The Dust of Conflict

by Harold Bindloss

  XVIII -- NETTIE ASKS A QUESTION

  NETTIE HARDING had spent at least six weeks at Low Wood when she sat oneafternoon on the lawn, gazing before her reflectively, with a bookturned upside-down upon her knee. She had at one time wondered why shelingered there, though she found the company of Hester Earle congenial,and Hester's father had pressed her to extend her visit, while otherreasons that appeared more or less convincing had not been wanting. TheNorthrop valley was very pretty, and the quiet, well-ordered life herEnglish friends led pleasant, as a change from the turmoil of commercialenterprise and the fierce activity of the search for pleasure she hadbeen accustomed to in America. The tranquillity of the green, peacefulcountry appealed to her, and she found interesting the quietly spokenmen and women who so decorously directed what was done in it, partlybecause the type was new to her.

  That, however, was at the beginning, for by and by she was willing toadmit that Northrop might grow wearisome if she saw too much of it, andshe could no longer hide from herself the fact that she had a morecogent reason for dallying there. She felt, though as yet it appearedquite likely that she might be mistaken, she was picking up the threadsof a drama, the plot of which had been imperfectly revealed to her. Thisin itself was interesting, for she had at least as much inquisitivenessas most of her sex, and she was sensible of a little thrill ofpleasurable excitement when the scent grew hotter. Still, she neverasked an indiscreet question, and waited with a patience that is notusually a characteristic of the women of her nation until she wascertain.

  Miss Wayne, she decided, was at least very like the woman Appleby hadpictured to her; but she was difficult to understand, for Violet seldomdisplayed her feelings, and her cold serenity baffled the observer. TonyPalliser, of whom she had contrived to see a good deal, was an easierand less interesting study. Nettie was naively witty, and could assumeAmerican mannerisms with excellent effect when she chose while Tony wasfond of being amused, and Violet Wayne apparently devoid of any smalljealousy. Thus he spent a good deal of time hanging about Miss Harding,and would have been painfully astonished had he discovered what shethought of him. Languid good nature and the faculty of idling time awayvery gracefully did not appeal to her, for even pleasure is pursued withgrim strenuousness in her country. He was, she fancied, just such a manas the one Appleby had sacrificed himself for; but she surmised thatthere were a good many men of that kind in England, and Appleby had toldhis story in a fashion that made the identification of the scene and thepersons concerned in it difficult. Nettie felt also that shouldconviction be forced upon her she would still have to decide what hercourse would be.

  She felt for Appleby a quiet esteem and a kindliness which just stoppedshort of tenderness. She was an American, and could hold her own withmost men in the art of flirtation, but she was also capable of acamaraderie that was characterized by frank sincerity and untainted byany affectation of love-making for one of the opposite sex. That beingso, she felt it was incumbent upon her to discharge the obligation sheowed him if opportunity afforded, though she knew that the indiscreetmeddler not infrequently involves in disaster those she would benefit.By and by there was a step behind her, and she saw Hester Earleregarding her with a twinkle in her eyes.

  "If there had been anybody else to see you--Tony Palliser, for example--one could almost have fancied you had assumed that becomingly pensivepose," she said. "You would make a picture of ingenuous contemplation."

  Nettie laughed. "Well," she said, "I feel very like a torpedo. Anyway, Ididn't put it on, though I'm open to admit that there's quite a trace ofthe peacock about me."

  "That is evidently American hyperbole," said Hester. "Talk English,Nettie. I don't understand."

  She seated herself on the mossy wall close by, and noticed that hercompanion was meditatively watching two figures approaching by a paththrough a wheatfield. They were just recognizable as Tony and VioletWayne, and were evidently unaware of being observed, for the manstooped, and, plucking what appeared to be a poppy from among the corn,offered it to his companion. The pair stopped a moment, and the manseemed to be desirous of fastening it in the girl's dress.

  "The peacock," said Nettie in the drawl she assumed only when it suitedher, "is easy. They're vain, you know, and I wouldn't figure it wasworth while to spread out my best tail before men like Tony Palliser.I'm quite fond of being looked at, too."

  "One would fancy you could scarcely find fault with him on thataccount," said Hester dryly. "But the torpedo?"

  "That's a little harder. I suppose you never felt as if you were full ofexplosives, and could go off when you wanted and scatter destructionaround. A torpedo doesn't appear a very terrible thing, you know. It'snice and round and shiny. I've seen one. Julian showed it me."

  "Nobody goes off in England--at least not among the people we care to mixwith," said Hester. "We send those who seem inclined to behave in thatfashion out to the colonies or America. People appear to rather likeexplosions there."

  "Still, you must get a little shake up now and then. Did nothingstartling and unexpected ever happen at Northrop?"

  Hester Earle was English, and proud of the decorous tranquillity of thelife she led. "No," she said. "That is, nothing really worth mentioning.Where did you get charged with explosives, Nettie?"

  Nettie felt that one of the stoutest threads she had laid her fingersupon had snapped in a most unexpected manner, but she had observed theBritish character, and was not quite convinced. It was, she reflected,after all a question of what Hester Earle considered worthy of mention.

  "In Cuba," she said. "Now, I was worrying about something, and becauseyou are one of those quiet persons who think a good deal I'd like youropinion. Suppose you or somebody else had a friend who was in troublethrough other people's fault, and would not say a word to clear himself,and you found how you could make things straight for him? The answer tothat seems easy, but it gets complicated by the fact that to do it youwould have to stir up no end of mud and startle quite a few nice easy-going people."

  "Speaking generally, I should leave the mud alone, and feel that thefriend knew best. After all, he may have been to blame."

  "No," said Nettie. "The man I was thinking of never did a mean thing inhis life."

  "Then you can ask Violet Wayne. She is even quieter than I am, and Ibelieve she thinks a good deal."

  Tony and his companion joined them then, and Violet took her placebeside Nettie, while the man sat down on the smooth strip of turf thatsloped to the sunken tennis lawn.

  "You seem to have been discussing something serious," he said.

  "Yes," said Hester. "Nettie has been comparing herself with a torpedo,and wished to know whether it would be desirable for her to go off ornot. I recommended her to submit the case to Violet. Hadn't you betterbegin, Nettie? You rather like an audience."

  Nettie was seldom abashed, and the position appealed to her. She hadonly vague surmises to go upon, and one of the clues had snapped, butthe rest might hold, while such an opportunity of discovering thesentiments of the woman who might prove to be most involved couldscarcely occur again. It was accordingly with a little thrill ofexcitement she put the question a trifle more concisely than she haddone to Hester, and though she smiled at the others, watched Tonyclosely. He was certainly astonished, though the case was so outlinedthat it could scarcely be identified with his own; but his indolentcarelessness stood him in good stead, and he sat still, listening withno great show of interest until Nettie concluded.

  "Of course, what I have told you concerns somebody in Cuba and notEngland," she said. "Now, the point is, would it be better to leave thepeople alone who seem quite content with everything as it is? One ofthem would be hurt considerably if the truth came out!"

  There was a little silence, and once more Violet Wayne was sensible ofthe vague apprehension which had troubled her more frequently of late,but she met Nettie's inquiring glance with steady eyes.

  "Still, I think it would be better for that person to know the truth,"she said.


  "I am not quite sure," said Hester reflectively. "We will surmise thathe or she is happy in the deception, and it would last all her life. Inthat case would it be a kindness to undeceive her?"

  "I think so. If, as you seem to assume, the person were a woman shewould probably discover the truth herself. Deceptions seldom continue,and if the awakening must come it would come better sooner than later."

  Nettie was watching Tony, who lay now endeavoring to pluck a daisy outof the turf. The task seemed to occupy all his attention. "You haven'tdecided yet?" she said.

  Tony assumed an attitude of languid reflection, though it was evident toNettie that his fingers, stained a little with the soil, were not quitesteady. He may have realized this, for he rubbed them in the grass withslow deliberation.

  "Well," he said, "it seems to me that if one is dreaming something verynice it would be better to let him sleep as long as possible, and ablunder to waken him to unpleasant realities. There's another point,too. You seem to have overlooked the person who did the wrong."

  "I don't think I mentioned that there was one!"

  "Still, you led us to believe that wrong had been done. That, of course,implies that somebody must have perpetrated it, and I expect you willthink me warranted in assuming it was a man. Well, you see, he mayn'thave meant to do any harm at all, and be sincerely sorry. Wouldn't hedeserve a little consideration? People are forced into doing a thingthey don't want to now and then."

  Nettie watched him thoughtfully. Tony's face was indifferent, but shefancied that he, at least, desired to convince himself.

  "Tony's question is unnecessary," said Violet Wayne. "If the man weresincerely sorry there would be an end of the difficulty. He would put itstraight by making reparation."

  "He might find it difficult," said Hester.

  Tony seemed to wince, and once more turned his attention to the daisy,but when the rest sat silent he glanced at Violet.

  "I rather think we are getting away from the point, but since you seemto expect it I'll take up that man's brief," he said. "Well, we willassume that he is a well-intentioned person who has only slipped uponce, and is trying to make up for what he has done. Now, if he wereleft alone, such a man might go straight all the rest of his life."

  "That's specious, but distinctly unorthodox," said Hester. "Who hadthose beautifully illuminated tables of the law put up in Northropchurch, Tony?"

  Nettie laughed to conceal her interest. "But John P. Robinson, he saysthey didn't know everything down in Judee. That's latter day American,but it's what a good many people seem to think. Please go on, Mr.Palliser."

  "I can't go very far. Still, we'll try to picture such a man givingliberally where it's wanted, going straight, and doing what good he canall round. We'll say the lives of other people who believe in him arebound up in his, and their happiness depends upon his holding theirconfidence. Now, would it be a kindness to anybody to bring everythingdown crashing about his head?"

  He stopped, and glanced with a curious half-veiled appeal in his eyes atViolet, but she shook her head, and the gravity Nettie had once or twicewondered at crept into her face. It showed perfect in its contour andmodelling under the big hat, but its clear pallor was more noticeablejust then, and it seemed to Nettie very cold. Then she smiled faintly.

  "It is a very old question. Can a man be pardoned and retain theoffence? Still, I think it was answered decisively," she said.

  Tony said nothing, and, as none of the others appeared inclined to talk,the stillness of the afternoon made itself felt. The pale yellowsunshine lay hot upon the lawn, and the soft murmur of the river came upacross the corn, which, broken by dusky woodlands steeped in slumbrousshadow and meadow no longer green, rolled back in waves of ruddy bronzeinto the valley. Beyond it the hillsides, narrowing in, faded blurredand dim into the hazy distance. Still, the eyes of Tony and Violet Waynewere fixed upon the raw blotch of brickwork rising against the greenwoods above a flashing pool of the river. The rushy meadows and barrenhillside environing it were now worth the best plough land on theNorthrop estate, and, as both of those who looked at them rememberedthen, they had been intended as Appleby's inheritance.

  It was Hester who broke the silence. "Your question has been answered,Nettie," she said. "It is decided that the person who did the wrong isthe one to right it; and now we'll change the topic. The entertainmentwe had at Darsley was, as you know, an immense success, so great,indeed, that as we still want money we have decided to have another."

  "Still, it seems to me you can't consistently inflict any more ticketson the Darsley tradesmen," said Tony, who appeared desirous ofconcealing his relief. "The fact is, I was rather sorry for one or twoof them. Rawley told me he had to buy at least two half-crown ticketsfrom each of his leading supporters. I don't think it would be decent tobleed them any more."

  Hester laughed. "That difficulty has been provided for, and I toldeverybody that I sent tickets to that it would be conducive to successif when they broached the subject they paid their bills. This time weintend to put the screw on our friends. You see, it is some time sincewe had any little relaxation among ourselves."

  "A concert isn't really very amusing," said Tony. "Anyway, not when youhave to sing at it."

  "That depends. This one will be; and since it isn't exactly a concert itwill have the virtue of novelty. We intend to hold it here by moonlightand limelight on the lawn. The tickets will be invitation ones at half-a-guinea."

  "Where will you get your limelights from? I believe that kind of thingcosts a good deal," said Tony.

  "I don't know. The privilege of being allowed to supply them has beenallotted to Mr. Anthony Palliser. He is also put down for a song."

  Tony made a gesture of resignation. "It will most likely rain."

  "Still, the tickets will have been sold, and if it does rain the peoplewho can't get into the big billiard room can sit out in couples in thehall, which will probably please them just as well. We, however, mean tohave it outside if we can. We want the limelights for the tableaux andcostume dancing."

  "Who have you got to dance?" said Tony with evident concern.

  "Miss Clavier--the young woman who pleased everybody that night atDarsley. The vicar doesn't mind. Have you very strong objections toskirt dancing, Tony?"

  "No," said Tony slowly, and Nettie fancied his voice was a triflestrained. "Of course I haven't. Still, you must not depend too much onme. I mean I'll get the limelights, and buy as many tickets as can bereasonably expected of me, but whether I'll be there or not is anotheraffair. I have to go up to London now and then, you see."

  The last was so evidently an inspiration that Hester laughed as sheglanced at him. "We will contrive to fix a night that will suit you,"she said. "I fancy you had better submit quietly, Tony."

  Tony murmured something which was not wholly flattering to the promotersof such entertainments, and when he and Violet Wayne took their leaveHester glanced at Nettie.

  "I wonder why Tony is anxious not to meet Miss Clavier again," she said.

  As it happened, Nettie was asking herself the same question, but shedecided that there was nothing to be gained by mentioning it.

  "The girl who dances! You think he didn't want to meet her?" she said.

  "Of course! He showed it. Everybody can tell what Tony is thinking. Heis almost painfully transparent."

  "Well," said Nettie slowly, "I don't quite know. I have come acrossother men like him and found that they take one in. You fancy you canlook right through them, and yet you see very little of what is insidethem."

  "The trouble is that there is nothing in Tony except good nature," saidHester.

  Nettie appeared reflective, and once more expressed herself in the samefashion. "I don't quite know. Still, I hope you are right," she said."You see, I'm quite fond of Violet Wayne."