Part 18
Certainly an excellent dinner blended with their high spirits enabled them to carry the thing off brilliantly. Even Lord Carabbas, feeling his reputation as a sportsman to be at stake, made quite a brave showing. He still cherished homicidal feelings towards his youngest daughter, but the character of the food, the quality of the wine, the chaff and the gayety helped him to keep them well in hand. It was a dickens of a business, but he must “stick it” to the bitter end.
By one of those odd strokes of fortune which seem so inconsequent and yet obey the laws of reason, Miss Cass suddenly became the heroine of the hour. Everybody seemed thankful that an undeserved stigma had been removed; besides, the only means of punishing the culprit-in-chief was to canonize the understudy. The patrician impudence of Lady Elfreda could not be forgiven. It went so deep that it could only be wiped out with blood. Meanwhile, it had to be suffered and this was best achieved by absolving Miss Cass and even making much of her.
Perhaps for that reason General Norris, an undoubted figure of romance, was not acclaimed as the hero. The proud position was reserved for Sir Toby Philpot or with more accuracy it might be said that Sir Toby reserved it for himself. The little baronet had all the airs of a Congreve or a Sheridan with a dash of Molière thrown in. Superior people who had said “The Lady of Laxton” was far-fetched or impossible had been refuted wonderfully by what had occurred. The series of situations he had devised for his masterpiece had been outdone by these amazing events.
What a consolation it is that no matter what absurdities imagination may bring forth, Real Life never has any difficulty in going one better!
Odd as the circumstances were, there was not a suspicion of constraint. Mr. Montagu Jupp saw to that. As a matter of course he presided over the revels. His badinage rolled from one end of the table to the other, his wit vollied unceasingly. True to himself, in as rare a moment as life had given him, he spared neither age nor sex nor social position. Even an enraged parent finding a most excellent dinner to be a real stimulus to a sense of humor could not resist Montagu’s audacity. It was not so much what he said, it was the way in which he said it. Nevertheless, the great man’s words were exceedingly to the point.
What, for example, could have been more apposite than the impromptu speech in which he proposed the health of Lord Duckingfield? He rose at a moment when a lull was threatening and in terms which set the table in a roar he offered that peer sincere felicitations on his approaching marriage. Moreover, he ventured to link with the toast the name of their friend Miss Cass.
The toast was honored with acclamation. No doubt the acclamation was the louder for the fact that these primitive people were fully aware that for once even the admired Montagu had sailed rather close to the wind. There was a moment when the success of the _ballon d’essai_ hung in the balance. In this world there is a limit to most things, after all!
For the brief space of thirty seconds the look on the face of the worthy Midlander seemed to promise an early delivery of the long-delayed punch on Montagu’s nose. It was nearly fifty years since he had last received one at his private school. But as the sequel proved, Montagu’s wonderful faculty of divination had judged to a nicety the thickness of the ice.
Lord Duckingfield rose slowly and heavily to his feet and thanked the company for their kind words. He thanked them not only on his own behalf, but--turning to the bewildered little girl at his side with the most courtly bow he could command--also on behalf of the lady who he hoped would do him the honor to become his wife.
The effect of the announcement may have been a trifle marred by a loud shriek from the little baronet. Stimulated by Sir Toby’s threat of hysteria, Mr. Jupp broke suddenly into “For he’s a jolly good fellow.” The strain was promptly taken up and musical honors were bestowed upon my lord.
In the meantime the bewildered Girlie was passing through a sort of dream. She could not believe her ears. At any rate, she could not believe the words of Lord Duckingfield. She was really in love with this good fellow. It was not merely that he alone could stand between her and a cruel world, it was not merely that he was her only protector; she loved him for his manliness, his generosity, his large simplicity. But a girl like herself could never hope to be his wife, particularly after having made of him a public laughing stock.
Still it is the unexpected that happens. An hour later, in the lee of the hall stairs, Lord Duckingfield was able to prove to Girlie Cass that he fully intended to be as good as his word.
About the same time, in the seclusion of the library, Elfreda took pains to prove to George Norris that she also was determined to keep faith with him. A stormy interview with her father did something to nerve her for the task. But, in any case, her mind was made up. Her year in London with the V. A. D. had opened her eyes to the world and the things around her. She saw a chance of permanent escape from the stuffy circle in which she had been brought up. Her pompous, caste-ridden parents, her narrow, conventional sisters--what did they stand for, after all?
XLVII
BRIGADIER GENERAL NORRIS, C.M.G., and Lady Elfreda Norris proceeded to East Africa at the end of January. The climate suits them, they get on well with the natives and they like the life immensely. So far there is not a cloud on their horizon. Just at first General Norris was a trifle anxious about money, because the daughter of even an impoverished marquis is apt to think expensively. But early in March Grandpapa Angora died at the ripe age of eighty-seven and the old gentleman really “cut up” better than most people expected. Anyhow, when the will was proved each of his grandchildren benefited to the tune of thirty thousand pounds. Moreover, in the year 1916, George Norris, or Captain Norris as he was then, on the advice of a friend in the City invested the whole of his savings in Burmah Oil, and like a wise young man forgot all about the matter for several years. So you see, there’s really no need for the young couple to worry about money.
However, these are mundane matters. What is vastly more important is that the Lady Elfreda Norris has already presented to the Empire a sturdy young male. And if the printers come out again on strike, before this work sees the light she is quite likely to have presented it with another one.
It is very doubtful if Lady Duckingfield will ever be a Miss Cholmondeley or a Mrs. Humphry Ward. Charlotte Brontë is out of the question. 4b Berkeley Square and Mount Pleasant, Wolverhampton, are really so comfortable that all thought of “sturm und drang” has passed for ever. And no one can be a Charlotte Brontë without it. Still, Lady Duckingfield is not quite dead to ambition. The _Saturday Sentinel_ paid her such charming compliments on her essay, “The Art of Mr. Galsworthy,” that she has in contemplation critical estimates of other modern novelists. Her next subject will be...?
No, please guess again....
However.
There is no moral to this story. Life itself has no moral. The most deserving people don’t always come out “on top.” And vice versa.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
On page 30, Satuday as been changed to Saturday.
On page 36, My has been changed to Mr.
On page 70, ensue has been changed to ensure.
On page 108, ratherdess has been changed to rather less.
On page 152, flute-like has been changed to flutelike
On page 191, hair brush has been changed to hairbrush.
On page 198, askin has been changed to akin.
On page 203, work basket has been changed to work-basket.
On page 247, trapsed has been changed to traipsed.
On page 255, appaled has been changed to appalled.
On page 256, Trenchard-Simpon’s has been changed to Trenchard-Simpson’s.
On page 257, decidely has been changed to decidedly.
On page 265, school-room has been changed to schoolroom.
On page 274, Case has been changed to Cass.
On page 293, Morris has been changed to Norris.
Most hyphenation has been regularized; variant and non-English spelling has been retained as typeset.