CHAPTER IV. Mr. GREEN
There was a quick patter of feet, the rustle of a hooped petticoat, andthe lady was in the arms of my Lord Ostermore.
"Forgive me, my lord!" she was crying. "Oh, forgive me! I was a littlefool, and I have been punished enough already!"
To Mr. Caryll this was a surprising development. The earl, whose armsseemed to have opened readily enough to receive her, was patting hersoothingly upon the shoulder. "Pish! What's this? What's this?" hegrumbled; yet his voice, Mr. Caryll noticed, was if anything kindly; butit must be confessed that it was a dull, gruff voice, seldom indicatingany shade of emotion, unless--as sometimes happened--it was raised inanger. He was frowning now upon his son over the girl's head, his bushy,grizzled brows contracted.
Mr. Caryll observed--and with what interest you should wellimagine--that Lord Ostermore was still in a general way a handsome man.Of a good height, but slightly excessive bulk, he had a face that stillretained a fair shape. Short-necked, florid and plethoric, he had theair of the man who seldom makes a long illness at the end. His eyes werevery blue, and the lids were puffed and heavy, whilst the mouth, Mr.Caryll remarked in a critical, detached spirit, was stupid rather thansensuous. He made his survey swiftly, and the result left him wondering.
Meanwhile the earl was addressing his son, whose hand was being bandagedby Gaskell. There was little variety in his invective. "You villain!"he bawled at him. "You damned villain!" Then he patted the girl's head."You found the scoundrel out before you married him," said he. "I amglad on't; glad on't!"
"'Tis such a reversing of the usual order of things that it calls forwonder," said Mr. Caryll.
"Eh?" quoth his lordship. "Who the devil are you? One of his friends?"
"Your lordship overwhelms me," said Mr. Caryll gravely, making a bow. Heobserved the bewilderment in Ostermore's eyes, and began to realize atthat early stage of their acquaintance that to speak ironically to theEarl of Ostermore was not to speak at all.
It was Hortensia--a very tearful Hortensia now who explained. "Thisgentleman saved me, my lord," she said.
"Saved you?" quoth he dully. "How did he come to save you?"
"He discovered the parson," she explained.
The earl looked more and more bewildered. "Just so," said Mr. Caryll."It was my privilege to discover that the parson is no parson."
"The parson is no parson?" echoed his lordship, scowling more and more."Then what the devil is the parson?"
Hortensia freed herself from his protecting arms. "He is a villain," shesaid, "who was hired by my Lord Rotherby to come here and pretend to bea parson." Her eyes flamed, her cheeks were scarlet. "God help me for afool, my lord, to have put my faith in that man! Oh!" she choked. "Theshame--the burning shame of it! I would I had a brother to punish him!"
Lord Ostermore was crimson, too, with indignation. Mr. Caryll wasrelieved to see that he was capable of so much emotion. "Did I not warnyou against him, Hortensia?" said he. "Could you not have trusted thatI knew him--I, his father, to my everlasting shame?" Then he swungupon Rotherby. "You dog!" he began, and there--being a man of littleinvention--words failed him, and wrath alone remained, very intense, butentirely inarticulate.
Rotherby moved forward till he reached the table, then stood leaningupon it, scowling at the company from under his black brows. "'Tis yourlordship alone is to blame for this," he informed his father, with avain pretence at composure.
"I am to blame!" gurgled his lordship, veins swelling at his brow. "Iam to blame that you should have carried her off thus? And--by God!--hadyou meant to marry her honestly and fittingly, I might find it in myheart to forgive you. But to practice such villainy! To attempt to putthis foul trick upon the child!"
Mr. Caryll thought for an instant of another child whose child he was,and a passion of angry mockery at the forgetfulness of age welled upfrom the bitter soul of him. Outwardly he remained a very mirror forplacidity.
"Your lordship had threatened to disinherit me if I married her," saidRotherby.
"'Twas to save her from you," Ostermore explained, entirelyunnecessarily. "And you thought to--to--By God! sir, I marvel you havethe courage to confront me. I marvel!"
"Take me away, my lord," Hortensia begged him, touching his arm.
"Aye, we were best away," said the earl, drawing her to him. Then heflung a hand out at Rotherby in a gesture of repudiation, of anathema."But 'tis not the end on't for you, you knave! What I threatened, I willperform. I'll disinherit you. Not a penny of mine shall come to you. Yeshall starve for aught I care; starve, and--and--the world be well ridof a villain. I--I disown you. Ye're no son of mine. I'll take oathye're no son of mine!"
Mr. Caryll thought that, on the contrary, Rotherby was very much hisfather's son, and he added to his observations upon human nature thereflection that sinners are oddly blessed with short memories. He wasentirely dispassionate again by now.
As for Rotherby, he received his father's anger with a scornful smileand a curling lip. "You'll disinherit me?" quoth he in mockery. "Andof what, pray? If report speaks true, you'll be needing to inheritsomething yourself to bear you through your present straitness." Heshrugged and produced his snuff-box with an offensive simulationof nonchalance. "Ye cannot cut the entail," he reminded his almostapoplectic sire, and took snuff delicately, sauntering windowwards.
"Cut the entail? The entail?" cried the earl, and laughed in a mannerthat seemed to bode no good. "Have you ever troubled to ascertain whatit amounts to? You fool, it wouldn't keep you in--in--in snuff!"
Lord Rotherby halted in his stride, half-turned and looked at his fatherover his shoulder. The sneering mask was wiped from his face, whichbecame blank. "My lord--" he began.
The earl waved a silencing hand, and turned with dignity to Hortensia.
"Come, child," said he. Then he remembered something. "Gad!" heexclaimed. "I had forgot the parson. I'll have him gaoled! I'll have himhanged if the law will help me. Come forth, man!"
Ignoring the invitation, Mr. Jenkins scuttled, ratlike, across theroom, mounted the window-seat, and was gone in a flash through the openwindow. He dropped plump upon Mr. Green, who was crouching underneath.The pair rolled over together in the mould of a flowerbed; then Mr.Green clutched Mr. Jenkins, and Mr. Jenkins squealed like a trappedrabbit. Mr. Green thrust his fist carefully into the mockparson's mouth.
"Sh! You blubbering fool!" he snapped in his ear. "My business is notwith you. Lie still!"
Within the room all stood at gaze, following the sudden flight of Mr.Jenkins. Then Lord Ostermore made as if to approach the winnow, butHortensia restrained him.
"Let the wretch go," she said. "The blame is not his. What is he but mylord's tool?" And her eyes scorched Rotherby with such a glance ofscorn as must have killed any but a shameless man. Then turning to thedemurely observant gentleman who had done her such good service, "Mr.Caryll" she said, "I want to thank you. I want my lord, here, to thankyou."
Mr. Caryll bowed to her. "I beg that you will not think of it," said he."It is I who will remain in your debt."
"Is your name Caryll, sir?" quoth the earl. He had a trick of fasteningupon the inconsequent, though that was scarcely the case now.
"That, my lord, is my name. I believe I have the honor of sharing itwith your lordship."
"Ye'll belong to some younger branch of the family," the earl supposed.
"Like enough--some outlying branch," answered the imperturbableCaryll--a jest which only himself could appreciate, and that bitterly.
"And how came you into this?"
Rotherby sneered audibly--in self-mockery, no doubt, as he came toreflect that it was he, himself, had had him fetched.
"They needed another witness," said Mr. Caryll, "and hearing there wasat the inn a gentleman newly crossed from France, his lordship no doubtopined that a traveller, here to-day and gone for good tomorrow, wouldbe just the witness that he needed for the business he proposed. Thatcircumstance aroused my suspicions, and--"
But the earl, a
s usual, seemed to have fastened upon the minor point,although again it was not so. "You are newly crossed from France?" saidhe. "Ay, and your name is the same as mine. 'Twas what I was advised."
Mr. Caryll flashed a sidelong glance at Rotherby, who had turned tostare at his father, and in his heart he cursed the stupidity of my LordOstermore. If this proposed to be a member of a conspiracy, Heaven helpthat same conspiracy!
"Were you, by any chance, going to seek me in town, Mr. Caryll?"
Mr. Caryll suppressed a desire to laugh. Here was a way to deal withState secrets. "I, my lord?" he inquired, with an assumed air ofsurprise.
The earl looked at him, and from him to Rotherby, bethought himself, andstarted so overtly that Rotherby's eyes grew narrow, the lines of hismouth tightened. "Nay, of course not; of course not," he blusteredclumsily.
But Rotherby laughed aloud. "Now what a plague is all this mystery?" heinquired.
"Mystery?" quoth my lord. "What mystery should there be?"
"'Tis what I would fain be informed," he answered in a voice that showedhe meant to gain the information. He sauntered forward towards Caryll,his eye playing mockingly over this gentleman from France. "Now, sir,"said he, "whose messenger may you be, eh? What's all this--"
"Rotherby!" the earl interrupted in a voice intended to be compelling."Come away, Mr. Caryll," he added quickly. "I'll not have any gentlemanwho has shown himself a friend to my ward, here, affronted by thatrascal. Come away, sir!"
"Not so fast! Not so fast, ecod!"
It was another voice that broke in upon them. Rotherby started round.Gaskell, in the shadows of the cowled fireplace jumped in sheer alarm.All stared at the window whence the voice proceeded.
They beheld a plump, chubby-faced little man, astride the sill, a pistoldisplayed with ostentation in his hand.
Mr. Caryll was the only one with the presence of mind to welcome him."Ha!" said he, smiling engagingly. "My little friend, the brewer ofale."
"Let no one leave this room," said Mr. Green with a great dignity. Then,with rather less dignity, he whistled shrilly through his fingers, andgot down lightly into the room.
"Sir," blustered the earl, "this is an intrusion; an impertinence. Whatdo you want?"
"The papers this gentleman carries," said Mr. Green, indicating Caryllwith the hand that held the pistol. The earl looked alarmed, which wasfoolish in him, thought Mr. Caryll. Rotherby covered his mouth with hishand, after the fashion of one who masks a smile.
"Ye're rightly served for meddling," said he with relish.
"Out with them," the chubby man demanded. "Ye'll gain nothing byresistance. So don't be obstinate, now."
"I could be nothing so discourteous," said Mr. Caryll. "Would it beprying on my part to inquire what may be your interest in my papers?"
His serenity lessened the earl's anxieties, but bewildered him; and ittook the edge off the malicious pleasure which Rotherby was beginning toexperience.
"I am obeying the orders of my Lord Carteret, the Secretary of State,"said Mr. Green. "I was to watch for a gentleman from France with lettersfor my Lord Ostermore. He had a messenger a week ago to tell him to lookfor such a visitor. He took the messenger, if you must know, and--well,we induced him to tell us what was the message he had carried. There isso much mystery in all this that my Lord Carteret desires more knowledgeon the subject. I think you are the gentleman I am looking for."
Mr. Caryll looked him over with an amused eye, and laughed. "Itdistresses me," said he, "to see so much good thought wasted."
Mr. Green was abashed a moment. But he recovered quickly; no doubt hehad met the cool type before. "Come, come!" said he. "No blustering. Outwith your papers, my fine fellow."
The door opened, and a couple of men came in; over their shoulders, erethe door closed again, Mr. Caryll had a glimpse of the landlady's rosyface, alarm in her glance. The newcomers were dirty rogues; tipstaves,recognizable at a glance. One of them wore a ragged bob-wig--thecast-off, no doubt, of some gentleman's gentleman, fished out of thesixpenny tub in Rosemary Lane; it was ill-fitting, and wisps of thefellow's own unkempt hair hung out in places. The other wore no wig atall; his yellow thatch fell in streaks from under his shabby hat, whichhe had the ill-manners to retain until Lord Ostermore knocked it fromhis head with a blow of his cane. Both were fierily bottle-nosed, andneither appeared to have shaved for a week or so.
"Now," quoth Mr. Green, "will you hand them over of your own accord, ormust I have you searched?" And a wave of the hand towards the advancingmyrmidons indicated the searchers.
"You go too far, sir," blustered the earl.
"Ay, surely," put in Mr. Caryll. "You are mad to think a gentleman isto submit to being searched by any knave that comes to him with acock-and-bull tale about the Secretary of State."
Mr. Green leered again, and produced a paper. "There," said he, "is myLord Carteret's warrant, signed and sealed."
Mr. Caryll glanced over it with a disdainful eye. "It is in blank," saidhe.
"Just so," agreed Mr. Green. "Carte blanche, as you say over the water.If you insist," he offered obligingly, "I'll fill in your name before weproceed."
Mr. Caryll shrugged his shoulders. "It might be well," said he, "if youare to search me at all."
Mr. Green advanced to the table. The writing implements provided for thewedding were still there. He took up a pen, scrawled a name across theblank, dusted it with sand, and presented it again to Mr. Caryll. Thelatter nodded.
"I'll not trouble you to search me," said he. "I would as soon not havethese noblemen of yours for my valets." He thrust his hands into thepockets of his fine coat, and brought forth several papers. Thesehe proffered to Mr. Green, who took them between satisfaction andamazement. Ostermore stared, too stricken for words at this meeksurrender; and well was it for Mr. Caryll that he was so stricken, forhad he spoken he had assuredly betrayed himself.
Hortensia, Mr. Caryll observed, watched his cowardly yielding with aneye of stern contempt. Rotherby looked on with a dark face that betrayednothing.
Meanwhile Mr. Green was running through the papers, and as fast as heran through them he permitted himself certain comments that passed forhumor with his followers. There could be no doubt that in his own socialstratum Mr. Green must have been accounted something of a wag.
"Ha! What's this? A bill! A bill for snuff! My Lord Carteret'll snuffyou, sir. He'll tobacco you, ecod! He'll smoke you first, and snuff youafterwards." He flung the bill aside. "Phew!" he whistled. "Verses! 'ToTheocritus upon sailing for Albion.' That's mighty choice! D'ye writeverses, sir?"
"Heyday! 'Tis an occupation to which I have succumbed in moments ofweakness. I crave your indulgence, Mr. Green."
Mr. Green perceived that here was a weak attempt at irony, and went onwith his investigations. He came to the last of the papers Mr. Caryllhad handed him, glanced at it, swore coarsely, and dropped it.
"D'ye think ye can bubble me?'" he cried, red in the face.
Lord Ostermore heaved a sigh of relief; the hard look had faded fromHortensia's eyes.
"What is't ye mean, giving me this rubbish?"
"I offer you my excuses for the contents of my pockets," said Mr.Caryll. "Ye see, I did not expect to be honored by your inquisition. HadI but known--"
Mr. Green struck an attitude. "Now attend to me, sir! I am a servant ofHis Majesty's Government."
"His Majesty's Government cannot be sufficiently congratulated," saidMr. Caryll, the irrepressible.
Mr. Green banged the table. "Are ye rallying me, ecod!"
"You have upset the ink," Mr. Caryll pointed out to him.
"Damn the ink!" swore the spy. "And damn you for a Tom o' Bedlam! I askyou again--what d'ye mean, giving me this rubbish?"
"You asked me to turn out my pockets."
"I asked you for the letter ye have brought Lord Ostermore."
"I am sorry," said Mr. Caryll, and eyed the other sympathetically. "Iam sorry to disappoint you. But, then, you assumed too much when youassumed that I
had such a letter. I have obliged you to the fullestextent in my power. I do not think you show a becoming gratitude."
Mr. Green eyed him blankly a moment; then exploded. "Ecod, sir! You arecool."
"It is a condition we do not appear to share."
"D'ye say ye've brought his lordship no letter from France?" thunderedthe spy. "What else ha' ye come to England for?"
"To study manners, sir," said Mr. Caryll, bowing.
That was the last drop in the cup of Mr. Green's endurance. He waved hismen towards the gentleman from France. "Find it," he bade them shortly.
Mr. Caryll drew himself up with a great dignity, and waved the bailiffsback, his white face set, an unpleasant glimmer in his eyes. "A moment!"he cried. "You have no authority to go to such extremes. I make noobjection to being searched; but every objection to being soiled, andI'll not have the fingers of these scavengers about my person."
"And you are right, egad!" cried Lord Ostermore, advancing. "Harkee, youdirty spy, this is no way to deal with gentlemen. Be off, now, and takeyour carrion-crows with you, or I'll have my grooms in with their whipsto you."
"To me?" roared Green. "I represent the Secretary of State."
"Ye'll represent a side of raw venison if you tarry here," the earlpromised him. "D'ye dare look me in the eye? D'ye dare, ye rogue? D'yeknow who I am? And don't wag that pistol, my fine fellow! Be off, now!Away with you!"
Mr. Green looked his name. The rosiness was all departed from hischeeks; he quivered with suppressed wrath. "If I go--giving way toconstraint--what shall you say to my Lord Carteret?" he asked.
"What concern may that be of yours, sirrah?''
"It will be some concern of yours, my lord."
Mr. Caryll interposed. "The knave is right," said he. "It were toimplicate your lordship. It were to give color to his silly suspicions.Let him make his search. But be so good as to summon my valet. He shallhand you my garments that you may do your will upon them. But unless youjustify yourself by finding the letter you are seeking, you shall haveto reckon with the consequences of discomposing a gentleman for nothing.Now, sir! Is it a bargain?" Mr. Green looked him over, and if hewas shaken by the calm assurance of Mr. Caryll's tone and manner, heconcealed it very effectively. "We'll make no bargains," said he."I have my duty to do." He signed to one of the bailiffs. "Fetch thegentleman's servant," said he.
"So be it," said Mr. Caryll. "But you take too much upon yourself, sir.Your duty, I think, would have been to arrest me and carry me toLord Carteret's, there to be searched if his lordship considered itnecessary."
"I have no cause to arrest you until I find it," Mr. Green snappedimpatiently.
"Your logic is faultless."
"I am following my Lord Carteret's orders to the letter. I am to effectno arrest until I have positive evidence."
"Yet you are detaining me. What does this amount to but an arrest?"
Mr. Green disdained to answer. Leduc entered, and Mr. Caryll turned toLord Ostermore.
"There is no reason why I should detain your lordship," said he, "andthese operations--The lady--" He waved an expressive hand, bent anexpressive eye upon the earl.
Lord Ostermore seemed to waver. He was not--he had never been--a man tothink for others. But Hortensia cut in before he could reply.
"We will wait," she said. "Since you are travelling to town, I am surehis lordship will be glad of your company, sir."
Mr. Caryll looked deep into those great brown eyes, and bowed histhanks. "If it will not discompose your lordship--"
"No, no," said Ostermore, gruff of voice and manner. "We will wait. Ishall be honored, sir, if you will journey with us afterwards."
Mr. Caryll bowed again, and went to hold the door for them, Mr. Green'seyes keenly alert for an attempt at evasion. But there was none. Whenhis lordship and his ward had departed, Mr. Caryll turned to Rotherby,who had taken a chair, his man Gaskell behind him. He looked from theviscount to Mr. Green.
"Do we require this gentleman?" he asked the spy.
A smile broke over Rotherby's swam face. "By your leave, sir, I'llremain to see fair play. You may find me useful, Mr. Green. I have nocause to wish this marplot well," he explained.
Mr. Caryll turned his back upon him, took off his coat and waistcoat. Hesat down while Mr. Green spread the garments upon the table, emptied outthe pockets, turned down the cuffs, ripped up the satin linings. He didit in a consummate fashion, very thoroughly. Yet, though he partedthe linings from the cloth, he did so in such a manner as to leave thegarments easily repairable.
Mr. Caryll watched him with interest and appreciation, and what time hewatched he was wondering might it not be better straightway to placethe spy in possession of the letter, and thus destroy himself and LordOstermore, at the same time--and have done with the task on which hewas come to England. It seemed almost an easy way out of the affair. Hisbetrayal of the earl would be less ugly if he, himself, were to sharethe consequences of that betrayal.
Then he checked his thoughts. What manner of mood was this? Besides,his inclination was all to become better acquainted with this odd familyupon which he had stumbled in so extraordinary a manner. Down in hisheart of hearts he had a feeling that the thing he was come to do wouldnever be done--leastways, not by him. It was in vain that he mightattempt to steel himself to the task. It repelled him. It went not witha nature such as his.
He thought of Everard, afire with the idea of vengence and to such anextent that he had succeeded in infecting Justin himself with a sparkof it. He thought of him with pity almost; pity that a man should obsesshis life by such a phantasm as this same vengeance must have been tohim. Was it worth while? Was anything worth while, he wondered.
Lord Rotherby approached the table, and took up the garments upon whichMr. Green had finished. He turned them over and supplemented Mr. Green'ssearch.
"Ye're welcome to all that ye can find," sneered Mr. Green, and turnedto Mr. Caryll. "Let us have your shoes, sir."
Mr. Caryll removed his shoes, in silence, and Mr. Green proceeded toexamine them in a manner that provoked Mr. Caryll's profound admiration.He separated the lining from the Spanish leather, and probed slowlyand carefully in the space between. He examined the heels very closely,going over to the window for the purpose. That done, he dropped them.
"Your breeches now," said he laconically.
Meanwhile Leduc had taken up the coat, and with a needle and threadwherewith he had equipped himself he was industriously restoring thestitches that Mr. Green had taken out.
Mr. Caryll surrendered his breeches. His fine Holland shirt went next,his stockings and what other trifles he wore, until he stood as naked asAdam before the fall. Yet all in vain.
His garments were restored to him, one by one, and one by one, withLeduc's aid, he resumed them. Mr. Green was looking crestfallen.
"Are you satisfied?" inquired Mr. Caryll pleasantly, his good temperinexhaustible.
The spy looked at him with a moody eye, plucking thoughtfully at his lipwith thumb and forefinger. Then he brightened suddenly. "There's yourman," said he, flashing a quick eye upon Leduc, who looked up with aquiet smile.
"True," said Mr. Caryll, "and there's my portmantle above-stairs, andmy saddle on my horse in the stables. It is even possible, for aught youknow, that there may be a hollow tooth or two in my head. Pray let yoursearch be thorough."
Mr. Green considered him again. "If you had it, it would be upon yourperson."
"Yet consider," Mr. Caryll begged him, holding out his foot that Leducmight put on his shoe again, "I might have supposed that you wouldsuppose that, and disposed accordingly. You had better investigate tothe bitter end."
Mr. Green's small eyes continued to scrutinize Leduc at intervals. Thevalet was a silent, serious-faced fellow. "I'll search your servant,leastways," the spy announced.
"By all means. Leduc, I beg that you will place yourself at thisinteresting gentleman's disposal."
What time Mr. Caryll, unaided now, completed the resumption of his
garments, Leduc, silent and expressionless, submitted to being searched.
"You will observe, Leduc," said Mr. Caryll, "that we have not cometo this country in vain. We are undergoing experiences that would beinteresting if they were not quite so dull, amusing if they entailedless discomfort to ourselves. Assuredly, it was worth while to crossto England to study manners. And there are sights for you that youwill never see in France. You would not, for instance, had you not comehither, have had an opportunity of observing a member of the noblesseseconding and assisting a tipstaff in the discharge of his duty. Anddoing it just as a hog wallows in foulness--for the love of it.
"The gentlemen in your country, Leduc, are too fastidious to enjoy lifeas it should be enjoyed; they are too prone to adhere to the amusementsof their class. You have here an opportunity of perceiving how deeplythey are mistaken, what relish may lie in setting one's rank on oneside, in forgetting at times that by an accident--a sheer, incredibleaccident, I assure you, Leduc--one may have been born to a gentleman'sestate."
Rotherby had drawn himself up, his dark face crimsoning.
"D'ye talk at me, sir?" he demanded. "D'ye dare discuss me with yourlackey?"
"But why not, since you search me with my tipstaff! If you can perceivea difference, you are too subtle for me, sir."
Rotherby advanced a step; then checked. He inherited mental sluggishnessfrom his father. "You are insolent!" he charged Caryll. "You insult me."
"Indeed! Ha! I am working miracles."
Rotherby governed his anger by an effort. "There was enough between uswithout this," said he.
"There could not be too much between us--too much space, I mean."
The viscount looked at him furiously. "I shall discuss this further withyou," said he. "The present is not the time nor place. But I shall knowwhere to look for you."
"Leduc, I am sure, will always be pleased to see you. He, too, isstudying manners."
Rotherby ignored the insult. "We shall see, then, whether you can doanything more than talk."
"I hope that your lordship, too, is master of other accomplishments. Asa talker, I do not find you very gifted. But perhaps Leduc will be lessexigent than I."
"Bah!" his lordship flung at him, and went out, cursing him profusely,Gaskell following at his master's heels.