The family dinner on that day at Castello was somewhat dull. The various
attempts to secure a party for the ensuing Saturday, which had been
fixed on to celebrate Jack's promotion, had proved failures. When Temple
arrived at Longworth's he learned that the host and 'his guest were from
home and not to return for some days--we have seen how it fared as to
the L'Estranges--so that the solitary success was Captain Craufurd, a
gentleman who certainly had not won the suffrages of the great house.
There were two vacant places besides at the table; for butlers are fond
of recording, by napkins and covers, how certain of our friends assume
to treat us, and thus, as it were, contrast their own formal observances
of duty with the laxer notions of their betters.
“Lord Culduff is not able to dine with us,” said Colonel Bramleigh,
making the apology as well to himself as to the company.
“No, papa,” said Marion; “he hopes to appear in the drawing-room in the
evening.”
“If not too much tired by his long walk,” broke in Jack.
“What walk are you dreaming of?” asked Marion.
“An excursion he made this morning down the coast, sketching or
pretending to sketch. Nelly and I saw him clambering up the side of a
cliff--”
“Oh, quite impossible; you must be mistaken.”
“No,” said Nelly, “there was no mistake. I saw him as plainly as I see
you now; besides, it is not in these wild regions so distinguished a
figure is like to find its counterpart.”
“But why should he not take his walk? why not sketch, or amuse himself
in any way he pleased?” asked Temple.
“Of course it was open to him to do so,” said the Colonel; “only that to
excuse his absence he ought not to have made a pretext of being ill.”
“I think men are 'ill' just as they are 'out,'” said Temple. “I am ill
if I am asked to do what is disagreeable to me, as I am out to the visit
of a bore.”
“So that to dine with us was disagreeable to Lord Culduff?” asked Jack.
“It was evidently either an effort to task his strength, or an occasion
which called for more exertion than he felt equal to,” said Temple,
pompously.
“By Jove!” cried Jack, “I hope I 'll never be a great man! I trust
sincerely _I_ may never arrive at that eminence in which it will task
my energies to eat my dinner and chat with the people on either side of
me.”
“Lord Culduff converses: he does not chat; please to note the
distinction, Jack.”
“That 's like telling me he does n't walk, but he swaggers.”
It was fortunate at this moment, critical enough as regarded the temper
of all parties, that Mr. Cutbill entered, full of apologies for being
late, and bursting to recount the accidents that befell him, and all
the incidents of his day. A quick glance around the table assured him of
Lord Culduff's absence, and it was evident from the sparkle of his eye
that the event was not disagreeable to him.
“Is our noble friend on the sick list?” asked he, with a smile.
“Indisposed,” said Temple, with the air of one who knew the value of a
word that was double-shotted.
“I 've got news that will soon rally him,” continued Cut-bill. “They've
struck a magnificent vein this morning, and within eighty yards of the
surface. Plmmys, the Welsh inspector, pronounced it good Cardiff, and
says, from the depth of 'the lode,' that it must go a long way.”
“Harding did not give me as encouraging news yesterday,” said Colonel
Bramleigh, with a dubious smile.
“My tidings date from this morning--yesterday was the day before the
battle; besides, what does Harding know about coal?”
“He knows a little about everything,” said Augustus.
“That makes all the difference. What people want is not the men who know
things currently, but know them well and thoroughly. Eh, Captain,” said
he to Jack, “what would you say to popular notions about the navy?”
“Cutty's right,” said Jack. “Amateurship is all humbug.”
“Who is Longworth?” asked Cutbill. “Philip Longworth?”
“A neighbor of ours; we are not acquainted, but we know that there is
such a person,” said Colonel Bramleigh.
“He opines,” continued Cutbill, “that this vein of ours runs direct from
his land, and I suspect he's not wrong; and he wants to know what we
mean to do,--he 'll either sell or buy. He came over this morning to
Kilmannock with a French friend, and we took our breakfast together.
Nice fellows, both of them, and wide awake, too; especially the
Frenchman. He was with Lesseps in Egypt, in what capacity I couldn't
find out; but I see he's a shrewd fellow.”
“With Lesseps?” said Colonel Bramleigh, showing a quicker and more
eager interest than before; for his lawyer had told him that the French
claimant to his property had been engaged on the works of the Suez
Canal.
“Yes; he spoke as if he knew Lesseps well, and talked of the whole
undertaking like one who understood it.”
“And what is he doing here?”
“Writing a book, I fancy; an Irish tour,--one of those mock
sentimentalities with bad politics and false morality Frenchmen
ventilate about England. He goes poking into the cabins and asking the
people about their grievances; and now he says he wants to hear the
other side, and learn what the gentlemen say.”
“We 'll have to ask him over here,” said Colonel Bramleigh, coolly, as
if the thought had occurred to him then for the first time.
“He'll amuse you, I promise you,” said Cutbill.
“I'd like to meet him,” said Jack. “I had the ill-luck to bowl him over
in the hunting-field, and cost him a broken leg. I 'd like to make all
the excuses in my power to him.”
“He bears no malice about it; he said it was all his own fault, and that
you did your best to pick him up, but your horse bolted with you.”
“Let's have him to dinner by all means,” said Augustus; “and now that
Temple has made a formal visit, I take it we might invite him by a
polite note.”
“You must wait till he returns the call,” said Marion, stiffly.
“Not if we want to show a courteous desire to make his acquaintance,”
said Temple. “Attentions can be measured as nicely and as minutely as
medicaments.”
“All I say,” said Jack, “is, have him soon, or I may chance to miss him;
and I 'm rather curious to have a look at him.”
Colonel Bramleigh turned a full look at Jack, as though his words had
some hidden meaning in them; but the frank and easy expression of the
sailor's face reassured him at once.
“I hope the fellow won't put us in his book,” said Temple. “You are
never quite safe with these sort of people.”
“Are we worth recording?” asked Jack, with a laugh.
Temple was too indignant to make any answer, and Cutbill went on: “The
authorship is only a suspicion of mine, remember. It was from seeing
him constantly jotting down little odds and ends in his note-book that
I came to that conclusion; and Frenchmen are not much given to minute
inquiries if they have not some definite object in view.”
Again was Bramleigh's attention arrested; but, as before, he saw that
the speaker meant no more than the words in their simplest acceptance
conveyed.
A violent ringing of the door-bell startled the company; and after a
moment's pause of expectancy a servant entered to say that a Government
messenger had arrived with some important despatches for Lord Culduff,
which required personal delivery and acceptance.
“Will you step up, Mr. Cutbill, and see if his Lordship is In his
room?”
“I'll answer for it he 's not,” said Jack to his father.
Cutbill rose, however, and went on his mission; but instead of returning
to the dining-room, it was perceived that he proceeded to find the
messenger, and conduct him upstairs.
“Well, Nelly,” said Marion, in a whisper, “what do you say now; is it so
certain that it was Lord Culduff you saw this morning?”
“I don't know what to make of it. I was fully as sure as Jack was.”
“I'll wager he's been offered Paris,” said Temple, gravely.
“Offered Paris?” cried Jack; “what do you mean?”
“I mean the embassy, of course,” replied he, contemptuously. “Without,”
added he, “they want him in the Cabinet.”
“And is it really by men like this the country is governed?” said Nelly,
with a boldness that seemed the impulse of indignation.
“I 'm afraid so,” said Marion, scornfully. “Mr. Canning and Lord
Palmerston were men very like this,--were they not, Temple?”
“Precisely; Lord Culduff is exactly of the same order, however humble
the estimate Ellen may form of such people.”
“I 'm all impatience for the news,” said Augustus. “I wish Cutbill would
come down at once.”
“I 'll take the odds that he goes to F. O.,” said Temple.
“What the deuce could he do in China?” cried Jack, whose ear had led him
into a cruel blunder.
Temple scarcely smiled at what savored of actual irreverence, and added,
“If so, I 'll ask to be made private secretary.”
“Mr. Temple, sir, his Lordship would be glad to see you upstairs for a
moment,” said a footman, entering. And Temple arose and left the room,
with a pride that might have accompanied him if summoned to a cabinet
council.
“More mysteries of State,” cried Jack. “I declare, girls, the atmosphere
of political greatness is almost suffocating me. I wonder how Cutty
stands it!”
A general move into the drawing-room followed this speech; and as Jack
sauntered in he slipped his arm within Nelly's and led her towards a
window. “I can't bear this any longer, Nelly,--I must trip my anchor and
move away. I 'd as soon be lieutenant to a port admiral as live here.
You're all grown too fine for me.”
“That's not it at all, Jack,” said she, smiling. “I see how you 've been
trying to bully yourself by bullying us this hour back; but it will be
all right to-morrow. We 'll go over to the cottage after breakfast.”
“You may; _I'll_ not, I promise you,” said he, blushing deeply.
“Yes, you will, my dear Jack,” said she, coaxingly; “and you 'll be the
first to laugh at your own foolish jealousy besides,--if Julia is not
too angry with you to make laughing possible.”
“She may be angry or pleased, it's all one to me now,” said he,
passionately. “When I told her she was a coquette, I did n't believe it;
but, by Jove, she has converted me to the opinion pretty quickly!”
“You 're a naughty boy, and you 're in a bad humor, and I'll say no more
to you now.”
“Say it now, I advise you, if you mean to say it,” said he, shortly; but
she laughed at his serious face, and turned away without speaking.
“Is n't the cabinet council sitting late?” asked Augustus of Marion.
“They have been nigh two hours in conference.”
“I take it it must be something of importance,” replied she.
“Isn't Cutbill in it?” asked Augustus, mockingly.
“I saw Mr. Cutbill go down the avenue, with his cigar in his mouth, just
after we came into the drawing-room.”
“I 'll go and try to pump him,” said Jack. “One might do a grand thing
on the Stock Exchange if he could get at State secrets like these.” And
as Jack went out a silence fell over the party, only broken by the heavy
breathing of Colonel Bramleigh as he slept behind his newspaper. At last
the door opened gently, and Temple moved quietly across the room, and
tapping his father on the shoulder,' whispered something in his ear.
“What--eh?” cried Colonel Bramleigh, waking up. “Did you say 'out'?”
Another whisper ensued, and the Colonel arose and left the room,
followed by Temple.
“Isn't Temple supremely diplomatic to-night?” said Nelly.
“I 'm certain he is behaving with every becoming reserve and decorum,”
said Marion, in a tone of severe rebuke.
When Colonel Bramleigh entered the library, Temple closed and locked the
door, and in a voice of some emotion said, “Poor Lord Culduff; it's a
dreadful blow. I don't know how he'll bear up against it.”
“I don't understand it,” said Bramleigh, peevishly. “What's this about a
change of Ministry and a dissolution? Did you tell me the Parliament was
dissolved?”
“No, sir. I said that a dissolution was probable. The Ministry have been
sorely pressed in the Lords about Culduff's appointment, and a motion to
address the Crown to cancel it has only been met by a majority of three.
So small a victory amounts to a defeat, and the Premier writes to beg
Lord Culdufif will at once send in his resignation, as the only means to
save the party.”
“Well, if it's the only thing to do, why not do it?”
“Culdufif takes a quite different view of it. He says that to retire is
to abdicate his position in public life; that it was Lord Rigglesworth's
duty to stand by a colleague to the last; that every Minister makes it a
point of honor to defend a subordinate; and that--”
“I only half follow you. What was the ground of the attack? Had he
fallen into any blunder,--made any serious mistake?”
“Nothing of the kind, sir; they actually complimented his abilities, and
spoke of his rare capacity. It was one of those bursts of hypocrisy we
have every now and then in public life, to show the world how virtuous
we are. They raked up an old story of thirty years ago of some elopement
or other, and affected to see in this escapade a reason against his
being employed to represent the Crown.”
“I 'm not surprised--not at all surprised. There is a strong moral
feeling in the heart of the nation, that no man, however great his
abilities, can outrage with impunity.”
“If they dealt with him thus hardly in the Lords, we can fancy how he
will be treated in the Lower House, where Rigby Norton has given notice
of a motion respecting his appointment. As Lord Rigglesworth writes, 'R.
N. has got up your whole biography, and is fully bent on making you the
theme of one of his amusing scurrilities. Is it wise, is it safe to risk
this? He 'll not persevere--he could not persevere--in his motion, if
you send in your resignation. We could not--at least so Gore, our whip,
says--be sure of a majority were we to divide; and even a majority of,
say thirty, to proclaim you moral, would only draw the whole press to
open your entire life, and make the world ring with your, I suppose,
very common and every-day iniquities.'”
“I declare I do not see what can be alleged against this advice. It
seems to me most forcible and irrefragable.”
“Very forcible, as regards the position of the Cabinet; but, as Lord
Culduff says, ruin, positive ruin to him.”
“Ruin of his own causing.”
Temple shrugged his shoulders in a sort of contemptuous impatience; the
sentiment was one not worth a reply.
“At all events, has he any other course open to him?”
“He thinks he has; at least, he thinks that, with your help and
co-operation, there may be another course. The attack is to come from
below the gangway on the Opposition side. It was to sit with these men
you contested a county, and spent nigh twenty thousand pounds. You have
great claims on the party. You know them all personally, and have much
influence with them. Why, then, not employ it in his behalf?”
“To suppress the motion, you mean?”
Temple nodded.
“They 'd not listen to it, not endure it for a moment. Norton would n't
give up an attack for which he had prepared himself if he were to find
out, in the interval, that the object of it was an angel. As I heard
him say one day at 'the Reform,' 'Other men have their specialities. One
fellow takes sugar, one the malt-duties, one Servia, or maybe, Ireland;
my line is a good smashing personality. Show me a fellow--of course
I mean a political opponent--who has been giving himself airs as a
colonial governor, or “swelling” it as a special envoy at a foreign
court, and if I don't find something in his despatches to exhibit him as
a false prophet, a dupe, or a blunderer, and if I can't make the House
laugh at him, don't call me Rigby Norton.' He knows he does these things
better than any man in England, and he does them in a spirit that never
makes him an enemy.”
“Culduff says that N. is terribly hard up. He was hit heavily at
Goodwood, and asked for time to pay.”
“Just what he has been doing for the last twenty years. There are
scores of ships that no underwriters would accept making safe voyages
half across the globe. No, no; he 'll rub on for many a day, in the same
fashion. Besides, if he should n't, what then?”
Temple made a significant gesture with his thumb in the palm of his
hand.
“That's all your noble friend knows about England, then. See what comes
of a man passing his life among foreigners. I suppose a Spanish or an
Italian deputy might n't give much trouble, nor oppose any strenuous
resistance to such a dealing; but it won't do here,--it will not.”
“Lord Culduff knows the world as well as most men, sir.”
“Yes, one world, I 'm sure he does! A world of essenced old dandies and
painted dowagers, surrounded by thieving lackeys and cringing followers;
where everything can be done by bribery, and nothing without it. But
that's not England, I'm proud to say; nor will it be, I hope, for many a
day to come.”
“I wish, sir, you could be induced to give your aid to Culduff in this
matter. I need not say what an influence it would exert over my own
fortunes.”
“You must win your way, Temple, by your own merits,” said he, haughtily.
“I 'd be ashamed to think that a son of mine owed any share of his
success in life to ignoble acts or backstairs influence. Go back and
tell Lord Culduff from me, that so far as I know it, Lord Rigglesworth's
advice is my own. No wise man ever courts a public scandal; and he
would be less than wise to confront one, with the certainty of being
overwhelmed by it.”
“Will you see him, sir? Will you speak to him yourself?”
“I 'd rather not. It would be a needless pain to each of us.”
“I suspect he means to leave this to-night.”
“Not the worst thing he could do.”
“But you 'll see him, to say good-bye?”
“Certainly; and all the more easily if we have no conversation in the
mean while. Who's that knocking? Is the door locked?”
Temple hastened to open the door, and found Mr. Cutbill begging to have
five minutes' conversation with Colonel Bramleigh.
“Leave us together, Temple, and tell Marion to send me in some tea. You
'll have tea, too, won't you, Mr. Cutbill?”
“No, thank you; I 'll ask for wine and water later. At present I want
a little talk with you. Our noble friend has got it hot and heavy,” said
he, as Temple withdrew, leaving Bramleigh and himself together; “but
it's nothing to what will come out when Norton brings it before the
House. I suppose there hasn't been such a scandal for years as he'll
make of it.”
“I declare, Mr. Cutbill, as long as the gentleman continues my guest,
I 'd rather avoid than invite any discussion of his antecedents,” said
Bramleigh, pompously.
“All very fine, if you could stop the world from talking of them.”
“My son has just been with me, and I have said to him, sir, as I have
now repeated to you, that it is a theme I will not enter upon.”
“You won't, won't you?”
“No, sir, I will not.”
“The more fool you, then, that's all.”
“What, sir, am I to be told this to my face, under my own roof? Can you
presume to address these words to me?”
“I meant nothing offensive. You needn't look like a turkey-cock. All the
gobble-gobble in the world would n't frighten me. I came in here in a
friendly spirit. I was handsomely treated in this house, and I 'd like
to make a return for it; that's why I 'm here, Bramleigh.”
“You will pardon me if I do not detect the friendliness you speak of in
the words you have just uttered.”
“Perhaps I was a little too blunt--a little too--what shall I call
it?--abrupt; but what I wanted to say was this: here's the nicest
opportunity in the world, not only to help a lame dog over the stile,
but to make a good hound of him afterwards.”
“I protest, sir, I cannot follow you. Your bluntness, as you call it,
was at least intelligible.”
“Don't be in a passion. Keep cool, and listen to me. If this motion is
made about Culduff, and comes to a debate, there will be such stories
told as would smash forty reputations. I 'd like to see which of us
would come well out of a biography, treated as a party attack in the
House of Commons. At all events _he_ could n't face it. Stand by him,
then, and get him through it. Have patience; just hear what I have to
say. The thing can be done; there 's eight days to come before it can
be brought on. I know the money-lender has three of Norton's
acceptances--for heavy sums, two of them. Do you see now what I'm
driving at?”
“I may possibly see so much, sir, but I am unable to see why I should
move in the matter.”
“I 'll show you, then. The noble Viscount is much smitten by a certain
young lady upstairs, and intends to propose for her. Yes, I know it, and
I 'll vouch for it. Your eldest daughter may be a peeress, and though
the husband isn't very young, neither is the title. I think he said
he was the eighth lord,--seventh or eighth, I 'm not sure which,--and
taking the rank and the coal-mine together, don't you think she might do
worse?”
“I will say, sir, that frankness like yours I've never met before.”
“That's the very thing I 'd like to hear you say of me. There's no
quality I pride myself on so much as my candor.”
“You have ample reason, sir.”
“I feel it. I know it. Direct lines and a wide gauge--I mean in the way
of liberality,--that 's my motto. I go straight to my terminus, wherever
it is.”
“It is not every man can make his profession the efficient ally of his
morality.”
“An engineer can, and there 's nothing so like life as a new line of
railroad. But to come back. You see now how the matter stands. If the
arrangement suits you, the thing can be done.”
“You have a very business-like way of treating these themes.”
“If I had n't, I could n't treat them at all. What I say to myself
is, Will it pay? first of all; and secondly, How much will it pay? And
that's the one test for everything. Have the divines a more telling
argument against a life of worldliness and self-indulgence than when
they ask, Will it pay? We contract for everything, even for going to
heaven.”
“If I could hope to rival your eminently practical spirit, Mr. Cutbill,
I 'd ask how far--to what extent--has Lord Culduff made you the
confidant of his intentions?”
“You mean, has he sent me here this evening to make a proposal to you?”
“No, not exactly that; but has he intimated, has he declared--for
intimation would n't suffice--has he declared his wish to be allied to
my family?”
“He did n't say, 'Cutbill, go down and make a tender in my name for
her,' if you mean that.”
“I opine not, sir,” said Bramleigh, haughtily.
“But when I tell you it's all right,” said Cutbill, with one of his most
knowing looks, “I think that ought to do.”
“I take it, sir, that you mean courteously and fairly by me. I feel
certain that you have neither the wish nor the intention to pain me; but
I am forced to own that you import into questions of a delicate nature a
spirit of commercial profit and loss, which makes all discussion of them
harsh and disagreeable. This is not, let me observe to you, a matter of
coal, or a new cutting on a railroad.”
“And are you going to tell Tom Cutbill that out of his own line of
business,--when he isn't up to his knees in earthworks, and boring a
tunnel,--that he 's a fool and a nincompoop?”
“I should be sorry to express such a sentiment.”
“Ay, or feel it; why don't you say that?”
“I will go even so far, sir, and say I should be sorry to feel it.”
“That's enough. No offence meant; none is taken. Here's how it is now.
Authorize me to see Joel about those bills of Norton's. Give me what the
French call a _carte blanche_ to negotiate, and I 'll promise you I'll
not throw your ten-pound notes away. Not that it need ever come to
ten-pound notes, for Rigby does these things for the pure fun of them;
and if any good fellow drops in on him of a morning, and says, 'Don't
raise a hue and cry about that poor beggar,' or 'Don't push that fellow
over the cliff,' he 's just the man to say, 'Well, I 'll not go on. I
'll let it stand over;' or he 'll even get up and say, 'When I asked
leave to put this question to the right honorable gentleman, I fully
believed in the authentic character of the information in my possession.
I have, however, since then discovered,'--this, that, and the other.
Don't you know how these things always finish? There's a great row, a
great hubbub, and the man that retracts is always cheered by both sides
of the House.”
“Suppose, then, he withdraws his motion,--what then? The discussion in
the Lords remains on record, and the mischief, so far as Lord Culduff is
concerned, is done.”
“I know that. He 'll not have his appointment; he 'll take his pension
and wait. What he says is this: 'There are only three diplomatists in
all England, and short of a capital felony, any of the three may do
anything. I have only to stand out and sulk,' says he, 'and they'll be
on their knees to me yet.'”
“He yields, then, to a passing hurricane,” said Bramleigh, pompously.
“Just so. He 's taking shelter under an archway till he can call a
hansom. Now you have the whole case; and as talking is dry work, might I
ring for a glass of sherry and seltzer?”
“By all means. I am ashamed not to have thought of it before.--This is
a matter for much thought and deliberation,” said Bramleigh, as the
servant withdrew, after bringing the wine. “It is too eventful a step to
be taken suddenly.”
“If not done promptly, it can't be done at all. A week is n't a long
time to go up to town and get through a very knotty negotiation. Joel
is n't a common money-lender, like Drake or Downie. You can't go to his
office except on formal business. If you want to do a thing in the way
of accommodation with him, you 'll have to take him down to the 'Ship,'
and give him a nice little fish dinner, with the very best Sauterne you
can find; and when you 're sitting out on the balcony over the black
mud,--the favorite spot men smoke their cheroots in,--then open your
business; and though he knows well it was all 'a plant,' he 'll not
resent it, but take it kindly and well.”
“I am certain that so nice a negotiation could not be in better hands
than yours, Mr. Cutbill.”
“Well, perhaps I might say without vanity, it might be in worse. So much
for that part of the matter; now, as to the noble Viscount himself. I am
speaking as a man of the world to another man of the world, and speaking
in confidence, too. _You_ don't join in that hypocritical cant against
Culduff, because he had once in his life been what they call a man of
gallantry? I mean, Bramleigh, that _you_ don't go in for that outrageous
humbug of spotless virtue, and the rest of it?”
Bramleigh smiled, and as he passed his hand over his mouth to hide a
laugh, the twinkle of his eyes betrayed him.
“I believe I am old enough to know that one must take the world as it
is pleased to present itself,” said he, cautiously.
“And not want to think it better or worse than it really is?”
Bramleigh nodded assent.
“Now we understand each other, as I told you the other evening we were
sure to do when we had seen more of each other. Culduff is n't a saint,
but he 's a peer of Parliament; he is n't young, but he has an old
title, and if I 'm not much mistaken, he 'll make a pot of money out
of this mine. Such a man has only to go down into the Black Country or
amongst the mills, to have his choice of some of the best-looking girls
in England, with a quarter of a million of money; isn't that fact?”
“It is pretty like it.”
“So that, on the whole, I 'll say this is a good thing, Bramleigh--a
right good thing. As Wishart said the other night in the House, 'A new
country'--speaking of the States--'a new country wants alliances with
old States;' so a new family wants connection with the old historic
houses.”
Colonel Bramleigh's face grew crimson, but he coughed to keep down his
rising indignation, and slightly bowed his head.
“_You_ know as well as _I_ do, that the world has only two sorts of
people,--nobs and snobs; one has no choice--if you 're not one, you must
be the other.”
“And yet, sir, men of mind and intellect have written about the untitled
nobility of England.”
“Silver without the hall-mark, Bramleigh, won't bring six shillings an
ounce, just because nobody can say how far it's adulterated; it's the
same with people.”
“Your tact, sir, is on a par with your wisdom.”
“And perhaps you haven't a high opinion of either,” said Cutbill, with
a laugh that showed he felt no irritation whatever. “But look here,
Bramleigh, this will never do. If there 's nothing but blarney or banter
between us, we 'll never come to business. If you agree to what I 've
been proposing, you have only me to deal with; the noble lord is n't in
the game at all--he 'll leave this to-night--it's right and proper he
should; he 'll go up to the mines for a few days, and amuse himself with
quartz and red sandstone; and when I write or telegraph,--most likely
telegraph,--'The thing is safe,' he 'll come back here and make his
proposal in all form.”
“I am most willing to give my assistance to any project that may rescue
Lord Culduff from this unpleasant predicament. Indeed, having myself
experienced some of the persecution which political hatred can carry
into private life, I feel a sort of common cause with him; but I protest
at the same time--distinctly protest--against anything like a pledge as
regards his Lordship's views towards one of my family. I mean I give no
promise.”
“I see,” said Cutbill, with a look of intense cunning. “You 'll do the
money part. Providence will take charge of the rest. Isn't that it?”
“Mr. Cutbill, you occasionally push my patience pretty hard. What I
said, I said seriously and advisedly.”
“Of course. Now, then, give me a line to your banker to acknowledge my
draft up to a certain limit,--say five hundred. I think five ought to do
it.”
“It's a smart sum, Mr. Cutbill.”
“The article's cheap at the money. Well, well, I 'll not anger you.
Write me the order, and let me be off.”
Bramleigh sat down at his table, and wrote off a short note to his
junior partner in the bank, which he sealed and addressed; and handing
it to Cutbill, said, “This will credit you to the amount you spoke of.
It will be advanced to you as a loan without interest, to be repaid
within two years.”
“All right; the thought of repayment will never spoil my night's rest. I
only wish all my debts would give me as little trouble.”
“You ought to have none, Mr. Cutbill; a man of your abilities, at the
top of a great profession, and with a reputation second to none, should,
if he were commonly prudent, have ample means at his disposal.”
“But that's the thing I am not, Bramleigh. I 'm not one of your safe
fellows. I drive my engine at speed, even where the line is shaky and
the rails ill-laid. Good-bye; my respects to the ladies; tell Jack, if
he 's in town within a week, to look me up at 'Limmer's.'” He emptied
the sherry into a tumbler as he spoke, drank it off, and left the room.