06 The Whiteoak Brothers

by Mazo de La Roche

  “They’re all different until you get involved. Then they’re all the same. Loss and anxiety and — more loss.”

  Eden said — “I have nothing to invest and don’t expect I ever shall have. But — if I had — this is what I’d go into. Look here.” He put the prospectus almost caressingly into Nicholas’s hands. It crackled across the little dog’s body and he twitched in annoyance. Eden, in his freshness and strength, pressed close to Nicholas’s leg. With the professional air of a mining promoter he poured out the benefits of this investment.

  “But what is there in it for you?” asked Nicholas. “If I let you persuade me? Which I shan’t.”

  “I’d get a commission from Mr. Kronk.”

  “Depending on how foolish I am. Better let me give you something and have done with it.”

  Eden drew back stung. He folded up the prospectus. “It isn’t in the least like that, Uncle Nick. This is a purely business deal. One chance in a lifetime. I wish you could meet this man Kronk. Will you let me bring him out?”

  “God, no. It would never do at all.”

  “Well, I shan’t try to persuade you. Though it is wonderful opportunity. The gold’s just lying there waiting to be dug out. What will happen is that American speculators will jump in, the way they do, and buy up all the shares.” Eden put the prospectus in his pocket, leant forward and laid his cheek against Nip, who, opening his eyes, gave Eden a swift lick with his pointed tongue, then resolutely went to sleep again.

  Nicholas looked down at Eden with a sudden pity — inexplicable, for the boy was young and — what was he, besides being young? How little one knew of those who were nearest one. And Eden was near, very near, though more comfortably so when he brought in a new poem to read it to him.

  “Look at this day,” Eden was exclaiming. “Look at it — and you might be in Rapallo or Venice or Taormina — if …” He smiled into his uncle’s eyes.

  Nicholas looked out at the day, then down at his gouty knee. “I’m not fit for travel now,” he said.

  “But you could get rid of that knee. Look how much better it is in the summer. Why, Uncle Nick, you’re not going to spend the rest of your days stuck here at Jalna, are you?”

  Nicholas took the prospectus from Eden’s pocket. He put on his glasses and studied it.

  “It’s nicely got up,” he said. “If I had any spare cash to play with I shouldn’t mind.”

  “This is what they call getting in on the ground floor, Uncle Nick.

  You’d be there before the big speculators send the stock soaring.”

  “How you talk!” laughed Nicholas. “How much are the shares?’

  “Only fifty cents each. Tempting, eh?”

  The window was blinded by rain. But now Nicholas saw a sapphire sea, a wall overhung by wisteria and mimosa. He saw too the face of his wife from whom he had been divorced for many years. But her face faded. In truth he could not clearly remember what she looked like. The sea and the garden remained. He shifted in his chair…. He repeated — “Fifty cents each … two thousand shares for a thousand dollars.”

  Eden’s face came closer. “Uncle Nick,” he breathed, “you ought to come into this.”

  “Now I won’t be stampeded,” growled Nicholas.

  “Of course not. Not for the world. But these shares are going like hot cakes. By the end of the next week they’ll be over-subscribed, Mr. Kronk says.”

  Nicholas blew through his moustache. “I’ll take two thousand shares. Not going to let a chance like this get away. I’ll take four thousand.

  They laughed in triumph, as though over an enemy defeated. “Not a word of this investment to the family,” cautioned Nicholas. “If your Uncle Ernest knew he’d want to be into it himself and he has already lost too much in stocks.”

  “I’ll not tell him you’ve invested in this, but believe me you won’t lose. This is safe, Uncle Nick. It’s gold — right there in the rocks. You’ll be spending next winter in Italy.”

  Nicholas heaved himself out of his chair, deposited Nip carefully on the bed, and limped to the piano, on which stood a siphon of soda-water and a tantalus with a bottle of Scotch, one of brandy, and one of gin.

  “Must have a drink to celebrate,” he said, and poured a fair amount of whisky into a tumbler, adding a splash of soda-water. “Have one?” he asked.

  “No, thanks.” And he thought — better not smell of spirits when I interview Uncle Ernest.

  Outside in the passage he hesitated. What if this stock were not as sound as it seemed? What if — but then he remembered Mr. Kronk and that air of security exuded by him and his well-furnished flat. The broker had taken him there instead of to his office, because, as he said, he had such a special feeling for him.

  In the passage, dim because of early falling darkness, Eden overtook Finch. He caught the boy’s wrist in his hand. He said:

  “You couldn’t look sadder. You are a funny kid. I believe you were so upset by the joke we played on you that you haven’t recovered. You know it was one of Meg’s subtle ideas. Fun on a rainy day sort of thing.”

  “It was fun,” Finch said heavily.

  Eden was so happy in his success with Nicholas that a feeling of affection for the awkward boy warmed his heart. He threw an arm about his shoulders and gave him a hug. Finch’s eager response startled him. It was almost as though Finch would embrace him in return. Why — he was like a lonely young dog you had patted.

  Now he gave Finch a little push and said — “I must go in to see Uncle Ernest,” and he could not resist adding — “on business.”

  “Business?” Finch echoed vaguely.

  “Yes. But don’t mention it to Piers or to anyone.”

  “I never talk to Piers — about anything.” Finch was pleased that Eden should have confided even so little to him.

  Left to himself, Nicholas refilled his pipe, refilled his glass. He seldom allowed himself to take so much whisky at a time because he knew it was bad for his gout. What was that newfangled word they had for it? Arthritis. Yes — that was it. A miserable-sounding word. He’d rather call it gout. But now he was exhilarated by the speculation in which he had indulged. There was no doubt about it, these gold mines did exist and there was no reason why he should not make a little money when the chance came his way. That prospectus had been very attractive indeed. It showed photographs of the actual operations. Indigo Lake. That was a name you couldn’t forget. He felt restless and yet happy. The winter had been very long. Lately, he thought, he’d had a touch of claustrophobia — another newfangled word. There was nothing like a little fling with one’s money and, if the Indigo Lake business prospered, he’d invest more. He might even advise old Ernie to buy a few shares. But for the present the transaction should be secret between Eden and himself.

  But Eden was already displaying the prospectus to Ernest, repeating all he had told Nicholas of the unique nature of this investment. Ernest had a strain of the gambler in him. It was a long while since he had been offered anything so enticing as these shares in the Indigo Lake Mine. His colour rose and he walked eagerly about his bedroom. Nicholas had been persuaded to buy four thousand shares. Ernest jumped at eight thousand. He too would like to spend the following winter in Europe. He too felt restive. Life had once been an exciting affair — a very pleasant affair, especially as he had never put his neck under the yoke of marriage, as Nicholas had done — but now it had become a little tame. A good deal of time was spent in attendance on his irascible old mother who, though he loved her dearly, could be very trying. He was very fond of his nephews but there were so many of them and they were often noisy and difficult. A change would be delightful. Why, he and Nicholas had been nowhere since they had returned from England during the war.

  He agreed with Eden that it would be well to keep the Indigo Lake transaction between themselves for the present. Nicholas would be against it and he had a very unpleasant way of recalling one’s past unfortunate speculations. Such things were better forgotten. He enjoyed th
e intimacy of conspiring, as it were, with Eden. He had an especial feeling for his nephew who had undeniably poetic talent and a face that matched it, who appreciated Ernest’s own literary interests. They two were different from all others of the family. They two spoke a language in common. The other nephews were dear boys, but Eden …

  As for Eden, any doubts that assailed him were dispersed by his next meeting Mr. Kronk. Nicholas and Ernest had bought their shares in the nick of time. By the end of that week there would not be another share available. Mrs. Kronk too had taken a great fancy to the frank young man. The Kronks, man and wife, were eager for the family at Jalna to have as many shares of the Indigo Lake Gold Mine as possible. Mrs. Kronk, a tall large-boned woman, with straight fair hair brushed severely back from her intelligent face, was especially interested in Eden. He wondered what she had found to attract her in the little bilious-looking man whom she appeared alternately to bully and to mother. He could not help noticing how her attitude toward himself changed when they found themselves alone together. Then she would stretch our her arms along the back of the sofa and speak to him in a low, matter-of-fact tone, as though they had years of familiar conversation behind them.

  III

  AWAKENING OF SPRING

  Spring, as far too often, seemed reluctant to come into the open. Like a chick in a hard-shelled egg, it pecked faintly at the hard shell of winter till its moist infant presence could barely be perceived. Then, apparently disheartened, it lay curled up dormant for a time, as though never to be hatched. Finally, after a night of wind and rain at the end of April it burst forth in an agony of threshing and writhing and in the morning perched on the earth, its pale gold plumage drying in the sun, its eyes little bright pools. And, like bits of the shell it had cast off, soiled patches of snow and ice lay in the hollows.

  As the sun mounted it showed once more what warmth could be, how every twig that had life in it, every root that had health in it, responded. Soon the countryside belonged to spring. At Jalna none of the family was more conscious of its power than Piers. It appeared to his elders that they could see him growing, and he grew, not in a lanky awkward fashion but with all his parts in serene accord. His neck and shoulders became more muscular, his legs fine pillars to support him. The fair skin of his cheeks and chin produced an authentic yellow beard. His shaving was now worth Finch’s attention.

  Piers was a favourite of his grandmother’s.

  “Ha,” she would exclaim, in admiration, “here’s a stalwart fellow coming on! A back like his grandfather’s. And he’s the only one of the whelps that has. I do like a well-set-up man.”

  And her son Ernest would reply — “To my mind, all the boys are well proportioned.”

  “Well proportioned! Ha — I grant you that none of ’em has legs that are too short or a neck that’s too long, with a great Adam’s apple. That I do hate.”

  Nicholas would put in — “Take Renny. He’s a lithe wiry fellow.”

  “Aye. Take him. You may have him. He’s the very likeness of my father — old Renny Court — and you know what he was.”

  “We’ve heard such different accounts of him, Mamma.”

  “And different he could be — to suit the occasion — smooth as silk — or rough and tough.”

  To draw her on Nicholas would add — “You can’t deny that Eden has looks.”

  “Looks! Of course he has looks. The looks of his poor mother…. No — not one of ’em will ever match your grandfather.” And she would raise her eyes, from beneath their shaggy brows, to the portrait of her long-dead husband, Captain Whiteoak. Her eyes would glow with a love the years could not dim and one of her sons would take her handkerchief and gently wipe away the drop that hung on the tip of her arched nose, and she would put out her shapely old hand and grip his hand, as though to gain strength from him.

  Piers, very conscious of this approval, held his back straighter, tried to put into his eyes that very expression of having been born with a silver spoon in his mouth and a sword in his hand which distinguished the eyes in the portrait of his grandfather. Once, in the seclusion of the attic, Piers had got into that dashing uniform and stared at his reflection in an old mirror. Piers had been disappointed in the reflection. The uniform had hung loosely on him. It would take several years of growth before he could fill it out. Still he had made a fine figure of a Hussar and he wished he might have presented himself as such to the family.

  But on this lovely morning two months after Finch’s birthday and the first Saturday in May he was happy to be as he was — free as air for the day — filled with an incomparable zest for life. He whistled to the dogs but none answered. As usual they were at Renny’s heels. He crossed the lawn where the yellow heads of dandelions were rosetted against the green velvet of the new grass like brass buttons. He passed through the wicket gate in the hedge, followed the meandering path that led down into the ravine. The stream had overflowed its banks that spring, torn at them, tried to tear down the rustic bridge, but now, its early ardour spent, had subsided to a cheerful gurgling among the stalks of cattails and clumps of watercress.

  Piers stood leaning on the handrail of the bridge, considering what he would do with the day. A succession of pleasant possibilities crossed his mind. There were so many things to do, but at the moment he was content to do nothing but lounge against the bridge, his strong hands stroking the handrail from which the bark had long disappeared, pulled off by the destructive fingers of boys. Initials had been carved on it. His own — his brothers’ — his uncles’ — why had young Finch carved his name Finch, instead of just his initials? He was a conceited young duffer. There was NW for Nicholas and the date 1865. Pretty dim it was. And there were his sister’s initials, entwined with the letters MV. Piers had to think for a moment before he could remember. Ah, yes — MV stood for Maurice Vaughan, their neighbour, and once years ago he and Meg had been engaged to marry. The engagement had been broken off because of a scrape Maurice had got himself into with a village girl. There had been a baby deposited on the Vaughan’s doorstep in truly Victorian melodrama — a tremendous row and the engagement broken off. Piers remembered, with a grin, how shocked he had felt when Eden had told him the story of it when he was fourteen. Somehow Piers seldom connected Pheasant Vaughan with that story — Pheasant, a funny little kid — rather nice — he’d known her all her life. It was months since he’d seen her. It had been on a bitter cold day in January and they’d met on the road. She’d had her head bent against the wind and worn a skirt too long for her that was caked with snow nearly to her knees. She’d looked a funny figure — rather like a little old woman. When they’d said hello and parted and he had looked back at her, she’d been looking back too — her eyes large, as though she were half afraid of him. She must have a dull time of it, being in a house with only Maurice Vaughan and his grim-faced housekeeper Mrs. Clinch. Casually he contrasted it with Jalna, teeming with activity, and gave a moment’s pity to the child.

  But she had passed from his mind when he saw her, or just glimpsed her, crouching among the reeds at the stream’s edge. She must have been there all the while peering into the water. Had she seen him, he wondered. Whether or not she had, she plainly saw him now, for she raised her eyes to look straight into his and beckoned.

  That was all he needed, that and a warning finger she held up, to bring him to her side in a dozen stealthy strides. He crouched beside her, feeling a sudden inexplicable excitement.

  “What is it?” he whispered.

  “Look — a water snake.”

  It moved lazily, beautifully, near them, in dappled sunlit folds. Piers wondered at her not screaming, as most girls would. But she turned now to him, her lips parted, a rim of white teeth revealed, in a smile that seemed to him an invitation to a moment’s comradeship. But she was only a kid. If she had been older she probably would have screamed, as a girl naturally would.

  “Isn’t it happy?” she whispered.

  Well — that was a silly thing to say
about a snake. As though it could be happy!

  “Like to see me kill it?” he asked.

  “Oh, no. I — love it.”

  He broke into laughter. He had a musical laugh, and, as though she could not help herself, she laughed too. The snake, its secretive golden eyes wary of them, moved without haste into the shadowed recesses of the reeds. It had dominated the pool, now it was gone, and the little white faces of the thronging bloodroot stared out from the bank.

  A tremulous silence enveloped the boy and girl. The moist sweet scent of the ravine, the chatter of the stream, closed in about them. They gazed into the pool where the snake had been, and saw there the reflection of their own faces. Her dark hair and eyes turned amber in its shallow. The pink of Piers’s cheek, the blueness of his eyes, the fairness of his hair were merged into the semblance of a golden youth about to discover the meaning of spring. They gazed in silence for a space. Then his arm found her waist — his hand her side where the heart fluttered like a hovering swallow. They turned their heads and looked into each other’s eyes.

  Piers had never before felt tenderness toward any human being. He had felt it toward young lambs. But now tenderness toward Pheasant welled up through all his sturdy body. Tenderness and an urge to protect her, and an urge to love her. But he only said laconically — “You’re funny.”

  “So are you,” she breathed. “Not a bit like I thought you were.”

  “I guess we’re both funny. Will you kiss me?”

  She nodded without speaking. But the kiss was not a success. Their faces merely bumped gently together. But in some inexplicable way it drew them very close. They felt less shy, more familiar, and strangely happy.

  “How old are you?” he demanded.

  “Seventeen — in a few weeks.”

  “I’m eighteen. Soon be nineteen.”

  They could find nothing more to say. They squatted side by side in silence, as though the sum of their years had left them speechless in wonder. Only the stream spoke. A small bird flew by carrying a piece of white string in its beak, its wing beats ardent in its urge for nest-building.