"A quick bracer," said Algy Martyn, "and then the jolly old food-stuffs. It"s pretty late, I see. Didn"t notice how time was slipping."
Over the soup, Freddie was still a prey to gloom. For once the healing gin-and-vermouth had failed to do its n.o.ble work. He sipped sombrely, so sombrely as to cause comment from his host.
"Pipped?" enquired Algy solicitously.
"Pretty pipped," admitted Freddie.
"Backed a loser?"
"No."
"Something wrong with the old tum?"
"No.... Worried."
"Worried?"
"About Derek."
"Derek? Who"s...? Oh, you mean Underhill?"
"Yes."
Algy Martyn chased an elusive piece of carrot about his soup plate, watching it interestedly as it slid coyly from the spoon.
"Oh?" he said, with sudden coolness. "What about him?"
Freddie was too absorbed in his subject to notice the change in his friend"s tone.
"A dashed unpleasant thing," he said, "happened yesterday morning at my place. I was just thinking about going out to lunch, when the door-bell rang and Barker said a chappie of the name of Mason would like to see me. I didn"t remember any Mason, but Barker said the chappie said he knew me when I was a kid. So he loosed him into the room, and it turned out to be a fellow I used to know years ago down in Worcestershire. I didn"t know him from Adam at first, but gradually the old bean got to work, and I placed him. Wally Mason his name was.
Rummily enough, he had spoken to me at the Leicester that night when the fire was, but not being able to place him, I had given him the miss somewhat. You know how it is. Cove you"ve never been introduced to says something to you in a theatre, and you murmur something and sheer off. What?"
"Absolutely," agreed Algy Martyn. He thoroughly approved of Freddie"s code of etiquette. Sheer off. Only thing to do.
"Well, anyhow, now that he had turned up again and told me who he was, I began to remember. We had been kids together, don"t you know.
(What"s this? Salmon? Oh, right ho.) So I buzzed about and did the jovial host, you know; gave him a drink and a toofer, and all that sort of thing; and talked about the dear old days and what not. And so forth, if you follow me. Then he brought the conversation round to Jill. Of course he knew Jill at the same time when he knew me, down in Worcestershire, you see. We were all pretty pally in those days, if you see what I mean. Well, this man Mason, it seems, had heard somewhere about Jill losing her money, and he wanted to know if it was true. I said absolutely. Hadn"t heard any details, but Ronny had told me, and Ronny had had it from some one who had stable information and all that sort of thing. "Dashed shame, isn"t it?" I said. "She"s gone to America, you know." "I didn"t know," he said. "I understood she was going to be married quite soon." Well, of course, I told him that that was off. He didn"t say anything for a bit, then he said "Off?" I said "Off." "Did she break it off?" asked the chappie. "Well, no," I said.
"As a matter of fact Derek broke it off." He said "Oh!" (What? Oh yes, a bit of pheasant will be fine.) Where was I? Oh, yes. He said "Oh!"
Now, before this, I ought to tell you, this chappie Mason had asked me to come out and have a bit of lunch. I had told him I was lunching with Derek, and he said "Right ho," or words to that effect, "Bring him along." Derek had been out for a stroll, you see, and we were waiting for him to come in. Well, just at this point or juncture, if you know what I mean, in he came, and I said" Oh, what ho!" and introduced Wally Mason. "Oh, do you know Underhill?" I said, or something like that. You know the sort of thing. And then...."
Freddie broke off and drained his gla.s.s. The recollection of that painful moment had made him feverish. Social difficulties always did.
"Then what?" enquired Algy Martyn.
"Well, it was pretty rotten. Derek held out his hand, as a chappie naturally would, being introduced to a strange chappie, and Wally Mason, giving it an absolute miss, went on talking to me just as if we were alone, you know. Look here. Here was I, where this knife is.
Derek over here--this fork--with his hand out. Mason here--this bit of bread. Mason looks at his watch, and says "I"m sorry, Freddie, but I find I"ve an engagement for lunch. So long!" and biffed out, without apparently knowing that Derek was on the earth. I mean...." Freddie reached for his gla.s.s. "What I mean is, it was dashed embarra.s.sing. I mean, cutting a fellow dead in my rooms. I don"t know when I"ve felt so rotten!"
Algy Martyn delivered judgment with great firmness.
"Chappie was perfectly right!"
"No, but I mean...."
"Absolutely correct-o," insisted Algy sternly. "Underhill can"t dash about all over the place giving the girl he"s engaged to the mitten because she"s broke, and expect no notice to be taken of it. If you want to know what I think, old man, your pal Underhill--I can"t imagine what the deuce you see in him, but, school together and so forth, makes a difference, I suppose--I say, if you want to know what I think, Freddie, the blighter Underhill would be well advised either to leg it after Jill and get her to marry him or else lie low for a goodish while till people have forgotten the thing. I mean to say, fellows like Ronny and I and d.i.c.k Wimpole and Archie Studd and the rest of our lot--well, we all knew Jill and thought she was a topper and had danced with her here and there and seen her about and all that, and naturally we feel pretty strongly about the whole dashed business. Underhill isn"t in our particular set, but we all know most of the people he knows, and we talk about this business, and the thing gets about, and there you are! My sister, who was a great pal of Jill"s, swears that all the girls she knows mean to cut Underhill. I tell you, Freddie, London"s going to get pretty hot for him if he doesn"t do something dashed quick and with great rapidity!"
"But you haven"t got the story right, old thing!"
"How not?"
"Well, I mean you think and Ronny thinks and all the rest of you think that Derek broke off the engagement because of the money. It wasn"t that at all."
"What was it, then?"
"Well.... Well, look here, it makes me seem a fearful a.s.s and all that, but I"d better tell you. Jill and I were going down one of those streets near Victoria and a blighter was trying to slay a parrot...."
"Parrot-shooting"s pretty good in those parts, they tell me,"
interjected Algy satirically.
"Don"t interrupt, old man. This parrot had got out of one of the houses, and a fellow was jabbing at it with a stick, and Jill--you know what she"s like; impulsive, I mean, and all that--Jill got hold of the stick and biffed him with some vim, and a policeman rolled up and the fellow made a fuss and the policeman took Jill and me off to chokey. Well, like an a.s.s, I sent round to Derek to bail us out, and that"s how he heard of the thing. Apparently he didn"t think a lot of it, and the result was that he broke off the engagement."
Algy Martyn had listened to this recital with growing amazement.
"He broke it off because of that?"
"Yes."
"What absolute rot!" said Algy Martyn. "I don"t believe a word of it!"
"I say, old man!"
"I don"t believe a word of it," repeated Algy firmly.
"And n.o.body else will either. It"s dashed good of you, Freddie, to cook up a yarn like that to try and make things look better for the blighter, but it won"t work. Such a d.a.m.n silly story, too!" said Algy with some indignation.
"But it"s true!"
"What"s the use, Freddie, between old pals?" said Algy protestingly.
"You know perfectly well that Underhill"s a worm of the most p.r.o.nounced order, and that, when he found out that Jill hadn"t any money, he chucked her."
"But why should Derek care whether Jill was well off or not? He"s got enough money of his own."
"n.o.body," said Algy judicially, "has got enough money of his own.
Underhill thought he was marrying a girl with a sizable chunk of the ready, and, when the fuse blew out, he decided it wasn"t good enough.
For Heaven"s sake don"t let"s talk any more about the blighter. It gives me a pain to think of him."
II
Freddie returned to the Albany in a state of gloom and uneasiness.