Part 19 (2/2)
”No; you are mistaken, Mr. Scott,” she said, slowly, after a pause.
”My confidence in you would have been just as strong if I had known nothing of the facts.”
”Thank you; I am very glad to hear that,” he answered. Then added, gently, ”Would, it be strong enough to stand a far heavier strain than that, if it were necessary?”
His tones were serious now, and she regarded him inquiringly for a moment before speaking; then seeing young Mainwaring approaching with his sister and Miss Thornton, she replied, in low tones,--
”I have no idea to what you refer, Mr. Scott, and I begin to think you are indeed a 'mystery;' but you can be a.s.sured of this much: I would never, under any circ.u.mstances, believe you capable of anything false or dishonorable.”
Scott's eyes expressed his gratification at these words, and he would then have withdrawn, but neither Miss Carleton nor young Mainwaring gave him an opportunity to do so without seeming discourteous. Both drew him into conversation and found him exceedingly entertaining, though reserved concerning himself.
Isabel Mainwaring still held herself aloof and took little part in the conversation, but to make amends for this Miss Thornton bestowed some of her most winning smiles upon the handsome young secretary, her large, infantile blue eyes regarding him with wondering curiosity.
After a pleasant evening, Scott excused himself and retired to his room; but an hour or two later there was a knock at his door, and on opening it he saw young Mainwaring in smoking-cap and jacket.
”I say, Scott, won't you come out and have a smoke? I've got some fine cigars, and it's too pretty a night to stay in one's room; come out on my balcony and we'll have a bit of a talk and smoke.”
Scott readily consented, and the two young men proceeded to the balcony upon which Mainwaring's room opened, where the latter had already placed two reclining chairs and a small table containing a box of his favorite Havanas.
For a few moments they puffed in silence, looking out into the starlit night with its beauty of dim outline and mysterious shadow.
Mainwaring was the first to speak.
”I say, Scott, I'm awfully ashamed of the way that some of us, my family in particular, have treated you within the last day or two.
It was confoundedly shabby, and I beg your pardon for my share in it, anyhow.”
”Don't waste any regrets over that matter,” Scott answered, indifferently; ”I never gave it any thought, and it is not worth mentioning.”
”I do regret it, though, more than I can tell, and I haven't any excuse for myself; only things did look so deucedly queer there for a while, don't you know?”
”Well,” said Scott, pleasantly, ”we are not out of the woods yet, and there is no telling what developments may arise. Things might 'look queer' again, you know.”
”That's all right. I know a gentleman when I see him, unless I happen to lose my head, and that doesn't occur very often. Now it's different with the governor. He's got so confoundedly wrought up over that will, don't you know, that he can't think of anything else, and there's no reason in him.”
”As I understand it,” remarked Scott, ”Mr. Mainwaring expects to win the property in any case, either for you or for himself.”
”Yes; and naturally you might think that the loss of the will wouldn't amount to much, one way or the other; but it's like this: the governor and I are very different; I know we've got plenty of ducats, and that's enough for me, but not for him; he is ambitious.
It has always galled him that we were not in the direct line of descent from the main branch of the Mainwarings; and it has been his one great ambition since the death of old Ralph Mainwaring, Hugh's father, a few years before I was born, to win into his own family the old Mainwaring estate. He had an idea that Hugh would never marry, and gave me his name, hoping that I would be made his heir. Should the governor succeed in this scheme of his, he will immediately buy back the Mainwaring estate, although he knows I don't care a rap for the whole thing, and we will then have the honor, as he considers it, of perpetuating the old family line.
On the other hand, if the property goes to the nearest heirs, it will be divided between him and his younger brother. Uncle Harold has no more ambition than I have, and though he is at present a bachelor, that is no guarantee that he will remain one; and, anyhow, it isn't likely that there will be much of his share left when he gets through with it. So you see how much importance the governor attached to that will.”
”I understand,” said Scott, as his companion paused. Then he added, musingly, ”Your uncle's name seems to be rather unusual among the Mainwarings; I do not recall your having mentioned it before.”
”What, Harold? On the contrary, it is the great name in our family, especially in the main line. I would have been given that name if the governor had not been looking out for Hugh Mainwaring's money.
There was a direct line of Harolds down to my great-grandfather.
He gave the name to his eldest son, but he died, and the next one, Ralph, Hugh's father, took up the line. Guy, my grandfather, was the youngest.”
”One would almost have thought that Hugh Mainwaring would have borne the name of Harold,” commented Scott.
Young Mainwaring smoked for a moment in silence, then said, in lower tones, ”Old Uncle Ralph had a son by that name.”
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