"May I speak to Barrington Erle?" asked Lady Laura.
"I had rather you did not. Of course I must take it as it comes."
"But, my dear Mr. Finn, people do make efforts in such cases. I don"t doubt but that at this moment there are a dozen men moving heaven and earth to secure something. No one has more friends than you have."
Had not her father been present he would have told her what his friends were doing for him, and how unhappy such interferences made him; but he could not explain all this before the Earl. "I would so much rather hear about yourself," he said, again smiling.
"There is but little to say about us. I suppose Papa has told you?"
But the Earl had told him nothing, and indeed, there was nothing to tell. The lawyer had advised that Mr. Kennedy"s friends should be informed that Lady Laura now intended to live in England, and that they should be invited to make to her some statement as to Mr.
Kennedy"s condition. If necessary he, on her behalf, would justify her departure from her husband"s roof by a reference to the outrageous conduct of which Mr. Kennedy had since been guilty. In regard to Lady Laura"s fortune, Mr. Forster said that she could no doubt apply for alimony, and that if the application were pressed at law she would probably obtain it;--but he could not recommend such a step at the present moment. As to the accusation which had been made against her character, and which had become public through the malice of the editor of _The People"s Banner_, Mr. Forster thought that the best refutation would be found in her return to England. At any rate he would advise no further step at the present moment. Should any further libel appear in the columns of the newspaper, then the question might be again considered. Mr. Forster had already been in Portman Square, and this had been the result of the conference.
"There is not much comfort in it all,--is there?" said Lady Laura.
"There is no comfort in anything," said the Earl.
When Phineas took his leave Lady Laura followed him out into the hall, and they went together into the large, gloomy dining-room, --gloomy and silent now, but which in former days he had known to be brilliant with many lights, and cheerful with eager voices. "I must have one word with you," she said, standing close to him against the table, and putting her hand upon his arm. "Amidst all my sorrow, I have been so thankful that he did not--kill you."
"I almost wish he had."
"Oh, Phineas!--how can you say words so wicked! Would you have had him a murderer?"
"A madman is responsible for nothing."
"Where should I have been? What should I have done? But of course you do not mean it. You have everything in life before you. Say some word to me more comfortable than that. You cannot think how I have looked forward to meeting you again. It has robbed the last month of half its sadness." He put his arm round her waist and pressed her to his side, but he said nothing. "It was so good of you to go to him as you did. How was he looking?"
"Twenty years older than when you saw him last."
"But how in health?"
"He was thin and haggard."
"Was he pale?"
"No; flushed and red. He had not shaved himself for days; nor, as I believe, had he been out of his room since he came up to London. I fancy that he will not live long."
"Poor fellow;--unhappy man! I was very wrong to marry him, Phineas."
"I have never said so;--nor, indeed, thought so."
"But I have thought so; and I say it also,--to you. I owe him any reparation that I can make him; but I could not have lived with him.
I had no idea, before, that the nature of two human beings could be so unlike. I so often remember what you told me of him,--here; in this house, when I first brought you together. Alas, how sad it has been!"
"Sad, indeed."
"But can this be true that you tell me of yourself?
"It is quite true. I could not say so before your father, but it is Mr. Bonteen"s doing. There is no remedy. I am sure of that. I am only afraid that people are interfering for me in a manner that will be as disagreeable to me as it will be useless."
"What friends?" she asked.
He was still standing with his arm round her waist, and he did not like to mention the name of Madame Goesler.
"The d.u.c.h.ess of Omnium,--whom you remember as Lady Glencora Palliser."
"Is she a friend of yours?"
"No;--not particularly. But she is an indiscreet woman, and hates Bonteen, and has taken it into her stupid head to interest herself in my concerns. It is no doing of mine, and yet I cannot help it."
"She will succeed."
"I don"t want a.s.sistance from such a quarter; and I feel sure that she will not succeed."
"What will you do, Phineas?"
"What shall I do? Carry on the battle as long as I can without getting into debt, and then--vanish."
"You vanished once before,--did you not,--with a wife?"
"And now I shall vanish alone. My poor little wife! It seems all like a dream. She was so good, so pure, so pretty, so loving!"
"Loving! A man"s love is so easily transferred;--as easily as a woman"s hand;--is it not, Phineas? Say the word, for it is what you are thinking."
"I was thinking of no such thing."
"You must think it--You need not be afraid to reproach me. I could bear it from you. What could I not bear from you? Oh, Phineas;--if I had only known myself then, as I do now!"
"It is too late for regrets," he said. There was something in the words which grated on her feelings, and induced her at length to withdraw herself from his arm. Too late for regrets! She had never told herself that it was not too late. She was the wife of another man, and therefore, surely it was too late. But still the word coming from his mouth was painful to her. It seemed to signify that for him at least the game was all over.
"Yes, indeed," she said,--"if our regrets and remorse were at our own disposal! You might as well say that it is too late for unhappiness, too late for weariness, too late for all the misery that comes from a life"s disappointment."
"I should have said that indulgence in regrets is vain."
"That is a sc.r.a.p of philosophy which I have heard so often before!
But we will not quarrel, will we, on the first day of my return?"
"I hope not."
"And I may speak to Barrington?"
"No; certainly not."
"But I shall. How can I help it? He will be here to-morrow, and will be full of the coming changes. How should I not mention your name? He knows--not all that has pa.s.sed, but too much not to be aware of my anxiety. Of course your name will come up?"
"What I request,--what I demand is, that you ask no favour for me.
Your father will miss you,--will he not? I had better go now."
"Good night, Phineas."