And whether the financier was irritated by the rising popularity of the amateur aeronaut at the Crystal Palace, and retaliated by advancing himself where Harry Goodall declined to step in, or whether Falcon was prompted by a preconceived idea of trying to get a large slice of the squire’s capital and entire possession of his daughter, the reader will be fully competent to judge.
If it be assumed that the financier set out on his enterprise with the idea of not bringing Henry Goodall’s son and Miss Dove together, but rather of stepping in himself to seek the fair lady’s hand and fortune, then, indeed, Mr Falcon’s eccentric conduct at the Crystal Palace and on the Essex marshes, is explained.
It would seem that at first Mr William Goodall was inclined to believe in him, while he gave such a pathetic account of the death of his brother Henry; but when that was ended, his flippant and ironical remarks caused the merchant to mistrust him. Squire Dove, on the other hand, was attracted by Mr Falcon’s monetary proposals, which were sufficiently business-like to be accepted; but it is needless to enter into details concerning them, as they may be supposed to have been ostensibly sound, otherwise the squire would not have caught at them so readily as he did by advancing a large sum in cash, and also by not declining the financier’s overtures with respect to Miss Dove, for after Mr Falcon’s successful start as regards his money scheme, he came to the conclusion that his amatory advances would be accepted both by father and daughter; he forgot, however, all about his cowardly conduct at the lake; but Miss Dove did not, and the squire told Mr Falcon candidly that his daughter was quite capable of exercising her own judgment with respect to matrimonial affairs, so that he must plead his own cause. The financier took the hint and used every means in his power to win Miss Dove’s favour.
One day, when the squire and Doctor Peters, the village doctor, were fishing, Mr Falcon, who was walking towards the pond with Miss Dove, said,—
“Whenever I look at those punts on the water I am reminded of that rash youth on the Crystal Palace lake who had the impudence to get into the water to help to raise you into the boat. I was most annoyed, Miss Dove, at his stupid officiousness. As far as I could make out, he was a performer—a Palace actor or something of that kind.”
“I feel sure,” said Miss Dove, looking very straight at Mr Falcon, “that he was a clever performer; but I was told at the Thicket Hotel that he was a scientific man and a successful one, too,” she added. “I certainly was vastly absorbed in his experiment.”
“Indeed! I may have been misinformed, but I quite understood that he was not a regular Palace balloonist, but a mere experimentalist. Would you like to know more about him, Miss Edith?” continued the financier.
“Don’t you think, Mr Falcon, that I could very easily do so, if I were so inclined?”
“No doubt, Miss Dove; but I hope and believe that you would prefer my acquaintanceship to his?”
“How very strangely you are talking this morning. I have no idea who or what that gentleman is, Mr Falcon, but I do hope to see him once more, so pray let us join my father and the doctor—and I beg you will not talk in this strain again.”