Druce

“ I should advise you, Mr. Druce, even in your professional capacity, not to interfere with them."
The childlike expression faded from her face as she uttered the last words. There seemed to ring a sort of challenge in her tone. She turned away after a few moments and I rejoined my friends.
"You have been making acquaintance with Madame Sara, Mr. Druce," said Mrs. Selby. "Don't you think she is lovely?"
"She is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen," I answered, "but there seems to be a mystery about her."
"Oh, indeed there is," said Edith Dallas, gravely. ”

“ Druce some of the mysteries of my trade. But understand, sir," she added, "that I shall not tell you any of my real secrets, only as you would like to know something about me you shall."
"THIS IS MY SANCTUM SANCTORUM."
"How can you tell I should like to know about you?" I asked.
She gave me an earnest glance which somewhat astonished me, and then she said:—
"Knowledge is power; don't refuse what I am willing to give. Edith, you will not object to waiting here while I show Mr. Druce through the rooms. First observe this room, Mr. Druce. It is lighted only from the roof. ”

“ Druce laughed. He felt that he was on familiar ground with this girl. There was that in her manner that indicated the wisdom of the demi-monde. He thought he had placed her.
“You’re wise, eh?” he repeated. The girl had maneuvered to place a table between them. He leaned against the table and placed a hand on hers.
“Why does a fine looker like you spend her life pounding a typewriter?”
“Would you advise a change?”
“You could make a hundred a week in the cabarets,” declared Druce admiringly.
“Perhaps,” replied Miss Masters. She picked up her notebook and started for the inner office. ”

“ Druce remained silent. After an irksome pause the hapless General floundered on—
"As I said at first, women have their world, and we have ours. Now, Druce, you're a man of solid common sense. What would you think if Mrs. Ed. were to come here and insist on your buying Wabash stock when you wanted to load up with Lake Shore? Look how absurd that would be. Very well, then; we have no more right to interfere with the women than they have to interfere with us." ”

“ Druce pressed his advantage. “Why,” he said, “I’m interested in one myself. I think I could arrange to place you.”
“Martin,” said Elsie, “you said you were in the live stock business.”
Druce hesitated a moment, toying with his cane. “I am,” he said slowly. “This cabaret—er—is a little speculation on the side. Come now, say you’ll be at the train at eight o’clock.”
The girl considered long.
“Think,” said Druce, “with one hundred dollars a week you will be able to take your mother out of this hole. Why, you’ll be independent! You owe it to your family not to let this opportunity escape you.” ”

“ Well, Druce, what do you say? The motive? Oh, of course, the motive was the bloodstone. The woman knew probably for months that it was coming to England, and that I, in my official position, would invite the Persian here. She wanted it, goodness knows for what, and was determined to have a long chain of evidence against poor Violet in order to cover her own theft. Druce, we must find that woman. She cannot possibly be at large any longer. ”

“ Ruth made a movement of impatience.
“How exaggerated you are, Mollie! Why must you rush off to extremes in that foolish fashion? Mr Druce is probably neither one nor the other, but just an ordinary combination of faults and virtues. He is kind and considerate to Uncle Bernard, and very chivalrous to us;—a hundred times more so than Jack Melland, who certainly does not err on the side of politeness. Personally, I don’t think any the less highly of people because they are little reserved and uncommunicative at first. ”

“ The girl grasped Druce frantically.
“Tell me she lied,” she cried, “or I’ll go crazy. Tell me she lied.”
“Yes, she lied,” answered Druce glibly. “See here, kid, it’s about time you began helping to support the family.”
Elsie dried her tears. “I’m—I’m ready,” she said. “I’ve practiced my songs—”
“O, the songs,” said Druce. “That isn’t all.”
“What do you mean, Martin?”
“Why—don’t be so stand-offish. When a man offers to buy you a bottle of wine, let him.”
“Martin!”
Druce stopped her sharply. “Now don’t begin that Millville Sunday school stuff,” he said. “This is business.” ”

“ Her whole campaign for the week that she was to be in Druce’s dive had been mapped out before she set foot so unexpectedly inside his door.
The girl depended upon two things for protection. First was Druce’s fear of the power of John Boland. She believed that the man would not dare to use physical violence against her if he thought she was what she had represented herself to be—John Boland’s agent. Second was his desire for a renewal of the lease to the cafe. ”

“ I'll put that on the programme at once: 'Some Imitations—Gerald Druce.' Thanks very much!"
"Now, I made it a most definite condition——"
"I know you did, but in war every man must do what he can. You can imitate Mark Masters—there's not a shadow of a doubt about that. Besides, you've got a clear fortnight to work the thing up."
It was in vain that Gerald Druce rebelled. Even Myra turned against him. She heard the imitation, and said that Gerald had got the man to the very life—that it was absolutely like him. ”

“ If he were a man moving in artistic circles he might perhaps remember that he had seen her face looking down at him from various canvases in picture exhibitions, and unless he were a stranger to the gossip of the country he could hardly help recollecting the dreadful fuss the papers made, as if it were any business of theirs, when young Ed. Druce married the artists' model, celebrated for her loveliness. ”

“ Druce is no better than an old woman. It's the liver, he says---nothing but the liver. If that's all that's the matter, why don't he cure it? Now, if master would only send for you, sir, I'm sure you would soon put him all right again."
"Piper," said Dr. Whitaker, as he leisurely proceeded to light a cigar, "Dr. Druce is one of the antiquities of Pembridge, and antiquities should always be respected. Oblige me by getting on with your work."
Dr. Whitaker went out, and was gone for upwards of an hour. When he got back, Pod was putting away his papers for the night. ”

“ Hark ye, my lad, you’re hard on women. From the look of you, I’ve a notion no woman ever had much to do with any trouble of yours, saving your mother when she bore you. No, no, your tongue’s done all the mischief that ever come to you. You let women alone; I’m sure they never interfere with you.
Enter Dan’l Druce. He has a bundle of nets over his shoulder, and he is half tipsy. His appearance is that of a man of fifty, but haggard with want. ”

“ Druce and the Duke of Portland, her father, Mr. Robert Lennox Stuart, being a great friend of his from boyhood days, and, it was averred, distantly related. There were frequent visits both to Cavendish-square and to the Baker-street Bazaar, and on one occasion, about 1849, Mrs. Hamilton says she was taken by her father to Welbeck where they were met by Druce. Then, in 1851, her father attended the marriage of Druce and Annie May Berkeley. At length the time came when Druce determined to be dead to the outer world. "I must die," he said to Mr. Stuart. ”

“ Gerald Druce cannot look like Mark Masters, or act like him, or sing like him, or speak like him. So he gave an imitation of Mark Masters. These amateurs! He had better stick to his imitation of a man sawing wood—no novelty, but passably well done."
The Rockham Herald, which, by the way, received the advertisements, said: "A new-comer, Mr. Gerald Druce, proved himself to be an admirable mimic, and his impersonation of Sir Herbert Tree fairly convulsed the audience. His imitation of Mark Masters was, perhaps, a thought over-coloured and exaggerated, and had not quite the same success." ”

“ It lasted till Horace Druce went out to tell them that Metelill must come in at once, as it was time to shut up the house.
The Oxford girls were safe indoors; Isa working chess problems with another of the lads, Avice keeping Jane company over the putting the little ones to sleep—in Mount Lebanon, as they call the Druce lodging—and Pica preserving microscopic objects. “Isn’t she awful?” said one of those pupils. “She’s worse than all the dons in Cambridge. She wants to be at it all day long, and all through the vacation.”
They perfectly flee from her. ”

“ Druce and Anson watched over the revelers and directed the entertainers. “The Mastiff,” comfortably full of his favorite liquor, whisky, glowered on the crowd with as near an aspect of good nature as he was able to muster. Druce, who knew his own success in business was due to alertness of mind and who was almost an ascetic in the matter of drink, was no less at peace with the world. 257
“Money in that crowd,” rumbled the huge Anson.
“Yes,” replied Druce, “business is mighty good.”
“How about our lease?” ”

“ Martyn and Horace Druce are like boys together, and the girls scream with laughter, rather too much so sometimes. Charley is very noisy, and so is Meg Druce, when not overpowered by shyness. She will not exchange a sentence with any of the elders, but in the general laugh she chuckles and shrieks like a young Cochin-Chinese chicken learning to crow; and I hear her squealing like a maniac while she is shrimping with the younger ones and Charley. I must except those two young ladies from the unconscious competition, for one has no manners at all, and the other affects those of a man ”

“ Boland hesitated and scrutinized the other closely. He was satisfied with what he saw stamped on Druce’s face, but he only said pointedly:
“I always make good when a man delivers the goods. Now get out—I’m busy.”
“On my way,” returned Druce easily, as he sauntered to the door, but he turned there, saying significantly:
“I’ll deliver the goods,—don’t worry.”
John Boland sighed contentedly as he watched Druce go. Then he muttered:
“There, I guess I—”
“All right, Mr. Boland,” rang out a clear feminine voice, as Miss Masters came from the inner office. “That contract is all ready.” ”

“ Mrs. Hamilton's testimony is that Mr. Druce (assuming him to have been identical with the Duke) was extremely fond of music, and that she had played to him for hours at a time.
"Sing me the old songs, Stuart" Druce would say to her father, who not only sang, but played the violin.
Moreover the workmen at Welbeck were allowed to have a band which performed at the Abbey on Christmas-eve and the bandsmen were given refreshments. ”

“ It was currently believed in New York that Druce kept her for the sole purpose of being able to escape in her, should an exasperated country ever rise in its might and demand his blood. It was rumoured that the Seahound was ballasted with bars of solid gold and provisioned for a two years' cruise. Mr. Buller, however, claimed that the tendency of nature was to revert to original conditions, and that some fine morning Druce would hoist the black flag, sail away, and become a real pirate. ”

“ Mr Druce is very much in evidence, acting host at the Court, and visiting far and near. He tells me that Mr Farrell consults him on every point, and gives him carte blanche to do as he likes; and I hear as much from other sources, more reliable. As his position becomes more assured, his attentions increase; but he will not make the fatal mistake of burdening himself with a poor wife until there is no possibility of mistake. ”

“ To myself I seem ever so much older." Lucinda Druce turned full face to the man on her left, anxiety feigned or real puckering the delicately pencilled brows. "Doesn't it show at all, Dobbin, the ruthless march of advancing years?" ”

“ Druce's visit had relieved in some measure his mother's anxiety, Kelvin began to express his desire that Olive should get back to Stammers without delay. "I shall be all right in a day or two," he said, "and my mother, or one or other of the servants, will see meanwhile that I want for nothing."
"I shall wait till to-morrow, and see how you are then, before I think of going back," said Olive. "You know that my aunt can do nothing in the way of waiting upon you, and as for the servants, they are all very well in their places, but they would be quite out of their element in a sick-room." ”

“ You are too shrewd a man to have a fool for a son. I see plainly that you were leagued with Druce and Anson to blacken the woman I love. But right is might and love is right. The whole dastardly affair enlightens me as to the nature of your alliance with that dive. Why did you renew the lease to Druce against my protest? I never realized until tonight the horror of your extensive holdings of tenderloin property. ”

“ Get thee to the inn, sir; we shall lie there to-night: as for the whipping, why the maiden’s intercession hath saved thee this once.
Reu. She pleadeth for me! Bless their hearts, they’re all alike! They all plead for me!
[Exit Reuben.
Jas. And now, pretty maiden, tell me, who art thou?
Dor. So please your worship, I am Dorothy Druce, only daughter of Dan’l Druce, the blacksmith, and your worship’s tenant.
Jas. (looking kindly at her) . He’s a kind father to thee, I’ll be sworn.
[Pg 133]
Dor. He is kind to me and to all. In very truth I think he must be the best man in the whole world. ”

“ They keep telling you it's the only way; but the way it looks to me, it hardly ever works ... I mean, unless the man's crazy about you, like Mr. Druce....
"Of course, I know it isn't any of my business, Mrs. Druce, but I haven't got any hard feelings towards you on account of Lynn and all, not any more, and I'm perfectly sincere when I say I think you'll be making one big mistake if you don't make it up with Mr. Druce as soon's ever you can now...."
The house telephone came to Lucinda's rescue: Mr. Druce was calling, if Miss Lee would be kind enough to overlook the lateness of the hour.... ”