Two

THE RELATIONS

Charles ran lightly up the stairs and tapped on his sister’s door. Her answering “Come in” camepromptly and he entered.

Theresa was sitting up in bed yawning.

Charles took a seat on the bed.

“What a decorative¹ female you are, Theresa,” he remarked appreciatively.

Theresa said sharply:

“What’s the matter?” Charles grinned.

“Sharp, aren’t you? Well, I stole a march on you, my girl! Thought I’d make my touch beforeyou got to work.”

“Well?”

Charles spread his hands downwards² in negation³.

“Nothing doing! Aunt Emily ticked me off good and proper. She intimated that she was underno illusions as to why her affectionate family had gathered round her! And she also intimated thatthe said affectionate family would be disappointed. Nothing being handed out but affection—andnot so much of that.”

“You might have waited a bit,” said Theresa drily.

Charles grinned again.

“I was afraid you or Tanios might get in ahead of me. I’m sadly afraid, Theresa my sweet, thatthere’ll be nothing doing this time. Old Emily is by no means a fool.”

“I never thought she was.”

“I even tried to put the wind up her.”

“What d’you mean?” asked his sister sharply.

“Told her she was going about it the right way to get bumped off. After all she can’t take thedibs to heaven with her. Why not loosen up a bit?”

“Charles, you are a fool!”

“No, I’m not. I’m a bit of a psychologist in my way. It’s never a bit of good sucking up to theold girl. She much prefers you to stand up to her. And after all, I was only talking sense. We getthe money when she dies—she might just as well part with a little beforehand! Otherwise thetemptation to help her out of the way might become overwhelming.”

“Did she see your point?” asked Theresa, her delicate mouth curling up scornfully.

“I’m not sure. She didn’t admit it. Just thanked me rather nastily for my advice and said she wasperfectly capable of taking care of herself. ‘Well,’ I said, ‘I’ve warned you.’ ‘I’ll remember it,’ shesaid.”

Theresa said angrily:

“Really, Charles, you are an utter fool.”

“Damn it all, Theresa, I was a bit ratty myself! The old girl’s rolling—simply rolling. I bet shedoesn’t spend a tenth part of her income—what has she got to spend it on, anyway? And here weare—young, able to enjoy life—and to spite us she’s capable of living to a hundred….I want myfun now….So do you….”

Theresa nodded.

She said in a low, breathless voice:

“They don’t understand—old people don’t….they can’t….They don’t know what it is to live!”

Brother and sister were silent for some minutes.

Charles got up.

“Well, my love, I wish you better success than I’ve had. But I rather doubt it.”

Theresa said:

“I’m rather counting on Rex to do the trick. If I can make old Emily realize how brilliant he is,and how it matters terrifically that he should have his chance and not have to sink into a rut as ageneral practitioner… Oh, Charles, a few thousand of capital just at this minute would make allthe difference in the world to our lives!”

“Hope you get it, but I don’t think you will. You’ve got through a bit too much capital in riotousliving in your time. I say, Theresa, you don’t think the dreary⁴ Bella or the dubious⁵ Tanios will getanything, do you?”

“I don’t see that money would be any good to Bella. She goes about looking like a ragbag andher tastes are purely⁶ domestic.”

“Oh, well,” said Charles, vaguely⁷. “I expect she wants things for those unprepossessing childrenof hers, schools, and plates for their front teeth and music lessons. And anyway it isn’t Bella—it’sTanios. I bet he’s got a nose for money all right! Trust a Greek for that. You know he’s gotthrough most of Bella’s? Speculated with it and lost it all.”

“Do you think he’ll get something out of old Emily?”

“He won’t if I can prevent him,” said Charles, grimly.

He left the room and wandered downstairs. Bob was in the hall. He fussed up to Charlesagreeably. Dogs liked Charles.

He ran towards the drawing room door and looked back at Charles.

“What’s the matter?” said Charles, strolling after him.

Bob hurried into the drawing room and sat down expectantly by a small bureau.

Charles strolled over to him.

“What’s it all about?”

Bob wagged his tail, looked hard at the drawers of the bureau and uttered an appealing squeak⁸.

“Want something that’s in here?”

Charles pulled open the top drawer. His eyebrows⁹ rose.

“Dear, dear,” he said.

At one side of the drawer was a little pile of treasury¹⁰ notes.

Charles picked up the bundle and counted them. With a grin he removed three one pound notesand two ten shilling ones and put them in his pocket. He replaced the rest of the notes carefully inthe drawer where he had found them.

“That was a good idea, Bob,” he said. “Your Uncle Charles will be able at any rate to coverexpenses. A little ready cash always comes in handy.”

Bob uttered a faint reproachful bark as Charles shut the drawer.

“Sorry old man,” Charles apologized. He opened the next drawer. Bob’s ball was in the cornerof it. He took it out.

“Here you are. Enjoy yourself with it.” Bob caught the ball, trotted¹¹ out of the room andpresently bump, bump, bump, was heard down the stairs.

Charles strolled out into the garden. It was a fine sunny morning with a scent¹² of lilac.

Miss Arundell had Dr. Tanios by her side. He was speaking of the advantage of an Englisheducation—a good education—for children and how deeply he regretted that he could not affordsuch a luxury for his own children.

Charles smiled with satisfied malice¹³. He joined in the conversation in a lighthearted manner,turning it adroitly¹⁴ into entirely¹⁵ different channels.

Emily Arundell smiled at him quite amiably¹⁶. He even fancied that she was amused by his tacticsand was subtly encouraging them.

Charles’ spirits rose. Perhaps, after all, before he left—Charles was an incurable¹⁷ optimist¹⁸.

Dr. Donaldson called for Theresa in his car that afternoon and drove her to Worthem Abbey, oneof the local beauty spots. They wandered away from the Abbey itself into the woods.

There Rex Donaldson told Theresa at length about his theories and some of his recentexperiments. She understood very little but listened in a spellbound manner, thinking to herself:

“How clever Rex is—and how absolutely adorable!”

Her fiancé paused once and said rather doubtfully:

“I’m afraid this is dull stuff for you, Theresa.”

“Darling, it’s too thrilling,” said Theresa, firmly. “Go on. You take some of the blood of theinfected rabbit—?”

Presently Theresa said with a sigh:

“Your work means a terrible lot to you, my sweet.”

“Naturally,” said Dr. Donaldson.

It did not seem at all natural to Theresa. Very few of her friends did any work at all, and if theydid they made extremely heavy weather about it.

She thought as she had thought once or twice before, how singularly unsuitable it was that sheshould have fallen in love with Rex Donaldson. Why did these things, these ludicrous andamazing madnesses, happen to one? A profitless question. This had happened to her.

She frowned, wondered at herself. Her crowd had been so gay—so cynical¹⁹. Love affairs werenecessary to life, of course, but why take them seriously? One loved and passed on.

But this feeling of hers for Rex Donaldson was different, it went deeper. She felt instinctivelythat here there would be no passing on… Her need of him was simple and profound. Everythingabout him fascinated her. His calmness and detachment, so different from her own hectic²¹, graspinglife, the clear, logical coldness of his scientific mind, and something else, imperfectly understood,a secret force in the man masked by his unassuming slightly pedantic²² manner, but which shenevertheless felt and sensed instinctively²⁰.

In Rex Donaldson there was genius — and the fact that his profession was the mainpreoccupation of his life and that she was only a part—though a necessary part—of existence tohim only heightened his attraction for her. She found herself for the first time in her selfishpleasure-loving life content to take second place. The prospect²³ fascinated her. For Rex she woulddo anything—anything!

“What a damned nuisance money is,” she said, petulantly²⁴. “If only Aunt Emily were to die wecould get married at once, and you could come to London and have a laboratory full of test tubesand guinea pigs, and never bother anymore about children with mumps²⁵ and old ladies with livers.”

Donaldson said:

“There’s no reason why your aunt shouldn’t live for many years to come—if she’s careful.”

Theresa said despondently²⁶:

“I know that….”

In the big double-bedded room with the old-fashioned oak furniture, Dr. Tanios said to his wife:

“I think that I have prepared the ground sufficiently²⁷. It is now your turn, my dear.”

He was pouring water from the old-fashioned copper²⁸ can into the rose-patterned china basin.

Bella Tanios sat in front of the dressing²⁹ table wondering why, when she combed her hair asTheresa did, it should not look like Theresa’s!

There was a moment before she replied. Then she said:

“I don’t think I want—to ask Aunt Emily for money.”

“It’s not for yourself, Bella, it’s for the sake of the children. Our investments have been sounlucky.”

His back was turned, he did not see the swift glance she gave him—a furtive³⁰, shrinking glance.

She said with mild obstinacy³¹:

“All the same, I think I’d rather not… Aunt Emily is rather difficult. She can be generous butshe doesn’t like being asked.” Drying his hands, Tanios came across from the washstand.

“Really, Bella, it isn’t like you to be so obstinate³². After all, what have we come down here for?”

She murmured:

“I didn’t—I never meant—it wasn’t to ask for money….”

“Yet you agreed that the only hope if we are to educate the children properly is for your aunt tocome to the rescue.”

Bella Tanios did not answer. She moved uneasily.

But her face bore the mild mulish look that many clever husbands of stupid wives know to theircost.

She said:

“Perhaps Aunt Emily herself may suggest—”

“It is possible, but I’ve seen no signs of it so far.”

Bella said:

“If we could have brought the children with us. Aunt Emily couldn’t have helped loving Mary.

And Edward is so intelligent.”

Tanios said, drily:

“I don’t think your aunt is a great child lover. It is probably just as well the children aren’there.”

“Oh, Jacob, but—”

“Yes, yes, my dear. I know your feelings. But these desiccated English spinsters—bah, they arenot human. We want to do the best we can, do we not, for our Mary and our Edward? To help us alittle would involve no hardship to Miss Arundell.”

Mrs. Tanios turned, there was a flush in her cheeks.

“Oh, please, please, Jacob, not this time. I’m sure it would be unwise. I would so very verymuch rather not.”

Tanios stood close behind her, his arm encircled her shoulders. She trembled a little and thenwas still—almost rigid³³.

He said and his voice was still pleasant:

“All the same, Bella, I think—I think you will do what I ask… You usually do, you know—inthe end… Yes, I think you will do what I say….”

 

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