The Reason Why

Chapter 14

Satan was particularly fresh next morning when Tristram took him for a

canter round the Park. He was glad of it: he required something to work

off steam upon. He was in a mood of restless excitement. During the

three weeks of Zara's absence he had allowed himself to dream into a

state of romantic love for her. He had glossed over in his mind her

distant coldness, her frigid adherence to the bare proposition, so that

to return to that state of things had come to him as a shock.

But, this morning, he knew he was a fool to have expected anything else.

He was probably a great fool altogether, but he never changed his mind,

and was prepared to pay the price of his folly. After all, there would

be plenty of time afterwards to melt her dislike, so he could afford to

wait now. He would not permit himself to suffer again as he had done

last night. Then he came in and had his bath, and made himself into a

very perfect-looking lover, to present himself to his lady at about

half-past twelve o'clock, to take her to his mother.

Zara was, if anything, whiter than usual when she came into the library

where he was waiting for her alone. The financier had gone to the City.

She had heavy, bluish shadows under her eyes, and he saw quite plainly

that, the night before, she must have been weeping bitterly.

A great tenderness came over him. What was this sorrow of hers? Why

might he not comfort her? He put out both hands and then, as she

remained stonily unresponsive, he dropped them, and only said quietly

that he hoped she was well, and his motor was waiting outside, and that

his mother, Lady Tancred, would be expecting them.

"I am ready," said Zara. And they went.

He told her as they flew along, that he had been riding in the Park that

morning, and had looked up at the house and wondered which was her

window; and then he asked her if she liked riding, and she said she had

never tried for ten years--the opportunity to ride had not been in her

life--but she used to like it when she was a child.

"I must get you a really well-mannered hack," he said joyously. Here was

a subject she had not snubbed him over! "And you will let me teach you

again when we go down to Wrayth, won't you?"

But before she could answer they had arrived at the house in Queen

Street.

Michelham, with a subdued beam on his old face, stood inside the door

with his footmen, and Tristram said gayly,

"Michelham, this is to be her new ladyship; Countess Shulski"--and he

turned to Zara. "Michelham is a very old friend of mine, Zara. We used

to do a bit of poaching together, when I was a boy and came home from

Eton."

Michelham was only a servant and could not know of her degradation, so

Zara allowed herself to smile and looked wonderfully lovely, as the old

man said,

"I am sure I wish your ladyship every happiness, and his lordship, too;

and, if I may say so, with such a gentleman your ladyship is sure to

have it."

And Tristram chaffed him, and they went upstairs.

Lady Tancred had rigidly refrained from questioning her daughters, on

their return from the dinnerparty; she had not even seen them until the

morning, and when they had both burst out with descriptions of their

future sister-in-law's beauty and strangeness their mother had stopped

them.

"Do not tell me anything about her, dear children," she had said. "I

wish to judge for myself without prejudice."

But Lady Coltshurst could not be so easily repressed. She had called

early, on purpose to give her views, with the ostensible excuse of an

inquiry about her sister-in-law's health.

"I am afraid you will be rather unfavorably impressed with Tristram's

choice, when you have seen her, Jane," she announced. "I confess I was.

She treated us all as though _she_ were conferring the honor, not

receiving it, and she is by no means a type that promises domestic

tranquillity for Tristram."

"Really, Julia!" Lady Tancred protested. "I must beg of you to say no

more. I have perfect confidence in my son, and wish to receive his

future wife with every mark of affection."

"Your efforts will be quite wasted, then, Jane," her sister-in-law

snapped. "She is most forbidding, and never once unbent nor became

genial, the whole evening. And besides, for a lady, she is much too

striking looking."

"She cannot help being beautiful," Lady Tancred said. "I am sure I shall

admire her very much, from what the girls tell me. But we will not

discuss her. It was so kind of you to come, and my head is much

better."

"Then I will be off!" Lady Coltshurst sniffed in a slightly offended

tone. Really, relations were so tiresome! They never would accept a word

of advice or warning in the spirit it was given, and Jane in particular

was unpleasantly difficult.

So she got into her electric brougham, and was rolled away, happily

before Tristram and his lady appeared upon the scene; but the jar of her

words still lingered with Lady Tancred, in spite of all her efforts to

forget it.

Zara's heart beat when they got to the door, and she felt extremely

antagonistic. Francis Markrute had left her in entire ignorance of the

English customs, for a reason of his own. He calculated if he informed

her that on Tristram's side it was purely a love match, she, with her

strange temperament, and sense of honor, would never have accepted it.

He knew she would have turned upon him and said she could be no party to

such a cheat. He with his calm, calculating brain had weighed the pros

and cons of the whole matter: to get her to consent, for her brother's

sake in the beginning, under the impression that it was a dry business

arrangement, equally distasteful personally to both parties--to leave

her with this impression and keep the pair as much as possible apart,

until the actual wedding; and then to leave her awakening to

Tristram--was his plan. A woman would be impossibly difficult to please,

if, in the end, she failed to respond to such a lover as Tristram! He

counted upon what he had called her moral antennae to make no mistakes.

It would not eventually prejudice matters if the family did find her a

little stiff, as long as she did not actually show her contempt for

their apparent willingness to support the bargain. But her look of

scorn, the night before, when he had shown some uneasiness on this

score, had reassured him. He would leave things alone and let her make

her own discoveries.

So now she entered her future mother-in-law's room, with a haughty mien

and no friendly feelings in her heart. She was well acquainted with the

foreign examples of mother-in-law. They interfered with everything and

had their sons under their thumbs. They seemed always mercenary, and

were the chief agents in promoting a match, if it were for their own

family's advantage. No doubt Uncle Francis had arranged the whole affair

with this Lady Tancred in the first instance, and she, Zara, would not

be required to keep up the comedy, as with the uncle and cousins. She

decided she would be quite frank with her if the occasion required, and

if she should, by chance, make the same insinuation of the continuance

of the Tancred race as Lady Ethelrida had innocently done, she would

have plainly to say that was not in the transaction. For her own ends

she must be Lord Tancred's wife and let her uncle have what glory he

pleased from the position; if that were his reason, and as for Lord

Trancred's ends, he was to receive money. That was all: it was quite

simple.

The two women were mutually surprised when they looked at one another.

Lady Tancred's first impression was, "It is true she is a very

disturbing type, but how well bred and how beautiful!" And Zara thought,

"It is possible that, after all, I may be wrong. She looks too proud to

have stooped to plan this thing. It may be only Lord Tancred's

doing--men are more horrible than women."

"This is Zara, Mother," Tristram said.

And Lady Tancred held out her hands, and then drew her new

daughter--that was to be--nearer and kissed her.

And over Zara there crept a thrill. She saw that the elder lady was

greatly moved, and no woman had kissed her since her mother's death.

Why, if it were all a bargain, should she tenderly kiss her?

"I am so glad to welcome you, dear," Lady Tancred said, determining to

be very gracious. "I am almost pleased not to have been able to go last

night. Now I can have you all to myself for this, our first little

meeting."

And they sat down on a sofa, and Zara asked about her head; and Lady

Tancred told her the pain was almost gone, and this broke the ice and

started a conversation.

"I want you to tell me of yourself," Lady Tancred said. "Do you think

you will like this old England of ours, with its damp and its gloom in

the autumn, and its beautiful fresh spring? I want you to--and to love

your future home."

"Everything is very strange to me, but I will try," Zara answered.

"Tristram has been making great arrangements to please you at Wrayth,"

Lady Tancred went on. "But, of course, he has told you all about it."

"I have had to be away all the time," Zara felt she had better say--and

Tristram interrupted.

"They are all to be surprises, Mother; everything is to be new to Zara,

from beginning to end. You must not tell her anything of it."

Then Lady Tancred spoke of gardens. She hoped Zara liked gardens; she

herself was a great gardener, and had taken much pride in her herbaceous

borders and her roses at Wrayth.

And when they had got to this stage of the conversation Tristram felt he

could safely leave them to one another, so, saying he wanted to talk to

his sisters, he went out of the room.

"It will be such happiness to think of your living in the old home," the

proud lady said. "It was a great grief to us all when we had to shut it

up, two years ago; but you will, indeed, adorn it for its reopening."

Zara did not know what to reply. She vaguely understood that one might

love a home, though she had never had one but the gloomy castle near

Prague; and that made her sigh when she thought of it.

But a garden she knew she should love. And Mirko was so fond of flowers.

Oh! if they would let her have a beautiful country home in peace, and

Mirko to come sometimes, and play there, and chase butterflies, with his

excited, poor little face, she would indeed be grateful to them. Her

thoughts went on in a dream of this, while Lady Tancred talked of many

things, and she answered, "Yes," and "No," with gentle respect. Her

future mother-in-law's great dignity pleased her sense of the fitness of

things; she so disliked gush of any sort herself, and she felt now that

she knew where she was and there need be no explanations. The family,

one and all, evidently intended to play the same part, and she would,

too. When the awakening came it would be between herself and Tristram.

Yes, she must think of him now as "Tristram!"

Her thoughts had wandered again when she heard Lady Tancred's voice,

saying,

"I wanted to give you this myself," and she drew a small case from a

table near and opened it, and there lay a very beautiful diamond ring.

"It is my own little personal present to you, my new, dear daughter.

Will you wear it sometimes, Zara, in remembrance of this day and in

remembrance that I give into your hands the happiness of my son, who is

dearer to me than any one on earth?"

And the two proud pairs of eyes met, and Zara could not answer, and

there was a strange silence between them for a second. And then Tristram

came back into the room, which created a diversion, and she was enabled

to say some ordinary conventional things about the beauty of the stones,

and express her thanks for the gift. Only, in her heart, she determined

never to wear it. It would burn her hand, she thought, and she could

never be a hypocrite.

Luncheon was then announced, and they went into the dining-room.

Here she saw Tristram in a new light, with only "Young Billy" and Jimmy

Danvers who had dropped in, and his mother and sisters.

He was gay as a schoolboy, telling Billy who had not spoken a word to

Zara the night before that now he should sit beside her, and that he was

at liberty to make love to his new cousin! And Billy, aged nineteen--a

perfectly stolid and amiable youth--proceeded to start a laborious

conversation, while the rest of the table chaffed about things which

were Greek to Zara, but she was grateful not to have to talk, and so

passed off the difficulties of the situation.

And the moment the meal was over Tristram took her back to Park Lane.

He, too, was thankful the affair had been got through; he hardly spoke

as they went along, and in silence followed her into the house and into

the library, and there waited for her commands.

Whenever they were alone the disguises of the part fell from Zara, and

she resumed the icy mien.

"Good-bye," she said coldly. "I am going into the country to-morrow for

two or three days. I shall not see you until Monday. Have you anything

more it is necessary to say?"

"You are going into the country!" Tristram exclaimed, aghast. "But I

will not--" and then he paused, for her eyes had flashed ominously. "I

mean," he went on, "must you go? So soon before our wedding?"

She drew herself up and spoke in a scathing voice.

"Why must I repeat again what I said when you gave me your ring?--I do

not wish to see or speak with you. You will have all you bargained for.

Can you not leave my company out of the question?"

The Tancred stern, obstinate spirit was thoroughly roused. He walked up

and down the room rapidly for a moment, fuming with hurt rage. Then

reason told him to wait. He had no intention of breaking off the match

now, no matter what she should do; and this was Thursday; there were

only five more days to get through, and when once she should be his

wife--and then he looked at her, as she stood in her dark, perfect

dress, with the great, sable wrap slipping from her shoulders and making

a regal background, and her beauty fired his senses and made his eyes

swim; and he bent forward and took her hand.

"Very well, you beautiful, unkind thing," he said. "But if you do not

want to marry me you had better say so at once, and I will release you

from your promise. Because when the moment comes afterwards for our

crossing of swords there will be no question as to who is to be

master--I tell you that now."

And Zara dragged her hand from him, and, with the black panther's

glance in her eyes, she turned to the window and stood looking out.

Then after a second she said in a strangled voice,

"I wish that the marriage shall take place.--And now, please go."

And without further words he went.