CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE FALSE HEIR.
In the suburbs of Chicago, perhaps a dozen miles from the great city,stands a fine country house, in the midst of a fine natural park. Fromthe cupola which surmounts the roof can be seen in the distance thewaters of Lake Michigan, stretching for many miles from north to southand from east to west, like a vast inland sea.
The level lawns, the greenhouses, the garden with rare plants andflowers, show clearly that this is the abode of a rich man. My readerswill be specially interested to know that this is the luxurious andstately home of Mr. Granville, whose son's fortunes we have beenfollowing.
This, too, is the home of Mrs. Brent and Jonas, who, under falserepresentations, have gained a foothold in the home of the Westernmillionaire.
Surely it is a great change for one brought up like Jonas to be therecognized heir and supposed son of so rich a man! It is a change,too, for his mother, who, though she dare not avow the relationship, ispermitted to share the luxury of her son. Mrs. Brent has for her ownuse two of the best rooms in the mansion, and so far as money can bringhappiness, she has every right to consider herself happy.
Is she?
Not as happy as she anticipated. To begin with, she is always dreadingthat some untoward circumstance will reveal the imposition she haspracticed upon Mr. Granville. In that case what can she expect but to beejected in disgrace from her luxurious home? To be sure, she will haveher husband's property left, but it would be a sad downfall and descentin the social scale.
Besides, she finds cause for anxiety in Jonas, and the change which hissudden and undeserved elevation has wrought in him. It requires a strongmind to withstand the allurements and temptations of prosperity, andJonas is far from possessing a strong mind. He is, indeed, if I maybe allowed the expression, a vulgar little snob, utterly selfish, andintent solely upon his own gratification. He has a love for drink,and against the protests of his mother and the positive command of Mr.Granville, indulges his taste whenever he thinks he can do so withoutfear of detection. To the servants he makes himself very offensive byassuming consequential airs and a lordly bearing, which excites theirhearty dislike.
He is making his way across the lawn at this moment. He is dressed inclothes of the finest material and the most fashionable cut. A thickgold chain is displayed across his waistcoat, attached to an expensivegold watch, bought for him by his supposed father. He carries in hishand a natty cane, and struts along with head aloft and nose in the air.
Two under-gardeners are at work upon a flowerbed as he passes.
"What time is it, Master Philip?" says one, a boy about a year olderthan Jonas.
"My good boy," said Jonas haughtily, "I don't carry a watch for yourbenefit."
The gardener bit his lip, and surveyed the heir with unequivocaldisgust.
"Very well," he retorted; "I'll wait till a gentleman comes this way."
A flush of anger was visible on the cheek of Jonas despite his freckles.
"Do you mean to say I'm not a gentleman!" he demanded angrily.
"You don't act like one," returned Dan.
"You'd better not be impertinent to me!" exclaimed Jonas, his small grayeyes flashing with indignation. "Take that back!"
"I won't, for it's true!" said Dan undauntedly.
"Take that, then!"
Jonas raised his cane and brought it down smartly on the younggardener's shoulder.
He soon learned that he had acted imprudently. Dan dropped his rake,sprang forward, and seizing the cane, wrenched it from the hands of theyoung heir, after which he proceeded to break it across his knee.
"There's your cane!" he said contemptuously, as he threw the pieces onthe ground.
"What did you do that for?" demanded Jonas, outraged.
"Because you insulted me. That's why."
"How can I insult you? You're only a poor working boy!"
"I wouldn't change places with you," said Dan. "I'd like well enough tobe rich, but I wouldn't be willing to be as mean as you are."
"You'll suffer for this!" said Jonas, his little bead-like eyes glowingwith anger. "I'll have you turned off this very day, or as soon as myfather get's home."
"If he says I'm to go, I'll go!" said Dan. "He's a gentleman."
Jonas made his way to his mother's room. She noticed his perturbed look.
"What's the matter, my dear boy?" she asked. "What's the matter, Jonas?"
"I wish you'd stop calling me your dear boy," said Jonas angrily.
"I--I forget sometimes," said Mrs. Brent, with a half-sigh.
"Then you ought not to forget. Do you want to spoil everything?"
"We are alone now, Jonas, and I cannot forget that I am your mother."
"You'd better, if you know what's best for both of us," said Jonas.
Mrs. Brent was far from being a kind-hearted woman. Indeed she was verycold, but Jonas was her only son, and to him she was as much attached asit was possible for her to be to any one. Formerly he had returned heraffection in a slight degree, but since he had figured as a rich man'sson and heir he had begun, incredible as it may appear, to look downupon his own mother. She was not wholly ignorant of this change in hisfeelings, and it made her unhappy. He was all she had to live for. Butfor him she would not have stooped to take part in the conspiracy inwhich she was now a participant. It seemed hard that her only son, forwhom she had sinned, should prove so ungrateful.
"My boy," she said, "I would not on any account harm you or injure yourprospects, but when we are alone there can be no harm in my treating youas my son."
"It can't do any good," grumbled Jonas, "and we might be overheard."
"I will be cautious. You may be sure of that. But why do you look soannoyed?"
"Why? Reason enough. That boy Dan, the under-gardener, has been impudentto me."
"He has?" said Mrs. Brent quickly. "What has he done?"
Jonas rehearsed the story. He found in his mother a sympatheticlistener.
"He is bold!" she said, compressing her lips.
"Yes, he is. When I told him I would have him turned off, he coollyturned round and said that my father was a gentleman, and wouldn't sendhim away. Ma, will you do me a favor?"
"What is it, Jonas?"
"Send him off before the governor gets home. You can make it all rightwith him."
Mrs. Brent hesitated.
"Mr. Granville might think I was taking a liberty."
"Oh, you can make it all right with him. Say that he was very impudentto me. After what has happened, if he stays he'll think he can treat mejust as he pleases."
Again Mrs. Brent hesitated, but her own inclination prompted her to doas her son desired.
"You may tell Dan to come here. I wish to speak to him," she said.
Jonas went out and did the errand.
"Mrs. Brent wants to see me?" said Dan. "I have nothing to do with her."
"You'd better come in if you know what's best for yourself." said Jonas,with an exultation he did not attempt to conceal.
"Oh, well, I have no objection to meeting Mrs. Brent," said Dan. "I'llgo in."
Mrs. Brent eyed the young gardener with cold animosity.
"You have been impudent to Master Philip," she said. "Of course youcannot remain any longer in his father's employment. Here are fivedollars--more than is due you. Take it, and leave the estate."
"I won't take your money, Mrs. Brent," said Dan independently, "and Iwon't take my dismissal from any one but Mr. Granville himself."
"Do you defy me, then?" said Mrs. Brent, with a firmer compression ofher lips.
"No, Mrs. Brent, I don't defy you, but you have nothing to do with me,and I shall not take any orders or any dismissal from you."
"Don't be impertinent to my----" burst forth from Jonas, and then hestopped in confusion.
"To your--what?" asked Dan quickly.
"To my--nurse," faltered Jonas.
Dan looked suspiciously from one to the other.
"There's something betwee
n those two," he said to himself. "Something wedon't know of."
The Errand Boy; Or, How Phil Brent Won Success Page 36