He had appreciated the manoeuvres sufficiently to feel no surprise
when she found the room "stifling" ten minutes later and said that she
must return to the terrace. She had shown such small desire for his
companionship hitherto, however, that he was momentarily uncertain
which tête-à-tête was the one that she was anxious to prolong.
"Pouf!" she exclaimed, as they emerged into the air. "It was
unbearable. Where are the others? Didn't they come out too?"
"They have no idea we've gone," said Turquand dryly.
She was greatly astonished; she had to turn before she could credit it.
"I thought they were behind us," she repeated several times. "I'm sure
they saw us move. Oh, well, they'll find it out in a minute, I expect!
Never mind!"
They strolled up and down.
"Sorry you're going, Mr. Turquand? Your friend will miss you very
much."
"I don't think so," he answered. "He knew I was only running over for a
few days."
"He tells me it is the first holiday he has taken for years," she said.
"His profession seems to engross him. I suppose it is an engrossing
one. But he oughtn't to exhaust his strength. I needn't ask you if
you've read his novel. What do you think of it?"
"I think it extremely clever work," said Turquand.
"And it's been a great success, too, eh? 'One of the books of the
year,' _The Times_ called it."
"It has certainly given him a literary position."
"How splendid!" she said. "Yes, that's what _I_ thought it: 'extremely
clever,' brilliant--most brilliant! His parents must be very proud of
him?"
"They're dead," said Turquand.
Mrs. Walford was surprised again. She had "somehow taken it for granted
that they were living," and as she understood that he had no brothers
or sisters, it must be very lonely for him?
"He sees a good deal of _me_" said her escort, "and I'm quite a festive
sort of person when you know me."
Her giggle announced that she found this entertaining, but the approval
did not loosen his tongue. She fanned herself strenuously, and decided
that, besides being untidy, he was dense.
"Of course, in one way," she pursued, "his condition is an advantage
to him. Literary people have to work so hard if they depend on their
writing, don't they?"
"I do," he assented, "I'm sorry to say."
His constant obtrusion of himself into the matter annoyed her very
much. She had neither inquired nor cared if he worked hard, and she
felt disposed to say so. Turquand, who realised now why honours had
been thrust upon him this evening, regretted that loyalty to Kent
prevented his doing him what he felt would be the greatest service
that could be rendered and removing the temptation of the mauve girl
permanently from his path.
"With talent and private means our author is fortunate?"
"I often tell him so," he said.
"If it doesn't tempt him to rest on his oars," she added delightedly.
"Wealth _has_ its dangers. Young men _will_ be young men!"
"'Wealth' is a big word," said he. "Kent certainly can't be called
'wealthy.'"
"But he doesn't depend on his pen?" she cried with painful
carelessness.
"He has some private means, I believe; in fact, I know it."
"I am so glad--so glad for him. Now I have no misgivings about his
future at all.... Have _you_?"
"I'm not sure that I follow you."
She played with her fan airily.
"He is certain to succeed, I mean; he needn't fear anything, as he has
a competence. Oh, I know what these professions are," she went on,
laughing. "My son is in the artistic world, we are quite behind the
scenes. I know how hard-up some of the biggest professionals are when
they have nothing but their profession to depend on. A profession is so
precarious--shocking--even when one has aptitude for it."
"Kent has more than 'aptitude,'" he said. "He has power. Perhaps he'll
always work too much for himself and the reviewers to attract the
widest public. Perhaps he's a trifle inclined to over-do the analytical
element in his stuff; but that's the worst that can be said. And,
then, it's a question of taste. For myself, I'm a believer, in the
introspective school, and I think his method's It."
"Schools" and "methods" were meaningless to the lady in such a
connection. Novels were novels, and they were either "good" or they
were "rubbish," if she understood anything about them--and she had
read them all her life. She looked perplexed, and reiterated the phrase
that she had already used.
"Oh, extremely clever, brilliant--most brilliant, really! I quite agree
with you."
"Your son writes, did you say, Mrs. Walford?"
"Oh no, not writes--no! No, my son sings. He sings. He is studying for
the operatic stage." Her tone couldn't have been more impressive if she
had said he was de Reszke. "His voice is quite magnificent."
"Really!" he replied with interest. "That's a great gift--a voice."
"He is 'coming out' soon," she said. "He--er--could get an engagement
at any moment, but--he is so conscientious. He feels he must do himself
justice when he makes his debut. Justice. In professional circles he is
thought an immense amount of--immense!"
"Has he sung at any concerts?"
"In private," she explained--"socially. He visits among musicians a
great deal. And of course it makes it very lively for us. He is quite
--er--in the swim!"
"You're to be congratulated on your family," said Turquand. "With such
a son, and a daughter like Miss Walford----"
"Yes, she is very much admired," she admitted--"very much! But a
strange girl, Mr. Turquand. You wouldn't believe how strange!"
He did not press her to put him to the test, but she supplied the
particulars as if glad of the opportunity. He remarked that, in
narrating matters of which she was proud, she adopted a breathless,
staccato delivery, which provoked the suspicion that she was inventing
the facts as she went on.
"She is _most_ peculiar," she insisted. "The matches she has refused!
Appalling!"
"No?" he said.
"A Viscount!" she gasped. "She refused a Viscount in Monte Carlo last
year. A splendid fellow! Enormously wealthy. Perfectly wild about her.
She wouldn't look at him."
"You astonish me," he murmured.
Mrs. Walford shook her head speechlessly, with closed eyes.
"And there were others," she said in a reviving spasm--"dazzling
positions! Treated them like dirt. She said, if she didn't care for a
man, nothing would induce her. What can one do with such a romantic
goose? Be grateful that you aren't a mother, Mr. Turquand."
"Some day," he opined, without returning thanks, "the young lady will
be induced."
"Oh, and before long, if it comes to that!" She nodded confidentially.
"To tell you the truth, I expect somebody here next week. A young man
rolling in riches, and with expectations that--oh, tremendous! He
raves about her. She has refused him--er--seven times--seven times. He
wanted to commit suicide after her last rejection. But she _respects_
him immensely. A noble fellow he is--oh, a most noble fellow! And when
he asks her again, I rather fancy that pity'll make her accept him,
after all."
"She must have felt it a grave responsibility," observed the journalist
politely, "that a young man said he wanted to commit suicide on her
account."
"That's just it, she feels it a terrible responsibility. Oh, she's
not fond of him! Sorry for him, you understand--sorry. And, between
ourselves, I'm sure I really don't know what to think would be for the
best--I don't indeed! But I wouldn't mind wagering a pair of gloves,
that, if she doesn't meet Mr. Right soon, she'll end by giving in and
Mr. Somebody-else will have stolen the prize before he comes--hee, hee,
hee!"
Turquand groaned in his soul. In his mental vision his friend already
flopped helplessly in the web, and he derived small encouragement from
the reflection that she was mistaken in the succulence of her fly.
"You're not smoking," she said. "Do! I don't mind it a bit."
He scowled at her darkly, and was prepared to see betrothal in the eyes
of the absent pair when they rejoined them.
As yet, however, they were still wedged in the crowd around the tables.
On their right, a fat Frenchwoman cried "Assez! assez!" imploringly
as her horse, leading by a foot, threatened at last to glide past the
winning-post and leave victory in the rear; to their left, an English
girl, evidently on her honeymoon, was making radiant demands on the
bridegroom's gold. Kent had lost sixteen francs, and Miss Walford had
lost five before they perceived that the others had retired.
"We had better go and look for them," she declared.
The well-bred sea shimmered in the moonlight now, and the terrace was
so thronged that investigation could be made only in a saunter.
"I wonder where they have got to," she murmured.
Her companion was too contented to be curious.
"We're sure to come upon them in a minute," he said. "Do you abuse
Dieppe, too, Miss Walford?"
"Not at all--no. It is mamma who is bored."
"I should like to show you Arques," he said. "I'm sure your mother
would be interested by that. Do you think we might drive over one
afternoon?"
"I don't know," she replied. "Is it nice?"
"Well, 'nice' isn't what you will call it when you are there. It's a
ruined castle, you know; and you can almost 'hear' the hush of the
place--it's so solemn, and still, and old. If you're very imaginative,
you can hear men clanking about in armour. You _would_ hear the men in
armour, I think."
"Am I imaginative?" she smiled.
"Aren't you?" he asked.
"Perhaps I am; I don't know. What makes you think so?"
He was puzzled to adduce any reason excepting that she was so pretty.
He did not pursue the subject.
"There are several things worth seeing here," he said. "Of course
Dieppe 'is only the Casino,' if one never goes anywhere else. I suppose
you haven't even heard of the cave-dwellers?"
"The 'cave-dwellers'?" she repeated.
"Their homes are the caves in the cliffs. Have you never noticed
there are holes? They are caves when you get inside--vast ones--one
room leading out of another. The people are beggars, very dirty, and
occasionally picturesque. They exist by what they can cadge, and, of
course, they pay no rent; it's only when they come out that they see
daylight."
"How horrid!" she shivered. "And you went to look at them?"
"Rather! They are very pleased to 'receive.' One of the inhabitants has
lived there for twenty years. I don't think he has been outside it for
ten--he sends his family. Many of the colony were born there. Don't you
think they were worth a visit?"
"I don't know," she said; "one might be robbed and murdered in such a
place."
"Oh, rather!" he agreed. "Some of the inner rooms are so black that you
literally can't see your hand before you. It would be a beautiful place
for a murder! The next-of-kin lures the juvenile heiress there, and
bribes the beggars to make away with her. Unknown to him, they spare
her life because--because----Why do they spare her life? But they
keep her prisoner and bring her up as one of themselves. Twenty years
later----I believe I could write a sensational novel, after all!"
"What nonsense!" laughed Miss Walford daintily.
"Do you like that kind of story?"
"I like plots about real life best," she said. "Don't you?"
He found this an exposition of the keenest literary sympathies, and
regarded her adoringly. She preferred analysis to adventure, and
realism to romance! What work he might accomplish inspired by the
companionship of such a girl!
"Wherever have you been, Cynthia? We thought you were lost," he heard
Mrs. Walford say discordantly, and the next moment they were all
together.
"It's where have _you_ been, mamma, isn't it?"
"Well, I like that! We didn't stop a minute; I made certain you saw us
get up. We've been hunting for you everywhere. Mr. Turquand and I have
been out here ever so long, haven't we, Mr. Turquand? Looking at the
moon, too, if you want to know, and--hee, hee, hee!--talking sentiment."
Turquand, who was staring at Kent, allowed an eyelid to droop for an
instant at the conclusion, and the latter stroked his moustache and
smiled.
"Such a time we've been having, all by ourselves" she persisted
uproariously. "Mr. Kent, are you shocked? Oh, I've shocked Mr. Kent!
He'll always remember it--I can see it in his face."
"I shall always remember _you_, Mrs. Walford," he said, trying to make
the fatuity sound graceful.
"We were left by ourselves, and we had to get on as we could!" she
cried. "Hadn't we, Mr. Turquand? I say we had to amuse ourselves as
we could. Now Cynthia's glowering at me! Oh--hee, hee, hee!--you two
young people are too respectable for _us_. We don't ask any questions,
but--but I daresay Mr. Turquand and I aren't the only _ones_--hee, hee,
hee!--who have been 'looking at the moon.'"
"Shall we find chairs again?" said Kent quickly, noting the frown that
darkened the girl's brow. "It's rather an awkward spot to stand still,
isn't it?"
She agreed that it was, and a waiter brought them ices, and Mrs.
Walford was giddy over a liqueur. They remained at the table until
she said that it was time to return to their hotel. Parting from them
at its gates, the two men turned away together. Both felt in their
pockets, filled their pipes, and, smoking silently, drifted through
the rugged little streets to the café where they had had their
conversation after dinner.
"'Thank you for a very pleasant evening,'" said Turquand, breaking a
long pause.
It was the only criticism that he permitted himself, and Kent did not
care to inquire if it was to be regarded as ironical.