"Judge for yourself!" And I handed him the lawyer"s letter which informed me of my suddenly acquired fortune.
He glanced it through rapidly,--then folded and returned it to me with a courteous bow.
"I suppose I should congratulate you,"--he said--"And I do. Though of course this wealth which seems to content you, to me appears a mere trifle. It can be quite conveniently run through and exhausted in about eight years or less, therefore it does not provide absolute immunity from care. To be rich, really rich, in my sense of the word, one should have about a million a year. Then one might reasonably hope to escape the workhouse!"
He laughed,--and I stared at him stupidly, not knowing how to take his words, whether as truth or idle boasting. Five millions of money a mere trifle! He went on without apparently noticing my amazement--
"The inexhaustible greed of a man, my dear sir, can never be satisfied.
If he is not consumed by desire for one thing, he is for another, and his tastes are generally expensive. A few pretty and unscrupulous women for example, would soon relieve you of your five millions in the purchase of jewels alone. Horse-racing would do it still more quickly.
No, no,--you are not rich,--you are still poor,--only your needs are no longer so pressing as they were. And in this I confess myself somewhat disappointed,--for I came to you hoping to do a good turn to some one for once in my life, and to play the foster-father to a rising genius--and here I am--forestalled,--as usual! It is a singular thing, do you know, but nevertheless a fact, that whenever I have had any particular intentions towards a man I am always forestalled! It is really rather hard upon me!" He broke off and raised his head in a listening att.i.tude.
"What is that?" he asked.
It was the violinist next door playing a well-known "Ave Maria." I told him so.
"Dismal,--very dismal!" he said with a contemptuous shrug. "I hate all that kind of mawkish devotional stuff. Well!--millionaire as you are, and acknowledged lion of society as you shortly will be, there is no objection I hope, to the proposed supper? And perhaps a music-hall afterwards if you feel inclined,--what do you say?"
He clapped me on the shoulder cordially and looked straight into my face,--those wonderful eyes of his, suggestive of both tears and fire, fixed me with a clear masterful gaze that completely dominated me. I made no attempt to resist the singular attraction which now possessed me for this man whom I had but just met,--the sensation was too strong and too pleasant to be combated. Only for one moment more I hesitated, looking down at my shabby attire.
"I am not fit to accompany you, prince," I said--"I look more like a tramp than a millionaire."
He glanced at me and smiled.
"Upon my life, so you do!" he averred.--"But be satisfied!--you are in this respect very like many another Croesus. It is only the poor and proud who take the trouble to dress well,--they and the dear "naughty"
ladies, generally monopolize tasteful and becoming attire. An ill-fitting coat often adorns the back of a Prime Minister,--and if you see a woman clad in clothes vilely cut and coloured, you may be sure she is eminently virtuous, renowned for good works, and probably a d.u.c.h.ess!"
He rose, drawing his sables about him.
"What matter the coat if the purse be full!" he continued gaily.--"Let it once be properly paragraphed in the papers that you are a millionaire, and doubtless some enterprising tailor will invent a "Tempest" ulster coloured softly like your present garb, an artistic mildewy green! And now come along,--your solicitor"s communication should have given you a good appet.i.te, or it is not so valuable as it seems,--and I want you to do justice to my supper. I have my own _chef_ with me, and he is not without skill. I hope, by the way, you will at least do me this much service,--that pending legal discussion and settlement of your affairs, you will let me be your banker?"
This offer was made with such an air of courteous delicacy and friendship, that I could do no more than accept it gratefully, as it relieved me from all temporary embarra.s.sment. I hastily wrote a few lines to my landlady, telling her she would receive the money owing to her by post next day,--then, thrusting my rejected ma.n.u.script, my only worldly possession, into my coat-pocket, I extinguished the lamp, and with the new friend I had so suddenly gained, I left my dismal lodgings and all its miserable a.s.sociations for ever. I little thought the time would come when I should look back to the time spent in that small mean room as the best period of my life,--when I should regard the bitter poverty I then endured, as the stern but holy angel meant to guide me to the highest and n.o.blest attainment,--when I should pray desperately with wild tears to be as I was then, rather than as I am now! Is it well or ill for us I wonder, that the future is hidden from our knowledge?
Should we steer our ways clearer from evil if we knew its result? It is a doubtful question,--at anyrate my ignorance for the moment was indeed bliss. I went joyfully out of the dreary house where I had lived so long among disappointments and difficulties, turning my back upon it with such a sense of relief as could never be expressed in words,--and the last thing I heard as I pa.s.sed into the street with my companion, was a plaintive long-drawn wail of minor melody, which seemed to be sent after me like a parting cry, by the unknown and invisible player of the violin.
IV
Outside, the prince"s carriage waited, drawn by two spirited black horses caparisoned in silver; magnificent thoroughbreds, which pawed the ground and champed their bits impatient of delay,--at sight of his master the smart footman in attendance threw the door open, touching his hat respectfully. We stepped in, I preceding my companion at his expressed desire; and as I sank back among the easy cushions, I felt the complacent consciousness of luxury and power to such an extent that it seemed as if I had left my days of adversity already a long way behind me. Hunger and happiness disputed my sensations between them, and I was in that vague light-headed condition common to long fasting, in which nothing seems absolutely tangible or real. I knew I should not properly grasp the solid truth of my wonderful good luck till my physical needs were satisfied and I was, so to speak, once more in a naturally balanced bodily condition. At present my brain was in a whirl,--my thoughts were all dim and disconnected,--and I appeared to myself to be in some whimsical dream from which I should wake up directly. The carriage rolled on rubber-tyred wheels and made no noise as it went,--one could only hear the even rapid trot of the horses. By-and-by I saw in the semi-darkness my new friend"s brilliant dark eyes fixed upon me with a curiously intent expression.
"Do you not feel the world already at your feet?" he queried half playfully, half ironically--"Like a football, waiting to be kicked? It is such an absurd world, you know--so easily moved. Wise men in all ages have done their best to make it less ridiculous,--with no result, inasmuch as it continues to prefer folly to wisdom. A football, or let us say a shuttlec.o.c.k among worlds, ready to be tossed up anyhow and anywhere, provided the battledore be of gold!"
"You speak a trifle bitterly, prince"--I said--"But no doubt you have had a wide experience among men?"
"I have," he returned with emphasis--"My kingdom is a vast one."
"You are a ruling power then?" I exclaimed with some astonishment--"Yours is not a t.i.tle of honour only?"
"Oh, as your rules of aristocracy go, it _is_ a mere t.i.tle of honour"--he replied quickly--"When I say that my kingdom is a vast one, I mean that I rule wherever men obey the influence of wealth. From this point of view, am I wrong in calling my kingdom vast?--is it not almost boundless?"
"I perceive you are a cynic,"--I said--"Yet surely you believe that there are some things wealth cannot buy,--honour and virtue for example?"
He surveyed me with a whimsical smile.
"I suppose honour and virtue _do_ exist--" he answered--"And when they are existent of course they cannot be bought. But my experience has taught me that I can always buy everything. The sentiments called honour and virtue by the majority of men are the most shifty things imaginable,--set sufficient cash down, and they become bribery and corruption in the twinkling of an eye! Curious--very curious. I confess I found a case of unpurchaseable integrity once, but only once. I may find it again, though I consider the chance a very doubtful one. Now to revert to myself, pray do not imagine I am playing the humbug with you or pa.s.sing myself off under a _bogus_ t.i.tle. I am a _bona-fide_ prince, believe me, and of such descent as none of your oldest families can boast,--but my dominions are long since broken up and my former subjects dispersed among all nations,--anarchy, nihilism, disruption and political troubles generally, compel me to be rather reticent concerning my affairs. Money I fortunately have in plenty,--and with that I pave my way. Some day when we are better acquainted, you shall know more of my private history. I have various other names and t.i.tles besides that on my card--but I keep to the simplest of them, because most people are such bunglers at the p.r.o.nunciation of foreign names. My intimate friends generally drop my t.i.tle, and call me Lucio simply."
"That is your christian name--?" I began.
"Not at all--I have no "christian" name,"--he interrupted swiftly and with anger--"There is no such thing as "christian" in my composition!"
He spoke with such impatience that for a moment I was at a loss for a reply. At last--
"Indeed!" I murmured vaguely.
He burst out laughing.
""Indeed!" That is all you can find to say! Indeed and again indeed the word "christian" vexes me. There is no such creature alive. _You_ are not a Christian,--no one is really,--people pretend to be,--and in so d.a.m.nable an act of feigning are more blasphemous than any fallen fiend!
Now I make no pretences of the kind,--I have only one faith--"
"And that is?"--
"A profound and awful one!" he said in thrilling tones--"And the worst of it is that it is true,--as true as the workings of the Universe. But of that hereafter,--it will do to talk of when we feel low-spirited and wish to converse of things grim and ghastly,--at present here we are at our destination, and the chief consideration of our lives, (it is the chief consideration of most men"s lives) must be the excellence or non-excellence of our food."
The carriage stopped and we descended. At first sight of the black horses and silver trappings, the porter of the hotel and two or three other servants rushed out to attend upon us; but the prince pa.s.sed into the hall without noticing any of them and addressed himself to a sober-looking individual in black, his own private valet, who came forward to meet him with a profound salutation. I murmured something about wishing to engage a room for myself in the hotel.
"Oh, my man will see to that for you"--he said lightly--"The house is not full,--at anyrate all the best rooms are not taken; and of course you want one of the best."
A staring waiter, who up to that moment, had been noting my shabby clothes with that peculiar air of contempt commonly displayed by insolent menials to those whom they imagine are poor, overheard these words, and suddenly changing the derisive expression of his foxy face, bowed obsequiously as I pa.s.sed. A thrill of disgust ran through me, mingled with a certain angry triumph,--the hypocritical reflex of this low fellow"s countenance, was, I knew, a true epitome of what I should find similarly reflected in the manner and att.i.tude of all "polite"
society. For there the estimate of worth is no higher than a common servant"s estimate, and is taken solely from the money standard;--if you are poor and dress shabbily you are thrust aside and ignored,--but if you are rich, you may wear shabby clothes as much as you like, you are still courted and flattered, and invited everywhere, though you may be the greatest fool alive or the worst blackguard unhung. With vague thoughts such as these flitting over my mind, I followed my host to his rooms. He occupied nearly a whole wing of the hotel, having a large drawing-room, dining-room and study _en suite_, fitted up in the most luxurious manner, besides bedroom, bathroom, and dressing-room, with other rooms adjoining, for his valet and two extra personal attendants.
The table was laid for supper, and glittered with the costliest gla.s.s, silver and china, being furthermore adorned by baskets of the most exquisite fruit and flowers, and in a few moments we were seated. The prince"s valet acted as head-waiter, and I noticed that now this man"s face, seen in the full light of the electric lamps, seemed very dark and unpleasant, even sinister in expression,--but in the performance of his duties he was unexceptionable, being quick, attentive, and deferential, so much so that I inwardly reproached myself for taking an instinctive dislike to him. His name was Amiel, and I found myself involuntarily watching his movements, they were so noiseless,--his very step suggesting the stealthy gliding of a cat or a tiger. He was a.s.sisted in his work by the two other attendants who served as his subordinates, and who were equally active and well-trained,--and presently I found myself enjoying the choicest meal I had tasted for many and many a long day, flavoured with such wine as connoisseurs might be apt to dream of, but never succeed in finding. I began to feel perfectly at my ease, and talked with freedom and confidence, the strong attraction I had for my new friend deepening with every moment I pa.s.sed in his company.
"Will you continue your literary career now you have this little fortune left you?" he inquired, when at the close of supper Amiel set the choicest cognac and cigars before us, and respectfully withdrew--"Do you think you will care to go on with it?"
"Certainly I shall"--I replied--"if only for the fun of the thing. You see, with money I can force my name into notice whether the public like it or not. No newspaper refuses paying advertis.e.m.e.nts."
"True!--but may not inspiration refuse to flow from a full purse and an empty head?"
This remark provoked me not a little.
"Do you consider me empty-headed?" I asked with some vexation.
"Not at present. My dear Tempest, do not let either the Tokay we have been drinking, or the cognac we are going to drink, speak for you in such haste! I a.s.sure you I do not think you empty-headed,--on the contrary, your head, I believe from what I have heard, has been and is full of ideas,--excellent ideas, original ideas, which the world of conventional criticism does not want. But whether these ideas will continue to germinate in your brain, or whether, with the full purse, they will cease, is now the question. Great originality and inspiration, strange to say, seldom endow the millionaire. Inspiration is supposed to come from above,--money from below! In your case however both originality and inspiration may continue to flourish and bring forth fruit,--I trust they may. It often happens, nevertheless that when bags of money fall to the lot of aspiring genius, G.o.d departs and the devil walks in. Have you never heard that?"
"Never!" I answered smiling.
"Well, of course the saying is foolish, and sounds doubly ridiculous in this age when people believe in neither G.o.d nor devil. It implies however that one must choose an up or a down,--genius is the Up, money is the Down. You cannot fly and grovel at the same instant."
"The possession of money is not likely to cause a man to grovel"--I said--"It is the one thing necessary to strengthen his soaring powers and lift him to the greatest heights."