“How can I to-day, when she’s miles away in the Ladbroke Grove Road?”
Masters stared, and I saw, of course, he hadn’t been attending and was only thinking of himself.
With his mind in so confused and despondent a condition, I judged the opportunity excellent to try and get him to join us; so, after a few cautious preliminaries, I drew closer and let him into the whole secret of our visit to Ryde and trial of the yacht, giving him to understand that Mr. Brentin was already one of the heads of the enterprise, and that, if I couldn’t get the necessary half-dozen resolute Englishmen, he would easily fill their places with the same number of ditto Americans, from the hotels in Northumberland Avenue; which would cause me some national shame, I said, and give me ground for fearing the ancient spirit of the country was really gone and dribbled off into mere stock-jobbing, as so many people assert—Drake and the Gilberts and Raleigh having shuffled into Capel Court, touting on curb-stones like Hamburg peddlers or ready-money pencillers, instead of taking the broad and daring road of nerve and valor.
Further, I seductively pointed out there would be no sort of reason why Miss Rybot shouldn’t be of the party and try legitimately to win enough at the tables to pay her debts, if her heart was set on it; which would free her from all obligation towards him and bring about their marriage in the most natural way; and that if a chaperon were needed, I would engage to supply one, whether the young lady went to Monte Carlo by land or by sea.
As I had already experienced, different men take an announcement of this high order in different ways—some are shocked, some incredulous; some see all the difficulties at once, some never see any. As for Arthur Masters, he was in such a state of depression that I believe if I had said, “Arthur, we are going North to root up the Pole; will you make one?” he’d have answered, “Delighted!” and been off to Beale & Inman’s at once to order the necessary outfit.
At all events, what he did say was, that if Miss Rybot could be induced to come, he would certainly come too, and do his best, charging himself with the duty of feeling his way with her, and promising to let me know the result as soon as possible. He only stipulated he should not be away longer than a fortnight in January, because of his harriers, which all this time were being rather inefficiently hunted by his younger brother and the dog boy.
We got back safely to Ryde, thoroughly satisfied with our outing and the behavior of the Amaranth, and caught the six-o’clock train back to Victoria.
Mr. Brentin had unfortunately taken a strong dislike to Miss Rybot, and imitated her cold, haughty “Really! you don’t say so!” and other stand-offish little speeches, most of the way up. The imitation was not in the least like, of course, but served to show me the scornful bent of his mind towards her. When I told him I had secured Masters on the condition she came too, he grew quite angry, and declared that whatever route she took he should most certainly take the other, rather than be frozen in her society. He added, as a further ground of dislike, she was “pop-eyed”—a somewhat unjust description of her slightly prominent, large, cold, gray optics.
As for Captain Evans and his little game of using the yacht for excursions on his own account, the captain had given the, to me, rather lame explanation that yachts left idle came to no good, and should, in short, be taken out for exercise just like horses. Questioned why he didn’t go out without company, he averred he must have ballast or the yacht would throb her sides out, and that he thought he might as well make the ballast pay. Also that he had kept a most careful record of receipts, and was prepared to account for every farthing to the rightful owners, whoever they should turn out to be.
In short, as is so often the case, Captain Evans had managed to prove quite conclusively that Mr. Brentin was entirely in the wrong in suspecting his proceedings, and that he was a much injured and wholly innocent British sailor.