The Rat Trap.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18640, 18 December 1928, Page 15

The Rat Trap.

STAR ” NEW SERIAL.

By

WILLIAM LE QUEUX

Author of “ The House of Evil.” “ The Scarlet Sign,” “ The Black Ore,” etc.

CHAPTER SIX

On the night of his arrival in England, Aylmer dined with his friend Peyton at his father's house in Wimbledon. Peyton, sen., had an exceedingly flourishing business, and was a man of considerable wealth. If he had been possessed of a pushing temperament, or had married an ambitious woman, he might have forced his way into the select circles of London society. But both he and his wife came from good, sound commercial stock, and were content to abide by middle-class ideals. They did not care to expose themselves to the chance of being snubbed by their so-called social superiors, or to purchase a tepid toleration on account of their moneybags and lavish entertainments. “Some people like that sort of thing, are always straining every nerve to get out of their own sphere,” he would say when he discussed the subject with his friends. “But our inclinations don't lie that way. Claude will be a rich man some day, and I daresay, if we worked for it, he could marry the daughter of some impecunious peer and be patronised by her relations. That wouldn’t suit me, and I hope he will never have any hankerings in that direction. He’d find more happiness with some nice girl of his own class. And the same applies to the two girls.” He had brought up his children in these sturdy and independent principles. and, having inherited the sound common sense of their parents, they acquiesced very cheerfully in what some might have called his lack of ambition. 11 is eldest daughter, Laura, was married to a prosperous manufacturer in the Midlands. The younger, Kate, was engaged to a barrister some ten years her senior, who was fast securing a lucrative practice. Claude, the only son and the youngest of the trio, had at present no desire to settle down. There would be plenty of time for that, and when he did marry he might be reckoned upon to make a sensible choice. And Mr Peyton was perfectly happy in his mode of life, and his money gave him every comfort and luxury that he wanted. He was quite content to go to his office every day, to take his annual holiday abroad, to entertain his own particular business friends and be entertained by them in return. Certainly it was a very comfortable house, or rather mansion, that he lived in, and staffed by a capable set of servants. The old gentleman spent his money lavishly and was fond of good living, but not a year passed that he did not put by a considerable sum out of his big profits. With his sound commercial principles, he could no more have lived up to his income than he could have flown. According to his gospel, it was the duty of every man to work hard and save for his wife and children. It was" quite a family party, the host and hostess, the engaged daughter and her fiance the rising barrister, and the two young men. Mr Peyton liked Aylmer very much personally, but to his son he always expressed his profound regret that he led such an idle life, that he did not do something. “ I know he has plenty of money,” , he would say, “ but that ought to be an incentive to him to make more. My father left me a snug little sum, but I didn’t chuck the shop and go and live on the interest of it. I stuck to the business, and I shall stick to it as long as my mental and bodily faculties last. Better wear out than rust out, my dear boy.” In the main, the young man agreed with his father, although he was not quite such a wholehearted believer in the gospel of work as the old gentleman. Thanks to a superior education, he had developed more interests in life. The existence of Peyton senior was circumscribed by the area of his office; he cared nothing for art, literature or music, even a too long holiday bored him. Truth to tell, he had developed into something of a business machine. Claude had made up his mind that long before his father’s age he would enjoy a well-earned leisure, and amuse himself with distractions that did not appeal to the rigidly bourgeois mind, which has a tendency to hold self-cul-ture at arms’ length as being an unprofitable occupation. Aylmer was very fond of young Claude, but though he respected the parents exceedinglv for many things, he found them a bit stodgy. The old gentleman could talk only on two subjects, business and politics. On the latter he would discourse with considerable fervour, but as he was a violent Tory of the die-hard school, and more than a little intolerant of moderate opinion, it was difficult to listen to him with much satisfaction. Mrs Peyton was a splendid housekeeper, and ran the establishment like a machine, but in other respects she was quite a colourless person. Kate Peyton had inherited the strong common sense of her parents, but she had grafted on to it a few artistic instincts. She liked really good literature and she was a talented musician. It was to be feared that neither her father nor mother enjoyed to any extent the classical music she expounded to them. Mrs Peyton would secretly sigh for the good old waltzes of her girlhood, and her husband had no appreciation of any form of music, gav or severe. The dinner was a somewhat slow affair. In fact, had it not been for the brilliant efforts of the barrister, a talker by profession, it would have been quite dull. He managed, however, to sav enough for the whole party. Claude was a lively enough voung fellow on ordinary occasions, but when in the society of his parents, the stodginess of the atmosphere seemed to weigh him down. His sister was affected in the same way. She was quite an intelligent girl when she found herself in the society of congenial spirits, but she, too, felt the effect of the atmosphere created by these two well-meaning but very limited people. When they all got to the drawingroom. after a dinner that left nothing to t>e desired from the point of view of hospitality, the barrister, who was a great connoisseur of music, begged his fiancee to play to them. Knowing his tastes, she chose some loveh- things from Chopin, which gave great pleasure to three people in the room. Poor old Mr Peyton was observed to nod more than once during the performance and Aylmer felt pretty sure, by the strained expression on the hostess’s face, that good manners alone prevented her from following the bad example. After the music was over, they put in an hour m the billiard-room, a handsome apartment done up in the choicest st yJ e - They pi ay e d a game of pool, and here Mr Peyton senior showed to much greater advantage. He was far the best player of the lot, and potted the balls one after another with the most deadly precision. (To be continued.)