LAWRENCE SUMS IT UP
The ensuing few hours proved the most restless of Carrissima's life.
At luncheon she could scarcely concentrate her thoughts sufficiently to
listen to the explanation of Colonel Faversham's plans for the
forthcoming tour abroad, and afterwards she retired to her own room,
where she made a valiant attempt to persuade herself that as the
mountain would not come to Mahomet, Mahomet must go to the mountain.
It required, however, considerable courage to follow Bridget's advice
and send Mark a letter, and when at last she succeeded in silencing her
doubts, she scarcely knew what to say to him. Hitherto, in all her
dealings with Mark, she had felt uncertain (to say the least) about his
regard. Now, if Bridget were to be credited, there remained no room
for disbelief. Mark loved her! In spite of that compromising
situation which she had witnessed, he loved her.
If this were the case, nothing else seemed to be of any importance.
Carrissima was prepared to condone an offence, the importance of which,
she supposed, she had exaggerated; and perhaps if she were to make
herself more abject, he would grasp the olive branch. As Bridget
suggested, what did it matter so that they came together at last?
Granting his love, as there could be no doubt about her own, it would
be sheer foolishness to allow the present unfortunate estrangement to
continue.
So she took a pen presently, and after profound consideration succeeded
in writing the few necessary words--
"MY DEAR MARK,
"Will you be magnanimous and spare me a few minutes after dinner this
evening?
"Yours very sincerely,
"CARRISSIMA."
The mountain in labour having brought forth a mouse, Carrissima put on
her hat and set out, intending personally to post the letter. There
would be ample time. He would receive it before seven o'clock, and, it
was to be hoped, reach Grandison Square soon after nine. She
determined to be on the watch for his arrival, in order to take him to
some unoccupied room. Well, what then? she wondered, as she drew near
the pillar-box. What could she do but repeat the assurance already
given that she had never really believed what she told Sybil
Clynesworth--or at the worst only for a few seconds.
Bridget, presumably, expected her to employ some feminine wiles to
bring Mark to a more amenable condition, but there Carrissima drew the
line. Within reach of the pillar-box, she took the letter in both
hands, tore it into a dozen pieces and scattered them to the winds.
She would not, after all, make any definite appointment. If Mark loved
her he was not likely to change, and everything must eventually come
right; if he did not, why, in that case she could not do aught to
improve the existing condition of things, even if she would. Time
might, unassisted, enable him to judge her more leniently. If she did
not meet him before she left England, he could scarcely fail, sooner or
later, to cross her path after her return. In the meantime, rather
miserably, she began her preparations; and, as it happened, she was to
depart two days after Bridget's marriage.
Although this had been arranged to take place very quietly at the
church which Sybil so regularly attended, a good many of Jimmy's
friends seemed to hear of the affair. Small as the wedding-party was
(although it included the Misses Dobson), a large congregation gathered
together. Mark was present, at the rear of the church; but although
Carrissima hesitated, she conquered her curiosity and stayed away.
Going to Charteris Street the same afternoon, she found Lawrence in a
mood to moralize.
"Well," he remarked, "they are a lively pair, Jimmy and this wife of
his!"
"Yes, they will at least be that," returned Carrissima. "After all, I
suppose it's something to the good, and they're certain to get along
splendidly together."
"They will flourish like the green bay tree," exclaimed Lawrence.
"Oh, don't be a Pharisee!" said Carrissima.
"I am a man of common-sense," he protested. "We all know Jimmy! The
only astonishing thing is that he was not too experienced a bird to be
so easily caught."
"Perhaps he was willing to meet his fate," suggested Phoebe.
"Not a doubt about it," said her husband. "So complete was his
beguilement."
"You entirely ignore the possibility that Bridget may be sincerely fond
of him," said Carrissima.
"Just as she was fond first of Mark, then of father," retorted
Lawrence. "You must admit that she angled for each in turn, and that
she finally chose the richest."
"Oh dear, yes," said Carrissima. "What is more, she would make the
same admission herself."
"A little barefaced," remarked Phoebe.
"Anyhow," Carrissima insisted, "I believe that Bridget simply fell in
love with Jimmy, and that was why she altered her course."
"Rotten sentimentality!" exclaimed Lawrence. "The curse of the age.
Oh, there's no doubt she was clever. She played her cards so well that
she succeeded in deceiving the principal looker-on as well as her
victim."
"Victim or not," said Carrissima, "I positively can't feel sorry for
Jimmy."
"Neither can I," cried Lawrence. "I always find it difficult to pity a
fool. Anyhow, I hope you have done with her," he added.
"Lawrence would not let me send Jimmy a present," said Phoebe.
"Certainly not," was the answer. "The whole mischief," he continued,
facing his sister, "was brought about by the first visit you paid to
Golfney Place."
"Oh well," said Carrissima, "there will scarcely be a question of my
patronizing her in the future. You see, Mrs. Clynesworth will be a
quite important personage."
"We have every reason to be thankful she isn't Mrs. Faversham,"
returned Lawrence. "For the rest, it's just the way of the world."
So he dismissed the topic, and a few minutes later Phoebe inquired
whether Carrissima had seen anything of Mark during the last few days.
"He really looks ill," she insisted. "He was here yesterday, and I
thought he had come to make an appointment to see the new carpet. He
spoke about it the last time, but when I suggested we should go before
you left England, he said he was afraid he should be too busy. I fancy
he is bothered about Sir Wilford Scones."
Carrissima did not see him again before her departure, and she was
absent with Colonel Faversham six weeks. As Lawrence had taken a
cottage in the country for the benefit of Victor, Carrissima, on her
return to Grandison Square, stood no chance of meeting Mark in
Charteris Street. As a matter of fact, he did not cross her path again
until after she came back from her usual round of country-house visits
at the end of October, with the intention of settling down for what
promised to prove a dreary winter.
Her former avocations had lost their zest; life seemed to have become
flat, stale and unprofitable. She longed for some kind of change,
although she knew not what. At Charteris Street, whither Phoebe had by
this time returned, the only news of Mark was that he had spent six
weeks mountain-climbing in Switzerland. Lawrence complained of his
brother-in-law's neglect.
"Phoebe is his only sister," he said one afternoon, during the first
week of November. "The least he might do is to come and see her now
and then. I say nothing about myself."
"I have only seen Mark once for five minutes since he came back," added
Phoebe.
"When was that?" asked Carrissima.
"Last week----"
"And," suggested Lawrence, "I don't imagine he would have taken the
trouble then if he hadn't wanted you to do something for him."
"You see, Carrissima," Phoebe explained, "Dr. Bunbury's wife and
daughter are coming on a visit to London for a few weeks. Mark has
promised to play cicerone, and he is anxious I shall call and invite
the Bunburys here. Of course I told him I should be quite pleased. By
the bye," Phoebe added, "I met Sybil Clynesworth the other day. She
said that Jimmy and his wife would soon be home."
"They are still living together," said Lawrence.
They had not returned to England since their wedding, and it seemed
that Bridget had passed entirely out of Carrissima's life, after
occupying a considerable space in it for many weeks. Whatever the
future might prove concerning her influence over Jimmy, it certainly
appeared that she had brought nothing but mischief upon the household
in Grandison Square.
Colonel Faversham had never been quite the same man since that morning
he went to Number 5, Golfney Place, and found that Bridget had
departed. Signs of age had become suddenly visible; he devoted his
life less to golf, and spent far more time at home--not an unmitigated
advantage to his daughter.
As for Carrissima, she did her best to take a calm survey of the
situation, but without being able to understand why Mark continued to
sulk in his tent. If he really loved her, surely he would before now
have admitted his own fault and made allowances for the momentary
indiscretion which was provoked by Carrissima's knowledge of it.
As a matter of fact, Mark felt as deeply vexed with himself as with
her. But for his own lamentable weakness, he might have proved more
tolerant of Carrissima's shortcoming; the circumstance that his own
withers were wrung, made a _rapprochement_ less likely. There were
moments when he wished that he had taken a different line from the
beginning; but having already held aloof from Grandison Square so long,
it became increasingly difficult to venture near the house.
Carrissima, who had not seen his face for several months, met him with
Mrs. Bunbury and her daughter in Regent Street, and promptly came to
the conclusion that his younger companion might prove quite dangerously
attractive. At least, she presented a striking contrast to Bridget,
being very quietly dressed, with dark hair, large "saucer" eyes, and a
general appearance of demureness.
Phoebe had, as Carrissima knew, formed an exceedingly favourable
opinion of Mary Bunbury, who had dined with her mother and Mark in
Charteris Street. Carrissima wondered that she had not been invited to
meet them, and realized that a year ago she would have been the first
person to whom Mark appealed to help in their entertainment. Instead
of taking advantage of the present encounter in Regent Street to
introduce her, he passed on with a bow. His face did not wear a smile
and Carrissima was left with the impression that she remained
unforgiven. To tell the truth, his behaviour aroused rebellious
feelings in her breast; because, after all, she was not the only or the
original sinner.
So that each was going a separate way, Mark's (by no means
disagreeable) leading him on innumerable expeditions with Mary Bunbury,
when the god stepped out of the machine.