Holworthy Hall

“ Gardner hadn't a leg to stand on.
In reporting his accomplishment to Ryhill, Perry stated merely that he had made a very fortunate investment, and his attitude was so independent that nobody questioned him too minutely, not even his own father. He was too stricken with remorse, too sensitive of Dorothea's unwitting sacrifice, to be willing to talk about it.
"All the same," he said to me disconsolately, "I feel stranded; I can't help it. The wedding's only six weeks away, and we're still house-hunting. We shall have to go into rooms if we can't find a house. ”

“ It strengthened my belief that fathers are fathers sometimes. They can't help themselves. There was a curiously mellow quality in Mr. Gardner's voice: he coughed once or twice before he began.
It was a delightfully banal speech, but it had sincerity behind it. He gave Perry a sort of official greeting to the family; he spoke of Perry in a chain of compliments which astonished all of us, and Perry most of all, and he referred in no disparaging terms to Perry's brilliance and Perry's sure success. ”

“ And if you and Dorothea really want to live in that house—ever—you'd better say the word."
"If I had a couple of days to think it over——" he hesitated.
"A forty-eight-hour option," I said, "will cost you one of those cigarettes—thank you."
"I wouldn't even wish Dorothea to know," he said reflectively. "I'd want to surprise her with it. And Mr. Gardner shouldn't know, either; he's always hammering away about speculations. And my father mustn't know. ”

“ He's made it mercenary—that's all he cares about! Nothing about prospects, nothing about me personally—but cash! If I'd only had the grit to say what was on the tip of my tongue——"
"Perry," I said, "that isn't a death-sentence, is it? You have a few friends left. Can't you reason with your father?"
"My father!" he echoed. "Oh, Heavens! I should say I have! He's just as bad. I'm only a boy, he considers, a mere child yet. I've got to be advanced slowly in the business, or the old employés might kick and leave us in the lurch. ”

“ But if somebody offered us, say, two thousand nine hundred for it, I'd have to think twice."
"But nobody has, Perry."
"No; I said if anyone did offer that—so I'd have all Mr. Gardner insists on, and all my father insists on—why, with the future I have in our business, I think I'd take it—I think so." He shook his head in perplexity. "What a mess!" he said. "It's the one house in Ryhill, and there's Dorothea, and there's the profit—you couldn't have a better example of wanting to eat your cake and have it too."
"Well, shall I give Kent any encouragement?" ”

“ And your option is still good, Perry, but if you don't exercise it, that place will be sold by to-morrow morning."
"Who are they? These other people?"
"One's a solicitor, and one's a London agent. You won't make any mistake, Perry. Let me go ahead and finish the deal for you."
"It's a big responsibility," he said thoughtfully, "and it'll take all I've got, but Dorothea's so keen about it, and all that ... I'll do it!" ”

“ That was what Kent had offered me in the afternoon, and that was what I was considering. And I heard Mr. Gardner tell Kent to bid up to three thousand if he had to—as the place was worth it! Wasn't that fair enough? It was the first I knew of this three-barrelled affair!"
There was a little gasp from Dorothea, and I turned away. I dislike to see any man—even Perry—kiss a nice girl—especially Dorothea—while I'm still a bachelor. From the dining-room came fitful gusts of laughter, and I distinctly caught both Mr. Gardner's bass and Mr. Maxwell's infectious tenor. Fathers are fathers sometimes. ”

“ They could live in a tent, and make those two years worth twenty; they would forget overnight the fantasy which had bound them to the Sherbrooke place. And, furthermore, my judgment had instinct behind it.
"Dorothea," I said, "Perry's badly worried about one thing; it's the same one we've gone over so often. He's spoken to me about it. I wish you'd make it clear, the next time you write to him, that you can be contented with him even if he isn't able to give you the house he thinks you want. He's obsessed with the notion that you won't be happy with him unless he can give you that. ”

“ I said, "you're of age, Perry——"
"Yes, but I've still got some sense left. I'm not going to antagonise two families, and throw up a comparatively big future, and go out hunting for a new billet, and try to be married on ninepence!" He brought his band down on his knee with a resounding slap. "Mr. Gardner's theory is all right: Dorothea ought to be safeguarded; where we split is on the estimates. ”

“ Sherbrooke. I must sell whenever I can, just as soon as somebody meets his price. So you mustn't put off speaking to your father too long."
She took a step towards me and gave me her hand.
"Promise me you won't let anyone else have it until I've talked to father. You can do that, can't you? Only a day or two; I'll know by Saturday at the latest. Is that too much to ask?"
"Ah!" said I. "An option! That's legal enough. And it's common enough, too. All right; I'll give you the refusal of it for forty-eight hours at that price. But an option, you know% isn't valid without a consideration." ”

“ The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works. ”