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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
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 ''f?AM« A. nicr
 
 The CAREER of 
 KATHERINE BUSH
 
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 'After iiW, I understand you — and 1 forgive you.' " 
 
 [I'ACK 202]
 
 THE CAREER OF 
 KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 BY 
 
 ELINOR GLYN 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 THE MAN AND THE MOMENT, Etc. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY 
 
 EDMUND FREDERICK 
 
 a£xlD 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 GROSSET& DIU N L A P 
 
 PUBLISHERS
 
 Copyright, 1916, bt 
 D. APPLETON AND COMPANY ^ 
 
 CopTRioHT, 1916, BT The Imtebnatiomal Magahnh Coupavt 
 
 Printed in the United States of America
 
 1 '- 
 
 4^ (^ 
 
 
 at 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 'After all^ I understand you — and I forgive 
 
 you' "... Frontispiece 
 
 •FACIHa PAGE 
 
 'You must ... go on and make something of your 
 
 life, as I mean to do.' " 50 
 
 'No man is an impossible husband if he is a 
 
 Duke.' " ,. . 102 
 
 'You are ready for the great adventure?'" >, i.. 276 
 
 644473
 
 THE CAREER 
 OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 DUSK was coming on when Katherine Bush left 
 the office of the Jew money lenders, Lmngstone 
 and Devereux, in Holies Street. Theirs was 
 a modest establishment with no indication upon the 
 wire blind of the only street window as to the trade 
 practised by the two owners of the aristocratic names 
 emblazoned upon the dingy transparency. But it was 
 rery well known all the same to numerous young bloods 
 who often sought temporary relief within its doors. 
 
 Katherine Bush had been the shorthand typist there 
 since she was nineteen. They paid her well, and she 
 had the whole of Saturday to herself. 
 
 She sat clicking at her machine most of the day, be- 
 hind a half-high glass screen, and when she lifted her 
 head, she could see those who came to the desk beyond 
 — she could hear their voices, and if she listened very 
 carefully, she could distinguish the words they said. 
 In the three years in which she had earned thirty shill- 
 ings a week sitting there, she had become quite a con- 
 noisseur in male voices, and had made numerous deduc- 
 tions therefrom. "Liv" and "Dev," as Mr. Percival 
 Livingstone and Mr. Benjamin Devereux, were called 
 with undue familiarity by their subordinates, often won- 
 dered how Katherine Bush seemed to know exactly the 
 
 1
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 suitable sort of letter to write to each client, without 
 being told. She was certainly a most valuable young 
 woman, and worth the rise the firm meant to offer her 
 shortly. 
 
 She hardly ever spoke, and when she did raise her 
 sullen greyish-green eyes with a question in them, you 
 were wiser to answer it without too much palaver. The 
 eyes were darkly heavily lashed and were compelling 
 and disconcertingly steady, and set Hke Greek eyes 
 under broad brows. Her cheeks were flat, and her nose 
 straight, and her mouth was full and large and red. 
 
 For the rest she was a colourless creature, with a mop 
 of ashen-hued hair which gleamed with silvery lights. 
 She was tall and slight, and she could at any moment 
 have been turned by a clever dressmaker and hairdresser 
 into a great beauty. But as it was, she gave no thought 
 to her appearance, and looked unremarkable and ordi- 
 nary and lower middle-class. 
 
 She had wonderful hands — Where they came from 
 the good God alone knew! with their whiteness and 
 their shape. They were strong, too, and perhaps ap- 
 peared boyish rather than feminine. She did not in- 
 herit them from that excellent mother, retired to a 
 better world some ten years before; nor from that 
 astute auctioneer father, who, dying suddenly, had left 
 that comfortable red-brick semi-detached villa at 
 Bindon's Green, Brixton, as a permanent home for his 
 large family. 
 
 But from whence come souls and bodies and hands 
 and eyes? — and whither do they go? — Katherine Bush 
 often asked herself questions like these, and plodded on 
 until she could give herself some kind of answer. 
 
 Not one single moment of her conscious hours had 
 ever been wasted. She was always learning something, 
 
 2
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 and before she had reached sixteen, she had realised 
 that power to rule will eventually be in the grasp of the 
 man or woman who can reap the benefit of lessons. 
 
 She had enjoyed her work at the night schools, and 
 the wet Sundays, curled up with a book in the arm- 
 chair in the tiny attic, which she preferred to a larger 
 bedroom, because she could have it alone unshared with 
 a sister. 
 
 Her mind had become a storehouse of miscellaneous 
 English literature, a good deal mispronounced in the 
 words, because she had never heard it read aloud by a 
 cultivated voice. She knew French grammatically, but 
 her accent would have made a delicate ear wince. Her 
 own voice was singularly refined ; it was not for nothing 
 that she had diligently listened to the voices of im- 
 pecunious aristocrats for over three years ! 
 
 For the moment, Katherine Bush was in love. Lord 
 Algy had happened to glance over the glass screen upon 
 his first visit to Liv and Dev to be accommodated with 
 a thousand pounds, and his attractive blue eyes had 
 met the grey-green ones. 
 
 He had spoken to her when she came out to luncheon. 
 But he had done it really intelligently, and Katherine 
 was not insulted. Indeed, accustomed as she was to 
 weigh everything in life, she accorded him a mead of 
 praise for the manner in which he had carried out his 
 intention to make her acquaintance. She had flouted 
 him and turned him more or less inside out for over a 
 month, but she had let him give her lunch — and now 
 she had decided to spend the Saturday to Monday with 
 him. 
 
 For the scheme of existence which she had planned 
 out for herself, she decided her experience must be more 
 complete. One must see life, she argued, and it was 
 
 3
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 better to make a first plunge with a person of refine- 
 ment, who knew the whole game, than with one of her 
 own class who would be but a very sorry instructor. 
 
 Heavens ! To spend a Saturday to Monday with 
 the counterpart of her brothers Fred and Bert! The 
 idea made her shudder. She disliked them and their 
 friends enough as it was — and the idea of marriage in 
 that circle never entered her level head. Of what use 
 would be all her studies, and the lessons she had 
 mastered, if she buried herself forever at Brixton 
 with Charlie Prodgers or at Clapham with Percy 
 Watson.'' 
 
 At this stage no moral questions troubled her at all, 
 nor had she begun really to apply the laws of cause 
 and effect in their full measure — although she was quite 
 aware that what she proposed to do was the last thing 
 she would have considered wise or safe for another 
 woman to attempt. Rules of conduct were wisely made 
 for communities she felt, and must be kept or disaster 
 must inevitably follow. But in her own case she was 
 willing to take risks, thoroughly believing in her own 
 cool discrimination. 
 
 The outlook for her should always be vast. 
 
 Lord Algy was passionately devoted, and it was wiser 
 early in life to know the nature of men. Thus she 
 argued to herself, being totally unaware that her point 
 of view was altogether aff'ected because her heart and 
 her senses pleaded hard, being touched for the first time 
 in her twenty-two years. 
 
 She was quite untroubled by what the world calls 
 morality — and she had no scruples. These were for a 
 later date in her career. 
 
 The path looked clear and full of roses. 
 
 She had not been in the habit of consulting her family 
 
 4
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 as to her movements, and had many times gone by her- 
 self for holidays to the seaside. No questions would 
 be asked her when she returned on the Monday. If the 
 matter could have created scandal, she would not have 
 gone — to create scandal was not at all part of her 
 game. 
 
 Lord Algy had arranged to take her to Paris by 
 that Friday night's train. They would have all Satur- 
 day and Sunda}^, and then return on Monday night. 
 Liv and Dev had granted her a holiday until the Tues- 
 day. She had put on her best blue serge suit that 
 morning, and had taken a small valise with what she 
 considered necessary things. And now her heart beat 
 rather fast as she turned into Oxford Street in the 
 gathering October dusk. 
 
 For a few moments she wondered what it would have 
 been like if she had been going to marry Lord Algy — 
 before all the world. Quite a great pleasure no doubt 
 for a month or two — But then? — He was the fourth son 
 of a stingy Welsh marquis, and nothing would ever in- 
 duce his family to pardon such a mesalliance. Of this 
 she was well aware. It was the business of "Liv" and 
 *'Dev" to make themselves acquainted with a good deal 
 about the peerage, and whatever her employers knew, 
 Katherine Bush knew. 
 
 Life for her held no illusions. Her studies had con- 
 vinced her that to be strong and perfectly honest were 
 the only two things of any avail, and to acquire a thor- 
 ough knowledge of human beings, so as then to be able 
 to manipulate these pawns. 
 
 Lord Algy she believed was only a most agreeable 
 part of her education, but of no vital importance. She 
 would have been horrified if anyone had told her that 
 she was mixing up sentiment in the affair! 
 
 5
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 To get everything down to its bedrock meaning had 
 been her endeavour, ever since she had first read Darwin 
 and Herbert Spencer. 
 
 "I shall have the experience of a widow," she said to 
 herself, "and can then decide what is next to be 
 done." 
 
 Lord Algy was a Guardsman — and knew, among 
 other things, exactly how to spend an agreeable Satur- 
 day to Monday ! He was piqued by Katherine Bush, 
 and almost in love. He looked forward to his brief 
 honeymoon with delight. 
 
 He was waiting for her in a taxicab at the corner of 
 Oxford Circus, and when she got in with her little 
 valise, he caught and kissed her hand. 
 
 "We will go and dine at the Great Terminus," he 
 told her in his charming voice, "and don't you think 
 it would be much nicer if we stayed there to-night, and 
 went on by the morning train? — It is such a miserable 
 hour to arrive in Paris otherwise — you would be 
 knocked up for the day." 
 
 He was holding her hand, and the nearness of him 
 thrilled her, in some new and delicious way. She hesi- 
 tated, though, for a moment — she never acted on im- 
 pulse. She crushed down a strange sensation of gasp 
 which came in her throat. After all, of what matter 
 if she stayed — or started to-night? — since she had al- 
 ready cast the die, and did not mean to shirk the pay- 
 ment of the stakes. 
 
 *'Very well," she said, quite low. 
 
 "I hoped you would agree, pet," he whispered, en- 
 circling her with his arm, "I meant to persuade you, 
 and I am going to make you so awfully happy — I sent 
 my servant this afternoon to take the rooms for us, 
 and everything will be ready." 
 
 6
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 This sounded agreeable enough, and Katherine Bush 
 permitted herself to smile, which was a rare occurrence ; 
 she would spend hours and days without the flicker of 
 one coming near her red lips. 
 
 In the uncertain light. Lord Algy felt it more than 
 he actually saw it, and it warmed him. She was, as 
 he had confessed to his best friend in the battalion, an 
 enigma to him — hence her charm. 
 
 "She treats me as though I were the ground under 
 her feet at times," he recounted to Jack Kilcourcy. "I 
 don't think she cares two damned straws for me really, 
 but, by Jove ! she is worth while ! She has no nonsense 
 about her, and she is so awfully game !" 
 
 He had taken good care never to let Jack see her, 
 though — or tell him her name ! 
 
 It was not long before they reached the hotel, and 
 Katherine Bush was a little angry with herself because 
 she felt a quiver of nervousness when they were in the 
 big hall. 
 
 Lord Algy knew all the ropes, and his air of com- 
 plete insouciance reassured her. A discreet valet 
 stepped forward and spoke to his master, and they were 
 soon in the lift, and so to a well-lighted and warmed 
 suite. 
 
 "These colours and this imitation Chippendale are 
 rather awful, aren't they," Lord Algy said, looking 
 round, "but we must not mind, as it is only for one 
 night ; the Palatial in Paris will be different — I am glad 
 Hanson saw to the flowers." 
 
 Huge bunches of roses stood upon the table and 
 mantelpiece. Katherine Bush thought it a splendid 
 place, but if it appeared rather "awful" to him, she 
 must not show her admiration. 
 
 "Tea will come in a moment — I mean chocolate, pet 
 
 7
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 — and I think wc shall be as jolly as can be. In there 
 is your room ; they will have brought up your yalise by 
 DOW, I expect." 
 
 Katherine Bush moved forward and went through the 
 door. A cheery fire was burning, and the curtains were 
 drawn, and on a chair there was a big cardboard box. 
 She looked at it, it was addressed "Mrs. Rufus." 
 
 "Who — is that — ? — and what is it for.?" she asked, 
 in a voice deep as a well. 
 
 "It is just a fur-lined coat, darling," Lord Algy an- 
 swered, as he pulled undone the string, "and a little 
 wrap — I thought you would be so awfully cold on the 
 boat — and probably would not have been able to bring 
 much luggage." 
 
 A slight flush came into the young woman's white 
 cheeks, something in her loathed taking presents. 
 
 "Thanks awfully — I'll be glad to have you lend them 
 to me for this trip — but why is it addressed 'Mrs. 
 Rufus'.'* — Mr. Devereux has got a sister of that 
 
 name." 
 
 Lord Algy laughed. 
 
 "Well, you see, I could not have it 'Fitz-Rufus,' be- 
 cause every one knows that is the Merioneth name, given 
 us poor devils by the Normans, because we were such a 
 red-headed lot, and I bet they found our own too diffi- 
 cult to pronounce !" He began pulling out the coat and 
 a soft pink silk dressing-gown from the box. "I always 
 am just 'Rufus' when I come out like this." He laughed 
 again a little constrainedly; it had just struck him that 
 the latter part of his sentence was perhaps not very 
 felicitously expressed — since he knew Katherine Busli 
 was no chorus lady, accustomed to temporary wedded 
 appellations ! 
 
 She looked him straight in the eyes with her strange, 
 
 8
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 disconcertingly steady grcy-grecn ones — and then she 
 smiled again — as the Sphinx might have done before 
 being set in eternal immobility of stone. 
 
 Lord Algy felt stupidly uncomfortable, so he folded 
 her in his arms with a fond caress, a far better plan 
 he had always found than any argument or explana- 
 tion with women. 
 
 Katherine Bush realised the joy of it. She was ready 
 for every grade of pleasure as well as experience. This 
 was how things were done in Lord Algy's world, then — 
 So be it. 
 
 Together they looked at the coat and wrap, and he 
 helped her to take off her hat and jacket, and try them 
 on. They were very friendly, and Lord Algy suggested 
 that as the dressing-gown was almost a teagown and 
 was fairly pretty, she might wear it for dinner, which 
 they would have in the sitting-room. 
 
 "You'll look sweet in pink, darling," he lisped, as be 
 kissed her ear, "and it will be so soft and cosy." 
 
 Then the waiter knocked at the door and said the 
 chocolate was ready, so they went back to the sitting 
 room. 
 
 He was quite adorable as he assisted her to pour in 
 the cream — but Katherine Bush now decided she would 
 keep him at arm's length for a while ; the game was 
 really so entertaining, and its moves must be made to 
 last as long as possible. 
 
 Lord Algy enjoyed fencing, too, so they talked in a 
 more matter-of-fact way for an hour or more, and then 
 she told him she would go and change for dinner, as it 
 would be ready in twenty minutes. 
 
 "I'll have to be your maid, darling — I make an 
 awfully good maid — I never bungle with the beastly 
 hooks — and I should love to brush your hair !" 
 
 9
 
 THE CAFEER OF KATHEEINE BUSH 
 
 His eyes shone with light-hearted passion, and his 
 ^ood-looking face was close to her own. 
 
 "You shall perhaps — to-morrow," Katherine Bush 
 retorted — and slipping into the room beyond she shut 
 the door. 
 
 Lord Algy flung himself into an armchair, lit a 
 cigarette and laughed softly. He had never had such 
 an experience as this. 
 
 "She is a wonder !" he said to himself. "Astonishing 
 for her class — for any class — She reminds me of some 
 French heroine — what's her name — fellow wrote jolly 
 nice stuff — oh — er — Mademoiselle de Maupin, of 
 course ! By Jove ! I believe I am going to have a time 
 like that chap had — only she won't go off into limbo on 
 Monday night ! — Confound it, I believe I'm in 
 love !" 
 
 Then he threw away his cigarette end, and went 
 round through the outer passage to his room beyond 
 hers, where he found his servant turning on his bath in 
 the bathroom which divided their apartments. 
 
 "Madame did not seem to require it — yet," Hanson 
 said respectfully, "so I have turned on Your Lordship's 
 first." 
 
 And in a few minutes Lord Algy was splashing in 
 the Lubin scented water, while he gaily whistled a tune. 
 
 And Katherine Bush heard him as she was sponging 
 her white face — and stopped and listened surprisedly. 
 
 "Whatever can he be having a bath for at this time 
 of day," she said to herself, "and it is not Saturday !" 
 
 Then the thouglit came, it might be the custom of 
 his class to bathe before dinner ! A scarlet spot grew 
 in each cheek — she must never forget to learn and profit 
 by her lessons, so she deliberately went and knocked on 
 the communicating door and called out: 
 
 10
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 "Algy ! you are mean to take the first ! — When you 
 have finished, turn on mine." 
 
 And then she stood and trembled for a minute, while 
 she piled up her great mass of ashen hair. 
 
 "All right, darling!" he called back. "Only I must 
 have my reward !" 
 
 "When / please!" the young woman said to herself. 
 "And not until." 
 
 At dinner, she looked quite pretty, the pink suited 
 her pale skin, and the unusual feminine fiuffiness of the 
 garment altered her rather stern appearance. She had 
 not yet begitn to employ any art whatever, or to alter 
 the rough bundling up of her hair, but now, out to 
 enjoy herself under the most propitious and rose-col- 
 oured circumstances, her strange, sullen eyes shone with 
 a subtle fascination, and her deep voice had tones in it 
 which seduced the ear. 
 
 She had never dined with him before, only lunched, 
 and now it behooved her to observe the ways of things, 
 as she was quite ignorant of the art of dining out. Mr. 
 Benjamin Devcreux had made advances to her in her 
 first year at Liv and Dev, but she had annihilated him, 
 and withered his proposals for unlimited dinners and a 
 generous settlement with scorn. There had never been 
 a moment when she had contemplated her charms being 
 wasted upon anything but an aristocrat, from whom 
 she could acquire "tone." 
 
 No denizen of Bindon's Green — no friend of the fam- 
 ily — no companion in the morning train had ever had 
 so much as a kind word, much less the tip of one of her 
 strong white fingers. She was as a bunch of grapes 
 with perfect bloom retained. 
 
 She was taking in every line of Lord Algy as she sat 
 there sipping her soup. She had refused oysters, and 
 
 11
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 had watched him as he devoured his with the joy of an 
 epicure. She had not been quite certain as to which 
 was the right implement to employ. She supposed it 
 was that little fork with the three prongs — but she de- 
 termined to make no mistakes. 
 
 It was easy enough to gobble oysters soused in 
 vinegar and red pepper, with huge slices of bread and 
 butter, and a bottle of stout, as her brother Fred was 
 wont to enjoy them at supper on Saturday nights. Or 
 they could be pulled about in the mincing fashion in 
 which his fiancee, that genteel Mabel Cawber, treated 
 them, with little finger daintily curved, and the first 
 and the thumb only in use! but before she, Katherine 
 Bush, swallowed one, she would ascertain exactly how 
 they were eaten in Lord Algy's world ! No good out of 
 this trip should be wasted. 
 
 As dinner advanced, he began to make more ardent 
 love to her — and the champagne elevated both their 
 spirits. He reproached her for her hardness in not 
 having allowed him to play the part of maid, after all. 
 She was a capricious little darling, but surely did not 
 mean to go on being unkind.'* 
 
 No ; she did not — but she had suddenly realised, while 
 dressing, that some of her garments were not fine enough 
 for the situation, and must be kept out of sight ! 
 
 She did not tell him this, however, but continued to 
 enact the role of condescending queen, while quietly she 
 watched him as a cat watches a mouse. 
 
 She loved the way his hair was brushed — how differ- 
 ent from Charlie Prodgers ! — she loved the finely cut 
 back of his head. She was perfectly aware that he 
 showed outwardly every mark of breeding in his weak, 
 handsome face, and lean well-drilled figure. These things 
 pleased her — especially the breeding; it was so 
 
 12
 
 ^HE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 very far from what she ever saw at Bindon's Green ! 
 
 Lord Algy had the easy, pleasant manner of his kind, 
 with a strong personal attraction, amply balancing ab- 
 sence of brain for general purposes, and he was versed 
 in every art for the cajoling of women. 
 
 The dinner grew more and more agreeable, until when 
 coffee and liqueurs came, Katherine Bush felt exalted 
 into a strange heaven. She had analysed almost all emo- 
 tions in the abstract, but not their possible effects upon 
 herself. She found the ones she was experiencing now 
 peculiarly delightful! To be twenty-two and in love 
 for the first time in life, with an extremely delectable 
 specimen of manhood — to be free as air — answerable to 
 no one — untroubled by backward or forward thoughts, 
 unworried by tormenting speculations as to whether the 
 affair was right or wrong — wise or unwise — This was 
 a state of things which made the cup worth drinking, 
 and Katherine Bush knew it. 
 
 No possibility of bitter dregs to follow the last sip 
 entered her calculations. 
 
 The imp gods laughed, no doubt, and Lord Algy's 
 blue eyes were full of passionate delight ! 
 
 Thus with all things couleur de rose, Katherine Bush 
 began her brief honeymoon.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 AND I shall not see you for a whole month, my 
 precious pet !" Lord Algy whispered, as the 
 train was approaching Charing Cross, at about 
 eleven o'clock on the Monday night of the return jour- 
 ney. "I don't know how I shall bear it, but you will 
 write every day, won't you? — Promise me, darling — 
 — I wish now that I had not taken first leave and ar- 
 ranged to shoot with my brother-in-law next week." 
 
 His arm still encircled her, and her ashen-hued head 
 leaned against his shoulder, so that he could not see the 
 expression in her sombre eyes. It was that of an animal 
 in pain. 
 
 "No, I shall not write, Algy, and you must not, either 
 — we have had a divine time, and I shall never forget it. 
 But it is stupid to write — what good would it be to 
 either of us.'*" 
 
 He pleaded that he would not be able to live without 
 a word — after the three days of perfect bliss they had 
 enjoyed — and, of course, they would enjoy many more, 
 when he returned from Wales — ! 
 
 Katherine Busli did not argue with him — of what use 
 since her own mind was entirely made up? She just 
 let him kiss her as much as he desired without speaking 
 a word, and then she arranged her hat and veil, and was 
 demurely ready to get out when the train should draw 
 up at the platform. 
 
 Lord Algy could not have been more loverlike. He 
 was really feeling full of emotion and awfully sorry to 
 
 14
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 part. She had been so wonderful, he told himself. She 
 had enjoyed the whole thing so simply, and was such a 
 delightful companion. She had not asked any silly 
 questions or plagued him with sentimental forevcr-and- 
 ever kinds of suggestions, as lots of girls might have 
 done with her limited experience of these transitory 
 affairs. She had accepted the situation as frankly as a 
 savage who had never heard that there could be any 
 more binding unions. He really did not know how he 
 was going to stand a whole month of separation, but 
 perhaps it was just as well, as he was on the verge of 
 being ridiculously in love, and to plunge in, he knew, 
 would be a hopeless mistake. She was a thousand times 
 nicer and more interesting than any girl he had ever 
 met in his life. If she had only been a lady, and there 
 would not be any row about it, he could imagine any 
 fellow being glad to marry her. 
 
 She was not at all cold either — indeed, far from it — 
 and seemed instinctively to understand the most en- 
 chanting passion — He thought of Mademoiselle de 
 Maupin again — and felt he had been as equally blessed 
 as D' Albert. She would make the sweetest friend for 
 months and months, and he would rush back from Wales 
 the moment he could break from his family, and seek 
 solace in her arms — he would have got himself in hand 
 again by then, so as not to do anything stupid. He 
 always meant to be very, very good to her, though. 
 Thus he dreamed, and grew more demonstrative, clasp- 
 ing her once again in a fond farewell embrace, during 
 the last available moment, and his charming blue eyes, 
 with their brown curly lashes, looked half full of tears. 
 
 "Say you love me, darling," he commanded, wishing, 
 like all lovers, to hear the spoken words. 
 
 Katherine Bush was very pale, and there was concen- 
 
 15
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 t rated feeling in her face which startled him. Then she 
 answered, her voice deeper than usual : 
 
 "Yes — I love you, Algy — perhaps you will never 
 know how much. I do not suppose I will ever really 
 love anyone else in the same way in my life," 
 
 Then the train drew up at the station. 
 
 The people all looked unreal in the foggy October 
 air under the glaring lights — and the whole thing ap- 
 peared as a dream indeed when, half an hour later, 
 Kathcrine sped through the suburban roads to Bindon's 
 Green, alone in the taxi. Lord Algy had put her in 
 and paid the man liberally, and with many last love 
 words had bidden her good-night and — au revoir! 
 
 So this chapter was finished — she realised that. And 
 it had been really worth while. An outlook had opened 
 for her into a whole new world — where realities lived — 
 where new beings moved, where new standpoints could 
 be reached. She saw that her former life had been 
 swept from her — and now, to look back upon, appeared 
 an impossible tedium. She had mastered all the shades 
 of what three days of most intimate companionship with 
 a gentleman could mean, and the memory contained no 
 flaw. Algy's chivalry and courtesy had never faltered ; 
 she might have been a princess or his bride, from the 
 homage he had paid her. Dear, much-loved Algy ! Her 
 passion for him was tinged with almost a mother love — 
 there was something so tender and open-hearted about 
 him. But now she must take stern hold of herself, and 
 must have pluck enough to profit by what she had 
 learned of life — Though to-night she was too tired to 
 do more than retrospect. 
 
 Oh! the wonder of it all! — the wonder of love, and 
 the wonder of emotion ! She clenched her cold hands 
 round the handle of her little valise. She was trembling. 
 
 16
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 She had insisted upon his keeping the fur-lined coat for 
 the present. How could she account for it to her fam- 
 ily, she had argued? But she never meant to take it 
 again. 
 
 No one was awake at Laburnum Villa when she 
 opened the door with her latchkey, and she crept up 
 to her little icy chamber under the roof, numb in mind 
 and body and soul — and was soon shivering between 
 the cotton sheets. 
 
 Oh! the contrast to the warm, flower-scented bedroom 
 at the Palatial! And once she had not known the dif- 
 ference between linen and cotton! 
 
 She said this over to herself while she felt the nap — 
 and then the tears gathered in her eyes one by one, and 
 she sobbed uncontrollably for a while — Alas ! to have to 
 renounce all joy — forever more! 
 
 She fell asleep towards morning, and woke with a 
 start as her alarm clock thundered. But her face was 
 set like marble, and there was not a trace of weakness 
 upon it when she appeared at the family scramble, 
 which did duty for breakfast. 
 
 There had been a row between Fred and Gladys, the 
 sister a year older than herself, who was a saleswoman 
 at a fashionable dressmaker's establishment. Ma- 
 tilda, the eldest of the family, was trying to smooth 
 matters while she sewed up a rent in the skirt which 
 Ethel, the youngest, would presently wear to the school 
 "for young ladies" which she daily attended. This, the 
 most youthful Miss Bush, meanwhile sat in a very soiled 
 Japanese quilted dressing gown, devouring sausages. 
 There were bloaters on the table, too, and treacle — 
 and the little general servant was just bringing in the 
 unsavory coffee in the tin coffeepot. 
 
 Tea had been good enough for them always in the 
 
 17
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 father's time, and Matilda for her part could not see 
 vrhy Fred had insisted upon having coffee, on the 
 strength of a trip to Boulogne on bank holiday. 
 
 But there it was ! When Fred insisted, things had to 
 be done — even if one hated coffee ! 
 
 Katherine Bush loathed most of her family. She had 
 not an expansive nature, and was quite ruthless. Wliy 
 should she love them just because they were her brothers 
 and sisters? She had not asked to be born among 
 them ! They were completely uncongenial to her, and 
 always had been. It was obviously ridiculous and 
 illogical then to expect her to feel affection for them, 
 just because of this accident of birth, so she argued. 
 Matilda, the eldest, who had always been a mother to 
 the rest, did hold one small corner of her heart. 
 
 "Poor old Tild," as she called her, "the greatest old 
 fool living," and Matilda adored her difficult sister. 
 
 How doubly impossible they all appeared now to the 
 unveiled eyes of Katherine ! 
 
 "This is simply disgusting stuff, this coffee !" she 
 said, putting her cup down with a grimace. "It is no 
 more like French coffee than Ett looks like a Japanese 
 because she has got on that dirty dressing-gown." 
 
 "What do you know of French coffee, I'd like to ask 
 — W^hat ho!" Bert, the brother just younger than her- 
 self, demanded, with one of his bright flashes. "Have 
 you been to 'Boulong for a bit of a song,' like the Gov'- 
 nor?" 
 
 "I wish you'd give over calling me the Gov'nor, 
 Bert!" Mr. Frederick Bush interposed, stopping for a 
 moment his bicker with Gladys. "Mabel strongly ob- 
 jects to it. She says it is elderly and she dislikes slang, 
 anyway." 
 
 But Albert Bush waved half a sausage on his fork, 
 
 18
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 and subsided into a chuckle of laughter. He was the 
 recognised wit of the family, and Ethel giggled in 
 chorus. 
 
 Katherine never replied to any of their remarks, un- 
 less she wished to ; there was no use in throwing down 
 the gauntlet to her, it remained lying there. She did 
 not even answer Matilda's tentative suggestion that she 
 had always drunk the coffee before without abusing it ! 
 
 If they only knew how significant the word "before" 
 sounded to her that morning! 
 
 She finished her bit of burnt toast, and began putting 
 on her hat at a side mirror preparatory to starting. 
 She did not tell Gladys that she would be late if she 
 did not leave also ; that was her sister's own affair, she 
 never interfered with people. 
 
 As she left the dining-room, she said to Matilda: 
 
 "I want a fire in my room when I come back this 
 evening, please. I'll have one every day — Make out 
 how much it will be, and Em'ly's extra work, and I'll 
 pay for it." 
 
 "Whatever do you want that for, Kitten.'"' the as- 
 tonished Matilda demanded. "Why, it is only Octo- 
 ber yet. No one ever has a fire until November, even 
 in the drawing-room — let alone a bedroom. It is ridicu- 
 lous, dearie !" 
 
 "That aspect does not matter at all to me," Kath- 
 erine retorted. "I want it, and so I shall have it. I 
 have some work to do, and I am not going to freeze." 
 
 Matilda knew better than to continue arguing. She 
 had not lived with Katherine for twenty-two years for 
 nothing. 
 
 "She takes after father in a way," she sighed to her- 
 self as she began helping the little servant to clear away 
 the breakfast things, when they had all departed to the 
 
 19
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 West End, where it was their boast to announce that 
 thej were all employed — they looked down upon the 
 City ! 
 
 "Yes, it's father, not mother or her family; father 
 would have his way, and Fred has got this idea, too, 
 but nothing like Kitten's ! How I wish she'd look at 
 Charlie Prodgers and get married and settled !" 
 
 Then she sighed again and sat down by the window to 
 enjoy her one great pleasure of the day, the perusal 
 of the feuilleton in the Morning Reflector. In these 
 brief moments she forgot all family worries, all sordid 
 cares — and revelled in the adventures of aristocratic 
 villains and persecuted innocent governesses and ac- 
 tresses, and felt she, too, had a link with the great 
 world. She was a good sound Radical in what repre- 
 sented politics to her, so she knew all aristocrats must 
 be bad, and ought to be exterminated, but she loved to 
 read about them, and hear first-hand descriptions of the 
 female members from Gladys, who saw many in the 
 showrooms of Madame Ermantine. "Glad knows,'* 
 she often said to herself with pride. 
 
 Meanwhile, Katherine Bush — having snubbed Mr. 
 Prodgers into silence in the train — where he manoeuvred 
 to meet her every morning — reached her employers' es- 
 tablishment, and began her usual typing. 
 
 There was work to be done by twelve o'clock in con- 
 nection with tlie renewal of the loan to Lord Algernon 
 Fitz-Rufus — the old Marquis would be obliged to 
 pay before Christmas time, Mr. Percival Livingstone 
 said. 
 
 Miss Bush, to his intense astonishment, gave a sud- 
 den short laugh — it was quite mirthless and stopped 
 abruptly — but it was undoubtedly a laugh! 
 
 "What is amusing you?" he asked with a full lisp, too 
 
 20
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 taken off his guard to be as refined and careful in tone 
 as usual. 
 
 "The old Marquis having to pay, of course," Kath- 
 erine responded. 
 
 Never once during the whole day did she allow her 
 thoughts to wander from her work, which she accom- 
 plislied with her usual precision. Even during her 
 luncheon hour she deliberately read the papers. She 
 had trained herself to do one thing at a time, and the 
 moment for reflection would not come until she could 
 be undisturbed. She would go back as soon as she was 
 free, to her own attic, and there think everything out, 
 and decide upon the next step to be taken in her game 
 of hfe. 
 
 A few burnt sticks, and a lump of coal in the tiny 
 grate, were all she discovered on her return that eve- 
 ning to her sanctuary. The maid-of-all-work was not 
 a talented fire-lighter and objected to criticism. Kath- 
 erine's level brows met with annoyance, and she pro- 
 ceeded to correct matters herself, while she muttered : 
 
 "Inefficient creature! and they say that we are all 
 equal ! Why can't she do her work, then, as well as I 
 can mine !" 
 
 Her firm touch and common sense arrangement of 
 paper and kindling soon produced a bright blaze, and 
 when she had removed her outdoor things, she sat down 
 to think determinedly. 
 
 She loved Lord Algy — that was the first and most 
 dominant thing to face. She loved him so much that 
 it would never be safe to see him again, since she had 
 not the slightest intention of ever drifting into the posi- 
 tion of being a man's mistress. She had tasted of the 
 tree of knowledge with her eyes open, and the fruit that 
 she had eaten was too dangerously sweet for continuous 
 
 21
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 food. Love would obtain a mastery over her if things 
 went on ; she knew that she might grow not to care 
 about anything else in the world but only Algy. Thus, 
 obviously, all connection with him must be broken off at 
 once, or her career would be at an end, and her years 
 of study wasted. Even if he offered to marry her she 
 could never take the position with a high hand. There 
 would always be this delicious memory of illicit joys 
 between them, which would unconsciously bias Algy's 
 valuation of her. She had learned things of consequence 
 which she could not have acquired in any other way, and 
 now she must have strength to profit by them. She 
 utterly despised weaklings and had no pity for lovesick 
 maidens. For a woman to throw over her future for a 
 man was to her completely contemptible. She probed 
 the possible consequences of her course of action un- 
 flinchingly ; she believed so in her own luck that she felt 
 sure that no awkward accident could happen to her. 
 But even if this should occur, there were ways which 
 could be discovered to help her — and since the moment 
 had not yet come, she would defer contemplating it, 
 but would map out her plans regardless of this con- 
 tingency. So she argued to herself. 
 
 She could not endure living under the family roof 
 of Laburnum Villa any longer, that was incontestable ; 
 she must go out and learn exactly how tlie ladies of 
 Lord Algy's world conducted themselves. Not that 
 she wished to dawn once more upon his horizon as a 
 polished Vere de Vere — but that for her own satisfac- 
 tion she must make herself his equal in all respects. 
 There had been so many trifles about which she had 
 felt she had been ignorant, almost every moment of the 
 three days had given her new visions, and had shown 
 her her own shortcomings. 
 
 £2
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "There are no bars to anything in life but stupidity 
 and vanity," she told herself, "and they at least shall 
 not stand in my way." 
 
 The temptation to have one more farewell interview 
 with him was great, but there was nothing the least 
 dramatic about her, so that aspect did not appeal to 
 her as it would have done to an ordinary woman who is 
 ruled by emotional love for dramatic situations ; she 
 was merely drawn by the desire for her mate once more, 
 and this she knew and crushed. 
 
 It would mean greater pain than pleasure to her af- 
 terwards, and would certainly spoil all chance of a ca- 
 reer. She gloried in the fact that she had had the 
 courage to taste of life's joys for experience, but she 
 would have burned with shame to feel that she was being 
 drawn into an equivocal position through her own 
 weakness. 
 
 Katherine Bush was as proud as Lucifer. She fully 
 understood — apart from moral questions which did not 
 trouble her — that what she had done would have been 
 fatal to a fool like Gladys, or to any girl except one 
 with her exceptional deliberation and iron will. She 
 truly believed that such experiments were extremely dan- 
 gerous, and on no account to be adopted as a principle 
 of action in general. The straight and narrow path of 
 orthodox virtue was the only one for most women to 
 follow; and the only one she would have advocated for 
 her sisters or friends. The proof being that as a rule 
 when women erred they invariably suffered because they 
 had not the pluck or the strength to know when to stop. 
 
 Katherine Bush was absolutely determined that she 
 should never be hampered, in her game, by her own emo- 
 tions or weakness. 
 
 Before Lord Algy would return from Wales, she 
 
 23
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 would have left Liv and Dev's. She had never given him 
 her home address, and there would be no trace of her. 
 She would look in the Morning Post for information, 
 and then endeavour to secure some post as companion or 
 secretary to some great lady. There she would pick up 
 the rest of the necessary equipment to make herself into 
 a person in whom no flaws could be found. And when 
 she had accomplished this, then fate would have opened 
 up some path worth following. 
 
 "Some day I shall be one of the greatest women in 
 England," she told herself, as she looked unblinking 
 into the glowing coals. 
 
 Then, having settled her plans, she allowed herself 
 to go over the whole of her little holiday, incident by 
 incident. 
 
 How utterly adorable Algy had been ! She found 
 herself thrilling again at each remembrance — How re- 
 fined and how considerate ! How easy were his man- 
 ners ; he was too sure of himself, and his welcome in life, 
 ever to show the deplorable self-consciousness which 
 marked the friends who came on Sundays, oi the bump- 
 tious self-assertion of her brothers, Fred and Bert. 
 
 If only she had been born in his world, and had by 
 right of birth those prerogatives which she meant to 
 obtain by might of intelligence, how good it would have 
 been to marry him — for a few years ! But even now in 
 her moment of fierce, passionate first love, which in her 
 case was so largely made up of the physical, her brain 
 was too level and speculative not to balance the pros 
 and cons of such a situation. And while she felt she 
 loved him with all her being, she knew that he was no 
 match for her intellectually, and that when the glamour 
 faded he would weary her. 
 
 But the wrench of present renunciation was none the 
 
 24
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 less bitter — Never any more to feel his fond arms clasp- 
 ing her — never again to hear his caressing words of 
 love ! 
 
 If a coronet for her brow shone at the end of the 
 climb, her heart at all events must turn to ice by the 
 way, or so she felt at the moment. 
 
 He had talked so tenderly about their future meet- 
 ings. How they would go again to Paris when he re- 
 turned from Wales. How she must let him give her 
 pretty clothes and a diamond ring, and how she was his 
 darling pet, and his own girl. She knew that he was 
 growing really to love her ; Katherine Bush never de- 
 ceived herself or attempted to throw dust in her own 
 eyes. She had eaten her cake and could not have it. If 
 she had held out and drawn him on, no doubt she could 
 have been his wife, but it was only for one second that 
 this thought agitated her. Yes, she could have been 
 his wife — but to what end.'' Only one of humiliation. 
 She was not yet ready to carry off such a position with 
 a certainty of success ; she knew she was ignorant, and 
 that the knowledge of such ignorance would destroy 
 her self-confidence and leave her at the mercy of cir- 
 cumstance. So all was for the best. She had not 
 guessed that it would be so very painful to part from 
 him — dear, attractive Algy ! She could not sit still 
 any longer, A convulsion of anguish and longing shook 
 her, and she got up and stamped across the room. Then 
 she put on her outdoor things again and stalked down 
 into the gathering night, passionate emotion filling her 
 soul. 
 
 But when she came back an hour later, after tramp- 
 ing the wet roads round the common, tiie battle was won. 
 
 And this night she fell asleep without any tears.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 IT was about a fortnight later that Katherine got 
 Matilda to meet her at a Lyons' popular cafe for 
 tea on a Wednesday afternoon. Livingstone and 
 Devereux had given her a half holiday, being on country 
 business bent ; and having matured her plans, and hav- 
 ing set fresh schemes in train, she thought she might as 
 well communicate them to the one sister who mattered 
 to her. Matilda loved an excuse to "get up to town," 
 and had come in her best hat, with smiling face. Kath- 
 erine was always very generous to her, though she was 
 no more careless about money than she was about other 
 things. 
 
 "It is all very well, Tild," she said, in her deep voice, 
 after they had spoken upon indifferent subjects for a 
 while. "But I am tired of it. I am absolutely tired of 
 it, so there ! I am tired of Liv and Dev — tired of the 
 ■hateful old click of the machine with no change of work 
 — I am tired of seeing the people of another class 
 through the glass screen — and I mean to get out of it." 
 
 "Whatever are you talking of, Kitten !" the elder 
 Miss Bush exclaimed, as she stirred her cocoa. "Why, 
 Liv and Dcv's as good a berth as you'd get — thirty bob 
 a week, and a whole holiday on Saturday — to say noth- 
 ing of off times like this — you must be mad, dearie!" 
 Then something further in her sister's remark aroused 
 comment. 
 
 "And what do you mean by people of 'another class'? 
 Why, aren't we as good as anyone — if we had their 
 money?" 
 
 a6
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 Katherine Bush put down her empty cup before she 
 replied: 
 
 "No, we're not — and if you weren't as i^orant as 
 you are, dear old Tild, you'd know it. There are lots 
 and lots of classes above us — they mayn't be any clev- 
 erer — indeed, they are often fools, and many aren't any 
 richer — but they're ladies and gentlemen." 
 
 Matilda felt personally insulted. 
 
 "Upon my word, Kitten ! — If you are such a poor 
 thing that you don't consider yourself a young lad3' — I 
 am not. I always did say that you would pick up rub- 
 bishly ideas bothering after those evening lectures and 
 French classes — instead of coming with Glad and Bert 
 and me to the cinema, like a decent Christian — it was 
 a low sort of thing to do, I think, and looked as if we'd 
 none of us had a proper education — and all they have 
 done for you is to unsettle your mind, my dear — so I 
 tell you." 
 
 Katherine Bush smiled complacently and looked at 
 her sister straight in the eyes in her disconcerting way, 
 which insured attention. Matilda knew that she would 
 now have to listen probably to some home truths. She 
 could manage Gladys very well in spite of her giggles 
 and irresponsibility, but she had never been able to 
 have the slightest influence upon Katherine from the 
 moment of their mother's death, years before, when 
 she had taken her place as head of the orphaned house- 
 hold. Katherine had always been odd. She had a vile 
 temper as a child, and was silent and morose, and at 
 constant war with that bright boy Bert, loved of the 
 other sisters : Matilda remembered very well many scenes 
 when Katherine had puzzled her. She was so often 
 scornful and disapproving, and used to sit there with a 
 book scowling at them on Sundays when a rowdy friend 
 
 27
 
 THE CABEEB OF KATHEBINE BUSH 
 
 or two came in to tea, and never once joined in the 
 chorus of the comic songs they sang, while she simply 
 loathed the gramophone records. 
 
 "You say awfully silly things sometimes, Tild," Kath- 
 erine announced calmly. "There would not be any good 
 in my considering m^'self a young lady, because at my 
 present stage anyone who really knew would know that 
 I am not — but I mean to become one some day. You 
 can do anything with will." 
 
 Matilda bridled. 
 
 "I don't know what more of a lady you could be than 
 we all are — Why, Mabel Cawber always says that we are 
 the most refined family of the whole lot at Bindon's 
 Green — and Mabel ought to know surely !" 
 
 "Because her father was a solicitor, and she has never 
 done a stroke of work in her life?" Katherine smiled 
 again — it made Matilda feel uncomfortable. 
 
 "Mabel is a perfect lady," she affirmed indignantly. 
 
 "I will be able to tell you about that in a year's time, 
 I expect," Katherine said, reflectively. "At present, I 
 am not experienced enough to say, but I strongly feel 
 that she is not. You see, Tild, you get your ideas of 
 things from the trash you read — and from the ridicu- 
 lous nonsense Fred and Albert talk after they come 
 homo from those meetings at the National Brotherhood 
 Club — fool's stuff about the equality of all men " 
 
 "Of course we are all equal!" broke in Matilda, still 
 ruffled. 
 
 Katherine Bush smiled again. "Well, I wish you 
 could see the difference between Fred and Bert and those 
 gentlemen I see through the glass screen! They have 
 all got eyes and noses and legs and arms in common, but 
 everything else is different, and if you knew anything 
 about evolution, you'd understand why." 
 
 28
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Should I!" indignantly. 
 
 "Yes. It is the something inside the head, some- 
 thing in the ideas, produced by hundreds of years of 
 different environment and a wider point of view — and it 
 is immensely in the little customs and manners of speech 
 and action. If you had ever seen and spoken to a real 
 gentleman, Tild, you would grasp it." 
 
 Matilda was quite unmollified and on the defensive. 
 
 "You can't have two more honourable, straightfor- 
 ward young fellows than our brothers in no family in 
 England, and I expect lots of your gents borrowing 
 money are as crooked as can be!" 
 
 Katherine became contemplative. 
 
 "Probably — the thing I mean does not lie in moral 
 qualities — I suppose it ought to — but it doesn't — We 
 had a real sharp last week, and to look at and to hear 
 him talk he was a perfect gentleman, with refined and 
 easy manners ; he would never have done anything in 
 bad taste like Fred and Bert often do." 
 
 "Bad taste !" snorted Matilda. 
 
 "Yes — we all do. No gentleman ever tells people in 
 words that he is one — ^Fred and Bert say it once a week, 
 at least. They lay the greatest stress on it. No real 
 gentlemen get huffy and touchy ; they are too sure of 
 themselves and do not pretend anything, they are quite 
 natural and you take them as they are. They don't do 
 one thing at home at ease, and another when they are 
 dressed up, and they aren't a bit ashamed of knowing 
 anyone. Fred does not speak to Ernie Gibbs when he 
 is out with Mabel, although they were at school to- 
 geth 
 
 er 
 
 I" 
 
 "Ernie Gibbs ! Why, Kitten, he is only a foreman in 
 the Bindon Gas Works ! Of course not ! Mabel wouldi 
 take on !" 
 
 ^9
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 Matilda thought her sister was being too stupid ! 
 
 "Yes, I am sure she would — that is just it " 
 
 "And quite right, too !" 
 
 Katherinc shrugged her shoulders. There was not 
 much use in arguing with Matilda, she felt, Matilda 
 who had never thought out any problem for herself in 
 her life — Matilda who had not the privilege of knowing 
 any attractive Lord Algys ! — and who therefore could 
 not have grasped the immeasurable gulf that she, Kath- 
 erine, had found lay between his class and hers ! 
 
 "They say Fred is a capable auctioneer because fa- 
 ther and grandfather were — you hear people saying 'it 
 is in the blood' — Well, why is it, Tild? — Because hered- 
 ity counts just as it does in animals, of course. So 
 why, if a man's father and grandfather, and much fur- 
 ther back still, have been gentlemen commanding their 
 inferiors, and fulfilling the duties of their station, 
 should not the traits which mean that show as plainly 
 as the auctioneer traits show in Fred ?^^ 
 
 Matilda had no answer ready, she felt resentful ; but 
 words did not come, so Katherine went on: 
 
 "You can't jump straight to things ; they either have 
 to come by instinct through a long line of forebears, or 
 you have to have intelligence enough to make yourself 
 acquire the outward signs of them, through watching 
 and learning from those who you can see for yourself 
 have what you want." 
 
 Matilda called for another cup of cocoa — she dis- 
 liked these views of Katherine's. 
 
 "You see," that young woman went on, "no one who 
 is a real tiling ever has to tell people so in words. Liv 
 and Dev don't have to say they are two of the sharpest 
 business men in London — anyone can realise it who 
 knows them. You, and all of us, don't have to tell 
 
 30
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 people we belong to the lower middle class, because it is 
 plain to be seen, but we would have to tell them we were 
 ladies and gentlemen, because we are not. Lord Al — oh ! 
 any lord who comes to our office — does not have to say 
 he is an aristocrat; you can see it for yourself in a 
 minute by his ways. It is the shams that always keep 
 shouting. Mabel Cawber insists upon it that she is a 
 tip-top swell; Fred thinks he is deceiving everyone by 
 telling them what a gentleman he is, and by not speak- 
 ing to Ernie Gibbs, who is an awfully good fellow. 
 Emily says she is a splendid general, and can't even 
 light a fire, and won't learn how to. George Berker in. 
 our office says he is a first-class clerk, and muddles his 
 accounts. Everything true speaks for itself. I always 
 mean to be perfectly true, and win out by learning." 
 
 Matilda, though somewhat crushed, was still antag- 
 onistic. 
 
 "I'm sure I hope you'll succeed then, my dear!" she 
 snapped. 
 
 "Yes, I shall." Katherine fired her bomb. "It may 
 take me some time, but that does not matter, and the 
 first step I have already taken is that I am leaving Liv 
 and Dev's on Friday — and, I hope, going to be secre- 
 tary to Sarah Lady Garribardine, at a hundred and 
 ten Berkeley Square, and Blissington Court, Blank- 
 shire!" 
 
 "Well, there ! You could have knocked me over with 
 a feather !" as Matilda told Gladys later in the evening. 
 "And wasn't it like Katherine never telling us a thing 
 about it until everything was almost settled !" But at 
 the moment, she merely breathed a strangled : 
 
 "Oh, my !" 
 
 "If I get it, I go to my new situation next week. I 
 had a tremendous piece of luck coming across it." 
 
 31
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Well, however did you do it, Kitten?" Matilda de- 
 manded. 
 
 "I saw an advertisement in the Morning Post — it 
 was quite a strange one, and seemed to be advertising for 
 a kind of Admirable Crichton — someone who could take 
 down shorthand at lightning speed, and typewrite and 
 speak French — and read aloud, and who had a good 
 knowledge of English literature, and thoroughly knew 
 the duties of a secretary." 
 
 "Oh ! My !" said Matilda again, "but you can't do 
 half of those things. Kitten — wc none of us know 
 French, do we !" 
 
 Katherine smiled; how little her family understood 
 her in any way ! 
 
 "I wrote first and said they seemed to want a great 
 deal, but as I had been with Livingstone and Devereux 
 for three years, and accustomed to composing every sort 
 of letter that a moneylender's business required, I 
 thought I could soon become proficient in the other 
 things." 
 
 "Well, I never ! What cheek !" 
 
 "Then I got an answer saying Lady Garribardine 
 liked my communication, and if I proved satisfactory 
 in appearance, and had some credentials, she would en- 
 gage me immediately, because her secretary, who had 
 been with her for years, had gone to be married — the 
 salary would be ninety pounds a year with a rise, so it's 
 a slight move up, anyway, as I am to be kept, and live 
 in the house." 
 
 "You are cocksure of getting it, Katherine.'"' 
 
 "Yes — I mean to — I am going to see her on Sat- 
 urday," 
 
 "And what are your references besides Liv and Dev.'^ 
 Some folks don't like moneylenders."
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "I wrote and said I had no others — but they would 
 testify to my capacity. Liv nearly had a fit when I 
 gave my notice — he almost cried to get me to stay on. 
 I like the old boy — he is a good sort, and will tell the 
 truth about me." 
 
 "And did they answer.'"' 
 
 "Yes — just to say I was to come for the interview 
 on Saturday." 
 
 "They want to see you, anyway — what is the family, 
 I wonder.''" 
 
 Here Katherine recited the details from Debrett, in 
 which volume she was very proficient. 
 
 "An old lady, then," Matilda commented, "and with 
 no children except a married daughter! That will be 
 easier for you — but why is she called 'Sarah' .'* I often 
 have wondered about that, when I read names in the 
 Flare. Why 'Sarah Lady Something' — and not plain 
 Lady Something.'"' 
 
 "It's when the man In possession is married and you 
 are not his mother," Katherine told her, "and if you are, 
 and still have your Christian name tacked on, it is to 
 make you sound younger. Dev says dowagers are quite 
 out of fashion. Every widow is 'Sarah' or 'Cordelia' 
 now in the high society, and when he first went to busi- 
 ness, there were only two or three. Queen Victoria 
 never stood any nonsense." 
 
 Matilda was very interested. 
 
 "Whatever will you do about your clothes, Kitten.'' 
 You have nothing nobby and smart like Gladj's. She 
 could lend you her purple taffeta if you weren't so tall." 
 
 "Oh, I manage all right. I'll have a talk with 
 Gladys to-night; she sees the right sort of people at 
 Ermantine's, and can tell me what to get — and I'll buy 
 it to-morrow in my lunch hour." 
 
 33
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Well, I am just rattled," Matilda admitted. "Then 
 you'll be leaving home quite, dearie?" 
 
 "Yes, Tild — and I shan't be sorry except to be 
 parted from you — but I daresay I shall be able to come 
 and see you now and then." 
 
 Matilda looked tearful. 
 
 "You never were one of us, Katherine." 
 
 "No, I know I never was. I often have wondered 
 what accident pitchforked me in among you, always the 
 discordant note and the wet blanket. I hark back to 
 someone, I suppose — I've always determined to get out, 
 when I was ready." 
 
 "You never did care for us — never. Kitten." 
 
 Katherine Bush remained quite unmoved. 
 
 "No, never for the others — but always for you, Tild 
 — and I'll never forget you, dear. There, don't be a 
 donkey and cry — the people at the next table are look- 
 ing at you." 
 
 This argument she knew would calm her sister — who 
 was intensely sensitive to everyone's opinion. 
 
 "And supposing they don't take you?" Matilda 
 suggested, in a still quavering voice, "and you've given 
 notice to Liv and Dev — I call it awfully risky." 
 
 "Then I will look out for something else — I am de- 
 termined to make a change, and see a new world, what- 
 ever happens." 
 
 After supper that evening, Gladys was invited up 
 to the warmed attic with Matilda, an honour she duly 
 appreciated. They all stood in irritated awe of Kath- 
 erine. 
 
 "I want to talk about clothes, Glad," she said, when 
 they neared the tiny fireplace. "I have told Tild 1 am 
 going about a new berth on Saturday." 
 
 This caused the same astonishment and exclamations 
 
 34,
 
 THE CABEER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 as Matilda had already indulged in — and when calm 
 was restored, Gladys was only too pleased to show her 
 superior knowledge. 
 
 "I don't want to hear about any of those actresses 
 you dress, or those ladies who look like them, I want 
 to know what a real, quiet, well-bred countess, say, 
 would have, Glad." 
 
 Miss Gladys Bush smiled contemptuously. 
 
 "Oh, a regular frump, you mean — like the ones we 
 can't persuade to have tight skirts when they are first 
 the fashion, or loose ones when it changes — that is easy 
 enough — it is to get 'the look' that is difficult." 
 
 "They probably would not engage me if I had 'the 
 look,' " Katherine remarked cynically. 
 
 "You'd better have something like we made for Lady 
 Beatrice Strobridge last week, then," Gladys suggested. 
 "One of our hands can copy it at home, but there won't 
 be time by Saturday. You'd better wear your best 
 blue serge and get a new hat for the first meeting." 
 
 "Lady Beatrice Strobridge must be the Hon. Gerard 
 Strobridge's wife, my new employer's late husband's 
 nephew. Strobridge is the Garribardine name." Kath- 
 erine had looked up diligently the whole family, and 
 knew the details of each unit by heart. 
 
 "She only got married two years ago," Gladys con- 
 tinued. "She was Thorvil, before — ^Lady Beatrice 
 Thorvil." 
 
 "Wife of the present man's younger brother," quoted 
 Katherine, remembering Debrett. "He is about thirty- 
 five ; the present man is forty." 
 
 "She is a regular dowdy, anyway," Gladys remarked. 
 "One of those — we have a bunch of them — that wants 
 the things, and yet with their own touch on them, spoil- 
 ing the style. They come together generally, and do 
 
 35
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 make a lot of fuss over each other — calling 'darlings' 
 and 'precious' all the time — fit to make me and the girls 
 die laughing with their nonsense." 
 
 "What is she like — good-looking?" Katherine asked. 
 She only questioned when she wanted specific informa- 
 tion, never idly, and it was as well to know everything 
 about her possible new employer's family. 
 
 "She would not be bad if she did not stoop so. She 
 hasn't got 'the walk' neither, no more than the 'look'; 
 sometimes she's all right — at least, the things are all 
 right when they go home, but she adds bits herself af- 
 terwards, and spoils them." 
 
 Here Matilda interrupted. 
 
 "Anyway, she is one of the ladies you'll see in your 
 new place, Kitten. I'd certainly have that same dress, 
 it will just show them you are as good as they, if you 
 have an Ermantine model." 
 
 But Katherine thought differently. She agreed she 
 would have something in the same subdued style as 
 Lady Beatrice would have chosen, but not the actual 
 copy, and after settling details the other two sisters 
 left her for bed. 
 
 When they had gone, she sat by the fire and looked 
 deeply into it, while she thought for a few moments. 
 Then she drew a letter from her blouse and reread it. 
 It was from Lord Algy. A sweet little love epistle. 
 Just to tell her he could not possibly wait for the whole 
 month before seeing her — and was coming up to town 
 the following week — and would not slic lunch with him 
 at the old place — and perhaps stay with him again at 
 the Great Terminus.'' It ended with protestations of 
 passionate devotion. 
 
 No — never again — she had tasted of the cup of bliss, 
 and Fate was asking her to pay no price. She must 
 
 d6
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 have courage now to renounce all further pleasure. 
 Once was an experience, twice would be weakness — 
 which could grow into a habit — and thence lead to an 
 abyss which she shuddered to think of. 
 
 Katherine Bush had never read Theophile Gautier's 
 masterpiece — but there was something in her character, 
 as Lord Algy had remarked, which resembled Made- 
 moiselle de Maupm's. 
 
 She went to her little writing-case and got out a 
 sheet of paper, and then, in her firm round hand which 
 looked like a man's, she wrote him these few lines : 
 
 Dear Algy, 
 
 I want you to forget all about me — I loved our little trip, 
 but I am never going on another. I shall have left Liv and 
 Dev's before you get back, and you won't see me again. 
 With best love always. K. B. 
 
 She folded it, put it in the envelope — addressed it 
 and stamped it — then she put it ready to post in the 
 morning. 
 
 Her face was white and set. It takes a strong will 
 to renounce tangible present happiness, however pro- 
 found the beliefs in the future may be.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 SARAH Lady Garribardine said to her nephew, 
 Gerard Strobridge, who had been lunching with 
 her on that Saturday : 
 
 "You must go now, G. I am expecting a new secre- 
 tary." 
 
 "How will you get on without Miss Arnott, Sera- 
 phim? I thought she was irreplaceable." 
 
 "So she is — I am interviewing quite a new type — she 
 has been a moneylender's shorthand typist." 
 
 Mr. Strobridge raised his eyebrows — and smiled his 
 whimsical smile. His Aunt Sarah always was original. 
 
 "Then I'll leave you — Beatrice has at last made up 
 her mind not to chuck the Arberrys, so we motor down 
 at three o'clock." 
 
 "Has Beatrice been unusually tiresome.'"' 
 
 "N-no — she has been writing odes all the morning." 
 
 "You ought never to have married, G. — You would 
 not have if Alice Southerwood had not become a widow 
 — a man can't always face his obvious obligations." 
 
 Gerard Strobridge laughed. 
 
 "Then I shall kiss your hand and say farewell until 
 next week — wisest of aunts !' 
 
 He suited the action to the word, and left the room 
 just as the butler was about to open the door and 
 announce: 
 
 "Miss Bush, Your Ladyship." 
 
 He glanced quickly at Katherine — this was the young 
 person who would take the estimable Miss Amott's 
 
 38
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 place, he supposed. She was quite ordinary looking. — 
 He went on down the stairs. 
 
 "Come and sit here in the light, please," Lady 
 Garribardine said, as Katharine Bush came towards 
 her. 
 
 It was a very well-arranged Katherine, in the best 
 blue serge — and a new hat— not of Gladys' choosing. 
 The mop of hair was twisted tight without the least 
 pretension to express "the look," — some grey suede 
 gloves— bought in Paris by Lord Algy — were on the 
 wonderful hands which remained perfectly still in their 
 owner's lap. 
 
 "How old are you.^" asked Lady Garribardine by 
 way of a beginning. 
 
 "I was twenty-two last September." There was not 
 a trace of nervousness in Katherine Bush's deep voice — 
 indeed she felt none. 
 
 "And what does your family consist of — what is 
 your status in life.?" Lady Garribardine felt perhaps 
 she ought to ascertain this before going further. 
 
 "We are just middle class. My father was an auc- 
 tioneer at Bindon's Green where we live. He and my 
 mother are both dead. I have a sister who is a sales- 
 woman at Madame Ermantine's, the others are at home. 
 My eldest brother has taken father's place, the younger 
 one is in a bank." 
 
 "And how long have you been at this business?" 
 
 "Since I was nineteen — ^before that I kept the ac- 
 counts at a pork butcher's." 
 
 "Indeed ! And what makes you think you would 
 
 be capable of filling my situation?" 
 
 "It is not very easy to be a competent moneylender's 
 secretary and a shorthand writer." 
 
 "No — perhaps not." 
 
 39
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Mr. Livingston and Mr. Devereux will tell you that 
 I did not make a failure of it." 
 
 "ReaUy?" 
 
 Katherine was silent. 
 
 "Really," Lady Garribardine repeated again. "You 
 mean that you think you can pick up things quickly." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "It is certainly an advantage. I hoped to find some- 
 thing exceptional when I advertised." 
 
 "Yes, I noticed that — and it was because your ad- 
 vertisement was unusual that I applied for the post." 
 
 She rather wondered if she ought to have put in any 
 *'Ladyships" ; she remembered Hanson, Lord Algy's 
 valet, was very prodigal of such marks of respect — 
 that is what had deterred her. Liv and Dev often 
 used them, too — to new and prosperously connected 
 clients — but she did not wish to be subservient more 
 than was necessary. She would watch and listen — as 
 she Iiad watched about the oysters. 
 
 "Can you read aloud?" 
 
 Lady Garribardine was fixing her with her flashing 
 brown eyes, which contrasted so unfavourably with the 
 bronze-gold wig she wore so bravely. 
 
 "I have never tried. If I did it wrong the first time 
 and you corrected me, I expect I wouldn't do it twice." 
 
 "That is something — and your voice is refined — ^you 
 did not acquire that at the — er — pork butcher's.''" 
 
 "No, I acquired it by listening to members of the 
 upper classes who came to borrow money — I had a 
 cockney twang like my sisters, I daresay, in the be- 
 ginning." 
 
 "That shows you can learn things." 
 
 "Yes, it is only stupid people who can't." 
 
 "You are not stupid, then.'"' 
 
 40
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "No, but Mr. Livingston or Mr. Devereux can tell 
 you ; either will speak for me." 
 
 Lady Garribardine was amused ; she digressed a little 
 from her cross-examination. 
 
 "You found Jews agreeable to work with?" 
 
 "Very. You know where you are with them. They 
 do not pretend, and they are very generous." 
 
 "In-deed !" 
 
 "Yes — people have a preconceived notion of Jews, I 
 find — quite faulty as a rule — they know what to pay 
 for — they are far less fools than other races. I re- 
 spect them." 
 
 "That is most interesting." 
 
 Katherine was silent again. 
 
 "Why did you leave them?" — after a pause in which 
 Lady Garribardine was pitilessly scrutinising her pos- 
 sible secretary. 
 
 "Because I had learned all that I could there, and I 
 wanted a new vista " 
 
 "And you think you would find it with me.'"* 
 
 "With any lady in your world — you can learn things 
 wherever you go, if you wish to." 
 
 "Very true. And how about French — you speak 
 that?" 
 
 Katherine Bush reddened a little. A memory came 
 to her of the profound shock that the French of Paris 
 had been to her ear. 
 
 "I can write it quite correctly — but I have discov- 
 ered that my pronunciation is ridiculous." She con- 
 fessed it quite frankly. 
 
 "How did that happen?" 
 
 "I taught it to myself — mostly — and then I heard it 
 spoken — and I knew mine would sound wrong." 
 
 "Do you think you could overcome that?" 
 
 ^1
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Yes, if I were in France long enough." 
 
 "Have you travelled ?" 
 
 "No — not really. I have been to Paris for a holiday 
 once — I have only learnt about places." 
 
 "And English literature.'^" 
 
 "It is the thing I care most for — I have read a great 
 many books. I read usually until about one in the 
 morning." 
 
 "Have you a good temper.'^ You are not uppish, 
 eh.?" 
 
 "I suppose it depends — I know that when you take 
 money to do a thing you have got to do it, and put 
 up with orders and manners that you would not stand 
 for one second if you were the person paying." 
 
 "That is quite a good definition of respectful ser- 
 Vice. 
 
 "It is common sense." 
 
 "You appear to have some of that." 
 
 Again silence. 
 
 "I have not a good temper!" Lady Garribardine 
 laughed — she was greatly diverted. 
 
 "I guessed not." 
 
 "How.?" 
 
 "I had to read characters quickly at Livingston and 
 Devereux's " 
 
 "You are observant.?" 
 
 "I think so " 
 
 "Can you play the piano.?" 
 
 "I could once, and I had a queer gift for reading 
 the notes — but I have never practised since we had a 
 gramophone — I grew to loathe music." 
 
 "I^hat is hopeful " 
 
 Then Her Ladyship got up and went to her writing- 
 table, terribly littered with all sorts of papers. She 
 
 4£
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 dived among a conglomerate mass — and picked up two 
 letters. 
 
 "Would you oblige me by answering these, Miss — er 
 — Bush? I could then better judge of your capabili- 
 ties." 
 
 Katherine took them ; on one envelope was written in 
 a spidery hand in pencil, "Refuse gracefully ;" upon 
 the other, "Get out as best can." 
 
 She looked for a portion of the blotting pad which 
 was clear enough to use, then she sat down and selected 
 a pen, while she glanced up with her steady wise eyes. 
 
 "Has Your Ladyship any particular paper for this 
 sort of thing.''" Here was a suitable moment for the 
 use of the honorific she felt. 
 
 "Yes, that white paper with the coronet in plain 
 black and the address." 
 
 Lady Garribardine sat down by the fire and stared 
 into it. She had not been so interested in a specimen 
 of humanity for years. 
 
 Katherine Bush read the letters through carefully 
 and the first one a second time, then she began to write : 
 
 To the Secretary of the League for Discouraging Polygamy 
 among the Mohammedans of India: 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I am asked by Sarah Lady Garribardine, to tell you that 
 while sympathising deeply with the admirable object of 
 your League, she thinks the field over which it must ob- 
 viously be spread is too vast for a small contribution to be 
 of much avail, and therefore, while thanking you for your 
 interesting papers upon the subject, she is sorry that she is 
 unable to forward you any more substantial help. 
 I am, dear sir. 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 Katherine Bush (Secretary). 
 43
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 The other letter ran: 
 
 To the Matron of the Nonconformist Detention and Peni- 
 tential Hostel for Lost Women: 
 Madam, 
 
 I beg to inform you that Sarah Lady Garribardine is 
 leaving town shortly and therefore cannot avail herself of 
 the pleasure and honour of visiting your useful institution. 
 She desires me to express to you her thanks for your invi- 
 tation. 
 
 I remain, madame. 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 X. Bush (Sec.). 
 
 She looked carefully to see what style of address was 
 necessary and wrote out the envelope — and when all 
 was ready she rose and took them to the young-old lady 
 by the fire. 
 
 She stood quite still while they were perused, and then 
 smiled inwardly when Lady Garribardine gave a cyni- 
 cal chuckle. 
 
 "I think you will do very well, Miss Bush! Please 
 find some stamps, and put them in that basket to be 
 posted — and — er — you can ring the bell — I shall expect 
 you — bag and baggage — on Wednesday next." 
 
 This was abrupt, but Katherine Bush felt it was 
 what it should be. 
 
 "You do not require the testimony of Mr. Livingston 
 or Mr. Devereux.'"' 
 
 "No — I can judge for myself — er — Good morning." 
 
 The bell had been answered almost instantly and so, 
 bowing, Katherine Bush followed the servant down the 
 stairs, and soon found herself in the street, a strange 
 sense of content in her heart. 
 
 She knew the West End very well — and walked 
 briskly along Hill Street and so on past Dorchester 
 
 44
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 House — into the Park. All the leaves were off the 
 trees. The November daj was beautifuUj fine and 
 bright and movement was a pleasure. 
 
 So the first part of her new game was won at 
 all events. 
 
 She reviewed the whole set of impressions she had 
 taken. Firstly, that the house was a fine one — it had 
 *'the look," if houses could be said to show this quality. 
 That is, it was beautifully kept and filled with what she 
 guessed from study at the Wallace Collection must be 
 rare and costly furniture. There were some things she 
 thought ugly — but "the look" was often ugly, she knew 
 by experience — from Gladys' verbose descriptions to 
 Ethel and Matilda. 
 
 Apart from "the look" it had an air of distinction. 
 It was the abode of denizens of Lord Algy's world — 
 that was evident. The man she had met on the thres- 
 hold of the morning room door was certainly of his 
 class — and rather nice-looking. 
 
 As for her future employer, she was a new specimen 
 to her. Katherine meant what the French call a type, 
 but she did not know this expression. 
 
 "She is certainly over sixty," she said to herself. 
 "She is a dark woman naturally, and her hair ought to 
 be grey. The whole thing is spoilt by that silly golden 
 wig — curled tight like Royalty's. She would have quite 
 a nice figure for her age if she were not all pushed up 
 by those old-fashioned corsets. Why had she such big 
 ears and such red hands for so great a lady? Her 
 rings were buried in fat. The circulation was evidently 
 wrong somewhere. As for her voice — it was one of the 
 voices! The female counterpart of the echoes from 
 over the glass screen — and the manner was quite as 
 casual. 
 
 45
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Just as insolent as I shall be when I hold the same 
 sort of place. She was born to it — I shall have ac- 
 quired it — ^we both when we are dead will be said to 
 have well filled our situations." 
 
 Thus mused Katherine Bush on a November day in 
 Hj'de Park — and turning out of Albert Gate suddenly 
 she almost walked into the arms of Lord Algy.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 DARLING pet! What a delightful surprise!" 
 "Algy! Where did you spring from?" 
 Then they both drew quick breaths. 
 
 "Come back towards the Serpentine, I must talk to 
 you. Your horrid little note made me feel quite 
 wretched, and I have been to Liv and Dev's to-day, and 
 they refused to give me your address — why were you 
 such a little cat, darling?'* 
 
 "I was not a cat, Algy." 
 
 They had turned and were walking towards the Row. 
 
 "I meant what I wrote — I want you to forget all 
 about me. Joys can't go on — I have other things to 
 do, dear." 
 
 "But it is perfectly brutal of you, Katherine, when 
 I love you so — and you love me — at least you told me 
 that you did!" 
 
 Katherine Bush's heart was beating very fast — would 
 she have courage to keep to her determination now that 
 she saw him face to face? 
 
 He looked so extremely delectable, here in the low- 
 ering sunshine. He was everything that a woman could 
 desire in the way of a lover. 
 
 "I am in the hell of a mess, too," he sighed. "My 
 father has cut up awfully rough about my transactions 
 with Liv and Dev — and I had a bad week at Doncaster. 
 I am in for a regular facer and am obliged to agree to 
 be transferred to the Egyptian army for three years. 
 Everything, even you, are against me." 
 
 47
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "No, I am not, Algy." There was quick sympathy 
 and distress in her deep voice. "I hate to think that 
 you are unhapp}^ and you know that I would help you 
 in any way I could." 
 
 "Then be kind to me, darling — and don't say you 
 never want to see me again." 
 
 Katherine Bush felt this was a supreme occasion — 
 and that she must not waver. She so longed to com- 
 fort him, to let him kiss her and forget all his cares. 
 The cynical side of her character, even at this moving 
 moment, whispered that it was fortunate that they were 
 out of doors ! 
 
 "When do you start for Egypt?" 
 
 "As soon as I can get ready — my mother and sisters 
 are going to winter out there, but probably I shall be 
 sent to the Soudan !" 
 
 Katherine had heard that they killed lions or some- 
 thing in that part of the world, she knew that sport 
 meant a great deal in Lord Algy's life. 
 
 "You will get some kind of shooting, won't you?" she 
 suggested by way of consolation. 
 
 But Lord Algy looked full of misery. They had 
 walked on, taking a side path and were now in sight of 
 two chairs. 
 
 "Let us go and sit down," he pleaded. "I want to 
 look at you. I can't, I won't believe, that you don't 
 mean ever to be my own girl any more." 
 
 "Algy, I do mean it — ^just as much for you as for 
 myself." 
 
 They had reached the chairs and sat down. Lord 
 Algy pushed his hat to the back of his head; his im- 
 maculately brushed hair glistened bronze in the setting 
 sun, and his forehead was puckered with distress. His 
 attractive eyes sought hers with a fond persistence. 
 
 48
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 Katherine Bush was obliged to clench her hands tight 
 in the pockets of her coat. 
 
 "Why, what in Heaven's name for? Why must we 
 part?" he demanded fiercely. "Katherine, I have missed 
 you awfully — I have not known what to do with my- 
 self — and before this bother fell upon me, I had deter- 
 mined to come up to ask you to marry me — we'd be 
 awfully happy married, darling — like we were in Paris. 
 I have never loved anything half so much as our time 
 together.'* 
 
 "It is dear of you to say that, but I would not marry 
 you for anything in the world, it would spoil every- 
 thing, destroy a memory that has not got any flaw in 
 it. — ^Listen to me, Algy — I went with you because I 
 wanted to — I wanted to understand hfe, and find out 
 what is worth while, and what men are like. I am only 
 at the beginning of existence and I intend to learn most 
 of its meaning before I die. I thought that whatever 
 cold, tiresome path I might have to follow afterwards, 
 to carry out my scheme of things, I would at least have 
 some good hours to remember with you, so I went de- 
 liberately — but I never meant to do it again. Let's 
 both be grateful for what we have had and part 
 friends." 
 
 "I simply can't," protested Lord Algy, growing more 
 and more full of emotion, as he felt the attainment of 
 his desires receding from him. "I call it awfully cold- 
 blooded of you, Katherine, and I can't and won't con- 
 sent to it. I want you — I want you now — to-night," 
 and he stretched out his arms. "I am sick with longing 
 for you — I mean it, darling. I have been away with 
 other girls often before. Jack Kilcourcy and I stayed 
 down the river with Laure de Laine and Mary Green 
 this June. Laure was my friend, and she simply wasn't 
 
 49
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 a patch on you, pet, in any way, and I didn't care a 
 straw when it was over, although they are such celeb- 
 rities, and it did make Berty Aberhams so mad, and was 
 such a score off the bounder. I have never felt any- 
 thing like I feel for you, darling — I want you to be 
 my wife." 
 
 As he spoke, something withered a little in Katherine 
 Bush; his unconscious placing of the affair galled her, 
 although she knew that it was perfectly just; she had 
 gone with him under no other pretence than had gone 
 those ladies of the Frivolity Theatre. She analysed his 
 simple directness, and appreciated the triumph con- 
 veyed to her in the final expression of his feelings, but 
 it made her task rather easier. She saw so plainly what 
 a renewal of their relations would mean. She looked 
 and looked at him, seated dejectedly there beside her, 
 and then she spoke, and her voice was full of quiet 
 determination and very deep. 
 
 "You must be a man, Algy, dear, and go on and 
 make something of your life, as I mean to do. You must 
 be a great soldier. You come of such a grand old fam- 
 ily, you ought to remember what all your ancestors 
 have done, and try to be as fine as they were — It's so 
 paltry to drift — You can remember me if you want to 
 — as someone who wasn't weak, even though I am only 
 a common girl, and much beneath you in class. If I 
 was of your class I should now be tempted to marry 
 you, and then I expect with my sort of nature I'd just 
 shove you on into doing something great. But I couldn't 
 as it is, all my time would be taken up with trying to 
 educate myself to keep my own head above water, and 
 trying to suppress my humiliation at the contempt of 
 your friends. You are only a younger son, and they 
 would never forgive you, and we would just lead a hole 
 
 50
 
 'You must ... go on and make something of your life, 
 as I mean to do.' "
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 and corner sort of existence in wretched poverty, and 
 grow to have quarrels and not love at all." 
 
 He was going to interrupt her but she put her grey 
 gloved hand across his lips. "No, dear, don't say any- 
 thing — I want to go away from you with the memory 
 that you have asked me to be your wife — I cannot be 
 that for both our sakes, and it would cut me to the 
 heart to hear you say words, now that you know this, 
 which would mean that you want me, failing that, to go 
 on with the other relation." — She paused, for a second, 
 and leaning forward, looked straight into his face — 
 "Algy, I want to remember you as a really perfect gen- 
 tleman." 
 
 She had gained her point with this last appeal. She 
 saw that in an instant ; he straightened himself and 
 raised his handsome head, while the pride of race looked 
 forth from his eyes for a moment, and then was 
 quenched by the mist of tears. 
 
 "You are a splendid girl, Katherine," he said in a 
 choking voice, "a far greater lady than the rotters I 
 have to dance with at balls and see as my sisters' 
 friends. You — by Jove ! you have taught me to respect 
 women. I should be honoured if you would marry me, 
 and my family ought to be jolly glad to get such a 
 good sort among them !" 
 
 "Thank you, Algy !" her voice now trembled, too. 
 "Then 3'ou understand, dear, and I want you to do just 
 as well as you can in Egypt — and, and — Algy, do try 
 not to spend so much money, and when they have paid 
 up for you, don't go and get back into any moneylend- 
 er's hands. They are not all so honest as Liv and Dev. 
 And now I want to say good-bye ! I don't want to be 
 silly and — cry " 
 
 "Oh! it's too cruel !" he exclaimed, clasping his hands. 
 
 51
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Katherine, j'^ou are like — only I think you mean to be 
 kinder than she was — Mademoiselle de Maupm!" 
 
 She stiffened, and her eyes, which were growing very 
 misty, became hard and bright. She thought he was re- 
 ferring to another lady of the half-world — of Paris, 
 perhaps, this time. He saw that she had misunderstood 
 him, and he added quickly: 
 
 "Darling, she is in a book — ^by a fellow called Theo- 
 phile Gautier — she was a wonder and so are you — I've 
 always thought you were like her, but — Oh ! why do we 
 talk such bosh about books in our few moments, I want 
 to tell you that I love you. Oh ! Katherine, if you knew 
 how much !" 
 
 The hardness all melted from the young woman's 
 grey-green eyes and was replaced by a divine sweetness. 
 
 **Algy," she whispered, "it is good to hear that, and 
 you know that I love you, too, and now good-bye, my 
 dear — I can't bear any more.'* 
 
 She rose quickly and drew her hand away. She pas- 
 sionately longed for him to take her in his arms. 
 
 He got up also, he was extremely pale, and more than 
 a suspicion of mist hung upon his eyelashes. As a 
 young, splendid lover, he could not have looked more 
 desirable, but Katherine Bush never lost her head. 
 
 "Good-bye, Algy, and God bless you, dear." 
 
 Two people were approaching or he certainly would 
 have kissed her — as it was they only wrung each other's 
 hands and Katherine Bush turned and walked into the 
 gathering twilight. 
 
 He watched her until she had disappeared and then 
 sat down again. He felt quite wretched. She seemed 
 to him to be a wonderful character. 
 
 "What an impotent wretch I am beside her," he said 
 to himself. "But I should never be able to make the 
 
 52
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 family see it. My mother would rather I married 
 Elaine Percival with her five thousand a year — " then 
 he laughed contemptuously — "Elaine Percival !" 
 
 For the first time in his life he began to reason about 
 things. Katherine Bush was of course perfectly right. 
 Marriage would have been madness, as he had always 
 known before he became too much in love to think; 
 and he knew he had been lately only entirely influenced 
 by selfish desire, and had never so much as faced what 
 the consequences would be either to himself or to her. 
 He had been quite ready to make a hash of both their 
 lives just because he wanted her so badly for the mo- 
 ment. What an incredible fool — and she, this fine girl, 
 had pulled them both on to firm land. He was not of 
 the type who could contemplate asking a woman to wait 
 for him while he worked to obtain a home for her ; such 
 an idea, of course, never entered his head. He had no 
 romantic illusions of this sort, and once having realised 
 the hopelessness of the case he had stoicism enough to 
 accept it. But the things she had said affected him 
 deeply. He would try not to drift. — He would pull 
 himself together and do his best to become a fine sol- 
 dier. They should not say he had grumbled over going 
 to Egypt. Oh ! if there could only be a war, that he 
 might go out and fight ! But wars would never happen 
 again at this time of the world's day! 
 
 The present pleasant, easy stage of his life had come 
 to an end, and unpleasant realities must be dealt with, 
 but he would keep ever the memory of this splendid girl 
 in his heart, the memory that she had not been weak or 
 permitted him to make a fool of himself or of her. 
 
 And as he walked on out of the Park he felt a new- 
 self-reliance and determination. 
 
 Meanwhile, Katherine Bush had got into an omni- 
 
 53
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 bus and was on the way to Victoria, and once arrived at 
 Laburnum Villa and her attic, she carefully wrote down 
 on the little book which she kept for jottings, "Made- 
 moiselle de Maupin, in a book by Theophile Gautier," 
 while her thoughts ran : 
 
 *'He did not say what was the name of the stor}"^, but 
 I can read the whole lot this man wrote. I'll go to a 
 French library on Monday." 
 
 Then she sat down in her armchair by the fire and 
 reviewed the entire chain of events. 
 
 She was embarked upon a new current which would 
 help to carry her to some definite goal — she was out of 
 the backwater. It was not a voyage to Cythera, but 
 youth was at the prow, and ambition, not pleasure, at 
 the helm ; and there live philosophers who say these two 
 things bring more lasting good than all the bliss that is 
 to be snatched from the other combination. — Who 
 knows . — They may be right ! 
 
 Matilda was nervous with excitement when after sup- 
 per she was told of the definite settlement of her sister's 
 aff*airs. 
 
 "So you are really engaged. Kitten !" she exclaimed. 
 "Now, do tell me all about it. There's a dear — and 
 what was she like, and is it a grand house and are you 
 going to be properly treated as a real lady?" 
 
 "Yes, I am engaged. I am to go in on Wednesday, 
 'bag and baggage,' as Lady Garribardine said." 
 
 "My! what a vulgar expression for a lady to use. Kit- 
 ten — are you sure she's all right.?" 
 
 Matilda hated what was not genteel. 
 
 "Oh ! yes, Tild — she's all right — and the house is 
 beautiful — and, yes, what you'd call grand — and you 
 may be sure they will treat me exactly in the way I 
 deserve to be treated. If you aren't respected it's your 
 
 54
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 own fault — people don't make a mistake as to whom 
 they are with a second time, even if they do the first. 
 If anyone gets put upon continually, or gets snubbed, 
 it's her own fault." 
 
 Matilda totally disagreed. 
 
 "There you are quite wrong. Why, look at Gladys ! 
 Bob treats her anyhow sometimes of a Sunday, and her 
 as good as gold." 
 
 "Well, she has made him think that he can by not 
 stopping it in the beginning. It is never a question of 
 goodness as I often tell you about things, it is a ques- 
 tion of force. Goodness does not count unless it is so 
 perfect that it is a force, too — like Christ's." 
 
 "Oh, my! What awful things you do say, Kath- 
 arine !" 
 
 Matilda felt so uncomfortable when her sister spoke 
 of what she thought ought only to be mentioned in 
 church ! 
 
 "No, I merely tell the truth, it is the weaklings who 
 do all the harm in the world, never the bad or good." 
 
 "Well, what was Lady Garribardine like,?" Matilda 
 was tired of abstract speculations. 
 
 "She was taU and rather stout, and had a golden wig 
 — and black eyes — and she understood things. She 
 knows how to order her house, because the servants had 
 the same awe for her as the office-boy has for Liv. Her 
 writing-table was awfully untidy, though. I expect she 
 has not much method, and it is just personality and 
 temper which causes her to be obeyed." 
 
 "You won't stand being ordered about ever. Kitten?" 
 
 "It will depend on how much good I feel I am getting 
 out of it. If the place and people in it are being les- 
 sons for me, I shan't mind what she says — I shall stick 
 it out and try never really to deserve a scolding." 
 
 55
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 **Was there anyone else there?" Matilda was still 
 curious. 
 
 **Yes — a man left when I was going in. He had a 
 clever face. I shall like him, I believe, if he comes there 
 often." 
 
 "You won't go falling in love with any of them gen- 
 tlemen. Kitten," Matilda pleaded affectionately. 
 
 She felt that things might develop as they did in the 
 cases of the innocent actresses and governesses and the 
 villains in her serials. 
 
 "Have I ever been given to fallmg in love?" Kath- 
 erine asked with a humorous flash in her eyes. — "You 
 have not seen me tumble into the arms of Charlie Prod- 
 gers or Percy Watson — ^have you?" 
 
 "No, dearie, but these gentlemen in your new biz 
 might be different and might not mean so honest by 
 you. I do wish I could hope to see you settled with 
 Charlie some day. He is such a dear fellow, and very 
 rising. He'll be head clerk at the estate agent's he is 
 in very soon, and could give you a comfortable home like 
 this is for your own ; and no need to be hanging on for 
 years like Glad and Bob." 
 
 "Can you picture me settled in a comfortable home 
 with Charlie Prodgers, Tild!" Katherine laughed out 
 at the idea, it seemed so comic to her. "He is as great 
 a snob as Fred, and even more ignorant. I would not 
 let him button my boots, much less call himself my hus- 
 band ! I'd as soon be dead as tied to that ! At Brix- 
 ton, too! With the prospect of being the mother of 
 numbers of sandy-haired little Prodgers. What an out- 
 look!" 
 
 Matilda was hurt. They had never spoken in words 
 upon this secret hope of hers, but she had often hinted 
 at it, and Katherine had been silent and seemingly pre- 
 
 56
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 occupied, but not actually scornful, and to have the 
 scheme denounced with derision and the happy picture 
 scoffed at was a blow to her which she could not bear 
 in silence. She felt indignant. 
 
 "Charlie Prodgers is good enough for any young 
 lady. Mabel herself thinks highly of him. He is one 
 of the few of Fred's gentlemen friends that she thinks 
 worthy to be asked into her mother's house — and I 
 would have liked to have seen you married into her set 
 safely before she becomes our sister-in-law, and can 
 patronise you." 
 
 "Then I am afraid I must disappoint you, dear," 
 Katherine now tried to hide her smile. "I have quite 
 another game to play in life. But why don't you keep 
 him for Ethel — she is nearly sixteen and will soon be 
 looking out for a yoimg man — or take him yourself?" 
 
 This was a new idea for Matilda. She had always 
 been too loyal to dream of turning her eye in the direc- 
 tion of one whom she regarded as exclusively her sister's 
 property. 
 
 She bridled a little — the picture was so glorious — 
 if it only could be hers ! Charlie Prodgers who scorned 
 to be seen in anything but a frock coat, unless, of 
 course, he went golfing — Charlie Prodgers who each 
 Sunday attended the church parade in Hyde Park as 
 a matter of course! But would he ever look at her.'' 
 Proud, haughty fellow ! and she not so pretty as Kath- 
 erine — and not half so nobby as Gladys. But stranger 
 things than that happened in her serials, and she need 
 not feel that it was quite hopeless. But how could 
 Kitten willingly relinquish such triumph? There must 
 be something of a suffragette in her after all, since no 
 girl in her senses could ask more of fortune ! 
 
 The Sunday was spent by Katherine in packing up 
 
 57
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 all her belongings and in selecting the books she meant 
 
 to take with her, a volume or two of Voltaire, Bacon's 
 Essays, Kant and Bergson, and a new acquisition, 
 Otto Weininger's "Sex and Character." This latter 
 had interested her deeply. There was a great deal of 
 biting truth in his analysis of women, and it was prob- 
 ably also true that they did not possess souls ; but she 
 totally disagreed with his ending of the matter that the 
 solution of the problem lay in a voluntary annihilation 
 of the human species through abstinence from procre- 
 ation. She, for her part, thought that it was taking 
 things out of the Hand of God, or the Divine Essence, 
 or whatever the great Principle should be called — and 
 her eminently practical mind failed to see the use of 
 such far-reaching speculations. "The poor man was 
 mad, of course," she said, as she closed the book again 
 before packing it. "But I will try to watch the fem- 
 inine traits in myself and crush them. He has taught 
 me that amount, in any case. And if I have no soul, I 
 have a brain and a will, and so I am going to obtain 
 as much as a woman can get with those two things. As 
 for the infinite, men are welcome to that, as far as I 
 am concerned !" 
 
 She looked forward with deep interest to perusing 
 the story with Mademoiselle de Maupin in it. What 
 could it be about? She had hardly thought that Lord 
 Algy had read at all, he never spoke of books — but it 
 was perhaps not surprising; they had been always too 
 occupied in more agreeable converse. How good it was 
 to remember all that, even though never in her life she 
 should have such foolish sweetness again! 
 
 She had not the slightest sentiment about "leaving 
 home" ; she would have found such a thing quite ridicu- 
 lous. On the contrary, a sense of exaltation filled her. 
 
 58
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 She was going forever from this cramped, small attic 
 and the uncongenial environment of the house. And she 
 must hold herself in stern command and never waste an 
 opportunity to improve herself in manner and mind. 
 Of course, she might be liable to make a few mistakes 
 at first, and the work might be hard, but if will was 
 strong and emotions were checked, the road to success 
 and development of her personality could not be a long 
 one. And when she had gained freedom — how splen- 
 didly would she use it ! There should be no false values 
 for her ! 
 
 Her new dress, the one in the style of Lady Beatrice 
 Strobridge, would be home by the Tuesday night, and 
 she had got a "dressy" blouse from Oxford Street, in 
 case she should ever have to appear in the evenings. 
 She would do very well, she felt. 
 
 The family, with the exception of Matilda, were not 
 sorry that she was departing. The father had left La- 
 burnum Villa and a certain sum to keep it up for the 
 benefit of the whole bunch of them ; and when Mr. Fred- 
 erick Bush would move into a house of his own with 
 the refined Mabel Cawber, Gladys and Bert and Ethel 
 looked forward to an uninterrupted time of jollity, un- 
 clouded by Katherine's aloofness and contempt. 
 
 Matilda alone grieved in secret. She thought Kath- 
 erine was superior to them all in spite of her reserve, 
 and the last evening, while she sat with her by the attic 
 fire, she told her so. 
 
 "No, I am not, Tild — I am not superior. I am just 
 different — all our aims are as wide apart as the poles. 
 Glad and Ethel and the boys never want to learn any- 
 thing — they resent the thought that there could be 
 anything that they do not know. Tlieir whole attitude 
 is resentful towards any knowledge. They like to 
 
 59
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 browse on deceiving themselves over every question and 
 aspect of life. So they will all just stay where they are. 
 Fred, an auctioneer, henpecked by Mabel ; Bert, a clerk. 
 Poor Glad, the downtrodden drudge of Bob Hartley, 
 and Ethel probably something of the same. You, dear 
 old Tild, will be a sentimental old maid looking after the 
 others' children — because you are entirely a 'mother 
 woman' — unless you take Charlie Prodgers, as I said 
 the other day, and have heaps of little Prodgers! Oh! 
 it is all just respectable, comfortable squalor — and 
 words won't express how glad I am to get out of it !" 
 
 Matilda was quite incensed. 
 
 "Pd rather be a lady, however poor, in my own circle, 
 and treated as such there, than a servant in a grand 
 house as you're going to be, Kitten. I'd let them see 
 I'd be above taking their orders !" 
 
 She hoped this taunt would tell, but Katherlne only 
 smiled. 
 
 "Poor, dear old Tild," she said. "You do not know, 
 perhaps, that it is a wise man who understands how to 
 obey those placed over him, and to exact the same obe- 
 dience from those beneath. When I have learned my 
 lessons and have obtained a place of command, then I 
 shall not only enforce obedience, but I shaU remove 
 from my path anyone who crosses my will." 
 
 "Oh, my I" gasped Matilda. 
 
 "Do you suppose I argued with Liv and Dev and 
 showed them that I would not take their orders? No, 
 of course not; tlicy valued me and raised my salary be- 
 cause I did what I was told to do. They were paying 
 me money and were in a position to command. No one 
 forced me to take their money ; I went there of my own 
 free will, and was to do specified things for a specified 
 remuneration. I did them to the best of my ability, and 
 
 60
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 so I am going on to something better. Lady Garribar- 
 dine is paying me ninety pounds a year with a rise ; and 
 I am to be hers to command for certain things. When 
 I have learned all that that situation can teach me, I 
 shall get a larger and higher position, and so on 
 until I reach my goal, when I shall rule — do not fear, 
 Tild. / shall rule." 
 
 "I daresay you will," Matilda admitted, awed. 
 
 Katherine's face had a strange, compelling force 
 when she spoke thus. 
 
 "But we aren't all the same, Kitten. Glad, for in- 
 stance, has more pride; look how she left Brown and 
 Melbury's, where she was getting more than at Erman- 
 tine's, because she would not take orders from the new 
 manager they put over her department." 
 
 "That sort of pride was entirely worthy of Gladys' 
 intelligence, and it had landed her with a less salary, no 
 one's added respect, and not much to look forward to in 
 the future." And then, with a burst of feeling, "Oh! 
 Tild, if I only could make laws, I would enforce educa- 
 tion to such an extent that there could not be left any 
 fools like Gladys !" 
 
 Then she said good-night to Matilda and gently 
 pushed her from the room, where she looked as though 
 she meant to stay for another half-hour, and returning 
 . to her armchair, she began to read that book of Theo- 
 \Aphile Gautler's which she had bought on the Monday 
 morning, and discovered that its title was simply "Ma- 
 demoiselle de Maupin.' 
 
 5»
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 LADY GARRIBARDINE was having a tea-party 
 with some good music, when Katherine Bush ar- 
 rived. She reahsed immediately that it was 
 stupid of her to have chosen the afternoon for her en- 
 trance into her new post, and Bronson, the dignified 
 butler, left her in no doubt as to his view of the mat- 
 ter, as he directed the hurried transport of her luggage 
 through the hall. 
 
 "Her Ladyship expected you this morning, miss," 
 he said, severely. 
 
 "Then she should have told me at what hour I was 
 to come," Katherine answered, quietly ; "she mentioned 
 none." 
 
 Bronson stared. Miss Arnott, clergyman's daughter 
 though she was, would never have said a thing like that ; 
 she would have been nervous and apologetic in a min- 
 ute, poor thing! But this young woman, whom Bron- 
 son had very good reason to believe, from what he had 
 been able to gather, belonged merely to the lower mid- 
 dle class, had yet the audacity to give herself all the 
 airs and calm assurance appertaining to a lady of the 
 world ! 
 
 Here the entrance of two guests took up his at- 
 tention, a man and a woman. 
 
 Katherine stood back and waited for directions, while 
 she watched closely. The man was the same that she 
 had seen on the former occasion. The woman inter- 
 ested her ; she was tall and droopy, with wide vaguje 
 
 62
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 eyes, and a wisp of huffish chiffon about her neck inside 
 her furs, which Bronson assisted her to remove. Then 
 Katherine saw that she wore the dress which Gladys 
 had described, and which in its general features had 
 been taken more or less as the model for her own. 
 
 This must be Lady Beatrice Strobridge. 
 
 "Gerard," the lady said, rather querulously, "I don't 
 mean to stay for more than ten minutes — so don't get 
 away into some difficult corner with Lao, if you mean 
 to leave with me." 
 
 The man answered with polite indifference. 
 
 "Bronson will see you safely to the motor; I prom- 
 ised my aunt to stay to hear Venzoni ; he is sure to be 
 late." 
 
 Then they went on up the marble stairs and a young 
 footman was sent with Katherine Bush in the lift at the 
 back of the hall. 
 
 " 'Gerard' — it is a nice name — and he looks a nice 
 man," she mused, while they were carried aloft, "and 
 he is bored with his wife. Gladys was quite right ; why 
 did she have that rag of chiffon.'' It spoilt the whole 
 dress." 
 
 The housekeeper met her when they arrived in the 
 top passage, and took her under her wing. 
 
 "Some tea will be sent to your room, miss," she in- 
 formed her, "and Her Ladyship said she would not have 
 time to see you this evening, but you would doubtless 
 have things to unpack and arrangements to make for 
 yourself. Your trunks will be up in a minute." 
 
 And then she opened the door into a back room which 
 faced west, so the afterglow of the setting sun made 
 it not quite dark. There was a fire burning, and it all 
 appeared gay when the housekeeper turned on the 
 lights, with its old-fashioned rose-flowered chintz on a 
 
 63
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 bright parrot-green ground. There was a scent ci 
 lavender, too, and Katherine Bush was pleasantly im- 
 pressed ; nothing looked cheap and gimcrack like the 
 bedrooms in Laburnum Villa, she thought, or still more 
 those at the house of Mabel Cawbcr, which were the 
 envy of Matilda's soul. The furniture here was solid 
 mahogany of early Victorian make, and the armchair 
 gave the impression that it would be a pleasant place 
 to rest in. 
 
 When she was alone, Katherine Bush made herself 
 take in every detail. Lady Garribardine had suggested 
 that she was observant ; she must remember that and al- 
 ways cultivate this faculty, for she realised that every 
 trifling thing would be different from anything she had 
 ever known. 
 
 She liked the space of the place, she would not feel 
 that she was tumbling over things. There was an 
 empty bookcase awaiting her books, no doubt, and a 
 big sensible writing-table there in the window where 
 there would be plenty of light. The wardrobe was a 
 monster, ample room in It for any amount of clothes! 
 How pleasant not to have to put most things away In 
 cardboard boxes under one's bed — often to find them 
 discoloured by dust when taking them out again ! And 
 how pretty and quaint was the china on the washstand, 
 matching the chintz. And the towels! Of finer quality 
 — and nearly as many as there had been at the Palatial 
 In Paris, which she had supposed was a case of French 
 hotel extravagance and not what would be the custom 
 in private life. 
 
 She fingered them softly. They were arranged pecu- 
 liarly, too, with the top fold turned back so that one 
 could pick them up in a second. Katherine Bush 
 smiled cynically when she remembered her two coarse 
 
 64
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 huckabacks, changed only every Saturday at Laburnum 
 Villa ! 
 
 Everything gave the impression of spotless cleanli- 
 ness and order. The brass hot-water can and the fender 
 and the fire-irons all shone with superlative polishing. 
 
 Presently her tea was brought up by a housemaid In 
 neatest black, with a cap and apron which would have 
 made Em'ly snort with indignation had she been asked 
 to wear them, so unmodish was their style ! It was a 
 joy to have a perfectly arranged tea-tray with shining 
 silver and pretty porcelain, a tray all to herself, too, 
 instead of a breakfast cup already poured out and 
 mixed with milk and sugar, and probably a little of the 
 contents upset into the saucer, which also contained a 
 thick slice of bread and butter and a piece of cake ! This 
 is what she had always been accustomed to at the office, 
 or on Saturday afternoons at home, while she read her 
 books and a sister brought her tea up to her attic. And 
 with the exceptions of a Lyons or an A. B. C. restau- 
 rant, and the brief time of glory in Paris, when choco- 
 late was the order of the day, this one unappetizing cup 
 had represented to her what many women look forward 
 to as the most delightful meal of all. 
 
 The housemaid's manner had been quiet and respect- 
 ful, as she drew the curtains and shut out the dj'ing 
 light, the muffin was done to a turn, and, above all, the 
 tea tasted as tea had never tasted before. She was too 
 ignorant as yet to know that it was China, not the rank- 
 est Ceylon which she was accustomed to, but she found 
 it particularly nice, though rather weak. The whole 
 room and the service and the atmosphere spoke of In- 
 habitants who, somehow she knew, belonged to the same 
 class as those whose voices she had always admired 
 from beyond the half-high glass screen. 
 
 65
 
 THE CABEEE OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 She sat and dreamed for a while before beginning her 
 unpacking. Pier heart ached underneath for Lord 
 Algy — but aches are possible to bear when there is an 
 clement of triumph and self-glorification about them. 
 She was quite aware that she had behaved remarkably 
 well, and in a manner which Lord Algy could never look 
 back upon but with respect. And to renounce happi- 
 ness and union when the other person is clamouring for 
 a continuance of relations, brings a great measure of 
 consolation, because there is no wound to the self-love, 
 no disastrous feeling that but for personal stupidity 
 the ache need not be. There is even a melancholy pleas- 
 ure in it, giving a pensive sadness not all pain. 
 
 After a while, she began to arrange her clothes and 
 books, and It had struck seven o'clock before all was 
 complete and she had sat down again to finish "Made- 
 moiselle de Maupin," which had so thrilled her far into 
 the night. 
 
 She read French quite easily, but she was not accus- 
 tomed to judge of its style, and as yet hardly appre- 
 ciated nuances, but the story, the cynical, enchanting, 
 ■wonderful story, seized hold of her imagination. As she 
 read the last words, the book dropped into her lap and 
 she stared in front of her. She saw what Lord Algy 
 had meant — and it flattered her greatly. She under- 
 stood entirely Thcdore's feelings. How wise she had 
 bc-en to go ! How she had grasped the salient points 
 of life! And she, Katherine Bush, no great lady, but a 
 daughter of tJie lower middle class, had evolved some 
 such instincts herself — had played her game with equal 
 coolness, and had lived through some such joys. 
 
 She thrilled and thrilled. The subtle, whimsical, pol- 
 ished wit of the book seemed to open some new vista of 
 comprehension to her. She did not perceive its im- 
 
 66
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 morality. She would read it over again and again — 
 and everything else this man had written. It seemed 
 that she was newly awakened to a sense of power that 
 she had not known she possessed. If only she could 
 have read this before she had gone to Paris, what a help 
 it would have been ! 
 
 "So Algy was not so ignorant, after all," she mused. 
 "Of course, he must have thought I was, and so did not 
 let me see that he himself was more than a fool — darling 
 Algy." But, at all events, he had thought she was like 
 Theodore, only kinder — that was good enough ! Well, 
 she would make that true some day, and meanwhile she 
 was away from stultifying squalor — away from minds 
 only interested in petty local affairs — away from sham 
 gentility, away from gramophones and cinemas — away 
 from pretence, away among the real things where she 
 could learn to understand every shade of the meaning 
 of life step by step ! And at this stage of her musings, 
 after a gentle knock the same housemaid opened the 
 door with a can of hot water. 
 
 "Your dinner will be served in the secretary's room 
 at eight o'clock, miss ; it is half-past seven now. When 
 would you like me to return to fasten you up .''" 
 
 The two red spots appeared in Katherine Bush's 
 cheeks. So she had been expected to change her dress — • 
 and she had not thought of doing so ! She had not 
 even imagined that she would go again downstairs or 
 have any dinner after that wonderful tea! A little 
 supper probably on a tray later on, or something like 
 that. 
 
 But here was dinner ! perhaps the same kind of meal 
 as she had had with Lord Algy. Of course, she ought 
 to have known that she must change her dress. She 
 felt very angry with herself, and after the exaltatioa 
 
 67
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 over her own instincts this was a fall! But she would 
 never err again, and fortunately the housemaid would 
 not know that she had been ignorant. 
 
 "My things fasten in the front, thank you, so that 
 I need not trouble you," she answered, graciously ; "but 
 will 3'ou tell me, please, where I shall find the secretary's 
 room?" 
 
 The housemaid gave directions — but one of the foot- 
 men would be certain to be in the hall and would show 
 her. Thomas, the one who had brought her up, would 
 wait on her. 
 
 "When you are ready, miss, will you please ring, and 
 I will whistle down to say you are coming. We always 
 did for Miss Arnott, and then they serve the dinner at 
 once. This bell rings up and this one down ; it is the 
 upstairs one for me. I am Martha, the second house- 
 maid, miss, and will be pleased to do anything I can 
 for you." 
 
 Katherine Bush thanked the girl again and quickly 
 began to dress, and at a minute or two to eight was on 
 her way. This upper staircase she found descended to 
 the ground floor independently of the stately, shallow 
 marble one she had walked up on to the sitting-room 
 on her former visit and which went no farther than 
 the first floor. 
 
 Thomas was waiting for her and conducted her to 
 a room down the corridor, whose windows she discovered 
 later looked out on a dull, blank wall. It had comfort- 
 able, solid, leather-covered furniture, the relic possibly 
 of some country smoking-room, and faded crimson silk 
 brocade curtains, the discarded splendour of a salon, 
 perhaps. These were cosily drawn, and there was 
 plenty of electric light, and she saw that there would 
 be space to do her typing on the solid, large table, 
 
 68
 
 THE CABEETt OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 and to keep all records in those capacious cupboards 
 which lined the walls. The feeling that she was in 
 space again gave her satisfaction ; she had so often 
 longed to break down the partition of her attic, or 
 stretch out and push away the glass screen at Liv and 
 Dev's. The room was very high, too — another advan- 
 tage. 
 
 "I shall always have large, high rooms when I have 
 won my game," she said to herself. 
 
 A small table by the fire was laid for one. She maide 
 herself notice the silver and the glass and the cloth, and 
 almost immediately Thomas brought in a large tray 
 with her dinner. There was soup in a quaint covered 
 cup with two handles, and some hot silver dishes. 
 
 He placed them all with regularity within her reach, 
 and then asked respectfully if she would please to rin^ 
 when she was ready for her sweet. Miss Arnott was 
 wont to take claret, he informed her, but what would 
 she. Miss Bush, desire to drink.'' 
 
 "A cup of tea," almost escaped from the tip of Kath- 
 erine's tongue — but she stopped herself. Probably one 
 did not take tea with one's dinner even alone like this, 
 and if she had it, Thomas would know that she was not 
 accustomed to the regulation things. Water would be 
 safest. So she indicated her wishes and Thomas left 
 the room. 
 
 A sense of strangeness, almost of awe, stole over her, 
 a sensation she had not felt even when with Lord Algy 
 in the gilded luxury of the Paris hotel. She had known 
 then that those surroundings were just part of any 
 demi-mondaine^s life, and could be had by the lowest 
 for money — but these were quite different. These were 
 rather shabby, but were the expression of people who 
 had had them for countless years, and were, of course, 
 
 69
 
 ^JIE CABEEB OF KATHEBINE BUSH 
 
 ordinary and everyday in their existences — the whole 
 atmosphere affected her. 
 
 She was glad that Thomas had gone out of the room. 
 She knew that at the present stage she should hate to 
 ,be watched, while she ate, by a silent servant. 
 
 "But I must accustom myself to that," she told her- 
 self, for Algy, she remembered, had never seemed to 
 remark servants at all, and would go on talking to her, 
 wliile his coat was being handed or his boots put on, as 
 though Hanson did not exist. 
 
 She was hungry and began to break her bread. She 
 wished she felt quite sure whether or no she was ex- 
 pected to turn the soup out into the soup plate or drink 
 it as it was.'' She decided to try the former course, 
 since of what use was the soup plate if it had not been 
 brought for that purpose.'* 
 
 The food proved to be excellent ; and the sweet and 
 fruit just to her taste, and when all was finished, 
 Thomas removed everything and folded up the small 
 table and put it back into its, evidently, accustomed 
 corner, and bringing her the evening papers, he made 
 up tlie fire and left her alone. 
 
 This, she supposed, would be the time she would have 
 to herself. She hardly noticed the headlines as 
 she glanced at the news ; her mind Avas too full of her- 
 self and her new life to take interest in outside 
 things. 
 
 Where did that door lead to.'' she wondered — a heavy 
 mahogany door ; but she was soon to know, for it 
 opened suddenly, and the man she had already twice 
 seen came in, leaving it open after him, so that she 
 could perceive that the room he had left was a dim, 
 vast library ; it was lined with books. 
 
 *'I beg your pardon," he said. "I have come for some 
 
 to
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 large-sized paper. My aunt used to have it kept in 
 this drawer, I think." 
 
 Katherine Bush rose while he went to get it out for 
 himself — he was not her employer, and she did not yet 
 know where things were kept, so she did not offer to 
 help him. He was in evening dress, and his hair 
 was as well groomed as Lord Algy's, but not cut quite 
 so short, and it was brushed straight back from his 
 forehead and was brown and thick. His face was tired 
 and humorous and very distinguished, but for the mo- 
 ment he looked cross and impatient. The paper 
 was evidently not where he had thought that it would 
 be. 
 
 "Confound it !'' he muttered, almost inaudibly, and 
 then aloud, "I am in a great hurry. Will you please 
 look in those cupboards while I look in these?" 
 
 Katherine Bush did as she was asked, and chanced 
 upon the paper immediately. She handed it to him 
 without a word. She noticed that he hardly looked at 
 her, and did not take in her personality at all. She 
 was just his aunt's new secretary and typist; and more 
 important matters pressed. 
 
 "Thanks, awfully ;" then he glanced at the table, 
 where the typing machine used by Miss Arnott stood. 
 "Oh ! — er — I was wondering if you would be so awfully 
 kind as to type this when I have written it ; it is a letter 
 I must send to the Times, and I shall have to go in to 
 dinner in a minute.' 
 
 "I have not seen how this machine works yet," Kath- 
 erine Bush answered, "but if you care to dictate, I can 
 take it down in shorthand and then write it out very 
 quickly afterwards." 
 
 "That is most kind of you — will you come into the 
 library then.'' — my notes are there." 
 
 71
 
 THE CABEER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 She followed him silently, and when he had found 
 some scribbled words written on the back of an envel- 
 ope, he went to the hearth-rug, and, leaning against the 
 mantelpiece, began to speak. Katherine had taken up 
 a block and pencil and was waiting ready. 
 
 He was not coherent at first ; he had neither Mr. Liv- 
 ingstone's precise, oily slowness, nor Mr. Devereux's 
 crisp fluency. She took down exactly what he had said. 
 Then he asked her to read it aloud. 
 
 "That is frightful English!" he exclaimed, impa- 
 tiently. "I never can dictate properly, I must always 
 write myself or my ideas do not flow." 
 
 "If the substance is all right and it is just the Eng- 
 lish you want regulated, I can do that when I copy it 
 out." 
 
 He looked at her in doubt, and Katherine smiled to 
 herself — this flattered her. 
 
 "It would be awfully kind of you if you would, 
 though," he went on, hesitatingly. "I have kept them 
 waiting a quarter of an hour as it is. Could you do it 
 immediately and send it in to the dining-room by one 
 of the footmen.'' I have my fountain-pen with me, I will 
 sign it there. It is to be addressed to the Editor of the 
 Times" 
 
 "Yes, I will." 
 
 Mr. Strobridge thanked his aunt's new secretary 
 courteously as he went towards the door, and then he 
 left the room. At the moment of his exit, Katherine 
 Bush heard the sound of voices, male and female; they 
 were evidently going in to dinner without waiting for 
 him. She looked up at the clock, it was ten minutes to 
 nine; then she smiled again and, going to the writing- 
 table, she began her task, a very simple one to her who 
 was accustomed to frame euphonious sentences. And 
 
 72
 
 THE CABEEB OF KATHEBINE BUSH 
 
 when she had completed it, she went back into the sec- 
 retary's room and rang the belL 
 
 "This is to be taken to Mr. — is his name Strobridge? 
 — Lady Garribardine's nephew," she told the astonished 
 Thomas. 
 
 "Yes, miss. Her LadfjsJdp's nephew is the Honour- 
 able Mr. Gerard Strobridge — if you mean him." 
 
 "Yes, I do — he is dining here and wants it at once." 
 
 She made no further explanation, but took up the 
 paper and reseated herself in her chair by the fire ; and 
 Thomas could but obey orders. 
 
 "A cool card," he whistled to himself, as he disap- 
 peared. 
 
 Meanwhile, Gerard Strobridge was saying to the lady 
 at his side : 
 
 "I had to repudiate Warrington's insolence in the 
 Central Gazette to-night. I have written to the Times 
 — that is what made me keep even you waiting, dearest 
 lady. My aunt's new shorthand typist took it down, 
 and I shall send it off in a few minutes. I hope it will 
 not be too late." 
 
 "You look quite serious, G.," the lady laughed. "It 
 is too attractive to see you in earnest over something!" 
 
 "I am always in earnest — especially when I tell you 
 that I love you — why did you not come this afternoon, 
 Lao, I stayed late on purpose and you never turned 
 up." 
 
 "I knew I should meet you to-night, G. — and I do 
 not want soon to grow bored !" 
 
 Mr. Strobridge looked at her reproachfully. She 
 was extremely pleasant to the eye, with her marvellous 
 skin and dark hair, and her curly affected mouth. He 
 was a cynic and an epicurean. He was not in the least 
 disenchanted by his knowledge that the whole woman 
 
 73
 
 THE CAJREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 was a mass of affectation, from the conscious pouting 
 of lier red lips to the way she held her soup spoon. He 
 rather admired the skill she showed in it all. She 
 pleased his senses, had just enough wit to chirp like a 
 parrot good things others had said, and was full of 
 small talk — while she knew the game to her finger-tips. 
 He did not want the repetition of a serious affair since 
 he had so happily escaped by the skin of his teeth from 
 Alice Southerwood. Liio Delemar, widowed and rich 
 and circumspect, promised an agreeable winter to him, 
 with few complications. 
 
 Women were more or less necessities to Gerard Stro- 
 "bridge's life ; they were his choruses, his solaces, his 
 inspirations. 
 
 In a few minutes a footman brought the large en- 
 velope, and amidst general chaff he read aloud the letter, 
 his astonishment momentarily growing at the apt re- 
 arrangement of his words. 
 
 "She is no fool, your new secretary. Seraphim," he 
 called down the table to his aunt. "I do thank you for 
 her services to-night." 
 
 Sarah Lady Garribardine laughed complacently. 
 
 *'I told you, G., I had found a treasure in Miss Kath- 
 erine Bush !"
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 OVER a week had gone by and Katherine Busli had 
 completely fallen into her duties ; they were not 
 difficult, and she continued to keep her eyes and 
 her intelligence on the alert, and by the second Sunday 
 •when she was to have the afternoon to meet Matilda, 
 she had begun to feel that a whole ocean had 
 rolled between the present Katherine and the crea- 
 ture of the days before the outing in Paris with Lord 
 Algy! 
 
 She had made one or two annoying mistakes and had 
 had one or two surprises, some pleasant ones. It was 
 agreeable to have a cup of tea when one woke, and one's 
 curtains drawn back by an attentive housemaid every 
 morning, and a deep hot bath, instead of a scramble in 
 a small tin tub on Saturday nights. There was a bath- 
 room in Laburnum Villa, but during the week Matilda 
 used it for keeping all sorts of things in, and there were 
 such a number of them to have the bath in turns on Sat- 
 urday and Sunday, that Katherine had preferred the 
 indifferent comfort of a makeshift in her own attic. It 
 seemed on looking back, after ten days of modest lux- 
 ury, that it never could have been possible that she had 
 gone on month after month, and year after year, in the 
 family circle. 
 
 Her heart swelled with gratitude to Lord Algy; but 
 for him she might never have known that there was any- 
 thing different. At these moments she knew that she 
 could easily slip into sentiment about him again, and 
 
 75
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 so she invariably crushed her emotion and began some 
 active work. 
 
 At nine o'clock in the morning it was her duty to go 
 to Lady Garribardine in her bedroom, where she would 
 find her propped up upon lacy pink silk pillows, a saucy 
 cap and ribbons covering the greater part of a more 
 coquettish and rather lighter golden wig than the one 
 she wore in the day. Her face had not yet been ar- 
 ranged, and presented a sad contrast to these youthful 
 allurements. Her temper was often very precarious. 
 
 Katlierine stood by the bed, block in hand, and took 
 down all instructions. Lady Garribardine's voluminous 
 correspondence was only attended to in the morning; 
 the accumulations of the later part of the day before 
 were heaped up in one basket tray, and the early posts 
 in another. While a third empty one awaited those 
 communications which were to be answered either in 
 type or in handwriting. 
 
 Now, after ten days of service, Katherine had mas- 
 tered most of Lady Garribardine's affairs. She knew 
 the wages of her servants, the expenditure of the house, 
 the phrasing of her friends' letters, their points of 
 views, little hatreds and little loves, their want or pos- 
 session of good English and powers of expressing them- 
 selves — she fancied she could almost picture the faces, 
 so vivid were these pen portraits of the writers that the 
 notes showed. Lady Garribardine seldom answered 
 even the most private with her own hand and Katherine 
 had grown quite accustomed to signing "Sarah Garri- 
 bardine" as "yours affectionately" or "yours sincerely." 
 She even derived a cynical amusement from the fictions 
 she was instructed to invent to one and another. 
 
 The life of a great lady, she saw, would be a very 
 complicated affair to a novice, and each day she felt 
 
 76
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 glad she was having the opportunity of learning its in- 
 tricacies. She meant to make no mistakes when her own 
 turn should come. 
 
 Lady Garribardine had not continued to exploit her 
 for her personal diversion as she had done on the occa- 
 sion of their initial meeting, she had been too occupied, 
 perhaps ; on the contrary, she kept strictly to her role 
 of employer and hardly spoke except on business. 
 Katherine realised that she looked upon her much as 
 Lord Algy had looked upon Hanson, and far from its 
 arousing the rageful resentment which it would have 
 done in Matilda's feminine breast, she saw the justice of 
 it, and considered it a proper arrangement. 
 
 "Some people have the luck to be born to high sta- 
 tion," she reasoned to herself, "and those who would at- 
 tain it for themselves must make themselves fitted for 
 it first — besides there would be no good in it to me, if 
 after I had obtained it I should have to hobnob with my 
 own secretary. It is the distinctions and barriers that 
 make the thing worth having." 
 
 As yet she had only rarely come across other mem- 
 bers of the world beyond her employer on such occa- 
 sions as, for instance, if she were sent for suddenly to 
 the drawing-room to take down some instruction, or 
 bring some charity list ; but whenever she had the chance 
 ' she observed them carefully. Some of them were far 
 from what had been her ideal of what high birth and 
 breeding would certainly show, but they all had that 
 ease of manner which polished their casualnesses, and 
 once she was still receiving instructions by the bedside 
 when Stirling, the maid, came to know if Lady Beatrice 
 Strobridge might come up. 
 
 "Confound the woman!" Her Ladyship exclaimed in 
 her angelic voice, its refinement of pronunciation always 
 
 77
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 a joy to Katherine's ear — whatever the bluntness of 
 the words might be — "No, certainly not — my face is not 
 done — but stay, StirHng, it may be something to do 
 with to-night — give me the rouge and powder and a 
 looking-glass. Don't go, Miss Bush — it is nothing pri- 
 vate and she won't stay for more than a minute." 
 
 Katherine discreetly turned her eyes from the bed 
 to the window, and when she looked round again, two 
 blooming rose-coloured cheeks balanced the girlish 
 curls, and Lady Garribardine was reposing languidly 
 upon her pillows. 
 
 "Dearest Aunt Sarah, I had to come," cried Ladj 
 Beatrice in her plaintive discontented voice, "Gerard 
 has been perfectly impossible, actually has refused to 
 let me go to the Artist Model's ball as Ganymede, and 
 I have got the most ducky dress, a pendant to Hebe 
 Vermont's Iris." 
 
 "A few rags of chiffon, a cup and bare legs, I sup- 
 pose," Lady Garribardine retorted not unkindly, as her 
 niece sat upon the bed. 
 
 "You may describe it like that if you want to. Aunt 
 Sarah ! I assure you, though, it is most becoming, and 
 it is too ridiculous when everyone we know is going, and 
 all the Thorvils have such tiny ankles, too." 
 
 "The more reason for you not to expose them to the 
 common herd. Go naked if you so desire to a ball in a 
 private house among your own class — you'll lay your- 
 self open only to criticisms of your charms there — but 
 to let hoi polloi gaze at you undressed is to lower your 
 order; I am with Gerard about that." 
 
 Lady Beatrice pouted. 
 
 "I really thought you were so up to date, Aunt Sera- 
 phim, darhng, that you would be sure to side with me — 
 of course I shall go, all the same ; I should not think of 
 
 78
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 paying any attention to Gerard — only it would be so 
 much nicer if you had consented to scold him for me." 
 
 *'I am up to date, I hope, in so far as I try to move 
 with the times" — Lady Garribardine's face was good- 
 naturedly contemptuous — "only, I consider that all of 
 you who throw your bonnets over the windmills are cut- 
 ting your own throats — You are destroying values, 
 cheapening pleasures, breaking down hedges, and let- 
 ting in the swine to feed upon your grapes — you are 
 often very vulgar, you modern people." 
 
 Lady Beatrice got off the bed. 
 
 "Then there is no use talking. Aunt Sarah — I dare 
 say we are — but what matter? I wish I knew what does 
 matter? I am bored all the time ; I get some momentary 
 pleasure out of my poetry, and some out of my dear 
 precious friends — but the rest of the day is one long 
 yawn. You ought not to grudge my being Ganymede; 
 every sort of quaint creature is at this ball, and I get 
 quite amused each year when I go." 
 
 "Why don't you take a box, then, and watch them? 
 I could quite understand that, and intend to do so my- 
 self — Miss Bush, by the way, did you write to say I 
 would have number five?" 
 
 Katherine replied in the affirmative and Lady Bea- 
 trice suddenly became aware of her presence as she re- 
 sumed her place on the bed. 
 
 "Oh, this is your new secretary, Aunt Sarah! I am 
 sure you have a frightfully difficult time — er — Miss 
 Bush !" And she laughed, "Her Ladyship expects per- 
 fection, 
 
 55 
 
 "Her Ladyship has quite a right to as good as can 
 be got — since she pays for it." 
 
 Katherine's voice was deep and level, and contained 
 no impertinence, only a grave statement of fact. 
 
 79
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 Lady Garribardine chuckled among her pillows. 
 
 *'Miss Bush is much nearer the truth of things than 
 any of you so-called psychological philosophers, Bee — 
 analysing matters with little dilettante methods all daj 
 to the laughter of the gods. Miss Bush realises her ob- 
 ligations as a secretary, but you very often don't per- 
 ceive yours as a duke's daughter, and a rising Foreign 
 Office official's wife." 
 
 Lady Beatrice was not the least crushed. She 
 laughed frankly, 
 
 *'Dear, sweet Aunty ! There never has been a scan- 
 Idcl about me in my life — I am a model of circumspect- 
 ness, demureness and present-day virtuous wifeliness. 
 Why, I never interfere with Gerard — we hardly meet in 
 the whole week — and I merely like my own simple 
 friends, my own simple clothes, and my own simple 
 pleasures !" 
 
 "Artless creature!" And the youthful curls shook. 
 *'Well, what did you come for, in so many words? To 
 try to get me to influence Gerard not to play for once 
 the ineffectual part of husband in authority, and so let 
 you disgrace the name of Thorvil and Strobridge in 
 peace?" 
 
 Lady Beatrice seized and stroked the fat hand lying 
 upon the pink silk coverlet. 
 
 *'You darling, ducky Aunt Seraphim ! Just that ! I 
 want to wear my enchanting boy's dress — I must be 
 Ganymede, the cupbearer!" 
 
 "Well, I'll be no party to it — be off with you. I have 
 serious affairs to settle with Miss Bush and have no 
 further time to waste.'* 
 
 Lady Beatrice saluted her obediently and got off the 
 bed once more ; she was laughing softly. 
 
 "Gerard is coming to lunch," Lady Garribardine 
 
 80
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 called to her, "and Lao Delemar, and they are going to 
 see a winter exhibition afterwards." 
 
 "I can't stand Lao," Lady Beatrice cooed from the 
 doorway; "she pretends to be so full of sex and other 
 dreadful natural things, she makes my innocent aes- 
 thetic flesh creep — Gerard always had fruity tastes — 
 Bye-bye, dear Aunt Sarah!" And kissing her finger- 
 tips she was at last gone, leaving Katherine wonder- 
 ing. 
 
 They had said very severe things to each other and 
 neither was the least angry really — Gladys and Fred 
 were not wont to bicker so. 
 
 "Call up Mr. Strobridge, Miss Bush — he will not have 
 left home yet — you know his number — ask him to speak 
 to me at once." 
 
 Katherine obeyed — she was an expert with the tele- 
 phone and never raised her voice. Mr. Strobridge was 
 soon at the other end of it, and she was about to hand 
 the receiver to her employer when that lady frowned 
 and told her to give the message herself. 
 
 "My right ear is troublesome to-day," she said, "you 
 must do the business for me, Miss Bush." 
 
 "Hello ! Her Ladyship wishes me to give you a mes- 
 sage — will you wait a moment until I take it.^*" 
 
 "Hello! Yes." 
 
 "Say he is to come half an hour earlier to lunch to- 
 day. I have things to talk over with him about to- 
 night — He is to go to this ridiculous ball in my box 
 — tell him so." 
 
 Katherine repeated the exact message. 
 
 "Tell her I am very much annoyed about the whole 
 thing," Mr. Strobridge returned, "and have decided not 
 to be present myself." 
 
 "Stuff and nonsense !" cried Lady Garribardine, when 
 
 81
 
 THE C ABE Eli OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 she was told, and, seizing the receiver from Kathcrine's 
 hand, she roared : 
 
 "Don't be a fool, G. — it is too late in the day to stand 
 upon your dignity — I'll tell you the rest when you come 
 to lunch." — Upon which she closed the communication 
 and called for Stirling. 
 
 "Take all this rubbish of letters away. Miss Bush — 
 I must get up and cope with the humiliating defects of 
 old age — you may go." 
 
 Katherine had a very busy morning in front of her. 
 She sat steadily typing and writing in the secretary's 
 room, until her lunch was brought and even then she 
 hardly stopped to eat it, but on her own way to the 
 dining-room Lady Garribardine came in. She looked 
 at the hardly tasted food and blinked her black eyes : 
 
 *'Tut, tut ! You must eat, child — pas trop de zele — 
 Finish your pudding — and then bring me those two let- 
 ters upon the report of the AVineberger charity — into 
 the dining-room — You can have your coffee with us — 
 Mr. Strobridge and I are alone, Mrs. Delemar is not 
 coming, after all — By the way, do you have every- 
 thing you want.'' The coffee they give you is good, eh? 
 Servants always skimp the beans when left to them- 
 selves." 
 
 "I have everything I want, thank you — but I have 
 not been offered coffee," Katherine replied. 
 
 Lady Garribardine's face assumed an indignant ex- 
 pression, and she sharply rang the bell. 
 
 "These are the things that happen when one does not 
 know of them — you ought to have complained to me be- 
 fore. Miss Bush !" 
 
 Thomas answered the bell and whitened perceptibly 
 when he saw his mistress's face. He was asked why Miss 
 Bush had not been served with coffee, in a voice which 
 
 82
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 froze his tongue, and the only excuse he could give was 
 a stammering statement that Miss Arnott had not taken 
 any* which aroused further wrath. 
 
 "Pampered wretches !" Lady Garribardine exclaimed. 
 "Anything to save themselves trouble ! I will speak to 
 Bronson about this — but see that it never happens 
 again, Thomas !" And the trembling footman was al- 
 lowed to leave the room. 
 
 "I am glad you did not try to defend them, as the 
 foolish Arnott would have done," Her Ladyship flashed. 
 "She was always standing between my just wrath and 
 the servant's delinquencies, always shielding them — one 
 would have thought she was of their class. The result 
 was no one in the house respected her — good creature 
 though she was. See that you are respected, young 
 woman, and obeyed when obedience is your due." 
 
 "I will try to be" — and an inscrutable expression 
 played round Katherine's full red mouth. "I would 
 never shield anyone from what he deserved." 
 
 "It seems to me you understand a good deal, girl ! — 
 Well, come into the dining-room in half an hour," and, 
 smiling her comprehending smile. Lady Garribardine 
 left the room. 
 
 "G., that is a wonderful creature, that new secretary 
 of mine — have you noticed her yet?" she said later on to 
 her nephew when they had finished the serious part of 
 their luncheon, and she had rung her enamelled bell for 
 the automatic entrance of the servants from behind the 
 screen — they were only allowed in the room to change 
 the courses at this meal. Numbers of politicians and 
 diplomats frequently dropped in and preferred to dis- 
 cuss affairs with their hostess alone. 
 
 "No — not much," Mr. Strobridge admitted when 
 they were again by themselves and coffee had come. "I 
 
 83
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 thought she did mj letter to the Times remarkably well, 
 though." 
 
 "She has not done anytlinig badly yet — when she 
 makes a mistake in social trifles she always realises it, 
 and corrects herself. Her reading aloud was grotesque 
 at first, but I have never had to tell her how to pro- 
 nounce a word twice. I lay traps for her; she is as 
 smart as paint and as deep as a well." 
 
 "A treasure indeed — " but Mr. Strobridge's voice 
 was absent, he was uninterested and was still smarting 
 under the annoyance of the situation created by his 
 wife. 
 
 Of course he could not make her stay at home by 
 force — and he hated the idea of Ganymede and the bare 
 legs. He reverted to the topic once more. 
 
 "I would really rather not go to see the freakish crew 
 to-night," he said. "Beatrice is doing it merely from 
 obstinacy ; she is not like Hebe Vermont, a ridiculous 
 poseuse, crazy for notoriety; she is a refined creature 
 generally, though wearying. This is just to defy me." 
 
 "As I have always told you, G., you should never 
 have married, you are made for an ardent and devoted 
 lover, with a suitable change of inamorata every six 
 months. In the role of husband you are — frankly — 
 a little ridiculous ! You have no authority. As Miss 
 Bush put it just now about something else, you usually 
 act from good nature, not from a sense of justice; and 
 Beatrice snaps her fingers at you and goes her own 
 way," 
 
 "I don't mind as a rule — indeed, I am grateful to her 
 for doing so. Can there be anything more tedious and 
 bourgeois than the recognised relation of husband and 
 wife.'' The only things which make intimacy with a 
 woman agreeable are difficulty and interraittency. Bee 
 
 84
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 fortunately expects nothing from mc, and I expect 
 nothing from her, beyond acting in a manner suitable 
 to her race and station, and I don't think Ganymede 
 in his original costume at an Artist Models' ball a har- 
 monious part for my wife or a Thorvil to adopt." 
 
 "You don't know how to manage her, and you are too 
 indifferent to try — so you had better swallow your out- 
 raged dignity and come with me in my box after all. 
 Lao will be there and you can sit and whisper in the 
 back of it." And Lady Garribardine lit her cigarette, 
 but Mr. Strobridge protested in whimsical distress : 
 
 "Heaven forbid! Would you kill this dawning ro- 
 mance, Seraphim.'* If Lao and I are to be drafted off 
 like a pair of fiances, the whole charm is gone. I wish 
 to Tnenager my emotions so that they may last over the 
 Easter recess ; after that I shall be too busy for them 
 to matter. Don't be ruthless, sweet Aunt !" 
 
 Lady Garribardine laughed and at that moment 
 Katherine Bush came in, the finished letters in her hand. 
 
 "Give Miss Bush some coffee, G., while I look over" 
 them," and Her Ladyship indicated the tray which had 
 been placed by an attentive Bronson close to her hand. 
 
 Mr. Strobridge did as he was asked. His thoughts 
 were far away, and beyond displaying the courtesy he 
 used to all women, he never noticed Katherine at all. 
 She was quite ordinary looking still — with the screwed 
 up mop of ashen-hued hair, and her plain dark blouse, 
 unless you chanced to meet her strange and beautiful 
 eyes. 
 
 For some reason she felt a little piqued, the man's 
 manner and phrasing attracted her, his voice was 
 superlatively cultivated, and his words chosen with pol- 
 ished grace. Here was a person from whom something 
 could be learned. She would have wished to have talked 
 
 85
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 with him unrestrainedly and alone. She remained silent 
 and listened when aunt and nephew again took up the 
 ball of conversation together. How she would love to 
 be able to converse like that! They were so spark- 
 ling — never in earnest seemingly, all was light as air, 
 while Mr. Strobridge made allusions and quotations 
 which showed his brilliant erudition, and Katherine 
 hearkened with all her ears. Some of them she recog- 
 nized and others she determined to look up, but his 
 whole pronunciation of the sentences sounded different 
 from what she had imagined they would be when she 
 had read them to herself. 
 
 This was the first time she had heard a continued 
 conversation between two people who she had already 
 decided were worthy of note, and this half-hour stood 
 out as the first milestone in her progress. 
 
 Presently they all rose — and she went back to her 
 work with the sense of the magnitude of her task in 
 climbing to the pinnacle of a great lady and cultivated 
 woman of the world. 
 
 For a few moments she felt a little depressed — then 
 a thought came to her. 
 
 "He could help me to knowledge of literature and 
 art — he could teach me true culture — and since he is 
 married there can be no stupid love-making. But for 
 this he must first realise that I exist and for that when 
 my chance comes I must arrest his attention through 
 the ears and the eyes. He must for once look at me 
 and see not only his aunt's secretary — and then I can 
 learn from him all that I desire to know." 
 
 That this course of action could possibly cause the 
 proposed teacher pain in the future never entered her 
 head.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 MATILDA had been told to meet her sister, if it 
 should be fine on this Sunday, in the Park by 
 the Serpentine; they would walk about and 
 then go and have an early tea at Victoria Station, 
 whence Matilda could take a train back to Bindon's 
 Green. 
 
 They met punctually at the time appointed on the 
 bridge, and the elder Miss Bush was filled with joy. 
 She had missed Katherine dreadfully, as browbeating 
 husbands are often missed by meek wives, and she was 
 full of curiosity to hear her news. 
 
 "You look changed somehow, Kitten !" she exclaimed, 
 when they had greeted each other. "It isn't because 
 you'd done your hair differently ; you had it that way 
 on the last day — it isn't a bit 'the look', but it suits 
 you. No, it's not that — but you are changed some- 
 how. Now tell me everything, dearie — I am dying to 
 hear." 
 
 "I like it," began Katherine, "and I am learning lots 
 of things." 
 
 This information did not thrill Matilda. Kathcrine's 
 desire to be always learning was very fatiguing, she 
 thought, and quite unnecessary. She wanted to hear 
 facts of food and lodging and people and treatment, 
 not unimportant moral developments. 
 
 "Oh — well," she said. "Are they kind to you.?" 
 
 "Yes — I am waited on like a lady — and generally 
 the work isn't half so heavy as at Liv and Dev's." 
 
 87
 
 THE CAFEER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Tell me right from the beginning. What you 
 do when you get up in the morning until you go to 
 bed." 
 
 Katherine complied. 
 
 *'I am waked at half-past seven and given a cup of 
 tea — real tea, Tild, not the stuff we called tea at home." 
 (A slight toss of the head from Matilda.) "The sec- 
 ond housemaid waits on me, and pulls up my blind, and 
 then I have my bath in the bathroom across the pas- 
 sage — a nice, deep hot bath." 
 
 "Whatever for — every day.''" interrupted Matilda. 
 "What waste of soap and towels and things — do you 
 like it, Kitten?" 
 
 "Of course, I do — we all seem to be very dirty people 
 to me now, Tild — with our one tub a week ; you soon 
 grow to find things a necessity. I could not bear not 
 to have a bath every day now." 
 
 Matilda snorted. 
 
 "WeU— and then—.?" 
 
 "Then I go down and have my breakfast in the secre- 
 tary's room — my sitting-room, in fact. It is a lovely 
 breakfast, with beautiful china and silver and table- 
 linen, and when I have finished that I take my block 
 and pencil and go up to Lady Garribardine's bedroom 
 to take down my instructions for the day in short- 
 hand." 
 
 "Oh, Kitten, do tell me, what's her room like.'"' At 
 last something interesting might be coming! 
 
 "It is all pink silk and lace and a gilt bed, and num- 
 bers of photographs, and a big sofa and comfortable 
 chairs — and when she has rheumatism she stays there 
 and has people up to tea." 
 
 "What! Folks to tea in her bedroom.? Ladies, of 
 course.?" 
 
 88
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Oh ! dear no ! Men, too ! She has heaps of men 
 friends ; they are devoted to her." 
 
 "Gentlemen in her bedroom! I do call that fast!" 
 Matilda was frankly shocked. 
 
 "Why?" asked Katherine. 
 
 "Why? My dear! Just fancy — gentlemen where 
 you sleep and dress! Mabel would not dream of doing 
 such a thing — and I do hope she'll never hear you are 
 in that kind of a house. She'd be sure to pass re- 
 marks." 
 
 "Lady Garribardine is over sixty years old, Tild 1 
 Don't you think you are being rather funny?" and 
 Katherine wondered why she had never noticed before 
 that Matilda was totally devoid of all sense of hu- 
 mour. And then she realised that the conception was 
 new even to herself, and must have come from her book 
 reading, though she was conscious that it was a gift 
 that she had always enjoyed. No one had spoken of 
 the "senses of humour" in their home circle, and Ma- 
 tilda would not have understood what it meant or 
 whether she did or did not possess it ! 
 
 Things were things to Matilda, and had not different 
 aspects, and for a lady to receive gentlemen in her bed- 
 room if she were even over sixty years old and suffer- 
 ing from rheumatism was not proper conduct, and 
 would earn the disapproval of Mabel Cawber and, in- 
 deed, of refined and select Bindon's Green in general. 
 
 "I don't see that age makes a difference ; it's the idea 
 of tea in a bedroom, dearie — with gentlemen !" 
 
 "But what do you think they would do to her, Tild?" 
 Katherine with difficulty hid her smile. 
 
 "Oh ! my ! what dreadful things you do say, Kath- 
 erine !" Matilda blushed. "Why, it's the awkwardness 
 of it for them — I'm wondering; whatever Fred and Bert 
 
 89
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 and Charlie Prodgers would feel if Mabel had them up 
 to hers of a Sunday, supposing she had a cold — and 
 what would anyone say !" 
 
 "Yes, I am sure Bindon's Green would talk its head 
 off, and Fred and Bert and Charlie Prodgers would be 
 awfully uncomfortable and get every sort of extraor- 
 dinary idea into their heads, and if a person like Mabel 
 did do such a thing, as to have them up there, she 
 would be fidgety herself — or she would be really fast 
 and intend them to go ahead. But Lady Garribardine 
 is always quite sure of herself, and her friends are, too, 
 and they don't have to consider convention — they are 
 really gentlemen, you see, and not worried at all as to 
 what others think or say, and it seems quite natural 
 to them to come up and see an old rheumatic lady any- 
 where they want to see her. That is just the difference 
 in the class, Tild — the upper are perfectly real, and 
 don't pretend anything, and aren't uncomfortable in 
 doing natural things." 
 
 Matilda was still disapproving, and at once became 
 antagonistic when her sister made reflections upon 
 class. 
 
 "I call it very queer, anyway," she sniffed. "And 
 wherever do they find room to sit — in a bedroom, 
 dearie.'"' 
 
 Katherine laughed — she wondered if she had never 
 had a glimpse of life and space and comfort with Lord 
 Algy, should she, too, have been as ignorant and sur- 
 prised at everything in her new sphere as Matilda was 
 at the description of it. She supposed she would have 
 been equally surprised, but would certainly have viewed 
 it with an open mind. After ten days of peeps at a 
 world where everything new and old was looked at and 
 discussed with the broadest toleration, the incredible 
 
 90
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 narrowness of the Bindon's Green outlook appalled her 
 — the forces of ignorance and prejudice and ridiculous 
 hypocrisy which ruled such hundreds of worthy people's 
 lives ! 
 
 She came back from these speculations to the reality 
 of her sister's voice, reiterating her question as to 
 where the visitors found place, and she answered, still 
 smiling: 
 
 "It is a great big room, Tild, twice as big as the 
 drawing-room at home — no — bigger still, and twenty 
 people could sit in it without crowding." 
 
 "Goodness gracious!" ejaculated Matilda; "it must 
 be grand." 
 
 "You see, you are such an old goose, Matilda. You 
 think the whole world must be like Bindon's Green, 
 although I have told you over and over again that 
 other places, and other grades of life, are different, 
 but you and INIabel and Fred and Bert, and the whole 
 crew of you, measure everything with your own tiny 
 measure. You make me gasp at your outlook some- 
 times." 
 
 Matilda bridled — and Katherine went on. 
 
 "Lady Garribardine's house does not seem to be a 
 bit grand to her, nor to any of the people who come 
 there. They are not conscious of it; it is just every- 
 day to them, although some of them live in quite small 
 houses themselves and aren't at all rich. She has two 
 cousins — elderly ladies, who live in a tiny flat — but oh ! 
 the difference in it to Mabel's villa ! I had to take them 
 a message last week and waited in their mite of a draw- 
 ing-room — it was exquisitely clean and simple, and they 
 are probably poorer than we are." 
 
 Matilda felt too ruffled to continue this conversation ; 
 she always hated the way Katherine argued with her; 
 
 91
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 she wanted to get back to the far more interesting sub- 
 ject of carpets and curtains and arrangements in the 
 rooms of Lady Garribardine's house. Numbers of the 
 people in her serials, of course, were supposed to own 
 such places, and she had often seen bits of them on the 
 stage, but until she found Katherine really lived now 
 in one, somehow she had never believed in them as liv- 
 ing actualities, or rather their reality had not been 
 brought home to her. So she questioned Katherine, 
 and soon had an accurate description of her ladyship's 
 bedroom, and the rest of the house, then she got back 
 to the happenings of her sister's day. 
 
 "Well, when you have got up there, you take down 
 orders, and then?" 
 
 "I sort everything that has come by the post and 
 mark on the envelopes how I am to answer them, and I 
 sometimes read her the papers aloud if her eyes are 
 tired." 
 
 "Yes.?" 
 
 "And then I go down and write the letters; she 
 hardly ever answers any herself, and I have to write 
 them as if I were she. Her friends must wonder how 
 her hand and style have changed since Miss Arnott 
 left!" 
 
 Here was something thrilling again for Matilda. 
 
 "Oh, my ! What a lot you must get to know about 
 the smart set. Kitten; isn't it interesting!" 
 
 "Yes, as I told you, I am learning lessons." 
 
 "Oh, bother that! Well, what do they write about, 
 do tell me—.?" 
 
 "All sorts of things ; their movements, their chari- 
 ties — invitations, little witticisms about each other — 
 politics, the last good story — and, some of them, 
 books." 
 
 92
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "And you have to answer as if you were her? How- 
 ever do you do it, Kitten?" 
 
 "She gives me the general idea — she showed me the 
 first time for the private letters, and now I know, but 
 sometimes perhaps I write as if it were me !" 
 
 "And don't they know it is not her hand?" 
 
 "Of course, but they don't care. She is a great lady 
 and a character, and she is very powerful in their circle 
 of society, and it is worth everyone's while to be civil to 
 her." 
 
 "It is all funny. Well, what else do you do?" 
 
 "Sometimes I have to do errands — shopping and so 
 on — and then my luncheon comes — the food is lovely, 
 and I am waited on by a footman called Thomas ; he is 
 the third; and on Wednesday Lady Garribardine took 
 his and the butler's heads off because I had not been 
 given coffee. She means me to be perfectly treated, I 
 can tell you !" 
 
 "Coffee after your lunch, how genteel ! And my ! 
 what a lot of servants. Whatever do they all do?" 
 
 "Their work, I suppose. You forget it is a big 
 house and everything is splendidly done and beautifully 
 clean, and regular and orderly." 
 
 Here Matilda insisted upon a full list of all the re- 
 tainers, and an account of their separate duties; her 
 domestic soul revelled in these details, and at the end 
 of the recital her awe knew no bounds. Katherine was 
 able to give her a very circumstantial set of state- 
 ments, as all accounts passed through her hands. 
 
 "Well, your old lady must spend pints of money," 
 Matilda said, with a sigh, "but we've not got to your 
 afternoons yet, dearie. Do you work all them, too.'"' 
 
 "When I am very busy — it depends how much I have 
 to do; if I am not very occupied and I have not been 
 
 93
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 out in the morning, I go for a walk before tea. I have 
 to take her ladyship's two fox-terriers, Jack and Joe ; 
 they are jolly little fellows, and I love them. We 
 scamper in the square, or go as far as the Park." 
 
 "And your tea.'' They bring you up a cup, I sup- 
 pose, every da}^ — regular.'*" 
 
 "Not a cup — a whole tray to myself, and lovely muf- 
 fins and cream, Tild. Lady Garribardine has a Jersey 
 herd of cows at her place in Blankshire, and the cream 
 comes up each day from there." 
 
 "My ! how nice !" Matilda sighed again. Her imag- 
 ination could hardly take in such luxury. It seemed 
 to her that Katherine must be living in almost gilded 
 vice! 
 
 "Then after tea, if I am not sent for to do any spe- 
 cial thing, I read to myself. I look up anything that 
 I dont know about that I have chanced to hear spoken 
 of by the people who come — I am allowed to take books 
 from the library." 
 
 "Then you do see people sometimes.''" Matilda's in- 
 terest revived again. "What are they like, Kitten.'"' 
 
 "Sometimes I do, but not often — only when I chance 
 to be sent for, but next week Her Ladyship has got a 
 big charity tableaux entertainment on hand, that she 
 is arranger and patroness of, and I shall come across 
 lots of people of society, some of the ones you know 
 the names of so well in the Flare.'" 
 
 "The Duchess of Dashington and the Countess of 
 Blanktown — really, Kitten !" 
 
 This was fashion, indeed ! 
 
 "Probably — but I don't know about the Duchess of 
 Dashington. I don't think Lady Garribardine ap- 
 proves of her." 
 
 "Not approve of the Duchess of Dashington !" Ma- 
 
 94
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 tilda exclaimed, indignantly. "Her that has gentle- 
 men to tea in her bedroom to give herself airs like that ! 
 Well, I never !" 
 
 This particular Duchess' photographs were the joy 
 of the halfpenny illustrated papers, and Matilda v/as 
 accustomed to see her in skating costume waltzing with 
 her instructor, and in golf costume and in private the- 
 atrical costumes, almost every other week. 
 
 "No — she speaks of her very cheaply — but I will tell 
 you all about it on Sunday fortnight. I'll have heard 
 everything by then, because the tableaux will be 
 
 over." 
 
 Matilda returned to her muttons. 
 
 "Then you have supper, I suppose?" 
 
 "No — I go up and dress myself and put on my best 
 blouse and have my dinner at eight o'clock ; after that 
 I generally read the paper or French books — and at 
 ten I go to bed." 
 
 "Gracious ! what's the good of dressing if you don't 
 see anyone.? How you'll use up your blouse!" 
 
 Matilda was aghast at such folly ! 
 
 "I am supposed to be a lady, Tild, and a lady is ex- 
 pected to dress in the evening if she is alone on a desert 
 island." 
 
 "What stufT! Whatever for.?" 
 
 "Self-respect." 
 
 "Fiddlesticks." 
 
 Presently Katherine grew reflective, her catechism 
 over. "I wish you could see it all, Tild ; it would en- 
 large your brain — it is all so different from Bindon's 
 Green. If you could only hear their point of view, I 
 assure you, dear, it might be two different nations — 
 those barefoot urchins climbing on the rails are much 
 nearer their level than we are." 
 
 95
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 But Matilda could not stand this ; her wrath rose. 
 
 "Those dirty boys nearer your new people than a 
 real lady like Mabel Cawber, and your own brothers 
 and sisters ! Katherine, how dare you ! Horrid little 
 guttersnipes with no pride of themselves ; why, they 
 aren't even ashamed to be here of a Sunday among de- 
 cent people — they'd do anything!" 
 
 "That is just it, Tild — so would the aristocrats if 
 they wanted to, and wouldn't be a bit ashamed or even 
 think of it, and they have 'no pride of themselves,' 
 either — but you'll never understand, Tild, not if you 
 live to be a hundred years old." 
 
 "And I don't want to, there!" 
 
 "Then it is perfectly useless my talking, I see that. 
 We had better go and have some tea." 
 
 And so they turned out of Albert Gate and walked 
 to Victoria. 
 
 Matilda, when she had smoothed her ruffled feelings, 
 began now to relate the home news. Gladys and her 
 fiance were not happy together; they had not been so 
 since that visit which Katherine would remember they 
 had taken to Brighton to stay with his aunt — it was 
 nearly six weeks ago now and both grew more and more 
 gloomy. 
 
 "And so uppy as Glad is with Fred, too, and never 
 a bit back on Bob Hartley !" 
 
 Matilda felt things would be better for her sister if 
 a little more spirit were shown. Mabel and her be- 
 trothed had been up for church parade as usual in the 
 Park that morning, and this lady had also supped with 
 them at Laburnum Villa the night before, and they had 
 had oysters and a jolly time. 
 
 Katherine felt a strange emotion when she heard of 
 this. She seemed to see a picture of Lord Algj enjoy- 
 
 96
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 ing oysters, and all the reflections this action had called 
 up — oh ! how long ago it all appeared ! 
 
 "And have you met that gentlemen you spoke of?" 
 Matilda asked, before they parted at the station. 
 
 "Mr. Strobridge, you mean — Lady Garribardine's 
 nephew. Yes — he is husband of the lady Glad dresses, 
 /the one who had the model she wanted me to have. He 
 is a clever man — we have not really spoken yet, but I 
 mean to know him very well some day." 
 
 "Oh! Kitten, do be careful! And him a married man, 
 too!" 
 
 "For what I want of him, it does not matter whether 
 he is married or single," Katherine reassured her, and 
 soon the train moved off'. 
 
 How good Matilda was ! Katherine thought, as she 
 walked briskly back to Berkeley Square — an unselfish, 
 worthy, honest, hopelessly stupid creature, whom some- 
 how she was fond of. But what could it be that made 
 her herself so utterly diff'erent from them all.'* Nothing 
 could be chance — everything had its reason, only we 
 were generally too blind to perceive it. So was there 
 some truth in that vague story of the great-grand- 
 mother having been someone of high family fallen low 
 in the world and married to the auctioneer great-grand- 
 father, whom her own father remembered very well? 
 Could it be that some drop of gentle blood flowed in her 
 veins, transmitted from this source and concentrated in 
 her, having escaped the others — or was it simply from 
 the years of her reading that her mind had developed? 
 But it could not be altogether that, because she re- 
 membered instincts and tastes in uneducated early 
 childhood completely aloof from the family's. 
 
 "Father gave me this business capacity," she mused, 
 "but something beyond must have given me this will to 
 
 97
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 achieve — and I shall achieve — all I desire — in time! 
 Only I must be ruthless and have no emotions. I must 
 follow what Bacon asserts about great spirits," and she 
 quoted softly : " 'There is not one that hath been trans- 
 ported to the mad degree of love, which shows that 
 great spirits and great business do keep out this weak 
 passion.' " 
 
 Yes, she would keep out this weak passion ! She had 
 tasted its joys, and that memory must last her a life- 
 time. 
 
 On the doorstep she encountered Gerard Strobridge 
 just coming out — he raised his hat and said politely 
 that it was an abominably cold day — then he passed 
 on down the steps and so towards Hill Street. 
 
 And Katherine Bush went up to her room.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE week of the tableaux had come and gone, and 
 had opened yet another window for Katherine 
 Bush to peep at the world from. She already 
 knew many of the people who came to the luncheons 
 and rehearsals, from their letters, and now she judged 
 of them face to face. She had been in great request 
 to take down innumerable orders, and arrange business 
 details, and had listened and inwardly digested what she 
 heard. 
 
 Her contempt for some of the company was as great 
 as for Miss Mabel Cawber — she discovered a few with 
 titles and positions who were what she disdainfully 
 dubbed, "Middle class underneath !" 
 
 "Only that they have been more used to things, they 
 are as paltry as Mabel," she said to herself, and set 
 about, as was her custom, to find out why — and from 
 what families they had sprung — and obtained some sat- 
 isfaction in the confirmation of her theory of heredity, 
 in discovering that most of these could lay small claim 
 to blueness of blood. The insolence of others she ap- 
 proved of. 
 
 Many of the American peeresses who were posing as 
 queens, and nuns, and Greek goddesses, she truly ad- 
 mired — they must have been at one time like herself — 
 out to learn — and now were conscious that they had 
 made good. 
 
 "But I mean to have more repose of manner when I 
 am there," she told herself. 
 
 99
 
 THE CAEEER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 Of Sarah Lady Garribardine's sayings and views, 
 she kept a great store in her mind. This was a real 
 aristocrat she felt. A human, faulty, strong woman, 
 incapable of meanness or anything which could lower 
 the flag of her order. She was supremely insolent, too, 
 but then she never did anything which could impair 
 people's respect. 
 
 She was hard and generous — and acted up to the 
 doctrine that "noblesse oblige" and entirely believed in 
 the divine right of kings and of Sarah Lady Garri- 
 bardine! She had not been a thirteenth century 
 Baron's daughter for nothing! Katherine Bush shared 
 every one of Her Ladyship's views and moulded all 
 her ideals upon them. 
 
 Each day she was enlarging her vocabulary of words 
 to use — adapting sentences which she had read of fine 
 English to modem requirements, pruning colloquial- 
 isms, cultivating pronunciation, polishing her critical 
 faculties. She was perfectly conscious that she had 
 often employed homely phrases in the past, and had 
 not always paid enough attention to grammar in speak- 
 ing, though for some time she had not used "whatever 
 for," or "of a Sunday," as poor Matilda always did. 
 
 She learned as much comparatively of the general 
 world of society in that one week, as she had learned 
 of the nature of man in her three days with Lord Algy. 
 He was her first step — these women were her second. 
 Lady Garribardine was her head master, and Gerard 
 Strobridge should be her tutor — when the moment she 
 was ready for him came. 
 
 Her suspicions as to her employer's disapproval of 
 the Duchess of Dashington were realised fully one day, 
 in the beginning of the week. The poor young-old lady's 
 rheumatism was very painful, and she remained in her 
 
 100
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 room having her favourite nephew and Mrs. Dclemar 
 up with her there to lunch, on a little table close to her 
 gilt bed. 
 
 Katherine was writing at an escritoire near, having 
 finished her own meal downstairs. 
 
 "You need not go, Miss Bush, if you can continue 
 those invitations with our chatter." 
 
 So Katherine stayed. 
 
 The three talked of many things at first and Kath- 
 erine hardly noticed them, but presently her atten- 
 tion was caught by a name. Mr. Strobridge was say- 
 ing: 
 
 "Seraphim, it will be very difficult to refuse Dulcie 
 Dashington, she has written to Beatrice this morning 
 — she is quite determined to play the part of Nell Gwyn 
 as the orange-girl." 
 
 "Then she can play it in some other tableaux 
 •vivants — but not in these that I am arranging." Her 
 Ladyship's voice was acid. 
 
 "But why, dearest Sarah, are you so down on poor 
 Dulcie.?" Mrs. Delemar protested. "She is really a very 
 good sort, and looks so splendid in these short-skirted, 
 rather common clothes." 
 
 "I am not hard on her, Lao ; I am sure, had she been 
 the wife of a jolly young stockbroker addicted to low 
 practical jokes and rowdy sport, she would have been 
 a most admirable creature. It is not the woman I am 
 down on; there is just such another at Blissington, she 
 helps me with the bazaars and the school treats, her 
 husband is a local brewer, and we are capital friends. 
 It is the Duchess of Dashington I ostracise, as I con- 
 sider she has done more to degrade her order in these 
 socialistic days than any other member of our sadly 
 humbled peerage." 
 
 101
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 The other two laughed amusedly, but Lady Garri- 
 bardlne went on, raising her voice a little. It was a 
 subject upon which she felt so deeply, that it overcame 
 for the moment her usual dryly humorous handling of 
 any matter. 
 
 "Let her have her lovers — ^we have all had lovers — 
 No one in the least objects to them, arranged suitably, 
 and of one's own class. I am not concerned with her 
 or any other woman's physical morality. — Such moral- 
 ity is a question of temperament and geography and 
 custom — but I am profoundly concerned to endeavour 
 to keep up some semblance of dignity in the aristoc- 
 rac}', and Dulcie Dashington has lowered the whole 
 prestige of Duchesses because she is of gentle birth — 
 though Heaven knows what her father was with poor 
 dear Susan's irresponsible ways !" 
 
 Gerard Strobridge smiled as he lit a cigarette. 
 
 "There is a great deal in what you say. Seraphim; 
 she has certainly dragged the title down a good deal, 
 with her fancies for professional gamesters of all sorts 
 for friends, and her total disregard of tradition at 
 Dashington — but you forget that she has had a good 
 deal to put up with from Toni, who is an impossible 
 husband." 
 
 "No man is an impossible husband if he is a Duke ; 
 at least no Duchess ought to find him so — and if he 
 were, that is not the slightest excuse. When a woman 
 undertakes a great position she should realise that per- 
 sonal feelings have ceased to count. She has, so to 
 speak, accepted the responsibility of guarding the 
 safety of an order, just as a sentry is responsible when 
 he is on duty. He would be shot in war time if he fell 
 asleep on duty — however pitiful his case might be from 
 hardship and want of rest. He would be shot as an 
 
 102
 
 
 
 "'No man is an impossible husband if he is a Duke.
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 example to the others not to allow even nature to over- 
 come them and endanger the post." 
 
 "It seems very cruel," piped Mrs. Delemar. 
 
 "Not at all!" Lady Garribardine flashed while her 
 voice vibrated with scorn. "We are at war now with 
 the Radical masses and cannot afford to jeopardise 
 positions — either keep up prestige, or throw up the 
 game and let the whole thing go by the board, but while 
 we pretend there is still an aristocracy in England we, 
 the members of it, should defend it. Dulcie Dashington 
 and her ways and her photographs in the papers, and 
 her vulgarity, and the flaunting of her unsavoury do- 
 mestic affairs, are a byword and as long as I have a 
 voice in socictj-, and can lay some claim to power, I 
 shall let it be known what my opinion is, and why I 
 will not receive her. To me there is no sin like betray- 
 ing an order." 
 
 "I suppose you are quite right," Mrs. Delemar now 
 agreed meekly, "but there are such lots of odd people 
 in society who do unheard-of things ; it is these boys 
 marrying these wretched actresses or Americans which 
 has eiianged everything." 
 
 "Not at all !" contradicted her ladyship. "Boys have 
 always married actresses from time to time, and some 
 of them have proved very decent creatures, and if they 
 do err, v.'hat does it matter.'' No one expects better 
 from them, they are making no real breach in the wall. 
 — ^And as for Americans, they are often very pretty and 
 so clever that they seldom disgrace their new station ; 
 they are like converts to Rome, more zealous than the 
 born papists. The only evil which can lie at their door 
 is that they have too much money, and have given false 
 values to entertaining, and perhaps have encouraged 
 eccentric amusements. — No, my dear child, it is the 
 
 103
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 English-women themselves who have lost self-respect, 
 and have lowered the flag, and when one of really high 
 birth does it, like Dulcie Dashington, she should be 
 made to pay the price." 
 
 This was unanswerable Katherine Bush thought as 
 she listened, and she wondered why the other two should 
 chaff lightly, as though it were just one of Lady Garri- 
 bardine's notions. That is w^hat generally astonished 
 her a good deal; no one appeared to have any convic- 
 tions or enthusiasm, they seemed to her to be a com- 
 pany of drifters, so little energy appeared to be shown 
 by any of them. They were unpunctual and unprac- 
 tical, but they were amusing and deliciously happy-go- 
 lucky. If they had any real feelings none appeared 
 upon the surface; even Lady Beatrice and her coterie 
 of highly evolved poetesses and other artistic worldings, 
 flew from theme to theme, turning intent faces upon 
 new fads each week. 
 
 Most people's manners were casual, and their atti- 
 tudes, too, would often have shocked Mabel Cawber, 
 so far were they from being genteel. The few who truly 
 fulfilled Katherine Bush's ideas of the meaning of the 
 word "lady" stood out like stars. But with all these 
 flaws, as a collection of people, there was that ease of 
 manner, that total absence of self-consciousness, about 
 them which never could be known at Bindon's Green. 
 
 "I suppose times are changed," Katherine told her- 
 self, "and the laxity is producing a new type — I do 
 wonder how they would all behave if some cataclysm 
 happened again, like the French Revolution. But when 
 my day comes I mean to upliold the order which I shall 
 join, as Her Ladyship docs." 
 
 At the last moment. Lady Beatrice did not go as 
 Ganymede to the Artist Models' ball. The history of 
 
 104i
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 her alteration of character was a rather bitterly humor- 
 ous story for Gerard Strobridge's ears. She had been 
 trying on the dress when a note had arrived with a 
 parcel for her from her husband's aunt, which con- 
 tained a very beautiful Greek mantle with these few 
 words : 
 
 Dear Child, 
 
 I send you this mantle which I hope you will wear; it 
 will not really spoil the character of your Ganymede dress, 
 and from the back it will hide the fact that your legs are 
 very slightly bowed. Your charming face will help to dis- 
 tract eyes from the front view, and this very small flaw in 
 your anatomy will pass unnoticed. 
 
 Affectionately yours, 
 
 Sarah Garribardine. 
 
 She had written it with her own hand. Lady Beatrice 
 stamped with rage, and then flew to her looking-glass. 
 She stood this way and that, and finally came to the 
 conclusion that there might be the faintest substratum 
 of truth in the accusation. The rest of the limbs were 
 not so perfect as her tiny ankles. It would not be safe 
 to risk criticism. So the costume was altered and be- 
 came a Flora with garlands of roses and long diaphan- 
 ous draperies — and Gerard and Lady Garribardine 
 watched her entry with the Vermont party with re- 
 lieved eyes, and the wily aunt said : 
 
 *'You can achieve the impossible with women, G., if 
 you only appeal to, or wound, their vanity. You must 
 never give orders to one unless she is in love with you — 
 then she glories in obedience — but a modern wife can 
 only be controlled either on the principle of the Irish- 
 man's pig being driven towards Dublin when it was 
 intended for Cork, or by a Machiavellian manipulation 
 of her self-love." 
 
 105
 
 THE CAFEER OF KATHERIXE BUSH 
 
 "And then the game is not worth the candle," Mr. 
 Strobridge sighed with a little discouragement. "I 
 wonder, Seraphim, what is worth while? Striving for 
 the infinite, I suppose — certainly the finite things are 
 but Dead Sea fruit." 
 
 "Gerard, mj poor boy, you make me fear, when you 
 talk like that, that one day you will be profoundly in 
 love !" 
 
 "Heaven forbid ! — It would upset my digestion. I 
 was thirty-five last month and have to be careful !" 
 
 And in her comfortable bed in Berkeley Square, 
 Katherine Bush read "The Letters of Lady Mary 
 Wortle}' Montagu" far into the night. 
 
 Society had not altered in many respects since these 
 hundred and sixty odd years ago, she thought ! 
 
 The tableaux were the greatest success and a large 
 sum of money was secured for one of Lady Garribar- 
 dine's pet charities. 
 
 Time went on, Christmas was approaching. It was 
 to be spent at Blissington Court, the place Lady Garri- 
 bardine had inherited with the barony of d'Estaire from 
 her father. Garribardine was a Scotch title while her 
 ladyship was rabidlj' English. They would go down to 
 Blissington and have a family party. Her three grand- 
 children (her daughter, Lady Mereton, was far away, 
 the bored wife of a Colonial Governor), Gerard Stro- 
 bridge and perhaps Lady Beatrice and the two old 
 cousins with a young niece of theirs, and a stray man 
 or two, and Mrs. Delemar — but no one could be sure 
 who would turn up at the end. Katherine was not to 
 have any holiday ; she had come too recently, her em- 
 ployer explained to her, and the Christmas accumula- 
 tions were quite beyond her power to tackle alone. 
 
 Katherine was grateful — she looked forward to see- 
 
 106
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 iiif^ this country home with pleasure. She had been 
 kept unusually busy and so had very rarely seen any 
 one except Her Ladyship. But one morning about ten 
 days before they were to go down into Blankshire, Lady 
 Garribardine informed her secretary she was to be given 
 for the whole afternoon to Mr. Strobridge to type a 
 quantity of letters about a new charity he was arrang- 
 ing for her. 
 
 "My nephew dictates abominably, but he said that 
 you had understood him so well that first evening when 
 you arrived a month ago, that he has asked me to lend 
 you to hira to-day for this business, and I have con- 
 sented. He will lunch here, so have plenty of paper 
 ready for the afternoon." Then as Katherine was 
 leaving the room, she handed her a ten-pound note. 
 
 "Here is a little present for you, Miss Bush, for 
 Christmas ; I want you to buy yourself an evening frock 
 — you must dine with us on Christmas Day and perhaps 
 you had not provided for this possibility. I am very 
 pleased with you, girl — you work splendidly." 
 
 Katherine coloured to th» roots of her ashen-hued, 
 glistening hair. She could not analyse her emotions! 
 She hated presents, and yet she was gratified at the 
 kindliness and appreciation which lay in the manner 
 of the gift. 
 
 "Your Ladyship is too good," she said very low. "I 
 have simply done my duty — but I will endeavour to 
 buy something suitable with the money which is far 
 more than enoush." 
 
 The old lady looked at her critically with her head 
 a little on one side — she understood what the blush 
 had arisen from and she appreciated the pride in the 
 girl. 
 
 "The creature must have some breeding in her some- 
 
 107
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 where in spite of the auctioneer parentage. I must talk 
 to her when we get to Blissington. She may prove a 
 great interest for my old age." 
 
 But she said aloud: 
 
 "Well, get what you like with it. I leave it to you, 
 your taste is excellent — and while you are out, pay 
 these two bills for me, and take a little walk — you have 
 been looking rather pale; I fear you have not taken 
 enough outdoor exercise lately." 
 
 Katherine thanked her and went rapidly to her room, 
 a sense of excitement and anticipation in her heart. 
 This might prove an interesting afternoon. There she 
 reviewed her wardrobe. Her "dressy" blouse from Ox- 
 ford Street was too ornate for the daytime, and she 
 thought now in rather bad taste, and her morning ones 
 were too dowdy. This was a great occasion and one 
 which she had been waiting for. She was to go home 
 late on this Friday to stay the night at Bindon's Green. 
 Matilda had insisted upon it, because it was her birth- 
 day; she would be thirty years old. She had been 
 quite tearful about it on the second occasion on which 
 she had met her sister in the Park. 
 
 "You need not cast us all off like this, Kitten," she 
 pleaded, "and we shall have Mabel and a few other 
 friends on Friday night, and Fred has given us a lot 
 of lovely new nigger song records for the gramophone, 
 and it will all be so awfully jolly." 
 
 So Katherine had promised to go, and this fell in 
 admirably with her plans. There would be a real ex- 
 cuse for her to have her hair waved. She had been 
 given the evening off and it was known that she was 
 going home. She would consult Gladys again for the 
 frock for Christmas night and buy what was necessary 
 an her way back to Berkeley Square on the morrow. 
 
 108
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 It was the first time in her Hfe that a hairdresser 
 had ever touched her thick mop of hair, and she had 
 no idea of the difference to her appearance that it 
 would make. But so critical and observant of all things 
 had become her eye that she realised with her first peep 
 in the mirror, when the ondulation was complete, that 
 it had turned her into almost a beauty. The broad 
 waves fell back from the parting and showed the ad- 
 mirable planting of her brow and the Greek setting of 
 her magnetic eyes. She allowed no elaboration of 
 fashion, but had her ample tresses bound tightly to 
 her head — the effect was distinguished and gave her 
 satisfaction. Then from the hairdresser's she went 
 and bought another blouse — something pale grey and 
 becoming, and with the parcel she got back to Berke- 
 ley Square in good time for luncheon and began to 
 dress herself. 
 
 She was glad her hands were so white, she had lately 
 taken to giving great care to the polish of her nails — 
 she wished her feet were smaller, but they were well 
 shaped and no one's feet were really small nowadays, 
 Lady Garribardine had said ! 
 
 She was quite content with the picture she saw in 
 her looking-glass before she went downstairs. It was 
 of a tall, slim girl with a very white, smooth face — 
 extraordinary eyes under level, dark brows, and a big 
 red mouth, and hair of silvery fairness that glistened 
 grey, not gold, in its lights. She knew very well that 
 she was attractive, and gave one of her rare soft laughs. 
 
 A month and more of mental discipline and acute 
 observation of those in that status of refinement to 
 which she wished to attain had given her numerous 
 subtle distinctions of manner which she had not 
 possessed before. She looked like a lady, and felt that 
 
 109
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 she was approaching the time when she herself — most 
 severe of all critics — might consider herself to be one. 
 She was nearly as excited as on that afternoon when 
 she had left Livingstone and Devereux's to go on a three 
 days' honeymoon with Lord Algy. She made herself 
 eat her luncheon as calmly as usual, and then when the 
 tray had been taken away she opened the window wide 
 and poured a packet of cedarwood dust on the fire — 
 and she was sitting demurely at the table when from 
 the library Lady Garribardine and Mr. Strobridge 
 came in. 
 
 Gerard Strobridge carried a bag full of papers and 
 looked cross and harassed. 
 
 "Now G. 3'ou may have the services of Miss Bush 
 until five o'clock; that will give you two hours and a 
 half — you must not keep her, as she is going home to- 
 night — then come up to my sitting-room to tea," and 
 Lady Garribardine went out of the other door which 
 her nephew held open for her. 
 
 Katherine had risen and gone immediately to a cup- 
 board, ostensibly to get something out for her work, 
 so slie hoped Her Ladyship had not remarked her hair 
 — which indeed had happily been the case. 
 
 Mr. Strobridge had not even glanced in her direc- 
 tion, but her moment came when she sat down at the 
 typing machine, and looked straight up into his eyes 
 as she asked in her deep alluring voice: 
 
 "What do you wish me to begin upon, please.'"' 
 
 Then he took in the whole effect and a wave of in- 
 tense astonishment swept over him. What had hap- 
 pened? Was he dreaming.'' Was this beautiful crea- 
 ture the ordinary, silent, admirable typist, Katherine 
 Bush.^
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 HE pulled himself together and took some papers 
 fi'om his bag without speaking, and when he 
 had selected two or three, he drew a chair up 
 to the other side of the table and began to dictate, 
 stopping every now and then to explain the purport of 
 his arguments. 
 
 They worked so for perhaps an hour. 
 
 "One has to do these things," he said at last, as 
 Katherine had not uttered a word. "One wonders some- 
 times if there is any good in them." 
 
 "I suppose all effort has some merit," she responded, 
 without looking up. He began to long to make her 
 raise her eyes again. 
 
 "You think so? — On what grounds.''" 
 
 "It exercises a useful faculty." 
 
 "What faculty.?" 
 
 "Will, of course ; to use effort is an exercise of will, 
 because if there was no effort needed, no will would be 
 required either." 
 
 He smiled whimsically ; this was obvious. 
 
 "Then I must look upon the organisation of this very 
 intricate charity, of doubtful use to mankind, as profit- 
 able to me because of the effort entailed." 
 
 "It is as good a way as any other of looking at it. — 
 Did 3'ou say quarterly or monthly returns upon the 
 capital?" 
 
 "Oh — er — " glancing at his papers — "the con- 
 founded thing ! Where is it — Yes — quarterly." 
 
 Ill
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH\ 
 
 The machine cHcked uninterruptedly. Katherine 
 never looked up. 
 
 He began to allow himself to take in details. Why 
 had he not remarked before that she had an extraordi- 
 narily well-shaped head? — And what wonderful hands 
 — in these days of athletic, weather-beaten paws ! She 
 would be very stately, too, when she filled out a little. 
 The whole thing was agreebly symmetrical, throat and 
 shoulders, and bust and hips. 
 
 "Why, in the name of all the gods, have I never 
 noticed this young woman before ! She thinks, too ! 
 That Avas a curious reflection about will — I'd like to 
 talk to her — The devil takes this d — d — charity!" 
 
 So his thoughts ran and his eyes eagerly devoured 
 Katherine's face. 
 
 She was perfectly conscious of the fact; she knew 
 with unerring instinct that the spark which she had 
 dispatched by that first steady gaze of her eyes had 
 struck tinder, the flame of interest was ignited, and 
 the more difficult she made things now, the more com- 
 plete would be her triumph presently. She resolutely 
 kept her attention upon her work, never raising her 
 head. 
 
 "To be so meritoriously industrious, are you using 
 effort?" he asked, in a moment or two. "You look as 
 though you had a most formidable will!" 
 
 "Very little effort; it is second nature to me now." 
 
 "Even if the subject is as uninteresting as this?" 
 
 "That is all the better; one can let one's mechanical 
 brain tackle it, and one's real thoughts can wander." 
 
 "Where to?" 
 
 She put in a fresh sheet of paper — and now glanced 
 at him again for one second. 
 
 "Into dreamland." 
 
 112
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Yes, that is a ridiculously pleasant place devoid of 
 draughts and of chilling surprises. It would be very 
 impertinent, I suppose, if I asked you where is your 
 dreamland?" 
 
 "Perhaps not impertinent — out of place. You are 
 dictating a letter to the Lord Mayor of London at 
 the moment." 
 
 "To be sure I am — you made me forget it — ^he is an 
 infernal bore, the Lord Mayor of London, compelling 
 me to branch off from this very interesting conversa- 
 tion to his confounded letter ! — I beg your pardon !" 
 
 Katherine read aloud the last coherent sentence he 
 had given her, and she permitted one of her faint 
 sphinxlike smiles to play about her mouth, while her 
 eyes sought the typing. 
 
 Gerard Strobridge moved a little nearer — ^he felt a 
 sudden strong thrill. 
 
 "I shall not give you another word to type until you 
 tell me about your dreamland — Is it in sea or sky or 
 air.?" 
 
 "It is half-past three o'clock and you are only to 
 stay until five — had you not better attend to your work 
 first, sir.?" 
 
 She was waiting in an attitude of respectful atten- 
 tion, infinitely provoking. 
 
 "Certainly not ! I shall ask my aunt to lend you to 
 me for another day if we do not finish this afternoon — 
 Indeed, on second thoughts, I do not think I shall try 
 to finish to-day — we can complete the matter at Bliss- 
 ington — " And then he stopped abruptly — Lao Dele- 
 mar would be there ! He had melted her into a mood 
 from which everything could be hoped during this week 
 of uneventful family party — Beatrice would only stay 
 for Christmas Day, and was indeed no great obstacle 
 
 113
 
 THE CAFEER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 in any case. But he feared he would probably not be 
 able to have interesting business interviews during th^ 
 holidays with his aunt's typist. 
 
 He laughed shortly to himself, and dictated a long 
 sentence, concluding the letter to the Lord Mayor. He 
 had better control the interest he was feeling, that was 
 evident ! 
 
 Katherine made no remark, while she wondered what 
 had stopped his questioning so suddenly. She smiled 
 again a httle. It had the desired effect — Mr. Stro- 
 bridgc jumped up from his chair and went to the fire- 
 place. 
 
 "Well — what are you thinking about.?" he demanded, 
 from there. 
 
 "My work, of course! What else should I be Ihink- 
 ing about.?" Her eyes at last met his in innocent sur- 
 prise. 
 
 "I don't believe you are quite truthful — one does not 
 smile in that enigmatic fashion over work — dull, tedious 
 work hke this, statistics of bodies who are to benefit 
 by this absurd charity — Oh! no, fair scribe! I feel 
 there lies a world of mahce in that smile." 
 
 "Even a scribe is permitted sometimes to make re- 
 flections." 
 
 "Not without confessing what they are." 
 
 "We are not in the days of the Spanish Inquisi- 
 tion — " taking up a paper. "On the first list there is 
 a letter for the Mayor of Manchester." 
 
 "Confound the Mayor of Manchester!" 
 
 "Poor gentleman !" 
 
 "I must know all about dreamland and cryptic re- 
 flections first." 
 
 He drew the armchair now over towards her and 
 flung himself into it. He was a graceful creature, not 
 
 114
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 so tall or so ideally perfect of form as Lord Algy, but 
 a very presentable Englishman, with a wonderful dis- 
 tinction of manner and voice. 
 
 Katherinc Bush was experiencing intense pleasure — 
 there was something fehne, if not altogether feminine, 
 in her well-balanced brain. It was peculiarly gratifying 
 to find that her plans were being justified. How glad 
 she was that he had not remarked her in her raw days ! 
 How wise she had been to have made ready — and then 
 waited! The whole thing was the more effective be- 
 cause of the complete absence of all dramatic emotion 
 in her. She was hke a quiet, capable foreign minister 
 playing his game of statecraft with the representative 
 of another country, his face permitted to express — or 
 conceal — only what he desired. 
 
 At this moment, she shrugged her shoulders very 
 slightly, as though to say, "I am only an employe. I 
 cannot force you to work if you will not" ; but she did 
 not speak, so he was obliged to demand again. 
 
 "Won't you tell me what made you smile .^ — ^^Ve can 
 drift to dreamland afterwards." 
 
 "No — I wuU not tell you what made me smile, be- 
 cause I do not know exactly; the aspect of life gen- 
 erally, perhaps." 
 
 "And you sit and work in this gloomy back room 
 all day — What do you know about life.''" 
 
 "I am observing — I know that one must pretend in- 
 terest in v.Iiat one is bored by — and one must show 
 attention to those one despises — and — ^l<eep from laugh- 
 ing at things." 
 
 "What a dangerous young woman, watching and 
 coming to cynical conclusions — but you say truly ; one 
 must keep from laughing at things — a very difficult 
 matter generally." He lay back against the brown 
 
 115
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 leather cushion, and proved the truth of this by laugh- 
 ing softly, while he looked at her quaintly. 
 
 Katherine Bush suddenly felt that a human being 
 understood zvUh her; it was a delightful sensation. 
 
 "Practically the whole of life is a ridiculous sham 
 and must arouse the sardonic mirth of the gods — 
 Here are you and I spending an afternoon arranging 
 a charity in which neither of us takes the least interest 
 — I am dictating fulsome letters to Lord Mayors to in- 
 duce them to influence others to open their purses — I 
 don't care a jot whether they do or they do not — You 
 are mechanically transcribing my asinine words, and we 
 could be so much better employed exchanging views — 
 on each other's taste, say — or each other's dream- 
 lands." 
 
 Katherine Bush looked down and allowed her hands 
 to fall idly in her lap — he should do most of the speak- 
 ing. 
 
 "The only good that I have been getting out of it as 
 far as I can see," he went on, "is the contemplation of 
 your really beautiful hands at work — Where did you 
 get such perfect tilings in these days?" 
 
 She lifted one and regarded it critically. 
 
 "Yes, I have often wondered myself. My father was 
 an auctioneer, you know, and my mother's father was 
 a butcher." 
 
 Gerard Strobridge was extremely entertained. She 
 was certainly a very wonderful product of such parent- 
 age. 
 
 "May I look at them closely?" he asked. 
 
 She showed not the least embarrassment; if he had 
 been asking to see a piece of enamel, or a china vase 
 she could not have been more detached about it. She 
 held them out quite naturally, and he rose and took 
 
 116
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 them in his own. Their touch was cool and firm, and 
 every inch of his being tingled with pleasure. He ex- 
 amined them minutely finger by finger, stroking the rosy 
 filbert nails in admiration, while an insane desire to 
 clasp and kiss their owner grew in him. 
 
 Katherine Bush was perfectly aware of this, and 
 when she thought he had felt emotion enough for the 
 occasion, she drew them back as naturally as she had 
 given them. 
 
 "I am always asking myself questions about such 
 things," she remarked, in a tone of speculative matter- 
 of-factness. "I am so often seeing contradictions since 
 1 have been here — My former conclusions are a little 
 upset." 
 
 "What were they.''" He had returned to his chair. 
 He was no novice to be carried away by his sensations, 
 and he knew very well that to indulge them further at 
 present would be very unwise, and perhaps check a 
 most promising amusement. 
 
 *'I believed that birth and breeding gave fine ears 
 and fine ankles and fine hands — as well as moral quali- 
 ties." 
 
 "And you have been disappointed.''" 
 
 "Yes, very — have not you.''" 
 
 "No, because I have had no illusions — one never can 
 tell where a side cross comes in, or what will be the 
 effect of overbreeding — that inins to enormities some- 
 times." 
 
 *'I suppose so — " 
 
 "And have the moral qualities surprised you 
 also.?" 
 
 "Oh, yes — more than the physical ; I have seen and 
 heard what I would have thought were common things 
 even at Bindon's Green." 
 
 in
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 He laughed again — If the crew wlio had attended the 
 tableaux rehearsals could have heard her ! 
 
 "You are perfectly right— looked at in the abstract, 
 I suppose we are rather a shoddy company nowadays." 
 
 "There are individuals who come up to the measure, 
 of course, but not all of them, as I had imagined. You 
 must have opened the doors to quite ordinary people 
 to have made such a mixture." 
 
 "We have grown indifferent ; we no longer care about 
 a standard, I fear." 
 
 "That is why you let all tliese Radicals be in power, 
 perhaps — You have become effete like the nobles before 
 the revolution in France, who could only die like gentle- 
 men, but not live like men." 
 
 Gerard Strobridge was startled. This from the 
 granddaughter of a butcher of Bindon's Green ! 
 
 "She picks it all up from Seraphim, of course," he 
 reflected presently. "And yet — ^look at her strange 
 face ! — it is a woman of parts from wherever it has 
 
 come !" 
 
 "That is an apt phrase — where did you find it — 
 *die like gentleman, but not live like men'.'*" 
 
 "I don't know, it just came from thinking and read- 
 ing about them — so much was fine, and so much — 
 foolish." 
 
 "Yes — and you think we are growing also to that 
 stage in England.'' Perhaps you are right; we want 
 some great national danger to pull us together." 
 
 "You will rust out otherwise, and it will be such a 
 pity." 
 
 "You think we are good enough to keep?" 
 
 "In your highest development — like Her Ladyship — 
 you arc, I should think, the best things for a country 
 in the world." 
 
 118
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 She knew he was drawing her out and was very 
 pleased to be so drawn. 
 
 "Tell me about us — what have we that is good ?" 
 
 "You have a sense of values — you know what is worth 
 having — You have had hundreds of years to acquire 
 the quality of looking ahead. No person of the classes 
 from which the Radical statesmen are drawn has nat- 
 urally the quality of looking ahead; he has to be told 
 about it, and then get it if he can — it is not in his blood 
 because his forebears only had to snatch what they 
 could for themselves and their families day by day, and 
 were not required to observe any broad horizon." 
 
 "How very true — you are a student of heredity then, 
 Miss Bush.?" 
 
 "Yes — it explains everything. I examine it in my- 
 self; I am always combating ordinary and cramping 
 instincts which I find I have got." 
 
 "How interesting !" 
 
 *'No common Radical could be a successful foreign 
 minister, for instance — unless perhaps he were a Jew 
 like Disraeli — but they have sense enough to know that 
 themselves, and always choose a gentleman, don't 
 they.?" 
 
 "You wonderful girl — do you ever air these views 
 to my aunt.? They would please her." 
 
 "Of course not — Her Ladyship is my employer and 
 she knows my place. I speak to her when I am spoken 
 to." 
 
 "You think we on our side are too casual, then.? — 
 That we are letting our birthright slip from us — I be- 
 lieve you are right." 
 
 *'Yes — you are too sure of yourselves. You think 
 it does not matter really — and so you let the others 
 creep In with lies and promises — you let them alter all 
 
 119
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 the standards of public honour without a protest, and 
 so you will gradually sink to the new level, too — I feel 
 very sorry for England sometimes." 
 
 "So do I — " his face altered. He looked sad, and 
 in earnest and older. For the moment he forgot that 
 he was wasting valuable time in the most agreeable task 
 of exploiting the ideas of a new species of female; her 
 words had touched a matter very near his weary heart. 
 
 "What can we do.''" he cried, in a tone of deep in- 
 terest. "That is the question — what can we do.''" 
 
 "You should all wake up to begin with, like people 
 do when they find that their houses have caught fire — 
 at least, those whom the smoke has not suffocated first. 
 You ought to make a concentrated, determined effort to 
 save what you can to build a new shelter with." 
 
 "Admitted— but how?"" 
 
 "Plave common sense taught from the beginning in 
 the schools, the reasons of things explained to the chil- 
 dren. If you knew the frightful ignorance upon all 
 the subjects that matter which prevails among my class, 
 for instance ! They have false perspectives about every- 
 thing — not because they are bad; in the mass they 
 are much better than you — but because they are so 
 frightfully ignorant of the meaning of even the little 
 they have learnt. Everything has a false value for 
 them. There is hardly a subject that they can see 
 straightly about; they are muffled and blighted with 
 shams and hypocrisies." 
 
 "You should address meetings among them." 
 
 "They would not listen to me for a moment; the 
 truths I would tell them would wound their vanity; it 
 would only be in the schools among the children that 
 anything effectual could be done." 
 
 "You think so?" 
 
 120
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Oh, yes, I know — My own sisters and brothers are 
 examples. I could never teach them anything, and there 
 are milhons in England just like them. Good as gold 
 - — and stupid as owls." 
 
 "It does not sound hopeful, then." 
 
 "No, the rust has gone too far; there should have 
 been no education at all, or a better one — but the pres- 
 ent system looks as if it would swamp England if the 
 children are not taught things soon." 
 
 "You are a Tory, it would seem." 
 
 "No, I don't think I am. I think everyone has an 
 equal right, but only according to his capacity; and I 
 certainly don't think the scum of the earth of idiots 
 and wastrels have equal rights with hardworking, sensi- 
 ble artisans." 
 
 "Indeed, no.?— Go on!" 
 
 "I think aristocrats are things apart from the op- 
 portunities they have had, and should know it, and 
 keep up the prestige and make their order a great goal 
 to strive for. You see, if they were stamped out, it 
 would be like cutting down all the old trees in Ken- 
 sington Gardens ; they could not be produced again for 
 hundreds of years, and all the beauty and dignity of 
 the gardens would be gone. But aristocrats ought to 
 act as such, and never slip into the gutter." 
 
 "There you are certainly right. I am more than with 
 you — But what can one do.''" 
 
 "You should have the courage of your opinions, as 
 Her Ladyship has — you only laugh when she is saying 
 splendid things sometimes. So few of you seem to have 
 any backbone that I have seen." 
 
 "You shame me !" 
 
 Her face became filled with a humorous expression 
 — they had been serious long enough, she thought. His 
 
 121
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 cauo'ht the light of lier eyes ; he was intensely fasci- 
 nated. 
 
 "You did not, of course, come from — Bindon's Green 
 — is it? — You came down from Parnassus to teach us 
 poor devils of aristocrats to stick to our guns — I will 
 be your first disciple, priestess of wisdom !" 
 
 "It is five minutes to four, sir — it will be quite im- 
 possible to finish that pile of papers to-day — And I did 
 come from Bindon's Green — and I am going back there 
 by the six o'clock train from Victoria, to a supper 
 party at my home — That is why my hair is crimped 
 and I have on this new blouse." 
 
 He got up and stood quite near her. 
 
 "And what will you do at the party? I can't see 
 you there." 
 
 "I shall look disagreeable, as I generally do. We 
 shall have supper of cold pressed beef and cold meat- 
 pie, and cheese-cakes and figs and custard, and some 
 light dinner ale or stout, and cups of tea — and then 
 when we have finished that, there are a whole lot of 
 new nigger song records for the gramophone, and my 
 brother Bert will recite imitations of Harry Lauder, 
 and my future sister-in-law, Miss Mabel Cawber, will 
 sing 'The Chocolate Soldier' out of tune — We shall 
 make a great deal of noise, and then we shall push the 
 furniture back and dance the turkey trot and the 
 bunny hug, a,nd some of the elder ones, like my sister 
 Matilda, will make up a whist-drive, and at about one 
 o'clock I can get to bed." 
 
 "It sounds perfectly ideal; but you return from 
 this to-morrow?" 
 
 "Yes — by an early train. I am not a favourite at 
 home. Now will you please begin again to dictate." 
 
 He walked up and down the room for a minute; he 
 
 122
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 was not a boy accustomed only to acting from inclina- 
 tion ; he knew very well that it would be much wiser 
 now to resume attention to business. So he took up 
 his memoranda and started once more, and for over 
 half an hour nothing but dictation passed between 
 them ; the pile of papers grew considerably less. 
 
 "If you care to give me directions for the rest quick- 
 ly, I will take them down in shorthand, and then I could 
 finish all this to-morrow, some time. Her Ladyship, 
 I am sure, would be better pleased if her whole scheme 
 is complete." 
 
 He agreed — he truly admired her perfect composure 
 and common sense ; she was so capable and practical, a 
 person to be relied upon. He would do as she sug- 
 gested, though he had not heard about dreamland yet. 
 
 He set his mind tc the affair on hand, and before 
 the clock struck five all was done and ready for this 
 admirable young woman to type when she had leisure. 
 And now he took her hand again. 
 
 "A thousand thanks, Egeria," he said. "You ought 
 to discover a likely lad and turn him into the Prime 
 Minister. You would make an ideal Prime Minister's 
 wife — but — er — don't look for him at Bindon's Green!" 
 
 "No, I won't — good-night, Mr. Strobridge. Thank 
 you for your wishes — but I have other views. I shall 
 not turn my 'lad' into anything ; he shall turn me — " 
 
 "Into what?" 
 
 "That is still in the lap of the gods," and she made 
 him the slightest curtsey, and went with a bundle of 
 receipts to the cupboard in the wall, while her grey- 
 green eyes laughed at him over her shoulder. 
 
 As Gerard Strobridge walked up the shallow marble 
 steps to his aunt's sitting-room, he felt like a man in 
 a dream. 
 
 123
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 WHAT are you thinking of, G.?" Lady Gar- 
 ribardine said, noticing- after a little while 
 his preoccupation. "That wretched charity 
 has tired you out, dear boy — I hope Miss Bush was 
 efficient?" 
 
 "Quite — " and he lay back in his very comfortable 
 chair and devoured a bit of brown bread and butter. 
 *'The whole thing is practically finished. Your secre- 
 tary very kindly said she would complete alone the last 
 directions, which she took down in shorthand." 
 
 "Then it will be done, G. ; she is a young person of 
 her word." 
 
 Mr. Strobridge did not become expansive; it was 
 fortunate, he thought, that he had never yet shown 
 any interest in Katherine Bush, because very little es- 
 caped his aunt's perceptions. 
 
 She was already wondering what caused his absence 
 of mind. He surely was not being so foolish as to 
 have allowed himself to become seriously enamoured of 
 Lao Dclcmar! Her precious Gerard! This must be 
 ascertained at once. 
 
 "Liio telephoned just now that she would not come to 
 the play to-night — Really, the caprices of these pretty 
 women are quite intolerable, throwing one over at a 
 moment's notice — masses of selfishness and conceit." 
 
 "Yes, — aren't they.^" languidly. 
 
 This did not sound a lover's disappointment, but per- 
 
 124
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 haps he was prepared for her news, and Lao's proposed 
 absence was what caused his depression. 
 
 "What excuse has she given j'ou?" 
 
 He looked surprised. 
 
 "None. I did not know that she had chucked ; did 
 she give any reason?" 
 
 "Some nonsense about a friend of her mother's hav- 
 ing turned up. I was so annoyed that I put the re- 
 ceiver down." 
 
 "You must console me, carma," and he leaned for- 
 ward and took his aunt's fat hand. "Lao would never 
 be missed if a man might count upon you for his part- 
 ner." 
 
 "Flatterer !" but she smiled complacently. "The 
 Colvins can both talk to Tom Hawthorne then. I had 
 intended Henry Colvin to be my portion ; he is a bright 
 creature, and distracted me at dinner last week — but 
 I am tired, and I always prefer you, G. All ! if you 
 had only been my son !" 
 
 "It would have destroyed the happiest of relation- 
 ships in the world — and you know it. A son you could 
 overscold — a mother I could overrespect — Let us 
 thank Heaven for the charming courtesy tie that we 
 enjoy." 
 
 "I wish you would have a son, though, G. ; you know* 
 I am perfectly indifferent to Emmeline's boy." 
 
 "I shall never have any Strobridge children. Sera- 
 phim. Beatrice would faint at the idea. We only 
 touched upon domestic pretences and got them all over 
 with the very lightest effort in the first week. Besides, 
 one would not want a Thorvil child — there is a mad 
 streak in the whole family, I have often thought. I 
 am much interested in heredity." 
 
 125
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 He did not add how greatly the afternoon had aug- 
 mented this interest! 
 
 "Yes — did you chance to notice my secretary's 
 hands? — The mother must have had a lover, of course." 
 
 "I don't think so — they seldom do in that class. 
 They become so intolerably unattractive at once ; noth- 
 ing human could come up to the scratch. It is just a 
 freak, or a harking back — many of the exquisitely aris- 
 tocratic features one finds in old villagers, for instance, 
 date from the droit de seigneur." 
 
 "The whole question of heredity is a frightfully seri- 
 ous one, of course, and we are in a stupendous muddle 
 at the present time, with the inroads of the Lord knows 
 who to muddy the stream." 
 
 "Do you suppose that is the cause of the dry rot 
 which has got into us.? — Or is it that we are really rust- 
 ing out.'"' 
 
 "It is luxury and humanitarianism, and absence of 
 national foes, which have sent us to sleep — and forget- 
 fulness of dignity and duty. We eat the food of those 
 whose fathers fed in our fathers' kitchens, and not be- 
 cause they are worthy and nice — that would be quite 
 justifiable if so — but just because they are rich and 
 have a superb chef, or because they are giving our 
 younger sons a lift in the city — I loathe all money- 
 making and trade — I am thankful that I, at least, can 
 stand on m^^ own feet, though I see the sad decadence 
 in all around me — But I must not talk like this ; 
 it depresses and ages me! — By the way, Sterling had 
 the impertinence to tell me that she thought my new 
 toupees from Paris are too light ! — What do you 
 say, G..?" 
 
 He looked at her critically, at the clever, shrewd, 
 painted old face and the ridiculous girlish wig — and 
 
 126
 
 THE CABEEB OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 then he kissed her hand again, and told her the truth. 
 Something about her words touched him infinitely. 
 
 "I adore very dark hair when it is going grey, 
 Serapliim. I have often thought how beautiful you 
 would -^ if you burnt all those things. Your sense of 
 humour is so supreme, they always seem incongruous.'* 
 
 "I will, then, this very New Year, while we are at 
 Blissington. It will be the sensation when we return to 
 town. Sarah Lady Garribardine with snow-white hair!" 
 
 "No, iron grey. It will make your eyes brighter." 
 
 "It shall be done !" Then she laughed softly. "G., 
 how goes it with Lao — you are not in love?" 
 
 Mr. Strobridge shook his head regretfully. 
 
 "Alas ! not an atom. I fear it won't last until the 
 Easter recess." 
 
 "She is artificial." 
 
 "Extremely." 
 
 "And hopelessly vague." 
 
 "Yes — but quite charming." 
 
 "Beatrice says she pretends to be full of sex and 
 other dreadful natural things — you always had fruity 
 tastes, Beatrice avers !" 
 
 "My tastes are fruity, but are never gratified in these 
 modern days, alas ! She is quite wrong about Lao, 
 though ; she is as cold as ice. She smiles with equal 
 sweetness upon the waiters when we are lunching at 
 restaurants. She is merely a lovely woman demanding 
 incense from all things male. 
 
 "Beatrice said 'pretends,' remember — Beatrice is not 
 at all dense !" 
 
 "No, quite a subtle companion when not composing 
 odes, or discussing the intensity of blue with Hebe 
 Vermont." 
 
 " — ^Are you glad Liio is coming for Christmas.'"' 
 
 127
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Y — es. I shall want some of your very best cham- 
 pa^e." 
 
 "You shall have it, G., and I will try to make things 
 difficult for you as a sort of appetiser. I have some 
 kind of feeling that you are depressed, dear bey? — I 
 am putting Liio in the parrot suite." 
 
 "It will suit her admirably." 
 
 Then they both laughed. 
 
 "But you are depressed, G.?" 
 
 "A shadow of coming events, perhaps ! not exactly 
 disaster, or I should be what the Scotch call 'fey,' " 
 and he sighed. He felt very fatigued and disturbed, and 
 he hardly knew what. 
 
 Lady Garribardine did not press the matter. She 
 had enormous tact. 
 
 Mrs. Dclcmar at that moment was lying upon her 
 sofa in a ravishing saffron gauze teagown smoking 
 scented cigarettes, while she discussed her heart's 
 secrets with a dearest friend. 
 
 "Gerard is madly in love with me, Agnes. I hardly 
 know what to do about it. I have chucked for to-night 
 on purpose to give him a setback." 
 
 "It will be most cosy dining here alone with Bobbie 
 Moreland and Jimmy and me. You were quite right, 
 darling," 
 
 "Poor Bobbie, back from that horrible India where 
 he has been for a year — of course, I could not refuse 
 him — But Ladv Garribardine is wild." 
 
 "It would not do to offend her really, Lao sweet. 
 You must be penitent and send her some flowers to- 
 morrow." 
 
 If Katherinc Bush had been there, slie would have 
 seen a strong likeness in Mrs, Delemar to her future 
 
 128
 
 THE CAJIEEE OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 sister-in-law, Mabel Cawber; licr cigarette ash was 
 knocked off in almost as dainty a fashion as that lady 
 employed in using her spoon. Mrs. Delcmar never 
 ceased remembering that she was a beautiful woman, 
 and must act accordingly ; the only difference between 
 them was that Mabel Cawber never forgot that she was 
 a perfect lady, and was determined that no one should 
 miss this fact if she could help it. Their souls were 
 on a par — or whatever animating principle did duty as 
 a soul in each. 
 
 Mrs. Delemar returned to the subject of Gerard with 
 a sigh, telling her friend Agnes the most intimate things 
 he had said to her and giving her pleasing descriptions 
 of her own emotions, too. Gerard was a feather for 
 any woman's cap, and Agnes should know how crazily 
 in love he was with her. 
 
 "I think he'll do something desperate, darhng — if I 
 don't give way soon — I wish men were like us, don't 
 you.?" 
 
 "One must please the creatures, or they would not 
 stay." 
 
 "Yes — but oh ! isn't it a shocking bore — that part — 
 if they only knew !" 
 
 Katherlne Bush, meanwhile, was arriving at Labur- 
 num Villa, where a crowd of sisters and friends wel- 
 comed her home. 
 
 Fresh from the entrancing fencing match with 
 Gerard Strobridge, their well-meant chaff and badinage 
 sounded extremely bald. But among them poor Gladys 
 was silent, and sat with flushed cheeks and overbright 
 eyes, looking at Katherine. 
 
 "I want to talk to you. Glad," this latter said, kind- 
 ly. "Lady Garribardine has given me ten pounds to get 
 
 129
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 a real evening frock with. I must have it to take down 
 to Blissington for Christmas — we go to-morrow week. 
 But can I get it in the time?" 
 
 Gladys was all interest at once. Clothes were a real 
 passion for her. She devised something pretty ; but 
 five pounds would be quite enough. Katherine had bet- 
 ter have two dresses, a black and that lovely new shade 
 of mauve. 
 
 "I'll have the black, the very simplest that there can 
 be, if you know of one of your hands who could make 
 it for me. I'll leave it entirely to you." 
 
 Gladys was delighted, and then her large prominent 
 eyes grew haunted and wistful. 
 
 "I'd like awfully to talk to you to-night, Kitten," 
 she said. "May I come to your room?" 
 
 Permission was given, and they all went to supper. 
 It was exactly as Katherine had described it that after- 
 noon, and Mr. Prodgers was there in his best frock 
 coat, more full of what Miss Ethel Bush called "swank" 
 mixed with discomfort than Katherine had ever known 
 him. If she had not felt so deeply that these people 
 were her own flesh and blood, she could have been 
 amused by the whole thing. 
 
 Nothing could equal the condescension of Miss Caw- 
 ber. Lady Garribardine's name was not entirely un- 
 known to her — although, to be sure, it was not in the 
 same class as that of the Duchess of Dashington, Lady 
 Hebe Vermont or any of the "smart set" — but still it 
 had chanced once now and then to have appeared in 
 the society column of the Flare, she rather thought as 
 the patroness of some dull old political thing — and yes 
 — more recently in connection with those tableaux 
 vivants, which Miss Cawber was dying to hear the de- 
 tails of; perhaps Katherine could gratify his need? 
 
 130
 
 THE CABEER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Did Hebe Vermont look a dream as Sicchy and Lord 
 St. Aldens as Cupid? My! they must have been a pair! 
 I always do say to Fred when we meet them at church 
 parade of a Sunday that they are the real thing." 
 
 Katherine for once took up the gauntlet, while one 
 of her sphinxlike smiles hovered about her mouth. 
 
 "Lady Hebe Vermont played Psyche — if that is who 
 you mean by 'Sicchy' — but who is Lord St. Aldens, 
 Mabel? Mr. John St. Aldens, who acted Cupid, is an 
 'Honourable' ; he is a Baron's son, his father is Lord 
 Hexam." 
 
 Mabel reddened ; while maintaining for the most part 
 a rather chilling silence with her, Katherine had never 
 before deliberately crossed swords. She felt indignant ! 
 A paid companion to try to make her look foolish be- 
 fore the others ! She who had never done a stroke of 
 work even in a business house in her life ! She would 
 have to put this future sister-in-law in her place, and 
 no mistake ! Her manner plainly showed that Kah- 
 erine was in disgrace, as she answered loftily : 
 
 "Really, I ought to know — My father was a great 
 friend of his father, and often went to their place." 
 
 "In what capacity, Mabel?" Katherine smiled. "We 
 none of us remember your father, but Liv and Dev 
 told me once when I asked them that he had been an 
 under-clerk at Canford and Crin's — the St. Alden 
 solicitors — and then passed the examinations. From 
 what I've learned about his sort of people by living 
 among them for a month, I don't expect Lord Hexam 
 was very intimate with Mr. Cawber— but we are all 
 acquainted in the same way, aren't we, Tild? You re- 
 member hearing of this family from mother's father, 
 who was their butcher for the river house at Maiden- 
 head." 
 
 131
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 Mabel glared ; this was sheer impertinence ; her queen- 
 ship of this circle was not being treated with proper 
 respect — How vulgar of Katherine, she thought ! 
 
 Mabel's refinement was almost of the degree of the 
 Boston lady who insisted upon the piano's "limbs" being 
 put into pantaloons with frills. She would hardly have 
 spoken of a butcher ! She felt particularly annoyed 
 now also, because the clerk episode was a fact which 
 she thought was quite unknown — the solicitorship at 
 Bindon's Green having gloriously advanced the family 
 fortunes. 
 
 Poor Matilda was quite upset and reproached Kath- 
 erine when she succeeded in getting her into a corner 
 alone. 
 
 "Whatever did you speak to Mabel like that for, 
 Kitten? — And I am sure we need not tell everyone 
 about Grandpa — since he did not live here." 
 
 "Her nonsense makes me feel quite sick, Tild — she is 
 always pretending some ridiculous knowledge and ac- 
 quaintanceship with the aristocracy. She gets all the 
 names wrong, and gives herself away all the time; it 
 does her good to be found out once in a way." 
 
 Matilda could bear this side of the affair, but re- 
 sented the allusion to the butcher with undiminished 
 fervour. 
 
 "Oh ! what awful snobs you all are !" Katherine ex- 
 claimed, exasperated out of her amused tolerance at 
 last. "I am not the least ashamed of him : I am proud, 
 on the contrary. He was honest and made money. Why 
 are you and Mabel and all your friends such absurd 
 shams, Tild ! — There is nothing disgraceful in being 
 lower middle class ; it is honourable and worthy. Why 
 on earth pretend to belong to another, when anyone 
 who knows can see it is untrue — or if you hate your 
 
 132
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 real station, then do as I am doing, educate yourself 
 out of it." 
 
 "Educate myself out of it!" Matilda was incensed. 
 *'Why, I'm sure we are all as fairly educated as any 
 ladies need be." 
 
 This point of view naturally ended the argument for 
 Katherine; she could only smile again. 
 
 "All right — it is your birthday, dear old Tild, so I 
 won't quarrel with you! By the way, where is Bob 
 Hartley? I don't see him here to-night." 
 
 The fiance of Gladys was prevented from coming by 
 a severe cold, she was informed. 
 
 And so the evening passed with the Bunny Hug and 
 games, and the gramophone shouted forth its nigger 
 songs, in which they all joined. 
 
 "Hasn't it been too lovely, Kitten," Matilda said 
 affectionately — her whilom indignation fled as they 
 walked up the narrow stairs. "I've never had such a 
 perfect birthday party, and I am sure you could not 
 have had a more refined, enjoyable evening, not in any 
 home." 
 
 Katherine kissed her as she turned into her room. 
 
 "You dear old Tild," she said, and then presently 
 Gladys came in. 
 
 Katherine was seated in a shrunk dressing-gown 
 which she had left behind, and Em'ly had lighted a fire 
 in the attic grate. 
 
 The two girls looked at one another, and then Gladys 
 was asked to sit down. 
 
 "I know what you are going to say," and Katherine's 
 voice was deep and level. "You would not have to say 
 it if you had not always been such a fool, my poor Glad 
 — you have got into trouble, of course, and Bob Hart- 
 ley is not playing the game." 
 
 133
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 Gladys burst into passionate sobs. 
 
 "However did you guess, Kitten! Why, Tild doesn't 
 know a thing!" 
 
 "Most likely not — Well, what do you want him to 
 do — marry you?" 
 
 "Why, of course, Katherine; that is what he prom- 
 ised most solemnly beforehand — at Brighton. You 
 know it is his mother who has kept him back ; his Aunt 
 Eliza, with whom we stayed, is quite willing for me. I 
 am sure I'm as good as him, anyway." 
 
 Further sobs. 
 
 "Oh ! that part does not matter a bit, as good or not 
 as good — these awful men like Bob Hartley always se- 
 duce women with promises, solemn promises, of matri- 
 mony and that sort of stuff; if they meant them, they 
 would not forestall matters — vile brutes !" 
 
 "There is no good in abusing Bob, Kitten; he has al- 
 ways meant kind ; it is his mother, I tell you, has got at 
 him !" 
 
 "Does she know?" 
 
 "Oh, my ! I hope not. No one knows but you — and 
 Bob." 
 
 "Plave you told him he must marry you at once?" 
 
 "Yes, I've implored him to on my bended knees." 
 
 "And he has refused?" 
 
 "Yes — he can't break his mother's heart, he says, and 
 speaks of going to Australia." 
 
 "Very well — go to bed now, dear — I will see him to- 
 morrow and see what I can do. I think he will marry 
 you next week, perhaps, after all. You must under- 
 take the inventing of a reason for the suddenness to the 
 family, if I accomplish the fact. Go now, dear — I want 
 to think." 
 
 Gladys sobbed her gratitude. 
 
 134
 
 THE CAJIEER OF KATITEFINE BUSH 
 
 "And you don't believe I am really bad, Kitten, do 
 you? Indeed, I never wanted — anything — but Bob — ■ 
 We went to the theatre one night and had a bit of sup- 
 per — and afterwards, I was so afraid he would be off to 
 Carry Green if I did not do as he wished." 
 
 Two great tears grew in Katherine's beautiful eyes^ 
 and rolled slowly down her white cheeks. 
 
 "I think — most men are devils, Glad — but nine-tenths 
 of the women are fools — and fools always have to pay 
 the price of everything in life. A woman always loses 
 a man if she gives way to him against her conscience. 
 You felt you were sinning all the time, I suppose.'"' 
 
 *'Why, of course. Kitten — I'm really a good girl.'* 
 
 *'Then what else could you expect? If you feel you 
 are doing wrong, you must know you will be punished — ■ 
 that attitude of yours was bound to have drawn — this. 
 I tell you. Glad, no one of your sort can afford to step 
 one foot aside out of the narrow path. You've 'sinned,' 
 as you call it — for love. It gave you no pleasure and 
 you have practically lost Bob — remember this, and 
 never give way to him in anything again." 
 
 "Why did you have the tears in your eyes, Kather- 
 ine — ? You so cold!" 
 
 "It was stupid of me, but the incredible pitifulness 
 of some parts of life touched me for a moment. Now 
 go to bed, dear — and keep your courage up — don't let 
 Tild know; it would break her heart — and think of 
 Mabel !" 
 
 "Oh! My!" wailed Gladys, and went towards the 
 (door. 
 
 Katherine jumped up suddenly, and gave her the ten- 
 pound note which had been lying under a box of matches 
 on the imitation oak dressinfif-chcst. 
 
 "Here, Gladys, get the little black frock for me just 
 
 135
 
 THE CABEEB OF KATHEBINE BUSH 
 
 as cheaply as ever you can. Lady Garribardine will 
 never know what it cost ; she is accustomed to pay forty 
 or fifty pounds for her evening dresses — and you keep 
 all the rest. If — if — Bob should not be reasonable to- 
 morrow, it might be useful for you to have some money 
 that you need not account to Tild for — I know she looks 
 after everything that you have got." 
 
 "But you will make him, Katherine, oh! you will if 
 you can — you are so clever — and he'll be in the train 
 if you go by the early one. You'll have him alone." 
 
 *'Very well. Bring me up a slice of bread or anything 
 jou can find when you first go down ; I can't stand the 
 family breakfast, and I will just rush off by the eight- 
 five." 
 
 What she said to Mr. Bob Hartley she never told 
 anyone — but it was extraordinarily effectual — it con- 
 tained biting scorn and heavy threats. Among them, 
 his chief should know of his conduct that very day, 
 before he could possibly sneak off to Australia, unless he 
 went and got a special license. The Registry Office 
 would do very well, but by the following Wednesday 
 Gladys must be his wife, or Katherine's scorpion whip 
 would fall. He should be thrashed by Fred and Bert 
 and Charlie Prodgcrs, too! She would have no mercy 
 upon him — none at all. 
 
 "You poor, mean, sanctimonious, miserable cur," 
 were gome of her parting words to him. "Come into this 
 telegraph office with me and send this wire to Gladys 
 this minute. 'Will you honour me by marrying me on 
 Tuesday? If so, get ready.' You can pretend you 
 had a secret wedding to save expense, and tell them at 
 home on Christmas day." 
 
 Mr. Hartley was a thorough coward ; his plans were 
 Bot matured enough yet to go to Australia, and his 
 
 136
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 present berth was a good one, so he felt it was wiser 
 to give in and do what he was bid. And presently Kath- 
 erine got into a taxi and was whirled back to Berkeley 
 Square, where later in the day her sister's telegram of 
 rapturous thanks came to her. 
 
 But when she was alone that night by her comfort- 
 able fire, she let a volume of Flaubert drop on her knees 
 and looked into the coals, her thoughts going back to 
 the painful incident. Here was a plain indication of 
 the working of laws shown in her own case and the dif- 
 ference between it and that of Gladys. Alas ! the pite- 
 ous fate of weaklings ! 
 
 And then she set herself to analyse things. "Whether 
 the accepted idea of morality is right or is wrong — of 
 God or of man, those who break its laws are certainly 
 drawing to themselves the frightfully strong current of 
 millions of people's disapproval and so must run great 
 risk of punishment." Thus she mused and then her eyes 
 grew wide as she gazed into the glowing coals. What 
 if some day she should have to pay some price for her 
 own deviation from recognized standards.'*
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 CHRISTMAS Day fell upon a Tuesday in 1911, 
 and on the Saturday before Katherine Bush ac- 
 companied her employer, and the two dogs, 
 down to Blissington in the motor. She had only been 
 in one for short drives in the Bois with Lord Algy, so 
 to tear through the frozen country was a great joy to 
 her, although, not possessing proper wraps, she was 
 rather cold. 
 
 "You must have a fur coat. Miss Bush ! I am greatly 
 annoyed that I did not remark that you were insuffi- 
 ciently clad before we started. Here, crouch down un- 
 der this rug — and there is an extra one at my feet you 
 must wrap round you." 
 
 Katherine was grateful. 
 
 "Stirling must find you some warm garment of mine 
 ■while we are at Blissington. I have no patience with 
 idiots who deliberately take cold." 
 
 Katherine agreed with her. 
 
 *'Do you know the English country, or are you quite 
 a cockney girl?" she was then asked. 
 
 "No, I hardly know it at all. I know Brighton, and 
 a lot of seaside places, but we never chanced to go to 
 the country for our holidays." 
 
 "It is a wonderful place, the English country, the 
 most beautiful in the world, I think ; it will interest me 
 immensely to hear your impressions of it ; after a week 
 you must tell me." 
 
 "I shall be very pleased to do so." 
 
 138
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "We pass Windsor ; you must go over it some day — 
 it is only twenty miles from Blissington — Are you in- 
 terested in historical associations?" 
 
 "Extremely — any places which are saturated with 
 the evolution of man and nations are interesting, I 
 think. I am afraid I would not care to go to Australia, 
 or a new country." 
 
 Lady Garribardine turned and looked at her secre- 
 tary. The creature evidently had a brain, and this 
 would be a good opportunity to draw her out. 
 
 "You feel the force of tradition, then.''" 
 
 "Oh, yes — in everything. It acts for generations in 
 the blood — it makes people do all sorts of things, good 
 and bad, quite without reason." 
 
 Lady Garribardine chuckled — she loved discussions, 
 
 "How does it act in yourself, for instance.''" 
 
 "I have tried to stop its action in myself, because I 
 saw the effects of the traditions of my class in my 
 brothers and sisters, and how stultifying it was." 
 
 "You certainly seem to have emerged from them in 
 an extraordinary manner — how did you set about it.-^" 
 
 Katherine thought a little and then answered dehb- 
 erately. 
 
 "I always wanted to know the reason why of every- 
 thing and I soon felt sure that there was no such thing 
 as chance, but that everything which happened was part 
 of some scheme — and I always desired to be able to dis- 
 tinguish between appearance and reality, and I got to 
 understand that personal emotion distorts all reality 
 and creates appearance, and so I began to try to disso- 
 ciate things from personal emotion in my judgments 
 of them." 
 
 "Yes, but how about tradition.''" 
 
 "Tradition suggested certain views and actions to 
 
 139
 
 THE CABEEB OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 me — but looked at without emotion, I saw that they 
 were foolish. I analysed my brothers' and sisters' ideas 
 and instincts because I wanted to see if what I did not 
 like in them was inevitable in myself too from the force 
 of tradition or if there was any way to get rid of stu- 
 pidities." 
 
 "And you found?" 
 
 "Of course, that everything, even instincts, can be 
 eradicated if only their origins can be traced and the 
 will is strong enough to overcome them." 
 
 "Yes, everything depends upon will. And you found 
 time for all this reasoning while you kept the accounts 
 at the pork-butcher's?" 
 
 Lady Garribardine's eyebrows ran quizzically up into 
 her forehead, and there was a twinkle in her eye. She 
 was greatly amused. 
 
 "Yes — in the evenings." 
 
 "No wonder you have emerged! You do not alloir 
 yourself to have any emotions then?" 
 
 Katherine looked away demurely. 
 
 "I try not to indulge in them; it is more prudent to 
 watch their action in others." 
 
 "Have you ever been in love, child?" 
 
 "It depends upon what one calls love." The tone was 
 dignified. Katherine did not think this quite a fair 
 question. 
 
 Lady Garribardine laughed appreciatively. 
 
 "You are quite right. I should not have asked you 
 that, since we were up upon a plane of discussion in 
 which even women do not lie to one another !" 
 
 "If Your Ladyship will permit me to say so, women 
 have very little notion of truth, I think !" 
 
 "Oh ! that is too bad. You must always stand up for 
 your sex." 
 
 140
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Forgive mc for differing, but I should be acting from 
 good nature in that case, not from justice." 
 
 Lady Garribardine was delighted. 
 
 "So you think we are not truthful as a company.'" 
 
 "Oh, no, we have no love of abstract truth, truth for 
 itself. When we are truthful in our general dealings 
 with people, it is either because we have decent charac- 
 ters or religious views, or for our own ends, not from 
 a detached love of truth." 
 
 "What a cynic! And how about men?" 
 
 "A man is truthful because he likes truth, and to tell 
 lies he feels would degrade himself." 
 
 "And yet men always lie to women — have you re- 
 marked that, girl?" 
 
 "Yes — that seems to be the one exception in their 
 standard of truth." 
 
 *'How do you account for this ? Have you found the 
 'reason why' of this peculiarity?" 
 
 "It seems presumptuous of me to give my views to 
 Your Ladyship." 
 
 "I think I am the best judge of that matter," and 
 Lady Garribardine frowned a little. "I asked a ques- 
 tion." 
 
 Katherine answered then immediately. She was not 
 quite pleased with herself for her last remark, it had 
 laid her open to a snub. 
 
 "Original man had no regard for women — they were 
 as the animals to him — he would not have felt degraded 
 in lying to animals — because such a thing could not oc- 
 cur. He would not consult animals — he simply ordered 
 them." 
 
 "Well.?" 
 
 "Then as soon as he had to consider women at .11 he 
 found it easier to lie to them because of their want of 
 
 14.1
 
 THE CAFEER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 understanding, and chattering tongues, and as he did 
 not consider that thej were his equals in anything, no 
 degradation was entailed in making things easy for him- 
 self with them, by lying to them." 
 
 *'How ingenuous !" 
 
 "That is how it seems to me, and so things have gone 
 on — tradition and instinct again ! Until even now when 
 man is forced to consider women, the original instinct is 
 still there making him feel that it docs not matter lying 
 to them." 
 
 *'I believe you are right. You are not a suffragette.''" 
 
 *'0h, no ! I like women to advance in everything, but 
 unless 3'ou could destroy their dramatic instinct, and 
 hysteria, I think it would be a pity for a country if they 
 had votes." 
 
 "You despise women and respect men, then?" 
 
 "Not at all ; it would be like despising bread and re- 
 specting water. I only despise weakness in either sex." 
 
 "Well, Miss Bush, I think you have a wonderfully- 
 stored mind. I don't feel that ninety pounds a year and 
 drudgery is the right thing for you. What is to be 
 done?" 
 
 Katherine gave one of her rare soft laughs. 
 
 *'Belicve mc, madam, the lessons I am learning in 
 Your Lad^'sliip's service arc worth more to me than my 
 salary. I am quite contented and enjoy my drudgery." 
 
 "So you are learning lessons — are you!" Lady Gar- 
 ribardine chuckled again. "Of the world, the flesh or 
 the devil?" 
 
 "A little of all three, perhaps," Katherine answered 
 with shy demurencss. 
 
 "Look here, young woman, I have remarked more 
 than V. nee that you possess a quality — almost unknown 
 in ninety-nine females out of a hundred, and non-exist- 
 
 142
 
 THE CAEEEE OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 ent in the middle classes — a fine sense of humour. It Is 
 quite out of place — and like the royal rose imprinted 
 upon the real queen's left shoulder, I expect we shall 
 discover presently that the butcher and baker forebears 
 are all moonshine, and that you are a princess in dis- 
 guise. — Sec, that is Windsor — isn't it fine?" 
 
 "Ah ! Yes !" cried Katherine. "It makes one think." 
 
 They were rushing along the road from Staines where 
 they could see the splendid pile standing out against the 
 sky. 
 
 "All those old grey stones put together by brutes 
 and fools and brains and force. I will take you there 
 myself some day." 
 
 "I shall love to go." 
 
 Then Her Ladyship became quite silent as was her 
 custom when she felt inclined so to be. The obligation 
 to make conversation never weighed upon her. This 
 made her a delightful companion. They arrived at the 
 park gates of Blissington Court about one o'clock, and 
 Katherine Bush felt again a delightful excitement. She 
 had never seen a big English country home except in 
 pictures. 
 
 The lodge-keeper came out. He was an old man in 
 a quaint livery. 
 
 "I cannot stand the untidy females escaping from 
 the washtub who attend to most people's gates. This 
 famil}' of Peterson have opened those of Blissington for 
 two hundred years, and have always worn the same sort 
 of livery, from father to son. Their intelligence Is at 
 the lowest ebb, and they make capital gate-keepers. 
 There is generally a 'simple' boy or two to carry on the 
 business. The women folk keep out of sight. It Is a tra- 
 dition in the family — they take a pride In It. I give 
 them unusually high wages, and whatever else grows 
 
 143
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 more and more idiotic, the gate-keeping instinct sur- 
 vives in full force. There are three lodges — all kept bj 
 Petersons." 
 
 "How wonderful," said Katherine. 
 
 "Good day, Jacob! — The family well? Jane quite re- 
 covered from the chicken-pox, eh?" 
 
 "Quite well. Your Ladyship," and the old man's wan- 
 dering eyes were fixed in adoration upon his mistress's 
 face. "And Your Ladyship's godchild, Sarah, is grow- 
 ing that knowing my daughter can hardly keep her 
 from the front garden." 
 
 "I am delighted to hear it. I shall be stopping in to 
 see you to-morrow, tell Mrs. Peterson. This is my new 
 secretary, Miss Bush, Jacob — you will know her again, 
 won't you?" 
 
 "Pll try to. Your Ladyship," a little doubtfully, and 
 he bowed deeply as the motor rolled on along a beauti- 
 ful drive through the vast park, with its groups of 
 graceful deer peering at them from under the giant 
 trees. 
 
 Katherine was taking in the whole scene, the winter 
 day, and the brown earth, and the blue sky, and the 
 beauty of it all! 
 
 Yes — this sort of thing was what must be hers some 
 day when she had fitted herself to possess it. They came 
 to another gate — and yet another — iron ones with no 
 lodges, and then they swept through a wide avenue with 
 sprucely kept edges and so on up to the front door. 
 
 It was a long irregular building which Katherine saw, 
 principally built in the middle of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, and added to from time to time. It was very pic- 
 turesque, and when they were inside, the hall proved to 
 be very fine. It was huge and square and panelled with 
 some good Grlnling Gibbons carving, and quantities of 
 
 144
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 indifferently painted ancestors, for the most part in 
 stiff peers' robes. — They had been a distinguished crew, 
 not of the fox-hunting type. 
 
 "These are my people, Miss Bush, not Garribar- 
 dines," Her Ladyship said, pointing to the portraits. 
 "They were not handsome, as you see, and evidently 
 did not encourage the best artists — the few who did are 
 in the other rooms and the picture gallery. Come, we 
 will go straight in to lunch ; I am as hungry as a school- 
 boy — You will lunch with me." 
 
 Bronson had gone down much earlier and was await- 
 ing them with two footmen, as dignified as usual. 
 
 The dining-room was in a panelled passage to the 
 right and was a long, low room of much earlier date. 
 
 "A relic incorporated later in the present structure," 
 Katherine was told. 
 
 It was perfectly beautiful, she thought, with its deep 
 brown oak, wax polished to the highest lustre, and its 
 curtains of splendid Venetian velvet in faded crimson 
 and green, on a white satin ground all harmonious with 
 age and mellowing. 
 
 "I had a terrible struggle to oust the Victorian hor- 
 rors I had been brought up with, and which had insinu- 
 ated themselves, as all vulgar things do, into almost 
 every room among their betters — taste was quite dead 
 sixty years ago in my father's day. I had to combat 
 sentiment in myself and ruthlessly condemn the whole 
 lot." 
 
 "It is most beautiful." Katherine's admiration was 
 indeed sincere. 
 
 "Yes — it has been a great pleasure to me getting it 
 perfect. You shall see the whole house presenth', but 
 now food is the only im_portant matter. — Bronson — I 
 distrust the look of that ham soufiie — are you sure it 
 
 145
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 has not been kept waiting? A second or two alters its 
 consistency. Take it away at once, man!" — with an 
 indignant sniff — "and tell Fran9ois never to hazard so 
 precarious a dish again for arrivals by motor!" 
 
 "Very good, Your Ladyship." 
 
 *'One can eat bread and cheese, but one cannot stom- 
 ach an indifferent soufHe — it is like an emotional woman, 
 its charm is just as capricious and just as ephemeral!" 
 
 The rest of the lunch was to her taste and no further 
 (disapproval was expressed. 
 
 It was the first time Katherine had broken bread with 
 her mistress, or indeed had even assisted at a whole 
 luncheon. Coffee was the extent of her knowledge hith- 
 erto. It interested her to see the varied dishes, to watch 
 the perfect service, the style of the placing and remov- 
 ing of the plates — the rapidity and noisclcssness of it 
 all. She thought of the pressed beef and the stout and 
 the cheese-cakes and the frightful untidiness of every- 
 thing at Laburnum Villa. That was the strange differ- 
 ence, the utter want of method and order which al- 
 ways rendered the home table a mass of litter and mis- 
 cellaneous implements towards the end of a repast, 
 plates and cups pushed here and there and everywhere. 
 
 How very good to be out of it all ! 
 
 To her great surprise. Her Ladyship drank beer — 
 clear golden stuff poured from a lovely crystal and 
 silver jug into a chased silver tankard. 
 
 "The best beverage in Christendom !" that epicure 
 said, as she quaffed it. "Have some. Miss Bush. You 
 are young enough to have no dread of gout. It is a vice 
 with me, the worst thing in the world for my rheuma- 
 tism, and yet I cannot resist the temptation ! The day 
 I return home I must fall to my tankard ! To-morrow, 
 Bronson removes the accursed thing to the sideboard, 
 
 146
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 out of sight, and I keep up my courage on ridiculously 
 thin Zcltingcr." 
 
 Katherine tasted it ; it was delicious, and as different 
 from what she knew as beer as the tea had been from 
 her original idea of tea. 
 
 "Isn't it a heavenly drink, girl ! I am glad to see you 
 like it." 
 
 Then Lady Garribardine chatted on, giving crisp, 
 witty descriptions of the village and the inhabitants, 
 in language which would often have shocked the gen- 
 teel sensibilities of Mabel Cawber, but the tones of her 
 voice, whether loud or soft, were the dulcet tones of 
 angels. She had indeed that "excellent thing in 
 woman." 
 
 Katherine's workroom was the old schoolroom up in a 
 wing which contained rooms as ancient as the dining- 
 room, and her bedroom adjoined it; and from this a 
 little passage led to a narrow staircase going down to 
 a door which opened into the small enclosed rose gar- 
 den. Up another set of steps from her corridor you 
 were brought into the splendid gallery which ran round 
 two sides of the hall, and into which Her Ladyship's 
 own rooms gave. But in Katherine's corner she was 
 isolated and could come and go abroad without ever 
 passing the general living rooms — what an advantage, 
 she felt ! 
 
 And when, later in the afternoon, her things were un- 
 packed, and she was sitting before a glorious wood fire 
 in the old chimney, sniffing the scent of the burning 
 logs aijd taking in the whole picture of quaint chintz 
 and shining oak, she felt a sense of contentment and 
 satisfaction. 
 
 Fate was indeed treating her handsomely.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 KATHERINE saw nothing more of her employer 
 on the Saturday, but on the Sunday morning a 
 message came to say she would expect her to go 
 to church with her. As no mention of church had ever 
 been made in London, Katherine was quite unprepared 
 for this, and was obliged to scurry to be ready. 
 
 "In the country and at one's home, one must always 
 go to church, Miss Bush," she was informed when they 
 were in the motor. "It is tradition again." 
 
 Then there was silence until they were almost at the 
 (door. 
 
 "It is rather a fine little church, with some good 
 tombs of my ancestors in it, prolific people who seemed 
 to have married either widows with like proclivities, or 
 to have commemorated their own marital achievements. 
 — There are two very curious monuments, one of a mar- 
 riage with about seven or eight children behind both the 
 man and the woman, proofs of their former activities, 
 and another of a second pair witli numerous olive 
 branches owned mutually. They were of an enchanting 
 ingenuousness in those days. You will face these figures 
 during the sermon. You can examine them, a not un- 
 pleasing pastime 1 used to find it in my youth." 
 
 Lady Garribardine's walk from tlie church was a 
 kind of triumphal progress. All the faces of the clus- 
 tering local groups beamed with joy and welcome for 
 her — she had a word and a nod for everyone and to 
 Katherine's amusement stopped threateningly in front 
 
 148
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 of a biggish boy who was handhng a bandanna hand- 
 kerchief. 
 
 "If I hear one sniffle, Thomas Knoughton — out you 
 go ! — It is a habit you have got into, flaunting those 
 colds every time I get home. I won't put up with it!" 
 
 "Very good, Yer Leddyship," the boy returned 
 stoHdly, pulhng his forelock. 
 
 It was evident to be seen that their Lady Bountiful 
 was held in deep respect by her tenants. The service 
 was quite cheerful and merry with Christmas music 
 from a fine organ, one of the patroness's gifts, and the 
 monuments were certainly diverting, Henry VII and Ed- 
 ward VI costumes carved in stone adorning meek-faced 
 women and grave men. 
 
 When they came out, a number of the local farmers 
 and their wives had to be greeted. Lady Garribardine 
 seemed to know all their domestic affairs, and to wield 
 an absolute dominion over them. She was kindly and 
 autocratic, and not in the least condescending; they 
 eridently loved her dearly. 
 
 Katherine stood by respectfully, and once or twice 
 her mistress said, "This is my new secretary, Miss 
 Bush," with a wave of her hand. 
 
 Apparently the bounties and teas and Christmas 
 feasting being prepared for everyone knew no bounds 
 by what Katherine heard discussed. 
 
 As they motored back Her Ladyship said : 
 
 "Now, before lunch I want you for an hour to ex- 
 plain the country duties to you as I explained the Lon- 
 don ones — and this afternoon you must see over the 
 house. Mrs. Illing^'orth will show you round, and to- 
 morrow I have to start very early to see my poor 
 people — You have those hsts copied out, have you 
 not.?" 
 
 149
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 Katherine lunched alone in her sitting-room and be- 
 fore her inspection of the house began she went for a 
 little walk. The old park delighted her, the sense that 
 it was not public property gave her pleasure. She could 
 go for miles, it seemed, upon the soft turf, or along the 
 smooth avenues, without meeting a soul. There was 
 something in her nature which enjoyed this isolation 
 from the common herd. 
 
 "I believe If It were mine I should dislike even a right 
 of way !" she said to herself. 
 
 She stopped close to some deer ; they were so tame 
 they hardly started from her. The whole place, when 
 she came to a rising ground and could look back at the 
 house, exalted her in some strange way. The atmos- 
 phere of it was so different from anything which she 
 had been accustomed to. It was no wonder that people 
 living in such houses should have wider scopes of imag- 
 ination than the inhabitants of BIndon's Green with 
 every little semi-detached villa watching the habits of 
 its neighbour. She made up her mind that she would 
 study Lady Garrlbardine's methods with her people for 
 her own future guidance. The perfect certainty with 
 which she looked forward to obtaining the same sort of 
 situation was almost sublime! 
 
 When her inspection of the house came her feelings 
 were further stirred; there was a great bump of vener- 
 ation in her for ancient things. Her artistic sensibili- 
 ties which had not yet been as awakened as her prac- 
 tical ones now began to assert themselves. She felt she 
 must read books upon architecture, and learn the dates 
 and styles of furniture. She admired, but she was con- 
 scious that she had not yet sufficiently cultivated criti- 
 cal faculties to appreciate fully. Her tour opened a 
 new field of study for her — a new consciousnicss of her 
 
 150
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 own ignorance, and a new determination to acquire the 
 necessary knowledge on these points. 
 
 Ever since her outing with Lord Algj, she had been 
 aware that mere book-learning is not enough. There 
 were many things of interest in life that she would never 
 have heard of or realised the existence of but for that 
 first opening to her imagination. 
 
 Mr. Strobridge would be an invaluable teacher, but 
 she must get up a few technical points first. She would 
 at once ask her mistress if she might take some books 
 from the library, up to her sitting-room for the even- 
 ing. She would immediately look up the bald facts in 
 the Encyclopedia to begin with, and then study individ- 
 ual volumes. Then there were the painters and the 
 sculptors to learn about more fully, although she had 
 often gone to the galleries and museums in London, but 
 not with what — she now knew, after her inspection of 
 this home where for hundreds of years the owners had 
 been cultivated collectors — was a critical eye. She felt 
 as if the key to understanding had only just been given 
 to her. Even the housekeeper (not Mrs, Pepperdon 
 of Berkeley Square, but this elderly, portly Mrs. Illing- 
 worth) knew m.ore about the beauties that she was show- 
 ing off than she did. This state of ignorance must not 
 continue for even a week ! 
 
 Permission was accorded about the books when Lady 
 Garribardine looked into the secretary's room before 
 her tea — and until three o'clock in the morning this in- 
 defatigable young woman kept her lights on, cramming 
 facts into her head — and then when her work was over 
 before lunch next day she walked again through the 
 picture gallery and the big drawing-rooms to see if she 
 had mastered anything. The picture gallery was filled 
 with early and late Italian works, and some fine speci- 
 
 151
 
 2'IIE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 mens of Spanish Renaissance as well as English por- 
 traits. She found that with even this much knowledge 
 gained she had already grown more appreciative, but 
 she realised that it was a question of training her eye 
 as well as her brain. 
 
 The guests were all to arrive en Christmas Eve and a 
 message came for Kathcrine that she was to come down 
 and pour out the tea for them, because "Her Ladyship's 
 hand was very rheumatic." 
 
 She had been extremely occupied with the dispatching 
 of parcdls of presents and various matters all the after- 
 noon. This would be an occasion to wear the grey 
 blouse again, and she had discovered that the becoming 
 waves upon her brow could be achieved also by water 
 and combing, so she would not be at the mercy of a hair- 
 dresser in the future for her improved looks ! 
 
 She was seated behind the tea-table in the library 
 when the first batch of the visitors arrived by train. 
 Mr. Strobridge and Lady Beatrice were motoring; the 
 three grandchildren and their attendants had come 
 early in the afternoon. 
 
 The party consisted of the two old maiden cousins, 
 the Misses d'Estaire by name, and a young niece of 
 theirs, and two or three stray men, and Mrs. Dclemar. 
 Katherine attended to their wants and watched the 
 whole scene — no one had greeted her, but whoever 
 chanced to be near her exchanged a friendly word ; 
 Mrs. Delemar was even gracious, it was her way always 
 to be polite to everyone. 
 
 How easy they all were ! No stiffness, no self-con- 
 sciousness, and one of the men was quite witty and the 
 young Miss d'Estaire a most lively modern girl. Kath- 
 erine enjoyed herself although she never spoke unless 
 spoken to, and then returned monosyllabic answers. 
 
 152
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 Wlien they had all been chaffing and eating quanti- 
 ties of muffins and buns and blackberry jam and cream 
 for half an hour, Gerard Strobridge and his wife came 
 in. 
 
 "We have had the most deplorable journey, Aunt 
 Sarah," Lady Beatrice announced plaintively. "A 
 judgment upon one for travelling with one's husband. 
 Gerard would drive, and of course collided with a mile- 
 stone, and injured one of the wheels so that the tire, 
 which broke, took hours to put on again and I was 
 frozen with cold." 
 
 Everyone sympathised with her, while Mr. Stro- 
 bridge only smiled complacently and asked Katherine 
 for some tea. 
 
 "As you can guess, I shall require it very hot and 
 Tery strong to keep my courage up after these re- 
 proaches," and he smiled as though to say, "I am sure 
 you understand." 
 
 Katherine attended to him gravely ; she was pur- 
 posely the stiff secretary, aloof and uninterested in 
 what was going on ; Mr. Strobridge rather wondered at 
 it, and it piqued him a little, but the lady who had been 
 asked for his special delectation had no intention of 
 allowing him any leisure to converse with anyone else. 
 She gave him one of her ravishing smiles, moved her 
 dress a little to make room for him on her sofa, and 
 then whispered to him softly for a long time, amidst 
 the general merry din. 
 
 Nothing escaped the eyes and intelligence of Miss 
 Bush. She was observing behaviour, character and cap- 
 ability in each one of the guests and was making up her 
 mind what she would do next for the furtherance of her 
 plan that Gerard Strobridge should be a friend. 
 
 For one moment he looked up and met her eyes, and 
 
 153
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 she allowed hers to show that sphinxlike smile before 
 she lowered the lids. Gerard Strobridge experienced 
 an emotion. Liio was perhaps making him look a little 
 ridiculous. She Was overdoing her pleasure at seeing 
 him. However, he was too old a hand at dalliance with 
 women to allow himself to stay beside her for a moment 
 after he felt this. So he made some forcible excuse 
 about the post's going, and got up and left the room. 
 He was completely at home, it was plain to be seen, at 
 Blissington Court. 
 
 Katherine smiled again to herself. 
 
 After dinner there was to be a cinematograph show 
 for Lady Garribardine's grandchildren, a thirteen-year- 
 old schoolboy and girls of ten and seven, and they were 
 dining punctually at eight. Katherine was to bring 
 l;hcm into the hall when the entertainment began, hav- 
 ing had them with her for dinner in the old schoolroom. 
 She was not particularly fond of children, but she did 
 her best to make them enjoy their meal. They were 
 stupid, unattractive creatures with none of their grand- 
 mother's wit. They were to go on to their paternal re- 
 lations for the New Year, and then with their governess 
 and tutor were to sail to join their parents in the An- 
 tipodes. 
 
 The "dressy blouse" had to do duty as evening attire 
 on this night (the creation of Gladys' arranging must 
 be kept for the grand occasion of the Christmas dinner 
 in the dining-room) but Katherine had altered it a little, 
 the wretched thing! and cut down the neck to make it 
 more becoming. It looked quite suitable to her station 
 in any case, she thought, as she caught sight of herself 
 in the long glass in her room. She was beginning to 
 take an interest in dress which surprised herself! 
 
 She took a chair in the background, close to the stair- 
 
 154
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 case from which the servants were to be allowed to wit- 
 ness the show — Her whole demeanour was quiet and 
 unremarkable — and no one paid any attention to her at 
 all until the lights were turned up in the interval be- 
 tween one set of pictures and another, when Lady Gar- 
 ribardine called out to her: 
 
 "Can you see from where you are, Miss Bush? The 
 next thing ought to be very funny." 
 
 Katherine had the kind of voice which people listen 
 to, and one or two of the men glanced round at her 
 when she answered with thanks that she had a capital 
 view. And old Colonel Hawthorne said to a young 
 guardsman friend of Miss Betty d'Estaire that, by 
 Jove ! Her Ladyship's secretary, or the children's gov- 
 erness, or whoever she was, had a pair of eyes worth 
 looking at ! 
 
 Gerard Strobridge had found Lao charming again! 
 He had dined well and partaken of his aunt's promised 
 very best champagne, and he had indulged in some ob- 
 viously subtle insinuations as to his further intentions 
 in regard to their enjoyable friendship, whispered in 
 her shell-pink ear while the lights were low. 
 
 "Oh Gerard ! — I won't allow you to ! — ^Wait — not 
 yet!" Mrs. Delemar had gasped prettily, expecting 
 him to press the matter further. 
 
 But unfortunately it was just then that the lights 
 had blazed up, and Gerard had turned round and caught 
 sight of the provoking face of Katherine Bush as his 
 aunt spoke. 
 
 "How attractive that confounded girl looks !" he 
 thought. "What a nuisance she is not married and a 
 guest, instead of the typist — it is undignified and — dif- 
 ficult!" 
 
 But the brief glance had disturbed him and rearoused 
 
 155
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 liis interest ; he found that he could not bring himself 
 up to the desired level of enthusiasm again with Lao, 
 and contented himself by talking enigmatically about 
 the parrot rooms that she was in — their situation and 
 their comfort— while he looked unutterable things with 
 his deep grey eyes. Then presently when they all moved, 
 and the show was over, he allowed himself to be sup- 
 planted in her favours by a promising youth of three 
 and twenty, a distant cousin of the house, who would 
 not have been permitted the ghost of a chance at an- 
 other time ! But Gerard's emotions did not show on the 
 surface and Katherine Bush slipped up to bed presently 
 in rather a depressed frame of mind. 
 
 She realised fully that the goal was yet a long, long 
 way from attainment, and that it would require all her 
 intelligence to walk warily through this coming week. 
 
 No one had been in the least slighting or unkind to 
 her, but naturally no one had troubled to converse with 
 her; she was just the secretary and was treated exactly 
 as she would treat her own, when she had one, she felt. 
 It would not be safe to attract any of the party; her 
 employer's good will and contentment with her mattered 
 far more than the gratification of her vanity. 
 
 Mr. Strobridge, however, was one of the chief pieces 
 in her game, and him she would see often as long as she 
 remained in Lady Garribardine's service, so there was 
 no hurry — she could afford to wait. 
 
 But all the same she settled down to read "The Seven 
 Lamps of Architecture" without the buoyant feeling of 
 self-confidence which usually gave her such a proud 
 carriage of head.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 A MESSAGE came up to Katherine next morn- 
 ing — the morning of Christmas Day — from 
 Lady Garribardine to say that she could walk 
 across the park to church with the two elder children 
 and that she was to take them into the front pew that 
 faced the large carved family one behind the choir at 
 right angles. 
 
 And from this well-placed outlook Miss Bush later 
 on observed the house party enter by a door in the chan- 
 cel. They filled the whole long seat and overflowed 
 into the pew where she and the children sat, and it hap- 
 pened that Gerard Strobridge was next her and knelt to 
 say his prayers. 
 
 Propinquity is a very curious thing, and when all 
 possibility of conversation is nil, propinquity has some- 
 times been known to exert a very powerful influence. 
 Gerard Strobridge was conscious with every throb of 
 his pulse of the nearness of Katherine Bush ; there was 
 a magnetic disturbing emanation he felt coming from 
 her, which excited him unaccountabl3% He kept glanc- 
 ing at her regular profile from time to time. Her very 
 pale skin and large red mouth attracted him immensely. 
 She never once looked at him, and maintained an air of 
 absolute unconsciousness. 
 
 "What is she thinking about, I wonder.'"' he mused. 
 "I have never seen a face more sphinxlike ; she could be 
 good or devilishly bad, she could love passionately and 
 hate coldly, she could be cruel as the grave and hard 
 
 157
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 as adamant. She is a woman that a man were wiser 
 not to know too well for his own safety." 
 
 But reflections of this sort never yet made son of 
 Adam avoid the object of them, so when they came out 
 and Katherine was waiting for instructions from her 
 employer as to the disposal of the children, Mr. Stro- 
 bridge came up to her. 
 
 "A happy Christmas, Miss Bush," he said. "Are you 
 going to walk back through the Park.'' Here, Teddy, I 
 will come with you." 
 
 "We are going in the motor with Grandmamma," 
 both children cried at once as Katherine returned his 
 greeting, and they ran off to Lady Garribardine. So 
 Katherine started to walk on alone, while the rest of the 
 party lingered about the porch and made up their minds 
 as to whether or no they would drive. 
 
 She had gone some way and was on a path by a copse 
 in the Park, when Mr. Strobridge cauglit her up. 
 
 "Why did you race ahead. Miss Bush?" he asked. 
 "Did you not want any companion in your solitude?'' 
 
 "I never thought about it," she returned quite simply. 
 
 "I did — I wanted to walk with you, I have been watch- 
 ing you all the time in church. I believe that you were 
 in dreamland again ; now will be the very moment to 
 finish our discussion upon it." 
 
 "I don't think we had begun it." 
 
 "Well, we will." 
 
 "How are we to start?" 
 
 "You are going to tell me where yours is — in the 
 heart or in the head?" 
 
 "Such a conversation would be altogether unprofit- 
 able." There was mischief lurking in the corner of her 
 eye and trembling in the curves of her full mouth. 
 
 "I must judge of that." 
 
 153
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "How so? Do I not count?" 
 
 "Enormously — that is why I want to hear of your 
 dreamland." 
 
 "It is a place where only I can go." 
 
 "How unsociable — but you look disobliging." 
 
 "I am." 
 
 "Very well, I give up the task of trying to make you 
 tell me about it. By the way, I have not had the chance 
 to thank you for so kindly finishing those papers for 
 that confounded charity. My aunt said they were in 
 perfect order." 
 
 "I am glad of that." 
 
 He raised his head and looked away in front of them 
 down into a dell and so up again to the house. 
 
 "Isn't this a beautiful view? I always think of 'the 
 stately homes of England' when I walk back from 
 church." 
 
 Katherine's eyes followed his to the gabled, irregular 
 red brick house, with its wreath of blue smoke going 
 straight up into the winter sky. 
 
 "I have never seen one before," she told him. "You 
 can imagine how wonderful this appears to me after the 
 place where I have lived. I had only seen Hampton 
 Court, but somehow all the people there and its being 
 a museum did not make it have the impression of a house 
 that is inhabited." 
 
 "This pleases you, does it?" 
 
 "Naturally. I love everytliing about it, the space, 
 and people not being allov/ed in. It is Her Ladyship's 
 own — she can shut the gates if she wants to and have 
 it all to herself — that must be good." 
 
 "What a strange girl ! You would not like to share 
 an3'thing, then? I have already remarked this deplor- 
 ably selfish instinct in you, in reference to your dream- 
 
 159
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 land — and you would keep poor devils out of your park, 
 too, if you could !" 
 
 "Generally — yes." 
 
 "Well, I want to be the exception to this exclusive- 
 ness. If I come up one afternoon to the old schoolroom, 
 for instance, and ask you to talk to me, will you turn 
 me out?" 
 
 "It depends what you want me to talk to you about. 
 If it is upon a subject only to please you — yes — if to 
 please me then I may let you stay for a little." 
 
 "What subjects would please you?" 
 
 "I would like to hear all about the pictures in the 
 house, for instance — you see, before I came to Ladj 
 Garribardine I had never conversed with anyone edu- 
 cated in art. So I have only a very little book knowl- 
 edge to go upon." 
 
 "We will talk about art then ; the house is full of 
 interesting things, part of it is so old." 
 
 For the rest of the way he did his best to entertain 
 his aunt's insignificant secretary, and they both knew 
 that the walk had been very charming. When they got 
 into the shrubbery, Katherine took the path which led 
 to the small rose-garden courtyard, on which the school- 
 room staircase opened. 
 
 "Of course, I had forgotten you have a front door 
 all to yourself." 
 
 "Yes — our roads divide here. Good morning, Mr. 
 Strobridge." 
 
 "Are you going to shake hands with me?" 
 
 "No, it is quite unnecessary." 
 
 "yiw revoir, then. To-night I shall dance with you. 
 I have not danced for ten years." 
 
 "Then probably you will not do it well. Recollect I 
 come from Bindon's Green where we learn the very 
 
 160
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 newest steps. I never have put up with a bad partner." 
 **I can't 'turkey trot,' if that is what you mean." 
 "Then I am afraid you are too old and too old-fash- 
 ioned for my taste." And smiling demurely, she walked 
 off to the quaint, wrought-iron gate which opened into 
 the rose garden. 
 
 Gerard Strobridge laughed as he went on his way. 
 Why was he attracted to this girl.'' He was a person 
 of the highest fastidiousness, and had never had a liaison 
 with any woman beneath him in class in his life, even 
 in hii. Oxford days. It was against his idea of the fit- 
 ness of things. To flirt with his aunt's secretary ! But 
 the creature was so sensible, and so intelligent it made 
 matters appear in a different light — there surely could 
 not be much harm in discussing pictures and sculpture 
 with her, or a poet or two ! But at this stage he did 
 put some restraint upon himself, and made no further 
 attempts to see her until she came down to pour 
 out the tea again. He bravely made love to Lao, and 
 exercised as much skill to keep matters from approach- 
 ing a climax as he was wont to use in bringing on that 
 happy occurrence. It caused him a cynical amuse- 
 ment. 
 
 Katherine had on the dress which rather resembled 
 his wife's, and looked almost as distinguished, and a 
 good deal more healthy and attractive. 
 
 Her demeanour was so admirable, too ; she had none 
 of either that overhumble obsequiousness or touchy as- 
 sertion, which so often distinguished these quasi-gen- 
 tlefolk, he thought. She might have been a Lady Clara 
 Vere de Vere in her quiet dignity and utter freedom 
 from all self-consciousness. 
 
 It was evident that she was not thinking of herself 
 at all, or wondering whether or no she was being noticed 
 
 161
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 or slighted, or properly or improperly treated. She 
 was just gravely pouring out the tea and attending to 
 people's wants as quietly sure of herself as his aunt 
 would have been. Indeed, it almost seemed to Gerard 
 watching her that she stood out, if he could have se- 
 lected one from the whole party, as the most perfect 
 specimen of womanhood. 
 
 Was it her supreme will — ^her force of character 
 which had overcome all class traditions? He remem- 
 bered what she had said about no ordinary Radical ever 
 being able to be a foreign minister. How she must have 
 thought out matters ! Her brain was that of a woman 
 in a thousand. 
 
 The Christmas tea grew very merry, and old Colonel 
 Hawthorne, friend of the family for countless years, 
 found it his pleasant duty to be genial with the good- 
 looking secretar3\ Gerard continued to watch; she 
 answered the pleasantries with so much wit, and never 
 the least presumption. 
 
 After a while he drifted up to his aunt's own sitting- 
 room for a quarter of an hour before dressing time — 
 Liio had been cajoled into thinking all was well between 
 them, and had gone off to make herself especially beau- 
 tiful for dinner. 
 
 She had been through one or two disquieting mo- 
 ments. Gerard had appeared all that an eager lover 
 should be, and slie felt she must have been stupid in 
 some way to have given him the impression that she was 
 serious in her protestation of "not yet." She had no 
 rival — that was plain to be seen. He never spoke to 
 Betty d'Estaire — who was the only other young woman 
 of the party. Perhaps it was because of Beatrice ! Ge- 
 rard was such a perfect gentleman, perhaps in some cor- 
 ner of a foolishly overpunctihous heart he was deterred 
 
 162
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 by — Beatrice! But fortunately Beatrice was leaving 
 the day after Boxing Day. 
 
 In any case her usual method of rigid circumspec- 
 tion — until the very last moment — had not been quite 
 successful with this would-be lover ; he had been deceived 
 by it and slightly rebuffed. It was merciful as far as 
 her own emotions were concerned, but she knew men well 
 enough to know that unless she herself had damped his 
 ardour, this state of things was not altogether nat- 
 ural, and therefore it might imply some lack in her own 
 charm, which was not an agreeable thought. However, 
 she need not feel really disquieted while his attentions 
 were still so empresse. 
 
 "Seraphim, I walked back from church with Miss 
 Bush," Gerard said, stretching himself out in a huge 
 chair by his aunt's fire, while he lighted a cigarette. 
 "You are quite right, she is a most intelligent young 
 woman ; how do you account for that something about 
 her which is not at all of her class.'"' 
 
 "I don't know, it has puzzled me. I was watching 
 her to-day pouring out the tea ; she is the first secre- 
 tary I have ever had, not excepting poor Arnott, who 
 on such occasions did not feel that one or other of the 
 guests was trying to snub her — Katherine Bush is never 
 on the defensive — it is quite unique in a person of her 
 station." 
 
 "I watched her, too, and was struck with the same 
 thing; and to-day she talked so well. She wanted to 
 hear about the pictures — she is absolutely frank and 
 tells one in the naivest manner about what things slie is 
 ignorant of — but one finds that she must havo read 
 considerably." 
 
 "She is full of theories about tradition and evolution. 
 
 163
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 I let her tell me them motoring down — she seems to have 
 dissected herself and her family in an endeavour to 
 eradicate what she disapproves of in the way of in- 
 stincts." 
 
 "It is astonishing, isn't it, Seraphim?" 
 
 "Very — she made one or two rather dreadful gaffes 
 when she first came, especially during the tableaux week 
 — it was quite interesting to see her face when she 
 realised this. She did not once try to explain them 
 away — she drew in her lips and I could see she was 
 registering a vow never to make the same mistake again. 
 That kind of nature always wins any game it is play- 
 ing." 
 
 "I wonder what hers is — don't you.?" 
 
 "The immediate one obviously is to turn herself into 
 a lady — Slie means to do in a few years consciously, 
 what nature takes many generations to accompHsh in 
 the ordinary course of events — Her progress is quite 
 remarkable even in these six weeks." 
 
 "What shall you do with her. Seraphim?" 
 
 "Keep her as long as she will stay with me, G., and 
 perhaps take her education in hand myself when you 
 all leave." And then Lady Garribardine laughed softly. 
 "Lao is a huge joke, dear boy — I think the parrot 
 rooms suit her, don't you? Are you pleased with my 
 arrangements for my guests?" 
 
 There was something exquisitely whimsical in Her 
 Ladyship's old black eyes, his met them delightedly. 
 Aunt and nephew understood each other so well, these 
 two perfect citizens of the world ! 
 
 "Lao is charming! And I am sure she is deriving all 
 sorts of inspirations from the blue macaw's amourettes 
 with the yellow-crested cockatoo, which she looks at 
 from her downy couch — Seraphim, I am going to per- 
 
 164.
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 suade Beatrice to stay on — Beatrice is an excellent 
 creature in spite of her contempt for my powers as a 
 chauffeur ! She is quite amused with Victor Thistle- 
 thwaite. I paved the way by suggesting to her this 
 morning that she should take the early train on Thurs- 
 day, and she said at once, that she rather thought she 
 was not leaving until Saturday with the rest." 
 
 Lady Garribardine chuckled delightedly ; the noise 
 was as of cream bubbling — if cream can bubble ! 
 
 "Ticns!" was all she said and then went on to speak 
 of other things. "Betty d'Estaire is going to catch 
 young Allonby, G. I believe they will settle it to-night. 
 For one of my blood she has a number of overmodern 
 faults, and Gwendoline and Arabella will be glad to get 
 her off their hands." 
 
 "She is a promising young person." 
 
 **Even blood can't stand against the total want of 
 discipline which prevails among the present generation, 
 G. When these impossible girls' children have grown up 
 there won't be any ladies left." 
 
 "I don't think they will have many children — we are 
 breeding a neuter race, Seraphim. All the games are 
 making their bones too rigid, and all the want of dis- 
 cipline is weakening their nerves — very few of the 
 future ones will be able to stand the agonies of child- 
 bearing." 
 
 "You are not in a position to criticise, G., with no 
 offspring of your own!" 
 
 *'I am not an eldest son ; there is no obligation en- 
 tailed upon me ! Dick has three boj^s, fortunately, and 
 Alec, two." 
 
 "I consider that the poorest excuse." 
 
 Mr. Strobridge sighed. 
 
 "Perhaps it is — the whole thing is rather played out 
 
 165
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 with us all, isn't it? Seraphim, when I talked with that 
 balanced, healthy young woman to-day, I felt we want 
 an admixture of new blood in a number of our families, 
 if only to bring back our enthusiasm. Dick's children 
 are fine enough fellows physically, but there is not half 
 a peck o' wits among them — and as you know. Alec's 
 httle Yankee chaps are what their mother calls 'brainy' 
 to a degree, but masses of overstrung nerves as well." 
 Lady Garribardine leaned forward from among her 
 sofa cushions and looked at her nephew with a quizzical 
 
 eye. 
 
 "G., if you were free and my heir, I'd marry you off 
 to Katherine Bush just for the pleasure of the experi- 
 ment!" 
 
 Then the little Sevres clock chimed. "Why, it is 
 striking the quarter — rush off at once, dear boy ! — and 
 don't forget to put on your hunt coat; the scarlet 
 pleases the children." 
 
 In another part of the house, Her Ladyship's secre- 
 tary, quite unaware that she was under discussion, was 
 joyously dressing in her pretty oak-panelled room, with 
 a dehcious sense of excitement. Martha was coming in 
 to help her presently for this wonderful first occasion in 
 her life when she should put on a real evening dress, 
 showing pearl white neck and arms. Gladys had given 
 her every instruction as to its fastenings and had super- 
 vised the making of it with a zeal which she would only 
 have bestowed upon an order from the richest customer. 
 The frock fitted to perfection, and was astonishingly 
 becoming in its black simjjlicity. 
 
 Martha had brought her in some beautiful lilies of 
 the valley, when she came with her hot water, accom- 
 panied by the information that Mr. Strobridge's valet 
 
 166
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 had handed them to her for Miss Bush, from his master. 
 
 Gerard had been robbing the hothouses evidently. 
 The head gardener was a particular friend of his. They 
 were just the touch wanted to complete the picture; 
 their snowy whiteness and brilliant forced green gave 
 the note of freshness which went so well with Kath- 
 erine's skin — of an astonishing purity — by candle-light 
 as clear as ivory and as pale in tone. 
 
 She gazed into her looking-glass and felt satisfied 
 with what she saw, and prescntl}' she held her shoulders 
 back and her head up, and walked down the corridor 
 with the grace of a Comedie Fran9aise queen ! So great- 
 ly does the consciousness of fine raiment affect the 
 morale of young women ! 
 
 Lady Beatrice came out of her room in the great 
 gallery and they went down together. 
 
 "You do look so pretty, Miss Bush," she said. "What 
 a duck of a frock ! It looks like an Ermantine." 
 
 "Yes, my sister is a saleswoman there, and she had 
 it made for me," Katherine told her. — "I am glad you 
 think it looks well. I have never had on a real evening 
 dress before." 
 
 "You know how to wear it so that is all right ! Ah, 
 children, come along!" as three joyous calls came from 
 over the banisters. And Katherine slipped on alone. 
 Lady Garribardine had told her, before she went to 
 dress, to go to Bronson to see that a special order about 
 the presents was carried out. 
 
 All the party were assembled in the great drawing- 
 room when this duty was done, and so her entrance did 
 not pass unremarked. 
 
 "By Jove !" was the significant exclamation of old 
 Colonel Hawthorne. 
 
 "And I am to have the pleasure of taking you in to 
 
 167
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 dinner," said the charming young man who had so far 
 succeeded in diverting Lady Beatrice. 
 
 Gerard Strobridge felt a strange sensation as he 
 looked at Katherine presently, between the great bowls 
 of camellias — there was no comparison with anyone at 
 the table; Her Ladyship's secretary had blossomed 
 forth into the beauty of the night. 
 
 "How clothes can alter a person !" Mrs. Delemar said 
 without conscious spite — dependents, even pretty ones, 
 were not things which counted. — "Look, G. — dear 
 Sarah's typist appears quite pretty to-night, and how 
 kind she is to her servants ; see, she has let the girl have 
 those beautiful lilies of the valley which Hawke told me 
 to-day when you were making him give me the orchids, 
 it just breaks his heart to have to cut!"
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE sudden accession to beauty in Lady Garri- 
 bardine's secretary had a double — nay, treble — 
 result! It caused Mr. Victor Thistlethwaite 
 plainly to show that he perceived it at dinner, and there- 
 by considerably to annoy both the Lady Beatrice and 
 Mr. Gerard Strobridge during that meal! Lady 
 Beatrice considered it impertinence on the part of Miss 
 Bush and Mr. Strobridge found it "ridiculous cheek of 
 that insufferable puppy Thistlethwaite." 
 
 Katherine for her part enjoyed herself! She had got 
 over the awe of servants — and the strangeness of well- 
 bred companions — She was now sure of the methods of 
 eating, too, and so had leisure to enjoy conversation 
 and she was filled with that delicious sovereign com- 
 placency which only a woman discovering that she is 
 undeniably a success can know. 
 
 While remaining exceedingly demure, she managed 
 to arrest the exclusive attention of her partner for the 
 feast, and Lady Garribardine watched the whole thing 
 with a whimsical eye. 
 
 Gerard Strobridge was too good a diplomat to allow 
 the vaguest trace of his disturbed equilibrium to show 
 in his face, and talked to Lao with renewed passion, so 
 that before they began to pull crackers she was feeling 
 perfectly contented in the certain conviction that it v/as 
 Beatrice's presence alone which kept him within bounds ! 
 He had not made love to women ever since he left Eton, 
 or served his country at the Foreign Office until the age 
 
 169
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 of thirty-five, without acquiring a certain experience 
 in feminine psychology, and a knowledge as to the best 
 manipulation of diplomatic situations, and even though 
 he had been irritated by Mr. Thistlethwaite's evident 
 admiration, he saw that it would certainly cause 
 Beatrice to stay until the Saturday, and so in it there 
 laj'^ good. 
 
 There were quantities of silver charms in the blazing 
 plum-pudding, and some received omens of wealth, and 
 some of princely mates or lengthy journeys, but Gerard 
 Strobridge could only secure the emblem of an old maid 
 — a thimble was his portion — and he turned the un- 
 happy augury to much good account in a suitable re- 
 proach to Liio. 
 
 When the caps from the crackers were put on, an 
 early English gold paper crown fell to Katherine's 
 share, and became her mightily. 
 
 "Why, Miss Bush looks just like Queen Victoria when 
 she came to the throne, Grandmamma !" called out the 
 elder girl grandchild. "We have her picture on the 
 nursery screen." 
 
 "And I wonder what her end will be," Gerard Stro- 
 bridge thought ; "she looks remarkably well in a crown." 
 
 The hall had been cleared for dancing and when the 
 excitement in opening the wonderful little presents 
 which lay hidden in a rose by each person's plate was 
 over, the company poured in there, while three local 
 musicians struck up a merry tune. It was a two-step 
 and Miss Betty d'Estaire must try it with some new 
 variations which were just coming in from America at 
 that date (it was before tango days). Katherine was 
 an adept in them, for was not Bindon's Green always 
 in the forefront of modernity.'' And any kind of danc- 
 ing she really loved. It was the one pastime of her 
 
 170
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 sisters which she had shared with delight, and often 
 practised with Ethel in their tiny drawing-room before 
 going to bed. 
 
 Mr. Thistlethwaite asked her for a turn with him, 
 and they started off. 
 
 "It is much better than a stupid old valse, isn't it?" 
 he said to her while they careered smoothly ahead. 
 *'And by Jove ! how. well you dance !" 
 
 The blood was rushing in Katherine's veins ; it was 
 so good to be young and admired, and forgetful of rela- 
 tive positions for once in a way. She knew very well 
 that she was a far finer performer than the other young 
 girl, and all that was sensuous in her nature came up- 
 permost and quivered through the rhythmic movements 
 of her supple body. Gerard Strobridge watched her 
 silently. He was conscious of profound and increasing 
 emotion ; it was as if some primitive, strong, vital thing 
 was there before him, dwarfing the puny make-believes 
 at passion which were so well assumed by Lao Delemar. 
 She was standing beside him looking as beautiful and 
 as artificial as the orchids in her dress. 
 
 "How that girl could love!" he breathed to himself 
 as he watched the dancers, and Lao seemed as utterly 
 meaningless as a wax doll! 
 
 Once was enough of this sort of thing, Katherine 
 Bush thought ; she was keenly alive to atmospheres and 
 she felt that for a secretary to do more than show that 
 she was proficient in these steps would be a breach of 
 taste. So no persuasions of her partner would move 
 her after the first few rounds, and she left him and went 
 off with the youngest grandchild in a polka step. 
 
 Thus the Lady Beatrice recovered her whilom ad- 
 mirer, and when another tune had begun and Lao had 
 been safely lured into the arms of the distant cousin, 
 
 171
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 Gerard Strobridge came over casually to where Kath- 
 erine stood. 
 
 "Am I to be allowed a turn of this old-fashioned 
 valse, ]\Iiss Bush?" he asked. 
 
 But Kathcrine was not to be beguiled so easily — she 
 must parley first! 
 
 "I do not know if her Ladyship expects me to 
 dance any more," she answered. "If you think she 
 will not mind my accepting this honour, I shall be very 
 pleased." 
 
 "Foolish thing! Is it not Christmas night, and are 
 jou not the belle of the ball.''" And he held out his arm 
 and they whirled off. It gave him immense pleasure 
 to hold her in his embrace — but something in the scent 
 of the violets in his scarlet hunt coat brought back to 
 Katherine with a sickening thrill of anguish and longing 
 the remembrance of Lord Algy and the Saturday night 
 in Paris when they had danced in masks and dominoes 
 at a Bal Tabarin. Oh! the pain of it! — Suddenly the 
 whole present melted away from her — the dreams of 
 the future, the pride in her conquest of the past ! The 
 passionate woman in her cried aloud in wild longing for 
 him, Algy — her darling, her dearly-loved mate ! How 
 plain were these other young men ! — How tired and old 
 Gerard Strobridge looked ! At that moment she would 
 have thrown her whole ambitions away into nothing- 
 ness, to be clasped once more to Algy's heart! Her 
 checks became ashen white and her strange eyes grew 
 shadowed and fierce, and Gerard Strobridge was 
 brought up sharply out of his intoxication of emotion 
 by the look in her face. 
 
 "What is it, child.''" he asked anxiously, holding her 
 close. 
 
 "Let me go — ^let me go!" she cried wildly, breaking 
 
 172
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 from him near the staircase recess. "I — I — cannot bear 
 it — I would like to get out of all this !" 
 
 He was intensely astonished, but he saw that she was 
 trembling, and well as he knew women he could not 
 fathom the reason of this strange outburst. Katherine 
 recovered her composure almost immediately and gave 
 a short mirthless laugh. 
 
 "I am awfully stupid," she faltered. "I cannot think 
 what came over me. I believe it must be because I am 
 unaccustomed to parties, and it is getting late." 
 
 "It is not yet eleven o'clock — but come and have 
 something to drink — I see a tray down there in the 
 long hall," and she let him lead her to it and pour out 
 some champagne and seltzer for her, and then thej sat 
 down. 
 
 He saw very well that something had deeply moved 
 her, and his perfect tact would not permit him to 
 refer to the occurrence, but caused him rather to talk 
 soothingly of ordinary things — and in a few minutes 
 he saw that the normal whiteness had come back to her 
 face. But nothing would induce her to dance any more, 
 and although she continued doing whatever was ex- 
 pected of her during the rest of the evening — and 
 snatched flaming raisins in the snapdragon with dash- 
 ing indifference to pain — he knew that she was doing 
 it all as an automaton, and that the living, vital, mag- 
 netic Katherine was no longer there, and that this pale, 
 quiet girl whose hand he held presently in the deserted 
 corridor was only too glad to say good-night. 
 
 "Dear child," he whispered, as he kissed it with 
 homage, "I don't know what it was that caused it, but 
 you have evidently seen a ghost, and now go to bed, 
 and forget everything but that we have all had an 
 awfully happy Christmas, and I want to tell you how 
 
 173
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 pleased I am that you have worn my flowers to-night.'* 
 
 " — Your flowers ! Oh ! yes, I ought to have thanked 
 you for them before — they were lovely, but now they 
 are dead," and she unpinned them carelessly — almost 
 as if she did not like them any longer to touch her — 
 and threw them in the big open grate. 
 
 "Good-night — and thank you for your kindness," 
 and she was off down the passage and up the side stairs. 
 
 And when Gerard Strobridge joined the rest of the 
 party in the drawing-room, he had a cigarette between 
 his lips, as though he had been having a smoke, and it 
 required all his polished skill to bring himself back to 
 talking gaily, and to looking what he did not feel, into 
 Mrs. Delcmar's sparkling eyes, before they all parted 
 for the night. 
 
 Meanwhile, Katherine Bush had reached her room and 
 had flung herself into the armchair. This would not do 
 — she must steel herself against giving way to weakness 
 like this. Why had the scent of the violets in another 
 man's coat had power to afl'ect her so that every part 
 of her being cried out for Algy? As though the sup- 
 pressed emotions of her heart would no longer obey her 
 will — and must proclaim themselves her master! It 
 was shameful feebleness, and she indignantly resented 
 the dominion that love still held over her. She sat there 
 reasoning with herself, but nature reigned stronger than 
 any other thing at the moment, and the memory of her 
 lover obsessed her. She seemed to hear his voice and 
 feel his kisses, until the agony of longing for reahty 
 grew unbearable, and she fell forward and lay there on 
 the rug before the fire beating the floor with her hands. 
 It was as the despair of some fierce savage caged ani- 
 mal crying out for its mate. Her whole face altered, the 
 most intense passion blazed from her eyes — and 
 
 174)
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 wliitened her cheeks. Could Gerard Strobridge have 
 seen her he would indeed have been moved. 
 
 "Algy ! Algy — My darling, my love — Come back to 
 me, I want you. My dear, my dear ! — " 
 
 She sobbed with agony — and then worn out at last — ■ 
 *'0h ! God !" she wailed. "Can whatever comes be worth 
 it— after all !" 
 
 But by the morning she had crushed emotion and 
 came down ready to assist with the huge Christmas 
 tree for the tenants' children, with her usually com- 
 posed face. 
 
 But that passion denied should have exacted this 
 anguish frightened her a little. All her will should be 
 used to prevent such madness ever holding sway again.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 LADY BEATRICE remained until the Saturday, 
 greatly to her husband's satisfaction and relief. 
 He had manoeuvred this arrangement with much 
 skill, and Lao's vanity felt satisfied, and indeed grati- 
 fied, by the belief that the presence of his wife was 
 causing Gerard untold suffering and disappointment! 
 The preliminaries of the game were so very agreeable! 
 and when they could be prolonged by fate so that there 
 was no fear of losing the other participant in them, 
 nothing could be more to her taste. 
 
 Passion, like that which Katherine Bush knew, would 
 have appeared as something absolutely shocking and 
 horrible to her — indeed, she would have agreed with 
 Mabel Cawber in considering it as most unladylike ! 
 
 The circumstance of the Christmas night dance had 
 left a feeling of mystery with Gerard Strobrldge, which 
 did not detract from his interest in Katherine Bush. 
 That some strong upheaval had taken place in this 
 strange young woman's soul he did not doubt. 
 
 But what In Heaven's name had caused it.'' Did it 
 concern him? — Or was he only the medium connecting 
 Bome memory? — He wished he could feel sure. Then 
 there was the incident of his flowers ; why had she worn 
 them, and then thrown them from her as if they had 
 burnt her? 
 
 His rather tormenting tlioughts kept him too fre- 
 quent company — especially as the provoking girl seemed 
 to have retired from sight, and except on rare occa- 
 
 176
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 sions, before everyone, he never had the chance of even 
 a word. 
 
 Lady Garribardine's rheumatism was better, so Miss 
 Bush had not even been required to pour out the 
 tea. 
 
 It was with a sigh of intense relief that he returned 
 into the hall after tucking Lao and his wife into the 
 motor en route for London town, on Saturday morning 
 an hour or two before lunch. 
 
 The hostess was not down to speed her parting 
 guests ; she was very much occupied in her boudoir, and 
 they had gone thither to bid her farewell. 
 
 As Mr. Strobridge mounted the stairs, he met Kath- 
 erine coming out of the room with her arms full of 
 papers and small parcels, and a couple of big books, 
 which she had some ado to carry. 
 
 "Let me help you," he said, eagerly — and she gave 
 him the heavy volumes without a word. 
 
 A sense of exasperation arose in him. He would not 
 be flouted like this ! He followed her to the old school- 
 room, merely remarking on the way that now all the 
 guests, except Colonel Hawthorne, had departed, he 
 felt there was breathing space. 
 
 Katherine seemed quite unconcerned and indifferent 
 as to whether he did or did not; and she took his bur- 
 den from him and thanked him absently, with a look 
 towards the door evidently expecting him to go back 
 again whence he came. 
 
 But he showed no signs of moving. 
 
 "Am I to be offered a chair on this my first call upon 
 Miss Bush.?" 
 
 "It isn't a call — you helped me to carry the books. 
 I am very busy to-day." 
 
 "I don't care. I am here now, and I am going to 
 
 177
 
 THE CABEER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 stay — I shall tell my aunt how inhospitable and un- 
 gracious you are !" 
 
 "Sneak !" and she began sorting the little parcels into 
 a row, her sullen eyes smiling. "I always hated tell- 
 tales at school." 
 
 "So did I — but I could commit any crime to be with 
 you. I have been tantalized all the week — Miss Bush 
 not even seen at tea — and only glimpses of her scurry- 
 ing along passages and up stairs !" 
 
 "What then do you want with Miss Bush.'* — Have 
 you some more charity business to do.'"' 
 
 "No — The charity will be quite on the side of the fair 
 Katherine, if she will allow a weary wayfarer to bask 
 in the sunshine of her presence for a little while." 
 
 "Mr. Strobridgc, you are talking nonsense, and I have 
 not a moment's time to waste on you." 
 
 "I love to talk nonsense. It annoys you, and I want 
 to see your eyes flash. I have seen them laughing — and 
 full of pain — and snakily cold. Now I want them to 
 flash — and then I would like them to grow tender. — 
 They would be divine like that." 
 
 Katherine sat down and took up a pen, with a glance 
 of withering indifference ; then she began to address the 
 labels of the packets from a list. 
 
 He came quite close to her ; he was feeling a number 
 of things. 
 ' "What a temptress you are — aren't you.'' — teasing 
 
 me like this !" 
 
 Katherine now opened her eyes wide and stared at 
 him, but she did not move away an inch. 
 
 "The whole thing is only in your imagination," she 
 said, calmly. "You are a proof of my theory that per- 
 sonal emotion creates appearance, and hides reality." 
 
 "You understand then that I do feel emotion.^" 
 
 178
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Why, of course. A man of your brains and culti- 
 vation could not behave in so foolish a way otherwise." 
 
 He drew back and leaned against the mantelpiece 
 while he laughed shortly. 
 
 Katherine continued to work. 
 
 "I am merely waiting until you have finished directing 
 those confounded parcels, which I presume are for this 
 post — and then I am going to coax you to talk to me 
 — May I smoke?" 
 
 "Yes, if you like — " still with lowered head. 
 
 "Won't you have a cigarette.'"' 
 
 "Thanks." 
 
 He handed her one from his case. She pulled a box 
 of matches near and lit it casually, going on with her 
 work as a boy might have done — There was no knocking 
 off of ash or graceful movement of the hand in the 
 fashion of Liio, who loved her white jewelled fingers to 
 be seen to advantage. 
 
 Neither of them spoke. He might not have been in 
 the room as far as she was concerned ! He, on the 
 contrary, was profoundly aware of her presence. Emo- 
 tion such as he had not felt for years was surging 
 through him. 
 
 She was the most damnably attractive creature, he 
 thought, he had ever met. She awoke primitive pas- 
 sions, and stirred his blood. There was that intense 
 note of reality and strength about her. She was like 
 some dangerous lazy lioness. She made him feel that 
 civilisation was slipping from him, and that he could 
 willingly seize her for a jungle mate. 
 
 She, however, continued to smoke and to write for 
 quite ten minutes, until all the parcels were addressed, 
 and several papers examined and annotated and filed. 
 Then she looked up. His eyes had never left her face. 
 
 179
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "I can't think how you can stare like that," she said, 
 ■with abominable matter-of-factness. "It would make 
 me blink." 
 
 "I can enjoy looking at the sun — Now are those in- 
 fernal things finished? I have been waiting with the 
 patience of Job." 
 
 "But I can't think what for?" 
 
 "To talk to you." 
 
 "Well, talk then! I must do some typing," and she 
 got up and went to her machine, which was on another 
 table by the window. She knew perfectly well that she 
 was driving him mad ; it gave her a savage pleasure, 
 and seemed a sort of balance to her own emotions on 
 Christmas night about Algy. 
 
 He came and leant against the mantelpiece and looked 
 down at her and quoted Dryden : 
 
 "She knows her man, and when you rant and swear 
 Can draw you to her with a single hair." 
 
 and stretching out his hand, he touched for an instant 
 the faint broad waves on her forehead. 
 
 And now he saw her eyes flash brilliantly enough! 
 
 "If you are going to be impertinent, Mr. Strobridge, 
 the staircase into the garden is quite close, and the 
 sooner you find your way to it, the better I shall be 
 pleased.'" 
 
 "I would not be impertinent for the world — the temp- 
 tation was overwhelming; it is so lovely, your hair — " 
 
 His voice was quite sincere, and it was not in her 
 plan to quarrel with him. 
 
 "Very well." 
 
 "I want to hear so many things about you, child — 
 tell me what made you come to my aunt's.'' — I some- 
 
 180
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 how cannot ever feel that you should be in any depend- 
 ent position." 
 
 "I came to educate myself — I do not mean to be de- 
 pendent always — What do you do in the Foreign Of- 
 fice?" 
 
 He gave her a brief sketch of his days. 
 
 "Well, then," she said, "you have to do what you 
 are told to also — nothing matters as long as the spirit 
 is not dependent. You will be a Chief some day, I 
 suppose.^" 
 
 "Perhaps — and are you learning here .?" 
 
 "Yes — and you could teach me if you liked." 
 
 "I should quite adore it — what wages should I have.''" 
 
 "None." 
 
 "Then that means, by the rules of all games, that I 
 should be working for — love " 
 
 She shrugged her shoulders and put in another piece 
 of paper in the typing machine. She had no intention 
 of talking about — love 
 
 "You are the queerest creature — you make me feel 
 — I do not know what — Well, if you won't discuss wages 
 — tell me what I am to teach you.'^" 
 
 "Literature — Do you remember a day when I came 
 in and had coffee in the dining-room? — It was before 
 you knew I existed — You and Her Ladyship talked of 
 the things then which I would like you to talk to me 
 about." 
 
 "Yes, was it not strange.? — I must have been blind 
 all those weeks." 
 
 The sphinxlike smile hovered round Katherine's 
 mouth; it was enigmatic and horribly tantahzing. 
 Gerard Strobridge felt a rush of wild emotion again ; 
 the temptation to seize her in his arms and passionately 
 kiss those mocking lips almost overcame him. It is 
 
 181
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 quite doubtful what might have eventuated, if at that 
 moment he had not caught sight of old Colonel Haw- 
 thorne in the rose garden. He had come out through 
 the sjime little door which Kathcrine used, the passage 
 from which, on the ground floor, led to the smoking- 
 room. He waved his hand and beckoned to Gerard. 
 
 It broke the spell, and drove some sense into the 
 latter's head. 
 
 "Colonel Hawthorne is calling you ; had not you 
 better go and get some air.'"' Miss Bush suggested 
 graciously. "It would be most beneficial, I am sure, to 
 you, on this fine morning!" 
 
 "I daresay you are right — Well, I will go — only some 
 day perhaps you will pay me some wages after all!" 
 
 "Is that a threat?" 
 
 "Not in the least" ; he went towards the door. "Don't 
 be cross — and when you have time will you come and 
 see the pictures in the gallery .P" '- 
 
 "Yes — I would love that," and her face brightened. 
 "But you had better ask Lady Garribardine if I may." 
 
 "All right — Leave it to me — Au revoir!" and he was 
 gone. 
 
 As he went down the stairs, he thought that it was 
 a good idea of his aunt's to have had the smoking-room 
 removed to this wing of the house. It had only been 
 done that autumn, so that the shooters could go 
 straiglit in if they pleased, by the side door. 
 
 Katherine did not continue her typing for a moment 
 after she was left alone. Her brows were contracted. 
 She was thinking deeply. 
 
 Mr. Strobridge might not be quite so easy to rule as 
 Charlie Prodgcrs. She had heard that thoroughbred 
 racers required the lightest hand, and also that there 
 were moments when nothing would control them, neither 
 
 182
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 bridle, nor whip, nor spur. She must think out her 
 plan of action coolly. It was necessary for what she 
 required of him that his desire to please her should sur- 
 mount all other things. At the present stage it would 
 be difficult to get him to talk sense — but she would do 
 her best to make him do so. This point settled, she 
 went on with her work again undisturbed. 
 
 Gerard Strobridge found old Tom Hawthorne a tire- 
 some companion, on their prowl round the stables, and 
 soon escaped to his aunt's sitting-room ; he must some- 
 how arrange for Katherine to see the pictures with him 
 after lunch. 
 
 Lady Garrlbardine was reading the Times when he 
 came in, and looked up delightedly. She enjoyed con- 
 verse with her favourite at any hour. 
 
 They talked of many things ; politics in chief. Her 
 Ladyship's views were Tory to the backbone, but she 
 had a speculative cynical lightness which leavened any 
 retrogressive tendencies. Gerard often disagreed with 
 her just to draw out her views. She loathed the Rad- 
 ical government. It aroused her fiercest sarcasms and 
 contempt. 
 
 How could such a class of people, she argued, from 
 their heredity, no matter what clever brains they had, 
 have the right qualities in them to enable them to govern 
 England .? How could they with personal and financial 
 axes to grind possibly concentrate honestly upon the 
 welfare of the country above their own necessities.'* It 
 was quite ridiculous in logic, whether their views were 
 Radical or Tory. The supreme voice in the govern- 
 ment of a country should only be in the hands of those 
 raised by their position above all temptation for merelv 
 personal aggrandisement, so that the glory of the coun- 
 try could be their legitimate and undivided aim. It 
 
 183
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 could not be that the little Mr. Browns and Greens with 
 their parochial lawyer instincts and bitter class hatreds, 
 ^ccdy for their salaries and own advancement, could 
 rise to the necessary heights of sublime prevision to 
 enable them to see far enough ahead to have the final 
 decision on any great question. She was all in favour 
 of the most advanced views for the advantage and rais- 
 ing of the lower classes in freedom and education, no 
 matter from which side they emanated. But she re- 
 sented the pushing up of individuals totally unfit in 
 integrity of character for the positions of authority 
 they occupied, and who year after year were exposed 
 as having in some way lowered the standard of honour 
 in their office. 
 
 She would receive none such in her house. 
 
 "I eat with no one who lowers the prestige of my 
 country in the eyes of other nations," she declared. 
 "Making us a laughing-stock in Europe where we were 
 once great !" 
 
 And for her that settled matters ! 
 
 Mr. Strobridge coasted warily among the shoals of 
 her opinions, and gradually got the conversation on 
 the topic of the pictures in the gallery, some of which 
 she really thought ought to be sent to London to be 
 cleaned — had Gerard noticed lately.'' — particularly two 
 early Italians? This was a most fortunate suggestion! 
 Mr. Strobridge had noticed — and had meant to speak 
 about them. 
 
 *'We must have a critical examination to-day after 
 luncheon while the light is good. One ought not to 
 delay over such matters." 
 
 He knew incidcntly that his aunt was going to drive 
 Tom Hawthorne into the town in her phaeton, to try 
 a new pair of cobs which she had bought just before 
 
 184
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 Christmas, and would be starting the moment that meal 
 was finished — but he showed just the right amount of 
 regret and surprise when she infoi'mcd liim of this fact. 
 
 "Never mind, I will go round alone, or better still, 
 if you could spare Miss Bush for an hour, I will get 
 her to make shorthand notes of what I think should be 
 done to each picture." 
 
 Lady Garribardine looked at her nephew shrewdly; 
 liis face was innocent as a babe's. 
 
 "I believe Miss Bush would make quite an agreeable 
 companion in a picture gallery," she remarked. 
 
 "I am sure you are perfectly right." 
 
 Then they both laughed. 
 
 "G., you won't flirt with the girl, will you, and turn 
 her head?" 
 
 "The sad part of the affair is that it is the girl who 
 is more likely to turn my head. Her own is far too 
 well screwed on." 
 
 "Upon my word, I believe you ! Well, then, innocent 
 of thirty-five, don't be beguiled into idiocy by this com- 
 petent seductrice of twenty-two ! — If you were forty- 
 five there would be no hope for you, but a glimmer of 
 sanity may remain in the thirties !" 
 
 "She is attractive, Seraphim — and will love to see 
 the pictures. She says she wants to learn about art 
 and literature — and kindred thing's." 
 
 "And you have offered to teach her.?" 
 
 Mr. Strobridge put on a modest air, while his humor- 
 ous grey eyes met his aunt's merrily. 
 
 "I have applied for the post of tutor — ^with no salary 
 attached." 
 
 "She won't put up with inefficiency ; you will have to 
 keep your wits at high-water mark, then." 
 
 "I feel that." 
 
 185
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Well, G., perhaps you deserve a treat. The Christ- 
 mas entertainment I had provided for you in the way 
 of Lao fell rather flat, did it not !" 
 
 "One grows tired of souffle." 
 
 "Yes, but do not forget that more substantial food 
 can cause shocking indigestion, unless partaken of with 
 moderation." 
 
 "Heavens, Seraphim ! I am no gourmand !" 
 
 "Gerard, my dear boy — you are at a stage of hunger, 
 I fear, when intelligence may not guide discretion. You 
 see, Nature is apt to break out after years of artificial 
 repression." 
 
 "We are overcivilised, I admit." 
 
 At that moment, the luncheon-gong sounded and they 
 both rose from their chairs. 
 
 Lady Garribardine sUpped her fat hand into her 
 nephew's arm, as they went down the stairs. 
 
 "G. — I leave the afternoon to you — only don't bum 
 your fingers irretrievably ; this young woman is no fool 
 like poor Lao. I look upon her as a rather marvellous 
 product of the twentieth century."
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 AFTER lunch the two in the picture gallery passed 
 a perfectly delightful half-hour. Mr. Strobridge 
 had sagacity enough to know that he must stick 
 loyally to art, and indeed after the first few minutes he 
 found he was carried away himself, his listener was so 
 interested, and gave such intelligent response. He al- 
 most began to believe that she had really come there to 
 learn something; and not to flirt with himself! Her 
 taste also surprised him, and her want of all pose. 
 
 She wrote systematically the reflections he made as 
 to the condition of the canvases. 
 
 "It is a great thing to learn how to look at pictures," 
 she said when they halted before a particularly primi- 
 tive Madonna. "Of course I could not have seen any- 
 thing to admire in this if I had come by myself, and 
 I do not suppose that I shall ever be able really to 
 appreciate it — except the colour — because there is 
 something in me which likes the real so much better 
 than the ideal; I like prose far more than poetry, for 
 instance." 
 
 "Will 3'ou let me come up again to the schoolroom 
 and read to you some day.f^" 
 
 "I should like that very much." 
 
 "I would try to make you love poetry; you are en- 
 deavouring to convince me that you are a very material 
 young woman, you know !" 
 
 "Well, I suppose I am material. I like facts and 
 solid things." 
 
 187
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "And yet you spoke of dreamland once not so very 
 long ago — do you remember !" 
 
 "Yes — but you do not know that this dreamland of 
 mine may not be a place where wished-for facts and 
 solid things appear realities, not fancies." 
 
 "You would not tell me if I asked you; I recollect 
 how 3'ou eluded me before, and said it was a place which 
 only admitted 3'ourself." 
 
 "Even materialists must have some corner where they 
 can be alone," 
 
 Then he questioned her. — How had she learned all 
 that she knew? — And his interest did not diminish when 
 she gave him a brief outline of the manner of her educa- 
 tion. 
 
 "It was very difficult sometimes, because I never had 
 anyone with whom to talk, and one grows one-sided if 
 one has only oneself to argue with, and I don't really 
 know how to pronounce numbers of words. I should 
 be grateful if you would tell me every time I make a 
 mistake." 
 
 "It is quite evident that we must ratify this compact 
 that I shall be your tutor, though I am to get no wages 
 — even love !" 
 
 "Who would be supposed to give the love?" 
 
 Her strange eyes glanced at him provokingly for a 
 second, and then resumed their steady look. He was 
 quite uncertain as to whether in this there lay a chal- 
 lenge. — He proceeded to act as if there did. 
 
 "When I come up to give my first lesson I will tell 
 you all about the giving — and taking — of love." 
 
 "That would be of no advantage to either of us. Love 
 is a thing which can cause only pain." 
 
 "You are quite mistaken — it is the only divine joy 
 in this unsatisfactory world." 
 
 188
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 Her face changed; she felt this was cruelly true — • 
 and she did not wish to be reminded of the fact. 
 
 "You shall only come to the schoolroom if you talk 
 sense. I will not listen to a word of speculation about 
 love ; it is pure waste of time — but in any case I do not 
 see how you can come there at all. I would not receive 
 3'ou without Her Ladyship's permission — it was very 
 kind of her to let me have this afternoon." 
 
 "What a circumspect darling!" 
 
 Miss Bush looked at him with scorn. 
 
 "I am not a darling — I am a lower middle class young 
 woman, trying to learn how to be a lady, and whatever 
 you think, if you want to be with me, you will have to 
 treat me as if I had arrived at my goal already." 
 
 "I think you have, but the greatest ladies are often 
 darlings." 
 
 "Yes, but married men do not tell them so, on very 
 short acquaintance, Mr. Strobridge." 
 
 In his case he felt this was rather true, since he never 
 spoke to girls at all if he could help it. He suddenly 
 wondered in what light he really did consider her.'' — ^As 
 an abstract and quite adorably provoking woman, he 
 supposed. 
 
 "Is there anything else to be written down?" ghe 
 asked. She had become the conventional secretary. 
 "Because if not, I must go back to my work." 
 
 "My aunt gave me full permission to keep you for 
 two hours. I told her all we had to do would take quite 
 that time." 
 
 "Well, you see it has not — we have come to the end 
 of the gallery." 
 
 "Then there is a very comfortable sofa not too far 
 from the fire, where we could sit down and discuss what 
 we have learned." 
 
 189
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 Thcj walked to it. As long as he was being of some 
 use to her Katherine Bush desired his company. So 
 they talked uninterruptedly until dusk fell, and the 
 footmen would soon be coming to close shutters and 
 draw curtains. 
 
 They flitted from subject to subject, Gerard Stro- 
 bridge exerting his brain to interest and amuse her, in 
 a way that he had seldom done with Englishwomen, even 
 of his own class. Her receptive power was exceptional, 
 and she was completely frank. She was honestly and 
 deeply interested in all he had to say, and the subtle 
 flattery of this was eminently soothing. He began to 
 take pride in his pupil. They touched upon the spirit 
 of the Renaissance and its origin — and upon all the 
 glorious flood of light which it brought to art and learn- 
 ing. He was astonished to find her so advanced in 
 certain branches of literature, and absolutely ignorant 
 of the names even of others — showing that it had merely 
 been chance and no helping hand which had guided her. 
 
 *'I must send you some books upon the Renaissance," 
 he said, "if you will let me." 
 
 "That will be very kind — If I had had some master 
 to give me an idea what to read, as a kind of basis to go 
 upon, it would have been much better, but I had no 
 guide — only if I saw one subject that I did not know 
 about mentioned in what I was reading, I looked it up, 
 but of course with really educated people there must be 
 some plan." 
 
 "Well, shall we begin upon the Renaissance; that is 
 rather a favourite period of mine.^" 
 
 "Yes — do you not wonder if we shall ever have an- 
 other.'' — What a lot of good it would do us, would it 
 noVr 
 
 "Probably — some learned professors think that we 
 
 190
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 must go through a second series of dark ages first; when 
 we shall get back to primitive ideas — and primitive 
 passions." 
 
 "It may be, — nearly everything natural is distorted 
 now; the world seems so tired to me, just looking on." 
 
 He stretched himself and threw out his arms — as it 
 were to break some imaginary bonds. 
 
 "Yes — we have been coerced into false morals and 
 manners — and we have suppressed most things which 
 make life worth having — sometimes I envy the beasts." 
 
 "I never do that — it is only weaklings who are 
 coerced; the strong do what they please, even in these 
 days — but however strong a beast may be, he always 
 finds, as Jack London shows with his wonderful Buck 
 in 'The Call of the Wild,' that there is invariably *the 
 man with the club.' " 
 
 "You mean to conquer fate, then.'"' 
 
 "I shall do my very best to obtain my desires, and 
 of course shall have to pay for all my mistakes." 
 
 He looked at her curiously — had she made any mis- 
 takes.'' Not many, he thought, her regard was so 
 serene, and her clever, strong face showed no vacilla- 
 tion. He suddenly faced the fact that he was falling 
 in love with her, not as he had tried to do with Liio — 
 not even as he had once succeeded in doing with Alice 
 Southerwood, long ago. There was a quality in his 
 present feeling which almost frightened him, it was so 
 lawless. 
 
 She felt his eyes searching hers burningly, and rose 
 from the sofa. 
 
 "Now I am going to have my tea — so good-bye for 
 to-day. I have really enjoyed the pictures." 
 
 "May not I come and have tea with you.'' I am all 
 alone." 
 
 191
 
 THE CABEEE OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Certainly not — Martha would be scandalised. It 
 does seem so extraordinary that I should have to tell 
 you such things — it shows either great disrespect to 
 me, or else — " 
 
 "What?" eagerly. He had risen, too, and was fol- 
 lowing her as she walked down the long room. 
 
 " — Tliat you cannot help 3'ourself." 
 
 "Yes — that is it. You have bewitched me in some 
 way — I cannot help myself." 
 
 "Do you want all I have taken down typewritten.? I 
 can do it after tea, if so.''" 
 
 "And you will sit up there all by yourself from now 
 until you go to bcd.^" 
 
 "Of course." 
 
 "You must feel awfully solitary." 
 
 "Not in the least. I have books which are the most 
 agreeable companions. They have no independent moods 
 — you can be sure of them, and pick up those which 
 suit yourself. Good-night." 
 
 And she turned at the bend of the great staircase 
 from which the gallery opened, and rapidly walked on 
 to the entrance to her passage. 
 
 lie looked after her with a rapt face, and then he 
 went discontentedly down into the library, and waited 
 for his aunt's return. 
 
 He was extremely disturbed ; it was horribly tantaliz- 
 ing to feel that this girl whom he was so passionately 
 drawn to, was there in the house with him, and that he 
 might not talk with her further, or be in her presence. 
 
 He walked up and down the room — and those v/ho 
 knew the casual Gerard Strobridge, cultivated, polished 
 and self-contained, would have been greatly surprised 
 could they have seen his agitated pacings. 
 
 Lady Garribardine had a quizzical eye when she 
 
 192
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 finally came in — how hud the afternoon progressed? Her 
 opinion of the mental balance of her secretary was ex- 
 ceedingly high. She felt convinced that she would know 
 exactly how to tackle her nephew, and if Gerard desired 
 to amuse himself he would certainly do so whether she 
 smiled upon the affair or not ! 
 
 It did strike her that he was rather a dangerous 
 creature to be left a free hand with any young woman 
 — and that after to-day she would see that Katherine 
 ran no more risks from too much of his company. 
 
 The pupils of his eyes were rather dilated, she 
 noticed ; otherwise he seemed his usual self at tea — and 
 when Colonel Hawthorne left them alone, she got him 
 to read to her, and did not mention her secretary at all. 
 
 The afternoon had been most instructive, Katherine 
 thought, as she ate her muffin, and looked at the papers 
 before the old schoolroom fire. She had learned a quan- 
 tity of things. Mr. Strobridge was undoubtedly a 
 charming man, and she wondered what effect he would 
 have had upon her if she had never met Algy? As it 
 was he mattered no more than a chair or a table, he 
 was just part of her game. And he was rapidly ap- 
 proaching the state when she could obtain complete 
 dominion over him. 
 
 "He knows quite well that he is married and that I 
 can never honestly be anything to him. He is only 
 coming after me because he is attracted and is not 
 master of his passions or his will. If he is a weakling 
 he must pay the price — I shall not care ! He is not 
 thinking in the least as to whether or no it will hurt 
 me — he is only thinking of himself, just like Bob Hart- 
 ley, only he is a gentleman and therefore does not make 
 any hypocritical promises to try to lure me." 
 
 And then she laughed softly. "Well, whatever comes 
 
 193
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 is on his own head, I need have no mercy upon him !" 
 So she calmly finished her tea and wrote to Matilda 
 whose excited letter with the family news of Gladys' 
 secret marriage she had not yet replied to. Gladys 
 had written her a little missive also — full of thanks for 
 her part in the affair. Bob was being rather rude and 
 unkind to her about it, she said, but it was not alto- 
 gether his fault, because on Christmas night he had 
 had rather too much to drink, and had been quarrel- 
 some for two days since. She was going to keep the 
 expected event from being known as long as possible, 
 and then she supposed tlicy would go and live some- 
 where together. It would be wretched poverty and 
 struggle, and she was miserable, but at least she felt an 
 *'honest woman," and could not be grateful enough to 
 her sister for bringing this state of things about. Kath- 
 erine stared into the fire while she thought over it all. 
 It seemed to her too astonishing that a woman should 
 prefer a life tied to a man who was reluctant to keep 
 her — his drudge and the object of his scorn — to one of 
 her own arranging in America, perhaps — along with 
 the child, but free. Gladys had sufficient talent in her 
 trade to have earned good wages anywhere, and must 
 have enough money saved, could she have got it from 
 Matilda's fond guardian clutches, to have tided over 
 the time- But weaklings must always suffer and be 
 other people's slaves and tools. Poor Gladys ! Then 
 she fell to thinking of Algy — why was he haunting her? 
 For the first month the complacent satisfaction from 
 the conquest of self had upheld her splendidly, but now 
 the pain felt as keen as on the first day of separation. 
 
 She remould crush it. 
 
 Except on the path coming out of church she had no 
 words with Mr. Strobridge on the morrow — and then 
 
 194
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 it was only a few sentences of ordinary greeting. Lady 
 Garribardine claimed his entire attention. She did see 
 him from the window, smoking a cigar in the rose gar- 
 den in the afternoon, whither he had come from the 
 smoking-room. She deliberately let him catch sight of 
 her, as she stood there, and she marked the look of 
 eager joy on his face, and then she moved away and did 
 not appear again. 
 
 So the Monday arrived — the last day of the old year. 
 
 Lady Garribardine was having no party for it as 
 was her usual custom; her rheumatism was rather 
 troublesome, and she stayed in the house all the day, up 
 in her boudoir, where Katherine was in constant at- 
 tendance. 
 
 Gerard and Colonel Hawthorne were out rabbiting' 
 with the keepers in the park, and only came in to tea. 
 
 Katherine found her mistress rather exacting and 
 difficult to please, and she felt tired and cross — so it 
 gave her some kind of satisfaction to be as provoking^ 
 as possible when she was ordered to pour out the tea 
 for the shooters in the sitting-room. She remained per- 
 fectly silent, but every now and then allowed her mag- 
 netic ej^es to meet Mr, Strobridge's with the sphinx- 
 like smile in them. 
 
 On his side Gerard had found the hours hell. — He 
 knew he was now madly in love with this exasperating 
 girl, and that she was exercising the most powerful at- 
 traction upon him. 
 
 He gazed at her as she sat there, white and sensuous- 
 looking, her red lips pouting, and her grey-green eyes 
 full of some unconscious challenge, and gradually wild 
 excitement grew in his blood. 
 
 As soon as her actual duties were over, Katherine 
 said respectfully: 
 
 195
 
 THE CABEER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "If Your Ladyship has no more need of me, I must 
 get some letters finished before the post goes." 
 
 And when a nod of assent was given, she quietly left 
 the room. 
 
 So Gerard Strobridge knew he would see her no more 
 that niglit ; and there would be a boring dinner with 
 the parson, and his wife and daughter, to be got 
 through, and on the morrow he was returning to town ! 
 
 For the first time in their lives he felt resentful 
 towards his aunt. That Seraphim should not have been 
 more sympathetic, and have made some opportunity for 
 him to talk again to Katherinc, was quite too bad ! 
 
 She, who usually understood all his moods and wants ! 
 Her silence upon the subject of her secretary, ever since 
 her return from that drive, was ominous, now that he 
 thought about it. Evidently he need hope for no fur- 
 ther cooperation from her, and because he was feeling 
 so deeply, he could not act in the casual and intelligent 
 way to secure his ends which he would have used on 
 other occasions. So the incredibly wearisome evening 
 passed. The guests left early, and Lady Garribardine 
 went gladly to bed, leaving her nephew and Colonel 
 Hawthorne to drink in the New Year together — the 
 New Year of 1912. 
 
 But the old gentleman was fatigued with his day's 
 shooting and wlicn half-past eleven came he was glad 
 to slink off to his friendly couch. 
 
 Thus Gerard was alone. 
 
 He lit a cigar and stretched himself in a huge leather 
 armchair, an untouched drink close at hand. 
 
 The house was quite silent. He had told Bronson 
 that he would put out the lights in the smoking-room 
 when they left. No one was about and not a breath 
 of wind stirred a tree outside. 
 
 196
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 He sat there for some minutes — and then his heart 
 began to beat violently. 
 
 Whose was that soft football directly overhead? 
 With the departure of the grandchildren from the old 
 nurseries there was no one left in the wing but Katherine 
 Bush ! 
 
 All sorts of visions came to him; she had not yet 
 gone to bed — perhaps she, too, was waiting for the New 
 Year? 
 
 He got up and listened, his pulses bounding so that 
 he seemed to hear his heart thumping against his side. 
 
 There was the sound again ! 
 
 It was not to be endured. Fierce emotion shook him, 
 and at last all restraint fell from him, and passion be- 
 came lord. 
 
 Then he extinguished the lights and softly crept up 
 the stairs.
 
 CHAPTER XVin 
 
 KATHERINE had that instant removed her 
 dressing-gown after the brushing of her hair, 
 which now hung in two long plaits. She was in 
 the act of slipping into bed. The carpet in the passage 
 was thick, and she heard no sounds, so that the first 
 thing which startled her was the actual opening of the 
 door of her room, which it had not been her custom to 
 lock. 
 
 For one second a blind terror shook her, and then all 
 her nerve and resource returned. She stood there 
 magnificent in her anger and resentment. She had no 
 female instinct instantly to seize the dressing-gown to 
 cover herself. She stood straight up in her cheap nain- 
 sook nightgown, all the beautiful lines of her tall, slen- 
 der figure showing in the soft shaded light. 
 
 Gerard Strobridge was like a man drunk with wine. 
 His eye flamed and he trembled with excitement. The 
 bed, a small old wooden one, was between them with a 
 writing-table at the foot. So that to reach her he must 
 go round by the fire. 
 
 This he did, while he whispered hoarsely: 
 
 "Katherine — I love you — madl}' — I had to come to 
 you, darling girl !" Then he stopped within a few feet 
 of her, literally sobered by the expression of her face. 
 It showed not an atom of fear — rather the proud con- 
 tempt of an empress ordering the death of a presuming 
 slave. 
 
 She did not speak for a moment; she seemed to draw 
 
 198
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 up to her full height, and even to grow taller; she was 
 only an inch or two less than himself. And if the scorn 
 of eyes could kill, he would have lain there dead. 
 
 "Darling!" he cried, and went forward to take her 
 in his arms. 
 
 She stepped back only one step and spoke at last, 
 her deep tones low. 
 
 "If you dare to touch me, I will kill you — I am not 
 afraid of you, you know — You are only a beast, after 
 all — and I am the man with the club." 
 
 "Beautiful fiend !" — but he hesitated — He was no 
 coward, and cared not a jot for her threats, only his 
 fastidiousness was assailed by the thought of a strug- 
 ghng, fighting woman in his embrace, when he had come 
 there for — ^Love! It would be wiser, perhaps, to cajole 
 her. He was too intoxicated with passion to realise 
 that it would also seem more dignified ! 
 
 "Katherine, do not be so horribly unkind, darling 
 girl! I love you wildly, I tell you, and I want you to 
 be mine." 
 
 "What for.?" She was perfectly calm still, and never 
 moved from her place. 
 
 "That we may be happy, you sweet thing. I want 
 to hold you in my arms and caress you, and make us 
 both forget that there is anything else in the whole wide 
 world but our own two selves !" 
 
 And exalted by this enchanting picture, he drew a 
 little closer and held out his hands. 
 
 "I tell you plainly — if you come one step nearer to 
 me, you do so at your own risk. I will tear the flesh 
 from your face with my nails, and strangle you." Her 
 voice was absolutely deadly in its icy intentness. "I 
 am not weak, and I despise your mean action in coming 
 here to-night too greatly to have any fear." 
 
 199
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 The breeding in him responded to this sting. 
 
 "My mean action — !" but his voice faltered a little, 
 and she interrupted him before he could argue fur- 
 ther. 
 
 "Yes — I am a dependent in your aunt's house here, 
 earning my living, and 3'ou chance my being disgraced 
 and sent away for your own shamefully selfish ends. In- 
 deed, you are teaching me the lesson of the depth to 
 which an aristocrat can sink." 
 
 He drew back, and some of the fire died out of him. 
 Her words cut him like a knife, but he was too over- 
 wrought with emotion yet to give in and leave her. 
 
 "Katherine — my darling — forgive me!" he cried, 
 brokenly, "I admit I am mad with love, but you shall 
 never suffer for it — give yourself to me, and I will take 
 you away from all drudgery. You shall have a house 
 where you like. I will protect you and teach you all 
 you desire to know. You shall lead an intellectual life 
 worthy of your brain. We can travel in Italy and 
 France, and I shall worship and adore you — Katherine, 
 my sweet !" 
 
 The tones of his cultivated voice vibrated with deep 
 feeling, and he looked all that was attractive as he stood 
 there in his faultless evening clothes, pleading to her 
 as though he were but a humble suppliant for grace, 
 and she a queen. 
 
 But Katherine was not in the least touched, although 
 her awakened critical faculties realised fully the agree- 
 able companion he would probably make as a lover, with 
 his knowledge of the world, and his polished homage 
 to women. There was something fierce and savagely 
 primitive at this moment in her faithfulness to Algy. 
 For all the strongly sensuous side of her nature, any 
 other man's caresses appeared revolting to her. It was 
 
 200
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 the man, not men, who could arouse her passionate 
 sensibility. 
 
 "You ask me to be your mistress, then — is that it?" 
 her voice was coldly level, like one discussing a busi- 
 ness proposition. 
 
 His whole face lit up again — there was hope perhaps 
 after all. 
 
 "Of course, darling — What else.'"' 
 
 "It is an insult — but I am not concerned with that 
 point. My views are perhaps not orthodox. I am 
 merely interested in my side of the affair, which is that 
 I have not the slightest wish for the post. I wiU be 
 no man's mistress — do you hear.^" 
 
 "Katherine, can I not make you love me, sweet.'"' 
 
 She laughed softly. It was a dangerous sound, omin- 
 ous as that which a lioness might make when she purrs. 
 
 "Not if you stayed on your knees for a thousand 
 years ! I have loved one man in my life with the kind 
 of love which you desire — I know exactly what it means, 
 and probably I shall never love another in that way — I 
 sacrificed him for my idea. I had will enough to leave 
 him, feeling for him what perhaps you feel for me. So 
 do you think, then, that you could move me in the least 1 
 — You whom I do not love, but — despise !" 
 
 All this time, she stood there utterly desirable in her 
 thin raiment, which she had never sought to cover. In- 
 deed, now that she saw that she was going to win the 
 game, she took joy that he should understand what 
 he had lost, so that his punishment should be the more 
 complete : there was nothing pitiful or tender about 
 Katherine Bush. Her strange, strong character had 
 no mercy for a man who had shown her that he was not 
 master of himself — above all things, she admired self- 
 control. 
 
 201
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 Gerard Strobridge suffered, as she spoke, as perhaps 
 he had never done in his life before. If he had been one 
 whit less of a gentleman, he would not now have con- 
 <juered himself; he would have seized her in his arms, 
 and made her pay for her scalding words. The effect 
 of tradition for centuries, however, held him even be- 
 yond the mad longing which again thrilled through his 
 blood as he looked at her. 
 
 He flung himself into the armchair and buried his 
 head in his hands. 
 
 "My God !" he cried, hoarsely, "how you can torture 
 
 can you not? I knew when I watched you in church 
 
 Ihat you could be cruel as the grave — but I thought to- 
 day when you looked at me there in my aunt's sitting- 
 room, that to me perhaps you meant to be kind ; your 
 face is the essence of passion — it would deceive any 
 man." 
 
 "Then it is well that you should be undeceived — and 
 that we should understand one another. What did you 
 think you would gain by coming here to-night.'' — My 
 seduction.'' And some pleasure for yourself." She was 
 horribly scornful again. "You never thought of me — 
 It does not matter what my personal views are about 
 such relations ; you do not know them, and I do not 
 believe that I have given you reason to think that you 
 might treat me with want of respect ; but your action 
 shows that you do not respect me, I can only presume, 
 because of m}' dependent position, and because you 
 despise my class — since you would certainly not have 
 behaved so to any of your aunt's guests." 
 
 He writhed a little at her taunt, and his face was 
 haggard now as he looked up at her. 
 
 "There Is no use In my asking you to forgive me — 
 but It Is not true that I do not respect you, or that I 
 
 202
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 have acted as I have for the reason that I despise your 
 class — That is a hateful thought. I came here to-night 
 because I am a man — and was simply mad with longing 
 for you after the tantalization of the last two days, 
 and never being able to speak a word to you." His 
 breath came rather fast, and he locked together his 
 hands. "I love you — I would have come had you been 
 the highest lady in the land. My action was not pre- 
 meditated — it was yielding to a sudden strong tempta- 
 tion because I was sitting there in the smoking-room 
 thinking of you, and I heard the noise of your soft 
 footfall overhead, and suddenly all the furious passion 
 in me would no longer be denied and cried out for you !" 
 
 He rose and came over to her, and sitting down on 
 the edge of the bed, he held out his arms to her in sup- 
 plication. "It swept away all the civilisation in me. 
 Nature breaks asunder all barriers in the best of us at 
 times — and you are so adorably dear — Katherine — 
 darling — I have done this thing, and now it is too late 
 for me to plead for your pardon — but I love you more 
 wildly than I have ever loved a woman in my life. — You 
 could make me your slave, Katherine, if you would only 
 give yourself to me. I would chase away the memory 
 of that other and teach you all the divine things of love 
 there are to learn in life." 
 
 She moved and stood by the fireplace. She was shiver- 
 ing a little, half from cold. 
 
 "I forbid you to say another word on this subject," 
 she said gravely, but with less of her former scorn. 
 "Neither you nor any other man could rob me of the 
 memory of my once dear lover — but I would rather not 
 hate you — so I appeal to that part of you that I still 
 think is a gentleman to go at once out of my room." 
 
 He followed her to the fire almost overcome again by 
 
 203
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 the picture she presented in her straight thin garment, 
 virgin white and plain. He wildly desired to unplait 
 that thick soft hair and bury his face in it — he longed 
 to hold her to his heart. But he restrained himself. 
 
 There was complete silence for a second or two, and 
 then across the park in the church tower, midnight 
 pealed, tolling the dying year. 
 
 They both lifted their heads to listen, unconsciously 
 counting the strokes, and then when the last one struck, 
 and the joyous bells rang out, something in their sound 
 melted the anger and contempt in Katherine's soul. She 
 looked at him, his refined, distinguished face very pale 
 and utterly dejected now. And the broad-minded, level- 
 headed judgment which she brought to bear on all mat- 
 ters told her that she had no right to great anger and 
 made her realise for the first time that she was actually 
 to blame perhaps for this situation having developed 
 since she had not sufficiently considered what might be 
 the possible result of arresting a man's attention 
 through the eyes and ears. 
 
 "Listen," she said gently, holding out her beautiful 
 hand. "Here is the New Year — I do not want to begin 
 it with any hard thoughts — After all, I understand you 
 — and I forgive you. I believe I have been in some 
 measure to blame. I cannot ever be your love — but I 
 am very lonely — won't you be my true knight and 
 friend?" 
 
 She had touched the deepest chord of his being. The 
 tears sprang to his fine grey eyes ; he knelt down upon 
 the rug and bent and kissed her knees. 
 
 "Indeed, I will — I swear it, darling — And whatever 
 suffering it brings to me, I will never make you regret 
 your sweet forgiveness of me, and your resumed trust in 
 me to-night." 
 
 204)
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 She leaned forward, and for an instant smoothed his 
 thick brown hair in blessing. 
 
 He took her hands and kissed the palms, and then 
 ■without another word, he rose and went towards the 
 door. There he turned and looked at her, standing in 
 the firelight, the dark oak-panelled room only lit by the 
 one small electric-shaded lamp by the bed. He looked 
 and looked, as though his famished eyes must surfeit 
 themselves with the vision. It was fair enough to see! 
 
 And then he noiselessly quitted the room and went 
 on down the stairs to the smoking-room as silently as 
 he had come.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THE months went bj. It was Easter time before 
 Katherine Bush again saw Gerard Strobridge. 
 He went off to Egypt about the middle of Jan- 
 uary, and Lady Garribardine was up in London for a 
 few days alone before he left seeing her grandchildren 
 off. Katherine missed him, and unconsciously his influ- 
 ence directed her studies. She remembered isolated sen- 
 tences that he had used in their talk that day in the 
 picture gallery. He had certainly shown a delightfully 
 cultivated mind, and she wished that things had not 
 reached a climax so soon between them. She regretted 
 deeply that she had caused him any pain and deter- 
 mined never to deviate from loyal friendship so that he 
 should have no cause to suffer further. He had not for- 
 gotten about the books, and she was now the proud 
 possessor of several volumes on the Renaissance, in- 
 cluding, of course, Symonds and Pater. They opened 
 yet another door in her imagination, and on days when 
 she was not very busy, she would wander in the picture 
 gallery and go over all the examples of the Italian 
 masters again and again, and try to get the atmosphere 
 of the books. 
 
 Lady Garribardine watched her silently for the first 
 few weeks after her nephew went, without increasing 
 their intimacy. Her shrewd mind was studying Kath- 
 erine, to make sure that she had made no mistake about 
 her. ouch a very deep creature might have sides which 
 would make her regret having dropped the reserve 
 
 206
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 which, accompanied by a high-handed kindliness, she 
 showed to all her dependents. 
 
 The great event of New Year's day had been the ad- 
 vent of the grey wig so beautifully arranged with her 
 ladyship's own snow-white hair, that the whole thing 
 seemed growing together ! With her dark, sparkling 
 eyes and jet brows, she now looked an extremely hand- 
 some old lady ; and Katherine who did not see her until 
 the afternoon when they were alone, was unable to keep 
 a faint, almost inaudible "Ah !" of admiration from es- 
 caping, when she first saw her. She was furious with 
 herself and bit her Hp, but Lady Garribardine smiled. 
 
 "You would say something. Miss Bush? Pray 
 speak." 
 
 Katherine coloured a little; she felt this was one of 
 those slips which she very seldom made, but frankness 
 being always her method, she answered quietly : 
 
 "I only thought how beautiful Your Ladyship looked 
 — ^just like the Nattier in the gallery." 
 
 "You find my grey locks an improvement, then?" 
 
 "Oh, yes !" 
 
 "The Nattier was an ancestress of mine. — ^A French 
 entanglement of a great great-grandfather, which 
 ended, as these affairs are seldom fortunate enough to 
 do, in a marriage all correct with the church's blessing 
 — the husband being most conveniently killed in a duel 
 with another man ! — So the then d'Estaire brought her 
 here to Blissington, where she was shockingly bored, 
 poor thing! and died a year or two after producing an 
 heir for him. When I was young, I always went to 
 fancy balls as the charming creature — it is amusing 
 that 3'ou see the likeness even now." 
 
 "It is very striking." 
 
 "I always felt a great pity for her — transplanted 
 
 207
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 from Versailles and all the joys of the Court, to this 
 quiet, English home — Have you ever read Lord Ches- 
 terfield's letters to his son, girl?" 
 
 Katherine had not. 
 
 "Well, then, you had better read them; there is a 
 good edition in the library. They are, you will find, 
 the most instructive things in English literature. If I 
 had had a son, I would have brought him up upon them. 
 I was reminded of them now by thinking of my twice 
 great-grandmother. Chesterfield always quotes the 
 French nobles of that date as the ne plus ultra of good 
 breeding, and rather suggests that the Englishmen were 
 often boors or blockheads. So although d'Estaire may 
 have satisfied her, the general company could not have 
 done so, one feels." 
 
 "I would like to see Versailles," Katherine ventured 
 to remark. 
 
 "You will some day — I may go to Paris after Easter 
 — one must have clothes." 
 
 Katherine realised this necessity — her own wardrobe 
 would require replenishing by the springtime, but she 
 had not dreamed of Paris. 
 
 Her immediate action after this was to get from the 
 library the Chesterfield Letters, the reading of which 
 she always afterwards looked back upon as being the 
 second milestone in her career. She devoured them, 
 and learned countless advantageous lessons of the world 
 therefrom. The first and chief being the value of gra- 
 ciousncss and good manners. She now began to realise 
 that her own were too sullen and abrupt, and a marked 
 change in them was soon perceivable to anyone who 
 would have cared to notice. This was during the time 
 when she was still only on probation in her employer's 
 favour, but it was not lost upon that astute lady; 
 
 208
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 nothing ever escaped her eagle eye. And she often 
 smiled to herself quietly when she watched the girl. 
 
 Now and then they would go up to the London house 
 for a few days and "picnic," as Her Ladyship called it, 
 which meant taking only her personal footman to wait 
 on her, and a maid or two for the house. Katherine 
 went with her nearly always, and was sent shopping and 
 allowed to go and see her family, if she wished. 
 
 But she did not wish, and ahv^ays met Matilda at 
 some place for tea. The gulf between them was grow- 
 ing wider and wider, and while Katherine was far more 
 agreeable than of old, Matilda stood in much greater 
 awe of her. 
 
 She felt, although she would not have owned it for 
 the world, that her sister had really gone into another 
 class, and she was not quite comfortable with her. 
 Katherine seemed to look more stately and refined each 
 time, and Matilda gloried and grieved in secret over it. 
 
 Gladj'^s accompanied her on one occasion. 
 
 "I suppose Kitten will be marrying one of them 
 gentlemen, some day," Matilda said on the way home 
 to Laburnum Villa. "You'd never know she wasn't 
 someone tip-top now, would you. Glad?" 
 
 "No — she is quite like any of our 'real thing' lot who 
 came into Ermantine's — they're dowdy, but you'd know 
 they were it." 
 
 "Well, I hope she'll be happy." Matilda sighed 
 doubtfully. 
 
 "Yes, she will," Gladys returned a little bitterly. 
 "Katherine would never do anything to get herself into 
 a mess; she is quite just, and she can be awfully kind — 
 but she looks to the end of things and doesn't care a 
 rush for anyone but sticks to what she wants herself. I 
 tell you what, Tild, I used to hate her — but I don't 
 
 209
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 now — I respect Katherine. She is so perfectly true." 
 
 "She seems to talk different, don't you notice, Glad?" 
 
 "She always did — but now more than ever; she is 
 like our best lot — I suppose she did learn something 
 extra at those evening classes she was so fond of?" 
 
 Matilda shook her head regretfully. 
 
 "I never did hold to them — she'd have been happy at 
 home now and engaged to Charlie Prodgers all com- 
 fortable, but for that nonsense." 
 
 "Oh ! but, Tild, I expect what she has got is better 
 even than that." 
 
 "What ! to be a grand lady's servant, Glad ! My ! 
 I'd far rather be Mrs. Prodgers, junior, a lady myself, 
 and keep my own general! Mabel's forever saying 
 Katherine can't be anything but a slave — And Mabel 
 knows — her cousin's aunt's daughter who married that 
 gentleman with the large city business was presented 
 at Court!" 
 
 But Mrs. Bob Hartley only sighed. Life was grow- 
 ing particularly grim for her just now. She felt hor- 
 ribly ill, and had to stand about all day, and conceal 
 every sensation to keep up the appearances that all was 
 fair. 
 
 Katherine reflected deeply upon the moral of the 
 situation, after her sisters had left her. What martyrs 
 many women were in life! and what hideous injustice it 
 all seemed — and more than ever she saw how merciless 
 nature is to weaklings. 
 
 About three weeks before Easte*-, Lady Garribardine 
 was alone down at Blissington ; she had lately taken to 
 having her secretary with her sometimes on her fre- 
 quent visits to her cottagers. 
 
 She would start in a rough, short suit, and a pair of 
 thick boots, with a serviceable walking-stick, and would 
 
 210
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 tramp for miles carrying a basket, in which were sweets 
 and medicines. She was worshipped by her people, ar- 
 rogant, commanding, kindly great lady ! 
 
 On one of these occasions they had the motor to meet 
 them at the end of the home village, and drove six or 
 seven miles to another in her outlying property. 
 
 She was very gracious as they went along. 
 
 "What books have you been reading lately, girl.? If 
 they are the Chesterfield Letters I think I may tell you 
 that you have profited by them. Your manners gen- 
 erally are greatly improved." 
 
 Katherine reddened with pleasure. 
 
 "I have read them over and over again. I have found 
 them more instructive to me than any other book." 
 
 "In my young days they were considered highly im- 
 moral and pernicious, by most of the canting Victorian 
 hypocrites — when, of course, everyone of the world 
 knew that Chesterfield's advice on all points was the 
 most sensible and sagacious that could be given — but 
 hypocrisy had risen to a colossal height in the sixties 
 and seventies." 
 
 "I suppose so." 
 
 "Nowadays not one person in ten thousand reads 
 them, more's the pity. If the young men with their 
 great personal beauty — which sport and suitable feed- 
 ing have produced— could have been brought up to un- 
 derstand the advantage of cultivating 'the graces,' what 
 godlike creatures they would be !" 
 
 Katherine thought of Lord Algy ; he must have done 
 so unconsciously, she felt. 
 
 "People are so apt to judge such a book upon the 
 letter, not the spirit — naturally one must make allow- 
 ances for the different customs and habits of the times ; 
 but the spirit of the advice adapted to modern require- 
 
 211
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 ments would make any man or woman into an eminent 
 person if it was faithfully followed. I recommend it to 
 you strongly, since I believe you are steadily trying to 
 educate yourself, Miss Bush." 
 
 "I am, indeed — I hope I am not overconfident in be- 
 lieving that if one probes the meaning of everything, 
 and can see the faults in oneself, including those of in- 
 stinct, it is possible to do, by will, what only the evolu- 
 tion of centuries accomplishes by natural process. The 
 Chesterfield Letters have encouraged me in my belief." 
 
 "Of course, it is possible, but people will hardly ever 
 face the truth, and would not dream of examining their 
 own instincts; it would wound their self-love; thej 
 would rather be mediocre and blinded to their stupidi- 
 ties, than teach themselves any useful lesson. Your de- 
 termined effort interests me deeply, child." 
 
 Katherine turned a radiant face of gratitude; this 
 was praise indeed ! 
 
 "I will do all I can to merit Your Ladyship's good- 
 ness to me." 
 
 *'No, I am not good — I have no altruistic or humani- 
 tarian proclivities — I would not bother with you for 
 five minutes if you were not so intelligent that I have 
 grown to take a kind of pride in you." 
 
 "I can't say how I appreciate Your Ladyship's kind- 
 
 ness." 
 
 Lady Garribardine turned and looked at her for a 
 second, and then she said slowly: 
 
 "I am going to ask you a question not strictly justi- 
 fiable — and you need not answer it if you would rather 
 not — but you may have formed some opinion of my in- 
 tegrity in these months, which will perhaps allow you 
 to be frank with me — Did my nephew, Gerard Stro- 
 bridge, make violent love to you when he spent Christ- 
 
 212
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 mas with us? It seemed to me at the time, and after- 
 wards, that he grew considerably depressed." 
 
 Katherine felt a twinge of distress. 
 
 "Mr. Strobridge showed some interest in me which 
 I felt it wiser to discourage — He was very kind to me 
 though, and agreed to be my friend, and sent me some 
 books." 
 
 For a second. Lady Garribardine felt irritated. Her 
 precious Gerard to have been a suppliant to this de- 
 pendent in her house! — And then the broad justice of 
 her nature regained its mastery; the girl was worthy 
 of the homage of a king. 
 
 "I think he must have been extremely hard hit — I am 
 quite devoted to him, as you know. I rely upon you 
 not to hurt him more than you can help, when he comes 
 back." 
 
 "I never wished to hurt him at all — I did wish to talk 
 to him, though, because he is so clever, so at first I was 
 glad to attract his attention. I know now that that was 
 wrong." 
 
 Lady Garribardine looked at her secretary critically. 
 She was astonished at this frank avowal which she real- 
 ised not another woman in a million in Katherine's sit- 
 uation would have made. 
 
 "You deliberately attracted him then, girl, eh.'' " 
 
 her voice was stern. 
 
 "Yes — on the afternoon he first spoke to me when we 
 typed the charity papers. I was so anxious to learn 
 about books and art, and before that he had not noticed 
 me at all." 
 
 "You did not calculate that it might hurt him.''" 
 
 Lady Garribardine wondered at herself that she did 
 Hot feel angry. 
 
 'No. I never thought about that — he seemed older 
 
 213 
 
 «f
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 and of the world, and able to take care of himself, and 
 he was married." 
 
 "None of which things ever saved a man when Eve 
 offered the apple — I suppose I ought to be very an- 
 noyed with you, child — but I believe it has done him 
 good ; he wanted rousing, he is, as you say, so clever. 
 
 "He could have done brilliantly, but he is lacking in 
 perseverance — If he had married a woman like you, he 
 would have risen to great things. The finest gift of 
 God is an indomitable purpose to do. My nephew 
 drifted, I fear." 
 
 Then their talk branched off to other things, and this 
 proud old aristocrat, having made up her mind now 
 once for all that Katherine possessed a character and 
 qualities after her own heart, she from this day treated 
 her as an equal and a valued companion whenever they 
 were not in actual relation of employer and secretary; 
 when in that, she would always resume her original aloof 
 manner of one in command. 
 
 Katherine delighted in this nuance, and appreciated 
 the subtle tribute to her own sense of the fitness of 
 things, and never once took the ell when she was given 
 the inch, showing in this the immeasurable distance she 
 had risen above her class. 
 
 And so Easter came, and with it a large party — and 
 Gerard Strobridge. At first sight, he did not appear 
 at all changed. Katherine saw him from the window of 
 the schoolroom just at sunset on the Thursday after- 
 noon, when the guests arrived. He was walking in the 
 rose garden with a tall, beautiful woman. The lowering 
 globe of fire was making a blaze of reflected light from 
 striking the row of mullioned windows of the picture 
 gallery on the opposite side, and the flower-beds were 
 a mass of daffodils and hyacinths. It was a nice back- 
 
 214
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 ground. He looked up, so Katherine saw his face 
 plainly — then she stepped behind the curtain and the 
 pair went on. 
 
 She felt very glad to see him, and wondered when 
 they would meet. At these huge parties she never came 
 down, even to pour out the tea if Her Ladyship's hand 
 ached, as at the smaller family Christmas one. So un- 
 less he made the chance deliberately, it was quite pos- 
 sible no words would be exchanged. 
 
 This uncertainty' added to the interest, and made 
 her decide when Sunday should come to take especial 
 pains with her appearance for church — Under Gladys' 
 direction, she would be most simply and charmingly 
 garbed, in a new blue serge suit, and becoming black 
 hat. Before Saturday when they actually met, how- 
 ever, she had seen Gerard twice, once from the gallery 
 as she was leaving Lady Garribardine's sitting-room, 
 and he was talking to the same beautiful lady in the 
 hall — and once from her window when he paced the rose 
 garden alone. 
 
 Katherine was familiar with the names and charac- 
 teristics of all the guests, for had she not written their 
 invitations and read their answers.'' Did she not type 
 the cards which slipped into the little plates on their 
 doors, and those for their places at dinner.? — And on 
 Saturday night a message came for her that she was to 
 print two more, and go immediately to Bronson with 
 a fresh arrangement of the table, as two extra men 
 were going to turn up by motor at the last moment, 
 guardsmen quartered at Windsor. 
 
 She was coming from the dining-room down the pas- 
 sage which led to her staircase, and also the smoking- 
 ing-room, when Gerard emerged from there, and met 
 her at the foot of the stairs. 
 
 215
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 He put out his hand with cordial friendliness, while 
 he cried gaily: 
 
 "At last I can greet you ! — I would not go to dress 
 on purpose, because I saw you rush down the passage, 
 and I knew you would have to come back — It is good 
 to see you again !" 
 
 She answered suitably and would have passed on, 
 only he barred the way. 
 
 "I thought you were going to let me be a friend," he 
 said reproachfully, "and here you snub me at once and 
 want to run away." 
 
 "No — but you will be late." 
 
 "I care not a jot! — When can I possibly see you to- 
 morrow?" 
 
 His e3'es began to grow hungry; he was taking in 
 the subtle improvement in her — which had happened 
 even in these few months. His interest in her had not 
 diminished, he discovered, much as he had hoped that 
 he had crushed it to within bounds. 
 
 "I cannot say — in church, I suppose." 
 
 "That is small comfort ! May I not come up the 
 stairs just for half an hour before lunch?" 
 
 "Yes, if you find it possible — remember, I trust you 
 not to do anything unwise." 
 
 "I promise — if you prefer it, I will ask my aunt's 
 permission." 
 
 "Do as you think best — but now I must go. Good- 
 night !" 
 
 He took her hand and kissed it — his lips were burn- 
 ing. Then he watched her as she went up the stairs, 
 never looking back. And a sudden anguish came over 
 him. How hopeless the wliole thing was ! He had bet- 
 ter not have relied upon liis self-command, and have 
 stayed away. 
 
 216
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 M. ■ ., ■ ■ ■ - 1 ■ - — ... ■ -^ 
 
 He did not go to church on the Sunday. Katherine 
 rather wondered at this, as she walked back alone 
 across the park. In the country, Lady Garribardine 
 expected the inmates of her house to be very ortho- 
 dox. 
 
 The fine spring wind had blown two faint pink roses 
 into her cheeks, by the time she reached the schoolroom, 
 and there found Mr. Strobridge seated in her favourite 
 armchair reading a book ! 
 
 He rose eagerly as she entered, but he did not shake 
 hands. 
 
 "I thought possession would be nine points of the 
 law, so I ensconced myself here, and awaited you, and 
 I am going to stay until you turn me out." 
 
 "Very well — that will be at ten minutes to one — at 
 five minutes to, Thomas comes to lay the table for my 
 lunch." 
 
 "That gives us just under half an hour — Katherine, 
 you beautiful thing, let me look at you !" 
 
 And now he took both her hands and pulled her to 
 the light. 
 
 "You have grown much prettier, you know — and are 
 more attractive than ever, alas !" 
 
 "If you are going to talk like that, although you may 
 stay, I shall leave you alone." 
 
 "No, I am going to be reasonable. Tell me every- 
 thing, what you have been doing, and reading, and 
 thinking, since I went away.^*" 
 
 "I have been doing my work — and reading all the 
 books you gave me — and many others — and thinking 
 about life." 
 
 "Never once of me, I suppose?" 
 
 "Yes — you are part of my life — my one friend." 
 
 He started forward. 
 
 217
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Darl " but he checked himself before the word 
 
 came quite out, and said instead: 
 
 "Ah! that is joy to hear! And now I want to know 
 what you thouglit of Symonds and Pater and the rest? 
 — You will have quantities of things to discuss with me, 
 I am sure." 
 
 Katherine began taking off her hat and coat, and 
 then put them neatly on the long, hard sofa ; she never 
 glanced in the glass or patted her hair — She was boyish 
 in her unconsciousness. 
 
 Gerard Strobridge watched her, and then suddenly 
 looked away ; the insane desire was rising in him again 
 to take her in his arms. So he exerted extra control 
 over himself, and spent the rest of the time in truly 
 friendly converse, in which he assumed the character of 
 stern tutor, examining a promising pupil upon a holi- 
 day task performed in his absence. 
 
 Katherine was enchanted, and when ten minutes to 
 one came, she wished he had not to go. 
 
 "It has given me so much pleasure to talk to you — 
 I am so glad you have come back." But she held her 
 hands behind her when he would have taken them again, 
 in gladness at her words. 
 
 "So much touching is undesirable if we are going to 
 remain friends," she told him. 
 
 "When may I come again.''" 
 
 "You must arrange that." 
 
 "After tea, just until it is getting dark enough for 
 Martha to be coming to draw the curtains.''" 
 
 "Yes, perhaps." 
 
 And with this he left comforted. 
 
 But when he had gone, Katlierine Bush went and 
 looked out of the window, and very slowly shook her 
 head in perplexity. 
 
 218
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "It will certainly hurt him — and what will Her 
 Ladyship say? She may think I am not playing the 
 game." 
 
 And then she remembered Lord Chesterfield's advice 
 in one of his maxims : 
 
 When a man of sense happens to be in that disagreeable 
 situation in which he is obliged to ask himself more than 
 once, "What shall I do?" — he will answer himself — "Noth- 
 ing." When his reason points out to him no good way, or 
 at least no one way less bad than another, he will stop 
 short and wait for light.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 KATHERINE BUSH always looked back upon 
 that Easter party as being the third milestone 
 in her career. 
 
 It happened that a certain guest wished to try some 
 new songs she was going to sing on Sunday night, and 
 instead of the agreeable gloaming Gerard Strobridge 
 had been looking forward to enjoying with Katherine 
 alone, he was forced by his aunt to take this lady up 
 to the schoolroom after tea and request Miss Bush's 
 services as accompanist. 
 
 Katherine had been practising her old gift of read- 
 ing music almost every evening when alone and was 
 now very proficient. Lady Garribardine knew this, be- 
 cause she had sent for her secretary to play to her sev- 
 eral times in her sitting-room when she was there with- 
 out visitors and was suffering from rheumatism. 
 
 Mr. Strobridge introduced Katherine to the visitor, 
 who turned out to be the beautiful lady he had walked 
 with in the rose garden ; and they got on extremely 
 well. It was the first time Katherine had ever chatted, 
 as practically an equal, alone with a member of society 
 except her employer. 
 
 The stranger was charming, and insisted that she 
 should come down to play again in the drawing-room 
 after dinner. 
 
 Another occasion for the black frock to be worn! 
 And a chance not to be wasted for observation as to 
 behaviour ! Katherine, when evening came, made her- 
 
 220
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 self look her very best, and was waiting demurely by 
 the piano as the ladies entered the room. From this 
 position she attracted no attention until some of them 
 wanted to play. The guest she had accompanied was 
 again graciously sweet to her, and some of the others 
 joined in the conversation while they strummed and 
 pulled about the songs. 
 
 There was something arresting in Katherlne's type 
 which called for notice when people were near enough 
 to observe details of her mousy fair hair that had no 
 touch of gold in it, but always glistened grey, and her 
 wonderfully pale skin and dark brows, giving her 
 strange eyes that intense shadowed mystery which 
 aroused interest. 
 
 Gerard, who joined the party by the piano when the 
 men came in, watched her silently. She had studied to 
 obtain an air of distinction, and Gerard, whose love did 
 not blind his fastidious critical faculties, remarked that 
 there was a real advance in this direction since the 
 Christmas night when he had last seen her in evening 
 dress. She did not look so sullen either and answered 
 with fluency and ease when she was addressed, and not 
 in the monosyllabic fashion of former days. 
 
 An elderly politician spoke to her. He seemed de- 
 lighted with her conversation, and indicated by a ges- 
 ture that she should sit down beside him when the songg 
 were over and she was about to slip away out of the 
 room. 
 
 Katherine was not at all certain whether she ought 
 to stay or not, but Lady Garribardine at that moment 
 came up and said casually, "You must not go to bed 
 yet. Miss Bush, perhaps they will sing again ; wait here 
 and talk to Sir John." 
 
 And so bidden, Katherine was delighted to obej 
 
 221
 
 THE CABEER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 and used her intelligence to be agreeable and sympa- 
 thetic. Gerard continued to watch her and felt pride 
 in her. 
 
 "Your secretary is having a great success to-night, 
 isn't she, Seraphim?" he said to his aunt. 
 
 "Yes — and it is deserved ; the girl is one in a thou- 
 sand. I think I shall encourage Sir John for her; he 
 is longing for a wife, and has a tidy seven thousand a 
 year, and only rare attacks of gout. She could manage 
 him capitally and be of real use to the party. She will 
 never let her heart interfere with her ambitions !" 
 
 "He would make an ideal husband!" Mr. Stro- 
 bridge's tone was sardonic. "A lover in that case would 
 be an immediate necessity — by all means, Seraphim, 
 press the match!" 
 
 Her Ladyship gave him one of her shrewd glances 
 and then she said: 
 
 "Come and breakfast with me in my sitting-room 
 to-morrow morning, G. We can talk it over," and she 
 chuckled softly. 
 
 When Katherine sat by her fire an hour later she set 
 herself to look carefully over the last five months of her 
 life, and to mark what they had brought her. 
 
 The gain was immense ! She had emerged from being 
 an ordinary shorthand typist at Liv and Dev's to be 
 an inmate of the house in Berkeley Square, and from 
 that to be the passion of Gerard Strobridge, and the 
 Talued companion of Lady Garribardine at Blissington. 
 And now she had spent the evening almost as their equal 
 and had heard twenty eminent people all talking the 
 shibboleth of the great world of politics and fashion; 
 and had not felt totally out of place in their company, 
 which she knew was not composed of the agreeable fools 
 of tlie Christmas party, but contained several pohti- 
 
 ogo
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 cians of distinction, a diplomat or two and a foreign 
 ambassador. 
 
 The contrast was delightful to think about; it even 
 gave her pleasure to recall Bindon's Green as a foil ! 
 She laughed without any bitterness to herself when she 
 remembered the bath and the oyster incidents, and sev- 
 eral others of the Lord Algy Period — and how she had 
 secretly admired the "rather awful" rooms at the Great 
 Terminus Hotel; her eye and her taste then so totally 
 uneducated that in spite of many walks in museums, 
 she had not been able to distinguish her deplorable defi- 
 ciencies in both respects. Oh ! What an immeasurable 
 gulf now separated her from those days ! It was a 
 praiseworthy achievement for only five months. But 
 she realised more than ever from the conversations she 
 had heard to-night that she was still very ignorant, 
 and that constant mixing with this society would be the 
 only way to give her that polish and confidence which 
 could enable her to display the really cultivated 
 thoughts of her mind. 
 
 The quickness and lightness with which subtle and 
 clever sallies were answered — the perfect ease of every- 
 one ! She knew that she was able to control her own face 
 and manner to appear at ease, but she could not pre- 
 tend that she felt so altogether as yet, except with 
 Gerard Strobridge, but then Gerard, while her literary 
 master, was her worshipping servant — so that was 
 different! 
 
 To please companies of women must now be her aim, 
 and to avoid talking to any attractive men at all until 
 she had obtained such a sure place that the jealousy 
 of her own sex would be immaterial to her. She had 
 observed that Lady Elton, whose songs she had accom- 
 panied, had a distinct penchant for Mr. Strobridge — - 
 
 223
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 unreturned she knew — but it behooved her to be more 
 particularly careful. Another woman who had also 
 spoken to her, a Mrs. Bosanquet, was really interest- 
 ing — about fifty and highly intelligent. Katherine had 
 carefully watched how she led the conversation in the 
 group where she stood. As a company all these ladies 
 were much gentler and more refined in manner than 
 some of those who had assisted at the tableaux. She 
 gathered from their remarks that they rather held 
 themselves apart from these others and indeed laughed 
 at them good-naturedly. There were sets within sets 
 evidently, and this was the very inner creme de la 
 creme. 
 
 Katherine wondered how long it would be before some 
 distinct goal presented itself — that would be for Fate 
 to decide — and only those who had made themselves fit 
 to profit by Fate's chances could hope to succeed in 
 such a difficult game as she was playing; with every 
 prejudice of class and sex against her, there was no 
 time to be wasted in any foolish relaxations ! 
 
 She wondered if Lady Garribardine had approved of 
 her behaviour. The old gentleman she had talked to 
 had been intelligent if pompous, and she had enjoyed 
 their discussion. She thought of the Chesterfield Let- 
 ters — of what great use they had been to her! She 
 saw the pitfalls they had enabled her to avoid. Now 
 her next immediate aim must be to come down into the 
 drawing-room as frequently as she was allowed. She 
 determined to make herself of great use, and, if she had 
 the chance to tackle any bore, so that her mistress 
 should feel that she was of real service. 
 
 At last slie retired to bed well pleased with her 
 evening. 
 
 When Mr. Strobridge came into his aunt's gitting- 
 
 224
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE RUSH 
 
 room next morning he found her in a charming negli- 
 gee and cap pouring out the coffee. 
 
 "I could not wait for you, G.," she told him. "Sit 
 down, quickly — there are only two dishes besides bacon 
 and eggs — chicken curry and devilled sole — they are all 
 on the table at your elbow." 
 
 They chatted of several things, the party principally. 
 
 "Now I have time, G. — to hear how it fares with Lao. 
 How did you escape — with dignitj-^ — or rather in dis- 
 grace.'"' 
 
 "She believes she threw me over ; it is extremely for- 
 tunate. Beatrice was an invaluable help." Mr. Stro- 
 bridge put some chutney in his curry. "Lao and I are 
 the greatest friends — she feels that I fought hard with 
 my inclinations and made a noble conquest — by absent- 
 ing myself in Egypt ! Now she is greatly amused with 
 a Hussar boy at home on leave from India — she must 
 be older than one thought." 
 
 His aunt laughed delightedly. 
 
 "It is a bad sign certainly. Lao is ageless, though, 
 anything between twenty-eight and forty-five. We 
 stay like that for years and then suddenly grow ridicu- 
 lous ! I believe you have extricated me from the ap- 
 pearance of that at all events, G. My new toupee has 
 given me a new perspective." 
 
 "You are quite beautiful now. Seraphim." 
 
 "My golden ones were a habit. It has been a source 
 of great gratification to me to watch how my friends 
 have taken the alteration — even Miss Bush made a faint 
 exclamation when she first saw it !" 
 
 "She is usually very self-contained." 
 
 "G., that girl is a wonder — have you anything to tell 
 me about her.?" 
 
 "Nothing except that I agree with you that she is, 
 
 225
 
 urr 
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 the most naturally intelligent creature I have ever met." 
 
 "Are you in love with her, dear boy ?" 
 'Yes — extremely." 
 To the point of unhapplness ?" 
 
 "I have not analysed the point — but it is bound to be 
 unhappiness since she does not care one atom for me." 
 
 "You burnt your fingers that day in the picture 
 gallery, then? It was a pity I let you." 
 
 "The fire was lit before that — I think it was better 
 that it flared up — now I am trying to settle down into 
 being friends. Seraphim, I want to help her. I do so 
 admire her courage and her profound common sense. 
 She frankly desires to cultivate her mind and improve 
 in every way ; the change in her even since Christmas is 
 remarkable — do be kind to her and let her come down 
 sometimes as you did last night." 
 
 "I intend to." Lady Garribardine Iiclped herself to 
 honey. "I am going to take her to Paris with me next 
 ireck and then we shall be in London — there it will be 
 more difficult." 
 
 "Seraphim, have I your permission really to teach 
 her things?" 
 
 Her Ladyship laughed her bubbling laugh. 
 
 "It quite depends what things — to love you, a mar- 
 ried man? Certainly not! To improve her own intel- 
 lect — perhaps." 
 
 "It is, alas ! to do the latter, dearest of aunts, 
 
 but " and here his voice vibrated with unwonted 
 
 feeling, "I tell you frankly that if I did not know that 
 the case is perfectly hopeless, and that I could never 
 succeed in making her care for me, I believe I would 
 brave even your wrath and attempt to win her." 
 
 "As what — your mistress?" rather tartly. 
 
 Mr. Strobridge shrugged his shoulders slightlj. 
 
 226
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "I would marry her willingly if Beatrice would di- 
 vorce me — such things can be arranged." 
 
 "Yes, Beatrice is an excellent creature, as you often 
 say — but since Miss Bush will have none of you, you 
 had better stick to Beatrice, she has done you so many 
 good turns. Think of Lao !" 
 
 Then as she saw the look of pain and weariness upon 
 his much-loved face, she got up and did what she had 
 perhaps not done for quite ten years, she put her kind 
 arm round his neck and pulled his head back against 
 her ample bosom. 
 
 "Dearest boy," she whispered softly, "I cannot bear 
 that anything should really hurt you. What course is 
 the right one to pursue, so that you shall not have more 
 pain.'' We must think it out." 
 
 He was deeply touched and rested there comforted 
 by her fond affection. 
 
 "Let me see her now and then in peace without sub- 
 terfuge, so that I may help her with her education — 
 and then in the autumn I think I will take that chance 
 of being sent to Teheran — Seraphim, do you remem- 
 ber the afternoon she typed the charity things, when 
 I came up to tea with you, you said I was depressed, 
 and I said it was the shadow of coming events.'' Well, 
 how true it has proved — that is the first time I ever 
 noticed her, and once before you had remarked that 
 you feared I should one day be profoundly in love." 
 
 Lady Garribardine stooped and kissed his forcliead. 
 
 "Alas !" she said. "But you were too fine, dear G., 
 to go on drifting forever from the Alice Southerwoods 
 to the Laos ; it was bound to come with your tempera- 
 ment. I really wish you could marry this girl and have 
 some splendid little sons for me to adopt and leave 
 some of my money to." 
 
 227
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "I would ask nothing better of Fate," and his eyes 
 became suffused with light at the thought. His aunt 
 sat down again and began peeling an apple. 
 
 "You would have no objection to that despised do- 
 mestic relationship, then — it would not even appear 
 bourgeois, eh?" 
 
 "Not in the least." 
 
 *'G., — how the whole world is full of shams. This 
 ridiculous thing called marriage! What a problem, 
 and no light on the subject! A suitable marriage is 
 perfect happiness, the obligations are joys and pleas- 
 ures, and it does not seem to be allowed to occur more 
 than once in a hundred years. All the rest are in 
 gradations of unsuitableness and fret and boredom. It 
 makes me shudder now when I see people standing at 
 the altar, swearing to love forever — nine-tenths of them 
 not even taking in the meaning of the vows they are 
 making — and a largo percentage going through them 
 for some ultimate end entirely disconnected with Jove 
 or desire for the partner they are being bound to — it is 
 tragic." 
 
 Mr. Strobrldge agreed. 
 
 "I am convinced," Her Ladyship went on, now 
 warmed to her subject, "that much unhappiness would 
 be avoided if no vows were made at all, but the parson 
 merely joined the hands and said a prayer over them to 
 ask that they might go on desiring each other, and 
 that ended the business. I believe truly that the 
 actual breaking of the vow acts in some mysterious oc- 
 cult fashion and draws penalties of misery upon the 
 breakers." 
 
 "What a disturbing thought!" 
 
 "Yes — because it is not really the infidelities which 
 can be sins, they are merely human nature — it is the 
 
 228
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 breaking of the given word which draws the current of 
 disaster." 
 
 "I expect you are quite right — the whole thing is in- 
 fernal — and yet we must have some sort of union recog- 
 nised by the state or chaos would ensue." 
 
 "Obviously — and as marriage now stands there seem 
 to be only three ways of supporting it. One," and she 
 ticked them off on her fat fingers — "to grow to that 
 abstract state of good when to keep a vow against in- 
 clination in itself brings happiness ; two, to behave de- 
 cently to the legal partner, and with propriety before 
 the world, and then if necessary to have mistresses or 
 lovers as the case may be ; or — three — for the state to 
 allow a man to have several wives, and the woman, if she 
 desires it, a change of husbands !" 
 
 Mr. Strobridge handed his cup for more coffee. 
 
 "Most of us are quite out of the running for the first, 
 the third would be unworkable, Seraphim, so I see no 
 help for it; the second course is the only possible one 
 for half the poor devils in the world." 
 
 "Probably — then the greatest pains ought to be 
 taken to keep up appearances so that those who live up 
 to the first may not have their feelings outraged. No 
 one should show a bad public example. The facts of 
 straying fancy cannot be altered until human nature 
 changes — an unlikely event ! — so the best we can do is 
 to hide irregularities under a cloak of virtuous hypoc- 
 risy. It helps many good and weak people to keep up 
 a general standard, but there must be something wrong 
 in the original scheme, G., if we are obliged to do this." 
 
 "Undoubtedly. 'It is the one, however, which has 
 kept all sensible societies going since the beginning of 
 civilisation and will continue to do so while there are 
 two sexes in the world. But all this does not help me in 
 
 229
 
 THE CABEEE OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 my present case of being madly in love with a woman 
 whom I may not have as either wife or mistress. Friend- 
 ship is the only cold comfort left to me !" 
 
 "Tut, tut ! Half a loaf is better than no bread !" 
 
 "You think she might marry Sir John ?" There wa« 
 hope in his tone. 
 
 "Why not? Only I don't feel sure that he deseryei 
 such a prize. For me she is quite a marvellous char- 
 acter, and we could perhaps find her something young 
 and handsome." 
 
 Mr. Strobridge jumped up with a start. This idea 
 was altogether unpalatable to him. 
 
 "How shocking ! Seraphim, that might be a creature 
 a woman would adore!" 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "Well " 
 
 "Concentrate upon friendship, my dear boy ! — If she 
 has once said you nay, the role of lover is not for jou — 
 no matter whom she marries I"
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 TIME passed. A year went by after this with a 
 gradual but unmistakable upward advance on 
 the part of Katherine Bush. Moments of de- 
 pression and discouragement came, of course, but her 
 iron will carried her beyond them. All would go well 
 for a while, and then would come a barrier, as it were, 
 which was difficut to climb, and which would baffle her 
 intentions for a week or two, and then she would sur- 
 mount it, and race onward. 
 
 Her manipulation of Gerard Strobridge wag mas- 
 terly. She never permitted him to go beyond the 
 bounds of friendship, and he gradually grew to enter- 
 tain the deepest worship and respect for her, which 
 influenced his whole life. She spurred him on in his 
 career, while obtaining from him all the polish his cul- 
 tivated mind could bestow. Lady Garribardine watched 
 the passage of events with her wise old eyes, assisting 
 them, moreover, when she deemed it necessary. 
 
 If Kathcrine's dominion over her beloved nephew was 
 for his good, she must not let class prejudice stand in 
 the way of her sympathy. The world for Sarah Garri- 
 bardine was full of incredible fools, who, however strong 
 their desire might be for a given end, were yet too 
 stupid to see that their actions and methods — nearly 
 alwa3'^s inspired by personal vanity — militated against 
 the attainment of that end, and so thev went on their 
 blundering way, continually surprised at their own 
 want of success ! 
 
 231
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 It was the quality of reasoning and of analysis in 
 her secretary which grew to interest her most deeply. 
 Katherine was her perpetual study, inasmuch as she 
 stood so far apart from the world of fools. 
 
 Their visit to Paris had been a great experience for 
 Katherine. She took the place historically, not as she 
 had taken it before, as the setting for a love dream. 
 She had had a recurrence of the violent longing for 
 Lord Algy when they arrived at the Gare du Nord, that 
 strangely sudden seizure of passion to which she seemed 
 periodically subject; when she knew that if at the mo- 
 ment Fate were to offer him to her again she would find 
 the temptation of acceptance too strong to resist. She 
 was afterwards always extremely thankful that this did 
 not occur, and that she was given time to resume her 
 self-command. 
 
 When first she drove down the Champs Elysees, a 
 strange sense of fear came over her — what if after all 
 that Palatial Hotel episode in her life should have 
 power one day to raise up its ghost and destroy the 
 fabric of her ambitions.'' The more she saw of the great 
 world, the more she realised that such a breach of con- 
 vention, such a frank laying aside of all recognised 
 standards of morality, would never be forgiven if dis- 
 covered. Incidents of the kind occurred every day, but 
 must always be rigorously kept out of sight. She grew 
 to understand that it is a much more punishable of- 
 fence to hold unorthodox views and act honestly by 
 them, than to profess orthodox, stringent virtue, and 
 Continually blink at the acting against conscience, by 
 secret indulgences ! 
 
 One day it chanced that she could discuss the point 
 with her mistress. 
 
 "You must remember the good of the community al- 
 
 232
 
 THE CABEER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 ways first, girl," Lady Garribardine had said. "If you 
 want to benefit humanity you must not be too much 
 occupied with the individual. For the good of the com- 
 munity certain standards must be kept up, and sensible 
 people should put on blinkers when examining the frail- 
 ties of human nature. Nature sa^'s one thing and civili- 
 sation and orthodox morality another; there must log- 
 ically be an eternal conflict going on between the two 
 and the only chance for souls to achieve orthodox mo- 
 rality is for hypocrisy to assist them by hiding bad 
 examples given when nature has had an outburst and 
 won the game. If you won't conform to these prac- 
 tical rules it is wiser and less harmful to your neigh- 
 bours for you to go and live in the wilds — I am all for 
 tenue, I am all for the uphfting of the soul where it 
 is possible, and decency and good taste where it is 
 not." 
 
 "I see," responded Katherine. "One must in this, as 
 in all other things, look to the end." 
 
 "You have indeed said it !" Her Ladyship cried. 
 "That faculty is the quintessence of statesmanship, as 
 it is of wisdom, and one we never see displayed by a 
 radical government !" 
 
 As the season went on in London, various peeps at 
 society were afforded Katherine, and as her ej^es 
 opened, and the keenness of her understanding devel- 
 oped, she learned many useful lessons. 
 
 On rare Saturday afternoons, she visited the mu- 
 seums again with Gerard Strobridge, to her intense 
 delight, and with much pain as well as pleasure to him, 
 and when the big Saturday to ]\Ionday parties came 
 down to Blissington, Lady Garribardine often found 
 her secretary invaluable for the entertainment of un- 
 avoidable bores. 
 
 233
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 Thus by the autumn, when Gerard's aching soul and 
 denied passions thought to take solace in flight on that 
 mission to Teheran, Katherine Bush was an established 
 institution at tea time, and had acquired the art of con- 
 versation in a degree which would have pleased Ches- 
 terfield himself ! 
 
 To make herself liked bj women was the immediate 
 objective she had laid down for herself. Of what use 
 to gain the little pleasure by the way, of the gratifica- 
 tion of her vanity from the incense of men? She must 
 wait until some one man appeared upon the scene, the 
 securing of whom would be her definite goal — then she 
 could pursue her aims without the stumbling-block of 
 female antagonism. 
 
 She learned many things from her employer: toler- 
 ance — kindness of heart — supreme contempt for all 
 shams, apart from that of necessary moral hypocrisy, 
 which seeming paradox she grew to realise was a sen- 
 sible assistance to the attainment of a general moral 
 ideal. Her wits sharpened, her brain expanded, her 
 cultivation increased and her manners assumed an ex- 
 quisite refinement and graciousness; and when the sec- 
 ond Christmas came and the New Year of 1913, no one 
 could possibly have discovered the faintest trace of 
 Bindon's Green, or of the lower middle class from which 
 she had sprung. 
 
 Lady Garribardine had materially augmented her 
 salary, and substantial cheques found their way to poor 
 Gladys, whose baby was born dead, much to Matilda's 
 disappointment. 
 
 "But it is often like that," she told Katherine as 
 they walked in the park one Sunday, "with a seven 
 months' child, and Glad don't take on about it as I 
 should." 
 
 S34
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 Mrs. Robert Hartley was firmly determined to go to 
 America. 
 
 "We've had enough hell in these few months, Bob," 
 she informed her husband as she was getting better, 
 "and I am going to be like Katherine and make a ca- 
 reer for myself. I'm tired of your grumbling and your 
 rudeness to me, and every bit of love I had for you is 
 gone — We've no baby — There's nothing to keep us 
 chained up together like a pair of animals, and I'm off 
 to make my fortune — so I tell you flat." 
 
 Mr. Robert Hartley asserted the rights of an Eng- 
 lish husband, but to no avail. Gladys had the money 
 from her sister in her hand to start herself with, and a 
 warm recommendation from Madame Ermantine, and 
 so in the early autumn sailed for New York and al- 
 most immediately obtained lucrative employment. 
 
 Thus the family at Bindon's Green was reduced to 
 Matilda, Ethel, and the two young men, and still fur- 
 ther diminished in the New Year by the marriage (and 
 retirement to a villa of his own!) of Mr. Frederick 
 Bush with the genteel Mabel Cawber! 
 
 The wedding of the pair was a day of unalloyed 
 pleasure to Matilda. Katherine had manoeuvred so 
 that she could not possibly be spared to attend it ; thus 
 the festivities were unclouded by the restraint which 
 her presence — quite undesired by herself — always im- 
 posed upon her relations. They were all admittedly 
 uncomfortable with her, not she with them. They felt 
 in some vague way that they were of less account in 
 their own eyes when in her company, and that an im- 
 passable gulf now separated them. They had nothing 
 to complain of, Katherine gave herself no airs, she 
 neither patronised them nor talked over their heads, but 
 a subtle something divided them, and all were glad of 
 
 235
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 her seemingly enforced absence. All except the bride, 
 who was sorry the poor secretary sister-in-law should 
 not be chastened by witnessing her triumph ! 
 
 For was she not having four bridesmaids dressed in 
 pink pongee silk with blue sashes, and two pages to 
 carry her court train ! Pages in *'Renaissance" cos- 
 tume. The Lady Agatha Tollington's were so de- 
 scribed in the Flare, and why should not hers be also.'* 
 "Renaissance !" She did not know what the word 
 meant, but it had such a nice sound and seemed so well 
 to fit the picturesque suits advertised as copied from 
 Millais' immortal Bubbles which had been secured at 
 the local emporium to adorn the two smug^faced infants 
 who would carry — very shamefacedl}' it must be ad- 
 mitted — the confection of cheap satin and imitation 
 lace which would depend from Miss Cawber's angular 
 shoulders. 
 
 If Katherine could have seen all that! Miss Cawber 
 felt that a humbler mien in this obstreperous creature 
 might have resulted ! 
 
 But Katherine never saw it, and when Matilda re- 
 counted all the glories to her, she had the awkwardness 
 to ask why Mabel had indulged in a court train? 
 
 "Bridesmaids were natural enough," she said, "if 
 you all wanted to have some gaiety and a jolly party, 
 but Fred's wife will never go to Court, so why pages 
 and a train?" 
 
 "Oh — well," Matilda returned in annoyance, "who's 
 to know that at Bindon's Green? And it has given her 
 ever such a tip-top position to begin her home upon. 
 The Perkins girls and Bob Hartley's mother and cous- 
 ins were just mad with envy, and Fred as pleased as 
 Punch to have such a stunning turn-out at his side to 
 
 walk down the aisle with." 
 
 >■ 
 
 236
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "I am so glad you are all happy then," Katharine 
 said kindly. 
 
 How merciful, she reflected when she had left her sis- 
 ter at Stanhope Gate, that their ambitions were so eas- 
 ily satisfied ! Plow merciful also that only Matilda's 
 affection for her need count in her future connection 
 with the family — and Matilda might at no distant date 
 be a bride too! The bride of Katherine's old devoted 
 admirer, Charlie Prodgers ! While Ethel announced 
 her intention of following Gladys' example and migrat- 
 ing to America the moment she was seventeen, in the 
 spring. 
 
 Thus, visits to Bindon's Green were no longer de- 
 sired by the inhabitants of Laburnum Villa, nor of Tal- 
 bot Lodge, where Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Bush were 
 installed, and Katherine felt she could drift from them 
 all without hurting their feelings, indeed, with mutual 
 satisfaction. 
 
 So the winter of 1912 drew to a close, and the spring 
 of 1913 came, and with it Gerard Strobridge. 
 
 He was well and sunburnt and seemed more resigned 
 on his first visit after he returned to Blissington ac- 
 companied by Lady Beatrice. 
 
 Katherine was pouring out the tea — now her daily 
 task — when he came in, and a glad thrill ran through 
 her. Would he see any change in her.'' Would he be 
 pleased with her advancement.'' He was her friend, and 
 her helpmate in literature, and never by word or look 
 did she recognise that he could feel any other emotion 
 but a platonic one for her. 
 
 Her attractions always struck Gerard afresh after 
 his absences, and made him remark upon them each 
 time he returned. 
 
 "How beautiful you have grown, Katherine," he said 
 
 237
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 when presently they had a chance of talking a little 
 apart. "You are the most wonderful thing in the world 
 — I came back hoping to find you less attractive, and 
 you are just as fascinating as ever — more so — Oh! shall 
 I never make you care the least for me?" 
 
 "Never." 
 
 "It is a wonder that I should love you so madly, when 
 you are as cold as ice to mc, and never melt — I be- 
 lieve you could see me on the rack without turning a 
 hair — if it suited your purpose !" 
 
 "Probably." 
 
 But she smiled softly, so he asked eagerly: 
 
 "Is it so, Fatherine.''" 
 
 "Will you i^ever understand even after the hundreds 
 and hundreds of talks we have had.'' I have marked out 
 a settled, determined path in life which I intend to fol- 
 low — so that even if I loved you I would crush all emo- 
 tion out of myself, since indulging in it would ruin my 
 aims, and drag us both to social perdition meanwhile. 
 It is extremely fatiguing to have to recommence ex- 
 plaining our positions every time you come back from 
 abroad. As a friend I delight in you — I love our talks, 
 our discussions and controversies. I have tried in every 
 way to improve under your tuition, but if you will be 
 weak and give way to other feelings — it is you who put 
 yourself on the rack — And if you do it I cannot help it, 
 it cannot change my determination, even if I see you 
 suffering." 
 
 "How can a man worship anything so logical?" 
 
 "I don't know; what I do know is that I never 
 mean to admit that you have any feelings for me but 
 those I have for you, of warm friendship. I shall al- 
 ways act as if you were only my friend, and only con- 
 sider any of my actions as affecting you from that 
 
 2f3S
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 point of view. If you are hurt it is your own fault, 
 I cannot be responsible for the pain." 
 
 He clenched his hands with sudden violence. 
 
 "And if I refused to bear it — if I broke all friend- 
 ship and never spoke to you again — what then?" 
 
 "You would be quite right to do so if it gave you 
 any satisfaction. I should miss you — but I should un- 
 derstand." 
 
 He gave a faint groan. 
 
 "Well, I have not the strength to throw off your in- 
 fluence. I always think I have done it when I go to 
 foreign cUmes, and I dwell upon the pleasure that your 
 intellect gives me. I come back quite resigned, but the 
 first sight of you, the sight of those red, wicked lips and 
 that white skin drives me mad once more, and I feel I do 
 not care whether you have any brain or no, in the over- 
 whelming desire to hold you in my arms." 
 
 Katherine gave an exclamation of weariness. 
 
 "Oh, it is tiresome that you must always have these 
 scenes when you return, they spoil everything. You 
 force me to seem cruel. Wh}^ can't you accept the sit- 
 uation.''" 
 
 "Because I am a man and you are a woman," and his 
 eyes sought hers with passion, "and all the rest of emo- 
 tion is but make-believe ; the only real part is the tan- 
 gible. To have and to hold, to clasp and to kiss, to 
 strain the loved one next the heart — Katherine, you 
 make me suffer the tortures of the damned." 
 
 "No — you permit yourself to suffer them, that makes 
 all the difference. If I made you, then I should feel as 
 wicked as you say my lips look." 
 
 Here Lady Beatrice interrupted them in her plain- 
 tive, drawling voice. 
 
 "Gerard, can you imagine it! Aunt Sarah has just 
 
 2S9
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 had a letter from Tom Hawthorne by the evening's 
 post, announcing that Lao has quietly married that boy 
 in Paris, and they are going to Monte Carlo for their 
 honeymoon ! Isn't it quite too tragic for them, poor 
 things !" 
 
 Lady Garribardine joined the group, with the epistle 
 in her hand. 
 
 "Liio was always a fool, but I believed even the sense 
 of a rabbit would have kept her from this !" 
 
 "They are madly in love, dear Sarah !" old Gwendo- 
 line d'Estaire said sentimentally. 
 
 Her ladyship snorted. 
 
 "Tut, tut ! Lao is forty-two years old and the boy 
 not more than six and twenty, sixteen years between 
 them ! Quite an immaterial discrepancy while he re- 
 mained a lover — but a menace which even the strongest 
 brain cannot combat when the creature turns into a 
 husband. The situation is ridiculous at once. It means 
 that the woman has to spend her time not only fighting 
 old age as we all have to do, but watching for every sign 
 of weariness in the youth, trembling at every fresh 
 wrinkle in herself, and always on the tiptoe of anxiety, 
 so that she loses whatever charm lured the poor child 
 into her net." 
 
 "But really Lao had made it so evident — the affair — 
 perhaps she thought " 
 
 "That a second wedding ring was essential! Ridicu- 
 lous nonsense, Gwendoline ! We are not of the bour- 
 geoisie — there is an epidemic of these rich widows 
 rushing these penniless young men into matrimony. No 
 one objects to their amusing themselves, but these re- 
 spectable unions offend the sensibilities at once from 
 their obvious unsuitableness. The woman loses prestige 
 — almost caste, I was going to say. The man grows 
 
 240
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 either sheepish or intolerably insolent, and if you no- 
 tice, the pair eventually drop out of all agreeable so- 
 ciety." 
 
 "How awful to contemplate!" and Lady Beatrice 
 sighed sadly. "To think that after one had pretended 
 for years that one was full of emotions and sex and 
 horrible things, one should succumb to them really 
 — It is a cruel retribution — Gerard, aren't you inter- 
 ested?" 
 
 For Mr. Strobridge had raised a whimsical e^^ebrow. 
 
 "Perfectly thrilled. I am amply revenged for her in- 
 difference to me !" 
 
 "Is it not possible for them to be happy, then.^" 
 Katherine whispered to him in the din of a chorus of re- 
 marks the news had provoked. 
 
 "They have about a hundred to one chance for a 
 few months ; then either will suffer, probably both. 
 Oh ! the intolerable bond of matrimony ! — Unless, of 
 course " 
 
 Katherine shrugged her shoulders. 
 
 "Yes, I suppose so, if one was not quite sure what 
 the reason was that one was marrying for, and had 
 not weighed it and found out if it would be worth while 
 or no." 
 
 "What will you marry for?" 
 
 "Contentment, I expect." 
 
 "And what is contentments — only the obtaining of 
 one's heart's desire." 
 
 "I shall not marry unless it is to obtain my heart's 
 desire," and that sphinxlike smile grew round her 
 mouth, which always roused Gerard Strobridge's curi- 
 osity. After all this time, he could never quite fathom 
 what was going on inside that clever brain. 
 
 "I refuse to think about it — ^Let us talk about some- 
 
 241
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 thing else — books you have been reading — something I 
 can do for you." 
 
 "There is one thing I would like you to do very much 
 — only I do not know if it could be manaj^ed. Last 
 week, Her Ladyship allowed me to go with Miss Ar- 
 abella d'Estaire to see the House of Commons. I would 
 so much like to see the House of Lords and hear a de- 
 bate there before the Easter recess. I am trying to 
 study politics." 
 
 "That will not be very difficult. I can get an order 
 from Blackrod; there will be something to listen to 
 next week, when I believe my aunt will be in town. I 
 shall love to gratify your wish, Katherine." 
 
 "We must ask Lady Garribardine first if I may." 
 
 "^Nlodel of circumspection ! Of course." 
 
 Then the company drifted from the tea table and 
 Miss Bush returned to her sanctum, while Gerard Stro- 
 bridge went up to his aunt's sitting-room. 
 
 They talked of numbers of things, and at last that 
 lady said: 
 
 "G., — more than ever I understand your passion for 
 my secretary. I do not even find your fidelity ridicu- 
 lous ; she is one of the most fascinating creatures I 
 have ever met. A masterpiece of balance and common 
 sense, she will rise to the highest position one day — 
 mark my words, boy !" 
 
 "I daresay — I cannot feel interested in that. I am 
 still horribly in love. I thought Teheran had dulled the 
 ache for her, but it has not." 
 
 Lady Garribardine sighed as she arranged a cushion. 
 
 "I live in terror that one day she will come and tell 
 me quite honestly that she has learned all that my sit- 
 uation can teach her, and that she is going on to some- 
 thing new." 
 
 242
 
 THE C A BEER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "She could not be so ungrateful." 
 
 "It would not be ingratitude — she worts for money, 
 not for love. It would be part of her plan of life. Sen- 
 timental emotion does not enter into it — that is what 
 makes her so interesting, and so invaluable." 
 
 "But I know, Seraphim, that she has a deep affec- 
 tion for you — she has expressed it to me many times. 
 You are her model for all fine conduct and point of 
 View. 
 
 "Yes — the girl is devoted to me, I think. Well, we 
 must hope that she is content here, for I do not know 
 how I could quite get on without her. I have had her 
 down for a little at each party during the winter, G. 
 She literally devours bores for me, and gets all the 
 cranks into good tempers. And all the women like her ; 
 that shows triumphant astuteness on her part." 
 
 "Triumphant! You did not after all marry her to 
 Sir John while I was away. I almost hoped that you 
 would do so when I left in October." 
 
 "Sir John was willing; he wanted but a hint from me 
 to have shown all the ardour of a young lover. One 
 even pictured verses — it is in this way that it takes 
 aged politicians. One imagined a discreet wedding and 
 almost by now the inevitable preparatory layette ! — But 
 Miss Bush would have none of it ! When I approached 
 her upon the subject she looked me straight in the face 
 and said quite respectfully, but with a hauteur befitting 
 a D'Estaire, that she had other views, and while sensible 
 of my kindness she must decline the honour ! I was im- 
 mensely diverted." 
 
 "Danger is still ahead, then — She has told me just 
 now that she means only to marry when she can gain 
 her heart's desire — but what that is God — or the devil 
 • — alone knows." 
 
 243
 
 ^HE CABEEB OF KATHEBINE BUSH 
 
 Lad}' Garribardine looked at him shrewdly for a 
 second ; she did not speak, so Mr. Strobridge went on : 
 
 "By the way, she wants me to take her and Arabella 
 to hear a debate in the House of Lords — may I?" 
 
 "Of course." 
 
 If he had not been so preoccupied with his own 
 thoughts he would have remarked his aunt's tone, but 
 he was absently staring out of the window and did not 
 even see her face with its sagacious, querying expres- 
 sion. 
 
 "She is greatly interested in politics, I believe ; she is 
 well up in them already — she is well up in everytliing. 
 I daresay she could open a bazaar, or give an address 
 better than I could myself. I can spare her next 
 Wednesday afternoon when the debate on the Land Bill 
 will be in full swing. You can arrange it." 
 
 "I will. — Seraphim, isn't it pitiful about poor Lao ! — 
 Younger or older it would not have mattered quite so 
 much — but at forty-two — Heavens ! The only thing 
 the poor darling had — her beauty — won't be worth 
 looking at in a year or so. The mentality of women is 
 beyond me, so utterly unaccountable their actions are." 
 
 "Not at all, my precious G. They are as plain as a 
 pikestaff — only any man can be bamboozled by the sil- 
 liest of them. Tlicy all answer to type and sex. Lao 
 has the brains of her type, the female guinea pig, raised 
 under artificial conditions which have altered, but not 
 stifled, the guinea pig's strongest instinct — prolific re- 
 production. It came out in Liio, not in the desire to 
 have a numerous family, but in an intense desire to at- 
 tract the male — pas pour le bon motif, bien entendu! — 
 but for variety — Then she falls in love at a foolish age, 
 and the emotion, being one of nature, the instinct rights 
 itself for the moment, and swamps the effect of artificial 
 
 244
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 conditions. Hence the passion for the wedding ring — 
 vows — the male in the cage, all unconscious prepara- 
 tion for a family — the last thing she would desire, iu 
 fact — and all sense of proportion lost sight of." 
 
 Mr. Strobridgc laughed delightedly. 
 
 "You should write a 'Guide to the Knowledge of 
 Women,' Seraphim, for the enlightenment of your men 
 friends." 
 
 His aunt smiled, showing all her strong, well-pre- 
 served white teeth. 
 
 "I would like to, but not one of them would speak 
 to me again, they would tear my new grey toupee from 
 my snowy locks, and denounce me as a liar, because I 
 would tell the one thing they strongly dislike — the 
 truth!" 
 
 "Yes, a thoroughly lovable feminine woman loathes 
 the truth, doesn't she ! I have always found my great- 
 est success with her lay in a distortion of every fact to 
 suit her personal view. Katherine Bush and yourself, 
 sweet Aunt, are the only two of your sex that I have 
 ever met whom a man need not humour, and can speak 
 his real mind out to." 
 
 And with this he kissed her fat hand and took his way 
 from her presence down the gallery to his room to dress 
 for dinner. 
 
 But all the while Stirling was coaxing the real silver 
 and auxiliary iron grey waves into a superbly simple 
 triumph of hairdressing, her ladyship wore a slight 
 frown of concentrated thought. 
 
 What did it mean, this desire on the part of her sec- 
 retary to see the House of Lords ? 
 
 "Vermondsay — Hankhurst — Upper Harringway." 
 She counted over a long list of the names of peers who 
 frequented BUssington and Berkeley Square — but at 
 
 215
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 the end she shook her head. "No — none of these — Who 
 then — and what for?" 
 
 Katherine Bush was no guinea pig answering to type. 
 What type was she, by the way? A complicated, con- 
 glomerated mixture, not easy to dissect at any time, 
 was this new move a manifestation of sex — or type? 
 
 Time alone would show — Until then the solution must 
 remain in the lap of the gods. And in all cases, dinner 
 should not wait, and it behooved a hostess to be 
 punctual.
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE outside of the Houses of Parliament had al- 
 ways affected Katherine. They looked stately 
 and English — and when they — herself and old 
 Arabella d'Estaire and Gerard — walked through the 
 corridors of the House of Lords, and came at last to the 
 huge vaulted chamber itself, and so to the pen where 
 they might stand to hear the debate, her heart began 
 to beat with some strange excitement. 
 
 They went into the left side enclosure, and so could 
 have a facing view of the Opposition benches. 
 
 Some member of the Government had just begun a 
 speech as they entered, and Katherine had time to look 
 about her. What types to study! And what an at- 
 mosphere of calm, after the scene in the House of Com- 
 mons she had witnessed on her visit there! A din of 
 angry voices and uncontrolled emotion. Here if people 
 felt anything it did not appear on the surface. Kath- 
 erine leaned upon the second carved grifSn which helps 
 to adorn the partition which separates the pen from the 
 sacred floor of the House itself. From there her ej^es 
 travelled from face to face opposite her. She recog- 
 nised several, indeed many whom she had seen either in 
 London or at Blissington — but who were those others, 
 some with features far from aristocratic.'' 
 
 She now examined the Ministerial benches, and made 
 many reflections, while she only half listened to the 
 rather lame string of sentences which were falling from 
 a very refined-looking, carefully preserved gentleman, 
 
 247
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 ■who seemed little interested in his subject, and almost 
 ashamed to be speaking from that side of the House. 
 
 Then from the end by the throne two newcomers en- 
 tered, and took their seats, one on the front Opposi- 
 tion bench. 
 
 For the moment, Katherine's eye had followed the 
 jounger of the two who went towards the back, so that 
 she did not become conscious of the personality of the 
 other until, at the conclusion of the Minister's speech, 
 he rose and laid some papers down upon the table in 
 front of him amidst a sudden thrill of interest which 
 noticeably ran through the assembly. 
 
 He was a very tall and arrogant-looking person, 
 rather thin and upright; and in everything about hiiD 
 there was a strange old-world suggestion, which charac^ 
 terised even the cutting and brushing of his hair .and 
 the shape of his coat. The brow was lofty and broadj 
 and the thin iron-grey locks were combed straight back 
 from it, and seemed to be perhaps rather longer than 
 those of the young men. He had very large eyes deeply 
 ■et, probaby dark blue, Katherine thought, and his 
 nose was prominently aquihne. He was clean-shaven, 
 all but a small pair of close-cut whiskers, and this with 
 some peculiarity about the shirt, and the frockcoat he 
 \rore, as well as a black satin stock, stamped him as 
 someone of an altogether different generation — cen- 
 tury, Katherine had almost said to herself ! 
 
 Who could he be? 
 
 There was some picture she had seen which he re- 
 minded her of. She thought for a minute. Yes, it was 
 a certain print which hung in a passage at Blissington, 
 of the Duke of Wellington in evening dress, a profile, 
 with the ribbon of the Garter across his breast. This 
 man had something of the same personality. 
 
 248
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 His whole appearance was so unusual, so almost 
 startling, that had anyone else attempted to achieve the 
 same result he would have looked either vulgarly dra- 
 matic or quite grotesque, but with this man even the 
 old-fashioned clothes with their suspicion of a by-gone 
 dandj'ism seemed to add to his immense distinction. 
 Katherine thought that if she could have drawn a pic- 
 ture of a typical aristocrat of the Tory persuasion, of 
 perhaps a hundred years ago, this man would have 
 made a perfect model. 
 
 And now he began to speak! 
 
 And of all the voices she had ever heard or admired 
 from beyond the half-high glass screen at Liv and 
 Dev's, or listened to in her present situation, none had 
 ever struck her as so ultra refined as the perfectly mod- 
 ulated tones now vibrating through the house. 
 
 His words were selected with judgment and grace, 
 and showed the command of an uncommon vocabulary. 
 She had thought Gerard Strobridge's sentences were 
 well-chosen, and cultivated, but they would sound quite 
 modern and almost colloquial, she felt, compared with 
 the highly-polished flow of language which poured forth 
 from this clear-cut mouth. The whole mien of the man 
 expressed intense pride and dignity, and a perfect un- 
 self-consciousness. He gesticulated very little and kept 
 one hand with the thumb resting above a button of his 
 fastened coat, so that she could see his hand plainly, 
 and its shape, which was in keeping with the rest of his 
 appearance, and on his little finger was a great graven 
 emerald, or some green stone in a ring, which caught a 
 ray of light and sparkled for a second. 
 
 How was it that so noticeable a personage had never 
 been to Berkeley Square or Blissington.'^ 
 
 He was of Her Ladyship's political convictions, too, 
 
 249
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 and must be of importance to occupy so prominent a 
 place. And presently she began to take in the words 
 he was saying, and gathered from a sentence which re- 
 marked upon his "long absence from your Ladyship's 
 House" that he must have been for some time out of 
 England. 
 
 Then she grew fascinated with the speech itself, it 
 was so witty and filled with an exquisite sarcasm. Such 
 must have been the speeches of Chesterfield, she thought, 
 in this same House of Lords more than a centurv and 
 a half ago. 
 
 How old could he be.'^ Fifty — forty-five — forty? It 
 was impossible to say. 
 
 Suddenly she was conscious of a deep enthralled in- 
 terest affecting her, and she turned and whispered to 
 Mr. Strobridge at her side : 
 
 "Who is that man speaking now — I would so much 
 like to know?" 
 
 "The Duke of Mordryn — is he not a type? The last 
 real Tory left in this age." 
 
 And then Katherine remembered that letters ad- 
 dressed to this name, and written in Lady Garribar- 
 dine's own hand, ha ' often gone with the rest to be 
 posted, always to addresses abroad, ever since she had 
 been in her service. And often, too, she recalled, the 
 Duke had been spoken of as being here or there, and 
 gradually on his way home, but nothing about him had 
 particularly intcrcoced or struck her, except the name 
 Mordryn — it was a perfect name ! 
 
 She began piecing together what she knew about him. 
 At Liv and Dcv's she had been obliged to know a good 
 deal about all Dukes; their sub-titles, son's courtesy 
 titles, and family names. This string came back to her 
 mechanically — "Duke of Mordryn, Marquis of Val- 
 
 250
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 frcyne, Earl of Rievaulx" and a number of Baronies, 
 while the family appellation was Monluce, and the chief 
 place of several residences Valfreyne in Dorsetshire. 
 She remembered too that the Duchess had died less than 
 two years ago. 
 
 After this her absorbed interest concentrated upon 
 the man himself and she almost felt a little breathless 
 when he sat down ; and a moment or two after, when 
 he seemed to have leisure to look about him, she met his 
 eyes and she could see that they were indeed a very 
 dark blue and that his gaze consciously rested upon 
 her. 
 
 She did not turn hers away ; she was fascinated, and 
 slowly there came a thought to her: 
 
 "This is what fate means for me — " And for a few 
 seconds she felt faint and icy cold, so great was her 
 emotion. 
 
 The unknown goal of all her striving was revealed at 
 last! The position of this man's wife would be the 
 greatest to be achieved in England, for prestige and 
 influence. And it shovZd be hers. 
 
 She heard and saw and knew nothing which happened 
 after this, only what was spoken and done by the Duke, 
 and presently. Miss Arabella d'Estaire growing tired, 
 they went out, their exit accelerated by Katherine who 
 saw that His Grace had risen and was coming their way. 
 They stopped for a second just at the place where the; 
 hats are left and he caught them up and shook hands 
 with Mr. Strobridge and Miss d'Estaire. 
 
 "I am very glad to see you, Gerard," he said, "it is 
 good to be at home again," and then he gave some gal- 
 lant greeting to Miss d'Estaire, and paused, absently 
 looking at Katherine, who stood by demurely, present- 
 ing an attractive picture in her grey suit and hat. All 
 
 251
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 care was now taken of her ample tresses, which were 
 arranged to show the smallness of her head, and every, 
 article of her garments was chosen to express unob- 
 trusive distinction. For many months her astute intel- 
 ligence had been turned upon the enhancing of her at- 
 tractions, with wonderful result. 
 
 "Miss Bush — the Duke of Mordryn," Mr. Strobridge 
 was obliged to murmur, and Katherine bowed and 
 waited to see if the Duke would speak. He did, with 
 that aloof but gracious courtesy which he showed to all 
 women. 
 
 "You have come to hear our highly futile debate in 
 this mutilated chamber — I hope you were not too 
 bored." 
 
 "I was very much interested," and she looked 
 straight into his eyes in the way she did when she in- 
 tended to compel attention. 
 
 As Gerard Strobridge watched her, he suddenly felt 
 a twinge of fear. He refused to acknowledge the 
 thought which presented itself, but indicated that they 
 should go on. 
 
 The Duke meanwhile had not been unaffected by 
 Katherine's magnetic eyes — he felt a spark of interest 
 and so continued the conversation for a minute, but 
 finally had to give way to Gerard's evident desire to 
 move forward. 
 
 "Tell Her Ladyship that I am coming to lunch to- 
 morrow. I only crossed last night, and have had no 
 time to answer her note awaiting me. I hope she is 
 well and has not allowed this modem rush and turmoil 
 to spoil her enchanting wit." 
 
 When they got out into the open air, Katherine no- 
 ticed that Mr. Strobridge had a fierce and rather 
 hunted expression on his face. He got into the taxi 
 
 252
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 after the two ladies without a word, and said very little 
 as thej drove to Miss d'Estairo's tiny flat in Knights- 
 bridge. 
 
 "Perhaps as it is so fine you will let me dismiss the 
 cab and we might walk across the Park," he suggested 
 as he rejoined Katherine after seeing Miss Arabella in 
 at the door. And she consented. 
 
 The air was crisp and fresh and the dusk was gath- 
 ering. It was a quarter to six o'clock. 
 
 They turned towards Stanhope Gate and walked in 
 silence. Then Mr. Strobridge stopped suddenly and 
 drew Katherine to a chair. 
 
 "Katherine," he said, and his voice was husky. "Is 
 it so.?" 
 
 "Is what so.f"" she questioned, to be quite certain 
 what he meant. 
 
 "Is the Duke to be your objective.?" 
 
 She did not answer. She was weighing things. Ger- 
 ard's assistance would be necessary for the pursuance 
 of a plan which had been forming in her head since she 
 had left the Houses of Parliament. She was swift to 
 decide, and swift to act at critical moments in her life. 
 
 "Do you think you have any right to ask me such 
 a question.?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "What right.?" 
 
 "I love you." 
 
 She shrugged her shoulders. 
 
 "No, I will never admit it." 
 
 "It is true enough — Oh! Katherine, there is nothing 
 I would not do for you and you know it. only I cannot 
 help wanting to be certain if I am to expect the worst. 
 I feared it at once when you looked into his eyes. Has 
 my doom come at last then.?" 
 
 S53
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 " - ■ -• — — — ■ — , — — — — , ., — -. ■ .. .,, I 
 
 "You are paying me a great compliment ; you seem 
 to think that the matter lies only in my hands." 
 
 "You will accomplish anything you desire." 
 
 She did not speak. 
 
 "Katherine," he pleaded, and there was anguish in 
 his voice, "tell me the truth, whether I have the right 
 to ask it or no. The idea has come to you that this 
 would be worth winning, this position — has it not.''" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "He is fifty-three years old, Mordryn — but a fifty- 
 three which women adore — You would probably fall in 
 love with him also." 
 
 "It is possible." 
 
 "Can you expect me to be anything but pained 
 then?" 
 
 "I have always told you that I consider you only 
 as a friend, and that I only view your emotions for me 
 as those of friendship ; therefore there should be no 
 pain even in such an idea according to my view." 
 
 "There is." 
 
 "I am sorry." 
 
 "But it does not change your determination.^" 
 
 *'No." 
 
 "I understand a man's killing a woman sometimes," 
 and he clenched his hands passionately. 
 
 "So do I — when she deceives him, never because she 
 is honest and unvarying. I have never deceived you or 
 led you to hope for anything but friendship — that you 
 have in full, and you have hundreds of times promised 
 me yours; if you meant it I now ask you to give me a 
 proof of it." 
 
 "What proof?" 
 
 "I wish to meet the Duke — not as Lady Garribar- 
 dinc's secretary; that would prejudice him too much, 
 
 251
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 naturally! I want to meet him in the evening at dinner 
 as a guest. I want to talk to him and see for myself 
 what he is like, and if he is as wonderful as he looks. 
 Only you could arrange this. If you asked him to din- 
 ner and asked me and Miss Arabella or Miss Gwendoline 
 d'Estaire it would be possible, would it not?" 
 
 He was staring at her now, overcome by her mas- 
 terly frankness. No — she would never deceive him, he 
 realised that and also that nothing of his will could 
 ever impose upon hers. He knew he was impotent as 
 a factor in the determining of her plans ; all he could 
 do to keep her favour was to fall in with them. 
 
 Her face, white as a lily in the growing dusk, was 
 calm and cold and beautiful. He had never desired 
 her more — but that fastidiousness in him, that power 
 of detachment which could appreciate skill even when 
 exercised against his own interests, asserted itself, and 
 helped him. She was so wonderful a character, he must 
 assist her even to his own pain. 
 
 "I suppose it would be possible — Beatrice goes down 
 to Allerton to-morrow until after Easter. I expect I 
 could arrange it for Friday night if I can only get the 
 Duke — he will be awfully busy these days — but perhaps 
 if I ask him at once I might catch him — " Then he 
 thought a moment — "Yes — I've got a new case of min- 
 iatures I bought last week at an odd sale. I could be- 
 guile him on the pretext of giving me his opinion as 
 to whether or no two of them are really Cosways. You 
 see to what a state of abject slavery you have reduced 
 me." 
 
 "No, I have not — you are being merely a loyal 
 friend." 
 
 "To-night at dinner I will ask my aunt if you may 
 dine — I have some boring country friends coming in 
 
 255
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 any case that night and she will let me have you to 
 help to entertain them, I expect. You are supposed to 
 be extraordinarily talented as an entertainer of bores !" 
 
 He could not keep some of the bitterness he was feel- 
 ing out of his voice. Katherine looked at him reproach- 
 fully. 
 
 "I thought you would perhaps have understood — and 
 been kind." 
 
 He responded at once to her tone. 
 
 "Darling — I will — you know it. I will show you that 
 I am indeed your devoted friend; will that please you.^*" 
 
 She inwardly appreciated his sacrifice and her eyes 
 shone softly upon him. 
 
 His face was haggard and looked hungry — its ex- 
 pression would have surprised the many women who 
 had loved him, and on whom he had turned a transient 
 smile. 
 
 "Yes, that will please me," and her voice was sweet. 
 "Now tell me about him. I remember to have read in 
 the papers some time ago that the Duchess had died." 
 
 "He has had an awful life — the Duchess was mad. 
 She was a Thorval, a cousin of my wife's, and went 
 more or less off her head soon after they were married 
 about twenty-eight years ago. Then for more than 
 fifteen years she was extremely peculiar, but not quite 
 bad enough to be entirely shut up. Only of course it 
 made it impossible for him to have friends or to enter- 
 tain and enjoy his great position. Then she became 
 quite mad and had to be isolated and by this time 
 Adeliza, the only child, began to show signs of derange- 
 ment, too, and so he had the horror of seeing the same 
 thing occurring over again. About two years ago the 
 Duchess died and fortunately soon after Adeliza caught 
 scarlet fever and died also, just before you came to 
 
 256
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 my aunt's — and then Mordrjn started on a long voy- 
 age round the world to try and make a break and for- 
 get — and he has been abroad ever since, and only re- 
 turned last night." 
 
 "Poor man, then he did not obtain much pleasure 
 from his great position?" 
 
 "Not in England — but one must suppose that he has 
 had some kind of consolations in all these years. He 
 was often in Paris and has always been extremely at- 
 tractive, but he is a great gentleman, and there have 
 never been any scandals about him." 
 
 "And now all those ugly shadows have been removed 
 from his life and he is free — " Katherine drew in her 
 breath a little. 
 
 "Yes, he is free," Gerard concurred gloomily. "He 
 is a most intimate friend of my aunt's ; you will see him 
 constantly at Blissington." 
 
 "Where I am the secretary — yes. Ah ! if you knew 
 how I long sometimes to be — myself — and not to have 
 to act meekness — Ah ! you would know then how grate- 
 ful I shall be if you can give me this one evening of 
 happiness." 
 
 He was touched, she so seldom showed any emotion- 
 He felt rewarded for some of his sufferings. 
 
 "You shall have as perfect a time as I can secure 
 for you, Katherine, dear girl — " and he bent forward 
 and took her hand. "You would adorn any position in 
 the world — but if Mordryn were not a most splendid 
 character I would not help you to meet him — He is — 
 One of the finest in the world — and I will try — I prom- 
 ise you I will try not to let any jealous envy stand 
 in your way." 
 
 "You are a dear after all," and she returned the pres- 
 sure of his fingers before she drew hers away. 
 
 257
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 There was a strange light in her eyes as she walked 
 up the stairs to her room in Berkeley Square. A won- 
 derful vista had suddenly opened itself before her, with 
 a mountain in the distance all of shining gold. It 
 seemed that it must always have been there but that 
 some mist had hidden it which was now rolled away. 
 
 "WHiat if she should be able to reach this splendid 
 gilded mountain top — some day? 
 
 A glorious end to aim at in any case, and she shut 
 her white teeth firmly — and sitting down by her open 
 window began steadily to think. 
 
 That night fate held a surprise in store for her. She 
 was going to the theatre with Matilda, a periodical 
 treat which that sister greatly enjoyed. They went in 
 the dress circle and saw the show, two unobserved units 
 in the crowd. As it was for Matilda's pleasure she was 
 left to choose what she would see. It was always either 
 a Lyceum melodrama or a musical comedy, and this 
 night it chanced to be the latter, and one newly put on, 
 so the audience was less remarkably homely than 
 usual. 
 
 Who and v,'hat were the audiences at theatres? This 
 Katherine often asked herself. And while Matilda en- 
 joyed what was happening on the stage, she studied 
 the types around her. 
 
 Who invented such hairdressing? Who designed 
 such clothes? Whence came they and whither did they 
 go? 
 
 This particular night Katherine and Matilda were 
 rather at the side of the dress circle a row or two back, 
 so that they could see a good deal of the stalls ; and 
 towards the end of the first act Katherine's languid at- 
 tention suddenly became riveted upon two particular!}' 
 well brushed male heads in the front row. Their owners 
 
 258
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 must have come in while she had been looking at the 
 stage. There was something quite uniquely spruce 
 about young Englishmen's heads, she knew, and they 
 were all very much alike of a certain class, but the 
 fairer of these two was painfully familiar; it belonged 
 to Lord Algy and to no one else. He had returned 
 from Egypt then ! He was there within a few yards 
 of her. Oh! why was it such pain to see him again? 
 
 Her heart beat to suffocation, she felt every pulse 
 in her body tingle with excitement, and then she felt a 
 little sick — and for a few minutes she could not have 
 risen from her seat. 
 
 Matilda turned for a moment and exclaimed: 
 
 "Oh, my goodness gracious ! Kitten ! Whatever is 
 the matter, dear.?" 
 
 Then Katherine recollected herself and answered a 
 little shakily: 
 
 "I don't know — the heat I suppose — I am all right 
 now though, and isn't this a funny scene ! Don't let 
 us talk and spoil it." 
 
 And Matilda, reassured, gladly again turned to the 
 stage. So Katherine sat on, fighting her battle alone. 
 She forced herself to look at her whilom lover with 
 calm — and watch every movement of his attractive 
 head. He appeared well and bronzed and handsomer 
 than ever, she could see as he turned to speak to his 
 companion, and she almost fancied she could hear the 
 tones of his voice. Then she made herself analyse 
 things. Did she really love him still,'' 
 
 Then gradually she became more controlled as she 
 realised that if she kept her eyes fixed upon him like 
 this the magnetic power of her gaze would certainly 
 cause him to look round presently and see her, and 
 that above everything she did not want this to occur. 
 
 259
 
 THE CABEER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 So she turned her attention to the stage and forced 
 herself to listen to what was being sung. 
 
 The act was soon over, and then she saw Lord Algy's 
 perfect figure rise to go out. That was "Jack Kil- 
 courcj" she thought, probably, with him, about whom 
 she had so often heard — and perhaps they had come 
 to see some special beauty in the chorus, and would go 
 on to supper later at the Savoy or elsewhere. Oh, 
 no ! — she would not allow herself to feel any more ; she 
 had surely passed beyond such things ! 
 
 The second act came and went, and the third, and 
 when it was over she hurried Matida out, in a desire 
 to escape before the stall crowd could mingle with 
 theirs in the doorway. 
 
 It was raining a little when they came to the door, 
 and there stood Lord Algy talking with his caressing 
 devoted air to a lovely woman in black, whom Katherine 
 Lad noticed in one of the boxes. He did not see her, 
 £LSf clutching Matilda's arm, she shrank away among 
 the bedraggled people beyond the lights, and there she 
 paused and turned for a last look at him, and saw him 
 follow the lady into a smart car, the door of which was 
 being held open by a motor groom; it had just driven 
 up. 
 
 "We will have a taxi, Tild," she said. "Let us walk 
 on and find one. I can't stand an omnibus to-night." 
 
 She drove Matilda to Victoria first, and then went 
 back to Berkeley Square, a rather damp creature in 
 hody and soul. And when she was in bed, the tears 
 would trickle down her cheeks. It was all hateful! 
 The dress circle — the rain — the cab — the dependence 
 — and last of all Lord Algy and the lovely woman in 
 black ! 
 
 Then her sense of the value if things came back 
 
 260
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 again; her indomitable spirit revived, and before she 
 fell asleep she knew that once for all she had banished 
 any lingering regrets and that she would play for the 
 great stakes in the game of her ambition with a zest as 
 strong as the desire for love — that love which she now 
 realized had been mainly an affair of the senses and 
 which was over and dead.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 THAT night after dinner when the guests had left 
 the house in Berkeley Square, Mr. Strobridge 
 asked his aunt if she would lend him Miss Bush 
 for Friday night to help him to entertain some bores. 
 Beatrice would be away, and he really felt he could not 
 face them alone. Gwendoline or Arabella would come, 
 too. Katherine had dined at the Strobridges' house in 
 Brook Street once or twice before, for similar reasons, 
 and the request therefore did not seem unusual. But 
 Gerard knew liis Seraphim too well not to be aware that 
 when she heard that ]\Iordryn had dined also she might 
 suspect some plot, and would then very possibly be 
 mildly annoyed with him, and really angry with Kath- 
 erine. Every scrap of his diplomatic gift would have 
 to be employed over this. He was going to be at the 
 luncheon next day which the Duke had announced his 
 intention of attending. He must so manage the con- 
 versation that miniatures were discussed, and then in 
 aunt's hearing Mordryn could be asked to come and 
 inspect them as a mere afterthought. If this failed 
 to allay all suspicion of underlying intention in the 
 affair, he would have boldly to tell his aunt the truth, 
 only taking the whole credit — or blame of the idea — 
 upon his own shoulders — No reflection must fall upon 
 Katherine. 
 
 Her Ladyship announced casually that, yes, he 
 might take the secretary and welcome if he returned 
 her not too late at night ; slic had to be up early in 
 
 2G2
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 the morning as she was starting on a hohday of a few 
 days' duration. The dutiful nephew thanked his aunt, 
 and requested her to let Miss Bush know that she would 
 be wanted on Friday if she would be kind enough to 
 come. 
 
 But Lady Garribardine was preoccupied with a sub- 
 ject much nearer her heart, and turned to it at once. 
 
 "I am dying to see Mordryn, G. I wish I had known 
 he was going to speak to-day and I would have gone 
 to the House; he felt it his duty, I suppose — this 
 wretched Land Bill! How did he look.'' And did you 
 get a word with him.'' I shall see him to-morrow, of 
 course." 
 
 Mr. Strobridge gave the message that he had been 
 asked to give, and vouchsafed the information that the 
 Duke had appeared as usual and was altogether charm- 
 ing as ever. 
 
 "It is to be hoped he will get some good out of life 
 now that he is free at last from those mad women." 
 
 Her Ladyship's face assumed a strange expression. 
 She sat down in her usual armchair with an air of 
 fatigue. 
 
 "Your words strike home, G. — for you know I made 
 his marriage — in those far back ignorant days when 
 no one thought of heredity or such things. I literally 
 married him off to Laura almost against his will, be- 
 cause he Avas utterly devoted to me and I to him, and 
 the situation was becoming impossible, over ten years 
 between our ages, his immense position and mine — and 
 Garribardine jealous — There was nothing else for it. 
 Laura was a sweet, foolish creature then, beautiful and 
 of no account. I felt she would never replace me in 
 his affection, and in those days, nearly thirty years 
 ago, it would have been considered almost indecent to 
 
 263
 
 ^IIE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 talk of what future children might turn out — They 
 were supposed to come from the cabbage beds and to 
 have nothing to do with their parents !" 
 
 "Of course, one had always heard he was devoted to 
 you, Seraphim — He is still." 
 
 "Dear Mordrjn! — Laura gave him trouble on the 
 hone^-moon, and once made him look ridiculous — He 
 never pardoned that. By the time she was shut up, I 
 was fifty, G., and had mercifully a strong sense of 
 humour, so Mordryn and I had no lapses and have re- 
 mained firm friends as you know." 
 
 "One has often wondered what his inner life could 
 have been during all those years of horror at home. He 
 was a model of circumspection outwardly, but the 
 adoration of women must have affected him now and 
 then." 
 
 "Not greatly, I think — Naturally he has had some 
 consolation, but when one tliinks of it, it is perfectly 
 marvellous that no woman in England has ever been 
 able to flatter herself that she possessed an influence 
 over him — and, of course, in these last years he has not 
 even seen any." 
 
 "I suppose he will marry again now, having no heir.?" 
 
 There was a very interested note in Mr. Strobridge's 
 voice. 
 
 "He must — And he must find a sane and strong 
 woman — the family is on the verge of being overbred. 
 I must look out a suitable bunch for him to select 
 from." 
 
 'I should leave it to fate this time. Seraphim." 
 
 'If I do that some totally unsuitable creature with a 
 clever mother will grab him." 
 
 Mr. Strobridge laughed. 
 
 *'Has not the man a will of his own.''" 
 
 264 
 
 "]
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 "No man has a will of his own while the vanity of 
 his sex is still in him. He is as defenceless as a baby, 
 and at the mercy of any cunning female. I could not 
 bear to see Mordryn suffering a second time," and 
 Lady Garribardine sighed. 
 
 After luncheon next day, when the rest of the com- 
 pany had departed, the Duke stayed on and accom- 
 panied his friend up to her own sitting-room where thej 
 could talk undisturbed. 
 
 They understood each other completely. They spoke 
 for a long time of his travels and of his release at last 
 from bondage and strain, and of how he was going to 
 open Valfreyne once more and see the world of his fel- 
 lows and take up the thread of his life. 
 
 "You must not keep a grain of mawkish sentiment^ 
 Mordryn," Her Ladyship said at last. "You must ban- 
 ish all remembrance of Laura and Adeliza and begin 
 life afresh." 
 
 "At fif ty- three .'' — It is a little late, I fear, for the 
 game to have much zest." 
 
 "Tut ! tut ! You have never found the youngest and 
 most beautiful woman recalcitrant, I'll wager. One 
 had heard not so many years ago that a certain fine 
 creature in Paris almost died of love for you !" 
 
 The Duke smiled, and when he did this it was an 
 illumination, his face in repose was so stern. 
 
 "Not of love — of chagrin, because the ruby in the 
 bangle she received was reported to her — by her 
 masseuse— to be of less pure pigeon's blood than the 
 duplicate — which I gave to the Spaniard. It is im- 
 possible to gauge the love of a mistress ; it is equally 
 kindled by rubies and the charms of a youthful Apollo.'* 
 
 "But you need not now confine your attentions to ces 
 
 265
 
 ^IIE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 dames any longer, Mordryn ; there are numbers of our 
 world who would console jou." 
 
 Tlie Duke smiled again. 
 
 ■"None of them ever mattered to me very much, as 
 you l<now, dear friend, from the days when my whole 
 soul was yours. Since then women have been rare re- 
 laxations, eplicmeral diversions leaving no mark." 
 
 *'We are going to change all that !" 
 
 Then their talk drifted to other things, and before 
 His Grace left he had promised to spend Easter at 
 JBlissington. 
 
 While luncheon had yet been in full swing and a pro- 
 pitious moment had come, Gerard had carried out his 
 plan. The subject of miniatures was introduced, and 
 a heated argument ensued about the likelihood of the 
 new acquisitions being by Cosway, and then the sug- 
 gestion that the Duke should come in and dine the next 
 iiiglit and decide the matter came out quite naturally. 
 
 Lady Garribardine made no remark at the time, and 
 indeed hardly thought about it, but that night when 
 she sat by her bedroom fire, she suddenly remembered 
 that her secretary would meet the Duke, and for a long 
 time she stared into the glowing embers in deep 
 thought. 
 
 No, it was not possible that the girl had known that 
 he would speak ; that was not her reason for wishing 
 to go to the House of Lords ; but she had seen him 
 there, and now she would meet him at dinner! 
 
 A number of expressions chased themselves over Her 
 Ladyship's countenance, while her eyes never left the 
 one point in the coals. The frown of cogitation deep- 
 ened on her forehead and then cleared away. She had 
 come to a decision. 
 
 ^m
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 When Mordrjn had retired with his hostess after 
 luncheon, Gerard Strobridge had sought Miss Bush in 
 the secretary's room. 
 
 "The deed is done, Katherine," he announced, with 
 an attempt at gaiety while his heart was heavy within 
 him. "The Duke is coming to dinner on Friday night, 
 and GwcndoHne not Arabella, and a couple of bores 
 from the country, so all my duties and sacrifices 
 are completed. Now are you going to give me a re- 
 ward?" 
 
 "It depends upon its nature." 
 
 *'Yes, I know that. It is quite a reasonable one. It 
 is to come down in my motor with me this afternoon 
 and see the spring borders at Hampton Court?" 
 
 Katherine hesitated. She would love to go, but she 
 had work to do before to-morrow, and unless she sat 
 up late at night it could not be accomplished. 
 
 He came over and spoke earnestly. 
 
 "I feel that this will be the last time that we can be 
 pupil and teacher, Katherine. Fate is going to change 
 for us both. I want to keep a memory of you, dearest, 
 when you were my friend alone, without the shadow of 
 any other interest between — Won't you try to give me 
 this one last great pleasure?" 
 
 Katherine was touched. 
 
 "Yes, I will," she agreed. "I cannot go up and ask 
 Her Ladyship noAV, but I believe she would let me go. 
 I have no business with her until to-morrow morning. 
 Do you want me to come at once?" 
 
 "Yes, I will walk on round to the garage and get the 
 motor, and you can meet me at Stanhope Gate." 
 
 It turned out to be an afternoon which neither of 
 them would ever forget, and Katherine Bush had never 
 been so near to emotion for her friend as when at last 
 
 267
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 they sat down upon a bench and looked away to the 
 broad green avenue between the giant trees. 
 
 Gerard Strobridge had exerted every power he 
 possessed to please her. He had enchanted her fancy, 
 and had drawn out all that was finest in herself. They 
 had studied the flowers, and talked of their favourite 
 books ; and Katherine was conscious that she herself 
 was being brilliant, and that now his flights were not 
 beyond her, but that she could fully hold her own. 
 
 "If I had been unwed, Katiierine, would you have 
 married me?" he asked her at last. "Divine as to-day 
 has been, think what it would have meant with love be- 
 tween us — and further joys to come. Katherine, I 
 would have done my utmost to make you happy. Will 
 you answer me this question? I think it may be the 
 last one I shall ever ask you." 
 
 She let her hands fall into her lap and she looked at 
 him critically for a while before she spoke. And her 
 voice was reflective when she did reply. 
 
 "I think if you had been free at that first Christmas, 
 yes — I would have married you, I would have let you 
 take me away and teach me all that I now know — ^And 
 then I would have made you use all your gifts and rise, 
 rise to the top of your tree. I would never have rested 
 until you had reached the summit, and I with you." 
 
 He gave a little groan and covered his face with his 
 hands. 
 
 "I forged all the barriers to joy by weakness long 
 ago, Katherine. I drifted idly down life's stream, and 
 now am caught in the rushes and cannot get free. The 
 thought is bitter sweet, dear love — this picture of what 
 might have been. And I would have taught you to love 
 me at last. Ah ! God ! the pain ! But now I do not want 
 to finish this day with sorrowful repinings. I will keep 
 
 268
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 this memory of your words and go my way, and when 
 you come into your kingdom remember me, and let us 
 renew our friendsliip on calmer shores." 
 
 He took her hand, and pulling her glove off back- 
 wards kissed each white finger, and then his eyes grew 
 misty and he said farewell. And in Katherine's heart 
 there was a strange sadness, and they hardly spoke at 
 all as they sped homewards.
 
 CHAPTER XXrV 
 
 WHEN Friday night came and Katherine was 
 ready to get into the taxi with Miss Gwen- 
 doline d'Estaire, she felt exalted as she had 
 never done in her life. 
 
 This evening would be the test of her powers — If she 
 failed, then she would know that such high goals were 
 not for her, and so she must curtail her aspirations. 
 But she woidd not fail. It might be that the Duke 
 would not be drawn to her — it was impossible to tell 
 from that one afternoon what his temperament could 
 be — but at all costs she must not fail in being a culti- 
 vated lady, a guest among equals, and so to take at 
 least that place in his regard. 
 
 There was something almost diabolically whimsical 
 in the fact that one passionate would-be lover was de- 
 liberately arranging that his lady should meet a possi- 
 ble rival ! Gerard Strobridge appreciated this point 
 as he stood before the cheerful wood fire in the morn- 
 ing-room in Brook Street, awaiting his guests. 
 
 The bores, of course, came first, and then Katherine 
 and old ]\Iiss Gwendoline d'Estaire, and last of all, not 
 more than five minutes late — His Grace. 
 
 He was quite abnormally distinguished looking in 
 evening dress, which when dissected did not prove to 
 be remarkably difFcrent from that of the others, but 
 which yet possessed some subtle quality entirely apart 
 from theirs, in its bygone suggestion. His manners 
 were most courtly ; he recognised Katherine at once and 
 
 270
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 shook hands with her. And then dinner was announced 
 
 Gerard sent the lady bore in with the Duke — himself 
 taking old Gwendoline, and leaving Katherine to the 
 husband, so that Katherine sat next His Grace at a 
 little round table. 
 
 She was looking quite beautiful in a new black frock, 
 as simple as the old one, and with some of her favourite 
 lilies of the valley tucked into the belt. Mordryn felt 
 constrained to talk to his partner until after the fish — ■ 
 the host, by a tactful interruption, drew away her at- 
 tention and left him free, and then without hesitation 
 he turned to Katherine. 
 
 Her heart was beating fast, and the excitement made 
 her eyes dark and her cheeks pale, but she did not lose 
 her head, and indeed felt an extra stimulant to her 
 brain power. 
 
 He began about the debate on Wednesday. The 
 whole thing was rather a mockery since they were 
 robbed of all poAver now in the House of Lords, and 
 could only make mild protests, but not enforce their 
 opinions. Was Miss Bush interested in politics? 
 
 Katherine said that she was, but thought it rather 
 a degrading profession now, with paid members making 
 their living out of their seats. And so they spoke for 
 a little upon this theme, and the Duke found himself 
 agreeably entertained. He liked her deep voice, and 
 above all her extraordinarily good hands. 
 
 "Bush.'"' he said to himself. "I do not remember to 
 have heard the name before — the mother perhaps had 
 the breeding. Those hands do not come from the shrub- 
 bery or the common !" 
 
 Now Katherine began to talk of travels. She knew 
 that all people enjoyed discussing theirs on their re- 
 turn. 
 
 271
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 She would much like to visit the East. She had al- 
 ways been thrilled with Kinglake's description of 
 Damascus in "Eothen." Was it really a city "of hid- 
 den palaces, of copses and gardens, and fountains and 
 bubbling streams"? His Grace's eyes expressed real 
 interest now, not so much that they should discuss 
 Damascus, but that a modern girl should have read 
 Kinglake and deeply enough to quote him correctly ! 
 He also knew his Kinglake, and had that potent gift 
 of memory which never stumbles in its manifestations. 
 
 He continued the subject with enthusiasm and found 
 that this charming young woman was familiar with all 
 the subtlest shades. They had touched upon passages 
 of peculiar beauty concerning the Dead Sea, and the 
 girls of Bethlehem and the wonderful desert sun, and 
 were in the middle of those dedicated to the Sphinx, 
 when the Duke became aware that a sweet was being 
 handed and that dinner was more than half over! With 
 infinite discretion the host had never allowed the flow 
 of conversation to flag, so that no pause among so 
 small a company should bring this promising tete-Or- 
 tete to a close. Katherine should have a fair field if 
 he could procure it for her. 
 
 But His Grace's good manners reproached him for 
 his negligence to the lady he had taken in, and he 
 turned from the contemplation of Katherine's regular 
 profile with reluctant dutifulncss, inwardly determining 
 to continue Kinglake and other things when they should 
 all be safely in the drawing-room. These people would 
 surely play bridge. What a capital thing cards were 
 if one had strength of mind enough to enforce one's 
 own selfishness in rot playing them! 
 
 Katherine now used her best endeavours to be agree- 
 able to the bore husband, and spoke of subjects which 
 
 272
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 were in his ken. And Gerard, watching her, admired 
 the progress of his pupil. No one of his world, or any 
 world, could have been a more polished or enchanting 
 guest. And his pride in her numbed the pain he had 
 felt all the day. 
 
 Then the conversation became general, and gave 
 fresh opportunity for Katherine to show her powers 
 of repartee. 
 
 Yes, the quarette played bridge, and began it almost 
 immediately the men joined the ladies upstairs. Mr. 
 Strobridge had carefully not allowed the talk to stray 
 to any personal subject while they were alone in the 
 dining-room, in case the Duke should question him 
 about Katherine. If so, he would have been forced to 
 say who she was, and that would spoil her plans per- 
 haps. How she meant to get out of the dilemma after- 
 wards he did not speculate. All pretence was so for- 
 eign to her nature. But that was her affair ; his only 
 concern was that this evening should be without flaw. 
 
 The Duke found a place on the sofa beside Katherine 
 as soon as the rest began their rubber, and here he 
 could look at her undisturbed and without craning his 
 neck. 
 
 He admired her extremely. She was the exact type 
 which pleased him, distinguished and well-bred looking. 
 He liked the way she spoke, with no distressingly mod- 
 ern slang in her phrases. She must evidently have been 
 most carefully brought up in a really refined home ! 
 Could she be a relation of the d'Estaires .'' But to ask 
 questions of this sort was not his method, and he turned 
 the conversation back to "Eothen" again and kindred 
 things. 
 
 Katherine was in the seventh heaven ; she was bloom- 
 ing like a glowing hot-house plant and seemed to 
 
 273
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 radiate sweetness and serenity. Every now and then 
 she let her eyes meet his dark-blue ones, with that 
 strange magnetic look in hers which she knew would 
 compel his interest. 
 
 They spoke of music and poetry, and then of pic- 
 tures — pictures in general — and lastly those of Bliss- 
 ington. 
 
 "Did she know Blissington well.'' 
 
 Yes, she knew it very well, and that enigmatic smile 
 hovered for a moment round her lips. Mordryn was 
 surprised at it. 
 
 "It contains some recollections for you which are 
 humorous, then.'"' 
 
 "Yes — very humorous." 
 
 "Won't you tell me what they are.'"' His most at- 
 tractive clear-cut face came a little nearer to her in his 
 interest. 
 
 "Some day you will know." 
 
 "How fraught with meaning! 'Some day I shall 
 know!' Not to-night, then.''" 
 
 "No, for to-night we are guests at a dinner-party 
 and are talking about literature and music and art." 
 
 "But I want to talk about you — May I not.'"' 
 
 "I do not see why you should. I am just a person 
 whom you will never really see again — I mean, never 
 really talk to again — so why waste time in unprofitable 
 investigations.''" 
 
 "How do you know that they would be unprofitable?'* 
 
 Katherine looked down at her own white hands folded 
 quietly in her lap, then up again and straight into his 
 eyes. 
 
 "This night week if you chance to think of this eve- 
 ning, you will realise how right I am as to their com- 
 plete unprofitableness !" 
 
 274
 
 " 'You are readv for tlic great adventure?'
 
 THE CAKEER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "You speak in riddles." 
 
 She shrugged her shoulders slightly and smiled. 
 
 His Grace found himself distinctly curious. 
 
 "Why should you be so sure that I shall never really 
 see — or was it speak to — you again? Do you then live 
 on some desert island off the north of Scotland, by 
 chance?" 
 
 "In a much more inaccessible place than that." Her 
 eyes sparkled with some unfathomable expression. 
 
 "Iceland?" 
 
 "There is an ice barrier surrounding it." 
 
 "I shall have to give it up, and you will tell me your- 
 self out of gratitude, for ceasing to tease you." 
 
 Katherine leaned back on the soft green silk cushions 
 of the sofa. She was looking most alluring in her new 
 role of honoured guest. It was so delightful to be per- 
 fectly at ease and able to lean there, and not sit bolt 
 upright in a chair in an attitude of respect. The Duke 
 found the sight of her extremely soothing. 
 
 "You come to London sometimes, I expect?" 
 
 "Yes, for a part of the year." 
 
 "Ah ! I thought so ! I did not believe that Iceland 
 produced such a polished creature. You know you are 
 quite unusual, Miss Bush. You have consented, with- 
 out apparent reluctance, to talk upon interesting sub- 
 jects to a wearied and middle-aged man, and you have 
 not spoken of golf or dancing — and you have not 
 smoked !" 
 
 "I do smoke sometimes, but only when I am doing 
 some tiresome mechanical work like typing." 
 
 "Typing ?-rI suppose it is useful — but what can 
 you have to type? Are you writing a book?" 
 
 Katherine gave a sudden soft laugh, infinitely pro- 
 voking; it made the blood run in Gerard Strobridge's 
 
 275
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 veins, and he viciously played a knave while quivering 
 with a sense of rebellion. He knew what it meant when 
 she laughed like that! When would this ghastly eve- 
 ning end? 
 
 And Katherine half whispered: "No, not writing 
 one, but trying to learn out of that greatest volume of 
 all time— the book of life !" 
 
 "What can you know of life?" The Duke asked the 
 question as Gerard Strobridge had asked it long ago. 
 "Protected and pampered and kept from all but its 
 pleasant sides — what can girls of our class know of 
 life?" 
 
 "Tell me, then, what it is — since I could not be sup- 
 posed to know?" and her mouth still looked mischievous 
 as well as her eyes. 
 
 The Duke thrilled a little. 
 
 *'Life is either a muddle through, or an achievement. 
 And it contains good things and bad things, and pas- 
 sions — and it is forever trying to express itself, and 
 proclaim its meaning quite regardless of laws. 
 
 " 'Tis not to stalk about and draw fresh air. 
 From time to time, or gaze upon the Sun." 
 
 "Oh! it is a splendid thing!" Katherine cried, and 
 her voice vibrated. "And unlike the Spanish Student, 
 I shall not 'grow weary of the bewildering masquerade,' 
 *where strangers walk as friends and friends as stran- 
 gers.' And even if they did, the unexpectedness of it 
 would be delightful !" 
 
 Mordryn looked at her. At the fresh, young firm, 
 smooth cheeks, the living red, voluptuous mouth, the 
 ashcn-hued hair, every strand of which seemed to be 
 specially alive and to hold its own silvery glitter. And 
 
 276
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 then at her strange, compelling eyes, and he sighed a 
 little. She seemed such an embodiment of vital things. 
 
 "You are ready for the great adventure?" 
 
 "Quite, and I mean to know everything before I grow 
 old and indifferent." 
 
 He sighed again. 
 
 "Age docs not always produce indifference ; it would 
 be merciful if it did." 
 
 "There can be no need really to grow old. Age 
 comes because people lose their grip on things." 
 
 "Probably. But responsibilities and sorrows and 
 disappointments age. You have no doubt a very shel- 
 tered life, and so it seems to you that all is easy." 
 
 Katherine laughed again softly. It was so delicious 
 to think of the reality in contrast to his supposition! 
 
 "My life is indeed sheltered — by a very strong shield, 
 but not by the one your words would suggest." 
 
 "No.? What then?" 
 
 "It is not at all interesting to talk of me; I have 
 already told you so — Why do you persist? I would 
 much rather hear of foreign countries — Italy, for in- 
 stance. I have never been there." 
 
 There was not the least subjective deference in her 
 manner to him. It was as if an equal were talking to 
 one of her own brain calibre and that equal a woman, 
 who had a right to be humoured. Women — especially 
 girls — were not wont so to treat him, but were always 
 more or less impressed by his great position, or his 
 aloofness, or his satirical but courteous wit. He had 
 sometimes an expression of contemptuous, amiable 
 tolerance, which was eighteenth century and disconcert- 
 ing. It made all but the most simple or most highly 
 cultivated among them slightly uneasy — Was he laugh- 
 ing at them? They were never quite sure. 
 
 277
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 He found himself piqued now, and In no mood to be 
 balked, so he contradicted Katherlne. 
 
 "You may not find yourself interesting to talk about ; 
 it chances tliat I do. I wish to know what it is that 
 shields you so effectively." 
 
 "A clear idea of what I want, I expect, and a strong 
 enough will not to be much buffeted about by any wind 
 of opinion." 
 
 "What a rara avis! And you look so young!" 
 
 "I am twenty-three ; that is fully grown." 
 
 "And what is it you want?" 
 
 "To be free to soar — to see the world — to feel its 
 throb — to demonstrate some of my ideas." 
 
 "On what subjects.?" 
 
 "The meanings of things — and why they are — and 
 the common sense aspect of them. Then one could help 
 humanity. Lady Garribardine is my ideal of what a 
 woman should be. There is nothing small about her; 
 she is as big as a great man and far more sagacious." 
 
 "There I am with you !" and his voice became eager. 
 "Her Ladyship has always been the perfection of things 
 feminine, in my opinion. You know her well.''" 
 
 "Extremely well. She is not afraid of her views and 
 principles. She is really an aristocrat. She believes 
 in herself, so everyone believes in her, too !" 
 
 "Most of us are shaky about ourselves." 
 
 "You are not — I shall turn the tables now and say 
 I want to talk about you ! What does it feel like to 
 be a Duke? — A real Duke, not a parvenu or one who 
 makes a laughing stock of his order." 
 
 He smiled ; she was a most engaging and audacious 
 young jjcrson, because she did not speak with childish 
 artlcssness, but with deliberation. 
 
 "It feels a great responsibility sometimes, and a 
 
 278
 
 THE CABEEE OF KATIIEBINE BUSH 
 
 thing of very little consequence at others. It enforces 
 perhaps a standard of behaviour which it is difficult 
 always to follow. If the circumstances of my life had 
 been different when I was younger, I should have en- 
 deavoured not to let our order slip into impotency; 
 now the whole modern political outlook disgusts me 
 so that I seldom speak in the House." 
 
 "That is very wrong of you, and cowardly." She 
 was quite fearless. "You should never give up a fight 
 or remain passive when what really belongs to you is 
 being filched from you. If you do, as a band, you de- 
 serve to be put aside. You should fight with the same 
 fierceness with which those Radicals do who know they 
 are shams, but are indeed in earnest to obtain their own 
 ends." 
 
 "You are quite right. There are some women who 
 stimulate in all ways, who are, as it were, sent into 
 the world as electric dynamos. They get the best out 
 of everyone ; they make men work better and play bet- 
 ter — and love better." 
 
 He looked at her now with his fine eyes sparkhng, 
 but flirtation was far beneath his feet. To his mis- 
 tresses he was a master, a generous, tolerant, con- 
 temptuous master ; to his friends like Lady Garribardine 
 the essence of courtly consideration ; to the general 
 company politely aloof. But to the woman who could 
 arouse his love, what might he not be! Katherine 
 thought this, and a quiver ran through her of a kind 
 she had never experienced before, so that her com- 
 posure Avas not so perfect as usual when she answered: 
 
 "If one really knew exactly what is love!" 
 
 "You have no dim guess at it, then.''" He was quite 
 surprised that it should interest him to know what her 
 reply would De. 
 
 279
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSK 
 
 "Yes, I have — more than that. I know that some 
 phases of it make on feel mad, agitated, unbalanced, 
 animal, even motherly and protective — but what it 
 could be if it touched the soul, I cannot fathom." 
 
 The Duke did not speak for a moment ; he was filled 
 with wonder and a growing admiration, admiration 
 which extended even beyond the very real appreciation 
 of her beauty. Her mentality was so far above the 
 average, her directness so interesting. There was not 
 the slightest trace of pose in anything she said — ^And 
 that last speech — what possibilities it opened up ! She 
 knew something of one side of love then, evidently! 
 
 "Do you realise what your words imply?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "That you have loved someone — in that way — * 
 once.''" 
 
 "Yes, I have — It is a way that frightens one, and 
 makes one more than ever sure that there must be some- 
 thing else. Do you know that there is — ^you who have 
 lived your life.?" 
 
 Her face was pale and cool as moonbeams. She 
 seemed to be talking in the abstract, for all the personal 
 question. The Duke found himself quite unaccountably 
 moved, and was just about to answer eagerly, when 
 at that moment the host joined them from the other 
 drawing-room ; the rubber was over, and he felt he must 
 do his duty and not make too obvious a point of leaving 
 the pair alone. 
 
 "Come and see the miniatures, Mordryn," he said. 
 "We must not forget that it was their lure which 
 brought you here to-niglit." 
 
 His tone Katherine well understood, it contained for 
 all its surface graciousncss some bitterness underneath. 
 
 There was general movement after this, and no more 
 
 280
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 private confidences could be exchanged, so that Miss 
 
 d'Estaire and Katherine left, with His Grace's answer 
 
 to the latter's question still unspoken. 
 
 And Gerard Strobridge, as he pressed Katherine's 
 
 hand in good-nights, whispered : 
 
 "Have I done well — and are you satisfied?" 
 The firm clasp of her cool fingers was his answer.
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 LADY GARRIBARDINE was unable to spare her 
 secretary from the Easter party, so it had been 
 arranged that she was to have a few days holi- 
 day from the Saturday following the dinner-party, 
 but she must catch the three o'clock train from Pad- 
 dington on the Thursday before Easter, and return 
 then. 
 
 Katherine did not go home to Bindon's Green. She 
 went off alone to a little place by the sea on the east 
 coast, and there she set herself to review events, and 
 think out her plans while she lay upon the sands un- 
 heeding the east wind. 
 
 Gerard Strobridge had served her loyally — the inter- 
 est which she had meant to kindle was kindled. The 
 Duke now had made a mental picture of her, unmarred 
 by possible qualifications which, if he had known she 
 was his friend's humble secretary and typist, he would 
 have been bound to have made. Not that he was in the 
 least a snob, but that he would have naturally consid- 
 ered it unbefitting his situation to go about looking 
 for interesting companions among his friend's depend- 
 ents. He would simply not have observed her at all 
 when he came to Blissington, any more than she her- 
 self had observed either of the footmen at Gerard Stro- 
 bridge's dinner. Not that she despised footmen as 
 footmen, or the Duke secretaries as secretaries ; they 
 were worthy and necessary servants; but guests did not 
 remark them except in their professional capacities, 
 
 282
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 people who were there to serve at table or write letters 
 and attend to business. 
 
 Not the slightest irritation or resentment mingled 
 with these reflections of Katherine's. She was much 
 too wise and just, and never under the influence of hurt 
 vanity or dramatic instinct, so this point of view, that 
 she knew the Duke would naturally take, seemed to her 
 perfectly right, and instead of resenting it, she had 
 used her brain to nullify it, knowing full well that if 
 she played her part at the dinner effectually, interest 
 would be aroused which no barrier of different statuses 
 could entirely obliterate afterwards. Now on this last 
 afternoon at Bayview, she must think out what she 
 would do next, for the Duke would be arriving at Bliss- 
 ington by a train from the west which got in a few 
 minutes after her own from Paddington. She hoA 
 known before the dinner-party that he was coming for 
 Easter, and that morning had received a command from 
 her mistress that she was to look out for him, and tell 
 him he was to take the small coupe and not get into 
 the other motor, which would await her and be loaded 
 up with fragile hat-boxes which were coming by Kath- 
 erine's train. There would be the luggage car for his 
 servant and his trunks as well. All the rest of the guests 
 were arriving by motors or by the express an hour 
 later. 
 
 Thus the plunge from equal to humble secretary 
 would have to be made at once, and she must see to it 
 that it was done with tact and skill, so as not to mar 
 the effect already produced, but rather enhance it. 
 There was only one drop in her cup. She did not feel 
 altogether happy in keeping this secret from her be- 
 loved mistress. A secret, too, which concerned her, 
 perhaps, most valued guest. But it was absolutely im- 
 
 283
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 possible that she could frankly avow her intentions to 
 Lady Garribardine, as she had done to Gerard; so 
 much she would keep to herself, but she would speak 
 of her enjoyment at meeting the Duke, if Her Ladyship 
 did not herself begin the subject, and she had not reason 
 to believe Mr. Strobridge had told his aunt of the en- 
 counter. She had not seen Lady Garribardine since 
 the dinner, having left for her holiday very early on 
 the Saturday morning. All the way down in the train 
 to Blissington she was conscious of suppressed excite- 
 ment. She had been most careful about her appear- 
 ance, and looked as charming and yet unobtrusive as 
 it was possible to look. 
 
 She waited, when once arrived, at the entrance where 
 the subway from the departure platform emerged — 
 and she felt a quiver when she saw the top of the Duke's 
 hat and then his face. 
 
 How attractive he looked! And how unlike other 
 people ! Among a crowd he was a magnificent per- 
 sonality, one to whom porters and officials and stran- 
 gers naturally showed deference. Peers could look like 
 \ery humble and sometimes even vulgar people, she 
 knew, but no man, woman or child could mistake 
 His Grace of Mordryn for anything but a great 
 noble. 
 
 When he caught sight of Katherine standing just 
 at the inside of the stream of passengers, his whole 
 stern face changed, and an illuminating smile came over 
 it, while he stretched out his hand cordially. 
 
 "Miss Bush! Are we to be fellow guests? You are 
 coming to Blissington? How delightful!" 
 
 Katherine made as though she did not see the hand, 
 and with deference and lowered lids, she said: 
 
 "Yes, I am going to Blissington, but Your Grace is 
 
 284
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 under a misapprehension which I must correct. I am 
 Her Ladyship's typist and secretary, and I am here 
 now to give you a message, that you are to take her 
 Ladyship's own small coupe and not the motor which 
 is waiting for the bandboxes and me." 
 
 But with all her demureness, she could not prevent 
 an irresistible and humorous quiver from dimpling 
 round her lips, and then she raised her steady eyes and 
 looked at him suddenly as she bowed and moved off 
 quickly, leaving him for the first time in his life com- 
 pletely nonplussed ! What was the meaning of this* 
 comed}'^? He felt rather angry. What business had 
 Gerard Strobridge to trick him so.^* But had he tricked 
 him? He recollected now that Miss Bush had not been 
 mentioned by Gerard at all one way or another. She 
 was simply treated as any other guest, and had come 
 apparently with Gwendohne d'Estaire. That she was 
 a high-bred lady his own senses had told him, whether 
 she were a typist or no ! — Highly bred and educated 
 and exceptionally cultivated and refined. She must 
 certainly be the daughter of some friend of Sarah's who 
 had met with financial misfortune, poor charming girl! 
 And he hurried after her — but only got outside the 
 station to see her disappear in a motor already piled 
 up inside with milliner's boxes. So, baffled and still 
 deeply interested, he entered the coupe awaiting him 
 and was whirled off. Seraphim would, of course, tell 
 him all about it, and so he dismissed the matter from 
 his mind ; but his first thought when he got into the hall 
 was to wonder if Katherine would be at tea. She was 
 not. Tea was a tete-a-tete affair in his old friend's 
 boudoir, where a hundred thousand things of interest 
 had to be discussed between them, and no time or chance 
 was given for reference to obscure secretaries. 
 
 S85
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 After tea on her way down to receive the guests, 
 who would continue to arrive in relays until dressing 
 time, Lady Garribardine went into the schoolroom to 
 see Katherine. 
 
 They spoke of business, and Katherine received 
 orders, and took down notes, and then she said: 
 
 "Your Ladyship will be amused to hear that I met 
 the Duke at dinner at Mr. Strobridge's. He did not 
 know my position, and I am afraid at the time I did 
 not undeceive him. It was such a very great pleasure 
 to me to be taken for a lady and a guest just for once. 
 Of course, I told him at the station my real position, 
 and he appeared much surprised." 
 
 Lady Garribardine walked to the window and pre- 
 tended to be looking out at something. She wanted to 
 hide all the expression which might come into her eyes. 
 The simple words, "It was such a very great pleasure 
 to be taken for a lady and a guest just for once," had 
 deeply touched her. She seemed to realise what such a 
 spirit as Katherine's must feel, always in a subordinate 
 position of no particular status — And with what 
 dignity she carried it off! 
 
 "Child," she answered, without looking round, "no 
 one who knows you would ever take you for anything 
 else — the theory of blood being absolutely necessary 
 for this, you have proved to be nonsense. The Duke 
 is one of my oldest friends and a very fine gentleman. 
 I am glad you had a chance of talking freely to him." 
 
 After she had left the room, Katherine folded and 
 unfolded a bit of paper, a very unusual agitation mov- 
 ing her. 
 
 "Oh ! I wish I could tell her outright, my dear 
 lady !" she cried to herself. "I almost believe she would 
 sympathise with me, but if I see that she would not, 
 
 286
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 and that it would hurt and anger her, I will give up 
 even this, my ambition. 
 
 j> 
 
 Gerard Strobridge was not of this party ; he had 
 been obliged to go to his brother's, so Katherine would 
 have no collaborator and would be forced to act alone. 
 
 She did not dine downstairs, but was required in the 
 drawing-room afterwards, and until ten o'clock she 
 stayed alone in her sitting-room, wondering what the 
 Duke had thought, and if it would have been wiser to 
 have stayed for a minute after firing her bomb. 
 
 Had she known it, nothing to chain his interest could 
 have been better than her swift disappearance, for he 
 was now thinking of her, and at the first opportunity 
 between the soup and fish, he said to his hostess : 
 
 "Seraphim, I met your secretary, it seems, the other 
 night at Gerard's — a very intelligent girl. I had no 
 idea at the time that she was in any dependent position 
 — and was greatly surprised when she addressed me at 
 the station to-day as 'Your Grace' ! She is some mis- 
 fortunate friend's daughter, I suppose. Anyone I 
 knew?" 
 
 Lady Garribardine's eyes beamed with a momentary 
 twinkle which she suppressed — She thought of the auc- 
 tioneer father and the butcher grandfather and then 
 she said casually: 
 
 "No — she came from an advertisement, but she is a 
 splendid creature, with more sense in her little finger 
 than most of us have in our entire bodies — What do 
 you think of my grey locks, Mordryn?" 
 
 The Duke assured her he found them bewitching; 
 he saw that she did not mean to speak of her secre- 
 tary. 
 
 "They cause you to look ten years younger, dear 
 
 287
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 friend. I could find it in my heart to make love to you 
 once more — and be repulsed with unabated violence, I 
 fear !" 
 
 "Love was good when we were young, Mordryn ; ten 
 or twelve years do not matter when a man is twenty- 
 five and a woman thirty-five to thirty-eight — that is, 
 if they are not married. The discrepancy in age only 
 becomes grotesque later. We loved and laughed and 
 lived then, and should be grateful — I am — ^As for you, 
 you will love again — fifty-three for a man is nothing. 
 You are abominably attractive, you know, Mordryn, 
 with your weary, aloof air — and your Dukedom — And 
 now that you are altogether free from anxieties, you 
 should take the cup of joy in both hands and quaff it — ■ 
 Look round the table. Have I not provided some sweet 
 creatures for you?" 
 
 *'you have indeed — ^W^hich one in particular have 
 you destined for the cup-bearer,?" 
 
 "Any one of the three on that side towards the top. 
 You can't have brains and beauty. Lil}' Trevelyan 
 has beauty, and enough tact to hide her absence of 
 brain. Blanche Montague has no beauty but a certain 
 chic — and I am told wonderful variety of talent. She 
 does not satiate her admirers with sameness — While 
 Julia Scarrisbrooke is all passion so well assumed as to 
 be better than the real article, and always handy. These 
 credentials I have collected from a cohort of past ad- 
 mirers and they can be vouched for. You have only 
 to choose. Any one of tliom will be enchanted. They 
 are only waiting to spring into your arms !" 
 
 "I believe that would bore me. I want someone who 
 is not enchanted — someone who leaves the whole initia- 
 tive to me." 
 
 Her Ladyship cast up her eyes. "My dear Mordryn, 
 
 288
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 your unsophistication pains me! Who ever heard of a 
 Duke of fifty-three, well preserved, good-looking, un- 
 married and distinguished — known to be generous as 
 a lover and full of charm — being allowed to take the 
 initiative with women — Fie!" 
 
 The Duke laughed, and by some curious turn of 
 fancy he seemed to see the white, perfectly composed 
 face of the stately, slender scretary, who had treated 
 him as naught that night at Gerard's, and then looked 
 almost mockingly respectful when she called him "Your 
 Grace!" in the station. Would she be in the drawing- 
 room after dinner? — Perhaps. 
 
 Yes, she was, over by the piano at the far end; but 
 Lily Trevelyan and Blanche Montague and Julia Scar- 
 risbrooke had surrounded him before he could get half- 
 way down the long room, and escape was out of the 
 question. No manceuvring enabled him to break free 
 of them. So he had to sit and be purred at, and see 
 with the tail of his eye a graceful creature in black 
 talking quietly (and intelligently he felt sure) to some 
 less important guest — and then playing accompani- 
 ments — and then slipping away through a door at that 
 end, presumably to bed. 
 
 He cursed civilisation, he profoundly cursed beauti- 
 ful ladies, and he became sarcastic and caused Julia 
 and Lily who were for the moment bosom friends to 
 confide to each other, over the latter's bedroom fire, 
 that Mordryn was "too darling for words" but spiteful 
 as Her Ladyship's black cat. 
 
 "I do hate men to be so clever — don't you, Lil.'' 
 One never knows where one is, with them." 
 
 "Oh! but Ju, dearest, he isn't deformed or deadly 
 dull or diseased, or tipsy, he is awfully good looking 
 and very rich and a Duke — Really you can't have 
 
 289
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 everything. I thought Blanche Montague was shock- 
 ingly open in her desire to secure him, did not you? I 
 wonder why Sarah asked her here with us !" 
 
 Meanwhile Katherinc Bush did not permit herself to 
 wonder at His Grace's possible feelings or his future 
 actions at all. She had seen the eager look in his dark 
 blue eyes once or twice across the room and being a 
 wise woman left things to fate. 
 
 "I wish G. were here," the hostess said to herself as 
 she, too, stood by a bedroom fire — her own. "I have 
 no one to exchange unspoken confidence with. He would 
 have understood and appreciated the enchanting 
 comedy of female purpose, male instinct to flee, and one 
 young woman's supreme intelligence!" 
 
 The next day the Duke, who knew the house well, 
 and in what wing Miss Arnott had worked, took it into 
 his head to walk before breakfast in the rose garden. 
 Miss Bush saw him from the window and allowed her- 
 self to bow gravely when he deliberately looked up ; 
 then she moved away. He felt a distinct sensation of 
 tantalization. After breakfast everyone would play 
 tennis. He played an extraordinarily good game him- 
 self, and was in flannels read}'. Katherine thought he 
 had a very fine figure and looked much younger in those 
 clothes. She wanted to ask him about the emerald ring 
 — she wanted to ask him about a number of things. 
 She had work to do all the morning, but came out 
 to tlie tennis lawn with a message to her mistress just 
 before luncheon, during an exciting single match be- 
 tween the Duke and an agile young man — the last game 
 was at 80 all — and Katherine paused to watch the 
 strokes — 40-30 — And then Mordryn won — amidst 
 shouts of applause. 
 
 Katherine had remarked that he ran about very 
 
 290
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 little and won by sheer style and skill and hard hit- 
 ting. 
 
 She did not loiter a second when he was free to move, 
 but flitted back to the house before he could get near 
 her. 
 
 She lunched alone in her schoolroom. 
 
 By the afternoon, when she did appear at tea, the 
 Duke was thoroughly ill-tempered, he knew not why 
 or for what reason, merely that his mood was so. Kath- 
 erine, busy with the teapot, only raised her head to 
 give a polite, respectful bow in answer to his greeting. 
 He was inf^initely too much a man of the world to single 
 out the humble secretary and draw upon her the wrath 
 of these lovely guests. So he contented himself by 
 watching her, and noting her unconcerned air and easy 
 grace. Some of the people seemed to know her well 
 and be very friendly with her. 
 
 She showed not the slightest sign of a desire to speak 
 to him — Could it be possible that this was the girl who 
 only that night week had talked with him upon the 
 enthralling subject of love! 
 
 Those utterances of hers which had sounded so 
 cryptic at the time were intelligible now. How subtle 
 had been her comprehension of the situation. Pie re- 
 membered her face when he had asked her if she knew 
 Blissington ! And again when she had told him that 
 that night week he would know how altogether unprofit- 
 able any investigations regarding her would be ! And 
 now in tlie character of humble secretary she was just as 
 complete as she had been when apparently a fellow 
 guest and social equal. It was all annoyingly disturb- 
 ing. It placed him in a false position and her in one in 
 which she held all the advantafjcs ! And there she sat 
 
 o^ 
 
 serene and dignified, hedged round with that barrier of 
 
 291
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 ice of which she had spoken. He had not experienced 
 such perplexing emotions for many years. 
 
 He wanted to talk to her. He wanted to ask her 
 what it all meant — He would like to know her history, 
 and whence she had come. Gwendoline d'Estaire had 
 treated her, he had noticed, not as a dependent, but as 
 a friend. He felt himself rather awkward — he, a maD 
 of the world accustomed to homage from women ! 
 
 He did manage to say that it was a bore that the 
 rain had come on, and it looked as though to-morrow 
 would be wet. And he felt humiliated at the fine, in- 
 stantly suppressed smile which flickered round her 
 mouth at this brilliant remark from an acknowledged 
 wit! 
 
 Then he became angry with himself — what matter to 
 him whether she smiled or did not smile .^ It was obvious 
 that he could not be on terms of familiar friendship 
 wnth Seraphim's secretary, at his age and with his 
 position. So he had strength of mind to m»ove away 
 from the table, and to allow himself to be purred over 
 by one of the trio of charmers who had been asked for 
 his benefit — but rage mounted in his breast. He was 
 rot enjoying himself at all, and if he did not see more 
 of his old friend herself, he really would not stay over 
 ^Monday as he had intended, but would go back to town 
 on Sunday night ! 
 
 Lady Garribardine knew the signs of the times and 
 took him off to her sitting-room after tea when most 
 of the others began to play bridge. 
 
 "I think modern women have less charm than they 
 had. Seraphim," the Duke said from the depths of an 
 armchair, rather acidly. "They are almost as illiter- 
 ate as ladies of the ballet used to be when I was young ; 
 they are quite as slangy and noisy, and they are full 
 
 292
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 of affectations. If one does not know the last word 
 of their fashionable jargon and cannot keep up a con- 
 stant flow of 'back talk' — which, incidentally, it would 
 require the wit of the St. James Street cabmen of 
 twenty years ago to be able to do — one is asphyxiated 
 by them. I shall have to become acclimated, I feel. I 
 have been too long away and have lost touch with the 
 movement- — I sigh for repose and peace." 
 
 "Nonsense, Mordryn — it will do you a great deal of 
 good to be shaken up, you must move with the times." 
 
 "But I entirely decline to do so. To what end?" 
 
 "You must certainly marry again now that you are 
 at last free." 
 
 "Undoubtedly it is my obvious duty, as otherwise 
 the title will die out — but surely you do not suggest 
 that I should convert any of these charming creatures 
 who were good enough to try to lighten my mood last 
 night and to-day, into my wife ! I had hoped they were 
 at least safely married, and now you make me tremble 
 in case you are going to announce to me that some are 
 widows !" 
 
 "Blanche Montague is ; I merely asked the others to 
 accustom you to the modern type. They are to break 
 in your sensibilities, so to speak, and next time you 
 come, if you don't fancy Blanche I will have a selec- 
 tion of suitable prospective Duchesses." 
 
 "Will they make as much noise as these *baUons 
 d'essaVr 
 
 "More — nothing modem can be dignified or quiet, 
 so get the idea out of your head. They are all so out 
 of door and so hearty, such delightful, fresh, knowing, 
 supremely uninnocent, jolly good fellows, they can't 
 be silent or keep still. There are too many new revues 
 to be talked about, and too much golf to be played, 
 
 293
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 and new American nigger dances to be learned. — Come, 
 come, Mordryn ! You do not want to be ridiculously 
 old-fashioned — and really Blanche Montague is most 
 suitable. Montague left her well provided for — and 
 she was only thirty-two last birthday." 
 
 "But I don't like her voice, and what should we con- 
 verse about in the entr^actesf* 
 
 "Blanche is famous for her small talk, she will start 
 upon any subject under the sun you please — and 
 change it before you can answer the first question. No 
 fear of stagnation there !" 
 
 "Even the description tires me. I prefer the lady 
 who you assured me was all simulated passion. I adore 
 passion, though I confess I prefer it to be real." 
 
 "How captious of you! The thing is unknown in 
 these days, it has to be reconstructed, like the modem 
 rubies — lots of little ground-up fragments pressed into 
 a whole by scientific chemistry. — ^A good imitation is 
 all you will get, Mordryn." 
 
 "I loathe imitations," and His Grace shuddered. 
 
 "I think you had better give me an exact description 
 of what you do want, for, my poor old friend, you seem 
 to be out to court disappointment. I earnestly desire 
 to help you into a second noose more satisfactory than 
 the one I originally placed around your neck — so out 
 with it! A full description!" 
 
 The Duke deliberately lit a cigarette, and a gleam 
 of firelight caught his emerald ring. 
 
 "Your famous talisman is flashing, IMordryn, the 
 lyre shows that it approves of your thoughts !" 
 
 "The woman I should like to marry must be, and 
 look — supremely well-bred — but healthy and normal, 
 not overbred like poor Laura, and Gerard's wife, 
 Beatrice. — She must be able to talk upon the subjects 
 
 294
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 which interest one — a person of cultivation in short. 
 She must have a sense of humour and fine ideals and a 
 strong feeling about the responsibilities of the position, 
 and be above all things dignified and quiet and com- 
 posed. — ^And I should like — ■" and here a faint depre- 
 catory smile flickered about his mouth for a moment, 
 "I should like her to love me, and take a little interest 
 in the human, tangible side of the affair — if you do not 
 think I am asking too much of fate at my age ?'* 
 
 "It is a large order — I only know of one woman who 
 answers to your requirements and she of course is en- 
 tirely out of the question." 
 
 "Who is she — and why is she out of the question?" 
 
 "Useless to answer either query, since, as I say, she 
 is altogether out of the running. It was only an idea 
 of mine, but I will diligently seek for your paragon — 
 for, Mordryn, I shall never feel my conscience clear 
 until I see you happily told off — and the father of at 
 least six sturdy boys." 
 
 The Duke raised his hands in deprecation. 
 
 "Heavens, Seraphim ! You would overwhelm me with 
 a litter, then ! My wants in that direction are modest. 
 The 'quiver full' has never appealed to me. I want 
 my wife to bo my loved companion — my darling if you 
 will — but not, not a rabbit." 
 
 When he was dressing for dinner he thought over his 
 friend's words — He had not insisted upon knowing who 
 the "one woman" could be — He himself had lately seen 
 a creature who seemingly, as far as he could judge 
 from one evening's acquaintance, possessed quite a num- 
 ber of the necessary qualifications — but as in the case 
 of Seraphim's specimen, his was also completely out 
 of the running, and not to be thought of in any capac- 
 ity — ^Alas ! 
 
 295
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 It was strange, with this resolution so firmly fixed 
 in his mind, that after dinner he should have broken 
 loose from tlie bevy of ladies waiting to entrap him, 
 and have deliberately gone to the piano to talk to that 
 dull little Lady Flamborough who was leaning upon 
 the lid, chatting witli Miss Bush! 
 
 Katherine kept her ej^es fixed upon the keyboard with 
 that meek, deferential demureness suitable to her sta- 
 tion when amidst such exalted company ; but her red 
 mouth had an indefinable expression about it which was 
 exasperating, 
 
 Mordryn seized the first second in which Lady Flam- 
 borough's attention was diverted by a remark from 
 someone else, to bend down a little and say softly, 
 
 "Are 3'ou not even going to say good evening to me, 
 Miss Bush? — It is 'this night week.' " 
 
 She looked up with perfect composure. 
 
 "Good evening, Your Grace." 
 
 He frowned. "Is that all?" 
 
 "As Your Grace very truly remarked, it is 'this night 
 week.' " 
 
 "And you think that has answered all the riddles?" 
 
 "Of course." 
 
 He frowned again, he knew Julia Scarrisbrooke was 
 swooping down upon him, there was not a moment's 
 time to be lost. 
 
 "I do not — to-morrow I will make an opportunity in 
 which you will have to answer them all categorically — 
 do you hear?" 
 
 Katherine thrilled. She liked his haughty bearing, 
 the tone of command in his perfect voice. 
 
 She remembered once when she and Matilda had been 
 eating lunch at a Lyons popular cafe, Matilda had 
 said: 
 
 296
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "My! Kitten, there's such a strange-looking young 
 man sitting bcliind you — Whatever makes him look 
 quite different to everyone else?" 
 
 And she had turned and perceived that a pure Greek 
 Hermes in rather shabbv modern American clothes was 
 manipulating a toothpick within a few feet of her — and 
 her eye, trained from museum study, had instantly seen 
 that it was the balance of proportion, the set and size 
 of the head, and the angle of placing of eyes which dif- 
 ferentiated him so startlingly from the mass of 
 humanity surrounding them. She had said to Matilda : 
 
 "You had better look at him well, Tild — You will 
 never see such another in the whole of your life. He 
 is a freak, a perfect survival of the ancient Greek type. 
 He is exactly right and not strange-looking really. It 
 is all the other people who are wrong and clumsy or 
 grotesque." 
 
 She thought of this now. The Duke stood out from 
 everyone else in the same way, although he was not 
 of pure Greek type, but much more Roman, but there 
 was that astonishing proportion of bone and length of 
 limb about him, the acknowledged yet indescribable 
 shape of a thoroughbred, which middle age had not di- 
 minished, but rather accentuated. 
 
 She again noticed his hands, and his great emerald 
 ring — but she did not reply at all to his announce- 
 ment of his intentions for the morrow. She bent down 
 and picked up a piece of music which had fallen to the 
 floor, and Julia Scarrisbrooke swooped and caught her 
 prey and carried it off into safety on a big sofa. 
 
 But as Katherine gazed from her window on that 
 Good Friday night up into the deep blue star-studded 
 sky, a feeling of awe came over her — at the magnitude 
 of the vista fate was opening in front of her eyes. 
 
 297
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 THE Duke found great difficulty in carrying out 
 his intention on that Saturday. For a Duke to 
 escape from a lady-pack brought there espe- 
 cially to hunt him is no easy task! He had reason to 
 believe that his hostess would not aid him either, and 
 that it would be impossible to appeal to her sympathy, 
 because he was quite aware that he would withhold his 
 own, had he to look at the matter dispassionately as 
 concerning someone else. 
 
 It was a fool's errand he was bent upon in all senses 
 of the phrase. But as this conviction forced itself upon 
 him, the desire to see and talk with Katherine grew 
 stronger. 
 
 It happened that she lunched downstairs. At such 
 a large party as this, that meal was consumed at sev- 
 eral small tables of six each, and of course the secre- 
 tary was not placed at Plis Grace's ! Indeed, she sat 
 at one directly at his back, so that he could not 
 see her, though once in a pause he heard her deep, fas- 
 cinating voice. When later in the hall coffee and 
 cigarettes had come, Katherine passed near him to put 
 down a cup, and he seized the moment to address 
 her. 
 
 "In twenty minutes, I am coming from the smoking- 
 room to the schoolroom — please be there." 
 
 Miss Bush gave no sign as to whether or no she heard 
 this remark, wliich was made in a low voice with a note 
 of pleading in it. If he chose to do this, she would 
 
 298
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 make it quite clear that slie would have no clandestine 
 acquaintance with him, but at the same time she experi- 
 enced a delicious sense of excitement. 
 
 She was seated before her typewriter busily typing 
 innumerable letters, when she heard his footsteps out- 
 side, and then a gentle tap at the door. 
 
 *'Come in !" she called, and he appeared. 
 
 His face looked stern, and not particularly good- 
 tempered. 
 
 "May I stay for a moment in this haven of rest, 
 Miss Bush.?" and he shut the door. "In so large a 
 party, every sitting-room seems to be overflowing, and 
 there is not a comer where one may talk in peace." 
 
 Katherine had risen with her almost overrespectful 
 air, which never concealed the mischievous twinkle in 
 her eyes when she raised them, but now they were fixed 
 upon the sheets of paper. 
 
 "Your Grace is welcome to that armchair for a lit- 
 tle, but I am very occupied. Lady Garribardine wishes 
 these letters to go by this evening's post." 
 
 "I wish you would not call me 'Your Grace'," he 
 said, a little impatiently. "I cannot realise that you 
 can be the same person whom I met at Gerard Stro- 
 bridge's." 
 
 "I am not," she looked up at him. 
 
 "Why.?" 
 
 "It is obvious — I was me — myself, that night — a 
 guest." 
 
 "And now?" 
 
 "Your Grace is not observant, I fear; I am Her 
 Ladyship's secretary." 
 
 "Of course — but still.?" he came over quite close to 
 her. 
 
 "If I had been the same person as the one you met 
 
 299
 
 THE CABEEE OF KATIIEBINE BUSH 
 
 at Mr. Strobridgc's, you would not now have been 
 obliged to contrive to come to the schoolroom to speak 
 to me." 
 
 A dark flush mounted to his brow. She had touched 
 a number of his refined sensibilities. Her words were so 
 true and so simple, and her tone was quite calm, show- 
 ing no personal emotion but merely as though she were 
 announcing a fact. 
 
 "That is unfortunately true, but these are only 
 ridiculous conventions, which please let us brush aside. 
 May I really sit down for a minute?" 
 
 Kathcrine glanced at the clock; it was half-past 
 three. 
 
 "Until a quarter to four, if you wish. I am afraid I 
 cannot spare more time than that." 
 
 She pointed to the armchair which he took, and she 
 reseated herself at the table, folding her hands. There 
 was a moment's silence. The Duke was feeling uncom- 
 fortably disturbed. There had been a subtle rebuke 
 conveyed in her late speech, which he knew he merited. 
 He had no right to have come there. 
 
 "Are you not going to talk to me at all, then?" he 
 almost blurted out. 
 
 "I will answer, of course, when Your Grace speaks ; 
 it is not for me to begin." 
 
 "Very well, I not only speak — I implore — I even 
 order you to discontinue this ridiculous humility, this 
 ridiculous continuance of 'Your Grace,' resume the char- 
 acter of guest, and let us enjoy these miserable fifteen 
 minutes — but first, I want to know what is the neces- 
 sity for your total change of manner here? Gerard and 
 Gwendoline knew that you were Lady Garribardine's 
 secretary that night, but they did not consider it im- 
 perative to make a startling difference in their rela- 
 
 300
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 tions towards you because of that, as it seems that you 
 would wish me to make now." 
 
 Kathcrine looked down and then up again straight 
 into his eyes, a slight smile quivered round her mouth. 
 
 "That is quite different — they know me very well — 
 and dear Miss Gwendoline is not very intelligent. I 
 have been there before to help to entertain bores for 
 Mr. Strobridge and Lady Beatrice, but that night I 
 was there — because I wanted to see — Your Grace." 
 
 Here she looked down again suddenly. The Duke 
 leaned forward eagerly ; this was a strange confession ! 
 
 "I wanted once to talk to a man as an equal, to feel 
 what it was like to be a lady and not to have to remem- 
 ber to be respectful. So I deliberately asked Mr. Stro- 
 bridge to arrange it — after I had heard j^ou speak." 
 
 The Duke was much astonished — and gratified. 
 
 "How frank and delicious of you to tell me this ! I 
 thought the evening was enchanting — but why do you 
 say such a silly thing as that you wanted to feel what 
 it was like to be a lady.'* You could never have felt 
 an3'Lhing else." 
 
 "Indeed, I could ; I am not a lady by birth, anything 
 but ! only I have tried to educate myself into being one, 
 and it was so nice to have a chance of deciding if I had 
 succeeded or no." 
 
 "And your verdict was.''" he raised amused eyebrows. 
 
 She looked demure. 
 
 "By Your Grace's words just now, I conclude that 
 I have succeeded." 
 
 "Only by my words just now? I thought we had 
 had a rather pleasant and interesting hour of conver- 
 sation as fellow-guests." 
 
 "Yes — You are not shocked, then, when I tell you 
 that I am not really a lady.^" 
 
 301
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 *'No. The counterfeit presentment is so very per- 
 fect, one would like to hear the details of the passage 
 to its achievement." 
 
 Then she told him in as few and as simple words as 
 she could — just the truth. Of her parentage, of her 
 home at Bindon's Green — of Liv and Dev's, of her 
 ideals, and her self-education, and of her coming to 
 Lady Garribardine's. 
 
 Mordryn listened with rapt attention, his gaze fixed 
 upon her face — he made brief ejaculations at times, 
 but did not otherwise interrupt her. 
 
 "You can understand now how entertained I was at 
 the things which you said to me that night, can you 
 Dot.?" 
 
 Thus she ended her story, and the Dulce rose and 
 Bat down upon the edge of the table quite close to her; 
 he was visibly moved. 
 
 "You extraordinary girl. You have upset every 
 theory I ever held. I shall go away now and think over 
 all you have said — Meanwhile, I feel that this is the 
 only way in which I can show my homage," and he took 
 her hand with infinite respect and kissed it. 
 
 Then he removed his tall form from the table and 
 quietly left the room. 
 
 And when she was alone, Katherine gently touched 
 the spot where his lips had pressed ; there was a quite 
 unknown emotion running through her. 
 
 She found it very difl^cult to go on with her work 
 after this, and made a couple of mistakes, to her 
 great annoyance. Nearly an hour passed. She got 
 up from her typing, and after changing her blouse, 
 went down to tea, her thoughts not nearly so calm as 
 usual. 
 
 Was her friendship with this man finished.'' Had 
 
 302
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 her frankness overreached itself? Just what did that 
 kiss mean? Here was a character not so easy to read 
 as Gerard Strobridge's. Here was a will perhaps as 
 strong as her own. Her face was very pale, and those 
 concentrated grey-green eyes looked stormy and re- 
 sentful. 
 
 The Duke reached the smoking-room and was seated 
 at the writing-table only one moment before the room 
 was invaded by Lady Garribardine. 
 
 "Poor Mordryn ! You had to take refuge here ! I 
 fear those charming creatures I have invited for you 
 are proving a little fatiguing." 
 
 "Frankly, Seraphim, they bore me to death." 
 
 "Two others are coming of a different type pres- 
 ently. But you are safe in this corner. Most of them 
 do not know I have moved the smoking-room to this 
 wing." 
 
 "I think it is a great improvement." 
 
 Her Ladyship looked at him out of the tail of her 
 eye, but she said, quite innocently: 
 
 "Yes, Gerard always says so." Then she left him to 
 his letters, with a word as to tea and a cosy talk in 
 her boudoir after it. 
 
 So Gerard liked this room, too ! Miss Bush was with 
 him at the House. She dined at Brook Street. Then 
 Mordryn frowned and looked the very image of the Iron 
 Duke, and did not even begin to write an order which 
 he had intended to send his agent. His mind was dis- 
 turbed. Every word Katherine had said had made a 
 deep impression upon him. 
 
 The father an auctioneer — the grandfather a butch- 
 er ! And this girl a, peerless creature fit for a throne ! 
 But if she were fit for heaven, there were still quite in- 
 surmountable barriers between even ordinary acquaint- 
 
 S03
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSU 
 
 ance with her. He rather thought he would leave Bliss- 
 ington on Sunday night. 
 
 Then he frowned again. Gerard Strobridge was a 
 charming fellow. Seraphim adored him — he was often 
 here — he liked the smoking-room! Somehow the con- 
 versation must be turned, when he was alone with his 
 friend presently, to the subject of Gerard. 
 
 Then he found himself going over every minute sen- 
 tence that had fallen from Katherine. What a won- 
 derful, wonderful girl ! How quite ridiculous class 
 prejudices were! How totally faulty the reasoning of 
 the world ! 
 
 At tea, he did not converse with Miss Bush, but he 
 never lost the consciousness of her presence, and was 
 almost annoycdly aware of a youngish man's evident 
 appreciation of her conversation. So that his temper, 
 when he found himself in Lady Garribardine's sitting- 
 room, was even more peevish than it had been on the 
 evening before. 
 
 Katherine had preceded him there, but had left ere 
 he arrived. She had brought some letters for her mis- 
 tress' inspection. When this business was finished, she 
 said quite simply: 
 
 "His Grace came up into the schoolroom after 
 luncheon to-day. He appears to have been confused 
 over my two identities. I explained to him, and told 
 him who my father was, and my mother's father, and 
 how I have only tried to make myself into a lady. It 
 did not seem fair that he should think that I was really 
 one born." 
 
 Lady Garribardine looked disagreeable for an in- 
 stant. She, too, had to conquer instinct at times, which 
 asserted itself in opposition even to her heart's desire, 
 and her dchberate thought-out intentions. One of her 
 
 804.
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 ancestors had put a retainer in cliains for presumption! 
 But her intelhgence crushed out the folly almost as 
 quickly as it arose, and she smiled: 
 
 "And, of course, the Duke at once said he could not 
 know common people, and bounced from the room! 
 Ivatherine Bush, you are a minx, my child!" 
 
 Katherine laughed softly. 
 
 "He did not say that exactly — ^but he did go away 
 very soon." 
 
 " 'He that fights and runs away !' " quoth Her Lady- 
 ship ; "but I don't think you had better let him come 
 to the schoolroom again. Martha will be having her 
 say about the matter." 
 
 Katherine reddened. That her dear mistress should 
 think her so stupid! 
 
 "I did not intend to. It is very difficult — even the 
 greatest gentlemen do not seem to know their places 
 always." 
 
 "A man finds his place near the woman he wants to 
 talk to — 3^ou must not forget that, girl !" 
 
 "It is a little mean and puts the woman in a false 
 position often." 
 
 "She prefers that to indifference. There is one very 
 curious thing about women, the greatest prude is not 
 altogether inwardly displeased at the knowledge that 
 she exercises a physical attraction for men. Just as 
 the greatest intellectual among men feels more flattered 
 if exceptional virility is imputed to him, than all the 
 spiritual gifts ! Virility — a quality which he shares 
 with the lower animals, spirituality a gift which he in- 
 herits from God. Oh ! we are a mass of incongruities, 
 we humans ! and brutal nature eventually wins the game. 
 Animal savagery is always the outcome of too 
 much civilisation. And unless the dark ages of 
 
 305
 
 THE CAEEER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 ignorance fall upon us once more, so that we can again 
 be sufficiently simple to believe en masse in a God, I 
 feel our cycle is over and that we shall be burnt out of 
 time." 
 
 Then presently, ?s her secretary was moving towards 
 the door, Her Ladyship remarked irrelevantly: 
 
 "Look here, girl — Do you think it is in your na- 
 ture ever to love really, or are you going to let brain 
 conquer always?" 
 
 *'I — do not know," faltered Katherine. 
 
 "Love is the only thing on earth which is sublime. 
 This evening until you come down after dinner, I recom- 
 mend you to read the 'Letters of Abelard and Heloise'." 
 
 The Duke talked of politics for a while when he came 
 into his old love's sitting-room — and then of books and 
 ideas, and lastly of Gerard. Was he happy with Bea- 
 trice, after all? 
 
 "Yes, they do very well together. Beatrice is bred 
 out of all natural emotions. She is sexless and well- 
 mannered and unconsciously humorous. They go their 
 own ways." 
 
 "But Gerard was always an ardent lover. Has he 
 had no emotions since the Alice Southerwood days?" 
 
 "A transient passion for Lao Delcmar, and since 
 then a deep devotion elsewhere — quite unreturned, 
 though. It has rather improved him." 
 
 I'lic Duke unconsciously felt relief. 
 
 "Unreturned? — that must be a new experience for 
 him ; Gerard has every quality to attract a woman." 
 
 "This one is infinitely too proud and too intelligent 
 to waste a thought upon a married man." 
 
 "It is a girl, then ! How unlike Gerard's usual 
 taste !" 
 
 306
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Yes — Mordryn, shall you open Valfrejne quite 
 soon ?" 
 
 "Immediately — I sliall have a party for Whitsuntide, 
 if you will honour me by acting hostess." 
 
 "All right — if I may bring my personnel with me — 
 a laro-e order! I can't stand the racket without Stirl- 
 ing and James and Harmon, my chauffeur — and Miss 
 Bush." 
 
 "All are perfectly welcome — especially Miss Bush. 
 She appeared an extremely clever girl when I had the 
 pleasure of talking to her." 
 
 "Yes, she is a wonderful creature. I am thinking of 
 marrying her off to Sir John Townlj'." 
 
 The Duke leaned forward, his voice was quite 
 shocked. 
 
 "How inhum.an. Seraphim! John Townly must be 
 sixty, at least." 
 
 "My dear Mordryn, that is only seven years older 
 than you are, and I look upon you as hardly yet at the 
 prime of life — and beggars cannot be choosers, the girl 
 is of no family. Neither for that matter is Sir John. 
 
 It will be suitable in every way I suppose you will 
 
 let me have a say as to the guests for the Whitsuntide 
 outbreak, eh ?" 
 
 "Naturally — but spare me any too overmodern wid- 
 ows, or any further breakers in of my sensibilities !" 
 
 Seraphim laughed, and they set about making the 
 list. 
 
 But when the Duke had gone to dress, she looked long 
 into the fire, something a little sentimental and yet sat- 
 isfied in her gaze. 
 
 "Dear Mordryn — Gerard and the smoking-room 
 caused him uneasiness ; it would not have done for that 
 to continue, because of the unpleasant reflection that 
 
 307
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 G. is a married man. Sir John was splendid — but Mor- 
 dryn is no fool. I must now really oppose him in every 
 
 possible way I am not sure if, after all, I shall 
 
 take her to Valfreync." 
 
 And the Duke, as he dressed, said to himself that he 
 did not understand women. Here was Seraphim, a 
 creature with the kindest heart, yet so full of that dis- 
 tressingly feminine matchmaking instinct which was the 
 curse of her sex, that she was ready to pitchfork this 
 charming, living, fascinating young person into the 
 mouldering arms of old John Townly! The idea was 
 simply revolting to contemplate, even if beggars could 
 not be choosers ! And then suddenly he seemed to see 
 the auctioneer father and the butcher grandfather and 
 the home at Bindon's Green! 
 
 He walked down to dinner in a subdued mood.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 ON Easter Sunday' In church, Katherlne sat in the 
 overflow pew, and so could be looked at by those 
 highly placed in the chancel seat of honour 
 without the least turning of their heads. It was not 
 surprising, then, that the Duke found the sermon a 
 very good, and a very short one, as his thoughts ran 
 on just as Gerard Strobridge's had done in that same 
 church once before. 
 
 What a charming oval face the girl had — and how 
 purely white was her skin! What was she thinking 
 about with that inscrutable expression? The mouth 
 was so firm and so was the chin. Full red lips, which 
 were yet firm, were dangerous things. Her air was very 
 distinguished and her garments showed great taste. 
 The whole thing was incredible, of course; there must 
 be some harking back to gentle blood. Not one of 
 the party looked so like his ideal of a lady as she. 
 
 And she had spoken, too, of love ! She had admitted 
 that she knew of one side of it. What were her words, 
 "It makes one feel mad — agitated, unbalanced, animal, 
 even motherly and protective," but what It could be if 
 
 It touched the soul she could not fathom Well, 
 
 the phase which she did know was not without its 
 charm! What extraordinary, alluring eyes she had! 
 Who could the fellow have been.'* Not a person from — 
 er — Bindon's Green, of course ; she must always have 
 been too refined for that — and not Gerard. A woman 
 who had once felt those emotions for a man did not 
 
 309
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 look at him with that serene calm with which Miss Bush 
 had looked at Gerard. What a most damnably 
 exasperating circumstance it was that she was not a 
 guest — and that he could not spend the afternoon 
 discussing love, and its aspects, while pacing that 
 sunny walk in the walled garden, safe from the east 
 wind! 
 
 How beautifully her hair grew! The brow was 
 queenly. How well it would look with an all-round 
 crown of diamonds surmounting it. Sir John would 
 probably give her something of the sort. These rich 
 parvenus — people with but a grandfather, perhaps — 
 would buy some flashy modern thing! That kind of 
 head would do justice to family jewels. He knew of 
 one particular crown which had belonged to a certain 
 Duchess of early regency days, which was reposing now 
 at Garrards, and which would be specially becoming. 
 Italy — she had spoken of Italy, she had never been 
 there; what a companion to take to Italy ! She grasped 
 the spirit of countries. How she had understood 
 "Eothen !" 
 
 But the people were rising — the sermon was over. 
 Capital fellow, Woolman, his sermons were much 
 shorter, though, than they used to be. Would she walk 
 back across the park? Yes, of course, and he would 
 have to motor. What contemptible slaves civilisation 
 made of people! 
 
 As everyone was assembled in the hall on the way to 
 luncheon, the exasperated Duke came over to Kath- 
 erine. 
 
 "Can I find shelter in the peaceful backwater again 
 this afternoon, Miss Bush? It is a vile day, you see, 
 and no tennis is possible." 
 
 "No, I am afraid not." 
 
 310
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 "Does that mean no tennis or no backwater?'* 
 
 "Both." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "The schoolroom Is not intended for visitors, and 
 Sunday afternoon is the only time in which I can sit 
 in the armchair myself and read." 
 
 "I would not take more than the edge of the table, if 
 you would let me come," eagerly, "and we could talk 
 over what you are reading." 
 
 Katherine looked at him, and there was reproach in 
 her eyes. 
 
 "Your Grace must know that it is altogether impos- 
 sible for you to come to the schoolroom ; it could but 
 bring censure upon me — is it quite kind?" 
 
 He was contrite in a moment. 
 
 "Forgive me! I see my suggestion was not chival- 
 rous — forgive me a thousand times." 
 
 She moved on with the general company without an-^ 
 swering and it chanced at luncheon that the Duke could 
 see her face, and it looked to him rather sad. He felt 
 a number of things, and even though it rained he went 
 for a walk in the early afternoon alone. 
 
 There was obviously only one post which a woman 
 in her position in life could fill, in regard to a man in 
 
 his But every fine sentiment in him revolted at 
 
 the picture of it. That proud head could never bow 
 to the status of mistress. He must dismiss such va- 
 grant thoughts, he must dismiss all thoughts of her 
 except that she was a pleasant companion when chance 
 allowed him to be naturally in her society, for a minute 
 now and then. 
 
 There were so many other interests in his home- 
 coming which he must think of. His public duties, 
 which the tragic circumstances of his life had forced 
 
 311
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 him to waive for so long. There were politics, too. 
 The renovation of the London house — the plans for 
 the Season — the reopening of Valfreyne. By the way, 
 which rooms should he give to Seraphim and her secre- 
 tary for Whitsuntide? The Venetian suite on the 
 ground floor in the west wing. Seraphim should have 
 the bedroom and dressing-room and sitting-room, which 
 looked on to the park, and Miss Bush the smaller bed- 
 room hung with green damask adjoining — and how 
 would things bc.^ She would be his guest then, 
 and should be treated with all honour. There 
 should be no more coming into the drawing-room after 
 dinner — and lunching if the numbers had to be made 
 up! 
 
 But to what end? This was ridiculous weakness, 
 this allowing his thoughts to dwell upon her so much. 
 He had better go back to the house and talk to one of 
 the newcomers — quite a nice woman, who was not in- 
 tent upon falling into his arms. 
 
 And Katherine sat in the schoolroom for a little, but 
 she did not read. She had seen the Duke from the 
 window for an instant passing the end of the rose 
 garden. The siglit of him had made her sit down in 
 her armchair and begin to think. 
 
 Could the barrier of the enormous difference in their 
 positions ever be surmounted, after all? Dukes had 
 married even actresses in the past, but she would never 
 accept such a position as had been the lot of such 
 Duchesses. She must only wear the strawberry leaves 
 if they could be given her in all honour, and with the 
 sympathy and the approval of her own immediate 
 world. It almost looked as though her mistress's ac- 
 quiescence would be forthcoming. But there was yet 
 another side of the question ; there was the recollection 
 
 312
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 of the three days with Lord Algy. No faintest uneasi- 
 ness or regret about that episode had ever entered her 
 brain during all her friendship with Gerard except on 
 that one evening, after hearing of the misfortune of 
 Gladys and upon that one occasion when first she had 
 again seen the hotel in Paris. Now she was faced with 
 the thought what would the Duke say if he knew of this 
 circumstance in her life? With his lofty point of view, 
 his pride and his present great respect for her, the 
 knowledge would inevitably part them. And if he 
 should remain in ignorance and marry her, the secret 
 fear of his ever discovering the truth afterwards would 
 hang like Damocles' sword over her head. It would 
 insidiously and inevitably destroy the harmony and 
 perfect balance of her mind, necessary for her to carry 
 through the great task of playing successfully the part 
 of Duchess, and it would eventually spoil her whole 
 life. 
 
 She more than ever realised the certain reaction of 
 every single action committed, and of every thought 
 thought. Therefore the tremendous necessity of fore- 
 thought. 
 
 Unless the mind is perfectly at peace with itself, she 
 knew it could never have magnetic force to propel its 
 desires, and must lose confidence and so fail to reach its 
 goal. This she realised fully. Her particular type and 
 logical brain, weighing all matters without sentiment, 
 totally uninfluenced by orthodox ideas as to morality if 
 such orthodox ideas did not seem to be supported by 
 common sense, caused her to feel no guilt, nor any so- 
 called conscience prickings on having taken Lord Algy 
 as a lover. They had both been free and were injuring 
 none. To her it appeared no sin, merely that such ac- 
 tions, not being sanctioned by custom, would inevitably 
 
 313
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 draw upon those who committed them the penalty at- 
 tached to breaking any laws, even should they be only 
 those of conventionality. 
 
 But beyond all this, there was another and quite 
 newly experienced emotion troubling her. It had arisen 
 sharply and suddenly in her breast, born of that 
 strange thrill she had felt when the Duke had kissed 
 
 her hand What if he — the man himself — should 
 
 grow to matter to her — matter as Algy had done, quite 
 apart from his Dukedom and his being the medium 
 through which she could gratify her ambitions? 
 
 What a unique, subtle, extraordinary emotion she 
 had experienced! She must keep her head; she must 
 not give way to such things. How hateful, how un- 
 bearable it would be if one day she should see disgust 
 and contempt in those dark-blue eyes, instead of the 
 look of homage which had preceded the kiss ! 
 
 Then she scolded herself. To fear was to draw in- 
 evitably the thing feared. She must have no fears and 
 no regrets. She must pursue her plan with intelligence, 
 and if the feeling that she was using deception grew 
 to be insupportable, then she must have courage to 
 face the result of her own past action, and she must 
 admit herself beaten and retire from the game. She 
 went over the chances of discovery. Lord Algy would 
 never give her away ; she had calculated upon that fact 
 when she had chosen an aristocrat for her partner in 
 initiation. Tliere remained only the valet Hanson, who 
 had seen her often enough possibly to recognise her 
 again. But he did not know her real name, and had 
 shown no interest in her — too accustomed, probably, to 
 the changes in his master's fancies to remark upon in- 
 dividuals. Also, she was so completely altered since 
 those days, no casual remembrance Hanson might have 
 
 314.
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 kept of her would be likely to revive if he chanced to see 
 her now. 
 
 The odds were ten thousand to one that neither the 
 Duke nor anyone else would ever know of her adventure. 
 It thus resolved itself only into a question for her own 
 honest soul to decide. 
 
 The common sense way to look at everything was 
 that the time for these heart-searchings was not yet; 
 and that her energies must be concentrated upon con- 
 tinuing to profit by the results of her first sensible 
 action in making the impression upon the Duke's imag- 
 ination unbiased by class prejudices. 
 
 So presently she grew quieter and at last fell asleep 
 over the wood fire, the volume of the "Letters of Abe- 
 lard and Heloise" still in her hand. 
 
 She was awakened after a while by the entrance of 
 Lady Garribardine, and quickly rose from her seat. 
 
 "I am sorry to disturb your well-earned Sunday 
 peace, Miss Bush, but some of the guests are growing 
 restive with the wet. Go and take charge of those in 
 the drawing-room and accompany their songs. I don't 
 think this party has been well chosen, the elements do 
 not assimilate." 
 
 Katherine was laboriously doing her duty when the 
 Duke came in. He did not attempt to come near her, 
 but stayed by the great centre fireplace talking to 
 one of the newcomers without his usual air of mak- 
 ing a virtue of necessity, which his attitude towards 
 the three charmers had hitherto suggested to Kath- 
 erine. 
 
 She could get a good view of him from the piano, and 
 found her eye greatly pleased. He was certainly very 
 attractive. He had that same humorous and rather 
 cynical expression which so often distinguished her 
 
 316
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 mistress. His figure was so perfect and his clothes, 
 with their air of a bygone day! 
 
 For a second, Kathcrine's hand seemed to tingle 
 again in the place which he had kissed, and she ex- 
 perienced that nameless thrill which is half quiver and 
 half shock. She felt that she hated having to play 
 the accompaniments, and resented her position. It 
 gave her some relief to crash loud chords. None of 
 the younger men could approach the Duke in charm. 
 What was he talking to that woman about.'* Inter- 
 esting books.'* some of their mutual friends, perhaps.'* 
 She wished she could hear — but she could not. His 
 voice was lazy again ; she caught its tones now and 
 then, but not the words, and the firelight made his emer- 
 ald ring sparkle. She wondered if there was some his- 
 tory connected with it; it was so large and so unusual 
 a signet for a man to wear. How exquisite it would 
 have been to have been able to have let him come up 
 to the schoolroom, then she could have asked him about 
 it, perhaps. She sighed unconsciously, and presently 
 they all went in to tea. 
 
 There was some inscrutable expression in her eyes as 
 they met his in handing him his cup. They were a 
 little shadowed and sorrowful. They drew him like a 
 magnet, so that desire made him at last use sophistry 
 in his arguments with himself. 
 
 What harm could there be in a little casual conver- 
 sation? and he took a seat near. 
 
 "Had you profitable repose this afternoon in your 
 armchair. Miss Bush?" 
 
 "Yes, I hope so — I was sorting things and getting 
 them into their niches in my mind. I hope you had not 
 too wet a walk ; I saw you from the window passing the 
 end of the rose garden." 
 
 316
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "I wish you had come out ; the air was fresh and it 
 
 is rather nice to have the wet in one's face at times 
 
 So you put everything into niches in your mind? Was 
 it in chaos before, then?" 
 
 "Yes, partly." 
 
 "What has caused this upset?" 
 
 "That " and there was a peculiar tone in her 
 
 voice — "I should much like to know — We seem to come 
 to new vistas in life, do we not — when everything must 
 be looked at in a fresh perspective?" 
 
 "That is very true " 
 
 "And then we must call up all our sense of balance 
 to grasp the new outlines accuratcl}^, and not to be led 
 away into false conceptions through emotion." 
 
 The Duke was greatly interested. How exactly she 
 was describing his own state of mind — but what had 
 caused such thoughts to arise in hers? 
 
 "It is extremely difficult to see things as they are 
 when emotion enters into the question," he said, "and 
 how dull everything appears when it does not !" 
 
 She looked at him, and there were rebellion and sup- 
 pressed passion in her compelling eyes — and the Duke's 
 pulses suddenly began to bound; but this was the sole 
 exchange of sentences they were vouchsafed, for 
 Blanche Montague subsided into a sofa close to his side 
 and beamed at him with a whispered challenge. So 
 Katherine turned and devoted herself to some other 
 guests beyond. 
 
 She did not come into the drawing-room again that 
 night. She asked her mistress if she might be ex- 
 cused, for if not really wanted, there were numbers of 
 letters to write. And Mordryn looked for her in vain, 
 and eventually manoeuvred the conversation round to 
 the reason for her absence, when speaking to old Gwen- 
 
 317
 
 THE CAFEER OF KATHEBINE BUSH 
 
 doline I'Estaire who, he had perceived, was devoted to 
 the girl. 
 
 "I think she must be tired to-night, having asked 
 Sarah to excuse her. I don't remember her ever to have 
 done such a thing before. She is such a dear child, I 
 don't know what Sarah would do without her — we are 
 all vcrj fond of her. A perfect lady, wherever she 
 came from, but I really do not care from where." 
 
 "Of course not !" cordially responded the Duke. And 
 he wondered what had made her tired, and why her eyes 
 had been rebellious and sad. Was she wounded be- 
 cause he had suggested coming to the schoolroom, with 
 the risk of drawing down censure upon her head.'' She 
 needed some explanation certainly from him, he felt, 
 upon this matter. It had been thoughtless on his part 
 and not really kind. He would not leave to-morrow, 
 after all. Why should not Gwendoline, who was stupid 
 and good-natured, be used to further his plans if the 
 chance to see Miss Bush looked too impossibly difficult 
 of attainment? But he went to bed with no sense of 
 happiness or satisfaction in his heart. 
 
 He liked rising early, and escaped to the rose gar- 
 den alone about nine o'clock on Easter Monday morn- 
 ing. No windows but those of the smoking-room wing 
 and those of the picture gallery and the main hall 
 looked out upon this secluded spot. He had walked to 
 the end when he saw in the distance at a turn in the 
 shrubbery, the figure of Katherine disappearing to- 
 wards the park. This was luck, indeed ! He hurried 
 after her, and overtook her as she opened the shrubbery 
 gate. She carried a basket of fresh eggs and a black 
 bottle. 
 
 "Wliither away. Mistress?" he asked, as he raised 
 his cap and walked by her side. 
 
 318
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "I am going to take these to old Mrs. Peterson at 
 the far lodge ; she has not been well these last days." 
 
 "Jacob's wife.?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Then may I come, too.'' I must have some exercise; 
 look upon it like that, since I strongly suspect if I 
 told you that it was simply for the pleasure of being 
 with 3'ou, you would send me back." 
 
 "I should not want to, but I suppose I should have 
 to say that." 
 
 She was looking very pretty in her rough homespun 
 suit and green felt hat. The wind had blown no 
 colour as yet into her cheeks, but had made her little 
 ears almost a scarlet pink. She seemed the embodiment 
 of sensuous youth and health and life. Her type was 
 so far from being ascetic. What ever the mental gifts 
 might be, Nature would have a strong say in every- 
 thing concerning her. The Duke admired her supple,, 
 slender limbs, and he reflected, just as Gerard had 
 done long before, hoW' very stately she would become 
 
 presently — if she married and had children Sir 
 
 John — but he banished Sir John ! 
 
 "Shall we forget all those stupid conventions on this 
 wild March morning, and return to the stage in our 
 acquaintance at which we were when we said good- 
 night at Gerard Strobridge's .'"' 
 
 "That would be nice." 
 
 "Is it a bargain, then?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "I am not to be 'Your Grace,' and you are not to 
 remind me every two minutes that you are Lady Gar- 
 ribardine's secretary." 
 
 "Very well." 
 
 "If you remember, the last words we had together 
 
 319
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 then were finished by a question from you to me, as 
 to whether there was not something else in love beyond 
 that passionate side which 3^ou intimated that you 
 already knew." 
 
 "Yes, I remember." 
 
 "I tliink there is a great deal more, but it would 
 not be complete alone. Love to be lasting must be a 
 mixture of both passion and idealism, but where can 
 one find such a combination in these days.'' The emo- 
 tion which most people call love is composed of self- 
 interest, and a little transitory exaltation of the senses. 
 But such old-fashioned and divine qualities as devotion 
 and tenderness and self-sacrifice are almost unknown." 
 
 Katherine did not speak; the "Letters of Abelard 
 and Heloise" were very fresh in her memorj'^ ; one pas- 
 sage in Heloise^ s first letter had struck her forcibly : 
 
 If there is anything that may properly be called happi- 
 ness here below, I am persuaded it is in the union of two 
 persons who love each otlier with perfct liberty, who are 
 united by a secret inclination and satisfied with each other's 
 merits. Their hearts are full of love and leave no vacancy 
 for any other passion; they enjoy perpetual tranquillity, 
 because they enjoy content. 
 
 And now, with sudden illumination of the spirit, the 
 conviction came to her that this was the truth, and 
 that this man walking by her side talking in his ex- 
 quisite voice to her, looking at her with his deep blue 
 eyes, could inspire in her all the passion and all the de- 
 votion, and all the tenderness which Heloise had felt 
 of old. And the magnitude of the discovery kept her 
 silent, with lowered lids. 
 
 He waited for her to speak, but when no words came, 
 he bent forward and looked into her face. The eyes 
 
 320
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 which at last met his were troubled and sweet, and not 
 falcon-like in their proud serenity as usual, 
 
 "Do not let us talk about love," she said at last. "It 
 is a moving theme, and better left alone. Yesterday 
 I was reading the 'Letters of Abelard and Heloisc,' 
 and it is wiser to remember the wisdom in this phrase; 
 of Ahelard's than to talk of love: 'What great advan- 
 tages would philosophy give us over other men, if by 
 studying it we could learn to govern our passions.' " 
 
 Mordryn smiled. 
 
 "Finish the quotation," he commanded, "or shall I? 
 'What efforts, what relapses, what agitations do we 
 undergo. And how long are we tossed in this confusion 
 unable to exert our reason to possess our souls, or to 
 rule our affections. What a troublesome employment 
 is love!' Philosophers remember Abelard as a great 
 scholar and ethical teacher, but he lives not by his 
 learning or his philosophy, but by the memory of his 
 profound and passionate love." 
 
 Katherine sighed. 
 
 "I suppose it is indeed divine, but please do not let 
 us talk of it; it makes everyday life grey and com- 
 monplace by contrast." 
 
 The Duke was sufficiently master of himself to real- 
 ise that it was wiser to take her advice. To discuss 
 love on a March morning with this most attractive and 
 forbidden young woman was not wisdom, so he changed 
 the subject by expressing his contrition at having come 
 to the schoolroom. He hated to think that his chivalry 
 had been at fault. 
 
 Then the}' talked of many things, all in the ab- 
 stract, evolution and ethics and aspirations and 
 theories, and at last Katherine said : 
 
 "How glorious to be you ! To have all that is noble 
 
 321
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 jour own bj right, and so to have leisure to let your 
 soul expand to the highest, without wasting it in the 
 struggle to emerge from clay." 
 
 Her deep voice had a passion in it, and her eyes 
 flashed. "You, and all aristocrats, should be grate- 
 ful to God." 
 
 Later in the day, Mordryn felt that it was fortunate 
 that at this particular moment they had reached the 
 gate of the far lodge, the opening of which broke the 
 spell, of what he might have answered he did not feel 
 altogether sure, so deeply had she affected him. 
 
 Mrs. Peterson was a good deal better, it seemed, and 
 Katherine proposed to stay with her for half an hour — 
 so she came out of the door and asked the Duke not 
 to wait for her. 
 
 "Go back without me — I have been so happy — and 
 please — do not talk to me any more to-day — and, oh! 
 please, remember who you are and who I am, and leave 
 me alone." 
 
 And to his intense surprise and sudden unhinging, 
 her fearless glance was softened by a mist which might 
 hare presaged tears.
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 MORDRYN spent a most unrestful day ; he found 
 it very difficult to settle to anything. He felt 
 it wiser whenever his thoughts turned to Kath- 
 erine Bush, immediately to picture Bindon's Green and 
 the auctioneer father and butcher grandfather ! — they 
 acted as a kind of antidote to the very powerful in- 
 toxicant which was flooding his veins. 
 
 And Katherine sat typing mechanically her morn- 
 ing's work, but some third sense beyond eye and hand 
 was busy with agitating thoughts. No, she could play 
 no further game with the Duke, fate had beaten her^ 
 It would be no acting. She knew that she was just a 
 woman, after all, and he was a man, and the Duke- 
 dom had gone into shadowland. 
 
 He possessed everything that Algy had lacked, there 
 would be no blank half-hours when passion was lulled, 
 with him. His perfectly cultivated intellect could en- 
 chant her always. She adored his point of view, as 
 unconsciously arrogant as Lady Garribardine's, and 
 yet as free and expanded. How she could soar with 
 him to guide her ! What happiness to take refuge from 
 everything in his arms. 
 
 He did not seem old to her; indeed, except for his 
 thick, iron-grey hair and the expression of having 
 greatly suffered, which now and then showed in his 
 proud eyes, there were no unlovely signs of age about 
 him. He could still call forth for many years the 
 
 323
 
 THE CABEEB OF KATHEBINE BUSH 
 
 passionate love of women. And what was age? A ridic- 
 ulous phantasy — the soul was the thing, 
 
 Kathcrine was beginning to believe that she herself 
 had a soul, and that Otto Weininger was altogether 
 wrong about individuals, even if his deductions were 
 correct concerning the majority of women. 
 
 Several guardsmen from Windsor came over to 
 luncheon, which was so crowded that there was no neces- 
 sity for Kathcrine to go down, and tea came before 
 she again saw the Duke. He deliberately allowed him- 
 self to be entrapped by one of the trio of Graces, and 
 did not come near her; and when Kathcrine got into 
 the drawing-room after dinner, he was nowhere in sight. 
 A Cabinet Minister, one of the few Her Ladyship con- 
 sidered sufficiently worthy to be allowed to visit 
 Blissington, had arrived in the afternoon, and the Duke 
 and the hostess, and another man and woman, made 
 a group in the small, red drawing-room in earnest con- 
 verse; while most of the rest of the company danced 
 in the hall. And Kathcrine went among these, and 
 presently she slipped up to her old schoolroom. 
 
 Plis Grace was carrying out her request, it appeared, 
 but therein she found no joy. 
 
 And later, Mordryn drank his final hock and seltzer 
 in his old friend's boudoir, where they had a little talk 
 together alone. 
 
 "It has been dear of you to stay so long, Mordryn," 
 she told him. "Especially as the diversions which I 
 hoped I had provided for you turned out of no more 
 use than a plague of gnats. I hope you have not been 
 loo bored?" 
 
 "I am never bored with you, dear friend." 
 
 "No, I know that; but in a big party, I cannot give 
 
 324
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 you as much time as I should hke. You will come again 
 when we are quiet, though, just as you always used 
 to, and I will really find you a suitable bride." 
 
 The Duke was in a cynical mood, it seemed, for he 
 treated this proposal not at all in the light fashion he 
 had done at the beginning of the visit. 
 
 He replied gloomily that he had decided to select 
 something steady and plain, if he must marry — he 
 knew he could never care for a woman again, and a 
 healthy, quiet, well-bred creature with tact, who would 
 leave him alone, was all he asked. Life was a hideous 
 disappointment and very difficult to understand, and 
 to try to do one's duty to one's state, and get through 
 with it, was all that anyone could hope to accomplish. 
 
 But to this Her Ladyship said a vigorous, "Tut — 
 tut ! You speak like a boy crossed in love, Mordr3-n ! 
 If you were five-and-twenty, you could not have a 
 more delightful vista opening out in front of you, *Si 
 jeunesse savait. Si vieillesse pouvait' — that was cried 
 from a wise and envious heart ! Well, you both know 
 and cmi, so what more could a man ask of fate ! I 
 have no patience with you ! I don't want you now only 
 to do your duty, to fulfil the obligations of your sta- 
 tion. You have always done so. Your life has been one 
 long carrying out of noblesse oblige. I want you to 
 kick over the traces and be happy, Mordryn ! Ridicu- 
 lously, boyishly happy ! — do you hear, conscientious 
 martyr!" 
 
 Mordryn heard, but his smile was still bitter, as he 
 answered : 
 
 "We are not so made. Seraphim, neither you nor I — 
 we could not do as you say, even when we were young, 
 and tradition and obligation to our order will still dom« 
 inate us to the end of time, dear friend." 
 
 325
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 Then he said good-night and good-bye — for he was 
 leaving at cock-crow for a place of his in the North. 
 
 When Lady Garribardine was alone, she did not look 
 at all disturbed at the passage of events, as she re- 
 viewed her Easter party. She smiled happily, in fact, 
 and decided that she would take her secretary to Val- 
 fre3'nc for Whitsuntide, after all! 
 
 Man "proposed," but, she reflected sagely, God often 
 "disposed" in favour of intelligent women ! 
 
 In the following week, the establishment from Bliss- 
 ington moved up to Berkeley Square for the season, 
 and Katherine's duties became heavy again. 
 
 Pier first meeting with Gerard Strobridge happened 
 quite soon ; he came into the secretary's room from the 
 library after luncheon. 
 
 "Now tell me all about everything," he said. "I 
 have gathered from Gwendoline that you came down 
 every night and had your usual success at the Easter 
 party, and that Mordryn evidently liked you, for he 
 told Gwen that you were the most intelligent girl that 
 he had ever met." 
 
 Katherine half smiled, a little sadly. 
 
 "Yes, he may have thought so, but eventually the 
 secretary swallowed up the guest. I do not know if 
 he will ever speak to me again." 
 
 "He felt as badly as that, did he! Poor Mordryn! 
 No doubt you tormented him ; but Mordr3'n is no weak 
 creature like me. If he feels very much about you, he 
 will either defy convention, or break away from all 
 temptation" — tlicn his voice changed, and he asked 
 a little anjciously: 
 
 "Katherine, do you begin to care for him?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 S26
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "How much?" 
 
 "I do not know — I could care a great deal — he 
 pleases me in every way — I love his looks and his mind 
 — and he — he makes me feel something which I have 
 never felt before — is it the capability for devotion? — I 
 do not know." 
 
 For the first time in their acquaintance, Mr. Stro- 
 bridge saw her undecided, gentle, a little helpless even 
 — it touched him deeply. He loved her so very dearly, 
 he would rather see her happy if he could aid her to be- 
 come so. He came over to her and leaned upon the 
 table. 
 
 "Dearest girl — everything is a sickening jumble in 
 this world, it seems. I have a kind of premonition, 
 though, that you will emerge triumphant, however it 
 goes; but after to-day, Katherine, I shall not see you 
 until late in the autumn. I am going away — to Russia 
 this time — and I am going to try once more not to 
 care." 
 
 So even her one friend would be far from her. Well, 
 she must not lose her nerve. She gave him her blessing 
 for his journey, and they said good-bye. And the days 
 went on apace. 
 
 Matilda was engaged to be married to Charlie Prod- 
 gers, and was full of importance and glee, and had 
 drifted further and further away from her sister ever 
 since the engagement was announced. Some instinctive 
 feminine jealousy made her feel that she would prefer 
 Katherine to be as far as possible from her fiance. 
 
 "After all. Kitten," she said, when they met in the 
 park to discuss the news, "you aren't one of us and we 
 aren't one of you. I shall be moving up now into 
 Mabel's set, and there is no use in hiding it, Mabel don't 
 seem to dote on you." 
 
 S2T
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Yes, I feel that," agreed Kathcrine, meekly lower- 
 ing her eyes, so that her sister might not see their 
 twinkle. "I expect we shall not meet often in the fu- 
 ture, Tild." 
 
 "Well, of course. Kitten, I'd always be very pleased 
 to have tea with you up here now and then," and Ma- 
 tilda gave an uncomfortable laugli ; "but it is always 
 best to avoid awkwardness, isn't it, dearie, and you are 
 only a paid servant, aren't you — living in — not like 
 you were at Liv and Dev's, out on your own, and every- 
 one starts better in considering her husband's position, 
 don't they — and Charlie is manager in his department 
 now, and very particular as to who I know." 
 
 "You are perfectly right, Tild," Katherine's voice 
 was ominously soft, "and so is Charlie. You go ahead, 
 and very soon you will have got above Mabel, and, of 
 course, I would not be a drag on you for the world. I 
 think, after to-day, we will just write to one another 
 now and then, and you must not bother to come up to 
 see me. We do not think alike on any point — but I 
 shall always remember how good you were to me when I 
 was a tiresome little girl." 
 
 "Oh, Kitten!" and Matilda felt almost tearful; for 
 apart from her fear of reawakening her fiance's inter- 
 est in her sister, she still had a secret affection for her. 
 
 "Yes, you were very good to me, then, Tild, but now 
 we have come to a final parting of the ways, and we are 
 all satisfied — I shall fulfil my ideas, and you will fulfil 
 yours." 
 
 And afterwards, when she walked back to Berkeley 
 Square, she pondered deeply. There was no such thing 
 as family affection really in the abstract — it only held 
 when the individuals were in sympathy and had a com- 
 munity of interests. They — her family — were as glad 
 
 328
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 at the thought that they had risen above her, and neej 
 not communicate in the future, as she was that she 
 would not have to bring her mind down to their point 
 of view. Matilda was the last link — and Matilda had 
 shown that she desired also to break away. Katherine 
 felt that but for Lady Garribardine's real affection for 
 her, she was virtually alone in the world. 
 
 If only there were no backward thoughts in her mind, 
 she would have looked upon her fair future as a cer- 
 tainty; sooner or later, with the visit to Valfreyne ia 
 front of her, and the frequent occasions upon which she 
 must see the Duke at her mistress' house, she knew she 
 could continue to attract him if she so desired, and 
 make him love her with a great love. There was that 
 subtle, indescribable sympathy of ideas between them. 
 And as Algy had called forth physical passion, and 
 Gerard the awakening of the spirit, this man seemed to 
 arouse the essence of all three things, the body, the 
 spirit and the soul. 
 
 But there lay this ugly shadow between them, and 
 she began to realise the meaning of the old saw from 
 Horace, "Black care sits behind the horseman," and 
 she had not yet made up her mind to dislodge him and 
 defy fate. 
 
 The three days in Paris began to haunt her until she 
 severely took herself to task, and analysed everything. 
 She must not look back upon them in that fashion. She 
 must remember them gratefully, she told herself, since 
 they had opened her eyes for the first time in a way 
 that nothing else could have done, and she indeed felt 
 that it was very doubtful if she could ever have obtained 
 Lady Garribardine's situation, and so her education 
 from Gerard Strobridge, without the experience that 
 that episode in her life had given her to start upon. 
 
 329
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 It was contrary to all her principles to allow any 
 past action to influence with its shadow present events. 
 She would banish the whole subject from her mind, and 
 leave the future in the hand of destiny — neither assist- 
 ing fate by personal initiative, nor resisting its march 
 by deliberate renunciation. 
 
 But she seemed very quiet, Her Ladyship thought, 
 and wondered to herself at the cause. The Duke was 
 in the North paying other visits for some weeks, and 
 when he did come to Berkeley Square in between times 
 he did not see Katherine. 
 
 So April passed and May came, and with it the pros- 
 pect of Whitsuntide, early that year. Whitsunday 
 fell upon the eleventh of May. 
 
 "You must have some decent clothes," Lady Garri- 
 bardine had said, a week or two beforehand, "another 
 evening dress and an afternoon frock. I think I should 
 like the first to be white and the other black, and in 
 your own excellent taste. You will dine down every 
 night as a guest, and we shall stay from Saturday until 
 Tuesday." 
 
 "It is extremely exciting for me," Katherine ad- 
 mitted. "I wonder so much what the house wiU be 
 like." 
 
 "It is a huge Palladian Monument, very splendid and 
 ducal, everything is on an immense scale, and the Duke 
 keeps it up with great state. It is more like some royal 
 residence tlian a house, but there are some cosy rooms 
 to be found in odd corners. It will interest and educate 
 you, child. You had better read up all about it in one 
 of the old volumes of Country Life — some three years 
 ago, I think, it was described." 
 
 Katherine lost no time in doing this, and read of its 
 building in 1680, and of its wonderful gardens "in the 
 
 330
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 French style" — and of its superb collections of pictures 
 and art treasures, and of its avenues and lake and 
 waterways and fountains. Yes, it must be a very noble 
 place. 
 
 They were to arrive early In time for luncheon, since 
 Her Ladyship was to act hostess to the party who 
 would come in the afternoon. And when they ap- 
 proached the gates, Katherine felt that one of the su- 
 preme moments in her life had come. 
 
 The park was vast, larger even than Blissington, and 
 with more open spaces, and the house could be viewed 
 from a distance — a symmetrical, magnificent pile. And 
 it seemed that they walked through an endless succes- 
 sion of halls and great salons, until they were ushered 
 into the Duke's presence in his own particular panelled 
 room. 
 
 It was very lofty and partly filled with bookcases 
 arranged in rather an unusual way, sunk into the wall 
 itself, with very beautiful decorations by Grinling Gib- 
 bons surrounding them and also the intervening panels 
 wherein fine pictures hung. The curtains and chair 
 coverings were of the most superb old blue silk, faded 
 now to a wonderful greenish tone, and harmonizing 
 with the beautiful Savonnerie carpet with Its soft tints 
 of citron and puce and green. 
 
 Katherine was frankly awed. Blissington was a very 
 fine gentleman's house — but this was a palace. And 
 suddenly, the Duke seemed a million miles away from 
 her, and she wondered how she had ever dared to be 
 familiar with him, and rebuke him for coming to her 
 schoolroom to talk! 
 
 She was meek as a mouse, and never opened her hps 
 after the first words of greeting. 
 
 The host had come forward with cordial graclous- 
 
 331
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 ness and bidden them welcome, and he had looked a very 
 magnificent person somehow in his morning country 
 riding clothes. And all the glamour of high rank and 
 power and fastidiousness enhanced his natural charms, 
 so that Katherinc felt a little cold and sick with the 
 emotion which she was experiencing. He was courtly 
 and aloof in his manner with all his kindness, and in a 
 moment or two he accompanied them along to the Ve- 
 netian suite himself, 
 
 "I must come, dear friend," he had said to Lady 
 Garribardine, "to be sure that you have everything 
 you can possibly want." 
 
 The Venetian suite was on a par in splendour with 
 the rest of the house. It was on the same floor as His 
 Grace's own sitting-room which they had left, and it 
 was reached by a passage place which led to the same 
 terrace, which the windows looked upon; this was 
 marble paved, with a splendid balustrade. The ante- 
 chamber had been arranged with a writing table near 
 the great window, and every convenience for Miss Bush 
 to do any writing her mistress might require. For the 
 rest, the Venetian suite was always reserved for the 
 most honoured guest. Here were a sitting-room, a 
 great bedroom and dressing-room for Her Ladyship — 
 all with the same lofty ceilings and fine windows as the 
 room they had left, and behind it came that charm- 
 ing green damask-hung chamber designed for Miss 
 Bash. 
 
 "Here in this apartment you will find yourselves 
 completely quiet and shut off from the world," the Duke 
 said. "Once you have passed the great door, as you 
 know. Seraphim, your suite makes the end of this wing, 
 and only I can approach you from my sitting-room !" 
 
 Lady Garrabardine, who knew every nook in the 
 
 332
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 house, smiled as she expressed herself as content, and 
 he left them alone. 
 
 Katherine examined her room; it would have struck 
 her as very large if it had been in any other house. 
 It looked on to an inner courtyard with a fountain 
 playing, and statuary and hundred-year-old lilac 
 bushes in huge tubs. The room was hung with pale 
 green silk, and had beautiful painted Italian, eighteenth 
 century furniture, and on the dressing-table were bowls 
 of lilies of the valley. 
 
 Slie thrilled a little; was this accidental or delib- 
 erate.'* 
 
 She was very well acquainted with the workings of 
 a great house, and the duties of the housekeeper and 
 groom of the chambers. She saw from a technical point 
 of view that these retainers of Valfreyne must be of a 
 very high order of merit because of the result of their 
 work; but even their intelligence could hardly have se- 
 lected the volumes of her favourite authors, which she 
 had discussed with the Duke, and which were placed in 
 bookstands, with the "Letters of Abelard and Heloise" 
 and a beautiful edition of "Eothen" out on the top ! 
 
 These silent testimonies of someone's personal 
 thought gave her unbounded pleasure; they restored 
 her submerged self-confidence, and made her eyes 
 glow. It was divine to feel that he cared enough to 
 have troubled to do this. The subtle flattery was ex- 
 quisite. 
 
 A burning wave of colour overspread Katherine's 
 face, and her nostrils quivered. If the Duke could 
 have seen her — he would have known that that quality 
 he appreciated — the quality of real, natural passion — 
 was abundantly present in her nature. Strong passion 
 controlled by an iron will — a mixture which he thought 
 
 333
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 quite ideal in the woman whom a man would choose to 
 be the companion of his life. 
 
 It was this particular suggestion about Katherine 
 which had alike intoxicated the imaginations of these 
 three far different men, Lord Algy, Gerard Strobridge 
 and the Duke. The human, adorable warmth of emo- 
 tion of which her white, smooth-skinned face and red, 
 full mouth looked capable. 
 
 Lady Garribardinc had told her secretary to take off 
 her hat, as she might be required to do a little work 
 after lunch. 
 
 "I shall settle with His Grace how I think the party 
 had better sit, and then you can type anything we 
 want." 
 
 So Katherine was particularly careful to arrange 
 her silvery hair becomingly, and looked the perfection 
 of refined neatness as she followed her mistress back 
 into the Duke's sitting-room, and then on in to luncheon 
 in a smaller dining-room in another wing. 
 
 They were only three at the meal, and the host 
 talked of politics, and the party who were coming, and 
 was gracious. He did not treat Katherine with the 
 slightest condescension, nor with any special solici- 
 tude. If she had been an unknown niece of Lady Gar- 
 ribardinc, his manner would have been the same. 
 
 Katherine felt chilled again for the moment, and had 
 never appeared more subdued. 
 
 She slipped off back to her room when they went to 
 have coffee in a small drawing-room, known as "The 
 Gamester's Parlour," for in it was hung a world-known 
 picture of the famous thoroughbred of that name, the 
 riding of whom in a match against His Grace of Chan- 
 dos' colt, Starliglit, had been the cause of the third 
 Duke's breaking his neck. 
 
 834.
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 There was no immediate work to be done, so Kath- 
 erine stood and looked from the window of her green 
 chamber and took in the view. Surely, she thought, if 
 people even with the intelligence of Matilda could see 
 such men as the Duke and such splendid homes as this, 
 with every evidence in it of fine tastes and fine living and 
 fine achievement, stamped upon it by hundreds of years 
 of noble owners, they could not go on being so blind to 
 the force of heredity and environment as factors in 
 determining the actions of the human race. 
 
 She stood for a long time quite still, with trouble in 
 her heart, which every fresh realisation of the beauties 
 around her augmented. 
 
 No — the Duke could never overlook the three days 
 even if he could forget that she had come from Bin- 
 don's Green — and she could not banish their memory 
 either, and so would never be able to rely upon her own 
 power to carry on the great undertaking untrammelled 
 by inward apprehension and self-contempt at the de- 
 ception of so great a man — her serenity would be gone 
 and with it her power. 
 
 Lady Garribardine opened the door presently, and 
 saw her still standing there. 
 
 "Run out for a little walk, child," she said, kindly. 
 "You can reach the terrace from the passage ante- 
 chamber which has been arranged for you to write in, 
 and there are steps at the side into the garden. I 
 shall not want you until just before tea. The Duke has 
 the menus and cards and door names printed by his own 
 private press. Tlien come back with your eyes bright, 
 and put on your new black frock." 
 
 Katherine thanked her ; there never could be anyone 
 kinder or more thoughtful for others than was this ar- 
 rogant great lad3\ 
 
 835
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 The g-irl walked in the fresh May sunshine, but noth- 
 ing lifted the weight which had fallen upon her heart, 
 and her cheeks were paler than usual, and her air had 
 an added delicacy and refinement when she followed 
 her mistress into the great tapestry salon, wherein tea 
 was laid, and which was adjacent to the hall where 
 guests were already beginning to arrive. 
 
 She was not introduced to anyone else, but several 
 she already knew ; they were selected from the crime de 
 la cretne of Her Ladyship's set of the rather less mod- 
 ern sort. 
 
 Mordryn looked at her constantly unobserved. 
 Wliat was the meaning of this new expression in her 
 face? Why would she never meet his eyes? And hers, 
 when he did see them, turned upon ordinary things, 
 liad a haunting melancholy in them very different from 
 the sphinxlike smile of old. 
 
 He found himself more disturbed than he cared to 
 own. He wished Seraphim had not brought her, after 
 all — He wished — but he did not even in his thoughts 
 form words. Had her changed air anything to do with 
 that last abrupt request on the March morning's walk, 
 that he should remember who she was and who he was, 
 and leave her alone? Was it possible that she felt 
 something for him? How wrong he had been in that 
 case to put tlie "Eothen" and the "Abelard and Helo- 
 ise" and the lilies of the valley in her room — cruel and 
 wrong. He knew now that he saw her again that he had 
 thought of her very constantly ever since Easter time, 
 and had chafed at getting no sight of her when he had 
 twice been in London and had gone to Berkeley Square, 
 though his determination had held at that time, 
 and he had made no attempt to see her, or even 
 to mention her name. But he knew that he had 
 
 336
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUS II 
 
 looked forward more eagerly each day to Whitsuntide, 
 and that he had taken peculiar delight in the surrep- 
 titious supervision of the details of her lodgment, 
 and the choice of volumes wherewith to refresh her 
 mind. 
 
 But was this chivalrous on his part? Was he not 
 playing upon the feelings of one defenceless and in a 
 dependent position — one who could not even flee? 
 
 He grew uncomfortable. He was painfully conscious 
 of her presence, and a sudden mad longing came to him 
 to take her in his arms, and kiss away the trouble from 
 her eyes ! And then the cynical and humorous side of 
 his character made him smile at the idea of such feel- 
 ings in a room full of guests ! Guests of his own world, 
 and for the humble secretary of his old love! He 
 fretted under the restraint of his unease. And she was 
 here in his house and he must suffer the temptation of 
 her presence for three more days. He must not look 
 at her — must not talk to her! He must not have any 
 subtle understanding with her about the books — must 
 not, in short, do anything he desired. 
 
 Lady Garribardine watched the passage of events 
 with an understanding eye. Something further must be 
 done, she felt. 
 
 So just before dressing time, when the company had 
 dispersed, she went with her host into his own sitting- 
 room. The evening post had come in. 
 
 "Mordryn, I wanted to ask you, can I send a wire 
 over to Hornwell. I have just heard Sir John Townly 
 is staying there, and I want to suggest that he motor 
 over to-morrow to tea. It will be a splendid chance for 
 him to have a quiet hour with my Katherine Bush. I 
 would like him to see her here as a guest; he is very 
 much in love with her in his heavy way, and I believe 
 
 337
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 I could get the matter settled all right if you would onlj 
 help me, like a dear." 
 
 The Duke experienced a most unpleasant twinge. 
 This was rather more than he had bargained for ! Why 
 should Sir John Townly be given this opportunity in his 
 house ! 
 
 "The match is quite unsuitable, Seraphim, I can't 
 think how you can countenance it." 
 
 Her Ladyship appeared deliberately to misunder- 
 stand him. 
 
 "But I assure you, Mordryn, Sir John is not in the 
 least upset by her origin or her suburban relations ; he 
 realises the magnificent qualities of the creature herself, 
 and he knows very well that she will make the finest 
 hostess, and the most dignified figurehead for Dulling- 
 lea that he could find ; besides, with her health and 
 youth, he can look forward to a strong little son bj 
 this time next year." 
 
 Mordrj^n found himself absolutely revolted — Kather- 
 inc — (so her name was Katherine?) Katherine — this 
 delicious creature to be the mother of that shocking 
 bore John Townly's son ! 
 
 The red flush mounted to his broa^ forehead. 
 
 "It is not their relative worldly positions I alluded 
 to. Seraphim — but their ages and appearances — and, 
 oh ! tastes ! I think it is perfectly inhuman of you, 
 and I cannot countenance such a thing." 
 
 "Mordryn ! I am really surprised ! — how can it pos- 
 sibly matter to you.'* You must have seen for your- 
 self that night at Gerard's what a charming companion 
 she can make, and how utterly she is wasted in the po- 
 sition of secretary — and yet you won't help me to do 
 the poor child this good turn !" 
 
 "If you put it in that way — ask whom you like, but 
 
 838
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 I cannot think how anj woman, to escape any position, 
 could sell herself to such a man as John Townly !" 
 
 His tone was heated and his blue eyes flashed. 
 
 "That is just the tiresome part of it," and Her 
 Ladyship looked concerned. "I believe she has your 
 same foolish and romantic ideas, and so I thought if 
 she could see him here among this fine company, per- 
 haps the desire to remain in it, and the glamour of the 
 thing might bring her up to the scratch. Mordryn, 
 do help me like a kind friend. Just think, if she were 
 to leave me, whom else would she ever see.'* She has 
 quite separated from her own family ; she has nothing 
 but a life of drudgery in front of her, and she is fitted 
 in every way to be a queen. She is so extremely self- 
 controlled, she would never make any slips afterwards, 
 and her ambitions could be gratified and make up for 
 lack of love." 
 
 "I think the idea is disgusting," His Grace snapped 
 impatiently ; "but send your wire, by all means." 
 
 Then he abruptly turned the conversation, and pres- 
 ently Her Ladyship left him alone, very well pleased 
 with her work! And the groom of the chambers was 
 handed a warmly worded invitation to telegraph to 
 Hornwell, as she passed to her room.
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 WHEN he was left alone the Duke swore 
 sharply to himself. He was not a man ac- 
 customed to the use of strong language — but 
 occasions arose in life sometimes when a good sound 
 oath seemed to relieve tension ! 
 
 Then he paced up and down his long room. His 
 imagination was on fire. He could see Katherine — he 
 dwelt on the name "Katherine"— in the baboon embrace 
 of old John Townly — loathsome picture! 
 
 Yes, of course, she would adorn any position, and 
 Dullinglea was only a very moderate house. He could 
 see her tall, slender, graceful figure sweeping in rich 
 velvets tlirough much larger rooms than it contained. 
 Such rooms, for example, as these, his own at Valf- 
 reyne ! 
 
 She would sit to-night between young Westonborough 
 and old Barchester, but in a place where a gap in the 
 flowers would give him, the host, a continuous view of 
 her. 
 
 Then he went off to dress. In a fiery mood! 
 
 Katherine, meanwhile, had been looking over 
 "Eotlien," and noting the marked passages, which she 
 found to be the same mutual favourites they had dis- 
 covered that night at Gerard's. 
 
 Had her host underlined them since then, or were 
 they marked before? Then she peeped at "Abelard 
 and Heloise" and turned over all the leaves. None of 
 them had any pencillings, but her eye caught this sen- 
 
 340
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 sible paragraph, and it stiffened her jaded spirit, and 
 made her feel more cahn: 
 
 " 'How void of reason are men,' said Seneca, 'to 
 make distant evils present by reflection, and to take 
 pains before death to lose all the comfort of life.' " 
 
 She was here at a splendid party as a guest like 
 everyone else, and she must enjoy it and forget anything 
 but the pleasure of the moment. But oh! if the Duke 
 would only talk to her! 
 
 She wore the new white frock and looked quite beau- 
 tiful, and some of the lilies of the valley shone in her 
 belt. 
 
 Lady Garribardine was extremely pleased with her 
 appearance and patted her arm. 
 
 "To-morrow Sir John Townly is coming over from 
 Hornwell, child, and I want you to be agreeable to 
 him for me, as I shall be very busy. You must take 
 him for a little walk." 
 
 Her Ladyship knew that however irksome It would 
 appear to Katherine, her command would be obeyed ! 
 
 The Duke's eyes were full of suppressed passion at 
 dinner, and his wit was caustic. Katherine could not 
 hear it, but could see his face, and the puzzled expres- 
 sion which now and then came over the two ladies on 
 either side of him ; and once she met his gaze, and there 
 was pain and a challenge in it. Excitement rose in her 
 before dessert came. She knew — she felt — he was con- 
 scious of her presence — and that it was not indifference 
 which kept him from her side. What was it all lead- 
 ing to.'' It was very evident that he was determined not 
 to succumb to whatever it might be. It was also evi- 
 dent that he certainly did experience emotion. 
 
 Katherine felt unhappy, but this must not prevent 
 her from talking politely and sympathetically to the 
 
 S41
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 ladies she happened to be sitting next to in the great 
 drawing-room, until the men came in. She remarked 
 how protective and gracious her own dear Ladyship 
 was being to her, saying a word in passing and making 
 her feel at home and an equal and a guest. She must be 
 very grateful for these things and not look ahead. 
 
 Why had this new and sudden sense of values come 
 over her? This realisation of the frightful obstacle cre- 
 ated by the blemish of the three days? At the dinner 
 at Gerard's she had not so much as remembered them, 
 their meaning had come in a flash with the thriU of 
 the Duke's kiss of homage upon her hand. Had she 
 been contemplating union with Sir John, she would have 
 . looked upon them as a fortunate experience to guide her 
 in her knowledge of men. So this was some psycholog- 
 ical witness to the demands of the spirit of — love! Of 
 love that desires to give only the pure gold untarnished 
 to the lover. 
 
 She felt like a caged bird, and her triumphant even- 
 ing of pleasing women, and earning the admiration of 
 all who spoke to her, tasted only as Dead Sea fruit. 
 
 Now the Duke, when the men left the dining-room, 
 walked straight to his own sitting-room. He was a man 
 of rapid action and supreme self-confidence. He opened 
 the inner door softly and listened — there was no sound, 
 he could move witli impunity. There was no one in 
 the passage room, but there was not a moment to be 
 lost; the housemaids, he knew, would be coming round 
 almost immediately with the cans of hot water for the 
 night. He crossed the space and deliberately entered 
 the green room, turning on the light as he did so. 
 
 He hastily looked about at the books — Yes, she had 
 put the two special ones by her bed. And "Abelard and 
 Heloise" was underneath ; he puUed it out and quickly 
 
 342
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 found a passage he wanted and with his gold pen- 
 cil he scored it deeply underneath, and putting the 
 volume on the top he swiftly left the room and was 
 again in his own, and on his way to the white draw- 
 ing-room. The whole affair had not taken two min- 
 utes. And with the knowledge of this fact accom- 
 plished, he looked almost serene as he sat down by a 
 great lady's side and determinedly avoided looking at 
 Katherine. 
 
 So the evening passed without speech between them 
 beyond good-night, and Miss Bush retired sorrowfully 
 to bed. 
 
 But she could not sleep, and kept on the light to read. 
 There were "Eothen" and "Abelard and Heloise" close 
 to her side, their order of placing reversed, since she 
 had left them, this change effected by the housemaids, 
 no doubt. And the love letters being on the top, she 
 opened them first. She read many exquisite thoughts, 
 and was just thinking of sleep when she turned a page 
 and suddenly sat bolt upright in bed, for this is what 
 she read: 
 
 *'I wish to heaven you had not such a power over 
 me." And the passage was deeply underlined. 
 
 Her heart beat to suffocation. There had been no 
 such mark in this place when she had read this very 
 T)age before dinner. How had it come there.'* — Who — 
 "VVho? — But there was only one person who could have 
 done such a thing — the Duke ! 
 
 She bent nearer the lamp and devoured the lines 
 again, and then she passionately kissed the words and 
 turned out the light. 
 
 Next day, Sunday, a number of the party went to 
 church, their host among them — but Katherine and 
 Lady Garribardine did not accompany them. They 
 
 343
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 were seated on the tennis lawn watching a game when 
 the church-goers joined the group. 
 
 Three magnificent cedars of Lebanon made a grea^ 
 patch of shade, and here the chairs were placed. The 
 Duke took one and stretched himself on it as though 
 fatigued. His grey felt hat was tilted over his eyes. 
 He made a pleasing picture of length of limb and 
 grace and distinction — the same curious emotion crept 
 over Katherine again as she had already experienced — 
 half quiver, half shock — a strong desire to be very close 
 to him, to touch him, to feel herself caressing and ca- 
 ressed. His hands were clasped idly upon his knee, 
 and his voice as he spoke softly to a lady was lazy and 
 complacent. Oh ! how extremely bitter the whole sit- 
 uation was proving to be ! 
 
 The emerald ring seemed to flash green fire as a tiny 
 glint of sunlight struck it; it caught tlie atten- 
 tion of the sprightly dame to whom His Grace was 
 talking. 
 
 "What a very wonderful ring that is you wear, 
 Duke. Has it a history.^" 
 
 "Yes, a very remarkable one." 
 
 Katherine listened, deeply interested, she had so often 
 wondered about this ring, too. 
 
 "It has been in the family since the last Crusade. It 
 came back with the tradition attached that it was the 
 famous graven emerald seal which Thcodorus made 
 for Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, about 590 B. C, and 
 which was in vain thrown into the sea to be lost ! It 
 was brought back to Polycrates in the body of a fish 
 next day. Such exampled luck was considered to be 
 ominous by his ally, Amasis, who broke off all alliance 
 witli him in conswjucnce. And truly enough, he was 
 not long after murdered from jealousy of his good for- 
 
 344)
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 tune! The ring then disappeared and was supposed 
 later to have been found by a Roman who handed it 
 down for generations until it somehow got back into 
 Greece, and when wrecked there on his way home from 
 Palestine, the Rievaulx of the day obtained it from 
 its owner, how, history does not say, and it has always 
 been with us ever since — a strange belief attaching to 
 it — that if life is happy it must not be worn, but that 
 if things have gone ill then it is safe to wear it for the 
 rest of time." 
 
 He put out his hand for the lady to look at the stone 
 and a knot of interested people drew near. 
 
 "You see," His Grace continued, "it is deeply graven 
 with a lyre — and sometimes it seems to be dull and 
 sometimes it flashes angrily." 
 
 "Are you not afraid to wear it?" some tactless per- 
 son said. 
 
 The Duke replied gravely — "Why should I be? I 
 have amply fulfilled all the conditions attached," and 
 then the company, remembering the dark and ugly 
 shadow of the mad Duchess, which had hung over his 
 life for so many years, all seemed to talk at once and 
 so the slightly awkward moment passed. 
 
 But Katherine thought deeply upon the subject as 
 she sat in a wicker chair. 
 
 Yes, how ill his life had gone, and he was now fifty- 
 three years old, and if it were true that he felt enough 
 to have taken the trouble to score that sentence in her 
 book, his present frame of mind could not be altogether 
 happy either, and she sighed — why was happiness so 
 often a forbidden fruit? 
 
 For a second before lunch she happened to be stand- 
 ing near him, and so some kind of words were necessary 
 for politeness' sake. 
 
 345
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "I hope you find your room comfortable, Miss Bush, 
 and that you have all that you want." 
 
 She looked straight into his eyes, and there was a 
 world of meaning in hers as she answered. 
 
 "Everything, thank you — and I am especially inter- 
 ested in the books. The last guest who slept there must 
 have taken liberties with your volumes and put strange 
 pencillings under some of the paragraphs, which I only 
 discovered last night." 
 
 "It was a man who occupied the room lately. What 
 presumption he showed !" 
 
 "Yes, I wondered if you knew about it, the most 
 significant marking is in the letters of 'Abelard and 
 Heloise.' The scribbler had a turn for sentiment, it 
 would seem, and probably was suffering from halluci- 
 nations as to his own state, which he imagined to be one 
 of subjection." 
 
 "No, he was a level-headed fellow, who was not par- 
 ticularly happy, though. I remember, and no doubt he 
 found solace in reading about the despairing passion of 
 those two, and in underlining that passage which re- 
 cords Abelard's rebellion against pain so like his own." 
 
 Katherine sighed. "Happiness, alas ! lies in the hand 
 only of the very strong," and she passed on to another 
 group. 
 
 And the Duke frowned a little as they went in to 
 lunch. 
 
 Sir John Townly came over in the afternoon, as he 
 had been invited to do, and Lady Garribardine inti- 
 mated to her secretary that now she must take this in- 
 cubus off her hands ; so Katherine obediently proposed 
 a stroll round the wonderful tulip beds, which were in 
 full bloom. And Mordryn saw them go off together 
 from the window where he stood. 
 
 346
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "I really do not think it looks so ridiculous after all," 
 Lady Garribardine remarked to him reflectively, com- 
 placence in her tone. "He is quite a fine figure of a 
 man except for his perfectly bald head, and that does 
 not show now in his hat." 
 
 The Duke made an exclamation of disgust. 
 
 "Poor Miss Bush!" 
 
 "I do hope she won't be foolish, but she has been so 
 odd lately; I cannot understand these girls." 
 
 "Odd.?" 
 
 "Yes — sad-looking and quiet — Of course I would not' 
 force her into anything she did not like, but still. Sir 
 John would be better than some attractive and penni- 
 less young guardsman with nothing to offer but love's 
 young dream. — There are one or two who come over 
 from Windsor who rather hang about." 
 
 "Oh! yes, certainly," emphatically agreed the Duke, 
 and then he thought of another sentence in that book 
 which seemed such a bond between them, one where 
 Ahelard wrote, "What a comfort I felt in seeing you 
 shut up !" Yes, to marry old Sir John would almost 
 be the equivalent of a convent. But not quite ! There 
 was always the thought that, however old, he would still 
 be the undisputed possessor of this most desirable piece 
 of womanhood! His would be the right to clothe and 
 feed her, and give her jewels. His to hold her in his 
 arms. The realisation of all this was maddening to 
 Mordryn, for he no longer disguised from himself that 
 he profoundly desired to exercise these rights himself. 
 And she had said that happiness only lay In the hands 
 of the Tery strong. — Yes, but how could one define 
 strong? Strong In fidelity to tradition and family and 
 race and class.'' Or strong to break all barriers and 
 seize that thing a man's heart cries out for passlon- 
 
 S47
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 atcly, his mate, his soul's and his body's mate? These 
 were problems which were distressingly agitating to 
 think over, and distracted his mind from the duties 
 towards guests. 
 
 What a time she spent in pointing out those tulips 
 to that old fool ! What pompous gallantry his attitude 
 expressed ! Of course the girl must be bored to death. 
 Why had she been "odd" lately, "quiet and sad"? 
 Oh, how divine it would be to go off to the Belvedere 
 presently and see the sunset from over there by the 
 lake, and ask her many things, and then as they looked 
 on the water from the marble terrace, if the falcon's 
 eye grew sweet again and soft, to read dear messages 
 there, and fold her to his heart! 
 
 She was so subtle, she understood every shade in 
 anything he said, they had the same tastes and the same 
 likings in books and art. She did not know Italy and 
 France ; what supreme pleasure to wander there, and 
 discover their manifold beauties to her ! And above 
 all, she was young and fresh and passionate — who could 
 doubt it who looked into her fair face, or knew any- 
 thing about type? If she loved him she would never be 
 cold, but would amply repay him for his long starva- 
 tion and abstinence from joy. The lonely splendour 
 of Valfreyne would then become a happy home filled 
 with interest and affection. How was he going to get 
 through another twenty years of dull duty after his 
 twenty-five of anguish and grief? He supposed he 
 might live to be eighty, even, the Monluces were a tena- 
 cious race! 
 
 Here Lady Garribardine deemed it prudent to divert 
 his thoughts; she realised that the moment for the final 
 good wliich would draw him over the brink into happi- 
 ness had not yet come, so she spoke of soothing things, 
 
 348
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 and then amused him and coaxed him into a more peace- 
 ful state ; only again to see him restive when the pair 
 eventually came in from the tulip beds. 
 
 Katherinc looked tired and depressed, but Sir John 
 had an air of gratification about him which made 
 Mordryn feel that he could willingly have punched his 
 head ! 
 
 His good manners alone enabled him to bid a cordial 
 farewell to the poor man when presently he left. 
 
 The sun was declining and the colours were opal over 
 the lake. The duties of host to so many charming 
 ladies restrained the Duke and he had the mortification 
 of seeing Katherine and another girl go off with two 
 of the young men in two canoes on the topaz waters, 
 and by the time he went to dress he was almost des- 
 perate. 
 
 Katherine was in black to-night, and a red rose was 
 in her belt. Where had she got it from.'* Had that 
 insupportable young Westonborough, whom she had 
 been in the canoe with, given it to her? Surely Bilton 
 had not been so remiss as not to have seen that fresh 
 lilies were put in the green room ! — But perhaps she 
 preferred the red rose ; women were incredibly fickle 
 and capricious ! 
 
 Lady Garribardine perceived the expression of fierce- 
 ness in his eyes, and so contrived that even a single 
 sentence with Katherine was impossible. And thus the 
 evening passed and good-nights were said, and there 
 remained only the one more day!
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 
 KATHERINE read "Abelard and Heloise'* far 
 into the night. Her emotions were complex. 
 She knew now that she was very unhappj and 
 in a comer, and that she could not see clearly any way 
 of escape. If she attracted the Duke further it would 
 only increase the complications. 
 
 There was something in her nature which she feared 
 was not strong enough to carry through deceit. Her 
 great power had always lain in her absolute honesty, 
 which gave her that inward serenity which engenders 
 the most supreme self-confidence, and so inevitably 
 draws the thing desired. Her mind was too balanced, 
 and too analytical to give way to impulse regardless 
 of cost, which in such a situation would have made nine 
 hundred and ninety-nine women out of a thousand grab 
 at the chance of securing Mordryn upon any terms. 
 Of what good to obtain the position of Duchess if it 
 only brought a haunting unease? Of what good to ob- 
 tain the love of this true and splendid gentleman upon 
 false pretences? She could then enjoy nothing of the 
 results. For above all worldly gains she was well aware 
 that to keep her own rigid self-respect mattered to her 
 most. If his character had been less worthy of rever- 
 ence — if she had not grown so near to passionately 
 loving him — if she had not become aware of the impor- 
 tance in the eyes of the world of the barrier between 
 them, and so of the magnitude of the offence involved in 
 the deceit, she would have played her game to a finish 
 
 850
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 without a backward thought ; but as it was it were bet- 
 ter frankly to give it up and perhaps marry — Sir John ! 
 For none of these considerations, she felt, came into 
 the question of marrying Sir John. He was old and 
 pompous and of no great famil}'. She would be giving 
 more than she received in bestowing her youth and her 
 talents and her company upon him. She did not love 
 him, therefore whether he should ever look upon her 
 with scorn or no was a matter of indifference to her — 
 and she would not for a moment have dreamed of any 
 obligation to reveal that episode in her past to him, 
 since the probabilities were so very remote that dis- 
 covery could ever happen and therefore her silence 
 would in no way injure him. It would be merely a bar- 
 gain in which an old man bought a young woman 
 "as she stood," so to speak, for the pleasure of his 
 eye. 
 
 But the Duke of Mordryn was different — between 
 them there could be no deceptions, no secrets, there 
 must be none but the highest things, since marriage 
 with him would mean the union of their souls. Kath- 
 erine was far from being altruistic or sentimental, it 
 was only the strictly common sense and baldly honest 
 aspect of any case that ever influenced her. 
 
 The temptation was overpowering, of course, to 
 brush aside moral qualms. — To think of reigning in this 
 splendid place ! — and she let her imagination run on — 
 To think of being with the Duke alwa^'s — his loved 
 companion. The joy to make him very happy, and do 
 everything he wished. What pains she would take to 
 fulfil his highest ideal of her — to show to his world that 
 whatever she had sprung from, at least she carried off 
 the situation of Duchess in a manner in which they 
 could find no flaw. She would be gracious and sweet 
 
 351
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 and dignified and capable. She would bring all her 
 reasoning to bear upon all problems. She would let 
 him guide and direct her, and she would carrj out hit 
 least behest. 
 
 But it could not be. She had made an initial mis- 
 take and miscalculation in her career through igno- 
 rance of possible results, and she could never shuffle 
 out of it. Self-deception was of all mental attitudes 
 the one she despised the most. She must face the conse- 
 quence of her mistake now with courage, and take the 
 second best. 
 
 Having once made up her mind in the early dawn, 
 it was not in her nature to indulge in further repining. 
 She as resolutely shut out the image of the Duke and 
 the picture of happiness with him, as she had shut out 
 Lord Algy. Only this time the pain was infinitely more 
 bitter, because she knew that she was obliged to refrain 
 from sipping this glorious cup because of her own mis- 
 calculation. Whereas when she parted from Lord Algy 
 she had had the moral elation of knowing that she was 
 doing rather a fine thing. 
 
 Extreme pallor showed in her face in the morning, 
 and her great eyes were shadowed and sad. She re- 
 mained in the ante-chamber at the writing-table which 
 had been prepared for her, after she had breakfasted 
 with Lady Garribardine in her sitting-room. Numbers 
 of letters had come by the Sunday's post, and she made 
 it seem necessary to answer them at once. 
 
 Her mistress allowed her to have her way. She felt 
 some strong underneath currents were affecting the girl, 
 and further tantalization would not be bad for the 
 Duke. So she left her at the writing-table and joined 
 the rest of the party under the cedar trees on the ten- 
 nis lawn, and did not mention Katherine or her where- 
 
 352
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 abouts. If Mordryn wanted to know why she had not 
 come out, or where she was, he must pluck up courage 
 to ask himself. 
 
 The Duke glanced at her enquiringly, but he said 
 nothing — perhaps Katherine would follow presently — 
 but could she have gone again on the lake with Lady 
 Alethea and those empty-headed young men? He would 
 not ask, he would go himself and see. 
 
 So when he had disposed of his important guests, 
 he went to his own sitting-room from which there was 
 a complete view of the waterways, and then he took 
 the trouble to get out his glasses and scan the occu- 
 pants of the boats. 
 
 No, she was not among them. 
 
 She must then either be still in her bedroom — or writ- 
 ing perhaps in front of the window of the passage place 
 which was next this very room! 
 
 He would go out on the terrace from one of the win- 
 dows and look in. 
 
 Yes — she was there seated at the table very busy, it 
 appeared. 
 
 He came forward and stepping across the threshold, 
 he stood beside her. 
 
 *'Good morning, Miss Bush. — it is quite wrong for 
 you to be working on this glorious day. You must 
 come out into the sunshine with the rest of us." 
 
 Katherine did not rise or appear to be going to fol- 
 low his suggestion, so he added authoritatively : 
 
 "Now be a good girl and go and get your hat." 
 
 "I am very sorry I cannot before lunch ; I have much 
 work to do, and it becomes disorganised if I leave it 
 unfinished." 
 
 "Nonsense ! You did not come to Valfreyne to work. 
 There are such a number of things I want to show you. 
 
 353
 
 THE CABEER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 Everyone is out in the garden, won't you at least come 
 round the state rooms with me?" 
 
 How could she refuse him? He was her host and the 
 pleasure would be so intense. She rose, but without 
 alacrity and answered a little stiffly : 
 
 "I should much like to see them — if it will not take 
 very long." 
 
 Her manner was distinctly different, he noticed it 
 at once — a curtain seemed to have fallen between them 
 ever since the conversation about the pcncillings in the 
 book. It chilled him and made liim determined to re- 
 move it. 
 
 He held the door into his sitting-room open for her, 
 and took pains to keep the conversation upon the 
 ostensible reason for their voyage of inspection. He 
 spoke of carving and dates, and told her anecdotes of 
 the building of Valfreyne. And so they passed on 
 through all the splendid rooms, "The King's Cham- 
 ber," and "The Queen's Closet," — and the salons and 
 so to the great state suite of her who should be reign- 
 ing Duchess. 
 
 And Katherine saw priceless gems of art and splen- 
 dour of gilding and tapestry, and hangings, and great 
 ghostly beds surmounted with nodding ostrich plumes. 
 And stuffs from Venice and Lyons — and even Spital- 
 fields. 
 
 "How wonderful !" she said at last — "And there are 
 many other places such as this in England ! How 
 great and rich a country it is. We — the middle class 
 population — shut in with our narrow parochial views 
 — do not realise it at all, or we would be very proud 
 of our race owning such glorious things, and would not 
 want to encourage stupid paltry politicians to destroy 
 and dissipate them all, and scatter them to the winds." 
 
 354
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "It may seem hard In their view that one man should 
 possess, we will say, Valfreyne." 
 
 "But how stupid! How could it all have been ac- 
 cumulated, but for individual wealth and taste and tra- 
 dition? Who really cares for museums except to study 
 examples in? Do you know, for instance, such people 
 as my sisters would a thousand times rather walk 
 through these rooms on a day when the public is let 
 in, feeling it was a house owned by people who really 
 lived there, than go to any place given to the nation, 
 like Hampton Court or the Wallace Collection." 
 
 "That is the human interest in the thing." 
 
 "Yes, but the human and the personal are the strong- 
 est and most binding of all interests." 
 
 Mordryn looked at her appreciatively — he delighted 
 in hearing her views. 
 
 "Then you have no feeling that you wish all this to 
 be divided up among the people of Lulworth, say — the 
 large town near?" 
 
 "Oh ! no, no ! So strongly do I feel for the law by 
 which all goes to the eldest son, that were I a younger 
 one, I would willingly give up my share to ensure the 
 family continuing great. Who that can see clearly 
 would not rather be a younger son of a splendid house, 
 than a little, ridiculous nobody on his own account, — 
 if everything were to be divided up." 
 
 "It is so very strange that you should have this 
 spirit. Miss Bush. If you had not told me of your 
 parentage I should have said you were of the same root 
 and branch as Lady Garribardine. Are you sure you 
 are not a changeling?" 
 
 "Quite sure. How proud it must make you feel 
 to own Valfreyne, and what obligations it must en- 
 tail!" 
 
 S55
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Yes,*' and he sighed. 
 
 **It must make you weigh erery action to see if it Is 
 worthy of one who must be an example for so manj 
 people." 
 
 "That is how you look upon great position — it is a 
 noble way." 
 
 "Why, of course — it could not be right to hold all 
 this in trust for your descendants, and for the glory of 
 England, and then to think yourself free to squander 
 it, and degrade the standard. All feeling would haye 
 to give way to worthily fulfilling your trust." 
 
 The Duke felt his heart sink — a strange feeling of 
 depression came over him. 
 
 "I suppose you are right," and he sighed again. 
 
 "I was so much interested in the story of your ring," 
 she said presently, to lift the silence which had fallen 
 upon them both. "It is such a strange idea that great 
 good fortune is unlucky — since we always draw what 
 we deserve. If we are foolish and draw misfortune at 
 the beginning of our lives, we must of course pay the 
 price, but if people's brains are properly balanced thej 
 should not fear good fortune in itself." 
 
 "You think then that a whole life need not be 
 shadowed with misery, but that if the price of folly is 
 paid in youth, there may still be a chance of a happy 
 old age.?" 
 
 "Of course — One must be quite true, that is all, and 
 never deceive anyone who trusts one." 
 
 "That would mean living in a palace of truth and 
 would be impracticable." 
 
 "Not at all. There are some things people have no 
 right to ask or to be told — some tilings one must keep 
 to oneself for the carrying on of life — but if a person 
 has a right to know, and trusts you and you deceive 
 
 356
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 him, then you must take the consequences of unhappl- 
 ness which is the reflex action of untruth." 
 
 *'How wise you are, child — that is the whole mean- 
 ing of honour, 'To thine own self be true and it must 
 follow as the night the day, Thou canst mot then be 
 false to any man.' " 
 
 She looked straight up into his eyes, hers were pure 
 and deep and sorrowful. 
 
 "Now I have seen your beautiful home I must go 
 back to my work — I shall always remember this visit, 
 and this happy morning — all my life." 
 
 Mordryn was deeply moved, passionate emotion was 
 coursing through him — with great difficulty he re- 
 strained the words which rose to his lips. He did not 
 seek to detain her, and they retraced their steps, speak- 
 ing little by the way, until they came to his sitting- 
 room. 
 
 "When you go to-morrow, will you take with you 
 the *Eothen' and the 'Abelard and Heloise.''* I woidd 
 like to know that you read them sometimes and there 
 is one passage in Ahelard's first letter which I know 
 I shall have to quote to myself — It is on the fifty- 
 fourth page, the bottom paragraph— you must look at 
 it some time — " 
 
 Then his voice broke a little — "And now let us say 
 good-bye — here in my room." 
 
 "Good-bye," said Katherine and held out her hand. 
 
 The Duke took it and with it drew her near to him. 
 
 "Good-b3^e — Beloved," he whispered, and his tones 
 were hoarse, and then he dropped her hand ; and Kath- 
 erine gave a little sob, and turning, ran from the room, 
 leaving him with his proud head bent, and tears in his 
 dark blue eyes. 
 
 And she made herself return to her work — nor would 
 
 357
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 she permit her thoughts to dwell for an instant upon 
 the events of the morning, or the words of the Duke — 
 for she knew that if she did so she would lose control 
 of herself and foolishly burst into tears. And there 
 was lunch to be endured, and the afternoon and 
 evening. 
 
 So this was the end — he loved her, but his ideas of 
 principle held. — And if she was only a common girl 
 and so debarred from being a Duchess — the Duke 
 should see that no aristocrat of his own class could be 
 more game. 
 
 Lady Garribardine found her still writing diligentlj 
 when she came in just before luncheon would be an- 
 nounced, and she wondered what made the girl look 
 so pale. 
 
 *'It is quite too bad that you have sat here all this 
 time," she exclaimed. "I won't have you bother with 
 another word. This was to be your holiday and your 
 amusement, this visit to Valfreyne, and you have been 
 cooped up in the house working as if at home." 
 
 The Duke looked extremely stern at luncheon and 
 was punctiliously polite to everyone, but those in his 
 immediate vicinity were conscious tliat a stiffness had 
 fallen upon the atmosphere which asphyxiated conver- 
 sation. 
 
 Lady Garribardine was well acquainted with the 
 signs of all his moods. This one, she knew, resulted 
 from pain of some sort, and mental perturbation. What 
 had occurred between him and Katherine.'* Could they 
 have quarrelled.'^ This must be ascertained at the 
 earliest possible moment. 
 
 After luncheon they were all to motor to an old castle 
 for a picnic tea, a beautiful ruin of a former habitation 
 of the Monluces about five miles away. 
 
 8.58
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 Kathcrine should go with the younger people, and 
 she should have the Duke to herself. 
 
 His manner was certainly preoccupied, and he spoke 
 only of ordinary things as they went through the park. 
 
 "The party has been the greatest success, Mordryn. 
 Are you pleased? Everyone has enjoyed it.** 
 
 *'Ycs, I suppose it has been all right, thanks to your 
 admirable qualities as hostess, dear friend. But how 
 irksome I find all parties! I have been too long away 
 from the world." 
 
 "I thought you seemed so cheery, Mordryn, yes- 
 terday, but to-day you look as glum as a church. You 
 must shake yourself up, nothing is so foolish as giving 
 way to these acquired habits of solitude and separa- 
 tion from your kind." 
 
 "I am growing old. Seraphim." 
 
 "Stuff and nonsense!" Her Ladyship cried. "You 
 have never looked more vigorous — or more attractive, 
 and you are not subject to liver attacks or the gout — ■ 
 so you have no excuse in the world for this doleful point 
 of view." 
 
 "Perhaps not — It is stupid to want the moon.* 
 
 "There are no such things as moons for Dukes ; they 
 are always lamps which can be secured in the hand." 
 
 "Not without fear of combustion or fusing as the 
 case might be." 
 
 "Nothing venture nothing have. No man ought to 
 sit down and abandon his moon chase — if he wants it 
 badly enough he will get it." 
 
 "In spite of his conscience.''" 
 
 Her Ladyship looked at him shrewdly — now was a 
 moment for indicating her sentiments she felt — he might 
 understand her as he so pleased. 
 
 "No, never in spite of his conscience, but in 
 
 359
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 spite of custom or tradition or anj other man-made 
 barrier." 
 
 But although the Duke found much comfort in her 
 words, he was not easily influenced by anyone and 
 the torrent of his passion had not yet reached the flood- 
 gates, and was restrained by his will. So he turned 
 the conversation and endeavoured to be cheerful. And 
 Seraphim saw that for the moment she must leave 
 things to fate. 
 
 Katherine looked quite lovely at tea. Her new air 
 of rather pensive gentleness suited her well. She 
 showed perfect composure, there was no trace of nerv- 
 ousness or self-consciousness in her manner, only her 
 eyes were sad. 
 
 What dignity, the Duke thought as he watched, her 
 conduct and attitude during the whole visit had shown! 
 He knew it must have been a moment of exceptional 
 excitement to her to come there among his and Lady 
 Garribardine's friends, as one of them, and yet not for 
 a second had she shown anything but composure and 
 ease, talking with quiet politeness to whoever addressed 
 her, neither with subservience nor with expansiveness, 
 but with exactly the consideration which so becomes a 
 great lady, even if she is but a girl. He looked at her 
 again and again, and could find only something further 
 to respect and admire. 
 
 He wondered how much she was feeling? What had 
 that little sob meant? Pain as well as understanding 
 assuredly. Was she, too, longing secretly to be taken 
 into his arms — as with every fibre of his being he was 
 burning with desire to hold her? Or did she not really 
 care, and was the attention of young Westonborough 
 enough to divert her — and would she eventually marry 
 Sir John? 
 
 860
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 This last thought was disgusting! but His Grace of 
 Mordryn had not the type of mind like that of Gerard 
 Strobridge, to take comfort in the thought that if she 
 did so, his own chance of future joy would be the great- 
 er. No touch of anything but reverence was in his 
 heart towards Katherine. 
 
 And so the afternoon passed with much suffering in 
 two souls, and the rainbow tints of the evening came 
 over the sky. The chestnut trees were the softest fresh 
 green, and the oaks only just out. Copper beeches 
 and limes and firs all added to the beauty of tint. And 
 young birds were twittering their good-nights; the 
 whole world was full of love, and springtime promise of 
 
 joy- 
 
 And Mordryn battled with himself and banished 
 temptation, and had his sitting-room blinds drawn im- 
 mediately to hide all these sweet things of nature, when 
 they returned, and stayed alone there until it was time 
 to dress for dinner, saying he had important letters 
 to write. 
 
 But all the while he was conscious that just beyond 
 that door and that passage, there was a woman who 
 seemed to matter to him more than anything else in 
 life! 
 
 The whole afternoon had been such a wretched 
 tantalization. A long duty when he had spoken as an 
 automaton to boring guests. He had not sought to 
 talk to Katherine; that good-bye in the morning had 
 been final, there could be no anticlimax, that would 
 make it all futile. 
 
 And she had understood, she had realised his motive 
 — this he knew and felt, but took no comfort from the 
 thought. 
 
 And Katherine, with half an hour to herself, looked 
 
 861
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 for and found that passage on page fiftj-four of "Abe- 
 lard and Heloise" and she read: 
 
 I remove to a distance from your person with an inten- 
 tion of avoiding you as an enemy. And yet I incessantly 
 seek for you in my mind — I recall your image in my 
 memory and in such different disquietudes I betray and 
 contradict myself. — I hate you! — I love you! Shame 
 presses me on all sides. I am at this moment afraid I 
 should seem more indifferent than you are, and yet I am 
 ashamed to discover my trouble. 
 
 Well — if he felt like that — what could be the end?
 
 CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 LONDON seemed very noisy and tumultuous to 
 Katherine when they returned to Berkeley 
 Square, and the routine of her work came al- 
 most as a relief. 
 
 What would be the outcome of this visit to Val- 
 freyne? She could not guess. That the Duke loved 
 her she knew — but with what kind of love? With an 
 almighty passion which one day would break all bar- 
 riers and seek for fulfilment? Oh with a restrained 
 emotion which, when the temptation of her presence 
 was removed, would settle down? But of what matter 
 really whether he loved her with the one or the other, 
 since both were equally forbidden and useless! 
 
 And she? — What were her feelings? She knew in 
 her heart that if she were to permit herself to indulge 
 in natural emotion, she could shower upon him a love 
 that in its white heat of devotion and passion would 
 make that which she had formerly given to Lord Algy 
 appear but a puny schoolgirl thing. 
 
 She must not give way to any such feelings, though ; 
 the pain was quite bitter enough as it was — and nothing 
 but stern discipline of mind and an iron self-control 
 could make it bearable at all. 
 
 She felt restless during that week — on tenterhooks 
 to know if she should see the Duke ; hot and cold as 
 she went into a room. But he did not come and she 
 heard casually that he was still at Valfreyne. And 
 on Saturday morning they went down to Blissington 
 
 363
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 until the Monday afternoon, as was their custom at 
 each week-end. 
 
 Lady Garribardine watched Katherine critically and 
 knew that she was suffering, and so she was unusually 
 kind and witty and sarcastic, and acted as a tonic. 
 She had a shrewd way of looking at men and things 
 which always delighted Katherine, and they seemed to 
 grow closer friends than ever. 
 
 "You are a great comfort to me, girl," she said. "I 
 can talk to you and air all my notions as I could to a 
 man — and you do not answer upon another subject. 
 For you know, my dear, that if the basis of your argu- 
 ment with nine women out of ten happens to be that the 
 sea is salt, they will reply that on the contrary the 
 moon is made of green cheese ! You mildly protest that 
 it is the taste of the sea, not the composition of the 
 moon which is in question, and then they say they 
 totally disagree with you and that the sun is warm! 
 You are done ! — There is nothing left for you but to 
 smile and talk of clothes !" 
 
 Katherine laughed delightedly. How well she knew 
 this style of argument! Matilda had always prac- 
 tised it. 
 
 "I believe I owe to my dear lady the faculty of see- 
 ing a little differently." 
 
 "Not at all ! — You always were as sharp as a needle. 
 I may merely have encouraged you perhaps." 
 
 "It is through your kindness and sympathy that I 
 have emerged and broken away from the stultifying 
 bonds of my class. Oh ! if you only knew how deep is 
 my gratitude !" 
 
 She was very seldom moved like this, and Lady Garri- 
 bardine looked at her closely. 
 
 "Tut, tut, child — you were made for great things, 
 
 364,
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 and it is because I realised this at once, almost, that 
 I have sympathised with you. I could not have kept 
 you back any more than I could have created qualities 
 in 3'ou. I could merely have delayed your upward prog- 
 ress or, as I hope I have done, advanced it. The spirit 
 in you is God-given and I have nothing to do with it." 
 
 Katherine's eyes softened with love and reverence! 
 Her dear, dear friend and benefactress ! 
 
 When she was alone. Lady Garribardine thought 
 ideeply over everything, their respect and affection were 
 mutual. It troubled her a little to see the girl so quiet 
 — Mordryn had played quite fairly, she hoped — but 
 yes — he could never do otherwise. She guessed what 
 was the reason of the estrangement — if estrangement 
 there was — on his side, and it caused her no permanent 
 concern. 
 
 "When a man feels as Mordryn feels, no class preju- 
 dice in the world will keep him from the woman in the 
 end ! Only let him suffer enough and then give them 
 an opportunity to meet, and all will be well !" 
 
 Thus she mused — And what a weight off her mind 
 it would be to see them happily married ! So that her 
 conscience might be at rest, and she could feel that 
 she had more than made up for her action of long ago. 
 Yes — Katherine Bush was a peerless creature, and 
 would be the brightest jewel in any crown. Not a trace 
 of the jealousy or antagonism, which once or twice for 
 the fraction of a second had sprung up from natural 
 hereditary instinct and class prejudice, remained in 
 her heart. Her clear and wise judgment had sifted 
 and weighed all the pros and cons. No two human 
 beings on earth were more suited to one another than 
 her humble secretary from Bindon's Green and this 
 great nobleman. And she could launch Katherine suc- 
 
 365
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 cessfully, and make her accepted without question. And 
 after the marriage, she could safely leave to the girl's 
 own superb tact and common sense the task of main- 
 taining the position of Duchess with illustrious dis- 
 tinction. So that the only barrier left to be overcome 
 was Mordryn's tiresome prejudice about class. That 
 most annoyingly obstinate sense of duty, and noblesse 
 oblige — duty to his rank and to his race. But his mind 
 was not narrow, and once he could have time freely to 
 think out what real nobility meant, he would realise 
 that highness of birth was not essential at all. 
 
 Lady Garribardine knew the Duke's nature so well; 
 she was aware that if she spoke to him upon this sub- 
 ject and sought to influence him more than her speech 
 at the picnic had already done, his desire being so 
 forcibly upon her side, he would then still more deter- 
 minedly make up his mind not to be convinced from 
 the fear that he was allowing inclination to weaken his 
 sense of duty. 
 
 To leave fate to manage matters was the best plan, 
 and to be ready to give a helping hand at the critical 
 moment. 
 
 Mordryn was certainly suffering deeply or he would 
 have returned to London, instead of staying on at 
 Valfrcyne. 
 
 Not by word or insinuation did she ever indicate to 
 Katherine that she had remarked the Duke's interest in 
 her, or the apparent cooling of it. Indeed, since that 
 day at the Easter party wlien she had lightly spoken 
 of his coming to the schoolroom, she had never men- 
 tioned him to her secretary in connection with herself 
 at all. So on the surface everything was calm and 
 peaceful, and life flowed in its accustomed stream. 
 
 Mordryn must be made to come to Berkeley Square 
 
 S66
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 again as of old, and he must not be allowed to see Kath- 
 erine for some time. He must get into the way of drop- 
 ping in as usual without fear. 
 
 And in the third week after Whitsuntide, the Duke 
 returned to town and did dine there, and Miss Bush 
 was nowhere to be seen. He had spent very miserable 
 days down in his beautiful home. He had not reached 
 the stage of reason yet, he was merely fighting desire 
 with all his might — while daily it grew stronger. 
 
 How cold her hand had been when they had said a 
 polite good-bye on the Tuesday morning; he could feel 
 it through the glove! How pale her face had looked, 
 too! He hoped to God she was not suffering; that 
 would be too cruel, and he could not feel guiltless if it 
 were so. He had certainly played upon her feelings, 
 although in the most subtle manner, which made his 
 conduct the more cowardly and inexcusable. This 
 thought brought extreme discomfort, and plunged him 
 into frantic work. He filled all his hours with the busi- 
 ness of his estate, in order to banish memory, but with 
 no great success, so at last he came up to London, de- 
 termined to crush out every weakness. But when he 
 went to Berkeley Square to dine he felt agitated, and 
 he knew that he was fearing and yet hoping to see 
 Katherine. 
 
 But he caught no glimpse of her, nor was she even 
 mentioned, it was as though she had never been. He 
 grew anxious — had she left Seraphim's service? This 
 must be ascertained immediately, before he left the 
 house. 
 
 "Miss Bush is not dining to-night. Seraphim?" he 
 said, after dinner, when he had a moment with his 
 hostess. "I hope she is well?" 
 
 "Yes, thanks," and Her Ladyship turned the con- 
 
 3G7
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 versatlon at once, so that he was left with this meagre 
 information. 
 
 As he drove away to St. James's, he found himself 
 thinking incessantly of the girl. 
 
 She had understood. She was so fine, she had grasped 
 the situation completely — had she not herself explained 
 to him the duty he owed to his race? 
 
 But a woman who could take such an abstract view 
 must surely have a very wonderful soul! Every one 
 of her ideas had shown the highest sense of duty, the 
 most profound grasp of what was meant by noblesse 
 oblige. He remembered even her remark about his at- 
 tending the House of Lords, how she had said it was 
 cowardly of him to shirk his work there just because 
 he so despised modern views. In what high esteem, too, 
 she was held by Seraphim — a woman not to be imposed 
 upon by any mere charm, and one who would bring the 
 most critical judgment to bear upon every question 
 before she would accord her friendship. — ^And that 
 Katherine had Lady Garribardine's friendship in full, 
 he knew. 
 
 He went into his library which looked out on the 
 Green Park, and he opened the window side and walked 
 on to the terrace. In the distance the roar of Picca- 
 dilly thundered by, but his immediate neighbourhood 
 was quiet and he could think. 
 
 He reviewed every minute incident from the beginning 
 of his acquaintance with Katherine that night not so 
 very long ago at the house of Gerard Strobridge. She 
 had admitted that it was she herself who had desired 
 this meeting after she had heard him speak. That 
 proved that she had been drawn to him even then. And 
 how attractive she had appeared, how cultivated and 
 polished, hofw clever and refined! And to think that 
 
 368
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 such achievement was the result of steadfastness of 
 purpose ! A will to compass an ideal against extraor- 
 dinary odds. An intelligence great enough to realise 
 that facts alone count, and that no assumption of the 
 rights of ladyhood, or demonstration in words, would 
 convince anyone, but only the inward reality of fine- 
 ness of soul directing outward action. How much more 
 meritorious and to be respected was her achievement 
 then than if these things had been her natural herit- 
 age! She had obtained a state of perfection through 
 dehberate intention in a far greater degree than any- 
 one he knew but Seraphim. Her every idea, thought, 
 expression and point of view, accorded exactly with 
 his own. Her sense of duty was paramount. Her 
 level-headedness, and her common sense, and her bal- 
 ance were such as he had never before seen in woman. 
 
 And she was young and beautiful, and in perfect 
 health. No nervous fancies beset that evenly poised 
 brain. 
 
 Suddenly, as he stared up into the deep blue starlit 
 sky, it seemed that the scales fell from his eyes, and 
 fog was lifted from his inner vision of the soul. 
 
 This beloved creature — daughter of an auctioneer 
 and granddaughter of a butcher — was truly and really 
 an aristocrat in the purest and truest sense of the 
 term. And just because he could trace his pedigree 
 back for countless generations, who was he to stand 
 aside and not give her her due when her spirit and 
 character were so infinitely above him.'' (Thus love 
 engenders humility in noble hearts!) 
 
 Where in the whole world could he find one so worthy 
 to share his great name and great estate? He laughed 
 aloud in glee ! It would not be giving way to tempta- 
 tion for personal joy to think of her as his Duchess, 
 
 369
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 but it would be conferring the greatest honour upon 
 his house that it had ever known. 
 
 He marvelled at his blindness — marvelled at his 
 pitifully conventional point of view. How had it ever 
 weighed Avith him a second.'' How had he not realised 
 at once the utter paltriness of the designation of aris- 
 tocrat unless the inner being carries out what that word 
 is intended to convey.? 
 
 He thought of his wife Laura, with her stupid, mean 
 little brain, developing into madness. He thought of 
 Gerard's wife Beatrice — of what use was she to any 
 man? He thought of his own cousin, Dulcie Dashing- 
 ton, with her vulgar barmaid's instincts, and her degra- 
 dation of her great state, and he thought of all the 
 crew of frivolous, soulless, mindless worldings who had 
 flung themselves at his head at Blissington, any one of 
 whom society would call a well-bred lady suitable for 
 him to marry and take to his home ! 
 
 And then he thought of Katherine's simple dignity. 
 She had not tried to entrap him. She had not been 
 insulted at his holding back, she had understood. In 
 her humility of greatness, she had understood what 
 would be likely to be his view — or rather the view of his 
 class. 
 
 But now he saw the truth, and the truth was that 
 she stood out a star among womankind and none other 
 was worthy to tie the latchct of her shoe. 
 
 He would not hesitate another second. He would 
 telephone in the morning to Seraphim and propose him- 
 self for Saturday, and then he should see her — this 
 sweet Katherine — and talk to her and tell her the truth. 
 And if she would so honour him then she should be his 
 own. 
 
 The vision exalted him. He let his imagination, 
 
 370
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 curbed and denied expression for so long, have full 
 rein. She was not cold by nature, she would not have 
 to simulate passion like Julia Scarrlsbrooke! Hers, if 
 she felt it at all, would be real. She had experienced 
 that part of love before. He even thought of this with- 
 out a pang, for that was past — and something told 
 him that she was not indifferent to him now. How 
 enchanting to make her really love him — how divine to 
 teach her all the shades of that "something beyond" 
 which she had asked him about! 
 
 And then their life together there at Valfreyne ! Yes, 
 this was the true kind of strength which she had spoken 
 of, the strength which breaks down all shams. 
 
 And to think how near he had been to allowing the 
 stupid, blind, hypocritical ideas of his world to part 
 them forever! He must have been mad, since he had 
 known her worth always, from the first day. Seraphim 
 would help him after all — had she not told him not to 
 go against his conscience, but only against custom and 
 tradition and any other man-made barrier? And now 
 conscience was with him, and he would break every bar 
 which divided him from his heart's delight! 
 
 Lady Garribardine's surprise was great on receiving 
 the telephone message in the morning: Might His Grace 
 speak to Her Ladyship personally.'' 
 
 Katherine repeated the message of the servant. 
 
 Certainly His Grace might. 
 
 Katherine handed the receiver and was preparing to 
 leave the room, but Lady Garribardine made a sign 
 for her to stay while she sat up in bed. 
 
 "Is that you, Mordryn — Oh ! — Why, of course you 
 may come down to-morrow ! Yes — London is hot. It 
 will only be a dull party — Gwendoline and the Colvins 
 and old Tom Hawthorne. I was merely going for rest 
 
 371
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 injself. You don't mind, jou would like that? — Oh! 
 Tery well, come either by motor or the three o'clock 
 train. All right — good-bye. 
 
 Then she looked at Katherine who met her eyes with 
 a perfectly unmoved face. 
 
 "The Duke proposes himself to come to us to-mor- 
 row at Blissington, he is bored with London, and out 
 of sorts." 
 
 But no joy appeared on the secretary's counte- 
 nance ; in fact she turned a shade paler, as she asked 
 if she should transmit any orders to the housekeeper 
 about his room. 
 
 "She feels things like the devil," Her Ladyship 
 thought. "But Mordryn has evidently come to his 
 senses, so they will presently settle the matter all 
 right." 
 
 Katherine was glad that her duties now took her out 
 ■hopping, she felt she must be in the open air and free 
 to think. 
 
 What did this mean? Why was he coming to Bliss- 
 ington so suddenly? Would it produce a climax in her 
 fate? 
 
 And as Mordryn had done the night before on his 
 terrace overlooking the Green Park, so she too re- 
 viewed all their acquaintance and what it had grown 
 to mean to her — something very bitter sweet. 
 
 Should she allow herself a fool's paradise for just a 
 day? Should she let him make love to her, if that was 
 his intention in coming to Blissington? But no, she 
 must be firm with herself and act always as she thought 
 right. But her mind was in a turmoil, and she felt 
 tired and excited. The picture held out nothing but 
 pain. 
 
 If he came and made love to her, she would have to 
 
 372
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 cut his protestations short. And if he ignored her, 
 that would hurt still more. She devoutly wished ibe 
 might run away. 
 
 At luncheon the nexi; day, after their arrival at 
 Blissington, Her Ladyship said rather irrelevantly: 
 
 "You look thoroughly tired out, girl. I advise you 
 to take a rug and a book and go out under the chestnut 
 trees in the beautiful air, and have a nap — and don't 
 come in for tea if you do not want to, there are so few 
 of us I can manage by myself." 
 
 And Katherine, glad to escape, did as she was bid.
 
 CHAPTER XXXn 
 
 WHEN the Duke arrived by motor, tea had just 
 been brought out on the terrace at the east- 
 ern side of the house. His glance travelled 
 rapidly over the group. Miss Bush was not present. 
 
 His impatience had been growing and growing ever 
 since the Thursday night when his resolution had been 
 taken, and now he almost felt like a boy in his great 
 disappointment at noting Kathcrine's absence. 
 
 How was he going to talk to the Colvins and Tom 
 Hawthorne and old Gwendoline ! However, he did man- 
 age to be almost his usual self, though Lady Garri- 
 bardine was quite aware that his nerves were strung 
 to a high tension. 
 
 She got through tea as quickly as possible, and then 
 walked him off to see a new set of herbaceous bor- 
 ders. 
 
 The very second that they were alone, Mordryn be- 
 gan to talk openly to her. He had determined to have 
 no further cross purposes of any kind. 
 
 "Do you guess, Seraphim, what has brought me 
 here to-day.'*" he asked. 
 
 "I have some shrewd idea — you have decided to ap- 
 preciate reality and discard appearance, as my Kath- 
 erine Bush would say." 
 
 "That is it. Have I your sympathy, dear friend.''" 
 
 "My warmest sympathy, Mordryn ; your happiness 
 means a very great deal to me. I have had some horri- 
 ble moments in those past years, of remorse for my 
 
 374
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 part In your sorrows — but if you secure this girl, I 
 can feel that you will be amply compensated." 
 
 *'I am deeply in love, Seraphim, and you, I know, 
 will not laugh at me, or think it absurd." 
 
 She gave him a frank smile full of affection. 
 
 "Indeed, no — and what is more important, the gii4 
 will not laugh either. She is full of passion, Mordrjn 
 - — have you ever watched her little nostrils quiver? You 
 will have no colourless time with her! She is not of 
 the type of poor Lao Delemar, Gerard's friend, or 
 Julia Scarrisbrooke ! The fierce red blood rushes 
 through her veins ! — But she is too entirely self-con- 
 trolled to let even me see what her real feelings are, 
 though I shrewdly suspect she is in love with you — ^You, 
 the man, Mordryn — and not, strange to say, the Duke- 
 dom at all !" 
 
 His Grace thrilled with delight — as why not, indeed! 
 Of all beautiful and maligned things, he knew real pas- 
 sion was the rarest ! 
 
 "If it had been the Dukedom, she could have tanta- 
 lized me into committing any madness — ^weeks ago — 
 but she has done nothing of the sort. She has simply 
 understood, that is the wonderful part." 
 
 "She is an amazing creature, a wonderful character, 
 old friend — perfectly honest and intensely proud. Not 
 with the pride which sticks its chin in the air, but that 
 which carries the head high; there is all the difference 
 in the world between the two. Upstarts nearly always 
 have their chins in the air, but are unacquainted with 
 the other attitude. She will make the most perfect 
 Duchess your house has ever known — And think of your 
 children !" 
 
 The Duke drew in his breath sharply, a new joy per- 
 meated him at her words — "Just think of your chUr 
 
 375
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 dren ! Why, my dream of the six sturdj bojs may 
 yet come true !" 
 
 **Seraphim — really !" 
 
 Her ladyship chuckled happily. "Now we must use 
 eommon sense ; there must not be a flaw in the whole 
 affair. If she agrees to marry you, I will begin to 
 arrange the situation at once. I will bring her out 
 more and present her to people — and we will not an- 
 nounce the engagement for a few weeks. No one will 
 dare to question who she is, or where she came from if 
 I choose to do that. Some of them may even suggest 
 that she is the result of some past indiscretion of one 
 of the family that I have adopted. They may think 
 what they like ! She is so absolutely honest, she would 
 tell anyone the truth herself without a care — but I 
 think I shall advise her to be silent, and let people make 
 up what they please. No one can dispute her perfect 
 refinement or suitability to take any position in the 
 world." 
 
 "Seraphim, you are an angel." 
 
 "No, I am not — I am merely a capable craftsman. 
 I like to do everything I undertake well. Your Duchess 
 shall start unhandicappcd." 
 
 "How deep is my gratitude, dear friend.'" 
 
 "Tut, tut !" 
 
 But her dark eyes beamed mistily. "When I see you 
 safely off — with the knot tied, on your way to Val- 
 freyne for the honeymoon — I shall feel content." 
 
 "Where is she.?" 
 
 "I told her to go and rest under the chestnuts this 
 afternoon. She looked as pale as a ghost." 
 
 "May I find her there, then, now.''" 
 
 •TTes — be off ! And bless you !" 
 
 They wrung hands, and the Duke strode away look- 
 
 376
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 ing, as Her Ladyship admitted, with a fond half-»igh, 
 still the hero of any woman's dream. His years lat so 
 lightly upon him. 
 
 But he searched under the chestnuts and beyond, and 
 Katherine was nowhere to be seen. A rug was folded 
 beneath one great trunk — she had evidently been there, 
 and had now wandered on and perhaps was not far off. 
 
 He continued his search for some time without suc- 
 cess, and when he reached the edge of the near woods, 
 with their beautiful paths, some of which ran down to 
 a bit of ornamental water just big enough to be called 
 a lake, he stopped, puzzled as to which one to follow. 
 His heart was beating as it had not beat for years. 
 He decided to go straight to the water's edge to a Chi- 
 nese tea-house which was there, and when he came at 
 length in sight of this, he perceived the flutter of a 
 grey linen skirt disappearing round the corner of it — 
 On the verandah which overhung the water, there were 
 great white water lilies growing in masses just beneath, 
 while two stately swans swam about in the distance; 
 the sun was sinking, it was past six o'clock; and the 
 lights were very lovely and all was serene and still. 
 
 His footfalls did not sound on the soft turf, and 
 Katherine did not know of his approach until he ac- 
 tually stood before her on the broad verandah step. 
 
 She was leaning against the balustrade gazing out 
 over the lake, and she turned and caught sight of him. 
 
 He came forward with outstretched hands, his face 
 aglow. 
 
 "So I have found you at last !" he cried, gladly. 
 "What made you hide away here all alone?" 
 
 Katherine controlled herself sternly. She shook 
 hands calmly, saying it was cool by the water and a 
 pleasant place to be. 
 
 377
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 "Solitude is good sometimes." 
 
 She had felt too restless to stay beneath the trees — 
 even her will could not keep her disturbed thoughts 
 from speculation as to what the day might bring. And 
 now the Duke was here beside her, and the situation 
 must be faced. 
 
 He came close and leaned upon the quaint wooden 
 rails trying to look down into her averted face, while 
 he whispered: 
 
 *'I had rather enjoy a solitude a deux." 
 
 He saw that she was pale and that her manner was 
 restrained. Did she possibly misunderstand the pur- 
 pose of his coming.'' 
 
 "Look," and she pointed over to the swans — "they 
 perhaps agree with you — they swim lazily about to- 
 gether, dignified and composed, far from turmoil and 
 agitating currents. One envies the birds and beasts 
 and fishes — sometimes," and she sighed. 
 
 "You must not sigh — look at me, Katherine. I want 
 to see your eyes." 
 
 But she disobeyed him and turned the broad lids 
 down. He leaned closer still, and this caused a wave 
 of emotion to sweep over her, producing the same feel- 
 ing which she had once thought only Lord Algy in all 
 the world could evoke in her — so that the Duke saw 
 those little nostrils quiver, which his friend Seraphim 
 had spoken to him about, and the sight gave him great 
 
 joy. 
 
 "Look at me, Katherine !" and now his voice was full 
 of command. 
 
 Then she slowly raised her gray-green eyes and he 
 saw that they were troubled, in spite of the passion 
 that lay in their depths. 
 
 "Why do you come here and speak to me like this?" 
 
 378
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 and in her voice there was reproach. "We said fare- 
 well at Valfreyne — that was the end — I understood — 
 Why do you come again to trouble me now?" 
 
 "Because I could not keep away — because I love you, 
 darling child." 
 
 She drew back, shivering with the pain of the strug- 
 gle which was developing in her soul. 
 
 "Hush, you must not say that to me, I ask you not 
 to, please." 
 
 But since coldness and repulsion were not what he 
 read in her glance, her words did not discourage him. 
 
 "I was very foolish at Valfreyne, Katherine, ever to 
 have said farewell, but now I have come here to Bliss- 
 ington to tell you that I love you passionately, my 
 darling, and your dear sympathy and understanding 
 saw into my mind, and grasped the prejudices therein. 
 But now the blindness has fallen from my eyes — I adore 
 you, my Beloved One — Katherine, I want you to be my 
 wife." 
 
 His voice had never been more beautiful. His splen- 
 did presence had never appeared more impressive, nor 
 the fascination of the man more supreme. And he was 
 there, a suppliant before her asking her to be his 
 wife! 
 
 For a few seconds her brain reeled. The summit 
 of her ambition was reached — and not ambition alone, 
 but what now seemed to matter more, the realisation of 
 true love. Both were there for her to take and to 
 enjoy. The fateful moment had come. She was face 
 to face with the great problem of her life. How could 
 she relinquish all this glory, just to keep faith with her 
 ideal of right.'' 
 
 She looked up into his proud face and saw it trans- 
 figured with worship, and she gave a little cry — No, 
 
 S79
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 she could never deceive him, he was far too fine for 
 that. Whatever came, between them there should be 
 only truth. But even so, a flood of passionate emotion 
 burst all bonds, the whole deep currents of her nature 
 were stirred, and must find vent before the final re- 
 nunciation. 
 
 "Ah!" she cried, and let herself be clasped in his 
 embrace, then, "I love you, I love you!" she went on 
 wildly. — "Kiss me — hold me, let me feel what it is like 
 to be there next your heart — what it would mean — 
 what it cotdd mean, if it might only be. — Oh! you do 
 not know what it costs really to say good-bye — ^Do 
 you remember once when I told you that I knew one 
 side of love and asked you if there was not something 
 beyond? Well, I know now that there is — you have 
 taught me to feel it — It is the soul's victory — I love 
 you with everything in me, with my body and my spirit 
 and my life!" 
 
 But she could articulate no further, for the Duke, 
 intoxicated with emotion, strained her to his heart, 
 bruising her lips with kisses which seemed to transport 
 them both to paradise. 
 
 Here was no timid lover ! But one with a nature as 
 fiercely passionate as her own! 
 
 "Ah, God, how divine!" and he sighed when at last 
 after long, blissful seconds his lips left hers. "Kath- 
 erine, how dare you talk such folly to me of bidding me 
 good-bye! You shall never leave me again, you are 
 absolutely mine." 
 
 "Hush!" and she put her hand over his mouth ten- 
 derly, while she drew herself out of his arms. "As far 
 as love goes I am indeed all yours, the mightiness of 
 this passion has swept away all other thoughts, but 
 now you will have to listen to me — and you must not 
 
 380
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 speak until the end. — See, let us sit here for the story is 
 long." 
 
 Just to humour her he allowed her to draw him to 
 the seat, and with eyes devouring her with fond impa- 
 tience, he waited for her to begin. 
 
 "Promise that you will not interrupt me until I have 
 finished, no matter what you may feel or think." 
 
 He gave his word quite gaily and took and held her 
 hand. 
 
 Katherine controlled her every nerve now and told 
 the story in a deep, quiet voice — with no dramatic ges- 
 tures, drawing a graphic picture of her home and of 
 the office at Liv and Dev's and the effect upon her of 
 the voices of the gentlemen who came to borrow money. 
 And then she told of the coming of Lord Algy and of 
 their acquaintance, and then she paused for a second 
 and glanced at Mordryn's face. It had grown a little 
 strained, but he grasped more tightly her hand. 
 
 "Now you must listen very carefully and try to 
 understand. I suppose I must have been in love with 
 him in a passionate kind of way, he was so \ery hand- 
 some and gay and full of charm — Well, I decided to go 
 away with him for three days — I decided deliberately, 
 not so much from love as because I wanted to under- 
 stand life, and to know the nature of men, and the 
 point of view of an aristocrat." 
 
 The Duke's face became ashen white and his hand 
 turned icy cold, but he did not speak. So with a little 
 break in her voice, Katherine went on: 
 
 " — Well, we went to Paris on the Saturday and came 
 back on the Monday night ; by that time I knew all the 
 passionate side of love; he aroused all those instincts in 
 me which I once told you about — but he never touched 
 my soul — that slept until you came. — I never meant 
 
 381
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 to stay with him or remain his mistress ; it was for 
 experience, and that was all — and we parted at Char- 
 ing Cross Station, and he went to Wales to his family 
 to shoot, and I went home. I wrote to him and told 
 him that I would not see him again. Then I made up 
 my mind that I would leave Livingstone & Devereux's, 
 and begin my next rise in the world. Oh! you do not 
 know how ignorant I was then ! But I never lost sight 
 of the goal I meant to win, to win by knowing how to 
 fill the position desired. I had vast dreams even in 
 those early days. I was fortunate to obtain the sit- 
 uation of Lady Garribardine's secfetary, and on leav- 
 ing the house after being engaged, I met Lord Algy 
 by chance in the park. He was very much upset and 
 unhappy at my determination never to see him again 
 — and he asked me to marry him. I refused, of course, 
 because I knew even then that he only attracted one 
 side of me, and also I was not educated enough at that 
 time to have been able to carry off the position with 
 success. I explained everything to him, and made him 
 promise to try and be a fine soldier — he was being sent 
 to Egypt for his extravagance, and so we parted, and 
 I have never spoken to him since. My goal now was 
 definitely fixed; I meant to educate myself to be able 
 to take the highest position to be obtained in England 
 some day. I used to long for Algy sometimes, but only 
 every now and then, when some scent or sound brought 
 him back to me ; that is why I said such love is unbal- 
 anced and animal — the memory of it is always aroused 
 by something of the senses. Tlien, after I went to Lady 
 Garribardinc, Mr. Strobridge came upon the scene, 
 and his great cultivation inspired me, and presently 
 we became friends. I deliberately encouraged his friend- 
 ship so as to polish my own brain. I knew he was in 
 
 382
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 love with me, so this may have been wrong, but since 
 he was weak enough to allow himself to feel in that way 
 for me knowing he was married, he must pay the price 
 in pain, not I. He has always been a loyal friend after 
 the beginning, when he lost his head one night and made 
 a great scene. My determination never wavered; it 
 was in every way to improve myself, always to be per- 
 fectly true and finally to obtain the height of my ambi- 
 tion. Things went on in this way for a year and a half, 
 Lady Garribardine always helping me and encouraging 
 my education until we became deep and intimate 
 friends. But the goal never seemed to come in view 
 until I went to the House of Lords that day and saw 
 you and heard you speak. In a lightning flash the ob- 
 ject of all my striving seemed revealed to me, and I 
 began to lay my plans, but with some unusual excite- 
 ment, because something in you had aroused an emotion 
 in my heart, the meaning of which I could not then 
 determine. That night I went to the theatre with my 
 sister and there saw in the stalls Lord Algy, returned 
 from Egypt, I suppose, on leave. The sight of him 
 moved me, I felt cold and sick, but I realised once for 
 all that my feeling for him had been only physical, and 
 was passing away. 
 
 "I had arranged with Mr. Strobridge to have the 
 dinner, and to let me meet you, not as the secretary, 
 because I knew that your unconscious prejudice would 
 be insurmountable then. And I thought that if you 
 liked me that night, afterwards the prejudice might not 
 be so deep when you did know my real position. — You 
 will remember what followed, but the second part of 
 the story begins with the afternoon you came into the 
 schoolroom. Until then I had never had a backward 
 thought or regret or worry about Lord Algy. I was 
 
 383
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 only glad to have had the experience, that was all. But 
 after I had told you of my life and parentage, you 
 bent down and kissed my hand. And from that moment 
 doubts began to trouble me. You had started the awak- 
 ening of my soul. And as love grew and grew, so the 
 blackness of the shadow increased. I knew that if I de- 
 ceived you I should only draw unhappiness and never 
 respect myself. Where love is there can be no deceit 
 ■ — and so at last even before I went to Valfreyne I put 
 all thoughts of you from me. Although each day you 
 seemed to grow more dear — until I knew that you 
 meant everything to me and were my wild and pas- 
 sionate desire. — I saw that my position in life held you 
 back, and I was almost glad that it should be so — 
 because I knew that if you should really love me, and 
 conquer your prejudice against my class, it would 
 come to tliis, that I must tell you the truth and that it 
 would part us forever. And I have tried to prevent 
 you from telling me of your love, I have tried to re- 
 strain my own for you, but now I am left defenceless 
 — I love you, but I realise that what I did in the past 
 the world could never forgive, and so I must pay the 
 price of my own action, and say an eternal farewell." 
 
 Her voice died away in a sob, and she did not then 
 look at the Duke's face; his hand had grown nerveless 
 in its clasp and she drew hers away from him, and rose 
 slowly to her feet. The awful moment was over, the 
 story was done — she had been true to herself and had 
 lost her love — and now she must have courage to be- 
 have with dignity and go back to the house. 
 
 But she must just look at him once more, her dearly 
 loved one! He sat there in an attitude of utter dejec- 
 tion, his face buried in his hands. — For long aching 
 moments Katherine watched him, but she did not speak 
 
 384
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 and life and hope and purpose died out of her, drowned 
 in overwhehning grief. 
 
 Then after this horrible silence the blood seemed to 
 creep back to the Duke's heart, and reaction set in. 
 He began gradually to think. His level judgment, his 
 faculty for analyzing things, reasserted themselves, and 
 enabled him to view the whole subject in right perspec- 
 tive, and a re-awakening to happiness slowly filled him. 
 
 He looked up to Katherine at last as she stood there 
 leaning against a pillar of the balustrade, and he read 
 no humiliation or shame or contrition in her great eyes, 
 but only a deep sorrow and tenderness and love. 
 
 And suddenly he realised the splendour of her cour- 
 age, the glorious force of character which had enabled 
 her to jeopardize — nay, indeed, relinquish, love and 
 high estate and ambition, rather than be false to her- 
 self. 
 
 For she need not have told him anything of her story. 
 That fact was the great proof of her truth. He had 
 asked no questions about her past. She had made no 
 dramatic virtue of necessity, she had done this thing 
 that she might not soil her own soul with deceit. 
 
 Of what matter was a paltry venial sin ! If sin it 
 were, the shame of which lay wholly in a too rigid con- 
 vention — of what matter to him were three days in 
 the past, long before they had met ! That she was alto- 
 gether his now in body and soul he had no faintest 
 doubt. Was there any man living such a fool or puri- 
 tan that he would renounce life's joy for such a foolish 
 thing! The very qualities of courage and justice which 
 her action in telling him had shown, would wipe out 
 any sin and give him ample guaranties for future se- 
 curity and peace. Such a woman was worth all the 
 world! And ridiculous puny conventions were of no 
 
 385
 
 THE CABEEB OF KATHEBINE BUSH 
 
 account. Did he dream of looking upon Seraphim as 
 degraded because she had been his love long ago, and 
 not his wife? Of course not! Then why should he feel 
 scorn for Katherine who had not even betrayed a hus- 
 band, but had been free? Scorn was for such women 
 as Julia Scarrisbrooke — creatures who simulated pas- 
 sion for one man after another, merely as a game — 
 people who held love cheaply and who knew not even 
 the glimmerings of obligation to their own souls. 
 
 Away with all shams of the world! None of them 
 should influence him! He had found a spirit strong 
 and free and honest. Reality had won forever, and 
 appearance had vanished away. 
 
 So he rose and came to her again and once more took 
 her into his arms, and bending kissed her white fore- 
 head as if in blessing. 
 
 "Oh! my Beloved — And you deemed that this would 
 part us, this long-past ugly thing! Foolish one! — 
 You do not know how much I love you! Far beyond 
 any of the earthly things. Darling, I honour your 
 brave courage. I worship your truth. You shall come 
 to me and be my adored wife, and the mistress of my 
 home. Katherine, heart of me, whisper that all sor- 
 rows are over, and let us enter heaven together and 
 forget all else." 
 
 But Katherine, overwrought with emotion, lay there 
 against his breast, limp and white. She was beyond 
 speech, only her spirit cried out in thankfulness to 
 God for having given her the strength to tell the truth. 
 
 Joys kills not — and soon under her lover's fond 
 caresses, warm life rushed back to her. And thus in 
 the evening glory of sunset they found content. 
 
 For the one sublime thing in this sad, mad world is 
 LOVE. 
 
 386
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII 
 
 IT was more than a month since, in the late July of 
 1914, the joy bells had rung out on all the Duke's 
 estates for the birth of the heir, the infant Mar- 
 quis of Valfreyne. And it was just a year since Kath- 
 erine had become his Duchess ! 
 
 And what a year in a woman's life ! 
 
 Days and weeks and months of happiness, of ever- 
 increasing understanding and companionship, with one 
 whose every action and thought inspired respect and 
 love. 
 
 The bond between the two had grown always more 
 iieep, more sacred, as the days went on, and as Kath- 
 erine said one morning fondly: 
 
 "Mordryn, we are just like Rochester and Jane Eyre, 
 not modern people, because we never want to be away 
 from one another for a minute — only, thank God, you 
 are not blind." 
 
 Theirs was a real marriage, and Lady Garribardine 
 was fully content. She took personal pride in the man- 
 ner in which her protege fulfilled the role of Duchess, 
 and she rejoiced to see her old love in the midst of such 
 bliss. 
 
 For their union was divine and complete, and the 
 coming of the babj'^ Valfreyne had been the crowning 
 
 joy. 
 
 It was a continual source of delight to the Duke to 
 watch Kathcrine, and to know how absolutely his be- 
 lief in her had been justified. To watch and to note 
 
 38T
 
 THE CABEER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 with what supreme dignity she carried out the duties of 
 his great state. And as each occasion came when some 
 special effort was required, after it was over she would 
 rush into his arms, and caress him, and ask to be petted, 
 and told that he was satisfied, and that his beggar 
 Duchess had pleased him and done all that he would 
 wish! 
 
 The year of perfect happiness and gratified ambition 
 had moulded Katherine into a new and noble being, in 
 whom graciousness and sweetness and gentleness en- 
 hanced all her old charms. 
 
 She continued to make Lady Garribardine her model 
 for everything. 
 
 The world had experienced a nine days' wonder 
 when the engagement was announced; but, as Her 
 Ladyship said, there was no use in having kept her 
 iron heel upon the neck of society for all these years, 
 if she could not now impose upon it unquestioned what 
 she wished. So Katherine had had a triumphant entry, 
 and very little antagonism to surmount. She paid visits 
 to all the Duke's relatives under Lady Garribardine's 
 wing, and her own tact and serene dignity had con- 
 quered them all, and turned them into friends. 
 
 "She is of no particular birth," Her Ladyship was 
 wont to say, "but / know who she is, so you need none 
 of you trouble yourselves about it. I will be answer- 
 able for her fitness for the post." 
 
 Thus the most romantic and fantastic rumours got 
 about, and Lady Garribardine wrote amusedly to 
 Gerard in Russia, after the wedding in September, giv- 
 ing a description of events : 
 
 I issued stern commands to Bronson, G., that there 
 should be no talk below stairs, no gratifying of anybody's 
 
 388
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 curiosity, and I think I can count upon their devotion to 
 me, and their great liking for the girl herself, to feel that 
 they will cooperate. Her family were the entertaining 
 thing. The sisters from America wrote sensible letters, 
 realising that the great divide had come, and fortunately 
 the Bindon's Green remainder had themselves cut her off 
 from their intimacy, because she was what they called a 
 "paid servant," "living in," apparently a degraded status 
 in that incredible class ! Mordryn received a letter from 
 her sister-in-law a few days after the news was in the 
 papers, a most remarkable bit of feminine spite, which 
 caused us all glee: informing him that as he had no doubt 
 been sadly deceived by Katherine Bush, she felt it her 
 duty to enlighten him as to who she really was ! Great 
 stress was laid upon the butcher grandfather, and regrets 
 that she herself had contracted an alliance so far beneath 
 her station, but having experienced the unpleasantness of 
 it, she felt it was only right to warn the Duke ! 
 
 I myself wrote the reply as though I had been his sec- 
 retary, announcing that His Grace was in possession of 
 all these facts and more from Miss Bush herself, and 
 with due appreciation for the motive which had caused 
 the letter to be written, the Duke thanked her for it and 
 would not require to hear from her again ! 
 
 So all that part is disposed of fortunately, and Kather- 
 ine can go ahead. 
 
 Mordryn is frantically in love and so is she. Mordryn 
 is like a boy and looks ten years younger. He showers 
 gifts upon her, and on the day of the wedding, when he 
 walked down the aisle with his beautiful new Duchess on 
 his arm, I never have seen a man so proud. And when 
 one comes to think of it, G., he has every right to be, for 
 I must say the creature carries out the whole thing with 
 a perfection which justifies my greatest expectations of 
 her, and I think they stand a very fair chance of happi- 
 ness, because the girl has a logical brain. She is not 
 one of those fools who only like the excitement of a 
 thing's being out of reach; she has the supreme wisdom 
 of a sense of intrinsic values. She realises that she has 
 secured a great position which will give ample scope for 
 her vastest schemes — all high and fine ones, G. ; we shall 
 
 389
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 hear of her in the future, boy, not only as a beautiful 
 Duchess, but as a great Englishwoman. And when one 
 reflects that she has accomplished all this, won her game, 
 so to speak, through sheer force of character, sheer knowl- 
 edge of cause and effect, sheer calculation of action and 
 no low scheming, one cannot but deeply respect her. Force 
 will always win, but it will bring its own retribution if it 
 has been used ill. Katherine has had the great cleverness 
 to use it always well. Weak virtue may draw some kind of 
 namby-pamby heavenly halo, but perfect honesty and 
 strong common sense secure power and a substantial re- 
 ward on earth ! It will be very interesting to watch her 
 career as it goes on. She is grateful for her happiness and 
 knows that it is only weaklings who, once having secured 
 this joy, then let it be taken from them by their own fool- 
 ishness and discontent. Her whole mind is disciplined and 
 ruled by an astonishingly sound judgment. Impulse is her 
 servant, not her master; every view is broad. She sees all 
 things as they really are without the illusion which nearly 
 every woman invests them with. And, above all, she under- 
 stands Mordryn, G. — and with all her balance and level- 
 headedness, she is as passionate and vital and living as a 
 woman can be, and that is the one kind of being who keeps 
 a man with his temperament forever content. After his 
 life of restraint and abstinence and solitary grief, to have 
 such a creature for a companion must be no mean delight. 
 So altogether, G., my dear boy, I am satisfied. As for his 
 age, he does not look a day more than forty; they probably 
 will have a glorious fifteen years, and you cannot have 
 everything in life. He suits her far better than some 
 younger man, they are made for one another. Mordryn 
 has perfect health and strength, and no human being could 
 be more attractive. You have not a notion of his ways as 
 a lover, G. ! He would be a lesson to any of these uncouth, 
 cold-blooded, barley-water drinking modern young men ! 
 
 Our Duchess is a fortunate creature, I assure you, in 
 more ways than one ! So we need not trouble about that 
 or make unto ourselves a picture of a young woman and 
 an elderly man ! They are like a pair of love birds — and 
 they will probably have that sturdy heir at once that I have 
 always longed for, and then I can rest in peace. 
 
 390
 
 THE CAREER OF KATIIERINE BUSH 
 
 And when Gerard read this at Moscow, where he 
 happened to be, he was glad, and yet sad. 
 
 The wedded lovers wandered for several months in 
 France and Italy, returning to England only in the 
 new year, and all this interesting foreign travel ex- 
 panded still further Katherine's mental gifts. Then 
 after some triumphant weeks in London, there were 
 long months of joy at Valfreyne, awaiting the coming 
 of the son and heir. 
 
 And now in the early days of September, 1914, they 
 were all again assembled there with Lady Garribardine 
 for the christening — a great and important event ! 
 
 But war and strain and sorrow lay with that black 
 shadow over England, fallen with a suddenness which 
 no one could reahse as yet. Rumours of reverses had 
 come — miscalculation of somebody's plans. And 
 anxiety was tense. 
 
 Katherine was resting on the sofa in her boudoir, 
 which looked out south over the exquisite gardens in 
 the state suite at Valfreyne — the suite of her who should 
 be reigning Duchess, in which she had wandered with 
 the Duke on that Monday in Whitsuntide, when they 
 had said their futile farewell ! And now it was her own ! 
 And in an hour, they would go into the chapel and the 
 splendid chubby baby heir would receive his many 
 names. 
 
 Katherine felt very well and in herself supremely 
 happy, in spite of the clouds over England. How good 
 providence had been to her! How grateful her spirit 
 felt! 
 
 She lay there in a peaceful dream, her half closed 
 eyes taking in the wonderful beauty of the room, with 
 its late seventeenth century magniJficence and yet 
 subtle touches of home. 
 
 391
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 Then tlie door opened, and the Duke came in with 
 letters for her from the second post, and the opened 
 Times he liad been reading in his hand — He put them 
 down upon a table near, and took a low chair close to 
 his lady's side, and she moved a little from the sofa so 
 that she lay half in his arms. 
 
 "My worshipped one !" he murmured fondly, kissing 
 her hair, and smoothing it with infinite tenderness. 
 
 "Oh! Mordryn, I am so happy — are not you? What 
 a subhme day for us, dear Love! Just to think that 
 we have that darling little son, the very essence of us 
 both ! Tell me that he and I mean everything to you. 
 Tell me that I have given you all you want?" 
 
 He reassured her with passionate insistence, as 
 though he could not say enough, and then he asked 
 her again and again if she loved him. It was as if he 
 must have confirmation of her passion for him, and 
 her consent. 
 
 And Katherine played with him fondly as was her 
 wont, being altogether fascinating and full of foohsh, 
 tender love tricks, which never failed to intoxicate his 
 senses. 
 
 But soon he held her closely to him, some shadow 
 in his eyes — and with his free arm he reached over to 
 the table and picked up the Times. 
 
 Then he spoke, and his wonderful voice sounded a 
 little strained : 
 
 "My darling, there is some news in the paper this 
 morning, which may cause you some concern — so I 
 have brought ito you here while we are alone. It is 
 about the retreat from Mons." 
 
 Katherine raised herself and looked at him enquir- 
 ingly, and he found the column and began to read the 
 glorious story, and of one supremely splendid stand 
 
 392
 
 THE CAREER OF KATHERINE BUSH 
 
 made by a certain Guards regiment, which is now world- 
 famed. 
 
 Then he paused and hesitated for a moment. For 
 the name of the bravest who would gain the V. C. was 
 Lord Algernon Fitz-Rufus who, single-handed, had 
 performed an act of daring courage, resourcefulness 
 and self-sacrifice, which had saved his men, but who 
 had paid with his life for his last supreme effort, being 
 shot through the heart as he had returned to a wounded 
 comrade. Lieutenant Jack Kilcourcy, to bring him in 
 to safety from that bloody corpse-strewn wood. 
 
 "What is it, Mordryn? — Please go on." 
 
 So the Duke read to the end, and then put the paper 
 down. 
 
 And suddenly Katherine's heart seemed to stand 
 still, and a mist darkened the room, and when it lifted 
 she saw only the young debonnaire face of her once dear 
 lover gazing at her again, her gay blue eyes alight with 
 laughter and love. And with a stifled cry, she buried 
 her head on the Duke's shoulder and burst into tears. 
 
 Thus Algy had fulfilled her hopes for him and be- 
 come a fine soldier, and had died gallantly to save a 
 comrade — ^A hero indeed ! 
 
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