Edgar Jepson

“ We were not at all on that kind of footing. We were just good friends, and nothing more.
I was glad that Herbert had gone quickly; on second thoughts, I should certainly have kicked him out of the house. At any rate, I had checked his interfering, and I thought no more about him. I had two or three of my usual talks with Amber, in the central garden, or at her stepfather's parties. Then, for two days, she did not come into the garden once—at any rate, while I was in it. I began to wonder what was keeping her away, and I was quite surprised to find how much I missed her. ”

“ Doesn't it want checking? You know what Walsh is with women. And she seems a nice child—simple. She has no business to be at these parties at all, don't you know? Couldn't you play a little less, and keep her amused—keep Walsh away?”
“I might try,” I said. “Not that she will take any harm from Walsh—she's not the kind.”
“Yes, yes; of course. But she's very young. No use taking any risks. You know what women are—silly.”
“Well, I'll do what I can,” I promised. “But I don't think I can do much at present. Either I've offended Miss Devine, or Walsh has been telling her lies about me.” ”

“ I had not thought that he could keep his attention off the game long enough to notice such a thing as the friendliness between Amber and Walsh. His warning made the matter much more serious. A duke is naturally an expert in women; they run after him so. He must be thinking that things were getting pretty dangerous. I knew that Walsh was in dead earnest; and now there was no relying on Amber's dislike of him. ”

“ Herbert frowned.
“It's about Miss Devine. I have been assured that you propose to contract an alliance with that young woman, the stepdaughter of that more-than-suspect New Zealander, Scruton.”
“Well, you've been assured wrong,” I said. “But suppose I did? Miss Devine is a very nice girl, quite charming.”
“I wish I had been misinformed,” said Herbert gloomily, shaking his large head. “But my informant——”
“Who is your informant?” I asked quickly.
Herbert hesitated; then he said:
“Sir Theobald Walsh.”
“The biggest blackguard in London! You Liberals do keep nice company!” ”

“ First-class gambling! Eh, what?”
But it did seem to me a trifle thick that he should use Amber as an attraction to bring men to his parties if they were merely his hobby. It would have been more excusable if he had been playing some shady game with them. But there! Millionaires are queer fish.
I went to most of his parties; and every time I went I was annoyed afresh to find Amber being used as a decoy. ”

“ I never dreamed that Walsh would play this game on me.”
“Walsh is just the man to do it. You see, he doesn't give a damn for a man like you,” I said.
“I'll teach him all about that!” roared Scruton.
I saw no point in telling him that Walsh had told me that he wanted to marry Amber, and was not up to serious mischief, but merely trying to force her to marry him, by compromising her in exactly the same way that Freddy Gage had forced Kitty Maynard to marry him to save her from Herbert. In fact, Walsh had cribbed the idea from me ”

“ Besides, it wasn't only Walsh's ways, and what we all knew about him among ourselves, but his bad character was notorious. He had not only appeared in the divorce court as corespondent in the Cumberly scandal; but, at the inquest on the unfortunate Mrs. Bulkeley, it came out that she had committed suicide owing to the blackguardly way in which he had treated her. Also, I happened to know of the orgies—they were really orgies—that he held at The Cedars, his country house near Pinner. Naturally, he was not the kind of man who could hang about a girl without harming her reputation ”

“ It's Sir Theobald Walsh—'im what's a baronit. 'E an' Miss Amber took us to Chipperfield Common in 'is moter, the syme as you did. An' we got outer the car, an' 'e shoves a 'andful of money—silver—inter my 'and, an' catches 'old of Miss Amber an' pulls 'er back inter the car. An' she tells 'im to let 'er go; an' 'e says 'e ain't never goin' to let 'er go. An' she calls out ter me: 'Go to Mr. Scruton, Garthoyle Gardens, Robbie, an' tell im!' An' the car goes orf an' leaves us there. ”

“ He knows too much about me,” I said. “If a middleweight amateur champion wants a scrap, he has to find a perfect stranger to oblige him. As a matter of fact, I gave Walsh a fair chance a few nights ago. ”

“ I waited till he had run out of breath; it gave me more time to think. Then I said:
“No; you shan't marry her—not if I can stop it. You're not fit to come near a decent girl, much less marry her. I'll stop it if I can ”