Tommy Clinton arriving as usual from Madeira in May, paid an early
visit to "The Beck and Call," dallying awhile at the book shop, to
whose allurements had now been added a few water-colours; and for
water-colours Tommy had ever had a weakness. Indeed, he played a little
with a paint-box himself.
"What on earth made you start this kind of thing?" he asked Ben, when
their first greetings were over.
"Why not?" she countered. "I couldn't be idle. It's rather fun too."
"I suppose you've got some kind of a lease?" Tommy asked. "You're bound
to let the experiment run a certain time?"
"Of course," said Ben. "I shouldn't drop it unless I had to."
Tommy was silent. These hostages to fortune did not suit him in the
least.
"Is the fellow downstairs your landlord?" he asked.
"I take this floor from the book shop, if that's what you mean," said
Ben, smiling at Tommy's transparency. "Did you go in there?"
"I just looked round," he said. "I didn't speak to anyone.
Conceited-looking chap, I thought, and singing too; something about
O'Reilly. I can't stand shopkeepers who don't look like it, and sing.
Shopkeepers should wear black, and rub their hands. This fellow's in
tweeds with a blue collar."
"That's Mr. Harford," said Ben. "His partner, Mr. St. Quentin, would
have pleased you more: he's only got one leg. They were at Oxford
together and then in the War."
"You seem to know all about them," said Tommy, with some bitterness.
"Are they married?"
"Oh, no," said Ben.
"Are they engaged?" Tommy pursued.
"If you mean, Are they engaged to me? No," said Ben.
"Neither of them?" he asked.
"Neither or both," she replied. "You seem to have missed your
vocation," she added, laughing. "You ought to have been a
cross-examiner. In fact, I believe you are--very cross."
"I'm frightfully sorry," said Tommy; "but it's awfully disappointing
coming back and finding you locked up in an office. I was counting on
seeing such a lot of you, and now you say you've only got Saturday
afternoons."
"We must make the most of those," she said.
It was on their way back from a country walk that Tommy took Ben's hand
and repeated his annual question.
"What about it?" he said.
"About what?" Ben asked, with an affectation of ignorance which was not
really intended to deceive him.
"'You 'eard,'" he quoted.
She disengaged her hand and laughed her soft laugh.
"I can't think why you're so horrid to me," he said. "What's the matter
with me?"
"Nothing, Tommy," she said. "I like you very much. I always have liked
you. But I don't want to marry you."
"Don't you want to marry anyone?" he asked.
"No one that I've yet seen," she replied.
"Not either of those book-selling fellows?" he asked.
"Certainly not," she said.
"But you must marry," said Tommy, very earnestly. "Of course you must.
It isn't right not to. What's the matter with me, anyway? We've always
been good friends; I'm not too poor; I hope I've got something better
than the kind of face that only a mother can love. I've got _two_
legs. Why are you so down on me?"
"My dear boy, I'm not," said Ben. "I have always liked you and I always
shall like you, but marriage is so different. Please don't ask me any
more, there's a dear, Tommy."
She had said "Certainly not" with some firmness to Tommy's question
about her landlords; but was it true? She pondered on the matter
that night as she lay awake. Was she so insensitive to them? Would
she absolutely turn down a proposal from either? And if she had a
preference for one, which was it? Mr. Harford, so quick and gay and
handsome and clean cut and impulsive, or Mr. St. Quentin, so quiet and
amusing and lonely and in need of care? But whosoever she married, if
she married at all--and why should she, for her life was very full of
interest; this "Beck and Call" affair was very absorbing and it had got
to be made a success; and marriage seemed so often to be the end of
girls; look at poor Enid Stuart, what a wreck of a life that used to be
such a lark; look at poor Daisy Forsiter, all her jolliness gone since
she married that selfish young Greg--time enough to think of marriage
two or three years hence when she was tired of being so busy.
So her thoughts ran.
Poor Tommy! Whosoever she married, if she married at all, would have to
have more variety than that, be more of a companion. If she married at
all. Someone who did everything with an air, with a natural commanding
address, like, well, Jack Harford was rather like that--"Good morning,
O'Reilly, you are looking well"--someone who had humour and sagacity
and was in need of mothering a little like--well, Pat St. Quentin was
not unlike that--"My bonnie lies over the sea." But there were plenty
of other men, too, if she really wanted one, and it was ridiculous to
allow such a trifling business accident as renting an upper floor from
two young men to make these two young men the inevitable two from which
she had to choose a partner for life. What rubbish!