The Protector Part 12

CHISHOLM PROVES AMENABLE.

Vane spent a month at the Dene with quiet satisfaction, and when at last he left for London and Paris he gladly promised to come back for another few weeks before he sailed for Canada. He stayed some time in Paris, because Carroll insisted on it, but it was with eagerness he went north again. For one reason--and he laid some stress upon this--he longed for the moorland air and the rugged fells, though he also admitted that Evelyn's society enhanced their charm for him.

At last, shortly before setting out on the journey, he took himself to task and endeavoured to determine what his feelings towards her were, but he signally failed to elucidate the point. It was only clear that he was more contented in her presence, and that, apart from her physical comeliness, she had a stimulating effect upon his mental faculties, although so far as he could remember she seldom said anything remarkable. Then he wondered how she regarded him, and to this question he could find no answer. For the most part there was a reserve he found more piquant than deterrent about her, and he was conscious that while willing to talk with him freely she was still holding him off at arm's length.

On the whole, he could not be absolutely sure that he desired to get much nearer. Though he failed to admit this clearly, his att.i.tude was largely one of respectful admiration with a vein of compa.s.sion in it.

Evelyn was unhappy, and out of harmony with her relatives, which he could understand more readily because their ideas often jarred on him.

He had been back at the Dene a fortnight, when one morning he walked out of the hamlet where the wheelwright's shop was with a telegram in his hand. Sitting down on the wall of a bridge close by, he turned to Carroll, who had accompanied him.

"I think you have Nairn's code in your wallet," he said. "We'll decipher the thing."

Carroll laid the message upon a smooth stone and set to work with a pencil.

"'Situation highly satisfactory,'" he read aloud, and commented: "It must be, if Nairn paid for another word; 'highly's' not in the code."

Then he went on with the deciphering: "'Result of reduction exceeds antic.i.p.ations. Stock, 30 premium. Your presence not immediately required.'"

"That's distinctly encouraging," said Vane. "Now they're getting farther in, the ore must be carrying more silver."

"It's fortunate. I ran through the bank account last night, and you have spent a lot of money. It confirms my opinion that you have expensive friends."

Vane frowned at this, but Carroll continued undeterred: "You want pulling up after the way you have been indulging in a reckless extravagance, which I feel compelled to point out is new to you. The cheque drawn in favour of Gerald Chisholm rather astonished me. Have you said anything about it to his relatives?"

"I haven't," Vane answered shortly.

"Then, judging by the little I saw of him, I should consider it most unlikely that he has made any allusion to the matter. The next cheque was more surprising; I mean the one you gave his father."

"They were both loans."

"Have you any expectation of getting the money back?"

"What has that to do with you?"

Carroll spread out his hands. "Only this--I think you need looking after. We can't stay here indefinitely. Hadn't you better get back to Vancouver before your English friends ruin you?"

"I'll go in three or four weeks, not before."

Carroll sat silent a minute or two; and then he looked his companion squarely in the face.

"Is it your intention to marry Evelyn Chisholm?"

"I don't know what has put that into your mind."

"I should be astonished if it hadn't suggested itself to her family,"

Carroll retorted.

"I'm far from sure it's an idea they'd entertain with any great favour.

For one thing, I can't live here."

"Try them, and see. Show them Nairn's telegram when you mention the matter."

Vane swung himself down from the wall.

"It's very possible that I may do so," he informed his comrade. "But we'll get along."

His heart beat more rapidly than usual as they turned back towards the house, but he was perfectly composed when, some little time later, he sat down beside Chisholm, who was lounging away the morning on the lawn.

"I've been across to the village for a telegram I expected," he announced. "The news is encouraging."

He read it to Chisholm, who had determined on the line he meant to follow.

"You're a fortunate man," he said. "There's probably no reasonable wish that you can't gratify."

"There are things one can't buy with dollars," Vane replied.

"That is very true. They're often the most valuable. On the other hand, some of them may now and then be had for the asking. Besides, when one has a sanguine temperament, it's difficult to believe that anything one sets one's heart upon is quite unattainable."

Vane wondered if he had been given a hint. Chisholm's manner was suggestive and Carroll's remarks had had an effect on him. He sat silent, and Chisholm spoke again: "If I were in your place, I should feel I had all I could desire within my reach."

Vane was becoming sure that his comrade had been right. Chisholm would not have harped upon the same idea unless he had intended to convey some particular meaning, but the man's methods roused Vane's dislike. He could face opposition, and he would sooner have been discouraged than judiciously prompted.

"Then if I offered myself as a suitor for Evelyn, you would not think me presumptuous?" he said.

Chisholm was somewhat surprised at his abruptness, but he smiled rea.s.suringly.

"No," he said; "I can't see why I should do so. You are in a position to maintain a wife in comfort, and I don't think anybody could take exception to your character." He paused a moment. "I suppose you have some idea of how Evelyn regards you?"

"I haven't the faintest notion," Vane confessed. "That's the trouble."

"Would you like me to mention the matter?"

"No," said Vane decidedly. "In fact, I must ask you not to do anything of the kind. I only wished to make sure of your good will, and now I'm satisfied on that point, I'd sooner wait, and speak--when it seems judicious."

Chisholm nodded. "Yes," he said indulgently, "I dare say that would be wisest."

Vane, who thanked him, waited. He fancied that the transaction, which seemed the best name for it, was not complete yet; but he meant to leave what should follow to his companion. He would not help the man.

"There's a matter which had better be mentioned now, distasteful as it is," Chisholm said at length. "I can settle nothing upon Evelyn. As you must have guessed, my affairs are in a far from promising state. Indeed, I'm afraid I may have to ask your indulgence when the loan falls due, and I don't mind confessing that the prospect of Evelyn's making what I think is a suitable marriage is a relief to me."

Vane's feelings were somewhat mixed, but contempt figured prominently among them. He could find no fault with Chisholm's desire to safeguard his daughter's future, but he was convinced that the man looked for more than this. He felt he had been favoured with a delicate hint, to which his companion expected an answer.

"Well," he said curtly, "you need not be concerned about the loan. To go a little farther, I should naturally take an interest in the welfare of my wife's relatives. I don't think I can say anything more in the meanwhile."

He knew that he might have spoken more plainly without offence, when he saw Chisholm's smile, but the latter looked satisfied.

"Those are the views I expected you to hold," he declared. "I believe Mrs. Chisholm will share my gratification if you find Evelyn disposed to listen to you."