawling past with longing eyes.
He was quite unable to make a dash for liberty, however, since Lomax
had the unpleasant habit of retaining a hold upon a person with whom
he was engaged in serious conversation—doubtless the result of long
experience. In this case, he had a firm grip of the lapel of Lord
Caterham’s coat.
“My dear man, I put it to you imperially. In a moment of national
crisis, such as is fast approaching——”
Lord Caterham wriggled uneasily. He felt suddenly that he would rather
give any number of house parties than listen to George Lomax quoting
from one of his own speeches. He knew by experience that Lomax was
quite capable of going on for twenty minutes without a stop.
“All right,” he said hastily, “I’ll do it. You’ll arrange the whole
thing, I suppose.”
“My dear fellow, there’s nothing to arrange. Chimneys, quite apart
from its historic associations, is ideally situated. I shall be at the
Abbey, less than seven miles away. It wouldn’t do, of course, for me to
be actually a member of the house party.”
“Of course not,” agreed Lord Caterham, who had no idea why it would not
do, and was not interested to learn.
“Perhaps you wouldn’t mind having Bill Eversleigh, though. He’d be
useful to run messages.”
“Delighted,” said Lord Caterham, with a shade more animation. “Bill’s
quite a decent shot, and Bundle likes him.”
“The shooting, of course, is not really important. It’s only the
pretext, as it were.”
Lord Caterham looked depressed again.
“That will be all, then. The Prince, his suite, Bill Eversleigh, Herman
Isaacstein——”
“Who?”
“Herman Isaacstein. The representative of the syndicate I spoke to you
about.”
“The all British syndicate?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Nothing—nothing—I only wondered, that’s all. Curious names these
people have.”
“Then, of course, there ought to be one or two outsiders—just to
give the thing a _bona fide_ appearance. Lady Eileen could see to
that—young people, uncritical, and with no idea of politics.”
“Bundle would attend to that all right, I’m sure.”
“I wonder now.” Lomax seemed struck by an idea.
“You remember the matter I was speaking about just now?”
“You’ve been speaking about so many things.”
“No, no, I mean this unfortunate _contretemps_”—— he lowered his
voice to a mysterious whisper—“the memoirs—Count Stylptitch’s
memoirs.”
“I think you’re wrong about that,” said Lord Caterham, suppressing
a yawn. “People _like_ scandal. Damn it all, I read Reminiscences
myself—and enjoy ’em too.”
“The point is not whether people will read them or not—they’ll read
them fast enough—but their publication at this juncture might ruin
everything—everything. The people of Herzoslovakia wish to restore the
Monarchy, and are prepared to offer the Crown to Prince Michael who has
the support and encouragement of His Majesty’s Government——”
“And who is prepared to grant concessions to Mr. Ikey Hermanstein & Co.
in return for the loan of a million or so to set him on the throne——”
“Caterham, Caterham,” implored Lomax in an agonized whisper.
“Discretion, I beg of you. Above all things, discretion.”
“And the point is,” continued Lord Caterham, with some relish, though
he lowered his voice in obedience to the other’s appeal, “that some
of Stylptitch’s Reminiscences may upset the apple cart. Tyranny and
misbehaviour of the Obolovitch family generally, eh? Questions asked in
the House. Why replace the present broad-minded and democratic form of
Government by an obsolete tyranny? Policy dictated by the blood-sucking
Capitalists. Down with the Government. That kind of thing—eh?”
Lomax nodded.
“And there might be worse still,” he breathed. “Suppose—only
suppose that some reference should be made to—to that unfortunate
disappearance—you know what I mean.”
Lord Caterham stared at him.
“No, I don’t. What disappearance?”
“You must have heard of it? Why, it happened while they were at
Chimneys. Henry was terribly upset about it. It almost ruined his
career.”
“You interest me enormously,” said Lord Caterham. “Who or what
disappeared?”
Lomax leant forward and put his mouth to Lord Caterham’s ear. The
latter withdrew it hastily.
“For God’s sake, don’t hiss at me.”
“You heard what I said?”
“Yes, I did,” said Lord Caterham reluctantly. “I remember now hearing
something about it at the time. Very curious affair. I wonder who did
it. It was never recovered?”
“Never. Of course we had to go about the matter with the utmost
discretion. No hint of the loss could be allowed to leak out. But
Stylptitch was there at the time. He knew something. Not all, but
something. We were at loggerheads with him once or twice over the
Turkish question. Suppose that in sheer malice he has set the whole
thing down for the world to read. Think of the scandal—of the
far-reaching results. Every one would say—why was it hushed up?”
“Of course they would,” said Lord Caterham, with evident enjoyment.
Lomax, whose voice had risen to a high pitch, took a grip on himself.
“I must keep calm,” he murmured. “I must keep calm. But I ask you
this, my dear fellow. If he didn’t mean mischief, why did he send the
manuscript to London in this roundabout way?”
“It’s odd, certainly. You are sure of your facts?”
“Absolutely. We—er—had our agents in Paris. The Memoirs were conveyed
away secretly some weeks before his death.”
“Yes, it looks as though there’s something in it,” said Lord Caterham,
with the same relish he had displayed before.
“We have found out that they were sent to a man called Jimmy, or James,
McGrath, a Canadian at present in Africa.”
“Quite an Imperial affair, isn’t it?” said Lord Caterham cheerily.
“James McGrath is due to arrive by the _Granarth Castle_
to-morrow—Thursday.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“We shall, of course, approach him at once, point out the possibly
serious consequences, and beg him to defer publication of the
Memoirs for at least a month, and in any case to permit them to be
judiciously—er—edited.”
“Supposing that he says ‘No, sir,’ or ‘I’ll goddarned well see you in
hell first,’ or something bright and breezy like that?” suggested Lord
Caterham.
“That’s just what I’m afraid of,” said Lomax simply. “That’s why it
suddenly occurred to me that it might be a good thing to ask him down
to Chimneys as well. He’d be flattered, naturally, at being asked to
meet Prince Michael, and it might be easier to handle him.”
“I’m not going to do it,” said Lord Caterham hastily. “I don’t get on
with Canadians, never did—especially those that have lived much in
Africa!”
“You’d probably find him a splendid fellow—a rough diamond, you know.”
“No, Lomax. I put my foot down there absolutely. Somebody else has got
to tackle him.”
“It has occurred to me,” said Lomax, “that a woman might be very useful
here. Told enough and not too much, you understand. A woman could
handle the whole thing delicately and with tact—put the position
before him, as it were, without getting his back up. Not that I approve
of women in politics—St. Stephen’s is ruined, absolutely ruined,
nowadays. But woman in her own sphere can do wonders. Look at Henry’s
wife and what she did for him. Marcia was magnificent, unique, a
perfect political hostess.”
“You don’t want me to ask Marcia down for this party, do you?” asked
Lord Caterham faintly, turning a little pale at the mention of his
redoubtable sister-in-law.
“No, no, you misunderstand me. I was speaking of the influence of women
in general. No, I suggest a young woman, a woman of charm, beauty,
intelligence?”
“Not Bundle? Bundle would be no use at all. She’s a red-hot socialist
if she’s anything at all, and she’d simply scream with laughter at the
suggestion.”
“I was not thinking of Lady Eileen. Your daughter, Caterham, is
charming, simply charming, but quite a child. We need some one with
_savoir faire_, poise, knowledge of the world—— Ah, of course, the
very person. My cousin Virginia.”
“Mrs. Revel?” Lord Caterham brightened up. He began to feel that he
might possibly enjoy the party after all. “A very good suggestion of
yours, Lomax. The most charming woman in London.”
“She is well up in Herzoslovakian affairs too. Her husband was at the
Embassy there, you remember. And, as you say, a woman of great personal
charm.”
“A delightful creature,” murmured Lord Caterham.
“That is settled, then.”
Mr. Lomax relaxed his hold on Lord Caterham’s lapel, and the latter was
quick to avail himself of the chance.
“Bye-bye, Lomax, you’ll make all the arrangements, won’t you.”
He dived into a taxi. As far as it is possible for one upright
Christian gentleman to dislike another upright Christian gentleman,
Lord Caterham disliked the Hon. George Lomax. He disliked his puffy red
face, his heavy breathing, and his prominent blue eyes. He thought of
the coming week and sighed. A nuisance, an abominable nuisance. Then he
thought of Virginia Revel and cheered up a little.
“A delightful creature,” he murmured to himself. “A most delightful
creature.”
4