"She would like a shot," cried Adrian; "but I won"t let her. How can I allow her to rush to the martyrdom of married misery on four hundred a year, which I don"t even earn?"
I looked at my watch. "It"s time, my friends," said I, "to dress for dinner. Afterwards we can continue the discussion. In the meanwhile I"ll order up some of the "89 Pol Roger so that we can drink to the success of the book."
"The "89 Pol Roger?" cried Adrian. "A man with "89 Pol Roger in his cellar is the n.o.blest work of G.o.d!"
"I was thinking," Barbara remarked drily, "of asking Doria to spend a few days here next week."
"All I can say is," he retorted, with his quick turn and smile, "that you are the Divinity Itself."
So, a short time afterwards, a very happy Adrian sat down to dinner and brought a cultivated taste to the appreciation of a now, alas!
historical wine, under whose influence he expanded and told us of the genesis and the making of "The Diamond Gate."
Now it is a very odd coincidence, one however which had little, if anything, to do with the curious entanglement of my friend"s affairs into which I was afterwards drawn, but an odd coincidence all the same, that on pa.s.sing from the dining room with Adrian to join Barbara in the drawing room, I found among the last post letters lying on the hall table one which, with a thrill of pleasure, I held up before Adrian"s eyes.
"Do you recognise the handwriting?"
"Good Lord!" cried he. "It"s from Jaffery Chayne. And"--he scanned the stamp and postmark--"from Cettinje. What the deuce is he doing there?"
"Let us see!" said I.
I opened the letter and scanned it through; then I read it aloud.
"Dear Hilary,
"A line to let you know that I"m coming back soon. I haven"t quite finished my job--"
"What was his job?"
"Heaven knows," I replied. "The last time I heard from him he was cruising about the Sarga.s.so Sea."
I resumed my reading.
"--for the usual reason, a woman. If it wasn"t for women what a thundering amount of work a man could get through. Anyhow--I"m coming back, with an enc.u.mbrance. A wife. Not my wife, thank Olympus, but another man"s wife--"
"Poor old devil!" cried Adrian. "I knew he would come a mucker one of these days!"
"Wait," said I, and I read--
"--poor Prescott"s wife. I don"t think you ever knew Prescott, but he was a good sort. He died of typhoid. Only quaggas and yaks and other iron-gutted creatures like myself can stand Albania. I"m escorting her to England, so look out for us. How"s everybody? Do you ever hear of Adrian? If so, collar him. I want to work the widow off on him. She has a goodish deal of money and is a kind of human dynamo. The best thing in the world for Adrian."
Adrian confounded the fellow. I continued--
"Prepare then for the Dynamic Widow. Love to Barbara, the fairy gra.s.shopper--"
"Who"s that?"
"My daughter, Susan Freeth. The last time he saw her, she was hopping about in a green jumper--Barbara would give you the elementary costume"s commercial name."
"--and yourself," I read. "By the way, do you know of a granite-built, iron-gated, portcullised, barbicaned, really comfortable home for widows?
Yours, Jaffery."
Without waiting for comment from Adrian, I went with the letter into the drawing room, he following. I handed it to Barbara, who ran it through.
"That"s just like Jaffery. He tells us nothing."
"I think he has told us everything," said I.
"But who and what and whence is this lady?"
"Goodness knows!" said I.
"Therefore, he has told us nothing," retorted Barbara. "My own belief is that she"s a Brazilian."
"But what," asked Adrian, "would a lone Brazilian female be doing in the Balkans?"
"Looking for a husband, of course," said Barbara.
And like all wise men when staggered by serene feminine a.s.severation we bowed our heads and agreed that nothing could be more obvious.
CHAPTER II
Some weeks pa.s.sed; but we heard no more of Jaffery Chayne. If he had planted his widow there, in Cettinje, and gone off to Central Africa we should not have been surprised. On the other hand, he might have walked in at any minute, just as though he lived round the corner and had dropped in casually to see us.
In the meantime events had moved rapidly for Adrian. Everybody was talking about his book; everybody was buying it. The rare phenomenon of the instantaneous success of a first book by an unknown author was occurring also in America. Golden opinions were being backed by golden cash. Adrian continued to draw on his publishers, who, fortunately for them, had an American house. Antic.i.p.ating possible alluring proposals from other publishers, they offered what to him were dazzling and fantastic terms for his next two novels. He accepted. He went about the world wearing Fortune like a halo. He achieved sudden fame; fame so widespread that Mr. Jornicroft heard of it in the city, where he promoted (and still promotes) companies with monotonous success. The result was an interview to which Adrian came wisely armed with a note from his publisher as to sales up to date, and the amazing contract which he had just signed. He left the house with a father"s blessing in his ears and an affianced bride"s kisses on his lips. The wedding was fixed for September. Adrian declared himself to be the happiest of G.o.d"s creatures and spent his days in joy-sodden idleness. His mother, with tears in her eyes, increased his allowance.
The book that created all this commotion, I frankly admit, held me spellbound. It deserved the highest encomiums by the most enthusiastic reviewers. It was one of the most irresistible books I had ever read. It was a modern high romance of love and pity, of tears iridescent with laughter, of strong and beautiful though erring souls; it was at once poignant and tender; it vibrated with drama; it was instinct with calm and kindly wisdom. In my humility, I found I had not known my Adrian one little bit. As the shepherd of old who had a sort of patronizing affection for the irresponsible, dancing, flute-playing, goat-footed creature of the woodland was stricken with panic when he recognised the G.o.d, so was I convulsed when I recognised the genius of my friend Adrian. And the fellow still went on dancing and flute-playing and I stared at him open-mouthed.
Mr. Jornicroft, who was a widower, gave a great dinner party at his house in Park Crescent, in honour of the engagement. My wife and I attended, fishes somewhat out of water amid this brilliant but solid a.s.sembly of what it pleased Barbara to call "merchantates." She expressed a desire to shrink out of the glare of the diamonds; but she wore her grandmother"s pearls, and, being by far the youngest and prettiest matron present, held her own with the best of them. There were stout women, thin women, white-haired women, women who ought to have been white-haired, but were not; sprightly and fashionable women; but besides Barbara, the only other young woman was Doria herself.
She took us aside, as soon as we were released from the formal welcome of Mr. Jornicroft, a thickset man with a very bald head and heavy black moustache.
"The sight of you two is like a breath of fresh air. Did you ever meet with anything so stuffy?"
Now, considering that all these prosperous folks had come to do her homage I thought the remark rather ungracious.
"It"s apt to be stuffy in July in London," I said.
She laid her hand on Barbara"s wrist and pointed at me with her fan.
"He thinks he"s rebuking me. But I don"t care. I"m glad to see him all the same. These people mean nothing but money and music-halls and bridge and restaurants--I"m so sick of it. You two mean something else."
"Don"t speak sacrilegiously of restaurants, even though you are going to marry a genius," said I. "There is one in Paris to which Adrian will take you straight--like a homing bird."