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Файл:Ayala’s Angel II
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AYALA’S ANGEL
ment of supreme importance was at hand. “Faddle, I’ll shoot
that fellow down like a dog.”
“Will you, indeed?”
“Like a dog; — if I can get at him. I should have no more
compunction in taking his life than a mere worm. Why
should I, when I know that he has sapped the very juice of
my existence?”
“Do you mean, — do you mean, — that you would — murder him?”
“It would not be murder. Of course it might be that he
would shoot me instead. Upon the whole, I think I should like
that best.”
“Oh; a duel!” said Faddle.
“That’s what I mean. Murder him! Certainly not. Though
I should like nothing half so well as to thrash him within an inch of his life. I would not murder him. My plan is
this, — I shall write to him a letter inviting him to meet me in
any corner of the globe that he may select. Torrid zone or
Arctic circle will be all the same to me. You will have to accompany me as my second.” Faddle shivered with excitement
and dread of coming events. Among other ideas there came
the thought that it might be difficult to get back from the Arctic circle without money if his friend Tom should happen to
be shot dead in that locality. “But first of all,” continued Tom,
“you will have to carry a letter.”
“To the Colonel?” suggested Faddle.
“Of course. The man is now staying with friends of his
named Albury at a place called Stalham. From what I hear they
are howling swells. Sir Harry Albury is Master of the Hounds,
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ANTHONY TROLLOPE
and Lady Albury when she is up in London has all the Royal
Family constantly at her parties. Stubbs is a cousin of his; but
you must go right away up to him among ‘em all, and deliver
the letter into his hands without minding ‘em a bit.”
“Couldn’t it go by post?”
“No; this kind of letter musn’t go by post. You have to be
able to swear that you delivered it yourself into his own hands.
And then you must wait for an answer. Even though he should
want a day to think of it, you must wait.”
“Where am I to stay, Tom?”
“Well; it may be they’ll ask you to the house, because,
though you carry the letter for me, you are not supposed to
be his enemy. If so, put a jolly face on it, and enjoy yourself as
well as you can. You must seem, you know, to be just as big
a swell as anybody there. But if they don’t ask you, you must
go to the nearest inn. I’ll pay the bill.”
“Shall I go to-day?” asked Faddle.
“I’ve got to write the letter first. It’ll take a little time, so
that you’d better put it off till to-morrow. If you will leave me
now I’ll write it, and if you will come back at six we’ll go and
have a bit of dinner at Bolivia’s.” This was an eating-house in
the neighbourhood of Leicester Square, to which the friends
had become partial during this troubled period of their existence.
“Why not come to the Mountaineers, old boy?” Tom shook
his head, showing that he was not yet up to such festivity as
that; and then Faddle took his departure.
Tom at once got out his pen and paper, and began to write
his letter. It may be imagined that it was not written off-hand,
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AYALA’S ANGEL
or without many struggles. When it was written it ran as follows; —
6ංඋ,
You will not, I think, be surprised to hear from me in anything but a friendly spirit. I went down to you at Aldershot
as to a friend whom I could trust with my bosom’s dearest secret, and you have betrayed me. I told you of my love, a love
which has long burned in my heart, and you received my confidence with a smile, knowing all the time that you were my
rival. I leave it to you to say what reply you can make as to
conduct so damning, so unmanly, so dastardly, — and so very
unlike a friend as this!
However, there is no place here for words. You have offered
me the greatest insult and the greatest injury which one man
can inflict upon another! There is no possibility of an apology,
unless you are inclined to say that you will renounce for ever
your claim upon the hand of Miss Ayala Dormer. This I do not
expect, and, therefore, I call upon you to give me that satisfaction which is all that one gentleman can offer to another.
After the injury you have done me I think it quite impossible
that you should refuse.
Of course, I know that duels cannot be fought in England
because of the law. I am sorry that the law should have been
altered, because it allows so many cowards to escape the punishment they deserve.
Tom, as he wrote this, was very proud of the keenness of
the allusion. “I am quite sure, however, that a man who bears
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ANTHONY TROLLOPE
the colours of a colonel in the British army will not try to get
off by such a pretext.” He was proud, too, about the colours.
France, Belgium, Italy, the United States, and all the world,
are open! I will meet you wherever you may choose to arrange
a meeting. I presume that you will prefer pistols.
I send this by the hands of my friend, Mr. Faddle, who
will be prepared to make arrangements with you, or with any
friend on your behalf. He will bring back your reply, which
no doubt will be satisfactory. — I am, Sir, your most obedient
servant,
7ඁඈආൺඌ7උංඇඅൾ, junior.
When, after making various copies, Tom at last read the letter as finally prepared, he was much pleased with it, doubting
whether the Colonel himself could have written it better, had
the task been confided to his hands. When Faddle came, he
read it to him with much pride, and then committed it to his
custody. After that they went out and ate their dinner at Bolivia’s with much satisfaction, but still with a bearing of deep
melancholy, as was proper on such an occasion.
CHAPTER XXXVI
TOM TRINGLE GETS AN
ANSWER
Faddle as he went down into the country made up his
mind that the law which required such letters to be delivered by hand was an absurd law. The post would have done
just as well, and would have saved a great deal of trouble. These
gloomy thoughts were occasioned by a conviction that he could
not carry himself easily or make himself happy among such
“howling swells” as these Alburys. If they should invite him to
the house the matter would be worse that way than the other.
He had no confidence in his dress coat, which he was aware
had been damaged by nocturnal orgies. It is all very well to tell
a fellow to be as “big a swell” as anybody else, as Tom had told
him. But Faddle acknowledged to himself the difficulty of acting up to such advice. Even the eyes of Colonel Stubbs turned
upon him after receipt of the letter would oppress him.
Nevertheless he must do his best, and he took a gig at
the station nearest to Albury. He was careful to carry his bag
with him, but still he lived in hope that he would be able to return to London the same day. When he found himself within
the lodges of Stalham Park he could hardly keep himself from
shivering, and, when he asked the footman at the door whether
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ANTHONY TROLLOPE
Colonel Stubbs were there, he longed to be told that Colonel
Stubbs had gone away on the previous day to some — he did
not care what — distant part of the globe. But Colonel Stubbs
had not gone away. Colonel Stubbs was in the house.
Our friend the Colonel had not suffered as Tom had suffered since his rejection; — but nevertheless he had been
much concerned. He had set his heart upon Ayala before he
had asked her, and could not bring himself to change his heart
because she had refused him. He had gone down to Aldershot and had performed his duties, abstaining for the present
from repeating his offer. The offer of course must be repeated,
but as to the when, the where, and the how, he had not as
yet made up his mind. Then Tom Tringle had come to him at
Aldershot communicating to him the fact that he had a rival; — and also the other fact that the other rival like himself
had hitherto been unsuccessful. It seemed improbable to him
that such a girl as Ayala should attach herself to such a man
as her cousin Tom. But nevertheless he was uneasy. He regarded Tom Tringle as a miracle of wealth, and felt certain
that the united efforts of the whole family would be used to
arrange the match. Ayala had refused him also, and therefore, up to the present moment, the chances of the other man
were no better than his own. When Tom left him at Aldershot
he hardly remembered that Tom knew nothing of his secret,
whereas Tom had communicated to him his own. It never for
a moment occurred to him that Tom would quarrel with him;
although he had seen that the poor fellow had been disgusted
because he had refused to write the letter.
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AYALA’S ANGEL
On Christmas Eve he had gone down to Stalham, and there
he had remained discussing the matter of his love with Lady
Albury. To no one else in the house had the affair been mentioned, and by Sir Harry he was supposed to remain there only
for the sake of the hunting. With Sir Harry he was of all guests
the most popular, and thus it came to pass that his prolonged
presence at Stalham was not matter of special remark. Much of
his time he did devote to hunting, but there were half hours
devoted in company with Lady Albury to Ayala’s perfection
and Ayala’s obstinacy.
Lady Albury was almost inclined to think that Ayala should
be given up. Married ladies seldom estimate even the girls they
like best at their full value. It seems to such a one as Lady Albury almost a pity that such a one as Colonel Stubbs should
waste his energy upon anything so insignificant as Ayala Dormer. The speciality of the attraction is of course absent to
the woman, and unless she has considered the matter so far
as to be able to clothe her thoughts in male vestments, as some
women do, she cannot understand the longing that is felt for
so small a treasure. Lady Albury thought that young ladies
were very well, and that Ayala was very well among young ladies; but Ayala in getting Colonel Stubbs for a husband would,
as Lady Albury thought, have received so much more than
her desert that she was now almost inclined to be angry with
the Colonel. “My dear friend,” he said to her one day, “you
might as well take it for granted. I shall go after my princess
with all the energy which a princess merits.”
“The question is whether she be a princess,” said Lady
Albury.
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ANTHONY TROLLOPE
“Allow me to say that that is a point on which I cannot admit a doubt. She is a princess to me, and just at present I must
be regarded as the only judge in the matter.”
“She shall be a goddess, if you please,” said Lady Albury.
“Goddess, princess, pink, or pearl; — any name you please
supposed to convey perfection shall be the same to me. It may
be that she is in truth no better, or more lovely, or divine,
than many another young lady who is at the present moment
exercising the heart of many another gentleman. You know
enough of the world to be aware that every Jack has his Gill.
She is my Gill, and that’s an end of it.”
“I hope then that she may be your Gill.”
“And, in order that she may, you must have her here again.
I should absolutely not know how to go to work were I to find
myself in the presence of Aunt Dosett in Kingsbury Crescent.”
In answer to this Lady Albury assured him that she would be
quite willing to have the girl again at Stalham if it could be
managed. She was reminding him, however, how difficult it
had been on a previous occasion to overcome the scruples of
Mrs. Dosett, when a servant brought in word to Colonel Stubbs
that there was a man in the hall desirous of seeing him immediately on particular business. Then the servant presented our
friend Faddle’s card.
DÙ^Ãç½&½
ϭĂĚŵŝŶƚŽŶ'ĂƌĚĞŶƐ
“Yes, Sir;” said the servant. “He says he has a letter which
he must put into your own particular hands.”
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AYALA’S ANGEL
“That looks like a bailiff,” said Lady Albury, laughing.
Colonel Stubbs, declaring that he had no special reason to be
afraid of any bailiff, left the room and went down into the hall.
At Stalham the real hall of the house was used as a billiardroom, and here, leaning against the billiard table, the Colonel
found poor Faddle. When a man is compelled by some chance
circumstance to address another man whom he does not know,
and whom by inspection he feels he shall never wish to know,
he always hardens his face, and sometimes also his voice. So
it was with the Colonel when he looked at Faddle. A word he
did say, not in words absolutely uncivil, as to the nature of
the business in hand. Then Faddle, showing his emotion by
a quaver in his voice, suggested that as the matter was one of
extreme delicacy some more private apartment might be provided. Upon this Stubbs led the way into a little room which
was for the most part filled with hunting-gear, and offered
the stranger one of the three chairs which it contained. Faddle
sat down, finding himself so compelled, though the Colonel
still remained standing, and then extracted the fatal epistle from his pocket. “Colonel Stubbs,” said he, handing up
the missive, “I am directed by my friend, Mr. Thomas Tringle,
junior, to put this letter into your own hand. When you have
read it I shall be ready to consult with you as to its contents.”
These few words he had learnt by heart on his journey down,
having practised them continually.
The Colonel took the letter, and turning to the window
read it with his back to the visitor. He read it twice from beginning to end in order that he might have time to resolve
whether he would laugh aloud at both Faddle and Tringle, or
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ANTHONY TROLLOPE
whether it might not be better to endeavour to soften the anger of poor Tom by a message which should be at any rate
kindly worded. “This is from my friend, Tom Tringle,” he said.
“From Mr. Thomas Tringle, junior,” said Faddle, proudly.
“So I perceive. I am sorry to think that he should be in so
much trouble. He is one of the best fellows I know, and I am
really grieved that he should be unhappy. This, you know, is
all nonsense.”
“It is not nonsense at all, Colonel Stubbs.”
“You must allow me to be the judge of that, Mr. Faddle.
It is at any rate nonsense to me. He wants me to go somewhere
and fight a duel, — which I should not do with any man under any circumstances. Here there is no possible ground for
any quarrel whatsoever, — as I will endeavour to explain, myself, to my friend, Mr. Tringle. I shall be sure to write to him at
once, — and so I will bid you good afternoon.”
But this did not at all suit poor Faddle after so long a journey. “I thought it probable that you would write, Colonel
Stubbs, and therefore I am prepared to wait. If I cannot be accommodated here I will wait, — will wait elsewhere.”
“That will not be at all necessary. We have a post to London twice a day.”
“You must be aware, Colonel Stubbs, that letters of this
sort should not be sent by post.”
“The kind of letter I shall write may be sent by post very
well. It will not be bellicose, and therefore there can be no
objection.”
“I really think, Colonel Stubbs, that you are making very
little of a very serious matter.”
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