CHAPTER XXVIII
THE LESSON
Ten minutes later Scott descended the stairs alone and returned to thesalon.
A dance was in progress. He stood for a space in the doorway, watching.Finally, having satisfied himself that his brother was not among thedancers, he turned away.
With his usual quietness of demeanour, he crossed the vestibule, andlooked into the smoking-room. Sir Eustace was not there either, and hewas closing the door again when the man himself came up the passagebehind him, and clapped a careless hand on his shoulder.
"Are you looking for me, most doughty knight?" he asked.
Scott turned so sharply that the hand fell. "Yes, I am looking for you,"he said, and his voice was unusually curt. "Come outside a minute, willyou? I want to speak to you."
"I am not going outside," Sir Eustace said, with exasperating coolness."If you want to talk, you can come in here and smoke with me."
"I must be alone with you," Scott said briefly. "There are two or threemen in there."
His brother gave him a look of amused curiosity. "Do you want to dosomething violent then? There's plenty of room for a quiet talk in therewithout disturbing or being disturbed by anyone."
But Scott stood his ground. "I must see you alone for a minute," he saidstubbornly. "You can come to my room, or I will come to yours,--whicheveryou like."
Sir Eustace shrugged his shoulders. "You are damned persistent. I don'tknow that I am specially anxious to hear what you have to say. In anycase it can keep till the morning. I can't be bothered now."
Scott's hand grasped his arm. A queer gleam shone in his pale eyes."Man," he said, "I think you had better hear me now."
Eustace looked down at him, half-sneering, half-impressed. "What a muleyou are, Stumpy! Come along then if you must! But you had better mind howyou go. I'm in no mood for trifling."
"Nor I," said Scott, with very unaccustomed bitterness.
He kept his hand upon his brother's arm as they turned. He leanedslightly upon him as they ascended the stairs. Eustace's room was thefirst they reached, and they turned into that.
Scott was very pale, but there was no lack of resolution about him as heclosed the door and faced the elder man.
"Well, what is it?" Eustace demanded.
"Just this." Very steadily Scott made answer. "I want to know how farthis matter has gone between you and Miss Bathurst. I want to know--whatyou are going to do."
"My intentions, eh?" Eustace's sneer became very pronounced as he put thequestion. He pulled forward a chair and sat down with an arrogant air asthough to bring himself thus to Scott's level.
Scott's eyes gleamed again momentarily at the action, but he stood like arock. "Yes, your intentions," he said briefly.
Sir Eustace's black brows went up, he looked him up and down. "Can yougive me any reason at all why I should hold myself answerable to you?" heasked.
Scott's hands clenched as he stood. "I can," he said. "I regard MissBathurst as very peculiarly our charge--under our protection. We are bothin a great measure responsible for her, though possibly--" he hesitatedslightly--"my responsibility is greater than yours, in so far as I takeit more seriously. I do not think that either of us is in a position tomake love to her under existing circumstances. But that, I admit, ismerely a matter of opinion. Most emphatically neither of us has the rightto trifle with her. I want to know--and I must know--are you triflingwith her, as you have trifled with Miss de Vigne for the past fortnight?Or are you in earnest? Which?"
He spoke sternly, as one delivering an ultimatum. His eyes, steel-brightand unwavering, were fixed upon his brother's face.
Sir Eustace made a sharp gesture, as of one who flings off some stinginginsect. "It is not particularly good form on your part to bring anotherlady's name into the discussion," he said. "At least you have noresponsibilities so far as Miss de Vigne is concerned."
"I admit that," Scott answered shortly. "Moreover, she is fully capableof taking care of herself. But Miss Bathurst is not. She is a mere childin many ways, but she takes things hard. If you are merely amusingyourself at her expense--" He stopped.
"Well?" Sir Eustace threw the question with sudden anger. His great,lounging figure stiffened. A blue flame shot up in his eyes.
Scott stood silent for a moment or two; then with a great effort heunclenched his hands and came forward. "I am not going to believe that ofyou unless you tell me it is so," he said.
Sir Eustace reached out an unexpected hand without rising, and took himby the shoulder. "You may be small of stature, Stumpy," he said, "butyou're the biggest fool I know. You're making mountains out of molehills,and you'll get yourself into trouble if you're not careful."
Scott looked at him. "Do you imagine I'm afraid of you, I wonder?" hesaid, a faint tremor of irony in his quiet voice.
Sir Eustace's hold tightened. His mouth was hard. "I imagine that I couldmake things highly unpleasant for you if you provoked me too far," hesaid. "And let me warn you, you have gone quite far enough in a matter inwhich you have no concern whatever. I never have stood any interferencefrom you and I never will. Let that be understood--once for all!"
He met Scott's look with eyes of smouldering wrath. There was more thanwarning in his hold; it conveyed menace.
Yet Scott, very pale, supremely dignified, made no motion to retreat."You have not answered me yet," he said. "I must have an answer."
Sir Eustace's brows met in a thick and threatening line. "You will havevery much more than you bargain for if you persist," he said.
"Meaning that I am to draw my own conclusions?" Scott asked, unmoved.
The smouldering fire suddenly blazed into flame. He pulled Scott to himwith the movement of a giant, and bent him irresistibly downwards. "Iwill show you what I mean," he said.
Scott made a swift, instinctive effort to free himself, but the nextinstant he was passive. Only as the relentless hands forced him lower hespoke, his voice quick and breathless.
"You can hammer me to your heart's content, but you'll get nothing out ofit. That sort of thing simply doesn't count--with me."
Sir Eustace held him in a vice-like grip. "Are you going to take it lyingdown then?" he questioned grimly.
"I'm not going to fight you certainly." Scott's voice had a faint quiverof humour in it, as though he jested at his own expense. "Not--thatis--in a physical sense. If you choose to resort to brute force, that'syour affair. And I fancy you'll be sorry afterwards. But it will make noactual difference to me." He broke off, breathing short and hard, like aman who struggles against odds yet with no thought of yielding.
Sir Eustace held him a few seconds as if irresolute, then abruptly lethim go. "I believe you're right," he said. "You wouldn't care a damn. Butyou're a fool to bait me all the same. Now clear out, and leave me alonefor the future!"
"I haven't done with you yet," Scott said. He straightened himself, andreturned indomitably to the attack. "I asked you a question, and--sofar--you haven't answered it. Are you ashamed to answer it?"
Sir Eustace got up with a movement of exasperation, but very oddly hisanger had died down. "Oh, confound you, Stumpy! You're worse than a swarmof mosquitoes!" he said. "I dispute your right to ask that question. Itis no affair of yours."
"I maintain that it is," Scott said quietly. "It matters to me--perhapsmore than you realize--whether you behave honourably or otherwise."
"Honourably!" His brother caught him up sharply. "You're on dangerousground, I warn you," he said. "I won't stand that from you or any man."
"I've no intention of insulting you," Scott answered. "But I must knowthe truth. Are you hoping to marry Miss Bathurst, or are you not?"
Sir Eustace drew himself up with a haughty gesture. "The time has notcome to talk of that," he said.
"Not when you are deliberately making love to her?" Scott's voiceremained quiet, but the glitter was in his eyes again--a quivering,ominous gleam.
"Oh, that! My dear fellow, you are disquieting yourself in vain. Sheknows
as well as I do that that is a mere game." Eustace spokescoffingly, looking over his brother's head, ignoring his attitude. "Iassure you she is not so green as you imagine," he said. "It has beennothing but a game all through."
"Nothing but a game!" Scott repeated the words slowly as if incredulous."Do you actually mean that?"
Sir Eustace laughed and took out his cigarettes. "What do you take mefor, you old duffer? Think I should commit myself at this stage? An oldhand like me! Not likely!"
Scott stood up before him, white to the lips. "I take you for an infernalblackguard, if you want to know!" he said, speaking with greatdistinctness. "You may call yourself a man of honour. I call you ascoundrel!"
"What?" Eustace put back his cigarette-case with a smile that was oddlylike a snarl. "It looks to me as if you'll have to have that lesson afterall," he said. "What's the matter with you now-a-days? Fallen in loveyourself? Is that it?"
He took Scott by the shoulders, not roughly, but with power.
Scott's eyes met his like a sword in a master-hand. "The matter is," hesaid, "that this precious game of yours has got to end. If you are notman enough to end it--I will."
"Will you indeed?" Eustace shook him to and fro as he stood, but stillwithout violence. "And how?"
"I shall tell her," Scott spoke without the smallest hesitation, "theexact truth. I shall tell her--and she will believe me--precisely whatyou are."
"Damn you!" said Sir Eustace.
With the words he shifted his grasp, took Scott by the collar, and swunghim round.
"Then you may also tell her," he said, his voice low and furious, "thatyou have had the kicking that a little yapping cur like you deserves."
He kicked him with the words, kicked him thrice, and flung him brutallyaside.
Scott went down, grabbing vainly at the bed to save himself. His face wasdeathly as he turned it, but he said nothing. He had said his say.
Sir Eustace was white also, white and terrible, with eyes of flame. Hestood a moment, glaring down at him. Then, as though he could not trusthimself, wheeled and strode to the door.
"And when you've done," he said, "you can come to me for another, youbeastly little cad!"
He went, leaving the door wide behind him. His feet resounded along thepassage and died away. The distant waltz-music came softly in. And Scottpulled himself painfully up and sat on the end of the bed, pantingheavily.
Minutes passed ere he moved. Then at last very slowly he got up. He hadrecovered his breath. His mouth was firm, his eyes resolute andindomitable, his whole bearing composed, as with that dignity that Dinahhad so often remarked in him he limped to the door and passed out,closing it quietly behind him.
The dance-music was still floating through the passages with a mockingallurement. The tramp of feet and laughter of many voices rose with it. Aflicker of irony passed over his drawn face. He straightened his collarwith absolute steadiness, and moved away in the direction of his ownroom.
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