CHAPTER XXVIII.

DOLLY LONGESTAFFE GOES INTO THE CITY.

It has been told how the gambling at the Beargarden went on one

Sunday night. On the following Monday Sir Felix did not go to the

club. He had watched Miles Grendall at play, and was sure that on

more than one or two occasions the man had cheated. Sir Felix did not

quite know what in such circumstances it would be best for him to do.

Reprobate as he was himself, this work of villainy was new to him and

seemed to be very terrible. What steps ought he to take? He was quite

sure of his facts, and yet he feared that Nidderdale and Grasslough

and Longestaffe would not believe him. He would have told Montague,

but Montague had, he thought, hardly enough authority at the club to

be of any use to him. On the Tuesday again he did not go to the club.

He felt severely the loss of the excitement to which he had been

accustomed, but the thing was too important to him to be slurred

over. He did not dare to sit down and play with the man who had

cheated him without saying anything about it. On the Wednesday

afternoon life was becoming unbearable to him and he sauntered into

the building at about five in the afternoon. There, as a matter of

course, he found Dolly Longestaffe drinking sherry and bitters.

"Where the blessed angels have you been?" said Dolly. Dolly was at

that moment alert with the sense of a duty performed. He had just

called on his sister and written a sharp letter to his father, and

felt himself to be almost a man of business.

"I've had fish of my own to fry," said Felix, who had passed the last

two days in unendurable idleness. Then he referred again to the money

which Dolly owed him, not making any complaint, not indeed asking for

immediate payment, but explaining with an air of importance that if

a commercial arrangement could be made, it might, at this moment, be

very serviceable to him. "I'm particularly anxious to take up those

shares," said Felix.

"Of course you ought to have your money."

"I don't say that at all, old fellow. I know very well that you're

all right. You're not like that fellow, Miles Grendall."

"Well; no. Poor Miles has got nothing to bless himself with. I

suppose I could get it, and so I ought to pay."

"That's no excuse for Grendall," said Sir Felix, shaking his head.

"A chap can't pay if he hasn't got it, Carbury. A chap ought to pay

of course. I've had a letter from our lawyer within the last half

hour--here it is." And Dolly pulled a letter out of his pocket

which he had opened and read indeed within the last hour, but which

had been duly delivered at his lodgings early in the morning. "My

governor wants to sell Pickering, and Melmotte wants to buy the

place. My governor can't sell without me, and I've asked for half the

plunder. I know what's what. My interest in the property is greater

than his. It isn't much of a place, and they are talking of £50,000,

over and above the debt upon it. £25,000 would pay off what I owe on

my own property, and make me very square. From what this fellow says

I suppose they're going to give in to my terms."

"By George, that'll be a grand thing for you, Dolly."

"Oh yes. Of course I want it. But I don't like the place going. I'm

not much of a fellow, I know. I'm awfully lazy and can't get myself

to go in for things as I ought to do; but I've a sort of feeling that

I don't like the family property going to pieces. A fellow oughtn't

to let his family property go to pieces."

"You never lived at Pickering."

"No;--and I don't know that it is any good. It gives us 3 per cent.

on the money it's worth, while the governor is paying 6 per cent.,

and I'm paying 25, for the money we've borrowed. I know more about it

than you'd think. It ought to be sold, and now I suppose it will be

sold. Old Melmotte knows all about it, and if you like I'll go with

you to the city to-morrow and make it straight about what I owe you.

He'll advance me £1,000, and then you can get the shares. Are you

going to dine here?"

Sir Felix said that he would dine at the club, but declared, with

considerable mystery in his manner, that he could not stay and play

whist afterwards. He acceded willingly to Dolly's plan of visiting

Abchurch Lane on the following day, but had some difficulty in

inducing his friend to consent to fix on an hour early enough for

city purposes. Dolly suggested that they should meet at the club at

4 P.M. Sir Felix had named noon, and promised to call at Dolly's

lodgings. They split the difference at last and agreed to start

at two. They then dined together, Miles Grendall dining alone at

the next table to them. Dolly and Grendall spoke to each other

frequently, but in that conversation the young baronet would not

join. Nor did Grendall ever address himself to Sir Felix. "Is there

anything up between you and Miles?" said Dolly, when they had

adjourned to the smoking-room.

"I can't bear him."

"There never was any love between you two, I know. But you used to

speak, and you've played with him all through."

"Played with him! I should think I have. Though he did get such a

haul last Sunday he owes me more than you do now."

"Is that the reason you haven't played the last two nights?"

Sir Felix paused a moment. "No;--that is not the reason. I'll tell

you all about it in the cab to-morrow." Then he left the club,

declaring that he would go up to Grosvenor Square and see Marie

Melmotte. He did go up to the Square, and when he came to the house

he would not go in. What was the good? He could do nothing further

till he got old Melmotte's consent, and in no way could he so

probably do that as by showing that he had got money wherewith to buy

shares in the railway. What he did with himself during the remainder

of the evening the reader need not know, but on his return home at

some comparatively early hour, he found this note from Marie.

Wednesday Afternoon.

DEAREST FELIX,

Why don't we see you? Mamma would say nothing if you

came. Papa is never in the drawing-room. Miss Longestaffe

is here of course, and people always come in in the

evening. We are just going to dine out at the Duchess of

Stevenage's. Papa, and mamma and I. Mamma told me that

Lord Nidderdale is to be there, but you need not be a bit

afraid. I don't like Lord Nidderdale, and I will never

take any one but the man I love. You know who that is.

Miss Longestaffe is so angry because she can't go with

us. What do you think of her telling me that she did not

understand being left alone? We are to go afterwards to a

musical party at Lady Gamut's. Miss Longestaffe is going

with us, but she says that she hates music. She is such a

set-up thing! I wonder why papa has her here. We don't go

anywhere to-morrow evening, so pray come.

And why haven't you written me something and sent it to

Didon? She won't betray us. And if she did, what matters?

I mean to be true. If papa were to beat me into a mummy

I would stick to you. He told me once to take Lord

Nidderdale, and then he told me to refuse him. And now he

wants me to take him again. But I won't. I'll take no one

but my own darling.

Yours for ever and ever,

MARIE.

Now that the young lady had begun to have an interest of her own

in life, she was determined to make the most of it. All this was

delightful to her, but to Sir Felix it was simply "a bother." Sir

Felix was quite willing to marry the girl to-morrow,--on condition

of course that the money was properly arranged; but he was not

willing to go through much work in the way of love-making with Marie

Melmotte. In such business he preferred Ruby Ruggles as a companion.

On the following day Felix was with his friend at the appointed time,

and was only kept an hour waiting while Dolly ate his breakfast and

struggled into his coat and boots. On their way to the city Felix

told his dreadful story about Miles Grendall. "By George!" said

Dolly. "And you think you saw him do it!"

"It's not thinking at all. I'm sure I saw him do it three times. I

believe he always had an ace somewhere about him." Dolly sat quite

silent thinking of it. "What had I better do?" asked Sir Felix.

"By George;--I don't know."

"What should you do?"

"Nothing at all. I shouldn't believe my own eyes. Or if I did, should

take care not to look at him."

"You wouldn't go on playing with him?"

"Yes I should. It'd be such a bore breaking up."

"But Dolly,--if you think of it!"

"That's all very fine, my dear fellow, but I shouldn't think of it."

"And you won't give me your advice."

"Well;--no; I think I'd rather not. I wish you hadn't told me. Why

did you pick me out to tell me? Why didn't you tell Nidderdale?"

"He might have said, why didn't you tell Longestaffe?"

"No, he wouldn't. Nobody would suppose that anybody would pick me out

for this kind of thing. If I'd known that you were going to tell me

such a story as this I wouldn't have come with you."

"That's nonsense, Dolly."

"Very well. I can't bear these kind of things. I feel all in a

twitter already."

"You mean to go on playing just the same?"

"Of course I do. If he won anything very heavy I should begin to

think about it, I suppose. Oh; this is Abchurch Lane, is it? Now for

the man of money."

The man of money received them much more graciously than Sir Felix

had expected. Of course nothing was said about Marie and no further

allusion was made to the painful subject of the baronet's "property."

Both Dolly and Sir Felix were astonished by the quick way in which

the great financier understood their views and the readiness with

which he undertook to comply with them. No disagreeable questions

were asked as to the nature of the debt between the young men. Dolly

was called upon to sign a couple of documents, and Sir Felix to

sign one,--and then they were assured that the thing was done. Mr.

Adolphus Longestaffe had paid Sir Felix Carbury a thousand pounds,

and Sir Felix Carbury's commission had been accepted by Mr. Melmotte

for the purchase of railway stock to that amount. Sir Felix attempted

to say a word. He endeavoured to explain that his object in this

commercial transaction was to make money immediately by reselling

the shares,--and to go on continually making money by buying at a

low price and selling at a high price. He no doubt did believe that,

being a Director, if he could once raise the means of beginning this

game, he could go on with it for an unlimited period;--buy and sell,

buy and sell;--so that he would have an almost regular income. This,

as far as he could understand, was what Paul Montague was allowed

to do,--simply because he had become a Director with a little money.

Mr. Melmotte was cordiality itself, but he could not be got to go

into particulars. It was all right. "You will wish to sell again, of

course;--of course. I'll watch the market for you." When the young

men left the room all they knew, or thought that they knew, was, that

Dolly Longestaffe had authorised Melmotte to pay a thousand pounds on

his behalf to Sir Felix, and that Sir Felix had instructed the same

great man to buy shares with the amount. "But why didn't he give you

the scrip?" said Dolly on his way westwards.

"I suppose it's all right with him," said Sir Felix.

"Oh yes;--it's all right. Thousands of pounds to him are only like

half-crowns to us fellows. I should say it's all right. All the same,

he's the biggest rogue out, you know." Sir Felix already began to be

unhappy about his thousand pounds.