Robert Kimberly

"Brother Francis. You asked how I got him;it is not uninteresting; a sort of sermon on gooddeeds. Just before this big school in the valleywas started, the order to which he belongs hadbeen expelled from France-it was years ago; the reformers over there needed their property.Half a dozen of the Brothers landed down here inthe village with hardly a coat to their backs. Butthey went to work and in a few years had a littleschool. The industry of these people is astonishing."

"One day they came to The Towers for aid.Old Brother Adrian, the head Brother, camehimself-as he long afterward told me-with aheavy heart, indeed, with fear and trembling.The iron gates and the Krupp eagles frightenedhim, he said, when he entered the grounds. Andwhen he asked for the mistress of the house, hecould hardly find voice to speak. My mother wasaway, so Aunt Lydia appeared-you have seenher portrait, haven't you?"

"No."

"You must; it is not unlike you. Aunt Lydiaand my mother were two of the loveliest women Ihave ever known. When she came down thatday, Brother Adrian supposing it was my motherbegged a slight aid for the work they hadundertaken in the valley. Aunt Lydia heard him insilence, and without saying a word went upstairs, wrote out a cheque and brought it down. Heglanced at the figures on it-fifty-thanked her, gave it to the young Brother with him, and withsome little compliment to the beauty of TheTowers, rose to go.

"While they were moving toward the door theyoung Brother, studying the cheque grew pale, halted, looked at it again and handed it to hissuperior. Brother Adrian looked at the paperand at the young Brother and stood speechless.The two stared a moment at each other. AuntLydia enjoyed the situation. Brother Adrian hadthought the gift had been fifty dollars-it wasfifty thousand.

"He fainted. Servants were hurried in. Evenwhen he recovered, he was dazed-he really for ayear had not had enough to eat. Aunt Lydiaalways delighted in telling how the young Brotherhelped him down the avenue after he could walk.This is a tediously long story."

"Do go on."

"When he again reached the big iron gates heturned toward the house and with many strangewords and gestures called down the mercies ofHeaven on that roof and all that should eversleep under it-"

"How beautiful!"

"He blessed us right and left, up and down, fore and aft-he was a fine old fellow, Adrian.When my mother heard the story she was naturallyembarrassed. It looked something like obtainingblessings under false pretences. The only thingshe could do to ease her conscience was to sendover a second cheque."

"Princely!"

"It came near killing Brother Adrian. It seemsodd, too, compared with the cut-and-dried way inwhich we solemnly endow institutions nowadays, doesn't it? They all three are dead, but we havealways stood, in a way, with Adrian's people.

"The young man that made the exciting call withhim is now the superior over there, BrotherEdmund. After the trouble we had with Uncle John,in finding some one he could stand and who couldstand him, I went one day in despair to BrotherEdmund. I allowed him to commit himselfproperly on what they owed to Aunt Lydia'sgoodness and the rest, and then began to abusehim and told him he ought to supply a nurse formy uncle. He told me theirs was a teaching orderand not a nursing order. I redoubled my harshness.'It is all very well when you need anything,'I said, 'when we need anything it is different.Did those women,' I thundered, 'ask what youwere, when you were starving here?'

"It wasn't precisely logical, but abuse should bevigorous rather than logical, anyway, and I triedto be vigorous. They got very busy, I can tellyou. They held a conclave of some sort anddecided that Uncle John must be taken care of. Ifhe were a common pauper, they argued, theywould not refuse to take care of him; should theyrefuse because he was a pauper of means? Theyconcluded that it was a debt they owed to AuntLydia and by Heaven, next morning over camethis sallow-faced, dark-eyed Brother Francis, andthere he is still with Uncle John."

CHAPTER XII

MacBirney's personal efforts in effectingthe combination with the Kimberlyinterests were adjudged worthy of a substantialrecognition at the hands of the company and he wasgiven charge of the Western territory together witha place on the big directorate of all the companiesand made one of the three voting trustees of thesyndicate stock. The two other trustees were,as a "matter of form," Kimberly men-McCreaand Cready Hamilton. This meant for MacBirneya settled Eastern residence and one befittinga gentleman called to an honor so unusual. Hewas made to feel that his new circumstancesentailed new backgrounds socially as well as thosethat had been accorded him in a monetary way, and through the Kimberlys, negotiations werespeedily concluded for his acquiring of the CedarLodge villa some miles across the lake from The Towers.

At the end of a trying two months, theMacBirneys were in their new home and Alice hadbegun receiving from her intimates congratulationsover the telephone. Another month, and abusy one, went to finishing touches. At the endof that period there was apparently more thanever to be done. It seemed that a beginning hadhardly been made, but the new servants were athome in their duties, and Alice thought she couldset a date for an evening. Her head, night andday, was in more or less of a whirl.

The excitement of new fortunes had come verysuddenly upon her and with her husband shewalked every day as if borne on the air of wakingdreams. Dolly declared that Alice was working toohard, and that her weary conferences withdecorators and furnishers were too continual.Occasionally, Dolly took matters into her own handsand was frequently in consultation on domesticperplexities; sometimes she dragged Alice abruptlyfrom them.

Even before it had been generally seen, the newhome, once thrown open, secured Alice's reputationamong her friends. What was within it reflectedher taste and discrimination. And her appointmentswere not only good, they were distinctive.To be able to drape the vestments of a house so asto make of it almost at once a home was not afeat to pass unnoticed among people who studiedeffects though they did not invariably secure them.

Robert Kimberly declared that Alice, undermany disadvantages, had achieved an air ofstability and permanence in her home. Dolly toldLottie Nelson that nothing around the lakeamong the newer homes compared with it. LottieNelson naturally hated Alice more cordially thanever for her success. She ventured, when thenew house was being discussed at a dinner, to saythat Mr. MacBirney seemed to have excellenttaste; whereupon Charles Kimberly over a saladbluntly replied that the time MacBirney hadshown his taste was when he chose a wife. "But,"added Charles, reflectively, "perhaps a man doesn'tprove his taste so much in getting a wife as inkeeping one.

"Any man," he continued, "may be lucky enoughto get a wife; we see that every day. But who, save a man of feeling, could keep, well, sayImogene or Dolly, for instance?"

Robert agreed that if the MacBirney homeshowed anything it showed the touch of anagreeable woman. "Any one," he declared, paraphrasing his brother, "can buy pretty things, butit takes a clever woman to combine them."

One result of the situation was a new cordialityfrom Lottie Nelson to the MacBirneys. Andsince it had become necessary to pay court tothem, Lottie resolved to pay hers to Mr. MacBirney.She was resourceful rather than deep, and hoped by this to annoy Alice and possibly tostir Robert Kimberly out of his exasperatingindifference. The indifference of a Kimberly couldassume in its proportions the repose of a monument.

Lottie, too, was a mover in many of thediversions arranged to keep the lake set amused. Butas her efforts did not always tend to make thingseasy for Alice, Dolly became active herself insuggesting things.

One Saturday morning a message came fromher, directing Alice to forbid her husband's goingto town, drop everything, provide a lunch and joina motoring party for the seashore. MacBirneyfollowing the lines of Robert Kimberly'sexperience with cars had secured at his suggestion, among others, a foreign car from which thingsmight reasonably be expected.

Imogene Kimberly and Charles took Alice withthem and Dolly rode with MacBirney, who hadRobert Kimberly with him in the new car to seehow it behaved. Kimberly's own chauffeur drovefor them. Doane took Arthur De Castro andFritzie Venable. The servants and the lunchfollowed with a De Castro chauffeur.

As the party climbed toward Sea Ridge a showerdrove them into the grounds of a country club.While it rained, the women, their long veils thrownback, walked through the club house, and themen paced about, smoking.

Alice, seated at a table on the veranda, waslooking at an illustrated paper when RobertKimberly joined her. He told her whatextravagant stories he had heard from Dolly about thesuccess of her new home. She laughed over hissister's enthusiasm, admitted her own, andconfessed at length how the effort to get satisfactoryeffects had tired her. He in turn described toher what he had once been through in startinga new refinery and how during the strain of sixweeks the hair upon his temples had perceptiblywhitened, turning brown again when the mentalpressure was relieved.

"I never heard of such a thing," exclaimed Alice.

"I don't know how unusual it is, but it hashappened more than once in our family. Iremember my mother's hair once turned in thatway. But my mother had much sadness in her life."

"Mrs. De Castro often speaks of your mother."

"She was a brave woman. You have neverseen her portrait? Sometime at The Towers youmust. And you can see on her temples just whatI speak of. But your home-making will have justthe opposite effect on you. If care makes thehair white, happiness ought to make it brownerthan ever."

"I suppose happiness is wholly a matter ofillusion."

"I don't see that it makes much difference howwe define it; the thing is to be happy. However,if what you say is so, you should cling to yourillusions. Get all you can-I should-and keep allyou can get."

"You don't mean to say you practise that?"

"Of course I do. And I think for a man I'vekept my illusions very well."

"For a man!" Alice threw her head back."That is very comfortable assurance."

He looked at her with composure. "What isit you object to in it?"

"To begin with," demanded Alice, "how can aman have any illusions? He knows everythingfrom the very beginning."

"Oh, by no means. Far from it, I assure you."

"He has every chance to. It is only the poorwomen who are constantly disillusionized in life."

"You mustn't be disillusionized, Mrs. MacBirney.Hope unceasingly."

She resented the personal application. "I amnot speaking of myself."

"Nor am I speaking of you, only speakingthrough you to womankind. You 'poor women'should not be discouraged." He raised his headas if he were very confident. "If we can hope, you can hope. I hope every day. I hope in a woman."

She bore his gaze as she had already borne itonce or twice before, steadily, but as one mightbear the gaze of a dangerous creature, ifstrengthened by the certainty of iron bars before itsimpassive eyes. Kimberly was both too considerateand possessed too much sense of fitness to overdothe moment. With his hand he indicated awoman walking along a covered way in front of them."There, for instance, goes a woman," he continued, following up his point. "Look at her. Isn'tshe pretty? I like her walk. And a woman's walk!It is impossible to say how much depends on thewalk. And all women that walk well have goodfeet; their heels set right and there is a pleasurein watching each sure foot-fall. Notice, forinstance, that woman's feet; her walk is perfect."

"How closely observant!"

"She is well gowned-but everybody is wellgowned. And her figure is good. Let us say, Ihope in her, hope she will be all she looks. Ifollow the dream. In a breath, an instant, atwinkling, the illusion has vanished! She has spoken,or she has looked my way and I have seen herface. But even then the face is only the dial ofthe watch; it may be very fair. Sometime I seeher mind-and everything is gone!"

"Would it be impertinent to ask who has putwomen up in this way to be inspected andcriticised?" retorted Alice.

"Not in the least. I am speaking only inillustration and if you are annoyed with me I shallmiss making my point. Do I give up merelybecause I have lost an illusion? Not at all. Anothersprings up at once, and I welcome it. Let us livein our illusions; every time we part with one andfind none to take its place we are poorer,Mrs. MacBirney, believe me."

"Just the same, I think you are horridly criticalof women."