DIPLOMACY.
Mr. Vandeleur and Mr. Longcluse were now seated, and the former
gentleman said--
"Yes, I am a friend of Mr. Arden's--so much so, that I have ventured
what I hope you won't think a very impertinent liberty. I was so very
sorry to hear that a misunderstanding had occurred--I did not ask him
about what--and he has been so unlucky about the Derby, you know--I
ought to say that I am, upon my honour, a mere volunteer, so perhaps you
will think I have no right to ask you to listen to me."
"I shall be happy to continue this conversation, Mr. Vandeleur, upon one
condition."
"Pray name it."
"That you report it fully to the gentleman for whom you are so kind as
to interest yourself."
"Yes, I'll certainly do that."
Mr. Longcluse looked by no means so jolly as Van remembered him, and he
thought he detected, at mention of Richard Arden's name, for a moment, a
look of positive malevolence--I can't say absolutely, it may have been
fancy--as he turned quickly, and the light played suddenly on his face.
Mr. Longcluse could, perhaps, dissemble as well as other men; but there
were cases in which he would not be at the trouble to dissemble. And
here his expression was so unpleasant, upon features so strangely marked
and so white, that Van thought the effect ugly, and even ghastly.
"I shall be happy, then, to hear anything you have to say," said
Longcluse gently.
"You are very kind. I was just going to say that he has been so
unlucky--he has lost so much money----"
"I had better say, I think, at once, Mr. Vandeleur, that nothing shall
tempt me to take any part in Mr. Arden's affairs."
Van's mild blue eyes looked on him wonderingly.
"You could be of so much use, Mr. Longcluse!"
"I don't desire to be of any."
"But--but that may be, I think it must, in consequence of the unhappy
estrangement."
He had been conning over phrases on his way, and thought that a pretty
one.
"A very happy estrangement, on the contrary, for the man who is straight
and true, and who is by it relieved of a great--mistake."
"I should be so extremely happy," said Van lingeringly, "if I were
instrumental in inducing both parties to shake hands."
"I don't desire it."
"But, surely, if Richard Arden were the first to offer----"
"I should decline."
Van rose; he fiddled with his hat a little; he hesitated. He had staked
too much on this--for had he not promised to report the whole thing to
Richard Arden, who was not likely to be pleased?--to give up without one
last effort.
"I hope I am not very impertinent," he said, "but I can hardly think,
Mr. Longcluse, that you are quite indifferent to a reconciliation."
"I'm not indifferent--I'm averse to it."
"I don't understand."
"Will you take some tea?"
"No, thanks; I do so hope that I don't quite understand."
"That's hardly my fault; I have spoken very distinctly."
"Then what you wish to convey is----" said Van, with his hand now at the
door.
"Is this," said Longcluse, "that I decline Mr. Arden's acquaintance,
that I won't consider his affairs, and that I peremptorily refuse to be
of the slightest use to him in his difficulties. I hope I am now
sufficiently distinct."
"Oh, perfectly--I----"
"Pray take some tea."
"And my visit is a failure. I'm awfully sorry I can't be of any use!"
"None here, Sir, to Mr. Arden--none, no more than I."
"Then I have only to beg of you to accept my apologies for having given
you a great deal of trouble, and to beg pardon for having disturbed you,
and to say good-night."
"No trouble--none. I am glad everything is clear now. Good-night."
And Mr. Longcluse saw him politely to the door, and said again, in a
clear, stern tone, but with a smile and another bow, "Good-night," as he
parted at the door.
About an hour later a servant arrived with a letter for Mr. Longcluse.
That gentleman recognised the hand, and suspended his business to read
it. He did so with a smile. It was thus expressed:--
"SIR,
"I beg to inform you, in the distinctest terms, that neither Mr.
Vandeleur, nor any other gentleman, had any authority from me to
enter into any discussion with you, or to make the slightest
allusion to subjects upon which Mr. Vandeleur, at your desire, tells
me he, this evening, thought fit to converse with you. And I beg, in
the most pointed manner, to disavow all connection with, or previous
knowledge of, that gentleman's visit and conversation. And I do so
lest Mr. Vandeleur's assertion to the same effect should appear
imperfect without mine.--I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
"RICHARD ARDEN.
"To Walter Longcluse, Esq."
"Does any one wait for an answer?" he asked, still smiling.
"Yes, Sir: Mr. Thompson, please, Sir."
"Very well; ask him to wait a moment," said he, and he wrote as
follows:--
"Mr. Longcluse takes the liberty of returning Mr. Arden's letter,
and begs to decline any correspondence with him."
And this note, with Richard Arden's letter, he enclosed in an envelope,
and addressed to that gentleman.
While this correspondence, by no means friendly, was proceeding, other
letters were interesting, very profoundly, other persons in this drama.
Old David Arden had returned early from a ponderous dinner of the
magnates of that world which interested him more than the world of
fashion, or even of politics, and he was sitting in his study at
half-past ten, about a quarter of a mile westward of Mr. Longcluse's
house in Bolton Street.
Not many letters had come for him by the late post. There were two which
he chose to read forthwith. The rest would, in Swift's phrase, keep
cool, and he could read them before his breakfast in the morning. The
first was a note posted at Islington. He knew his niece's pretty hand.
This was an "advice" from Mortlake. The second which he picked up from
the little pack was a foreign letter, of more than usual bulk.