The Great Amulet Read online

  CHAPTER V.

  "He that getteth a wife beginneth a possession; a help like untohimself, and a pillar of rest."--_Ecclesiasticus_.

  Eldred Lenox stood alone in the Desmonds' diminutive drawing-room,patiently impatient for companionship more responsive than that of canechairs and tables, pictures and a piano. Yet the room itself, with itsatmosphere of peace and refinement, gave him a foretaste of therestfuluess that made Honor Desmond's companionship a growing necessityto this man, whose heart and brain were in a state of civil war. Itwas filled with afternoon sunlight, with the faint, clean fragrance ofviolets, wild roses, and maiden-hair fern, and its emptiness wasinformed and pervaded by countless suggestions of a woman's presence; awoman versed in that finest of all fine arts, the beautifying of dailylife.

  In this era of hotels, clubs, and motors, of days spent in sowing hurryand reaping shattered nerves, the type is growing rarer, and it will bean ill day for England's husbands and sons, nay, for her supremacyamong nations, if it should ever become extinct. For it is noover-statement, but simple fact, that the women who follow, soon orlate, in the track of her victorious arms, women of Honor Desmond'scalibre--home-loving, home-making, skilled in the lore of heart andspirit--have done fully as much to establish, strengthen, and settleher scattered Empire as shot, or steel, or the doubtful machinations ofdiplomacy.

  A half-acknowledged conviction of this truth was undermining Eldred'sskin-deep cynicism; and it did not tend to alleviate his renewed senseof loss. A week had passed since his astounding experience on theKajiar Road; a week in which the hours of sleep had been a morenegligible quantity than usual; in which he had fought squarely againstan imperative need to escape from the haunting consciousness of hiswife's presence, and had been squarely beaten. His present need to seeand speak with Honor Desmond was an ultimate confession of that defeat.

  On reaching the bungalow, he was told that the Mem-sahib bad gone outwith the Chota Sahib, but would doubtless be back before long, and haddecided to await her return. During his ride with her that morning, hehad not been able to bring himself to speak. But this time he intendedto go through with the ordeal. He felt too restless to sit down; andshe did not keep him waiting long.

  Footsteps and low voices, punctuated with silver laughter, heralded hercoming, and a few minutes later she entered, carrying a pocket editionof herself, who clung about her neck, and pressed a cool rose-petalcheek against her own.

  Lenox had described her as a magnificent woman. A Scot may generallybe trusted not to overstate his facts; and certainly Honor Desmond, inthose radiant early days of marriage, deserved no less an adjective.Height, and a buoyant stateliness of bearing, lent a regal quality toher beauty. Her grey-blue eyes under very level brows were the eyes ofa woman dwelling in the heart of life, not merely in its outskirts andpleasure-grounds.

  She expressed no surprise at seeing Lenox again so soon. Come when hemight, his presence was accepted as a matter of course; the surest wayto put a man at his ease.

  "So sorry I kept you waiting," she said simply, and the hand she gavehim was at once soft and strong,--an epitome of the woman. "Theo waslunching out with Colonel Mayhew--they are both very full of that bookof his on the Hill Tribes--and I have been devoting most of my time tothis very exacting person!"

  Lenox caressed the child's red-gold hair with a cautious reverent hand,and a contraction of envy at his heart.

  "What a beautiful little chap he is! Begins to look an out-and-outMeredith already. Desmond must be tremendously proud of him."

  She smiled and pressed him closer.

  "He is; and I'm nearly as bad! One son, three fools, you know! Poorlittle Paul, it's not fair to call him names when he can't hit back."

  "You called him after Wyndham?"

  "Yes. They're like brothers, those two. Now let me get rid of him,and we'll have a quiet talk till Theo comes back. Sit down and smoke,please."

  He complied; and she, returning, established herself beside herwork-table, and took up an elaborate bit of smocking without questionor remark.

  His trouble and stress of mind were very evident to her; but she wasone of those rare women who are chary of questions--who, for all theirdesire to help and serve, never approach too near, or say the word toomuch, which was, perhaps, one reason why men found her so restful, andinstinctively talked to her about themselves.

  But Lenox was long in beginning.

  By imperceptible degrees, this unsought gift of friendship was meltingthe morsel of ice at his heart; was reviving in him, against his will,that keen appreciation of a cultivated woman's sympathy andcompanionship, which, among finely tempered men, is as potent a factorin the shaping of destinies as passion, or hot-headed emotion.

  For a while he permitted himself the bitter-sweet satisfaction ofmerely watching her where she sat, in a shaft of sunlight, that struckgolden gleams through the burnished abundance of her hair; of notingthe grace and dignity of her pose, and speculating as to the nature ofher thoughts. His wife's reckless impulse on that fateful Septemberday was bringing him now within measurable distance of a very humandanger. The deep, passionate heart of him, crushed and stifled duringthe past five years, was in no safe state to be brought into contactwith a lighted match. But of this danger he was, by his very nature,sublimely unaware.

  Finally he took the short pipe from his lips and spoke.

  "Of course you know I have something definite to say, or I shouldhardly have the cheek to inflict myself on you twice in the twenty-fourhours."

  She looked up and smiled. "You're evidently in one of your bad moods,or you would not vex me by putting it like that."

  "Sorry to vex you, but I _am_ in a bad mood; have been for the lastweek; so you must make allowances, I can't sleep, and a restless devilinside me won't let me settle to steady work. Nerves, I suppose. Idon't look a likely subject, do I? But they give me a deal of troubleat times; and I came to say that I must go back on my arrangement withyou and Desmond and clear out of this before the end of the week."

  "Oh, but surely that would be a great pity; a great disappointment tous both. Is it really a case of 'must'?"

  "I think so."

  "And you have only been here a fortnight! Isn't it rather early daysto give in?"

  "Very early days--as the case must appear to you; and the evil of it isthat I have no power to make things clearer. Think me an overwroughtfool; a broken-backed corn-stalk, if you choose. It will hurt, ofcourse; but it can't be helped."

  He spoke with undisguised bitterness, and, laying down her work, shelooked at him straightly, a great compassion in her eyes.

  "You misunderstand the fundamentals of friendship if you can talk likethat," she said gently. "It is rooted in reticence in respect foranother's individuality. Whatever you choose to do, you may be verysure that I shall neither doubt your good reasons, nor seek to knowthem. That is my idea of what it means to be a friend."

  "I stand rebuked," he answered gravely, "and I'm not likely to forgetwhat you have said."

  "At the same time," she added in a lighter tone, "one is only human!And I can't let you leave Dalhousie without a word of protest--even ifit is useless." She hesitated. "May I speak straight?"

  "As straight as you please. I should prefer it."

  "Well, I think that if it is a case of nerves, or--worry of any kind,nothing can be worse for you than your own society. Such amusement aswe can offer you up here may be frivolous and insignificant enough,but, believe me, it is far better for you just now than the mostsublime snowfields and glaciers at the back of Beyond! You know youare free to come here whenever you please. Theo enjoys having you; sodo I. And I'm sure it's good for you to fraternise with something morehuman than a mountain!"

  He smiled, but did not answer at once; and suddenly she lifted herhead, her face all animation.

  "Look here, I have a notion--an inspired notion. Why should not youtwo get Colonel Mayhew's permission to go off on a week's shooting tripbeyond Chumba. Ten d
ays if you like. Theo would love it. You wouldcome back to your writing like a giant refreshed. There now, isn'tthat a plan worth thinking over?"

  Moved beyond his wont, Lenox leaned impulsively towards her.

  "My dear Mrs Desmond, your kindness overpowers me. But I really can'tsee that you and your husband are called upon to put yourselves outlike that, on my behalf. You are up here to enjoy your short holidaytogether; and you are rare good companions, as I know. What right haveI to monopolise him for ten days, and leave you alone? Why should youcare, after all, if I do go and knock myself to bits in the interior?"

  "That question is unworthy of you, and doesn't deserve an answer," shesaid on a note of gentle reproof. "Mine does. Will you do what I ask?"

  "Since you ask it of me--yes. Always supposing that it suits Desmondto go."

  "Of course it will suit him. We will settle it when he comes in."

  He leaned back in his chair, and sighed.

  "You're amazingly good to me, Mrs Desmond; and I'm an ungrateful brute.Will you overlook that, and play me something warranted to soothejarred nerves, till your husband comes?"

  "Of course I will, gladly. Only you mustn't expect real music from ahireling!"

  She chose one of Beethoven's most tenderly gracious Allegrettos, andthe soul of the hireling responded creditably to the magic of her touch.

  But before she had played many bars a clatter of hoofs announcedDesmond's return. He flung himself from the saddle, cleared theverandah steps at a bound, and entered the room:--a man of magneticvitality, with a temperament like a clear flame; a typical officer ofthat isolated force to whose gallantry and unwearied devotion to dutyIndia owes more than she is apt to acknowledge, or, possibly, toperceive. He nodded a welcome to Lenox, signed to him to remainseated, and going straight to the piano laid a hand on his wife'sshoulder.

  "Don't stop. Finish your piece," he said, as she smiled up at him; andhe did not remove his hand, but remained standing there, in simplesatisfaction at having got back to her.

  Now and again, at very rare intervals, Nature seems to select afavoured man and woman to uphold the torch of the ideal, lest it bereduced to sparks and smoke, to refute the cynic and the pessimist; tohearten a world nauseated and discouraged by the eternal tragi-comedyof marriage, with the spectacle of a human relationship of unsulliedbeauty: a relationship that passes, by imperceptible degrees, from thefirst antiphony of passionate hearts to a deep deliberate bliss,"durable from the daily dust of life."

  Desmond's first marriage had brought him no such revelation of thehidden mysteries of union; no companionship worthy of the name; and thehappiness that comes late, on the heels of conflict and pain, takes amore conscious grip on the heart, is more firmly held to, morejealously guarded, than that which meets us on the threshold, and isaccepted as part of the natural order of things. Blest with vivacity,courage, and an ardent zest for Frontier soldiering, Desmond had rarelyfound life other than very good; but he had only proven the fullmeasure of its goodness since his marriage with Honor Meredith. Andthe mouths brought increasing reliance on her comradeship; increasinginsight into the depths and delicacies of a passion that was almostgenius. His need of her was deeper now than it had been two years ago,when he had believed himself at the summit of desire. For a great loveis like a great mountain-range. Each height scaled reveals fartherheights beyond. Attainment is no part of our programme here; and theremay well be truth in the axiom that "to travel hopefully is better thanto arrive."

  But Eldred Lenox, tangled in the twofold cords of temperament andcircumstance, was denied even the privilege of travelling hopefully,and at moments like the present he suffered the additional torment oflooking into happiness through another man's eyes. It was futile toreiterate the obvious drawbacks of marriage for an ambitious man,standing on the threshold of a coveted career. These distractingDesmonds cheerfully and unconsciously refuted them all! But heaccepted the thorns of the situation as toll paid for the privilege ofan intimacy he would on no account have forgone, and endured them withthe grim stoicism that was his.

  The Allegretto ended, Honour swung round on her stool, and set forthher Chumba project without reference to Eldred's threatened departure.Desmond laughingly professed himself ready to obey orders, withinreasonable limits; and it was finally decided that he should write atonce to Colonel Mayhew, Resident of the native State in whichDalhousie's hills are situated, and whose capital lies in a cup-shapedvalley eighteen miles below the English station.

  Thereupon Lenox rose to take his leave; but on the threshold he paused,as though an afterthought had occurred to him.

  "Next time you happen to go out calling, Mrs Desmond," he said, withstudied carelessness, "you might like to look up a Miss Maurice and herbrother. They've been here all the winter; and are living on the topof Bakrotas. I met them--some years ago, in Switzerland. Artists, outhere for painting purposes--and rather out of the common run. Youmight find them interesting."

  "They sound as if they would be! Thank you for letting me know oftheir existence. I'll amuse myself by exploiting them while you twoare away."

  But Lenox had no wish to expatiate upon the subject, and with amuttered disclaimer he was gone.