The Woman with One Hand, and Mr. Ely's Engagement

  CHAPTER X

  THE AMAZING CONTENTS OF MR. ELY'S LETTER

  Mr. Ely played with that letter as a cat plays with a mouse. It was atender morsel, a _bonne bouche_, which must not be hastily dismissed.He turned it over and over, examining first the superscription, thebold, flourishing hand in which she had penned his name--how well itlooked; the first time his name had been inscribed by her! Then heexamined the reverse--the monogram. He could make it out quitewell--L. T.--Lily Truscott. He blushed as he caught himself in the actof raising the magic letters to his lips. Then he laid it down in aprominent position in front of his plate, and studied the exterior ashe began to eat.

  "I wonder what she has to say!" Ah, what! "I wonder if--if she's comeround to my point of view? Got--got spoony, and--and all that. ByGeorge, I hope she has!" What with the food he had in his mouth, andthe sigh, he was almost choked. "I think every woman ought to love theman she's going to marry. I love her--I know I do."

  He began to know that fact too well. The man who had had nothing to dowith sentiment was painfully conscious that he was on the point ofbecoming the most sentimental of men.

  "I mismanaged the affair all through. I ought to have told her that Iloved her. How can a man expect a girl to love him if she don'tbelieve that he loves her? Perhaps she has written to say that she canconceal the fact no longer: that she loves me whether I want her to ordon't. By George! I hope she has."

  He feasted his eyes again upon the envelope, and helped himself toanother serving of ham and eggs.

  "I thought her behaviour was a trifle cold. It was that beastly dogthat did it. How can a man make himself agreeable to a woman whenthere's a dog ready to bite his nose off sitting on her knee? Still, Ithought her behaviour was a trifle cold. She didn't seem to pay muchattention to what I had to say; I believe she would have preferred toread; and when she did begin to talk she was taking pot-shots at oneall over the place, as it were."

  He sighed, and took another egg.

  "And when I asked her to marry me I might have been asking her to takea tart; she didn't seem to be interested in the least. She was mostuncommon anxious to treat the thing in a business-like kind of way. Ioughtn't to have been so particular about saying I was a business man.That was a mistake; I know it was."

  He sighed again. He put down his knife and fork.

  "By George, if she writes to say she loves me, I--I'd give a hundredpounds!"

  He took the letter in his hands.

  "I wonder if she does!"

  In his anxiety he rose from his seat and began to pace the room,holding the letter tightly in his hand. He paused before themantelshelf and regarded himself in the glass.

  "Well, upon my word, I never thought that I should come to this--Inever did. Here's all the papers, and goodness knows what news fromParis, and I haven't looked at one, and don't want to neither, that'sthe truth. If she's only written to say she loves me, whether I wanther to or don't, I--I'd give a thousand pounds. Here goes! I can'tstand fooling here all day! Goodness knows what the state of things inthe City may be."

  He was about to tear the envelope open with his finger. He changed hismind.

  "She may have written something on the flap. I'd better use a knife."

  He used a knife. To see him use it, opening an envelope might havebeen the most delicate operation on earth.

  "Now for it!" He heaved the greatest sigh of all. "By George, if it'sonly to confess her love!"

  He seated himself at the table with the letter spread out in front ofhim. It might have been as fragile as it was priceless to observe theginger way in which he opened it and spread it out. Then he arrayedhimself for its perusal with as much precision as though it were someformal and rather complicated revelation just to hand from the gods.

  "'Dear Mr. Ely' (I say! She might have said 'Dear Fred,' or even'Frederic'! 'Dear Mr. Ely'! It's rather a stiffish way of writing tothe man you're going to marry, don't you know.) 'Just a line withreference to what passed between us yesterday. I have changed my mind.I thought it better to let you know at the earliest possible moment.It is quite impossible for me to be your wife. The fact is, I am goingto marry Mr. Summers instead. Yours truly, Lily Truscott.'"

  Mr. Ely read this note through without, in his astonishment, being inthe least able to grasp its meaning.

  "What--what the blazes is all this!" He ploughed through it again."'Dear Mr. Ely' (it's evidently meant for me), 'just a line withreference to what passed between us yesterday'! (What passed betweenus yesterday--what's she mean? She hasn't put a date; I suppose shemeans my asking her to be my wife. That's a pretty good way ofreferring to it, anyhow.) 'I have changed my mind!' (Oh, has she?About what? It didn't strike me she had a mind to change.) 'I thoughtit better to let you know at the earliest possible moment'! (If shehad only told me what it was she thought it better to let me know, itwould have been perhaps as well. If this is a love-letter, give me theother kind of thing.) 'It is quite impossible for me to be your wife.'(What--what the blazes does she mean?) 'The fact is, I am going tomarry Mr. Summers instead'!"

  Mr. Ely's jaw dropped, and he stared at the letter as though it were aghost.

  "Well--I'm--hanged!' The fact is, I am going to marry Mr. Summersinstead.' That takes the cake!' Yours truly, Lily Truscott.'--If thatisn't the sweetest thing in love-letters ever yet I heard of!"

  Quite a curious change had come over Mr. Ely. If we may be forgiven avulgarism which is most expressive--he seemed to have been knocked allof a heap. His head had fallen forward on his chest, one limp handheld Miss Truscott's letter, the other dangled nerveless by his side.

  "And I gave twenty pounds for an engagement-ring!"

  They were the first words in which he gave expression to the strengthof his emotion.

  "Good Lord, if I had given him what he asked, and stumped upforty-five!"

  The reflection sent a shudder all through his frame. The horror of thepicture thus conjured up by his imagination had the effect of a tonicon his nerves, it recalled him to himself.

  "I'll have another read at this. There isn't much of it, but whatthere is requires a good deal of digesting."

  He pulled himself together, sat up in his chair, and had another read.

  "'Dear Mr. Ely' (yes, by George, dear at any price, I'll swear! Likeher impudence to call me 'dear'! I wonder she didn't begin it 'Sir'),'just a line with reference to what passed between us yesterday.'(That is, I think, about the coollest bit I ever heard of. Quite acasual allusion, don't you know, to a matter of not the slightestimportance to any one, especially me. That young woman's graduated inan establishment where they teach 'em how to go.) 'I have changed mymind!' (That's--that's about two stone better than the other. She'schanged her mind! Holy Moses! About something, you know, about whichwe change our minds as easily and as often as we do our boots.) 'Ithought it better to let you know at the earliest possible moment.'(She certainly has done that. Unless she had changed her mind beforeshe had made it up, she could scarcely have let me know it sooner. Shemight have wired, to be sure! But perhaps she never thought of that.)'It is quite impossible for me to be your wife.' (It is as well thatthe explanation follows immediately after, or echo would have answered'Why?') 'The fact is, I am going to marry Mr. Summers instead.' Isuppose there never was a larger amount of meaning contained in asmaller number of words. Among the remarkable women the world has seenthe record's hers; she is certainly unique."

  Rising from his seat, he put the letter back in the envelope, andplaced the envelope within his letter-case.

  "I'll take that letter up to Ash; I'll have a word to say to him. Iwonder if he knows what sort of a ward he's got? That's the best andtruest girl alive; a woman whose word is just her bond; who, when shesays a thing, sticks to it like glue. And to think that I spent twentypounds on an engagement-ring!"

  He put his hands into his trousers pockets. He balanced himself uponhis toes and heels.

  "Twenty
pounds for an engagement-ring! I wonder how much Mr. Summersintends to pay?"

  The reflection angered him.

  "By George, I'll let her know if she's going to pitch me overboardquite so easily as that. I'll make her marry me, or I'll know thereason why."

  When he left for the City his first business was to pay a visit to Mr.Ash. He dismissed the cab at the corner of Throgmorton Street. He hadnot taken half a dozen steps along that rather narrow thoroughfarewhen a hand was laid upon his shoulder; turning, he saw Mr. Rosenbaum.

  "My good friend, I have a little paper here for you."

  And Mr. Rosenbaum deftly slipped a paper into his good friend's hand.

  "Rosenbaum! What's this?"

  "It's a writ, my friend; a writ. You would not tell me the name ofyour solicitor, so I try personal service instead."

  With a beaming smile and a nod of his head, Mr. Rosenbaum swaggeredaway. In a somewhat bewildered state of mind Mr. Ely stared after him,the paper in his hand.

  "It never rains but it pours! Here's two strokes of luck in a singleday, and I've only just got out of bed!"

  He opened the legal-looking document with which he had been sounexpectedly presented by his generous friend, and glanced at itscontents. It was headed "Rosenbaum _v_. Ely," and, so far as he couldjudge from his hasty glance, it purported to relate to an actionbrought by Ruth Rosenbaum against Frederic Ely, to recover damages forbreach of promise of marriage.

  "Well! This is a pretty go!"

  He could scarcely believe his eyes; the damages were laid at thirtythousand pounds! And he had already spent twenty pounds for anengagement-ring!

  His first impulse was to tear the paper up and scatter the pieces inthe street. His second--which he followed--was to place it in theinner pocket of his coat as a companion to his letter-case.

  "Rosenbaum must be a greater fool even than I thought. Thirty thousandpounds! By George! One girl values me at a considerably higher figurethan another does."

  He found that Mr. Ash was still in his office, and alone; so, withouttroubling to have himself announced, he marched straight in.

  "Hallo, Ely, here again! Anything settled about the date? Or is itsomething more tangible than love?"

  Mr. Ash was engaged with a file of correspondence, from which helooked up at Mr. Ely, with a laugh.

  "I have to get through all this before I can put in an appearance inthe House. And here's a man who gives me so many minute directionsabout what he wants to do that I can't for the life of me understandwhat it is he wants. Why people can't just say 'Buy this,' 'Sellthat,' is more than I can tell. But what's the matter? You look quiteglum."

  "So would you look glum if you had as much cause for looking glum asme."

  "I don't know! You've won one of the prettiest girls in England--andone of the nicest little fortunes, too. After that it would takesomething to make me look glum."

  "She's one of the prettiest girls in England."

  "There's no mistake about that. Any man might be proud of such aprize. I've been thinking about it all night."

  "I've been thinking about it, too."

  "And the result is to give you that dyspeptic look? Not flattering toher, eh?"

  There was a pause before Mr. Ely answered. With much deliberation heput his hand into his pocket and drew out his letter-case. "I'm sorryyou don't think it's flattering." Another pause before he spoke again;then it was with an even more acidulated expression of countenance. "Ihave received a letter by this morning's post."

  "No! From her? She's going it."

  "Yes, she is going it, I think."

  "That sort of thing's hardly your line, eh?"

  "That sort of thing hardly is my line."

  "Don't care for love-letters--as a rule?"

  "I should like to refer to a dictionary to know what a love-letter is.If this is a love-letter, I prefer a summons."

  It was on his tongue to say a writ, but he remembered that he alreadyhad one in his pocket, and chose another word.

  "Ah, Ely, you must remember that this is a romantic girl. If herlanguage seems too flowery--too kissy-kissy--you must bear in mindthat in romantic girls affection is apt to take such shapes. Besides,I should think you'd rather have that than the other kind of thing--Iknow I would."

  "Perhaps, before you pass an opinion on that subject, you'll allow meto read to you the letter I've received."

  "Read it! I say! Is that quite fair? Men don't read their love-letterseven to their young women's guardians as a rule. Especially thefirst--I thought that was sacred above the rest."

  "Look here, Ash, I'm the mildest-mannered man alive, but you nevercame nearer having an inkstand at your head than since I've beeninside this room."

  "Ely! Good gracious, man! What's the matter now?"

  "I repeat--perhaps you'll allow me to read to you the letter I'vereceived."

  With the same air of excessive deliberation, Mr. Ely opened hisletter-case, took from it an envelope, and from it a letter, unfoldedthe epistle, and looked at Mr. Ash. Mr. Ash did nothing but stare athim.

  "This is my first love-letter--the one which you thought was sacredabove the rest. I don't know about the rest. This is quite enough forme. You are sure you're listening?"

  "I'll take my oath on that."

  "'Dear Mr. Ely' (you observe how warmly she begins! Kissy-kissy kindof way, you know), 'just a line with reference to what passed betweenus yesterday.' (That's a gentle allusion to the trivial fact that onthe day before she pledged herself to be my wife. We're getting warm,you see.) 'I have changed my mind.'"

  "She has what?"

  "She says that she has changed her mind."

  "What does she mean by she's changed her mind?"

  "Ah, that's what we have to see. It's an obscure allusion whichbecomes clearer later on; an example of the flowery language in whichromantic girls indulge. 'I thought it better to let you know at theearliest possible moment.' (You'll observe that she wastes no time.Perhaps that's another characteristic of the romantic state of mind.)'It is quite impossible for me to be your wife.'"

  "What's that?"

  "She says that it's quite impossible for her to be my wife."

  "But--good heavens!--I thought you told me she said yes."

  "She did say yes."

  "But an unhesitating--a final and decisive yes?"

  "It was an unhesitating, a final and decisive yes.

  "You sent me up a wire!"

  "It was agreed between us that I should send you up a wire."

  "You talked about having the marriage in a month."

  "I did talk, about having the marriage in a month."

  "And buying a house and furniture, and all the rest of it."

  "Precisely; and all the rest of it."

  "And you told me that you had bought a ring."

  "That's a fact. I did. I paid twenty pounds for an engagement-ring.It's in my pocket now. That's one of the pleasantest parts of theaffair."

  "Then what the dickens does she mean? Is the girl stark mad? Are yousure the letter comes from her?"

  "You shall examine it for yourself in a moment, and then you'll beable to decide. You understand it is the first love-letter I ever had,and therefore sacred above the rest. As for what she means, theexplanation comes a little further on--in the next sentence, in fact,Perhaps you will allow me to proceed!"

  "Oh, go on! It is plain the girl is mad."

  "'The fact is, I am going to marry Mr. Summers instead.'"

  "Good----! What--what's that?"

  "She says that she's going to marry Mr. Summers instead."

  "Instead! Instead of whom?"

  "Instead of me."

  "Well, I'm--hanged!"

  "Yes, that's exactly what I am. And as this is the result of my firstlove-letter, I don't want to have a second experience of the samekind, you understand."

  "Then he's done it after all! What a fool I've been!"

  "Well, it does seem that there's a fool somewhere in the case."

  "I'v
e done it all!"

  "The deuce you have!"

  "Do you know this man Summers?"

  "Of course I do. Didn't you see I did when I met him here the otherday?"

  "Do you know what he came for then?"

  "How should I? For half a crown, I shouldn't be surprised. He's one ofthose painter fellows who run up pictures by the yard."

  "He came for Lily."

  "What the dickens do you mean?"

  "I mean exactly what I say. He came to ask my consent to make my wardan offer of his hand."

  "What! Before I did?"

  "No; directly you had gone."

  "But you had given your consent to me!"

  "I told him so. He didn't seem to think that it mattered in theleast."

  "Well, he's a cool hand, upon my Sam!"

  "When I told him what I had arranged with you, he wanted to start offfor Shanklin there and then. It was with the greatest difficulty thatI got him to listen to common sense--I never saw a man in such a stateof imbecility. Finally, I agreed that if you failed then he shouldhave his chance."

  "But I didn't fail."

  "Well, it looks queer."

  "Looks queer! Do you want to drive me mad? And I paid twenty poundsfor my engagement-ring! Do you think I should buy engagement-rings ifI wasn't sure that it was clear? A girl promises to be my wife, andanother man comes directly after and eggs her on to break her word!Looks queer! I should think it does, by George! Look here, Ash, if youthink I'm going to sit down quietly and stand this sort of thing,you're wrong!"

  "Shall I tell you what my own opinion of the matter is?"

  "Get it out!"

  "The girl's a fool!"

  "She's either that or something worse."

  "I have only to go down and talk the matter over with her quietly, andyou'll see it will be all right."

  "You go down! And where do you suppose that I shall be?"

  "You leave the matter in my hands, and you'll find that I will make itall right."

  "I'll be shot if I will! The girl has promised to be my wife, and ifthere's any man who's got a right to talk to her it's me. I've had oneday out of town; I think I'll spare myself another. You've got atime-table, haven't you? When is there a train?"

  Producing a Bradshaw, Mr. Ash plunged into its intricacies.

  "It's now eleven. There's a train leaves Waterloo eleven thirty-five.Reaches Shanklin three forty-three. It's too late for that."

  "Eleven thirty-five? Is it too late--we'll see. You don't seem to beaware of the fact that at this moment, for all I know, that man'samusing himself with the woman who promised to be my wife. It don'toccur to you that there is any necessity for haste. I'm off; you maycome or stay, just as you please."

  "I'll come--it's a little awkward, but I'll come."

  "It is awkward! You'd think it awkward if you were in the pair ofshoes that I'm wearing now."

  "Half a minute! Just let me speak one word to my managing man."

  Mr. Ash called in his clerk. Mr. Ely passed into the street, andengaged a hansom cab. In a remarkably short space of time he wasjoined by Mr. Ash. Mr. Ely gave instructions to the cabman.

  "Waterloo! Main line! And go like blazes!"

  And the cab was off.