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MRS 
UMPHRY 

WARD 


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ELTHAM  HOUSE 


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ELTHAM  HOUSE 


BY 

Mrs.  HUMPHRY  WARD 

ACTHOB  OF  "  DELIA  BLANCHFLOWEB,"  ETC. 


FRONTISPIECE  BT 

FRANK  CRAIQ 


NEW  YORK 
HEARST'S  INTERNATIONAL  LIBRARY  COMPANY 

1915 


Copyright,  1915,  by 

HbABST's  iNTXBNATIONAIi  LIBRARY  Co.,  IKC. 

All  rights  reierved,  including  that  of  translation  into  the  foreign  languages, 
induding  the  Scandinavian 


tm  Qumn  «  aoDEN  co.  PMM 

RAHWAY,    N.  i. 


URL 

5141751 


J.  H.  W. 

'  The  thought  of  our  past  years  in  me  doth  breed 
Perpetual  Benediction." 


FOREWORD 

How  far  away  seem  the  beginnings  of  this  book!  It 
was  in  the  spring  of  1914 — the  last  spring  of  the  old 
world,  when  one  could  still  listen  to  the  thrushes 
singing,  and  watch  the  blooming  of  the  gorse  and  the 
hawthorn  without  that  tragic  intervening  sense  which 
now  oppresses  us  of  the  veil  of  death  and  suffering 
"  spread  upon  the  face  of  all  peoples  " — that  I  was 
turning  over  one  day  some  of  the  books  about  Holland 
House  and  its  Circle,  which  stand  in  a  favorite  cor- 
ner of  my  working-room.  And  it  idly  occurred  to  me 
to  wonder  what  would  have  happened  to  Lord  and 
Lady  Holland  if  they  had  walked  in — with  their  story 
— upon  the  London  world  of  to-day — or  rather  yes- 
terday. Lord  Holland,  in  1796,  ran  away  with  the 
wife  of  Sir  Godfrey  Webster,  who,  with  difficulty  and 
after  some  time,  was  bribed  to  divorce  her  by  the 
surrender  of  her  fortune.  Then  Lord  Holland  and 
Lady  Webster  were  married,  and  entered  upon  their 
long  and  royal  reign  in  Holland  House.  Lord  Hol- 
land never  seems  to  have  suffered  any  social  or  po- 
litical penalty  whatever.  Socially,  he  was  one  of 
the  best  liked  of  men,  and  never  ceased  to  be  so; 
politically,  no  price  to  be  paid  for  what  he  had  done 
was  ever  asked  of  him.    He  was  always  a  force  in 


vi  FOREWORD 

the  House  of  Lords ;  he  was  eagerly  included  in  Whig 
Ministries;  and  he  went  to  Court  as  and  when  he 
pleased.  Lady  Holland,  on  the  other  hand,  was  not 
* '  called  upon  ' ' ;  women,  unless  they  were  relations 
or  friends  made  abroad,  did  not — at  any  rate,  in  all 
its  early  years — go  to  Holland  House.  Lady  Hol- 
land had  no  particular  reason  to  care;  she  was  not 
a  sensitive  person;  she  was  very  much  in  love  with 
Lord  Holland,  and  she  took  an  easy  revenge,  with 
wealth  and  an  incomparable  house  to  help  her,  by 
creating  in  her  own  drawing-room  the  most  famous 
salon  of  the  day  attended  wholly  by  men.  It  was 
understood  and  accepted  that  women  did  not  visit 
her;  but  their  husbands,  brothers  and  sons  coveted 
and  schemed  for  her  invitations. 

But  if  these  two  people  had  gone  their  headlong 
way  in  the  social  world  of  which  I  was  then  thinking 
— the  world  before  the  war — ^what  would  have  hap- 
pened? That  was  the  question  that  suggested  itself. 
How  are  things  modified  in  a  hundred  years?  What 
would  the  Nonconformist  conscience  have  to  say,  and 
all  that  artificially  stringent  opinion  which  is,  so  to 
speak,  made  by  publicity  and  the  newspapers?  Are 
we  more  moral,  or  simply  more  afraid  of  each  other  ? 
Which  would  suffer  most  now — the  woman  or  the 
man?  In  the  old  famous  story  the  man  suffered 
nothing ;  and  because  he  suffered  nothing,  the  woman, 
also,  who  loved  him  had  never  any  real  reason — apart 
from  moral  or  religious  scruple — ^to  repent  her  action. 
But  in  the  modern  world,  with  those  instances  in 
it  we  can  all  remember  of  public  careers  ruined  or 
permanently  hindered  by  private  conduct,  how  would 
it  be  ?  Reproduce  all  Lord  Holland 's  advantages  and 
more,  a  hundred  years  later,  and  what  could  an 


FOREWORD  vii 

ambitious  man  in  a  similar  position  do  with  them? 
Could  he  fight  through?  And  if  not,  how  would 
the  failure  react  on  the  woman? 

So  it  was  that  the  figure  of  Caroline  Wing  rose 
out  of  the  mists  that  encircle  one's  first  thoughts  of 
a  new  subject;  and  in  the  dark  days  of  last  winter, 
those  hours  that  could  be  spent  in  writing  were 
entirely  occupied  in  weaving  the  story  of  her  discom- 
fiture at  the  hands  of  circumstance — a  story  that  for 
months  was  like  "  a  wind- warm  space  "  amid  the 
horrors  and  griefs  and  tasks  of  the  war,  into  which 
one  could  retreat  for  a  little  while  every  day  and 
forget  the  newspapers.  When  it  was  done,  I  asked 
an  old  friend  to  read  it,  who  returned  it  with  the 
criticism  that  there  was  **  too  much  beauty  and  too 
much  wealth  "  in  it.  I  was  a  little  cast  down,  but 
I  protested  then  and  protest  now  that  beauty  and 
wealth  are  of  the  very  essence  of  the  subject,  which 
belongs  indeed  to  that  long  series  of  the  "  falls  of 
princes  ' ' — that  endless  descent  of  ' '  tribal  lays  ' '  con- 
cerned with  the  ensnaring  of  the  strong  and  the 
fortunate  by  the  unforeseen  consequences  of  their 
actions — ^which  has  occupied  story-teUers  since  story- 
telling began.  Moreover,  without  beauty  and  wealth, 
and  all  the  other  things  which  men  and  women 
socially  desire  in  an  old  society,  there  would  have  been 
no  story  of  Caroline  Wing  to  tell.  For  the  question 
which  concerns  her  is:  How  much  could  the  pride 
of  life  and  the  desire  of  the  eyes  do  for  this  woman  ? 
— and  how  little  ?  What  she  really  desired  was  some- 
thing intangible  and  spiritual  which  was  denied  her. 
She  tried  to  reach  and  hold  this  something — gal- 
lantly, like  one  fighting  a  forlorn  hope — ^through  a 
lavish  use  of  the  tangible  and  the  earthly.    But  the 


viii  FOREWORD 

weapon  broke  in  her  hands;  and  there  could  be  but 
one  end. 

This  was  the  idea  of  the  story,  and  with  this  little 
prefatory  word  I  commend  it  to  those  who  may 
chance  to  read  it. 

Maby  a.  Ward. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE 


ELTHAM  HOUSE 


CHAPTER  I 

*'I  TELL  you,  Carrie,  your  blessed  Italy  can't  beat 
this!  What  stuff  you  did  talk  yesterday  about  an 
English  spring!" 

And  Alec  Wing  turned  round  triumphantly  upon 
his  wife,  as  she  sat  beside  him  in  the  motor  which  had 
met  them  at  Charing  Cross  station.  As  he  spoke 
he  pointed  vaguely  to  the  gardens  of  St.  James's 
Palace  and  Stafford  House,  just  flushed  with  the  first 
spring  green,  to  the  distant  line  of  Piccadilly  glitter- 
ing under  a  bright  April  sun,  to  the  slopes  of  the 
Green  Park,  bestrewn  with  children  and  loungers. 
London  lay  smiling  under  that  most  winning  of  all 
created  things,  a  genial  April  day.  A  sudden  rush  of 
warmth  had  brought  out  all  the  spring  flowers  under 
the  trees;  and  the  hurrying  sun-lit  streets  seemed  to 
be  full  of  people — men  and  women  and  children — ^in 
light,  fresh  clothes,  as  though  one  happy,  renewing 
impulse  had  swept  through  them  all. 

**I  noticed  you  discreetly  turn  a  blind  eye  to  the 
Palace ! ' '  said  his  wife,  mocking. 

"Never  you  mind.  They'll  wash  its  face  some  day. 
Meanwhile,  I  don't  care  what  you  say — I  jolly  well 


2  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

prefer  it  to  the  Strozzi — or  the  Pitti — as  a  place  for 
humans  to  live  in ! " 

Caroline  Wing  laughed.  She  too  was  excited.  She 
too  admired  this  brilliant  sun-warmed  London.  But 
her  thoughts  about  it  were  more  complex  than  her 
husband's. 

"How  do  you  know  you  won't  regret  Italy,  Alec?" 
she  asked  him  presently.    *  *  You  may.    We  both  may. '  * 

"How  do  I  know — I  won't  regret  Italy?"  he 
repeated,  in  amazement.  ' '  Why,  in  thunder,  should  I 
regret  it?  Oh !  I  say — "  he  caught  himself  up  hastily 
— * '  Of  course  I  don 't  mean  that.  We  've  had  a  ripping 
time — the  time  of  our  lives — you  darling!  As  if  I 
don't  know  that.  But  that  wasn't  Italy — that  was 
you  and  me!"  Catching  her  small  hand  in  his  big 
one,  he  crushed  it  boisterously.  "Shouldn't  we  have 
had  a  ripping  time  anywhere,  eh?"  Their  eyes  met, 
and  she  flushed.  He  resumed — "And  of  course  I 
loved  the  musty-fusty  old  villa  too — for  your  sake — 
for  everything's  sake.  But  I  think  we'd  had  enough 
of  it— don't  you?" 

"Perhaps,"  she  said,  reluctantly.  Then — with  a 
change  of  tone — "Yes,  certainly,  we'd  had  enough 
of  it.  Neither  you  nor  I  was  born  to  live  in  a  desert. 
But  still — Well,  of  course,  you  know.  Alee,  we've 
come  home  to  a  pretty  stiff  fight,  you  and  I.  I  don't 
mind — so  long  as  you  play  up — old  boy ! ' '  She  gave 
him  a  look  half  proud,  half  laughing,  the  full  mouth 
set  imperiously. 

Caroline  Wing  was  twenty-eight.  Her  erect  and 
confident  bearing,  and  her  radiant  good  looks  had 
already  attracted  the  notice  of  many  passers-by,  when- 
ever the  pace  of  the  motor  slackened  in  the  traffic. 
Her  traveling  dress  of  blue  serge  showed  a  very 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  3 

slender  long-limbed  body,  sloping  shoulders,  and  a 
bare  throat  still  brown  from  Italian  sun.  The  head, 
in  its  close-fitting  black  hat,  was  heavy  with  rich 
brown  hair,  but  in  itself  small  and  nobly  carried ;  the 
eyes  of  a  liquid  brown  with  touches  of  gray,  were 
of  astonishing  beauty;  the  nose,  very  delicate,  with 
a  sharpened  point,  that  gave  a  charming  touch  of 
gayety — espieglerie — to  the  face ;  while  the  mouth,  red 
and  full-lipped,  was  not  only  lovely  in  line  and 
color,  but  of  a  singular  significance  and  energy. 

Her  handsome  young  husband,  a  year  older  than 
herself,  made  a  no  less  vivid  impression  on  the  spec- 
tator of  restless  and  overflowing  life;  and  the  two 
together  were  a  striking  pair.  They  were  well  aware 
of  it;  well  aware,  also,  that  in  circumstance  and  his- 
tory, as  well  as  in  looks,  they  were  no  ordinary  per- 
sons; and  that  London  would  very  soon  be  alive  to 
their  coming,  if  it  were  not  already  inconveniently 
expectant. 

The  motor  turned  up  Constitution  Hill. 

''I  don't  see  a  soul  I  know,"  said  Wing  discon- 
tentedly. ''They  can't  all  be  dead.  You  won't  mind, 
Carrie,  will  you,  if  I  telephone  to  a  couple  of  fellows 
to  come  and  dine?" 

Caroline  Wing  raised  her  eyebrows — "The  first 
evening?  You  don't  know  whether  there'll  be  any- 
thing to  eat!" 

Then  seeing  a  slight  shadow  on  the  face  beside  her, 
she  added — "But  of  course,  dearest — do  as  you  like. 
You'll  let  me  go  to  bed  early? — I'm  rather  a  rag." 

"Well,  it  was  a  beastly  crossing.  Perhaps  I  won't. 
But  I  vow,  Carrie,  I  never  saw  you  look  better  than 
you  do  to-night.  You  may  feel  a  rag — you  don't 
look  it." 


4  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

And  this  time  he  not  only  pressed  her  hand,  but 
would  have  kissed  it,  had  she  not  rebuked  him. 

**Alec — really! — just  as  we  are  going  into  the  Park! 
That  policeman  could  have  seen  you  perfectly. ' ' 

"Drat  him — who  cares!  Any  other  woman  after 
such  a  crossing  would  look  disheveled  and  bilious. 
But  you  turn  up  smiling — ^whatever  happens." 

He  looked  at  her  with  a  fondness  in  which  there 
was  a  touch  of  excitement.  But  his  phrase  was  not 
apposite;  for  she  was  not  smiling.  He  broke  out 
impatiently — 

**I  tell  you,  darling,  people  are  not  half  as 
puritanical  as  they  used  to  be!  You'll  see.  We 
shall  have  no  need  to  do  anything  but  sit  tight,  turn 
our  backs  on  the  people  that  give  themselves  airs, 
collect  the  decent  ones,  give  'em  proper  dinners,  keep 
out  the  bores — show  everybody  we  don't  care  a  two- 
penny d what  they   do — and  in  two  seasons, 

Carrie,  you'll  be  the  rage!" 

She  looked  at  him  with  a  smiling  shake  of  the  head. 

"  Oh  I  dare  say  we  '11  get  along ! ' '  she  said,  lightly. 
"And  anyway,  I  shan't  go  on  my  knees  to  anybody. 
Hullo ! — aren  't  we  nearly  there  ? ' ' 

She  looked  out  eagerly. 

"Yes,  there's  the  house!"  And  he  pointed  to  a 
huge  building,  behind  gates  and  overshadowed  by 
trees,  which  appeared  imposingly  at  the  end  of  the 
Mayfair  street  into  which  they  had  turned. 

"Good  heavens,  I  had  forgotten  it  looked  so  like 
a  fortress!" 

"The  gates  are  rather  like  those  of  Gaza!"  he 
admitted,  laughingly.  "But  it's  not  so  bad  when  you 
get  in." 

The  motor  drew  up,  and  the  chauffeur  rang. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  5 

Instantly  the  ponderous  gates  rolled  smoothly 
back,  and,  from  the  hidden  lodge  inside,  a  gentleman 
in  a  long  livery  coat  reaching  to  his  heels,  and  a  laced 
hat,  appeared  bowing,  to  watch  them  pass. 

**Alec!  he  comes  out  of  the  Ark!" 

"It's  the  old  livery.  My  father  always  would  keep 
it  up.  We  '11  make  short  work  of  it,  won 't  we,  darling ! ' ' 

His  wife  laughed — a  little  excitedly;  but  she  had 
no  time  to  reply,  for  behind  the  well-dressed  youngish 
woman  standing  in  the  doorway,  who  announced  her- 
self as  the  "housekeeper,"  a  young  man  came  for- 
ward, lean,  bronzed,  curly-haired,  with  no  features  to 
speak  of,  and  an  amiable  grin. 

"Hullo,  Alec!" 

Wing  jumped  from  the  motor  in  delight. 

"Hullo!  Jim,  you  here!  Well  that  is  jolly !  You 
don't  know  Carrie,  do  you?  Carrie,  this  is  my  cousin, 
Jim  Durrant.  I  say,  Jim,  you  are  a  brick  to  come 
and  meet  us  like  this ! ' '  And  the  young  man  slapped 
his  cousin  on  the  back  with  hearty  good  humor. 

But  Captain  Durrant 's  attention  was  fixed  upon 
the  lady. 

"I  don't  know  what  you'll  think  of  my  bothering 
you,  Mrs.  Wing,  when  you'll  be  wanting  to  rest,"  he 
said,  very  pink,  and  evidently  embarrassed.  "But 
Lord  Wing  made  me.  He  said  I  was  to  come  and  see 
everything  was  ready  for  you, — to  come  back  and 
report  to  him — and  to  tell  you  that  he  would  come 
round  himself  to  see  you  after  dinner. ' ' 

"That  was  extremely  nice  of  him!"  said  the  lady 
addressed,  as  she  entered  the  house.  Her  color  too 
was  high.  "I  shall  be  ready  for  anyone  and  any- 
thing when  I've  had  a  bath  and  some  food.  I  say, 
what  a  place!" 


6  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

She  stopped  to  look  round  her  at  the  marble  hall 
crowded  with  pillars  and  statues  in  which  they  stood, 
and  at  the  elaborate  double  staircase  which  rose  out 
of  it — a  staircase  of  pretensions,  much  quoted  among 
architects,  the  walls  of  which  were  covered  alternately 
with  niched  statues  and  family  portraits. 

"Lots  of  room,  anyway!"  said  Captain  Durrant, 
twisting  his  mustache. 

''Why  on  earth  won't  Lord  Wing  live  in  it?"  She 
brought  her  penetrating  eyes  to  bear,  suddenly,  on 
the  young  man,  who  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"Sick  to  death  of  it! — I  believe.  Hates  big 
rooms, — hates  staircases  like  that — hates  statues, 
hates  everything!" 

"It  must  certainly  take  a  deal  of  living  in!"  said 
Mrs.  Wing,  thoughtfully,  as  she  slowly  ascended  the 
stairs,  while  her  husband,  the  housekeeper,  and  vari- 
ous splendid  persons  in  livery  stood  colloguing  below. 

"Well,  we've  made  one  room  quite  human  for 
you — got  you  tea  and  newspapers,  and  everything 
jolly.  Lord  Wing's  sent  flowers — and — and  a 
gramophone. ' ' 

"A  gramophone!"  Mrs.  Wing  paused  on  the  first 
floor  landing.  Her  eyebrows  had  mounted,  and  her 
look  was  sarcastic.  "Does — does  Lord  Wing  think 
that  Alec  and  I  are  already  tired  of  each  other's 
society?" 

The  youth  showed  renewed  embarrassment. 

"He's  gone  on  gramophones — and  pianolas.  Spent 
a  thousand  on  a  pianola  last  week.  He  says  music 
would  be  all  right  if  it  weren't  for  the  people  who 
make  it.  Now  he  can  get  rid  of  them,  he 's  enchanted. 
These  are  the  drawing-rooms — but  I  don't  expect  you 
want  to  look  at  them." 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  7 

He  threw  open  a  stately  mahogany  door,  and 
Caroline  Wing  found  herself  on  the  threshold  of  an 
immense  room,  shrouded  in  dust  sheets,  with  other 
rooms  opening  out  of  it  to  right  and  left.  Some  of 
the  pictures  on  the  walls  had  apparently  just  been 
unveiled,  and  a  Dancing  Girl,  by  Romney,  one  of  the 
finest  of  the  innumerable  studies  of  Lady  Hamilton, — 
a  magnificent  full-length  Reynolds  of  a  red-coated 
man  beside  his  horse, — and  a  great  Constable,  driving 
the  power  and  light  of  its  sky  through  the  shadows 
of  the  room,  met  the  eyes  of  their  new  mistress. 

"He  said  you  were  to  arrange  everything  as  you 
liked.  He  left  it  all  to  you.  But  he  told  the  house- 
keeper to  have  a  few  pictures  uncovered  for  you,  so 
that  it  shouldn  't  look  too  like  a  tomb. ' ' 

"Very  nice  of  him,"  said  Mrs.  Wing  again. 
Then  she  walked  deliberately  through  the  suite  of 
rooms,  looking  about  her,  and  seeing  a  few  shutters 
undone,  she  pulled  them  open  and  studied  the 
garden  outside.  There,  in  the  heart  of  Mayfair, 
it  spread  before  her — ^the  famous  garden  as  full  of 
spacious  shade  and  quiet  as  though  London  lay  a 
hundred  miles  away.  The  flower-beds  on  the  green 
lawn  were  full  of  tulips;  broad  bands  of  hyacinths 
massed  in  splendid  reds  and  blues  and  whites  ran 
round  the  shrubberies,  already  delicately  green,  fol- 
lowing the  inlets  of  grass  like  a  coast-line ;  while  the 
thin  plane  trees  just  coming  into  leaf  made  a  back- 
ground through  which  distant  walls  and  roofs  were 
still  visible  which  in  midsummer  would  be  completely 
shut  out.  At  the  end  of  the  suite  of  rooms,  Caroline 
Wing  paused  and  faced  her  companion. 

"No  use  trying  to  live  in  this  house  under  twenty 
thousand  a  year!"  she  said,  with  emphasis. 


8  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"Oh  you'll  have  that! — anything  you  want,"  said 
Captain  Durrant  hastily.  "Uncle  Wing's  as  rich  as 
rich." 

Something  however  in  her  attitude  as  she  turned 
a  little  from  him  to  look  at  a  picture  challenged  him 
to  a  closer  examination  of  her,  and  sent  various  com- 
ments flying  through  his  brain.  "Handsome — ^by 
George! — and  a  headpiece  of  her  own! — if  I'm  not 
mistaken.  She'll  want  to  boss  it,  in  London — or 
wherever  she  goes.    And  how  can  she?" 

Aloud  he  said — "You  must  be  dog-tired.  Come 
and  see  the  place  we've  got  ready  for  you." 

And  opening  a  side  door,  he  led  her  out  of  the 
series  of  state  drawing-rooms  into  some  passages 
beyond  them,  finally  ushering  her  into  a  room  of 
moderate  size,  at  sight  of  which  Mrs.  Wing  drew  an 
evident  breath  of  relief. 

Two  footmen  in  livery,  who  had  been  arranging  a 
tea-table,  bowed  nervously  as  the  lady  and  gentleman 
appeared.  Mrs.  Wing  walked  up  to  them,  greeted 
them  with  a  few  smiling  words,  and  sent  them  to  tell 
Mr.  Wing  the  tea  was  ready.  Then  she  looked  about 
her,  at  the  Whistler  drawings  on  the  dim  gray  walls 
— at  the  yellow  chintz  and  Persian  carpet. 

"Who  did  this?— you  or  Lord  Wing?" 

"Oh,  Lord  Wing.  I  helped.  You  know  he's 
awfully  fond  of  Alec ! ' '  Then  realizing  that  he  had 
scarcely  expressed  himself  with  tact,  he  fell  suddenly 
silent. 

Caroline  Wing  stood  erect,  her  hands  on  one  of  the 
low  chairs,  which  were  gathered  invitingly  round  a 
small  fire,  lit  for  welcome  not  for  warmth,  while  the 
windows  to  either  side  of  it  let  in  the  cool  spring 
wind  freely. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  9 

**I  wonder — if  he's  going  to  be  fond  of  me!"  She 
looked  keenly  at  Captain  Dnrrant,  whose  difficulties 
were  evident,  through  his  laugh. 

"Naturally! — if  you  make  Alec  happy.  But  of 
course — you  know — there'll  be  hitches!" 

"Hitches?"  said  Mrs.  Wing,  flushing.  "Yes — 
that  there  will!  However,  let's  have  some  tea!  I 
suppose  I  ought  to  go  and  talk  to  the  housekeeper. 
But  I  can 't ;  I  'm  too  tired.    How  cozy  it  looks ! ' ' 

And  she  gave  a  glance  of  approval  to  the  room 
and  its  furnishings,  which  tickled  the  young  man's 
nerves  agreeably,  as  though  a  queen  had  smiled.  And 
nothing  less  than  queenly  indeed  was  her  movement, 
as  she  walked  across  the  floor,  took  off  her  hat  and 
traveling-cloak,  arranged  her  hair  a  little  before  a 
mirror,  with  her  long  slender  fingers,  and  finally  took 
possession  of  the  tea-table,  as  though  by  that  familiar 
womanly  act  she  entered  upon  a  sovereignty  which 
was  merely  her  due. 

"She  carries  it  off! — my  word,  she  does!" — 
thought  Durrant,  with  half-reluctant  admiration. 

Meanwhile  he  took  the  tea  she  handed  him,  and 
they  began  a  disconnected  conversation  which  had 
but  little  to  do  with  the  things  each  was  bursting  to 
say — which  however  she  was  too  proud  and  he,  as 
yet,  too  shy  to  say.  She  inquired  after  Lord  Wing, 
and  was  informed  that  he  was  at  Claridge's  Hotel, 
very  well — * '  though  he  looks  like  a  walking  corpse,  as 
usual!  He  won't  see  anybody  but  the  two  or  three 
booksellers  who  collect  for  him — and  a  few  of  his 
relations — women — who  don't  mind  being  snubbed. 
All  his  old  political  friends  declare  he  cuts  them  in 
the  streets." 

But  Lord  Wing,  it  seemed,  had  no  intention  of 


10  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

staying  in  town.  He  was  going  back  to  Warwickshire, 
as  soon  as  he  had  seen  his  son  and  his  son's  new  wife. 

Mrs.  Wing  listened  in  silence.  But  it  was  a 
silence  full  of  energy.  The  young  soldier  felt  her,  as 
it  were,  charged  to  the  muzzle;  though  exactly  why 
and  how  she  should  make  this  impression  upon  him, 
he  could  not  have  explained.  After  all,  her  explosion 
was  over;  it  was  now  rather  a  question  of  picking 
up  the  pieces.  Presently,  as  they  talked,  he  found 
himself  comparing  some  old  recollections  of  her  that 
haunted  the  back  of  his  mind,  with  the  living  woman 
sitting  behind  the  tea-table.  He  had  seen  her  once 
or  twice  at  balls  in  his  first  youth,  though  he  could 
not  recall  that  they  had  ever  actually  made  acquaint- 
ance. But  he  remembered  her — ^vividly.  In  white 
always ;  tall,  thin,  farouche;  and  in  the  charge  of  an 
aunt,  who  kept  a  strict  eye  upon  her.  Her  people 
lived  at  Oxford,  he  seemed  to  recollect,  and  she  used 
to  come  up  to  this  aunt  for  part  of  the  season.  She 
was  a  quiet  sort  of  girl  then,  with  few  friends ;  hand- 
some of  course,  but  nobody  noticed  her  much.  She 
seemed  to  have  "come  on"  enormously. 

"Alee!  Where  have  you  been  all  this  time!" 
cried  Mrs.  Wing.  For  the  door  had  opened,  and 
Alec  Wing  stood  looking  at  the  pair  at  tea,  his  sun- 
burned face  aglow  with  amusement  and  pleasure. 

* '  Couldn't  help  it,  darling !  I  was  having  a  chat  with 
Burnett,  the  old  house  steward  here, — great  pal  of 
mine.    And  I've  been  telephoning  to  some  fellows — " 

"Oh,  but,  Alec! — ^Lord  Wing's  coming,  after  din- 
ner. ' ' 

"I  know.  I  didn't  ask  them  for  to-night.  We'll 
have  a  few  to-morrow,  won't  we?  Well,  Jim,  tell  me 
something  about  my  papa?" 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  11 

And  he  sat  down  beside  his  wife,  evidently  in  top 
spirits,  devouring  her  with  his  smiling  eyes,  while 
he  attacked  the  tea  and  hot  cake  she  handed  him 
with  a  boy's  appetite. 

Captain  Durrant  repeated  the  various  items  of 
news  he  had  already  given  Mrs.  Wing,  with  additions, 
relating  to  various  members  of  the  Wing  family.  This 
person  was  married — and  that  one  was  "broke,"  or 
near  it.  Lady  Murthly's  twins  were  having  a  raging 
season — extraordinarily  pretty,  both  of  them.  The 
Duchess's  youngest  girl  was  pretty  too — ^if  she 
weren't  a  little  cock-eyed.  Jack  Murthly  had  been 
getting  into  another  gambling  scrape — only  just 
dragged  out  of  it  by  the  skin  of  his  teeth — family 
awfully  upset — et  cetera — 

Meanwhile  Alec  Wing  sat  with  his  elbows  on  the 
tea-table,  his  teacup  in  both  hands,  and  his  laughing 
eyes  staring  over  it  at  his  cousin.  He  was  absorbed 
in  the  gossip  offered  him,  only  breaking  in  upon  the 
stream  occasionally  with  comments  of  his  own,  which 
drew  chuckles  from  the  Captain. 

But  all  the  time  Durrant 's  inner  mind  was  held  by 
the  spectacle  of  the  pair  before  him, — ^the  handsome 
silent  woman  who  seemed  to  be  paying  very  scant 
attention  to  his  talk  with  Alec — and  the  young 
husband.  Never  had  he  seen  Alec  in  such  splendid 
form.  Clearly  he  had  come  home  prepared  to  take  up 
his  old  role  of  universal  favorite,  as  though  he  had 
never  laid  it  down.  Not  a  trace,  in  his  talk,  of 
the  chasm  which  had  intervened.  He  seemed  as  uncon- 
scious, as  gayly,  confoundedly  certain  of  himself  and 
the  world  as  when  he  first  left  Oxford,  and  began  a 
conquering  career  in  London — as  guardsman,  owner 
of  race-horses,  member  of  all  the  fashionable  clubs, 


12  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

and  withal  heir  to  one  of  the  oldest  peerages,  and  an 
immense  fortune.  Alec  had  always  been  a  popular 
creature,  happy  himself,  and  diffusing  happiness; 
full  of  ability  and  ambition  too,  with  a  mind  set  on 
politics,  according  to  the  traditions  of  his  family,  and 
with  every  card  of  the  great  game  in  his  hand. 

And  then — to  do  this  idiotic  thing !  Durrant,  after 
a  joint  explosion  of  laughter  from  both  himself  and 
Wing,  caused  by  a  comment  of  Alec's  on  a  family  of 
puritanical  Scotch  relations  they  owned  in  common, 
seemed  suddenly  to  hear  in  it,  as  it  died,  "the  crack- 
ling of  thorns  under  a  pot." 

But  it  was  clear  that  Wing  had  no  such  feelings. 
He  presently  sprang  to  his  feet,  and  drawing  his  wife 
with  him,  went  to  the  open  window. 

"I  say — isn't  London  scrumptious?  Just  you 
sniff  it,  darling! — it's  good.  And  I  declare  there's 
something  to  be  said,  even  for  this  pompous  old  bar- 
rack of  a  place.  I  used  to  hate  it  when  I  was  a  boy. 
But  you'll  put  some  life  into  it,  Carrie!  Look  here, 
Jim!" — ^he  turned  to  his  cousin — "What  races  are 
there  on  this  week?  I'm  simply  dying  to  see  an 
English  race  again!  And  I'm  dying  to  take  Carrie 
to  Ascot,  of  course  it 's  weeks  off  yet — ^but  whom  does 
one  write  to  ?    I  've  forgotten  all  about  these  things. ' ' 

Durrant 's  fair  skin  flushed  inconveniently. 

"For  the  Enclosure  you  mean?" 

"Of  course." 

"WeU,  I  suppose  it's  the  Lord  Chamberlain." 

"Let's  see — who  is  it  now?  I've  got  so  stale  about 
everything?  Oh,  I  know — Solway — who  married  a 
first  cousin  of  father 's.    Of  course  I  can  write  to  him. ' ' 

"You'd  better  not,  Alec,"  said  Mrs.  Wing  quietly. 

It  was  the  first  time  she  had  spoken.     She  lifted 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  13 

her  beautiful  eyes  to  her  husband — smiling,  but 
grave. 

' '  What  do  you  mean,  Carrie  ? ' ' 

"You  won't  get  them,  that's  all." 

''Get  them!  Why,  I'm  a  member  of  the  Jockey 
Club !  They  elected  me  just  three  years  ago — before 
I  went  out  to  Florence.  I'd  jolly  well  like  to  see 
anybody  at  Ascot  stop  me  from  going  where  I 
please ! ' ' 

**0h,  you  can  go — there's  no  doubt  about  that." 

"And  so  can  you,  Carrie!"  he  said  in  a  troubled 
voice,  coming  to  stand  beside  her.  Durrant  was 
sitting  with  his  head  turned  away,  pretending  to  look 
at  an  evening  paper  lying  on  a  small  table  near — a 
very  red,  uncomfortable  man. 

Mrs.  Wing  lifted  her  face  to  her  husband,  with 
a  tender,  smiling  look ;  and  their  eyes  met. 

Captain  Durrant  rose  to  go. 

"Awfully  sorry  I  can't  dine  with  you !  But  you're 
tired — and  I've  got  an  engagement.  Hope  they'll 
give  you  decent  food.  Lord  Wing  engaged  the  chef 
himself.  So  I  may  tell  him  he  can  come  about 
nine?" 

Husband  and  wife  were  left  together.  Through 
the  thick  walls  and  closely  fitting  doors  of  the  house 
not  much  could  be  heard  of  the  bustle  that  was  in 
truth  pervading  it, — ^the  bustle  of  arrival  and  un- 
packing. Yet  somehow  Caroline  Wing's  nerves  were 
conscious  of  it,  and  of  its  significance.  It  was  like 
the  vague  preparatory  noises  which  a  spectator  may 
hear  from  the  stage,  before  the  curtain  goes  up. 

"My  dear  Alec,  how  on  earth  are  we  going  to  live 
in  this  huge  place?" 


14  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

Her  expression,  as  she  turned  to  him,  was  all  alert 
— perhaps  defiant — intelligence. 

He  threw  his  arms  round  her,  and  kissed  her 
passionately. 

"Just  as  we  lived  in  Italy!  I  made  you  happy 
there,  you  angel ! — I  '11  make  you  happy  here. ' ' 

"We  were  alone  there.  We  lived  our  own  lives 
— and  nobody  interfered  with  us.  And  here — Alec, 
you  know,  I  wasn't  made  for  a  fighter!  I'm  dread- 
fully keen  to  be  liked — and — and  spoken  kindly  to." 
She  sighed,  turning  her  lips  to  kiss  the  coat  against 
which  she  was  leaning,  as  she  spoke. 

"So  you  will  be  liked — adored! — you  darling.  I 
shouldn't  like  to  see  anybody  rude  or  rough  to  you! 
Well — of  course  I  know  there  will  be  a  certain  num- 
ber of  stuck-up  people  who  won't  have  anything  to 
say  to  us.  I  dare  say  there  '11  be  rubs.  But  look  at  all 
the  new  spirit  there  is  abroad — about  marriage  and 
divorce!  Reasonable  people  now  look  at  such  things 
reasonably.  It's  jolly  different  from  what  it  used 
to  be." 

She  only  answered  him  indirectly. 

* '  Friends — and  children' ' — she  murmured.  ' '  That 's 
what  it  wants — ^this  house." 

He  folded  her  close — murmuring  in  answer — 

"There  will  be  children — and  friends." 

After  a  silence  she  said,  her  eyes  still  hidden — 

"I  dreamed  of  Carina  last  night.  I  must  see  her. 
Alec — somehow. ' ' 

"You  shall,  darling,  you  shall." 

Another  silence.  Across  Wing's  features,  as  he 
stood  bending  over  his  wife,  a  number  of  different 
expressions  chased  each  other,  all  merged  in  a  final 
exhilaration.    The  distant  sounds  of  Piccadilly  were 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  15 

in  his  ears;  and  they  were  as  march  music  to  the 
soldier.  London  again — good  old  London! — grimy- 
old  London — with  its  movement,  its  chances,  its 
daily  flood  of  events.  Love  on  the  Tuscan  hills  had 
been  delicious — love  in  Mayfair,  with  wealth,  politics, 
ambition  thrown  in,  and  lots  of  jolly  old  friends  to 
chum  with,  whatever  their  silly  wives  might  do, 
should  be  better  still.  His  pulses  raced  under  the 
sheer  joy  of  return — the  Homeric  ''coming  home," 
after  nearly  three  years  of  exile. 

''Look  here!"  he  said  at  last,  rousing  himself  and 
her;  "you've  got  to  change  and  rest,  Mrs.  Wing, 
before  dinner!  Don't  forget  we've  come  from  Paris 
to-day !  You  've  got  to  put  on  a  scrummy  frock  too ! 
— that  Worth  tea-gown  I  helped  you  choose  in  Paris — 
and  look  your  very  best,  my  dear,  when  you  see  my 
papa ! ' ' 

Mrs.  Wing  withdrew  herself  from  his  arms, 

"I  rather  dread  it.  Alec.  Why  has  he  given  us 
this  house?  Why  does  he  make  us  live  here?  I 
can't  begin  to  understand.  I  don't  believe  you  know 
yourself. ' ' 

"We'll  get  it  out  of  him,"  he  said,  half  grave,  half 
laughing. 

And  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  whistling  as  he 
went,  he  left  her,  turning  back  at  the  door  to  bid  her 
again  go  and  lie  down. 

But  she  did  not  immediately  obey  him.  The  spring 
twilight  was  falling;  and  lights  were  twinkling 
through  the  trees.  The  garden  below  was  all  dim 
and  rich  with  color;  the  scents  from  it  floated  round 
her.  For  a  moment  as  she  stood  there,  she  was  seized 
with  an  anguish — a  woman's  savage  longing  for  the 
children  she  has  borne.     Two! — and  one  was  lying 


16  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

on  a  Tuscan  hill-side,  and  the  other  had  been  taken 
from  her  in  punishment  for  what  the  world  called 
*'sin."  *'8in! — what  is  sin?"  she  asked  herself  im- 
patiently. 

The  sound  of  a  gong  far  away  startled  her.  She 
turned,  and  opening  a  side-door — ^tentatively — she 
went  back  again  through  the  great  series  of  shrouded 
drawing-rooms.  And,  tired  as  she  was,  her  step  grew 
firmer  as  she  moved,  her  stature  rose.  It  was  as 
though  she  began  already  to  match  herself  against  the 
house — ^to  take  up  some  challenge  brooding  within  it. 


CHAPTER  II 

The  husband  and  wife  dined  in  the  vast  dining-room 
at  the  back  of  the  pillared  hall,  which  had  been 
hastily  got  ready  for  them.  The  finely  carved  and 
paneled  walls  were  hung  with  family  portraits, 
ranging  back  to  1600;  ladies  beruffed,  cavaliers  in 
plumed  hats,  bad  Lelys,  and  good  Lelys;  a  pleasant 
tapestry  of  dim  reds  and  blues  and  golds,  crowned 
by  two  famous  Vandycks  which  faced  each  other  at 
either  end  of  the  room — a  King  Charles  on  horseback, 
and  a  full-length  Henrietta  Maria.  The  pictures 
were  broken  at  intervals  by  a  fine  series  of  French 
Renaissance  cabinets ;  the  mantelpiece  had  come  from 
a  chateau  in  the  Bourbonnais ;  and  two  or  three  price- 
less French  busts  of  the  dix-Jiuitieme, — among  them 
a  Voltaire  by  Houdon — stood  in  the  deeply  embayed 
windows.  Altogether  a  room  to  stir  the  nerves  of 
any  gentleman  with  the  collector's  mania  and  an 
adequate  purse. 

"My  dear  Alec,  why  did  you  never  talk  to  me 
about  this  house  and  the  things  in  it !  I  really  ought 
to  have  been  coached." 

The  servants  had  left  the  room,  and  Caroline 
Wing,  in  a  tea-gown  of  shimmering  white,  had  moved 
closer  to  her  husband.  The  small  round  table  at  which 
they  had  dined  was  a  mass  of  pale  roses,  and  Caro- 

17 


18  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

line's  dark  head,  and  long  white  neck  took  an  added 
beauty  from  the  neighborhood  of  the  flowers.  She 
was  dandling  a  cigarette  with  her  elbows  on  the  table. 
The  lace  sleeves  of  her  tea-gown  as  they  fell  back 
revealed  hands  and  arms  which  delighted  the  eyes  of 
the  man  beside  her.  He  kissed  the  arm  nearest  to 
him,  indeed,  before  he  replied — indifferently — 

"Darling,  one  doesn't  talk  about  one's  things! 
I  'm  so  used  to  them. ' ' 

'  *  Well  I  'm  not, ' '  said  Caroline  firmly.  * '  And  I  give 
you  warning  that  if  we're  to  live  here,  I  shall  want 
to  know  everything  about  everything.  I  despise 
people  who  can 't  talk  about  their  own  pictures. ' '  And 
she  waved  her  cigarette  towards  the  family  gallery  on 
the  walls. 

Alec's  expression  was  first  perplexed,  then  frankly 
explanatory — 

' '  Of  course  I  can  talk  about  them,  if  you  like.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  I  know  a  lot  about  them.  I  could 
yarn  away  no  end  about  most  of  these  fellows.  His- 
tory's the  only  thing  I'm  good  at.  That's  because  it 
comes  into  politics." 

*  *  Politics  ?    So  you  're  still  set  on  politics  ? ' ' 

"Naturally.  It's  the  first  business  of  civilized  man 
— after  love-making ! ' '  His  lips  touched  her  brow  as 
she  leaned  against  him.  "But  why  do  you  say — 'if 
we're  to  live  here'?  Of  course  we're  to  live  here — 
when  we  're  in  town.  Pater 's  set  his  heart  on  it — and 
if  we  want  to  keep  friends  with  him,  we've  got  to 
humor  him." 

"And  what  about  the  money?"  said  his  wife 
quietly.  "To  be  poor  in  this  house  would  be  purga- 
tory. I  gave  your  cousin  my  views — which  were 
lordly." 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  19 

Alec  laughed.  "That's  so  like  you,  darling — 
you're  always  so  practical.  You  see  things  in  a 
moment — which  I  never  do.  But  my  father — for  all 
his  oddities,  is  a  practical  man  too.  If  he  writes — 
*I  give  you  up  Eltham  House — and  it's  my  wish 
you  should  make  it  your  London  home' — why,  of 
course  he  knows  what  it  means,  financially.  And  we 
shall  soon  know!    He'll  be  here  directly." 

Caroline  rose  and  began  to  wander  around  the 
room,  looking  at  the  pictures.  He  stayed  where  he 
was,  partly  to  finish  his  coffee,  partly  to  have  the 
pleasure  of  looking  at  her  from  a  distance.  Her  white 
moving  figure,  seen  against  the  darkly  rich  back- 
ground of  the  paneled  and  pictured  wall,  possessed 
an  atmosphere  and  a  magic  which  enchanted  him. 
She  moved  so  easily — held  her  head  so  nobly — his 
incomparable  Carrie!  What  storms  he  had  passed 
through  to  get  her!  But  she  had  steered  the  ship. 
And  she  should  go  on  steering  it.  His  belief  in  her  in- 
telligence— her  luck — was,  at  that  moment,  boundless. 

''Why  is  there  a  picture  missing  here?"  she  asked 
presently.    He  crossed  the  room  to  her  side. 

"Ah  that's  where  my  mother's  picture  used  to  be. 
Pater's  taken  it  away.  But,  by  Jove,  he's  left  us 
Aunt  Libby!" 

He  pointed  to  the  other  side  of  the  fireplace. 
Caroline  perceived  there  a  portrait  of  a  slight  elderly 
lady,  with  a  shrewd,  plain  face,  and  a  lace  cap.  She 
went  to  look  at  it  in  silence.  There  was  no  need  to  ask 
questions.  She  knew  of  course  that  Lord  Wing  had 
lost  his  wife  when  Alec,  his  only  child,  was  three  years 
old,  and  that  his  sister  Elizabeth  had  lived  with  him 
and  kept  his  house,  till  her  own  death,  some  four  or 
five  years  before  this  date.    Alec's  mother,  to  judge 


20  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

from  a  miniature  he  possessed,  had  been  a  small 
childish  creature,  with  laughing  brown  eyes;  a 
Ravencross  to  boot,  and  connected  thereby  with  half 
the  great  families  in  England.  As  far  as  Alec  knew, 
she  and  his  father  had  been  happy  together;  but  he 
evidently  knew  very  little  of  his  mother,  and  Caroline 
had  already  begun  to  guess  that,  in  any  intimate  way, 
he  knew  and  had  always  known  very  little  of  his 
father.  But  Aunt  Libby,  spinster  and  Evangelical, 
had  mothered  him  well  in  his  childhood,  and  even  his 
comic  recollections  of  her  did  her  credit. 

*'She  made  me  read  the  Bible — she  hunted  me  to 
church  in  the  country.  Pater  of  course  never  went. 
And  she  made  him  let  me  be  confirmed  at  Eton.  But 
I  was  always  shocking  her,  poor  dear.  Once  when  I 
was  ill  and  feverish — I  must  have  been  a  little  sprat 
about  six — she  talked  to  me  about  Heaven,  and  I  asked 
her  whether  we  all  went  up  there  when  we  died — and 
she  said  "  Yes,  dear — I  hope  so."  And  I  began  to  cry, 
sleepily — and  said  I  thought  it  was  very  unfair,  and 
the  dogs  ought  at  least  to  have  the  bones.  And  then 
when  I  was  at  Eton,  and  seventeen,  about,  she  was  hor- 
rified at  the  novels  I  read.  And  there  was  one,  which 
would  have  given  her  a  fit  if  she'd  known.  So  I 
covered  it  in  brown  paper  and  labeled  it — "Hervey's 
Meditations  among  the  Tombs  ' ' — and  she  never  found 
out.  Poor  old  dear !  She  had  a  class  for  the  servants 
every  Sunday;  and  when  Pater  had  gone  to  Nice, 
she  had  two  or  three  missionary  meetings  in  the  big 
hall  every  winter;  and  that  made  her  happy  for  the 
year.  Pater  used  to  laugh  at  her,  but  I  suspect  he 
missed  her  when  she  died.  There  was  a  memorial 
service  held  for  her  in  a  Whitechapel  church  where 
she  used  to  help.    And  I  went.    It  was  curious.    Hun- 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  21 

dreds  of  little  servant  girls — and  errand  boys — and 
mothers  with  babies.    They  really  seemed  cut-up. ' ' 

Mrs.  Wing  looked  at  the  picture,  frowning  a  little. 

' '  She  has  a  strong  puritanical  mouth. ' ' 

"Yes,  she  was  a  sabbatical  old  party.  But  an 
awfully  good  sort.  She  preached  at  me  a  great  deal 
when  I  was  a  boy.    But  she  gave  me  chocolates  too ! ' ' 

"And  she  was  mistress  here  twenty  years?"  said 
Mrs.  Wing. 

"She  was  housekeeper  here  for  twenty  years.  She 
hated  the  house.  It  oppressed  her.  She  and  Pater  gave 
two  or  three  magnificent  parties  in  the  season — all  the 
opera  singers,  and  that  kind  of  thing — ^but  she  never 
appeared  at  his  dinners.  It  wouldn't  have  done.  Oh 
they  understood  each  other !    She  had  no  social  gifts. ' ' 

"Poor  house!" — Caroline's  tone  was  soft  and 
thoughtful,  as  she  looked  round  the  splendid  room — 
"It  seems  to  want  something — doesn't  it?" 

"It  wants  a  mistress! — "  he  said  joyously,  throw- 
ing his  arm  round  her — "and  now  it's  got  one. 
Carrie,  you  look  too  divine  in  that  dress !  And  those 
pearls  on  your  white  neck — you  go  to  my  head !  But 
they're  not  good  enough! — nothing  you  have  is  good 
enough.  I  wonder" — his  voice  hesitated — "I  wonder 
what's  become  of  my  mother's  jewels." 

She  put  a  finger  on  his  lips. 

"Don't  ask — I  don't  want  them!"  she  said  per- 
emptorily. "Wasn't  that  a  ring?  Yes! — ^there's 
someone  in  the  hall.  You  see  him  first.  Alec.  I'll 
come  back — in  half  an  hour.  He'll  want  to  see  you 
alone.    It's  awfully  important  this,  old  boy!" 

"Don't  I  know  it?  Well — go  away,  dearest — give 
me  half  an  hour,  and  then  you  come  back  and  finish 
up—" 


22  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"Do  you  mind  our  having  our  talk  here,  Pater? 
These  seem  to  be  the  only  two  habitable  rooms — at 
present — this  and  Carrie's  sitting-room.  Carrie 
thought  you  and  I  had  better  have  some  talk  without 
her  first — she  '11  come  down  later. ' ' 

"Any  room  does  for  me,  my  dear  boy! — except" — 
Lord  Wing  turned  his  head  from  side  to  side,  sniffing 
slightly — "except  for  this  very  strong  smell  of  pine- 
apple. All  strong  scents  worry  me.  Kindly  ring  and 
have  it  removed.  And  put  out  some  of  this  electric 
light." 

Alec  obeyed.  When  the  footman  bearing  the  pine- 
apple had  shut  the  door  behind  him.  Lord  Wing  sank 
back  in  the  deep  armchair  of  scarlet  leather  that 
Alec  had  placed  for  him,  crossed  his  very  long  and 
thin  legs,  and  accepted  a  cigarette.  Alec  stood  on  the 
hearth-rug,  looking  down  upon  his  father,  suppressing 
all  signs  of  the  agitation — or  excitement — which  in 
truth  possessed  him.  He  was  very  conscious  that  his 
father  held  the  keys  of  his  future;  and  he  believed 
that  Lord  Wing  had  "a  plan"  of  some  kind.  The 
question  was,  Should  he  be  able  to  fall  in  with  it? 

The  father  and  son  were  undoubtedly  alike.  In 
the  prime  of  his  young  good  looks,  well-made  and  tall, 
with  an  open  and  fearless  countenance — nose  a  little 
too  small — ^lips  a  little  too  full — a  good  chin — eyes 
a  trifle  over  prominent,  under  a  beautiful  brow,  the 
brow  and  curls  indeed  of  an  Adonis — Alec  Wing 
stood  the  challenge  both  of  his  cavalier  ancestor  in 
hat  and  plumes,  who  towered  above  the  mantelpiece 
behind  him,  and  of  his  handsome  father  in  the  chair 
beneath  him ;  and  stood  it  well.  Lord  Wing  had  far 
more  regular  features  than  his  son,  a  more  adequate 
and  aquiline  nose,  and  a  play  of  mouth  subtler  and 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  23 

more  sensitive  than  any  of  which  Alec  was  master. 
But  Alec's  young  bloom  carried  it.  None  but  a 
trained  eye  would  have  preferred  the  father's  extraor- 
dinary distinction  to  the  florid  charm  of  the  young 
man. 

One  of  the  chief  elements  in  Lord  Wing's  distinc- 
tion, perhaps,  was  that  it  was  impossible  to  think  of 
''bloom"  as  having,  at  any  period,  belonged  to  him. 
There  were  indeed  many  of  his  contemporaries  living 
who  could  remember — at  the  distance  of  half  a  cen- 
tury— a  young  Lord  Wing,  as  ruddy  and  of  as  goodly 
a  countenance  as  the  present  heir  to  the  name.  But 
the  man  who  now  sat  looking  up  at  his  son  had  been 
for  years  blanched  to  a  most  singular  and  ghostly 
whiteness.  His  silky  hair,  though  still  abundant, 
was  snow-white;  his  features  and  his  hands  might 
have  been  carved  in  wax  or  alabaster.  His  lips  had 
scarcely  more  color  than  his  cheeks.  It  was  an 
aspect  which  in  any  other  man  would  have  stirred 
ideas  of  disease  and  death.  And  yet  such  was  the 
force  which  breathed  from  the  whole  personality,  such 
was  the  energy  of  the  black  eyes  in  the  white  face, 
that  the  father  at  seventy-four  seemed  not  a  whit  less 
toughly  and  invincibly  alive  than  his  splendid  son  of 
twenty-nine.  Alec  indeed  was  well  aware  that  his 
father  was  still  in  all  respects  his  match,  and  as  he 
stood  waiting  for  what  Lord  Wing  might  say,  a  cer- 
tain tremor  ran  through  him. 

''Well,  Alec,  so  here  you  are!  Quite  old  married 
people,  eh  ?  Rather  more  settled  in  your  minds,  than 
when  you  and  I  met  last?" 

"Naturally!"  said  Alec,  with  a  hesitating  laugh. 
"  If  I  remember  right,  it  was  the  day  after  the  trial. ' ' 

"It    was.     Those    things    are — disagreeable — even 


24  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

at  the  best.  Well  that  was  eighteen  months  ago.  You 
have  been  married  a  year.  And  I  suppose  you  still 
think  it  was  worth  it?" 

Alec  Wing  flushed. 

"Carrie  and  I  are  as  much  in  love  as  we  ever 
were!"  he  said,  vehemently.  "You  may  take  that, 
father,  for  granted." 

"Of  course — of  course,  I  do  take  it  for  granted. 
Young  men  of  your  ability  don't  do  such  things  with- 
out good  reason.  My  question  was  an  idle  one.  I 
hope  Caroline  is  well." 

"A  little  tired — and  a  little  frightened — ^by  the 
house!" 

"The  house?  But  she  must  have  seen  it — ^when 
she  was  a  girl.  You  told  me  she  used  to  stay  with  an 
aunt  in  Foster  Street. ' ' 

"She  remembered  the  gates  of  course,  and  the 
distant  view  of  the  roof  that  you  get  from  outside. 
But  she  had  never  been  inside  the  gates — she  had  no 
idea  what  a  place  it  was. ' ' 

"And  she  feels  it  will  be  a  big  job  to  live  in  it?" 

"Well,  yes,  she  does,  Pater." 

"That  alone  shows  her  intelligence,"  said  Lord 
Wing  slowly.  "It  will  be  a  big  job  to  live  in  it.  But 
if  she  shirks  it,  she  will  not  be  the  woman  I  think  her 
— the  woman  you  have  described  to  me.  Now  look 
here,  Alec — do  you  mind  if  I  speak  plainly  ? '  * 

"Certainly  not." 

Lord  Wing  threw  back  his  head  and  considered  a 
moment,  his  bright  eyes  fixed  on  his  son. 

"You  see.  Alec,  there  is  no  denying  that  you  have 
done  a  thing  which — morals  apart — is  directly  cal- 
culated to  wreck  the  whole  scheme  of  life  on  which 
you  have  set  your  heart,  from  the  time  you  were  a 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  25 

small  boy.  I  won't  say  anything  of  my  own  desires. 
My  principle  has  been  to  make  you  happy.  But  you 
made  up  your  mind  from  the  time  you  got  into  tails 
at  Eton,  that  you  were  going  into  Parliament,  and — 
of  course — going  to  be  Prime  Minister !  Eton,  I  think, 
gave  you  a  taste  for  debating,  and  then  there  are  the 
traditions  of  the  family,  etc.  And  those  traditions 
count  for  something  still,  even  in  these  democratic 
days.  A  Wing  going  into  Parliament  has  a  pull  over 
the  ordinary  Jones  or  Snooks.  The  Radicals  may 
rage  as  they  please,  but  it  is  so,  and  will  be  so,  for 
some  time  to  come.  Well  now,  by  ill-luck,  you  your- 
self have  put  a  considerable  spoke  in  your  own 
career ;  and  the  question  is  how  to  get  over  it. ' ' 

Alec's  expression  showed  a  similar  impatience  to 
that  roused  in  him  by  his  wife's  forebodings  of  the 
afternoon. 

"Surely,  Pater,  you  put  it  a  good  deal  too 
strongly!  Things  are  very  different  nowadays  from 
what  they  were  under  the  Evangelical  tyrannies  of 
your  young  days.  We  are  in  sight,  too,  of  a  new 
divorce  law,  which  is  going  to  be  much  less  strict  than 
the  old." 

''Nothing  it  is  at  all  likely  to  contain  would  have 
given  any  relief  to  Caroline — and  you — so  far  as  I  can 
learn."    The  tone  was  deliberate. 

**I  don't  quite  follow  you,"  said  Alec,  uncomfort- 
ably. 

**You  see,  my  dear  fellow,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
yours  was  a  bad  case.  Caroline's  plea  is  that  Sir 
John  Marsworth  was  impossible  to  live  with,  and 
made  her  miserable.  But  the  misfortune  is  that  he 
was  and  is  a  man  of  immaculate  reputation,  that  she 
had  no  cause  of  complaint  against  him  that  any  ordi- 


26  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

nary  mortal  could  understand,  and  that  the  case  was 
in  fact  undefended.  There  were  also  aggravating 
circumstances,  which  I  find  weigh  abominably  with 
the  women — the  desertion  of  the  children — ^the  death 
of  the  little  boy—" 

**What  responsibility  had  Caroline  for  that?" — 
Alec  broke  out  hotly. 

Lord  Wing  waved  a  deprecating  hand.  In  the 
now  dim  lighting  of  the  room,  his  ghostly  aspect  had 
grown  more  ghostly,  the  ethereal  whiteness  of  the 
head  and  face  more  strange. 

**No  doubt — none  whatever!  But  you  know  what 
the  public  is — what  women  are.  It  is  their  tongues 
that  do  the  mischief.  At  any  rate  you  may  take  it 
from  me — I  should  of  course  put  these  things  more 
gently  to  Caroline — that  public  opinion  is  hostile — 
disagreeably  hostile. ' ' 

The  speaker  paused  a  moment,  and  Alec,  whose 
aspect  was  one  of  increasing  irritation,  did  not  reply. 

Lord  Wing  resumed — 

"You  wrote  me  from  Italy  that  you  wished  to 
find  a  seat  in  Parliament  as  soon  as  possible,  and 
you  asked  me  to  sound  the  Whips.  But  I  have  not 
done  so — for  various  reasons.  It  is  all  very  well,  my 
dear  boy,  to  talk  of  the  'Evangelical  tyrannies' 
of  my  youth.  I  can  assure  you  the  'Nonconformist 
conscience'  of  the  present  day  runs  'em  pretty 
close ! ' ' 

"Canting  humbugs!"  cried  Alec,  throwing  away 
his  cigarette  with  a  vehement  gesture. 

* '  Hm ' ' — said  Lord  Wing.  ' '  Perhaps.  I  don 't  love 
them  any  more  than  you.  But  the  Dissenters  are 
an  increasing  force  in  politics  just  now — and  unfortu- 
nately in  our  party — that's  the  point.    You  and  I 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  27 

with  our  Whig  and  Gladstonian  traditions  couldn't  be 
Tories,  if  we  tried.  There  we  are,  on  the  Whig  side 
of  Liberalism,  and  there  I  suppose  we  shall  stay.  As 
a  family  we  don't  understand  'ratting.'  But  the 
Dissenters,  with  us,  are  the  tail  which  at  present  is 
wagging  the  dog.  They  are  the  'purity'  party,  par 
excellence,  and,  as  you  know,  they  have  got  their  backs 
up  rather  particularly  high  just  now,  because  of  the 

C case  on  the  other  side — and  other  things.    I  am 

afraid  they've  power  enough  to  make  things  very  hot 
for  you,  my  dear  boy,  in  any  constituency,  for  a  good 
while  to  come.  So,  all  things  considered,  I  did  not  go 
to  the  Whips. — Those  cigarettes  of  yours  are  Al." 

And  without  any  change  of  manner  or  voice,  Lord 
Wing  held  out  his  hand  for  another. 

"And  you  suppose  I'm  going  to  sit  down  under 
this  damned  Pharisaism!"  said  Alec,  furiously,  after 
a  moment. 

* '  Ah  there  we  come  to  the  point !  Not  at  all.  But 
you  can  only  get  what  you  want,  my  dear  Alec,  by 
fighting — fighting  Jiard — and  that 's  what  I  'm  here  to 
impress  upon  you.  Hence  my  discouraging  remarks. 
Recognize  your  situation — ^locate  your  enemies — and 
then  go  for  them — hammer  and  tongs!  That's  why 
I've  given  you  this  house — though  to  be  quite  honest 
I  was  heartily  sick  of  the  bother  of  it  long  ago.  And 
that 's  why  I  'm  ready  to  supply  you  with  any  amount 
of  money — in  reason — to  enable  you  to  make  use  of 
it.    You  understand?" 

''I  suppose  I  do,"  said  the  other,  unwillingly. 
"We  are  to  hrihe  Society  to  forgive  us?" 

"Damn  Society!"  said  Lord  Wing  contemptu- 
ously. "As  if  it  were  worth  buying — for  itself — at 
any  price !    No — but  I  gather  from  your  recent  letters 


28  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

to  me  that  you  want  a  perfectly  definite  thing.  You 
want  to  find  yourself  in  the  House  of  Commons — 
and  ultimately  in  a  Government.  And  unfortunately 
this  social  and  political  world,  on  which  you  must 
depend,  is  against  you — will  very  stubbornly  set  its 
chin  against  you.  Ergo — you  must  propitiate  your 
world,  or  rather — your  wife  must.  It's  she  who'll 
have  to  do  the  greater  part  of  it.    Can  she  ? ' ' 

Lord  Wing  rose,  looking  keenly  at  his  son. 

"Well — wait  till  you  see  her.  Pater!"  said  Alec 
proudly. 

"I  take  it  on  your  word." — The  tone  was  courtly. 
"You  and  she,  then,  can  make  this  house  one  of  the 
most  powerful  centers  in  London,  if  you  set  your 
minds  to  it.  You  can  certainly  pull  the  political 
strings — and  some  of  the  social  ones.  After  all,  the 
women  of  our  family  will  stand  by  you ;  at  least  some 
of  them.  But  don't  worry  about  the  women.  Go  to 
the  men!  They'll  come.  Carrie  will  capture  them; 
and  gradually  you'll  find  the  way  open.  But  for 
heaven's  sake  don't  rush  it! — and  don't  bother  for  a 
constituency — for  months  to  come.  These  fellows — 
the  present  Government — are  in  for  another  year — 
probably  two  years — two  years — safe.  Now  then  for 
practical  matters.    How  much  money  do  you  want?" 

**I  leave  it  to  you.  Sir!  You've  always  been  most 
awfully  generous.    Anything  you  say  will  do  for  us. '  * 

The  young  fellow  spoke  with  the  frank  effusiveness 
which  had  made  him  so  easily  popular  at  school  and 
college.  Lord  Wing  smiled,  and  put  a  hand  on  his 
shoulder. 

"Well  I'm  pretty  well  off  just  now.  My  broker 
did  well  for  me  in  Kafirs  last  week — uncommonly 
well — ^I  netted  a  big  sum.    And  those  Canadian  mines 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  29 

have  been  doing  splendidly.  By  the  way,  I  sent  thirty 
thousand  to  your  account  yesterday." 

Alec  opened  his  eyes  wide — and  laughed. 

"Upon  my  word,  Pater,  when  you  do  a  thing — ^you 
doit!" 

**And  now  what  about  Carrie's  jewels?  Is  she 
properly  provided?"  The  voice  was  short  and  busi- 
ness-like. 

"She  has  a  few  nice  things — not  very  much." 

Alee  looked  a  little  askance  at  his  father.  The 
recollection  of  some  of  the  famous  jewels  he  knew  his 
young  mother  to  have  possessed,  was  running  in  his 
mind.  They  must  be  still  in  his  father's  keeping. 
But  Lord  Wing  made  no  allusion  to  them. 

"Ah  well,  I  have  set  aside  a  considerable  sum — 
for  this  object  also.  I  thought  that  your  wife  would 
probably  require  it.  That's  all  right.  You  and  she 
can  choose  them  at  your  leisure.  Anything  else  you 
want,  my  dear  boy, — ^let  me  know.  Now — ^where's 
your  fair  lady?  Ah! — one  word  of  advice.  Tell 
Carrie  not  to  be  too  sensitive !  She  shall  queen  it — I 
promise  you.  But  for  your  sake,  she  must  sometimes 
know  how  to  take  an  affront — and  take  it  smiling. 
After  all,  you  and  she  have  broken  the  whistle — 
you'll  have  to  pay  something  for  it!  Well,  now  then, 
go  and  find  her." 

Lord  Wing  was  pacing  the  long  room  with  his 
hands  behind  him,  when  the  sound  of  a  footstep  made 
him  turn — and  he  saw  his  daughter-in-law  standing 
before  him.  Alec  had  left  them  alone.  In  a  flash,  the 
old  man's  eyes  took  in  the  beauty  of  the  woman  Alee 
had  so  unlawfully  captured.  Beauty ! — and — what  is 
much  more  important  in  a  fastidious  society — charm, 


30  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

manner,  dignity.  She  showed  no  agitation  at  the 
sight  of  her  father-in-law,  and  she  put  out  her  slender 
hand  to  him,  with  an  air  which  delighted  him. 

"It  is  very  good  of  you  to  come  and  see  us  so 
soon. ' ' 

"But  of  course  I  came.  Alec,  you,  and  I,  are 
partners — aren't  we — in  this  game?  Now  suppose 
we  sit  down."  He  pushed  an  armchair  towards  her 
in  which  she  composedly  settled  herself.  "You  must 
be  tired?" 

"A  little.    It  was  a  rough  crossing." 

"You  show  no  signs  of  it,"  he  said  pleasantly,  his 
keen  look  studying  her  all  the  time. 

A  little  desultory  talk  followed,  about  their  jour- 
ney, their  arrival,  and  the  servants  Lord  Wing  had 
provided.    The  chef — was  he  decent? 

"Too  good!"  said  Carrie,  with  a  laugh.  "Alec 
will  put  on  weight  again — which  will  make  him 
miserable. ' ' 

' '  He  looks  in  splendid  condition.  So  you  have  had 
a  good  time  at  your  villa?    Where  was  it  exactly?" 

"In  the  Apuan  Alps — just  north  of  Lucca.  We 
had  glorious  views  over  Lucca  and  Pisa — to  the  sea — 
on  fine  days." 

"Quite  in  the  wilds?" 

"We  never  saw  an  English  person!" 

"And  you  kept  Alec  happy?" 

Then  he  saw  her  look  change. 

"I  believe  so,"  she  said  quietly.  "Do  you  think 
it's  so  difficult  to  make  him  happy?" 

"Not  to  make  him  happy,"  said  Lord  Wing,  with 
slight  emphasis.  "Sometimes — ^to  keep  him  happy, 
is  not  so  easy. ' ' 

"You  think  him  such  a   changeable   creature?" 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  31 

Carrie's  smile  was  lightness  itself.  But  her  com- 
panion thought  he  perceived  some  quick  attention  in 
the  brown  eyes. 

"Not  more  so  than  the  average  man.  But  the 
average  man — is  not  the  average  woman. ' ' 

The  smile  which  accompanied  the  words  seemed 
to  Caroline  Wing  as  cold  as  the  icy  whiteness  of  the 
old  man's  features.  A  vague  pang  struck  through 
her.    But  she  gave  no  sign  of  it. 

**0f  course  it  was  natural  that  Alec  should  want 
to  come  home,  and  of  course  I  encouraged  it." 

"Perfectly.  But — now  may  I  speak  plainly  to  you 
— as  I  have  done  to  Alec  ? ' ' 

Carrie  nodded  in  silence.  Lord  Wing  moved  his 
chair  a  little  nearer,  and  laid  a  hand  on  her  knee. 

"My  dear — I  know  Alec  perhaps  better  than  you 
do — though  I  don't  expect  you  to  believe  it.  Alec  is 
passionate — ^you  have  touched  his  passion.  But  he  is 
also,  young  as  he  is,  a  man  of  affairs  by  nature,  and 
tremendously  ambitious.  If  we  can't  get  him  into 
politics,  you  and  I,  and  carve  out  a  career  for  him 
there,  we  shall  both  suffer.  It  bores  me  dreadfully  to 
see  him  unhappy,  and  it  would  bore  me  still  more  to 
feel  that  he  had  the  bad  manners  and  the  bad  taste 
to  make  anybody  as  pretty  as  you  unhappy  also. ' ' 

The  young  woman  before  him  bent  forward. 

"Oh,  but  we  love  each  other!"  she  said  impetu- 
ously— magnificently — her  soul  in  her  face. 

Lord  Wing  looked  at  her — ^liked  her — but  was  not 
quite  so  sure  as  before  of  her  intelligence. 

"I  know  that." — The  tone  was  dry. — "But  the 
point  is — how  can  we  secure  the  permanence  of  that 
desirable  state  of  things.  If  Alec  is  not  amused — if 
Alec  is  not  taken  out  of  himself — if  you  can't  make 


32  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

his  life  dramatic  for  him  in  the  way  he  under- 
stands— life  among  men  and  his  equals — and  give  him 
a  leading  part  in  it,  there  will  be  the  deuce  to  pay — 
for  both  you  and  me — some  day." 

**Was  that  why  you  sent  me  a  gramophone?"  said 
Carrie  suddenly,  her  eyes  sparkling. 

Lord  Wing  laughed. 

"I  meant  it — allegorically.  Somehow — well  or  ill 
— ^you  must  keep  Alec  entertained.  Remember  that, 
when  you  look  at  the  vile  thing.  If  you  take  my 
advice,  you  will  now  turn  your  backs  altogether  on 
the  solitude  d  deux.  Your  business  now  is  to  make  a 
life  for  Alec — the  kind  of  life  he  is  fit  for.  As  things 
are,  you  may  find  that  a  very  tough  proposition.  But 
if  you  succeed — " 

"And  if  I  don't?" 

**But  you  will  succeed.  Your  situation  reminds 
me  oddly — you  know  of  course  the  famous  story  of 
Holland  House? — of  the  situation  of  Lord  and  Lady 
Holland,  a  century  ago.  Lord  Holland  ran  away  in 
Italy  with  Sir  Godfrey  Webster's  wife.  Webster 
divorced  her,  and  the  Hollands  came  home  to  face 
London.  They  had  money,  brains,  and  Holland 
House  to  do  it  with.  So  far  the  cases  are  alike.  But 
the  great  difference  lies  in  this.  Whatever  penalty 
there  was,  fell — heavily  at  first — on  Lady  Holland — 
not  at  all  on  Lord  Holland.  Lady  Holland  was 
boycotted — ^by  the  women — and  retaliated  by  making 
Holland  House  the  most  famous  gathering-place  of 
men  in  Europe.  Lord  Holland  paid  no  penalty  at  all, 
either  social  or  political.  He  was  welcome  everywhere, 
and  the  Whig  Governments,  when  they  came  along, 
welcomed  him  with  open  arms.  That  was  before 
democracy — and  the  Dissenters.     You  also  will  be 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  33 

boycotted,  by  the  women — but  less  severely — ^because 
of  the  feminist  spirit  abroad.  But  to  get  Alec  into 
Parliament — and  then  into  a  Ministry — will  require 
a  surgical  operation.  I  deliberately  think  the  only 
person  who  can  do  it  will  be  you! — though  Alec  of 
course  must  put  his  best  foot  forward.  Now  this  is 
what  I  suggest." 

Lord  Wing  talked  for  twenty  minutes.  At  the  end 
of  it  Caroline  Wing  sat  erect,  her  color  high,  her 
brows  drawn — a  formidably  beautiful  creature,  in- 
stinct both  with  passion  and  will,  in  whom  the  man 
of  mingled  character  beside  her  began  to  feel  a  very 
decided  interest. 

"I  see  what  you  mean,"  she  said,  at  last,  with 
slow  and  pregnant  emphasis.  *'I  quite  understand. 
And  I  agree  it  ought  to  be  tried.  Well — as  far  as  I 
am  concerned,  if  it  can  be  done — it  shall." 

**A11  right."  Lord  Wing  rose.  "Our  hands  upon 
it.  Now  a  parting  word  of  warning.  The  women  will 
boycott  you — but  they  will  run  after  Alec — all  the 
more,  because  they  will  be  able  to  leave  you  out. 
And  Alec  is  not  averse  to  being  flattered.  Be  on  your 
guard.  And  keep  your  temper — and  your  head.  As 
to  the  women  of  our  family,  you  will  find  them  in  two 
camps.  The  Duchess  is — or  will  be  your  friend.  Lady 
Theodora  is  on  the  warpath.  But  I  shall  be  two  days 
more  in  town — before  I  go  north.  There  will  be  time 
to  talk  over  details, — ^to  show  you  the  lay  of  the  land. 
London  of  course  is  humming  with  talk  about  you. 
That  you  must  expect.  Now  both  you  and  I  must 
go  and  rest.  Ah,  Alec,  my  boy!" — as  Alec  re- 
entered the  room — "Good  night.  Your  wife  and  I 
have  signed  a  treaty  of  London.  Send  her  to  bed. 
Goodnight." 


34  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

Alec  Wing  accompanied  his  father  to  the  door.  On 
the  step  Lord  Wing  turned — 

"Tell  Caroline  about  the  jewels.  I  shall  send  a 
man  to  her  with  some  pretty  things — to-morrow 
morning."    Alec  hesitated. 

' '  Aren  't  there  some  things  belonging  to  the  family, 
Pater? — that  might  save  your  money?" 

"Not  at  all — not  at  all!"  said  Lord  Wing  gayly. 
"New  gauds  for  new  necks! — Good  night." 

Alec,  as  he  led  his  wife  upstairs,  repeated  his  fa- 
ther's message  as  to  the  jewels — adding  indiscreetly — 

"I  suggested  there  might  be  something  in  the 
family  treasures — ^but  he  didn't  see  it." 

Carrie  was  silent.  Hand  in  hand,  they  climbed 
the  wide  staircase,  while  a  footman  beneath  them 
began  to  put  out  some  of  the  lights  among  the  pillars 
of  the  hall.  The  impression  as  the  hard  glitter  of  the 
too  white  marble  sank  into  shadow,  and  the  heavy 
gold  of  the  roof  disappeared,  was  one  of  instant  relief 
— as  when  a  glare  is  shut  out. 

"Kather  like  a  Ritz  hotel,  isn't  it?"  said  Alec 
looking  down.  "When  this  house  was  built — some- 
where about  1800,  I  believe — this  kind  of  thing,  I 
suppose,  was  called  '  princely. '  The  architects  bagged 
it  from  Versailles.  Now  the  hotels  can  do  it  better. 
.  .  .  We're  in  the  left  wing,  aren't  we?  I  swear 
I  've  forgotten  how  to  find  my  way. ' ' 

In  the  distance  of  a  long  corridor,  Carrie  saw  her 
maid  hovering — as  though  to  guide  her  through  the 
labyrinthine  place.  They  passed  through  lines  of 
closed  doors,  across  vistas  of  regions  unexplored ;  and 
it  was  to  Caroline  as  though  the  great  empty  palace 
watched  her,  jealously,  murmuring  to  itself. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  35 

Her  maid  threw  open  a  door,  and  Carrie  entered 
the  luxurious  room  with  which  she  had  already  made 
perfunctory  acquaintance.  Lord  Wing  had  furnished 
the  whole  suite  anew;  and  the  color  and  decoration 
of  bedroom,  dressing-room  and  bathroom  had  been 
designed  by  a  woman  decorator,  who  was  the  rage 
of  the  moment,  and  had  given  sleepless  nights  to  the 
artistic  renovation  of  the  west  wing. 

As  she  looked  round  its  costly  simplicity,  its 
cunning  bareness,  where  every  object  on  the  deep- 
piled  carpet — bed,  or  cabinet  or  table — had  belonged 
to  some  historic  collection,  and  not  one  meuble  was 
allowed  to  hide  the  exquisite  quality  of  its  neighbor, 
Caroline  Wing  felt  a  sudden  wild  longing  for  her  room 
in  the  ramshackle  Tuscan  villa,  the  vast  canopied 
beds,  the  curtains  of  old  yellow  or  blue  watered  silk, 
the  coarse  abundant  linen,  the  old  mirrors,  tarnished 
and  cracked,  the  queer  eighteenth  century  pictures, 
the  bare  brick  floors,  with  their  strips  of  gay  though 
faded  carpet  beside  the  beds — aye,  even  that  cattiva 
bestia  running  up  the  wall — the  first  scorpion  lured 
out  of  its  hole  by  the  first  heat.  .  .  .  What  happiness ! 
— ye  gods,  what  happiness! — mingled  always  with 
that  recurrent  anguish,  that  vision  of  a  little  white 
bed — a  child's  head  on  the  pillow. 

The  maid  was  soon  dismissed,  and  Carrie  in  a  thirst 
for  air  threw  the  window  open  to  the  moonlit  gar- 
den, and  the  sudden  spring  warmth. 

She  had  quite  done  with  her  passing  fit  of  home- 
sickness for  Italy.  Her  mood  was  hardening,  her 
spirit  rising.  She  sat,  now,  listening  for  her  lover, 
every  nerve  alert,  and  all  her  senses  on  the  watch. 
She  had  forfeited  her  children,  and  broken  an  honest 


36  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

man;  she  had  gone  through  those  agonies  which  lay 
shut  away  in  the  innermost  cells  of  memory — all  for 
Alee.  She  had  lost  her  place  in  the  world  of  honor- 
able women — for  Alec. 

And  now  her  conversation  with  Lord  Wing  had 
brought  her  face  to  face  with  further  possibilities 
which  she  had  already  guessed,  and  must  at  last 
reckon  with  calmly.  Alec — his  mere  presence — was 
enough  for  her;  but  if  she  were  to  make  herself  and 
her  love  enough  for  Alec,  it  could  only  be — it  seemed 
— by  letting  in  that  world  again  which  they  had  both 
defied,  and  helping  him  to  reconquer  it. 

Beyond  the  garden,  a  ball  was  going  on  in  a  large 
house  within  a  stone's  throw  of  Piccadilly.  The 
waltz-music  pulsed  through  the  night,  challenging 
all  the  youth  in  Carrie;  all  her  love  of  life;  all  her 
passion  for  success.  And  meanwhile,  her  heart 
thirsted  for  Alec's  knock  at  her  door — for  his  step 
beside  her — ^in  a  kind  of  terror.  Some  mysterious 
force  seemed  to  be  lying  in  wait — coiled  in  the 
recesses  of  the  great  house — to  avenge  upon  her  what 
she  and  Alec  had  done.  It  was  as  though  Lord  "Wing 
had  shown  her  its  dim  presence  couehant  in  the 
darkness  of  the  future.  .  .  .  The  next  moment,  she 
was  in  Alec's  arms,  as  he  knelt  beside  her;  and  all 
doubts  had  vanished  in  the  arrogance  of  a  renewed 
and  intoxicating  joy. 


CHAPTER  III 

It  was  an  afternoon  in  May.  Lady  Theodora  Webb 
had  laid  aside  her  outdoor  garment,  and  rung  the  bell 
for  afternoon  tea.  She  was  a  tall  and  thin  woman 
verging  towards  sixty,  with  a  long  bluntly  featured 
face,  and  gray  hair  worn  in  window-curtain  fashion 
so  that  it  framed  her  prominent  brow,  and  flat  cheeks. 
She  had  never  been  handsome,  but  she  possessed  a 
certain  stately  effectiveness  of  which  she  was  well 
aware,  and  on  which  she  prided  herself. 

She  had  just  been  attending  a  charitable  committee 
which  was  organizing  tJie  costume  ball  of  the  season, 
and  her  expression  was  somewhat  irritable  and  jaded. 
On  her  way  home  she  had  called  at  Mudie's  and 
brought  away  Lady  Cardigan's  Memoirs,  which  now 
reposed  on  a  table  by  the  fire.  For  she  was  a  de- 
vourer  of  memoirs,  mainly  because,  as  she  said,  she 
could  always  find  something  about  her  relations  in 
them;  and  her  family  curiosity  was  boundless.  But 
her  mental  indolence  matched  it.  The  political  and 
historical  passages  in  these  many  volumes  of  biography 
and  "reminiscence,"  she  skipped  when  she  could;  so 
that  she  had  only  a  confused  idea  of  the  modern 
course  of  things,  even  of  those  English  Ministries  in 
which  her  uncles,  cousins  and  brothers  had  taken 
more  or  less  conspicuous  parts;  and  she  was  never 

37 


38  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

quite  sure  whether  it  was  Dizzy  or  Mr.  Gladstone  who 
had  said  ' '  Peace,  with  honor. ' '  All  the  same  she  was 
in  her  way  a  clever  woman,  and  the  sharpness  of  her 
tongue  made  her  cleverness  tell  beyond  its  deserts. 

She  was  just  settling  down  to  her  tea  in  her  cool 
and  shaded  drawing-room  with  a  sense  of  well-earned 
repose,  when  she  heard  the  front  door  bell. 

''How  stupid!  Why  didn't  I  tell  Kipping  to  let 
no  one  in?" 

She  sat  up  to  listen  in  frowning  suspense,  which 
soon  passed  however  into  a  look  of  relief. 

"Oh  weU— it's  only  Oliver." 

The  door  opened,  and  a  gray-haired,  fresh-com- 
plexioned  man,  immaculately  dressed,  stood  smiling 
on  the  threshold. 

''Send  me  away  if  you  don't  want  me.  I  believe 
you  wish  me  at  Jericho!" 

"No" — said  Lady  Theodora,  with  resignation. 
"I  don't  mind  you.  Come  in.  Kipping! — no  one 
else — unless — well,  unless  it's  Mrs.  Whitton." 

"An  exception  in  which  I  support  you,"  said  Sir 
Oliver  Lewson,  shaking  hands.  "I  have  come — sim- 
ply and  solely — for  gossip,  and  Mrs.  Whitton  under- 
stands the  art,  if  anyone  does." 

"Madge  can  do  more  mischief  in  ten  minutes  than 
anyone  else  I  know,"  said  Lady  Theodora,  sinking 
back  into  her  chair,  after  providing  her  guest.  "It 
seems  so  charming — her  chatter — and  it  is — " 

— "So  deadly?"  put  in  her  guest,  who  had  now 
leisurely  taken  his  seat,  with  the  air  of  one  who 
meant  to  keep  it.  "Well,  what  is  the  use  of  a  gossip 
without  stings!  Should  I  frequent  you  as  I  do,  if 
you  hadn't  long  ago  given  up  Christian  charity  and 
that  kind  of  nonsense?" 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  39 

"Of  course  I  know  exactly  what  you've  come  for 
to-day." 

"I  never  contradict  you." 

"You  want  to  hear  about  that  woman  at  Eltham 
House. ' ' 

"The  man — and  the  woman.  After  all  Alee 
counts  for  something.  And  there  they  are — ^lawfully 
married.     Don't  forget  that." 

"That  won't  help  them  much,"  said  Lady  Theo- 
dora, with  a  smooth  voice,  which  seemed  to  have  been 
dipped  in  gall.  ' '  I  regret  it  of  course,  for  Lord  Wing 's 
sake,  but  the  fact  is  I  never  knew  public  opinion  so 
stiff  about  any  case  of  the  kind,  as  it  is  about  this 
one.  There  will  be  a  few  eccentrics,  of  course,  who 
will  call  upon  her ;  but  as  for  the  people  who  count — 
the  boycott  will  be  complete — simply  complete." 

"Poor  lady!  But  perhaps  she  won't  mind  it.  She 
will  have  Alec  to  make  love  to  her — Eltham  House 
to  live  in — and  as  much  money  as  she  chooses  to  ask 
for.  One  might  put  up  with  a  good  deal  of  boycot- 
ting on  those  terms.    Have  you  seen  Lord  Wing?" 

"He  walked  in  this  morning — talked  preposter- 
ously, as  usual.  As  to  morality — ^upholding  estab- 
lished things — well  you  don't  expect  that  from 
Wing!" — said  Lord  Wing's  sister-in-law,  with  acerb- 
ity. "He's  just  amusing  himself  with  the  whole 
business — wants  to  back  them  against  the  rest  of  us 
— and  see  what '11  happen.  He's  given  up  racing — 
sold  his  stud.  So  here's  a  new  excitement  for  him. 
But  what  can  he  do?  He  can't  get  Alec  into  Par- 
liament, or  that  woman  to  a  drawing-room." 

"You  forget.  We  live  in  feminist  days.  There 
will  be  a  party  for  Mrs.  Wing.  To  be  frank,  I  always 
thought  Marsworth  a  sad  stick. ' ' 


40  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"Well,  if  everyone  might  throw  a  husband  over" — 
cried  Lady  Theodora — and  then  paused,  applying  her- 
self with  energy  to  the  cutting  of  cake.  Sir  Oliver 
looked  away.  He  did  not  believe  Lady  Theodora 
meant  anything  personal  by  her  outburst ;  but  still  he 
was  glad  to  remember  that  it  wanted  nearly  an  hour 
to  the  time  when  Colonel  Webb  usually  returned 
home  from  his  office,  and  when  Lady  Theodora's 
friends  generally  avoided  her  drawing-room. 

"Besides" — resumed  his  companion,  angrily — "the 
whole  circumstances  were  so  flagrant,  so  abominable! 
Both  children  delicate — an  untrustworthy  governess 
— and  the  little  boy  already  ill!  She  has  that  child's 
death  on  her  conscience." 

"I  am  told  she  tried  to  go  back  to  him,  and  there 
was  a  terrible  scene  between  her  and  Marsworth." 

"I  dare  say.  Of  course  he  refused  to  let  her  see 
the  child!" 

"Hm" — said  Lewson — "I  don't  know.  There  is  a 
certain  change  of  feeling  about  all  that  sort  of  thing. ' ' 

*  *  Not  as  far  as  I  know !  And  then  the  audacity  of 
her  whole  behavior  at  Florence — ^flaunting  her  con- 
quest in  everyone's  face!  No  attempt  at  conceal- 
ment, or  reserve!  A  shameless  creature!  What 
chance  has  a  modest  girl  against  such  women?  They 
are  just  harpies  who  take  the  bread  out  of  her  mouth. 
What's  the  good  of  telling  girls  it  pays  to  be  virtu- 
ous, when  such  goings  on — " 

"End  in  Eltham  House  and  thirty  thousand  a 
year?"  put  in  Sir  Oliver,  mildly.  "Well,  I  warn 
you  I  am  going  to  dine  there  to-morrow.  I  came 
across  Alec  at  Brooks's,  and  he  asked  me.  But  I  want 
to  know  what  Wing  really  thinks  of  her.  Did  you 
get  it  out  of  him?" 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  41 

**"Well,  of  course  she's  handsome — you  know  that," 
said  Lady  Theodora  grudgingly.  "And  he  says  he 
thinks  her  clever — undeveloped,  naturally — but  with 
a  head-piece.  And  he  seems  to  be  urging  her  to  what 
I  should  have  thought" — the  speaker  tossed  her  head 
— "the  very  worst  policy  imaginable  for  a  woman  in 
her  position — ^magnificent  entertaining,  and  so  on. ' ' 

"Well,  she  seems  to  be  taking  his  advice.  I  am 
beginning  to  hear  of  the  Eltham  House  dinners,  and 
Mrs.  Wing's  *  evenings'  in  many  quarters.  I  felt 
indeed  quite  shut  out  till  Alec  asked  me  yesterday. 
And  after  dinner,  to-morrow,  I  understand  they  give 
their  first  reception.  Interesting  to  see  who  comes! 
But  of  course,  if  you  spend  enough  money,  you  can 
always  fill  your  rooms." 

"But  that  of  course  is  not  the  least  what  Wing 
wants.  He  doesn't  want  the  rabble — nobody  does. 
What  use  are  they?    He  wants  the  cream." 

"I  dare  say.  But  what's  to  be  the  object  of  the 
entertaining?  Are  the  young  people  already  bored 
with  each  other?" 

Lady  Theodora  shrugged  her  shoulders.  "Don't 
ask  me!  I  gather  they  are  to  make  themselves  so 
important  and  so  interesting  that  all  doors  are  to  be 
opened  to  them — whatever  they  may  have  done." 

' '  Including  Parliament  and  the  Cabinet — for  Alec  ? 
Well,  you  know,  it's  not  a  bad  idea — though  a  des- 
perate one.  But  it  depends  upon  the  woman!"  he 
repeated  in  meditation,  his  chin  propped  upon  his 
hands,  and  those  upon  his  stick.  "And  you  haven't 
yet  told  me  anything — that  enables  one  to  judge. 
Has  she  charm  f" 

"Well,  she  charmed  Alec — ^worse  luck!" 

"Has  she  industry?" 


42  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

** Industry!  My  dear  Oliver,  what  has  industry  to 
do  with  a  salon f" 

"Everything!  To  work  a  salon  properly — as  some 
Frenchwomen  have  worked  it — as  Lady  Holland 
worked  it — a  hundred  years  ago,  is  a  life's  work.  A 
woman  must  never  forget  it.  It  means  remembering 
the  habits,  the  whims,  the  prejudices  of  scores  of 
touchy  people — the  more  important,  the  more  touchy. 
What  they  like  to  eat,  and  drink — their  birthdays, 
and  their  children's  birthdays — their  religious  opin- 
ions, or  their  lack  of  them — and  in  the  case  of  poli- 
ticians, reading  all  their  speeches ! — flattering  all  their 
vanities  I — helping  their  friends,  and  slaying  their  ene- 
mies— keeping  up  a  vast  correspondence: — in  short, 
never  having  an  hour  or  an  opinion  to  yourself!" 

''Good  heavens!"  said  Lady  Theodora,  raising  her 
eyebrows.  * '  How  can  a  woman  of  twenty-eight  make 
a  success  of  such  a  business?  She  hasn't  enough 
knowledge  of  the  world. ' ' 

"Ah,  no: — you're  wrong  there.  It  wants  youth 
— at  the  beginning.  Youth — charm — money — and 
work."  He  checked  off  the  requirements  on  his 
fingers.  "Well! — I  shall  see  her  to-morrow,  and  I'll 
come  and  report.    Where's  the  little  girl?" 

Lady  Theodora  believed  that  Carina,  aged  nine, 
the  eldest  and  only  surviving  child  of  the  Marsworth 
marriage,  was  with  her  paternal  grandmother,  old 
Lady  Marsworth,  in  Oxfordshire.  Access  to  her  by 
the  mother  had  been  left  entirely  to  the  discretion  of 
the  father  by  the  Court.  As  to  Sir  John — 
"You  know  he  has  gone  over?" 

Sir  Oliver  nodded.    "And  is  to  be  a  Jesuit?" 

"So  they  say.  The  death  of  the  child,  and  Caro- 
line's behavior  settled  it." 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  43 

"I  believe  he  made  her  miserable — it's  the  way  of 
saints, ' '  laughed  Lewson.  * '  Well — so  you  don 't  mean 
to  call?" 

"Certainly  not!  I  don't  intend  to  run  any  risk 
for  my  girls — thank  you ! ' '  said  Lady  Theodora,  with 
vehemence.    "If  Alec  likes  to  come  here,  he  may." 

"The  Duchess,  I  hear,  intends  to  take  them  up?" 

"By  all  means!"  But  a  flush  and  some  signs  of 
agitation  accompanied  the  words. 

Sir  Oliver  smiled  to  himself.  He  was  well  aware 
that  Lady  Theodora  had  destined  one  of  her  plain 
daughters  for  Alec  Wing,  and  that  her  moral  dis- 
approval was  in  part  genuine,  in  part  firmly  based 
on  her  maternal  disappointment. 

But  at  this  point  the  conversation  was  broken 
by  another  arrival.  The  butler  announced  "Mrs. 
Whitton." 

Madge  Whitton  had  taken  off  her  gloves,  accepted 
her  tea,  and  sat  with  her  pretty  hands  clasped  upon 
her  knee,  looking  from  Lady  Theodora  to  Sir  Oliver 
in  a  smiling  silence.  She  was  a  slight  woman  with 
a  rather  sallow  complexion,  very  fair  hair,  bluish- 
gray  eyes,  and  small  white  teeth.  The  features  were 
delicate,  the  mouth  especially  attractive,  with  its 
smiling  trick,  and  its  alternate  childishness  and 
malice.  But  Mrs.  Whitton  was  no  beauty,  and  an 
ordinary  woman  possessing  such  a  physique  would 
have  made  little  of  it.  Mrs.  Whitton  made  everything 
of  it.  She  was  amazingly  run  after,  and  always  in 
request.  A  young  widow,  good-looking,  well-bred, 
and  apparently  well-provided,  who  can  always  be 
trusted  to  make  herself  agreeable,  who  has  the  inde- 
pendence of  marriage,  without  the  possible  drawback 


44  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

of  a  dull  husband,  is  welcome  in  any  world.  Mrs. 
Whitton  had  the  best  of  times  in  London. 

She  was  the  daughter  of  a  younger  son  of  a  great 
family;  and  in  her  impecunious  but  well-connected 
youth,  she  had  learned  all  the  arts  of  social  depend- 
ence, earning  the  luxuries  she  wanted  by  simply  mak- 
ing herself  pleasant  to  great  relations.  She  helped 
them  to  write  their  notes,  and  invite  their  parties; 
she  arranged  the  flowers,  and  talked  to  the  bores ;  and 
in  return  Lady  Rawdon,  for  instance,  her  great  aunt, 
gave  a  ball  for  her  coming  out,  and  for  the  two  years 
of  her  maiden  career  had  paid  for  most  of  her  gowns, 
in  the  hope  of  thereby  floating  a  penniless  girl  into  a 
satisfactory  marriage.  And  Madge  had  justified  all  the 
kindness  shown  her  by  carrying  off — two  years  after 
her  coming  out — a  very  substantial  country  squire, 
with  a  house  in  the  Midlands,  who  settled  a  thousand 
a  year  upon  his  wife,  and  then  died  of  typhoid  fever 
at  Venice,  within  twelve  months  of  their  marriage. 

This  sad  event  had  been  one  of  the  chief  elements 
in  Mrs.  "Whitton 's  subsequent  success.  She  came  back 
to  London  life,  haloed  by  a  tragedy,  which  in  her 
secret  mind  she  knew  to  have  been  a  release.  Every- 
body pitied  her ;  everybody  said  and  thought  that  she 
looked  charming  and  "so  touching"  in  her  black. 
She  set  up  an  elderly  maiden  cousin  as  housekeeper 
and  companion,  and  observed  all  the  proprieties.  It 
was  not  till  the  proper  two  years  after  her  husband's 
death  had  elapsed  that  her  position  in  London  life 
became  at  all  clear  to  the  crowd,  although  those  who 
knew  her  well  were  aware  that  she  had  been  quietly 
and  irresistibly  preparing  it,  almost  from  the  first 
moment  of  her  widowhood.  She  had  various  gifts. 
She  was  something  of  an  actress,  and  something  of  an 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  45 

artist.  She  spoke  French  beautifully ;  and  her  dress 
was  perfection.  It  may  be  added  that  her  enjoyment 
of  life  was  both  surprising  and  infectious ;  so  that,  as 
she  entered  a  room,  people  were  apt  to  think — "Here 
comes  an  agreeable  woman."  And  moreover,  accom- 
plished Londoner  as  she  was,  she  was  only  seven-and- 
twenty.  She  had  been  married  at  twenty-one,  and 
had  now  been  a  widow  nearly  five  years. 

Lady  Theodora,  while  providing  her  with  tea,  had 
been  all  the  while  scanning  her  closely.  Madge 
Whitton's  dress  was  a  source  of  frequent  inspiration 
to  the  hard-worked  maid  who  kept  the  Miss  Webbs 
respectable  during  the  season,  on  small  allowances. 
Mrs.  Whitton  herself  was  well  aware  of  it ;  but  in  all 
such  things  she  was  carelessly  good-natured,  and  it 
merely  tickled  her  sense  of  humor  to  see  a  Paris 
masterpiece  transformed  into  one  of  the  characteristic 
Webbian  garments. 

"We  were  talking  of  the  new  arrivals,"  said  Lady 
Theodora  abruptly,  having  at  last  mastered,  as  she 
thought,  the  whole  cut  of  the  short  silk  coat  which 
became  Madge  so  well. 

* '  The  Wings  ?    Have  you  called  ? ' ' 

Mrs.  Whitton's  bright  eyes — half  mocking — studied 
her  hostess  over  the  brim  of  her  cup. 

Lady  Theodora  repeated  stiffly  that  she  had  not 
called.  People  might  think  her  puritanical  and  old- 
fashioned  if  they  pleased. 

"On  the  contrary,  you  will  be  quite  in  the  fash- 
ion!" laughed  Mrs.  Whitton,  "I  don't  know  anybody 
who  is  going  to  call — ^the  women,  I  mean — except  the 
Duchess. ' ' 

"A  large  'except,'  "  said  Sir  Oliver.  "I  shouldn't 
wonder  if  the  Duchess  routed  you  all." 


46  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

' '  Oh,  no ! "  Lady  Theodora 's  voice  was  coldly  con- 
fident. "If  Caroline  Wing  were  the  first — But  the 
Duchess  has  taken  up  too  many  of  the  same  sort.  She 
doesn't  count  any  longer — as  far  as  influence  goes." 

**I  called — at  once,"  said  Mrs.  Whitton  quietly. 
"I  too  don't  count." 

Lady  Theodora  surveyed  her. 

"You  can  do  what  you  like.  But  ycni  are  very 
young,  my  dear,  and  you  ought  to  take  care. ' ' 

"What  are  you  afraid  of — for  me — dear  Lady 
Theodora?  I  knew  Alec  Wing  before  I  married — 
and  the  story — well,  I  confess  it  just  thrills  me !  So 
few  people  plunge — ^nowadays." 

"Very  few  women  would  desert  their  dying  child 
for  their  lover — ^that  I  grant  you,"  said  Lady  Theo- 
dora, grimly. 

Madge  Whitton  clasped  her  hands — pleadingly — ^to 
her  breast. 

"Oh,  but  we  really  don't  know,  do  we.  Sir  Oliver? 
People  are  so  unkind — they  love  to  believe  the  very 
worst!  I  don't  mean  you,  dear  lady! — of  course  not! 
You  are  always  so  kind!  But  don't  you  think  people 
do  like  running  a  woman  down — especially  if  she 
won't  grovel — if  she  defies  them?  It  turns  them 
savage,  when  the  woman  refuses  to  wear  a  white 
sheet — ^like  Jane  Shore. ' ' 

"Who  was  Jane  Shore?"  said  Sir  Oliver,  delib- 
erately. "Somebody  else  mentioned  the  lady  to  me 
in  connection  with  Mrs.  Wing.  But  I  have  forgotten 
all  my  history." 

Mrs.  Whitton  laughed,  a  low,  gurgling  laugh  of 
purest  mirth. 

"I  heard  a  girl  ask  an  undergraduate  that  once — on 
the  river  at  Oxford.    And  the  boy  looked  her  full  i» 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  47 

the  face,  and  said — quite  innocently — *I  don't  exactly 
know,  but  I  think  she  was  the  Maid  of  Orleans ' ! " 

Even  Lady  Theodora  laughed, 

''You  do  tell  such  tales,  Madge!  I  am  sure  you 
invented  that." 

' '  Wish  I  had ! "  said  Mrs.  Whitton,  coolly.  ' '  Well, 
Sir  Oliver,  I  hear  you  dine  there  to-morrow  night. 
So  do  I." 

"Oh,  you  do,  do  you?"  Sir  Oliver  surveyed  her 
ironically.  ' '  Nobody  like  you,  dear  Mrs.  Whitton,  for 
being  always  in  it — whether  it 's  the  start  or  the  finish. 
Perhaps  you  know  who  the  other  guests  are  to  be?" 

"Certainly! — some  of  them.  Alec  Wing  told  me. 
The  French  Ambassador,  and  Ambassadress — the 
Scandinavian  Minister,  and  wife — Mr.  Llewellyn — the 
Duchess — two  or  three  M.P.'s — the  poet  who  wrote 
that  horrible  thing  in  the  Futurist  Review  last  month 
— Kaminski — Lord  Forres — Lord  Llanberris — the 
American  naval  attache — that  Russian  traveler  peo- 
ple are  making  such  a  fuss  about — I  know  no  more ! ' ' 

"Not  bad — for  a  beginning,"  said  Sir  Oliver,  re- 
flectively. ' '  Mrs.  Wing  has  been  six  weeks  in  London. 
And — Kaminski!"    He  raised  his  eyebrows. 

"Who  goes  nowhere,  as  you  know,  and  gives  her- 
self abominable  airs.  But — for  Mrs.  Wing! — she  is 
going  to  dance — after  dinner." 

"Like  hostess,  like  guest!"  The  voice  of  indignant 
scorn  was  Lady  Theodora's.  "Kaminski — dancing — 
in  that  house!  It's  enough  to  make  Aunt  Libby 
turn  in  her  grave ! ' ' 

"Or  slip  in  to  see?"  suggested  Sir  Oliver,  slyly. 
* '  I  shall  think  tenderly  of  her  scandalized  little  ghost ; 
I  was  very  fond  of  her.  And  the  reception  after- 
wards?" he  turned  to  Mrs.  Whitton. 


48  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"Crowds!  And  I  hear  the  most  wonderful  reports 
about  the  house.  They  have  turned  on  that  decorat- 
ing woman — the  American  genius  whom  people  rave 
about — and  she  has  done  extraordinary  things  in 
three  weeks.  Hangings — and  carpets — and  china! 
They  say  they  have  discovered  all  sorts  of  treasures 
hidden  away  in  the  house,  which  Lord  Wing  had 
forgotten  all  about.  He  has  given  carte  blanche,  and 
talks  of  coming  up  to-morrow,  to  see  'Carrie's  first 
rout'!" 

"The  more  fool  he!"  said  Lady  Theodora  grimly. 
"What  good,  I  ask  you,  will  all  this  silly  display  do 
Alec? — which  is  really  what  Wing  cares  about.  It 
would  have  been  infinitely  better  for  Alec's  political 
chances,  supposing  he  has  any  left,  if  they  had  kept 
quiet  for  a  time,  and  shown  some  proper  feeling — 
instead  of  braving  us  all." 

Lady  Theodora  crossed  her  arms  over  her  ample 
breast — personifying  an  outraged  society.  But  the 
two  others  were  incorrigibly  gay.  Sir  Oliver  pointed 
out  that  the  culprits  had  been  "keeping  quiet"  for 
two  years,  or  thereabouts.  And  as  life  is  short,  they 
probably  thought  they  had  done  enough  in  that 
direction. 

"And  'proper  feeling'  would  never  have  done  them 
an  ounce  of  good,  socially, ' '  threw  in  Mrs.  Whitton. 
"Their  only  hope  is — well,  just  brazening  it  out!" 

Lady  Theodora  declared  hotly  that  to  hear  them 
both  talk  one  might  suppose  there  was  no  question 
of  morals — of  right  or  wrong — involved  at  all.  These 
people  had  broken  the  Seventh  Commandment — and 
"who  breaks,  pays." 

"Hm — yes" — mused  Mrs.  Whitton,  her  chin  on 
her  hand.     "But  you  know.  Lady  Theodora,  there 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  49 

really  are  all  sorts  of  new  ideas  abroad  nowadays — 
aren't  there? — on  the  subject  of  divorce — and  un- 
happy marriages?  It  isn't  as  simple  as  it  used  to  be. 
Well — anyway — Sir  Oliver  and  I  are  going  to  see  the 
fun — aren't  we?" 

Sir  Oliver  and  Mrs.  Whitton  left  the  house  together. 
As  they  turned  into  St.  James's  Street,  Lewson 
remarked  that  Lady  Theodora  seemed  really  very 
much  upset. 

*'You  see,  she  had  fixed  on  him  for  Nelly!'*  said 
Mrs.  Whitton,  with  her  confiding,  childish  look.  *  *  You 
do  know  that,  don't  you,  dear  Sir  Oliver?  And  it 
was  a  disappointment." 

"I  don't  believe  he  ever  gave  either  of  them  any 
reason  whatever " 

"Oh,  no — of  course  not.    But  that  doesn't  matter." 

"So  you  knew  him  before  the  scandal?" 

* '  Oh,  well, — as  boy  and  girl.  There  was  a  commem 
at  Oxford — he  was  nineteen,  and  I  was  seventeen. 
We  danced  together  night  after  night,  and  made  peo- 
ple talk.  Just  a  baby  flirtation.  He  behaved  ab- 
surdly— and  I  was  a  goose.  But  then — well,  I  mar- 
ried!" 

Lewson  smiled  indulgently.  He  seemed  to  recog- 
nize the  familiar  weakness  of  a  popular  woman;  the 
belief,  that  is,  that  all  her  men  acquaintances  had 
been  or  were  still  in  love  with  her. 

"And  you've  seen  him  since  his  return?" 

**Once.  We  ran  across  each  other  in  the  Park. 
He's  just  the  same  dear  as  he  always  was.  Trust 
him — always — for  getting  what  he  wants!" 

They  walked  on,  and  as  they  passed  a  famous  party 
Club,  Sir  Oliver  said — 


60  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"I  hear — ^vaguely — that  he's  come  home  deter- 
mined to  go  into  politics.  And  I  see  his  name  down, 
to  speak  at  the  Hull  election.  But  you  know — it'll 
be  no  good!" 

"What '11  you  bet?"  laughed  his  companion.  "I 
prophesy  that  Alec  Wing  will  be  in  Parliament  be- 
fore the  year's  out." 

Lewson  shook  his  head  with  energy. 

* '  You  are  mistaken. ' ' 

"Well,  if  he  isn't,  somebody  will  smart  for  it !  Ah ! 
here 's  my  bus.    Good-by ! ' ' 

And  Sir  Oliver  presently  caught  a  last  glimpse  of 
Mrs.  Whitton's  amused  countenance,  as  her  bus  dis- 
appeared amid  the  traffic  of  Piccadilly. 

He  had  scarcely  reached  the  top  of  the  street,  when 
he  was  aware  of  a  lady's  voice  calling  him  per- 
emptorily by  name.  Looking  round,  he  saw  a  motor 
standing  in  front  of  a  silversmith's  and  a  hand 
beckoning. 

* '  Why,  Duchess,  how  are  you  ? ' ' 

He  approached  the  window  of  the  car,  and  shook 
two  fingers  which  were  thrust  out  to  him  from 
within. 

"What  were  you  doing  with  Madge  Whitton?" 
said  a  masterful  voice. 

"We  have  both  been  having  tea  with  Lady 
Theodora." 

The  lady  inside  the  car  shrugged  her  shoulders 
impatiently.  She  was  stout,  with  fair  hair  fading 
to  white  thrown  back  from  an  imposing  forehead,  fine 
features,  and  the  look  of  a  well-intentioned  despot. 

"Then  I  am  certain  you  have  been  hearing  ill  of 
your  neighbors.  Theodora  is  really  impossible,  just 
now." 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  51 

Lewson  leaned  smiling  over  the  window  of  the  car. 

* '  You  and  she,  I  understand,  are  on  different  sides, 
in  tJie  affair  ? ' ' 

''Of  course,  we  are.  I  am  I  hope  a  reasonable 
woman,  which  Theodora  never  was,  and  never  will 
be.  I  accept  the  fait  accompli.  Good  heavens! — ^if 
we  were  all  to  go  ferreting  into  each  other's  pasts." 
Two  large  hands  flew  up  expressively. 

'  *  You  think  it  is  not  going  to  make  much  difference 
to  them?" 

"To  whom — ^the  Wings?  Of  course  it'll  make  a 
difference.  They'll  be  the  most  interesting  people  in 
London  for  a  good  while  to  come.  It'll  be  a  succes 
d' execration — one  of  the  best  there  is.  They'll  split 
the  rest  of  us  into  two  camps,  and  we  shall  do  nothing 
but  talk  about  them,  and  quarrel  about  them.  I'm 
for  liberty — and  I  shall  stand  by  them — now,  that 
he's  married  her,  hien  entendu!" 

' '  I  understand  he  wants  to  go  into  politics. ' ' 

"bh  well,  he  must  take  advice.  Wing  and  I  shall 
find  him  a  seat  somehow.  But  of  course  he  must  wait 
a  bit.  I'm  already  asking  him  to  meet  people. 
Richard  Washington,  of  course." 

Mr.  Richard  Washington,  a  Midland  manufacturer, 
was  at  that  moment  leading  the  Liberal  Opposition 
in  the  House  of  Commons. 

''And  Mrs.  Washington?" 

"Good  heavens,  no!  But  you  only  asked  it  'to 
annoy.'  You  know  that  woman  as  well  as  I  do.  A 
greater  Pharisee  doesn't  exist.  She,  a  Liberal!  She 
flaunts  her  morals  as  other  people  do  their  pedigrees. 
What's  that  striking?" 

'  *  Half-past  six. ' '    Sir  Oliver  showed  his  watch. 

'  *  Go  into  that  shop ' ' — said  the  Duchess  with  quiet 


52  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

exasperation — ^**and  tell  my  daughter  in  there  to  come 
out — at  once!" 

"What's  she  doing  there?" 

"Changing  some  of  her  hideous  wedding-presents. 
But  I  can't  wait  any  longer.  I've  read  the  whole 
of  last  night's  debate" — the  Duchess  pointed  to  the 
Times  beside  her — "and  I  must  get  home  to  my  let- 
ters.   Fetch  her!" 

Sir  Oliver  went,  smiling.  Instantly,  a  frightened 
bride  emerged,  begging  her  mother  for  a  few  more 
minutes — to  complete  important  negotiations.  The 
Duchess  declined,  the  daughter  gave  way — and  the 
two  drove  off,  leaving  everything  in  confusion,  and 
the  shopman  in  a  rage. 

Sir  Oliver  walked  on  in  meditation.  The  word 
"liberty"  on  the  Duchess's  lips  always  delighted  him. 


CHAPTER  IV 

"Mrs,  Wing  will  be  down  directly,  sir,"  said  a 
footman. 

Sir  Oliver  Lewson  passed  through  the  door  thrown 
open  for  him,  and  found  himself  in  a  room  on  the 
ground  floor  of  Eltham  House,  known  as  ' '  The  Small 
Library."  The  large  official  library,  so  to  speak,  was 
continuous  with  the  splendid  series  of  drawing-rooms 
on  the  first  floor,  and  was  a  room  for  show  occasions, 
and  otherwise  little  used.  But  ''The  Small  Library" 
represented  the  soul  of  the  house,  if  it  had  a  soul. 
It  contained  the  collection  of  early  French  and  Italian 
books  made  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury by  a  traveled  and  learned  Lord  Wing,  and  the 
warm  browns  and  golds  of  their  bindings,  behind  a 
brass  lattice,  made  all  other  decoration  superfluous. 
Yet  over  the  mantelpiece  a  great  Vandyck — a  man  of 
science,  in  flowing  robes,  and  holding  a  skull — gath- 
ered up  and  concentrated  all  the  rich  tones  of  the 
room ;  while  from  the  garden  a  shimmer  and  scent  of 
May  flowers — wallflowers  and  narcissus — flowing  in 
through  the  open  windows,  completed  the  general 
impression  of  delicacy  and  charm. 

Sir  Oliver  perceived  another  guest  already  in  pos- 
session ;  a  friend  and  the  son  of  friends. 

"Hullo,  Durrant,  we  are  before  our  time!  Why 
53 


64  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

aren't  you  at  the  Palace  to-night — for  the  drawing- 
room?" 

"I  am  not  on  duty.** 

**You,  I  imagine,  have  dined  here  before?" 

**0h,  yes,  several  times."  But  instantly,  the  young 
soldier's  honest  snub-nosed  countenance  seemed  to 
lose  something  of  its  openness. 

"I  am  told  the  chef  is  a  marvel,"  said  Sir  Oliver, 
smiling. 

'  *  Trust  Lord  Wing  for  that  I ' ' 

** What— he's  responsible?" 

"He  captured  him  from  Voisin's,  at  Christmas — 
bought  him — literally — for  some  unheard-of  sum — 
carried  him  over  here,  and  has  given  him  to  Alec. 
Yes,  he 's  frightfully  good. ' '  The  young  man  grinned. 
— "But  he  has  'nerves,'  and  whenever  there's  any- 
thing on — ^like  a  dinner  party — the  other  servants  go 
in  peril  of  their  lives.  But  Mrs.  Wing  knows  how  to 
manage  him.  He  says  she's  the  only  lady  he  ever 
met  who  was  worth  cooking  for." 

"She  understands  the  art?" 

"She  understands  the  importance  of  it,"  said  the 
young  man  sententiously.  "She  seems  to  know  what 
greedy  pigs  men  are." 

Sir  Oliver  laughed. 

"Men?"  he  said  interrogatively. 

"Well,  of  course  there  aren't  many  women."  The 
words  came  out  reluctantly.  * '  But  I  can  tell  you  Mrs. 
Wing — Carrie — is  going  to  be  splendid.    Here  she  is ! " 

The  door  was  thrown  open,  and  Caroline  Wing 
entered  hurriedly,  with  hands  outstretched — first  to 
her  husband's  cousin,  whom  she  greeted  now  as  an 
intimate,  and  then,  a  little  more  guardedly,  to 
Lewson. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  55 

"Jim! — Sir  Oliver! — How  late  I  am!  "Well,  any- 
how I'm  before  the  Duchess — thank  Heaven!  And 
Alec's  still  dressing!  We've  been  to  Henley,  and 
only  got  back  half  an  hour  ago.  Please  sit  down, 
I  am  tired. ' ' 

And  she  subsided  into  a  chair,  her  thin  white  arms 
hanging  beside  her,  on  the  shiny  folds  of  her  dress, 
and  her  dark  eyes  dancing  above  the  superb  jewels 
that  covered  her  breast. 

"I  can't  say  you  look  it!"  said  Lewson. 

Sir  Oliver  surveyed  her,  indeed,  with  an  admira- 
tion not  to  be  concealed.  A  creature  more  radiant, 
more  alive,  he  thought  he  had  never  seen.  Her  tall 
and  supple  body,  her  proud  head  on  its  long  throat, 
the  sparkle  in  her  look,  the  grace  of  movement  which 
was  also  the  grace  of  power  and  energy,  as  of  one 
mistress  of  herself  and  her  environment — no  sensitive 
observer  but  would  have  found  it  hard  to  take  his 
eyes  from  her.  A  woman  with  a  story  behind  her 
— and — perhaps? — a  story  to  come:  that  seemed  to 
Sir  Oliver  the  message  of  her  personality  and  her 
beauty.  He  was  sorry  for  Sir  John  Marsworth ;  and 
he  was  conscious  of  a  secret  wonder  whether  Alec 
Wing  was  man  enough  to  hold  her. 

The  room  began  to  fill.  A  small  whirlwind  accom- 
panied the  entrance  of  the  Duchess,  fat,  fair,  and 
sixty,  leaning  on  her  stick,  and  taking  in  all  the  guests, 
with  a  pair  of  the  shrewdest  eyes  in  London. 

"Well,  my  dear," — this  to  Caroline — "so  this 
house  is  lived  in  again.  Congratulate  you.  Wing  has 
neglected  it  shamefully  for  years.  The  last  time  I  set 
foot  in  it,  it  smelled  like  a  cellar.  You  seem  to  have 
done  wonders.    How  do  you  do.  Alec.    Late  as  usual  ? ' ' 

For  the  young  master  of  the  house  had  just  hurried 


56  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

into  the  room,  full  of  apologies.  He  bent  over  her 
hand,  smiling. 

"  I  'm  afraid  you  know  me  of  old,  Aunt  Lucy ! ' ' 

"I  do."  The  tone  was  just  touched  with  sarcasm. 
Then — in  his  ear — "Don't  you  put  me  near  that  man 
Llewellyn — I  saw  him  in  the  hall — I  can't  be  civil  to 
him." 

Mr.  Robert  Llewellyn  belonged  to  the  Front  Oppo- 
sition Bench,  and  had  been  Financial  Secretary  to  the 
Treasury  in  the  preceding  Liberal  Government.  The 
Duchess  imagined  herself  to  be  a  great  Whig  lady; 
but  her  hatred  for  the  Radical  wing  of  her  own  party 
was  only  equaled  by  her  contempt  for  the  "extinct 
volcanoes"  of  the  other.    Alec  laughed. 

"Trust  Carrie!  She  has  arranged  it  all."  The 
Duchess's  eyebrows  went  up  as  much  as  to  say — 
"What  can  she  know  about  it — yet?"  Her  nephew 
resumed — "You'll  have  to  be  content  with  me  you 
know  on  one  side — but  we've  given  you  the  Scandi- 
navian Minister  on  the  other." 

The  Duchess's  brow  cleared. 

"All  right! — an  agreeable  man.  His  wife  too — 
since  she  gave  up  the  youth  and  beauty  business. 
Go  along.  Alec — there's  the  Ambassador." 

For  the  French  Ambassador,  and  his  wife  had  that 
moment  appeared.  The  Ambassador,  a  robust,  black- 
haired,  black-bearded  man,  looked  extremely  formid- 
able, and  had  the  softest  possible  manners,  as  though 
to  make  amends  both  for  his  appearance  and  for  the 
revolutionary  memories  suggested  by  his  name.  His 
wife  beside  him,  thin,  ultra-refined,  with  large, 
prominent  eyes,  was  a  miracle  of  well-preserved 
elegance.  She  belonged  to  a  Legitimist  family  who 
had  renounced  her  with  horror  on  her  marriage.    The 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  57 

Ambassador  greeted  Caroline  with  particular  effusion. 
They  had  already  met  at  the  Opera,  where  her  beauty 
had  made  an  instant  captive  of  him.  As  for  her 
story,  it  was  only  an  added  attraction.  For  all  crimes 
passionels,  he  felt  the  boundless  indulgence  of  his 
nation. 

His  wife  behaved  with  more  reserve.  After  a  few 
words  with  the  Wings,  she  retreated  to  a  seat  beside 
the  Scandinavian  Minister's  wife,  with  whom  she 
talked  eagerly  of  the  State  ball  the  night  before.  But 
as  the  buzz  in  the  room  grew  louder,  the  French 
Ambassadress  bent  over  her  neighbor.  "Have  you 
seen  her  before — Madame  Wing?  No?  Oh,  yes!" — 
indifferently — ''she  is  lovely!  the  men  rave  about  her. 
But  poor  thing! — what  a  pity!  There  was  so  much 
talk — at  supper,  last  night.  The  Royalties  have  set 
their  faces.  They  mean  to  show  their  opinion  if  they 
can.  But  indeed,  there  was  scarcely  a  voice  for  them. 
Isn't  it  tragic?  Such  wealth — and  such  beauty! 
Of  course  we  diplomats  can  do  what  we  please !  And 
I  find  her  charming ! ' ' 

The  speaker  put  up  a  gold-rimmed  eyeglass  in  a 
fleshless  hand  and  watched  the  movements  of  Mrs. 
Wing  from  a  distance,  as  she  might  have  watched  the 
first  act  of  a  play  that  promised  emotions. 

''Ma  chere,"  said  the  excited  voice  of  the  lady 
beside  her.    ' '  Voila  Kaminski ! ' ' 

And  amid  a  sudden  hush  in  the  now  crowded  room, 
a  group  round  the  door  fell  back,  to  let  pass  a  singu- 
lar figure — that  of  Eugenie  Kaminski — the  famous 
Servian  dancer  of  the  moment — herald  and  fore- 
runner of  a  Slavonic  art,  which  had  not  yet  dawned 
on  London.  She  came  in  with  a  gliding  step,  swathed 
in  some  glistening  white  stuff,  and  glittering  with 


58  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

jewels.  A  deep  scarlet  belt,  and  a  scarlet  silk  cap, 
emphasized  the  audacity  of  the  eyes,  the  deathly 
pallor  of  the  skin,  the  high  cheek  bones,  the  wide 
nostrils,  the  slow,  half  dreamy  smile  of  the  red  lips. 
The  eyes  were  blackened  above  and  below,  the  cheeks 
rouged.  Something  Asian  and  barbaric  seemed  to 
enter  with  her,  and  sent  a  pleasing  thrill  through  the 
London  drawing-room.  The  Duchess  rose  from  her 
seat,  and  hobbled  as  fast  as  she  could  to  add  her 
greetings  to  those  of  the  Wings;  the  French  Am- 
bassador, Robert  Llewellyn,  various  young  peers,  and 
diplomatic  underlings,  among  the  foremost  "bloods" 
of  the  moment,  hurried  to  the  scene.  "With  half -shut 
eyes,  her  long  hands  and  snaky  arms  quivering  in  ac- 
companiment to  every  word  and  change  of  expression, 
the  dancer  held  her  court. 

Captain  Durrant  did  not  join  it.  He  fidgeted, 
uncomfortable  and  frowning,  in  the  background.  He 
was  a  plain  man  strictly  brought  up  in  an  old  and 
pious  Scotch  family,  who  was  always  getting  into 
trouble  with  his  own  moral  principles.  He  had 
yielded  so  far  as  to  become  the  friend  and  champion 
of  his  new  cousin  ''Carrie."  But  in  inviting  this 
Servian  Dalila — of  whose  history,  as  a  member  of  one 
of  the  Household  regiments,  he  knew  more  than  he 
wanted  to  know — ^it  seemed  to  him  that  Alec's  wife 
had  made  a  serious  mistake.  "It  will  do  her  harm," 
he  said  to  himself,  fuming.  "In  her  position  she 
ought  to  be  doubly  careful.  A  stupid  blunder!  I 
shall  talk  to  Alec." 

Meanwhile  the  Ambassadress  was  murmuring  to  the 
Duchess. 

"Quelle  triomphe  pour  Madame  Wing!  She  goes 
nowhere.    Only  a  week  ago — so  they  told  me  at  the 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  59 

Palace  last  night — she  refused  a  Windsor  'command' 
— and  quite  insolently.  Her  little  dog  was  ill,  she 
said,  and  she  could  not  leave  him." 

"Carrie!— Mrs.  Whitton!" 

"Am  I  the  very,  very  last?"  said  Mrs.  "Whitton, 
throwing  up  her  hands  in  dismay — "A  thousand 
apologies,  dear  Mrs.  Wing.    I — " 

But  Carrie,  after  greeting  her  tardy  guest,  had 
flown  at  a  signal  from  Lord  Wing,  who  had  recently 
entered,  and  had  something  to  whisper  in  her  ear. 
Mrs.  Whitton  looked  at  her  host. 

* '  I  was  at  Henley  too.  I  saw  you.  WTiat  a  pace  you 
must  have  come  home  at !    Were  there  no  police  ? ' ' 

Alec  was  conscious,  as  she  spoke,  that  her  looks 
were  extremely  agreeable,  though  not  in  any  way 
brilliant.  She  was  dressed  in  black,  with  some  fine 
pearls,  which  suited  the  pale  fairness  of  her  head, 
and  the  air  and  exercise  of  the  afternoon  had 
given  freshness  to  her  complexion.  She  was  certainly 
distinguished,  he  said  to  himself;  one  would  notice 
her  anywhere.  And  he  thought  with  a  passing 
amusement  of  their  old  boy  and  girl  flirtation  at  that 
Oxford  ball — St.  John's,  wasn't  it?  He  seemed  to 
see  the  beautiful  old  garden  with  its  fairy  lamps, 
and  the  gray  front  of  the  College.  She  had  actually 
let  him  kiss  her — ^under  the  trees.  What  a  pair  of 
babes!  He  must  tell  Carrie  about  it — and  make 
her  laugh.  And  now,  here  was  the  poor  little  thing 
left  alone ;  and  not  too  well  off,  so  it  was  said.  Why, 
she  couldn't  be  more  than  six  or  seven  and  twenty. 
It  was  very  hard  on  her. 

Some  unspoken  consciousness  seemed  to  pass 
between  their  eyes,  and  she  smiled. 


60  BLTHAM  HOUSE 

''When  one  is  with  a  future  Prime  Minister,  you 
know,"  she  continued,  still  softly  excusing  herself, 
"one  has  to  do  what  he  does.  He  joined  us  about 
five — just  to  see  his  son  Billy  row — Billy's  race  came 
on  late,  and  I  couldn't  get  away." 

"Oh,  you  were  with  the  Washingtons ? "  There 
was  a  sudden  eagerness  in  Wing 's  voice.  * '  I  thought  I 
saw  him  in  the  distance.    Is  he  a  friend  of  yours?" 

She  nodded,  moving  on  into  the  crowd  of  the 
room. 

"We  must  have  a  talk  after  dinner,  mustn't  we?" 
said  Wing,  following  her,  and  perceiving  at  the  same 
moment  that  dinner  had  been  announced. 

Mrs.  Whitton  looked  back  over  her  shoulder, 
smiling.    ' '  I  shall  expect  you. ' ' 

But  her  manner,  though  gracious,  was  a  trifle 
queenly.  Nothing  at  all  in  it  of  the  "poor  little 
thing."  It  and  she  piqued  his  curiosity,  and  when 
a  few  minutes  later  he  found  himself  between  the 
Ambassadress  and  the  Duchess,  he  was  still  speculat- 
ing about  her.  How  had  Caroline  got  hold  of  her 
for  this  dinner?  He  could  not  remember — except 
that  he  had  told  his  wife  of  his  chance  meeting  with 
Mrs.  Whitton  in  the  Park. 

"So  you  think  there  is  really  no  chance  of  an  elec- 
tion this  year?" 

The  question  was  Mrs.  Wing's.  She  addressed  it 
to  her  neighbor  on  her  left,  Mr.  Robert  Llewellyn, 
a  gentleman  holding  a  remarkable  position  in  the 
Liberal  party,  and  destined,  it  was  thought,  to  high 
office,  whenever  the  hungry  "Outs"  should  succeed 
in  hurling  the  "Ins"  from  place.  He  was  a  chubby- 
faced  man  of  middle  age,  with  blinking  eyes,  which 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  61 

for  all  their  blinking  were  yet  extraordinarily  kind 
and  straight,  a  large  expressive  mouth,  and  a  delib- 
erately courteous  manner. 

He  smiled  at  the  question  and  shook  his  head. 
^'None  whatever.  And  certainly  our  side  has  no 
reason  to  wish  it.    We  are  not  in  the  least  prepared. ' ' 

Ca  oline  bent  her  beautiful  eyes  upon  him,  and 
with  a  pretty  deference  quoted  some  opinions  of  a 
very  different  kind — of  Mr.  This,  and  Lord  That — 
who  thought  there  would  and  must  be  a  general 
election  in  the  autumn.  She  quoted  them  intelli- 
gently. Her  voice  pleased  the  ears  beside  her.  But  as 
for  the  opinions,  they  only  produced  a  more  decided 
head-shake,  and  a  touch  of  contempt  in  the  smile. 

"These  men — the  present  Government — are  in 
certainly  till  next  year — probably  for  two  years  more. 
I  advise  you  not  to  believe  any  reports  to  the  con- 
trary. And  on  our  side  we  have  a  great  dearth  of 
candidates — and  no  money. ' ' 

''Really? — a  lack  of  candidates?" 

"Undoubtedly.  The  constituencies  grow  very 
particular  nowadays.  They  want  either  the  solid 
respectable  men,  with  money,  and  large  local  inter- 
ests; or  young  men  without  money,  good  speakers — 
men  of  ability — whom  it  may  be  worth  the  party's 
while  to  finance." 

* '  Isn  't  there  a  third  kind  ? ' '  asked  Caroline,  smiling 
— "the  young  men  of  ability — with  money?" 

"Of  course! — ^the  rare  birds!  But  it  doesn't  do 
to  reckon  on  too  many  of  them.  And  as  to  money — 
we  have  plenty  of  rich  men  on  our  side,  but  they 
don't  do  their  duty;  they  don't  stump  up — as  the 
Tories  do." 

He  saw  his  hostess  glance  towards  the  white  head 


62  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

of  Lord  Wing,  conspicuous  on  the  further  side  of 
the  round  table.  Then  moving  confidingly  towards 
Llewellyn,  she  said  under  her  breath — laughter  in 
voice  and  eyes — 

*  *  I  hope  my  father-in-law  stumps  up !    He  could ! ' ' 

Her  neighbor  looked  as  he  felt — a  little  em- 
barrassed. 

"I  have  no  doubt  Lord  Wing  gives  us  all  that  he 
thinks  we  deserve,"  he  said  dryly. 

"I  see!"  said  Caroline,  with  the  same  joyous  ani- 
mation.   "Alec  must  talk  to  him." 

Llewellyn  smiled  at  her  discreetly,  but  without 
reply;  and  she  at  once  changed  the  subject.  The 
French  Ambassador  indeed  claimed  her,  and  Llewel- 
lyn who,  in  the  vast  preponderance  of  men,  had  only 
a  young  civil  servant  on  his  left,  of  no  apparent  con- 
versational powers,  listened  a  while  to  their  conversa- 
tion. Mrs.  Wing's  French  was  evidently  good,  and 
the  Ambassador,  who  was  in  general  proud  of  his 
English,  had  no  chance  of  using  it.  It  was  said  indeed 
that  he  only  spoke  French  when  his  country  was  pur- 
suing an  aggressive  policy,  and  it  was  necessary  to 
assume  that  Europe  had  only  one  language  worth 
talking.  Llewellyn,  who  was  a  great  student  of  char- 
acter, presently  came  to  the  conclusion  that  Mrs.  Wing 
was  exceedingly  intelligent,  with  a  very  considerable 
knowledge  of  books,  persons,  and  affairs ;  at  the  same 
time,  excitable,  with  indications  not  to  be  mistaken  of 
a  rash  and  headlong  temperament,  which  accounted, 
he  supposed,  for  the  scandal  and  the  divorce. 

Then  he  considered  the  dinner-table.  About  five 
women  to  an  intolerable  deal  of  men;  brought  there, 
no  doubt,  partly  by  Alec  Wing's  personal  popularity; 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  63 

partly  by  his  father's  prestige  and  immense  wealth; 
by  curiosity  as  to  the  house  and  the  divorce ;  by  reports 
of  Mrs.  Wing's  beauty,  and  the  chef's  perfection;  by  a 
variety  of  motives,  in  fact,  creditable  or  calculating. 

"Why  am  I  here?"  he  thought;  for  he  was  a  Stoic 
both  in  philosophy  and  practice,  quite  undazzled  by 
either  money  or  cooks.  The  explanation  really  lay — 
and  he  knew  it — in  a  romantic  mind,  which  no  one 
ever  thought  of  suspecting  in  combination  with  his 
trivial  nose  and  round  cheeks.  But  the  fact  was 
that  a  woman  who  had  risked  something  for  love 
appealed  to  him. 

Presently  Mrs.  Wing  returned  to  him  from  the  Am- 
bassador, with  that  slight  change  of  manner  which 
flattered  the  English  politician  against  his  will. 

*'Alec  will  be  speaking  at  Hull  next  month.  I 
am  going  down  with  him.  He  laughs  at  me  for  being 
nervous — but  I  can't  help  it." 

' '  Hull  ?    The  by-election  ? ' ' 

Mrs.  Wing  nodded. 

"An  old  friend  of  Alec's  is  standing.  Alec  wired 
a  few  days  ago  to  ask  if  he  should  come  and  help,  and 
they've  put  him  on  at  the  last  big  meeting  before  the 
poll.  The  man  who's  standing  told  me  last  week  he 
never  heard  anybody  speak  so  well  at  the  Oxford 
Union  in  his  time  as  Alec.  They  were  very  keen  to 
get  him.    He  really  has  a  great  natural  gift." 

Llewell3m  was  touched  by  her  wifely  eagerness. 
Yes,  he  remembered  to  have  heard  that  Alec  Wing 
had  considerable  speaking  talent.  But,  good  heavens ! 
didn't  this  handsome  creature  know  how  much  else 
was  concerned?  She  did  know — she  must  know. 
He  began  to  be  angry  with  so  much  naivete,  or  the 
appearance  of  it.    If  that  fellow  Bothwell,  who  was 


64  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

standing  at  Hull,  was  really  going  to  put  up  Wing 
for  his  last  important  meeting,  he  was  a  great  fool. 
The  party  newspapers  on  the  other  side  would  be 
lively  reading  for  days  before. 

Mrs.  Wing  did  not  seem  to  notice  his  somewhat 
monosyllabic  replies.  She  kept  the  conversation  on 
politics,  declared  her  own  strong  sympathy  with  the 
Opposition  programme,  and  talked  vivaciously  of  the 
recent  debates  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Llewellyn 
gathered  that  she  must  have  already  secured  pretty 
constant  access  to  the  various  ladies'  galleries  of  the 
House,  and  a  rather  astonishing  knowledge  of  the 
party  men  and  party  relations.  She  congratulated 
him  on  a  passage  of  arms  he  himself  had  had  with  the 
Home  Secretary  in  the  House  the  week  before,  and 
she  did  it  so  well  that  he  could  not  help  coloring  a 
little,  and  feeling  pleased.  Certainly  women  could 
be  sirens  when  they  chose;  and  he  had  never  yet 
been  able  to  shut  his  ears  to  them. 

But  their  talk  was  interrupted  from  the  other  side 
of  the  table,  where  the  Kaminski  sat  among  a  group 
of  admirers,  by  a  sudden  outbreak  of  noise,  which 
deafened  everything  else.  The  great  danseuse,  flushed 
with  flattery  and  perhaps  also  with  champagne,  was 
chaffing  and  teasing  a  young  Scotch  peer  beside  her, 
to  the  delight  of  their  neighbors.  She  wound  up 
with  a  challenge  to  him  to  dance  with  her  after 
dinner,  "Oui,  Monsieur! — Oui,  Milord! — apres  le 
diner — ^vous  danserez  avec  moi!" 

The  splendid  youth,  one  of  the  prize  guardsmen  of 
the  day,  half  flattered — half  fluttered — looked  her 
full  in  the  eyes,  and  stammered — "Je  voudrais,  Ma- 
dame— si  je  coudrais!" 

The  dinner  broke  up  in  a  shriek  of  laughter,  the 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  65 

French  Ambassador  congratulating  the  flushed  young 
man  on  having  added  a  new  and  useful  verb  to  the 
French  tongue. 

The  few  ladies  slowly  mounted  the  great  stair- 
case ablaze  with  light  and  flowers,  while  a  small  but 
perfect  orchestra  hidden  away  among  the  pillars  of 
the  hall  sent  a  swaying  music  after  them.  The 
Duchess  turned  to  her  hostess. 

''There  is  no  doubt  of  it,  my  dear — you  have  a 
magnificent  house.  I  shall  be  curious  to  see  what 
use  you  make  of  it." 

Caroline  flushed,  but  could  not  for  the  moment 
think  of  an  answer.  She  led  the  way  to  an  open 
doorway,  and  smiling  stood  aside  for  the  Ambas- 
sadress and  her  other  guests  to  enter. 

"Superb!"  said  the  Duchess,  looking  round  her. 
To  right  and  left  stretched  the  long  suite  of  drawing- 
rooms,  new-hung,  new-carpeted,  but  designed  first  and 
foremost  as  a  background  for  the  famous  pictures 
of  the  family.  Gainsboroughs,  Romneys,  Reynoldses, 
breathed  and  moved  upon  the  walls.  Beautiful 
children,  fair  women,  red-coated  soldiers,  comely 
youths,  and  weather-beaten  seamen  looked  smiling 
down  upon  these  new  guests,  who  came,  once  more, 
like  those  of  earlier  generations,  to  do  them  homage. 
The  electric  lighting  had  been  graduated  by  the  most 
skillful  of  electricians,  so  that  everything  was  illumi- 
nated, and  nothing  glared.  The  Persian  carpets  on 
the  floors — old,  dim  and  priceless — made  the  Duch- 
ess's mouth  water.  Such  things  were  her  particular 
passion,  in  which,  however,  she  was  far  too  frugal  to 
indulge ;  and  it  seemed  to  her  that  her  mad  brother- 
in-law,  Lord  Wing,  must  have  been  spending  ab- 


66  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

surdly!  Her  curiosity  ached  within  her.  So  that 
after  the  new  mistress  of  the  house — a  glittering 
figure  in  her  white  satin,  and  the  jewels  Lord  Wing 
had  been  hanging  upon  her — had  led  a  kind  of  royal 
progress  through  the  rooms,  and  the  women  were 
grouped  in  the  furthest  drawing-room,  where  some 
old  Chinese  tapestries  on  a  ground  of  pale  yellow  had 
evoked  little  cries  of  pleasure  from  the  instructed,  the 
Duchess  no  longer  even  pretended  to  take  it  quietly. 

"You  seem  to  be  uncommonly  rich,  my  dear!**  she 
said,  as  she  and  Caroline  sat  together  in  a  corner  of 
the  yellow  room.  "Lord  Wing,  I  suppose,  has  been 
making  things  easy  for  you?" 

"He  has  been  showering  money  on  us!"  said 
Caroline  Wing,  throwing  back  her  head,  and  looking 
full  at  her  husband's  kinswoman.  "We  didn't  ask 
him.  Alee,  you  know,  has  money  of  his  own.  So 
have  I — some.  But  Lord  Wing  insisted  on  our 
living  here — " 

"'And,  of  course,  doing  it  properly?  Well,  it's 
uncommonly  interesting — ^like  a  play.  At  the  same 
time,  my  dear,  you  are  too  much  a  woman  of  the 
world  not  to  know" — the  speaker  coughed  slightly — 
"that  in  making  this  house  a  political  center — which, 
I  understand,  is  what  Wing  is  after — you'll  have  a 
good  many  difficulties  to  meet." 

* '  I  know, ' '  said  Caroline,  smiling.  Did  the  Duchess 
suppose  she  was  the  first  to  say  so? 

"It's  the  women,  of  course.  Take  my  sister 
Theodora.  A  potato-headed  woman,  I  call  her, — 
wholesome  of  course,  but  dense — no  adventure  in  her, 
no  give  and  take.  And  there  are  scores  of  them.  But 
you'll  have  to  learn  to  get  round  them,  if  it's  true — 
that  Alec  wants  a  political  career?" 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  67 

The  Duchess  turned  a  look,  sharply  interrogative, 
on  her  companion. 

**Why  shouldn't  he  have  a  political  career?"  said 
Mrs.  Wing,  proudly.  "It's  what  he's  always  looked 
forward  to.  They  were  thinking  of  a  seat  for  him 
before  he  left  England." 

The  Duchess  shrugged  her  shoulders. 

''It's  the  way,  of  course,  that  people  have  nowa- 
days— directly  a  man  becomes  a  public  man — of 
poking  their  noses  into  all  his  private  concerns. 
There  are  two  roads,  I  always  say,  to  political  success 
in  this  country ;  one,  through  courting  the  multitude 
— Alec,  in  my  belief,  had  better  let  that  alone  for  the 
present ! — the  other  through  the  people  that  count,  the 
few  score  people  who  really  do  govern  the  country. 
That's  Alec's  game — if  he's  a  sensible  man.  That's 
why  I've  asked  him  to  meet  the  Washingtons.  You 
weren't  angry  with  me  that  I  didn't  ask  you  too?" 

The  Duchess  laid  a  propitiatory  hand  on  Caroline's 
knee.    Mrs.  Wing  flushed  a  little,  but  laughed. 

"I  wasn't  angry  at  all.    Why  should  I  be?" 

"It  was  the  only  way — that  Alec  should  drop  in, 
and  find  him  there.  I'll  take  care  he  gets  his  talk. 
Richard  Washington's  an  uncommonly  clever  fellow 
— the  best  leader  we've  had  for  a  long  time.  Thor- 
ough middle-class,  of  course;  but  none  of  our  men 
just  now  are  worth  sixpence.  As  for  his  wife!" — 
the  Duchess  threw  up  her  hands. 

"A  bore?"  said  Caroline. 

"A  bore  to  the  bone! — and  very  large  Aberdeen- 
shire bones  too.  The  woman  looks  like  a  dragoon. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  a  Free  Kirk  minister,  not 
far  from  us  in  Perthshire,  and  she  just  bristles  with 
the  Ten  Commandments.    I  can't  abide  her — but  I 


68  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

hardly  ever  dare  ask  him  without  her.  She  governs 
him  completely.  They  say  she  has  immense  influence 
with  him.    Both  he  and  the  sons  adore  her. ' ' 

''Political  influence?" 

"All  sorts.  If  Alec  wants  a  chance  in  politics,  he 
will  just  have  to  square  her — somehow!" 

"How  can  he,  if  she  disapproves  of  us?" 

The  Duchess  laughed. 

* '  Because  she  is  one  of  those  women  who  can  some- 
times make  allowances  for  the  other  sex,  but  never 
for  her  own." 

"I  see.    She  might  forgive  Alec,  but  not  me." 

The  Duchess  assented;  then  bending  forward,  said 
abruptly — 

"If  you  take  my  advice,  you'll  make  friends  with 
that  clever  creature,  Madge  Whitton." 

Caroline  followed  the  direction  of  the  Duchess's 
eyes. 

"Tell  me  about  her,"  she  said  softly.  "She  left 
cards,  and  Alec  said  he  used  to  know  her.  So  I 
asked  her  to  dine " 

"My  dear,  she  is  a  little  intrigante,  with  a  great 
deal  more  power  than  is  good  for  her!  She  has  a 
way  of  forcing  intimacy  upon  you  sometimes  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet;  but  that's  the  defect  of  her 
quality.  She  knows  everybody — especially  on  our 
side — and  there  are  few  things  she  can 't  do  for  a  man, 
if  she  chooses." 

"Do  you  believe  as  much  in  'back-stairs'  as  all 
that?"  said  Caroline,  a  little  contemptuously. 

"I  believe  in  what  I  see,"  replied  the  Duchess,^ 
shaking  an  obstinate  head  on  which  a  diamond  tiara 
sat,  somewhat  insecurely,  in  the  midst  of  fair,  grayish 
coils,  too  abundant  to  deceive.     "Women  have  just 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  69 

as  much  influence  as  they  ever  had.  And  they'll 
always  have  it — vote  or  no  vote.  The  men  are  no 
match  for  them — poor  things!" 

Caroline  rose  with  a  laugh,  brought  over  the  Am- 
bassadress to  keep  the  Duchess  company,  and  went 
herself  to  explore  Mrs.  Whitton. 

Mrs.  Whitton  offered  her  compliments  on  the  house 
and  the  pictures.  Then  Caroline  said  with  a  slight 
shyness,  agreeable  in  one  possessing  such  obvious  per- 
sonal advantages — 

"You  used  to  know  Alec  when  he  was  quite  a 
boy?" 

"We  met  at  a  commem — when  we  were  very  young 
and  very  green.  But  he  hardly  looks  a  day  older ! ' ' — 
said  Madge  Whitton,  turning  round  on  her  chair  and 
propping  her  face  on  both  hands,  so  as  to  look  straight 
into  the  dark  eyes  above  her.  * '  He 's  splendid.  I  was 
glad  to  see  you  had  come  home ! ' ' 

Caroline  stiffened.  Why  should  Mrs.  Whitton  be 
glad? — what  affair  was  it  of  hers?  The  Duchess's 
remark  about  ' '  forcing  intimacy ' '  recurred  to  her. 

' '  We  had  been  a  long  time  in  Italy.  One  gets  tired 
of  it  after  a  while,"  she  said,  rather  coldly. 

"Oh  dear,  yes."  The  tone  was  careless.  "But  I 
was  thinking  of  the  party  and  the  country.  We  want 
young  men — and  new  blood — so  badly!  And  I 
remember  seeing  Mr.  Wing  just  before  he  went 
abroad,  nearly  three  years  ago — oh,  just  a  few  min- 
utes at  some  party  or  other — and  he  talked  to  me 
about  Parliament,  and  a  seat  that  somebody  had  pro- 
posed to  him.  It's  wonderful  what  people  say  about 
his  speaking  at  Oxford.  Of  course  there  are  lots  of 
clever  boys  every  year  who  speak  at  the  Union.  But 
he  seems  to  have  been  so  exceptional — so  remarkable ! 


70  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

And  speaking  is  such  a  power  nowadays !  We  haven't 
got  enough  of  it — on  our  side." 

"You  take  such  a  great  interest  in  politics?" 

Mrs.  Whitton  laughed. 

"Well! — I  suppose  I'm  what  an  enemy  would  call 
a  'political  woman.'  I'm  not  ashamed!  It  seems 
to  me  the  only  game  worth  playing  nowadays.  It  is 
such  a  good  game! — and  it's  getting  better.  The 
questions  are  so  big — and  the  issues  so  thrilling. 
Don't  you  agree?  Whether  it's  only  for  fun  and 
excitement — or  whether  it's  for  what  people  call  their 
principles — I  don't  much  care.  The  great  thing  is  to 
join  in.    Play  it  if  you  can!" 

Caroline  conquered  a  certain  vague  distaste,  and, 
for  Alec's  sake,  began  to  pick  Mrs.  Whitton 's  brains. 
In  a  quarter  of  an  hour's  conversation  she  began  to 
discover  how  much  Mrs.  Whitton  knew  of  this  life  and 
this  world,  where  she  herself  was  a  tyro  and  beginner. 

The  coming  men,  and  the  disappearing  men;  the 
quarrels  and  the  rivalries ;  the  motives  animating  this 
leader  and  that ;  the  place  hunters  and  the  idealists ; 
the  love-affairs  and  their  bearing  on  the  game;  the 
wives  who  were  a  help,  and  the  wives  who  hung  like 
the  dead  albatross  round  their  husbands'  necks : — Mrs, 
Whitton 's  talk  flowed  like  a  chattering  stream  among 
them  all.  Caroline  Wing  was  presently  listening  to 
her  spell-bound,  her  own  mind  in  a  ferment. 

All  the  same  it  was  a  motley  gathering — this,  that 
Lord  Wing  called  "Caroline's  first  rout."  The 
Duchess  watched  it  with  some  amusement,  occasional 
satisfaction,  more  discontent,  and  repeated  resolves 
to  give  Caroline  good  advice.  She  understood  that 
Alec  had  done  a  good  deal  of  indiscriminate  inviting, 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  71 

through  his  clubs,  especially  the  Jockey  Club,  and 
through  his  old  cricketing  friends  who  had  given  him 
a  rousing  welcome  at  Lords  when  he  showed  himself 
there,  at  the  first  match  of  the  season.  So  that  of 
"smartness"  there  was  no  lack,  so  far  at  least  as 
men  can  represent  it.  There  was  also  a  sprinkling 
of  those  distant  and  collateral  relations  in  which  any 
conspicuous  family  is  always  rich;  and  among  them 
people,  some  dowdily  artistic,  some  ultra-fashionable 
but  needy,  who  were  delighted  to  leave  their  cards 
at  Eltham  House,  and  to  claim  cousinship  with  the 
Wings,  whatever  their  sins.  All  the  same,  Caroline 
Wing — receiving  at  the  top  of  the  magnificent  stair- 
case— ^was  presently  sharply  aware  that  a  great  many 
persons  who  had  been  invited  had  taken  no  notice 
whatever  of  Mrs.  Wing's  invitation.  Especially  was 
this  the  case,  perhaps,  among  Caroline's  own  belong- 
ings, who  were  of  an  academic  and  University  type, 
she  herself  having  been  the  daughter  of  the  head  of 
an  Oxford  College.  Some  of  them  had  been  on  very 
affectionate  terms  with  her  as  Lady  Marsworth;  she 
had  gone  venturesomely  calling  among  them,  and 
leaving  cards  of  invitation,  since  her  return;  and  it 
was  with  a  keen  hidden  soreness  that  she  realized 
her  rebuff,  as  the  evening  wore  away. 

"A  queer  lot!"  said  Lord  Wing  to  the  Duchess, 
as  they  stood  together  watching  the  throng  streaming 
up  the  stairs.  ''Caroline,  of  course,  will  have  to  set 
up  an  inner  circle. ' '  Then  he  turned  and  looked  his 
sister-in-law  in  the  face.  He  and  she  were  old  and 
excellent  comrades. 

"How  long  do  you  give  them  to  live  it  down?" 
he  said,  coolly. 

The  Duchess  shook  her  head. 


72  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"They'd  better  not  be  too  eager  about  it!" 

"No.  But  it's  like  furnishing  when  people  are 
young  and  poor.  You  have  to  begin.  You  put  in 
a  lot  of  cheap  stuff,  and  then  gradually,  as  circum- 
stances improve,  you  turn  out  the  rubbish  and  replace 
it  by  something  better.  Or  put  it  another  way.  If 
Alec  had  married  this  young  woman  before  she  saw 
Marsworth,  they  would  have  the  world  at  their  feet. 
Now,  as  I've  told  him,  if  they  want  the  world,  they 
will  have  to  fight  for  it.  And  in  these  days,  the  half  of 
fighting  is  advertising.  This,  I  suppose,  is  advertise- 
ment. ' ' 

He  made  a  movement  of  his  hand  towards  the  crowd. 

"Stand  back,  please!"  shouted  an  excited-looking 
youth,  "Madame  Kaminski  is  going  to  dance!" 

Kaminski  danced,  and  the  surrounding  crowd  held 
their  breaths  to  watch  her.  She  danced — the  mar- 
velous, barbaric  creature — beneath  the  English  beau- 
ties, the  women  and  children  of  Romney  and  Gains- 
borough on  the  walls,  who  seemed  to  look  down  upon 
her,  half  affrighted  at  the  scene.  All  the  same,  before 
the  end,  one  of  their  own  kind  was  mingled  in  the 
spectacle.  For  Madame  Kaminski  suddenly  beckoned 
to  the  handsome  young  fellow  she  had  challenged  at 
dinner,  and  as  though  hypnotized  by  her,  he  obeyed 
her.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of  a  Scotch  duke,  bearing 
one  of  the  great  names  of  the  kingdom.  But  it  was 
soon  evident  that,  in  spite  of  his  modesty  at  dinner, 
he  was  no  amateur  at  the  business  to  which  he  was 
summoned.  The  rumor  went  round  that  Kaminski 
had  taught  him;  that  they  had  already  performed 
before  small  audiences,  at  one  or  two  great  houses. 
Together,  indeed,  they  turned  and  twisted,  they  posed 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  73 

and  leaped,  while  the  Hungarian  band  accompanied 
them  with  a  wild  or  melting  music:  and  when  Ka- 
minski  at  last  sank  exhausted  the  frenzy  of  the  spec- 
tators matched  the  passion  of  the  dance. 

The  Duchess  drew  a  long  breath,  turned,  and 
walked  with  tight  lips  into  the  next  room. 

''Abominable!"  she  said,  fiercely  to  the  person  be- 
side her,  who  happened  to  be  Mr.  Llewellyn.  **That 
a  man  of  our  class  should  do  such  a  thing!  "What 
are  we  coming  to  ? " 

' '  All  the  same, ' '  said  Llewellyn,  with  his  quiet  smile 
—"for  Mrs.  Wing,  it  has  been  'a  famous  victory.'  " 

The  crowd  had  melted  away,  and  the  outer  doors 
had  been  shut  at  last  on  the  last  car  and  taxi.  In 
the  central  drawing-room.  Alec  Wing  stood  with  his 
arm  round  his  wife.  His  looks  were  flushed,  excited 
— a  little  frowning  besides. 

''You  were  a  marvel!"  he  said  to  her,  kissing  her 
repeatedly — "and  as  beautiful  as  a  dream.  And  the 
house  was  wonderfid.  Oh,  it  wasn't  bad — for  a  pair 
of  boycotted  people!  Of  course,  we'll  improve — we'll 
improve. ' ' 

And  leaving  her,  he  began  to  walk  up  and  down, 
ruminating  aloud — 

"I  don't  think  I  liked  the  dance — it  gave  me  the 
creeps  somehow.  Perhaps,  we  won't  ask  her  again, 
darling?  We'll  trust  to  our  own  attractions!  Now 
that  you've  been  seen — and  the  house — that's  enough. 
But  I've  had  some  awfully  good  talks — with  several 
people " 

He  turned  and  looked  at  her  joyously. 

"That  fellow  Llewellyn's  no  end  of  a  good  chap, 
Carrie!    He's  promised  to  put  me  in  the  way  of  sev- 


74  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

eral  things.  I'm  to  work  at  two  or  three  subjects — 
he'll  advise  me.  And  I  shall  make  father  find  some 
money  for  the  party.  We're  in  a  bad  way,  we  really 
are.  By  George!  life  is  interesting,  isn't  it!  I  shall 
do  something  in  politics,  I  really  believe!" 

' '  Of  course  you  will,  darling ! '  *  said  Carrie,  almost 
impatiently.  *  *  I  made  Mr.  Llewellyn  confess  that  the 
one  thing  our  side  wants  just  now  is  young  men  with 
brains — and  money.    You'll  be  a  godsend." 

She  stood  leaning  against  the  mantelpiece,  her  dark 
hair,  caught,  as  it  were,  among  the  roses  and  carna- 
tions of  a  great  Dutch  flower-piece,  built  into  the 
cheminee  behind  her,  while  the  real  flowers,  banked 
along  the  floor,  at  her  feet — roses,  red  and  white — 
mingled  with  the  folds  of  her  white  dress.  Nothing 
could  have  been  more  brilliant  than  her  figure,  thus 
flower-circled,  or  than  the  proud  affection  in  her  eyes. 

He  drew  fresh  certainty,  fresh  ardor  from  hers. 

' '  I  must  say  that  letter  from  Both  well  was  encour- 
aging!" he  said,  in  high  good  humor.  ''In  the  flrst 
place,  it  showed  that  people  hadn't  forgotten  I  could 
speak.  In  the  next,  that  my  father's  view  of  the  part 
which  the  '  unco  guid '  were  going  to  play  in  our  case, 
darling,  was  overdone !  Of  course  a  great  number  of 
people  who  might  have  been  here  to-night  didn't 
come.  We  shall  be  cold-shouldered  and  tabooed,' 
no  end,  by  all  the  people  who  take  their  cue  from  the 
Court — ^that's  clear — and  that  we  expected.  We  shall 
beat  them  in  the  long  run!  But,  it's  also  clear — as 
I  have  always  believed — in  politics — ^that  kind  of 
thing  is  weakening.    And  that's  all  I  ask." 

He  paced  up  and  down  before  her,  running  his 
hand  absently  through  the  masses  of  his  fair  hair — 
turning  presently  to  say — 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  75 

"You  know,  Carrie,  polities  are  going  to  be  absorb- 
ing the  next  few  years.  The  Tories  will  go  back  to 
protection  as  soon  as  ever  they  see  the  chance  and 
there'll  be  a  big  fight!  I've  thought  of  all  sorts  of 
jolly  things  to  say  in  my  Hull  speech — things  that 
will  sound  new,  anyway,  if  they  aren't  new — and 
things  that  will  go  down!  And  then  if  I  make  a 
success  there,  the  Whips  will  prick  up  their  ears,  and 
I  can  begin  to  press  for  a  seat." 

"Of  course  you  can!"  said  Carrie  eagerly.  "It  is 
your  sort.  Alec,  that  are  really  wanted  in  Parliament 
— the  men  who  will  work,  and  throw  their  whole  lives 
into  great  questions," 

And  all  the  time  she  devoured  him  with  her  tender 
look,  only  anxious  that  he  should  be  happy,  that  he 
should  find  his  sphere,  that  his  days  should  be  full 
and  gay. 

"And  that  little  woman" — said  Alec,  pausing  in 
his  walk — "that  Mrs.  Whitton — did  you  get  any  talk 
with  her,  Carrie?  A  clever  little  puss!  Very  good 
talk  too.  She  reminded  me  that  she  and  I  flirted  one 
whole  evening  at  a  commem  ball  nearly  ten  years  ago. 
She  was  a  babe,  just  out  of  short  frocks — rather 
sweet — and  rather  go-ahead!  I  believe  she  let  me 
kiss  her!"  He  laughed  out.  "Can't  you  see  us! 
Well,  now,  she  seems  to  have  come  on  tremendously. 
She  knows  all  the  political  people,  and  she  really  gave 
me  some  useful  hints.  Now  you  won't  mind,  darling, 
if  I  go  to  see  her  on  Sundays,  if  I  lunch  with  her 
sometimes?    You  won't  be  jealous?" 

He  held  out  his  hands  to  her,  laughing. 

Caroline  laughed  scornfully  in  reply,  then  suddenly 
changed  her  note. 

"Yes,  I  shall  be  jealous!"  she  said  breathlessly. 


76  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"I'm  always  jealous  when  you  look  at  anybody  else. 
But  I'll  be  good,  all  the  same.  The  Duchess  said  I 
ought  to  make  friends  with  her — and  I  did  try.  But 
— ^were  you  pleased,  Alec,  to-night? — Did  I  do  my 
best  ?    Praise  me ! — I  've  earned  it.    Oh,  I  'm  so  tired ! '  * 

"Go  to  bed,  foolish  woman!  I  must  say  good- 
night and  '  thank  you '  to  the  band.    They  're  just  off. ' ' 

He  hurried  away,  and  she  was  left  alone.  In  the 
farther  drawing-rooms  the  lights  were  being  ex- 
tinguished by  a  servant;  only  some  of  the  pictures 
were  still  illuminated.  Suddenly,  as  Caroline  turned 
to  look  for  her  husband  in  the  increasing  darkness, 
only  one  radiant  figure  remained,  which  seemed  to  be 
actually  moving  towards  her.  It  was  the  figure  of 
a  child,  a  boy  of  four  or  five  years  old — ^bright  hair 
blown  back — soft  hands  outstretched — the  sweet 
mouth  open. 

A  thrill  of  anguish  and  horror  passed  through 
Caroline.  She  stood  spell-bound — ^looking.  Then  at 
a  touch,  all  was  dark,  the  vision  had  disappeared. 

"It  was  the  Reynolds  boy,"  she  said  to  herself, 
trembling  in  every  limb — "not  like  him  really — only 
just  something — in  the  hair — the  expression — oh, 
darling  ! — darling  ! ' ' 

She  stood  there,  her  hands  on  her  breast,  quieting 
herself.  Then  she  hurried  out  of  the  room  and  up- 
stairs that  Alec  might  not  see  the  tears  in  which  she 
was  bathed. 


CHAPTER  V 

The  fame  of  the  Eltham  House  ** entertaining"  had 
soon  spread  far  and  wide.  London  was  full  of  it. 
The  Wings'  dinners  and  receptions  were  much  more 
discussed  than  a  small  crisis  in  Parliament,  just  before 
Whitsuntide,  which  might  have  put  the  Government 
out,  but  didn't;  or  than  an  episcopal  dispute  which 
filled  the  newspapers.  The  house,  the  company,  the 
Kaminski  dance,  Mrs.  Wing's  beauty,  and  Mrs. 
Wing's  jewels — the  supposed  brazenness  of  the  lady, 
the  lavish  generosity  of  the  father-in-law — these  topics 
kept  many  tongues  going.  In  the  more  old-fashioned 
sections  of  the  world  of  birth  and  wealth,  where 
everybody  is  a  cousin  of  everybody  else,  and  more  or 
less  acquainted  with  everybody  else 's  affairs,  the  older 
men  and  women,  especially,  shook  their  heads,  and, 
like  Lady  Theodora,  pronounced  the  whole  thing  a 
bad  mistake.  The  Wings  could  not  possibly  hope  to 
win  their  way  back  into  "society,"  properly  under- 
stood, by  mere  extravagance  and  notoriety;  it  was 
just  like  Lord  Wing  to  aid  and  abet  them  in  trying 
to  do  so ;  and  if  the  attempt  were  pushed,  some  very 
plain  language  would  have  to  be  used. 

Among  some  of  the  younger  folk,  on  the  other  hand, 
there  was  a  disposition  to  look  with  much  tolerant 
amusement  on  the  Wings '  great  adventure.    The  wives 

77 


78  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

were  not  going  to  call — ^that  was  settled;  but  the 
husbands  were  constantly  coming  across  Alec  Wing 
at  one  or  other  of  the  clubs  they  frequented,  at  Lord's, 
or  at  the  principal  race  meetings,  while  Mrs.  Wing's 
box  at  the  opera,  which  she  had  taken  off  the  hands 
of  the  old  Marchioness  of  Doncaster  for  the  last  half 
of  the  season,  was  rapidly  becoming  thronged  by  men, 
whenever  she  appeared,  and  those  some  of  the  most 
courted  of  their  day.  It  was  said  that  she  was 
decidedly  agreeable,  with  a  pleasant  down-rightness, 
and  a  vehement  way  of  expressing  herself  when  she 
was  moved,  which  gave  a  remarkable  brilliance  to 
her  beauty.  There  was  no  doubt  as  to  the  devotion 
of  the  two  culprits  to  each  other ;  it  was  conspicuous, 
sometimes  embarrassing;  and — as  Madge  Whitton 
was  constantly  telling  people — a  real  passion,  however 
lawless,  is  always — in  a  way — respectable.  It  began 
to  be  said  in  some  quarters  that  Sir  John  Marsworth 
had  really  been  *  *  impossible ' ' ;  doubts  were  expressed 
here  and  there  as  to  the  blacker  facts  of  the  story; 
and  eagerness  to  be,  at  least,  kept  well  informed  of  the 
doings  at  Eltham  House  grew  with  the  season.  Mrs. 
Wing,  it  was  presently  known,  had  taken  the  line  of 
not  accepting  invitations.  She  saw  the  world  only  at 
home,  and  so  on  her  own  terms;  which  showed  her 
cleverness.  She  had  made  no  attempt  to  show  herself 
at  Ascot ;  although  Wing  himself  had  defiantly  braved 
the  inclosure.  On  Sundays,  and  at  Whitsuntide,  she 
was  to  be  found  at  a  charming  house  on  the  river, 
which  Alee  Wing  had  taken  furnished  till  August, 
expressly  for  "week  ends,"  and  it  was  known  that 
political  gatherings  of  interest  had  taken  place  there 
once  or  twice.  Meanwhile,  and  especially  as  the  season 
advanced,  the  great  house  in  Mayfair  kept  open  doors 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  79 

night  after  night.  To  judge  from  the  names  which 
got  into  the  newspapers,  politicians  and  diplomatists 
dined  there  freely ;  while  the  *  *  evenings, ' '  always  two 
a  week,  were  crowded  and  the  entertainments  of  the 
most  lavish  kind.  The  best  of  singing  and  of  acting ; 
all  the  great  names  of  the  Opera  and  the  theaters; 
with  plenty  of  space  also  for  quiet  talk,  in  the  long 
series  of  beautiful  rooms;  plenty  of  space,  too,  for 
some  of  the  best  bridge  in  London.  Mrs.  Wing  did 
not  play,  but  Alec  was  an  average  steady  player,  high 
up  in  the  second  class,  and  won  or  lost  with  the  same 
good  humor. 

Meanwhile,  amid  all  this  more  or  less  indulgent  or 
laughing  comment,  there  was  what  gave  it  all  zest — a 
current  of  opinion  strongly  and  implacably  hostile. 
The  Royalties  were  as  flint,  even  though  Lord  Wing 
had  been  a  rather  special  favorite  with  the  old  Queen, 
and  Alec  Wing  himself  had  been  the  chosen  playfellow 
and  comrade  of  some  of  the  younger  princes.  Royalty 
had  let  it  be  known  that  it  would  not  attend  the  annual 
dinner  of  a  certain  famous  club,  if  Alec  Wing  claimed 
his  right  to  be  there ;  and  when  Wing  accidentally — 
for  he  had  not  meant  to  put  himself  forward — came 
face  to  face  with  the  Royal  party,  in  the  Ascot  in- 
closure,  they  looked  through  him  and  round  him,  to 
perfection,  although  a  prominent  member  of  the 
group  had  been  once  on  particularly  friendly  terms 
with  Wing,  as  his  fellow  officer  in  the  same  guards 
regiment;  a  regiment,  by  the  way,  which  had  put 
such  pressure,  so  it  was  said,  on  Wing,  at  the  time 
of  the  divorce,  that  he  had  been  practically  forced 
to  send  in  his  papers.  And  there  were  plenty  of 
private  enemies  ready  to  put  the  dots  on  the  i's,  in 
support  of  the  Court  attitude. 


80  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

In  this  respect,  Lady  Theodora  was  unceasingly 
busy.  One  afternoon,  at  a  singularly  expensive  and 
correspondingly  fashionable  fete  in  aid  of  some  Royal 
charity,  given  in  the  Regent's  Park  in  the  last  week 
of  June,  she  felt  herself  touched  on  the  shoulder,  and 
looking  round  saw  an  immensely  tall  woman,  heroic, 
indeed,  in  stature,  who  could  not  move  without  being 
noticed,  and  was  always  more  sensitively  aware  of 
the  fact  than  anybody  gave  her  credit  for.  In  truth, 
she  managed  her  height  uncommonly  well ;  and  those 
whose  notice  was  first  attracted  by  the  masculine 
stature  of  the  lady  were  apt  to  be  agreeably  surprised 
by  the  face  accompanying  it,  a  face  capable,  indeed, 
of  the  most  stern  and  repellent  expressions,  but,  as 
a  rule,  marked  by  a  quiet  serenity,  and  aloofness,  as 
of  one  who  rather  shrank  from  than  challenged  the 
world  about  her. 

Lady  Theodora  grasped  Mrs.  Washington's  hand 
with  effusion,  and  they  adjourned  to  a  shady  corner 
under  the  trees,  where  the  noise  of  the  band  and  the 
crowd  interfered  with  them  but  little. 

It  was  from  here  that  the  two  ladies  almost 
immediately  became  aware  of  the  passage — one  might 
even  say  the  triumphal  progress — of  Mrs.  Alec  Wing 
across  a  lawn  some  few  yards  away.  Her  handsome 
husband  was  beside  her,  with  half  a  dozen  other 
young  men,  and  two  or  three  older  celebrities,  Mr. 
Llewellyn  among  them,  hovering  in  the  rear.  She 
herself,  beneath  the  shade  of  her  large  hat  lined  with 
faint  rose-color,  stepped  like  a  goddess,  charm  and 
youth  personified. 

Lady  Theodora  raised  an  eyeglass  and  looked 
fixedly  after  the  departing  group. 

"Is  that  the  first  time  you've  seen  her?"  she  asked 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  81 

Mrs.  Washington,  who  had  quickly  withdrawn  her 
eyes. 

*'Not  quite.  I  have  seen  her  at  the  Opera — from 
a  distance.  A  most  beautiful  creature ! — ^that  no  one 
can  deny." 

''She  does  not  attract  me,"  said  Lady  Theodora 
dryly.  "But  one  never  knows  what  men  will  admire. 
I  hear  Mr.  Washington  thinks  her  clever. ' ' 

Mrs.  Washington  turned  a  guarded  look  on  her 
companion. 

**He  was  introduced  to  her  first  at  the  Opera,  in 
April,  and  has  been  to  see  her  once  or  twice  since. 
He  is  much  interested  in  her  conversation.  He  says 
she  is  passionately  political. ' ' 

**So  I  understand.  She  seems  to  be  playing  every 
possible  card  for  Alec.  And  with  money  and  good 
looks,  she  will  no  doubt  get  what  she  wants." 

Lady  Theodora's  tone  and  shrug  implied  that  Mrs. 
Wing,  and  the  world  which  accepted  her,  were  about 
worthy  of  each  other.  Mrs.  Washington  paused  a  mo- 
ment and  then  said — "Mr.  Wing  seems  to  be  making 
great  effort  to  push  himself  politically.  I  see  he  has 
been  speaking  in  one  or  two  small  places.  But  I 
imagine  candidates  will  soon  find  out  that  he  does 
them  no  good.  And  they  say  he  wants  a  seat.  But 
the  moral  standard  in  politics  has  been  steadily  going 
up.  I  am  afraid — no,  I  Tiope" — her  grave  smile  broke 
out — "that  he  will  find  it  impossible.  It  is  of  course 
a  thousand  pities  for  everybody.  For  we  want  can- 
didates, and  we  want  money." 

Lady  Theodora's  look  was  still  ironical. 

"Well,  of  course  there's  plenty  of  money!" 

Her  companion's  gray  eyes  seemed  to  rouse;  and 
slight  ripples  of  expression  began  to  run  over  the 


82  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

large  and  finely  cut  face,  animating  and  transforming 
it.  Mrs.  Washington  in  her  youth  and  before  her 
marriage  had  been  a  welcome  speaker  in  great  evan- 
gelical gatherings,  where  she  was  often  spoken  of  as 
**  inspired." 

"I  don't  know  about  money,"  she  said,  with  slight 
emphasis.  "That  compromises  nobody — unless  there 
are  conditions.  But  our  Anglicans  and  our  Dis- 
senters will  both  see  to  it  that  a  co-respondent  in  such 
a  divorce  case  is  not  accepted  by  us  as  an  official 
candidate  for  Parliament!" 

"All  the  same,  I  imagine" — said  Lady  Theodora, 
pondering,  "that  before  long,  Alec  will  be  in  the 
House  of  Lords.  "Wing 'sis  not  at  all  a  good  life.  And 
then — suppose  he  has  put  the  party  under  obligations 
— great  obligations — by  the  time  we  come  in — what 
then? — won't  it  be  impossible  not  to  admit  him?" 

"  'What  then?'  "  repeated  Mrs.  Washington.  She 
turned  sharply  towards  her  companion,  and  Lady 
Theodora  was  slightly  startled  by  her  manner.  *  *  Well, 
then — if  the  men  are  inclined  to  give  way,  there  are 
always — the  women!  What  is  the  Woman's  Move- 
ment worth,  dear  Lady  Theodora,  if  it  can't  exclude 
people  like  these  from  our  public  life?" 

Lady  Theodora  did  not  kindle.  She  was  not  a 
feminist,  in  any  sense,  and  had  no  special  belief  in 
her  own  sex.  But  she  was  aware  of  Mrs.  Washing- 
ton's opinions,  which  had  to  be  borne  with  like  all  the 
other  distasteful  things  in  life — a  cold  in  the  head,  or 
an  unsatisfactory  balance  at  the  bank — and  could  not 
be  argued  with  to  any  useful  purpose.  Besides,  she 
was  rather  puzzled.  Some  feminists,  she  was  certain, 
would  defend  the  Wings.  So  she  merely  murmured, 
as  her  eyes  followed  the  retreating  figures — 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  83 

"There's  no  doubt  it  was  a  bad  story." 
"Could  it  possibly  have  been  worse?"  said  Mrs. 
Washington  ardently.  "When  you  think  of  it!  A 
good  man — a  man  of  the  highest  character,  who  had 
always  treated  his  wife  most  kindly,  most  affection- 
ately, leaves  her  alone  in  Florence,  with  her  two  chil- 
dren, while  he  goes  home  in  a  hurry,  to  see  his  only 
brother  who  is  desperately  ill — it  is  supposed,  dying. 
The  brother  lingers,  and  the  husband — Sir  John — 
can 't  leave  him.  Meanwhile  the  wife — takes  a  lover ! 
flaunts  it  indeed,  in  the  most  shameless  way — makes 
no  attempt  to  conceal  it.  She  goes  about  with  him 
everywhere,  and  the  poor  children  are  left  to  a  gov- 
erness and  a  nurse — well,  of  course,  you  know  all 
that's  said  about  that  governess!  The  little  boy  is 
very  delicate;  the  doctor  doubts  if  he  can  live.  He 
gets  a  chill  and  fever — is  actually  in  bed  with  high 
temperature — when  there  is  a  report  of  the  husband's 
return.  Instantly,  the  wife  and  the  lover  go  off.  Sir 
John  finds  his  wife  gone — his  child  dying  and  neg- 
lected. And  the  child  does  die! — ^murdered  by  those 
two  people.  To  see  that  young  man  smiling  and  talk- 
ing— at  a  place  like  this — ^makes  me  shudder.  And 
as  for  the  mother — she  seems  to  me  to  have  blood  on 
her  hands ! ' ' 

A  shiver  ran  through  Lady  Theodora.  She  had 
been  saying  much  the  same  things  herself,  to  her 
intimates,  for  many  weeks;  but  to  hear  them  from 
Mrs,  Washington's  mouth  made  them  somehow  more 
terrible,  and  more  convincing,  even  to  herself.  For 
Mrs.  Washington  was  a  person  round  whom  a  kind  of 
halo  floated.  The  gay  world  scoffed  at  her,  but  for 
the  sake  of  her  husband's  great  position,  had  to  bear 
with  her.    She  was  known  to  be  passionately  religious ; 


84  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

a  mystic,  who  carried  austerity  into  daily  life.  You 
might  think  her  a  canting  Pharisee,  or  you  might 
think  her  a  saint.  In  any  case,  she  was  formidable; 
and  there  was  no  society  in  which  she  could  be  over- 
looked. She  was  also  a  devoted  wife,  and  the  mother 
of  three  satisfactory  sons,  now  growing  up.  Her  influ- 
ence over  a  strong  man,  soon,  if  political  omens  told 
true,  to  be  England 's  Prime  Minister,  was  well-known. 
It  was  therefore  to  be  expected  that  few  people  should 
be  at  once  more  cordially  detested  and  more  whole- 
heartedly admired  than  Elizabeth  Washington. 

After  she  had  delivered  her  denunciation,  Mrs. 
Washington  sat  erect  with  her  hands  clasped  on  her 
knee,  looking  straight  before  her,  over  the  lawns  cov- 
ered with  animated  groups,  white  tents,  and  pretty 
women  in  gay  trailing  dresses.  Her  lip  and  nostril 
quivered;  and  the  little  suffering  child  she  spoke  of 
seemed  to  be  present  to  her  mournful  look. 

Lady  Theodora  appeared  to  have  nothing  left  to  say. 
Her  eyes  turned  to  search  the  further  lawn  for  her 
girls,  and  she  began  to  think  a  little  restlessly  of  tea, 
when  suddenly  a  recollection  struck  her — 

' '  Yet  you  tell  me  that  Mr.  Washington  admires  her 
— and  goes  to  see  her  ? ' '  she  said  brusquely,  not  with- 
out a  certain  tone  of  remonstrance. 

A  quick,  slight  change  passed  over  Mrs.  Washing- 
ton's countenance.  "Men  naturally  look  at  such 
things  rather  differently  from  women.  And  perhaps 
— it  is  right  they  should." 

"Why,  I  thought  you  were  all  for  equal  standards 
for  men  and  women!"  cried  Lady  Theodora,  aston- 
ished. 

Mrs.  Washington  smiled,  and  colored  a  little. 

"As  far  as  personal  conduct  goes,  certainly.    But 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  85 

I  think  men  may  perhaps  be  allowed  to  judge  more 
leniently  than  women.    Ah,  Dick,  there  you  are ! ' ' 

She  rose  with  an  almost  girlish  alacrity,  her  whole 
face  lighting  up,  as  a  broad-shouldered  man  ap- 
proached them. 

Richard  Washington  nodded  affectionately  to  his 
wife,  and  extended  a  friendly  hand  to  Lady  Theodora. 
He  too — like  his  wife — was  of  large  and  imposing 
physique;  though  he  was  stout  where  she  was  pain- 
fully thin.  Except  that  his  hair  was  a  reddish  brown, 
and  his  coloring  fair,  he  was  not  unlike  the  statue 
of  Gambetta  which  stands  eternally  haranguing  the 
Place  du  Carrousel,  and  the  vanished  Tuileries.  The 
same  open  brow,  the  same  aquiline  features,  the  same 
trick  of  gesture.  He  looked  an  orator,  and  was  one. 
It  was  not  so  easily  intelligible  that  he  had  been  a 
successful  cotton-spinner  for  twenty  years  before  he 
entered  Parliament;  and  yet  the  very  precise  and 
sensitive  lines  of  the  delicate  mouth,  the  slight  double 
chin,  and  the  tendency  to  weight,  betrayed  the  man 
of  sedentary  life,  accustomed  to  detail.  And  it  was 
indeed  exactly  in  the  combination  of  an  accurate  and 
methodical  mind  with — on  occasion — an  amazing 
power  of  thunderous  or  moving  speech,  that  Washing- 
ton 's  hold  on  his  party  lay.  Other  people  could  make 
a  Budget  speech  as  well ;  other  people  could  denounce 
or  plead  as  eloquently;  but  none  but  he  could  do 
them  both — to  the  same  effect,  and  the  same  per- 
fection. 

He  sat  down  between  the  two  ladies.  He  had,  it 
seemed,  returned  only  that  afternoon  from  a  speaking 
expedition  to  the  north,  and  finding  the  House  was 
up — it  being  a  Friday — had  pursued  his  wife  to 
Regent's  Park. 


8Q  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

*'Has  it  all  gone  well,  Dick?"  asked  his  wife.  The 
light  in  her  eyes  seemed  to  envelope  him. 

He  pushed  his  hat  to  the  back  of  his  head. 

**0h  yes,"  he  said,  but  in  rather  a  tired  voice — 
"fairly.  But  we  want  a  lot  more  organization  in  the 
north." 

"And  candidates,"  said  Lady  Theodora. 

"And  candidates" — he  repeated.  "We  can't  get 
anybody  to  attack  the  safe  seats — to  put  up  a  losing 
fight.  I  can't  think  what's  happened  to  our  young 
men.  In  my  young  days,  there  was  always  somebody 
to  try  a  forlorn  hope — ^just  for  the  fun  and  the  kudos 
of  the  thing.  And  now  it 's  all  caution  and  calculation. 
If  they  fight,  at  least  they  must  have  all  their  expenses 
found.    And  we  simply  haven't  got  the  money." 

As  he  spoke,  two  persons — a  lady  and  gentleman — 
detached  themselves  from  the  moving  crowd,  and 
began  to  walk  towards  the  exit  from  the  Park.  The 
lady  on  the  left  bowed  smiling  to  Mr.  Washington, 
who  raised  his  hat,  as  did  the  lady's  companion. 

Lady  Theodora  and  Mrs.  Washington  sat  motion- 
less. 

"Wing,  I  suppose,  is  no  use,"  said  Lady  Theodora 
grimly,  looking  after  the  retreating  pair,  whom  she 
had  recognized  as  Lord  Wing  and  his  daughter-in-law. 

Mr.  Washington  made  circles  on  the  ground  with 
the  point  of  his  stick. 

* '  I  suppose  Lord  Wing  is  immensely  rich  ?  "  he  said 
pleasantly,  looking  up.  Lady  Theodora's  irritable 
gesture,  in  answer,  implied  that  the  mere  thought  of 
so  much  undeserved  wealth  was  hard  to  bear. 

' '  He  made  one  fortune  in  South  Africa,  and  another 
in  the  Argentines,  and  a  great  deal  in  rubber.  Then 
there  are  the  estates  and  the  mines,  and  the  London 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  87 

property.  I  turn  socialist  when  I  think  of  Wing's 
possessions!  And  nobody  can  get  anything  out  of 
him.  I  've  tried  for  my  charities  till  I  am  tired.  But 
as  for  the  party  funds,  he  could  finance  a  whole 
general  election  to-morrow  if  he  pleased ! '  * 

*  'Mrs.  Wing  must  persuade  him ! ' '  said  Washington, 
smiling  and  dropping  his  eyes  again  to  the  ground. 

Lady  Theodora  turned  upon  him  rather  suddenly. 

"Well,  you'd  better  persuade  Tier!"  she  said 
bluntly.  She  and  Richard  Washington  were  very  old 
acquaintances,  and,  partly  from  lack  of  imagination, 
she  was  not  afraid  of  him. 

"Ah — so  you've  heard  of  my  visits?"  He  looked 
round  to  smile  at  her,  not  without  mischief.  "I 
found  an  extremely  interesting  party  there  last  Sun- 
day afternoon.    She  seems  to  be  making  her  way." 

"No  doubt."  Lady  Theodora  threw  back  her  head, 
— adding  slowly,  after  a  moment — "  'In  the  morning 
it  is  green  and  groweth  up.'  " 

Washington  shrugged  his  shoulders,  and  in  a  mus- 
ing tone,  continued  the  quotation — 

"  *In  the  evening  it  is  cut  down,  dried  up,  and 
withered.'  Withered! — Such  a  face! — ^Difficult  to 
conceive  it!"  Then,  addressing  his  wife,  "My  dear, 
let's  get  some  tea,  and  go  home." 

They  said  good-by  to  Lady  Theodora,  who  on  her 
side  went  to  look  for  her  daughters  in  the  throng. 
The  Washingtons  moved  towards  the  tea-tent  and 
were  soon  waylaid  and  surrounded.  The  speech  that 
Washington  had  made  the  night  before  at  Sheffield 
was  in  all  the  papers,  reported  verbatim,  and  com- 
mented upon  in  every  tone  of  alarm  or  satisfaction. 
From  the  eager  looks  of  those  who  came  up  to  con- 
gratulate him,  in  this  crowd  of  Londoners,  and  the 


88  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

sour  looks  of  those  more  numerous  persons  who 
avoided  him,  it  could  be  gathered  that  the  speech  had 
been  a  sensation,  and  had  carried  him  a  long  step 
farther  in  a  remarkable  career. 

Alec  "Wing,  who  was  getting  an  ice  for  Mrs. 
Whitton,  turned  to  meet  the  great  man,  as  soon  as  he 
perceived  the  conspicuous  lion  head.  He  came  beam- 
ing, with  outstretched  hand. 

"Magnificent!  Congratulate  you,  Sir!  You  have 
given  the  whole  party  a  lift." 

The  touch  of  old-fashioned  deference,  implied  in 
the  ' '  Sir, ' '  on  the  lips  of  this  golden  youth,  was  not  at 
all  disagreeable  to  the  democratic  leader.  He  smiled 
on  the  speaker. 

' '  Glad  you  were  satisfied.  It  was  a  splendid  meet- 
ing— a  good  omen  for  Hull.  I  think  now  we  ought 
to  win  Hull — ^but  it  will  be  a  close  fight ! ' ' 

"I'm  sure  we  shall  win! — after  the  lead  you've 
given.  Bothwell's  awfully  confident.  He's  roped  me 
in!  I'm  going  down  to  speak  for  him — ^the  eve  of 
thepoU." 

Washington's  look  rested  a  moment,  attentively,  on 
the  young  man. 

' '  Are  you  ?    Well,  we  hope  for  good  news ! ' ' 

The  leader  of  the  Opposition  passed  on.  Alec  Wing 
perceived  that  Mr.  Washington  was  followed  by  his 
wife,  whose  great  height  and  striking  spiritual  face 
were  already  well-known  to  him.  Washington  had 
not  introduced  him,  and  the  stately  woman,  whose 
flowing  dress  of  plain  gray  satin,  and  white  veil 
thrown  back  from  a  coif-like  head-covering,  distin- 
guished her  from  the  fashion  plates  around  her,  had 
evidently  no  intention  of  looking  his  way.  Wing  felt 
half  angry,  half  scornful,  as  she  passed  him  by. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  89 

* '  Bigot ! "  he  thought.  ' '  Doesn  't  she  look  it  ?  But 
she'll  have  to  call  on  Carrie  before  long,  all  the 
same ! ' ' 

He  left  the  Park  with  Durrant,  and,  as  they  neared 
the  gate,  they  perceived  Washington  and  the  chief 
Opposition  Whip,  pacing  a  secluded  lawn  with  their 
hands  behind  them,  deep  in  talk. 

"Hull— I'll  bet!"  said  Wing,  with  a  laugh,  indicat- 
ing the  distant  pair.  "The  speech  last  night  of 
course  was  entirely  aimed  at  Hull.  All  the  local 
people  and  our  Central  Office  have  been  working  like 
horses.  Jim,  my  boy,  if  we  win  Hull,  you  may  pack 
up,  for  your  blessed  Government  will  be  out  in  a 
month !    Come  down,  and  hear  me  speak ! ' ' 

"Not  I!    I  couldn't  keep  my  temper." 

"What  do  you  mean,  you  old  Tory?" 

"I  can't  stand  hearing  a  man  who  lives  in  Eltham 
House  talk  socialistic  bosh;  you  can't  mean  it,  and 
you  don't!  " 

Wing  burst  into  a  fit  of  laughter. 

"I  mean  it,  as  much  as  anybody  else  does.  How 
much  do  you  mean  it,  when  you  talk  big  about  your 
blessed  Empire?" 

' '  Every  word, ' '  said  Durrant  stoutly. 

"Not  you.  I  play  'the  people';  you  play  'the 
Empire.'  One  stalking  horse  is  as  good  as  the  other. 
But  it's  a  jolly  good  game  all  the  same." 

' '  By-by ! ' '  said  Durrant,  as  he  disappeared  into  the 
doorway  of  Baker  Street  Station. 

Alec  walked  on,  southward  and  westward,  till  he 
found  himself  crossing  Piccadilly,  and  at  the  top  of 
St.  James's  Street.  On  his  way  down  the  street,  he 
chanced  to  meet  an  unusual  number  of  acquaintances 
— men — with  whom  he  exchanged  greetings.    A  more 


90  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

keenly  sensitive  person  would  perhaps  have  noticed, 
long  before  this,  the  change  which  had  taken  place  in 
the  quality  of  these  greetings,  as  compared  with  the 
days  before  that  hastily  arranged  visit  to  Florence 
which  had  decided  his  life.     They  seemed  friendly 
enough;  but  there  was  nevertheless  a  subtle  loss  in 
them — a  loss  of  what  the  French  call  *  *  consideration. ' ' 
When  his  London  life  had  first  begun,  he  was  the 
young   Adonis,   envied   and   admired  by  troops   of 
friends,  with  some  University  successes  behind  him, 
and  apparently  a  boundless  future  before  him,  what 
with  his  father's  wealth,  his  own  popularity,  and  the 
political  traditions  of  his  family.    He  was  still  young 
and  rich,  and  he  was  abler  and  better  informed,  by 
far,  than  he  had  been  three  years  before ;  the  husband, 
moreover,  of  one  of  the  most  beautiful  women  in  Lon- 
don.   And  yet  there  was  a  difference — a  kind  of  queer 
descent  in  the  temperature  of  life.    And  in  spite  of 
bravado,  it  was  beginning  to  tell  upon  him  now  much 
more   strongly   than   on   his   first   reappearance   in 
London.    Some  recent  occurrences  had  annoyed  him. 
One  or  two  fellows — old  friends — ^who  had  engaged 
him  to  speak  in  their  constituencies,  had  lately  put 
him  off,  for  reasons  not  particularly  convincing.    He 
hated   shufflers!     If    they    didn't   want    him,    why 
couldn't  they  say  so!    Well,  anyway  he  would  have 
his  chance  at  Hull.    He  began  to  think  of  his  speech — 
confident  that  it  would  make  a  mark,  and  envisaging 
already  the  crowded  hall,  and  the  applause. 

He  had  nearly  reached  the  Palace,  when  he  became 
aware  of  a  tall,  sallow-faced  man  with  iron-gray  hair 
and  mustache  mounting  the  street  towards  him.  For 
a  few  seconds  he  was  conscious  of  a  violent  shock,  an 
impulse  of  flight.    He  would  have  hastily  crossed  the 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  91 

street,  but  that  long  lines  of  closely  jammed  traffic 
made  it  impossible.  No  friendly  shop  or  club  pre- 
sented itself.  He  walked  desperately  on.  What  lies 
people  had  been  telling!  This  man  in  his  path  was 
supposed  to  be  in  a  Jesuit  training  college,  placed  high 
and  solitary  among  Welsh  mountains. 

The  two  men  passed.  As  they  met,  there  was  a 
momentary  pause,  then  a  sudden  recognition — a  flash 
— in  the  eyes  of  the  elder.  Alec  Wing  passed  on, 
partly  relieved.  Not  John! — no,  not  John — but 
Henry  Marsworth,  the  brother  to  whom  John  was 
devoted,  whom  he  so  closely  resembled,  whom  he  had 
rushed  home  to  nurse,  leaving  his  wife  in  Florence. 
Quickly,  an  annoying  thought  occurred.  Henry 
Marsworth  was  a  shipowner,  with  an  estate  some- 
where in  the  East  Riding,  within  twenty  miles  of  Hull. 
An  active  politician  too,  on  the  Conservative  side. 

He  hurried  on,  disturbed,  and  angry  with  himself 
for  a  lack  of  forethought,  towards  the  great  political 
club  in  Pall  Mall  whither  he  was  bound.  He  found 
it  full  of  talk  and  bustle.  One  of  those  waves  of 
unreason  to  which  the  business  of  politics  is  always 
exposed  was  running  high  in  the  Radical  party.  The 
caution  of  men  like  Llewellyn  was  for  the  moment 
out  of  fashion.  The  Tory  Government  were  going  to 
lose  Hull ;  they  had  done  badly  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons that  week;  a  few  weeks,  three  months  at  most, 
must  see  an  election.  How  to  force  them  to  it ! — How 
to  get  them  out ! 

Alec  wandered  from  group  to  group  of  eager  and 
smoke-wreathed  talkers,  hearing  always  the  same  wail 
— Funds!  It  had  lately  come  out  through  various 
odd  channels,  that  the  party  funds  had  been  seriously 
mismanaged  by  those  appointed  to  look  after  them. 


92  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

There  had  been  some  unlucky  investments,  and  a  great 
deal  of  carelessness.  The  other  side,  on  the  contrary, 
was  reported  to  be  exceedingly  well  provided.  One 
of  the  party  millionaires  had  recently  ratted  to  the 
Government  side;  in  hopes,  no  doubt,  said  the  bitter 
gossips  on  the  club  hearth-rug,  of  a  more  speedy 
peerage  from  the  Tories.  "The  rest  of  our  rich  men 
are  sitting  on  their  money-bags — and  much  good  may 
it  do  them!"  cried  a  fierce  young  M.  P.,  haranguing  a 
circle  of  elder  men,  who  kept  their  own  counsel. 

Wing  listened  a  while,  then  slipped  away,  jumped 
into  a  taxi,  and  drove  to  Claridge  's  Hotel,  in  search  of 
his  father.  On  the  way,  he  bestowed  more  thought 
upon  his  father 's  character  and  idiosyncrasies  than  he 
had  ever  done  in  his  life.  Was  it  at  all  likely  that 
Lord  Wing  would  be  greatly  moved  by  the  party 
necessities  ?  That  he  could  do  anything  he  pleased,  if 
he  pleased.  Alec  was  tolerably  certain,  "though  we've 
been  costing  him  a  pretty  penny!"  But  would  he 
please  ?  He  could  be  lavishly  and  absurdly  generous ; 
he  could  also  higgle  stubbornly  over  a  sixpence,  and 
refuse  the  most  reasonable  claims.  "But  by  George, 
it  might  mean  something  for  me,  if  he  did  come 
down!"  The  young  man's  thoughts  wandered  to 
contingencies  ahead.  There  was  a  promising  seat  in 
the  Midlands,  on  which  he  was  beginning  to  set  his 
heart.  The  holder  of  it  was  an  old  man,  who  had 
recently  been  very  ill,  and  Wing  had  it  from  one  of 
the  junior  Whips  of  the  party  that  the  seat  would 
probably  soon  be  vacant.  But  it  would  be  hopeless 
for  anyone  to  put  up,  except  as  the  official  candidate, 
supported  by  the  Whips.  As  for  his  father's  counsels 
of  delay  he  thought  of  them  with  more  and  more 
impatience.    The  political  atmosphere  was  already  hot 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  93 

with  battle.  He  himself  had  been  haunting  the 
House  of  Commons,  throwing  himself  into  party  ques- 
tions and  really  working  hard  at  two  or  three  of 
them,  under  Llewellyn's  friendly  advice.  Why  hesi- 
tate and  shilly-shally?  It  was  absurd  in  these  days 
of  free  action  and  free  opinion  that  a  man  with  his 
gifts  and  resources  should  let  himself  be  deterred  by 
the  fear  of  puritanical  opposition.  He  and  Carrie 
were  married.  What  had  anybody  to  do  with  their 
private  history  ?  If  he  stood  and  won,  it  would  be  not 
only  a  victory  for  the  party,  it  would  be  a  victory 
for  the  personal  liberty  of  the  individual  over  the 
eternal  Tartuffe. 

Many  motives  were  at  work  in  him.  He  was  con- 
scious of  considerable  abilities  never  yet  adequately 
used.  His  wild  passion  for  Carrie  Marsworth  had 
swept  him  out  of  all  the  recognized  paths  and  chances. 
But  he  must  and  would  lay  hold  on  them  again.  There 
was  an  unspoken  feeling,  hardly  shaped  even  to  him- 
self, that  other  people  might  suffer  permanently  for 
such  a  thing  as  he  had  done,  but  not  he — ^not  a  man 
with  such  extraordinary  advantages  as  he.  Of  course 
people  had  been  cruelly  down  on  him  just  for  that 
very  reason — his  advantages!  There  was  that  cant- 
ing judge, — and  a  lot  of  newspaper  fellows — and  his 
brother  officers  who  had  treated  him  abominably — and 
others.  But  it  couldn't  last — let  him  "ram  ahead," 
and  it  would  come  right. 

He  felt  within  him  a  violent  egotistic  will  which 
would  not  let  him  rest;  which  could  not  stand  even 
the  postponement  of  what  he  desired.  But  at  the 
same  time  nobler  feelings  entered  in — honorable  am- 
bition, and  the  strong  desire  to  shine  in  the  ways  his 
forefathers  had  trod;  the  personal  zest  of  one  who 


94  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

had  been  brought  up  from  childhood  on  intimate 
terms  with  the  men  and  the  causes  involved  in  Eng- 
lish political  life;  the  longing  for  something  to  do, 
and  for  an  object  in  life;  together,  no  doubt,  with  the 
unconf  essed  and  creditable  hope  that  by  the  vigorous 
and  disinterested  service  of  his  country  he  might 
before  long  wipe  out  the  recollection  of  his  fault,  and 
appease  his  judges : — all  these  feelings  and  facts  were 
elements  in  the  young  man's  impetuous  resolve. 

Then,  as  he  drove  along,  full  of  eager  scheming,  he 
found  himself  haunted  against  his  will  by  the  look  on 
Henry  Marsworth's  face.  Courted  and  flattered  as 
Wing  had  always  been,  the  stern  contempt  in  that 
passing  look  disturbed  not  only  his  self-love,  but  his 
natural  and — ^hitherto — amiable  wish  to  stand  well 
with  everybody.  The  love-dream  on  the  Tuscan  hills 
had  been  so  perfect,  so  intoxicating,  so  sheltered  from 
all  things  jarring  and  hostile!  And  here — in  this 
London  street — those  eyes — ^with  their  unspoken  word 
— ''Adulterer f  Wing's  cheeks  burned,  while  his 
mind  quickly  and  angrily  recoiled  upon  the  argu- 
ments that  had  satisfied  his  conscience  under  the 
stress  of  passion,  two  years  before. 

He  was  still  defending  himself  to  himself,  when  the 
taxi  stopped  at  Claridge's.  Lord  Wing  was  in  the 
hotel,  though  about  to  leave  that  evening  for  Scotland. 
In  a  mood  of  mingled  eagerness  and  trepidation,  Alec 
took  the  lift  up  to  his  father's  rooms. 


CHAPTER  VI 

'  *  Oh,  Alec ! — ^how  late  yon  are ! ' ' 

"Are  there  some  people  coining  to  dinner?"  said 
"Wing  impatiently.   * '  Bother !   I  had  quite  forgotten. ' ' 

"Mr.  Llewellyn — and  that  Treasury  man  you  told 
me  to  ask.  Oh,  and  Alec! — ^my  little  cousin,  Joyce 
Allen,  will  be  there.  She  came  this  afternoon  for  a: 
few  days, — ^just  to  be  looked  at — and  I  couldn't  leave 
her  out.    I  hope  you  won't  mind." 

Caroline  was  in  the  hands  of  her  maid,  dressing 
for  dinner.  The  eyes  she  turned  upon  her  husband, 
as  he  stood  in  the  open  doorway  of  his  dressing-room, 
shone  out  from  the  cloud  of  dark  hair  that  fell  about 
her  neck  and  shoulders.  Such  beauty  as  hers  is  at  its 
best  in  disarray.  But  Wing,  almost  for  the  first  time, 
did  not  notice  it.  She  saw  indeed  that  he  looked 
preoccupied  and  excited. 

"Well,  I  hope  they  won't  stay  late.  I've  got  lots 
to  talk  to  you  about. ' ' 

She  smiled  at  him. 

"Important?  Well,  go  and  dress.  And  I'll  get 
rid  of  them  as  soon  as  I  can." 

When  Alec  followed  his  wife  down  to  the  yellow 
drawing-room,  he  found — as  he  had  been  warned — a 
slim  creature  in  black  standing  shyly  beside  Carrie. 
She  was  introduced  to  him  as  "Joyce."    He  vaguely 

95 


96  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

remembered  that  Caroline  had  spoken  to  him  some 
weeks  before  of  a  death  she  had  noticed  in  the  Times 
— that  of  a  favorite  first  cousin  of  her  mother's,  a 
clergyman  in  Yorkshire.  "He  was  a  widower,  with 
one  girl" — she  had  said,  musing — "I  haven't  seen 
them — or  heard  of  them — for  years.  But  they  were 
very  poor.  I  expect  she  is  left  without  a  penny.  She 
used  to  be  a  dear  little  thing.  I  wonder  if  I  could  get 
hold  of  her  ?  I  dreadfully  want  somebody  to  help  me, 
Alec,  in  this  big  house !    There 's  so  much  to  do ! " 

Whereby  Alec  had  understood  that  Carrie  wanted  a 
secretary,  after  the  manner  of  other  great  ladies,  and 
that  it  would  give  her  pleasure,  were  it  possible  to 
fill  the  post  with  this — presumably — forlorn  cousin. 
He  knew  very  well  that  Carrie's  pride  and  feelings 
had  suffered  sorely,  though  silently,  under  the  com- 
plete severance  between  her  and  those  relations  of  her 
own  for  whom  she  cared  most.  He  was  well  aware, 
too,  of  yearnings  in  his  wife's  heart  which  neither 
passion  nor  society  were  likely  to  extinguish.  Possi- 
bly the  sheltering  and  mothering  of  this  orphan  girl, 
supposing  the  girl  turned  out  to  be  suitable,  might  do 
something  to  soothe  them.  He  hastily  gave  his  bless- 
ing on  the  scheme,  taking  for  granted,  of  course, 
that  Carrie  would  not  let  the  new-comer  interfere  with 
their  life  d  deux;  and  then  thought  no  more  about  it. 

But  now  here  was  the  young  lady — a  girl,  appar- 
ently about  twenty,  in  the  very  simplest  of  black 
frocks,  her  hair  coiled  in  large  fair  plaits  at  the  back 
of  her  head,  and  a  narrow  black  ribbon  carrying  a 
locket  round  her  neck.  "Not  pretty,"  he  thought, 
after  a  first  cursory  examination — "but  might  be 
worse. ' '  She  had  given  him  her  hand  with  quiet  self- 
possession,  and  as  there  was  no  other  lady  in  the  party, 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  97 

he  found  himself  presently  taking  her  down  to  dinner, 
not  without  some  bored  wonder  on  his  own  part  as  to 
how  much  attention  Carrie  might  expect  him  to  give 
this  little  person. 

The  little  person  herself  did  not  seem  to  expect  any 
attention.  She  sat  quietly  beside  him,  answering 
when  he  spoke  to  her,  without  awkwardness  or  hesi- 
tation, though  always,  as  he  could  not  help  noticing, 
with  a  slight  rush  of  color  to  the  pale  cheeks.  Six 
weeks,  was  it,  since  she  had  lost  her  father  ?  His  easy 
good-nature  made  him  sorry  for  her,  and  he  could  not 
help  speculating  inwardly  with  some  boyish  amuse- 
ment as  to  what  the  young  woman,  fresh  from  her 
country  parsonage,  must  be  thinking  of  Eltham 
House.  Sometimes,  whenever  the  conversation  flagged 
at  all,  he  caught  the  girl 's  brown  eyes  traveling  round 
the  room,  taking  in  apparently  the  great  Vandyck, 
the  series  of  family  portraits,  the  tapestries,  and  the 
superb  silver — Renaissance  flagons,  bowls,  and  salvers 
— ^ranged  on  the  carved  bujEfet  which  faced  the  Van- 
dyck. They  were  intelligent  eyes  he  thought;  cer- 
tainly not  the  eyes  of  a  fool. 

But  the  conversation  did  not  often  flag.  Llewellyn 
led  it,  and  in  a  small  gathering,  where  he  felt  himself 
at  ease,  there  was  no  better  talker.  Jim  Durrant  had 
dropped  in,  and  besides  the  Treasury  man,  one  Axe- 
ham,  whose  brain  was  the  unfailing  resource  of  each 
successive  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  there  was  a 
young  Lord  Merton  whom  Alec  had  himself  invited  the 
day  before,  and  then  forgotten.  He  was  the  heir  of  a 
great  Midland  magnate ;  a  little  foppish  perhaps,  in  a 
grave  way,  with  his  drooping  mustache,  and  pointed 
black  beard,  trimmed  like  a  Valois  portrait,  but  able 
and  sympathetic,  especially  to  women.    That  he  was 


98  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

simply  dazzled  by  Carrie  was  evident,  and  his  lover's 
vanity  laughed  inwardly,  well  pleased.  For  he  re- 
membered that  Merton,  who  had  been  his  latest  fag 
at  Eton,  had  hesitated — perceptibly — before  accept- 
ing his  invitation. 

The  talk  fell  on  Germany,  and  that  possible 
Armageddon  of  the  future,  of  which  the  world  in 
general  thought  then  so  little,  and  the  men  closely 
in  touch  with  European  affairs  so  much.  Llewellyn, 
who  spent  part  of  every  year  in  Germany  and  spoke 
as  a  German-lover,  gave  a  graphic  account  of  anti- 
English  feeling  in  the  northern  towns. 

"We  stub  their  toes  wherever  they  turn.  The 
feeling  is  absurd — mad — but  horribly  dangerous." 

Axeham  cheerily  pooh-poohed  him.  "Germany  at 
war  would  be  bankrupt  in  three  months — and  the 
Kaiser  knows  it. '  *  Durrant,  for  his  part,  only  hoped 
he  might  live  to  see  the  struggle  that  every  English 
soldier  was  thirsty  for.  "But  you  Liberal  fellows,  if 
you  come  in,  will  never  fight!  Your  tail  won't  let 
you — and  England  will  take  a  back-seat  for  good. 
Ah  well,  if  you  funk  it,  some  of  us  can  always  shoot 
you!" 

''Pour  encourager  les  autres!"  laughed  Llewell5m. 
But  in  the  eye  that  met  Durrant 's  there  was  a  gentle 
mockery,  as  of  one  who  kept  his  own  counsel. 

"My  cousin  has  just  come  back  from  Germany," 
said  Caroline,  bending  kindly  towards  the  girl. 
"Haven't  you,  Joyce?" 

Miss  Allen  colored  again,  evidently  from  shyness. 
But  she  answered  readily.  She  had  been  teaching, 
she  said,  in  the  family  of  a  German  officer  of  high 
rank.  She  mentioned  the  name,  and  Llewellyn  bent 
across  the  table  with  an  exclamation.    "One  of  the 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  99 

very  best  of  their  military  historians,"  he  said,  "and 
one  of  the  most  fiercely  anti-English." 

A  sad  expression  darkened  the  young  face.  "Yes, 
they  hate  us, ' '  she  said  simply,  adding  immediately — 
"but  they  were  very  kind  to  me." 

Durrant  who  was  sitting  next  her  looked  at  her 
with  sympathy.  "Well,  no  wonder!"  he  thought — 
"with  such  a  nice  little  creature!" 

And  he  began  to  draw  her  out.  Her  account  of  her 
German  experiences  amused  and  pleased  everybody. 
Caroline  made  a  little  signal  to  Alec,  as  much  as  to 
say — "isn't  she  rather  a  dear?" — and  "Wing  signaled 
graciously  in  return.  But  as  soon  as  her  short  inn- 
ings were  over  she  relapsed  into  a  bright-eyed  silence, 
following  all  the  talk  with  evident  though  suppressed 
eagerness.  Durrant  liked  her  increasingly  as  time 
went  on,  little  as  she  allowed  him  to  get  out  of  her. 
But  he  gathered  presently  that  she  was  a  cousin  of 
Mrs.  Wing 's,  and  this  was  the  first  time  she  had  been 
inside  Eltham  House.  He  could  not  help  wondering 
what  she  knew  about  her  cousin's  story. 

Meanwhile  for  other  persons  at  the  table,  the  dinner, 
when  over,  remained  in  memory  as  simply  Caroline 
Wing's  opportunity.  Alec  Wing  indeed  had  observed 
and  listened  to  his  wife  with  some  secret  amazement. 
How  awfully  clever  Carrie  was  getting!  She  was 
quite  able  to  hold  her  own  with  Llewellyn,  who  was 
clearly  becoming  devoted  to  her;  and  as  for  Merton, 
she  had  just  knocked  him  over.  In  their  long  love- 
making  in  that  upland  of  Vignale,  she  had  been  the 
most  delightful  of  companions,  ready  to  listen  or  talk, 
to  read  or  be  read  to,  to  draw — embroider — idle — 
just  as  he  pleased.  But  intellectually  he  had  been 
the  guide,  and  she  the  happy  follower.    Her  life  with 


100  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

Marsworth  had  been  an  isolated  and  cloistered  tMng. 
Living  all  the  year  round  in  a  remote  Yorkshire  dale, 
with  a  man  of  austere  religious  belief,  a  stifled  intel- 
lect and  a  morbid  conscience,  she  had  seen  little  or 
nothing  of  the  world  and  its  affairs.  Wing  had 
taught  her  a  good  deal,  had  delighted  in  teaching  her, 
and  in  watching  the  quick  response  that  roused  at 
once  his  pride  and  his  passion. 

But  now — Carrie  had  really  "come  on"  astonish- 
ingly !  And  he  recalled  a  dinner  of  the  week  before — 
Washington's  persistent  vigil  at  Carrie's  side,  at  din- 
ner and  afterwards ;  the  great  man 's  evident  absorp- 
tion in  his  hostess,  and  submission  to  the  spell  by 
which  she  made  a  reticent  man  talk,  and  talk  his 
best — to  his  own  pleasure,  and  that  of  a  delighted 
circle.  Washington  was  fast  becoming  one  of  Carrie 's 
best  friends. 

And  yet — what  good  was  it  going  to  do  him — after 
all?  The  young  man's  self-conceit  was  taking  alarm. 
He  could  not  help  seeing  that  Llewellyn,  whose  ap- 
proval and  friendship  he  himself  ardently  desired, 
was  much  more  ready  to  listen  to  her  than  to  him- 
self; that  Axeham  was  genially  communicative  to 
Carrie,  while  inclined  to  hold  his  host  at  bay,  and  that 
Merton  too  showed  the  same  kind  of  discrimination. 
Of  course  men,  first-rate  men,  were  always  deferential 
to  women,  and  women  were  taken  in  by  it.  A  certain 
discomfort  of  the  male,  obscurely  threatened  in  his 
natural  role  of  superiority,  swept  across  him  occa- 
sionally as  he  watched  his  wife.  But  it  was  very 
vague  and  fugitive;  quite  effaced  in  the  end  by  a 
reflux  of  pride  in  her  charm  and  her  good  looks. 

After  the  general  conversation  of  the  dinner-table, 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  101 

the  evening  passed  in  a  series  of  duologues — Caro- 
line and  Lord  Merton  in  one  corner  of  the  yellow 
drawing-room,  Durrant,  with  the  little  cousin  in  tow, 
walking  about  among  the  pictures.  Alec,  Llewellyn, 
and  Axeham  discussing  the  Parliamentary  situation. 
Alec  however  grew  very  soon  impatient  to  see  the  last 
of  his  guests,  and  he  was  presently  reduced  to  stroll- 
ing morosely  through  the  pictures  by  himself,  occa- 
sionally appealed  to  by  Durrant  and  Miss  Allen,  as 
he  happened  to  come  across  them. 

That  little  girl  must  be  sent  to  bed !  Caroline  must 
really  see  to  it  that  she  did  not  become  a  nuisance. 
And  as  to  that  fellow,  Merton,  would  he  never  go? 
A  philandering  chatter-box!  He  would  give  Carrie 
a  hint  not  to  encourage  him. 

He  was  fairly  on  edge  by  the  time  Llewellyn 
and  the  rest  rose  to  take  their  departure;  so  much 
so  that  Durrant  remarked  upon  it  to  Llewellyn,  as 
they  walked  away  together.  ''What  was  wrong  with 
Alec?    He  seemed  to  have  something  on  his  mind?" 

"It's  true,  I  understand,  about  that  dinner  and 
H.M.,"  said  Llewellyn  cautiously. 

Durrant  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"But  of  course  it's  true!  What  else  did  Alec  ex- 
pect? Why  can't  he  make  up  his  mind  to  take  his 
snubs  like  a  man!  He's  got  Carrie,  and  Eltham 
House,  and  pots  of  money.  Did  he  think  everybody 
was  going  to  shake  hands  and  make  it  up,  besides?" 

Meanwhile  Alec,  on  turning  back  again  from  the 
outer  hall  where  he  had  taken  leave  of  his  guests,  to 
rejoin  Carrie  upstairs,  perceived  a  letter  lying  on  the 
hall-table.  It  was  addressed  to  him,  and  he  opened 
it  eagerly.    The  hot  color  rushed  to  his  temples;  he 


102  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

crushed  it  violently  in  his  hand,  and  mounted  the 
stairs  in  moody  thought. 

At  the  top  of  the  stairs  a  little  figure  in  black 
crossed  his  path.  "Good  night,  Mr.  Wing,"  said  a 
shy  voice. 

"Oh,  good  night,"  he  said,  with  a  sudden  effort  at 
courtesy,  holding  out  a  perfunctory  hand.  The  figure 
disappeared  along  the  eastern  corridor.  "That's  a 
blessing" — he  thought.  "I  wonder  if  I  can  stand 
her  always  about." 

He  found  Carrie  in  her  sitting-room,  opening  the 
letters  of  the  evening.  She  had  exchanged  her  even- 
ing dress  for  something  soft  and  flowing,  and  her 
radiant  looks  showed  not  a  trace  of  fatigue. 

"Wasn't  it  a  pleasant  evening,  Alec?"  she  said 
joyously  as  he  entered,  holding  out  her  hands  to  him. 
Then,  arrested  by  his  expression,  she  changed  her 
tone — 

"Darling! — is  there  anything  wrong?* 

He  threw  himself  into  a  chair  beside  her,  made  a 
movement  to  give  her  the  letter  in  his  hand,  thought 
better  of  it  and  put  it  in  his  pocket. 

"They  won't  have  me  at  Hull,"  he  said,  trjdng  to 
laugh  off  the  blow.  "Never  mind.  We'll  be  even 
with  them  yet — hypocrites ! ' ' 

"Won't  have  you  at  Hull?"  she  repeated.  "You 
don't  mean " 

"I  do  mean  it,  I  mean  just  that.  I  don't  suit  their 
puritanical  taste." 

The  color  died  out  of  Caroline's  cheeks,  and  then 
returned  upon  them  with  a  rush. 

"What  have  they  to  do  with  our  private  affairs!" 
she  said  passionately. 

"Bothwell  writes  a  very  decent  letter,"  said  Wing, 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  103 

after  a  panse.  *  *  He  says  the  newspapers  on  the  other 
side  have  got  hold  of  the  divorce  reports — and  are 
threatening  to  republish  them — ^with  the  Judge's 
remarks,  etc. — if  they  bring  me  down ;  so  he  just  begs 
me  not  to  come — 'very  sorry'  of  course — and  that's 
all!" 

Caroline  was  silent  a  moment — ^then  broke  out 
bitterly — 

*'It's  perfectly  intolerable  there  should  be  this  per- 
secution!   Why  can't  they  let  us  alone!" 

Wing  sprang  up,  and  began  to  pace  the  room  with 
his  hands  in  his  pockets. 

"Well,  we've  got  to  make  up  our  minds,  Carrie, 
what  we're  going  to  do!  Am  I  to  knuckle  under — 
give  up  all  thought  of  politics — ^take  to  farming — or 
aeroplaning — anything  you  like — or  are  we  going  to 
stick  to  it,  through  thick  and  thin?  If  there  is  a 
general  election  this  autumn — and  they're  all  talking 
of  it  at  the  clubs — am  I  to  stand  or  not?  WiU  the 
Whigs  give  me  a  chance,  or  won't  they?  Is  there  any 
way  of  inducing  them  to  give  me  a  chance?"  Then 
his  tone  changed — "Look  here! — ^I've  got  something 
very  interesting  to  tell  you." 

She  looked  up.  He  described  the  scene  at  the 
"Forwards"  Club  and  the  despairing  cry  for  funds. 
"Then  I  went  on  to  see  Pater  at  Claridge's — ^just 
caught  him.  Well,  of  course  he's  all  for  delay! — I'm 
not.  I  don't  believe  time  will  make  any  difference 
whatever,  unless  we  choose  to  wait  till  you  and  I, 
darling,  are  both  old  dodderers!  And  he  doesn't  be- 
lieve in  an  election;  and  on  the  whole  I  do — some 
time  in  the  autumn.  But  he's  a  brick  all  the  same. 
Practically,  I  may  have  whatever  money  I  please,  to 
use  as  I  please — a  cool  hundred  thousand  if  neces- 


104  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

sary.  He  knows  everything  about  the  straits  the 
party  are  in;  and  he's  ready  to  back  me  to  the  last. 
But,  of  course,  he  won't  pay  till  he  knows  whether 
the  goods  will  be  delivered!" 

"Which  means" — Carrie  had  dropped  her  voice, 
and  was  looking  at  him  with  wide  anxious  eyes — 
"till  you  know  whether  they'll  give  you  a  seat  or  not. 
You  are  to  buy  your  seat?" 

"Well,  darling! — and  doesn't  a  man  buy  his 
baronetcy  or  his  peerage?  What's  the  difference? 
All  I  buy  is  the  chance  of  getting  a  few  thousand 
duffers  to  elect  me." 

"Oh,  Alec,  it's  dangerous!"  she  said,  after  a  mo- 
ment, in  a  tone  that  trembled. 

Wing  looked  at  her,  half  amused,  half  irritated. 

"You  needn't  look  so  scared,  Carrie!  If  it  did 
come  off,  it  wouldn't  be  exactly  published  in  the 
newspapers.  It  would  be  known  to  about  three 
people  besides  you  and  me — ^the  Opposition  Whips — 
and  Pater." 

"That  doesn't  make  it  any  better — ^not  a  bit  bet- 
ter!" she  said,  earnestly.    ' '  Don 't  do  it,  Alec,  don 't ! " 

He  could  not  understand  her  distress,  and  began 
to  be  angered  by  it. 

"Don't  do  what?  Anybody  may  offer  money  to  the 
party.  And  as  for  my  part  in  it,  it's  a  mere  incident 
of  war,"  he  said,  bitterly.  "You  and  I  are  at  war, 
Carrie — with  a  lot  of  people  who  want  to  humiliate 
and  punish  us.  We  must  just  understand  that.  Pater 
understands  it  perfectly!  If  I'm  ever  to  recover 
my  place  and  my  opportunity,  we  must  play  every 
card  we've  got.  And  it  is  absurd  not  to  recognize 
that  money  is  perhaps  our  biggest  card — ^money — 
and — Carrie!" 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  105 

He  came  to  stand  behind  her,  and  dropped  a  light 
kiss  on  her  hair. 

She  sat  irresponsive,  her  face  in  shadow,  her  hands 
on  her  knee. 

"How  will  you  ever  do  it?"  she  asked,  after  a 
pause.    ' '  How  does  one  do  such  a  thing  ? ' ' 

' '  Perfectly  simple !  I  write  to  our  Whips  to  say  I 
want  a  seat  for  the  General  Election,  and  such  and 
such  a  seat  would  suit  me.  Will  they  adopt  me  as  an 
official  candidate  and  recommend  me  to  the  local 
people  ?  At  the  same  time,  by  the  same  post  perhaps, 
Pater  writes  to  them  to  ask  confidentially  about  the 
party  funds — says  that  I  have  been  advising  him  to 
contribute  a  substantial  sum — something  of  that  kind ! 
Easiest  thing  possible !  Well,  then  they  have  to  make 
up  their  minds.  Will  they  risk  it? — or  will  they 
refuse  what  will  fill  their  war  chest?" 

''Alec  dear! — won't  you  wait  a  little — after  all?" 
she  said,  suddenly  holding  up  her  arms  to  him — and 
drawing  his  face  down  to  hers.  *'I  don't — I  don't 
believe  you  could  keep  such  a  thing — such  a — a  bar- 
gain— from  Mr.  Washington.  And,  Alec,  you  can't 
buy  people  like  Mr.  Washington — and  Mr.  Llewellyn. 
If  they  think  it  would  damage  the  party  to  help  you 
to  a  seat,  they  won't  do  it — ^whatever  you  offer  them! 
And  you  would  be  so  disappointed  if  they  refused — 
and  I  should  be  so  miserable ! ' ' 

He  drew  himself  away. 

' '  My  dear,  what 's  the  good  of  being  as  beautiful  as 
you  are,  if  you  can't  influence  a  man  like  Washing- 
ton? All  the  world  knows  that  he  can't  say  'No'  to 
a  pretty  woman." 

He  came  round  her  chair  to  stand  in  front  of  her, 
flushed  and  laughing,  his  hands  on  his  sides. 


106  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"If  I  were  to  ask  Mr.  Washington  to  do  something 
he  thought  dishonorable  he'd  never  look  at  me  or 
speak  to  me  again,  or  Mr.  Llewellyn  either,"  she  said, 
with  vehemence.  "Oh,  do  understand,  dear  Alec! 
Don't  trust  to  money!  Trust  to  making  friends. 
There  are  many  kind  people  who  will  give  us  a 
chance — there  are  indeed — when  they've  had  time  to 
forget — ^what  we  did." 

He  looked  at  her,  fairly  amazed. 

**  'Don't  trust  to  money'!  Why  I  thought  you 
understood  Pater's  plan,  and  agreed  with  it,  Carrie! 
What  on  earth  are  we  here  for — in  Eltham  House — 
if  we're  not  going  to  use  all  possible  weapons 
against  this  British  philistinism  and  cant?  If  not, 
better  go  and  live  in  a  cottage  on  twopence  a  year! 
We're  here,  I  repeat,  to  bluff  it — ^to  see  if  we  can't 
force  the  position — ^fight  the  Pharisees — and  beat 
them!  And  I  thought  you  agreed,  Carrie — ^you  did 
agree!"  he  repeated. 

"I  know — I'll  do  anything  I  can!"  she  said,  plead- 
ingly. "But  you  see,  Alec,  since  that  evening  we 
came  home,  I've  got  to  know  some  of  these  men — in 
these  three  months.  They've  been  awfully  good  to 
me.  Take  Mr.  Washington,  for  instance.  I  can't 
teU  you  what  I  feel  about  him.  He's  such  a  real 
great  man — and  so — so  kind  and  true.  I  should  hate 
to  offend  him — to  set  him  against  us.  And  Mr. 
Llewellyn!  What  does  he  care  about  our  being 
rich? — not  a  pin! — ^it  makes  not  the  smallest  differ- 
ence to  him.  But  I  think  he's  really — well — sorry 
for  us" — ^her  voice  faltered  a  little — strangely. 

"  'Sorry  for  us!'  "  repeated  Alec  in  wrathful  as- 
tonishment. "What  on  earth  do  you  mean,  Carrie? 
What  is  there  to  pity,  I  should  like  to  know?    You 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  107 

and  I  love  each  other,  and  we've  had  a  jolly  good 
time.  We  mean  to  go  on  having  a  jolly  good  time, 
don't  we ?    Let  him  keep  his  pity  to  himself ! ' ' 

"Perhaps  he  envies  us  too — for  our  love!"  she 
said,  steadily.  "I  know  he  does.  I  see  that  in  him. 
But  all  the  same  he  knows  very  well  that  we've  set 
the  world  against  us,  and  that" — she  turned  away, 
and  her  voice  grew  muffled — "I've  lost  Carina — 
and — ^Let's  go  gently,  darling!  We're  not  very  old, 
are  we?  And  we  go  on  making  friends  all  the 
time. ' ' 

"And  much  good  it  does  us !  Look  at  that  letter ! ' ' 
he  pointed  to  it  as  it  lay  on  her  lap.  "Didn't  you 
have  that  man  here? — didn't  we  both  make  ourselves 
as  pleasant  to  him  as  we  could? — didn't  I  offer  to 
help  him  with  his  election  expenses? — and  what  was 
the  use  of  it  all !  He  thinks  just  as  we  do  about  that 
ass,  the  British  public!  But  when  the  pinch  comes, 
he  shirks.  Hard  facts,  Carrie! — that's  what  we've 
got  to  face.  And  it  may  sound  gross — but  the  only 
way  to  beat  them  is  by  hard  cash ! ' ' 

The  two  young  creatures  faced  each  other,  divided 
for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  their  passion  by 
a  real  conflict  of  feeling.  In  him  the  arrogance,  the 
excited  will,  the  fundamental  stupidity  of  a  spoiled 
darling  of  fortune,  accustomed  to  make  the  world 
give  way,  and  infuriated  by  any  real  or  prolonged 
resistance.  The  same  excited  will  had  prevailed, 
when,  finding  the  beautiful  woman  with  whom  he  had 
fallen  desperately  in  love  alone  and  undefended  in 
Florence,  he  had  laid  violent  siege  to  her,  and  had 
finally  carried  her  off  from  her  husband  and  children 
in  triumph.  And  now  it  was  incredible  to  him  that 
he  should  not  be  able  by  similar  methods — as  violent 


108  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

and  as  determined — to  force  his  way  back  into  the  old 
position  of  vantage  he  had  thrown  away. 

While  in  Carrie,  on  the  other  hand,  this  renewed 
contact  with  English  life  had  brought  back  upon  her 
all  the  force  of  old  traditions — the  traditions  of  con- 
duct,  honorable,  law-abiding,  self-controlled,  which 
had  surrounded  her  childhood  and  youth,  within  gray 
college  walls.  Her  personal  defiance,  in  truth,  had 
spent  itself.  For  Alec's  sake  she  was  ready  to  brave 
and  attempt  most  things.  But  new  compunctions, 
new  perceptions,  were  busy  in  her.  She  was  scarcely 
conscious  of  them.  But  she  was  aware  at  least  of  a 
sighing  wish  to  recover  her  position  with  men  of  high 
character — good  men  whom  she  must  needs  respect — 
like  Mr.  Llewellyn  and  Richard  Washington — who 
had  treated  her  gently  and  respectfully,  when  good 
women  had  renounced  her.  She  had  begun  to  foresee 
— vaguely — a  long  process  of  reconciliation,  long,  and 
delicate,  and  ultimately  successful.  A  vain  dream, 
perhaps ;  for  it  involved  making  the  best  of  two  wholly 
incompatible  worlds.  But  it  had  comforted  her  con- 
science. And  now  here  was  Alec  spoiling  everything ! 
For  it  seemed  to  her  she  already  knew  the  men  he 
had  to  deal  with  better  than  he  did. 

She  rose,  and  put  her  arms  gently  round  his  neck. 
**Alec! — can't  you  do  it  in  other  ways!  Even  if  the 
people  at  headquarters — here  in  London — agreed, 
how  could  they  answer  for  the  local  people?  It 
would  be  Hull  over  again.  Be  patient,  dearest! 
When  I  hear  you  and  Mr.  Llewellyn  talking,  I  feel  so 
sure  you'll  do  splendid  things  some  day!  Why  don't 
you  take  up  the  housing  on  the  estates  ?  There 's  lots 
wants  doing.  Mr.  Llewellyn  suggested  it  to  me. 
Pater  would  give  you  all  the  money  you  want.    You 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  109 

might  lead  the  way  for  England.  And  then  they 
couldn  't  keep  you  out ! ' ' 

His  face  darkened.  He  took  her  hands  in  his  and 
drew  them  down. 

*'My  dear  Carrie! — if  I  don't  get  into  Parliament 
soon,  I  shall  never  get  into  office,  and  for  an  ambitious 
man — and  I  am  ambitious — I  have  set  my  heart  on 
politics  since  I  was  in  knickerbockers — what  are 
politics  without  office?  It  will  take  me  longer  now 
than  other  people  to  get  to  the  front — and  I  want 
my  chance!" 

And  almost  throwing  her  hands  from  him  in  the 
passion  of  his  mood,  he  began  to  pace  the  room  in 
front  of  her.    She  followed  him,  pleading — 

' '  Alee,  dear  Alec ! — ^let  us  make  friends ! — ^not  try  to 
bribe.  You  know  how  angry  people  have  been  lately 
about  buying  honors — peerages  and  decorations! 
Wouldn't  there  be  an  outcry,  if  it  were  ever  known 
or  suspected  that  your  father  had  paid  £100,000  to 
make  the  Whips  adopt  you?  Wouldn't  it  be  called 
all  sorts  of  horrid  names?" 

*'It  wouldn't  be  known!"  he  said,  frowning. 
* '  These  things  are  generally  in  the  hands  of  one  man. 
Trust  my  father  to  manage  it." 

"But  it  might  so  easily  get  out,"  she  said,  breath- 
lessly. ''And  how  can  it  be  kept  from  Mr.  Washing- 
ton— or  Mr.  Llewellyn?  Alec,  they'll  never  risk  the 
party  for  £100,000!" 

He  was  silent  a  moment,  and  then  said,  looking  at 
her  rather  darkly — 

"And  when  I  do  try  to  make  friends,  you  are 
jealous  directly ! ' ' 

She  wavered  a  moment,  as  though  she  had  been 
struck.    He  had  never  yet  spoken  to  her  in  that  tone, 


110  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

and  with  that  look.  Then  she  flushed  crimson,  and 
turned  away, 

"I  don't  mean  friends  like  that!** 

"Like  what?" 

**I  am  certain  that  woman  is  flirting  with  you!" 
she  said  proudly.  "I  see  it  in  her  whole  manner  to 
you.  She  is  trying  to  lead  you  on — to  make  a  con- 
quest of  you!  Else  why  should  she  ask  you  per- 
petually ? — and  why  should  you  go  to  her,  Alee  ?  You 
have  lunched  with  her  three  times  in  ten  days — and 
paid  calls  in  the  afternoon  besides.  And  at  the  fete 
yesterday  she  simply  made  a  slave  of  you!  People 
will  talk,  I  tell  you,  if  it  goes  on!" 

Ah! — she  was  the  jealous  woman  now;  no  longer 
the  prudent  and  diplomatic  adviser.  Her  breath  came 
fast.  The  elemental  feeling  which  had  swept  them 
together  broke  through,  undoing  for  the  moment  all 
the  recovered  instincts  and  habits.  He  looked  at  her 
in  amazement;  indignant,  yet  half  appeased. 

** Carrie — you  are  a  goose!  Why,  I  asked  you 
beforehand  if  I  might  go  and  see  Mrs.  Whitton — if 
I  might  accept  her  invitation,  without  you;  and  you 
promised — you  promised — not  to  be  jealous.  Every 
time  she  has  asked  me,  it  has  been  to  meet  somebody 
political.  You  might  have  heard  everything!  Well, 
upon  my  word,  if  this  is  the  way  you  are  going  to 
treat  me,  when  I  do  try  to  follow  your  advice,  and 
'make  friends' — I  don't  see  how  you  can  expect  me 
to  pay  much  attention  to  you!" 

She  saw  at  once  that  she  had  made  a  bad  mistake, 
and  that  he  triumphed  over  her.  But  her  outburst 
had  been  beyond  her  control.  It  was  the  result, 
unforeseen  by  her  as  by  him,  of  a  hundred  creeping 
fears,  small  wounds,  accumulating  hurts.     She  had 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  111 

promised,  and  she  had  meant  to  keep  her  promise. 
But  in  these  three  months  had  she  already  become 
conscious  of  the  truth  of  Lord  Wing's  warning  that 
she  had  most  to  fear  from  her  own  sex? — from  the 
women  who  would  be  only  too  ready  to  welcome  Alec 
back  to  their  society,  while  they  ostracized  herself? 
She  had  begun  to  feel  herself  obscurely  threatened — 
in  her  passion,  her  possession — from  many  quarters; 
to  be  conscious  of  enemies  in  the  dark  whom  she  could 
not  see.  Hence  this  conflict  in  her  between  old  and 
new;  between  the  reviving  instincts  of  prudence  and 
high  thinking,  and  the  instincts  of  passion. 

He  pursued  his  advantage  at  once. 

"And  if  it  comes  to  that" — he  said,  half  smiling, 
and  yet  bitter,  "I  don't  think  you  need  talk,  Carrie! 
Anyone  could  see  that  that  fellow  Merton  to-night 
was  making  love  to  you ! ' ' 

"Alec! — when  I  was  thinking  of  you  the  whole 
time  I  was  talking  to  him!  I  was  pumping  him — 
trying  to  get  to  know  things — simply  for  your  sake — 
for  nothing  else  in  the  world!  Well,  that  is  hard!" 
She  fell  into  her  chair,  hiding  her  face  in  her  hands, 
her  pride  struggling  with  her  tears.  He  stood  over 
her  half  ashamed,  yet  full  of  a  vague  irritation,  which 
was  another  kind  of  jealousy  from  hers,  and  yet  was 
jealousy. 

"I  didn't  mean  it,  Carrie — of  course,  I  didn't. 
Don't  cry.  I'm  a  brute.  But  look  here! — ^I  can't 
only  succeed  through  you! — you  can't  expect  a  man 
to  accept  that  "position — you  really  can't.  I  must 
stand  on  my  own  feet,  and  fight  my  own  fight,  however 
you  help  me.  Of  course  you  get  on  with  men  like 
Robert  Llewellyn  and  Washington.  You're  a  pretty 
woman! — they  want  to  please  you.     But  it  doesn't 


112  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

follow  that  I  shall  get  anything  out  of  them,  for  your 
heaux  yeux,  Carrie!  What  I  feel  the  whole  time  is 
that  they  accept  you,  and  draw  the  line  at  me ! " 

She  lifted  a  pale  face. 

"Alee,  just  have  patience — till  next  year!  There 
won't  be  an  election!" 

"There  probably  will,"  he  said  steadily.  "And 
there's  a  seat  in  Staffordshire  I  want." 

"Just  a  few  weeks,  Alec! — because  I  ask  you!" 

* '  I  should  lose  my  chance, ' '  he  said  doggedly. 

She  rose,  despairing,  and  so  wounded,  so  annoyed 
that  he  should  have  been  able  to  deny  her,  that  she 
could  not — or  would  not — speak  another  word. 

She  gathered  up  a  book  and  some  letters  and  moved 
towards  the  door.  He  stood  looking  at  her  in  silence. 
Both  were  conscious  that  something  new  and  sad  had 
happened  to  them — not  beyond  repairing,  oh  no! — 
not  really  touching  their  love — but  still  pointing 
forward  to  a  new  scene,  a  new  chapter,  in  their 
history.  She  opened  the  door,  looked  back  at  him, 
her  dark  eyes  one  mute  and  splendid  reproach — and 
disappeared. 

She  hurried  along  the  corridor,  holding  down  her 
pain.  The  house  was  dark,  and  heavy  with  the  scent 
of  flowers ;  a  few  shaded  lights  here  and  there,  which 
burned  through  the  night.  In  the  gallery  running 
round  the  central  staircase,  a  window  had  been  left 
open  on  the  garden  side.  It  was  long  past  midnight 
and  all  was  still.  A  windy  moonlight  was  on  the 
grass ;  the  plane  trees  tossed  and  sighed.  And  round 
the  dim  oasis  of  the  garden  ran  the  night-murmur  of 
London,  like  a  receding  voice.  Caroline  stopped  a 
moment  to  breathe  in  the  freshness  of  the  wind  that 
was  stirring  the  curtains.    The  house  seemed  to  her 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  113 

stifling ;  and  for  a  moment  she  hated  it.  Then  in  the 
garden  wing,  at  the  end  of  which  lay  her  own  rooms, 
she  perceived  a  light  in  another  open  window. 

Joyce !  so  late  ? 

She  went  on,  filled  with  a  slight  sudden  remorse 
that  she  had  thought  so  little  of  the  girl  since  dinner. 
While  she  was  still  talking  to  a  servant  about  some 
letters  for  the  midnight  post,  Joyce  had  said  a  quiet 
good  night  and  disappeared.  But  the  quick  sym- 
pathy in  Caroline  protested  that  on  this  first  night  in 
the  great  strange  house,  it  would  have  been  kind  to 
show  the  new-comer  to  her  room,  to  exchange  a  few 
cousinly  words  with  her  before  sleep. 

Some  yearning  instinct  born  obscurely  of  her  own 
distress  made  her  pause  outside  the  door  of  the  room 
which  bore  the  name  ''Miss  Joyce  Allen" — and  then 
knock  softly. 

' '  Come  in ! "  said  a  surprised  voice. 

Caroline  entered. 

She  saw  a  little  figure  in  the  plainest  of  cotton 
wrappers  rise  from  a  chair  by  a  writing-table  stand- 
ing near  the  open  window. 

"Oh,  I'm  so  sorry!"  said  Joyce,  in  confusion — "I 
didn't  know  it  was  so  late!" 

"I  thought  perhaps  you  couldn't  sleep,"  said 
Caroline,  uncertainly.  * '  You  must  excuse  my  coming 
in.    Have  you  all  you  want  ? ' ' 

And  involuntarily  her  eyes  perceived  the  girl's 
preparations  for  the  night;  the  photographs  put  out 
beside  the  bed,  one  of  the  chancel  of  a  church,  filled 
with  Easter  flowers,  the  other  of  a  gray-haired  man ; 
the  worn  Testament,  and  two  or  three  other  little 
pious  books ;  the  neatly  folded  clothes.  She  seemed  to 
see  her  own  maiden  room  in  her  father's  house. 


114  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

**I  was  writing  to  a  friend — a  very  great  friend" — 
said  Joyce  shyly.  "She  was  married  last  year — but 
we  always  write  to  each  other." 

"You  ought  to  be  in  bed,"  said  Caroline,  putting 
an  arm  round  the  thin  shoulders.  "You  look  very 
tired!" 

"Oh  no,  I'm  not  tired.  It  was  all  so  interesting — 
so  beautiful  to-night.  It's  you  that  look  tired." 
The  tone  was  shy,  but  the  speaker  took  Caroline's 
hand  in  hers. 

Something  in  the  voice  soothed  Caroline  wonder- 
fully. She  kissed  her  little  cousin  affectionately, 
made  her  promise  to  go  to  bed,  and  said  good  night. 
' '  We  '11  have  a  talk  to-morrow. ' '  The  girl 's  large  eyes 
followed  the  brilliant  figure  to  the  door. 

"I  wonder  if  Alec  will  let  me  keep  her,"  thought 
Carrie  as  she  went  to  her  own  room — "and  I  won- 
der— if  she  really  knows." 

But  then  all  thought  of  Joyce — of  anything  else 
in  the  wide  world — was  swept  away  by  the  recollection 
that  she  and  Alec  had  quarreled — almost  quarreled — 
for  the  first  time  in  their  lives ;  and  by  the  passionate 
expectation  of  his  return  to  her. 

She  waited  for  him  in  darkness;  and  when  he 
came  he  brought  the  emotion  of  reconciliation,  of 
murmured  words  given  and  received,  of  long  embraces 
and  tears  kissed  away.  His  will  was  to  prevail  in  the 
ordering  of  their  new  life,  as  in  all  else ;  and  for  her 
jealousy  of  Mrs.  Whitton  she  was  much  mocked  at, 
and  soon  shamed. 


CHAPTER  VII 

In  a  drawing-room  of  a  little  house  in  "West  Square, 
BucMngham  Gate,  Mrs.  Whitton  was  sitting  up  late 
over  her  accounts.  She  was  much  worried  by  them, 
and  her  eyes  showed  dark  rims  of  fatigue.  It  was 
certainly  annoyingly  true  that  she  had  been  getting 
rather  deeply  into  debt.  Apparently  it  was  not 
possible  to  maintain  a  remarkable  position,  once  you 
had  achieved  it,  so  cheaply  as  she  had  once  fondly 
thought.  What  with  little  lunches  to  Cabinet  Min- 
isters, and  little  frocks  for  Ascot,  or  the  Opera,  or 
week-ends,  and  little  journeys  to  Italy  in  the  spring, 
or  to  Paris  in  the  winter,  from  which  one  returned 
primed  with  the  latest  literary  or  artistic  or  dramatic 
information,  life  was  really  unreasonably  expensive. 
Mrs.  Whitton  had  a  kind  of  injured  feeling  about  it, 
like  that  of  a  person  who  has  been  overcharged.  It 
ought  not  to  cost  Tier  so  much  to  live,  because  she 
returned  society  so  much  more  for  its  money  than 
other  people. 

However,  society,  as  represented  by  dressmakers, 
milliners,  bootmakers,  and  her  household  books,  did 
not  seem  to  be  of  the  same  opinion;  and  there  were 
the  bills!  The  tone  of  the  letters  accompanying  the 
bills,  also,  was  changing  disagreeably,  and  Madge  felt 
that  something  would  have  to  be  done.    Her  money, 

115 


116  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

however,  was  her  own.  There  were  no  tiresome 
trustees  to  interfere.  She  could  always  sell  out  some- 
thing. But  of  course  there  is  an  end  to  that  process 
some  time. 

Oh,  what  it  would  be  to  have  unlimited  money! 
Like  the  Wings  for  instance !  Mrs.  Whitton  fell  back 
in  her  chair  with  closed  eyes,  and  bathed  a  hungry 
fancy  in  the  golden  memories  of  Eltham  House. 
The  perfection  of  that  dinner! — of  every  detail  of 
food,  service,  wine,  the  gorgeous  flowers  and  fruit, 
that  buffet  of  historic  silver  at  the  end  of  the  room, 
the  lighting,  the  pictures — everything!  Why  should 
the  Wings  possess  so  much — and  others  so  little? 
She  supposed  Caroline  Wing  had  a  housekeeper,  and 
a  major-domo,  not  to  speak  of  the  already  famous 
clief,  and  never  troubled  herself  personally  about  any- 
thing. She  had  simply  to  press  a  button,  and  the 
thing  was  done,  so  to  speak.  ''So  many  people  to 
lunch  or  dinner  to-day,"  "a  reception  to-morrow 
night,"  "a  concert,  Friday" — and  she  didn't  proba- 
bly even  condescend  to  pay  the  bills  herself !  It  was 
all  done  for  her  by  some  magnificent  slave  of  the 
lamp  in  the  background. 

Well,  of  course,  the  invitations,  the  matching  of 
people,  which  is  the  really  important  business  in  any 
social  success,  couldn't  be  done  in  that  way,  by 
Caroline  Wing  or  anybody  else.  But  Mrs.  Whitton 
felt  sorely  that  with  such  opportunities,  such  backing, 
and  such  a  purse,  she  could  have  pitted  herself 
against  any  rival  whatever  and  beaten  them.  The 
mistress  of  Eltham  House  was  certainly  making  a 
name  and  place  for  herself  in  this  hostile  London. 
Madge  Whitton  did  not  deny  it.  She  simply  denied 
the  performance  any  special  merit  at  all.     Given 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  117 

Eltham  House,  Lord  Wing's  money,  and  a  very  mod- 
erate intelligence,  the  thing  was  bound  to  succeed! 
Up  to  a  certain  point — hien  entendu! 

At  the  same  time  if  the  truth  were  known,  there 
was  already  in  the  mind  of  this  very  successful  little 
"climber"  a  certain  social  jealousy  of  Caroline  Wing, 
mingled  with  the  envy  of  her  money.  There  were 
certain  prominent  men  with  whom  Madge  Whitton 
had  never  really  felt  herself  successful — Eobert 
Llewellyn  and  Mr,  Washington,  in  particular — and 
two  or  three  others,  who  were  among  the  most  cov- 
eted guests  of  the  moment  in  political  London.  They 
accepted  her  invitations,  because  no  one  could  arrange 
a  small  party  better,  and  because  in  her  pleasant 
rooms  such  men  found  another  opportunity  for  the 
only  recreation  which  really  attracted  them,  good 
talk,  without  noise,  or  overcrowding,  or  bores,  with 
people  who  shared  the  same  interests,  and  under- 
stood the  shorthand  of  each  other's  conversation. 
But  Madge  had  noticed  already  in  the  tone  of  such 
men  towards  Caroline  Wing  a  touch  of  tenderness, 
of  something  intimate,  gentle,  profound,  which  she 
resented  as  a  kind  of  rebuff  to  herself,  because  she 
had  never  been  able  to  evoke  it.  Must  one  go  to 
all  lengths,  as  Caroline  Wing  had  done,  before  one 
became  really  interesting  to  the  men  best  worth 
knowing  ? 

Of  course  Alec  Wing  was  amusing,  and  by  now  a 
constant  frequenter  of  the  house  in  West  Square. 
She  thought  with  a  certain  thrill  of  his  physical  per- 
fections— his  open,  handsome  face,  his  clustering  hair,, 
and  gallant  bearing.  It  was  true  apparently  that  he 
had  not  resigned  his  commission  in  the  Guards  of  hisi 
own  accord,  but  had  been  forced  to  do  so  by  the  actioni 


118  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

of  his  brother  officers.  That  showed  how  strong  a 
feeling  there  was  in  some  quarters,  even  among  men 
of  the  world.  No  doubt  because  of  John  Marsworth's 
high  reputation — his  many  friends  in  the  army — his 
exploits  in  the  Boer  War,  and  the  rest  of  it. 

''AH  very  well,  but  I  couldn't  have  lived  with  John 
Marsworth  for  six  weeks!"  thought  Madge  Whitton. 
"My  old  man  was  tiresome  enough,  but — John  Mars- 
worth!"  She  remembered  a  chance  encounter  with 
him,  in  the  country  house  of  one  of  her  relations  years 
before,  when  she  was  only  seventeen,  and  he  was  still 
unmarried.  She  had  tried  to  flirt  with  him,  at  first 
successfully,  and  then  had  been  aware  of  a  sudden 
flinty  change  in  him — of  something  contemptuous, 
before  which  she  shrank.  Was  it  because  he  had 
come  to  know  of  certain  passages  between  her  and 
another  man  in  the  house — an  older  man  married  to 
one  of  her  own  cousins — and  of  the  young  wife's  dis- 
tress? Her  conscience  admitted  it  might  have  been 
so.  Well,  anyhow  he  was  a  bigot  and  a  martinet,  and 
any  wife  not  entirely  subservient  must  have  had  a 
bad  time  with  him. 

So  that  the  charm  of  Alec  Wing  for  anyone  who  had 
been  condemned  to  seven  years  of  Marsworth  was 
easily  understood.  How  agreeable  he  could  make  him- 
self to  the  people  he  wished  to  please — "to  me  for 
instance ! ' '  Impossible  for  such  a  being  to  understand 
that  there  really  did  exist  a  great  many  sensible 
people  determined  to  send  him  to  Coventry!  He 
himself  could  be  so  friendly,  so  easy-going;  and  al- 
ways so  sorry — apparently — for  people  less  prosper- 
ous than  himself. 

And  she  thought  of  a  hint  she  had  dropped — the 
slightest — of  being  hard  up — and   his   quick,   com- 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  119 

passionate  look;  followed  by  shyness,  lest  he  should 
say  anything  indiscreet,  anything  to  wound  her  feel- 
ings. He  needn't  have  been  afraid! — "though  I've 
never  let  a  man  help  me  out  yet,"  she  thought,  not 
without  pride.  But  again  the  recollection  of  the 
Wing  wealth  came  stingingly  across  her.  Why,  it 
would  cost  Alec  Wing  nothing — ^just  nothing! — to 
lend  a  friend  a  thousand  pounds.  A  signature  on  a 
piece  of  paper! — something  never  felt — which  need 
never  be  remembered.  And  again  she  closed  her  eyes 
and  let  fancy  play.  All  her  bills — the  bank  over- 
draft— Cousin  Kate 's  loan — everything ! — swept  away 
and  smoothed  out.    She  drew  a  long,  sighing  breath. 

"I  should  like  to  know  when  you're  going  to  bed," 
said  a  gruff  voice  from  the  door. 

Madge  turned  to  see  her  middle-aged  maid,  for- 
merly her  nurse — ^by  name  Anne  Street — bending  dis- 
approving eyes  on  her  from  the  doorway.  Street  was 
a  power  in  the  West  Square  household,  its  real  ruler 
in  fact.  It  was  she  who  did  all  the  practical  work; 
who  managed  the  lackadaisical  Miss  Elwood,  ' '  Cousin 
Kate,"  the  lady  who  played  chaperon  to  Mrs.  Whit- 
ton,  and  also  contributed  a  solid  three  hundred  a 
year  to  the  expenses ;  and  it  was  she  who  kept  a  sharp 
eye  on  the  tradesmen  and  the  servants,  and  one  not 
less  sharp  on  Madge  Whitton  herself.  Madge  ac- 
knowledged her  indispensable;  was  fond  of  her;  and 
groaned  under  her. 

' '  Go  away,  Anne, ' '  she  said  crossly,  at  sight  of  her 
domestic  mentor;  ''go  away,  and  go  to  bed.  I'm 
doing  my  accounts. ' ' 

Instead  of  obeying,  Anne  came  into  the  room,  and 
began  to  pick  up  some  of  the  litter  of  books,  letters, 
and  newspapers  with  which  it  was  strewn. 


120  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"There  are  two  new  hats  come  from  Madame 
Therese, ' '  she  said  severely,  after  a  pause.  Her  mouth 
opened  and  closed  on  the  words  like  a  steel  trap.  It 
made  a  straight  slit,  almost  lipless,  in  her  face,  which 
possessed  besides  a  pair  of  pale  blue  eyes,  a  nonde- 
script nose,  and  a  square  chin.  She  was  very  stout, 
and  seemed  to  be  bursting  out  of  her  clothes,  which 
never  appeared  to  have  either  color  or  make.  She  had 
a  right  to  Madge's  cast-offs,  but  as  she  never  wore  any 
of  them,  Madge  could  only  suppose  that  she  sold  them 
to  advantage.  If  so,  her  mistress  was  uneasily  aware 
that  some  of  the  money  was  probably — indeed  cer- 
tainly— used  in  paying  some  of  her  mistress's  small 
and  constantly  forgotten  debts.  It  should  be  added 
that  she  belonged  to  an  obscure  dissenting  body,  and 
entertained  a  curious  scorn,  not  unmixed  with  com- 
passion, for  the  rich  and  prosperous. 

''Well,  I  wanted  another  hat,"  said  Mrs.  Whitton, 
with  an  attempt  at  dignity.  "And  I'll  thank  you, 
Anne,  not  to  interfere. ' ' 

"You've  more  than  you  can  wear  in  a  week  of 
Sundays  upstairs  already.  We'd  better  have  paid 
for  some  of  them  first.  * ' 

Madge  bent  over  her  accounts  in  silence,  pretend- 
ing not  to  hear. 

"And  if  you  go  on,  sitting  up  like  this,  you'U  be 
ill,"  pursued  the  harsh  voice;  "and  then  there'll  be 
doctors  to  pay  for." 

"For  goodness'  sake,  go  away,  Anne! — and  let  me 
alone ! ' '    The  maid  looked  at  her  quite  unmoved. 

"If  I  don't  bring  it  home  to  you,  no  one  else  will," 
she  said  doggedly.  "You  can't  go  on  like  this. 
Miss  Elwood  told  me  last  night,  she  wouldn't  lend 
you  another  farthing." 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  121 

''"Well,  you  goose,  I  can  always  sell  out." 

"Yes,  so  long  as  there's  anything  to  sell — which 
won't  be  long.  We  ought  to  leave  this  house — and 
take  up  another  way  of  living  altogether, ' '  said  Anne, 
coming  to  sit  down  heavily  beside  her  mistress. 
"You'll  be  in  Queer  Street — ^you  know  you  will — if 
this  goes  on." 

* '  How  you  croak,  Anne ! ' ' 

"No.    It's  true,"  persisted  the  other. 

Mrs.  Whitton  looked  round  her  drawing-room  with 
a  sigh.  She  was  very  proud  of  her  little  house,  its 
taste,  its  convenience,  its  social  capabilities.  It  was 
identified  with  her — part  of  her — all  her  friends 
praised  it.  How  odious  to  have  to  go  and  live  in  a 
cheaper  part  of  town — or  in  a  flat !  So  much  depends 
too  on  having  a  particular  gite — with  its  atmosphere 
and  associations — where  people  can  always  find  you. 
"And  there  never  was  a  flat  yet  that  had  any  indi- 
viduality," she  thought.    "I  hate  them!" 

"  Go  to  bed,  Anne ! ' '  she  repeated,  as  she  rose  with 
a  stretch.  "And  I'll  come  too.  You  may  brush  my 
hair  for  me;  it's  coming  out  abominably.  I  shall 
soon  have  to  buy  some. ' ' 

"There's  never  a  blessing  on  bought  hair,"  said 
Anne  sententiously,  beginning  to  put  out  the  lights. 
"You've  got  to  put  up  with  it.  The  Lord  gave,  and 
the  Lord  taketh  away.  All  the  same  it's  nonsense. 
You've  got  plenty." 

And  in  the  neighboring  bedroom,  when  Mrs. 
Whitton  unloosed  her  fair  coils,  Anne  enjoyed  one  of 
her  few  pleasures  in  brushing  them.  She  did  it  with 
a  thoroughness  which  sometimes  evoked  protests 
from  the  patient ;  and  few  people  watching  the  process 
would  have  guessed  at  the  strength  of  passionate  and 


122  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

yet  clear-eyed  and  disapproving  affection  with  which 
she  regarded  the  young  woman  under  her  hands. 
But  Madge  knew  herself  loved,  and  to  do  her  justice, 
was  not  ungrateful. 

She  lay  awake,  afterwards,  thinking  of  her  diffi- 
culties, and  thinking  also  of  a  visit  which  Alec  Wing 
was  to  pay  her  on  the  morrow.  He  had  paid  her  a 
good  many  lately.  One  could  only  suppose  that 
Caroline  Wing  knew  and  approved !  For  there  could 
be  no  doubt  that  the  two  sinners  were  still  deeply  in 
love  with  each  other.  As  far  as  appearances  went — 
anyway ! 

"But  one  simply  can't  help  flirting  with  him!" 
thought  Madge  sleepily.  "I  don't  believe  Elizabeth 
Washington  herself  could — if  he  gave  her  the  chance. 
.  .  .  Suppose  I  asked  his  advice  about  investments. 
There  couldn't  be  any  harm  in  getting  a  few  tips. 
Why,  Lord  Wing  must  be  made  of  them!  And  I 
dare  say  I  can  do  something  for  him.  I  have  done 
him  some  good  turns  already.  But  if  he's  really  set 
his  heart  on  Parliament — silly  fellow ! — ^let  's  think ! — 
who  could  help,  that  I  know?" 

And  running  over  names  in  her  head,  she  fell 
asleep. 

"Lucky  beggars!"  thought  Alec  Wing,  as  he 
stopped  to  look  at  a  private  omnibus  that  was  being 
loaded  up  before  a  house  in  Eaton  Square.  Evidently 
a  family  going  north — perhaps  to  Scotland — in  prep- 
aration for  the  Twelfth.  Guns  and  cartridge  cases 
mixed  up  with  miscellaneous  luggage;  fishing  rods 
strapped  together — et  cetera. 

Meanwhile,  in  the  London  square,  autumn  was 
already  visible,  though  it  was  but  the  first  week  of 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  123 

August.  The  leaves  were  beginning  to  drift  down- 
wards in  the  hot  and  lifeless  air;  many  blinds  were 
drawn,  the  flowers  in  the  balconies  drooped. 

The  moors !  Wing  thought  it  was  about  time  to  be 
getting  out  of  this  dusty  wilderness.  Brown  plashing 
water  and  gray  stones;  the  white  flicker  of  a  trout 
in  a  mountain  burn;  stretches  of  pink  heather  with 
the  hot  sun  wringing  its  scent  from  it,  and  the  bright 
wind  beating  over  it,  the  rush  of  the  grouse,  and  the 
friendly  faces  of  the  dogs: — these  images  came  in 
teasing  swarms  about  him.  He  himself  had  rented 
a  famous  moor  for  the  season,  and  Carrie  had  ar- 
ranged a  series  of  parties  for  the  later  autumn.  But 
he  and  she  had  long  since  made  up  their  minds  to 
stay  out  Parliament  in  London.  In  these  last  weeks 
of  the  Parliamentary  session,  it  was  easy  to  get  hold 
of  the  busy  men,  in  a  more  intimate  and  informal  way 
than  was  possible  amid  the  "social  junketings"  of 
June  and  July.  One  could  sift  out  the  people  who 
mattered,  and  let  the  rest  go.  No  more  miscellaneous 
crowds!  But  every  night  the  beautiful  house  was 
open  to  its  favored  guests.  A  few  people  to  dinner, 
almost  exclusively  men;  politicians,  soldiers,  officials, 
men  of  letters,  artists ;  and  after  dinner,  ' '  Mrs.  Wing, 
At  Home,"  night  after  night,  to  a  circle  of  people — 
again,  mostly  men — who  already  felt  themselves  in 
some  sort  a  corporate  entity,  a  recognized  body,  with 
incipient  powers  and  common  interests;  above  all,  a 
common  loyalty  to  the  beautiful  and  attractive  woman 
who  was  beginning — after  three  months'  continuous 
effort — to  show  what  she  might  be  capable  of  in  the 
future,  as  a  social  artist.  And  as  for  her  past,  while 
half  the  world  still  shunned  and  condemned  her,  the 
other  half  were  being  rapidly  caught  and  disarmed 


124  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

by  those  brown  eyes  of  hers — ^their  wistful  humanity, 
their  passion. 

"By  Jove!  Carrie's  superb!" — ^was  the  recurring 
thought  of  her  young  husband  as  he  walked  on 
through  the  August  streets.  The  "little  girl"  had 
been  useful,  too.  Joyce  Allen  was  promising  to  be- 
come a  lieutenant  worth  having.  It  was  evident  that 
she  was  devoted  to  Carrie,  who  seemed  to  have  won 
her  heart,  as  usual.  She  had  now  promised  to  stay 
with  them  for  a  year.  In  some  ways  she  was  an  odd 
customer.  The  allowance — alias  salary — which  Carrie 
had  offered  her,  had  been  refused  as  too  generous. 
The  young  lady  had  finally  accepted  half,  Carrie 
having  pointed  out  that  a  certain  number  of  pretty 
frocks  for  Mrs.  Wing's  cousin,  who  now  appeared  at 
all  her  "evenings,"  was  reaUy  indispensable.  Alto- 
gether, rather  an  inscrutable  little  being!  So  maid- 
enly— and  yet  so  independent!  Carrie  was  certain 
that  various  common  relatives  had  tried  to  dissuade 
her  from  coming  to  Eltham  House — had  indeed  cut 
her  since  she  arrived  there.  And  yet  there  she  was — 
a  fixture. 

How  much  did  she  know  of  the  "Wing  Divorce 
Case"?  Not  a  word  or  a  look  revealed.  Yet  about 
the  slight  figure  and  all  its  ways  there  floated  a  kind 
of  fragrance  of  delicate  feeling  and  high  conscience, 
which  Wing  at  any  rate  sometimes  found  embarrass- 
ing. It  seemed  to  him,  however,  that  to  have  the 
little  creature  at  her  side  did  something  to  mend  the 
wounds  and  slights  that  British  philistinism  must 
needs  go  on  aiming  at  Caroline.  And  if  so,  and  it 
suited  her  to  keep  the  girl — ^by  all  means!  But  why 
should  Jim  Durrant  have  taken  to  fooling  round  with 
the  young  woman  ?    It  was  absurd — and  it  was  unkind 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  125 

besides.  For  although  Jim  was  not  rich,  he  was  very- 
well  born,  and  well-connected ;  his  parents  and  sisters 
were  ambitious  for  him,  and  not  the  least  likely  to 
welcome  such  a  little  Cinderella  in  the  part  of  Jim's 
wife,  without  a  severe  struggle.  To  do  the  child 
justice,  she  could  not  be  said  to  encourage  him;  but 
there  he  was  perpetually,  doing  her  errands  and  Caro- 
line's, and  becoming,  so  far  as  his  military  duties  al- 
lowed, the  tame  cat  of  the  house.  Alec  Wing,  from 
his  height  of  superior  wisdom  as  a  married  man  of 
eighteen  months'  standing,  thought  that  Jim  was  be- 
having foolishly,  and  that  something  must  be  done. 

And  as  to  his  own  affairs  ?  It  was  now  three  weeks 
since  he  and  Caroline  had  had  their  first  quarrel,  and 
everything  was  still  in  suspense.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
his  wife's  arguments  had  impressed  him  more  than 
either  he  or  she  had  known  at  the  time.  Also  Hull 
had  not  been  captured.  The  Government  candidate 
had  just  held  the  seat.  The  Tory  spirits  had  im- 
proved, and  even  Alec  was  forced  to  admit  that  the 
chances  of  an  election  were  receding.  But  meanwhile 
there  was  fresh  news  as  to  the  Midland  seat  on  which 
he  had  his  eye.  The  old  fellow  who  held  it  had  not 
been  seen  in  the  House  of  Commons  for  months ;  and 
the  newspapers  of  that  morning  reported  him  as 
dying.  There  was  an  excellent  sporting  chance  of 
capturing  the  seat ;  and  the  man  who  achieved  it  would 
be  the  hero  of  the  hour.  And  there  the  great  bribe 
lay  still,  warm  and  waiting  to  be  used,  at  Wing 's  dis- 
posal. He  was  in  twenty  minds — but  once  more 
vehemently  inclined  to  risk  it. 

"Mrs.  Whitton  at  home?" 

The  pretty  parlor  maid,  whose  cap  and  dress  showed 


126  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

the  artistic  hand  of  her  mistress,  admitted  him  without 
difficulty,  and  as  he  entered  the  pale  green  drawing- 
room,  well  screened  from  the  August  sun,  Mrs.  Whit- 
ton,  in  white,  rose  smiling  to  meet  him. 

"Still  in  town?"  she  said,  as  she  pointed  him  to  a 
chair.  "I  couldn't  believe  it,  when  I  got  your  tele- 
phone message  yesterday.    Why  aren  't  you  shooting  ? ' ' 

"Because  there  may  be  other  things  more  impor- 
tant! And  you? — ^Why  aren't  you  on  the  move?  I 
expect  you've  more  invitations  than  you  know  what 
to  do  with!" 

"A  good  many  invitations" — she  admitted.  Then 
— with  a  sigh — "But  I'm  too  poor." 

"Too  poor?  Nonsense!"  His  laugh  sounded 
embarrassed. 

"I  can't  afford  the  frocks !  It's  perfectly  appalling 
what  the  frocks  are  coming  to  now,  in  country 
houses. ' ' 

"Do  without  them!" 

"So  easy  for  a  man  to  say!  Ask  an  officer  to  do 
without  his  uniforms.  My  frocks  are  just  as  much 
de  rigueur." 

He  shook  his  head  gayly,  showing  his  white  teeth. 
They  sparred  a  little ;  and  then  she  abruptly  changed 
her  tone. 

"All  very  well  to  laugh — ^but  it's  serious.  I'm 
afraid — I  shall  have  to  give  up  this  house." 

"Give  up  this  house?  Why  it's  part  of  you! — 
you've  made  it  so  jolly!" 

And  he  turned  his  brilliant  head  to  look  round 
the  room,  which  had  a  pleasant  emptiness,  entirely 
devoid  of  the  usual  feminine  litter,  in  which  a  few 
beautiful  things — drawings,  antiques,  engravings — 
showed  themselves,  without  jostling,  and  chairs  of  all 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  127 

sizes,  in  many  nooks  and  corners,  suggested  talk  with- 
out crowding. 

* '  Yes — I  Ve  been  here  a  good  while.  I  've  made  it. 
It 's  full  of  memories.    But — ^well,  it  can 't  be  helped ! ' ' 

And  suddenly,  he  saw  the  eyes  which  were  her  chief 
beauty  fill  with  tears. 

Wing's  easy  susceptibility  was  touched.  He  moved 
nearer  to  her. 

"  I  'm  awfully  sorry !    Is  it  really — ' ' 

She  laughed — hysterically. 

"Really  so  bad?  Well,  I  don't  want  to  be  in  the 
courts.  I  should  be  all  right  if  my  investments  would 
only  pay  as  they  used  to  do." 

' '  Investments  ? "  He  hesitated,  flushed,  and  at  last 
put  the  natural  questions — ' '  what  are  they  ? — ^what  's 
the  matter?  Can  I  help?"  She  laughed  again — 
beat  about  the  bush — was  alternately  proud,  and  ap- 
pealing— and  finally  threw  herself  on  his  help.  "If  I 
only  had  someone  to  advise  me!  But  what  can  a 
woman  do — all, alone!" 

It  ended  in  his  making  a  list  of  all  her  investments 
in  his  pocketbook,  and  promising  to  ask  his  father 
how  they  could  be  improved.  Nor  was  this  all.  He 
mentioned  a  great  coal  and  iron  business — one  of  the 
most  famous  in  the  north — just  about  to  turn  itself 
into  a  limited  company,  and  raise  fresh  capital. 

Her  eyes  suddenly  flamed. 

"Heavens! — if  one  could  get  in  there,  before  the 
public!" 

He  smiled. 

"My  father's  sure  to  have  a  large  slice.  Suppose 
I  get  hold  of — what? — a  thousand  shares? — and  let 
you  have  them  ? ' ' 

She  clasped  her  hands. 


128  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"Oh,  if  you  cow^cZ/" 

**Well — leave  it  to  me!"  He  smiled  down  upon 
her  rather  guiltily,  conscious  of  Carrie,  and  Carrie's 
jealousy,  at  the  back  of  his  mind,  but  all  the  same 
enjoying  the  role  of  benefactor  to  this  little  woman 
who  had  given  him  many  pleasant  hours,  and  intro- 
duced him  to  not  a  few  profitable  people  since  his 
return  to  London.  She  smiled  in  return,  all  radiance, 
and  then  bending  over,  she  laid  her  hand  lightly  on 
his.  Somehow — at  the  touch — the  recollection  of  a 
moment  long  gone  by  under  the  trees  of  an  Oxford 
garden  recurred  to  both.  He  slightly  drew  back  his 
chair. 

"Well  now" — his  voice  had  taken  another  tone — 
"didn't  you  say  something  to  me — yesterday — 
through  the  telephone — about  Maurice  Black,  Captain 
Black,  possibly  coming  here  this  afternoon?" 

"Certainly!"  Mrs.  Whitton  got  up  and  rang  the 
bell  for  tea.  "He  promised  to  come.  You  want  a 
talk  with  him?" 

"I  do." 

After  giving  the  order,  Madge  came  back  to  her 
seat,  and  studied  the  male  countenance  before  her, 
her  fingers  lightly  joined  upon  her  lap.  In  the  mirror 
on  the  opposite  wall,  she  was  dimly  aware  of  a  reflec- 
tion of  herself — golden  hair,  with  the  light  behind  it, 
slim  figure,  and  lines  of  white  drapery;  a  reflection 
which  gave  her  pleasure — and  confldence — while  she 
talked. 

"You're  looking  out  for  a  constituency?" 

He  admitted  it,  adding  frankly  that  she  knew  as 
well  as  he  did  the  difficulties  in  the  way. 

Madge  considered,  saying  after  a  minute,  with  ap- 
parent irrelevance — 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  129 

"The  party's  even  more  'stony'  than  I  am!  How- 
can  we  fight?" 

"Is  that  what — ^Washington — says  to  you?"  He 
paused  on  the  name. 

"No.  He's  not  a  great  friend  of  mine.  But  I've 
other  means  of  knowing  it.    I  do  know  it. ' ' 

'  *  Well,  I  suppose  Maurice  Black — as  a  Junior  Whip 
— could  tell  us  all  there  is  to  know,"  laughed 
Wing.  "I  understand  he's  very  well  in  with  his 
Chief." 

"I  don't  think  he  knows  much.  The  Chief — Sir 
Lawrence  Penwenack,  keeps  everything  in  his  own 
hands.  Nobody  else,  they  say,  knows  where  the  funds 
are.  Certainly  no  one  else  signs  checks.  Maurice 
has  raked  in  a  few  big  subscriptions  lately,  but  not 
nearly  enough.  They  're  awfully  hard  up !  There 
are  quite  thirty  seats  they  can't  fight — that  they 
ought  to  fight." 

"Hm.  So  the  Chief — Sir  Lawrence — has  the  sole 
responsibility.  I  wonder  if  that's  really  true?" 
He  pondered,  his  eyes  fiixed  upon  her.  Was  it  at  all 
likely  that  a  woman — that  this  woman — ^knew  any- 
thing substantial  about  it?  But  her  cool  self-confi- 
dence impressed  him. 

"Absolutely  true.  Washington  knows  scarcely 
anything  about  the  funds.  Maurice  tells  me  so,  at 
least.    He  doesn't  want  to  know!" 

Wing  laughed. 

"Sensible  man!  Why  should  he  know?  Much 
better  not.  Well  now — but  this,  mind,  is  a  secret ! " — 
he  turned  round  to  look  at  her  full — ^"I  've  been  trying 
to  persuade  my  father  to  come  down  handsomely. ' ' 

"Lord  Wing!"  She  clasped  her  hands  again. 
"But  that  is  interesting!    Will  he  save  us?" 


130  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

*'0n  conditions!"  said  "Wing,  lightly  but  delib- 
erately. 

Their  eyes  met.  **You  see" — he  added — *'l  want 
my  career." 

She  studied  him  quietly. 

"Of  course  you  do.  And  why  shouldn't  you  have 
it?  Now,  what  can  I  do?  Will  you  stay  to 
see  Maurice,  or  will  you  trust  me  to — well,  give  a 
message  ? ' ' 

"I  can't  imagine  a  better  diplomat!"  he  said,  after 
a  moment,  smiling  at  her.  Yet  it  was  evident  that 
some  meditation  had  preceded  the  smile. 

Her  expression  grew  more  serious. 

*'I  must  have  things  a  little  plainer.  Do  I  under- 
stand that  Lord  Wing  wishes  to  help  the  party — 
generously  ?  " 

' '  Generously. ' ' 

"One  hears  such  odd  stories!  I  remember  there 
was  a  silly  tale — two  or  three  years  ago — of  an 
American  million — " 

"Ah,  well — we  don't  do  things  on  that  scale!" 
laughed  Alec.  "But  wouldn't  a  tenth  go  a  long 
way?" 

Mrs.  Whitton  delicately  poured  herself  out  another 
cup  of  tea,  and  made  no  reply.  Wing  examined  a 
photograph  beside  him. 

"Lady  Aysgarth — one  of  my  best  friends — isn't 
she  charming?"  said  Madge,  slowly  sipping  her  tea. 
"Well  now — tell  me  about  that  constituency.  I  see 
the  old  man  is  dying." 

Wing's  expression  kindled. 

"I  believe  I  could  win  it  for  them!"  he  said,  with 
energy.    "Here  is  what  I  know." 

And  he  plunged  into  an  analysis  of  his  chances, 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  131 

every  detail  of  wMch  she  discussed  with  him.  The 
shrewdness  and  quickness  of  her  mind  struck  him 
with  amazement — her  knowledge  of  the  ins  and  outs, 
the  by-ways,  the  tricks  and  shifts,  the  cruder  and 
corrupter  sides  of  politics.  To  discuss  politics  with 
Carrie  had  begun  to  bore  him.  There  was  something 
large  and  romantic  in  the  way  she  took  them,  which 
was  not  really  at  all  congenial  to  him.  It  was  said 
of  Lord  Kandolph  Churchill  that  he  **  loved  life  and 
despised  ideas. ' '  Wing  was  instinctively  cold  to  ideas. 
It  was  the  clash  of  the  mere  game  that  attracted  him. 
But  on  Carrie  ideas  were  beginning  to  lay  hold ;  per- 
haps under  the  influence  of  some  of  the  men  who  were 
now  forming  a  little  court  round  her.  And  Madge 
Whitton  's  talk,  alive  to  all  the  harder  and  baser  facts, 
her  quick  practical  mind,  ready  to  chaffer  with  any- 
body and  about  everything,  suited  this  handsome 
fellow,  for  all  his  gallant  poetic  looks,  a  great  deal 
better.  He  listened  to  her  eagerly — drinking  in  all 
her  suggestions;  and  they  were  still  quite  absorbed 
in  each  other's  conversation,  when  the  drawing-room 
door  opened  again  to  admit  "Mr.  Maurice  Black." 

After  some  discursive  talk  a  trois,  Wing  took  his 
leave,  and  the  new-comer  stood  in  the  background 
watching  his  departure.  He  was  a  lightly  built  man 
of  forty,  with  a  prominent  nose  and  forehead,  hair 
already  grizzled,  and  a  chin  slightly  underhung.  A 
look  of  ability;  expressions  that  rather  masked  than 
revealed  the  man;  amiable  manners,  and  faultless 
dress: — such  was  the  outer  aspect. 

The  Junior  Whip  was  a  rising  politician,  much 
employed — said  his  enemies — on  the  muddier  jobs 
of  politics.    He  was  a  constant  visitor  to  the  house; 


132  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

and  as  he  was  still  a  bachelor,  rumor  had  often  con- 
nected his  name  with  that  of  the  young  widow.  In 
reality  both  understood  each  other  far  too  well. 

"Sit  down!"  said  Mrs.  Whitton,  raising  her  hand, 
with  smiling  peremptoriness,  as  she  turned  back  from 
the  closed  door — * '  I  have  got  something  very  interest- 
ing to  say  to  you." 

Black  obeyed  her,  chose  a  particularly  comfort- 
able chair,  crossed  his  knees,  and  prepared  himself 
indulgently  for  the  latest  gossip.  He  had  been  em- 
ployed all  day  in  trying  to  settle  an  odious  dispute 
between  a  Liberal  and  Labor  candidate  for  a  London 
seat,  and  Madge  Whitton 's  tea  and  Madge  Whitton 's 
company  seemed  to  him  the  very  least  of  what  was 
due  to  him. 

His  hostess  however,  in  spite  of  her  promising 
beginning,  was  some  time  in  opening  fire.  She  gave 
him  tea,  and  instead  of  amusing  him,  she  made  him 
describe  the  adventures  of  his  own  day.  This  sud- 
denly struck  him  as  so  unfair  that  he  flatly  refused 
to  go  on.    Let  her  explain  herself — instantly. 

Then  putting  delicate  hand  to  cheek,  she  consid- 
ered, her  eyes  upon  him. 

*'So  you  really  are  expecting  an  election? — if  you 
spend  so  much  time  and  trouble  on  a  silly  quarrel 
like  this?" 

"Of  course  something  may  always  force  an  election 
— in  a  situation  like  ours." 

"But  you  don't  want  it?" 

He  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"Our  situation  is  too  unfavorable — ^you  know  it!" 

"Well  now — I  have  a  little  suggestion  to  make  to 
you — a  mission!  Isn't  that  amusing?  I  feel  so  im- 
portant!    Would   a  large   sum" — she   named   it — 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  133 

"make  the  difference?"  And  dropping  her  graceful 
head  a  little  to  one  side,  she  watched  him. 

He  sat  up  at  once,  all  attention. 

''Well  of  course  it  would  make  a  difference! — 
perhaps  all  the  difference.  Does  someone  want  a 
peerage?" 

She  shook  her  head. 

* '  A  Privy  Councilorship  ? ' ' 

"Neither — Find  Alec  Wing  a  seat!'* 

The  words,  though  low-spoken,  came  out  sharp 
and  clear,  as  though  a  shot  found  its  target. 

He  gave  a  low  whistle — then  smiled. 

"I  see — that's  your  mission." 

She  nodded,  drew  her  work-basket  towards  her,  and 
took  out  a  piece  of  embroidery.  After  a  few  moments 
she  said,  without  looking  up — 

"Can  you  do  it?" 

"I'm  thinking.  You  know  of  course  the  fuss  that 
we  have  been  making  about  the  case  on  the  other 
side?" 

The  reference  was  to  a  divorce  case,  affecting  a 
prominent  Tory  peer,  who  had  been  forced  to  resign 
a  subordinate  post  in  the  Government,  as  soon  as  the 
first  rumors  of  the  affair  appeared  in  the  news- 
papers. 

"I  know  all  about  it.  But  this  case  is  two  years 
old." 

"You  think  that  improves  it?" 

"Certainly.  People  have  had  time  to  get  accus- 
tomed to  it — and  they're  married." 

"I  admit  that  makes  a  difference — ^but — no, 
I  don't  think  it  can  be  done!  Of  course,  it's  Lord 
Wing?" 

He  eyed  her  keenly. 


134  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"Of  course.    Who  else  could  it  be?" 

*'01d  heathen!    Just  like  him  to  try  such  a  coup!** 

He  paced  the  room,  much  excited — his  lips  working. 
She  watched  the  bribe  working  in  his  blood.  At  the 
last  he  turned  upon  her — 

''You're  safe?" 

"Absolutely."    She  looked  up  gayly. 

"And  the  Wings  too?  I  imagine  they're  not 
fools.  They'll  be  advised?  And  they  can  hold  their 
tongues  ? ' ' 

' '  They  're  certainly  not  fools ! ' ' 

"Well,  well — I  must  go — I'll  see  to  it — and  you 
shall  hear." 

He  shook  her  hurriedly  by  the  hand,  and  departed. 

Madge  lay  back  in  her  chair  awhile,  her  hands 
behind  her  head ;  her  look  joyous  and  absorbed. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Robert  Llewellyn,  Privy  Councilor  and  member 
of  Parliament,  lived  in  one  of  the  streets  opening  off 
Portland  Place.  He  was  unmarried,  and  the  ancient 
Welsh  dame  who  looked  after  his  household,  and  kept 
it  in  spotless  order,  was  the  widow  of  one  of  his 
farmers  on  the  small  Welsh  estate  which  meant  prac- 
tically nothing  to  him  in  point  of  money — for  he  had 
a  large  and  lucrative  practice  at  the  criminal  bar — 
but  an  infinity  in  the  way  of  tradition  and  associa- 
tion. One  of  the  most  self-controlled  of  orators,  and 
one  of  the  shrewdest  of  lawyers,  he  yet  possessed, 
deep  down,  the  characteristic  Celtic  qualities — the 
power  of  dreaming  awake — contempt  for  some  of  the 
commonest  standards  of  value — instinctive  sympathy 
for  the  under-dog. 

His  house  was  full  of  books,  and  in  the  bare  drawing- 
room  on  the  first  floor  it  possessed  a  piano,  on  which 
Llewellyn  himself  occasionally  played,  with  great  ex- 
actness of  finger  and  severity  of  taste.  Modern  music 
did  not  appeal  to  him.  Bach,  Scarlatti,  Mozart  and 
Beethoven  were  enough  for  him,  which,  considering 
the  passionate  modernness  of  his  taste  in  literature 
and  poetry,  was  rather  surprising.  He  devoured  the 
young  poets  of  the  day,  and  was  personally  acquainted 
with  many  of  them;  he  was  wondrously  learned  in 

135 


136  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

the  contemporary  French,  or  Italian,  or  Spanish 
novels,  and  yet  when  his  briefs  or  Parliamentary 
business  allowed,  he  was  apt  to  plunge  headlong  back 
into  the  Classics,  especially  Homer  and  Sophocles,  as 
the  best  means  he  knew  of  raising  "a  man's  mind 
out  of  the  dirt."  But  he  was  none  the  less  an  ex- 
cellent gossip,  with  something  of  the  cheerful  old 
maid  in  his  composition,  and  when  on  some  off  day 
Mrs.  Evans  was  allowed  to  bring  him  afternoon  tea, 
and  invited  to  sit  and  chat  a  bit  while  he  drank  it, 
the  two  might  have  been  taken  for  a  pair  of  village 
cronies,  laughing  and  squabbling  over  the  simplest 
and  humblest  affairs — generally  concerned  with  the 
twenty  small  farms,  and  the  one  straggling  village 
which  far  away  in  Breconshire  among  the  Black 
Mountains,  owned  Robert  Llewellyn  as  landlord; 
where  he  always  spent  some  three  or  four  weeks  of 
the  year,  in  a  tumble-down  country-house,  on  the 
edge  of  a  small  lake.  At  the  same  time  he  was  a 
growing  power  in  Parliament  and  politics,  Washing- 
ton's lieutenant  on  the  front  Opposition  bench,  and 
increasingly  followed  and  trusted  in  the  country. 
Some  people  found  it  hard  to  understand  why.  When 
told  so,  his  friends  laughed  and  did  not  trouble  to 
explain. 

It  was  a  Friday  evening.  LleweUyn  having  re- 
fused with  glee  the  week-end  invitation  of  a  Duchess, 
with  a  view  of  getting  for  once  a  Sunday  to  himself, 
had  dined  alone  in  one  of  his  oldest  coats,  and  was 
now  seated  in  the  drawing-room,  tranquilly  smoking, 
with  a  cargo  of  new  foreign  books  strewn  around  him. 
The  windows  were  open,  but  the  street  was  quiet. 
London  had  gone  into  the  country.  He  looked  out 
occasionally,  through  the  mingled  lights  and  shadows 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  137 

of  the  evening,  noticing  the  few  dim  people  passing 
along  the  pavement,  and  the  effect  of  a  patch  of 
evening  sky  at  the  end  of  a  side  vista;  enjoying  the 
physical  and  mental  rest  of  the  moment  with  a  positive 
and  acute  pleasure.  "Now" — he  said  to  himself, — 
"I  know  what  the  Greeks  meant  by  'atapa^ia.'" 

Immediately  after  this  reflection  the  telephone 
rang.  Smiling  at  himself,  and  the  small  ironies  of  life, 
he  went  to  take  the  message. 

"Hullo! — who  is  it?  You!  I  thought  you  were 
at  Windsor?" 

"Next  week — I'm  having  a  holiday  in  town.  I 
thought  you  were  at — " 

"Not  if  I  knew  it!    Do  you  want  to  see  me?" 
"Yes.    Will  you  be  in,  if  I  come  round?" 
*  *  By  all  means.    Or  shall  I  come  to  you  ? ' ' 
' '  No.    We  shall  be  less  disturbed,  if  I  come  to  you. ' ' 
Llewellyn  put  down  the  receiver,  rang  for  Mrs. 
Evans,  to  order  some  coffee,  and  began  to  pick  up  the 
paper-bound  books  lying  on  the  floor.     What  could 
Eichard  Washington  want  with  him  at  that  time  of 
night  ?    He  knew  of  nothing  new  in  the  political  field. 
In  the   House   of   Commons   the   Government  were 
getting    through,    and    in    his    opinion    they    were 
going    to    get    through,    and    would    wind    up    the 
session  without   disaster.    He  had   always   said   so, 
in  spite  of  beautiful  Mrs.  Wing,  and  her  circle  of 
hot-heads. 

And  as  he  sat  waiting  for  Washington,  he  fell  into 
a  reverie  on  the  subject  of  Caroline  Wing.  It  was 
quite  true  that  he  was  becoming  very  deeply  interested 
in  her.  Her  character,  impulsive,  willful,  passionate, 
yet  always  sincere,  attracted  him;  her  beauty  was  a 
perpetual  charm  for  one  in  whom  aU  the  sesthetic  sus- 


138  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

ceptibilities  were  sharply  developed;  her  situation, 
with  its  possibilities,  its  mingling  of  danger  and  mag- 
nificence, awoke  in  him  a  kind  of  tender  and  fatherly 
interest.  He  was  not  however  fast  becoming  her  most 
intimate  man  friend,  without  some  self-examination. 
But  so  far  as  he  knew  his  own  mind,  there  was  no 
danger  for  himself  from  the  relation  arising  between 
them;  and  men  and  gods  could  only  laugh  at  the 
notion  of  any  danger  to  her,  from  the  devotion  of  the 
middle-aged  man,  with  the  snub  nose,  and  ample 
figure,  whose  reflection  he  saw  every  morning  in  his 
looking-glass.  The  brilliance  of  her  outer  life,  and  of 
that  vast  social  effort  on  which  she  was  launched,  as 
compared  with  what  seemed  to  him  the  hoUowness 
of  her  happine^ — it  was  on  this  he  was  always  pon- 
dering after  their  frequent  meetings.  He  felt  for  her 
a  sharpness  of  pity  which  surprised  himself,  and 
depended  almost  entirely  on  his  judgment  of  the  char- 
acter of  Alec  Wing. 

Meanwhile  it  was  evident  both  that  young  Lord 
Merton  was  losing  his  head,  and  that  Mrs.  Wing,  in 
her  complete  absorption  in  her  husband,  was  not 
only  indifferent  to  the  young  man  except  so  far  as  he 
might  be  profitable  to  Alec,  but  quite  unconscious  of 
what  might  be  said,  what  was  of  course  beginning  to 
be  said,  about  his  constant  visits  to  Eltham  House, 
and  his  undisguised  infatuation.  Could  an  elderly 
friend  venture  a  hint  of  counsel?  He  discovered 
in  himself  an  absolute  distrust  of  Wing  as  her  pro- 
tector. 

Mrs.  Evans  brought  up  the  coffee,  Llewelljni  put 
out  his  best  cigars,  and  in  a  few  minutes  more  the 
door  opened  to  admit  his  political  chief,  whom  he 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  139 

had  last  seen  some  hours  before  at  the  House  of 
Commons,  in  the  private  room  of  the  Leader  of  the 
Opposition. 

Llewellyn  went  eagerly  to  meet  him. 

"Is  anything  wrong?" 

"Nothing  political,"  said  Washington,  as  he  took 
the  armchair  pointed  out  to  him,  and  helped  himself 
to  a  cigar.  "At  least — not  directly  political.  But  I 
wanted  to  consult  you." 

He  pulled  thoughtfully  at  his  cigar  for  a  while 
however,  before  opening  his  business,  and  Llewellyn 
did  not  hurry  him.  He  had  a  great  liking  and  a 
loyal  respect  for  Washington,  though  he  was  by  no 
means  certain  yet  that  the  adroit  party  leader  who 
had  stepped  into  his  present  conspicuous  post  rather 
through  a  series  of  accidents  than  because  of  any 
commanding  personal  claims,  was  going  to  turn  out 
a  great  man.  But  it  was  on  the  cards  that  he  might 
so  turn  out.  And  meanwhile  he  was  trusted — and 
deserved  it.  And  no  doubt  the  stately  presence  of 
the  man — his  clear  challenging  eyes,  the  kingly  car- 
riage of  his  broad  shoulders — had  played  a  consid- 
erable part  in  the  growth  of  his  ascendency,  both  in 
and  out  of  the  House  of  Commons. 

' '  I  have  had  a  bribe  offered  to  me, ' '  said  Washing- 
ton, abruptly.  ' '  And  I  want  to  know  what  you  think 
— whether  the  party  can  accept  it?" 

Llewellyn  looked  up  attentively. 

"We  can't  make  any  peers — yet!"  he  said,  smiling. 

Washington  shook  his  head. 

"It's  not  quite  so  simple  as  that.  And  yet,  of 
course — "  the  tone  was  good-humoredly  ironic — "the 
proposal  itself  is  simplicity  itself.  It  is  just  this. 
Lord  Wing  offers  us  a  hundred  thousand  pounds 


140  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

down — for  the  party  funds — if  we  will  provide  his 
son  with  a  constituency,  and  back  him — officially." 

He  spoke  deliberately,  looking  his  colleague  in  the 
eyes. 

Llewellyn's  eyebrows  lifted. 

"So  Alec  Wing  has  taken  that  plunge?" 

Washington  nodded. 

"The  offer  conies  through  the  Whips — and  partly 
— ^through  a  woman.  You  will  agree  there's  always  a 
woman  in  such  a  pie !  Penwenack  thought  the  matter 
so  important  that  he  finally  decided  he  could  not 
settle  it  by  himself,  and  so,  for  once,  he  came  to  me. 
Of  course,  in  general,  I  never  know,  and  never  inquire 
about  the  funds." 

"Well — and  I  suppose  you  refused?"  said  Llewel- 
lyn, after  a  pause. 

"Penwenack  was  with  me  before  dinner.  I  told 
him  to  look  in  again,  on  his  way  back  from  the  theater 
to-night,  and  I  came  over  to  see  you.  As  to  our  need 
of  money — it's  almost  absurd.  We  can't  fight  the 
elections  we  ought  to  fight — the  publication  depart- 
ment is  starved — candidates  are  discouraged — et 
cetera.  But  you  know  it  all.  Well,  of  course  the  first 
thing  to  say  about  Lord  Wing's  condition  is,  that  if 
we  accepted  it,  we  should  have  a  row — a  bad  row! 
The  commotion  at  Hull  in  all  the  religious  circles — 
Anglican  and  Dissenting — when  it  was  realized  that 
Wing  was  coming  down  to  speak  for  our  candidate, 
was,  they  tell  me,  astounding.  Man  after  man  re- 
fused to  stand  on  the  same  platform  with  him,  and 
most  of  the  women  working  for  our  man — ^practically 
all  of  them — ^would  have  thrown  up." 

"The  Marsworths  have  strong  local  influence  in  and 
round  Hull,"  mused  Llewellyn.    "That  man  Henry 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  141 

Marsworth  will  hunt  down  Wing  if  he  can.  He  is  an 
implacable  sort  of  beggar,  and  devoted  to  his  brother." 

Then  he  raised  his  eyes. 

"What — if  I  may  ask — are  your  own  feelings 
about  it?" 

Washington  laughed — ^with  a  slight  embarrassment. 

''Ought  I  to  have  any  feelings  of  my  own?  But 
if  you  want  them — it  doesn't  seem  to  me  that  a  man's 
private  love-affairs — except  of  course  in  the  case  of 
something  flagrantly  disgraceful — have  anything  to 
do  with  his  political  career,  I  have  always  thought 
Parnell  hardly  used.  Everybody  knew ! — and  nobody 
stirred,  till  he  was  found  out ! ' ' 

"All  the  same — you  would  have  done  just  the  same 
as  Mr.  G.,"  said  Llewellyn  with  decision.  "Isn't  it 
the  finding  out  that  counts — ^politically  ?  As  you  say, 
politics  are  not  concerned — generally  speaking — with 
a  man's  love-affairs — till  they  come  into  court.  Then 
they  become  political  material." 

"Perhaps — "  said  Washington  slowly — "perhaps. 
Well,  that  is  what  I  meant  by  asking  whether  one's 
own  feelings  had  anything  to  do  with  it.  What  we 
have  to  think  of — naturally — is  the  party.  Would 
the  party  gain  more  from  Lord  Wing's  check  than 
it  would  suffer  from  backing  his  son — " 

"Plus  the  possibility  of  the  bargain  getting  out," 
put  in  Llewellyn,  smiling. 

"Well,  the  bargain  would  be  pretty  obvious 
wouldn't  it?  No,  it  won't  do — it  won't  do!  All  the 
same — "  the  speaker  sighed — "we  are  in  a  devil  of  a 
hole  financially — and  the  temptation  has  been  sore — 
I  can  see — even  for  Penwenack." 

"Ask  Mrs.  Washington!"  said  Llewellyn,  after  a 
moment. 


142  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

Certain  furrows  appeared  in  Washington's  broad 
brow.  ' '  Oh,  I  know  very  well  what  she  would  think, ' ' 
was  the  quick  reply.  "She  holds  very  strict  views. 
It  is  one  of  her  attractions  towards  woman  suffrage 
that  it  would  brighten  up  the  standards  of  character 
in  public  men. ' ' 

Llewellyn  smiled,  a  little  dubiously.  "Would  it? 
Mrs.  Washington  must  remember  that  there  are  plenty 
of  women  nowadays — all  the  advanced  feminists — 
who  would  take  precisely  the  opposite  view !  Caroline 
Marsworth  had  ceased  to  care  for  her  husband — the 
immorality,  in  their  opinion,  would  have  lain  in  stay- 
ing with  him." 

"Ah,  but  they  don't  count  yet — that  sort — politi- 
cally," said  Washington,  his  eyes  twinkling.  "Let 
them  wait  till  they  have  got  rid  of  the  vast  majority 
of  women  who  still  prefer  to  keep  the  word  'obey'  in 
the  marriage  service.  What  we  have  to  deal  with  is 
the  general  tightening  up — for  men — of  the  connec- 
tion between  public  service  and  private  morals. 
Something  quite  new  in  our  days!  In  previous  gen- 
erations the  unfaithful  wife  has  always  been  tabooed ; 
the  seducer  has  always  got  off  scot  free.  When  Lord 
and  Lady  Holland — " 

' '  Ah,  that 's  struck  you ! " 

"Of  course.  Well,  that  was  a  hundred  years  ago. 
The  Hollands  had  done,  as  near  as  possible,  what 
the  Wings  have  done.  Lady  Holland  was  boycotted 
for  years  by  all  but  a  handful  of  women — but  Tie — 
not  a  bit  of  it:  He  went  everywhere,  was  welcome 
everywhere — especially  in  each  Whig  Government, 
as  it  came  along.  But  now  no  Liberal  Government 
would  touch  him  with  a  barge-pole!  Morals? — or 
hypocrisy?" 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  143 

*  *  Neither !  The  rise  of  the  Protestant  middle-class ! 
.  .  .  But  the  distinguishing  feature  of  fhis  business 
is  the  part  in  it  played  by  money — sheer  cash! — " 
said  Llewellyn,  after  a  pause.  "That  was  absent 
from  the  Holland  ease. ' ' 

"Not  entirely.  There  was  Holland  House.  But 
the  bribe  here  is  far  more  gross  and  palpable.  It 
was  dressed  up  of  course  in  Lord  Wing's  letter.  But 
the  meaning  of  it  was  as  plain,  as  if  the  check  had 
been  pushed  under  our  noses.  I  shouldn't  wonder 
if  Lord  Wing  had  been  deliberately  influenced  by  the 
Holland  case.  It  would  be  like  his  queer  kind  of 
humor.    Well ! — things  don 't  repeat  themselves. ' ' 

Both  men  smoked  in  silence  for  a  time.  Then  after 
a  little  more  discussion,  Washington  looked  up. 

"I  see  you're  a  friend  of  hers?" 

"Of  Mrs.  Wing?    Certainly.    You,  too!" 

"A  fine  creature!"  said  Washington,  his  brown 
eyes  softening.  "She  wins  on  us  all.  Why  did  she 
do  it !    The  man 's  not  her  equal ! ' ' 

"Why  did  Helen  listen  to  Paris?"  laughed 
Llewellyn.  "  It 's  the  eternal  situation.  The  dull  hus- 
band— the  beautiful  woman,  rebellious  and  dissatis- 
fied— the  splendid  youth — " 

"And  the  'Aurum  vestihus  illitum'?" — put  in 
Washington. 

The  slight  gleam  in  the  eyes  of  his  companion — an 
ex-Craven  scholar  like  himself — showed  that  the 
Horatian  tag  pleased.  Llewellyn  resumed — with 
energy— 

"This  woman  took  no  account  of  that!  Now — 
what  I  dread  is  the  third  stage." 

"When  she  finds  him  out?  Why  should  she? 
Give  her  some  advice,  can't  you?    Let  her  set  him 


144  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

to  work!  He'll  live  it  down  in  time.  But  he  can't 
ride  rough-shod,  by  simply  rattling  a  bag  of  gold. 
He's  got  to  recognize  that.  Well!" — the  leader  rose 
— "So  we're  agreed — you  and  I?  Penwenack  can't 
have  that  check ! ' ' 

*'Not  on  those  terms.  But  I  suggest  a  moving  ap- 
peal to  Lord  Wing's  disinterested  love  of  Liberal 
principles ! ' ' 

Washington  laughed.  They  moved  towards  the 
door,  where  Washington  made  a  pause. 

"Don't  let's  imagine — "  his  mouth  showed  a  little 
wry  smile — "we've  been  doing  anything  heroic!" 

'  *  Quite  the  contrary ! ' '  said  Llewellyn  dryly.  '  *  By 
the  way,  I  may  as  well  hand  on  to  you  the  report  I 
got  from  a  neighbor  of  Lord  Wing's  this  morning — 
his  Lord  Lieutenant — that  his  state  of  health  is  bad — 
some  people  think  alarming. ' ' 

"That  opens  new  vistas!"  said  Washington,  with 
a  shrug.  "Well,  then  the  young  man  will  get  his 
chance  in  the  Lords.  But  go  and  see  her,  Llewellyn. 
Tell  her  to  hold  him  in.  Poor  thing!  It's  she  that 
interests  me  in  the  whole  business.  Somehow — there 
she  is,  with  all  that  wealth,  and  that  beauty — that 
vast  house! — and  something  tragic  about  her  all  the 
time." 

"I  feel  the  same,"  said  Llewellyn  gravely.  They 
grasped  hands  and  Washington  departed. 

Washington  made  his  way  home. 

As  he  entered  his  library,  where  he  erpected  the 
Chief  Whip,  a  tall  figure  rose  from  a  seat  by  the 
window.  It  was  his  wife.  She  approached  him,  and 
he  saw  her  wide  gray  eyes,  and  the  question  in 
them. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  145 

' '  All  right, ' '  he  said  abruptly.    ' '  We  shan  't  do  it. ' ' 

He  turned  away  to  his  writing-table,  where  pres- 
ently she  followed  him. 

' '  Good  night,  dearest ! ' ' 

Something  in  her  quiet  satisfaction  stung  him  a  little. 

''You  good  women  are  terribly  cock-sure  about 
these  things,"  he  broke  out,  with  some  vehemence, 
looking  up  at  her. 

"Only  for  the  sake  of  other  women — "  she  said 
softly — ' '  and  children. ' ' 

He  made  no  reply.  She  laid  a  caressing  hand  on 
his  shoulder,  and  went  away. 

The  following  evening,  in  consequence  of  a  tele- 
phone conversation  with  its  mistress,  Llewellyn  arrived 
at  Eltham  House  for  dinner.  It  had  astonished  him 
greatly  to  find  the  Wings  in  town  for  an  August  week- 
end. But  it  suggested  to  him — as  did  their  lingering 
on  in  town — an  anxious  waiting  on  events. 

The  magnificent  gentleman  in  the  hall  with  whom 
he  was  now  on  the  most  friendly  terms  informed  him 
that  Mr.  Wing  was  away.  Captain  Durrant  and  Miss 
Allen  were  upstairs. 

Llewellyn  mounted  in  some  trepidation.  Had  Pen- 
wenack's  letter  arrived,  and  if  so,  what  sort  of  a 
reception  awaited  him  ?  Not  likely !  Penwenack  was 
a  leisurely  person,  and  took  some  time  over  an  im- 
portant letter. 

Caroline  received  him,  indeed,  with  her  usual  gay 
effusion ;  and  they  dined  in  an  open  balcony  or  loggia 
overlooking  the  garden,  and  tapestried  with  rambler 
roses  red  and  white.  Alec,  she  said,  was  playing  golf, 
and  would  not  be  home  till  late.  It  was  awfully  good 
of  him  to  take  pity  on  her.    And  she  had  wanted  to 


146  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

say  good-by ;  for  they  were  really  off  now — in  a  very 
few  days. 

He  presently  perceived,  however,  that  she  was  tired, 
excited — and  on  edge.  And  it  was  plain  to  him  that 
her  two  devoted  companions  knew  it  too.  How  that 
little  Miss  Allen  had  fitted  in !  She  had  lost  her  ex- 
treme shyness ;  though  nothing  of  her  pretty  modesty 
and  tact.  It  was  evident  that  Mrs.  Wing  was  begin- 
ning to  lean  upon  her  tremendously ;  and  that  the  girl 
was  picking  up  things  with  astonishing  quickness. 
And  he  perceived  already  a  close  alliance  between  her 
and  Durrant,  in  Mrs.  Wing 's  interest.  Whether  there 
was  anything  else  in  it,  who  could  say ! — ^but  the  young 
man's  eyes  and  conversation  had  certainly  a  constant 
trick  of  wandering  in  the  little  cousin's  direction. 
She  wore  the  simplest  of  white  frocks,  and  Caroline, 
declaring  that  the  night  was  chilly,  had  wrapped 
round  her  a  costly  lace  hood  and  cloak,  from  which  the 
girl 's  deep  fawn  eyes  and  gentle  face  shone  rather  in- 
congruously. 

Caroline  herself  was  in  black,  and  Llewellyn  found 
her  alternately  touching — and  superb.  She  talked 
but  little  politics;  and  through  all  the  chatter  about 
music  and  books,  he  seemed  to  feel  in  her  the  tremor 
of  something  captured  and  in  pain. 

After  dinner  she  led  the  way  into  the  garden,  and 
Llewellyn  found  himself  pacing  a  long  trellised  walk 
with  her,  under  a  glorious  though  stormy  moonlight. 
She  moved  beside  him — dim  and  queenly ;  and  he  be- 
came more  disagreeably  conscious  every  minute  that 
something  had  got  to  be  said,  and  that  it  was  uncom- 
monly difficult  to  say  it.  He  applied  to  a  cigarette 
for  inspiration,  and  they  walked  for  a  while  in  silence 
through  the  hot  exhausted  air. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  147 

Between  the  branches  of  the  trees  girdling  the  gar- 
den shone  the  lights  of  distant  houses;  in  one  corner 
the  slender  complicated  lines  of  a  newly  erected  wire- 
less apparatus,  on  the  top  of  a  public  building,  made 
a  curiously  pleasant  pattern — sharply  black — on  the 
night  sky;  while,  far  and  near,  London  seemed  to 
be  talking  round  -them,  in  a  thousand  low  blurred 
voices,  and  the  lights  of  innumerable  streets,  strik- 
ing heavenward,  were  reflected  back  and  down  among 
the  quiet  spaces  of  the  garden,  and  under  the  old 
planes.  So  that  the  garden  produced  no  sylvan 
illusion,  in  spite  of  its  great  trees  and  dense  leaf; 
it  was  always  London — masquerading.  The  dry  earth 
and  the  tired  flowers  sent  forth  no  fragrance.  And 
the  withered  leaves  lay  already  thick  upon  the 
grass. 

' '  I  trust  you  are  soon  going  north,  out  of  this  ?  "  he 
said  to  her  presently.  ' '  I  just  long  to  hear  of  you  in 
Scotland!" 

''I  hope  we  shall  soon  go.  But — Alec  has  some 
business  that  keeps  him." 

"Do  you  mind  if  I  guess  what  it  is?" 

She  looked  at  him  doubtfully — startled — and  un- 
certain what  to  say.  Alec  had  convinced  her  at  last, 
by  much  assertion,  that  the  coup  he  was  attempting, 
against  her  advice,  was  a  matter  entirely  for  one 
man's  decision — Sir  Lawrence  Penwenack's — and  that 
neither  Washington  nor  Robert  Llewellyn  would  know 
anything  at  all  about  it.  Otherwise  she  would  never 
have  asked  Llewellyn  to  dine  with  her  on  this 
evening  of  suspense — driven  by  her  vague  desire 
for  his  strong  friendly  presence.  And  now  she  was 
alarmed. 

"I  can't  help  your  guessing!"  she  tried  for  a  light 


148  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

tone.  "But  it's  nothing  that  matters.  "We  shall 
soon  get  away." 

His  heart  was  sore  for  her.  He  groped  on  under 
its  guidance. 

"Don't  think  me  intruding.  But  I  not  only  guess 
— I. know  what  it  is.  And  I  want  to  say  a  word,  as 
your  friend — and  his." 

He  heard  the  quickening  of  her  breath. 

"I  don't  understand — " 

"I  hear  from  Washington" — he  went  on  steadily 
— "that  Lord  Wing  has  offered  a  large  sum  to  the 
party  Whips  for  the  party  expenses — and  that  Alec 
has  written  to  the  Whips  asking  them  to  recommend 
him  for  the  North  Brookshire  vacancy." 

"And — why  shouldn't  they?"  she  asked  coldly, 
after  a  moment.  "Alec  wants  a  seat.  Lord  Wing 
wants  to  help  the  party." 

"It  is  impossible  for  us  to  give  Alec  a  seat — ^just 
yet,"  he  said  quietly.  "We  realize  fully  his  wish  to 
help  the  party.  We  wish  with  all  our  hearts  we  could 
say  to  him — '  Go  in,  and  win. '  We  know  what  a  help 
he  might  be — in  so  many  ways.  But — it  is  too  early 
days !  Persuade  him,  dear  Mrs.  Wing ! — ^persuade  him 
to  wait — and  above  all  not  to  try  this  line  of  approach 
again.    It  will  do  him  harm." 

He  felt,  though  he  could  not  see,  the  rush  of  color 
to  her  cheeks. 

"Then  he  has  been  refused?  Mr.  Washington  has 
interfered?" 

The  voice  was  low  and  excited. 

"It  was  absolutely  necessary  to  consult  him; 
though  as  a  rule  he  leaves  the  party  funds  to  others. 
And  now — forgive  me  if  I  speak  plainly — for  Alec's 
sake — and  yours — ^no  less  than  ours.    We  cannot  do 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  149 

what  he  wishes  about  this  seat.  And  that  being  so, 
we  shall  of  course  understand  that  Lord  "Wing  with- 
draws his  offer.  For  Wing  to  fight  a  contested 
election  yet — this  year — would  provoke  an  opposition 
— an  odious  opposition — from  which  your  friends 
could  not  save  you.  And  we  are  your  friends,  dear 
Mrs.  Wing!  Believe  it!  Washington  and  I  would 
do  anything  we  could,  anything  in  the  world,  to  shield 
you  from  distress  and  attack.  But  this  course  would 
only  provoke  it ;  even  if  we  could  consent — ^which  we 
can 't — for  the  party 's  sake. ' ' 

She  could  hardly  restrain  herself  till  his  words 
dropped,  before  she  broke  out  in  a  white  heat  of  scorn 
and  resentment. 

"Distress! — attack!  Do  you  suppose  people  want 
any  provocation  to  attack  us? — Alec  and  me!  They 
are  always  attacking  us.  As  if  your  keeping  Alec 
out  of  Parliament  would  prevent  it!  I  have  a 
dozen  anonymous  letters  a  week — disgraceful! — 
abominable ! ' ' 

Her  choked  voice  failed  her.  He  longed  to  comfort 
her,  and  he  felt  himself  dumb  and  helpless.  They 
moved  on  in  silence.    At  last  she  said — 

''Did  Mr.  Washington  ask  you  to  tell  me  this?" 

"We  didn't  want  you  to  have  no  answer — but 
Penwenack's  letter,"  he  said  gently.  "We  wanted 
you  to  know,  he  and  I,  how  much  we  felt  for  you — 
and  how  earnestly  we  hope  that — with  time — Wing 
will  get  his  chance  of  return.  But  he  must  do  good 
work — good  public  work — and  earn  it." 

"For  me! — what's  the  use  of  feeling  for  me!"  she 
cried.  "What  do  I  matter!  It  is  only  Alec  that 
matters ! ' ' 

Silence  for  a  moment.    Then  she  broke  out  again — 


150  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"When  one  thinks  of  the  hateful  hypocrisy  of  it 
all — and  the  lies!  They  say  I  murdered  Dicky — my 
boy — whom  I  adored — " 

''Dear  Mrs.  Wing! — "  he  turned  to  her  in  deep 
distress — "don't  let's  talk  any  more — " 

"Yes — ^let  me  talk!  You  must!  You  say,  Alec 
can't  stand  for  Parliament  because  people  would 
attack  his  character — and  mine — and  to  adopt  him 
would  disgrace  the  party.  And  all  the  time  I  know 
— we  know — what  we  suffered — and  that  we  have 
never  told  our  story — not  with  any  chance  of  making 
people  believe  it! — against  John's.  Do  you  think  I 
deserted  my  child,  knowing  he  was  dying?"  She 
turned  upon  him  with  passion. 

"I  am  sure  you  did  no  such  thing!"  he  said  with 
energy.    "You  don't  need  to  convince  me." 

"Yes — ^but  you  must  listen!  You  must  hear  the 
story !  You  and  Mr.  Washington  have  been  discussing 
us — you  have  been  told  what  everybody  says  about 
us — what  everybody  believes — Well,  it  isn't  true! 
This  is  what  happened ! ' ' 

A  garden  seat  was  near  them,  and  she  dropped 
upon  it,  pressing  her  hands  to  her  eyes.  He  stood 
near  her,  in  great  distress,  trying  again  to  stop  the 
confession  on  her  lips.    But  it  would  not  be  stopped. 

"Oh,  don't  think  I'm  going  to  make  excuses — to 
ask  anybody's  pardon — for  falling  in  love  with  Alec! 
Please  don't  imagine  that!  I  was  miserable — I  had 
come  to  hating  my  husband.  I  should  have  killed  my- 
self if  it  had  gone  on.  Then  Alec  came — and  he 
changed  the  whole  world  for  me.  And  I  was  just  his 
— and  he  mine.  No  good  talking  about  it!  We  had 
a  right  to  be  happy !    Don't  you  believe  that?" 

She  fiercely  challenged  him.    He  made  a  little  sad 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  151 

gesture,  as  though  putting  her  question  gently  aside ; 
and  she  went  on — 

"Well,  then  there  were  the  children.  I  knew 
they  would  take  Carina  from  me.  But  I  thought 
the  baby  would  be  left  with  me.  Anyway  I  deter- 
mined to  keep  him  if  I  could.  "When  Sir  John  left 
us  at  Florence — it  all  came  to  a  crisis  between  Alec 
and  me.  We  lost  our  heads — "  she  turned  away  her 
face,  speaking  in  a  hard,  clear  voice — * '  and  it  was  only 
a  question  of  when  I  should  tell  Sir  John — and  what 
to  do.  Dicky  had  a  cold,  just  a  trifling  cold.  He 
was  a  very  strong,  healthy  child  and  I  thought  nothing 
of  it.  He  had  an  Italian  nurse,  who  had  brought  him 
up  from  a  baby — he  was  born  in  Kome — and  was 
devoted  to  him.  The  doctor  said  he  wanted  a  change 
to  the  hills ;  it  was  May,  and  it  had  suddenly  got  very 
hot.  So  I  told  everybody  that  I  was  sending  him  and 
the  nurse  to  Vallombrosa.  But  instead.  Alec  and  I 
took  them  to  a  little  village  in  the  Val  d'Aosta,  and 
told  nobody.  And  then — we  went  off  together  to 
a  villa  in  the  Apennines  behind  Spezia.  Carina  was 
left  in  Florence  with  her  English  governess,  a  woman 
who  hated  me,  and  had  been  spying  upon  us  for  weeks 
— though  I  didn't  know.  And  she  found  out  that 
Alec  and  I  were  together;  and  she  found  out  where 
Dicky  was.  She  wrote  to  Sir  John — and  he  came 
rushing  back  to  Italy.  Meanwhile  I  went  on  tele- 
graphing to  the  nurse  in  the  Val  d'Aosta  almost  every 
day.  Dicky  was  all  right  she  said — ^just  a  little  cold — 
nothing  more.  And  then  no  answer  came  to  my 
telegrams — and  I  got  alarmed.  But  Alec  laughed 
at  me.  He  said  the  child  must  be  all  right — only  the 
nurse  didn't  want  to  spend  francs  for  nothing.  If 
he  were  worse  she  would  of  course  have  telegraphed; 


152  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

but  instead  she  had  written ;  and  it  was  only  that  our 
posts  up  there  in  the  hills  were  often  irregular.  They 
were  irregular — we  had  often  complained.  So  we 
waited — three  days  ..." 

Her  voice  failed  her.  She  began  mechanically 
to  fold  and  unfold  her  handkerchief,  and  through 
the  darkness,  Llewellyn  perceived  the  desperate 
agitation  that  she  held  in  check.  But  she  mastered 
it  completely,  and  the  rest  of  the  story  she  told  quite 
calmly. 

— "Then  I  made  Alec  take  me  back  to  the  Val 
d'Aosta.  We  went  without  stopping,  and  we  took 
a  motor  at  Ivrea  to  the  village,  which  was  twenty 
miles  up  the  valley.  I  found  the  little  house,  and 
knocked  at  the  door — it  was  ten  o'clock  at  night. 
And  John  opened  it.  Then — oh,  it  was  very  awful! 
— John  told  me  I  was  a  wicked,  cruel  woman — that  I 
had  left  Dicky  when  he  was  ill — that  he  was  dying 
of  septic  pneumonia — ^would  probably  die  that  night 
— and  that  I  should  not  see  him.  I  went  on  my 
knees  to  him — ^but  he  and  his  brother  Henry  refused 
to  let  me  enter  the  house.  Alec  came  up  and 
there  was  a  terrible  scene.  They  brought  the  doctor 
out,  and  he  told  me  that  I  was  disturbing  the 
child's  last  moments,  and  all  I  could  do  was  to 
go  away  and  let  him  die  peacefully.  Then  they  got 
me  away  somehow.  There  were  two  English  ladies 
in  a  little  hotel  near.  They  took  care  of  me  that 
night.  I  wanted  to  kill  myself — and  I  wouldn't  see 
Alec.  And  next  morning — Dicky  was  dead — and 
Alec  came  for  me.  I  was  very  ill — and  he  took  me 
away — " 

There  was  a  long  pause.  Then  Llewellyn  inclosed 
her  hand  in  his,  and  raised  it  to  his  lips. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  153 

She  drew  it  away,  and  dashed  the  tears  from  her 
eyes. 

*'But  you  know — I  did — wait  three  days!"  She 
half  whispered  it  as  though  it  were  dragged  from  her. 
"Alec  didn't  quite  persuade  me — I  wasn't  quite 
happy.    That's  all  the  truth  there  is  in  it  .    .    ." 

In  the  quiet,  poignant  words,  he  seemed  to  hear 
the  ultimate  verdict  of  her  conscience;  to  perceive 
the  mixed  truth — as  it  appeared  to  her — and  as  it  still 
tormented  her.    She  went  on — 

"But  John  told  everybody  his  story,  and  I 
could  never  tell  mine — till  at  the  trial — our  lawyers 
protested.  But  nobody  believed  us — nobody  ever 
has — except  those  two  Englishwomen.  I  told  every- 
thing to  them — ^that  night  they  took  me  in.  But 
then  Alec  wouldn't  let  me  keep  up  with  them — and 
we  lost  sight  of  them.  He  said  I  must  forget  it 
all — everything  connected  with  it.  I  knew  it  was 
best — and  I  have  tried  hard.  ...  It  wasn't  my 
fault! — "  she  broke  out — "it  wasn't  my  fault.  Oh, 
my  Dicky,  my  Dicky!" — And  again  she  pressed  her 
hands  to  her  eyes. 

Llewellyn  felt  himself  in  the  presence  of  something 
as  irrevocable  and  as  far-reaching  as  any  Greek  doom. 
On  this  woman's  nature,  in  spite  of  all  her  passion 
of  self-defense,  the  death  of  her  child  had  never 
ceased  to  work,  and  would  probably  go  on  working, 
through  all  the  penetrative  and  transforming  processes 
of  the  moral  life.  That  she  could  feel  it  so,  was  to  his 
own  ethical  sense  a  proof  of  a  certain  greatness  in  her. 
"Can  a  woman  forget  Tier  child?"  The  prophetic 
words  flashed  into  memory.  This  woman,  at  least,  was 
still  tortured,  after  two  years  of  passionate  happiness 
with  her  lover,  by  the  charge  that  she  Jiad  forgotten  the 


154  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

little  helpless  thing ;  still  more  by  the  bitter  infinites- 
imal grain  of  truth  in  it  that  could  not  be  denied. 

But  the  woman  who  can  carry  such  a  thorn 
about  with  her,  of  her  own  free  will,  pressing  it  into 
her  flesh,  as  it  were,  in  penance,  is  of  no  common 
sort.  Behind  all  the  noise  and  glitter  of  her  great  ad- 
venture, he  found  himself  realizing  the  true  Caroline 
Wing;  and  with  a  profound  and  painful  sympathy. 
Her  wealth,  her  beauty,  her  social  triumphs — these 
were  not  going  to  satisfy  her !  And  the  man  who  had 
captured  her — how  long  would  Tie  content  her? 

Gradually  he  was  able  to  soothe  her,  and  to  trans- 
form her  outburst,  and  his  pity,  into  a  talk  of  inti- 
mates; one  of  those  conversations  which  are  among 
the  landmarks  of  life.  There  was  very  little  in  it 
of  herself.  Alec  was  her  whole  preoccupation  Lewel- 
lyn  divined — indignantly — the  terror  that  she  felt  of 
her  husband's  disappointment,  and  its  possible  con- 
sequences. Was  she  afraid  that  his  inability  to  force 
his  way,  the  shock  it  involved  to  conceit  and  self- 
importance,  and  to  the  headlong  will  of  "  a  young  man 
in  a  hurry,"  would  recoil  upon  her — and  presently 
detach  him  from  her? 

As  to  herself,  and  the  judgment  of  this  new  and 
true  friend  on  the  catastrophe  of  her  first  marriage — 
apart  from  the  death  of  her  child — she  carefully, 
and  with  dignity,  refrained  to  the  end  from  inviting 
it.  She  felt  that,  in  the  matter  of  her  child,  she  was 
acquitted;  and  she  was  prepared  to  stand  upon  her 
own  responsibility — as  against  any  outside  judgment 
— for  the  rest.  And  if  there  was  one  Christian  precept 
more  than  another  which  commended  itself  to  the 
philosopher  Llewellyn,  it  was — "Judge  not,  and  ye 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  155 

shall  not  be  judged;  condemn  not,  and  ye  shall  not 
be  condemned!"  Life,  and  the  discipline  of  life,  he 
thought,  must  deal  with  such  breaches  of  law,  in 
the  individual.  Personally,  he  refused  altogether  to 
play  the  policeman.  But  the  law  itself  is  the  ex- 
pression of  man's  self-defense  against  tyrannous 
instincts  which  are  always  threatening  to  undermine 
his  partial,  spiritual  victory.  So  that  this  thinker  of 
subtle  perceptions,  of  tender  feeling  and  ascetic 
ideals,  could  sympathize  both  with  the  woman  who 
had  defied  the  social  law,  and  in  a  hidden,  remoter, 
but  still  resolute  way,  with  those  who  upheld  it. 

At  the  end  of  their  talk  she  rose  and  gave  him 
her  hand,  with  a  touching  word  or  two  of  gratitude, 
and  they  walked  back  to  the  house.  As  they  ap- 
proached it,  a  servant  brought  out  a  telegram. 
Caroline  read  it,  and  could  not  conceal  her  relief. 

"Alec  has  had  splendid  golf.  He  sleeps  at  Sand- 
wich, and  will  be  back  to-morrow  morning." 

So  she  would  not  have  to  grapple  with  the  golden 
youth  and  his  anger  till  the  morning.  Remembering 
her  pale  and  worn  looks,  under  the  lights  of  the  hall, 
Llewellyn  found  considerable  comfort  in  this  reflec- 
tion, as  he  walked  home  through  the  empty  streets. 


CHAPTER  IX 

The  morning  after  her  conversation  with  Llewellyn, 
Caroline  Wing,  after  a  restless  night,  woke  under  a 
sense  of  bitter  depression,  of  which  her  thoughts  as 
they  grew  active  soon  discovered  the  reasons.  Yet 
there  she  lay,  in  the  beautiful  room  which  Lord  Wing 
had  furnished  with  such  refinement  of  costly  design 
for  his  son's  wife;  while  the  deep  surrounding  quiet 
of  the  house  and  garden,  here  in  the  heart  of  London, 
suggested  a  multitude  of  unseen  persons  waiting 
upon  the  wishes — ^the  caprices — of  their  mistress, 
and  careful  not  to  let  a  sound  disturb  her  till  she 
chose  to  wake. 

And  the  subject  of  all  this  luxury,  the  envied  of  in- 
numerable women,  was  only  conscious  in  this  August 
dawn  of  a  shrinking  dread  not  essentially  different, 
after  all,  from  the  fear  of  the  docker's  wife,  who  knows 
that  when  her  husband  returns  drunk  from  the  foot- 
ball match  on  which  he  has  betted  and  lost,  she  may 
expect  ''knocking  about."  That  Alec's  whole  present 
temper  and  outlook  would  be  vitally  affected  by  this 
refusal  of  the  party  Whips  to  lift  a  finger  in  his  aid, 
Alec 's  wife  was  certain.  How  curt  that  refusal  would 
have  been  but  for  the  personal  friendship  felt  for  her- 
self by  two  of  the  party  leaders,  she  rather  dismally 
guessed.    She  tried  feverishly  to  plan  for  the  future. 

156 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  157 

How  could  she  now  content  and  soothe  him'?  Would 
he  soon  begin  to  think  of  her  as  the  person  who  had 
spoiled  his  life, — soon  be  impatiently  asking  whether 
the  game  had  been  worth  it?  Instinctively,  she  had 
become  aware  of  certain  mean  or  disloyal  possibilities 
in  his  character,  which  had  been  absolutely  hidden 
from  her  through  all  the  love-dream  of  Italy.  Her 
inmost  mind  even  put  the  question — half  in  dread, 
half  in  mockery  of  herself — ' '  will  he  tell  me  some  day 
I  tempted  him!  I  was  the  treacherous  Eve — and  he 
— my  poor  Alec — ^just  an  innocent  unwilling  Adam?" 
Then,  as  she  lay  high  on  her  embroidered  pUlows, 
her  black  hair  loose  about  her  white  brows,  and  the 
rosy  color  rushing  into  her  cheeks,  like  the  princess 
in  Grimm's  fairy  tale  when  the  poisoned  fruit  drops 
out  of  her  mouth,  the  scenes  of  their  love-making  ran 
before  her  mind;  a  veritable  pageant  of  Youth  and 
Desire.  Alec  at  her  side  under  Vallombrosa  woods — 
Alec  at  her  feeet  in  some  old  Italian  garden — Alec 
rowing  her  on  Maggiore,  under  the  moonlight, — his 
eyes  upon  her  face,  the  boat  drifting  on  the  still  water 
— while  the  thoughts  of  both  were  breathless  under 
the  memory  of  hours  that  had  been,  and  the  eager 
vision  of  those  that  were  to  come.  Her  breath  failed 
her  now,  her  life  seemed  to  faint  within  her  once  more 
— as  she  re-lived  that  utter  delight  that  is  so  near  to 
pain ;  delight  in  a  voice,  a  look,  the  touch  of  a  hand, 
the  sound  of  a  step ;  when  passion  is  young.  Yes, 
everything  that  passion  promises  to  man  and  woman 
had  been  theirs;  except,  indeed,  innocence,  and  "silly 
sooth,"  such  as  may  enrich  any  foolish  youth  and 
maid  who  fall  stupidly  in  love  and  marry.  But  to 
compare  their  love  with  any  other !  That  was  always 
her  half -realized  cry  to  herself — "We  were  not  like 


158  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

others! — ^there  was  no  law  for  us — there  could  be 
none!  What  we  felt  made  its  own  law.  Those  who 
judge  us,  and  would  like  to  punish  us,  are  like  blind 
men  who  would  punish  those  with  eyes,  for  seeing. ' ' 

And  in  that  exalted  mood,  and  that  defiant  freedom 
of  conscience,  she  had  practically  lived  until  their  re- 
turn home.  By  that  return,  they  had  come  back  from 
fairyland  into  common  life.  And  instantly,  almost, 
she  had  become  aware  of  motives  and  interests  in  Alec, 
she  had  scarcely  dreamed  of  before.  She  had  thought 
herself  all  his  world.  And  within  the  first  weeks  of 
their  home-coming,  the  real  man,  with  his  tough, 
inherited  traditions,  the  Englishman,  of  a  certain 
class  and  type — of  whom  the  lover  was  but  a  phase 
and  part,  had  emerged  solidly  into  light;  and  she 
had  been  painfully  learning  her  new  lesson  ever  since. 

She  softly  stepped  out  of  bed  and  drew  the  cur- 
tains. A  hot  and  misty  world  outside — the  dead 
leaves  strewn  on  the  burned  grass — a  veiled  sky. 

And,  she  thought  just  for  a  moment — with  a  pang 
— how  often  love  ends  so — "like  the  summer — in  a 
slow  dry  death. ' ' 

Then  she  laughed  at  herself.  *  *  Ah !  but  not  for  Alec 
and  me — not  for  us ! "  Not  for  those  who  have  lived 
heart  in  heart,  life  in  life,  day  and  night  through  the 
heights  and  depths  of  a  great  passion?  But  can  a 
great  passion — a  real  ''great  passion" — even  conceive 
its  own  decline  1  And  she  knew  well  that  Alec  already 
loved  her  less  absorbingly ;  that  his  mind  was  rushing 
to  other  things  that  he  desired  as  much  as  the  things 
of  love ;  things  that  she  could  not  give  him,  and  must 
suffer  for — because  she  could  not  give  them  to  him. 

"The  best  is  gone — is  gone!"  she  said  to  herself 
with  a  great  sigh  of  confession,  clasping  her  hands 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  159 

above  her  head;  and,  for  a  moment,  it  seemed  to 
comfort  her  to  be  looking,  without  excuses  or  make 
believe,  into  a  great  darkness. 

But  she  did  not  really  believe  it;  and  her  state  of 
depression  presently  reminded  her  of  the  famous  cry 
of  Melisande — '^I-am-not-Jiappy!" — and  how,  as  a  girl 
who  despised  sentimentality,  she  had  always  mocked 
it.  And  now  it  had  come  to  have  a  queer  representa- 
tive truth  in  her  ears;  as  the  tormented  cry  of  all 
passion  when  its  first  flowering  time  is  over.  Must 
the  best  of  everything  always  pass  1 — always  die  ? 

She  went  back  to  bed,  and  quietly  asked  herself — 
''what  shall  I  do  if  Alec  ever  gives  up  loving  me? 
I  shall  have  no  one — no  one  in  the  world.  Perhaps 
when  she  is  grown  up.  Carina  will  come  back  to  me — 
ten  years  hence. ' ' 

She  turned  her  head,  and  there  on  the  table  beside 
her  bed  was  the  photograph  of  her  little  girl ;  a  slim 
and  graceful  creature  holding  herself  like  a  bird 
poised  for  flight ;  with  the  deepest  blue  eyes,  and  the 
slenderest  neck ;  an  expression  sweet  yet  full  of  fire — 
intent,  thoughtful,  proud — a  look  beyond  her  years. 

The  look  of  a  motherless  child !  Carrie 's  heart  hun- 
gered for  her.  Tears  streamed  over  her  cheeks  quietly 
— unheeded.  On  their  way  north,  in  a  few  days,  she 
was  to  be  allowed  to  see  Carina.  She  and  Joyce  were 
to  stop  for  the  night  at  a  hotel  in  Oxford,  and  the 
child  would  be  brought  to  the  hotel — for  a  couple  of 
hours.    And  then  no  more — for  a  year. 

Suddenly  through  the  quiet  of  the  house,  she  became 
aware  of  the  sound  of  a  distant  door  opening  and 
shutting.  Joyce? — going  to  early  service?  Bells 
were  ringing  far  away,  from  all  sides ;  a  confused  and 
plaintive  clamor  through  the  summer  air.    Joyce  al- 


160  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

ways  went  to  early  Communion  on  Sundays,  wherever 
they  were.  "And  I  can  never  go  with  her,"  thought 
Carrie.  "There  are  many  clergymen,  of  course,  who 
would  refuse  to  give  me  Communion  if  I  did  go. ' ' 

A  fierce  gust  of  wounded  pride  swept  through  her 
at  the  thought.    Narrow  and  insolent  fanatics ! 

But  the  sound  of  the  bells  flowed  on,  and  she  found 
herself  following  Joyce  in  thought  through  the  morn- 
ing streets  to  some  quiet  church,  fragrant  with 
flowers,  and  scantily  filled  with  kneeling  figures.  Just 
because  it  was  to  her  a  closed  and  forbidden  scene, 
Carrie  was  conscious  of  a  bitter  wish  to  be  there 
beside  her  cousin,  within  touch  of  the  old  spiritual 
joy,  the  ineffable  self -surrender  she  could  remember 
in  her  youth.  So  Christianity  had  nothing  for  her 
any  more  ? — because  she  loved  Alec  ? — ^because  she  had 
wrenched  herself  free  from  the  man  she  hated,  to  give 
herself,  honestly,  to  the  man  she  adored  ? 

So  much  the  worse  for  Christianity! — for  things 
outworn  and  dead.  The  old  revolt  awoke  in  her,  the 
fever,  the  arrogant  will  of  those  Italian  days.  She 
and  Alec — and  others  like  them — were  the  pioneers 
of  a  new  freedom ;  and  they  would  achieve  it  in  spite 
of  priests.  It  was  the  bigotry,  the  Pharisaism  of  John 
Marsworth,  the  tyranny  of  his  conscience  and  his 
creed  over  hers,  which  had  first  driven  her  into  re- 
bellion. Was  she  to  be  tamely  capitulating  now,  hum- 
bling herself  before  standards  her  intelligence  denied 
and  rejected,  because  Joyce — her  cousin  Joyce — ^was 
a  dear  pure-souled  thing,  who  went  ardently,  yet  so 
silently,  every  Sunday  morning,  through  the  great 
house,  to  that  mystic  meeting  of  the  altar? 

Eight  0  'clock !  In  the  quiet  of  the  Sunday  morning, 
even  in  this  vast  London,  the  strokes  of  Big  Ben  came 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  161 

borne  to  her,  muffled,  on  the  southerly  wind.  Alec 
would  be  home  by  luncheon,  and  then  the  task  of 
pacifying  and  cheering  him  would  begin.  And  after 
luncheon,  no  doubt, — when  she  had  done  all  the  com- 
forting she  could — he  would  go  and  complain  to  Mrs. 
Whitton.  Why  was  that  woman  still  in  town?  Be- 
cause Alec  was?  It  was  hateful  that  she  should  have 
anything  to  do  with  Alec's  affairs — that  she  should 
be  "taking  him  up" — ^that  Alec  should  owe  anything 
to  her — or  any  other  woman  than  his  wife.  Carrie's 
proud  jealousy  was  in  full  flood.  She  thought  with 
joy  that  they  could  go  off  to  Scotland  now,  without 
waiting  another  day,  that  Alec's  weeks  immediately 
ahead  were  very  full  of  sporting  engagements  with 
many  friends,  and  that  Mrs.  Whitton  would  naturally 
drop  out  of  his  ken — for  a  time.  Carrie  could  even 
find  a  miserable  consolation  for  the  failure  of  Alec's 
scheme — if  it  was  to  fail — in  the  fact  that  Mrs. 
Whitton,  who  no  doubt  had  been  pulling  wires  in 
connection  with  it,  had  not  been  able  to  make  it  suc- 
ceed! For  there  was  something  in  Madge  Whitton 's 
personality  which  had  by  now  roused  a  hot  antag- 
onism in  the  mistress  of  Eltham  House. 

''When  we  meet,  she  turns  me  into  a  snob!" 
thought  Carrie.  "I  want  to  lord  it  over  her — ^to  put 
her  down — to  make  her  feel  that  we  are  great  people, 
and  she  nobody.  And  she,  on  her  side,  seems  to  be 
always  mocking — or  patronizing — or  pitying  me.  It 
is  as  though  she  were  always  looking  out  for  a  chance 
of  reminding  me  of  how  we  are  boycotted — of  what 
people  think  of  us ;  and  all  the  time  she  never  says  a 
single  direct  word  on  the  subject.  Yet,  what  a  fool  I 
am !  If  I  played  my  cards  properly  I  should  ask  her 
here    constantly.     I   should   keep   her   in   sight.    I 


162  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

should  never  let  her  dream  that  I  was  afraid  of  her. 
But  to  see  her  and  Alec  together! — how  she  appro- 
priates and  cajoles  him — it  is  too  odious!  And  he, 
poor  darling,  he  means  nothing,  of  course ;  and  he  is 
half  shocked  and  half  amused  by  my  feeling  about 
her.  All  the  time  if  she  could  do  me  a  mischief,  she 
would.  That  absurd  thing  Mr.  Llewellyn  said  to  me ! 
very  likely  she  started  it  I " 

She  lay  and  thought  of  the  "absurd  thing,"  re- 
senting it — and  yet  troubled  by  it.  During  their 
long  talk,  when  she  had  begun  to  realize  in  the  party 
politician,  Robert  Llewellyn,  that  strange  pastoral 
gift  that  so  many  pastors  and  priests  are  without,  he 
had  ventured  the  very  gentlest  hint  on  the  subject  of 
Lord  Merton.  She  pondered  it  unhappily.  Had  she 
really  been  seeing  too  much  of  the  young  man? 
Ridiculous !  All  the  same,  she  thought  with  some  dis- 
comfort of  the  phrases  and  expressions  of  a  letter  now 
lying  beside  her  in  a  little  bundle  of  recent  letters. 
Lord  Merton  belonged  to  one  of  the  most  famous  fami- 
lies of  England;  famous  for  its  virtues  even  more 
than  its  accomplishments;  fruitful  in  bishops  no  less 
than  in  statesmen.  He  was  the  pink  of  conduct — the 
' '  mold  of  form. ' '  All  sorts  of  fair  ladies,  of  the  most 
spotless  reputations,  had  laid  siege  to  him  in  vain; 
and,  in  her  precarious  position,  Carrie  had  been  far 
from  insensible  to  the  compliment  of  his  devotion. 
No  woman,  however  deeply  in  love  with  her  husband, 
could  help  being  flattered  by  it.  Carrie  had  certainly 
been  flattered — touched — grateful.  But  if  people  like 
Mrs.  Whitton  were  going  to  spread  scandal  about  it; 
if  even  Mr.  Llewellyn  were  to  misunderstand  it ;  and 
if  Alec  could  not  be  argued  out  of  the  unreasonable 
dislike  he  had  taken  to  the  young  man — ^why  the 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  163 

young  man  must  go !  "  What  does  he  matter  to  me  ?  " 
thought  Carrie  with  a  proud  bitterness.  Nothing  mat- 
tered, but  Alec — nothing  in  the  world.  She  fell  again 
into  a  tender  absorption  of  thought  as  to  his  future; 
how  to  help  him — how  to  devise  work  for  him  which 
would  bring  him  success  and  fame,  and  silence  all 
their  enemies. 

"Good  morning!  How  cool  you  are  here!"  said 
Joyce  Allen,  settling  herself  on  the  grass  at  Carrie's 
feet.  She  had  seen  nothing  of  her  cousin  that  morn- 
ing, and  now  after  matins  she  had  returned  to  find 
Carrie  established  under  an  awning  on  the  great  lawn, 
with  books  and  newspapers  beside  her. 

"And  how  fresh  you  look — ^in  your  black  and 
white!"  said  Carrie  holding  out  a  hand  which  the 
girl  took  and  pressed  affectionately.  And  certainly 
Joyce  was  pleasant  to  look  upon,  though  in  her  quiet 
pale  face  nothing  held  its  own  against  the  brilliance 
of  her  cousin's  beauty,  except  perhaps  the  eyes  which 
were  of  a  bright  and  delicate  blue,  fringed  and  eye- 
browed  with  black.  She  gave  you  the  impression  of 
a  person  of  great  reserves;  and  these  all  good,  all  to 
be  trusted.  A  person,  too,  born  without  the  personal 
claim  which  makes  both  the  weakness  and  the  charm 
of  most  women.  In  exchange,  nature  had  given  her 
powers  of  sympathy  that  vibrated  to  any  need  which 
happened  to  be  near  her.  So  that  while  absurdly  un- 
selfish, she  was  defenselessly  human,  and  by  the  time 
you  had  discovered  the  saint  in  her,  you  had  learned 
to  love  her  for  so  much  else  that  it  did  not 
matter. 

Caroline  had  already  come  to  depend  upon  her 
greatly.     The  mere  business  correspondence  of  the 


164  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

huge  house  was  a  burden,  apart  from  its  social  cor- 
respondence. Carrie  was  unpunctual,  untidy,  with  a 
mind  full,  first  of  all,  of  Alec,  then  of  politics,  then  of 
some  daring  social  combination  or  other  which  might 
help  Alec.  She  hated  drudgery,  and  she  hated  ac- 
counts; she  was  generous,  quite  unspoiled  by  money, 
and  extravagant  out  of  mere  impatience.  Joyce,  it 
seemed,  had  a  practical  mind,  and  untiring  industry. 
Carrie  was  gradually  heaping  more  and  more  responsi- 
bility upon  her ;  the  girl  reluctantly  accepting. 

Carrie  had  herself  planned  the  black  and  white 
dress,  and  looked  at  it  with  pleasure,  for  it  certainly 
did  her  credit. 

"Where  have  you  been?" 

"To  the  Abbey.  There  was  a  lovely  anthem — by 
a  new  man." 

She  began  to  describe  it  with  enthusiasm  and  the 
phrases  of  one  who  had  been  musically  trained. 

But  in  the  midst  of  her  description,  she  suddenly 
noticed  that  Carrie  had  taken  up  from  the  chair  on 
which  it  was  lying  a  small  worn  Bible,  which  Joyce 
had  brought  back  with  her  from  service.  A  sudden 
look  of  alarm  flashed  into  the  girl's  eyes;  she  bit  her 
lip,  and  stumbled  in  what  she  was  saying.  Rising, 
she  held  out  her  hand  for  the  book. 

"I  must  go  in  and  get  ready  for  lunch," 

But  Carrie  was  already  turning  the  book  over.  She 
raised  her  eyes. 

"You  don't  mind,  do  you,  .my  looking  at  these 
photographs?" 

The  tone  was  kind  and  careless.  But  Joyce  had 
turned  white. 

A  cry  from  Caroline. 

** Joyce!"    She  had  risen  to  her  feet,  holding  out 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  165 

the  book.  A  photograph — a  "snap" — had  fluttered 
to  the  grass.  Joyce  picked  it  up,  and  stood  hanging 
her  head. 

"Who  is  it?"  asked  Caroline  breathlessly. 

"My  aunt — my  mother's  sister,"  said  Joyce,  her 
timid  eyes  on  the  ground. 

"Your  aunt?  Where  is  she? — did  she  ever  men- 
tion me  to  you  ? ' ' 

The  voice  was  peremptory — ^the  breath  fluttered. 

"Yes." 

"Is  she  alive?" 

"No.  She  died  last  winter.  She  told  father — and 
me — " 

"About  Dicky's  death?"  said  Caroline,  panting. 

The  girl  made  a  sign  of  assent.  There  was  a  si- 
lence. Then  Caroline  handed  back  the  book,  and 
resumed  her  seat,  her  face  pale  and  stormy. 

"So  you  know  all  that — and  you  never  said  a 
word ! ' '    The  tears  rushed  to  Joyce's  eyes. 

' '  How  could  I  ?  "  she  said  gently. 

"Was  that— was  that  what  made  you  come — when 
I  asked  you  ? ' ' 

"Yes." 

Caroline  fell  back  in  her  chair,  and  closed  her  eyes, 
her  lips  quivering,  Joyce  looked  at  her  irresolutely — 
then  with  a  sudden  movement  came  and  knelt  beside 
her. 

' '  It  was  one  day  last  year.  Aunt  Agnes  was  staying 
with  us,  and  father  was  very  ill.  We  saw  the  an- 
nouncement of  your  marriage  in  the  paper — and 
father  said  something — " 

The  young  voice  wavered,  and  resumed — 

"He  felt  very  strongly — about  divorce — and 
divorced  people  marrying  again.    So  it — was  natural. 


166  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

He — he  didn't  mean  to  be  unkind.  And — ^he  had 
heard  something  about  Dicky.  And  then  Aunt  Agnes 
looked  at  him  and  me,  and  we  saw  that  she  was 
crying — and  she  said — "Edward,  I  know  a  great  deal 
about  Mrs.  Wing.  I  was  with  her  through  a  very 
terrible  night.  I  should  like  to  tell  you  and  Joyce, 
because  she  is  our  cousin,  and  Joyce  perhaps  will  see 
her  some  day — and  get  to  know  her — and  hear  things 
said  of  her.  And  about  the  little  boy — and  the  worst 
things  that  are  said — I  can  tell  you  the  real  truth. 
I  was  never  so  sorry — for  any  human  being,  in  my 
life!" 

''And  then  she  told  you—?" 

"Yes—" 

* '  How  she  took  me  in — she  and  her  friend  ?  Is  the 
friend  alive?"  The  questions  were  low-spoken,  and 
though  Carrie  had  taken  the  girl's  hand,  the  eyes 
were  stiU  shut. 

"Miss  Nelson?    Oh,  yes." 

After  another  pause  Caroline  said— 

"I  had  no  idea  she  had  any  connection  with  my 
family.  We  never  gave  our  names  that  night.  Next 
morning — after  Dicky  died — I  was  hardly  conscious — 
Alec  took  me  away.  Then  somehow  I  heard  the 
name — Miss  Penrose — Miss  Agnes  Penrose.  But  it 
conveyed  nothing  to  me.  I  didn't  know  your  mother's 
maiden  name,  and  I  hadn't  seen  your  father  since  I 
was  a  child  of  twelve  or  thirteen." 

"But  he  always  remembered  you!"  said  Joyce 
eagerly,  venturing  to  kiss  the  hand  she  held.  "He 
said  you  were — so  beautiful! — in  the  old  college 
rooms;  like  a  young  Muse.  He  always  kept  up  his 
classics;  and  there  were  some  passages  he  loved — 
Greek  poetry — that  seemed  to  him  to  describe  you. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  167 

There  was  one  about  Nausicaa — 'like  a  xall  poplar 
tree — '  I  forget!  But  he  translated  some  of  them 
for  me,  and  gave  them  to  me — after  Aunt  Agnes  told 
us — that  I  might  know  what  he  had  felt  about  you. ' ' 

By  this  time  Carrie  had  recovered  her  composure, 
and  that  proud  bearing  which  was  habitual  to  her. 
She  raised  herself  in  her  chair,  and  Joyce  slid  into  a 
sitting  posture  on  the  grass,  her  face  against  Carrie's 
knees. 

* '  So  Cousin  William  gave  you  leave  to  come  ? ' '  she 
asked,  in  a  still  tremulous  but  slightly  sarcastic  voice. 

' '  Before  he  died — if  you  should  ever  ask  me, ' '  said 
Joyce  softly,  her  face  hidden. 

"Because  he  was  sorry  for  me  about  Dicky?  He 
thought  me  wicked,  of  course ! ' ' 

''He  was — ^very  sorry — "  said  the  girl  almost 
inaudibly. 

Caroline  divined  that  there  was  much  more  to 
know.  But  she  did  not  intend  to  ask  for  it.  The  thin 
ascetic  face  of  the  old  college  vicar,  as  she  remem- 
bered seeing  him  several  times  in  her  childhood,  in  her 
father's  study,  was  sharply  present  to  her. 

"Would  you  have  come — if  I  hadn't  written  to 
you — would  you  have  written  to  me?" — she  inquired 
rather  sharply, 

"I — don't  know.  I  should  have  been  too  shy — 
perhaps!"  said  Joyce,  looking  up  with  a  smile,  and 
trying  to  give  the  conversation  a  lighter  turn, 

"I  have  no  doubt  many  of  our  relations  tried  to 
dissuade  you. ' ' 

Mrs.  Wing  named  some  of  them,  but  carelessly,  as 
though  their  names  could  not  possibly  matter. 

"I  am  twenty-three,"  said  Joyce  quietly. 

Both  speakers  fell  silent.    But  Carrie  was  full  of 


168  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

tumuituous  thought.  So  this  delicate,  maidenly  crea- 
ture had  accepted  her  invitation,  out  of  pure  pity, 
anxious  only  to  serve  her;  sent  by  that  dead  saint, 
her  father.  The  sin  waived — only  the  suffering  re- 
membered! "Neither  do  I  condemn  thee — go  and  sin 
no  more. ' '  The  proud  tears  flashed  again  into  Carrie 's 
eyes.  And  again  she  rebelled — ^fiercely — against  this 
weak  susceptibility  in  herself  to  the  old  Christian 
ideas  and  traditions.  Perhaps  after  all  it  was  a 
Christian  plot  of  these  two  pious  people,  the  one  dead, 
the  other  living,  to  bring  her  to  her  senses.  She  rose, 
saying  with  a  cold  dignity — 

*'I  wish  you  had  told  me  all  this  before." 

And  she  went  slowly  into  the  house,  while  Joyce, 
looking  after  the  queenly  figure,  became  very  red 
and  bit  her  lip  furiously.  Had  she,  after  all,  made  a 
foolish — perhaps  unpardonable — mistake  ? 

* '  Good  morning !  This  is  astonishing ! — to  find  you 
all  still  here!" 

Joyce  looked  up  startled.  Captain  Durrant  was 
coming  to  her  across  the  lawn — ^very  tall  and  soldierly 
— his  young  countenance  expressive  of  an  uncon- 
cealed pleasure  at  the  sight  of  Miss  Allen,  alone.  But 
he  was  not  long  to  enjoy  it.  Joyce  gave  him  the  most 
perfunctory  of  greetings,  and  with  a  hurried  excuse, 
went  into  the  house,  leaving  him  to  walk  about  dis- 
consolately till  lunch.  Where  had  they  all  vanished 
to?  And  why  had  Miss  Allen  been  crying — or  some- 
thing near  it?  Had  Carrie  perhaps  been  unkind  to 
her? — for  that  Carrie  had  lately  been  on  the  lawn, 
her  wraps  and  books  scattered  under  the  awning 
showed.  The  notion  raised  a  momentary  storm  in  the 
young  man's  breast.  Then  he  dismissed  it.  Carrie 
unkind  to  her  ?    Why,  she  had  been  goodness  itself  to 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  169 

her  orphan  cousin!  Durrant  was  well  aware  of  all 
the  domestic  detail  of  the  preceding  weeks  since 
Joyce 's  arrival ;  and  the  result  had  been  to  make  him 
more  than  ever  Caroline's  apologist  and  champion. 
For  he  was  rapidly  coming  to  measure  all  that  befell 
him  by  one  standard  only — how  he  could  possibly 
secure  a  good  time  for  Miss  Joyce  Allen: — and,  in 
return,  a  due  payment  in  smiles  from  that  young 
woman's  very  soft,  and  most  attaching  eyes. 

Alec  had  not  returned  by  luncheon-time.  But  a 
few  Jiahitues  appeared ;  either  stranded  in  London  for 
various  official  reasons,  or  birds  of  passage.  The 
Duchess,  for  instance — on  her  way  from  a  castle  in 
Devon,  to  a  castle  in  Perthshire;  the  French  Am- 
bassador, without  his  wife,  who  was  at  Vernet-les- 
Bains;  the  permanent  Secretary  of  one  of  the  great 
offices;  Sir  Oliver  Lewson,  and  an  M.P.  or  two, 
wearily  expecting  the  adjournment  of  the  House. 

At  luncheon,  and  on  the  lawn  afterwards,  Carrie 
was  at  her  best  and  gayest.  She  got  through  a  great 
many  cigarettes,  she  chattered  French  with  the 
Ambassador,  who  sat  for  an  hour  and  more,  openly 
and  undisguisedly  worshiping  at  her  shrine,  as  he 
would  never  have  dared  to  do  had  not  his  wife's 
migraines  driven  her  to  the  Pyrenees.  She  sparred 
with  the  Duchess.  And  no  one  guessed  that  on  her 
passage  through  the  hall,  she  had  seen  a  large  official- 
looking  letter  addressed  to  Alec,  bearing  in  the  corner 
of  it  the  initials  L.P. ;  nor  did  anyone  notice  that 
every  sound  from  the  garden  entrance  of  the  house 
made  her  start  and  look  round. 

The  Duchess^ — strangely  garbed  on  this  hot  summer 
day,  in  a  heather-mixture  coat  and  skirt,  with  a  tweed 


170  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

traveling  hat  of  the  same  material — was  describing 
some  very  great  people  with  whom  she  had  just  been 
stajang  on  her  triumphal  progress  through  the  south- 
west. The  wife  "dreadfully  stupid,  but  you  can't 
help  liking  her — she  flounders,  more  than  she  errs! 
The  husband,  a  big  jealous  fool,  jealous  of  everybody, 
his  wife,  his  agent,  his  son  even,  because  the  youth 
shoots  better  than  he  does;  and  they  say  last  year, 
when  they  stayed  at  Zermatt,  he  was  jealous  of  the 
Matterhorn,  because  every  morning  people  asked — 
'How's  the  Matterhorn  to-day?' — and  it  annoyed 
him." 

"It's  that  national  self-importance  saves  you," 
laughed  the  Ambassador.  "If  you  didn't  believe  in 
yourselves — " 

"Who  would  believe  in  us?  Yes — but  we  over-do 
it.  Our  class — my  class" — she  pointed  calmly  to 
herself — "don't  recognize  what's  happened  to  them. 
They're  so  'damned  surly  about  facts' — excuse  my 
language! — as  somebody  said  of  Fox.  You  can't  per- 
suade 'em.  But  their  day's  done.  And  they  still  go 
on — some  of  them — still  imagining  they're  the  hub  of 
things,  and  the  universe  waits  on  them.  You  know 
Alec's  a  deal  too  much  like  that,"  said  the  terrible 
lady,  composedly  turning  to  Carrie  who  sat  near  her. 
Carrie  flushed. 

"That's  not  fair!"  she  said  rather  indignantly. 
"Alec's  not  here  to  defend  himself." 

"No — but  he  soon  will  be.  You  say  you  expect 
him  directly.  I'U  return  to  the  charge.  Wing — ^his 
father — is  another  of  them.  He  can't  get  his  way 
now,  as  he  used  to  do ;  on  his  estates,  or  in  Parliament. 
So  he  won't  play  the  game  any  more;  shuts  himself 
up ;  goes  out  shooting  alone  with  an  army  of  keepers 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  171 

and  beaters;  and  despises  everybody.  But  what's  the 
good  ?  Can  I  make  a  scullery-maid  stay  with  me  now 
if  she  doesn't  choose?  Not  I.  She  and  the  hall-boy 
have  got  the  whip  hand  of  me,  and  they  know  it.  We 
talk — or  if  we  don't  talk,  we  think — of  our  money 
and  our  pedigrees;  and  the  other  sort  don't  talk — 
but  they've  got  the  numbers  and  the  brains — and 
that 's  enough  for  them ! '  * 

"Monstrous!"  said  Sir  Oliver.  "Why  attack  us 
like  this?  We're  all  Liberals  here!"  The  Duchess 
shrugged  her  shoulders. 

"I'm  a  Liberal — when  it  suits  me — ^not  otherwise. 
Ah!  here's  Alec!" 

Caroline  half  rose  from  her  chair,  and  sank  into 
it  again.  The  tall  figure  of  Alec  Wing  came  slowly 
down  the  garden  steps.  The  Ambassador,  waving  a 
welcoming  hand,  turned  to  look  at  the  splendid  young 
Englishman — his  curly  hair,  his  shoulders,  the  slim 
strength  of  his  athlete 's  body.  So  did  Oliver  Lewson, 
who  was  struck  however  by  something  else ;  as  though 
the  handsome  face  had  been  suddenly  blanched.  The 
owner  of  it  held  a  letter  crushed  in  his  left  hand, 
which  he  put  into  his  coat  pocket  as  he  approached  the 
group.  He  greeted  them  all  however  as  usual,  except 
that — as  the  Duchess  noticed — he  scarcely  spoke  to 
his  wife.  Carrie,  on  her  side,  made  a  smiling  inquiry 
after  his  fortunes  at  golf,  which  remained  almost 
unanswered.  The  Duchess  resumed  her  attack  on  the 
still  surviving  vftpt?  of  the  poor  battered  British  no- 
bility, but  Wing  rather  scornfully  put  her  shafts 
aside,  and  plunged  into  golf -talk  with  one  or  two  of 
the  men  present. 

Somehow  his  coming  broke  up  the  party.  Carrie's 
talk  ceased  to  flow;  everyone  was  conscious  of  some- 


172  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

thing  wrong ;  and  one  by  one  the  guests  melted  away, 
till  only  the  husband  and  wife — and  the  Duchess — 
were  left. 

When  Alec  came  back  from  escorting  the  Am- 
bassador through  the  house,  the  Duchess  fixed  him 
with  a  fearless  eye. 

"Alec! — are  you  going  to  jump  down  my  throat 
if  I  make  a  remark  that  doesn't  please  you?" 

"Isn't  it  too  hot  to  do  either?"  he  said  haughtily, 
stretching  himself  at  full  length  in  a  garden  chair, 
and  drawing  down  his  hat  over  his  eyes. 

"Well,  I  happen  to  know  what  you've  been  after," 
said  the  Duchess  calmly.  "I  found  Penwenack  down 
at  Merstham — "  she  named  the  latest  castle  on  her 
list — "He's  an  old  friend  of  mine,  and  I  can  get  most 
things  out  of  him.  He  didn't  tell  me  much — but 
enough.  Eeally,  Alec!  now  don't  be  angry  with  me 
— but  you  have  put  your  foot  in  it ! " 

Alec  sat  up.  Carrie,  outwardly  impassive,  watched 
him,  shrinking  at  heart.  How  strange  that  she  could 
not  even  put  out  a  hand  to  him!  It  was  as  though 
some  baffled  force,  at  a  white  heat  of  friction,  held 
the  man  she  loved,  dividing  her  from  him.  The 
Duchess  too  quailed  a  little. 

"My  dear  Aunt  Emily — ^let  me  point  out  to  you 
that  I  am  not  a  schoolboy  any  longer — to  be  either 
scolded  or  tipped  by  you — though  I  fully  admit  you 
used  to  do  both  magnificently  ten  years  ago.  And 
if  you  wish  to  remain  friends  with  Carrie  and  me, 
you  won't  gossip  about  my  private  affairs  with 
Penwenack  or  anybody  else ! ' ' 

The  Duchess  had  turned  a  little  pale.  But  she  rose 
with  dignity.  Her  old  eyes  were  full  of  softness  and 
compunction. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  173 

"I  seem  to  have  made  a  fool  of  myself.  Well, 
good-by,  Carrie.  I  didn't  mean  any  harm.  Alec,  you'd 
get  through  all  your  troubles  if  you'd  be  content  to 
go  slow.  But  you  always  would  rush  at  things  head- 
down.    Good-by — don't  bother  about  seeing  me  out." 

But  Wing  ceremoniously  escorted  her  to  the  door 
and  bowed  her  to  her  car.  Then  he  slowly  returned 
to  his  wife. 

''Well,  Carrie,"  he  said  sitting  down  beside  her, 
"Don't  worry!" 

But  his  eyes  were  singularly  somber,  and  the  brow 
above  them  furrowed. 

"Darling!"  she  said  piteously,  holding  out  her 
hands  to  him. 

"You  seem  to  know  all  about  it,"  he  said  bitterly. 

"Mr.  Llewellyn  came  last  night." 

"Oh,  well — "  he  spoke  hastily — "I  don't  the  least 
want  to  know  what  he  said!  Lots  of  good  advice, 
no  doubt.  I'm  not  in  the  mood  for  it.  But  I'll  be 
even  with  them  all  some  day!  And  now  I'm  going 
out  a  bit.  I  shall  be  back  for  dinner."  He  rose  as 
he  spoke.    Carrie 's  cheeks  flamed. 

"Alec!  you're  not  going  away! — ^without  letting  us 
talk  it  over?    And  mayn't  I  see  the  letter?" 

' '  Penwenaek  's  ?  What 's  the  good  ?  Canting  hypoc- 
risy like  all  the  rest  of  it.  Well,  that  chapter's 
closed.  Don't  let's  talk  any  more  of  it.  I  shall  get 
my  chance  some  day.  Good-by  for  the  present.  Shall 
I  find  you  a  wrap ?    It's  getting  cold." 

He  rose  as  he  spoke.    And  she  rose  too. 

"Alec! — why  can't  you  stay?  I  haven't  seen  you 
since  yesterday  morning — and  I've  been  thinking  of 
you  all  day  and  all  night.  Alec ! — don 't  be  so  unkind ! ' ' 

"We  shall  meet  to-night,"  he  said,  moving  away. 


174  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"But  where  are  you  going  now?  Why  are  you 
so  strange?  Is  it  any  fault  of  mine  what  has  hap- 
pened? Haven't  I  done  everything — "  her  voice 
broke,  and  she  regained  it  with  difficulty — "every- 
thing I  possibly  could?" 

* '  Yes,  of  course  you  have ! ' '  His  manner  was  one  of 
somber  impatience.  "But  for  goodness  sake,  Carrie, 
don 't  make  a  scene.    I  hate  scenes.    I  must  go. ' ' 

She  paused  a  moment.  A  throb  of  sudden  passion 
ran  through  her  from  head  to  foot.    She  drew  away. 

"You  are  going  to  that  woman — to  Mrs.  Whitton! 
You  won't  talk  it  over  with  me — your  wife — but  you 
will,  with  her !  It's  an  insult  to  me,  Alec, — ^you  know 
it  is!" 

"Why  shouldn't  I  talk  it  over,  with  any  friend 
I  please ! "  he  said,  with  an  answering  flash  of  wrath, 
but  coldly  restrained.  "We  shall  have  time  enough, 
you  and  I,  God  knows,  to  discuss  what  I  'm  to  do  with 
myself,  and  my  future.  You're  a  goose,  Carrie — 
you  really  are — to  behave  like  this ! ' ' 

And  without  another  word,  he  walked  away ;  while 
she,  as  he  finally  disappeared,  felt  her  way  blindly 
to  the  deep  shelter  of  a  close-set  avenue  of  limes 
which  ran  along  the  eastern  edge  of  the  garden,  and 
dropped  upon  a  seat,  as  though  the  words  hurled  at 
her  had  been  daggers  indeed. 

And  there,  screened  from  all  eyes,  but  within  hail 
of  the  magnificent  house  which  called  her  mistress, 
Caroline  Wing  went  through  one  of  the  blackest  hours 
of  life.  Hers  had  been  no  mercenary  bargain,  what- 
ever the  public  hostile  to  her  might  think.  She  had 
given  her  all  for  Love,  as  she  understood  it,  and  she 
seemed  already  to  hear  the  rustle  of  his  departing 
wings  along  the  darkened  air. 


CHAPTER  X 

But  life  has  a  way  of  dealing  disrespectfully  with  its 
own  crises.  It  huddles  them  up  and  effaces  them  as 
soon  as  it  can.  The  wave,  crested  and  foaming,  which 
looked  so  formidably  high  to  the  weak  swimmer,  car- 
ries him  into  seas  gentler  than  his  fears;  and  the 
demand  for  a  tragic  endurance,  to  which  a  torn  heart 
braces  itself  in  the  morning,  drops  by  the  evening  to 
something  very  different,  though  perhaps  not  less 
difficult. 

Alec  Wing  returned  to  dinner  that  evening,  bring- 
ing with  him  a  couple  of  casual  club  acquaintances; 
and  the  guests  at  any  rate  served  the  purpose,  which 
Caroline  at  once  suspected,  of  preventing  any  im- 
mediate renewal  of  the  scene  between  them.  A  few 
other  hahitues  of  the  house  turned  up ;  the  chef,  whose 
huge  salary  was  largely  paid  him  on  condition  that 
he  was  at  all  times  equally  ready  for  two  or  twenty, 
performed  brilliantly,  and  the  easy  perfection  of  the 
Eltham  House  entertaining  was  once  more  proved 
even  in  this  deserted  London.  Wing  himself  was 
apparently  in  high  spirits,  as  shown  by  much  talk, 
and  the  drinking  of  more  wine  than  usual.  Every 
now  and  then  indeed  he  had  sudden  relapses  into 
silence,  his  prominent  eyes  staring  absently  before 
him,  which  betrayed  him  to  Caroline.    He  was  pale 

175 


176  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

too,  still,  and  Carrie  found  herself  watching  him  at 
intervals  as  though  some  novelty  in  his  bearing, 
something  at  once  lost  and  discovered,  arrested  her. 
Homer  says  of  the  garden  of  Alcinous — "On  one  side 
the  ripe  grapes  were  drying  in  the  sun;  on  another 
the  young  clusters  were  just  dropping  their  blossom ; 
on  a  third  the  bunches  were  beginning  to  color." 
Wing's  youth,  like  the  grape-flower,  was  just  dropping 
its  blossom;  and  the  human  plant  knows  no  second 
spring.  It  was  some  faint  desolating  perception  of 
this  which  stirred  intermittently  in  Caroline  as  she 
noticed  her  husband's  imperious  bearing,  on  this 
summer  evening  to  which  both  afterwards  looked 
back  with  eyes  cleared  by  distance.  For  their  love 
for  each  other  had  dealt  so  violently  with  life,  had 
claimed  so  much  and  drunk  so  deep,  that  the  first 
check,  the  first  change  of  atmosphere  had  produced 
in  the  one  a  sudden  hardening,  and  in  the  other  a 
shiver  of  bewildered  fear — fear  of  things  unknown. 
The  man — unconsciously — ^was  tired  of  feeling;  and 
the  woman  in  perceiving  it,  knew  indeed  that  the  first 
perfect  hours  were  done. 

And  yet  the  evening,  outwardly,  ended  much  like 
other  evenings.  While  Alec  saw  his  guests  to  the  hall, 
Caroline  dreading  the  moment  when  he  and  she  must 
be  again  alone,  went  to  Joyce's  room,  and  stayed 
there  disjointedly  talking,  till  she  heard  him  calling 
her  from  the  gallery.  Then  she  got  up  from  Joyce's 
bed  on  which  she  had  been  sitting,  and  Joyce  saw  her 
for  a  moment  draw  herself  to  her  full  height,  as 
though  something  in  her  prepared  for  testing.  She 
was  a  glittering  vision  in  the  girl's  white  room;  a 
sash  of  deep  blue,  like  an  order,  slung  from  shoulder 
to  waist,  defining  the  long  body  in  its  lace  dress,  and 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  177 

one  sapphire  shining,  where  the  white  brow  and  the 
dark  hair  met,  above  the  deep-set  eyes.  To  Joyce, 
she  was  still  a  queen  of  fairy-tale,  as  beautiful  and 
as  mysterious;  but  since  their  conversation  in  the 
garden  the  girl  knew  very  well  that  their  relations 
had  changed — perhaps  fundamentally.  Carrie  had 
not  so  far  said  another  word  about  the  discovery  of 
the  afternoon,  but  some  proud  aloofness  had  insensi- 
bly passed  away.  The  soul  in  her  seemed  to  be  feeling 
dumbly  for  Joyce 's  sympathy ;  yet  still  with  intervals 
of  withdrawal  and  flight. 

But  that  night  there  was  no  time  for  any  further 
nearing  of  each  to  the  other.  Caroline  hurried  back 
to  the  gallery,  and  found  Alec  pacing  up  and  down 
it,  with  his  hands  in  the  pocket.  He  stopped  at  sight 
of  her — frowning. 

' '  Carrie ! — when  can  we  get  off  ? " 

*' Whenever  you  like.  The  servants  will  take  two 
days  to  make  things  comfortable.    But  I — " 

''Yes? — "  he  pressed  her  impatiently,  seeing  her 
hesitate. 

"I  must  go  to  Oxford — to  see  Carina." 

His  face  changed. 

' '  Must  you  ?    You  won 't  want  me  ?  " 

* '  I  can  take  Joyce. ' ' 

"Yes,  that  will  be  capital,"  he  said,  with  evident 
relief.  "I  should  be  only  in  the  way.  I  might  go 
to  a  Perth  hotel  for  two  nights,  or — perhaps — happy 
thought! — run  down,  and  look  in  on  Pater.  Some- 
body from  Brookshire  I  came  across  in  the  Mall  just 
now,  gave  me  rather  a  poor  account  of  him. ' ' 

Caroline  was  conscious  of  a  stab  of  pain.  Any 
reference  to  Carina  on  her  part  had  never  yet  failed 
to  bring  him  to  her  side,  challenged  as  a  lover  to 


178  BLTHAM  HOUSE 

make  up  to  her  for  the  children  she  had  lost — through 
him.  For,  as  tenderness  is  always  to  women  the  better 
half  of  passion,  it  was,  strangely  enough,  through 
her  boy 's  death,  and  her  exile  from  Carina,  that  Caro- 
line had  known  the  most  poignant  and  intimate  hap- 
piness— however  bitter-sweet — that  love  had  brought 
her.  And  now  this  half-strained,  half  indifferent 
tone,  in  relation  to  what  touched  her  to  the  quick, 
was  a  new  suffering.  But  she  said  nothing.  She 
came  to  stand  beside  him,  resting  her  beautiful  head 
against  him,  as  though  to  show — mutely — that  their 
quarrel  of  the  afternoon  was  forgotten.  He  put  his 
arm  round  her  and  kissed  her,  but  he  was  evidently 
preoccupied. 

* '  Whom  have  we  asked  for  Scotland  ?  Are  we  full 
up?"  She  ran  through  the  list,  and  he  exclaimed 
impatiently  at  some  of  the  names. 

"Of  course  the  men  are  all  right.  But  it  doesn't 
sound  much  fun  for  me,  darling.  Do  you  mean  to 
say  the  wives  won't  come?"  He  named  a  peeress, 
and  a  marquis's  daughter,  married  to  one  of  his  Eton 
friends. 

"They  won't,"  said  Carrie,  raising  herself  and 
looking  him  straight  in  the  face,  her  cheeks  burning. 
"  I  've  done  everything. ' ' 

"But  they  caUed?" 

"They  sent  cards  by  a  footman — to  please  their 
husbands,  I  suppose — who  have  dined  here  about  once 
a  week.  Then  I  wrote — I  wrote  very  nicely — and  they 
wrote — quite  correctly — and  of  course  they  have  en- 
gagements— for  every  possible  date.  Can't  you  make 
up  your  mind  to  it.  Alec  ? ' '    She  surveyed  him  quietly. 

"And  both  those  women  have  asked  me,"  he  said 
indignantly.    "I  have  had  invites  from  them  both." 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  179 

"I  dare  say.  That's  their  line.  Oh,  Alec,  if  you'd 
only  believe — " 

"Believe  what?" 

' '  In  waiting.    I  'm  content  to  wait. ' ' 

"But  that's  different!"  he  said,  with  energy,  guess- 
ing rather  angrily  at  her  thought.  "After  all  you 
can  do  without  those  women.  But  if  I  am  cut  off 
indefinitely  from  the  only  career  I  care  for — the  only 
career  I  am  fit  for — how  can  I  make  up?" 

His  face  flushed  again,  and  he  began  to  walk 
stormily  up  and  down,  thinking  aloud. 

"A  boycott  which  ruins  a  man's  life  is  very  dif- 
ferent from  a  little  social  cold-shouldering.  It's  per- 
fectly monstrous  the  way  in  which  we  have  let  these 
hypocritical  Dissenters,  and  purity  people — these 
canting  women  above  all — domineer  over  a  man's  pri- 
vate affairs !  Where 's  it  to  end,  I  should  like  to  know. 
No! — I'm  going  to  figlit!  I'm  going  to  make  this 
Liberal  gang — Liberals  indeed! — smart  for  it.  My 
head's  full  of  plans,  Carrie.  If  this  hundred  thou- 
sand can't  be  used  for  one  thing  it  can  for  another.  I 
shall  get  Pater  to  hand  it  over  to  me  unconditionally, 
and  we'll  see.  There's  an  evening  paper  on  the 
market,  and  I  have  my  eye  on  an  editor.  We  can 
make  things  pretty  hot  I  think  for  Washington  and 
his  crew — and  for  your  pious  friend  Llewellyn  too ! 

The  bitterness  and  malice  in  his  tone  struck  Carrie 
with  dismay. 

"Alec,  for  goodness'  sake  let  me  tell  you  what  Mr. 
Llewellyn  really  said  to  me  last  night!"  she  begged 
him  piteously.  And  hurriedly  she  forced  her  report 
on  Alec's  reluctant  ears.  She  said  nothing  of  her 
confession  with  regard  to  Dicky.  Instinctively  she 
hid   from   this    splendid   youth, — half   Apollo,    half 


180  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

grandee  in  a  temper — pacing  before  her,  all  that 
moral  trouble  and  softening  which  her  talk  with 
Llewellyn  had  awakened  in  her.  But  she  laid  stress 
on  Llewellyn's  friendly  kindness — on  the  advice  he 
had  given — on  the  hopes  he  had  held  out.  She 
pleaded,  however,  in  vain  with  a  man  for  whom  the 
mere  crossing  of  his  will  was  an  intolerable  humilia- 
tion. And  very  soon  she  realized  that  for  her  to  argue 
and  plead  at  all, — instead  of  throwing  herself,  at  once, 
passionately  and  blindly,  into  his  resentment  and  his 
plans — was  becoming  a  crime  in  his  eyes.  Dalliance 
in  Italian  gardens  was  all  very  well — his  tone  seemed 
to  imply — but  there  were  male  affairs  in  which  she 
was  not  asked  to  meddle.  Or  if  she  did  meddle,  it 
must  be  only  as  his  docile  advocate  and  champion. 
Her  quick  intelligence  felt  itself  once  more  brushed 
aside.  She  could  only  listen,  silenced  and  uncon- 
vinced, to  his  torrent  of  angry  talk,  dismally  conscious 
soon  that  her  silence  annoyed  him  as  much  as  any 
words. 

"Well,  there's  one  woman  at  any  rate  that  under- 
stands the  situation!"  he  said  at  last.  "You  go 
and  talk  to  her,  Carrie!  She'll  tell  you  a  lot  of 
things  you  don 't  know.  She  '11  tell  you  that  beyond  a 
certain  point,  it's  no  good  playing  doormat.  You've 
got  to  make  people  afraid  of  you!  And  I  intend  to 
do  it." 

"You  mean  Mrs.  Whitton?" 

"I  do.  She  put  new  life  into  me  this  afternoon," 
he  said  defiantly. 

Caroline's  face  had  grown  rather  hard  and  white. 
She  looked  at  him  askance. 

"And  you're  going  to  follow  her  advice — rather 
than  mine,  Alec?" 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  181 

"I'm  going  to  follow  my  own  judgment,"  he  said 
stubbornly.  Then  as  he  turned  to  look  at  her,  his 
senses  were  suddenly  appealed  to  by  the  loveliness 
of  the  drooping  form,  the  slender  arms  and  hands 
that  lay  languidly  on  her  knee.  He  came  up  to  her 
impetuously,  and  raised  her  in  a  vehement  embrace. 

** Carrie,  my  girl,  don't  you  worry  and  oppose  me! 
— you're  mine — come  in  along  with  me — trust  me — 
do  as  I  tell  you!  We'll  have  a  grand  time  fighting 
them  all — you  in  your  way,  and  I  in  mine.  Only  I  'm 
Captain — mind  that!  Don't  you  love  me,  Carrie? 
Won't  you  back  me,  whatever  anybody  says?  You 
couldn't  love  a  weakling — and  a  coward.  But  you 
do  love  me,  Carrie ! — you  know  you  do ! " 

He  held  her  triumphantly — and  she  felt  herself 
mastered.  Whatever  violence  he  might  plan — against 
her  best  friends! — she  would  have  to  follow.  She 
clung  to  him  trembling,  almost  asking  for  pardon,  and 
he  almost  exacting  it.  But  she  could  not  restrain  the 
inevitable  shaft — 

'  *  I  won 't  play  second  to  Mrs.  Whitton,  Alec ! ' ' 

He  laughed  and  kissed  her  again. 

"You  baby!  As  if  she  mattered,  except  just  as 
a  pawn  in  the  game.  But  I  tell  you  she  is  a  clever 
woman,  and  one  can  pick  her  brains  most  profitably. 
Why  don't  you  do  it,  Carrie?  And  as  to  jealousy,, 
I  like  your  finding  fault  with  me!  I  don't  think  I 
need  bother  about  Llewellyn.  But  what  about  that 
fellow  Merton?  If  ever  I  saw  a  man  bowled  over, 
it's  he.  You've  got  a  letter  from  him  there!"  He 
pointed  peremptorily  to  a  book  inside  which,  with  her 
usual  carelessness  Caroline  had  been  carrying  Mer- 
ton's  letter  all  day. 

She  drew  herself  away  from  him,  flushing  deeply. 


182  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

Taking  up  the  letter,  she  held  it  out  to  him. 

"Read  it!    I  like  him,  Alec, — and  he  likes  me." 

"So  I  have  long  perceived.  Well,  as  you  say  I 
may,  I  think  I  will  read  it.  Anything  /  write  to 
Mrs.  Whitton  might  be  cried  on  the  house-tops." 

She  said  nothing.  He  read  the  letter,  and  put  it 
down  with  a  smile  in  which  however  there  was  some 
bitterness. 

"He  seems  a  sentimental  kind  of  beggar.  I  never 
can  understand  the  tone  these  men  friends  of  yours 
take  up — Carrie!  It  isn't  at  all  complimentary  to 
me!  You  said  once  Llewellyn  was  'so  sorry  for  us.* 
Why  should  he  be?  It's  like  his  impertinence.  And 
that  man's  letter — "  he  pointed  to  it — "I  don't 
know — it's  very  queer.  He  talks — somehow — as 
though  he  were  St.  George,  offering  to  save  you  from 
the  dragon.  What's  wrong?  Who's  the  dragon? 
Much  obliged  to  him — ^but  I  decline  the  part  for  my- 
self. And  if  there  is  any  dragon,  it's  my  business  to 
settle  him — not  Melton's.  Don't  you  let  yourself  be 
pitied,  Carrie!  That  man '11  be  making  love  to  you 
before  you  know  where  you  are ! ' ' 

And  he  turned  to  look  at  her — ^half  hectoring,  half 
laughing.  He  sat  on  the  arm  of  an  easy  chair, 
dangling  his  crossed  legs,  his  hands  in  his  pockets. 
Grace,  insolence,  the  passionate  self-confidence  of  the 
aristocrat,  which  scarcely  shows  till  contradiction 
from  the  common  herd  develops  it : — ^the  young  figure 
breathed  them  all.  It  was  the  emergence,  as  the 
Duchess  had  shrewdly  seen,  of  something  which  the 
democratic  modern  world  believes  itself  to  have  done 
with,  and  is  yet  compelled,  again  and  again,  to  reckon 
with.  This  handsome  youth  was  as  much  convinced 
of  his  absolute  right  to  the  best  of  things,  to  every- 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  183 

thing  he  might  chance  to  wish  for,  as  any  seigneur 
of  the  ancien  regime.  Carrie's  main  danger  indeed 
lay  in  the  fact  that  their  two  lives  sprang  from  quite 
different  traditions — hers  from  the  intellectual  pro- 
fessional class,  sober,  scrupulous,  and  self-controlled 
— his  from  a  noblesse  accustomed  for  generations  to 
command  and  enjoy. 

Caroline  met  his  onslaught  with  composure. 

"The  man  who  makes  love  to  me,  Alec,  must  be 
a  great  fool." 

"Why?" 

"You  know  why.  I  am  not  going  to  flatter  you 
by  saying  it." 

"You  may  flirt  with  Melton,  if  you  like,  Carrie." 

"That  you  may  have  the  pleasure  of  laughing  at 
him  ?    Thank  you,  I  like  him  too  much. ' ' 

"Well,  I  give  you  leave  anyway.  I'm  not  in  the 
least  afraid.  And  you  won't  be  afraid  either,  if  I 
amuse  myself  a  little?"  Then  his  face  changed  sud- 
denly. "However,  I  shall  have  more  serious  matters 
to  think  of  this  autumn  and  winter.  We  shall  make 
things  hot  for  old  Washington. ' ' 

And  rising,  he  flung  an  arm  round  her,  and  made 
her  pace  the  gallery  with  him,  while  he  talked  ex- 
citedly of  his  plans  for  the  winter — the  formation  of 
a  new  party,  the  buying  or  founding  of  a  newspaper, 
the  use  of  Eltham  House  as  the  headquarters  of  a 
policy  and  a  group. 

"They  won't  have  me  as  a  friend — ^very  well,  they 
shall  reckon  with  me  as  an  enemy.  I  can  speak, 
I  can  write,  I  can  set  other  people  to  write  and 
speak.  I've  got  money,  and  go,  and  plenty  of  time. 
I  mean  to  make  it  a  glorious  campaign — and  you'll 
become  a  very  famous  woman,  Carrie!    But  I  won't 


184  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

have  Llewellyn  preaching  to  you.  Hullo,  what's 
that?" 

For  the  sound  of  an  electric  bell  rang  loudly 
through  the  great  empty  spaces  of  the  house. 

"A  telegram; — at  this  time  of  night?" 

He  hurried  to  the  staircase  to  meet  the  servant 
coming  up. 

''Carrie!" 

She  came  running. 

"Pater's  ill — very  ill!  "Why  didn't  the  idiots  send 
for  me  before!  This  is  from  the  doctors.  It  looks 
serious.  Harrison! — "  he  turned  to  the  butler — 
"Let  somebody  go  and  ring  up  one  of  the  chauffeurs, 
and  say  I  must  have  a  motor  at  once." 

Carrie  looked  at  the  message  in  dismay.  "Lord 
"Wing 's  state  has  this  evening  become  alarming.  Please 
come  at  once.  He  would  not  allow  us  to  summon  you 
before."  There  followed  the  signatures  of  two  Lon- 
don specialists,  and  the  name  of  a  Sussex  village. 

Carrie  flew  to  give  orders.  A  sleepy  valet  was 
told  to  pack,  and  "Wing  went  to  change  his  clothes. 
"When  he  came  back  to  his  wife  in  traveling  dress, 
Carrie  was  aware  of  a  strange  ardor,  even  gayety  in 
his  manner. 

"Poor  Pater!"  he  said,  as  they  waited  in  her 
sitting-room  for  the  announcement  of  the  motor — "I 
trust  it  won't  be  long.  He  was  never  meant  for  a 
dragging  sort  of  illness.  He  couldn't  stand  it.  Nor 
could  I.  He  has  enjoyed  his  life,  Carrie!  On  the 
whole,  for  all  his  oddities,  he's  had  a  ripping  time, 
and  he  knows  it.  It'll  be  awfully  important — of 
course — for  me." 

Carrie  looked  at  him  interrogatively.  There  was 
sadness  in  her  dark  eyes,  and  in  her  mind  a  strong 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  185 

compassion  for,  and  loyalty  towards  Lord  Wing ;  who 
had  always  been  her  friend,  in  his  strange  way. 
What  did  Alec  mean? 

"It  I  do  go  to  the  Lords" — ^he  resumed  thought- 
fully— "it  will  affect  all  my  plans.  I  shall  be  in  poli- 
tics— and  in  Parliament — directly.  Do  you  understand 
that,  darling? — whatever  Washington  and  his  prigs 
may  say !    By  George,  it  would  give  me  openings ! ' ' 

He  stood  thinking — his  face  working  under  the 
energy  of  his  thoughts  and  desires.  Carrie  under- 
stood, with  a  secret  shiver,  that  his  father's  approach- 
ing death  was,  at  that  moment,  to  the  son  on  whom 
that  father  had  lavished  every  possible  gift  and 
indulgence  in  his  power,  merely  an  element  in  a  cal- 
culation, a  card  in  his  game. 

The  motor  arrived.    He  turned  to  his  wife. 

"I  shall  be  there  in  less  than  two  hours.  If  things 
are  very  bad,  you'd  better  follow  first  thing.  If 
there's  a  change  for  the  better — " 

"I  should  go  to  Oxford  first — for  the  day,"  she 
said  quickly,  ' '  and  then  come.    Give  him  my  love. ' ' 

He  threw  his  arms  round  her. 

"It's  all  made  up — isn't  it?"  he  murmured  in  his 
old  voice — the  voice  of  her  lover. 

A  sudden  gush  of  tears  came  to  her  eyes.  She 
pressed  his  fair  curls  back  from  his  forehead,  and 
kissed  him  passionately.    He  smiled,  and  went. 

Before  eight  o'clock  next  morning,  a  messenger 
arrived  from  Bracebridge,  bringing  a  note.  "Pater 
has  rallied  wonderfully.  No  immediate  danger,  but 
shall  stay  on.    Expect  you  Tuesday." 

The  next  morning,  Mrs.  Wing  left  Eltham  House 
by  motor  for  Oxford.    Everything  had  been  arranged 


186  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

by  telephone.  Carina  would  be  brought  by  a  maid 
to  the  Bishop's  Hotel,  Oxford,  to  meet  her  mother, 
that  evening,  and  the  following  day  she  would  be 
taken  back  again  to  her  grandmother's  house,  some 
twelve  miles  from  the  University  town. 

It  was  a  morning  of  light  mists,  broadening  into 
splendid  sunshine.  Joyce  sat  by  Caroline's  side. 
Caroline  had  come  in  to  see  the  girl  in  bed  that 
morning,  and  had  abruptly  asked  her  to  come  with 
her.  And  Joyce  throwing  timid  arms  round  the  beau- 
tiful creature  looking  down  upon  her,  had  murmured 
— *  *  how  sweet  of  you  to  ask  me ! "  Afterwards  Caro- 
line had  lingered  in  the  girl's  embrace,  talking  under 
her  breath  of  Carina — and  Lord  Wing.  It  was  the 
talk  of  one  seeking  blindly  for  a  friend. 

Joyce's  spirits  rose  as  the  motor  left  London  be- 
hind, and  they  were  soon  speeding  through  the  greeiv 
country  to  the  foot  of  the  Chilterns  at  High  Wy- 
combe. Up  the  long  hill  they  rose  into  the  heart  of 
the  hills,  and  so  over  the  little  pass  whence  the  main 
road  descends  upon  the  Buckinghamshire  and  Ox- 
fordshire plain.  The  scent  of  the  woods,  the  play  of 
the  clouds,  and  the  wide  beauty  of  the  unrolling 
northward  plain,  as  they  looked  down  from  the  crest 
of  the  Stokenchurch  hill,  put  life  into  Caroline 's  eyes, 
and  color  into  her  cheeks.  That  haunting  sense  of 
something  changed,  something  broken,  passed  away 
for  the  time.  Alec  and  she  had  kissed  again;  Lord 
Wing  had  rallied ;  Carina  was  to  be  hers,  for  twenty- 
four  hours,  without  interruption,  and  without  wit- 
nesses. The  child  would  come  in  a  maid's  custody; 
but  that  night  she  would  sleep  in  her  mother's  room, 
her  mother 's  hands  would  put  her  to  bed. 

Meanwhile  her  young  and  starved  maternity  showed 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  187 

itself  in  mothering  her  cousin.  Unspoken  gratitude, 
appealing  affection  breathed  from  her;  so  that  Joyce 
found  her  irresistible.  And  always  the  girl  felt  her- 
self the  elder;  although  Carrie  was  in  truth  four 
years  older  than  Joyce.  But  there  would  always 
remain  something  of  the  * '  imperishable  child ' '  in  her ; 
something  uncertain,  confiding,  pliant.  And  it  was 
the  mingling  of  this  childish  temper,  with  quick  con- 
science on  the  one  hand,  and  the  daring  of  her 
lawless  history  on  the  other,  which  made  her  spell. 
Joyce — the  little  Anglican  maiden,  brought  up  under 
the  strictest  canons — knew  well  enough  that  this 
magnificent  Carrie  had  sinned  grievously — and  could 
not  somehow  love  her  one  whit  the  less. 

The  car  sped  on  over  the  crest  of  the  Chilterns, 
and  down  upon  the  gracious  wooded  plain  beyond, 
with  its  low  hills,  and  its  old  towns  steeped  in  history. 
And  now  came  Oxford — Magdalen  Bridge,  and  that 
tall  tower,  that  seems  neither  secular  nor  religious, 
to  belong  neither  to  war  nor  piety,  but  to  things 
universal — poetry,  beauty,  grace.  Then  the  famous 
curving  street,  with  its  ranged  colleges,  and  its  crock- 
eted  church — and  so  to  the  old  inn,  which  has  seen 
Johnson  and  Gibbon  pass.  For  Carrie  it  was  a  coming- 
home;  her  eyes  took  greedy  note  of  each  successive 
landmark,  each  familiar  spot.  For  five  years  or 
more  of  her  girlhood  she  had  lived  in  Oxford;  the 
old  college,  of  which  her  father  had  been  Head,  lay 
in  one  of  the  narrow  streets  opening  on  the  High. 
She  had  danced  her  first  dance  in  Oxford,  and  had 
known  there  two  crowded  glorious  years  with  troops 
of  young  men  waiting  on  her  smiles;  till,  suddenly, 
John  Marsworth  had  carried  her  off.  The  country 
house  where  she  had  lived  with  him  those  eight  years 


188  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

was  only  twenty  miles  away.  As  the  motor  carried 
them  through  the  half -deserted  street — for  it  was  of 
course  the  middle  of  the  Long  Vacation — Caroline's 
eyes  glanced  in  a  bright  absorption  from  side  to  side 
— and  her  mind  was  full  of  recollections  that  half 
amused,  half  hurt  her.  There  was  the  old  furniture 
and  curiosity  shop  where  so  many  of  her  Oxford 
friends  had  bought  their  wedding  presents  for  Caro- 
line Delaney;  there  was  the  church  porch  where  she 
had  first  seen  John,  coming  out  of  University  sermon ; 
the  turn  to  Christ  Church  meadow — 

How  vividly  she  saw  herself,  the  slim  girl  in  white, 
walking  beside  her  fiance  down  the  Broad  "Walk,  to 
the  boats,  proud  of  his  stature  and  strength — prmid 
to  be  seen  and  congratulated.  And  those  long  hours 
of  drifting  down  to  Iffley  and  Nuneham! — the  green 
peace  of  the  backwaters — ^the  foaming  white  of  the 
weirs — 

No — those  first  pleasant  days  had  not  been  wholly 
wiped  out  in  memory,  though,  in  comparison  with 
what  life  had  exacted  from  nerve  and  feeling  since, 
they  had  been  but  faintly  lived.  The  old  Oxford 
atmosphere  stole  over  her,  indeed,  with  every  step 
along  the  famous  street,  inter-penetrated  with  the 
fears  and  hopes  and  compunctions  of  her  present  ex- 
istence. She  had  been  happy  in  those  far  off  years, 
happy — and  good!  The  history,  the  ideals,  the  per- 
sonalities of  the  great  University  town,  had  made  an 
environment  in  which  a  romantic  child  had  been 
insensibly  fashioned  to  fine  issues.  She  remembered 
her  confirmation;  the  shy  clergyman  who  had  pre- 
pared her;  her  first  communion,  and  all  the  moral 
and  spiritual  fervor  which  had  accompanied  it.  Her 
mother  was  dead  by  then,  and  her  father  had  not 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  189 

meant  very  much  to  her.  He  was  absorbed  in  his  col- 
lege business,  and  in  the  collection — for  his  spare  mo- 
ments— of  old  prints,  and  pre-Ming  china.  An  ultra 
refined,  rather  selfish  man,  with  irritating  parsimoni- 
ous ways  towards  servants  and  dependents,  which 
Carrie  soon  learned  to  notice  and  resent.  But  he  had 
been  proud  of  her,  and  there  had  been  no  sparing  on 
her  education.  A  younger  sister  of  her  mother  had 
looked  after  her  for  a  time,  but  she  and  Carrie  had 
never  got  on.  ' '  She  was  jealous  of  me ! "  thought  Car- 
rie, with  a  mind  suddenly  illuminated,  as  she  looked 
back.  "I  suppose  I  was  handsome!"  And  she  re- 
membered with  a  pleased  vanity  what  Joyce  had 
reported  of  her  father 's  impressions  of  the  child — the 
Muse — of  fourteen.  How  sheltered,  and  innocent  and 
peaceful,  it  all  seemed  as  one  looked  back  upon  it ! — 
that  past  childish  scene,  set  in  gray  college  walls. 

Twelve  o'clock — chiming  from  all  the  steeples  and 
towers  of  Oxford.  Carrie  came  back  suddenly  to  the 
present  moment.  The  motor  was  stopping  before  the 
old  inn,  with  its  Georgian  front  and  shallow  bow 
windows.  Through  the  open  door,  one  saw  paneled 
passages  and  stairs — old  racing  prints  and  a  grand- 
father's clock.  Waiters  came  running  out;  and 
Carrie  descended.  She  went  quickly  into  the  hotel, 
and  Joyce  was  left  to  superintend  the  unloading  of 
the  car. 

And  there,  as  Miss  Allen  stood  looking  on  under 
the  shadow  of  the  old  doorway,  while  the  hotel  porters 
shouldered  the  luggage,  she  became  gradually  aware 
that  the  process  was  being  observed  from  the  other 
side  of  the  street.  Looking  across  the  roadway  to  a 
very  wide  and  shallow  window,  above  a  tailor's  shop, 
just  opposite,  she  saw  a  man  standing  in  the  window ; 


190  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

a  tall  man  with  a  black,  or  grizzled  mustache, 
and  a  domed,  slightly  bald  head.  He  stood  behind 
muslin  window  curtains,  supposing,  Joyce  thought, 
that  he  could  not  be  seen.  But  her  sharp  eyes  per- 
ceived him  quite  clearly,  and  the  frowning  attention 
with  which  he  watched  the  arrival  at  the  inn.  Who 
could  he  be? 

She  followed  the  porter  upstairs,  to  find  Mrs.  Wing 
inspecting  the  rooms  they  had  ordered,  and  eagerly 
directing  changes  in  the  furniture  so  as  to  make  them 
brighter  and  more  home-like.  A  footman  and  maid 
had  been  sent  down  by  an  early  train.  They  had 
brought  flowers,  and  a  few  pieces  of  old  brocade. 
With  these,  and  some  new  books  from  Carrie's 
dressing  bag,  the  sitting-room  had  soon  lost  its  hot 
and  dingy  look ;  while  next  door,  luncheon  was  already 
laid,  and  the  table  was  a  mass  of  roses. 

"She  will  be  here,  directly,"  said  Carrie,  pausing 
to  look  at  their  handiwork.  "We  have  made  it  look 
as  nice  as  we  can. ' '  And  she  went  to  the  window  to 
watch.  Joyce,  following  her  again,  examined  the 
window  across  the  street  with  curiosity.  But  the  man 
she  had  noticed  was  no  longer  there.  And  before  she 
could  mention  him,  Carrie  gripped  her  by  the  arm. 

"I  shouldn't  wonder  if  she's  quite  forgotten  me!" 
she  said  in  a  choked  voice. 

"Oh,  no!  Don't  think  that.  How  long  is  it  since 
you  saw  her?" 

"Fourteen  months.  I  came  over  from  Paris  on 
purpose  to  see  her  in  June  last  year.  They  sent  her 
down  to  Dover.    We  met  there  too  in  a  hotel ! ' ' 

Then — with  dull  passion — "Isn't  it  monstrous — 
monstrous! — that  I  should  have  her  so  little!  Ah, 
if  women  made  the  laws ! ' ' 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  191 

Joyce  only  pressed  her  hand  for  answer.  She  could 
not  answer  in  words.  The  girl's  mind,  torn  perpetu- 
ally between  law  and  sympathy,  as  she  became  daily 
more  attached  to  her  cousin,  and  better  acquainted 
with  her  history,  was  like  an  army  hotly  attacked  yet 
steadily  holding  its  positions.  She  loved — and  she 
condemned. 

Caroline  vaguely  understood;  and  was  sometimes 
— though  rarely — inclined  to  force  her  to  speak  out, 
to  drive  her  into  argument.  Her  dignity,  as  wife  and 
lover,  had  forbidden  her  anything  of  the  kind  in  the 
case  of  Llewellyn.  But  with  this  girl,  so  near  to  her, 
yet  so  unlike,  she  was  often  desperately  inclined — 
indirectly  and  impersonally — to  test  the  various  argu- 
ments which  had  soothed  her  own  conscience  so  far. 
But  she  had  never  yet  done  it. 

"There  they  are!" 

Carrie's  nerve  suddenly  failed  her.  She  turned 
helplessly  to  Joyce — 

' '  Will  you  go  and  bring  her  up  ?  "  She  pointed  to 
a  mud-splashed  motor,  which  had  arrived  at  the  inn 
door,  and  to  the  figure  of  an  elderly  woman  in  black 
descending  from  it. 

Joyce  went  downstairs.  In  the  hall  she  found 
the  elderly  woman,  with  a  little  girl  clinging  to  her 
hand. 

'  *  You  are  from  Lady  Marsworth  ? ' ' 

"Yes,  Madam.    Where  shall  I  find  Mrs.  Wing?" 

"She  is  upstairs.  I  came  with  her  this  morning. 
I  am  her  cousin.  She  sent  me  to  show  you  the  way. 
Will  you  shake  hands,  Carina?  I  am  your  cousin 
too." 

At  the  sweet  voice,  the  child  whose  eyes  had  been 
on  the  ground  from  the  moment  she  entered  the  hotel, 


192  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

looked  up.  She  was — Joyce  saw — a  fragile,  slimly- 
built  creature,  with  long  legs  and  a  delicately  small 
head,  on  which  she  wore  a  motor-cap  of  pale  blue. 
Her  very  thick  and  beautiful  hair  of  brownish  gold 
hung  to  her  waist,  and  seemed  to  overburden  the 
small  shoulders  and  the  slender  neck.  Altogether  an 
attractive,  distinguished  little  figure.  But  the  look 
in  her  eyes  when  she  showed  them  was  so  touching, 
that  Joyce  longed  to  kiss  and  comfort  her  there  and 
then.  The  child  was  very  pale.  It  was  evident  that 
she  shrank  from  the  meeting  with  her  mother. 

But  she  went  quietly  upstairs  clinging  to  the  hand 
of  the  woman  who  had  brought  her.  At  the  door  of 
the  sitting-room,  the  maid  released  herself  and  said — 

"  I  '11  go  and  unpack.  Miss  Carina,  if  this  lady  will 
show  me  your  room." 

Joyce  opened  the  door,  and  the  child  mechanically 
entered.  As  the  door  closed  behind  her,  the  maid 
said,  as  though  something  in  Joyce's  face  invited 
speech — 

' '  She 's  simply  made  herself  ill,  Miss,  about  coming. 
But  she'll  be  all  right  soon." 

"Carina,  darling!" 

Caroline  ran  forward,  and  in  a  moment  she  was 
kneeling  before  Carina,  unbuttoning  the  long  silk 
coat,  and  taking  off  the  child's  gloves  and  cap.  Then 
when  the  small  form  in  a  white  frock  stood  revealed, 
Carrie  wound  her  arms  round  it,  and  sinking  herself 
into  a  low  chair,  gathered  her  daughter  to  her,  and 
kissed  her  hungrily — murmuring  over  her  tender, 
inarticulate  things. 

Carina  lay  passive,  for  a  little  while.  But  as  soon 
as  she  could,  she  disengaged  herself,  and  sat  erect  on 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  193 

Caroline's  knee,  looking  round  her  shyly,  and  some- 
times straightening  the  dress  and  hat  of  her  doll 
which  had  got  a  little  crumpled  in  the  course  of  her 
mother's  embraces. 

''You  weren't  cold  in  the  motor,  darling?"  said 
Carrie,  taking  two  small  and  icy  hands  into  hers, 
while  her  eyes  devoured  the  pretty  head  with  its 
flower-like  droop. 

"No,  I  had  a  shawl — Grannie's  shawl,"  said  the 
child,  turning  her  head  away,  as  though  her  mother's 
gaze  made  her  uncomfortable. 

"How  is  Grannie?" 

* '  She 's  very  well.  She  had  a  cold,  last  week.  But 
Nannie  and  I  nursed  her.    Now  she's  quite  weU." 

The  child's  voice  was  thinly  sweet,  and  her  manner 
curiously  precise,  as  though  she  were  going  through  a 
lesson. 

"Do  you  have  a  governess  now.  Carina?" 

"Oh,  no.  Grannie  teaches  me — and  sometimes 
Father." 

"Father?"  said  Carrie  in  astonishment.  "But 
Father's  in  Wales?" 

"No — Father  isn't!  He's  staying  with  Grannie. 
We've  got  to  meet  him  to-morrow — at  St.  Aloysius. 
He 's  coming  for  us. ' '  Carrie  could  only  suppose  that 
Jesuit  novices  were  allowed  occasional  holidays.  But 
she  could  not  bring  herself  to  question  the  child 
about  her  father;  though  it  gave  her  a  momentary 
excitement  to  know  that  on  the  morrow  she  might  be 
for  a  short  time  in  his  neighborhood. 

"And  what  does  Father  teach  you?"  she  asked 
after  a  moment. 

*  *  History — and — ' ' 

"And  what,  darling?" 


194  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"We  read  about  Jesus, "  said  the  child,  turning  back 
to  look  at  her  mother,  with  a  shy,  bird-like  gesture. 

Carrie  was  silent  a  moment.  Then  she  resumed  her 
catechism. 

"And  does  someone  teach  you  music?" 

"Yes— but— I  don't  like  it." 

"What  do  you  like,  Carina?" 

"I  like  reading — and  poetry — and  riding — and  I 
love  drilling.  When  we  go  to  London,  Grannie  will 
let  me  go  to  a  gymnasium. ' ' 

"Do  you  have  some  children  to  play  with  you, 
darling  ? ' ' 

"Sometimes — not  very  often,"  said  the  little  voice 
reluctantly.  "But  once — "  she  looked  up  suddenly 
— ' '  I  had  a  little  brother.    Only  he  died. ' ' 

Silence  again.  Then  Caroline  rose,  keeping  the 
child's  hand. 

"Now  you  must  come  and  have  dinner,  darling. 
And  then  we  will  go  out.  Would  you  like  to  go  in  a 
boat  on  the  river  with  Mother,  and  Cousin  Joyce  ? ' ' 

Carina  looked  scared. 

"Nannie  will  come  too?"  she  asked  quickly. 

Carrie's  heart  knew  its  wound,  but  she  merely  said 
that  of  course  Nannie  should  come,  if  she  and  Carina 
wished.    Then  by  the  door  she  paused — 

"You  remember  coming  to  see  Mother  last  year. 
Carina?" 

"Yes,"  said  the  little  girl  slowly— "a  little.  You 
had  on  a  blue  dress  ? ' '    She  looked  up  vaguely. 

And  that,  in  a  whole  year  of  life,  was  all  the  im- 
pression the  child  had  retained — had  been  allowed  to 
retain — of  her  mother.  Carrie  realized  that,  probably, 
during  that  year,  Carina  had  never  heard  her  men- 
tioned.   She  had  been  kept  out  of  memory  and  out  of 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  195 

speech,  till  the  unwelcome  date  came  back  when  she 
must  be  allowed  to  see  the  child  again.  And  yet  it 
was  evident  that  the  little  girl  was  now  aware  of 
some  tragic  association  with  the  tall  lady  with  whom 
she  was  thus  brought  into  periodic  contact.  She  was 
very  silent,  both  at  the  mid-day  meal,  and  afterwards 
on  the  river,  where  they  took  a  boat  down  to  Ififley, 
and  Carina,  sitting  between  her  mother  and  Joyce, 
was  wooed — piteously,  tenderly  wooed — ^by  Caroline, 
as  only  a  mother  can  woo  a  child.  But  the  little  per- 
sonality never  gave  itself  away.  She  looked  at  Carrie 
often,  with  her  beautiful  puzzled  eyes.  She  answered 
— a  little  primly,  when  she  was  spoken  to;  she  gave 
particulars  about  her  pony,  and  her  two  dogs  "at 
home ' ' ;  and  she  broke  into  a  gurgling  laugh  of  pure 
delight  when  she  saw  a  brood  of  gray  cygnets  disport- 
ing themselves  on  the  river  bank.  But  all  the  time  she 
clutched  her  doll  tightly  to  her,  she  watched  her 
Nannie  perpetually,  and  as  soon  as  they  landed,  she 
was  at  the  maid's  side,  slipping  her  little  hand  into 
hers. 

And  at  night  there  was  almost  a  scene,  when 
Carina  discovered  that  she  was  to  sleep  in  a  little 
bed  in  her  mother's  room,  and  not  with  her  Nannie. 
She  gave  one  great  sob,  and  then  throwing  herself 
on  the  floor  face  downwards,  she  cried  bitterly,  but 
as  silently  as  she  could.  The  child's  pain,  and  her 
self-control,  were  equally  pitiful.  Carrie  turned 
white.  But  she  sent  the  maid  and  Joyce  away;  and 
when  the  maid  came  back  she  found  that  Mrs.  Wing 
had  undressed  the  little  girl,  had  washed  her  face 
and  hands,  and  plaited  her  hair ;  and  Carina  was  sit- 
ting on  her  mother's  knee,  pacified  and  smiling,  con- 
descending even  to  eat  a  banana  for  her  supper.    It 


196  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

was  Mrs.  Wing — so  the  maid  thought — ^who  was  near 
crying  now. 

And  indeed  when  the  child  was  safe  asleep  in 
her  cot,  and  the  long  lashes  lay  quiet  on  the  soft 
cheek,  Carrie  was  seized  with  a  restlessness  of  grief 
and  longing  that  could  hardly  be  borne.  While 
Joyce  was  writing  a  letter,  Mrs.  Wing  put  on  her  hat, 
and  slipped  out  of  the  house  into  the  summer 
evening. 

The  beautiful  city  lay  before  her  flushed  with, 
rose  in  the  sunset.  The  High  Street  was  full  of  a 
cheerful  crowd,  imitating  the  crowd  of  term  time. 
Young  men  in  flannels,  and  girls  in  light  summer 
dresses  filled  the  pavements,  coming  back  apparently 
from  the  river  and  the  boats:  a  crowd  of  Oxford 
citizens  enjoying  their  own  town.  Carrie  passed 
through  them,  and  struck  westwards  and  northwards, 
making  for  the  river  meadows,  and  the  Godstow 
towing  path,  which  had  been  the  favorite  walk  of 
her  girlhood.  And  soon  she  was  hurrying  along  the 
bank  of  the  brimming  river,  amid  a  wide-spread 
marvel  of  light  and  color.  The  sunset  clouds  were 
reflected  in  the  wide  slipping  stream;  all  things  were 
rose  or  gold;  the  tall  poplars  on  the  opposite  bank, 
strained  skyward  in  a  wind-blown  rank,  scratched 
in  dark  line  upon  the  splendor  of  the  west.  Around 
her,  and  in  front  of  her,  spread  a  vast  green 
meadow,  with  flocks  of  geese  upon  it,  and  scattered 
horses  grazing. 

She  felt  very  much  alone,  haunted  by  miserable 
thoughts,  and  consumed  by  an  anguished  longing  for 
her  only  child — "bone  of  my  bone,  flesh  of  my  flesh." 
"Who  has  the  right  to  take  her  from  me?"  she  asked 
fiercely  of  the  evening  sky.    *  *  Hypocrites — Pharisees !. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  197 

— I  suffered  for  her — 1  bore  her.  She  is  not  John's 
— she  is  mine ! "  .  .  . 

Then — in  the  wide  expanse  of  the  great  meadow, 
she  became  aware  of  a  solitary  figure,  a  man,  descend- 
ing the  towing  path  from  Godstow,  and  coming 
towards  her.  For  some  time  as  she  walked  on,  she 
was  vaguely  aware  of  him,  as  she  was  of  the  distant 
tower  of  Godstow  church,  or  the  line  of  the  Great 
Western  railway.  But  there  came  a  moment,  when 
a  sudden  perception  rushed  upon  her.  She  stood 
still — breathless,  and  trembling;  and  the  figure  ap- 
proached, a  man  with  his  eyes  on  the  ground,  switch- 
ing absently  at  the  reeds  along  the  bank  with  his 
stick.  Then  he  too  looked  up — ^looked  ahead — 
started — and  paused  a  few  yards  from  her. 

"John!" 

The  name  died  on  her  lips.  Then  an  idea,  a  resolu- 
tion took  possession  of  her.  She  walked  up  to  the 
man  in  front  of  her. 

"It  is  very  strange  that  we  should  have  met  like 
this,"  she  said,  with  composure.  "But  as  we  have 
met — ^I  want  you  to  let  me  speak  to  you." 


CHAPTER  XI 

Sib  John  Marsworth  recoiled  a  step  or  two,  as  he 
recognized  the  woman  who  in  this  complete  solitude 
addressed  him  by  his  Christian  name.  He  took  off  his 
hat,  and  then  stood  silent,  very  pale,  his  deep-set, 
small,  but  penetrating  eyes  fixed  upon  the  speaker. 
It  was  evident  that  he  was  wholly — and  disagreeably 
— ^taken  by  surprise;  that  he  had  had  nothing  to  do 
with  the  meeting. 

Carrie  too  had  turned  very  white.  But  she  spoke 
quite  calmly. 

''I  have  had  Carina  with  me  all  day,  John.  And 
it  has  made  me  so  unhappy  that  I  could  not  stay 
quiet  in  the  house.  She  is  asleep  now — and  I  came 
out — because  I  could  not  bear  it — and — and  it  seemed 
to  help — to  walk  and  walk — ^till  one  was  tired.  I 
had  no  idea  you  were  anywhere  near." 

''Let  me  say  the  same,"  was  the  stiff  reply.  "I 
had  not  the  smallest  intention  of  intruding  on  you.  It 
was  my  intention  to  take  Carina  home  to-morrow. 
My  business  was  finished  earlier  than  I  thought. ' ' 

"And  you  too  came  to  look  at  old  haunts,"  said 
Carrie  quietly.    * '  I  quite  understand. ' ' 

But  in  reality  she  did  not  understand  at  all.  Why 
had  he  not  come  to  Oxford  by  Lady  Marsworth 's 
motor  with  Carina  and  the  nurse?    Why  tell  them 

198 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  199 

nothing  of  his  business?  He  must  have  actually- 
started  from  the  same  house,  about  the  same  time  as 
they,  for  the  same  town,  and  said  not  a  word  about 
it.  However,  she  was  only  conscious  of  a  momentary 
feeling  of  puzzle.  She  had  graver  things  to  talk 
about. 

"May  I  walk  with  you  for  a  time?"  she  said, 
looking  him  full  in  the  face.  * '  I  want  to  talk  to  you 
about  Carina.  Whatever  I  may  have  done,  she  is  my 
child — it  was  I  brought  her  into  the  world." 

Her  lips  trembled  a  little.  Yet  as  she  spoke  her 
defiant  pity  for  herself  was  drowned  in  something 
even  sharper — a  startled  sense  of  the  change  which 
time  had  brought  about  in  him,  since  she  had  seen 
him  last  in  Florence  some  two  and  a  half  years  before. 
Then  he  was  a  tall  man  of  forty-one,  looking  younger, 
erect  and  vigorous  in  build,  with  peculiarly  thick 
black  hair,  a  strong  black  mustache,  and  a  broad 
weather-beaten  face,  where  the  shaven  whiskers  and 
beard  showed  bluish-black  through  the  tan  of  the 
skin.  What  had  happened  to  him?  He  appeared  to 
have  shrunk  in  stature,  in  breadth  of  shoulder,  in 
power  of  limb.  A  meaner  and  lesser  man  altogether 
seemed  to  be  masquerading  in  John  Marsworth's 
clothes,  which  by  the  way  had  no  clerical  or  monastic 
suggestion  about  them  whatever.  And  when  he  lifted 
his  hat,  she  had  noticed  that  the  top  of  the  head  was 
bald,  and  the  hair  nearly  gray.  Was  this  what  the 
Jesuit  novitiate — a  year  of  it — did  for  those  sub- 
jected to  it?  Yet  she  had  often  heard  it  said  that 
the  hard  training  of  it  was  physically  as  good  for  a 
man,  as  the  training  of  an  army  recruit. 

As  she  mentioned  Carina  she  had  seen  the  man's 
whole  aspect  freeze.    He  did  not  move. 


200  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

*'I  do  not  think  we  can  profitably  discuss  Carina. 
Everything  with  regard  to  her  was  settled  long  ago. ' ' 

He  stood  there,  leaning  on  his  stick,  haughtily 
inflexible.  Carrie  looked  this  way  and  that.  Then 
the  touch  of  comedy  in  the  situation,  tragic  as  it  was, 
struck  her.  Here  they  were,  two  human  beings  alone, 
in  the  midst  of  this  flat  expanse  of  meadow,  much  of 
it  marshy  after  recent  rain,  with  only  one  available 
path  along  the  river  back  to  Oxford.  Even  after  all 
that  had  happened  between  them,  could  they  not,  as 
civilized  man  and  woman,  control  feeling  so  far  as  to 
walk  a  mile  in  each  other's  company? 

She  waited  a  moment,  poking  the  ground  with  her 
umbrella,  and  half-smiling — as  he  angrily  perceived. 
How  young  and  girlish  she  looked  still ! — in  her  close- 
fitting  serge  suit,  and  sailor  hat.  In  the  deepening 
twilight,  she  seemed  to  him  scarcely  a  day  older  than 
when  he  had  seen  her  first — a  child  of  seventeen — 
with  the  same  background  of  stream  and  poplar- 
fringed  meadow.  Her  youthfulness,  her  unspoiled 
beauty  awoke  a  hidden  storm  in  him.  Such  women, 
born  to  wantonness,  cannot  suffer — they  are  incapable 
of  what  ages  and  wastes  finer  stuff.  Insolence!  that 
she  should  speak  of  her  suffering — ^to  him ! 

But  she  found  speech  at  last. 

"We  are  a  mile  from  Oxford,  John.  If  you  will 
allow  me  to  walk  with  you  to  Bossom's — "  she 
pointed  to  the  well-known  boat-houses  on  the  upper 
river — "I  won't  ask  you  to  endure  my  company  any 
longer.  But  you  were  always  a  just  man — at  least 
you  meant  to  be — ^though  you  hate  me  now.  Let  me 
speak  to  you  for  a  few  minutes.  You  had  your  way 
with  Dicky — " 

Her  voice  broke,  much  against  her  will — 


BLTHAM  HOUSE  201 

John  Marsworth  hesitated  a  moment  longer,  then 
made  a  movement  of  reluctant  assent. 

"You  will  only  exhaust  and  agitate  yourself.  For 
if  you  mean  to  appeal  to  me  to  alter  my  decision  with 
regard  to  Carina,  I  must  tell  you  at  once  that  you 
will  appeal  in  vain.  But  if  you  must  inflict  such  an 
experience  oi,  us  both,  I  cannot  help  it.  I  will  take 
you  back  as  far  as  the  boat-houses. ' ' 

They  stepped  out — side  by  side.  And  both  thought 
inevitably  of  other  summer  evenings  in  the  past,  when 
they  had  drifted  down  that  famous  stream  as  an 
engaged  couple,  or  had  moored  their  boat  beside  the 
lock  at  Godstow,  or  gathered  the  yellow  noli  me 
tangere  under  the  ruins  of  the  priory. 

But  Caroline  did  her  best  to  concentrate  her  mind 
on  what  she  had  to  say. 

"John,  I  want  to  ask  you — don't  interrupt  me  for 
a  moment — to  let  me  have  that  child — for  at  least  a 
fortnight  in  the  year.  It's  too,  too  cruel — these  few 
hours.  She  dreads  the  thought  of  coming — ^that's 
plain.  She  looks  at  me  as  a  stranger — she  hardly 
understands  who  I  am — and  by  the  time  she  realizes 
a  little,  she's  snatched  away  again.  I  don't  plead  for 
myself.  But  John,  nothing  can  undo  the  fact  that 
she's  my  child!  She'll  know  and  think  much  more 
about  it  as  she  grows  older.  And  now  it's  so  hard 
on  her — this  fresh  shock  and  strain  every  year — and 
she  gets  nothing  for  it.  I  could  make  her  so  happy ! 
— if  I  might  have  her  a  week  at  a  time — two  separate 
weeks, — one  in  the  summer  perhaps — and  again  in 
the  winter.  You  have  her  all  the  rest  of  the  year. 
Of  course  I  know  how  wicked  you  think  me.  But 
that's  all  done.  I'm  married.  I  have  my  cousin 
Joyce  Allen  living  with  me.    She's  as  good  as  gold, 


202  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

and  very  religious.  Her  father  was  a  clergyman. 
She  would  always  help  me  to  look  after  Carina. ' ' 

She  paused,  her  breath  fluttering.  The  expression 
of  the  man  beside  her  showed  not  the  smallest 
response — beyond  a  touch  of  satire.  He  shook  his 
head. 

"Your  arguments  don't  affect  me  at  all.  You  say 
for  instance,  you  could  make  her  happy.  But  I  have 
no  wish  whatever  that  you  should  make  Carina  happy. 
I  wish  you  to  count  for  as  little  as  possible  in  her  life. 
It  did  not  seem  to  me  that  I  was  justified  in  prevent- 
ing your  seeing  her  altogether.  But  I  warn  you  not 
to  attempt  to  force  my  hand.  My  bargain  with  you 
was  made  after  much  thought,  and  I  intend  to  stick 
to  it." 

There  was  a  pause.  Then  Caroline's  bitter  eyes 
met  his.    She  could  not  restrain  herself. 

''And  that's  what  a  Christian  says  to  me! — ^to  a 
mother  who — who  longs  for  her  child — ^her  own,  own 
baby!  Isn't  it  enough  what  you  did  with  Dicky, 
John? — and  the  wicked  falsehood  that  you've  let 
people  believe  of  me,  all  this  time  ? ' ' 

"I  never  told  any  falsehood  of  you,"  he  said 
sternly.   '  *  You  did  desert  your  child — and  he  did  die. ' ' 

"Yes — and — by  your  cruelty — not  in  my  arms!" — 
she  said  wildly. 

"What  is  the  good  of  recrimination  like  this!"  he 
said,  after  a  moment,  more  calmly.  "It's  the  last 
thing  I  have  ever  wished.  You  have  chosen  your 
life,  and  I  have  had  to  adapt  mine  as  best  I  could.  In 
my  eyes  of  course,  you  are  not  married — you  are 
living  in  sin.    I  am  a  Catholic — " 

"Then  why  are  you  here?"  she  interrupted 
sharply.    "Have  you  given  up  the  Jesuits!" 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  203 

The  question  evidently  struck  home.  In  her  mode 
of  making  it,  and  his  of  receiving  it,  there  appeared 
some  past  knowledge  in  each  of  the  other. 

**I  owe  you  no  account  of  my  life.  I  repeat,  I 
am  a  Catholic,  and  for  me  divorce  does  not 
exist." 

''You  are  a  Catholic,  but  you  have  already  begun 
to  quarrel  with  them,"  she  said  triumphantly.  "I 
understand.  What  ever  contented  you  for  more  than 
a  few  months,  John? — ^your  wife — or  your  country — 
or  your  religion?  And  I  know  when  Carina  grows 
up  you  will  make  her  miserable  by  that  harsh,  judg- 
ing, criticising  way — ^that — ^that — "  She  turned  her 
face  away  towards  the  still  radiant  west,  trying 
to  beat  down  emotion. 

Over  John  Marsworth's  countenance  there  passed 
first  a  spasm  of  anger;  and  then,  something  quite 
different — a  look  of  pain — perplexity — ^weakness — as 
though  her  attack  had  found  the  soft  places  in  a 
troubled  consciousness.  But  he  braced  himself  to 
answer. 

"You  have  nothing  to  do  with  that.  It  is  not  for 
you  to  complain.  Your  own  acts  have  cut  you  off 
from  your  child." 

"Yes — if  you  insist  that  they  shall!"  she  cried. 
"But  if  you  believed  what  you're  always  saying, 
John,  you'd  admit  there  are  other  sins — than  the  sin  I 
committed — which  God  punishes.  Carina  says  you 
read  to  her  'about  Jesus.'  Do  you  ever  let  her  read 
the  things  He  said  about  'mercy?' — and  'forgive- 
ness?' If  I've  broken  one  law,  you've  broken  a  good 
many  too!  I  may  question  this  law  or  that  law, 
because  I'm  an  unbeliever,  but  you  can't — you're  a 
Catholic.    If  there's  a  Judgment  Day,  John — person- 


204  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

ally,  I  can't  believe  in  it — ^but  if  there's  one,  as 
you're  bound  to  hold — you'll  have  to  answer  for  that 
night  in  the  Val  d'Aosta!" 

Her  voice,  her  look  lashed  him  into  rage.  He  saw 
her,  dark  against  the  blood-red  sunset  behind  the 
river  poplars,  like  an  insolent,  attacking  Fury,  when 
her  proper  place  should  have  been  at  his  feet — grovel- 
ing. He  spoke  with  quickened  breath,  striking  at 
hej  blindly. 

"Our  Lord  offered  mercy  to  the  humble,  the 
repentant — not  those  whose  sin  has  been  apparently 
so  triumphant — so  profitable — as  yours ! ' ' 

*'Do  you  mean — ^that  I  am  rich — and  live  in 
Eltham  House?"  she  said  contemptuously;  "and  all 
the  rest  of  it!  You  know  me  better,  John.  You 
know  very  well  that  money  never  bought  me,  and 
never  could.  Women  like  me  live — ^by  the  heart.  If 
you  had  won  mine !  but  you  never  did. ' ' 

"Then,  let  me  ask,  why  you  consented  to  marry 
me?  On  your  own  showing — according  to  your  own 
doctrines,  that,  at  least,  was  a  crime. ' ' 

"I  suppose  because  you  persuaded  me,"  she  said, 
with  a  voice  which  had  begun  to  falter.  "I  was  so 
young — and  you  seemed  so  good  and  wise.  But — 
oh,  for  Heaven's  sake,  don't  let's  go  on  like  this, 
John.  I  didn't  mean  to  say  unkind  things  when  I 
began  this  talk.  What's  the  good?  What  I  wanted 
to  say  when  I  saw  you — so  suddenly — was  vaguely 
— something  like  this.  You  and  I  could  do  nothing 
but  hate  each  other — so  far.  If  I  wronged  you, 
you  wronged  me! — horribly.  The  night  of  Dicky's 
death  wiped  out  all  my  score.  We  are  quits — more 
than  quits — up  to  now.  But — it  might  be  possible 
for  some  kinder  thoughts  on  both  sides — if  you  would 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  205 

be  good  to  me  now  about  Carina.  I  never  forget 
Dicky ! — day  or  night.  But  I  might  learn  to  be  sorry 
for  us  both — for  you,  as  well  as  for  myself — in 
looking  back — if  you  would  atone  for  what  you  did 
then — by  being  generous  and  merciful  now." 

He  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"If  you  imagine  that  I  could  ever  let  my  child 
set  foot  inside  Alec  Wing's  house,  or  sit  at  his  table — 
you  are  indeed  deluded." 

**I  don't  imagine  it!"  she  said  quickly.  "Alee 
would  never  interfere.  I  should  take  her  to  the  sea — 
or  some  quiet  cottage  in  the  country.  How  could 
I  do  her  any  harm,  John?  In  spite  of  everything, 
you  know — you  know  I  am  not  a  bad  woman — I  am 
not  depraved.  I  have  many  friends — ^men  whom 
you  respect — ^men  like — ^Mr.  Washington — or — or 
Mr.  Llewellyn — ^men  whom  everybody  admires. ' '  Her 
pleading,  her  quavering  breath — were  very  pitiful 
to  hear;  he  found  himself  wincing  under  it.  "They 
come  to  see  me  often.  I  take  an  interest  in  politics — 
in  many  public  things.  I  am  learning  a  great  deal. 
As  for  flirting  with  men,  that's  all  over  for  me,  long 
ago.  I'm  not  fast.  Our  house  is  not  fast.  The 
people  who  come — ^politicians — and  writers — and 
diplomats — are  just  the  same  sort  as  those  you  know. 
How  could  I  do  Carina  any  harm ! ' ' 

"How  many  women  come?"  he  asked  her 
roughly. 

"More  than  you'd  think!"  was  the  defiant  answer. 
"Times  are  changed,  John,  in  many  ways.  Half 
the  world,  I  dare  say,  sides  with  you.  But  there's 
a  large  slice  of  it  that  understand  me.  And  when 
such  a  girl  as  my  cousin — as  Joyce  Allen — consents 
to  live  with  me — " 


206  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

*'How  much  does  she  know  of  your  history?  Not 
much,  I  think!" 

"Everything." 

"Then  you  are  doing  the  girl  a  wrong.  She  risks 
her  reputation." 

Caroline  laughed  out.  The  words  reminded  her, 
too  vividly  for  self-control,  of  those  "home  truths," 
those  admonitions  "for  the  good"  of  those  subjected 
to  them,  so  freely  dealt  out  by  the  John  Marsworth 
of  old  days. 

The  laugh  was  heard  by  two  people  in  a  passing 
boat  on  the  river,  a  "lover  and  his  lass"  coming  down 
from  Godstow  through  the  rosy  dusk. 

"There's  two  other  sillies — ^like  you  and  me!"  said 
the  lad  joyously,  to  the  girl  in  the  stern,  and  she 
smiled,  and  nodded,  trailing  her  hand  in  the  water, 
and  so  absorbed  in  her  own  dream  of  happiness  that 
she  scarcely  turned  to  look  at  the  pair  walking  along 
the  towing-path. 

But  the  laugh  was  as  painfully  effective  as  many 
of  Caroline's  laughs  in  the  past  had  been.  John 
Marsworth  smarted  under  it.  And  Caroline  followed 
it  up,  at  first,  in  the  old  mocking  way. 

"I  had  almost  forgotten  you  could  say  such  brutal 
things!  Now  I  remember.  Well,  never  mind.  Say 
what  you  like  to  me — only  listen  to  me!"  And 
suddenly  her  voice  sank  again  to  the  soft  imploring 
note.  "I  shall  go  back  to  the  inn — and  I  shan't  let 
myself  go  to  sleep.  That  would  be  wasting  my  few 
hours.  I  shall  sit  up  beside  her — all  night — ^just 
watching  her — and  perhaps  in  the  early  morning — 
when  she's  less  strange  with  me — she'll — she'll  let 
me  take  her — and  hold  her — ^while  she  sleeps.  And 
then  it  will  be  all  over.    You'll  force  her  away  from 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  207 

me.  And  I  love  every  inch  of  her — from  top  to  toe — 
every  look — every  word — my  little  darling!  John, 
it's  only  a  short  life  that  any  of  us  has.  How  do  we 
know  what  will  happen — before  we  die? — or  when 
we  shall  die?  Why  be  so  hard  on  me?  What  good 
can  it  do  you?  Give  me  a  little  bit  more  of  Carina's 
life!  You'll  be  happier  too — if  you  do.  God  will 
give  it  back  to  you ! ' ' 

Her  face  was  now  wet  with  tears.  He  saw  that  she 
was  terribly  agitated,  that  her  soul  was  in  her  words. 
But  the  sight  only  strengthened  his  stand  against  her. 
The  undisciplined,  romantic,  eloquent  Carrie — so 
stubborn,  and  so  plausible — so  appealing  and  so  un- 
manageable— ^the  Carrie  who  had  betrayed  him, 
ruined  his  life,  and  made  him  a  laughing-stock — he 
heard  only  that  woman  in  these  beseeching  cries,  and 
he  turned  from  them  in  disgust. 

Standing  still  upon  the  path,  he  pointed  to  the 
boat-houses,  which  lay  straight  ahead  of  them. 

"It  is  time,  I  think,  Mrs.  Wing,  this  scene  should 
end.  I  shall  leave  you  here.  My  will  with  regard 
to  Carina  remains  absolutely  unchanged  by  anything 
you  have  said.  If  possible  I  see  more  plainly  than 
before,  how  your  temperament  might  affect  her,  if 
I  allowed  her  to  see  you  more  freely.  Don't  oblige 
me  to  withdraw  my  permission  entirely." 

* '  Do  you  know  that  when  she  is  eighteen,  she  may, 
if  she  chooses,  come  to  me  altogether,  and  you  can't 
prevent  her!"  said  Caroline,  breathing  hard. 

"I  think  I  shall  manage  to  prevent  her.  Now — 
if  you  will  allow  me,  I'll  leave  you  here.  It  is  not 
reaUy  dark,  and  the  way  is  quite  plain.  But  you 
know  it.  And  there  are  two  people — "  he  pointed 
to  the  young  man  and  his  sweetheart,  just  leaving 


208  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

the  raft  where  the  boats  were  moored,  and  turning 
towards  Oxford — ' '  who  are  going  the  same  road.  You 
will  not  be  alone.    I  beg  to  wish  you  good  evening." 

He  raised  his  hat  again,  walked  on  quickly,  and 
hailed  a  boat  to  put  him  across  the  river.  In  a  few 
minutes  he  was  lost  to  sight  on  the  further  side. 

Carrie  walked  on  blindly,  trembling  in  every  limb. 
What  a  scene! — ^how  unexpected — how  bitter!  She 
felt  like  one  physically  beaten  and  worn  out.  What 
would  Alec  say  to  her,  when  he  heard  what  had 
happened  ?  Would  he  blame  her,  for  having  spoken — 
for  having  risked  the  rebuff — the  humiliating  rebuff 
inflicted  upon  her — his  wife,  his  possession,  his  repre- 
sentative? His  personal  pride — and  she  knew  it  for 
measureless — would  be  wounded  in  her.  She  smarted 
indeed  already,  under  the  thought  of  his  anger — the 
thought  of  confessing  to  him  what  had  happened.  Yet 
she  could  never  conceal  it.  If  she  and  Alec  were  to 
hide  things  from  each  other,  "of  what  good  shall  my 
life  be  to  me?" — ^to  what  purpose  all  this  pain  and 
loss  and  hatred  ?  If  that,  for  the  sake  of  which  she  had 
spoiled  John  Marsworth's  life,  and  forfeited  her  child, 
and  shut  herself  out  from  the  respect  of  law-abiding 
men  and  women,  were  to  fail  her — then  indeed  I — 

A  great  wave  of  fear  swept  across  her — leaving 
her  with  fresh  tears  on  her  cheeks,  while  at  the  same 
time  she  mocked  herself.  As  if  Alec  could  ever  fail 
her ! — Alec,  who  adored  her — though  of  course  he  was 
self-willed,  and  ambitious  as  all  strong  men  are.  No, 
she  had  made  no  mistake.  Alec,  and  their  happi- 
ness. Alec's  arms  round  her.  Alec's  kisses,  all  the  thrill 
and  passion  of  his  presence,  of  their  life  together  day 
and  night,  were  worth  it  all — well  worth  it  all !  "I 
would  do  it  again — again!"  she  said  to  herself,  with 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  209 

clenched  hands,  passionately.  "Who  could  live  with 
such  a  being  as  John — so  cruel — so  unforgiving  ?  His 
treatment  of  me  to-day — his  manner — to  Carina's 
mother — incredible — shameful !  How  it  showed  what 
he  is — what  I  had  to  bear ! ' ' 

A  wild  west  wind  was  rising  over  the  river  flats. 
She  walked  on,  battling  with  it,  and  with  the  spiritual 
blasts  within — anger,  self-pity,  self -justification.  She 
had  done  wrong — of  course  she  had  done  wrong,  ac- 
cording to  the  canons  in  which  she  had  been  brought 
up.  She  was  thankful  her  father  had  died  two  years 
before  her  meeting  with  Alec  Wing.  But  looked  at 
from  any  ideal  standard,  anything  beyond  the  com- 
mon foot-rule  of  vulgar  minds,  John  had  sinned  at 
least  as  badly — in  selfishness,  cruelty,  tyranny.  They 
were  quits  indeed! — as  she  had  said  to  him — to  his 
face! — just  once.  It  had  done  something  to  slake  an 
old  thirst.  She  owed  him  nothing — nothing!  They 
were  enemies  now — ^for  ever.  And  as  soon  as  she 
could  take  Carina  from  him,  by  force  or  fraud,  she 
would. 

The  strangest  medley  of  wounded  feelings  possessed 
her.  All  that  was  best  and  all  that  was  worst  in  her 
rose  against  the  man  she  had  just  parted  from.  Her 
passion  for  her  child,  and  her  injured  vanity  as  a 
great  lady,  who  in  spite  of  all  boycottings,  had  held 
the  attention  of  London,  and  some  of  the  most  famous 
people  in  it,  for  the  greater  part  of  a  season,  were 
both  alive  in  her.  How  dared  John  Marsworth 
speak  to  her — treat  her — so!  How  little  he  realized 
that  she  whom  he  had  married  as  an  inexperienced 
portionless  girl,  was  now  abler,  better  informed  and 
much  more  powerful  in  the  world  than  himself !  He 
did  not  realize  it,  because  he  was  ignorant  of  all  but 


210  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

a  small  fanatical  society,  in  which  he  could  make 
things  be  as  he  wished  them  to  be. 

But  after  all,  he  was  the  father — and  present 
owner — of  Carina! 

Carrie  re-entered  the  inn  worn  out.  Joyce,  who 
had  been  watching  for  her,  exclaimed  softly  at  her 
looks.  The  girl  ministered  to  her  in  the  tenderest 
way,  guessing  that  she  had  been  out  by  herself  in 
search  of  healing  solitude ;  and  when  Carrie,  satisfied 
that  Carina  was  sleeping  quietly,  allowed  herself  to 
be  put  on  the  sofa  in  the  sitting-room,  after  dinner, 
Joyce  came  to  sit  on  a  stool  beside  her,  and  attempted 
to  distract  her.  By  way  of  gossip,  she  described  the 
man  she  had  seen  in  the  bow-window  over  the  way 
at  the  time  of  their  arrival.  Caroline  started,  opened 
her  languid  eyes,  and  asked  questions.  John! — 
clearly  John!  What  on  earth  made  him  do  such  a 
thing?  Her  familiar  knowledge  of  Oxford  told  her 
that  the  fine  old  room  over  the  tailor's  shop  was  used 
as  a  club-room  for  the  Catholic  members  and  students 
of  the  University.  John  no  doubt  was  a  country 
member;  and  had  used  his  membership  in  order  to 
watch  her  coming  that  morning.  Why?  What 
should  make  him  wish  to  see — from  a  safe  distance — 
the  woman  he  scorned  and  hated?  She  could  not 
help  pondering  the  incident,  half  resenting  it,  half 
moved  by  it.  But  she  did  not  enlighten  Joyce.  She 
supposed — she  said — it  was  someone  who  knew  her — 
or  thought  he  did — ^from  the  old  Oxford  days. 

Then  they  said  good  night  to  each  other,  and 
Carrie  was  glad  to  shut  out  even  Joyce's  tenderness, 
and  to  be  alone  with  Carina.  She  drew  her  own  bed 
close  to  the  child's  and  lay  high  on  her  pillows, 
bending  over  that  soft  and  perfect  sleep.     It  was 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  211 

a  night  in  which  the  maternal  passion  in  Caroline — 
the  only  enemy  of  importance  that  Alee  Wing  had 
had  to  fight  in  the  crisis  of  their  lives — reached  a 
kind  of  ecstasy  at  once  of  joy  and  grief.  The  light 
was  low  in  the  room,  but  it  was  enough  to  show  all 
the  unconscious  beauty,  the  helpless  confiding  grace 
of  the  little  form.  Sometimes  Carrie  would  stretch 
out  a  hand  and  draw  it  lightly  over  the  coverlet  that 
she  might  realize  the  childish  limbs  beneath,  and  feel 
them  for  one  night  her  own.  And  sometimes,  watch- 
ing every  line  of  the  closed  eyes,  the  tranquil  brow 
and  rose-leaf  cheeks,  she  would  try  and  fancy  how 
Carina  would  grow  up — what  she  would  be  like  at 
seventeen — at  twenty. 

All  night  the  beautiful  mother,  beside  the  sleeping 
child,  scarcely  slept  herself.  The  Oxford  bells — 
from  St.  Mary's,  the  Cathedral,  Carfax — called  to  her 
through  the  darkness  as  they  used  to  call  to  her  on 
those  rare  nights  in  her  own  youth  when — only  a 
stone's  throw  away,  in  her  little  maiden  room — she 
was  awake  to  hear  them.  They  brought  with  them 
associations,  strange  and  subtly  strong;  suggestions 
of  order,  law,  tradition — something  stern  and  august 
from  which  in  her  splendid  maturity  she  shrank  as 
she  had  never  done  in  girlhood.  Voices  of  a  place 
where  men  have  labored  for  generations  not  pri- 
marily for  gold,  or  success,  or  fame,  but  for  some- 
thing outside  themselves — and  near  to  God;  voices 
of  England's  soul. 

And  in  the  early  morning  Carina  stirred  and 
opened  her  eyes.  When  she  saw  the  face  bending 
over  her,  and  the  hungry  love  in  it,  she  was  at  first 
frightened.  She  frowned,  her  mouth  took  the  shape 
of  tears.    But  Carrie  opened  her  arms ;  and  the  child 


212  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

let  herself  be  drawn  irresistibly  out  of  her  own  bed 
into  her  mother 's.  Half  asleep  still,  by  some  heavenly 
instinct  she  threw  her  hand  round  Carrie's  neck, 
and  Carrie  in  a  passion  of  joy,  that  scarcely  dared  to 
breathe,  held  her  securely  wrapped  in  warm  arms, 
till,  with  the  child  upon  her  breast,  the  soft  beating 
of  Carina's  heart  stilled  and  calmed  her  own,  and  at 
last  she  slept. 

Later,  when  Carrie  stepped  out  of  bed,  after 
the  nurse  had  carried  away  Carina  to  dress  her, 
she  was  so  startled  by  her  own  appearance  in 
the  glass — pale  cheeks  and  dark-rimmed  eyes — that 
she  must  needs  think  with  great  alarm  of  Alec — 
Alec  whom  she  was  to  find  that  afternoon  at  Brace- 
bridge,  the  house  recently  built  by  Lord  Wing  on 
the  Sussex  downs.  What  would  he  say  to  such  a 
scarecrow  ?  And  some  instinct  told  her  that  she  could 
not  now  afford  to  be  careless  of  her  looks.  She  must 
not  cry  any  more;  she  must  not  grieve  any  more. 
And  when  it  was  a  question  of  Alec,  her  will  rarely 
failed  her. 

So  it  was  a  composed  and  smiling — ^though  heavy- 
eyed  mother  who  kissed  Carina  in  the  old  hall  of  the 
Bishops'  Inn  and  waved  to  her  from  the  doorway 
as  the  motor  disappeared  along  the  High  Street. 
Then  Joyce  was  dropped  at  the  railway  station  to 
return  to  London,  and  Carrie  started  by  herself,  in 
the  magnificent  Mercedes  that  Alec  had  lately  given 
her,  for  the  South  Downs.  The  day  was  clear  and 
hot.  All  horizons  were  blue;  all  the  woods  at  their 
deepest;  the  shorn  hay  meadows  garishly  green. 
The  luxurious  motion,  the  beauty  of  this  England 
flashing  by,  the  reaction  from  the  scene  of  yesterday 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  213 

and  the  sorrow  of  the  night,  had  soon  brushed  the 
cloud  from  Caroline's  young  senses.  She  was  gay 
and  happy  again.  For  in  a  few  hours  she  would  be 
with  Alec. 

Yet  she  was  far  from  insensible  to  Lord  "Wing's 
state,  and  possible  death.  She  had  had  no  time 
indeed  to  grow  intimate  with  him.  The  relation  of 
father  and  daughter  had  never  been  established 
between  them;  and  probably  never  could  have  been. 
He  was  too  old  perhaps;  and  his  life  had  been  too 
remote  from  hers.  But  he  had  been  very  kind  to  her — 
very  chivalrous  and  generous;  when  he  might  very 
well  have  rejected  and  disowned  her.  And  she  was 
grateful. 

The  dropping  sun  saw  her  climbing  a  long  road 
east  of  Brighton  to  the  top  of  the  downs,  where  Lord 
Wing,  tired  of  his  various  houses,  and  whimsically 
sick  of  antiquities,  had  built  himself  a  low  spreading 
bungalow,  with  few  rooms,  but  those  spacious,  and 
windows  looking  north  over  the  weald,  eastward  along 
the  rolling  crests  of  the  downs,  and  southward  over 
the  sea. 

Alec  ran  out  to  meet  her,  with  a  face  in  which,  as 
it  seemed  to  her,  a  mask  of  gravity  hid  something 
else,  quite  different,  and  forcibly  repressed. 

' '  He  is  very  ill,  but  quite  himself.  He  is  expecting 
you." 

Lord  Wing  in  a  flowered  dressing-gown,  sat  with 
his  hands  upon  his  knee,  quietly  watching  the  lights 
over  the  Channel.  His  head  and  face  were  more 
spectrally  white  than  ever;  he  seemed  indeed  an 
apparition,  fading,  almost  diaphanous.  But  the  eyes 
glittered  still — ^invincibly  alive. 

He  held  out  his  hand  feebly — ^but  with  his  old 


214  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

courtly  manner.  Carrie  stooped  and  kissed  him — at 
whicli  he  faintly  smiled. 

"Thank  you,  my  dear.    Sit  down." 

She  sat  down,  and  he  turned  to  look  at  her. 

**What  a  beautiful  woman!"  he  said,  as  though  to 
himself — half  dreamily. 

Carrie  flushed. 

"Is  there  anything  I  could  do  for  you.  Father?" 
she  asked  timidly.  It  was  the  first  time  she  had  called 
him  that  name. 

* '  I  want  nothing, ' '  he  said  quite  cheerfully.  ' '  And 
the  doctors  know  nothing.  But  they  can  give  me 
morphia — which  is  all  I  want.  Well — "  his  blood- 
less lips  attempted  a  smile — "and  how  goes  the 
salon  f* 

Caroline  looked  perplexed. 

"I  did  my  best,  Father.  And  you've  been  so  good 
to  us — so  wonderful!  But  Alec  has  told  you  of  his 
disappointment. ' ' 

Lord  Wing  still  smiled. 

"What  does  that  matter?  He'll  be  in  the  Lords 
directly — with  all  the  money  he  wants.  Let  him  keep 
up  the  fight.  One  must  have  something  to  make  the 
days  move.  That's  the  difficulty.  It's  like  what 
Dizzy  once  said  to  me  of  Parliament — *  a  horrid  bore — 
except  for  moments!'  One  must  try  for  as  many 
'moments'  as  possible.  I  have  tried  all  kinds  of 
things — ^to  not  much  purpose.  Alec  must  go  on — ex- 
perimenting.   It  makes  life  amusing." 

There  was  silence  for  a  little.  He  closed  his  eyes 
awhile.  When  he  opened  them  again,  he  said  sharply — 

"I  have  got  more  pleasure  out  of  Alec  than  out  of 
anything  else  in  life.  But  you  know — or  perhaps  you 
ought  to  know — Alec's  heart  is  not  his  strong  point!" 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  215 

His  expression — of  indulgent  mockery — sent  a  pang 
of  fear  through  her.  She  looked  at  him  without 
speaking.    He  laid  his  hand  on  hers. 

"I  hope  it  won't  fail  you.  You've  staked  a  good 
deal.  I  see  that.  Keep  him  busy.  Life  for  him 
should  be  a  bustle — no  stagnation.  I  should  like  to 
be  there  to  see." 

Silence  again.  His  last  words  to  her  were  very 
soft. 

' '  Give  him  a  child.    It  would  help  you. ' ' 

Carrie  kissed  his  hand — with  a  little  sob. 

After  that,  he  spoke  very  little,  and  he  parted  from 
life  with  a  wholly  pagan  urbanity  and  composure. 
Nobody  proposed  any  religious  function  to  him,  and 
he  asked  for  none.  His  last  look  was  for  Alec — and 
possibly  by  some  trick  of  lip  or  eye,  persistent  to  the 
last,  the  affection  in  it  seemed  to  be  still  tinged  with 
satire. 

They  took  him  back  to  the  great  ugly  pile  in  the 
Midlands  where  Alec  had  been  brought  up;  and  he 
was  buried  with  all  the  usual  pomp  and  para- 
phernalia. Then  came  the  opening  of  the  will,  and 
after  his  long  interview  with  the  lawyers  Alec  came 
out  to  his  wife.  His  excitement  was  evident.  He 
made  her  walk  up  and  down  a  long  passage  with  him, 
and  ran  through  a  first  list  of  the  possessions  which 
had  come  to  him.  The  wealth  he  had  inherited  was 
evidently  far  greater,  even,  than  he  had  expected; 
and  his  exultation  was  plain. 

"I  shall  take  my  seat  in  the  Lords  next  week  be- 
fore the  House  rises,  and  shall  be  in  politics  directly. 
We'll  form  a  new  party,  Carrie,  you  and  I! — ^we'U 
have  a  press  of  our  own — and,  by  George ! — if  "Wash- 
ington comes  in  next  year,  or  the  year  after,  and 


216  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

tries  to  boycott  me,  it  will  be  at  his  peril.  "We'll  play- 
money  and  brains — against  cant.  Neither  he,  nor 
your  prating  friend  Llewellyn,  has  any  idea  of  the 
kind  of  resources  I  mean  to  develop !" 

Carrie  listened  to  him  half  dazzled — ^half  fore- 
boding. That  night  she  told  him  the  story  of  her 
meeting  with  Marsworth.  As  she  expected,  it  made 
him  furiously  angry,  and  he  positively  forbade  her 
to  run  any  such  risks  again.  That  the  possession  of 
Carina  should  give  that  curmudgeon  of  a  fellow  any 
opening,  any  excuse,  for  such  an  attitude,  and  such 
language  to  Ms,  Alec  Wing's,  wife,  stirred  all  the 
arrogance  of  a  nature  intoxicated  anew  by  wealth, 
and  by  grandiose  dreams  of  power.  What  he  had  done 
might  seem  to  others  cruel  or  wicked.  It  seemed  to 
himself  perfectly  reasonable,  because  Jie  had  done  it. 

There  was  one  personal  sting  for  Caroline  in  these 
first  days  of  Alec's  inheritance,  though  neither  she 
nor  he  acknowledged  it  to  each  other.  The  wonderful 
jewels  which  had  belonged  to  Alec's  mother,  and  to 
many  of  his  ancestresses  before  her,  were  not,  it 
seemed,  heirlooms.  They  were  entirely  in  Lord 
Wing's  power  to  will.  And  they  had  been  placed  by 
his  will,  in  a  special  trust,  for  "the  wife  of  Alec's 
eldest  son"  should  he  have  a  son,  or  sons.  Should 
there  be  no  son,  they  were  to  go  to  Alec's  daughters 
in  order.    And  should  Alec  have  no  lawful  issue,  they 

were  to  pass  to  the  family  of  the  Duchess  of  C 

in  order  of  survival. 

"In  no  case,  are  they  to  be  mine,"  thought  Caro- 
line, who  understood  him  perfectly.  The  jewels  which 
the  old  man  had  lavished  on  her,  were  the  signs  of 
an  individual  indulgence,  personal  to  himself.    The 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  217 

jewels  his  dead  wife  had  worn  were  the  signs  of  some- 
thing bigger  than  himself — the  instinct  and  continuity 
of  race.  The  Wings  had  been  in  many  ways  an 
unscrupulous  clan,  but  their  women  had  been  chaste. 
There  had  been  no  adulteress  among  them. 

That  Lord  Wing,  with  his  singular  attachment  to 
Alec,  his  freedom  from  ordinary  conventions,  not  to 
speak  of  the  various  liaisons  with  which  he  was 
ordinarily  credited  since  his  wife's  death — of  which 
indeed  there  were  traces  in  his  papers — should  have 
felt  and  acted  so,  produced  a  deep  effect  for  a  time  on 
Caroline's  inner  consciousness,  though  she  never  spoke 
of  it,  and  had  indeed  long  since  divined  this  particular 
reluctance  on  Lord  Wing's  part.  Yet  as  she  and  he 
had  become  better  friends,  she  had  perhaps  ceased  to 
believe  in  it;  and  this  renewed  proof  of  it  hurt  her. 
It  was  indeed  a  curious  instance  of  that  instinctive 
respect  for  law  which  can  exist,  as  a  kind  of  corporate 
sense,  in  the  mind  of  one  personally  lawless.  It  was 
another  and  chilling  indication  of  that  strength  of 
public  opinion  she  and  Alec — ^for  all  their  enormous 
good  fortune — had  still  to  face. 


PART  II 


CHAPTER  XII 

It  was  the  night  before  the  opening  of  Parliament. 
London,  or  rather  the  West  End,  was  full  of  anima- 
tion. The  Ministerial  and  Opposition  dinner  parties 
were  going  on.  Motors  were  dashing  in  all  directions, 
and  in  one  West  End  square,  the  ordinary  traffic  was 
entirely  held  up  to  allow  the  guests  of  a  great  Whig 
house  to  go  and  come,  under  the  long  portico,  where 
amid  bustling  servants  in  splendid  livery,  a  constant 
succession  of  women  muffled  in  their  opera  cloaks,  and 
men  in  uniforms  and  decorations,  held  a  kind  of  out- 
door reception,  which  was  often  more  amusing  than 
the  party  within. 

Sir  Oliver  Lewson  had  put  a  lady  into  her  motor, 
and  was  trying  to  get  a  taxi  for  himself,  when  he  saw 
the  portly  form  of  the  Duchess  struggling  through 
the  throng,  with  a  meek  daughter  behind  her. 

"Where  are  you  off  to?"  he  asked  her.  ''Why 
you've  hardly  put  the  tip  of  your  nose  in  here,  before 
you're  gone  again!" 

"I've  seen  everybody  I  want  to  see.  And  now  I'm 
off  to  something  much  more  exciting." 

"To  Eltham  House?  Of  course  I'm  going  there 
too." 

"So  I  supposed.  Well,  if  you'll  tell  my  man  to 
go  for  the  car,  and  then  come  and  talk  to  me  a  few 

221 


222  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

minutes  out  of  the  draught,  we  might  pick  each 
other's  brains  on  that  subject  a  little." 

Sir  Oliver's  expression  in  reply  was  not  quite  so 
forthcoming  as  usual.  However  the  car  was  sent  for, 
and  with  no  expectation  of  seeing  it  emerge  from  the 
choked  roads  of  the  Square  under  at  least  a  quarter 
of  an  hour,  he,  the  Duchess  and  the  wisp-like  daughter 
retired  to  a  corner  of  the  outer  hall  to  talk. 

The  Duchess,  Lewson  perceived,  was  charged  to 
the  muzzle  with  that  phenomenal  interest  in  the 
affairs  of  her  neighbors,  which  made  her  so  formida- 
ble. As  to  the  Wings  she  could  not  ask  questions  fast 
enough.  "Wrapped  round  in  a  purple  opera  cloak, 
like  a  toga,  from  which  emerged  her  plain,  large- 
nosed  face,  her  untidy  hair,  which  she  never  allowed 
her  maid  time  to  dress,  and  her  diamonds,  she  held 
Sir  Oliver  under  fire. 

"I  suppose  you  stayed  with  them  in  the  autumn? 
Of  course  you  did!" 

*'I  did — for  five  or  six  weeks.  You  know,  of 
course,  that  I  have  become  Alec's  head-agent  and 
factotum  ? ' ' 

"H'm.  Yes,  I  did.  Well,  I  hope  he  pays  you 
well." 

Sir  Oliver  laughed.  The  Duchess  was  allowed  to 
say  these  things,  and  it  was  not  worth  while  resenting 
them. 

"Thanks!  The  work  is  enormous,  and  at  present 
I  can't  overtake  it  all." 

"Of  course  it  is  preposterous  that  any  man  should 
be  allowed  to  have  so  much.  I  believe  Wing,  my 
Wing,  Alec's  father,  just  died  of  the  fuss  and  worry 
of  it." 

**I  don't  think  so.    Lord  Wing  died  because  he  was 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  223 

bored  with  living.  There  was  no  fuss  or  worry.  He 
took  care  there  shouldn't  be." 

"By  neglecting  all  his  duties?  "Well,  of  course 
Alec  will  do  the  same — though  I  do  hear  all  sorts  of 
queer  tales  about  him." 

**You  are  quite  mistaken,  my  dear  Duchess.  Alec 
is  working  himself  to  death." 

"Because  he  wants  to  win  something — or  crush 
somebody.  Don't  deny  it.  You  know  perfectly  well 
those  are  his  motives.  Washington  has  offended  him, 
and  he  intends  to  pay  out  Washington.  What's  this 
I  hear  about  the  newspaper?" 

"The  first  number  comes  out  next  week.  You'll  see 
the  staff  at  Eltham  House. ' ' 

"He  won't  succeed.  There's  a  woman  in  the 
way — just  one  woman."  The  Duchess'  small  eyes 
twinkled — 

"I  suppose  you  mean  Mrs.  Washington?" 

"Of  course.  The  power  that  woman  has  is  amaz- 
ing. You  should  hear  her  speak  in  one  of  their 
tabernacles.    I  always  go.    Look  here! — " 

The  Duchess  glanced  round  her  to  see  whether  her 
daughter  was  listening.  But  that  limp  young  lady 
was  for  once  quite  unconscious  of  her  mother.  She 
was  watching  a  handsome  Hussar  in  uniform,  who  was 
standing  in  the  inner  hall.  The  Hussar  was  flirting 
with  a  married  woman,  and  had  bestowed  nothing 
but  the  most  perfunctory  notice  on  Lady  Ida,  as  she 
descended  the  broad  staircase  in  his  neighborhood. 
But  she  did  not  mind.  It  was  enough  that  he  was 
handsome,  had  white  teeth,  very  black  hair  and  wore 
his  jacket  magnificently.  It  was  enough  indeed  to 
be  in  the  same  world  with  such  a  creature. 

The   Duchess   therefore   was   safe   from   her   off- 


224  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

spring,  and  could  whisper  her  advice  into  Lewson's 
ear. 

"Tell  Lady  Wing — ^if  she  minds  you! — ^to  snub 
Washington  a  little.  His  visits  to  Eltham  House  are 
much  talked  about.  And  even  saints  can  be  jealous. 
Why  does  he  go?  He  must  know  that  the  house — 
Carrie's  salon — and  all  the  rest  of  it — represents  a 
'cave'  that  may  upset  him.  All  sorts  of  plots  are 
hatched  there  against  him  and  his  leadership.  And 
yet  he  and  Llewellyn  dangle  round  Carrie  as  much  as 
ever.    It's  undignified." 

"Conscious  power  perhaps,"  laughed  Lewson. 
"They 're  not  afraid." 

"More  fools  they.  Washington's  by  no  means  so 
safe  as  he  and  his  friends  think.  He  may  play  the 
Johnny  Head-in- Air  once  too  often." 

' '  Well,  my  dear  Duchess,  I  have  nothing  to  do  with 
Alec's  politics.  I  am  only  concerned  with  his  estates, 
which  I  assure  you  are  enough  for  any  reasonable 
man." 

"How  many  country  houses?"  asked  the  Duchess 
peremptorily. 

"Six  or  seven — important  ones — ^with  villas  and 
bungalows  innumerable.  To  build  a  new  house  was 
Lord  Wing's  way  of  taking  a  tonic.  It  gave  him 
a  fillip — ^which  was  all  he  wanted.  But  the  really 
interesting  thing  is  that  we  have  discovered  a  lot  of 
London  property.  I,  being  old-fashioned,  desire  to 
treat  it  commercially.  Alec  seems  to  wish  to  treat 
it  politically — ^to  make  a  Socialist  splash.  Don't  tell 
him  I  told  you!" 

"Alec,  I  always  knew,  would  turn  on  his  own 
class, ' '  was  the  impatient  reply.  ' '  He  '11  play  Philippe 
Egalite,  because  Washington  wouldn't  give  him  a 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  225 

seat,  and  because  Carrie  can't  go  to  a  drawing-room. 
But  he  won't  get  anything  by  it.  Several  people 
you  and  I  know  have  tried  it— mostly  women.  It 
don't  answer.  The  working-class  isn't  taken  in.  But 
there's  something  much  more  important  than  this  I 
want  to  know — " 

The  Duchess  looked  round  her — but  Lady  Ida  was 
still  watching  the  Hussar.  Her  mother  lowered  her 
voice. 

"Tell  me  about  Madge  Whitton.  There  are  all 
sorts  of  rumors.  They  say  Alec's  been  seeing  a  great 
deal  of  her — that  somebody 's  been  lending  her  money 
— and  so  forth.  H'm?"  The  speaker  turned  a 
sharply  interrogative  eye  on  the  man  beside  her. 

Lewson  shrugged  his  shoulders — 

"Ask  me  another,  Duchess.  A  man  as  deep  in 
death-duties  as  I  am  has  no  time  for  these  matters." 

' '  How  tiresome  you  are ! ' '  cried  the  Duchess  impa- 
tiently.  '  *  You  and  I  have  gossiped  for  twenty  years. ' ' 

Sir  Oliver  laughed,  but  without  yielding  a  fraction. 
Immediately  afterwards,  the  Duchess  caught  sight  of 
a  gesticulating  footman.  She  invited  Lewson  to  ac- 
company her,  and  all  three  were  soon  on  the  way  to 
Eltham  House.  But  midway — as  Lewson  noticed — 
Lady  Ida  was  dropped  at  home. 

"Heavens,  what  a  crowd!"  cried  the  Duchess,  as 
they  entered  the  street,  towards  the  eastern  end  of 
which  rose  the  great  gates  of  Eltham  House.  "And 
what  impudence  it  all  is!  Four  official  parties — 
and  Eltham  House! — ^bigger  than  any  of  them. 
Look  at  the  men — pouring  in — without  their  wives ! ' ' 
And  she  pointed  to  a  large  limousine  in  the  rank 
beside  them  full  of  men  in  uniform,  much  be- 
medaled. 


226  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"Some  pretty  women  too!"  said  Lewson  con- 
fidently, as  another  car  passed  them. 

"Pooh!  Foreigners — or  actresses.  All  the  diplo- 
mats' wives  go  to  Carrie — ^the  rich  Americans — the 
feminists — artists  and  theatrical  people — and  all 
Wing's  poor  relations." 

"A  pretty  big  London,  by  itself!" 

"Ah,  I  dare  say,  but  not  the  London  Wing  wants. 
He  knows  what  the  women  of  our  class  can  do  for 
a  man. '  * 

"Apparently — according  to  you — it  is  one  woman, 
of  another  class — a  woman  who  preaches  in  taber- 
nacles— that  matters  most." 

"That's  the  religious  force.  Horribly  strong — I 
grant  you.  But  if  they  had  the  social  force  with 
them,  they  could  beat  it.  The  Eoyalties  however  have 
settled  that." 

Lewson  did  not  pursue  the  subject,  and  the 
Duchess  at  last  plainly  perceived  that  while  Wing 
had  gained  an  invaluable  agent,  she  herself,  on  the 
subject  of  the  Wings,  had  lost  a  confidant.  All  that 
Lewson  knew  he  would  no  longer  communicate  to  her, 
and  she  chafed,  like  the  autocrat  she  was,  under  such 
inconvenient  discretion. 

The  crowd  was  indeed  enormous,  and  the  scene  in 
the  glistening  hall,  and  on  the  famous  double  stair- 
case of  Eltham  House — except  for  those  who  had  an 
intimate  knowledge  of  those  particular  groups  and 
persons  supposed,  by  themselves  at  any  rate,  to  be 
leading  London  society — could  scarcely  have  been 
more  brilliant. 

At  the  top  of  the  stairs  stood  Caroline  Wing,  the 
most  beautiful  woman  amid  a  throng  of  other  women 
of  very  varied  types;  a  throng  which  in  Lewson 's 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  227 

eyes  made  up  in  good  looks  what  it  lacked  in  birth — 
or,  possibly,  morals.  Her  hair,  her  neck,  her  dress, 
shone  with  jewels,  and  she  herself  shone  more  than 
they.  It  seemed  to  him,  as  he  withdrew  to  a  position 
in  a  doorway  near,  whence  he  could  watch  her  re- 
ceiving her  guests,  that  she  had  both  gained  and  lost 
since  her  arrival  in  London  as  Wing's  wife  nearly  a 
year  before.  She  had  lost  something  of  freshness,  of 
that  intangible  enchanting  bloom  which  is  merely 
youth,  merely  the  dew  on  the  rose.  On  the  other 
hand  she  had  gained  enormously  in  self -governance, 
in  consciousness  of  the  world  about  her,  in  personal 
dignity ;  so  that  on  the  whole  her  beauty  was  a  more 
dazzling  thing  than  ever. 

As  to  her  character,  Lewson  reflected  that  he  had 
gained  a  much  clearer  knowledge  of  it,  during  the 
six  months  which  had  elapsed  since  he  had  last  come 
with  the  crowd  to  Eltham  House.  A  kind  of  accident 
— ^nothing  more  than  a  casual  meeting  and  conversa- 
tion at  a  shooting  party,  early  in  the  preceding 
autumn,  had  led  to  Wing's  offering  him  the  principal 
agency  on  his  enormous  properties,  with  a  salary  so 
high  that  the  ex-Indian  civilian  could  not  resist  it. 
Perhaps  however,  Lewson  had  been  as  much  attracted 
by  the  work  as  the  money.  He  had  been  a  very  suc- 
cessful Indian  administrator,  and  since  his  return 
home,  at  not  much  more  than  fifty,  he  had  known 
moments  of  dullness,  which  had  never  attacked  him 
before.  Land  and  all  the  problems  of  land  were  his 
hobby,  and  when  Wing  came  to  him,  impulsively 
offering  some  of  the  greatest  estates  in  England  as  a 
field  for  experiments,  and  unlimited  money  to  try 
them  with,  the  quick  mind  and  vigorous  personality 
of  the  elder  man  caught  fire.    He  accepted  the  charge, 


228  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

and  had  been  since  renewing  his  youth.  Incidentally 
also,  he  had  been  making  a  close  study  of  his  em- 
ployer and  his  employer's  wife;  for  which  the  ma- 
terials had  been  ample,  seeing  that  he  had  spent  much 
of  the  autumn  in  their  company  at  one  or  other  of 
their  super-abundant  country  houses. 

It  was  clear  to  him  that  Lady  Wing  had  been  at 
first  excited  and  amused  by  the  multitude  of  their 
new  possessions ;  flattered  too,  possibly,  by  the  natural 
subservience  of  a  large  section  of  mankind  towards 
the  possessors.  Pictures,  books,  heirlooms  of  all 
sorts,  the  spoils  of  generations,  which  in  many  cases 
had  been  lying  forgotten  for  years,  in  houses  sub- 
stantially * '  kept  up ' '  but  never  visited ;  all  these  had 
supplied  adventure  and  entertainment  for  months. 
Lady  Wing  had  called  in  experts  to  help  her,  and 
there  had  been  a  fine  searching  of  treasure-heaps,  as 
thrilling  as  such  searches  commonly  are.  But  in 
other  ways  she — and  Wing — had  passed  through  a 
very  checkered  experience.  They  had  made  a  kind 
of  royal  progress  through  the  Wing  estates,  and  their 
reception  had  varied  greatly.  In  general  the  tenants 
had  welcomed  them  effusively,  understanding  that 
a  regime  of  general  neglect  was  coming  to  an  end, 
and  that  the  young  lord  was  prepared  to  carry  things 
with  a  high  and  generous  hand.  Wing  had  made 
several  political  speeches,  which  had  been  well  re- 
ceived by  both  farmers  and  laborers.  There  was  to  be 
liberal  expenditure  on  small  holdings  and  allotments 
— liberal  allowances  for  repairs — in  some  districts 
liberal  reduction  of  rent.  So  far,  so  good.  But  the 
social  side  of  the  business  had  been  a  good  deal  moi'e 
doubtful. 

In  some  districts  indeed,  Lewson  had  seen  but 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  229 

small  signs  of  boycotting.  The  newcomers  had  found 
a  whole  neighborhood  apparently  on  tip-toe — 
expectant  of  subscriptions,  entertainments,  favors 
of  all  kinds;  ready  to  offer  bouquets  to  Caroline, 
and  addresses  to  Wing,  on  the  smallest  provocation. 
In  other  places  the  pair  had  seemed  to  come  and  go, 
amid  a  frozen  silence.  No  notice  taken  of  their 
arrival  by  any  of  the  neighbors,  except  such  as  were 
in  some  business  relation  to  them;  a  few  paragraphs 
in  the  local  papers;  a  few  official  visits  from  people 
who  could  not  help  themselves — and  nothing  more. 
Sometimes  this  had  happened  under  the  influence  of  a 
local  religious  leader — Anglican  or  dissenting;  some- 
times it  was  the  local  big-wigs — the  neighboring  land- 
owners— who  had  dictated  a  rigorous  ostracism, 
especially  of  Lady  Wing.  But  well-received  or  ill- 
received,  these  two  handsome  young  people  had  been 
always  in  the  limelight,  always  conscious  that  they 
were  the  talk  of  a  countryside,  and  that  their  doings 
and  sayings  were  of  great  importance  to  thousands 
of  people. 

Under  these  influences,  as  Lewson's  secret  thoughts 
admitted  very  plainly.  Alec  Wing — to  put  it  gently — 
had  not  improved.  The  megalomania  always  latent 
in  his  temperament  had  developed  amazingly ;  opposi- 
tion enraged  him;  and  the  men  who  opposed  or  dis- 
appointed him,  were  always  according  to  him,  either 
sickly  hypocrites,  or  envious  fools. 

And  had  this  general  temper  of  bitterness,  of 
thwarted,  and  yet  determined  ambition,  reacted,  in 
some  strange  way  upon  his  relation  to  his  wife? — in 
that  she  was  constantly  reminding  him  of  the  most 
teasing  barriers  in  his  path?  That  was  what  Lewson 
occasionally  asked  himself ;  always  with  an  indignant 


230  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

rush  of  feeling  on  Lady  Wing's  behalf.  "Was  it 
Wing's  instinct  to  visit  the  ** cutting"  which  befell 
them  both,  especially  in  certain  high  quarters,  upon 
the  beautiful  woman  who  worshiped  him — as  in  some 
way  her  special  fault?  Lewson  knew  very  well  that 
a  man  who  is  forced  by  her  kindred  or  by  public 
opinion  to  marry  the  woman  he  has  betrayed,  can 
hate  the  victim — now  become  the  avenger — as  keenly 
as  he  had  ever  wooed  the  mistress.  The  same  uncon- 
scious reasoning  seemed  to  be  at  work  here.  When- 
ever penalty  made  itself  felt.  Wing's  irritability  or 
arrogance  seemed  to  suggest  that  it  was  the  woman's 
affair  only.    The  man  resented  any  share  in  it. 

As  to  Caroline  Wing  herself,  Lewson,  now  that  he 
knew  her  better,  was  aware  of  just  the  same  mingling 
of  homage  and  pity  in  his  feeling  towards  her,  as  he 
perceived  in  Robert  Llewellyn  and  other  men.  Her 
beauty  was  wonderfully  appealing,  partly  because  she 
thought  so  little  of  it  herself,  partly  because  of  the 
frank  or  childish  elements  in  her  nature  which  made 
it  more  difficult  for  her  than  for  other  women  to  hide 
the  movements  of  conscience  or  feeling.  He  saw,  for 
instance,  that  she  suffered — much  more  now  than 
when  they  first  reached  London — from  the  strength  of 
public  opinion  against  her;  that  there  was  something 
indeed  in  her  own  mind  which  was  always  betraying 
her  to  her  judges,  while  yet  always  rallying  in  the 
end  to  a  passionate  defense  of  love  and  its  rights. 
And  he  often  perceived  a  great  weariness  in  her; 
weariness,  he  thought  of  the  endless  parade  and 
clatter  of  the  life  that  Wing  made  her  lead.  Sorrow 
too — for  causes  he  could  only  guess  at.  But  he  per- 
ceived that  she  was  made  for  children,  and  she  had 
none.    That  supreme  sacrifice  of  her  Marsworth  chil- 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  231 

dren  she  had  faced  for  love  of  Wing;  and  she  had 
never  recovered  it. 

"Was  there  anything  serious  in  the  talk  about  Mrs. 
Whitton — in  the  gossip  about  Lord  Melton's  devo- 
tion? Lewson  felt  that  he  knew  no  more  than  any- 
body else.  .   .   . 

.  .  .  Ah!  there  was  Melton  coming  upstairs — and 
Mrs.  Whitton  a  few  steps  behind  him.  Involuntarily 
Lewson  moved  forward  a  little  to  watch.  He  saw 
young  Melton's  dark  and  striking  face — striking 
rather  than  handsome — ^break  into  a  charming  smile, 
as  he  reached  his  hostess;  and  he  perceived  that 
instead  of  going  on  into  the  drawing-room,  young 
Melton  took  his  place  beside  Lady  Wing,  ready  to  win 
a  word  or  a  look  from  her  in  the  intervals  of  her 
handshaking,  and  that  she  turned  to  him  when  she 
could,  with  a  soft  and  open  expression,  as  one  turns 
from  strangers  to  a  friend.  Her  reception  of  Mrs. 
Whitton,  on  the  other  hand,  seemed  to  him  markedly 
cold  and  careless.  "She  can't  pretend  as  well  as 
others, ' '  he  said  to  himself  and  he  liked  her  the  better 
for  it.  But  if  she  had  little  to  say  to  Mrs.  Whitton, 
Mrs.  Whitton  was  apparently  primed  with  a  great 
deal  to  say  to  her — and  others.  She  too  stood  for  a 
little  while  at  the  stair  head,  conspicuously  talking 
and  laughing.  Then  Lewson  perceived  Alec  Wing  in 
the  doorway  behind  his  wife,  and  presently  Mrs. 
Whitton  had  slipped  through  the  crowd  in  his  direc- 
tion. Lewson  caught  her  smiling  upward  glance,  and 
Wing 's  recognition.  She  seemed  to  pass  her  host  and 
go  on  into  the  crowd  behind  him;  but  Lewson  had 
a  curious  certainty  that  they  would  not  lose  sight  of 
each  other. 

*  *  Well — ^how  's  the  new  post  going  ? ' ' 


232  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

The  speaker  was  Llewellyn.  Lewson  hailed  him 
with  pleasure,  though  not  without  something  of  the 
same  surprise  that  he  should  be  there  as  the  Duchess 
had  expressed. 

They  talked  a  little  about  the  agency.  Then 
Lewson  inquired  after  the  King's  Speech,  which, 
according  to  time-honored  custom  had  just  been  read 
at  the  official  dinners  of  the  night — given  by  the 
leaders  in  both  Houses  to  their  supporters. 

"Anything  new  or  exciting?" 

"Oh,  Lord,  yes!  They've  made  up  their  minds 
at  last.  They're  bringing  in  a  strong  Protectionist 
budget.  It  will  be  a  splendid  row,  and  we  shall  beat 
them  on  it.  They're  probably  riding  for  a  fall.  Our 
host  here,  I  understand,  will  support  them." 

Llewellyn  turned  his  chubby  cheeks  and  smiling 
eyes  upon  his  companion.  He  looked  extraordinarily 
wise,  ugly  and  confident. 

**I  hear  also,"  he  resumed,  "that  Wing  will  make 
his  first  speech  to-morrow  in  the  Lords — a  hot  attack 
on  Washington  ? ' ' 

Lewson  nodded. 

"He  has  been  taking  great  pains  with  it." 

"No  doubt.  Can  you  point  me  out  any  of  the  men 
who  are  running  the  paper?"  asked  Llewellyn. 

Lewson  picked  out  one  or  two  from  the  crowd. 
Llewellyn  looked  at  them  with  a  benevolent  half 
satiric  interest. 

"Ah,  yes — I  know — clever  fellows.  But  I  under- 
stand the  editor  is  not  yet  found." 

*  *  No.  Wing  has  set  his  heart  on  a  particular  man — ' ' 

"And  can't  get  him!"  laughed  Llewellyn.  "I 
think  I'll  back  Wing.  Well,  the  programme  of  the 
paper  looks  very   catching — protection,    socialism — 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  233 

and  militarism.  I  dare  say  Wing  11  make  us  old  Lib- 
erals sit  up." 

Sir  Oliver  surveyed  him. 

"I  never  saw  anyone  less  alarmed,"  he  said  dryly. 
Llewellyn  laughed. 

"I  assure  you,  if  Wing  gets  the  man  he  wants, 
Washington  and  I  shall  shiver  in  our  shoes.  There 
are  a  number  of  M.P.  's  here  to-night, ' '  he  added,  look- 
ing round  the  surging  crowd  with  a  sudden  intentness. 

Lewson  made  no  remark.  There  were  a  number  of 
M.P.'s  streaming  in  from  the  different  official  parties, 
some  in  levee  dress. 

"I  foresee  an  'Eltham  House  party,'  "  said 
Llewellyn,  smiling.  "But  Lady  Wing  promises  still 
to  let  me  come  and  see  her!  I  must  go  and  get  a 
word  with  her. ' ' 

Llewellyn  found  his  hostess  in  one  of  the  inner 
drawing-rooms,  a  very  famous  room,  walled  with 
cases  of  old  Nankin,  which  English  and  European 
museums  had  so  far  sighed  after  in  vain.  Amid  the 
gleaming  show  of  lustrous  blue  and  white,  where  all 
light  in  the  room  came  from  the  illuminated  vitrines, 
he  found  Caroline  Wing  holding  a  court  of  intimates, 
while  the  mass  of  her  guests  were  streaming  down- 
stairs to  supper. 

She  made  room  for  him  beside  her  with  a  grace 
in  which,  however,  he  now  perceived  an  increasing 
embarrassment.  And  he  himself  was  much  more 
keenly  aware  that  his  position  in  the  house  was  a 
difficult  one  than  the  Duchess  gave  him  credit  for. 
Wing  indeed  had  taken  the  Penwenack  letter — which 
was  couched  in  perfectly  civil  terms — with  haughty 
sang-froid,  so  far  as  the  Liberal  leaders  were  con- 


234  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

cemed.  A  few  gibes  as  to  "your  Non-con  masters," 
conveyed  his  answer  to  Llewellyn's  advice,  given 
through  Carrie ;  and  there  had  been  a  short  conversa- 
tion between  Washington  and  the  new  peer,  in  which 
"Washington  had  expressed  his  regrets  for  a  decision 
inevitable  ''at  the  present  moment,"  and  Wing  had 
given  warning  of  his  intentions  as  a  political  free 
lance,  without  however  any  personal  rupture  between 
the  two  men. 

Both  Washington  and  his  chief  lieutenant,  there- 
fore, had  been  seen  occasionally  at  Lady  Wing's  Sun- 
days, since  the  Wings  had  returned  to  Eltham  House 
in  November,  to  the  astonishment  of  many  beside  the 
Duchess. 

To-night,  however,  in  the  Eltham  House  crowd, 
Llewellyn  was  very  conscious  of  a  new  atmosphere 
of  agitation — of  ''things"  going  on — and  those  things 
not  at  all  to  the  interest  of  the  Front  Opposition 
bench.  Groups  melted  away  as  he  approached;  con- 
versations were  hushed.  He  recognized  a  number  of 
journalists,  some  of  them  belonging  to  that  army  of 
discontent  which  gathers  on  the  flank  of  any  great 
party,  and  is  always  ready  for  adventures.  Wash- 
ington had  indeed  lost  ground  somewhat  since  his 
speaking  campaign  of  the  summer.  He  was  said  to 
have  wasted  or  misused  opportunities  given  him  by  his 
opponents,  to  have  offended  important  members  of 
the  party  in  small  social  ways;  the  blame  for  which 
was  generally  put  down  to  Mrs.  Washington.  Wash- 
ington's own  followers  were  confident  of  success  in 
the  coming  battle  with  the  Government.  Llewellyn 
himself  was  confident.  All  the  same  there  were  ele- 
ments of  danger  in  the  situation.  And  this  rise  of  a 
party  of  frondeurs  amply  supplied  with  money,  and 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  235 

led  by  a  man  bearing  a  great  name,  and  commanding 
vast  resources — handsome,  vain,  eloquent  and,  in 
many  circles,  likely  to  be  extremely  popular — was  by 
no  means  an  incident  to  be  despised. 

"Well,  so  Wing  speaks  to-morrow?"  said  Llewellyn 
to  Carrie,  having  at  last  secured  a  few  private  minutes 
with  her.  *' I  wish  him  all  success.  Of  course  he  will 
attack  us.  That  we  expect.  But  I  hope  you  will  be 
pleased  with  him." 

Caroline's  eyes  rested  upon  him  in  reply,  with  an 
expression — sweet  and  dumbly  appealing — which 
seemed  to  say — "Yes! — ^we  are  friends — ^but — now — 
alack!  we  can't  talk!"  Llewellyn  understood,  some- 
how, that  she  remembered  well — ^would  never  indeed 
forget — their  intimate  conversation  on  that  August 
evening  under  the  trees ;  but  that  life  since  then  had 
passed  into  a  new  phase,  and  she  was  now  her  hus- 
band's unquestioning  and  obedient  lieutenant.  She 
spoke  guardedly  of  Alec's  plans.  She  said  it  was  all 
"very  interesting";  he  had  found  a  great  deal  of 
unexpected  support  in  many  quarters;  and  so  on. 
Llewellyn  realized  that  he  had  personally  lost  much 
ground  with  her;  though  perhaps  not  by  her  own 
wish.  And  the  heart  of  a  man,  simple  and  sensitive 
to  a  point  not  easily  guessed  by  those  who  chiefly 
realized  in  him  the  gifts  of  the  shrewdest  brain  in 
the  Liberal  party,  suffered  sharply.  He  valued  her 
friendship  enormously.  He  knew  too  that  he  had  been 
able  to  befriend  her;  and  it  was  no  more  easy,  now 
than  in  the  summer,  for  him  to  divest  himself,  in  re- 
gard to  her,  of  a  deep  and  prophetic  instinct  of  pity. 
Such  a  feeling  seemed  of  course  ridiculous.  Here 
was  a  woman,  under  a  certain  amount  of  social  punish- 
ment, no  doubt,  from  various  powerful  forces  in  the 


236  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

life  around  her,  evidently  conscious  of  it  and  wounded 
by  it,  but  at  the  same  time,  in  other  respects,  at  the 
envied  top  of  fortune.  The  very  society  which  ex- 
cluded her  talked  incessantly,  of  her  beauty,  her 
doings,  her  dress  and  her  wealth.  And  that  wealth 
was  no  vulgar  new-made  store  which  could  be  laughed 
at  and  despised  by  an  aristocratic  class.  On  the  con- 
trary it  represented  all  that  is  most  coveted  in  an  old 
society.  Was  there  indeed  any  woman  who  had 
mounted  the  Eltham  House  staircase  that  night,  who 
would  not  have  taken  Lady  Wing's  role — ^with  all  its 
drawbacks — if  it  had  been  offered  her?  Perhaps  a 
few — but  certainly  not  many.  Why  then  this  sore 
premonition  at  the  bottom  of  his  mind — this  emer- 
gence in  a  scholar's  memory  of  well-worn  lines  and 
phrases  in  which  men  of  old  expressed  their  own 
haunting  sense  of  human  fate? — 

''Many  things  the  Gods  accomplish  unexpectedly. 
And  the  things  that  were  looked  for  come  not  to 
pass"  .  .  . 

And  again — 

"Call  no  one  happy  till  he  have  passed  the  goal  of 
life,  and  the  chances  of  pain." 

Pedantic  absurdity!  who  else  would  dream  of 
bringing  such  thoughts  into  connection  with  this 
radiant  creature  in  her  splendid  dress,  who  sat  beside 
him  waving  her  fan  backwards  and  forwards,  and 
occasionally  detaching  her  eyes  from  her  companion 
to  send  a  nod  or  smile  to  some  passer-by  eager  for 
notice.  In  this  world  she  had  gathered  about  her 
he  saw  that  she  was  now  a  queen,  and  beginning  to 
play  the  role  consciously.  Would  it  spoil  and  coarsen 
her  ?    If  so — once  more — ^the  pity  of  it ! 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  237 

"You  are  going  to-morrow — to  the  show?"  he 
asked  her  as  he  rose  from  the  chair  which  was  evi- 
dently coveted  by  other  people. 

"To  the  House  of  Lords?  Oh  yes.  I  must  hear 
Alec  of  course ! ' ' 

But  a  sudden  flush  invaded  her  cheeks,  as  she  gave 
him  her  hand  in  farewell,  and  she  turned  rather  hur- 
riedly from  him  to  speak  to  an  old  diplomat  who  was 
approaching  her, 

Llewellyn  went  off,  and  by  the  time  he  had  found  his 
coat  and  was  waiting  on  the  steps  for  a  taxi,  he  had 
remembered — stimulated  by  Lady  Wing's  change  of 
color — certain  things,  which  a  man  who  cared  little 
for  forms  and  ceremonies  had  temporarily  forgotten. 

The  Wing  peerage  was  a  very  old  one,  and  the 
holder  of  it — wasn't  he  entitled  to  some  special  func- 
tion in  Royal  processions?  Not  the  bearing  of  the 
"cap  of  maintenance"  exactly! — but  something  akin 
to  it;  tomfoolery  in  democratic  eyes,  and  coveted 
honor  in  those  of  ordinary  mortals.  He  could  not 
remember  precisely  what  it  was,  and  did  not  care. 
But  some  privilege  of  the  kind  existed — ^he  was  cer- 
tain of  it.  What  was  going  to  happen  in  the  pro- 
cession to  the  House  of  Lords  on  the  morrow  ?  Would 
Wing  be  allowed  the  bauble,  or  denied  it?  What 
gossip,  what  agitation  must  be  going  on!  Yet  the 
wife,  who  adored  Wing,  and  would  be  up  in  arms  for 
him,  were  a  slight  inflicted,  meant  all  the  same  to 
brave  the  public  eye.    Plucky  woman! 

Llewellyn  drove  off,  more  concerned  than  he  had 
ever  been  yet  for  a  detail  of  Court  ceremonial. 

The  crowd  in  the  great  house  had  thinned  a  good 
deal.    A  few  young  people  were  dancing  in  one  of 


238  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

the  drawing-rooms  to  an  enchanting  band ;  there  was 
still  a  room  full  of  bridge-players,  and  a  last  relay 
at  the  supper-tables.  Beyond  the  supper  room 
stretched  the  spacious  winter  garden  of  the  ground 
floor,  a  conservatory  which,  in  defiance  of  the  winter, 
was  now  a  marvel  of  bloom  and  scent.  In  its  further 
comer  amid  a  brilliant  labyrinth  of  azaleas,  two 
people  had  just  met  for  intimate  conversation.  They 
were  Lord  Wing  and  Madge  Whitton.  Lord  Wing 
had  only  just  escaped  from  his  host's  duties  towards 
various  diplomatic  big-wigs,  and  it  was  evident  that 
Mrs.  Whitton  had  been  waiting  for  him  in  this  se- 
cluded spot  by  arrangement. 

*'A  plague  on  Ambassadors!"  he  said  as  he  threw 
himself  into  a  low  chair  beside  her.  "I  thought  I 
should  never  get  rid  of  them.  Well,  have  you  any 
news  ? ' ' 

He  raised  himself  to  look  at  her.  His  face  was 
flushed,  and  frowning.  The  eyes  showed  deep  lines 
of  fatigue,  and  the  careless  good  nature  which  had 
shone  from  Caroline's  splendid  lover  less  than  a  year 
before  had  dropped  like  a  cloak  from  his  restless  and 
hardened  maturity. 

Madge  Whitton  smiled.  She  slowly  drew  up  her 
long  gloves  over  her  thin  arms;  then  leaning  back 
against  a  gorgeous  background  of  red  azalea,  which 
seemed  to  be  there  on  purpose  to  make  a  setting  for 
her  fair  hair  and  slender  frame,  she  lifted  her  eyes  to 
her  companion. 

"  Oh !  how  hard  I  have  been  working  for  you ! ' ' 

"Have  you?  You  little  brick!  But  have  you  got 
him?" 

"I  told  you  he  was  the  most  impossible  person  to 
manage — didn't  I?" 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  239 

"And  I  gave  you  carte  hlanche!"  he  said  impa- 
tiently. ''Don't — please — ^keep  me  on  tenter  hooks. 
Yes— or  No?" 

"You  never  saw  such  airs  and  graces!  'He  was 
not  the  man  to  be  bought — ^money  was  of  really  no 
importance  to  him' — ahem! — 'the  work,  the  oppor- 
tunity was  all  he  thought  about.'  I  could  hardly 
keep  from  laughing  in  his  face.  But  I  played  him 
like  a  trout.  I  gave  him  as  much  posing  and  bluffing 
as  he  liked  to  take — and  then — ^I  struck ! ' ' 

"You  mentioned  the  terms?"  said  Wing,  smiling, 
his  tension  relaxing. 

"I  just  put  the  figures  delicately! — oh,  so  delicately 
— under  his  nose,  and  in  twenty  minutes  I  had  him  in 
the  basket.  I'm  afraid  my  metaphor  has  got  a  little 
mixed.    But  never  mind.    Now  what  do  I  deserve  ? ' ' 

"You've  got  him — really?"  he  said  joyously. 

"Really.  He's  coming  to  see  you  to-morrow — and 
will  take  up  work  whenever  you  choose." 

He  stooped,  raised  her  hand  which  was  lying  on 
her  lap,  and  kissed  it. 

"You  are  a  winner!  Carrie  could  make  no  im- 
pression on  him  whatever ! ' ' 

"Ah,  well,  you  see  you  want  a  vulgar  creature  like 
me!"  said  Mrs.  Whitton  composedly.  "Lady  Wing 
is  too — refined — grand  style!  to  deal  with  that  kind 
of  man.  One  must  put  things  plainly.  But  you've 
got  him ! ' ' 

She  lay  back  again,  with  a  little  nod  of  triumph — 
adding  after  a  moment — with  a  touch  of  affected 
shyness — 

"I  really  think  I  have  done  something  for  you  this 
time!" 

* '  I  should  think  you  have ! "  he  said,  with  eyes  that 


240  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

sparkled  on  her.  "I  don't  like  the  man  any  more 
than  you  do — or  Carrie  does.  But  he's  the  only  man 
to  make  that  paper  go." 

"The  only  man!"  she  repeated.  "But  I  wish  you 
joy  of  him!    Now  I  must  go  home." 

"May  I  come  and  see  you  to-morrow?" 

"I — suppose  you  may,"  she  said  slowly,  with  her 
eyes  on  the  ground. 

"Of  course  I  may.  Aren't  you  in  it — this  new 
venture — with  all  of  us?  And  I  shall  want  to  know 
what  you  think  of  my  speech. ' ' 

"Yes?  By  the  way,  many  thanks  for  my  ticket 
for  the  House.  I  have  read  the  MS.  you  sent  me. 
It's  splendid!" 

"I'm  glad  you  think  so!  Carrie  criticised  it 
enormously ! '  * 

"Ah  well,  she's  the  critic  on  the  hearth — that's 
her  function.  I  couldn't  criticise,  I  confess.  I  was 
carried  away." 

His  face  showed  his  pleasure.  They  walked  along 
together  into  the  hall  crowded  with  departing  guests. 
She  went  for  her  cloak,  and  Alec  with  easy  courtesy 
looked  after  various  ladies  who  were  waiting  for  their 
cars.  But  when  Madge  Whitton  reappeared  he  took 
her  to  the  door,  and  saw  her  safely  into  a  particularly 
elegant  landaulette,  from  which  she  smiled  to  him  her 
farewells. 

"Well,  she's  done  me  a  good  turn — no  denying  it! 
— and  I  gave  her  that  motor ! "  he  thought  to  himself 
half  laughing,  as  he  turned  away.  "But  anybody 
who  supposes  that  I'm  in  love  with  her  is  a  fool — 
beginning  with  Carrie.  I  like  going  to  see  her — and 
I  mean  to  go  to  see  her.  And  I  've  found  her  uncom- 
monly useful.    And  that's  all  there  is  to  it." 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  241 

As  he  recrossed  the  hall,  however,  his  face  resumed 
its  bitter  and  harassed  expression.  To  avoid  his 
guests  he  went  up  one  of  the  subsidiary  staircases 
leading  to  the  first  floor,  and  the  gallery  running 
round  the  central  hall. 

And  there — suddenly — he  caught  sight  of  his  wife 
standing  in  the  doorway  of  one  of  the  drawing-rooms 
watching  someone  who  was  descending  the  stairs. 
Her  look  arrested  him.  It  was  full  of  emotion,  as  of 
one  who  has  just  gone  through  some  touching  or 
surprising  experience.  And  as  he  came  nearer  Wing 
perceived  that  the  person  she  was  watching  was  Lord 
Merton,  who  was  slowly  descending  the  stairs — on 
which  he  was  now  the  only  figure — with  his  eyes  fixed 
on  Caroline.  Eyes  of  worship  and  of  grief  in  a  pale 
strained  face;  eyes — unmistakably — of  a  man  des- 
perately in  love. 

Alec  Wing  stood  still,  possessed  by  a  silent  fury 
of  jealousy.  It  was  not  jealousy  however  of  any 
ordinary  kind.  He  had  no  doubts  whatever  of  Carrie. 
But  he  resented  the  particular  quality  of  Merton 's 
devotion  to  her.  That  Merton  disliked  him,  and 
thought  him  unworthy  of  his  wife,  he  had  long 
divined,  with  the  instinct  of  the  egotist.  And  the 
letter  Carrie  had  once  let  him  read  had  never  ceased 
to  smart  in  memory;  even  when  Merton  was  staying 
in  his  house,  during  the  autumn,  and  they  were  on 
outwardly  good  terms. 

He  walked  up  to  Caroline  with  a  careless  air. 

"That  was  rather  public,  Carrie.  Lucky  for  you 
there  was  no  one  about.  I  wouldn't  let  that  youth 
give  himself  away  quite  so  Byronically  if  I  were  you. ' ' 

Caroline  looked  at  him  quietly,  and  he  saw  that 
her  eyes  were  brimming  with  tears.     But  she  said 


242  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

nothing,  and  he  followed  her  towards  her  sitting- 
room,  in  a  growing  temper. 

When  the  door  was  shut  upon  them,  she  went 
towards  the  fire,  shivering  a  little,  and  throwing  a 
light  lace  shawl  over  her  neck  and  throat,  she  stood 
with  one  foot  on  the  fender,  staring  down  into  the 
dying  embers,  and  evidently  wrestling  with  herself. 

"Upon  my  word,  Carrie!" — he  exclaimed  angrily 
— "Anybody  who  didn't  know  you  as  I  do,  would 
think  a  thousand  things." 

"Well,  you  know  better!" — she  said,  in  a  stifled 
voice.  "But  if  you  suppose  that  any  woman  can  lose 
a  friend  like  that — so  kind — so,  so  devoted — without 
feeling  it,  you  are  mistaken.  Alec. ' ' 

"So  you've  given  him  his  conge  f 

"  I  've  told  him  not  to  come  here  again. ' ' 

"A  good  thing  too,  my  dear.  There  is  a  great  deal 
of  talk  about.  I  wonder  why  you  have  let  him  come 
so  long?" 

"By  your  express  wish!"  said  Carrie,  raising  her 
head  indignantly.  * '  I  asked  you  when  we  came  up  to 
town,  whether  he  should  be  invited,  and  you  laughed 
and  said,  'Why  not!  What  does  it  matter!'  And 
as  to  talk!*' 

The  wounded  pride  and  passion  in  her  look  af- 
fected him — perhaps  daunted  him  a  little.  But  he 
tried  not  to  show  it.  He  dropped  into  a  chair,  and 
crossed  his  knees,  with  a  laugh. 

"For  Heaven's  sake  let's  drop  this.  On  your  own 
showing,  I'm  not  jealous  of  you — never  have  been. 
But  you  make  my  life  a  burden  to  me  for  no  reason 
at  all.  Look  here! — I've  got  two  pieces  of  news  for 
you.  Of  course  I  managed  to  get  some  private  talk 
with  Madge  Whitton  to-night!    She's  done  me — you 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  243 

and  me — a  rattling  service,  and  she's  worked  hard 
for  it.    She's  got  Donovan  to  take  the  post." 

"She  has?"  The  tone  was  surprised — hesitating. 
"Well,  I  congratulate  you." 

"You  may.  And — I  say  it  for  the  hundredth 
time — don't  please  make  yourself  and  me  ridiculous 
in  that  quarter  again.  The  other  piece  of  news,  I 
of  course  expected.  So  did  you.  I  have  heard  from 
Ashmole. ' ' 

He  named  a  well-known  friend  and  confidential 
adviser  of  Royalty;  an  intermediary  through  whom 
the  delicate  social  affairs  of  a  generation,  so  far  as 
they  concerned  the  Court,  had  been  transacted,  with 
a  minimum  of  friction  and  a  maximum  of  success. 

"Well?"  His  wife  turned  to  him,  very  pale  now, 
but  with  the  look  of  one  forewarned. 

"What  we  expected.  If  I  claim  my  rights,  there 
will  be  no  public  refusal  of  them.  Indeed,  it's  most 
probable  that  I  could  enforce  them  in  a  law  court. 
But  Ashmole  appeals  to  me — to  my  good  feeling — 
consideration  for  H.  M. — and  all  the  rest  of  it.  On 
his  own  account,  of  course." 

"So  you  won't  claim  them?  And  you  still  wish 
me  to  go  ?  " 

"Go?  I  should  think  so!  Fling  defiance  in  their 
teeth!" 

"I  would  force  the  thing  in  a  moment,"  he  went 
on  fiercely,  "if  it  weren't  for  my  campaign.  But 
people  are  so  besotted  in  this  country — as  to  Roy- 
alty! No!  let  the  rotten  thing  go!  I  have  more 
serious  business  on  hand !  But  you  and  I,  Carrie,  have 
got  our  backs  to  the  wall! — ^no  mistake  about  that!" 

She  sighed — involuntarily.  And  the  sound  enraged 
him. 


244  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"You  haven't  got  the  spirit  of  a  mouse!"  he 
declared.  "You  fail  me  just  when  you  should  be  all 
iron  and  fire ! ' ' 

He  had  risen,  and  she  quailed  before  his  wrath. 

"I  don't  fail  you — I  will  never  fail  you!"  she  said. 
And  then — irresistibly — she  raised  her  arms,  and  put 
them  round  his  neck.    "But  I'm — so  tired!" 

The  low-spoken  word — with  its  half  despairing 
intonation — was  lost  upon  his  breast. 

"Why  are  you  always  complaining  of  being 
tired?"  said  Wing,  half  vexed,  half  appeased.  As 
if  it  wasn't  the  natural  thing!  "Haven't  you  been 
shaking  hands  with  eight  hundred  people?  Run 
along  now,  and  get  rested  for  to-morrow.  I  must  sit 
up  a  bit — answer  this  precious  production  of  Ash- 
mole's — and  go  through  the  proof  of  my  speech." 


CHAPTER  XIII 

"All  very  well,  my  dear  Theodora" — said  the 
Duchess,  unloosening  the  strings  of  her  bonnet — 
''You  may  say  what  you  like,  but  Wing's  speech  yes- 
terday was  an  event!" 

"I  don't  see  that  that  matters,"  was  the  obstinate 
reply.  "It  was  an  event  when  our  first  footman 
stole  my  diamonds  and  turned  out  to  be  an  escaped 
burglar,  so  that  we  had  to  call  in  the  police." 

"Ah,  but  your  man  got  nothing  out  of  his  splash, 
and  Wing 's  got  a  good  deal — already.  All  the  world's 
talking  about  his  speech,  and  his  blessed  paper — 
when  they're  not  talking  about  the  procession  affair 
— of  which  of  course  not  a  word  has  got  into  the 


press 


"People  will  talk  about  anything  and  everything," 
said  Lady  Theodora,  rather  pettishly.  She  poured 
out  her  own  cup  of  tea,  having  already  provided  her 
sister-in-law,  and  then  resumed  in  an  argumentative 
tone — "Nobody  ever  said  that  Alec  Wing  was  a  fool 
— and  with  all  that  money  of  course  anybody  can 
make  a  flare-up.  But  nobody  that  /  see  believes  that 
he'll  get  what  he's  evidently  driving  at — a  place  in 
an  English  Government!" 

"He  has  a  very  good  chance  of  it — if  it  weren^t 
for   Elizabeth   Washington,"   said   the   Duchess   in 

245 


246  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

meditation.    Then  she  pushed  her  empty  cup  towards 
the  tea-maker. 

** Tell  me,  Theodora,  where  do  you  get  your  tea?  It 
does  you  credit. ' '  Lady  Theodora  gave  the  address — 
much  flattered,  though  nothing  in  her  somewhat  gray 
and  bony  countenance  revealed  it.  But  she  regarded 
her  sister-in-law,  though  she  was  not  in  the  front 
rank  of  Duchesses,  and  far  from  well-to-do,  as 
Duchesses  go,  as  yet  a  great  person,  and  her  approval 
warmed  the  cockles  of  the  heart. 

The  Duchess  took  out  a  shabby  little  note-book 
from  a  capacious  pocket,  and  wrote  down  the  address. 
She  was  attired  with  her  usual  contempt  for  seem- 
liness,  in  a  long  fur  coat  much  the  worse  for  wear, 
and  a  comfortable  bonnet  of  her  own  design  which 
she  tied  under  the  chin.  Her  daughter  and  maid 
insisted  that  when  she  opened  bazaars,  or  gave  prizes, 
or  did  any  other  of  the  ceremonial  things  that  noble 
flesh  is  heir  to,  she  should  appear,  as  they  said,  "de- 
cent." This  particular  afternoon  however  she  had 
spent  in  bargaining  with  an  Oriental  dealer  in  the 
East  India  Dock  Eoad  for  a  Persian  carpet;  so  that 
she  had  dressed  as  she  liked,  and  having  beaten  down 
the  dealer  to  her  own  figure,  she  was  in  high  spirits 
and  much  at  her  ease. 

Returning  to  the  subject  of  the  Wings,  Lady  Theo- 
dora declared  with  emphasis  that  it  would  be  a  great 
mistake  to  attribute  too  much  to  the  influence  of  Mrs. 
"Washington. 

' '  The  whole  party  stands  together.  I  may  claim  to 
know  something  about  the  feeling  of  Church  people! 
Elizabeth  Washington  of  course  takes  her  cue  from 
the  Dissenters.  She  was  brought  up  a  Quaker;  but 
now  she  sits  at  the  feet  of  that  Presbyterian  preacher 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  247 

somewhere  in  Westminster.  There  isn't  a  hap'orth 
of  difference  between  us  all.  The  Church  Liberals 
and  the  Dissenting  Liberals  are  equally  determined 
that  we  won't  have  men  in  Parliament  who  have 
seduced  other  men's  wives — if  we  can  help  it — and 
we  won't  have  them  in  the  Government!" 

Lady  Theodora,  in  delivering  this  verdict,  reminded 
the  Duchess  of  nothing  so  much  as  of  a  figure  on  a 
piece  of  archaic  Greek  sculpture,  in  the  hall  of  her 
Leicestershire  house,  representing,  so  the  scholars 
assured  her,  Ehadamanthus — a  gentleman  employed 
in  judging  the  dead.  His  long  forbidding  features, 
mostly  rubbed  away,  had  long  been  associated  in  her 
mind  with  the  function  of  "damning."  It  was  odd 
how  much  her  sister-in-law  resembled  him. 

Aloud,  she  said,  with  a  shrug — 

"All  very  well,  my  dear  Theodora,  but  you  won't 
get  a  Government  or  a  Parliament  of  '  plaster  saints, ' 
whatever  you  do.  However  I  dare  say  you  're  right  in 
your  facts.  We  live  in  a  queer  world.  And  I  admit 
that  Alec  is  fair  game.  But  the  odd  thing  is — now 
don't  scream! — that  all  the  time  Caroline  is  just  as 
'religious'  a  woman  as  Elizabeth  Washington!" 

The  Duchess,  with  malicious  eyes  waited  for  her 
sister-in-law's  outcry. 

Lady  Theodora  relieved  herself  by  driving  off  her 
lap  her  little  black  Spitz  who  had  clambered  there. 
The  dog  descended  on  the  rug,  and  sat  there  in  in- 
jured dignity,  turning  reproachful  eyes  on  its  mis- 
tress. 

' '  Well,  of  course,  if  you  choose  to  use  the  words  in 
a  meaning  that  nobody  else  understands! — " 

"Not  at  all! — what  does  anybody  mean  by  'reli- 
gious'?   You  mean  a  person  that  wants  'to  be  good'? 


248  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

Well  I  say  that  Caroline  Wing  'wants  to  be  good' 
just  as  much  as  Elizabeth  Washington — or  you!" 

Lady  Theodora  laughed  indignantly. 

"She  has  gone  an  odd  way  about  it!" 

*'That  doesn't  matter.  How  many  great  saints 
have  been  great  sinners,  please  ? — ^and  what  about  the 
woman  *who  loved  much'? — etc.  All  I  mean  is  that 
Caroline  Wing  is  a  good  woman  still  in  spite  of  every- 
thing. It's  queer,  but  it's  true.  Of  course  we  can't 
let  that  kind  of  thing  off — ^we  all  know  that.  What 
are  the  laws  for?" 

The  Duchess  lay  back  in  her  chair,  untied  her 
bonnet-strings  a  little  more,  and  crossed  her  plump 
hands  upon  her  knee. 

'  *  They're  just  dykes — to  keep  the  flood  out.  We  've 
got  to  protect  marriage;  else  we  should  turn  into 
Barbary  apes  again.  So  it's  aU  right  to  make  it 
reasonably  hot  for  Caroline !  All  the  same,  I  repeat, 
at  bottom  she  is  a  better  woman  than  all  but  a  few 
of  those  who  are  now  engaged  in  sitting  on  her. ' ' 

Lady  Theodora  disdained  reply.  She  had  taken 
up  her  knitting,  and  her  fingers  flew.  The  Duchess, 
observing  her,  with  an  eye  half  good  humored,  half 
satirical,  went  on — 

"I  hear — for  instance — there's  a  horrid  row  in  the 
Committee  of  the  Royal  Hospital  League.  Perhaps 
you  know  all  about  it?  Somebody  seems  to  have 
proposed  to  put  Caroline  on  the  Committee.  She 
made  Wing  give  them  a  thousand  pounds  just  before 
Christmas,  when  they  were  desperately  hard  up. 
So  old  Lady  Watts  asked  her  if  she  would  join  the 
Committee.  And  the  poor  thing  said  yes.  And  now 
half  the  big-wigs  are  threatening  to  leave  the  Com- 
mittee if  she  comes  on — and  someone  has  the  pleasant 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  249 

task  of  writing  to  her  to  say  that  her  name  must  be 
withdrawn.  I  say,  they  ought  to  return  the  thou- 
sand pounds!" 

"You  seem  to  think  a  Committee  can  be  bought — 
like  a  penny  bun!"  said  Lady  Theodora  angrily. 
'  *  Why  should  we  be  forced  to  associate  with  a  woman 
who  has  behaved  like  Caroline  Wing  ? ' ' 

"Oh,  you're  on  it,  are  you? — "  the  Duchess  tied 
her  bonnet-strings  again  .with  unnecessary  energy — 
"Well,  it  is  a  good  thing  I  refused  to  let  them  put 
me  on,  for  I  should  have  fought  you  all!  I  can  see 
some  reason  for  not  asking  Caroline  Wing  to  dinner — 
on  the  Barbary  apes'  ground — but  none  at  all  for 
not  putting  her  on  a  charitable  Committee.  Oh, 
you  Pharisees! — you  Pharisees!"  And  the  Duchess 
shook  her  finger  as  she  rose  from  her  seat,  in  her 
sister-in-law's  face. 

Lady  Theodora  stood  rigid. 

"How  do  you  know  she  isn't  behaving  in  the  same 
way  now?"  she  said  slowly.  "What's  all  this  talk 
about  Lord  Merton?" 

"Moonshine,  my  dear,  moonshine!  Now,  if  you 
were  to  ask  what  that  minx  Madge  Whitton  was 
about,  there  might  be  some  sense  in  you!" 

"  If  a  woman  has  been  unfaithful  herself,  what  can 
she  expect?" 

"Oh,  go  to,  go  to!"  cried  the  Duchess  angrily. 
"Your  mind  is  all  topsy-turvy,  Theodora.  If  Merton 
proposes  for  one  of  my  daughters,  I  shall  jump  at 
him.  And  for  the  future  I  don 't  intend  to  ask  Madge 
Whitton  to  dinner.  When  a  woman  accepts  money 
and  motor-cars  from  a  man,  she  may  be  virtuous — 
but,  personally,  I  don't  care  whether  she  is  or  not!" 

"How  do  you  know  she  accepts  them?" 


250  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

**How  do  you  know  Lord  Merton  makes  love  to 
Carrie!  Well,  well,  let  me  go  before  we  quarrel. 
You're  a  good  soul,  Theodora,  but  when  you  get  on 
morals  I  want  to  make  a  clean  sweep  of  the  ten  com- 
mandments. Good-by.  Good-by! — No  good  asking 
for  the  car.  And  don't  bother  about  a  taxi.  I'm 
going  home  by  bus. ' ' 

' '  Bus  ? ' '  Lady  Theodora  stared  at  the  notion.  But 
the  stout  and  shabby  woman  was  already  at  the  door, 
from  which  she  turned  to  deliver  a  final  shaft. 

''Bus,  Theodora!  You,  and  Alec  Wing  between 
you,  are  bringing  'the  people'  on  us  as  fast  as  you 
can.  So  I'm  trying  to  make  friends  with  the  people 
a  bit,  before  the  crash  comes.  Good  night.  Good 
night!" 

Her  sister-in-law  was  left  to  reflect  that  the  Duchess 
was  becoming  more  eccentric  than  ever,  and  that  the 
Duke — who  did  not  count,  and  was  scarcely  ever 
seen  by  the  outer  world — and  the  Duchess's  daugh- 
ters, ought  really  to  restrain  her. 

After  a  few  minutes'  profound  meditation  on  this 
theme,  Lady  Theodora  drew  her  writing-case  towards 
her,  with  a  sigh,  ran  through  some  letters  in  it,  and 
penned  the  following  herself — 

"Dear  Lady  Charlotte, — You  ask  my  advice  in 
this  very  painful  matter  of  Lady  Wing  and  the  Royal 
Hospital  League.  I  cannot  of  course  answer  for 
what  others  may  think  right,  but  / — personally — 
could  never  sit  on  a  Committee  with  poor  Lady  Wing. 
Her  conduct  has  been  too  flagrant,  and  her  example 
too  shocking.  However,  you  and  I  and  others  who 
feel  strongly  on  the  subject  may  have  great  difficulty 
in  convincing  the  Committee.    A  pretty  woman,  who 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  251 

is  also  a  very  rich  woman,  can  always  find  friends. 
We  must  hope  for  the  best,  keep  our  forces  together, 
and  of  course  be  ready  to  resign  en  bloc  if  we  are 
beaten.  Could  you  look  in  on  me  to-morrow  morning? 
Naturally  I  hate  taking  action,  as  Alec  Wing  is  my 
nephew,  and  I  used  to  be  very  fond  of  him.  But  there 
are  things  more  sacred  than  relationships.  It  is  of 
course  a  difficulty  that  we  allowed  Lord  Wing  to  give 
us  so  much  money  a  little  while  ago.  But  he  made  no 
conditions,  and  we  are  not  bound  to  admit  Lady  Wing 
because  her  husband  did  what  after  all  is  only  his 
public  duty.  All  Lord  Wing 's  relations — at  any  rate 
a  good  many  of  them — feel  very  keenly  the  scandal  of 
the  way  in  which  he  and  she  are  trying  to  thrust 
themselves  on  London — through  all  this  entertaining 
and  display.  It  is  not  easy  for  us  to  stand  up 
against  it.  But  if  we  care  for  principle  at  all,  it  has 
to  be  done. 

''Yours  very  sincerely, 

*  *  Theodora  Webb. 

"P.S. — ^We  can  go  through  the  names  of  the  Com- 
mittee to-morrow.  I  think  I  can  tell  you  something 
about  most  of  them. ' ' 

Lady  Theodora  laid  her  pen  down,  and  in  the  dark- 
ness of  the  February  afternoon,  gave  herself  again 
to  meditation,  with  her  feet  on  the  fender.  She  was 
recalling  that  agreeable  ''season"  four  years  before 
this  date,  when  her  eldest  daughter,  Milly,  had  been 
presented,  and  had  enjoyed  an  amount  of  social  suc- 
cess which  had  never  fallen  to  her  or  her  sister  since. 
MiUy  had  had  a  moment  of  beauty,  which  had  quickly 
passed  indeed;  but  in  that  moment  of  beauty  there 
had  been  some  "talk"  about  her  and  her  cousin  Alec 


252  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

Wing.  Who  knows  what  might  have  come  of  it,  but 
for  "that  woman"?  And  now  Milly  was  restless  to 
go  and  study  music  at  Dresden;  she  did  not  trouble 
about  her  clothes;  and  no  longer  cared  about  young 
men.  In  a  few  years  she  would  be  plain  and  faded. 
She  had  no  money,  and  no  one  knew  better  than  Lady 
Theodora  how  exacting  were  the  demands  of  such 
young  men  as  Milly  was  likely  to  meet. 

Lady  Theodora  gave  an  angry  poke  to  the  fire, 
then  rose,  and  rang  for  the  butler  to  put  her  letter  in 
the  post. 

Meanwhile  London — ^the  London  that  attends  to 
such  things — was  bubbling  with  excitement  on  the 
subject  of  the  new  campaign.  Wing's  speech  on  the 
Address  in  the  House  of  Lords  had  made  it  clear 
indeed  that  the  young  man  had  some  formidable 
qualities.  Parliament,  in  both  Houses,  sets  high  store 
now,  as  always,  by  youth,  manners  and  good  looks. 
None  of  these  things  will  ultimately  avail  a  man  who 
turns  out  to  be  a  fool.  But  granted  a  moderate 
amount  of  wits,  they  teU  heavily.  Wing  had  un- 
doubtedly wits ;  and  the  spectacle  he  presented,  as  he 
rose  from  the  back  benches  on  the  Opposition  side  to 
pour  a  good-humored  but  none  the  less  damaging  fire 
into  the  flank  of  his  own  party,  was  one  that  pleased 
the  eyes  of  the  old  Conservatives  lounging  on  the 
benches  opposite,  most  of  whom  had  been  very  well 
acquainted  with  his  father.  "Damned  handsome  fel- 
low!" said  the  Lord  Chancellor  to  his  neighbor,  "and 
a  remarkable  voice.  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  he  gave 
Washington  trouble. ' ' 

And  indeed  it  was  soon  evident  that  the  handsome 
fellow  was  determined  if  possible  to  give  trouble. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  253 

The  new  party  paper,  which  was  launched  the  week 
after  its  owner's  maiden  speech,  did  not  in  its  first 
number  so  much  attack  the  Liberal  party  chiefs  as 
handle  them  with  a  light  irreverence  which  amused 
the  town,  Durrant,  pondering  the  number  in  a 
corner  of  the  Carlton,  perceived  Lewson  come  in,  and 
went  up  to  him,  paper  in  hand. 

''It's  good  fun — but  I  don't  see  how  it's  going  to 
upset  Washington." 

"How  do  you  know  that  the  owner  wants  to  upset 
Washington?"  asked  Sir  Wilfrid  with  a  smile. 

Durrant  stared. 

"What  do  you  mean?  As  I  read  it,  Alec  would 
sell  his  soul  to  upset  Washington." 

"Up  to  a  certain  point.  But  if  Washington  were 
too  seriously  damaged,  where  would  Alec's  chances 
be?" 

"I  see.  Well,  it's  a  difficult  game.  I  understand 
the  new  editor — Donovan — is  a  clever  beast  ? ' ' 

"Your  language,  my  dear  Jim!  All  I  can  say  is 
that  Alec  is  delighted  with  him,  that  Lady  Wing 
doesn't  take  much  to  him,  and  that  his  plans  for  the 
whole  campaign  are  at  any  rate  colossally  expensive. ' ' 

"That  won't  matter  to  Alec.  Well,  we  shall  see," 
said  Durrant  dubiously,  as  he  walked  away.  Leaving 
the  club  he  proceeded  by  St.  James'  Street  to  Eltham 
House,  pondering  as  he  went. 

He  wondered  in  the  first  place  how  Miss  Allen  was 
getting  on. 

He  had  not  arrived  at  calling  that  young  lady 
Joyce  yet,  even  in  his  thoughts,  though  he  had  known 
for  some  time  that  he  was  most  solidly  and  unchange- 
ably attached  to  her.  And  indeed  she  had  given  him 
no   excuse  whatever  for   "Christian-naming!"   for, 


254  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

after  a  first  period  of  growing  friendship  between 
them,  based  on  a  common  affection  for  Caroline  Wing, 
Miss  Allen  had  suddenly  altered  her  manner  towards 
the  young  officer.  Her  girlish  frankness  and  fun 
which  combined  so  agreeably  with  the  touch  of  reli- 
gious strictness  in  her  character,  had  passed  into  a 
general  reserve  which  seemed  impenetrable,  and  had 
altogether  taken  the  shine  out  of  Durrant's  autumn 
and  winter.  He  knew  very  well  that  she  had  neither 
birth  nor  money;  and  that  if  she  were  to  consent  to 
marry  him  he  would  have  to  face  his  family  in  arms. 
But  he  happened  to  want  to  marry  her  intensely;  in 
the  constant  familiarity  of  Eltham  House,  during  the 
preceding  summer,  her  freshness,  her  innocent  up- 
rightness, her  sweetness  had  stolen  his  heart  before 
he  knew  where  he  was.  He  was  quite  aware  that 
being  well-born,  moderately  well  off,  and  an  officer  in 
the  Household  troops,  he  might  have  married  either 
for  money,  or  for  rank,  whichever  he  pleased;  but 
he  had  observed  among  his  acquaintances  a  number 
of  unsatisfactory  marriages  which  seemed  to  have 
been  made  for  those  reasons;  and  as  for  himself,  if 
he  married,  he  was  determined  to  be  happy.  And 
being  of  a  simple  and  loyal  nature  underneath  his 
man-of-the-worldishness,  he  desired  nothing  better  on 
his  part  than  to  make  Joyce  Allen  happy.  Moreover 
although  there  had  never  been  a  trace  of  flirting  on 
Joyce's  part  with  him,  or  with  anybody  else  in  the 
Eltham  House  circle,  there  had  been  delightful  weeks 
in  the  preceding  summer  when  their  relation  had 
seemed — to  the  young  man  at  any  rate — to  be  running 
smoothly  on  to  a  golden  end. 

And  then  Joyce  had  suddenly  withdrawn  herself 
behind   the   gentlest   and   most   impenetrable   shell. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  255 

"What  had  happened?  Some  impertinence  of  Alec's? 
From  a  hint  or  two  in  that  quarter,  of  which  the  Cap- 
tain had  preferred  to  take  no  notice,  he  had  realized 
that  Wing  was  on  the  alert,  and  in  a  hostile  spirit. 
If  he  had  dared  to  say  anything,  to  suggest  anything 
to  Joyce  herself,  it  would  be  like  his  insolence! 

Durrant's  opinion  of  his  cousin,  indeed,  had  been 
steadily  worsening  ever  since  Wing's  accession  to  the 
title.  Wing  appeared  to  him,  as  to  Oliver  Lewson, 
to  be  suffering  from  a  kind  of  intoxication  by  his  own 
wealth;  and  the  nakedness  of  his  present  bid  for 
power  through  his  money  offended  and  disgusted  the 
young  officer.  In  many  quarters  he  heard  vaguely  of 
poor  men  being  nobbled  by  Alec,  such  men  as  were  at 
all  likely  to  help  his  ambitions.  Durrant  suspected 
that  money  had  been  lent,  on  the  easiest  possible 
terms,  to  various  men  in  Parliament,  even  in  office; 
and  where  circumstances  made  any  direct  money 
transaction  undesirable  or  impossible,  there  were  a 
thousand  ways  in  which  the  great  Wing  fortune, 
involving  investments  over  half  the  world,  could  be 
made  useful  to  a  friend. 

"Dirty  "  work!"  thought  Durrant  indignantly. 
' '  He  thinks,  I  bet,  that  he 's  going  to  buy  himself  into 
Washington's  Government!  He's  probably  trusting 
more  to  that  than  to  his  precious  newspaper.  We 
shall  see ! ' ' 

So  cogitating  he  found  himself  walking  up  to  the 
door  of  Eltham  House,  and  inquiring  for  Lady  Wing. 
The  footman  said  that  she  was  not  at  home,  and 
Durrant  was  turning  away  from  the  inner  hall  where 
he  had  been  writing  a  message  on  his  card,  when  he 
perceived  Wing  accompanied  by  a  stranger  walking 
towards  the  hall  along  the  corridor  leading  to  the 


256  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

West  wing.  Wing  at  the  same  moment  saw  his 
cousin,  and  hailed  him. 

"Hullo,  Jim,  where  are  you  off  to?  Carrie's  out — 
a  matinee  or  something.  Let  me  introduce  you  to 
Mr.  Donovan — our  new  editor." 

Durrant  turned  unwillingly,  and  shook  hands  with 
a  tall  bald-headed  man,  possessed  of  piercing  black 
eyes,  hanging  cheeks,  full  lips  and  a  muddy  com- 
plexion. 

"I've  just  been  looking  at  your  first  number,"  he 
said,  speaking  to  Alec  rather  than  to  the  editor,  whose 
aspect  he  disliked. 

"Not  my  first  number!"  interrupted  Mr.  Donovan, 
with  a  smile — in  which  he  showed  too  much  gum  and 
too  many  teeth  for  Durrant 's  taste.  "I  shall  only 
be  responsible  from  next  week.  Oh,  the  first  number 
is  very  well — very  well,  indeed,  considering — but  we 
must  bring  some  rather  heavier  guns  to  bear.  In 
time,  my  dear  Sir,  in  time,  we  shall  do  everything. ' ' 

"Well,  you  haven't  got  very  much  time,"  said 
Durrant  bluntly,  "I  hear  Washington's  going  to 
turn  us  out  on  the  Budget.  Seven  or  eight  weeks,  I 
suppose.    You  can't  do  much  in  that  time." 

"Oh,  we  can  make  a  very  fair  splash,"  said 
Donovan  cheerfully.  *  *  Our  business  is  to  be  personal 
— very  personal!"  And  he  looked  with  twinkling 
eyes  at  Wing. 

Wing  nodded.  "If  we  can't  take  the  shine  out  of 
some  of  the  nobodies  on  our  side,  who've  got  to  the 
front,  God  knows  how — before  Washington  forms  his 
Government,  we  shall  only  come  in  to  be  kicked  out 
after  a  few  months.  We're  going  for  new  blood, 
aren't  we,  Donovan?"  He  smiled  triumphantly,  his 
hands  on  his  sides,  his  fair  curls  and  ruddy  counte- 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  257 

nance  lighting  up  the  shadows  of  the  hall.  Durrant 
thought — ''Ah,  but  who's  going  to  turn  the  nobodies 
out  to  put  you  in?"  Yet  his  irritation  must  admit 
that  Alec  Wing,  as  he  stood  there,  towering  over 
Donovan  and  himself,  was  a  splendid  apparition — a 
young  god  going  forth  to  battle.  He  was  in  the  full 
excitement  and  exultation  of  its  beginning,  tasting 
sensations  hitherto  unknown  to  him,  and  confident  of 
success. 

"Well  then — ^till  to-morrow!"  said  Wing,  dismiss- 
ing his  new  editor  with  a  gracious  nod.  "I  think 
we've  done  all  our  business  for  to-day.  Don't  go, 
Jim.    Come  into  my  den,  and  have  a  smoke." 

Durrant  rather  unwillingly  agreed.  To  his  aston- 
ishment he  discovered,  as  he  followed  his  cousin,  that 
Wing's  den  was  now  the  beautiful  small  library  on 
the  ground  floor,  one  of  the  few  rooms  in  the  costly 
house  that  Durrant,  who  cared  little  for  works  of  art, 
and  thought  scorn  of  overgrown  magnificence,  hon- 
estly admired.  Its  delicate  emptiness,  the  perfection 
and  grace  of  its  decoration,  the  charm  of  its  latticed 
books,  always  produced  a  soothing  impression  on  him. 
He  liked  to  see  Caroline  receiving  in  it  her  choicest 
company.  But  as  he  crossed  the  threshold  he  ex- 
claimed in  dismay — 

* '  Goodness,  Alec,  what  have  you  been  doing  to  this 
room  ? ' ' 

For  the  latticed  bookcases  with  their  rows  of  mel- 
lowed books,  and  the  wall-arabesques  between  the 
cases,  together  with  the  refined  Georgian  furniture — 
tables,  cabinets,  and  chairs — were  all  snowed  under 
by  a  recent  accumulation  of  books,  maps,  pamphlets, 
blue  books ;  the  litter  of  the  rising  politician.  Charts 
and    diagrams    on    various    sociological    matters — 


258  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"Housing  Reform"— "Cost  of  Living"— "Congested 
Areas" — and  so  forth,  hung  untidily  from  drawing- 
pins  driven  into  the  carved  frames  of  the  book-cases; 
a  typewriter,  and  a  pile  of  MS.  on  one  table,  had  been 
hastily  left  by  Wing's  secretary  on  the  arrival  of  Mr. 
Donovan;  while  on  another,  an  open  box  of  cigars 
between  two  chairs,  showed  where  the  young  employer 
had  just  been  sitting  in  conference  with  the  famous — 
or  notorious — journalist  who  was  to  help  him  to  the 
storming  of  London. 

"What  was  the  good  of  the  room  before!"  said 
Wing  complacently.  "It  suits  me  better  than  my 
father's  old  library — a  dismal  hole! — so  I  have 
annexed  it. ' ' 

'  *  It  was  such  a  perfect  thing, ' '  murmured  Durrant, 
looking  round  him,  "and  you  had  twenty  others  to 
choose  from. ' ' 

"Don't  be  an  ass,  old  fellow!"  cried  Wing,  slap- 
ping him  on  the  shoulder.  ' '  Whatever  does  the  room 
matter?  Sit  down  and  have  a  talk.  There  are  a  few 
cigars  left.  I  tell  you  that  fellow  Donovan's  a 
marvel! — ^we're  going  to  make  Washington  smart." 
And  standing  on  the  hearth-rug,  with  his  thumbs  in 
his  waistcoat  pockets,  he  began  to  pour  out  his  plans 
for  the  coming  months,  evidently  delighted  to  find  a 
listener,  intelligent,  yet  of  not  too  much  importance, 
who  would  let  him  run  on. 

Accordingly  he  did  run  on,  while  Durrant  smoked 
and  listened,  throwing  in  occasionally  a  caustic  word 
or  two,  the  chief  effect  of  which  was  to  let  loose  more 
talk.  The  mind  of  the  young  soldier  was  in  some 
astonishment  as  he  listened.  Since  when  had  Alee 
developed  this  craze  for  politics?  He  was  no  doubt 
a  budding  orator  at  Eton,  and  his  speaking  at  Oxford 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  259 

during  his  undergraduate  days  had  made  a  stir,  and 
not  only  among  his  University  contemporaries.  It 
was  always  understood  that  he  was  going  into  Par- 
liament, and  he  had  been  actually  adopted  for  a 
North  country  constituency,  before  that  journey  to 
Florence,  which  had  decided  his  life  and  Caroline 
Marsworth  's.  As  soon  as  the  divorce  was  made  public, 
the  local  association  had  sent  him  about  his  business ; 
and  then,  for  two  years,  the  political  world  had  known 
nothing  of  Alec  Wing. 

And  now — did  the  fellow  suppose  he  was  going  to 
carry  the  whole  position  by  storm !  Durrant  was  not 
brilliant,  and  generally — ^with  Alec — inarticulate. 
But  he  had  a  shrewd  headpiece  of  his  own,  and  a 
considerable  quiet  knowledge  of  men  and  affairs.  No 
doubt.  Alec's  speech  in  the  Lords  had  been  a  success 
— a  great  success.  So  much  was  apparently  proved 
by  the  newspaper  headlines;  though  Durrant  sus- 
pected that  the  size  of  the  print  was  partly  due  to 
that  other  and  more  picturesque  side  of  Lord  Wing's 
career  of  which  the  papers  said  nothing.  And  it  was 
evident  that  Alee  had  been  spending  the  whole  of 
the  first  part  of  the  winter  in  laying  foundations  for 
his  campaign;  while  the  estates  had  been  handed 
over  to  Lewson,  and  Caroline  had  been  doing  her  best 
to  grapple  with  the  houses  and  their  contents. 

But  what  was  it  all  aiming  at  ?  And  why  such  rush 
and  hurry  ?  Durrant  put  the  questions — not  without 
sarcasm. 

"My  dear  fellow!"  laughed  Alec — "it's  very  sim- 
ple what  I  'm  aiming  at.  I  mean  to  force  Washington 
to  give  me  office — I  don't  care  what — the  smallest 
foothold  will  do.  But  I'm  putting  up  a  fight  for  my 
career.    Of  course" — he  added  hastily — "I  believe  in 


260  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

the  principles  we're  advocating  in  the  paper;  I'm 
a  convinced  supporter  of  them.  But  I  shouldn't 
take  all  the  trouble  I  am  taking,  and  spend  all  the 
money  I  am  spending,  if  it  weren't  that  I'm 
determined  to  stand  up  against  this  damned  cant 
and  boycotting,  which  is  driving  a  man  like  me  out 
of  public  life — and  will  drive  others  out,  if  I  don't 
fight  it  now." 

Durrant  took  his  cigar  out  of  his  mouth,  and  sur- 
veyed his  cousin.  ''After  all  you  did  break  what 
most  people  think  a  law — and  a  Divine  law,  too, ' '  he 
said  dryly.  "Can't  you  lie  low  till  people  have  for- 
gotten it?" 

"Why  should  I?"  said  Wing  haughtUy.  "I  have 
got  my  place  in  Parliament  now, — in  spite  of  Mrs. 
Washington  and  her  gang.  No  one  can  dislodge  me. 
I'd  rather  it  were  the  House  of  Commons,  but  I  can 
make  do  with  the  Lords.  I'm  going  to  figJit;  and 
like  other  people,  I  'm  going  to  spend  money.  They  '11 
have  to  come  to  terms.  To  think  of  the  duffers  on 
our  front  bench!" 

He  turned  round  with  a  scornful  gesture,  and  flung 
the  remains  of  his  cigarette  into  the  fire. 

"Does  it  ever  occur  to  you  that  you'll  draw  the 
enemies'  fire  not  only  on  yourself,  but — on  Lady 
Wing?"  said  Durrant  after  a  pause.  "She'll  have  a 
pretty  hot  time  of  it  as  well  as  you.  You  know  what 
the  baser  sort  of  party  newspapers  are.  It  doesn't 
seem  to  me  that  Caroline's  been  looking  very  strong 
lately.'" 

"Carrie?  She's  a  magnificent  constitution! — "^ 
said  Wing  half  annoyed,  half  smiling — "stand  any- 
thing ! — especially  for  my  sake ! ' ' 

"No  doubt.    But  she's  been  hard  at  it  since  last 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  261 

April.  One  way  or  another  she's  been  fighting  your 
battles  ever  since  she  set  foot  in  this  house.  Does 
she  ever  have  an  evening  alone?  She's  always 
talking  and  entertaining,  always  making  plans.  She 
never  gets  a  moment 's  rest.  The  notes  she  writes ! — 
I've  seen  the  piles  of  them.  It's  a  dog's  life  I  con- 
sider ! ' '  said  the  young  man  warmly. 

"Why,  Carrie  loves  it!  It's  what  she's  made  for. 
She  was  born  to  hold  a  salon — and,  by  George!  she 
does  it  rippingly!  What  else  is  left  to  her,  I  should 
like  to  know,  by  these  prudes  that  boycott  her? 
Carrie — ^like  Italy — fara  da  se.  She'll  make  this 
house  as  famous  as  any  of  the  great  salons — Holland 
House — the  whole  lot  of  them — before  she's  done. 
She  needn't  step  out  of  her  drawing-rooms,  to  know 
all  the  London  she  wants  to  know;  and  all  the  for- 
eigners too. ' ' 

Durrant's  countenance  relaxed.  So,  after  all,  Caro- 
line was  appreciated.  He  had  often,  of  late,  accused 
Alec  in  his  thoughts  of  neglect  and  even  unkindness 
towards  a  wife,  who  in  the  young  soldier's  opinion, 
was  infinitely  superior  to  him. 

He  replied  with  greatly  increased  cordiality — 

''She  does  it  magnificently  indeed.  But  it's  a 
strain. ' ' 

''Oh,  no,  my  dear  fellow — not  at  all,  to  a  woman 
with  such  a  gift  for  it ! "  Then  after  a  pause,  Wing 
added  in  a  reflective  tone — "The  growth  of  English 
Pharisaism  is  to  me  the  most  extraordinary  phenom- 
enon! The  women — poor  things! — used  to  suffer  in 
the  old  days  as  they  do  now,  if  they  chose  to  follow 
their  hearts,  and  flout  society;  but  the  men  at  least 
were  let  alone.  Nobody  tried  to  mix  up  morals  and 
politics  a  hundred  years  ago — for  men;  unless  of 


262  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

course  there  was  open  scandal  going  on.  But  now- 
adays!— these  Dissenting  prigs  and  asses! — " 

He  threw  back  his  handsome  head  with  passion,  as 
though  he  flung  defiance  at  the  crew. 

Durrant  stiffened  again,  as  he  rose. 

''Well,  you  wouldn't  wish  that  kind  of  thing  back 
again! — would  you? — when  the  woman  bore  all  the 
brunt.     Good  heavens!" 

He  looked,  frowning,  for  his  hat.    Wing  flushed. 

*'I  don't  follow  you,  Jim!  It's  the  confusing  a 
man's  private  life  with  his  public  affairs  that  I'm  out 
to  stop." 

"And  because  a  woman  has  no  public  affairs,  she 
must  submit  to  be  cut  and  cold-shouldered — take  it 
as  the  natural  thing — while  her  husband's  in  the 
Cabinet,  and  goes  everywhere?  Is  that  what  you 
suggest  ? ' ' 

''What  nonsense  you  talk,  Jim!"  said  Wing, 
beginning  to  lose  his  temper  under  what  he  now  felt 
to  be  the  hostile  attitude  of  his  cousin.  "But  after 
all,  it 's  not  a  matter  we  can  discuss, ' '  he  added,  with 
offended  dignity. 

"Certainly  not.  I  didn't  mean  to  be  impertinent," 
said  Durrant  hastily.  He  was  not  at  all  anxious  to 
quarrel,  and  he  felt  that  he  had  gone  too  far.  "Of 
course  it's  beastly  for  you  both — I  know  that — and  I 
wish  you  luck.  Well,  now  I'll  just  run  up  and  see  if 
Carrie's  come  in,  before  I  go." 

He  went  upstairs.  In  the  yellow  drawing-room 
where  the  lights  were  being  put  on,  he  saw  a  girlish 
figure  in  the  distance,  and  recognized  Joyce  Allen. 
She  was  "tidying" — performing  one  of  those  small 
yet  priceless  services  that  only  delicate  and  fastidious 
women  can  render  to  a  house.    Flowers,  books,  news- 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  263 

papers,  all  the  litter  of  life,  fell  into  order  at  her 
touch.  Durrant  advanced  slowly,  delighting  in  the 
movements  of  her  pretty  figure,  and  capable  hands. 

"Is  Lady  Wing  coming  in?"  he  asked  her,  as  they 
greeted. 

"I  hope  so!"  the  girl's  tone  was  anxious.  "I 
begged  her  to  come  in  and  rest  before  dinner.  There 's 
a  large  dinner  party,  and  she'll  have  to  talk  for 
hours. ' ' 

"I  can't  think  how  she  stands  it,"  said  Durrant. 
"Mayn't  I  help  you  in  putting  these  books  away?" 

"Oh  it's  done,"  said  Joyce,  and  then  seeing  that 
he  did  not  intend  to  go  away,  she  quite  composedly, 
though  with  heightened  color,  seated  herself,  and  pre- 
pared to  entertain  him. 

"I've  heard  a  horrid  thing  to-day,"  said  the  young 
man  abruptly.    * '  I  wonder — can  we  do  anything  ? ' ' 

"What  have  you  heard?"  said  Joyce,  sitting  up, 
with  eyes  instantly  alert. 

"I  have  a  sister  on  the  Committee  of  the  Eoyal 
Hospital  League — Mrs.  Mallon — you  know  her — she 
comes  here  sometimes." 

' '  Oh ! ' '  cried  Joyce,  with  a  note  of  pain. 

"Ah,  you've  heard!  It's  abominable!  There's 
been  the  most  appalling  row.  But  they've  carried  it. 
My  sister  and  two  others  have  resigned.  It 's  that  old 
cat  Lady  Theodora's  doing,  as  much  as  anybody's!" 

Joyce  Allen  suddenly  put  her  hands  over  her 
eyes. 

"She  minded" — her  voice  shook — ^"she  minded  so 
much." 

' '  Lady  Wing  ?    When  did  she  hear  ? ' ' 

"This  afternoon  before  she  went  out.  One  of  the 
ladies  who  resigned,  wrote  to  her — a  kind  letter — an 


264  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

awfully  nice  letter.  There  was  a  regular  debate  upon 
it!  It  was  dreadful  to  Carrie  to  think  that  she  had 
been  discussed  by  all  those  people — as  if  she  had 
wanted  to  force  herself  on  them — and  then  rejected. 
And  she  was  planning  all  the  things  she  would  do 
for  the  League.    It  had  made  her  so  happy ! ' ' 

"It's  devilish!"  said  Durrant  heartily. 

Joyce  was  silent.  She  sat  looking  straight  before 
her,  with  a  sad  and  troubled  face.  "If  one  could 
only  protect  her  from  these  things ! ' '  she  said,  in  a  low 
voice — apparently  to  herself. 

"It  was  awfully  plucky  of  her  to  go  last  week — ^to 
the  opening  of  Parliament,"  said  Durrant,  after  a 
pause,  also  in  lowered  tones.  He  was  most  genuinely 
sorry  for  Caroline,  and  angrily  on  her  side — in  spite 
of  his  strict,  Scotch  religion — against  a  world  of  ' '  old 
cats."  But  perhaps  his  dominant  feeling  at  the  mo- 
ment was  acute  pleasure  and  surprise  in  finding  him- 
self thus  admitted  to  Joyce  Allen's  confidence; 
allowed  to  share  her  feelings  about  her  cousin.  It  was 
long  indeed  since  she  had  allowed  him  any  such  inti- 
macy. And  he  suddenly  had  the  impression  as  of 
some  long  strain  of  sympathy  and  pity,  which  had 
broken  down  the  girl's  reserve,  and  made  her  stretch 
out  her  hand — metaphorically — to  a  friend  of  whom 
she  was  sure.  His  heart  throbbed  with  joy,  and  he 
longed  to  tell  her  that  he  would  do  anything  in  the 
world  he  could — ^to  serve  her  first — and  Caroline  next. 

At  his  mention  of  the  opening  of  Parliament,  he 
saw  her  shrink.  She  turned  her  frank  gray  eyes 
which  made  such  a  pleasant  combination  with  her 
reddish  gold  hair,  upon  him,  hesitated — and  then — 
as  though  she  could  not  help  herself — broke  out — 

"She  had  a  horrid  time!    At  the  opening  itself, 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  265 

nobody  spoke  to  her,  though  she  was  quite  close  to 
two  or  three  people  she  used  to  know  very  well, 
before — " 

"Before  the  crash?" 

Joyce  nodded.  "Then  in  the  evening  when  Lord 
Wing  spoke,  she  and  the  Duchess  went  back  to  the 
House  together.  She  was  awfully  proud  of  his 
speech!    But — " 

She  paused  again.  Durrant  waited  for  her.  She 
went  on  timidly — her  eyes  filled  with  tears — 

"I — I  think  people — women — ^behaved  even  worse 
to  her  than  at  the  opening.  Many  men  came  up  to 
her,  and  congratulated  her;  even  those  Lord  Wing 
had  been  attacking.  But  not  a  single  woman 
spoke  to  her;  and  in  the  evening — ^there  were  two 
or  three  horrible  letters — anonymous  letters — and 
newspapers — " 

"Pigs!"  said  Durrant  hotly. 

"It's  this  story  of  little  Dick — Dick's  death — ^that 
people  are  so  cruel  about.  And  I  know — I  know — it 
isn't  true!"  cried  Joyce,  sitting  upright  with  her 
hands  round  her  knees,  a  vision  of  indignant  pity. 

"Tell  me  what  you  know,"  said  Durrant  per- 
emptorily.   "Tell  me  what  you  know." 

Joyce  looked  at  him  doubtfully  a  moment,  then 
yielded  to  the  warm  kindness  in  his  eyes,  and  told 
him — the  story  which  she  and  her  father  had  heard 
from  one  of  the  two  eye-witnesses  of  Caroline's  agony 
in  the  Val  d'Aosta. 

Durrant  listened  carefully,  made  a  few  notes  on 
the  back  of  a  letter,  returned  the  notes  to  his  pocket, 
and  then  rose  to  take  his  departure. 

"Thank  you.  I  shall  make  that  useful.  Now  look 
here.    You  and  I  are  allies  in  this  business.    I  don't 


266  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

know  why  you've  been  sending  me  to  Coventry  all 
this  time — " 

"Oh,  no!"  cried  Joyce,  putting  out  protesting 
hands. 

"You  have,"  said  Durrant  firmly,  catching  one  of 
the  hands.  "I'll  make  you  tell  me  why,  some  day. 
But  now  we  're  allies ;  we  're  going  to  look  after  Lady 
Wing.  She'll  have  a  tough  time  of  it.  All  the 
enemies  Wing  makes  in  politics — and  he'll  make 
bushels — will  try  to  take  it  out  of  her — I  mean  the 
big- wigs,  and  their  wives.  Never  mind.  We'll  stand 
bodyguard.  That's  a  bargain!  And  don't  send  me 
to  Coventry  again — I  won't  stand  it!" 

Whereupon  before  she  could  stop  him,  he  kissed  her 
hand.  Then  with  a  joyous,  triumphant  look  at  her, 
repeated  from  the  doorway,  he  turned  and  went. 

"What  have  I  been  doing?"  thought  Joyce, 
standing  bewildered  where  he  had  left  her.  And  sit- 
ting down  by  the  fire  in  her  own  room,  whither  she 
had  fled  for  refuge — trembling  under  the  shock  of 
feelings  she  had  repressed  and  trampled  on  for 
months — she  tried  to  think  it  out. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Those  who  loved  Caroline  Wing — and  by  this  time, 
in  spite  of  her  exclusion  from  a  large  section  of  the 
social  world,  she  had  made  many  friends  in  London 
who  were  not  only  the  friends  of  her  wealth — could 
never  look  back  upon  the  hurried  weeks  of  this  event- 
ful spring  without  bitterness  of  heart.  They  knew 
they  had  been  watching  something  at  once  tragic  and 
beautiful,  without  realizing  the  tragedy  or  the  beauty ; 
like  some  moment  of  nature,  some  exquisite  light  of 
sunset  or  dawn,  some  spring  or  autumn  scene  which 
we  have  never  really  felt  till  it  was  gone.  What  made 
the  tragedy  and  the  beauty  ?  Nothing  but  the  gradual 
development  of  a  woman's  spiritual  nature  amid 
surroundings  that  might  have  seemed  to  stunt  and 
degrade  it.  Caroline  during  these  months  was  a  dis- 
appointed lover,  wounded  to  the  core  by  the  growing 
indifference  and  coolness  of  the  man  she  adored;  she 
was  a  starved  mother,  separated  from  the  children 
she  had  already  borne,  and  with  no  hope  of  others; 
she  was  made  for  the  best  in  society,  with  rich  gifts 
that  only  asked  to  spend  themselves  on  friends  and 
kinsfolk,  and  those  she  could  have  loved,  those  by 
whom  she  wished  to  be  loved,  women,  of  course,  espe- 
cially, turned  away  from  her  time  after  time  in  indig- 
nation or  contempt;  while  hundreds  of  others  with 

267 


268  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

whom  she  had  nothing  in  common,  whose  ways  and 
modes  of  thought  disgusted  or  repelled  her,  crowded 
officiously  round  her,  hailing  her  as  a  flag-bearer  in 
the  fight  for  sexual  freedom,  and  applauding  her  as 
one  who  had  braved  the  forces  of  law  and  society  on 
behalf  of  a  woman's  right  to  break  the  marriage  bond 
when  it  had  ceased  to  satisfy  her,  and  to  follow  pas- 
sion wherever  it  might  lead.  But  in  truth  Caroline 
Wing  was  no  conscious  and  deliberate  rebel.  Quite 
the  contrary.  Like  any  other  weak  woman  of  strong 
emotions,  she  had  been  conquered  by  a  great  passion 
which  had  given  her  for  a  time  great  happiness;  but 
there  was  that  in  her,  all  the  while — inherited  forces, 
compunctions,  and  traditions, — which  steadily  reap- 
peared, like  sediment  in  calming  water,  as  life  went  on. 
Yet  she  fought  these  compunctions  steadily.  She 
Avent  on  her  proud  way,  and  did  her  best  to  fulfill  the 
brilliant  and  yet  futile  role  that  her  father-in-law,  by 
his  gift  of  Eltham  House  to  the  ostracized  couple,  had 
imposed  upon  her.  And  there  were  many  times  when 
youth  and  vanity  and  excitement  told  her  that  all  was 
well ;  that  Alec  would  come  back  to  her  with  the  old 
devotion  when  his  political  campaign  was  over;  that 
some  day  when  she  was  less  tired  and  driven,  the  child 
on  which  Lord  Wing  had  warned  her  so  much  might 
turn,  would  be  given  to  them;  and  that,  meanwhile, 
life  was  amusing  and  triumphant  enough,  in  spite  of 
social  shocks  and  rebuffs.  She  would  have  been  less 
than  human,  less  than  woman,  if  she  had  not — inter- 
mittently— exulted  in  the  splendor  of  Eltham  House, 
and  found  a  creative  pleasure  in  the  remodeling  and 
adorning  of  the  two  or  three  country  "places"  in 
England  and  Scotland,  out  of  Lord  Wing's  miscel- 
lany, where  she  and  Alec  had  elected  to  live.    There 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  269 

were  times  when  it  bored  her  to  spend  time  and 
thought  upon  her  dress;  and  other  times  when  she 
would  spend  feverish  days  with  her  dressmaker,  and 
delight  in  outshining  other  women;  generally,  if  the 
cause  could  have  been  tracked,  because  of  a  look  or 
a  word  of  Alec's,  in  careless  praise  or  blame.  And 
she  had  begun  to  find  a  new  amusement  and  enjoy- 
ment in  ''charity" — the  giving  of  large  sums  of 
money,  and  watching  what  happened  to  them. 

But  nevertheless  she  was  at  bottom  one  with  the 
fretful  child  who  "disliked  the  things  he  disliked 
more  than  he  liked  the  things  he  liked."  The  slings 
and  arrows  of  Fortune  hurt  more  than  her  gifts 
pleased.  What  a  proud  and  sensitive  woman  went 
through,  this  second  year,  in  braving  London,  on  so 
large  a  scale,  only  Joyce  knew.  The  day  of  the  open- 
ing of  Parliament  remained  in  the  minds  of  both  as 
a  day  of  nightmare,  though  Caroline  had  spoken  of 
it,  even  to  her  cousin,  with  difficulty.  When  would 
she  ever  forget  the  moment  of  the  entry  of  the  royal 
procession,  when,  as  the  brilliant  ranks  of  the  peer- 
esses in  their  shimmering  plumes  rose  to  greet  it,  the 
first  look  of  the  women  to  her  right  and  left  was  for 
the  Royalties,  and  the  splendid  figures  behind  them 
carrying  the  traditional  emblems  of  the  English  mon- 
archy— regalia,  sword,  cap  of  maintenance,  orb, 
scepter,  and  the  rest ;  and  the  second  look,  swift,  fur- 
tive, piercing,  was  for  the  wife,  standing  erect  and 
pale  beside  them,  whose  husband,  instead  of  filling 
his  hereditary  post  among  the  King's  attendant 
"thegns"  was  ostentatiously  yawning  and  smiling  on 
the  further  side  of  the  red  and  gold  chamber,  in  the 
back-bench  ranks  of  the  Opposition  ? 

Caroline's  spirit  had  risen  under  the  challenge. 


270  BLTHAM  HOUSE 

She  turned  and  looked  several  of  her  neighbors  quietly 
in  the  face;  then  she  threw  a  nod  and  smile  to  Alee 
across  the  moving  throng — grandees,  heralds,  Bishops 
in  white  sleeves,  soldiers  in  glittering  uniforms,  the 
Beef -eaters  with  their  Tudor  doublets  and  staves — 
which  filled  the  floor  of  the  House;  and  finally  she 
tried  to  listen  to  the  King's  speech,  which  every 
political  ear  in  that  glittering  crowd  was  craning  to 
catch.  But  in  truth  she  heard  nothing  of  it.  Her 
mind  was  in  a  whirl  of  mockery  and  defiance.  She 
was  thinking  of  a  famous  page  of  sarcasm  in  Carlyle, 
a  piece  of  diablerie  which  she  remembered  from  her 
schoolroom  days,  when,  at  seventeen,  she  cherished 
an  adoration  for  an  elderly  tutor  of  Queen 's,  who  was 
coaching  her  in  history,  and  had  given  her  "Sartor 
Resartus"  for  a  Christmas  present.  To  please  him, 
she  had  learned  pages  of  it  by  heart,  slept  with  it 
under  her  pillow,  declaimed  "The  Everlasting  Yea," 
and  generally  behaved,  as  her  grandmother  might 
have  behaved  half  a  century  before,  when  Carlyle  was 
the  fashion.  And  now,  how  the  mocking  words  sprang 
out  in  memory,  under  the  heat  of  coincidence ! 

"Society,  which  the  more  I  think  of  it  astonishes 
me  the  more,  is  founded  upon  clothes!  .  .  .  Often  in 
my  atrabiliar  moods,  when  I  read  of  pompous  cere- 
monials, Frankfurt  Coronations,  Royal  Drawing- 
rooms,  Levees — and  how  the  ushers  and  macers  and 
pursuivants  are  all  in  waiting ;  how  Duke  this  is  pre- 
sented by  Archduke  that,  and  Colonel  A  by  General 
B,  and  innumerable  Bishops,  Admirals,  and  miscel- 
laneous Functionaries,  are  advancing  gallantly  to  the 
Anointed  Presence;  and  I  strive,  in  my  remote  pri- 
vacy, to  form  a  clear  picture  of  that  solemnity, — on  a 
sudden,  as  by  some  enchanter's  wand,  the — shall  I 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  271 

speak  it? — the  Clothes  fly  off  the  whole  dramatic 
corps!  .  .  .  Imagination,  choked  as  in  mephitic  air, 
recoils  on  itself,  and  will  not  forward  with  the  pic- 
ture.— What  would  Majesty  do  could  such  an  accident 
befall  in  reality — should  buttons  all  simultaneously 
start,  and  the  solid  wool  evaporate,  in  very  deed,  as 
here  in  dream!  Ach  Gott!  How  each  skulks  into 
the  nearest  hiding-place — their  high  State  Tragedy 
become  a  pickle-herring  Farce  to  weep  at, — the  whole 
fabric  of  Government,  Legislature,  Property,  Police, 
civilized  society  dissolves,  in  wails  and  howls. ' ' 

She  looked  again  at  her  neighbors  to  the  right  and 
left.  They  were  now  absorbed  in  the  spectacle.  But 
she  felt  herself  master  of  it.  What  did  it  matter 
to  her? 

Ah! — ^but  the  cool  inner  mind  bided  its  time; 
and  before  the  King's  speech  was  done,  reflection  had 
thrown  a  quieting  dust  on  Caroline's  swarming 
thoughts, 

* '  Pickle-herring  Farce ' '  ?  Perhaps !  But  the  world 
to  which  you  belong  without  escape  has  taken  advan- 
tage of  this  particular  ''Farce"  to  make  a  demon- 
stration— against  you — and  the  man  you  love;  to 
inflict  punishment  on  you — and  him.  And  it  hurts. 
You  know  it  hurts.  All  the  same — brave  it! — show 
nothing ! ' ' 

And  as  far  as  she  could  remember,  she  had  shown 
nothing.  After  the  ceremony,  as  she  pushed  her  way 
through  the  lobbies  towards  the  outer  doors,  amid  a 
throng  of  peeresses  and  politicians,  she  found  herself 
again  entirely  alone,  without  a  friend.  The  Duchess 
had  promised  to  accompany  her,  and  had  gone  to 
bed  with  a  cold  instead.  No  one,  through  the  whole 
function,  had  looked  at  her,  no  one  had  spoken  to  her. 


272  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

Suddenly,  she  passed  a  great  mirror  set  in  the  wall, 
and  was  aware  of  a  stately  and  beautiful  vision  in 
black  satin,  white  plumes,  and  a  blaze  of  diamonds. 
Herself!  A  throb  of  defiance  ran  through  her.  Her 
own  beauty  rallied  her  nerves,  gave  her  back  self- 
confidence — even  moral  strength.  If  indeed  she  looked 
like  that,  no  one  could  say  that  she  had  given  ground 
by  an  inch ! 

Later,  in  the  evening,  when  all  the  fine  clothes 
were  gone,  when  serious  business  was  forward,  and  the 
first  night  of  the  debate,  including  Alec's  speech,  was 
over,  Caroline  emerged  once  more  into  the  outer  lobby 
of  the  House  of  Lords,  but  thrilling  this  time  with 
triumph  and  emotion.  How  well  he  had  spoken! 
How  perfectly  he  had  managed  his  voice — his 
gesticulation!  Ah! — there  he  was,  coming  to  meet 
her! 

"Well,  darling! — how  do  you  think  it  went?" 

"Oh  Alec! — it  was  splendid!" 

"You  little  goose!  All  the  same  I  think  it  got 
them!  They  say  Washington's  very  angry.  Let  him 
be!  Did  you  see  him  in  the  House?  Some  of  the 
fellows  on  the  other  side  have  been  congratulating  me 
like  fun.  The  papers  will  have  it  verbatim.  I  say! 
— you  look  ripping ! ' ' 

And  in  his  exultation,  he  had  seized  her  hand  under 
her  opera  cloak  and  pressed  it  for  a  moment  in  the 
crowd.  And  then  he  was  gone,  to  speak  to  a  journal- 
ist, bidding  her  go  home.  And  she  had  pressed  on 
through  the  crowd,  happy,  passionately  happy,  be- 
cause he  had  looked  at  her — had  spoken  to  her  so. 
How  right  he  had  been  to  take  his  own  course — to 
venture  everything — to  scout  all  the  prudent  counsel 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  273 

of  the  wise  men!  This  was  life — adventure — ^the  joy 
of  battle!  It  would  make  a  great  man  of  him,  in 
whose  success  she  could  lose  herself;  it  would  bring 
back  their  first  enchanted  days  of  perfect  oneness, 
perfect  love. 

* '  Ah !  Lady  Wing !  Congratulate  you !  Your  hus- 
band has  made  a  capital  speech ! ' ' 

So  said  man  after  man,  catching  sight  of  her,  on 
her  way  to  the  entrance. 

Caroline  shone  upon  them,  in  return. 

But  what  was  that?  A  face  of  a  woman,  turning 
round  on  the  steps  of  St.  Stephen's  entrance  to  look 
for  a  companion.  .  .  . 

Caroline  saw  the  face,  and  gave  a  gasp  of  pleasure. 
She  recognized  a  school  friend  whom  she  had  not 
seen  for  years — a  charming  Scotch  girl,  married  to  a 
Scotch  peer,  to  whom  in  the  days  when  Caroline  had 
first  appeared  in  London  as  John  Marsworth's  wife, 
she  had  been  warmly  attached.  They  had  shared  the 
common  interests  natural  to  young  mothers;  had 
advised  each  other,  helped  each  other,  praised  each 
other's  children  and  fought  each  other's  foes.  Then 
Lady  Dunkeld  had  gone  to  India  with  her  husband; 
Carrie  had  lost  sight  of  her;  and  after  the  crash, 
Carrie  had  written  one  letter — and  waited  in  vain 
for  an  answer. 

** Emmie!"  She  found  herself  calling,  standing  on 
tip-toe  to  wave  to  the  woman  ahead. 

And  the  pretty  blue  eyes  saw  her ;  a  visible  tremor 
ran  through  the  soft  features ;  and  without  a  sign  of 
recognition.  Lady  Dunkeld  looked  her  old  friend  in 
the  face — and  turned  away. 

Caroline  entered  the  car,  and  drove  home,  like  a 
person    half    stunned.     Emmie! — Emmie    Dunkeld! 


274  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

She  could  see  herself  in  bed,  and  Lady  Dunkeld  sitting 
beside  her — with  a  white  bundle  on  her  knee.  And 
her  throat  contracted,  as  she  thought — "She  was  al- 
ways so  fond  of  Dicky ! ' ' 

Nor  had  that  been  the  end  of  that  day's  emotions. 
She  remembered  Joyce's  ministrations  all  that  even- 
ing, and  how  she  had  puzzled  the  dear,  tender  child 
by  the  alternations  of  a  mood,  which  was  now  greedy 
of  congratulations,  and  wildly  confident  of  good  days 
coming;  and  now  bitterly  restless,  and  silent,  as 
though  some  secret  thought  turned  everything  to  gall. 
"With  the  last  post  that  night  there  had  come  a  rush 
of  letters: — congratulations  from  a  number  of  the 
Eltham  House  Jiahitues,  her  old  friend  the  French 
Ambassador,  for  instance,  a  score  of  men  in  both 
Houses  of  Parliament,  who  cared  indeed  very  little 
for  Alec  Wing's  success,  but  cared  a  great  deal  that 
the  charming  mistress  of  Eltham  House  should  find 
pleasure  in  it;  Robert  Llewellyn,  also,  who  wrote  a 
criticism  of  the  speech,  candid,  but  full  of  kindness — 
the  kindness  of  the  veteran  to  the  youth ;  dwelling  on 
its  merits  of  delivery  and  arrangement — "a  voice  to 
be  envied" — "the  points  clear" — "the  jests  new" — 
"altogether  a  great  success!" — "though,  of  course, 
fundamentally,  you  won't  expect  one  of  the  Old 
Guard  like  me  to  agree  with  any  of  its  main  proposi- 
tions. I  dispute  every  one  of  them !  But  what  does 
that  matter  ?  A  great  success,  I  repeat ! — and  Wash- 
ington adds  his  congratulations  to  mine." 

A  letter  which  she  had  put  down  with  a  sharp 
sense  of  comfort,  and  a  grateful  vision  of  the  possi- 
bilities of  friendship — pure  and  disinterested — ^be- 
tween men  and  women.  Then,  what  evil  chance  had 
made  her  open  the  next  letter  in  the  pile  which  had 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  275 

been  given  her? — a  note  delivered  by  hand,  and 
brought  up,  so  Joyce  said,  by  the  butler,  only  ten 
minutes  before  her  own  arrival  at  home.  She  had 
read  it  at  first  without  understanding  it,  in  a  kind  of 
languid  half -consciousness ;  for  the  emotions  of  the 
day  had  tired  her  out.    Then  again — aiid  again. 

Of  course  only  a  woman  could  have  written  such 
a  letter ! — could  have  put  such  quintessence  of  malice 
into  words  and  on  paper.  It  had  been  evidently 
written  in  haste  by  a  spectator  of  the  debate  in  the 
Lords;  someone  who,  to  private  reasons  for  disliking 
and  despising  Alec  and  Caroline  Wing,  joined  po- 
litical fury  with  a  man  attacking  her  party,  and  so 
perhaps  endangering  the  interests  of  a  husband  or  a 
brother.  A  good  deal  of  Alec's  speech  had  consisted 
of  sarcasm  at  the  expense  of  the  younger  "nobodies" 
who  formed  a  court  round  Washington,  and  were 
reckoning  on  the  minor  seats  in  his  Government.  No 
doubt,  a  wife  or  a  sister  of  one  of  them !  For  a  mo- 
ment, indeed,  Caroline  had  thought ' '  Elizabeth  Wash- 
ington!"— and  then  in  a  flash  knew  that  for  such  a 
woman  to  have  written  such  a  letter  was  impossible. 

What  matter  who  wrote  it !  It  fell  from  Caroline 's 
hands,  and  her  head  dropped  against  the  back  of  the 
chair.  Joyce,  looking  round,  astonished  at  the  sudden 
silence,  saw  that  she  was  half -fainting.  .  .  .  When  she 
had  shaken  off  her  weakness,  and  was  sitting  with  her 
hand  in  Joyce's,  Caroline  let  a  few  broken  words 
escape  her.  "It  was  an  anonymous  letter,  dear! — 
horrible! — burn  it,  please."  And  Joyce  had  burned 
it,  beside  herself  with  wrath,  and  sympathy ;  but  ask- 
ing no  questions. 

Then  she  had  helped  her  cousin  to  bed.  But  Caro- 
line had  quickly  dismissed  both  her  and  the  maid; 


276  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

to  lie  sleepless  and  feverish,  waiting  for  Alec,  the 
phrases  of  the  mean,  scurrilous  letter,  which  seemed 
to  strip  their  victim  of  every  rag  of  seemliness  or  self- 
respect,  to  leave  her  naked  in  a  world  of  enemies, 
running  in  her  head. 

And  as  she  lay  there,  two  things  happened.  The 
first  was — she  made  up  her  mind  that  she  would 
never  tell  Alec  a  word  of  the  letter — or  a  word  of  the 
meeting  with  Lady  Dunkeld.  Probably  mere  delu- 
sion, that  last ! — something  imagined,  not  seen.  And 
anyway,  all  such  things  she  would  bear  alone.  No 
need  to  worry  him  with  them. 

And  the  second  thing  that  happened,  as  she  lay 
there  storm-beaten  in  the  spacious  room,  through 
which  the  fire-light  flickered,  was  a  sudden  invasion 
of  the  whole  mind  by  a  marvelous  sense  of  companion- 
ship— of  help — of  lightening  and  raising  up — flooding 
the  whole  being. 

She  sprang  up  in  a  kind  of  ecstasy,  stretching  out 
her  hands  to  the  darkness — ''What  was  it?  Who 
art  Thou?" 

And  nothing  answered.  Only  the  February  wind 
went  sighing  round  the  house,  and  in  the  distance 
the  Abbey  bell  struck  midnight.  But  as  she  sank 
back  again  on  her  pillow,  half  sobbing — ^the  pain  and 
bitterness  had  gone.  She  lay  like  a  child — depending 
on — clinging  to — she  knew  not  what.  When  Alec 
came  in,  elate  and  excited,  brimming  over  with  the 
gossip  of  his  Club,  he  found  her  eagerly  waiting  for 
him,  all  smiles  and  triumphant  sympathy.  And  she, 
hungrily  watching  for  the  old  devotion,  the  old  words 
and  looks,  that  had  made  her  life  a  heaven,  was  only 
too  ready  to  mistake  his  satisfaction  with  the  praises 
she  poured  on  him  for  that  return  she  longed  for. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  277 

The  promise  of  that  ineffable  moment  seemed  to  her 
fulfilled. 

And  that  moment  was  the  first  of  others.  .  .  .  She 
began  to  be  secretly  haunted — waylaid — ^by  that  Pres- 
ence which  pursues  Man's  soul.  To  perceive  it,  to 
thrill  to  it,  is  itself  a  natural  gift  or  capacity.  And 
for  the  first  time  in  her  life,  she  began  to  discover  that 
she  possessed  it. 

Strange  that  such  a  gift  should  have  revealed  itself 
in  those  days  of  constant  effort  and  turmoil,  of  a  fight 
that  grew  hotter  and  hotter  as  the  weeks  passed. 
Carrie  threw  herself  into  her  husband's  campaign 
with  all  the  energy,  all  the  ability  of  which  she  was 
capable.  She  wrote  for  him;  she  hunted  up  books 
and  references  for  him ;  she  accompanied  him  through 
a  round  of  public  meetings  in  the  north,  by  which 
Alec  enormously  increased  his  fame  as  a  speaker,  and 
where  the  handsome  couple  were  the  objects  of  end- 
less talk  and  curiosity,  of  angry  attacks,  or  excited 
support.  Wing's  State  Socialism  grew  more  and 
more  advanced;  and  the  astonishing  experiments  he 
was  beginning  to  make  with  his  London  property  rang 
through  the  press.  At  the  same  time  he  was  a  Pro- 
tectionist— on  Trade  Union  principles — and  a  pas- 
sionate advocate  of  national  strength  by  land  and  sea. 
He  soon  developed  all  the  popular  arts,  could  tell  a 
story  admirably;  meet  violence  with  a  triumphant 
good  humor;  and  give  charm  and  savor  to  the  oldest 
tags.  In  the  Lords  he  spoke  again  and  again,  gain- 
ing force  with  every  attack  on  his  own  side.  The 
Government  were  visibly  weakening;  the  Opposition 
divided  and  anxious.  The  avowed  object  of  the  Wing 
group  was  to  infuse  new  blood  into  the  ranks  of  the 


278  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

coming  Liberal  Government,  and  force  some  portion 
at  least  of  an  unauthorized  programme  on  the  Liberal 
leader. 

Llewellyn  through  it  all  showed  an  unmoved  aspect. 
He  generally  managed  to  find  his  way  to  Eltham 
House  on  Friday  evening  when  the  House  of  Com- 
mons was  not  sitting,  and  there  he  met  all  Wing's 
sallies  and  gibes  with  the  sly  and  smiling  composure 
which  suited  his  snub-nosed,  shrewd-eyed  countenance. 

To  watch  Alec  Wing  during  these  months,  indeed, 
was  to  see  in  him  a  kind  of  ''Lucifer  fallen  from 
heaven,"  and  striving  with  might  and  main  to  climb 
back  into  "the  shining  place"  that  should  have  been 
his.  English  political  life  has  always  lain  open  to  the 
assaults  of  youth,  audacity,  and  brains.  The  careers 
of  Dizzy,  Randolph  Churchill,  and  of  others  still  liv- 
ing are  there  to  prove  it.  That  a  man  should  be  reck- 
less and  violent,  if  he  is  also  young  and  full  of  wits, 
is  all  to  the  good  in  English  politics.  Men  watch  and 
talk,  open-mouthed ;  and  to  be  hated  is  as  useful  as  to 
be  loved.  Very  soon  indeed  the  new  Lord  Wing,  by 
his  speeches  in  the  Lords  and  the  country,  and  the 
exploits  of  his  editor,  Donovan,  driving  the  free- 
booting  coach  of  The  New  Gazette — became  names  of 
scandal  and  fury  in  thousands  of  decent  households. 
The  peculiarities — personal  and  political — of  the  Op- 
position leaders  were  mercilessly  chaffed.  Washing- 
ton's "lion  head,"  and  the  flattery  of  it  in  the  official 
Liberal  press;  Llewellyn  now  as  the  Menelaus,  now 
as  the  Socrates  of  the  party;  Washington's  anxious 
courting  of  the  Dissenters,  and  uneasy  haunting  of 
their  "tablernacles";  Lord  T caressing  the  Brit- 
ish workman  in  public,  and  cursing  him  in  private; 
the  colossal  ignorance  of  S proved  by  a  most 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  279 

skillful  series  of  extracts  from  the  luckless  man's 

speeches  over  ten  years;  the  inconsistency  of  D 

who  in  playing  his  many  parts  had  never  taken  Mel- 
bourne's  advice  to  his  Cabinet — "It  doesn't  matter 
what  we  say,  but  damn  it,  let's  all  say  the  same!"; 
this  man's  platform  tricks,  or  that  man's  luxurious 
habits: — the  New  Gazette  made  daily  mock  of  them 
all.  And  as  anger  grew,  so  also  laughter;  and  that 
chuckling  delight  natural  to  Englishmen,  in  the  mere 
impishness  and  malice  of  the  new  campaign. 

Then  in  March  came  the  long  expected  Budget. 
Down  to  the  House  of  Commons  went  the  Tory  Chan- 
cellor of  the  Exchequer,  and  in  one  night  the  edifice 
of  English  Free  Trade  fell  crashing  to  the  ground. 

"We  shall  beat  them,"  said  Llewellyn  to  Wash- 
ington as  they  walked  away  from  the  House  together 
— "by  the  skin  of  our  teeth.  But  they'll  be  back 
again  in  a  year,  and  they'll  carry  their  Bill!" 

But  meanwhile — and  the  Tories  were  quite  pre- 
pared for  it — ^their  defeat  was  certain.  The  day  and 
the  hour  of  it  were  calculated  to  the  minute,  and 
already  the  candidates  for  office  were  beginning  to  sit 
on  the  Liberal  doorstep. 

"I  shall  ask  nothing,  write  nothing!"  said  Wing 
triumphantly  to  Caroline.  "Let  them  come  to  me. 
The  question  is — Can  they  carry  on,  with  our  men 
barking  at  their  heels?  I  say  no!  Well,  then,  let 
them  buy  us  off.  A  few  minor  offices — ^that's  all  we 
want — a  foot  in  the  doorway.  They'll  have  to  do  it. 
You'll  see!" 

Would  they? 

The  whole  political  world  began  to  seethe  with 
this  question,  and  with  the  multitudinous  answers  to 


280  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

it,  from  the  vehement  "See  them  hanged  first!" — of 
the  enraged  main  body  of  the  party,  to  the  hesitating 
**Well,  after  all,  why  not?" — of  those  bom  to  com- 
promise. 

Meanwhile  Alec  "Wing  went  night  after  night  to  one 
or  other  of  the  big  towns,  expounding  the  Budget, 
supporting  this,  attacking  that,  always  attended  by 
a  bodyguard  of  young  speakers,  and  owing  nothing 
to  any  party  organization.  Money  indeed  was 
poured  out  like  water,  had  been  so  poured  out  for  six 
months;  in  the  creation  of  a  press  and  an  organiza- 
tion. But  the  money  was  Wing's,  frankly,  notori- 
ously, Wing's;  and  he  did  as  he  pleased,  owing  no 
man  obedience.  It  was  a  new  form  of  the  money- 
power  in  politics.  There  was  no  disguise  about  it, 
and  there  being  many  qualities  in  the  political  soil 
at  that  moment  which  suited  it,  it  grew  and  flourished 
like  a  green  bay  tree. 

And  all  this  time  Carrie  followed  in  the  wake  of 
her  buccaneer,  tremulously,  feverishly  absorbed.  All 
her  vague  terrors  and  jealousies  on  the  subject  of 
Madge  Whitton  were  at  this  time  laid  to  sleep.  She 
never  saw  her,  for  Mrs.  Whitton  had  ceased  to  show 
herself  at  Eltham  House  on  the  nights  when  it  was 
open.  Nor  had  she  any  reason  to  think  that  Alec  saw 
her.    Certainly  he  never  spoke  of  her. 

Meanwhile,  on  the  nights  when  Eltham  House  set 
wide  the  doors  of  its  beautiful  rooms,  to  receive  a 
world  which  now  contained  the  best  foreign  society  of 
London,  together  with  all  the  distinguished  migrants 
of  the  moment  from  Paris,  Rome,  or  New  York,  and 
a  multitude  of  men,  well-born  or  plebeian,  young  and 
old,  representing  the  brainwork  of  the  country,  its 
politics,  journalism,  and  art,  together  with  the  pick  of 


BLTHAM  HOUSE  281 

the  public  services,  Caroline  "Wing  was  the  sovereign 
of  a  large  and  ever-spreading  court.  Women  were 
always  in  a  small  minority  in  it,  mainly  because  of 
the  social  boycott  that  existed,  but  partly  because  men 
had  somehow  made  a  masculine  thing  of  Caroline's 
salon,  and  men  were  more  at  home  there  than  women. 
Men  talked  there  as  they  talked  with  each  other,  or 
at  their  clubs — without  mutes  on  the  strings,  only 
with  a  certain  added  zest  and  brilliancy,  because  of 
the  beautiful  woman  who  made  the  bond  of  this  mis- 
cellaneous world,  towards  whom  indeed  a  wonderful 
loyalty  was  growing  up  among  them.  Caroline — 
naturally — escaped  neither  adorers,  nor  scandal.  But 
the  adorers  she  laughed  away;  soon  wooing  them 
back  to  her,  however,  as  friends,  by  virtue  of  a  frank 
camaraderie,  which  seemed  to  say  to  them  all  without 
words — ^''What  do  you — ^what  can  you  expect — of  a 
woman  who  is  in  love  with  her  husband ! ' ' 

None  of  them  indeed  touched  even  the  fringes  of 
her  heart — except  Lord  Merton.  Him  she  often 
thought  of;  and  always  with  pity,  and  a  stirring  of 
the  pulse.  The  memory  of  that  sudden  outburst  of  his 
on  the  night  before  the  opening  of  Parliament,  when 
he  had  found  her  alone,  in  one  of  the  deserted 
drawing-rooms,  stayed  with  her,  though  in  a  dim 
dream-like  way.  She  knew  that  he  could  not  escape 
his  own  Christian  standards  and  traditions — ^that  he 
judged  her,  while  yet  he  fell  at  her  feet.  And  that 
double  fact  it  was  which  moved  her.  He  had  appar- 
ently the  same  vague  premonitions  of  evil,  of  calam- 
ity, with  regard  to  her,  as  she  had  sometimes  about 
herself.  That  made  him  passionately  want  to  protect 
and  help  her ;  while  she  knew  very  well,  all  the  time, 
as  a  woman  of  the  world,  that  she  must  not  let  him 


282  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

help  her.  But  she  clung  to  the  thought  of  him  in  a 
wistful,  perfectly  innocent  way.  She  wanted  to  be 
friends  with  him,  as,  but  for  politics,  she  would  have 
been  friends  with  Llewellyn.  And  she  saw  quite 
plainly  that  it  could  not  be ;  and  had  never  wavered  in 
her  decree  of  banishment. 

But  one  morning — one  cold,  sunny  morning — in 
the  week  before  the  critical  divisions  in  the  Budget 
Committee  which  were  to  determine  the  fate  of  the 
Tory  Ministry,  Caroline  escaped  for  half  an  hour  from 
the  great  house  of  which  the  size  and  magnificence  had 
begun  of  late  to  fret  nerves  sorely  strained,  and  went 
into  the  Park  with  only  her  favorite  dachshund — not 
even  Joyce — ^to  keep  her  company.  She  wanted  soli- 
tude, and  the  sting  of  frosty  air.  Walking  rapidly 
westward,  she  soon  found  herself  on  the  edge  of  the 
Serpentine,  which  was  just  filmed  with  ice  and  glis- 
tening with  sun.  It  was  too  early  for  any  but  those 
who  walked  for  business ;  she  found  herself  practically 
alone,  except  for  a  figure  of  a  man  advancing  from 
the  distance,  to  which  she  paid  no  attention  till  the 
man  was  close  upon  her,  so  absorbed  was  she  in  the 
calculations  of  Alec's  chances  in  the  coming  struggle. 

Suddenly,  she  raised  her  eyes  and  saw  that  the  man 
approaching  her  was  Merton.  She  recognized  the  tall 
loosely  jointed  figure,  the  small  head,  and  drooping 
mustache.  He  had  been  aware  of  her  for  some  min- 
utes, had  had  his  chance  of  disappearing  into  a  side- 
path,  and  had,  none  the  less,  blindly  come  on. 

As  they  met,  she  stopped,  without  any  apparent 
hesitation,  and  they  shook  hands.  In  his  face  there 
was  a  rush  of  color ;  on  hers  a  rather  timid  smile. 

"Are  you  out  for  a  constitutional — like  me?  And 
like  me — do  you  never  own  to  such  things?" 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  283 

He  explained  that  he  was  on  his  way  to  Brook  Street 
to  inquire  after  a  brother  who  was  ill.  Caroline 
quietly  turned  and  walked  beside  him. 

The  young  man  went  red  and  white  by  turns.  At 
one  moment  he  trod  on  air;  the  next  it  stabbed  him 
to  perceive  the  changes  wrought  by  sheer  stress  and 
haste  of  living  in  the  woman  who  interested  him  so 
deeply.  The  face  was  paler,  the  cheeks  and  temples 
thinner,  and  there  were  fresh  lines,  though  infinitely 
delicate,  round  eyes  and  mouth.  The  effect  was  of  a 
loveliness  more  human  and  touching — ^less  Juno-like, 
less  triumphant.  "She  has  been  working  herself  to 
death  for  that  fellow ! "  he  thought  indignantly — ' '  and 
when  he  comes  to  grief,  as  he  will,  he  '11  ill-treat  her. ' ' 

All  the  same,  to  be  walking  beside  her  was  delight, 
and  she  frankly  let  him  see — on  her  side — that  it 
gave  her  pleasure  to  meet  again. 

They  talked  of  politics.  "We  shall  be  out  next 
week,"  he  said,  speaking  of  the  Tory  Cabinet,  "and 
all  the  fat  will  be  in  the  fire. ' ' 

Her  face  showed  both  her  eagerness  and  her  anx- 
iety. 

"Of  course,  the  whole  question  for  us  is — can  our 
group  get  its  just  share? — the  share  it  ought  to 
have?" 

"In  the  spoils?"  He  laughed  awkwardly.  "Who 
can  tell?  Washington's  gang  won't  let  anybody  else 
in  if  they  can  help  it. ' ' 

"Ah,  but  they  won't  be  able  to  help  it!"  she  said 
joyously.     "Alec's  very  hopeful!" 

*  *  Yes  ?  Well,  whatever  you  want ' ' —  ( there  was  the 
slightest  emphasis  on  the  "you") — "I  hope  you'll 
get.  But  I  think  perhaps  in  London  we  overestimate 
the  effect  of — well! — what  interests  the  clubs  and 


284  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

politicians.  You  don't  mind  my  saying  so?  It  takes 
a  long  time  for  any  new  propaganda  to  reach  the 
country.  I  was  down,  last  week,  at  a  meeting  in 
Oxfordshire,  in  a  little  town  called — " 

He  gave  the  name.  Caroline  started.  Her  beau- 
tiful eyes  turned  upon  him. 

"I  know  it,"  she  said. 

Mertou  flushed  violently.  Clumsy  ass ! — to  have  for- 
gotten that  the  Marsworth  estates  lay  all  round  that 
town. 

He  hastily  gave  an  account  of  the  meeting,  meant 
to  show  the  dogged  adherence  to  the  traditional  party 
lines  and  shibboleths  on  the  part  of  the  average  British 
voter.  But  Caroline  took  no  heed.  And  when  he 
stopped,  she  said,  slowly,  with  her  eyes  on  the  further 
reaches  of  the  Serpentine : 

''Lord  Merton! — I — I  believe  that  you  know  Sir 
John  Marsworth?" 

It  was  his  turn  to  start. 

*'Yes,  certainly!  We  were  in  the  same  Yeomanry 
regiment." 

**I  gathered  that — from  something  I  saw — quite 
lately — in  the  Times.    How  much  do  you  know  him? " 

Her  questions  embarrassed  him. 

'*We  have  been  associated  in  various  ways  during 
the  last  three  years,"  he  said,  hesitating.  *'We  met 
on  Church  matters  for  instance — before  he  became 
a  Roman.  About  eighteen  months  ago,  we  used  to 
meet  at  an  East  London  Mission  in  which  we  were 
both  interested.  Then  his  change  came — and  he  went 
to  that  Jesuit  place  in  Wales. ' ' 

"He  has  left  it  now,"  she  said  quickly. 

He  showed  her  a  puzzled  countenance — ^marveling 
indeed  at  their  conversation. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  285 

Then  she  added — 

* '  I  saw  him  not  long  ago. ' ' 

Whereat  he  wondered  more;  and  could  find 
nothing  at  all  to  say.  But  after  a  moment  she 
broke  out,  with  quickened  breath  and  fluttering 
color. 

"You  said — the  last  time  we  met — you  would  like 
to — help  me.  Of  course,  I  want  no  help — ^in  an  ordi- 
nary way.  I  adore  my  husband.  I  have  everything 
I  want.    Except! — " 

She  paused  a  moment  painfully,  resuming  at  last, 
with  agitation: — ''I  want  to  ask  you  something!  If 
you  know  Sir  John — if  you  have  any  influence  with 
him — if  you  know  anyone  who  has — who  could  per- 
suade him — will  you  do  something  for  me  ?  Will  you 
try  and  get  him  to  let  me  see  my  child — my  little  girl 
— oftener — and  for  a  longer  time — than  he  permits 
now?  Once  a  year — for  a  few  hours! — that's  all  it 
has  been  since  I  parted  from  her.  Isn't  it  hard?  Of 
course — I  know — I  brought  it  on  myself.  But  what 
harm  could  I  do  her?  You  know  me — you  would 
speak  for  me.  Just  for  one  fortnight  in  the  year — 
or  even  a  week — what  it  would  mean  to  me ! ' ' 

She  spoke  very  low,  her  eyes  on  the  ground,  her 
voice  trembling.  Merton's  mind  was  shaken  by  the 
pathos  of  it ;  and  also  by  the  sincerity,  the  unconscious 
skill,  by  which  she  had  suddenly  transformed  the 
relation  between  them.  Six  weeks  before,  he  had  made 
her  a  passionate  declaration,  and  here  she  walked 
beside  him,  neither  goddess  nor  prude,  but  simply  a 
mother,  hungry  for  her  child!  She  appealed — inno- 
cently, impulsively — to  the  friend  in  him;  and  the 
friend  responded.  He  had  gone  through  weeks  of 
feverish  grief  and  self-reproach  since  he  had  parted 


286  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

from  her;  and  suddenly,  as  she  spoke,  he  found 
himself. 

He  gravely  promised  to  help  her,  if  he  could.  They 
walked  on,  talking  earnestly  of  persons  who  might  be 
of  use  in  the  business,  and  in  the  course  of  their  dis- 
cussion Merton  gave  her  some  further  information. 
Marsworth,  it  seemed,  had  left  the  Jesuits  because  of 
Modernist  opinions.  He  was  still  nominally  a  Cath- 
olic, but  was  in  a  very  confused  and  uncertain  state 
of  mind ;  full  too  of  personal  grievances  against  mem- 
bers of  the  Order,  or  against  important  persons  at 
Rome. 

"He  always  seems  to  me  very  unhappy, — ^but  he 
never  admits  that  he  himself  has  had  any  hand  in  it. ' ' 

A  little  bitter  smile  hovered  on  Caroline's  lips. 

*'He  never  could!"  she  said,  as  though  involun- 
tarily. 

Then  as  they  neared  the  more  frequented  region  of 
the  Park,  she  paused  and  held  out  her  hand. 

"I  shall  tell  Alec  all  I  have  said  to  you,"  she  said 
— and  Merton  wondered  again  at  her  frankness ! — * '  Of 
course — in  this  matter — ^he  can  do  nothing.  Only — 
last  week — I  saw  that  sentence  in  the  Times — your 
name  and  John's  together.  And  then  we  met — and 
you  see,  I  have  taken  you  at  your  word ! ' ' 

He  again  assured  her  he  would  do  all  he  could. 
Then  he  wished  her  good  luck  in  the  turmoil  of  the 
coming  week;  and  they  parted.  He  went  on  hur- 
riedly through  the  traffic  of  Piccadilly,  head  down, 
conscious  of  nothing  but  the  eyes  and  voice  he  had 
left  behind,  and  of  his  own  strange  situation.  He 
felt  that  he  would  gladly  have  faced  death  for  her. 
Yet — was  it  consciously  or  unconsciously? — her  ap- 
peal to  him  had  done  more  to  kill  the  passion  in  his 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  287 

veins  than  any  other  kind  of  action  on  her  part  could 
possibly  have  achieved. 

And  again,  he  was  haunted  by  foreboding  terrors 
about  her.  "In  a  few  years,  she  will  be  the  unhap- 
piest  woman  in  London!"  he  said  to  himself  with 
vehemence — ''and  none  of  us  will  be  able  to  do  any- 
thing!" 

It  was  quite  possible,  he  thought,  that  Wing  had 
been  already  unfaithful  to  her.  It  was  said  by  her 
intimate  friends  that  she  was  entirely  in  the  dark — 
suspected  nothing.  But  most  people  who  cared  to 
know,  knew  very  well  that  Madge  Whitton  was  sup- 
posed to  be  living  on  Wing's  money,  and  was  at  last 
— after  successfully  protecting  herself  for  years 
against  any  adventure  of  the  sort — deeply  and  blindly 
in  love.  As  to  Wing's  attitude,  opinion  was  more 
divided.  He  had  clearly  found  Mrs.  Whitton  useful, 
and  had  paid  her  handsomely  for  her  work.  But 
there  were  those  who  thought  him  a  cool  hand,  not  at 
all  likely  to  be  carried  away  a  second  time,  and  for  a 
woman  so  inferior  to  the  first.  These  skeptics  however 
were  aU  the  more  certain  that  Madge  Whitton  had 
this  time  met  her  fate,  and  singed  her  wings. 

And  with  every  day  of  hot  debate  in  Parliament, 
of  gossip  in  London  drawing-rooms,  of  commotion  in 
the  country,  the  tragi-comedy  in  which  Caroline  Wing 
was  so  deeply  concerned  ran  onward  to  its  climax — 
to  the  moment  of  violence  and  explosion,  after  which 
nothing  could  be  again  as  before. 


CHAPTER  XV 

The  Washingtons  lived  in  a  house  secluded  at  the 
back  of  a  Chelsea  square.  They  were  rich,  but  the 
avoidance  of  all  show  of  riches  was  a  passion  with 
them  both.  They  were  served  by  parlor  maids,  who 
had  of  course  stout  lads  in  the  background  to  do  the 
heavy  work.  But  to  be  waited  on  by  obsequious  men 
at  table  seemed  to  Elizabeth  "Washington  an  insolence 
on  the  part  of  the  employer,  and  a  degradation  to  the 
employed.  Men  were  intended  for  nobler  functions. 
Her  Quaker  spirit,  and  her  democratic  instincts, 
which  were  strong,  even  violent,  loathed  the 
"flunkey."  But  that  women — and  men  too — should 
be  served  by  women,  was  in  the  order  of  things ;  and 
rfie  was  a  rigid  though  a  just  mistress. 

The  house  was  very  simply  furnished,  and  con- 
tained engravings  of  famous  evangelicals,  Wilber- 
force,  Mrs.  Fry,  Mrs.  Opie,  John  Bright,  Richard 
Cobden,  Zachary  Macaulay  and  many  others.  Wash- 
ington's study  contained  books,  an  armchair,  a 
writing-table  and  a  Turkey  carpet.  Mrs.  Washington 
carried  on  a  vast  correspondence  from  a  corner  of  the 
back  drawing-room ;  which  was  never  left  untidy,  and 
made  no  parade  whatever  of  the  work  that  was  done 
there.  The  same  fastidious  order,  indeed,  prevailed 
wherever  Elizabeth  Washington  had  sway.    Her  dress, 

288 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  289 

though  not  affectedly  plain,  was  always  simple,  and 
varied  no  more  than  from  gray  to  black,  or  black-and- 
white.  She  affected  long  cloaks  which  disguised  her 
height.    But  she  was  not  thin — rather  the  reverse. 

On  the  Monday  evening  of  the  week  which  was  to 
see  the  critical  divisions  on  the  Budget,  Mrs.  Washing- 
ton sat  up,  expecting  her  husband.  He  came  in  a 
little  after  eleven,  evidently  tired  out.  His  wife 
smiled  at  him,  prepared  him  some  cocoa  on  a  little 
stove  by  the  fire,  and  waited  for  him  to  talk  or  not  as 
he  liked.  She  knew  well  that  he  was  in  the  very  thick 
of  the  melee.  Her  own  pulses  were  running  fast ;  and 
she  longed  for  news.  But  her  self-control  was  in- 
vincible. 

When  he  had  had  his  cocoa,  and  had  set  a  while 
with  shut  eyes,  his  long  legs  stretched  to  the  fire, 
and  the  lion  head  thrown  back,  he  said,  without 
moving — 

"It  will  be  a  famous  victory  to-morrow!" 

A  gleam  shot  through  his  wife's  eyes. 

"I'm  glad  you're  so  certain,  Kichard." 

She  came  to  sit  beside  him,  and  laid  her  hand  on 
his. 

"You've  waited  for  it — ^you've  earned  it!"  she 
went  on  after  a  moment,  with  quiet  exultation. 

"Have  I?" — the  tone  was  weary.  "Well  now, 
hell  begins ! ' ' 

His  wife  smiled — ^in  sympathy. 

"How  people  write  to  you! — it's  appalling!" 

''Write!  It's  much  worse  than  that.  I  can't 
escape  them  anywhere.  The  House  swarms  with 
feUows  who  want  places;  the  Club's  almost  as  bad — 
and  I  shall  soon  not  dare  show  myself  in  the  street. 
I  went  down  to  the  City  this  morning,  and  an  old 


290  BLTHAM  HOUSE 

General  who  saw  me  jumped  upon  the  taxi  while 
we  were  blocked  opposite  the  Mansion  House,  grew 
purple  in  the  face,  and  shouted  through  the  window 
to  me  at  the  risk  of  his  life  that  there  was  only  one 
man  in  Parliament  fit  to  be  made  Under-Secretary 
for  Foreign  Affairs,  and  that  was  his  son — one  of  the 
biggest  louts  in  the  House!  And  as  for  letters! — 
look  here!"  He  opened  his  coat.  *'My  pockets  are 
stuffed  with  them — and  from  the  most  important 
people  possible.  Everybody  has  got  some  fish  to  fry 
either  for  himself  or  somebody  else. ' ' 

"I  saw  a  complete  list  in  one  of  the  evening 
papers, ' '  said  his  wife  smiling ;  but  observing  him  the 
while. 

"Of  my  Government?"  he  laughed  contemptu- 
ously. "I  know — ^I  saw  it.  Well,  it  amuses  them, 
and  don't  hurt  me." 

"I  saw  Lord  Wing's  name  in  it." 

*  *  Oh,  aU  the  lists  put  Wing  in  somewhere. ' ' 

He  shut  his  eyes  again. 

His  wife  was  silent  for  a  little.  But  after  a  while 
she  put  her  hand  on  his  again. 

He  made  a  slight  irritable  movement,  but  let  the 
hand  stay. 

"Eichard,  you  won't  do  that — ^will  you?"  She 
spoke  with  a  low  voice  of  entreaty. 

"My  dear  Elizabeth,  I  must  be  guided  entirely  by 
the  party  interests. ' ' 

"Entirely,  Richard?  Isn't  there  something  higher 
even  than — party  interests  ? ' ' 

"Not  in  this  connection,"  he  said  testily.  "If  I 
do  put  Wing  in,  he  will  do  no  harm  to  anyone.  He's 
so  anxious  to  get  on  politically,  that  once  in,  he'll 
give  no  trouble.    I  shall  be  able  to  manage  him.    But 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  291 

if  we  leave  him  out,  he's  strong  enough  now  to  worry 
us  abominably." 

"Oh,  Kichard! — surely  not.'* 

"You  must  leave  me  to  judge,  my  dear.  Llewellyn 
agrees  with  me.  Something  very  small  will  be 
enough  to  content  him;  so  that  he  just  scrapes  into 
the  Government.  And  on  the  whole  it  will  suit  us 
better  than  a  quarrel,  and  having  that  wretched  paper 
on  our  flanks, ' ' 

"All  the  Puritan  elements,  on  our  side,  Eichard, 
will  be  up  in  arms!"  said  Mrs.  "Washington,  with 
energy. 

He  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"I  doubt  it.  I  think  they'll  take  it  lying  down. 
We  shall  be  in  a  very  shaky  position  for  a  bit.  We 
really  can't  afford  to  have  Wing's  money  and  Wing's 
press  against  us.  It's  like  Dizzy  or  Randolph  again 
— with  a  difference.  People  are  shocked — but  the 
man  gets  what  he  wants !  It  is  really  astonishing  the 
way  he  has  made,  in  these  eight  months ! — in  spite  of 
everything.  .  .  .  Well,  now  I  must  go  to  my  letters. 
Llewellyn  and  two  or  three  others  are  coming  to  see 
me  presently.  We  shall  probably  sit  till  late.  You'd 
better  go  to  bed." 

He  rose,  and  as  he  stood  swaying  a  little  with 
fatigue,  his  fine  shaggy  head  under  the  light,  he  said 
reflectively — 

"I  confess  I  shall  be  glad — if  I  can — to  do  some- 
thing for  Wing,  though  I  neither  like  him  nor  respect 
him.  And  of  course  I  see  certain  risks,  though  I 
think  you  exaggerate  them.  It  was  obvious  we 
couldn't  be  bribed  into  running  him  for  a  constitu- 
ency. But  this  is  different.  At  least  I  think  it  is. 
And  certainly  there  never  was  a  woman  who  put  up 


292  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

a  pluckier  fight  for  the  man  she  loved  than  Lady- 
Wing!    You  ought  to  appreciate  that,  Lizzy!" 

His  fine  face  broke  into  a  smile.  Bending  over, 
he  kissed  his  wife 's  forehead,  hurrying  from  the  room 
immediately  afterwards,  as  though  to  escape  any  fur- 
ther conversation  on  the  matter. 

No  more  childish  lack  of  insight  was  ever  shown 
by  a  great  man  than  in  these  farewell  remarks ! 

His  wife  remained  standing  where  he  had  left  her, 
her  face  set  in  a  kind  of  pale  intensity.  Then  she 
went  slowly  into  the  back  drawing-room,  lit  the 
electric  light  over  her  writing-table,  and  sat  down  be- 
fore it, — for  some  time  motionless,  her  hands  lying  on 
her  knee.  Her  thoughts  were  flying  far  ahead.  Lord 
Wing  in  the  Ministry;  Eltham  House,  not  hostile  as 
now,  but  friendly  and  indispensable;  the  common 
meeting-ground  of  the  party;  all  the  members  of  the 
Government,  with  Richard  at  their  head,  becoming 
the  familiars  of  the  splendid  house,  the  friends  of  its 
beautiful  and  triumphant  mistress :  she  foresaw  it  all. 
Richard  would  go  there  constantly — she  never.  She 
had  refused  to  have  any  dealings  with  Lady  Wing, 
even  to  be  introduced  to  her.  And  pride  and  self- 
respect,  to  say  nothing  of  moral  considerations,  must 
entirely  prevent  a  change  of  attitude  on  her  part. 
Meanwhile  at  the  back  of  her  troubled  yet  determined 
mind  lay  the  gnawing  thought — "Can  I  trust  my 
influence  with  Richard,  as  against  Tiers?  Could  any 
man  resist  so  much  beauty  and  such  surroundings — if 
he  were  always  seeing  her — on  her  own  terms — in  a 
world  from  which  his  wife  was  banished  ? 

No ! — she  was  not  sure  enough ! — she  was  not!  Had 
she  ever  been  quite  sure?  Were  not  the  critical 
years  of  middle  age  now  in  front  of  them,  when 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  293 

Eichard's  natural  susceptibility,  his  eager  pleasure 
in  the  companionship  of  women,  a  susceptibility 
absorbed,  so  far,  or  directed,  by  his  wife,  might  easily 
detach  him  from  her?  And  who  so  likely  to  rouse 
that  susceptibility — to  lead  him  astray — as  Caroline 
Wing?  A  woman  of  no  scruples,  as  her  history 
showed,  and  with  every  possible  motive  for  capturing 
the  man,  on  whom  her  husband's  advancement  would 
depend. 

Not  that  Washington's  wife  feared  any  vulgar 
denouement,  any  ordinary  scandal.  Richard  would 
never  betray  any  trust,  let  alone  the  trust  of  mar- 
riage; and  Lady  Wing,  it  was  said,  was  still  infatu- 
ated and  enslaved  by  the  man  for  whom  she  had 
broken  both  divine  and  human  law.  But  what  she 
did  fear  was  a  loss  of  empire ;  a  loss  of  influence  over 
her  husband's  mind  and  sympathies.  She  was  a 
strong  and  able  woman.  It  galled  her  unspeakably  to 
think  of  entering  into  any  sort  of  competition  with 
Lady  Wing,  even  were  she  certain  of  winning  it.  And 
she  was  not  certain. 

She  thought  long.  And  presently  she  began  to 
write  letters.  All  the  chief  Evangelical  and  Non- 
conformist leaders  in  the  country  were  well  known 
to  her.  She  was  in  close  touch  with  them  all.  Some 
of  them  were  her  intimate  friends,  to  whose  preach- 
ing and  example  she  owed  a  great  personal  debt.  To 
two  or  three  of  these  friends — especially  to  the  emi- 
nent Presbyterian  minister  of  whose  church  she  was 
a  member — she  wrote  long  and  eloquently.  The  moral 
standards  of  the  party — of  the  country — ^were  at 
stake.  She  asked  them  to  strengthen  her  husband's 
hands,  against  the  pressure  now  being  brought  upon 
him  to  include  a  notorious  offender,  somehow  and 


294  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

somewhere,  within  the  four  comers  of  his  administra- 
tion, and  she  pleaded,  on  public  grounds,  that  what- 
ever steps  they  might  think  it  necessary  to  take,  her 
letter — her  one  and  only  warning — should  be  treated 
as  matter  of  the  strictest  confidence  by  those  whom 
she  addressed,  she  had  felt  it  her  duty  to  give  the 
signal.    It  was  for  them  to  fight. 

It  was  a  great  night  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
Every  seat  was  full,  the  spaces  behind  the  Speaker's 
chair  and  beyond  the  bar  crowded  with  members  for 
whom  there  was  no  room  on  the  benches.  The  second 
reading  debate  on  the  famous  Tory  Budget  had  occu- 
pied the  best  part  of  three  weeks,  and  the  division 
was  to  be  taken  at  the  close  of  the  evening. 

In  the  private  Ladies'  Gallery  of  the  Speaker  sat 
the  Duchess  and  Caroline  Wing.  There  also  were 
the  great  Tory  ladies,  knowing  they  were  beaten,  and 
determined  to  show  their  Liberal  supplanters  that 
although  they  were  sorry  of  course  for  "the  poor 
country" — it  did  not  matter  to  them  personally  one 
rap.  In  a  dark  corner,  very  much  out  of  sight,  and 
with  their  faces  close  to  the  grille,  sat  Mrs.  Washing- 
ton and  an  old-maid  sister,  amiable  and  gray- 
haired,  of  Robert  Llewellyn.  In  the  gallery  opposite, 
over  the  clock,  Caroline  could  distinguish  her  hus- 
band among  a  group  of  peers — his  arms  resting  on 
the  rail  in  front  of  him,  and  his  face  upon  them — 
absorbed  in  what  was  happening  below. 

There  was  considerable  excitement,  and  even  tumult 
on  the  floor  of  the  House.  Speakers  were  constantly 
interrupted,  and  the  bores  at  least  were  subjected  to 
the  rhythmic  chant  of  '"Vide!"  ' "Vide ! "—from 
those  who  felt  that  everything  had  been  said  that 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  295 

could  be  said,  and  were  impatient  for  the  vote.  In 
the  Ladies'  Gallery,  behind  the  grille,  and  immedi- 
ately above  the  Speaker's  chair,  the  Duchess  and 
Caroline  had  been  much  harassed  by  the  sarcastic 
comments  too  audibly  whispered  of  a  stout  lady  be- 
longing to  the  outgoing  party,  standing  behind  them ; 
and  the  Duchess  had  required  much  keeping  in  order. 
At  one  time  she  indignantly  proposed  sending  a  note 
down  to  the  Speaker  asking  him  to  maintain  the  rule 
of  silence  in  his  own  gallery.  Then  her  anger  suc- 
cumbed to  her  sense  of  humor.  * '  Poor  wretch !  He 's 
too  busy,  I'm  afraid,  with  the  devils  below,  to  give 
any  attention  to  the  angels  above!"  she  said,  twin- 
kling, to  Caroline ;  and  was  thenceforward  so  pleased 
with  her  own  mot  as  to  "  suffer  fools  gladly. ' '  Caro- 
line however  was  too  much  on  edge  to  laugh ;  too  con- 
scious through  every  nerve  of  the  neighborhood  of 
Mrs.  Washington,  and  of  Alec's  face  opposite.  By 
intuition  and  by  report  Carrie  knew  a  good  deal  of 
the  incoming  Premier's  wife;  she  knew  in  particular 
that  she  and  Elizabeth  Washington  had  never  shaken 
hands,  and  with  that  lady's  free  will  never  would; 
and  she  was  well  aware  of  the  power  exercised  by  the 
tall  fine-faced  woman  over  Richard  Washington  and 
the  party.  Despairingly  Caroline  felt  her  the  obstacle 
in  the  path;  and  vague,  foolish  imaginings  surged 
up  in  her  mind  of  seeking  an  interview — arguing — 
entreating. 

Carrie  herself  was  tired  out;  and  so  was  Wing. 
During  the  preceding  days  and  weeks  he  had  become 
increasingly  excitable  and  short-tempered;  now  at 
the  top  of  certainty  and  hope,  now  in  the  depths; 
now  extolling  the  men  who  served  him,  including 
Donovan,  as  the  cleverest  and  noblest  fellows  going; 


296  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

the  next  denouncing  them  as  a  set  of  fools  and  asses, 
and  only  preserved  from  irremediable  quarrels  by 
Caroline's  tact  and  diplomacy.  She  herself  had  been 
going  through  a  time  of  hard  disillusionment,  not  to 
be  confessed  even  to  herself.  Her  husband's  arro- 
gance and  self-seeking,  the  coarse  or  gritty  elements 
in  the  clay  of  which  he  was  built,  had  become  plain 
sometimes  even  to  her  fond  eyes.  She  loved  him  as 
much  as  ever ;  she  lived  in  him  and  for  him ;  but  her 
love  was  passing  steadily,  though  unconsciously,  from 
the  first  stage  of  passion — which  clings  and  adores 
and  wonders — into  the  second,  which  protects  and 
cherishes.  To  make  him  happy,  to  give  him  what  he 
desired,  and  so  to  make  up  for  the  wrong  she  had 
done  him — (she  had  begun  to  put  it  so  to  herself!)  — 
these  were  the  objects  of  her  soul. 

.  .  .  She  was  suddenly  recalled  to  the  scene  below. 
The  Speaker  rising  put  the  question — 

"Aye!" — the  shout  rang  up  to  the  galleries — fol- 
lowed instantly  by  the  answering  No — a  roar  from 
the  Opposition  side. 

* '  The  Ayes  have  it, ' '  said  the  Speaker. 

"No!"  thundered  out  again. 

"Ayes  to  the  left — ^Noes  to  the  right." 

Immediately  the  floor  below  became  a  moving  hive 
of  men  leaving  the  House  for  the  division. 

Ten  minutes  more,  and  the  Opposition  had  done 
its  deed.  Familiar  scene! — ^but  never  without  its 
thrill  for  those  who  have  English  history  in  their 
veins,  who  remember  that  these  men  of  to-day  are 
the  heirs  of  Pitt,  Fox,  and  Burke.  The  tellers  with 
the  numbers  had  walked  up  the  floor  of  the  House 
bowing  to  the  Speaker,  and  as  soon  as  it  was  seen  that 
the  Opposition  tellers  were  on  the  right  or  winning 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  297 

side,  pandemonium  broke  loose.  The  House  became 
a  forest  of  waving  order-papers,  a  tumult  of  cheering 
men.  Ministers,  pale  and  smiling,  rose  from  the  froni 
bench,  gathered  up  their  papers  and  prepared  to 
leave  the  stage  of  their  long  ascendency.  Behind 
them  their  followers  applauded;  in  front  of  them 
their  opponents  jeered  and  shouted.  Then,  as  though 
at  a  signal,  the  whole  tumult  dropped.  Ministerial- 
ists and  Opposition  rushed  off  into  the  lobbies  where 
the  journalists  were  waiting  for  them. 

Caroline  and  the  Duchess  rose  too.  They  were 
to  meet  Wing  in  the  Central  Lobby.  Caroline  was 
trembling  with  excitement.  She  was  in  evening 
dress  as  she  had  returned  to  the  House  after  dining 
at  home.  The  Ladies'  Gallery  was  hot,  and  her 
sable  cloak  had  dropped  from  her  shoulders,  showing 
the  white  throat  and  breast,  the  gleam  of  jewels,  and 
the  folds  of  a  velvet  gown,  A  twisting  of  thinnest 
gold  lay  on  her  dark  hair,  with  one  sparkling  stone — 
an  emerald — set  just  above  the  brow,  and  all  the 
brilliant  flush  and  softness  of  her  face.  As  she 
stepped  into  the  light  of  the  corridor  outside  the 
Ladies'  Gallery,  even  the  Duchess,  who  was  not  ob- 
servant of  such  things,  was  startled  by  her  beauty. 
But  the  moment  afterwards  the  Duchess  noticed 
something  else ! — that  a  woman  in  a  plain  black  dress 
was  coldly  and  silently  making  room  for  Caroline  to 
pass  her.  The  Duchess  recognized  Mrs.  Washington ; 
she  saw  Caroline's  look — hesitating — ^impulsive — the 
lips  opening  as  though  to  speak,  and  the  sudden 
marked  movement  by  which  Mrs.  Washington  re- 
treated into  a  doorway  behind  her  till  the  other  had 
passed  by. 

''Just  like  her!  "  thought  the  Duchess  indignantly. 


298  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"A  dragoon  of  a  woman!  I  hate  her!  And  I  expect 
she  has  Carrie  in  the  hollow  of  her  hand. " 

Now  they  were  in  the  Central  Lobby.  Caroline 
a  little  pale,  but  queenly,  moving  through  a  whirl 
of  friends  and  foes;  eagerly  greeted  by  some,  stared 
at  by  others,  observed  by  all. 

Alec  she  perceived  in  the  distance,  lounging,  his 
hands  in  his  pockets,  talking  to  the  sallow-faced  man 
with  the  long  hatchet  chin,  hair  straggling  over  his 
forehead,  and  shabby  clothes — Edward  Donovan — 
who  had  been  instructing  the  public  all  these  weeks 
through  the  megaphone  of  Wing's  principal  news- 
paper. He  wore  a  quiet,  mocking  look;  saying  little, 
and  that  little  ambiguous;  but  he  made  his  way 
obsequiously  to  Lady  Wing  to  shake  hands  on  the 
exit  of  the  Government. 

''Very  good  fun  all  that  shouting!"  he  said,  point- 
ing with  a  smile  to  the  entrance  of  the  House  of 
Commons — "but  the  real  work  now  begins.  I 
wouldn't  be  in  Washington's  shoes  for  the  next  few 
days. ' ' 

"A  beastly  business! — always  is,"  said  Wing  who 
had  joined  them.  ''Well,  Washington  has  nothing  to 
fear  from  me.  I  shall  toady  nobody!  What  we  ask, 
we  ask  publicly." 

There  was  a  slight  satiric  compression  in  the 
strong  mouth  of  the  editor.  But  he  assented  with  the 
remark : 

' '  Certainly.  All  the  world  knows  what  we  want — 
ring  out  the  old  fogies,  and  ring  in  the  new  men ! ' ' 

Sir  Oliver  Lewson  caught  the  words  as  he  made 
his  way  through  the  crowd  to  speak  to  Caroline.  He 
nodded  to  Donovan : 

"Which  are  we,  eh?"    Then,  in  Caroline's  ear — 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  299 

"I  just  want  to  say  that  as  far  as  I  can  hear,  pros- 
pects are  good!" 

She  flushed  brightly,  thanking  him  with  her  eyes, 
and  they  gossiped  a  little,  while  Alec  stood  moodily 
by  her,  glancing  restlessly  from  face  to  face  among 
the  throng  of  members  and  journalists.  Then 
Llewellyn  passed  with  his  sister,  and  Caroline  held 
out  a  welcoming  hand. 

*  *  How  long  will  it  take  ? ' '  she  asked  him,  smiling. 

"The  new  Ministry?  Oh,  a  week  for  the  prin- 
cipal offices — a  fortnight  till  everybody's  appointed. 
Washington  of  course  will  see  the  King  to-morrow." 

A  fresh  outburst  of  cheering  startled  them  both. 
Washington  had  just  emerged  from  one  of  the  inner 
doors  accompanied  by  his  wife.  His  friends  pressed 
round  him  in  a  tumult  of  enthusiasm  and  triumph. 
He  was  very  pale,  but  his  eyes  glowed,  and  he  had 
never  been  more  completely  master  of  himself.  He 
found  the  right  word  to  say  to  each  man  who 
approached  him,  and  all  the  time  he  made  his  way 
towards  Caroline,  who  awaited  him  with  a  throbbing 
pulse.    In  another  minute  her  hand  was  in  his. 

"Now  you  have  your  chance!"  she  said  ardently. 
"It's  too,  too  splendid!" 

But,  as  she  spoke,  she  moved  forward  involuntarily, 
expecting  that  at  last  he  would  introduce  her  to  his 
wife. 

But  Mrs.  Washington  had  already  disappeared. 

Carrie  looked  round  her,  bewildered.  Meanwhile, 
the  Liberal  leader  warmly  pressed  the  hand  he  held. 

"It's  worth  something  when  you  are  pleased!"  he 
said,  so  that  only  she  could  hear.  Then,  with  a  laugh, 
"Pray  for  me  these  next  days.  Good  night!"  And 
with  a  grip  and  a  smile  for  Wing,  of  the  same  sort 


300  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

that  he  gave  to  scores  of  others,  the  great  man 
passed  on. 

"Caroline! — let's  go  home!  I've  sent  for  the 
motor,"  said  Alee  peremptorily,  beside  her. 

"I  thought  you'd  be  going  to  the  Club,  Alec! — or 
the  office." 

"Let's  go  home!"  he  repeated  impatiently. 

Husband  and  wife  sped  home  together  through 
streets  already  placarded  with  the  news  of  the  fall  of 
the  Ministry.  Alec  gathered  up  the  pile  of  letters  for 
him  in  the  hall,  and  followed  Carrie  into  her  sitting- 
room. 

When  the  door  was  shut,  she  turned  to  him  with 
outstretched  hands — eying  him — half  joyous,  half 
shrinking. 

"I  tJiink  it's  going  well.  Alec! — oh,  I  think  it  is!" 

He  took  the  hands,  indifferently,  and  let  them 
drop — 

"I'm  glad  you  do.  But  I'm  afraid  what  you— or 
I — think  matters  uncommonly  little. ' ' 

"But  you've  worked  so  hard! — and  there  are  so 
many  with  you — supporting  you." 

"Hm — more  cry  I  think  than  wool!  At  least  I 
think  so  to-day.    I  don't  know  what  to  think." 

And  with  an  angry  shake  of  his  fair  curls  he  thrust 
his  hands  again  into  his  pockets,  and  began  to  pace 
the  floor,  in  a  frowning  restlessness. 

She  tried  to  soothe  him,  to  discuss  the  great  events 
of  the  evening.  But  he  scarcely  listened  to  her; 
and  presently  she  became  vaguely  alarmed.  This 
despondency  was  unusual,  unlike  him.  Was  he  over- 
done with  the  six  months'  campaign,  or  were  things 
known  to  him  that  were  still  unknown  to  her?    And 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  301 

always  this  guilty  sense  that  it  was  she  who  was  the 
difficulty ! — she  who  was  undoing  him ! 

She  grew  pale,  but  she  went  up  to  him,  and  slipped 
her  arm  in  his. 

"Darling! — if  it  goes  wrong — if  you  can't  get  what 
you  want,  it'll  come — ^in  time." 

He  turned  upon  her. 

"If  I  don't  get  what  I  want  now — it  wiU  never 
come — and  I  shall  give  it  up ! " 

"Alec! — and  you're  so  young! — we've  got  all  the 
years  before  us!" 

"Worse  luck! — I  sometimes  think.  "What  are  we 
going  to  do  with  them?  And  I  can  tell  you,  Carrie, 
I'm  not  going  to  carry  on  the  life  I've  been  leading 
this  last  six  months — for  ever.  Don't  think  it!  I'm 
sick  to  death  of  it !    It 's  been  a  dog 's  life ! ' ' 

"Alec! — and  I  thought  you'd  been  enjoying  it! 
You've  been  so  successful.  Think  of  the  meetings — 
the  speeches — all  the  friends  you've  made!  Oh, 
Alee,  darling! — don't  be  discouraged!  If  not  now — 
another  time!"  She  nestled  her  beautiful  head 
against  his  shoulder — pleading. 

"No!"  he  said,  with  an  obstinate  vehemence  that 
amazed  her — "If  not  now — never!  The  hypocrites, 
and  Pharisees  who  will  have  beaten  me,  will  beat  me 
always.    Tliey  don 't  change ! — curse  them ! ' ' 

"But  they  won't  beat  you,  Alec!  Mr.  Donovan 
is  persuaded  you'll  get  your  opening.  Think  how 
friendly  Mr.  Washington  was — just  now ! ' ' 

"To  you — they're  aU  nice  to  you!"  he  said,  almost 
fiercely.  "What  does  it  mean?  Nothing!  And  I 
won't  go  on  with  it,  Carrie.  If  I  fail  now,  I  cut  the 
business.  I'm  not  meant  for  a  demagogue.  I  can  do 
the  trick  as  well  as  most  people,  if  it  succeeds.    If 


302  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

I  don't  succeed — Good-by!  I'm  not  going  to  spend 
my  life  in  flattering  and  wheedling  ugly,  stupid  people 
who  don't  understand  a  word  you  say  to  them,  packed 
into  stuffy,  smelly  rooms — in  stuffy,  smelly  towns — 
in  shaking  their  dirty  hands,  and  listening  to  their 
silly  talk.  It's  worth  while — as  a  prelude  to  some- 
thing else.    In  itself — it's  beastly!" 

"Alec!"  She  was  aghast  at  the  outburst.  After 
a  minute  she  asked  him  in  a  low  voice,  her  eyes  on 
the  floor,  as  they  paced. 

"What  would  you  do,  then?" 

He  shrugged  his  shoulders  impatiently. 

"I  don't  know — I  suppose  there's  always  travel." 

"Of  course  there  is!"  she  said,  brightening.  "We 
could  go  away  together  again — and  throw  off  every- 
thing ! ' '    Her  eyes  looked  tenderly  into  his. 

"Couldn't  we,  Alec?" 

"Well,  I  don't  know,"  he  said  slowly.  "Some- 
times when  a  man's  in  the  mood  that  I  shall  be  if 
Washington  fails  me,  he 's  best  alone. ' ' 

"  Alone  f"  She  came  to  a  sudden  startled  pause, 
her  arms  dropping  to  her  sides,  her  pale  looks  turned 
upon  him. 

"There,  there,  I  didn't  mean  it,"  he  said  hastily. 
*  *  Of  course  we  shall  have  time  to  think  it  out — plenty 
of  time.  Why  don't  you  go  to  bed,  Carrie?  You 
look  like  a  ghost." 

But  she  would  not  go  till — driving  back  by  main 
force  the  fears  that  surged  upon  her — she  had  drawn 
him  out  of  his  pit  of  depression.  She  used  all  her 
powers;  she  made  play  with  all  her  beauty;  and  in 
the  end  she  succeeded.  The  black  moment  passed. 
She  made  him  read  his  letters  which  were  full — as  it 
happened — of  encouragement;  she  reported  to  him 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  303 

all  the  friendly  and  hopeful  things  that  had  been  said 
to  her,  she  reminded  him  of  the  powerful  friends  he 
had  lately  made.  Before  half  an  hour  was  over  he 
was  his  sanguine,  confident,  boasting  self  again. 

But  that  night  Caroline  slept  little.  Some  of  the 
things  Alec  had  said  went  echoing  dismally  through 
her  mind.  Nonsense! — nonsense!  She  pushed  them 
from  her.  Alec  forsake  her? — leave  her  alone?  He 
never  would!  His  talk  had  been  the  mere  passing 
extravagance  of  a  tired  man. 

Cabinet-making  went  merrily  on.  There  was  first 
the  inner  Cabinet — the  half  dozen  men  about  whom 
nobody  doubted;  they  were  in  constant  communica- 
tion with  the  new  Prime  Minister,  grinding  other 
people's  axes,  since  their  own  were  safe.  Then  came 
the  middle  line,  the  men  who  wanted  more  than  they 
were  worth,  and  vowed  they  would  take  nothing  less ; 
among  them,  perhaps,  Washington  found  his  hardest 
task.  And  finally  there  was  the  large  border  throng, 
made  up  of  the  new  men  of  ability,  and  the  old  medi- 
ocrities, struggling  for  the  minor  offices.  And  it  was 
here  especially  that  women  came  in — the  mothers  and 
the  wives,  whose  letters  and  intrigues  and  cajoleries 
made  the  new  Premier's  life  a  burden  to  him. 

Every  day  the  newspapers  contained  long  lists  of 
the  embryo  Government,  and  every  day  the  list  of 
certainties — men  who  had  found  their  billet — grew 
longer,  and  the  list  of  doubtfuls,  names  with  a  query 
after  them,  grew  shorter.  In  this  latter  section,  day 
after  day,  appeared  the  name  of  Lord  Wing;  as 
representing  now  this,  now  that  office,  for  the  Gov- 
ernment in  the  House  of  Lords. 

Meanwhile  Eltham  House  was  filled  every  night 


304  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

with  a  gossiping,  political  crowd,  all  cheerful  and 
congratulatory.  The  New  Gazette  had  hauled  down 
its  flag  of  attack,  and  was  ingeminating  peace 
and  compromise.  Alec,  under  one  excuse  or  another, 
sat  at  home  in  case  he  should  be  sent  for ;  and  Carrie 
could  hardly  breathe  for  excitement.  Alec's  success 
seemed  so  near ;  a  new  and  honorable  future,  blotting 
out  the  past  and  giving  an  able  man  his  chance,  ap- 
peared so  certain;  she  already  felt  herself  forgiven 
and  restored;  readmitted  above  all  to  that  world  of 
good  women  which  had  cast  her  out.  Not  all  at 
once,  of  course — ^but  by  degrees.  And  then  surely 
John  would  be  less  cruel  about  Carina!  She 
thought  with  hunger  of  the  child,  and  of  Lord  Mel- 
ton's promise. 

Then,  without  any  warning,  one  or  two  less  favor- 
able signs  began  to  appear.  Some  Liberal  papers, 
of  Dissenting  tendencies,  began  to  publish  articles  on 
the  need  for  exacting  a  high  standard  of  personal 
character  in  the  public  men  of  the  nation;  one  or 
two  Tory  papers,  referring  to  the  Liberal  attacks 
which  had  been  made  on  the  private  affairs  of  a  Tory 
politician  earlier  in  the  year,  allowed  themselves 
mysterious  sarcasms  to  the  effect  that  it  was  easier 
to  be  virtuous  for  other  people  than  for  oneself ;  and 
a  High-Church,  Socialist  weekly,  called  upon  Wash- 
ington in  impassioned  language  not  to  admit  any 
man  with  a  smirched  record  to  his  administration. 
To  appoint  such  a  person  to  any  oflSce  whatever 
would  be  to  challenge  the  conscience  of  the  country. 
After  which,  other  rumors  began  to  creep  about — in 
the  inner  circles.  And  presently  to  some  few  per- 
sons the  affair  began  to  present  itself  as  a  duel — a 
strange  and  silent  duel — between  two  women,  who 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  305 

never  met,  who  were  not  acquainted  with  each  other, 
but  on  whose  rival  power  the  political  career  of  Alec 
Wing  in  truth  depended. 

At  last  one  evening,  after  a  day  marked  by  attacks 
more  numerous  and  outspoken  than  ever  before  on 
the  proposed  admission  to  the  Government  of  a 
''co-respondent  in  a  recent  notorious  divorce  case," 
Robert  Llewellyn  ran  into  Sir  Oliver  Lewson  at  the 
corner  of  St.  James 's  Street. 

"Hullo,  Lewson? — I  was  just  coming  to  look  for 
you.  Can  you  give  me  ten  minutes'  conversation? 
Come  into  the  Park. ' ' 

The  two  men  turned  back  into  the  Mall.  Llewellyn, 
who  was  now  Secretary  for  India,  looked  extremely 
grave  and  worried.  Lewson  guessed — in  a  flash — 
what  was  coming. 

"I  want  you  to  go  and  tell  Lady  Wing" — said 
Llewellyn  abruptly — "now,  if  you  can — at  once! — 
before  she  sees  the  final  list  in  the  papers — that  we  're 
all  awfully  sorry! — but  we  find  it  can't  be  done. 
Washington's  tried  his  best,  but  the  purity  party — 
High  and  Low  Church — have  got  wind  of  the  thing, 
and  the  pressure  on  him  is  simply  extraordinary. 
Letters  arrive  by  every  post  from  the  leaders  of  the 
Dissenting  bodies — Deans — Bishops — clergy — Heaven 
knows  who! — the  whole  black  crew.  And  in  addi- 
tion"— he  lowered  his  voice — "as  of  course  you  know, 
Washington  has  a  preacher  of  his  own — on  the 
hearth!" 

Lewson  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"Naturally,  we  suspected  danger — from  that 
quarter. ' ' 

"In  my  belief  the  whole  difficulty  springs  from 
there — has  been  organized  there,"   said  Llewellyn, 


306  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

with  something  like  vehemence.  "But  one  can't  say 
so  to  Washington.  He's  really  distressed.  He  meant 
to  have  done  it — for  Jier  sake,  chiefly.  I  can  venture 
to  say  that  to  you !  But  we  can't  break  up  the  party. 
You  know  what  English  people  are — how  a  thing  of 
this  kind,  a  trifle  with  no  bearing  at  all  on  the  main 
issues — becomes  a  main  issue  before  you  know  where 
you  are — and  the  whole  pitch  is  queered.  But  some 
of  us  wish  a  certain  lady  and  her  crew  at  the  bottom 
of  the  sea ! ' ' 

*'So — it's  all  settled?"  said  Lewson  after  a  pause. 

**I'm  afraid  so.  It's  spoiled  the  whole  of  this  ex- 
citing and  otherwise  most  satisfactory  week — for  me. 
A  constituency  was  out  of  the  question.  But  this 
was  different.  I  thought  we  could  just  have  done 
it,  and  I  believe  it  would  have  been  the  making  of 
the  man.  However — ^to  be  honest — it  wasn't  him  I 
cared  about." 

"Poor  lady!"  said  Lewson  softly — "Poor  brave 
lady!" 

Lewellyn  nodded, — ^with  a  countenance  of  distress. 

"She'll  have  a  time  of  it  with  Wing,  before  she's 
done.  He's  extremely  able — that  we've  all  found  out 
— but  absolutely  violent  and  unbalanced.  However, 
I  oughtn't  to  say  these  things  to  you." 

Lewson  smiled  queerly.  He  too  was  beginning  to 
find  his  agent's  task  no  easy  one. 

"Say  what  you  like." 

"No  use!  I  suppose  money  goes  to  some  men's 
heads — like  champagne.  It  makes  them  insolent 
fools.  Wing  might  get  all  he  wants  by  time  and 
diplomacy.  And  he  won't  try  either.  But  please 
go  and  warn  her — at  once!  That's  why  I  stopped 
you." 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  307 

The  voice,  the  small  round  eyes  were  full  of  con- 
cern.   Never  was  there  a  more  disturbed  philosopher. 

"I  saw  Wing  at  the  Club  just  now." 

Llewellyn  assented. 

**He  was  there.  Possibly  Washington's  letter  will 
find  him  there.  I  left  the  Prime  writing  it — ^twenty 
minutes  ago — we'd  had  a  long  discussion — and  the 
messenger  would  have  instructions  to  track  Wing 
down  and  deliver  it." 

Lewson  opened  his  eyes. 

''It's  got  as  far  as  that?" 

**Yes — I  believe  so,"  said  Llewellyn  reluctantly. 
** Washington  had  made  up  his  mind;  and  I  had  his 
leave  to  give  Lady  Wing  warning." 

The  two  men  parted;  and  Lewson  made  his  way 
quickly  along  the  Mall  towards  Eltham  House, 
through  a  March  evening  breathing  spring. 

An  hour  later,  in  a  corner  of  the  great  Liberal  club, 
which  had  been  seething  with  life  and  excitement  all 
these  critical  days,  Alec  Wing  received  and  read  a 
letter — short,  kind,  regretful,  but  decided — from  the 
Prime  Minister. 

Having  read  it,  its  recipient  thrust  it  into  his 
pocket,  and  pushing  his  way  blindly  through  the 
groups  in  the  Club  smoking-room,  he  went  out  into 
the  mild  spring  air.  Walking  through  back  streets 
he  made  his  way  across  Piccadilly  and  into  Mayfair. 
Then  he  stopped  at  a  small  house  in  St.  John  Street, 
and  knocked  at  the  door.  A  maid  opened  it,  who 
smiled  discreetly  at  the  sight  of  Lord  Wing,  as  though 
at  something  familiar. 

''Is  Mrs.  Whitton  at  home?" 

' '  Oh  yes,  my  lord.   Will  you  please  walk  upstairs  ? ' ' 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Mrs.  Whitton  was  not  in  the  drawing-room,  and 
Alec  "Wing  stood  waiting  for  her,  hat  in  hand. 

His  eyes  wandered  round  the  room.  How  familiar 
it  had  grown!  All  the  same  he  hated  it.  It  was 
associated  with  all  that  he  now  wished  to  forget. 

Carrie  had  known  nothing  of  his  visits  there,  had 
believed,  innocent  as  she  was,  that  he  and  Madge 
Whitton  no  longer  saw  each  other.  WeU?  He  had 
not  betrayed  his  wife — he  had  done  nothing  irrep- 
arable— 80  he  angrily  assured  himself.  Madge 
Whitton  had  suited  him;  had  been  of  use  to  him. 
Carrie  was  so  absurdly  romantic  and  fastidious;  al- 
ways objecting  to  this  or  that.  Madge  was  a  woman 
of  the  world ;  and  knew  that  no  omelets  could  be  made 
without  eggs.  She  understood  the  shadier  sides  of 
people ;  no  insipid  belief  in  human  nature  in  her ! 

All  the  same,  she  Tiad  suited  him,  and  suited  the 
campaign — the  horrid  campaign — he  had  been 
waging.  He  and  she,  and  that  chap  Donovan — rather 
a  comfort  by  the  way  to  be  rid  of  him,  and  his  daily 
lectures  and  liberties ! — had  really  planned  the  attack, 
week  by  week,  in  that  room,  discussing  especially  a 
number  of  private  matters  relating  to  individuals; 
how  to  bribe  one  man ;  how  to  threaten  another ;  dirty 
work,  most  of  it!    Wing's  pride  looked  back  upon  it 

308 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  309 

with  abhorrence.  But  Madge  had  shown  herself  ex- 
traordinarily clever  over  it.  Nothing  tangible — 
nothing  to  be  traced — and  apparently  great  success. 
Apparently! — for  after  all  what  had  come  of  it? 
His  cup  was  filled  to  overflowing  with  bitterness  and 
wounded  vanity. 

And  Madge  ?  Well,  he  had  paid  handsomely.  All 
her  debts  were  settled ;  her  investments  changed ;  her 
income  nearly  trebled.  He  had  heaped  gifts  upon 
her;  and  was  uneasily  conscious  that  a  certain  num- 
ber of  people  knew  it. 

But  as  to  anything  else?  Well,  that  was  her  fault 
— if  "anything  else"  had  happened.  He  thought, 
with  discomfort,  of  his  leave-taking  from  her  on  the 
occasion  of  his  last  visit  to  her — three  days  before. 
Suddenly — near  that  door — she  with  her  back  to  it 
had  said — ''Kiss  me — ^Alec!" — hungrily,  perempto- 
rily; and  he  taken  aback — confused — flattered — had 
stooped  and  kissed  her.  Then,  with  a  sudden  sob 
and  fluttering  breath,  she  had  let  him  go ;  and  he  had 
walked  away  feeling  himself  a  great  fool  and  angry 
with  her.  He  had  never  made  love  to  her ;  he  vowed 
he  hadn't;  not  more,  at  any  rate,  than  any  man 
must,  under  the  circumstances.  She  couldn't  have 
misunderstood  him ;  she  was  too  old  a  hand. 

And  in  the  evening  he  had  written  to  her  apologiz- 
ing for  his  behavior — "which  mustn't  spoil  our 
friendship!"  It  seemed  to  him  the  best  thing  he 
could  do.    There  had  been  no  reply. 

And  now  this  was  the  last  time  they  would  meet — 
for  a  long,  long  time.  But  this  visit  he  owed  her. 
She  had  been  a  stanch  ally! 

A  sound  at  the  door.  She  came  in  slowly — in 
a  pale  purple  dress,  her  fair  hair  catching  the  light. 


310  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"How  do  you  do!  Alack! — ^I  know.  Penwenack 
has  written  to  me.    I'm  awfully  sorry." 

She  spoke  in  a  slow  tired  voice;  and  he  saw  that 
she  was  very  pale. 

"Well  nobody  could  have  fought  for  me  better 
than  you,"  he  said,  as  he  touched  a  languid  hand. 

"Yes,  I  did  my  best."  She  sank  into  a  chair;  and 
he  found  one  not  far  off.  But  his  eyes  avoided  hers. 
He  did  not  want  to  see  what  was  in  them ;  he  wanted 
to  get  away.  Yet  they  sat  and  talked  a  while,  about 
the  persons  and  forces  that  had  after  all  won  the 
victory — a  spiritless  talk. 

"And  what  are  you  going  to  do  now?"  she  asked, 
after  a  pause. 

"I  shall  take  myself  off  somewhere — the  farther 
the  better." 

"Won't  that  seem  like — running  away?" 

"I  don't  care  a  devil's  halfpenny — ^if  it  does!"  he 
said  bitterly.  "  I  'm  sick  of  London  for  a  bit.  I  shan  't 
stay  here  to  be  jeered  at." 

"Well,  you've  plenty  of  places  to  go  to!"  She 
smiled  faintly. 

"Oh,  I  shall  get  out  of  England!  I've  just  tele- 
graphed to  the  yacht.  I  sent  orders  to  get  her  ready 
some  weeks  ago — in  case.  I  shall  do  some  climbing 
in  the  Andes — shake  the  cobwebs  out  of  one 's  brain. ' ' 

He  rose  as  he  spoke,  and  she  saw  him,  sharply  out- 
lined against  the  western  light  which  was  streaming  in 
through  a  bow  window.  A  splendid  figure  of  a  man, 
with  the  piled  curls  and  aquiline  features  of  an 
Apollo ;  doubly  splendid  in  this  golden  twilight,  which 
magnified  the  whole,  while  it  disguised  the  details ;  the 
arrogance  in  the  eyes,  the  sensuous  obstinacy  of  the 
mouth. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  311 

But  Madge  Whitton  saw  only  the  Apollo — ^the  man 
whose  physical  attraction  had  slowly  and  fatally  cap- 
tured her  through  the  weeks  and  months  of  the  winter 
and  spring.  She  too  rose,  and  for  one  moment  the 
impulse  was  on  her  to  throw  herself  into  his  arms, 
and  so  test  at  last  what  her  woman's  power  might  be. 
And  it  was  as  though  he  divined  it — and  feared  it. 
For  he  stepped  backward.  She  read  the  movement; 
she  remembered  his  letter,  his  cold,  shuffling  letter; 
and  with  a  lif e-and-death  effort  she  recovered  her  self- 
control.  After  all,  what  had  she  ever  expected  from 
him?  Had  he  ever  really  been  in  love  with  anybody, 
except  himself?  As  for  his  campaign,  she  had  never 
really  believed  in  it  for  an  hour. 

**So  it's  good-by — for  a  long  time?"  She  held  out 
her  hand. 

**  Possibly.  I  want  to  thank  you  awfully  for  what 
you've  done.  I  shall  never  forget  it.  When  I'm  far 
away  I  shall  write  and  tell  you  what  I  feel.  And 
mind  you  let  me  know — if  you  want  anything. ' ' 

"You've  given  me  too  much  already,"  she  said, 
with  a  forced  laugh,  her  hand  still  in  his.  ''When 
you're  far  away  you'll  think  of  me  as  a  grasping 
woman  who  got  money  out  of  you ! ' ' 

''I  shan't — I  never  shall!"  he  said,  in  rather  irri- 
table embarrassment,  the  color  rushing  into  his  face. 
"You  mustn't  say  such  things!  I  shall  always  think 
of  you  as  the  kindest  of  friends." 

"And  the  most  useless!"  she  said,  with  a  great 
sigh — which  seemed  to  him  theatrical.  Their  hands 
dropped  apart.  "Good-by.  Bon  voyage! — and  all 
the  adventures  that  are  good  for  you!  I  suppose 
Lady  Wing  goes  with  you?  " 

"I  am  going  alone." 


312  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

She  was  conscious  of  a  fierce  satisfaction.  If  she 
had  been  no  use,  no  more  had  his  wife,  for  all  her 
famous  salon.  Then,  half  turned  away,  her  head  over 
her  shoulder,  with  a  graceful  half-mocking  gesture 
that  became  her,  she  waved  her  hand  to  him  as  he 
left  the  room. 

She  waited  till  the  hall-door  closed.  Then  for  long, 
she  sat  motionless  on  the  edge  of  a  sofa,  staring  into 
the  sunset,  seeing  nothing,  unless  it  were  the  mental 
image  of  the  man  who  had  lately  stood  there.  Her 
whole  nature  was  in  a  grip  of  suffering,  ugly  unex- 
pected suffering;  as  though  she  had  been  caught 
unawares  and  crushed.  Looking  back  over  the  year 
that  had  passed,  she  knew  that  almost  from  the  first 
moment  of  their  re-acquaintance  she  had  meant  to 
possess  herself  of  Alec  "Wing,  to  appeal  to  him,  not 
only  through  her  wits,  but  through  his  senses.  His 
wealth  had  excited  in  her  a  greed  for  money  and 
luxury ;  and  his  political  obligation  to  her  had  pleased 
her  vanity,  and  tickled  ambition.  But  there  had  been 
a  good  deal  more  than  that  in  it — a  good  deal  more. 
She  had  worked  precious  hard  for  him ;  though  lately 
without  hope  of  success. 

And  the  net  result  of  it  all  was  this  dumb  tumult 
of  mind  and  heart;  wounded  pride  and  wounded 
feeling  struggling  in  darkness.  She  had  fallen  in 
love  with  this  man,  all  the  more  desperately  because 
nothing  but  that  one  kiss  had  ever  passed  between 
them.  And  from  beginning  to  end  she  had  meant 
no  more  to  him  than  an  agent  and  go-between! — 
that  was  now  clear.  He  had  paid  her  handsomely — 
and  escaped  her!  The  thought  of  his  instinctive  re- 
treat returned  upon  her  again  and  again,  and  the 
humiliation  of  it  burned  within  her. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  313 

Yet  after  a  while  the  cynic  in  her  recovered  some 
command.  Nothing  fatal  had  happened.  She  had 
not  given  herself  away — ^to  anybody  but  him.  Her 
debts  were  paid,  her  income  doubled.  In  time  this 
miserable  ache  would  get  better,  in  time — "I  shall 
forget  all  about  him!  And  meanwhile  his  beautiful 
wife  has  no  more  hold  over  him  than  I."  He  was 
not  going  to  take  that  fair  lady  with  him  in  his  flight 
from  London.  That  made  the  only  pleasing  point  in 
a  dark  horizon. 

Whereupon  she  went  to  the  mirror  over  the  mantel- 
piece, put  her  hair  straight,  and  arranged  various 
laces  and  folds  of  her  bodice,  carefully  examining  her 
white  face  and  dark-rimmed  eyes  the  while;  after 
which,  when  her  elderly  cousin,  and  paying  guest 
descended  ready  for  dinner,  in  complete  ignorance 
of  course  of  all  that  had  happened,  Madge  suddenly 
remembered  a  theater  engagement  for  nine  o'clock, 
and  instead  of  telephoning  and  retiring  to  bed  with  a 
headache,  forced  herself  to  go  and  put  on  her  best 
gown,  and  to  order  the  car  which  Wing  had  given  her. 

Meanwhile,  in  the  yellow  drawing-room  at  Eltham 
House,  Durrant  and  Joyce  Allen  sat  uneasily  talking. 
Durrant  had  just  come  back  from  a  fortnight's  train- 
ing in  camp,  and  had  the  lean  wholesome  look  of  a 
man  who  had  been  rising  at  five  o'clock,  riding  for 
hours  in  the  open  air,  and  sleeping  the  soldier's  sleep. 
It  seemed  to  him  on  the  contrary  that  Miss  Allen  had 
grown  extremely  thin,  and  looked  as  though  London 
were  taking  the  life  out  of  her.  But  the  same  thought 
was  in  both  their  minds.  What  was  Sir  Oliver  talk- 
ing about  in  her  sitting-room  with  Lady  Wing? 

Not  that  Durrant  was  much  in  doubt  as  to  the 


314  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

situation.  He  had  come  across  various  men  in  the 
course  of  the  afternoon  who  had  told  him  confidently 
that  Lord  Wing's  name  would  not  appear  in  the 
completed  list  of  Washington 's  Administration,  which 
would  be  in  all  the  newspapers  on  the  morrow.  He 
had  communicated  his  information  to  Joyce,  and  she 
had  said  simply — "I'm  very  sorry!"  But  Durrant 
didn't  believe  that  she  was  sorry  for  Wing — or  sorry 
for  the  country.  He  was  tolerably  sure  that  Joyce's 
little  white  soul  was  all  for  rigor  in  such  things.  But 
she  was  sorry — as  he  was — desperately  sorry! — for  a 
woman,  whose  daily  happiness  depended,  apparently, 
on  Wing's  getting  everything  he  wanted.  Joyce  gave 
him  a  low-voiced  account  of  the  preceding  weeks,  the 
perpetual  effort  and  strain  of  them — Caroline 's  fever- 
ish absorption  in  the  campaign — her  triumphs  in  one 
direction — her  mortifications  or  rebuffs  in  another. 

"Of  course  it's  made  people  more  bitter  against 
her, ' '  said  the  girl  sadly. 

"Of  course,"  Durrant  assented.  And  the  look 
of  sympathy  in  his  kind  bronzed  face  upset  Joyce's 
discretion. 

"She  thinks  of  him — ^nothing  but  him — morning, 
noon,  and  night,"  she  cried — her  eyes  blinking  with 
sudden  tears.    "While  he — " 

"Never  thinks  of  her  at  all!  Don't  I  know  it!" 
said  Durrant  gloomily.  *  *  The  question  is  now — what 
can  she  do  with  him?" 

As  he  spoke,  the  door  leading  from  the  yellow 
drawing-room  into  Caroline's  special  sanctum  opened, 
and  Caroline  came  in,  with  Sir  Oliver. 

She  was  talking  fast.  Her  eyes  were  shining  and  her 
cheeks  pink.  "Good-by,  dear  Sir  Oliver — good-by! 
A  thousand  thanks.    I  '11  think  of  all  you  say. ' ' 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  315 

She  gave  him  her  hand;  he  hesitated  a  moment; 
then  bent  over  it,  and  kissed  it.  After  which  he 
walked  out  of  the  room  apparently  unconscious  of  the 
two  other  persons  there. 

But  Caroline  came  towards  them,  pressing  her 
hands  to  her  eyes. 

*'Sir  Oliver  tells  me  it's  no  good,"  she  said,  in  a 
voice  that  quivered  slightly,  her  eyes  still  hidden: 
"I'm  afraid  Alec  will  be  dreadfully  disappointed." 

**Alec  must  buck  up!"  said  Durrant  with  a 
cousinly  bluntness,  as  he  sprang  up  to  get  a  chair  for 
her.  "What  does  it  matter!  He  has  everything  in 
the  world  a  man  can  want.  What  wouldn't  a  lot  of 
fellows  give  to  be  in  his  shoes  for  a  year !  And  heaps 
to  do — if  he  would  only  do  it!" 

Carrie  did  not  reply.  She  sat  with  her  hand  in 
Joyce's,  looking  restlessly  about  her. 

' '  I  wonder  where  he  will  have  heard  it  ? "  she  said, 
as  though  to  herself.    '  *  He  ought  to  be  in  soon. ' ' 

The  next  minute  she  sprang  from  her  seat  and  went 
to  the  fire  as  though  shivering. 

"Why  don't  they  turn  on  the  heat  properly?" 
she  said  fretfully.  "But  it's  the  house.  You  can't 
warm  such  a  place  as  this.  It's  too  big — ^too  big 
for  anyone.  If  I  were  Alec  I'd  turn  it  into  a 
hospital. ' ' 

And  she  crouched  over  the  fire  spreading  her  deli- 
cate hands  to  the  blaze.  Durrant  came  to  stand 
beside  her,  his  heart  full  of  compassion. 

"You've  found  a  use  for  it!"  he  said  kindly. 

"What — my  salon  f  She  laughed.  "It  gives  me 
no  pleasure,  Jim.  I  should  be  much  happier  in  a 
small  house  with  just  a  few  friends." 

"You    want    a    rest,"    said    Durrant    decidedly. 


316  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"Why  don't  yon  take  Alec  abroad? — clear  out  of  Lon- 
don for  a  bit.  There's  that  yacht  eating  its  head  off 
at  Southampton." 

Caroline  turned  her  head  suddenly — as  though  she 
heard  a  footstep.  Nor  did  her  instinct  mislead  her. 
The  door  opened,  and  Alec  Wing  came  in. 

He  stopped  abruptly  on  the  threshold,  looking  with 
annoyance  at  his  cousin  and  Joyce  Allen.  Joyce 
gathered  up  her  work  and  letters,  and  fled  hastily. 
Durrant  stood  his  ground,  as  Wing  came  forward. 

"Awfully  sorry,  Alec,  that  you  haven't  pulled  it 
off.    Better  luck  next  time ! " 

"Well,  that's  not  my  point  of  view,"  said  Wing 
shortly.  "But  I  won't  argue  it. — So  you've  heard?" 
he  turned  to  his  wife  with  a  somber  countenance. 

"Sir  Oliver  came  in,  Alec,"  she  said,  as  though 
she  excused  herself.    "Mr.  Llewellyn  sent  him." 

"Damned  officious!"  was  the  sharp  reply.  "Well, 
Carrie,  I  have  a  lot  to  say  to  you. ' ' 

Durrant  took  the  hint,  and  departed,  throwing  a 
last  look  at  Carrie,  as  she  lay  back  in  her  chair,  her 
eyes  fixed  on  Alec — eyes  full  of  shrinking,  of  love,  of 
entreaty. 

The  young  soldier  went  downstairs  possessed  by  a 
strong  desire  to  kick  something  or  somebody.  From 
the  look  of  him  Alec  was  bent  on  being  disagreeable 
to  his  wife  by  way  of  paying  his  scores  against  other 
people.  What  a  fool! — ^what  an  incredible  fool! — 
charging  the  world,  head  down,  like  any  mad  bull — 
because  he  could  not  at  once  get  his  own  way.  "We 
can't  have  licked  him  half  enough  at  Eton!  And  yet 
I  remember  taking  a  hand."  For  when  Durrant  had 
been  in  the  Sixth,  Alec  had  been  a  Lower  Boy,  in  the 
same  house,  and  had  been  duly  "worked  off"  by  his 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  317 

elders  on  two  or  three  occasions  for  outrageous 
behavior.  Clearly  a  great  deal  more  had  been 
wanted. 

''WeU,  Carrie,  so  that's  done  with!"  said  Wing, 
standing  on  the  hearth-rug  beside  his  wife,  his  hands 
in  his  pockets. 

As  he  spoke,  a  footman  noiselessly  entered  the 
room,  in  order  to  draw  the  curtains  and  make  up  the 
fire.    Wing  turned  on  him  with  fury. 

"Can't  I  ever  be  left  alone!  Go,  sir,  and  don't 
come  back  till  you're  rung  for." 

The  footman  made  a  hasty  exit.  Carrie  flushed 
hotly,  and  then  restrained  herself. 

''They  say" — her  voice  was  low  and  bitter — 
"that  Mrs.  Washington  has  done  it.  She's  stirred 
up  people  in  London — in  Manchester — Birmingham — 
all  over.  Mr.  Washington 's  been  flooded  with  letters. 
He  would  have  done  it — ^he  wanted  to  do  it — ^but 
she — wouldn't  let  him.  It  is  strange  she  should  hate 
us — hate  me — so ! ' ' 

And  again,  Carrie  covered  her  eyes  with  her  hands. 

"Why  of  course  I  know  all  that!"  said  Wing 
impatiently.  "And  it's  not  the  least  strange.  We 
always  knew  that  woman  would  do  her  worst.  But 
we  thought  that  we  had  got  the  better  of  her  clique — 
cut  their  claws — that  Washington  would  think  it  on 
the  whole  better  policy  to  square  us  than  to  square 
them.  Well,  we've  failed — she's  won — all  along  the 
line.  And  for  me  it's  decisive.  If  I'm  a  'co-re- 
spondent in  a  notorious  divorce  case'  now,  and  the 
fact  is  going  to  bar  me  from  political  life,  it'll  be 
no  different  a  year — two  years — three  years  hence. 
There'll  always  be  some  old  cats  on  the  watch — ^male 


318  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

and  female.  And  I  could  never  bring  myself  to  lick 
their  paws  again,  as  I've  done  this  year.  It's 
sickening  to  think  of.  No — ^it's  done  with — it's  done 
with!" 

He  spoke  with  terrible  violence,  and  as  he  paced 
up  and  down,  the  force  of  passion  in  him  silenced 
and  almost  paralyzed  his  wife.  It  was  with  difficulty 
she  managed  to  say — imploringly — 

"But,  Alec — there's  so  much  else!" 

He  turned  upon  her — 

'  *  What  is  there — that  I  care  about  ?  What  is  there 
— ^for  a  man  in  my  position — with  a  political  family 
behind  him — and  our  English  traditions — what  game 
is  there  worth  playing — but  politics?  Don't  talk 
nonsense,  Carrie !  If  I  were  an  American,  I  suppose 
I  might  be  a  Mugwump  and  not  mind.  But  an  Eng- 
lishman of  my  class — what  is  there,  but  politics? 
They  won't  have  me  in  the  Army — they  won't  have 
me  in  the  House  of  Commons — and  if  I  were  to  claim 
my  rights  at  Court — ^if  I  had  claimed  them  the  other 
day  in  the  Lords'  procession, — Court  flunkeys  would 
insult  me.  Here  I  am,  married — by  the  law  of  the 
land — with  ten  times  as  clean  a  record,  if  you  come 
to  that,  as  half  the  men — aye,  and  the  women  too! — 
who  are  hounding  us  out  of  public  life.  I  have  the 
wish  to  serve  my  country,  and  the  power  to  serve  my 
country;  and  a  parcel  of  damned  Pharisees  make  it 
impossible.  And  perhaps  you  don't  realize  the  humili- 
ation of  it!  I  admit  I  have  played  high,  and  I  have 
lost — you  and  I  have  lost — in  the  sight  of  the  whole 
country.     It  doesn't  matter  to  you — " 

' '  Alec ! "  It  was  a  cry  of  one  wounded  to  the  heart. 
But  in  his  bitter  agitation  it  did  not  stop  him. 

"How  can  it  matter  to  you — in  the  same  way! 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  319 

What  does  a  little  social  boycotting  matter,  to  you — 
or  to  me?  We  can  snap  our  fingers  at  that.  It's 
the  spoiling  a  man's  career — the  refusal  of  public 
openings  and  opportunities  to  a  man  who  could  use 
them  well,  to  please  a  lot  of  canting  hypocrites,  that 's 
the  damnable,  the  unpardonable  thing!"  He  struck 
his  hand  on  the  table  beside  her.  "I  can't  stand  it, 
Carrie.  I'm  going  out  of  this.  I  can't  meet  these 
men  in  the  street — or  the  Club.  I'm  not  going 
to  dine — or  smoke — or  shoot  with  them.  I've 
had  a  sickening  of  London — and  the  country  too. 
I  wash  my  hands  of  England,  and  the  whole 
business ! ' ' 

' '  Alec ! — think  of  the  estates — all  we  might  do  there. 
Come  down  with  me  to  the  country — ^let's  live  our 
own  life — depend  on  ourselves!" 

She  held  out  her  hands  to  him,  entreating.  But 
he  shook  his  head. 

'  *  How  am  I  ever  to  get  away  from  what 's  happened 
— away  from  politics?  They'll  want  my  money — my 
influence  all  the  same — though  I  am  a  pariah.  Thank 
you!  No! — I'm  going  out  of  sight  and  sound  of  it 
all — to  freedom  and  the  backwoods ! ' ' 

And  throwing  himself  into  a  chair,  he  lit  a  cigarette 
with  a  hand  that  shook.  She  sprang  up,  and  ran 
across  to  him,  kneeling  beside  him. 

' '  Alec, — what  do  you  mean  ? ' ' 

Her  terror  was  in  her  face. 

"Don't  make  a  scene,  Carrie!  It  will  be  much 
better  for  you  to  let  me  go.  I  've  been  a  beast  to  you 
lately — I  know  that.  I  should  only  make  you  misera- 
ble if  I  stayed.  I  shall  come  back  of  course — when 
I've  had  time  to  think  things  over." 

"Where  are  you  going,  Alec?" 


320  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"I've  told  the  yacht  to  be  at  Southampton,  the  day 
after  to-morrow.  There's  an  old  pal  of  mine  in  the 
Guards — Charlie  Wells — who  knows  South  America, 
has  done  some  climbing  in  the  Andes,  and  that  kind  of 
thing.  He  says  he'll  come  with  me.  The  point  is — 
to  drop  Europe  out  of  sight  for  a  bit ! " 

"And  your  wife.  Alec?"  She  rose  and  stood 
beside  him,  her  hands  behind  her. 

"We've  got  to  think  out  our  lives  again,"  he  said 
obstinately.  "I  admit  you've  done  all  you  could  to 
help  me." 

But  the  tone  was  strangely  grudging.  Every  word 
hurt. 

"You  mean — you  really  are — going  away  alone? — 
that  I  majm't  come  with  you?" 

"I  shall  do  better  alone.  If  you're  wise,  Carrie, 
you  won't  make  a  fuss." 

"And  how  long  will  you  be  away?" 

"Oh  I  don't  know — six  months  certainly — perhaps 
a  year ! ' ' 

She  grew  deadly  white. 

"And  what  am  I  to  do?" 

"You  will  have  everything  you  can  possibly  want. 
Lewson  will  be  at  your  orders.  You  can  live  where 
you  please — here  or  in  the  country.  There'll  be 
plenty  of  money." 

She  moved  on  slowly  over  the  polished  floor,  her 
hands  still  behind  her,  her  eyes  on  the  ground.  There 
was  silence  till  turning  she  came  back  to  him. 

"Alec — were  you  ever  really  in  love  with  me?" 

The  words  came  quietly — ^but  brokenly. 

A  reply — dictated  by  the  brutality  of  wounded 
pride — ^leaped  out. 

"Well,  I  think  I  risked  enough  for  you,  Carrie!" 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  321 

"Too  much — ^you  think  now?" 

"Nonsense!" 

"No,  it's  not  nonsense!"  she  said,  drawing  her 
breath  with  difficulty. — ' '  You  are  sorry  now  you  ever 
met  me — sorry  you  ever  persuaded  me.  For  you  did 
persuade  me,  Alec.  It  was  not  I  who  begged  and 
prayed  in  those  days.  You  think — in  your  heart  of 
hearts — that  I've  ruined  your  life — that  I  tempted 
you — and  ruined  you !  I  who  gave  up  my  children — 
my  good  name — relations — friends — everything ! — for 
you — my  Dicky ! — Carina ! ' ' — Her  voice  choked.  She 
pressed  her  hands  to  her  breast,  trying  to  keep  down 
the  actual  physical  storm.  "What  do  you  suppose 
your  money — or  your  great  houses — really  matter  to 
me?  What '11  this  house  be  to  me — when  you're  gone 
— ^but  a  ghastly  sham  and  weariness!  Oh,  I've  been 
so  tired — so  tired — for  months!" — she  wrung  her 
hands,  piteously,  unconsciously. — "But  I  could  do 
anything — face  anything — for  you,  so  long  as  you 
loved  me.  And  now  instead  of  our  facing  this  to- 
gether— helping  each  other — clinging  together  all  the 
closer, — because  of  those  who  condemn  and  despise 
us — you  are  going  to  leave  me  alone — to  bear  every- 
thing— without  you.  But  I  'm  not  fit  to  bear  it  alone. 
Alec — I  haven't  the  strength.  You  offered  me  hap- 
piness— and  I  took  it — because  I  was  weak — and 
couldn't  stand  alone.  It's  unkind,  what  you  propose 
— it's  cruel.  Why  mayn't  I  come  with  you?  Should 
I  ever  reproach  you  or  jeer  at  you?" 

"No — but  you  would  remind  me,"  he  said  stub- 
bornly. *  *  We  should  talk  the  beastly  thing  over,  and 
we  should  always  have  it  in  our  minds.  I  want  to  get 
quit  of  it!" 

"And  of  me!"  she  said,  under  her  breath.    There 


322  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

was  a  forlorn  passion  in  the  words  which  almost 
moved  him.    But  he  braced  himself  against  it. 

"Of  everybody — for  a  time.  Let  me  go,  Carrie, 
or  I'm  afraid  you'll  repent  it.  And  the  sooner  I  go 
the  sooner  I  shall  come  back." 

She  pleaded  and  argued  a  while  longer;  but 
wholly  in  vain.  Then  there  came  a  moment,  when 
she  suddenly  ceased  to  wrestle  with  him;  when  a 
silent  despair  seized  upon  her;  and  the  inglorious 
fight  was  won. 

Nor  did  anyone  else  avail  anything.  Lewson  and 
Durrant  tried  their  best;  but  Lewson 's  hands  were 
tied  by  his  position  as  agent,  and  Durrant 's  by  the 
peremptory  necessity  for  doing  nothing  which  could 
jeopardize  Joyce  Allen's  position  in  Wing's  house, 
and  at  Carrie's  side.  A  quarrel  between  him  and 
Alec  would  have  led  to  some  insolence  towards  Joyce 
which  must  have  dislodged  her,  and  so  despoiled  Lady 
Wing.  For  he  knew  very  well  that  Wing  had  guessed 
his  affection  for  Carrie's  young  cousin,  thought  him 
a  fool,  and  would  probably  say  so,  on  small  provoca- 
tion. And  to  tell  the  truth,  he  was  not  sure  enough 
yet  of  his  chances  with  Joyce  to  risk  an  upheaval. 

The  Duchess  came  in — furious — and  told  Wing 
some  home  truths,  which  he  took  with  philosophy, 
she  being  his  aunt  and  a  Duchess.  But  her  on- 
slaughts did  not  move  him. 

Three  days  of  feverish  preparations,  and  he  was 
gone.  On  the  night  before  his  departure,  Caroline 
who  had  become  a  pale  and  speechless  ghost,  the 
pity  of  all  who  watched  her,  for  the  first  time  in  their 
joint  lives,  shut  her  door  against  her  husband.  She 
spent  the  night  in  a  chair  beside  the  fire,  sleepless 
and  motionless,  haunted  by  visions  of  the  past,  and 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  323 

seeing  no  hope  in  the  future.  That  Alec  could  do  such 
a  thing — could  resist  her  love,  and  all  her  sorrow — 
broke  the  spring  of  life,  and  in  some  bitter  way  dis- 
solved the  bond  between  them.  Without  love — 
without  the  justification  of  a  great  unbroken  love — 
what  was  she  indeed  but  Alec 's  mistress — an  immoral 
and  dishonored  woman? 

Wing  looked  at  her  the  following  morning  askance, 
but  said  nothing.  They  parted  with  a  formal  kiss, 
she  like  a  stone,  and  when  Joyce,  herself  sobbing, 
led  her  back  into  her  sitting-room,  she  quietly  dis- 
engaged herself  from  the  girl's  tender  clasp,  and 
saying  she  would  rather  be  alone,  she  shut  herself  in 
for  some  hours,  emerging  a  calm  and  lifeless  creature, 
to  whom  no  one  dared  offer  sympathy. 

In  the  evening  arrived  a  note  from  Southampton, 
brought  back  by  messenger.  Caroline  read — "Good- 
by,  Carrie.  I  know  you  think  me  a  brute.  Perhaps 
I  am,  but  I  believe  it  will  be  for  the  best.  If  you 
care  at  all  to  do  what  I  want — I  admit  I  have 
precious  little  right  to  ask  you — you  won't  give  up 
Eltham  House,  and  you'll  go  on  with  your  'evenings.' 
They're  the  only  bit  of  success  we've  managed  be- 
tween us,  so  you  might  as  well  stick  to  them.  But  do 
as  you  like.  The  yacht's  in  splendid  trim,  and  the 
smell  of  the  sea  has  already  put  new  life  into  me. 
Mind  you  go  somewhere  for  Easter.    Good-by." 

A  fortnight  later,  Caroline  found  herself  on  the 
Cornish  coast,  in  a  small  summer  house  which  had 
belonged  to  Alec's  grandmother.  In  the  autumn  she 
had  marked  it  as  a  place  to  breathe  the  spring  in; 
and  she  went  there  blindly,  dragging  her  broken 
wings.    Like  other  stricken  things  she  went  to  hide 


324  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

herself  in  Nature's  quiet  places,  appealing  for  comfort 
to  that  life 

Whose   dumb  aim   is   not  missed. 
If  birth  proceeds,  if  things  subsist. 

She  would  sit  for  hours  in  a  fringe  of  oak-wood  on 
the  end  of  a  cliff,  now  watching  the  glistening  gulls 
inland,  on  the  bits  of  fresh  plowed  field,  and  now  the 
same  gulls  on  the  tide  far  below,  "their  white  breasts 
dancing  on  the  restless  sea."  Sometimes  under  the 
April  sunshine  she  would  lose  herself  among  the 
gorse,  and  the  young  oak-leaf,  and  sometimes  she 
would  go  with  Joyce  further  afield,  take  long  walks 
along  the  coast,  and  talk  to  fishermen  in  the  little 
steep  villages  hidden  in  the  cracks  and  chines  of  the 
cliffs.  But  it  was  all  the  talk  and  the  action  of  an 
automaton;  that  it  had  little  or  nothing  to  do  with, 
the  real  Carrie  was  evident. 

The  real  Carrie  was  drowned — submerged — ^in  a 
perpetual  dream,  a  ceaseless  struggle  of  thought,  of 
which  only  the  rarest  signs  appeared  on  the  surface 
of  the  outer  life.  She  tried  not  to  be  idle,  and  it  was 
during  these  weeks  that  she  made  her  first  serious 
attempts  to  know  the  poor,  and  to  imagine  their  lives. 
The  Cornish  fisherman  has  a  free  soul,  and  gives  it 
away  neither  to  riches  nor  to  rank.  But  she  won 
some  friends  among  them,  who  were  attracted  by  her 
beauty  and  kindness;  men  and  women  who  secretly 
wished  her  "childer,"  to  cheer  her  up.  The  villages 
were  mainly  Methodist,  with  a  good  deal  of  Revival- 
ism going  on,  and  Carrie  would  sometimes  slip  into  a 
chapel  in  some  hamlet  where  she  was  not  likely  to 
be  recognized,  and  listen  to  the  preaching.  It  often 
touched  and  surprised  her;  but  it  was  not  in  these. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  325 

neat  slated  Bethels  that  her  own  "voices"  came  to 
her.  Beside  the  sea — at  night — in  the  woods — she  was 
conscious  again  and  again  of  the  same  mysterious 
Life — appealing  to  life — which  had  first  spoken  to  her 
in  London;  the  gleamings  of  a  spiritual  vision  that 
was  no  sooner  felt  than  it  was  gone.  She  did  not 
know  herself  for  the  same  Carrie  as  the  Carrie  of  the 
winter;  and  she  often  seemed  to  herself  to  have 
stepped  out  from  the  living,  and  to  be  waiting  by  the 
roadside,  for  she  knew  not  what — a  step,  a  light  in 
the  distance? — a  recognition,  or  a  joy,  austere  and 
wonderful,  which  yet  always  escaped  her. 

Occasional  telegrams  came  from  Alec  from  different 
South  American  ports.  But  his  movements  were  so 
uncertain  that  she  could  rarely  do  more  than  cable 
in  reply;  and  indeed  for  a  time  she  did  not  attempt 
to  do  more.  Once  or  twice  she  talked  of  going  back 
to  London  and  re-opening  Eltham  House;  but  she 
was  so  obviously  unfit  for  any  kind  of  effort  that 
Joyce,  and  Lewson — ^Durrant  also,  who  kept  in  as 
constant  touch  with  the  two  ladies  as  his  military 
duties  allowed — did  nothing  to  encourage  the  notion, 
and  it  soon  died  away  again. 

One  evening,  one  glorious  evening  at  the  beginning 
of  May,  before  a  sea  of  rose  and  pearl,  she  was  sitting 
with  a  book  on  her  knee,  one  frail  hand  idly  plucking 
at  a  tuft  of  seagrass  beside  her,  when  the  afternoon- 
letters  were  brought  her.  She  perceived  one  in  Lord 
Merton's  handwriting,  and  opened  it  eagerly. 

"My  deab  Lady  Wing — I  have  at  last  had  an 
opportunity  of  talking  to  Marsworth.  I  regret  to  say 
he  is  obdurate.  I  never  saw  anyone  less  accessible  to 
reason  or  kindness  in  such  a  matter.    Please  believe 


326  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

that  I  did  my  best;  but  he  would  yield  nothing — 
nothing! — as  to  Carina.  Indeed  I  think  that  if  any 
fresh  effort  were  made  to  alter  his  resolution,  he  might 
cut  you  off  from  her  altogether.  He  is  in  a  curious 
restless  state,  half  on  with  Rome  and  half  off.  They 
treat  him  very  gingerly,  and  give  him  all  the  latitude 
they  can.  It  is  important  to  them  to  keep  so  big  a 
capture  if  it  is  any  way  possible.  But  I  doubt  whether 
they  will.  At  present  he  is  up  to  the  neck  in  a  number 
of  religious  controversies  which  seem  to  keep  him 
occupied.  But  it  is  a  dreary  state  of  life,  and  he  is 
an  unhappy  man. 

''You  cannot  know  how  much  I  would  do  and  give 
to  bring  you  pleasure — or  comfort — if  only  for  a  few 
hours.  But  I  am  afraid  you  won't  let  me  do  any- 
thing, and  I  am  a  poor  hand  at  writing.  All  I  know  is 
that  your  friends  in  town  never  forget  you,  and  would 
only  be  too  thankful  if  you  could  show  them  how  to 
serve  you. — I  hope  you  have  good  news  of  Wing." 

Carrie  put  the  letter  down,  and  sat  staring  through 
tears  into  the  crimson  leagues  of  air  and  sea  before 
her.  Her  whole  nature  was  athirst  for  Alec,  athirst 
for  her  child.  ' '  I  must  try  and  live  for  other  things, '  * 
she  said  to  herself.  But  how,  and  for  what?  All 
other  things  seemed  to  have  lost  their  savor;  and 
that  deep  weariness  of  which  she  had  been  conscious 
so  often  during  the  winter  dragged  her  down  like  a 
weight. 

It  was  that  night,  after  Joyce — ^the  faithful  and 
tender — had  left  her,  that  Caroline  was  first  con- 
scious of  the  ill  that  destroyed  her.  Sudden,  sharp 
pain  came  upon  her,  and  the  first  discovery  of  those 
symptoms  that  stand,  for  helpless  mortals,  like  omens 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  327 

of  doom,  between  the  life  that  was  and  the  death  that 
shall  be. 

The  following  day  Joyce  telegraphed  for  the 
Duchess,  who  came  down,  and  behaved  like  the  good 
woman  she  was.  Within  a  week  Caroline  was  in  a 
nursing  home,  and  the  knife  had  done  its  part.  No 
one  knew  where  Alec  Wing  was,  and  she  insisted 
that  no  one  but  herself  should  write  to  him — when 
she  was  able.  After  three  weeks  she  struggled  back 
to  an  ordinary  existence  again,  and  after  another 
fortnight  she  was  walking  about  as  usual,  except  that 
those  who  saw  her  beheld  in  her  only  the  lovely 
shadow  of  her  former  self.  All  that  had  happened 
had  been  kept  profoundly  secret,  and  by  the  begin- 
ning of  June  Carrie  announced  her  jBrm  intention  of 
going  up  to  London,  and  seeing  friends  again  in  the 
old  way  at  Eltham  House. 

''She  can't  do  it,  my  dear,"  said  the  Duchess 
despairingly  to  Joyce.  **But  we  shall  have  to  let  her 
try." 

And  then  remembering  what  the  surgeons  had  said 
to  her,  as  Lady  Wing's  nearest  available  relative,  on 
a  certain  recent  occasion,  she  broke  down  and  cried. 
What  the  surgeons  had  said  she  had  never  reported 
to  Joyce;  and  Joyce  did  not  question  her  now.  The 
girl  sat  still,  her  kind  young  hand  seeking  for  that  of 
the  Duchess.  She  did  not  need  to  ask;  her  love  for 
Carrie  had  taught  her  all  there  was  to  learn. 

''And  where,  I  should  like  to  know,  is  her  worth- 
less husband!"  cried  the  Duchess,  catching  at  anger 
as  the  only  way  out  of  tears.  "And  who  on  earth 
is  going  to  make  that  poker  John  Marsworth  hear 
reason ! ' ' 


CHAPTER  XVII 

It  was  a  Friday  afternoon  in  June;  the  House  of 
Commons  had  risen  early,  and  Washington  and 
Llewellyn  meeting  casually  in  Palace  Yard  walked 
together  across  St.  James's  Park.  London  was  once 
more  decked  in  the  fresh  beauty  of  its  summer  leaf. 
"White  clouds  overhead  in  a  stainless  blue,  leaves 
quivering  in  a  sunlit  air,  white  and  red  hawthorns 
in  the  parks,  lilac  and  laburnums  in  all  the  squares, 
gay  lines  of  shops  and  crowded  streets ;  a  swift  inrush 
of  lights  and  shadows  over  the  stately  offices  in  White- 
hall, the  houses  in  Carlton  House  Terrace  and  the 
distant  line  of  Piccadilly;  a  fragrance  of  mimosa  in 
the  air  from  the  laden  baskets  of  the  flower-sellers; 
fluttering  summer  dresses,  and  everywhere  the  sharp 
recrudescence  of  life  that  comes  with  the  heat: — 
Llewellyn,  as  he  walked,  was  conscious  of  all  these 
things,  as  an  artist  might  have  been.  Washington 
observed  none  of  them ;  he  moved,  absorbed  in  cogita- 
tions of  his  own,  till,  as  they  turned  back  along  the 
Mall,  he  said  abruptly — 

*'l  hear  Eltham  House  is  open  again?" 
"Yes,  Lady  Wing  is  there.    And  I  saw  her  in  Bond 
Street  yesterday." 

**You  saw  her?  Good!"  Washington's  voice  rose 
to  a  higher  key — a  key  of  satisfaction.  "I  heard  a 
horrid  rumor  that  she  had  been  ill." 

328 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  329 

"She  looks  frail;  but  extraordinarily  lovely!  She 
stopped  the  car  and  spoke  to  me. ' ' 

*'6ood!"  said  Washington  again,  with  an  even 
livelier  accent.  "Does  that  mean  that  you  and  I 
may  go  and  see  her — and  that  she  won't  show  us  the 
door?" 

"She  told  me  she  should  be  at  home  to-night,  and 
on  Sunday  as  usual." 

"I  shall  write  to  her  at  once!"  said  "Washington, 
with  decision. 

"Do.  She  told  me  she  had  no  idea  where  Wing 
was.  The  last  word  of  him  came  by  cable  from  Val- 
paraiso, but  he  himself  was  far  inland. ' ' 

Washington's  thin  but  large  mouth  set  con- 
temptuously. 

"Mad  fellow!"  he  said  curtly.  "Of  all  the  in- 
glorious flights  from  a  field  of  battle,  that  was  the 
worst  I  remember.  Yet  I  see  his  newspaper  still 
keeps  up." 

* '  Certainly ! — but  run  by  Donovan  now  in  his  own 
interests.  They  say  he  has  been  adopted  by  some 
Yorkshire  town — I  forget  the  name — and  will  be  in 
Parliament  directly.  You  may  be  quite  sure,  he 
drove  a  stiff  bargain  with  Wing,  financially,  when 
Wing  bought  him.  And  now  he  is  his  own  master, 
with  a  clear  field." 

"Well,  well,  if  I  were  she,  the  more  Andes  Wing 
found  to  climb,  the  better. ' ' 

' '  I  wish  to  Heaven  it  was  as  simple  as  that ! ' '  said 
Llewellyn  with  vehemence. 

' '  You  mean  ? ' ' — Washington  shrugged  his  shoulders 
sadly.  "Well,  I  shall  go  home  and  write  to  her.  She 
needn't  quarrel  with  me.  Nobody,  under  the  circum- 
stances, could  have  written  a  more  civil  letter  than  I 


330  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

wrote  to  Wing.  I  took  particular  pains — for  her  sake 
— to  smooth  him  down. ' ' 

"And  I  wrote  to  her  next  day — ^the  day  the  list 
was  out.  But  she  never  answered  me.  So  I  didn't 
know  yesterday  whether  she  would  cut  me  or  not. 
But  nothing  could  have  been  more  charming." 

There  was  a  softened  tone  of  recollection  in  his 
voice. 

"Well,  we  all  know  how  charming  she  can  be," 
said  Washington  dryly. 

They  walked  on  in  silence,  both  thinking  of  the 
woman  to  whom  they  were  both  so  deeply  and  loyally 
attached;  whom  they  would  both  so  willingly  have 
befriended.  But  what  could  they  do  for  a  woman 
who  wanted  nothing  in  the  wide  world  but  what 
could  not  be  given  her,  even  by  a  Prime  Minister? — 
including,  chiefly,  a  husband  worthy  of  her! 

Washington  reached  the  official  residence  to  find  a 
deserted  house.  His  three  sons  were  all  away  at 
school;  his  wife  was  out.  Avoiding  his  secretaries, 
and  flinging  some  correspondence  which  awaited  him 
on  one  side,  he  sat  down  by  windows  opening  on  the 
garden  to  write  to  Caroline  Wing. 

He  wrote  with  that  ardent  chivalry  and  kindness 
that  some  men  can  feel  for  women;  a  tone  of  mind 
which  owes  nothing  to  passion,  though  something,  no 
doubt,  to  sex.  He  expressed  in  warm  terms  the 
pleasure  that  all  her  friends  would  feel  in  seeing  her 
in  London  again;  hoped  that  none  of  the  rumors 
of  her  having  been  ill  were  true;  asked  after  Wing, 
in  a  few  friendly  words ;  and  then  went  on  to  talk  of 
the  political  situation,  and  his  own  hopes  and  fears  for 
his  Government,  in  a  tone  of  intimacy,  of  complete 
confidence   and   equality,   such   as — coming  from   a 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  331 

Prime  Minister  whose  power  and  reputation  were 
increasing  every  day — could  not  but  flatter  and  please 
the  woman  to  whom  it  was  addressed.  He  greatly 
wished  to  please  her.  There  was  in  his  mind  a 
strange  compunction  and  foreboding  about  her,  which 
he  could  not  at  all  explain — as  though  one  must  hurry 
to  make  her  smile,  to  give  her  pleasure,  before  some- 
thing happened. 

He  finished  the  letter,  read  it  over,  liked  it,  put  it 
up,  and  left  it  for  immediate  posting.  Then  throwing 
himself  into  a  low  chair  beside  the  open  window,  with 
a  cigar,  and  a  book  on  some  recent  Greek  finds  in  the 
Troad,  he  gave  himself  up  to  an  hour 's  rest ;  and  was 
half  asleep  when  his  wife  came  in  upon  him. 

''Richard! — I  thought  I  should  have  been  home 
before  you!"  she  said  in  vexation  as  she  stooped  to 
kiss  him.    "But  I  was  kept." 

**  Committees  ? "  he  said,  with  a  smile,  looking  up 
at  her. 

She  assented  wearily,  and  taking  off  her  hat,  she 
sat  beside  him,  possessing  herself  of  one  of  his  hands, 
and  looking  at  him  with  anxious  affection. 

"You've  had  a  terribly  hard  time,  Richard! — 
you  didn't  get  any  real  holiday  even  at  "Whitsuntide. 
Let  me  take  you  away — down  to  the  cottage — to- 
morrow. ' ' 

"The  cottage" — a  tiny  country  house  on  the 
Surrey  commons — had  been  recently  bought  and 
entirely  arranged  by  the  wife,  as  a  means  of  occa- 
sional escape  for  the  husband  from  the  pressure  of 
office. 

"I  think  I  won't  go  away  to-morrow,"  he  said 
quietly,  with  his  eyes  shut.  "I  want  very  much  to 
go  and  see  Lady  Wing  on  Sunday." 


332  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

Elizabeth  "Washington  flushed  violently — involun- 
tarily.   But  her  husband  did  not  perceive  it. 

"I  saw  you  had  written  to  her,"  she  said,  after  a 
moment. 

"Llewellyn  told  me  she'd  come  to  town,  and  that 
he'd  seen  her.  He  and  I  have  both  been  doubtful 
whether  she  would  ever  speak  to  either  of  us  again. 
But  he  reported  her  as  quite  friendly.  There's  a 
story  she's  been  ill,  and  has  taken  Wing's  going-off 
in  this  absurd  manner  very  much  to  heart.  So  I 
think  I  shall  stay  in  town,  and  pay  her  a  visit  on 
Sunday. ' ' 

He  drew  his  hat  over  his  eyes,  as  though  he  were 
going  to  sleep,  invited  thereto  by  the  quiet  garden, 
and  the  drowsy  warmth  of  the  fine  day.  But  his 
wife  interposed. 

"Don't  you  think,  Richard,  that — might  be  mis- 
understood ? ' ' 

He  made  a  sudden  movement. 

"Misunderstood!  Good  Heavens!  Nobody  can 
suppose  that  Lady  Wing  wants  a  post  in  the  Govern- 
ment !    What  do  you  mean,  Lizzy  ? ' ' 

"Lord  Wing  has  still  a  party — the  remains  of  one. 
Won't  it  be  thought  that — ^well,  that  you're  still 
afraid  of  him?" 

Washington  laughed  contemptuously. 

"I  was  a  great  fool  ever  to  be  afraid  of  him.  I 
might  have  known  he  would  turn  out  in  the  end  to 
be  his  own  worst  enemy.  My  dear  Lizzy,  I  assure 
you  that  nobody  in  the  world  will  trouble  their  heads 
politically,  if  I  attend  Lady  Wing's  Sundays.  Wing 
has  destroyed  himself  and  his  own  movement — neck 
and  crop." 

"All    the    same" — said    Mrs.    Washington,    with 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  333 

gentle  persistence — **I  wish,  Richard,  you  wouldn't 
go." 

Her  husband  opened  his  eyes  wide,  pushed  his  hat 
back  and  surveyed  her.  Her  sudden  color  had  quite 
gone;  and  there  was  that  in  her  face  which  stirred 
a  dormant  pugnacity  in  him. 

*'My  dear — I  have  just  written  to  tell  her  to  expect 
me!" 

"Ought  you— in  your  position?"  she  said  reso- 
lutely. ''You  can't  deny  that  what  you  do  is  impor- 
tant, Richard.  Everybody  will  think  you  approve  of 
such  conduct  as  Lady  Wing 's. ' ' 

"My  dear  Lizzy,  we're  not  all  prigs  and  busybodies, 
meddling  with  each  other's  concerns — as  you  seem  to 
suppose ! "  he  said,  with  some  heat.  ' '  I  repeat  nobody 
will  take  any  notice  of  my  going  to  see  Lady  Wing — 
or  see  any  harm  in  it  whatever.  There  may  have  been 
some  sense  in  the  dead-set  that  was  made  against 
Wing ;  though  I  'm  often  very  sorry  I  gave  way  to  it. 
It  has  always  been  a  mystery  to  me  how  it  got  up, 
and  who  stirred  it  up.  But  Lady  Wing  wants  nothing 
from  me,  or  the  party.  And  she  has  been  perfectly 
irreproachable  since  her  marriage. ' ' 

*  *  Has  she  ? ' '  said  his  wife  quickly. 

"Perfectly  irreproachable!"  Washington  repeated, 
almost  with  passion.  "I  suppose  you're  thinking  of 
the  gossip  about  Merton.  Nobody  who  had  ever  seen 
her  and  Merton  together  could  listen  to  such  nonsense 
for  a  moment.  I  tell  you  she  has  never  cared  a  brass 
button  for  anybody  but  Wing — ^worse  luck!  All  the 
same  she  is  a  woman  who  makes  friends — and  keeps 
them." 

He  got  up  in  his  irritation,  and  began  to  walk  about 
in  front  of  her,  till  suddenly  he  stopped  beside  her. 


334  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"Why  don't  you  make  friends  with  her  too,  Lizzy? 
Come  with  me  on  Sunday ! ' ' 

"Women  don't  condone  such  things,  Richard — as 
easily  as  men  do. ' ' 

"What? — the  elopement — and  the  divorce?  Very 
wrong,  of  course,  I  admit ;  though  I  confess,  the  only 
time  I  ever  met  John  Marsworth  he  bored  me  to  death. 
But  the  thing's  over  and  done  with.  And  the  poor 
woman 's  paying  for  it,  I  can  tell  you. ' ' 

"With  all  that  money! — and  Eltham  House!" 
cried  his  wife,  with  sparkling  eyes. 

"That  only  shows  you  don't  know  her.  If  Wing 
disappoints  her,  these  things  will  only  be  intolerable 
burdens.  She's  one  of  those  women  who  live  by  their 
affections — and  are  very  apt  to  die  of  them !  They're 
not  common  nowadays — and,  by  George,  they're  at- 
tractive— to  men  at  any  rate — when  you  find  them!" 

He  took  another  turn  the  length  of  the  small  lawn, 
and  again  paused  in  front  of  her. 

' '  Come  with  me,  Lizzy ! " 

"Lady  Wing  hasn't  asked  me — and  wouldn't  ask 
me, ' '  said  his  wife  coldly.  ' '  And  I  could  never  forget 
— if  I  did  go — ^that  she  deserted  her  dying  baby  to  go 
with  her  lover!" 

"Now,  Lizzy! — how  do  you  know  that's  true?" 

*  *  It  came  out  at  the  trial ! ' ' 

"Yes,  I  recollect.  The  judge  was  severe.  But  it 
was  contradicted  then  by  her  lawyers;  and  it's  denied 
now.  I  had  an  interesting  talk  with  young  Durrant 
about  this  very  thing — not  long  ago.  He  has  first 
hand  information;  and  he  denies  it  altogether.  She 
did  not  desert  the  child,  knowing  it  to  be  ill — she 
rushed  back  to  it — and  his  death,  and  the  circum- 
stances of  it  nearly  killed  her ! ' ' 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  335 

Mrs.  Washington  smiled. 

"You  don't  believe  me?"  said  Washington,  exas- 
perated. 

"I  think  it's  easy  for  a  beautiful  woman  to  make 
people  believe  what  she  likes. ' ' 

Washington  stood  over  her  for  a  few  moments 
longer,  looking  down  upon  her,  with  sparkling  eyes. 
Then  with  a  shrug  of  the  shoulders  he  left,  paced  up 
and  down  a  few  minutes  longer,  and  then  quickly  dis- 
appeared through  the  door  leading  to  his  secretaries' 
room. 

Elizabeth  Washington  sat  on,  lost  in  disagreeable 
meditation.  The  scene  which  had  just  passed  made 
the  nearest  approach  to  a  quarrel  that  had  ever 
happened  between  her  and  Richard.  And  she  owed 
it  to  Lady  Wing.  Surely  she  was  right — altogether 
right,  in  her  responsible  position,  to  fight  hard  against 
laxity  and  immorality  in  high  places.  It  was  right 
that  Lord  Wing  should  be  excluded  from  political 
life ;  it  was  right  that  the  houses  and  feasts  of  scrupu- 
lous decent  folk  should  be  closed  to  him  and  his  wife ; 
it  was  right  that  they  should  be  banished  from  the 
Court.  How  else  could  law  be  vindicated — against 
such  prosperous  and  splendid  sinners? 

But  Elizabeth  Washington  was  no  mere  hypocrite. 
She  differed  widely  from  such  a  woman  as  Lady 
Theodora.  The  spiritual  energy  in  her  was  real ;  her 
conscience  lived.  She  was  well  aware  that  her  hus- 
band— always  singularly  generous  and  unsuspicious 
with  regard  to  those  he  loved — had  no  idea  of  the 
part  she  had  taken  in  the  sudden  movement  which 
had  swept  Lord  Wing  out  of  public  life;  and  she 
dreaded  lest  he  should  know  it.  Not  that  she  was 
ashamed  of  it;  but  she  ought  long  ago  to  have  con- 


336  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

fessed  it.  The  concealment  weighed  upon  her;  hurt 
both  her  conscience  and  her  pride.  And  now  there 
was  this  rift  between  them — and  these  hours  that  he 
would  soon  be  spending  with  Caroline  Wing ;  worked 
on  by  a  charm,  a  subtle  appealing  sweetness,  entirely 
beyond  her  own  reach  or  rivalry. 

She  felt  shaken  and  unhappy.  But  she  said  no 
more;  and  when  Washington  left  her  at  home,  after 
their  Sunday  walk  in  Kensington  Gardens,  and  went 
off  by  himself,  it  was  understood  between  them  that 
he  was  bound  for  Eltham  House. 

Washington  found  his  hostess  in  the  .garden,  under 
a  group  of  lime  trees  in  flower,  and  as  she  rose  to 
greet  him,  it  was  with  difSculty  he  restrained  a  cry. 
Good  God! — what  had  come  over  her?  She  was  in 
white,  with  clouds  of  some  white  gauzy  stuff  round 
her  shoulders  and  neck.  Her  beautiful  eyes  shone, 
welcome ;  and  the  face  they  illumined  was  still  lovely. 
The  whole  aspect  of  her  indeed  was  no  less  steeped 
in  charm  than  it  had  ever  been;  but  mingled  with 
it,  what  an  impression  of  fragility,  of  evanescence! 
The  memory  of  her  as  he  had  first  seen  her,  the  year 
before,  swept  down  upon  him ;  and  as  he  took  a  seat 
beside  her,  putting  force  upon  himself  to  show  nothing 
of  the  distress  he  felt,  it  was  as  though  he  became 
aware  of  dim  heralds  and  messengers  of  doom  hover- 
ing above  her  dark  head,  amid  the  fragrant  shadows 
of  the  limes. 

Where,  in  Heaven's  name,  was  her  husband? — 
and  what  had  happened  to  her? — alone! 

But  after  a  little  the  impression  lessened;  and  in 
the  end  almost  died  away.  Caroline  insisted  gayly, 
to  him  and  every  other  inquirer — "Oh,  I'm  so  well! 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  337 

I've  been  down  in  Cornwall,  by  the  sea — a  quiet  old 
house  of  Alec's — and  it's  done  me  a  world  of  good. 
Of  course  I'm  thin!  I've  taken  such  walks!  Alec? 
— he's  in  the  Andes,  climbing.  I  had  a  cable  the 
other  day  from  a  place  called  Concepcion.  But  I 
expect  him  home  before  long. ' ' 

She  told  the  same  story  to  all  her  old  friends,  as 
the  afternoon  wore  on,  and  the  famous  garden  filled 
with  a  remarkable  company.  The  French  Ambassador 
came,  enfolded  her  slender  hand  in  both  his,  looked 
into  her  face,  with  some  of  the  dexterous  compliments 
of  his  race  upon  his  lips,  and  somehow  failed  to  say 
them — kissing  the  hand  instead.  Llewellyn  found  a 
chair  near  her  and  kept  it  against  all  comers.  "Wash- 
ington was  never  far  from  her.  Writers,  artists, 
politicians,  diplomats,  all  eagerly  waited  their  turn 
with  her,  and  went  away,  sobered  and  restless,  to  pace 
the  shady  walks  of  the  garden;  conscious  of  some 
vital  change  in  the  fair  lady  of  their  little  court,  and 
not  willing  to  speak  of  it,  even  to  each  other.  But 
with  them,  as  with  Washington,  the  infection  of 
Carrie's  smiles,  her  evident  pleasure  in  being  among 
them  again,  the  quickness  with  which  she  remembered 
all  the  little  details  concerning  them — this  man's 
trouble,  and  that  man's  success — the  launching  of  a 
new  book — a  son's  coming  of  age — an  actor's  triumph 
in  a  new  play — a  brother 's  promotion — grandchildren 
here — ^the  birth  of  a  first  baby  there: — these  old 
wiles  of  hers  were  so  effective  in  the  end  that  cheerful- 
ness came  back ;  so  that  everybody  fell  again  with  zest 
on  the  chief  business  of  the  Eltham  House  salon — 
free  discussion  of  all  topics  and  persons  under  the 
sun,  simply  with  a  view  to  the  amusement  of  the  hour 
and  the  sharpening  of  wits. 


338  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

The  garden  was  still  full  of  folk,  when  Llewelljm, 
emerging  from  a  good  talk  with  an  Indian  general 
just  returned  from  Bombay,  perceived  the  entrance  of 
Lord  Merton.  He  saw  also  Caroline's  greeting  of  the 
young  man — her  flashing  look — and  the  response  in 
the  youth's  prematurely  grave  countenance: — saw  it 
with  a  moment  of  discomfort.  Was  it  wise  of  her 
to  receive  him  in  her  husband's  absence?  After  all, 
there  had  been  a  good  deal  of  gossip,  mainly,  no 
doubt,  because  an  idle  world  with  an  appetite  for 
scandal  cannot  possibly  resist  such  a  morsel  as  Caro- 
line Wing's  position  and  Caroline  Wing's  story 
offered  them.  But  anyhow  there  had  been  gossip ;  the 
youth  was  clearly  hit;  and  Llewellyn  wished  him 
banished. 

Then — as  he  watched  her  with  Merton,  and  with 
two  or  three  other  magnificent  young  men,  who,  if 
she  had  ever  given  them  the  smallest  encouragement 
would  all  have  been  at  her  feet,  a  curious  impression 
shaped  itself  in  Llewellyn,  It  was  as  though  he 
beheld  a  new  and  strange  freedom,  a  new  and  strange 
dignity  in  this  frail  ghost  of  Caroline  Wing ;  and  he, 
like  Washington,  found  himself  sorely  thinking  of  the 
woman  he  had  known  the  year  before — impulsive, 
shrinking,  slave  to  a  great  passion,  now  defiant  of 
the  world  which  exiled  her,  and  now  painfully  con- 
scious of  its  ban;  but  always  most  human  and  most 
vulnerable.  What  he  saw  now  was  something  which 
seemed  to  have  escaped  the  world ;  and  to  be  moving 
with  free  feet  in  a  world  of  its  own. 

Washington  and  Durrant  walked  away  together. 

"You  and  Lewson,"  asked  Washington  abruptly, 
' '  have  been  looking  after  her  ? ' ' 

Durrant  nodded  assent. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  339 

"She  was  seriously  ill?" 

The  young  guardsman  evaded  the  question. 

**She  is  now  perfectly  well,"  he  said,  almost  an- 
grily. "Next  month  Miss  Allen  will  be  taking  her  to 
Scotland.    That  will  quite  set  her  up.  * ' 

Washington  dropped  the  subject;  but  after  some 
silent  walking,  he  threw  a  sharp  look  at  his  com- 
panion— "Can't  you  get  that  man  home?" 

"No — the  brute!"  cried  Durrant,  thrown  ojff  his 
guard.    Recovering  himself,  he  added — 

"We  can't  get  at  him.  He  seems  to  be  somewhere 
far  in  the  interior — climbing.  However,  I  sent  out 
a  special  messenger  by  the  mail  boat  last  week." 

Here  they  were  overtaken  by  the  French  Am- 
bassador, who  had  left  Eltham  House  a  little  later 
than  they  and  was  now  walking  in  a  great  hurry. 

The  Prime  Minister  laid  a  friendly  hand  upon  his 
arm.  "Whither  away?  Can  you  give  me  ten  min- 
utes' conversation?"  Lowering  his  voice,  he  men- 
tioned an  important  foreign  matter,  then  before  the 
Cabinet. 

The  Ambassador  hesitated. 

"Let  me  go  first  to  Hachette's,"  he  said  pleadingly, 
"I  promised  to  order  a  French  book  for  Lady  Wing." 

"  Is  it  so  pressing  ? ' ' 

"Mon  Dieul — ^yes,"  cried  the  Frenchman,  his  dark 
southern  face  clouding  over.  "Let  us  all  make 
haste! — if  she  has  a  wish — the  most  trifling  wish! — " 

"I  will  go  with  you,"  said  Washington,  and  they 
walked  on  to  Hachette's  together. 

Meanwhile  Caroline  and  Lord  Merton  were  walking 
slowly  in  the  lime  walk.  She  had  thrown  her  white 
gauze  scarf  round  her  head;  and  he  scarcely  dared 


340  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

look  at  her,  so  spirit-like  was  she,  and  so  great  the 
growing  terror  in  his  own  heart. 

*  *  They  are  in  town  ? ' '  she  said. 

*  *  Sir  John  came  up  yesterday,  with  his  mother  and 
Carina.  They  have  taken  a  house  in  Upper  Brook 
Street." 

He  gave  the  number.    Caroline  pondered. 

"You  are  sure?" 

"Henry  Marsworth  told  me." 

Caroline  shivered  a  little.  She  knew  well  that 
Henry  Marsworth 's  hatred,  his  implacable  resentment 
of  his  brother's  disaster  had  pursued  both  her  and 
Alec,  ever  since  their  return  to  England.  The  name 
struck  dismally  on  her  ear. 

"Is  Henry  with  them?" 

"I  don't  know."  Then,  eying  her  uncomfortably, 
the  young  man  broke  into  entreaty.  "Dear  Lady 
"Wing,  don't  write  to  Sir  John! — don't  attempt  to  see 
him! — he  is  not  to  be  moved.  You  will  only  make 
pain  for  yourself. ' ' 

Caroline  looked  straight  before  her  into  the  high 
gloom  of  the  limes — a  shining  look. 

* '  I  must  have  her ! ' '  she  said  softly. 

"If  there  was  only  someone  who  could  influence 
him!"  said  Merton  despairingly.  "But  I  can't  hear 
of  anyone." 

Caroline  did  not  seem  to  hear  him. 

" — And  I  must  have  her  before  Alec  comes  back" 
— she  added,  in  the  same  murmuring  voice. 

"I  hate  the  thought  of  your  wrestling  with  him! 
You  are  not  strong  enough." 

The  tone  was  reproachful — indignant.  Caroline 
smiled. 

"You  don't  know  how  strong  I  am — I  can  do  any- 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  341 

thing!  And  now — pray,  what  have  you  been  doing 
with  yourself,  since  April?" 

She  put  him  through  a  gay  catechism,  and  at  the 
end  she  said,  with  mock  solemnity — 

"All  these  things  ought  you  to  have  done,  and  not 
to  have  left  the  other  undone. ' ' 

''What  other?" 

Caroline  threw  him  a  sweet,  bantering  look. 

"What,  in  all  my  letters,  have  I  been  urging  you 
to  do?" 

The  young  man  was  silent.  But  his  thin,  agreeable 
face  expressed  a  certain  resentment. 

"There  is  a  cousin  people  tell  me  of,"  said  Caro- 
line slyly.  "A  very  pretty  cousin.  They  say  her 
name  is  Sybil — and  that  last  year  people  thought — " 

"Don't  go  on!  That  was  in  the  dark  ages,"  he 
said  recklessly.    * '  You  make  me  quote : — 

"  '  You  violets  that  fresh  appear 
As  if  the  spring  was  all  your  own, 
What  are  you  when  the  rose  is  blown?"* 

Caroline  stepped  apart  from  him.  He  saw  that  he 
had  displeased  her. 

"One  does  not  say  things  like  that — ^to  a  person 
in  my" — she  hesitated,  and  then  said  gravely — "in 
my  position.    You  must  please  not  say  them  again." 

What  did  she  mean?  That  she  was  still — and 
always  would  be  as  much  in  love  with  Alec  Wing  as 
ever?  Or  something  else? — something  quite  dif- 
ferent ? 

He  looked  at  her  doubtfully,  and  asked  her  pardon. 

"Yes! — if  some  day,  you  bring — Sybil — to  see  me. 
But  I  forgot" — there  was  a  sudden  crease  of  pain  on 
the  white  brow — "she  wouldn't  come." 


342  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

Merton  stammered  out  that  she  certainly  would 
come — that  she  was  a  charming  girl,  and  he  was  very- 
fond  of  her — ^but — 

*  *  '  But  me  no  buts ' ! "  said  Caroline,  all  smiles  again. 
* '  I  '11  ask  you  when  I  want — to  see  her.  I  don 't  think 
she'll  refuse.    But  there's  so  much  to  do  before — " 

"Before  what?" 

She  took  no  notice  of  his  question. 

"My  mind  is  full  of  nothing  but  match-making," 
she  declared  lightly — "for  you — and  others!" 
Through  the  lime  leaves,  her  eyes  traveled  to  Joyce 
Allen,  who  was  still  on  the  lawn. 

"Leave  me  out — leave  me  out!"  cried  Merton 
passionately. 

She  looked  distressed,  and  holding  out  her  hand, 
said  she  must  go  and  rest.  He  went  away,  raging  at 
himself,  and  more  miserable  than  he  had  ever  been 
in  his  clean,  equable,  happy  life.  What  was  wrong 
with  her?  What  had  they  done  to  her?  That 
villain.  Wing ! — ^to  leave  her  like  this ! 

The  following  afternoon,  Caroline  going  into  a  shop 
in  Bond  Street  sent  her  car  away,  saying  that  she 
would  walk  home.  When  she  emerged  from  the  shop 
she  turned  into  the  nearest  wide  street,  leading  west- 
ward. She  met  no  one  she  knew;  no  one  was  there 
to  notice  the  languor  or  the  hesitation  with  which  she 
moved.  Once  or  twice  she  stopped,  as  though  either 
her  feet  or  her  will  failed  her.  But  she  always  pushed 
on  again — slowly — looking  at  the  numbers  on  the 
house-doors. 

"I  am  mad  to  try  it" — she  said  to  herself — "Alec 
would  be  angry.  But  if  he  isn't  here,  I  must  do  my 
best — with  my  poor  life — till  he  comes." 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  343 

The  house  she  finally  paused  before  was  gay  with 
flower-filled  balconies,  and  fresh  white  curtains. 
Caroline  looked  it  up  and  down  with  flagging  courage, 
but  finally  rang  the  bell.  Supposing  John  had  altered 
all  his  habits  since  she  knew  him  ?  In  old  days  when 
his  old  mother  came  to  be  their  guest  in  London,  he 
had  never — or  rarely — failed  to  come  home  to  tea  with 
her,  smoking  a  cigarette  in  his  study  afterwards,  and 
then  going  out  again  to  the  Club.  Lady  Marsworth 
had  been  a  feeble  woman  for  many  years;  she  came 
down  late  and  generally  retired  to  her  room  again 
before  dinner;  so  that  her  devoted  son,  who  could 
seldom  be  at  home  for  luncheon  owing  to  some  city 
directorships,  used  to  make  a  point  of  seeing  his 
mother  at  afternoon  tea,  if  it  could  possibly  be  man- 
aged. But  everything  of  that  sort  might  have 
changed.  Well,  if  this  bit  of  recollection  did  not  help 
her,  she  must  try  something  else. 

* '  Is  Sir  John  Marsworth  at  home  ? " 

The  butler  looked  at  her  with  some  astonishment. 

''He  was  in,  ma'am,  a  few  minutes  ago."  He 
turned  his  head  towards  the  inner  hall,  where  a  man's 
hat  and  stick  lay  reposing  on  the  hall  table.  *'Yes, 
ma'am.  I  see  Sir  John  is  at  home.  Whom  shall  I 
say?" 

Caroline  stepped  into  the  hall. 

"Would  you  kindly  take  him  that  note" — she 
produced  one  from  her  bag — *'I  will  wait  here  for  an 
answer. ' ' 

The  man  again  looked  doubtful,  but  the  distinction 
of  the  lady  and  the  elegance  of  her  dress  were  evi- 
dent. He  asked  Caroline  to  take  a  chair,  and  disap- 
peared with  the  note. 

Caroline  remained  sitting  in  the  front  hall,  on  a 


344  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

stiff  mahogany  chair  placed  against  the  wall.  A 
tall  clock  ticked  behind  her — the  most  intimate  and 
domestic  of  sounds.  Suppose  Lady  Marsworth  came 
downstairs?  The  years  seemed  to  have  rolled  back 
.  .  .  she  sat  in  a  dream. 

The  man  reappeared,  holding  the  swing  door  open 
for  someone  behind — a  tall  dark  man.  He  came 
forward.  Caroline  and  he  looked  at  each  other.  Con- 
vention was  sorely  strained,  but  the  presence  of  the 
butler  insured  its  holding. 

"Will  you  come  into  the  study?"  said  the  master 
of  the  house  coldly.  Caroline  passed  through  the 
swing  door,  leaving  the  butler  on  the  other  side  to 
some  rather  excited  reflections. 

Caroline  found  herself  in  a  large  and  pleasant 
library,  where  she  hurriedly  looked  for  a  chair,  being 
quite  unable  to  stand.  Marsworth — who  had  grown 
very  pale — threw  away  his  cigarette  with  a  jerk. 

"I  should  very  much  like  to  know,  Lady  Wing, 
what  could  possibly  be  your  purpose  in  coming  to  see 
me  here?" 

Caroline  lifted  her  veil  and  threw  it  back.  There 
was  something  deliberate  in  the  action  which  fixed  the 
attention  of  the  man  standing  opposite  to  her  upon 
her  face.  She  saw  him  start.  Her  own  eyes  suddenly 
filled  with  tears,  and  she  held  out  her  hand  to  him, 
which  he  mechanically  touched,  and  she  instantly 
withdrew. 

"I  am  come,  John,  because — something  has  hap- 
pened— which  makes  it  easy  for  me  to  come — ^this 
once.  I  am  not  likely  to  live  more  than  a  few  months 
— and  I  want  you  to  let  me  have  Carina — now,  while 
I  am  alone  in  London — before  it  is  too  late. ' ' 

"What  do  you  mean?"    He  sat  down  bewildered 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  345 

on  the  other  side  of  a  table  which  separated  them. 
"What  makes  you  say  such  a  thing?" 

She  quickly  recapitulated  certain  facts  of  her  recent 
history,  naming  near  the  end  one  of  the  most  eminent 
of  London  surgeons.  * '  Sir  Lionel  said  he  would  write 
to  you  about  me,  if  you  wished  it.  I  insisted  that  he 
should  tell  me  the  truth.  They  don't  often  do  it. 
But  I  made  him. ' ' 

John  Marsworth  stared  at  her  stupidly  for  a  few 
seconds,  at  the  delicate  familiar  face,  the  eyes,  the 
brow.  Incomparable,  all  of  it,  still! — but  how 
changed!  Like  Washington,  like  Llewellyn,  he  was 
strangely  aware  of  a  woman  unafraid;  a  woman  who 
had  shed  all  ordinary  shynesses  and  timidities,  and 
was  moving  at  large  among  the  most  poignant  of 
realities.  Then,  gradually,  his  head  fell;  he  hid  his 
face  in  his  hands. 

*'I  did  not  of  course  come" — said  Caroline,  her  lips 
trembling  a  little — "to  make  a  scene — to  attempt  any 
foolish  reconciliation.  You  do  not  wish  to  see  me — 
and  Alee — my  husband — would  be  very  angry  if  he 
knew  I  had  come  here.  He  was  very  angry  when  he 
heard  of  our  meeting  at  Oxford.  But  I  want  my 
child — I  want  Carina — ^very,  very  badly,  John ;  and  I 
want  her  now,  while  I  am  all  alone  at  Eltham  House, 
and  before  Alec  comes  back.  You  said  you  would 
not  let  her  be  under  the  same  roof  with  him.  Of 
course  I  understand  that.  We  do  not  know  where 
he  is — exactly — at  present,  but  we  are  sure  he  cannot 
be  home  for  three  weeks  at  least.  And  directly  I  get 
a  cable — ^he  is  certain  to  cable — I  would  send  Carina 
back.  Or  if  I  were  suddenly — much  worse — I  would 
send  her  back  at  once.  It  is  not  good  for  children 
to  be  mixed  up  with  illness  and  suffering.    But  the 


346  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

probability  is,  I  shall  be  able  to  live  much  as  usual 
for  a  while.  I  should  like,  just  for  these  weeks,  to 
live  only  for  her — to  make  her  happy — so  that  when 
she  grows  up,  and  will  know  everything,  she  may  have 
it  to  look  back  on.  Perhaps  you  will  think  I  don't 
deserve  it — ^you  don't  want  her  to  remember  me. 
But  you  can't  help  it.  She  will  try  and  find  out  about 
her  mother.  And  if  you  don't  tell  her,  she  will  ask 
other  people.  At  present  I  am  a  stranger  to  her ;  but 
if  she  learns  to  love  me  a  little,  then — when  it  is 
all  over,  you  can  tell  her  something,  and  when  she  is 
grown  up,  you  can  tell  her  more — and  it  would  all  be 
less  bitter  and  sad  for  her." 

Through  what  long  years  was  John  Marsworth  to 
remember  that  figure  in  the  light  summer  dress ! — aye, 
and  the  very  material  of  the  dress — a  white  soft  stuff, 
striped  with  black ;  the  violets  in  the  black  belt  which 
set  so  loosely  on  the  wasted  body;  the  large  black 
hat,  and  under  its  shadow,  the  ghostly  beauty  of  the 
face  which  was  Carrie's  and  yet  not  Carrie.  She  sat 
in  an  Indian  chair  of  carved  ebony,  a  green  velvet 
cushion  behind  her,  her  thin  arm  resting  on  the  ebony, 
bending  towards  him  with  a  soft  and  pleading  com- 
posure. No! — she  was  not  afraid — and  she  was  not 
self-conscious,  not  posing.  The  tragic  sincerity  of  her 
action  and  her  prayer  struck  deep  into  the  man's 
ironic  and  stubborn  nature.  He  would  have  liked  to 
believe  it  a  ruse — a  device.  But  he  could  not.  She 
conquered  him. 

He  looked  up ;  and  while,  after  that  first  dilemma, 
she  had  shown  no  symptom  of  tears  whatever,  his 
strong  face  was  wet  with  them.  As  she  perceived  it, 
for  the  first  time,  Caroline  shrank.  She  flushed  and 
looked  down  timidly. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  347 

"You  shall  have  her,"  he  said  brokenly.  Then 
rising,  he  felt  for  his  handkerchief,  and  went  away  to 
the  window  where  he  stood  with  his  back  to  her  for 
a  little. 

When  he  came  back,  he  had  recovered  himself. 
Caroline  had  risen,  and  stood  with  one  hand  leaning 
on  the  table  waiting  for  what  he  had  more  to  say, 

*^I  hope  from  my  heart,  Lady  Wing,  that  you  are 
mistaken — " 

She  interrupted. 

"Shall  I  ask  Sir  Lionel  to  write  to  you?" 

''No,  no!  "  he  said,  with  a  return  of  agitation. 
'* I  see  you  believe  it.  But  you  may  be  wrong.  Please 
believe — " 

He  broke  off. 

' '  Good  God !    How  can  one  say  these  things  ? ' ' 

He  turned  away,  and  again  she  waited.  When 
he  returned  it  was  with  a  changed  manner.  He 
caught  both  her  hands  before  she  could  withhold 
them,  and  looked  down  into  her  face,  his  own  gray 
and  drawn, 

*'Good-by,  Carrie,  Perhaps  we  shan't  ever  see 
each  other  again.  As  I  said,  I  hope  it  isn't  true.  You 
are  young — you  may  escape  yet.  But  what  you  have 
told  me — is  terrible.  I  should  be  a  brute  if  I  refused 
you.  .  ,  ,  I  don't  refuse.  Forgive  me  all  my  faults 
towards  you — as  I  forgive  your  sin  against  me,  God 
bless  you — God  protect  you.  Carina  shall  come  to- 
morrow— some  time  in  the  afternoon,  I  shall  hear 
from  you  when  she  comes  back.  Of  course  I  trust 
your  promise  to  me. ' ' 

Carrie  gently  pressed  his  hands,  and  withdrew  her 
own, 

"Thank  you  very  much."    Look  and  voice  were 


348  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

simple  and  grave.  "Indeed  I  will  keep  my  promise. 
It  wiU  be  a  great  comfort  to  me — and — and  what  you 
have  said." 

The  dimness  was  in  her  eyes  again.  But  she 
pulled  down  her  veil  over  them;  and  with  a  quiet 
good-by  she  went  to  the  door  and  disappeared.  He 
did  not  attempt  to  follow  her. 

Carrie  went  quickly  home.  Joyce  was  anxiously 
looking  out  for  her.  Why  had  she  attempted  to  walk 
home  from  Bond  Street?  It  was  mad;  she  had  not 
strength  for  it. 

But  the  Carrie  who  walked  into  the  drawing-room 
was  a  transformed  being — red  cheeks,  and  shining 
eyes ! — an  embodied  joy ! 

"Joyce,  she's  coming! — my  little,  little  girl! 
Carina's  coming.  I  went  to  John  and  asked  it. 
Come  upstairs,  darling,  and  let's  choose  her  rooms: 
she  shall  sleep  in  the  one  next  to  mine,  the  white  room 
looking  on  the  garden.  We  must  change  the  pictures. 
To-morrow  I  '11  put  the  beautiful  old  doll's  house  there 
that  Aunt  Libby  used.  And  there  are  some  toys  put 
away.  I  found  them  in  a  cupboard.  I  must  go  out 
early  and  get  some  new  ones  too.  And  we'll  put 
flowers — everything  to  make  it  bright.  Joyce,  I  think 
I  shall  die  of  joy!  Darling,  don't  worry  me  about 
resting.    Come  now — come  at  once ! '  * 

Carrie's  night  was  made  restless  by  sheer  happiness. 
No  sleeping  draught  was  of  use.  And  in  the  early 
morning,  propped  up  in  bed,  she  wrote  her  last  letter 
to  Alec  Wing. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

Into  that  letter  Caroline  Wing  tried  to  put  all  her 
love,  all  that  she  had  learned  from  pain,  and  from  that 
stirring  message  of  a  sudden  and  irrevocable  doom, 
which  was  now  ringing  always  in  her  ears. 

It  ran  thus : 

"My  beloved — It  is  so  early  and  so  still.  Yet  the 
sun  is  coming  in  at  the  windows,  and  far,  far  away 
one  hears  the  sounds  in  the  streets  beginning.  Busy 
old  earth! — Mother  Earth!  I  don't  want  to  leave  it. 
How  I  have  loved  the  sea,  and  the  clouds,  and  the 
gorse,  and  the  spring  green — this  year  more  than  all 
years!  I  have  had  time  to  love  them,  because  you 
were  away,  and  the  hours  were  so  empty.  At  first, 
that  is  to  say.  After  a  little,  the  mere  watching  and 
feeling  made  one's  life  so  full.  So  many  new  things 
came  into  it — the  trees,  and  the  splendid  cliffs,  and 
the  waves,  the  sea-gulls,  the  fishermen's  children,  the 
clouds  piled  above  the  sea,  and  the  game  of  the  sun 
with  the  clouds,  day  after  day,  sometimes  so  grave 
and  splendid,  like  a  Greek  festival — and  sometimes 
so  full  of  tricks  and  surprises,  as  though  angels  were 
at  play  in  heaven.  Since  you  came  into  my  life,  I 
have  hardly  looked  at  such  things,  or  thought  about 
them.  But  when  I  was  a  girl  they  spoke  to  me. 
Don't  think,  beloved,  when  I  say  they  filled  my  life, 
they  ever  for  a  moment  took  your  place.    They  came 

349 


350  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

crowding  into  the  outer  halls;  they  were  very  dear 
and  comforting;  but  in  the  inner  chambers  of  my 
heart  I  could  always  go  quietly  to  you,  and  shut  the 
door.  I  could  look  into  your  eyes,  and  hold  your 
hand.  And  so,  with  those  times  within,  and  the 
stream  of  beautiful  things  without,  flowing  over  me, 
whether  I  would  or  no,  I  managed  to  live ;  I  did  not 
let  any  sorrow,  any  despair  destroy  me  quite. 

"For  I  have  been  in  sorrow — and  despair  too.  If 
you  have  received  our  letters  before  this,  you  will 
know  all  that  has  happened.  But  I  somehow  believe 
that  you  never  have  received  them;  or  you  would 
have  sent  me  a  word — I  think — ^by  cable.  All  the 
same,  I  write  as  if  you  had  got  them — that  my  spirit 
may  talk  to  yours.  Jim  tells  me  he  has  now  sent 
out  a  special  messenger.  It  was  not  at  my  bidding. 
But  when  he  finds  you  he  will  give  you  all  the  ugly 
facts — the  doctors'  letters  and  so  forth — and  you  will 
come  hurrying  home — I  know  you  will.  I  do  not  be- 
lieve for  one  moment  you  have  forgotten  to  love  me. 
When  I  think  of  seeing  you  again,  I  could  faint  with 
joy.  I  shall  see  you  again — you  will  put  your  dear 
arms  round  me — and  I  shall  go  to  sleep,  without  pain, 
upon  your  heart. 

"Nevertheless,  dearest,  I  have  been  through  sorrow 
— and  despair  too.  After  you  left  me,  I  could  hardly 
bear  my  life.  That  you  could  leave  me — when  I 
begged  you  not — that  was  the  bitter  thing — the  thing 
which  seemed  to  change  everything,  the  old  blessed 
times  in  Italy — everything!  And  the  agony  about 
Dicky  came  back  upon  me — and  Carina.  For  what 
had  I  given  them  up — to  be  so  forsaken? — to  feel  so 
humbled  and  of  no  account?  It  was  no  use  scolding 
oneself,  or  laughing  at  oneself.    I  got  to  know  a  great 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  351 

many  poor  people,  and  at  first  I  used  to  reproach 
myself  for  making  so  much  of  your  going  away — 
taking  it  so  tragically — when  there  were  such  ghastly 
misfortunes  and  grief  close  to  me ;  poverty,  and  help- 
lessness, and  miserable  old  age,  and  sudden  horrible 
deaths  at  sea;  mothers  losing  their  sons,  and  wives 
their  husbands,  all  in  a  moment.  But  then  I  came  to 
think  that — substantially — we  are  all  equal  as  to  hap- 
piness— or  unhappiness.  There  are  of  course  the 
people  who  can't  love  and  can't  feel — plenty  of  them 
— in  the  world.  But  for  the  rest,  rich  or  poor,  it  is 
all  the  same — especially  for  women.  It  is  only  love 
that  really  matters — the  touch  of  the  man  we  love 
best — the  look  in  our  children's  eyes.  When  I  missed 
you  most,  I  was  nearest  to  the  cottage  women;  they 
constantly  said,  in  their  splendid  simplicity,  things 
for  which  I  could  find  no  words. 

"Then  suddenly  came  the  shock — and,  for  a  time, 
despair.  Life  was  very  strong  in  me.  I  could  not 
submit.  I  raged  like  someone  in  a  dark  prison  who 
throws  himself  against  the  door,  trying  madly  to  get 
out.  I  fought  against  my  fate,  till  I  was  blind  and 
dumb  and  battered  all  over.  The  doctors  and  nurses 
said  I  was  brave.  I  wasn't.  I  was  horribly  afraid. 
And  my  heart  broke  under  what  seemed  to  me  the 
hideous,  hideous  injustice  of  it.  I  so  young — already 
out  of  the  world — already  put  aside — with  no  future, 
no  middle  life  with  you,  no  old  age.  I  had  lost 
Carina;  but  I  might — had  this  not  been — have  had 
Carina's  children  in  my  arms.  And  now — never! 
How  impossible  it  seemed!  .  .  .  You  remember — 
you  can't  have  forgotten  my  birthday,  darling? — I 
was  twenty-nine  just  the  month  after  you  went  away ; 
before  I  knew  there  was  anything  wrong.    And  I  said 


352  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

to  myself,  the  morning  of  my  birthday,  *I  am  so 
strong  and  well — life  is  longer  than  it  used  to  be — I 
shall  have  forty  years  more — perhaps  fifty.  If  Alec 
comes  back  to  me,  with  the  old  love,  and  if  he  and  I 
live  on  together,  I  shall  want  more  time,  more  years — 
even — ^when  these  are  done.  I  shall  never  want  to  go 
out  of  this  warm  life !  But  if  not — if  not — how  shall 
I  get  through  the  years  ? ' 

*'And  then — I  had  to  see  plainly — there  was  not 
one  year  left — not  one. 

"And  now  I  am  always  so  quiet,  and,  but  for  the 
times  when  I  thirst  for  you,  I  am  so  strangely  peace- 
ful— and  serene.  I  cannot  tell  you  how  it  happened. 
I  went  down  into  darkness;  but  I  was  never  alone. 
It  has  been  just  the  mysterious  strengthening — and 
comforting — which  comes  to  others,  and  has  now  come 
to  me.  And  in  the  end  I  knew  Who  it  was  that  held 
me.  Many  things  came  back  to  me — things  I  had 
learned  and  felt  at  Oxford  in  the  old  days.  But  I  will 
tell  you  more  about  this  when  you  come. 

' '  And  before  you  come — you,  my  last,  my  supremest 
joy! — I  shall  have  another  joy,  only  second  to  what 
you  hold  in  your  hands  for  me,  beloved,  to  give  or 
not  to  give — I  shall  have  Carina — she  comes  to- 
morrow, for  a  little  while.  I  went  to  John  Marsworth 
and  begged  him.  Why  shouldn't  I — now?  And  he 
gave  way.  To-morrow  night  she  will  be  sleeping  in 
that  next  room  to  mine;  I  can  steal  in  and  look  at 
her  when  I  like.  .  .  .  Everybody  is  wonderfully 
kind.  When  you  come  back,  dear  Alec,  you  will 
find  all  the  old  friends.  And  the  house  is  beautiful. 
I  have  changed  the  pictures  a  little  here  and  there 
— grouped  them  differently.  I  think  you  will  like  it. 
I  am  strong  enough  still — quite  strong  enough — for 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  353 

one  evening  a  week,  and  the  Sunday  afternoons.  Soon 
they  will  give  me  morphia,  and  then  I  shall  get 
through  it  even  better — for  a  little  while. 

''Joyce  is  such  an  angel,  Alec!  You  can  never 
thank  her  enough  for  my  sake.  She  has  never  let 
Jim  Durrant  propose  to  her  yet — for  my  sake — and 
because  she  thought-  you  disapproved.  But  you 
couldn't  disapprove  now.  I  must  straighten  it  out — 
and  I  must  do  it  soon. 

"You  will  get  this  sometime,  dearest,  because  I 
am  sending  it  to  the  care  of  the  British  Consul  at 
Valparaiso,  with  instructions  to  return  it  to  you — 
here — in  case  it  arrives  after  you  have  sailed,  or  he 
cannot  discover  your  whereabouts  within  a  fortnight. 
But  it  may  not  reach  you — or  Jim 's  special  messenger 
may  not  find  you — in  time  one  never  knows.  So  I 
add  a  few  things  that  must  be  said — that  burn  in  my 
mind  till  they  are  said.  First,  you  must  never  blame 
yourself  for  this  that  has  happened  to  me.  It 
would  have  happened  anyway;  the  mischief  had 
begun  months  ago.  I  blame  you  for  nothing,  my 
beloved,  and  I  thank  and  bless  you  for  so  much.  I 
love  you  with  all  my  heart — I  shall  love  you  to  the 
last — last — minute. 

**As  to  what  we  did,  I  have  had  to  think  it  out — all 
again.  The  other  day,  in  one  of  my  drawers,  among 
old  letters,  I  came  across  an  old  note-book  of  my 
father's.  I  don't  remember  ever  opening  it  before. 
It  contained  a  number  of  extracts — passages  from 
poetry,  or  philosophy,  or  the  Bible,  which  seemed  to 
have  helped  him.  You  can't  think  how  it  touched  me 
to  read  them — how  near  it  brought  me  to  him.  After 
all  I  never  knew  him  very  well;  and  it  was  strange 
and  sweet  to  find  the  same  needs,  the  same  doubts,  the 


354  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

same  prayers  in  his  mind,  as  in  mine.  One  passage — 
from  Plato,  I  think — has  been  often  in  my  thoughts. 
Socrates'  friend  Crito — you  will  have  read  it  all  at 
Oxford ! — is  persuading  him  to  run  away  from  prison, 
and  so  escape  from  execution.  And  Socrates  refuses, 
because  he  has  been  condemned  according  to  the  laws 
of  Athens,  and  to  break  them — even  to  save  his  life — 
is  to  do  injury  to  the  City  and  the  State,  which  must 
perish  if  law  is  not  obeyed.  And  he  makes  the  laws 
themselves  into  persons — august  protesting  ghosts — 
who  come  and  say — 'Socrates,  did  not  we  watch  over 
you  at  your  birth,  through  your  education,  your  mar- 
riage, the  births  of  your  children? — what  would  you 
have  possessed  or  enjoyed  without  us?  And  now, 
because  we  who  brought  you  good  fortune  so  long, 
bring  you  ill  fortune,  will  you  try,  as  far  as  in  you 
lies,  to  destroy  and  overthrow  us? — and  so  to  destroy 
the  state — ^the  Athens — you  love?' 

*'And  Socrates  dies,  because  he  will  not  break  even 
an  unjust  law,  and  so  injure  the  City  which  has  given 
him  all  good  things.  Ever  since  I  read  this,  in  my 
father's  quavering  hand,  those  Great  Ghosts — ^the 
oaths,  the  laws,  we  broke — come  and  visit  me,  and 
look  into  my  heart.  Yes,  we  were  bad  citizens !  We 
made  it  worse  for  others ;  easier  to  sin,  harder  to  re- 
sist. And  I  lost  my  children.  John's  life  was  broken, 
and  you  have  found  these  barriers  built  across  the 
paths — the  honorable  paths — ^you  longed  to  walk  in. 

''And  yet — my  God! — those  months  of  utter  one- 
ness on  the  Apuan  hills,  two  made  one — were  they  not 
heaven? — akin  to  heaven?  Is  not  such  love  sacred? 
Does  it  not  ennoble — redeem?  And  what  of  the  mar- 
riages which  destroy  and  brutalize? 

"I  wear  myself  out  with  thinking.    But  in  the  end 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  355 

the  Great  Ghosts  beat  me  down.  I  submit.  We  did 
wrong ;  we  broke  a  law  which  is  there  to  defend  men 
and  women  from  themselves ;  there  to  save  the  State ; 
and  that  City  of  God  which  is  within  the  State, 
and  greater  than  it.  We  need  not  have  broken  it. 
With  more  patience,  could  I  not  have  borne  my  life — 
and  mended  it  ?    I  had  my  children. 

"And  yet  if  I  had  never  had  you! — Alec,  Alec,  my 
darling !  How  can  I  bear  even  to  imagine  a  life  into 
which  you  had  never  come  ? 

"My  head  aches  with  thinking,  and  my  heart  with 
feeling.  Then  something  seems  to  say  to  me — 'Shall 
that  power  that  made  man's  heart  not  feel? — shall 
it  not  understand — shall  it  not  pity?  Lie  still,  poor 
soul! — lie  still,  and  Tiope!' 

"There! — the  sun  is  up,  and  the  lime  leaves  are 
rustling  outside.    Good-by,  Alec ! — Good-by ! ' ' 

Carrie  spent  the  morning,  with  Joyce's  help,  in 
arranging  her  child's  room — a  white  room  with  a 
flowery  paper  looking  on  the  garden.  Aunt  Libby's 
doll's  house,  with  a  vast  array  of  dolls,  all  dressed  in 
the  fashion  of  1851,  the  year  of  the  Great  Exhibition 
when  the  doll's  house  was  bought,  was  moved  into  it. 
It  had  three  stories,  and  the  sitting-rooms  had  ma- 
hogany doors,  and  pictures  by  Sir  Edwin  Landseer  on 
the  walls,  and  grates  filled  with  red  tissue  paper  to 
represent  fires.  Carrie  went  shopping  also,  and  re- 
turned, tottering,  but  triumphant,  with  various  new 
books,  a  doll,  and  some  picture-puzzles. 

"But  we  won't  overdo  her  with  things!"  she  said 
to  Joyce,  half  smiling,  half  grave.  "Life  in  this 
house  is  so  overdone  with  things — so  choked!" 

Then  after  luncheon  Carina  came, — a  serious,  pale 


356  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

little  girl — intimidated  by  the  vast  house,  the  strange 
people,  above  all  by  the  strange  mother,  whose  love 
for  her,  however  restrained,  was  at  first  positively 
frightening  to  the  child.  She  shrank  into  herself,  and 
behind  her  nurse.  Carrie  used  all  her  arts,  and  with 
what  seemed  to  her  a  most  unnatural  discretion.  But 
to  little  purpose.  At  last,  after  tea,  Joyce  separated 
them  by  force,  and  took  Carrie  into  the  garden,  and 
made  her  rest  in  a  long  chair,  while  she  sat  beside  her, 
crooning. 

"Shall  I  have  time  to  make  her  love  me,  Joyce?" 
said  Carrie  piteously.  "She's  like  a  caged  bird. 
Every  time  you  open  the  door,  she  seems  to  look 
through  it,  as  though  she  just  longed  to  escape!" 

"Give  her  two  days,  and  don't  be  always  thinking 
about  her,"  laughed  Joyce.  "Try  to  behave — some- 
times— as  if  she  wasn't  there." 

Caroline  lay  still  for  a  little,  and  then  said — 

"If  I'm  not  to  think  about  her,  I  must  have 
something  else  to  think  about.  Joyce,  come 
here!" 

Joyce  came — apprehensively;  and  Caroline  took 
the  girl's  face  in  her  two  hands. 

"Joyce,  why  did  Jim  Durrant  go  away  so  early 
last  night  after  dinner?    You  sent  him  away!" 

The  girl's  cheeks  took  fire. 

"He  wanted  something  I  can't  give  him,"  she  said 
quietly.  "But  he  promised  to  forget  it,  and  come 
to-day — to  dinner — ^just  as  usual." 

"As  if  either  you  or  I  could  do  without  him! 
Don't  wriggle,  Joyce! — you  know  it's  true.  Well,  I 
wrote  to  him,  this  morning — a  little  note — I  dropped 
it  while  I  was  out.  I  said — ^'If  Joyce  doesn't  know 
how  to  give  you  a  proper  answer,  I  shall  have  to  give 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  357 

it  for  her.  Please  come  and  see  her — and  me — as  soon 
after  five  o  'clock  as  convenient. '  ' ' 

"Caroline!  you  didn't!"  said  Joyce,  aghast. 

Carrie  fell  back  in  her  chair. 

"I  did — and  you  know  that  you  are  not  to  agitate 
— or  excite  me ! "  She  held  up  a  finger  of  mock  warn- 
ing, but  her  eyes  danced. 

"Carrie,  darling — you  know  I  can't  marry  him!" 

"Why  not?" 

"Because  I  have  got  just  forty  pounds  a  year. 
And  he  must  marry  somebody  with  money — or  if  not 
— with  a  family,  who  can  help  him  on." 

"Who  told  you  so?" 

Joyce  colored  again. 

"I  heard  Lord  Wing  say  so,"  she  said,  after  a 
moment.  "I  think  he  meant  me  to  hear.  He  said 
it  to  Sir  Oliver  Lewson,  one  evening,  looking  at  me. 
It  wasn't  unkind.  It  was  quite  true,  and  wise.  Don't 
try  and  upset  things,  Caroline!"  She  pleaded  with 
all  her  eyes.    But  Carrie  only  laughed. 

"It  isn't  Alec's  affair — it's  mine.  Sick  folk  must 
have  their  way.  Jim  has  quite  enough  for  two. 
Alec's  notions  are  so  lordly!  And  I  squared  the 
Duchess  long  ago ;  and  she 's  talked  to  his  mother  and 
sisters.  You  know  what  a  fancy  she  has  for  you, 
Joyce!  And  really  they  were  perfectly  meek.  It's 
all  right.  I  can't  have  you  playing  the  martyr  any 
more — ^though  I  know  there's  nothing  you  love  so 
much.  And  Jim  shan't  be  put  upon.  He'll  be  here 
at  half-past  five,  at  latest.  I  shall  then  retire.  You 
will  have  the  garden  to  yourselves.  And  at  six 
o'clock,  I  request  the  pleasure  of  Mr.  Jim  Durrant, 
and  Mrs.  Jim  Durrant — ^that  is  to  be — in  the  yellow 
drawing-room." 


358  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

Joyce  sat  on  the  grass,  in  a  white  frock,  with  her 
feet  tucked  under  her,  arguing  and  remonstrating  in 
vain.  Caroline  just  lay  still,  laughing  her  sweet, 
tired  laugh. 

Captain  Durrant  arrived  at  half-past  five.  Every 
possible  advantage  was  taken  of  Joyce.  And  by  six 
o'clock,  three  people  in  the  yellow  drawing-room 
were  laughing  and  talking,  all  at  the  same  moment; 
holding  each  other's  hands,  accusing  each  other  of 
tyranny,  or  shyness,  or  hypocrisy,  and  to  all  appear- 
ance as  happy  as  two  engaged  people  and  their  best 
friend  and  fairy  godmother  need  wish  to  be. 

And  yet  none  of  them  forgot  for  a  moment  the 
shadow  at  the  door.  Such  are  the  many  phases  of 
this  long  play-acting  we  call  our  life. 

**May  I  come  in?" 

Caroline's  face  lit  up  with  sudden  delight.  She 
was  lying  on  her  sofa  in  her  own  sitting-room,  a  book 
on  her  lap.  But  her  hands  were  upon  it;  and  her 
eyes  were  shut.  Her  dark  hour  was  once  more  upon 
her;  the  old  horrible  feeling  as  of  a  trapped  and 
captured  creature. 

But  the  soft  voice  roused  her.  Forty-eight  hours 
had  passed,  and  this  was  the  first  time  Carina  of 
her  own  free  will  had  approached  her  mother's  room. 
Towards  all  the  amusements  which  had  been  provided 
for  her  she  had  behaved  like  the  shy  birds  in  winter 
who  will  not  come  near  the  plates  piled  with  bread- 
crumbs we  have  placed  on  the  snowy  window-sill, 
because  they  see  or  guess  at  the  watching  human 
eyes  behind.  And  at  the  slightest  movement  they 
scatter  to  the  winds.  So  it  had  been  with  Carina. 
Half -whispered     *'No's"     and     "Yes's"  — ''Thank 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  359 

you's"  and  "No,  thank  you's" — had  been  her  only 
form  of  conversation,  except  with  the  maid  she  had 
brought  with  her,  and  any  attempt  at  caresses  on 
Carrie's  or  Joyce's  part  would  send  her  retreating 
to  the  maid's  skirts,  where  she  would  sit  reading  an 
old  story-book,  or  nursing  an  old  doll  of  her  own, 
sometimes  raising  her  beautiful  long-lashed  eyes  to 
look  intently  at  some  person  or  thing  presented  to  her. 
Carrie,  after  the  failure  of  her  first  attempts,  had 
tried  to  follow  Joyce's  advice,  and  not  to  court  the 
child  so  hungrily.  But  she  had  felt  repelled  and  sad. 
Was  even  this  light,  this  sweetness,  in  so  dark  a  scene, 
to  be  refused  her  ? 

But  Carina  stole  softly  in,  and  Carrie  smiled  at 
her.  The  child  came  up  to  the  mother 's  side,  and  let 
Carrie  take  her  hand. 

''Are  you  resting?"  she  said  timidly.  Her  eyes 
considered  her  mother's  face. 

''Yes,  darling,  I  have  been  ill,  you  see.  Have  you 
been  in  the  garden  with  Cousin  Joyce  1 ' ' 

"Yes."  A  moment's  pause.  "Do  you  like  being 
stroked?" 

' '  Very  much.    Can  you  stroke  ? ' ' 

"I  stroke  Grannie's  head  when  it  aches.  May  I 
stroke  your  hand?" 

Carrie  eagerly  turned  back  the  lace  sleeve  of  her 
dress,  and  put  a  thin  white  hand  and  arm  on  the 
child's  lap. 

Carina  had  found  a  stool  to  sit  on.  With  fingers 
light  as  butterflies'  wings  she  moved  up  and  down 
over  the  white  flesh.  Her  flushed  face,  her  soft  com- 
pressed lips  showed  her  earnestness  in  her  task. 

"Grannie's  arm  is  so  wrinkled,"  she  said,  at  last, 
looking  up. 


360  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"Grannie  is  an  old  lady,  darling.  We  shall  all  be 
wrinkled  when  we  are  old. ' ' 

"You  are  not  old,"  said  Carina,  and  her  gaze 
seemed  to  envelope  her  mother,  the  delicate  form 
lying  there,  under  the  silk  coverlet,  and  the  face  which 
smiled  at  her.  Then  with  a  sudden  movement,  she 
slipped  from  her  stool  to  her  knees,  laid  her  head  on 
Caroline's  shoulder,  and  stole  an  arm  round  Caro- 
line's neck.  Carrie  felt  a  throb  of  exquisite  pleasure. 
She  turned  her  own  dark  head,  and  kissed  the  child's 
cheek.  Carina  returned  it  with  a  thistle-down  touch 
of  the  lips,  very  quick  and  shy. 

"Darling!"  murmured  Carrie,  her  eyes  dim- 
ming. 

"I  should  like  to  call  you  Mummy,"  said  Carina 
gravely.  ' '  May  I  ?  My  little  friends — Elsie  Watson, 
you  know,  and  Jenny  Holmes" — she  nodded  con- 
fidentially— "always  call  their  mothers.  Mummy. 
Only" — she  hesitated,  with  a  puzzled  look — "their 
mummies  never  go  away. ' ' 

Carrie  was  silent.  Under  her  closed  lids  two  tears 
made  their  way.  She  raised  her  free  hand  and 
brushed  them  off  hastily,  hoping  that  in  the  shadowed 
room — for  the  outer  blinds  were  drawn  against  a  hot 
sun — Carina  had  not  seen  them.  Then  she  said,  with 
difficulty — 

"Even  if  Mummy — does  go  away — you  won't  forget 
her  now.  Carina?" 

"No,  not  now,'*  murmured  Carina,  with  an  em- 
phasis on  the  word,  and  nestling  up  closer  to  her 
mother,  she  lay  there  with  her  face  buried,  her  long 
golden-brown  hair  covering  Carrie's  white  dress,  and 
Carrie,  clasping  the  little  form  passionately  to  her, 
went  through  one  of  those  mingled  moments  of  purest 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  361 

joy  and  sharpest  anguish  which  strain  the  heart- 
strings of  women. 

A  few  days  later  Sir  Oliver  Lewson  coming  from 
the  London  office  of  the  Wing  estates  turned  into  a 
street  beaten  with  summer  rain,  and  knocked  at  the 
door  of  Lady  Theodora  Webb.  He  had  not  seen  her 
for  long.  Before  he  knew  the  Wings,  Lady  Theo- 
dora had  represented  to  him  merely  an  old  friend  of 
his  mother's,  with  a  large  command  of  caustic  gossip. 
Now  that  he  was  Wing's  agent,  and  Lady  Wing's 
friend,  his  visits  to  Lady  Theodora  were  made  rather 
in  the  spirit  of  one  who  keeps  an  enemy  under  observa- 
tion. And  the  pugnacious  quality  in  her  made  her 
always  glad  to  see  him.  To  talk  ill-naturedly  of  the 
Wings  to  those  who  had  already  banned  them,  or  sent 
them  to  Coventry,  was  much  less  stimulating  than  to 
make  a  friend  and  defender  of  theirs  uncomfortable. 

But  she  barely  now  succeeded  in  making  Sir  Oliver 
uncomfortable.  The  malice  in  her  talk  was  too  evi- 
dent. And,  moreover,  he  knew  so  very  much  more 
about  the  Wings.  However  he  still  wished  to  find  out 
periodically  what  she  was  "at." 

He  found  her  at  tea,  and  with  her  a  fair-haired 
woman  in  the  most  fashionable  and  fantastic  of  gowns. 
He  recognized  Mrs.  Whitton — with  annoyance.  Lady 
Theodora  was  an  open  and  clumsy  foe.  But  in  the 
ease  of  Madge  Whitton  his  mind  had  been  full  for 
some  time  past  of  suspicions  and  surmises,  and  all  of 
them  disagreeable.  Nothing  could  be  less  open  than 
Mrs.  Whitton ;  and  he  believed  her  unfailingly  adroit. 

But  he  was  wrong,  as  he  presently  discovered.  For 
in  the  course  of  the  tea-table  chatter,  Madge  Whitton, 
out  of  sheer  vanity,  and  perhaps,  too,  out  of  pique — 
since  she  had  long  since  detected  that  Lewson  who  had 


362  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

once  belonged  to  the  band  of  her  admirers  now  dis- 
liked and  thought  ill  of  her — fell  into  an  astonishing 
indiscretion.  The  talk  came  round  quickly  to  the 
Wings  and  Eltham  House,  as  Lewson  knew  it  must. 
Lady  Theodora  understood  that  Lady  Wing  was  now 
entertaining  every  week.  Never,  so  she  heard,  had  the 
throng  of  men  been  more  brilliant.  Evidently,  then, 
there  was  no  truth  in  the  report  of  failing  health. 

Sir  Oliver  did  not  contradict  her. 

And  what,  she  sarcastically  asked,  was  known  of 
Alec?  Had  he  yet  had  enough  of  the  Andes?  His 
flight  no  doubt  had  been  a  sensible  step  after  the 
hopeless  fiasco  of  Marsh.  Never  had  anyone  made  a 
more  ridiculous  mess  of  things.  Still  an  English  peer, 
with  half  a  dozen  estates,  could  hardly  spend  his  life 
in  the  Andes.  Poor  Lady  Wing! — it  certainly  left 
her  in  a  strange  position.  Had  anyone,  might  she 
ask,  the  smallest  idea  where  he  was  ? 

Lewson  evaded  the  question.  ''We  expect  him 
home  in  a  few  weeks, ' '  he  said  confidently.  But  as  he 
spoke,  he  caught  Madge  Whitton's  eyes  upon  him, 
and  the  queer  triumphant  gleam  in  them. 

"He  was  at  Santiago  a  month  ago,"  she  said 
quickly. 

The  look  which  Lewson  turned  upon  her  had  been 
learned  in  an  Indian  law-court.    She  flushed  hotly. 

"You  have  heard  from  him?" 

"Just  a  line,"  she  said  carelessly.  "I  have  no  idea 
where  he  is  now.  He  had  promised  to  send  me  news 
of  a  Spanish  friend  of  mine  in  Santiago." 

Lewson  cautiously  cross-examined  her  a  little  fur- 
ther, so  as  to  satisfy  himself  that  she  had  no  recent 
information,  without  suggesting  that  Wing's  wife 
had  none.    Then  he  took  his  leave,  and  walked  medita- 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  363 

tively  westwards.  "She  has  been  in  correspondence 
with  him,"  he  reflected,  "while  neither  his  wife  nor 
I  have  had  a  word.  By  George!  I  never  thought 
that  little  woman  would  turn  out  such  a  minx ! ' ' 

For  by  now  his  confidential  knowledge — as  Wing's 
agent  and  general  factotum — of  the  financial  transac- 
tions in  which  Alee  Wing  had  befriended  her  was  a 
good  deal  more  accurate  and  extensive  than  Mrs. 
Whitton  at  all  suspected. 

The  gathering  at  Eltham  House  some  ten  days 
later  than  this  was  long  remembered  as  a  landmark 
in  London  social  history. 

In  the  first  place,  for  the  splendor  of  its  setting. 
All  the  rooms  of  the  great  house  were  open.  The 
famous  pictures  showed  to  greater  advantage  than 
ever,  owing  to  the  rehanging  that  Caroline  had  had 
the  strength  to  direct.  Flowers  were  everywhere,  and 
a  softened  light  in  which  the  treasures  the  house 
contained  seemed  to  unfold  all  the  secrets  that  art 
and  age  had  stored  in  them,  like  plants  in  a  favoring 
atmosphere.  There  was  no  crowd,  yet  no  emptiness. 
There  was  occasional  music  for  those  who  wished  it, 
in  one  of  the  drawing-rooms,  but  no  other  entertain- 
ment. Talk  was  the  real  business  of  the  evening,  and 
Caroline  guided  it — "a  life,  a  presence  like  the  air" 
— now  moving  slowly  from  room  to  room,  generally 
with  Washington  beside  her,  chatting  here,  introduc- 
ing there,  and  leaving  everywhere  the  impression  of 
a  frail  and  gracious  loveliness,  which  many  a  guest 
turned  to  watch  with  lingering  eyes,  as  though  some 
mysterious  breath  of  warning  had  passed  with  her. 

The  Duchess  came  early — "to  help  Carrie" — and 
wore  an  anxious  brow.    ' '  Are  you  fit  for  it  ?  "  she  said 


364  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

peremptorily  before  the  first  guests  arrived.  "Just 
show  yourself — go  through  the  rooms — then  off  to 
bed! — we'll  do  the  rest."  But  Caroline  laughed  her 
to  scorn.  She  had  put  some  rouge  on  for  the  first 
time  in  her  life — a  mere  touch — but  it  gave  her 
brilliance.  The  Duchess  noticed  it  with  a  pang,  and 
noticed,  too,  that  the  beautiful  shoulders  and  bosom 
were  entirely  covered  by  the  dress  of  white  embroid- 
ered crepe  which  flowed  plainly  from  throat  to  foot, 
adorned  only  by  a  necklace  of  sapphires  in  an  old 
Spanish  setting  which  Wing  had  given  her  in  Italy. 

Washington,  Llewellyn,  other  members  of  the 
Cabinet,  the  Ambassador,  politicians  of  both  parties, 
diplomats,  artists,  writers,  rich  folk  and  poor  folk,  in 
evening  or  morning  dress,  as  the  individual  chose: — 
the  intellectual  life  of  England  was  nobly  represented 
in  the  animated  scene.  The  tawdry  or  vulgar  ele- 
ments of  the  earlier  gatherings  had  disappeared.  It 
was  as  though  Caroline's  personality  had  sifted  out 
the  self-seekers,  the  braggarts,  and  the  posers. 
Everyone — men  and  women — felt  themselves  parts  of 
a  whole,  contributing  to  a  kind  of  human  orchestra, 
each  playing  his  or  her  best,  but  in  harmony;  none 
overlooked  or  out  of  tune. 

Llewellyn  and  Sir  Oliver  stood  chatting  beside 
an  open  doorway  whence  they  commanded  a  wide 
view. 

"A  remarkable  thing,  these  evenings,"  said  Llewel- 
lyn presently,  his  eye  wandering  over  the  different 
groups  in  sight.  *'It  is  easy  to  get  an  aristocratic 
mob  together  in  a  fine  house;  it  is  easy — compara- 
tively— ^to  start  a  literary  coterie;  but  this  is  society, 
grouped  round  a  single  figure — a  single  influence — 
and  that,  of  course,  a  woman's!    It  has  always  hap- 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  365 

pened  so ;  but  not  often  in  England.  Lady  Wing  has 
found  the  way." 

The  eyes  of  both  men  paused  affectionately  on  the 
slender  figure  in  white  moving  through  a  distant  room. 
Then  Lewson  was  conscious  of  a  contraction  in  the 
throat,  a  mist  in  the  eyes. 

"Let  us  make  much  of  it,"  he  said,  in  a  voice  that 
only  Llewellyn  heard;  "while  we  have  it — and  her." 

Llewellyn  threw  him  a  startled  look.  The  two  men 
fell  into  silence,  watching  their  hostess  till  she  disap- 
peared from  view. 

Midnight  had  struck,  and  the  guests  of  Eltham 
House  were  beginning  to  make  their  way  towards  the 
supper-room,  when  a  late  traveler  descended  from  a 
Folkestone  train  at  Charing  Cross,  and  leaving  a 
servant  to  look  after  his  luggage  and  the  custom-house, 
stepped  into  a  taxi,  telling  the  driver  to  make  haste. 

"Whereto,  sir?" 

'  *  Eltham  House.    Be  quick ! ' ' 

The  taxi  sped  along  King  William  Street,  and 
through  Trafalgar  Square.  The  night  was  balmy ;  and 
the  great  city,  with  its  brilliant  streets  crowded  by 
an  outward-flowing  stream  from  the  theaters  and 
music-halls,  spoke  welcome  to  an  exile  who  had  grown 
by  now  very  tired  of  the  caprice  which  had  sent  him 
to  the  wilds.  Alec  Wing,  in  the  open  taxi,  looked  out 
on  London,  and  wondered  why  he  had  ever  left  it. 
But  his  expression  was  by  no  means  merely  that  of  a 
man  delighted  to  come  home. 

"Perhaps  I  shall  find  the  house  shut  up.  She  is 
very  likely  gone  to  the  country.  I  suppose  I  ought 
to  have  cabled.  But  if  she  has  been  amusing  herself 
as  they  say,  I  don't  matter  to  her,  and  I'm  not 


366  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

bound  to  consider  her.  Well,  I  dare  say  it  was  my 
fault." 

He  looked  gloomily  out  of  the  window  at  the  passing 
motors  in  St.  James's  Street.  He  was  thinking  of  a 
letter  in  his  pocket,  a  letter  which  in  fact  had  finally 
brought  him  home,  in  a  manner  no  less  sudden  and 
capricious  than  that  of  his  outward  journey.  It  was 
a  letter  from  a  woman  he  despised,  a  woman  he  longed 
to  break  with  finally.  All  the  same  it  had  been  the 
only  news  from  home  which  he  had  received  since  the 
beginning  of  May.  Something  must  have  happened 
to  his  letters.  Someone  had  blundered — himself 
probably.  He  knew  that  he  had  given  only  the  most 
casual  directions.  But  there  was  the  fact,  that  on  his 
descent  from  the  mountains  about  the  middle  of  June, 
he  had  found  Madge  Whitton  's  crowded  sheets  waiting 
for  him  at  a  provincial  town,  and  nothing  from  home, 
nothing  from  Carrie.  The  fact  had  made  him  angry 
— he  was  so  easily  made  angry !  It  had  disposed  him 
to  give  some  credit  to  Madge  Whitton 's  gossip; 
though  he  perfectly  understood  that  Madge  disliked 
Carrie  and  was  jealous  of  her.  He  saw  through  much 
of  her  talk;  but  some  stuck  and  rankled.  So  Carrie 
was  giving  parties  again? — sending  out  invitations  at 
any  rate — Madge  had  seen  one  for  the  14th  of  June. 
Well,  he  had  told  her  to  do  it.  But  it  meant,  of 
course,  that  she  couldn't  be  missing  him  very  much. 
No  doubt  Merton  had  been  making  way  with  her. 
Nobody  like  your  virtuous  prig  for  taking  advantage 
of  an  absent  husband.  Yet  he  wondered  that  Carrie 
could  put  up  with  him — a  prince  of  milksops !  Any- 
one who  had  been  at  school  with  him  knew  that. 

Well,  if  there  was  to  be  a  breach  between  him  and 
Carrie — a  final  breach — better  get  it  over,  and  have 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  367 

done  with  it!  He  seemed  to  have  offended  her 
mortally,  and  she  had  retaliated.  A  bad  business! 
But  that  was  the  way  in  which  adventures  like  theirs 
did  end  too  often.  His  heart  was  bitter ;  savage  with 
himself,  and  savage  with  her.  And  all  the  time  there 
was  an  obsession  in  his  mind — a  vision  of  Carrie  in 
her  glorious  young  beauty  among  the  acacias  and  the 
broom  on  the  Apuan  hills. 

'  *  Good  heavens — a  party — this  very  night ! ' ' 

He  stretched  out  of  the  window,  to  see  the  whole 
street  in  front  of  Eltham  House  packed  with  waiting 
carriages;  so  that  it  was  with  difficulty  he  made  his 
way  to  the  gates. 

''Set  me  down  outside,"  he  called  peremptorily  to 
the  driver.    * '  I  '11  walk  in. ' ' 

"Move  on  there!"  cried  a  policeman  as  the  taxi 
stopped.  But  Wing  was  already  on  the  pavement, 
and  throwing  the  man  his  fare,  he  dived  through  a 
rank  of  slowly-moving  cars,  and  made  for  a  side  door, 
on  the  extreme  left,  which  was  used  on  reception 
nights  as  a  servants*  entrance.  He  dashed  into  it 
through  an  out-coming  throng  of  footmen  who  looked 
at  him  in  astonishment.  Inside  he  found  himself 
in  a  broad  basement  corridor,  a  part  of  his  own 
house  quite  unknown  to  him,  with  rooms  opening  out 
of  it,  where  the  chauffeurs  and  the  footmen  had  been 
having  supper.  Everybody  stared  at  him;  nobody 
knew  the  tall  handsome  man  in  the  light  overcoat, 
till  he  suddenly  saw  in  front  of  him  a  couple  of  men 
in  the  Wing  livery,  at  the  foot  of  a  staircase.  One 
of  them  he  remembered. 

' '  Hutchins ! "  he  called,  as  he  approached  them. 

The  man  turned  in  amazement,  and  stood  gaping. 


368  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

"I  have  come  home,  Hutehins,  unexpectedly.  Lady 
Wing  doesn't  seem  to  have  received  my  telegrams,  nor 
I  hers.  Well,  now — I  don't  want  to  alarm  her,  and  I 
can't  appear  in  these  clothes.  I  have  no  doubt  you 
can  find  me  some.  My  luggage  won't  be  here  for  half 
an  hour.  I'll  go  up  this  way.  Say  nothing,  please, 
to  anyone. '  * 

His  peremptory  gesture  included  the  two  men ;  and 
he  hurried  up  the  staircase,  followed  by  the  astounded 
valet,  and  by  the  looks  of  all  below. 

A  little  later,  Caroline  in  the  south  drawing-room 
was  listening  to  the  praise  that  Washington  and  the 
Ambassador  were  freely  bestowing  on  the  arrange- 
ment of  a  fine  group  of  French  pictures — Paters  and 
Lancrets — with  which  she  had  taken  particular  pains. 
Washington  happened  to  know,  or  guess  why ;  because 
he  remembered  that  Wing  had  been  especially  proud 
of  his  French  pictures,  about  which,  indeed,  he  knew 
a  good  deal.  The  Ambassador  went  from  one  to 
another,  holding  up  his  hands  in  delight,  and  saying 
things  that  sounded  amazingly  clever  to  Washington, 
who,  on  the  subject  of  pictures,  had  no  small  talk 
whatever.  Caroline  had  smiled  at  first,  pleased  by 
their  compliments.  Then  she  fell  silent;  and  Wash- 
ington, looking  round  at  her,  received  a  sudden  shock. 
She  was  standing  motionless  in  the  center  of  the 
now  empty  room,  conspicuous  in  her  straight  white 
gown,  over  which  Joyce,  the  ever-watchful,  had  just 
thrown  a  silk  wrap,  lest  the  night  air  from  the  many 
open  windows,  blowing  through  the  cooling  house, 
should  bring  chill  to  one  who  was  in  truth  an  invalid. 
The  wrap  was  of  a  bright  flame  color.  Carrie  had 
gathered  the  dazzling  folds  of  it  about  her  with  an 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  369 

absent  hand,  and  Washington  saw  that  she  was  quite 
unconscious  of  the  persons  near  her,  and  seemed  to 
be  absorbed  in  some  thought  or  dream  of  her  own. 
Her  eyes,  wide  open,  were  fixed  on  one  of  the  noblest 
possessions  of  the  house,  the  Reynolds  boy,  visible 
under  a  brilliant  light  through  the  doorway  on  the 
left;  her  lips  parted  eagerly.  He  almost  thought 
she  spoke,  though  not  to  him  or  the  Ambassador. 
And  at  the  same  moment  he  perceived,  for  the  first 
time,  that  she  was  rouged,  and  that  her  face,  but 
for  the  bright  incongruous  spots  on  either  cheek,  was 
ghastly,  the  eyes  straining  from  dark  pits  of  shade, 
the  mouth  bloodless.  A  thrill  of  horror  ran  through 
him ;  he  moved  towards  her  to  speak  to  her,  and  take 
her  hand ;  and  as  he  did  so  he  perceived  Lord  Merton, 
who  had  just  come  into  the  room,  and  stood  like 
himself,  transfixed,  gazing  at  the  central  figure ;  while 
the  Ambassador,  still  babbling  art-criticism,  stood 
with  his  nose  in  the  pictures,  and  his  back  to  the 
others. 

And  behind  Lord  Merton  there  was  a  hurrying 
woman — the  Duchess,  with  ribbons  and  skirts  flying, 
dropping  fan  and  handkerchief  as  she  ran. 

"Darling  Carrie!" 

Caroline  started — looked  at  the  newcomer  in  be- 
wilderment. 

"Yes— what  is  it?" 

The  Duchess  took  her  hands,  panting — and  kissed 
her. 

"Dear  Carrie! — such  a  wonderful  thing  has  hap- 
pened !    Guess ! ' ' 

The  color  rushed  into  Carrie's  face. 

"Alec!"  she  said  gasping,  and  Washington  saw 
her  put  her  hand  over  her  heart. 


370  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

Then,  behind  the  Duchess,  a  man  in  evening  dress 
came  rapidly  forward.  He  had  reached  the  middle  of 
the  next  room  in  the  suite,  beyond  the  open  doorway 
towards  which  they  were  all  looking,  when  Caroline 
perceived  him.  She  gave  one  cry,  and  began  to  run. 
On  the  way  she  tottered.  Merton  rushed  towards  her, 
but  Alec  Wing  thrust  him  fiercely  aside,  and  caught 
her  as  she  fell. 

"My  God! — Carrie — my  God!'* 

He  carried  her  to  her  room,  and  while  she  lay 
unconscious,  and  doctors  were  being  summoned,  it 
was  the  Duchess  who  told  Alec  "Wing  the  truth,  the 
whole  bitter  irrevocable  truth.  It  broke  down  the 
nerves  of  a  selfish,  arrogant,  but  not  altogether  heart- 
less man,  and  he  fell  into  a  passion  of  grief  beside  the 
helpless  form  of  his  wife. 

When  in  the  early  light,  Caroline  recovered  con- 
sciousness with  only  her  husband  and  a  nurse  beside 
her,  she  called  feebly  for  Joyce,  who  with  a  doctor  was 
in  the  next  room.  Joyce  came  and  Carrie  whispered 
to  her. 

"Send  Carina  home.  She  mustn't  see  me  again — 
comfort  her — if  you  can.  I  kissed  her  last  night — 
just  before  people  came — in  her  sleep." 

Then  she  turned  to  Alee,  and  laying  her  cheek 
against  his,  she  said  drowsily — "I  shall  be  all  right 
now — sweetheart ! ' ' 

But  from  that  day  forward,  the  deadly  mischief 
which  had  already  returned  upon  her  made  rapid 
progress.  She  lived  for  six  weeks  after  Wing 's  return, 
then,  on  his  breast,  she  died.  London  held  its  breath 
beside  the  tragedy,  and  there  was  true  grief  in  many 
hearts. 


ELTHAM  HOUSE  371 

On  the  day  of  her  burying,  Washington,  who  had 
broken  every  political  engagement  to  go  to  the  memo- 
rial service  in  the  morning,  came  home  alone  and 
very  sad,  from  the  House  of  Commons.  His  wife  was 
expected  that  evening  from  the  north,  where  she  had 
been  paying  a  visit.  He  had  not  pressed  her  to  return 
for  the  service,  and  she  had  not  offered  it.  He  could 
not  help,  indeed,  being  glad  that  she  was  away. 

The  House  had  risen  early,  and  the  summer  day 
was  long.  Washington  sat  in  the  twilight  garden, 
snatching  half  an  hour 's  rest  before  a  heavy  evening 's 
work,  and  thinking  over  the  life  which  had  just  closed. 
He  was  a  convinced  Christian,  no  less  than  his  wife, 
and  he  was  conscious  of  no  incongruity  between  the 
traditional  Christian  creed  and  all  the  other  knowledge 
and  stored  reflection  of  a  powerful  mind.  The  words 
of  the  psalms  and  hymns  he  had  heard  that  morning 
ran  through  his  memory,  vaguely  soothing  him,  and 
that  other  saying  which  no  Christian  in  thinking 
about  Caroline  Wing  could  possibly  forget. 

Her  sins  are  forgiven — for  sJie  loved  mucTi! 

Yes,  she  had  loved  much — and  how  wastefuUy! 
What  was  left  of  all  that  love  and  charm  ?  Alec  Wing 
would  forget  her  before  long,  would  return,  absolved, 
to  political  life,  and  make  in  time — probably  soon — 
a  second  marriage  which  would  complete  his  rehabili- 
tation. Her  child  might  remember  her  for  a  little. 
Her  cousin  and  friend  would  mourn  her  sincerely. 
And  a  bright  memory  and  legend  of  her  as  something 
rare — something  perhaps  unique — ^would  linger  no 
doubt  for  years  in  the  society  through  which  she  had 
passed,  over  which  she  had  so  briefly  reigned.  But 
when  all  was  said,  how  little! — compared  with  the 
enchanting  beauty,  the  passionate  joys  and  sufferings, 


372  ELTHAM  HOUSE 

the  magic,  the  kindness,  and  the  grace  of  the  living 
woman. 

Washington  was  glad  to  have  known  her;  he 
wished  he  had  known  her  better.  And  his  thoughts 
at  last  f  eU  into  words  of  a  dirgelike  music,  words  long 
familiar  to  him,  and  to  all  for  whom  English  poetry 
is  a  mother  tongue : — 

Rose  Aylmer!  whom  these  waking  eyes 

May  weep  but  never  see — 
A  night  of  memories  and  of  sighs, 

I  consecrate  to  thee! 

He  breathed  the  verse  into  the  silence  of  the 
garden,  bowing  his  head  upon  his  hands.  The  name 
of  that  other  beauty  long  dead,  enshrined  in  it,  mat- 
tered nothing.  The  name  had  become  universal.  It 
stood  for  all  the  lovely  and  the  lost,  and  fitted 
Caroline,  as  it  would  fit  others  for  generations. 

Then,  lest  his  wife  should  return  upon  him  un- 
awares, before  he  was  ready  or  able  to  speak  to  her  of 
the  day's  events,  he  rose  and  went  heavily  to  his  work. 


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