Part 15 (2/2)

”No, not failed--and it is absurd to talk of deference. It is only that I feel--we all feel”--this with another glance at Robin--”that it is naturally impossible for you to realise exactly what are the things required of us here. Things that would in New Zealand have been of no importance at all.”

”Such as----?”

”Well, you must remember that we have, as it were, the eyes of all the town upon us. We occupy a position of some importance, and we are definitely expected to maintain that position without lack of dignity.”

”Won't you come to the point, Clare? It is a little hard to see----”

”Oh, things are obvious enough--surely, Harry, you must see for yourself. People were ready to give you a warm welcome when you returned. I--we--all of us, were only too glad. But you repulsed us all. Why, on the very day after your arrival you were extremely--I am sorry, but there is no other word--discourteous to the Miss Ponsonbys.

You have made your friends almost entirely amongst the fisher cla.s.s, a strange thing, surely, for a Trojan to do, and you now, I believe, spend your evenings frequently in a low public-house resorted to by such persons--at any rate you have spent them neither here nor at the Club, the two obvious places. I am only mentioning these things because I think that you may not have seen that such matters--trivial as they may seem to you--reflect discredit, not only on yourself, but also, indirectly, on all of us.”

”You forget, Clare, that I have many old friends down at the Cove.

They were there when I was a boy. The people in Pendragon have changed very largely, almost entirely. There is scarcely any one whom I knew twenty years ago; it is, I should have thought, quite natural that I should go to see my old friends again after so long an absence.”

He was trying to speak quietly and calmly. His heart was beating furiously, but he knew that if he once lost control, he would lose, too, his position. But, as he watched them, and saw their cold, unmoved att.i.tude his anger rose; he had to keep it down with both hands clenched--it was only by remembering Robin that the effort was successful.

”Natural to go and see them on your return--of course. But to return, to go continually, no. I cannot help feeling, Harry, that you have been a little selfish. That you have scarcely seen our side of the question. Things have changed in the last twenty years--changed enormously. We have seen them, studied them, and, I think, understood them. You come back and face them without any preparation; surely you cannot expect to understand them quite as we do.”

”This seems to me, I must confess, Clare, a great deal of concern about a very little matter. Surely I am not a person of such importance that a few visits to the Cove can ruin us socially?”

”Ah! that is what you don't understand! Little things matter here.

People watch, and are, I am afraid, only too ready to fasten on matters that do not concern them. Besides, it is not only the Cove--there are other things--there are, for instance, the Bethels.”

At the name Robin started. He liked Mary Bethel, had liked her very much indeed, but he had known that his aunt disapproved of them and had been careful to disguise his meetings. But the instant thought in his mind concerned the Feverels. If the Bethels were impossible socially, what about Dahlia and her mother? What would his aunt say if she knew of that little affair? And the question which had attacked him acutely during the last week in various forms hurt him now like a knife.

He watched his father curiously. He did not look as if he cared very greatly. Of course Aunt Clare was perfectly right. He had been selfishly indifferent, had cared nothing for their feelings. Randal had shown plainly enough how impossible he was. Indeed the shadow of Randal lurked in the room in a manner that would have pleased that young gentleman intensely had he known it. Clare had it continually before her, urging her, advising her, commanding her.

At the mention of the Bethels, Harry looked up sharply.

”I think we had better leave them out of the discussion.” His voice trembled a little.

”Why? Are they so much to you? They have, however, a good deal to do with my argument. Do you think it was wise to neglect the whole of Pendragon for the society of the Bethels--people of whom one is an idler and loafer and the other a lunatic?” Clare was becoming excited.

”You forget, Clare, that I first met them in your drawing-room.”

”They were there entirely against my will. I showed them that quite distinctly at the time. They will not come again.”

”That may be. But they are, as you have said, my friends. I cannot, therefore, hear them insulted. They must be left out of the discussion.”

On any other matter he could have heard her quietly, but the Bethels she must leave alone. He could see Mary, as he spoke, turning on the hill and laying her hand on his arm; her hair blew in the wind and the light in her eyes shone under the moon. He had for a moment forgotten Robin.

”At any rate, I have made my meaning clear. We wish you--out of regard for us, if for no other reason--to be a little more careful both of your company and of your statements. It is hard for you to see the position quite as we do, I know, but I cannot say that you have made any attempt whatsoever to see it with our eyes. It seems useless to appeal to you on behalf of the House, but that, too, is worth some consideration. We have been here for many hundreds of years; we should continue in the paths that our ancestors have marked out. I am only saying what you yourself feel, Garrett?”

”Absolutely.” Garrett looked up from his paper. ”I think you must see, Harry, that we are quite justified in our demands--Clare has put it quite plainly.”

”Quite,” said Harry. ”And you, Robin?”

”I think that Aunt Clare is perfectly right,” answered Robin coldly.

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