Part 23 (2/2)
”But not in Victoria Street, if you don't mind.”
”At the Savoy then; or shall we say the Berkeley?”
”Very well,--the Berkeley.”
”At eight o'clock. Good-bye till then. I must ask you to give the shelter of your roof to Rip till he returns to a more reasonable frame of mind about me.”
When Valentine had gone Julian put on his coat, and walked down to the club, ostensibly to look at the evening papers, really because he had a desire to see Marr. His intention, if he did meet the latter, was to question him closely as to the consequences which might follow upon a sitting, or series of sittings, undertaken by two people for some reason unsuited to carry out such an enterprise together. That Marr would be in the club he felt no shadow of doubt. Apparently the club had for Marr all the attraction that induces the new member to haunt the smoking and reading rooms of his freshly acquired home during the first week or two of its possession. He was incessantly there, as Julian had had reason to know.
But to-day proved to be an exception. Julian explored the club from end to end without finding the object of his search. Finally he went to the hall-porter.
”Is Mr. Marr in the club to-day?”
”No, sir; he has not been in at all since yesterday afternoon.”
”Oh, thanks.”
Julian felt strongly, even absurdly, disappointed, and found himself wis.h.i.+ng that he possessed Marr's private address. He would certainly have called upon him. However, he had no idea where Marr lived, so there was nothing to be done. He went back to his rooms, dressed for dinner, and was at the Berkeley by five minutes past eight. The restaurant was very crowded that night, but Valentine had secured a table in the window, and was waiting when Julian arrived. The table next to theirs was the only one unoccupied in the room.
The two friends sat down and began to eat rather silently in the midst of the uproar of conversation round them. Valentine seemed quite unconscious of the many glances directed towards him. He never succeeded in pa.s.sing unnoticed anywhere, and although he had never done anything remarkable, was one of the best-known men in town merely by virtue of his unusual personality.
”There's the Victoria Street Saint,” murmured a pretty girl to her companion. ”What a fortune that man could make on the stage.”
”Yes, or as a pianist,” responded the man, rather enviously. ”His looks would crowd St. James's Hall even if he couldn't play a note. I never can understand how Cresswell manages to have such a complexion in London. He must take precious good care of himself.”
”Saints generally do. You see, we live for time, they for eternity. We only have to keep the wrinkles at bay for a few years, but they want to look nice on the Judgment Day.”
She was a little actress, and at this point she laughed to indicate that she had said something smart. As her laugh was dutifully echoed by the man who was paying for the dinner, she felt deliriously clever for the rest of the evening.
Presently Julian said:
”I went to the club this afternoon.”
”Did you?”
”Yes. I wanted to have a talk with that fellow Marr.”
Valentine suddenly put down the gla.s.s of champagne which he was in the act of raising to his lips.
”But surely,” he began, with some appearance of haste. Then he seemed to check himself, and finished calmly:
”You found him, I suppose?”
”No.”
”I thought he was perpetually there, apparently on the lookout for you.”
<script>