A Servant of the Public

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Hope Anthony. A Servant of the Public

CHAPTER I. MUDDOCK AND MEAD

CHAPTER II. FIRST IMPRESSIONS

CHAPTER III. AN ARRANGEMENT FOR SUNDAY

CHAPTER IV. BY WAY OF PRECAUTION

CHAPTER V. A DAY IN THE COUNTRY

CHAPTER VI. AWAY WITH THE RIBBONS!

CHAPTER VII. UNDER THE NOSEGAY

CHAPTER VIII. THE LEGITIMATE CLAIMANT

CHAPTER IX. RENUNCIATION: A DRAMA

CHAPTER X. THE LICENCE OF VIRTUE

CHAPTER XI. WHAT IS TRUTH?

CHAPTER XII. AT CLOSE QUARTERS

CHAPTER XIII. THE HEROINE FAILS

CHAPTER XIV. AS MR. FLINT SAID

CHAPTER XV. THE MAN UPSTAIRS

CHAPTER XVI. MORALITY SMILES

CHAPTER XVII. AT SEA AND IN PORT

CHAPTER XVIII. THE PLAY AND THE PART

CHAPTER XIX. COLLATERAL EFFECTS

CHAPTER XX. THE WAYS DIVIDE

CHAPTER XXI. WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

CHAPTER XXII. OTHER WORLDS

CHAPTER XXIII. THE MOST NATURAL THING

CHAPTER XXIV "A GOOD SIGHT"

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It was an indication of the changed character of the business that the big block in Buckingham Palace Road closed early on Saturdays, surrendering the hours in which the branches continued to do their most roaring trade. The day after the party was a Saturday; Sir James and his son were making their way back through the Park, timed to arrive at home for a two o'clock luncheon. The custom was that Lady Muddock and Alice should meet them at or about the entrance of Kensington Gardens, and the four walk together to the house. There existed in the family close union, modified by special adorations. Sir James walked with his daughter, Bob with his stepmother; this order never varied, being the natural outcome of the old man's clinging to Alice, and of Lady Muddock's pathetic fidelity to Bob. She had no child of her own; she looked up to Alice, but was conscious of an almost cruel clear-sightedness in her which made demonstrations of affection seem like the proffer of excuses. There are people so sensible that one caresses them with an apology. Bob, on the other hand, was easy to please; you had to look after his tastes, admire his wardrobe, and not bother about the business out of hours; he asked no more, his stepmother did no less. Thus while they crossed the Gardens Lady Muddock talked of yesterday's party, while Sir James consulted his daughter as to the affairs of the firm. Alice detected here and there in what he said an undercurrent of discontent with Bob, on the score of a lack not of diligence but of power, not of the willingness to buckle to, but of that instinct for the true game – the right move, the best purchase, the moment to stand for your price, the moment to throw all on the market – whence spring riches. Sir James expressed his meaning clumsily, but he ended clearly enough by wishing that there were another head in the business; for he grew old, and, although he was now relieved from Parliament, found the work heavy on him. Nothing of all this was new to the listener; the tale was an old one and led always to the same climax, the desire to get Ashley Mead back into the business. If Alice objected that he was ignorant and untrained in commercial pursuits, Sir James pushed the difficulty aside. "He's got the stuff in him," he would persist, and then look at his daughter in a questioning way. With this look also she was familiar; the question which the glance put was whether she would be willing to do what Lady Kilnorton called "going with selling the ribbons."

At lunch they talked of their guests. Lady Kilnorton had pleased them all; Lord Bowdon's presence was flattering to Lady Muddock and seemed very friendly to her husband. Minna Soames, who had come to sing to the party, was declared charming: hard if she had not been, since she spent her life trying after that verdict! Lady Muddock added that she was very nice, and sang only at concerts because of the atmosphere of the stage. Ora Pinsent excited more discussion and difference of opinion, but here also there was a solid foundation of agreement. They had all felt the gulf between them and her; she might not be bad – Bob pretended that he would have heard all about any scandal had there been one – but she was hopelessly alien from them. They were not sorry that Lady Kilnorton had brought her, for she had added to the éclat, but they could not feel sure (nor perhaps eager to be sure) that they had secured a permanent acquaintance, much less a possible friend. And then she had told her hostess, quite casually, that Lord Bowdon (whom she had never met before) was going to drive her home. Lord Bowdon was not an old man, Miss Pinsent was quite a young woman; he was a lord and she was an actress; of suspected classes, both of them. Every tenet and preconception of the Middle Period combined to raise grave apprehension in Lady Muddock's mind. Sir James nodded assent over his rice pudding. The son and daughter shared the feeling, but with self-questioning; was it not narrow, asked Alice, was it not unbecoming to a man of the world, asked Bob. But there it was – in brother and sister both.

.....

"Oh, in the combination! The combination makes it hopeless. You said you knew her, didn't you?"

"Yes. I shouldn't miss the appointment."

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