Loveland spluttered a few colourful words, but was still too bewildered by the catastrophe to become volcanic. The eruption would follow later.
"What shall I do with the things, sir?" the valet wanted to know.
"Do with them?" repeated Loveland, exasperated by the creature"s calmness. "Pitch "em into the fire--get rid of them anyhow, out of my sight, and be quick about it. I"ve been robbed, by my own man."
Loveland seemed to hear these words spoken by an unknown voice, as if they had been uttered by a stranger, and instantly he accepted them as the solution of the mystery.
That was it! Foxham had robbed him. Foxham had not gone mad. Foxham was simply a scoundrel.
There was too much method in the planning of this trick, even for madness.
The careful arrangement of the cabin luggage, with all the right things in the right places, except for the jewel-case containing tie pins, sleeve links and shirt studs, which for five days Loveland had believed to have been stowed away somewhere else by mistake. The packing of the portmanteaux and boxes with a nice judgment as to their proper weight and the neatness of top layers; all this was too well thought out to be the work of a lunatic.
No wonder Foxham had not asked for wages in arrear. No wonder he suddenly developed a defunct grandfather with an eccentric will. From the moment he heard of the proposed trip to America, he must have been quietly planning this _coup_, a _coup_ worth making for the sake of the bran new wardrobe, to say nothing of the jewellery. And hot with rage, Loveland ran over in his mind the contents of that missing jewel-box.
The pearl studs which Lady Kitty Manning had given him on his last birthday--each one of the three worth fifty pounds, if it was worth a shilling. How he wished he had sold the things, as he had been tempted to do, and would have done, if they had not been the gift of a pretty woman! The diamond and enamel sleeve-links, too, and the sapphire b.u.t.tons; a hundred pounds more in Foxham"s pocket. Then the cravat pins, in two long rows on a white velvet background: Loveland could see them, as he had seen them last--a cherished collection representing not only so many golden sovereigns, but so many queens of beauty, the charming givers.
What a rogue to send his master off to a strange country, stripped practically naked; and how the master longed to have the rogue within kicking distance, instead of safe across the sea.
Forgotten faults of Foxham"s flashed back into his memory; small slynesses winked at, or condoned; rumoured "airs" a.s.sumed in the servants" hall at country houses; fibs found out and overlooked, because no other valet had Foxham"s skill and resourcefulness. Still--who would have expected such depravity?
If this blow had fallen on some other man, Loveland would have laughed, and chaffed him; but he was far from seeing his own predicament as a laughing matter. He was like a knight of old who, having journeyed to a far land to joust for a great prize, finds himself robbed of his armour. How was he to fight on the tilting ground of society, and bear away a millionairess, when his sole possessions consisted of what he stood up in, and the contents of a suit-case and a cabin trunk?
Luckily Foxham had not been able to annex his master"s letter of credit; but Val had uses for the hundred and fifty pounds other than buying a new outfit. How he wished now that he had not played Bridge quite so often on board ship, emptying his pockets of spare cash. The sc.r.a.pe he was in was as hard to win out of as a black London fog; and while groping for light, a mild question from the hotel valet did not sweeten his temper.
"Am I really to carry all these things away, sir?"
"Oh, go to the devil and take them with you!"
The servant--lest he remember that he had been born a man, and retaliate--bolted towards safety, with a leaning tower of Foxham"s garments on his arm. It was n.o.body"s business how he meant to dispose of them; and a second later he would have pa.s.sed the danger line, had not a page boy selected that identical instant to knock at Lord Loveland"s door.
Man and youth collided. The top-heavy pile of clothing crumbled into ruin, Foxham"s loathed shirts and waistcoats blotting out the threshold.
What the valet said, long habits of servitude rendered inaudible, but what Loveland said might have been heard at the end of the corridor. And there were listeners nearer: Major Cadwallader Hunter and a companion who "represented" one of New York"s leading newspapers.
CHAPTER TEN
The Valley of Disappointment
Major Cadwallader Hunter had been somewhat doubtful of his wisdom in paying this uninvited call. He had hinted that he might drop in at the Waldorf to see how Lord Loveland got on, and had not been encouraged to do so. But Tony Kidd of "New York Light" was a pretty good excuse for persevering, and he certainly had been badly in want of an excuse.
Having cast himself for the part of bear-leader it was imperative that Society should know who led the bear, whether the bear recognised his position or not.
Had he, like Loveland, been merely a guest in America, he would have left the ship"s dock when Lord Loveland left, and have been able to show all whom it concerned at the Waldorf-Astoria that Loveland was his property. But he was subjected by the dreaded Custom House officials to treatment very different from that meted out to the Englishman, being baited and bullied as if he were a bear instead of a bear-leader.
The detention, however, proved a blessing in disguise, for it gave him Mr. Anthony Kidd of "Light." The journalist, sent down by his paper to meet the _Mauretania_, had just exhausted the available supply of home-coming millionaires when he spied Major Cadwallader Hunter, and carelessly culled him by the way, as worth a short paragraph at the bottom of a column.
Cadwallader Hunter was glad of a paragraph anywhere, but thought he saw his way to one higher up, perhaps even with a headline. So he happened to mention "a connection of his," the Marquis of Loveland who had been on board, though, for reasons, the n.o.ble name did not appear on the pa.s.senger list, and Mr. Kidd took the bait. Loveland was described by his alleged cousin as a "dear boy," so handsome, so clever; one of the oldest peerages in England, et cetera, et cetera; in the Grenadier Guards, don"t you know, and all that sort of thing. Had gone on ahead to secure rooms at the Waldorf-Astoria, though invitations had been showered upon him by the best people on board ship. As soon as he could escape with life and luggage Cadwallader Hunter intended to pay a friendly call and inspect Lord Loveland"s new quarters.
Of course Mr. Kidd wanted to call, too, and get a "story" for his paper.
But at this suggestion the bear-leader shook his head. Charming fellow as Loveland was when you knew him, he was rather a difficult man to approach, and had some ridiculous prejudice against American pressmen.
Certainly, unless influence were brought to bear, he would refuse to see Mr. Kidd; but Cadwallader Hunter would like to do "Light" a good turn, and give the paper a chance for a "scoop." He would take Mr. Kidd under his wing, and use his persuasive powers to obtain some sort of an interview.
Perhaps there was more confidence in his manner than in his mind as he made this offer, for the bear"s leader had already seen the bear"s claws; but the risk was worth running. And when, arrived at the Waldorf, he had talked for a few minutes with pleasant condescension to a hotel clerk, his self-esteem had so risen that he no longer dreaded a cold reception.
Nor did he receive one. His welcome was, on the contrary, far warmer than he had expected, and the hot blast of Loveland"s wrath swept him back a step or two, so that he trod hard upon Tony Kidd"s most pampered toe.
A difficult young man to approach, indeed!
The representative of "New York Light" was a brilliant journalist with a keen sense of humour, and a headline jumped into his head as Cadwallader Hunter stamped upon his toe. "A Difficult Young Man to Approach." He thought he saw his way to something rather choice for tomorrow morning"s "Light."
Somehow, between valet and page, the wild litter of shirts, trousers, boots, and other horrors reminiscent of Foxham, was re-built into a tower more leaning than before. Then, while the valet scuttled away with his trailing, sliding load, the page remained behind and courageously announced the visitors.
Perhaps if Foxham had spared him a few of his favourite tie pins, or if the blow of his loss had not caught him on an empty stomach, Loveland might have seen the humour of the situation as Tony Kidd saw it. But everything was against him in a black world; and his late shipmate"s intrusion with a stranger was the one last drop in a bitter cup which he refused to swallow.
Never had Cadwallader Hunter"s handsome bear looked less handsome or more dangerous than he looked as he stood blocking the way to his den, at bay against fate and against his leader.
"My dear fellow, what has happened to upset you?" exclaimed Cadwallader Hunter, warned by Loveland"s expression that the only hope lay in getting the first word.
"Upset me?" echoed Val, glaring blue fire so vindictively that Kidd expected his introducer to be the next one "upset." "My d----d valet has stolen all my clothes, and made me a present of his own, that"s all."
"How shocking!" sympathised Cadwallader Hunter.
"Well, yes, it is rather a shock," returned Loveland drily, "and if you don"t mind, I think I"d better ask you to let me get over it alone."
"Oh! certainly, I quite understand," purred the banished courtier. But Kidd was making mental notes, and Cadwallader Hunter strove to retain his reputation as a valued cousin. "Just a minute or two, dear boy, and we"ll take ourselves off. This is Mr. Kidd, from one of our most important papers----"
"Happy to see him another time," snapped Loveland. "Just now I"m in no temper to entertain strangers."
"But at least," Cadwallader Hunter protested, "you mustn"t look on me as a stranger, my dear fellow--and if there"s anything I can do----"
"My dear fellow," Loveland flung back at him, in angry mimicry, "if you keep on, I"m more likely to look on you as a bore. The one thing you can do for me is to go, and take your newspaper friend with you. Good morning."
And the bear shot back into his den, banging the door.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ""_The one thing you can do for me is to go, and take your newspaper friend with you_""]
"The British Lion before his midday meal," remarked the representative of "New York Light." "Another minute, and he"d have s.n.a.t.c.hed a free lunch--Kidd with Hunter Sauce! But serve me up on toast if he hasn"t got sauce enough of his own."
"He comes of a hot-tempered family." Cadwallader Hunter explained his English relative.
"I should say they"d been hot ever since William the Conqueror,"
commented Mr. Kidd. "Good family to keep away from when you haven"t got your gun. I forgot mine this morning."
But he had not forgotten his stylographic pen.
The moment that the door had slammed, Loveland"s ears tingled with the consciousness that not only had he been guilty of a very rude act, but a particularly stupid one.