He was gazing into the blaze, his head on his hand, and his quick start and turn as the door of the smoking-room opened showed him to be not merely thoughtful but expectant.
He sprang up.
"Is that you, Oliver?"
He came forward eagerly. He had known Marsham from a child, had watched his career, and formed a very shrewd opinion of his character. But how this supreme moment would turn--if, indeed, the supreme moment had arrived--Sir James had no idea.
Marsham closed the door behind him, and in the lamplight the two men looked at each other. Marsham"s brow was furrowed, his cheeks pale. His eyes, restless and bright, interrogated his old friend. At the first glance Sir James understood. He thrust his hands into his pockets.
"You know?" he said, under his breath.
Marsham nodded.
"And you--have known it all along?"
"From the first moment, almost, that I set eyes on that poor child. Does _she_ know? Have you broken it to her?"
The questions hurried on each other"s heels. Marsham shook his head, and Sir James, turning away, made a sound that was almost a groan.
"You have proposed to her?"
"Yes."
"And she has accepted you?"
"Yes." Marsham walked to the mantel-piece, and hung over the fire.
Sir James watched him for a moment, twisting his mouth. Then he walked up to his companion and laid a hand on his arm.
"Stick it out, Oliver!" he said, breathing quick. "Stick it out! You"ll have to fight--but she"s worth it."
Marsham"s hand groped for his. Sir James pressed it, and walked away again, his eyes on the carpet. When he came back, he said, shortly:
"You know your mother will resist it to the last?"
By this, Marsham had collected his forces, and as he turned to the lamplight, Sir James saw a countenance that rea.s.sured him.
"I have no hope of persuading her. It will have to be faced."
"No, I fear there is no hope. She sees all such things in a false light.
Forgive me--we must both speak plainly. She will shudder at the bare idea of Juliet Sparling"s daughter as your wife; she will think it means a serious injury to your career--in reality it does nothing of the sort--and she will regard it as her duty to a.s.sert herself."
"You and Ferrier must do all you can for me," said Marsham, slowly.
"We shall do everything we can, but I do not flatter myself it will be of the smallest use. And supposing we make no impression--what then?"
Marsham paused a moment; then looked up.
"You know the terms of my father"s will? I am absolutely dependent on my mother. The allowance she makes me at present is quite inadequate for a man in Parliament, and she could stop it to-morrow."
"You might have to give up Parliament?"
"I should very likely have to give up Parliament."
Sir James ruminated, and took up his half-smoked cigar for counsel.
"I can"t imagine, Oliver, that your mother would push her opposition to quite that point. But, in any case, you have forgotten Miss Mallory"s own fortune."
"It has never entered into my thoughts!" cried Marsham, with an emphasis which Sir James knew to be honest. "But, in any case, I cannot live upon my wife. If I could not find something to do, I should certainly give up politics."
His tone had become a little dry and bitter, his aspect gray.
Sir James surveyed him a moment--pondering.
"You will find plenty of ways out, Oliver--plenty! The sympathy of all the world will be with you. You have won a beautiful and n.o.ble creature.
She has been brought up under a more than Greek fate. You will rescue her from it. You will show her how to face it--and how to conquer it."
A tremor swept across Marsham"s handsome mouth. But the perplexity and depression in the face remained.
Sir James had a slight consciousness of rebuff. But it disappeared in his own emotion. He resumed:
"She ought to be told the story--perhaps with some omissions--at once.
Her mother"--he spoke with a slow precision, forcing out the words--"was not a bad woman. If you like, I will break it to Miss Mallory. I am probably more intimately acquainted with the story than any one else now living."
Something in the tone, in the solemnity of the blue eyes, in the carriage of the gray head, touched Marsham to the quick. He laid a hand on his old friend"s shoulder--affectionately--in mute thanks.
"Diana mentioned her father"s solicitors--"
"I know"--interrupted Sir James--"Riley & Bonner--excellent fellows--both of them still living. They probably have all the records.
And I shouldn"t wonder if they have a letter--from Sparling. He _must_ have made provision--for the occasion that has now arisen."
"A letter?--for Diana?"
Sir James nodded. "His behavior to her was a piece of moral cowardice, I suppose. I saw a good deal of him during the trial, of course, though it is years now since I lost all trace of him. He was a sensitive, shy fellow, wrapped up in his archaeology, and very ignorant of the world--when it all happened. It tore him up by the roots. His life withered in a day."
Marsham flushed.
"He had no right to bring her up in this complete ignorance! He could not have done anything more cruel!--more fatal! No one knows what the effect may be upon her."
And with a sudden rush of pa.s.sion through the blood, he seemed to hold her once more in his arms, he felt the warmth of her cheek on his; all her fresh and fragrant youth was present to him, the love in her voice, and in her proud eyes. He turned away, threw himself into a chair, and buried his face in his hands.
Sir James looked down upon him. Instead of sympathy, there was a positive lightening in the elder man"s face--a gleam of satisfaction.
"Cheer up, old fellow!" he said, in a low voice. "You"ll bring her through. You stand by her, and you"ll reap your reward. By Gad, there are many men who would envy you the chance!"
Marsham made no reply. Was it his silence that evoked in the mind of Sir James the figure which already held the mind of his companion?--the figure of Lady Lucy? He paced up and down, with the image before him--the spare form, resolutely erect, the delicate resolution of the face, the prim perfection of the dress, judged by the Quakerish standard of its owner. Lady Lucy almost always wore gloves--white or gray. In Sir James"s mind the remembrance of them took a symbolic importance. What use in expecting the wearer of them to handle the blood and mire of Juliet Sparling"s story with breadth and pity?
"Look here!" he said, coming to a sudden stop. "Let us decide at once on what is to be done. You said nothing to Miss Mallory?"