The Three Clerks Part 41

"The senior clerk shook his grey locks sadly! sadly he shook his thin grey locks, for he grieved at the sight which he saw. 'Twas sad to see the energies of this young man thus sapped in his early youth by the all-absorbing strength of a hopeless pa.s.sion.

Crinoline was now, as it were, a household word at the Episcopal Audit Board. The senior clerk believed her to be cruel, and as he knew for what object these two hours of idleness were requested, he shook his thin grey locks in sorrow.

"'I'll be back at three, sir, punctual,' said Maca.s.sar.

"'But, Mr. Jones, you are absent nearly every day for the same period.'

"'To-day shall be the last; to-day shall end it all,' said Maca.s.sar, with a look of wretched desperation.

"'What--what would Sir Gregory say?' said the senior clerk.

"Maca.s.sar Jones sighed deeply. Nature had not made the senior clerk a cruel man; but yet this allusion _was_ cruel. The young Maca.s.sar had drunk deeply of the waters that welled from the fountain of Sir Gregory's philosophy. He had been proud to sit humbly at the feet of such a Gamaliel; and now it rent his young heart to be thus twitted with the displeasure of the great master whom he so loved and so admired.

"'Well, go, Mr. Jones,' said the senior clerk, 'go, but as you go, resolve that to-morrow you will remain at your desk. Now go, and may prosperity attend you!'

"'All shall be decided to-day,' said Maca.s.sar, and as he spoke an unusual spark gleamed in his eye. He went, and as he went the senior clerk shook his thin grey hairs. He was a bachelor, and he distrusted the charms of the s.e.x.

"Maca.s.sar, returning to his desk, took up his hat and his umbrella, and went forth. His indeed was a plight at which that old senior clerk might well shake his thin grey hairs in sorrow, for Maca.s.sar was the victim of mysterious circ.u.mstances, which, from his youth upwards, had marked him out for a fate of no ordinary nature. The tale must now be told."

'O dear!' said Linda; 'is it something horrid?'

'I hope it is,' said Katie; 'perhaps he's already married to some old hag or witch.'

'You don't say who his father and mother are; but I suppose he'll turn out to be somebody else's son,' said Linda.

'He's a very nice young man for a small tea-party, at any rate,'

said Uncle Bat.

"The tale must now be told," continued Mrs. Woodward. "In his early years Maca.s.sar Jones had had a maiden aunt. This lady died--"

'Oh, mamma, if you read it in that way I shall certainly cry,'

said Katie.

'Well, my dear, if your heart is so susceptible you had better indulge it.' "This lady died and left behind her----"

'What?' said Linda.

'A diamond ring?' said Katie.

'A sealed ma.n.u.script, which was found in a secret drawer?'

suggested Linda.

'Perhaps a baby,' said Uncle Bat.

"And left behind her a will----"

'Did she leave anything else?' asked Norman.

'Ladies and gentlemen, if I am to be interrupted in this way, I really must resign my task,' said Mrs. Woodward; 'we shall never get to bed.'

'I won't say another word,' said Katie.

"In his early years Maca.s.sar had had a maiden aunt. This lady died and left behind her a will, in which, with many expressions of the warmest affection and fullest confidence, she left 3,000 in the three per cents----"

'What are the three per cents?' said Katie.

'The three per cents is a way in which people get some of their money to spend regularly, when they have got a large sum locked up somewhere,' said Linda.

'Oh!' said Katie.

'Will you hold your tongue, miss?' said Mrs. Woodward.

"Left 3,000 in the three per cents to her nephew. But she left it on these conditions, that he should be married before he was twenty-five, and that he should have a child lawfully born in the bonds of wedlock before he was twenty-six. And then the will went on to state that the interest of the money should acc.u.mulate till Maca.s.sar had attained the latter age; and that in the event of his having failed to comply with the conditions and stipulations above named, the whole money, princ.i.p.al and interest, should be set aside, and by no means given up to the said Maca.s.sar, but applied to the uses, purposes, and convenience of that excellent charitable inst.i.tution, denominated the Princess Charlotte's Lying-in Hospital.

"Now the nature of this will had been told in confidence by Maca.s.sar to some of his brother clerks, and was consequently well known at the Episcopal Audit Board. It had given rise there to a spirit of speculation against which the senior clerk had protested in vain. Bets were made, some in favour of Maca.s.sar, and some in that of the hospital; but of late the odds were going much against our hero. It was well known that in three short months he would attain that disastrous age, which, if it found him a bachelor, would find him also denuded of his legacy. And then how short a margin remained for the second event! The odds were daily rising against Maca.s.sar, and as he heard the bets offered and taken at the surrounding desks, his heart quailed within him.

"And the lovely Crinoline, she also had heard of this eccentric will; she and her mother. 3,000 with interest arising for some half score of years would make a settlement by no means despicable in Tavistock Square, and would enable Maca.s.sar to maintain a house over which even Crinoline need not be ashamed to preside. But what if the legacy should be lost! She also knew to a day what was the age of her swain; she knew how close upon her was that day, which, if she pa.s.sed it unwedded, would see her resolved to be deaf for ever to the vows of Maca.s.sar. Still, if she managed well, there might be time--at any rate for the marriage.

"But, alas! Maca.s.sar made no vows; none at least which the most attentive ear could consider to be audible. Crinoline's ear was attentive, but hitherto in vain. He would come there daily to Tavistock Square; daily would that true and valiant page lay open the path to his mistress's feet; daily would Maca.s.sar sit there for a while and sigh. But the envious hour would pa.s.s away, while the wished-for word was still unsaid; and he would hurry back, and complete with figures, too often erroneous, the audit of some diocesan balance.

"'You must help him, my dear,' said Crinoline's mamma.

"'But he says nothing, mamma,' said Crinoline in tears.

"'You must encourage him to speak, my dear.'

"'I do encourage him; but by that time it is always three o'clock, and then he has to go away.'

"'You should be quicker, my dear. You should encourage him more at once. Now try to-day; if you can't do anything to-day I really must get your papa to interfere.'

"Crinoline had ever been an obedient child, and now, as ever, she determined to obey. But it was a hard task for her. In three months he would be twenty-five--in fifteen months twenty-six.

She, however, would do her best; and then, if her efforts were unavailing, she could only trust to Providence and her papa.

"With sad and anxious heart did Maca.s.sar that day take up his new silk hat, take up also his darling umbrella, and descend the sombre steps of the Episcopal Audit Office. 'Seven to one on the Lying-in,' were the last words which reached his ears as the door of his room closed behind him. His was a dreadful position. What if that sweet girl, that angel whom he so worshipped, what if she, melted by his tale of sorrow--that is, if he could prevail on himself to tell it--should take pity, and consent to be hurried prematurely to the altar of Hymen; and then if, after all, the legacy should be forfeited! Poverty for himself he could endure; at least he thought so; but poverty for her! could he bear that? What if he should live to see her deprived of that green headdress, robbed of those copious draperies, reduced to English shoes, compelled to desert that shrine in Hanover Square, and all through him! His brain reeled round, his head swam, his temples throbbed, his knees knocked against each other, his blood stagnated, his heart collapsed, a cold clammy perspiration covered him from head to foot; he could hardly reach the courtyard, and there obtain the support of a pillar. Dreadful thoughts filled his mind; the Thames, the friendly Thames, was running close to him; should he not put a speedy end to all his misery? Those horrid words, that 'seven to one on the Lying-in,'

still rang in his ears; were the chances really seven to one against his getting his legacy? 'Oh!' said he, 'my aunt, my aunt, my aunt, my aunt, my aunt!'

"But at last he roused the spirit of the man within him. 'Faint heart never won fair lady,' seemed to be whispered to him from every stone in Somerset House. The cool air blowing through the pa.s.sages revived him, and he walked forth through the wide portals, resolving that he would return a happy, thriving lover, or that he would return no more--that night. What would he care for Sir Gregory, what for the thin locks of the senior clerk, if Crinoline should reject him?

"It was his custom, as he walked towards Tavistock Square, to stop at a friendly pastry-cook's in Covent Garden, and revive his spirits for the coming interview with Banbury tarts and cherry-brandy. In the moments of his misery something about the pastry-cook's girl, something that reminded him of Crinoline, it was probably her nose, had tempted him to confide to her his love. He had told her everything; the kind young creature pitied him, and as she ministered to his wants, was wont to ask sweetly as to his pa.s.sion.

"'And how was the lovely Lady Crinoline yesterday?' asked she. He had entrusted to her a copy of his poem.

"'More beauteous than ever,' he said, but somewhat indistinctly, for his mouth was clogged with the Banbury tart.

"'And good-natured, I hope. Indeed, I don't know how she can resist,' said the girl; 'I'm sure you'll make it all right to-day, for I see you've got your winning way with you.'

"Winning way, with seven to one against him! Maca.s.sar sighed, and spilt some of his cherry-brandy over his shirt front. The kind-hearted girl came and wiped it for him. 'I think I'll have another gla.s.s,' said he, with a deep voice. He did take another gla.s.s--and also ate another tart.

"'He'll pop to-day as sure as eggs, now he's taken them two gla.s.ses of popping powder,' said the girl, as he went out of the shop. 'Well, it's astonishing to me what the men find to be afraid of.'