CHAPTER XV
THE CLOSED DOOR
A way of escape! A way of escape! How often during the hours of thatendless day were those words in Maud's mind. They pursued her, theymocked her, whichever way she turned.
To Jake she merely very briefly imparted the news of her uncle'sexpected advent, and he received it without comment.
Bunny was much more speculative. He had been somewhat carried out ofhimself by the trend of events. It was Jake who whispered to him theamazing information of his sudden conquest, together with a verystrenuous injunction not to talk to Maud about it unless she started thesubject. And Maud, for some reason, could not start it. She wentthrough all the necessary arrangements for their removal as one in adream, scarcely speaking at all, responding very occasionally to Bunny'seager surmises respecting the unknown great-uncle who had never beforetaken the faintest interest in them, or shown himself so much as awareof their existence. His coming did not seem to matter to her. Ifindeed he were about to offer her a way of escape, it could not matterto her now. The door that led thither had closed, closed in the night,because her mother had been too tired to seek her out and tell her. Theirony of it! The bitter cruel irony! She dared not pause to think.
Jake spent a great part of the day with them, working with a will to getthem comfortably settled in their new quarters before the fall of theearly dusk. After that, he remained to tea; but he devoted almost thewhole of his attention to Bunny, who had in fact come to regard it ashis right.
He left soon after, refusing to remain for the game of chess for whichthe lad earnestly pleaded.
"Not to-night, my son! Your brain has got to settle down. It's a dealtoo lively at present."
He bent over Bunny at parting, and whispered a few words that wereinaudible to Maud. Then he turned to go.
She followed him to the outer door. The evening air smote chill andsalt upon her, and she shivered involuntarily. Jake stopped to light acigarette.
"I shan't be coming round to-morrow," he remarked then. "I shall be toobusy. But I'll look in on Saturday, and tell you what I've fixed up.Will Sunday morning do all right if I can fix it?"
She shivered again. "Yes," she said.
"Say, you're cold," said Jake gently. "I mustn't keep you standinghere. But you really meant that Yes?"
He looked at her, and she saw that his eyes were kindly. She held outher hand with a desperate little smile.
"Yes, I meant it."
His hand closed strongly, sustainingly, upon hers. "Guess there'snothing to be scared of," he said. "I'll take care of you, sure."
She felt a sudden lump rise in her throat, and found she could notspeak.
"You're tired," said Jake softly. "Go and get a good night! It's whatyou're wanting."
"Yes, I am tired," she managed to say.
He still held her hand, looking at her with those strange, glitteringeyes of his that seemed to pierce straight through all reserve and entereven the hidden inner sanctuary of her soul.
"What's this relative of yours like now?" he asked unexpectedly.
She shook her head. "I don't know. I've never seen him."
"Think he's coming along to offer you a home?" asked Jake.
Her face burned suddenly and hotly. For some reason she resented thequestion. "I don't know. How can I possibly know?"
"All right," said Jake imperturbably. "But in case he does, I'd likeyou to know that you are at liberty to do as you please in the matter.He'll tell you, maybe, that I'm not the man for you. That, I gather, isyour mother's attitude. I sensed it from the beginning. If he does,and if you feel inclined to agree with him, you're free to do so,--freeas air. But at the same time, I'd like you to remember that if youshould accept anything from him and then not find it to your liking, youcan still come along to me and follow out the original programme. I'monly wanting to make you comfortable."
He stopped; and in the pause that followed, Maud's other hand came outto him, shyly yet impulsively. "You are--such a good fellow!" she saidwith a catch in her voice.
"Oh, bunkum!" said Jake, in a tone of almost indignant remonstrance.
He held her two hands, and turning, spat forth his cigarette into thenight; an action of primitive simplicity that filled Maud with agrotesque kind of horrified mirth, mirth so intense that she had asudden, hysterical desire to laugh. She restrained herself with adesperate effort.
"Good night!" she said, with something of urgency in her voice. "Itisn't bunkum at all. It's the truth. You--I think you are the bestfriend I ever had. But--but----"
"But--" said Jake.
She freed her hands with a little gasp. "Nothing," she said. "Goodnight!"
It was a final dismissal, and as such he accepted it. She heard thesteady fall of his feet as he went away, and with his going she managedto recover her composure.
There was an undeniable greatness about him that seemed to dwarf allcriticism. She realized that to measure him by ordinary standards wasout of the question, and as she reviewed all that he had done for herthat day a gradual warmth began to glow in her. There was no otherfriend in all her world who would have extended to her so firm or socomforting a support in her hour of adversity. And if her face burnedat the memory of her own utter collapse in his presence, she could butrecall with gratitude and with confidence the steadfast kindness withwhich he had upheld her. She had gone to him in anguished despair, andhe had offered her the utmost that he had to offer. As to his motivesfor so doing, she had a feeling that he had deliberately refrained fromexpressing them. He wanted her and he wanted Bunny. Perhaps he waslonely. Perhaps years of wandering had created in him a longing forhome and domestic comfort.
But she did not speculate very deeply upon that subject. She felt thatshe could not. There was something in the man's nature, somethingcolossal of which she was but dimly aware, and which she had no means ofgauging, that checked her almost at the outset. She found herselfstanding before a closed door, a door which she had neither the audacitynor the desire to attempt to open. She was even a little fearful lestone day that door should open to her of its own accord and she should beconstrained to enter whether she would or not.
But on the whole that talk with Jake had calmed her. The man was sotemperate, so completely master of himself, and withal so staunch in thefriendship he had established with her, that she could not but feelreassured. There was a delicacy in his consideration for her thatwarmed her heart. She knew by every instinct of her being that he wouldtake care of her as he had promised. And she wanted someone to takecare of her so badly, so badly.
She was so deadly tired of fending for herself.
She found Bunny in a mood of remarkable docility, and she managed to gethim to bed without much trouble. He also was worn out after two nightsof restlessness, and he fell asleep earlier than usual.
She herself sat for awhile in the little sitting-room with a book, butshe found she could not read. She was too tired to fix her attention,and the thought of Jake kept intruding itself whenever she attempted todo so. It was wonderful how she had come to rely upon him, knowing solittle of him. He had always been far more to Bunny than to her.
She was drifting into a kind of semi-doze, still with the memory of himpassing and repassing through her brain, when there came the sound of abell in the house, and almost immediately after, the opening of thesitting-room door.
She started up in surprise to see her landlady usher in a little, sparegrey-whiskered man who walked with a strut and cleared his throat as hecame with a noise like the growling of a dog. He made her thinkirresistibly of a Scotch terrier bristling for a fight.
He halted in the middle of the room, and banged with his umbrella on thefloor, as one demanding a hearing.
"Hullo!" he said. "My name's Warren. You, I take it, are Maud Brian.If so, I'm your Uncle Edward."
Maud came forward, still feeling a little dazed. Since Jake's dep
artureshe had almost forgotten the approaching advent of this relative ofhers.
"How do you do?" she said. "Yes, I am Maud Brian. Come and sit down!"
He took her hand, looking at her with small grey eyes that were keenlycritical.
"How old are you?" he demanded.
"I am twenty-five," said Maud, faintly smiling.
He uttered a grunting growl and sat down with a jerk. "I've comestraight from your mother to talk to you. She's a fool, always was. Ihope you're not another."
"Thank you," said Maud sedately.
He brought his shaggy grey brows together. "I've come the length ofEngland to see you, but I haven't any time to waste. I'm going backto-morrow. That letter of yours--I meant to answer it, but businesspressed, and it had to stand over. Then I decided to come and see whatsort of young woman you were before I did anything further. I couldn'tstand a replica of your mother in my house. But--thank goodness--you'renot much like her. She tells me you're thinking of making a marriage ofconvenience to get away from your step-father. Now, that's a veryserious step for a young woman to contemplate. It seems to me I'veturned up in the nick of time."
Maud, sitting facing him with her hands folded in her lap, still faintlysmiled. The bluntness with which he tackled the situation appealed moreto her sense of humour than to any other emotion. She realized that hewas actually about to offer her a way of escape, but, curiously, she nolonger felt any desire to avail herself of it. By his generousassurance that she was at liberty to do as she would, Jake had somehowmanaged to range her on his side. She did not want to escape any more.Moreover, there was Bunny to be thought of. She knew well in whatdirection his desires--and his welfare also--lay.
"It was very kind of you to come," she said. "But, as regards mymarriage, my mind is quite made up. He--the man I am going tomarry--understands everything. I have been quite open with him. He hasbeen most kind, most generous. I could not think of drawing back now."
"Pshaw!" said Mr. Warren. He sat forward in his chair, his handsgripping the knob of his umbrella and surveyed her with growingdisapproval. "You're prepared to sell yourself to a man you don't lovein return for a home, hey?" he asked.
She winced sharply, and in a moment her tired young face was floodedwith colour. "Certainly not!" she said, her voice very low. "Mostcertainly not!"
"Looks uncommonly like it," he maintained.
"It is not so!" she said, with low-toned vehemence. "I have toldyou--he--understands."
"And is prepared to give all and receive nothing for his pains?" pursuedthe old man relentlessly. "If so, he's a very remarkable young man; andlet me tell you for your comfort, it's an attitude he won't keep up forlong, not--that is--unless he's a blithering idiot? Is he an idiot?"
Maud almost laughed. "No, that he is not! But really--really--you arewasting your time. If you had come this time yesterday, I would havelistened to you. To-night it is impossible."
"Why impossible?"
"Because I have promised."
"Tut! tut! He must release you."
"He would release me," Maud said slowly. "That is just it."
"Just what? Talk sense if you can!" It was evident that patience wasnot Uncle Edward's strong point. He fidgeted his umbrella testily.
She looked at him with her clear, straight eyes. "That is just why Iwill not ask for my release. In fact, I--don't want it."
"Don't want it! Then, young woman, you're in love with him. I've comeon a fool's errand, and I'll wish you good night."
He was on his feet with the words. Maud rose too. She laid a hand ofhalf-timid restraint upon his arm.
"I am not--in love with him, Uncle Edward," she said, her voice notwholly steady. "Such a thing would be impossible. But at the sametime--though I can't give him everything--he shall not repent hisbargain. We are going to be--friends."
"Pshaw!" said Uncle Edward again. He gripped her hand unexpectedly,staring up at her with his keen eyes. "Do you know how old I am?" hesaid.
She shook her head.
"I'm eighty," he said. "I've seen a little of men in my time, and I'vebeen a man myself. So let me tell you this! There's not a man on thisearth who could be satisfied for long with that kind of farce. You'vegot him on the leash now. He's tame and good. But there's a raveningwolf inside us all, my dear, when we're thwarted, and the longer we'rethwarted the more savage we get. You can't bring up a wolf--not thetamest wolf in the world--on bread and butter. Sooner or later he'llbegin to feel a bit empty, and whine for the real thing. And if youstill go on starving the brute till he's famished, he'll either breakaway and go elsewhere for food, or else he'll round on you one day andtear you in pieces. You'll be the sufferer either way. It's nature Itell you, it's nature. You'll have to give all or drive him away at theoutset. There can't be half-measures with a man who is a man. If youoffer them you must expect trouble. And remember, it's always the womanwho pays in the end,--always the woman who pays."
He repeated the words with the impressiveness of a judge pronouncingsentence.
Maud was trembling, though she tried to conceal the fact. "And thenthere is Bunny to be thought of," she said.
"Bunny? Who is Bunny? Oh, your brother, is it? And he's a hopelesscripple, I understand? Is it for his sake that you've hatched this madscheme?"
"In a great measure. You see, he and--and Jake Bolton are very fond ofone another."
"Pshaw!" the old man exclaimed. "So this Jake Bolton is to have theboy, with you thrown in as a makeweight; is that it? And you thinkyou're all going to be happy together, do you? Never heard such atomfool scheme in my life. Where does this Jake Bolton hang out? I'llgo and have a talk to him."
"Oh, please don't!" Maud begged. "He'll think I sent you. Andreally--really there is nothing to discuss."
"We'll see about that," he rejoined grimly. "Seems to me it's high timesomebody came along and interfered. Now, look here, what's yourname?--Maud! I'm going to get you out of this mess. You shan't marry aman you don't love just because there was no other way out. There isanother way out, and you're to take it. You're to come and live withme, do you hear? You and your precious Bunny too! And when I die, I'llleave you both provided for. See? Come, I can't say fairer than that."
He was still gripping her hand, and looking at her with shrewd eyesunder their beetling brows as though prepared to beat down allopposition. There was a look of Bunny about those eyes, Bunny in adifficult mood. She recognized it with a sigh. It seemed her fate tobe continually doing battle with someone, and she felt wholly unfittedfor it. All she asked of life was peace and quietness.
"My home is a dingy one," said her uncle, "but you may be able to makeit more cheerful. I shan't interfere with either of you. Come, now,you're going to be a sensible girl, hey? I'm sorry I didn't turn upbefore. But the knot isn't tied, so I'm not too late. We must explainthe situation to the young man. Unless he's an absolute bounder, he'llbe amenable to reason."
But Maud shook her head. "I can't do it, Uncle Edward. I know you meanto be kind. I am very grateful. But--I can't."
He rasped his throat aggressively. "That's nonsense," he said withdecision. "Plainly the man is beneath you. You say you don't love him,and never could."
"I am not--altogether--sure that he is beneath me," she said ratherwistfully.
"But you don't love him?" her uncle insisted, scanning her piercingly.
She bent her head with an instinctive desire to avoid his eyes. "No."
"Or anyone else?" he pursued.
She made a small movement of protest.
"Ha!" he exclaimed, in the tone of one who has discovered something."Your mother hinted as much. And you think you're going to make thingsbetter for yourself by marriage with a rank outsider. Is that it? Isthat it? Then take my word for it, you're going to make the biggestmistake of your life. And if you persist in it, I've done with you. Atleast, no, I haven't done; for I'm going straight to that young man ofyours to te
ll him the sort of bargain he's going to make."
He paused, for suddenly Maud had drawn herself up very straight andproud. "If you wish to do so, you must," she said, and her pale facewas very regal and composed. "But it will not make the smallestdifference to either of us. Jake has my promise. I have his."
It was at this point that the door opened again to admit the landladywith a note on a salver.
"Mr. Bolton's compliments," she said, "and will you be good enough tosend back an answer?"
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