The Cross of Knighthood. A novel

Chapter I. Anticipation

Maurice had been accosted by Harry Lockbridge, in whose manner there was a whimsical blending of the old cordiality, with a doubt whether this renewal of an interrupted intercourse would be as agreeable to his old protege as it was to himself. Maurice's greeting, however, effectually dispelled such misgivings, as he took the actor's arm and resumed his walk with recovered cheerfulness. " I was thinking of you a little while ago," said Lockbridge, " and wondering if we should ever meet again. The chance seemed remote to say the VOL II A least of it — you country gentlemen occasionally visit London in the winter, but your appearance here in June is an absolute phenomenon. I am delighted to see you, and it gives me more pleasure than I can easily express to find you unchanged but " " Mr Lockbridge," interrupted Maurice, who felt the explanation must shortly be made, and saw no good in deferring it, " you mu.st disassociate me from wealth in future.

I am far poorer than you, for I am not only without money, but I have no profession and no prospects." His companion was so astonished at these words, that he stopped abruptly in the street, and regarded Maurice with an expression of blank amazement. " You, at least," continued the younger man, " have no cause for surprise — you always told me I should come back again. I have left the house in the Isle of Wight of my own free will, and I wish, with all my heart, I had never gone there at all." Harry Lockbridge took Maurice's arm again, which, in his surprise, he had relinquished, and re sumed their walk in silence. At length he said, with unusual gravity — " I am afraid I can lay no claim to prophetic ANTICIPATION. 3 discernment, for I rather expressed what I wished than what I expected. This step of yours admits of no recall ?

" " None whatever." " Of course your return is very pleasant to me ; but am I to congratulate you in the course you have adopted, or to express sympathy at your exchange of wealth for poverty ? Poverty for the present that is to say, for with your genius it is mere nonsense to talk about your being poorer than I." " I think you may congratulate me," was the quiet reply. " The events of to-day have not been particularly pleasant ; but I learned the lesson of endurance at too early an age to shrink from it now." " Where are you staying ? " was the next inquiry. " I should be happy to tell you," returned Maurice, with a smile ; " but I really don't know — I only arrived in London this afternoon, and haven't decided yet on the house which shall enjoy my magnificent patronage. I have to consider expense now, nearly as much as on the day when you gave me half-a-crown in the pawnbroker's shop."

" Then come to my rooms," said the other promptly, " I should have hesitated a week ago before offering you such poor accommodation but you know them too well for me to apologise. I can at least give you supper and a bed ; and I found you wanderingwith so abstracted an air, that it seemed likely you would disdain all shelter, and pass the night in the streets." Maurice readily accepted the invitation, with a sense of pleasure at receiving a favour to which he had long been a stranger. " Let us go there at once then," said Lockbridge ; " for I think we shall soon have a shower. I am still at the old house, so we have not far to walk. By the way, I wonder how the West end came to be composed of stately dreariness and shabby gentility. My house is inconvenient enough to be a source of chronic torture to anyone who has the misfortune to live there ; but it is undoubtedly West in its situation, and my landlady has more than once expressed a decided opinion that this was sufficient reason for raising the rent.

You must have no end of things to tell me, and there have been plenty of changes since you went away ; but such matters can better be discussed over a cijrar, err ' than in these dismal streets." They entered the old room which was always associated in Maurice's mind with the fir,st moment he had stood there — a poor boy to whom it seemed like the vestibule of a palace. Nothing was ANTICIPATION. 5 changed, except that the general untidiness had rather increased; and the litter of books on the table had assumed more formidable proportions. He missed something, and looked round him with out any exact knowledge as to what it was. " My dog is dead," said Lockbridge, as though in answer to a spoken question, " and when I lost the poor brute, I fancied I had not a friend left in the world." " You wronged my faithfulness then."

" Yes, and I am ashamed I should ever have done so ; but let us talk of more cheerful themes. I did not think I was womanish enough to be so moved about anything; but my dog loved me, and when he died, the place looked so dreary and de serted, that I almost resolved to leave it." " I'm glad you did not do so. I am attached to this room, for it was here that I received my first encouragement." By this time Harry Lockbridge had wheeled the easy chair to the window, having cleared it by the simple device of taking all the music heaped upon it, and throwing it ruthlessly on the floor. This was so entirely in accordance with his old habits, that Maurice offered no expostulation, but taking the chair of honour, waited for his companion, who had drawn a seat close beside him, to open the conversation.

Before doing this he lit a cigar with great deliberation, and then, as if struck by sudden misgivings that his hospitality was defective, asked Maurice if he might offer him one, adding, apolo getically, that in the old clays he used not to smoke. "I have contracted that delightful habit now," was the rejoinder ; " but I will not trouble you for one of those cigars, excellent as they seem to be." As he spoke, Maurice drew from his pocket a small silver-mounted meerschaum pipe, which he filled from his tobacco pouch. The pipe had been a present from Edwin ; and though he well knew from whom the money had been obtained, his pride had not been strong enough to induce him to leave it with his other abandoned treasures. " That is grand," said Lockbridge, giving him a light, " by the formation of this habit you've can celled the only want I ever felt in your companionship."

They smoked for a few minutes in silence, when at length Lockbridge asked Maurice what he had been doing since they last met. " I have not been idle," was the reply ; " but a record of my uneventful days would not be particularly interesting. I have studied hard under a good tutor, and narrowed my ignorance a little : you know it was profound enough to stand a great deal ANTICIPATION. 7 of diminution without being exhausted — I have tried to outgrow some of my cockney notions — I have learnt to think of nature as a thing which exists apart from paint and canvas — I have gained a few athletic accomplishments, and such small rustic knowledge as it was in my power to acquire. Will that content you for a programme ? " " Have you done anything in the way of music ? " " I have been constant to my violin — I have learnt 'something of the organ ; and I have been daring enough to attempt composition."

" Your time must have been fully occupied, then. What have you written ? " " Oh ! my vagrant fancies have taken various forms. Schenkmann will tell you if you don't know already, that young authors are eaten up with conceit and presumption, and think no chamber in the great temple of art too sacred for them to enter. Isn't that something like his style ? " " It is exactly the kind of sentence with which he anathematises Santarelli and all his works ; but I'm very hopeful about these compositions; and you have not told me yet what they are." " Songs and sonatas for the most part ; but I have been bold enough to attempt one sustained work." " What is its nature ? " " It is a kind of operetta or cantata — I hardly know what is the correct description of it — some thing in the style of ' Acis and Galatea ' — I shall be glad to show it you to-morrow ; and to avail myself of your advice in correcting it.

It has plenty of faults, and needs pruning and re-modelling very much, if the greatest improvement of all would not be to take Schenkmann 's probable advice, and con sign the entire work to the flames." " It is time you were emancipated from your old master's tyrannical judgment, and taught to value yourself a little more highly. I met him a week before he left England, and when your name was alluded to, he said with the air of a man who is uttering praise which must appear extravagant, that you had renounced distinction when you ac cepted ignoble ease ; but that otherwise glory must have been yours, for your genius was greater even than his. Those were his exact words, and al though they only expressed a fact which was obvious to everyone else long ago, it was a great deal for him to admit."

" But what of yourself, Mr Lockbridge ? " in quired Maurice, after a little more had been said concerning his musical abilities. " You need hardly ask the question. I have lived much as of old — done very little good, and I ANTICIPATION. 9 hope not much harm. I have acted in second-rate style, played in third-rate, and sung in no style at all — translated, and adapted, and cobbled for the manager in the old way — have now and then ex perienced the luxury of having sufficient money, and have far oftener been confoundedly hard up. On the whole, I have managed to pay my debts and to rub along as usual. Finally, I am here to night enjoying this capital cigar, and the unex pected luxury of your companionship." " Making allowance for the fact that you never did yourself justice yet, that on the whole sounds satisfactory ; though, why you should always do good with the secrecy of a criminal, is beyond my comprehension.

I have known you too long to be deceived by this idiosyncrasy, however, and I discovered years ago that one of the reasons you so rarely have money to spend on yourself, is that you never can resist an appeal, or see trouble of any kind without trying to help it. There — you needn't protest." For the last remark had been received with great impatience. " You said you had plenty of changes to tell me about — what are they ? " " Well, Searle and his wife have moved as little in character or appearance as the rock of Gibraltar; but their daughter has married — a cause for public TIIE CROSS OF KNIGHTHOOD. 10 congratulation, for she won't make a bad wife ; but she was a very indifferent actress." " In my time," said Maurice, " she used to bestow her favours, with great impartiality, among half-a dozen admirers — has she decided at last in favour of anyone I know ?

" " No — the gallant young wooers may have hanged themselves by this time for aught I know to the con trary — she disappointed them all, and married an old man, who is rich, ugly, devoted, and jealous." In the same way Harry Lockbridge alluded to the other members of the company — the young actress, who used to tease Maurice in the old days, was still there ; but her elder companion, of the pensive demeanour, had quitted the stage, and gone no one seemed to know where. The jocular tragedian had entered into business with his brother ; and there were some alterations in the orchestra. " Is Langley, the old comedian, with you still ? " inquired Maurice, after laughing heartily at the graphic sketch of character and incident which had been given him ; but at the question Lockbridge's face changed, and he answered, sadly — " Langley is dead — he failed to present himself at the theatre one evening, and when I went to ascertain the cause, I found him lying, half- ANTICIPATION. 11 unconscious, on his bed, and his daughter sitting by his side, weeping in a wild way, and rendered quite distracted by grief.

Of course I brought him medical aid, with as little delay as possible ; but it was quite in vain. The doctor told me that the old man's heart had been organically affected for years ; but he had kept his secret so well, that none of us expected it, although, I remembered then, having noticed an occasional shortness of breath, together with an expression which seemed to intimate a struggle with pain. The end had come, and if his daughter had not lost her presence of mind, she could have done nothing to avert it. He left her two or three hundred pounds, which must have represented the careful savings of a long time, for he earned little enough." " Yet I always regarded him as the truest artist we had," said Maurice, thoughtfully ; " his drollery used to be irresistible, though no one who had seen him off the stage would have fancied he possessed the faintest sense of humour.

Have you lost sight of Norah, or is she in your permanent staff now ? " " That is the greatest change of all — Norah Langley is the star of the company. Searle would do anything for her ; and, unless I'm greatly mistaken, she will make her mark in the future." " She was a mere child when I went away," said THE CROSS OF KNIGHTHOOD. 12 Maurice, to whom this piece of news appeared absolutely incredible. " How long ago is that ? o err " Eighteen months." O " I thought it was more. Well, even that is long enough for a wonderful change to take place in a girl of that age. She has grown tall and womanly, and her face is pretty enough to make the most dyspeptic critic ' roar as 'twere any nightingale.' " " But even this is not change enough to justify your prophecy about her — I never thought she gave much promise of ability as an actress."

" No ; and her acting is very poor even now ; but don't you remember how it used to be rumoured that she could sing ? " " Yes, I heard so certainly ; but she never sang before me." " You were as fortunate as the rest of us — her father hoarded her voice, and had her taught in secret as though to learn to sing were like conspir ing to wreck the constitution. All that man's life was a secret ; and I have often fancied that if his story were known, it would be found to contain many singular and unlooked for passages ; but I was talking about Norah, she was not allowed to sing in public, lest her voice should be unduly strained ; and she was not permitted to favour any ANTICIPATION. 13 of her friends, because her father seemed in addition to his love of secrecy, to have a miserly pleasure in hiding this gift, and congratulating himself on possessing wealth of which men knew nothing."

"Do not think harshly of him for that," said Maurice. " I believe his principal motive was his strong love for her. I have watched him narrowly and observed in his bearing to his child the most tender and womanly devotion. Then Norah astonished you all by appearing without warning in the character of a musician ? " " Yes ; something like that. There has been a great deal of pains taken in her training, though her musical education is far from being complete. She will doubtless improve very much ; but at present, unless a song happens to take her fancy, or to be in accordance with her mood at the time, her rendering of it is not apt to be very artistic." " What is the charm of her singing, then ?" " The voice itself, which is clear, rich, and sweet, of considerable compass, and no common power.

It fills our little theatre without the least apparent effort on her part ; and yet her notes are as sweet and tender in their tone as if she were murmuring a lullaby. With the majority of people that is recommendation enough ; they can't be fatigued to think whether the vocal inflection is rightly TIIE CROSS OF KNIGHTHOOD. 14 illustrative of the theme ; but they are all sensible of the beauty and pathos of a voice like that." The conversation glided into other channels, and the}7 sat together talking until a late hour. It was agreed between them that Maurice should call at the theatre next day, and talk to Mr Searle about his future arrangements. " I think you can hardly do better than enter into a temporary agreement with him," said Lock bridge, after the discussion of various schemes, "that will keep you employed until the concert season, when something better may offer itself.

Moreover, if you want to get your operetta acted, Searle is the man to put it on the stage for you." " Do you think he would be at all disposed to do that ? " asked Maurice, to whom this idea had not occurred. " Of course he would if the piece is half so good as I expect to find it. You would naturally prefer to see it represented at one of the large theatres ; but you have not won your fame yet, and you must be generally talked about before those great men will condescend to look at you. It wouldn't be so very bad at Searle's theatre after all — we are more musical than we used to be — Norah would be your heroine of course, and a tenor has recently joined us — a fellow who calls himself Egbert ANTICIPATION. 15 Howard, and whose real name, I believe, is Jones. He is an empty headed prig, but he has a fine voice ; and with two good soloists, and you taking the first violin, the performance might pass off credit ably enough, even if the choruses were a trifle weak."

" I have not asked you if you had any engagement to-night," said Maurice, " for this is Thursday, and I have too many pleasant associations with that evening to forget that it is your custom to keep it free." " Ah ! we have had some agreeable practices, have we not ? But I wish you would get out of the idea of regarding the hours we have spent together as betrajdng any kindness on my part — you have conferred at least as much pleasure as you have received. Won't you give me a note or two to night ? You know my Bohemian habits — I shouldn't go to bed, in an ordinary way, for another hour ; and all the old pieces are here." " Certainly, if you wish it ; though possibly those of your neighbours who are enjoying their first sleep will not thank me for disturbing them." " People with such atrocious taste, if there are any, deserve no consideration," returned Harry Lock bridge, handing him the violin ; " I have not heard any really good music since I was present at a concert last winter, where the principal performer was your old teacher; and even then my enjoyment of his playing was lessened by my contempt for his unwarrantable conceit."

Maurice took the instrument with all the old tenderness, and Lockbridge having seated himself at the piano, they played together till Maurice almost fancied that his recent life had been indeed a dream, and that he was now simply renewing the wonted course of actual existence. Next clay he brought the compositions of which he had spoken, and the greater part of the morning was devoted to their performance. Lockbridge's praise was warm and enthusiastic — the pieces had undoubted merit ; but Maurice felt he was too kind a judge to be impartial, and was far from certain that these youthful efforts would receive such appreciative recognition from the world. But his friend laughed at these misgivings, and indulged in ,such glowing prophecies with regard to Maurice's future celebrity, that the young composer, after making many deductions from this excessive praise, could not help feeling encouraged.

In the afternoon they called at the theatre, and were cordially received — the manager's wife espe cially being demonstratively affectionate. The news that Maurice Gresham had returned was ANTICIPATION. 17 soon circulated throughout the theatrical com pany, awaking much satisfaction but little sur prise. For in that thriftless community it was regarded as an accepted fact that if any one be came possessed of money he was certain to spend it, lose it, or in some other way to be reduced to his former necessitous condition. Mr Searle greeted Maurice with the words — very welcome to his ear — " I believe you were born to come to my rescue in my worst emergencies. Here is my first violin refusing to renew our agreement unless I raise his salary. Now I'm not at all disposed to do it — partly, because he isn't worth the extra money, and partly because we have repeatedly quarrelled lately, and a surrender now would be the worst possible blow to my pride.

I have heard from Lockbridge of the change in your prospects ; and I propose that you should lead the orchestra as you used to do : we shall not dispute about terms — I will pay any thing reasonable to secure you." " You speak with your old kindness, Mr Searle," returned Maurice ; " but my plans are too unsettled for any definite agreement — I may go abroad, or — " " Yes, yes, I understand," interrupted the manager, " you are not a boy now ; and know your own value too well to fetter yourself with any long agreement ; but as to going abroad — that's nonsense, a man of VOL 11 B your abilities can make money as well in London as anywhere. Lockbridge tells me your style has lost nothing of its old power ; but there are no concerts worth going to just now ; and if you have need of ready money, I don't think you can do better than enter into a short agreement with me."

" I don't want to obscure any other man's pro spects," began Maurice; but again he was interrupted by the assurance that his predecessor constantly asserted that he could do better for himself else where, and it could not possibly be unfair to take him at his word. So an agreement for four months was entered into — Mr Searle declaringthat, as far as he was concerned, he heartily wished it were for four years ; and Maurice took his old place that evening, and led the music as of yore. He had not seen Norah Langley yet ; and when she first appeared upon the stage to sing, he was startled by the alteration and improvement in her. It was not merely that she was prettier and more attractive than she had ever been ; but he fancied he detected a quieter and more subdued tone in her demeanour. This might be due to her father's death, or it might, on the other hand, be owing to the natural development of womanhood in thought and character as well as in appearance.

Maurice was glad to observe this, and, with a young man's ANTICIPATION. 19 quick idealism, at once fancied that there must be latent depths in her character he had never sus pected. However slight the foundation on which this fancy rested, it was certainly not dispelled when she began to sing. Harry Lockbridge had not exaggerated the beauty of her voice ; and though Maurice was far too true an artist to be thoroughly satisfied with her rendering of the solo which had been entrusted to her, the song attached an interest to her in his eyes which she had never possessed before. From his infancy he had been deeply susceptible to all kinds of sweet sounds ; to the plash of water and the chant of birds ; the hum of inarticulate nature, and the sigh of a summer breeze ; and it may be doubted whether anything can rival the beauty of the human voice.

But when he congratulated her at the close of the evening, he fancied her bearing rather cold and distant, seeing how familiar their intercourse had once been. He wondered whether she remembered that girlish past, and the innocent kiss she had given him at their parting ; but he had graver subjects for thought, and soon forgot the pretty face and the sweet voice of Norah Langley. In two or three days he ventured to show Mr Searle his operetta, and waited in great suspense the decision at which the manager should arrive concerning it. He was not kept very long in un certainty, for about a week after his first sight of the manuscript, the manager called Maurice into his room, and said — " I've examined this work of yours very care fully, and I'm bound to say it has surprised me. There are faults in it of course ; and I myself could sugo-est a few alterations that I think would im prove it as a whole ; but the music is really fine, and some of the airs show great originality and beauty."

Maurice's face manifested his delight at this generous praise, and also betrayed how little he had expected it ; but the manager continued in less reassuring tones — " Still, I am far from sure it would be popular — for public judgment is not always so unerring as some people would have us believe. If you had gained your reputation, this work would probably sustain it ; but for a new author's production, some thing very striking and novel is needed — something which is so good or so bad, that it takes the city by storm." " Then you would advise me to give up all thought of producing it," said Maurice, evidently disappointed by the manager's last remarks. " On the contrary ; I only mention the general ANTICIPATION. 21 difficulty to prepare you for possible defeat — I am willing to produce the piece on my own stage if you wish it.

We could not give you very much scenic effect, or the advantage of having your ideas rendered by the best voices ; but I see the greater part of your work falls upon the tenor and the soprano. That is rather inartistic ; but it suits our requirements, for Norah Langley and Howard have voices which no composer need mind being the medium of his thoughts. Of course you would play yourself, and drill the others into the proper understanding of the instrumental work. As for money arrangements " " I did not think of that," said Maurice, " you will really be conferringa favour upon me by bringing my maiden effort at sustained composition out." " You'll never be a rich man, Gresham, unless you look more sharply after the chances of earning money." "I have had some little experience of wealth, Mr Searle, and I have come to the conclusion that it is quite possible to exist without it."

" Ah ! that's because you're young and strong — when our muscles get stiff, and our hearts grow old, we are glad enough of the means to bribe the world into tolerance of our crotchets ; and as most of our ideals are dead by that time, we find it convenient to solace ourselves with material enjoy ment. You think that heresy don't you ? " "I should be sorry to believe it the inevitable truth." "Well, be that as it may, we'll bring out your operetta, and hope it will do great things for you. Suppose we defer the question of payment until we see what kind of run it is likely to have. You know me well enough not to suspect me of taking any shabby advantage of you." Maurice readily accepted this proposal, and was about to leave the room when the manager asked him carelessly — " Have you any objection to your name being widely known ?

" " I thought you told me that was my only chance of success," returned Maurice, not understanding him. " I don't mean that — of course your celebrity is the first thing to be desired; but would you rather be counted great as Maurice Gresham or as Hubert Plantagenet ? I suggest a high sounding nom de guerre, because I already have a Howard among my company." Maurice was about to answer, indifferently, that he had no wish to assume any name but his own, ANTICIPATION. 23 when a sudden recollection struck him — he cared nothing for James Gadsmere, whom he never expected to meet again; but he remembered, proudly, that Edwin regarded his profession with light esteem — their name was not a common one ; and it would be better to avoid any compulsory association of himself with a brother who looked forward to the inheritance of a fortune.