Nell Trent

“ Call him. You have only to say, ‘Captain Monmouth, this woman whom you love is a notorious criminal. All Europe knows her as the Countess. The money that she wants to build her house of love with is stolen money. She will assuredly disgrace your name as she has that of the great family from which she sprang.’”
She looked supplicatingly at Anthony Trent. “You have only to tell him that and there is no happiness left for me in all the world.” ”

“ Trent was hastily sorting out a tangle of impressions. He was amazed at the frankness of Mrs. Manderson's story. He was amazed at the vigorous in her telling of it. In this vivid being, carried away by an impulse to speak, talking with her whole personality, he had seen the real woman in a temper of activity, as he had already seen the real woman by chance in a temper of reverie and unguarded emotion. In both she was very unlike the pale, self-disciplined creature of majesty that she had been to the world. ”

“ The food they give one there is very plain, but good.'
'So long as they have a cask of beer,' said Trent, 'they are all right. We will have bread and cheese, and oh, may Heaven our simple lives prevent from luxury's contagion, weak and vile! Till then, goodbye.' He strode off to recover his hat from the veranda, waved it to Mr. Cupples, and was gone.
The old gentleman, seating himself in a deck-chair on the lawn, clasped his hands behind his head and gazed up into the speckless blue sky. 'He is a dear fellow,' he murmured. 'The best of fellows. And a terribly acute fellow. ”

“ Trent said in sincere relief. "If you're resolved to be so kind as this about it, I am not high-principled enough to insist on your blasting me with your lightnings. And now, Mrs. Manderson, I had better go. Changing the subject after this would be like playing puss-in-the-corner after an earthquake." He rose to his feet.
"You are right," she said. "But no! Wait. There is another thing—part of the same subject; and we ought to pick up all the pieces now while we are about it. Please sit down." She took the envelop containing Trent's manuscript despatch from the table where he had laid it. ”

“ They are all in the library,” she said gently, and Lady Mildred did not resist.
They walked arm in arm down the broad staircase, and Lady Ethel whispered earnestly.
“Dearest, be yourself to John. Let him see what is in your heart and all will be right. I am much younger than you, but I think that I am wiser; for I have learned that there is only one thing in the world that matters—love,” she said softly.
“Do you care for Captain Drake?”
But Lady Ethel only smiled, yet there was a flush on her face when they entered the library.
“Where is Mr. Gaunt?” she asked quickly. ”

“ I certainly should never think of accepting anything from a man who is being treated so badly by my sister.”
“Ethel, you are impertinent,” Lady Mildred replied angrily.
“Perhaps so, but I was only paying you back in your own coin. But don’t let us quarrel, dear. I can see that John is utterly miserable, and you don’t strike me as being a very happy woman. Ah, here is ‘King Baby.’ Give him to me, nurse,” Lady Ethel cried eagerly and held out her arms. ”

“ Lady Mildred put the glasses to her eyes and gave a cry at what she saw.
“There is only one man astern. It is not John. I think it is Mr. Drake.”
“Let me see,” Lady Ethel cried eagerly, and she almost snatched the glasses from her sister.
Lady Mildred turned away for she wished to hide her distress. It was evident that they had recognized the Heron, and why had not her husband come to meet her? Was it that he could not forgive her?
Sailors were busy lowering the companion way, and the launch drew alongside. Edward Drake jumped lightly onto the platform and hastened up to greet them. ”

“ When these estimable maidens had finished, Anthony Trent knew all those particulars he desired. It was not the first time amiable gossips had aided him. But he played his part so well that Miss Fannie chided her sister.
“He wasn’t a bit interested in the Dangerfield wealth,” she said. “All a young man like that thinks of is golf.”
“Well,” said her sister, “I am interested and I’m frightened, too. When I think of all that amount of precious stones in the hotel safe, I’m positively alarmed. Every night she wears something new, her maid told the girl who looks after our rooms.” ”

“ A little distance down the road a boy appeared trotting towards them from the direction of the hotel. In his hand was the orange envelope, unmistakable afar off, of a telegram. Trent watched him with an indifferent eye as he met and passed the two others. Then he turned to Marlowe. “A propos of nothing in particular,” he said, “were you at Oxford?”
“Yes,” said the young man. “Why do you ask?”
“I just wondered if I was right in my guess. It’s one of the things you can very often tell about a man, isn’t it?” ”

“ I am getting to be an old man, and a great many people have been good enough to confide their matrimonial troubles to me; but I never knew another case like my niece's and her husband's. I have known her since she was a baby, Trent, and I know–you understand, I think, that I do not employ that word lightly–I know that she is as amiable and honourable a woman, to say nothing of her other good gifts, as any man could wish. But Manderson, for some time past, had made her miserable.'
'What did he do?' asked Trent, as Mr. Cupples paused. ”

“ The conversation languished and they were both relieved when at last the car stopped at their house in Park Lane.
“Is your master in?” Lady Mildred demanded of the footman.
“No, my lady. He left a couple of hours ago,” was the answer.
She entered quickly and ran up to her room in the hope that there might be a letter for her, but there was nothing there.
“I will ask the servants if there is any message. You had better rest quietly; you look ill,” Lady Ethel said and hastened away.
She returned in a few minutes, and her face was grave as she sat down by her sister. ”

“ Certainly Mr. Marlowe never knew what was suspected of him. He and I remained good friends, though we never spoke of anything intimate after that disappointment of his; but I made a point of seeing no less of him than I had always done. Then we came to England and to White Gables, and after that followed–my husband's dreadful end.'
She threw out her right hand in a gesture of finality. 'You know about the rest–so much more than any other man,' she added, and glanced up at him with a quaint expression.
Trent wondered at that look, but the wonder was only a passing shadow on his thought. ”

“ All I know is that you can get a bit of saddle of mutton at Sheppard's that has made many an American visitor curse the day that Christopher Columbus was born. . . . Taxi!'
A cab rolled smoothly to the kerb, and the driver received his instructions with a majestic nod.
'Another reason I have for suggesting Sheppard's,' continued Trent, feverishly lighting a cigarette, 'is that I am going to be married to the most wonderful woman in the world. I trust the connection of ideas is clear.'
'You are going to marry Mabel!' cried Mr. Cupples. ”

“ Cupples, who, seated on a sofa, was peering about the room with a benignant face. 'We have discussed it fully.'
Marlowe turned to Trent. 'There is your manuscript,' he said, laying the envelope on the table. 'I have gone over it three times. I do not believe there is another man who could have got at as much of the truth as you have set down there.'
Trent ignored the compliment. He sat by the table gazing stonily at the fire, his long legs twisted beneath his chair. 'You mean, of course, he said, drawing the envelope towards him, 'that there is more of the truth to be disclosed now. ”

“ THE following two months were a period in Trent's life that he has never since remembered without shuddering. He met Mrs. Manderson half a dozen times, and each time her cool friendliness, a nicely calculated mean between mere acquaintance and the first stage of intimacy, baffled and maddened him. At the opera he had found her, to his further amazement, with a certain Mrs Wallace, a frisky matron whom he had known from childhood. Mrs. Manderson, it appeared, on her return from Italy, had somehow wandered into circles to which he belonged by nurture and disposition. ”

“ Trent flung himself into the armchair and exhaled a long breath. 'Martin is a great creature,' he said. 'He is far, far better than a play. There is none like him, none, nor will be when our summers have deceased. Straight, too; not an atom of harm in dear old Martin. Do you know, Murch, you are wrong in suspecting that man.'
'I never said a word about suspecting him.' The inspector was taken aback. ”

“ Murch rang the bell. A spare, clean-shaven, middle-aged man, having the servant's manner in its most distinguished form, answered it.
'This is Mr. Trent, who is authorized by Mrs. Manderson to go over the house and make enquiries,' explained the detective. 'He would like to hear your story.' Martin bowed distantly. He recognized Trent for a gentleman. Time would show whether he was what Martin called a gentleman in every sense of the word. ”

“ Trent was one of those who fancy they can scent true wickedness in the air. In her presence he had felt an inward certainty of her ultimate goodness of heart; and it was nothing against this that she had abandoned herself a moment, that day on the cliff, to the sentiment of relief at the ending of her bondage, of her years of starved sympathy and unquickened motherhood. That she had turned to Marlowe in her destitution he believed; that she had any knowledge of his deadly purpose he did not believe. ”

“ That’s why she’s dressed in such cheap stuff. Well, she’s nice. She’s real nice, even if she is the ‘stupidest girl in school,’ and I shall treat her just the same as if she were one of us,” said Rosalie Thorne, a sweet-faced senior who was Helen’s rival for “honors” and was greatly beloved of both teachers and mates. She was, also, a very conscientious person and, perceiving Helen’s attitude toward the “wild Westerner” set herself to use her own influence in an opposite direction.
Thus it happened that Jessica’s coming had divided the school into two factions ”

“ It was not until midnight that Trent dropped into Webster Hall. It was the nearest approach to the boulevard dances that New York ever saw. The costumes were gorgeous, some of them, but for the greater part quaint and bizarre. As a Pierrot he was inconspicuous. There were a number of men he knew from the Scribblers’ Club. He greeted Lincoln with enthusiasm. He liked the lad. He envied him his record. It was while he was talking to him that a gorgeously dressed woman seized Lincoln’s hands as one might grasp those of an old and dear friend. ”

“ But it is necessary to explain. Listen! When I enter the room of madame from the other door in there–ah! but if monsieur will give himself the pain to enter the other room, all explains itself.' She tripped across to the door, and urged Trent before her into the larger bedroom with a hand on his arm. 'See! I enter the room with the tea like this. I approach the bed. Before I come quite near the bed, here is the door to my right hand–open always–so! But monsieur can perceive that I see nothing in the room of Monsieur Manderson. The door opens to the bed, not to me who approach from down there. ”

“ Lady Ethel took the baby back to the nurse and a few moments later Drake excused himself with the plea that he would finish his unpacking.
“Why have you brought that man to live with us?” Lady Mildred asked when she was alone with her husband.
“I like him,” Gaunt answered emphatically.
“Yes. But that is not an answer to my question.”
“Have you any objection? If so, I can very quickly alter the arrangement.”
[Pg 61]
“No. I don’t wish that. You have the right to ask any friend you wish to your house.” ”

“ You never knew my wife, Trent. Mabel is my wife's child.'
The younger man bowed his head. They paced the length of the lawn before he asked gently, 'Why did she marry him?'
'I don't know,' said Mr. Cupples briefly.
'Admired him, I suppose,' suggested Trent.
Mr. Cupples shrugged his shoulders. 'I have been told that a woman will usually be more or less attracted by the most successful man in her circle. Of course we cannot realize how a wilful, dominating personality like his would influence a girl whose affections were not bestowed elsewhere; especially if he laid himself out to win her. ”

“ Hale, I must insist you take a dose of this saffron tea. I steeped it while I was having that set-to with the Chinaman, for I thank my stars I can always do two 103 things at once. And if I know the signs–Gabriella Trent, if that man hasn’t got the janders or shingles, or malary fever, don’t you tell me a thing!”
“I certainly shall not tell you any such thing as that, dear soul. The trouble is, Mr. Hale, Aunt Sally is never so happy as when she has a sick person to nurse. If nobody is ill she does her utmost to make somebody so, with her uncalled for doses and stews. But–once be ill! ”

“ My brother Lindsay is my rival, and I thought that I must leave the way clear to him. But love can be selfish, and I intend to fight for my happiness. But it is hardly credible that she can care for me.”
“You never can tell where a woman’s feelings are concerned.”
[Pg 293]
“Lady Ethel was with your wife on the wharf. I am sorry that they did not come a quarter of an hour earlier. Lady Mildred will be very miserable.”
“And so will her husband. But we won’t talk of it, Drake. I have made up my mind to think of one thing, and one thing alone—the Congo. ”