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Luncheon at 94 Grosvenor Square was an exceedingly simple meal. FRONTISPIECE. See page 92.
Luncheon at 94 Grosvenor Square was an exceedingly simple meal. FRONTISPIECE. See page 92.
THE WICKED MARQUIS BY E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY WILL GREFÉ MCCLELLAND & STEWART PUBLISHERS TORONTO Copyright, 1919, BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY All rights reserved LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Luncheon at Grosvenor Square was an exceedingly simple meal . . . Frontispiece "Richard Vont was head-keeper at Mandeleys when I succeeded to the title and estates" "I expect we are all as bad, though," she went on rather gloomily, "even if we are not quite so blatant" "You're very har
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CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I
Reginald Philip Graham Thursford, Baron Travers, Marquis of Mandeleys, issued, one May morning, from the gloomy precincts of the Law Courts without haste, yet with certain evidences of a definite desire to leave the place behind him. He crossed first the pavement and then the street, piloted here and there by his somewhat obsequious companion, and turned along the Strand, westwards. Then, in that democratic thoroughfare, for the first time since the calamity had happened, his lips were unlocked
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CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II
Lady Letitia Thursford, the only unmarried daughter of the Marquis, stood in a corner of the spacious drawing-room at 94 Grosvenor Square, talking to her brother-in-law. Sir Robert, although he wanted his luncheon very badly and, owing to some mistake, had come a quarter of an hour too soon, retained his customary good nature. He always enjoyed talking to his favourite relation-in-law. "I say, Letty," he remarked, screwing his eyeglass into his eye and looking around, "you're getting pretty shab
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CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III
Sir Robert preferred to join his wife and sister-in-law in the drawing-room after luncheon. The Marquis, with a courteous word of invitation, led his remaining guest across the grey stone hall into the library beyond—a sparsely furnished and yet imposing looking apartment, with its great tiers of books and austere book cases. On his way, he drew attention carelessly to one or two paintings by old masters, and pointed out a remarkable statue presented by a famous Italian sculptor to his great-gra
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CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV
The Marquis devoted the remainder of that afternoon, as he did most others, to paying a call. Very soon indeed after David Thain's departure, he left the house, stepped into the motor-car which was waiting for him, and, with a little nod to the chauffeur which indicated his indulgence in a customary enterprise, drove off towards Battersea. Here he descended before a large block of flats overlooking the gardens, stepped into the lift and, without any direction to the porter, was let out upon the
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CHAPTER V
CHAPTER V
Messrs. Wadham, Son and Dickson were not habited in luxury. Theirs was one of those old-fashioned suites of offices in Lincoln's Inn, where the passages are of stone, the doors of painted deal, and a general air of bareness and discomfort prevails. The Marquis, who was a rare visitor, followed the directions of a hand painted upon the wall and found himself in what was termed, an enquiry office. A small boy tore himself away with apparent regret from the study of a pile of documents, and turned
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CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VI
Lady Margaret, who chanced to be the first arrival on the night of the dinner party in David Thain's honour, contemplated her sister admiringly. Letitia was wearing a gown of ivory satin, a form of attire which seemed always to bring with it almost startling reminiscences of her Italian ancestry. "So glad to find you alone, Letty," she remarked, as she sank into the most comfortable of the easy chairs. "There's something I've been wanting to ask you for weeks. Bob put it into my head again this
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CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VII
Marcia Hannaway called upon her publisher during the course of the following day. She found the ready entrée of a privileged client—with scarcely a moment's delay she was ushered into the presence of James Borden, the person who for some years now had occupied the second place in her thoughts and life. "Anything happened, Marcia?" he enquired, after their quiet but familiar greeting. "You look as though you were bringing Fate with you." She made herself comfortable in the easy-chair which he had
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CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER VIII
It was obvious that the Marquis was pleased with himself when he was shown into Marcia's little sitting room later on that same afternoon. He was wearing a grey tweed check suit, a grey bowler hat, and a bunch of hothouse violets in his buttonhole. His demeanour, as he drew off his white chamois leather gloves and handed them, with his coat and cane, to the little parlourmaid, was urbane, almost benevolent. "You look like the springtime," Marcia declared, rising to her feet, "and here have I bee
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CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER IX
David Thain, arrived at the end of his journey, seated himself on the second stile from the road, threw away his cigar and looked facts in the face. He who had run the gamut of the Wall Street fever, who in his earlier days had relied almost upon chance for a meal, who had stood the tests of huge successes as well as the anxieties of possible failures without visible emotion—in such a fashion, even, that his closest friends could scarcely tell whether he were winning or losing—found himself now,
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CHAPTER X
CHAPTER X
Mr. Wadham, Junior, a morning or so later, rang the bell at Number 94 Grosvenor Square and aired himself for a moment upon the broad doorstep, filled with a comfortable sense that this time, at least, in his prospective interview, he was destined to disturb the disconcerting equanimity of his distinguished client. He was duly admitted and ushered into the presence of the Marquis, who laid down the newspaper which he was reading, nodded affably to his visitor and pointed to a chair. "Your request
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CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XI
The Marquis was occupied for several minutes in exchanging greetings with passing acquaintances. As soon as they were alone again, he reverted to his companion's observation. "There was a matter, I think you said, Mr. Thain, which you wished to discuss with me." "I was going to ask you about Broomleys," David replied. The Marquis was puzzled. "Broomleys? Are you referring, by chance, to my house of that name?" "I guess so." "But, my dear Mr. Thain, you surprise me," the Marquis declared. "When d
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CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XII
The Duchess waved her sugar tongs imperiously, and David, who had hesitated upon the threshold of her drawing-room, made his way towards her. There were a dozen people sitting around, drinking tea and chatting in little groups. "Now don't look sulky, please," she begged, as she gave him her left hand. "This is not a tea party, and it is quite true that I did ask you to come and have a chat with me alone, but I couldn't keep these people away. They'll all go directly, and if they don't I shall tu
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CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIII
There was just one drop of alloy in the perfect contentment with which the Marquis contemplated his new prospects, and that was contained in a telephone message from Mr. Wadham, Junior, which he received upon the afternoon of David's call upon the Duchess. "I must apologise for troubling your lordship," Mr. Wadham began. "I know your objection to the telephone, but in this instance it was quite impossible to send a message." "I accept your apology and am listening," the Marquis declared gracious
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CHAPTER XIV
CHAPTER XIV
Marcia, more especially perhaps during these later days, felt her sense of humour gently excited every time she crossed the threshold of Trewly's Restaurant. The programme which followed was always the same. The Marquis rose from a cushioned seat in the small entrance lounge to greet her, very distinguished looking in his plain dinner clothes, his black stock, vainly imitated by the younger generation, his horn-rimmed eyeglass, his cambric-fronted shirt with the black pearls, which had been the
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CHAPTER XV
CHAPTER XV
The Duchess, a few mornings later, leaned back in her car and watched the perilous progress of her footman, dodging in and out of the traffic in the widest part of Piccadilly. He returned presently in safety, escorting the object of his quest. The Duchess pointed to the seat by her side. "Can I take you or drop you anywhere?" she asked. "Please don't look as though you had been taken into custody. I saw you in the distance, walking aimlessly along, and I really wanted to talk to you." David for
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CHAPTER XVI
CHAPTER XVI
Letitia and her escort pulled up their horses at the top of Rotten Row. Letitia was a little out of breath, but her colour was delightful, and the slight disarrangement of her tightly coiled brown hair most becoming. "It was dear of you, Charlie, to think of lending me a hack," she declared. "I haven't enjoyed a gallop so much for ages. When we get down to Mandeleys I am going to raid Bailey's stables. He always has some young horses." "Want schooling a bit before they're fit to ride," Grantham
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CHAPTER XVII
CHAPTER XVII
"I feel like the German lady," Marcia observed, as she stood before her little sideboard and mixed a whisky and soda, "who went on cutting bread and butter. The world falls to pieces before my eyes—and I press the handle of a syphon. There!" She carried the tumbler to Borden, who was seated by her fireside, and threw herself into an easy-chair opposite to him. "I know it's all wrong," she declared. "My instincts are so obstinate even about the simplest things. You see, I have even wheeled away h
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CHAPTER XVIII
CHAPTER XVIII
Marcia, who had dreamed all night of blue skies flecked with little fragments of white cloud, a soft west wind and sun-bathed meadows, descended the creaking stairs of the Inn at Fakenham, paused upon the broad landing to admire the great oak chests and the cupboards full of china, and then made her way to the coffee room. She found Borden standing at the window, looking down into the country street and talking with a stranger, whom he left, however, at her entrance. They took their places at th
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CHAPTER XIX
CHAPTER XIX
David proved himself such a very satisfactory incoming tenant that the Colonel insisted upon his staying to lunch and hastened off into the cellar to find a bottle of old Marsala, of which he proposed that they should partake with a dry biscuit before Mr. Merridrew's departure. Sylvia sank into a low chair with a little exclamation of despair. "Now daddy's done it!" she exclaimed. "Are you hungry, Mr. Thain?" "Not very—yet," David replied, glancing at his watch. "You see, it's only half-past ele
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CHAPTER XX
CHAPTER XX
Borden's car came to a standstill in the avenue, and Marcia looked across the strip of green turf towards the cottage with a queer little thrill of remembrance. "You are sure you won't mind waiting?" she asked, as she sprang down. "If there is any fatted calf about, I'll call you in." Borden showed her his pockets, bulging with newspapers. "I shall be perfectly content here," he said, "however long you may be. I shall back the car on to the turf and read." She nodded, turned away, lifted the lat
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CHAPTER XXI
CHAPTER XXI
David ate his three cutlets and, both as regards appetite and in other ways, was a great success at the little luncheon party. Afterwards, they finished the bottle of Marsala under a cedar tree, and whilst the Colonel indulged in reminiscences, Sylvia's eyes rested more than once upon the automobile drawn up before the door. It was quite an adventure in her rather humdrum life, and, after all, there was no reason why a fairy prince shouldn't be an American millionaire and come in a Rolls-Royce.
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CHAPTER XXII
CHAPTER XXII
A queer atmosphere of depression seemed about this time to have affected the two inhabitants of Number 94 Grosvenor Square. The Marquis had suddenly become aware of an aimlessness in life which not even his new financial hopes enabled him to combat. The night of his weekly dinner at Trewly's he spent in the entertainment of three ancient whist companions, and it was not until they had gone and he was left alone in the silent house that he realised how empty and profitless the evening had been. D
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CHAPTER XXIII
CHAPTER XXIII
Richard Vont, a few mornings later, leaned upon his spade and gazed over towards Mandeleys with set, fixed eyes. His clothes and hands were stained with clay, the sweat was pouring down his face, he was breathing heavily like a man who has been engaged in strenuous labour. But of his exhausted condition he seemed to take no count. There was something new at the Abbey, something which spoke to him intimately, which was crowding his somewhat turgid brain with the one great imagining of his life. F
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CHAPTER XXIV
CHAPTER XXIV
The Marquis, with an after-breakfast cigarette in his mouth, strolled out of his front door, a few mornings later, to find himself face to face with Richard Vont. He called Letitia, who was behind. "The worst has happened," he groaned. Letitia stood by her father's side and looked across the stone flags, across the avenue, with its central bed of gay-coloured flowers, the ring fence, the moat, the few yards of park, to where, just inside his little enclosed garden, Richard Vont was seated, direc
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CHAPTER XXV
CHAPTER XXV
The Marquis, as he sat at his study table after lunch, was not inclined to regard his first day at Mandeleys as a success. The only post of the day had been delivered, and the letter for which he was waiting with an anxiety greater than he even realised himself, was still absent. There was a letter, however, from Mr. Wadham, which afforded him some food for thought. It was a personal letter, written by the head of the firm, and he perused it for the second time with a frown upon his forehead. My
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CHAPTER XXVI
CHAPTER XXVI
David Thain, a few hours later, lounged in a basket chair in the one corner of his lawn from which he could catch, through the hedge of yew trees, a furtive glimpse of Mandeleys. By his side stood a small coffee equipage and an unopened box of cigars; in the distance was the vanishing figure of the quiet-mannered and very excellent butler with whom a famous registry office had endowed his household. It was an hour of supreme ease. An unusually warm day was succeeded by an evening from which only
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CHAPTER XXVII
CHAPTER XXVII
The Marquis, with several account books and Mr. Merridrew, who had ridden over from his office on a motor-bicycle, had settled down to a laborious evening. The former, for no particular reason, was enjoying a slight relapse into his customary optimism. "I am not without expectation," the Marquis commenced by explaining to his agent, "that at the end of the next two months I may find myself in possession of a large sum of money. Under those circumstances, it will not be a purposeless proceeding t
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CHAPTER XXVIII
CHAPTER XXVIII
The Marquis, if he had been a keen physiognomist, might perhaps have read all that he had come to London to know in Marcia's expression as he made his unexpected entrance into her sitting room on the following day. She was seated at her desk, with a great pile of red roses on one side of her, and a secretary, to whom she was dictating, on the other. She swung round in her chair and for a moment was speechless. She looked at her visitor incredulously, a little helplessly, with some traces of an e
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CHAPTER XXIX
CHAPTER XXIX
The Duchess walked with Letitia in the high-walled garden at Mandeleys, on the morning after her arrival. She appeared to be in a remarkably good temper. "I have not the least intention of boring myself, my dear Letitia," she said, in reply to some conventional remark of her niece's. "So long as I get plenty of fresh air during the day, good plain food, and my bridge between tea and dinner, I am always contented. Let me see," she went on, coming to a standstill and pointing with her stick to the
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CHAPTER XXX
CHAPTER XXX
The Marquis glanced at the note which was handed to him at luncheon time, frowned slightly and handed it across to Letitia. "What have you people been doing to Thain?" he asked a little irritably. "He doesn't want to come to dinner." The Duchess and Sylvia, who had just arrived on her projected visit, made no attempt to conceal their disappointment. Letitia picked, up the note and read it indifferently. "I am very sorry, aunt," she said. "I gave him all the notice I could." "There is perhaps som
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CHAPTER XXXI
CHAPTER XXXI
Gossett in the country was a very different person from Gossett in Grosvenor Square. An intimate at Mandeleys was not at all the same thing as a caller in town, and David found himself welcomed that evening with a grave but confidential smile. "The drawing-room here is closed for the present, sir," he observed, after he had superintended the bestowal of David's coat and hat upon an underling. "We are using the gallery on the left wing. If you will be so kind as to come this way." David was escor
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CHAPTER XXXII
CHAPTER XXXII
Grantham, who had been unusually silent throughout the service of dinner, slipped away from the room a few minutes before the other men. He found Letitia arranging a bridge table, and drew her a little on one side. "Letitia," he said, "I am annoyed." "My dear Charles," she replied, "was anything ever more obvious!" "You perhaps do not realise," he continued, "that you are the cause." She shrugged her shoulders. "Well?" "In the first place," he complained, "you are not wearing my ring." "I though
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CHAPTER XXXIII
CHAPTER XXXIII
Richard Vont, as though he had been sitting there listening for the raising of the latch, was on his feet before David could enter the sitting room. "The Lord's day has come," he muttered, dragging him in. "It's been a weary while, but it's come." David threw off his overcoat in silence, and the old man looked wonderingly at his clothes. "You've been taking your dinner up with them—at the house?" he asked. David nodded. "Yes," he assented. "Your note found me there. I came as soon as I could." "
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CHAPTER XXXIV
CHAPTER XXXIV
At a few minutes after nine, the following morning, the Marquis entered the room where breakfast was usually served. The Duchess, in travelling clothes and a hat, was lifting the covers from the silver dishes upon the sideboard, with a fork in her hand. She welcomed him a little shortly. "Good morning, Reginald!" "Good morning, Caroline," he replied. "Are you the only representative of the household?" She snorted. "Charlie Grantham went off in his little two-seater at eight o'clock this morning,
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CHAPTER XXXV
CHAPTER XXXV
Richard Vont was buried in the little churchyard behind Mandeleys, the churchyard in which was the family vault and which was consecrated entirely to tenants and dependents of the estate. The little congregation of soberly-clad villagers received more than one surprise during the course of the short and simple service. The Marquis himself, clad in sombre and unfamiliar garments, stood in his pew and followed the little procession to the graveside. The new tenant of Broomleys was there, and Marci
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CHAPTER XXXVI
CHAPTER XXXVI
During those few hours of strenuous, almost fierce work into which David threw himself after the funeral, he found in a collection of belated cablegrams which his secretary handed him an explanation of Letitia's half apology, an explanation, he told himself bitterly, of her altered demeanour towards him. The old proverb stood justified. Even this, the wildest of his speculations, had become miraculously successful. Pluto Oil shares, unsalable at a dollar a few weeks ago, now stood at eight. Oil
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