IX
DR. CHEYNEY’S old gig traveled up the hill just behind Mrs. Eaton’s carriage, and both turned into the gateway of Broad Acres.
That was the morning after Kitty Broughton’s ball. The doctor had not been there, having had a bad case on his hands in Eshcol, and he was full of excitement over a new review of the Cresset speech published in New York, in a great metropolitan daily. It seemed that Caleb Trench was going to be celebrated and old William Cheyney had championed him. He had the paper in his pocket and wanted to show it to Colonel Royall, but there was Mrs. Eaton, and when the doctor climbed down from his high seat she was already delivering her opinion to Diana and her father, and she did not suppress it on account of Dr. Cheyney.
“I can’t imagine what has come over you, Colonel Royall!� that lady was saying with great indignation; “you must be out of your senses to allow Diana to dance in public with a common shopkeeper, a—a kind of hoodlum, too!�
This was too much for Dr. Cheyney, who shook with silent laughter; and there was a twinkle in Colonel Royall’s eye.
“My dear Jinny,� he said pleasantly, “have youlived all these years without knowing that it’s Diana who bosses me?�
“I call it a shameful exhibition,� continued Mrs. Eaton hotly. “I never have believed in mixing the classes—never! And to see my own cousin, and a young girl at that, dancing with that—that fellow! As far as it looked to other people, too, she enjoyed it.�
“Did you, Diana?� queried Dr. Cheyney mildly, standing with his hands in his pockets, and a queer smile on his puckered old face.
“I did,� said Diana, very red.
“Whoopee!� exclaimed the doctor, and went off into convulsions of laughter.
Mrs. Eaton’s wrath passed all bounds. “At your age,� she said loftily to Diana, “I should have been ashamed to confess it.�
“I am,� said Diana.
“I’m truly glad of it!� cried Mrs. Eaton.
“Let’s get the stuffing out of it, Jinny,� suggested the colonel mildly.
“I don’t know what you mean,� said Mrs. Eaton stiffly. “I should call that an extremely vulgar expression. I’m very glad that Diana is ashamed, and I only hope it will never occur again. In my day, young ladies of social prominence were careful who they danced with. I’m sure I can’t see any reason for Diana dancing with Mr. Trench. Any one who reads that abominable speech of his at Cresset’s can see, at a glance, that he’s an anarchist.�
“Don’t you think that’s going some, Jinny?� argued the colonel mildly; “you might have said socialist, and still been rather strong.�
“I never could see any difference,� retorted the lady firmly, settling herself in the most comfortable wicker armchair. “An anarchist blows up everything, and a socialist advises you to blow up everything; the difference is altogether too fine for me!�
“Just the difference between cause and effect, eh, madam?� suggested the doctor delightedly, “and all ending in explosion.�
“Exactly,� said Mrs. Eaton, with an air of finality. “Diana, why in the world did you dance with him?�
“Because you and Jacob didn’t want me to,� Diana replied calmly.
Both the old men chuckled, and Mrs. Eaton reddened with anger. “You are very unnatural, Diana,� she said severely. “Jacob and I have your interests at heart. He didn’t consider the man a proper person for you to be acquainted with!�
Diana opened her lips to reply, but the colonel forestalled her, anticipating trouble. “He’s been my guest, Jinny,� he remarked placidly.
Mrs. Eaton teased her head. “You’d entertain Tom, Dick and Harry for charity’s sake, Cousin David,� she retorted; “the first time I saw him here he brought six cents in change to your daughter.�
“He’s honest, Mrs. Eaton,� said the doctor, twinkling; “he’s a Quaker.�
“I don’t know anything about Quakers,� she repliedstiffly, “I never met one!� and her tone signified that she did not want to.
“Well, they’re not anarchists, Jinny!� observed the colonel; “perhaps, you’ve heard of William Penn.�
“I’m not quite a fool, David,� she retorted in exasperation.
Dr. Cheyney was enjoying himself; he had taken the rocker by the steps and was swaying gently, his broad straw hat on his knee. He took the New York paper out of his pocket and unfolded it. “Perhaps you’d like to read a review of the Cresset speech, madam?� he said amiably; “they’ve got it here, and they speak of Trench as a young lawyer who has suddenly roused a State from apathy.�
“Thank you,� said Mrs. Eaton, with overwhelming politeness, “you are too kind. Probably Diana would like to read it.�
Diana was rosy with anger, and her eyes sparkled. “Cousin Jinny, I don’t like the man any better than you do!� she declared, “and I detest and loathe that Cresset speech; I’ve breakfasted on it, and dined on it, and supped on it, until—until I hate the name of it!�
“Diana,� said Dr. Cheyney, “you’ll need those pink capsules yet!�
“I can’t see what you all admire in that man!� protested Mrs. Eaton irritably; “he keeps a shop and he goes to vulgar political meetings; if that isn’t enough, what is?�
“Why, the truth is, Jinny, that he’s a real live man,� said the colonel, putting on his spectacles to read the New York version of the Cresset speech.
“I prefer a gentleman,� said Mrs. Eaton crushingly.
Dr. Cheyney twinkled. “Madam,� he said superbly, “so do I.�
Colonel Royall, meanwhile, was following the speech, line by line, with his finger. Half-way down the column, he lowered the paper. “After all, he was advocating the Australian ballot,� he remarked thoughtfully.
“He wants to go to the people for the election of senators,� said Dr. Cheyney; “he doesn’t believe in our legislatures when the great corporations are interested. Yes, I suppose he does like the Australian ballot.�
“I should think he would,� said Mrs. Eaton promptly; “I’ve always looked upon Australia as a penal settlement.�
Dr. Cheyney shook with silent laughter again. “Madam,� he said, “do you think him a possible ticket-of-leave man?�
“I am disposed to think anything of a man who can and does support Garnett Yarnall for governor,� she replied frigidly.
Dr. Cheyney’s face sobered suddenly, and Colonel Royall rustled the paper uneasily. After all, she had cause; a Yarnall had shot her husband. The two men felt it less keenly than Diana. She rose suddenly and offered her elderly relative her arm.
“Cousin Jinny, let’s go and see my new rose stocks,� she said mildly; “they’ve been set out in the south garden.�
Mrs. Eaton rose, propitiated, and accepted Diana’s arm, the two moving off together in apparent amity. Dr. Cheyney’s eyes followed them, and then came back to meet the peculiar sadness of Colonel Royall’s.
“Do you think she’s—she’s like—� The colonel’s voice trailed; he was looking after Diana.
“No,� said Dr. Cheyney sharply, “no, she’s like your mother.�
The wistful expression died in the other man’s eyes, and he forced a smile. “You think so? Perhaps she does. Mother was a good woman, God bless her memory,� he added reverently, “but a month ago�—he leaned forward, and the hands that gripped the arms of his chair trembled slightly—“a month ago I caught her looking at me; her eyes are hazel, and�—he avoided the doctor’s glance, and colored with the slow painfulness of an old man’s blush—“her eyes were just like her mother’s.�
Dr. Cheyney got up abruptly and laid his hand on his shoulder. “Wake up, David,� he said sharply, “wake up—you’re dreaming.�
“I haven’t breathed it to any one else, William,� Colonel Royall said, “not in eighteen years—but I’ve seen it all the time.�
His old friend eyed him grimly. “And it’s frightened you?�
The colonel drew a deep breath. “William,� hesaid, “do you know how a starving man would feel when he saw his last crust in danger?�
The old doctor paced the broad veranda; beside it a tree of heaven spread its graceful limbs, every branch still double tipped with the rosy leaves of its spring budding. Before him stretched the tender green of the south lawn, shaded by the grove of horse-chestnuts; beyond he caught a distant glimpse of the river.
“David,� he said uncompromisingly, “Diana has a noble heart, but—Jinny Eaton is a fool.�
“I know it,� said the colonel thoughtfully, “but she’s been a mother to the girl and she loves her.�
“She wants to marry her to Jacob,� snapped the doctor.
“I know it,� said the colonel.
“He’s not fit to tie her shoe,� retorted the doctor. “Jacob’s the slickest critter in the county, but I haven’t got any more use for him than Caleb Trench has—if he is your cousin.�
The colonel looked thoughtful. “He’s very clever, William,� he protested, “and he’s very much in love.�
“Fiddlesticks!� said the doctor.
Colonel Royall laughed a little in spite of himself. “You love Diana, too,� he remarked.
“I do,� said William Cheyney, “and I don’t believe Jacob will make her happy. But, Lord bless me, David, you and I won’t do the choosing—Miss Diwill! In my opinion it won’t be Jacob Eaton, either.� Then he added briskly: “This young lawyer of ours is right about Aylett; he’s a machine man and the machine is rotten. We want Yarnall; I wish you’d come to think so, too.�
Colonel Royall thought, putting the tips of his fingers together. “The truth is, the Eatons are too near to me,� he admitted quietly; “you know Jinny can’t forget that a Yarnall shot her husband, and I don’t know that I could ask it of her.�
“Her husband was guilty,� said the doctor flatly.
“I’m afraid he was,� admitted Colonel Royall, “though Mrs. Yarnall denied it; the jury justified Yarnall.�
“I can’t forgive one man for shooting another for an unworthy woman!� said the doctor fiercely, forgetting many things.
The slow red crept up to Colonel Royall’s hair. “I ought to have done it,� he said simply; “but—but I let him live to marry her.�
“Just so,� said William Cheyney; “solidly right, too; that’s purgatory enough for most of ’em,� he added, under his breath, as he took the long turn on the veranda.
Colonel Royall did not hear him; his head was bare, and the light breeze stirred his white hair; it had turned suddenly, twenty years before. “It would be against all precedent for any of the family to favor a Yarnall,� he remarked slowly.
“Jacob won’t,� said the doctor shortly, a drysmile crinkling the wrinkles around his kindly, shrewd old eyes.
“Nor would you, in Jacob’s place,� countered the colonel, tapping the floor with his stick.
A negro appeared promptly at the door.
“Two juleps, Kingdom,� he ordered.
Dr. Cheyney ceased his promenade and sat down. “This State’s got to be cleaned up, David,� he said maliciously; “we’ve got too much machine. I’m all for Trench.�
“I’m not sure I know what ails us,� objected the colonel humorously; “we’re either bewitched or hypnotized. In a fortnight we’ve set up Caleb Trench, and I reckon he’s more talked of than the volcano in the West Indies.�
“He will be later,� said the doctor; “there’s a man for you!�
“They say he began by getting hold of the backwoodsmen; they go down to his shop and discuss politics once a week; he organized them into a club and made them take a pledge to vote for Yarnall.�
“All rot,� said William Cheyney fiercely; “do you think the man’s a damned rogue? He’s talked straight politics to ’em, and he’s showed up some of the machine methods. By the way, David, he’s set his face against Jacob Eaton’s get-rich-quick games. I don’t believe in ’em myself; when that young bounder, Macdougall, came at me about them the other day in the bank, I told him I kept all my money tied up in a stocking. I reckon he thinks I do,�twinkled the doctor, “because I’ve nothing in their bank. David, I hope you’re not favoring Jacob’s schemes too heavily?�
Colonel Royall looked perplexed. Kingdom-Come had just brought out a tray with two tinkling glasses of iced mint julep, and he watched the white-headed negro set them out deftly on the little portable basket tea-table of Diana’s.
“How are you feeling, Kingdom?� Dr. Cheyney asked genially, eying the juleps.
“Right po’ly, Doctah,� Kingdom replied, showing his ivories, “but I manages ter keep my color.�
“Eh?� said the doctor, startled.
Kingdom-Come beamed. “But I’se got er mis’ry in my chest, an’ I reckon I’se got vertigo an’ congestion ob de brain; I hez dese er dizzy turns, suh.�
“Take some castor oil, Kingdom,� said the doctor, placidly stirring his julep, “and put a mustard plaster on your stomach.�
“Yass, suh, thank yo’,� said Kingdom, a little weakly. “I’se done took two doses ob oil this week, an’ I’se been rubbin’ myse’f wid some ob dis yer kittycurah.�
“Good Lord!� said Dr. Cheyney, “take a pint of whiskey and go to bed.�
“William,� said Colonel Royall, after Kingdom had gone, “I don’t see why you set your face so flatly against Jacob Eaton’s investments. Who has talked this up?�
“Caleb Trench,� said the doctor.
“Heavens!� ejaculated Colonel Royall, “is there no end?�
“To him?� Dr. Cheyney twinkled, “No, sir, not yet. He’s taken the packing out of Jacob; he says that more than half these countrymen vote with the Eaton faction because they’ve put all their money in the Eaton Investment Company, and I’ll be hanged, sir, if he doesn’t state it fairly.�
Colonel Royall got up and stood, a towering figure of a man, his blue eyes kindled. “William,� he said hoarsely, “that doesn’t sound honorable.�
“David,� retorted the old man uncompromisingly, “I tell the truth and shame the devil—I’ve got an eighty-mile circuit in this county, sir, and it’s true!�
“Then, sir,� said Colonel Royall, “this county’s rotten.�
William Cheyney leaned back in his chair and smiled quietly. “It’s the same way in the State; the Eaton Company’s offering bigger interest than any other company this side of the Mississippi; it hasn’t cut its rate, even in the panic, and it’s getting new investors every day—or it did till Caleb Trench got up at Cresset and cut the thing in two.�
“Caleb Trench?� repeated the colonel slowly. “William, that young man’s creating a sensation. I begin to doubt him; does he mean it, or is he bidding for notoriety?�
Dr. Cheyney smiled grimly. “David,� he said, “you ask Judge Hollis; he believes in him and so do I.�
“I don’t know why I shouldn’t believe in Jacob,� said the colonel stiffly; “he’s my own blood, and we might as well believe in one young man as another. What’s the difference between them?�
“Well,� replied the doctor slowly, “when I go into a grocery store and see one basket of eggs labelled ‘Box eggs, fresh, thirty-two cents,’ and the other basket, ‘Hen’s eggs, forty-five cents,’ I’m kind of naturally suspicious of the box eggs. Not that I want to bear too hard on Jacob.�