Talbot Baines Reed

“ Handsome he was not—he was hardly good-looking, and the nervous twitch of his eyebrow as it came down over his single eye-glass constantly disfigured him. What was his temper, his character, his soul, you might sit for a month before him and never discover. But from his deep massive chest, his long arms, his lithe step, and the poise of his head upon his broad shoulders, you would probably conclude that his enemy, if he had one, would do well not to frequent the same dark lane as Mr Frank Armstrong. ”

“ Miss Oliphant, as it happened, had taken to a spell of hard work in her studio, and was not visible all the evening. She was, in fact, making a copy of the portrait Roger had lent her, and the work interested her greatly.
This bold, fearless, almost insolent, boy’s face fascinated her. She seemed to be able to interpret the defiance that flashed in his eye, and to solve the problem which gathered on his half-mocking lips. She was half afraid, half enamoured of this old piece of canvas.
“Why are not you here now?” she muttered as she gazed at it. “You don’t look like the sort of boy to die. ”

“ The dog whose last hope has gone will gather himself together for a final fling at his persecutors; the poltroon driven back against the wall, unable to retreat farther, will sometimes turn and make a stand such as he never deemed himself capable of before. And so Captain Oliphant, because he could do nothing else, plucked up a little courage and groped about in the dark for some new fragments of his lost manhood.
He would go back and face the worst. If he was to be ruined, he would pull the mask off himself, and not leave it to Armstrong or any one else to do it. ”

“ It is possible to conceive of a more hopeful task than hunting up and down a large French town for tidings of a strolling player who, for one night only, played the ghost in Hamlet twenty years ago. But Roger, as, early in the year, he stepped ashore at Boulogne with Armstrong at his side, felt sanguine and of good cheer.
His recovery had been slow, and not without interruption. As soon as he could be moved he had returned to Maxfield, only to find Rosalind still away, and his guardian obdurate to any suggestion for expediting her return. ”

“ And oh, Mr Armstrong, if you would only wait I would love to marry you some day! How soon shall I be big enough?”
This was getting embarrassing. But the tutor was in a tender mood, and had it not in his heart to thwart the little Leap-year maid. “Time flies fast,” said he; “you’ll be grown up before we know where we all are.”
She sighed.
“I know you’d sooner have Rosalind. But she doesn’t care for you as much as I do. She likes Roger best; but I don’t; I like you fifty thousand times better. Would it be an awful bother, Mr Armstrong?”
“What! to have Jill for my little wife?” ”

“ As it was, the writer wrote in the reckless vein of a man who knows he is detested and expects little; who owes a grudge to fortune for his bad luck, and being hard up for money, appeals not to his rights, but to the good nature of his more lucky younger brother.
What a sad letter it seemed, read in that light. And how every word drove the unhappy heir of Maxfield deeper and deeper into the slough of perplexity.
Three weeks ago, when his dead father’s letter had come into his hands, he had not hesitated for a moment as to his duty or his desire in the matter. ”

“ And since, with a stick in her hand, she looked very like putting her threat into execution, the captain beat a hasty retreat, chuckling to himself at the thought of his own excellent cleverness.
“Upon my word,” said he to himself as he strolled westward, “I am having a most interesting time. What a versatile genius my co-trustee appears to be—a tutor to an heir, a defaulting and rusticated undergraduate, a penniless music-hall cad. Dear, dear! what a curious settlement of scores we shall have, to be sure—or rather, should have had, had our poor dear Roger remained with us. ”

“ A fortnight passed, and the thoughts of both, dispirited and worn, turned homeward. Rosalind, a letter had informed them, was back at Maxfield.
Of the two, perhaps Mr Armstrong displayed less disposition to own himself beaten. He had worked like a horse all the time. Roger had been compelled to own that without him his mission would have been a feeble farce. Not a stone did the dogged tutor leave unturned. Not a difficulty did he shirk. Not a man or woman, however forbidding, did he hesitate to tackle, who in the remotest degree might be suspected of being likely to give information. ”

“ Captain Oliphant pushed his chair brusquely back from the table and got up, looking, so Armstrong thought, not as proud of his loyal daughter as he should have been.
“Eva,” said he drily, “I shall be in the library if you want me. Will you tell Raffles to bring me in the Times when it arrives?”
“I’m afraid papa will be very angry with me,” said Rosalind dolefully, as she and Roger walked back across the hall. “But if he won’t stand up for himself some one must. I’m quite sure he would give the impression, to any one who did not know him, that he had purposely been harsh to poor Hodder.” ”

“ As the two men entered, the hall was full of scared domestics, talking in undertones, and feeding on the occasional bulletin which the privileged Raffles was permitted to carry from the sick-room to the outer world.
At the sight of the doctor and Mr Armstrong, they sneaked off grudgingly to their own territories, leaving Raffles to escort the gentlemen to the scene of the tragedy.
Old Roger Ingleton lay on the sofa, with eyes half-closed, upturned to the ceiling; alive still, but no more. ”

“ With a silent nod to the doctor Mr Armstrong left the room, and was presently once more ploughing on horseback through the deep snow.
It was well this man was a man of iron and master of himself, or he might have flagged under this new effort, with the distressing prospect awaiting him at his journey’s end.
As it was, he urged doggedly forward, forgetful of the existence of such an individual as Frank Armstrong, and dwelling only on the dying man behind and the mourners ahead. ”

“ His few attempts to talk to her fell flat, and in spite of the captain’s almost nervous attempts to improve the festivity of the occasion, the meal was an uncomfortable one.
“Where’s old Armstrong?” demanded Tom.
“With Roger,” replied Rosalind.
“Have you seen Armstrong?” inquired the boy of the visitor; “he’s a stunner, I can tell you. He can bend a poker double across his knee. You’ll like him awfully; and he plays the piano like one o’clock. He’s our tutor, you know—no end of a chap.”
Mr Ratman was fain to express a longing desire to make the acquaintance of so redoubtable a hero. ”

“ Ratman peered through the gloom at the speaker in surprise. “Hullo!” said he, “that’s a new tune for you. Now look here; I suppose you’ve not forgotten our talk yesterday?”
“Well?”
“You’ve two things to do; you’ve to recognise me as Roger Ingleton when the time comes. There’ll be proofs and witnesses. They must satisfy you, mind. Make no mistake of that. Then I must have Rosalind. I love her. On the day I’m your son-in-law you shall have back every bill I hold against you. Now, is it a bargain? It’s a cheap one for you, I can tell you.”
The blood rose to Captain Oliphant’s brow. ”

“ The Duke behaved nobly that night. He gallantly gave his arm to Jill, and asked the Bishop to bring in one of his daughters. This saved Miss Oliphant’s party from the collapse which threatened it. Every one took the cue from the great people. Even Mrs Pottinger accepted the arm of the curate, and the ardent youths, who had all arrived under the delusion that Miss Rosalind was the hostess, forgot their disappointment, and vowed to see the youngsters through with it. ”

“ Mr Armstrong was late for breakfast that morning. For some reason of his own he wasted ten minutes at his piano before he obeyed the summons of the gong, and the chords he played were mostly minor. But when he did appear his glass was fixed as jauntily as ever, and his pursed lips looked impervious to any impression from within or without.
To his surprise, he found Miss Jill waiting outside the door.
“I didn’t mean to go in,” said she, “where that horrid man is, till you came. I don’t mind a bit now. Come along, dear Mr Armstrong.” ”

“ And as if there were some connection between the two ideas, captain Oliphant abstractedly put the two notes into his own pocket, and proceeded thoughtfully to tear up the letter and envelope of the American mayor.
He had hardly completed this function when the door opened and Rosalind sailed in, looking particularly charming after a breezy walk across the park.
She had rarely seen her father in better and more amiable spirits.
“Ah, my dear child,” said he; “it does one good to see you again. A week’s absence is a long time. And how are you getting on at the Vicarage?” ”

“ Mr Armstrong held him by the wrist as in a vice.
“It won’t do, Ratman,” said he. “The game is up. The best thing you can do is to stand quietly here till the police come.”
The prisoner sullenly abandoned his struggle, and turned with a bitter sneer to Roger.
“So you’ve run me down, have you? You’ve found your lost brother at last? I expected it. I was a fool to suppose you would lift a finger for me. There’s some chance of escaping from an enemy, but from a brother who has set himself to hound a brother to death, never. Never mind. Your money’s safe now. ”

“ Armstrong settled down to his duties with his two pupils—or rather his three pupils, for Miss Jill made a point of receiving lessons too. Miss Rosalind worked away at her painting, and succeeded in evoking a glimmering interest in art in the Philistine breasts of her two students. The young people divided their leisure between riding, cricket, tennis, and yachting. Mrs Ingleton, as the weeks went by, not only grew more pale, but began to be aware of the attentions of her sympathetic kinsman, and to be sorely perplexed and disturbed thereat. ”

“ I could escape if I had money. Fifty pounds would rid you of me almost as effectively as the gallows. But it would cost you something; therefore it is absurd to imagine it possible. When, three days hence, I make my last call at the General Post Office, and hear once more that there is nothing for me, not even a message of brotherly pity (which costs nothing) , I shall know my last hope is gone. And you, in the lap of luxury, counting your thousands, and monarch of all you survey, will be able to breathe again. ”

“ In due time Raffles delivered his momentous message.
“Oh, the fireworks!” cried Miss Jill, clapping her hands, “the fireworks are to begin. Aren’t you glad, duke? Do get a good seat before the gas is turned down.”
The company crowded into the big bay-window, and endured the extinction of the light with great good-humour. Indeed, a certain gentleman who entered the room at this particular juncture, seeing nothing, but hearing the laughter and talk, said to himself that this was as merry an occasion as it had been his lot to participate in. ”

“ Mr Armstrong, what do they all think about all of us coming to Maxfield? If I lived there, I should hate it.”
“Mrs Ingleton, I know, is very pleased.”
“Yes, but you men aren’t. There’ll be fearful rows, I know. I wish we’d stayed behind in India. It’s hateful to be stuck down where you aren’t wanted, for every one to vote you a nuisance!”
“I can hardly imagine any one voting you a nuisance,” said Mr Armstrong, half-frightened at his own temerity. ”

“ He is to the pauvre père a son, and to the petite Françoise—ah! quelle est morte!”
“What was the name of your father?” demanded Roger, his hand tightening on Rosalind’s as he spoke.
“Ah, Monsieur! a poor name; he is called like me, Gustav Callot.”
The poor valet was thunderstruck by the sensation which his simple words caused. Surely the English gentlemen and ladies are beautiful listeners; no one ever paid him so much attention in his own country.
The American mayor took up the examination.
“I reckon,” drawled he, “that young man did not go by the name of Armstrong when you knew him.” ”

“ Which way shall a man turn who would escape from himself?
For two long hours he wandered on caring not which way he took, and feeling himself step by step closer beset by his dismal forebodings. Presently he found himself beyond the park boundaries on the open downs which stretched to the edge of the cliff. The touch of the salt sea-breeze on his fevered brow startled him and made him shiver. The last gleam of daylight was fading in the west, and when presently it flickered out and left him in the dark, he felt that the last ray of his own hope had vanished too. ”

“ Armstrong’s the only one can make her. I can’t; nor can Brandram. Brandram’s a stunner. I drive him in and out of Yeld every day, and he’s up to no end of larks. And now Roger’s pulling round, he’s as festive as an owl. Jill’s in jolly dumps because she’s out of it all. Rosalind sits on her and tells her she’s too much of a kid to be any good; and she doesn’t get much change out of Armstrong. So she has to knock about with me all day, which is awful slow. I say, go and see Christy’s Minstrels when you’re in town, and get them to let Jockabilly do the break-down. It will make you split. ”