Part 5 (1/2)

”So long as Sydney lives, my dear, I know that he will grow in favor with G.o.d and man; and so long as I live, I shall watch his course with undiminished joy and satisfaction. What else have we left to live for?

Wife!” said the rector, as Mrs. Campion entered the room, ”do you know that our boy is to dine with us to-night?”

”Yes, Lawrence, I have seen his telegram; and Mollie is doing all she can at short notice. It will not be the kind of dinner I should like to put before him; but times are changed with us--sadly changed! I hope he will not miss the plate, Lawrence; and as for wine and dessert----”

”Oh, mother dear,” said Lettice, interrupting, ”I quite forgot to tell you about my letter this morning. Look here! It contained a cheque for ten pounds, for that article of mine in the _Decade_. I mean to go into Dorminster, and get one or two things we shall be wanting, and I shall probably drive back in Sydney's cab. So you can leave the wine and dessert to me. And, mother dear, be sure you put on your silver-grey poplin, with the Mechlin cap. Nothing suits you half as well!”

Lettice's earnings had sufficed for some years past for her dress and personal expenses; but latterly she had contrived to have a fair margin left for such emergencies as that which had now arisen. She was more than thanked by the gleam of love which lightened the eyes of her parents as she spoke. Even though Sydney was coming, she thought, that smile at any rate was all for her.

So she went into the town and made her purchases, and waited at the station, s.h.i.+vering in the cold March wind, for Sydney's train.

How much should she tell him to begin with? Or should she say nothing till after dinner? How would he take it? How would it affect him? And suppose for a moment that he had to choose between getting into Parliament and rescuing his father from ruin?

Clearly as she saw the worst sides of Sydney's character, yet she loved him well, and was proud of him. How often she had yearned for tenderness in the days gone by! What excuses she had framed for him in her own heart, when he seemed to forget their existence at Angleford for months together! And now, when she had this terrible news to tell him, was it not possible that his heart would be softened by the blow, and that good would come for all of them out of this menaced evil? What a happy place the old Rectory might be if her father's mind were set at rest again, and Sydney would come down and stay with them from time to time!

The train was at the platform before Lettice had decided what to do.

Sydney looked rather surprised to see her, but gave her his cheek to kiss, and hurried her off to the cab stand.

”What brought you here?” he said. ”How cold you are! All well at home?”

”Yes, they are well. But, oh, Sydney, they are growing old?”

”Growing old, child? Why, of course they are. We must expect it. Do you mean they look older than they are?”

”Yes--older, and--and more----”

”Well?”

He looked at her sharply, for she could not quite command her voice, and left the sentence unfinished. Then Sydney had an uncomfortable feeling.

He saw that there was something amiss, but did not care at the moment to insist on further confidences. No doubt he would hear all that there was to be said by and by. Meanwhile he turned the conversation, and soon contrived to interest her, so that they reached the Rectory in excellent spirits. All that day poor Lettice alternated between despair and giddy lightness of heart.

So the hero came home and was feasted, and his father and mother did obeisance to him, and even he for an hour or two thought it good that he should now and then renew his contract with the earth from which he sprang, and remember the chains of duty and affection which bound him to the past, instead of dwelling constantly in the present and the future.

Throughout dinner, and at dessert, and as they drank the wine which Lettice had provided, Sydney spoke of his position and prospects, dazzling those who listened to him with his pictures of victory at Dormer, of Conservative triumphs all along the line, of Ministerial favor for himself, of ”Office--why not?--within a twelvemonth.” It would have been treason for any of his audience to doubt that all these good things would come to pa.s.s. If Lettice felt that there was a skeleton at the feast, her father at any rate had forgotten its existence. Or, rather, he saw deliverance at hand. The crisis of his boy's fortune had arrived; and, if Sydney triumphed, nothing that could happen to Sydney's father could rob Mr. Campion of his joy.

At last the women left the room, and Sydney proceeded to tell his father what he wanted. He must return to town by the first train in the morning, having made an appointment with Mr. Maltman for two o'clock. Of course he meant to contest Dormer; but it was desirable that he should know for certain that he could raise five hundred pounds within a week, to supplement his own narrow means.

His face fell a little when his father confessed--as though it were clearly a matter for shame and remorse--that he could not so much as draw a cheque for twenty pounds. But, in fact, he was not surprised.

Recklessly as he had abstained from inquiring into the old man's affairs since Lettice spoke to him in London two years ago, he had taken it for granted that there were difficulties of some kind; and men in difficulties do not keep large balances at their bankers'.

”Well, father,” he said, ”I am sorry for that. Yes--it certainly makes the thing rather hard for me. I hoped you might have seen me fairly launched on my career; and then, you know, if the worst came to the worst, I could soon have repaid you what you advanced. Well, what I suggest is this. I can probably borrow the money with your a.s.sistance, and I want to know what security we could offer between us for the loan.”

Mr. Campion looked mournfully at his son, but he was not ready with a reply.

”You see,” said Sydney, ”it would never do for me to miss this chance.

Everything depends upon it, and I was bound to refuse Pynsent's offer of the money. But if you have something that we can lodge as security----”