George Manville Fenn

“ Stand still a moment, and let them go.”
“Thousands upon thousands of them,” cried Sir Hilton. “B-r-r-r-r-r! Look how they dart about in diamonds, zig-zags, rhomboids—buzz-z!”
“Yes. How queer!” said Granton, taking the speaker’s arm again. “Let’s walk quietly out into the air. They won’t follow us out.”
“I don’t know,” cried the unfortunate man, shaking himself free and holding his hand and whip as if to guard his head. “Buzz! B-r-r-r! How they are going it! Jack, old man, someone ought to get a hive. Rub it with beer and sugar. Take the swarm, you know. Swarm of bees, you know.” ”

“ Lady Lisle advanced, Syd appeared from the bar with a glass of soda-water, and dashed back, regardless of his aunt, who fainted dead away.
Sir Hilton sank forward with his chest over the chair-back, and his arms hanging full length down, and a general aspect of trying to imitate a gaily-dressed Punch in the front of the show.
Then Lady Tilborough rushed in wildly.
“Where is this man?” she cried, in a passion. “Hilt! Hilt!” Then as she saw her gentleman-rider’s state of utter collapse she uttered a wild, despairing cry which brought the trainer to his office-door softly rubbing his hands. ”

“ Steady does it. Now, young gentleman, look here.”
“Oh, dear me, dad, how you do like to talk!” cried the girl, pettishly.
“Do you hear me, sir? Leave the girl alone. You don’t want everyone to know you’re just married—hugging her that how.”
“Yes, I do, all the world and everybody,” cried Syd. “We’re married, but we’re awfully in love with each other still—aren’t we, darling?”
“Awfully, Syd,” cried Molly, hanging to him.
“Well, I s’pose that’s all right,” grumbled the trainer, “and of course what’s done, as I said afore, can’t be undone. But, look here; I mean my gal to have her rights.” ”

“ This is why you have always been so short; this is why you have always been degrading yourself by asking for more. ‘All found out at last. Do pray tell her ladyship. She won’t be very hard upon us!’ Indeed!” she said, half-aloud, and through her hard-set teeth. “Of course not. Oh-h-h! I could have overlooked a relapse into his old gambling vice, but this—this baseness! The villain—the villain!”
“Who is it?” she muttered, reading again, “La Sylphide. Some French creature, dwelling in that nest of infamy, Tilborough. Why! Oh, great heavens! That wretched racing woman—that widow! ”

“ I daren’t give him more drink.”
“Don’t hurry me,” said Sir Hilton, coolly rearranging his silk and pulling up his breeches. “I want you to understand, Jack. I’m doing this for independence, to save dear Lady T.—bless her! A good woman. Always been like a sister to me. Jolly little widow! And to make a pile for you, old man, so that you can marry her, have two children, and live happy ever after like a good boy.”
“Yes, that’s it, Hilt, old man,” cried the doctor, desperately, for the clanging of a bell on the racecourse came faintly to his ear. “Come along, then, and win. Quick!” ”

“ La Sylphide, the mare, won, and you are La Sylphide too, the pretty little girl at the big music-hall who called herself after my mare. Thank you, Miss Simpkins. I hope you won a pair of gloves.”
“Oh, dear!” cried the girl, pouting; “he don’t understand a bit. I suppose, Syd, we must wait till he comes round. But do you think it was our champagne that made him so ill? Oh, here’s dad. Daddy dear, Sir Hilton’s quite off his head still.” ”

“ Look here, I won’t split. I want to go to the races too.”
“How dare you say anything about races, sir!”
“There, chuck it up, uncle. I’m a man of the world too. Give me a lift to the race, and shut your eyes and I’ll shut mine.”
“You treacherous young viper!”
“Oh, no, I’m not. Don’t you tell about Molly Simpkins—ahem!—coming here, and I won’t say a word to auntie about Lady T. and the races.”
“I’ll make no such bond with you, you dog!”
“Oh, yes, you will, uncle; and, look here, I haven’t done yet. You’re going to give me a fiver.”
“Money to bribe you? No!” pried Sir Hilton, firmly. ”

“ I’m Syd’s uncle. My mouth’s horribly dry, my dear, but don’t ask me to drink, because I’m going to ride for the cup, and it might attract the bees. But they’re gone now. I say, I don’t wonder at Syd. There, it’s nature, I suppose. Boys will be boys; and you’re the beautiful La Sylphide, so full of go. La Sylphide—yes, La Sylphide,” he repeated excitedly, and he gave a sudden lurch.
“Oh, mind, Sir Hilton!” cried the girl, catching at and supporting him. “He isn’t fit to ride. I’ll fetch father.” ”

“ The “at once” came faintly, for Lady Tilborough was already passing through the door.
“Phew!” whistled Sir Hilton. “By George! it sends a thrill through a man again. La Sylphide. My first old love.”
He stood motionless, staring after his visitor for a few moments, and then dashed through the opposite door.
The next moment a fishing-rod was thrust in at the window, dropped against the table, and Syd, with a creel hanging from its strap, vaulted lightly through into the room, to give vent to what sounded like the tardy echo of his uncle’s whistle. ”

“ Lady Lisle says I’m to be a—a Minister some day.”
“Bravo! Be Chancellor of the Exchequer, and keep the purse. But I say, do come. You must be hungry for a race after fasting so long.”
“I am, Jack, I am.”
“Come, then.”
“No; don’t ask me,” said the baronet; “my racing days are over.”
“And you’ve burnt your jockey cap and silk, the scarlet and blue stripe of the finest gentleman-rider of his day?”
“By Jove! no. I keep them, leathers, boots, whip, and all, in a locked-up drawer. My man, Mark, takes them out to set them up and worship sometimes.” ”

“ Granton did not see him, his attention being taken up by the insane action of his friend, whom he once more caught by the arm.
“What’s the matter with you?” he shouted. “Are you going daft?”
“Eh? What?” cried Sir Hilton, looking at him angrily. “Nonsense! Can’t you see the little beasts?”
“D.T., by jingo!” muttered the doctor. “Why, he must have been on the drink for a week! I must get him there somehow. Here, Hilt, old man, its saddling up and weighing time. Come on. La Sylphide looks lovely, and Lady T. all anxiety about you. Rouse up, old chap.” ”

“ Oh, Jenny, she is a picture now.”
“Look here, Mark; ’pon your word, now, is that the truth?”
“Why, you dear, jealous, little darling, you know it is. Look here, Jenny; she runs to-day for the cup, and, with Josh Rowle up, it’s a certainty.”
“I know better than that, Mark. There’s no certainty in horse-racing.”
“Oh, yes, there is, if you’ve got the right mare and the man up who understands her, as Josh does, when he isn’t on the drink. The guv’nor and Josh Rowle are the only two men who can ride La Sylphide, and I tell you it’s a certainty. ”

“ Would you!” and whish, whish, whish went the whip, as an imaginary insect was beaten down to the floor and followed and stamped on by its slayer. “That has settled you.”
“Why, doctor,” cried Syd, who had been staring at his uncle, open-mouthed, “don’t say he’s coxybobus!”
“I wasn’t going to, my boy, but he’s horribly screwed.”
“Screwed? He can’t ride. It must be D.T. Here, uncle,” cried the boy, seizing him and shaking him violently, “pull yourself together. You’ve got to ride.”
“Yes, all right, my boy; and your aunt must never know. There, don’t tear my shirt. Hear them—the bees again? ”

“ Lady Lisle hurried into the drawing-room with stately stride, but she looked round in vain, and faced Lady Tilborough and Doctor Granton, who had followed her in, for the late occupants of the room had disappeared.
So vast is woman’s power over man. ”

“ Does your ladyship mean to insinuate that I’d do anything that warn’t quite square?”
“I insinuate nothing, Sam Simpkins. I only go so far as to say that you are not my servant now, and that I would not trust you in the least.”
“Hark at that now!” cried the trainer, turning up his eyes to the sporting trophies on the walls, and unconsciously letting them rest on the grinning mask of an old fox. Then “Ain’t you got a word to say for me, Sir Hilton? I has my faults, I know, but no man living would say I couldn’t be trusted. You allus found me right, Sir Hilton.” ”

“ I might have been a trusting victim for years—hoodwinked—blinded to their infamy. Ah! he shall find out what the weak, loving, confiding woman whom he has deceived can be.”
There was a very peculiar smile upon Lady Lisle’s handsome face as she crossed to the fireplace, to be met by Khan, the Persian cat, who descended from his ottoman, stretched himself, and made ready to give himself a comforting electric rub against his mistress’s silk dress, but to his astonishment was—not kicked, but thrust violently aside by a boot, to stand staring, while her ladyship continued her march. ”

“ I’m a ruined man.”
“Yes, Hilt, and I’m a ruined woman.”
“Do you know what it means for me, Hetty?”
“Yes, Hilt, old man—four thou’.”
“Of my wife’s money? No, it means locking my dressing-room door, and then—”
“Yes? What then?”
“Revolver. No, haven’t got one—a razor.”
“Tchah!”
“While you, Hetty—”
“Not such a fool,” cried the lady. “Life’s worth more than four million millions, squared and cubed. Pull yourself together, you dear old gander.”
“Pull myself together!” groaned Sir Hilton. “Oh, why did you come with this horrible news?” ”

“ I won’t think I stand to lose four thou’, but only that I stand to win forty, as I must, for with Josh Rowle up, the Sylphide must win in a canter. There’s nothing been foaled yet that can touch her in these little races. There, Laura’s out, and I’ll have a cigar and calm down. Forty thou’! Shell never know—at least, I hope not, and, it will make me independent for a bit. But I won’t do it any more. It would be tempting fortune; but with that extra in the bank I can stand my ground a little. Laura’s a dear good woman, but too straight-laced. ”

“ But he had the medical man’s command over self, and he said quietly: “I think when Lady Lisle has grown calmer she will look a little more leniently upon her neighbour’s actions. Now, pray, my dear madam, let me beg of you to—Ah! that’s better. Don’t try to restrain your tears. They are the greatest anodyne for an overwrought mind. Now, remember your promise. Let me ring for your maid. A cup of tea and a good long sleep, and the racing escapade will wear a different aspect by the light of noon.”
“Oh, doctor, doctor!” ”

“ What did I say?”
“Burglars, be hanged!”
“You scoundrel!” cried Sir Hilton. “What were you doing there?” and, as if answering, the piteous wailing of a dog came from outside.
“Trying to get out to my poor little dawg, Sir Rilton, on’y my foot slipped just as I was opening that top light. You oughter be ashamed of yourself, you ought!”
“Well, of all the effrontery!” cried Granton.
“So he oughter, doctor. That there flower-stand’s painted up ter rights, but it’s rotten as touchwood.” ”

“ What right has he got to be civil to you, I should like to know?”
“Well, I’m sure, sir,” cried the girl, whose eyes were sparkling with delight to see how her lover was moved, “I don’t know what her ladyship’s bailiff and agent and steward and confidential man would say—him, a real gentleman—if he heard what poor Sir Hilton’s groom and valet said.”
“Gentleman—confidential man! Why, he ain’t half a man, and he ain’t the good sanctified chap he pretends to be, and I’d tell him so to his face. Look here, Jenny; he may be her ladyship’s, but he ain’t going to be your confidential man. ”

“ Then, coldly—
“Yes,” she said, “I retract everything that I said—to—Syd’s—Oh, the horror of it!” she gasped. “Syd’s wife. But as for you, sir—yes, I wronged you, too, by those terrible thoughts; but all is at an end between us.”
“Eh?” ejaculated Sir Hilton.
“All is at an end between us. Never can I take the hand of man again who could stoop to playing the part of a common jockey.”
“But it was for the best, my dear.”
“Yes, Lady Lisle,” cried Lady Tilborough, “and to save two very old friends from ruin and despair.”
“Yes, Lady Lisle; that is a fact,” cried Granton. ”

“ Heard what?”
“Lady Tilborough’s mare won’t run.”
“You don’t mean it?” cried the doctor, turning pale.
“Fact, sir. I never plays tricks with gents I knows. Honesty’s the best policy, sir; and you know as you can trust Sam Simpkins.”
“But—but—Good heavens! What does it mean? Lady Tilborough never said a word. Then that’s why I couldn’t see any sign of her people down by the paddock.”
“That’s it, sir.”
“But why? What’s the reason?”
“No jock, sir. Ladyship’s man’s down—acciden’, killed, or ill, or some’at. Anyhow, he can’t ride the mare, and as you well know, nobody else can.” ”

“ That’s better. Awkward position for a man to have the bees settling upon him and getting into his hair.”
“Very, old chap; but they’re all gone now.”
“Not quite, Jack. Don’t you hear the mur-mur-mur-mur—?”
“Oh, yes; quite plain.”
“Pooh!” cried Sir Hilton, with a sudden change coming over him. “What a fool I am! I thought it was the bees, and all the time it’s only the murmur of the crowd on the racecourse.”
“Why, so it is,” said the doctor. “I thought it was bees.”
“No, the people; and I’ve got to ride in the big race.”
“To be sure, so you have, old chap. Suppose we go and look at the mare.” ”

“ The imperious words had their effect upon one who was present, Mark collaring the tout.
“And you—man,” continued Lady Lisle, “are that—person’s father.” She uttered the word “person” in a tone, innocent as the appellation was, so acid that it made, the trainer bristly and Syd more of a man.
“Yes, I’m her father, my lady, but it’s no use to cut up rough.”
“Silence, man!” cried Lady Lisle, indignantly; “take the creature away.”
“Shan’t!” roared the trainer, starting. “She’s my gal, and she shall have her rights.” ”

“ Just you take me to the mare, and let me have a few minutes with her.”
“The mare is not my property, Sam,” said Sir Hilton, laughing.
“Of course not, Sir Hilton. I forgot. What do you say, my lady? That there Jim Crow’s a good horse, and La Sylphide hasn’t the wind she had.”
“Indeed!” said Lady Tilborough.
“It’s a fact, my lady. What she wants is holding in and a waiting game, and just something as—you know, Sir Hilton—for the roosh at the last, as’ll take her in a couple o’ lengths ahead.”
“Yes, I understand,” said Sir Hilton, drily.
“You hear, my lady? I want you to win.” ”

“ Bravo, my darling!” he cried, making play with the ribbons, just as Lady Lisle returned, consequent upon, as the police say, “information received,” and stopped short, literally stunned, at the picture before her, while Molly caught sight of her, and tried to get away, but in vain.
“Steady, darling, steady!” cried Sir Hilton, who felt the tugging at the reins. “Don’t get in a flurry. We shall win in a canter. Bravo, pet! Easy—easy, beauty!—Don’t tug like that—I don’t want to hurt your dear, tender mouth. That’s better. We’re going now like the—Bravo—bravo—that’s the way!” ”