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Updated: May 25, 2025
"Had I been in your place had the woman I wanted to marry asked me to bring back into her life some worthless scamp to whom she had taken a sentimental fancy when she was scarcely out of the schoolroom, I'd have seen him damned first, and myself too had I been in your place. I would have refused pointblank, even if it had meant the end of everything." "I believe you would," Babbacombe said.
They went in together through a rustling litter of dead leaves. The house was low, and thatched a picturesque dwelling of no great size. Babbacombe led the way within, and they went from room to room, he with note-book in hand, jotting down the various details necessary to make the place into a comfortable habitation. "I daresay you can help me with this if you will," he said presently.
He had listened quite impassively to the oration, but as Babbacombe ended, his grim mouth relaxed sardonically. "You seem mighty anxious to spend your money on damaged goods, Lord Babbacombe. It's a tom-fool investment, you know. How many of the honest folk in your service will stick to you when they begin to find out what you've given them?" "Why should they find out?" asked Babbacombe.
Babbacombe said. "I do!" The words came with passionate force. West stood in almost a threatening attitude. His eyes shone in the gathering dusk like the eyes of a crouching beast a beast that has been sorely wounded, but that will fight to the last. The man's whole demeanour puzzled Babbacombe his total lack of shame or penitence, his savagery of resentment.
"Back numbers are so dull, and we were long past this stage anyway. Lord Babbacombe," appealing suddenly to her host, "can't you persuade Mr. West to come to the third act? I always prefer to skip the second. And we finished the first long ago." Babbacombe came to her assistance with his courteous smile. "Miss Mortimer considers herself in your debt, Mr. West," he said.
"If I let you down," he said grimly, "I shall be underneath." It was not till the middle of December that the new bailiff moved into his own quarters, but he had assumed his duties some weeks before that time, and Babbacombe was well satisfied with him. The man's business instincts were unusually keen. He had, moreover, a wonderful eye for details, and very little escaped him.
Babbacombe waited with that in his face which very few had ever seen there. At last, as West remained stubborn, he spoke again: "I suppose you have found out my original reason for giving you a fresh start in life, and you resent my having kept it a secret." "I resent the reason." West tossed the words over his shoulder as though he uttered them against his will.
He spoke passionately still, yet not wholly without restraint. He was as a man fighting desperate odds, and guarding some precious possession while he fought. But these words of his were something of a revelation to Babbacombe. He changed his ground to pursue it. "What do you mean by that?" "You know very well!"
"It's very nice of you to think of it, Lord Babbacombe. But you see, I'm quite sure I shouldn't like it. So that ends it, doesn't it?" He stood up to his full height, and regarded her with a faint, rueful smile. "You're a very obstinate girl, Cynthia," he said. She leaned back in her chair, looking up at him with clear, grey eyes that met his with absolute freedom.
Lady Cottesbrook was silenced. After a little she turned her attention to other matters, to her brother's evident relief. It was on a still, frosty evening of many stars that Cynthia came to Farringdean Castle. A young moon was low in the sky, and she paused to curtsey to it upon descending from the motor that had borne her thither. She turned to find Babbacombe beside her.
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