Walter Fane

“ Fane knows nothing. Last night he was at Westcliff-on-Sea, ill in bed. I can show you a wire. My sister knew that I was going to her to-morrow, and she wired last night at five o'clock saying that Walter was ill and that I had better not come."
"Oh!" This statement took the inspector aback. If Fane had been ill at Westcliff-on-Sea, he certainly could not be the man met by Mulligan. "Can you show me the wire?" he asked.
"I will send it round to you. And I am quite sure that when you see Mr. Fane you will not suspect him of this crime. A better and more kindly man does not live. ”

“ Fane laughed rather weakly.
"As things stand at present there is not much chance of your becoming a wealthy man," he said.
"Perhaps. And yet I don't know. I may come in for money."
"Really!" said Walter with interest; "some relative?"
Arnold nodded. "A cousin on my mother's side. A man called Brand."
Fane, who had been listening quietly, started from his seat.
"What!"
"A man called Brand. He lives in Australia, and is very rich. I think the money will come to me, or to a cousin of mine--a woman."
Fane was quiet again by this time. "I knew a man called Brand once. ”

“ Fane.
Before her husband could reply there came a knock at the door, and immediately afterwards a stolid young man in livery entered. Walter slipped past him and got out of the room, while the man waited for his mistress to address him. "Yes?" said Mrs. Fane interrogatively.
"If you please, ma'am, the cook have gone mad," said the stolid man.
"Really?" rejoined Mrs. Fane, letting her knitting fall on her lap, but otherwise undisturbed. "And what form does her madness take?"
"She says she's going to retire on a fortune, and insists, ma'am, on coming upstairs to tell you. ”

“ The master said to the Schoolboy,
As it fell on a day,
"All the rest are to go,
Frank Fane is to stay.
I set you all free
From the birch and the cane,
Not a boy shall be swished,
Not a boy, but Frank Fane." ”

“ By the dyed hair and vestiges of rouge and powder which streaked the battered face I guessed that a sneer at her age would sting like a wasp. I wanted to rouse the woman's temper. If she lost her head, she might show her hand!
"You'll have worse than hysterics, you fool, before I finish," she snapped. "I'm going to make Roger Fane acknowledge me as his wife and give me everything I want—money, and motor cars, and pearls—and, best of all, a position in society. I'm tired of being a free lance." ”

“ She drove her whimsical pen at Dresden and at Florence, and produced in all places and at all times the same romantic and ridiculous fictions. She carried about her box of properties and fished out promptly the familiar, tarnished old puppets. She believed in them when others couldn’t, and as they were like nothing that was to be seen under the sun it was impossible to prove by comparison that they were wrong. You can’t compare birds and fishes; you could only feel that, as Greville Fane’s characters had the fine plumage of the former species, human beings must be of the latter. ”

“ A pang seized her, as the doubt whether she was not throwing away true gold for counterfeit obtruded itself. "We are good enough for each other," said she, simply, "but, at present, his prospects are so discouraging, that we are not even engaged." A curious expression passed over Fane's face. "But I have money enough for both," pursued Cecil, "and if papa is not dazzled and attracted by more brilliant—by you, in short, he must see there is sufficient, and, if I remain firm, eventually consent."
Her extreme eagerness infected Fane too, and relieved the awkwardness of her strange appeal. ”

“ John Vane, who was of Hilden, in Kent, assumed the name of Fane in lieu of Vane, and married Isabella, daughter of John Darknoll, or Darrell, and was succeeded by their second son, Richard Fane, of Tudeley, at whose death, in 1540, he was succeeded by his only son, George Fane, of Badsall, who married Joan, daughter of William Waller, of Groombridge, from whom the present Earl of Westmoreland is descended. The fourth son of John Vane, or Fane, of Hilden, was John Fane, who was in possession of Hadlow when his uncle, Sir Ralph, was executed. ”

“ Yet there was a time when Rose Grafton—such was the pretty maiden-name of Nurse Ingersoll—possessed beauty that would have gladdened this dim and dismal chamber, as with sunshine. It won for her the heart of Edward Fane, who has since made so great a figure in the world, and is now a grand old gentleman, with powdered hair, and as gouty as a lord. These early lovers thought to have walked hand in hand through life. ”

“ Fane told him not to make everything more difficult than it was already by grumbling and impossible suggestions. Michael was overcome by his mother’s crossness and said no more. Mrs. Fane announced her intention of shutting up the house in Carlington Road and of coming back in the summer to live permanently at home, when Michael would be able to be a day-boy again. Mrs. Fane seemed injured all the time she had to spend in making arrangements for Michael to go to Mr. Wheeler’s House. She wished that people would not get ill just when it was most inconvenient. ”

“ Therefore if she was able to tell her mother what really took place in the mansions of the great, give her notes to work from, the quill could be driven at home to better purpose and precisely at a moment when it would have to be more active than ever. But if she did tell, it would appear that poor Mrs. Stormer didn’t believe. As regards many points this was not a wonder; at any rate I heard nothing of Greville Fane’s having developed a new manner. She had only one manner from start to finish, as Leolin would have said. ”

“ I answered warmly.
"Nay, 'tis but a little one," said he. "I would know the name of one who used his sword so well."
"My name is Michael Fane; and may I, too, know that of one who saved my life?"
"Dan Foe--a name unknown at present, but one which, as I told you, shall hereafter be as common and familiar as the King's. And so, friend Fane, good night; and if we meet in battle, may we fight fair and bravely, like true Englishmen!" ”

“ I wonder why the young, and those who have only had the bright side of life turned to them, are so pitiless to the peculiarities, the faults, and the follies of others? It is only the old who are tolerant and merciful, speaking more kind words of their fellow-mien than malicious ones.
After a quarter of an hour's impartial survey of the charms passing beneath us, "I think," says Fane, "I may venture down now without being let in by Milly for twenty-five duty dances."
Rum-tum-tum-tiddy! goes the music.
"Come along," cries Fane, "you and I will have the first together, Nell!" ”

“ It was lucky that things were as they were, for Fane was the last man in the world to take the initiative. He always required to be governed and guided, scolded and petted. The slack character of the man could be seen from his mouth, which was constantly half-open. A pleasant, handsome, kindhearted man was Fane, but his very good qualities added to his weakness. His languid good-nature was always getting him into trouble, and he was kindly not so much from a genuine feeling of the sort as from a desire not to be troubled. It is much easier to be yielding in this world than to hold one's own. ”

“ They may talk of fighting for the fun of it, liking it, delighting in it; don't believe a word of it. We all hate it, and the hero is only he who hates it least.'
'Ugh, I can't stand it any longer; take me out of this, some of you,' said O'Flaherty, wiping the damp from his red face. 'I don't think there's ten minutes' life in me.'
'De profundis conclamavi,' murmured fat father Roach; 'lean upon me, Sir.'
'And me,' said little Toole.
'For the benefit of your poor soul, my honey, just say you forgive Mr. Nutter before you leave the field,' said the priest quite sincerely. ”

“ She’s very sweet—very young——”
“Do you like her?”
“Why—yes——” She looked intently at her tall, unsmiling son. “But I don’t even know who she is, Garry.”
Her son bent down beside her and put one arm around her shoulder. She sat quite motionless with the bottle of Grover’s Specific in one rubber-gloved hand, the medicine dropper poised in the other.
He said:
“Dulcie’s name is Fane, not Soane. Her grandfather 409 was Sir Barry Fane, of Fane Court—an Irishman. His daughter, Eileen, was Dulcie’s mother.... Her father—is dead—I believe.” ”

“ He had the D.S.O. and M.C., and was simply the most handsome young man in London—but Fanny feared that he was leading a very idle life. He was always happy, always good-tempered, always laughing, but Fanny shivered at the thought of the money that he spent. Lord Dronda, his father, used to come and see him and "remonstrate with him," so the Hon. Clive told Fanny after the interview. But what was the good? All the young ladies came just the same, and the flowers and the fruit and the wine——
"We can only love once, Fanny," the young man declared one day. ”

“ Lady Elizabeth Fane, wife of Sir Ralph Fane (who was sent to the Tower with the Duke of Somerset and suffered with him in 1551) , was thoroughly educated, after the fashion of her time, though not so brilliant as many of her contemporaries. ”

“ He cannot expect to meet their equals in a hurry!" said Fane, in a very audible aside.
Poor Ennuyé was silenced—nay, he even blushed. The adjutant's girls recalled an episode in which the gallant cornet had shone in a rather verdant light. Fane had effectually quieted him.
"I wonder if Florence Aspeden will marry Mount?" I remarked to Fane, when the others had left us. "She does not seem to pay him much heed yet; but still——"
"The devil, no!" cried Fane, in an unusually energetic manner. "I would stake my life she would not have such a muff as that, if he owned half the titles in the peerage!" ”

“ Captain Fane, who was a true English sailor, had some dispute with the officer into whose hands he was committed on the French frontier. The latter thereupon refused to accept his parole, so that Fane was conducted to Verdun by the gendarmes, treated with considerable harshness, and lodged in prison at the end of each day's march. This treatment was not calculated to produce a favourable impression on his already prejudiced mind, and not unnaturally there was not in the whole depôt a more violent anti-Gallican than was Captain Fane. ”

“ This was why I liked her—she rested me so from literature. To myself literature was an irritation, a torment; but Greville Fane slumbered in the intellectual part of it like a Creole in a hammock. She was not a woman of genius, but her faculty was so special, so much a gift out of hand, that I have often wondered why she fell below that distinction. This was doubtless because the transaction, in her case, had remained incomplete; genius always pays for the gift, feels the debt, and she was placidly unconscious of obligation. ”

“ I mean the infatuated chinless gentleman whose facial ensemble remotely resembled the features of a pleased and placid lizard of the Reptilian period."
"Oh, George Fane! That is particularly disagreeable of you, Captain Selwyn, because his wife has been very nice to me—Rosamund Fane—and she spoke most cordially of you—"
"Which one was she?"
"The Dresden china one. She looks—she simply cannot look as though she were married. It's most amusing—for people always take her for somebody's youngest sister who will be out next winter. . . . ”

“ Yes, poor Fanny was undoubtedly to be pitied; but she had really only herself to blame for the trouble that was looming in front of her when the secret of her authorship should be revealed to her father and her excellent stepmother—one of the best judges to be found anywhere of all sorts of needlework—not merely plain sewing and buttonholing, but satin stitch, herring-boning and running and felling.
The very next day Cousin Edward called at St. Martin's Street, carrying with him a small parcel neatly done up in white paper. He was lucky enough to find Fanny and Susan alone in the work-room ”

“ Had you not led this double life the tragedy would never have happened."
"Well, it has happened and everything's at an end," said Fane, sitting up sullenly. "Calvert has stifled all inquiry. Nothing will ever be known, unless you give the thing away."
"What do you take me for?" cried Mrs. Fane, turning on him. "Do you think I am going to pose as a disgraced woman with your friends and mine? I made you confess something of this when you came back to Southend. I shielded you in my interview with Bocaros, so that you should not be suspected. ”

“ I'd never heard full details of Roger Fane's "tragedy," but Mrs. Carstairs had dropped a few hints which, without asking questions, I'd patched together. I had gleaned that he'd married (when almost a boy) an actress much older than himself; and that, till her sudden and violent death after many years—nine or ten at least—his life had been a martyrdom. How the woman contrived to be alive I couldn't see. But such things happened—to people one didn't know! The worst of it was that I did know Roger Fane, and liked him. Besides, I loved Shelagh, whose happiness was bound up with Roger's. ”

“ FANE, Sir FRANCIS (d. 1689?) , dramatist, was the eldest son of Sir Francis Fane, K.B., F.R.S., of Fulbeck, Lincolnshire, and Aston, Yorkshire, third, but second surviving, son of Francis Fane, first earl of Westmorland [see under Fane, Sir Thomas] , by Elizabeth, widow of John, lord Darcy, and eldest daughter of William West of Firbeck, Yorkshire. Sir Francis Fane the elder died in 1681, and was buried in the chancel of Aston Church, together with his wife, who had died before him (will registered in P. C. C. 91, North) . ”

“ She had a serene superiority to observation and opportunity which constituted an inexpugnable strength and would enable her to go on indefinitely. It is only real success that wanes, it is only solid things that melt. Greville Fane’s ignorance of life was a resource still more unfailing than the most approved receipt. On her saying once that the day would come when she should have written herself out I answered: “Ah, you look into fairyland, and the fairies love you, and they never change. Fairyland is always there; it always was from the beginning of time, and it always will be to the end. ”