Lord Wynderbroke! said Uncle David, and bowed rather ceremoniously.
Lord Wynderbroke, a little surprised, extended two fingers and said, How d'ye do, Mr. Arden? and smiled drily, and then seemed disposed to pass on.
I beg your pardon, Lord Wynderbroke, said David Arden, but would you mind giving me a few minutes? I have something you may think a little important to say, and if you will allow me, I'll say it in this room he indicated the half-open door of the dining-room, in which there was still some lightI shall not detain you long.
The urbane and smiling peer looked on him for a momentrather darklywith a shrewd eye; and he said, still smiling,
Certainly, Mr. Arden; but at this hour, and being about to write a note, you will see that I have very little time indeedI'm very sorry.
He was speaking stiffly, and any one might have seen that he suspected nothing very agreeable as the result of Mr. Arden's communication.
When they had got into the dining-room, and the door was closed, Lord Wynderbroke, with his head a little high, invited Mr. Arden to proceed.
Then, as you are in a hurry, you'll excuse my going direct to the point. I've come here in consequence of a note that reached me about an hour ago, informing me that my niece, Alice Arden, has suffered a great deal of annoyance. You know, of course, to what I refer?
I should extremely regret that the young lady, your niece, should suffer the least vexation, from any cause; but I should
Mr. Arden bowed, and went on:
And when the young lady distinctly declines the honour you propose, you persist in paying your addresses, as though her answer meant just nothing.
I don't quite know, Sir, why I've listened so long to this kind of thing from you; you have no right on earth, Sir, to address that sort of thing to me. How dare you talk to me, Sir, in thataaaudacious tone upon my private affairs and conduct?
Uncle David was a little fiery, and answered, holding his head high,
What I have to say is short and clear. I don't care twopence about your affairs, or your conduct, but I do very much care about my niece's happiness; and if you any long' decline to take the answer she has given you, and continue to cause her the slightest trouble, I'll make it a personal matter with you. Good-night! he added, with an inflamed visage, and a stamp on the floor, thundering his valediction. And forth he went to pay his brief visit to his brothernot caring twopence, as he said, what Lord Wynderbroke thought of him.
Sir Reginald had got into his dressing-gown. He was not now in any pain to speak of, and expressed great surprise at the sudden appearance of his brother.
You'll take something, won't you?
Nothing, thanks answered David, I came to beg a favour.
I'll take the best care of her. Yes, she is gone, said David.
But my dear, excellent, worthywhy, curse you, David, you can't possibly have done anything so clumsy! Why, you forgot
that Wynderbroke is here; how on earth am I to entertain Wynderbroke without her?
Why, it is exactly because Lord Wynderbroke is here, that I thought it the best time for her to make me a visit.
I protest to Heaven, David, I believe you're deranged! Do you the least know what you are saying?
Perfectly. Now, my dear Reginald, let us look at the matter quietly. The girl does not like him; she would not marry him, and never will; she has grown to hate him; his own conduct has made her despise and detest him; and she's not the kind of girl who would marry for a mere title. She has unalterably made up her mind; and these are not times when you can lock a young lady into her room, and starve her into
Sir Reginald sat in his chair, looking very white and wicked, with his eyes gleaming fire on his brother. He opened his mouth once or twice, to speak, but only drew a short breath at each attempt.
David Arden rather wondered that his brother took all this so quietly. If he had observed him a little more closely, he would have seen that his hands were trembling, and perceived also that he had tried repeatedly to speak, and that either voice or articulation failed him. On a sudden he recovered, and regardless of his gout started to his feet, and limped along the floor, exclaiming,
Help ushelp usGod help us! What's this? Mymyoh, my God! It's very bad! He was stumping round and round the table, near which he had sat, and restlessly shoving the pamphlets and books hither and thither as he went. What have I done to earn this curse?was ever mortal so pursued? The last thing, this was; now all's gonequite goneit's over, quite. They've done itthey've done it. Bravo! bravi tutti! brava! Allall, and everything gone! To think of heronly to think of her! She was my pet. (And in his bleak, trembling voice, he cried a horrid curse at her.) I tell you, he screamed, dashing his hand on the table, at the other of which he had arrested his monotonous shuffle round it, when his brother caught suddenly his vacant eye, you think, because I'm down in the world, and you are prosperous, that you can do as you like. If I was where I should be, you daren't. I'll have her back, Sir. I'll have the police with you. I'llI'll indict youit's a police-office affair. They'll take her through the streets. Where's the wretch like her? I charge herlet them take her by the shoulder. And my son, Richardto think of him!the cursed puppy!his post obit! One foot in the grave, have I? No, I'm not so near smoked out as you take
His voice got husky, and he struck his thin fist on the table, and clung to it, and the room was suddenly silent.
David Arden rang the bell violently, and got his arm round his brother, who shook himself feebly, and shrugged, as if he disdained and hated that support.
In came Crozier, who looked aghast, but wheeled his easy-chair close to where he stood, and between them they got him into it, trembling from head to foot.
Martha Tansey came in and lent her aid, and beckoning her to the door, David Arden asked her if she thought him very ill.
I 'a' seen him just so a dozen times over. He'll be well enough, soon, and if ye knew him as weel in they takins, ye'd ho'd wi' me, there's nothing more than common in't; he's a bit teathy and short-waisted, and always was, and that's how he works himself into them fits.
So spoke Tansey, into whose talk, in moments of excitement returned something of her old north-country dialect.
Well, so he was, vexed with me, as with other people, and he has over-excited himself; but as he has this little gout about him, I may as well send out his doctor as I return.
This little conversation took place outside Sir Reginald's room-door, which David did not care to re-enter, as his brother might have again become furious on seeing him. So he took his leave of Martha Tansey, and their whispered dialogue ended. One or two sighs and groans showed that Sir Reginald's energies were returning. David Arden walked quickly across the vast hall, in which now burned duskily but a single candle, and let himself out into the clear, cold night; and as he walked down the broad avenue he congratulated himself on having cut the Gordian knot, and liberated his niece.
It was a pleasant walk by the narrow road, with its lofty groining of foliage, down to the village outpost of Islington, where, under the shadow of the old church-spire, he found his cab waiting, with Alice and her maid in it.