‘Certainly, Mr Baxter.’
The Efficient One withdrew through the door in the bookshelf. He realised that his employer was in fractious mood, but knew that he was leaving him in capable hands.
Lord Emsworth turned from the window, out of which he had been gazing with a plaintive detachment.
‘Look here, Connie,’ he grumbled feebly. You know I hate literary fellows. It’s bad enough having them in the house, but when it comes to going to London to fetch ’em . . .’
He shuffled morosely. It was a perpetual grievance of his, this practice of his sister’s of collecting literary celebrities and dumping them down in the home for indeterminate visits. You never knew when she was going to spring another on you. Already since the beginning of the year he had suffered from a round dozen of the species at brief intervals; and at this very moment his life was being poisoned by the fact that Blandings was sheltering a certain Miss Aileen Peavey, the mere thought of whom was enough to turn the sunshine off as with a tap.
‘Can’t stand literary fellows,’ proceeded his lordship. ‘Never could. And, by Jove, literary females are worse. Miss Peavey . . .’ Here words temporarily failed the owner of Blandings. ‘Miss Peavey . . .’ he resumed after an eloquent pause. ‘Who is Miss Peavey?’
‘My dear Clarence,’ replied Lady Constance tolerantly, for the fine morning had made her mild and amiable, ‘if you do not know that Aileen is one of the leading poetesses of the younger school, you must be very ignorant.’
‘I don’t mean that. I know she writes poetry. I mean who is she? You suddenly produced her here like a rabbit out of a hat,’ said his lordship, in a tone of strong resentment. ‘Where did you find her?’
‘I first made Aileen’s acquaintance on an Atlantic liner when Joe and I were coming back from our trip round the world. She was very kind to me when I was feeling the motion of the vessel. . . . If you mean what is her family, I think Aileen told me once that she was connected with the Rutlandshire Peaveys.’
‘Never heard of them!’ snapped Lord Emsworth. And, if they’re anything like Miss Peavey, God help Rutlandshire!’
Tranquil as Lady Constance’s mood was this morning, an ominous stoniness came into her grey eyes at these words, and there is little doubt that in another instant she would have discharged at her mutinous brother one of those shattering come-backs for which she had been celebrated in the family from nursery days onward; but at this juncture the Efficient Baxter appeared again through the bookshelf.
‘Excuse me,’ said Baxter, securing attention with a flash of his spectacles. ‘I forgot to mention, Lord Emsworth, that, to suit everybody’s convenience, I have arranged that Miss Halliday shall call to see you at your club to-morrow after lunch.’
‘Good Lord, Baxter!’ The harassed peer started as if he had been bitten in the leg. ‘Who’s Miss Halliday? Not another literary female?’
‘Miss Halliday is the young lady who is coming to Blandings to catalogue the library.’
‘Catalogue the library? What does it want cataloguing for?’
‘It has not been done since the year 1885.’
‘Well, and look how splendidly we’ve got along without it,’ said Lord Emsworth acutely.
‘Don’t be so ridiculous, Clarence,’ said Lady Constance, annoyed. ‘The catalogue of a great library like this must be brought up to date.’ She moved to the door. ‘I do wish you would try to wake up and take an interest in things. If it wasn’t for Mr Baxter, I don’t know what would happen.’
And with a beaming glance of approval at her ally she left the room. Baxter, coldly austere, returned to the subject under discussion.
‘I have written to Miss Halliday suggesting two-thirty as a suitable hour for the interview.’
‘But look here . . .’
‘You will wish to see her before definitely confirming the engagement.’
‘Yes, but look here, I wish you wouldn’t go tying me up with all these appointments.’
‘I thought that as you were going to London to meet MrMcTodd . . .’
‘But I’m not going to London to meet Mr McTodd,’ cried Lord Emsworth with weak fury. ‘It’s out of the question. I can’t possibly leave Blandings. The weather may break at any moment. I don’t want to miss a day of it.’
‘The arrangements are all made.’
‘Send the fellow a wire . . . “unavoidably detained”.’
‘I could not take the responsibility for such a course myself,’ said Baxter coldly. ‘But possibly if you were to make the suggestion to Lady Constance . . .’
‘Oh, dash it!’ said Lord Emsworth unhappily, at once realising the impossibility of the scheme. ‘Oh, well, if I’ve got to go, I’ve got to go,’ he said after a gloomy pause. ‘But to leave my garden and stew in London at this time of the year . . .’
There seemed nothing further to say on the subject. He took offhis glasses, polished them, put them on again, and shuffled to the door. After all, he reflected, even though the car was coming for him at two, at least he had the morning, and he proposed to make the most of it. But his first careless rapture at the prospect of pottering among his flowers was dimmed, and would not be recaptured. He did not entertain any project so mad as the idea of defying his sister Constance, but he felt extremely bitter about the whole affair. Confound Constance! . . . Dash Baxter! . . . Miss Peavey . . .
The door closed behind Lord Emsworth.
§ 2
Lady Constance meanwhile, proceeding downstairs, had reached the big hall, when the door of the smoking-room opened and a head popped out. A round, grizzled head with a healthy pink face attached to it.
‘Connie!’ said the head.
Lady Constance halted.
‘Yes, Joe?’
‘Come in here a minute,’ said the head. ‘Want to speak to you.’
Lady Constance went into the smoking-room. It was large and cosily book-lined, and its window looked out on to an Italian garden. A wide fire-place occupied nearly the whole of one side of it, and in front of this, his legs spread to an invisible blaze, Mr Joseph Keeble had already taken his stand. His manner was bluff, but an acute observer might have detected embarrassment in it.
‘What is it, Joe?’ asked Lady Constance, and smiled pleasantly at her husband. When, two years previously, she had married this elderly widower, of whom the world knew nothing beyond the fact that he had amassed a large fortune in South African diamond mines, there had not been wanting cynics to set the match down as one of convenience, a purely business arrangement by which Mr Keeble exchanged his money for Lady Constance’s social position. Such was not the case. It had been a genuine marriage of affection on both sides. Mr Keeble worshipped his wife, and she was devoted to him, though never foolishly indulgent. They were a happy and united couple.
Mr Keeble cleared his throat. He seemed to find some difficulty in speaking. And when he spoke it was not on the subject which he had intended to open, but on one which had already been worn out in previous conversations.
‘Connie, I’ve been thinking about that necklace again.’
Lady Constance laughed.
‘Oh, don’t be silly, Joe. You haven’t called me into this stuffy room on a lovely morning like this to talk about that for the hundredth time.’
‘Well, you know, there’s no sense in taking risks.’
‘Don’t be absurd. What risks can there be?’
‘There was a burglary over at Winstone Court, not ten miles from here, only a day or two ago.’
‘Don’t be so fussy, Joe.’
‘That necklace cost nearly twenty thousand pounds,’ said Mr Keeble, in the reverent voice in which men of business traditions speak of large sums.
‘I know.’
‘It ought to be in the bank.’
‘Once and for all, Joe,’ said Lady Constance, losing her amiability and becoming suddenly imperious and Cleopatrine, ‘I will not keep that necklace in a bank. What on earth is the use of having a beautiful necklace if it is l
ying in the strong-room of a bank all the time? There is the County Ball coming on, and the Bachelors’ Ball after that, and . . . well, I need it. I will send the thing to the bank when we pass through London on our way to Scotland, but not till then. And I do wish you would stop worrying me about it.’
There was a silence. Mr Keeble was regretting now that his unfortunate poltroonery had stopped him from tackling in a straightforward and manly fashion the really important matter which was weighing on his mind: for he perceived that his remarks about the necklace, eminently sensible though they were, had marred the genial mood in which his wife had begun this interview. It was going to be more difficult now than ever to approach the main issue. Still, ruffled though she might be, the thing had to be done: for it involved a matter of finance, and in matters of finance Mr Keeble was no longer a free agent. He and Lady Constance had a mutual banking account, and it was she who supervised the spending of it. This was an arrangement, subsequently regretted by Mr Keeble, which had been come to in the early days of the honeymoon, when men are apt to do foolish things.
Mr Keeble coughed. Not the sharp, efficient cough which we have heard Rupert Baxter uttering in the library, but a feeble, strangled thing like the bleat of a diffident sheep.
‘Connie,’ he said. ‘Er – Connie.’
And at the words a sort of cold film seemed to come over Lady Constance’s eyes: for some sixth sense told her what subject it was that was now about to be introduced.
‘Connie, I – er – had a letter from Phyllis this morning.’
Lady Constance said nothing. Her eyes gleamed for an instant, then became frozen again. Her intuition had not deceived her.
Into the married life of this happy couple only one shadow had intruded itself up to the present. But unfortunately it was a shadow of considerable proportions, a kind of super-shadow; and its effect had been chilling. It was Phyllis, Mr Keeble’s stepdaughter, who had caused it – by the simple process of jilting the rich and suitable young man whom Lady Constance had attached to her (rather in the manner of a conjurer forcing a card upon his victim) and running off and marrying a far from rich and quite unsuitable person of whom all that seemed to be known was that his name was Jackson. Mr Keeble, whose simple creed was that Phyllis could do no wrong, had been prepared to accept the situation philosophically; but his wife’s wrath had been deep and enduring. So much so that the mere mentioning of the girl’s name must be accounted to him for a brave deed, Lady Constance having specifically stated that she never wished to hear it again.
Keenly alive to this prejudice of hers, Mr Keeble stopped after making his announcement, and had to rattle his keys in his pocket in order to acquire the necessary courage to continue. He was not looking at his wife, but he knew just how forbidding her expression must be. This task of his was no easy, congenial task for a pleasant summer morning.
‘She says in her letter,’ proceeded Mr Keeble, his eyes on the carpet and his cheeks a deeper pink, ‘that young Jackson has got the chance of buying a big farm . . . in Lincolnshire, I think she said . . . if he can raise three thousand pounds.’
He paused, and stole a glance at his wife. It was as he had feared. She had congealed. Like some spell, the name Jackson had apparently turned her to marble. It was like the Pygmalion and Galatea business working the wrong way round. She was presumably breathing, but there was no sign of it.
‘So I was just thinking,’ said Mr Keeble, producing another obbligato on the keys, ‘it just crossed my mind . . . it isn’t as if the thing were a speculation . . . the place is apparently coining money . . . present owner only selling because he wants to go abroad . . . it occurred to me . . . and they would pay good interest on the loan . . .’
‘What loan?’ inquired the statue icily, coming to life.
‘Well, what I was thinking . . . just a suggestion, you know . . . what struck me was that if you were willing we might . . . good investment, you know, and nowadays it’s deuced hard to find good investments . . . I was thinking that we might lend them the money.’
He stopped. But he had got the thing out and felt happier. He rattled his keys again, and rubbed the back of his head against the mantelpiece. The friction seemed to give him confidence.
‘We had better settle this thing once and for all, Joe,’ said Lady Constance. ‘As you know, when we were married, I was ready to do everything for Phyllis. I was prepared to be a mother to her. I gave her every chance, took her everywhere. And what happened?’
‘Yes, I know. But . . .’
‘She became engaged to a man with plenty of money . . .’
‘Shocking young ass,’ interjected Mr Keeble, perking up for a moment at the recollection of the late lamented, whom he had never liked. And a rip, what’s more. I’ve heard stories.’
‘Nonsense! If you are going to believe all the gossip you hear about people, nobody would be safe. He was a delightful young man and he would have made Phyllis perfectly happy. Instead of marrying him, she chose to go off with this – Jackson.’ Lady Constance’s voice quivered. Greater scorn could hardly have been packed into two syllables. After what has happened, I certainly intend to have nothing more to do with her. I shall not lend them a penny, so please do not let us continue this discussion any longer. I hope I am not an unjust woman, but I must say that I consider, after the way Phyllis behaved . . .’
The sudden opening of the door caused her to break off. Lord Emsworth, mould-stained and wearing a deplorable old jacket, pottered into the room. He peered benevolently at his sister and his brother-in-law, but seemed unaware that he was interrupting a conversation.
‘“Gardening as a Fine Art”,’ he murmured. ‘Connie, have you seen a book called “Gardening as a Fine Art”? I was reading it in here last night. “Gardening as a Fine Art”. That is the title. Now, where can it have got to?’ His dreamy eye flitted to and fro. ‘I want to show it to McAllister. There is a passage in it that directly refutes his anarchistic views on . . .’
‘It is probably on one of the shelves,’ said Lady Constance shortly.
‘On one of the shelves?’ said Lord Emsworth, obviously impressed by this bright suggestion. ‘Why, of course, to be sure.’
Mr Keeble was rattling his keys moodily. A mutinous expression was on his pink face. These moments of rebellion did not come to him very often, for he loved his wife with a dog-like affection and had grown accustomed to being ruled by her, but now resentment filled him. She was unreasonable, he considered. She ought to have realised how strongly he felt about poor little Phyllis. It was too infernally cold-blooded to abandon the poor child like an old shoe simply because . . .
‘Are you going?’ he asked, observing his wife moving to the door.
‘Yes. I am going into the garden,’ said Lady Constance. ‘Why? Was there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?’
‘No,’ said Mr Keeble despondently. ‘Oh, no.’
Lady Constance left the room, and a deep masculine silence fell. Mr Keeble rubbed the back of his head meditatively against the mantelpiece, and Lord Emsworth scratched among the book-shelves.
‘Clarence!’ said Mr Keeble suddenly. An idea – one might almost say an inspiration – had come to him.
‘Eh?’ responded his lordship absently. He had found his book and was turning its pages, absorbed.
‘Clarence, can you . . .’
‘Angus McAllister,’ observed Lord Emsworth bitterly, ‘is an obstinate, stiff-necked son of Belial. The writer of this book distinctly states in so many words . . .’
‘Clarence, can you lend me three thousand pounds on good security and keep it dark from Connie?’
Lord Emsworth blinked.
‘Keep something dark from Connie?’ He raised his eyes from his book in order to peer at this visionary with a gentle pity. ‘My dear fellow, it can’t be done.’
‘She would never know. I will tell you just why I want this money . . .’
‘Money?’ Lord Emsworth’s eye had become vacant again.
He was reading once more. ‘Money? Money, my dear fellow? Money? Money? What money? If I have said once,’ declared Lord Emsworth, ‘that Angus McAllister is all wrong on the subject of hollyhocks, I’ve said it a hundred times.’
‘Let me explain. This three thousand pounds . . .’
‘My dear fellow, no. No, no. It was like you,’ said his lordship with a vague heartiness, ‘it was like you – good and generous – to make this offer, but I have ample, thank you, ample. I don’t need three thousand pounds.’
‘You don’t understand. I . . .’
‘No, no. No, no. But I am very much obliged, all the same. It was kind of you, my dear fellow, to give me the opportunity. Very kind. Very, very, very kind,’ proceeded his lordship, trailing to the door and reading as he went. ‘Oh, very, very, very . . .’
The door closed behind him.
‘Oh, damn!’ said Mr Keeble.
He sank into a chair in a state of profound dejection. He thought of the letter he would have to write to Phyllis. Poor little Phyllis . . . he would have to tell her that what she asked could not be managed. And why, thought Mr Keeble sourly, as he rose from his seat and went to the writing-table, could it not be managed? Simply because he was a weak-kneed, spineless creature who was afraid of a pair of grey eyes that had a tendency to freeze.
‘My dear Phyllis,’ he wrote.
Here he stopped. How on earth was he to put it? What a letter to have to write! Mr Keeble placed his head between his hands and groaned aloud.
‘Hallo, Uncle Joe!’
The letter-writer, turning sharply, was aware – without pleasure – of his nephew Frederick, standing beside his chair. He eyed him resentfully, for he was not only exasperated but startled. He had not heard the door open. It was as if the smooth-haired youth had popped up out of a trap.
‘Came in through the window,’ explained the Hon. Freddie. ‘I say, Uncle Joe.’
‘Well, what is it?’
‘I say, Uncle Joe,’ said Freddie, ‘can you lend me a thousand quid?’
Mr Keeble uttered a yelp like a pinched Pomeranian.