CHAPTER X
MOTHER AND SON
Lady Dunborough stood, as if turned to stone by the news. In the greathall below, a throng of servants, the Pitt livery prominent among them,were hurrying to and fro, with a clatter of dishes and plates, aceaseless calling of orders, a buzz of talk, and now and then a wrangle.But the lobby and staircase of the west wing, on the first floor ofwhich she stood--and where the great man lay, at the end of a softlylighted passage, his door guarded by a man and a woman seated motionlessin chairs beside it--were silent by comparison; the bulk of the guestswere still at supper or busy in the east or inferior wing; and my ladyhad a moment to think, to trace the consequences of this inopportunearrival, and to curse, now more bitterly than before, the failure of herattempt to eject the girl from the house.
However, she was not a woman to lie down to her antagonists, and in thedepth of her stupor she had a thought. Her brow relaxed; she clutchedthe maid's arm. 'Quick,' she whispered, 'go and fetch Mr. Thomasson--heis somewhere below. Bring him here, but do not let Mr. Dunborough seeyou as you pass! Quick, woman--run!'
The maid flew on her errand, leaving her mistress to listen and fret onthe stairs, in a state of suspense almost unbearable. She caught herson's voice in the entrance hall, from which stately arched doorways ledto the side lobbies; but happily he was still at the door, engaged inrailing at a servant; and so far all was well. At any moment, however,he might stride into the middle of the busy group in the hall; and thenif he saw Thomasson before the tutor had had his lesson, the trick, ifnot the game, was lost. Her ladyship, scarcely breathing, hung over thebalustrade, and at length had the satisfaction of seeing Thomasson andthe woman enter the lobby at the foot of the stairs. In a trice thetutor, looking scared, and a trifle sulky--for he had been taken fromhis meat--stood at her side.
Lady Dunborough drew a breath of relief, and by a sign bade the maidbegone. 'You know who is below?' she whispered.
Mr. Thomasson nodded. 'I thought it was what you wished,' he said, withsomething in his tone as near mutiny as he dared venture. 'I understoodthat your ladyship desired to overtake him and reason with him.'
'But with the girl here?' she muttered. And yet it was true. Before shehad seen this girl, she had fancied the task of turning her son to bewell within her powers. Now she gravely doubted the issue; nay, wasinclined to think all lost if the pair met. She told the tutor this, incurt phrase; and continued: 'So, do you go down, man, at once, and meethim at the door; and tell him that I am here--he will discover that forhimself--but that the hussy is not here. Say she is at Bath or--oranywhere you please.'
Mr. Thomasson hesitated. 'He will see her,' he said.
'Why should he see her?' my lady retorted. 'The house is full. He mustpresently go elsewhere. Put him on a false scent, and he will go afterher hot-foot, and not find her. And in a week he will be wiser.'
'It is dangerous,' Mr. Thomasson faltered, his eyes wandering uneasily.
'So am I,' the viscountess answered in a passion. 'And mind you,Thomasson,' she continued fiercely, 'you have got to side with me now!Cross me, and you shall have neither the living nor my good word; andwithout my word you may whistle for your sucking lord! But do mybidding, help me to checkmate this baggage, and I'll see you have both.Why, man, rather than let him marry her, I'd pay you to marry her! I'drather pay down a couple of thousand pounds, and the living too. D'yehear me? But it won't come to that if you do my bidding.'
Still Mr. Thomasson hesitated, shrinking from the task proposed, notbecause he must lie to execute it, but because he must lie toDunborough, and would suffer for it, were he found out. On the otherhand, the bribe was large; the red gabled house, set in its little park,and as good as a squire's, the hundred-acre glebe, the fat tithes andEaster dues--to say nothing of the promised pupil and freedom from hismoney troubles--tempted him sorely. He paused; and while he hesitated hewas lost. For Mr. Dunborough, with the landlord beside him, entered theside-hall, booted, spurred, and in his horseman's coat; and looked upand saw the pair at the head of the staircase. His face, gloomy anddiscontented before, grew darker. He slapped his muddy boot with hiswhip, and, quitting the landlord without ceremony, in three strides wasup the stairs. He did not condescend to Mr. Thomasson, but turned to theviscountess.
'Well, madam,' he said with a sneer.' Your humble servant. This is anunforeseen honour! I did not expect to meet you here.'
'I expected to meet _you_,' my lady answered with meaning.
'Glad to give you the pleasure,' he said, sneering again. He wasevidently in the worst of tempers.' May I ask what has set _you_travelling?' he continued.
'Why, naught but your folly!' the viscountess cried.
'Thank you for nothing, my lady,' he said. 'I suppose your spythere'--and he scowled at the tutor, whose knees shook under him--'hasset you on this. Well, there is time. I'll settle accounts with himby-and-by.'
'Lord, my dear sir,' Mr. Thomasson cried faintly, 'you don't know yourfriends!'
'Don't I? I think I am beginning to find them out,' Mr. Dunboroughanswered, slapping his boot ominously, 'and my enemies!' At which thetutor trembled afresh.
'Never mind him,' quoth my lady. 'Attend to me, Dunborough. Is it a lie,or is it not, that you are going to disgrace yourself the way Ihave heard?'
'Disgrace myself?' cried Mr. Dunborough hotly.
'Ay, disgrace yourself.'
'I'll flay the man that says it!'
'You can't flay me,' her ladyship retorted with corresponding spirit.'You impudent, good-for-nothing fellow! D'you hear me? You are animpudent, good-for-nothing fellow, Dunborough, for all your airs andgraces! Come, you don't swagger over me, my lad! And as sure as you dothis that I hear of, you'll smart for it. There are Lorton andSwanton--my lord can do as he pleases with _them_, and they'll go fromyou; and your cousin Meg, ugly and long in the tooth as she is, shallhave them! You may put this beggar's wench in my chair, but you shallsmart for it as long as you live!'
'I'll marry whom I like!' he said.
'Then you'll buy her dear,' cried my lady, ashake with rage.
'Dear or cheap, I'll have her!' he answered, inflamed by opposition andthe discovery that the tutor had betrayed him. 'I shall go to her now!She is here.'
'That is a lie!' cried Lady Dunborough. 'Lie number one.'
'She is in the house at this moment!' he cried obstinately. 'And I shallgo to her.'
'She is at Bath,' said my lady, unmoved. 'Ask Thomasson, if you do notbelieve me.'
'She is not here,' said the tutor with an effort.
'Dunborough, you'll outface the devil when you meet him!' my ladyadded--for a closing shot. She knew how to carry the war into theenemy's country.
He glared at her, uncertain what to believe. 'I'll see for myself,' hesaid at last; but sullenly, and as if he foresaw a check.
He was in the act of turning to carry out his intention, when LadyDunborough, with great presence of mind, called to a servant who waspassing the foot of the stairs. The man came. 'Go and fetch thisgentleman the book,' she said imperiously, 'with the people's names.Bring it here. I want to see it.'
The man went, and in a moment returned with it. She signed to him togive it to Mr. Dunborough. 'See for yourself,' she said contemptuously.
She calculated, and very shrewdly, that as the lawyer and his companionshad given the name of Soane and taken possession of Sir George's rooms,only the name of Soane would appear in the book. And so it turned out.Mr. Dunborough sought in vain for the name of Masterson or for a partyof three, resembling the one he pursued; he found only the name of SirGeorge Soane entered when the rooms were ordered.
'Oh!' he said with an execration. 'He is here, is he? Wish you joy ofhim, my lady! Very well, I go on. Good night, madam!' The viscountessknew that opposition would stiffen him. 'Stop!' she cried.
But he was already in the hall, ordering fresh saddle-horses for himselfand his man. My lady heard the order, and stood listening. Mr. Thomassonheard it, and stood quaking. At any moment the doo
r of the room in whichthe girl was supping might open--it was adjacent to the hall--and shecome out, and the two would meet. Nor did the suspense last a moment ortwo only. Fresh horses could not be ready in a minute, even in thosetimes, when day and night post-horses stood harnessed in the stalls.Even Mr. Dunborough could not be served in a moment. So he roared for apint of claret and a crust, sent one servant flying this way, andanother that, hectored up and down the entrance, to the admiration ofthe peeping chambermaids; and for a while added much to the bustle. Oncein those minutes the fateful door did open, but it emitted only awaiter. And in the end, Mr. Dunborough's horses being announced, hestrode out, his spurs ringing on the steps, and the viscountess heardhim clatter away into the night, and drew a deep breath of relief. For aday or two, at any rate, she was saved. For the time, the machinationsof the creature below stairs were baffled.