"Mr. Ferroll? I found him very entertaining," I replied.
"I thought he seemed decidedly impressed by you. He scarcely kept his eyes off you all through dinner. I don"t blame him, for you were looking your best. d.u.c.h.ess of Clyde! You might do worse, Virginia. They say he is anxious to marry."
"So Mrs. Tremaine informed me."
"Did she really? That was very amiable of her, especially as you are a stranger, and there must be plenty of girls in whom she is interested, who are setting their caps for him. I could not help thinking at dinner what a handsome pair you would make."
"One would suppose you were in earnest from your serious tone, Aunt Helen."
"And so I am, so I am, quite in earnest. Of course I should wish to know a little more definitely about him before anything final was arranged.
But from what I hear, there can be no question in regard to his t.i.tle.
If there were the slightest suspicion of anything out of the way concerning it, he would never have been at Mrs. Tremaine"s, who is a very particular woman, and knows what she knows. He seems, so far as I could judge, to be a manly, right-minded young man. He told me that he shot three tigers in India, and I observed that he took scarcely any wine at dinner. It won"t do though, Virginia, to dilly-dally, for I am given to understand that he leaves in a fortnight for California, to explore the West. But he is coming back to spend several months next winter, and if you do not throw cold water on him now, he may feel disposed to run on to Boston, in spite of the efforts that will be made to keep him here."
"I feel very certain," said I, "that he will come to Boston for a few days, as he has letters to Aunt Agnes."
"To your Aunt Agnes? What do you mean, child?" In her astonishment I thought she was going to bounce out of the carriage.
"I don"t wonder you are surprised. Yes, the first question he asked was if I were not the niece of Miss Agnes Harlan, of Boston. It seems that she and his father made an ocean pa.s.sage together a great many years ago, when they were both young, and the acquaintance has been kept up by correspondence ever since."
"Mercy on us! Your Aunt Agnes has never said a word to me about it."
"The Honorable Ernest"s father is quite literary, and has written one or two books on philosophy, his son says."
"That accounts for it, of course. Well, well! to think of your Aunt Agnes being intimate with one of the n.o.bility, and having never mentioned the subject! I have always given her credit for being an agreeable woman at bottom, if one could only forget her eccentricities.
But this is extremely fortunate for you, Virginia. To be sure, there is no knowing how your Aunt will receive him, she is so hostile to every one who is not as queer as herself. But she must see, if she is not a fool, what a very advantageous match this would be for you. It could do no harm just to drop Mr. Ferroll a hint to humor her a little, and seem fond of serious subjects at the start, for if she should happen to take it into her head to ask him to stay at her house it would be very convenient."
These sentiments were frequently reiterated by Aunt Helen during the remaining weeks of our visit, and it must be allowed that the attentions of the Honorable Ernest soon justified her urgency, seeing that she really believed it was a matter of vital importance for me to become the future d.u.c.h.ess of Clyde. Nor was I at all sure myself, that if nothing else turned up I might not be tempted by the brilliancy of such a position. Not that I thought about it quite so definitely; but I was conscious of the exceptional advantages incident to high rank in England, to the extent that I did not treat his gallantries with marked indifference. I let him reveal himself for what he was, which is not possible without a certain degree of intimacy. Beneath his conventional ways I discovered a great deal of energy and decision. He was well-read, and had his own opinions. On many of the days when I did not go down-town, I took strolls with him in the Park and elsewhere. We discussed all sorts and kinds of subjects. We did not often agree, but that rather added to the interest of our intercourse than otherwise. I was a curiosity to him, he said. He complained that I was too radical and visionary in my ideas, and that I was quite different from his conception of American girls. To be sure, he said, I was ready to do things,--that is, go to walk with him, and banish Aunt Helen when he called; but he had been told that American girls knew nothing about politics or any serious matters, and were princ.i.p.ally interested in the study of their inner consciousness as affected by man; whereas I was perpetually taking issue with him on questions of government policy and pauperism, driving him into holes in regard to the value of an hereditary n.o.bility and the dis-establishment of the English Church.
Women at home were not like that, he said. The men told them what to believe, and they stuck to it through thick and thin; but voluntary feminine ratiocination was the rarest thing in the world among his countrywomen. As for himself, he was a conservative,--a conservative without money. Money was all he needed to build up the splendid estates of Clyde, which had been slowly decaying for this lack during two generations. His chief ambition was to retouch and refurbish the broad domain of his inheritance, so that its lordly manors, ivy-mantled abbeys, and green meadows might know again the peace, poetry, and prosperity of an ideal English home. There would then for the lord of Clyde be happiness and romance equalled by none on earth. For, eager to benefit his fellow-men, he would have within the radius of his own estate a hundred cabins to call in play his invention or humanity; and with one"s conscience at rest, he said, could there be a purer joy than to wander with her of one"s choice under the ancestral elms of old England, with the September moon o"erhead?
This was the Honorable Ernest"s dream; but to realize it, he must make money. He had come to the States, so he told me when we grew more intimate, in order to seek it. There were great chances in the far West for a shrewd man with a little capital, and to find some investment that promised large returns was the real object of his journey thither.
Already, even since his arrival in New York, he had done extremely well. There was a smart (so he had heard him called) young fellow who had put him into several profitable speculations: very likely I might know him,--Roger Dale was his name; every one said he had made a lot of money, and was one of the coming men of Wall Street. I was kindly to consider this as a confidence, for he did not care to have it noised about that he was other than an idler here.
The Honorable Ernest Ferroll"s attentions, as I have implied, grew apace from the evening of our introduction, and soon attracted remark. There was an instant recognition of the fitness of the match even from the most envious, and Aunt Helen was the recipient of numerous congratulatory innuendoes. The circ.u.mstance of his delaying the date of his journey a week confirmed the general impression of his serious views, and even I began to feel some pangs of conscience on the score of allowing him to fancy that if he did come to the point I should accept him eagerly. In contemplation of this emergency I felt that it was time for me to go home. We both would then have six months in which to think it over. When he should return from the West, it would be time enough for me to come to a decision as to whether I desired to re-gild the poetry of his English home. I was certain that if he insisted on an immediate answer my reply would be unfavorable. But I much preferred to defer any definite proposal; and accordingly, with all the tact at my command, I tried to avoid giving him an opportunity of being left alone with me for any length of time, without making it noticeable to him.
Finally, as he seemed likely to become unmanageable despite my precautions, and as he put off again and again his day of departure, I resolved to take refuge in flight.
When I communicated this to Aunt Helen she said I was crazy. The idea of returning home just on the eve of realization seemed to her preposterous; she would not hear of it. But I was equally firm, and announced my intention of leaving on the morrow.
But before I went, I wished to have one more glimpse of the condition of the banking-house of Francis Prime and Company; and in order to make my scrutiny as thorough as possible I planned not to return until dark. I was curious to get a close look at my hero, and this seemed most feasible when he was leaving the office for the day. At that time there would be little likelihood of any one noticing me, if I stood by the door as he came out.
The afternoon pa.s.sed without incident, save that I saw the Honorable Ernest Ferroll go into Mr. Dale"s office, where he remained some time.
He happened to meet me face to face on the street, but I justly had acquired by this time complete faith in my disguise. He betrayed no sign of recognition, and the flush that rose to my cheeks was a badge of quite unnecessary alarm. The hours slipped by, and the street grew still. The gas was lighted in the inner offices, and few but clerks, figuring up the profits or losses of the day, were left down-town. It was getting dark, and I was growing impatient. I sat down in the door-way of the building next adjoining, to rest. I had purposely made myself look as dilapidated as possible, and the natural presumption in the mind of any one would have been that I was friendless and needy, for I felt tired enough to make a weary air very natural at the moment.
As it chanced, my old enemy the policeman came sauntering by, and his cold eye fell on me with a chilling scrutiny. He stopped and said:--
"Didn"t I tell you to move on, young woman? We don"t want the likes of you loafing about here."
"I am tired and resting. I am waiting for some one," I answered, too much alarmed to take much account of my words.
"Yes, I dare say. He"s forgotten to keep his engagement, and has gone home for the day. He asked me himself to tell you so. Come, move on, and don"t let me see you hanging around any more, or I"ll find an engagement for you that will last sixty days. Come, march!"
"Sir!" I exclaimed in a tone of indignation, having partially recovered my presence of mind, "what right have you to insult a lady? I tell you I have business here. If you don"t instantly leave me, I will have you discharged to-morrow!"
"Do, my beauty! and lest you should oversleep yourself in the morning, and not be on hand to keep your word, come with me now."
He reached out his hand to seize me by the arm, and all my fears returned. But at that instant I heard a voice, and to my mingled relief and consternation the face of Francis Prime appeared over my tormentor"s shoulder.
"What is the matter, officer?"
"Nothing, your honor, except this here young woman. She"s for reporting me, she is, and losing me my situation. But as I happen to have seen her congregating by herself mostly every day for the past fortnight around these offices, I thought I"d run her in as a disreputable lot, and we"d see who"s who."
"Oh, sir!--Mr. Prime!" I cried, forgetting my discretion in the excitement of the moment, "don"t let him take me off! What he says isn"t true. I"m a lady--that is, a poor girl who"s perfectly honest, and is trying to earn her living."
"A nice lady you are, trying to lose hardworking folks their situations!"
"You called me by name," said Mr. Prime. "Do you know me? Come here Ike!" The dog was sniffing around my feet.
"Yes, sir--no--that is, I have seen you come out of your office."
He looked at me searchingly, and turned to the policeman. "What was she doing when you arrested her?"
"Indeed, sir," I broke in, "I was merely sitting here resting myself, when this--this man spoke to me. I was doing nothing wrong."
"You hear what she says, officer. What is your charge against her?"
"Promiscuous and unlawful congregating by herself, your Honor. When a young woman as swears she"s honest, goes peeking into other folks"s windows after dark, I always has my suspicions,--as you would too, if you had been in the business as long as I have. It wa"n"t more than a week ago that I caught her with her nose against that plate-gla.s.s window of yours, and I told her then to move on. But she didn"t; and the next thing we shall be hearing some fine morning, that there"s been breaking and entering done."
Frightened as I was, I could not help blushing.
"Why were you looking into my office?" said Mr. Prime. "It doesn"t seem a very serious offence," he added, turning to the officer.
"It ain"t murder, and it ain"t arson, that"s flat," observed that functionary; "but we don"t draw no such fine distinctions in our profession. If we did, the judges would have nothing to do."
The colloquy gave me time to think up an answer. I was in a tight place, and it would not do to mince matters. Mr. Prime turned back to me with an air of inquiry.
"I was wondering, sir, when I looked into your window, if there were any use in my applying for work."
"Are you in want?" he asked.
"I am trying to find a place. I am without occupation at present. The times are so hard it is almost impossible for an honest girl to find anything to do. I only want a chance."
He looked at me with a closer interest. Of course my voice and my features, after the first impression produced by my needy dress, must have puzzled an observer so intelligent as Mr. Prime.
"I believe the girl"s story," he said to the policeman. "I feel sure she is honest."
The man shrugged his shoulders. "A moment ago it was she was a lady, and waiting for somebody. But I ain"t particular, if you are ready to go bail for the young woman. Of course I"m only doing my duty; and if you are satisfied, your Honor, don"t blame me if you find your watch missing before you get home. I always keep a pair of twisters alongside of mine; and that"s why I thought she might be safer with me than with you."
With this oracular utterance, the official turned on his heel and departed, to my intense relief. I was fairly overcome with dread and mortification, and my eyes fell under the interested look of my rescuer.