He watched her hungrily till she had turned the corner, and then crossed the road and rang the bell. He was shown, by a weird-looking, tired-eyed little servant-maid, into a room on the first floor; it was empty, but in a few moments a door leading to a farther room was opened and Brian came in. There was none of the old frank, joyous fashion of greeting about him; he merely nodded, and thrust his hands into his pockets and walked across to the fireplace.
“Well,” he said, “so you’ve found me out at last, have you? You’ve been long enough about it.”
“I came to you as soon as I could,” said Comethup. “You know I’ve been abroad, and I——”
“Abroad! What do you want to fling that in my face for? Here, some cursed fortune thrusts me, penniless, into a wretched London lodging-house in a slum, and you flaunt it in the best hotels all over Europe. Where’s the justice of it? In God’s name”—he swung round fiercely, and made a step toward the other—“how does the world expect me to work, why does it demand the best of me, under such circumstances?”
“Don’t be unreasonable,” said Comethup slowly. “I met your father in Rome, and sent him hurrying back to you.”
“The damned old scoundrel! Do you know that I’ve never even seen him? When I could stand it no longer, I suggested he should go and find you, and he promised faithfully to come back the moment—well, the moment he got anything. How much did you give him?”
“A little over thirty pounds,” said Comethup.
“And a fine time he’s having with it, I’ll be bound. Never trust your own flesh and blood, say I. Fancy your own father leaving you to starve!”
“Well, I shouldn’t trouble about that now,” said Comethup. He had been looking round the shabby room, with its absence of anything homelike, save for a few flowers in a cheap vase on a little table and some needlework in a little basket. He trembled at every footfall on the stairs, and was only anxious to get away before she returned. “You know I’ve always plenty of money, and if you will let me——”
“Oh! don’t beat around the bush. What do you suppose I sent to you for? It’s easy enough to come in, well fed and well dressed—I’ll warrant you drove here in style——”