CHAPTER ELEVEN.
AN EARLY DECISION.
"I am not going to stay," said Jack Melland; and whatever his faultsmight be, he looked and spoke like a man who knew his own mind, andwould abide thereby.
His three companions stared at him in silence, and one of the three atleast felt a distinct sinking of the heart.
"I was beginning to like him; we got on quite famously at dinner, and Ithought we were going to have ever such a good time together. Now weshall be a wretched uncomfortable three, and Mr Druce will like Ruthbest, and I shall be out in the cold. How horrid! How perfectlyhorrid!" grumbled Mollie to herself.
Just because she was so perturbed, however, she would not allow herselfto speak, but put on an elaborate display of indifference, while Victorasked curiously--
"You mean that? May one ask your reason?"
"Oh, certainly. I never looked upon myself as having the slightestclaim upon Mr Farrell, and I don't care to ruin my business prospectsfor the sake of an off-chance. Besides, the whole position isunpleasant; I object to being kept `on approval,' with the consciousnessthat if I allow myself to be ordinarily agreeable I shall at once becredited with sponging for the old man's favour. I am quite satisfiedwith my own lot, without any outside assistance."
"Don't you care about money, then?" asked Ruth timidly.
Jack Melland threw back his head with an air of masterful complacency.
"I care about making money. That is to say, I love my work, and wish itto be successful, but I am keen on it more for the sake of the interestand occupation than for what it brings. A few hundreds a year supplyall that I want, and I should not care to be burdened with a bigfortune. If you come into this place, Miss Farrell, I shall be gratefulto you if you will ask me down for a few days' shooting in the autumn,but I shall never envy you your responsibility. To kick my heels herein idleness for three solid months, and know that the business wassuffering for want of my presence--nothing would induce me to do it!"
But at this Mollie found her tongue, indignation spurring her to speech.
"You are not very polite to the rest of us! I should not have thoughtit would be such a great hardship to stay in a lovely big house withthree young companions, when summer was coming on, too! I should thinkthere are one or two people in the world who would like it even a littlebetter than poking in a stuffy office from morning until night. Butthere's no accounting for tastes. When you are grilling with heat inthe City you can think of us sitting under the trees eatingstrawberries, and thank Fate you are so much better off. We promise notto send you any. It might remind you too painfully of the country!"
"Mollie!" cried Ruth in sharp reproof; but Jack laughed with good-natured amusement.
"Oh, I deserve it, Miss Farrell! My remarks sounded horriblydiscourteous. I assure you if I had the time to spare I shouldthoroughly enjoy staying on for a time under the present conditions; butas it is quite impossible to remain for three months, I might as welldepart at once. I don't suppose Mr Farrell will wish to keep me underthe circumstances."
It appeared, however, Jack Melland was wrong in his surmise, for when heannounced his decision to his host before bidding him good-night, theold man looked at him coldly and replied--
"I thought I had explained that we would discuss objections at a laterdate. May I ask what limit you had mentally fixed to your visit whenyou did me the honour of accepting my invitation?"
"I hardly know--this is Monday. I thought, perhaps until Saturday, or,at the longest, a week."
Mr Farrell waved his hand in dismissal.
"We will leave it for a week, then. On Monday morning next I willdiscuss the position as fully as you wish. Now, if either of you younggentlemen cares to smoke, the billiard-room is at your service. Pleasering for anything you require. Meantime, as it is past my usual hourfor retiring, I wish you a very good-night."
"Checkmate, old fellow!" cried Victor Druce, as the door closed behindthe stooping figure; but Jack deigned no reply.
The cloud had returned to his forehead, his nostrils were curved withannoyance and thwarted self-will.
The cloud was still there when he came down to breakfast next morning,and did not lighten even at the sight of the well-appointed breakfast-table, and the two pretty girls who were seated thereat. Some meals maybe more attractive abroad than at home. A French dinner, for example,has certain points above an English dinner; but we give way to none asregards our breakfast--that most delightful of meals to the strong andhealthy, especially in springtime, when the sunshine pours in at theopen window, and the scent of flowers mingles with the aroma of freshlymade coffee.
The breakfast-table of the Court had all the attractions which oneinstinctively associates with old country houses. The massive, old-fashioned silver, the revolving stand in the centre, the plentifuldisplay of covered dishes to supplement the cold viands on thesideboard; and, as Mr Farrell invariably remained in his own room untillunch-time, the restraint of his presence was removed.
Little Mrs Wolff busied herself with the duties behind the urn, andRuth and Mollie in serge skirts and spick and span white blouses lookedas fresh as paint, and a great many times as pretty. They were laughingand chatting with Victor Druce, who had donned Norfolk jacket andknickerbockers, and was quite the country gentleman both in appearanceand in his manner of leisurely good-humour.
The entrance of Jack in what are technically called "Store clothes,"with a gloomy frown upon his forehead, seemed to strike a jarring notein this cheerful scene, and both girls were conscious of a distinctfeeling of grievance against the offender. Was it so dreadful a fate tobe doomed to spend a whole week in their society? Need a man look as ifhis last hope in life were extinguished because Fate kept him away fromthe City for seven days, and placed him instead in the sweet greencountry, with three companions of his own age who--to put it mildly--were not perfect ogres in appearance!
The necessary greetings were observed. Jack helped himself to a bowl ofporridge, and, looking up, asked discontentedly--
"Hasn't the newspaper arrived?"
"Not yet, sir; it will be here by ten o'clock, sir," the butler replied;and Mollie pulled down her lip with an expression of solemn propriety,and added--
"But perhaps I can relieve your anxiety in the meantime. Cotton is downtwenty points, very strong and steady, and the Bears are makingfortunes. `Mauds' are fluctuating, but `Louisa Christinas' are in greatdemand; everybody is rushing after them. The Bank rate is ten and ahalf, and Consols have gone up two per cent. General market firm, witha tendency to drop."
"My good child, what nonsense are you talking!" cried Ruth aghast, andthe two young men exchanged glances and burst into a laugh; even Jacklaughed, though such a feat had seemed impossible a moment before.
"What a thrilling report! You make me more impatient than ever. It isjust like my luck to be out of the way when there is a chance of a goodthing, though, after all, I don't know if the wisest plan would not beto sell everything one had, and put the money in the bank--eh, Druce?Ten and a half per cent! Where do you get your knowledge, Miss Mary?"
"Oh, I see things in the newspapers, and I hear the pater talking to hisfriends. Don't call me `Miss Mary' please, it sounds far too quiet andproper for me. I am never called anything but Mollie, except when Ioverspend my allowance, and mother feels it her duty to scold me. Areyou on the Stock Exchange, Mr Melland? What sort of business is itwhich you find so attractive?"
"I am afraid you would not be much wiser if I tried to explain. We arewhat is called `brokers'; but there are an endless variety of businessesunder the same name. I have nothing, however, to do with `Mauds' and`Christinas'!"
"Neither have I," volunteered Victor smilingly, "To tell the truth, Ihave no money to invest, Briefs don't come my way, and I am at presentoccupied listening to more fortunate fellows, and thinking how muchbetter I could plead myself. It palls at times, but I am fond of theprofession, and have no wish to change it."
"N
o," said Mollie reflectively. "The wigs _are_ becoming!" and when thetwo young men leant back in their chairs and roared with laughter, sheblushed and pouted, and looked so pretty that it did one good to seeher.
The three earlier comers had finished their meal by this time, but theysat still until Jack had disposed of the toast and marmalade which makesthe last breakfast course of every self-respecting Briton; then theyrose one after the other, strolled over to the open window, and facedthe question of the day--
"What shall we do?"
It was Ruth who spoke, and at the sound of her words the shadow cameback to Jack's brow.
"Yes, what shall we do? Think of it--three months--twelve weeks--eighty-four separate days to lounge away with the same question on yourlips! I'd rather be sentenced to hard labour at once. Life is notworth living without work. I'd rather be a clerk on sixty pounds a yearthan stagnate as a country squire."
"You would be a very bad squire if you did stagnate!" cried Molliespiritedly, throwing back her little head, and looking up at him with aflash of the grey eyes. "You would have your tenants to look after, andyour property to keep in order, and the whole village looking to you tolead every scheme of pleasure or improvement, and the vicar looking toyou to be his right hand, and all the growing boys looking to you tohelp them to a start in life, and the old people expecting you to maketheir last days easy. You would be the hardest-worked man in thecountry if you did half the work that was waiting for you, and it wouldbe unselfish work, too--thinking of others, and not of yourself."
Jack looked at her, and his face softened.
"That's true," he said frankly. "I'm sorry! You are right, and I amwrong. I'm in a bad temper, and can't see things in their right lightto-day. Of course, if one really settled down to it, there would beplenty to do; it's when one is only playing with the position that timedrags."
"Well, it ought not to drag to-day, at all events. We must be very dullif we cannot amuse ourselves in surveying the domain, and seeing allthere is to be seen. I am going to put on my hat this minute andexamine the gardens, and go down to the stables to look at the horses.If anyone likes to come too, they may, but my plans are fixed," criedMollie, nodding her saucy head; and at the magic word "stables," a rayof interest lit up the two masculine faces.
Ten minutes later the four young people were strolling down the drive,the girls with serge coats over their white blouses, and sailor-hats ontheir heads, the men wearing their cloth caps with an evident air ofenjoyment. They turned the corner of the house, and coming round to thesouth side uttered simultaneous exclamations of surprise and delight.
Along the entire length of the house ran an enormously wide terraceedged with a balustrade, from the centre of which a flight of marblesteps led to an Italian garden, its green sward and stiffly outlinedflower-beds flanked by a quantity of curiously cut shrubs.
Beyond this garden the ground dipped sharply, showing first a glade oftrees whose fresh spring foliage contrasted with the dark colours of theevergreens; then came a glimpse of a lake, a sweep of park; and beyondall a glorious, wide-stretching view over the countryside. Perched uponone of the highest sites for miles around, this terraced walk affordedsuch a panorama of beauty as is rarely to be found even in our well-favoured isles, and withal the beauty was of that peaceful, home-likenature which irresistibly endears itself to the heart.
The four young people stood in silence gazing from side to side, andinto each mind, even that of the rebellious Jack himself, there creptthe same thought. This was indeed a goodly heritage, whose owner wouldbe an enviable person! The possibility of possessing it as a home wasworth a far greater sacrifice than anything which had been demanded ofthemselves.
In those few minutes of silence dreams ran riot, and finally found ventin words.
"When the Court belongs to me I shall have an awning put up on thisterrace and sit here all day long," said Mollie; as usual the first tobreak the silence.
"I shall have a table brought out, and breakfast here every finemorning," said Ruth.
"I'll smoke here after dinner!" said Victor.
"I'll do ditto in every case!" said Jack, then caught himself upsharply--"when I come to visit the Chosen, that is to say! Of course,I'm out of the running. What are you smiling at, Miss Mollie?" For,turning towards her, he had seen the grey eyes light up with a merrytwinkle. She shook her head, however, refusing to gratify hiscuriosity, and sped rapidly down the broad marble steps.
"He is beginning to have qualms! The very first morning, and for amoment his resolution wavered. The spell is working," she told herselftriumphantly; for, despite his lack of gallantry, both girls had alreadycandidly admitted that upon Jack's going or staying depended a greatpart of the pleasure of the next three months. "Don't persuade him;don't mention the subject at all. Let him think we don't care how hedecides. Men are contradictious creatures, and the less he is urged themore likely he is to give way," argued Ruth the experienced. And Molliedutifully agreed.