SOCIALIST 
 COUNTESS 
 
PR 
 
 1911 
 
 CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 Joseph Whitmore Barry 
 dramatic library 
 
 THE GIPT OF 
 TWO FRIENDS 
 
 OF Cornell University 
 
 ^934 
 
Cornell University Library 
 PR6027.E97S7 1911 
 
 The socialist countess; a story of to-day 
 
 3 1924 013 645 746 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013645746 
 
THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
THE 
 
 SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 A STORY OF TO-DAY 
 
 HORACE W. C. NEWTE 
 
 AUTHOR or "the SINS OF THE CHILDREN," "CALICO 
 JACK," "sparrows," "the LONELY LOVERS," ETC., ETC. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 JOHN LANE COMPANY 
 
 MCMXI 
 
Copyright in the British Empire. Milk Ss' Boon, Ltd., London 
 
 Dramaiic rigkit reserved by th» Author 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 OHAP 
 I. 
 
 A Plain Man 
 
 
 
 FAQB 
 1 
 
 II. 
 
 Lady Deewentwater . 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 III. 
 
 A Stjepeise . 
 
 
 
 . 22 
 
 IV. 
 
 A Teip to Dovee 
 
 
 
 34 
 
 V. 
 
 The Deputation . 
 
 
 
 . 48 
 
 VI. 
 
 GiLBEET Stays to Dinnee 
 
 
 
 64 
 
 VII. 
 
 Vanities 
 
 
 
 79 
 
 VIII. 
 
 PiLLAES OF Peace 
 
 
 
 97 
 
 IX. 
 
 " The Magic Ring " . 
 
 
 
 112 
 
 X. 
 
 DiSCOED 
 
 
 
 128 
 
 XI. 
 
 " Deapkin's " 
 
 
 
 141 
 
 XII. 
 
 94, Jubilee Steeet 
 
 
 
 158 
 
 XIII. 
 
 A Woman of the People 
 
 
 
 171 
 
 XIV. 
 
 The E'teenal Mothee 
 
 
 
 187 
 
 XV. 
 
 Gtt.bbet's Confession. 
 
 
 
 202 
 
 XVI. 
 
 The Stoem Beeaks 
 
 
 
 224 
 
 XVII. 
 
 The Same Clay . 
 
 
 
 242 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 Aglionby Speaks his Mind 
 
 
 
 258 
 
viii CONTENTS 
 
 OHAP. PAOB 
 
 XIX. The Quest 270 
 
 XX. The Rtjnaway 288 
 
 XXI. A Tactetjl Woman . . . .306 
 XXII. The Home Cieclb . . . .320 
 
 XXIII. The Aspirate Plays Providence . 337 
 
 XXIV. The Beginnings op Wisdom . . 355 
 XXV. Honeymoon 373 
 
THE 
 
 SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 A PLAIN MAN 
 
 Debwentwatee Hottse, W. 
 
 Thuraday. 
 " Dear Dick, 
 
 " Thank you for your letter. After all these 
 years ! You must have seen my name in the papers, 
 which is one of the penalties of being a public char- 
 acter. I have engagements from morning to night, 
 but might manage to give you a few moments between 
 whiles one day next week. 
 
 " I wonder if you find me very much altered 1 
 " Ever sincerely yours, 
 
 " Jane Derwentwateb. 
 
 " P.S. — I might be able to see you to-morrow about 
 twelve." 
 
 Richard Aglionby read and reread the above ; it 
 was some days old and had been awaiting him at his 
 club, where he had called for letters. 
 
 Over and above his delight at receiving a reply to 
 
 his note to an old friend announcing his return to 
 
 England, and expressing a wish (she was now a widow) 
 
 to see her again, was anger with himself at not being 
 
 1 
 
2 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 in town when the communication had arrived, he 
 being thus prevented from taking advantage of the 
 invitation to call. 
 
 A little later, however, when Aglionby gave the 
 matter further thought, he perceived that he was by 
 no means responsible for not being at hand when the 
 letter had come, the fact of the matter being that, a 
 week having elapsed since he had written and having 
 received no answer, he had gone to stay for a few 
 days with a friend in Oxfordshire ; he had found Lady 
 Derwentwater's letter at his club the day following 
 his return. 
 
 Aglionby looked at his watch, to find that it wanted 
 five minutes to half-past eleven. He pleaded guilty 
 to an impulse to call at Derwentwater House on that 
 morning, but before doing so he resolved to turn over 
 the matter thoroughly in his mind : owing to his 
 changed circumstances, and the fact of his old friend 
 being a widow, so much might depend on his visit. 
 
 He went to the smoking-room and ordered a cigar 
 and a whisky-and-soda from an attendant, as a pre- 
 paration for the mental effort he was about to make : 
 he was so unused to taking spirit of a morning that 
 it immediately stimulated his processes of thought. 
 
 Very soon he was back in the days of long ago, when, 
 as a boy home from school, he was head over ears in 
 love with pretty Jane Easterley, who lived with her 
 parents on an impoverished property adjacent to 
 that owned by his father. 
 
 Even as a girl she was a little unusual. 
 
 Although also home for the holidays, Jane affected 
 to despise the sports and pastimes of her young friends 
 and appeared to devote her days to study and the 
 reading of deep books. 
 
 But for all the strenuousness with which she seemed 
 
A PLAIN MAN 3 
 
 to scale Parnassus she, to her parents' disappointment, 
 made a poor show in her school examinations. 
 
 Aglionby's hopeless, obvious passion for the girl 
 made him an object of derision to his companions. 
 As he recalled the pangs he suffered, the slights he 
 patiently endured from the caprices of the adored 
 one, the intensely miserable hours which had been 
 frequently his, it seemed that the long-healed scars 
 with which her indifference had seared his heart were 
 disposed to open afresh. And the worst of the matter 
 was (and he was the first to recognise it himself) that 
 his personal appearance was cruelly at variance with 
 his romantic prepossessions. 
 
 When he had pressed his boyish suit upon twelve- 
 year-old Jane, she had replied with the brutal candour 
 of youth : 
 
 " You're an awful dear, Dick ; but you're so plain." 
 
 " I can't help it. I love you," he had pleaded. 
 " Besides, looks aren't everything." 
 
 " But they do make a difference, Dick," she had 
 cruelly informed him. 
 
 The ensuing years had strengthened his love for 
 his pretty friend. When he was cramming for Sand- 
 hurst, he would dream dreams of the deeds of derringf 
 do he would perform in order to soften Jane's heart. 
 
 Suddenly, and without warning, fate had intervened, 
 and in such a drastic manner that the intended course 
 of his life was diverted from its original purpose. 
 
 Owing to the sensational failure of a trusted solicitor, 
 his father was practically ruined, and Dick at once 
 had to abandon all idea of entering the service, and 
 to see about seriously thinking how he was to earn 
 his daily bread. 
 
 Even as Aglionby's mind dwelled on the more pain- 
 ful incidents of this catastrophe, he recalled how his 
 
4 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 chief preoccupation had been with regard to the im- 
 possibility of winning Jane for his own. 
 
 He had had serious thoughts of enlisting, in the 
 hope of ultimately obtaining his commission, but 
 abandoned the idea on learning how sourvily the War 
 Office treated those who aspired to rise from the ranks. 
 
 After considering a thousand-and-one projects, and 
 discovering — ^as who has not in a similar extremity — 
 what broken reeds the majority of influential relations 
 prove, he had been offered and accepted a billet in the 
 Chinese Customs, which had taken him for more than 
 twenty years to the Orient. 
 
 Here, he often heard from his father, or his mother, 
 the latter of whom presently informed him that Jane, 
 who had proved an infrequent and indifferent corre- 
 spondent (some of her words were actually misspelled !), 
 was shortly to marry the elderly and wealthy Earl of 
 Derwentwater, whom she had met at a season in 
 town, for which her parents had scraped to find the 
 means. 
 
 AgUonby was now so well schooled in adversity that 
 the news did not affect him so much as it might have 
 done in happier circumstances : he but worked the 
 harder, and flirted with a grim intensity with any girls 
 he chanced to meet when on leave. 
 
 The inevitable passing of the years had deprived 
 him of his father and mother ; but although these losses 
 seemed to widen the distance that separated him from 
 home, he never quite forgot the love of his youth. 
 
 He would glance through any English papers he 
 chanced upon in the hope of reading something of 
 Lady Derwentwater. 
 
 When her birthday arrived, he would dwell with 
 an unholy satisfaction on the fact of her being older 
 than she was. Although he could now weU afford to 
 
A PLAIN MAN 5 
 
 marry, he never thought seriously of the quite nice girls 
 he occasionally met. 
 
 Two years previously, a relative had unexpectedly 
 left him a considerable sum of money, at the which 
 he had resigned his biUet to make a leisurely journey 
 home, stopping on the way with a friend who was 
 living in the Straits and financially interested in the 
 rubber plantation industry, then in its infancy. 
 
 Upon his friend's advice, he had heavily invested 
 in the more promising companies ; as a consequence 
 of the rapid appreciation in value of his shares, he had 
 made a surprising lot of money. 
 
 It was as if the powers that ordered his life were 
 eager to atone for the hardness of heart they had 
 exhibited in the days of his youth. 
 
 Before he had reached England, he had indulged 
 in anticipations of the fine times his money and liberty 
 would provide ; he was eager to taste soberly of the 
 good things which hitherto he had been compelled 
 to deny himself. 
 
 Now, for aU that he had been home a month, he 
 found idleness the most tedious work he had ever 
 performed. 
 
 He had commenced by looking for the few relations 
 that remained, old friends and acquaintances, to dis- 
 cover that most of these had either died or drifted 
 from his ken. 
 
 Prominent among those he had approached was 
 Lady Derwentwater ; had he not learned she was a 
 widow of some years' standing, he would not have 
 written. 
 
 Aglionby being desirous of a decent, ordered life, 
 and the idea of expensive dissipation being, therefore, 
 repugnant to him, it was not to be wondered at if his 
 thoughts frequently inclined to matrimony. 
 
6 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 At the same time, he was not so much impelled to 
 renounce bachelorhood by romantic notions as by a 
 craving to have a home of his own and the interests 
 which that implied. 
 
 So far as sentiment was concerned, his mind had been 
 eased of the amorous obsession which had marred his 
 youth ; one way and another, for all his exile in the 
 East, he had seen a great deal of life, and it had been 
 frequently impressed upon his understanding that the 
 high hopes with which the newly married embarked 
 on their perilous voyage were rarely fulfilled. 
 
 The seas on which they sailed were strewn with 
 wreckage, and Aglionby had determined, as far as it 
 was humanly possible, to avoid contributing to this 
 accumulation of disaster. 
 
 It was to this end that he resolved not to wed the 
 girl in her teens who made an all but irresistible appeal 
 to his forty years of age. 
 
 Aglionby was quite certain on this point — ^indeed, he 
 had made up his mind to marry a sensible, everyday 
 woman who was well past the flightiness often in- 
 separable from youth, which resolve would remove 
 him from the perils besetting the path of romantic 
 enterprise. 
 
 And yet — and yet ! 
 
 Aglionby's mind was possessed by thoughts of his 
 old love. 
 
 He found himself wondering how she had worn : if 
 years had bestowed dignity on her looks ; if she were 
 beset by suitors, and if, in this event, she had given 
 her heart to another. 
 
 Then he brought her letter from his pocket and 
 carefully read it, when the words " which is one of the 
 penalties of being a public character " attracted his 
 attention : the phrase awakened his curiosity. 
 
A PLAIN MAN 7 
 
 If she were an actress or a dancer at the music-halls, 
 he could understand the allusion, but as she was neither 
 of these he wondered if she had turned suffragette. 
 
 He read the papers as much as the average man, but 
 had not come upon any reference to Lady Derwent- 
 water, flattering or otherwise. 
 
 He remembered she was always a little vain, and 
 perhaps this foible explained her belief that she lived 
 in the public eye. 
 
 As he continued to think of her, he was seemingly 
 immersed in unplumbed depths of loneliness. 
 
 Perhaps he imagined his isolation to be greater 
 than it was in order to make an immediate caU upon 
 his friend appear a certain means of escaping his ex- 
 tremity. 
 
 Whether or not this were so, Aglionby, almost before 
 he had realised what he was doing, had taken a cab 
 to his chambers in Jermyn Street, where he set about 
 smartening himseK up for his visit to Derwentwater 
 House. 
 
 Before he set out, he glanced at his homely features 
 in the glass, and dismally wondered if, in the event 
 of Jane being in, and being able to see him, she would 
 find him as unprepossessing as of yore. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 LADY DBRWENTWATER 
 
 When the door of Derwentwater House was opened 
 by an imposing manservant, it seemed to Aglionby 
 that, for all the man's impassivity, he was agreeably 
 surprised by the caller's appearance. 
 
 " Her ladyship was in," Aghonby was informed, at 
 which he requested to see her, should she happen to 
 be disengaged. 
 
 He was shown into a Ubrary on the ground floor, 
 where, while he waited for the man to return, he 
 reflected how well the Jane Easterley he had known 
 had done for herself ; at the same time, her vastly 
 changed circumstances insisted on the distance that 
 now separated them. 
 
 He was all but regretting his precipitate call when 
 the man returned to say that if AgUonby would come 
 upstairs "her ladyship would do her best to spare 
 him a very few minutes." 
 
 Aghonby did as he was bid, and was shown into a 
 room Uttered with newspapers, books, and pamphlets, 
 while from beyond an open door at the farther end 
 of the apartment came the intermittent cHck of a 
 typewriter. 
 
 Left to himself, he glanced at the journals and 
 pamphlets, to see that these were mostly concerned 
 
 8 
 
LADY DERWENTWATER 9 
 
 with socialism and kindred topics. This being a 
 subject of which he was wholly ignorant, he looked 
 about the room for some distraction with which to 
 while away the time of waiting. In passing the open 
 door, he caught sight of a bored-looking young man 
 who, with his left hand in a trouser pocket, was negli- 
 gently typing with his right. 
 
 It was not very long before it seemed that some 
 one was being shown into the further room ; also, 
 that the last arrival was making persistent but vain 
 endeavours to engage the bored young man in con- 
 versation. 
 
 Aglionby was wondering how much longer he was to 
 be kept waiting, when a long-haired, untidy, under- 
 sized young man strolled through the open door and 
 nodded affably ; he carried a soft felt hat. 
 
 " Morning," said Aglionby ,fthankful for some one to 
 talk to. 
 
 " Waiting for her ladyship ? " asked the other. 
 
 " I am." 
 
 " So'm I." 
 
 " Indeed ! " 
 
 " What d'ye think of the result of the Woodport 
 election 1 " asked the untidy young man after a slight 
 pause. 
 
 " I didn't know there was an election at Woodport." 
 
 " What ! " 
 
 " A fact." 
 
 " You do surprise me. The Labour man simply 
 romped in, and I've called from the Daily Mercury to 
 ask her ladyship's opinion of this glorious victory for 
 our cause." 
 
 " Eh ! " from a perplexed Aglionby. 
 
 " And why not ? " 
 
 " ' Victory for our cause,' I think you said ! " 
 
10 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " That's about the size of it." 
 But Lady Derwentwater- 
 
 " You know as well as I do that she's now one of us ! " 
 
 " But I don't know anything of the kind," protested 
 Aglionby, who was astonished by the journalist's in- 
 formation. 
 
 Thereupon an amazed Aglionby was informed how 
 Lady Derwentwater had not only joined one of the 
 numerous socialist parties, but had ardently identified 
 herself with what the Radical journalist called its 
 propaganda. 
 
 " You have surprised me ! " declared Aglionby 
 when the other had done ; even now he could hardly 
 believe he had been told aright. 
 
 " It's true enough," remarked the journaUst, whose 
 name was Radpole. "And a regular 'circus' it's 
 caused with the late earl's relations, as you can well 
 imagine." 
 
 " I suppose so." 
 
 " Take Lady Barham, for instance." 
 
 " Is she a relation ? " 
 
 " Didn't you know that ! Old Lady Barham was 
 so upset she had to go and stay with her cousin, the 
 honourable and reverend Mr. Aylmer, at Pau in order 
 to pull herself round." 
 
 " Indeed ! " 
 
 " The Somersetshire Aylmers are not the Sussex 
 ones." 
 
 " Is that BO ? " 
 
 " The Sussex Aylmers are related to Lord Lewes." 
 
 " Indeed ! " 
 
 " The peer who can't make up his mind if he's a 
 Liberal or Conservative ; sits ' on the fence ' and finds 
 his perch uneasy." 
 
 " You seem to know a lot about these people," 
 
LADY DERWENTWATER 11 
 
 remarked Aglionby, who was surprised at a professed 
 radical possessing such knowledge. 
 
 " I could go on telling you about them for hours," 
 declared Radpole complacently, 
 
 " Good heavens ! " 
 
 " My dear sir ! It's my hobby, as you might say. 
 And it's very useful. Next to seeing 'em abused, our 
 readers like to read about 'em." 
 
 Radpole proceeded to talk newspaper society gossip, 
 during which Aglionby endeavoured to appraise the 
 information he had heard respecting Jane's politics : 
 he was wishing the other's interminable story, about a 
 certain duchess and her various remedies for chronic 
 indigestion would come to an end, so that his thoughts 
 might not be further interrupted, when the door opened 
 and Lady Derwentwater entered the room. 
 
 The journalist immediately came to an abrupt full 
 stop. 
 
 For all the confidence with which Aglionby had 
 looked forward to meeting the love of his youth, he 
 was disagreeably surprised to discover that directly 
 he set eyes on her his heart beat violently : it was 
 some moments before he could appreciate that he was 
 in her presence ; that, considering her thirty-six years, 
 she was wondrously youthful-looking. 
 
 She was of ^medium height and had the rich, soft 
 complexion which sometimes accompanies warm 
 brown hair ; the latter was naturally wavy, and it had 
 a superb gloss which made her envious women friends 
 declare that it was the handiwork of her hairdresser. 
 
 Her eyes were normally golden, and, when animated, 
 of a dark brown. 
 
 While Aglionby gazed on the well-remembered face, 
 he could not recall what, to his mind, was lacking, 
 tiU he remembered how, as a girl, it was often slightly 
 
12 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 freckled, a condition that had appealed to him while 
 it had exasperated her. 
 
 " Dick ! " she cried as she offered her hand. 
 
 " Jane ! " 
 
 " I can only give you the fraction of a second. I'm 
 so dreadfully busy I hardly know which way to turn." 
 
 The typewriter in the next room suddenly clicked as 
 if the operator were working for dear life. 
 
 " Your socialism ? " queried Aglionby. 
 
 " Of course you have heard of that ! Every one'« 
 talking about it, and the papers are full of it, but 
 nothing will ever make me renounce my inmost con- 
 victions." 
 
 Here, for all the confusion in his mind excited by his 
 meeting with his old friend, it seemed to him that his 
 once-loved Jane was deliberately standing in a pose of 
 studied defiance for the benefit of himself and Badpole, 
 who was divided between humility in Lady Derwent- 
 water's presence and astonishment at the warmth 
 with which she had greeted Aglionby. 
 
 " if I'm in the way, I'll come another day," protested 
 Aglionby. 
 
 " I can give you just a minute, if only for old time's 
 sake," replied the countess — ^to say to the journalist, 
 who was nervously fumbling with his hat, notebook 
 and pencil : 
 
 " Have I an appointment with you ? " 
 
 " I — we wrote to say I was coming to get your views 
 on the Woodport election, your ladyship." 
 
 " Of course — I had forgotten. No sooner do I 
 arrange one thing than something else at once crops 
 up. If you will wait in the next room, I will see you 
 presently." 
 
 " Thank you, your ladyship," replied Radpole 
 humbly as he withdrew.^ 
 
LADY DERWENTWATER 13 
 
 For all Aglionby's belief that he was completely 
 cured of his old infatuation for the woman before him, 
 he found himself helplessly regarding her, while he was 
 delighted they were now alone. 
 
 It was on his tongue to tell her how he was more 
 than pleased to see her again and looking so charming, 
 when she said : 
 
 " I suppose you hardly knew me again ! " 
 
 " Why shouldn't I, Jane ? " 
 
 " I must have altered so much in all these years." 
 
 " You haven't altered at all," he assured her. 
 
 " I was a girl when you last saw me." 
 
 " You look scarcely more than a girl now." 
 
 " You were always a flatterer." 
 
 " I wish I had been merely a flatterer," he declared, 
 with a suspicion of bitterness in his voice. 
 
 " Are you good at press cuttings 1 " she asked, 
 going off at a disappointing tangent — at least, so 
 AgUonby thought. 
 
 " ' Press cuttings ? ' " 
 
 " Mee, my press agent, is simply dreadful. He 
 loses them ; he gets muddled directly I ask for any- 
 thing, and he's no more idea of sticking them properly 
 in the albums than the moon." 
 
 " Why not try some one else ? " 
 
 " One's as bad as the other. If they haven't one 
 fault, they've another. And after all said and done, 
 he does stick to his typing." 
 
 " Of course, if I can do anything " 
 
 " I knew you'd be a dear. You can start at once, 
 and, of course, you'll stay to limcheon. And as I 
 don't suppose you're veiy busy to-morrow, I want you 
 to call at the press-cutting place for me." 
 
 " I might if " 
 
 " Thank you. I've at last found some one who is 
 
14 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 going to be really useful. You'll be invaluable in the 
 new regime." 
 
 " In the what ? " 
 
 " In the great and good time coming when the world 
 will be transformed, and when every man gets the 
 fruit of his labour instead of now being exploited by 
 a brutal and effete capitalistic civilisation." 
 
 Aglionby was not so much interested by the fact 
 of such a remark coming from her red lips — ^a remark 
 that was violently at variance with the speaker's ex- 
 pensively frocked, dainty person — ^as by the artificial 
 glibness with which the phrases came from her lips : 
 he had more than a suspicion that she had them by 
 rote and had but a hazy idea of their meaning. 
 
 For all this belief, he remarked : 
 
 " Quite so — quite so." 
 
 " Perhaps you are not a socialist." 
 
 " N-no." 
 
 " Really ! " she exclaimed incredulously. " AU my 
 friends, or nearly all of them, are socialists." 
 
 " You have converted them ? " 
 
 " Perhaps." She smiled a trifle self-consciously. 
 " I must lend you some pamphlets : not those I've 
 written myself. I'm always meaning to write some- 
 thing quite stirring and convincing, but I never 
 seem to find the time. If those I lend you don't 
 quite convince you, I must take you seriously in 
 hand." 
 
 " Delighted. How many years is it since we met ? " 
 
 " I haven't time to think. Perhaps you will come 
 into the next room while I see what the journalist 
 wants." 
 
 AgUonby followed his friend to where the inter- 
 viewer was awaiting her ; the latter and the typist 
 rose respectfully at her entrance. 
 
LADY DERWENTWATER 15 
 
 " What was it you came to interview me about ? " 
 she asked of Radpole. " Is it about Lady Lowestoft's 
 charity bazaar ? " 
 
 " I'm from the Daily Mercury, your ladyship. We 
 wanted your opinion of the great and unexpected 
 victory at Woodport." 
 
 " Thank you so much. I've such a bad head for 
 these things," she replied — to add to Aglionby : " While 
 we're talking, you might like to commence the press 
 cuttings." 
 " Delighted." 
 
 " I have them from three agents so I shan't miss 
 any. You have to sort them out into personal, social, 
 and political, and paste them properly " (here she 
 frowned at the man who had been working the type- 
 writer) " into their respective albums," 
 
 " Right," remarked Aglionby, who looked for a place 
 where he might work. 
 
 The typist, who was Mee, the press agent, quickly 
 cleared a space at a table, and as Aglionby set to work 
 he perceived that the countess had seated herself in 
 a high-backed chair, where, with a forefinger to her 
 forehead, she was seemingly immersed in momentous 
 political thought. 
 
 Something in her attitude recalled the days of his 
 youth when she had disregarded her playmates in order 
 to be alone with an imposing volume. 
 
 The interviewer, notebook and pencil in hand, was 
 about to ply her with questions, when a telephone, 
 which Aglionby had not previously noticed, rang. 
 Mee promptly put his ear to the receiver ; after listen- 
 ing attentively, he said : 
 
 " It shall be seen to at once." 
 
 " Any one for me ? " asked the countess. 
 
 " It's the Evening Planet, your ladyship." 
 
16 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " They're always worrying me. What do they 
 want now ? " 
 
 " A description of the frock you're to wear at to- 
 morrow's Court, your ladyship." 
 
 " I'm much too busy to attend to them." 
 
 " I'll teU them, your ladyship," said Mee as he put 
 his hand on the receiver. 
 
 " Perhaps I may find the time." Then, as Mee still 
 appeared to hesitate, she added, " And, after all, it 
 isn't quite fair to disappoint the press." 
 
 " Very good, your ladyship." 
 
 " And as they're in such a hurry, you'd better 
 take down the description and send it by special 
 messenger." 
 
 " Very good, your ladyship." 
 
 " The boy might lose it. You'd better take it your- 
 self. To save time, you can order one of the cars. 
 Are you ready ? " 
 
 " Quite, but " 
 
 Here Mee glanced at the interviewer, who was still 
 waiting, notebook and pencil in hand. 
 
 " I've so many engagements and so many appoint- 
 ments, I must do the two together." 
 
 " I'm quite ready, your ladyship," said Mee, who 
 also waited with a pencil. 
 
 " When is this election to be ? " the countess asked 
 of the interviewer. 
 
 " It was yesterday, your ladyship. Resulted in a a 
 unprecedented victory for the Labour Party." 
 
 " Of course. I was thinkng of an election at one 
 of my clubs. And you want my opinion ? " 
 
 " If your ladyship will be good enough to give 
 it." 
 
 The countess reflected some moments before saying : 
 
 " Our victory — I feel justified in saying ' our,' 
 
LADY DERWENTWATER 17 
 
 for high and low are nowadays identified in the same 
 interests — is — ^is — simply — what shall I say ? " 
 
 She looked so pitifully helpless in her quest for the 
 inevitable word that Aglionby, who just then was 
 removing some very adhesive paste from his fingers, 
 was moved to come to her assistance. 
 
 The interviewer forestalled him, however. 
 
 " Momentous, your ladyship," he deferentially 
 suggested. 
 
 " The word was on my lips. The result of the 
 election is really quite momentous." 
 
 Her gratification at Radpole having hit upon the 
 word she was about to utter was impinged upon by 
 noticing her press agent waiting, notebook and pencil 
 in hand. 
 
 " You want details of my frock ? " she remarked. 
 
 " If you please, your ladyship." 
 
 " You must really excuse me a moment," she said 
 to the interviewer. " This is reaUy quite important." 
 
 Without a hint of hesitation, she glibly furnished 
 the required information, at which AgUonby was not 
 a little startled by the contrast presented by her pro- 
 fessed solicitude for the workers and the zest with 
 which she supplied the details of the " creation " she 
 was to wear at the forthcoming Court. 
 
 " It is of Delft blue satin with train of velours souple 
 of the same hue," she began. 
 
 " Yes, your ladyship." 
 
 " There is duU gold and diamond embroidery on 
 the bodice and also on the skirt." 
 
 She was enthusiastically continuing, when Radpole, 
 despairing of securing her attention, tactfully coughed. 
 
 " Forgive me ! I'd all but forgotten, although the 
 suffering millions are ever present in my thoughts. 
 About this election ! " 
 2 
 
18 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 The interviewer listened with all his ears. 
 
 " Oh ! — oh yes, of course. It means " she 
 
 began. 
 
 Aghonby was sensible of a silence that momentarily 
 became more oppressive. 
 
 He was minded to make some banal remark, when 
 the interviewer, who was possibly used to the absence 
 of facihty with which some deep thinkers express 
 their thoughts, remarked : 
 
 " Shows that our cause, commencing like some tiny 
 rivulet, has swoUen and expanded until, as some mighty 
 current, it threatens to overwhelm everything with 
 which reaction and privilege obstruct its progress ! " 
 
 " How cleverly you read my thoughts, dear 
 Mr. ! " 
 
 " Radpole." 
 
 " You must be ever so useful to your paper." 
 
 " And I think you were about to say that democracy 
 is awake, and is no longer content to be fed on the 
 outworn shibboleths of a bygone age," continued the 
 interviewer. 
 
 " That will do reaUy quite admirably. I shall so 
 look forward to seeing it in print." 
 
 Then, while Radpole scribbled in his notebook, the 
 countess turned to the waiting press agent. 
 
 " I've said nothing about the train." 
 
 " What shall I say, your ladyship ? " 
 
 " Tell them the train is lined with shot-blue satin." 
 
 When she thought that Mee had got this down, she 
 went on : 
 
 " And caught up with a spray of dull gold roses 
 with diamond-studded leaves." 
 
 Then she turned to the interviewer to ask : 
 
 " Is there any more you want of me ? " 
 
 " Not this morning, your ladyship." 
 
LADY DEEWENTWATER 19 
 
 " Is what I have told you enough '? " 
 
 " As it happens, one or two remarks your ladyship 
 has made at other times fit the situation exactly. I 
 am taking the liberty of annexing them," declared the 
 interviever unblushingly, 
 
 " How very kind of you ! " remarked the countess — 
 to turn to Mee and add ; 
 
 " What of my diamonds ? The pubUc always like 
 to know I am wearing the Derwentwater diamonds." 
 
 " What shall I say, your ladyship ? " 
 
 " I shall wear my tiara of diamonds and sapphires 
 in rose-leaf design. My diamond brooches, collar, and 
 long diamond and sapphire earrings." 
 
 " Yes, your ladyship." 
 
 " And don't forget my blue satin shoes embroidered 
 on the toes with dull gold. Before going to the Court, 
 I am dining at the Duchess of Wiltshire's. And when 
 it is all over, I am going on to Verry's to be photo- 
 graphed." 
 
 As the interviewer presently rose, she eagerly asked : 
 
 " When will it appear 1 " 
 
 " To-morrow morning." 
 
 " There is no doubt of that 1 " 
 
 " Without fail, your ladyship." 
 
 " And if you want a portrait " 
 
 " We have a block of your ladyship which we purpose 
 using." 
 
 When the journalist had gone, the countess turned 
 to Mee. 
 
 " While you are about it, you may as well send the 
 details of my frock to all the other papers." 
 
 " Very well, your ladyship," remarked Mee, a trifle 
 dubiously so Aglionby thought. 
 
 " If they appear in only one paper, the others might 
 be annoyed." 
 
20 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 Aglionby worked conscientiously till luncheon ; this 
 meal was served in a stately fashion which seemed 
 violently to belie the countess's political profession. 
 
 He endeavoured to turn the talk to" the days of their 
 old intimacy and to the fact of their having met again 
 after such a wide interval of years, but this effort was 
 frustrated by Lady Derwentwater's persistent and 
 unfailing interest in her public doings. 
 
 At last, however, he contrived to remark : 
 
 " This reminds me of old times, Jane." 
 
 " What papers were they in which you saw my 
 name ? " she asked. 
 
 He looked at her in surprise ; she went on : 
 
 " It must have been in some, otherwise you would 
 not have written. You can hardly open a paper with- 
 out coming across either my name or a reference to 
 my political activities." 
 
 Had she pressed for a definite reply to her question, 
 he would have feared to speak the truth and tell 
 her he had not come across her name at all, for 
 fear of offending her ; but there was no occasion for 
 anxiety on this score, as she continued to speak of 
 socialism, and always with particular reference to 
 herself. 
 
 " Are you not a socialist ? " she presently asked. 
 
 " I know so little about it." 
 
 " I must convert you : I've converted so many 
 people." 
 
 " I shall be delighted," he assured her. 
 
 " If I don't get time, you must listen to Gilbert 
 Ware." 
 
 " Gilbert Ware ! " 
 
 " Of course you have heard of him. He's my special 
 protege." 
 
 " Lucky feUow ! " 
 
LADY DERWENTWATER 21 
 
 The words sKpped from his mouth before he was 
 aware of their escape. 
 
 " He's an electrician and motor engineer. He's 
 simply a genius with cars. But he's my discovery." 
 
 " Indeed ! " 
 
 " He's so eloquent and so handsome. Sometimes, 
 when he speaks, it's like being in a theatre or a church. 
 He's rather like Forbes Robertson." 
 
 " I should like to meet him." 
 
 " You shall some day. Just now he's attending 
 Labour conferences on the Continent and finishes up 
 at Amiens to-day week. They say he's one of the 
 most promising speakers our cause possesses." 
 
 For the best part of the afternoon, Aglionby was 
 pressed into the countess's service, when he did his 
 best to make order of the seemingly hopeless chaos into 
 which his friend's correspondence and political papers 
 had drifted. 
 
 He was so confused by the fact of meeting with her 
 again, by being permitted to assist in what she called 
 her "propaganda," by her contradictory and often 
 inconsequent instructions, that he declined her in- 
 vitation to stay to tea and betook himself to his club. 
 
 Here he endeavoured (no easy matter) to sort out 
 the impressions of the day. 
 
 Prominent among these was a considerable elation 
 at being deemed sufficiently competent by his old love 
 to sort press cuttings and paste them in books. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 A SURPRISE 
 
 " Know anything about socialism ? " 
 
 " Why ? " 
 
 " I've just come up against a lot of it. It's all 
 rather beyond me." 
 
 " What's it you want to know 1 " 
 
 " What it aU means. It's a thing one never heard 
 of in this country before I went out to the East." 
 
 " Nowadays a day rarely passes without one's read- 
 ing or hearing something about it. It looks as if it 
 had come to stay. And, after all, it's come along 
 sooner or later in most of the other civilisations of the 
 world." 
 
 The speakers were Aghonby and a club acquaintance 
 named Ordway ; after a varied experience as a foreign 
 correspondent in the Peninsula, the latter was now an 
 editor of one of the big Conservative dailies. The two 
 men had struck up an acquaintanceship at the club 
 dining-table. 
 
 " But what's it all mean ? " asked Aglionby ingenu- 
 ously. " I've tried to get my teeth into it, but such a 
 lot of it seems to contradict the rest." 
 
 " Are you asking as a sympathetic inquirer ? " 
 asked Ordway guardedly. 
 
 " Anything butj I don't like it at all. But the fact 
 
 22 
 
A SURPRISE 23 
 
 is a friend — ^friends of mine have gone in for it bald- 
 headed, and for the life of me I can't understand why." 
 
 " Then I can speak my mind freely ? " 
 
 " Quite." 
 
 " At its best, socialism is the dream of impracticable 
 men who would substitute co-operation for natural 
 competition, forgetful of the fact that the latter is 
 absolutely necessary for the survival of the species." 
 
 " That sounds healthy anyway." 
 
 Ordway ignored the other's comment and went on : 
 
 "At its worst, socialism is robbery without risk 
 of injury ; the subsidising of the unfit ; the apotheosis 
 of the incompetent ; the hindering of the able in order 
 that the waster may benefit." 
 
 " And they talk about the universal brotherhood 
 of man ! " 
 
 " Which they're going to commence by wholesale 
 spoliation and robbery. They call it restitution, for- 
 getful that the greater part of wealth stands for grit, 
 forethought, enterprise, and self-denial. I sometimes 
 listen to their speeches, and I wonder, when they speak 
 of all this brotherhood-of-man business, how they 
 would like the black, the brown, and the yellow man 
 claiming to stand in." 
 
 " It would depreciate the standard of living if the 
 socialists were consistent and gave in. But what I 
 wanted to get out of you was the reason why so many 
 different classes are infected with it," said AgUonby. 
 
 " You can easily understand why the very poor and 
 uneducated take it up. With constantly decreasing 
 work and the increase in prices (I'm a tariff reformer), 
 you can understand their listening with greedy ears 
 to aU this talk of refreshing parched lips with the fruits 
 of the earth." 
 
 " I was thinking more of other people — ^those whom 
 
24 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 you wouldn't expect to be influenced by such argu- 
 ments." 
 
 " The case of the middle classes is easily explained. 
 The majority of middle-class socialists are either half- 
 educated sentimentalists or those who are filled with 
 envy, hate, and aU uncharitableness towards those who 
 are better off than themselves." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " A good many middle-class socialists are intellectual 
 snobs." 
 
 " Snobs ? " queried Aglionby. 
 
 " Arrant snobs," replied Ordway, who, after the 
 manner of his species, was enjoying himself in imparting 
 information. " In the first place, they pose as in- 
 tellectuals amongst their commonplace friends, and 
 give themselves airs and graces on that account, and 
 the fact of their being socialists enables them to mix 
 with rather better people than they otherwise would, 
 and to make out they know some one, who knows 
 some one, who knows that briUiant bore Bernard 
 Shaw. Indeed, nowadays, the four chief avenues to 
 social advancement are Bridge, Christian Science, 
 Roman Cathohcism, and Socialism." 
 
 " But what about socialism and the richer classes ! " 
 
 " There are a few genuine enthusiasts, men like 
 Hyndman, for instance, who have given up everything 
 for the cause. As for the others : one noble socialist 
 I know of owes hundreds, if not thousands, to her 
 tradespeople." 
 
 " I know whom you mean," smiled Aglionby. 
 
 " Her socialism is largely compounded of spite 
 against the society that's dropped her. That is one 
 variety." 
 
 " And there are others ? " remarked Aglionby, who 
 had become uncomfortably nervous. 
 
A SURPRISE 25 
 
 " Lady Derwentwater, for instance." 
 
 " Eh ! " 
 
 " Lady Derwentwater. What's the matter ? " 
 
 " I know her. And it's because of that I asked you 
 about socialism," declared Aglionby. 
 
 " You know her ? " asked Ordway. 
 
 " And she wants me to be a socialist ! " 
 
 " And you don't quite see it ? " 
 
 " For a good many reasons, no," replied Aglionby, 
 who wondered if the other had noticed how he had 
 changed colour. 
 
 " As she's a friend of yours," continued Ordway, 
 " you know even better than I do that her political 
 convictions are scarcely strong enough to enable her 
 to endure martyrdom for the cause." 
 
 " Perhaps not," said Aglionby noncommittably. 
 
 " And although her convictions, up to a certain point, 
 may be sincere enough, there may be some maUeious 
 people who say she's infected with the microbe of self- 
 advertisement." 
 
 " You think so ? " 
 
 " Don't you ? " 
 
 " You may be right," reluctantly asserted Aglionby 
 who was a trifle ashamed of himself for indirectly 
 censuring the Jane he had loved. 
 
 " And if this is so, something more attractive or 
 some more dominating influence has only to come 
 along, and socialism and aU its works will, so far as 
 she is concerned, be dead, buried, and forgotten." 
 
 " And what about those who've looked to her for 
 guidance and aU the rest of it ? " 
 
 Ordway shrugged his broad shoulders, at which 
 Aglionby was silent. 
 
 The joumaUst presently went on : 
 
 " I shall only believe these highly bom socialists 
 
26 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 sincere when they encourage their sons and daughters 
 to marry women and men of the people." 
 
 Aglionby was reflecting that this contingency could 
 not arise in his friend's case when the other said : 
 
 " Imagine Lady Derwentwater letting her daughter 
 marry a socialist plumber, say." 
 
 " Say that again," requested Aglionby, at which a 
 surprised Ordway repeated his statement. 
 
 " Lady Derwentwater has a daughter ? " he asked 
 in amazement. 
 
 " I thought you knew her." 
 
 " I've known her all my life — off and on. We were 
 brought up together. Although I was with her most 
 of last week, she never once mentioned her." 
 
 " H'm ! " 
 
 " How old is she ? " 
 
 " She must be almost a young woman. I suppose 
 she's at school." 
 
 " You have surprised me." 
 
 Then, noticing that the journalist was narrowly 
 eyeing him, he went on : 
 
 " There's some one Lady Derwentwater has taken 
 up. He's a fellow named Gilbert Ware, a motor en- 
 gineer. I haven't met him yet, but, from all I hear 
 of him, he seems by way of being remarkable." 
 
 " Socialist ? " 
 
 " Hot and strong. I understand he's one of their 
 most effective speakers. His people live somewhere 
 in the East End, and denied themselves, particularly 
 his mother, to give him a better education than he 
 otherwise would have had, and to apprentice him to 
 the motor trade." 
 
 " And a nice crop of trouble his parents have sown." 
 
 " How do you make that out ? " 
 
 " More likely than not, his fourth-rate education 
 
A SURPRISE 27 
 
 has given him ideas above his station, which his ac- 
 quaintance with Lady Derwentwater will complete. 
 It won't be so very long before Master Ware will con- 
 sider his people as beneath his notice, which, if they 
 are decent, will cut them to the quick after all they 
 have done for him." 
 
 " Is it possible ? " 
 
 " If you get me on to British snobbery, I'll never 
 stop. The subject's inexhaustible ; and the lower you 
 go in the social scale, the more you run up against 
 it." 
 
 " You have surprised me about Lady Derwent- 
 water having a daughter," said Aglionby when the 
 other took his leave. 
 
 His first action after his acquaintance had gone 
 was to turn up " Burke," where, after the customary 
 eulogy of the Derwentwater family (the earldom had 
 been bestowed two generations back as a reward for 
 political ineptitude), he saw that the offspring of Jane's 
 marriage was Aenemone Jane Stanhope Scarcliffe, 
 born in 1892. 
 
 For the life of him, he could not understand why 
 Jane had not made any reference to the fact of her 
 being a mother. 
 
 As his mind dwelled on the matter, it occurred to 
 him that her silence concerning Aenemone was due 
 to a vanity that was disincUned to admit the existence 
 of a grown-up daughter, but he presently put this 
 possibihty from his thoughts as unchivalrous. 
 
 Since his first caU at Derwentwater House, Aglionby 
 had seen a great deal of the countess, when, for the best 
 part of nearly every day, he had worked conscientiously 
 for his friend. 
 
 His duties had considerably expanded since he had 
 taken in hand the sorting and the sticking into books 
 
28 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 the press cuttings referring to the countess's varied 
 activities. Indeed, it had seemed as if she had no 
 compunction in ruthlessly working a willing horse : on 
 two occasions he had been sent out with her two French 
 buU-dogs in order that they should have exercise under 
 reliable supervision, he being threatened with their 
 mistress's direst displeasure in the event of anything 
 untoward happening to them. 
 
 It had, of course, been open to Aghonby to protest, 
 but somehow he had done his friend's bidding with 
 no particular reluctance : it almost seemed as if she 
 were acquiring something of her old domination over 
 him. 
 
 At the same time, he would not have admitted this 
 possibility to himself ; if he had given the matter 
 serious thought, he would have told himself (and per- 
 haps have believed it) that he was thankful for an 
 opportunity of filling in his time. 
 
 To-day, however, apart from his preoccupation con- 
 cerning Jane's silence respecting her daughter, Ordway 's 
 references to her lack of serious conviction where 
 socialism was concerned stuck in his mind ; he, too, 
 had had from the first a suspicion of her complete 
 sincerity, and he was more than a little fearful that her 
 persistent attachment to a political creed of which she 
 knew little might sooner or later make her the heroine 
 of some regrettable incident. 
 
 Although he had no particular appointment to see 
 her on that afternoon, he, knowing she would be in, 
 resolved to call, when he would make his protest against 
 her identifying herself so enthusiastically with sociahsm 
 the excuse for his visit : also, he would ask her about 
 her daughter. 
 
 When he arrived at Derwentwater House, he was 
 shown into the library, where the countess was at work : 
 
A SURPEISE 29 
 
 she was seated at a writing-table and was apparently 
 in the throes of literary composition. 
 
 " Don't speak ! " she cried, and without looking up, 
 directly she was aware of his presence. 
 
 He waited in a silence which was broken by her 
 asking : 
 
 " How do you spell ' hygienic ' 1 " 
 
 He told her. 
 
 " I think it looks so scientific in print." 
 
 " What are you writing ? " 
 
 " Fiction this time. It's a story, and for this." 
 
 She handed him a woman's monthly magazine, on 
 the front page of which was a long Ust of contributors ; 
 without exception, each had a title of sorts. 
 
 "Finished it yet ? " he asked. 
 
 ' ' I haven't even begun it . I'm waiting for an idea . ' ' 
 
 " What sort of thing are you going to do ? " 
 
 " Something pretty and domestic. It only appeals 
 to a certain class." 
 
 Lady Derwentwater spoke truly. 
 
 The magazine in question was run by an astute 
 firm of publishers which catered with unerring judg- 
 ment for the servant in the kitchen and her mistress 
 in the drawing-room of the pretentiously named villa. 
 
 The magazine admitted only titled contributors to its 
 columns, and had a large circulation in suburbs where 
 the inhabitants took an abiding pride in what they 
 proudly referred to as their selectness. 
 
 Presently, Aglionby said : 
 
 " I didn't know you had a daughter." 
 
 He had intended making the latter a peg on which 
 to hang his arguments against his friend's violent 
 identification with socialism, and was rather taken 
 aback at noticing how the countess's face fell on 
 hearing his remark. 
 
30 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Surely you did ! " 
 
 " You've never mentioned her to me." 
 
 " If I haven't, it's because I didn't think it necessary. 
 I thought every one knew about Aenemone." 
 
 " I wonder if she's as charming as her name." 
 
 " Some people have said so," she remarked, with 
 no particular enthusiasm. 
 
 " Heredity," suggested Aglionby, at which the 
 countess's face brightened. " Where is she now ? " 
 
 " At a convent school in Paris. And that reminds 
 me " 
 
 " Well « " 
 
 " I've completely forgotten. It's the penalty of 
 being such a public character ! " 
 
 " What is it ? " 
 
 " Aenemone is coming from Paris the very day 
 Gilbert is bringing a deputation of socialist working- 
 men." 
 
 " What of that 1 " 
 
 " It's aU so confusing both coming together. I 
 suppose I shall have to send Ducker to Dover to meet 
 her." 
 
 She looked at him questioningly, at which he said : 
 
 " Would you Like me to go ? " 
 
 " It would be so sweet of you if you would. The fact 
 of the matter is I've succeeded in interesting Ducker 
 in socialism, and I want her to give all her spare time 
 to it." 
 
 Aglionby concealed a smile as he asked : 
 
 " Is Ducker making satisfactory progress ? " 
 
 " I don't know as yet, but she's always deHghted 
 to leave her work to read pamphlets and things. The 
 other day she'd been studying so hard I found her 
 asleep. But do you think you could manage to go 
 to Dover ? " 
 
A SURPRISE 31 
 
 " It's possible." 
 
 " YoQ might faU in love with Aenemone." 
 
 " Why ! She's only sev " 
 
 " Sixteen," interraptedthe cotmtess, while she looked 
 with sweet-eyed candour at her friend. 
 
 He was abont to ask if her daughter were a socialist, 
 and to make the dnty she owed Aenemone a means of 
 protesting against her economic convictions, but a 
 servant entered to say that Captain and Mrs. Trossley 
 were in the drawing-room, consequently he was com- 
 pelled to postpone his objection to a more convenient 
 season. 
 
 He accompanied Lady Derwentwater upstairs, and 
 found Trossley to be a well-set-up man who, for all 
 his erectness, looked as if he were the victim of nerves ; 
 his wife was by no means a robust4ooking woman, 
 with seemingly exhausted eyes. 
 
 AgUonby had barely been introduced to the callers, 
 when a Mr. Quinby was announced, at the which a tail, 
 angular man entered the room. 
 
 At the first glance, he appeared to be undistinguished 
 but benevolent4ooking ; a little later, he made some 
 approach to an unpleasant impression upon Aghonby, 
 although the latter could not account for the cause. 
 
 He gathered that Quinby was a man with philan- 
 thropic leanings. He was the originator of what he 
 called the " Magic Ring," which was an association for 
 young men and women, particularly the latter, in 
 various spheres of life, for social purposes. Fortnightly 
 or monthly meetings were arranged, out-of-doors in 
 summer, indoors in winter, when the members met 
 for intercourse and games, of which Quinby was the 
 ruling spirit, he beUeving that such gathering softened 
 class acerbities and were by way of being a godsend 
 to the work-girls who had joined the organisation. 
 
32 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 To-day, he had called on Lady Derwentwater as he 
 had reason to believe that Lady Aenemone was shortly 
 expected home ; he wished to enlist her as an in- 
 fluential and enthusiastic unit in the " Magic Ring." 
 
 While he enlarged to the countess on the good work 
 he was doing, Aglionby talked to the captain and 
 his wife. 
 
 After many false moves in attempting to discover 
 what interested them, Aglionby found that latter-day 
 diseases and their symptoms held an abiding interest 
 for the Trossleys. 
 
 Husband and wife, particularly the latter, had had 
 a variety of unusual complaints with unforeseen com- 
 plications ; these they detailed at length, exhibiting 
 a really disturbing knowledge of physiology. 
 
 Trossley had undergone two or three operations (it 
 was said by the captain's friends that operations were 
 his hobby), and told Aglionby all about them, before 
 relating the professional idiosyncrasies of famous 
 surgeons. 
 
 Presently, husband and wife questioned Aglionby 
 about his health, and seemed quite disappointed he 
 had nothing the matter with him. 
 
 Apparently they considered him by way of being 
 abnormal in his freedom from iUness, for he was 
 forthwith made acquainted with the most interesting 
 maladies of their friends. 
 
 A morbid interest in disease appeared to play such 
 a considerable part in their lives that, at last, Aglionby 
 was moved to say : 
 
 " As there are clubs and associations for nearly 
 everything under the sun, I wonder why some one 
 doesn't start an invahd club, where people could meet 
 and talk over their symptoms and treatment." 
 
 He had rather let his tongue run away with him, and 
 
A SURPRISE 33 
 
 was a little sorry he had spoken to this effect, but, to 
 his surprise, Trossley said : 
 
 " What a topping idea ! " 
 
 " Why doesn't some one do it ! " asked his wife. 
 
 " I should join at once," declared Trossley. 
 
 " So would all the interesting people we know." 
 
 The Trossleys talked iUness till they took their leave, 
 and Quinby prolonged his visit tiU it was time for the 
 countess to dress, which proceeding prevented Aghonby 
 from screwing up his courage to tackle her upon her 
 devotion to sociaUsm. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 A TRIP TO DOVER 
 
 Aglionby did not get a chance of protesting against 
 the cotintess's socialism until the night before he 
 started for Dover in order to meet the boat train 
 by which her daughter would cross the channel. 
 
 When an opportunity had presented itself, he had 
 not possessed the necessary resolution, and at other 
 times when in the mood his friend's vagaries of conver- 
 sation or occupation did not give him the opening 
 he required in order to broach the subject. 
 
 He had dined alone with the countess at Derwent- 
 water House ; during dinner the talk had largely 
 centred on the preparations for the deputation of 
 sociaUst working-men which was expected on the 
 afternoon of the morrow, this being a Saturday. 
 
 To Aglionby's consternation, his friend was warmly 
 in favour of afternoon tea being supplied in one of 
 the drawing-rooms by way of refreshment ; he 
 neglected his food to convince her that such exigent 
 hospitahty would not only offend the socialists' 
 stomachs, but irritate their democratic susceptibilities. 
 
 It took a deal of persuasion to convince her that 
 what was wanted was the most substantial of " high 
 teas " at which the men should be left to shift for 
 themselves, when they would be more likely to enjoy 
 
A TRIP TO DOVER 35 
 
 themselves than if constrained by the presence of 
 servants. 
 
 As the countess had anything but a practical mind 
 in such matters, Aglionby gave the necessary instruc- 
 tions to the butler and housekeeper, before joining 
 his hostess in the drawing-room. 
 
 She was reading and did not hear him come in, at 
 which something in either the expression or pose of 
 her face recalled the days of long ago, days in which 
 he had been the slave of her caprices ; in spite of him- 
 self, he was held to where he stood, while, at the same 
 time, he was possessed by an embarrassing helpless- 
 ness. 
 
 She looked up and smiled, and with such an engaging 
 simpUcity of countenance — ^at least, so it seemed to 
 him — ^that he was more than ever moved to divert 
 permanently her mind from its political preposses- 
 sion. 
 
 She spoke of Aenemone's return, and jarred Aglionby 
 by mentioning that she had told Mee to send a para- 
 graph to the papers announcing this event. 
 
 " Is Aenemone a socialist ? " he asked. 
 
 " When she was last at home I was more interested 
 in Christian Science." 
 
 " Are you going to try and convert her ? " 
 
 " I shall expect her to throw herself heart and soul 
 into the movement." 
 
 AgUonby reflected a moment, and suddenly de- 
 cided to seize the present opportunity to effect his 
 purpose. 
 
 " Look here, Jane," he began almost explosively, 
 " do you think you are doing what is right ? " 
 
 " What do you mean ? " she asked, faintly surprised. 
 
 " Taking up all this socialism. You've asked me to 
 go into it, and I've done so, and taken other people's 
 
36 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 opinions on it — some of the men I've spoken to are 
 quite able — and I think the whole thing's hopelessly 
 quixotic and impractical." 
 
 She looked at him with a mild but pitying curiosity, 
 much as if he were a performing animal. As if to justify 
 his antagonism to her opinions, he went on : 
 
 " Socialism may be all right from the point of view 
 of those who've everything to gain by it ; but people 
 like you, who stand to lose everything you've got if 
 socialism comes along, are, vulgarly speaking, 'queering 
 their own pitch.' " 
 
 He waited for a reply, and all but believed none was 
 forthcoming, when she yawned before saying : 
 
 " Are you serious ? " 
 
 " Of course I am. Would I presume to lecture my 
 old friend if I weren't ! And I tell you that this hobby 
 — ^I mean these convictions " (she had raised her eye- 
 brows) " of yours will, in all likelihood, injure those 
 you are most eager to benefit." 
 
 " What do you mean, Dick ? " 
 
 Aglionby made mention of Gilbert Ware, and re- 
 peated Ordway's remarks on this subject much as if 
 they were his own. 
 
 " What nonsense are you talking ? " she petulantly 
 protested. 
 
 " It's not nonsense ; it's sense, Jane. You will only 
 give him ideas above his station, and in the end will 
 do him far more harm than good." 
 
 " You speak as if I were not sincere ! " 
 
 " Oh, you're sincere enough so far as that goes," 
 declared Aglionby hypocritically. " But women, es- 
 pecially charming women, often get tired of things 
 they're interested in." 
 
 " No one thinks me charming." 
 
 " Eh ? " 
 
A TEIP TO DOVER 37 
 
 " No one thinks me charming." 
 " Are you sure of that ? " he asked, with an earnest- 
 ness that surprised him. 
 
 " Now you're as silly as you used to be. I thought 
 we'd forgotten all that." 
 " Jane ! " he protested. 
 
 " Life's much too serious for that sort of thing, 
 especially when one has a mission, and when one has 
 a grown-up daughter who's taller than I am." 
 " You must get her married." 
 
 " There won't be much difficulty about that. She's 
 very pretty, and there's Robin Caple, who's simply 
 rolling in money ; he's known her all her life, and wants 
 to marry her when she's older. He's in the Navy, and 
 he's now abroad, and Aenemone is quite a pretty 
 g— child ! " 
 
 ' ' Mater pulchra ; filia pulchrior ," remarked Aglionby ; 
 the next moment he regretted he had praised Aenemone 
 more than her mother, but his apprehensions were 
 allayed at reflecting that the countess was probably 
 innocent of even rudimentary Latin. 
 
 " Quite so. But if that falls through — we haven't 
 heard from Robin for weeks — you will have to help me 
 fiud her a husband." 
 
 Aglionby could not restrain an inclination to be 
 mahcious, consequently he said : 
 
 " That should not be difficult, with all your socialist 
 friends." 
 
 " What do you mean 1 " 
 
 " That you'll be wanting to marry her to some 
 sociahstic plumber." 
 
 " Dick ! " 
 
 " Or revolutionary carpenter." 
 
 " Have you taken leave of your senses ? " 
 
 " My dear Jane, one must be consistent. And think 
 
38 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 what a splendid advertisement it would be for the 
 cause." 
 
 " Perhaps. But you're surely not serious ? " 
 
 " I am. And as for the newspapers, they would 
 not let you alone for weeks." 
 
 " I'm astonished, Dick, that you can suggest any- 
 thing so outrageous, even as a joke. I don't know 
 what you must be thinking of. Such a thing never 
 entered my mind, and — and — ^it's too preposterous to 
 discuss." 
 
 Aglionby was suddenly serious as he said : 
 
 " This proves how utterly insincere are what you 
 call your convictions. Take my advice, drop all this 
 socialism and give your life to something that is worth 
 your energy and capacity. If you don't, believe me it 
 will, sooner or later, only lead you in trouble." 
 
 " Trouble ? What trouble ? " she remarked shortly- 
 
 " Anything. And it may make you ridiculous ; and 
 as you know, the public, whose good opinion you're 
 so anxious for, has a keen sense of humour." 
 
 AgUonby was ill prepared for the anger his words 
 excited. She reproached him for criticising her Life 
 Work, as she called it ; told him that he should be 
 grateful for the opportunities she had given him to 
 take a hand in the Great Undertaking ; suggested he 
 was presuming on their old friendship, and altogether 
 was several times within an ace of vulgarly losing her 
 temper. 
 
 Her words had a twofold effect on Aglionby. While 
 he was moved to combat her assertions, he was by no 
 means blind to the physical effect of anger upon his 
 friend's features : her eyes became big with animation ; 
 colour painted her cheeks ; years seemed lifted from 
 her life. 
 
 He was dominated by the alteration that had oc- 
 
A TRIP TO DOVER 39 
 
 curred, and, presently, it was as if the hand of time 
 were put back, and as if they were both as they had 
 been in the days of their youth. 
 
 She had paused for breath ; as his emotion caused 
 him to hold his peace, she, believing she had vanquished 
 him utterly, smiled complacently. 
 
 The relaxing of her features unloosed his tongue. 
 
 " Jane," he began. 
 
 " Yes, Dick." 
 
 " Has it ever occurred to you to marry again ? " 
 
 " Marry ! " she cried in astonishment. 
 
 Her exclamation damped the ardour that had pos- 
 sessed him. 
 
 " You — ^you might be much happier if you did." 
 
 " So others have told me." 
 
 " Men ? " 
 
 " Perhaps." 
 
 He was about to urge that, as he was by no means 
 a poor man, he might aspire to the honour of her hand, 
 and that in the event of his being successful, he would 
 devote his life to her, when he caught sight of his face 
 in a round gilt-framed mirror, surmounted by ormolu 
 Cupids. 
 
 He immediately recalled how she had repulsed him 
 in the days of long ago by reminding him of his plain- 
 ness ; abjectly fearing that history in such a minor 
 matter might repeat itself, and at the same time being 
 possessed of a doubt that his feelings for his friend were 
 sufficiently ardent to warrant his proposing marriage, 
 he clumsily changed the subject and took the earliest 
 opportunity of going. 
 
 That night AgUonby slept ill ; the indeterminate 
 nature of his feelings for the countess frequently 
 awakened him : he could not make up his mind whether 
 the old love had kindled in his heart or if he were merely 
 
40 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 moved by a chivalrous desire to prevent his old friend 
 from making a fool of herself. 
 
 The matter obsessed his mind while he was getting 
 up and during the tedious journey to Dover ; the 
 more he thought of it, the farther he was from a 
 solution that satisfied him. 
 
 While awaiting the arrival of the steamer, he was 
 amused at watching the eagerness of the signalman 
 on the Admiralty pier, and of the driver and stoker 
 of the train that had brought him down, for a little 
 furtive sea-fishing. Directly they could spare a minute 
 from their respective duties, they would hurry to the 
 edge of the pier, and after baiting a line would throw 
 it into the water. 
 
 When the steamer arrived, Aglionby had no difl&culty 
 in identifying the girl he had come to meet : not only 
 was she in charge of an Ursuline nun from the convent 
 she had left, but her youth, distinction, and a certain 
 resemblance she bore to Lady Derwentwater told him 
 who she was. 
 
 She was slighter, almost as tall as, but darker than, 
 her mother and Of a different complexion, her hair, of 
 which she had a sweet profusion, being of such a deep 
 brown as to be almost black, and yet not so compara- 
 tively fair as to contain a mere suggestion of blue. 
 
 Her slim figure was instinct with an abiding grace 
 rare in her countrywomen, while the almost nervous 
 sweetness of her face made an immediate appeal to 
 Aglionby, causing him to rage inwardly that such a 
 highly strung, winsome girl should be destined to tread 
 the barren ways of socialism. But for all her tender 
 appearance, the glimpse he caught of her big grey eyes 
 suggested that they had a capacity for deep affection, 
 and a tenacity of purpose which was at variance with 
 her gentle mind. 
 
A TRIP TO DOVER 41 
 
 " Lady Aenemone ? " said Aglionby as he lifted 
 his hat. 
 
 " Are you Mr. Aglionby ? " she asked. 
 
 " Your mother wished me to meet you. How did 
 you know my name ? " 
 
 " Mumsie wrote and told me about you and how 
 useful you were to her." 
 
 " She was going to send Ducker, but I came instead. 
 I hope you had a nice crossing." 
 
 " Ask Mother Clothilde ! " she replied demurely, 
 at which Aghonby was introduced to the nun, whose 
 face was a piteous greeny yellow. 
 
 " I'm sorry you've been ill. What about the 
 luggage ? " 
 
 " Most of it is registered through," rephed the girl, 
 " but some one's been so kind in looking after what 
 we have." 
 
 " Indeed ! " 
 
 " He would have held Mother Olothilde's head, 
 if she had let him. He was so kind. Here he 
 is." 
 
 At that moment, a remarkable-looking man of about 
 twenty-six, who wore a blue serge suit, appeared before 
 them and said, with a suggestion of deference in his 
 voice : 
 
 " I'm seeing to your things." 
 
 Aglionby was about to teU him not to trouble ; 
 before he could do so, the stranger had disappeared, 
 but before he lost sight of him he noticed the man's 
 high forehead, penetrating eyes, and keen, regular 
 features. 
 
 " Do you know anything about him ? " he asked 
 of the girl. 
 
 " He helped me when we came on the boat. I saw 
 him watching me often, and when Mother Clothilde 
 
42 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 was ill he was so kind. I believe if I'd been ill he'd 
 have been kind too." 
 
 "No doubt. What is going to happen to your 
 friend ? " 
 
 " She's going to a convent in London." 
 
 They had left the steamer and were walking in the 
 direction of the waiting train ; when they reached 
 the first-class compartments, Aglionby saw the man 
 who had spoken to Lady Aenemone standing by an 
 open door. 
 
 Directly he caught sight of the girl, he furtively 
 raised his straw hat, and advanced on her to 
 say : 
 
 " Your things are all here. I've had this carriage 
 reserved for you." 
 
 " Thank you," gratefully remarked the recipient of 
 his attention, while AgUonby none too graciously 
 remarked : 
 
 " You need not have troubled." 
 
 The girl gave him a quick glance, at which he 
 said : 
 
 " Does your friend go with us ? " 
 
 " I'll see," repUed Lady Aenemone. 
 
 Thereupon she turned to the nun and said : 
 
 " Voyagez-vous avec nous, ma mere ? " 
 
 " Puisque je sais maintenant que vous etes sauve, 
 je pr6f6rerais y aller toute seule," replied the 
 nun. 
 
 " Mais pourquoi, ma m§re ? " 
 
 " Parce que je peux mieux m^diter quand on me 
 laisse seule." 
 
 " Vous etes bien, bien sur ? " 
 
 " Absolument, mon enfant." 
 
 " Mother Clothilde will travel alone,"Lady Aenemone 
 informed Aglionby. 
 
A TRIP TO DOVER 43 
 
 " Good-byes " were said, and after Aglionby had seen 
 the nun into another carriage, labelled " for women 
 only," he took his seat by the winsome girl he had come 
 to meet. 
 
 " Ducker usually comes for me," she said. 
 
 " I came instead ; I am sorry." 
 
 " So am I," she declared. 
 
 He looked at her, to see that her eyes held the ghost 
 of a smile. 
 
 " I shall know what to do another time," he 
 said. 
 
 " Stay away ? " she asked. 
 
 " No— come." 
 
 A boy passing the window just then with a tray 
 of sweets and fruits, he bought her a profusion of 
 these, when he was surprised at the warmth of her 
 thanks. 
 
 When the train had started, she asked : 
 
 " And how's mumsie ? " 
 
 " Remarkably well." 
 
 " She doesn't often write ; but when she does, she 
 sends me things hke this," declared the girl, as 
 she brought from a pocket various sociaUst pam- 
 phlets. 
 
 " Good heavens ! Have you read them ? " 
 
 " I don't quite understand them." 
 
 AgUonby was more than ever possessed by a hatred 
 of socialism and its works. 
 
 " Talk to me," she said, as he was lost in thought. 
 
 " What about 1 " 
 
 " Anything." 
 
 " What do you hope to do with your life ? " he 
 asked, after speaking of any and everything. 
 
 " I don't like to tell you." 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
44 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " You might laugh at me." 
 
 " I should never do that," he declared earnestly. 
 
 She looked at him appraisingly before saying : 
 
 " No ; I don't think you would. I want to live for 
 others." 
 
 Aglionby groaned in bitterness of spirit : he was 
 moved to break a lance for individualism. 
 
 " That's very sweet of you, and the sort of thing 
 I should expect you to say. But there's a duty one 
 owes to oneself." 
 
 " The Mothers did not teach me that." 
 
 " But I'm afraid that even you will find the 
 world a very different place from a convent 
 school." 
 
 " Why should it be different ? Every one I've so 
 far met is kind and good." 
 
 " Indeed ! " 
 
 " There was that man on the boat," 
 
 " He isn't the world." 
 
 " And there's you." 
 
 " I ! " 
 
 " You bought these lovely sweets." 
 
 She opened a box, and was greatly surprised at his 
 refusing her chocolates. 
 
 " I never forget those who are kind to me," she 
 added as she placed the box at her side. 
 
 Presently, she was lost in thought, at which he 
 asked : 
 
 " What are you thinking of ? " 
 
 She started, reddened, and appeared to reflect a 
 moment before saying : 
 
 " How long have you known my mumsie ? " 
 
 " I knew her as a boy ; even before I was as old 
 as you are." 
 
 " How interesting ! Tell me some more." 
 
A TRIP TO DOVER 45 
 
 Something in the girl's manner compelled confidence, 
 for he said : 
 
 " I was very fond of your mother." 
 
 " Did you — did you ever teU her you loved 
 her ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Then why didn't she marry you ? " 
 
 " She didn't care for me enough." 
 
 " Not ! " 
 
 Aglionby was gratified by the surprise expressed in 
 her voice. He went on : 
 
 " So she married your father instead." 
 
 " But if she hadn't, you might have been my 
 daddy." 
 
 " Yes, I might have been your daddy," he remarked 
 reflectively. 
 
 " What a pity ! " 
 
 " Why do you say that ? " 
 
 " Because I like you," she declared, with a candour 
 that went to his heart. 
 
 A little later, she surprised him by saying, after an 
 interval of silence : 
 
 " I wonder who he is." 
 
 " Who ? " 
 
 " The man on the boat." 
 
 "StiU thinking of him?" 
 
 " Y-yes," she repUed, before changing the subject. 
 
 Much to Aglionby's surprise, the man referred to 
 appeared at the carriage door as the train stopped 
 at Victoria, to ask, as he shouldered aside the waiting 
 porters : 
 
 " Can I do anything for you ? " 
 
 " No, thank you, I'U see to everything," repUed 
 Aglionby, none too graciously, at which the man lifted 
 his hat and disappeared. 
 
46 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " He meant kindly," protested Lady Aenemone. 
 
 " One would think I couldn't look after you," he 
 retorted. 
 
 A footman removed the luggage the girl had brought 
 with her to the waiting car, but when they started 
 they made but little progress before the motor came 
 to a dead stop. 
 
 The chauffeur immediately got down and opened 
 the bonnet, but before he could do anything Lady 
 Aenemone's boat acquaintance suddenly appeared and 
 intently examined the engine, 
 
 " Don't you see what's wrong ? " he asked 
 sharply. 
 
 " What ? " ungraciously replied the chauffeur. 
 
 " It's the screw that fastens the earth wire to the 
 magneto. It's easily done. Let me." 
 
 Very soon, the screw was tightened, at which the man 
 again lifted his hat as he glanced at the girl in the 
 car. 
 
 " Thank you. Thank you so much," she cried — ^to 
 add to her companion, " Isn't he clever ? " 
 
 When they reached Derwentwater House, the girl, 
 followed by Aglionby, ran upstairs, where she found 
 her mother engaged with an interviewer from one of 
 the sixpenny weekly journals. 
 
 Although nothing was lacking in the warmth with 
 which she greeted her daughter, it seemed to AgUonby 
 as if she had one eye on the journalist in the hope of 
 the latter making mention of her maternal sohcitude 
 in the forthcoming interview. 
 
 She then turned to Aglionby, to say : 
 
 " I want you to see Dowson. He's got in a muddle 
 about the refreshments for the deputation. I told 
 him to wait till you came back." 
 
 He was about to obey her behest and interview the 
 
A TRIP TO DOVER 47 
 
 butler, when she called him back to show him an illus- 
 tration in a newspaper. 
 
 " There's Gilbert Ware and his fellow delegates," 
 she said, " You'll see him in the flesh this afternoon." 
 
 Aglionby was greatly surprised to discover that the 
 illustration of Ware had an extraordinary likeness to the 
 man in the blue serge suit who had been eager to assist 
 Lady Aenemone. 
 
CHAPTEE V 
 
 THE DEPUTATION 
 
 Aglionby went downstairs somewhat perturbed in 
 spirit. He did not at all like the idea of the man who 
 was assiduous in his attentions to Lady Aenemone 
 being the socialist whom her mother had befriended ; 
 more particularly was this the case as he had reason to 
 believe that the girl was attracted by the persistent 
 stranger. He quite realised the possibiUty, however, 
 of the resemblance between the two men being nothing 
 more than a coincidence, and resolved not to trouble 
 further about the matter till Gilbert Ware's arrival, 
 Aglionby's forty years of existence, if it had done 
 nothing else, having taught him the futility of worrying 
 over contingencies which might never be realised. 
 
 Dowson, the butler, was an elderly, dignified, broad- 
 shouldered, well-set-up man who had been a quarter- 
 master in the Navy and had served in all parts of the 
 world. 
 
 He had white hair and piercing black eyes which had 
 the constrained look of those who have undergone 
 service discipline. 
 
 " What's up, Dowson ? " asked Aghonby. 
 
 " I'm glad you've come, sir. I want to know 
 exactly what's to be done," repUed the butler. 
 
 " We discussed all that last night." 
 
 48 
 
THE DEPUTATION 49 
 
 " But since then her ladyship has given so many 
 contradictory orders. I don't know what I'm to 
 do." 
 
 " Better stick to what we arranged. I'll take the 
 responsibility." 
 
 " Very good, sir." 
 
 The reluctance perceptible in the man's voice caused 
 Aglionby to ask : 
 
 " Are you a socialist ? " 
 
 " Sir ! " cried a discreetly surprised Dowson. 
 
 " I assure you I'm not." 
 
 " I'm very glad to hear it, sir. And I cannot under- 
 stand how her ladyship can have such folk to her house 
 as she sometimes does." 
 
 " Are they as bad as that ? " 
 
 " Wait till you see them this afternoon, sir : most 
 of them are idle loafers ; rather spout a bit and write 
 a bit than do a day's work. And her ladyship taking 
 them up as she does only encourages them." 
 
 " Not many socialists in the service, eh ? " 
 
 " Not very many, sir. Disciphne makes a man 
 self-respecting. I should have liked to see some of 
 these socialists serving a three years' commission in 
 the fifties, when discipline vxis discipline." 
 
 When AgMonby had superintended the final arrange- 
 ments for the socialists' bodily refreshment, he sat down 
 to a late and hasty luncheon with the countess and her 
 daughter, the deputation being expected at some- 
 thing after three. 
 
 During this meal it seemed to Aglionby that his 
 friend wished to appear as one possessed by deep politi- 
 cal thought ; she would neglect what was on her plate 
 to reflect with a shapely forefinger supporting her brow ; 
 it was nearly always necessary to address her^twice 
 before she replied to any given reipark. 
 4 
 
60 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 The conversation was chiefly between LadyAenemone 
 and Aglionby; but when the former was not light- 
 heartedly chattering, he noticed she was curiously 
 regarding her mother's absent-minded behaviour. 
 
 Presently, the countess spoke of Gilbert Ware, 
 effusively eulogising his parts. 
 
 " I wonder if he's as clever as my friend," remarked 
 Lady Aenemone as she glanced shyly at Aglionby. 
 
 " Who might that be ? " asked her mother, at which 
 the girl related the incidents of the morning in which 
 her boat acquaintance had figured. 
 
 " You saw him too," she concluded, addressing 
 Aglionby. 
 
 " I hoped you'd forgotten all that," he replied, 
 
 " He was very kind to me. How could I ? " she 
 urged. 
 
 Aglionby devoutly hoped that the man referred to 
 would not prove to be her mother's tame socialist. 
 
 While he was playfully questioning Lady Aenemone 
 with reference to her studies, and amusing her by 
 pleading ignorance of the commonest facts of every- 
 day knowledge, the countess suddenly exclaimed : 
 
 " I knew I'd forgotten something." 
 
 " What might that be ? " asked Aglionby. 
 
 " I suppose I shall have to make a speech to the 
 deputation. Why didn't you remind me ? " 
 
 " It never occurred to me. If I thought of it at 
 all, I made sure you would remember what you had 
 to do." 
 
 " You shouldn't think anything of the kind. You 
 say you want to help me, and you don't do a thing." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " There are no ' buts ' at all. Do try and be less 
 remiss in future." 
 
 "My dear Jane " 
 
THE DEPUTATION 51 
 
 " If you've no better excuse to offer, you'd better 
 say nothing." 
 
 If Aglionby had been capable of criticising his 
 emotions just then, he might have been dismayed at 
 perceiving that he was endeavouring to find excuses 
 for his friend's unjustifiable censure of himself. 
 
 When luncheon was over and Lady Aenemone was 
 passing him on the way to the door, she said in an 
 undertone : 
 
 " Why don't you stand in the corner ? " 
 
 " Why should I ? " 
 
 " For not remembering something you knew nothing 
 about." 
 
 He was half-way through a cigar when Dowson told 
 him that the countess wished to speak to him in 
 the library. He marvelled what was toward as he 
 hastened to obey her behest. 
 
 She received him with a winning smile as she 
 said : 
 
 " I was wondering if you would help me ?j"j 
 
 " Why shouldn't I ? " 
 
 " Then you've forgiven me for sending for you so 
 soon after luncheon ? " 
 
 " What is it you want, Jane ? " 
 
 " I'm troubled by this speech." 
 
 " Not reaUy ! " 
 
 " My head's in such a whirl from committee meetings 
 and interviews and general propaganda work and 
 arranging about the deputation's refreshments, that 
 just now I seem incapable of anything. And I was 
 wondering " 
 
 " Yes," said Aglionby as she hesitated. 
 
 " If you would help me if I forgive you for not 
 reminding me before." 
 
 " I suppose I must." 
 
52 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " I knew you would. I'm no longer angry with 
 you." 
 
 " Thank you. I suppose the usual platitudes will 
 do?" 
 
 " Not for socialism. It wants something deep ; 
 something true ; something that comes straight from 
 the inmost soul of things and " 
 
 " Yes ? " said Aglionby as she again hesitated. 
 
 " There's something else worrying me," she declared 
 inconsequently. 
 
 " What is that ? " 
 
 " Fowler is ill. It's too bad of him when I wanted 
 him to take Mascot and Fifine for a walk." 
 
 " Do you want me to feel Fowler's pulse ? " 
 
 " He's been ill a lot lately. I shall really have to 
 get rid of him," she remarked, disregarding the other's 
 frivolous question. 
 
 " From each man according to his capacity ; to 
 each man according to his needs," quoted Aglionby 
 gravely, at which the countess, not perceiving that he 
 was calling attention to the inconsistency she had 
 exhibited, said : 
 
 " Yes, I shall certainly bring that into the speech. 
 It always makes its appeal. But about Mascot and 
 Fifine. Do you think Hunt can be trusted ? " 
 
 " If he's not too fat." 
 
 " He sometimes looks so absent-minded. It's all 
 a great worry." 
 
 Aglionby resisted an inclination to take her hand 
 and comfort her, before saying : 
 
 " Is Aenemone to be here when the deputation turns 
 up?" 
 
 " I told her I wish her to rest after her journey. 
 After to-day she will seriously help me in my good 
 work." 
 
THE DEPUTATION 53 
 
 Aglionby must have shown misgivings in his face, 
 for she said : 
 
 " What is in your mind ? " 
 
 " Eh ! You are surely not going to wear that smart 
 frock when the deputation comes ? " 
 
 " Why shouldn't I ? " 
 
 " It will ' get their backs up ' at once." 
 
 " Are you sure ? I thought it would please them." 
 
 He prevailed upon her to make an appearance more 
 in conformity with the political opinions she professed. 
 
 While she was absent, Aglionby jotted down a string 
 of vague commonplaces for his friend's behoof, and 
 hoped she would not perceive their banality. 
 
 He had just completed the making of a fair copy 
 when a voice said over his shoulder : 
 
 " Where's mumsie ? " 
 
 " Is it you ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied Lady Aenemone. 
 
 " You're supposed to be resting." 
 
 " I want to see the deputation. I know mumsie 
 doesn't wish me to, but that's where you come in." 
 
 "I ? " 
 
 " You must put me where I can see without being 
 seen by any one." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " I wish it," she declared, with a charming imperious- 
 ness. " And I'm sure that if you were really my 
 daddy, as you ought to have been, you wouldn't refuse 
 a little thing like that ! " 
 
 " Although I'm certain I should spoil you, I should 
 do all I know to keep you away from socialism," he 
 declared. 
 
 She looked at him with eyes big with surprise ; he 
 was about to make an explanation of sorts when the 
 door opened and Mr. Quinby was announced, but 
 
54 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 before he entered the library the girl swiftly disap- 
 peared into an adjacent room, the door of which was 
 conveniently near ; it was draped with a heavy curtain. 
 
 Quinby had come ostensibly with an eye to obtaining 
 recruits for the " Magic Ring " from among the ex- 
 pected socialists ; at the same time, he was greatly 
 interested to hear of Lady Aenemone's arrival, and 
 dwelled to an unnecessary extent, at least so Aglionby 
 thought, on the comeliness of her person. 
 
 Quinby's arrival was followed by that of a Miss 
 Cocoon, who was something of a mystery to both 
 Aglionby and the countess. She was a swarthy, re- 
 served, rather dowdy, elderly spinster who, on the 
 plea of being a socialist and of having met the countess 
 at an advanced " At Home," was an occasional caller 
 at Derwentwater House. She never looked very 
 clean, from which unpleasant fact Aglionby got the 
 idea that she was literary. 
 
 Quinby was telling her about his " Magic Ring " 
 when Mr. Gilbert Ware was announced : the next 
 moment, Aglionby was disagreeably surprised to dis- 
 cover that the new-comer was none other than Lady 
 Aenemone's persistent acquaintance of the boat and 
 railway platform. 
 
 He stopped in surprise at seeing Aglionby. 
 
 " You ! " exclaimed the socialist. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Then " 
 
 " Well ? " asked Aglionby, as the other hesitated. 
 
 " You know our dear comrade ? " 
 
 " If you mean Lady Derwentwater, yes." 
 
 " May— may I ask if the young lady you met at 
 Dover is our comrade's daughter ? " 
 
 " She is." 
 
 Ware was lost in thought before saying sadly : 
 
THE DEPUTATION 55 
 
 " What a coincidence ! " 
 
 " What about the deputation ? " asked Aglionby. 
 
 " It is waiting below. I trust our dear comrade 
 is weU." 
 
 " Quite. If you wiU bring up your friends, I will 
 let her know you're all here." 
 
 Directly Ware left the room, Aglionby rang the 
 bell and sent the servant who answered it to Lady 
 Derwentwater with the speech he had written ; also 
 with a message to say the deputation had arrived. 
 
 He was greatly perturbed at identifying the socialist 
 with Lady Aenemone's chance acquaintance ; if other 
 friends of the countess, who dabbled with beautifully 
 gloved fingers in social reform, had not been announced 
 just then, he would have endeavoured to induce Lady 
 Aenemone to leave the adjacent room where he believed 
 she was concealed. 
 
 He was greeting the new arrivals, who, for the most 
 part, comported themselves as if they were assisting 
 at an event of political import, when the tramping 
 of heavily booted feet was heard ascending the 
 stairs. 
 
 Those already present were divided between self- 
 importance and curiosity as some eighteen men, mar- 
 shalled by Gilbert Ware, filed uneasily into the room, 
 where, huddled together, they stared about them with 
 a defiance that was chastened by their unaccustomed 
 surroundings. 
 
 They were mostly mechanics of all ages, but here and 
 there was a man who looked different from his fellows ; 
 one of these bore the unmistakable stamp of a gentle- 
 man's servant, and it puzzled Aglionby much to deter- 
 mine what he was doing in such company — ^men of 
 that class as a rule reflecting the political opinions of 
 their employers. 
 
56 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " After all, he's probably something altogether 
 different," Aglionby told himself before his gaze rested 
 on a dreamy, kindly-looking, elderly man who seemed 
 incapable of a violent opinion. 
 
 With the exception of tiiese two, the rest of the 
 socialists had something in common which, for the 
 moment, eluded Aghonby's effort to appraise. 
 
 In some way or another, all and each looked by way 
 of being unusual, having wide or high foreheads and 
 abnormally shaped heads. 
 
 There was something dimly famiUar in this pecu- 
 liarity till he recollected that he had come upon the 
 same type of man in a vegetarian restaurant at which 
 he had once lunched from curiosity. 
 
 As they waited, one or two disputed in undertones 
 among themselves, while it was evident that the rest 
 did not look with the enthusiasm that might be expected 
 from those devoted to a great ideal on the prominence 
 accorded to Ware ; he was being fussed over by the 
 feminine sympathisers with the countess's political 
 leanings. ' 
 
 After what seemed to Aglionby an awkward interval 
 of waiting (during which he believed his ears caught 
 mutterings about " bloomin' aristocrats "), the door 
 opened and the countess, more appropriately garbed 
 than she had been when she had left the library, entered 
 with Mee, the press agent, who was doubtless present 
 to write a short account of the event which would 
 be forwarded to the newspapers. 
 
 The charm and distinction of Lady Derwentwater's 
 presence went a long way towards disarming the hos- 
 tility of the more bitter socialists present, but the 
 friendliness with which she greeted and shook hands 
 with Ware did not enhance their sense of comradeship 
 with that person, at least so Aglionby thought. 
 
THE DEPUTATION 57 
 
 " Thank you so much for coming," said the countess. 
 " And please sit down." 
 
 When the men had aU more or less awkwardly seated 
 themselves (they were stiU gregariously huddled), Ware, 
 at a signal from the countess, rose to speak. 
 
 Over and above a fine resonant voice. Ware had the 
 manner of a finished public speaker ; but for all his 
 fluency, Aghonby was somewhat disappointed with his 
 performance, the socialist, to-day, speaking with no 
 particular conviction and giving the impression that 
 his mind was obsessed with something alien to his 
 subject. 
 
 So far as Aglionby could teU, that part of his audience 
 which was famihar with his platform exploits seemed 
 to be of opinion that Ware was not doing himself 
 justice, for surprise was succeeded by the indiffer- 
 ence and scarcely veiled dissatisfaction which were 
 eloquent of the speaker's inability to hold his 
 hearers. 
 
 Aglionby's attention also wandered, when he was 
 aware of a movement behind the curtain that draped 
 the door through which Lady Aenemone had disap- 
 peared : he believed she had concealed herself in order 
 to hear what was toward without being seen. 
 
 When he again looked at the speaker, he saw that 
 Ware's attention was also attracted by the curtained 
 doorway, at which he wondered if the socialist were 
 aware of the girl's presence. Whether or not this 
 were the case, it was evident that his speech had become 
 unpalatable to his comrades. 
 
 In speaking of the goal for which those of his way 
 of thinking were striving, it seemed that he was co- 
 piously watering his opinions from deference to the 
 social susceptibilities of the countess. He augured 
 how all promised well for socialism when the rich 
 
58 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 and powerful joined hands with the poor and needy 
 to secure the end for which they were all striving, 
 namely, a world in which ruthless competition would 
 be eliminated and each should live for all and all for 
 each. 
 
 He concluded by thanking the countess for her 
 graciousness in receiving himself and his comrades, 
 and declared that in the forthcoming struggle for their 
 ideals the just rights of the well-to-do should be sure 
 of recognition. 
 
 When he sat down, there was a gentle hand-clapping 
 from Lady Derwentwater's friends, but the rest of the 
 socialists, other than the dreamy-looking man, pre- 
 served a stony silence ; the latter applauded loudly, 
 but, seeing his example was not followed, he quickly 
 ceased. 
 
 Then Aglionby seated himself beside the countess, 
 at which she rose to reply to Ware's address. 
 
 She was very nervous, and after one or two false 
 starts she got away with some approach to self-pos- 
 session. 
 
 So long as she kept to the course Aglionby had 
 marked out for her, she did fairly weU ; but whenever 
 she digressed, as she occasionally did, she would have 
 come to an ignominious full stop had not her friend 
 been at hand to prompt her. 
 
 Whenever she halted, perspiration fell from his 
 forehead ; he was more than thankful when she ter- 
 minated her speech with a charming smile and thanks 
 to the sociaUsts for coming so far to greet a loyal 
 comrade. 
 
 Directly the applause that greeted her words had 
 subsided, a thin, pale-faced man got on to his feet to 
 move a vote of thanks to the countess. 
 
 Although it had been arranged he was to speak 
 
THE DEPUTATION 59 
 
 briefly, he was armed with a formidable sheaf of 
 notes. 
 
 Lady Derwentwater, inspired by Aglionby, had 
 expressed a hope that the absence of competition in 
 the socialistic state would not lead to any declension 
 in the efficiency of the species. 
 
 The speaker was at pains to combat this possibility 
 by alleging that emulation in the arts (from defer- 
 ence to the countess's friends he repeatedly said 
 " harts ") would take the place of present-day economic 
 rivalry. 
 
 When a mild-looking man rose to second the resolu- 
 tion, Aglionby believed that the afternoon would 
 what he called feebly " peter out," but he had 
 reckoned without some of the more vigorous-minded 
 present. 
 
 A thickset, burly man, with lungs of brass, got on 
 to his feet, and with the evident approval of the 
 stalwarts about him talked the seconder down before 
 assailing certain of those present whom he declared 
 had been corrupted by association with those who 
 exploited the poor in order to live in luxurious 
 ease. 
 
 As for comrade Ware's suggestion that in the 
 approaching social revolution the just rights of the 
 richshould be respected, thatwasonly so muchbunkum; 
 and so far as he and others of a like way of thinking 
 were concerned, the capitahsts should be no more 
 considered than the thief who robbed the poor and 
 battened on the proceeds. 
 
 " Why," he went on, " when we were coming in, 
 we met at the steps two overfed dogs, in what looked 
 like gold collars, who were being taken for a walk by 
 a fat footman. Comrades, the cost of these would 
 keep three working men's families in " 
 
60 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 He got no farther. 
 
 The seconder of the resolution, resenting the un- 
 ceremonious manner in which he had been talked 
 down, had been whispering with his friends and now 
 rose to a point of order. 
 
 The brazen-tongued socialist, whose name was 
 Baxter, having got into his stride, was not to be 
 so easily baulked of his desire to beard bloated 
 aristocrats in their den, and attempted to go on 
 speaking. 
 
 The deputation, for aU its implied profession of 
 comradeship, immediately split into two rival factions 
 which loudly contended for mastery, while Ware went 
 from one to the other in order to calm the storm that 
 had so suddenly arisen. 
 
 His efforts were indifferently successful. 
 
 One moment there was almost silence, but the next 
 the hubbub broke forth afresh, at which Aglionby, 
 seconded by Quinby, did his utmost to secure 
 peace. 
 
 After a while, when the tumult showed a disposition 
 to subside, AgUonby found himself talking to the 
 socialist whose appearance suggested a gentleman's 
 servant, although a not particularly intelligent one 
 at that. 
 
 " Why can't they get along without quarrelling ? " 
 remarked Aglionby. 
 
 " That's what I say, sir," repUed the man. 
 
 " Nothing's gained by ' slanging ' each other." 
 
 " True, sir ; true." 
 
 " Although I don't suppose you socialists can get 
 along without argument." 
 
 " That's exactly it." 
 
 " May I ask how long you've been a sociaUst ? " 
 
 " Six months." 
 
THE DEPUTATION 61 
 
 " And I dare say another six will see you well out 
 of it." 
 
 " Quite likely, sir ; quite likely." 
 
 " Although, like every one else, you're of course 
 entitled to have your convictions." 
 
 " Oh yes, I have my convictions. I'm very strong 
 on my convictions." 
 
 If Aglionby had had more time just then, he would 
 have boxed the compass of political opinion in order 
 to see how far the other would foUow him ; but per- 
 ceiving that the countess, despite the reassurances of 
 Miss Cocoon and another woman, was looking nervous, 
 he approached her, to say : 
 
 " It's all over now, Jane. There's nothing to be 
 alarmed about." 
 
 " If that dreadful man hadn't stopped, I believe 
 I'd have sent for the police," she informed him. 
 
 " Not really ! " 
 
 " He's no business to say such things, and in 
 my house. He seems to forget all I've done for 
 them." 
 
 Aglionby did not know if he were glad or sorry that 
 Baxter had not irritated the countess into sending for 
 the police ; although such a proceeding would have 
 made her ridiculous, it would probably once and for 
 all have urged her to abandon socialism. 
 
 A few moments later, Aglionby was addressed by 
 the dreamy-looking member of the deputation. 
 
 " All a great pity," he began confidentially. 
 
 " This disturbance ? " 
 
 " Shows such a want of comradeship. But d'ye 
 know why it was ? " 
 
 " Why 1 " 
 
 " There's a lot of 'em up against my boy Gilbert." 
 
 " Gilbert Ware your son ? " 
 
62 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " I'm proud to say he is. He's a son any father 
 might be proud of. So clever with his tongue. 
 But you can't be great without starting a lot of 
 envy." 
 
 " True." 
 
 " What troubles me is that socialists, who 're different 
 from individualists, should be so envious." 
 
 " Are they so very different ? " asked Aglionby ; 
 but Gilbert's father ignored the question as he 
 said : 
 
 " I'm afraid some of us socialists '11 have to alter 
 a bit afore they're fit for the millennium." 
 
 Aglionby heartily agreed, before asking : 
 
 " Who's that chap who looks as if he'd been in 
 service ? " 
 
 Ware, whose Christian name was Timothy, looked 
 dreamily in the direction of the man indicated : after 
 scrutinising him, for what seemed an unnecessarily 
 long time, he said : 
 
 " Ah ! You mean Dipple. To tell you the truth, 
 I don't know much of him. I only see 'im when he 
 comes to Stepney to see 'is brother." 
 
 " Is he a keen socialist ? " 
 
 " So-so ; so-so. One week he's with us ; another 
 with the ' I.L.P.' ; another with the Christian social- 
 ists, and the next with the ' S.D.P.' " 
 
 The socialists had split up into little groups, and not 
 infrequently were mixing with Lady Derwentwater's 
 friends, only the redoubtable Baxter and one or two 
 stalwarts remaining aloof. 
 
 Aglionby was gratified at this development, but his 
 satisfaction was short-lived, for he perceived that Lady 
 Aenemone had entered the library and was now talking 
 to Quinby. 
 
 He at once looked to see]what had become of Gilbert 
 
THE DEPUTATION 63 
 
 Ware, to discover him talking to Miss Cocoon at the 
 farther end of the room, at which he resolved to do 
 his utmost to keep him and Lady Aenemone apart. 
 
 His efforts were in vain, for, as if impelled by mutual 
 attraction, Gilbert Ware and the girl gradually, but 
 none the less surely, approached each other. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 GILBERT STAYS TO DINNER 
 
 All too soon for Aglionby's liking, the two had met 
 and with mutual manifestations of pleasure at re- 
 newing the acquaintance. 
 
 He looked about him to see if her mother had noticed 
 to whom her daughter was speaking, but the countess 
 was too busily engaged with a knot of toadies to per- 
 ceive what was toward ; even if she had done so, she 
 would probably have complfetely forgotten that she 
 had wished her daughter to rest after the fatigues of 
 the journey, and would not have thought she was 
 doing anything amiss in talking to her pet socialist. 
 
 Aglionby had different ideas on the matter — ^indeed, 
 he was wondering how best to interfere and separate 
 them, when raised voices in a corner of the room 
 suggested that the argumentative storm was about 
 to break out afresh. 
 
 All eyes were turned in the direction of the disturb- 
 ance ; it was seen that Baxter, the loud-voiced socialist 
 who had not scrupled to say what was in his mind, 
 was now at issue with an astonished Quinby, while 
 those about them were disposed to take sides. 
 
 Aglionby, fearing what the countess might do, was 
 about to endeavour to pour oil on the troubled waters 
 of economic dispute, but a conciliatory power, beside 
 
 64 
 
GILBERT STAYS TO DINNER 65 
 
 which his efforts would be insignificant, was oppor- 
 tunely, if unconsciously, exercised to bring about, if 
 not peace, at least an enthusiastic truce. 
 
 A servant opened the door and announced that re- 
 freshments were served downstairs. 
 
 After one or two false starts, the deputation filed 
 out, at which Aglionby, Quinby, and a parson who 
 had recently arrived accompanied it in order to see 
 that the men should have all they wanted. 
 
 As Aglionby got inside the room where a cold, but 
 very square meal was set out, he heard a socialist 
 remark to Baxter as his eyes fell on the table : 
 
 " Getting a bit of our own back, matey." 
 
 " To think by right it all belongs to us ! " replied 
 Baxter. 
 
 Aglionby had made a point of keeping any servants 
 that might be wanted as far as possible in the back- 
 ground ; directly the deputation was seated, he urged 
 all to fall to and help themselves, at which what 
 followed was to him symbolical of what would probably 
 happen at the establishment of the socialist state. 
 
 The assertive copiously helped themselves to the 
 best of everything that was going, while the more 
 retiring had to wait till the others had loaded their 
 plates before they had a chance ; even then, before 
 they could attend to their own wants, they were re- 
 quested to hand all sorts of things to those who had 
 got away first. 
 
 Conspicuous among those who looked after his 
 fellow socialists was Dipple, the man who appeared 
 as if he was or had been in service. 
 
 Dipple was requested to carve for aU and sundry, 
 
 which he did with singular skiU : not content with 
 
 doing this, he, as it were insensibly, albeit inevitably, 
 
 handed round dishes with an admirable deportment, 
 
 5 
 
66 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 which would have been envied by any one who aspired 
 to earn a living by waiting at the tables of Dives. 
 
 One of those who did not seem over-capable of look- 
 ing after himself was Timothy Ware ; for all that his 
 son did not sit with the others, but showed a disposition 
 to superintend what was going on, he gave no heed to 
 his father, at which Aglionby made a point of looking 
 after the latter. 
 
 Food and drink (Lady Derwentwater had no narrow- 
 minded notions on the propriety of encouraging those 
 she patronised to be teetotalers) quickly unloosed the 
 most reticent of tongues ; very soon, every one seemed 
 to be talking at once, while some of the sociahsts 
 changed places in order to be nearer particular friends. 
 
 Seeing a vacant place beside Timothy Ware, Aglionby 
 sat beside him, but such was the din, they had to 
 raise their voices in order to hear each other speak. 
 
 Timothy (his friends called him Tim) was rather 
 taken off his feet, so to speak, by the profusion of good 
 things provided. He looked pretematurally solemn, 
 while he was eager to help Aglionby to food and drink ; 
 upon the latter declining these, the other talked with 
 a portentous volubility. 
 
 Presently, he became confidential and said : 
 
 " Great pity that ' rumpus ' upstairs." 
 
 Aglionby assented. Tim went on : 
 
 " That's the worst of socialists ; they will argify 
 and get hot about it. But if they'd listen to me, I've 
 a fine way out for all their ructions." 
 
 " What might that be ? " 
 
 Tim became more confidential as he said : 
 
 "The missus." 
 
 " Eh ! " 
 
 " Wonderful woman the missus." 
 
 •' No doubt." 
 
GILBERT STAYS TO DINNER 67 
 
 " And what I say is this ; when they quarrel, let 'em 
 all come and have a cup of 'ot with me and the missus ; 
 she'll soon make 'em 'appy and 'ome-like, and before 
 they know where they are they'll be the best of friends. 
 See ! " 
 
 " Excellent, if it would only work." 
 
 Tim stared in surprise at Aglionby before saying : 
 
 " You don't know the missus." 
 
 " I'm sorry to say I don't." 
 
 Tim then stared attentively at the ceiling before 
 saying : 
 
 " Pine bit o' plastering." 
 
 " Indeed ! " 
 
 " Very fine. I should like Bill to see that." 
 
 " Are you a plasterer ? " 
 
 " No. Bill is. I make circular staircases — or did. " 
 
 " Did ? " 
 
 " Most of it now comes all made up from foreign." 
 
 " Like many other things. And if workmen 
 thought as much of protecting themselves from foreign 
 manufactured imports as they do of seeing that they 
 are not undersold by cheap labour here, things would 
 soon be very different." 
 
 Tim remaining silent, Aglionby said : 
 
 " How is it you're a socialist ? " 
 
 " Sir ? " 
 
 Aglionby repeated his remark. 
 
 " Gilbert's one." 
 
 " I'd forgotten that." 
 
 " And living's so dear what with capitalistic mono- 
 polies and that. Would you beHeve it's next to impos. 
 to get a good steak-and-kidney pudding in Stepney for 
 fivepence ! " 
 
 After more conversation, Tim said : 
 
 " P'raps you'd like to have this." 
 
68 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 Here Tim, after fumbling in his pocket, produced 
 a soiled card on which was printed : 
 
 TIM WARE 
 
 HoTTSE OF Call, The Flowee pot. 
 
 94, JtTBILEE St., E. 
 
 " What does ' house of call ' mean ? " asked Aglionby, 
 after thanking him for the card. 
 
 " You don't know ? " 
 
 " I'm afraid I don't." 
 
 " It's the ' public ' a man goes to regular : where 
 he's pretty sure to be found of an evening." 
 
 Aglionby spoke of Gilbert, as he was now anxious to 
 learn more of him; it was evident that Tim took 
 an abiding pride in his son's ability as a speaker ; 
 in his political " fame," as he called it ; in the " toffs " 
 with whom, owing to his parts, Gilbert had obtained 
 acquaintance. 
 
 " An' it's all our doing," declared Tim proudly. 
 
 " Indeed ! " 
 
 " That is to say, me and the missus. It's we as put 
 by to do our best for him." 
 
 At last, the time came when the deputation took 
 its departure, which it noisily did after giving three 
 hearty cheers for the countess, who did not appear 
 to acknowledge this compliment. 
 
 Before Tim went, he shook hands cordially with 
 Aglionby, and after expressing a wish to meet him 
 again shortly he said : 
 
 " I'm sorry I did not see her ladyship afore going. 
 Yes ; I certainly should like to have shook hands 
 with her ladyship." 
 
 When AgUonby joined the countess, he found her 
 
GILBERT STAYS TO DINNER 69 
 
 elated at having heard of Robin Caple, the naval 
 officer who was exceedingly anxious to marry her 
 daughter. 
 
 The letter was from his stepmother, who wrote to 
 say that Robin, when on a punitive expedition on the 
 West Coast, had been separated from his companions, 
 and had been ambushed and captured by savages. 
 
 These had conducted him to their chief, who, they 
 assured Robin, would put him to painful death. 
 
 When brought into the presence of the great man, 
 Robin, instead of being awed by his majesty, had 
 treated him with surprising familiarity, having sat 
 beside him on his throne as if he were his equal, 
 
 Robin's conduct had so impressed the chief that he 
 had beUeved the prisoner must be a man of great im- 
 portance to treat him with such scant respect ; instead 
 of killing him, he had delighted to honour him. 
 
 The letter concluded by saying how Robin was on 
 his way home, where he would shortly arrive. 
 
 " Please be a dear and make yourself really useful," 
 said the countess when Aglionby had finished the 
 letter. 
 
 " What am I to do now ? " 
 
 " Take the whole thing in hand and explain to 
 Aenemone what a fine feUow Robin is. That sort of 
 thing always appeals to girls at her romantic age." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " I know, Dick, it's a thing I ought to see to myself. 
 But how can you expect me to give my time to such 
 things when my mind's so full of propaganda ! To- 
 day's deputation has quite exhausted me, and — and — 
 I'm sure you will do this for me. Aenemone thinks so 
 highly of you." 
 
 "All very well, Jane, but " 
 
 " I wish it, Dick. Is not that enough? " 
 
70 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 Her words were accompanied by such an appealing 
 smile, this a compound of helplessness and determina- 
 tion, that Aglionby in spite of himself was compelled to 
 give way, at which he looked about him for Aenemone, 
 to find that she was no longer in the room. 
 
 " What has become of her ? " he asked. 
 
 " If you don't see her now, you needn't bother. 
 You're staying to dinner and are sure to see her then." 
 
 " I wasn't aware I was dining " 
 
 " If I didn't ask you, I meant to. I won't hear of 
 a refusal. Gilbert Ware is staying and Mr. Quinby 
 and Mr. Shale." 
 
 " Who's he ? " 
 
 "He works at St. Cuthbert's, Wapping. He was 
 helping you all downstairs. I do hope you will stay 
 to dinner. I shall be disappointed if you don't." 
 
 Thus it came about that Aglionby, after spending 
 a couple of hours at his club, dressed in his Jermyn- 
 Street lodging before presenting himself at Derwent- 
 water House at something before eight. 
 
 Quinby, the parson, and Gilbert, who was still wear- 
 ing his blue serge suit, were already in the drawing- 
 room with the countess and her daughter. As soon 
 as Aglionby was able, he sat beside the latter, when he 
 noticed that she had eyes only for Gilbert, who was 
 talking to Shale. 
 
 " Why do you look so serious ? " she asked when 
 he had spoken to her. 
 
 "Do I ? But I've to speak to you on rather a 
 serious matter." 
 
 She looked at him with apprehensive eyes. He 
 went on : 
 
 " It is your mother's wish I should do so." 
 
 " What have I done ? " 
 
 " It's what she wishes you to do," 
 
GILBERT STAYS TO DINNER 71 
 
 He made mention of Robin Caple, and was 
 troubled at perceiving a perplexed look invade her 
 face. 
 
 " I believe he's very fond of you," he continued. 
 
 " He always was," she remarked, with no particular 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 " And no wonder ! " 
 
 Her eyes smiled brightly into his before becoming 
 pensive. 
 
 " You'd better read this," he said as he gave her 
 the letter from Robin's stepmother. " Then you'll see 
 what a splendid fellow he is." 
 
 " Robin always seems so ordinary." 
 
 " He must be anything but ordinary when, instead 
 of loafing, as would most rich men, he prefers to serve 
 his country in the Navy." 
 
 Dowson announcing that dinner was served just 
 then, their discussion was interrupted for the present. 
 
 During the meal, the talk was largely between 
 Shale and the countess, the parson being anxious to 
 understand precisely what was meant by latter-day 
 socialism. 
 
 Hitherto, Aglionby had had scant opportunities of 
 appraising Shale, but the more he saw of him, the more 
 he respected him. 
 
 There was reason for his appreciation. 
 
 Shale, who was a distant relation of the countess's 
 late husband, was a man whose parts, means,and social 
 influence could have brought almost any preferment 
 within his reach : instead of seeking the loaves and 
 fishes of his calling, he spent laborious, disheartening 
 days in Wapping, being moved by a deep and 
 abiding sympathy with the poor and needy. 
 
 If he relied on his hostess for a succinct demonstra- 
 tion of the elements of socialism, he was in a fair way 
 
72 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 to be disappointed, for his hostess was bent on de- 
 tailing herown prominence in the movement — ^asubject 
 of which she never tired. 
 
 She frequently spoke of the afternoon's deputation, 
 which she pronounced to be a great success, although 
 she was indignant with Baxter for absurdly asserting 
 that her dogs were luxuriously fed, declaring that, 
 while Lady Merton fed her spaniels with chicken, hers 
 (Lady Derwentwater's) merely dined on cutlets. 
 
 When she was asked a point-blank question by Shale, 
 as she not infrequently was, if unable to answer it, 
 which was nearly always the case, she would appeal 
 to Gilbert, who was moved by a desire to comport 
 himself correctly in the company of his social superiors ; 
 to put up a good fight for his political creed should 
 opportunity offer; to admire furtively Lady Aenemone, 
 the latter making an appealing picture in her simple 
 evening frock. 
 
 Now and again, Aglionby noticed Dowson attend- 
 ing to Gilbert's needs ; he wondered if the dignified 
 exterior of the butler masked an intense dislike of 
 waiting on a socialist. 
 
 Whenever opportunity offered, Aglionby, partly to 
 justify his own convictions, chiefly in the endeavour 
 to curb Lady Aenemone's growing interest in Gilbert, 
 struck a blow for individualism. 
 
 When it was a question of economics, or of the re- 
 lations between capital and labour, he trod warily, as 
 in these matters he was at Gilbert's mercy : it was on 
 subjects of historical fact with which Aglionby scored 
 over his opponent. 
 
 For instance, after Shale had remarked on the 
 fatuousness of the French Revolution, inasmuch as it 
 failed to destroy poverty, Gilbert said : 
 
 " But you forget : the French Revolution was en- 
 
GILBERT STAYS TO DINNER 73 
 
 tirely political. The social revolution is to be economic. 
 To be successful, it must be that or nothing." 
 
 " Quite so," assented the countess. 
 
 " But surely the great French Revolution was 
 economic," put in Aglionby. 
 
 " May I ask in what way ? " asked Gilbert. 
 
 " Certainly. You wiU admit it was brought about 
 by economic causes ? " 
 
 " That is not what you said." 
 
 " I'm coming to that. What of the enormous taxes 
 that were levied on property in order to make the 
 poor comfortable ? " 
 
 " Were they 1 " asked Gilbert incredulously. 
 
 " If you will give me twenty-four hours, I will supply 
 you with chapter and verse. Not only that : a law 
 was finally passed which decreed that in the interests 
 of the people no one should have more than a hundred 
 and fifty a year." 
 
 " It's the first I've heard of it." 
 
 " It's none the less a fact." 
 
 " Was it ever enforced ? " 
 
 " They did their best to enforce it. But since no 
 one would work in order to have anything over that 
 amount confiscated by the State, the poor, instead of 
 being better off, died from starvation." 
 
 " I must go into that," declared Gilbert lamely. 
 
 For the remainder of the meal, Aglionby noticed 
 that whenever Gilbert spoke of politics he kept, as it 
 were, one eye on him, as if he regarded him as a 
 potential enemy lying in wait to fall upon him should 
 opportunity offer. 
 
 Aglionby also noticed that both the countess and her 
 daughter regarded him with a certain disfavour for 
 HimTning the Socialist's resplendence. 
 When the men were alone, Aglionby listened to 
 
74 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 Quinby, who, while he smoked a cigar, was telling Shale 
 of the " Magic Ring " and of the magnificent results 
 he anticipated if its operations could be indefinitely 
 extended. 
 
 Gilbert, who did not smoke, was intently listening 
 to the philanthropist and with increasing impatience, 
 for he presently broke in with : 
 
 " The merest palliative." 
 
 " Eh ! " from a surprised Quinby. 
 
 " A form of enlightened charity. It may even do 
 more harm than good, but at its best it's merely throw- 
 ing a cup of water on a conflagration." 
 
 " Conflagration ! " exclaimed Quinby. 
 
 " CaU it the divine discontent of the disinherited," 
 suggested Gilbert in his rich deep voice. 
 
 " That's alliterative if nothing else," commented 
 Aglionby. 
 
 " It is something else : it is true," declared Gilbert, 
 rounding on the last speaker with more than a sug- 
 gestion of antagonism. And it ill befits those who 
 have never known want to discredit those who are 
 devoting their days to improving the lot of the 
 down-trodden. " 
 
 " God forbid I should do anything of the kind if 
 I conscientiously believed there was anything in your 
 remedy," rejoined Aghonby. " And don't run away 
 with the idea that I'm a drone. Until quite recently 
 I've been a worker aU my life." 
 
 Gilbert paused impressively before bending towards 
 Aglionby, to ask : 
 
 " TeU me this : Have you ever known what it is 
 to hunt despairingly for work you will probably never 
 find, and knowing that, if you hear of anything, there'll 
 be hundreds fighting for the same job ? Have you 
 ever been half-starved yourself and with a wife and 
 
GILBERT STAYS TO DINNER 75 
 
 little ones at home famishing for food, and, in con- 
 sequence, you are more like a wild beast than a 
 human being ? Have you ever felt mad with de- 
 spair because you could not sell your strength or 
 your skiU for a mere pittance, in order to find your 
 dear ones a roof over their heads ? " 
 
 " K I were Uke that, I shoidd be an ardent Tariff 
 Reformer." 
 
 " You have not answered my question. Have you 
 ever been as I said 1 " 
 
 " I am thankful to say I have not." 
 
 " Then do not condenm us socialists till you have 
 experience of the conditions we are seeking to amelior- 
 ate." 
 
 " I say again, if I were in that position I should be 
 an ardent missionary of Tariff Reform toworking-men," 
 declared Aglionby ; at which Gilbert, in spite of himself, 
 smiled scornfully. 
 
 " I have not been on the Continent for years, 
 but I'm constantly meeting men who've come from 
 abroad, and they all teU me that the awful poverty 
 you see here is not to be found in protected countries ; 
 also, that instead of the enormously rich, and the 
 abjectly poor, as we have them, wealth is more 
 evenly distributed." 
 
 Gilbert looked incredulous. 
 
 " That is certainly the case," put in Shale. " I've 
 seen that for myself." 
 
 Gilbert reflected a moment or two before saying : 
 
 " Whether this is or is not as you say, is beside the 
 point. It does not alter the fact that the world, with 
 its capitalists and proletariats, is cruelly unjust for 
 the workers. Is it fair that the few should spend 
 their days in extravagant self-indulgence while the 
 many risk their lives in dangerous, exhausting occupa- 
 
76 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 tions, for what is merely enough to keep body and soul 
 together, and with nothing to look forward to but a 
 premature old age in the poor-house ? Can any one 
 — even the most callous individualist — pretend for 
 one moment that this is just ? " 
 
 Flushed with his impassioned words, the speaker 
 looked hard at Aglionby. 
 
 " I ion't suggest it is for one moment. What I 
 deny is that socialism would provide the remedy." 
 
 " Why not 1 " 
 
 " Admirable as it may appear in the abstract, there 
 is what my father used to call ' old Adam ' to prevent 
 it working." 
 
 " Education will work wonders." 
 
 " But not miracles." 
 
 " Socialism at its worst must be better than indi- 
 vidualism at its best," declared Gilbert irritably. " As 
 things are now, it's like one pigeon having more food 
 than it can possibly take, and spilling and spoihng 
 what it can't eat, while the rest of the flock are more 
 or less starving." 
 
 " It's scarcely so bad as that," said the parson, who 
 had been an interested listener. 
 
 " Anything but," remarked Aghonby. " Independ- 
 ence, in being a goal, is an incentive to work ; and as 
 for your pigeon simile, if any bird is fooMsh enough to 
 waste its substance, there are plenty of hawks ready 
 to pick up what is going and employ labour with the 
 proceeds." 
 
 " In other words, more exploitation." 
 
 " Your alternative would be sociahsm, but how do 
 you account for the fact that all the socialist-colony 
 experiments have been abject failures ? " 
 
 " AU 1 " queried Gilbert. 
 
 " I should be obliged if you could tell me of a sue- 
 
GILBERT STAYS TO DINNER 77 
 
 cessful one. In the Robert-Owen experiment a man 
 had to mount guard with a gun to prevent the ' com- 
 rades ' from thieving." 
 
 " My idea of a socialist state would be a stupend- 
 ous Post Office, which is a Government institution 
 run for the benefit of the community," declared 
 Gilbert. 
 
 " The Post Office is abjectly conservative, not par- 
 ticularly efficient, smothered with red tape, and its 
 employees' manners to the public are scarcely an in- 
 ducement for us to welcome an extension of paternal 
 government. And after all said and done, society 
 takes the form of the disposition of the great majority 
 of its members." 
 
 " Say what you please, throw what stones you like," 
 cried Gilbert fervently, " you cannot deny that the 
 whole tendency of modern legislation has an increasing 
 socialistic tendency." 
 
 " The more's the pity," commented Aglionby. 
 
 " I'm disposed to agree with you," declared Shale. 
 
 " Why ? " asked Gilbert, turning to the parson. 
 
 " Because it seems that everything is done for the 
 slipshod, the ' won't-works,' and the discontented, 
 while the best class of citizen is handicapped to provide 
 for the least satisfactory member of the community. 
 And in the long run this will more and more tend to 
 undermine independence of character." 
 
 Soon after, the men went upstairs, where Gilbert 
 made a point of sitting beside Lady Aenemone, to 
 whom his presence seemed particularly welcome. 
 
 When the little gathering presently broke up, 
 Aglionby stayed till after the other guests had gone : 
 he was anxious to divine the trend of Lady Aenemone's 
 mind with regard to Robin Caple. 
 
 " What do you think of him ? " he asked. 
 
78 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " I think he's simply splendid," she declared en- 
 thusiastically. 
 
 "I'm delighted," declared Aglionby, and with 
 perfect truth. " I suppose that letter influenced 
 you ? " 
 
 " Letter ? " she queried. 
 
 " The letter from Robin's stepmother." 
 
 " I wasn't thinking of Robin," declared the girl. 
 
 " But " 
 
 " I was thinking of Mr. Ware." 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 VANITIES 
 
 " Ever come across a man named Quinby ? " 
 
 " I seem to know the name. Is he a socialist ? " 
 asked Ordway of Aglionby. 
 
 The two men, who had struck up something of a 
 friendship, had been playing golf at Ranelagh and were 
 now looking for a taxicab to take them back to town. 
 
 " He's a sort of philanthropist. He seems to have 
 pots of money, and runs a thing called the ' Magic 
 Ring,' a sort of informal social club for aU sorts and 
 conditions." 
 
 Ordway reflected a few moments before asking : 
 
 " Is his Christian name Montague ? " 
 
 " I believe it is." 
 
 " If it is, he's the feUow who got into a scrape some 
 time back." 
 
 " What was it ? " 
 
 " As the case was dismissed, I shouldn't have men- 
 tioned it." 
 
 " Anything to do with a girl ? " asked AgHonby, at 
 which the other ignored his question and said : 
 
 " This cab wiU do us." 
 
 When they had started, Ordway asked : 
 
 " What made you ask if Quinby got into a scrape 
 with a girl ? " 
 
 79 
 
80 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " A sort of instinct. If any one had told me he was 
 that way inclined, I shouldn't have been surprised. 
 And yet it's an unfair thing to say. I believe he means 
 well, and " 
 
 " We all do," interrupted Ordway. 
 
 " And does a lot of good in a mild way." 
 
 " No doubt. But it's a strange thing that a lot of 
 people who are keen on religion and good works gener- 
 ally seem to have a dual nature, which also incHnes 
 them to fleshly indulgences. Whether the sensuous- 
 ness is responsible for the good works, or t'other way 
 about, is altogether beyond me." 
 
 " I seem to have noticed much the same thing now 
 you mention it," replied Aglionby. 
 
 " How is your socialist friend Lady Derwentwater 
 getting on ? " 
 
 " Much the same. Did I tell you she'd taken up a 
 sociaUst mechanic ? " 
 
 " I think you did mention something of the 
 sort." 
 
 " One way and another, I've seen a lot of him the 
 last few weeks. I believe I rather like him than other- 
 wise." 
 
 " I suppose he's the usual inspired lunatic." 
 
 " Of course he's handicapped by his circumstances, 
 but I do beheve he's genuinely moved by love for his 
 fellows and all that. I wish to goodness he weren't 
 so genuine and convincing." 
 
 " Why ? " 
 
 " Eh ! Many reasons, and one in particular." 
 
 " I should like to meet him." 
 
 " If you mean that, it's easily arranged. As a matter 
 of fact, I'm seeing him to-night." 
 
 " Privately ? " 
 
 " It's at a sort of function at the Belgrave Gallery 
 
VANITIES 81 
 
 in Piccadilly. I'm dining with some people, and some 
 of ns are going to do our best to go on after." 
 
 " What's the function ? " 
 
 " It's a welcome to some German deputation that's 
 come to further the cause of peace between the two 
 coimtries." 
 
 " That sort of nonsense makes our peace-at-any- 
 price ostriches put their heads farther into the sand 
 and impresses no one else. Why is your socialist 
 friend going ? " 
 
 " Lots of his kidney are to be there, men and women." 
 
 " I'm not working to-night. I've more than half 
 a mind to come," declared the journalist. 
 
 " Why not ? I've mentioned you to Lady Derwent- 
 water, who is dining where I'm going and wants to go 
 on after to the Belgrave Gallery. I know she'd like 
 to meet you ; but if you come, don't say too much 
 against socialism — she's rather touchy about it." 
 
 Before the two men separated (Aglionby would not 
 accompany his friend into the club, he preferring to 
 go to his lodging, where he could, so he believed, the 
 better think out a certain matter which was troubling 
 his mind) they arranged to meet outside the Belgrave 
 Gallery at something before ten. 
 
 Much water had flowed under many bridges with 
 regard to Aglionby's relations to the countess during 
 the weeks that had elapsed since she had received the 
 deputation of Stepney sociaUsts. 
 
 He had been constantly with her, ostensibly to 
 assist in what she called her propaganda and to further 
 her daughter's engagement to young Caple ; while he 
 had done his utmost to incline Lady Aenemone's affec- 
 tions into the way he and her mother wished them to 
 go, he had, so he feared, again lost his heart to the 
 love of his youth. 
 
82 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 When not obsessed, under various pretexts, by a 
 passion for notoriety. Lady Derwentwater more and 
 more exerted her old fascination over him, while her 
 pohtioal foibles, inconsequence, andoccasional helpless- 
 ness, in seeming to cry out for a masculine stay, made 
 an irresistible appeal to his instincts. 
 
 He had not been caught unawares in the toils that 
 now held him, but had daily perceived how he was 
 gradually losing his independence of mind ; it was 
 owing to a desire to find some definite object in life 
 that he had let the fates do with him what they 
 listed. 
 
 So far, he had not ventured to confess his heart ; it 
 was to consider the advisability of shortly taking this 
 step that he wished to reflect in the solitude of his 
 Jermyn-Street abode. 
 
 He would not have been so anxious to settle the 
 matter definitely but for the fact that Quinby, under 
 the pretence of interest in socialism, was a frequent 
 caller at Derwentwater House. 
 
 Beyond the fact that this dabbler in philanthropy 
 was a rich bachelor, Aglionby had no particular reason 
 to suspect him of harbouring matrimonial designs upon 
 the woman he coveted for himself : the constant pre- 
 sence of another male, however, was sufficient incentive 
 to take time by the forelock. 
 
 When Aglionby had tubbed at his Jermyn-Street 
 lodging, he, with the assistance of three cigars, spent 
 the best part of two hours in attempting to consider 
 the matter in all its bearings — attempting, because 
 his sentiment was frequently at issue with the prompt- 
 ings of sober sense. 
 
 He was aware that, even if the countess accepted 
 him, which was quite a moot point, for all the pleasure 
 she obviouslv took in his society, it might mean his 
 
VANITIES 83 
 
 being ignominiously dragged at the tail of her affecta- 
 tion of socialism. 
 
 Now and again, by way of finding escape from his 
 troubled thoughts, he would occupy his mind with 
 Aenemone and with the probability of her definitely 
 betrothing herself to the man who wished to marry her. 
 
 He was not particularly hopeful of this desirable 
 consummation being effected : he had no definite reason 
 for pessimism, but he had noticed that the girl had 
 exhibited no interest at learning she was asked to dine 
 with her mother and Aglionby at the Caples' on the 
 forthcoming evening when Robin, who had recently 
 returned home, was to be present. 
 
 Otherwise, she had made great friends with her 
 mother's old admirer, and was either very elated or 
 subdued in his company. At her mother's instigation, 
 she studied the literature of socialism with avidity, 
 when, until she divined Aglionby's antagonism on the 
 matter, she would ask him to explain the many things 
 she did not comprehend : what she lacked in under- 
 standing she made up for in enthusiasm. 
 
 He did not know how much or how little she saw of 
 Gilbert Ware, for whenever he mentioned him, as he 
 sometimes did, the girl would change the subject : he 
 could only hope that she had not suffered her impres- 
 sionable disposition to be influenced unduly by the 
 early interest the socialist had excited. 
 
 The future held so much uncertainty so far as 
 Aglionby was concerned that something suspiciously 
 like a sigh escaped his lips as he rang the bell for his 
 shaving-water before dressing for dinner. 
 
 He was no exception to the rule that lovers invariably 
 anticipate the time of their appointment, he arriving 
 at Derwentwater House, whence he was to be taken 
 on to the Caples', some quarter of an hour earlier than 
 
84 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 he need have done ; when he entered the drawing- 
 room, he was a little chagrined at finding Lady 
 Aenemone awaiting him ; he would have preferred 
 to be alone with her mother. 
 
 Whatever his disappointment, it was dissipated at 
 noticing the troubled expression which, for all its 
 smihng welcome, possessed the youthful face. 
 
 " Hullo, daddyho ! " she cried as soon as she caught 
 sight of him. 
 
 " How is my little girl ? " he asked. 
 
 " As well as she usually is." 
 
 " And as happy as she ought to be ? " 
 
 " As happy as I shall ever be," she said, with a 
 seriousness that was at issue with her slender tale of 
 years. 
 
 He laughed lightly in spite of himself, before saying ; 
 
 " Love is a serious matter for little girls." 
 
 " Love ? " she echoed sharply. 
 
 " Aren't you meeting Robin Caple to-night ? " 
 
 Instead of replying, she turned away quickly. 
 
 He was so possessed by thoughts of the girl's mother, 
 whom he was momentarily expecting to enter the 
 room, that he did not notice that Lady Aenemone, as 
 one lost in thought, had seated herself on a settee. 
 
 Scarcely heeding what he was doing, he sat beside 
 her, and was keeping an eye on the door by which he 
 expected the countess to enter, when the girl nestled 
 closer and placed a little hand upon his arm. 
 
 He looked at her questioningly, at which she said : 
 
 " How much do you care for me, daddyho ? " 
 
 " Why ? " 
 
 " I wish to know very much." 
 
 " Heaps. Why do you ask ? " 
 
 Although he pressed for a reply, it was some moments 
 before she said": 
 
VANITIES 85 
 
 " I wished to know because I wanted to think that, 
 whatever happened, you'd always, always be my 
 friend." 
 
 " Why ! What could happen, little girl ? ' 
 
 " That you would be just the same as if you were 
 really my own dear daddyho," she continued. 
 
 " What do you mean ? You are not thinking of 
 doing anything foolish ? " asked Aglionby anxiously. 
 
 " Oh no," she replied quickly. 
 
 " What is it, then ? " 
 
 " I want to feel that you're always my very dear 
 friend." 
 
 " You can be always certain of that." 
 
 " That, whatever mumsie may say, you wiU always 
 be on my side," she went on. 
 
 " I shall always do what I can to secure your happi- 
 ness." 
 
 She put her hand on his and affectionately pressed 
 it before disengaging her arm and walking over to the 
 piano, where her fingers made plaintive music, much 
 as if they were interpreting her mood. 
 
 Aglionby was divided between dismal surmises as 
 to what had inspired Lady Aenemone's behaviour and 
 anticipation of her mother's belated appearance, as the 
 latter entered the room : she was looking radiant, a fact 
 that made him quickly forget her daughter's unexpected 
 request and the manner in which it had been made. 
 
 " How are you, Dick ? I'm dreadfully late. It's all 
 that stupid Ducker's fault," she began. " She's eo 
 slow. I do hope you've been telling Aenemone how 
 dearly Robin loves her, and aU that sort of thing. 
 There's a socialist conference at Blackburn next week, 
 and if I get all this settled with Robin, I shall be able 
 to devote all my thoughts to my paper." 
 
 " You are going to read a paper ? " asked Aglionby. 
 
86 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " They have simply implored me. It's on the sub- 
 ject of ' How Socialism will affect the Unskilled 
 Worker.' " 
 
 She rambled on inconsequently ; upon Aglionby's 
 preserving silence, she asked : 
 
 " Why do you look at me like that ? It's like " 
 
 " Like what, Jane ? " 
 
 " It's as you used to look at me in the days when I 
 was a girl. Why don't they tell us the brougham is 
 ready ? We shall only be late, and I want Robin to 
 see as much as possible of Aenemone." 
 
 When they were speeding to their destination 
 in an electric brougham, Aglionby told the countess 
 that he wished to introduce her to Ordway, should 
 opportunity offer, at the Belgrave Gallery reception 
 they were attending if they got away in time. 
 
 As he had surmised, directly she learned that his 
 friend was editor of an important newspaper, she 
 wished to meet him, remarking that " editors were such 
 useful people, as they were in a position to vividly 
 bring home " (she split the infinitive) " to the great 
 British pubhc personalities in whom it is deeply in- 
 terested." 
 
 Admiral Caple's first wife had been a great heiress 
 and had left most of her possessions to her only son 
 Robin : since his father had married again, the latter 
 had bought the lease of a house in Harrington Square 
 and it was in the drawing-room of this abode that 
 Aglionby, after being announced with the countess 
 and her daughter, was introduced to his host, hostess, 
 and Robin. 
 
 The admiral, whose long life had been devoted to 
 the service of his country, was a little, fresh-coloured 
 man with an absent-minded manner. This last was 
 by no means natural to him, but was the result of a 
 
VANITIES 87 
 
 weakness to which he had surrendered — ^the eccen- 
 tricities he occasionally exhibited being good-naturedly 
 put down to a sunstroke he had had when serving in 
 the Red Sea. 
 
 Three years back, he had taken a simple, middle- 
 aged spinster from the country for his second mate, 
 believing that such an unsophisticated person would 
 find it a labour of love to tend his declining years. 
 He had never made a greater mistake. 
 
 Directly Linda was free of the rectory where she 
 had kept house, played the organ, trained the choir, 
 and fed the poultry for her botanising parson brother, 
 she had suddenly emerged, as it were, from a chrysalis 
 condition to become a gaudily decorated butterfly of 
 the latest fashion. For all her forty-six years, she 
 was dressed, painted, and corseted to look eighteen : 
 it was as if she were madly eager to make up for lost 
 time and did not mean to lose a precious moment. 
 
 Robin was bronzed, square-shouldered, resourceful- 
 looking, purposeful ; he had only eyes for Lady 
 Aenemone, on whom he eagerly fastened himself 
 directly she entered the room. 
 
 A surprise, and in an unexpected quarter, awaited 
 Aglionby. 
 
 He had just been introduced by his coquettish 
 hostess to Lady Bridport, a well-known advocate of 
 temperance and upholder of evangelical principles, 
 whom he was to take to dinner, when the door opened 
 and the butler appeared to make his customary an- 
 nouncement ; to Aglionby's astonishment, this person 
 was none other than Dipple, the member of the socialist 
 deputation to Derwentwater House who looked as if 
 he were or had been in service. 
 
 Aglionby was amused at this discovery ; he wondered 
 if the butler would recognise him as he went to the 
 
88 THE SOUiAJLiiHi UUUlNXJiiSD 
 
 dining-room, where he was pleased to find Lady 
 Aenemone on his left — ^pleased because Lady Bridport 
 did not appeal to him at all, she being a well-meaning, 
 narrow-minded,sincere,and handsome,if hard-mouthed 
 woman. 
 
 As she seemed indisposed for conversation just then, 
 and as the girl on the other side was replying in absent- 
 minded monosyllables to Robin's low-voiced compli- 
 ments, he had leisure to look about him at the other 
 guests. 
 
 Immediately facing him was a kindly faced, irre- 
 solute-looking young man who was Lady Bridport's 
 son ; he lived in considerable awe of his mother, and 
 owing to the supervision she exercised over his life he 
 had rather a poor time. Although she was a wealthy 
 landowner, her son was not permitted to make use of 
 any of the outside servants on Sundays ; should he 
 wish to ride or drive, he had to saddle or harness his 
 horse himself. 
 
 At the present moment, he was nervously wonder- 
 ing if his strait-laced mother would notice the 
 " eyes " his juvenile-looking hostess was making at 
 him. 
 
 That strange combination a parson-baronet, a colonel 
 and Mrs. Oram, and a man with hard, bulging eyes, 
 who had brought his pretty little wife, completed the 
 gathering. 
 
 The most remarkable things about the parson- 
 baronet were that he was a bachelor and lived for 
 hunting. 
 
 Although Oram, a soldierly-looking man, who was 
 now in the reserve of officers, was quite rich, he was 
 eager to make more — indeed, his love of money was 
 such that he was not above turning an occasional 
 shilling. 
 
VANITIES 89 
 
 Hewas constantly dabbling in obscure mining shares, 
 and continually sending twenty pounds to outside 
 brokers in the hope of multiplying it by five. 
 
 He assiduously farmed his many acres, and sold 
 milk, butter, and eggs to neighbours. 
 
 He would think nothing of giving a possible customer 
 a magnificent dinner on the chance of selling him 
 a pound of butter and if it were not paid for on the 
 nail, he would make an early and personal call for a 
 settlement. 
 
 He had married money, which, as not infrequently 
 happens, meant a plain and uninteresting spouse : 
 as she was also a keen student of the money market, 
 she and her husband had much in common. 
 
 They both trembled at the strides they believed 
 socialism was making in England ; for this reason, 
 they had jumped at the chance of meeting Lady 
 Derwentwater, whom, from her identity with the 
 economic creed they abhorred, they devoured with 
 eyes of mingled fear and curiosity. 
 
 The man with-the hard, bulging eyes was the second 
 son of one of London's titled ground landlords. His 
 wealth and connections might have opened any career 
 for him, but he preferred to spend his days in painting 
 vilely, singing, acting, and writing a lot : he had 
 organised a company of amateur actors which, toured 
 country houses in the autumn and winter, where it 
 gave mechanical imitations of the players in a recent 
 London success. 
 
 His pretty little wife adored her husband during these 
 absences, but was by way of being fed up with him 
 when he was at home. 
 
 Dinner had not proceeded very far on its elaborate 
 way when it was evident that the countess, by reason 
 of her socialistic predilections, was the lion, or rather 
 
90 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 the lioness, of the evening — a distinction she greatly 
 enjoyed. 
 
 She was asked a lot of questions respecting her 
 political creed, which were answered to the best of her 
 ability, as she was burning to make influential converts; 
 at the same time, Aglionby was thankful that no one 
 present was even on nodding terms with economics, 
 otherwise it would have been an easy matter to bowl 
 her out completely. 
 
 As he had divined. Lady Derwentwater was deter- 
 mined to get on to the gathering at the Belgrave 
 Gallery in order to meet Ordway ; she made mention 
 of this informal appointment as if it were a matter of 
 pressing import. 
 
 For all Aglionby's abiding interest in the countess, 
 he kept a constant and anxious eye on Lady Aenemone, 
 when he was grieved at noticing that the sailor, who 
 was so devoted to her, appeared to hold no interest 
 for her, she paying scant heed to his remarks, and 
 striving to engage her mother's friend in conversa- 
 tion. 
 
 SociaUsm being exhausted as a topic of dinner-table 
 conversation, its place was taken by temperance, not 
 because it was a matter any one was interested in, but 
 from deference to Lady Bridport. 
 
 She had been telling the admiral of a house on her 
 property which had been ruined by alcoholic excess ; 
 after the manner of those addicted to drink, he ex- 
 pressed hearty disapproval of such indulgence. 
 
 Presently, she turned to Aglionby and asked point- 
 blank : 
 
 " Are you interested in temperance ? " 
 
 " Not particularly." 
 
 " That is my difficulty. I cannot get men interested 
 in the subject." 
 
VANITIES 91 
 
 " They've so many other interests," remarked 
 Aglionby feebly. 
 
 " Yes, haven't they ? " echoed Mrs. Caple, as she gave 
 Lynham, Lady Bridport's son, a glance of mingled 
 coquetry and tenderness. 
 
 " Many of them I fear scarcely creditable," con- 
 tinued Lady Bridport. " If I could only get my way, 
 I'd make my tenants sober." 
 
 " How would you do that ? " asked the parson- 
 baronet. 
 
 " By closing every village inn and beer-shop." 
 
 " But the inn is the poor man's club. Where else 
 has he to go on a winter's evening so he can meet his 
 friends ? " 
 
 " I would substitute coffee-palaces." 
 
 " Better to drink good beer than bad coffee in de- 
 pressing surroundings," put in Robin. 
 
 " Beer is rarely good, and coffee is not necessarily 
 bad. There's one thing I am determined to reform." 
 
 " What might that be ? " asked the countess. 
 
 " The employment of young women behind the bars 
 of public-houses. There is a very influential move- 
 ment, backed by many of the bishops, afoot for 
 this purpose. I'm determined to uproot this evil 
 locaUy." 
 
 " How are you going to set about it 1 " asked 
 Aglionby. 
 
 Hardly had he spoken, when he noticed that Lyn- 
 ham, Lady Bridport's son, had become intensely in- 
 terested in the discussion that was toward. 
 
 " By using all my influence to get them dismissed," 
 declared the temperance reformer. " One place I 
 particularly have in my mind, where I am told the girl 
 behind the bar attracts all the young men in the neigh- 
 bourhood. Such an influence can only be pernicious. 
 
92 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 I should be wanting in my duty to those about me if 
 I did not do my utmost to reform matters." 
 
 " If I may say so, it seems like doing good that can 
 only result in evil," ventured Aglionby. 
 
 " How could that be ? " 
 
 " Supposing you get rid of these unfortunate young 
 women, what is to become of them ? " persisted 
 Aglionby. 
 
 " They can do something else." 
 
 " It doesn't follow." 
 
 " There must be plenty of work they can do." 
 
 " Not necessarily. And it seems to me a very serious 
 thing to throw a lot of attractive young women on to 
 a hopelessly overcrowded labour market." 
 
 " Very true," explosively assented Lynham, which 
 remark caused his mother to look sharply at him. 
 
 " Don't you agree with me, Jane ? " asked Aglionby 
 of the countess ; his common-sense instincts had been 
 aroused by Lady Bridport's bigotry. 
 
 " All these things can only be satisfactorily settled 
 by the approaching social revolution," declared Lady 
 Derwentwater pontificaUy. 
 
 -Presently, the talk drifted to finance, at which 
 colonel Oram and his wife pricked up their ears, they 
 being eager to profit by any hints that might be going. 
 
 The possibility of making money out of rubber 
 shares was mooted, at which the countess mentioned 
 how that Aglionby had more or less recently come 
 from the Straits, and knew aU about everything con- 
 nected with the industry. 
 
 Much to his surprise, he immediately became a 
 centre of interest, his replies to the questions with 
 which he was plied receiving the closest attention. 
 
 Rubber was practically the staple of conversation 
 until the men were left to themselves. 
 
VANITIES 93 
 
 Aglionby idly listened to the service gossip talked 
 by Oram, Robin, and the admiral, and noticed that 
 the last was freely helping himself to the port wine ; 
 also that Lynham, in being free from his mother's 
 supervision, was following his host's example. 
 
 Once or twice, Dipple, the butler, was not particu- 
 larly handy at getting what was wanted, at which his 
 master apologised for the man's remissness, saying he 
 had recently engaged him. 
 
 Then, while the men were talking of the sport that 
 could be obtained in parts of the world where regiments 
 or warships were stationed, Aglionby noticed that 
 Lynham, having strolled round the room, had taken 
 a seat beside him. 
 
 " JoUy good of you to tackle the mater as you did," 
 he exclaimed as he passed a decanter to Aglionby 
 after filling a glass for himself with an unsteady 
 hand. 
 
 " Indeed ! " 
 
 " Too bad of her the way she goes for barmaids and 
 all that." 
 
 " No doubt she does it for the best." 
 
 " I wish she'd drop it a bit. I'm getting quite fed 
 up the way she goes on." 
 
 " Bad as that ? " 
 
 " Shockin'. I was bustin' to go in the service, but 
 she's keen on my going in for rotten politics. Con- 
 servative is bad enough, but the radical politics she 
 wants me to take up is enough to drive one to drink." 
 
 Aglionby smiled. 
 
 " It means speaking at tea-fights and all that. And 
 shaking hands with the Nonconformist conscience. 
 You know : self-righteous grocers with clammy hands." 
 
 " You'd better tell your mother you're not keen." 
 
 " What 'd be the use 1 " 
 
94 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 After again helping himself at the decanter, he told 
 Aglionby that the barmaid his mother had referred to 
 as attracting men to an inn was a certain Dolly, an 
 orphan, " with the sweetest blue eyes in the world," 
 and " quite straight." 
 
 The young man was evidently a little infatuated 
 with her and fearful of what would become of her if 
 she lost her job. 
 
 He gave these confidences to Aglionby because he 
 was " such an awfully good sort in standing up to the 
 mater " ; he also informed Aglionby he would make 
 a point of telling DoUy all about him when next he 
 saw her. 
 
 When Aglionby went upstairs with the other men 
 (they left the admiral alone in the big dining-room), 
 the first thing that caught his eye was the downcast 
 look of Lady Aenemone, who, he was dismayed to 
 see, did not in the least appreciate Robin's undeviat- 
 ing attentions. 
 
 Then he found himself sitting beside his juvenile- 
 looking hostess in a comer of the drawing-room. 
 
 " Isn't it too absurd ? " she began in an artificial 
 high-pitched voice which seemed a compound of giggle 
 and hysteria. 
 
 " Isn't what absurd ? " 
 
 " Robin's devotion to Aenemone." 
 
 " I think it's quite understandable." 
 
 " Not really ! You don't really mean that ? ' 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 " Perhaps you're a bachelor." 
 
 " If I am, what has that to do with it ? " 
 
 " Everything. Sooner or later, generally sooner, 
 every married couple get bored to death with each 
 other. Don't you think so ? " 
 
 " There certainly does seem to be a good deal of 
 
VANITIES 95 
 
 that sort of thing about — though perhaps that's 
 explained because they did not marry for love." 
 
 "D'ye mean to say you don't believe in people 
 marrying for anything else 1 " 
 
 " I'm sorry to shock you, but I'm afraid I don't." 
 
 "It's quite delightful to meet some one who's so 
 old-world. I do wish I could believe in such things. 
 If you had spoken of a married man being in love 
 with some one else's wife, I should be with you." 
 
 " Is being in love with some one else's wife necessary 
 to happiness ? " 
 
 " Most of us seem to think so. And that's what 
 amuses me with Robin. Hopelessly in love with that 
 girl ; and if he'd got her, he'd probably be bored to 
 death with her in six months and be mad for some 
 one else." 
 
 " I'm sorry to differ, but I don't see the necessity." 
 
 " To get away from oneself," she explained in an 
 outburst of candour. 
 
 He looked at her inquiringly, at which she added : 
 
 " To avoid being bored, which gets more difficult 
 every day one lives." 
 
 " I suppose that is inevitable if one lives for excite- 
 ment. The tittilation of to-day is the weariness of 
 to-morrow." 
 
 " That's exactly it. As excitement is the only thing 
 worth living for, one must get it somehow, and most 
 of us seem to find it most readily in coveting our 
 neighbour's wife or husband." 
 
 Mrs. Caple coquettishly arched her carefully painted 
 eyebrows ; but recollecting that, if she made indiscreet 
 use of her facial muscles, it might dismally affect her 
 enamelled complexion, she changed the conversation 
 to the subject of cremation, which she apparently 
 had at her fingers' ends. 
 
96 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 At the earliest moment consistent with civility, the 
 countess took her leave, declaring that not only had 
 she an appointment with a well-known editor, but also 
 with Gilbert Ware, a prominent socialist. 
 
 Aglionby had followed his friend's example, and 
 had had his hand tenderly pressed by his youthful- 
 looking hostess, the while her made-up eyes tenderly 
 languished into his, before he went downstairs with 
 Lady Aenemone, when he noticed that she not only 
 seemed in a hurry to get away, but that her hitherto 
 sad face was aglow with gladsome anticipation. 
 
CHAPTER Vm 
 
 PILLABS OF PEACE 
 
 Hardly had Aglionby perceived this disquieting 
 circumstance, when he heard some one behind him 
 rapidly descending the stairs ; this proved to be Robin, 
 who was eager to accompany Lady Aenemone to the 
 brougham. 
 
 Those who were going on to the Belgrave Gallery 
 were packed into the waiting vehicle, while Robin, 
 standing immediately outside, was talking to those 
 within, particularly to the girl he was eager to marry. 
 
 Very soon she said : 
 
 " We must go now or we shall miss every one." 
 
 " Hope you'll all enjoy yourselves," he remarked, 
 while his hand still rested on the door. 
 
 " What a pity you can't come too ! " remarked the 
 countess. " You'd meet such interesting and intel- 
 lectual people." 
 
 " I'm a good mind to," remarked Robin suddenly. 
 " I shouldn't be missed, and in any case they'll all be 
 going very soon." 
 
 " I wouldn't have you do what isn't right," smiUngly 
 urged the countess. 
 
 " Hang it ! I'U chance it," cried Robin suddenly. 
 " Is there room ? " 
 
 " We can manage somehow," said Aglionby. 
 7 97 
 
98 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " I can sit on Aglionby's knee," suggested Robin, 
 at which he was as good as his word. 
 
 " Hope I shan't be blown up by a bomb by any of 
 your sociaUst friends who may be present," he re- 
 marked a moment or two after they had started. 
 
 " If you knew anything about sociaHsm or sociaHsts, 
 you would not say that," retorted Lady Aenemone. 
 
 " That's one of the reasons why I've come. I want 
 to know about the people who've attracted you." 
 
 " If you're very lucky, you might see Gteorge Bernard 
 Shaw," said the countess. 
 
 " Who's he ? " asked Eobin. 
 
 " You've never heard of Greorge Bernard Shaw ! " 
 exclaimed the countess and her daughter in amazed 
 chorus, although it was only during the last few weeks 
 that the latter had learned of the existence of the 
 celebrity in question. 
 
 " I should have said so if I had." 
 
 " But his name's always in the papers. And he's 
 constantly writing to the Times on any and every 
 pretext," continued the countess. " He's simply 
 wonderful." 
 
 " The finest man I know hates being talked about 
 and having his name in the papers." 
 
 " Who might that be ? " 
 
 " WHson." 
 
 " Wilson « " 
 
 " Admiral Wilson. He's now First Lord. All he 
 cares about is to do his duty to his country." 
 
 A little later, Robin spoke as if he were excusing to 
 himself his neglect to his father's guests. 
 
 " After all, I don't suppose I shall be very much 
 missed at home. All they care to talk about is money," 
 he said, to add as he glanced at Lady Aenemone, " As 
 if that were all there was to Uve for in life ! " 
 
PILLAES OF PEACE 99 
 
 " As if money mattered at all ! " remarked the girl. 
 
 " Dick is very silent," remarked the conntess, who was 
 momentarily becoming more self-important as they 
 neared the Belgrave GaUeiy. 
 
 " I was thinking what Caple was saying about his 
 friends talking so much about money." 
 
 " You have no reason to worry about money," she 
 remarked. 
 
 " I wasn't thinking about myself. I was wondering 
 how this craving for money on the part of the rich will 
 effect the coming of socialism." 
 
 " We who are pioneering the social revolution are 
 prepared to face every obstacle," declared the coxmtess 
 in her best platform manner. 
 
 " Xo doubt. But it seems to me that, if the ' haves ' 
 set such store on their possessions, they are not going 
 to give them up without a bitter struggle." 
 
 " Xo bitter struggle will blacken our triumphant 
 progress." 
 
 " Indeed ! " 
 
 " Our propaganda aims at substitating the brother- 
 hood of man for present-day competition. In a very 
 short time human nature, under the influence of our 
 ideals, will quite alter." 
 
 Aghonby sighed inwardly at the unhappy awakening 
 which awaited his beloved Jane if she really had faith 
 in what she was saying : his forebodings on this score 
 kept him silent, unless he were directly addressed, 
 until the Belgrave Giallery was reached. 
 
 Ordway, dressed for the evening, was waiting out- 
 side the entrance, and was promptly introduced by 
 Aghonby to his three friends, the countess expressing 
 herself as more than delighted to meet him. 
 
 As they went up the broad staircase, Aglionby 
 noticed that Lady Aenemone sought to attach herself 
 
100 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 to him rather than to Robin, as if by this means she 
 would escape the latter's ardent attentions, which, if 
 anything, were stimulated at noticing the interest the 
 graceful girl excited among the men they encountered. 
 
 As if Lady Aenemone's evident objections to Robin's 
 wooing were not enough to trouble Aglionby, he per- 
 ceived Gilbert Ware at the top of the staircase ; the 
 socialist was peering down as if anxiously awaiting 
 some one. 
 
 There was not much doubt as to whom he was ex- 
 pecting ; directly he perceived the little party, his 
 fine face glowed with excitement as he hastened to 
 greet the countess and her daughter. 
 
 Lady Derwentwater, however, was so eager to im- 
 prove the shining hour by cultivating acquaintance 
 with the power of the Press, as represented by Ordway, 
 that she gave indifferent heed to her pet socialist, at 
 the which the latter fastened himself on to Lady 
 Aenemone,who, after introducing him to Robin,seemed 
 more than disposed to bear Gilbert company. 
 
 This intention was assisted by the crowded condition 
 of the place, men and women, mostly in evening dress, 
 thronging every available space, with the result that 
 Lady Aenemone and Gilbert were soon separated 
 from their companions. 
 
 Aglionby's mind was diverted from Lady Aenemone's 
 partiality for Gilbert by the unusual appearance 
 presented by the " Intellectuals " and the more or 
 less well-to-do socialists who had assembled to do 
 honour to the German Peace Delegates. 
 
 Many of the men had long hair and other effeminate 
 suggestions in their appearance, while their women 
 folk looked mannish by reason of their cropped looks, 
 bull necks, flat chests, and slovenly appearance, most 
 of them wearing shapeless, sacklike garments which 
 
PILLARS OP PEACE 101 
 
 suggested that, without exception, they respectively 
 concealed a divided skirt. 
 
 Now and again AgUonby caught sight of a burly, 
 urbane, perspiring, and spectacled German who, for 
 aU his grossness of body, stiU retained something of 
 the unmistakable carriage begotten of his military 
 training. 
 
 He also perceived that for all Robin's annoyance at 
 losing Lady Aenemone, he was looking with scarcely 
 disguised astonishment at the more eccentric-looking 
 among the gathering. 
 
 " What d'ye think of them ? " asked Aglionby. 
 
 " Eh ? " 
 
 Aglionby repeated his question. 
 
 "What a crowd ! I never knew such people existed." 
 
 " Sorry you come ? " 
 
 " I don't know," he said as he glanced in the direction 
 in which he believed Lady Aenemone to be. " It's 
 an experience." 
 
 " Here you are I " said a voice behind them. " I'm 
 lucky to find you so soon." 
 
 It was Ordway ; he explained that, for the time 
 being, he had left the countess, who, doubtless to her 
 delight, as Aglionby somewhat ruefuUy reflected, had 
 been besieged by the many socialists with whom she 
 was acquainted. 
 
 Ordway asked Robin the same question as Aglionby, 
 namely : 
 
 " What d'ye think of them ? " 
 
 " Good Lord ! " replied Robin. 
 
 " Some of the people are quite well known and ought 
 to know better than to be mixed up with this kind 
 of thing," remarked Ordway. 
 
 " What do they do it for « " asked Robin. " It 
 isn't as if it were any good." 
 
102 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " I suppose the original foolishness that is in all of 
 us more or less. See that man there." 
 
 He referred to an elderly, white-haired, distinguished- 
 looking man, who was beaming on all and sundry 
 and with such an evident delight that it all but dis- 
 armed hostile criticism. 
 
 " That's Lord Sevenoaks," he went on, " the 
 President of the Eeception Committee : he's managing 
 director of a big engineering firm, is by way of being a 
 charming essayist, and yet he believes that this sort 
 of thing is going to make two mighty and ambitious 
 nations turn their swords into ploughshares." 
 
 " I remember I was once in Berlin studying German," 
 said Robin. " At some reception I was introduced 
 to two men in a Lancer regiment. Directly they saw 
 I was English, they clicked their heels together and 
 turned their backs on me." 
 
 " That's more eloquent than a hundred of these 
 peace jauntings undertaken by amiable Germans who 
 have not the slightest say in Imperial politics," de- 
 clared Ordway. 
 
 " That's what I was thinking," assented Aglionby, 
 who was keeping his eyes open for Lady Aenemone and 
 Gilbert. 
 
 " Keen on the service ? " asked Ordway of Robin. 
 
 " What do you think ! " replied the sailor. 
 
 " Serving anywhere now ? " 
 
 " Not just at present. I'm on leave, but I'm doing 
 all I know to get North-Sea work." 
 
 " No slacking there ! " 
 
 " Not many people realise how awake we have to 
 be." 
 
 The playing of the opening bars of a song and the 
 appearance of a repulsively fat and very dark woman, 
 with music in her hands, on a platform reduced the 
 
PILLARS OF PEACE 103 
 
 gathering to some approximation to silence ; directly 
 the singer opened her lips, such was the quality of her 
 voice that she was heard with rapt attention. 
 
 Its effect upon AgUonby was magical. 
 
 He had been, as it were, rubbed up the wrong way by 
 Lady Aenemone's preferring the socialist to her manly 
 adorer, by the strange cattle with whom he was sur- 
 sounded ; now, and for the duration of the song, his 
 environment was forgotten — ^he had only thought for 
 his dear Jane, he being possessed and dominated 
 by his old chivalrous passion for the love of his 
 youth. 
 
 All too soon, however, a burst of applause inter- 
 rupted the tender trend of his imaginings, and he was 
 again irritated by the uncouth appearance of many of 
 the cranky-looking men and their floppy womenfolk, 
 Robin's masculinity seemingly accentuating their un- 
 wholesomeness. 
 
 As Aglionby glanced at the weather-tanned, resolute 
 face of the sailor, it occurred to him that this man, 
 with his single-hearted devotion to duty, and his 
 humorous resource in the face of grave danger, as 
 exempHfled by his behaviour to the savage chief, was 
 indeed one of what Milton called " Grod's EngUsh- 
 men " : that sudden emergency would find him more 
 than equal to the occasion, whereas the least mishap 
 would turn the greater part of this assembly into 
 a panic-stricken rabble : that in the hour of his 
 country's danger this trained fighting man, in being 
 one who would account it sweet and honourable 
 to die for his country, would be worth any number 
 of the garrulous vegetable-fed faddists who were 
 present. 
 
 One woman, who happened to be glancing with in- 
 terested eyes at Bobin, attracted Aglionby's attention, 
 
104 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 She was tall, dark, and might almost have been 
 handsome if she had not looked so greasy. 
 
 She was turned out in what, to AgUonby's unso- 
 phisticated eye where women's garments were con- 
 cerned, appeared to be a red flarmel robe, while her hair 
 seemed to have done itself ; her by no means pretty 
 feet were encased in sandals. 
 
 The man who accompanied her, presumably her 
 husband, was a kindly-faced, intelHgent-looking little 
 man with long hair. 
 
 Ordway noticed the direction of his friend's glance, 
 at which he remarked : 
 
 " Interested ? " 
 
 " In a sense. I was wondering how not bad- 
 looking women can make such guys of them- 
 selves." 
 
 The journalist shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " You'd think they'd do their utmost to look 
 attractive before their husbands," continued Ag- 
 lionby. 
 
 " That's before marriage. After, they've a far more 
 potent weapon to subdue their men folk." 
 
 " What might that be ? " 
 
 "The tongue." 
 
 As the three men edged their way through the throng, 
 they came upon a sallow, hollow-cheeked, long-haired 
 but interesting-looking man who was surrounded by 
 a crowd of adoring women. 
 
 " Know who that is ? " 
 
 " No," repHed Aglionby, while Robin was peering 
 about him, presumably endeavouring to discover 
 Lady Aenemone. 
 
 " That's Turton CoUey, the advanced playwright. 
 He's breaking his heart because no one will find the 
 money for a Shakespeare memorial theatre." 
 
PILLARS OF PEACE 105 
 
 " Why on earth should they ? " asked Robin. 
 
 " Why indeed ! To begin with, even if some idiot 
 did put up the money, it would only provide sinecures 
 for Maida Vale. For the average member of the public 
 the theatre does not exist." 
 
 " Really ? " queried Robin. 
 
 " Always excepting Lewis Waller for girls in their 
 teens, and the Gaiety for boys of all ages." 
 
 An elderly man mounting the platform with music 
 and fiddle-case, the three men elbowed their way to 
 a spacious gallery hung with pictures, which ran 
 parallel to the room they had left ; this, if anything, 
 was more crowded than the other place, many of 
 the peace enthusiasts preferring the sound of their 
 own voices to that of the music. 
 
 Neither Lady Derwentwater nor her daughter was 
 anywhere to be seen. 
 
 Aglionby, in the maimer of lovers, was fear- 
 fully wondering if all were well with the countess, 
 since he had seen nothing of her for some quarter 
 of an hour, when his sleeve was plucked by Ord- 
 way. 
 
 " Listen to this," said the journaUst as he directed 
 his attention to a meagre, mean-featured man with a 
 bulging forehead, who was holding forth to a circle 
 of admirers, most of whom were men ; now and again, 
 some of these supporters interjected such remarks as 
 " Admirable 1 " and " Hear, hear ! " 
 
 The folly of armaments was the subject of the 
 speaker's informal harangue. He descanted at length 
 on the wickedness of spending money on battleships 
 and what he called " lethal weapons," money 
 which could be usefully employed in furthering social 
 reforms. 
 
 Sympathetic murmurs of approbation urged him to 
 
106 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 attack the motives of his poUtical opponents and 
 prominent soldiers who were obnoxious to him by- 
 reason of their declaring our defensive preparations 
 to be woefuUy inadequate for our requirements ; 
 mingled with his diatribe were thinly veiled aspersions 
 on military officers, he suggesting that, in the intervals 
 of shedding blood, they led frivolous Hves. 
 
 " Who on earth is he ? " asked Aghonby as he strove 
 to repress his rising indignation. 
 
 " Morris Dawe. He stands for a North London 
 constituency. He's foremost among those who 
 attempt to cut down the Navy estimates," replied 
 Ordway — to ask of Robin, " What d'ye think of 
 him ? " 
 
 " What can one think of such a swab 1 " replied 
 the sailor. Apparently, personal invective was more 
 to Dawe's taste than condemning what he called 
 " bloated and provocative armaments " ; with a 
 self-satisfied smirk, which made Aghonby itch to 
 kick him, he continued to vilify the profession of 
 arms. 
 
 Aghonby was so angered by what he heard that he 
 was about to tell Dawe what he thought of him, but 
 Ordway, divining his intention, caught hold of his arm 
 and pulled him away. 
 
 Aghonby protested, at which the journaUst 
 said : 
 
 " What would be the use ! You wouldn't convert 
 them, and any protest would only flatter their 
 vanity." 
 
 Although still hot with anger, Ordway's words, 
 together with his sense of humour, speedily calmed 
 him, for he laughed and said : 
 
 " It's absurd to get excited over such a worm. I 
 can do with a drink." 
 
PILLARS OF PEACE 107 
 
 The three men sought a room where exiguous re- 
 freshments of a strictly teetotal nature were being 
 somewhat — at least, so it seemed — grudgingly dis- 
 pensed, but a waiter informed them where something 
 of a more appeaUng nature could be obtained for 
 payment. 
 
 It was in this latter place that Aghonby noticed 
 Robin was lost in thought : he was wondering if the 
 sailor were worried by reason of Lady Aenemone's 
 defection, when Robin said ; 
 
 " To think that all those splendid chaps in the service 
 are willing to risk anything for such people as Dawe ! 
 Surely there are not many hke him ? " 
 
 " More than you think," repHed Ordway. 
 
 "Good Lord!" 
 
 " Somehow this country always seems to have 
 been cursed with such people. During the Napo- 
 leonic war we were fighting for our very existence, 
 and we had our Whitbreads and his Uke in 
 Parhament who warmly defended Buonaparte," said 
 Ordway. 
 
 On their returning to the place where Aglionby 
 had been angered by Dawe, Ordway, who was still 
 possessed by the subject of anti-patriotism, said: 
 
 " I cannot, for the life of me, understand why our 
 ' Little England ' lot should always side with the 
 enemies of our country." 
 
 " I know it's the case where Germany is con- 
 cerned," replied Aglionby. " And I believe it denies 
 the danger from that quarter so that the money that 
 should be spent on armaments can be used for bribing 
 the unintelligent elector." 
 
 " I think it's for a reason less obvious than that." 
 
 " Is it a move in the party game which makes it 
 ' crab ' anything its opponents suggest ? " 
 
108 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " There's a more subtle reason," declared Ordway. 
 " Do you remember how, in the days when Russia was 
 the enemy, the radicals crawled before the Czar 1 " 
 
 " I've some recollection." 
 
 " It was the same with Napoleon as it is nowadays 
 with the German Emperor, and I believe it's because 
 there's a strain of violent snobbery in your radical. 
 It's notorious how he loves a lord, and if it's a case 
 of a great, crowned, ambitious personality, he suffers 
 from a form of degenerate hero worship which makes 
 him abase himself before the arch-enemy of his 
 country." 
 
 " After all said and done, there's little to choose 
 between the tyranny of a caucus and that of an 
 autocrat," said Aglionby. 
 
 " Give me a ' despotism tempered with epigrams,' " 
 laughed Ordway. 
 
 A little later, AgUonby and the journalist noticed 
 they had lost Robin ; the former rightly surmised he 
 was searching for Lady Aenemone. 
 
 " Do you know why Morris Dawe and his like have 
 ' their knife into ' soldiers ? " asked Ordway. 
 
 " I suppose it's another species of political de- 
 generacy." 
 
 " They haven't even that excuse. They behave as 
 they do because, in their heart of hearts, they know that 
 if they had the means, social position, and opportunities 
 of many men in the services, quite the last thing they 
 would do would be to risk life and limb in warfare 
 in rotten cHmates. They know those chaps are by a 
 very long way their superiors, and they hate them 
 for it." 
 
 " It's monstrous if it's true." 
 
 " But it is true : the driving power of most latter- 
 day radicalism is envy, hatred, and malice towards 
 
PILLARS OF PEACE 109 
 
 one's betters. And whenever they talk about the 
 days of warfare being over and done with, I bear 
 in mind that the Dutch, while Louis XIV. was 
 preparing to invade their country, said the very 
 same thing, and devoted all their attention to tuUp 
 growing." 
 
 The gallery in which they talked being less crowded 
 than it had been, it looked as if the gathering were soon 
 about to disperse. The two men made for the large haU, 
 and in so doing came upon Gilbert Ware, who was 
 agitatedly looking about him as if seeking some one 
 he had lost ; he did not appear to perceive Aghonby, 
 who was rejoiced to discover that he had parted 
 from Lady Aenemone. 
 
 While Aghonby was keeping his eyes open for his 
 beloved Jane, he said : 
 
 " Is socialism really making headway in this 
 country ? " 
 
 " The last few years it's made enormous strides. 
 This is an unbeheving generation, and it's by way of 
 being a new creed. They say that early Christianity, 
 in discouraging patriotism, was one of the chief causes 
 of the fall of Rome : I often wonder if socialism wiU 
 do the same for us." 
 
 " But ultimately it was Rome against barbarians. 
 With us, sociaUsm affects our rivals even more than 
 ourselves," urged Aglionby. 
 
 Ordway reflected a moment or two before 
 saying : 
 
 " It may bring about the supreme tragedy." 
 
 " What might that be « " 
 
 " This : that the Hberal-minded nations might be 
 so weakened for purposes of defence by sociaUsm, that 
 they might come beneath the heel of European powers 
 which stand for mediaeval ideas of government : this, 
 
110 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 as in the past, would justify its repression by a re- 
 actionary Church, which would mean that the long 
 and bitter fight for Uberty of thought would have to be 
 fought all over again." 
 
 "That's rather a large order," commented Ag- 
 honby. 
 
 " I'm not so sure. The man who will be the 
 second most powerful man in Europe is a reactionary 
 and the obedient servant of the Jesuits and the 
 Vatican." 
 
 AgUonby, assisted by Ordway, looked here, there, 
 and everywhere for his friends, but without discover- 
 ing them. 
 
 He was wondering if the countess and her daughter 
 had gone home, when there was a sudden parting in 
 the throng immediately about him, at which Lady 
 Aenemone was revealed standing alone. 
 
 She seemed a trifle dismayed at her isolation, and 
 AgUonby was about to approach her, when both 
 Kobin and Gilbert converged on her from different 
 directions. 
 
 Their mutual purpose and determination were such 
 that each, immediately divining what was in the other's 
 mind, came to a stop and with a glance of inquiry on 
 their faces. 
 
 AgUonby just then, however, was not particularly 
 moved by the emulation on the part of the two men 
 to bear the winsome girl company. 
 
 It seemed to him that the rivals respectively repre- 
 sented the old Britain and the new — the sailor standing 
 for manly independence of character and a passionate 
 patriotism which urged the individual to do all that he 
 could for the land of his birth, while the sociaUst sug- 
 gested communism, which was opposed to individuaUsm, 
 looked to the State for inspiration and support, and 
 
PILLARS OF PEACE 111 
 
 regarded his country as something from which in- 
 definite benefits were to be secured in exchange for the 
 vote. 
 
 Even as the two men faced each other, so also had 
 the political creeds, for which in AgMonby's eyes they 
 were the symbols, joined issue. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 " THE MAGIC EIlirG " 
 
 Aglionby and Lady Aenemone sat on opposite sides 
 of a first-class railway compartment during a so-called 
 express train's half-hearted progress to Sevenoaks ; 
 when they arrived at this place, vehicles would 
 convey them to the house of a Miss Daunt who 
 had invited the members of Quinby's " Magic Eing " 
 for a day's outing, she being a distant cousin of 
 the latter. 
 
 Quinby had joined the same train at Charing Cross, 
 but at Lady Aenemone's wish AgUonby had gone out 
 of his way to avoid him. 
 
 Ever since he had called for her at her mother's 
 house, he had noticed she was profoundly depressed ; 
 he had immediately done his best to cheer her, as much 
 for his own sake as for hers, he being anything but 
 light-hearted himself. 
 
 He was cast down chiefly on the score of his adored 
 Jane having refused to accompany them, he having 
 looked forward to bearing her company for the best 
 part of the day ; she had excused herself by declaring 
 that her " socialist propaganda " (this phrase pos- 
 sessed for her the blessedness of an economic Meso- 
 potamia) prevented her from devoting many hours to 
 what she called frivolity. 
 
 112 
 
"THE MAGIC RING" 113 
 
 He had miserably wondered if she were bent on avoid- 
 ing him, and had surrendered, horse, foot, and guns 
 to the morbid self -depreciation common to lovers in a 
 like situation. 
 
 It would have lightened his heart if he had known 
 that the countess's refusal to join that day's " Magic 
 Ring " was owing to her dishke of its temporary 
 hostess ; Miss Daunt was a woman who, having a mind 
 of her own, had not scrupled to say what she thought of 
 Lady Derwentwater's political predilections. 
 
 Also, AgUonby was troubled in spirit by his robust 
 and growing antagonism to socialism, and this in spite 
 of the assiduity with which he studied the many aspects 
 of the subject from a sense of duty to his affection for 
 the countess. 
 
 He was annoyed with himself that his convictions 
 in this matter ran counter to the woman he loved ; 
 but however much he strove to see with her 
 eyes, the less convinced was he of the efficacy of 
 socialism as an infallible panacea for the ills of 
 individualism. 
 
 From frequently dwelling on Lady Derwentwater's 
 economic belief, socialism and all its works obsessed his 
 mind to no inconsiderable extent : it seemed to him 
 that it played a much bigger part on the world's stage 
 than was actually the case. 
 
 As the train passed Chislehurst, he made an effort 
 to lighten Lady Aenemone's depression. 
 
 " Why did you avoid Quinby ? " he asked. 
 
 He had to repeat his question before she replied : 
 
 " I don't like him, dear old daddyho." 
 
 "I'm not so very old. But " 
 
 " I don't like him at all." 
 
 " I thought it might be because you were a little 
 keen on him and wished to avoid him after the way 
 8 
 
114 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 innocent little girls do in books," he remarked by way 
 of being feebly cheerful. 
 
 Instead of responding to his mood, she went on in 
 all seriousness : 
 
 " He may do his best to cheer the lives of poor girls, 
 but I am certain, quite, quite certain, he's not a good 
 man at heart." 
 
 " How on earth do you know ? " 
 
 " I feel it when he's talking to me, and I hope I'm 
 not going to see very much of him to-day." 
 
 " Why did you come, then 1 " 
 
 Instead of answering this pertinent question, 
 she stared helplessly at him, and reddened before 
 dropping her big grey eyes and talking of any and 
 everything. 
 
 Amongst other things, she spoke of the approaching 
 stay she was making with her mother in Devonshire, an 
 event with which Aglionby had been already apprised 
 by the countess ; instead of going to the dower house, 
 the latter was to be at the place which had been her 
 home when her husband was alive. 
 
 The present Lord Derwentwater was shooting big 
 game at the back of beyond in Africa, and in his absence 
 his brother WiUiam was supposed to look after the 
 property. 
 
 It seemed from what Lady Aenemone told AgUonby 
 of her cousin BiUy, as she called him, that this young 
 man had more money and time on his hands than were 
 good for him. 
 
 Apparently, he had tired of sport and occupied his 
 days in buying, practising, and, when opportunity 
 offered, of singing in pubhc pretty well every comic 
 Bong which was published. 
 
 She concluded by saying : 
 
 " I think cousin Billy's rather fond of me." 
 
"THE MAGIC EING" 116 
 
 " No wonder ! " 
 
 " I'm the only person he can get to accompany his 
 songs." 
 
 When they reached Sevenoaks, they found the train 
 by which they had travelled had brought many young 
 men and women who all wore on the left arm the bit 
 of mauve ribbon which was the outward and visible 
 sign of membership of the " Magic Ring." 
 
 There were many more women than men, and these 
 last had ladylike manners which suggested that they 
 attended High Church on Sundays and by their 
 presence in a place of worship encouraged worthy 
 ecclesiastics to believe in the renascence of devo- 
 tion to dogma. 
 
 They were of every class, from East End work- 
 girls to that which occupies Mayfair houses for a 
 few months in the year, and Quinby, after effusively 
 greeting Lady Aenemone, who coldly acknowledged 
 his salutation, was here, there, and everywhere in 
 the effort to make straight the tangled ways of social 
 inequahty. 
 
 AH might have been well if there had been only 
 Quinby's friends and the work-girls, for Lady Aenemone 
 and some other young women with whom she was 
 acquainted at once went out of their way to be friendly 
 with the tired little seamstresses and artificial flower and 
 cigarette makers, who were striving to decide whether 
 they were glad or sorry they had come ; but there 
 were other virgins — Sunday-school teachers, church 
 workers, and the like, who, while eager to consort with 
 their social betters, were quite firmly resolved that 
 under no circumstances whatsoever would they have 
 anything to do " with those common girls," as they 
 called the daughters of toil. Indeed, they could not 
 understand what had possessed " dear Mir. Quinby " 
 
116 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 at expecting them to mix with such " no-claes 
 people." 
 
 That portion of the " Magic Ring " which had come 
 by train was being shepherded by Quinby towards 
 waiting cars and brakes, the drivers' whips of the 
 latter being decorated with mauve ribbons, when a 
 stout, jolly, red-faced, perspiring woman of the 
 people impinged upon the gathering, and the " young 
 ladies " were distressed to perceive that she wore 
 a mauve ribbon about her arm ; she carried a beaded 
 reticule. 
 
 " 'Alf a mo' ! " cried the woman. " Don't leave 
 me be'ind." 
 
 " Do you belong to us ? " asked Quinby. 
 " My Em'ly does. She couldn't leave her work, and 
 so I come meself." 
 
 " That'll be all right," said Quinby dubiously, his 
 philanthropic enthusiasm scarcely embracing over- 
 blown matrons. " I hope you won't find most of us 
 too frivolous." 
 
 " I don't think. I shall enjoy meself awright," 
 declared the woman, whose name was Mrs. 
 Jemmlngs. 
 
 Quinby was anxious that his own particular friends 
 should reach their destination in the motors, but 
 Aglionby so contrived that many of the work-girls 
 travelled in this, to them, unfamiliar means of loco- 
 motion, while every one else, including Mrs. Jemmings, 
 crowded into the brakes. 
 
 Lady Aenemone persistently avoiding Quinby, the 
 latter attached himself to a shm, highly-strung-looking 
 dark girl, who had large hazel eyes and a profusion of 
 blue-black hair. It seemed to Aglionby that the young 
 woman suffered him not so much because she liked 
 him, but as if, in spite of herself, she were fascinated 
 
"THE MAGIC RING" 117 
 
 by the attentions of a rich man who lived in a whoUy 
 different world from that in which she lived and had 
 her being. 
 
 As they went, Aghonby noticed that Lady Aenemone 
 was keeping a sharp look-ont along the road, much as 
 if she were expecting some one ; he wondered who it 
 might be, as he had no reason to think that Quinby 
 had extended an invitation to Gilbert. 
 
 Miss Daunt received her guests before her spacious 
 Georgian house, which overlooked many gracious 
 acres of undulating and, owing to the recent cutting 
 of the grass, sweet-smelling sward ; she was accom- 
 panied by a group of well-meaning friends who mostly 
 had the floppy, self-conscious appearance of those who 
 are devoted to good works. 
 
 Miss Daunt was an imposing-looking, grey-haired 
 woman of about forty-eight ; she was rich and 
 cultured, and so attached to her independence 
 that she had never run the risk of losing it in matri- 
 mony. 
 
 She scandalised the more commonplace of her friends 
 by declaring that she much preferred the society of 
 men to women ; that the latter received far more 
 masculine consideration than they were entitled to ; 
 that the average male had many more virtues than the 
 everyday woman ; that marriage was a sociological 
 device by which her sex disposed of their persons t-o 
 the best material advantage. 
 
 She was an ardent horticulturist, employing some 
 forty skilled gardeners who were chiefly engaged for 
 the cultivation of roses, of which she possessed many 
 of the finest and rarest in the kingdom, she even going 
 to the length of importing earth from Persia in order 
 that certain of her loved flowers might thrive in con- 
 genial soil. 
 
118 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 She had already greeted those guests who had arrived 
 by car, and Aglionby noticed how tactfully she treated 
 the work-girls, doing her utmost to make them at 
 home. 
 
 This was by no means a simple matter, they being 
 ill at ease in their stately surroundings. The one 
 exception was Mrs. Jemmings, who, after critically 
 looking at the house, affably remarked to the 
 owner : 
 
 " Nice 'ouse you've got there, miss." 
 
 " I'm glad you think so," repUed Miss Daunt. 
 
 " A bit big for one party such as yerself ." 
 
 " You must let me show you over it." 
 
 " I don't mind when I've had a snack. But p'raps 
 you let 'arf of it ? " 
 
 " I don't at present, but one never knows," replied 
 Miss Daunt. 
 
 After some hght refreshments had been eaten and 
 drunk, an informal walk was taken in the gardens that 
 stretched from three sides of the house. 
 
 Here, notwithstanding the efforts of Miss Daunt, 
 Quinby, and others, who were anxious to make the 
 "Magic Ring" fulfil the object for which it was initiated, 
 its varying component parts obstinately refused to 
 assimilate, the representatives of each social strata 
 huddling gregariously as if seeking protection from a 
 common foe. 
 
 It was during this promenade that Aglionby found 
 himself next to the day's hostess. 
 
 " I'm glad you were able to come," she began. " I've 
 heard of you." 
 
 " How can that be ? " he asked in all sur- 
 prise. 
 
 " I know people who've met you ; Dora Bridport 
 among others." 
 
"THE MAGIC RING" 119 
 
 " Do you mean Lady Bridport who's keen on tem- 
 perance ? " 
 
 " Keen ? Fanatic ! I don't know what foolishness 
 she's been indulging in since she went home." 
 
 " She wanted to get rid of all the barmaids on her 
 property." 
 
 " I believe that's what she told me she'd done in her 
 last letter. It's extraordinary what harm well-mean- 
 ing people accomphsh." 
 
 " True," remarked AgUonby, who was thinking that 
 the countess's identification with socialism was re- 
 sponsible for the unhappy interest Gilbert Ware held 
 for her daughter. 
 
 " Are you a sociaUst ? " asked Miss Daunt. 
 
 " Not yet," he rephed grimly. 
 
 " I did not think you were. But if you were, and 
 if you keep your eyes open, you will see to-day why 
 sociahsm, let alone social equality, is hopelessly im- 
 possible in this country." 
 
 He looked at her questioningly, to see she was staring 
 impersonally before her. 
 
 " And it's a thousand pities your very dear friend 
 doesn't see that." 
 
 " Lady Derwentwater ? " 
 
 " Yes. Seeking publicity as she does, she's much 
 more culpable than Dora Bridport and must do ten 
 thousand times more harm." 
 
 Aglionby was moved to defend his friend, but was 
 restrained by realising that Miss Daunt was speaking 
 nothing more than the truth. 
 
 " I suppose we must soon expect her sociaHst 
 friend." 
 
 " You mean that Gilbert Ware is " 
 
 " If he didn't come with the others, he's to get down 
 later on a motor-cycle," she informed him, to add as 
 
120 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 she perceived how Aglionby's face had fallen : " You 
 don't like him ? " 
 
 " I was surprised to hear he was coming." 
 
 " It was Quinby's doing. Then you don't like Jane 
 Derwentwater's socialist prot6g6 ? " 
 
 " I believe I do rather than otherwise, but " 
 
 " Those ' buts ' ! " 
 
 " I think that Lady Derwentwater, in taking him 
 up, is doing him harm, as he will now have ideas above 
 his station which will only make him discontented 
 and miserable," said AgUonby, with as much conviction 
 as he could muster in order to give the sharp-witted 
 woman at his side the impression that this reason was 
 aU he had in his mind against Gilbert's acquaintance 
 with the countess and her daughter. 
 
 " Is that aU ? " asked Miss Daunt. 
 
 " Isn't that enough ? As for the man himself, he's 
 genuinfely moved by an apostolic fervour for improving 
 the lot of mankind." 
 
 " I can suggest ofE-hand something that is far more 
 likely to do that than socialism." 
 
 " Humour in everyday life 1 " asked Aglionby. 
 
 " Anything but that." 
 
 " Gilbert Ware says that the world will never be 
 reformed so long as there is humour." 
 
 " If that's really his own, it's rather good for him. 
 But I dare say he got it from Shelley, who said very 
 much the same thing. But if people want to be really 
 happy, humour should be exterminated." 
 
 " Then you agree with him ? " 
 
 " If I had my way and I thought mankind deserved 
 happiness, I'd make the exercise of humour a penal 
 ofEence." 
 
 " There'd be plenty of room in your prisons ! " 
 
 " And your friend Jane Derwentwater would never 
 
"THE MAGIC BING" 121 
 
 be an inmate. To make people happy, I should do my 
 best to make them vain." 
 
 " Is that your panacea ? " 
 
 " And the most effective ever devised to reconcile 
 humanity with its lot. It should be implanted and 
 encouraged from earliest youth, and it should not 
 take very long before man or woman seriously believed 
 that all his or her geese were the most wonderful 
 of swans and that they were each the salt of 
 the earth. That way lies unadulterated and lasting 
 happiness." 
 
 Aghonby smiled before saying : 
 
 " Like many another preacher, you point the way 
 but fail to follow." 
 
 " Some unfortunate people, such as myself, are con- 
 stitutionally incapable of vanity. Perhaps you are 
 another. We may pray constantly and watch for signs, 
 but we are passed by on the other side. We were pre- 
 destined to humihty, and consequent comparative 
 unhappiness." 
 
 The unassorted units of the " Magic Ring " were 
 about to sit down to a picnic luncheon served on 
 the lawns, when Gilbert Ware arrived on a motor- 
 cycle which, Aglionby afterwards learned, had been 
 presented to the sociahst by the countess in order 
 that in his spare time he might scatter the seed of 
 their economic faith on the stony soil of the country 
 districts. 
 
 He was welcomed and taken in hand by Miss Daunt, 
 who was seemingly eager to discover for herself what 
 manner of man he might be. 
 
 Lady Aenemone was not very far from Aglionby, and 
 the latter's annoyance at Gilbert's appearance was 
 considerably increased at noticing the frequency with 
 which her eyes and the socialist's mutually sought each 
 
122 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 other's : although he had no definite knowledge, he 
 was convinced that Lady Aenemone was in some way 
 responsible for Gilbert having received an invitation 
 from Quinby. 
 
 This philanthropist sat next to the highly-strung, 
 big-eyed girl, whose name was Miss Abbott : it seemed 
 to Aglionby that Quinby's face expressed self-conscious 
 delight in the good work he believed he was accom- 
 plishing, and a sexual elation begotten of a furtive 
 but none the less ardent admiration for the young 
 woman at his side. 
 
 He would be most attentive to her until he remem- 
 bered that his conduct might be noticed, at which he 
 would neglect her until his feelings temporarily got 
 the better of his discretion. 
 
 If those who wished to make the day a success 
 had believed that good food and drink would 
 substitute harmony for inevitable discord, they were 
 disappointed. 
 
 Although games were proposed and started, and 
 although there was some approximation to friendly 
 relations between Miss Daunt's friends and the work- 
 girls, the young men and women (particularly the 
 latter) who stood for the intermediate classes were 
 resolved to have nothing to do with those they con- 
 sidered to be hopelessly beneath them, and exhibited 
 this intention in their behaviour. 
 
 The round games which were played were conse- 
 quently constrained and therefore unenjoyable ; it 
 was with a pretty general sigh of relief that they were 
 presently abandoned. 
 
 As if by mutual consent, every one wandered where 
 they listed ; Aglionby was about to accompany Miss 
 Daunt, who was to conduct Mrs. Jemmings and one 
 or two others over her house, when he fell to thinking 
 
"THE MAGIC RING" 123 
 
 suddenly and violently of his Jane, at the which he 
 was possessed by a passion for loneliness. 
 
 It was an easy matter to find the solitude his soul 
 ached for ; very soon, he was wandering by a stream, 
 careless of where his steps led him so long as he could 
 live in his world of undisturbed musings. 
 
 He was more than grieved that the countess had 
 not accompanied him to Sevenoaks, as she had led 
 him to believe that she would ; he wondered if she 
 remotely guessed how helplessly and hopelessly he 
 loved her. 
 
 Aa if to mitigate his extremity of spirit, he was re- 
 calling any and every incident he could remember 
 where she was concerned which could be tortured 
 into an encouragement of his hopes, when he found 
 himself standing before a summer-house, built in the 
 form of a miniature temple ; it was approached by 
 moss-grown steps. 
 
 He was thinking if he should smoke a cigar in this 
 place before returning to the house, when he heard a 
 woman cry sharply from within, which utterance was 
 followed by the pleading voice of a man. 
 
 Wondering what was toward, and what he should 
 do under the circumstances, he was about to walk 
 away when a woman's sobbing stabbed the drowsiness 
 of the summer afternoon. 
 
 He was more than ever disturbed by this develop- 
 ment, and was hesitating as to whether he should 
 enter the place, when Miss Abbott appeared, followed 
 by a distressed Quinby who was apparently en- 
 deavouring to soothe the now hysterically weeping 
 girl. 
 
 Suddenly, Quinby perceived Aglionby, and a look 
 of terror came over his agitated face. 
 
 A moment or two later, the girl also saw Aglionby, 
 
124 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 at which, after a start of surprise, she made a valiant 
 effort to control herself. 
 
 Aglionby asked if he could do anything, but was 
 assured by Quinby that Miss Abbott had suddenly 
 become faint and he had taken her into the summer- 
 house until she had recovered. 
 
 Instead of letting weU alone, Quinby, as they aU 
 three walked back to the house, amphfied his story with 
 a wealth of Would-be corroborative detail in which the 
 " flats failed to join " ; at the same time, his face wore 
 such a resolute expression of woebegone virtue that 
 this alone told Aglionby he was not telling the truth. 
 
 Aglionby, however, for the girl's sake made out that 
 he quite believed Quinby's copious narrative ; he 
 frequently asked if she felt better, while he noticed 
 that she looked at the philanthropist with both resent- 
 ment and helplessness in her eyes. 
 
 As they walked, certain words of Ordw-ay's recurred 
 to his mind, words in which the joumaUst had said 
 how Quinby might be one of a type which had 
 leanings to both good works and the indulgences of 
 the flesh. 
 
 If this were so, he reflected, how different was 
 human nature from the ordinary orthodox point of 
 view which sharply divided humanity into sheep and 
 goats ! 
 
 As he was every day discovering for himself, good 
 and bad were subtly mingled in every one, and the one 
 often arose from precisely the same qualities which 
 inspired the other. 
 
 At the same time, he would have thought more of 
 Quinby if his timidity at possible discovery had not 
 found expression in the look of painfully aggrieved 
 innocence his face persistently wore. 
 
 Aglionby found most of the " Magic Ring " as- 
 
"THE MAGIC RING" 125 
 
 sembled for tea ; the exceptions were Lady Aenemone, 
 Gilbert, and one or two of the others who had come 
 from town : they had presumably lost their way in 
 Miss Daunt's spacious park. 
 
 Mrs. Jemmings talked volubly to her hostess, whom 
 Aglionby thought had lost something of her former 
 cheerfulness : he overheard the former affably remark 
 that she would not mind Miss Daunt's house for an 
 occasional week-end, but would find it much too 
 dull to live in all the year round after the delights 
 of Hoxton, before betaking himself to a part of the 
 drawing-room where Miss Abbott and some others 
 were having tea. 
 
 He sat unobserved in a comer and perceived that 
 the same class-distinctions which had obtained during 
 the day were still ferociously observed, the work-girls 
 and Miss Abbott's friends respectively huddling to- 
 gether and speaking only to their friends. 
 
 Said Miss Abbott : 
 
 " What a rotten day ! This is the last I shall have 
 to do with the ' Magic Ring.' " 
 
 Remarked one of her friends : 
 
 " I call it a right-down insult expecting us to mix 
 with those common girls." 
 
 Said a third : 
 
 " Mother would be furious if she knew. Especi- 
 ally since we've moved to such a select road in 
 Tooting." 
 
 More was said to the same effect. 
 
 Aglionby presently remembered that Miss Daunt 
 had remarked that, if he kept his eyes open, he 
 would perceive why sociaMsm would not thrive in 
 England. 
 
 He now divined her reason for this assertion. 
 
 He saw that the innate and incomparable snobbish- 
 
126 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 ness of the British (and he had merely scratched the 
 surface of this insular product), particularly where the 
 women were concerned, would militate overwhelmingly 
 against the equality dear to the imagination of Gilbert 
 Ware and his kind, the fact of the matter being that 
 social differences provided an inexhaustible source 
 of happiness to the many — the looking down upon 
 and despising of those they considered their inferiors 
 — and one that would not readily be abrogated. 
 
 After tea, Aglionby joined Miss Daunt ; he was 
 anxious to communicate his discovery, and was 
 about to do so when he noticed that she seemed 
 preoccupied with her thoughts. He was wondering 
 if she were perturbed by Lady Aenemone's prolonged 
 absence with Gilbert, when she produced a letter 
 and said : 
 
 " I've had rather unfortunate news." 
 
 " I am sorry." 
 
 "It's from Dora Bridport. It might interest 
 
 you." 
 
 " Anything very serious ? " 
 
 " You know of her ridiculous temperance schemes I 
 This is Nemesis indeed. Did you meet her son ? " 
 
 " I think his name was Lynham." 
 
 " His mother contrived to get a certain barmaid 
 discharged, and this letter tells me that Lynham, 
 partly out of pity for the girl, has secretly married her." 
 
 " Good heavens ! " 
 
 " His mother has only herself to thank for this blow 
 to her pride. An only son ! If she'd let temperance 
 alone, this would never have happened." 
 
 Aglionby was striving to appreciate this instance 
 of the relation of cause to effect when he perceived 
 Lady Aeuemone and Gilbert approaching in intimate 
 converse. 
 
"THE MAGIC RING" 127 
 
 Miss Daunt was about to address her companion, 
 when she perceived the direction of his troubled 
 glance. 
 
 A few moments later, their eyes met, at which 
 Aglionby wondered if they were both possessed by an 
 identical apprehension, and, in that event, if in her case 
 as in his it had been stimulated by Lady Bridport's 
 domestic tribulation. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 DISCORD 
 
 Aglionby was both elated and depressed. He had 
 been considering an invitation from his friend in Oxford- 
 shire who had rented a moor for the shooting, and, as 
 there was no shooting-box, he was to be put up at an 
 adjacent yacht club on the Clyde, when an almost 
 affectionate letter arrived from the countess, asking 
 him to join her in Devonshire a week after she had 
 started, and to stay for so long as he listed. 
 
 Needless to say, he had jumped at the latter 
 invitation, which acceptance made him dechne the 
 opportunity of shooting in Scotland. 
 
 He was delighted at the prospect of spending many 
 weeks in further cultivating his friendship with the 
 loved one, but at the same time he was greatly troubled 
 by her daughter's intimacy with Gilbert Ware : try as 
 he might to put the most favourable construction upon 
 incidents that had come to his knowledge, there was no 
 denying that Lady Aenemone was moved by an abiding 
 partiality for the remarkable-looking socialist. 
 
 If Aglionby had been quite a young man, he would 
 have scouted the idea of a girl in her station of life 
 having anything other than the most discreet and 
 ladylike interest in a mechanic as unthinkable : but 
 his experience of life had taught him quite otherwise ; 
 
 128 
 
DISCORD 129 
 
 indeed the astonishing behaviour of women of all ages 
 where the other sex was concerned had first amazed and 
 then bewildered him, until now he had the genial 
 tolerance of the man of the world for such vagaries. 
 
 Women of position, he reflected, who had every 
 reason to know better, had eloped with and married 
 their grooms ; and if ever he listened to the stories of 
 the scandalmongers at his club, the partiality (to put 
 it mildly) of certain women for their chauffeurs was 
 a stock incident of such anecdotes. 
 
 What particularly annoyed him was that his dear 
 Jane was wilfuUy blind to what was going on beneath 
 her shapely nose ; with a scarcely believable fatuity, 
 she had taken Gilbert from his work and paid him 
 a handsome wage to be at her beck and call when 
 engaged in her political propaganda. 
 
 Several times Aglionby had been on the point of 
 speaking very seriously to Lady Aenemone on the 
 matter, and to warn her of the foolishness of the course 
 on which she had embarked : although his knowledge 
 of feminine mental processes was not very profound, 
 he refrained, he having an intuition that censure or 
 opposition would only add fuel to the flames of her 
 infatuation for Gilbert. 
 
 When he had first met her at Dover, but for the 
 resolution that was occasionally apparentin her big grey 
 eyes, he had believed her to be a docile, sweet-natured 
 girl, whose disposition was expressed in her dainty 
 person : experience had told him how she possessed 
 a fund of native obstinacy which caused Aglionby to 
 fear that, if it were really aroused, it would make her 
 equal to defymg her mother's wishes where the choice 
 of an eligible husband was concerned. 
 
 She would have nothing to do with Robin Caple, 
 and this refusal went far to encourage Aglionby's 
 9 
 
130 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 suspicions that her liking for Gilbert was the cause : 
 although her mother — ^who had always one brown eye 
 fixed on the sociahst millennium and the other on para- 
 graphs in the papers announcing her efforts to speed 
 its approach — ^was so far ignorant of her daughter's 
 cold behaviour to the disconsolate Robin, Aghonby 
 was quite certain that, however much things went ulti- 
 mately wrong where the girl's marriage was concerned, 
 he alone would be severely blamed by irresponsible 
 and illogical Jane, wJio had all the true woman's in- 
 stinct for knowing precisely how far she could put 
 upon an admirer without fear of rebellion. 
 
 His one consolation was that he believed he could 
 trust Gilbert not to take any advantage of Lady 
 Aenemone's partiality for him — as, if he were genuinely 
 in love with her, which was not at all an unlikely con- 
 tingency since he had seen so much of her, Aghonby 
 believed from his own and from other men's experience 
 in a like extremity that his first consideration would be 
 the happiness and well-being of the loved one. 
 
 Aglionby had seen nothing of the countess for two 
 or three days ; tired of passing his time when not at 
 Derwentwater House, at either his lodgings or his club, 
 he had been looking out for a country property within 
 easy reach of town, and had been busily occupied in 
 going upon the various wild-goose chases on which 
 imaginative house agents had sent him. 
 
 His morning's post had brought him a further hst 
 of " desirable properties in sporting and aristocratic 
 localities," and he was wondering which of the appar- 
 ently highly attractive houses would prove the most 
 disappointing, when he viewed a telegram from the 
 countess telMng him she must see him at once, and that 
 he must not delay a moment. 
 
 Immediately, all thoughts of house-hunting were 
 
DISCORD 131 
 
 forgotten : wondering what was toward, he took a cab 
 to Derwentwater House. 
 
 " I'm so glad you've come," she said directly she 
 saw him. " What has happened to you all this long 
 time ? Your coming so promptly is the first piece of 
 luck I seem to have had for ever so long." 
 
 " You have missed me ? " he asked with heart 
 a-beat. 
 
 " Of course I have, Dick." 
 
 " I'm glad of that, Jane," he said softly. 
 
 "I so wanted you to help me. What is the 
 matter ? " 
 
 " It's my assistance you wanted ? " he exclaimed 
 lugubriously. 
 
 " What have you arranged about Aenemone and 
 Robin ? " 
 
 " What have I arranged 1 " 
 
 " Yes : don't be stupid. Do tell me everything is 
 arranged, and make me perfectly happy." 
 
 " But what have I to do with it ? " 
 
 " Everything." 
 
 " Jane ! " 
 
 " Didn't I tell you when Aenemone came from Paris 
 that I left everything to you ? And I felt confident 
 everything would go well, as she is so fond of you. 
 She has often told me she looks on you as a second 
 father." 
 
 " But my dear Jane ! " exclaimed AgUonby, who 
 was momentarily feeling more uncomfortable ; he was 
 quite convinced that she would visit him with her 
 wrath by reason of the girl's indifference to Robin's 
 wooing. 
 
 " I know it's a thing an ordinary mother should 
 attend to herself. But with the endless calls ' the 
 Cause ' has upon my time, what opportunities have 
 
132 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 I of thinking of anything else ! " she remarked, to 
 add as Aglionby remained silent : " WeU, Dick ! " 
 
 " Hadn't you better ask Aenemone herself ? " 
 
 " How can I if she's away ! " 
 
 " For long ? " 
 
 " I'm expecting her this morning. She's been stay- 
 ing for a day or two with a girl friend in Berkshire." 
 
 " You can ask her when she returns." 
 
 " But you don't understand how important time is. 
 Every moment is precious." 
 
 " I give it up," declared Aglionby helplessly. 
 
 " You are so stupid, Dick. Don't you know that 
 Kitty Ashford's daughter is engaged to Freddy Bam- 
 borough ? " 
 
 " Lord Bamborough ! " 
 
 " It was in aU the papers yesterday. Kitty and I 
 were at school together ; we were always the best of 
 friends till I married Derwentwater : she was quite 
 rude to me when I was presented." 
 
 " I'm sorry, but " 
 
 " I knew you'd sympathise. But that's only the 
 beginnmg. Directly I took up socialism, she went in 
 for tariff reform, body and soul." 
 
 " Why shouldn't she if she believes in it ? " 
 
 " Who knows what tariff reform really means ! 
 But that's beside the point. Whether it's a good thing 
 or not for the proletariat, Kitty isn't the least sincere. 
 Her one idea is advertisement and seeing her name in 
 print." 
 
 Aglionby turned away and picked up a book. 
 
 " Isn't it aU pitiable ? A woman in her position 
 should know better than to live for publicity. One 
 may as well be an actress at once," she went on. " And 
 that's why I've so reHed on your being successful with 
 Aenemone and Robin." 
 
DISCORD 133 
 
 Aglionby did his best to collect his disordered 
 thoughts. 
 
 " And there's something else," she continued. " I 
 knew I'd forgotten something important. Last 
 season Kitty did her best to get Robin for her 
 Gwenny." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " Dick ! " interrupted the countess solemnly, " I 
 don't mind admitting that this is a very, very serious 
 matter to me. I tell you this because there is no one 
 I can trust as I can you. If I can only send para- 
 graphs to the papers announcing that Aenemone's 
 engaged to Robin, I should not only be absolutely 
 happy, but I should be eternally grateful to you, Dick, 
 and look on you as quite a perfect dear, and — ^and — 
 I should find it very hard to refuse you anything you 
 asked." 
 
 She dropped her voice as she said these last words, 
 and accompanied them with such an appealing tender- 
 ness in her eyes that Aglionby felt bitter with regard 
 to Aenemone's interest in Gilbert, and cursed the turn 
 affairs had taken, which would prevent him from 
 taking advantage of her mother's encouragement of 
 his hopes : also, he was more than convinced that 
 when his beloved knew of the girl's objections to Robin 
 as a husband, he would be unjustly visited with her 
 censure. 
 
 " WeU ! " she said, as he did not speak. 
 
 " I only know I've done my best," he declared 
 feebly. 
 
 " Then I need not ask Aenemone and can tell Mee 
 to send a paragraph at once to all the papers ? " 
 
 " I don't think I should do that," he hastily objected. 
 
 " Why not, if it's aU practically arranged 1 " 
 
 " Well — ^it's — ^it's as well to ask Aenemone first. I 
 
134 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 think she — she would like it if you waited to consult 
 her." 
 
 " Since you do not tell me anything has gone 
 amiss, I feel absolutely happy. What a surprise it 
 will be for Kitty when she reads of Aenemone's 
 engagement to Robin in to-morrow's Morning 
 Post ! ' 
 
 Forthwith, the countess for once spoke uninter- 
 ruptedly of Aglionby's concerns. She was more than 
 interested in his plans for purchasing a country pro- 
 perty, and declared he must not come to a decision 
 till she had given her opinion ; also, she insisted 
 upon his having the use of one of her motor-cars to 
 assist him in his quest. 
 
 Meantime, Aghonby dejectedly waited for the arrival 
 of Lady Aenemone. 
 
 When she came, flushed with her motor drive from 
 Pangbourne, she divined something of moment was 
 toward, even before she had greeted her mother and 
 her " dear daddyho," as she persisted in caUing 
 Aglionby : the unusual warmth of the former's wel- 
 come served to increase her apprehensions. 
 
 Aglionby, whose susceptibilities were on edge by 
 reason of his unhappy situation, perceived that 
 Lady Aenemone was intuitively on her guard. 
 
 " Are you tired after your journey, dearest ? " asked 
 her mother sympathetically. 
 
 " Not a bit." 
 
 " Hadn't you better take o£E your hat and rest a 
 little, dearest ? You are not very strong." 
 
 " Thanks, I'm perfectly weU." 
 
 " And there's something important I — that is we — 
 wish to talk over with you." 
 
 " What is it, mumsie ? " 
 
 " I'U speak of it when you are rested." 
 
DISCORD 135 
 
 The girl looked sharply at her mother and dropped 
 her eyes before saying : 
 
 " I'd rather hear it now and get it over." 
 
 " I'd better send for Mee," declared her mother as 
 she glanced meaningly at Aglionby. 
 
 " Not just yet," he suggested. 
 
 " But " 
 
 " Aenemone may — may prefer to wait a little." 
 
 " What is it, mumsie ? And why should you send 
 for Mee ? " 
 
 " To type a paragraph for the papers announcing 
 your engagement to Robin." 
 
 " Robin Caple ! " she exclaimed fearfully. 
 
 " Yes, dearest. And, as you know, it's a matter on 
 which Dick and I have set our hearts." 
 
 The fond mother was so confident of her daughter's 
 gleeful acquiescence in her suggestion that she was 
 blind to the look of dismay which invaded the girl's 
 face, dismay which gradually surrendered to an ex- 
 pression of obstinacy. 
 
 " Ring for Mee, Dick," continued the countess. 
 
 " If Aenemone ! " 
 
 " Please don't, daddyho," interrupted Lady 
 Aenemone. 
 
 " Aenemone ! " exclaimed her surprised mother. 
 
 " I can never marry Robin," faltered the girl. 
 
 Aghonby, who was closely, nervously watching the 
 countess, noticed that her eyes just flinched ; other- 
 wise, she looked as if she were wondering if she had 
 heard aright. 
 
 " I can never marry Robin, mumsie," continued 
 Lady Aenemone, gaining a trifling access of con- 
 fidence, but with a note of appeal in her voice to 
 the objections she was confident her mother would 
 offer. 
 
136 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Never marry Robin, did you say ? Never 
 marry Robin ? " asked the latter lifelessly. 
 
 " I don't love him, mumsie. You wouldn't have 
 me marry a man I did not love ! " 
 
 There was a pause which was more painful to 
 Aglionby than vituperation would have been : it 
 was broken by the countess, who suddenly sharply 
 cried : 
 
 " What about Kitty Ashford ! " 
 
 The girl looked with surprised eyes at her mother, 
 who went on : 
 
 " Gwenny's engaged to Freddy Bamborough ; per- 
 haps you saw it in the paper. You couldn't have, or 
 you would have known what this means to me. Dearest, 
 sweet Aenemone : be a dear and do as your mother 
 wishes and I'll give you anything you ask for. I'll 
 even give you nearly aU my emeralds. You can't 
 know what this means to me. Aenemone ! Aenemone ! " 
 
 " I don't love him, mumsie." 
 
 " Who does love when they marry ! I myself didn't 
 love your father at heart — ^not very much " (a horrified 
 look had invaded her daughter's eyes). " And children 
 owe quite as much to their parents as they do to them- 
 selves. And when it's a case of spiting Kitty 
 
 Ashford ! " She paused for breath and looked at 
 
 her daughter with wildly beseeching eyes. 
 
 " I'm sorry, mumsie, I don't love Robin. It would 
 break my heart to marry a man I did not love," de- 
 clared Lady Aenemone miserably. 
 
 " But — but Dick wishes it. You can't refuse Dick, 
 whom you always say you've come to love as a second 
 father. You wish it, don't you, Dick ? " 
 
 " If — if you can see your way to doing as your mother 
 wishes without being unhappy ! " hazarded Aglionby, 
 who secretly admired the girl for her spirit, while he 
 
DISCORD 137 
 
 feared the reason of her obstinacy and the consequences 
 to himself. 
 
 " I don't love him. I shall never marry Robin. If 
 I did, I should only break my heart. I'm sure my 
 dear daddyho would never wish that." 
 
 " Of course you know best " began Aglionby. 
 
 " She doesn't do anything of the kind," hazarded 
 the countess petulantly. " But do you know, 
 Aenemone, that Bamborough has two castles, thou- 
 sands of acres, I don't know how much money, and a 
 steam yacht ! " 
 
 She did not mention that he was weak in the 
 head. 
 
 " What if he has, mumsie ? " 
 
 " Think what a triumph this will be for Kitty ! " 
 
 Lady Aenemone ruefully shook her head. 
 
 " But Robin is a splendid fellow," declared Aglionby. 
 " Really, Aenemone, quite apart from the question of 
 love, he's a man that any girl, even as charming as 
 yourself, would be proud to marry." 
 
 Lady Aenemone was about to speak, but tears filling 
 her eyes she held her peace. 
 
 Aglionby made a step in her direction to comfort 
 her, but his further progress was stayed by the countess, 
 who said, much as if she were submitting an unanswer- 
 able argument : 
 
 " Listen, dear : listen to this. It's something I'd 
 quite forgotten. How foolish of me not to mention it 
 before. It's this, dearest. Kitty Ashford has actually 
 made fun of my socialism." 
 
 Instead of being moved by this information, the 
 girl was overcome by emotion, and with her hand- 
 kerchief to her eyes she hastened from the room. 
 
 Her departure was followed by a further painful 
 pause, during which AgHonby wondered if it would be 
 
138 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 as well to defend himself instead of waiting for the 
 inevitable attack. 
 
 He chose the latter course, or rather it was forced 
 upon him by reason of his lovelorn helplessness, he 
 realising that his hopes of winning the countess were 
 practically at an end. 
 
 " What have you to say, Dick ? " she began. 
 
 " What have I to say, Jane 1 " he asked, with as 
 much innocence as he could muster. 
 
 " Don't Jane me," she retorted. " This is all your 
 doing." 
 
 " How can you say that 1 " 
 
 " I left everything to you because I trusted you. 
 A nice mess you've made of it. I might have known." 
 
 " It isn't fair to blame me for a girl's likes and 
 dislikes. Women never did and never wiU love to 
 order." 
 
 " That's nothing to do with it. I left everything 
 to you and everything's gone wrong," declared the 
 countess, delighted to find some one on whom she could 
 vent her wrath. 
 
 " You haven't altered a bit ! " she went on. 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 ' ' From what you were when a boy. You know what 
 we always said ? " 
 
 " I've no wish to hear that," replied a nettled 
 Aglionby. 
 
 " We said — ^we always said " — she went on reck- 
 less of consequences — " that you ought to have gone 
 in the Church. That it was aU you were fit for." 
 
 Aglionby struggled with his rising anger and was 
 vanquished. Words came from his tongue seemingly 
 without any effort on his part. 
 
 " I'm not so sure it is my fault," he declared mean- 
 ingly. 
 
DISCORD 139 
 
 " How do you explain that ? " 
 
 " It would be nearer the mark if you put it down to 
 all this wretched socialism." 
 
 " Dick ! Did you say " 
 
 " I said ' wretched sociahsm.' And I'm right. It's 
 this that has turned Aenemone's head. If it weren't 
 for that, she'd probably have jumped at the chance of 
 marrying Robin." 
 
 " How can that be ? " she asked icily. 
 
 " Oh ! I'm not going to explain," he retorted, con- 
 scious that his innate disUke to mentioning the girl's 
 possible infatuation for Gilbert Ware meant a distinct 
 lack of reinforcement for his argument. " But I'm 
 quite convinced that if you and she definitely turned 
 your backs on socialism and all its works, everything 
 would come right." 
 
 " Turn my back on socialism ? " she asked, aghast. 
 " Turn my back on " 
 
 " Absolutely, once and for all." 
 
 " What about the public 1 " 
 
 " Hang the public ! " 
 
 " But they're so interested in my propaganda." 
 
 " They'd get over it in time," he remarked 
 brutally. 
 
 " And what about Kitty Ashford ? " 
 
 " What about her ? " 
 
 " Dick ! " 
 
 " What does it matter what any one thinks, says 
 or does beyond those we care for ? " 
 
 " But I love the dear people. I simply live for 
 humanity. And when I think of Kitty Ashford's 
 triumph ! Dick ! " 
 
 " Yes, Jane." 
 
 " There's no getting away from it. It's all your 
 doing. Unless you can get Aenemone to do as I wish 
 
140 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 at once — at once, mind, I shall not any longer require 
 your assistance in my work." 
 
 " Very well," he replied coldly. 
 
 " You understand what that means ? " 
 
 " Absolutely." 
 
 " You will do nothing ? " 
 
 " Beyond telling you this." 
 
 " I don't wish to hear." 
 
 " You shall hear." 
 
 " Violence ! " 
 
 " Not of the socialistic order. But I wiU say this. 
 I love you, Jane. It was and is the dearest wish of 
 my life to marry you and look after you." 
 
 " Did you say ' Look after me ' ? " 
 
 " As I'm not to see you again, it can't matter what 
 I said. But sooner or later, you'll find out what an 
 unfortunate mistake you've made in taking up social- 
 ism. Be advised by one who is better than a lover, 
 and that a sincere friend : give it up once and for all." 
 
 He looked at her with a wealth of love in his eyes, 
 but she turned away. 
 
 He waited, and as she did not speak he went sorrow- 
 fully from the room. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 " DRAPKENS " 
 
 On an early August morning, AgKonby left his Jermyn 
 Street lodging at something after twelve. 
 
 As he passed the hall, his attention was momentarily 
 attracted by the numerous hat-boxes belonging to 
 infrequent occupiers of rooms in the house, the majority 
 of their owners now serving their country, either in 
 remote outposts of Empire or on ships of the King's 
 Fleet. 
 
 Since he had parted from the countess, he had spent 
 many disconsolate days — days in which he became 
 increasingly prone to despair by reason of, contrary 
 to his hopes, no communication arriving from the 
 woman he loved. 
 
 He was now convinced he would never hear from 
 her again, although he had had several more or less 
 pathetic letters from her daughter ; these were written 
 from Devonshire and made but casual mention of her 
 mother. 
 
 After the manner of those in love who have quarrelled 
 with the adored one, Aglionby strove to beUeve that 
 he had been in the wrong, so that he might find sufficient 
 excuse to ask pardon for his offence in order to renew 
 his former intimacy : it was to this end that he honestly 
 
 141 
 
142 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 attempted, but with no particular success, to find 
 justification for his friend's devotion to socialism. 
 
 The previous evening, it had occurred to him that, 
 since he had no practical knowledge of how the " pro- 
 letariat " lived, and as he had not the heart to go 
 away, he might profitably occupy his time in seeing 
 for himself something of the conditions of life in 
 working-class districts ; consequently, he had set out 
 on his journey to Stepney, this being the place where 
 Gilbert Ware lived and worked when not preaching 
 his economic faith. 
 
 Aglionby would not acknowledge to himself that he 
 had selected this locality in the possibility of coming 
 across Gilbert, in which case he would probably have 
 recent news of the countess and hear something of her 
 plans for the future. 
 
 As Aghonby sped in a taxicab to the Bank, he, for 
 the hundredth time, went over in his mind the minutest 
 details of his rupture with Lady Derwentwater. 
 
 He again found himself wondering if he should have 
 averted the countess's anger, and at the same time 
 have put an end to her daughter's dangerous friendship 
 with Gilbert, by mentioning his apprehensions with 
 regard to this intimacy : as before when considering 
 this contingency, he justified his silence by reflecting 
 that to reveal his suspicions would have been scarcely 
 what he called " cricket " ; also, so far as any practical 
 result would be concerned, he was convinced that the 
 countess would scout the idea of her daughter's being 
 in love with Gilbert as preposterous, and as likely as 
 not, from native feminine obstinacy, she would take no 
 precautions against a continuance of the acquaintance- 
 ship. 
 
 After Aglionby had asked a policeman to direct him 
 to Stepney, he sped down Cornhill, where, so far as the 
 
" DRAPKIN'S " 143 
 
 press of people would admit, he diverted his thoughts 
 to the purpose on which he had set out. 
 
 From what he had gathered from Gilbert's conver- 
 sation, and the socialist books, pamphlets, and journals 
 he had studied, the workers were cruelly exploited, and, 
 in consequence, led miserable lives of limitless squalor 
 and sufEering : such being the case, he was fully pre- 
 pared and not a little fearful of being deeply moved by 
 an abundance of harrowing sights. 
 
 Until he had renewed his old friendship with Lady 
 Derwentwater, he had rarely given the poor a thought ; 
 they were not of his world, although he had often sent 
 a handsome cheque to the Children's Fresh Air Fund, 
 and if he had seen a case of distress mentioned in the 
 paper, he had contributed something appreciable to 
 its relief. 
 
 As his mind was filled with dismal anticipations of 
 the misery that would presently obtrude itself on his 
 notice, he recalled that in the socialist " literature " 
 he had perused, it was invariably assumed that the 
 capitalistic class, as it was called, if not rioting in 
 either debauchery or luxury, led lives of unadulterated 
 pleasure from the cradle to the grave. 
 
 Since Aglionby had returned home, he had one way 
 and another seen a good deal of people of substance, 
 but so far as he could perceive they were not particu- 
 larly prone to unalloyed happiness. 
 
 Quite apart from the fact that sorrow is necessary 
 to joy, the majority of moneyed people were bom to 
 wealth, and, in consequence, in taking their riches as 
 a matter of course derived no particular satisfaction 
 from their possession. 
 
 Bad health, domestic bereavements, native pessim- 
 ism, unsatisfied social, political, or artistic ambitions, 
 love disappointments — ^all made as much if not more 
 
144 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 havoc of the lives of the wealthy as of less fortunately 
 situated folk, while a lot were wretched from having 
 nothing to do. 
 
 On the whole, considering their stupendous possi- 
 bilities, Aglionby was convinced that the rich got com- 
 paratively little out of life. 
 
 He accounted for this display of the socialist writers' 
 ignorance to the fact of their ascribing to the wealthy 
 the joys they themselves would know (for perhaps six 
 months) if they unexpectedly came in for a fortune. 
 
 Since they were at fault where the happiness of the 
 " exploiters " was concerned, he hoped they might be 
 equally wrong in over-colouring the wretchedness of 
 the " proletariat." 
 
 Soon after Aglionby had passed Aldgate pump, he 
 was conscious of a sudden change in the atmosphere 
 of his surroundings : instead of the fair-skinned, if 
 somewhat paUid, Englishmen and women he had 
 encountered in the City, he saw little else but short- 
 legged, broad-backed, woolly-haired Hebrews, while 
 an endless succession of such names as Levi, Cohen, 
 Hyman, and Bamett over the shop windows told him 
 that he had reached one of the many and rapidly 
 extending Jewish quarters of London. 
 
 In many of the shops he passed, comely young Jew- 
 esses or their obese mothers were hard at work ; in a 
 fruiterer's, he caught sight of a fat, fair woman who 
 dropped money in the tiU as if it were infinite con- 
 descension for her to accept the trifling amounts she 
 was receiving. 
 
 If Aglionby's mind had not been obsessed by social- 
 ism, it would probably have dwelled on the Imperial 
 problem presented by the presence in the heart of the 
 capital city of a big ahen population ; as it was, he 
 reflected with some approximation to complacency that 
 
" DRAPKIN'S " 145 
 
 these Hebrews, with all their passion for work and 
 their hatred of labouring with their hands, would prove 
 a formidable obstacle to the establishment of the 
 countess's political creed. 
 
 As he went, he wondered the reason of the average 
 man's objection to the Chosen People ; he could only 
 put it down to a rudiment of the instinct which urged 
 his ancestors to greet the mere appearance of a foreigner 
 with an arrow or a spear-thrust. 
 
 So far, he had discovered no heart-rending poverty ; 
 although none of the many he passed looked particu- 
 larly prosperous, one and all seemed purposefully bent 
 on minding his or her own business. 
 
 Presently, he was not a little surprised at the width 
 and extent of the Commerical Road ; by the time he 
 reached Stepney, which extended on either side of this 
 thoroughfare, exercise had made him hungry. 
 
 In vain he looked about him for a likely place where 
 he could get luncheon ; anything at all resembling a 
 restaurant was nowhere to be seen, those who needed 
 anything in the shape of a solid meal in this locality 
 frequenting cofiEee-shops, of which there was no lack. 
 
 AgUonby glanced at one or two of these : the windows 
 were plastered with printed slips, detaiUng the dishes 
 that could be obtained within, while a central passage 
 divided tables which were separated from one another 
 by high wooden partitions. 
 
 To a man of his habits, these places were not inviting, 
 particularly as from their open doors came the reek of 
 innumerable hot joints and vegetables, consequently 
 he retraced his steps for a considerable distance in the 
 hope of discovering what he wanted. 
 
 At last, when despairing of finding a restaurant, 
 he came upon a coffee-shop that looked more than 
 commonly clean ; over the entrance it sported a 
 10 
 
146 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 large flag on which " Drapkin's " was lettered in big 
 type. 
 
 He glanced through the door, to see that one side 
 of the eating-house was crowded to excess while the 
 other was all but deserted. 
 
 He was undecided whether or not to enter, but was 
 urged within by hunger ; also, by the reflection that 
 since he was out to learn something of the lives of the 
 " proletariat," it was no use boggling at eating a meal 
 in a coffee-shop. 
 
 He had barely passed the door when he perceived 
 what he beUeved was the reason why the one division 
 was more patronised than the other ; the crowded 
 side of the coffee-shop was attended to by a buxom, red- 
 cheeked baggage, who was seemingly shouting orders, 
 waiting on customers and making eyes at them aU at 
 once ; the young woman who saw to the needs of 
 those who sat at the sparsely attended tables was 
 plain, undersized, spectacled, anaemic. 
 
 The latter looked with wistful eyes at Aglionby ; 
 upon seeing the well-dressed, bronzed-faced stranger 
 take a seat at her side of the establishment, they 
 gleamed with triumph. 
 
 " P'raps you'd like to come here, sir," she said to 
 AgUonby. " There's less mustard on this cloth." 
 
 " Here " was the table nearest a glass partition 
 through the centre opening of which the proprietor's 
 wife, a sharp-featured, angular woman, handed the 
 " orders " and kept a sharp look-out to see that 
 customers with short memories did not leave abruptly 
 without paying for their meal. 
 
 Aglionby had hardly noticed that the elderly man 
 seated opposite to him looked crushed and poverty- 
 stricken, when a long and not over-clean bill of 
 fare was thrust into his hand by the waitress ; he 
 
" DRAPKIN'S " 147 
 
 was astonished at the extreme moderation of the 
 charges. 
 
 Meat was fivepence a plate ; a steak could be 
 obtained for sevenpence ; vegetables were a penny, 
 sweets a penny and twopence, while a haK-penny was 
 charged for bread. 
 
 Printed in large letters on the sheet was the an- 
 nouncement that " All meat sold at ' Drapkin's ' 
 is best quality home-killed." 
 
 Directly Aglionby had ordered a steak, he noticed 
 that a man was curiously and appraisingly peering at 
 him from behind the glass partition ; this was none 
 other than the proprietor, who was a tall, meagre, rather 
 dreary-looking man : he wore spectacles and a long 
 white linen coat. 
 
 As Aglionby had some minutes to wait before the 
 steak would be ready, he glanced about him, and 
 perceived that those sitting at the tables were not 
 working men at aU but were for the most part, seedy, 
 rusty-black-coated slaves of the pen ; here and there 
 was the uniform of a City messenger. 
 ' Then when he discovered that his appearance in such 
 a place was attracting the attention of the customers 
 who could see him, he protected himself from their 
 curiosity with an evening paper which was lying about : 
 a moment's inspection, however, made him look at the 
 date, when he saw it was two days old. 
 
 While he was striving to find something of interest 
 to fix his attention, the man at his table rose to pay 
 before hurrying away : Aglionby noticed with sym- 
 pathetic eyes that he had difficulty in finding in odd 
 pockets the eightpence required by the waitress. 
 
 Hardly had he gone, when a beefy, assertive, red- 
 faced man bustled in and, sitting facing Aglionby, 
 critically studied the bill of fare. 
 
148 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Good morning, Mr. Bean," said the waitress as she 
 approached. 
 
 " Morning, Miss Gibbs. What's nice to-day ? " 
 
 " Beef's very nice." 
 
 " What's nice to you ain't nice for me." 
 
 " I assure you it's reelly quite nice, Mr. Bean," 
 Miss Gibbs assured him. 
 
 " Let's 'ave a look at it. Very nice outside lean 
 cut, plenty o' gravy." 
 
 " What veg. ? " 
 
 " I'll talk about veg. when I've 'ad a look at the 
 beef." 
 
 While Miss Gibbs ordered and waited for the " very 
 nice outside lean cut with plenty of gravy," Mr. Bean, 
 who, apparently, was by way of being an epicure, stuck 
 his thumbs in the armholes of his waistcoat, stared 
 defiantly about him, and smacked his lips in antici- 
 pation of getting his teeth into " Drapkin's best 
 quality home-killed." 
 
 The beef was brought by a nervously apprehensive 
 Miss Gibbs, and Aglionby noticed that both Mr, 
 and Mrs. Drapkin were peering from behind their 
 partition, in order to see if the meat pleased their 
 customer's exigent fancy. 
 
 Mr. Bean turned the beef over with his fork, and 
 after critically examining it, he shook his head. 
 
 " Won't it do ? " asked Miss Gibbs. 
 
 " Not for me. Give me Irish stoo." 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " And a ' saved Fig.' " 
 
 " Irish stoo for Mr. Bean and a ' saved Pig,' " cried 
 Miss Gibbs, at which Aglionby wondered what was 
 meant by a " saved Pig." 
 
 Upon the appearance of the Irish stew, he noticed 
 that Miss Gibbs supplied Mr. Bean not only with a knife 
 
" DRAPKIN'S " 149 
 
 and fork but also with a large spoon : a moment later, 
 Mr. Bean had turned up his wristbands and was eat- 
 ing as if for dear life. 
 
 When, a minute or two later, the steak was brought, 
 the meat and vegetables on the other's plate had dis- 
 appeared, at which Aglionby perceived the reason for 
 the bringing of the spoon, Mr. Bean using it for con- 
 veying the gravy that was left in his plate to his 
 mouth. 
 
 Aghonby had hardly commenced the steak, which 
 was better than he expected, when he learned the 
 meaning of a " saved Fig," this proving to be a fig 
 pudding which, owing to the probability of the demand 
 exceeding the day's supply, was put by for a customer 
 who gave an order to this effect. 
 
 " Anything to drink, sir ? " asked Miss Gibbs of 
 Aglionby. 
 
 " I'd like some whisky," he informed her. 
 
 " Please to give me the money." 
 
 He produced a shilling, and Miss Gibbs called "Beer," 
 at which a boy dived from underneath the counter 
 as if he had been shot from a gun, snatched the money 
 from the young woman and, after learning that whisky 
 was wanted, bolted from the shop. 
 
 He returned with the whisky and disappeared 
 through the door from which he had come with light- 
 ning celerity. 
 
 By this time, Aglionby had the table to himself, 
 Mr. Bean having swallowed the " saved Fig " in two 
 mouthfuls, indeed, the place had all but emptied, the 
 frequenters apparently having hurried back to work : 
 business was now so slack that Mrs. Drapkin was 
 looking over the pages of a journal. 
 
 He wag. midway through his steak, when a voice said 
 at his elbow : 
 
150 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Would you mind if I 'ad my dinner at your table, 
 sir ? " It was Mr. Drapkin ; he had taken off his 
 long white linen coat and was now in ordinary rusty 
 black. 
 
 " Not at all," replied Aglionby, who noticed that the 
 eating-house proprietor had very apparent false teeth. 
 
 " Thank you, sir. It isn't often I have the privilege 
 of eating my dinner in the company of a gentleman 
 of intellect." 
 
 While Aglionby wondered what he was driving at, 
 Drapkin intently studied the bill of fare he had himself 
 laboriously written earlier in the day ; he was selecting 
 a dish for his dinner that could not possibly be worked 
 into what he called an " ongtray " even by his omnis- 
 cient cook. 
 
 Presently, he gave an order to Miss Gibbs, who with 
 moist but defiant eyes was regarding the other waitress ; 
 the latter was complacently counting coppers. 
 
 " Heard what I said. Miss Gibbs ? " asked Drapkin. 
 
 " Your usual 'ash, sir ? " 
 
 " Not 'ash to-day. I said sheep's heart, which I'll 
 have here." Then, as the girl looked at him with 
 troubled eyes, he added kindly : 
 
 " Still bothered about Miss Durkin ? " 
 
 " As one young lady, I don't like to say anything 
 against another young lady," declared Miss Gibbs. 
 " But I will say that some people do run away with 
 the idea that looks is everything and that keeping 
 away from the feUers and a good memory for orders 
 is nothing." 
 
 " That's all right. Miss Gibbs," remarked Drapkin 
 kindly. " I'll have ' boiled ' and ' colly ' with that 
 sheep's 'eart." 
 
 " I often have trouble with my staff," said Drapkin 
 as he took a seat opposite AgUonby. " It's the 
 
" DRAPKIN'S " 151 
 
 young ladies as are the bother, as I dare say you 
 gathered." 
 
 " Jealousy ? " suggested Aglionby. 
 
 " Economic," replied Drapkin. " You as a gentleman 
 of intellect will understand at once what I mean by 
 that." 
 
 " I fear I don't." 
 
 " Tips," explained Drapkin. " Miss Durkin 
 opposite " (he emphasised the last syllable) " gets all 
 the 'apennies, sometimes even a penny. Once I re- 
 member a customer actually gave her tuppence. But 
 he'd just come in for a windfall." 
 
 " No doubt." 
 
 " Miss Gibbs has a post office savings bank account. 
 She'd four-fifteen last Easter." 
 
 " Indeed ! " 
 
 " And seeing Miss Durkin getting all the tips is more 
 than human nature can stand." 
 
 Aglionby smiled. 
 
 " I presume as a gentleman of intellect you're inter- 
 ested in natural science," observed Drapkin after Miss 
 Gibbs had brought the sheep's heart and " boiled " 
 and " coUy." 
 
 " In a sort of way." 
 
 " Wonderful to reflect that it's a matter of two 
 hundred and forty thousand miles from the earth to 
 the moon ! " 
 
 "Wonderful!" 
 
 " That scientific fact interests me and you. But if 
 I was to mention the precossion " (he meant precession) 
 " of the equinoxes to one of my customers he'd think 
 I was ' up the pole,' " truthfully remarked Mr. 
 Drapkin. 
 
 " Astronomy your hobby ? " 
 
 " You've hit it, sir. Astronomy is what I Uve for 
 
152 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 when free of the cares of ' Drapkin's.' Are you inter- 
 ested in the heavenly spheres ? " 
 
 " A little." 
 
 " I thought you were a gentleman of intellect, and 
 that is why I took the liberty of eating my dinner at 
 your table. Mrs. Drapkin " (here he lowered his 
 voice), " I regret to say is no scientist." 
 
 " Indeed ! " 
 
 " Her 'obby's society. Very particular who she 
 knows : down on those she thinks ' no class ' : and 
 only has a snack midday, although it doesn't agree 
 with her." 
 
 Aglionby was reflecting on how much an obscure 
 coffee-house keeper and his wife got out of life, when 
 the latter leaned over the counter with her journal 
 in her hand and said sharply : 
 
 " George ! " 
 
 " Yes, dear." 
 
 " The gentleman would sooner see this than Hsten 
 to you." 
 
 Here the journal was handed to Aglionby, when he 
 saw that it was open at a full page-portrait of Lady 
 Derwentwater, who was looking particularly charming 
 in an evening frock. 
 
 Aglionby was so disturbed at unexpectedly coming 
 upon a presentment of the woman he loved, that he 
 put down his knife and fork. 
 
 " Beautiful lady, isn't she ? " said Mrs. Drapkin. 
 
 AgUonby assented. 
 
 " I do think her lovely. But to think of her being 
 a sociahst ! " 
 
 " Indeed ! " he remarked noncommittaUy. 
 
 " Didn't you know that ? There was a lot about 
 her in last week's Society." 
 
 " Is that so ? " 
 
" DRAPKIN'S " 153 
 
 " Don't let your steak get cold ! " she continued. 
 " But she's so lovely in her dimonds an' all, I thought 
 you'd like to see." 
 
 " Give me 'Erschellan' Proctor and Ball," grumbled 
 Drapkin under his breath, as his nostrils critically 
 examined a piece of sheep's heart. 
 
 Aghonby finished his meal in silence ; he was pos- 
 sessed by thoughts of his Jane which had been induced 
 by the representation of her in the journal : he bitterly 
 deplored the issue that had separated them and won- 
 dered if a letter from Lady Aenemone would be await- 
 ing him at his club. 
 
 He was thinking of getting on, when Mr. Drapkin, 
 who had carefully cleaned up his plate with a piece 
 of bread, which he afterwards swallowed, said : 
 
 " Can you spare five minutes ? " 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " Ah ! If you'll excuse me a moment, I'll go without 
 my sweet to get something that a gentleman of in- 
 tellect wiU appreciate." 
 
 Aghonby was not loath to prolong his visit in the 
 hope that the coffee-house proprietor might provide 
 distraction for his lovelorn thoughts. 
 
 It was not very long before Drapkin returned with 
 such strangely assorted articles as an egg, damsons, 
 lump sugar and currants on a tray, at the which Aglionby 
 wondered what he was going to do with them. 
 
 He was not long in doubt, for Drapkin, with hands 
 that trembled with excitement, cleared the table before 
 seizing a cruet and placing it carefully in the middle. 
 
 " That wiU serve for the sun, sir," he remarked. 
 
 " The sun ? " queried Aglionby. 
 
 " The centre of the solar system, of which I'm now 
 about to give you a practical illustration." 
 
 The astronomer forthwith proceeded to place at 
 
154 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 laboriously calculated distances from his luminary 
 lumps of sugar ; these were carefully selected with due 
 regard to their comparative size, and were disposed 
 to represent Mercury, Venus, the Earth, and Mars. 
 
 " What do you say, sir, to this egg for Jupiter ? " 
 suggested Drapkin. 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 " I'm afraid it's rather too big considering the size 
 of the sun. I got the smallest I could. It's a sixteen- 
 a-shilling." 
 
 After Jupiter was placed in position, large damsons 
 stood for Uranus, Neptune, while currants represented 
 the Earth's and the latter planets' satellites : crumbs 
 sprinkled about the system were presumed to be minor 
 planets and asteroids. 
 
 While this object-lesson was in progress, Drapkin 
 dropped odd bits of elementary-science-primer infor- 
 mation respecting astronomy : his single-hearted 
 enthusiasm was such that Aglionby was moved to 
 remark : 
 
 " I'm very much obliged to you." 
 
 " DeUghted : delighted. This is how I pass most 
 afternoons until the ' teas ' are due." 
 
 He was so intent on his demonstration that he did 
 not notice a man who had entered and taken a seat on 
 the farther side of the coffee-shop. 
 
 The two waitresses being engaged with their dinners, 
 Mrs. Drapkin, in an unusual access of good-nature, 
 attended to the customer, who had ordered tea and 
 bread-and-butter. 
 
 When she had brought this, and was returning to 
 her place of observation, the man, who had poured out 
 his tea, said : 
 
 " I'll 'ave an egg, missus." 
 
 Mrs. Drapkin, who was passing the table where her 
 
" DRAPKIN'S " 155 
 
 husband was occupied just then, promptly took up 
 the egg that was doing duty for one of the planets. 
 
 " There goes Jupiter," complained Mr. Drapkin. 
 
 " And a bit more sugar, missus," said the man who 
 was having tea. 
 
 Mrs. Drapkin, in order to save herself trouble, 
 snatched a piece of sugar from her husband's solar 
 system. 
 
 " Dear, dear ! There goes Venus," sighed Drapkin. 
 " I must see about getting substitootes." 
 
 When he had obtained another egg and a piece of 
 sugar from behind his screen, he remarked sadly : 
 
 " You can see for yourself Mrs. D. is no scientist." 
 
 " Apparently not." 
 
 " Ascension and declension have no meaning for her 
 like they have for me and you." 
 
 " You should do your best to make her interested 
 in astronomy," suggested Aglionby. 
 
 Mr. Drapkin sighed and commenced to wipe his 
 spectacles before saying : 
 
 " Only last night I woke her to tell her of the com- 
 position of Sirius as revealed by the spectroscope. 
 She actually told me to shut up and go to sleep." 
 
 Aglionby concealed a smile. 
 
 " And I always make a point of dropping a few 
 gossiping facts about the stars when taking Mrs. D. for 
 her Sunday drive," continued the astronomer. 
 
 " You drive ? " 
 
 " Y-yes," almost whispered Drapkin as he glanced 
 at his wife to see if she had overheard. 
 
 He had not told the whole truth in stating that he 
 drove, the fact of the matter being that Mrs. Drapkin 
 had flatly refused to permit her husband to take the 
 reins again. This objection had been caused by Drap- 
 kin's eagerness to watch Venus having prevented him 
 
166 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 from seeing where he was going, with the result that he 
 had collided with a coal cart containing a party of 
 costermongers on a Sunday outing when, for ten 
 minutes, the unhappy Drapkin had been a target for 
 abuse. 
 
 " We live in ToUington Park," continued Drapkin. 
 " Do you 'appen to know anything of ToUington 
 Park ? " 
 
 Aglionby admitted he did not, indeed he had never 
 heard of the place. 
 
 " A most select neighbourhood as I need hardly 
 tell you, otherwise Mrs. D. wouldn't live there. 
 Most particular who she knows, as I think I men- 
 tioned." 
 
 " I think you did." 
 
 " I live at ' Cobo,' Balmoral Avenue. It's there I 
 have what I call my observatory." 
 
 " Got a telescope ? " 
 
 " Not yet. I use Mrs. D.'s opera glasses. And 
 when I get 'ome on a fine winter's night and Mrs. D. 
 does not want her opera glasses for the theayter, then 
 I'm perfectly 'appy," declared Mr. Drapkin, which 
 statement Aglionby could well believe. 
 
 When he paid his bill, he astounded and established 
 a record for prodigality at " Drapkin's " by giving 
 Miss Gibbs sixpence for herself : he also delighted 
 the astronomer by thanking him for his interesting 
 demonstration. 
 
 " I could see you was a gentleman of intellect directly 
 I studied your physiognomy," declared the coffee-house 
 proprietor. 
 
 Even when Aglionby had reached the street, he was 
 not altogether free of his attentions. 
 
 He had gone but a few steps when he heard the coffee- 
 house proprietorsay : 
 
" DRAPKIN'S " 157 
 
 " Excuse me, sir, but if you can give another minute, 
 I should like to explain a slight mistake." 
 
 Thinking he had not been charged enough, he 
 followed Drapkin back to the shop where after conduct- 
 ing him to the table on which the solar system was 
 displayed, the latter said : 
 
 " What will you think of me ? I quite forgot Vulcan." 
 
 " Vulcan ? " queried AgMonby. 
 
 " The planet that some of us astronomers think is 
 between Mercury and the sun. This broad-bean will 
 do for Vulcan." 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 94, JXJBILEE STREET 
 
 Fortified by his steak, Mr. Drapkin's scientific and 
 his wife's social complacency in a district where he had 
 expected to encounter at least the beginnings of misery, 
 Aglionby walked to Stepney : he had suddenly re- 
 solved to call at the house in Jubilee Street where the 
 Wares lived, in the hope of seeing Gilbert and learning 
 something of the countess ; he longed to hear there 
 was a possibihty of her returning to town before the 
 year was out, when he could contrive a means of meet- 
 ing her again. 
 
 As he went, Hebrews were continually in evidence ; 
 even when he turned into Jubilee Street they were 
 everywhere to be seen in doorways and shops, while he 
 was constantly in danger of tumbhng over their multi- 
 tudinous offspring on the pavement ; these last as- 
 sisted the impression that he was walking the byways 
 of an Oriental city. 
 
 The commencement of Jubilee Street, a long, almost 
 straight thoroughfare, was not encouraging, squahd 
 shops and public-houses abounding : these presently 
 surrendered to private houses in which small trades, 
 such as boot repairing and dealing in second-hand 
 false teeth, were carried on ; they were fenced from the 
 
 168 
 
94, JUBILEE STREET 159 
 
 pavement by solidly simple wooden railings, all painted 
 with bright and varied colours. 
 
 When the street rather suddenly broadened, the 
 small trades became infrequent, the wooden raihngs 
 disappeared, while the two-storied houses on both 
 sides had a certain uniformity by reason of each front 
 door being set in a rounded stucco arch. 
 
 It was at something after four that Aghonby knocked 
 at 94 : the door was such a long time being answered 
 that he was again about to apply his hand to the 
 knocker when he heard a hght footstep quickly de- 
 scending the stairs. 
 
 Then the door was opened a couple of feet by what 
 at first sight seemed to be a little old woman, but whom 
 nearer inspection showed to be youngish, her extreme 
 thinness being responsible for her elderly appearance ; 
 her yellow skin was so tightly drawn over her small 
 features that she looked Uke a monkey, while her 
 bright, sharp eyes contributed to this resemblance : 
 she carried needlework in her hands, and stitched 
 ceaselessly while talking to Aglionby. 
 
 " 'As you come for the club money ? " she asked 
 before he could open his mouth. 
 
 " Club money ? " he queried. 
 
 " 'Cause if you have, Mrs. Ware is out and won't be 
 back till foive." 
 
 " I wanted to see Mr. Gilbert Ware." 
 
 " He's aw'y. Did you want him particular ? " 
 
 " I should Uke to have seen him if he'd been 
 in." 
 
 The woman's bright eyes roguishly, good-naturedly 
 appraised the caller. 
 
 " If you've toime to wite, you moight come inside," 
 she suggested, at which Aglionby thought that he 
 might. 
 
160 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " And it'll be company for me," she added as she 
 opened wide the door. 
 
 " If you know Gilbert, oi'm sure you've heard of me ! " 
 she said as he foUowed her into the passage. 
 
 " I'm much afraid I haven't," he remarked gallantly. 
 
 " Oi'm sure ! Oi'm Miss 'Itt." 
 
 " Miss Itt." 
 
 " That's it. Oi'm one of Mrs. Ware's lodgers." 
 
 The woman's name was Hitt, but she had never 
 heard herself called anything other than 'Itt, indeed, 
 if the " h "had been aspirated she would have wondered 
 if she had been addressed or spoken of aright. 
 
 She was undecided where to show Aglionby, for, 
 after hesitating a moment, she said : 
 
 " Please to wite a moment, I'll troy and foind the 
 key." 
 
 " The key ? " 
 
 " Of the parlour. It's kep' locked." 
 
 StiU burdened with her sewing. Miss 'Itt left AgUonby 
 standing in the passage and went into a room at the 
 farther end, where she could be heard rummaging in 
 various receptacles for what she sought. 
 
 Meantime the caller looked at the four framed 
 prints of public buildings in Whitechapel which were 
 hung (and were now aslant) on the walls, and at the 
 looped curtains put up at the commencement of the 
 stairs : he wondered if he had done right in coming 
 without giving notice of his intention, inasmuch as 
 Gilbert might resent this unannounced intrusion into 
 his home. 
 
 His cogitations on this matter were interrupted by 
 the reappearance of Miss 'Itt, who triumphantly waved 
 a key, 
 
 " Only select visitors are asked in the parlour," 
 declared Miss 'Itt as if by way of excusing the delay 
 
94, JUBILEE STREET 161 
 
 in opening the door of this apartment, and at the 
 same time bestowing a compKment on Aglionby. 
 
 " I'm sorry to give you so much trouble." 
 
 " No trouble. Oi see you was one of Gilbert's swell 
 freinds doireotly oi set eyes on you. Please to tyke 
 a seat. Mrs. Ware won't be long and Gilbert may be 
 back about seven." 
 
 She sat in the window in order to be near the Ught 
 and assiduously resumed her sewing, the while she 
 self-consciously and good-naturedly chattered of any 
 and everything which came into her mind. 
 
 While she talked, Aglionby was dismayed by the 
 ugliness of that holyof holies, the British working-man's 
 parlour, its appaUing formality making Miss 'Itt's in- 
 formation concerning the rarity with which the room 
 was used superfluous. 
 
 A round mahogany table occupied the middle of the 
 apartment, and on this were disposed at regular inter- 
 vals gaudy-covered books resting on a cloth worked 
 in wools of many colours. 
 
 A gilt-framed mirror decorated the mantelpiece ; 
 on either side of this were hung framed, old-fashioned 
 photographs and daguerreoty^jcs, one or two of these 
 latter being of fine-looking old fellows who wore stocks. 
 
 There were a cottage piano in a showy case, which 
 seemed to display a self-righteous pride by reason of 
 the infrequency with which its keys were touched ; 
 the inevitable wax fruit under a glass case upon a table 
 near the window ; hideously pretentious chairs draped 
 with crochet-worked antimacassars. 
 
 There were, however, one or two leavening signs of 
 grace. 
 
 A fine, old carved Chippendale chair stuck away 
 in a corner, attracted Aghonby, at the which Miss 'Itt 
 remarked : 
 11 
 
162 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Isn't it rubbish ? " 
 
 " It's a beautiful old chair." 
 
 " SiUy old-fashioned thing. Several toimes Mr. 
 Solomon up the street's called and has offered as much 
 as ten shillings for it, as he says he's tyken a fancy to 
 it. Oi teU Mrs. Ware she's a fool not to tike it and buy 
 something up to date in " 
 
 A fit of coughing interrupted her speech. 
 
 A well-filled bookshelf consisting of solid-looking 
 volumes in worn bindings caught his eye. 
 
 " Those are some of Gilbert's books," Miss 'Itt in- 
 formed him. " He's more in his room an' all as dull 
 as duU. Oi think he's balmy to go in for all this social- 
 ism and politics as he does. But 'ee's got to know some 
 toffs." 
 
 The window being closed, the stuffiness of the room 
 was becoming unbearable to one so used to fresh air as 
 Aglionby. 
 
 He would have asked Miss 'Itt if she had any objec- 
 tion to the window being open but, without pausing 
 for breath, she continued her information respecting 
 Gilbert. 
 
 " Litely none of us know what's come over him, he 
 is that funny. Hardly speaks to any of us, even to 
 me, and instead of all these droy books, he's tiking to 
 reading an' wroiting po'try. Oi think he's quoite ' up 
 the pole.' " 
 
 Aglionby could have furnished a possible explanation 
 of Gilbert's erratic behaviour. 
 
 Miss 'Itt went on : 
 
 " And the gimes he's up to. Wants his mother to 
 have tea in the parlour on Sundays and all that. And 
 it isn't a month since the newspipers that covered the 
 carpet was all tiken up for good. Oi don't know what 
 we're all coming to." 
 
94, JUBILEE STREET 163 
 
 " Would you mind if I opened the window a little ? " 
 asked Aglionby directly he had a chance of preferring 
 this request. 
 
 " What ! " cried the little woman, aghast. 
 
 " Don't you find it close ? " 
 
 " Oi never have the windows open. Oi should catch 
 me death of cold and " 
 
 Another violent fit of coughing interrupted her : it 
 was so prolonged that Aglionby was alarmed. 
 
 " Excuse my asking, but is anything wrong with your 
 lungs ? " he inquired when she had recovered. 
 
 " Oi'm told there is, but oi never thinks about it : 
 oi'm too busy," she light-heartedly assured him. 
 
 " Is there any consumption in your family ? " 
 
 " 'Eaps. Father and mother doled of it and three 
 brothers : two of me married sisters has it dreadful." 
 
 " That's very serious for you." 
 
 She neglected her work to look at him with in- 
 credulous eyes. 
 
 " I suppose you must work, but you could surely 
 make dresses in the country as weU as here," he 
 went on. 
 
 " In the country ? " she cried. 
 
 " It would give you much more of a chance than 
 sticking in London." 
 
 " Oi can't stand the country." 
 
 " What ! " 
 
 " Give me London. There's loife here. Oi love 
 London." 
 
 " Perhaps you go out a lot ? " 
 
 " Oh, oi s'y ! S'y that again." 
 
 " Don't you ? " 
 
 " Oi never go out. Oi'm always at work, Sundays 
 and aU, and often till ever so Ute. But oi do love 
 London." 
 
164 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Good heavens ! " 
 
 " London's a lovely plice. Oi should doie if I left 
 London." 
 
 It was some twenty minutes before a key was heard 
 in the latch of the front door. A few moments later, 
 a tall, grey-haired, rather fine-featured, elderly woman 
 entered the room, at which Aglionby got up. 
 
 " Mrs. Ware ! " he began. 
 
 " Hit it first toime," remarked Miss 'Itt, gathering 
 her belongings as a preliminary to returning to her 
 room. 
 
 " I hope you don't mind my coming," he went on. 
 " I know your son Gilbert, and wished to see him. 
 My name's Aglionby ; he may have spoken of me." 
 
 " He has often, sir," said Mrs. Ware, with the ghost 
 of an old-fashioned curtsy. " And so has Tim." 
 
 Her voice surprised the caller not only by reason of 
 its freedom from any approach to a cockney accent, 
 but because it was instinct with sadness ; it was the 
 voice of a woman who has long been burdened with 
 sorrow. 
 
 " Tim's my husband," she explained. 
 
 " I met him the day the deputation came to Der- 
 wentwater House." 
 
 At mention of this name, a look of pain came over 
 Mrs. Ware's face. She waited a moment before 
 saying : 
 
 " I don't know when Gilbert wiU be back. It might 
 be this evening. He never says what he's doing." 
 
 " If I may, I might come back later." 
 
 " You're welcome to wait, sir." 
 
 " You wite," put in Miss 'Itt, who, having listened 
 to what had been said, made as if she were going 
 upstairs. " You look as if you could do^with a cup 
 o' tea." 
 
94, JUBILEE STREET 165 
 
 " K I shouldn't be in the way " began Aglionby. 
 
 " Not at all. Tim is back at six. K you'll take a 
 seat, I'll bring you a cup of tea when the water boils." 
 
 " So long," said Miss 'Itt cheerily as she left the 
 room. " Be good if you can ; if you can't, be careful." 
 
 " Good-bye, if I don't see you again," replied 
 Aghonby, to add to Mrs. Ware : "I should like to 
 wait, but I don't want you to make any fuss." 
 
 " Puss, sir ? " 
 
 " Having tea brought me in here and all that. If 
 I stay, I should like to be where you all are." 
 
 Mrs. Ware appeared to consider a moment before 
 saying : 
 
 " That means being in the kitchen." 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 " WiU you step this way, sir ? " 
 
 Aghonby followed Mrs. Ware out of the parlour and 
 along the passage, where, after descending one step, 
 he came to the kitchen. 
 
 This was a meticulously clean apartment — even the 
 tins upon the mantelshelf, containing such things as 
 salt and sugar, shining with a resplendency which 
 argued unremitting attention. 
 
 Mrs. Ware immediately went to the table, that was 
 neatly set out with the tea things awaiting her hus- 
 band's return, and quickly removed a newspaper cover- 
 ing a fraction of the table, and another which was put 
 upon the American cloth seat of a chair. 
 
 Aghonby wondered what purpose these newspapers 
 served. He did not know that in orderly working-class 
 homes, where the husband returns tired with the day's 
 toil, and prefers to have his tea before he washes and 
 changes, newspapers are put upon tablecloth and chair 
 so that these should not be soiled by contact with his 
 person. 
 
166 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 Then, with old-fashioned courtesy, she dusted the 
 seat of a chair before offering it to the visitor. 
 
 Next, she glanced at the clock on the mantelshelf, 
 and said : 
 
 " Tim's back in twenty minutes." 
 
 " He comes back at six ? " 
 
 " To the tick. I'd think something was wrong if 
 Tim wasn't back on the stroke of six." 
 
 " Your lodger, Miss 'Itt, seems to have a bad cough." 
 
 " She don't mind. They're always happy enough." 
 
 Aghonby looked at her questioningly. 
 
 " She's in a decHne," she explained. " When they're 
 like that, troubles roll off their backs." 
 
 " I hope I'm not putting you out," said Aglionby. 
 
 " I'm sure you're welcome, sir. I'm now going to 
 boil the water for tea." 
 
 After again glancing at the clock, she went out into 
 the scullery, where Aglionby could hear her lighting 
 an oil stove, while from upstairs came the whirr of 
 Miss 'Itt's sewing machine, which was now and again 
 interrupted by a fit of coughing. 
 
 A few minutes later, the opening of the front door 
 was followed by footsteps in the passage and the ap- 
 pearance in the kitchen of a short, sturdy, old fellow 
 who carried two or three cases under his arm. 
 
 He was clean-shaven, and his ruddy face wore an 
 open look which at once predisposed Aglionby in his 
 favour. 
 
 " Mrs. S. all right ? " he asked in a cheery, rather 
 deep-throated voice as he entered. 
 
 Seeing that a stranger was the sole occupant of the 
 kitchen, he said : 
 
 " Beg pardon, sir : reaUy beg pardon. I thought 
 Mrs. Ware was here, and I'd ask after ' the wife ' 
 before going upstairs." 
 
94, JUBILEE STREET 167 
 
 " That's all right," Aglionby assured him. 
 
 " I hope I see you well, sir," said the old fellow as 
 he turned to go. 
 
 " Quite, thanks. And you ? " 
 
 " Mustn't grumble, sir, though I'm in my seventy- 
 one." 
 
 " I shouldn't have thought you so old as that." 
 
 " I am, sir. Bom on Derby Day, 1838." 
 
 At that moment, Mrs. Ware entered the kitchen, and 
 again glanced at the clock before saying : 
 
 " This is Mr. Shellabeer, my other lodger. He often 
 comes in before Tim." 
 
 " I dropped in before going up to ask if Mrs. S. 
 was aU right." 
 
 " She was when last I saw her. This gentleman is a 
 friend of Gilbert's." 
 
 " I took the liberty of introducing myself," declared 
 Shellabeer. " I'll go to ' the wife,' and bring her 
 down to the cup o' tea you were good enough to ask 
 us to." 
 
 Mrs. Ware glanced apprehensively at Aglionby, which 
 noticing, Shellabeer remarked : 
 
 " If we're in the way, you have only to say so." 
 
 " Don't put yourself off on account of me," pleaded 
 Aglionby, who was interested in the hearty old man, 
 and wondered what he did for a living, he being many 
 removes from the typical members of the poorer classes. 
 
 " Please yourself," said Mrs. Ware wearily. It was 
 as if such a matter were of no importance compared 
 with whatever was troubling her mind. 
 
 " I should like the gentleman to have a word with 
 ' the wife,' " said Shellabeer. " It might cheer her up." 
 
 " Delighted," declared Aglionby. 
 
 " Then you might come down a few minutes before 
 six," said Mrs. Ware, with a suggestion of significance 
 
168 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 in her voice. " The gentleman might care to see my 
 father's portrait in the parlour." 
 
 After the old man had assented to this suggestion, 
 he betook himself upstairs, and upon Mrs. Ware's 
 returning to the scullery to see if the water were 
 boiling, Aglionby was again alone when Miss 'Itt's 
 sewing machine and cough impinged upon his hearing. 
 
 Mrs. Ware was frequently in and out of the kitchen ; 
 each time she entered she glanced apprehensively at 
 the clock. When the big hand pointed to five 
 minutes to six, she stood anxiously in the kitchen 
 doorway waiting for SheUabeer to descend ; she ap- 
 peared relieved when, a minute or two later, he 
 was heard coming down. 
 
 As he entered, he exchanged a quick glance with 
 Mrs. Ware before asking Aglionby if he would accom- 
 pany him into the parlour ; when they reached this 
 apartinent, SheUabeer carefully closed the door, at 
 which Aglionby wondered at the reason of his being 
 so obviously manoeuvred out of the kitchen. 
 
 Being interested in the old man, Aglionby was 
 anxious to learn more about him. He began by 
 saying : 
 
 " So your name's SheUabeer ? " 
 
 " Spelt without an ' i,' sir," he hastily informed 
 the other. 
 
 " Eh ! " 
 
 " I've no wish to deceive you in any particular, sir." 
 
 Aglionby looked perplexed ; the other continued, as 
 if in explanation of his remark : 
 
 " I've no wish to deceive you by suggesting I'm any 
 relation of the great Mr. Shillabeer, who has an ' i ' 
 in his name." 
 
 " The great Mr. ShiUabeer ! " exclaimed AgUonby, 
 with the least possible inflection of surprise in his voice. 
 
94, JUBILEE STREET 169 
 
 " The gentleman who invented the famous funeral 
 coach, half 'earse, the other part carriage, and which 
 is called after him. I'm not the man to claim relation- 
 ship with a great name unless I've every justification. 
 I make this explanation to every one so they shan't 
 think I'm imposing." 
 
 " How is it you're liAdng in this part ? " 
 
 " Then you guessed I'm down in the world ? " 
 
 " I imagined so." 
 
 " You're right, sir. I was in the ware'ouse hne for 
 nearly fifty years. But you know what it is when the 
 old guvnor dies and the young ones come along who 
 want to save a bit of money for their expensive tastes 
 by turning us old ones into the street ! " 
 
 " Good heavens ! Is it like that ? " 
 
 " AH too often, sir. But, thank God, I've got my 
 Minnie and my 'ealth, and that I manage to keep the 
 wolf from the door." 
 
 " You have to work at your age ? " 
 
 " All day and every day and nine hours a day. 
 You might be interested in learning what I do ? " 
 
 " I should." 
 
 " I go round to gentlemen in the City offices sell- 
 ing pipes. It isn't every one as would like the 
 work." 
 
 " Good heavens ! " exclaimed Aglionby compassion- 
 ately. 
 
 " Do you know how it is I'm as successful as I am ? " 
 
 " I should very much like to know." 
 
 Mr. SheUabeer significantly touched his forehead with 
 his forefinger. As if this were not sufficiently illumina- 
 tive, he added, " Tact, sir ; tact." 
 
 AgUonby's mind was filled by a vision of sturdy old 
 SheUabeer trudging the City pavements in all weathers 
 in his endeavours to keep the wolf from the door, as 
 
170 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 he termed it, when he heard the front door opened 
 and a halting step in the passage. 
 
 " That's Mr. Ware," said Shellabeer. 
 
 " I think we came to have a look at the portrait of 
 Mrs. Ware's father." 
 
 " Now Mr. Ware is safely through, we can go back." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " Didn't you know why you was taken in here ? " 
 
 " I thought it was to see a portrait." 
 
 " It was to get you out of the way, sir, so that 
 Mr. Ware should not be seen coming in dirty from 
 his work." 
 
 " I shouldn't have minded." 
 
 " Mrs. Ware would. We can go back now, sir. 
 Mr. Ware is now cleaning himself in the scullery." 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 A WOMAN OF THE PEOPLE 
 
 When Aglionby got back to the kitchen, Mrs. Ware, 
 who was engaged at the tea-table, said : 
 
 " Tim's back ; he's busy ; he won't be long." 
 
 The nature of Tim's occupation was audible from 
 the scullery, where with the hot water supplied by 
 his wife he was blowing like a grampus over the zinc 
 pan in which he was washing. 
 
 If AgHonby had believed that Mrs. Ware's depression 
 was caused by anxiety concerning Tim's return from 
 work, he was mistaken, she being possessed by a re- 
 served melancholy which suggested she had much on 
 her mind ; for all this prepossession, her hands were 
 never idle, she doing everything that suggested itself 
 for her guests' and her husband's comfort. 
 
 It was not long before Shellabeer entered the kitchen 
 with his wife. 
 
 Mrs. Shellabeer was a tall, elderly, rather curious- 
 looking woman, by reason of the shapelessness of her 
 body, and her mop of no particular coloured hair. For 
 aU her fifty-eight years, her face was remarkably free 
 from wrinkles, but her sore eyes, in conjunction with 
 a peevish, dissatisfied expression, did not contribute 
 to her comeliness. 
 
 She had rather fine hands, of which she was not 
 
 171 
 
172 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 a little proud, she going out of her way to display 
 them. 
 
 " This is my Queen, sir," said Shellabeer by way of 
 introduction. " The best and most loyal wife in the 
 world, present company excepted." 
 
 Mrs. Shellabeer offered her hand, and in a thin, 
 faded voice told Aglionby she was "pleased to meet 
 him," the while her husband placed a half -consumed 
 pot of jam, which he had brought with him from 
 upstairs, upon the table. 
 
 " A "abit of our prosperous days, sir," remarked 
 Shellabeer, on noticing the direction of AgUonby's 
 glance. ' ' My Queen can't eat her tea without a relish." 
 
 It was soon evident to Aglionby that Mrs. Shellabeer 
 somewhat ostentatiously comported herself in the man- 
 ner of one conferring a favour on the Wares by taking 
 tea with them ; also that Mrs. Ware tacitly acknow- 
 ledged the other woman's social superiority. 
 
 " Speaking of marriage, sir," said Shellabeer, after 
 they were seated, " when one reads of the highty-tighty 
 goings-on of the wives of the aristocracy, it makes one 
 thank God one has a good, loyal, and British helpmate 
 as I have in my Minnie." 
 
 AgUonby assented, while the woman who was re- 
 sponsible for this uxorious appreciation bhnked her 
 eyes as she helped herself to another piece of sugar 
 with the tongs. 
 
 " My Minnie's been faithful to me thirty-eight year 
 come next Christmas," continued Shellabeer, at which 
 Aglionby expressed a civil if chastened surprise. 
 
 The mention of such abnormal virtue was possibly 
 responsible for the constraint that forthwith came over 
 the gathering. 
 
 AgUonby, who strove to dissipate the gloom, won- 
 dered if it were caused by his presence, or by what he 
 
A WOMAN OF THE PEOPLE 173 
 
 considered the unnecessarily superfine behaviour of 
 Mrs. Shellabeer. 
 
 Although this good lady was a woman of few words, 
 she was woodenly intent on showing that she had seen 
 better days. 
 
 She would not take any butter until she had asked 
 for a butter-knife. When an ordinary knife was handed 
 to her for this purpose, she affectedly helped herself to 
 butter. 
 
 Nor was this all. 
 
 Instead of spreading her jam in the ordinary way, 
 AgUonby noticed that she conveyed it to her mouth 
 with her teaspoon, and followed each spoonful with a 
 carefuUy cut " finger " of bread-and-butter — ^a method 
 of eating jam, or preserve, as she called it, which was 
 considered genteel in the far-away days of her youth. 
 
 He was relieved when Tim came in from the scullery 
 with his absent-minded, flat-footed shuifle, his kindly 
 face shining with recently apphed soap. 
 
 Aglionby immediately got up, at which Tim said, as 
 he offered his hand : 
 
 " Don't move, sir ; don't move." 
 
 " I hope I'm not putting you out by coming like 
 this." 
 
 " You're welcome. You, too, missus " (this to Mrs. 
 Shellabeer). " I'm glad you're able to have a cup with 
 the missus." 
 
 Aglionby explained his presence. When he had 
 done, Tim remarked : 
 
 " Shouldn't wonder if one day we saw her ladyship." 
 
 " Here ? " asked his wife sharply. 
 
 " Since this gentleman's come for a cup, why not 
 she ? " 
 
 AgHonby was not hungry after the steak he had 
 eaten at "Drapkin's." At the same time, he did 
 
174 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 not like to refuse the food that was pressed upon 
 him, as abstention might make his host and hostess 
 think that what was on their table was not good enough 
 for him. Tor the same reason, he partook of 
 Shellabeer's jam, although he could not persuade him- 
 self to dispose of it in the affected manner of the 
 latter's wife. 
 
 Aglionby was pleased to see that Tim's admiration 
 for the " missus " was no lip service, but had founda- 
 tion in fact, he being not only attentive to her needs 
 but frequently regarding her with an absent-minded 
 devotion which possessed an element of beauty in its 
 single-hearted fidelity. 
 
 It was also obvious that he was not at ease, he 
 appearing constrained and uncomfortable. AgUonby 
 wondered if his presence were the cause, when Tim, 
 after glancing appealingly two or three times at his 
 wife, said : 
 
 " Would the gentleman mind if I took off my coat ? " 
 
 " If you mean me, not in the least," repUed Aglionby. 
 
 " Thank you, sir. I know Mrs. S. don't. I never 
 feel at home till I get in my shirt-sleeves." 
 
 When Tim had removed his coat and carefully hung 
 it on a hook behind the door, he was a different man, 
 being as one who has had a weight lifted from his mind. 
 He enjoyed his tea and was incUned to conversation. 
 
 " 'Ow did you get on to-day ? " he asked of Shella- 
 beer. 
 
 " Very fair. Mustn't grumble," cheerily repHed the 
 retailer of pipes. 
 
 " What did you seU ? " 
 
 " Ten ' Push ' Pipes, nine ' Little Wonders,' seven 
 'City Knockabouts,' three 'Apple-shaped Bowls.' 
 What's the matter, my dear ? " 
 
 This question was addressed to his wife, who had 
 
A WOMAN OP THE PEOPLE 175 
 
 frowned upon her husband when he had related his 
 tale of the day's sales. 
 
 " Talking business, dear," replied Mrs. Shellabeer, 
 as she blinked her sore eyes. " It's bad form to talk 
 one's business in company." 
 
 " Sorry, Minnie," apologised Mr. SheUabeer, to add, 
 for the others' behoof, " Mrs. S. can't forget that she 
 hved ' private ' so many years." 
 
 This reminder of former prosperity damped the 
 spirits of the tea-table for a while, although Mrs. SheUa- 
 beer's social pretensions appealed to Aghonby's sense 
 of humour. 
 
 A pause in the conversation was broken by Mrs. 
 Ware, who exclaimed : 
 
 " If I haven't forgot ! " 
 
 " Fom' we forgot? " asked her husband incredulously . 
 
 "Miss 'Itt's tea," rephed Mrs. Ware. "She's so 
 busy she's no time to make her own, so I take her a 
 cup." 
 
 Having given this information, Mrs. Ware went 
 upstairs with the tea she had poured out. While 
 she was absent from the kitchen, Tim asked of 
 Aglionby : 
 
 " Enjoying your tea, sir ? " 
 
 " Very much, thank you." 
 
 " Wonderful cup o' tea, the missus'." 
 
 " True." 
 
 " I'd be safe in saying you'd never swallowed such 
 tea before." 
 
 " Quite." 
 
 " She's known for it," remarked Tim complacently, 
 as he gazed abstractedly at the door by which his wife 
 had left the kitchen. 
 
 Aglionby took the opportunity of saying to Shella- 
 beer : 
 
176 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " I happen to be out of pipes. If you'll forgive my 
 talking of such things now, I should like to see them 
 before I go." 
 
 " Thank you, sir — ^most happy," replied Shella- 
 beer, to add, after he had given a propitiatory glance 
 to his wife and a wink to Aglionby, " After tea, 
 sir." 
 
 " Are you a socialist ? " asked Aglionby of Shella- 
 beer when Mrs. Ware had returned. 
 
 " No, sir, I'm not a socialist, with all respect to 
 other opinions present. Me and my Queen are Church 
 and State, King and Country, Army and Navy, God 
 bless 'em all. And as we mean to die as we've lived, 
 it's no use arguing about it." 
 
 " Not much," smiled Aghonby. 
 
 " I presuiae that, being a friend of Gilbert's, you are 
 a sooiaUst," suggested SheUabeer. 
 
 " Anything but. I am a friend of one or two of 
 Gilbert's socialist friends," remarked Aglionby, who 
 noticed that Mrs. Ware was furtively watching him, 
 and with a growing interest. 
 
 A little later Shellabeer vainly offered to each in 
 turn some jam remaining in the bottom of the pot 
 he had brought from upstairs. Upon every one re- 
 fusing, he pressed it upon his wife. 
 
 " I've already had three helpings, dear," she said, 
 as she reluctantly put aside the proffered jam. 
 
 " May as weU finish it," urged her husband. 
 
 " But — ^but it's fourpence a pound." 
 
 " My Queen shall have it if it's ninepence a pound," 
 declared Shellabeer valiantly, as he scooped the jam 
 on to his wife's plate. 
 
 If Aghonby had been unmindful, which he was not, 
 of his request to see Shellabeer's pipes, the latter 
 would have reminded him of his suggestion. Indeed, 
 
A WOMAN OP THE PEOPLE 177 
 
 directly Tim and his wife set about clearing the table, 
 the cheery old fellow said : 
 
 " With Mrs. Ware's permission, I'll show you my 
 stock in the parlour," 
 
 This assent being immediately forthcoming, Shella- 
 beer went upstairs for his pipes while Aglionby waited 
 in the room into which he had been shown by Miss 
 'Itt on his arrival. 
 
 When the pipe-seller entered, he brought the cases 
 containing his wares, these being briar pipes of 
 varying shapes. 
 
 " ' The Push Pipe,' ' The Little Wonder,' ' The City 
 Knockabout,' ' The Apple-shaped Bowl,' " said Shella- 
 beer, as he displayed his stock. 
 
 " How much are they ? " asked Aglionby. 
 
 " A shilling each. Perhaps you'd Mke to take one 
 to try ? " 
 
 " I may be going away shortly and want a lot. I'll 
 have twenty if you can spare them." 
 
 " Did — did you say twenty, sir ? " asked Shellabeer 
 tremulously. He dared not believe he had heard 
 aright. 
 
 When Aglionby had assured him with regard to the 
 number he required, and had paid the delighted pipe- 
 retailer, the latter excitedly set about packing the 
 purchases, fetching paper and string for this purpose 
 from the room he occupied upstairs. 
 
 " That's all right," said Aglionby in reply to Sheila- 
 beer's fervent thanks. " I only wish I could do more 
 for you." 
 
 " Don't yoti trouble about me, sir. So long as I've 
 my 'ealth and my strength, I can always keep the 
 wolf from the door. It's my Minnie I worry 
 about." 
 
 " Your wife ? " 
 12 
 
178 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " That's it, sir. My Queen misses the society she 
 used to enjoy at ' Crediton,' Eagle Road, Einsbury 
 Park, where I was a ratepayer for close on forty year. 
 And her pride is such she won't look up the friends 
 she used to know now she's down in the world. A 
 wonderful woman for pride is my Queen." 
 
 " Can't you make friends in the neighbourhood ? " 
 
 " Sir ? " 
 
 Aglionby repeated his suggestion. 
 
 " There's no one of our class we could know, sir. 
 And then there's the question of £ s. d." 
 
 " Money ? " queried a slightly surprised Aglionby. 
 
 " The 'umblest entertaining 'ud cost money we could 
 not afford, sir." 
 
 " Good heavens ! " exclaimed Aglionby, as new and 
 hitherto undreamed-of narrowing accompaniments of 
 poverty were revealed to his ken. 
 
 " If it wasn't for the Wares and Miss 'Itt, Minnie 
 would never see a soul." 
 
 " But don't the Wares have their friends in ? " 
 
 " You don't know very much about the working- 
 classes, or you wouldn't ask that." 
 
 " I don't pretend to. I wish I did know something." 
 
 " If Tim Ware wants to meet his friends, he goes 
 to the ' public ' that is his 'ouse of call. And it's the 
 same with all other working-men." 
 
 " But what about their wives ? " 
 
 " If they haven't relations and aren't given to 
 gossiping at doorways or in ' publics,' it isn't many 
 visitors they get in a lifetime unless they're Church 
 and they've a good reverend who comes when they're 
 laid up." 
 
 Aglionby's face must have betrayed his feelings, for 
 Shellabeer said : 
 
 " There's nothing to trouble about in the working- 
 
A WOMAN OF THE PEOPLE 179 
 
 classes, so long as people don't give them ideas above 
 their station and make them think they're too big 
 for their boots, sir," declared Shellabeer emphatically. 
 
 " Indeed ! " remarked Aghonby, who did not fail to 
 perceive the tone of contempt with which these words 
 were spoken. 
 
 " That is so, sir. Why, if a working-class family 
 has a penny over on a Saturday night after settling up 
 for the week's expenses, it thinks itself in clover." 
 
 " Is it possible ? " 
 
 " But returning to what we were saying, it's very 
 dull for Mrs. Shellabeer. And since Gilbert's so much 
 changed, he never comes up for a chat as he used, when 
 the mention he made of all the great folks he had met 
 quite cheered up my Queen." 
 
 Aghonby looked at the other with surprised 
 eyes. 
 
 " Haven't you noticed the alteration, sir ? " 
 
 " Perhaps. But then you see so much more of him 
 than I do." 
 
 " No doubt, sir ; no doubt. But what with the times 
 when he won't speak to any one, and his goings on 
 against what he calls his ' cursed fate ' — forgive my 
 using strong language before a gentleman — ^he's a 
 different man." 
 
 " I am.sorry to hear this." 
 
 " And it doesn't end there. No one who didn't 
 know would believe the trouble it's given his poor 
 mother." 
 
 " I suppose not," remarked Aglionby, who was prac- 
 tically certain of the cause of Gilbert's aberrations. 
 " But is he always depressed ? " 
 
 " Just once in a while when he's come back from 
 the West End, he's as pleased as Punch ; then you'd 
 never believe he was the same, sir," declared Shellabeer 
 
180 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 as he cut the string with which the parcel of pipes 
 was tied. 
 
 Aglionby made no comment on this last bit of in- 
 formation; His mind was possessed by dismal appre- 
 hensions as to whatGilbert'sintermittent elation meant. 
 He feared it was begotten by an unexpected meeting 
 with, or, perhaps, an unlooked-for tenderness from. 
 Lady Aenemone. 
 
 " Of course, sir, it's no business of mine," Shellabeer 
 went on ; " but it's my opinion that Mrs. Ware has 
 asked for much of the trouble she has got." 
 
 " How can that be ? " asked Aglionby, who was now 
 eager for anything concerning Gilbert he could gather. 
 
 " By denying herself as she and Tim did, with the 
 idea of giving Gilbert a better chance in Hfe." 
 
 " I see no harm in that." 
 
 " You don't let me finish, sir. By educating Gilbert 
 above his station, he now looks down upon and despises 
 the parents who did so much for him." 
 
 "Is that possible?" 
 
 " It's a fact, and nothing else. And it's so common 
 in working-class life." 
 
 " You have surprised me," declared Aghonby after 
 a pause. 
 
 " You may not believe it, sir, but at the last 'ouse 
 at which I lodged, which was a fish-shop, the daughter 
 would only take her poor old mother out for walks on 
 condition she kept her mouth shut." 
 
 " Why ? " 
 
 " So her friends shouldn't hear the mistakes her 
 mother made. And then folks I come across wonder 
 why I'm a Tory of the old school — Church and State, 
 Throne and Country, Army and Navy, God bless 'em." 
 
 " There's no mistaking your politics." 
 
 " If I wasn't Tory,^the working-classes would make 
 
A WOMAN OF THE PEOPLE 181 
 
 me," declared Shellabeer as he unconsciously revealed 
 the vast social guK existing between the lower middle 
 and the working classes, and the indifference, to put 
 it mildly, with which the former looked down upon 
 those who toil with their hands. 
 
 Upon Aglionby making as if he would return to the 
 kitchen, SheUabeer put out his hand and said : 
 
 " Thank you, sir, for your generous order. Good- 
 night, if I don't see you again, and God bless you." 
 
 When Aglionby entered the kitchen, he found Mrs. 
 Ware doing needlework at the table. Tim, stiU in his 
 shirt-sleeves, was dreamily coming from the scullery 
 with the tea-things he had just washed up, which he 
 was about to display for his wife's critical inspection 
 before absent-mindedly hanging or placing them on 
 the dresser. 
 
 The sight of Aglionby recalled him sharply to reali- 
 ties, and, for a moment, it seemed that he was again 
 wishful of shaking hands. Thinking better of this re- 
 solve, he put down the tea-things and advanced with 
 a chair, while his wife half rose from her seat. 
 
 " Don't let me disturb you," protested Aglionby. 
 " It's time I was thinking of getting on." 
 
 " Won't you wait for Gilbert ? " asked Mrs. Ware. 
 
 " Is there any chance of his coming ? " 
 
 " If he's coming at all, he won't be long now." 
 
 Aglionby hesitated. 
 
 " Perhaps you're busy ? " suggested Mrs. Ware. 
 
 " Not in the least." 
 
 " Why not wait ? " 
 
 " I've put you out enough as it is." 
 
 " You're welcome if you'll stay." 
 
 Aglionby waited, not so much because he particu- 
 larly wanted to see Gilbert, as that he divined from 
 Mrs. Ware's manner that she wished him to prolong 
 
182 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 his stay. It was as if his presence helped her to bear 
 her load of sorrow ; it was almost as if that, for all 
 her native reserve, she were in the mood to confide 
 her griefs to sympathetic ears. 
 
 " No smoker ? " asked Tim. 
 
 " I smoke a lot." 
 
 " Why not now ? " 
 
 " I didn't know if I might," he replied as he glanced 
 at Mrs. Ware, who remarked : 
 
 " Smoke's healthy." 
 
 Aglionby lit his pipe and insisted upon an 
 unconvincingly reluctant Tim having a cigar, for 
 the quality of which the latter's admiration was 
 profuse. 
 
 After the men had smoked for some minutes, Mrs. 
 Ware said : 
 
 " What about shopping ? " 
 
 " Shall I go now ? " asked her husband. 
 
 " You've to go some time." 
 
 " All right, missus." 
 
 Thus it came about that after Tim had put on his 
 coat and a cricket-cap many sizes too small for him, 
 and having obtained a string bag from a drawer, he 
 stood beside his wife, who found it necessary to repeat 
 the purchases he was to make and the prices he was 
 to pay before he appeared to comprehend. 
 
 When she had given him the necessary money, Tim 
 carefully counted it twice, and placed the silver in one 
 pocket, the coppers in another, before staring with a 
 dreamy appreciation at his wife. 
 
 Then he turned to Aghonby to say : 
 
 " Wonderful woman, the missus ! " 
 
 " I'm sure of it," declared Aghonby. 
 
 " One of the best." 
 
 Aglionby nodded. 
 
A WOMAN OF THE PEOPLE 183 
 
 " It's for such as her that me an' Gilbert is working 
 for the millennium," said Tim, before carefully re- 
 adjusting his half -smoked cigar between his lips and 
 shuffling absent-mindedly from the room. 
 
 When the front door had closed upon him, AgUonby 
 essayed to talk to Mrs. Ware; but divining from 
 her curt replies that she was too occupied with her 
 thoughts to care for conversation just then, he became 
 silent. 
 
 As he waited in the scrupulously clean kitchen, he 
 wondered at the turn of events which had brought him 
 to such unfamihar surroundings, and at a time of year 
 when the people of his world were anywhere rather 
 than in town. 
 
 Then it occurred to him how much the speech of the 
 poorer classes differed from that commonly put into 
 their mouths in the pages of current fiction, where they 
 expressed themselves in flowing periods containing a 
 superfluity of many-syllabled words. 
 
 So far as his experience was concerned, it seemed 
 that the indifferently educated had not only a limited 
 vocabulary, but that they practised economy in its 
 use. 
 
 Presently, his eyes were attracted by the tireless 
 fingers of the woman at the table. She had a basket 
 of socks and garments beside her, from which she would 
 now and again select one ; after examining this to 
 discover what was amiss, she would fall to and either 
 dam or patch according to the nature of the damage 
 requiring repair. When an article was mended to her 
 satisfaction, it would join others on the table which 
 had been made whole. 
 
 Now and again, she would glance briefiy at Aglionby. 
 Her industry was by way of irking him, inasmuch as 
 it insisted upon his aimless days, and reproached him 
 
184 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 for the idleness it was now his privilege to essay to 
 enjoy. 
 
 As if to seek diversion for his thoughts, his attention 
 wandered to the bit of blue sky which, by turning his 
 head, he could see from the kitchen window. 
 
 His mind was suddenly occupied with those who, 
 released from the fret and labour of the day, were 
 now more or less healthfully disporting themselves 
 out-of-doors, or otherwise enjoying their well-earned 
 ease. 
 
 So far as the woman at the table was concerned, 
 and the thousands of others in a like situation, there 
 was no respite for her, her labour being endless. 
 
 As if to bear further witness to this obvious fact, 
 the ceaseless whirr of Miss 'Itt's sewing machine was 
 borne to his ears from upstairs. 
 
 Next, his eye wandered about the room, to be fas- 
 cinated by the excessive cleanliness and orderUness 
 obtaining in the little kitchen. Anything and every- 
 thing were eloquent of unremitting and painstaking 
 attention on the part of the woman whose fingers were 
 never idle. 
 
 He recalled what old Shellabeer had said in the 
 parlour concerning the secluded lives working-class 
 wives led, if they were anything other than gossips or 
 public-house sluts. Their horizon was Umited to the 
 four walls of the obscure home ; and however desirable 
 a consummation this might be in the eyes of domestic 
 idealists, it was conceivable that the deadening routine 
 of household tasks would sooner or later prove irksome 
 even to unimaginative Marthas. 
 
 Aglionby's thoughts were suddenly switched off at 
 a tangent to the womenfolk of his own world, many 
 of whom were butterflies who gave no thought to the 
 morrow, and did neither toil nor spin. 
 
A WOMAN OF THE PEOPLE 185 
 
 A vision of painted, expensively corseted, elabor- 
 ately frocked Mrs. Caple came into his mind, together 
 with many of her like, whom he was in the habit of 
 meeting when he infrequently consorted with the world 
 of fashion. 
 
 He recalled her frivolous existence, her continual 
 quest of a will-of-the-wisp happiness. 
 
 The contrast between the boundless opportunities 
 which she and her kind enjoyed, and those of the 
 two needlewomen who were under the same roof as 
 himself, was such that at the moment it was hard 
 to beUeve they were inhabitants of the same world. 
 
 He would have been more reconciled to this stu- 
 pendous difference if he could have convinced himself 
 that Mrs. Caple and her light-minded friends got 
 anything appreciable out of existence. 
 
 While his heart welled with sympathetic pity for 
 the toil-worn woman before him, he was conscious 
 of the ironic quality of life, inasmuch as the Many, 
 on the face of it, were denied the merest semblance 
 of happiness from continually having to scrape and 
 pinch and contrive in order to make two wilfully 
 reluctant and attenuated ends meet, while, on the 
 other hand, the Few knew an abiding dissatisfaction 
 owing to the fact of their being able to gratify any 
 and every whim. 
 
 His distress at Mrs. Ware's portion was such that 
 he sought for, and found, mitigations by reflecting 
 that she was blessed with a good husband and an 
 earnest-minded son. Were it otherwise, her lot 
 would be hard indeed. 
 
 Something alien in the atmosphere of the room 
 impinged upon his mind, and it was not very long 
 before he perceived that Mrs. Ware's needle was no 
 longer busy ; that she was staring before her with 
 
186 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 eyes that did not see : her work lay unheeded on 
 her lap. 
 
 As he regarded her, he heard Miss 'Itt coughing 
 upstairs. This momentarily distracted his attention ; 
 but when he looked again at Mrs. Ware, the woman's 
 eyes were wet. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE BTEENAL MOTHER 
 
 Aglionby was distressed, doubtless because the 
 suffering woman was not one who was prone to tears ; 
 the fact of her being thus moved was a testimony 
 to the depth of the emotion which stirred her heart. 
 
 Her grief seemed to transform the little kitchen 
 into a holy place, and one in which he had no business 
 to pry ; he would have stolen away if this had been 
 possible without attracting attention. 
 
 Presently, the woman's eyes sought his, but without 
 seeing him, at which he was the more able to appraise 
 her extremity, she being as one who suffered the more 
 from sorrowing in secret. 
 
 He was divided between sympathy and wondering 
 what was the best thing to be done under the cir- 
 cumstances, when, with a start of surprise, she realised 
 that she had a spectator of her travail. She bit her 
 lip and looked confusedly for her sewing, when 
 Aglionby said : 
 
 " I am sorry." 
 
 He had spoken almost before he was aware of it. 
 
 She looked at him with surprised eyes. 
 
 " Perhaps I should not have noticed, but I am 
 sorry." 
 
 Sympathy, and from her point of view, in such an 
 
 187 
 
188 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 unlikely quarter, interfered with her resolution to 
 subdue temporarily her griefs : in spite of herself, 
 tears fell out of her eyes, while her body was shaken 
 with sobs which she vainly endeavoured to check. 
 
 "Shall I go?" he asked. 
 
 She shook her head. It was not long before she 
 dried her eyes and said : 
 
 " 'Tisn't like me to give way." 
 
 "I'm sure of it. I suppose I cannot help you." 
 
 " Sir ! " she exclaimed in some surprise. 
 
 He repeated his words, at which she waited a little 
 before saying : 
 
 " You wouldn't understand." 
 
 " I'm not so sure. I'm not a stranger to trouble." 
 
 " Do the rich have troubles ? " she asked, with a 
 voice in which incredulity and sarcasm were mingled. 
 
 Aghonby smiled grimly and was silent for quite a 
 long time, while recollections of his past and present 
 sufferings on his Jane's account possessed him. 
 
 The atmosphere of dolorous retrospection with which 
 he surrounded himself must have penetrated her 
 mind, which, even in its present tense condition, was 
 not particularly susceptible to mental influences, for 
 she said, as if suddenly moved to confidence : 
 
 " It's Gilbert." 
 
 " Gilbert ! " he repeated. 
 
 She nodded. 
 
 " But he's a good son." 
 
 " And one a mother can be proud of. That makes 
 it worse." 
 
 " Indeed ! " he remarked noncommittally. 
 
 " Much." 
 
 " Do you object to his taking up all this so- 
 ciaHsm ? " 
 
 " That's to do with it. If he'd kep to us and his 
 
THE ETERNAL MOTHER 189 
 
 mates there'd be no great harm in it. It's led to 
 other things." 
 
 Aglionby looked at her questioningly. 
 
 " I mustn't say more. They're friends o' yours." 
 
 " I almost know what is in your mind. It's worried 
 me, too." 
 
 " Sir ! " 
 
 " A lot." 
 
 She stared at him with pained eyes : it seemed she 
 was again about to give way to tears, when she said : 
 
 " Then it's true ! " 
 
 He was wondering if it would not be as weU to make 
 a clean breast of his apprehensions, when she added : 
 
 " I've knowed it's so, though I've tried to tell 
 myself it isn't, and now you've made it worse." 
 
 " I am sorry. If I had known " 
 
 " Are you married ? " she interrupted. 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Then you don't know what 'tis to have one of 
 your own flesh and blood," she declared — to add as 
 an afterthought : " 'Twouldn't make much difference 
 if you was. Children aren't to fathers what they 
 are to mothers." 
 
 " I'm not so sure," replied Aglionby, who was 
 fairly familiar with families where the fathers were 
 devoted to their children, and more particularly by 
 reason of the way in which they were left to the 
 mercenary care of nurses and governesses by mothers 
 who preferred to spend their days in gadding about. 
 
 Mrs. Ware took no notice of his remark ; indeed, 
 such was the emotion possessing her, that she did 
 not appear to hear it, but went on : 
 
 " It's all these swell friends Gilbert's in with. 
 They've stolen my boy, and that's what's changed 
 him." 
 
190 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 The passion of her words surprised and troubled 
 her listener. 
 
 " And that's not all," she continued fiercely. 
 
 Aglionby apprehensively waited for what was 
 coming. 
 
 " One of 'em's stolen his heart — ^from me — ^his 
 mother — ^who's lived for him. That's what's changed 
 him." 
 
 The dismay apparent in his face confirmed her 
 worst fears, for she said : 
 
 " You know it's so." 
 
 For want of knowing the best thing to say, he made 
 a deprecatory gesture. 
 
 " They aren't us," she went on. " It's play for 
 them, but 'twill break his heart and mine, too, before 
 they've done." 
 
 She was silent, and her face twitched convulsively. 
 
 " I was hoping it wasn't so bad as that," remarked 
 Aglionby. " I've done my best to stop it, but it 
 hasn't been much use." 
 
 " Sometimes he's as if he's out of his mind. But 
 that isn't all." 
 
 " Perhaps you wouldn't mind telling me ; then I 
 shall know where I am, and be in a better position to 
 help." 
 
 " You can't help in this." 
 
 " I'm not so sure." 
 
 " How could you ? It's this. He's in trouble and 
 won't say a word to me, who'd give her life to help 
 him. And he don't seem to care how bad it makes 
 me. It's as if I weren't his mother at all." 
 
 Aglionby preserved a respectful silence. 
 
 " I don't beheve we're good enough for him now," 
 she said presently. 
 
 A little later : 
 
THE ETERNAL MOTHER 191 
 
 " I'm no more to him than anybody else." 
 
 After a while : 
 
 " He can have lots of friends and sweethearts, but 
 he's only one mother." 
 
 When a few moments had elapsed, she remarked 
 with a fine inconsequence : 
 
 " I've lost my thimble ! " 
 
 She sighed deeply and resumed her sewing, while 
 AgUonby was too occupied with the thoughts begotten 
 of Mrs. Ware's confidences to offer further comment 
 upon these just then ; indeed, they were of so intimate, 
 if not of so sacred, a nature, that a respectful silence 
 was their most fitting tribute. 
 
 He was now convinced of what he had long suspected, 
 that Gilbert was enthralled by Lady Aenemone's 
 winning and tender personality, with the result that 
 he was hopelessly in love with her. 
 
 Just now, Aglionby was naturally concerned with 
 how this development affected not only the girl, but 
 particularly her mother. 
 
 He had reason to beUeve, particularly since Lady 
 Aenemone had even refused to countenance Robin 
 Caple's wooing, that she, if not infatuated with the 
 socialist, was deeply interested in him : he fearfully 
 wondered how far her indeterminate (so far as he 
 was concerned) affection would urge her, and the 
 consequent effect such an aberration would have on 
 her mother. 
 
 Whatever happened, he bitterly regretted he was 
 no longer in a position to influence, however shghtly, 
 the course of events : he could only tell himseK that 
 within the compass of his opportunities he had done 
 his best to spare pain to the two women he, in his 
 several ways, loved. 
 
 " Time Tim was back," said Mrs. Ware. 
 
192 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 Aglionby was too concerned to notice her remark, 
 at which she repeated it. 
 
 " I was wondering the best thing to be done," said 
 Aglionby. 
 
 " With Gilbert ? " 
 
 " It's so difficult to know what to do for the best." 
 
 " One thing's certain," she declared. 
 
 " And that ? " 
 
 " Whoever she is, she won't hurt. It's Gilbert as'U 
 have to ' go through the hoop.' " 
 
 A further silence followed, during which Aglionby 
 felt the need of air in order to think over what he had 
 learned in all its many bearings ; he was wondering 
 how best to take his leave, when the turning of a key 
 in the latch was followed by a firm step in the passage. 
 
 " Gilbert ! " exclaimed Mrs. Ware. 
 
 The next moment, she quickly dabbed her eyes in 
 order to efface evidences of her grief. 
 
 When Gilbert entered the little kitchen, it was 
 obvious that he was profoundly dejected ; his fine 
 face was clouded ; his shoulders despondently drooped. 
 
 He took no notice of his mother's salutation, but 
 stood just inside the door, his eyes on the ground. 
 
 " Don't you see we've a visitor ? " asked Mrs. Ware. 
 
 Aglionby, who would not have been surprised if 
 he had received a cold reception, was gratified to see 
 that Gilbert was, if anything, more pleased than 
 otherwise at his coming : possibly he was glad to 
 come unexpectedly upon one who was intimate with 
 Lady Aenemone. 
 
 " Good evening ? " he said, as he offered his hand. 
 
 " I hope you don't mind my coming like this," 
 urged Aglionby. 
 
 " Why should I ? But why weren't you asked into 
 the parlour ? " asked Gilbert irritably. 
 
THE ETERNAL MOTHER 193 
 
 "I was." 
 " Eh ? " 
 
 " I preferred to wait for you here." 
 " Mother should haTe kept you in the parlour." 
 " I'm afraid it's my doing," Aghonby assured 
 him. 
 
 There was a pause, which was broken by Gilbert, 
 who said : 
 
 " I hope Lady Derwentwater and — I hope she is 
 weU." 
 
 " Quite, so far as I know." 
 
 Gilbert's face, which had brightened, fell somewhat 
 as he said : 
 
 " You have not heard from them lately." 
 " Not so very lately. At least, not from Lady 
 Derwentwater. ' ' 
 
 Gilbert was lost in gloomy thought, during which, 
 Aglionby noticed, he was furtively watched by his 
 mother. 
 
 AgUonby was about to offer some sort of explanation 
 of his coming, when Mrs. Ware asked : 
 " Have you 'ad your tea 1 " 
 
 " Are you speaking to me ? " asked Gilbert, none 
 too graciously. 
 
 " Have you 'ad your tea ? " 
 " I don't want anything." 
 
 " The gentleman's had his tea," Mrs. Ware nervously 
 informed him. 
 
 " Before he came ? " asked Gilbert quickly. 
 " Here." 
 
 " Li the parlour ? " he inquired anxiously. 
 " Li the kitchen." 
 
 " It was my wish," declared AgUonby. " I hate 
 to put any one out." 
 
 " You wouldn't have put us out," rephed Gilbert. 
 13 
 
194 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Mr. and Mrs. Shellabeer came in to tea," his 
 mother informed him. 
 
 " Eh ? Why ? " asked Gilbert, who was obviously 
 displeased at this information. 
 
 " They were asked yesterday. And Miss 'Itt 
 showed the gentleman into the parlour." 
 
 " Miss 'Itt ! " repeated a discomfited Gilbert, who, 
 for all his strenuous efforts at self-improvement, had 
 not succeeded in mastering the aspirate of the seam- 
 stress's name. " Wern't you in ? " 
 
 " I'd just been round to see Mrs. Beeman. 'Tisn't 
 often I go out." 
 
 " How is she ? " asked Gilbert nervously ; it was 
 as if he were striving to regain any self-possession he 
 had lost. 
 
 " Plenty of work." 
 
 " That's all right, but " 
 
 " It's how long she can last," interrupted Mrs. 
 Ware. " She saw her husband at the 'orspital on 
 Sunday." 
 
 " How is he ? " asked Gilbert impatiently. 
 
 " The same. What can you expect with ' baker's 
 consumption ' ? " 
 
 The ensuing silence was broken by Mrs. Ware 
 remarking : 
 
 " Tim's out." 
 
 " Is he ? " said Gilbert indifferently. 
 
 " Shopping. He won't be long now." 
 
 " Shall we go out ? " asked Gilbert quickly of 
 Aglionby. 
 
 " If you like." 
 
 " I'm not hurrying you away ? " 
 
 " I was about to go when you came in." 
 
 Thus it came about that, after thanking Mrs. Ware 
 for her hospitality, and saying good-bye (had Gilbert 
 
THE ETERNAL MOTHER 195 
 
 been particularly observant just then — ^wbich he was 
 not — ^he might have perceived that there was now a 
 common sympathy between the caller and his mother) 
 he preceded the socialist along the little passage leading 
 to the street; he listened in vain for any endear- 
 ments between mother and son. 
 
 " Which way are you going ? " asked Gilbert, after 
 he had joined AgUonby. 
 
 " Any way that takes me westward." 
 
 " This way," said Gilbert quickly. 
 
 " Here's your father coming the other." 
 
 " Eh ? " 
 
 " Your father's conaing the other. I should hke to 
 say ' Good night ' to him." 
 
 " Please yourself," said Gilbert curtly, at least so 
 it seemed to Aglionby. 
 
 The latter approached Tim, who, carrying his 
 purchases in the string bag, was dreamily shuffling 
 towards his home. 
 
 " I'm glad I saw you before you went," said Aglionby. 
 " Good night." 
 
 " Good night, sir. 'Ope you'll come and 'ave 
 another cup of tea with the missus." 
 
 " I should be deUghted." 
 
 " There's Gilbert ! " declared Tim. 
 
 " I'm walking some of the way with Mr. Aglionby." 
 
 " Have you seen the missus ? " 
 
 " I shan't be very long," said Gilbert, as he left his 
 father. 
 
 They walked for some moments in silence, Ag- 
 lionby carrying his parcel of pipes, and Gilbert 
 apparently hastening from the neighbourhood of his 
 home and the streets where Hebrew children played 
 in the gutter while their mothers squatted on Windsor 
 chairs stuck in the doorways of their homes. 
 
196 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Are you working now ? " asked AgHonby. 
 
 " I'm lecturing, but mostly in London." 
 
 " I'm afraid I surprised you when you found me 
 with your mother." 
 
 " You did. I expected that, like all the rich, London 
 wouldn't be good enough for you this time of the 
 year." 
 
 " It seems it is," rejoined Aglionby. 
 
 " And I thought you might have come from Lady 
 Derwentwater I " 
 
 " No," said AgUonby shortly. 
 
 " Or — or p-perhaps from Lady Aenemone ! " 
 
 " So far as I know, she and her mother are still 
 away. Have you heard from either of them lately ? " 
 
 " Not so very lately," replied Gilbert shortly. 
 
 The resentment in his voice, in serving to confirm 
 all Aglionby had already learned, irked the latter, 
 and insensibly increased the distrust existing between 
 the two men, which, in Gilbert's case, was caused by 
 marvelling what had brought the other to his home, 
 particularly in view of Aglionby's antipathy to 
 sociaUsm. 
 
 There was silence between them as they turned 
 into the Whitechapel Road, and as they walked they 
 each wished they could divine the other's thoughts. 
 
 The broad pavements on either side of the big 
 thoroughfare were now crowded with either those who 
 were returning from work in the City (youngish 
 females predominated) or those who were enjoying 
 the air, after the day's confinement in local shops 
 and factories. 
 
 Outside a coffee-shop were standing paper-capped, 
 white-aproned men, who were finishing a cigarette 
 after a late tea, before returning to the provision 
 works where they were employed. 
 
THE ETERNAL MOTHER 197 
 
 The sight of this human activity recalled Mrs. 
 Ware to Aghonby's mind, and as he had seen her 
 overwhelmed with grief in the isolation of her humble, 
 well-kept home. 
 
 The recollection of her tears moved him to make 
 some effort, however tentative, to urge her claims 
 for consideration upon the son who was responsible 
 for her sorrow. 
 
 " I was glad to meet your mother," he began. 
 
 " Oh ! " 
 
 " She seems a woman of character." 
 
 " We'll be passing the London Hospital directly." 
 
 Aglionby ignored this bit of information, and 
 went on : 
 
 " She seems devoted to you." 
 
 " Has she been talking about me ? " asked Gilbert 
 sharply. 
 
 " Eh ? " 
 
 " And of my affairs 1 " 
 
 " I gathered you were everything to her, more by 
 her manner than by anything she said," rephed 
 Aghonby evasively. 
 
 " Sure ? " 
 
 " Sure of what ? " 
 
 " That she didn't discuss me ? " 
 
 " Is it a hkely thing a reserved woman hke your 
 mother would do with a stranger ? " 
 
 " Mother doesn't understand me," declared Gilbert 
 emphatically. 
 
 " Too many of us think that." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Too many of us think our parents don't under- 
 stand us, when the trouble is we don't understand 
 them or attempt to appreciate what they have done 
 for us." 
 
198 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 Gilbert looked sharply at his companion, at which 
 Aglionby, who wondered if he had said too much, 
 looked impersonally before him. 
 
 " I must leave you here," declared Gilbert as he 
 stopped. 
 
 " It's good of you to have come so far," said 
 Aglionby, who was sorry to lose him so soon. 
 
 " And now you're going to that part of London 
 where the happy live ! " 
 
 " If it comes to that, I've come across some un- 
 expected happiness in Stepney." 
 
 " Where ? " 
 
 " Your father, Mr. and Mrs. Shellabeer, and Miss 
 'Itt, if that's the right way to pronounce her name." 
 
 " It's speUed h i double t — 'Itt. I suppose she's 
 happy enough. She's no brains. If she'd money, 
 she'd be a society butterfly." 
 
 " It's a good thing she is so happy working as she 
 does." 
 
 " And as for Shellabeer, he's bourgeois to the 
 finger-tips, and his wife's worse," declared Gilbert. 
 " They get their happiness from looking back to their 
 former miserable prosperity. Socialism will never do 
 anything with such people as that." 
 
 " Socialism would probably destroy their happi- 
 ness." 
 
 " They would have to suffer for the common good." 
 
 Although about to separate, they seemed loath 
 to part ; it was as if they each held an indefinable 
 attraction for the other, perhaps because of their 
 friendship with the women they respectively loved. 
 
 Their indecision was settled by Gilbert, who said : 
 
 " I'll walk a little farther." 
 
 " Do," assented Aglionby. 
 
 They walked in silence, and AgUonby's mind was 
 
THE ETERNAL MOTHER 199 
 
 again possessed by Mrs. Ware and her griefs con- 
 cerning her son. 
 
 He was more than minded to speak of the matter, 
 but after the discouraging issue of his previous attempt 
 he thought it wiser to say nothing just then ; at the 
 same time, he wished to cultivate Gilbert's good 
 opinion, so that he might possibly assist him to appre- 
 ciate his mother's love and devotion. 
 
 Gilbert's voice interrupted his thoughts. 
 
 " What do you think of our dear comrade's new 
 scheme ? " 
 
 " Whom do you mean ? " 
 
 " Lady Derwentwater. I presume she has men- 
 tioned it, even if she hasn't so much as consulted you 
 about it." 
 
 " What is it ? I'm quite in the dark." 
 
 " She is thinking of proving her faith in socialism 
 by founding a socialist colony." 
 
 " Is it possible ? " 
 
 " My other dear comrade, Lady Aenemone, is most 
 enthusiastic for the scheme." 
 
 " And it's actually taking shape ? " asked an 
 astonished and dismayed Aghonby. 
 
 " Ah ! You don't approve of doing anything to 
 help the helpless." 
 
 " Not in that way. But your mentioning helping 
 the helpless reminds me of something I'd forgotten. 
 What is that sad case your mother spoke of ? " 
 
 " Mrs. Beeman 1 " 
 
 " I think that was the name. Her husband is in 
 the hospital with some form of consumption." 
 
 " ' Baker's consumption.' It's a form to which those 
 who work in bakeries are pecuharly Hable, from the 
 particles of flour setthng in their lungs." 
 
 " Good heavens ! " 
 
200 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " His wife has six little ones and is soon expecting 
 her seventh. She feeds them and keeps a roof over 
 their heads by working at the washtub." 
 
 " Is it possible ? " 
 
 " It's a fact." 
 
 " I will make a point of writing to your mother 
 about her to-morrow." 
 
 When they reached Aldgate, Gilbert made as if 
 he would return, at which the two men stood talking 
 the edge of the pavement. 
 
 " Will you tell me one thing ? " asked Gilbert, 
 after a pause in the conversation. 
 
 " Certainly, if I can." 
 
 " Why did you come this afternoon ? " 
 
 AgUonby, with the remembrance of Mrs. Ware's 
 travail in his mind, assured Gilbert that he had called 
 with a view to securing his assistance with regard to 
 learning something of how the poor lived ; he did 
 not mention that interest in Lady Derwentwater's 
 doings had considerably inspired his visit, and thought 
 that the reason he had given was sufficient to enlist 
 Gilbert's sympathy ; this definitely obtained, he 
 hoped to awaken him to an appreciation of his 
 mother's worth. 
 
 Gilbert jumped at the chance of assisting AgUonby, 
 he having cogent reasons of his own for cultivating 
 the other's acquaintance. 
 
 They shook hands warmly at parting, and both 
 looked forward to an early meeting. 
 
 When Aglionby reached his club, which place at 
 this season of the year he had practically to himself, 
 he was chagrined to find no letter from Lady Aenemone 
 awaiting him. 
 
 After he had got over this disappointment, the 
 day's happenings persisted in filling his mind and 
 
THE ETERNAL MOTHER 201 
 
 prevented him from being overmuch occupied with 
 thoughts of his beloved. He had gone out fearing 
 to find unrelieved misery, and had come upon content 
 and sweetness in unexpected places. 
 
 He tried to put his impressions into words, but 
 gave up the attempt as hopeless till something he 
 had once read in a French book appeared to fit exactly 
 the case. 
 
 This was to the effect that the Good visits every 
 one and forgets nobody. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 gilbeet's confession 
 
 One way and another, Aglionby saw a good deal of 
 Gilbert during the ensuing weeks : the latter being 
 now engaged in lecturing of an evening, he had many 
 hours free during the day, of which his new friend 
 availed himself to the full. 
 
 Aglionby would leave his lodging of a morning 
 and take a motor-bus to Stepney ; should he go 
 down the Commercial Road, he sometimes caught a 
 glimpse of Miss Gibbs or Miss Durkin in swiftly passing 
 " Drapkin's." 
 
 The two men would meet at some previously 
 arranged spot, when they would take long walks 
 through the industrial districts which, in unending 
 vistas of ughness, stretched north and east and 
 south. 
 
 They were strange worlds which were revealed to 
 Aglionby. 
 
 When not living in the squahdly picturesque towns 
 of the Orient, he had passed his days either in the 
 neighbourhood of Piccadilly, or in country-houses 
 where the people he had met were well removed 
 from the unpleasant necessity of taking thought for 
 the morrow. 
 
 Now he obtained frequent gUmpses of unlovely 
 202 
 
GILBERT'S CONFESSION 203 
 
 places where the graces of life were conspicuously 
 wanting ; where sweating men, in slavish obedience 
 to King Stomach, were ever in the thrall of brutal 
 travail. 
 
 Here was no question of fiUing in one's time in 
 accordance with one's notions of pleasure, but a 
 debasing struggle for food in order to keep Ufe in 
 the body and to provide shelter at night. 
 
 The women and children were also affected by the 
 sordid influences about them ; the former were 
 toil-worn, ill-favouredj old before their time, while 
 the little ones were either badly nourished, stunted, 
 or wizened. 
 
 It was as if every influence that makes for the joy 
 and happiness of living had been ruthlessly ravaged 
 from their lives. 
 
 Aghonby thought the existence of the workers 
 would be more tolerable if they could spend their all- 
 too-brief leisure in pleasant surroundings. 
 
 It seemed that the hard lot of what Gilbert called 
 the " proletariat " was not confined to his employ- 
 ment, but extended to his hours of ease, he dwelling 
 in the mazes of mean streets which stretched on every 
 hand, where each little thoroughfare appeared more 
 sordid and depressing than the last, or in vast, barrack- 
 hke buildings, which recalled to Aghonby's mind the 
 " Insulse " wherein were herded the slaves of Imperial 
 Eome. 
 
 Now and again they would come upon an oasis 
 in the Umitless wilderness of bricks and mortar, this 
 being a gracious Georgian house, which had escaped 
 demolition, or a row of gabled,picturesque,seventeenth- 
 century cottages : they were reminders of the spacious 
 days which were ignorant of the blessings of modern 
 industrialism. 
 
204 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 And if the spirit of indigence brooded over 
 the districts where men were in fairly constant 
 work, what of the places where unskilled labour 
 was at perpetual issue with threatening starva- 
 tion ! 
 
 In these parts, it seemed to Aglionby as if there 
 were a dread stillness in the air, much as if the ele- 
 mental fears begotten of the desperate struggle for 
 existence had infected the atmosphere, making it 
 instinct with ill forebodings. 
 
 The aspect of the many streets they traversed 
 from the neighbourhood of the docks to dismal Ho- 
 merton, with its accumulation of gigantic dust-heaps 
 (these bred innumerable noisome flies) appeared typical 
 of life as it was lived in this land of fierce realities, 
 where halfpennies acquired an infamously swollen 
 value. 
 
 The most important building in most of the little 
 streets was the public-house at the corner, while 
 now and again a place of worship towered above the 
 surrounding squalor and seemed to convey messages 
 of hope to the joyless : but, as if to confound 
 these glad tidings, factory-chimneys dominated every- 
 thing with a tyrannical insistence on their omnipo- 
 tence. 
 
 Many of the stories of those they chanced 
 upon in their walks, and with which Gilbert was 
 acquainted, seemed apiece with the drear environ- 
 ment. 
 
 One night, they encountered an elderly man 
 who was walking wildly towards them ; his eyes 
 looked as if they had been dazed by, pitiless suffer- 
 ing. 
 
 " See that man ? " asked Gilbert, 
 
 " Who could help it ? " 
 
GILBERT'S CONFESSION 205 
 
 " His life is a tragedy." 
 
 " That's what he looks Uke." 
 
 It appeared from what Gilbert told Aglionby that 
 the man in question had been a Thames waterman 
 who in his day had won Doggett's coat and badge ; 
 he was also married, and was devoted, to his 
 only daughter, who was just growing into woman- 
 hood. 
 
 A run of exceptional bad luck had found him 
 short with his rent, and with a sick wife in the 
 house. 
 
 One day, when returning from a fruitless effort 
 to raise the seven pounds necessary to pay his land- 
 lord, he found the brokers in possession, and in 
 the act of taking the furniture from his wife's 
 bedroom. 
 
 He had promptly thrown the baiUff downstairs 
 and had received four months' hard labour for his 
 violence. 
 
 When he came out, he found that his sole means 
 of Mvehhood, his boat, had been sold for a song by 
 the baihffs, and that his dearly loved daughter had 
 got into " trouble " in his absence. He was now a 
 thoroughly broken man, half-demented by savage 
 resentment against his wrongs, while no one knew 
 how he lived. 
 
 " And a few paltry pounds could have saved him ! " 
 commented AgUonby. 
 
 " He even got four months'. He'd no luck at 
 aU." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " In those days, it meant that if you got four 
 months' hard, you had only bread-and-water diet all 
 the time. Prisoners used to beg for six, because 
 that meant better food." 
 
206 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 Another day, AgUonby wanting some matches, 
 he wentinto a small general shop, where he was served 
 by a sad-eyed, careworn woman. When he came 
 out, Gilbert said : 
 
 " That woman's a heroine if ever there was 
 one." 
 
 " The wolnan who served me ? " 
 
 " She's married to a brute who has twice all but 
 murdered her in one of his drunken frenzies. It was 
 only with the greatest difficulty that she could be 
 persuaded to charge him, and when he was sentenced 
 he swore to ' do for ' her when he came out. Since 
 he's been free, he's not gone home, but has been 
 seen hanging about the street." 
 
 " Can't she go away 1 " 
 
 " She can't leave her little business. She's a 
 family dependent upon her." 
 
 " Can't the 'pohce protect her 1 " 
 
 " They've too much to do as it is." 
 
 " Hasn't she any one to look after her ? " 
 
 " Only a sickly son of fifteen, who goes to work 
 if weU enough. He gave evidence against his 
 father, who has also ' got his knife into ' him. The 
 boy carries knuckle-dusters in order to protect him- 
 self." 
 
 These and similar stories depressed Aglionby pro- 
 foundly and enabled him to understand why Gilbert, 
 for whom he had a considerable respect, beheved that 
 socialism was the only remedy for the ills and wretched- 
 ness of an individualistic society. 
 
 There were notable exceptions to the prevaihng 
 poverty. 
 
 Gilbert would often point out some man or woman 
 who looked as if they had not a shilling to their names, 
 and he would assure Aglionby from his personal 
 
GILBERT'S CONFESSION 207 
 
 knowledge that the person indicated was a man or 
 woman of considerable means. 
 
 During these weeks, Aglionby heard nothing from 
 Lady Derwentwater, and but fairly regularly from 
 her daughter ; the latter wrote guarded, affectionate 
 little letters, to which her correspondent immediately 
 replied. 
 
 Although she said little or nothing of her mother's 
 plans, he did not expect the latter to make a pro- 
 longed stay in the country : he beheved that as she 
 was a whale among minnows in sociaUst circles she 
 would find the country, which she did not particularly 
 care for, stale and uninteresting ; he expected to find 
 in each letter he received from Lady Aenemone the 
 announcement that she and her mother were re- 
 turning to town. 
 
 Gilbert, in being a man of temperament, was often 
 either elated or depressed ; when the former, he would 
 frequently pilot the conversation to the subject of 
 his " dear comrades," as he called Lady Derwentwater 
 and her daughter. 
 
 He was curious regarding Robin Caple, and under 
 pretext of interest in the Navy he would ask Aglionby 
 much concerning the man who was eager to marry 
 Lady Aenemone. 
 
 Aglionby infrequently saw Mrs. Ware, and was no 
 nearer his desire to bring mother and son together ; 
 Gilbert discouraged visits to his house, and should 
 either of his parents be mentioned in conversa- 
 tion, he would change the subject as soon as 
 may be. 
 
 Otherwise, Gilbert would talk at length of any and 
 everything, particularly of the economic faith near 
 to his heart. 
 
 He often indulged in bitter outbursts against 
 
208 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 what he called his hard luck in being bom in humble 
 circumstances, when Aglionby would tell him that, 
 after all, he had not done so badly for himself in 
 being a political lecturer, and that besides possessing 
 the inestimable benefits of health, strength, and 
 ability, his life was before him. 
 
 On one of these occasions Gilbert said : 
 " But it's all so unfair. Look what money, birth, 
 and position do for a man." 
 
 " How many appreciate them, or do any good for 
 themselves, who have these advantages ? " retorted 
 Aglionby. 
 
 " What of those who do appreciate them ? See 
 what opportunities they give." 
 
 " But if a man's born to it, he takes it all as a 
 matter of course, and therefore gets nothing out 
 of it." 
 
 " I wasn't thinking of that so much as the distinction 
 and charm and ease of manner it gives. Those people 
 live in a different world to others, and one to which 
 they seem naturally entitled. And if there's one 
 thing more than another I envy, it's their extra- 
 ordinary self-possession." 
 
 " There are more important things in life than 
 that," said Aghonby, who was wondering just 
 then what his Jane was doing at that particular 
 moment. 
 
 " But think how all those things appeal to women 
 of your class." 
 
 " If they're accustomed to them, there's nothing 
 at all remarkable in them." 
 
 " But how miserably uncouth other kind of men 
 must appear to them in comparison." 
 
 " It doesn't follow. Women are strange cattle." 
 " Some are angels." 
 
GILBERT'S CONFESSION 209 
 
 " Eh ? " 
 
 " Some are angels." 
 
 " Apart from one's mother, do you seriously believe 
 that ? " asked Aglionby, as he looked at him 
 sharply. 
 
 " Should I say so if I didn't ? " 
 
 " I don't beHeve you would. But haven't you 
 had anything to do with women ? " 
 
 " Nothing," declared Gilbert emphatically. 
 
 " Nothing at aU ? " 
 
 " I know what you mean. I have always respected 
 them and myself too much." 
 
 " I wonder what you will say when you are my 
 age ! " 
 
 " I hope I shall always respect them as I do now," 
 said Gilbert, and there the conversation on that 
 matter ended. 
 
 Aglionby sometimes saw Ordway at his club ; 
 the journalist was full of the German danger, he 
 having sources of information denied the man in 
 the street. 
 
 He was doing his utmost to rouse a diffident and 
 fatuous public to its peril, and striving to convince 
 it, that, as so many fondly believed, Britain had not 
 a special Providence to itself. 
 
 Ordway infected Aglionby with his apprehensions ; 
 the latter at once thought it would be a fine thing to 
 enlist Gilbert's assistance in the necessary awakening, 
 inasmuch as the latter was in touch with bodies of 
 politically minded working men. 
 
 Much to his surprise, he laboured in vain ; for aU 
 the arguments that he adduced, Gilbert was convinced 
 that the days of war between civilised nations were 
 gone never to return, and that hostilities between 
 England and Germany were unthinkable ; he gave 
 14 
 
210 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 as a reason for this latter belief the pilgrimage that 
 certain Germans had recently made to this country 
 in the sacred cause of peace ; this had culminated in 
 the reception at the Belgrave Gallery which Aglionby 
 had attended. 
 
 The latter urged that all the democracies in the 
 world's history had sooner or later come to grief 
 owing to the neglect of national defence, and 
 asked why this country should prove an excep- 
 tion ; Gilbert scorned the examples furnished by 
 Aglionby, and asserted that the approaching 
 brotherhood of man would inaugurate the era of 
 universal peace. 
 
 For all AgHonby's assertion that Might and not 
 Right obtained in international relations, Gilbert 
 held firmly to the contrary belief ; in order to avoid 
 being inconvenienced by the German danger he, in 
 common with so many others, declared it did not 
 exist. 
 
 Now and again he surprised Aglionby by finding 
 fault with his dearly loved " proletariat." 
 
 On one occasion he said : 
 
 " They give no thought to the serious questions of 
 life." 
 
 " What do you mean 1 " asked Aglionby. 
 
 " Pohtics and social reform. AU most of them 
 seem to care about is horse-racing and football and 
 beer." 
 
 " They're entitled to have some excitement and 
 dissipation in hfe as well as any one else." 
 
 " And their womenfolk aren't much better. They'd 
 rather have a piano or a harmonium on the hire- 
 system than spend it on improving their minds." 
 
 " The working-classes are no exception in that 
 respect." 
 
GILBERT'S CONFESSION 211 
 
 " And to hear the men talk about sparring and 
 football matches ! One would think that brute 
 strength was the only thing that mattered." 
 
 " There again they are not alone. I have often 
 wondered why this should be so in these highly 
 civiUsed times. I suppose it's a rudiment of 
 the days when brute strength was a magnificent 
 asset." 
 
 " How do you mean ? " 
 
 " To protect a man and his possessions in times 
 and places where the arm of the law was weak. And 
 to go farther back, individual strength often meant, 
 if not security for those who were dependent on 
 him, at least a good deal towards it from ravaging 
 invaders." 
 
 " That was in the old days when things were differ- 
 ent from what they are now. And there's another 
 matter I find fault with, that is their infernal im- 
 providence." 
 
 " They don't seem to have overmuch to be provident 
 with," remarked Aglionby, who, for the life of him, 
 could not understand how a working-man supported 
 a home on a more or less uncertain thirty shillings 
 a week. 
 
 " How is it they manage to save abroad ? I was 
 astonished to find in France, when I've been there to 
 socialist congresses, that workmen have less wages and 
 yet live as well as we do, and manage to put by 
 money." 
 
 " The French are naturally thrifty. Food is cheaper 
 in France than in England, whatever the Free Traders 
 may say, and last, but by no means least, a large 
 family in France is the exception." 
 
 " I beheve our large famihes are responsible for 
 much of the working-man's poverty," said Gilbert. 
 
212 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " With us, a working man marries directly he is 
 earning a wage, and before he is thirty he has often 
 seven or eight mouths to feed besides himself and 
 his wife." 
 
 " I don't see, from my individuaHstic point of view, 
 how you can blame him. If anything goes wrong, 
 particularly if he's no pride, there are countless 
 foolish philanthropic institutions to give him a hand ; 
 his children are educated and often partly fed at 
 the pubUc expense till they are turned out in the 
 world to shift for themselves. If all this is being 
 done for him, he is urged, as it were, to shirk 
 responsibiUty." 
 
 " Talking of having everything done for a 
 class makes me think you're speaking of the 
 rich." 
 
 " Many of the rich give voluntary service to the 
 State or serve in the Navy or Army for pay a successful 
 commercial traveller would despise. The working 
 man, unless he is a Territorial, or his sons are in one 
 of the services, does nothing." 
 
 " Speaking as a sociaUst, I don't blame him. If, 
 as I believe you're hinting at, you think he should 
 give military service to the State, that would be 
 playing the game of the capitalist." 
 
 " Better to do that and retain the liberty his fore- 
 fathers won than be compelled to surrender it to 
 reactionary conquerors." 
 
 " You're infected with mihtarism," protested Gilbert. 
 
 " Anything but. But it's a mystery to me that 
 all you socialists and liberals, whose principles 
 have everything to fear from a successful invader, 
 are the first to cry ' Peace ' when peace is 
 in danger. I suppose it's one of the ironies of 
 history." 
 
GILBERT'S CONFESSION 213 
 
 " To return to what we were talking about : with 
 all this increase in unemployment and labour-saving 
 machinery, I frankly beUeve the working-man is a 
 fool to have a big family, as it means nothing more 
 than contributing to a hopelessly overcrowded labour 
 market." 
 
 " If I may say so, that is one of the most sensible 
 things I have ever heard you say. If what you 
 call the ' proletariat ' were rigidly to limit his 
 family, he would soon exact better terms from the 
 capitalist." 
 
 A time came when the persistent ugliness and 
 stuffiness of industrial London jarred Aglionby's 
 nerves ; he was angry with himself that this should 
 be, but the very corpuscles in his blood, which were 
 instinct with love of the country, were clamouring 
 for sweet air and the peace and contentment 
 which nature alone can provide for those of his 
 constitution. 
 
 Perhaps this was more particularly the case as the 
 September nights were jealously encroaching on the 
 day ; the blue skies of the latter were acquiring 
 the mellowness peculiar to October, while the leaves 
 on the all-too-infrequent trees he chanced upon were 
 already turning colour ; he was urged by every fibre 
 in his being to enjoy what he might of the fine days 
 that remained before the year was spent. 
 
 For all his passion for change of surroundings, he 
 could not help noticing the alteration that had come 
 over Gilbert, for whom he now had a genuine liking, 
 although he wished that the socialist had been dowered 
 with humour ; the latter was reserved, moody, 
 depressed : AgUonby made several efforts to discover 
 what was amiss, but without success, receiving evasive 
 rephes to his questions. 
 
214 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 One evening the two men emerged from a down- 
 at-heel lecture-room at Wapping, where Gilbert had 
 done himself scant justice on the platform. 
 
 Overhead, the bejewelled spaciousness of the heavens 
 seemed to mock the surrounding squalor, which 
 was enhanced by reason of the many unUghted 
 windows they passed. Wapping, in accordance with 
 custom, having gone early to bed in order to get a 
 good night's rest before being awakened in the small 
 hours by the poMceman's knock : this summons, 
 for which the more prosperous paid twopence a 
 week, announced it was time to rise for another 
 day's toil. 
 
 As Gilbert was disposed to moody silence, the 
 deserted streets and lifeless houses set AgHonby, 
 perhaps, obviously thinking of the immense gulf 
 separating the existence of the rich from that of the 
 poor, which prevented the two classes from remotely 
 comprehending each other. 
 
 While the rich were waited on hand and foot, and 
 their possessions and purple and fine linen were 
 provided for them as if by a law of nature, the workers, 
 besides having to toil for a wage that made money 
 acquire a fierce value, had to do everything for them- 
 selves. 
 
 To-night, something of the elemental grandeur in 
 the lives of the latter inclined his sympathies pas- 
 sionately in their direction. 
 
 It seemed to him that there was a majestic simpHcity 
 in the way in which they constantly risked their 
 lives in dangerous occupations and in taking the 
 perils with which they were beset as all in the day's 
 work. 
 
 Such was the drift of his thoughts, that it seemed 
 to him that those who tamed mighty engines, or 
 
GILBERT'S CONFESSION 215 
 
 sailed ships, or delved in mines were indeed the salt 
 of the earth, inasmuch as they laboured at heroic 
 tasks with which the blackcoated, soft-handed man 
 would be appalled. 
 
 He was marvelling how it was that the primitive 
 qualities of courage and muscular strength should 
 rank poorly beside what were commonly supposed 
 to be more respectable if less hazardous callings, when 
 Gilbert's voice sharply (by reason of its strange 
 quahty) interrupted his thoughts. 
 
 " I want to tell you something," he said. 
 
 " Eh ? " 
 
 " I shall go mad if I don't teU some one. Perhaps 
 I'm fooUsh to teU you, but it doesn't much matter, 
 as you're sure to hear sooner or later ; possibly 
 sooner." 
 
 " What is it ? " asked AgUonby, who, from the 
 other's tensely agitated manner, half-divined what 
 was coming. 
 
 " Lady Aenemone ! " 
 
 " What of her ? " 
 
 " I love her. Now laugh at me." 
 
 " Why should 1 ? " asked Aglionby, as he promptly 
 concentrated his thoughts on the very serious matter 
 which had unexpectedly presented itself. 
 
 " I know its folly, presumption, madness, anything 
 you will. But there's no getting away from it, and 
 aU the talking in the world won't alter it. Rightly 
 or wrongly, I love her," declared Gilbert — to add, as 
 an afterthought, " I thought you would either jeer 
 at me or curse me." 
 
 " If you thought that, you hopelessly misjudge 
 me." 
 
 " I expected you would look at it from the point 
 of my being a workman. And it isn't as if I didn't 
 
216 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 fight against it. No one will ever know what I've 
 been through." 
 
 " I can well believe that. The best thing you can 
 do is to get away. And you must let me help you in 
 that." 
 
 " Get away ? " cried Gilbert. 
 
 " Change will help you a lot." 
 
 " You don't know the worst. Lady Aenemone 
 loves me." 
 
 " There is no doubt of this ? " asked AgUonby 
 gravely. 
 
 " No doubt whatsoever," replied Gilbert, in a voice 
 that seemed to come from a long way off. 
 
 The ensuing silence, during which AgUonby's chief 
 concern was for the woman he loved, was broken by 
 Gilbert, who said : 
 
 " I'm glad I've told you. You've been a good 
 friend to me, and if I may say so without offence, I 
 have a great respect for you, although our opinions 
 are as the poles apart. And it's been on my conscience 
 accepting your friendship, and having my heart fuU 
 of a love for which, if you knew, you would hate 
 me. 
 
 " If it comes to that, I've long suspected it." 
 
 " What do you say now you know it's a fact ? " 
 
 " I am wondering what is going to happen." 
 
 " I will teU you," declared Gilbert triumph- 
 antly. 
 
 " But " 
 
 " Please listen. When Lady Derwentwater re- 
 turns to London, I am going to ask her for her 
 daughter." 
 
 " What's that ? " 
 
 " You heard what I said ? " 
 
 " Do you know what it means ? " 
 
GILBERT'S COKFESSION 217 
 
 " Throw in mv face Fm a mechanic, a workman, 
 that I'm " 
 
 " I did not mean that. I would rather cat off my 
 hand than say snch a thing. What I should ha^e 
 said was : How do yon think she will take your 
 request ? " 
 
 " There is not the least doubt as to that.'' 
 
 " Fm afraid not," said Aglionbr grimlr. 
 
 " My dear comrade will give me her daughter if 
 only to prove her &ith in socialism." 
 
 A^onby wond^ed it Gilbert really believed what 
 he was saying. 
 
 " I have not the l^ist doubt of it. If I had, it 
 would be questioning her sincerity," continued the 
 socialist. 
 
 " And — and are you so certain of that ! " asked 
 A^onby, saying the first thing whicb came into 
 his head. 
 
 " How can I be otherwise I See what she has 
 braved to identify herself with socialism ! " 
 
 Aghonby glanced interrogatively at Gilbert. 
 
 " She has riskoi the good opinion of sociely, and the 
 loss of her friends, in order to raise the downtrodden 
 and succour the helpless." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " Instead of devoting herself to the ordinary dis- 
 tractions and dissipations of the rich, she has given 
 her time and her labour to us.'' 
 
 Aglionhy groaned in travail of spirit. 
 
 " The more I think of it, the more I am convinced 
 that I can win her consent ; as I said before, she will 
 be glad of the opporttmily of proving her faith in 
 socialism.*' 
 
 "Assuming, for the moment, that this will be as 
 you hope : what of Lady Aenemone ? " 
 
218 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " There's one thing I haven't told you which I 
 should have done. Lady Aenemone is born to a high 
 position, and has money of her own. When she 
 becomes my wife, she wiU renounce both." 
 
 " What are you going to live on ? " asked Aglionby 
 shortly. 
 
 " My earnings. It is her wish as well as mine." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " Don't go into things to-night. I don't feel 
 like it. I but wanted to tell you what was on my 
 mind." 
 
 Aglionby, so far as he was capable of coherent 
 thought, wondered what was the best thing to 
 be done under the circumstances ; he could not 
 disguise from himself that, in his heart of hearts, 
 he was secretly glad that he would acquire im- 
 portance in his beloved's eyes from the fact of his 
 assistance being necessary to avert the impending 
 danger. 
 
 " Is this a confidence ? " he asked. 
 
 " Yes. But not for long. Directly our dear com- 
 rade returns, I shall tell her everything." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " Please, no ' buts ' to-night. I'm in the mood 
 to be happy. I suppose it's because I've told 
 you, and you haven't rounded on me, as, from 
 your point of view, you've every justification for 
 doing." 
 
 Aglionby was marvelling if any arguments he 
 might adduce would convince Gilbert of the mad 
 folly of what he contemplated, when the latter inter- 
 rupted his thoughts. 
 
 " As I told you, I never had anything to do with 
 women. I had nothing in common with the girls of 
 my class. But I dreamed dreams, and when I saw 
 
GILBERT'S CONFESSION 219 
 
 her on the boat, it seemed as if she were one of these 
 in flesh and blood ; when I came to know her, it was 
 as if she were one of these in tender sympathy for the 
 down-trodden." 
 
 " This is a practical world," began Aghonby. 
 
 " Not to-night. Anything you please to-morrow, 
 but please not to-night. Let me be happy, if it's only 
 for now." 
 
 Aglionby held his peace with an effort, and, for 
 all the welter of his agitated thoughts, he was aware 
 of one tangible conviction ; it was of a piece with a 
 remark let fall by Mrs. Ware on the occasion of his 
 first visit to her home, when she had spoken of her 
 son's infatuation ; this was to the effect that whatever 
 happened it was certain that Gilbert would be the 
 one to be hardly used. 
 
 Gilbert's voice again impinged on his reflections. 
 
 " I often think I'm mad. It seems as hopeless as 
 trying to clutch one of the stars." 
 
 Aghonby thought it wiser not to assent to this 
 obvious truism just then. 
 
 " At other times, I ask myself why I shouldn't 
 snatch for myself what happiness I can in this 
 greedy world, where it seems every one is for 
 himself. God knows I haven't overmuch to be 
 thankful for." 
 
 As Aglionby still preserved silence, the other 
 said : 
 
 " I know what is in your thoughts. But sometimes 
 it seems to me as if it weren't a question of high-torn 
 lady and mechanic at all, but just a matter of man 
 and woman, and while you are blaming me, nature is 
 jeering at our infamous class distinctions." 
 
 Although Aglionby did not admit as much, he 
 was convinced that this was the most significant 
 
220 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 and at the same time the most menacing aspect of 
 the matter. 
 
 Suddenly, Gilbert stopped and said : 
 
 " I'm going now." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " I'm more to be pitied than anything else. I don't 
 know whether I'm in heaven or hell." 
 
 Although it was now late, AgUonby did not go to 
 his Jermyn-Street lodging as he had originally in- 
 tended ; knowing the futility of expecting sleep for 
 many hours, he went to his club. 
 
 Here he was astonished and delighted to find a 
 letter addressed to him in Lady Derwentwater's 
 well-remembered writing, at the which he tore open 
 the envelope and read as follows : 
 
 DiTTLBSHAM COTJBT, 
 
 AEBOWMOtrTH, 8. DBVOlf. 
 
 September 24. 
 
 " My deae Dick, 
 
 " Would you have believed that red suits me ? 
 I have always denied it until I thought I would make 
 the experiment. It was a great success and was 
 much admired by every one. 
 
 " Have you by any chance studied ' Nirvana ' ? 
 It seems simply wonderful, indeed too wonderful to 
 explain, but a man who was staying here has deeply 
 interested me in what he calls the divine essence of 
 things. He told me that whenever he is in trouble 
 he thinks of ' Nirvana ' and gets the most surprising 
 relief, and, poor man, he ought to know what he 
 is talking about, as they say that nearly all of his 
 inside is artificial. 
 
 " Otherwise, there is very Uttle news and not 
 much to interest me. That is why I hope to 
 
GILBERT'S CONFESSION 221 
 
 return to town sooner than I had originally ex- 
 pected, when I hope you will not be too busy to 
 come and see your old (I am thirty-four next 
 month) friend. 
 
 " What did you think of my portrait and interview 
 in To-morrow ? 
 
 " Are you shooting 1 The men here do little else, 
 except my nephew Billy, who sings the most appalling 
 comic songs. 
 
 " I would ask you down if I thought this would 
 find you before I return. 
 
 " Do you remember Gilbert Ware ? He was a 
 socialist mechanic I took up because I thought he had 
 brains. 
 
 " I am glad to say he is not ungrateful, but the 
 strange thing is he has lately turned poet. 
 
 " I found some verses among my papers that were 
 quite impassioned. If I were vain, I should think the 
 poor fellow had fallen in love with me. 
 
 " I have still hope of Aenemone and Robin, who 
 never misses an opportunity of seeing her when he is 
 home on leave from his submarine. 
 
 " I am delighted to hear that the marriage between 
 Bamborough and Kitty Ashford's daughter is post- 
 poned for a year, so there is no immediate hurry 
 for a month or two. I shall take Aenemone to the 
 first Court, and after, I shall take her out a lot, as 
 that sort of thing may make her think more of Robin. 
 It is tiresome when girls don't love as they should. 
 But I am more than hopeful with regard to Aenemone 
 and Robin, as ever since we have been here, she has 
 been anxious to learn domestic duties. She spends 
 hours with the housekeeper, asking all sorts of singular 
 questions, and Billy says she takes the cookery book 
 to bed with her. 
 
222 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " At the same time, it weren't as if Robin were a 
 'poor man : he has at least twelve thousand a year 
 from his mother, and they say his aunt Susan will 
 leave him every penny, and that her asthma must 
 kill her this winter. 
 
 " I am seriously wondering if ' Nirvana ' would 
 help matters with Aenemone. 
 
 " I have already mentioned it to her, but she 
 is more enthusiastic about socialism than ever, 
 and is constantly imploring me not to give it 
 up. 
 
 " She is really quite pathetic about my continuing 
 my support to socialism. 
 
 " Could you find out anything about ' Nirvana ' ? 
 I believe there is a sect somewhere in a place called 
 Bayswater, wherever that is. 
 
 " I beheve all you have to do is to pay five shillings 
 and sign a book. 
 
 " The admiral gets worse and worse. The last time 
 we were there to dinner he said he would have a 
 ' nightcap ' about nine and go to bed, as he had a 
 headache. 
 
 " After saying ' Good night ' all round, he came 
 down again, and after a few minutes said he would 
 go to bed after he had had his nightcap. 
 
 " Again saying ' Good night ' all round, he went 
 upstairs, to come down once more, when the same 
 thing happened. 
 
 "Linda is behaving very fooUshly with a boy from 
 Sandhurst. I am sorry to say she is a woman of no 
 mental stability and is driven before every wind 
 that blows. 
 
 " I wonder if you will read all this, but ' Nirvana ' 
 seems beautiful to me, and just the soothing thing 
 that has been wanting in my life. 
 
GILBERT'S CONFESSION 223 
 
 " I shall expect to hear you have discovered wonders 
 about it by the time I see you. 
 
 " Ever your very sincere friend, 
 
 " Jane Dbewentwatbe. 
 
 " P.S. — ^If I should forget to let you know when I 
 return, you are sure to see it for yourself in the Morning 
 Post. 
 
 " You can pay five shillings for me and write my 
 name in the book. 
 
 " J. D." 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE STOBM BREAKS 
 
 Although, in ordinary circumstances, Aglionby 
 would have been in the seventh heaven of delight 
 at the prospect of a reconciliation with his adored 
 Jane, he spent many dismal hours in making 
 wretched surmises as to what would be the upshot 
 of Lady Aenemone's and Gilbert's mutual infatua- 
 tion. 
 
 Such was his concern, that his innate craving for 
 the peace of the country was as if it had never 
 been. 
 
 His agitated mind evolved a thousand-and-one 
 schemes for making straight the paths that love had 
 crooked, but sober reflection condemned each one as 
 impractical and as likely to defeat the ends for which 
 it was devised. 
 
 Beyond writing a line to the countess at Dittlesham 
 Court to say that he was delighted to learn his 
 old friend had not forgotten him, and that a 
 letter at his lodging or his club would immedi- 
 ately find him should she be in need of him, he 
 did nothing. 
 
 He had ever before his eyes Lady Bridport's unhappy 
 experience with her son, who had secretly married 
 
 224 
 
THE STORM BREAKS 225 
 
 the young woman whom his mother had indirectly 
 persecuted. 
 
 He dreaded a like result where Lady Aenemone 
 was concerned, and fear in this respect went 
 a considerable way towards paralysing his resolu- 
 tion. 
 
 For all that he saw Gilbert on two or three occa- 
 sions after the latter's admissions, AgUonby did not 
 urge upon him the fatuity of the request the former 
 purposed making to Lady Derwentwater : he had set 
 out fuUy intending to talk over the matter in all 
 its bearings, but when he had perceived Gilbert's 
 distraught manner he realised the uselessness of 
 combating the fine frenzy of passion with cold-blooded 
 man-of-the-world reason. 
 
 At the same time, he was genuinely sorry for Gilbert 
 by reason of his liking for him, and of the bitter 
 awakening which awaited him. 
 
 It was some ten days after the arrival of the countess's 
 letter that Aglionby's heart was set a-beat by reading 
 in the Morning Post of the arrival of Lady Derwent- 
 water and her daughter, Lady Aenemone Scarcliffe, 
 at Derwentwater House for a few weeks ; although 
 he was more than eager to see his beloved again, he 
 resolved, so far as it was possible, not to visit her 
 until he was sent for. 
 
 This hardly kept determination, however, did not 
 prevent bim from haunting the exterior of Derwent- 
 water House on two evenings in succession, when his 
 eyes were glued to the brightly lit windows of her 
 home ; these were the more conspicuous because 
 those in the other houses in the Square were dark 
 and lifeless. 
 
 On the occasion of his second visit, the blind windows 
 recalled Wapping, and as he had seen it some evenings 
 15 
 
226 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 back when walking with Gilbert from the lecture- 
 room where the latter had done himself scant justice 
 on the platform. 
 
 His mind dwelt on the vastly dissimilar reasons 
 for which the houses in the respective places 
 were black and still, before he was moved by a 
 desire to throw discretion to the winds and seek 
 his beloved. 
 
 He was indifferently cont^ding with this impulse 
 when a haggard Gilbert passed him with unseeing 
 eyes, so far as he was concerned, these being fixed 
 on Derwentwater House. 
 
 He was minded to speak to him, but refrained ; 
 he beheved that Gilbert's present condition of mind 
 was such that it would serve no good purpose inter- 
 fering with him then. 
 
 He grimly reflected on the identity of the 
 emotions possessing them, which were severally 
 responsible for their appearance in the Square, 
 before returning to his club, where he spent a 
 lonely evening. 
 
 Four days later, he received a telegram which told 
 him that the gathering storm had broken. 
 
 He was dressing for a luncheon, to which he had 
 unwillingly accepted an invitation, when it arrived, 
 and directly he caught sight of the buff envelope 
 he divined what was toward. 
 
 He was implored to come to Derwentwater House, 
 where his presence was urgently desired, with as 
 little delay as possible ; it also informed him that 
 a similar telegram had been sent to his club. 
 
 Aglionby at once replied that he was engaged tiU 
 three, but would make a point of coming as soon as 
 possible after he were free, before setting out for his 
 luncheon party with a heavy heart, it being evident 
 
THE STORM BREAKS 227 
 
 that, whatever happened with Lady Aenemone and 
 Gilbert, any possible result must mean certain sorrow 
 for most of those concerned. 
 
 In order to reach his destination, it was neces- 
 sary to cross Piccadilly, but as he reached this 
 thoroughfare from St. James's Street his progress 
 was obstructed by the passing of a procession of 
 socialists which was on its way to demonstrate 
 in the Park. 
 
 Aglionby being bound for Half Moon Street, he 
 drifted some distance with the human tide which 
 was setting so strongly from the East : as he went, 
 he caught sigh^ of a familiar face, which, a moment 
 or two later, he identified as Dipple, the manservant 
 who had attended the sociaUst demonstration at 
 Derwentwater House, and had afterwards secured 
 employment with the Caples. 
 
 His rubicund person was in singular contrast to 
 his fellow demonstrators, and it amused Aglionby to 
 watch his revolutionary fervour. 
 
 He quite enjoyed himself in assisting at the singing 
 of the " Marseillaise " and the " Land Song " ; he 
 thrice called for cheers for the " Social Revolution," 
 and when the procession was temporarily held up by 
 the traffic in front of the Naval and Mihtary Club, he 
 groaned and shook his fist at members who gathered 
 in the windows, and shouted to those whom he had 
 possibly deferentially served at his respective masters' 
 tables, that they were " La-de-da monkeys " and 
 " ought to be boiled." 
 
 Aglionby's hostess, who was the wife of an old 
 acquaintance he had come across, was a woman who 
 gushed enthusiastically over those she met and 
 promptly forgot them as soon as their backs were 
 turned. 
 
228 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 If his mind had not been obsessed by the 
 trouble at Derwentwater House, he would have 
 been amused by her effusive welcome, which was 
 followed by her saying that, as her husband was 
 always talking about him, she knew his life by 
 heart, and that it was thriUing to meet a man 
 who had spent so many crowded years in the wilds 
 of Central Africa. 
 
 A few minutes later, he found himself seated at 
 table next to a slim, big-eyed young woman to whom 
 he had been introduced by his hostess as a well-known 
 artist : if Aglionby had not been so immersed in 
 apprehensions, he would have been puzzled by his 
 companion's thrice-urged request that he would 
 talk " shop." 
 
 Otherwise, his only impression of the luncheon was 
 a violent antagonism to a bull-necked parson who 
 faced him at table. 
 
 This ecclesiastic, who obviously loved his belly, 
 enjoyed the sound of his own voice, and persisted in 
 speaking of the poor. 
 
 According to him, those whom he called the " Lower 
 Classes " were not human beings of a like nature to 
 himself and his well-bom friends, who had an abiding 
 craving for happiness and love, and a pitiful suscepti- 
 bility to pain and sorrow : rather it would seem as 
 if they were a depressing entity which suffered 
 from a chronic inability to do those things it ought 
 to have done ; which formed an admirable vehicle 
 to point an obvious moral ; which was a magnificent 
 abstraction for the purposes of being preached at, 
 lectured, or patronised, and for making a back- 
 ground that exhibited in greater rehef the ecclesi- 
 astical virtues of the man who was speaking, and 
 his like : apart from these uses, the poor, so far 
 
THE STORM BREAKS 229 
 
 as it was possible, were discreetly ignored, the 
 contemplation of poverty interfering with the diges- 
 tion of fat meals. 
 
 If Aglionby had not been worried, he would 
 have liked to tell the parson that very many of 
 those he lumped together as the " Lower Classes " 
 were his superiors in hardihood, resolution, and the 
 capacity to suffer uncomplainingly, and that in his 
 (AgUonby's) opinion, he and his pharisaical kind were 
 scarcely fit to black the boots of those they in their 
 hearts despised. 
 
 It was at something after three that Aglionby 
 knocked at the great door of Derwentwater House 
 with a beating heart. 
 
 The door was opened by an impassively dignified 
 Dowson, who told him that " her ladyship had been 
 expecting him some time," before preceding him 
 upstairs. 
 
 He was greeted by a tearful and slightly hysterical 
 Jane, who, for all her obvious distress, was not above 
 self-consciously posing in the manner of one who has 
 been selected by Providence to show how adversity 
 should be borne. 
 
 " What a time you've been ! " she exclaimed 
 petulantly when the door had closed. " I expected 
 you hours back." 
 
 " I'm sorry, Jane, but " 
 
 " What is the use of being sorry 1 Knowing I was 
 in such terrible trouble, you should have come at 
 once." 
 
 " What is your trouble ? " he asked as he repressed 
 an inclination to take her in his arms and soothe her 
 griefs with tender words. 
 
 " It's so incredible, you'll hardly believe it ; it's 
 all so preposterous, I can hardly realise it myself. 
 
230 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 But it's true enough and niaddening enough. I 
 wonder my hair hasn't turned grey." 
 
 " It will be a long time before that happens. What 
 is it ? " 
 
 " I know you'll think I'm the victim of imagina- 
 tion. Do you remember Gilbert Ware, the socialist 
 I befriended ? " 
 
 " Quite weU." 
 
 " He was a workman, a mere mechanic who lived 
 in the East End. I go out of my way to do a kind 
 action and take him up, and how do you think he's 
 repaid me ? " 
 
 Here Lady Derwentwater dabbed her eyes, which, 
 by reason of her anger, showed attractive golden 
 tints. 
 
 " I wish you would tell me, and then we would 
 know exactly where we are." 
 
 " But it's all so incredible. Even now, I cannot 
 convince myself it's true." 
 
 " Please tell me what Gilbert has done," requested 
 Aghonby, with as much firmness as he could 
 muster. 
 
 " He has actually had the unspeakable impertinence 
 to tell me he loves Aenemone, and that he wishes to 
 marry her." 
 
 " Indeed ! " 
 
 " He told me here in this very room and standing 
 where you are sitting." 
 
 Doubtless his previous knowledge of Gilbert's love 
 for Lady Aenemone was responsible for the fact of 
 Aglionby's not exhibiting any surprise to speak of, 
 for she said : 
 
 " Aren't you astonished ? " 
 
 " Not particularly." 
 
 " Not ? " she queried in amazement. 
 
THE STORM BREAKS 231 
 
 " Considering you're all socialists together " 
 
 She made a gesture of impatience. 
 
 " it's only what might have been expected," 
 
 he went on. 
 
 " My dear Dick, if I had thought you were going 
 to talk nonsense, I shouldn't have sent for you. 
 You don't seem to mind one bit what trouble I 
 am in." 
 
 " I am sorry," declared a repentant AgUonby. 
 
 " Socialism is aU very well so far as it goes, but to 
 let my daughter marry a mechanic is too preposterous 
 to think of. I consider I've done quite enough for 
 the cause in letting it have the benefit of my name. 
 Gilbert's request was an insult, and I really think I 
 should have given him in charge." 
 
 " What did you say to him ? " 
 
 " I told him to leave the house and never to show 
 his face here again." 
 
 " Did he go ? " 
 
 " He stood and ranted at me like a madman ; 
 indeed, as I told him, that was the only excuse I 
 could make for him for saying my giving him Aenemone 
 was an opportunity of proving the sincerity of my 
 convictions." 
 
 " How did it all end ? " 
 
 " I haven't told you half. There's more to come, 
 and you don't know the worst." 
 
 " I cannot advise you until I know everything." 
 
 " He said something about Aenemone loving him, 
 so when he had gone (I wouldn't let him see her) I 
 sent for her and questioned her." 
 
 " WeU ? " 
 
 " When she learned that Gilbert had been, and 
 that I'd sent him away and forbidden him the house, 
 she astonished me." 
 
232 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " How ? " 
 
 " By losing her temper and saying the most dreadful 
 things to me. She was like a fury." 
 
 " But did she admit she cared for Gilbert ? " 
 
 ' ' We didn't get so far as that , Directly I questioned 
 her, she had an attack of hysterics, and looked at me 
 with eyes that frightened me. When we pacified her 
 and persuaded her to go to her room, she wouldn't 
 come down to luncheon, and has been there ever 
 since." 
 
 " What do you suggest doing ? " 
 
 "Now you've, at last, come, I've decided to 
 send for her, and you must talk to her quite 
 seriously." 
 
 " But what am I to say ? " 
 
 " My dear Dick ! You seem stupider than ever. 
 You must talk to her as I should if I were in your 
 place." 
 
 " That sounds simple enough, but " 
 
 " You must tell her that it's very thoughtless of 
 her to try my nerves as she did this morning. You 
 know yourself I am far from strong." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " I want to give all my spare time to ' Nir- 
 vana.' " 
 
 " Then you are giving up socialism ? " he asked, 
 as he divined that his beloved had by no means 
 realised the momentous nature of the issue that had 
 arisen. 
 
 " I said my spare time," she replied evasively. 
 *' And when you have very seriously reproved Aene- 
 mone, I want you to tell me what you have discovered 
 about ' Nirvana.' " 
 
 " Q-quite so," assented Aglionby feebly. 
 
 He was deeply distressed by the violent awakening 
 
THE STORM BREAKS 233 
 
 to a world of sharp realities which awaited the irre- 
 sponsible woman he loved. 
 
 " I suppose you wrote my name in the book, and 
 paid the five shillings for me ? " 
 
 Aglionby endeavoured to attune his mind to what 
 she was saying. 
 
 " You must ask Mee for the five shillings," she 
 went on. 
 
 He absent-mindedly made a deprecatory ges- 
 ture. 
 
 " It isn't the money," she protested. " But there's 
 just a possibility that, unless I pay for myseK, I may 
 not get the benefit from it I otherwise would. And 
 please don't look at me as you're doing. All this 
 trouble has put years on my life, and made me look 
 a fright." 
 
 He shook his head, but did not speak. 
 
 " You're anxious to get your unpleasant talk with 
 Aenemone over ? If you've nothing better to do, you 
 must stay to dinner, and I'll tell Mee to get a box 
 at a theatre where they've something light and with 
 plenty of music. That wiU take Aenemone out of 
 herself, and, if she's not too tired, we can go somewhere 
 to supper. Please ring the bell." 
 
 When this was answered by Dowson, he was told 
 to request Lady Aenemone's presence if she were well 
 enough to come downstairs. 
 
 After the man had gone, Lady Derwentwater 
 said : 
 
 " It's really too extifaordinary the way Gilbert 
 behaved. I'm almost inclined to think he's in love 
 with me, and despair has unhinged his mind and 
 made him tell me he loves Aenemone." 
 
 A little later ; 
 
 " After aU, the lower classes have their uses. 
 
234 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 They applaud quite enthusiastically at political 
 meetings." 
 
 " Why do you say that ? " he asked. 
 
 " When I was at Dittlesham, I was asked one evening 
 to say a few words about socialism to those who were 
 present. I don't believe they were at aU interested, 
 and that they liked Billy's stupid comic songs more 
 than my address." 
 
 Then: 
 
 " I've had nothing but trouble since I've returned. 
 But then they always come together. I didn't get a 
 single press cutting announcing my return to town, 
 and when I complained, they told Mee they'd just 
 discovered that the office boy who was supposed to 
 post them had stolen the stamps, and had tramped 
 all over London to deMver the press cuttings 
 himself." 
 
 Aglionby, in spite of his forebodings of what was 
 about to happen, concealed a smile. 
 
 " They wouldn't have found it out if his mother 
 hadn't gone up to find out why her son hadn't come 
 home till six in the morning. The more one does 
 for the lower orders, the more ungrateful they 
 prove." 
 
 As she sighed deeply on account of the office boy's 
 inconvenient declension, the door opened, and the 
 next moment Aglionby was greeting a tearful Lady 
 Aenemone, who seemed taUer than when he had last 
 seen her. 
 
 Perhaps this impression, fogether with the bigness 
 of her eyes, was caused by her being a trifle thinner 
 than she had been before she went away ; whatever 
 the reason, she was evidently possessed by an abiding 
 distress, which in one so young and unused to sorrow 
 awoke Aglionby's sympathy. 
 
THE STORM BREAKS 235 
 
 An awkward pause was broken by her shyly 
 asking : 
 
 " How is my dear, dear daddyho ? " 
 
 " Don't ask foolish questions," cried her mother. 
 " Dick is always well. Tell him at once you're very, 
 very sorry for upsetting my nerves as you have 
 done. Then, perhaps, I shall know a little peace of 
 mind." 
 
 The girl looked resentfully at her mother ; then, she 
 gazed at Aglionby with eyes that were at first pro- 
 pitiatory before making a dump appeal which touched 
 his heart. 
 
 " Dick's very angry with you," continued her mother. 
 " He'd no idea you were such a wiKul, naughty girl." 
 
 " Are you really angry, daddyho ? " asked the 
 delinquent. 
 
 " Of course he is," declared her mother. " I don't 
 know what he would have done if he had been here 
 when Gilbert behaved like a vulgar lunatic." 
 
 " Mumsie ! " cried the girl desperately. 
 
 It was as if a protest had been involuntarily wrung 
 from her heart. 
 
 Fatuously unmindful of what was toward, her mother 
 continued : 
 
 " A common workman to have the impertinence to 
 so much as dream of marrying my daughter ! " 
 
 " Mumsie ! " 
 
 The suggestion of passionate defiance in the girl's 
 voice, together with Aglionby's warning glance, should 
 have given her mother pause. Instead, she ignored 
 these danger signals, and went on : 
 
 " A man I took practically from the gutter, and " 
 
 " Stop ! " 
 
 " Aenemone ! " 
 
 " How dare you ? " cried the girl, as her eyes flashed 
 
236 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 defiance, while her slim body violently trembled with 
 passion. 
 
 " But " 
 
 " How dare you ? How dare you ? Gilbert is very, 
 very clever, and will do wonderful things if he only 
 gets a chance. And to say you took him from the 
 gutter is infamous." 
 
 " You take his part ! " cried an aghast and alarmed 
 Lady Derwentwater. 
 
 " How could I do otherwise ? " replied her 
 daughter, with both recklessness and despair in 
 her voice. 
 
 " How could you do otherwise ? " 
 
 " You had better know the truth ; then we shall 
 know exactly how we stand. I love Gilbert and he 
 loves me. We have long made up our minds to get 
 married." 
 
 Lady Derwentwater sat bolt upright. 
 
 " Groing — going to get married ! " she echoed, and 
 in the manner of one who wondered if she could 
 possibly have heard aright. 
 
 " Yes, mumsie. It's no use getting angry. I've 
 quite made up my mind." 
 
 " Did you hear what she said ? " asked Lady Der- 
 wentwater of Aglionby. 
 
 " Perfectly. But, if I may say so, it's a matter for 
 quiet discussion." 
 
 " Quiet discussion ! " cried the coixntess. 
 
 " I am convinced that violence will do far more 
 harm than good." 
 
 He accompanied this advice with a look that im- 
 plored her to exercise caution, but he may as well 
 have appealed to the grand piano for any impression 
 he made. 
 
 " Have you taken leave of your senses, too ? " she 
 
THE STORM BREAKS 237 
 
 cried. " Do you think I'm going to listen in patience 
 to anything so preposterous ? You must be mad, 
 both of you ; and as for you, Aenemone, you cannot 
 know what impossible nonsense you are talking. If 
 you weren't standing there, I should think you were 
 in a delirium." 
 
 " I know quite well what I am talking about. I 
 love Gilbert, and he loves me. It is only right that 
 we should get m " 
 
 " Stop ! " cried her infuriated mother. " Stop ! 
 Stop ! I won't listen to such wickedness." 
 
 " How can it be wickedness if I love him ? It 
 would be far worse if I were to marry Robin, whom 
 I don't." 
 
 " I'm not going to argue " 
 
 " Besides, we're all socialists together, and ^' 
 
 " That has nothing whatever to do with it, and T 
 cannot understand how you should be so lost to self- 
 respect as to tell me you love a wor -" (she was 
 
 intimidated by a quick glance of the girl's eyes) 
 " Gilbert Ware." 
 
 Regretting her momentary weakness, she went on : 
 " Understand once and for all that I will hear 
 no more of the matter, and that I absolutely forbid 
 you to see him or have anything more to do with 
 him." 
 
 " Mumsie ! " 
 
 " And I shall do all that is possible to make you 
 do as I wish." 
 
 " Mumsie ! " 
 
 "If he comes here again, I shall send for the 
 police." 
 
 " Won't you listen, mumsie ? " pleaded the girl. 
 
 " Not to a word." 
 
 " But I love him." 
 
238 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Nonsense ! " 
 
 " It would break my heart if I did not many 
 him." 
 
 " You're not old enough to know what you're 
 talking about." 
 
 " I'm old enough to know I shall be miserable 
 without him." 
 
 " I won't listen to you," declared her mother petu- 
 lantly, 
 
 " I thought you loved me." 
 
 " I'm proving it I " 
 
 " Proving it ! Proving it ! " cried Lady Aenemone 
 hysterically. " You're breaking my heart ! " 
 
 Her sobs touched Aglionby to the quick, but, 
 presently, she controlled herself with an effort, and 
 approached him, to say : 
 
 " Won't you speak for me 1 You loved mumsie 
 and lost her. What you went through is in your face. 
 Don't let me suffer like that. I've so prayed to be 
 happy." 
 
 " It's so difficult to know what to do," said 
 Aglionby. 
 
 " Not if one loves, daddyho. You know that." 
 
 " If it would make for your ultimate happi- 
 ness " 
 
 " Don't encourage her, Dick," interrupted Lady 
 Derwentwater. 
 
 " Let me say what I have to say," he pleaded. 
 
 " Certainly not, if you're going to talk like 
 that." 
 
 " Daddyho understands far more than you, mumsie," 
 said Lady Aenemone. 
 
 " How can that be ? " asked her mother sus- 
 piciously. 
 
 " He's known about it for some time." 
 
THE STOEM BREAKS 239 
 
 " Is that so ? " asked an enraged Lady Derwent- 
 water. 
 
 Aglionby hesitated, at which the countess repeated 
 her question. 
 
 " Nothing is gained by conceahng anything, daddy- 
 ho," declared Lady Aenemone. " Mumsie had better 
 know everything." 
 
 " I've known it for some weeks," said Aglionby 
 quietly. 
 
 " You've known of this wicked folly and you didn't 
 at once come and tell me ? " 
 
 " It was a confidence," declared Aglionby. 
 
 " A what ? " 
 
 " A confidence." 
 
 " From Aenemone ? " 
 
 " From Ware." 
 
 " A confidence from Gilbert Ware ? " asked Lady 
 Derwentwater, with an immense incredulity. 
 
 " Yes," he replied. 
 
 " And you mean to tell me you respect a confidence 
 from a common man like him ? " 
 
 " Why not ? A confidence from him is on pre- 
 cisely the same footing as one from any one 
 else." 
 
 " Don't insult me by talking such foolishness. A 
 confidence from Aenemone I might understand. But 
 a man like Ware ! I shall never forgive you for this, 
 never." 
 
 " Don't be so impossible ! " urged Aglionby. 
 
 "It's those by whom I am surrounded who are 
 impossible. You are all my enemies, and where I 
 have given love and trust I have received insincerity 
 and deceit." 
 
 " Mumsie ! " pleaded her daughter. 
 
 " It's the truth." 
 
240 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Don't say such cruel things. You know " 
 
 " They are not cruel. They are only what you 
 deserve for your wickedness." 
 
 " How can it be wicked to love ? " asked Lady 
 Aenemone. 
 
 " It's wicked to love a common man like Ware." 
 
 " Don't say that ! " cried the girl passionately. 
 
 «' But " 
 
 " You said it before. I won't let you say it 
 again." 
 
 The countess looked in astonishment at the defiant 
 figure of the lovesick girl, whose big eyes were ablaze 
 with wrath. 
 
 She was minded to repeat her aspersion concerning 
 the man her daughter loved, but something in the 
 latter's manner warned her that it would be as well 
 not to exasperate her further. 
 
 Instead, the countess said : 
 
 " I so live for loyalty and truth. And every one 
 about me is infamously insincere." 
 
 " If it comes to that, mumsie, you're not sincere 
 yourself," the girl retorted. 
 
 " Nothing's gained by quarrelling," urged Aghonby. 
 " Much better discuss the matter reasonably." 
 
 Ignoring this advice. Lady Derwentwater cried : 
 
 " You dare to tell me I'm insincere ? " 
 
 " And over socialism." 
 
 " Socialism I Why if there is a thing I love " 
 
 " I've suspected it for a long time, and you've 
 proved it yourself to-day." 
 
 " You dare to criticise your mother ? " 
 
 " You don't care for socialism one bit ! " 
 
 " That decides me," said Lady Derwentwater — to 
 add to Aglionby : " Please, ring the bell." 
 
 Aglionby did as he was bid. 
 
THE STORM BREAKS 241 
 
 " It seems I'm despised as well as ignored. Now I 
 know what to do." 
 
 Her determination so impressed her daughter that 
 the latter was moved to ask fearfully : 
 
 " What are you going to do ? " 
 
 " Once and for all put an end to this nonsense ! " 
 replied her mother. 
 
 16 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE SAME OLAY 
 
 When the summons was answered by Dowson, his 
 mistress said : 
 
 " Send Bennett at once." 
 
 " Bennett ? " queried Lady Aenemone apprehen- 
 sively. 
 
 " Whatever I am doing is for your ultimate good, 
 as one day you will be the first to recognise." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " I won't listen to another word." 
 
 " I hate Bennett ! " the girl murmured as a hard- 
 featured woman entered the room. 
 
 " Bennett ? " said Lady Derwentwater. 
 
 " Yes, your ladyship." 
 
 " Take Lady Aenemone to her rooms." 
 
 " Mumsie ! " wildly protested the girl. 
 
 " And she is not to be left until something further 
 is arranged." 
 
 " Very good, your ladyship." 
 
 " But, mumsie ! " 
 
 " Please do as I wish." 
 
 Cowed by her mother's unwonted firmness, the girl 
 left the room, but not without giving a pleading 
 glance to Aglionby. 
 
 242 
 
THE SAME CLAY 243 
 
 " How could you, Jane ? " he asked angrily directly 
 they were alone. 
 
 " You don't know what I'na capable of when I'm 
 roused ! " 
 
 " That also applies to Aenemone." 
 
 " That's why I'm taking precautions." 
 
 " By placing her in charge of that repulsive-looking 
 woman ? " 
 
 " I admit she is that. I was going to get rid of her 
 because I didn't like her. I'd no idea she'd be so 
 useful." 
 
 " Why not send Ducker to Aenemone ? " 
 
 " Ducker is a fool. I had to get rid of her." 
 
 " I thought you liked her." 
 
 " So I did. But you know I persuaded her to take 
 up socialism ! " 
 
 " Oh yes," sighed Aglionby. 
 
 " One day she pulled me up over an authority. 
 She actually declared that something I said was written 
 by Henry George was by Karl Marx." 
 
 " Who was right 1 " asked Aglionby, by way of 
 making a temporary diversion. 
 
 "She was. Of, course I could not keep her after 
 that. And it's a good thing as, otherwise, I should 
 not have Bennett." 
 
 Aghonby looked at her with such reproachful eyes, 
 that she said : 
 
 " Don't look like that. You haven't an atom of 
 sympathy for me in this trouble." 
 
 " Nonsense ! " 
 
 " I really believe you're anxious for Aenemone to 
 marry this workman." 
 
 " It's precisely what I wish to prevent." 
 " Then why are you such a fool as to object to my 
 taking precautions ? " 
 
244 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " It's the violent precautions you're taking with 
 a girl of spirit I object to." 
 
 She was about to interrupt, but he went 
 on : 
 
 " Do you remember what happened to Lady Brid- 
 port's son, and the mess he made of his life because 
 of her foolish obstinacy ? " 
 
 " I'm not a fanatic," she declared petulantly, 
 " but a woman of the world. And if you'd 
 only been loyal to me, this would never have 
 happened." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " It's you I have to thank for all this trouble," 
 she cried. 
 
 " Don't be so impossible." 
 
 "You! You! Youl" 
 
 " You're still harping on " 
 
 " You didn't at once come to me when Gilbert had 
 the impertinence to tell you he loved Aenemone. I 
 wonder you didn't knock him down 1 " 
 
 " Can't you, or won't you, understand " 
 
 " And you say you love me," she interrupted. " A 
 fine way of showing it." 
 
 " Haven't I opposed your socialism times out 
 of number because I saw exactly what was happen- 
 ing ? " 
 
 " It's nothing to do with socialism I " she 
 retorted. 
 
 " I told you harm would come of it, and here it is 
 with a vengeance." 
 
 " You didn't come to me when Gilbert told you he 
 loved Aenemone I And I suppose that's why she 
 refused Robin Caple." 
 
 " I risked your anger by telling you to give up 
 socialism." 
 
THE SAME CLAY 245 
 
 " You didn't come to me when Gilbert told you 
 he loved Aenemone ! " 
 
 " But you wouldn't so much as listen to 
 reason 1 " 
 
 " You didn't come to me when Gilbert told you 
 he loved Aenemone ! " she declared, with rising 
 passion. 
 
 " And in that I was absolutely in the right," 
 he retorted, losing patience at her persistent asser- 
 tion. 
 
 " You can't justify yourself, and that is why you're 
 losing your temper ! " she declared. 
 
 " It seems we're both inclined that way, and that 
 won't help Aenemone in her trouble." 
 
 " You have to get her out of that." 
 
 " I ! " 
 
 " It's the very least you can do after the shameful 
 way you've behaved." 
 
 " I'd do anything to help Aenemone, but " 
 
 " Don't talk so much," she interrupted irritably. 
 '* You always let your tongue run away with 
 you. You must immediately see Gilbert and buy 
 him off." 
 
 " Do what ? " 
 
 " Find out how much he wants not to molest 
 Aenemone further, and when you've agreed on a price 
 you must go to my solicitors." 
 
 Aglionby stared at her in amazement. 
 
 " It isn't a question of bargaining. Agree to what- 
 ever he asks so long as it isn't preposterous. You're 
 surprised at my being so practical ! Such an idea 
 would never occur to you." 
 
 " You're right," he bitterly assured her. 
 
 Mistaking his remark for acquiescence, she com- 
 placently went on : 
 
246 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " The obvious thing to do is to take Aenemone 
 abroad for quite a long time, but I don't much care 
 to leave town at present. I can't let Kitty Ashford 
 have everything her own way, and she's coming to 
 London next month." 
 
 " Do you know what you are asking me to do ? " 
 he exclaimed. 
 
 She looked at him in surprise. 
 
 " I mean about bargaining with Ware." 
 
 " Of course I do. It's the usual thing in such, 
 emergencies." 
 
 " But I couldn't suggest such a thing to 
 Ware ! " 
 
 " You wouldn't lift a finger to help me." 
 
 " He's not that sort^of man at all." 
 
 Then, as she looked at him in astonishment, he 
 went on : 
 
 " When you were away, I tried to find out something 
 of the lives of the poor. Ware helped me, and I've 
 got to know him quite well." 
 
 " Then you're the right person to deal with 
 him." 
 
 " You don't let me finish. I've a high opinion of 
 Ware, and I would not insult him by doing as you 
 suggest." 
 
 " What nonsense are you talking I Unless some 
 one does something at once to prevent their meeting, 
 I don't know what advantage he might not take of 
 Aenemone." 
 
 " Apart from getting married, beheve me, she is 
 quite safe with Ware," declared Aglionby in all 
 seriousness. 
 
 Lady Derwentwater made a gesture of impatience 
 as she said : 
 
 " You're so simple in these things." 
 
THE SAME CLAY 247 
 
 " You don't understand a man's love," he informed 
 her. " Aenemone is quite safe with Ware." 
 
 " I wish I thought so." 
 
 " Things being as they are, I would rather trust her 
 with Gilbert than with many of the men who come to 
 your house." 
 
 " Whether or not that is so, you must go off at 
 once and settle matters with Gilbert." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " It doesn't matter how you arrange matters so long 
 as they are settled once and for all." 
 
 Then, as he still hesitated, she added : 
 
 " That is the only condition on which I will forgive 
 you." 
 
 " Forgive me ! For what ? " he asked in blank 
 astonishment. 
 
 " Not coming to me when Gilbert told you he loved 
 Aenemone. Don't stand there looking as if you did 
 not understand. See Gilbert at once, and if everything 
 is settled satisfactorily I'll see you when you return, 
 if my nerves are not too shattered after all that has 
 happened." 
 
 As he stiU hesitated, she added : 
 
 " For goodness' sake, go. You're getting on my 
 nerves." 
 
 AgHonby sorrowfully betook himseK from the house, 
 convinced that he had been sent on the most impossible 
 of errands. 
 
 Otherwise, he was so confused by all that had 
 happened that he was incapable of coherent 
 thought. 
 
 It was to clear his head that he walked, instead of 
 taking a cab, to his chambers, where he purposed 
 changing into apparel more suitable for a visit to 
 Jubilee Street than that he was now wearing. 
 
248 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 Exercise enabling him to find some approximation 
 to his mental bearings, the first emotion that possessed 
 him was astonishment at Jane's failing to comprehend 
 the point of view of keeping Gilbert's confidence with 
 regard to Aenemone. 
 
 It seemed to him that, in this respect, those who 
 were commonly known as gentlewomen differed vastly 
 from men of the same genus (whom, so far as his 
 experience was concerned, were by no means to be 
 found only among the so-called upper classes), inas- 
 much as where momentous interests were concerned, 
 or their passions were aroused, they were as un- 
 scrupulous and as ruthless as the least estimable of 
 their sex. 
 
 If Aglionby had put his musings into words, he 
 would have said that one has only to scratch the 
 most civilised woman to discover the savage. 
 
 As he neared his lodging, and as the time that 
 must elapse before his interview with Gilbert 
 lessened, the more he perceived the futility of his 
 visit. 
 
 After the manner of lovers, his chief concern, 
 always excepting an abiding sympathy for Lady 
 Aenemone, was the effect (upon the already troubled 
 course of his love) of returning from seeing Gilbert 
 without accomplishing anything, as he inevitably 
 must. 
 
 So far as his distressed perceptions would permit, 
 he saw that the omens could scarcely be less pro- 
 pitious than they were, and owing to no fault of 
 his own. 
 
 Much to his surprise, he found a greatly agitated 
 Gilbert awaiting him outside the door of his Jermyn- 
 Street abode. 
 
 " Hullo, Ware ! " exclaimed Aghonby. 
 
THE SAME CLAY 249 
 
 Gilbert apparently was too distressed to reply, at 
 which Aglionby said : 
 
 " I was on my way to see you." 
 
 " Why ? " Gilbert forced himself to ask, 
 
 " I was coming from Lady Derwentwater." 
 
 The socialist's face fell as he said : 
 
 " I can guess the reason." 
 
 An awkward pause was broken by Aglionby 
 asking: 
 
 " Did you want to see me ? " 
 
 " I am in great trouble. You are the only one I 
 know who would understand." 
 
 " Will you come in, or will you go to my club ? " 
 asked Aglionby. 
 
 " Not to your club. Certainly not there. That 
 would remind me of my position, and I've had as 
 much of that as I can stand for many a day." 
 
 " Come in, then." 
 
 Gilbert hesitated before saying : 
 
 " I'd rather walk. I feel as if the four walls of a 
 room would stifle me." 
 
 " We'd better go towards the Park — St. James's, 
 I mean. We can talk better there." 
 
 The two men walked in the direction of St. 
 James's Street, and when this thoroughfare was 
 reached they turned to the right ; little or nothing 
 was said until they had passed Marlborough House, 
 each of them being occupied with their thoughts, 
 Aglionby's being concerned with the sheer impossi- 
 bility of conveying Lady Derwentwater's suggestion 
 to Gilbert. 
 
 " Why were you coming to me ? " asked Gilbert, 
 with explosive suddenness. 
 
 " Tell me why you wished to see me." 
 
 " But " 
 
250 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Then we shall know exactly where we are." 
 
 " This morning — ^perhaps you know what happened 
 this morning," said Gilbert after a few moments' 
 silence. 
 
 " I've a very good idea." 
 
 " But you could never have any conception how 
 deeply I was insulted, and by one whom I had 
 always looked up to and respected." 
 
 " People say things in the heat of anger they would 
 not dream of saying at another time." 
 
 " But not ladies like the countess. Quite apart 
 from anything else, the way she received my request 
 has been a most terrible shock," he declared — ^to 
 ask as an afterthought : " Why didn't you warn 
 me?" 
 
 "I ? " 
 
 " I told you of my intention. You might have 
 saved me this cruel humiliation." 
 
 " I was anxious to, several times, but I did not 
 think it would be the least use." 
 
 " Perhaps not. Even now I can scarcely believe 
 it." 
 
 " You must try and forget it." 
 
 " I shall never do that. Her words have 
 seared my brain. Why did she ? Oh ! why did 
 she ? " 
 
 " And what of the future ? " asked Aglionby after 
 a further interval of silence. 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " With regard to the girl you love." 
 
 " What about her ? " asked Gilbert shortly. 
 
 " How is what happened to-day going to affect you 
 both ? " 
 
 " I don't understand." 
 
 " To put it mildly, things with you both are 
 
THE SAME CLAY 251 
 
 not as they were twenty-four hours ago, for 
 instance." 
 
 " If you rpfer to Lady Derwentwater's insults 
 to me, they will not make the slightest differ- 
 ence." 
 
 Aglionby looked questioningly at his companion, 
 who asked : 
 
 " How could they 1 " 
 
 " Very easily." 
 
 " They cannot diminish our love. If anything, they 
 will increase it." 
 
 " Good heavens ! " exclaimed Aglionby, who per- 
 ceived further distressing complications ahead. 
 
 " Did you think they would make any difference 1 " 
 
 " You set such store on winning Lady Derwent- 
 water's consent, that I naturally did." 
 
 " You are mistaken. Our love is such that 
 nothing can alter it. No one has ever loved as we 
 do." 
 
 " And your mind is still bent on marriage ? " 
 
 " Why not ? When or where I don't presume 
 to know. But it's bound to be sooner or later. 
 You don't believe me ? Ask her. It is inevit- 
 able." 
 
 Aglionby was wondering if he should attempt to 
 convince Gilbert of the cruel wrong he would inflict 
 on Lady Aenemone by marrying her when the other 
 said : 
 
 " Why did Lady Derwentwater send you to me ? " 
 
 " We won't go into that now," replied Aglionby 
 evasively. 
 
 " I'm anxious to know." 
 
 " We'll talk about it presently." 
 
 " I can guess why she sent you. It's aU of a piece 
 with what she said to-day." 
 
252 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " If you imagine things, you'll only make yourself 
 worse." 
 
 " This is not imagination. It is fact. I'm con- 
 vinced that Lady Derwentwater sent you to 
 me to try to buy me off," declared Gilbert 
 wildly. 
 
 " But " 
 
 " If she did, don't tell me to-day. That would be 
 more than I could stand." 
 
 " I had no intention of suggesting any such thing," 
 declared Aglionby, and with truth. 
 
 " You put it like that to spare my feelings," said 
 Gilbert, whose perceptions were abnormally acute 
 by reason of his mental sufferings. " I am very 
 grateful." 
 
 Seeing that Gilbert was in no mood to listen 
 to reason, Aglionby was about to suggest an 
 appointment for the morrow, when the other 
 said : 
 
 " Why did Lady Derwentwater insult me as she 
 did? Why? Why?" 
 
 " Women aren't like men," 
 
 " I expected sympathy and I got insults. The 
 things she said ! Does she think we have neither 
 feelings nor pride ? " 
 
 " Much better forget all about it." 
 
 " One thing I have to be thankful for." 
 
 " And that 1 " 
 
 " That she — ^the girl I love — ^was not present when 
 her mother said those cruel things. If she had been, 
 I should have wanted to throw myself in that 
 lake " (they were now crossing the ornamental 
 water), " if I thought it were deep enough to drown 
 me." 
 
 They parted some half an hour later, and for all 
 
THE SAME CLAY 253 
 
 that Aglionby arranged to meet him on the morrow 
 (it was his object to convince Gilbert of the folly of 
 marriage with Lady Aenemone from every point of 
 view), the socialist was sublimely confident that 
 sooner or later he would achieve the desire of his 
 heart. 
 
 When Aglionby had dressed, he was both reluctant 
 and eager to get to Derwentwater House ; reluctant, 
 because he was fully aware of the reception he would 
 get from the countess for not having come to a definite 
 arrangement with Gilbert ; eager, since, having a 
 painful ordeal to undergo, he was anxious to get it 
 over with aU dispatch. 
 
 He unconsciously compromised matters by arriving 
 at Derwentwater House about half-past seven, when, 
 heart-sick with dismal forebodings for what awaited 
 him, he was shown upstairs to where the countess, 
 dressed for the evening, impatiently awaited his 
 arrival. 
 
 " At last ! " she cried, almost before they were 
 alone. 
 
 " How is the prisoner ? " he asked, by way of 
 postponing, if only for a few moments, the impending 
 storm. 
 
 " I've just sent for Bennett to say that Aenemone 
 can come down to dinner," 
 
 " A concession ! " 
 
 " What does it matter now you've arranged every- 
 thing ? Where is the agreement ? " 
 
 " The what ? " 
 
 " Won't he sign anything ? " 
 
 " If you would only listen ! " 
 
 " You don't mean to say you haven't got a signa- 
 ture ! " 
 
 She waited with an immense inquiry in her fine 
 
254 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 eyes, at which Aglionby took his courage in both 
 hands as he said : 
 
 " I did not even ask for a signature." 
 
 " What ? " she cried sharply. 
 
 " I could not insult him by making any such sug- 
 gestion." 
 
 " Not ? » 
 
 " I've much too great a respect for Gilbert to ask 
 him, but " 
 
 " Have you come here and kept me anxiously 
 waiting to tell me that ? " she interrupted. 
 
 " I am seeing him to-morrow, and we are going 
 to talk it over rationally." 
 
 " To-morrow ! " she cried scornfully. " To-mor- 
 row ! " 
 
 " That is the best I can do for you," he declared 
 as calmly as he was able. 
 
 Her anger was such that for a few moments she 
 would not trust herself to speak. 
 
 She looked at the unhappy Aglionby with both 
 rage and contempt in her eyes. 
 
 Her unjustifialble scorn had the effect of rousing 
 his ire ; he thought it wiser to take his leave before 
 hot words caused an irreparable breach between 
 them. 
 
 He made as if he would go, at which she said : 
 
 " Not for a moment." 
 
 He waited. 
 
 " Not till I've told you what I think of you." 
 
 " I'm used to that," he said sadly. 
 His humility made her believe that he was com- 
 pletely at her mercy : perhaps this was why she 
 said : 
 
 " There's one thing I should like to say." 
 " Well ? " 
 
THE SAME CLAY 255 
 
 " You know you asked me to marry you ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " If ever you think of my refusal, and want 
 a reason, it's because I could never marry a 
 fool." 
 
 " I won't forget," he said grimly. 
 
 " And that's what you are, to have scruples about 
 making a money offer to that man Ware." 
 
 " So be it." 
 
 "As if people like that were the same as you and 
 I ! " she added scornfully. 
 
 " That is where we unhappily differ." 
 
 " It's all a question of blood and birth. People 
 like Ware would have to be born a hundred 
 times before they could be as those in our posi- 
 tion." 
 
 " If you only knew the infamous things you're 
 saying ! " he cried. 
 
 She laughed. 
 
 " Believe me, you're hopelessly, wickedly wrong," 
 he assured her. 
 
 " How can I be ? " she asked incredulously. 
 
 " It's all a question of opportunity," he re- 
 plied. 
 
 " I know more of the working-classes than you can 
 ever hope to. I haven't had tenants and been a 
 socialist for nothing. And apart from all that, it's 
 a matter of keeping one's eyes open." 
 
 " As you will," said Aglionby wearily. " Some 
 day you may, perhaps, know better." 
 
 " To say that working-people have anything in 
 common with those in my position would be insulting 
 were it not so ridiculous. And Aenemone, in her 
 heart of hearts, sees things very differently from 
 scheming Gilbert Ware." 
 
256 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " As you will ! As you will ! " 
 
 " The Wares and their like haven't the same ideas, 
 instincts, feeling, or blood. They belong to a different 
 race and are brutally insensible to things that would 
 wound me and you. I feel so strongly on the matter, 
 I can't discuss it patiently." 
 
 " Speak of something else, then." 
 
 " Look at them ! Look at their faces, their walk, 
 their manners. And hear them express their limited 
 ideas ! I tell you they're beings of quite another 
 world, and you must be blind not to see it. We 
 
 haven't a thought or an emotion in common, and 
 
 What is it, Bennett ? " 
 
 This inquiry was addressed to a perturbed Bennett 
 who had suddenly entered the drawing-room. 
 
 " Is her ladyship here ? " asked the woman 
 anxiously. 
 
 " Do you mean Lady Aenemone 1 " asked the 
 countess irritably. 
 
 " Yes, your ladyship : she was upstairs being 
 dressed by Barrett a few minutes ago, and when I 
 went up just now her ladyship had gone." 
 
 " Doesn't Barrett know anything ? " 
 
 " She says she doesn't, your ladyship." 
 
 " She can't be very far," declared Lady Derwent- 
 water nervously. " You'd better " 
 
 She got no further, for, at that moment, a scared 
 Barrett appeared holding a note in her hand. 
 
 " What is it ? " asked Lady Derwentwater quickly. 
 
 " It's addressed to your ladyship. I found it on 
 her ladyship's dressing-table." 
 
 " Give it to me. Don't stand there like that," 
 cried Lady Derwentwater, who took and read the 
 note, the while she was keenly watched by Aglionby. 
 
 " What is it ? " he asked as her face fell. 
 
THE SAME CLAY 257 
 
 Without speaking, she handed him the missive, at 
 which he read as follows : 
 
 " Deaeest Mumsie, 
 
 " When you get this, I shall be gone. It is no 
 use your trying to find me, as when you see me again 
 I shall be married to the man I love. 
 
 " Aenemone." 
 
 17 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 AGLIONBY SPEAKS HIS MIND 
 
 Lady Derwentwateb was the first to speak. 
 
 " See if Lady Aenemone is in the house," she said 
 to the two servants. " Let me know at once if you 
 find her." 
 
 The two women quickly left the room, while Ag- 
 lionby's mind tried to appraise the new situation 
 which had so unexpectedly ariseri. 
 
 So far as he could collect his thoughts, he had not 
 the slightest doubt that the headstrong girl had left 
 the house by stealth in order to take temporary 
 refuge with one of her friends, with the intention 
 of marrying Gilbert as soon as may be, or had gone 
 to the Wares', where the desired consummation could 
 be more readily achieved ; in either case, but more 
 particularly in the latter contingency, immediate 
 action was necessary. 
 
 If he had been permitted to follow the dictates 
 of his judgment, he would at once have set off for 
 Jubilee Street, but he had to reckon with the eternal 
 feminine, which, in this case, was possessed by a variety 
 of contending emotions, chief of which, perhaps, was 
 an unreasoning anger against the man who had 
 repeatedly warned her of the perils besetting her 
 devotion to socialism : this wrath was abundantly 
 
 258 
 
AGLIONBY SPEAKS HIS MIND 259 
 
 stimulated by the fact of her assertion with regard 
 to the essential difference existing between gentle 
 and simple being so suddenly confounded by her 
 daughter's taking her fate into her own hands. 
 
 " Whatever you do, don't lose your head," ad- 
 monished Aglionby. 
 
 " Lose my head ? " she repeated icily. 
 
 " Don't let the servants know that anything is 
 wrong." 
 
 " I thought you were going," she remarked. 
 
 " Going ! " he faltered. 
 
 " An emergency of this description requires people 
 of resource, not nincompoops." 
 
 Aglionby bit his lip. 
 
 Delighted that she had wounded him, she went on : 
 
 " It's kind of you to offer your services, but I'd 
 rather you didn't meddle." 
 
 He was minded to reproach her for her crass 
 injustice, but realising its futility, he refrained, and 
 said : 
 
 "Very weU." 
 
 " Why don't you go ? " she asked as she made as 
 if she would ring the bell. 
 
 " I was thinking of Aenemone." 
 
 " Aenemone will be safe," she said, with a scornful 
 little laugh. " I will see to that." 
 
 " You haven't overmuch time to lose." 
 
 " Is that why you are bent on hindering me by 
 stopping ? Directly I hear she is not in the house, 
 I shall telephone to the police and get the newspapers 
 to publish a full description of her, and perhaps a 
 portrait. I don't want your bungling interference." 
 
 Stung by her words, he retorted : 
 
 " I thought your passion for publicity would make 
 you do something absurd." 
 
260 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " What do you mean ? " she asked surprised, and 
 in the secret places of her heart not particularly 
 displeased by this sudden display of spirit. 
 
 " Doing as you suggest would be quite the worst 
 thing you could do." 
 
 " In your opinion ! " she sneered. 
 
 " And for this reason : you have declared in season 
 and out that you believe in social equality. Once 
 you show that you're put out by your daughter 
 practising what you've preached, you would be a public 
 laughing-stock. ' ' 
 
 " I am too endeared to the public for that, and 
 
 why don't they come and tell me if they have 
 found her ? " 
 
 " They won't be long now." 
 
 " Can't you see if they've found her ? " 
 
 " I don't want them to think anything is wrong. 
 Can't you see how foolish that would be ? " 
 
 " If it's to be in the papers, how can it matter ? " 
 she replied. 
 
 For all this implied contempt of his opinion. Lady 
 Derwentwater, when the two women breathlessly 
 entered the room with the information that Lady 
 Aenemone was not to be found, calmly said : 
 
 "It is what I expected. Wait upstairs till I send 
 for you." 
 
 When the countess and Aglionby were again alone, 
 the former said : 
 
 " Please ring for Mee." 
 
 " Your press agent 1 " 
 
 " Naturally, if I am to send information of Aene- 
 mone's disappearance to the papers." 
 
 " If that's the case, I'd better go ! " 
 
 " But " 
 
 " What else can I do ? " 
 
AGLIONBY SPEAKS HIS MIND 261 
 
 " It's the sort of thing you would do ; get us all 
 into trouble and leave us to manage as we can," she 
 cried. 
 
 " But " 
 
 " You profess to love Aenemone and can let the 
 most dreadful things happen to the poor child without 
 raising a finger to help her 1 " 
 
 " Jane ! Jane ! " he said reproachfully. 
 
 " I wish I had never answered the letter you wrote 
 when you came home." 
 
 " Jane ! How can you ? " 
 
 " You are either a fool or a very bad man, and I 
 hate the sight of you." 
 
 Her cruel, heedless, and unjustifiable words kindled 
 a fierce anger in his heart. 
 
 He would have said bitter things, but rage hindered 
 his speech. His wrath urged him to pace the room, 
 but, after taking a few steps, a choking sensation 
 brought him to a standstill. 
 
 Then he was dismayed at realising that, for all his 
 emotion, and in despite of its cause, love stiU burned 
 dully in his heart for the woman who defiantly faced 
 him. 
 
 This realisation bridled his anger to a considerable 
 extent ; a few minutes later, he looked at her with 
 pained eyes as he said : 
 
 " I will do my best for Aenemone because I'm fond 
 of her, and " 
 
 " Please do nothing," she interrupted. 
 
 " And I'll do my best for you, because, in spite of 
 the way you've behaved, I fear I still love you." 
 
 " If you're going to talk nonsense, for Heaven's 
 sake go, and let me manage for myself." 
 
 " But because of what you said to me just now, I 
 shall not see you again after this is once settled." 
 
262 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 She laughed before saying : 
 
 " If you're going to do anything, you're wasting 
 precious moments both of my time and yours." 
 
 " Aenemone can't get married till to-morrow, and 
 I hope to have tackled Gilbert long before that. And, 
 beyond not seeing you again, I, in justice to myself, 
 shall tell you what I think the cause of all this trouble." 
 
 " You'd much better go." 
 
 " No doubt. But it's a duty I owe to both of us." 
 
 If he had been able to do as he, in his inmost heart, 
 wished, he would have promptly left Derwentwater 
 House, and, after getting something to eat, he would 
 have set out for Jubilee Street. As it was, he, in spite 
 of himself, was rooted to where he stood, while his 
 brain, now fiercely calm after the heat of passion 
 which her words had occasioned, was coldly, judicially 
 appraising the woman he loved, while his tongue was 
 eager to express its findings. 
 
 " You were always singular, as a child, Jane," he 
 began, when a certain detachment in his voice slightly 
 surprised the speaker. " And if there's any truth in 
 the saying of the boy being father of the man, I 
 suppose it's equally true that the girl is mother 
 of the woman." 
 
 " I don't see " 
 
 " Let me finish." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " Whatever happens, I am determined to say what 
 is in my mind." 
 
 " Thank you, but " 
 
 " Listen, woman ! It's time you heard the truth." 
 
 Surprise at his unusual manner, and at the fact of 
 
 her being roundly taken to task by one whom she 
 
 believed she could do with as she willed, reduced her 
 
 to temporary silence. 
 
AGLIONBY SPEAKS HIS MIND 263 
 
 " When you were a mere child," he went on, " you 
 tried to make out you were cleverer than your com- 
 panions, but you were not particularly brilliant — ^if 
 anything, your brains were rather below the average 
 than over, but you behaved as you did from sheer 
 vanity. Vanity, Jane, has been your besetting sin." 
 
 " Are you here to insult me ? " she cried, striving 
 to prevent herself being dominated by his forcefulness. 
 
 " I am here to tell you the truth. When I met 
 you again, I found you had taken up socialism, 
 but from the first I suspected that it was a sham 
 enthusiasm." 
 
 " A what ? " 
 
 " A sham enthusiasm. And so it is. You cared 
 nothing for the cause to which you professed to devote 
 yourself; you did not even take the trouble to 
 understand it," he declared, to add, with an over- 
 whelming access of candour : " Now I come to think 
 of it, I don't believe you have the necessary brain 
 power, even if you had the desire." 
 
 " Stop ! I Do you know " 
 
 " Listen. I know you will never forgive me for 
 what I am saying. But it will do you a world of 
 good, and that must be my reward," 
 
 " This trouble has affected your brain." 
 
 " I believe it has," he replied, astonished at his 
 temerity in thus talking to the woman he loved, 
 " But it doesn't alter the fact that I'm speaking the 
 truth. I had got as far as your socialism and your 
 blatant insincerity in what you called ' the Cause.' 
 Do you know what led you to take up this political 
 creed of which you knew nothing or cared less ? I 
 will tell you. It was your besetting sin of vanity." 
 
 " I won't listen ! I hate you ! I wish I'd never 
 known you ! " 
 
264 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 Astonishingly unmindful of, and cold to, her pas- 
 sionate protest, he went on : 
 
 " Your interest in socialism was not even original, 
 as you, doubtless, fondly imagined. It is only part 
 and parcel of the cursed modem craving for notoriety 
 at any price." 
 
 Ignoring her angry gesture, he continued : 
 
 " For all your third-hand repetition of socialist 
 catch phrases, your abiding passion was to see your 
 name, your fifth-hand opinions, and your portrait in 
 the papers, to be at any price a celebrity of sorts, to 
 be a somebody to whom a crowd of nobodies could 
 toady. Far from your being moved by altruism, you 
 have sacrificed your self-respect on the altar of press 
 cuttings." 
 
 " Dick ! " she cried, not a little alarmed by the 
 composure of his manner, and the ruthlessness with 
 which he bared her faults. 
 
 Still possessed by the same spirit of critical detach- 
 ment, which astonished him almost as much as it 
 did the countess, he went on : 
 
 " And in that craving for advertisement, you are 
 in competition with the merest little actress, and are 
 much more to be blamed — for while she does it for 
 her living, you have no excuse." 
 
 " While you're talking, Aenemone " 
 
 " I'm now coming to Aenemone." 
 
 " But while you're talking " 
 
 " I shan't be long now. And when I've done, I'll 
 act." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " This is where you are most at fault. Listen ! " 
 
 He paused for breath before saying : 
 
 " You had a daughter of whom any woman 
 should be proud, inasmuch as she is that rare com- 
 
AGLIONBY SPEAKS HIS MIND 265 
 
 bination of a fine mind and a beautiful person. 
 Instead of safeguarding her in every possible way as 
 you should, you, at the most impressionable period 
 of her life, infect her with the pernicious doctrine of 
 equality, while you put not the slightest obstacle in 
 the way of her associating with a man like Gilbert 
 Ware, who would be likely to attract her in her present 
 frame of mind." 
 
 As if to make a final effort against the man who was 
 so unexpectedly taking her to task, she cried : 
 
 " I won't listen ! I won't hear any more ! It's 
 shameful — cowardly ! " 
 
 " You shall listen ! " he retorted. 
 
 " But why do you speak like this ? You never did 
 before." 
 
 " I don't know myself. All I know is that you 
 have to listen tiU I've done." 
 
 In despite of herself, his eyes held hers at which she 
 made as if she would stuff her fingers in her ears in 
 order to avoid hearing any more. 
 
 " Listen ! " he cried, and as she hesitated, " Listen ! 
 Listen ! " 
 
 Although she seemed not indisposed to obey his 
 behest, he seized her arm, and, for all her cry of pain, 
 he tightly held it for some moments in his grip. 
 
 When he released his hold, it was as if she were 
 about to protest forcibly against his violence ; instead, 
 her eyes looked helplessly into his while she sank 
 quickly into a chair. 
 
 " As time's precious, I will finish what I have to 
 say," he told her. " I won't say much about the 
 infinite harm you have done to Gilbert Ware, because, 
 whatever you may say to the contrary, you, with 
 your convictions of social inequality, would not 
 remotely understand. I will merely say that your 
 
266 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 taking him up as you did has given him ideas above 
 his station, and, in consequence, has caused trouble 
 in his home. What has been your pleasure will prove 
 his pain, inasmuch as what I pray will be his 
 hopeless love for Aenemone will fill with bitterness 
 the best years of his life." 
 
 " I'm not interested in such people." 
 
 " That proves what I tell you. You are careless 
 of consequences so long as you can obtain the adver- 
 tisement dear to your heart." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " We will return to the subject of Aenemone, 
 Heaven knows she would have had trouble soon 
 enough — ^as who has not ? But instead of your 
 doing your utmost to secure her at least a happy 
 youth, you have so contrived that she starts her 
 life in the world with a great sorrow which, with 
 her sensitive nature, may have the most serious 
 consequences." 
 
 Lady Derwentwater dropped her eyes, which had 
 hitherto been fi.xed on the speaker. 
 
 " You have not the slightest excuse. You were 
 warned, but you would not heed. It was all 
 plain enough if you could only have [seen, but 
 you were blind, and blinded by your infernal 
 vanity." 
 
 The censured woman shifted uneasily on her seat. 
 
 " Now I come to myself," he said, at the which 
 Lady Derwentwater gave him a quick, curious glance. 
 " I won't say anything of the days of our youth. 
 That's all over and done with. But since I've met 
 you again, I've come to love you." 
 
 Lady Derwentwater clasped and unclasped her 
 fingers. 
 
 " I was eager to give all that was best in my life to 
 
AGLIONBY SPEAKS HIS MIND 267 
 
 you, and you knew it. And because I had always 
 your best interests at heart, and was prepared to be 
 what is better than your lover, that, is, your devoted, 
 sincere, and loving friend, how have you behaved to 
 me ? I have been wilfully misunderstood ; my advice 
 has been laughed at ; and because events have un- 
 happily proved I was in the right, you cruelly, cruelly 
 wound me with your insults." 
 
 Her eyes again sought his, and with an expression 
 that seemed both defiant and submissive. 
 
 At the same time, he was taken aback at realising 
 that the resolution possessing him was quickly 
 ebbing, at the which he hastened to complete his 
 accusation. 
 
 " You have said things to-day for which I can 
 never forgive you, and if ever you are sorry, which 
 I doubt, that you have lost my love and friendship, 
 you have only your cursed, besetting vanity to — 
 to— t " 
 
 The exhaustion of his new-found resolution pre- 
 vented him from finishing his sentence. 
 
 Also, in the twinkling of an eye, he was again 
 the abject lover, when he at once perceived the 
 enormity of his offence in taking his beloved to 
 
 He looked at her helplessly, the while he trembled 
 for the consequences of his temerity, and it would 
 have gone hardly with him had not his luck, where 
 the desire of his heart was concerned, repented of its 
 recent ill-usage. 
 
 He gazed fixedly at her, the pupils of his eyes dilated 
 with his apprehensions, and wondered how best to 
 beat a retreat. 
 
 He was wholly ignorant that she mistook his fear- 
 some glance for further defiance, and that this fancied 
 
268 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 masculine assertiTeness put the final touch to the 
 work his censure ha,d commenced. 
 
 He turned with an efiort, and was shamefacedly 
 making for the door, when she said in a scarcely 
 audible voice : 
 
 " Dick ! Don't go ! " 
 
 Wondering if he had heard aright, he paused. 
 
 " Don't go," she repeated. 
 
 " Jane ! " 
 
 " Don't leave me like that." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " I'm not quite so bad as you think, really I'm 
 not," she said humbly. " Don't leave me like that, 
 Dick ! " 
 
 He stared at her in utter bewilderment, when, 
 perhaps, again mistaking the nature of his look, she 
 went on : 
 
 " I've done my best for every one, and I mayn't 
 have been quite so successful as I had hoped. But 
 that is no reason why you should have said bitter 
 things." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " If you can't forgive me, at least don't let us 
 part in anger." 
 
 " Jane ! " 
 
 " I don't know what I should do if I thought that 
 I was never to see you again." 
 
 It, at last, being borne in upon his understanding 
 that his strictures of her vagaries, far from hopelessly 
 alienating them from each other, had inchned her 
 heart in his favour, he obeyed the first impulse which 
 possessed him. 
 
 He triumphantly approached her, and, taking her 
 in his arms, he crushed her to his heart and fervently 
 kissed her lips. 
 
AGLIONBY SPEAKS HIS MIND 269 
 
 Even if he were still disposed to doubt the expediency 
 of this proceeding, his mind was immediately set at 
 rest by her raising wet eyes to his as she said ; 
 
 " Oh, Dick ! " 
 
 " Yes, Jane ! " 
 
 " Why are you so unkind ? " 
 
 Before he could reassure her with tender words, she 
 was happily sobbing upon his breast. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THE QUEST 
 
 " What of Aenemone ? " she asked a few moments 
 later. 
 
 " I haven't forgotten her." 
 
 " You will do your best ? " 
 
 Before he could reply, she added : 
 
 " If you will, I will be entirely guided by you." 
 
 Although Aglionby, so far as he could realise what 
 had happened, was greatly elated by his wholly un- 
 expected victory, his masculine instinct of conquest 
 which, in this case, had been stimulated by the touch 
 of the lips of the woman he loved, urged him to wrest 
 every possible advantage from fortune while the 
 opportunity was his. 
 
 He was mentally formulating his demands, when 
 she said : 
 
 " I know what you more than anything wish me 
 to do. But don't ask me to marry you just yet ; 
 not till Aenemone's safe." 
 
 " Jane ! " he cried, beside himself with delight. 
 
 " I must see she is happy before I am happy myself. 
 And if you don't want me, I shall never marry any 
 one else." 
 
 He was so surprised and delighted by this surrender 
 
 270 
 
THE QUEST 271 
 
 that the conditions he had been about to impose were 
 practically forgotten. 
 
 It was only with an effort that he was able to recall 
 two of the more considerable. 
 
 " One thing I wish you to do," he said, with as much 
 authority as he could muster. 
 
 " What is it, Dick ? " 
 
 " I want you to drop this socialism." 
 
 " Is that all ? " she, much to his surprise, replied. 
 
 " But what about ' Nirvana ' ? " she anxiously asked. 
 
 " So far as I'm concerned, you can sign as many 
 books in Bayswater and pay as many five shillings as 
 you please," he said light-heartedly. 
 
 " Thank you for that. Is there anything else, 
 Dick ? " 
 
 " I am now going straight to Jubilee Street." 
 
 " Jubilee Street ? " 
 
 " Where Gilbert Ware lives." 
 
 " It's at 94. I'd forgotten. Well " 
 
 " I want you to promise to let me do everything 
 myself, without your interference." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " You've been through quite enough to-day as it is. 
 It wouldn't be wise for you to do any more," he 
 evasively assured her. 
 
 He was convinced that, if Aenemone were at Jubilee 
 Street, her mother would do far more harm than 
 good by going there, if only by reason of her tactless- 
 ness. 
 
 " I'm sure if any one can manage things, you can. 
 Besides, I shall be much too busy." 
 
 " Busy ? " he queried. 
 
 " I shall be sending paragraphs to the paper saying 
 that Aenemone and I shall be going abroad for some 
 months." 
 
272 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 Aglionby looked at her in surprise. 
 
 " Do you mind my sending them, Dick ? It always 
 does me good to see my name in print." 
 
 Whatever he might have said was frustrated by the 
 door opening, and Dowson appearing to announce that 
 dinner was served. 
 
 " I must be off," declared Aglionby. 
 
 " But what about dinner ? " said the countess. 
 
 " I've wasted quite enough time as it is." 
 
 " But you'll be hungry ! " 
 
 " If I am, I can get something to eat going 
 along." 
 
 " I shan't eat a thing," she declared. 
 
 " You must, if only to keep up your strength." 
 
 " How can I, knowing you are hungry ! " 
 
 " But I shan't be. Good-bye." 
 
 " Au revoir, Dick. I'm sure I shan't eat any- 
 thing." 
 
 Aglionby exchanged the tenderest of glances with 
 his beloved before making for the door, 
 
 " You'll want a car," she said. " How foolish of 
 me to forget ! " 
 
 " That'll mean further time wasted. I'll get a 
 taxicab." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " Au revoir." 
 
 Directly Aglionby was speeding eastward in a taxi- 
 cab, before setting his mind to the task that lay 
 before him, he determined to luxuriate for a while 
 in the appreciation of his new-found bliss, which 
 promised to be more acute by reason of its un- 
 expectedness. 
 
 Much to his surprise, his happiness was leavened 
 with disappointment. 
 
 In the first place, his ecstasy by no means 
 
THE QUEST 273 
 
 approxiiuated to that which he would hare believed 
 would have been the case, if, before the countess 
 had revealed her heart, he had imagined such a 
 possibility. 
 
 Also, he was more distressed than he would 
 acknowledge to himself at the fact of the sudden 
 change in his prospects of winning Jane having 
 been entirely wrought by the verbal chastisement 
 he had inflicted. 
 
 It was for all the world as if he had made use of a 
 physical violence, which had transformed her hostility 
 into submission ; it was this conviction that was 
 responsible for the declension of the respect she 
 had originally inspired. 
 
 He was passionately eager to idealise her, but in 
 the secret places of his heart he was aware that this 
 consummation was now scarcely easy of achievement ; 
 he wondered if increased intimacy would mean a further 
 lessening of esteem. 
 
 As if this were not enough to trouble him, at the 
 back of his mind was the haunting fear of the certain 
 sorrow which awaited Lady Aenemone, whatever might 
 be the upshot of her adventure. 
 
 His parental affection for her, which had been 
 deepened by the girl's distress and her mother's un- 
 sympathetic behaviour, made his heart ache with 
 the desire that she had been his own daughter, in 
 which event, he would have cared for her and watched 
 over her happiness with the unsleeping and unselfish 
 devotion of a maternal love. 
 
 He sighed deeply before setting his mind to the 
 immediate matter in hand. 
 
 He believed and hoped that the fugitive had flown 
 to one of her many friends, in which case it should be 
 no very difficult matter to persuade Gilbert of the 
 18 
 
274 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 extreme impropriety of marrjdng offhand a girl of 
 Lady Aenemone's inexperience and exalted station : 
 he would discover the runaway's whereabouts, and, 
 if she had not been packed oflE home in the mean- 
 time by her friends, do his utmost to keep the lovers 
 apart. 
 
 It would be quite another thing if she were already 
 at the Wares'. Not only would her presence inflame 
 Gilbert's passion, but, for all he knew to the contrary. 
 Lady Aenemone might enlist the active sympathies of 
 the Ware family, in which case his difficulties would 
 be greatly increased. 
 
 He had long ago seen the futility of anticipating 
 trouble before its actual arrival, and endeavoured to 
 apply this realisation to his present anxiety. He 
 believed he would have been more successful in reining 
 his apprehensions if he had not been sensible of the 
 want of food, his experience with the countess having 
 exhausted his vitality. 
 
 He regretted he had not eaten something at Der- 
 wentwater House, more particularly as he was now 
 speeding down the Whitechapel Koad where, short of 
 going into a public-house, it would be next to impossible 
 to obtain anything in the way of refreshment at this 
 hour. 
 
 He was minded to turn back until he found a likely 
 restaurant, but reflected that he had wasted far too 
 much time as it was. 
 
 His hunger quickly became so acute that when, a 
 few moments later, the cab pulled up at Stepney 
 Green, and the driver asked to be directed to Jubilee 
 Street, AgUonby got out and paid the man, meaning 
 to get something to eat before going on to his des- 
 tination. 
 
 It did not take him long to find a large public-house, 
 
THE QUEST 275 
 
 at which he entered the least frequented division 
 and asked for bottled stout and sandwiches from the 
 big, impassive landlord who was standing behind the 
 bar. 
 
 Directly he had been served, a tall, shabbily dressed, 
 leaden-complexioned man entered the compartment 
 and nodded familiarly to the landlord, before 
 asking : 
 
 " 'Ow's the ' rabbit ' this evening 1 " 
 
 " Same as usual," replied the landlord nonchalantly. 
 
 " 'Ard ? " 
 
 " Soft." 
 
 " Let's 'ave a little look," insinuatingly suggested 
 the shabby, leaden-complexioned man. 
 
 If Aglionby had been at all curious to know what 
 " rabbit " meant, he would speedily have been en- 
 lightened by the landlord bringing for his customer's 
 inspection a large tray of " Welsh rabbit " : this 
 was divided into a number of squares, each one of 
 these representing a penny portion. 
 
 The intending purchaser examined the brown surface 
 long and critically, before saying : 
 
 " Too much done." 
 
 " No, 'faint," replied the landlord shortly. 
 
 " 'Ard." 
 
 " Soft, I tell you." 
 
 " Two bits o' the tenderest, and 'arf o' stout-and- 
 mild." 
 
 While Aglionby hurriedly ate his sandwiches, he 
 noticed that his companion at the bar slowly and 
 deliberately consumed his two portions of " rabbit " 
 much as if he were enjoying to the utmost the savour 
 of each morsel. 
 
 When, some ten minutes later, he knocked at the 
 door of the Wares' house in Jubilee Street, he was 
 
276 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 greatly relieved to see no light in the little front 
 parlour, the absence of illumination suggesting 
 that Lady Aenemone had not taken refuge with 
 her lover. 
 
 Aglionby had to knock twice before he heard 
 within a shuffling footstep, which he rightly adjudged 
 to be Tim's : when the door was opened, Aglionby 
 was peered at for some moments before he was 
 recognised. 
 
 " I want to see Gilbert, if he is in. It's rather 
 important," declared Aglionby. 
 
 " Come in, sir ; come in." 
 
 " But is Gilbert " 
 
 " He's in, and you can see 'im in two ticks if you 
 don't mind waiting in the passage." 
 
 Aglionby did not mind in the least ; while Tim 
 went into the kitchen, the door of which he care- 
 fully closed, the whirr of Miss 'Itt's busy sewing- 
 machine was borne to the caller's ears, while now 
 and again this was punctuated by the seamstress's 
 cough. 
 
 He was kept waiting some time (at least, such was 
 his impatience to tackle Gilbert, so it seemed to him), 
 during which he had the impression that a discussion 
 was toward in the kitchen : a suddenly raised voice 
 would almost as quickly be hushed. 
 
 Presently, the kitchen-door opened and Mrs. Ware 
 advanced into the passage, to say : 
 
 " Would you mind walking this way, sir ? " 
 
 " Thank you. How are you ? " replied Aglionby, 
 as he shook hands with her, when it seemed 
 as if there were a subtle sympathy between 
 them. 
 
 When he entered the meticulously clean kitchen, 
 Tim, with very indifferent success, was trying to 
 
THE QUEST 277 
 
 appear particularly at his ease, while Gilbert, with 
 his hands on the mantel-shelf, was staring into the 
 fire. 
 
 The tense atmosphere of the little room told Ag- 
 lionby that his coming had interrupted a discussion 
 of moment. 
 
 " I'm sorry to come like this," said Aglionby, " but, 
 believe me, I've every excuse." 
 
 To his surprise, Gilbert did not take any notice of 
 him, at which Mrs. Ware said sharply : 
 
 " Don't you see the gentleman and hear what he 
 said 1 " 
 
 " He understands what's wrong with me," replied 
 Gilbert, " better than any one." 
 
 It seemed to Aglionby that Mrs. Ware winced 
 at her son's last words, before mechanically seating 
 herself at the table, where sewing she had already 
 commenced was waiting her further attention. 
 
 Aglionby was about to broach the subject of his 
 visit when Gilbert said : 
 
 " When you knocked at the door, I was cursing 
 my cruel luck." 
 
 Mrs. Ware paused in the act of threading her 
 needle. 
 
 " I never seem to have had the least chance in 
 life," continued Gilbert. " I've had everything aga,inst 
 me from the first." 
 
 " I'm sure me and the missus " began Tim. 
 
 " It's no use explaining. You — neither of you — 
 would, could understand," interrupted Gilbert. 
 
 " Better finish what you was doing," said Mrs. Ware 
 to her husband, at which the latter Jshuffled into the 
 scullery. 
 
 " I should like a few words with you," said Aghonby 
 to] Gilbert, 
 
278 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Can't you wait till to-morrow ? I well know 
 what you want to say. To-night, everything seems 
 against me." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " I hate myself and everything about me." 
 
 " Gilbert ! " protested his mother. 
 
 " I wish to God I'd never been born." 
 
 "Gilbert! Gilbert!" 
 
 " You don't know how cruelly, how infamously 
 I was insulted. I shall never forget it. Never. I 
 shall remember it all my life." 
 
 His bitter words, the anguish in his voice, and the 
 utter dejection of his manner visibly distressed his 
 mother, and not a little affected Aglionby : the 
 former made as if she would speak, but was apparently 
 too overcome for words : after furtively passing the 
 back of her hand across her eyes, she leaned her head 
 upon her arm, and in such a manner as to conceal her 
 face from the caller. 
 
 Aglionby, momentarily putting aside the object of 
 his visit, was moved to say to Gilbert : 
 
 " You should not speak as you did." 
 
 " Why not ? " asked Gilbert coldly. 
 
 " Because you pain those you should most con- 
 sider." 
 
 Gilbert was silent for a few moments before 
 saying : 
 
 " I'm not in my right senses to-night. If you 
 knew what I've suffered to-day, you would under- 
 stand." 
 
 " I should never understand your saying the brutal 
 things you said just now." 
 
 " No one understands me or ever will," declared 
 Gilbert miserably. 
 
 " I wonder whose fault that is," retorted Aglionby. 
 
THE QUEST 279 
 
 " But as I said before, something very important 
 has brought me here. I should like to speak to you 
 about it." 
 
 " Is it about— about ? " 
 
 " Yes," interrupted Aglionby, divining whom was 
 meant. " Shall I tell you here ? " 
 
 " Come into the parlour." 
 
 " If you've no objection, I can as easily tell you 
 here," urged Aglionby as he glanced at Mrs. Ware, 
 who was intently listening to all that was being 
 said. 
 
 " I'd rather you told me alone," replied Gilbert, as 
 he led the way to the little front parlour. 
 
 Aglionby was about to ask Mrs. Ware to excuse 
 his absence, when she exclaimed : 
 
 " More trouble ? " 
 
 " I'm afraid so." 
 
 " For him ? " 
 
 " Perhaps." 
 
 She sighed as Aglionby, after glancing compas- 
 sionately at the distressed woman, left the kitchen 
 and entered the parlour, where Gilbert, having lighted 
 the white paraffin lamp, closed the door. 
 
 " What is it ? " asked the latter. 
 
 " Lady Aenemone left her home this evening." 
 
 " What do you mean ? How ? " 
 
 " She's run away. She left a note, which was 
 found after she had gone." 
 
 " Good God ! " 
 
 " I thought she might have come here." 
 
 " When did she go ? " asked Gilbert ex- 
 citedly. 
 
 " This evening. There's nothing to worry about, 
 She's a level-headed young woman, and has probably 
 gone to friends." 
 
280 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " But why did she go 1 " 
 
 " Can't you guess ? " 
 
 " I daren't." 
 
 " Nothing is gained by concealing anything. She 
 left a note saying she intends marrying you at the 
 earliest opportunity." 
 
 " What did I tell you ? What did I tell you ? " 
 cried Gilbert exultantly. 
 
 " And I wanted to see you and ask you to help me 
 to prevent her doing anything of the kind," continued 
 Aglionby. 
 
 " What devil's work is this ? " asked Gilbert. " I 
 thought you were my friend ! " 
 
 "It is because I am proud to call you my friend 
 that I want you to help me prevent a sentimental 
 girl from doing something she would deeply regret 
 all her days." 
 
 " We love. How, then, could we be anything 
 other than happy 1 " 
 
 Aglionby reflected a few moments before say- 
 ing : 
 
 " Unfortunately this is a world, and marriage is a 
 state, where love is one among many essentials to 
 happiness. There are a thousand-and-one other 
 considerations " 
 
 " I know what you would say," interrupted Gilbert, 
 " But our life will not be lived among the worldly, 
 but with those who are working to realise our 
 ideals." 
 
 " For the moment, admitting that : how do you 
 think, from your own selfish point of view, the 
 marriage you contemplate will affect your socialist 
 work ? " 
 
 " Loving each other as we do, our joint 
 aims " 
 
THE QUEST 281 
 
 " Marriage with Lady Aenemone will make you a 
 host of enemies amongst your friends, which will 
 affect your happiness and retard your work," inter- 
 rupted Aglionby. 
 
 " Preposterous ! " 
 
 " They will never forgive you for making such a 
 marriage, particularly your women socialists. They 
 would hate Lady Aenemone for her birth, and would 
 not fail to let her know it." 
 
 Gilbert stared at AgUonby open-mouthed, before 
 asking : 
 
 " Are you serious ? Coming from any one 
 else " 
 
 " Perfectly. The human heart is the same the 
 world over and never changes. My friend, socialists 
 are not one whit less human than any one else ; if 
 anything, rather more so, and I've yet to learn that 
 envy, hatred, and malice, particularly among women, 
 are conspicuous by their absence." 
 
 " Women aren't like that ; especially Our 
 women." 
 
 " My friend, it's where you sociahsts go woe- 
 fully astray. You think that money and business 
 cause dissensions, when it's nothing of the kind. 
 Money dealings, if anything, bind people together, 
 while it's love, jealousy, envy, all the things out- 
 side of money^etting, that set people by the 
 ears." 
 
 " Whether what you say is true or not, you surely 
 don't think that such an argument is going to make 
 me give her up when she is now within my reach ? 
 For all your worldly knowledge, it's plain you don't 
 know what love is." 
 
 " You are mistaken," declared AgUonby gravely. 
 
 " You don't know what my love is." 
 
282 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " I believe I do. You love her so deeply, so truly, 
 that you would account it no sacrifice to give your 
 life for her if the necessity arose." 
 
 " That's expressing it weakly," cried Gilbert. 
 " And when I think of her, perhaps, alone in Lon- 
 don " 
 
 " Never mind that. I feel sure she is with friends 
 or I shouldn't be here. But since you love her so 
 unselfishly, you would rather do anything than harm 
 a hair of her head." 
 
 " You know it ! You know it ! " declared Gilbert 
 passionately. 
 
 " And it is for that reason that you are not 
 going to take advantage of her girlish love for you, 
 to bind her to you to life ; for that is what it would 
 mean." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " Let me finish. I'm not concerned with you. 
 You would be in a seventh heaven — for a time, 
 and " 
 
 " For always. You know it." 
 
 Aglionby ignored the interruption and went 
 on : 
 
 " You would be giving up nothing : she everything. 
 You said before, when you told me you loved her, 
 that she was going to renounce her money and position 
 when she became your wife, and I have not the slightest 
 doubt that you sincerely welcomed this decision. 
 But have you once reflected what such renunciation 
 would mean to her ? " 
 
 " It proves her devotion to socialism." 
 
 " Here is a delicately nurtured girl, surrounded 
 with wealth, and luxury, and deference from her 
 earUest days, and looking upon them as her right. I'll 
 say nothing of her utter unfitness to be the wife of 
 
THE QUEST 283 
 
 a man of small means ; but has it ever occurred to 
 you that she remotely knows what she is talking 
 about, or has any idea of what lies before her when 
 she contemplates such a sacrifice ? " 
 
 " Do you think she was talking for effect ? " asked 
 Gilbert angrily. 
 
 " I believe she meant every word that she said," 
 replied Aglionby. " But I deliberately say she does 
 not know what such a life would mean, and for that 
 reason I solemnly declare it would be an infamous 
 thing to take advantage of her youthful, impulsive 
 love to bind her to an existence of which she is woefully 
 ignorant." 
 
 " She tells me she has been giving up her time to 
 studying ways and means," urged Gilbert. 
 
 " And as ways and means are such an important 
 consideration in married life, may I ask, for both 
 your sakes, how you are going to live ? " 
 
 " I can make three pounds a week." 
 
 " She would think that a trifle to give for a 
 hat." 
 
 " She will renounce frivolity when she becomes my 
 wife." 
 
 " Seventeen is a fine age to renounce frivolity. 
 But apart from that, you will be unable to keep a 
 servant. Who is going to do the rough housework, 
 and cook, and contrive in order to make two ends 
 meet ? " 
 
 " We haven't gone into that," replied Gilbert, who 
 was evidently distressed by Aglionby's questions. 
 " Those things resolve themselves, and " 
 
 " A delicately nurtured girl doing unaccustomed 
 scrubbing usually resolves itself into rebellion or 
 illness. But apart from that, is it a wise experiment 
 to start housekeeping on three pounds a week with 
 
284 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 a girl who scarcely knows the difference in value 
 between a sovereign and a shilling ? " 
 
 " She will learn." 
 
 " Have you ever thought what a bitterly cruel 
 lesson it will prove ? Seventeen ! Brought up to 
 luxury ! Waited on hand and foot I Purple and 
 fine linen I My friend, my friend, my friend I " 
 
 Gilbert bit his lip and agitatedly walked the little 
 room. 
 
 Aglionby, pursuing his advantage, went on : 
 
 "And it doesn't end there. As years passed, the 
 instincts of her kind would assert themselves. She 
 would more and more feel the loss of everything of 
 which she had been deprived. You may disbelieve 
 me, but women are particularly sensitive on these 
 matters." 
 
 " Why did you come ? " asked Gilbert savagely. 
 " I thought you were my friend. Now " 
 
 " So I am. I wish to help Aenemone, and to make 
 you true to yourself and your great love for her. One 
 never really knows women, but from what I know of 
 her I'm convinced that, however much she suffered, 
 she'd never complain. But you would intuitively see 
 what was wrong " 
 
 " I won't hear any more," declared Gilbert wildly. 
 '' It has nothing to do with you. All of us aren't 
 governed by worldly motives. It concerns us two 
 alone." 
 
 " It concerns her happiness and well-being more 
 than anything," retorted Aglionby. 
 
 " I tell you she loves me. And if we are separated, 
 and she never sees me again, do you mean to tell me 
 that will make for her happiness ? " 
 
 "It is better she should suffer for a time than be 
 miserable for always. This is no time for mincing 
 
THE QUEST 285 
 
 words, and I tell you that a hasty marriage with such 
 an ignorant child would be dishonourable and a crime 
 against your love. It would be grossly selfish, and if 
 your love is worth the name and worthy of her, it 
 should be anything but that." 
 
 Aglionby waited for Gilbert to speak, but as he was 
 moodily silent, the other went on : 
 
 " Such a hasty marriage would be serious enough 
 with a girl in your own walk of life, but with one in 
 her position you know it is not right." 
 
 " Damn your position and rank ! " cried Gilbert 
 with sudden passion. " Haven't I the rights of a man, 
 which are as much to me ? " 
 
 " You know what she is giving up ; she does not ! 
 Is it — I ask you again — ^is it fair to take advantage 
 of her worldly ignorance ? You may think it is 
 now, as you are blinded by passion, but in your 
 sober moments you would be the first to realise 
 you are deeply wronging one you should most 
 befriend." 
 
 Gilbert appeared as if he would make a violent retort 
 to Aglionby's argument. He changed his mind, and 
 once more agitatedly paced the little room. 
 Presently he stopped, and said : 
 " If only I did not love her so much, I might know 
 what to do ! " 
 
 " At least give her the ghost of a chance." 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " If she comes to you, don't marry her right 
 away. She has acted to-day on the mad impulse 
 of the moment. Don't take advantage of that, but 
 give her the ghost of a chance of thinking things 
 over." 
 
 " And give you and her mother an opportunity of 
 taking her away from me for good ? " 
 
286 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " My friend, those days are long since past. If, 
 after due consideration, she is really determined to 
 marry you, nothing on earth can prevent her. But 
 at least " 
 
 " I believe there is much in what you say. I'm 
 not in a fit condition to judge," interrupted Gilbert. 
 " But if I thought you were not deceiving me, and 
 if I could convince myself you are only concerned for 
 her happiness " 
 
 " I am — I am," hotly declared the other. 
 
 " I would do this : I would not make any effort 
 to see her. If she writes, I might do my utmost to 
 persuade her to return. That is all I can hope to 
 do." 
 
 " You will do this ? " cried Aglionby ex- 
 citedly. 
 
 " I will try and convince myself it is the right 
 thing to do." 
 
 "What a mercy she didn't come here!" sighed 
 Aglionby. 
 
 " Were she here, I should be bhnded to everything 
 but her presence," replied Gilbert. 
 
 Hardly had he spoken, when a motor-cab was heard 
 approaching. It passed the Wares' house, to return 
 and stop outside. 
 
 As the two men glanced interrogatively at one 
 another, a timid knock was heard on the front 
 door. 
 
 " Who can it be ? " asked Gilbert excitedly. 
 
 " Perhaps Lady Derwentwater," replied Aglionby 
 lamely. 
 
 " She wouldn't come here." 
 
 The knock being repeated, Gilbert was about to 
 hasten from the room, when Mrs. Ware's firm footstep 
 was heard in the passage. 
 
THE QUEST 287 
 
 The straining ears of the two men heard a low- 
 voiced inquiry follow upon the answering of the 
 summons. 
 
 A moment or two later the door of the little 
 parlour was opened to admit a timidly resolute Lady 
 Aenemone. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE RUNAWAY 
 
 She wore a sable cloak lined with ermine over her 
 evening frock of white satin, with its tunic of Irish 
 lace, and carried a jewel case in her hand. 
 
 For some moments, she did not seem to see her 
 mother's friend, she having eyes only for Gilbert, on 
 whom she gazed with an adoring tenderness which 
 caused Aglionby's heart to sink. 
 
 When she presently perceived the latter, she gave 
 a start of surprise, while her face clouded, 
 
 Gilbert was the first to speak. 
 
 " You have come ! " he cried. 
 
 " Yes, my dear." 
 
 " You have come ! You have come ! " 
 
 " I have come to you," she declared softly — to add 
 as Aglionby was about to speak : 
 
 " It's no use talking, dear daddyho. It would be 
 waste of words." 
 
 " Are you so determined ? " he asked. 
 
 " How could I be otherwise, loving Gilbert as I do ? 
 
 " May I ask what you propose to do now 1 " asked 
 Aglionby of Gilbert. 
 
 " What a question ! " 
 
 " But after our conversation " 
 
 " If you have been persuading Gilbert to give me 
 
 288 
 
THE RUNAWAY 289 
 
 up, it is useless," interrupted the girl. " We love each 
 other too much." 
 
 " But " began Aglionby. 
 
 " Isn't this so ? " she asked softly of her lover. 
 
 " Yes, my dearest, a thousand times ' yes,' " replied 
 Gilbert passionately. 
 
 " May I ask if you wish me to leave you here ? " 
 asked AgUonby, who was wondering what was the 
 best course to pursue under the circumstances. 
 
 " Why not ? " she replied. 
 
 " Where are you going to sleep ? " 
 
 " Gilbert's mother can put me up." 
 
 «' But " began Gilbert. 
 
 " Can't she, dearest ? " 
 
 " Have you had an3rthing to eat ? " inquired 
 Aglionby, before Gilbert could reply, 
 
 " Gilbert's mother can give me some dinner." 
 
 " Dinner ! " echoed Gilbert thoughtfully. 
 
 Her two requests, which she considered were of 
 the most ordinary nature, sharply brought her 
 lover from the world of romance, in which he had 
 been temporarily living, into that of everyday sordid 
 reality. 
 
 He reflected a few moments before saying : 
 
 " This is no place for you." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " This house ; this street ; this neighbourhood. Our 
 ways are not your ways." 
 
 "What nonsense are you talking, dearest ? " 
 
 "It's not nonsense: brutal, hard sense. You 
 should never have come." 
 
 " Don't you want me, dearest ? " she cried, with 
 tremulous lips and with an immense reproach in her 
 eyes. 
 
 " What a question ! But — ^but " 
 
 19 
 
290 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 He looked about him at the humble furniture of the 
 little parlour, as if this could explain his meaning 
 better than he could express it. 
 
 " You hurt me by suggesting I'm at all like 
 thatj" she assured him. " And there's something 
 else. Was that your mother who opened the 
 door ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied Gilbert shortly. 
 
 " I should like to see her." 
 
 " Is it necessary ? " 
 
 " Of course it is, if I wish it. But if I am 
 to belong to you, I naturally want to meet your 
 mother." 
 
 " Yes, but " 
 
 " There are no ' buts,' dear. Why should there 
 be ? I should also like to see your father if he is 
 at home." 
 
 It seemed to Aglionby that Gilbert's face fell as she 
 made this request ; perhaps she also perceived his 
 reluctance to introduce her to his parents, for she 
 asked : 
 
 " Don't you wish me to see them just yet ? " 
 
 " Of course I do, but " 
 
 " But what ? " she urged, as he hesitated. 
 
 He was about to make some sort of a reply when 
 the engine of the waiting motor-cab, which the driver 
 had stopped, was restarted. 
 
 " I haven't paid the cab," she said, " and I haven't 
 any money." 
 
 " Let me," suggested Aglionby. 
 
 "No. I can accept nothing from you now. Gilbert 
 can pay presently." 
 
 " Why not now ? " asked Aglionby. 
 
 " The man can wait. I want to see Gilbert's father 
 and mother," 
 
THE RUNAWAY 291 
 
 " But that will mean more money for the cab," 
 urged Aglionby. 
 
 " Nothing worth bothering about," she replied. 
 
 " But since you are to marry Gilbert, it might be 
 as well to practise economy." 
 
 " Throw his poverty in his face," she cried, with 
 heightening colour and defiant eyes. 
 
 " You know I would never do that," replied Aglionby 
 gravely. 
 
 " I am sorry, dear daddyho. I know you 
 wouldn't," said a suddenly repentant Lady 
 Aenemone. " But I'm tired and hungry after my 
 adventures." 
 
 " Adventures I " queried Gilbert anxiously. 
 
 " Coming here. But you'd better pay the man, 
 dearest. It's several shillings. I went to several of 
 my friends, but they were either out or unsympa- 
 thetic." 
 
 Gilbert looked troubled as he searched his pockets, 
 but, a few moments later, he said : 
 
 " I don't seem to have any change. I'll ask 
 mother." 
 
 Foreseeing a like difficulty with Mrs. Ware, Aglionby 
 said : 
 
 " I shall want something to take me back. Ask 
 him to wait for me." 
 
 " But " began Lady Aenemone. 
 
 "That's all right," interrupted Aglionby. "I can 
 settle with Gilbert another time." 
 
 " See that you do," said Gilbert, as he made for 
 the door. 
 
 " And tell your mother and father I should like to 
 see them," declared Lady Aenemone. 
 
 " Very well, if you wish it," replied Gilbert reluct- 
 antly, as he left the room. 
 
292 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 Alone with the girl, Aglionby wondered i£ it were 
 worth while objecting to her headstrong behaviour in 
 the few moments at his disposal : perhaps she divined 
 his thoughts, for she said : 
 
 " I know you've come from mumsie to take me 
 back, but nothing, nothing will make me go." 
 
 " My dear ! My dear ! " he began. 
 
 " It's no use grieving, dearest daddyho. You love 
 mumsie, and I believe in her heart of hearts she 
 loves you. If she misses me, it is for you to console 
 her." 
 
 " Why this haste ? Why this mad haste ? " 
 
 " Mumsie drove me to it." 
 
 " That doesn't excuse " 
 
 " And I love Gilbert, That explains, excuses, 
 everything." 
 
 Aglionby made a gesture of despair, at which she 
 added : 
 
 " And then there's socialism I " 
 
 " Curse socialism ! " he cried fervently. " If it 
 hadn't been for that " 
 
 "If I could only convert you ! " she declared 
 gravely, at which Aglionby did not know whether 
 to laugh or to grieve. 
 
 Whatever he might have done was prevented by 
 the appearance of Gilbert, who hastily entered the 
 room and closed the door. 
 
 " Where are they ? " asked Lady Aenemone. 
 
 " Who ? " 
 
 " Your mother and father." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " I thought you went to fetch them." 
 
 " I spoke to the motor-cab driver." 
 
 " Will you go for them now ? " 
 
 " Do you really wish it ? " 
 
THE RUNAWAY 293 
 
 " Of course I wish it," she declared, at which 
 Gilbert unwillingly left the room, at least so it seemed 
 to Aglionby. 
 
 Immediately he had gone, Lady Aenemone ad- 
 vanced to Aglionby and placed her hand upon his 
 arm, as she said : 
 
 " Do you remember your promise ? " 
 
 " Which ? " 
 
 " The one you made the night we went to dinner 
 at the Caples'. It was that you would always be my 
 friend." 
 
 " It is why I am here, my dear." 
 
 " That you would always be my true and sincere 
 and loving friend ! " 
 
 " That is why I want to prevent you from doing 
 something you might regret all your life." 
 
 " How could I when I am going to be so 
 happy ? Don't look so sorrowful, dear. I quite 
 know what I'm about. I've been considering it for 
 weeks." 
 
 As he did not reply, she was so moved by his troubled 
 expression that she stood on tiptoe and placed her 
 arms about his head in order that she might kiss his 
 forehead. 
 
 This accomplished, she smiled sadly, and after 
 taking off her cloak she stood in her low-cut evening 
 frock before the mantelshelf and smoothed her soft 
 hair. 
 
 When, a few moments later, Gilbert, his mother 
 and Tim entered the parlour, Lady Aenemone quickly 
 turned. 
 
 " My mother — my father," said Gilbert. 
 Lady Aenemone made as if she would impulsively 
 advance to greet Mrs, Ware, but was restrained by the 
 expression on the latter's face, which was a compound 
 
294 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 of hostility, nervousness, surprise at the girl's 
 unexpectedly winsome appearance, and displeasure 
 at what the working-woman conceived to be 
 her frankly immodest appearance in an evening 
 frock. 
 
 There was an awkward silence, which was broken 
 by Gilbert. 
 
 " Lady Aenemone has left her home to come to 
 me for good. I believe we are to be married as soon 
 as possible," he declared, before asking of Lady 
 Aenemone, " Is this so ? " 
 
 " It is so," she replied with a low voiccj while her 
 eyes were fixed appealingly on Mrs. Ware. 
 
 The latter greeted this information with a move- 
 ment of her body which, as when she had first met 
 Aglionby, suggested an old-fashioned curtsey, while 
 Tim shambled towards Lady Aenemone, and after 
 taking her hand, said : 
 
 " You're a lucky girl, my dear." 
 
 " I know that," she replied. 
 
 " In marrying an honest yoUng fellow like our 
 Gilbert, instead of one of them harum-scarum spend- 
 thrift aristocrats." 
 
 The girl smiled. Tim went on : 
 
 " It's a good thing you come this evening." 
 
 " Indeed ! " 
 
 " I got all the washing-up done and cleaned myself 
 early." 
 
 " Father ! " protested Gilbert sharply. 
 
 " And now I'll see about getting a treat for supper 
 to celebrate the occasion." 
 
 " I'm glad to hear that," declared Lady Aenemone. 
 " I am so hungry." 
 
 " Then I'll be off at once. Got a couple of shillings, 
 missus ? " 
 
THE RUNAWAY 294 
 
 Mrs. Ware produced her purse, and, to Gilbert's 
 obvious annoyance, was some time finding the money ; 
 this she ultimately gave her husband in small silver 
 and coppers. 
 
 " Gtetting near the end o' the week, missie," Tim 
 genially informed Lady Aenemone, by way of ex- 
 plaining the scarcity of ready money. 
 
 " Have you had your dinner ? " asked Lady 
 Aenemone of Aglionby, when Tim had gone. 
 
 " I've had all I want," he informed her. 
 
 " Then there'll be all the more for one," she laughed. 
 
 There was a further silence, during which Aglionby 
 essayed to divine the best thing to be done : then 
 Mrs. Ware asked : 
 
 " Did you say you was here for good, my 
 lady ? " 
 
 " If you will have me." 
 
 " Of course we will, if it's good enough for you," 
 declared Gilbert. 
 
 " But where are you to sleep ? " exclaimed practical- 
 minded Mrs. Ware. 
 
 " I can sleep anywhere." 
 
 " But we've no room. Everything is let to 
 lodgers." 
 
 " She can have my room," declared Gilbert hastily, 
 and as if angered by his mother's reason for the lack 
 of accommodation. 
 
 " Where will you sleep ? " asked Mrs. Ware of 
 Gilbert. 
 
 " Anywhere. Here." 
 
 " In the parlour ? " she exclaimed in surprise. 
 
 " I can walk about the streets all night. Anything. 
 Don't make such difficulties," he urged curtly. 
 
 " I can make you up a bed in the kitchen and put 
 clean sheets in your bed, only " 
 
296 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Only what, mother ? " he ungraciously inter- 
 rupted. 
 
 " There's Miss 'Itt." 
 
 " What about Miss 'Itt ? " 
 
 " She coughs shocking. She may keep the lady 
 awake," replied Mrs. Ware — ^to add for Lady Aene- 
 mone's behoof : " She's in a decline." 
 
 " I'd no idea I was putting you all to such trouble. 
 I can sleep at an hotel." 
 
 " Hotel ? " queried Mrs. Ware. 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 " There's no such things here." 
 
 " Not ? " 
 
 " Only common lodging-'ouses." 
 
 " I'll sleep anywhere if you'll only give me some- 
 thing to eat," declared Lady Aenemone. " I wasn't 
 hungry tiU I got here safely." 
 
 *' Tim won't be long, my lady." 
 
 " Tim ? " queried the girl. 
 
 " My 'usband." (The nervousness begotten of 
 Lady Aenemone's unexpected arrival and of Gilbert's 
 obvious anxiety that his mother should do and say 
 the right thing, made the latter unwittingly careless 
 of speech.) " P'raps he'll bring back a nice bit of 
 tinned salmon." 
 
 " I'm afraid I'm giving a lot of trouble." 
 
 " I'm sure you're welcome, my lady, if only it's 
 good enough for you," replied Mrs. Ware, who said 
 to Gilbert, " Will you give me a hand ? " 
 
 " Certainly. Are you going now ? " he asked of 
 Aglionby. 
 
 " I'd prefer to wait a few minutes," said Aglionby 
 coldly. 
 
 Then, as Gilbert hesitated, Lady Aenemone 
 said : 
 
THE RUNAWAY 297 
 
 " Don't be afraid, dear. He won't spirit me away. 
 I've quite made up my mind." 
 
 She watched her lover leave the room with hia 
 mother, before sitting in a chair and looking about 
 her for the first time. 
 
 " What do you think of your new surroimdings ? " 
 asked Aglionby. As she did not reply, he added : 
 " Because these are what you will more or less have 
 for the rest of your days." 
 
 " Gilbert is clever and will do great things," she 
 retorted. 
 
 " It isn't always the clever men who make the 
 money." 
 
 " Even if he doesn't — ^and it's a very big ' if ' — it 
 wiU make no difference." 
 
 " Indeed ! " 
 
 " We shall have one another." 
 
 Aglionby was grieving that such a lovable, tender- 
 hearted girl was thus throwing herself away, and 
 was wondering how far the assistance of the law 
 might be invoked to prevent the marriage of a girl 
 who was not yet of age, when she interrupted his 
 thoughts by saying : 
 
 " I know you are very angry with me, dear " 
 
 " I'm not angry, but sorry," he interrupted. 
 
 " But I've more than ever made up my mind to 
 marry Gilbert since I saw the dreadful poverty I 
 passed through to-night." 
 
 " How on earth can that affect your marrying 
 Gilbert ? " 
 
 "So we can devote our time to getting rid of it 
 all." 
 
 " More socialism ! " he cried, aghast. 
 
 " Yes," she replied gravely. 
 
 He laughed outright from bitterness of spirit. 
 
298 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Why do you laugh at me 1 " she asked. 
 
 " If you only knew what bitter, bitter disillusion 
 lies before you. All these people about here are 
 much happier than they seem, because they have 
 never known anything better. They only ask to be 
 
 let alone, and But what's the use of arguing ? 
 
 If I did not care for you so much, I should let you 
 discover the truth of things for yourself." 
 
 " If you are so fond of me, as I believe you are, 
 dearest daddyho, you should do all you can to bring 
 Gilbert and myself together." 
 
 " Other things than love are necessary to your 
 happiness, Aenemone. But apart from that : what 
 are you going to do about clothes ? " 
 
 " Clothes ! " 
 
 " If you go about Stepney in that beautiful frock, 
 you will be mobbed." 
 
 " Gilbert must get me what I want to-morrow." 
 
 " Who will pay for them ? " 
 
 " He will, of course." 
 
 " What you want to go on with would absorb all 
 he makes in a year." 
 
 " Laugh at him for his poverty ! " she cried. 
 
 " I'm only anxious to point out to you what a 
 charge you will be upon his pocket. How do you 
 propose to get married ? " 
 
 " By special Ucence." 
 
 " That costs several pounds. Where do you think 
 the money is coming from ? " 
 
 " Gilbert ! " 
 
 " I dare say he wishes he had the money. And 
 since I understand you won't accept your own 
 money when you come of age, you cannot anticipate 
 any part of it. Where is the money to start your 
 home coming from ? " 
 
THE RUNAWAY 299 
 
 She looked at him in blank surprise, seeing which, 
 he said : 
 
 "All these things never occurred to my httle 
 Aenemone ? " 
 
 "I'm afraid they did not." 
 
 " Don't you think, then, it would be wiser to post- 
 pone this marriage till things, in this respect, are a 
 trifle more settled ? " 
 
 She was lost in serious thought. Aglionby was con- 
 gratulating himself he had weakened her resolution, 
 when she said : 
 
 " I'd quite forgotten." 
 
 " Forgotten what ? " 
 
 By way of reply, she went to the jewel case 
 she had brought ; after unfastening it she revealed 
 many very valuable rings, bracelets, and necklaces 
 to Aglionby's gaze. A string of black pearls, 
 which was worth a small fortune, was among 
 them. 
 
 " These are all mine," she declared. " Most of them 
 were left me by my father. What a good thing I 
 remembered to bring them ! " 
 
 Thus confounded, he was marveUing what argument 
 was best adapted to achieve his purpose, when his 
 personal bias in the matter got the better of his self- 
 control. 
 
 " It's all too terrible ! " he cried, as he agitatedly 
 paced the little room. 
 
 " Daddyho ! " she exclaimed in surprise. 
 
 " A rare and beautiful creature like yourself throwing 
 yourself away as you are doing ! " 
 
 " You forget that I love him." 
 
 " What does a child like you know of love ? I 
 believe this will grieve me as much as if you were 
 really my own little girl." 
 
300 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " If I were that, you would at once give in to me 
 so that I should be happy." 
 
 " I should do all that was possible to keep you 
 from misery." 
 
 " Misery I " 
 
 " Certain misery. You do not think so now, because 
 you do not know. But you and he, however estimable 
 he is, are in wholly different worlds, and such a marriage 
 can only result in ultimate discord and certain misery 
 and vain regrets for you." 
 
 " You have no right to say that," she declared 
 hotly. 
 
 "If I see you in danger, isn't it my business 
 to save you ? Loving you as I do, I cannot help 
 myself." 
 
 "It isn't only that," she retorted. "You have 
 come for mumsie's sake, and because you wish to 
 marry her." 
 
 "I have certainly come for your mother's 
 sake, but quite as much for my own," he informed 
 her. 
 
 "For mumsie's sake," she insisted. "She 
 always said she could make you do anything she 
 wanted." 
 
 " I will tell you the truth. Your mother gave me 
 to understand that if I brought you back and pre- 
 vented this marriage, she would do anything I asked 
 of her." 
 
 " What did I tell you ! " 
 
 " Wait ! Much as I love your mother, and wish to 
 make her my wife, I would give up all idea of marrying 
 her if by so doing I could prevent your marriage to 
 Gilbert." 
 
 Then, as she did not speak, he asked : 
 
 " Does not that prove my sincerity ? " 
 
THE RUNAWAY 301 
 
 She looked at him thoughtfully and nodded her 
 pretty head, 
 
 " But why this haste ? " he went on. " Why not 
 give yourself more time ? " 
 
 " I could not go home now." 
 
 " Nonsense ! " 
 
 " Really I couldn't." 
 
 " Then let me take you somewhere, anywhere 
 you please. Your mother would never, perhaps, 
 forgive me, but it would be fairer to you, fairer to 
 Gilbert." 
 
 *' How fairer to Gilbert ? " she asked quickly. 
 
 " We can go to Long's Hotel for the night, 
 and to-morrow I'll get a furnished house some- 
 where " 
 
 " How fairer to Gilbert ? " she interrupted. 
 
 " And engage a companion and servants, and " 
 
 " Will you tell me how by waiting a little it would 
 be fairer to Gilbert ? " 
 
 "Eh?" 
 
 "I insist on knowing." 
 
 Seeing how concern for the man she loved affected 
 her, he resolved to make the most of the opportunity 
 that had presented itself. 
 
 " Obviously," he replied. 
 
 " It is not obvious to me. It seems his best chance 
 of getting me if we get married at once." 
 
 " Do you know how much Gilbert makes a week 
 when he is in work ? " 
 
 " Three pounds. He told me." 
 
 " How far will that go ? " 
 
 Lady Aenemone glanced at her jewellery, which was 
 carelessly heaped upon the table. 
 
 " That won't last for ever. And then " 
 
 " Gilbert will be making money." 
 
302 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " That is supposition. And his efforts will be handi- 
 capped by worrying on your account." 
 
 " He will have nothing to worry about so far as I 
 am concerned." 
 
 " My dear Aenemone, for a Tuan like Gilbert to 
 make money it will require every bit of intelligence, 
 ability, energy, and resource he can command. And 
 loving you as he does, he will be all the time worrying 
 because you have not the luxuries to which you have 
 been accustomed." 
 
 " He knows I despise them," she cried. 
 
 " That won't prevent his striving to provide them, 
 and worrying grievously because they don't come along. 
 Men who love their wives are like that." 
 
 " I shan't let him worry," she declared. 
 
 " And what is going to happen in the meantime ? 
 You can't afford a servant. Who is going to do the 
 rough work of the house ? " 
 
 " I shall be proud to do it." 
 
 " My dear Aenemone ! It's only women who are 
 brought up and inured to work who can do that. You 
 are by no means strong. You have no conception of 
 what it means to rough it." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " Let me finish. Before you know where you are, 
 you will break down, and Gilbert will be hampered 
 with a delicate wife." 
 
 " You are supposing things." 
 
 " Probabilities. And it doesn't end there. More 
 likely than not, you wiU have children. You will not 
 be able to afford a nurse. And doing housework on 
 top of looking after children has broken the constitu- 
 tion of women far stronger than you." 
 
 " For myself I do not mind," she said reflectively. 
 " I'm thinking of GUbert." 
 
THE RUNAWAY 303 
 
 " You are not the wife for a man in his position. 
 Your tastes, upbringing, instincts — ^it's all so obvious 
 it's waste of breath insisting on it. Loving you 
 as he does, you will be a lifelong anxiety to him, 
 and " 
 
 " Don't say any more, dear daddyho. Not for a 
 moment. I believe you mean it for the best, really 
 I do — but I want to think." 
 
 While she was occupied with her thoughts, he 
 narrowly watched her, hoping against hope that his 
 warning would make her see the error of her ways 
 before Gilbert came back. 
 
 When she presently spoke, she said : 
 
 " I mean to marry Gilbert. Nothing will stop my 
 doing that. But I want to do my very best for 
 him." 
 
 " If you would only let me advise you," he 
 cried. 
 
 " I will listen to what you have to say." 
 
 " If you've really made up your mind to marry 
 him " 
 
 " You know I have," she interrupted impa- 
 tiently. 
 
 " Give yourself a little more time ; that is to say, 
 don't cut yourself adrift from your friends and rela- 
 tions by doing something for which they would never 
 forgive you." 
 
 " If they did not understand, I " 
 
 " Think how they might help Gilbert." 
 
 " What do you mean 1 " she asked quickly. 
 
 " Starting married life on a precarious three pounds 
 a week is out of the question, and can only end in 
 disaster. By using your influence, you might get 
 Gilbert an invaluable start, particularly as he has 
 brains. And when you get your own money, he can 
 
304 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 get into Parliament, and make a career worthy of 
 you and himself." 
 
 " But that would mean not getting married to- 
 morrow," she complained. 
 
 " Can't you deny yourself for his benefit ? " he 
 exclaimed, as he perspired from sheer anxiety. " It's 
 your pride that is at stake, and you can surely forgo 
 that for the man you love." 
 
 " If I only knew what was best ! " she sighed. 
 
 "At least you can't stay here for the night," he 
 urged. 
 
 " Why ? " she asked blankly. 
 
 " See how you are putting them out. They're 
 worrying themselves out of their minds because they 
 can't give you the things to which you are accus- 
 tomed." 
 
 The girl's eyes sought the jewellery upon the table. 
 
 "Money can't get them at such short notice," 
 he went on. " Be guided by me, dear, I won't 
 take you home. If you could only read my heart 
 you would see how deeply anxious I am for your 
 welfare." 
 
 He could see that she was wavering, and he beUeved 
 that if Gilbert were present the latter would assent 
 to his proposition, if only because his pride would 
 not wish Lady Aenemone to be acquainted with 
 the shifts and expedients to which those who 
 worked for a working-class wage were compelled to 
 submit. 
 
 Aghonby was wondering if he should summon him, 
 when he heard a motor-cab come along the street and 
 stop in the neighbourhood of the Wares'. 
 
 " Listen ! " cried Lady Aenemone, greatly alarmed, 
 
 " What's the matter 1 " 
 
 " Didn't you hear that motor ? " 
 
THE RUNAWAY 305 
 
 " What of it 1 " 
 
 " It's mumsie." 
 
 " Nonsense." 
 
 " I know it is. Look through the blind and see." 
 
 He did as he was bid, to see the driver of the 
 taxicab which had last arrived approach the Wares' 
 door, while an unmistakable Lady Derwentwater was 
 looking from the window of the vehicle. 
 
 ?Q 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 A TACTFUL WOMAN 
 
 Aglionb Y, with sinking heart, turned from the window, 
 and saw that the girl was waiting in a trembling sus- 
 pense ; as the driver's knock resounded on the Wares' 
 door, she started violently. 
 
 " What did I tell you ? " she cried. 
 
 " There's nothing to be alarmed at," he assured her. 
 
 " Don't let her take me away," she pleaded. 
 
 " Rely on me." 
 
 " Don't — don't let her take me away ! " 
 
 Gilbert was heard quickly descending the stairs, at 
 which Aglionby went out to intercept him. 
 
 " There's some one there," said Gilbert anxiously. 
 " I believe I heard a car." 
 
 " It's Lady Derwentwater," Aglionby informed him. 
 
 " What ! " 
 
 " It's Lady Derwentwater." 
 
 " Have you sent for her ? " cried Gilbert. 
 
 " How could I have done ? I'd better see to her 
 while you see to Aenemone." 
 
 Aglionby opened the door as the driver was about 
 to knock again. 
 
 The latter was evidently surprised at his summons 
 being answered by a man in evening dress. 
 
 306 
 
A TACTFUL WOMAN 307 
 
 " Here's a lady that wants to speak to some one in 
 the house, sir," said the man. 
 
 " That's all right. She's a friend of mine. I'll go 
 to her." 
 
 Before Aglionby had reached the cab. Lady Der- 
 wentwater cried : 
 
 " Is that you, Dick ? " 
 
 " Yes, Jane." 
 
 " What an awful neighbourhood ! " 
 
 " S-sh ! " admonished Aghonby, who had noticed 
 that the unusual appearance of two taxicabs in such 
 a humble street was attracting considerable attention 
 in the neighbourhood of the Wares. 
 
 " Is there great danger ? " she asked fearfully. " I 
 know I've come at the risk of my life. And have you 
 found Aenemone ? " 
 
 " She's here." 
 
 " Here ! " 
 
 " Arrived almost directly after I did." 
 
 " Why haven't you brought her back ? " 
 
 " It's not so easy." 
 
 " Nonsense ! Or is it that you're both frightened 
 of being murdered ? " 
 
 " I'd all but persuaded her to go when you came. 
 Why did you ? " 
 
 " Surely a mother's duty is to save her 
 daughter." 
 
 " But you promised me you wouldn't interfere." 
 
 " I know, Dick " 
 
 " You promised me you wouldn't interfere." 
 
 " Are you very angry, Dick ? " she asked, as she 
 laid her hand upon her arm. 
 
 " You' promised me you wouldn't interfere. I can 
 manage — or could have managed — ^much better by 
 myself." 
 
308 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " But your going away without any dinner prevented 
 me from having any " 
 
 " You haven't dined ! " he interrupted. 
 
 " I was too anxious, dear. And then I thought 
 of you in this horrible East End, and of how you 
 might either be murdered or muddle things, and so 
 I came myself. And now I'm quite exhausted and 
 irritable." 
 
 " What do you suggest doing ? " 
 
 " Now we've found Aenemone, taking her away at 
 once, of course." 
 
 " But she won't come." 
 
 " Tell her I'm here." 
 
 " She knows that already." 
 
 " Try once more. If she won't come, I must fetch 
 her myself." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " I understand the working-classes," she declared 
 as if by way of answering his unexpressed objection. 
 
 As Aglionby left the countess, he realised how dis- 
 mally her coming would affect his chances of persuading 
 Lady Aenemone to leave Gilbert. He was confident 
 that his irresponsible Jane would do or say something 
 which would excite her daughter's resentment and 
 obstinacy. 
 
 When he got inside the door, he found an anxious- 
 faced Gilbert in the passage, while his mother stood 
 at the top of the flight of stairs. 
 
 " Has she gone ? " asked Gilbert. 
 
 Aglionby shook his head. 
 
 " What is she going to do 1 " 
 
 " I cannot tell." 
 " She shan't take her away." 
 " It's a question Lady Aenemone must decide for 
 herself." 
 
A TACTFUL WOMAN 309 
 
 Aglionby entered the parlour, when he was discour- 
 aged at perceiving that the girl's face wore the deter- 
 mined look he was beginning to know so well. 
 
 " Is she going back ? " asked Lady Aenemone. 
 
 " She insists on your returning with her." 
 
 " Didn't you tell her it was useless ? " 
 
 " She sent me to bring you." 
 
 " You won't go ! " urged Gilbert, who had followed 
 Aglionby into the room. 
 
 " You know I won't leave you," she replied. 
 
 " What's to be done ? " asked Aglionby desperately. 
 
 " Tell her it's no use," said Lady Aenemone — 
 " no use at all, and that I've quite made up my 
 mind." 
 
 " You must settle it between you. I can do no 
 more," declared Aglionby helplessly. " But I warn 
 you she is very angry over the whole thing. She 
 hasn't had any dinner " 
 
 " I know what that means," interrupted Lady 
 Aenemone. " But I'm not frightened of her now I've 
 my Gilbert to protect me." 
 
 " You'd better make up your minds quickly and 
 tell her your decision. She'll be here directly if you 
 don't." 
 
 " Here ? " queried Gilbert incredulously. 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 " After the way she insulted me ? " 
 
 " I know what I should do were I in her position," 
 retorted Aglionby irritably. 
 
 Hardly had he spoken when a determined knock 
 was heard on the front door. 
 
 " You'd better go," said Lady Aenemone to 
 Gilbert. 
 
 " After her insults ! " exclaimed Gilbert. 
 
 " If you don't, some one else must." 
 
310, THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " I'll go," said Aglionby. " And, for heaven's sake, 
 do keep your tempers." 
 
 As he had expected, he found the countess on the 
 doorstep. 
 
 " Where is Aenemone ? " she asked peremptorily. 
 
 " She won't come." 
 
 " Can I see her ? " 
 
 Aglionby hesitated. 
 
 " If I don't, I shall at once go to the police," she 
 declared. 
 
 " This isn't my house. But I suppose you'd better 
 come in. But, please, don't lose your temper, as 
 that will only make matters worse." 
 
 " I'm not a child, Dick," she retorted, as she stood 
 in the passage. 
 
 " Here's your mother," said Aglionby, as he opened 
 the door of the parlour. 
 
 As Lady Derwentwater stood within the little room, 
 it seemed to Aglionby that her distinction and come- 
 liness, which were set off by her gorgeous raiment, 
 caused the meanness of the apartment to be glaringly 
 apparent. He was marvelling if the mother's resplen- 
 dent appearance would make a like impression upon 
 her daughter, when the former surprised him by sud- 
 denly advancing upon the trembhngly defiant girl, 
 taking her tenderly in her arms and weeping upon 
 her shoulder. He wondered, and was angry with him- 
 self at the surmise, if the countess were playing a 
 part, although he could not deny that her daughter 
 was affected by her mother's extremity. 
 
 " Don't, mumsie ! " she protested. 
 
 " How could you ! How could you ! " 
 
 " Don't ! don't ! " 
 
 " I know I said hard things. You know I did not 
 mean them." 
 
A TACTFUL WOMAN 311 
 
 " Don't ! It only makes it worse." 
 
 " You've no idea how miserable it has made 
 me." 
 
 " Please don't, mumsie. And Gilbert's here." 
 
 Thus admonished, Lady Derwentwater dried her 
 eyes on an exquisite lace handkerchief, and was, per- 
 haps, bringing herseK impersonally to realise the fact 
 of Gilbert's presence, when her eye caught sight of 
 the heap of jewellery upon the table. 
 
 " Aenemone ! " she cried. 
 
 " Yes, mumsie." 
 
 " Look at all those things." 
 
 " What of them ? " 
 
 " Are they safe 1 " 
 
 " Safe ? " 
 
 " You know what a dreadful district this is. I've 
 never been in such a place. And you've brought your 
 black pearls ! " 
 
 " Jane ! " protested Aglionby. 
 
 " We may be poor, but we are not thieves," de- 
 clared Gilbert. 
 
 " How could you, mumsie ! " cried Lady Aenemone. 
 
 " What have I said ! " protested the countess. " If 
 I've ofEended any one, you must remember I've come 
 away without any dinner and after a most anxious, 
 exhausting day. Dick hasn't had any either. That's 
 another thing you have to answer for." 
 
 " Never mind about me," put in AgMonby. 
 
 "And you needn't be cruel, Aenemone, particularly 
 after I have risked my life in coming all this way to 
 find you." 
 
 " How do you mean, risked your life ? Did you 
 drive recklessly ? " 
 
 " I couldn't let the servants know I was coming to 
 such a neighbourhood, so I came in a taxicab." 
 
312 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Mumsie ! " 
 
 " And over and over again, I saw such low-looking 
 men, I was quite in fear of my life." 
 
 Aglionby made a gesture of despair. 
 
 " What's the matter, Dick ? " asked the coun- 
 tess. 
 
 Before he could formulate a reply, Mrs. Ware stood 
 in the doorway. 
 
 " This is Mrs. Ware," said Aglionby, who beheved 
 that Gilbert was annoyed by his mother's appearance. 
 
 Lady Derwentwater coldly bowed, at which Mrs. 
 Ware nervously curtsied and said : 
 
 " Good evening, your ladyship." 
 
 " I'm sorry to come like this and on such a painful 
 matter," said the countess. 
 
 " 'Tisn't more painful to your ladyshp than 'tis 
 to me," replied Mrs. Ware. 
 
 " Indeed ! How can that be 1 " 
 
 " I've been against it from the first." 
 
 " Did you say " 
 
 " As it can only lead to trouble for all." 
 
 " Mother I " protested Gilbert. 
 
 " Right's right and wrong's wrong, and 'tisn't right 
 for such as we to mix with such as you." 
 
 Gilbert made a gesture of impatience. 
 
 " 'Tis what I thinks, and nothing '11 ever alter 
 it." 
 
 Lady Derwentwater could scarcely realise that 
 she had obtained an ally in such an unexpected 
 quarter. Her face beamed with gratitude as she 
 said : 
 
 " Now that is really sweet of you. I'd no idea you'd 
 be so reasonable." 
 
 " It will make no difference," declared Gilbert. 
 
 " It's quite lifted a weight from my mind, and if I 
 
A TACTFUL WOMAN 313 
 
 could only get some dinner (I came away without 
 eating a thing) I'm convinced we could find a way 
 out satisfactory to every one." 
 
 " But, mumsie " began Lady Aenemone. 
 
 " Couldn't we all go to some nice hotel in the neigh- 
 bourhood, where, after getting something to eat, we 
 could talk things over quietly ? " 
 
 " There's no such thing," Aglionby informed 
 her. 
 
 " There must be." 
 
 " Indeed not." 
 
 " What a dreadful place ! But perhaps Mrs. Ware 
 will get me something." 
 
 " Tim's just gone out for something," said the 
 woman addressed. 
 
 " Tim ? " 
 
 " My husband, your ladyship." 
 
 " I don't want much — a cutlet, a wing of 
 chicken, and a savoury," suggested Lady Der- 
 wentwater, and as if fully conscious of the simplicity 
 of her needs. 
 
 " I'm afraid bread-and-cheese is all we have in the 
 'ouse, your ladyship. Folks like us don't live as the 
 likes of you." 
 
 " Mother ! " protested Gilbert. 
 
 " But what we have you're welcome to and kindly, 
 if it's good enough for your ladyship," said Mrs. Ware 
 with simple courtesy. 
 
 " My good woman, I didn't dream of putting you to 
 trouble and expense on my account. I wasn't thinking 
 of myself, but my friend Mr. Aglionby has had no 
 dinner and must be starving." 
 
 " Never mind about me," protested Aglionby. 
 
 " And whatever I had, I should pay you hand- 
 somely." 
 
314 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Offering and accepting be different things," de- 
 clared Mrs. Ware. " But Tim's gone out for a bit of 
 a relish. P'r'aps you can do with that." 
 
 " I'm sure I can," declared Lady Derwentwater 
 fervently. 
 
 A more or less awkward silence ensued, during which 
 Aglionby noticed that Lady Aenemone's eyes hardly 
 ever left her lover's face ; also that Mrs. Ware, for 
 all her apprehensions of what was toward, was, as if 
 in spite of herself, fascinated by Lady Derwentwater's 
 exquisite evening frock. 
 
 The opening of the front door was followed by Tim's 
 shuffling footsteps in the passage. 
 
 " Hadn't you better teU him who is here ? " said 
 Gilbert quickly to his mother, 
 
 " He'll know fast enough," replied Mrs. Ware. 
 
 " But " 
 
 Before he could protest against his father's appear- 
 ance in the parlour, the door opened and a perspiring 
 Tim entered. He carried a parcel wrapped up in 
 newspaper, and what appeared to be a bottle of wine 
 swathed in soft brown paper. 
 
 " Sorry to be so long, missus," he began, to be 
 puUed up short by the unexpectedly decorative ap- 
 pearance of Lady Derwentwater in his home. 
 
 " Mr. Ware," said the latter graciously (she 
 was eager to win over Gilbert's father to her 
 side), " I think we've had the pleasure of meeting 
 before." 
 
 " Day of the deputation," remarked Tim, who was 
 endeavouring to mobilise his wits, which had been 
 scattered by Lady Derwentwater's presence. 
 
 " You know why I have come," she went on. 
 
 " Respecting this here marriage of your darter to 
 our Gilbert." 
 
A TACTFUL WOMAN 315 
 
 " Exactly." 
 
 " As I told the young lady, she's one of the lucky 
 ones." 
 
 " I beg your pardon ! " 
 
 " In marrying a mechanic who makes good 
 money instead o' one o' they flighty, spendthrift 
 aristocrats." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " I knew as how you, being a socialist, would look 
 on it all wi' kindly eyes." 
 
 " You are quite mistaken, my good man, if you 
 think anything of the kind. Such a marriage is 
 absolutely out of the question. I'm here to take 
 my daughter home," declared Lady Derwentwater 
 authoritatively . 
 
 " Your ladyship ! " gasped an astonished Tim. 
 
 " But she's not going back," said Gilbert, as he 
 glanced at Lady Aenemone for confirmation of his 
 words. 
 
 " Never ! " faltered the girl. 
 
 Aglionby expected an outburst of anger on the 
 countess's part. He was agreeably surprised when 
 she said quite civilly : 
 
 " We'll go into things thoroughly after we've had 
 something to eat." 
 
 " The ladies are hungry. What have you brought, 
 Tim ? " inquired Mrs. Ware. 
 
 " Lovely fried fish," replied Tim, as he placed the 
 bottle on the table, and proceeded to unroll the parcel 
 wrapped in newspaper. 
 
 " Don't undo it in here ! " cried Gilbert 
 anxiously. 
 
 " I wanted to show you I got ' middle bits,' " urged 
 Tim. 
 
 " Middle bits ? " queried the countess. 
 
316 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " It's the tenderest eating, and there's less bones 
 to stick in your throat," Tim informed her. 
 
 " Father ! " protested Gilbert angrily. 
 
 " Let me put it on a dish," said Mrs. Ware, as she 
 took the bundle of fried fish. " And help me lay the 
 table in here." 
 
 " In here ? " asked a greatly surprised Tim, 
 
 " You wouldn't expect her ladyship to sit down in 
 the kitchen," retorted his wife, as she made for the 
 door. 
 
 " You're forgetting the port wine," cried Tim, as 
 he roughly handled the bottle. 
 
 " Don't shake it," suggested Aglionby. 
 
 " I was a-thinking it were physic," replied Tim 
 apologetically, as he over-carefuUy confided the bottle 
 to his wife's keeping. 
 
 Tim was following his wife from the room when 
 Lady Derwentwater said : 
 
 " If you wouldn't very much mind, I think I'd prefer 
 an egg." 
 
 " To fried fish ? " asked an astonished Tim. 
 
 " So would I, please," declared Lady Aenemone. 
 
 " But it's middle bits ! " said Tim. 
 
 " Father ! " protested Gilbert irritably. 
 
 Tim summoned his wife from the kitchen, and told 
 her of the guests' preference for eggs, at which her 
 face fell. 
 
 " I'm so sorry to give you all this trouble," said 
 Lady Derwentwater. 
 
 " 'Tisn't as if we hadn't any eggs, your lady- 
 ship. But ours is fifteen a shilling," said Mrs. 
 Ware. 
 
 " Is it necessary to give all these domestic details ? " 
 asked a greatly perturbed Gilbert. 
 
 " Your mother means it for the best," said Lady 
 
A TACTFUL WOMAN 317 
 
 Derwentwater, while Aglionby noticed that Lady 
 Aenemone looked with troubled eyes at her 
 lover. 
 
 " You can get quite new-laid ones at Timmins's," 
 went on Mrs. Ware. 
 
 " Three- 'a 'pence each," said Tim absent-mindedly. 
 
 " P'r'aps Gilbert 'ud go." 
 
 " I shall not leave her," declared Gilbert 
 stoutly. " They'd only persuade her away in my 
 absence." 
 
 " I'd send Tim, only they might give him the wrong 
 ones." 
 
 " 'Tisn't that I don't know a good un," explained 
 Tim. " But somethin' comes into my 'ead, and I'm 
 thinkin' of somethin' else." 
 
 " Let me go," said Aglionby. 
 
 " You, sir ! " exclaimed Mrs. Ware. 
 
 " If you'll teU me where it is." 
 
 Aglionby received his instructions, and at once set 
 off for Mrs. Timmins, who kept a small general shop 
 in an adjacent street. 
 
 When he was outside the front door he had more 
 than half a mind to send one of the waiting motor- 
 cabs to the nearest likely restaurant, where food more 
 to the taste of the countess and her daughter 
 than that provided by the Wares could be ob- 
 tained. 
 
 He refrained for two reasons. 
 
 In the first place, he thought it just possible that 
 Lady Aenemone's determination to marry Gilbert 
 might be weakened if she perceived how the earners 
 of a weekly wage fared. 
 
 Also, he did not wish to hurt Mrs. Ware's feelings 
 by suggesting that her hospitality was not good enough 
 for his friends and himself. 
 
318 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 Mrs. Timmins proved to be a tired, ansemic little 
 body, whose grey hair was arranged in curl- 
 papers. 
 
 Aglionby stated his errand, at which she said : 
 
 " Want 'em quite reelly noo laid ? " 
 
 " Please." 
 
 " No 'ank ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " They're fwee-ha 'pence each." 
 
 " I'll have as many as you've got." 
 
 The woman placed six in a bag, at which he 
 said : 
 
 " They are new laid, I suppose ? " 
 
 " Considerin' me own birds lay 'em." 
 
 " You keep fowls ? " 
 
 By way of reply, she opened a door beneath the 
 counter, as she said : 
 
 " Seein's believin'." 
 
 To Aglionby's surprise, some eight or ten tired- 
 looking hens came from beneath the counter, and 
 sleepily looked about them to see if any food were 
 going. 
 
 " Is that your fowl-run ? " he asked. 
 
 " There's a rat in the 'en-'ouse, so they're sleepin' 
 'ere till the cat catches 'im." 
 
 When AgUonby returned to the Wares' with his 
 purchase, it was evident something had happened in 
 his absence. 
 
 Lady Derwentwater, cheque-book in hand, was on 
 one side of the partly laid table, and looking in un- 
 disguised surprise at Mrs. Ware, Lady Aenemone, Tim, 
 and Gilbert, who were all more or less wrathfully re- 
 garding her. 
 
 " What is it ? " asked Aglionby. " What has hap- 
 pened ? " 
 
A TACTFUL WOMAN 319 
 
 " Would you believe it, Dick ? I merely s-suggested 
 that, if they'd let me take Aenemone home, I'd so love 
 to — to write a cheque for a considerable sum, and to 
 show I was in earnest I brought out the cheque-book 
 I made a point of bringing, and they all, including 
 Aenenome, were quite angry ! " 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE HOME OIECLE 
 
 " How could you ! " exclaimed Aglionby, with as 
 much anger as he could summon for the woman he 
 loved. 
 
 " If I shouldn't offer enough, they have only to 
 say so," she declared. " I'm only anxious to do what 
 is right and make every one happy." 
 
 " Don't you understand ? " cried Aglionby. 
 
 " Understand what ? " she asked blankly. 
 
 " How you are insulting Gilbert and his people by 
 even hinting that they're to be bought off ? " 
 
 " Is that so ? " she asked incredulously. 
 
 " Surely you know it is." 
 
 " I remember you said something of the sort this 
 afternoon." 
 
 " Of course I did." 
 
 " There's no occasion to be angry with me, Dick. 
 I've done everything for the best, and if I've offended 
 any one, I'm sorry. My excuse for outraging any one's 
 feelings must be what I've gone through to-day. I 
 shall never get over it — never. After to-night, I shall 
 have to go to bed for a week, and when I get up I 
 shall have to go away." 
 
 " We know you've been through a lot," began 
 
 320 
 
THE HOME CIRCLE 321 
 
 Aglionby, but he was interrupted by the countess, 
 who said : 
 
 " You don't give me a chance of explaining. I'm 
 quite willing to admit that all this between Aenemone 
 and Gilbert is partly my fault, as, owing to my faith in 
 socialism, I saw no objection to their frequently seeing 
 each other. I really believe I offered the money as a 
 sort of expiation for my share of the trouble, and — 
 and — are you still angry, Dick ? " 
 
 " It's no use appealing to me. I wasn't among 
 those you insulted." 
 
 " I really believe you're taking Gilbert's part," she 
 retorted, angry that her admittance of wrongdoing 
 was not better appreciated. 
 
 "I'm not taking any one's part," declared Aglionby. 
 " As I told Gilbert, it would be unfair to take advan- 
 tage of Aenemone's sudden decision to leave her home ; 
 and as I told her, she should be the last woman Ware 
 should marry." 
 
 " Indeed ! " exclaimed the countess. 
 
 "And for this reason : she has not been brought 
 up to cook and sew and scrub, and all the rest 
 of it." 
 
 " It would kill her," declared the countess. 
 
 " Precisely." 
 
 " I've never forgotten poor Mary Sandilands, 
 who ran away with her father's elderly butler. 
 She was very miserable at first, as he turned 
 vegetarian for economy, and used to beat her. But 
 they're perfectly happy now, as they're both drink- 
 ing themselves to death," said Lady Derwentwater 
 inconsequently. 
 
 " Oh, my head ! my head ! " cried Lady Aenemone, 
 as she placed her hands about her forehead. 
 
 " Dear ! " exclaimed her mother. 
 21 
 
322 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " I feel it's going to burst." 
 
 "I knew this would make you ill, dear. You'd 
 better come home at once." 
 
 The girl shook her head. 
 
 " You don't seem to care what effect your obstinacy 
 has on my nerves. I feel a hopeless wreck already, 
 and what I shall be to-morrow I dare not think," 
 declared Lady Derwentwater. 
 
 " You're faint for want of food," said Gilbert 
 to his beloved. " You'll soon have something 
 now." 
 
 The extremity of the countess and her daughter 
 stirred Mrs. Ware and Tim to activity, and perhaps 
 softened the resentment caused by Lady Derwent- 
 water's cheque-book suggestion. Very soon the table 
 was being laid for three places, during which the 
 countess appeared to be divided between an inclination 
 to wrath and tears. 
 
 It was during one of Mrs. Ware's appearances in 
 the room that she said to her son : 
 
 " Them motor-cabs be still there." 
 
 " What of it ? " replied Gilbert absently. 
 
 " I didn't know if her ladyship knew." 
 
 " That's all right," said Aglionby kindly. 
 
 " So long as you know, sir. But it's eating money," 
 she remarked, at which her son made a gesture of 
 impatience. 
 
 " How is your head now ? " asked Aglionby of Lady 
 Aenemone, when Mrs. Ware had left the room. 
 
 " Dreadful ! " 
 
 " Can I get you anything at a chemist's ? " 
 
 " No, thank you, dear daddyho." 
 
 "You don't ask after my headache," said the 
 countess. 
 
 " I'm sorry. How is it ? " 
 
THE HOME CIRCLE 323 
 
 "Awful. It's worse every minute." 
 
 " Can I get you anything ? " 
 
 " I'm past all assistance of that kind." 
 
 A few moments later, when Mrs. Ware entered 
 the room with egg-cups, the countess distractedly 
 said : 
 
 " I don't know what I shall do. I shall never get 
 over this — ^never." 
 
 " Your ladyship ! " exclaimed Mrs. Ware. 
 
 " It will kill me. I know it will. And then every 
 one who has been responsible may be sorry. No 
 one has any conception how I'm suffering. 
 Aenemone must have a heart of stone to disregard 
 me as she does." 
 
 " Oh ! mumsie, how can you ! " protested Lady 
 Aenemone. 
 
 " Yes, a heart of stone, otherwise you would not let 
 me suffer as I do. I quite wonder how I bear it. 
 Don't any one be surprised if I collapse at any 
 moment." 
 
 " P'r'aps your ladyship isn't used to trouble," com- 
 mented Mrs. Ware. 
 
 " I don't think I am. A very little more, and it 
 would kiU me outright." 
 
 Mrs. Ware shook her head. 
 
 " But it would ; really it would," declared the 
 countess tearfully. 
 
 " One gets used to trouble, your ladyship." 
 
 " Trouble such as mine ? " 
 
 "Any trouble." 
 
 " It isn't possible." 
 
 " I've forgotten the salt," sighed Mrs. Ware before 
 leaving the room. 
 
 When the latter had gone. Lady Derwentwater 
 looked with appealing eyes, first at her daughter and 
 
324 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 then, discovering that she was now insensible to her 
 mother's griefs, at Aglionby. 
 
 " You'd better let me get something for your 
 head," he suggested. 
 
 " Nothing short of Aenemone's returning with me 
 will do me any good," said Lady Derwentwater, but 
 the offender ignored this suggestion. 
 
 A little later, Mrs. Ware brought the half-dozen 
 eggs which had been purchased from Mrs. Timmins 
 into the parlour, and, after placing them on the table, 
 begged the countess, her daughter, and Aglionby to 
 be seated. 
 
 " You've only laid for three," said Lady Aene- 
 mone. 
 
 " 'Tisn't for us to sit down with your lady- 
 ships." 
 
 "It will be very different in a day or two," 
 remarked Lady Aenemone to Gilbert, who promptly 
 answered : 
 
 " Indeed I hope so." 
 
 "You'll sit with us," she went on; but before 
 Gilbert could reply, his mother said : 
 
 " Gilbert's already 'ad his bread-and-cheese." 
 
 He was not grateful for this information. To 
 Aglionby's armoyance, Gilbert frowned at his mother 
 for furnishing what he considered an unnecessary 
 detail of their poverty. 
 
 " What will your ladyships take to drink ? " asked 
 Mrs. Ware. 
 
 "Father has some port wine," said Gilbert. 
 
 " Might I have some tea ? " asked Lady Derwent- 
 water, as Tim entered the room with the fried fish he 
 had bought set out on a dish that was decorated with 
 parsley ; he also carried the bottle of port, from which 
 he had drawn the cork, and a large pepper-pot. 
 
THE HOME CIRCLE 325 
 
 " If you wants the cup o' tea, you've come to the 
 right shop," Tim informed the countess. 
 
 " Father ! " exclaimed Gilbert reproachfully. 
 
 " I also brought the pepper for them eggs," con- 
 tinued Tim, as he gave Gilbert a propitiatory 
 glance. 
 
 " Pepper ? " echoed Mrs. Ware. 
 
 " To hide the flavour for them as ain't used to 
 'em." 
 
 " But they're new laid." 
 
 "So they are. Jes' like me to forget," he admitted — 
 to add, with a note of admiration in his voice, " You 
 remembers everything." 
 
 " Will your ladyship have some port wine ? " Mrs. 
 Ware inquired of Lady Aenemone. 
 
 " May I have some tea, too ? " replied the 
 latter. 
 
 When Mrs. Ware had gone to make the tea, Tim 
 called attention to the fried fish, and seemed greatly 
 surprised that none of those at the table wanted 
 any. 
 
 " 'Tisn't 'cause you think there ain't enough ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 " Indeed not," Aglionby assured him. 
 
 " I got it as a treat for the young lady," continued 
 Tim ruefully, as he looked at Lady Aenemone, who, 
 after glancing at the fish, shuddered slightly — at least, 
 so it seemed to Aglionby. 
 
 "And it's middle bits ; lovely middle bits," went 
 on Tim, " which I on'y got as a favour." 
 
 " All right, father," said Gilbert, who obviously 
 much objected to Tim's confidences. 
 
 " Why don't you have some fish ? " asked Tim of 
 his son, who replied : 
 
 " No, thank you, father." 
 
326 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " It's your favourite supper when we can afford 
 it." 
 
 " Hadn't you better help mother with the tea ? " 
 asked Gilbert. 
 
 " 'Twouldn't be manners to leave the company," 
 replied Tim, as he greedily eyed the fish. "Funny 
 thing, when I was in the fish shop, there was Bill 
 Hicks serving the taters, who used to be a friend o' 
 yourn, and who we thought was dead." 
 
 " Never mind about him," remarked Gilbert im- 
 patiently. 
 
 " Why, Bill, I ses, we heard you'd been dead these 
 five year of lockjaw," continued Tim, who ignored his 
 son's indifference to Bill's existence. "He ast for 
 you, and when I told him of your young lady, he said 
 you was to bring her round." 
 
 " Really, father I " cried an indignant Gilbert. 
 
 He was about to say more, but his further protest 
 was prevented by the countess, who suddenly went 
 out of her way to be amazingly agreeable to Tim, 
 insisting upon his seating himself at the table and 
 partaking of the fried fish — a proceeding which made 
 Aglionby wonder if her solicitude were occasioned by 
 beheving that Tim's artless talk might go a consider- 
 able way towards giving her daughter a distaste for 
 her environment ; at the same time, Aglionby beUeved 
 that Lady Derwentwater was scarcely capable of such 
 subtlety. 
 
 When Tim commenced on the fried fish, he was 
 mindful of his table manners, Gilbert's coldly appraising 
 eyes being upon him. He nearly always closed his 
 lips, rarely spoke with his mouth full, and got rid of 
 superfluous bones with a pathetic and unostentatious 
 humility which at any other time would have awakened 
 Aglionby's sympathy. His enjoyment of what he was 
 
THE HOME CIRCLE 327 
 
 eating was such, however, that very soon the caution 
 begotten of the presence of his illustrious guests and 
 his son's supervision was forgotten ; he ate with an 
 unseemly gusto, now and again taking a piece of 
 vertebrae in his fingers in order to remove with his 
 teeth every particle of flesh. 
 
 More than once Aglionby glanced at Lady Aenemone 
 to see if she were affected by Tim's unsophisticated 
 behaviour ; on each occasion he noticed that Gilbert 
 was watching his beloved, he being doubtless possessed 
 by apprehensions regarding the effect such conduct 
 might have upon her sensibilities. 
 
 Presently, Tim asked of Lady Derwentwater : 
 
 " Does your ladyship like crab ? " 
 
 The countess really could not remember if she had 
 eaten such a thing. 
 
 Unabashed by this reply, Tim said : 
 
 " If you 'ad, you'd never forget it. I must say I 
 do like crab — that is to say, so long as it isn't a 
 hen." 
 
 "All right, father ! " admonished Gilbert. 
 
 " Wonderful how some likes a bit of crab," continued 
 Tim. " There's Ben Blimmer." 
 
 "No one's interested in Blimmer," declared 
 Gilbert. 
 
 " Whenever Ben has a crab, you'd be surprised at 
 the trouble he gives himself in getting of it ready," 
 went on Tim. 
 
 " Lady Aenemone has a bad headache, father," said 
 Gilbert. 
 
 " She'll be awright when she has a cup o' the missus's 
 tea. But as I was saying, Ben don't spare himself 
 when he can run to a sixpenny crab. They say that 
 he turns the missus and the kids out o' the 'ouse — I 
 should say house " (Gilbert had winced when his father 
 
328 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 had dropped the aspirate), " and locks the door on 
 'em ; then he goes to the kitchen, and after locking 
 the door he feels he can set to in peace and quiet and 
 take the crab to pieces — ^you know — get out the dead 
 men and fetch the meat from the claws. When it's 
 all done to Ben's satisfaction, as you might say, he 
 unlocks the kitchen door, an' unlocks the front door, 
 an' lets in the missus and the kids, when they all 
 sits down to the crab." 
 
 Those at the table being occupied with their thoughts, 
 the story was received in silence, which fact caused 
 Tim to be nervously uneasy that something had gone 
 wrong. He fidgeted on his seat, looked from one to 
 the other, and nearly choked himself with an obstinate 
 fishbone before saying : 
 
 " I 'ope your eggs is fresh." 
 
 Aglionby assured him that they were. 
 
 " Eggs is funny things," continued Tim, who was 
 unduly excited at entertaining such distinguished 
 company, and anxiously conscious that he was out of 
 harmony with the prevailing atmosphere. " A lot of 
 people turn up their noses at what some call ' left- 
 handed ' eggs ; but as this here young lady, now she's 
 going to marry Gilbert, can't afford others, she'll have 
 to get used to 'em." 
 
 Aglionby believed that Lady Aenemone again slightly 
 shuddered. Tim, unmindful of his son's frowns, went 
 on : 
 
 " They mayn't be easy to swaller when you're noo 
 to 'em, 'ticular'y if you're used to the right thing, but 
 plenty o' pepper does a lot to hide the gameyness, as 
 you might call it, and some say in time you so gets to 
 like 'em you won't look at any other." 
 
 There was a further silence, which was broken by 
 Tim, who said ; 
 
THE HOME CIRCLE 329 
 
 " Bless me ! If I haven't forgotten the port 
 wine." 
 
 " Never mind the port wine," said Gilbert irritably. 
 He feared the effect of the stimulant on his father's 
 pronunciation and grammar. 
 
 " But I bought it as a treat for you and the young 
 lady." 
 
 Gilbert was about to reply, but his intention was 
 frustrated by Mrs. Ware entering with the tea- 
 things. 
 
 She placed them on the table as she said to her 
 husband : 
 
 " We're short of cups. See if Mr. Shellabeer or 
 Miss 'Itt have any." 
 
 The countess raised her eyebrows at this request, 
 at which Mrs. Ware added for her behoof : 
 
 " Our lodgers, your ladyship." 
 
 When Tim had left the room, his wife re- 
 marked : 
 
 " I'm sorry to be so long, but I'd no boiling 
 water." 
 
 After she had poured out the tea into three of the 
 teacups, she waited for her husband to bring a fourth. 
 During this interval of waiting little was said, but 
 Aglionby was conscious of the veiled hostility with 
 which she regarded Lady Aenemone ; it was as if she 
 realised that in the event of the girl marrying Gilbert 
 the former would not permanently contribute to her 
 son's happiness ; also, that should this undesirable 
 consummation (from her point of view) be prevented, 
 it would mean many months of acute suffering for 
 Gilbert. 
 
 " Where's the cup ? " she asked when Tim returned 
 empty-handed. 
 
 " Mr. Shellabeer's a-bringing of it down," 
 
330 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Didn't you wait for it ? " 
 
 " He's a-washing of it." 
 
 " You could 'a' stopped." 
 
 " I didn't like to leave the company." 
 
 She nervously waited for the cup, while Tim 
 set about resuming his appreciation of the fried 
 fish. 
 
 " You've been sitting down with her ladyship ? " 
 asked a dismayed Mrs. Ware. 
 
 " Why not 1 " replied Tim blankly. 
 
 " Where is your manners ? I should a' thought 
 you'd have known better." 
 
 " We're all socialists who b'leeve in the millennium, 
 and since this young lady is to be one of the family, 
 as you might say, I see no 'arm in it. Besides, her 
 ladyship wished it." 
 
 " True enough," said the countess, who seemed 
 to revive after partaking of Mrs. Ware's excellent 
 tea. 
 
 Perhaps Tim divined the reason of the improve- 
 ment in Lady Derwentwater's spirits, for he 
 said : 
 
 " I knew the missus's cup o' tea would make things 
 um. 
 
 " I beg your pardon," said Lady Derwentwater. 
 
 " Make things sociable. The missus is known 
 for it ; and I always ses, when things go wrong 
 and folks fall out, if they would only meet and talk 
 over a pot o' the missus's making, they 'ud be 
 different." 
 
 " How is your headache now ? " asked Aglionby of 
 Lady Aenemone. Tim's conversation was getting on 
 his nerves, which were already sufSiciently on edge 
 from the day's happenings. 
 
 " I don't know," she replied helplessly. 
 
THE HOME CIRCLE 331 
 
 " Don't know ? " 
 
 " I don't know anything at all," she said wearily. 
 
 Aglionby and Gilbert were about to express their 
 concern, when the sound of footsteps descending the 
 stairs was followed by a knock on the door. 
 
 Mrs. Ware was about to obtain the cup quickly, but 
 her husband cried " Come in," at which, to Gilbert's 
 obvious annoyance, the itinerant seller of pipes cheerily 
 impinged upon the gathering. 
 
 " Beg pardon for this intrusion, ladies and gentle- 
 men," he began, as he handed Mrs. Ware the cup. 
 " Sorry to keep you waiting, but I brought it myself, 
 as I wanted to take the liberty of having a peep at 
 the great folk I heard was in the 'ouse." 
 
 He was about to withdraw, after glancing quickly 
 about the room, when he caught sight of Aglionby, 
 who nodded and said : 
 
 " Good evening." 
 
 " Good evening, sir ; I hope I see you well," ex- 
 claimed Shellabeer, as he advanced to shake hands 
 with Aglionby. " It isn't often a man in my position 
 is privileged to be in the same parlour with members 
 of our British aristocracy." 
 
 " This is a friend of mine," Aglionby informed the 
 countess and her daughter, the latter of whom seemed 
 dazed by the appearance of a stranger in the already 
 crowded room. 
 
 " Highly honoured to see such great ladies, who I 
 hope I see well," said Shellabeer, before Lady Derwent- 
 water could speak. " Both Minnie and Miss 'Itt — beg 
 pardon. Miss Hitt — both said something unusual was 
 up, because of the motor-cabs and their stopping 
 outside such a long time." 
 
 " And they're still there," declared a distressed Mrs, 
 Ware. 
 
332 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Don't let that trouble you," said AgUonby. 
 
 " But it's eating money ! " 
 
 " That's all right, mother," cried Gilbert irri- 
 tably. 
 
 " Please to bear in mind I was quite truthful in 
 saying I brought the cup to see the fine company. 
 Some people might pretend they'd come into the 
 room by mistake, but I try and be honest," continued 
 Shellabeer. 
 
 " Very charming," murmured the countess, as she 
 concealed a yawn. 
 
 " And please to understand that me and my Minnie 
 are anything but socialists, and heartily disapprove 
 of their teachings. I think it's only fair to let you 
 know. No deceit, no 'arm done." 
 
 " Indeed ! " remarked a faintly interested Lady 
 Derwentwater. 
 
 " Yes, my lady, me and mine is King and Country, 
 Church and State, and Army and Navy. Me and mine 
 is patriotic to our last breath, although we respect 
 opposite opinions if sincerely 'eld." 
 
 " That's right," said Aglionby encouragingly. 
 
 " Beg pardon, sir, but I've not quite done," con- 
 tinued the retailer of pipes. " I should like to take 
 this opportunity of placing on record that me and mine 
 don't hold with all this mixing of the classes that 
 nowadays goes on. Me and mine thinks that the 
 division of human beings into upper, middle, and 
 working classes is intended by Providence for our 
 comfort, improvement, and 'appiness." 
 
 " Indeed ! " queried the countess. 
 
 " Understand (present company always excepted) 
 that although it may be up against the opinions of 
 some very 'igh folk, me and mine think that there's 
 a sharp dividing line between the three classes, and 
 
THE HOME CIRCLE 333 
 
 that only unhappiness and discord and confusion comes 
 from altering it." 
 
 " I'm delighted to meet such a man of sense," 
 declared Lady Derwentwater, gratified at receiving 
 such unexpected support. 
 
 " Highly flattered by your kindness, my lady, and 
 I'm sure the wife will be too, when I shortly join 
 her in our home in our little combined room. But 
 before I go, I should like to add that it's my firm 
 conviction that the three classes I spoke of is distinct 
 in every way, and in a thousand particulars that would 
 escape the eye of the ordinary observer. They may 
 mix, or believe that they do, but they're always the 
 same in their minds and in their 'earts. They 
 always was and ever will be, as Providence in- 
 tended." 
 
 " What an interesting man ! " exclaimed the coun- 
 tess to Aglionby. " How is it I haven't met Mr. — 
 Mr. ? " 
 
 " SheUabeer," the retailer of pipes informed her. 
 "And spelt without an ' i.' I make no pretence 
 of having that ' i,' and all it might mean, without 
 being entitled to it." 
 
 " I'm so sorry I haven't met you before," went 
 on Lady Derwentwater enthusiastically. " You're 
 really quite interesting. May I ask what you 
 do?" 
 
 " I sell pipes, your ladyship." 
 
 " I'm convinced they're very excellent pipes." 
 
 "There's the 'Push Pipe,' the 'City Knock- 
 about,' the ' Little Wonder,' and the ' Apple-shaped 
 Bowl.' " 
 
 " I hope they're appreciated as they ought to 
 be." 
 
 " Sold fifteen of all kinds to-day, your ladyship, 
 
334 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 so I mustn't grumble, since I'm in my seventy- 
 one." 
 
 " I shouldn't have thought it." 
 
 " Yes, my lady. I was born on Derby Day 1838," 
 Shellabeer cheerily informed her as he edged towards 
 the door. 
 
 "How really charming!" declared the countess, 
 while Aglionby noticed that Lady Aenemone, for all 
 her distraught expression, seemed impressed by 
 Shellabeer's personality, in spite of the fact that 
 his opinions ran counter to her desire to marry 
 Gilbert. 
 
 " You'll 'ave a glass of port wine before you go ? " 
 said Tim. 
 
 " I won't refuse, if it's only to celebrate the occasion 
 I've been under the same roof as ladies of title," 
 replied Shellabeer. 
 
 " I'll get a tumbler," said Tim. 
 
 " Where are the wine glasses ? " asked Gilbert, as 
 his mother was about to leave the room to fetch the 
 required glasses. 
 
 " You know we haven't any," said Mrs. Ware simply, 
 before going to the kitchen. 
 
 " Get two or three while you're about it," cried 
 Tim to his wife, while Gilbert's face fell by reason of 
 his fearing that the family poverty was being unneces- 
 sarily and unconsciously exploited by his parents in 
 the interests of the countess. 
 
 When Mrs. Ware returned with the tumblers, Tim 
 solemnly poured some port wine into one of them, 
 and handed it to Shellabeer, who said, before merely 
 tasting it : 
 
 " 'Ealth, happiness, and prosperity to all present." 
 
 " Drink it down ; don't be frightened' — ^it cost a 
 shilling a bottle," cried Tim. 
 
THE HOME CIRCLE 335 
 
 " I thought it tasted good, and for that reason, 
 with your permission, I'll take it upstairs to my 
 Queen, " declared SheUabeer. 
 
 " Who ? " asked Lady Derwentwater. 
 
 " My Minnie, who has been Queen of my heart 
 and a loving, faithful, dutiful wife these thirty-eight 
 year. The port will bring back the days of our 
 prosperity, when I was a ratepayer for so many years 
 at • Crediton,' Eagle Road, Finsbury Park." 
 
 He advanced to Aglionby, to shake hands warmly, 
 and wish him a cheery " good night " before saying 
 to the countess : 
 
 " There is one favour I should like to ask of your 
 ladyship." 
 
 " What is that ? " 
 
 " When your ladyship goes, if you wouldn't very 
 much mind, I should like my Minnie to see you from 
 the top of the stairs." 
 
 " By all means," she replied, not a little pleased by 
 the request. 
 
 " Thank you, your ladyship. I know Miss 'Itt — 
 Miss Hitt — ^was going to, but I wouldn't like my Minnie 
 to take such a liberty without your ladyship's per- 
 mission." 
 
 When Shellabeer had gone, and Mrs. Ware had been 
 congratulated by Lady Derwentwater on possessing 
 such a highly intelligent lodger, Aglionby marvelled 
 how the evening would terminate, there being no 
 apparent possibility of seriously weakening Lady 
 Aenemone's resolution to the extent of making her 
 accompany her mother home. 
 
 As he glanced about him, he perceived how dismally 
 the suspense was affecting every one in the little 
 parlour, but more particularly Lady Aenemone and 
 Gilbert, and these in diverse ways. 
 
336 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 WMle passionate anxiety had etherealised the girl's 
 superfine features, the same emotion had coarsened 
 Gilbert's physiognomy ; indeed, such was the contrast 
 that they presented, that Aglionby, if it were possible, 
 more than ever realised the enormity of the projected 
 marriage, but, for the life of him, he could not see 
 what was to prevail against Lady Aenemone's lovesick 
 obstinacy. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 THE ASPIRATE PLAYS PROVIDENCE 
 
 Suddenly, Aglionby was conscious of a feeling of acute 
 nervous exhaustion, caused by the stress of the day's 
 emotions and reinforced by the stuffiness of the little 
 room and by the strenuous conflict of interests in 
 which he was involved. 
 
 He had no certain means of knowing, but he be- 
 lieved that the others in the parlour were more or 
 less affected in a like manner. 
 
 Then his raw nerves were brutally jarred by certain 
 unpleasant noises Tim was making by reason of his 
 appearing to be lingering reminiscently and audibly 
 over his recent meal of fish. 
 
 In spite of himself, Aglionby glared at the offender, 
 who remained sublimely unconscious of the annoyance 
 he was inflicting. 
 
 As Aglionby divined that Tim's behaviour was a 
 primitive substitute for the uses of a toothpick, he 
 perceived that Lady Aenemone was also much dis- 
 turbed by her prospective father-in-law's conduct, she 
 watching him with distended and fearful eyes, while 
 now and again, when his efforts were peculiarly offen- 
 sive, she was possessed by a slight tremor. 
 
 Aglionby had previously noticed that, from sheer 
 mental and physical weariness, she had eaten next 
 22 337 
 
338 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 to nothing, and this abstention made him wonder if 
 her already enfeebled resistance might be completely 
 worn down by the possible attrition caused by her 
 novel surroundings, of which Tim's unconcerned un- 
 couthness was such a disturbing item. 
 
 Perhaps believing that these influences would achieve 
 happier results than pleadings, arguments, or upbraid- 
 ings, he glanced at the countess in order to discover 
 if she were in the mood to be patient ; he was 
 dismayed to perceive that she was again her normal 
 self, the improvement in her condition being doubt- 
 less stimulated by Mrs. Ware's excellent tea and by 
 Shellabeer's palatable opinions ; dismayed, because he 
 feared that this recovery promised a further access 
 of tactlessness. 
 
 For the moment, however, having exhausted her 
 stock of adulatory adjectives in praise of the retailer 
 of pipes, the countess was silent, at which Aglionby 
 hoped against hope that she would refrain from talking 
 overmuch. 
 
 Then he noticed that Gilbert was angrily watching 
 his father's unsophisticated behaviour, while Mrs. Ware 
 still regarded Lady Aenemone with a furtive hostiUty 
 which the girl was beginning to notice — at least, so 
 Aglionby thought. 
 
 Very soon he was disagreeably fascinated by Tim, 
 who was now carefully picking stray bits of fish from 
 his coat and waistcoat, and making unseemly noises 
 as he carefully deposited them in his mouth. 
 
 A little later, he greedily eyed the bottle of port 
 wine, and even as Aghonby observed this prepossession, 
 Tim, with a pathetically self-conscious pretence of 
 doing nothing out of the way, helped himself to half 
 a tumbler, and, after furtively looking about him to 
 see if he were observed, set about drinking it. 
 
THE ASPIRATE PLAYS PROVIDENCE 339 
 
 Apparently, he believed that he was taking no 
 common drink, for he admiringly regarded it before 
 putting the glass to his lips, with hands trembling 
 with pleasurable anticipation. 
 
 Although he meant to sip it reverently, proximity 
 to the stuff diminished his self-control, so that he took 
 a gulp with sudden avidity. Directly, however, his 
 palate responded to the unaccustomed flavour, he be- 
 came alive to the exceptional nature of the occasion, 
 for, instead of swallowing the wine, he lay back in his 
 chair and, with eyes fixed with an uncanny frenzy 
 on the ceiling, wagged his head from side to side 
 so that every part of his mouth should be saturated 
 with the fluid. 
 
 Aglionby thought his head would never stop 
 moving ; when Tim presently became purple in 
 the face, the other was considering the advisability 
 of thumping his back, when the liquid was disposed 
 of with a sigh that expressed both relief and 
 regret. 
 
 Next Aglionby noticed that Lady Aenemone's 
 eyes had been, and still were, glued to her prospective 
 father-in-law by reason of his behaviour ; when 
 she presently looked up, he perceived that they 
 held a troubled expression. 
 
 He was about to ask after her headache, but he 
 was forestalled by her enquiring of Gilbert : 
 
 " What is your lodger's name 1 " 
 
 " Shellabeer," he replied. 
 
 " I mean the woman." 
 
 " Hitt," Aglionby informed her. 
 
 " That's it. Miss 'Itt," said Gilbert. 
 
 " Which is it ? " she asked desperately. 
 
 " Hitt," replied Aglionby. 
 
 " 'Itt," echoed Gilbert. 
 
340 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Oh ! my head ! my head ! " cried the girl, as she 
 looked curiously at her lover and, for some unascer- 
 tainable reason, resentfully at Aglionby. 
 
 " Hadn't you better see about collecting your 
 things ? " asked the countess of her daughter. 
 
 " Why ? " 
 
 " To come home, of course." 
 
 The girl made a petulant gesture. 
 
 "You're far from well. At least, come back to- 
 night. And if to-morrow " 
 
 " Don't talk to me," interrupted Lady Aenemone 
 irritably. 
 
 Thus rebuffed, her mother assumed a martyred 
 expression. This sat ill on her distinguished come- 
 liness, which the recovery of her spirits had 
 enhanced. 
 
 As Aglionby had anticipated, the port wine un- 
 loosened Tim's normally garrulous tongue, so that, 
 unmindful of his son's angry frowns, he commenced 
 to give Lady Aenemone fatherly advice respecting 
 housekeeping, to which she listened with a distressed 
 attention. 
 
 " If you've no 'ticular fancy for shop eggs, you 
 might keep a few birds in the backyard, if Gilbert 
 has time to knock up a 'en-'ouse." 
 
 "All right, father!" exclaimed Gilbert signifi- 
 cantly. 
 
 "I'm trying ter tell the young lady 'ow to make 
 a copper or two now and then." 
 
 " There's no occasion to discuss such matters 
 now." 
 
 " Begin as you're going on, say I," said Tim, as 
 his interest was deflected from his future daughter-in- 
 law to the bottle of port wine. 
 
 " This is not the time to talk ways and means," 
 
THE ASPIRATE PLAYS PROVIDENCE 341 
 
 declared Gilbert savagely, but Tim was now so elated 
 that he was indifferent to his son's feelings. 
 
 " 'Course, if you want to get anything out of it, 
 you mustn't eat the eggs, 'less it's illness, as one might 
 
 " What must you do with them ? " asked 
 Aglionby. 
 
 " Sell 'em," replied Tim decisively. " Sell 'em to 
 where people is ill, and can't swaller shop uns. You 
 can get as much as three-'a'pence a hegg when they're 
 scarce, and directly it's known your birds is laying, 
 you can sell 'em fast enough." 
 
 No one offering any comment, Aglionby remarked 
 noncommittally : 
 
 " Indeed ! " 
 
 " Pact. D'rectly the 'en cackles, there's a knock 
 at the door to know if the egg that's just been laid 
 is for sale," said Tim — to add as an afterthought : 
 " And there's alius a few meals when they're too 
 old to lay — that is, if you bile the old ladies long 
 enough." 
 
 " The what ? " asked Lady Aenemone, as she sat 
 up with a start. 
 
 " Th' old hens. Some, they say, when they're 
 extry tough, buries 'em all night in a napkin in the 
 garden." 
 
 " What for ? " inquired Aglionby. 
 
 " T' make 'em tender. I must say I likes a tender 
 'en." 
 
 Hardly had he spoken, when Lady Derwentwater 
 asked, in the manner of one impatient to hear the 
 sound of her own voice : 
 
 " Is your other lodger as interesting as Mr. What's- 
 his-name ? " 
 
 " No," replied Gilbert quickly. 
 
342 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " I am sorry for that," declared the countess. Then, 
 as no one spoke, she added : "I am sorry, because I 
 might have brought her in should I ever be interviewed 
 on to-day's happenings." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " asked Aglionby 
 sharply. 
 
 Before she could reply, Tim said solemnly : 
 
 " That reminds me." 
 
 Disregarding the frown with which the countess 
 greeted this remark, he went on : 
 
 " T'other day I saw your ladyship's name in print 
 meself." 
 
 Her face beamed with sudden pleasure as she 
 said : 
 
 " Indeed ! How very interesting ! At least — it's 
 not so very remarkable, considering how keenly the 
 public follow everything I do." 
 
 Tim coughed ostentatiously, but noncommittally. 
 
 " What paper was it ? " she asked. 
 
 " Now you're asking something," he replied, as he 
 looked helplessly at his wife, who all this while had 
 resolutely kept her feet. 
 
 " It's of no consequence, really it isn't," declared 
 the countess. " I always get these things from the 
 press-cutting agencies to which I subscribe." 
 
 " You give it to me," said Mrs. Ware to her 
 husband. " 'Tisn't like me to forget a thing like 
 that." 
 
 " It really doesn't matter in the least," the countess 
 assured her — to add sweetly, " You must be ever so 
 tired of standing." 
 
 " No, thank you, my lady," she replied, as she 
 glanced severely at Tim, who was now sprawling with 
 his arms on the table. 
 " But " 
 
THE ASPIRATE PLAYS PROVIDENCE 343 
 
 " 'Tisn't a thing I should think of doing." 
 Believing that he was being blamed by his wife for 
 not sufficiently appreciating the deference due to his 
 guests, Tim half rose from his chair, and supported 
 himself by resting hands that were coarsened with a 
 lifetime of honest toil upon the table, where they were 
 uneasily regarded by Gilbert. 
 
 "Please don't stand on ceremony," pleaded the 
 countess, at which Tim looked inquiringly at his wife. 
 " Perhaps it was in Society that you saw that 
 paragraph ! " 
 
 " I don't know what it was," replied Tim, as he 
 made as if he would resume his seat. " But I know 
 it was in the paper in which fried fish was done 
 up." 
 
 " How extraordinary ! That proves that I'm always 
 being written about. I wonder which paper it really 
 was ! But, as I was about to say some time back, if 
 your other lodger were as charming, I should like to 
 have brought her in if I should publish an account of 
 this adventure." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " asked Aghonby, who 
 scented a further exhibition of thoughtlessness. 
 
 " Or should I be interviewed about it," she continued, 
 ignoring her friend's question. " Perhaps that para- 
 graph was in the Butterfly ? " 
 
 Tim ruefully shook his head. 
 
 " It really doesn't matter in the least," she declared. 
 " Once my daughter returns " 
 
 "Don't consider that'! " interrupted Lady Aenemone. 
 
 " In any case, I shall make a point of saying, of 
 saying repeatedly, how vastly the slums differed from 
 what I had expected." 
 
 " Jane ! " admonished Aglionby. 
 
 " Some of my friends look upon the lower classes 
 
344 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 as being exclusively composed of anarchists and revo- 
 lutionaries. Now I am in a position to enlighten 
 them." 
 
 "Jane! Jane!" 
 
 " At least, you should be grateful to me," she said 
 to Aglionby. "If it hadn't been for fearing you 
 might be murdered, I shouldn't have come at 
 all." 
 
 " Mumsie I " sharply protested Lady Aenemone, 
 while a sudden anger with the countess took the 
 place of love in Aglionby's heart, his affection having 
 been already temporarily weakened by his increasing 
 nervous exhaustion. 
 
 He was moved to protest violently against her 
 heedless words, and only refrained by reflecting 
 that discord between Lady Derwentwater and 
 himself would assist her daughter's matrimonial 
 resolution. 
 
 There was an interval of pained silence, during 
 which it was borne upon his understanding that 
 Gilbert was biting his lip and shuffling uneasily 
 with his feet ; that Tim, after looking stupidly 
 at his wife, was pouring out more port wine ; 
 that Mrs. Ware was contending with a desire 
 to combat the countess's insinuations, while her 
 anger was to some extent assuaged at perceiving 
 the sympathy she and hers were receiving from 
 Aglionby. 
 
 Their honest resentment of Lady Derwentwater's 
 preposterous suggestions spurred his wrath, which, 
 considering his Jane's all too familiar irresponsibility, 
 was out of all proportion to her offence. 
 
 It was to save himself from telling her roundly 
 what he thought of her that he suddenly got up and 
 said : 
 
THE ASPIRATE PLAYS PROVIDENCE 346 
 
 " I think I'll be going." 
 
 " Going ? " cried an astonished. Lady Derwent- 
 water. 
 
 " I can do no good by staying." 
 
 " What about me, Dick ? And why do you look so 
 angry ? " 
 
 " I have done my best," he replied curtly. 
 
 " But you can't leave me all alone in this terrible 
 East End ! If you insist, you'll have to get a police- 
 man to walk up and down outside." 
 
 "Jane! Jane!" 
 
 " Unless ' Nirvana ' would assist me." 
 
 Then, as he seemed bent on going, she cried : 
 
 " What about Aenemone ? " 
 
 " I have done my best," he repeated. 
 
 " But— but " 
 
 " You say things you have no right to say. The 
 best thing I can do is to go." 
 
 " What have I done now ? " she asked, astonished 
 that exception could be taken to anything she had 
 said. 
 
 " It will only make it worse to repeat it." 
 
 He was moving towards the door, and Lady Der- 
 wentwater was watching him with dismayed eyes, 
 when Mrs. Ware said to him in an undertone : 
 
 " Must you go, sir ? " 
 
 " Do you wish me to stay ? " he asked. 
 
 " If you could, sir." 
 
 He hesitated before deciding that his friends having 
 brought such trouble upon the woman who was ap- 
 pealing to him, the least he could do was to accede 
 to her request. 
 
 " Perhaps I'd better wait," he sighed before resuming 
 his seat. 
 
 " I was convinced you could not find it in your 
 
346 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 heart to desert Aenemone when she is condemning 
 herself to a life of privation and suffering," declared 
 the countess. 
 
 Her indiscreet words and their effect upon the 
 gathering made Aglionby further conscious of the 
 increased nervous tension in the room. He feared 
 that the least spark of irritability would occasion an 
 explosion. 
 
 Lady Derwentwater alone appeared to remain in- 
 sensible to the highly changed atmosphere, for, aa if 
 she had never so much as made an insulting remark, 
 she said : 
 
 " I suppose there was no portrait with that para- 
 graph you came upon about me ? " 
 
 " Not as I remembers, your ladyship," replied 
 Tim. 
 
 " How long was it ago ? " 
 
 " A matter of three or four weeks." 
 
 " It doesn't matter at all, as I dare say I had it 
 from the press-cutting people, although they will 
 make the most ridiculous mistakes. Most likely it 
 was in the Young Person. You would know if it 
 were, as that paper is printed in large clear type." 
 
 While Lady Derwentwater had been speaking, Tim 
 had raised the tumbler to his lips ; its effects prevented 
 him replying to her suggestion, and caused him to 
 stare at her with a disconcerting and vacuous 
 solemnity. 
 
 So far as Aglionby was concerned, her trivial in- 
 quiries, which were so glaringly contrasted with the 
 momentous issues which were toward, further bruised 
 his nerves, and made him acutely apprehensive of 
 probable friction. 
 
 " Won't any one 'ave a drop o' this lovely port 
 wine ? " Tim suddenly asked. 
 
THE ASPIRATE PLAYS PEOVIDENCE 347 
 
 Aglionby shook His head. 
 
 " Should you come across that paragraph at any 
 time, I should be so much obliged if you would let me 
 have it," remarked Lady Derwentwater. 
 
 Mrs. Ware was about to assure her that she would 
 not forget, but before she could open her lips, Tim 
 went on : 
 
 " 'Tisn't often we have it in the 'ouse," — to 
 add irritably, as Gilbert started and Mrs. Ware 
 frowned : 
 
 " What's up ? " 
 
 " Do try and speak right," said his wife, who was 
 affected by the prevailing tension. 
 
 " Me ? " asked a surprised Tim. 
 
 " You. You know how it upsets Gilbert when you 
 don't." 
 
 " Beg pardon," rejoined Tim, before repeating to 
 himself, in a manner that suggested both humility and 
 defiance : 
 
 " 'Ouse, house ; 'ouse, house ; 'ouse." 
 
 " Father ! " cried Gilbert desperately. 
 
 " Yes, Gilbert." 
 
 " Do you know what you are doing ? " 
 
 " I was only practising 'ouse, 'ouse " 
 
 " Stop ! " 
 
 " Eh ! " 
 
 " Every one seems bent on doing me harm," he 
 declared forcibly. 
 
 " How can that be ? " asked Tim. " The missus 
 an' me is very proud of you." 
 
 " It's no use explaining," replied Gilbert. " You 
 could never understand, and never will." 
 
 " To show there's no ill feeling, 'ave a drop of this 
 lovely port wine." 
 
 " No," replied Gilbert loudly. 
 
348 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Eh ! " 
 
 " No— no— no ! " 
 
 " You, missus ? " 
 
 " No," replied Mrs. Ware. Then, as she caught 
 Aglionby's eye, she naively said : 
 
 " We're no family for port. It always ' repeats.' " 
 
 " Mother ! " cried an exasperated Gilbert. 
 
 She looked at him in surprise, at which he went on : 
 
 " You seem to go purposefully out of your way 
 to, shame me, and make me look cheap and 
 ridiculous." 
 
 These bitterly spoken words both pained and angered 
 his mother, while Aglionby, in spite of himself, was 
 moved to sudden wrath. 
 
 " You've no business to say that," he said 
 sharply. 
 
 The words were out of his mouth almost before he 
 knew what he had done. 
 
 " What's it to do with you ? " retorted Gilbert, Avith 
 angry eyes. 
 
 " You've no business to say that," repeated 
 Aglionby. 
 
 " Look at the provocation." 
 
 " You used the words 'cheap' and 'ridiculous,'" 
 continued Aglionby. " By censuring your mother you 
 make yourself liable to have those words applied to 
 you." 
 
 Hardly had he spoken, when he expected to be 
 attacked by Lady Aenemone for assailing her lover ; 
 indeed, she made as if she would resent Aglionby's 
 conduct, but as she was about to open her lips 
 she appeared to change her mind, for she remained 
 silent. 
 
 " As I said before, no one understands me or ever 
 will," complained Gilbert. 
 
THE ASPIEATE PLAYS PROVIDENCE 349 
 
 Perhaps Mrs. Ware's gratitude to Aglionby for de- 
 fending her was such that s^he was again concerned 
 for the cumulative charges he was incurring for the 
 waiting cabs, for she said : 
 
 " They cabs be still waiting, sir." 
 
 " That's all right," Aglionby assured her. 
 
 " Excuse the liberty, but I thought you might have 
 forgotten." 
 
 " Why worry so ? " passionately cried Gilbert. 
 
 " I was thinking of the money." 
 
 Gilbert banged his hands on the table as he all but 
 shouted : 
 
 "Stop! Stop!" 
 
 " Gilbert ! " 
 
 " Stop, I tell you. How dare you shame me as you 
 do?" 
 
 " Shame you ! " 
 
 " By continually talking about saving money. For 
 God's sake keep your mouth shut." 
 
 " You're careful yourself in some things," retorted 
 an exasperated Mrs. Ware, as Aglionby involuntarily 
 rose to his feet. 
 
 " Me ? " he asked wildly, his fury being doubtless 
 responsible for his faulty grammar. 
 
 " Yes, you ! " 
 
 " How ? " 
 
 " You like to make your collar fronts last a week." 
 
 Gilbert's face went livid ; his eyes looked venomous 
 hatred at his mother. 
 
 It was not the savage rancour he exhibited which 
 impressed Aglionby so much as the revelation provided 
 by his expression. 
 
 Earlier in the evening he had noticed how the 
 stress of emotion had refined Lady Aenemone's face, 
 while it had coarsened Gilbert's ; now it was altogether 
 
350 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 another matter so far as the latter was concerned, his 
 normal prepossessing, if not noble, features being un- 
 mistakably and ruthlessly stamped with evidences of 
 his humble ancestry, undeniable traits of his lowly 
 forebears revealing themselves with an indisputable 
 frankness. 
 
 He was no longer a comely young man aglow with 
 humanitarian ideals, but, as if stripped of every natural 
 and laboriously acquired advantage, h« was nakedly 
 revealed as a brutish hewer of wood and drawer of 
 water. 
 
 While Aglionby was repelled by this elemental and 
 eloquent presentment, he also sympathised with Gilbert 
 by reason of his being but another example of nature's 
 blind laws, by which no man can escape the physical 
 eAridences of his origin any more than he can avoid 
 inherited mental disabilities. 
 
 Meantime Gilbert had more acutely realised the 
 humiliation he believed his parents had unwittingly 
 provided. The blood had mounted to his temples, 
 which throbbed painfully and insistently ; his body 
 occasionally twitched, as if inflicted with spasms of 
 pain. 
 
 Next, and this was the most pitiful of all to Aglionby, 
 he covered his eyes with his arm, while his body was 
 bowed with its load of shame. 
 
 Suddenly, and without warning, he started up and 
 made as if he would flee, not only from the others, 
 but from himself ; but when he reached the door, he 
 turned to Lady Aenemone, who had been watching 
 him much as if she had been fascinated in spite of 
 herself, and cried : 
 
 " At least you sympathise with me ? " 
 
 She looked at him with wild and helpless eyes. As 
 she did not speak, he said : 
 
THE ASPIRATE PLAYS PROVIDENCE 351 
 
 " Can't you understand what I am suffering 1 " 
 
 Her reply was to lean back in her chair and laugh 
 long and loudly. 
 
 Her hysterically mirthless laughter alarmed the 
 others and caused a cold shiver to run down 
 Aglionby's back. 
 
 Before any one had made up their minds what was 
 best to be done, she suddenly stopped and looked 
 about her with staring but unseeing eyes. 
 
 No one spoke, and Aglionby was hoping for a 
 speedy recovery, when a repetition of the offensive 
 noises Tim had made after partaking of the fish 
 impinged upon the silence. 
 
 These sourids immediately attracted the distraught 
 girl's attention. She stared fearfully at the offender 
 before indulging in a further paroxysm of dismal 
 laughter. 
 
 The countess forthwith attempted to succour her ; 
 meeting with no success, she looked helplessly at 
 Aglionby. Tim timidly offered the three-quarter-con- 
 sumed bottle of port wine, while his wife, although 
 steeped in her own griefs, looked with resentful 
 eyes, which were but slightly tinged with sympathy, 
 at the suffering girl. 
 
 The latter's mind seemed presently to be obsessed 
 by the woman's indifferently veiled hostility, for she 
 cried : 
 
 " She hates me." 
 
 " Who ? " asked Gilbert. 
 
 " Look at her ! She hates me ; she's hated me all 
 along." • 
 
 " She doesn't mean it," Aglionby assured Mrs. Ware. 
 
 " She hates me for robbing her of Gilbert," continued 
 Lady Aenemone. 
 
 Perhaps the intense stillness which now obtained 
 
352 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 impressed her disordered imagination, as, for some 
 long-drawn moments, she remained silent. 
 
 But when the onlookers were hoping that the worst 
 was oyer she cried : 
 
 " 'Ouse, house ! 'Ouse, house ! 'Ouse, house ! " 
 
 Then, as if overcome with humorous reminiscence, 
 she once more laughed long and wildly, during which 
 the rest avoided each other's eyes. 
 
 Again there was quiet. This persisted for such a 
 considerable time that when, as before, hopes 
 were entertained of the worst being over, she 
 screamed : 
 
 "MissHitt! Miss'Itt! Hitt ! 'Itt ! " 
 
 If Aglionby had hoped that the laughter which 
 had followed her previous exclamations might divert 
 attention from their purport, he was disappointed, for 
 she became mouse-stiU. No one spoke till Gilbert's 
 voice shattered the silence. 
 
 "Why, oh, why was I ever born ! " he cried passion- 
 ately, before flinging himself out of the room. 
 
 Immediately he had gone. Lady Aenemone's mirth 
 was checked ; after a momentary interval, it was 
 succeeded by an access of hysterical weeping, her 
 slender body being repeatedly shaken by the storms 
 of emotion which held her in thrall. 
 
 Now and again she would apparently recover her 
 self-control, when she would glance fearfully at Mrs. 
 Ware before abandoning herself to her anguish. 
 
 Her mother, who was annoyed as much as she 
 was genuinely moved by her daughter's extremity, 
 made perfunctory efforts to soothe her ; "fehe was 
 unsuccessful, and once more appealed to Aglionby. 
 
 He spoke to the distracted girl, but she did not heed ; 
 directly, however, he approached her and laid his hand 
 on her arm, her distress abated, she desperately clinging 
 
THE ASPIRATE PLAYS PROVIDENCE 353 
 
 to him ; at the same time, her eyes looked into his 
 with an immense inquiry. 
 
 She was docile enough while he was in contact with 
 her, but directly he essayed to free himself from her 
 grasp she was violently agitated, her hysteria threat- 
 ening to possess her anew. 
 
 When it, presently, seemed to Aglionby's troubled 
 mind that he would be thus held for ever, he desperately 
 asked : 
 
 " What is to be done ? " 
 
 " It's obvious she can't stay here," declared the 
 countess. 
 
 " You'll take her away ? " queried Mrs. Ware, who, 
 now that there was every prospect of Lady Aenemone 
 being snatched from her son's arms, just when he 
 was certain of her, was now loath to see her go and 
 regretted her coldness. 
 
 " You can't expect me to let her be ill here. It 
 might be very serious," retorted Lady Derwentwater ; 
 to add to Aglionby, " How fortunate the cabs are 
 waiting ! " 
 
 Much to his surprise, and greatly to his relief. Lady 
 Aenemone offered but the faintest resistance when 
 Aglionby assisted her from the room ; neither did 
 Gilbert make any effort to detain her, although he 
 hovered in the background while the departure was 
 in progress. Doubtless he was too crushed by 
 what he considered to be his manifold griefs to 
 interfere. 
 
 Although the girl had to be carried rather than 
 assisted into the nearer of the waiting cabs, she made 
 strenuous objections to being joined by her mother, 
 declaring that "if she could not be alone with her 
 dear daddyho she would not go at all." 
 
 After a brief discussion, the girl had her way, and 
 23 
 
S64 *rHE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 when they started, her hand rested in Aglionby's, 
 where it violently trembled. 
 
 They had not gone far when he feared that she was 
 again about to break down, for her eyes looked appeal- 
 ingly into his, while the hand that was free clutched 
 at the handle of the door. 
 
 A few moments later, she placed herself upon his 
 knee, wound her arm about his neck, and hid her face 
 upon his shoulder, as she sobbed : 
 
 "Forgive me, dearest daddyho! But you're the 
 only one who understands ! " 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 THE BEGINNINGS OF WISDOM 
 
 If Aglionby had believed that anxiety regarding Lady 
 Aenemone was over directly she had left the Wares', 
 he had never made a more fatuous mistake. 
 
 For the best part of a week following her escapade, 
 she kept to her bed, and had preserved a suUen silence 
 unless addressed, at which her mother had declared 
 that rest, assisted by gentle doses of " Nirvana," would 
 occasion a speedy recovery. 
 
 AlthoughAglionby was not so hopeful as the countess, 
 he was little prepared for what followed. 
 
 One morning he received an urgent summons to 
 Derwentwater House, which obeying, he learned that 
 Lady Aenemone was deUrious and with a high tem- 
 perature ; also, that the doctors who had been sent 
 for had declared she was suffering from acute brain 
 fever, the issue from which was doubtful. 
 
 Forthwith had followed weeks crowded with dread 
 suspense, and during this period the straw upon the 
 road outside the house proclaimed the urgency of the 
 case, and deadened familiar noises, which otherwise, 
 in reminding the sufferer of a world in which she had 
 discovered so much pain, might strengthen her distaste 
 for life and weaken her resistance to the menace that 
 confronted her. 
 
 356 
 
356 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 During this time, Aglionby rarely left Derwentwater 
 House, where he had taken up his quarters, and 
 then only to take necessary exercise or to attend 
 to his affairs. Not only was he a stay to his 
 Jane, but it seemed that his presence in the 
 sick-room had a helpful effect on the sufferer, 
 she being more restful and less prone to delirium 
 when he was by. 
 
 She was worse at night, consequently he rested by 
 day in order to be with her when she most needed 
 his presence. 
 
 In these silent watches, when it seemed as if 
 morning would never dawn, he would sit and watch 
 the patient from the side of the bed other than 
 that on which sat one of the nurses, and listen to 
 her disordered ramblings ; these were infrequently 
 interrupted by short intervals of semi-consciousness, 
 when she would appear to greet her friend with the 
 most shadowy of smiles. 
 
 Should he chance to go to one of the windows that 
 overlooked the square, and look out, as likely as 
 not he would see a distraught Gilbert. The latter 
 had been acquainted by Aglionby with the serious 
 nature of Lady Aenemone's illness, and often haunted 
 the neighbourhood of the house for hours at a 
 stretch after nightfall. 
 
 Sometimes — and this fed Aglionby's hopes of the 
 patient's recovery — she would have a good night's 
 rest ; but more often than not she would live in a 
 world of troubled imaginings, when she would appeal 
 to Aglionby much as if he shared her mentally dis- 
 ordered existence. 
 
 Gilbert and his mother were frequently the 
 burden of her delirious fancies, she^ when under 
 the influence of these hallucinations, rarely ceasing 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OP WISDOM 357 
 
 to tell of her love for the one and of her fear of 
 the other. 
 
 Then it would seem that she was haunted by Mrs. 
 Ware's eyes, at the which she would grasp Aglionby's 
 arm and implore his protection from their menace ; 
 on these occasions, it was as much as he could do to 
 pacify her. 
 
 It was in the early days of January, when those 
 about her had almost despaired of her recovery, that 
 she took a turn for the better ; before the month was 
 out she was well enough to take an intermittent and 
 faint interest in her surroundings. 
 
 She was anxious to learn how long she had been ill, 
 and to know how many weeks separated her from 
 Christmas — a festival to which from her earliest child- 
 hood she had been inordinately attached. Her con- 
 cern on these scores was such that it was not deemed 
 advisable to tell her the truth. 
 
 Thus it presently came aboiit that her room was 
 decorated with the traditional holly and mistletoe, 
 while, on the selected day, presents were ex- 
 changed, and as great an approximation as was 
 possible under the circumstances was made to the 
 real Christmas. 
 
 This mutilated celebration, so far as the patient was 
 concerned, appeared to give her heart for life ; she 
 would, have made steady progress if she had not been 
 subject to attacks of depression which nothing that 
 any one could do alleviated. 
 
 Directly she was out of danger, Lady Derwentwater 
 saw less and less of her daughter ; it was as if she 
 were resentful of the preference the girl exhibited for 
 her " ever dearest daddyho." 
 
 For her part, Lady Aenemone, if anything, dis- 
 couraged her mother's visits. Whenever Aglionby 
 
358 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 remonstrated with her on the matter, he was surprised 
 to discover that she had arrived at the inevitable period 
 in her life when children criticise their parents, and 
 was indisposed to take her mother seriously. 
 
 Although February found her better on the 
 whole, her liability to melancholia persisted ; but 
 when her mind was unclouded, she often insisted on 
 Aglionby's leaving her for the best part of a day, 
 declaring that he must not further sacrifice his 
 leisure for her sake. 
 
 Although he protested, she had her own way, at 
 which he made a point of returning with something 
 that would lighten her depression and show he had 
 not forgotten her. 
 
 So far, she had made no mention of the circumstances 
 that were responsible for her illness. 
 
 When Aglionby was again out and about, he fre- 
 quently ran against his friend Ordway, from whom 
 he learned that Quinby, the originator of the " Magic 
 Ring," had been overtaken by what the journalist 
 called the nemesis of a man of his proclivities : he 
 had married a magnificent creature in her middle 
 teens. 
 
 It appeared that Ordway was so revolted by the 
 softness, lack of patriotism, and decadence of the 
 British, and their fat indifference to the constantly 
 growing German danger, that he was writing a 
 book. 
 
 Its purport was to glorify warfare as the ultimate 
 test of a nation's virility, and to assert that an imme- 
 diate contest with Germany was a necessity of national 
 existence, and the only cure for the many obvious 
 ills (among which the effeminacy and degeneracy of 
 the richer and poorer classes were conspicuous) afflict- 
 ing the body politic. 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OF WISDOM 359 
 
 The work, which was to be called "The Neces- 
 sity of War," was to be dedicated to an illus- 
 trious mediocrity who had recently declared that 
 he was sick of the cant that put country before 
 party. 
 
 While Lady Aenemone had been ill, Aglionby had 
 thought of little beyond her extremity ; now she 
 was more herself, his mind was free to concern itself 
 with his own affairs. 
 
 Over and above his love for the countess — which, 
 although he would not acknowledge it to himself, 
 was scarcely so robust as it had been — he fre- 
 quently and painfully pondered upon the jjroblems 
 of existence furnished by his visits to Stepney 
 and his excursions with Gilbert ; associated with 
 these were anxieties concerning Mrs. Ware and 
 her son. 
 
 Perhaps such thoughts were induced by the con- 
 trast between the skilled and luxurious attention 
 with' which Lady Aenemone was surrounded in her 
 stately London home, and the limitless wretched- 
 ness and squalor he had seen the farther side of 
 Aldgate. 
 
 One evening in particular, he was obsessed by the 
 immense gulf existing between the lives of the rich 
 and the very poor. 
 
 He was sitting alone with Lady Aenemone, who 
 had fallen into a light sleep. 
 
 So far as he could see, it appeared, on the face of 
 it, as if it required the ceaseless labour of hundreds 
 of human beings to support the gilded existence of 
 one who did neither toil nor spin. 
 
 It almost seemed as if there were a parallel to 
 this condition of things in the animal world, many 
 species of which preyed on countless numbers of 
 
360 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 inferior beings (who in turn lived on their kind 
 or on less highly developed organisms) in order to 
 thrive. 
 
 Nor did the similarity end there. 
 
 It was as if Nature so ordered matters that the 
 fact of existence being constantly threatened sharpened 
 the faculties, and thus contributed to the improvement 
 and consequent survival of the genus. 
 
 The same results (although handicapped by religion 
 and philanthropy) were obtained by much the same 
 means with human beings, the threat of unemploy- 
 ment, with the consequent loss of the wherewithal to 
 live, and of caste, acting as a stimulus to the race, 
 to which, when subsistence was assured, social and 
 other ambitions further contributed. 
 
 It seemed to him that those in the countess's exalted 
 station were either the most competent of the race, 
 or the descendants of the more strenuous (anxiety to 
 provide for issue being a further incentive to struggle) ; 
 also, that their privileged position represented a gbaL 
 which others less highly placed were constantly 
 striving to win, while some variation of the same 
 emulation was common to the innumerable strata 
 of the social organisation. 
 
 Aglionby was well aware that this abstract view of 
 the matter was no consolation to the needy, even if 
 it were so much as remotely appreciated ; but in his 
 present passionate anxiety to find amelioration for 
 the lot of the toilers, he strove to believe that great 
 possessions were not a source of undiluted and abiding 
 joy to their owners, inasmuch as a life of leisure tended 
 to develop the higher susceptibilities, with the con- 
 sequence that pain, sorrow, and anxiety became far 
 more formidable than with those whose finer emotions 
 were either blunted or undeveloped. 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OP WISDOM 361 
 
 He had got thus far in his cogitations when he 
 perceived that Lady Aenemone was awake, and was 
 watching him with sad eyes. He was about to speak, 
 but was restrained by the dolorous intensity of their 
 expressipn. 
 
 A little later, they were dim with tears, at the which 
 he laid a sympathetic hand upon her arm. 
 
 " You do understand ? " she presently whis-- 
 pered. 
 
 He nodded his head. 
 
 " Mumsie doesn't a bit, and that is why " 
 
 Emotion choked her utterance. 
 
 When she was presently able to speak, she 
 asked : 
 
 " Does he know I've been so ill ? " 
 
 " Who ? " 
 
 " You know whom I mean." 
 
 " He's known all along." 
 
 " Did he mind ? " 
 
 Aglionby smiled grimly. 
 
 She turned away her head, but when she spoke 
 again, she said : 
 
 " I don't want to speak of myself, but of — 
 them." 
 
 " Gilbert and his mother ? " 
 
 " Her eyes haunt me," she declared painfully. " I 
 fear I've come between them, and " 
 
 " Yes ? " he urged, after waiting for her to finish 
 what she had been about to say. 
 
 " I can't get them out of my mind," she went on. 
 " They seem to be always reproaching me. I believe 
 I saw them when I was ill." 
 
 In spite of himself, an acquiescent sigh escaped his 
 lips. 
 
 " What happened before, I don't remember well," 
 
362 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 she continued. " But I don't believe he thinks so 
 much of her as he should." 
 
 " That's youth all the world over," Aglionby assured 
 her. 
 
 " Not quite. If you were my dearest, dearest father, 
 you would always be in my heart and never out of my 
 thoughts. But I'm worrying about her. He is young 
 and clever, and has his life before him. But she has 
 had a lot of trouble." 
 
 " She is a good woman," Aglionby assented 
 simply. 
 
 " She must be if you think she is." 
 
 " And has denied herself to give him a good start 
 in life." 
 
 " Was he, or was he not, anxious for me to meet 
 her ? I can't remember." 
 
 " That cannot matter now." 
 
 " Perhaps not. But— but " 
 
 " Yes ? " 
 
 " I'm worried about her, and I was wonder- 
 ing " 
 ing 
 
 " If I ? " he suggested, as she paused to look 
 
 intently at him. 
 
 " If you would go there and see what you can do. 
 Would you very much mind ? " 
 
 " Not at all, if I thought the fact of my going there 
 would not make you worse." 
 
 " It would do me good. At least, I believe it would, 
 dearest daddyho." 
 
 " How soon do you wish me to go ? " 
 
 " It worries me, dear. If you could do 'some- 
 thing to bring them together soon, it would help 
 me." 
 
 Thus it came about that Aglionby once more set 
 out for Jubilee Street, in the somewhat vain hope of 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OF WISDOM 363 
 
 reconciling two people whom he believed would be 
 far from pleased to see him. 
 
 He took with him a note that Lady Aenemone had 
 written to Gilbert. Although Aglionby was ignorant 
 of its contents, he divined it contained a tender message 
 of farewell. 
 
 As he went, his mind went o£E at a tangent from 
 the preoccupations attending his errand to the 
 subject of socialism, at which his mind was suddenly 
 illumined with what was to him a decisive argument 
 against its tenets. 
 
 It seemed to him that as bodily excess was 
 penalised with loss of health, so slackness in the 
 material affairs of life meant being deprived of 
 either money, employment, or both ; and socialism, 
 in rewarding alike the capable and the careless, 
 would have the same disastrous effect on the physical 
 and mental stamina of the race as if fleshly delights 
 could be enjoyed without the fear of inconvenient 
 consequences. 
 
 The fact of present-day competition being in 
 the nature of a necessary discipline to the human 
 unit, in order that it should cultivate its com- 
 bative faculties to the utmost, was to him an abiding 
 argument against the practice of an enervating 
 socialism. 
 
 The door of 94, Jubilee Street, which thorough- 
 fare looked meaner and more squalid than he had 
 believed to be the case, was opened by an even 
 thinner — if that were possible — Miss 'Itt. She wore 
 a shawl over her meagre shoulders ; this, by reason 
 of its orange colour, enhanced the yellowness of her 
 complexion. 
 
 She warmly welcomed Aglionby, although her wel- 
 come was interrupted by a terrible cough, and invited 
 
364 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 him into the well-remembered parlour, where she had 
 been sitting over a small fire. 
 
 Instead of working at her sewing machine, it 
 looked as if she had been reading one of a pile of 
 Sport and Drama Illustrated, which occupied the 
 round table. 
 
 " Oh, I sy ! Fancy meeting you ! " she said for 
 the third time, as Aglionby took a seat. 
 
 " I came to see Gilbert and his mother if they're 
 in, and if they will see me." 
 
 " They're in ; you've come at the roight toime, as 
 'e's at work agine." 
 
 Aglionby had foreseen this contingency, and had 
 made a point of arriving about seven. 
 
 " You might tell them I should much like to see 
 them if I might." 
 
 " I don't know about Gilbert. He's fairly * up the 
 pole,' " 
 
 " Indeed ! " 
 
 "He is funny. Oi've never seen any one so 
 comic." 
 
 Before Miss 'Itt left the room to interview the 
 Wares, she contrived to tell Aglionby that, having 
 Come in for a legacy, she was using it to take a holi- 
 day, in the hope of getting rid of her cold, which 
 had got her " crool." 
 
 Upon Aglionby saying that he hoped her windfall 
 was substantial, she replied that it was, being " reelly 
 ten pounds." 
 
 During her absence, he glanced at the pile of 
 journals on the table, to discover that they were five 
 years old. 
 
 When she presently came back and said that Mrs. 
 Ware would shortly join him, he remarked : 
 
 " Those papers are five years old." 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OP WISDOM 365 
 
 " That mykes no difference," she giggled. " Oi 
 read 'em and b'lieve it's all just happened." 
 
 When Mrs. Ware entered the little parlour, she 
 greeted Aglionby with the suggestion of her old- 
 fashioned curtsy. He could not help perceiving that 
 her face looked more furrowed, her hair greyer than 
 when he had last seen her. It was as if sorrow had 
 marked her for its own. 
 
 " Is — ^is — ^it bad news ? " she fearfully asked, after 
 Aglionby had greeted her. 
 
 " No. I wished to see you and Gilbert. I have 
 l)roxight him a note." 
 
 " I'll tell him, sir," said a greatly relieved Mrs. 
 Ware. " He'd thought you'd bad news, and feared 
 to come." 
 
 When Aglionby was again alone with Miss 'Itt, he 
 remarked : 
 
 " You should keep in the same air. It can't do 
 you any good to go from this room to the front door." 
 
 " It's moi only chance of seeing a little loife," she 
 laughingly informed him. 
 
 " He won't come, sir," said Mrs. Ware as she 
 re-entered the room. " He asked me to give him the 
 note." 
 
 " Shall I go to him ? " asked Aglionby. He had 
 small hope of her acceding to this suggestion, but, 
 much to his surprise, she said : 
 
 " If you'd be so kind ! " 
 
 The anxiety in her voice made him exclaim : 
 
 " Is it so bad as that ? " 
 
 " Dreadful," she sighed. " There's no doing any- 
 thing with him." 
 
 When Aglionby entered the kitchen, he found a 
 haggard, unkempt Gilbert seated before the fire, his 
 head resting on his hands. 
 
366 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " I didn't want to see you," he cried, directly he 
 caught sight of Aglionby. 
 
 " I'm sorry, but " 
 
 " Give me what you have and let me be." 
 
 Aglionby handed the note to Gilbert, who, after 
 tearing it open, read it again and again. 
 ' " Don't you think it's rather foolish ? " asked 
 Aglionby presently. 
 
 Gilbert looked at him with dazed eyes. 
 
 " For a man of your abihties and with his life before 
 him to give way as you're doing." 
 
 " I don't see it's any business of yours," re- 
 plied Gilbert absently, as he fell to reperusing the 
 letter. 
 
 " It's some one else's business," declared Aglionby 
 gravely. " I don't want to tell her, should she question 
 me, that you've given way." 
 
 Then, seeing that he had arrested Gilbert's attention, 
 he went on : 
 
 " Besides, apart from that, it's preposterous that 
 you, of all men, should think you have nothing else 
 to live f or ! " 
 
 " Why me ? ' 
 
 "As I said before, you are young, with your life 
 before you. You have the priceless asset of health. 
 And with your brains and convictions, you should 
 make a career for yourself." 
 
 "If you knew what I'm suffering, you would not 
 talk like that." 
 
 " But I do know." 
 
 " How can that be ? " 
 
 " When I was your age, I had the same experience," 
 Aglionby gravely informed him. 
 
 Gilbert shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 "Like you, I thought at the time I should never 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OF WISDOM 367 
 
 get over it, but now I realise that, on the whole, it 
 did me good." 
 
 Gilbert smiled sceptically. 
 
 " It was very, very hard," continued Aglionby, " but 
 in my case, as in yours, it prevented me from marrying 
 some silly girl of whom I should have been weary to 
 death in a few months." 
 
 '*Any one can advise," remarked Gilbert 
 bitterly. 
 
 " The same applies to you. Now, instead of 
 marrying some girl who would never have appre- 
 ciated you, or have satisfied you, this trouble will 
 ensure your being free to do something with your 
 life." 
 
 " You may be talking sense or nonsense," rejoined 
 Gilbert. " I neither know nor care. All I know is 
 I have heard from her." 
 
 Although Aglionby despaired of effecting the object 
 for which he had come on that day, he said by way 
 of a forlorn hope : 
 
 " There is some one you should certainly con- 
 sider." 
 
 " Who ? " 
 
 "Your mother." 
 
 " Mother ! " exclaimed Gilbert in surprise. 
 
 "Perhaps it isn't for me to say, but I scarcely 
 think you appreciate all she has done for you as 
 you might." 
 
 " Has she been speaking to you ? " 
 
 " Indeed no." 
 
 " Sure ? " 
 
 " I give you my word." 
 
 Gilbert relapsed into a gloomy silence, at 
 which Aglionby, after a few moments' thought, 
 said : 
 
368 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Some one, whose good opinion you value more than 
 anything in the world, also thinks as I do." 
 
 " You mean " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " What have I not done ? " asked Gilbert, 
 after a pause. "Tell me, if you will. I'll listen 
 now." 
 
 " I can in a very few words," declared Aglionby, 
 who rejoiced at the other's unexpected amenity, " You 
 have not appreciated as you should the many sacrifices 
 your mother has made for you." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " You treat her slightingly, careless how you wound 
 her great love for, and pride in, you." 
 
 " But listen " 
 
 ~"A kind 'word from you, a recognition on your 
 part that she was something in your life, would 
 confer unspeakable happiness on her, and make 
 up for all the sorrow and suffering you have caused 
 her." 
 
 Gilbert looked in astonishment at Aglionby, who 
 went on : 
 
 " Her life has been hard, and her consolation and 
 hope have been you. Because she is incapable of 
 sharing your political enthusiasms, does it mean she 
 loves you less, that you are not so much to her ? 
 Anything but ! " 
 
 Then, as Gilbert did not reply, he said : 
 
 " You are typical of youth the world over. All 
 concern for self, and with never a thought for those 
 who have done so much for you. You may be in- 
 different now, but a time will inevitably come, and 
 more likely than not when it's too late, when you 
 would give much to have over again the opportunity 
 you have now." 
 
f THE BEGINNINGS OP WISDOM 369 
 
 "What you are saying may be all very true, 
 but I cannot go into it now," declared Gilbert 
 helplessly. 
 
 " But " 
 
 " I have heard from her." 
 
 " But it is her wish," cried Aglionby desperately. 
 " Won't that influence you ? " 
 
 " You mentioned that before." 
 
 " And -then you said you'd listen, but when I tell 
 you, you are indifferent.'^ V"; 
 
 " Tell me again, if you will." 
 
 " Is it any use ? " 
 
 "Tell me; tell me." 
 
 " She wishes you to consider your mother more 
 than you have done. It's troubling her a lot, and 
 is, perhaps, retarding her recovery. It'p really why 
 I came." * 
 
 " What is it she would wish me to do^ " asked 
 Gilbert. «^ 
 
 "To show your mother that you're grateful for all 
 she's done for you. Even if you do it .as a mity, and 
 not from inclination, believe me, you will one day 
 be repaid a thousandfold." 
 
 Gilbert was lost in thought for some time. When 
 he presently spoke, he said : 
 
 " Perhaps I have been wanting." 
 
 " What am I to tell her ? " asked Aglionby. 
 
 " Tell her — tell her I'm thinking of what she wrote 
 — of what she said — and " 
 
 " Yes ? " said Aglionby, after waiting a while. 
 
 "From mother's point of view, I must sometimes 
 have seemed thoughtless," said Gilbert, with his eyes 
 on the fire, and in the manner of one speaking to 
 himself. 
 
 " Thfen I can tell her " began Aglionby. 
 
 24 
 
370 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " That never so long as I live shall I ever, ever 
 forget," declared Gilbert fervently. 
 
 " I will tell her that. And what of the other 1 " 
 persisted Aglionby. 
 
 " She asks me. That is enough," replied 
 Gilbert. 
 
 Aglionby waited to see if the other would say any 
 more, but on Gilbert preserving an obstinate silence 
 he slowly made for the door. 
 
 Upon opening it, he discovered Mrs. Ware 
 immediately outside, at the which he took and 
 pressed her hand before motioning her into the 
 kitchen. 
 
 She went in silently. From his place in the 
 doorway, Aglionby saw her approach and stand 
 by her son, who, for his part, stared moodily into 
 the fire. 
 
 It was a long time before he seemed aware of her 
 presence, and in the meantime the firelight enabled 
 Aglionby to watch the convulsive movements of his 
 passion-torn features. 
 
 At last, after what seemed an interminable interval, 
 Gilbert's arm stole about his mother's waist, while the 
 hand that was free, in affecting to screen his eyes 
 from the fire, would have concealed his emotion from 
 her knowledge. 
 
 Thus Aglionby left them, stealing noiselessly from 
 the house, so that he should not interfere with the 
 promise of their reconciliation. 
 
 Later, as he was telling Lady Aenemone of the 
 success of his visit, he received a message from the 
 countess saying that she wished to see him directly 
 he was free. 
 
 When he joined her downstairs he saw that she was 
 more than commonly gorgeously attired ; also that 
 
THE BEGINNINGS OP WISDOM 371 
 
 emotion had brightened her eyes and painted her 
 cheeks. 
 
 The warmth of her hair and complexion, her defiant 
 pose, which were set off by her purple and fine linen, 
 arrested his attention, and in spite of himself he was 
 conscious of the beating of his heart. 
 
 " What is it, Jane ? " he began. 
 
 " What do you want ? " she asked curtly. 
 
 " Didn't you send for me ? " 
 
 " Why should I ? " 
 
 " I'm sorry " 
 
 " When I know perfectly well that nothing will ever 
 drag you from Aenemone." 
 
 "Jane! Jane!" 
 
 " Don't make out it isn't true, because it is. I'm 
 disappointed in you, Dick." 
 
 « But " 
 
 " Don't say anything. It will only make it worse." 
 
 " But listen " 
 
 " I won't hear a word." 
 
 She agitatedly paced the room, at the which some- 
 thing in her gracious movements awoke the chivalrous 
 passion of his youth, and fanned into flame the ripened 
 love of the days of their renewed acquaintance. 
 
 Perhaps the griefs he had lately witnessed and 
 endured were largely responsible for this culmination 
 of emotion, inasmuch as he ached with all his being 
 for a little happiness which might enable him to 
 forget, if only for a time, much that he had lately 
 experienced. 
 
 Then he found himself hungering to win this lovable 
 woman, who, in the span of his life, had caused him 
 so much suffering, for his own, when he would feel 
 that his existence had not been altogether barren of 
 the tangible things that matter. 
 
372 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 Vaguely wondering what reception his ardour woiild 
 meet with, he advanced upon the desire of his heart, 
 caught her in his arms, and kissed her rapturously 
 and often on the lips. 
 
 To his surprise and delight, she, after a moment's 
 hesitation, was helplessly quivering in his arms. 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 HONEYMOON 
 
 Aglionby stood on the balcony of his suite at the 
 Riviera Palace Hotel ; this, by reason of its being 
 perched on a high promontory of the Maritime Alps, 
 overlooked the adjacent principality of Monaco. 
 
 He and his bride had left Paris over-night, and had 
 arrived at their destination (it was her selection) for 
 dejeuner. 
 
 While the maid who accompanied them was putting 
 the finishing touches to her mistress's appearance, a 
 longing to be alone had possessed him. He had gone 
 out into the evening, and, for a time, his passion for 
 solitude w£is merged in the wonder aroused by the 
 prospect- 
 Away below his feet, Monte Carlo and Monaco looked 
 ridiculously trumpery and insignificant ; but beyond 
 noticing one or two buildings of some approximation 
 to consequence, his gaze wandered to the spread of 
 intensely blue sea and land ; the warm and gracious 
 hues of these were violently contrasted with the cold 
 grandeur of the Maritime Alps which towered majes- 
 tically behind. 
 
 ^ Earlier in the day he had been fascinated by the 
 view. Now the falling evening filled the splendid vistas 
 
 379 
 
374 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 with a light that tenderly etherealised a sight that 
 had been already fair enough. 
 
 Away on his right could still be seen the blur of 
 white and grey made by Nice, while in the contrary 
 direction he was yet able to discern the tower and 
 many of the buildings of old-world Mentone, while 
 its backing of Italian coast-line was all but merged 
 in the gathering night. 
 
 After drinking his fill of this magnificent panorama, 
 he looked behind and above him to where the stu- 
 pendous Roman monument at La Turbie stood in its 
 proud, if decayed, isolation. 
 
 He was minded to muse on the futility of human 
 endeavour, since all that remained there of a war- 
 like civilisation was a pile of mouldering masonry, 
 when his attention was dominated by the mighty 
 immobility and serenity of the neighbouring moun- 
 tains. 
 
 Their permanence seemed to mock the habitations 
 that spread at their base as things of mushroom growth, 
 and made the Roman monument appear a thing of 
 yesterday. 
 
 It was as if their immense repose endowed them 
 with a supernatural strength and wisdom beside which 
 the prepossessions of humanity were of no consequence 
 at all. 
 
 As he looked, the peak of One of these mountains 
 was touched with a white cloud ; this gave the im- 
 pression that it was alight. 
 
 Suddenly, sea and land and mountains were as if 
 they did not exist. Aglionby was wholly concerned 
 with his thoughts. 
 
 A vague dissatisfaction filled his being ; the be- 
 ginnings of this had, doubtless, been responsible for 
 his appearance on the balcony. 
 
HONEYMOON 375 
 
 He sought to avoid acknowledging the cause, but 
 in his heart of hearts he was conscious that marriage 
 with his Jane had not brought him the happiness he 
 hfid anticipated. 
 
 He had wanted her all his life, and had believed 
 that the consummation of his hopes would be attended 
 by unalloyed felicity. 
 
 Although they had been married but a week, the 
 ecstasy he had counted upon stiU eluded him. 
 
 It was not that she had failed to reciprocate 
 the loving devotion with which he had surrounded 
 her. 
 
 True, she had once or twice jarred his sensibilities. 
 For instance, she had read in the train of the skirt 
 of a notorious woman at Monte Carlo having been 
 hemmed with diamonds cut like acorns, which were 
 set in pearl cups ; she had irked him by re- 
 peatedly hoping that she would see this miracle of 
 extravagance. 
 
 He was so annoyed at his dissatisfaction that he 
 resolved to probe for the cause. Very soon, he was 
 marvelling if the realisation of his desire had compen- 
 sated him for the wealth of love he had, more or less, 
 lavished upon her all his days. 
 
 Perhaps the explanation of his disquiet was — and 
 the suggestion gave him a curious twist of mental pain — 
 that continuous happiness was impossible of realisa- 
 tion, inasmuch as the most greedily coveted fruit turned 
 to ashes in the mouth. 
 
 If this were the solution of his uneasiness, he asked 
 himself how, in the future, he could wrest happiness 
 from fortune, and of such a nature that it would not 
 be shadowed by disillusion. 
 
 Since he had read the proofs of Ordway's book, 
 he had sometimes thought of turning street-comer 
 
376 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 patriot, and of going into the political byways and 
 hedges in order to tell the people that they had duties 
 as well as rights, and that unless the nation awoke 
 from its torpor it was doomed to the extinction that 
 had overtaken the mighty civilisation responsible for 
 the monument looming above him. 
 
 To-night, he wondered if he could secure, if not 
 happiness, at least a permanent interest in life, by 
 such a proceeding. A moment's reflection told him 
 of its futility, and of the bitter disappointment 
 awaiting any one who strove to open eyes that would 
 not see. 
 
 Then it came to him that his union with the countess 
 would probably bear fruit, and that this might prove 
 to be a little girl upon "whom he could centre his life. 
 Hardly had he realised the abiding happiness such a 
 contingency would provide, when it occurred to 
 him that, as likely as not, if she were love-worthy, 
 he would inevitably lose her ; and even should she 
 grow up, it was quite conceivable that the bMnd, 
 innate selfishness of youth might cruelly wound his 
 heart. 
 
 There remained Aenemone, to whom he was im- 
 moderately devoted ; but he had no doubt that she 
 would ultimately marry Caple (she had consented to 
 see him), although she had declared she could never 
 love again. 
 
 Aglionby awoke from his pessimism with a 
 start. 
 
 The Casino beneath was brUliantly illuminated, whUe 
 the streets and many of the buildings slavishly followed 
 its example.^ 
 
 As if to be not altogether outdone by this preparation 
 for a joyous evening, the sky softly arrayed itself in 
 many-coloured gems ; there was such a profusion of 
 
HO]SrEYifOON 377 
 
 these that they decorated the night in famihar settings 
 from above the top of the mountains to where the sea 
 reflected the lights of Nice and Mentone. 
 
 Life offered so much that he realised the sinful- 
 ness of indulging in such thoughts on the occasion 
 of what should be the crowning happiness of his 
 existence. 
 
 He excused himself by putting them down to the 
 effect of the train rush from Paris across France upon 
 his digestion. 
 
 The illuminated Casino again caught his eye ; it 
 seemed as if it were a gigantic candle which attracted 
 the most brilliant moths the world over. 
 
 As if this symbol of capricious fortune were not 
 enough to proclaim the wisdom of gathering the roses 
 while he yet had time, the Roman monument at La 
 Turbie frowned menacingly over the town, and 
 either fulfilled the purpose of the Egyptian mummy 
 at the almost endless feast beneath, or, as in his 
 case, was a further incentive to pleasure, it insist- 
 ently reminding him that everything passes and has 
 an end. 
 
 As he stood there in the night, suspended midway 
 between the infinite calm of the mountains and the 
 fret of the CSty of Pleasure, he wondered if, as human 
 nature never changes, the conquerors of old who had 
 built the monument to victory had reaHsed the in- 
 stabUiiy of happiness, or if, careless of consequences, 
 they had lived for the moment. 
 
 If the former, and they had cultivated austerity, 
 what did it avail them now ? 
 
 All that now seemed to matter was the amount of 
 happiness they had wrested from elusive fortune in 
 the long ago ; and the reflection that, a httle sooner 
 pr a little later, he would be as they made him hunger 
 
378 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 for pleasure with an appetite he had never known 
 before. 
 
 This craving stirred his blood, and seemed to make 
 even fairer the spread of sky and sea and mountain- 
 enclosed, gaily-lit township. 
 
 The scent of exotic blossoms was borne up to 
 where he stood, and intoxicated his nostrils with 
 delights ; the soft evening air sighed from sheer 
 wantonness. 
 
 Now and again, he heard the stringed instruments 
 in the hotel's palatial dining-room, to which he would 
 shortly descend with his bride. He seemed to be 
 almost at one with the tender spirit of the place — 
 almost, because he needed the loving companionship 
 of his beloved to complete the identity. 
 
 He laughed with a supreme contempt at his recent 
 doubtings, and knew a further longing to submerge 
 them in an abandonment of enjoyment, which he 
 would greedily grasp with both hands. 
 
 He told himself how his Jane had been wise to select 
 this spot for their honeymoon, where the reahties of 
 existence were not permitted to obtrude, and where 
 nature and human ingenuity combined to supply the 
 senses with a ceaseless and unfaihng titiUation. 
 
 The prospects of the joys awaiting him, which 
 he would share with the ardent, desirable woman 
 he had won for his own, made him faint with ex- 
 pectation. 
 
 When he recovered, he, before seeking his bride to 
 conduct her downstairs, swallowed deep draughts of 
 air in order to saturate his being with the irresponsible 
 spirit of the place. 
 
 Suddenly, and without warning, the City of 
 Pleasure, where gold had an astonishingly reduced 
 y9,lue, faded from his sight ; in its stead was substi- 
 
HONEYMOON 379 
 
 tuted a spread of ugliness and squalor which consti- 
 tuted a City of Work and Pain : here, mere coppers 
 acquired a hideously swollen worth. 
 
 It was as if the scales had fallen from his eyes, 
 and he saw revealed in stark reahty the conditions 
 that made possible the luxury with which he was 
 surrounded. 
 
 In contrast with the prospect he had recently seen, 
 the mean streets were poorly lighted ; very soon, even 
 the windows in the little houses would be dark by 
 reason of the inhabitants, in accordance with custom, 
 going early to bed in order to get a good night's rest 
 before being awakened in the small hours by the police- 
 man's knock : this summons, for which the more 
 prosperous paid twopence a week, announced it was 
 time to rise for another day's toil. 
 
 The few men who were about were dispirited, stunted, 
 ill-nourished ; the women were haggard, silent, meanly 
 clad, old before their time. 
 
 Here was no thought of pleasure, such having 
 long since deserted their lives ; their one concern 
 was to find work in order to keep the wolf from the 
 door. 
 
 The interior of one or two of the houses was next 
 bared to his gaze. 
 
 In one, a woman, who went in daily fear of her life 
 from a brutal husband, still served in her little general 
 shop in order to keep a roof over her own and her 
 dear ones' head. 
 
 In the next, another of her sex, who was soon to 
 be a mother, worked all the day and most of the 
 night at the washtub because the breadwinner of 
 her large family was in hospital with " baker's con- 
 sumption." 
 
 Although the music of the orchestra again reached 
 
380 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 his ears, it seemed that he heard the whirr of Miss 'Itt's 
 sewing machine ; this was often interrupted by a fit 
 of coughing. 
 
 Then it was as if he perceived a familiar figure 
 tramping the streets ; a moment later, he recognised 
 old Shellabeer, who, with his unsold pipes under his 
 arm, was returning from the day's work in the City 
 to his " Queen,'* who reigned in their combined room. 
 
 As Aglionby noted how rapidly Shellabeer was age- 
 ing, he was more than glad that he had arranged that 
 both he and Miss 'Itt should never want. 
 
 The whirr of the sewing machine again sounded in 
 his ears, but with a culminating noise which threatened 
 to deafen him. He was about to put his fingers to his 
 ears, when a hand upon his arm recalled him to the 
 world of gay reality. 
 
 His wife, gorgeously frocked and bejewelled, smiled 
 sweetly into his face. 
 
 " Sweetheart ! " she said. 
 
 As he looked with strange eyes at his bride, she 
 added : 
 
 " What has happened ? " 
 
 " Nothing ; nothing really serious. I dreamed a 
 dream." 
 
 " Of me ? " 
 
 " Are you ready ? " 
 
 " Quite. Isn't it all wonderful ? " 
 
 He looked at her with questioning eyes. 
 
 " This ! You ! Everything ! " 
 
 " Wonderful ! " he absently echoed. 
 
 " To think I ever thought of socialism ! Doesn't 
 it now seem nonsense ? " 
 
 " Perhaps." 
 
 " You surely don't think anything of it ? " 
 
 " I don't know." 
 
HONEYMOON ^ 381 
 
 " Dearest ! " she protested softly. 
 
 " I know it's all impossible, but " 
 
 " But what ? " 
 
 " Don't speak for a moment. I want to think," he 
 said, and not without a suggestion of irritability in 
 his voice. 
 
 While his bride had been talking, a further 
 illuminating process had taken place in Aglionby's 
 mind, enabling him to see things that had hitherto 
 been hid. 
 
 It was as if he, his wife, and all the many pleasure- 
 seekers on that wonderful coast were, for all their 
 fancied security, dancing and making merry on n live 
 volcano ; for even as they ate, drank, and took 
 no thought for the morrow, the world of travail, 
 which had hitherto been dumb, was now fiercely 
 articulate. 
 
 As he stood there, staring with fearful eyes into 
 the night, he heard the murmuring that arose from 
 this vast army of the dispossessed : it was like the 
 noise of many waters. 
 
 It seemed to his strained senses that, even as he 
 waited, the murmuring broke into rude cries, the 
 hoarseness of which filled the world ; on every side 
 could be seen multitudes, menacing, pitiless as fate, 
 clamouring for what they believed to be their due. 
 
 As one man, they had broken their fetters; dauntless 
 in their new-found liberty, they were resolved to do 
 or die for what they conceived to be freedom. 
 
 A woman's touch dispelled the dread vision and 
 recalled him to the delicious present, at the which he 
 was aware that his Jane had nestled to his side, the 
 while her eyes were gazing at the sky. 
 
 " ComeJ " he said. 
 
 " Dearest ! " 
 
382 THE SOCIALIST COUNTESS 
 
 " Let us go down." 
 
 " I'm so happy alone with you and the stars. We 
 seem alone in the world. Not for a moment." 
 A little later, when they turned to go, she asked : 
 " Why are you in such a hurry ? " 
 " I'm hungry," he truthfully replied. 
 
 Frmled iy BokU WaUon d; Vvney, U,, Lmckm and Ayle^rn, 
 
HARMEN POLS 
 
 BY 
 
 MAARTEN MAARTENS 
 
 Cloth. 12mo. $1.3S net. Postage 12 cents. 
 
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THE COMPLETE WORKS 
 
 OF 
 
 'WILLIAM J. LOCKE 
 
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 At the Gate of Samaria The Beloved Vagabond 
 
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 Derelicts Idols 
 
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 Where Love Is 
 
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WILLIAM J. LOCKE 
 
 The Usurper 
 
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 Derelicts 
 
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 —The Daily Chronicle. 
 
 The White Dove 
 
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 and vividly presented, and the dramatic moments are powerfully 
 realized." — The Morning Post. 
 
 The Demagogue and Lady Phayre 
 
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 ent from any of these as one can well imagine — that will be Mr. 
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 At the Gate of Samaria 
 
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 A TRILOGY OF ANGLO-INDIAN 
 
 ARMY LIFE 
 
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 An interesting character study of a passionless, self-absorbed woman 
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 Anne Page, a Love-story of To-day Cloth. 12mo. $1.50 
 
 "Readers must judge for themselves. Women may read it for 
 warning as well as entertaiimient, and they will find both. Men 
 may read it for reproach that any of their kind can treat such women 
 so. And moralists of either sex will find instructions for their 
 homilies, as well as a vpaming that there may be more than one 
 straight and narrow way." — Ncui York Times. 
 
 Six Fairy Plays for Children 
 
 Sq. 12mo. $1.00 net. Postage 8 cents. 
 
A. NEIL LYONS 
 
 ROBERT BLATCHFORD 
 
 Cloth. 12mo. 75 cents net. Postage 10 cts. 
 
 The Sketch of a Personality. 
 An Estimate of Some Achievement. 
 
 "A splendid figure for biographical study. " — The Call. 
 
 Cottage Pie Chth. 12mo. $1.50. 
 
 A Country Spread. A NoveL 
 
 Sixpenny Pieces chth. i2mo. $1.50. 
 
 The Story of a Sixpenny Doctor 
 
 " Not since famous ' No. 5 John Street ' has been offered so tell- 
 ing and characteristic a work. Power to stir human hearts and 
 sway human sympathies. Holds the interest with a grip of iron and 
 will make many think. " — Chicago Record Herald. 
 
 "Unique in style and matter and intense in human interest." — 
 Louis'ville Courier Journal. 
 
 "Notable, pathetic, humorous and tragic. In realistic force and 
 convincing truth of characterization it is a striking achievement. 
 Slum life has never been better portrayed." — Brooklyn Eagle. 
 
 Arthur's Hotel Cloth, izmo. $1.50. 
 
 " Sketches of low life in London. The book will delight visitors 
 to the slums." — Ne^ York Sun. 
 
M. P. WILLCOCKS 
 
 The Way Up cuth. iZmo. $1.50 
 
 The Romance of an Ironmaster Touching Three Vital Questions 
 
 (a) Capital and Labor. 
 
 (b) The Claims' of the Indi'vidual Against Those of the State. 
 
 (c) The Right of a Woman to Her Otun Indi'vidualiiy. 
 
 "M. P. Willoocks is an English writer of unusual force and that 
 
 dry, incisive humor dearly beloved of the intellectual reader. In 
 
 'The Way Up' this writer crystallizes a tense and telling problem. 
 
 The book is earnest enough for the most serious of readers, yet 
 
 never dull or dreary. The humanization is admirable." — Chicago 
 
 Record-Herald. 
 
 " Miss Willoocks shows the wit of Barrie in close alliance with the 
 
 bold realism of Thomas Hardy and the philosophic touches of 
 
 George Meredith. " — Literary World, London. 
 
 "Striking studies of character and grace of charm and style." — 
 
 Neiju York Sun. 
 
 "Such books are worth keeping on the shelves, even by the classics, 
 
 for they are painted in colors which do not fade. ' ' — London Times. 
 
 The Wingless Victory Cloth. IZmo. $1.50 
 
 "A most remarkable novel which places the author in the first rank. 
 
 This is a novel built to last." — The Outlook. 
 
 ' ' A book worth keeping on the shelves, even by the classics, for 
 
 it is painted in colors which do not fade." — The Times. 
 
 "It is an excellent thing for any reader to come across this book." 
 
 — Standard. 
 
 "A splendid book."— Tribune. 
 
 A Man of Genius Cloth. i2mo. $1.50 
 
 " Far above the general level of contemporary fiction. A work of 
 unusual power." — Professor William Lyon Phelps. 
 
 Widdicombe Chth. iZmo. $1.50 
 
 A Romance of the Devonshire Moors 
 
MAUDE ANNESLEY 
 
 The Wine of Life Cloth, 12mo, $1.50 
 
 "The story is well worth reading; it is never dull and 
 
 is positively superior in the distinctness of its character 
 
 portraiture to the common run of drawing-room fiction. ' ' 
 
 — Charleston News and Courier 
 
 The Door of Darkness Cloth, 12mo, $1.50 
 
 "A story of great interest." — Newark Evening News. 
 " Thoroughly absorbing. ... A subtle psychological 
 situation." — Providence Journal. 
 
 Wind Along the Waste CM, 12mo, $1.50 
 
 " There are some capitally drawn pictures of Parisian 
 low life and its types, and a few thrilling adventures. 
 The whole conception is so forcible that one can hardly 
 get on fast enough." — Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 Shadow-Shapes Cloth, 12mo, $1.30 net. Postaze 12 cents 
 
 "The theme of the story is that of hypnotic suggestion. 
 . . . The absorbing drama grows in interest with every 
 page, the sense of impendmg tragedy is always with us. 
 It is well and cleverly done." — Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
MY ENEMY— THE MOTOR 
 
 BY 
 
 JULIAN STREET 
 
 Illustrated. Cloth. Idmo. 50 cents net. Postage 6 cents. 
 
 "Will supply all normal readers, motor enthusiasts or 
 otherwise, with cause for chuckling during a good half-hour." 
 
 — Chicago Record-Herald. 
 
 "Mr. Street's style is lively and vivacious." 
 
 — Boston Transcript. 
 
 "In the manner of Jerome K. Jerome and may be 
 heartily commended." — New York Globe. 
 
 "The humor of Julian Street first became known by 
 the publication of the clever little story * My Enemy — the 
 Motor.' "—The Boston Herald. 
 
 "More acceptable than the ordinary run of novels 
 because it is more amusing, less pretentious and not so long. 
 About as long as the ordinary novel might be if only novelists 
 would omit superfluities. Just the right length." 
 
 — N. Y. Evening Sun. 
 
THE NEED OF CHANGE 
 
 BY 
 
 JULIAN STREET 
 
 Illustrated. Cloth. 16mo. 50 cents net. Postage 6 cents. 
 
 "A sketch too good to miss. Deliciously humorous." 
 
 — Baltimore Sun. 
 
 "Delightful. Jovial and joyous as a fat man's hearty 
 laugh." — Chicago Record-Herald. 
 
 "A brilliant story, sympathetically illustrated." 
 
 — New Tori American, 
 
 Fortify yourself when you start the story. If you 
 don't, you may disturb the passengers by laughing right out 
 loud." — San Francisco Bulletin. 
 
 Many laughs between the covers. The story is told 
 with spirit and a constant sense of humor. ' ' 
 
 — New York Saturday Review oj" Books. 
 
 "Now and again you have the extreme luck to run 
 across a book that is really FUNNY. Not the machine- 
 made, madly-advertised type. The Need of Change' is 
 the kind that usually you pick up by accident, start to run 
 through casually, find yourself .startled into a chuckle by some 
 unexpected humorous line, and end by reading every word 
 with zest and hustling around to loan it to yoiu" friends. . . 
 Keeps the reader in one continuous howl; the fun never 
 becomes forced. A gem ! " — Philadelphia Item. 
 
THE HICKORY LIMB 
 
 BY 
 
 PARKER H. FILLMORE 
 
 Illustrated. Cloth. 16mo. 50 cents net. Postage 6 cents. 
 
 " 'The Hickory Limb' is a remarkable story, which I 
 have enjoyed, appreciated, and admired. It displays a 
 knowledge of human nature, tenderness and humor." 
 
 — Charles Battell Loomis. 
 
 "A true and amusing picture of child life." 
 
 — Louisville Courier-Journal. 
 
 " The little heroine and all the children are capital." 
 
 — New York Sun. 
 
 "A charming companion to popular 'Alice in Wonder- 
 land.' " — Chicago Record-Herald: 
 
 ' ' One of the most relishable pieces of humor evolved 
 in some time." — Albany Argus. 
 
 "We do not recall having seen any more striking 
 evidence of the arrival of an age of social experimentation 
 than little Margery's rebellion." — Chicago Evening Post. 
 
 ' 'A dainty idyl, full of charm. Should prove a classic. ' ' 
 
 — Cincinnati Enquirer. 
 
 "Powerful in its subtle analysis of childhood philosophy. ' ' 
 — Rochester Union and Advertiser. 
 
 "A most delightful story. . . . Let Mr. Fillmore go 
 on writing other stories like 'The Hickory Limb.' " 
 
 — Toronto News. 
 
 "An hour of amusement, a series of laughs from the 
 heart out, and a pleasant vista backward to the days of child- 
 hood will come to the reader of 'The Hickory Limb.' " 
 
 — Cincinnati Tribune. 
 
"■" ,11' .1, 
 
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