The Firm of Girdlestone Read online

  CHAPTER XXVI.

  BREAKING GROUND.

  In spite of John Girdlestone's temporary satisfaction and the stoicalface which he presented to the world, it is probable that in the wholeof London there was no more unhappy and heart-weary man. The long fightagainst impending misfortune had shattered his iron constitution andweakened him both in body and in mind. It was remarked upon 'Change howmuch he had aged of late, and moralists commented upon the vanity andinefficacy of the wealth which could not smooth the wrinkles from thegreat trader's haggard visage. He was surprised himself when he lookedin the glass at the change which had come over him. "Never mind," hewould say in his dogged heart a hundred times a day, "they can't beatme. Do what they will, they can't beat me." This was the one thoughtwhich sustained and consoled him. The preservation of his commercialcredit had become the aim and object of his life, to which there wasnothing that he was not prepared to sacrifice.

  His cunningly devised speculation in diamonds had failed, but thisfailure had been due to an accident which could neither have beenforeseen nor remedied. To carry out this scheme he had, as we haveseen, been obliged to borrow money, which had now to be repaid. This hehad managed to do, more or less completely, by the sale of the stoneswhich Ezra had brought home, supplemented by the recent profits of thefirm. There was still the original deficit to be faced, and JohnGirdlestone knew that though a settlement might be postponed from monthto month, still the day must come, and come soon, when his debts must bemet, or his inability to meet them become apparent to the whole world.Should Ezra be successful in his wooing and his ward's forty thousandpounds be thrown into the scale, the firm would shake itself clear fromthe load which oppressed it. Supposing, however, that Kate were torefuse his son. What was to occur then? The will was so worded thatthere appeared to be no other way of obtaining the money. A veryvulpine look would come over the old man's face as he brooded over thatproblem.

  The strangest of all the phenomena, however, presented by JohnGirdlestone at this period of his life was his own entire conviction ofthe righteousness of his actions. When every night and morning he sankupon his knees with his household and prayed for the success of thefirm's undertakings, no qualms of conscience ever troubled him as totheir intrinsic morality. On Sundays the grey head of the merchant inthe first pew was as constant an object as was the pew itself, yet inthat head no thought ever rose of the inconsistency of his religion andof his practice. For fifty years he had been persuading himself that hewas a righteous man, and the conviction was now so firmly impressed uponhis very soul that nothing could ever shake it. Ezra was wrong when heset this down as deliberate hypocrisy. Blind strength of will andself-conceit were at the bottom of his actions, but he would have beenastonished and indignant had he been accused of simulating piety or ofusing it as a tool. To him the firm of Girdlestone was the veryrepresentation of religion in the commercial world, and as such must beupheld by every conceivable means.

  To his son this state of mind was unintelligible, and he simply gave hisfather credit for being a consummate and accomplished hypocrite, whofound a mantle of piety a very convenient one under which to conceal hisreal character. He had himself inherited the old man's doggedpertinacity and commercial instincts, and was by nature unscrupulous andimpatient of any obstacle placed in his way. He was now keenly alive tothe fact that the existence of the firm depended upon the success of hissuit, and he knew also how lucrative a concern the African businesswould prove were it set upon its legs again. He had determined in casehe succeeded to put his father aside as a sleeping partner and to takethe reins of management entirely into his own hands. His practical mindhad already devised countless ways in which the profits might beincreased. The first step of all, then, was the gaining possession ofthe forty thousand pounds, and to that he devoted himself heart andsoul. When two such men work together for one end, it is seldom thatthey fail to achieve it.

  It would be a mistake to suppose that Ezra felt himself in any degree inlove at this time. He recognized his companion's sweetness andgentleness, but these were not qualities which appealed to hisadmiration. Kate's amiable, quiet ways seemed insipid to a man who wasused to female society of a very different order.

  "She has no go or snap about her," he would complain to his father."She's not like Polly Lucas at the Pavilion, or Minnie Walker."

  "God forbid!" ejaculated the merchant. "That sort of thing is badenough out of doors, but worst of all in your own house."

  "It makes courting a good deal easier," Ezra answered.

  "If a girl will answer up and give you an opening now and then, it makesall the difference."

  "You can't write poetry, can you?"

  "Not much," Ezra said with a grin.

  "That's a pity. I believe it goes a long way with women. You might getsome one to write some, and let her think it is yours. Or you couldlearn a little off and repeat it."

  "Yes, I might do that. I'm going to buy a collar for that beast of adog of hers. All the time that I was talking to her yesterday she wasso taken up with it that I don't believe she heard half that I said.My fingers itched to catch it up and chuck it through the window."

  "Don't forget yourself, my boy, don't forget yourself!" cried themerchant. "A single false step might ruin every thing."

  "Never fear," Ezra said confidently, and went off upon the dog-collarmission. While he was in the shop he bought a dog-whip as well, whichhe locked up in his drawers to use as the occasion served.

  During all this time Kate had been entirely unconscious of hercompanion's intentions and designs. She had been associated with Ezrafor so many years, and had met such undeviated want of courtesy fromhim, that the idea of his presenting himself as a suitor never came intoher head. She hailed his charge of demeanour, therefore, as being theresult of his larger experience of the world, and often wondered how itwas that he had profited so much by his short stay at the Cape. In thecheerless house it was pleasant to have at least one companion whoseemed to have kindly feelings towards her. She was only too glad,therefore, to encourage his advances, and to thank him with sweet smilesand eloquent eyes for what appeared to her to be his disinterestedkindness.

  After a while, however, Ezra's attentions became so marked that it wasimpossible for her to misunderstand them any longer. Not only did heneglect his usual work in order to hang round her from morning to night,but he paid her many clumsy compliments and gave other similarindications of the state of his affections. As soon as this astoundingfact had been fairly realized by the girl, she at once changed hermanner and became formal and distant. Ezra, nothing daunted, redoubledhis tender words and glances, and once would have kissed her hand hadshe not rapidly withdrawn it. On this Kate shut herself up in her room,and rarely came out save when the other was away in the City. She wasdetermined that there should be no possibility of any misunderstandingas to her feelings in the matter.

  John Girdlestone had been watching these little skirmishes closely andwith keen interest. When Kate took to immuring herself in her room hefelt that it was time for him to interfere.

  "You must go about a little more, and have more fresh air," he said toher one day, when they were alone after breakfast. "You will lose yourroses if you don't."

  "I am sure I don't care whether I lose them or not," answered his wardlistlessly.

  "You may not, but there are others who do," remarked the merchant."I believe it would break Ezra's heart."

  Kate flushed up at this sudden turn of the conversation. "I don't seewhat reason your son has to care about it," she said.

  "Care about it! Are you so blind that you don't see that he loves thevery ground you walk on. He has grown quite pale and ill these last fewdays because he has not seen you, and he imagines that he may haveoffended you."

  "For goodness' sake!" cried Kate earnestly, "persuade him to think ofsome one else. It will only be painful both to him and to me if hekeeps on this way. It cannot possibly lead to anything."


  "And why not? Why should--"

  "Oh, don't let us argue about it," she cried passionately. "The veryidea is horrible. It won't bear talking about."

  "But why, my dear, why? You are really too impulsive. Ezra has hisfaults, but what man has not? He has been a little wild in his youth,but he is settling down now into an excellent man of business. I assureyou that, young as he is, there are few names more respected on'Change. The way in which he managed the business of the firm in Africawas wonderful. He is already a rich man, and will be richer before hedies. I cannot see any cause for this deep-rooted objection of yours.As to looks he is, you must confess, as fine a young fellow as there isin London."

  "I wish you not to speak of it or think of it again," said Kate."My mind is entirely made up when I say that I shall never marry anyone--him least of all."

  "You will think better of it, I am sure," her guardian said, patting herchestnut hair kindly as he stood over her. "Since your poor fatherhanded you over to me I have guarded you and cared for you to the bestof my ability. Many a sleepless night I have spent thinking of yourfuture and endeavouring to plan it out so as to secure your happiness.I should not be likely to give you bad advice now, or urge you to take astep which would make you unhappy. Have you anything to complain of inmy treatment of you?"

  "You have been always very just," Kate said with a sob.

  "And this is how you repay me! You are going to break my son's heart,and through his mine. He is my only boy, and if anything went wrongwith him I tell you that it would bring my grey hairs in sorrow to thegrave. You have it in your power to do this, or, on the other hand, youmay make my old age a happy one by the knowledge that the lad is matedwith a good woman, and has attained the object on which his whole mindand heart are set."

  "Oh, I can't, I can't. Do let the matter drop."

  "Think it over," the old man said. "Look at it from every point ofview. Remember that the love of an honest man is not to be lightlyspurned. I am naturally anxious about it, for my future happiness, aswell as his, depends upon your decision."

  John Girdlestone was fairly satisfied with this interview. It seemed tohim that his ward was rather less decided in her refusal at the end ofit, and that his words had had some effect upon her, which mightpossibly increase with reflection.

  "Give her a little time now," was his advice to his son. "I think shewill come round, but she needs managing."

  "If I could get the money without taking her it would be better for me,"Ezra said with an oath.

  "And better for her too," remarked John Girdlestone grimly.