Miss Cayley's Adventures - Chapter 2

Miss Cayley’s Adventures (1899) by Grant Allen is a charming, unconventional tale of a young Victorian English woman's independence, wit and quiet rebellion.

When 21-year-old Lois Cayley finds herself requiring income, she sets off across Europe - navigating unfamiliar places and a series of surprising encounters, with intelligence, courage and charm. What begins as a practical necessity soon becomes something more: a journey of self-reliance and discovery.

At a time when women were expected to remain firmly within the bounds of home and propriety, Lois’s freedom to travel, think and act for herself was considered strikingly radical.

Light, fast-moving and quietly subversive, Miss Cayley’s Adventures offers both entertainment and a glimpse of a changing world - one in which a woman might begin to claim a life of her own...

Transcript

Hello there. Thank you so much for joining me for this continued reading of Miss Cayley's Adventures, The charming old novel from 1899 by English author Grant Allen. We are following along with the surprising adventures of a young, Intelligent, Educated, Independent woman called Lois Cayley who is leaving London and setting out on an adventure through Europe. This book was considered very radical at the time, Back in 1899, For a young woman to be heading out on her own through Europe and indeed the author, Grant Allen, Was considered very radical and progressive for his time. He actually died the same year that this was printed. The book was published in April 1899 and he died in October of the same year and he was only 51 years old. It's believed he probably died of tuberculosis. He was extremely prolific, However, In his relatively short life. He wrote about science and psychology and biology and many other topics beyond, So he produced a lot of writing during his time and this was one of his final pieces. So, Before we get further into the story here, Let's just take a moment to have a nice, Deep exhale, Letting go of the day, Letting go of whichever baggage we might be bringing along with us into this moment. For right now, There's nowhere else we have to go, Nothing else we have to be doing. So we can just relax, Get ourselves comfortable and enjoy the ongoing charming old tale of Miss Cayley's adventures. Chapter two, The adventure of the supercilious attaché. The Count must have been an adept in the gentle art of quick change disguise. For though we telegraphed four particulars of his appearance from Louvain, The next station, Nobody in the least resembling either him or his accomplice, The shabby looking man, Could be unearthed in the parish train when it drew up at Brussels, Its first stopping place. They must have transformed themselves, Meanwhile, Into two different persons. Indeed, From the outset, I had suspected his moustache was so very distinguished. When we reached Cologne, The cantankerous old lady overwhelmed me with the warmth of her thanks and praises. Nay, More, After breakfast next morning, Before we set out by slow train for Schlangenbad, She burst like a tornado into my room at the Cologne hotel with a cheque for 20 guineas drawn in my favour. That's for you, My dear, She said, Handing it to me and looking really quite gracious. I blanced at the piece of paper and felt my face glow crimson. Oh, Lady Georgina, I cried, You misunderstand. You forget that I am a lady. Nonsense, Child, Nonsense. Your courage and promptitude were worth ten times that sum, She explained, Positively slipping her arm round my neck. It was your courage I particularly admired, Lois, Because you faced the risk of my happening to look inside the outer case and finding you had abstracted the blessed box, In which case I might quite naturally have concluded you meant to steal it. I thought of that, I answered, But I decided to risk it. I felt it was worthwhile, For I was sure the man meant to take the case as soon as ever you gave him the opportunity. Then you deserve to be rewarded, She insisted, Pressing the check upon me. I put her hand back firmly. Lady Georgina, I said, It is very amiable of you. I think you do right in offering me the money, But I think I should do altogether wrong in accepting it. A lady is not honest from the hope of gain. She is not brave because she expects to be paid for her bravery. You were my employer, And I was bound to serve my employer's interests. I did so as well as I could, And there is the end of it. She looked absolutely disappointed. We all hate to crush a benevolent impulse. But she tore the check up into very small pieces. As you will, My dear, She said, With her hands on her hips. I see. You are poor Tom Cayley's daughter. He was always a bit quixotic, Though I believe she liked me all the better for my refusal. On the way from Cologne to Elteville, However, And on the drive up to Schlangenbad, I found her just as fussy and as worrying as ever. Let me see. How many of these horrid fennecs make an English penny? I never can remember. Oh, Those silly little nickel things are 10 fennecs each, Are they? Well, Eight would be a penny, I suppose. A mark's a shilling. Ridiculous of them to divide it into 10 pence instead of 12. One never really knows how much one's paying for anything. Why these continental people can't be content to use pounds, Shillings and pence all over alike, The same as we do? Passes my comprehension. They're glad enough to get English sovereigns when they can. Why, Then, Don't they use them as such? Instead of reckoning them each at 25 francs, And then trying to cheat you out of the proper exchange, Which is always 10 centimes more than the brokers give you. What? We use their beastly decimal system? Louis, I'm ashamed of you. An English girl? To turn and rend her native country like that? Francs and centimes indeed. Fancy proposing it at Peter Robinson's. No, I will not go by the boat, My dear. I hate the Rhine boats, Crowded with nasty, Selfish pigs of Germans. What I like is a first-class compartment all to myself and no horrid foreigners, Especially Germans. They're bursting with self-satisfaction, Have such an exaggerated belief in their land and their folk. And when they come to England, They do nothing but find fault with us. If people aren't satisfied with the countries they travel in, They'd better stop at home. That's my opinion. Nasty pigs of Germans. The very sight of them sickens me. Oh, I don't mind if they do understand me, Child. They all learn English nowadays. It helps them in trade. That's why they're driving us out of all the markets. But it must be good for them to learn once in a way what other people really think of them. Civilised people, I mean. Not Germans. They're a set of barbarians. We reached Schlangenbad alive, Though I sometimes doubted it, For my old lady did her boisterous best to rouse some peppery German officer into cutting our throats incontinently by the way. And when we got there, We took up our abode in the nicest hotel in the village. Lady Georgina had engaged the best front room on the first floor with a charming view across the pine-clad valley. But I must do her justice to say that she took the second best for me, And that she treated me in every way like the guest she delighted to honour. My refusal to accept her 20 guineas made her anxious to pay it back to me within the terms of our agreement. She described me to everybody as a young friend who was travelling with her, And never gave anyone the slightest hint of my being a paid companion. Our arrangement was that I was to have two guineas for the week, Besides my travelling expenses, Board and lodging. On our first morning at Schlangenbad, Lady Georgina sallied forth, Very much overdressed and in a youthful hat, To use the waters. They are valued chiefly for the complexion, I learned. I wondered then why Lady Georgina came there, For she hadn't any. But they are also recommended for nervous irritability, And as Lady Georgina had visited the place almost every summer for 15 years, It opened before one's mind an appalling vista of what her temper might have been if she had not gone to Schlangenbad. The hot springs are used in the form of a bath. You don't need them, My dear, Lady Georgina said to me with a good humoured smile, And I will own that I did not, For nature has gifted me with a tolerable cuticle. But I like when at Rome to do as Rome does, So I tried the baths once. I found them unpleasantly smooth and oily. I do not freckle, But if I did, I should prefer freckles. We walked much on the terrace, The inevitable dawdling promenade of all German watering places. It reeked of serene highness. We also drove out among the low wooded hills which bound the Rhine valley. The majority of the visitors I found were ladies, Court ladies, Most of them, All there for their complexions, But all anxious to assure me privately they had come for what they described as nervous debility. I divided them at once into two classes. Half of them never had and never would have a complexion at all. The other half had exceptionally smooth and beautiful skins, Of which they were obviously proud, And whose pink and white peach blossom they thought to preserve by assiduous bathing. It was vanity working on two opposite bases. There was a sprinkling of men, However, Who were really there for a sufficient reason, Wounds or serious complaints, While a few good old sticks, Porty and wisty, Were in attendance on invalid wives or sisters. From the beginning, I noticed that Lady Georgina went peering about all over the place, As if she were hunting for something she had lost with her long handled tortoiseshell glasses, Perpetually in evidence. The aristocratic outrage, I called them, And that she eyed all the men with peculiar attention. But I took no open notice of her little weakness. On our second day at the spa, I was sauntering with her down the Chief Street, A beastly little hole, My dear, Not a decent shop where one can buy a reel of thread or a yard of tape in the place, When I observed a tall and handsome young man on the opposite side of the road, Cast a hasty glance at us, And then sneak round the corner hurriedly. He was a loose-limbed, Languid-looking young man with large dreamy eyes and a peculiarly beautiful and gentle expression. But what I noted about him most was an odd, Superficial air of superciliousness. He seemed always to be looking down with scorn on that foolish jumble, The universe. He darted away so rapidly, However, That I hardly discovered all this just then. I piece it out from subsequent observations. Later in the day, We chanced to pass a cafe where three young exquisites sat sipping rye wines after the fashion of the country. One of them, With a gold-tipped cigarette held gracefully between two slender fingers, Was my languid-looking young aristocrat. He was blowing out smoke in a lazy blue string. The moment he saw me, However, He turned away, As if he desired to escape observation, And ducked down so as to hide his face behind his companions. I wondered why on earth he should want to avoid me. Could this be the Count? No. The young man with the halo of cigarette smoke stood three inches taller. Who, Then, At Schlangenbad, Could wish to avoid my notice? It was a singular mystery, For I was quite certain the supercilious young man was trying his best to prevent my seeing him. That evening, After dinner, The cantankerous old lady burst out suddenly. Well, I can't for the life of me imagine why Harold hasn't turned up here. The wretch knew I was coming, And I heard from our ambassador at Rome last week that he was going to be at Schlangenbad. Who is Harold? I asked. My nephew. Lady Georgina snapped back, Beating a devil's tattoo with her fan on the table. The only member of my family, Except myself, Who isn't a born idiot. Harold's not an idiot. He's an attache at Rome. I saw it at a glance. Then he is in Schlangenbad, I answered. I noticed him this morning. The old lady turned towards me sharply. She peered right through me, As if she were a Roentgen ray. I could see she was asking herself whether this was a conspiracy, And whether I had come there on purpose to meet Harold. But I flatter myself. I am tolerably mistress of my own countenance. I did not blench. How do you know? She asked quickly, With an acid intonation. If I had answered the truth, I should have said, I know he is here because I saw a good looking young man evidently trying to avoid you this morning. And if a young man has the misfortune to be born your nephew, And also to have expectations from you, It is easy to understand that he would prefer to keep out of your way as long as possible. But that would have been neither polite nor politic. Moreover, I reflected that I had no particular reason for wishing to do Mr. Harold a bad turn, And that it would be kinder to him as well as to her to conceal the reasons on which I based my instinctive inference. So I took up a strong strategic position. I have an intuition that I saw him in the village this morning, I said. Family likeness, Perhaps? I merely jumped at it as you spoke. A tall, Languid young man, Large poetical eyes, An artistic moustache, Just a trifle Oriental looking. That's Harold, The cantankerous old lady wrapped out sharply with clear conviction. A miserable boy. Why on earth hasn't he been round to see me? I reflected that I knew why. But I did not say so. Silence is golden. I also remarked mentally on that curious human blindness, Which had made me conclude at first that the supercilious young man was trying to avoid me. And I might have guessed it was far more likely he was trying to avoid my companion. I was a nobody. Lady Georgina Foley was a woman of European reputation. Perhaps he didn't know which hotel you were stopping at, I put in, Or even that you were here. I felt a sudden desire to shield poor Harold. Not know which hotel? Nonsense, Child, He knows. I come here on this precise date regularly, Every summer. And if he didn't know, Is it likely I should try any other inn when this is the only moderately decent house to stop at in Schlangenbad? And the morning coffee undrinkable at that, While the hash, Such hash. But that's the way in Germany. He's an ungrateful monster. If he comes now, I shall refuse to see him. Next morning, After breakfast, However, In spite of these threats, She hailed me forth with her on the Harold hunt. She had sent the concierge to inquire at all the hotels already, It seemed, And found her truant at none of them. Now, She ransacked the pensions. At last, She hunted him down in a house on the hill. I could see she was really hurt. Harold, You viper! What do you mean by trying to avoid me? My dear aunt, You here in Schlangenbad? Why, When did you arrive? And what a colour you've got, You're looking so well. That clever thrust saved him. He cast me an appealing glance. You will not betray me, It said. I answered mutely, Not for worlds, With a faltering pair of downcast eyelids. Oh, I'm well enough, Thank you, Lady Georgina replied, Somewhat mollified by his astute allusion to her personal appearance. He had hit her weak point dexterously. As well, That is, As one can expect to be nowadays, Hereditary gout, The sins of the fathers, Visited as usual. But why didn't you come to see me? How can I come to see you if you don't tell me where you are? Lady Georgina Forley, Europe, Was the only address I knew. It strikes me as insufficient. His gentle drawl was a capital foil to Lady Georgina's assiduous soprano. It seemed to disarm her. She turned to me with a benignant wave of her hand. Miss Cayley, She said, Introducing me. My nephew, Mr Harold Tillington. You've heard me talk of poor Tom Cayley, Harold. This is poor Tom Cayley's daughter. Indeed, The supercilious attache put in, Looking hard at me. Delighted to make Miss Cayley's acquaintance. Now, Harold, I can tell from your voice at once you haven't remembered one word about Captain Cayley. Harold stood on the defensive. My dear aunt, He observed, Expanding both palms, I have heard you talk of so very many people that even my diplomatic memory fails at times to recollect them all. But I do better. I dissemble. I will plead forgetfulness now of Captain Cayley, Since you force it on me. It is not likely I shall have to plead it of Captain Cayley's daughter. And he bowed towards me gallantly. The cantankerous old lady darted a lightning glance at him. It was a glance of quick suspicion. Then she turned her röntgen-rays upon my face once more. I fear I burned crimson. A friend, He asked, Or a fellow guest? A companion. It was the first nasty thing she had said of me. Ah, More than a friend, Then. A comrade, He turned the edge neatly. We walked out on the terrace and a little way up the zigzag path. The day was superb. I found Mr. Tillington, In spite of his studiously languid and supercilious air, A most agreeable companion. He knew Europe. He was full of talk of Rome and the Romans. He had epigrammatic wit, Curt, Keen and pointed. We sat down on a bench. He kept Lady Georgina and myself amused for an hour by his crisp sallies. Besides, He had been everywhere and seen everybody. Culture and agriculture seemed all one to him. When we rose to go in, Lady Georgina remarked with emphasis, Of course, Harold, You'll come and take up your diggings at our hotel. Of course, My dear aunt. How can you ask? Free quarters? Nothing would give me greater pleasure. She glanced at him keenly again. I saw she had expected him to fake up some lame excuse for not joining us, And I fancied she was annoyed at his prompt acquiescence, Which had done her out of the chance for a family disagreement. Oh, You'll come then, She said grudgingly. Certainly, Most respected aunt, I shall much prefer it. She let her piercing eye descend upon me once more. I was aware that I had been talking with frank ease of manner to Mr. Tillington, And that I had said several things which clearly amused him. Then I remembered all at once our relative positions. A companion, I felt, Should know her place. It is not her role to be smart and amusing. Perhaps, I said, Drawing back, Mr. Tillington would like to remain in his present quarters till the end of the week, While I am with you, Lady Georgina. After that, He could have my room. It might be more convenient. His eye caught mine quickly. Oh, You're only going to stop a week then, Miss Cayley, He put in, With an air of disappointment. Only a week, I nodded. My dear child, The cantankerous old lady broke out, What nonsense you do talk! Only going to stop a week! How can I exist without you? ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— marble so when we got back to our hotel after the baths that afternoon the concierge greeted us with well your noble nephew has arrived hi well-born countess he came with his boxes just now and has taken a room near the honorable ladyships lady georgina's face was a study of mingled emotions i don't know whether she looked more pleased or jealous later in the day i chanced on mr tillington sunning himself on a bench in the hotel garden he rose and came up to me as fast as his languid nature permitted oh miss cayley he said abruptly i do want to thank you so much for not betraying me i know you spotted me twice in the town yesterday and i also know you were good enough to say nothing to my revered aunt about it i had no reason for wishing to hurt lady georgina's feelings i answered with a permissible evasion his countenance fell i never thought of that he interposed with one hand on his moustache i i fancied you did it out of fellow feeling we all think of things mainly from our own point of view first i answered the differences that some of us think of them from other people's afterwards motives are mixed he smiled i didn't know my deeply venerated relative was coming here so soon he went on i thought she wasn't expected till next week my brother wrote me that she had quarreled with her french maid and to take her full 10 days to get another i meant to clear out before she arrived to tell you the truth i was going tomorrow and now you are stopping on he caught my eye again circumstances alter cases he murmured with meaning it is hardly polite to describe one as a circumstance i objected i meant he said quickly my aunt alone is one thing my aunt with a friend is quite another i see i answered there is safety in numbers he eyed me hard are you medieval evil or modern he asked modern i hope i replied then i looked at him again oxford he nodded and you half joking cambridge i said glad to catch him out what college merton yours gerton the odd rhyme amused him thenceforth we were friends two varsity men he said and indeed it does make a queer sort of link a freemasonry to which even women are now admitted at dinner and through the evening he talked a great deal to me lady georgina putting in from time to time a characteristic growl about the tabla dirt chicken a special breed my dear with eight drumsticks apiece or about the inadequate lighting of the heavy german salon she was worse than ever pungent as a rule that evening she was grumpy when we retired for the night to my great surprise she walked into my bedroom she seated herself on my bed i saw she had come to talk over harold he will be very rich my dear you know a great catch in time he will inherit all my brother's money lord kynastons bless the child no kynastons as poor as a church mouse with the tithes unpaid he has three sons of his own and not a blessed stiver to leave between them how could he poor dear idiot agricultural depression a splendid pauper he has only the estate that's in essex land going begging worth nothing a year encumbered up to his eyes and loaded with first rent charges jointures settlements money indeed poor kynaston it's my brother marmaduke's i mean lucky dog he went in for speculation began life as a guinea pig and rose with the rise of soap and cocoa he's worth his half million oh mr marmaduke ashhurst lady georgina nodded mommies are fool she said briefly but he knows which side of his bread is buttered and mr tillington is his nephew bless the child yes have you never read your british bible the peerage astonishing the ignorance of these girton girls they don't even know the leeches run at doncaster the family names ashhurst kynastons and earl i was lady georgina ashhurst before i took it into my head to marry and do for poor evelyn forley my younger brothers the honorable marmaduke ashhurst women get the best of it there it's about the only place where they do get the best of it an earl's daughter is lady betty his son's nothing more than the honorable tom so one scores off one's brothers my younger sister lady guinevere ashhurst married stanley tillington of the foreign office harold's their eldest son now child do you grasp it perfectly i answered you speak like debray has issue harold and harold will inherit all marmaduke's money what i'm always afraid of is that some fascinating adventurous will try to marry him out of hand a pretty face and over goes harold my business in life is to stand in the way and prevent it she looked me through and through again with her x-ray scrutiny i don't think mr tillington is quite the sort that falls a prey to adventurouses i answered boldly ah but there are faggots and faggots the old lady said wagging her head with profound meaning never mind though i'd like to see an adventurous marry of harold without my leave leave i'd lead her a life i'd turn her black hair gray for her i should think i assented you could do it lady georgina if you gave your attention seriously to it from that moment forth i was aware that my cantankerous old lady's malign eye was inexorably fixed upon me every time i went within speaking distance of mr tillington she watched him like a lynx she watched me like a dozen lynxes wherever we went lady georgina was sure to turn up in the neighborhood she was perfectly ubiquitous she seemed to possess a worldwide circulation i don't know whether it was this constant suggestion of hers that i was stalking her nephew which roused my latent human feeling of opposition but in the end i began to be aware that i rather liked the supercilious attache when otherwise he evidently liked me and he tried to meet me whenever he spoke to me indeed it was without the superciliousness which marked his manner towards others in point of fact it was with graceful deference he watched for me on the stairs in the garden by the terrace whenever he got a chance he sidled over and talked to me sometimes he stopped in to read me heine he also introduced me to select portions of gabrielle denuncio it is feminine to be touched by such obvious attention i confess before long i grew to like mr harold tillington the closer he followed me up the more did i perceive that lady georgina threw out acrid hints with increasing spleen about the ways of adventuresses they were hints of that acrimonious generalized kind too which one cannot answer back without seeming to admit that the cap has fitted it was atrocious how middle-class young women nowadays ran after young men of birth and fortune a girl would stoop to anything in order to catch five hundred thousand thousand guileless youths should be thrown among their natural equals it was a mistake to let them see too much of people of a lower rank who consider themselves good looking and the clever ones were the worst they pretended to go in for intellectual companionship i also noticed that though at first lady georgina had expressed the strongest disinclination to my leaving her after the time originally proposed she now began to take for granted that i would go at the end of my week as arranged in london and she even went on to some overt steps towards securing the help of the blameless gretchen we had arrived at schlangenbad on tuesday i was to start with the cantankerous old lady till the corresponding day of the following week on the sunday i wandered out on the wooded hillside behind the village and as i mounted the path i was dimly aware by a sort of instinct that harold tillington was following me he came up with me at last near a ledge of rock how fast you walk he exclaimed i gave you only a few minutes start and yet even my long legs have had hard work to overtake you i am a fairly good climber i answered sitting down on a little wooden bench you see at cambridge i went on the river a great deal i canoed and sculled and then besides i've done a lot of bicycling what a splendid birthright it is he cried to be a wholesome athletic english girl you can't think how one admires english girls after living a year or two in italy where women are dolls except for a brief period of intrigue before they settle down to be contented frumps with an outline like a barrel a little muscle and a little mind are no doubt advisable adjuncts for a housewife i admitted you shall not say that word he cried seating himself at my side it is a word for germans housewife our english ideal is something immeasurably higher and better a companion a compliment do you know miss cayley it always sickens me when i hear german students sentimentalizing over their their beautiful pure insipid yellow-haired blue-eyed nation her so fair so innocent so unapproachably vacuous so like a wax doll and then think of how they design her in days to come to cook sausages for their dinner and knit them endless stockings through a placid middle age till the needles drop from her paralyzed fingers and she retires into frilled caps and teutonic senility you seem to have almost as low an opinion of foreigners as your respected aunt i exclaimed looking quizzically at him he drew back surprised oh no i'm not narrow-minded like my aunt my hope he answered i am a good cosmopolitan i allow continental nations all their own good points and each has many but they're women miss cayley and their point of view of their women you will admit that there they can't hold a candle to english women i drew a circle in the dust with the tip of my parasol on that issue i may not be a wholly unprejudiced observer i answered the fact of my being myself an english woman may possibly to some extent influence my judgment you are sarcastic he cried drawing away not at all i answered making a wider circle i spoke a simple fact but what is your ideal then as opposed to the german one he gazed at me and hesitated his lips half parted my ideal he said after a pause well my ideal do you happen to have such a thing as a pocket mirror about you i laughed in spite of myself now mr tillington i said severely if you're going to pay compliments i shall have to return if you want to stop here with me you must remember that i am only lady georgina foley's temporary ladies maid besides i didn't mean that i meant what is your ideal of a man's right relation to his merchant don't say merchant he cried petulantly it sounds as if you thought me one of those sentimental germans i hate sentiment then towards the woman of his choice he glanced up through the trees at the light overhead and spoke more slowly than ever i think he said fumbling his watch chain nervously a man ought to wish the woman he loves to be a free agent his equal in point of action even as she is nobler and better than he in all spiritual matters i think he ought to desire for her a life as high as she is capable of leading with full scope for every faculty of her intellect or her emotional nature she should be beautiful with a vigorous wholesome many-sided beauty moral intellectual physical yet with soul in her too and with the soul and the mind lighting up her eyes as it lights up well that is immaterial and if a man can discover such a woman as that and can induce her to believe in him to love him to accept him though how such a woman can be satisfied with any man at all is to me unfathomable well then i think he should be happy in devoting his whole life to her and should give himself up to repay her condescension in taking him and you hate sentiment i put in smiling he brought his eyes back from the sky suddenly miss cayley he said this is cruel i was in earnest you are playing with me i believe the chief characteristic of the english girl is supposed to be common sense i answered calmly and i trust i possess it but indeed as he spoke my heart was beginning to make its beat felt for he was a charming young man he had a soft voice and lustrous eyes it was a summer's day and alone in the woods with one other person where the sunlight falls mellow in spots like a leopard's skin one is apt to remember that we are all human. That evening, Lady Georgina managed to blurt out more malicious things than ever about the ways of adventuresses and the duty of relations in saving young men from the clever clutches of designing creatures. She was ruthless in her rancour. Her jibes stung me. On Monday, At breakfast, I asked her casually if she had yet found a Gretchen. No, She answered in a gloomy voice. All slattons, My dear, All slattons, Brought up in pigsties. I wouldn't let one of them touch my hair for thousands. That's unfortunate, I said dryly, For you know I'm going tomorrow. If I had dropped a bomb in their midst, They couldn't have looked more astonished. Tomorrow? Lady Georgina gasped, Clutching my arm. You don't mean it, Child, You don't mean it, I asserted my ego. Certainly, I answered with my coolest air. I said I thought I could manage you for a week, And I have managed you. She almost burst into tears. But my child, My child, What shall I do without you? The unsophisticated Gretchen, I answered, Trying not to look concerned, For in my heart of hearts, In spite of her innuendos, I had really grown rather to like the cantankerous old lady. She rose hastily from the table and darted up to her own room. Lois, She said, As she rose, In a curious voice of mingled regret and suspicion, I will talk to you about this later. I could see she was not quite satisfied in her own mind, Whether Harold Tillington and I had not arranged this coup together. I put on my hat and strolled off into the garden, And then along the mossy hill path. In a minute more, Harold Tillington was beside me. He seated me, Half against my will, On a rustic bench. Look here, Miss Cayley, He said, With a very earnest face, Is this really true? Are you going tomorrow? My voice trembled a little. Yes, I answered, Biting my lip, I am going. I see several reasons why I should go, Mr. Tillington. But so soon? Yes, I think so. The sooner the better. My heart was racing now, And his eyes pleaded mutely. Then, Where are you going? I shrugged my shoulders and pouted my lips a little. I don't know, I replied. The world is all before me, Where to choose? I am an adventurous, I said it boldly, And I am in quest of adventures. I really have not yet given a thought to my next place of sojourn. But you will let me know when you have decided? It was time to speak out. No, Mr. Tillington, I said with decision. I will not let you know. One of my reasons for going is that I think I had better see no more of you. He flung himself on the bench at my side and folded his hands in a helpless attitude. But Miss Cayley, He cried, This is so short a notice. You give a fellow no chance. I hoped I might have seen more of you, Might have had some opportunity of of letting you realise how deeply I admired and respected you. Some opportunity of showing myself as I really am to you. Before he paused and looked hard at me, I did not know what to say. I really liked him so much. And when he spoke in that voice, I could not bear to seem cruel to him. Indeed, I was aware at the moment how much I had grown to care for him in those six short days. But I knew it was impossible. Don't say it, Mr. Tillington, I murmured, Turning my face away. The less said, The sooner mended. But I must, He cried, I must tell you now. If I am to have no chance afterwards, I wanted you to see more of me before I ventured to ask you if you could ever love me. If you could ever suffer me to go through life with you, To share my all with you. He seized my trembling hand. Lois, He cried in a pleading voice, I must ask you. I can't expect you to answer me now. But do say you will give me at least some other chance of seeing you. And then in time of pressing my suit upon you, Tears stood in my eyes. He was so earnest, So charming. But I remembered Lady Georgina and his prospective half-million. I moved his hand away, Gently. I cannot, I said, I cannot. Cannot. I am a penniless girl, An adventurous. Your family, Your uncle, Would never forgive you if you married me. I will not stand in your way. I. . . I like you very much, Though I have seen so little of you. But I feel it is impossible. And I am going tomorrow. Then I rose of a sudden and ran down the hill with all my might, Lest I should break my resolve, Never stopping once till I reached my own bedroom. An hour later, Lady Georgina burst in upon me in high dudgeon. Why, Lois, My child, She cried, What's this? What on earth does it mean? Harold tells me he has proposed to you. Proposed to you. And you've rejected him. I dried my eyes and tried to look steadily at her. Yes, Lady Georgina, I faltered. You need not be afraid. I have refused him. And I mean it. She looked at me all aghast. And you mean it? She repeated. You mean to refuse him? Then all I can say is, Lois Cayley, I call it pure cheek of you. What? I cried, Drawing back. Yes, Cheek, She answered volubly. Forty thousand a year and a good old family. Harold Tillington is my nephew. He's an Earl's grandson. He's an attache at Rome. And he's bound to be one of the richest commoners in England. Who are you, I'd like to know, Miss, That you dare to reject him? I stared at her, Amazed. But Lady Georgina, I cried. You said you wished to protect your nephew against bare-faced adventuresses who were setting their caps at him. She fixed her eyes on me, Half angry, Half tremulous. Of course, She answered with withering scorn. But then I thought you were trying to catch him. He tells me now you won't have him. And you won't tell him where you're going. I call it sheer insolence. Where do you hail from, Girl, That you should refuse my nephew? A man that any woman in England would be proud to marry. Forty thousand a year and an Earl's grandson. That's what comes, I suppose, Of going to Girton. I drew myself up. Lady Georgina, I said coldly, I cannot allow you to use such language to me. I promised to accompany you to Germany for a week, And I have kept my word. I like your nephew. I respect your nephew. He has behaved like a gentleman. But I will not marry him. Your own conduct showed me, In the plainest way, That you did not judge such a match desirable for him. And I have common sense enough to see that you were quite right. I am a lady by birth and education. I am an officer's daughter. But I am not what society calls a good match for Mr Tillington. He had better marry into a rich stockbroker's family. It was an unworthy taunt. The moment it escaped my lips, I regretted it. To my intense surprise, However, Lady Georgina flung herself on my bed and burst into tears. My dear! She sobbed out, Covering her face with her hands. I thought you would be sure to set your cap at Harold. And after I had seen you for 24 hours, I said to myself, That's just the sort of girl Harold ought to fall in love with. I felt sure he would fall in love with you. I brought you here on purpose. I saw you had all the qualities that would strike Harold's fancy. So I had made up my mind for a delightful regulation family quarrel. I was going to oppose you and Harold tooth and nail. I was going to threaten that Marmie would leave his money to Kynaston's eldest son. I was going to kick up a dickens of a row about it. Then, Of course, In the end, We should all have been reconciled. We should have kissed and made friends. For you're just the one girl in the world for Harold. Indeed, I never met anybody so capable and so intelligent. And now you spoil all my sport by going and refusing him. It's really most ill-timed of you. And Harold has sent me here. He's trembling with anxiety to see whether I can't induce you to think better of your decision. I made up my mind at once. No, Lady Georgina, I said in my gentlest voice, Positively stooping down and kissing her. I like Mr. Tillington very much. I dare not tell you how much I like him. He is a dear, Good, Kind fellow. But I cannot rest under the cruel imputation of being moved by his wealth and having tried to capture him. Even if you didn't think so, His family would. I am sorry to go, For in a way I like you. But it is best to adhere to our original plan. If I changed my mind, You might change yours again. Let us say no more. I will go tomorrow. But you will see Harold again? Not alone. Only at dinner. For I feared lest, If he spoke to me alone, He might over-persuade me. Then at least you will tell him where you are going. No, Lady Georgina, I do not know myself. And besides, It is best that this should now be final. She flung herself upon me. But my dear child, A lady can't go out into the world with only two pounds in pocket. You must let me lend you something. I unwound her clasping hands. No, Dear Lady Georgina, I said, Though I was loathe to say it. You are very sweet and good, But I must work out my life in my own way. I have started to work it out and I won't be turned aside just here on the threshold. And you won't stop with me? She cried, Opening her arms. You think me too cantankerous? I think you have a dear, Kind old heart, I said. Under the quaintest and crustiest outside such a heart ever wore, You're a truculent old darling. So, That's the plain truth of it. She kissed me. I kissed her in return with fervour, Though I am but a poor hand at kissing for a woman. So, Now this episode is concluded, I murmured. I don't know about the hat, She said. Drying her eyes. I have set my heart upon you now. And Harold has set his heart upon you. And considering that your own heart goes much the same way, I dare say, My dear, We shall find in the end some convenient road out of it. Nevertheless, Next morning I set out by myself in the coach from Schlangenbad. I went forth into the world to live my own life. Partly because it was just then so fashionable, But mainly because fate had denied me the chance of living anybody else's.