IV
The revulsion of feeling experienced by Bottles as he hurried back to the Albany to dress for dinner--for he was to dine with his brother at one of his clubs that night--was so extraordinary and overwhelming that it took him, figuratively speaking, off his legs. As yet his mind, so long accustomed to perpetual misfortune in this, the ruling pa.s.sion of his life, could not quite grasp his luck. That he should, after all, have won back his lost Madeline seemed altogether too good to be true.
As it happened, Sir Eustace had asked one or two men to meet him, amongst them an Under-Secretary for the Colonies, who, having to prepare for a severe cross-examination in the House upon South African affairs, had jumped at the opportunity of sucking the brains of a man thoroughly acquainted with the subject. But the expectant Under-Secretary was destined to meet with a grievous disappointment, for out of Bottles came no good thing. For the most part of the dinner he sat silent, only speaking when directly addressed, and then answering so much at random that the Under-Secretary quickly came to the conclusion that Sir Eustace"s brother was either a fool or that he had drunk too much.
Sir Eustace himself saw that his brother"s taciturnity had spoilt his little dinner, and his temper was not improved thereby. He was not accustomed to have his dinners spoiled, and felt that, so far as the Under-Secretary was concerned, he had put himself into a false position.
"My dear George," he said in a tone of bland exasperation when they had got back to the Albany, "I wonder what can be the matter with you? I told Atherleigh that you would be able to post him up thoroughly about all this Bechuana mess, and he could not get a word out of you."
His brother absently filled his pipe before he answered:
"The Bechuanas? Oh, yes, I know all about them. I lived among them for a year."
"Then why on earth didn"t you tell him what you knew? You put me in rather a false position."
"I am very sorry, Eustace," he answered humbly. "I will go and see him if you like, and explain the thing to him to-morrow. The fact of the matter is, I was thinking of something else."
Sir Eustace interrogated him with a look.
"I was thinking," he went on slowly, "about Mad--about Lady Croston."
"Oh!"
"I went to see her this afternoon, and I think, I hope, that I am going to marry her."
If Bottles expected that this great news would be received by his elder brother as such news ought to be received--with congratulatory rejoicing--he was destined to be disappointed.
"Good heavens!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Sir Eustace shortly, letting his eyegla.s.s drop.
"Why do you say that, Eustace?" Bottles asked uneasily.
"Because--because," answered his brother in the emphatic tone which was his equivalent for strong language, "you must be mad to think of such a thing."
"Why must I be mad?"
"Because you, still a young man, with all your life before you, deliberately propose to tie yourself up to a middle-aged and _pa.s.see_ woman--she is extremely _pa.s.see_ by daylight, let me tell you--who has already treated you like a dog, and is burdened with a couple of children, and who, if she marries again, will bring you very little except her luxurious tastes. But I expected this. I thought she would try to catch you with those languishing black eyes of hers. You are not the first; I know her of old."
"If," said his brother, rising in dudgeon, "you are going to abuse Madeline to me, I think I had better say good night, for we shall quarrel--which I would not do for anything."
Sir Eustace shrugged his shoulders. "Those whom the G.o.ds wish to destroy they first make mad," he muttered, as he lit his hand candle. "This is what comes of a course of South Africa."
But Sir Eustace was an amenable man. His favourite motto was "Live and let live"; and having given the matter his best consideration during the lengthy process of shaving himself on the following morning, he came to the conclusion, reluctantly enough it must be owned, that it was evident that his brother meant to have his own way, and therefore the best thing to be done was to fall in with his views and trust to the chapter of accidents to bring the thing to naught. Sir Eustace, for all his apparent worldliness and cynicism, was a good fellow at heart, and cherished a warm affection for his awkward, taciturn brother. He also cherished a great dislike for Lady Croston, whose character he thoroughly understood. He saw a good deal of her, it is true, because he happened to be one of the executors of her husband"s will; and since he had come into the baronetcy it had struck him that she had developed a considerable partiality for his society.
The idea of a marriage between his brother and his brother"s old flame was in every way distasteful to him. In the first place, under her husband"s will, Madeline would bring, comparatively speaking, relatively little with her should she marry again. That was one objection. Another, and still more forcible one from Sir Eustace"s point of view, was that at her time of life she was not likely to present the house of Peritt with an heir. Now, Sir Eustace had not the slightest intention of marrying. Matrimony was, he considered, an excellent inst.i.tution, and necessary to the carrying on of the world in a respectable manner, but it was not one with which he was anxious to identify himself. Therefore, if his brother married at all, it was his earnest desire that the union should bring children to inherit the t.i.tle and estates. Prominent above both these excellent reasons, stood his intense distrust and dislike of the lady.
Needs must, however, when the devil (by whom he understood Madeline) drives. He was not going to quarrel with his only brother and presumptive heir because he chose to marry a woman who was not to his taste. So he shrugged his shoulders--having finished his shaving and his reflections together--and determined to put the best possible face on his disappointment.
"Well, George," he said to his brother at breakfast, "so you are going to marry Lady Croston?"
Bottles looked up surprised. "Yes, Eustace," he answered, "if she will marry me."
Sir Eustace glanced at him. "I thought the affair was settled," he said.
Bottles rubbed his big nose reflectively as he answered, "Well, no.
I don"t think that marriage was mentioned. But I suppose she means to marry me. In short, I don"t see how she could mean anything else."
Sir Eustace breathed more freely, guessing what had taken place. So there was as yet no actual engagement.
"When are you going to see her again?"
"To-morrow. She is engaged all to-day."
His brother took out a pocket-book and consulted it. "Then I am more fortunate than you are," he said; "I have an appointment with Lady Croston this evening after dinner. Don"t look jealous, old fellow, it is only about some executor"s business. I think I told you that I am one of her husband"s executors, blessings on his memory. She is a peculiar woman, your _inamorata_, and swears that she won"t trust her lawyers, so I have to do all the dirty work myself, worse luck. You had better come too."
"Shan"t I be in the way?" asked Bottles doubtfully, struggling feebly against the bribe.
"It is evident, my dear fellow, that you cannot be _de trop_. I shall present my papers for signature and vanish. You ought to be infinitely obliged to me for giving you such a chance. We will consider that settled. We will dine together, and go round to Grosvenor Street afterwards."
Bottles agreed. Could he have seen the little scheme that was dawning in his brother"s brain, perhaps he would not have a.s.sented so readily.
When her old lover went away reluctantly to dress for dinner on the previous day, Madeline Croston sat down to have a good think, and the result was not entirely satisfactory. It had been very pleasant to see him, and his pa.s.sionate declaration of enduring love thrilled her through and through, and even woke an echo in her own breast. It made her proud to think that this man, who, notwithstanding his ugliness and awkwardness, was yet, her instinct told her, worth half a dozen smart London fashionables, still loved her and had never ceased to love her.
Poor Bottles! she had been very fond of him once. They had grown up together, and it really gave her some cruel hours when a sense of what she owed to herself and her family had forced her to discard him.
She remembered, as she sat there this evening, how at the time she had wondered if it was worth it--if life would not be brighter and happier if she made up her mind to fight through it by her honest lover"s side.
Well, she could answer that question now. It had been well worth it. She had not liked her husband, it is true; but on the whole she had enjoyed a good time and plenty of money, and the power that money brings. The wisdom of her later days had confirmed the judgment of her youth. As regards Bottles himself, she had soon got over that fancy; for years she had scarcely thought of him, till Sir Eustace told her that he was coming home, and she had that curious dream about him. Now he had come and made love to her, not in a civilised, philandering sort of a way, such as she was accustomed to, but with a pa.s.sion and a fire and an utter self-abandonment which, while it thrilled her nerves with a curious sensation of mingled pleasure and pain, not unlike that she once experienced at a Spanish bull-fight when she saw a man tossed, was yet extremely awkward to deal with and rather alarming.
Now, too, the old question had come up again, and what was to be done?
She had sheered him off the question that afternoon, but he would want to marry her, she felt sure of that. If she consented, what were they to live on? Her own juncture, in the event of her re-marriage, would be cut down to a thousand a year--she had four now, and was pinched on that; and as for Bottles, she knew what he had--eight hundred, for Sir Eustace had told her. He was next heir to the baronetcy, it was true, but Sir Eustace looked as though he would live for ever, and besides, he might marry after all.
For a few minutes Lady Croston contemplated the possibility of existing on eighteen hundred a year, and what Chancery would give her as guardian of her children in a poky house somewhere down at Kensington. Soon she realised that the thing was not to be done.
"Unless Sir Eustace will do something for him, it is very clear that we cannot be married," she said to herself with a sigh. "However, I need not tell him that just yet, or he will be rushing back to South Africa or something."
V
Sir Eustace and his brother carried out their programme. They dined together, and about half-past nine drove round to Grosvenor Street.
Here they were shown into the drawing-room by the solemn footman, who informed Sir Eustace that her ladyship was upstairs in the nursery and had left a message for him that she would be down presently.
"All right; there is no hurry," said Sir Eustace absently, and the man went downstairs.