Fordyce

“ Barnard ran an appraising eye over his companion, and a mental picture of Duncan brought a smile to his lips. “Don’t try any hanky-panky business with Fordyce,” he advised. “He might knock you into the other world.”
“I’m not such a fool as to try physical force; but there are other ways of getting even,” Joe frowned, then winked. “I know a thing or two about the Fordyce family.” ”

“ Marjorie’s laugh was followed by an unconscious sigh. “Youth with me is a thing of the past; I rival Methuselah,” she said lightly. “Don’t worry about me, dear Mrs. Fordyce; I can never do enough to repay your kindness. My work here is most congenial.”
“Come along, Marjorie,” called Janet from the hall.
“Go, my dear,” Mrs. Fordyce impulsively kissed Marjorie. “Don’t keep my husband waiting; he’ll never forgive you.”
Mrs. Fordyce had been by herself but a scant ten minutes when the hall door again opened and Duncan walked in. ”

“ Fordyce’s proposal, decided to back out of her engagement, but Madame Yvonett, delighted with the plan, refused to permit her to withdraw her acceptance, and bag and baggage she had arrived at the Fordyce residence at five o’clock that afternoon.
“Aren’t you going to give me a word?” inquired [Pg 43] Duncan, her left-hand neighbor, turning abruptly to her. “All I’ve seen of you is a pink ear. Baron von Valkenberg has monopolized you outrageously.”
“He is a stranger,” replied Marjorie laughing. “He has only been in this country five weeks; I’ve been trying to make him feel at home.” ”

“ Captain Fordyce frowned, and Nina, being quite well aware of it, wrinkled her own forehead in displeasure. He was the most jealous, tyrannical man ever created, and even the small matter of refusing to be served by him was sufficient to throw him in a temper. ”

“ Fordyce, coloring warmly. “And truth doesn’t always lie at the bottom of a well.”
Half an hour later all details of her engagement as chaperon were satisfactorily settled, and bidding Mrs. Fordyce a warm good-night, Marjorie, lighter hearted than she had been in many a day, tripped down the hall and through the front door held open by a deferential footman. As she gained the sidewalk a limousine turned in under the porte-cochère and stopped before the door she had just left. ”

“ Fordyce. “Rudeness we have with us everywhere, whereas in Washington, while there are numerous nouveaux riches seeking social recognition, who think lack of manners shows savoir faire, there are also many distinguished men and women spending the winter here. In addition the resident circle is certainly most charming and cultivated. The people who strive for vulgar ostentatious display are grafted from other cities.”
“I have no desire to be put in that class,” remarked Fordyce. “So, Janet, mind your p’s and q’s.”
Janet rose abruptly. “’Nuff said, Daddy. Are you going downtown, Marjorie?” ”

“ Lady Fordyce was one of those mothers who find it unnecessary to take their daughters into society, and yet confidently expect them to marry well. Though Agneta, the youngest, was twenty-five, and Mary was past thirty, Lady Maria Milwright was the only young person who had ever stayed in the house. A couple of stiff parties were given every year, and, when there was a county ball, the Misses Fordyce were duly driven to it, each in a new dress made for the occasion, to stand one on either side of their mother’s chair during the greater part of the evening. ”

“ I have seen better manners in a lumber camp.”
“What would the older generation do if they didn’t have us to criticize?” asked Janet, raising her hands in mock horror.
“Let me tell you, young lady, if I catch you forgetting the manners your mother taught you, I’ll pack you off to a convent,” warned Fordyce.
“You needn’t get so awfully excited,” objected his daughter, looking a trifle subdued. “I’m sure some of the married people are just as rude.”
“The more shame to them; they are old enough to know better,” declared Fordyce. “Life is too short to bother with ill-bred and stupid people. ”

“ I dare anything, George Fordyce. And I pray God to forgive you the awful wrong you did to that poor girl, and the insult you were base enough to offer me in asking me to be your wife—an insult, I fear, I can never forgive.'
'Aunt Isabel, will you not help me?' said he then, turning desperately to his aunt. 'Tell Gladys what you know to be true, that there are hundreds of men in this and other cities who have married girls as pure and good as Gladys, and whose life before marriage would not bear investigation, yet they make the best of husbands. ”

“ Fordyce. "Anything wrong?"
"Yes, Pater," replied his son. "Flirt has flown at that Mindiggle fellow. He must have hacked her some time ago or she wouldn't have gone for him like that," he added in defence of his pet.
"That animal will get you into trouble," declared Mr. Fordyce; "or, rather, I get the worry of her, since you are away most of the time. It's a pity you can't take Flirt with you." ”

“ He was trembling with passion—and then the priest said something in his grave, quiet voice which almost stunned him.
"Has it been done in cruelty, my son? You must examine well the facts before you assert that. You must not forget that whoever the husband may be, he has consented to divorce her, and she is now going to give herself to you. Is that cruelty, my son? Or is it a fine keeping to a given word? It looks to me more like a noble sacrifice, unless the Seigneur of Arranstoun was aware before he ever came here that Madame Howard was his wife."
Lord Fordyce controlled himself. ”

“ His eyes instantly fixed upon the rustic [396] face, the hair parted far to the side, as the sheriff vigorously stamped his feet and clapped his hands in approbation. That oasis of refined, ideal light where Miss Fordyce sat did not escape Royce’s attention even at this crisis. Had he indeed brought this sorry, ignoble fate upon himself that he might own one moment in her thoughts, one glance of her eye, that he might sing his song to her ear? He had certainly achieved this, he thought sardonically. She would doubtless remember him to the last day she should live. ”

“ Fordyce's voice now took on that crisp tone which his adversaries in the House of Commons so well knew meant that they must look to their guns.
"Delightful woman! A spider, I tell you, a roaring hypocrite, too, bamboozling poor Rose into thinking her a virtuous, persecuted little darling, with a noble passion for you, and my sister is a downright person not easily fooled. At this moment, Violet is probably shedding tears on her shoulder over poor Maurice, while she is plotting how soon she can become mistress of Arranstoun. Good God! ”

“ Fordyce, and the smile accompanying the words almost broke down Marjorie’s composure. Stooping, she kissed her warmly, and when she looked up some of the brightness had returned to her face. “I have absolute confidence in you,” added Mrs. Fordyce quietly. “Run along now, dear, and come back when you have finished answering the letters.”
Lighter at heart Marjorie hastened to the library, but on opening the door, she discovered Mr. Calderon Fordyce busy at his desk, and without disturbing him, she slipped back into the hall and sought [Pg 225] the drawing-room. ”

“ In her shimmering white gown, which suited her perfectly, and her color heightened by the excitement [Pg 41] of her first official appearance in the Fordyce house, she was well worth a second look.
“Lord! she needs a chaperon herself,” Duncan muttered under his breath, then stepped toward her as Marjorie looked in his direction. “I shall have to present myself, Miss Langdon—Duncan Fordyce,” he said pleasantly. “My sister Janet is too much excited to remember the formalities.” ”

“ The three ladies and I started in the big Hillside open carriage, with my brothers on the box and the two fathers on horseback. Frank Fordyce was a splendid rider, as indeed was the old rector, who had followed the hounds, made a leap over a fearful chasm, still known as the Parson’s Stride, and had been an excellent shot. The renunciation of field sports had been a severe sacrifice to Frank Fordyce, and showed of what excellent stuff he was made. He used to say that it was his own fault that he had to give them up; another man would have been less engrossed by them. ”

“ And Henry Fordyce in London was awaiting the arrival of his well-beloved, who, with the Princess and Mr. Cloudwater, was due to be at the Ritz Hotel that evening, when they would dine all together and spend a time of delight.
And far away in Brittany, the Père Anselme read in his book of meditations:
It is when the sky is clearest that the heaviest bolt falls—it would be well for all good Christians to be on the alert. And chancing to look from his cottage window, he perceived that a heavy rain cloud had gathered over the Château of Héronac. ”

“ Gladys was silent a moment, on her face a strange look. She was thinking, not of the lover pleading so passionately at her side, but of one who, while loving her not less dearly, had sufficient manliness and strength of will to go his way alone—conquering, unassisted, difficulties which would appear unsurmountable to most men. George Fordyce, looking at her, wondered at the cloud upon her brow. ”

“ Michael Arranstoun laughed.
"Jolly old Mohammedan! You think women have none, I suppose!"
Henry Fordyce frowned, because it was rather true—but he denied the charge.
"Nothing of the sort. Merely, I see things at their proper balance and you cannot."
Michael leaned back in his chair; he was quieter for a moment.
"I only see what I want to see, Henry—and I am a savage—I cannot help it—we have always been so. When I fancy a woman, I must obtain her—when I want a horse, I must have it. It is always must—and we have not done so badly. ”

“ You are not fit to breathe the same air with her.'
'Maybe no'; but as fit as you,' she answered scornfully. 'I see through it a'; but if ye have harmed Liz, [Pg 212] my gentleman, ye'll no' get off wi' it. Ye'll answer for it to me.'
Mrs. Fordyce had called her vulgar and commonplace; she did not look so now; passion transformed her into a noble creature. The man of the world, accustomed to its homage and adulation, cowed before the little seamstress of the slums. ”

“ Lord Fordyce told her, as he advanced to meet her when she came down the stairs. "I feared you were ill, and was just coming to find you. Let us go straight in to supper now—you look rather pale. I must take care of you and give you some champagne," and he placed her hand in his arm fondly and led her along.
"'He is often in some scrape—something must have culminated to-night'"
They found chairs which had been kept for them at a centre table, near their hostess and Moravia, and here they sat down. ”

“ My girls will be out of all patience for tea,' said Mrs. Fordyce. 'Nay, my dear, don't shrink. I assure you they are happy, kind-hearted girls, just like yourself.'
Gladys long remembered her first introduction to the brighter side of life. She followed Mrs. Fordyce somewhat timidly into a large and handsome room, and saw at the farther end, near the fireplace, a dainty tea-table spread, and a young girl in a blue serge gown cutting a cake into a silver basket. Another knelt at the fire. Gladys was struck by the exceeding grace of her attitude, though she could not see her face. ”

“ Under his guidance this firm speculated freely, and gained a large sum by obtaining early intelligence of the signature of the preliminaries of the peace of Paris in 1763, and a still larger one when East India stock rose greatly in 1764–5. With the proceeds of these and other speculations Fordyce purchased an estate and built a fine house at Roehampton, where he lived in great magnificence. ”

“ Miss Fordyce hesitated, with the ball in her hand, in momentary embarrassment, the color in her cheeks and a laugh in her eyes.
Royce sprang up, and running lightly down by the side of the alley placed the pins in readiness to receive her second ball; then stood soberly aside, his hat in his hand, as if to watch the execution of the missile.
“How very polite!” said one of the chaperons over her knitting to another. “I often notice that young man. He seems to take so much interest in the game.” ”

“ Fordyce looked at her curiously.
'There is a great deal of character about you, Gladys. I am afraid you are rather an imposition. To look at you, one would think you as gentle as a lamb.' [Pg 201]
'Dear Mrs. Fordyce, don't make me out such a terrible person,' said Gladys quickly. 'Is it so odd that I should wish to brighten life a little for those whom I know have had so very little brightness?'
'No; it is not your aim, only your method, I object to, my dear. It will never do to fill Bourhill with such people. ”

“ Calderon Fordyce’s right is Miss Swann, of Baltimore. Isn’t she pretty?” added Marjorie. “The others are Miss Marsh, Miss Dodge, and my neighbor here, Mr. Calhoun-Cooper,” indicating Joe with a motion of her hand.
“You have skipped the man sitting opposite you,” prompted Potter. The table, a recent purchase of Mr. Fordyce’s who never tired of haunting antique shops, was wide enough to permit two seats being placed side by side at either end, and as Marjorie’s eyes [Pg 296] traveled down the long expanse of damask and its load of silver and glass she encountered Barnard’s fixed stare. ”

“ Surely Lackington could never have been weak enough to yield to mere menace, and have thus encouraged the insolent pretensions of this claim? As you pass through London, call at Fordyce's, somewhere in Furnival's Inn, and, just in course of conversation, showing your acquaintance with the subject, learn all you can on the matter. Fordyce has all our papers, and must necessarily know what weight is due to these pretensions. Above all, however, hasten out here; there is no saying what any day—any hour—may produce. ”