"Yes?"
Claire was examining Mr Pickering with furtive side glances. He was not handsome, nor, on the other hand, was he repulsive. "Undistinguished" was the adjective that would have described him. He was inclined to stoutness, but not unpardonably so; his hair was thin, but he was not aggressively bald; his face was dull, but certainly not stupid. There was nothing in his outer man which his millions would not offset. As regarded his other qualities, his conversation was certainly not exhilarating. But that also was not, under certain conditions, an unforgivable thing. No, looking at the matter all round and weighing it with care, the real obstacle, Claire decided, was not any quality or lack of qualities in Dudley Pickering-it was Lord Dawlish and the simple fact that it would be extremely difficult, if she discarded him in favour of a richer man without any ostensible cause, to retain her self-respect.
"I think he"s weakening."
"Yes?"
Yes, that was the crux of the matter. She wanted to retain her good opinion of herself. And in order to achieve that end it was essential that she find some excuse, however trivial, for breaking off the engagement.
"Yes?"
A waiter approached the table.
"Mr Pickering!"
The thwarted lover came to life with a start.
"Eh?"
"A gentleman wishes to speak to you on the telephone."
"Oh, yes. I was expecting a long-distance call, Lady Wetherby, and left word I would be here. Will you excuse me?"
Lady Wetherby watched him as he bustled across the room.
"What do you think of him, Claire?"
"Mr Pickering? I think he"s very nice."
"He admires you frantically. I hoped he would. That"s why I wanted you to come over on the same ship with him."
"Polly! I had no notion you were such a schemer."
"I would just love to see you two fix it up," continued Lady Wetherby, earnestly. "He may not be what you might call a genius, but he"s a darned good sort; and all his millions help, don"t they? You don"t want to overlook these millions, Claire!"
"I do like Mr Pickering."
"Claire, he asked me if you were engaged."
"What!"
"When I told him you weren"t, he beamed. Honestly, you"ve only got to lift your little finger and-Oh, good Lord, there"s Algie!"
Claire looked up. A dapper, trim little man of about forty was threading his way among the tables in their direction. It was a year since Claire had seen Lord Wetherby, but she recognized him at once. He had a red, weather-beaten face with a suspicion of side-whiskers, small, pink-rimmed eyes with sandy eyebrows, the smoothest of sandy hair, and a chin so cleanly shaven that it was difficult to believe that hair had ever grown there. Although his evening-dress was perfect in every detail, he conveyed a subtle suggestion of horsiness. He reached the table and sat down without invitation in the vacant chair.
"Pauline!" he said, sorrowfully.
"Algie!" said Lady Wetherby, tensely. "I don"t know what you"ve come here for, and I don"t remember asking you to sit down and put your elbows on that table, but I want to begin by saying that I will not be called Pauline. My name"s Polly. You"ve got a way of saying Pauline, as if it were a gentlemanly cuss-word, that makes me want to scream. And while you"re about it, why don"t you say how-d"you-do to Claire? You ought to remember her, she was my bridesmaid."
"How do you do, Miss Fenwick. Of course, I remember you perfectly.
I"m glad to see you again."
"And now, Algie, what is it? Why have you come here?" Lord Wetherby looked doubtfully at Claire. "Oh, that"s all right," said Lady Wetherby. "Claire knows all about it-I told her."
"Then I appeal to Miss Fenwick, if, as you say, she knows all the facts of the case, to say whether it is reasonable to expect a man of my temperament, a nervous, highly-strung artist, to welcome the presence of snakes at the breakfast-table. I trust that I am not an unreasonable man, but I decline to admit that a long, green snake is a proper thing to keep about the house."
"You had no right to strike the poor thing."
"In that one respect I was perhaps a little hasty. I happened to be stirring my tea at the moment his head rose above the edge of the table. I was not entirely myself that morning. My nerves were somewhat disordered. I had lain awake much of the night planning a canvas."
"Planning a what?"
"A canvas-a picture."
Lady Wetherby turned to Claire.
"I want you to listen to Algie, Claire. A year ago he did not know one end of a paint-brush from the other. He didn"t know he had any nerves. If you had brought him the artistic temperament on a plate with a bit of watercress round it, he wouldn"t have recognized it. And now, just because he"s got a studio, he thinks he has a right to go up in the air if you speak to him suddenly and run about the place hitting snakes with teaspoons as if he were Michelangelo!"
"You do me an injustice. It is true that as an artist I developed late-But why should we quarrel? If it will help to pave the way to a renewed understanding between us, I am prepared to apologize for striking Clarence. That is conciliatory, I think, Miss Fenwick?"
"Very."
"Miss Fenwick considers my att.i.tude conciliatory."
"It"s something," admitted Lady Wetherby, grudgingly.
Lord Wetherby drained the whisky-and-soda which Dudley Pickering had left behind him, and seemed to draw strength from it, for he now struck a firmer note.
"But, though expressing regret for my momentary loss of self-control, I cannot recede from the position I have taken up as regards the essential unfitness of Clarence"s presence in the home."
Lady Wetherby looked despairingly at Claire.
"The very first words I heard Algie speak, Claire, were at Newmarket during the three o"clock race one May afternoon. He was hanging over the rail, yelling like an Indian, and what he was yelling was, "Come on, you blighter, come on! By the living jingo, Brickbat wins in a walk!" And now he"s talking about receding from essential positions! Oh, well, he wasn"t an artist then!"
"My dear Pau-Polly. I am purposely picking my words on the present occasion in order to prevent the possibility of further misunderstandings. I consider myself an amba.s.sador."
"You would be shocked if you knew what I consider you!"
"I am endeavouring to the best of my ability-"
"Algie, listen to me! I am quite calm at present, but there"s no knowing how soon I may hit you with a chair if you don"t come to earth quick and talk like an ordinary human being. What is it that you are driving at?"
"Very well, it"s this: I"ll come home if you get rid of that snake."
"Never!"
"It"s surely not much to ask of you, Polly?"
"I won"t!"
Lord Wetherby sighed.