Graeme was just finishing a beautiful knot in his tie, when he heard hasty feet crossing the verandah to the open front door. There was some unknown quantity in them that gave him sudden start.
"Graeme!" sharp, hoarse,—a voice he did not recognise.
He ran hastily out of the east bedroom, which he was using as a dressing-room.
"Hello there!" as he sprang down the stairs, "Why—Pixley? What's wrong, man?"
For Charles Pixley was standing1 there, leaning in at the doorway2, looking as though he would fall headlong but for the supporting jamb. He had a brown envelope in his hand and a crumpled3 pink telegram. His face was white, and drawn4, and haggard. His very figure seemed to have shrunk in these few minutes. Never had Graeme seen so ghastly a change in a man in so short a time.
Before Pixley could speak Miss Penny came hurrying along the path with a face full of sympathetic anxiety.
"What is it?" she asked. "I saw Mr. Pixley pass, and his face frightened me. Oh, what is wrong?"
Pixley glanced at her out of his woeful eyes, and at Margaret, who had just come running down the stairs. He seemed to hesitate for a moment. Then he groaned5—
"You will have to know," and motioned them all into the dining-room and shut the door.
"This "—jerking out the telegram—"was waiting for me," and he handed it to Graeme, who smoothed it out and read, while Pixley dropped into a chair.
"Pixley. Bel-Air. Sark.
"Zizel, Amadou, Zebu, Zeta. Eno."
"Code," said Pixley briefly6. "Meanings underneath," and dropped his head into his hands.
"Zizel," read Graeme slowly—"There is bad news. Amadou—your father. Zebu—has bolted. Zeta—we fear the smash will be a bad one. Eno—?"
"My partner's initials—they certify7 the wire," said Pixley hoarsely8.
And they looked soberly at one another and very pitifully at the broken man before them.
"Don't take it too hard, Pixley," said Graeme quietly, laying a friendly hand on the other's shoulder. "It may not be as bad as this puts it. Codes are brutally9 bald things, you know"
The bowed head shook pitifully. He raised his white face and looked round at them with a shocked shrinking in his eyes.
"God forgive him!" he jerked. "And God forgive me, for I have doubted him at times! He was so—so—so demned good"—and Graeme's lips twitched10 in spite of himself, so closely was the expression in accord with his own feelings. But Pixley did not see the twitch11, for he was looking at Margaret and Hennie Penny, and he was saying with vehemence—
"Will you believe me that I knew absolutely nothing of this? He never discussed his affairs with me nor I mine with him, and we had no business together except on purely12 business lines. If he had to buy or sell he sent it my way, of course,—nothing more. You will believe me, Graeme—"
"Every word, my boy—"
"We all believe it, Mr. Pixley," said Hennie Penny warmly.
"And I know it, Charles," said Margaret.
"It is very good of you all," he groaned. "I must get back at once, Graeme. How soon is there a boat?"
"Five o'clock. You'll have to stop a night in Guernsey, which is a nuisance."
Charles Svendt shook his head in dumb misery13. It was crushing to be so far away—thirty hours at least, and he gnashing within to be on the spot and at work, learning the worst, seeing what could be done.
Then, with a preliminary knock on the door, Mrs. Carré came in with brilliant lobsters14 and crisp lettuces15 for lunch, and, hungry as they all were, their souls loathed16 the thought of eating.
"They are just out of the pot," beamed she, "and the lettuces were growing not five min'ts ago. Ech!"—at sight of Pixley—"is he ill?"
"Mr. Pixley has just had bad news from home, Mrs. Carré," said Graeme. "He will have to go by to-day's boat."
"Ach, but I am sorry! And him so happy yesterday and dancing the best in the room," and her pleasant face clouded sympathetically.
"Meg, I'll go up to your room for a minute and finish my hair," said Hennie Penny. "I ran out just as I was—"
"It was very kind of you," said Charles Svendt, and the general sympathy seemed to comfort him somewhat.
"No good feeling too bad about it, old man, till you know all the facts," said Graeme, when the girls had gone off upstairs.
"It hits me, Graeme. Not financially, as I said. But in every other way it hits me hard.—Have you reached the point of seeing that it may hit her too?"—and he nodded towards upstairs.
"I suppose there was a glimmering17 idea of the chance of that at the back of my head somewhere, but we won't trouble about it just now. How about your mother?"
Pixley shook his head dismally18 again. "It will be a terrible blow to her. He was a bit hard and cold at home, you know, but she looked up to him as immaculate. Yes, it will hit her very hard. As to money, of course, she will be all right. I have plenty. But the talk and the scandal—" and he groaned again at thought of it all.
"Send her over here for a time—or bring her yourself. We have heaps of room here. Miss Penny is coming to stop with us next week. Your mother was always fond of Margaret, I believe."
"She was—very fond of her.... That's a good thought of yours, Graeme. Are you sure Margaret—?"
"Of course she would. She and Miss Penny will just take care of her, and no word of the troubles will reach her. That's the thing to do, and maybe you'll find things not as bad as you expect when you get back."
But, from the look of him, Charles Svendt had small hope of matters being anything but what he feared.
When the girls came down they made an apology of a meal, for, in spite of their hunger, the stricken look of their friend took their appetites away.
The thought that there might still lurk19 in their minds a suspicion that he had had some knowledge of his father's position, when he came across to stop their marriage, still troubled him.
"I do hope you will all believe me when I say that I knew absolutely nothing of it all," he said, when they had finished an almost silent meal. "When I said I had doubted him at times, I simply meant that his everlasting20 and—and—well, very assertive21 philanthropies palled22 upon me. It was a little difficult at times to believe in the genuineness of it all, for we did not see very much of it at home, as you know,"—he looked at Margaret, who nodded. "In business matters he could be as hard as nails, and it was not easy to fit it all together."
"Not one of us believes anything of the kind of you, old man. Just get that right out of your head, once for all. We're only sorry for your sake that the trouble has come, and I'm sure we all hope it will turn out not so bad as you fear," said Graeme heartily23.
"What about your mother, Charles?" said Margaret. "I'm afraid she will feel this dreadfully. Hennie and I were talking about it upstairs, and we were wondering if you could get her to come and stop with us for a time—"
"You see!" said Graeme, with a smile at Pixley. And to Margaret—"I suggested exactly the same thing while you were up doing your hair."
"It's awfully24 good of you all," said Charles. "If you're quite sure—"
"We're quite sure. Send her to us at once as soon as you reach home, and Jock shall meet her in Guernsey."
"I think I'd perhaps better bring her across myself. I don't suppose there will be much I can do when I've heard the worst—if they've got to it yet. Things may be all tangled25 up, and it may take time. And for ten days or so, until folks have had time to forget, the name of Pixley won't be one to be proud of."
"Come if you can," said Graeme heartily. "You've seen nothing of Sark yet."
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1
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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3
crumpled
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| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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4
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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5
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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6
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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7
certify
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| vt.证明，证实；发证书(或执照)给 | |
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8
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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brutally
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| adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地 | |
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10
twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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11
twitch
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| v.急拉，抽动，痉挛，抽搐；n.扯，阵痛，痉挛 | |
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12
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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13
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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14
lobsters
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| 龙虾( lobster的名词复数 )； 龙虾肉 | |
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15
lettuces
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| n.莴苣，生菜（ lettuce的名词复数 ）；生菜叶 | |
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16
loathed
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| v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的过去式和过去分词 )；极不喜欢 | |
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17
glimmering
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| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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18
dismally
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| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
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lurk
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| n.潜伏，潜行；v.潜藏，潜伏，埋伏 | |
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20
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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21
assertive
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| adj.果断的，自信的，有冲劲的 | |
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22
palled
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| v.（因过多或过久而）生厌，感到乏味，厌烦( pall的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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24
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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25
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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