A KNIGHT OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY - Edward Payson Roe (best color ebook reader TXT) 📗

Way In which You Would Explain His Absurd,

Maudlin Words. A Pitiful Offer It Was, Which She, Like A Sensible Girl,

Declined without Thanks."

 

 

 

"What Course Do You Propose To Take Toward Haldane?"

 

 

 

"I Was On The Point Of Sending Him Home To His Mother, And Of Suggesting

That He Remain With Her Till He Becomes Something More Than A Fast,

Foolish Boy. As Yet I See No Reason For Acting Differently."

 

 

 

"On Just What Grounds Do You Propose To Discharge Him?"

 

 

 

"Has He Not Given Sufficient Cause This Evening In his Persecution Of

Laura And His Impudence To Me?"

 

 

 

"Thomas, You Forget That While Young Haldane Is Your Clerk, He Enjoys A

Social Position Quite Equal To That Which A Son Of Ours Would Possess,

Did We Have One. Though His Course Toward Laura Has Been Crude And

Boyish, I Have Yet To Learn That There Has Been Anything Dishonorable.

Laura Is To Us A Child; To Him She Seems A Very Pretty And Attractive

Girl, And His Sudden Passion For Her Is, Perhaps, One Of The Most

Natural Things In the World. Besides, An Affair Of This Kind Should Be

Managed quietly And Wisely, And Not With Answering Passion. You Are

Angry Now; You Will See That I Am Right In the Morning. At All Events,

The Name Of This Innocent Girl, My Sister'S Child, Must Not Be Bandied

About In the Gossip Of The Town. Among Young Men Haldane Passes For A

Young Man. Do You Wish To Have It The Town Talk That He Has Been

Discharged because He Ventured to Compliment Your Niece With The Offer

Of His Hand? That He Has Been Premature And Rash Is Chiefly The Fault Of

His Years And Temperament; But No Serious Trouble Need follow Unless We

Make It Ourselves. Laura Will Return Home In a Day Or Two, And If The

Young Fellow Is Dealt With Wisely And Kindly, This Episode May Do Much

Toward Making a Sensible Man Of Him. If You Abruptly Discharge Him,

People Will Imagine Tenfold More Than Has Occurred, And They May Surmise

Positive Evil."

 

 

 

"Well, Well, Have It Your Own Way," Said Her Husband Impatiently. "Of

Course, I Do Not Wish That Laura Should Become The Theme Of Scandal. But

As For This Young Firebrand Of A Haldane, There Must Be A Decided change

In Him. I Cannot Bother With Him Much Longer."

 

 

 

"I Think I Can Manage Him. At Any Rate, Please Make No Change That Can

Seem Connected with This Affair. If You Would Also Exercise A Little

Kindness And Forbearance, I Do Not Think You Would Ever Have Cause To

Regret It."

 

 

 

"My Office Is Not An Asylum For Incapables, Lovesick Swains, And Fast

Boys. It'S A Place Of Business, And If Young Haldane Can'T Realize This,

There Are Plenty Who Can."

 

 

 

"As A Favor To Me, I Will Ask You To Bear With Him As Long As Possible.

Can You Not Send Him To Your Factory Near New York On Some Errand? New

Scenes Will Divert His Thoughts, And Sudden And Acute Attacks, Like His,

Usually Do Not Last Very Long."

 

 

 

"Well, Well, I'Ll See."

 

 

 

Mrs. Arnot Returned to The Parlor, But Haldane Was No Longer There. She

Went To His Room, But, Though He Was Within, She Could Obtain No

Response To Her Knocking, Or To The Kind Tone In which She Spoke His

Name. She Sighed, But Thought That Perhaps He Would Be Calmer And More

Open To Reason On The Morrow, And, Therefore, Returned to Her Own

Apartment. Indeed, She Was Glad To Do So, For In her Ill And Suffering

Condition The Strain Had Already Been Too Great.

 

 

 

She Found Laura Tearful And Troubled, And Could Not Do Less Than Listen

To Her Story.

 

 

 

"Do You Think I Have Done Anything Wrong, Auntie?" Asked the Girl In

Deep Anxiety.

 

 

 

"No, Dear, I Think You Have Acted very Sensibly. I Wish I Could Have

Foreseen The Trouble Sooner, And Saved you Both From A Disagreeable

Experience."

 

 

 

"But Uncle Won'T Discharge Mr. Haldane On My Account, Will He?" She

Continued with Almost Equal Solicitude.

 

 

 

"Certainly Not. Egbert Has Not Done Anything That Should Cause His

Dismissal. I Think That The Only Result Will Be To Teach You Both That

These Are Matters Which Should Be Left To Future Years."

 

 

 

"I'M Glad They Are Distant, For I Had No Idea That Love Affairs Were So

Intensely Disagreeable."

 

 

 

Her Aunt Smiled, And After A Little Time The Young Girl Departed to Her

Rest Quite Comforted and Reassured.

 

 

 

The Next Morning Mrs. Arnot Was Too Ill To Appear At Breakfast, And Her

Niece Would Not Venture Down Alone. Haldane And His Employer Sat Down

Together In grim Silence, And, After A Cup Of Coffee Only, The Former

Abruptly Excused himself And Went To The Office.

 

 

 

As Might Have Been Expected, The Young Man Had Passed a Restless Night,

During Which All Sorts Of Rash, Wild Purposes Surged through His Mind.

At First He Meditated hiding His Grief And Humiliation In some "Far

Distant Clime"; But The Thought Occurred to Him After A Little Time That

This Would Be Spiting Himself More Than Any One Else. His Next Impulse

Was To Leave The House Of His "Insulting Employer" Forever; But As He

Was About To Depart, He Remembered that He Happened to Have Scarcely A

Dollar In his Pocket, And Therefore Concluded to Wait Till He Had Drawn

His Pay, Or Could Write To His Mother For Funds. Then, As His Anger

Subsided, A Sense Of Loss And Disappointment Overwhelmed him, And For A

Long Time He Sobbed like A Brokenhearted child. After This Natural

Expression Of Grief He Felt Better, And Became Able To Think

Connectedly. He Finally Resolved that He Would Become "Famous," And Rise

In "Gloomy Grandeur" Till He Towered far Above His Fellow Men. He Would

Pierce This Obdurate Maiden'S Heart With Poignant But Unavailing Regret

That She Had Missed the One Great Opportunity Of Her Life. He Gave But

Slight And Vague Consideration To The Methods By Which He Would Achieve

The Renown Which Would Overshadow Laura'S Life; But, Having Resolutely

Adopted the Purpose With A Few Tragic Gestures And Some Obscure

Fragmentary Utterances, He Felt Consoled and Was Able To Obtain A Little

Sleep.

 

 

 

The Routine Duties At The Office On The Following Day Did Not Promise

Very Much, But He Went Through Them In a Kind Of Grim, Vindictive

Manner, As If Resolving To Set His Foot On All Obstacles. He Would

"Suffer In silence And Give No Sign" Till The Hour Came When He Could

Flash Out Upon The World. But As The Day Declined, He Found The _Role_

Of "Gloomy Grandeur" Rather Heavy, And He Became Conscious Of The Fact

That He Had Scarcely Eaten Anything For Nearly Twenty-Four Hours.

Another Impulse Began To Make Itself Felt--That Of Fulfilling His

Threat And Torturing Miss Romeyn By Going To Ruin. With Alluring

Seductiveness The Thought Insinuated itself Into His Mind That One Of

The First Steps In the Tragedy Might Be A Game And Wine Supper, And His

Growing Hunger Made This Mode Of Revenge More Attractive Than Cold And

Austere Ambition.

 

 

 

But Laura'S Words Concerning "Disgusting Vices" Recurred to Him With All

And More Than Their First Stinging Plainness, And He Put The Impulse

Away With A Gesture And Tragic Expression Of Face That Struck A Sere And

Withered bookkeeper, Who Happened at That Moment To Look Up, As So Queer

That He Feared the Young Man Was Becoming Demented.

 

 

 

Haldane Concluded--And With Some Reason In view Of Laura'S Romantic

Nature--That Only A Career Of Gloomy Grandeur And High Renown Would

Impress The Maiden Whom Yesterday He Proposed to Make Happy Forever, But

To-Day To Blight With Regret Like A "Worm I' The Bud." He Already Had A

Vague Presentiment That Such A _Role_ Would Often Mortify His Tastes And

Inclinations Most Dismally; And Yet, What Had He Henceforth To Do With

Pleasure? But If, After He Had Practiced the Austerity Of An Anchorite,

She Should Forget Him, Marry Another, And Be Happy! The Thought Was

Excruciating. O, That Awful "Another"! He Is The Fiend That Drags

Disappointed lovers Down To The Lowest Depth Of Their Tortures. If Laura

Had Had A Previous Favorite, Haldane Would Have Been Most Happy To Have

Her Meet "Another" In himself; But Now This Vague But Surely Coming

Rival Of The Future Sent Alternately Cold Chills And Molten Fire Through

His Veins.

 

 

 

He Was Awakened from Such Painful Reveries By A Summons To His

Employer'S Private Office.

 

Chapter VII (Birds Of Prey)

Mr. Arnot In his Widely Extended business Owned several Factories, And

In The Vicinity Of One, Located at A Suburb Of New York, There Were No

Banking Facilities. It Was, Therefore, His Custom At Stated times To

Draw From His Bank At Hillaton Such Amounts In currency As Were Needed

To Pay Those In his Employ At The Place Indicated, And Send The Money

Thither By One Of His Clerks. Upon The Present Occasion, In compliance

With His Wife'S Request, He Decided to Send Haldane. He Had No

Hesitation In doing This, As The Errand Was One That Required nothing

More Than Honesty And A Little Prudence.

 

 

 

"Mr. Haldane," Said His Employer, In tones Somewhat Less Cold And Formal

Than Those Habitual With Him, "We Will Let Bygones Be Bygones. I Am

Inclined to Think That Hereafter You Will Be Disposed to Give Your

Thoughts More Fully To Business, As A Man Should Who Proposes To Amount

To Anything In the World. In these Envelopes Are One Thousand Dollars In

Currency. I Wish You To Place Them Securely In your Breast-Pockets, And

Take The Five-Thirty Train To New York, And From Thence Early To-Morrow

Go Out On The Long Island Road To A Little Station Called arnotville,

And Give These Packages To Mr. Black, The Agent In charge Of My Factory

There. Take His Receipt, And Report To Me To-Morrow Evening. With That

Amount Of Money Upon Your Person You Will Perceive The Necessity Of

Prudence And Care. Here Is A Check Paying Your Salary For The Past

Month. The Cashier Will Give You Currency For It. Report Your Expenses

On Your Return, And They Will Be Paid. As The Time Is Limited, Perhaps

You Can Get Some Lunch At Or Near The Depot."

 

 

 

"I Prefer To Do So," Said Haldane, Promptly, "And Will Try To Perform

The Business To Your Satisfaction."

 

 

 

Mr. Arnot Nodded a Cool Dismissal, And Haldane Started for A

Hotel-Restaurant Near The Depot With A Step Entirely Too Quick And

Elastic For One Who Must Walk Henceforth In the Shadow Of "Bitter

Memories And Dark Disappointment." The Exercise Brought Color To His

Cheek, And There Certainly Was A Sparkle In his Dark Eyes. It Could Not

Be Hope, For He Had Assured himself Again And Again That "Hope Was Dead

In His Heart." It Might Have Been Caused after His Long Fast By The

Anticipation Of A Lunch At The Depot And A _Petit Souper_ In the

City, And The Thought Of Washing Both Down With A Glass Of Wine, Or

Possibly With Several. The Relish And Complacency With Which His Mind

Dwelt On This Prospect Struck Haldane As Rather Incongruous In a Being

As Blighted as He Supposed himself To Be. With His Youth, Health, And

Unusually Good Digestion He Would Find No Little Difficulty In carrying

Out The "Gloomy Grandeur" Scheme, And He Began To Grow Conscious Of The

Fact.

 

 

 

Indeed, In response To A Law Of Nature, He Was Already Inclined to React

From His Unwonted depression Into Reckless Hilarity. Impulse And

Inclination Were His Controlling Forces, And He Was Accustomed to Give

Himself Up To Them Without Much Effort At Self-Restraint. And Yet He

Sought To Imagine Himself Consistent, So That He Could Maintain His

Self-Approval.

 

 

 

"I Will Hide My Despair With Laughter," He Muttered; "The World Cannot

Know That It Is Hollow, And But A Mask Against Its Vulgar Curiosity."

 

 

 

A Good Cold Lunch And A Cup Of Coffee--Which He Could Have Obtained at

Once At The Hotel Near The Depot--Would Not Answer For This Victim Of

Despair. Some Extra Delicacies, Which Required time For Preparation,

Were Ordered. In the Meantime He Went To The Bar For An "Appetizer," As

He