MARK RETURNS
It was one afternoon towards the end of April, and Carrissima
congratulated herself that she had made up her mind to spend it
indoors, although the trees in the parks were in fresh green leaf, and
London was looking its brightest and best. There had been, however, a
few showers at luncheon-time, and Colonel Faversham had set out through
one afterwards "to his club."
Carrissima, of course, knew very well that he was bound for Golfney
Place, and for her own part, she determined to stay at home until
tea-time, with the consequence that she saw Mark about half-past four.
He entered the room looking as handsome, as alert and energetic as
ever; a man, you felt certain, who would succeed in making his way in
the world, as indeed he fully intended to do.
"When did you get back?" asked Carrissima, remembering that her welcome
must not be too cordial.
"Late yesterday afternoon," he answered.
"Have you had a good time?"
"Oh, ripping!" he continued. "Old Wentworth knows his Paris, and we
didn't waste many hours."
Six months ago it would not have been in the least surprising that he
should pay her a visit directly he returned, but now she was wondering
whether he had already seen Bridget Rosser.
"You're not staying in Charteris Street?" she asked.
"Not a bit of it. I'm at Duffield's Hotel again for the present. But
I thought I ought to give Phoebe a look up last night. I went there
after dinner. She tells me you have seen Bridget?" said Mark, leaning
forward rather eagerly in his chair.
"Oh yes, it seemed quite the natural thing to do," answered Carrissima,
unable to repress a sigh as she remembered the train of circumstances
which had followed her visit to Golfney Place.
"That sounds as if you wish you hadn't done it!" he suggested.
"Have you seen her yet?" asked Carrissima, perceiving her opportunity.
"No," said Mark; "but I've listened to a good deal about her. Lawrence
is great on the subject. By Jove! according to him she might be the
complete adventuress. He insists she has been trying her hand on the
colonel--not without success!"
"Does the suggestion strike you as being inconceivable?" demanded
Carrissima.
"Oh well, you forget that I have been away for more than a month. I
have no means of forming an opinion----"
"Your previous experiences!" said Carrissima; and Mark stared at the
carpet.
His previous experiences of Bridget had, no doubt, proved entirely
agreeable. During Carrissima's absence from London in the weeks after
Christmas, when he had no occupation for his idle hands, he had
certainly spent many enjoyable hours at Number 5, Golfney Place, and it
had been necessary on more than one occasion to remind himself that
discretion was the better part of valour.
If it had not been for Carrissima, the temptation to meet Bridget's
apparently "coming-on disposition" half way would have become more
acute, and without any idea of a closer relationship, he might
perchance have gone farther over night than he would have thought
desirable the next morning.
Without being a coxcomb, Mark Driver, during those evening interviews,
had been inclined to think that this was precisely what Bridget
desired; but then again, he reasoned himself into the opinion that she
must be entirely innocent of any such idea, which was due, rather, to
his own less well-ordered imagination. And, besides, there was
Carrissima!
"Goodness knows," he answered at last. "I came here this afternoon to
check Lawrence's opinion by your own."
Now it was Carrissima's turn to hesitate. She wished to play the game
and not for the world would she attempt to belittle Bridget if Mark
desired to exalt her. On the other hand any reluctance to express a
candid opinion might appear suspicious in his eyes!
"Oh well," she said, "there are certain facts which can't be disputed.
You must draw your own conclusions. Bridget lets father take her to
the play; to all sorts of places; she receives him every day in the
week, and he buys her presents. On the few occasions when I have seen
them together," Carrissima added, "he has made himself--well, I, if it
were not for my filial respect, I should say ridiculous."
"Of course," answered Mark, "it's easy enough to believe that the
colonel admires her. Any man must! All I can say is that if Lawrence
has any justification I am immensely sorry."
For what? Carrissima wondered. Was he sorry for her sake, or for his
own? Because Colonel Faversham was by way of winning Bridget, or
because he himself had consequently lost her?
"So am I," murmured Carrissima.
"I can't help seeing," Mark continued, "that I am responsible in a way.
If I hadn't mentioned her name at Phoebe's that evening I was late for
dinner you would never have gone to Golfney Place, and Bridget would
never have crossed Colonel Faversham's path."
"How devoutly I wish she hadn't," said Carrissima. "But what can
anybody do? It is a day after the fair. She has the game in her hands
if she cares to play it. The astonishing thing is that she has waited
so long."
"I wonder," exclaimed Mark, "whether I should find her at home."
"If so she is scarcely likely to be alone. The only way to make
certain of catching her without father is to go soon after breakfast or
after dinner."
"I will go this evening," said Mark.
"What for?" asked Carrissima.
"You see," he answered, "I'm a bad hand at sitting still with my hands
in my pockets. I suppose surgery makes one think something can always
be attempted."
"Still," suggested Carrissima, with a smile, "you can scarcely dream of
going to Golfney Place and asking Bridget's intentions!"
"The Lord knows!" said Mark. "I shall see how the cat jumps. Anyhow,
I am bound to have a look in."
"I shall feel curious to hear how you get along," answered Carrissima.
"And now suppose we banish the topic. Can't we talk about something
more agreeable? I am afraid I have been making my poor father a little
uncomfortable at home. Mark, I am developing into a little beast."
On the contrary, he thought she had never looked more charming. It is
probable that their recent separation caused him to regard Carrissima
more favourably than when he used to meet her, as a matter of course,
once or twice every week. He had not seen her face for longer than a
month, then only once after two or three months' separation. She came
upon him now as a kind of revelation, the more because of her obvious
anxiety on account of Colonel Faversham. For years he had ever found
her bright and equable; the best of good comrades, but this afternoon
their intercourse seemed for the first time to be touched by emotion.
"Tell me about your plans for the future--if you have made any,"
Carrissima urged.
"Oh, I'm always making plans," he returned, and began to explain his
intention to lookout for rooms in the neighbourhood of Harley
Street--that medical bazaar.
While still at Saint Josephine's Hospital he had made the acquaintance
of Mr. Randolph Messeter, a man considerably older than himself; an
eminent surgeon, who had more than once invited Mark to dinner.
Randolph Messeter frequently came to Saint Josephine's to operate, and
on such occasions Mark always administered the anaesthetic. Messeter
had more than hinted that he might be able to put some work in Mark's
way, and the intention was that he should specialize as an
anaesthetist, at the same time waiting for ordinary patients.
Carrissima listened with the deepest interest, knowing, however, that
his resources would be taxed to the utmost for some time to come. That
he would make his way before very long she did not doubt for an
instant, but how convenient he would in the meantime find her own
income of eight hundred pounds a year!
How willingly, too, would she place it at his service! When he rose to
go away she wished that it were possible to keep him out of Bridget's
reach, because she could not fail to recollect Lawrence's plainly
expressed opinion.
Could it be possible, she wondered, after Mark had left the house, that
Bridget had two strings to her bow? Was she holding Colonel Faversham
on and off until Mark's return to London? Did she intend to make a
last bid for the younger man, and if he eluded her to fall back on the
older one?
For this supposition, however, there was only Lawrence's word, and for
her own part Carrissima would have been sorry if the world were quite
the rabbit warren which, in spite of his own remarkable domestic
felicity, her brother appeared to think it.