CHAPTER VII
THE BROWNES ARRIVE
Contrary to all expectations, the Brownes arrived the next morning. TheDeppinghams and their miserably frightened servants were scarcely out ofbed when Saunders came in with the news that a steamer was standing offthe shallow harbour. Bowles had telephoned up that the American claimantwas on board.
Lady Agnes and her husband had not slept well. They heard noises fromone end of the night to the other, and they were most unusual noises atthat. The maids had flatly refused to sleep in the servants' wing, fullya block away, so they were given the next best suite of rooms on thefloor, quite cutting off every chance the Brownes may have had forchoice of apartments. Pong howled all night long, but his howls were asnothing compared to the screams of night birds in the trees close by.
The deepest gloom pervaded the household when Lady Deppingham discoveredthat not one of their retinue knew how to make coffee or broil bacon.Not that she cared for bacon, but that his lordship always asked for itwhen they did not have it. The evening before they had philosophicallydined on tinned food. She brewed a delightful tea, and Antoine openedthree or four kinds of wine. Altogether it was not so bad. But in themorning! Everything looked different in the morning. Everything alwaysdoes, one way or another.
Bromley upset the last peg of endurance by hoping that the Americanswere bringing a cook and a housemaid with them.
"The Americans always travel like lords," she concluded, forgetting thatshe served a lord, and not in the least intending to be ironical.
"That will do, Bromley," said her mistress sharply. "If they're likemost Americans I've seen they'll have nothing but wet nurses andchauffeurs. I can't eat this vile stuff." She had already burned herfingers and dropped a slice of beechnut bacon on her sweet littlemorning gown. "Come on, Deppy; let's go up and watch the approach of theenemy."
Dolefully they passed out of the culinary realm; it is of record thatthey never looked into it from that hour forth. On the broad,vine-covered gallery they sat in dour silence and in silence took turnswith Deppy's binoculars in the trying effort to make out what was goingon in the offing. The company's tug seemed unusually active. It bustledabout the big steamer with an industriousness that seemed almostfrantic. The laziness that had marked its efforts of the day before wasamazingly absent. At last they saw it turn for the shore, racing inwardwith a great churning of waves and a vast ado in its smokestack.
From their elevated position, the occupants of the gallery could see thedistant pier. When the tug drew up to its moorings, the same motionlesshorde of white-robed natives lined up along the dock building. Trunks,boxes and huge crated objects were hustled off the boat with astonishingrapidity. Deppingham stared hard and unbelieving at this evidence ofhaste.
Five or six strangers stood upon the pier, very much as their party hadstood the day before. There were four women and--yes, two men. The menseemed to be haranguing the natives, although no gesticulations werevisible. Suddenly there was a rush for the trunks and boxes and crates,and, almost before the Lady Agnes could catch the breath she had lost,the whole troupe was hurrying up the narrow street, luggage and all. Theonce-sullen natives seemed to be fighting for the privilege of carryingsomething. A half dozen of them dashed hither and thither and returnedwith great umbrellas, which they hoisted above the heads of thenewcomers. Lady Agnes sank back, faint with wonder, as the concourselost itself among the houses of the agitated town.
Scarcely half an hour passed before the advance guard of the Brownecompany came into view at the park gates below. Deppingham recalled thefact that an hour and a half had been consumed in the accomplishmentyesterday. He was keeping a sharp lookout for the magic red jacket andthe Tommy Atkins lid. Quite secure from observation, he and his wifewatched the forerunners with the hand bags; then came the sweating trunkbearers and then the crated objects in--what? Yes, by the Lord Harry, inthe very carts that had been their private chariots the day before!
Deppingham's wrath did not really explode until the two were gazingopen-mouthed upon Robert Browne and his wife and his maidservants andhis ass--for that was the name which his lordship subsequently applied,with no moderation, to the unfortunate gentleman who served as Mr.Browne's attorney. The Americans were being swiftly, cozily carried totheir new home in litters of oriental comfort and elegance, fannedvigorously from both sides by eager boys. First came the Brownes,eager-faced, bright-eyed, alert young people, far better looking thantheir new enemies could conscientiously admit under the circumstances;then the lawyer from the States; then a pert young lady in a pink shirtwaist and a sailor hat; then two giggling, utterly un-English maids--andall of them lolling in luxurious ease. The red jacket was conspicuouslyabsent.
It is not to be wondered at that his lordship looked at his wife, gulpedin sympathy, and then said something memorable.
Almost before they could realise what had happened the newcomers werechattering in the spacious halls below, tramping about the rooms, andgiving orders in high, though apparently efficacious voices. Trunksrattled about the place, barefooted natives shuffled up and down thecorridors and across the galleries, quick American heels clattered onthe marble stairways; and all this time the English occupants sat incold silence, despising the earth and all that therein dwelt.
Mr. and Mrs. Browne evidently believed in the democratic firstprinciples of their native land: they did not put themselves above theirfellow-man. Close at their heels trooped the servants, all of whom tookpart in the discussion incident to fresh discoveries. At last they cameupon the great balcony, pausing just outside the French windows toexclaim anew in their delight.
"Great!" said the lawyer man, after a full minute. He was not at alllike Mr. Saunders, who looked on from an obscure window in the distantleft. "Finest I've ever seen. Isn't it a picture, Browne?"
"Glorious," said young Mr. Browne, taking a long breath. TheDeppinghams, sitting unobserved, saw that he was a tall, good-lookingfellow. They were unconscionably amused when he suddenly reached out andtook his wife's hand in his big fingers. Her face was flushed withexcitement, her eyes were wide and sparkling. She was very trim andcool-looking in her white duck; moreover, she was of the type that looksexceedingly attractive in evening dress--at least, that was Deppingham'sinnermost reflection. It was not until after many weeks had passed,however, that Lady Agnes admitted that Brasilia Browne was a very prettyyoung woman.
"Most American women are, after a fashion," she then confessed toDeppingham, and not grudgingly.
"What does Baedeker say about it, Bobby?" asked Mrs. Browne. Her voicewas very soft and full--the quiet, well-modulated Boston voice andmanner.
"Baedeker?" whispered Deppingham, passing his hand over his brow inbewilderment. His wife was looking serenely in the opposite direction.
The pert girl in the pink waist opened a small portfolio while theothers gathered around her. She read therefrom. The lawyer, when she hadconcluded, drew a compass from his pocket, and, walking over to thestone balustrade, set it down for observation. Then he pointed vaguelyinto what proved to be the southwest.
"We must tell Lady Deppingham not to take the rooms at this end," wasthe next thing that the listeners heard from Mrs. Browne's lips. Herladyship turned upon her husband with a triumphant sniff and a knowingsmile.
"What did I tell you?" she whispered. "I knew they'd want the best ofeverything. Isn't it lucky I pounced upon those rooms? They shan't turnus out. You won't let 'em, will you, Deppy?"
"The impudence of 'em!" was all that Deppy could sputter.
At that moment, the American party caught sight of the pair in thecorner. For a brief space of time the two parties stared at each other,very much as the hunter and the hunted look when they come face to facewithout previous warning. Then a friendly, half-abashed smile lightedBrowne's face. He came toward the Deppinghams, his straw hat in hishand. His lordship retained his seat and met the smile with a cold stareof superiority.
"I beg your pardon," said Browne. "This is Lord Deppingham?"
/> "Ya-as," drawled Deppy, with a look which was meant to convey theimpression that he did not know who the deuce he was addressing.
"Permit me to introduce myself. I am Robert Browne."
"Oh," said Deppy, as if that did not convey anything to him. Then as anafterthought: "Glad to know you, I'm sure." Still he did not rise, nordid he extend his hand. For a moment young Browne waited, a dull redgrowing in his temples.
"Don't you intend to present me to Lady Deppingham?" he demandedbluntly, without taking his eyes from Deppy's face.
"Oh--er--is that necess--"
"Lady Deppingham," interrupted Browne, turning abruptly from the man inthe chair and addressing the lady in azure blue who sat on thebalustrade, "I am Robert Browne, the man you are expected to marry.Please don't be alarmed. You won't have to marry me. Our grandfathersdid not observe much ceremony in mating us, so I don't see why we shouldstand upon it in trying to convince them of their error. We are here forthe same purpose, I suspect. We can't be married to each other. That'sout of the question. But we can live together as if we--"
"Good Lord!" roared Deppy, coming to his feet in a towering rage. Brownesmiled apologetically and lifted his hand.
"--as if we were serving out the prescribed period of courtship set downin the will. Believe me, I am very happily married, as I hope you are.The courtship, you will perceive, is neither here nor there. Please bearwith me, Lord Deppingham. It's the silly will that brings us together,not an affinity. Our every issue is identical, Lady Deppingham. Doesn'tit strike you that we will be very foolish if we stand alone and againsteach other?"
"'Don't you intend to present me to Lady Deppingham?'"]
"My solicitor--" began Lady Deppingham, and then stopped. She wassmiling in spite of herself. This frank, breezy way of putting it hadnot offended her, after all, much to her surprise.
"Your solicitor and mine can get together and talk it over," said Browneblandly. "We'll leave it to them. I simply want you to know that I amnot here for the purpose of living at swords' points with you. I amquite ready to be a friendly ally, not a foe."
"Let me understand you," began Deppingham, cooling off suddenly. "Do youmean to say that you are not going to fight us in this matter?"
"Not at all, your lordship," said Browne coolly. "I am here to fightTaswell Skaggs and John Wyckholme, deceased. I imagine, if you'll have atalk with your solicitor, that that is precisely what you are here for,too. As next nearest of kin, I think both of us will run no risk if wesmash the will. If we don't smash it, the islanders will cheerfully takethe legacy off our hands."
"By Jove," muttered Deppy, looking at his wife.
"Thank you, Mr. Browne, for being so frank with us," she said coolly."If you don't mind, I _will_ consult my solicitor." She bowed ever soslightly, indicating that the interview was at an end, and, moreover,that it had not been of her choosing.
"Any time, your ladyship," said Browne, also bowing. "I think Mrs.Browne wants to speak to you about the rooms."
"We are quite settled, Mr. Browne, and very well satisfied," she saidpointedly, turning red with a fresh touch of anger.
"I trust you have not taken the rooms at this end."
"We have. We are occupying them." She arose and started away, Deppinghamhesitating between his duty to her and the personal longing to pullBrowne's nose.
"I'm sorry," said Browne. "We were warned not to take them. They aresaid to be unbearable when the hot winds come in October."
"What's that?" demanded Deppingham.
"The book of instruction and description which we have secured sets allthat out," said the other. "Mr. Britt, my attorney, had his stenographertake it all down in Bombay. It's our private Baedeker, you see. Wecalled on the Bombay agent for the Skaggs-Wyckholme Company. He livedwith them in this house for ten months. No one ever slept in this end ofthe building. It's strange that the servants didn't warn you."
"The da--the confounded servants left us yesterday before we came--everymother's son of 'em. There isn't a servant on the place."
"What? You don't mean it?"
"Are you coming?" called Lady Deppingham from the doorway.
"At once, my dear," replied Deppingham, shuffling uneasily. "By Jove,we're in a pretty mess, don't you know. No servants, no food, no----"
"Wait a minute, please," interrupted Browne. "I say, Britt, come here amoment, will you? Lord Deppingham says the servants have struck."
The American lawyer, a chubby, red-faced man of forty, with clear greyeyes and a stubby mustache, whistled soulfully.
"What's the trouble? Cut their wages?" he asked.
"Wages? My good man, we've never laid eyes on 'em," said Deppingham,drawing himself up.
"I'll see what I can do, Mr. Browne. Got to have cooks, eh, LordDeppingham?" Without waiting for an answer he dashed off. His lordshipobserving that his wife had disappeared, followed Browne to thebalustrade, overlooking the upper terrace. The native carriers wereleaving the grounds, when Britt's shrill whistle brought them to astandstill. No word of the ensuing conversation reached the ears of thetwo white men on the balcony, but the pantomime was most entertaining.
Britt's stocky figure advanced to the very heart of the group. It wasquite evident that his opening sentences were listened to impassively.Then, all at once, the natives began to gesticulate furiously and toshake their heads. Whereupon Britt pounded the palm of his left handwith an emphatic right fist, occasionally pointing over his shoulderwith a stubborn thumb. At last, the argument dwindled down to a force oftwo--Britt and a tall, sallow Mohammedan. For two minutes they haranguedeach other and then the native gave up in despair. The lawyer waved atriumphant hand to his friends and then climbed into one of the litters,to be borne off in the direction of the town.
"He'll have the servants back at work before two o'clock," said Brownecalmly. Deppingham was transfixed with astonishment.
"How--how the devil do you--does he bring 'em to time like that?" hemurmured. He afterward said that if he had had Saunders there at thathumiliating moment he would have kicked him.
"They're afraid of the American battleship," said Browne.
"But where is the American battleship?" demanded Deppingham, lookingwildly to sea.
"They understand that there will be one here in a day or two if we needit," said Browne with a sly grin. "That's the bluff we've worked." Helooked around for his wife, and, finding that she had gone inside,politely waved his hand to the Englishman and followed.
At three o'clock, Britt returned with the recalcitrant servants--or atleast the "pick" of them, as he termed the score he had chosen from thehundred or more. He seemed to have an Aladdin-like effect over thehorde. It did not appear to depress him in the least that from among thepersonal effects of more than one peeped the ominous blade of a kris, orthe clutch of a great revolver. He waved his hand and snapped hisfingers and they herded into the servants' wing, from which in atwinkling they emerged ready to take up their old duties. They were nota liveried lot, but they were swift and capable.
Calmly taking Lord Deppingham and his following into his confidence, hesaid, in reply to their indignant remonstrances, later on in the day:
"I know that an American man-o'-war hasn't any right to fire uponBritish possessions, but you just keep quiet and let well enough alone.These fellows believe that the Americans can shoot straighter and withless pity than any other set of people on earth. If they ever find outthe truth, we won't be able to control 'em a minute. It won't hurt youto let 'em believe that we can blow the Island off the map in half aday, and they won't believe you if you tell 'em anything to thecontrary. They just simply _know_ that I can send wireless messages andthat a cruiser would be out there to-morrow if necessary, pegging awayat these green hills with cannon balls so big that there wouldn't beanything left but the horizon in an hour or two. You let me do thetalking. I've got 'em bluffed and I'll keep 'em that way. Look at that!See those fellows getting ready to wash the front windows? They don'tneed it, I'll confess, but it makes co
nversation in the servants' hall."
Over in the gorgeous west wing, Lord Deppingham later on tried toconvince his sulky little wife that the Americans were an amazing lot,after all. Bromley tapped at the door.
"Tea is served in the hanging garden, my lady," she announced. Hermistress looked up in surprise, red-eyed and a bit dishevelled.
"The--the what?"
"It's a very pretty place just outside the rooms of the American ladyand gentleman, my lady. It's on the shady side and quite under the shelfof the mountain. There's a very cool breeze all the time, they say, fromthe caverns."
Deppingham glanced at the sun-baked window ledges of their own rooms andswore softly.
"Ask some one to bring the tea things in here, Bromley," she saidsternly, her piquant face as hard and set as it could possiblybe--which, as a matter of fact, was not noticeably adamantine. "Besides,I want to give some orders. We must have system here, not Americanisms."
"Very well, my lady."
After she had retired Deppingham was so unwise as to run his fingeraround the inside of his collar and utter the lamentation:
"By Jove, Aggie, it _is_ hot in these rooms." She transfixed him with astare.
"I find it delightfully cool, George." She called him George only whenit was impossible to call him just what she wanted to.
The tea things did not come in; in their stead came pretty Mrs. Browne.She stood in the doorway, a pleading sincere smile on her face.
"Won't you _please_ join Mr. Browne and me in that dear little garden?It's so cool up there and it must be dreadfully warm here. Really, youshould move at once into Mr. Wyckholme's old apartments across the courtfrom ours. They are splendid. But, now _do_ come and have tea with us."
Whether it was the English love of tea or the American girl's method ofmaking it, I do not know, but I am able to record the fact that Lord andLady Deppingham hesitated ever so briefly and--fell.
"Extraordinary, Browne," said Deppingham, half an hour later. "Whatwonders you chaps can perform."
"Ho, ho!" laughed Browne. "We only strive to land on our feet, that'sall. Another cigarette, Lady Deppingham?"
"Thank you. They are delicious. Where do you get them, Mr. Browne?"
"From the housekeeper. Your grandfather brought them over from London.My grandfather stored them away."