The Tree of Knowledge

Chapter I

' Oh, sir, she smiled, no doubt, Whene'er I passed her : but who passed without Much the same smile ?' My Last Duchess. ' Our dance, I believe, Miss Allonby.' Wynford, quietly seated by her partner, raised her eyes deliberately. 'You, Mr. Cranmer? I thought you had gone some time ago.' ' Indeed . Am I in the habit of breaking my word.' asked Claud, stiffly. ' Oh,' said the girl, as she rose and took his arm, ' to cut a dance is not considered breaking VOL. III. B one's word in le monde ou Ton s'ennuie, especially when to keep it would be to make the horses stand in the cold !' ' The horses are not standing now, so be easy on that score. I have not carried my heroism to that extent. Now, what made you say you thought I had gone V ' Lady Mabel has been gone some time.' ' Does that entail my going too ?

Had she not a gentleman in attendance? Are there no hansom cabs in London? Do you think 1 am tied to Mab's apron-strings?' ' 1 have usually met you together. Claud made no answer. He was slightly piqued. How could he know that for these few min utes the girl on his arm had hungered and longed all the evening, that all other interests had seemed to be merged in the one question — Would he stay, or would he not ? How could he know that for the moment she was tasting a happiness as brief and delusive, though more controlled, than poor Osmond's ? Like most men, he only saw what she chose THE TREE OP KNOWLEDGE. 3 to show him — a disengaged manner, a sharp tongue, aud her customary indifference. It exasperated him. What ! When the sight of her had moved him so unusually, was she to treat him as any one of the crowd !

What a fool he was, to waste a thought upon her ! He was in a frame of mind approachiug the vindic tive. He would have liked to make her suffer ; and she, poor child, was feeling every moment as if the strain were becoming too severe — as though her store of self-command were ebbing, and she must betray herself. They began to dance. It has been truly said that our very waltzes are melancholy, now-a-days. This was a con spicuously sad one. It seemed to steal into Wynifred's very soul. It was as though the burden of useless longing must weigh down her light feet and clog her easy motion. She could not speak, and for some minutes they waltzed in silence. At last — ' I have not forgiven you for thinking I should fail to keep my appointment,' said he. ' You seem very much exercised on the sub- B ject,' she laughed back. ' I am sorry it entailed so much effort and self-denial.' ' You wilfully misinterpret, as Darcy said to Elizabeth Bennett.' ' You are not much like Darcy.' ' Now why ?' said Claud, nettled for some unaccountable reason, ' why am I not like Darcy ?

Your reasons, if you please.' ' Don't ask me to make personal remarks, ' I insist upon it ! I will not have my character darkly aspersed.' 'Well, you have brought it upon yourself. The difference is that, whereas Mr. Darcy seemed excessively haughty and unapproach able on first acquaintance, yet was, in his real self, most humble, unassuming, and ready to acknowledge himself in error, Mr. Cranmer, on the contrary, seems easy, debonair, and ready to fraternise with everyone ; but on closer know ledge he is found to be exceedingly proud, ex clusive, and — and — all that a peer's son should be. There ! what do you not owe me for that delicate piece of flattery?' ' What do I owe you ? A deep and dire revenge, which I will take forthwith by drawing, not a contrast, but a likeness between you and Elizabeth Bennett.

She was deeply attracted by the shallow, insincere, and fraudulent Wick ham. She began by grossly underrating poor Darcy, and imputing to him the vilest of mo tives ; she ended by overrating him as un justly. In other words, her estimate of character was invariably incorrect. In this respect there is a striking resemblance between you.' ' I can almost forgive you your unexampled rudeness, on account of your knowing your " Pride and Prejudice " so well,' cried AVyn, in delight. ' But, alas ! what is a poor novelist to say in answer to such a crushing charge ! I must retire from business at once, if I am no judge of character.' ' Oh, you are young, there is hope for you yet if you will but take advice.' ' Willingly ! But it must be from one com petent to advise !' • And who is to settle that ?' ' I, myself, of course !' ' You have great confidence,' said Claud, ' in that judgment which, as I have just told you, is incurably faulty.' ' Pause a moment !

One step further, and we shall have rushed headlong into a discussion on the right of private judgment ; and, once begun, who kuows where it would end ?' ' We have a way of trenching on problemati cal subjects, have we not?' said Claud, with a gay laugh. He wondered at himself — his good-humour was quite restored. Just a few minutes' un important chat with Wynifred, and he was charmed into his very best mood. She annoyed and fascinated at the same moment ; she acted like a tonic, always stimulating, never cloying. What she might say next was never certain, and the uncertainty kept him always on the qui vive. He could imagine no pleasure more subtle. He began to understand his danger more com pletely than heretofore. To-night he realised that a continued acquaintance with Miss Allon by could have but one end.

Was there yet time to save himself? Would he do so if he could ? The glamour which her presence shed over his spirit showed itself by outward and % _sible signs ; in the genial light of the grey eyes, the smiling curve of the mouth ; in the whole ex pression of the pleasant face. In her society he was at his best, and he felt it. Everything was more enjoyable, life more vivid when she was there ; she was the mental stimulus he needed. Yielding to this happy mood, which each shared alike, they sank into seats when the music ceased, scarcely noting that the dance was over. Suddenly, in the midst of his light talk, Claud broke off short, ejaculating in surprise, ' By George, there's the tragedy queen !' Wyn, looking up, saw Mrs. Orton in the centre of the polished floor, gracefully bidding ' good night ' to her hostess. ' I wonder — oh, I wonder if she came across Percivale,' said Claud, eyeing her intently. ' I would give my best hat to see them meet!

How she does hate him ! I never saw a woman in a rage in my life really, until I saw Mrs. Frederick Orton at the inquest.' ' Ah, you were there ! I wish,' said Wyn, ' that you would tell me all about it. I have heard so few details. All that I have heard was from Mr. Fowler. He is very kind, but not a clever writer of letters. I think he is unaccustomed to it.' ' Very probably, So he writes to you ! I think,' he looked keenly at her, ' I never saw a more thoroughly first-rate fellow.' ' I go every length with you, as Jac would say. He is good. I think I rejoiced over Elsa's innocence as much for his sake as for anything.' 'Yes. He was splendid at the inquest. He and Percivale are a pair for never losing their tempers under any provocation. That woman contradicted him, insulted him, abused him, but he never let her get the better of him for a moment.

What a curious thing human nature is ! She had so nursed some sort of grudge against Miss Brabourne that it has grown into a blazing hatred, which is the ruling passion of her life. I honest ly believe that to have prove'd the girl guilty of murder would have afforded her the keenest satisfaction. She was furious at being baulked of her revenge.' ' Oh ! Such a thing is inhuman — incredible ! If I put such a character into one of my books, people would call it unpardonably overdrawn,' said Wyn, in horror. ' I daresay ; but it is true. Kemember she was in a desperate frame of mind altogether. They were literally without money, and they came down there to find that the boy, from whom came their sole chance of funds, was dead. It seemed only fair that somebody should be made to suffer for Mrs. Orton's exceeding discomfort.

That was all. But I believe she would do Percivale a bad turn, if she could.' • Who is Mr. Percivale ?' asked Wyn. ' That's just what nobody quite knows,' said Claud, with a puzzled laugh. 'All I know about him is that he is a gentleman in the word's truest sense. He is very reserved ; never speaks of himself, and one can't exactly ask a man straight out who his father was. He is a good deal talked about in society, as you may guess, and the society journals manufactiire a fresh lie about him, on an average, once a month. He evidently dislikes publicity, for he never races that beautiful yacht of his, or gives large donations to public institutions, or opens bazaars, or lays foundation-stones, or in any other way attracts attention to himself. That made it all the more generous of him to espouse Miss Brabourne's cause so frankly.

He knew what it would bring upon him. You can't think how much he had to suffer from the idiots sent down to interview him, the letters imploring him for his photograph, the journalists trying to bribe his crew to tell what their cap tain withheld. He could not prevent surrepti tious newspaper artists from making sketches of the Sican as she lay at anchor ; but his full anger blazed up when the Pen and Pencil produced a page of heads — you saw it, of course — including portraits of him, Fowler, myself, the idiot Saul, poor Godfrey, and Miss Brabourne. Where they got them from is to this day a mystery. We suppose most of them must have been done at the inquest. Ah ! that was an exciting day. I can feel the enthusiasm of it now. It was splendid to see that fine fellow held up in the arms of the fisher-lads, with the sunshine blazing on him, and the bells clashing out from the tower! — the sort of thing one sees only once in a lifetime.

It sounded like a bit of au old romance. I often tell Percivale he is an anachronism.' ' He has a wonderful face ; but it does strike one as strange that he should be so mysterious,' said Wynifred. ' Has he no family — no rela tions — no home ?' 'He has no near relations living — he told me that himself,' answered Claud. ' He also told me that liis mother died when he was born, and his father two months before. He was brought up in a castle in Bavaria by an English clergy man who had known his parents. This man was a recluse, and a great scholar. He died some years ago. Percivale has had as little of ladies' society as if he had been a monk. Now you know exactly as much as I do of his ante cedents, Miss Allonby.' ' I am afraid I seem very inquisitive ; but to a writer of fiction there is a certain attraction about such an unusual history.' ' And such an unusual personality.

He is unlike anyone else I ever knew. I wonder,' said Claud, feeling in his pockets, ' if I have a note from him that 1 could show you. Yes. Here, read that. It is not like most people's notes.' Wynifred unfolded the stiff sheet of paper, and read. The hand was rather small and very peculiar. It seemed as though the writer were accustomed to write Greek. It was particu larly clear. ' Dear Cranmer, ' Please help me. The German Opera Company is in London, and Miss Bra bourne has often expressed a wish to hear some Wagner. If I take a box, could you bring your sister, Lady Mabel Wynch-Frere, and Miss Bra bourne to fill it ? If you think they would care to come, let me know what night they are free. It is the " Meistersinger " on Tuesday and " Lohengrin " on Thursday. I wish you would answer this personally, rather than in writing.

Dinner this evening at 7.30, if you care for the theatre afterwards. It is a week since we met. ' Affectionately yours, ' Leon Percivale. • 7, St. James's Place, Thursday.' ' Is there not something unique about that V asked Claud, as she gave it back. ' He always signs himself mine affectionately, in the most natural way possible. I am glad of it ; I have a very sincere affection for him.' ' I like his note very much,' said Wyn, with a smile. ' Thank you for letting me see it. You and he are great friends.' ' I was with him seven or eight weeks on the Swan. He insisted on leaving England the moment he found that he had become a public character.' 'Is he English? His note reads like it.' '1 believe his father was English and his mother German ; so I presume it was through her that he inherited his beautiful Schloss.' ' Have you seen it ?' 'Yes.

I spent a week there. It is among the most northern spurs of the Tyrolese Alps. AVhen there, you cease to wonder that Percivale is so unlike other people. It is like going back into a past age. The peasantry are Arcadian to a degree, the spot remote beyond the ima gination of English people. The nearest rail way station leaves you a day's journey from Schwannberg. Do you know Defregger's Tyro lese pictures? All the people are just like that. Over the door of every room in the castle is carved the swan, which is the family crest.' ' But his father was English, I think you said?' ' AVhy — yes — I never thought of that. The arms must belong to the other side of the family, I suppose,' said Claud, thoughtfully. ' That is rather odd, certainly.' He turned with a start. Osmond Allonby was standing before them. ' Wyn, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but we must really be going.

We are almost the last.' The girl rose at once, and held out her hand to Claud. ' Good-night, Mr. Cranmer. I wish I had time to hear more about the inquest. I had been longing for news, and it is kind of you to have told me so much.' He rose too, and took the offered hand. 'Must j'ou go?" he said, scarcely knowing that he said it. In another moment she had released her hand and was walking calmly away. Not a word had she said about hoping to see him again. He was conscious of an intense wish that she should not go ; he was not strong enough, he found, to let her depart thus. He made a step forward. ' Miss Allonby.' She paused. ' I shall be in town for some weeks noAv, pro bably. May I come and see you at Mansfield Road ?' She turned to her brother. ' AVe shall be pleased to see Mr. Cranmer, if he cares to come, shall we not, Osmond ?' ' Certainly,' said Osmond, cordially. ' Which day is most convenient for you ?' ' You will not find Osmond on Mondays or Thursdays, as he conducts a life-class at the Woodstead Art School on those days ; any other day.

Good-night.' She was gone. He felt half-angry that she had so easily led him on to waste time in talk ing of indifferent topics. Yet, had she left him to choose a subject, what would his choice have been?

Chapter II

She should never have looked at me if she meant I should not love her ! There are plenty . . . men, you call such, I suppose . . . she may discover All her soul to, if she pleases, and yet leave much as she found them : But I'm not so, and she knew it when she fixed me, glancing round them. Cristina. A variety of reasons kept the Allonbys very silent as they drove home that night. When Mansfield Road was reached, they walked into the hall, still in the same silence. Osmond dismissed the cabman, followed them in, and made fast the bars and bolts for the night. VOL. III. C ' Good-night, old man,' said Jac, coming up for a kiss. ' Good-night, young woman,' he replied, with the air of one who does not intend to be drawn into conversation. ' Girls,' said Hilda, over the stairs. ' Sal has put a fire in my bed-room.

Come along.' Jac flew upstairs. AVyn lingered a moment. ' Are you coming to bed, Osmond ?' she said, anxiously, as she saw him unlock the door lead ing to the studio. ' I think I'll have a pipe first,' he answered, in a constrained voice. ' Run to bed and don't bother.' She hesitated a moment, but, seeing that in terference would be useless, went on upstairs, and joined the seance round Hilda's fire. ' Well,' said Hilda, with a long sigh, ' it icas a delightful dance, wasn't it ?' ' The nicest I was ever at,' returned Jac, with smiles dimpling round her mouth. AVyn did not echo these comments. She sat down with a sigh, and pulled off her gloves. ' How well our lilies have lasted, Hilda,' said Jac, spying at her own head in the glass. ' Not a bit faded, are they ? Wyn, you old wretch, you did look well.

How everybody praised you up. I should think your head is turned.' ' Humph !' was AVyn's discontented reply. There was a pause, during which Jac secured Hilda's programme, and stealthily examined it. ' AVell !' said Wyu, suddenly. ' Now you have seen Lady Mabel, what do you think of her.' ' She is exactly what I expected,' observed Jac, who was possessed of considerable acumen. ' That impulsive, frank manner is of great ser vice to her. Nothing escapes her notice, I can tell you ! She has decided not to take us up as a family. She does not feel quite sure as to what we might do. Vaguely she feels that Hilda and I are formidable, and poor Osmond, of course, is to be steadily discouraged. She will ask you, Wyn, because you are rather a celebrity just now ; but nobody else.' ' Jac — I think you misjudgec2 ' All right.

Wait a fortnight. If an invitation comes for Osmond, Hilda, or me, to Bruton Street, I will humbly apologise for my un charitable judgment.' ' Jac is right,' said Hilda, suddenly. ' I spied Lady Mabel's eye upon me when I approached with Mr. Percivale !' ' By the way, do you like Mr. Percivale ?' asked Wyn. 'I should think so!' was the emphatic answer. Wyn passed her hand wearily over her brow. ' You look very tired, dear child,' said Hilda, sympathetically. 'I am worried — about Osmond,' she sighed. ' 1 would give so much if — all that — had never taken place between him and Elsa. One sees now how hopeless — how insa7ie the bare idea is : but I am afraid he doesn't think so, poor fellow !' ' Lady Mabel was very off-hand with him,' said Jac. 'I was near when she was ready to go, and Elsa was dancing with Osmond.

Do you know, she danced five times with him.' ' It was too bad of her !' cried AVyn. ' If she does not mean to marry him, it certainly was,' said Hilda. ' Mean to marry him ! They would not let her ! I am thankful at least that there was no engagement,' returned AVynifred, with energy. ' That would just save his dignity, poor fellow, if one could restrain him, but I know he will rush like a moth to his candle, and get a fearful snub from Lady Mabel.' She covered her face ■with her hands. ' I can think of nothing else — I can't forget it,' she said. ' He will never get over it. He was never in love before in all his life.' ' Won't his pride help him ? I would do anything — anything,' said Hilda, with vehem ence, ' sooner than let her see I was heart broken .... I suppose she will marry Mr. Percivale.' ' Or Mr. Cranmer,' suggested Jac, in an off hand way. ' That is what Lady Mabel intends, I should think.' AA'ynifred winced painfully.

It seemed as though Osmond's case were thrust before her eyes as a warning of what she had to expect. It braced— it nerved her to the approaching struggle. She would never be sick of love : and she determined boldly to face the sleepless night which she knew awaited her — to work hard, go to parties, anything, everything which might serve as an antidote to the poison she had imbibed that fatal summer. AVhen at last the girls separated for the night, Osmond was still in his studio. It was not till six o'clock had struck that Wyn's wakeful ears heard his footstep on the stairs, and the latch of his bed-room door close quietly. Jac's prophecy was fulfilled. A few days brought an invitation to Wynifred from Lady Mabel to meet a few friends at dinner in Bruton Street. No mention was made in the note of either Osmond or the girls. ' I shall not go V cried AVyn, fiercely. ' AVyn, my dear child, listen to me,' said Hilda, with authority. ' You must go.

Beggars mustn't be choosers. Look here what she says — " to meet several people who may be of use to you." Oh, my dear child, you have published one successful novel, but your fortune is not made yet, is it? Think of poor old Os mond — think how important it is that we should all do the best we can for ourselves. In my opinion you ought to go. What do you say, Jac?' ' I suppose you must ; but I should like to let Lady Mabel know my opinion of her,' said Jac, grudgingly. ' Be just,' urged Hilda. ' Lady Mabel very likely thinks that to take us out of our sphere and to plant us in hers for a few hours would be to unfit us for our work. I believe she is right. AVhat good would it do us to sit at her table and talk to men who would only tolerate us because we were her guests? Answer me that.' Jac said nothing. ' Y'ou see I am right,' went on Hilda, triumph ing. ' She merely thinks, as Aunt Anna does, that we had better remain in our humble station ; and it would be simple cruelty of her to invite Osmond under existing circumstances.

It would be tantamount to giving him encour agement, would it not ?' Osmond himself, somewhat to his sister's sur prise, when he heard of the invitation, was most anxious that she should accept it. It seemed as if anything which brought the two families together, however indirectly, was pleasant to him. On the subject of himself and Elsa he, however, quite declined to talk ; and this re serve of his was to Wyn a dangerous symptom. However, he was very quiet, and had not yet made the suggestion his sisters dreaded, namely, that one of them should go with him to call on Lady Mabel. Sometimes Wyn almost hoped that he had realised the futility of his desires, since Elsa would not be twenty-one till the following Christmas, and it was madness to suppose that Mr. Percivale would not press his suit before then.

Sometimes she dreaded that, as we say of children, he was quiet because he was in mischief — in other words, that he was corre sponding with Elsa, or otherwise intriguing ; though this was not like Osmond. AVith surmises she was forced to rest content, however. The invitation to dinner was accepted, aud then came wretched days of hesitation and cowardice — days when she endured con tinual fluctuations of feeling, at one moment feeling as though all her future hung on that dinner-party, at another that nothing should induce her to go when the time came. She had not, however, very much leisure for reflection just at this period. One of the monthly magazines wrote to ask a serial story from her on very short notice, and she was obliged to devote her attention to the expan sion and completion of an unfinished fragment for which, before the appearance of ' Cicely Montfort,' she had tried to find a publisher iu vain.

On the third day after the Miles's ball, as she returned from a walk, she found Claud's card in the hall. After the first moment of keen disappointment, she was glad that she had not seen him. AVhat use to feed a flame she was bent on smothering ? She learned from Sal that the visitor had been into the studio and seen Mr. Osmond, and to the studio she accordingly bent her steps. Osmond was not working. He was seated on the edge of the ' throne,' his palette and brushes idle beside him, his face hidden in his hands. At sound of the opening door, he leaped to his feet, and faced his sister half angrily. ' You startled me,' said he. ' I am sorry. I hear you had a visitor to-day, so I came to know what he said.' ' Oh, yes — Cranmer. He didn't say very much. Asked after you all ; said he hoped you were not very tired after the dance ; said he was looking forward to seeing you at his sister's. Not much besides.

He seems very thick with this Mr. Percivale.' Turning aside, he aimlessly took up a dry brush and drew it across a finished canvas in slow sweeps. 'AVyn,' he asked, 'who is this Mr. Per civale ? ' AVyn made a gesture of ignorance with her hands. 'I don't know,' she said. 'Nobody knows much about him. Mr. Cranmer told me all he knows the other evening.' She related the meagre facts which Claud had given her. ' But everyone seems agreed that he is very much all that can be wished,' said she. ' What made you ask me, dear?' ' I have been talking to Ottilie Orton,' he said ; and paused. ' To Mrs. Orton ! And what had she to say, if one may ask?' ' You appear/ observed Osmond, ' to have taken a dislike to the lady in question.' ' Well, I cannot say she fascinates me. She is so big and bold, and she looks artificial.

She reminds me of that dreadful middle-aged Miss Walters who married the small, shy young curate of St. Mary's.' ' She is a very handsome woman,' said Osmond, obstinately. ' Well, never mind her looks. AVhat has she been saying to you?' ' Oh, she merely remarked,' was the reply, as Osmond picked up his palette and charged a clean brush with colour. ' She merely made a remark about this Mr. Percivale whom every one is so ready to take for granted.' ' AArhat was the remark ?' ' She said there were several ugly stories afloat about him, and that — ' he paused to put a deliberate touch upon his almost completely finished picture — ' that his antecedents were most questionable.'

Chapter III

Love is a virtue for heroes — as white as the snow on high hills, And immortal, as every great soul is, that struggles, endures, and fulfils. Lord Walter's Wife. A LONG, dark, panelled room, with a low flat ceiling carved with coatsof-arms and traversed with fantastic ribs. A room so large and long that a small party could only inhabit one end of it. Its age was demonstrated by the massive stone mullions of the small windows ranged along the wall on one side. There were four of these windows, each of them with three lights. Beneath each group of three was a deep, cushioned recess. Opposite the windows were two fireplaces, the elaborately-carved black oak mantels reaching to the ceiling. In the further of these a great fire burned red and glowing, flinging out weird, suggestive half lights into the dim recesses of the chamber, and flecking with sudden gleams the multitude of curious things with which every corner was stored.

The room was very still, the air heavy with the scent of flowers ; the early January darkness had fallen over the great city, but something very unlike London was in the warm, fragrant silence of this place. One of the diamond-paned casements was open, but through it came no hoarse rumble of cart or waggon. An utter peace enfolded everything. Presently the door at the near and most densely dark end of the room opened and closed softly. From behind the great embossed screen which was folded round the entrance a flash of vivid light gleamed. A man-servant emerged, carrying a large silver lamp. He traversed the whole length of the room, and set down the lamp on a black oak table with heavy claw-feet. The circle of radiance illuminated the scene, rendering visible the mellow oil -paintings on the panelled walls, the rich Oriental rugs which covered the floor of inlaid wood, and the treasures from all parts of the globe, which were ranged in cabinets or on shelves, or lay about on brackets and tables.