Benning Wentworth

“ Whilst he was thus engaged Frank had renewed acquaintance with L'Estrange, and Ellen had once more confronted Lord Wentworth. She had never seen him so near before; he actually brushed against her dress, and more than ever she felt her peace of mind was gone. As it was a fine day the carriage drove along the sands once, before returning home, and Ellen again saw the Earl; this time she was sure he noticed her, and again she felt her face crimson.
"What a pretty girl that is," said Lord Wentworth, addressing his brother. ”

“ Every one was flocking round Ellen, still in a most alarming swoon. Over her the Earl bent with indescribable fondness, chafing her temples with his hand, and calling for water, while the Marquis as loudly called for aid.
"Here, you lazy, idle sluggards, here; help! for God's sake; I am weary; faith, I'll let him go if no one comes. Do you hear? Bedad, to be left here pressing down such a viper."
"Hold, I'll come; just wait a bit. There, Wentworth, is your jug of water; freshen her up well, she is more frightened than hurt. ”

“ I am a better lawyer than you took me for: these are letters from the Earl to Juana Ferraras; read them and then judge for yourself."
"I forbear to ask you how you gained possession of these letters," said Ellen, as she took them—"certainly never meant for your eye, nor for mine either, and I should ill deserve Lord Wentworth's trust could I demean myself to play the part of a base spy, and peruse them in order to gain an insight into his private life. To his God he alone stands, or falls; if he has failings he is but mortal, and fallible as you and I ”

“ He did not expect to find his man. But when dealing with such an audacious person he felt that precautions were necessary. Undoubtedly Mr. X had escaped by the emergency stairs, there having been no time to call an elevator to the top of the building.
To follow him would have been difficult and Wentworth had something else in view.
Ram Singh was squatting on the floor when his master returned to the front room. In his hand the native held the great knife which he had drawn out of the floor. Mimi, restless and nervous, stood beside her mistress. Madame Pompé smoked with apparent indifference. ”

“ Lord Arranmore having done his duty as he thought, rose, and strode across to where Ellen was, who had just come to from the swoon, and was half-smiling, half-crying, when she found herself safe in her lover's protection once more.
"Do not leave me, my dear Lord Wentworth, do not leave me again."
"Never, darling: you shall never more stray from my eyes till you are my own. I will take you to the Towers. We shall see who dares, from the King to the lowest miscreant, to take you from thence. How are you, sweet one—better—able to drive? The carriage is waiting." ”

“ The Earl looked lovingly at his beautiful partner, thinking he had indeed found a good thing when he gained such a wife. The Marquis shrugged his shoulders, as if not much liking the turn of the conversation. The Countess arose, and left the room. When she was gone he again addressed the Earl:
"I say, Wentworth, it's uncommon rum to think, if that yarn is true, that L'Estrange was so much at his own house without knowing it! that you and he should have been after the same girl; and what made you the happiest of men, made him the most miserable." ”

“ Wentworth filled the two glasses with champagne again and handed one of them to her. He raised his own glass.
"I shall give you a toast," he said. "To Mr. X, the cleverest criminal I have ever met. May we meet again very soon!"
"I hate him!" she exclaimed, glancing toward the hall a little fearfully.
"You need not be afraid," he said. "My boy is on guard outside and he can see into the hall through the open window."
"What do you want?" she asked flatly. Wentworth went to the little table without replying and took the remaining bottle of wine from the basket which Ram Singh had brought. ”

“ Wentworth said. "One can't avoid running up against people one knows at every turn here."
"Is that so?" said Rendel, a note of anxiety in his voice. "We have not run up against any one yet."
"Oh! dear me, yes," said Wentworth, unconscious that each of the names he might enumerate would represent to Rendel a possible inexorable judge. "Half London is here: Lady Chaloner, Pateley—all sorts of people." ”

“ In those same early days he was in conflict with another man who was to become one of the most prominent politicians of his day—Thomas Wentworth, presently Lord Strafford. Wentworth too, according to his light, was a patriot. He was sincerely desirous for the prosperity of the country, but held that strength is the essence of good government, had a contempt for constitutional forms, and in his arrogance, knowing his own good intentions, paid no respect to those who opposed him. Eliot stood at the opposite pole. Parliament was to him the voice and the majesty of the nation. ”

“ My Lord, it was your father, the young Earl of Wentworth; and he had given her well-furnished apartments near Edinburgh. The Earl had been married more than three years, and he had two children, a little girl and a boy about two years: he visited Agnes on the sly, and only occasionally.
"When I learned all this I almost died with passion. I felt a very devil of vengeance enter into my heart. The pride of my soul, the light of my eyes, my love, my destined wife, had been tempted, betrayed, and was now living in guilty splendour. ”

“ I see it now in a different light,—but her agony—her fright—her terror—it would kill her,—no, no! I will not."
"Weak, vacillating, inconsistent as a woman, you must be fixed. Hearken, L'Estrange, you have gone too far now to retract; you did not enlist me for nothing; this concerns not only you, but me also; it is of paramount importance to me that Wentworth marries not Ellen; there is but one way to prevent their union,—it must be done; you are a fool to hesitate." ”

“ But one thing I will promise him, and that is, he shall never know any difference in me,—except that by fonder love I will try my best to ameliorate his troubles."
"God bless you, Ellen!" said the Earl; "you have ever been my better angel."
"Oh, do not say so, Wentworth; after all I only do what it is my duty to do. Think you, when I took the solemn vows at my marriage they were empty words? I have loved you in health, and wealth, and happiness; and if a few dark days have occasionally interrupted the long career of pleasures, they have been few and far between. ”

“ Rendel said. "You must find your way back without me, there's a good fellow. By the way," he added, "I'm sorry to have spoilt your day; I'm afraid you've had no luncheon. But you'll be back in Schleppenheim in time to get some. Look here, would you mind saying to my wife that—that I've walked a little further than you cared to go, or something of that sort, and that I'll be back at dinner time?"
"Very well," said Wentworth, hesitatingly. "She is not likely to be anxious, is she?" he said dubiously. "I mean, at your being away so long. She won't be alarmed, will she?" ”

“ True, I'd as lief see Wentworth beneath the sod as married. But what is that to you? if the girl don't like you—if she likes him better—you won't get her back. I know the sex well; let one of them take a thing into their heads and they will move heaven and earth till they get it. If Ellen Ravensworth has taken it into her head to be a countess, she is safe to be so, despite you and me, Ned. But you are sure Wentworth gave her that ring? ”

“ Wentworth laughed, pleasantly and frankly. "You are a good man, Sparks, and— you are right. Your newspaper training has taught you to read character. Are you, by any chance, suggesting that I am this criminal?" ”

“ No one who works on a morning newspaper ever takes advantage of the lark's example.
'Well, Kenyon,' said Wentworth 'you look as if you were writing a poem, or doing something that required deep mental agony.'
'The writing of poems, my dear Wentworth, I leave to you. I am doing something infinitely more practical—something that you ought to be at. I am thinking what we are to do with our mica-mine when we get it over to London.'
'Oh, "sufficient for the day is the evil thereof,"' cried Wentworth jauntily ”

“ I gripped at my camera and flashlight, and waited. My hands were simply soaked with sweat. I glanced once at Wentworth. I could see him only dimly. His shoulders were hunched a little, his head forward; but though it was motionless, I knew that his eyes were not. It is queer how one knows that sort of thing at times. The police were just as silent. ”

“ Wentworth began speaking Hindustani to his servant, while he continued to hold the receiver of the telephone to his ear. The tall native threw back his shoulders, and an indignant rage showed in his glittering, black eyes. He spoke gutturally in reply to what he had heard. If a bad man wished to disturb his master while he was telephoning, he, Ram Singh, would go out into the hall and cut that bad man into small pieces. ”

“ God grant it may not affect my own Arthur; if my child died, I should follow, Ellen,—Augusta need not beckon!"
"Edith, love, we should trust God before even presentiments; if we fear Him all will work together for our good, and even from evil good will spring forth."
"Ah! Ellen, if I had the trust you have; but I cannot overcome my fears; God grant they may all be shadows! But here is Wentworth, he must not see clouded faces, let us try and forget this." ”

“ Wentworth? I didn't know you were here. Don't let me interrupt you."
"On the contrary," said Wentworth, "it is I who am interrupting your husband."
"I only came to see, Frank, if you were very busy," she said.
"I am not at this moment. Do you want me to do anything?"
"Well, presently, would you play one game of chess with my father? I am not really good enough to be of much use; it doesn't amuse him to play with me."
"Yes," said Rendel. "I have just got one or two letters to write and then I'll come."
"I think it would really be better," said Rachel, [Pg 144] "if he came in here. ”

“ The room was empty. Madame Pompé was gone, and she had taken with her the wicker wine basket containing the incriminating evidence of her spoken words. It seemed as though Mr. X was striking back successfully at Wentworth, defeating him, driving him into a corner.
Almost desperate, Wentworth decided instantly that it was necessary for him to run away. For Nita's sake he could not remain to continue the fight any longer.
With Ram Singh he darted into the hall and found the electric switch. He turned it. There was no light. He came to the front door which opened upon the elevator. ”

“ She began to grow hopeless, and to fancy her bright dreams were like the mirage of the desert, only feeding vain desires, and leaving her thirsty as before.
Ellen and her father received an invitation to a grand ball, which the then Duke of Buccleuch was to give in honour of the election, which his son was disputing with Mr. Rushington, a dangerously popular Whig, a man of considerable fortune and address. The Duke and Lord Wentworth being both firm Tories had little doubt that between them they would carry the day in favour of the Earl of Dalkeith, and the time was busily spent in canvassing. ”

“ Fine and noble as the book is in many ways, it is yet vitiated by the sense of the value of the gift of love from the woman's point of view. Love is there depicted as the one redeeming and transforming power in the world. But in order to prove the thesis, the two chief characters among the men of the book, Wentworth and Lord Lossiemouth, are not, like Mr. Rochester, strong men disfigured by violent faults, but essentially worthless persons, one the slave of an oldmaidish egotism and the other of a frank animalism. ”

“ Nothing could make up for lost love; I became miserable, I then came to Scotland. There are those who strive to get us married, for under that promise I stooped to become the unhappy woman I did; it was untrue, he never gave me that promise, I was duped, I will not say by whom. For this reason, Ellen, you are here; for this reason I became the mock Italian, and secreted near the cave, heard Lord Wentworth propose, and you accept him, only on condition he never spoke to myself again. Lady, I honour you for it. This is my tale. I am Juana Ferraras! ”

“ Wentworth had done her best for Lallie in the way of asking her to lunch and to tea, but she had a houseful of visitors during the girl's first weeks under Tony Bevan's roof, and had really very little time for outsiders. ”

“ Wentworth's husband, but never called upon her until after he had left, when she was surprised at the visit narrated in the foregoing chapter.
This gentleman was seated in the portico of the St. Charles Hotel a few mornings after his visit to Mrs. Wentworth, and by his movements of impatience was evidently awaiting the arrival of some one. At last a young man ran down the steps leading from the apartments, and he rose hurriedly to meet him.
"You are the very man I have been waiting to see," said Horace Awtry; "you must excuse my apparent neglect in not calling on you before." ”

“ The Governor, he said, would come to the telephone in two or three minutes. Wentworth thanked the secretary and looked again at his watch.
"How much more time is there?" asked Molly tremulously. This time she had noticed the direction of Wentworth's eyes.
"Plenty of time," he answered calmly, but he did not look at her. "We will win. Don't fear!"
There was a knock upon the door of the apartment. Ram Singh came out of the bedroom and moved across the living room toward the front door, but stopped at a word from his master. ”