Poor, simple, sophisticated lad! How easy it had been for that cunning little creature whose one ambition was to be the mistress of an apartment in business for herself, to take advantage of his unfed sense of adventure. She, and fate, had certainly played him a very impish trick.
V
The _Oceanic_ had been timed to dock at four-thirty, but the thick mist at the mouth of the Hudson had caused some delay and her mail had been heavy. The consequence was that she was edged in to her dock considerably more than an hour late, to be welcomed by an outburst of long-expectant handkerchiefs.
During the period of waiting--by no means unpleasant, because the sun fell warmly upon the wonderful river--several brief, emotional conversations took place between the people who had come to greet Peter.
The Guthries were there in a body,--even Ethel had pulled herself together and had come to be among the first to greet her favorite brother. Graham wouldn"t have missed the occasion for anything on earth.
His love for Peter was deep and true. And it was good to see the excitement of them all and of the little mother, who was in a state of verging between tears and laughter all the time. Her big boy was coming home again and once more she would have the ineffable joy of tucking him up at night sometimes, and asking G.o.d to bless him before she drew the clothes about his ears as she had done so often. Even the Doctor found it necessary to take off his gla.s.ses several times and rub them clear of the moisture that prevented him from seeing the approaching vessel which seemed to have given herself up to the bullying of the small but energetic tugs whose blunt noses b.u.t.ted into her.
Betty brought her father; and these two, with a delicacy of feeling characteristic of them, placed themselves among the crowd away from the Guthrie family. Intuitively, Betty knew that much as Mrs. Guthrie liked her, she would rather resent her presence there at such a moment.
Belle"s quick eyes very soon discovered them, however, and presently they permitted themselves to be drawn into the family group.
It was a curious moment for Ranken Townsend and his feelings were not unlike those of little Mrs. Guthrie. "My G.o.d!" he said to himself as he stood looking out at the wide river, its marvellous and strenuous life and the amazing sky-line of the buildings on the opposite bank; "has the time arrived already for me to lose my little girl? Am I so old that I have a young thing ripe enough for marriage and to bring into the world young things of her own?"
The artist had only met the elder Guthries once before, although Belle was a particular friend of his, having been frequently brought to his studio by Betty. He knew Peter only from having seen him in the treasured snapshots which his little daughter brought home with her from Oxford. He had to confess to himself--although his natural jealousy made him unwilling to do so--that Peter looked just the sort of man whom he would like his daughter to marry when her time came. And so he singled out Mrs. Guthrie almost at once and drew her aside. The breeze blew through his Viking beard, and a fellow-feeling brought into his eyes an expression of sympathy which immediately warmed Mrs. Guthrie"s heart towards him. "I didn"t want to come this afternoon, Mrs. Guthrie," he said. "Shall I explain why?"
"No," said the little mother. "I quite understand."
"Your boy and my girl are following the inevitable laws of nature, and it"s rather hard luck for us both, isn"t it?"
Mrs. Guthrie put her handkerchief up to her mouth and nodded.
"Betty"s a good girl and I"ve only to look at you to know that the man to whom she"s given her heart is a fine fellow. Well, it brings us up to another milestone, doesn"t it?--one that I wish was still some years ahead. However, let"s face it with pluck and with unselfishness, and be friends. Shall we?"
"Please," said the little mother, giving him her hand.
Ranken Townsend bared his head.
And then Dr. Guthrie came up and peered at the man who was talking to his wife. He vaguely remembered the artist"s picturesque appearance and fine open face, but he had forgotten his name.
Mrs. Guthrie hurried to the rescue. "You remember Mr. Townsend, of course, Hunter," she said. "Betty"s father, you know."
"I beg your pardon," said the Doctor. "Of course I remember you, and I"m very delighted to see you again. You have friends coming on the _Oceanic_ too, then?"
Townsend laughed. "No, I don"t know anybody on her--not a soul. All the same I"ve come to meet your son."
"Indeed! It"s very kind of you, I"m sure." And then the Doctor suddenly remembered that sooner or later he"d be obliged to share Peter with the man who stood before him, and just for a moment he--like his wife and like the other father--felt the inevitable stab of jealousy. He covered it with a cordial smile. "What am I thinking about? Betty brought you, naturally. We must meet more often now, Mr. Townsend."
"I should like nothing better. I don"t know your boy yet except through his photographs and my having met his mother, but I"m very proud to know that my little girl is to bear a name that will always be honoured in this country."
Dr. Guthrie blushed and bowed, and put his hand up to his tie nervously.
It was a curious little meeting, this. All three parents were self-conscious and uncomfortable. They would have been antagonistic but for the very true human note that each recognized. They were all reminded of the unpleasant fact that they were in sight of a new and wide cross-road in their lives, along which they were presently to see two of their young people walking away together hand in hand. Parenthood has in it everything that is beautiful, but much that is disappointing and inevitable--much that brings pain and a sudden sense of loneliness.
There was a very different ring in the conversation of Betty and Belle, who stood a few yards away surrounded by people of all the strange conglomerate nationalities which go to make up the population of the United States. Good-tempered, affectionate and excitable Hebrews were already shouting welcomes to their friends on the _Oceanic_, as the vessel drew slowly nearer. Temperamental Irish were alternately waving handkerchiefs and daubing their eyes with them, and others--of French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Russian and English extraction--were trying to discern the faces of those who were near and dear to them among the pa.s.sengers who were leaning over the rails of the vessel. It was an animated and moving scene, very much more cheery than the ones which take place on the same spot when the great trans-Atlantic Liners slip out into the river.
"Look!" cried Belle. "There"s Nicholas. Isn"t he absolutely and wonderfully English?"
"And there"s Peter!" said Betty, with a catch in her voice. "And isn"t he splendidly American?"
"Oh, I"m so excited I can hardly stand still. I"ve dreamed of this every night ever since we came home."
"So have I. But this is better than dreams. Look! Peter has seen us.
He"s waving his hat. Even his hair seems to be sunburnt."
Belle laughed, though her eyes were full of tears. "I can almost smell the violet stuff that Nicholas puts on his."
Then there was the usual rush as the liner slid into her berth, and as Mrs. Guthrie was swept away with it, holding tight to Graham"s arm, she said to herself: "He waved to Betty first. O G.o.d, make me brave!"
All the same, it was the little mother to whom Peter went first as he came ash.o.r.e, and he held her very tight, so that she could hardly breathe, and said: "Darling mum! How good to see you!" and there was something in that.
The Doctor took his boy"s big hand with less self-consciousness than usual. He wished that he might have had the pluck to kiss him on both cheeks and thus follow the excellent example of a little fat Frenchman who had nearly thrown him off his balance in his eagerness to welcome a thin, dark boy.
"h.e.l.lo, Belle! h.e.l.lo, Graham! h.e.l.lo, Ethel!" And then Peter stood in front of Betty, to whom he said nothing, but the kiss that he gave her meant more than the whole of a dictionary. "Oh, my Peter!" she whispered.
Nicholas Kenyon followed with his most winning smile, and was cordially welcomed. He had charming things to say to everyone, especially to Belle. After close scrutiny, Ethel"s inward criticism of him was that he had "escaped being Oxford."
And then Ranken Townsend held out his hand. "But for me, Peter Guthrie,"
he said, "you wouldn"t have had a sweetheart. Shake!"
A wave of color spread all over Peter"s brown face. He grasped the outstretched hand. "I"m awfully glad to see you," he said.
"And I"m awfully glad to see you." The artist measured the boy up. Yes, he was well satisfied. Here stood a man in whose clean eyes he recognized the spirit of a boy. Betty had chosen well. "Do you smoke a pipe?"
"Well, rather."
"I thought so. Bring it along to my studio as soon as your mother can spare you and we"ll talk about life and love and the great hereafter. Is that a bet?"
"That"s a bet," said Peter. And he added, putting his mouth close to Betty"s ear: "Darling, he"s a corker! He likes me. Gee, that"s fine!"
Then he turned to his mother, ran his arm round her shoulder, walked her over to the place in the great echoing, bustling shed over which a huge "G" hung, and sat down with her on somebody else"s trunk which had just been flung there, to wait with unapproving patience for that blessed time when one of the officialdom"s chewing G.o.ds, having forced a prying hand among his shirts and underclothing, should mark his baggage with a magic cross and so permit him to reconnect himself with life.
Nicholas Kenyon, as immaculate as though he had just emerged from a bandbox, slipped his hand surrept.i.tiously into Belle"s. "Are you glad to see me?" he asked, under his breath.
Belle said nothing in reply, but the look that she gave him instead set that expert"s blood racing through his veins and gave him something to look forward to that alone made it worth crossing a waste of unnecessary water.
VI
"A very pleasant domestic evening," said Kenyon, standing with his back to the fireplace of the library. "The bosom of this family is certainly very warm. Peter, my dear old boy, I had no idea that you were going to bring me to a house in which a Prime Minister or the President of the Royal Academy might be very proud to dwell. Also, may I congratulate you upon your little sister? She"s a humorist. I found myself furbishing up all my epigrams when I spoke to her. By Jove, she"s like a Baliol blood with his hair in a braid."
A quiet chuckle came from Graham, who was sitting on the arm of a big deep chair, looking up at Kenyon with the sort of admiration that is paid by a student to his master. "I don"t know anything about Baliol bloods," he said, "but Ethel takes a lot of beating. When she quoted Bernard Shaw, at dinner, father nearly swallowed his fork."
Peter was sitting on the table, swinging his legs.
"Oh, she"ll be all right when she gets away from her school. She"ll grow younger every day then. What awful places they are--these American girl schools. They seem to inject into their victims a sort of liquid artificiality. It takes a lot of living down. Upon my soul, I hardly knew the kid! Two years have made a most tremendous difference in her. I thought I should throw a fit when she looked at me just now in the drawing-room and said: "The childish influence of Oxford has left you almost unspoiled, Peter, dear.""
Kenyon laughed. "Excellent!" he said. "I know the English flapper pretty well. It"ll give me extreme delight to play Columbus among the American variety of the species." He looked round the beautiful room with an approving eye. "That must have been a very civilized old gentleman who made this collection. I wonder if he bought some of the books from Thrapstone-Wynyates! My father was forced to sell some of them shortly after he succeeded to the t.i.tle. As the long arm of coincidence frequently stretches across the Atlantic, I should like to think that some of the first editions in which my grandfather took so high a pride have found their way into an atmosphere so entirely pleasant as this.