C. J. Wills

“ If Lamb wins, he will get his own money back, if he loses, then his money is gone for good. Again a dead silence, again the cards are dealt; this time the bank wins; there is a loud noise of excited talking, above which rises the monotonous chant of the croupier, "There is fourteen hundred and eighty pounds in the bank, gentlemen."
The wretched young man persistently exercises his right of crying "Banco," and so practically going double or quits each time. But "the cards never forgive," and as a rule Dame Fortune is relentless to the reckless player. ”

“ Not that Georgie Warrender was a mere rustic beauty, as her taper hands and tiny feet showed. It takes a good foot to look well in a walking shoe, and even in the trying walking shoe Georgie's foot was unmistakably a good one. Her clear blue eyes were honest and sympathetic; Georgie Warrender looked every one straight in the face, she had evidently nothing to conceal, nothing to be ashamed or afraid of. ”

“ As Haggard's only principles were his personal comfort, filliped by the gentle stimulus of frequent flirtations, was Georgie quite right in replying, "Oh, dear Miss Dodd, I am quite sure of his principles?" Gradually the miscellaneous gathering took its departure. No man or male person left the premises without one of Lucy's fatal œillades; each one of the stronger sex, too, received a rather more than necessary pressure of her soft and dimpled hand. ”

“ Haggard, a very undeserved compliment. I cannot pretend to be taken by surprise, for, as you say, your attentions have been very marked. What am I to say to you? With a girl it is a very serious matter; for once we give our hearts, at least some of us, Mr. Haggard, we give them for good and all. A mistake once made, in our case, cannot be set right. Our affections once given away to a man, and perhaps afterwards flung aside, then leave us with nothing to bestow but our miserable selves. ”

“ For Reginald Haggard, who eight years ago had left the paternal mansion an expatriated black sheep, had returned a man of comparative wealth. Turned loose a mere boy in London, his money had been spent, as young men about town usually spend their money. That young but very fashionable club, the Pandemonium, that club which has an oyster cellar in its basement, which keeps open all night, and at which shilling cigars are de rigueur, had been the cause of most of young Haggard's embarrassments. ”

“ The dream of my life, Reginald, is unrealizable. I know that I can never succeed in producing the being I see in my dreams, a perfectly boneless pig; a sort of animated sausage, where fat and lean shall be deliciously blended in the requisite proportions. I know I strive after the unattainable, but still every year I get nearer and nearer to the goal. When I remember, sir, what black pigs were when I was a boy, and what they are now, thanks to my efforts and those of the noble little band of enthusiasts like myself, I feel that I am leaving a lasting monument behind me. ”

“ Haggard's' society."
A very little crust thrown to the very hungry is always accepted with gratitude. Georgie Haggard brightened up at once. "I suppose I must make the best of it, dear," she said with a pleased smile; "at all events, I shall have you all to myself in Rome."
"Yes; it will be quite a second honey-moon; but I half promised your cousin Lucy that she should join us. It'll be beastly dull for her at The Warren, you see, poor girl; and she doesn't seem to jump at Spunyarn, though he does hang on. Is there any one else in the wind, do you think, Georgie?" ”

“ At this moment the strains of Arditi's immortal waltz, "Il Bacio," resounded through the place. The head of M. Barbiche kept time to the music, and he regarded the dancers with a scrutinizing gaze; his eye evidently sought Haggard and the mysterious shepherdess. As the ring of maskers which surrounded the space set apart for the dancers thinned, as numerous couples joined in the waltz, the watchful Frenchman was rewarded. ”

“ CHAPTER XII. THE VILLA LAMBERT.
Twenty-four hours at a Genevese hotel were got through by Georgie and her cousin without difficulty.
"I do think," said Lucy, "that Reginald might have brought us here himself. I confess that a tête-à-tête of two women is dull; when they are almost sisters, as a rule it's duller still; though the dulness is frequently enlivened by a pitched battle. Georgie, why are you not of a pugnacious disposition? My fingers literally itch to box some one's ears; as for Hephzibah, I've no patience with her." ”

“ Haggard was a man who looked well in any dress, but the grey tweed suit which he wore, the artistic bit of red of his loosely-tied sailor's knot, his big grey felt hat, his leggings also of tweed, even his stout but well-made lace-up boots seem to give the young giant the needful halo of romance. ”

“ For forty years Anastatia Dodd had lived in maiden meditation fancy free. True, she had taken a lively interest in all her brother's curates, but it was always a professional interest and purely Platonic. But now she blushed, blushed as she had never blushed before.
What woman is displeased at hearing that she has an admirer? Who among us would fail to believe what we have, perhaps, secretly wished for in our heart of hearts? ”

“ Dodd. "I am surprised and ashamed, Lucy Warrender, at your attempt to depreciate the noble self-immolation of dear Mrs. Jones. Of course it is a great privilege to be married to a clergyman, a very precious privilege, but when he is a negro and a Baptist—hum—I suppose I must say clergyman, then a woman's life must be indeed a martyrdom." ”

“ In Italy, on the contrary, all the world is continually occupied in masquerading in some way or other. Costume balls, in all classes of society, are favourite entertainments. Historical masques, though not got up with the elaborate attention to minute detail which is bestowed upon them by the thoughtful beer-drinking and sausage-devouring German, are yet of very frequent occurrence. Every city, every town, nay every hamlet, in Italy, has its long and glorious history, often written in letters of blood, always deeply engraven on the hearts of the people. ”

“ In newspaper descriptions of the last moments of celebrated criminals, we constantly read that "the unfortunate man did full justice to a substantial meal;" but nobody ever yet heard of a bridegroom who had any appetite for his breakfast; his own real breakfast is meant, and not the elaborate entertainment which follows close upon the ceremony. Reginald Haggard and his friend, Lord Spunyarn, were the vicar's guests at King's Warren Parsonage, but in vain did Mrs. Dodd press upon Haggard the numerous dainties with which her hospitable board was provided. ”

“ The Swiss soon found out that in Hephzibah he was dealing with a truthful girl; for the tale, though oft repeated, never varied. What girl has any secret from the man she loves? Hephzibah Wallis formed no exception to the rule. But it never dawned on her, at least not then, that she was being "pumped." She put down Mr. Capt's complaisance to his interest in her; and though, as servants will, she at times asked him questions about his master, she merely admired him the more when they were dexterously parried, for the confidential valet, in regard to Haggard, ever remained discretion itself. ”

“ The rest of the party were soon similarly decorated.
"There's one comfort, we haven't far to go," said Lord Hetton. "I feel we look rather like a parcel of fools."
"At all events, we haven't any time to lose," suggested the vicar, as he looked at his watch; "and, unless we mean to keep the bride waiting, we had better be off."
The whole party passed through the little wicket, crossed the churchyard, which was thronged with the whole population of King's Warren in its Sunday best, and entered the church, and the bridegroom and his friends at once took their place at the altar rails. ”

“ Big Reginald's magnificent physique made its due impression; his father was evidently proud of him, and the old lord congratulated the young man on his approaching marriage.
Reginald Haggard was not diffident, he truckled to no one. He frankly avowed to his grand uncle that he knew nothing of art. When his lordship retired early, as was his custom, the other men adjourned once more to the billiard-room. Big Reginald took their lives at pool, and pocketed their half-crowns in an easy genial way, which almost made losing a pleasure. ”

“ The curaçao was duly brought, and certainly the general deserved it. The experienced warrior had perceived that De Kerguel was bent on mischief, and by his own coyness he had succeeded in beguiling the Frenchman into accepting a weapon of the use of which his principal was probably totally ignorant. The men would then theoretically meet on an equality. But a cavalry sabre is a big and comparatively awkward weapon, and supposing that both were equally unskilled in its use, Haggard, as the taller and stronger man, would certainly have the advantage. ”

“ But Lord Spunyarn shook his head as he signed to the butler to give him what he termed a B. and S.
"Beer is too bulky for me, Warrender," said the spindle-shanked nobleman, as he stretched out his shapely but rather shaky hand for the panacea. "I object to bulk, Warrender, on principle; it is my terror of becoming a welterweight that made me go in for athletics. Why, look at my father, and they had to make a hole in the wall to get my grandfather's coffin out of the house. No, Warrender, mind and muscle are my strong points." ”

“ As Georgie replaced the letter in its envelope she blushed; had Haggard been indifferent to her she would not have hung out this signal of distress. It is impossible to follow the course of reasoning of a woman's mind. Georgie Warrender was no raw girl to be caught by the mere good looks of big Reginald. ”

“ Lucy's ringing laugh resounded through the room.
But the matter was no joke to Hephzibah, her pale lips became colourless; she pressed her hand to her heart with a gesture full of anguish, recovered herself with difficulty, gave forth a few short sharp sobs, cast an almost menacing look upon her younger mistress, then turned and rushed from the room.
"How could you have the heart to tease her so?" said Georgie with honest indignation. "I'm ashamed of you, Lucy; you've no right to trifle with [Pg 262] her feelings." ”

“ Lord Spunyarn woke with a very bad headache indeed, the morning after the ball at Papayani's. He hurried to commence his dressing, for his valet on awakening him had presented a thin and varnished card, bearing a portentous coronet and the name of the Comte de Kerguel. The man told him that the visitor had come on business of the most urgent nature. What his business was, Spunyarn was well aware. Knowing that, next to getting married, a Frenchman looks upon the delivery of a hostile message, as the most important, pleasant, and serious event of life ”

“ In the eyes of the bystanders, Haggard was evidently looked upon as the protector of beauty in distress. But as Valour bore off fainting Beauty, and made his suddenly triumphant exit, everybody's attention was directed to the unhappy Furibon. A gentleman tearing his hair, in the eyes of Italians, is a common, interesting, and dignified object. ”

“ There are some men who always fall on their feet, some men for whom fortune is never tired of turning up trumps; Haggard was one of these men. When it is said that Haggard was a man of the world in its broadest sense, nothing remains to tell. If he had a religion at all it was the worship of his own dear self. Big Reginald remembered Georgie Warrender as a chit of twelve ”

“ They rejoined the Frenchman.
"Monsieur de Kerguel," said the general, seating himself, "we have elected to choose sabres, regulation sabres; you have no objection, I suppose?"
"Sir, the weapon is unusual. As you are doubtless aware, between civilians the small-sword, the rapier and the pistol are what are usually employed. The sabre is unusual, and as a rule only employed in settling the little differences of officers of cavalry."
"Monsieur de Kerguel, his lordship and I are here in the interests of our friend Haggard. ”

“ The next day, as gently as possible, Haggard broke to his wife the fact that it was incumbent upon him to start at once for his American property. The blow came not unexpectedly, and Georgie made the best of it. But the husband stayed a couple of days in Geneva; there were papers to sign in reference to the little villa, a pair of ponies had to be bought; and the numerous little matters of business to settle, which somehow or other it falls invariably to the lot of man to transact. ”

“ I would remark," fiercely added the general, "that neither we nor our principal are to be cajoled or intimidated."
"It shall be as you say, general. Nothing remains then, I think, for us but to name a time and place. The weapons, the most unusual weapons, we are reluctantly compelled to accept under protest. Have you any suggestion to offer, general?"
"None whatever, sir. One party shall provide a surgeon, the other a pair of ordinary cavalry sabres. You as a resident in this infernal hole can doubtless suggest a suitable spot for the meeting. ”

“ Lord Hetton, the earl's only son, and his heir, was always one of the guests on these occasions; to him it was an exceedingly unpleasant time; for father and son had quarrelled years ago, the old lord having sternly declined to increase his son's very liberal allowance of five thousand a year. A man can do a great deal on five thousand [Pg 82] a year, but not much is left for the annuitant when he is possessed by the idea that, some day or other, it will be his good fortune to win the Derby. In all other things but race-horses, Hetton was a man of frugal mind. ”

“ His sabre dropped from his hand. He flung both his arms high in air, giving one bitter shriek. His face assumed the expression of one enduring intense torture, and then was calm again. The body, for he was dead, slipped off Haggard's sword in a heap at his feet. Haggard flung his weapon to [Pg 255] the ground, and all four men crowded round the corpse.
"He is stone dead," said the surgeon.
There was a solemn silence.
"Save yourselves, gentlemen," at length cried De Kerguel. "I will see to my unfortunate friend. ”

“ No man would have been idiot enough to have asked a loan from a fellow player; that would have been quite contrary to the unwritten code of ethics of the Pandemonium Club: fathers have flinty hearts, but no fathers are so proverbially flinty-hearted as the fathers of the card-room. ”

“ And this indifference to the value at the hammer of their acquisitions, marks the distinction between the genuine collector or connoisseur and the ruck of the people who buy pictures; the bulk of whom are after all but amateur dealers. When the successful stock-jobber leaves off dealing in shares and takes to art, he merely deals in another more or less intangible security of very fluctuating value. With childlike confidence he follows the advice of some more or less honest dealer. He buys from the easel with a hope of a "rapid rise." ”

“ Just his luck to have what the Americans call a "high-old time" in Mexico, to hunt, to shoot, to enjoy the free wild life and absence of restraint in America. Just his luck to thoroughly clear out that wealthy gambler Don Emanuel Garcia, at poker; but then Haggard had all the qualifications for a poker player: he had the very luck which he grumbled at; good temper, for your thoroughly selfish man is far too fond of himself ever to be other than good-tempered ”

“ Few fathers think that any woman is more than their son deserves, particularly when that son is an only son, wealthy, and a possible heir to a peerage; but we may take it that Justice Haggard knew pretty well what his son deserved, and that when he considered Georgie "more than his son deserved," Justice Haggard was probably right. ”