第35章

"Always，"answeredMountDunstan。

Thefactthatheaddednothingelseandmetarapidsideglancewithunmovingred—browneyesgazingoutfromunderruggedbrows，perhapsirritatedAnstruthers。Hehadbeenratherenjoyinghimself，buthehadnotenjoyedhimselfenough。

Therewasnodenyingthathisplaythinghadnotopenlyflinched。Plainlyhewasnotgoodatflinching。Anstrutherswonderedhowfaramanmightgo。Hetriedagain。

"Shelikestheplace，thoughshehasanaturaldisdainforitscondition。ThatispracticalAmerican。Thingswhicharegoingtopiecesbecausemoneyisnotspentuponthem——meremoney，ofwhichallthepeoplewhocountforanythinghavesomuch——areinevitablyratherdisdained。Theyare`outofit。’Butshelikestheestate。"AshewatchedMountDunstanhefeltsurehehadgotitatlast——therightthing。"Ifyouwereadukewithfiftythousandayear，"withadistinctlynasty，amicablyhumorous，faintlaugh，"shewould——bytheLord，Ibelieve，shewouldtakeitover——andyouwithit。"

MountDunstangotup。Inhisroughwalkingtweedshelookedover—big——andheavy——andperilous。FortwosecondsNigelAnstrutherswouldnothavebeensurprisedifhehadwithoutwarningslappedhisface，orknockedhimover，orwhirledhimoutofhischairandkickedhim。Hewouldnothavelikedit，but——fortwoseconds——itwouldhavebeennosurprise。Infact，heinstinctivelybracedhisnottoofirmmuscles。Butnothingofthesortoccurred。Duringthetwoseconds——perhapsthree——MountDunstanstoodstillandlookeddownathim。Thebriefspaceatanend，hewalkedovertothehearthandstoodwithhisbacktothebigfireplace。

"Youdon’tlikeher，"hesaid，andhismannerwasthatofamandealingwithamatteroffact。"Whydoyoutalkabouther？"

Hehadgotawayagain——quiteaway。

AnuglyflushshotoverAnstruthers’face。Therewasonemorethingtosay——whetheritwasidiotictosayitornot。

Thingscanalwaysbedeniedafterwards，shoulddenialappearnecessary——andforthemomenthisspecialdevilpossessedhim。

"Idonotlikeher！"Andhismouthtwisted。"DoInot？

Iamnotanoldwoman。Iamaman——likeothers。Ichancetolikeher——toomuch。"

Therewasashortsilence。MountDunstanbrokeit。

"Then，"heremarked，"youhadbetteremigratetosomecountrywithaclimatewhichsuitsyou。IshouldsaythatEngland——forthepresent——doesnot。"

"IshallstaywhereIam，"answeredAnstruthers，withaslighthoarsenessofvoice，whichmadeitnecessaryforhimtoclearhisthroat。"Ishallstaywheresheis。Iwillhavethatsatisfaction，atleast。Shedoesnotmind。Iamonlyaracketty，middle—agedbrother—in—law，andshecantakecareofherself。AsItoldyou，shehasthespiritofthehuntress。"

"Lookhere，"saidMountDunstan，quitewithouthaste，andwithanironcivility。"Iamgoingtotakethelibertyofsuggestingsomething。Ifthisthingistrue，itwouldbeaswellnottotalkaboutit。"

"Aswellforme——orforher？"andtherewasaserenesignificanceinthequery。

MountDunstanthoughtafewseconds。

"Iconfess，"hesaidslowly，andheplantedhisfineblowbetweentheeyeswellandwithdirectness。"Iconfessthatitwouldnothaveoccurredtometoaskyoutodoanythingorrefrainfromdoingitforhersake。"

"Thankyou。Perhapsyouareright。Onelearnsthatonemustprotectone’sself。Ishallnottalk——neitherwillyou。I

knowthat。Iwasafooltoletitout。Thestormisover。

Imustridehome。"Herosefromhisseatandstoodsmiling。

"Itwouldsmashupthingsnicelyifthenewbeauty’sappearanceinthegreatworldwereprecededbychatteroftheunseemlyaffectionofsomeadorerofillrepute。Unfairlyenoughitisalwaysthewomanwhoishurt。"

"Unless，"saidMountDunstancivilly，"thereshouldarisethepoor，primevalbrute，inhisneolithicwrath，toseizeonthemantoblame，andbreakeveryboneandsinewinhisdamnedbody。"

"Thenewspaperswouldenjoythatmorethanshewould，"

answeredSirNigel。"Shedoesnotlikethenewspapers。

Theyaretooreadytodisparagethemulti—millionaire，andcackleaboutmembersofhisfamily。"

Theunhiddenhatredwhichstillprofessedtohideitselfinthedepthsoftheirpupils，astheyregardedeachother，haditsbirthinapassionaselementalasthequakingsoftheearth，ortherageoftwolionsinadesert，lashingtheirflanksintheblazingsun。Itwaswellthatatthismomenttheyshouldpartways。

SirNigel’shorsebeingbrought，hewentonthewaywhichwashis。

"ItwasamistaketosaywhatIdid，"hesaidbeforegoing。

"Ioughttohaveheldmytongue。ButIamunderthesameroofwithher。Atanyrate，thatisaprivilegenoothermanshareswithme。"

Herodeoffsmartly，hishorse’shoofssplashingintherainpoolsleftintheavenueafterthestorm。Hewasnotsosureafterallthathehadmadeamistake，andforthemomenthewasnotinthemoodtocarewhetherhehadmadeoneornot。

Hisagreeablesmileshoweditselfashethoughtoftheobstinate，proudbrutehehadleftbehind，sittingaloneamonghisshutdoorsandclosedcorridors。Theyhadnotshakenhandseitheratmeetingorparting。Queerthingitwas——thekindofenmityamancouldfeelforanotherwhenhewasupsetbyawoman。Itwasamusingenoughthatitshouldbeshewhowasupsettinghimafteralltheseyears——impudentlittleBetty，withtheferociousmanner。

CHAPTERXXXVIII

ATSHANDY’S

Onalate—summereveninginNewYorktheatmospheresurroundingacertaincornertableatShandy’scheaprestaurantinFourteenthStreetwasstirredbyasenseofexcitement。

ThecornertableinquestionwasthefavouritemeetingplaceofagroupofyoungmenoftheG。Seldentype，whousuallytookpossessionofitatdinnertime——havingdecidedthatShandy’ssuppliedmoredecentfoodforfiftycents，orevenfortwenty—five，thanwastobefoundatotherplacesofitsorder。

Shandy’swas"aboutallright，"theysaidtoeachother，andpatroniseditaccordingly，threeorfourofthemgenerallydiningtogether，withafriendlyandadroitmanipulationof"portions"

and"halfportions"whichenabledthemtoaddvarietytotheirbilloffare。

Thestreetoutsidewaslighted，thetideofpassers—bywaslessfullandmoreleisurelyinitsmovementsthanitwasduringtheseething，workinghoursofdaylight，buttheelectriccarsswungpasteachotherwithwhizandclangofbellalmostunceasingly，theirsoundbeingswelled，atshortintervals，bytheroarandrumblingrattleofthetrainsdashingbyontheelevatedrailroad。This，however，tothefrequentersofShandy’s，wastheusualaccompanimentofevery—dayNewYorklifeandwasregardedasarathercheerfulsortofthing。

Thiseveningthefourclaimantsofthefavouritecornertablehadmettogetherearlierthanusual。JemBelter，who"hammered"atypewriteratSchwab’sBrewery，TomWetherbee，whowas"inadowntownoffice，"BertJohnson，whowas"outfortheDelkoff，"andNickBaumgarten，whohavingforsometime"beaten"certainstreetsasassistantsalesmanforthesameillustriousmachine，hadbeenrecentlyelevatedtoa"territory"ofhisown，andwasthereforeinhighspirits。

"Say！"hesaid。"Let’sgivehimafinedinner。Wecanmakeitbetweenus。Beefsteakandmushrooms，andpotatoeshashedbrown。Helikesthem。GoodoldG。S。Ishallberightgladtoseehim。Hopeforeigntravelhasnotgivenhimtheswellhead。"

"Don’tbelieveit’shurthimabit。Hisletterdidn’tsoundlikeit。LittleGeorgieain’tafool，"saidJemBelter。

TomWetherbeewaslookingovertheletterreferredto。

Ithadbeenwrittentothefourconjointly，towardstheterminationofSelden’svisittoMr。Penzance。Theyoungmanwasnotanardentorfluentcorrespondent；butTomWetherbeewaschucklingashereadtheepistle。

"Say，boys，"hesaid，"thisbigthinghe’skeepingbacktotelluswhenheseesusisallright，butwhattakesmeisoldGeorgepayingavisittoaparson。Heain’tnoYoungMen’sChristianAssociation。"

BertJohnsonleanedforward，andlookedattheaddressontheletterpaper。

"MountDunstanVicarage，"hereadaloud。"Thatlooksprettyswell，doesn’tit？"withalaugh。"Say，fellows，youknowJepsonattheoffice，thechapthatprideshimselfonreadingsuchalot？HesaiditremindedhimofthenamesofplacesinEnglishnovels。ThatJohnny’sthebiggestsnob

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