Lord Milbanke's Artifice.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 999, 24 April 1891, Page 10

Lord Milbanke's Artifice.

(A Complete Story.) It came to pass that one day a very good-looking stranger made his appearance in the office of one of the principal hotels in Cheltenham, and inquired for accommodation. The new-comer, who entered his name in the visitors book as Mr Lionel Marston, was a, young man of uncertain age—that is, something between twenty-seven and thirtyeight. His hair and. fiercely-twirled moustache were as black as night, his eyes were keen and compelling, his face ■was bronzed by exposure to the Aveather, and his manner was self-contained and prepossessing. "Rooms were easily provided for him, and he took up his quarters Avith the avoAved intention of staying for some .time, if he were made comfortable. As he Avas accompanied by a large and hea\ r y portmanteau, a Gladstone bag, and a hat-box, the people ot the hotel concluded that he would probably not turn out in a hurry, unless lie Avas made very uncomfortable or sAvindled very atrociously ; so they congratulated themselves on having obtained a customer whose bill Avould probably amount to a considerable sum. Mr Marston did not appear to know anybody in the town, and in consequence spent a good deal of his time in the billiard-room of the hotel, endeavouring to strike up temporary acquaintances Avith the other visitors in the hotel, and with those gilded youths of the town Avho were in the habit of frequenting that chaste resort. He also passed an occasional quarter of an hour or so at intervals in the bar, conversing with the barmaid and imbibing various liquors. That he was ‘ a very free and easy gent ’ Avas very soon the verdict of the numerous ladies and gentlemen who were employed in different capacities in the hotel. The pretty chambermaid, it is true, said that he Avas an ‘ impident fellerbut this Avas currently supposed to be merely a feminine acknowledge ment of the full appreciation Avlxich the stranger had exhibited for her charms. Miss Salmonson, the barmaid, AA T ho was very vulnerable to dexterous flattery, was especially a warm admirer of Mr Marston, Avho invariably supplied her with the variety of compliment which he saw that she most appreciated. A good deal of ‘ chaff,’ of a not remarkably brilliant or refined type Avent on in the bar-room at times, and as Mr Marston soon showed that he could not only take a share in this rough Avit, but hold his own well, he was regarded with respect by all the habitues. Constant association and communion inevitably led in time to some sort of friendship. In the bar, the billiardroom, and the dining-room, Mr Marston kept continually knocking up against the same men, and this casual intercourse gradually begot a certain degree of friendship. It became the thing to stop him in the street, and even to walk with him on the Promenade under the very eyes of the entire spinster population, who Avere all very anxious to know Avho was the goodlooking man who was staying at the Gilded Cage Hotel, and who had never been seen Avalking with any of the girls. Careless, however, as the young men were in making friends with an agree able stranger, i% would never have occurred to any of them to introduce a man about wdiom they knew absolutely nothing into their family circles. It has ahvays been the vocation of the lady, however, from the A r ery earliest times, to egg the man on to do something which in his heart he strongly disapproved of, and Avould not haA r e dreamt of attempting but for her strenuous instigation. Even at this distance of time the memory of their great ancestress is preserved by her female descendants with a respect Avhich is certainly not accorded to Adam by his male posterity, and whenever a favourable opportunity arises there is not a single member of the fairer sex who would not unhesitatingly prove the reality of her conviction by imitating the example she so much admired.

, • • J * ‘ Who is this Mr Marston V said Miss Eva Curtis, a very pretty and piquante brunette of some five or six seasons’ standing. Her father was an Indian general, who had retired on half pay. Her brother had passed his army examination, and had since spent several months at home in idleness —or rather chiefly in the bar-room of the Gilded Cage—waiting until he should be gazetted. She herself, poor girl, kad been hawked about in the matri-

monial market by her too assiduous mamma ever since she came out—first in Southsea, Avhere for four years the Curtises entertained man after man and regiment after regiment without any result except a considerable expenditure of money and a most mournful wear and tear endured by that sensitii r e and delicate organ a young girl’s heart. Later they came on to Cheltenham, Aviiere the chase was begun again on new lines.

If Eva did not marry Avell she Avould be practically penniless Avhen her father died, and she felt that to marry for money solely Avas better than to sink into a domestic drudge, which was her only other prospect. If she had had so much as two hundred a year of her own, she felt that she could have been n’cer, more- womanly, less selfish and mercenary in idea. As it was she could only obey her fate, and hate it for Avliat it reduced her to do. ‘ "Who is this Mr Marston ?’ said Eva Curtis to her brother one day when they had passed the object of her curiosity on the Promenade. ‘ I am sure I don’t know any more than I have told you dozens of times,’ replied the hopeful youth irritably. He was bored to death at being pressed into service to take Eva on the Promenade, and would much rather have left her in the lurch, and hastened off to have a chat with the new crony. It Avas air understood thing, however, that Avhen he did take her on the Promenade he was not to desert her or else there Avould be no help for him from her Avhen he wanted an obliging person to do gooseberry to one of his own flirtations.

‘I am sure I don’t knoiv any more than I have told you dozens of times, that he is a stranger who is stopping at the Gilded Cage, and whose acquaintance I picked up there. I don’t remember hoAV. I know nothing more about him, except that he is a very decent fellorv, and a thorough good sort with no humbug Avhatever about him.’ *ls he a gentleman ?’ said the crafty Eva. ‘ Of course he is.’ ‘ Hoay do you know, if you knoAv nothing about him ? He may haA T e taken you in completely. After all, you are only a boy, you knoiv, and although you think yourself very sharp I expect you would be very easily taken in.’ ‘ Cat!’ ‘ Calling names is no argument. I don’t believe that the man is a gentleman. I believe he is a &ivell mobsman, or perhaps has come doAvn here to organise a burglary, and, no doubt, has pumped all he wants to knoiv out of you.’ Noav this style of conversation Avas not exactly calculated to promote the harmony of the Avalk, but it produced the desired effect; for though Curtis pooh-poohed his sister's imaginative conjecture very roughly it occurred to him that Marston had undoubtedly asked a large number of questions Avith regard to various inhabitants of the town, and had listened Avith great interest to his (Mr Curtis) own garrulous chatter in reply. Of course, it was really too ridiculous to attach any importance to E\ T a’s insinuations, but, at the same time, it Avould be a good idea to try and pump Marston a little in turn. Being an exceedingly undiplomatic person he thought it best to go straight to work without any circumlocution, and so Avhen they next met he suddenly sprung this question upon the other Avith very little preface. ‘ I say, Marston, where do you come from ?’ ‘Well, from the station, or, if you Avant to know exactly, from Bays Hill, because I came back that Avay instead of by LansdoAvn.’ ‘No, hang it, I don’t mean that. Where do you live wlmn you aie at home ?’ ‘ls that a conundrum ? If so, I should think that the answer is that Avhere I am at home there I live, and I only live there when I am at home.’ { Oh ! bar chaff, you know. I’m not joking, you knoAv ; quite serious, ’pon my word, I was really wondering, you know, where your home was; what part of the Avorld your people lived in.’

‘ And Avho suggested the idea to you V ‘My s—self.’ There Avas a perceptible break in the hissing sound at the beginning of the second word. ‘ He did not mean to say “ myself ” at first,’ was the thought Avhich flashed through Marston’s brain. ‘ What did he mean to say ? Something which begins with “ s.” Probably “my sister.” No doubt the pretty girl whom he was Avalking with yerday, and Avhom he hardly took any notice of, is his sister. He would not venture to

treat anyone else in such a bearish way. And she has put him up to it little knowing how he would go to work. It is lucky that he is not more diplomatic.’

‘ My name,’ he said aloud, ‘ is, as you are aware, Lionel Marston.. My parents are dead. I Avas originally intended to be a barrister, but Avhen my uncle died he left me a moderate income, and I gave up the bar, which had previously done the same by me. I am not living anywhere at present, except at Gilded Cage, but if you inquire there you Avill find that I pay my bills regularly, and that my cheques are duly honoured. Js that enough ? ‘ Of course,’ replied Curtis, Avith the ready credulity of youth. ‘ I don’t know Avhy I asked you.’

‘ I do, my dear friend,’ thought Marston; ‘ that pretty, dark-eyed little girl, Avith the inquisitive, turned-up nose, is as sharp as you are a fool, and she has got some idea in her brain, though yours is empty enough.’ ‘ What I cannot make out, hivvever,’ pursued Curtis, ‘is why, when you could practically take your choice of the whole world to go to, you should have selected such a hole as Cheltenham to stay in, especially as you don’t know anybody here.’ * Well, it is partly by accident, because I picked it out at random from a a number of strange places ; partly be cause the thought that that sort of thing would be an agreeable novelty, and partly ’ —Avith slight hesitation—--1 my uncle left a good number of and I find it is convenient to live economically for a while.’

‘ You won’t retrench much at the Gilded Cage,' cried Curtis, Avith a laugh. ‘You had better have taken rooms in a quiet street. This confidence of Marston had comfortably restored Curtis’ equanimity, and done more to strengthen the friendship than Aveeks of hotel-bar hospitality. «Who Avas that pretty little dark girl you were Avalking Avith on the Promenade yesterday morning when I met you?’ inquired Marston, after a Avhile. ‘ I suppose you mean my sister,' replied the cub. ‘ She’s considered pretty, I know; though, of course, I don’t see it.’ ‘ You were quite wrong, my beauty,’ Harry said to Eva, later. ‘He isn’t a swell mobsman or a burglar. He’s a gentleman at large with money of his oavii, and by-the-bye, he seems rather taken Avith you ; asked Avho you were—though what he can see in currant eyes and a pug nose, such a red one, too—beats me.’ ‘lt’s.not red,’ cried poor Eva, darting to the mirror to examine her calumniated feature. ‘ Oh, Harry, you wretch, how could you ? But, Harry, dear,’ she added, coaxingly putting her arm through his; ‘ifhe is nice, and a gentleman, Avhy don’t you bring him into lunch one day ? Mamma would be very pleased to see him.’ . - ‘ Oh, that’s the game, is it miss ?’ cried Harry, Avith a broad grin. ‘ That’s why you set me to cross-examine him, is it? Look how red she’s getting—quite a scarlet geranium. And lam a wretch, am I ?’ ‘No, I Avill apologise. You are a dear, good well-behaved brother. There, Avill that do ?—and besides, I Avill ask mamma to ask your pet, Miss Martin. ‘ Bosh ! you know/ well what the answer will be.’

‘Then listen,’ she ; cried, her invention quickened by despair, * I will give you a shilling.’ ‘ What do you mean ? Have you come into money of your own, too ?’ ‘ No. I Avish I had,’ said poor Eva, Avith a melancholy smile and a sigh. But mamma gives;me a shilling and a sixpence to keep in my purse, in order that I may not seem utterly destitute of money in any emergency—which would look so bad. Well, this sixpence will be quite enough for me, so I can give the shilling to you.’ ‘ Oh, nonsense. You know I can t do that. Well, after all, a shilling is better than nothing, and so hand it over, and I will bring Marston up some day.’ ‘ Yon promise faithfully ? The shilling thereupon changed hands, and in a few days Harry Curtis brought Marston c quite casually ’ in to lunch, and, as lie had previously pre pared his mother * for the event, the guest had no re 1 -! complain of the ‘ pot luck ’ w; \ placed before him. . r u ‘ He mad attentive to Eva, who 't to him much to }v brother,

Avho Avondered Avhether she regretted her shilling by then, and speculated as to the exact amoun t of ‘ good ’ which Avas likely to result from his ‘ bringing men to the house ’ if Eva intended to treat them in ‘ that off-hand fashion.’

After lunch, however, she unbent a little towards the guest, began to chatter aAvay .to him in the merriest fashion about every kind of subject—the ways of Cheltenham, the scarcity of men, the balls, the desperate attempt that Avas being made to revive the County Ball, the preposterous shopkeeper Town Committee, and their efforts to provide amusement for the A-isitors on principles borrowed entirely from Roslierviile Gardens or ’Ampstead ’Eath. From these general subjects she drifted on to talk about her oivn tastes, her beautiful Persian cat, her painting, her Avalks, her laAvn tennis club, and her one great Avish that she had money enough to keep a horse, for she Avas so madly fond of riding. She showed him the prize she had Avon in a lawn tennis tournament, and a collection of sketches. By this time Mrs Curtis had slipped aAvay, and Harry was deep in a novel. Every now and then Eva insinuated a dexterous little observation which left an opening for him to tell her something about himself in return; but either he did not notice it, or else would not. He seemed to be much more interested in her than in himself; and, though this Avas flattering, it Avas also tiresome, because Avhen he rose at last to made his adieu she realised that she really knew no more about him than Avhen he entered—except that she had nob got on so well Avith any man for a long time, and that it Avas quite evident that he admired her.

‘ Are you going to the Bradawl Ball next Aveek ?’ she inquired as he shook hands. ‘ No,’ he replied. ‘ My acquaintances in Cheltenham are A r ery limited indeed.’ ‘ Of course, you are not in your own part of the Avorld. I wonder Avhat your part of the Avorld is ?’ The question obviously required an ans Aver, but Mr Marston did not reply very readily. ‘ My part is Sussex,’ he said at last, as there Avas not help for it. * I was born there.’ ‘ Oh, I know Sussex. ‘ What part do you knoAv ?’ ‘ Oh, I know Goodwood and about there, Arundel and Chichester, and I have been to Bognor. Is that your part ?’ * No,’ he seemed quite pleased. *My part is the other end of the county, not far from Battle Abbey. ‘lf you would like to go to the dance,’ she said, shooting her last shaft, ‘ I am sure that my mamma can easily get you an invitation. Men are generally welcome in Cheltenham. ‘ Will you give me a dance ?’ he inquired, gravely. ‘Yes. I shall be most happy,’ she said Avith affected levity, though her heart began to beat more quickly. ‘ Then I should like, very much indeed, to go.

About a fortnight after this event it became thoroughly understood in Cheltenham that there Avas a decided flirtation on between Miss Curtis and Mr Marston, and that Miss Curtis Avas in a fair Avay, as far as appearances gave any criterion, to capture her prey. It is curious Avhat a difference this discovery made in the general opinion Avith regard to Mr Marston. During the first Aveek of his introduction to Cheltendam he reached the height of popularity at a bound, and became so much in request, that the competition among the ladies to secure him for different parties Avas quite undignified. During the second Aveek, however, people’s eyes Avere gradually opened to the fact that at dances he danced far oftener with Eva Curtis than with other girls, and that though, as a rule, he passed his female acqaintances in the streets Avith a polite salutation, he had been seen to stop several times when had met Eva, and on one or tAVO occasions had been observed accompanying her, not on the Promenade, where everyone walked for everyone else’s benefit, but in less public places, Avhere his movements Avere not so much open to remark. During the third week his popularity went down to zero, and the invitations to lunch and dinner ceased.. If he were not engaged to Eva Curtis, it was quite clear that he ought to be, and would be soon. • It was not likely that she Avould refuse him,’ said her friends; ‘ she would jump at anybody, and, as he seemed foolishly infatuated with her, it Avould probably be a case before long.’ They only hoped that General Curtis

had made proper inquiries about him, and that Eva might not have reason to regret in after days that she had flung herself at the head of a man about whom absolutely nothing Avas known. ‘ I believe that he is nothing more or less than a vile imposter,’ said Emily Stammers, a fine big blonde, Avho was the rival beauty. ‘My brother says that yesterday when he ivas coming back from Gloucester, this Mr Marston travelled up with him, and there was a very common-looking man in the train, too, who talked the Avliole time to Mr Marston, and made frequent illusions to Millbank, which seemed to make Mr Marston very uncomfortable, until at last he whispered quite familiarly Avith the common man, evidently to stop him. And you know, my dear, Millbank, Tom says, is a horrid convict prison in London. How dreadful it Avould be if he should turn out to be an escaped convict.’ Meamvhile, Eva Avas passing through a most delightful and unexphase of feeling. She had fancied that her heart had gone too cold to be ever warmed by the pure flame of love. With a firm conviction therefore that she was the most horrid mercenary girl on the face of the earth, she had planned to herself the capture of Mr Marston as a husband on purely worldly grounds, she fancied from what she heard from her brother that the man must have money. No one, she argued from her OAvn limited experience, would come and put up at the principal hotel of a fashionable watering place, during the height of the season, if he really meditated economy on any sweeping lines. Of course, she had also taken an undoubted fancy to the good-looking stranger; but that Avas unimportant, providing he had money. She Avas therefore considerably astonished to find in a feiv days that she really thought more about the man than his money, and that when bis image presented itself to her, it was not as the prospective husband who was to take charge of her expenditure, but as the favourite and most congenial friend, whose advent she always welcomed Avitli unusual pleasure, and who treated her with a tender respect to Avhich she had never been accustomed. She began to be afraid that she must have betrayed herself at first, and disgusted him by the worldliness of her character. And yet ‘ I think I must be falling in love Avith him,’ she said aloud, and then she blushed and hid her face in her hands. And when he told her one day that he loved her, and asked her to be his wife, her heart overflowed with such a great Avave of ecstasy that for a few moments she was speechless. ‘ I am not Avorthy of you,’ she moaned at last. * You would not ask me if you knew the kind of girl I am/ and with that she told him all, concealing nothing. * Can you love me after that ?’ she inquired with a sinking sensation at her heart as she raised her eyes to him. For reply he caught her in his arms and kissed her passionately. ‘ I believe,’ he said, ‘ that you were in love with me Avhen you gave up your last shilling for me, and I am sure that you are in love with me noAV.’

When Cheltenham heard that Mr Marston was definitely engaged to Miss Eva Curtis, several intimate friends thought it their duty to communicate to General and Mrs Curtis the direful suspicions Avhich were floating about in the town with regard to the antecedents of Mr Marston, and the strong reason there was for supposing him to be nothing more or less than a gaol-bird in disguise. The peppery old Indian general very soon worked himself up into a violent state of fury, without any very definite idea of the exact cause, and declared his intentions of ‘tackling that fellow Marston at once and dragging the truth out of him.’

Circumstances, however, gave him time to cool down and reflect that probably all the girls in Cheltenham were furious with his little Eva for having captured the eligible stranger, and it was highly probably that the whole story was a malicious invention, intended for the wicked purpose of causing a rupture of the engagement. The result was that as soon as he got the opportunity he called Marston into his private room and told him the story straight out. ‘ I am sure it is all d—d nonsense and spite,’ he growled in conclusion, f But I must have a categorical answer which I can give to these gossips In short, hitherto I have taken you to a certain extent upon trust, and have excepted all your statements as gospej

—partly because you did not ask me for a single penny with my daughter, and partly because your story sounded well enough. Now, however, 1 am obliged to ask you, how can you prove to me and to the world that you are what you represent yourself to be ?’ ... Mai-ston looked at him fixedly. ‘ One moment before 1 answer,' he replied slowly and gravely. * Does Eva know of this V «No? * Will you oblige me by calling her in and telling her before me ? The General hesitated for a minute, and then he did as lie was requested. And so the story was broken as gently as possible to the girl. ‘ She flushed a beautiful crimson with indignation. ‘How mean ! How wicked ! How horrible! she cried. ‘No one would believe in such wickedness if they were told it !’ ‘Then?said Marston eagerly, ‘you do not believe the story V ‘I? Believe it?’ she cried,*wounded to the quick. ‘ Oh, my dear' one, do you think so meanly of me ?’ * Well, that is all very well,’ said the General testily; ‘but hugging and kissing won't stop the tongues of these old witches. What have you got to say, Marston?’ ‘The worst of it is? replied the other, ‘ that I have a confession to make which I suppose I ought to have made before, but I couldn’t make up my mind to. The fact is that lam not quite what I pretend to be ; I am a bit of an imposter, and I do come from Milbanke ’ ‘ What? roared the General, with fury in his eyes, while Eva shrank away in doubt and fear at this terrible revelation. * You scoundrel !’ ‘Yes, but it is Milbanke House, near Battle Abbey; not the prison? continued Marston rapidly. ‘ln fact? he added, looking rather sheepish for the first time, ‘ though my name is really Lionel Marston, I am more generally known as Ln-d Milbanke, and if Eva marries me she will have to be Lady Milbanke. If you write to my family lawyers, they will tell you everything. You see T have always had a mania for marrying someone who loved me for myself, not for my title or fortune, and I think that I have thoroughly succeeded?

‘ But what in the name of all that is —never mind—why did you come here under an assumed name at all ?’ ‘ln the first place? laughed Lord Milbanke, whose arm was now securely round his betrothed’s waist, ‘it was not an assumed name. It is my own. In the second you have no idea what an agreeable change it was not to be swindled and toadied by everybody. The marriage was a very grand affair, but it was celebrated at a fashionable church in London, and the Cheltenham people felt that they had been defrauded of their rights. Lord Milbanke sometimes asks his wife if she regrets her shillingsworth, but she always answers in dumbshow.