The Wicked Marquis Part 8

"Women are not natural money-makers," he p.r.o.nounced.

"What is her real sphere?" she asked sweetly. "I should so much like to know your opinion of us."

"As yet," he replied, "I have had no time to form one."

"What a pity!" she sighed. "It would have been so instructive."

"In the small amenities of daily life," he said thoughtfully, "in what one of our writers calls the insignificant arts, women seem inevitably to excel. They always appear to do better, in fact, in the narrower circles. Directly they step outside, a certain lack of breadth becomes noticeable."

"Dear me!" she murmured. "It's a good thing I'm not one of these modern ladies who stand on a tub in Hyde Park and thump the drum for votes. I should be saying quite disagreeable things to you, Mr. Thain, shouldn't I?"

"You couldn't be one of those, if you tried," he replied. "You see, if I may be permitted to say so, nature has endowed you with rather a rare gift so far as your s.e.x is concerned."

"Don't be over-diffident," she begged. "I may know it, mayn't I?"

"A sense of humour."

"When a man tells a woman that she has a sense of humour," Let.i.tia declared, "it is a sure sign that he--"

She suddenly realised how intensely observant those steely grey eyes could be. She broke off in her sentence. They still held her, however.

"That he what?"

"Such a bad habit of mine," she confided frankly. "I so often begin a sentence and have no idea how to finish it. Ada," she went on, addressing Mrs. Honeywell, "has Mr. Thain taught you how to become a millionairess?"

"I haven't even tried to learn," that lady replied. "He has promised me a subscription to my Cripples' Guild, though."

"What extraordinary bad taste," Let.i.tia remarked, "to cadge from him at dinner time!"

"If your father weren't within hearing," Mrs. Honeywell retorted, "I'd let you know what I think of you as a hostess! Why are we all so frightened of your father, Let.i.tia? Look at him now. He is the most picturesque and kindly object you can imagine, yet I find myself always choosing my phrases, and slipping into a sort of pre-Victorian English, when I fancy that he is listening."

"I see him more from the family point of view, I suppose," Let.i.tia observed, "and yet, in a way, he is rather a wonderful person. For instance, I have never seen him hurry, I have never seen him angry, in the ordinary sense of the word; in fact he has the most amazing complacency I ever knew. Of course, Aunt Caroline," she went on, turning to the d.u.c.h.ess a few moments later, "if you want to stay with the men, pray do so. If not, you might take into account the fact that I have been trying to catch your eye for the last three minutes."

Thain drew up nearer to his host after the women had withdrawn, and found himself next Sir Robert, who talked railways with eloquence and some understanding. Lord Charles was frankly bored, and bestowed his whole attention upon the port. The Marquis discussed a recent land bill with his brother-in-law, but in a very few moments gave the signal to rise. He attached himself at once to David Thain.

"You play bridge?" he asked.

"Never if I can avoid it," was the frank reply.

"Then you and I will entertain one another," his host suggested.

The Marquis's idea of entertainment was to install his guest in a comfortable chair in a small den at the back of the house, which he kept for his absolutely private use, and to broach the subject which had led to David's welcome at Grosvenor Square.

"Let me ask you," he began, "have you seen anything more of this man Vont?"

"Nothing."

The Marquis looked ruminatively at the cedar spill with which he had just lit his cigarette.

"I am almost certain," he said, "that I saw him on the platform at Raynham--the nearest station to Mandeleys--yesterday. He seemed marvellously little altered."

"He has probably taken up his abode down there, then," David observed.

The Marquis's face darkened. He brushed the subject aside.

"There is a matter concerning which I wish to speak to you, Mr. Thain,"

he said. "You are one of the fortunate ones of the earth, who have attained, by your own efforts, I believe, an immense prosperity."

David listened in silence, watching the ash at the end of his cigar.

"Your money, my son-in-law, Sir Robert, tells me," the Marquis continued, "has been made in brilliant and sagacious speculation.

There have no doubt been others who have followed in your footsteps, and, in a humbler way, have shared your success."

David had developed a rare gift of silence. He smoked steadily, and his expression was remarkably stolid.

"I find myself in need of a sum," the Marquis proceeded, with the air of a man introducing a business proposition, "of two hundred and twenty thousand pounds--there or thereabouts."

There was a momentary gleam of interest in David's eyes, gone, however, almost as soon as it had appeared. For the first time he made a remark.

"Over a million dollars, eh?"

The Marquis inclined his head.

"My position," he continued, "naturally precludes me from making use of any of the ordinary methods by means of which men ama.s.s wealth. I have at various times, however, made small but not entirely unsuccessful speculations--upon the Stock Exchange. The position in which I now find myself demands something upon a larger scale."

"What capital," David Thain enquired, "can you handle?"

The Marquis stroked his chin thoughtfully. He was aware of a pocketbook a shade fuller than usual, of three overdrawn banking accounts, and his recent interview with his lawyers.

"Capital," he repeated. "Ah! I suppose capital is necessary."

"In any gambling transaction, you always have to take into account the possibility," David reminded him, "that you might lose."

"Precisely," the Marquis a.s.sented, selecting another cigarette, "but that is not the cla.s.s of speculation I am looking for. I am anxious to discover an enterprise, either by means of my own insight into such matters, which is not inconsiderable, or the good offices of a friend, in which the chances of loss do not exist."

David was a little staggered. He contemplated his host curiously.

"Such speculations," he said at last, "are difficult to find."

"Not to a man of your ability, I am sure, Mr. Thain," the Marquis a.s.serted.

"Do I gather that you wish for my advice?"

The Marquis inclined his head.

"That," he intimated, "was my object."

David smoked steadily, and his host contemplated him with a certain artistic satisfaction. He had been something of a sculptor in his youth, and he saw possibilities in the shape and pose of the great financier.