PLENARY CONFESSION
Early on Sunday afternoon Elsie started upon her mission. She was
anxious, because she was entering upon a most important business, and
one requiring the greatest delicacy in the handling. It was enough--more
than enough--that her witnesses should be able, one after the other, to
identify Mr. Dering with Mr. Edmund Gray: but how much more would her
hands be strengthened if she could produce a full and complete narrative
of the whole affair, written by the hand which had done it all? To get
that narrative was her business with the Master that afternoon. But she
was hopeful, partly because she knew her power over the philosopher; and
partly because, like every woman who respects herself, she had always
been accustomed to get exactly what she wanted, either by asking,
coaxing, flattering, or taking.
The Master was waiting for her--one should never keep a Master
waiting--and she was a little late: he was impatient: he had so much to
talk about and to teach: one point suggested another in his mind: so
much to say: he grudged the least delay: he walked about the room
chafing because the hour appointed was already five minutes in the past:
he would scold her: she must really learn to be punctual: they had only
about five short hours before them for all he had to say. Was this the
zeal of a student? But at that point she opened the door and ran in,
breathless, smiling, eager, holding out both her hands, a dainty
delicate maiden all his own--his disciple--his daughter--the daughter of
the New Humanity--and he forgot his irritation, and took her hands in
his and kissed her forehead. 'Child,' he sighed, 'you are late. But
never mind. You are here. Why, you have grown so precious to me that I
cannot bear you to be a minute late. It is such a happiness--such a joy
in the present--such a promise for the future--that I have such a
disciple! Now sit down--take off your bonnet. I have put a chair for you
at the window--and a table for you to write. Here is your
note-book.--Now--you have thought over what I taught you last?--That is
well. Let us resume at the point where we left off--the rise of the
co-operative spirit, which is the rise of the New Humanity.'
He talked for two hours--two long eloquent hours: he walked about the
room: or he stopped before his disciple emphasising with the forefinger
of admonition--repeating--illustrating by anecdote and memory--he had a
prodigious memory. The Scholar listened intelligently. Sometimes she
asked a question: sometimes she made notes. You must not think that she
was a sham scholar; her interest in the Master's system was not
simulated. Above all things, she loved to hear this enthusiast talk--who
would not love to hear of the New Jerusalem? Always he made her heart to
glow with the Vision that he conjured up before her eyes of a world
where there should be no more sorrow nor crying nor any more pain, nor
any of the former things. He made her actually see--what others only
read of--the Four-square City itself with its gates open night and day,
its jasper walls, and its twelve foundations of precious stones.--'Why,'
he said, 'the gates are open night and day because there is no Property
to defend; and the walls are of jasper because it is the most beautiful
of minerals, and because it can be polished like a mirror, so that the
country around is reflected on its surface, which shows that it all
belongs to the City; and the precious stones are the twelve cardinal
virtues of Humanity, on which the order of the future shall
rest--namely, Faith, Brotherly Love, Obedience, Patience, Loyalty,
Constancy, Chastity, Courage, Hope, Simplicity, Tenderness, and
Industry. It is an allegory--the whole book is an allegory--of
Humanity.' And she saw, beside the City, the river of life with the tree
of life for the healing of all nations.
Then she clean forgot the purpose for which she had come: she was
carried away: her heart beat--her cheek glowed. Oh! Lovely Vision! Oh!
Great and glorious Prophet! He made a Heaven, and placed it on this
earth. Now the mind of man can conceive of no other happiness but that
which humanity can make out of the actual materials found upon this
earthly ball. The Heaven, even of the most spiritual, is a glorified
world; the Hell, even of the most gentle, is a world of fleshly pain: no
other Heaven attracts: no other Hell terrifies: there is no promise, or
hope, or prospect, or inheritance that man desires or poet can feign or
visionary can preach but an earthly Heaven: it must be a Heaven
containing sunshine and shower, kindly fruits in due season, love and
joy and music and art, and men and women who love each other and labour
for each other. Such a world--such a New Jerusalem--the Master drew
every day; he loved it, and lingered over it; he painted over and over
again this splendid Vision. He was never tired of painting it, or his
hearers of gazing upon it. But to-day he spoke with greater fulness,
more clearly, more brilliantly, more joyously than ever. Was the Prophet
really a man of seventy years and more? For his mind was young--the
enthusiast, like the poet, never grows old. His voice might have been
the voice of a boy--a marvellous boy--a Shelley--preaching the glories
of the world when Property should be no more.
He ceased. And the Vision which he had raised quickly faded away. They
were back again in the dingy old Inn; they were among the solicitors and
the money-lenders and the young fellows who have their Chambers in the
place. The Inn is about as far from the New Jerusalem as any place under
the sun; it is made over bodily and belongs--every stair--every
chamber--to the interests of Property.
He ceased his prophecy, and began to argue, to reason, to chop logic,
which was not by any means so interesting. At last he stopped this as
well. 'You have now, dear child,' he said, 'heard quite as much as you
can profitably absorb. I have noticed for the last two or three minutes
your eyes wandering and your attention wearied. Let us stop--only
remember what I have just said about the diseases of the Body Politic.
They are akin to those that affect the human body. By comparing the two
we may learn not only cause, but also effect. We have our rheumatisms,
gouts, asthmas, neuralgias, colds and coughs, fevers and other ills. So
has the Body Politic. Whence come our diseases? From the ignorance, the
follies, the vices, the greed and gluttony of our forefathers. So those
of the Body Politic. Take away Property and you destroy greed. With
that, half the diseases vanish.'
Elsie heard and inclined her head. It did occur to her that perhaps
Property in the Body Politic might be represented by food in the Body
Human, but she forbore. The Master was one who did not invite argument.
Nearly all the great Teachers of the world, if you think of it, have
conveyed their wisdom in maxims and aphorisms.
He took out his watch. 'It is nearly four,' he said. 'Shall we go on to
the Hall?'
'Not yet. There is no need for us to be there before six. We have two
good hours before us. Let us use them more pleasantly than in sitting
alone in the Hall--you must own that it is stuffy. We will talk about
other things--about ourselves--not about me, because I am quite an
insignificant person, but about you, dear Master.' She was now about to
enter upon her plan of duplicity. She felt horribly ashamed, but it had
to be done. She strengthened herself: she resolved: she suppressed the
voice of conscience.
'About me?' asked the Master. 'But what is there to talk about?'
'Oh! there is ever so much.' She took his right hand in her own and held
it, knowing that this little caress pleased and moved him. 'Master--what
a wonderful chance it was that brought me here! I can never sufficiently
wonder at it. I have told George--George Austin--my lover, you know: and
Athelstan--he is my brother.' She looked at him sharply, but there was
no sign of recognition of those two names. Edmund Gray had never heard
of either. 'I have told them about you and of your great work, and how
you are teaching me and everything. But when they ask me who you are,
where you have lived, and all about you, I can tell them nothing. Oh! I
know it matters nothing about me and my own friends; but, my dear
Master, we have to think of the future. When the Cause has spread, and
spread, and spread, till it covers the whole world, people will want to
know all about the man who first preached its principles. Who will be
able to tell them? No one. You are alone; you have no wife or children.
Your name will remain for ever attached to the Cause itself. But
you--you--the man--what will you be? Nothing. Nothing but a name. You
ought to write an autobiography.'
'I have sometimes thought I would do so'--his face became troubled;
'but--but----'
'But you are always occupied with working for the world. You have no
time, of course. I quite understand that; and it worries you--does it
not?--to be called upon to turn your thoughts from the present back to
the past.'
'Yes--yes; it does--it does. Elsie, you exactly express the
difficulty.'
'And yet--you must own--you must confess--it is natural for the world to
want to know all about you. Who was the great Edmund Gray? Why, they
will want to know every particular--every single particular: where you
were born--where you were educated--who were your masters--what led you
to the study of Humanity and its problems--where you lived; if you were
married and to whom--what you read--who were your friends. Oh! there is
no end to the curiosity of the world about their great men.'
'Perhaps.' He rose and looked out of the window. When men are greatly
pleased they must always be moving. 'I confess that I have never thought
of these things at all. Yet, to be sure--you are right.' He murmured and
purred.
'No, but I have thought of them, ever since I had the happiness of being
received by you. Master, will you trust me? Shall I become your
biographer? You cannot find one more loving. You have only to give me
the materials. Now--let me ask you a few questions just for a
beginning--just to show you the kind of thing I shall want to know.'
He laughed and sat down again. 'Why, my life has not got in it one
single solitary incident, or episode, or adventure. There are no
misfortunes in it. There is not such a thing as a disease in it. I have
always been perfectly well. There is not even a love episode or a
flirtation in it. There are not even any religious difficulties in it.
Without love, ill-health, misfortune, religious doubts--where is the
interest in the life, and what is there to tell?'
'Well, a life that has no incident in it must be the life of a student.
It is only a student who never falls in love.'
'Or,' said the Philosopher, 'a money-getter.'
'Happily, there are not many students or we women should be disconsolate
indeed. Do you know, Master, that you can only be excused such a
dreadful omission in your history by that one plea? Sit down again,
Master,' for again he was walking about restlessly, partly disturbed by
her questions, and partly flattered and pleased by her reasons. She
opened her note-book and began to ask questions about himself--very
simple questions, such as would not introduce any disturbing points. He
answered readily, and she observed with interest that he gave correctly
the facts of his own--Edward Dering's--history.
He was born, he said, in that class which upholds Property--the Better
Class--meaning the Richer. His father was a wealthy solicitor, who lived
in Bedford Row. He was born in the year 1815--Waterloo year. He was the
eldest of a family of five--three daughters and two sons. He was
educated at Westminster. On leaving school, his father offered him the
advantage of a University course, but he refused, being anxious to begin
as early as possible his life's work--as he thought--in the defence of
Property. He was therefore articled to his father; and at the age of
twenty-two he passed his examination and was admitted.
'And then you were young--you were not yet a student--you went into
society. You saw girls and danced with them. Yet you never fell in love,
and were never married. How strange! I thought everybody wanted love. A
man's real life only begins, I have always been taught, with love and
marriage. Love means everything.'
'To you, my child, no doubt it does. Such as you are born for love,' he
added gallantly. 'Venus herself smiles in your eyes and sits upon your
lips. But as for me I was always studious more or less, though I did not
for long find out my true line. I worked hard--I went out very little. I
was cold by nature, perhaps. I had no time to think about such things.
Now, when it is too late, I regret the loss of the experience. Doubtless
if I had that experience I should have gained greatly in the power of
persuasion. I should have a much more potent influence over the women
among my hearers. If I were a married man I should be much more in
sympathy with them.'
'No--n--no.' Elsie hesitated a little. 'Perhaps women--especially the
younger kind--get on better with unmarried men. However, you were not
married.'
'At first, then, I was a solicitor with my father. Then--presently----'
His face put on the troubled look again.
'You continued,' Elsie interrupted quickly, 'to work at your profession,
though you took up other studies.'
'No--no--not quite that.'
'You began to take up Social problems, and gradually abandoned your
profession.'
'No--no--not that either--quite.'
'You found you could not reconcile your conscience any longer to
defending Property.'
'No--I forget exactly. It is strange that one should forget a thing so
simple. I am growing old, I suppose.--Well--it matters not. I left the
profession. That is the only important thing to remember. That I did so
these Chambers prove. I came out of it. Yes, that was it. Just at the
moment, my head being full of other things, I cannot remember the exact
time, or the manner of my leaving the profession. I forget the
circumstances, probably because I attached so little importance to it.
The real point is that I came out of it and gave myself up to these
studies.'
She noted this important point carefully and looked up for more.
'There, my dear child, is my whole life for you. Without an incident or
an episode. I was born: I went to school: I became a solicitor: I gave
up my profession: I studied social economy: I made my great discovery: I
preached it. Then--did I say my life was without an episode and without
love? No--no--I was wrong. My daughter--I have at last found love and a
child--and a disciple. What more have I to ask?'
'My Master!' No daughter could be more in sympathy with him than this
girl.
'It is all most valuable and interesting,' she said, 'though the facts
are so few. Books will be written, in the future, on these facts, which
will be filled out with conjecture and inference. Even the things that
you think of so little importance will be made the subject of comment
and criticism. Well--but my Biography of you will be the first and best
and most important. I shall first make a skeleton life out of the facts,
and then fill in the flesh and blood and put on the clothes, and present
you, dear Master, just as you are.'
'Ask me what you will, but not too often. It worries me to remember the
past. My dear, I am like a man who has made himself--who has risen from
the gutter. He cannot deny the fact, but he doesn't like to be talking
about it; and he is insulted if anyone charges him with the fact or
alludes to it in any way in his presence. That is my case exactly. I
have made myself. I have raised myself from the gutter--the gutter of
Property. I actually worked in defence of Property till I was sixty
years old and more. Now I am rather ashamed of that fact. I do not deny
it--you must put it into your Biography--but I do not like talking about
it.'
'You were once a solicitor, and you are now a Prophet. What a leap!
What a wonderful leap! I quite understand. Yet sometimes, now and then,
for the sake of the curious impertinent world, look back and tell me
what you see.'
'I suppose it is because I am so absorbed in my work that it is
difficult for me to remember things. Why, Elsie, day after day, from
morning to evening, I sit here at work. And in the evening I remember
nothing of the flight of time. The hours strike, but I hear them not.
Only the books on the table show what has been my occupation. And you
want me to go back, not to yesterday, but ten, twenty, thirty years ago.
My dear child, I cannot. Some of the past is clear to me--a day here and
there I remember clearly--all my evenings at the Hall of Science: my
lessons with you; those I remember. But to recall days passed in
meditation and absorbing study is not possible. No--no--I cannot even
try.'
He spoke with a little distress, as if the very thought of the necessary
effort troubled him.
'Believe me, my dear Master,' said Elsie, 'I would not vex you. Only for
some of the things which you do remember. For instance, the world always
wants to know about the private fortunes of its great men. Your own
affairs, you told me once, are in the hands of a--Mr.--Mr.--what is his
name?'
'Dering--Dering. A very well known solicitor. His office is in New
Square, Lincoln's Inn--he manages my money matters. I am, I believe,
what the world calls wealthy.'
'That gives you independence and the power of working for Humanity, does
it not?'
'It does,' said the Scourge and Destroyer of Property, unconscious of
the incongruity. 'Dering, my solicitor, is, I believe, a very honest
man. Narrow in his views--wedded to the old school--quite unable to see
the advance of the tide. But trustworthy. He belongs to a tribe which is
indispensable so long as Property is suffered to exist.'
'Yes--only so long. Property and lawyers will go out hand in hand.'
'And magistrates,' he added with enthusiasm. 'And Courts of Justice and
prisons. And criminals, because the chief incentive to crime will be
destroyed. What a glorious world without a law, or a lawyer, or a
policeman!'
'Mr. Dering, is it? Why, my dear Master, I know something about Mr.
Dering. My brother Athelstan was articled to him. He became a managing
clerk for him. Then there was trouble about a cheque. Something was
wrong about it. He was unjustly blamed or suspected, and he left the
House. I wonder, now, whether you could throw any light upon that
business of the cheque?'
'I, my dear child? A single solitary cheque at a lawyer's office? How
should I possibly know anything about it?'
'Oh! but you might remember this cheque, because, now I think of it,
your own name was connected with it. Yes--it was. I am certain it was.
The cheque was drawn in March in the year 1882--a cheque for seven
hundred and twenty pounds, payable to your order--the order of Edmund
Gray.'
'A cheque for seven hundred and twenty pounds? In March 1882? That must
have been: yes--yes--that was about the time. Now, this is really most
remarkable, child, most remarkable that you should actually hit upon a
cheque--one of thousands issued from that office--which I should
remember perfectly. Life is full of coincidences--one is always hearing
odd things said, meeting faces which one knows.--Well, it is most
remarkable, because I received a cheque for that very amount at that
very time from Dering. Oh! I remember perfectly. It was when I had a
scheme--I thought it then, being younger than I am now--a very good
scheme indeed. It was intended for the gradual destruction of Property.
I did not understand at that time so fully as I do now the rising of the
tide and the direction of the current which is steadily advancing to
overwhelm Property without any feeble efforts on my part. Yet my scheme
was good so far as it went, and it might have been started with good
effect, but for the apathy of the workers. You see, they were not
educated up to it. I had already begun upon my scheme by advancing to
certain working men sums which should make them independent of their
employers until they should have produced enough to sell directly,
without the aid of an employer, at their own co-operative stores.
Unfortunately, most of them drank the money: the few who used it
properly, instead of backing up their fellow-workmen, became themselves
employers, and are now wealthy. Well, I thought I would extend this
method. I thought that if I got together a chosen band--say, of seventy
or so--and if, after teaching them and educating them a bit, I gave
them, say, ten pounds apiece, to tide them over the first few weeks,
that I might next open a distributive and co-operative store for them,
and so take the first step to abolishing the middle-man--the man of
trade.'
'I see; and so you drew the money for that purpose?'
'Yes. But as I told you, I was obliged to abandon my scheme. The men
were not sufficiently advanced. They listened; they professed great
willingness to receive the money; but they gave me no encouragement to
hope that they would carry out my plan. So it fell through. And the men
remain to this day with their employers. And so--you see--I never used
the money. I remember that I had the cheque cashed in ten-pound notes
for the purpose.'
'What became of the notes?'
'I don't know. They are in the Bank, I suppose--wandering about the
world. I gave them back to Dering.'
'Oh! my dear Master'--Elsie sprang to her feet and laid a sheet of paper
on the table--'this is most Providential! I cannot tell you what a
dreadful cause of trouble this cheque has been to us. It has half ruined
my brother's life. For Heaven's sake, write it all down for me. Quick!
quick! before you forget it all.'
'I shall not forget it. Nevertheless, Elsie, if a statement of the facts
can be of any use to you'--he changed his seat and took up the
pen--'certainly I will write it for you.'
'I am requested,' he wrote, 'by Miss Elsie Arundel, my Scholar, to state
what I know of a certain transaction which took place in March 1882. The
facts are as follows: I had need of a sum of seven hundred and twenty
pounds. For certain purposes I wanted it in ten-pound notes. I asked my
agent, Mr. Dering, to give me a cheque; and as I thought that I should
want the money immediately, perhaps in an hour or so, I asked him to
make it payable to my order, and not to cross the cheque. He drew the
cheque and gave it to me in his office. I then went to the hotel where I
was stopping--a place in Arundel Street, Strand, and sent a
commissionaire to the Bank for the money. He brought it, as I had
requested, in ten-pound notes. In a few days I discovered that my plan
could not be even commenced without the greatest danger of defeating its
own object. I therefore took the notes to Mr. Dering's office and placed
them in his safe. I suppose that he has long since returned them to the
Bank.'
'There, child,' he said, reading this statement aloud. 'That is what I
recollect about this matter.'
'Sign it.' Elsie gave him the pen again. 'Sign it, dear Master.--Oh!
thanks--thanks a thousand times! You don't know--oh! you will never know
or understand--I hope--how precious this document will be for me'--she
folded the paper in an envelope and placed it in her handbag--'and for
my people--my brother and all. Oh! my dear Master.' She stooped and
kissed his hand, to hide the tears in her eyes. Athelstan's name was
safe now whatever happened. He would be completely cleared at last.
'Why, my dear Scholar--my dear daughter.' Mr. Edmund Gray was moved
himself almost to tears at this unexpected burst of feeling. 'As if
there was anything I would not do for you if I could. I, who have never
loved any woman before, love one now. She is my daughter--my
grandchild.--So your brother will be helped by this little
reminiscence--will he? Actually, your brother! I wonder if there is
anything more that I could remember for you in this uneventful life of
mine.'
'Oh no!--that would be too much to hope. Yet there is a chance--just a
chance. I wonder if I may tell you. There is still time before us. If we
are at the Hall by six we shall do very well. It is no more than
half-past four. Shall I tell you the trouble? Oh! But it is a shame. And
you with this great work laid upon you! No--no--I must not.' Oh!
Delilah! oh! Circe! for she looked as if, in spite of her unwilling
words, she wanted to tell it very badly indeed.
'Nay, my dear. You must, and you shall.--What? You are in trouble, and
you will not tell me what it is. You--my Scholar--my clear-eyed
disciple, who can see what these dull creatures of clay around us can
never understand--you are in trouble, and you hesitate to tell me?--Fie!
fie! Speak now. Tell me all.'
'I have told you that I have a lover, and that I am engaged to be
married.'
'Yes--yes. His name, too, you have told me. It is George--George Austin.
There were Austins once--I seem to remember--but that does not matter.'
'We are to be married on Wednesday.'
'So soon? But you have promised that I shall not lose my pupil.'
'No, dear Master. As soon as we come back from our holiday, I will come
and see you again and learn of you. Do not doubt that. I can never again
let you go out of my life. I shall bring my--my husband with me.'
'If I thought your marriage would take you away from me, I should be the
most unhappy of men. But I will spare you for a month--two months--as
long as you please. Now, tell me what is on your mind.'
'George was one of Mr. Dering's managing clerks--your Mr. Dering, you
know.'--Mr. Edmund Gray nodded gravely. 'He had no money when we were
engaged, and we thought that we were going to be quite a poor and humble
pair. But a great piece of good fortune happened to him, for Mr. Dering
made him a Partner.'
'Did he? Very lucky for your friend. But I always thought that Dering
ought to have a Partner. At his age it was only prudent--necessary,
even.'
'So we were made very happy; and I thought we were the luckiest couple
in the world. But just then there was a discovery made at the office--a
very singular discovery--I hardly know how to describe it, because it is
not quite clear to me even yet. It was concerned with the buying or
selling or transfer of certain stocks and shares and coupons and that
kind of thing. Mr. Dering seems not to remember having signed the papers
concerned. There is a fear that they are in wrong hands. There is a
suspicion of forgery even. I am ashamed even to mention such a thing to
you, but my lover's name has been connected with the business; and
Dering's clerk, Checkley--you know Checkley?'--
'Certainly--Dering's old servant.'
'Has openly charged George--on no evidence, to be sure--of having forged
the letters or of having assisted in the forgery.'
'This is very serious.'
'It is very serious; but we do not intend to let the thing interfere
with our wedding. Only, unless I can remove the last ray of suspicion
before Wednesday, we shall spend our honeymoon at home, in order to
watch the case from day to day.'
'Buying or selling stocks? Dering would be constantly doing that.'
'It appears that these transactions were the only things of the kind
that he has done this year. That is to say, he denies having done
these.'
'Well--as for these having been the only transactions of the kind, he
managed a good bit of such business for me this last spring.'
'Did he? Do you remember the details of that business?'
'Clearly. It was only yesterday, so to speak.'
'Was it the purchase or transfer of stock or shares?'
'Certainly. To a very large amount. I have told you about my Industrial
Village, have I not? The Village where all are to be equal--all are to
work for a certain time every day, and no longer--all are to be paid in
rations and clothes and houses, and there is to be no private
property--my Ideal Village.'
'I know. A lovely Village.'
'It was early in the spring that I finished my designs for it. Then it
occurred to me that it would be well if, instead of always going to my
lawyer for money, I had a large sum at my command lying at my Bank. So I
instructed Dering to transfer to my name a great quantity of stocks
lying in his name. He was a trustee or a--well--it is rather unusual,
but I like having all my business affairs managed for me, and---- But
this will not interest you'--this with the look of irritation or
bewilderment which sometimes passed over his face. 'The important thing
is that it was done, and that my Bank received those transfers, and has
instructions to receive the dividends.'
'Oh! And has all the papers, I suppose?'
'It had them. But I thought that perhaps my old friend might think it
looked like want of confidence if I left them there, so I sent for them,
and took them to his office. They are now in the safe. I put them there
myself with my own hand; or he did with his own hand--I forget.
Sometimes--it is very odd--when I think of things done at that office, I
seem to have done it myself; and sometimes I think that he did it. Not
that it matters.'
'Not at all. The papers are actually in the safe again?'
'Certainly. I--that is--he--he or I--put them there.'
'Oh! my dear Master'--Elsie clapped her hands--'this is even more
important than the other. You do not know--you cannot guess--what
mischiefs you are able to stop. If I had only been able to talk to you
about these things before! The paper you have already written is for my
brother. Now sit down, my Master, and write another that will do for
me.'
'I will do anything you ask me--and everything. But as for this, why not
ask Dering? His memory never fails. His mind is like a box which holds
everything and can never be filled. Perhaps he would not like these
private affairs--as between solicitor and client--to be talked about.'
'We cannot go to Mr. Dering. There are certain reasons which would not
interest you. All we want is a clear, straightforward statement, an
exact statement of what happened. Sit down now and write me a full
account of each transaction.'
'Certainly; if it will be of the least use to you.'
'Early in the present year,' he began, 'I found that my plan of an
Industrial Village if it was to be carried into effect would want all
the money I could command. It occurred to me that it would be well to
transfer a certain sum from the hands of my agent, and to place it in my
own Bank ready to hand. I began then, in March, with a sum of six
thousand pounds, which Dering, by my instructions, handed over to my
Bank in the form of shares and stocks. I believe they were transfers of
certain stocks held by him in his own name, but forming part of my
fortune--my large private fortune. The Bank was instructed to receive
the dividends on that sum. A month or so later I obtained from Dering
other stock to the value of twelve thousand pounds, the papers of which
were also given to my Bank. And after that I took out papers
representing twenty thousand pounds; so that I had in my hands, ready to
be sold out and used at a moment's notice, no less than thirty-eight
thousand pounds. All this money I intended to devote to my Industrial
Village. The scheme is still one in which I put my whole confidence. But
it has not yet been carried into effect, in consequence of the
difficulty of finding working men equal to the situation. They
understand working for the man who has the money; they do not understand
working for the man who has none, that is for each other and for
themselves. For my own part I could only find working men of that stamp.
Perhaps I am too much in the study. I do not go about enough among
working men. There must be some advanced to my stage of
development.--Well, for want of men, I could not start my Village, and I
have not used the money. As for the papers, I have taken them out of the
Bank and placed them in Dering's safe.'
Elsie looked over his shoulder, reading every word. 'The letters which
Mr. Dering wrote to the stockbroker in accordance with your
instructions. They were written for him--perhaps--by you. It is unusual,
but----'
'I told you,' he replied sharply. 'What is the use of saying things
twice? There are some things which confuse a man. I wrote them--he wrote
them--he acted for me--or I acted for myself. What matter? The end is as
I have written down for you.--Now, will this paper be of any use to
you?'
'Of the greatest use. Please sign it, dear Master.'
He obeyed, and signed 'Edmund Gray.'
'There is one thing more.' Elsie saw in his face signs of disquiet, and
hastened on. 'You have got your Bank book here?'
'Yes. The Manager sent it here with an impertinent note about
references, which I have sent on to Dering.--What do you want with the
Bank book? It is in one of those drawers. See--here it is--cheque book
too.'
'If I were you, Master, I would have no more trouble about the money.
You have given Mr. Dering the transfers and papers--why not give him
back the money as well? Do not be bothered with money matters. It is of
all things important to you to be free from all kinds of business and
money matters. Who ever heard of a Prophet drawing a cheque? You sit
here and work and meditate. You go to the Hall of Science and teach. It
is the business of your friends to see that all your necessities are
properly supplied.--Now, if you will in these minor matters suffer your
friends to advise----'
'Surely. I ask for nothing else.'
'Then, dear Master, here is your cheque book and here your Bank book.
Draw a cheque payable to the order of Edward Dering for all the money
that is lying here--I see it is seven hundred and twenty-three pounds
five shillings and threepence.--I will take care of the cheque--so.--Oh!
you have signed Edward Dering--careless Master! Draw another--now sign
it Edmund Gray.--That will do.--And you had better at the same time
write a letter to the Bank asking the Manager in future to receive the
dividends for the account of Mr. Dering. I will write the letter, and
you shall sign it. Now--no--no--not Edward Dering--Edmund Gray. Your
thoughts are wandering.--There!--Now, dear Master, you are free from
everything that might trouble you.'
The Master pushed back the blotting-pad with impatience, and rose from
the chair. Elsie took possession of the signed cheques, the cheque book,
the Bank book, and the letter. She had all--the statement in Edmund
Gray's own handwriting-all--all--that was wanted to clear up the
business from the beginning to the end. She put everything together in
her handbag. She glanced at her companion: she perceived that his face
was troubled. 'I wish,' he said fretfully, 'that you had not worried me
with those questions about the past. They disturb me. The current of my
thoughts is checked. I am full of Dering and his office and his
safe--his safe--and all----'
Elsie trembled. His face was changing--in a minute he would have
returned to Mr. Dering, and she would have had to explain. 'Master,' she
cried, laying her hand upon his arm, 'think. We are going to the Hall of
Science--your Hall of Science--yours. The people are waiting for their
Prophet. You are to address them. To-night you must surpass yourself,
because there are strangers coming. Tell us--once again--all over
again--of that world where there is no crime, no suffering, no iniquity,
no sin, no sorrow--where there are no poor creatures deprived by a cruel
social order of liberty, of leisure, of comfort, of virtue, of
everything--poor wretches born only to toil and to endure. Think of
them. Speak for them. Plan for them. Make our hearts burn within us for
shame and rage. Oh, Master'--for his face was troubled still and
doubtful, as if he was hovering on the border-land between himself and
his other self--'no one can speak to them like you; no one has your
power of speech: make them feel that new world--make them see
it--actually see it with their earthly eyes--make them feel it in their
hearts.'
'Child'--he sighed; his face fell back into repose--'you comfort me. I
was falling--before you came to me I often used to fall--into a fit of
gloom--I don't know why. Something irritates me; something jars;
something awakens a feeling as if I ought to remember--remember--what? I
do not know.--I am better now. Your voice, my dear, at such a moment is
to me like the sound of David's harp to Saul. It chases away the
shadows. Oh! I am better already. I am well. If you want to ask any
other questions, do so. As for those transactions--they are perfectly
correct in form and everything. I cannot for the life of me understand
why Dering, who is a practical man----'
'Never mind Dering, my dear Master--or those transactions. Think only of
the world of the New Humanity. Leave the transactions and the papers to
me. I hope that you will never find out why they were wanted, or how
they were to be used.--Now let us start. We shall be in excellent time.'
The Hall of Science was half full of people--the usual gathering--those
who came every Sunday evening and took the simple feast of fraternity.
The table was spread with the white cloth, on which were laid out the
toast and muffins, the ham and shrimps, and bread and butter and
watercress; and on the appearance of the Chief, the tea was brought up,
and they all sat down. Now, it had been observed by all that since the
adhesion of this young lady the Leader's discourses had been much more
confident, his manner had been clearer, his points more forcibly put.
This was because, for the first time, he had had an opportunity of
discussing his own doctrines with a mind able to follow him. Nothing so
valuable to a teacher of new things as a sympathetic woman for listener
and disciple. Witness the leading example of the Prophet Mohammed. Also,
their leader had never before been so cheerful--so hopeful--so full of
life and youth and spring. He was young again: he talked like a young
man, though his hair was gray. This was because he loved a woman, for
the first time in his life: he called it paternal affection: whatever
kind of love it was, it worked in him the same miracle that love always
works in man--young or old--it gave him back the fire of youth.
This evening he sat at the head of the table dispensing his simple
hospitality with a geniality and a heartiness unknown before the arrival
of this young lady. He talked, meantime, in the lofty vein, above the
style and manner common to his hearers, but not above their
comprehension; he spoke of a higher life attainable by man at his best,
when the victory over nature should be complete, and every force should
be subdued and made slave to man, and all diseases should be swept away,
and the Perfect man should stand upon the earth at last, Lord and Master
of all--Adamus Redivivus. When that time should come, there would be no
Property, of course; everything was to be in common; but the new life
would be full of love and joy; there would be long-continued youth, so
that none should be made to rise from the feast unsatisfied; nay, it
seemed to this Dreamer that everyone should continue at the feast as
long as he pleased, till he was satiated and desired a change.
Long-continued youth; all were to be young, and to keep young; the girls
were to be beautiful and the men strong; he pronounced--he--the
hermit--the anchorite--the celibate who knew not love--a eulogy on the
beauty of women: and he mourned over those men who miss their share of
love.
The hearts of those who heard were uplifted, for this man had the
mesmeric faculty of compelling those who heard him to feel what he
wanted them to feel. Most of them had been accustomed to regard their
Leader as a man of benevolent manners but austere principles. Now he was
tender and human, full of sympathy even with those weak vessels who fall
in love, and for the sake of love are content to be all their lives
slaves--yea, even slaves to Property.
After tea, the tables being cleared, the Chief pronounced his weekly
address or sermon. It was generally a discourse on the principles, which
all professed, of equality and the abolition of Property. To-night, he
carried on the theme on which he had spoken at tea-time, and discoursed
on the part which should be played by Love in the New Humanity. Never
before had he spoken so convincingly. Never had orator an audience more
in sympathy with him.
Shortly after the beginning of the address, there arrived two gentlemen,
young and well dressed, who sat down modestly just within the door and
listened. The people turned and looked at them with interest. They were
not quite the kind of young man peculiar to the street or to the
quarter.
When the lecture was over and the audience crowded together to talk
before they separated, Elsie slipped across to the new-comers and led
them to the lecturer. 'Master,' she said, 'this is my brother
Athelstan.'
Mr. Edmund Gray shook hands with him. 'Why, Elsie,' he said, 'your
brother and I have met already in Gray's Inn.'
'And this is my friend George Austin, Partner of Mr. Dering.'
'Mr. Austin,' said Mr. Edmund Gray, 'I am glad to meet the man who is
about to enter into the most sacred of all bonds with one whom I venture
to love, sir, as much as you yourself can do, though I love her as my
daughter, and you love her as your bride. You will be the happiest of
men. Take care, sir, that you deserve your happiness.'
'This day,' said Elsie, 'you have rendered us all such a service as can
never be acknowledged, or repaid, or forgotten. Yet we hope and pray
that somehow you will never understand how great it is.'