"You fellows in the country are so unfriendly. In town I never need dine alone. Anyone"s glad to see me. Feeding all by myself in that dining-room fairly gives me the pip."
"Then come and dine here," said d.i.c.k, unable to refuse a neighbour hospitality.
"Right," said Banstead. "That is really like the Samaritan Johnnie. I"ll come with pleasure."
"Quarter to eight."
Banstead hesitated. "Couldn"t you make it a quarter past?"
d.i.c.k stared. "Alter our dinner hour? You"ve rather a nerve, haven"t you, Banstead?"
"I wouldn"t suggest it, if we weren"t pals," replied the other, grinning somewhat shamefacedly. "But the fact is I"ve got an appointment late this afternoon." The fatuity of vicious and coroneted youth outstripped his discretion. "There"s a devilish pretty girl, you know, at "The Green Man" at Little Barton; I don"t know whether I can get away in time."
d.i.c.k stuffed his bast in his pocket, and muttered things uncomplimentary to Banstead.
"Dinner"s at a quarter to eight. You can take it or leave it," said he.
"I suppose I"ve jolly well got to take it," said Banstead, unruffled.
"Anything"s better than going through dinner from soup to dessert all alone under the fishy eye of that butling image of a Jenkins. He was thirty years in my governor"s service, and doesn"t understand my ways. I guess I"ll have to chuck him."
A perspiring, straw-hatted postman lurched along the gravel drive with the morning"s post. He touched his hat to d.i.c.k, delivered the Manor House bag into his hands, and departed.
"I"ll sort these in the morning-room," said d.i.c.k, moving in the direction of the house, and Lord Banstead, hoping to see Viviette, followed at his heels. The control of the family post was one of the few privileges d.i.c.k retained as master of the house. His simple mind still regarded the receipt and despatch of letters as a solemn affair of life, and every morning he went through the process of distribution with ceremonial observance. In the morning-room they found Austin and Viviette, the former writing in a corner, the latter reading a novel by the French window that opened on to the terrace. d.i.c.k went up to a table, and, opening the mail-bag, began to sort the letters into various heaps. Austin greeted Lord Banstead none too warmly, and, with scarcely an apology, went back to his writing. He disapproved of Banstead, who was of a type particularly antagonistic to the young, clean, and successful barrister. When Viviette had informed him of the youth"s presence in the garden, he had exclaimed impatiently:
"It ought to be somebody"s business to go round the world occasionally with a broom and sweep away spiders like that."
Viviette, mindful of the invective, received Lord Banstead with a smile of amus.e.m.e.nt. As she had two protectors against a fifth proposal of marriage, she stood her ground.
"I expected you to come over yesterday," she said.
"No, did you really?" he exclaimed, a flush rising to his pale cheeks.
"If I had thought that I should have come."
"You"ve made up for it by arriving early to-day, at any rate," said Viviette.
"And I"m making up for it further by coming to dinner to-night. d.i.c.k asked me," he added, seeing the polite questioning in her eyes.
"That will be very nice," she said. "You can talk to mother. You see, d.i.c.k talks to Mrs. Holroyd, who is staying with us, Austin talks to me, so poor mother is left out in the cold. She"ll enjoy a nice long talk with you."
When Banstead took the chorus out to supper he had the ready repartee of his kind. In such a case he would have told the lady not to pull his leg. But the delicate mockery in Viviette"s face seemed to forbid the use of this figure of speech, and as his vocabulary did not readily allow him to formulate the idea in other terms he said nothing, but settled his stock, and looked at her adoringly. At last he bent forward, after a glance at the protectors, and said in a low tone:
"Come out into the garden. I"ve something to say to you."
"Why not say it here?" she replied in her ordinary voice.
Banstead bit his lip. He would have liked to call her a little devil.
But he reflected that if he did she would be quite capable of repeating the phrase aloud, somewhat to the astonishment of d.i.c.k and Austin, who might ask for embarra.s.sing explanations. Instead he bent still nearer, and whispered:
"I can only say it to you alone. I"ve been awake all night thinking of it--give you my word."
"Wait till to-morrow morning, and by then you may have slept upon it,"
she counselled.
"You"ll drive me to drink!" he murmured.
She rose with a laugh. "In that case I must go. I ought to be labelled "dangerous." Don"t you think so, d.i.c.k? Besides, I"m going for a drive, and must put on my things. These my letters? Au revoir." And, with a wave of her hand she left them.
Banstead lingered by the threshold and took up an ill.u.s.trated paper. The maid, in response to d.i.c.k"s summons, bore away the letters for the rest of the household. Austin and d.i.c.k concerned themselves with their correspondence, d.i.c.k"s chiefly consisting of gardeners" catalogues.
For a while there was silence. It was broken by a loud laugh from Austin.
"d.i.c.k! I say, d.i.c.k! What do you think these village idiots have asked me to do? To accept their nomination and stand as a Rural District Councillor! Me!"
d.i.c.k quickly crossed to the table where his brother was sitting.
"That"s my letter, old chap. I must here put it in your heap by mistake.
The invitation is meant for me."
"You?" laughed Austin. "Why, what do you want to fool about with village politics for? No. The letter is meant for me right enough."
"I can"t understand it," said d.i.c.k.
Lord Banstead looked up from his paper.
"That the Rural District Council? I"m on the committee. Had a meeting yesterday. I"m chairman of the silly rotters."
"Then your silly rotter of an honorary secretary," cried d.i.c.k angrily, "has sent Austin the letter of invitation that was meant for me."
"Oh, no, he didn"t," said Banstead. "It"s all right. They chucked you, old son. Now I remember. I promised to explain."
d.i.c.k turned aside. "Oh, you needn"t explain," he said bitterly.
"But I must. They had their reasons, you know. They thought they"d rather have a brainy n.o.bleman like your brother than a good old rotter like you. You"re--"
"Oh, hold your tongue, Banstead," cried Austin, rising and putting his hand on d.i.c.k"s shoulder. "Really, my dear old d.i.c.k, you"re the right person to stand. They only thought a lawyer could help them--but I"m far too busy--of course I decline. I"m deeply pained, d.i.c.k, at having hurt you. I"ll write to the committee and point out how much fitter, as a country gentleman, you are for the duties than I am. They"re bound to ask you."
d.i.c.k swung away pa.s.sionately, his lips quivering with anger and mortification beneath his great moustache.
"Do you think I would accept? I"m d.a.m.ned if I would. Do you expect me to pick up everything you"ve thrown in the mud and feel grateful? I"m d.a.m.ned if I will!"
He flung out of the room on to the terrace and strode away in a rage.
"Seems to take it badly," remarked Banstead, looking at his disappearing figure. "I had better say good-bye."
"Good-bye," said Austin. And he added, as he accompanied him with grim politeness to the front gate, "if you exercise the same tact in the chair as you"ve done here, your meetings must be a huge success."
He returned with a shrug of the shoulders to his table in the morning-room. He was deeply attached to d.i.c.k, but a lifelong habit of regarding him as a good-natured, stupid, and contented giant blinded him to the storm that was beginning to rage in the other"s soul. The occurrence was unfortunate. It wounded the poor old fellow"s vanity.
Banstead"s blatant folly had been enough to set any man in a rage. But, after all, d.i.c.k was a common-sense creature, and, recognising that Austin was in no way to blame, he would soon get over it. Meanwhile, there was awaiting him the joyful surprise of Vancouver, which would soon put such petty mortifications out of his head. Thus Austin consoled himself, and settled down to the serious matters of his correspondence.