April Lady (6 page)

This confidence, never very strong, waned as he trod up the steps of Cardross House, and wholly deserted him while he waited for the Earl in the book-room. His appearance was always characterized by a neatness and a propriety of taste which struck the happy mean between the man of fashion and the man of affairs, and he had spent more time than usual that morning on the arrangement of his neckcloth. But as the clock on the high mantelpiece rather aggressively ticked away the minutes he became convinced that the faint stripe in his toilinette waistcoat made him look like a park-saunterer, that his coat of sober blue cloth was too tightly moulded to his form, and that by brushing his mouse-coloured hair into the Brutus style affected by Mr. Brummell he had committed a gross error of judgment: Cardross would probably suspect him of aping the fashions of the dandy-set.

However, when the Earl at last came into the room he did not appear to notice what by this time amounted in Mr. Allandale's mind to the blatant vulgarity of his waistcoat. On the other hand, his handsome, impassive countenance betrayed no sign of pleasure at sight of his visitor, and his greeting was courteous rather than cordial. Overcoming the sudden realization that his errand would certainly be regarded as a piece of presumption, Mr. Allandale opened the interview by saying with a stiffness engendered by his determination not to truckle to his siren's guardian: "You may wonder, my lord, why I am here."

"No," said the Earl.

There was nothing particularly daunting about this calm monosyllable, but it threw Mr. Allandale quite out of his stride. His carefully composed speech of explanation had to be abandoned, and he could not immediately decide what to say in its stead.

"Pray be seated, Mr. Allandale!" invited his host, himself strolling towards a chair.

Mr. Allandale hesitated. On the whole, he preferred to remain on his feet, but it was difficult to do so while the Earl sat at his ease, one leg, cased in an elegant Hessian boot, thrown over the other, and one hand even now raising his quizzing-glass to his eye. Mr. Allandale sat down, and cleared his throat. "I shall be brief," he stated. "It cannot, I fancy, be unknown to your lordship that I have been so fortunate as to engage the interest of Lady Letitia Merion."

A flicker of amusement crossed the Earl's eyes. "I understand that the violence of your mutual feelings is such as must melt all but the hardest of hearts. Mine, I am informed, is of marble."

Colouring, Mr. Allandale replied: "I am aware, my lord, that the affection I bear Lady Letitia must appear to you in the light of an encroaching fancy."

"Oh, no!" said Cardross. "I am really not as high in the instep as you seem to think. I don't deny that I should prefer her to make what passes in the world for a good match, but, I assure you, if your affections stand the test of time you won't find me ill-disposed towards you."

This very reasonable speech added nothing to Mr. Allandale's comfort. He said heavily: "I'm obliged to you, sir. I might remind you that the attachment between us was formed more than a year ago, and has but been strengthened by the passage of time, but I shall not do so."

"As we see," murmured Cardross dryly.

"The force of your objection is fully felt by me," continued Mr. Allandale, embarking on one of his rehearsed periods. "It might well be thought that Lady Letitia is as yet too young to be permitted to follow the dictates of her heart. Moreover, no one is more conscious than I that in so doing she would be held, in vulgar parlance, to have thrown herself away."

"Yes, well, do let us talk in vulgar parlance!" begged Cardross. "Not to wrap the matter up in clean linen my sister is a foolish chit with a turn for the high-romantical; and you, my dear sir, are not very much wiser! Her fortune apart —and you need not tell me that you wish her fortune at Jericho, because I acquit you of hanging out for a rich wife—I can conceive of few more unsuitable partners for a man in your position. You have your career before you: I wish you very well, and in proof of this can only advise you not to saddle yourself with an extravagant and shatterbrained little puss for a wife!"

Considerably taken-aback by this forthright speech, Mr. Allandale could think of nothing better to say than: "Am I to understand, then, that you refuse your consent to our betrothal, sir?"

"For the present, most certainly you are!" returned the Earl. "You look to be a man of sense, so you will not, I hope, accuse me of cruelty. I have not said, nor shall I, that I will never give my consent; I don't even say that you must wait until Letty comes of age. But do, I beg of you, consider
my
position in this! Can you feel that I should honourably have fulfilled my charge if I allowed a chit who has not yet reached her eighteenth year to tie herself up in matrimony to a young man in your circumstances?"

"No," said Mr. Allandale bleakly.

The Earl was conscious of an impulse to retract, even to bestow his blessing on the lovers. He quelled it, saying cheerfully: "Of course you cannot! But if, in a couple of years' time, you are both still of the same mind, and you come to me again with this proposal, I must be hardhearted indeed to refuse my consent."

"I do not anticipate being in England in a couple of years' time," said Mr. Allandale, more bleakly still. "It was my intention to have explained to your lordship at the outset that I was emboldened to come to you today by the circumstance of my having been appointed to a very advantageous post. I owe this advancement in part to the kind offices of Lord Roxwell, who was formerly much attached to my father; and I have every reason to expect that it will lead, should I acquit myself creditably, to more rapid promotion than has hitherto seemed probable."

"I am sure you will acquit yourself admirably, and must beg leave to congratulate you on your good fortune. I collect that you are to join one of our embassies?"

"Yes, sir. I am appointed—that is to say, I shall, within the next three months be appointed to the staff of our minister at the Court of the Regent of Portugal."

"The Regent of Portugal?" repeated Cardross. "But he is in Brazil!"

Mr. Allandale inclined his head. "Just so, sir," he agreed.

"Good God!" ejaculated Cardross. "Were you proposing in all seriousness to take Letty to South America? You must be mad!"

"She assures me," said Mr. Allandale earnestly, "that she would like it above all things."

"And what the devil do you imagine she knows about it?" demanded Cardross.

"I am credibly informed," offered Mr. Allandale, "that the climate at Rio de Janeiro is salubrious."

"Oh, take a damper!" said Cardross impatiently. "Did this cork-brained notion come out of your head, or hers? Did she persuade you to come here today, or— No, of course she did! You at least cannot have supposed that there was the least likelihood of my consenting to such a preposterous scheme!"

"No," said Mr. Allandale. "I must own that I had little hope of obtaining your lordship's consent. I am aware that in your eyes the scheme must seem preposterous."

"And how does it seem in yours?" inquired the Earl curiously. "You have been acquainted with my sister for more than a year, after all!"

"Were it not for your lordship's refusal to entertain my proposal, I should have no hesitation in asking Lady Letitia to accompany me, as my wife, to Brazil."

"The devil you wouldn't!"

"I believe her to be equal to anything," said Mr. Allandale reverently. "When I first learned of the appointment, I confess that the very natural feeling of delight I experienced was instantly tempered—I might almost say dissipated—by the same doubt of which your lordship is conscious. I could not believe that a delicately nurtured female—and one, moreover, of such tender years—could contemplate without dismay the several evils attaching to the appointment. The discomforts of a long sea-voyage! the going amongst foreigners! The separation from her relations! I promise you, sir, every disagreeable possibility that presented itself to my mind was at once communicated to her by me. But nothing was ever like her spirit! What inconveniences there may be she will not regard; and although I do not anticipate that there is any danger to be apprehended,
that
she would meet with the same trust and courage which she shows in being willing to bestow her hand upon one whose prosperity must depend upon his own exertions!"

The thought of this nobility overcame him so much that his voice thickened, and he was obliged to blow his nose. Its effect upon Cardross was to exasperate him into saying, with a snap: "I suppose she told you so!"

"Yes," replied Mr. Allandale simply.

"Did she also work on you to come here today with your fantastic proposal?"

"She certainly thought that with my advancement now secured we might hope for some relenting on your part," admitted Mr. Allandale.

The Earl looked him over somewhat grimly. "But you did not think so, Mr. Allandale, did you?"

"Well—"

"It appears to me, my dear sir, that you are as wax in my sister's hands! It is a reflection which fills me with deep misgiving. I know Letty to be as headstrong as she is bird-witted, and what she may next bully or bewitch you into doing there is no saying—though I might hazard a guess!"

"If you mean, sir, that I might be tempted to elope with Lady Letitia you may be easy!" returned Mr. Allandale, reddening. "Even if I were not a man of honour, my circumstances must forbid me to embark on anything of a clandestine nature." He drew a breath, and continued with a little difficulty: "You were kind enough, my lord, to acquit me of hanging out (as you phrased it) for a rich wife. That is true, for, in fact, I had not, until I met Lady Letitia, any thought of marriage at all. My widowed parent, though possessed of a respectable jointure, is quite unable to support the expense of educating my younger brothers and sisters without my assistance; and until they are established creditably I must not—indeed, I cannot!—marry a female who has no fortune of her own. Just a genteel fortune, to match my own. I never contemplated marriage to a great heiress—and, to own the truth, it is not what I like! However, I daresay it may be possible to form some kind of a trust which would ensure that
I
should not benefit by anything more than a reasonable amount."

"The matter is not of pressing importance," said the Earl. "Until she reaches the age of five-and-twenty my sister's fortune is in my hands, and her allowance is at my discretion. If I chose to do it, I could cut off every penny of it."

"I cannot believe, sir, that you would be guilty of such inhumanity!" said Mr. Allandale, in a voice of strong censure.

"There would be no inhumanity," replied Cardross coolly. "Letty would merely be obliged to continue living in my house, and her dress-bills would be paid by me. I may add that I already pay quite a number of them. I am afraid you would find her very expensive, for she never has a feather to fly with, you know."

"I am aware that she has not been taught habits of economy," said Mr. Allandale stiffly. "Indeed, she has told me so herself, and has regretted it. She is very willing to learn, and I hope to teach her to manage better."

"Yes, in my more optimistic moments I too indulge that hope," agreed Cardross. "Go and take up this appointment of yours, and I'll engage to do my best to instill some small knowledge of economy into her head while you are away. Who knows? You may return to find her quite prudent!"

Mr. Allandale rose, and walked over to the window. He said, staring out of it: "I do not imagine that it will be of any use to return. Not, of course, that I contemplate passing the rest of my life in Brazil, but—" He stopped, and cleared his throat. "I cannot flatter myself that I shall find her still unattached. So much sought-after—and by men of far greater address than will ever be mine—separated from me for a prolonged period, and by such a distance— No, it would be too much to expect of her! She will wed another."

"The same fate may as easily overtake you, my dear sir," remarked the Earl.

"No," said Mr. Allandale baldly. He added, after a pause: "My feeling is unalterable. I am not subject to fits of gallantry, sir. I had even believed myself to be proof against— But from the moment when I first saw your sister, I knew myself lost! I struggled against it, for the unsuitability of the match was as plain to me as it is to you. It was to no avail. I shall never marry any other lady."

"Ah!" murmured the Earl, looking amused. "I remember that I said much the same thing myself—a good many years ago. She was ravishingly beautiful—at least, I know I thought so, though, to own the truth, I can now only vaguely recall her face to my mind."

"I am happy to afford your lordship entertainment!" said Mr. Allandale, in rather less measured accents.

"No, you are not," replied Cardross, rising. "You would like to plant me a facer, and I'm sure I don't wonder at it. Nothing is more exasperating than to be obliged to listen to advice based on experience which is necessarily wider than your own—particularly when you have an uneasy suspicion that it may be good!"

"I have no suspicion," instantly retorted Mr. Allandale. "I venture to think that my nature is more tenacious than your lordship's!"

"In that case," said Cardross, with unimpaired good-humor, "I shall expect to see you again upon your return from Rio de Janeiro. In the meantime, accept my best wishes for your success in that salubrious locality!"

"Do you forbid me to hold further communication with Lady Letitia, sir?" demanded Mr. Allandale, somewhat reluctantly taking the hand that was being held out to him.