Gilbert Parker

“ Had he been a different man the devotion his wife had shown would have drawn him back to her; had she been a different woman, unvexed by a horrible remembrance, she would have made his soul her own and her soul his own once again. She had not dared to tell him the truth; afraid more for her boy’s sake than for her own. She had been glad that Tarboe had helped to replace the broken link with Fabian, that he had taken the place which Carnac, had he been John Grier’s son, ought to have taken. She could not blame Carnac, and she could not blame her husband, but the thing ate into her heart. ”

“ You think that real men marry women for whom they only have emotion. You think that he—Carnac Grier—would marry any woman on that basis? Come, ma’m’selle, the truth! He didn’t know he was being married, and when you told him it was a real marriage he left you at once. You and yours tricked him—the man you’d never have known if he hadn’t saved your life. You thought that with your beauty—yes, you are beautiful—you’d conquer him, and that he’d give in, and become a real husband in a real home. ”

“ What’s Junia to me—nothing! I’ve every reason to dislike her, but she comes and goes as if the place belonged to her. She comes to my office; she comes to this house; she visits Fabian; she tries to boss everybody. Why don’t you regularize it? Why don’t you marry her, and then we’ll know where we are? She’s got more brains than anybody else in our circle. She’s got tact and humour. Her sister’s a fool; she’s done harm. Junia’s got sense. What are you waiting for? I wouldn’t leave her for Tarboe! Look here, Carnac, I wanted you to do what Tarboe’s doing, and you wouldn’t. ”

“ When he and I went to your political meeting at Charlemont it had no purpose. No blush came to his cheek, because he did not know who his father is. No one in the world knows—no one except myself, that must suffer to the end. Your speech roused in him the native public sense, the ancient fire of the people from whom he did not know he came. His origin has been his bane from the start. He did not know why the man he thought his father seemed almost a stranger to him. He did not understand, and so they fell apart. Yet John Grier would have given more than he had to win the boy to himself. ”

“ Junia smiled. “What is there in it all for you? If the man I married did not love me, I’d use the law to be free. What’s the good of trying to destroy a husband who doesn’t love you, who never loved you—never.”
“You don’t know that,” retorted Luzanne sharply.
“Yes, I do. He never loved you. He never lived with you for a single day. That’s in the power of a doctor to prove. If you are virtuous, then he has taken nothing; if you have given your all, and not to Carnac Grier, what will his mind be about you? Is it money? He has no money except what he earns. ”

“ There flashed the feeling, however, that it would be finer sport if Carnac and Tarboe were to be at war, instead of Carnac and Barouche. It was curious she never thought of Carnac but the other man came throbbing into sight—the millionaire, for he was that now.
In one way, this last move of Carnac’s had the elements of a master-stroke. She knew how strange it would seem to the rest of the world, yet it did not seem strange to her. No man she had ever seen had been so at home in the world of men, and also at home in the secluded field of the chisel and the brush as Carnac. ”

“ When Fabian left the father alone in his office, however, the stark temper of the old man broke down. He had had enough. He muttered to himself. Presently he was roused by a little knock at the door. It was Junia, brilliant, buoyant, yellow haired, with bright brown eyes, tingling cheeks, and white laughing teeth that showed against her red lips. She held up a finger at him.
“I know what you’ve done, and it’s no good at all. You can’t live without us, and you mustn’t,” she said. The old man glowered still, but a reflective smile crawled to his lips. ”

“ When he had a revolt against anything in life, the grim storm scenes of winter in the shanties under the trees and the snow-swept hills came to his mind’s eye. The summer life of the river, and what is called “running the river,” had for him great charms. The smell of hundreds of thousands of logs in the river, the crushed bark, the slimy ooze were all suggestive of life in the making. But the savage seclusion of the wild life in winter repelled his senses. Besides, the lumber business meant endless figures and measurements in stuffy offices and he retreated from it all. ”

“ He had a profound respect for the little wiry man, with the firm body and shrivelled face.
Tarboe watched the revealing expression of the old man’s face and the motions of his body. He noticed that the tight grip of the hand on the little statue of the riverman had made the fingers pale. He realized how absorbed was the lumber-king, who had given him more confidence than he had given to anyone else in the world. As near as he could come to anyone, he had come to John Grier. ”

“ One of the wisest advisers in river-law he had ever known was a priest; one of the best friends of the legislation of the medical profession was a woman; one of the bravest Ministers who had ever quarrelled with and conquered his colleagues had been an insurance agent; one of the sanest authorities on maritime law had been a man with a greater pride in his verses than in his practical capacity; and here was Carnac, who had painted pictures and made statues, plunging into politics with a policy as ingenious as his own, and as capable of logical presentation. ”

“ The past is buried for ever. There can be no resurrection. I know what I should do, and I will do it. For the rest of my life, I shall live for my son. I hope he will defeat you. I don’t lift a hand to help him except to give him money, not John Grier’s money but my own, always that. You are fighting what is stronger than yourself. One thing is sure, he is nearer to the spirit of your race than you. He will win—but yes, he will win! ”

“ It was the first time he had ever been hit between the eyes where John Grier was concerned. His prestige with the men was now under a shadow, yet he dared not deny the truth of the statement. It could be proved. His braggart hatred of John Grier had come home to roost. Carnac saw that, and he was glad he had challenged the man. He believed that in politics, as in all other departments of life, candour and bold play were best in the long run. Yet he would like to see the man in a different humour, and with joy he heard Junia say to Grandois. ”

“ As yet he had never seen Tarboe—he had been away in the country the whole year nearly—but he imagined a man of strength, abilities, penetration and deep power. He knew that only a man with savage instincts could work successfully with John Grier; he knew that Grier was without mercy in his business, and that his best year’s work had been marked by a mandatory power which only a malevolent policy could produce. ”

“ She paused and Luzanne flushed. The first meeting! Why, that was the day Carnac had saved her life, had taken her home safe from danger, and had begun a friendship with behind it only a desire to help her. And how had she repaid the saviour of her life? By tricking him into a marriage, and then by threatening him if he did not take her to his home. Truth is, down beneath her misconduct was a passion for the man which, not satisfied, became a passion to destroy him and his career. ”

“ At first glance, Carnac saw that John Grier was getting worn and old. The eyes were not so flashing as they once were; the lips were curled in a half-cynical mood. The old look of activity was fading; something vital had struck soul and body. He had had a great year. He had fought Belloc and his son Fabian successfully; he had laid new plans and strengthened his position.
Tarboe coming into the business had made all the difference to him. Tarboe had imagination, skill and decision, he seldom lost his temper; he kept a strong hand upon himself. His control of men was marvellous ”

“ In an instant the girl was gone. The boy, left behind, busied himself in relieving the deformed broken-legged habitant. He brought some water in his straw hat to refresh him. He removed the rocks and dirt, and dragged the little man out.
“It was a close call—bien sur,” said Denzil, breathing hard. “I always said that place wasn’t safe, but I went on it myself. That’s the way in life. We do what we forbid ourselves to do; we suffer the shames we damn in others—but yes.”
There was a pause, then he added: “That’s what you’ll do in your life, M’sieu’ Carnac. That’s what you’ll do.” ”

“ You thought I’d be a martyr for love of John Grier—and cold cash, did you? That isn’t the way the blood runs in my veins. I think John Grier might get out of the business now, if he’s tired, and sell it and let some one else run it. John Grier is not in want. If he were, I’d give up everything to help him, and I’d not think I was a martyr. But I’ve a right to make my own career. It’s making the career one likes which gets one in the marrow. I’d take my chances of success as he did. He has enough to live on, he’s had success ”

“ I never saw but one man I wanted to marry, and you are that man, Carnac. You wouldn’t ask me, so I made you marry me. You could go farther and fare worse. Come, take me home—take me home, my love. I want you to love me.”
“You little devil!” Carnac declared. “I’d rather cut my own throat. I’m going to have a divorce. I’m going to teach you and the others a lesson you won’t forget.”
“There isn’t a jury in the United States you could convince after what you’ve done. You’ve made it impossible. Go to Judge Grimshaw and see what he will say. ”

“ They were Fabian’s wife and Junia.
Barode Barouche came out of the hall before Carnac. His quick eye saw the two ladies, and he raised his broad-brimmed hat like a Stuart cavalier, and smiled.
“Waiting for your champion, eh?” he asked with cynical friendliness. “Well, work hard, because that will soften his fall.” He leaned over, as it were confidentially, to them, while his friends craned their necks to hear what he said: “If I were you I’d prepare him. He’s beaten as sure as the sun shines.” ”

“ Tarboe, on the other hand, admired the frank, pleasant face of the young man, which carried still the irresponsibility of youth, but which conveyed to the watchful eye a brave independence, a fervid, and perhaps futile, challenge to all the world. Tarboe understood that this young man had a frankness dangerous to the business of life, yet which, properly applied, might bring great results. He disliked Carnac for his uncalculating candour; but he realized that, behind all, was something disturbing to his life.
“It’s a woman,” Tarboe said to himself, “it’s a woman. ”

“ I always thought you despised me,” said Carnac.
A half-tender, half-repellent expression came into the old man’s face. He spoke bluntly. “I always thought you had three times the brains of your brother. You’re not like me, and you’re not like your mother; there’s something in you that means vision, and seeing things, and doing them. If fifteen thousand dollars a year and a share in the business is any good to you—”
For an instant there had been pleasure and wonder in the young man’s eyes, but at the sound of the money and the share in the business he shrank back. ”

“ He knew that his son, inheriting his own political gifts, had done what could have been done by no one else. All the years passed since Carnac was begotten laid their deathly hands upon him, and he knew he could never recover from this defeat. How much better it would have been if he had been struck twenty-seven years ago!
Youth, ambition and resolve would have saved him from the worst then. Age has its powers, but it has its defects, and he had no hope that his own defects would be wiped out by luck at the polls. Spirit was gone out of him, longing for the future had no place in his mind ”

“ It seemed suddenly horrible that the timber-yards and the woods and the offices, and the buildings of John Grier’s commercial business were not under his own direction, or that of his mother, or brother. They had ceased to be factors in the equation; they were ‘non est’ in the postmortem history of John Grier. How immense a nerve the old man had to make such a will, which outraged every convention of social and family life; which was, in effect, a proclamation that his son Carnac had no place in John Grier’s scheme of things, while John Grier’s wife was rewarded like some faithful old servant. ”

“ She took the newspaper over to her aunt, holding it up. The big headlines showed like semaphores on the page. As the graceful figure of Junia drew to her aunt—her slim feet, in the brown, well-polished boots, the long, full neck, and then the chin, Grecian, shapely and firm, the straight, sensitive nose, the wonderful eyes under the well-cut, broad forehead, with the brown hair, covering it like a canopy—the old lady reached out and wound her arms round the lissome figure. Situated so, she read the telegram, and then the old arms gripped her tighter. ”

“ What’s commerce without politics? It’s politics that makes the commerce possible. There’s that fellow Barouche—Barode Barouche—he’s got no money, but he’s a Minister, and he can make you rich or poor by planning legislation at Ottawa that’ll benefit or hamper you. That’s the kind of business that’s worth doing—seeing into the future, fashioning laws that make good men happy and bad men afraid. ”

“ She blushed and hung her head. “No, I did not; you are not a bad man. He would have spoiled my life. He made it clear I could have all the luxuries money could buy—all except marriage!” She shrugged her shoulders.
Carnac was of an impressionable nature, but brought to face the possibility of marriage with Luzanne, he shrank. If ever he married it would be a girl like Junia Shale, beautiful, modest, clever and well educated. No, Luzanne could never be for him. So he forbore doing more than ask her to forgive him, and he would take her to lunch-the last lunch of the picture-if she would. ”