by John Buchan
CHAPTER IX
THE EPISODES OF A DAY
It is painful to record it, but when the Glenavelin party arrived atnoon of the next day it was only to find the house deserted. LadyManorwater, accustomed to the vagaries of her nephew, led the guestsover the place and found to her horror that it seemed undwelt in. Thehall was in order, and the tart and rosy lairds of Etterick looked downfrom their Raeburn canvases on certain signs of habitation; but thedrawing-rooms were dingy with coverings and all the large rooms were inthe same tidy disarray. Then, wise from experience, she led the way toLewis's sanctum, and found there a pretty luncheon-table and every tokenof men's presence. Soon the four tenants arrived, hot and breathless,from the hill, to find Bertha Afflint deep in rods and guns, MissWishart and Lady Manorwater ensconced in the great armchairs, and Mr.Stocks casting a critic's eye over the unruly bookshelves.
Wratislaw's presence at first cast a certain awe on the assembly. Hisname was so painfully familiar, so consistently abused, that it was hardto refrain from curiosity. Lady Manorwater, an ancient ally, greetedhim effusively, and Alice cast shy glances at this strong man with thekind smile and awkward manners. The truth is that Wratislaw was acutelynervous. With Mr. Stocks alone was he at his ease. He shook his handheartily, declared himself delighted to meet him again, and looked withsuch manifest favour on this opponent that the gentleman was cast intoconfusion.
"I must talk shop," cried Lady Manorwater when they were seated attable. "Lewie, have you heard the news that poor Sir Robert hasretired? What a treasure of a cook you have, sir! The poor man isgoing to travel, as his health is bad; he wrote me this morning. Nowwho is to take his place? And I wish you'd get me the recipe for thistomato soup."
Lewis unravelled the tangled skein of his aunt's questions.
"I heard about Merkland last night from Wratislaw. I think, perhaps, Ihad better make a confession to everybody. I never intended to botherwith party politics, at least not for a good many years, but some peoplewant me to stand, so I have agreed. You will have a very weak opponent,Stocks, so I hope you will pardon my impertinence in trying the thing."
The candidate turned a little pale, but he smiled gallantly.
"I shall be glad to have so distinguished an opponent. But I thoughtthat yesterday you would never have dreamed of the thing."
"No more I should; but Wratislaw talked to me seriously and I waspersuaded."
Wratislaw tried to look guileless, failed signally, and detected asudden unfavourable glance from Mr. Stocks in his direction.
"We must manage everything as pleasantly as possible. You have my auntand my uncle and Arthur on your side, while I have George, who doesn'tcount in this show, and I hope Wratislaw. I'll give you a three days'start if you like in lieu of notice." And the young man laughed as ifthe matter were the simplest of jokes.
The laugh jarred very seriously on one listener. To Alice the morninghad been full of vexations, for Mr. Stocks had again sought hercompany, and wearied her with a new manner of would-be gallantry whichsat ill upon him. She had come to Etterick with a tenderness towardsLewis which was somewhat dispelled by his newly-disclosed politicalaims. It meant that the Glenavelin household, including herself, wouldbe in a different camp for three dreary weeks, and that Mr. Stockswould claim more of her society than ever. With feminine inconsistencyshe visited her repugnance towards that gentleman on his innocent rival.But Mr. Lewis Haystoun's light-hearted manner of regarding the businessstruck the little Puritan deeper. Politics had always been a thing ofthe gravest import in her eyes, bound up with a man's duty and honourand religion, and lo! here was this Gallio who not only adorned a partyshe had been led to regard as reprobate, but treated the whole affair asa half-jocular business, on which one should not be serious. It wassheer weakness, her heart cried out, the weakness of the philanderer,the half-hearted. In her vexation her interest flew in sympathy to Mr.Stocks, and she viewed him for the occasion with favour.
"You are far too frivolous about it," she cried. "How can you fight ifyou are not in earnest, and how can you speak things you only halfbelieve? I hate to think of men playing at politics." And she had sether little white teeth, and sat flushed and diffident, a Muse ofProtest.
Lewis flushed in turn. He recognized with pain the fulfilment of hisfears. He saw dismally how during the coming fight he would sink dailyin the estimation of this small critic, while his opponent would asconspicuously rise. The prospect did not soothe him, and he turned toBertha Afflint, who was watching the scene with curious eyes.
"It's very sad, Lewie," she said, "but you'll get no canvassers fromGlenavelin. We have all been pledged to Mr. Stocks for the last week.Alice is a keen politician, and, I believe, has permanently unsettledLord Manorwater's easy-going Liberalism. She believes in action;whereas, you know, he does not."
"We all believe in action nowadays," said Wratislaw. "I could wish attimes for the revival of 'leisureliness' as a party catch-word."
And then there ensued a passage of light arms between the great man andBertha which did not soothe Alice's vexation. She ignored the amiableGeorge, seeing in him another of the half-hearted, and in a fine heat ofvirtue devoted herself to Mr. Stocks. That gentleman had beenmelancholy, but the favour of Miss Wishart made him relax his heavybrows and become communicative. He was flattered by her interest. Sheheard his reminiscences with a smile and his judgments with attention.Soon the whole table talked merrily, and two people alone were awarethat breaches yawned under the unanimity.
Archness was not in Alice's nature, and still less was coquetry. WhenLewis after lunch begged to be allowed to show her his dwelling she didnot blush and simper, she showed no pretty reluctance, no gracefuldispleasure. She thanked him, but coldly, and the two climbed the ridgeabove the lake, whence the whole glen may be seen winding beneath. Itwas still, hot July weather, and the far hills seemed to blink andshimmer in the haze; but at their feet was always coolness in the bluedepth of the loch, the heath-fringed shores, the dark pines, and thecold whinstone crags.
"You don't relish the prospect of the next month?" she asked.
He shrugged his shoulders. "After all, it is only a month, and it willall be over before the shooting begins."
"I cannot understand you," she cried suddenly and impatiently. "Peoplecall you ambitious, and yet you have to be driven by force to thesimplest move in the game, and all the while you are thinking andtalking as if a day's sport were of far greater importance."
"And it really vexes you--Alice?" he said, with penitent eyes.
She drew swiftly away and turned her face, so that the man might not seethe vexation and joy struggling for mastery.
"Of course it is none of my business, but surely it is a pity." And thelittle doctrinaire walked with head erect to the edge of the slope andstudied intently the distant hills.
The man was half amused, half pained, but his evil star was in theascendant. Had he known it, he would have been plain and natural, forat no time had the girl ever been so near to him. Instead, he made somelaughing remark, which sounded harshly flippant in her ears. She lookedat him reproachfully; it was cruel to treat her seriousness with scorn;and then, seeing Lady Manorwater and the others on the lawn below, sheasked him with studied carelessness to take her back. Lewis obeyedmeekly, cursing in his heart his unhappy trick of an easy humour. Ifhis virtues were to go far to rob him of what he most cared for, itlooked black indeed for the unfortunate young man.
Meantime Wratislaw and Mr. Stocks had drawn together by the attractionof opposites. A change had come over the latter, and momentarilyeclipsed his dignity. For the man was not without tact, and he feltthat the attitude of high-priest of all the virtues would not suit inthe presence of one whose favourite task it was to laugh his so-calledvirtues to scorn. Such, at least to begin with, was his honourableintention. But the subtle Wratislaw drew him from his retirement andskilfully elicited his coy principles. It was a cruel performance--ashameless one, had there been any spectator. The one would lay down afine generous line
of policy; the other would beg for a fact inconfirmation. The one would haltingly detail some facts; the otherwould promptly convince him of their falsity. Eventually the victimgrew angry and a little frightened. The real Mr. Stocks was a man ofbusiness, not above making a deal with an opponent; and for a little thereal Mr. Stocks emerged from his shell.
"You won't speak much in the coming fight, will you? You see, you arerather heavy metal for a beginner like myself," he said, with commercialfrankness.
"No, my dear Stocks, to set your mind at rest, I won't. Lewis wants tobe knocked about a little, and he wants the fight to brace him. I'llleave him to fight his own battles, and wish good luck to the betterman. Also, I won't come to your meetings and ask awkward questions."
Mr. Stocks bore malice only to his inferiors, and respected his betterswhen he was not on a platform. He thanked Wratislaw with greatheartiness, and when Lady Manorwater found the two they were beaming oneach other like the most ancient friends.
"Has anybody seen Lewie?" she was asking. "He is the most scandaloushost in the world. We can't find boats or canoes and we can't find him.Oh, here is the truant!" And the renegade host was seen in the wake ofAlice descending from the ridge.
Something in the attitude of the two struck the lady with suspicion.Was it possible that she had been blind, and that her nephew was aboutto confuse her cherished schemes? This innocent woman, who went throughthe world as not being of it, had fancied that already Alice had fallenin with her plans. She had seemed to court Mr. Stocks's company, whilehe most certainly sought eagerly for hers. But Lewis, if he entered thelists, would be a perplexing combatant, and Lady Manorwater called hergods to witness that it should not be. Many motives decided her againstit. She hated that a scheme of her own once made should be checkmated,though it were by her dearest friend. More than all, her pride was inarms. Lewis was a dazzling figure; he should make a great match; moneyand pretty looks and parvenu blood were not enough for his highmightiness.
So it came about that, when they had explored the house, circumnavigatedthe loch, and had tea on a lawn of heather, she informed her party thatshe must get out at Haystounslacks, for she wished to see the farmer,and asked Bertha to keep her company. The young woman agreed readily,with the result that Alice and Mr. Stocks were left sole occupants ofthe carriage for the better half of the way. The man was only toowilling to seize the chance thus divinely given him. His irritation atLewis's projects had been tempered by Alice's kindness at lunch andWratislaw's unlooked-for complaisance. Things looked rosy for him; faroff, as on the horizon of his hopes, he saw a seat in Parliament and afair and amply dowered wife.
But Miss Wishart was scarcely in so pleasant a humour. With Lewis shewas undeniably cross, but of Mr. Stocks she was radically intolerant.A moment of pique might send her to his side, but the position wasunnatural and could not be maintained. Even now Lewis was in herthoughts. Fragments of his odd romantic speech clove to her memory.His figure--for he showed to perfection in his own surroundings--was socomely and gallant, so bright with the glamour of adventurous youth,that for a moment this prosaic young woman was a convert to the colouredside of life and had forgotten her austere creed.
Mr. Stocks went about his duty with praise-worthy thoroughness. Forthe fiftieth time in a week he detailed to her his prospects. When hehad raised a cloud-built castle of fine hopes, when he had with manlysimplicity repeated his confession of faith, he felt that the crucialmoment had arrived. Now, when she looked down the same avenue ofprospect as himself, he could gracefully ask her to adorn the fair scenewith her presence.
"Alice," he said, and at the sound of her name the girl started from areverie in which Lewis was not absent, and looked vacantly in his face.
He took it for maidenly modesty.
"I have wanted to speak to you for long, Alice. We have seen a gooddeal of each other lately, and I have come to be very fond of you. Itrust you may have some liking for me, for I want you to promise to bemy wife."
He told his love in regular sentences. Unconsciously he had fallen intothe soft patronizing tone in which aforetime he had shepherded a Sundayschool.
The girl looked at the large sentimental face and laughed. She feltashamed of her rudeness even in the act.
He caught her hands, and before she knew his face was close to hers."Promise me, dear," he said. "We have everything in common. Yourfather will be delighted, and we will work together for the good of thepeople. You are not meant to be a casual idler like the people atEtterick. You and I are working man and woman."
It was her turn to flush in downright earnest. The man's hot facesickened her. What were these wild words he was speaking? She dimlycaught their purport, heard the mention of Etterick, saw once againLewis with his quick, kindly eyes, and turned coldly to the lover.
"It is quite out of the question, Mr. Stocks," she said calmly. "Ofcourse I am obliged to you for the honour you have done me, but thething is impossible."
"Who is it?" he cried, with angry eyes. "Is it Lewis Haystoun?"
The girl looked quickly at him, and he was silent, abashed. Strangelyenough, at that moment she liked him better than ever before. Sheforgave him his rudeness and folly, his tactless speech and his comicalface. He was in love with her, he offered her what he most valued, hispolitical chances and his code of fine sentiments; it was not his blameif she found both little better than husks.
Her attention flew for a moment to the place she had left, only toreturn to a dismal reflection. Was she not, after all, in the samegalley as her rejected suitor? What place had she in the frankgood-fellowship of Etterick, or what part had they in the inheritance ofherself and her kind? Had not Mr. Stocks--now sitting glumly by herside--spoken the truth? We are only what we are made, and generationsof thrift and seriousness had given her a love for the strenuous and theunadorned which could never be cast out. Here was a quandary--for atthe same instant there came the voice of the heart defiantly calling herto the breaking of idols.