"I am dying to see Mordryn, G. I wish I had known he was going to speak to-day and I would have gone to the House; he felt it his duty, I suppose--this wretched Land Bill! How did he look? And did you get a word with him? I shall see him to-morrow, of course."
Mr. Strobridge gave the message that he had been asked to give, and vouchsafed the information that the Duke had appeared as usual and was altogether charming as ever.
"It is to be hoped he will get some good out of life now that he is free at last from those mad women."
Her Ladyship"s face a.s.sumed a strange expression. She sat down in her usual armchair with an air of fatigue.
"Your words strike home, G.--for you know I made his marriage--in those far back ignorant days when no one thought of heredity or such things. I literally married him off to Laura almost against his will, because he was utterly devoted to me and I to him, and the situation was becoming impossible, over ten years between our ages, his immense position and mine--and Garribardine jealous--There was nothing else for it. Laura was a sweet, foolish creature then, beautiful and of no account. I felt she would never replace me in his affection, and in those days, nearly thirty years ago, it would have been considered almost indecent to talk of what future children might turn out--They were supposed to come from the cabbage beds and to have nothing to do with their parents!"
"Of course, one had always heard he was devoted to you, Seraphim--He is still."
"Dear Mordryn!--Laura gave him trouble on the honeymoon, and once made him look ridiculous--He never pardoned that. By the time she was shut up, I was fifty, G., and had mercifully a strong sense of humour, so Mordryn and I had no lapses and have remained firm friends as you know."
"One has often wondered what his inner life could have been during all those years of horror at home. He was a model of circ.u.mspection outwardly, but the adoration of women must have affected him now and then."
"Not greatly, I think--Naturally he has had some consolation, but when one thinks of it, it is perfectly marvellous that no woman in England has ever been able to flatter herself that she possessed an influence over him--and, of course, in these last years he has not even seen any."
"I suppose he will marry again now, having no heir?"
There was a very interested note in Mr. Strobridge"s voice.
"He must--And he must find a sane and strong woman--the family is on the verge of being overbred. I must look out a suitable bunch for him to select from."
"I should leave it to fate this time, Seraphim."
"If I do that some totally unsuitable creature with a clever mother will grab him."
Mr. Strobridge laughed.
"Has not the man a will of his own?"
"No man has a will of his own while the vanity of his s.e.x is still in him. He is as defenceless as a baby, and at the mercy of any cunning female. I could not bear to see Mordryn suffering a second time," and Lady Garribardine sighed.
After luncheon next day, when the rest of the company had departed, the Duke stayed on and accompanied his friend up to her own sitting-room where they could talk undisturbed.
They understood each other completely. They spoke for a long time of his travels and of his release at last from bondage and strain, and of how he was going to open Valfreyne once more and see the world of his fellows and take up the thread of his life.
"You must not keep a grain of mawkish sentiment, Mordryn," Her Ladyship said at last. "You must banish all remembrance of Laura and Adeliza and begin life afresh."
"At fifty-three?--It is a little late, I fear, for the game to have much zest."
"Tut! tut! You have never found the youngest and most beautiful woman recalcitrant, I"ll wager. One had heard not so many years ago that a certain fine creature in Paris almost died of love for you!"
The Duke smiled, and when he did this it was an illumination, his face in repose was so stern.
"Not of love--of chagrin, because the ruby in the bangle she received was reported to her--by her ma.s.seuse--to be of less pure pigeon"s blood than the duplicate--which I gave to the Spaniard. It is impossible to gauge the love of a mistress; it is equally kindled by rubies and the charms of a youthful Apollo."
"But you need not now confine your attentions to _ces dames_ any longer, Mordryn; there are numbers of our world who would console you."
The Duke smiled again.
"None of them ever mattered to me very much, as you know, dear friend, from the days when my whole soul was yours. Since then women have been rare relaxations, ephemeral diversions leaving no mark."
"We are going to change all that!"
Then their talk drifted to other things, and before His Grace left he had promised to spend Easter at Blissington.
While luncheon had yet been in full swing and a propitious moment had come, Gerard had carried out his plan. The subject of miniatures was introduced, and a heated argument ensued about the likelihood of the new acquisitions being by Cosway, and then the suggestion that the Duke should come in and dine the next night and decide the matter came out quite naturally.
Lady Garribardine made no remark at the time, and indeed hardly thought about it, but that night when she sat by her bedroom fire, she suddenly remembered that her secretary would meet the Duke, and for a long time she stared into the glowing embers in deep thought.
No, it was not possible that the girl had known that he would speak; that was not her reason for wishing to go to the House of Lords; but she had seen him there, and now she would meet him at dinner!
A number of expressions chased themselves over Her Ladyship"s countenance, while her eyes never left the one point in the coals. The frown of cogitation deepened on her forehead and then cleared away. She had come to a decision.
When Mordryn had retired with his hostess after luncheon, Gerard Strobridge had sought Miss Bush in the secretary"s room.
"The deed is done, Katherine," he announced, with an attempt at gaiety while his heart was heavy within him. "The Duke is coming to dinner on Friday night, and Gwendoline not Arabella, and a couple of bores from the country, so all my duties and sacrifices are completed. Now are you going to give me a reward?"
"It depends upon its nature."
"Yes, I know that. It is quite a reasonable one. It is to come down in my motor with me this afternoon and see the spring borders at Hampton Court?"
Katherine hesitated. She would love to go, but she had work to do before to-morrow, and unless she sat up late at night it could not be accomplished.
He came over and spoke earnestly.
"I feel that this will be the last time that we can be pupil and teacher, Katherine. Fate is going to change for us both. I want to keep a memory of you, dearest, when you were my friend alone, without the shadow of any other interest between--Won"t you try to give me this one last great pleasure?"
Katherine was touched.
"Yes, I will," she agreed. "I cannot go up and ask Her Ladyship now, but I believe she would let me go. I have no business with her until to-morrow morning. Do you want me to come at once?"
"Yes, I will walk on round to the garage and get the motor, and you can meet me at Stanhope Gate."
It turned out to be an afternoon which neither of them would ever forget, and Katherine Bush had never been so near to emotion for her friend as when at last they sat down upon a bench and looked away to the broad green avenue between the giant trees.
Gerard Strobridge had exerted every power he possessed to please her. He had enchanted her fancy, and had drawn out all that was finest in herself. They had studied the flowers, and talked of their favourite books; and Katherine was conscious that she herself was being brilliant, and that now his flights were not beyond her, but that she could fully hold her own.
"If I had been unwed, Katherine, would you have married me?" he asked her at last. "Divine as to-day has been, think what it would have meant with love between us--and further joys to come. Katherine, I would have done my utmost to make you happy. Will you answer me this question? I think it may be the last one I shall ever ask you."
She let her hands fall into her lap and she looked at him critically for a while before she spoke. And her voice was reflective when she did reply.
"I think if you had been free at that first Christmas, yes--I would have married you, I would have let you take me away and teach me all that I now know--And then I would have made you use all your gifts and rise, rise to the top of your tree. I would never have rested until you had reached the summit, and I with you."