"Have you ever met my Uncle Thomas?" he inquired. "You know Blunt"s Stores? Well, he"s Blunt. It"s a company now, but he still runs it.
He married my aunt. You"ll meet him at Dreever."
Jimmy said he would be delighted.
"I bet you won"t," said the last of the Dreevers, with candor. "He"s a frightful man--the limit. Always fussing round like a hen. Gives me a fearful time, I can tell you. Look here, I don"t mind telling you--we"re pals--he"s dead set on my marrying a rich girl."
"Well, that sounds all right. There are worse hobbies. Any particular rich girl?"
"There"s always one. He sicks me on to one after another. Quite nice girls, you know, some of them; only, I want to marry somebody else, that girl you saw me with at the Savoy."
"Why don"t you tell your uncle?"
"He"d have a fit. She hasn"t a penny; nor have I, except what I get from him. Of course, this is strictly between ourselves."
"Of course."
"I know everybody thinks there"s money attached to the t.i.tle; but there isn"t, not a penny. When my Aunt Julia married Sir Thomas, the whole frightful show was pretty well in p.a.w.n. So, you see how it is."
"Ever think of work?" asked Jimmy.
"Work?" said Lord Dreever, reflectively. "Well, you know, I shouldn"t mind work, only I"m dashed if I can see what I could do. I shouldn"t know how. Nowadays, you want a fearful specialized education, and so on. Tell you what, though, I shouldn"t mind the diplomatic service. One of these days, I shall have a dash at asking my uncle to put up the money. I believe I shouldn"t be half-bad at that. I"m rather a quick sort of chap at times, you know. Lots of fellows have said so."
He cleared his throat modestly, and proceeded.
"It isn"t only my Uncle Thomas," he said. "There"s Aunt Julia, too.
She"s about as much the limit as he is. I remember, when I was a kid, she was always sitting on me. She does still. Wait till you see her. Sort of woman who makes you feel that your hands are the color of tomatoes and the size of legs of mutton, if you know what I mean.
And talks as if she were biting at you. Frightful!"
Having unburdened himself of these criticisms, Lord Dreever yawned, leaned back, and was presently asleep.
It was about an hour later that the train, which had been taking itself less seriously for some time, stopping at stations of quite minor importance and generally showing a tendency to dawdle, halted again. A board with the legend, "Dreever," in large letters showed that they had reached their destination.
The station-master informed Lord Dreever that her ladyship had come to meet the train in the motorcar, and was now waiting in the road outside.
Lord Dreever"s jaw fell.
"Oh, lord!" he said. "She"s probably motored in to get the afternoon letters. That means, she"s come in the runabout, and there"s only room for two of us in that. I forgot to telegraph that you were coming, Pitt. I only wired about Hargate. Dash it, I shall have to walk."
His fears proved correct. The car at the station door was small. It was obviously designed to seat four only.
Lord Dreever introduced Hargate and Jimmy to the statuesque lady in the tonneau; and then there was an awkward silence.
At this point, Spike came up, chuckling amiably, with a magazine in his hand.
"Gee!" said Spike. "Say, boss, de mug what wrote dis piece must have bin livin" out in de woods. Say, dere"s a gazebo what wants to swipe de heroine"s jools what"s locked in a drawer. So, dis mug, what "do you t"ink he does?" Spike laughed shortly, in professional scorn.
"Why--"
"Is this gentleman a friend of yours, Spennie?" inquired Lady Julia politely, eying the red-haired speaker coldly.
"It"s--" Spennie looked appealingly at Jimmy.
"It"s my man," said Jimmy. "Spike," he added in an undertone, "to the woods. Chase yourself. Fade away."
"Sure," said the abashed Spike. "Dat"s right. It ain"t up to me to come b.u.t.tin" in. Sorry, boss. Sorry, gents. Sorry loidy. Me for de tall gra.s.s."
"There"s a luggage-cart of sorts," said Lord Dreever, pointing.
"Sure," said Spike, affably. He trotted away.
"Jump in, Pitt," said Lord Dreever. "I"m going to walk."
"No, I"ll walk," said Jimmy. "I"d rather. I want a bit of exercise.
Which way do I go?"
"Frightfully good of you, old chap," said Lord Dreever. "Sure you don"t mind? I do bar walking. Right-ho! You keep straight on."
He sat down in the tonneau by his aunt"s side. The last Jimmy saw was a hasty vision of him engaged in earnest conversation with Lady Julia. He did not seem to be enjoying himself. n.o.body is at his best in conversation with a lady whom he knows to be possessed of a firm belief in the weakness of his intellect. A prolonged conversation with Lady Julia always made Lord Dreever feel as if he were being tied into knots.
Jimmy watched them out of sight, and started to follow at a leisurely pace. It certainly was an ideal afternoon for a country walk. The sun was just hesitating whether to treat the time as afternoon or evening. Eventually, it decided that it was evening, and moderated its beams. After London, the country was deliciously fresh and cool. Jimmy felt an unwonted content. It seemed to him just then that the only thing worth doing in the world was to settle down somewhere with three acres and a cow, and become pastoral.
There was a marked lack of traffic on the road. Once he met a cart, and once a flock of sheep with a friendly dog. Sometimes, a rabbit would dash out into the road, stop to listen, and dart into the opposite hedge, all hind-legs and white scut. But, except for these, he was alone in the world.
And, gradually, there began to be borne in upon him the conviction that he had lost his way.
It is difficult to judge distance when one is walking, but it certainly seemed to Jimmy that he must have covered five miles by this time. He must have mistaken the way. He had doubtless come straight. He could not have come straighter. On the other hand, it would be quite in keeping with the cheap subst.i.tute which served the Earl of Dreever in place of a mind that he should have forgotten to mention some important turning. Jimmy sat down by the roadside.
As he sat, there came to him from down the road the sound of a horse"s feet, trotting. He got up. Here was somebody at last who would direct him.
The sound came nearer. The horse turned the corner; and Jimmy saw with surprise that it bore no rider.
"Hullo?" he said. "Accident? And, by Jove, a side-saddle!"
The curious part of it was that the horse appeared in no way a wild horse. It gave the impression of being out for a little trot on its own account, a sort of equine const.i.tutional.
Jimmy stopped the horse, and led it back the way it had come. As he turned the bend in the road, he saw a girl in a riding-habit running toward him. She stopped running when she caught sight of him, and slowed down to a walk.
"Thank you ever so much," she said, taking the reins from him.
"Dandy, you naughty old thing! I got off to pick up my crop, and he ran away."
Jimmy looked at her flushed, smiling face, and stood staring.
It was Molly McEachern.
CHAPTER XII