The Paignton Honour

Taranaki Daily News, 17 July 1937, Page 15 (Supplement)

The Paignton Honour

By ALICE and CLAUDE ASKEW.

Authors of "The Shulamifce," "Testiimony," etc.)

Chapter One. His Lordship's Plans. "It's perfectly delightful to have you both home again." Lord Paignton rubbed his chubby hands together and beamed at his daughters over the goldmounted pince-nez, which was. one of his little affectations. "My dear Marian— my dear Amy- how you've grown!" The two girls laughed in chorus. They were tall and slim and well proportioned. Lord Paignton had every reason to be proud of his offspring. "Grown!" Marian, the elder, rested her hand lovingly on her father's shoulder. "Why, my dear papa, \we were just as tall when we went away as we are ever likely to be. It's only 18 months ago, remember." "I don't know, my dear, responded rns Lordship. "I always used to say you'd grown when you came home after staying away anywhere, so I suppose it's a natural remark. All1 the same I think you've both filled out a bit. You were children when you went to Brussels, and you're young women now. Amy's got her hair up, too— that makes all the difference." , • ' . He pased an arm round the waist ot each girl , and, drawing them to him, kissed them with real affection. His movements • were always a little exaggerated, but that was his manner. He was one of those who liked to , dance i easily through life. "Ah, here's Martin with the tea, he exclaimed, in no way disconcerted, as I the butler eritered the room, followed by 1 a liverjed footman bearing the tray. i "Marian shall preside. It will be delightful." This was one of his stock phrases. | "And Bruce will be here in a few min- j utes, too, so we shall be quite a family party. His train was due at half-past four, so he must be on his way to the j Park by now. I'm looking forward to seeing Bruce." . It was something over 18 months since Lord Paignton had seen his son and his two daughters. The death of his wife— the first real trouble that he Had ever known— had temporarily broken up the home. Marian and Amy had received an invitation to stay with some cousins in Belgium, and Lord Paignton, taking advantage of the opportunity, had betaken himself to Australia. There was ...a threatened breakdown in his normally sturdy health, and the doctor had recommended a sea voyage. His friena, Sir Mark Thorndale, had accompanied him for a portion of the'time, he had fallen in with other acquaintances, had been hospitably entertained wherever he went, and, his nature being of the mercurial order, he had quickly recovered both his health and spirits; while his travels, originally designed for six months only, had been extended for a further twelve. During, this period his daughters had remained in Belgium, while Bruce, his son, was either at Oxford or spending his j vacation with friends in different parts j of the country, . having a good time generally, but showing a marked predilection for the 'Thorndale family circle, Doreen,. Sir Mark's daughter, havin'g captured hk affections by her winsome' prettiness and queer little old-fashioned ' ways.. •• And now the family was to be reunited- in the ancestral home, Charlton Park, in Hertfordshire, where the Paigntons had lived for so man'y generations, a proud race whose boast was that the name had always been passed on in the direct line, and that there had never been a single slur or stain upon the family escutcheon. "The Paignton Honour" was almost proverbial, and there was an old legend that if any disgrace befell either him who bore the title or him who, in the ordinary course of events, would bear it, then the line would have .its end. "When Paignton honour yields to shame, Extinct. shall. be the Paignton name." So ran the old saw, and it was one that had always been treated with due respcct. There were other family legends as well, but for the most part they centred round the same subject— the dearly esteemed honour of the Paigntons. For instance, there was a quaiiitly-shaped glqg-c; drinking tankard which dated from the seventeenth : century, and the story went that no evil would befall the house so 16ng as this cup remained intact and was not removed from Charlton Park. The origin of the superstition was quite indefinite, but it had lost nothing with the 'passage of time, and it was told how, about the end of the eighteenth century, a certain Lady Paignton, disregarding advice, had' removed the vase from Charlton to her London seat. The unhappy lady had paid dearly for her 1mprudence— she was thrown out of a coach and killed on the spot, while a fire broke out at Charlton, which destroyed the whole of the west wing, together with a number of valuable and valued pictures.

The cup had been hastily restored to its place — a pedestal in a niche of the great hall— and had remained there ever since, covered with a glass shade for further security, and from that date all had been well with the Paigntons and with their house. The present holder of the title — the eleventh Baron Paignton— was a man who had made himself universally beloved for his genial disposition and for his open-handed benevolence to all who were dependent upon him— and, for the matter of that, to everyone else. For Lord Paignton was, in many ways, like an overgrown child; he had lived in the world for nearly 60 years and had remained supremely ignorant of its most important lessons. His life had been so sheltered, so even, and he had always found it quite easy to shut his eyes to things which he had no desire to see. Over and over again he had been cheated and deceived without in the least profiting by the experience. "The poor fellow wanted the money more than I do," was all he said when it was discovered that his steward had diverted large sums to his own account. "I don't think we'll make a fuss about it." And he refused to prosecute, much to the disgust of David Mozeley, the old family adviser, and the present senior partner of the firm . of Mount and Mozeley, solicitors, who had had charge of the Paignton property ever since they were established in business at Clayborough, the little [market town some five miles distant from Charlton— and that was quite a hundred .years ago. Lord Paignton was the sort of man who made one think of pleasant things, only to look at him. -Sixty years old, he might well have been set down as under 50. His hair, still abundant, was almost flaxen, and had not the smallest thread of grey. His face was round and cherubic and his cheeks had the fresh colouring of a girl's. He was clean-shaven, and his eyes were blue; the pince-nez was an affection, for there Was really no need for it. He had a most engaging smile, and his teeth were remarkably white and regular: He was always on the best of terms with himself and the world at large. He was heaming with happines now as he sipped the cup of fragrant tea which Marian had poured out for him, and took occasional nibbles at a piece of thin jbread and butter. He was listening to a full and detailed account of how his 'daughters had spent their time in Belgium. "Lady Westingford seems to have done her best to spoil you both," he commented. "Well, I suppose I shall have to second her as well as I can. It will be I quite delightful for.me, won't it?— a new experience. Three grown-up children to look after— quite a responsibility. . I've ' been thinking it all over— oh, very carefully. And what do you think I've dejcided?" | Marian and Amy failed to guess, so their father proceded to explain. His plans had been maturing. for, quite a long time in his brain, and he had been , looking forward with pleasure to the revealing of them. "Weli," he continued, his ■ cheeks dimpling with the joy of anticipation, "what do you say to a fine London house, and one that is all our own? It always fitruck me as so silly"— he waved his hand airily — "just to take a house for the season as we used to. It's much nicer to have our own place; don't you think so? So what do you think I've done? I've bought the lease of Lord Brandon's house in Knightsbridge— it stands in its own grounds, you know, and is really quite, a fine, old-fashioned mansion— and when the work-people have done with it, which won't be for a few weeks— somewhere about the beginning of May, I expect— we shall be able to settle down for the season, and you girls shall dance and entertain - and be entertained to your hearts'' content. What do you say to that, eh? Haven't you got a thoughtful old father?" The- two girls' clapped their hands delightedly. Why, there was nothing that they could have liked better. The London season was coming on in a month or so, and they had imagined that they would have to spend their time - quietly at Charlton. They embraced their father, and their enthusiasm made him all the more gratified with himself. There was a moment when; Lord Paignton went to the window to see if there were any signs of the carriage, and the girls took advantage of that moment to whisper to each other. "We shall be able to see Basil and Gregory after all." It was Marian who murmured the words. "Down here — oh, ithey might have passed out of our lives I altogether." | "Yes," returned her sister, with some- ! thing like a sigh, which passed unobjserved, "we shall be able to see — Basil." j (To be continued.)