by John Buchan
CHAPTER IV
AFTERNOON IN A GARDEN
The gardens of Glenavelin have an air of antiquity beyond the dwelling,for there the modish fashions of another century have been followed withenthusiasm. There are clipped yews and long arched avenues, bowers andsummer-houses of rustic make, and a terraced lawn fringed with aGeorgian parapet. A former lord had kept peacocks innumerable, andsomething of the tradition still survived. Set in the heart of hillymoorlands, it was like a cameo gem in a tartan plaid, a piece of oldVauxhall or Ranelagh in an upland vale. Of an afternoon sleep reignedsupreme. The shapely immobile trees, the grey and crumbling stone, thelone green walks vanishing into a bosky darkness were instinct with thequiet of ages. It needed but Lady Prue with her flounces and furbelowsand Sir Pertinax with his cane and buckled shoon to re-create theancient world before good Queen Anne had gone to her rest.
In one of the shadiest corners of a great lawn Lady Manorwater satmaking tea. Bertha, with a broad hat shading her eyes, dozed over amagazine in a deck-chair. That morning she and Alice had broken theconvention of the house and gone riding in the haughlands till lunch.Now she suffered the penalty and dozed, but her companion was very wideawake, being a tireless creature who knew not lethargy. Besides, therewas sufficient in prospect to stir her curiosity. Lady Manorwater hadannounced some twenty times that day that her nephew Lewis would come totea, and Alice, knowing the truth of the prophecy, was prepared toreceive him.
The image of the forsaken angler remained clear in her memory, and sheconfessed to herself that he interested her. The girl had noconnoisseur's eye for character; her interest was the frank andunabashed interest in a somewhat mysterious figure who was credited byall his friends with great gifts and a surprising amiability. Afterbreakfast she had captured one of the spectacled people, whose name wasHoddam. He was a little shy man, one of the unassuming tribe ofstudents by whom all the minor intellectual work of the world is done,and done well. It is a great class, living in the main in red-brickvillas on the outskirts of academic towns, marrying mild blue-stockings,working incessantly, and finally attaining to the fame of mention inprefaces and foot-notes, and a short paragraph in the _Times_ at thelast.... Mr. Hoddam did not seek the company of one who was young,pretty, an heiress, and presumably flippant, but he was flattered whenshe plainly sought him.
"Mr. Lewis Haystoun is coming here this afternoon," she had announced."Do you know him?"
"I have read his book," said her victim.
"Yes, but did you not know him at Oxford? You were there with him, wereyou not?"
"Yes, we were there together. I knew him by sight, of course, for hewas a very well-known person. But, you see, we belonged to verydifferent sets."
"How do you mean?" asked the blunt Alice.
"Well, you see," began Mr. Hoddam awkwardly--absolute honesty was oneof his characteristics--"he was very well off, and he lived with asporting set, and he was very exclusive."
"But I thought he was clever--I thought he was rather brilliant?"
"Oh, he was! Indubitably! He got everything he wanted, but then he gotthem easily and had a lot of time for other things, whereas most of ushad not a moment to spare. He got the best First of his year and theSt. Chad's Fellowship, but I think he cared far more about winning the'Varsity Grind. Men who knew him said he was an extremely good fellow,but he had scores of rich sporting friends, and nobody else ever got toknow him. I have heard him speak often, and his manner gave one theimpression that he was a tremendous swell, you know, and ratherconceited. People used to think him a sort of universal genius whocould do everything. I suppose he was quite the ablest man that hadbeen there for years, but I should think he would succeed ultimately asthe man of action and not as the scholar."
"You give him a most unlovely character," said the girl.
"I don't mean to. I own to being entirely fascinated by him. But hewas never, I think, really popular. He was supposed to be intolerant ofmediocrity; and also he used to offend quite honest, simple-mindedpeople by treating their beliefs very cavalierly. I used to compare himwith Raleigh or Henri IV.--the proud, confident man of action."
Alice had pondered over Mr. Hoddam's confessions and was prepared toreceive the visitor with coldness. The vigorous little democrat in herhated arrogance. Before, if she had asked herself what type on earthshe hated most, she would have decided for the unscrupulous, proud man.And yet this Lewis must be lovable. That brown face had infiniteattractiveness, and she trusted Lady Manorwater's acuteness and goodnessof heart.
Lord Manorwater had gone off on some matter of business and taken theyounger Miss Afflint with him. As Alice looked round the littleassembly on the lawn, she felt for the first time the insignificance ofthe men. The large Mr. Stocks was not at his best in suchsurroundings. He was the typical townsman, and bore with him whereverhe went an atmosphere of urban dust and worry. He hungered forostentation, he could only talk well when he felt that he impressed hishearers; Bertha, who was not easily impressed, he shunned like a plague.The man, reflected the censorious Alice, had no shades or half-tones inhis character; he was all bald, strong, and crude. Now he was talkingto his hostess with the grace of the wise man unbending.
"I shall be pleased indeed to meet your nephew," he said. "I feel surethat we have many interests in common. Do you say he lives near?"
Lady Manorwater, ever garrulous on family matters, readily enlightenedhim. "Etterick is his, and really all the land round here. We simplylive on a patch in the middle of it. The shooting is splendid, andLewie is a very keen sportsman. His mother was my husband's sister, anddied when he was born. He is wonderfully unspoiled to have had such alonely boyhood."
"How did the family get the land?" he asked. It was a matter whichinterested him, for democratic politician though he was, he lookedalways forward to the day when he should own a pleasant countryproperty, and forget the troubles of life in the Nirvana of therespectable.
"Oh, they've had it for ages. They are a very old family, you know, andlook down upon us as parvenus. They have been everything in theirday--soldiers, statesmen, lawyers; and when we were decent merchants inAbbeykirk three centuries ago, they were busy making history. When yougo to Etterick you must see the pictures. There is a fine one byJameson of the Haystoun who fought with Montrose, and Raeburn paintedmost of the Haystouns of his time. They were a very handsome race, atleast the men; the women were too florid and buxom for my taste."
"And this Lewis--is he the only one of the family?"
"The very last, and of course he does his best to make away with himselfby risking his precious life in Hindu Kush or Tibet or somewhere." Herladyship was geographically vague.
"What a pity he does not realize his responsibilities!" said thepolitician. "He might do so much."
But at the moment it dawned upon the speaker that the shirker ofresponsibilities was appearing in person. There strode towards them,across the lawn, a young man and two dogs.
"How do you do, Aunt Egeria?" he cried, and he caught her small woman'shand in a hard brown one and smiled on the little lady.
Bertha Afflint had flung her magazine to the winds and caught hisavailable left hand. "Oh, Lewie, you wretch! how glad we are to seeyou again." Meantime the dogs performed a solemn minuet around herladyship's knees.
The young man, when he had escaped from the embraces of his friends,turned to the others. He seemed to recognize two of them, for he shookhands cordially with the two spectacled people. "Hullo, Hoddam, how areyou? And Imrie! Who would have thought of finding you here?" And hepoured forth a string of kind questions till the two beamed withpleasure.
Then Alice heard dimly words of introduction: "Miss Wishart, Mr.Haystoun," and felt herself bowing automatically. She actually feltnervous. The disreputable fisher of the day before was in ordinaryriding garments of fair respectability. He recognized her at once, buthe, too, seemed to lose for a moment his flow of greetings. His toneinsensibly changed to a conventional politeness, and he asked her someof the stereotyped questions
with which one greets a stranger. She feltsharply that she was a stranger to whom the courteous young man assumedmore elaborate manners. The freedom of the day before seemed gone. Sheconsoled herself with the thought that whereas then she had been warm,flushed, and untidy, she was now very cool and elegant in her prettiestfrock.
Then Mr. Stocks arose and explained that he was delighted to meet Mr.Lewis Haystoun, that he knew of his reputation, and hoped to have somepleasant talk on matters dear to the heart of both. At which Lewisshunned the vacant seat between Bertha and that gentleman, and stretchedhimself on the lawn beside Alice's chair. A thrill of pleasure enteredthe girl's heart, to her own genuine surprise.
"Are Tam and Jock at peace now?" she asked.
"Tam and Jock are never at peace. Jock is sedate and grave and old forhis years, while Tam is simply a human collie. He has the same endearingmanners and irresponsible mind. I had to fish him out of severalrock-pools after you left."
Alice laughed, and Lady Manorwater said in wonder, "I didn't know youhad met Lewie before, Alice."
"Miss Wishart and I forgathered accidentally at the Midburn yesterday,"said the man.
"Oh, you went there," cried the aggrieved Arthur, "and you never toldme! Why, it is the best water about here, and yesterday was afirst-rate day. What did you catch, Lewie?"
"Twelve pounds--about four dozen trout."
"Listen to that! And to think that that great hulking chap got all thesport!" And the boy intercepted his cousin's tea by way of retaliation.
Then Mr. Stocks had his innings, with Lady Manorwater for company, andLewis was put through a strict examination on his doings for the pastyears.
"What made you choose that outlandish place, my dear?" asked his aunt.
"Oh, partly the chance of a shot at big game, partly a restless interestin frontier politics which now and then seizes me. But really it wasWratislaw's choice."
"Do you know Wratislaw?" asked Mr. Stocks abruptly.
"Tommy?--why, surely! My best of friends. He had got his fellowshipsome years before I went up, but I often saw him at Oxford, and he hashelped me innumerable times." The young man spoke eagerly, prepared toextend warm friendship to any acquaintance of his friend's.
"He and I have sometimes crossed swords," said Mr. Stocks pompously.
Lewis nodded, and forbore to ask which had come off the better.
"He is, of course, very able," said Mr. Stocks, making a generousadmission.
His hearer wondered why he should be told of a man's ability when he hadspoken of him as his friend.
"Have you heard much of him lately?" he asked. "We correspondedregularly when I was abroad, but of course he never would speak abouthimself, and I only saw him for a short time last week in London."
The gentleman addressed waved a deprecating hand.
"He has had no popular recognition. Such merits as he has are too aloofto touch the great popular heart. But we who believe in the people andwork for them have found him a bitter enemy. The idle, academic,superior person, whatever his gifts, is a serious hindrance to honestwork," said the popular idol.
"I shouldn't call him idle or superior," said Lewis quietly. "I haveseen hard workers, but I have never seen anything like Tommy. He is aperfect mill-horse, wasting his fine talent on a dreary routine, merelybecause he is conscientious and nobody can do it so well."
He always respected honesty, so he forbore to be irritated with thisassured speaker.
But Alice interfered to prevent jarring.
"I read your book, Mr. Haystoun. What a time you must have had! Yousay that north of Bardur or some place like that there are two hundredmiles of utterly unknown land till you come to Russian territory. Ishould have thought that land important. Why doesn't some one penetrateit?
"Well, for various causes. It is very high land and the climate is notmild. Also, there are abundant savage tribes with a particularlyeffective crooked kind of knife. And, finally, our Governmentdiscourages British enterprise there, and Russia would do the same assoon as she found out."
"But what a chance for an adventurer!" said Alice, with a face aglow.
Lewis looked up at the slim figure in the chair above him, and caughtthe gleam of dark eyes.
"Well, some day, Miss Wishart--who knows?" he said slowly andcarelessly.
But three people looked at him, Bertha, his aunt, and Mr. Stocks, andthree people saw the same thing. His face had closed up like a steeltrap. It was no longer the kindly, humorous face of the sportsman andgood fellow, but the keen, resolute face of the fighter, the schemer,the man of daring. The lines about his chin and brow seemed to tightenand strengthen and steel, while the grey eyes had for a moment a glintof fire.
Three people never forgot that face. It was a pity that the lady at hisside was prevented from seeing it by her position, for otherwise lifemight have gone differently with both. But the things which we callchance are in the power of the Fateful Goddesses who reserve their rightto juggle with poor humanity.
Alice only heard the words, but they pleased her. Mr. Stocks fellfarther into the background of disfavour. She had imagination and fireas well as common sense. It was the purple and fine gold which firstcaught her fancy, though on reflection she might decide for thehodden-grey. So she was very gracious to the young adventurer. AndArthur's brows grew dark as Erebus.
* * * * *
Lewis rode home in the late afternoon to Etterick in a haze of goldenweather with an abstracted air and a slack bridle. A small, daintyfigure tripped through the mazes of his thoughts. This man, usuallyoblivious of woman's presence, now mooned like any schoolboy. Thosefresh young eyes and the glory of that hair! And to think that once hehad sworn by black!