'And if you succeed you may leave the rest to me,' said Mrs. Hamblin. 'I shall certainly try and dissuade her from this, in her case very natural, but wholly romantic, idea of becoming an artist, and the best means to that end is by encouraging her to go into society and become conscious of the excitement which she will create there. In a small company such as I propose having on Thursday, dear Mrs. Chadwick, there will be even a better chance for a beginner than in a larger assemblage, and you may depend upon my having no detrimentals present.'
'You include Mr. Pratt in your list?' asked Mrs. Chadwick, with a forced titter.
'Certainly,' replied Mrs. Hamblin quickly; 'Mr. Pratt will probably be the most eligible man there.' And soon afterwards she took her leave.
'That woman is decidedly my inferior in every variety of tactics,' said Mrs. Hamblin to herself, as she drove away. 'She could not hide her astonishment when I announced that I should have Tito to dinner to meet this rosebud, and ever since has been turning over in her mind what I meant without ever arriving at a conclusion. I hope the rosebud will come, as I am anxious to see her and form my own opinion about her. I don't choose that these vulgar people should carry all before them in the way they intend, and I am determined that this match, which seems to have been arranged with the greatest coolness and confidence on both sides, shall not take place. It will not require any very intricate scheming to break it off, I should think--I have had many a more difficult task, and have carried it through successfully before now. If the rosebud is not really desperately in love with my poor Tito, it will be easy to make her like some one else. If she is very fond of him, then one must work upon him, depreciate her in his eyes, and finally make him give her up. That would not be difficult in any case, and fortunately, as a means to that end, we get the rosebud's artistic tendencies and her habit of frequenting the South Kensington Museum. What a very weak woman Mrs. Chadwick must be to put any faith in such rodomontade as that! The girl goes there, I have no doubt; but I don't imagine that all she has learnt by the end of the day in the way of art-study would be worth much; though her knowledge of character, if she have the faculty of observation, is greatly increased. It might be as well just to see for oneself whether she really goes there, what she does, and whom she meets. She would not recognise me, and I might pick up some information which would be valuable. James,' she said, opening the front window of the brougham, 'go to the South Kensington Museum.'
The Chadwick brougham, noticeable always for that exaggeration in every particular which in such matters appears peculiar to parvenus--the horses a little too much for the carriage, the plating a little too much for the harness, and the servants' liveries considerably overdone--was standing before the entrance gate of the Museum as Mrs. Hamblin drove up.
'That is the carriage, no doubt,' said Mrs. Hamblin to herself; 'one could recognise it from any distance from its excessive vulgarity. And what on earth do people mean by having cockades in the servants' hats? I suppose the man is a deputy-lieutenant, or something of that sort; but I should have given Mrs. Chadwick credit for better taste than to ape such a distinction on such grounds. The brougham being there, one may take it for granted that the young lady is inside. I have a great mind to go in to see what peculiar form of art-study she may be at present engaged in. If she really is drawing, I don't suppose I should have much difficulty in finding her, and if she were not in the schools, why, that would be a point in my favour. Even were I to see her she would not recognise me, and I should therefore run no risk. I will go in and take my chance.'
Mrs. Hamblin called to the servant to open the door, but she had scarcely placed her foot upon the step before she withdrew it and resumed her seat, for, on looking round, she had perceived a young lady, who was no doubt the person she was seeking, advancing hurriedly from an opposite direction. When this young lady stepped into Mrs. Chadwick's carriage, and was rapidly driven off, Mrs. Hamblin had no farther doubt.
'It was she,' she said to herself. 'Even if I hadn't had such a recent glimpse of the photograph I should have remembered that striking face. There is no doubt she is exceedingly pretty, and I don't wonder at that soft-hearted Tito being captivated. There is much more style about her, too, than I had thought for, and she has quite enough charm to make her a dangerous rival to any one. So much the more reason for putting an end to this elaborate plan. And so that is the way she studies art, is it? How absurd to think that the sister, who fancies herself a thorough woman of the world, should be completely hoodwinked by such an apparently ingenuous creature! It is perfectly plain that the coachman must be in her confidence, and must bring the carriage in here and wait for her whilst she studies art elsewhere. It would not be difficult, I imagine, to learn through the servants what time the carriage is ordered to-morrow, and to see exactly where she goes. Circumstances seem so far to have played into my hands, and I don't think it will be very difficult to produce such a chain of evidence as will tend to render Tito somewhat less confident in the innocence of his innamorata.'
The next morning, at a few minutes before eleven o'clock, a hansom cab, in which was a lady with a black-lace veil, drew up in the side street next to Mr. Chadwick's mansion in Fairfax-gardens. Within a quarter of an hour the family brougham drove round to the door, and Miss Irvine having entered it, drove quickly off, followed at a little distance by the cab. After proceeding some way, the coachman changed his direction, and the cabman did the same. Finally, the brougham stopped at the door of Lady Forestfield's lodgings in Podbury-street. Miss Irvine descended and entered the house, the carriage driving away, but the cab remaining at a convenient distance. A few minutes afterwards another cab drove up to Lady Forestfield's door, and a slight good-looking man, with a dark beard, knocked, and was admitted. Then the veiled lady in the hansom ordered the driver to go to the South Kensington Museum, and on arrival instructed him to take up his position close to Mr. Chadwick's brougham, which was duly waiting there.
Two long hours passed, but the veiled lady showed no sign of weariness. Her patience was at last rewarded; Miss Irvine appeared within sight, making her way to the brougham. Just as she was approaching its door Mrs. Hamblin descended from her cab, and stretching out her hand, said, with an air of great delight, 'Miss Irvine, I believe? You will scarcely recollect me. I am Mrs. Hamblin, and I hope to have the pleasure of seeing you with your sister on Thursday next.'