cold. As they passed beneath the gateway, and the lamp shone upon his
face, Lord Sandford saw that it was white as death, and a strange gleam
came into his own eyes.
"Come, my friend, you do not answer. What think you of the wife that I
have chosen? What think you of the Lady Geraldine Adair? Is she not a
matchless creature? Who would have believed such a sport could come
from such a tree?"
Grey commanded himself by a great effort.
"Is the Lady Geraldine Adair, then, your affianced wife?"
"That, or next door to it. My suit is approved of her parents. We
shall be betrothed ere long. I thought you might be learning as much
from her own lips to-night. Did I not hear my name pass between you
twain?"
"She did ask some question anent you," answered Grey, who had no desire
to fence or parry--he felt too stunned and bewildered; "but she spoke
not of any troth-plight. Why should she?"
"True, why should she? She is not one of your empty-headed chatterers.
She wears not her heart upon her sleeve. And your acquaintance is of
the slightest; is it not so? Have you met before, since that evening in
the water theatre when I did first present you to each other?"
"I have seen her but once between," answered Grey, still in the same
quiet, stunned fashion; and when they had entered the house, he made
excuse to go at once to his room, declining all proffer of refreshment
or further converse.
Lord Sandford looked after him with an intent look upon his face, which
slowly clouded over, till there was something almost malignant and
ferocious in his aspect.
"So it is as I thought. He has been hit, and hard hit. Where can he
have seen her in the interim? They would not have been standing thus,
talking thus, if some bond had not been established between them. Yet I
thought I had kept an eye upon him. I knew there might be danger. I
saw it the first moment that they met. There is something akin in their
natures. They feel it themselves. Hr-r-r-rr! that must be put a stop
to. I will have no rival in Geraldine's heart. She does not love me
yet; but she fears me a little, and she thinks of me. That is no bad
basis to build upon. I shall win her yet, if I have a fair field. But
a rival--no, that must not be! And yet I read somewhat in her eyes
to-night which had not been there before. The fiend take all false
friends! I must rid myself of this one, and that speedily. I have
liked him; but he shall not stand in my way. Well, 'tis I have made
him: I can quickly unmake him. Let me but think of the way and the
means. Grey Dumaresq, you are a pretty fellow and a pleasant comrade;
but you shall never be suffered to stand in the light of Sandford's
hopes and plans and desires. Look to yourself, my friend; for evil is
abroad for you!"
*CHAPTER IX.*
*"A MAD WORLD, MY MASTERS."*
"Master, master, wake up! What ails you? Have you forgot the day, and
what has to be done?"
Dick, with an expression of uneasiness and determination upon his face,
was shaking Grey somewhat vehemently by the shoulder. The latter seemed
to find it hard to wake; and when his eyes opened at last, there was a
lack-lustre expression in them that was strange and unnatural. Dick's
honest face clouded over yet more.
"I was certain there was some devilry afoot when they all came here last
night. I have never seen my master in such a mad mood of merriment," he
muttered half aloud, as he turned away to get a brimming glass of pure
cold water from the table. "What has come over them, I don't know. But
I like not the change. I liked not the look in Lord Sandford's eyes. He
is a great man, I doubt it not; but I wish my master had chanced upon
another as a friend and comrade in this great Babylon of a city. There
is more going on here than I well understand."
"What are you grumbling over there to yourself, Dicon?" asked Grey from
his bed, and his voice sounded more natural and quiet than his servant
had heard it yet; "and where am I? For sure this room is strange to
mine eyes, nor have I any recollection of it overnight; and how come you
to be here, for that matter, honest Dicon? Methought you were at
Hampstead, watching over Don Carlos, that he might be ready for
Saturday's race."
"Yes, master, and so I am; and this is the hostelry at Hampstead where I
have taken up my quarters with the horse; and hither it was that you
came yestere'en, with Lord Sandford and his friends, to be ready for the
match to-day. But beshrew me if I did think yesterday you would be fit
for the saddle to-day! Is it strange I should mutter and grumble to
myself when such things happen?"
"Nay now, what things, good Dicon? I pray you tell me," spoke Grey, as
he drained at one draught the ice-cold water, and drew a long breath of
relief. "I feel like a man waking from a strange and fevered dream; for,
in sooth, I know but little of what has been passing these last days.
Some strange madness seems to have possessed me. I had meant to say
farewell to Lord Sandford and his world, and seek mine own fortunes in
some other field. Yet methinks I have not made the break. I have
visions of wild orgies and furious gaming--such as I held aloof from
before. Dicon, I fear me I have made a desperate fool of myself, and of
my fortunes too. Tell me, what money have I with me now?"
"Not much, master. I took what you had--a matter of some twenty guineas
perhaps. I have it safe in a bag. But surely that is not all. You had
won a fortune, you did tell me--"
"Ay, and now I have lost it. I can recollect how the guineas flew, and
how the stakes were doubled, and how I lost again and yet again. I take
it I am a ruined man, good Dicon. These twenty guineas saved from the
wreck are all the fortune I possess, and belike it is better so--better
so."
"Better!" echoed the dismayed Dick; "nay, my master. But you will win
it back again. The luck cannot always be against you. Think how it was
at the first!"
"Yes, Dicon, and perchance it had been better had the luck been worse.
I love not such gains as these. Besides, there is somewhat in this
beyond my ken. Lord Sandford desired my friendship and company then, and
luck was with me. Now that he desires it no more, the luck has changed,
and that so strangely and desperately that one might almost say there
was magic in it."
Dick's jaw dropped; he longed to know more, but feared to intrude too
much upon his master's secrets. Grey, however, knew how faithful and
attached was his stanch henchman, and as he went through his morning
toilet he told him a little of the events of the past three days, in as
far as he himself could remember them.
"I have offended Lord Sandford doubly," he said, "though he will not
openly admit it. But I know--I feel the change. I trow that he is my
enemy. Nay, Dicon, look not so aghast; it will matter little in the
future, since to-day I take my leave of him, and most like in this great
whirling world our paths will not again cross, either for weal or woe."
"But how?--what? He did seem to love you well."
"I think he did; but a mischance befell. He did not tell me of his
troth-plight to a fair lady--a lady of surpassing beauty, and of a
virtue and purity which make her like a bright particular star amid the
painted dames and mincing damsels of this giddy London town. Twice or
thrice did I meet her and pay homage to her wondrous beauty and
goodness. It was words she spoke to me that decided me, ere ever any
ill-blood had been aroused, to leave off from this life of
pleasure-seeking and distraction, and seek a nobler career than that of
the butterfly dandy fluttering round the town. But Lord Sandford
thought that there was somewhat more than this betwixt us. Of that I am
assured. A flame of jealousy swept over him; and when I told him of my
resolution, I trow that his suspicions received confirmation. I did not
see it then, but I see it now. He thought I left him to pursue my ends
alone, and, perchance, to seek to win the lady of his choice. But he
spoke nothing of this--only insisted that for this week my engagements
should be kept, and that after to-day's race I might go my own way, an I
was so resolved. He was not unkindly; yet there was something strange
and stern in his bearing and language, and you have seen how his
imperious temper and will sweep all before them. I myself was strangely
dazed and something sorrowful. I scarce do know why my heart was so
heavy within me. I let him have his way; and you behold what that way
has been. I am a ruined man, beggared of all my winnings; and methinks
my Lord Sandford has plotted for this very thing."
"It is a shame! Would I could take my horsewhip to him--"
"Nay, nay, good Dicon; be not so wroth," spoke Grey calmly and quietly.
"In sooth, I know not that I owe him aught but thanks. When all is said
and done, it was but ill-gotten gain. I would sooner face life with
none of it upon me. I had a few guineas to start with--well, it was
more than a few; yet had I spent my time in London, I should have had
but little left by now. I have learned many lessons, and I shall start
clear of debt, and without my pockets filled with other men's gold."
Dick was scarce moralist enough to understand or appreciate his master's
scruples--scruples new, indeed, to Grey himself--but the faithful fellow
was ready to accept any verdict and any decision made by the man he
loved and served; and as he put the finishing touches to the workmanlike
riding toilet which he had in readiness, he remarked with a short
laugh,--
"Faith, master, you and I betwixt us, with Don Carlos and my good nag
for company, and a few guineas in our pockets, need not fear the future;
and I trow it will be well for you to be quit for ever of my Lord
Sandford's company. I liked him not greatly for your friend; I hate him
with a goodly hatred since he shows himself your foe. Shall we turn our
backs upon him and upon London town, and seek our fortunes with the army
over the water, where his Grace of Marlborough will give you welcome?"
"I scarce know what the future will bring for me, Dicon," was the reply,
spoken gravely, yet with a certain listless indifference not lost upon
the servant; "I have made no plans as yet. Let us see what this day
brings forth first."
"I wager it will fill our pockets anew with gold!"
"I will not touch their gold!" spoke Grey with eyes that suddenly
flashed fire. "I have cancelled all my wagers. I will take nothing at
their hands. I will ride Don Carlos and ride my best for mine own honour
and that of the good steed I shall bestride; but their money will I not
touch. I have done with all that. Nay, stare not in such amaze, good
Dicon. I have not taken leave of my senses; rather, I trow, I have come
to my better mind. Now get me somewhat to eat here, and then we will to
the stables to see my beauty. This match once over, we turn a new page
in our life's story. Who knows what the next will be?"
It was not much that Grey could eat. The three days which had passed
since he and Lord Sandford had come to an understanding, which was
well-nigh a rupture, had left a mark upon him. Moreover there was a
weary ache at his heart which he did not fully understand, and which was
harder to bear than aught beside. Dimly he knew that it had some
connection with the Lady Geraldine Adair; but he feared to search too
deeply into that matter. She was as far removed from him as the moon in
the heavens, and he believed her plighted to another, and that one a man
who had stood his friend, even though suspicion, jealousy, and an
imperious temper had changed friendship into something very like enmity.
Grey never for a moment dreamed of regarding himself as an aspirant for
that fair hand; but he knew that the motive which was urging him to
change the manner of his life and become a worthier and a better man was
the hope that she might watch his career, and hear a whisper of his fame
or his success; or that he might win some laurels in the fields of
literature, art, or politics, which he might perchance in some sort lay
at her feet.
This, however, lurked in the background of his thoughts. He scarcely
owned to himself that he expected ever to look upon that fair face
again; hence the sensation of heart sickness which had rendered him
well-nigh desperate for a few days, and had helped him to squander
without a qualm the hoard which his previous successes had accumulated.
And now the end of this mad life of gay folly had come. He had drained
the cup to the dregs, and found it bitter to the taste. He had neither
liking nor respect for the companions with whom he had associated.
Towards Lord Sandford his feelings were very mixed. The power of the man
was too great to be shaken off entirely, nor could he despise or dislike
him. But the tie of friendship had snapped asunder. A chasm had opened
between them, and he felt that he was regarded, if not as a foe, yet as
something akin, and it needed not Dick's words of warning to tell him
that the less he saw of this man in the future the better it would be
for himself.
Sounds of laughter and revelry greeted his ears as he slipped quietly
out towards the paddock and shed where his horse had been stabled these
past weeks, tended and exercised by Dick, and ready for whatever demand
might be made upon him. He greeted his master with a neigh of
recognition, dropped his nose in the extended hand, and stood tranquil
and content under Grey's quiet caresses. The glossy coat was satin
smooth, the delicate tracery of veins could be distinctly seen, and each
muscle stood out hard and taut; there was no superfluous flesh, but a
firmness and excellence of condition that brought a smile of
satisfaction to Grey's face. He turned with a smile to Dick, who stood
by beaming.
"Not much fear of him to-day, eh, Dicon?"
"He would jump the moon, master, if you asked it of him," was the proud
and confident answer.
"How do the others look? Have you seen them?"
"Pretty bits of horseflesh every one; and there is a black stallion of
Mr. Artheret's that will take some beating. But he's too heavy for some
of the jumps. He don't take off fast enough. And he's a nasty temper
too. There's a gray Arab with pace; but he falls away behind, as they
all do. I don't think Don Carlos will be troubled long by him. None of
the others will take much beating. Pretty to look at, but not trained
for what they've got to do. Lord Sandford was here yesterday early,
looking at the jumps, and he had several of them made stiffer; but
there's nothing Don Carlos cannot sail over like a bird!"
"Let us go and see," said Grey. "I will take a canter on the turf to
warm myself to the saddle. Soh, boy, soh!" as he lightly vaulted to his
seat, and the horse curveted beneath him. "We will take a look at these
obstructions. The stiffer they are, the better you and I will be
pleased--eh, my beauty?"
Dick mounted his nag, and rode beside his master to the course, where
the horses were to be matched against each other when Lord Sandford and
his friends should have finished their merry meal, and be ready to
witness the exhibition. It was a fine stretch of ground which had been
chosen--nearly a mile in length, and with several natural obstacles,
which had been increased in some cases artificially, to test better the
strength and skill of horse and rider. A stream of water with rather
awkward banks ran across the course in one place, and in another was a
dip in the ground filled with gorse bushes--a nasty place to get
entangled in, if the horse could not be persuaded to clear the whole
thing with a flying leap. A broken stone wall with a ditch in front was
another obstacle; and the last was a barrier entirely artificial, made
of hurdles and bushes high enough to tax the mettle of any horse, though
not absolutely insurmountable. Still it was a formidable object enough,
and Grey looked at it critically, walking Don Carlos up and down, to let
the creature take his own observations with regard to the leap he was to
make.
"It was here they were busy yesterday, but I could not see all they did.
I was afraid to leave Don Carlos with so many strangers about. Some of
the grooms with the other horses looked up to mischief. But I heard them
say afterwards that Lord Sandford had not been satisfied with the field
as it was. He said they must have something that really would be a
test, or the black stallion and Don Carlos were like to come in
together."
But now a horn blew gaily, and horsemen were seen approaching from many
quarters. In the neighbourhood of the inn all was bustle and
excitement, whilst from all sides there appeared streams of people
converging to this spot. Some fine carriages had been driven out from
London, with bedecked ladies eager to witness the contest. Others had
stayed the night in the neighbourhood to be ready; and all the natives
of the place who could get a holiday had come to gape at the fine folks,
and see the grand gentlemen racing their own horses.
Indeed the hour for the contest had well-nigh come. Grey could see that
the other horses were assembling, their riders decked in every colour of
the rainbow, quite eclipsing the quiet and workmanlike suit of buff
which he wore. But Grey's taste had always disinclined him to gaudy
colours. The soft leather, finely chased and stamped in gold, pleased
his eye more than rich-hued cloths or velvets. His breeches were of
white buckskin cut by Lord Sandford's own tailor, and he wore long boots
fitted with silver spurs, albeit he scarcely ever had need of the latter
when he bestrode Don Carlos. His scarf was of white silk fringed with
gold, and his only adornment was a cravat of fine lace, fastened with a
diamond clasp. His cocked hat matched his buff coat, and was adorned
with a white plume. Altogether, as he rode forward to his place, it
would have been hard to find a fault with his dress or person; and the
ladies behind their fans audibly praised his elegant figure, graceful
seat, and distinguished and handsome face.
Grey, all unconscious of the favour bestowed upon him, rode up and
saluted courteously the gentlemen who were to meet him and each other in
rivalry. Lord Sandford, splendidly mounted, was to act as judge at the
winning post. Another of his friends was to be starter; and gentlemen
were posted at various points along the course to see that all the rules
laid down were observed, and that no rider deviated from the
well-pegged-out route prescribed for all. The spectators scattered
hither and thither, taking up stations wherever their fancy prompted.
The course seemed marked out by a glittering border extending down both
sides. The sun shone brilliantly in the sky, and all nature seemed in
gladsome mood.
Grey cast a keen look at the seven rival steeds as they were brought
into line for the start. He picked out in a moment the two of whom
Dicon had spoken, and saw that he had judged well. Then he gave his
whole mind to the task in hand, checked with hand and voice the prancing
of the excited Don Carlos, and brought him up to his appointed place
docile and motionless.
The word was given, but the black stallion had bounded off a few seconds
too soon, and had to be recalled. A second start was spoiled by two
other competitors, who suddenly reared at each other, and strove to
fight. One iron hoof, indeed, inflicted such a wound upon the shoulder
of his neighbour that that horse had to be taken away limping and
bleeding.
It was trying to all, horses and riders alike; but at the third start
all got off, though Grey saw that again the black stallion had made his
bound a second too soon. This gave him a few yards the advantage,
which, as his rider pressed him hard from the first, and his temper was
evidently up, he increased in the next minute to more than a length.
The Arab and Don Carlos were neck and neck, and sailed over the first
easy jump side by side, the stallion having cleared it with a tremendous
bound a couple of seconds earlier.
The water jump was next, and it was obvious that one spot offered
greater advantages to the horse than any other. The stallion made for
this spot with a rush, took off and bounded clear over, just as Don
Carlos and the Arab came rushing up neck and neck, each rider desirous
of the advantage of the sound bank. Grey set his teeth and glanced at
his adversary. A collision at the leap might be fatal to one or both,
so far as the race went. His rival would not budge an inch--that he
saw. With a muttered oath between his teeth, he pulled his left rein,
and used his knees. Don Carlos felt, and instantly understood: swerving
slightly, he gathered himself together, and rose magnificently where the
water was wider and the bank less safe; but he landed safely, and with a
hardly perceptible scramble found his feet again, and amid the plaudits
of the people raced on after the Arab, who, having got a momentary
advantage, was now slightly in advance.
The black stallion had just reached the downward dip leading to the deep
ditch filled with gorse bushes. His rider had had perforce to pull him
up somewhat, lest he should slip and fall, for the ground was sandy and
treacherous. But Don Carlos had been born and bred to this sort of wild
work, and dashing onwards and downwards with the agility of a deer, came
neck and neck with his rival, and having passed the Arab, cleared with a
bound the treacherous gully, landing true and safe upon the opposite
side. The Arab followed in his tracks, his rider taking advantage of
the lead given; but the black stallion slipped and snorted, could not be
made to try the leap till another of the horses came up and took it,
after which he sprang across with a vicious energy which tried the
horsemanship of his rider, and tore like a wild thing after the leading
pair.
These had cleared one after the other the wall and ditch; but the Arab
was showing signs of distress, whilst Don Carlos looked fresh and eager
as at the start. There now remained only a quarter of a mile of smooth
sward, and then the last critical jump; and Grey, knowing himself first,
and not knowing what had betided his rivals, sailed happily onward,
secure of victory, though he heard behind him the thud of flying horse
hoofs, and knew that the black stallion was not beaten yet. It was he
who snorted with such excitement and fury, and seemed to awaken thunders
with his iron-shod hoofs.
One glance over his shoulder, and Grey passed his whip very lightly
across the neck of Don Carlos. The gallant animal sprang forward like an
arrow from a bow, showing how well within himself he had been travelling
so far. The sound of other beating hoofs was fainter now. Grey looked
keenly at the great obstacle looming up in his path, and measured the
height at various places, deciding where the leap could best be taken.
He felt the tension of the muscles beneath him. Don Carlos was gathering
himself together for the leap. He would not fail, falter, or refuse.
The great mass seemed rushing up against him. He felt the slackening
with which Don Carlos faced his task, the motion of his flanks as he
took off and rose. Then what was it happened? The sound of a click,
sharp and clear--a sickening sensation of falling, sinking, struggling,
plunging. Grey felt for a moment as though the end had come. He and
his horse seemed falling into the very bowels of the earth. A black
shadow almost overhead showed him that the stallion had cleared the
barrier, and the air was full of shouts, screams, cheers, and cries.
Next moment he felt strong hands lifting and dragging him upwards.
Dick's white face looked into his own, and the first words he heard were
hissed in his ear by his faithful henchman.
"Foul play, foul play, my master. That ditch was dug and concealed--ay,
and more than concealed; it has been an old well at some time, and it
will open with a spring. You have been grossly tricked and cozened. It
has been a trap cleverly laid and baited. But let me only get at
them--my Lord Sandford--"