Whither Thou Goest Part 10

Moreno noticed the frown, the stiffness in the tone. He went on smoothly.

"I may be jumping at conclusions rather too hastily, but I will tell you how I arrived at them. I happen to know that Guy Rossett is appointed to the Emba.s.sy at Madrid. With his sister, he dines with this charming girl and a man, obviously her father. It looks to me like a farewell dinner, and at a restaurant which is excellent, but certainly not fashionable. They wanted to escape observation, otherwise a man in Rossett's position, and he was certainly the host, would have been at the Ritz."

"And what do you deduce from these profound observations, worthy of Sherlock Holmes himself?" asked Farquhar a little testily.

Moreno answered slowly. He could see that his friend was troubled, but he had gone too far to recede.

"I should say there was a secret understanding between the young people, approved of by the girl's father, and the man's sister. Probably they are still waiting for the Earl's consent to an open engagement."

Farquhar, to hide his agitation, swallowed his whiskey and soda in one draught, and chewed viciously at the end of his cigar.

"You may be right," he said, speaking with forced calm. "Well, let us get back to your anarchists. What has made you join them?"

Moreno reflected a moment before he spoke.

"I happen to know that young Rossett was in possession of some very exclusive information about this particular plot. That is one of the reasons why he has been sent to Spain."

"And where do you come in?" questioned Farquhar.

Moreno smiled. "It is as much curiosity as anything. The anarchists know that Rossett knows a good deal about them. Now, I want to find out how they are going to act when Rossett finds himself in Madrid, you see."

"And you'll find it out before you are many hours older, cunning old devil that you are," said Farquhar, with an appreciative smile. "Well, let me know how you get on. Isobel Clandon is my cousin, and I can't help feeling interested in all this, especially if what you suggest about her and Rossett is true."

When Moreno had left, the ambitious young barrister sat thinking deeply.

He had loved his cousin for years, not perhaps with any great overmastering pa.s.sion, but with that steady affection which might be expected from a man of his grave and cautious temperament.

He was prepared to speak when the time was ripe, when his prospects and circ.u.mstances permitted him to offer Isobel a proper home. Moreno's words troubled him, and he had an uneasy suspicion that the Spaniard, with his swift intelligence, had accurately gauged the situation. The fruit which might have been his for the mere stretching out of the hand--had it been plucked by somebody more impetuous, more energetic than himself?

This he must learn as soon as possible. Moreno's words had suddenly roused him to action. He was now blaming in his mind, those very traits on which he had been wont to pride himself, his scrupulousness, his excessive caution.

He had always thought that Isobel liked him, that she would not be reluctant to entertain his advances, when he had judged the time was right to make them.

And, of course, he had been a fool. He had not looked at the position from the girl's point of view. A girl, however much she may be inclined towards a man, is not disposed to wait indefinitely while he is making up his mind, nicely balancing pros and cons.

He had never thought of anybody else for his wife. But he had reckoned too surely on the fact that she was waiting quietly in that little home at Eastbourne, till he chose to make love to her.

He wired to General Clandon the next morning, explaining that he had a couple of days' leisure; might he run down? There came back the cordial reply, "Come at once. Delighted."

Truth to tell, the General was both proud and fond of his nephew, the son of his favourite sister. He might have thought at times that the young man was a little too grave and serious for his years, he had always seemed singularly free from the follies of youth. But he had the greatest respect for his sterling qualities, for his high principles and character.

Father and daughter met him at the station. Isobel liked him very much.

There was a time when liking might have been converted into a warmer feeling. But, speaking in vulgar parlance, Maurice had failed through his over-scrupulousness, his too nice weighing of possibilities and probabilities, to strike while the iron was hot.

And then Guy Rossett, ardent, impetuous, the beau ideal of a lover, had carried her off her feet, and her cousin was hardly a memory, so much did she live in the radiance of the present.

He had a most dainty dinner. Isobel was a wonderful housekeeper, and could accomplish wonders on a very limited income. Maurice, his desire sharpened by his forebodings, thought what a perfect wife she would make, uniting the decorative with the practical.

After dinner she left the men alone to their wine and cigars. Farquhar was not long in coming to the point. It was typical of his rather staid and old-fashioned way of regarding things that, even in the delicate matter of love, the correct method was to approach the parent first.

"I wonder, uncle, if you have ever thought of me in the light of a future son-in-law?"

The General looked a little embarra.s.sed. Not very long ago, that aspect of his nephew had presented itself to him, and the prospect was not unpleasing. He had a shrewd notion that Maurice was very attached to his pretty cousin, and was marking time for some quite honourable and justifiable reasons.

Of Isobel he was not at all sure. Maurice had every good quality from a man's point of view, but he was not quite the stuff out of which romantic and compelling lovers are made. And her father was certain that Isobel was full of romance.

The General answered slowly, and with a caution worthy of Maurice himself. "I might have thought about it some time ago, my boy. I fancied then that you were greatly attached. Let me see, it was some three or four years ago that I formed that opinion, I think."

"Yes," said Maurice, speaking with a quiet bitterness. "I suppose it was about then that I showed my feelings, as far as I am capable of showing them, plainly. But there were reasons why I did not speak then, reasons that I still think good ones."

"I am sure of that, my dear boy," said the uncle kindly. He guessed now the reason of this visit, that sudden telegram.

"At that time I was making headway, it is true, but my position was by no means a.s.sured. You know the smallness of my patrimony, and what I earned outside was inconsiderable. I did not feel justified in asking a girl to wait, on the chance of prospects that might never come to fruition."

"Quite right, quite honourable!" murmured the poor General, dreading the inevitable end of this discourse. Maurice was stating the case, rather as if he were addressing a jury, but there was no doubt he meant business. Even a man of his cautious temperament could now safely allow himself the luxury of matrimony, that was evident from this preamble.

"It has always been my one thought to marry Isobel, a.s.suming that she would have me, the moment I was in a position to take a wife. That moment has now arrived; I have no fears of the future. The question arises, am I too late?"

The General was terribly embarra.s.sed by this direct question. He was a most straightforward man, he loathed subterfuge.

But what was he to do? The engagement of his daughter to Guy Rossett was a secret one. He was, in honour bound, to give neither of them away.

He temporised weakly. "Have you spoken to Isobel about this?"

"No," came the answer. "I thought it was right to approach you first."

"Exactly, exactly," stammered the poor father. "Very right and proper, of course. But you had better put it to Isobel, and see what she says.

Of course, you understand there is no opposition on my part."

Farquhar looked at him keenly. Yes, Moreno's suspicions were justified.

There was a secret engagement. The General had thrown the onus on his daughter. She could tell as much or as little as she pleased.

"Thanks," he said quietly. "I will speak to Isobel to-morrow morning."

The next day, in a little sheltered arbour in the not too extensive garden, he asked his cousin to marry him. He explained to her, as he had explained to her father, the reasons which had held him back.

She listened to him with composure. She was dimly aware that, a few years ago, this declaration of love would have set her cheeks aflame, her heart beating. To-day, it left her regretful, but cold.

"I am dreadfully sorry, Maurice. I am very, very fond of you, but not in that way. I look upon you as a brother, a very dear brother."

There was decision and finality in the low, gentle tones. It was a bitter disappointment. He had always fancied in his masculine optimism that Isobel was waiting ready to fall into his arms, when he had made up his mind to ask her.

It was a bitter disappointment, but he bore it with his usual stoicism.

Ambition was the greater factor in his life; love would always play a subordinate part. Still, Isobel's refusal had taken something away that could never be replaced.

There was a long pause. He was the first to break the silence.

"Your affections are engaged. You are in love with somebody else?"

A vivid flush overspread the fair face. "It is quite true, I love somebody else."