In Brief Authority 1

	In Brief Authority 1

In Brief Authority: F. Anstey                             BY F. ANSTEY To Peggy AUTHOR'S NOTE It may be as well to mention here that the whole of this book was planned, and at least three-fourths of it actually written, in those happy days, which now seem so pathetically distant, when we were still at peace--days when, to all but a very few, so hideous a calamity as a World-War seemed a danger that had passed for the present, and might never recur; when even those few could hardly have foreseen that England would be so soon compelled to fight for her very existence against the most efficient and deadly foe it has ever been her lot to encounter. But, as the central idea of this story happens to be inseparably connected with certain characters and incidents of German origin, I have left them unaltered--partly because it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to substitute any others, but mainly because I cannot bring myself to believe that the nursery friends of our youth could ever be regarded as enemies. F. ANSTEY. _September 1915._ CONTENTS I. "THE SKIRTS OF HAPPY CHANCE" II. RUSHING TO CONCLUSIONS III. FINE FEATHERS IV. CROWNED HEADS V. DIGNITY UNDER DIFFICULTIES VI. CARES OF STATE VII. A GAME THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND VIII. "A STEED THAT KNOWS HIS RIDER" IX. THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE X. THE BLONDE BEAST XI. A WAY OUT XII. UNWELCOME ANNOUNCEMENTS XIII. WHAT THE PIGEON SAID XIV. BAG AND BAGGAGE XV. "RIVEN WITH VAIN ENDEAVOUR" XVI. "A CLOUD THAT'S DRAGONISH" XVII. THE REWARD OF VALOUR XVIII. A PREVIOUS ENGAGEMENT XIX. SERVANTS OF THE QUEEN XX. AT THE END OF HER TETHER XXI. "WHOSE LIGHTS ARE FLED, WHOSE GARLANDS DEAD" XXII. SQUARING ACCOUNTS EPILOGUE IN BRIEF AUTHORITY CHAPTER I "THE SKIRTS OF HAPPY CHANCE" On a certain afternoon in March Mrs. Sidney Stimpson (or rather Mrs. Sidney Wibberley-Stimpson, as a recent legacy from a distant relative had provided her with an excuse for styling herself) was sitting alone in her drawing-room at "Inglegarth," Gablehurst. "Inglegarth" was the name she had chosen for the house on coming to live there some years before. What it exactly meant she could not have explained, but it sounded distinguished and out of the common, without being reprehensibly eccentric. Hence the choice. Some one, she was aware, had just entered the carriage-drive, and after having rung, was now standing under the white "Queen Anne" porch; Mitchell, the rosy-cheeked and still half-trained parlour-maid, was audible in the act of "answering the door." It being neither a First nor a Third Friday, Mrs. Stimpson was not, strictly speaking, "at home" except to very intimate friends, though she made a point of being always presentable enough to see any afternoon caller. On this occasion she was engaged in no more absorbing occupation than the study of one of the less expensive Society journals, and, having already read all that was of real interest in its columns, she was inclined to welcome a distraction. "If you please, m'm," said Mitchell, entering, "there's a lady wishes to know if she could see you for a minute or two." "Did you ask her to state her business, Mitchell?... No? Then you should have. Called for a subscription to something, I expect. Tell her I am particularly engaged. I suppose she didn't give any name?" "Oh yes, m'm. She give her name--Lady 'Arriet Elmslie, it was." "Then why on earth didn't you say so before," cried the justly exasperated Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "instead of leaving her ladyship on the door-mat all this time? Really, Mitchell, you are _too_ trying! Go and show her in at once--and be careful to say 'my lady.' And bring up tea for two as soon as you can--the _silver_ tea-pot, mind!" It might have been inferred from her manner that she and Lady Harriet were on terms of closest friendship, but this was not exactly the case. Mrs. Stimpson had indeed known her for a considerable time, but only by sight, and she had long ceased to consider a visit from Lady Harriet as even a possible event. Now it had actually happened, and, providentially, on an afternoon when Mitchell's cap and apron could defy inspection. But if it was the first time that an Earl's daughter had crossed Mrs. Stimpson's threshold, she was not at all the woman to allow the fact to deprive her of her self-possession. A title had no terror for _her_. Before her marriage, when she was Miss Selina Prinsley, she had acted as hostess for her father, the great financier and company promoter, who had entertained lavishly up to the date of his third and final failure. Her circle then had included many who could boast of knighthoods, and even baronetcies! And, though Lady Harriet was something of a personage at Gablehurst, and confined her acquaintance to her own particular set, there was nothing formidable or even imposing in her appearance. She was the widow of a Colonel Elmslie, and apparently left with only moderate means, judging from the almost poky house on the farther side of the Common, which she shared with an unmarried female cousin of about her own age. So, when she was shown in, looking quite ordinary, and even a little shy, Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson rose to receive her with perfect ease, being supported by the consciousness that she was by far the more handsomely dressed of the two. In fact her greeting was so gracious as to be rather overpowering. "Interrupting me? Not in the very _least_, dear Lady Harriet! Only too delighted, I'm sure!... Now _do_ take off your boa, and come nearer the fire. You'll find this _quite_ a comfy chair, I think. Tea will be brought in presently.... Oh, you really _must_, after trapesing all that way across the Common. I can't _tell_ you how pleased I am to see you. I've so often wished to make your acquaintance, but I couldn't take the first step, could I? _So_ nice of you to break the ice!" Lady Harriet submitted to these rather effusive attentions resignedly enough. She could hardly interrupt her hostess's flow of conversation without rudeness, while she had already begun to suspect that Mrs. Stimpson might form an entertaining study. But her chief reason, after all, was that the prospect of tea had its attractions. Accordingly she attempted no further explanations of her visit just then, and was content to observe Mrs. Stimpson, while she rippled on complacently. She saw a matron who might be about fifty, with abundant pale auburn hair, piled up, and framing her face in a sort of half aureole. The eyes were small and hazel green; the nose narrow and pointed, the wide, full-lipped mouth, which wore just then a lusciously ingratiating smile, showed white but prominent teeth. The complexion was of a uniform oatmealy tint, and, though Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson was neither tall nor slim, she seemed to have taken some pains to preserve a waist. "Most fortunate I happened to be at home," she was saying. "And if you had called on one of my _regular_ days, I shouldn't have had the chance of a _real_ talk with you. As it is, we shall be quite _tête-à-tête_.... Ah, here _is_ tea--you must tell me if you like it weak, dear Lady Harriet, and I shall remember the _next_ time you come. Yes, you find me all alone this afternoon. My eldest daughter, Edna, has gone to a lecture at her Mutual Improvement Society, on a German Philosopher called Nitchy, or some such name. She's so bookish and well-read, takes such an interest in all the latest movements--runs up to town for _matinées_ of intellectual dramas--_quite_ the modern type of girl. But not a blue-stocking--she's joined a Tango Class lately, and dances most beautifully, I'm told--just the figure for it. We got up a little Costume Ball here this winter--perhaps you may have heard of it?--Ah, well, my Edna was generally admitted to be the _belle_ of the evening. A perfect Juliet, everybody said. I went as her mother--Lady Capulet, you know. I _did_ think of going as Queen Elizabeth at one time. I've so often been told that if I ever went to a Fancy Dress Ball, I ought to go as her--or at all events as _one_ of our English Queens. But, however, I didn't. Mr. Stimpson went as a Venetian Doge, but I do _not_ consider myself that it was at all suitable to him." She did not say all this without a motive. She knew that a local Historical Pageant was being arranged for the coming Summer, and that Lady Harriet was on the Committee. Also she had heard that, after rehearsals had begun, some of the principal performers had resigned their parts, and the Committee had some difficulty in finding substitutes. It had struck her as not at all unlikely that her visitor had called with a view to ascertaining whether the services of any of the Stimpson household would be available. If she had, it was, of course very gratifying. If she had merely come in a neighbourly way, there was no harm in directing her attention to the family qualifications for a Pageant performance. Her hearer, without betraying any sign of the mirth she inwardly felt, meekly agreed that Mrs. Stimpson was undoubtedly well fitted to impersonate a Queen, and that the costume of a Venetian Doge was rather a trying one, after which her hostess proceeded: "Perhaps you are right, dear Lady Harriet, but the worst of it was that my boy Clarence, who would have made such a handsome Romeo, insisted on going as a _Pierrot_! Very likely you have seen Clarence?... Oh, you would certainly have noticed him if you had--always so well turned out. He's got quite a good post as Secretary to an Insurance Co., in the City: they think so highly of him there--take his advice on everything--in fact, he practically _is_ the Company! And only twenty-two! It's _such_ a relief, because there _was_ a time when it really seemed as if he'd never settle down to any regular work. Nothing would induce him to enter my husband's business--for I must tell you, Lady Harriet, we _are_ in business. Sauces, pickles, condiments of every sort and description--_wholesale_, you know, _not_ retail, so I hope you aren't _too_ dreadfully shocked!" Lady Harriet remarked that she saw nothing to be shocked at--several of her relations and friends were in business of various kinds, which gave Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson the opening she required. "Society has changed its views so _much_ lately, has it not?" she said. "Why, the youngest partner in Mr. Wibberley-Stimpson's firm is a younger son of the Earl of Fallowfields--Mr. Chervil Thistleton, and an Honourable, of _course_! I daresay you are acquainted with him?... Not? Quite a charming young man--married a Miss Succory, a connection of the Restharrows, and such a sweet girl! You may have met her?... Oh, I thought--but I really hardly know her _myself_ yet," (which was Mrs. Stimpson's method of disguising the fact that she had never met either of them in her life). "When he came into the warehouse he was perfectly amazed at the immense variety in pickles and sauces--it was quite a revelation to him. Only he can't _touch_ pickles of any kind, which is a pity, because it prevents him from taking the interest he might in the business.... Just _one_ of these hot cakes, dear Lady Harriet--you're making such a wretched tea!... I should like you to see my youngest child, Ruby. She's gone out to tea with some little friends of hers, but she may be back before you go. So much admired--such lovely colouring! But just a _little_ difficult to manage. Governess after governess have I had, and none of them could do anything with her. My present one, however, she seems to have taken to. Miss Heritage, her name is--at least she was adopted as a baby by a rich widow of that name, and brought up in every luxury. But Mrs. Heritage died without making a will, and it seems she'd muddled away most of her money, and there were claims on what she left, so the poor girl had to turn out, and earn her own living. Such a sad little story, is it not? I felt it was really a charity to engage her. I'm not sure that I can keep her much longer, though. She's far too good-looking for a governess, and there's always a danger with a marriageable young man in the house, but fortunately Clarence has too much sense and principle to marry out of his own rank. I do think that's _such_ a mistake, don't you, dear Lady Harriet? Look at the Duke of Mountravail's heir, the young Marquis of Muscombe--married only last month at a registry office to a girl who was in the chorus at the Vivacity! I hear she comes of quite a respectable family, and all that," admitted Mrs. Stimpson, who derived her information from her Society journals. "But still, can you _wonder_ at the poor Duke and Duchess being upset by it? I've no doubt you are constantly coming across similar instances in Smart Society." Lady Harriet disclaimed all acquaintanceship with Smart Society, which Mrs. Stimpson protested she could not believe. "I am sure you have the _entrée_ into _any_ set, Lady Harriet, even the smartest! Which reminds me. _Have_ you heard anything more about that mysterious disappearance of the Dowager Duchess of Gleneagle's diamonds during her journey from the North last week? A tiara, _and_ a dog-collar, I was told. Professional thieves, I suppose, but don't you think the Duchess's maid?--Oh, _really_? I made _sure_ you would be a friend of the Duchess's--but, of course, Society is so much larger than it used to be!" "You are a far better authority than I can pretend to be about it," Lady Harriet owned smilingly; "and really you've given me so much interesting information that I had nearly forgotten what I came to see you about. It's--well, I wanted to ask----" "I think I can _guess_, Lady Harriet," put in Mrs. Stimpson, as her visitor paused for a second. "I've heard of your difficulties about getting players for the Pageant, and I'm sure I, and indeed _all_ the family, would feel only too honoured." "It's most kind of you," Lady Harriet interrupted, rising, "but--but that isn't why I've troubled you. It's only that I'm thinking of engaging Jane Saunders as house-parlourmaid, and she tells me she was in your service, so I called to ask about her character, don't you know." For a moment Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson wished she had been less precipitate, but she soon recognised that no real harm had been done. "Saunders?" she said, "yes, she left me last month. Do sit down again, dear Lady Harriet, and I'll give you all the information I possibly can. Well, when that girl first came, she had everything to learn. It was quite evident she'd never been in service before with gentlefolks. Actually brought in letters in her _fingers_, Lady Harriet, and knocked at sitting-room doors! And _no_ notion of cleaning silver, and I like to see mine come up to table without a speck! However, after being with me for a while, she improved, and I can conscientiously say that she became quite competent in time. That is, for a household like _ours_, you know, where things are done in quite an unpretentious style." "I don't think we are at all pretentious people either," said Lady Harriet, rising once more. "And now, Mrs. Stimpson, you have told me all I wanted to know, so I must tear myself away." "Must you _really_ be going? Well, Lady Harriet, I've _so_ much enjoyed our little chat. There are so few persons in a semi-suburban neighbourhood like this, with whom one can have anything in common. So I shall hope to see more of you in future. And if," she added, after ringing for Mitchell, "I _should_ find I've forgotten anything I ought to have told you about Saunders, I can easily pop in some morning." Lady Harriet hastened to assure her that she must not think of giving herself this trouble--after which she took her leave. "Rather an amusing experience in its way," she was thinking. "Something to tell Joan when I get back. But oh! _what_ an appalling woman! She's settled _one_ thing, though. It will be quite impossible to take Jane Saunders _now_. A pity--because I rather liked the girl's looks!" Meanwhile the happily unconscious Mrs. Stimpson had settled down in her chair again with the conviction that she had made a distinctly favourable impression. She allowed her eyes to wander complacently round the room, which, with its big bay window looking on the semi-circular gravel sweep, and its glazed door by the fireplace leading through a small conservatory, gay with begonias, asters, and petunias to the garden beyond, was not merely large, by Gablehurst standards, but undeniably pleasant. She regarded its various features--the white chimney-piece and over-mantel with Adam decorations in _Cartonpierre_, the silk fire-screen printed with Japanese photographs, the cottage-grand, on which stood a tall trumpet vase filled with branches of imitation peach blossom, the _étagères_ ("Louis Quinze style") containing china which could not be told from genuine Dresden at a distance, the gaily patterned chintz on the couches and chairs, the water-colour sketches of Venice, and coloured terra-cotta plaques embossed on high relief with views of the Forum and St. Peter's at Rome on the walls, and numerous "nick-nacks"--an alabaster model of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, a wood carving of the Lion of Lucerne, and groups of bears from Berne--all of which were not only souvenirs of her wedding-journey, but witnesses to Continental travel and general culture. She could see nothing that was not in the most correct taste, as Lady Harriet must have observed for herself, together with the hammered copper gong, the oak chest, and the china bowl for cards in the hall. Strange that Saunders should have been the humble means of bringing about so unexpected a meeting, but Providence chose its own instruments, and now the seed was sown, Mrs. Stimpson felt she could rely on herself for the harvest. And so she took up the latest number of _The Upper Circle_, and read, to the accompaniment of alternate duologues and soliloquies by thrushes and blackbirds in the garden, until gradually she drifted into a blissful dream of being at a garden-party at Lady Harriet's and entreated, not merely by her hostess, but Royalty itself, to accept the _rôle_ of Queen at the County Pageant! She was in the act of doing this gracefully, when the vision was abruptly ended by the entrance of her elder daughter. Edna was by no means bad-looking, in spite of her light eyelashes and eyebrows, and the fact that the _pince-nez_ she wore compressed her small nose in an unbecoming ridge. Her eyes were larger than her mother's, though of the same colour, and her hair was of a deeper shade of auburn. Her costume was of a kind that may be described as the floppily artistic. "I never heard you come in, my dear," said her mother. "Did you enjoy your lecture?" "Quite; I took pages and pages of notes. Nietzsche's _Gospel of the Superman_ is certainly most striking." "And _what_ is his Gospel exactly?" "Oh, well, he teaches that the ideal man ought to rise superior to conventional prejudices, and have the courage to do as he thinks right without deferring to ordinary ideas. To be strong in willing what he wants--all that sort of thing, you know." "Dear me!" said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson dubiously. "But, if everybody acted like that, would it be quite--er--nice?" "There's no fear of any of the men in Gablehurst being Supermen, at all events!" said Edna. "They're all perfect slaves to convention! But the lecturer explained the Nietzschean theories in such a way that he made us feel there was a great deal to be said for them.... No tea, thanks. I had mine at the Fletchers. It looks," she added, with a glance at the tea-cups, "as if you had been entertaining some one, Mother--who was it?" "Only Lady Harriet," replied Mrs. Stimpson, with elaborate carelessness. "_What_ Lady Harriet?" was the intentionally provoking query. "Really, Edna, one would think there were dozens of them! _The_ Lady Harriet: Lady Harriet Elmslie, of course." "Oh," said Edna. "And what did _she_ want?" "Well, she _came_ to ask after Saunders' character, but she stayed to tea, and we really struck up quite an intimate friendship, discussing one thing and another. She's so quiet and unassuming, Edna--absolutely no _hauteur_. I'm sure you will like her. I told her about you all, and she seemed _so_ interested. Quite between ourselves, I shouldn't be at all surprised if she got us invited to take part in the Pageant--she's on the Committee, you know." "If I _was_ invited, Mother, I'm not at all sure I shouldn't refuse." "You must please yourself about that, my dear," said Mrs. Stimpson, who, perhaps, felt but little anxiety as to the result. "_I_ shall certainly accept if the part is at all suitable." She might have said more, if Ruby had not suddenly burst into the room. Ruby was certainly the flower of the family--an extremely engaging young person of about ten, whose mischievous golden-brown eyes had long and curling lashes, and whose vivacious face was set off by a thick mane of deepest Titian red. "Oh, Mummy," she announced breathlessly, "I've got invitations for nearly all my animals while we're away at Eastbourne! Mucius Scævola's the most popular--everybody asked him, but I think he'll feel _most_ at home with Daisy Williams. Vivian and Ada Porter will simply love to have Numa Pompilius, but nobody seems to want Tarquinius Superbus, so I shall turn him out in the garden, and he must catch worms for himself." "Dearest child," said her mother, "what are these new animals of yours with the extraordinary names?" "They're the same old animals, Mums. I've rechristened them since I began Roman History with Miss Heritage. Mucius Scævola's the Salamander, because they're indifferent to fire, like he was--though Miss Heritage says it wouldn't be kind to try with Mucius. Numa Pompilius is the Blind-worm--he used to be Kaa--and the Toad has changed from Nobbles to Tarquinius Superbus." "I can't understand how you can keep such unpleasant pets as reptiles," said Edna. "Because I like them," said Ruby simply. "And Bobby Williams has promised, as soon as it gets warmer, to come out on the Common with me and catch lizards. _Won't_ it be lovely?" "I hope you won't put one of them down anybody's neck, then, as you did to Tommy Fletcher." "That was Mucius," Ruby admitted cheerfully. "But I didn't mean him to go so far down. And he was very good--he didn't bite Tommy anywhere." "Little ladies don't play such tricks," said her Mother. "I hope Miss Heritage doesn't encourage your liking for these horrid creatures?" "Oh, she doesn't mind, so long as I don't take them out of the aquarium, but she hates touching them herself." "Did she come in with you?" her mother inquired, and was told that Miss Heritage had done so, and had gone upstairs, whereupon Ruby was ordered to go and take off her things, and stay quietly in the schoolroom till it was time to come down. "I don't know if you noticed it, Mother," Edna began, as soon as Ruby had consented to leave them, "but Miss Heritage had a letter by the afternoon post which seemed to upset her. I went rather out of my way to ask her if she had had bad news of any kind, but she did not think proper to take me into her confidence. Perhaps she might be more open with _you_." "My dear," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, with much dignity, "I take no interest whatever in Miss Heritage's private correspondence." "Nor I," declared Edna. "I only thought that if she is in any trouble--She's so secretive, you know, Mums. I've tried more than once to get her to tell me what cosmetic she uses for her hands--and she never will own to using any at all!" "I'm sure, Edna, you've no reason to be ashamed of your hands." "Oh, they look all right just now," said Edna, examining them dispassionately. "But they _will_ turn lobster colour at the most inconvenient times. Hers never do--and it _does_ seem so unfair, considering--" She broke off here, as Daphne Heritage entered. "Well, Miss Heritage?" said Mrs. Stimpson, as the girl hesitated on seeing Edna. "Did you wish to speak to me?" "I did rather want your advice about something," said Daphne, who had a paper, and a small leather case in her hands; "I thought I might find you alone. It doesn't matter--it will do quite well another time." "Don't let _me_ prevent you, Miss Heritage," said Edna. "If you don't wish to speak to Mother before me, I've no desire to remain. I was just going up to change in any case." She went out with a slightly huffy air, which was not entirely due to baffled curiosity, for she admired Daphne enough to resent being quietly kept at a distance. "It's about this," explained Daphne, after Edna had made her exit--"a bill that has just been sent on to me." She gave the paper to Mrs. Stimpson as she spoke. "I don't know quite what to do about it." She looked very young and inexperienced as she stood there, a slim girlish figure with masses of burnished hair the colour of ripe corn, braided and coiled as closely as possible round her small head, but there was no trace of timidity or subservience in her manner. In the slight form, with the milk-white skin, delicate profile and exquisite hands, there was a distinction that struck her employer as quite absurdly out of keeping with her position. "The only thing to do about a bill, my dear," said Mrs. Stimpson, "is to pay it. But nearly thirty pounds is a large sum for you to owe your milliner." "It's for things Mother--my adopted mother, you know--ordered for me. Stéphanie was always told to send in the account to her. But this seems to have been overlooked, and the executors have sent it on to me. Only I can't pay it myself--unless you wouldn't mind advancing me the money out of my salary." "I couldn't possibly. You forget that it would represent over a year's salary, and it's by no means certain that you will be with me so long." "I was afraid you wouldn't," said Daphne, with a little droop at the corners of her extremely pretty mouth. "So I brought this to show you." She held out the leather case. "It's the only jewellery I've got. It belonged to my father, I believe; he and my real mother both died when I was a baby, you know--and I never meant to part with it. But now I'm afraid I must--that is, if you think any jeweller would give as much as thirty pounds for it." Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson opened the case, which was much more modern than the kind of badge or pendant it contained. This was a fairly large oval stone of a milky green, deeply engraved with strangely formed letters interlaced in a cypher, and surrounded by a border of dark blue gems which Mrs. Stimpson decided instantly must be Cabochon star sapphires of quite exceptional quality. The gold chain attached to it was antique and of fine and curious workmanship. She was convinced that the pendant must be worth considerably more than thirty pounds, though she was no doubt right in telling Daphne that no jeweller would offer so much for an ornament that was quite out of fashion. "Besides," she said, "I don't like the idea of any governess of mine going about offering jewellery for sale. Have Edna or Ruby seen you wearing this thing?" she asked with apparent irrelevance. It appeared they had not; Daphne had never worn it herself, and she had only remembered its existence that afternoon, and found it hidden away at the back of her wardrobe. "Well," said Mrs. Stimpson, "it is most unpleasant to me to see a young girl like you owing all this money to her milliner." "It isn't very pleasant for _me_," said Daphne ruefully; "but if you won't advance the money, and I can't or mustn't sell the pendant, I don't very well see how I can help it." "I'll tell you what I'll do," said Mrs. Stimpson. "I really _oughtn't_ to--and under ordinary circumstances I couldn't afford it, but, as it happens, a great-uncle of mine left me a small legacy not long ago, and I haven't spent quite all of it yet. So I don't mind buying this for thirty pounds myself." "Will you really?" cried Daphne. "How angelic of you!" "I think it is," said Mrs. Stimpson; "but I feel myself responsible for you, to some extent. So I'll write you a cheque for the thirty pounds, and you can send it off to this milliner person at once." She went to the writing-table and filled up the cheque. "There," she said, handing it to Daphne, "put it in an envelope and direct it at once--you'll find a stamp in that box, and it can go by the next post." "By the way, my dear," she added, as she was leaving the room, "I needn't tell you that _I_ shall not breathe a word to a soul of our little transaction, and I should advise you, in your own interests, to keep it entirely to yourself." "I was quite wrong about Mrs. Stimpson," Daphne told herself reproachfully, after she had slipped the letter containing bill and cheque into the letter-box in the hall. "She _can_ be kind sometimes, and I've been a little beast to see only the comic side of her! I daresay she won't even _wear_ that pendant." But Mrs. Stimpson had every intention of wearing it that same evening. It is not often that one has the opportunity of doing a kindness and securing a real bargain at a single stroke; and she knew enough about jewels to be fully aware that, if the ornament was a trifle old-fashioned, she had not done at all badly over her purchase. "It really suits me very well," she thought, as, after putting the last touches to her evening demi-toilette, she fastened the pendant round her neck. "Even better than I expected. It was lucky Miss Heritage came to _me_. A jeweller would have been sure to cheat her, poor child!" And she went down to the drawing-room feeling serenely satisfied with herself. CHAPTER II RUSHING TO CONCLUSIONS Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, as she sat in the drawing-room, where the curtains had been drawn and the lamps lighted, was occupied with a project which she was anxious to impart to her husband as soon as he returned. Some time before a dull rumble from the valley had informed her that his usual train was approaching Gablehurst station, and now she heard the click of the front gate, the crunch of his well-known step on the gravel, and the opening of the hall door. "I want to speak to you for a moment, Sidney," she said, opening the drawing-room door. "Come in here before you go up to dress." (Mrs. Stimpson insisted on his dressing for dinner. It was customary in all really good society, and also it would prevent him from feeling awkward in evening clothes--which it never did.) "Very well, my dear," he said, entering. "Any news with you?" which was his invariable question. Mr. Stimpson was short and inclined to be stout. What remained of his hair was auburn and separated in the middle by a wide parting; he had close-cut whiskers of a lighter red, which met in his moustache, and if his eyes had been narrow, instead of round and filmy like a seal's, and his mouth had been firm, and not loose and slightly open, he would not have been at all a bad caricature of his Majesty King Henry the Eighth. "Nothing--except, but I'll tell you about that afterwards. Sit down, do, and don't fidget.... Well, I've been thinking, Sidney, that we really ought to ask the Chevril Thistletons to a quiet little dinner. Not to meet any of our _usual_ set, of course! We could have the dear Rector, who, if he _is_ Low Church, is very well connected--and Lady Harriet Elmslie." Mr. Stimpson showed no enthusiasm at the suggestion. "Lady Elmslie, Selina!" he cried. "But we don't _know_ her ladyship!" "I do wish you would learn to use titles correctly, Sidney! Lady _Harriet_ Elmslie--not Lady _Elmslie_! And you shouldn't speak of her, except to servants, as 'her ladyship'; that's only done by inferiors." "Well, my love, whatever may be the correct way of speaking of her, the fact remains that we haven't the honour of her acquaintance." "That's just where you're mistaken! We _have_, or at least _I_ have;" and she described how she had come to enjoy that privilege. "Well," he admitted at the conclusion, "she certainly seems to have made herself exceedingly affable, but it doesn't follow that she'd come and dine, even if we asked her." "She would if it was to meet the Thistletons." "Perhaps so, my love, but--er--we don't know that _they_ would come." "Of course they would, if they knew we were expecting Lady Harriet. For goodness' sake, Sidney, don't swing your foot like that--you know I can't bear it. All _you_ have to do is to find out from Mr. Thistleton what evenings the week after next would be most convenient, and _I'll_ undertake the rest!" "I--I really couldn't do that, Selina. I'm a proud man, in my way, and I don't care about exposing myself unnecessarily to a rebuff." "Why should you be rebuffed? After all, he's only a junior partner!" "True, my love, but that doesn't make him less stand-offish. He may be _in_ the business, but he's not _of_ it. I doubt myself whether even old Cramphorn would venture to invite him to dinner, and if he did, I'd bet a tidy sum that the Honourable Mr. Chevril Thistleton----" "Mr.--_not_ the Honourable _Mr._ Thistleton, Sidney," corrected his wife, who had studied all such _minutiæ_ in a handbook written by a lady of unimpeachable authority. "The term is _never_ employed in ordinary conversation, or on visiting cards. But, if you won't show a proper spirit, I shall write myself to Mrs. Thistleton and propose one or two dates." "It would be no good, my love," said Mr. Stimpson, brought to bay, "because, if you _must_ know, I--er--_did_ approach the subject with Thistleton--and--well, his manner was not sufficiently encouraging to induce me to try it again. Not so fond of being made to feel as if I was no better than one of our own clerks. I get quite enough of _that_ from old Cramphorn!" "You should _assert_ yourself more, Sidney, if you want people to respect you." "I'm always asserting myself--but old Cramphorn never listens! Just goes on his own way. Won't hear of any changes--what was good enough when the firm started a hundred years ago is good enough for _him_--now I'm all for _new_ ideas myself--Progress and so forth!" "That's what has kept us back," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson; "we should have been in a far better set here than we're ever likely to be now if you hadn't given yourself out as a violent Radical, when it's well known that all best Gablehurst people are Conservatives, and several who are not really entitled to be anything of the kind. As it is, I suppose I must be content to pass my life in this suburban hole and mix with none but second-rate people. But I certainly cannot expect Lady Harriet to come here and meet them, so there's an end of it. If she imagines I've no desire to pursue her acquaintance, it can't be helped, that's all! And now you had better go up and dress." The whole family were assembled by the time Mr. Stimpson re-appeared--his wife was in her armchair by the standard lamp. Edna was at the writing-table revising her notes of the afternoon's lecture, and Clarence was seated close by, while Ruby was whispering earnestly to Daphne on one of the chintz couches. "All of you down before me, eh?" said the head of the family after the usual salutations had been exchanged. "But I went up long after everybody else. And not late after all--I've taught myself to dress in well under ten minutes, you see!" "Wish he'd taught himself not to wear a white tie with a dinner jacket!" grumbled Clarence to Edna in an undertone. "Couldn't you _tell_ him about it?" she replied. "I could--but what'd be the good? He'd only turn up next time in a tail-coat and a black bow!" said Clarence gloomily. "The poor old governor's one of the people who never learn----!" Clarence's own type was that for which the latest term is "knut." He was accepted both by his family, his intimates, and himself as an infallible guide on things in general. When consulted as to matters on which he happened to be entirely ignorant, and these were not a few--he had formed the habit of preserving a pregnant silence, as of one who could say a good deal on the subject if he were at liberty to speak. And this in itself denoted a certain degree of intelligence. In appearance he was well built, though only of average height. He had small green eyes like his mother's; his light sandy hair had a natural ripple, and his pale face expressed nothing beyond an assured consciousness of his own superiority. And yet he was not without a certain sense of humour in matters which did not immediately concern himself, though, owing to particular circumstances, it was just then distinctly in abeyance. "What time do you get back from the City to-morrow afternoon, my boy?" his father asked. "Not going up at all, Pater," said Clarence. "Told them I shouldn't." He was thinking that after dinner would be quite time enough to break the news that, on receiving a severe wigging for general slackness, he had lost his temper, and offered to resign his post--an offer that had been accepted with disconcerting alacrity. "Ah, Sidney," said Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson, "_Clarence_ knows how to assert himself, you see!" "I merely asked," Mr. Stimpson explained, "because I'm taking a Saturday off myself, and I thought we could have a round or two of golf together, eh, my boy?" "I don't mind going round with you before lunch," said Clarence. "Engaged for the afternoon; but, if you'll take _my_ advice, Governor, you'd better practise a bit longer with the Pro before you attempt to _play_. No good trying to run till you can walk, don't you know, what?" (He had learnt to terminate his sentences with "what" as a kind of smart shibboleth.) "Hullo, Mater!" he broke off suddenly, as he noticed the pendant on her ample bosom, "where did you get that thing? Out of a cracker?" "Certainly not, Clarence; I am not in the habit of wearing cheap jewellery. And this cost a considerable sum, though I daresay it is worth what I paid for it." "Did you go much of a mucker for it, Mater?" "If I did, Clarence, I was well able to do so, thanks to dear old Uncle Wibberley's legacy." "I must say, Mother," said Edna, "it's far the most artistic thing I've ever known you buy." "It isn't _everybody's_ taste," remarked Mr. Stimpson, "but I should say myself that it wasn't a bad investment. Where did you come across it, my love?" "My dear Sidney," replied Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson with much majesty, "as I purchased it with my own money, where I came across it, and what I paid for it are surely matters that only concern myself." Daphne, who could hardly avoid hearing this conversation, was impressed by the tact and delicacy it displayed. It never occurred to her that Mrs. Wibberley-Stimpson's reticence might be inspired by other motives than a generous desire to spare her feelings. "She really is quite a decent sort!" she told herself. Clarence had not been unobservant of her--indeed it would not be too much to say that he had been acutely conscious all the time of Miss Heritage's presence. Ever since she had become a member of the household he had alternated between the desire to impress her and the dread of becoming entangled in the toils of an artful little enchantress. It was true that since her arrival in the family she had made no effort whatever to enchant him; indeed, she had treated him with easy indifference--but this, his experience of her sex and the world told him, was probably assumed. She could hardly help knowing that he was something of a "catch" from her point of view, and scheming to ensnare him. Perhaps Clarence, with his now dubious prospects, felt himself rather less of a catch than usual; perhaps it occurred to him that being moderately ensnared would be pleasantly exciting, since he would always know when to stop. At all events, he lounged gracefully toward the sofa, on which she and Ruby were sitting: "I say, Miss Heritage," he began, "you mustn't let my Kiddie sister bore you like this. She's been whispering away in your ear for the last ten minutes." Daphne denied that she was being bored.