Wylie

“ Wylie returned home, and now it was almost dark. The two ladies sat in the warm firelight, with their feet upon the fender. Tea laid aside, they continued sitting there while the flames leapt and fell again, glowing on their thoughtful faces, gleaming on the simple jewellery at their throats. From the restless streets came a dull, continuous roar as of the sea. I hear it now as I write, and would fain lay aside the pen and wonder over it; for it rises and falls, swells and dies again, with a long, slow, mournful rhythm full of life, and yet joyless; soporific, and yet alive with movement. ”

“ He thought of Wylie lying sick at Ephestilo, of Eirene and Zoe and the other women practically defenceless at the monastery, and reflected bitterly that he could not depend on the guards at the various landing-places even to warn him of an attack unless he was in the immediate neighbourhood. “We must certainly have either Wylie’s Sikhs or some other force that we can trust, as a nucleus, before we can hope to turn these chaps into soldiers,” he said to himself, and then remembered that he was planning for a future which his short-lived sovereignty would now never see. ”

“ There was a click on the ledge above her, where Constantine had been left. “Jammed!” said Wylie’s voice, in a tone of such angry disgust that she nearly laughed, just as Janni pulled himself over the brink with a final effort, and ran at her, brandishing the knife.
“Take my hand,” said the voice overhead, clear and hard, and turning mechanically to obey, she saw that Wylie was lying on the ledge above, stretching out his left hand to her, while his right held the rifle clubbed. She sprang at the rock, and scrambled wildly up its slippery face. ”

“ Nathan Wylie was as wicked as his word; and a letter, rehearsing in forcible terms my sinful, ungracious, and godless conduct, was duly despatched to my grandfather, at Netherwood Hall.
Pending a reply thereto, Ruth was confined to her own room, and kept securely under lock and key, while I was all but chained to my desk, for Nathan Wylie had an old dread of the enterprising nature of the Gauntlets, and knew not what I might do next.
In our mutual loneliness of position, our hearts naturally drew together, and our love was strengthened by the very barriers her uncle raised between us ”

“ Wylie's line of country at all. She had not wept silent tears over Brenda's bowed head, and promised to fill the place of that vague and shadowy mother whom the girl had never known. Tears of any description were unfamiliar to the comfortable, brave little lady. Some of us profess, and some there are who act without professing: of these latter was Mrs. Wylie. It is so easy to talk of filling that vacant place, and so utterly impossible to cast the faintest shadow upon the walls of the empty chamber.
With Trist it had been the same. ”

“ Judge Wylie, I am not well this evening. The events of the day have shaken me very much. Judge Wylie, with many thanks for your kind intentions, permit me to wish you good-evening.” And Alice held out her hand.
Judge Wylie arose, saying:
“Ah! I knew it. I might have known it before I came. She will not be saved when she might be. She is like all her sex: none of them ever will be saved, unless it’s those who aint worth saving. Well, good-evening, Mrs. Garnet! God be with you! It is said that children and—pardon me—fools—enjoy the privilege of an especial Providence. ”

“ Wylie boasted of being a man of progressive ideas, a modern philosopher, who had outgrown the old-fogyism of the past generation and arisen to a plane where he could sit and lay down laws unto himself—mark out a plan of life for this world and the hereafter. ”

“ There was a norther blowing, so she could not get round from Skandalo by boat, but she came across on a mule, and she and I sat up with you a whole night. You didn’t know her, but her being there kept you quiet and gave you your chance. Don’t look so sick. Most men would feel some slight approach to gratitude.”
“What is it to you what I feel?” demanded Wylie, so fiercely that the doctor jumped. ”

“ In the course of a few hours Theodore Trist was quite at home at Wyl's Hall. These three people had lived together before, and knew each other's little ways. Mrs. Wylie, the personification of comfort—Theo Trist, possessing no real comprehension of the word—Brenda, midway between them, with a youthful faculty for adapting herself to either. The narrow limits of a ship soon break down the smaller social barriers, and the memory of life on board the Hermione knitted the inmates of Wyl's Hall in a close and pleasant familiarity. ”

“ He went home like a man walking in a dream. The little Cornish girl who tidied for him muttered something about a young lady and a letter, but he pushed her aside and went into his own room and locked the door. A groan burst from his lips.
“Dyed!” he said under his breath, “Dyed! False—everything!”
Then he saw the letter lying on the table. He seized upon it and tore it open. It was a very brief little letter. The handwriting set his broken heart beating at the double.
“I came to tell you I don't care two pins about my silly old ancestors,” the Lady Angela had scrawled. ”

“ Wylie's nervous abhorrence of any interference in what she was pleased to consider other people's affairs. In this matter she had at last made up her mind to act, because she loved these two as her own children, and there was in her kindly heart a haunting fear that they were about to make a muddle of their lives.
A slight haze lay over the land as the two young people made their way across the moor towards the coastguard-path—a narrow footway forever changing its devious course before the encroaching sea. ”

“ It was too dark for me to see Wylie's face, but he tumbled rather than dismounted from his horse, and I felt him trembling as he brushed past me into the hut. I followed him, but during the single instant my back had been turned the rabbiter had moved. He was not on the bunk. Wylie kicked the logs into a blaze and then turned upon me fiercely. For the rabbiter was not in the hut at all.
“What d'ye mean,” he roared, “by playing tricks on a chap who's lost his mate? “Out of my hut, you young devil—out of my hut!”
Never have I seen man more completely beside himself ”

“ It's hard water, you know—Croton."
Presently the radio went down and out—a moron throttled in midspiel. "I'll sit in here," she said.
"Any place you like."
"I'll bet! I'll bet if you heard me coming—you'd grab the shower curtain—"
"Flowers for tonight?"
"You certainly have a long, mean memory, Philip Wylie! So that's just what I do bet!" She was approaching. She exclaimed, "What do you mean—soapsuds?"
"An invention for the Puritan mind. A burlesque. After all—!"
"After all—what?"
"In a better world—but skip it."
She did. "You certainly know how to upset people," she said. ”

“ Wylie, 'that you must be gifted with a wonderful amount of patience, or you would never bother with your young men. The obligation and the pleasure must be all on their side.'
'It is,' put in Trist cynically, 'a sort of mother's agency. We ought to issue a circular for the benefit of provincial parents: "Young men's morals looked after; confidences received and kindly forgotten. Youths without dull female relatives preferred. Address, Mrs. Wylie, Suffolk Mansions, London, and Wyl's Hall, Wyvenwich."'
Mrs. Wylie laughed comfortably. ”

“ Utterly spent, Wylie obeyed, and not until he had finished would she let him tell his tale.
“We have sent the police through the whole town, Zoe, and searched all the inns. No one at all resembling the description of Petros has passed on any of the roads. We have telegraphed to all the places on the line, and sent out messengers where there is no wire. The people are awfully sympathetic, and they are all enlisted in the search.” ”

“ She smiled a little, and the smile was sadder than her gravity.
“Sometimes one lives for it—baby.”
He frowned up at the tablet in puzzled silence, and then she drew him on, out of the church and down the avenue of old yew trees to where a carriage waited for them. Neither spoke on the home road. The boy sat close to her, his hand thrown out, unclasped, upon her knee, his head against her shoulder; and as they swerved in sight of a tall house, cut clear against the evening sky, he crept still nearer, seeming almost to seek shelter. She bent her head down to him. ”

“ She looked at him steadily. “Do you not remember—you said only a few minutes ago that there is one thing that matters more than ourselves, our loves, our lives—something that demands the highest of all sacrifices—our country? Have you so soon forgotten?”
He put up his hand as though to ward off a crushing blow. “My God!” he said under his breath. “No, I have not forgotten!”
“So, you will not try to persuade me. You will let me do what is right. If I succeed, I shall give the papers to the English government. In any case—it is good-by between us two.” ”

“ Wylie agreed perforce, for the long hours of scrambling had told upon him so much that he could scarcely stand, and he advised Zoe and Eirene to pull their head-handkerchiefs over their faces, so as to save themselves from scratches, and work their way in under the bushes. The guards were already doing this, and a sudden exclamation, followed by a string of prayers in a strange voice, made Wylie and Zeko angrily order silence.
“It is a man, lord!” ”

“ May I remind her Royal Highness of one or two things she seems to have forgotten?” asked Wylie. A nod gave him permission, and he went on, “Are you wise, ma’am, in risking the health, perhaps even the life, of your son in the way you propose? The journey to Pentikosti is a difficult one, even for men, and at Hagiamavra the hardships will be considerable. You can take no other woman with you, and no heavy luggage.” ”

“ But that will never be if you reward by ungrateful attacks the gentlemen who have given up so much in England to come to our help.”
The meeting broke up in enthusiasm, amid renewed shouts of “Romanos for Prince!” and Wylie and Prince Romanos walked back to Ahmed Pasha and made joint arrangements for the defence. Wylie’s mind dwelt gratefully and lovingly on the agreement into which he had entered with Lieutenant Cotway, and on the pathway he had so carefully prepared from the monastery to Ephestilo. It was possible that the escape of the ladies would have to be managed before very long now. ”

“ Bruce Wylie, and he always did like you.”
“Not he,” said Ralph. “He made believe, though, for the sake of pleasing you.”
“I see that you have not lost your way of thinking evil of people,” said Evereld, reproachfully. “Mr. Wylie is the kindest man I know.” ”

“ The door opened and closed, and he heard no sound. It was only when a voice called him by name that he started violently, and as he saw the figure standing on the opposite side of the table thrust the jewel-case hastily back into its place.
“Miss East!”
“Yes. I am afraid I startled you. You were very—intent on something. You did not hear.”
He turned the key of the drawer and flung it down carelessly. Then, with a rather twisted smile, he removed his hat.
“Nothing—only business. You see what a boor I am. I am scarcely civilized. Won't you sit down?” ”

“ To hell with Dr. Jerkski, great man of the Institute.
I would frustrate every specialist in Poland.
Take up your bed and totter, Wylie.
It required a year for the doing—in Warsaw and Paris, Manhattan, Connecticut, and California.
Then I had entirely recovered.
Trauma excepted.
Now that is what I thought of in the space of time it took to smoke a cigarette on my divan at the Astolat—that, and several thousand more items.
That is why, so to speak, I had nodded courteously at the Ghoul.
He is always hanging around.
One has only to turn one's head fast enough—and there he is. ”

“ Moore. The sun was going down when a servant entered the chamber and announced that Judge Wylie was below stairs and begged to see Mrs. Garnet alone upon important business.
Telling the man to show Judge Wylie into the library, Alice threw a shawl around her, and, full of vague and painful misgivings, descended the stairs.
What could be the important business upon which Judge Wylie came? What business, trifling or important, could he have with her? Had any accident happened to Elsie? The thought gripped her heart like a vise. Had anything happened to Magnus or General Garnet? ”

“ Then he laughed—the wavering, silly laugh of a man thrown suddenly off his balance.
“You must be mad, Corodo!” he said. “You don't understand. Three-quarters of my money is in that mine. It must be there—it must be somewhere!”
“Undoubtedly, Sir Richard. But if the 'somewhere' is another man's pocket, the fact will not help either of us.
This time there was no answer. Sir Richard turned heavily on his heel, his hands outstretched as if groping for support. ”

“ He felt that his own life was threatened—that he was being torn out of his soil—bleeding, withering.
He asked, “You were going away?”
And she laughed with defiance in her eyes. “Migratory birds fly with the seasons. My season here is over.”
“Migratory birds do not fly alone,” he retorted, laughing back at her. “They have their mates, princess.”
They had been standing, facing each other like enemies. Now she sat down, as though her strength had gone from her, and the next instant he was at her feet, his arms about her, his face pressed against her breast. ”