The Bramleighs of Bishop's Folly Part 54

"I hope, Mr. Cutbill, we are fully sensible of the courtesy that suggested your call."

"And _I 'm_ fully sensible that you and Miss Ellen have been on thorns for the last half-hour, each muttering to himself, 'What will he say next?' or worse than that, 'When will he go?"'

"I protest, sir, you are alike unjust to yourself and to us. We are so thoroughly satisfied that you never intended to hurt us, that if incidentally touched, we take it as a mere accident."

"That is quite the case, Mr. Cutbill," broke in Nelly; "and we know, besides, that, if you had anything harsh or severe to say to us, it is not likely you 'd take such a time as this to say it."

"You do me proud, ma'am," said Cutbill, who was not quite sure whether he was complimented or reprimanded.

"Do, please, Augustus; I beg of you, do," whispered Nelly in her brother's ear.

"You've already missed your train for us, Mr. Cutbill," said Augustus; "will you add another sacrifice and come and eat a very humble dinner with us at six o'clock?"

"Will I? I rayther think I will," cried he, joyfully. "Now that the crisis is over, I may as well tell you I 've been angling for that invitation for the last half-hour, saying every minute to myself, 'Now it's coming,' or 'No, it ain't.' Twice you were on the brink of it, Bramleigh, and you drifted away again, and at last I began to think I 'd be driven to my lonely cutlet at the 'Leopold's Arms.' You said six; so I 'll just finish a couple of letters for the post, and be here sharp. Good-bye. Many thanks for the invite, though it was pretty long a-coming." And with this he waved an adieu and departed.

CHAPTER x.x.xVI. AN EVENING WITH CUTBILL

When Nelly retired after dinner on that day, leaving Mr. Cutbill to the enjoyment of his wine--an indulgence she well knew he would not willingly forego--that worthy individual drew one chair to his side to support his arm, and resting his legs on another, exclaimed, "Now, this is what I call cosy. There 's a pleasant light, a nice bit of view out of that window, and as good a bottle of St. Julien as a man may desire."

"I wish I could offer you something better," began Augustus, but Cutbill stopped him at once, saying,--

"Taking the time of the year into account, there 's nothing better! It's not the season for a Burgundy or even a full-bodied claret. Shall I tell you, Bramleigh, that you gave me a better dinner to-day than I got at your great house,--the Bishop's Folly?"

"We were very vain of our cook, notwithstanding, in those days," said Augustus, smiling.

"So you might. I suppose he was as good as money could buy--and you had plenty of money. But your dinners were grand, c.u.mbrous, never-ending feeds, that with all the care a man might bestow on the bill o' fare, he was sure to eat too much of venison curry after he had taken mutton twice, and pheasant following after fat chickens. I always thought your big dinners were upside down; if one could have had the tail-end first they'd have been excellent. Somehow, I fancy it was only your brother Temple took an interest in these things at your house. Where is he now?"

"He's at Rome with my brother-in-law."

"That 's exactly the company he ought to keep. A lord purifies the air for him, and I don't think his const.i.tution could stand without one."

"My brother has seen a good deal of the world; and, I think, understands it tolerably well," said Bramleigh, meaning so much of rebuke to the other's impertinence as he could force himself to bestow on a guest.

"He knows as much about life as a dog knows about decimals. He knows the cad's life of fetch and carry; how to bow himself into a room and out again; when to smile, and when to sn.i.g.g.e.r; how to look profound when a great man talks, and a mild despair when he is silent; but that ain't life, Bramleigh, any more than these strawberries are grapes from Fontainebleau!"

"You occasionally forget, Mr. Cutbill, that a man's brother is not exactly the public."

"Perhaps I do. I only had one brother, and a greater blackguard never existed; and the 'Times' took care to remind me of the fact every year till he was transported; but no one ever saw me lose temper about it."

"I can admire if I cannot envy your philosophy."

"It's not philosophy at all; it's just common sense, learned in the only school for that commodity in Europe,--the City of London. We don't make Latin verses as well as you at Eton or Rugby, but we begin life somewhat 'cuter than you, notwithstanding. If we speculate on events, it is not like theoretical politicians, but like practical people, who know that Cabinet Councils decide the funds, and the funds make fortunes. _You_, and the men like you, advocated a free Greece and a united Italy for sake of fine traditions. _We_ don't care a rush about Homer or Dante, but we want to sell pig-iron and printed calicoes. Do you see the difference now?"

"If I do, it's with no shame for the part you a.s.sign us."

"That's as it may be. There may be up there amongst the stars a planet where your ideas would be the right thing. Maybe Doctor c.u.mming knows of such a place. I can only say Tom Cutbill does n't, nor don't want to."

For a while neither spoke a word; the conversation had taken a half-irritable tone, and it was not easy to say how it was to be turned into a pleasanter channel.

"Any news of Jack?" asked Cutbill, suddenly.

"Nothing since he sailed."

Another and a longer pause ensued, and it was evident neither knew how to break the silence.

"These ain't bad cigars," said Cutbill, knocking the ash off his cheroot with his finger. "You get them here?"

"Yes; they are very cheap."

"Thirty, or thirty-five centimes?"

"Ten!"

"Well, it ain't dear! Ten centimes is a penny--a trifle less than a penny. And now, Bramleigh, will you think it a great liberty of me, if I ask you a question,--a sort of personal question?"

"That will pretty much depend upon the question, Mr. Cutbill. There are matters, I must confess, I would rather not be questioned on."

"Well, I suppose I must take my chance for that! If you are disposed to bristle up, and play porcupine because I want to approach you, it can't be helped--better men than Tom Cutbill have paid for looking into a wasp's nest. It's no idle curiosity prompts my inquiry, though I won't deny there is a spice of curiosity urging me on at this moment. Am I free to go on, eh?"

"I must leave you to your own discretion, sir."

"The devil a worse guide ever you 'd leave me to. It is about as humble a member of the Cutbill family as I'm acquainted with. So that without any reference to my discretion at all, here 's what I want. I want to know how it is that you 've left a princely house, with plenty of servants and all the luxuries of life, to come and live in a shabby corner of an obscure town and smoke penny cigars? There's the riddle I want you to solve for me."

For some seconds Bramleigh's confusion and displeasure seemed to master him completely, making all reply impossible; but at last he regained a degree of calm, and with a voice slightly agitated, said, "I am sorry to balk your very natural curiosity, Mr. Cutbill, but the matter on which you seek to be informed is one strictly personal and private."

"That's exactly why I'm pus.h.i.+ng for the explanation," resumed the other, with the coolest imaginable manner. "If it was a public event I 'd have no need to ask to be enlightened."

Bramleigh winced under this rejoinder, and a slight contortion of the face showed what his self-control was costing him.

Cutbill, however, went on, "When they told me, at the Gresham, that there was a man setting up a claim to your property, and that you declared you 'd not live in the house, nor draw a s.h.i.+lling from the estate, till you were well a.s.sured it was your own beyond dispute, my answer was, 'No son of old Montague Bramleigh ever said that. Whatever you may say of that family, they 're no fools.'"

"And is it with fools you would cla.s.s the man who reasoned in this fas.h.i.+on?" said Augustus, who tried to smile and seem indifferent as he spoke.

"First of all, it's not reasoning at all; the man who began to doubt whether he had a valid right to what he possessed might doubt whether he had a right to his own name--whether his wife was his own, and what not.

Don't you see where all this would lead to? If I have to report whether a new line is safe and fit to be opened for public traffic, I don't sink shafts down to see if some hundred fathoms below there might be an extinct volcano, or a stratum of unsound pudding-stone. I only want to know that the rails will carry so many tons of merchandise. Do you see my point?--do you take me, Bramleigh?"

"Mr. Cutbill," said Augustus, slowly, "on matters such as these you have just alluded to there is no man's opinion I should prefer to yours, but there are other questions on which I would rather rely upon my own judgment. May I beg, therefore, that we should turn to some other topic."

"It's true, then--the report was well-founded?" cried Cutbill, staring in wild astonishment at the other's face.

"And if it were, sir," said Bramleigh, haughtily, "what then?"

"What then? Simply that you'd be the--no matter what. Your father was very angry with me one night, because I said something of the same kind to him."

And as he spoke he pushed his gla.s.s impatiently from him, and looked ineffably annoyed and disgusted.