"Well you have plenty of time to consider, and amuse yourself with the fair ones, _en pa.s.sant_"--he said watching me narrowly--"And in the meantime I can take you round the different marriage-markets of the world if you choose, though the largest one of them all is of course this very metropolis. Splendid bargains to be had, my dear friend!--wonderful blonde and brunette specimens going really very cheap. We"ll examine them at our leisure. I"m glad you have yourself decided that we are to be comrades,--for I am proud;--I may say d.a.m.nably proud;--and never stay in any man"s company when he expresses the slightest wish to be rid of me. Good-night!"
"Good-night!" I responded. We clasped hands again and they were still interlocked, when a sudden flash of lightning blazed vividly across the room, followed instantaneously by a terrific clap of thunder. The electric lights went out, and only the glow of the fire illumined our faces. I was a little startled and confused,--the prince stood still, quite unconcerned, his eyes shining like those of a cat in the darkness.
"What a storm!" he remarked lightly--"Such thunder in winter is rather unusual. Amiel!"
The valet entered, his sinister countenance resembling a white mask made visible in the gloom.
"These lamps have gone out,"--said his master--"It"s very odd that civilized humanity has not yet learned the complete management of the electric light. Can you put them in order, Amiel?"
"Yes, your excellency." And in a few moments, by some dexterous manipulation which I did not understand and could not see, the crystal-cased jets shone forth again with renewed brilliancy. Another peal of thunder crashed overhead, followed by a downpour of rain.
"Really remarkable weather for January,"--said Rimanez, again giving me his hand--"Good-night my friend! Sleep well."
"If the anger of the elements will permit!" I returned, smiling.
"Oh, never mind the elements. Man has nearly mastered them or soon will do so, now that he is getting gradually convinced there is no Deity to interfere in his business. Amiel, show Mr Tempest to his room."
Amiel obeyed, and crossing the corridor, ushered me into a large, luxurious apartment, richly furnished, and lit up by the blaze of a bright fire. The comforting warmth shone welcome upon me as I entered, and I who had not experienced such personal luxury since my boyhood"s days, felt more than ever overpowered by the jubilant sense of my sudden extraordinary good fortune. Amiel waited respectfully, now and then furtively glancing at me with an expression which to my fancy had something derisive in it.
"Is there anything I can do for you sir?" he inquired.
"No thank you,"--I answered, endeavouring to throw an accent of careless condescension into my voice--for somehow I felt this man must be kept strictly in his place--"you have been very attentive,--I shall not forget it."
A slight smile flickered over his features.
"Much obliged to you, sir. Good-night."
And he retired, leaving me alone. I paced the room up and down more dreamily than consciously, trying to think,--trying to set in order the amazing events of the day, but my brain was still dazed and confused, and the only image of actual prominence in my mind was the striking and remarkable personality of my new friend Rimanez. His extraordinary good looks, his attractive manner, his curious cynicism which was so oddly mixed with some deeper sentiment to which I could not give a name, all the trifling yet uncommon peculiarities of his bearing and humour haunted me and became indissolubly mingled as it were with myself and all the circ.u.mstances concerning me. I undressed before the fire, listening drowsily to the rain, and the thunder which was now dying off into sullen echoes.
"Geoffrey Tempest, the world is before you--" I said, apostrophizing myself indolently--"you are a young man,--you have health, a good appearance, and brains,--added to these you now have five millions of money, and a wealthy prince for your friend. What more do you want of Fate or Fortune? Nothing,--except fame! And that you will get easily, for now-a-days even fame is purchaseable--like love. Your star is in the ascendant,--no more literary drudgery for you my boy!--pleasure and profit and ease are yours to enjoy for the rest of your life. You are a lucky dog!--at last you have your day!"
I flung myself upon the soft bed, and settled myself to sleep,--and as I dozed off, I still heard the rumble of heavy thunder in the distance.
Once I fancied I heard the prince"s voice calling "Amiel! Amiel!" with a wildness resembling the shriek of an angry wind,--and at another moment I started violently from a profound slumber under the impression that someone had approached and was looking fixedly at me. I sat up in bed, peering into the darkness, for the fire had gone out;--then I turned on a small electric night-lamp at my side which fully illumined the room,--there was no one there. Yet my imagination played me such tricks before I could rest again that I thought I heard a hissing whisper near me that said--
"Peace! Trouble him not. Let the fool in his folly sleep!"
V
The next morning on rising I learned that "his excellency" as Prince Rimanez was called by his own servants and the employes of the "Grand,"
had gone out riding in the Park, leaving me to breakfast alone. I therefore took that meal in the public room of the hotel, where I was waited upon with the utmost obsequiousness, in spite of my shabby clothes, which I was of course still compelled to wear, having no change. When would I be pleased to lunch? At what hour would I dine?
Should my present apartment be retained?--or was it not satisfactory?
Would I prefer a "suite" similar to that occupied by his excellency? All these deferential questions first astonished and then amused me,--some mysterious agency had evidently conveyed the rumour of my wealth among those best fitted to receive it, and here was the first result. In reply I said my movements were uncertain,--I should be able to give definite instructions in the course of a few hours, and that in the meantime I retained my room. The breakfast over I sallied forth to go to my lawyers, and was just about to order a hansom when I saw my new friend coming back from his ride. He bestrode a magnificent chestnut mare, whose wild eyes and strained quivering limbs showed she was fresh from a hard gallop and was scarcely yet satisfied to be under close control.
She curveted and danced among the carts and cabs in a somewhat risky fashion, but she had her master in Rimanez, who if he had looked handsome by night looked still more so by day, with a slight colour warming the natural pallor of his complexion and his eyes sparkling with all the zest of exercise and enjoyment. I waited for his approach, as did also Amiel, who as usual timed his appearance in the hotel corridor in exact accordance with the moment of his master"s arrival. Rimanez smiled as he caught sight of me, touching his hat with the handle of his whip by way of salutation.
"You slept late, Tempest"--he said, as he dismounted and threw the reins to a groom who had cantered up after him,--"To-morrow you must come with me and join what they call in fashionable slang parlance the Liver Brigade. Once upon a time it was considered the height of indelicacy and low breeding to mention the "liver" or any other portion of one"s internal machinery,--but we have done with all that now, and we find a peculiar satisfaction in discoursing of disease and unsavoury medical matters generally. And in the Liver Brigade you see at a glance all those interesting fellows who have sold themselves to the devil for the sake of the flesh-pots of Egypt,--men who eat till they are well-nigh bursting, and then prance up and down on good horses,--much too respectable beasts by the way to bear such b.e.s.t.i.a.l burdens--in the hope of getting out of their poisoned blood the evil they have themselves put in. They think me one of them, but I am not."
He patted his mare and the groom led her away, the foam of her hard ride still flecking her glossy chest and forelegs.
"Why do you join the procession then?" I asked him, laughing and glancing at him with undisguised approval as I spoke, for he seemed more admirably built than ever in his well-fitting riding gear--"You are a fraud!"
"I am!" he responded lightly--"And do you know I am not the only one in London! Where are you off to?"
"To those lawyers who wrote to me last night;--Bentham and Ellis is the name of the firm. The sooner I interview them the better,--don"t you think so?"
"Yes--but see here,"--and he drew me aside--"You must have some ready cash. It doesn"t look well to apply at once for advances,--and there is really no necessity to explain to these legal men that you were on the verge of starvation when their letter arrived. Take this pocket-book,--remember you promised to let me be your banker,--and on your way you might go to some well-reputed tailor and get properly rigged out. Ta-ta!"
He moved off at a rapid pace,--I hurried after him, touched to the quick by his kindness.
"But wait--I say--Lucio!" And I called him thus by his familiar name for the first time. He stopped at once and stood quite still.
"Well?" he said, regarding me with an attentive smile.
"You don"t give me time to speak"--I answered in a low voice, for we were standing in one of the public corridors of the hotel--"The fact is I have some money, or rather I can get it directly,--Carrington sent me a draft for fifty pounds in his letter--I forgot to tell you about it.
It was very good of him to lend it to me,--you had better have it as security for this pocket-book,--by-the-bye how much is there inside it?"
"Five hundred, in bank notes of tens and twenties,"--he responded with business-like brevity.
"Five hundred! My dear fellow, I don"t want all that. It"s too much!"
"Better have too much than too little nowadays,"--he retorted with a laugh--"My dear Tempest, don"t make such a business of it. Five hundred pounds is really nothing. You can spend it all on a dressing-case for example. Better send back John Carrington"s draft,--I don"t think much of his generosity considering that he came into a mine worth a hundred thousand pounds sterling, a few days before I left Australia."
I heard this with great surprise, and, I must admit with a slight feeling of resentment too. The frank and generous character of my old chum "Boffles" seemed to darken suddenly in my eyes,--why could he not have told me of his good fortune in his letter? Was he afraid I might trouble him for further loans? I suppose my looks expressed my thoughts, for Rimanez, who had observed me intently, presently added--
"Did he not tell you of his luck? That was not very friendly of him--but as I remarked last night, money often spoils a man."
"Oh I daresay he meant no slight by the omission," I said hurriedly, forcing a smile--"No doubt he will make it the subject of his next letter. Now as to this five hundred"--
"Keep it, man, keep it"--he interposed impatiently--"What do you talk about security for? Haven"t I got _you_ as security?"
I laughed. "Well, I am fairly reliable now"--I said--"And I"m not going to run away."
"From _me_?" he queried, with a half cold half kind glance; "No,--I fancy not!"
He waved his hand lightly and left me, and I, putting the leather case of notes in my inner breast-pocket, hailed a hansom and was driven off rapidly to Basinghall Street where my solicitors awaited me.
Arrived at my destination I sent up my name, and was received at once with the utmost respect by two small chips of men in rusty black who represented "the firm." At my request they sent down their clerk to pay and dismiss my cab, while I, opening Lucio"s pocket book, asked them to change me a ten-pound note into gold and silver which they did with ready good-will. Then we went into business together. My deceased relative, whom I had never seen as far as I myself remembered, but who had seen me as a motherless baby in my nurse"s arms, had left me everything he possessed unconditionally, including several rare collections of pictures, jewels and curios. His will was so concisely and clearly worded that there were no possibilities of any legal hair-splitting over it,--and I was informed that in a week or ten days at the utmost everything would be in order and at my sole disposition.
"You are a very fortunate man Mr Tempest;"--said the senior partner Mr Bentham, as he folded up the last of the papers we had been looking through and put it by--"At your age this princely inheritance may be either a great boon to you or a great curse,--one never knows. The possession of such enormous wealth involves great responsibilities."
I was amused at what I considered the impertinence of this mere servant of the law in presuming to moralize on my luck.
"Many people would be glad to accept such responsibilities and change places with me"--I said with a flippant air--"You yourself, for example?"
I knew this remark was not in good taste, but I made it wilfully, feeling that he had no business to preach to me as it were on the responsibilities of wealth. He took no offence however,--he merely gave me an observant side-glance like that of some meditative crow.