CHAPTER XXVI
The Duke found great difficulty in carrying out his intention on thatSaturday. For a Duke to escape from a lady-pack brought there especiallyto hunt him is no easy task! He had reason to believe that his hostesswould not aid him either, and that it would be impossible to appeal toher sympathy, because he was quite aware that he would withhold his own,had he to look at the matter dispassionately as concerning someone else.
It was a fool's errand he was bent upon in all senses of the phrase. Butas this conviction forced itself upon him, the desire to see and talkwith Katherine grew stronger.
It happened that she lunched downstairs. At such a large party as this,that meal was consumed at several small tables of six each, and ofcourse the secretary was not placed at His Grace's! Indeed, she sat atone directly at his back, so that he could not see her, though once in apause he heard her deep, fascinating voice. When later in the hallcoffee and cigarettes had come, Katherine passed near him to put down acup, and he seized the moment to address her.
"In twenty minutes, I am coming from the smoking-room to theschoolroom--please be there."
Miss Bush gave no sign as to whether or no she heard this remark, whichwas made in a low voice with a note of pleading in it. If he chose to dothis, she would make it quite clear that she would have no clandestineacquaintance with him, but at the same time she experienced a delicioussense of excitement.
She was seated before her typewriter busily typing innumerable letters,when she heard his footsteps outside, and then a gentle tap at the door.
"Come in!" she called, and he appeared.
His face looked stern, and not particularly good-tempered.
"May I stay for a moment in this haven of rest, Miss Bush?" and he shutthe door. "In so large a party, every sitting-room seems to beoverflowing, and there is not a corner where one may talk in peace."
Katherine had risen with her almost overrespectful air, which neverconcealed the mischievous twinkle in her eyes when she raised them, butnow they were fixed upon the sheets of paper.
"Your Grace is welcome to that armchair for a little, but I am veryoccupied. Lady Garribardine wishes these letters to go by this evening'spost."
"I wish you would not call me 'Your Grace'," he said, a littleimpatiently. "I cannot realise that you can be the same person whom Imet at Gerard Strobridge's."
"I am not," she looked up at him.
"Why?"
"It is obvious--I was me--myself, that night--a guest."
"And now?"
"Your Grace is not observant, I fear; I am Her Ladyship's secretary."
"Of course--but still?" he came over quite close to her.
"If I had been the same person as the one you met at Mr. Strobridge's,you would not now have been obliged to contrive to come to theschoolroom to speak to me."
A dark flush mounted to his brow. She had touched a number of hisrefined sensibilities. Her words were so true and so simple, and hertone was quite calm, showing no personal emotion but merely as thoughshe were announcing a fact.
"That is unfortunately true, but these are only ridiculous conventions,which please let us brush aside. May I really sit down for a minute?"
Katherine glanced at the clock; it was half-past three.
"Until a quarter to four, if you wish. I am afraid I cannot spare moretime than that."
She pointed to the armchair which he took, and she reseated herself atthe table, folding her hands. There was a moment's silence. The Duke wasfeeling uncomfortably disturbed. There had been a subtle rebuke conveyedin her late speech, which he knew he merited. He had no right to havecome there.
"Are you not going to talk to me at all, then?" he almost blurted out.
"I will answer, of course, when Your Grace speaks; it is not for me tobegin."
"Very well, I not only speak--I implore--I even order you to discontinuethis ridiculous humility, this ridiculous continuance of 'Your Grace,'resume the character of guest, and let us enjoy these miserable fifteenminutes--but first, I want to know what is the necessity for your totalchange of manner here? Gerard and Gwendoline knew that you were LadyGarribardine's secretary that night, but they did not consider itimperative to make a startling difference in their relations towardsyou because of that, as it seems that you would wish me to make now."
Katherine looked down and then up again straight into his eyes, a slightsmile quivered round her mouth.
"That is quite different--they know me very well--and dear MissGwendoline is not very intelligent. I have been there before to help toentertain bores for Mr. Strobridge and Lady Beatrice, but that night Iwas there--because I wanted to see--Your Grace."
Here she looked down again suddenly. The Duke leaned forward eagerly;this was a strange confession!
"I wanted once to talk to a man as an equal, to feel what it was liketo be a lady and not to have to remember to be respectful. So Ideliberately asked Mr. Strobridge to arrange it--after I had heard youspeak."
The Duke was much astonished--and gratified.
"How frank and delicious of you to tell me this! I thought the eveningwas enchanting--but why do you say such a silly thing as that you wantedto feel what it was like to be a lady? You could never have feltanything else."
"Indeed, I could; I am not a lady by birth, anything but! only I havetried to educate myself into being one, and it was so nice to have achance of deciding if I had succeeded or no."
"And your verdict was?" he raised amused eyebrows.
She looked demure.
"By Your Grace's words just now, I conclude that I have succeeded."
"Only by my words just now? I thought we had had a rather pleasant andinteresting hour of conversation as fellow-guests."
"Yes--You are not shocked, then, when I tell you that I am not really alady?"
"No. The counterfeit presentment is so very perfect, one would like tohear the details of the passage to its achievement."
Then she told him in as few and as simple words as she could--just thetruth. Of her parentage, of her home at Bindon's Green--of Liv andDev's, of her ideals, and her self-education, and of her coming to LadyGarribardine's.
Mordryn listened with rapt attention, his gaze fixed upon her face--hemade brief ejaculations at times, but did not otherwise interrupt her.
"You can understand now how entertained I was at the things which yousaid to me that night, can you not?"
Thus she ended her story, and the Duke rose and sat down upon the edgeof the table quite close to her; he was visibly moved.
"You extraordinary girl. You have upset every theory I ever held. Ishall go away now and think over all you have said--Meanwhile, I feelthat this is the only way in which I can show my homage," and he tookher hand with infinite respect and kissed it.
Then he removed his tall form from the table and quietly left the room.
And when she was alone, Katherine gently touched the spot where his lipshad pressed; there was a quite unknown emotion running through her.
She found it very difficult to go on with her work after this, and madea couple of mistakes, to her great annoyance. Nearly an hour passed. Shegot up from her typing, and after changing her blouse, went down to tea,her thoughts not nearly so calm as usual.
Was her friendship with this man finished? Had her franknessoverreached itself? Just what did that kiss mean? Here was a characternot so easy to read as Gerard Strobridge's. Here was a will perhaps asstrong as her own. Her face was very pale, and those concentratedgrey-green eyes looked stormy and resentful.
The Duke reached the smoking-room and was seated at the writing-tableonly one moment before the room was invaded by Lady Garribardine.
"Poor Mordryn! You had to take refuge here! I fear those charmingcreatures I have invited for you are proving a little fatiguing."
"Frankly, Seraphim, they bore me to death."
"Two others are coming of a different type presently. But you are safein this corner. Most of them do not know I have moved the smoking-roomto this wi
ng."
"I think it is a great improvement."
Her Ladyship looked at him out of the tail of her eye, but she said,quite innocently:
"Yes, Gerard always says so." Then she left him to his letters, with aword as to tea and a cosy talk in her boudoir after it.
So Gerard liked this room, too! Miss Bush was with him at the House. Shedined at Brook Street. Then Mordryn frowned and looked the very image ofthe Iron Duke, and did not even begin to write an order which he hadintended to send his agent. His mind was disturbed. Every word Katherinehad said had made a deep impression upon him.
The father an auctioneer--the grandfather a butcher! And this girl apeerless creature fit for a throne! But if she were fit for heaven,there were still quite insurmountable barriers between even ordinaryacquaintance with her. He rather thought he would leave Blissington onSunday night.
Then he frowned again. Gerard Strobridge was a charming fellow. Seraphimadored him--he was often here--he liked the smoking-room! Somehow theconversation must be turned, when he was alone with his friendpresently, to the subject of Gerard.
Then he found himself going over every minute sentence that had fallenfrom Katherine. What a wonderful, wonderful girl! How quite ridiculousclass prejudices were! How totally faulty the reasoning of the world!
At tea, he did not converse with Miss Bush, but he never lost theconsciousness of her presence, and was almost annoyedly aware of ayoungish man's evident appreciation of her conversation. So that histemper, when he found himself in Lady Garribardine's sitting-room, waseven more peevish than it had been on the evening before.
Katherine had preceded him there, but had left ere he arrived. She hadbrought some letters for her mistress' inspection. When this businesswas finished, she said quite simply:
"His Grace came up into the schoolroom after luncheon to-day. He appearsto have been confused over my two identities. I explained to him, andtold him who my father was, and my mother's father, and how I have onlytried to make myself into a lady. It did not seem fair that he shouldthink that I was really one born."
Lady Garribardine looked disagreeable for an instant. She, too, had toconquer instinct at times, which asserted itself in opposition even toher heart's desire, and her deliberate thought-out intentions. One ofher ancestors had put a retainer in chains for presumption! But herintelligence crushed out the folly almost as quickly as it arose, andshe smiled:
"And, of course, the Duke at once said he could not know common people,and bounced from the room! Katherine Bush, you are a minx, my child!"
Katherine laughed softly.
"He did not say that exactly--but he did go away very soon."
"'He that fights and runs away!'" quoth Her Ladyship; "but I don't thinkyou had better let him come to the schoolroom again. Martha will behaving her say about the matter."
Katherine reddened. That her dear mistress should think her so stupid!
"I did not intend to. It is very difficult--even the greatest gentlemendo not seem to know their places always."
"A man finds his place near the woman he wants to talk to--you must notforget that, girl!"
"It is a little mean and puts the woman in a false position often."
"She prefers that to indifference. There is one very curious thing aboutwomen, the greatest prude is not altogether inwardly displeased at theknowledge that she exercises a physical attraction for men. Just as thegreatest intellectual among men feels more flattered if exceptionalvirility is imputed to him, than all the spiritual gifts! Virility--aquality which he shares with the lower animals, spirituality a giftwhich he inherits from God. Oh! we are a mass of incongruities, wehumans! and brutal nature eventually wins the game. Animal savagery isalways the outcome of too much civilisation. And unless the darkages of ignorance fall upon us once more, so that we can again besufficiently simple to believe _en masse_ in a God, I feel our cycle isover and that we shall be burnt out of time."
Then presently, as her secretary was moving towards the door, HerLadyship remarked irrelevantly:
"Look here, girl--Do you think it is in your nature ever to love really,or are you going to let brain conquer always?"
"I--do not know," faltered Katherine.
"Love is the only thing on earth which is sublime. This evening untilyou come down after dinner, I recommend you to read the 'Letters ofAbelard and Heloise'."
* * * * *
The Duke talked of politics for a while when he came into his old love'ssitting-room--and then of books and ideas, and lastly of Gerard. Was hehappy with Beatrice, after all?
"Yes, they do very well together. Beatrice is bred out of all naturalemotions. She is sexless and well-mannered and unconsciously humorous.They go their own ways."
"But Gerard was always an ardent lover. Has he had no emotions since theAlice Southerwood days?"
"A transient passion for Laeo Delemar, and since then a deep devotionelsewhere--quite unreturned, though. It has rather improved him."
The Duke unconsciously felt relief.
"Unreturned?--that must be a new experience for him: Gerard has everyquality to attract a woman."
"This one is infinitely too proud and too intelligent to waste a thoughtupon a married man."
"It is a girl, then! How unlike Gerard's usual taste!"
"Yes--Mordryn, shall you open Valfreyne quite soon?"
"Immediately--I shall have a party for Whitsuntide, if you will honourme by acting hostess."
"All right--if I may bring my _personnel_ with me--a large order! Ican't stand the racket without Stirling and James and Harmon, mychauffeur--and Miss Bush."
"All are perfectly welcome--especially Miss Bush. She appeared anextremely clever girl when I had the pleasure of talking to her."
"Yes, she is a wonderful creature. I am thinking of marrying her off toSir John Townly."
The Duke leaned forward, his voice was quite shocked.
"How inhuman, Seraphim! John Townly must be sixty, at least."
"My dear Mordryn, that is only seven years older than you are, and Ilook upon you as hardly yet at the prime of life--and beggars cannot bechoosers, the girl is of no family. Neither for that matter is Sir John.It will be suitable in every way----I suppose you will let me have a sayas to the guests for the Whitsuntide outbreak, eh?"
"Naturally--but spare me any too overmodern widows, or any furtherbreakers in of my sensibilities!"
Seraphim laughed, and they set about making the list.
But when the Duke had gone to dress, she looked long into the fire,something a little sentimental and yet satisfied in her gaze.
"Dear Mordryn--Gerard and the smoking-room caused him uneasiness; itwould not have done for that to continue, because of the unpleasantreflection that G. is a married man. Sir John was splendid--but Mordrynis no fool. I must now really oppose him in every possible way----I amnot sure if, after all, I shall take her to Valfreyne."
And the Duke, as he dressed, said to himself that he did not understandwomen. Here was Seraphim, a creature with the kindest heart, yet so fullof that distressingly feminine matchmaking instinct which was the curseof her sex, that she was ready to pitchfork this charming, living,fascinating young person into the mouldering arms of old John Townly!The idea was simply revolting to contemplate, even if beggars could notbe choosers! And then suddenly he seemed to see the auctioneer fatherand the butcher grandfather and the home at Bindon's Green!
He walked down to dinner in a subdued mood.