"Ask him to step in to me, if he will. I don"t see," he continued, "why you shouldn"t settle it with him. I"ve nothing to do with it, thank G.o.d."
George entered. He was surprised to see the deputation, but addressed himself exclusively to Blodwell.
"Here I am, sir. What is it?"
"These gentlemen," said Mr. Blodwell, "think that the time has come for you to withdraw your allegations or to prove them."
"You see, George," said Vane, "it"s not fair to leave Mrs. Witt under this indefinite stigma."
"Far from it," said Fitzderham.
George stood with his back against the mantel-piece. "I quite agree," he said. "Let"s see--to-day"s Sat.u.r.day. When is the wedding, if there----?"
"Monday week," said Blodwell, hastily, fearing an explosion from Gerald.
"Very well. On Tuesday----"
"A telegram for you, sir," said Timms, entering.
"Excuse me," said George.
He opened and read his telegram. It ran, "Yes--my handwriting. Will return by next post registered--Horne, Bournemouth."
"On Monday," continued George, "at five o"clock in the afternoon, I will prove all I said, or withdraw it."
Gerald looked uneasy, but he tried to think, or at least to appear to think, that George"s delay was only to make his surrender less abrupt.
"Very well! Shall we meet here?"
"No," said Gerald. "Mrs. Witt ought to be present."
"Is that desirable?" asked George.
"Of course it is."
"As you please. I should say not. But ask her, and be guided by her wishes."
"Well, then, at Lord Tottlebury"s?" suggested Vane.
"By all means," said George. And, with a slight nod, he left the room.
"I hope," said Mr. Blodwell, "that you have done well in forcing matters to an extremity."
"Couldn"t help it," said Vane, briefly.
And the council broke up.
Mrs. Horne"s telegram made George"s position complete. It was impossible for Neaera to struggle against such evidence, and his triumph was a.s.sured from the moment when he produced the original doc.u.ment and contrasted it with Neaera"s doctored copy. Besides, Mrs. Bort was in the background, if necessary; and although an impulse of pity had led him to shield Neaera at Liverpool, he was in no way debarred by that from summoning Mrs. Bort to his a.s.sistance if he wanted her. The Neston honour was safe, an impostor exposed, and the cause of morality, respectability, truth, and decency powerfully forwarded. Above all, George himself was enabled to rout his enemies, to bring a blush to the unblushing cheek of the _Bull"s-eye_, and to meet his friends without feeling that perhaps they were ashamed to be seen talking to him.
The delights of the last-mentioned prospect were so great, that George could not make up his mind to postpone them, and, in the afternoon, he set out to call on the Pocklingtons. There could be no harm in giving them at least a hint of the altered state of his fortunes, due, as it was in reality, to Mrs. Pocklington"s kindness in presenting him to Lord Mapledurham. It would certainly be very pleasant to prove to the Pocklingtons, especially to Laura Pocklington, that they had been justified in standing by him, and that he was ent.i.tled, not to the good-natured tolerance accorded to honesty, but to the admiration due to success.
In matters of love, at least, George Neston cannot be presented as an ideal hero. Heroes unite the discordant attributes of violence and constancy: George had displayed neither. Isabel Bourne had satisfied his judgment without stirring his blood. When she presumed to be so ill-advised as to side against him, he resigned, without a pang, a prospect that had become almost a habit. Easily and insensibly the pretty image of Laura Pocklington had filled the vacant s.p.a.ce. As he wended his way to Mrs. Pocklington"s, he smiled to think that a month or two ago he had looked forward to a life spent with Isabel Bourne with acquiescence, though not, it is true, with rapture. Had the rapture existed before, it is sad to think that perhaps the smile would have been broader now; for love, when born in trepidation and nursed in joy, is often buried without lamentation and remembered with amus.e.m.e.nt--kindly, even tender amus.e.m.e.nt, but still amus.e.m.e.nt. An easy-going fancy like George"s for Isabel cannot claim even the tribute of a tear behind the smile--a tear which, by its presence, causes yet another smile. George was not even grateful to Isabel for a pleasant dream and a gentle awakening. She was gone; and, what is more, she ought never to have come: and there was an end of it.
George, having buried Isabel, rang the bell with a composed mind. He might ask Laura Pocklington to marry him to-day, or he might not. He would be guided by circ.u.mstances in that matter: but at any rate he would ask her, and that soon; for she was the only girl he could ever be happy with, and, if he dawdled, his chance might be gone. Of course there was a crowd of suitors at her feet, and, although George had no unduly modest view of his own claims, he felt it behoved him to be up and doing. It is true that the crowd of suitors was not very much in evidence, but who could doubt its existence without questioning the sanity and eyesight of mankind?
As it so chanced, however, George did not see Laura. He saw Mrs.
Pocklington, and that lady at once led the conversation to the insistent topic of Neaera Witt. George could not help letting fall a hint of his approaching victory.
"Poor woman!" said Mrs. Pocklington. "But, for your sake, I"m very glad."
"Yes, it gets me out of an awkward position."
"Just what my husband said. He thought that you were absolutely bound to prove what you said, or at least to give a good excuse for it."
"Absolutely bound?"
"Well, I mean if you were to keep your place in society."
"And in your house?"
"Oh, he did not go so far as that. Everybody comes to my house."
"Yes; but, Mrs. Pocklington, I don"t want to come in the capacity of "everybody.""
"Then, I think he did mean that you must do what I say, before you went on coming in any other capacity."
George looked at Mrs. Pocklington. Mrs. Pocklington smiled diplomatically.
"Is Miss Pocklington out?" asked George.
"Yes," said Mrs. Pocklington, "she is out."
"Not back soon?" asked George, smiling in his turn.
"Not yet."
"Not until----?"
"Well, Mr. Neston, I dare say you know what I mean."
"I think so. Fortunately, there is no difficulty. Shall we say Tuesday?"
"When Tuesday comes, we will see if we say Tuesday."
"And, otherwise, I am----?"
"Otherwise, my dear George, you have no one to persuade except----"