Lord Kilgobbin Part 91

'It could never be,' cried he aloud; 'to some miss fresh from the schoolroom and the governess, I could dare to talk a language only understood by those who have been conversant with high questions, and moved in the society of thoughtful talkers.'

There is no quality so dangerous to eulogise as experience, and Atlee thought long over this. One determination or another must speedily be come to. If there was no likelihood of success with Lady Maude, he must not lose his chances with the Greek girl. The sum, whatever it might be, which her father should obtain for his secret papers, would const.i.tute a very respectable portion. 'I have a stronger reason to fight for liberal terms,'

thought he, 'than the Prince Kostalergi imagines; and, fortunately, that fine parental trait, that n.o.ble desire to make a provision for his child, stands out so clearly in my brief, I should be a sorry advocate if I could not employ it.'

In the few words that pa.s.sed between Lord Danesbury and himself on arriving, he learned that there was but little chance of winning his election for the borough. Indeed, he bore the disappointment jauntily and good-humouredly. That great philosophy of not attaching too much importance to any one thing in life, sustained him in every venture. 'Bet on the field--never back the favourite,' was his formula for inculcating the wisdom of trusting to the general game of life, rather than to any particular emergency. 'Back the field,' he would say, 'and you must be unlucky, or you'll come right in the long run.'

They dined that day alone, that is, they were but three at table; and Atlee enjoyed the unspeakable pleasure of hearing them talk with the freedom and unconstraint people only indulge in when 'at home.' Lord Danesbury discussed confidential questions of political importance: told how his colleagues agreed in this, or differed on that; adverted to the nice points of temperament which made one man hopeful and that other despondent or distrustful; he exposed the difficulties they had to meet in the Commons, and where the Upper House was intractable; and even went so far in his confidences as to admit where the criticisms of the Press were felt to be damaging to the administration.

'The real danger of ridicule,' said he, 'is not the pungency of the satire, it is the facility with which it is remembered and circulated. The man who reads the strong leader in the _Times_ may have some general impression of being convinced, but he cannot repeat its arguments or quote its expressions. The pasquinade or the squib gets a hold on the mind, and in its very drollery will ensure its being retained there.'

Atlee was not a little gratified to hear that this opinion was delivered apropos to a short paper of his own, whose witty sarcasms on the Cabinet were exciting great amus.e.m.e.nt in town, and much curiosity as to the writer.

'He has not seen "The Whitebait Dinner" yet,' said Lady Maude; 'the cleverest _jeu d'esprit_ of the day.'

'Ay, or of any day,' broke in Lord Danesbury. 'Even the _Anti-Jacobin_ has nothing better. The notion is this. The Devil happens to be taking a holiday, and he is in town just at the time of the Ministerial dinner, and hearing that he is at Claridge's, the Cabinet, ashamed at the little attention bestowed on a crowned head, ask him down to Greenwich. He accepts, and to kill an hour--

"He strolled down, of course, To the Parliament House, And heard how England stood, As she has since the Flood, Without ally or friend to a.s.sist her.

But, while every persuasion Was full of invasion From Russian or Prussian, Yet the only discussion Was, how should a Gentleman marry his sister."'

'Can you remember any more of it, my lord?' asked Atlee, on whose table at that moment were lying the proof-sheets of the production.

'Maude has it all somewhere. You must find it for him, and let him guess the writer--if he can.'

'What do the clubs say?' asked Atlee.

'I think they are divided between Orlop and Bouverie. I'm told that the Garrick people say it's Sankey, a young fellow in F. O.'

'You should see Aunt Jerningham about it, Mr. Atlee--her eagerness is driving her half mad.'

'Take him out to "Lebanon" on Sunday,' said my lord; and Lady Maude agreed with a charming grace and courtesy, adding as she left the room, 'So remember you are engaged for Sunday.'

Atlee bowed as he held the door open for her to pa.s.s out, and threw into his glance what he desired might mean homage and eternal devotion.

'Now then for a little quiet confab,' said my lord. 'Let me hear what you mean by your telegram. All I could make out was that you found our man.'

'Yes, I found him, and pa.s.sed several hours in his company.'

'Was the fellow very much out at elbows, as usual?'

'No, my lord--thriving, and likely to thrive. He has just been named envoy to the Ottoman Court.'

'Bah!' was all the reply his incredulity could permit.

'True, I a.s.sure you. Such is the estimation he is held in at Athens, the Greeks declare he has not his equal. You are aware that his name is Spiridion Kostalergi, and he claims to be Prince of Delos.'

'With all my heart. Our h.e.l.lenic friends never quarrel over their n.o.bility.

There are t.i.tles and to spare for every one. Will he give us our papers?'

'Yes; but not without high terms. He declares, in fact, my lord, that you can no more return to the Bosporus without _him_ than he can go there without _you_.'

'Is the fellow insolent enough to take this ground?'

'That is he. In fact, he presumes to talk as your lordship's colleague, and hints at the several points in which you may act in concert.'

'It is very Greek all this.'

'His terms are ten thousand pounds in cash, and--'

'There, there, that will do. Why not fifty--why not a hundred thousand?'

'He affects a desire to be moderate, my lord.'

'I hope you withdrew at once after such a proposal? I trust you did not prolong the interview a moment longer?'

'I arose, indeed, and declared that the mere mention of such terms was like a refusal to treat at all.'

'And you retired?'

'I gained the door, when he detained me. He has, I must admit, a marvellous plausibility, for though at first he seemed to rely on the all-importance of these doc.u.ments to your lordship--how far they would compromise you in the past and impede you for the future, how they would impair your influence, and excite the animosity of many who were freely canva.s.sed and discussed in them--yet he abandoned all that at the end of our interview, and restricted himself to the plea that the sum, if a large one, could not be a serious difficulty to a great English n.o.ble, and would be the crowning fortune of a poor Greek gentleman, who merely desired to secure a marriage-portion for his only daughter.'

'And you believed this?'

'I so far believed him that I have his pledge in writing that, when he has your lordship's a.s.surance that you will comply with his terms--and he only asks that much--he will deposit the papers in the hands of the Minister at Athens, and const.i.tute your lordship the trustee of the amount in favour of his daughter, the sum only to be paid on her marriage.'

'How can it possibly concern me that he has a daughter, or why should I accept such a trust?'

'The proposition had no other meaning than to guarantee the good faith on which his demand is made.'

'I don't believe in the daughter.'

'That is, that there is one?'

'No. I am persuaded that she has no existence. It is some question of a mistress or a dependant; and if so, the sentimentality, which would seem to have appealed so forcibly to you, fails at once.'

'That is quite true, my lord; and I cannot pretend to deny the weakness you accuse me of. There may be no daughter in the question.'

'Ah! You begin to perceive now that you surrendered your convictions too easily, Atlee. You failed in that element of "restless distrust" that Talleyrand used to call the temper of the diplomatist.'

'It is not the first time I have had to feel I am your lordship's inferior.'

'_My_ education was not made in a day, Atlee. It need be no discouragement to you that you are not as long-sighted as I am. No, no; rely upon it, there is no daughter in the case.'

'With that conviction, my lord, what is easier than to make your adhesion to his terms conditional on his truth? You agree, if his statement be in all respects verified.'

'Which implies that it is of the least consequence to me whether the fellow has a daughter or not?'

'It is so only as the guarantee of the man's veracity.'