Charles Rex

by Ethel M. Dell

  CHAPTER II

  THE COMPACT

  The polo-ground at Fairharbour was reckoned as one of the greatestattractions the town possessed. Because of it, and the Graydownrace-course an ever-increasing stream of visitors poured yearly into thetown and its neighbourhood, and very fashionable crowds were wont togather during the summer season at the various hotels which had sprung upduring recent years for their accommodation.

  The old Anchor Hotel facing the shore had been bought by a syndicate andrebuilt and was now a very modern erection indeed. It boasted a largelounge, palm-decked and glass-covered, in which a string band played forseveral hours of the day, and the constant swing of its doors testifiedto the great popularity to which it had attained since its renovation.

  To Bunny, who had known the place under very different circumstances inhis boyhood, it was always a source of amusement to drop in and markprogress. The polo-ground was only a few yards away, and he had become anardent member of the Club to which he almost invariably devoted twoafternoons of the week.

  He was a promising player, and his keenness made him a favourite. He rodeLord Saltash's ponies, Saltash himself very seldom putting in anappearance. He was wont to declare that he had no time for games, and hisfrequent absences made it impossible for him to take a very active partin the proceedings of the Club which he had himself inaugurated in anidle hour. He dropped in occasionally to watch a game, and he tookinterest in Bunny's progress; but he was very rarely moved to playhimself. He was too restless, too volatile, to maintain any lastingenthusiasm for any pastime. All that was generally seen of him whenstaying at Burchester was a lightning glimpse as he tore by in his car,or else galloped furiously over the downs and along the hard sands in theearly morning.

  He was a good deal in town as a rule during the season, but with thegeneral exodus in July he was invariably the first to go, driven by afever that gave him no rest. Even his most intimate friends seldom knewwhere he was to be found or whither his wild fancy would take him next.No one was sure of him at any time. He would accept an engagement andthrow it up again without scruple if it did not accord with his mood. Yetwherever he went he could always command a welcome--at least from thefeminine portion of the community who declared that Charles Rex could notbe judged by ordinary standards; he was a law unto himself.

  Even Bunny did not know where he was on that hot afternoon in mid-Julywhen all Fairharbour gathered to watch a match between the regular teamand the visitors. It bid fair to be an exciting event, and he was in highspirits at being one of those chosen to play. Maud had promised to bringToby down to see the game at his special request. He had seen very littleof Toby since that night at the Castle, though he was forced to admit tohimself that if she avoided him of set purpose she did it in a fashionthat baffled detection. She seemed to have settled down as a regularinmate of Jake's household, and with the exception of her early rideswith Jake she gave herself up almost exclusively to helping Maud with thechildren. She had eased his sister's burden in a wonderful fashion, andthe children loved her dearly. Her readiness and her sweet temper neverseemed to fail. She was but a child herself, but Bunny had an uneasyfeeling that she was changing. She had stipulated for six months, but hesometimes wondered if by the end of that time she would not havecontrived to put herself out of his reach. It was that suspicion thatkept him hotly determined to pursue her untiringly till he captured her.Even at a distance that odd charm of hers lured him strongly, and he knewinstinctively that if once she were launched in society his chances ofvictory would be very greatly reduced. He wished he could have seen moreof Captain Larpent and possibly have enlisted his sympathy, but he hadleft the Castle with Saltash, and even Toby herself professed ignoranceof his whereabouts. It was evident that they had never seen much of oneanother, and Bunny realized that he would look in vain for help in thatquarter.

  He doggedly maintained his resolve to win her none the less, and hisvisits to his sister's house were frequent. He spoke no word on thesubject either to Maud or Jake. Toby should not feel that he had in anysense taken a mean advantage. But he never looked at her without thequick longing to take her in his arms rising in his heart, and though thelonging was never satisfied he believed that she was aware of it. She wasalways friendly with him and never embarrassed in his presence. Yet hehad a strong feeling that by some subtle means she was holding him off.He bided his time with what patience he could muster, but he wasdetermined it should not be for long.

  The work on Saltash's estate had done him good. He was keen to provehimself, and the vigorous, out-door life suited him. Jake saw withsatisfaction that he was developing a self-reliance and resourcefulnessthat had not characterized him formerly. He had given up racing accordingto his promise, and the life he now led was after Jake's own heart, anexistence of wholesome activity that was making of him exactly the typeof man that he desired him to become. The boy was a gentleman and therewas fine stuff in him. Jake gloried in the fact. There had always been inBunny qualities that appealed to him very strongly, and it was in a largemeasure due to his influence that those qualities had ripened as theyhad.

  He did not accompany Maud and Toby down to Fairharbour, for business kepthim at the Stables. "Bring him back with you!" he said to his wife atparting, and she smiled and promised. Bunny was never difficult topersuade.

  But when they reached the polo-ground he was in the midst of a crowd ofvisitors from the hotel, and it seemed at first as if he would have notime to spare for them. He very speedily detached himself, however, atsight of them and came up with an eager greeting.

  "So awfully glad you've come. There are some people here you used toknow, Maud, in the old days. Friends of Charlie's too. The Melroses--youremember them, don't you?"

  The name came upon Maud with a curious shock. Yes, she remembered theMelroses. They belonged to the long, long ago before her marriage--tothat strange epoch in her early girlhood when Charlie Burchester hadfilled her world. How far away it seemed! They had all been in the sameset, they and the Cressadys who had been responsible for the scandal thathad so wrung her proud heart. Lady Cressady had been dead for years. Shewondered if Charlie had ever regretted her. It had been but a passingfancy, and she suspected that he had forgotten her long since. He hadnever really taken her seriously; of that she was convinced now. Life hadbeen merely a game with him in those days. It was only recently that ithad begun to be anything else.

  She felt no keen desire to resume the long-forgotten acquaintance withthe Melroses, but Bunny evidently expected it of her, had already toldthem about her, and she had no choice.

  She followed him therefore, Toby very sedate and upright behind her. Tobywas looking wonderfully pretty that day. She varied as a landscape varieson a windy day, but that afternoon she was at her best. Her blue eyeslooked forth upon the crowd with a hint of audacity, and her _piquante_little face was full of charm.

  Bunny's look dwelt upon her as he drew aside for his sister to pass himat the pavilion. He pinched her elbow with a sudden smile.

  "You don't want to go and talk to those people. Come with me and see theponies!"

  She responded with characteristic eagerness to the invitation. "Shall I?But won't Maud mind? Do you think I ought?"

  "Of course you ought," he rejoined with decision. "Maud won't care. I'llbring you back to her before the play begins."

  He drew her away through the crowd, and she went with him without furtherdemur. Bunny was tall and bore himself with distinction. There was,moreover, something rather compelling about him just then, and Toby feltthe attraction. She suffered the hand that grasped her own.

  "Look here!" he said abruptly, as they drew apart from the throng. "I'vegot to see more of you somehow. Have you been dodging me all this time?"

  "I?" said Toby.

  She met his eyes with a funny little chuckle. There was spontaneousmischief in his own.

  He gave her hand an admonitory squeeze. "I'm not laughing. You're notplaying the game. What's the good of my coming to the house to see
you ifwe never meet?"

  "Don't understand," said Toby briefly.

  "Yes, you do. Or you can if you try. You never seem to have any libertynow-a-days. Is it Maud's doing or your own?"

  Toby laughed again lightly and bafflingly. "I can do anything I want todo," she said.

  "Oh, can you?" Bunny pounced. "Then you've got to meet me sometimes awayfrom the rest. See? Come! That's only fair."

  Toby made a face at him. "Suppose I don't want to?" she said.

  He laughed into her eyes. "Don't tell me that! When and where?"

  She laughed back. He was hard to resist. "I don't know. I'm too busy."

  "Rot!" said Bunny.

  "You're very rude," she remarked.

  "I'll be ruder when I get the chance," he laughed. "Listen, I want to seeyou alone very badly. You're not going to let me down."

  "I don't know what I'm going to do yet," said Toby.

  But she could not look with severity into the handsome young face thatwas bent to hers. It was not in her to repulse a friendly influence. Shehad to respond.

  "I'll tell you what you're going to do," said Bunny, marking herweakening with cheery assurance. "You'll take Chops for a walk to-morrowevening through the Burchester Woods. You know that gate by the larchcopse? It's barely a mile across the down. Be there at seven, andperhaps--who knows?--perhaps--Chops may meet somebody he's rather fondof."

  "And again perhaps he mayn't," said Toby, suppressing a dimple.

  "Oh, I say, that's shabby! You'll give him the chance anyhow?"

  The pleading note sounded in Bunny's voice. Toby suddenly dropped hereyes. She looked as if she were bracing herself to refuse.

  Bunny saw and quickly grappled with the danger. "Give him the chance!" heurged softly into her ear. "You won't be sorry--afterwards."

  She did not lift her eyes, but somehow the enchantment held. By a boldstroke he had entered her defences, and she could not for the momentdrive him out. She was silent.

  "You'll come?" whispered Bunny.

  They were nearing a little group of ponies that were being held inreadiness at the end of the field. Toby quickened her pace.

  He kept beside her, but he did not speak again. And perhaps his silencemoved her more than speech, for she gave a little impulsive turn towardshim and threw him her sudden, boyish smile.

  "All right. We'll come," she said.

  "Hooray!" crowed Bunny softly.

  "But I shan't stay long," she warned him. "And if I don't like it, Ishall never come again."

  "You will like it," said Bunny with confidence.

  "I wonder," said Toby with her chin in the air.