" A man gets simply swept away by social engagements. I haven't a thing for a week."
And just then the telephone rang. Lou did a two-step across to the instrument.
Oh, it's for you, Mr. Feccles," she said. " However did any one know you were here ?
He gave his funny little laugh.
"It's just what I've been telling you, Lady Pendragon," he said, as he walked over to the receiver. " I'm a very much wanted man. Every one seems to want me but the police," he giggled, " and they may get on to me any minute now, the Lord knows."
He became suddenly serious as he talked on the phone.
"Oh, yes," he said to the caller. " Very annoying indeed. What's that ? Four o'clock ? All right, I'll be round."
He hung up. He came back to us radiant, holding out his hands.
"My dear friends," he said. "This is a special providence-nothing less. The lunch is off. If your invitation holds, I shall be the happiest man in Europe."
Well, of course, there couldn't be two men like that in Europe. I was infernally bored. But there was nothing to do except to express the wildest joy.
It didn't add to my pleasure to see that Lou was really pleased. She broke out into a swift sonata.
" Let's lunch up here," she said. " It's more intime. I hate feeding in public. I want to dance between the courses."
She rang down for the head-waiter while I gave Feccles a cigarette, lamenting my lack of forethought in not having insinuated a charge of trinitro-toluol amid the tobacco.
Lou had a passionate controversy with the head waiter. She won on points at the end of the sixth round. Half an hour later we started the gray caviare.
I don't know why every one has to rejoice on gray caviare ; but it's no use trying to interfere with the course of civilisation. I ate it; and if I were in similar circumstances to-morrow, I would do it again.
In the immortal words of Browning, " You lied.. D'Ormea, I do not repent." Beside which, this was no ordinary lunch. It was big with the future.
It was an unqualified success from the start. We were all in our best form. Feccles talked freely and irresponsibly with the lightness of champagne. He talked about himself and his amazing luck in financial matters; but he never stayed long enough on any subject to make a definite impression or, you might say, to allow of a reply. He interspersed his remarks with the liveliest anecdotes, and apologised towards the end of the meal for having been preoccupied with the deal which he had on at the moment.
" I'm afraid it's literally obsessing me," he said. "But you know it makes, or rather will make, a big difference to my prospects. Unfortunately, I'm not a millionaire like you, old thing. I've been doing very well, but somehow, it's gone as easy as it came. But I've scraped up twenty thousand of the best to buy an eighth share in this oil proposition that I told you about."
"No," put in Lou, " you didn't tell us what it was." " I made sure I had," he laughed back; " I've got it fairly on the brain, especially since that lunch was put off. I need another five thou', you see, and I was going to dig it out of those birds. The only difficulty was that I can't exactly borrow it on my face, can ! ? and I don't want to let those birds into 'the know'they'd simply snap the whole thing up for themselves. By the way, that reminds me of a very good thing I heard of the other day-" and he rattled off an amusing story which had no connection with what he had been saying before.
I didn't listen to what it was. My brain was working very fast with the champagne on top of the other things. His talk had brought to my mind that I should have to wire for another thousand to-day or to-morrow. I was aware of a violent subconscious irritation. The man's talk had dealt so airily with millions that I couldn't help recognising that I was a very poor man indeed, by modern standards. Five or six thousand a year, and perhaps another fifteen hundred from the rents of the Barley Grange estate, and that infernal income-tax and so on-I was really little better than a pauper, and there was Lou to be considered.
I had always thought jewellery vulgar; a signet ring and a tie pin for a man-for a woman, a few trinkets, very quiet, in good taste-that was the limit.
But Lou was absolutely different. She could wear any amount of the stuff and carry it off superbly. I had bought her a pair of ear-rings in Cartier's yesterday afternoon-three diamonds in a string, the pendant being a wonderful pear-shaped blue-white, and as she ate, and drank, and talked, they waggled behind the angle of her jaw in the most deliciously fascinating way, and it didn't vulgarise her at all.
I realised that, as a married man, it was my duty to buy her that string of pearls with the big black pearl as a pendant, and there was that cabochon emerald ring I How madly that would go with her hair. And then, of course, when we got back to England, ihe must be presented at Court, not but what we Pendragons don't feel it a little humiliating-that meant a tiara, of course.
And then you know what dressmakers are !
There's simply no end to the things that a civilised man has to have when he's married ! And here was I, to all intents and purposes, a case for out-door relief.
I came out of my reverie with a start. My mind was made up.
Lou was laughing hysterically at some story of a blind man and a gimlet.
"Look here, Feccles," I said. " I wish you'd tell me a little more about this oil business. To tell you the truth, I'm not the rich man you seem to think-"
"My dear fellow-" said Feccles.
" In fact, I assure you," said I. " Of course, it was all very well when I was a bachelor. Simple tastes, you know. But this little lady makes all the diffrence.
" Why, certainly," replied Feccles, very seriously. "Yes, I see that perfectly. In fact, if I may say so, it's really a duty to yourself and your heirs, to put yourself on Easy Street. But money's been frightfully tight since the war as you know. What with the collapse in the forei6 exchanges, the decrease in the purchasing power of money, and the world's gold all locked up in Washington, things are pretty awkward. But then, you know, it's just that sort of situation which provides opportunities to a man with real brains. Victorian prosperity made us all rich without our knowing anything about it or doing anything for it."
" Yes," I admitted, " the gilt edges seem to have come off the gingerbread securities."
" Well, look here, Pendragon," he said, pulling his chair half round so as to face me squarely, and making his points by tapping his Corona on a plate, " the future lies with just two things as far as big money's concerned. One's oil, and the other is cotton. Now, I don't know a thing about cotton, but I'll give any sperm whale that ever blew four thousand points in twelve thousand up about oil, and you can lay your shirt on the challenger."
" Yes, I see that," I replied brightly. " Of course, I don't know the first thing about finance; but what you say is absolutely common sense. And I've got a sort of flair for these things, I believe."
" Why, it's very curious you should say that," returned Feccles, as in great surprise. " I was thinking the same thing myself. We know you've got pluck, and that's the first essential in any game. And making money is the greatest game there is. But beside that, I've got a hunch that you've got the right kind of brain for this business. You're as shrewd as they make 'em, and you've got a good imagination. I don't mean the wild fancies that you find in a crank, but a good, wholesome, sound imagination."
