Judge Ketchum's romance

Front matter

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Chapter I. The Heir Of Tantallon

*‘It is just as easy to know the right people as the wrong,” observed Mrs. Carrick-Fergus to her uncle, the Earl of Tantallon, “and with me once a friend always a friend.”

The peer laughed sardonically.

“ I notice, Sarah, that when the right people go wrong, and some of your dear friends do wander once and again from the path of virtue, you don’t hesitate to cut them dead.”

“ Well really. Uncle Sholto, what other course of conduct would you suggest?”

“ I should not venture to suggest anything to a woman of your intelligence and amiability. After all if a misguided person will go down hill I suppose the kindest thing you can do is to help them on their journey with a parting kick or two. It costs you not a penny and they get to the bottom all the sooner.”

THE ROMANCE OF JUDGE KETCHUM.

“ Dear Uncle,” she replied in purring accents, “I hope that I always try to do my duty.”

“Your duty to yourseK or your neighbor, Sarah ? ”

Mrs. Carrick-Fergus opened her mouth to reply, but on second thoughts closed it again. To bandy words with her kinsman would result, as she well knew, in her utter discomfiture.

These two persons were sitting opposite to each other in the great mullion- windowed library of Tantallon Castle. They had just finished luncheon, and the Earl was leisurely sipping a cup of Mocha, a beverage he especially affected ever since his physician had told him that it was poison to his constitution. The dim background of ancient tomes, dully gleaming here and there with the gold of the binder, threw into sharp relief his white-haired head with its still piercing eyes and commanding features. A frosty smile played round the corners of his clean-cut, mobile mouth. Evidently the conversation of his niece amused him if it did not instruct. He sat bolt upright in his high-backed Venetian chair after the fashion of a bygone generation. His neck was encircled with a black satin stock. His coat was dark blue, of antique cut. In a word he looked what he was — the picture of a gallant, courtly nobleman of the old school.

His niece, widow of the late James Carrick- Fergus of that ilk, in the County of Galloway,

THE HEIR OF TANTALLON.

possessed the family nose and temper. She was a clever woman and like most Scotch women, shrewd, where her interests were concerned. Moreover she was connected with half the best families in Scotland, and, since the death of her aunt, the Countess, had annually officiated as high priestess at the feast of St. Grouse. Tantallon was considered a charming place to stay at. The Castle, a magnificent time-worn pile, was celebrated for its romantic beauty from one end of the kingdom to the other. Fashionable folk nowadays rarely care for historical association and mediaeval architecture ; but they thoroughly appreciate good shooting, salmon-fishing, deer-stalking and cheery people; to say nothing of ’74 Perrier- Jo net and a “ cordon hleu.'"*

These good things and many others were to be found at Tantallon ; and invitations there were prized accordingly. The Earl, full of years and honors, left the control of all arrangements to his niece. He stipulated for amusement, and had a weakness for pretty women.

“ Who is coining to-day ? ” he asked.

“ That godless nephew of yours — Jack Tantallon.”

She glanced sharply at her uncle, but he made no comment, and she proceeded to check off her guests upon her plump fingers.

“ Lord and Lady Biddulph, the Hobart Hopes, Lord Forth, Sir Gore Stanley and Mrs. Forsyth.”

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“ A heterogeneous collection,” said the Earl with a smile.

“Uncle Sholto, you will insist on being amused, and the respectabilities are so dull. I am sure that the Biddulphs are charming.”

“ They leaven the loaf I’ll admit,” said his lordship with a yawn. “ So Mrs. Tom Forsyth is expected. Is she your friend or Alick’s ? ”

Alick was the son of Mrs. Carrick-Fergus — her Benjamin.

“ Lord Forth wouldn’t come unless I asked her. Personally I hate the woman. She’s eaten up with worldliness. T verily believe she would w^alk on burning plough-shares like Saint What’s-hisname, to get a bow from the Prince.”

“ I dare say she would, poor little dear. I know other women who would keep her company. Gad — what a piquante face she has ! ”

“ She is a very dangerous person.”

“ You need not alarm yourself, Sarah. Alick has a wholesome awe of Forsyth’s horsewhip. He can be trusted to take care of that good-looking hide of his. And that reminds me that I have something to say to you. I have reason to believe he is making love to Marie. Remember, Sarah, that I have other views for her.”

“ You intend to marry her to ”

“ My godless nephew ? Just so.”

“ Poor child. I suppose she has no objections? ” “She is my granddaughter,” said the peer.

THE HEIR OF TANTALLON.

sternly, “ and she knows her duty. Jf she thwarts me she does so at her proper peril. I have spoken to Alick and he assured me that his interest in Marie was but cousinly. Of course I only take his word for what it is worth.”

Mrs. Carrick-Fergus put a dainty piece of lawn to her eyes.

“ You are so hard on Alick,” she whimpered. “ You sneer at him because he is respectful and dutiful to me, and you allow that good-for-nothing Jack Tantallon to contradict you flatly.”

“I like to be contradicted,” said the Earl. “It is such a refreshing sensation. Why do you call my nephew, and heir ” — he added maliciously — “ good-for-nothing ? ”

“ They tell dreadful stories of him in London. He drinks and gambles and . . .”

“ Excuses can be made for him,” interrupted Lord Tantallon. “ He has not had Alick’s advantages — his mother died when he was a child, and the atmosphere of this house is not especially suited to the moral upbringing of a hot-headed orphan. I have let Jack have his own way and I don’t think he has abused my confidence.”

Mrs. Carrick-Fergus sniffed audibly.

“ For Heaven’s sake, Sarah, if you have anything to say, say it. Don’t sniff.”

“ I have nothing to say. Uncle Sholto. I repeat : he drinks and gambles.”

“Pooh . . . pooh. He has the characteristics

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of a gentleman. I have no doubt he is sowing a small crop of wild oats as— well ... as I did.”

He smiled to himself at some reminiscence of past pleasures and took a pinch of snuff. He was what the French call gentilhomme de race.'' He held that his rank had its duties, and grave ones, amongst which might be reckoned truth, bravery and courtesy; but, like most men of his stamp, he believed little in aught else. He took the world as he found it and made the best of it.

“He is seen in disreputable company,” pursued his niece.

Suddenly the door opened and the scapegrace himself appeared.

“ How do you do,” he said, genially.

Lord Tantallon’s grim face relaxed as he welcomed his nephew.

“ I am quite well, John,” said Mrs. Carrick- Fergus, with bland dignity. “We were just speaking of you.”

“ I felt my ears tingling as I turned the handle of the door,” remarked Jack. “ You were telling Uncle Sholto what a good boy I am . . . eh?”

“ You are flippant,” said his cousin, preparing to leave the room. “ Most young men are flippant nowadays, but you, John, are unduly so. It is not an amiable trait.”

With this she sailed out of the room.

THE HEIR OF TANTALLON.

“ God bless her ! ” said the Earl, with characteristic inconsistency. “But, Jack, for the future treat her with more courtesy. She is an aggravating woman I’ll admit, but she is old enough to be your mother. And now, my dear boy, I want to talk seriously to you.”

Jack nodded gravely.

“ I am ready to listen, my lord.”

CHAPTER 11.

LORD TANTALLON STATES HIS WISHES.

Jack Tantallon was certainly no beauty man — hardly handsome, judging by the strictest canons of art. But he possessed a striking personality. He was slightly above the middle lieight, built like a gladiator, and sun-burned as any Mexican. His eyes, set far apart, were the salient feature of his face, being peculiarly bright and penetrating, and in color a steely blue. His chin was square and prominent : his nose straight and thin of nostril : his mouth genially broad and furnished with strong even teeth : his brow square and high, closely thatched with crisp brown hair. A striking personality as has been said, and one that impressed strangers favorably.

Select a comfortable chair, my boy,” said the Earl. “ I have much to say.”

Jack ensconced himself upon a divan and crossed his legs.

“ I hear sad tales of you, sir. Sad tales.”

“ The devil is seldom as black as his female relations paint him,” retorted the young man.

Well, well, boys will be boys ; but Jack, you were a promising lad. You were ambitious too, 8

LORD TANTALLON STATES HIS WISHES.

and full of plans for the future. Bless me, you would talk by the hour of what you intended to do.”

“ I talked a lot of quixotic folly, my lord, I make no doubt. I had my share of the illusions of youth.”

Nothing of the kind. Jack. Your ideas were crude, but as raw material they were valuable. They shadowed forth possibilities, possibilities which you have not, as yet, realized. In. fact you have done nothing but amuse yourself.”

“1 know it,” agreed the prodigal, humbly. “ I know it. Uncle, I have made a fool of myself.”

“ I am glad to hear you say so. Jack. If you fully appreciate the position, there is hope for you. I take it that you are tired of this aimless life . . . eh?”

“Heartily tired.”

“ Your position is, of course, an anomalous one. At my death you may find yourself a rich man. On the other hand you may find yourself a poor one — that absurd creature a penniless laird wi’ a lang pedigree. I do not exaggerate the case when 1 say that you are dependent upon me.”

“ Not entirely, my lord,” said Jack, with emphasis.

“ Pooh, pooh, you have, I presume, a few beggarly hundreds of your own ; but I can leave you Tantallon, if I see fit. I repeat, you are dependent upon me.”

THE ROMANCE OF JUDGE KETCHUM.

He paused, but Jack only bowed in silence.

“Unfortunately,” pursued the Earl, “Tantallon brings in next to nothing. I have other sourcesof revenue ; but with this place to keep up, as it ought to be kept up, and without my private fortune, you would be poorer than you are now.”

“ I had no idea matters were as bad as that,” said Jack, gravely.

“ There is universal depression ; and Scotland is nearly as bad as Ireland. My rent roll is cut down fifty per cent, while my expenses have increased in inverse ratio. My labor bill amounts to twice the sum it did ten years ago. In short,” concluded his lordship, “if I leave you Tantallon, as I am naturally inclined to do, you will find it a white elephant and a devilish expensive one to boot.”

“ But the place is of great value.”

“ I concede that from its historical associations it would probably fetch a large sum of ready money. Baron Kirsch, for instance, would buy it to-morrow. But I refuse to anticipate anything of the sort.”

“ God forbid,” cried Jack.

“You would never sell it? ”

“ Sell Tantallon ! I would starve first.”

“That is the proper sentiment. There is a dearth of such old-fashioned feeling nowadays. The inheritor of a great name has no business to consider himself. He should accept the penalties of his rank as well as its privileges, and subscribe

LORD TANTALLON STATES HIS WISHES.

cheerfully to its unwritten code. Tlie cradle of his race, above all else, should be sacred in his eyes. To sell a family estate so as to purchase a few years of inglorious luxury, is little short of sacrilege.”

Jack wondered whither this diatribe was tending.

“ I am not a very rich man,” pursued his uncle,

not so rich as the world thinks. Like Gobbo, I nave had losses. I cannot (}o justice to Marie, my dead son’s only child, and also provide for the heir of Tantallon.”

Jack began to perceive the drift of his kinsman’s remarks.

“ The situation is a strained one,” he admitted.

“It is,” assented his uncle, “but you. Jack, can solve the difficulty. You can marry your cousin and consolidate the two interests. Then, and not till then, I shall be ready to shuffle off this mortal coil.”

“ You will live for many years yet I trust,” said Jack, warmly.

The Earl shook his head.

“ Marie might not wish to marry me,” said Jack at last.

“ Nonsense,” replied the old man quickly. “ I have purposely kept her in the school room as long as possible. She has seen no one and her ideas of life are colored solely by the romances she has read. She is a girl of lofty ideals.”

THE ROMANCE OF JUDGE KETCHUM.

“ Ideals are blessed things to have in these days,” replied the young man with sudden enthusiasm. “Why when I look into Marie’s eyes, I feel compelled to drop those miserable embroideries that usually garnish modern small talk. She lias such a truthful face that every man feels the better for seeing it.”

“Upon my word. Master Jack, I think you are in love already.”

“ I love her as a sister, my lord, I have never regarded her in any other light.”

“ You never thought of her as your future bride ? ”

“Never,” said Jack firmly.

“ What an unsophisticated youth ! I gave you credit for more perspicacity.”

“You did not even give me a timely hint of your wishes.”

“ No, my boy ; I knew human nature too well. If I had flung Marie at your head when she herself was hardly out of pinafores, with the obstinacy of our race, you would have refused to marry her. Now she is a woman, and one that any man might be proud to take to wife.”

“ But,” stammered Jack, “ I ... I do not love her.”

“ Love forsooth! — the ignis fatuus of youth and folly ! Don’t inflict upon me a lot of nonsense about love. You have cut your wisdom teeth. You know that passion is ephemeral, and that

LORD TANTALLON STATES HIS WISHES.

wealth and position are lasting. Your cousin Alick appreciates that much. The pestilent coxcomb has been making up to her under my very nose.”

“ Alick is not a bad chap,” said Jack, “ and very good-looking.”

“ He is a fool, sir, and bursting, like the frog in the fable, with his own importance. I would sooner see the girl in her coffin than married to such a sexless piece of conceit.”

“ The mischief may have been done.”

“ No, Jack, I have taken care to prevent that. You have the field to yourself. You are not, I presume entangled with any woman ? ”

“Certainly not.”

“ I am glad to hear it : we have had one mh~ salliance in the family.”

“ I never heard my father speak of it,” said Jack.

“ Yes, my elder brother married the daughter of a publican when he was twenty-three years old. The marriage was hushed up, and there is no mention of it in the peerage; but it took place for I saw the register myself.”

“ What became of him ? ”

“ He was drowned while crossing the Atlantic. I never shall forget my father’s rage when the marriage became known. There was a fearful scene in this very room. Your father and I weie present; Duncan was turned out of the house

THE ROMANCE OF JUDGE KETCHUM.

with the clothes he had on his back and a cheque for five hundred pounds in his pocket. Poor Duncan,” he added, with genuine emotion, “ what a good-looking boy he was ! ”

“ What became of the wife? ” asked Jack.

I don’t know,” replied the Earl indifferently, ^‘she found employment in the States, I believe. But we have wandered from our subject. I wish you to consider seriously what I have said.”

Nothing more was said, and Jack took hia leave much perturbed in mind. He passed into the hall in time to greet Lord and Lady Biddulph. Lord Biddulph was known as the best shot in England — in fact he was in a class by himself. It was a saying in shooting circles that there were good shots, bad shots, and Lord Biddulph. Every year he slew hecatombs of game, and during the autumn was in great demand at battues and grouse drives. He had never shot over the Tantallon moors, and his visit in this instance was owing to Jiick Tantallon, who had been his fag at Eton, and liis most intimate friend ever since. His wife, a charming and popular woman, accompanied him everywhere and took the keenest interest in her lord’s shooting.

They both hailed Jack as he came towards them.

“ Jack looks fat,” said Lady Biddulph. “ He has fallen a victim to the fleshpots of Babylon.”

“ I like a good dinner as much as you do,” retorted Jack, “ a man who does not care what he eats, puts himself on a level with the beasts of the field. Dick seems pretty fit.”

“ He drinks nothing but barley water and only smokes one cigar a day ! ”

“ He will have to look to his laurels to-morrow. Forth comes to-night.”

“ I am sorry to hear it,” said Lady Biddulph, with some asperity, “ I don’t like Lord Forth.”

Lord Forth was supposed by the cognoscenti to be the fortunate individual upon whom the mantle of Lord Biddulph would eventually fall.

“ I will bet you a pair of gloves that he shoots more birds than Dick to-morrow.”

‘‘ I will take you,” cried Lady Biddulph, “ a pair of dogskin driving gloves against twenty-four button peau-de-suede. Tell me. Jack, who else is coming? ”

“ I don’t know, I have only just arrived myself. There is to be a big ball next week, so I liope you have brought your smartest frock. My cousin Marie is to come out at it.”

“ I have never seen your cousin,” said Lady Biddulph ; ‘Hs she pretty ? ”

“ If I tell you she is you will say she isn’t. Come into the drawing-room and judge for yourself.”

“She is charming,” whispered Lady Biddulph, a few minutes later. “ She reminds me of the picture of the Countess Potocka — you know the one I mean — by Kauffman, and she looks every inch a Tantallon. You should marry her.”

THE ROMANCE OF JUDGE KETCHUM.

“ So my uncle says.”

“Naturally he says so ; it is the only thing you can possibly do. You are a lucky man, Jack, and I congratulate you with all my heart. Mind, I shall present the bride.”

“ Don’t joke about it,” said Taritallon, almost crossly, “ this is a very serious matter for me indeed, and I am at my wit’s end to know what to do.”

“ Will you let me give you a word of advice ? ”

“ Of course I will.”

“ Then do nothing rashly. Marriage is a very serious step. It is the cant of the day to sneer at it, but a. happy union is a blessed thing, as I have found by experience. I have never told you my story but I will tell it now. I fell desperately in love, when I was your cousin’s age, with a man who cared precious little for me but a good deal for my fortune. He was a man of the world, and played with my feelings as a cat plays with a mouse. I would have done anything for him : I worshiped the ground he walked on, and he heartlessly jilted me for a richer woman.”

“ What an infernal cad ! ”

“ It was the kindest thing he could have done,” pursued Lady Biddulph, “if I had married him I should have discovered too late the nature of the beast. After such an experience I hated every man I came across. They were all in my e3’es absolutely selfish and sensual. Then I met Dick. The first thing that impressed me about him was

LORI) TANTALLON STATES HIS WISHES.

his utter absence of vanity. I was so surprised at this that T became interested. He fell in love with me, and showed me the difference between himself and my former idol. I put his love to every test and then I accepted him, and lived happily ever after. We are not called Darby and Joan for nothing. I have told you this,” she pursued, “ for a purpose. Don’t imagine, as many men do, that love is necessarily spontaneous ; I believe myself that the best hind of love is a plant of slow growth. Take your cousin and make a study of her character: analyze and dissect her as much as you please : unless her looks strangely belie her you will search far and wide before you find a sweeter or more lovable creature.”

‘‘ She is certainly the nicest girl I know,” said Jack, “but ”

“But me no buts. Just at present you feel a little put out because your uncle coolly orders you to marry her, but don’t let that influence you. Rise superior to such petty feeling.”

“ You are a good friend,” said Jack warmly.

“I am a firm friend and a relentless enemy,” laughed Lady Biddulph, “but you have monopolized me too long, I must go and make myself agreeable to the future Lady Tantallon. Poor Dick has come to the end of his conversational tether. Go, like a good Samaritan, and carry him off to the billiard room, he has a perfect horror of afternoon tea.”