As Arthur dressed himself for dinner that evening he came to theconclusion that he disliked his host more than any man he ever saw,and, to say the truth, he descended into the dining-room withconsiderable misgivings. Just as he entered, the opposite door opened,and Sir John Bellamy was announced. On seeing him, George emerged fromthe sulky silence into which he was plunged, and advanced to meet him.
"Hullo, Bellamy! I must congratulate you upon your accession to rank."
"Thank you, Caresfoot, thank you," replied Mr. Bellamy, who, with theexception that he had grown a size larger, and boasted a bald patch onthe top of his head that gave him something of a appearance of a jollylittle monk, looked very much the same as when we last saw him as anewly married man.
"A kind Providence," he went on, rubbing his dry hands, and glancingnervously under the chairs, "has put this honour into my hands."
"A Providence in petticoats, you mean," broke in George.
"Possibly, my dear Caresfoot; but I do not see him. Is it possiblethat he is lurking yonder, behind the sofa?"
"Who on earth do you mean?"
"I mean that exceedingly fine dog of yours, Snarleyow. Snarleyow,where are you? Excuse me for taking precautions, but last time he puthis head under my chair and bit me severely, as I dare say youremember."
Arthur groaned at hearing the subject thus brought forward.
"Mr. Heigham's dog killed Snarleyow this afternoon," said George, in asavage voice.
At this intelligence, Sir John's face became wreathed in smiles.
"I am deeply delighted--I mean grieved--to hear it. Poor Snarleyow! hewas a charming dog; and to think that such a fate should haveovertaken him, when it was only last week that he did the same kindoffice for Anne's spaniel. Poor Snarleyow! you should really have himstuffed. But, my dear Caresfoot, you have not yet introduced me to thehero of the evening, Mr. Heigham. Mr. Heigham, I am delighted to makeyour acquaintance," and he shook hands with Arthur with gentleenthusiasm, as though he were the last scion of a race that he hadknown and loved for generations.
Presently dinner was announced, and the three sat down at a smallround table in the centre of the big dining-room, on which was placeda shaded lamp. It was not a cheerful dinner. George, having saidgrace, relapsed into moody silence, eating and drinking with gusto butin moderation, and savouring every sup of wine and morsel of food asthough he regretted its departure. He was not free from gluttony, buthe was a judicious glutton. For his part, Arthur found a certainfascination in watching his guardian's red head as he bobbed up anddown opposite to him, and speculating on the thickness of eachindividual hair that contributed to give it such a spiky effect. Whathad his mother been like, he wondered, that she had started him inlife with such an entirely detestable countenance? Meanwhile he wasreplying in monosyllables to Sir John's gentle babblings, till at lasteven that gentleman's flow of conversation ran dry, and Arthur wasleft free to contemplate the head in solemn silence. As soon as thecloth had been cleared away, George suggested that they had better getto work. Arthur assented, and Sir John, smiling with much sweetness,remarked profoundly that business was one of the ills of life, andmust be attended to.
"At any rate, it is an ill that has agreed uncommonly well with you,"growled George, as, rising from the table, he went to a solid ironsafe that stood in the corner of the room, and, unlocking it with asmall key that he took from his pocket, extracted a bundle ofdocuments.
"That is an excellent deed-box of yours, Caresfoot," said Sir Johncarelessly.
"Yes; that lock would not be very easy to pick. It is made on my owndesign."
"But don't you find that small parcels such as private letters are aptto get lost in it? It is so big."
"Oh! no; there is a separate compartment for them. Now, Mr. Heigham."And then, with the able and benign assistance of Sir John, heproceeded to utterly confuse and mystify Arthur, till stocks,preference-shares, consols, and mortgages were all whirling in hisbewildered brain. Having satisfactorily reduced him to this condition,he suddenly sprang upon him the proposal he had in view with referenceto the Jotley mortgage, pointing out to him that it was an excellentinvestment, and strongly advising him, "as a friend," to leave themoney upon the land. Arthur hesitated a little, more from naturalcaution than anything he could urge to the contrary, and George,noticing it, said,
"It is only right that, before you come to any decision, you shouldsee the map of the estate, and a copy of the deed. I have both in thenext room, if you care to come and look at them."
Arthur assented, and they went off together; Sir John, whose eyesappeared to be a little heavy under the influence of the port,presuming that he was not wanted. But, no sooner had the door closed,than the worthy knight proved himself very wide-awake. Indeed, hecommenced a singular course of action. Advancing on tiptoe to the safein the corner of the room, he closely inspected it through hiseyeglass. Then he cautiously tried the lid of an artfully contrivedsubdivision.
"Um!" he muttered, half aloud, "that's where they are; I wish I hadten minutes."
Next he returned swiftly to the table, and, taking a piece of the softbread which he was eating instead of biscuit with his wine, he rapidlykneaded it into dough, and, going to the safe, divided the materialinto two portions. One portion he carefully pressed upon the keyholeof the subdivision, and then, extracting the key of the safe itself,took a very fair impress of its wards on the other. This done, hecarefully put the pieces of dough in his breast-pocket in such a waythat they were not likely to be crushed, and, with a smile ofsatisfaction, returned to his chair, helped himself to a glass ofport, and dozed off.
"Hullo, Bellamy, gone to sleep! Wake up, man. We have settled thisbusiness about the mortgage. Will you write to Mr. Borley, and conveyMr. Heigham's decision? And perhaps"--addressing Arthur--"you will dothe same on your own account."
"Certainly I will write, Caresfoot; and now I think that I must beoff. Her ladyship does not like having to sit up for me."
George laughed in a peculiarly insulting way.
"I don't think she would care much, Bellamy, if you stayed away allnight. But look here, tell her I want to see her to-morrow; don'tforget."
Sir John bit his knightly lip, but answered, smiling, that he wouldremember, and begging George not to ring, as his trap was at the hall-door, and the servant waiting, he bade an affectionate good-night toArthur, to whom he expressed a hope that they would soon meet again,and let himself out of the room. But, as soon as the door was closed,he went through another performance exceedingly inappropriate in aknight. Turning round, his smug face red with anger, he pirouetted onhis toes, and shook his fist violently in the direction of the door.
"You scoundrel!" he said between his teeth, "you have made a fool ofme for twenty years, and I have been obliged to grin and bear it; butI will be even with you yet, and her too, more especially her."
So soon as Sir John had left, Arthur told his host that, if themorning was fine, he proposed to go and fish in Bratham Lake, and thathe also proposed to take his departure by the last train on thefollowing evening. To these propositions George offered no objection--indeed, they were distinctly agreeable to him, as lessening the timehe would be forced to spend in the society of a guest he cordiallydetested, for such was the feeling that he had conceived towardsArthur.
Then they parted for the night; but, before he left the room, Georgewent to lock up the safe that was still open in the corner. Struck bysome thought, he unlocked the separate compartment with a key thathung on his watch-chain, and extracted therefrom a thick and neatlyfolded packet of letters. Drawing out one or two, he glanced throughthem and replaced them.
"Oh! Lady Anne, Lady Anne," he said to himself as he closed the case,"you are up in the world now, and you aspire to rule the countysociety, and have both the wealth and the wit to do it; but you mustnot kick over the traces, or I shall be forced to suppress you, LadyAnne, though you are the wife of a Brummagem knight, and I think thatit is time you had a little reminder. You are growing a touch
tooindependent."