"But this is serious!" retorted Lady Eglinton testily. Lydie shook her head:
"As little serious as his lordship"s desire to control the finances of France."
"Oh! but who better fitted for the post than my son. He is so rich--the richest man in France, and in these days of bribery and corruption--you understand, and--and being partly English--not wholly, I am thankful to say--for I abominate the English myself; but we must own that they are very shrewd where money is concerned--and----"
"In the name of Heaven, milady," said Lydie irritably, "will you not allow your son to know his own mind? If he has a request to place before M. le Duc my father or before me, let him do so for himself."
"I think--er--perhaps Mlle. d"Aumont is right," here interposed Lord Eglinton gently. "You will--er--I hope, excuse my mother, Mademoiselle; she is so used to my consulting her in everything that perhaps---- You see," he continued in his nervous halting, way, "I--I am rather stupid and I am very lazy; she thinks I should understand finance, because I--but I don"t believe I should; I----"
Her earnest eyes, fixed with good-humoured indulgence upon his anxious face, seemed to upset him altogether. His throat was dry, and his tongue felt as if it were several sizes too large for his parched mouth. For the moment it looked as if the small modic.u.m of courage which he possessed would completely give out, but noting that just for the moment his mother was engaged in exchanging hasty greetings with a friend, he seemed to make a violent and sudden effort, and with the audacity which sometimes a.s.sails the preternaturally weak, he plunged wildly into his subject.
"I have no desire for positions which I am too stupid to fill," he said, speaking so rapidly that Lydie could hardly follow him; "but, Mademoiselle, I entreat you do not believe that my admiration for you is not serious. I know I am quite unworthy to be even your lacquey, though I wouldn"t mind being that, since it would bring me sometimes near you. Please, please, don"t look at me--I am such a clumsy fool, and I daresay I am putting things all wrong! My mother says," he added, with a pathetic little sigh, "that I shall spoil everything if I open my mouth, and now I have done it, and you are angry, and I wish to G.o.d somebody would come and give me a kick!"
He paused, flushed, panting and excited, having come to the end of his courage, whilst Lydie did not know if she should be angry or sorry. A smile hovered round her lips, yet she would gladly have seen some manlike creature administer chastis.e.m.e.nt to this foolish weakling. Her keenly a.n.a.lytical mind flew at once to comparisons.
Gaston de Stainville--and now this poor specimen of manhood! She had twice been wooed in this self-same room within half an hour; but how different had been the methods of courting. A look of indulgence for the weak, a flash of pride for the strong, quickly lit up her statuesque face. It was the strong who had won, though womanlike, she felt a kindly pity for him who did not even dare to ask for that which the other had so boldly claimed as his right--her love.
Fortunately, the _tete-a-tete_, which was rapidly becoming embarra.s.sing--for she really did not know how to reply to this strange and halting profession of love--was at last drawing to a close. At the end of the corridor Charles Edward Stuart, surrounded by a group of friends, had caught sight of her, and with gracious courtesy he advanced to meet her.
"Ah! the G.o.ds do indeed favour us," he said gallantly in answer to her respectful salute, and nodding casually to Lady Eglinton, who had bobbed him a grudging curtsey, "We feared that our enemy, Time, treading hard on our heels, would force us to depart ere we had greeted our Muse."
"Your Majesty is leaving us?" she asked. "So soon?"
"Alas! the hour is late. We start to-morrow at daybreak."
"G.o.d speed you, Sire!" she said fervently.
"To my death," he rejoined gloomily.
"To victory, Sire, and your Majesty"s own kingdom!" she retorted cheerily. "Nay! I, your humble, yet most faithful adherent, refuse to be cast down to-night. See," she added, pointing to the group of gentlemen who had remained discreetly in the distance, "you have brave hearts to cheer you, brave swords to help you!"
"Would I were sure of a brave ship to rescue me and them if I fail!"
he murmured.
She tossed her head with a characteristic movement of impatience.
"Nay! I was determined not to speak of failure to-night, Sire."
"Yet must I think of it," he rejoined, "since the lives of my friends are dependent on me."
"They give their lives gladly for your cause."
"I would prefer to think that a good ship from France was ready to take them aboard if evil luck force us to flee."
"France has promised you that ship, Monseigneur," she said earnestly:
"If France meant you, Mademoiselle," he said firmly, "I would believe in her."
"She almost means Lydie d"Aumont!" retorted the young girl, with conscious pride.
"Only for a moment," broke in Lady Eglinton spitefully; "but girls marry," she added, "and every husband may not be willing to be held under the sway of satin petticoats."
"If France fails you, Monseigneur," here interposed a gentle voice, "I have already had the honour of a.s.suring you that there is enough Eglinton money still in the country to fit out a ship for your safety; and--er----"
Then, as if ashamed of this outburst, the second of which he had been guilty to-night, "le pet.i.t Anglais" once more relapsed into silence.
But Lydie threw him a look of encouragement.
"Well spoken, milor!" she said approvingly.
With her quick intuition she had already perceived that milady was displeased, and she took a malicious pleasure in dragging Lord Eglinton further into the conversation. She knew quite well that milady cared naught about the Stuarts or their fate. From the day of her marriage she had dissociated herself from the cause, for the furtherance of which her husband"s father had given up home and country.
It was her influence which had detached the late Lord Eglinton from the fortunes of the two Pretenders; justly, perhaps, since the expeditions were foredoomed to failure, and Protestant England rightly or wrongly mistrusted all the Stuarts. But Lydie"s romantic instincts could not imagine an Englishman in any other capacity save as the champion of the forlorn cause; one of the princ.i.p.al reasons why she had always disliked the Eglintons was because they held themselves aloof from the knot of friends who gathered round Charles Edward.
She was, therefore, not a little surprised to hear "le pet.i.t Anglais"
promising at least loyal aid and succour in case of disaster, since he could not give active support to the proposed expedition. That he had made no idle boast when he spoke of Eglinton money she knew quite well, nor was it said in vain arrogance, merely as a statement of fact. Milady"s vexation proved that it was true.
Delighted and eager, she threw herself with all the ardour of her romantic impulses into this new train of thought suggested by Lord Eglinton"s halting speech.
"Ah, milor," she said joyously, and not heeding Lady Eglinton"s scowl, "now that I have an ally in you my dream can become a reality. Nay, Sire, you shall start for England with every hope, every a.s.surance of success, but if you fail, you and those you care for shall be safe.
Will you listen to my plan?"
"Willingly."
"Lord Eglinton is your friend--at least, you trust him, do you not?"
"I trust absolutely in the loyalty of his house toward mine," replied Charles Edward unhesitatingly.
"Then do you agree with him, and with him alone, on a spot in England or Scotland where a ship would find you in case of failure."
"That has been done already," said Eglinton simply.
"And if ill-luck pursues us, we will make straight for that spot and await salvation from France."
Lydie said no more; she was conscious of a distinct feeling of disappointment that her own plan should have been forestalled. She had fondled the notion, born but a moment ago, that if her own influence were not sufficiently great in the near future to induce King Louis to send a rescue ship for the Young Pretender if necessary, she could then, with Lord Eglinton"s money, fit out a private expedition and s.n.a.t.c.h the last of the Stuarts from the vengeance of his enemies. The romantic idea had appealed to her, and she had been forestalled. She tried to read the thoughts of those around her. Lady Eglinton was evidently ignorant of the details of the plan; she seemed surprised and vastly disapproving. Charles Edward was whispering a few hasty words in the ear of his friend, whom obviously he trusted more than he did the word of France or the enthusiasm of Mlle. d"Aumont.
"Le pet.i.t Anglais" had relapsed into his usual state of nervousness, and his eyes wandered uneasily from Lydie"s face to that of his royal companion, whilst with restless fingers he fidgeted the signet ring which adorned his left hand. Suddenly he slipped the ring off and Charles Edward Stuart examined it very attentively, then returned it to its owner with a keen look of intelligence and a nod of approval.
Lydie was indeed too late with her romantic plan; these two men had thought it all out before her in every detail--even to the ring. She, too, had thought of a token which would be an a.s.surance to the fugitives that they might trust the bearer thereof. She felt quite childishly vexed at all this. It was an unusual thing in France these days to transact serious business without consulting Mlle. d"Aumont.
"You are taking it for granted, Sire, that France will fail you?" she said somewhat testily.
"Nay! why should you say that?" he asked.
"Oh! the ring--the obvious understanding between you and milor."
"Was it not your wish, Mademoiselle?"
"Oh! a mere suggestion--in case France failed you, and I were powerless to remind her of her promise."