CRAWFORD'S HOME.
The third and last day of William Crawford's visit to Welford was
devoted to the business of his wife's property. The rents had not been
collected for a couple of months, and before he returned in the
evening he had upwards of a hundred pounds in his possession. Some of
the tenants paid quarterly; the rents of the smaller ones were due
weekly, but it had been the custom of the estate not to apply for the
latter until four weeks outstanding. The neighbourhood, though poor,
was for a place of its class eminently solvent, owing to the gas-house
and the railway. Of course these was no difficulty with the stores, or
wharves, or yards, or better class of houses; and even the poorer
tenants could not afford to get into arrears or treat a landlord
unjustly, for such matters might come to the ears of either of the
great companies, and do the delinquent harm.
It was almost sundown when Crawford reached his lodgings. Layard had
come in and gone out again, and Hetty was alone in their sitting-room.
She had just come down from little Freddie, who, after a valiant fight
against Billy Winkers, had at last succumbed. Crawford saw Hetty at
the window, and motioned that he wished to speak with her.
"Mr. Layard out?" asked he, after greetings.
"Yes," said the girl; "the evening was so lovely, he said he'd go for
a walk."
"The evening is lovely, no doubt," said he; "but is there such a thing
as a tolerable walk within reasonable distance?"
Hetty had opened the sitting-room door, and now stood on the
threshold.
"There is no nice walk quite close, but Alfred often goes for a stroll
to Greenwich Park. That is not far off, you know, and the air there is
so sweet and pure after the heat and unpleasantness of the works all
day."
She thought he was speaking merely out of politeness, and, believing
he wished to be gone, drew back a little into the room.
He was in no great hurry to go upstairs. He knew what her movement
indicated, but he construed it differently.
"Am I invited to enter?" he asked suavely, bowing slightly, and making
a gesture of gallant humility with his arms and shoulders.
"Certainly," she said, smiling and making way for him. He did look a
powerful man, she thought, who could dare danger, and rescue and carry
out of the flames an invalid woman. He was not very handsome, it was
true, and there was something unusual about his restless eyes. But
perhaps that might be quite usual with heroes. She had never before
met a man who had rescued any one from death. She had not, that she
could remember, ever met a man, either, who had married a widow.
According to plays and satirists, the man who married a widow had more
courage than the man who would do no more than face death in a burning
house.
"I am sorry to have to trouble you about a little business matter--no,
thank you, I will not sit down, I shall run away in a minute--but, as
your brother is out, I fear I must intrude on your good nature, if you
will allow me."
His voice and manner were exceedingly soft and pleasant and
insinuating; not in the least like his voice and manner of the former
evening, when his manner was abrupt and his voice hard, if not harsh.
This speech somewhat disconcerted the girl. She felt sure he was going
to ask her to do something altogether beyond her abilities.
"Anything in my power, Mr. Crawford, I shall be very happy to do for
you."
"Thank you extremely. It is exceedingly kind of you to say so." He
spoke as though weighed down by a sense of his own unworthiness.
The girl began to feel embarrassed. Such profuse thanks rendered in
anticipation placed the obligation of gratitude on her shoulders. His
words and manner and gestures had already thanked her more than
sufficiently for anything she could do for him.
"I am going out this evening," he said, "and shall not be back until
very late--an hour too late even to mention to any well-ordered
person--and I do not wish to disturb any one when I come back."
"We, Alfred and I, always sit up very late."
"My dear Miss Layard, you could have no conception of the time at
which I may return. It may be three, four, five o'clock. I have to go
to see an old friend in the West End, and he will, in all likelihood,
keep me until the cocks have crowed themselves hoarse in full
daylight."
"Well," said she, gathering her brows and looking very uncomfortable
as she felt how helpless she was in a case of such mystery and
difficulty, "what can Alfred or I do for you?"
The grave aspect and manner of apology left his face and gestures all
at once, and he smiled, and with a light airy, humorous manner said,
"If there is such a thing as a latchkey, and your brother hasn't it
with him, will you lend it to me?"
The girl burst out laughing, partly from relief and partly from
enjoyment of this elaborate joke, and, going to the chimney piece,
handed him from it a key. "We had to get a new latch. Alfred has one
key. This is for you."
"Thank you. Good-night." And he went, shutting the door softly after
him.
William Crawford went to his own room and took off the quiet, sedate,
and somewhat shabby clothes in which he had arrived at Welford. He
washed, put on a fresh shirt and elegant laced boots, of much finer
make and more shiny than he had worn all day. He substituted a
coloured tie for the one of sober black, a blue frock-coat of
exquisite make, and over this a dark summer topcoat. When he surveyed
himself in the glass he looked ten years younger than when he came in
after the arduous labours of the day.
Of the money he had collected that day most was in notes or gold. He
dropped all the notes and gold into his pocket, and, having locked a
few cheques in his portmanteau, left the house quietly, as though not
wishing to attract attention.
When he reached Welford Road he looked up and down for a minute, and
muttering, "Pooh! No hope of a hansom in this place, of course!"
turned his face west, and began walking rapidly with his quick step.
Now and then he twitched his shoulders with suppressed energy;
constantly he swung his eyes from left to right, as though it would
not suit him to miss seeing anything on either side.
After a quarter-of-an-hour's walking he came to the beginning of a
tram line. He got into a car about to move. He took no notice of the
destination of the car. The car was going west--that was enough for
him.
In half-an-hour he reached a busy crossing where hansoms were
plentiful. He alighted here, hailed a cab, and was driven to a quiet
street off Piccadilly. He got down here, and proceeded on foot to a
still quieter cross street, finally entering a modest, unpretentious
house, the home of the Counter Club, a club which had nothing whatever
to do with the yard-stick or scales and weights, but where members
might amuse themselves at games in which no money changed hands at the
table, and was therefore blameless. All a member had to do before
beginning to play was to provide himself with counters, to be obtained
of the secretary for--a consideration. The reason why these counters
were used and not money, was because the games played here were games
of chance, and it is illegal to play games of chance for money. Very
elaborate precautions were taken by the committee to avoid any
confusion between the counters whose use, after the formality of
paying, was sanctioned by the secretary, and counters not issued by
him.
It was, as Crawford had predicted, long after sunrise when he opened
Layard's door with his latchkey. A good deal of the briskness and
energy of his manner a few hours ago was abated. When he found himself
in his sitting-room he flung his overcoat and hat on the table.
"Cleaned out, by Heavens!" he cried. "Is this accursed luck to last
for ever?"
Then he changed his clothes, putting on those he had worn the day
before, and took a chair at the open window of his sitting-room,
overlooking the canal.
Here he remained motionless, brooding gloomily until six o'clock. Then
he got up, wrote a line to Layard saying he had to go away early, and
would be back again on June 27. He left the house noiselessly, and
made his way partly on foot, partly by tramcar (for here the tramcars
run early), and partly by cab to Ludgate Hill, whence by train he
reached Richmond.
It was still early, about eight o'clock, when Crawford gained his own
home and let himself in. The servants were stirring. "Tell Mrs.
Crawford when she rings," said he to the housemaid, "that I have been
up all night, and have gone to lie down. Do not call me for
breakfast." Then he went to his dressing-room, kicked off his boots
with a curse, threw himself on the bed, and was asleep in five
minutes.
Noon came and went, and still he slept peacefully. Just as one o'clock
struck he awoke with a start, and sprang from the bed, threw off his
coat and waistcoat, rolled up his shirt-sleeves, washed his face and
hands, brushed his hair, and, when his coat and waistcoat were once
more on, opened the door leading to his wife's room and went in.
Mrs. Crawford was sitting in an armchair by the open window. She was a
pale, fragile, beautiful woman of seven-and-forty. Her eyes were
large, luminous, violet, and full of gentleness and love. Her lips
were remarkably beautiful and red for an invalid of her years. Her
smile was the softest and most engaging and endearing in all the
world. Nothing could exceed the tender loveliness of her face, or the
sweet cheerful resignation of her disposition. The mitigation of her
symptoms following the shock at the fire had not been permanent, and,
although on the day of her second marriage she had been well enough to
walk up the whole length of the church, she was now once more
incapable of moving across the room without help.
Upon the entrance of Crawford she turned her head quickly and smiled,
holding out her hands, saying:
"O, William, I am glad you're back! I am glad to see you once more. I
have been lonely. This is the longest time we have been separated
since our marriage."
He went to her and kissed her affectionately, first her lips and then
her forehead, and then her hair, now thickly shot with grey, but
abundant still. He drew a chair beside hers, and sat down, taking one
of her thin transparent hands in both his, and stroking it as though
it was made of the most fragile and precious material.
"And how has my Nellie been since?" he asked in a low caressing voice,
very different from the one Red Jim or Alfred Layard had heard, but
somewhat akin to the one in which he had apologised to Hetty the
evening before.
"Well--very well; but lonely. I hoped you would be able to get home,
dear, last night," she said, lying back in her chair and looking at
him out of her gentle violet eyes with an expression of absolute rest
and joy.
"So did I. So, indeed, I should, only for my ill luck. I am greatly
put out by my first visit to Welford, Nellie," he said, lowering his
brows and looking troubled.
"Put out, dear! Put out by your visit to Welford! What put you out,
William? I am very sorry you went. I am very sorry I let you go. I am
sorry we ever got rid of Blore, if the thing is going to be a bother
to you." Blore had been the agent before the advent of William
Crawford.
"O, no! You need not be sorry. I was not put out on account of myself,
but on account of you." He said this very tenderly, and with a gentle
pressure on the transparent wax-like fingers between his hands.
"On my account, William?" she said, with a smile rich in love and
satisfaction. "Why on my account, dear?"
"Well, because I have been disappointed in the results of my own
efforts. I could get very little money. Out of over two hundred pounds
overdue, upwards of a hundred of which is arrears, I got no more than
twenty pounds." He said this ruefully, keeping his gaze fixed out of
the window, as though ashamed to meet her eyes.
His wife laughed.
"Is that all? I thought you had met some unpleasantness to yourself
there. My dear William, don't let that trouble you. They will pay next
month or the month after. They are excellent tenants, taking them all
together."
"I daresay they _will_ pay next month. But I could not help feeling
disappointed and depressed in having to come back to you almost
empty-handed. This is all I succeeded in getting--twenty-seven pounds
ten."
He held out a little bundle to her.
With a laugh she pushed it away.
"It is yours, William, not mine. What have I to do with money now? You
know more about money than I do. You take care of me and of the money
for us. No, no; I will not touch it! Put it in the bank, or do what
you like with it. I and all that was mine is yours, love."
There was a rapture of self-sacrifice and devotion in the woman's
voice and manner. There was a prodigal richness of love and faith in
her eyes. She had not loved her first husband when she married him,
and during the years they had spent together no passionate love had
arisen in her heart, though she was fond of her husband and an
excellent wife. She had passed not only the morning, but the zenith of
life when she met this man; but to him she had given all that remained
to her of love and hope and all her faith, never shaken by any shock.
Crawford winced slightly. Even he drew the line somewhere. He would
rather battle stubbornly against odds for his way than sit still and
be overwhelmed with free and lavish gifts. He liked to win, but he
also liked to contend. He was passionately fond of money, and would
sacrifice almost anything to get it. He would not work for it, but he
would rather win it at cards than get it for nothing. If he had not
gambled away those eighty pounds last night, she would have given them
to him now. He felt a perverse gratitude that he was not beholden to
her for the eighty pounds. He had, as it were, earned those eighty
pounds by the deceit he had practised. But this money, which she had
refused to receive, burnt his fingers.
He took the money, however, and kissed her thin fragile hand, and
pressed it against his broad powerful chest.
"You are the best woman in the world, Nellie, and the dearest. These
fellows will, no doubt, pay next month. I wonder, if I asked Blore
about them, would he give me some information?"
"I always found Mr. Blore the most courteous and honest and
straightforward of men. If I were you I should see him."
"I will. And now let us drop business and talk about something more
interesting. Tell me to begin with, all that my good wife has been
doing while I have been away." He slipped his arm round her waist and
drew her head down upon his shoulder. His ways with men and women were
widely different. With the former he was quick, or abrupt, or
peremptory, or combative. He seemed to value his time at a price so
high that the speech of other men caused him an intolerable loss, by
reason of his having to listen to it.
With women he was soft and gentle, and even quietly humorous at times.
He never was restless or impatient. His manner was that of one who had
found out the condition of existence in which life could be most
delightfully passed, that of his companion's society; and if he did
not absolutely make love to a woman when alone with her, and this was
but seldom with one under fifty, he invariably implied that he would
rather have her society than the society of all the men on this earth.
He varied the details of his style according to the age, condition,
and disposition of his companion.
He could adopt the melancholic, the enthusiastic, the poetic manner,
according as circumstances and the subject demanded. Without any
striking physical advantages, he was a most fascinating man to women.
There was no false polish, no lacquer about him. He had no airs and
graces. He did not groan or simper. He never laid aside his manhood
for a moment. He did not beg so much as expostulate for love. His
love-making took the form of an irresistible argument. He thought no
mere about women than he did about hares or rabbits, or flowers. He
liked most women when they were not a trouble to him. They amused him.
He liked their graceful ways and their simple loyal hearts. He liked
their dainty raiment and their soft delicate hands. He liked the
perfumes they used and the flowers they wore. He liked most women, but
he had a contempt for all of them.
He hated all men.
He did not repudiate or despise principles, but he had none himself.
He nourished no theories as to what a man ought or ought not to do. He
troubled himself about no other men at all. He always did exactly what
he liked best, or believed to be best for his own interest. He had
banished everything like religion from his mind long ago. He did not
bother himself to ask whether there might or might not be a Hereafter.
He was quite certain there was a Here, and he had made up his mind to
make the best of it. In some senses of the word, he was no coward. He
would face a danger, even a risk, so long as he could see his way, and
all was in the full light of day and commonplace. But he was afraid of
the unseen: of the dagger or the bullet, of ghosts and supernatural
manifestations. He was a gambler, and, like all gamblers,
superstitious.
Twenty years ago he had been placed in the counting-house of a
first-class Liverpool place of business. His mother was then dead, his
father living. John Ainsworth--that was the name with which he started
in life--was an only child. His father had saved a few thousand pounds
as manager of a line of steamboats.
Young Ainsworth went to the bad before he was twenty-five, and was
kicked out of his situation. The shock killed his father, who was an
old man. There was no will, and young Ainsworth got his father's money
and went betting on the turf, and when there were no races he devoted
his energies to cards. It was on his way back from a great Sussex
race-meeting that he came upon the quiet little town of Beechley, and
first met Kate Ray. He was then past thirty years of age, and had been
moderately successful on the turf and on the board of green cloth. In
Beechley he concealed the nature of his occupation, stayed there a
month or two, and won the giddy heart of the beautiful Kate Ray. But
her brother would not listen to him, and Kate, who would have a little
money when she came of age, was a minor and in the hands of guardians,
who would have nothing to do with him either. So Ainsworth, being by
no means insensible to the money Kate would come into at twenty-one,
drew off for a while, promising Kate to come back later.
Two whole years passed before John Ainsworth again appeared at
Beechley. By this time the flighty and beautiful girl had married
Frank Mellor, who had just inherited a considerable fortune upon the
death of an old miserly bachelor grand-uncle, that had lived all his
life in London, and made money in the Baltic trade.
Then, out of a spirit of pure revenge, Ainsworth secretly pursued
Kate, and worked upon her fickle and weak nature until she fled with
him, taking her baby boy, Frank Mellor's child.
After three years that child had been restored to his father, while
the mother lay dying at good Mrs. Pemberton's, a rifle-shot from
Boland's Ait and the office of John Ainsworth, who had assumed the
name of Crawford.