The duke did not take the attacks very seriously. The forthcoming play had seemed to him rather futile. All that Rose, Mr. Conrad, and the group of their friends who met at the house in Westminster, had said certainly had opened the young man"s mind; but nevertheless he had not felt any of the real force of the attack as yet.
He took up the ma.n.u.script and read the remaining pages.
There was a cross-heading upon one, and it was this--
"THE REAL SOLUTION"
"The real solution, let me finally say, is indubitably this: I have hinted at it throughout the pages of this work. I have tried to lead the mind of the reader up towards the discovery of my own conviction. Now I state it.
"If human nature was naturally good, as Jean Jacques Rousseau believed it to be, then there would be no social problem. Human nature is not temperamentally good. It is temperamentally bad.
Therefore, before we can reorganise Society we must reorganise character.
"And in what way is it possible to do this? Can it be done by Act of Parliament? Can it be done by articles in newspapers and reviews? Can it be done by the teaching of altruism at the hands of university settlements and propagandists? It cannot be done by any of these means.
"There is only one way in which the individual mind can be reached, touched, and influenced so strangely and so completely that the influence will be permanent, and the life of the individual will be changed.
"And that way is the Christian way.
"We must do again, if we are to realise the ideals which burn in our hearts, what the Christian Church did in the old days of the Roman Empire, and was meant to do in all ages, by means of the Old Faith "once and for all delivered to the saints." In those dim, far-off days the historian knows that Christianity succeeded actually in creating a new middle-cla.s.s--just what was needed--of poor men made richer, and rich men made poorer in one common brotherhood. Its motto was: For all who want work, work! For those who won"t work, hunger! But for the old and infirm, provision. And this the Church of Christ actually achieved, neither by denouncing nor inculcating dogma, but by insisting on and carrying out in practice its own remarkable dogmas. It is not the denial of the Real Presence at the altar, it is not its affirmation, it is not the question of the validity of the apostolic succession nor the denial of it, which will make it possible for an English world to save itself from the horrors of the present.
"It will be simply this: That those who believe in Christ as the most inspired Teacher the world has ever seen, as G.o.d-made-Man, come into this world on a great mission of regeneration, that we shall see our opportunity.
"Christianity and Socialism are inextricably entwined. Separate one from the other, as so many Socialists of nowadays are endeavouring to do, and one or the other--perhaps both--will fail of their high ideal, their splendid mission.
"Combine them, and success is real and a.s.sured. We shall all, in that happy day, begin to realise the kingdom of heaven; to re-echo in this world the dim echo of the heavenly harmonies which may then reach us from the new Jerusalem."
The duke put down the ma.n.u.script, and with slow, grave steps left his great library, crossed the famous marble hall, and went up through the enclosure of his gardens into the roar and surge of Piccadilly.
His face was curiously set and intent, as he walked to Lord Camborne"s, in Grosvenor Street.
CHAPTER XVII
THE COMING OF LOVE
They were dining quite alone at the Cambornes"--the duke, the bishop, Lord Hayle, and Lady Constance.
When he had changed and came down-stairs the duke went into the drawing-room. There were still a few minutes before dinner would be served. He found himself alone, and walked up and down the beautiful room with a curious physical, as well as mental, restlessness. He felt out of tune, as it were. The tremendous upheaval in his life which he had lately experienced was not likely to be forgotten easily. He realised that, and he realised also--more poignantly perhaps at this moment than ever before--how rude a shock his life had experienced. All his ideas must be reconstructed, and the process was not a pleasant one.
From the bottom of his heart he caught himself wishing that nothing had happened, that he was still without experience of the new sides of life, to which he had been introduced by such an extraordinary series of accidents.
"I was happier before," he said to himself aloud. And then, even as he did so, in a sudden flash he realised that, after all, these new experiences, disquieting as they were, were exceedingly stimulating. Was it not better that a man should wake and live, even though it was disturbing, than remain always in a sleep and a dream, uninfluenced by actualities?
Some men, he knew, held Nirvana to be the highest good. And there were many who would drink of the Waters of Lethe, could they but find them.
But these were old or world-weary men. They were men who had sinned and suffered, and so desired peace. Or they were men whose bodies tormented them. He was young, strong, rich, and fortunate. He knew that, however much his newly-awakened brain might fret and perturb him, it was better to live than to stagnate even in the most gorgeous palace in the Sleeping Wood.
The simile pleased him as it came to him. As a little boy _Grimm"s Fairy Tales_ had been a wondrous treasure-house, as they have been to nearly all the upper-cla.s.s children of England. He saw the whole series of pictures in the eye of memory. The happiness was not won until the last scene, when everybody woke up!
In his reverie his thoughts changed unconsciously, and dwelt with an unaccustomed effort of memory and appreciation upon the old Fairy Palace, which he had loved so in his youth. He remembered also that, one day, when of mature age, he had run over to Nice; he had gone with the Grand Duke Alexis and a few other young men to a cinematograph, for fun, after a dinner at the _Hotel des Anglais_.
"Le Bois Dormant!" How it had all come back! And also, what a wonderful thing a cinematograph was! He remembered the flickering beauty of the girl in the strange mimic representation of the Enchanted Castle!
Certainly, then, he had watched the movement of the pictures with the interest and amus.e.m.e.nt of childhood. It was odd, also, that the whole thing should recur to him now. Was not he also awakening from a sleep, long enchanted for him by the circ.u.mstances of his great wealth and rank? And then--the Beauty!
He stopped in his walk up and down the great room, and his eyes fell upon a photograph in a heavy silver frame studded with uncut turquoises, which stood upon a little table. It was one of Madame Lallie Charles"s pictures, in soft grey platinotype, and it represented Lady Constance Camborne. The lovely profile, in its supreme and unflawed beauty, came into his mood as the conception of the fantasy.
Here, here indeed, was the Beauty! and no dream story, etched deep into the imagination, was ever fairer than this.
He looked long and earnestly at the portrait, thinking deeply, now, of something which would mean more to his life than anything else.
Since he had been staying at the Bishop"s house he had seen much of the beautiful and radiant society girl. And all he had seen only confirmed him in his admiration for her beauty and her charm.
Curiously enough, though, he remembered that he had found, as he stood there reviewing his experiences, that on some occasions his feelings towards his friend"s sister were singularly more pa.s.sionate than at others. There were times when his blood pulsed through his veins, and his whole being rose up in desire to call this lovely girl his own.
There were others when, on the contrary, he admired her from a standpoint which might even be called detached. Why was this? The alterations of feeling were quite plainly marked in his memory. Was it--and a sudden light seemed to flash in his mind--was it that when he had been with Mary Marriott his pa.s.sion for Lady Constance had cooled for a time? He dismissed the thought impatiently, not liking it, angry that it should have come to him.
Mary was as beautiful in her way as Lady Constance. Her charm was not so explicit, but perhaps it was as great. But, then, Mary Marriott was just an actress, and n.o.body.
He crushed down the unwelcome thought, for, despite all his new knowledge and experience, the old traditions of his breed and training were strong within him. He was the Duke of Paddington, and his mind must not stray into strange paths!
He was standing in the middle of the room, looking down, and frowning to himself. The subtle scent of the hot-house flowers which were ma.s.sed in great silver bowls here and there mingled strangely with the sense of warmth from the great fires which had a strangely drowsy influence upon him.
Once more he was within the precincts of the Chateau dans le Bois Dormant.
"A penny for your thoughts, duke!" cut into his reverie.
He started and looked up.
Lady Constance stood before him, with her radiant smile and wonderful appeal. She swung a little fan of white feathers from one wrist. She wore a long, flowing black crepe de chine Empire gown, scintillating here and there with rich pa.s.s.e.m.e.nterie embroideries and jet ornamentations. The dress was rich in its simplicity, graceful and flowing, it possessed the art that concealed art, and showed off to wonderful advantage the wearer"s youthful beauty and glorious hair, the whiteness of her neck and arms against the shimmer of the black. It had been made by Worth, and only made more explicit the wonderful coronet of corn-ripe hair, surmounting a face as lovely as ever Raphael or Michael Angelo dreamt of and set down upon their canvases. She made an _ensemble_ so sudden in its appearance, so absolutely overwhelming in its appeal, that for one of the first times in his life the duke was taken aback and blushed and stammered like a boy.
"I really do not know," he said at length. "I was in a sort of brown study, Lady Constance!"
"Well," she replied, "the offer of a penny, or should it be twopence? is still open; but if you are not going to deal, as the Americans say, explain to me the meaning of the words "brown study.""
"I am afraid that is beyond me, Lady Constance," he returned, smiling, and feeling at ease again.
Just as he spoke Lord Hayle and the bishop entered, and they all went down to dinner.
They sat at a small oval table, and every one was in excellent spirits.
The duke"s troubles seemed to have left him. He felt exhilarated and stimulated, and a half-formed purpose in his mind grew clearer and clearer as the meal went on.
He would ask the radiant girl opposite him to be his wife.
He would ask her that very night if an opportunity presented itself. She was utterly, overwhelmingly charming. There was n.o.body like her in society. She was as unique among the high-born girls of the day as Ellen Terry was in the height of her charm and beauty upon the stage, when Charles Reade wrote the famous pa.s.sage about her.
Yes, nothing could be better. She was like champagne to him--she was the most beautiful thing in the world--at the moment she was the most desirable. The ready influence of her talk and laughter stole into his brain. He was captured and enthralled. He thought that this at last was Love.