“To speak plainly, then, I mean to give you the money; but it must come through the Earl of Colonsay. Further, if Marten hums and haws about the amount, ascertain what sum will satisfy him. A million between you, in hard cash, ought to suffice, because Marten has many millions of his own.”
Lindsay could not choose but believe; for Power had an extra measure of the faculty of convincing his fellow-men. He stammered, almost dumfounded:
“You make a most generous offer, an amazingly generous one. You almost deprive me of words. But I must ask—why?”
“Because, had life been kinder, Nancy would have been my daughter and not Marten’s. Yours is a proper question, and I have answered it; so I hope you will leave my explanation just where it stands. I mean to enlighten you more fully in one respect. Your host, Mr. Dacre, is a well-known man, and you will probably accept what he says as correct. After dinner I shall ask him to tell you that I can provide a million sterling on any given date without difficulty.”
“Mad as it sounds, Mr. Power, I believe you implicitly.”
“You must get rid of that habit where money is concerned. If you appease Mr. Marten, you will have control of a great sum, and you should learn at the outset to take no man’s unsupported word regarding its disposal or investment.”
Lindsay went to his room with the manner of a man walking on air. Nothing that he had ever heard or read compared in any degree with the fantastic events of the last hour. He could not help accepting Power’s statement; yet every lesson of life combated its credibility. It is not surprising, therefore, that he should be nervous and distrait when he reappeared; but Dacre soon put him at ease.
“Power has been telling me how he took your breath away, Mr. Lindsay,” he said. “But that is a way he has. When you and he are better acquainted you will cease to marvel at anything he says, or does. On this one point, however, I want to speak quite emphatically. Mr. Power is certainly in a position to give you a million pounds if he chooses, and, bearing in mind the history of his early life, and the high esteem in which he held Nancy Marten’s mother, I can sympathize with and appreciate the motives which inspire his present effort to secure that young lady’s happy marriage.”
But this incident is set down here merely to show how Power tried to make smooth the way by using his wealth. He himself placed no reliance in its efficacy. Lindsay went to Valescure Castle in high feather; but came back angered and perplexed. Marten had listened politely. There was not the least semblance of annoyance in his manner. He simply dismissed the suitor with quiet civility. When Lindsay, stung to protest, raised the question of finances, the other heard him out patiently.
“In different conditions I might have been inclined to consider your claim,” he said, when Lindsay had made an end. “Allow me to congratulate you on your position, which renders you a suitable parti for almost any alliance—except with my daughter. No, believe me, my decision is final,” for he could not know how ironical was his compliment, and took the young man’s uneasy gesture as heralding a renewal of the argument. “Miss Marten is pledged elsewhere. She will marry Prince Montecastello.”