Her voice lifted gradually as she proceeded till she ended upon a note that was almost shrill.
Sylvia sat very still. Her hands were clasped tightly about her knee. Her face was pale, and the red-brown eyes glittered a little, but she betrayed no other signs of emotion,
"I quite understand," she said after a moment. "But that doesn"t solve the present difficulty, does it? I cannot possibly call you by a name that is sacred to someone else."
She spoke very quietly, but there was indomitable resolution in her very calm--a resolution that exasperated Mrs. Ingleton almost beyond endurance.
She arose with a sweeping gesture. "Oh, very well then," she said.
"You shall call me Madam!"
Sylvia looked up at her. "I think that is quite a good idea," she said in a tone that somehow stung her hearer, unbearably. "I will do that."
"And don"t be impertinent!" she said, beginning to pace to and fro like an angry tigress. "I will not put up with it, Sylvia. I warn you. You have been thoroughly spoilt all your life. I know the signs quite well. And you have come to think that you can do anything you like. But that is not so any longer. I am mistress here, and I mean to maintain my position. Any hint of rebellion from you or anyone else I shall punish with the utmost severity.
So now you understand."
"I do indeed," said Sylvia.
She had not stirred from her chair, but sat watching her step-mother"s agitated pacing with grim attention. It was her first acquaintance with the most violent temper she had ever encountered in a woman, and it interested her. She was no longer conscious of being angry herself. The whole affair had become a sort of bitter comedy. She looked upon it with a species of impersonal scorn.
Mrs. Ingleton was obviously lashing herself to fury. She could not imagine why, not realizing at that stage that she was the victim of a jealousy so fierce as to amount almost to a mania. She wondered if her father were watching them from the terrace, and contemplated getting up to join him, but hesitated to do so, reflecting that it might appear like flight. At the same time she did not see why she should remain as a target for her step-mother"s invective, and she had just decided upon departure when Bliss, the butler, opened the door with his own peculiarly quiet flourish and announced, "Captain Preston!"
A clean-shaven little man, with a horsey appearance about the legs which evening-dress wholly failed to conceal, entered, and instinctively Sylvia rose to receive him.
Mrs. Ingleton stopped short and stared as they met in the middle of the room.
"Hullo, Sylvia!" said the little man, and stamped forward as if he had just dismounted after a long ride. He had a loud voice and an a.s.sertive manner, and Mrs. Ingleton gazed at him in frozen surprise.
Sylvia turned towards her. "May I introduce Mr. Preston--the M.F.H.?" Her tone was cold. If the newcomer"s advent had been a welcome diversion it obviously gave her no pleasure.
Preston, however, plainly did not stand in need of any encouragement. He strode up to Mrs. Ingleton, confronting her with aggressive self-a.s.surance, "Delighted to meet you, madam. You are Sylvia"s step-mother, I presume? I hope we shall be more nearly connected before long. Anyone belongin" to Sylvia has my highest esteem. She has the straightest seat on a horse of any woman I know. Ingleton and I between us taught her all she knows about huntin", and she does us credit, by gad!"
He winked at Mrs. Ingleton as he ended, and Sylvia bit her lip.
Mrs. Ingleton, however, held out her hand.
"Pray sit down, Mr. Preston! You are most welcome. Sylvia, my dear, will you find the cigarettes?"
Sylvia took a box from the table and handed it to him. He took it from her, openly pinching her fingers as he did so, and offered it to her instead.
"After you, Cherry-ripe! You"re lookin" spiffin" to-night, hey, Mrs. Ingleton? What do you think of your new daughter?"
Mrs. Ingleton was smiling. "I am only wondering what all you young men can be about," she said. "I should have thought one of you would have captured her long ago."
Sylvia turned round, disgust in every line, and walked to the window. "I will find Dad," she said.
Preston looked after her, standing with legs wide apart on the hearth-rug. "It"s none of my fault, I a.s.sure you," he said. "I"ve been tryin" to rope her for the last two years. But she"s so d.a.m.n"
shy. Can"t get near her, by George."
"Really?" smiled Mrs. Ingleton. "Perhaps you have not gone quite the right way to work. I think I shall have to take a hand in the game and see what I can do."
Preston bowed with his hand on his heart, "I always like to get the fair s.e.x on my side whenever possible. If you can put the halter on her, you"ve only to name your price, madam, and it"s yours."
"Dear me!" said Mrs. Ingleton. "You"re very generous."
"I can afford to be," declared Preston. "She"s a decent bit of goods--the only one I"ve ever wanted and couldn"t get. If you can get the whip-hand of her and drive her my way--well, it"ll be pretty good business for all concerned. You like diamonds, hey, madam?"
"Very much," laughed Mrs. Ingleton coquettishly. "But you mustn"t make my husband jealous. Remember that now!"
Preston closed one eye deliberately and poked his tongue into his cheek. "You leave that to me, my good madam. Anythin" of that sort would be the gift of the bridegroom. See?"
"Oh, quite," said Mrs. Ingleton. "I shall certainly do my best for you, Mr. Preston."
"Good for you!" said Preston jocularly. "It"s a deal then. And you play every trump you"ve got!"
"You may depend upon me," said Mrs. Ingleton.
CHAPTER III
THE WHIP-HAND
"Why isn"t Mr. Preston engaged to Sylvia?" demanded Mrs. Ingleton of her husband as she faced him across the breakfast-table on the following morning.
"He"d like to be," said Ingleton with his face bent over the morning paper.
"Then why isn"t he?" demanded Mrs. Ingleton with asperity. "He is a rich country gentleman, and he has a position in the County.
What more could you possibly want for her?"
Reluctantly the squire made answer. "Oh, I"m willing enough. He"s quite a decent chap so far as I know. I dare say he"d make her quite a good husband if she"d have him. But she won"t. So there"s an end of that."
"Ridiculous!" exclaimed Mrs. Ingleton. "And, pray, why won"t she?"
"Why? Oh, because there"s another fellow, of course. There always is," growled Ingleton. "Girls never fall in love with the right man. Haven"t you found that out yet?"
"I have found out," said Mrs. Ingleton tartly, "that Sylvia is a most wilful and perverse girl, and I think you are very unwise to put up with her whims. I should be ashamed to have a girl of that age still on my hands."
"I"d like to know how you"d have managed her any differently,"
muttered the squire, without looking up.
Mrs. Ingleton laughed unpleasantly. "You don"t know much about women, do you, my dear? Of course I could have managed her differently. She"d have been comfortably married for the past two years at least if I had been in command."
Ingleton looked sourly incredulous. "You don"t know Sylvia," he observed. "She has a will like cast-iron. You"d never move her."
Mrs. Ingleton tossed her head. "Never? Well, look here! If you want the girl to marry that really charming Mr. Preston, I"ll undertake that she shall--and that within a year. How is that?"
Ingleton stared a little, then slowly shook his head. "You"ll never do it, my dear Caroline."