CHAPTER V.
Mr Felix was much struck by the tale he heard, and was inclined, in spite of the dictates of common-sense, to follow the Will-o’-the-wisp which grave Mr Carver had discovered. In a prosaic age, such a thing as the disappearance of a respectable Englishman’s wealth was on the face of it startling enough; and therefore, although the thread was at present extremely intangible, he felt there must be something romantic about the matter. Mr Felix, be it remembered, was a man of sense; but he was a dreamer of dreams, and a weaver of romance by profession and choice; consequently, he was inclined to pooh-pooh Edgar’s half-deprecating, half-enthusiastic view of the case.
‘I do not think you are altogether right, Seaton, in treating this affair so cavalierly,’ he said. ‘In the first place, Miss Wakefield is no relation in blood to your wife’s uncle. If the property was in her hands, I should feel myself justified in taking steps to have the existing will set aside; but so long as there is nothing worth doing battle for, it is not worth while, unless Miss Wakefield has the money, and is afraid of proceedings’——
‘That is almost impossible,’ Eleanor interrupted. ‘You have really no conception how fond she is of show and display, and I know no such fear would prevent her indulging her fancy, if she had the means to do so.’
‘So long as you are really persuaded that is the case, we have one difficulty out of the way,’ Felix continued. ‘Then we can take it for granted that she neither has the money nor has the slightest idea where it is.—Now, tell me about this Margaret Boulton.’
‘That is soon told,’ Eleanor replied. ‘Last night, shortly alter eleven, I was crossing Waterloo Bridge’——
‘Bad neighbourhood for a lady to be alone,’ interrupted Felix, with a reproachful glance at Seaton.—‘I beg your pardon. Go on, please.’
‘I had missed my husband at Waterloo Station, and I was hurrying home as quickly as I could’——
‘Why did you not take a cab?’ exclaimed Felix with some asperity. Then seeing Eleanor colour, he said hastily: ‘What a dolt I am! I—I am very sorry. Please, go on.’
‘As I was saying,’ continued Eleanor, ‘just as I was crossing the bridge, I saw a woman close by me climb on to one of the buttresses. I don’t remember much about it, for it was over in less than a minute, and seems like a dream now; but it was my old nurse, or rather companion, Margaret Boulton, strange as it seems. Now, you know quite as much as I can tell you.’
Felix mused for a time over this strange history. He could not shake off the feeling that it was more than a mere coincidence. ‘Seriously,’ he said, ‘I feel something will come of this.’
‘I hope so,’ answered Eleanor with a little sigh. ‘Things certainly look a little better now than they did; but we need some permanent benefit sadly.’
‘I thought some day had come, mamma,’ piped little Nelly from her nest on the hearthrug.
‘Little pitchers have long ears,’ said the novelist. ‘Come and sit on poor old Uncle Jasper’s knee, Nelly, and give him a kiss.’
‘Yes, I will, Uncle Jasper; but I’m not a little pitcher, and I’ve not dot long ears.—Mamma, are my ears long?’
‘No, darling,’ replied her mother with a smile. ‘Uncle Felix was not speaking of you.’
‘Then I will sit upon his knee.’ Whereupon she climbed up on to that lofty perch, and proceeded to draw invidious distinctions between Mr Felix’ moustache and the hirsute appendage of her father, a mode of criticism which gave the good-natured literary celebrity huge delight.
‘Now,’ continued Felix, when he had placed the little lady entirely to her satisfaction—‘now to resume. In the first place, I should particularly like to see this Margaret Boulton to-day.’
‘I do not quite agree with you, Mr Felix. It would be cruel, with her nerves in such a state, to cross-examine her to-day,’ Mrs Seaton said with womanly consideration. ‘You can have no idea what such a reaction means.’
‘Precisely,’ Felix replied grimly. ‘Do you not see what I mean? Her nervous system is particularly highly strung at present—the brain in a state of violent activity, probably; and she is certain to be in a position to remember the minutest detail, and may give us an apparently trivial hint, which may turn out of the utmost importance.’
‘Still, it seems the refinement of cruelty,’ said Eleanor, her womanly kindness getting the better of her curiosity. ‘She is in a particularly nervous state. Naturally, she is inclined to be morbidly religious, and the mere thought of her attempted crime last night upsets her.’
‘Yes, perhaps so,’ Felix said; ‘but I should like to see her now. We cannot tell how important it may be to us.’
‘I declare your enthusiasm is positively contagious,’ laughed Seaton.—‘Really, Felix, I did not imagine you were so deeply imbued with curiosity. My wife is bad enough, but you are positively girlish.’
‘Indeed, sir, you belie me,’ said Eleanor with mock-indignation. ‘I am moved by a little natural inquisitiveness; but I shall certainly not permit that unfortunate girl to be annoyed for the purpose of gratifying the whim of two grown-up children.’
‘Mea culpa,’ Felix replied humbly. ‘But I should like to see the interesting patient, if only for a few minutes.’
Eleanor laughed merrily at this persistent charge. ‘Well, well,’ she said, ‘I will go up to Margaret and ascertain if she is fit to see any one just yet; but I warn you not to be disappointed, for she certainly shall not be further excited.’
‘I do not think the curiosity is all on our side,’ Felix said, as Eleanor was leaving the room.—‘You are a fortunate man, Seaton, in spite of your troubles,’ he continued. ‘A wife like yours must make anxiety seem lighter.’
‘Indeed, you are right,’ Edgar answered earnestly. ‘Many a time I have felt like giving it up, and should have done so, if it had not been for Eleanor.’
‘Strange, too,’ said Felix musingly, ‘that she does not give one the impression of being so brave and courageous. But you never can tell. I have been making a study of humanity for twenty years, and I have been often disappointed in my models. I have seen the weakest do the work of the strongest. I have seen the strongest, on the other hand, go down before the first breath of trouble. I have seen the most acid of them all make the most angelic of wives.’
‘I wonder you have never married, Felix.’
‘Did I not tell you my model women have always been the first to disappoint me?’ he replied lightly. ‘Besides, what woman could know Jasper Felix and love him?’
‘Your reputation alone’——
‘Yes, my reputation—and my money,’ Felix said bitterly. ‘Twenty years ago, when I was plain Jasper Felix, I did—— But bah! I don’t want to discuss faded rose-leaves with you.—Let us change the subject. I have some good news for you. In the first place, I have sold the article you gave me.’
‘Come, that is cheering. I suppose you managed to screw a guinea out of one of your friends for me?’
‘On the contrary, I sold it on its merits,’ Felix replied, ‘and ten pounds was the price.’
‘Ten pounds! Am I dreaming, or am I a genius?’
‘Neither; which is true, if not complimentary. There is the cheque to prove you are not dreaming; and as to the other thing, you have no genius, but you have considerable talent.—But I have some further news for you. I have had a note from the editor of Mayfair, to whom I showed your work. Now, Baker of the Mayfair is about the finest judge of literary capacity I know. He says he was particularly struck with your descriptive writing; and if you like to undertake the work, he wants you to visit the principal of the foreign gambling clubs in London, and work up a series of gossiping articles for his paper. The work will not be particularly pleasant; but you will have the entrée of all these clubs, and the golden key to get to the working part of the machinery. The thing will be hard and somewhat hazardous; but it is a grand opportunity of earning considerable kudos. Will you undertake it?’
‘Undertake it!’ said Seaton, springing to his feet. ‘Will I not? Felix, you have made a new man of me. Had it not been for you, I don’t know what would have become of us by this time. I cannot thank you in words, but you know that I feel your kindness.’
‘I do not see why this should not lead to something like fortune; anyway, it means comfort and ease, if I do not mistake your capacity,’ said Felix, totally ignoring the other’s gratitude. ‘If I were in your place, I should not tell my wife I was doing anything dangerous.’
‘Poor child, how thankful she will be! But you are perfectly right as regards the danger—not that I fear it particularly, though there is no reason to make her anxious.’
‘What mischief are you plotting?’ said Eleanor, entering the room at that moment. ‘You look on particularly good terms with yourselves.’
‘Good news, Nelly, good news! I have actually got permanent work to do. You need not ask whose doing it is.’
‘No, no,’ said Felix modestly. ‘It is your own capability you must thank.—What about the patient?’
‘I really must ask you to postpone your inquiry for the present,’ she replied; ‘she is incapable of answering any questions just now. Indeed, I am so uneasy, that I have sent for a doctor.’
‘Indeed! Well, I suppose we must wait for the present.—And now, I must tear myself away,’ said Felix, as he rose and proceeded to button his overcoat.—‘Seaton, you must hold yourself in readiness for your work at any moment.—No thanks, please,’ as Eleanor was about to speak. ‘Now, I must go.—Good-night, little Nelly; don’t forget to think of poor old Uncle Jasper sometimes.’
‘Good-night, Felix,’ said Edgar with a hearty hand-shake. ‘I won’t thank you; but you know how I feel.—Good-night, dear old boy!’