Davison

“ A faint smile flickered over Miss Davison’s face.
“Some of them,” she answered rather dryly, “are very well aware of it, indeed.”
There was an awkward pause. Presently he caught a strange glance from Miss Davison; she suddenly looked at him in a frightened way, as if she thought her last words had contained a confession, and was anxious to qualify them. But before she could speak, he said—
“What makes them do these things then? What makes an honorable woman who is not in want, stoop to such meanness, such despicable dishonesty?” ”

“ Van Santen aggressively.
“Miss Davison has to live in London, on account of her work. It doesn’t agree with her mother.”
“H’m! That place agrees with most mothers that agrees with their young daughters,” said she dryly. “And as for Miss Davison’s work, she’s having a good long holiday, I guess, just now!”
“Doesn’t she come backwards and forwards to town from the Priory?”
“Oh, yes, she does, now and then; but she must be clever if she can do much work during the short time she’s away! However, I won’t take up your time, Mr. Buckland, if you’re busy. ”

“ Miss Davison tried to laugh, but that resource she had used too often that afternoon and her voice sounded hard and her mirth artificial.
[275] “How absurd!” she cried. “Can anything be more preposterous than to accuse a person on such flimsy grounds? for of course you only suppose that you saw Denver, and Sir William only supposes it also.”
He saw, however, in her eyes, as she uttered the words, that she felt by no means so certain as she pretended to be of the childlike innocence of the young poker-player. ”

“ She was addressing Rachel, whose face was very grave.
“Of course,” said Miss Davison, “it doesn’t much matter if he does behave as he suggests. Everybody knows you and knows the sort of society you receive.”
“And that you, who have lots of friends in the best society, actually stay with us,” added Delia.
Miss Davison assented.
“I really don’t think you need distress yourself about this silly lad,” she said. “He would harm no one but himself if he were to go to a police-station and tell his absurd tale. He has already made half the people here think him mad, and I’m going to tell him so.” ”

“ Mrs. Aldington is such a dear, and so is her husband; and [13] so, for that matter, are Arthur and Rose. Yes, whenever we come up, and wherever we settle, they will know our address at once.”
When Miss Davison rose to go, Gerard Buckland was not long in following her. He came up with her before she reached the corner of the street, and begged to be allowed to see her to the station. ”

“ Miss Davison sighed.
“I believe I should,” she said; “but my mother won’t hear of it. Prejudice again! And I daresay that the talent which seems extraordinary when it is untrained, would turn out quite commonplace if I were to be pitted, at any calling such as millinery, against those who have for years been brought up to it.”
“I don’t think so,” said Gerard. “Indeed, I’m sure you do yourself an injustice. Your lightness of hand and quickness of eye are quite remarkable. ”

“ Now Gerard Buckland, although he was very much in love, was not a fool. And it was not necessary to consider very deeply the facts connected with the brilliant Rachel Davison’s existence to feel quite certain that, however handsome and however attractive she might be, it was the height of folly to lose one’s heart to a woman of whom so much to her disadvantage was known to him. ”

“ He stopped, she laughed, and Rose Aldington, who was sitting near, joined in her mirth, which was of rather a shame-faced kind.
“Showing off again, Rachel?” she said.
Miss Davison laughed, gave the pencil-case back to Gerard, and said, with a demure look—
“There! that’s my best accomplishment. I flatter myself I can pick pockets with any amateur living. ”

“ She blushed a little more.
“I really haven’t much time for visiting now,” she said. “Let me introduce you to my sister Lilian, Mr. Buckland. She’s at school at Richmond, but I’ve brought her out for a day’s holiday.”
“You are living in town now?” he asked.
“Yes, I am staying with some friends. My mother is living down at Brighton, and I divide my time between them,” said Miss Davison.
Gerard hesitated. He wanted more than ever to know all about her, to be able to meet her at her home, to renew the acquaintance which had delighted and impressed him so much. ”

“ I don’t seem to, though.”
“You’re not venturesome enough,” said Miss Davison encouragingly. “You should play with a little more daring. Don’t be timid.”
“Why don’t you take a hand yourself, to give him courage?” suggested Denver.
“Not at poker. I don’t understand it,” said she.
“Well, at anything you like. What do you know? Baccarat? Nap? I don’t care what it is as long as it’s cards,” said Denver.
Miss Davison consented to sit down and make one at nap, and, to Gerard’s uneasiness, she won as much as the Van Santens did. ”

“ In vain Gerard told himself that he was glad to have seen her with Denver Van Santen, that now he could go his way with an easy mind, secure in the knowledge that Rachel Davison was merely a friend and accomplice of thieves, shop-lifters, and other undesirable persons, and that the very fact of her allowing herself to be made love to by this swaggering gamester proved conclusively how unfit she was to be loved by any honest man. ”

“ A moment later, as he was close to the gates, [215] he felt a touch on his arm, and looking round, found Arthur Aldington beside him.
“One moment, Buckland, Miss Davison sent me to say she would like to speak to you before you go away. If you’ll wait near the seat by the trees over there, she’ll find an opportunity of escaping, and I’ll bring her there myself.”
Gerard hesitated.
“She won’t be able to get rid of that Van Santen,” said he sullenly, as he glanced behind him.
“Trust a woman—especially a woman like Rachel—for getting rid of anyone she wants to get rid of,” said Arthur. ”

“ It was utterly incomprehensible to Gerard how a woman of Miss Davison’s birth and breeding, a woman who had seemed to him exceptionally high-principled, honest, fearless, and strong-willed, should so far have stifled all the natural and acquired instincts and principles of an honorable woman as to have listened to the suggestions of a man engaged in some sort of nefarious enterprise. ”

“ Mr. Jones was so shy that Mrs. Van Santen took compassion on him, and introduced him to one or two of the ladies, and in particular to Rachel Davison, to whom she whispered—
“Your poor compatriot is so frightened that you’d be doing him a kindness if you’d say something to him. Tell him it’s some time since we Americans were cannibals; but for that matter, if we were still, I think he’d be quite safe.”
And the good creature led the shy young man up to Miss Rachel, and said—
“Mr. Cecil Jones—Miss Davison.” ”

“ Davison should deliver those messages and explanations with which, fully freighted, he was about to set sail from the Brill.
"If my reasons seem to your wisdoms," said he, "other than such as might well move a true and a faithful careful man to her Majesty to do as I have done, I do desire, for my mistaking offence, to bear the burden of it; to be disavowed with all displeasure and disgrace; a matter of as great reproach and grief as ever can happen to any man." ”

“ In truth, he had acquired Oriental habits and views with regard to women. If a foolish Occidental custom demanded that they should sit at meat with the lords of creation, he, Maxwell Davison, would not pretend to acquiesce in it. Mildred, to whom it was unthinkable that any man should not wish to talk to her, merely pitied his shyness and determined to break it down; but Davison's attitude was unbending. ”

“ I should have thought it was much pleasanter to spend the evening in this beautiful air than in those hot rooms! And you, Miss Davison! I’m surprised at you. I was looking to you to win Denver from his gaming ways! He thinks so much of you, and admires you so much! And now you’re encouraging him in it!”
The old lady had talked herself out of breath, while Rachel only laughed and put her winnings in her purse.
“I’ll cure him,” she said, “by winning all his money and leaving him without any! Won’t that do, Mrs. Van Santen?” ”

“ A few belated stayers in London, who found a delightful Sunday resort in the Priory, and a great many people staying in the country houses and river villas came over each week-end in their motor-cars [163] to spend a few hours in the merry atmosphere, unburdened with Sabbatarian restrictions, of the lively Americans.
While he was still sipping tea and chatting with Mrs. Van Santen, the sight of Rachel Davison, coming slowly from the house, accompanied on one side by the younger and better-looking of the two male Van Santens, made Gerard frown with displeasure. ”

“ Gerard echoed the word inquiringly.
Arthur nodded.
“Men don’t like the fellow,” he explained. “He’s too noisy, too—too overbearing; too much side and too much swagger. It’s amazing to everybody that a well-bred woman like Miss Davison should put up with him for a moment. It’s the money, I suppose. Well, will you come?”
Gerard nodded silently. It was of no use to try to be wise where Rachel was concerned. He could only hope to escape being utterly foolish, and without much prospect of success. ”

“ Miss Davison came up to them laughing lightly.
“Oh, no, Mr. Denver,” she said, “you mustn’t make Mr. Buckland play cards on Sunday. It’s against his principles, I know. He’s told me so.”
Denver Van Santen thrust his hands into his pockets, and turned to Gerard with a jolly look of incredulous amazement.
“Oh, come now, I can’t quite believe that,” he said. “You don’t mean that in this old country there are still left people, sensible people, who care a fig what day it is on which they have a good time?” ”

“ It seemed, indeed, as far as he could judge, as if this clever, independent young woman were rather a puzzle to her own friends, and as if they treated her with so much respect that they even condescended to allow her to keep her own secrets. But Gerard himself felt that he could not be thus content. Admiring Rachel Davison with an admiration which grew ever more perilous to his peace of mind as the mysterious circumstances connected with her made her more interesting, he felt that the one thing more important than anything else to him at that time was the solution of the mystery about her. ”

“ The old lady shook her head slowly.
“One might say so, if one knew the world less well than I do,” she said shortly. “But a handsome wife can do a lot one way or the other with a man.”
“What makes you think Miss Davison’s influence would be other than good?” asked Gerard.
The old lady put her head on one side and looked at him keenly.
“Perhaps it’s a kind of instinct, as one may say,” said she. “Or perhaps it’s something I’ve noticed and wondered at. She’s by way of being a bit of a flirt, isn’t she now, Mr. Buckland? She’s been nice to you, and nice to Denver, of course. ”

“ I am already guilty of detaining Mr Davison."
Mr Davison repudiated the idea with scorn.
"Too late! Why, sometimes I sit up playing cards the whole night long."
"After that," murmured the old man softly, "what has one left to say?"
They played, if not all night, at least until the tints of dawn were brightening the sky. The stakes were trifling, but, even so, if one never wins, one may lose--in time. When Mr Davison rose to go he had lost all his ready money and seventeen pounds besides. This he was to bring to-morrow, when he was to have his revenge.
Mdlle. de Fontanes let him out. ”

“ Davison. I'm sure I never suspected you of a forgery, and if I had, I hope I shouldn't have been rude enough to tell you so."
Maxwell Davison laughed his harsh laugh.
"Do you want me to believe you can't be rude, Mrs. Stewart?"
"I'm almost afraid she can't be," interposed Lady Thomson's full voice. "People who make a superstition of politeness infallibly lose the higher courtesy of truth." [243]
Here Sir Cyril Meres called Davison away to worship at the shrine of the Aphrodite, while Goring invited Mrs. Stewart into a neighboring corridor where some tapestries were hanging. ”

“ Early in December, William Davison, gentleman-in-ordinary of her Majesty's household, arrived at the Hague; a man painstaking, earnest, and zealous, but who was fated, on more than one great occasion, to be made a scape-goat for the delinquencies of greater personages than himself. ”

“ Only a man who had something to conceal would have affected not to know Miss Davison, when, as a matter of fact, he must be on terms of old acquaintance with her. And only a very clever man could have succeeded so well in feigning absolute stupidity over the cards as he had done.
Last and most important thing of all, Gerard was convinced that, carefully as he had concealed himself while watching Jones, that astute person must have seen him and must have laid his plans well in order to throw his pursuer off the track. ”

“ He saw at once that Miss Davison recognized the description, although she raised her eyebrows and said—
“Indeed! I suppose he was an old friend of my father’s, and that it was only a whim to hide his name. It’s absurd of Miss Graham to make so much fuss about the matter. If it had been anyone without any knowledge of us, who wanted to scrape acquaintance with Lilian, you may be sure he would have given some name, even if it had not been his own. People who have anything to be ashamed of don’t do eccentric things.”
The reasoning was admirable, and Gerard bowed his head in assent. ”

“ She and Davison ended by riding together once or twice a week.
Interesting as Mildred found Maxwell Davison's companionship, it did not altogether conduce to her happiness. She who had been so content to be merely alive, began now to chafe at the narrow limits of her existence. He opened the wide horizons of the world before her, and her soul seemed native to them. One April afternoon they rode to Wytham together. The woods of Wytham clothe a long ridge of hill around which the young Thames sweeps in a strong curve and through them a grass ride runs unbroken for a mile and a half. ”