Margot

Prologue

A little girl sat on a garden-bench. Although she Avas sixteen, she was really a little girl, and looked a child. The expression of her eyes alone shoAved that she had reached girlhood, and left childhood behind her. All round about her stretched a garden Avhich had almost made up its mind to be an orchard, for it Avas thickly planted Avith apple and pear and cherry trees, and possessed feAV flowers but daffodils and narcissi in spring-time, and in summer great poppies, Avhich, self soAvn, spread here and there deep streaks of gorgeous colour. Only a narrow strip of garden-bed Avas SAveet Avith carefully-tended floAvers and herbs, everywhere else the weeds had their OAvn Avay as the floAvers had. A labyrinth of moss-groAvn paths ran hither and thither betAveen the fruit-trees, paths so narrow that big spiders by a feat of engineering threw delicate bridges from a branch on one side to a branch on the B MARGOT 2 other, and hung their webs in mid air to sit in and view the Avorld from.

On a deAvy morning Avhen every tiny thread glittered with quivering drops, such webs were things of beauty, but they Avere anything but a joy to a little girl who, walking " in the clouds " as grown-up people call it, Avas continually on the point of finding her head wrapped up in them. Her favourite hour for being in the clouds Avas the very early morning, before the house behind the garden had aAvoke and opened its green shutters. Every shadoAv at that hour Avas mysterious, and the very sun light Avhich lay in long level rays on the paths she Avalked in, had a strange almost unearthly radiance. High above, the SAvallows tAvittered shrilly, and doAvn below a little girl called Margot dreamed dreams and saw visions. She had her afternoon dreams also. To-day she was reading in a stout green volume with gold arabesques upon it, and a small froAvn of attention kept her eyebrows drawn together, for her knoAvledge of German had its limits, and the book was a volume of Heine's Werke.

" 1 The little girl dreAV a long breath and looked up. She Avas one at that moment Avith all the oppressed of the earth Avho Avatched the day of freedom sloAvly dawning, but Avould never groAV strong under its sun. She had nothing in her of the youthful saint and mystic, as the girl had Avho saw visions and dreamed dreams among the fruit-trees of a French orchard long ago. She was not even of the stuff Avhich makes a thorough-going enthusiast. She was merely a girl, half child, half woman, with a vivid imagination, a tender heart, a rarely keen sense of justice, and a rarely spontaneous pity for all suffering living things. They led her, these qualities, to make heroes of any worthy 1 '"It Avill be a beautiful day ! ' cried my travelling companion. " Yes, it will be a beautiful day, softly echoed my devout heart and throbbed with sorrow and joy.

Yes, it will be a beautiful day, the sun of Freedom will warm the earth more gloriously than all the stars of the aristocracy ; . . . . Oh, even as little will they guess how terrible Avas the night in whose darkness we were forced to live. . . . Oh, we poor warriors, forced to waste our lives in such a battle, pale and weary when the day of victory shines forth ! The glow of the sunrise will no more be able to redden our cheeks or warm our hearts. . . . " MARGOT ancient or modern Avhom she believed to have been on the side of the oppressed ; they led her to read for pleasure many books Avhich Avould have been mere lesson-books to most children ; they led her to indulge in such imas.inins.s as filled her brain at this moment. It Avas characteristic of her that the fancy Avas purely impersonal.

She saw as in a beautiful picture the daAvn of the day of deliverance, the " schoner Tag." She saAv a glorious Avoman's figure stand out against a clear pale sky, treading under -foot all manner of chains and manacles and a naked blood-stained sword. At its feet lay a rippling, shining sea, above its head day was slowly breaking. Suddenly a man's voice rang out across the garden — " Margot ! Margot ! Where are you ? " Tbe little girl sprang to her feet. The picture vanished, her eyes brightened at a Avholly different fancy. She ran toAvards the house as fast as her feet Avould carry her. The stout green book Avas left for gotten on the seat.

Chapter I

"And noAv that troublesome exam, is over," said Mr. Barnard, " I suppose by Avay of a change you are amusing yourself? What have you been doing lately ? " "I've been doing the theatres for one thing," rejoined his nepheAv cheerfully. Not that Bertie Barnard felt cheerful. It had been impressed upon him by his mother that it was his absolute duty to visit and " cheer up " his uncle, who was recovering by sIoav degrees from a bout of influenza. He had done his duty, but he Avas of opinion that an interview Avith almost any other invalid, even with the first sick man in the nearest hospital, Avould have been more successful than the one he was at present taking part in. Such a man would certainly be a complete stranger to him, but was a complete stranger as for midable as a comparative stranger Avho Avas at the same time a near relation ?

Was the fact that in his school days he had seen his uncle now and then, and had occasionally exchanged a feAV remarks with him, of the least assistance to him ? He thought not. He did not MARGOT 6 often feel shy, but even the scrutiny of Mr. Barnard's light grey eyes embarrassed him ; it was at once so fixed and so coldly indifferent. " There are a good many attractive plays on just now, I am told," said Mr. Barnard. " What haA'e you seen that you think good ? " " Oh, Little Christopher Columbus, that's ripping ! " said the boy, brightening up. "Miss May Yohe's awfully good in it — you've seen her, of course ? " " Never ; but I have heard of her. Do you know her personally ? " "No, but a felloAV I know does. She's an aAvfully nice girl." A pause ensued. Bertie Avas thinking. " I went to Faust last night.

You've seen that ? " " You mean Faust at the Lyceum. I saAv it Avhen it Avas first put on in '86. What did you think of it ? " " I thought it Avas A 1. Old Irving's splendid as Mephistopheles. You know that bit Avhen he wants to chaAv Faust up because he's thinking of marrying Marguerite ? He made cold shivers go down my spine, and my nerves are pretty tough." A faint glimmer of amusement Avas twinkling in the elder man's eyes. Just then a small clock struck the half-hour unobtrusively. Bertie hearing it glanced toAvards his hat. " I'm afraid I must be off noAv," he said. " Hope I haven't tired you." He stood up. " When do you go out for your next training ? " Mr. Barnard asked. MARGOT 7 " Not till the middle of May." " Rather inconsiderate to send you into the country just then, isn't it ?

" " Oh, I don't mind," said the boy, now genuinely cheerful, " I'd rather be out. It's a first-rate neighbour hood, and the people are awfully civil to us. Good bye, Uncle Bertram." Mr. Barnard did not ansAver. Suddenly, instead of his nepheAv's pink, healthy, boyish face and Avell-drilled figure, another face and figure had come before his mental vision, and a pang of anguish, at once bodily and spiritual, had gone through him. His face turned grey. " Great Scott ! You're feeling ill, aren't you ? " asked Bertie in some alarm. " It is nothing," Mr. Barnard answered steadily. "Just touch the bell tAvice as you go out and Matthews Avill come. Good-bye, my dear boy, and thank you for looking in." Young Barnard descending the stairs rapidly, met another man coming up, Avith Avhom he exchanged friendly greetings.

The new-comer Avas a man of about five-and-thirty, good-looking, Avith tired eyes, and a sprinkling of grey on his thick close-cut hair. " He's not up to much, I'm afraid," he said, in ansAver to Bertie's first remark. " Looks uncommonly seedy," said the boy deprecat ingly. " Hope I haven't made him Avorse, that's all ! Mother would have it he Avas Avell enough to see people. He looked aAvfully queer just now, and asked me to ring for Matthews." MARGOT The other man had no sooner received this last piece of information than he took a hasty leave of Bertie. " Not a bad sort, old Esdale," thought the latter, as he ran down-stairs. " If he does get a good slice ofthe old man's leavings he'll have earned it. Fancy being Uncle Simeon's secretary — my Avord ! " Mr. Esdale was met upon the landing by Mr. Barnard's elderly valet.

" Nothing amiss, MattheAvs, is there ? " he asked. " Not that I know of, sir ; I Avas to ask if you were in, and say that Mr. Barnard Avould like to see you." He opened a door, and Mr. Esdale passed quickly into the room Avithin. Mr. Barnard was sitting in a large arm-chair, wheeled close to a window looking out on the Square gardens. His head, which Avas propped against a cushion, was what people call " a fine leonine head," being large, broad, and thickly covered Avith grey hair. He had been a handsome man in his day, but had left that day farther behind him than he had any right to have done at two-and-fifty. At his best he had the look of a strong man who has habitually over strained his strength and is paying for it. Just noAV he looked almost old. "So you have come in," he said. "I am glad of it.

I want to talk to you." Mr. Esdale gave him a quick, scrutinizing glance, then said carelessly — " I ran against your nephew just now on the stairs. Did he stop long ? " " Not ten minutes," said the other, smiling faintly, " but quite long enough." MARGOT 9 "He's a nice boy," said Mr. Esdale. "He has no nonsense about him, or not much, and his simplicity is really refreshing." " I am quite of your opinion," the elder man answered, " and yet I would rather not see him. He is not in the least like Jim, I am aware, but there are moments when he rather reminds me of him." Mr. Barnard spoke with an indifference so marked as to be plainly artificial. He breathed rather quickly, and changed his position. " Sit down, Esdale," he said. " I have something to say to you." He paused a minute or two before saying it, letting his eyes rest on the budding trees in the Square gardens, and the decorous old-fashioned red-brick houses beyond them.

Esdale, who had sat down opposite him, looked absently in the same direction. He Avas Avondering with some impatience whether Mr. Barnard's com munication could not have kept till a more propitious time for making it. Nothing had been more expressly forbidden the convalescent than mental excitement of any kind. The first Avords spoken by the latter were an ansAver to his unspoken thought — " There is no particular reason Avhy I should say what I am going to say to-day, except that it is on my mind, and in my present imbecile condition anything that is on my mind must be got off it, or it will give me a sleepless night. I am going to be as brief as I can — you must excuse abruptness. You knoAv, for I have told you before now, that I was brought up to illustrate MARGOT the advantages of the sheltered life system carried to its extreme.

I was five-and-tAventy when my father died, and I had never but once been in a theatre. My father looked upon such places as temples of ungodliness. Three months later I had entered upon a liaison with an actress belonging to a company which Avas playing at the Colchester theatre. She Avas a married Avoman Avhose husband had ill-treated and practically deserted her. She did the ingenues, and Avas a tolerable actress. She was not much older than myself, and genuinely pretty. I was soon disillusioned. Don't mistake my meaning, the disillusionment was entirely to Mrs. Johnson's credit, and by no means to mine. I had hit, by some odd chance, on a woman Avho Avas by nature straight, and whose ideal Avas virtuous respectability. We were together most of that summer. When the autumn came, her health did not allow of her going back to the stage.

After the birth of her child, a girl, I made her an alloAvance, and she Avent abroad. The last time I saAv her, the child was three years old. I was then on the point of being married. She expressed a Avish never to see me again, Avhich I respected. She was living an irreproachable life, wrapped up in her child. She called herself Mrs. Lee — Lee being her maiden name — and passed as a AvidoAV. She Avas able to live comfortably in France on the four hundred a year I alloAved her, and she lived there till her death about six years ago." " And the girl ? " said Mr. Esdale, in the pause Avhich folloAved. Mr. Barnard frowned. MARGOT 11 " The girl acted in a Avay which annoyed me exces sively. On hearing of her mother's death, I wrote and told her that the income which had been her mother's Avould be hers for the future.

She Avrote back and refused to accept it ; said her mother had worked hard giving English lessons, and had saved enough to make her independent of my help. She had enough to live on, and Avas studying art in Paris with a vieAV to making it her profession. I Avrote back and said my say, but to no purpose. I then asked her to at any rate keep me informed of her whereabouts, and to apply to me if she Avas in any difficulty and wanted help. She was nine teen then, she must be fiveor six-and-tAventy now. Her name is Margaret — Margaret Lee. She still lives in Paris, and I have her address. You will be in Paris next month ; Avould you object to going to see her?" " Not in the least. But Avould she receive me ? " " Mrs. Ross Campbell, the artist, is a friend of yours, I believe ? " " Yes ; I knoAv her rather well."

" She could give you an introduction to Miss Lee. I asked Mrs. Campbell on the only occasion I have met her whether, in Paris — she Avas talking of having studied there — she had ever met a lady art-student named Lee, and she said she had worked Avith her at Julien's. Don't you think you could Avork it — I mean the introduction?" Beneath the careful composure of Mr. Barnard's manner an underlying anxious impatience Avas just perceptible. It had not escaped Esdale's notice. MARGOT " I can see no reason why I should not," he answered, " though I would rather sail under my true colours." " Look here," said Mr. Barnard, " I want you to get to knoAv this girl, to find out for me Avhat she is like, what kind of life she leads— Avhether she is Avhat people call a Bohemian, or Avhether she is possible and present able.

The chances are that if you Avere to speak of your connection Avith me your first visit would also be your last, and she would refuse the pleasure of your acquaintance. I fancy that until her mother Avas dying Margaret never knew of my existence, and that her feeling toAvards me was a very bitter one. I will be quite frank Avith you. I am now a childless man, except for an illegitimate daughter. I do not care about leaving the bulk of my fortune to Bertie and his sister, who will have plenty of their ovra Avithout it. I intend, of course, to provide for the girl in any case, but I want first to knoAv Avhat manner of woman she is. And it is impossible for me to go and see her, as I ought to have done long ago." "I quite understand," said Esdale quietly, "and it seems to me I can easily do Avhat you Avish."

What he felt Avas that he could not possibly refuse to do it. He Avas under heavy obligations to Mr. Barnard, who in the days Avhen he Avas a struggling journalist had made him his secretary, and since then had helped him by his influence, and treated him with unvarying kindness. After the death of Mr. Barnard's only son, he was the only human being besides MattheAvs whom Mr. Barnard Avould alloAv to come near him. He had accompanied him on a long tour abroad, and the enforced MARGOT 13 intimacy of many months had drawn them still closer together. Added to all this, there Avas yet another reason Avhy he could refuse no request whicii his friend and employer made him. The latter Avas in a state of health Avhich rendered it, so said the doctors, improb able that he Avould outlive the year. Mr. Barnard leant back Avearily, and the hands Avhich he had been moving restlessly for the last feAV minutes, closed on the arms of his chair.

" That's all right," he said. " You will be doing me a great kindness. Thank you." Esdale smiled a little ruefully. He was suddenly struck by the humorous side of the quest that had been laid upon him. To a shy man, the prospect of having to scrape acquaintance Avith a young woman of Avhom he kneAv absolutely nothing, and report authoritatively on her peculiarities, tastes, and conduct, would have seemed formidable in the extreme. Fortunately Esdale was not a shy man.

Chapter II

With one Paris, the Paris of the Rue de Rivoli, the Boulevards, the Bois and Longchamps, the Paris of the theatres and the cas is chantants, the Moulin Rouge and the Jardin de Paris, Mr. Esdale Avas fairly Avell acquainted. He had also paid one or tAvo brief visits to the slums. But he knew little or nothing of bourgeois Paris, Avith its narroAv streets, sometimes populous, sometimes so quiet that but for an occasional fiacre rattling through them they might belong to some sleepy provincial toAvn. Thus on the afternoon, ten days after his arrival in Paris, Avhen the fancy took him to present his letter of introduction, and make the acquaintance of the young lady whom he had undertaken to know, he saAV before him what Avas in all respects a voyage of discovery. He might have postponed it till later, since Mr. Barnard had expressly enjoined on him to make his own pleasure at first his exclusive consideration, but his afternoon being disengaged, he chose to employ it in this way.

He passed the Gare St. Lazare, and Avalked up the steep Rue de Rome. Beyond the Place de l'Europe 1 MARGOT 15 he was in an unknown country, but he knew that the object of his search lived in the Rue de Parme, one of the many small streets called after European cities, and he had the Englishman's usual dislike to asking for directions. Consequently he Avasted some time, and the Rue de Parme when found, did not contain the number he Avas looking for. It became evident that the street was in two divisions, separated by a little Place on Avhich several streets converged, and he as a matter of course had hit upon the wrong one. Mr. Esdale was not a patient or placid person, and he began to lose his temper. The pavements, narroAV to begin Avith, Avere encroached upon by lady shop keepers Avho sat outside their doorsteps, by the empty chairs and tables outside the many small cafe's, and by shrill-voiced, close-cropped children in black alpaca pinafores, Avho thought nothing of obstructing the Avay.

He attracted some slight attention, a gentleman dressed as if for the Bois being an unusual apparition in the quarter at that hour of the day. The Aveather had been shoAvery, but noAv the sun blazed out, putting the finishing touch to his annoyance by the suggestion that he would Avaste a lovely evening. He crossed the Place, however, and pursued the Rue de Parme, a street much quieter and rather more aristocratic than its neighbours, though the ground - floors of its tall straight-fronted houses were mostly occupied by shops. Between these shops Avide portes cochtrcs offered glimpses of the paved courtyards Avithin. Esdale turned in under one of these arcliAvays, believing that his diffi culties were at an end. On his left Avas the concierges MARGOT 16 empty loge ; a broad staircase ascended on the right.

Esdale Avent up it Avithout hesitation, but meeting a bareheaded Avoman coming down it, took the precaution of pausing to ask her on which floor Mme. de Bourjoli resided. " Mme. de Bourjoli does not live here," the woman ansAvered. "Monsieur must cross the court; I will sIioav him." "And after all this," Esdale thought as he meekly folloAved her, " the Avretched girl will probably be out ! " His guide, who happened to be the concierge's wife, pointed out to him an open door in the farther corner of the coitrt. FolloAving her directions he Avalked through it into the house, and found himself opposite a closed door at which he rang. The bell Avas ansAvered by a servant who invited him in, and promptly threAV open a third door through which came a sudden out burst of voices. " A gentleman," she said, " Avho wishes to see madame."

And AvithdreAV, leaving Esdale on the threshold of a small room, rather dark, and crowded Avith Avomen. As I have said, Esdale Avas not a shy man, but on being thus confronted by so many strange female faces, all turned towards him, he did feel a momentary em barrassment. An old lady seated on a sofa behind a table littered with writing materials, leant forAvard and bowed politely. Esdale, whose French was quite fluent, asked at once if he had the honour of speaking to Mme. de Bourjoli, and to his relief Avas answered in the affirmative. (Here, a young woman, at a sign from MARGOT 17 the old lady, bounced up and offered him her chair, which he declined with thanks.) " I am come to call on Miss Lee," he explained ; " I asked the servant if she was in, but she did not seem to understand me. Perhaps Miss Lee is no longer staying here ?

" " Certainly she is still here, Monsieur ; Mile. Lee is one of my permanent pensionnaircs. But she lives au cinquidme, and I do not knoAv if she is in or not. My child," turning to a girl Avith her hair in a pig-tail, " will you be so kind as to fiud out if Mile. Lee is at home ? " Esdale hoAvever insisted firmly, and perhaps a trifle brusquely, on finding that out for himself. Mme. de Bourjoli replied that it should be as Monsieur liked, but he Avould find it a long way to the fifth floor. He must ring the door to the right, the rooms on the other side did not belong to the pension. Her manner was dignified and affable, but he had a suspicion that she Avas amused at him, and that the young women whom his entrance had interrupted while sipping tea and eating dry biscuits, Avere amused also.

Having apologized for disturbing them, he boAved himself out. He paused in the outer hall and congratulated himself on his masterly retreat. A staircase rose above him steep and uncarpeted. It Avas clean and Avell waxed, but the Avail on his left Avas someAvhat time-stained and dirty, as if a long succession of passers-by had rubbed against the pattern less broAvnish paper. To Esdale it seemed a most repellent staircase. He almost hoped that when he c MARGOT had climbed it he Avould find the girl Avho lived at the top of it equally unattractive. Should she prove so, Mr. Barnard should hear the plain truth, and he kneAv him well enough to be certain that he Avould provide for her handsomely in his will — and take no further interest in her. At first the stairs Avere someAvhat dark, though lit at each turning by a tall uncurtained Avindow; but as he ascended, more and more light streamed in on him, and the fifth-floor AvindoAV let in a flood of it, and seemed in close neighbourhood to the sky.

There was a door at each end of the narroAv landing, and Esdale, remembering Mme. de Bourjoli's waruing, rang at the one on the right. The house was very silent, he could hear wheels rattle on the stones of the street outside the porte cochere, and the sparrows chirping on the roofs opposite. He turned impatiently and rang again. Footsteps approached quickly, echoing on the bare boards, and the door was flung open by a young Avoman, who had opened her mouth to speak and forgot to shut it, so astonished was she at the sight of him. Her eyes also grew round Avith surprise, — her face Avas round naturally. She Avas a lady, and he noticed that she Avas well-dressed, and had a bright fresh complexion. The young women in the little room down-stairs had all looked salloAv. " I beg your pardon/^he said ; " may I ask if Miss Lee is at home ?

" " Yes," the girl answered, " she is in ; can I give her your card ? " MARGOT 19 " That Avould convey nothing to her mind, I'm afraid. I am the bearer of a letter of introduction to her from Mrs. Ross Campbell." " Come right in, please," said the girl, confirming the impression Avhich something in her Avay of speaking, an intonation rather than an accent, had already given him. She opened a door on her right hand. "If you'll excuse me," she added, " I'll tell Miss Lee that you are here. Please sit down." The room he Avas left to wait in surprised Esdale. He had expected that it Avould match Avith the rest of the house, Avhich struck him as respectably, de pressingly sordid, Avhereas it had a marked individuality, and the impression it made on him Avas a pleasant one. A sombre Avail-paper, a rather low ceiling, and a carpet less polished floor failed to make it look gloomy or comfortless.

It contained some good furniture, old straight-backed carved chairs, and a handsome oak side-board, besides a piano and some thoroughly modern arm-chairs. The Avails \vere covered with sketches in oil and Avater-colours, and in one pilace with a mass of black and Avhite drawings unframed and pinned close together. Bunches of Avhite pinks made the air fragrant. There were no photographs and feAV knick knacks, Avhile books on the other hand were plentiful. A little table Avas heaped Avith paper-covered volumes, some of which had overflowed on to the chairs. The long AvindoAv was wide open. " Evidently," Esdale thought, " they have just had tea and Avere going out. I Avas lucky to catch them." At that moment a door leading to an inner room MARGOT opened, and a girl in black came in followed by the girl whom he had just seen.

She came fonvard rather slowly and shook hands with him. " How do you do ? " she said. " I am told you have brought me a letter from Mrs. Ross Campbell. I am very pleased to hear something of her, it's a long time since she has written to me." Esdale was mentally summing up his first impression thus : " Rather small, very young-looking, pretty, and a lady." He felt a tAvinge of compunction Avhen he ansAvered her ; it Avas odious to him to feel that he was playing a part, and to Avonder Avhat she would think of him could she knoAv Avhat had really brought him there. While Miss Lee read her letter, the American girl Avho had been formally introduced to him as "my friend, Miss Cottrell," sat doAvn and entertained him. " Had you much difficulty in finding us out ? " she said. "I say 'us,' because I live here Avith Miss Lee."

" When I had once found the house I only Avent up one AA'rong staircase, and blundered into a room doAvn stairs Avhere there were a good many ladies." Miss Cottrell laughed. "I thought you must have seen Mme. la Presidente," she said. " Who ? " inquired Esdale. " I saAv Mme. de Bourjoli." " She is president, Avhat of I don't quite knoAv, but it is a society of some kind. This isn't just an ordinary pension. It's for ladies only to begin with, and the pensionnaires, if they are not studying art or the French MARGOT 21 language, are mostly looking out for situations Avhich Mme. de Bourjoli very kindly helps them to get." Miss Lee looked up. " Talking of art students," she said, " Mrs. Campbell tells me that Mr. Esdale is anxious to knoAv about art student life here, that of the lady students especially, and she thought I could put him in touch with it.