“Amagnificentprofession,“hemurmured。“Ahealthyone,too,I
shouldjudgefromyourappearance。Youareastrongman,Mr。Hamel。“
“Ihavehadreasontobe,“Hamelrejoined。“DuringnearlythewholeofthetimeIhavebeenabroad,Ihavebeenpracticallypioneering。
BuildingrailwaysinthefarWest,withgangsofChineseandItaliansandHungariansandscarcelyaforemanwhoisn’tterrifiedofhisjob,isn’texactlydrawing-roomwork。“
“Youaregoingbackthere?“Mr。Fentolinasked,withinterest。
Hamelshookhishead。
“Ihavenoplans,“hedeclared。“Ihavebeenfortunateenough,orshallIsomedaysayunfortunateenough,Iwonder,tohaveinheritedalargelegacy。“
Mr。Fentolinsmiled。
“Don’teverdoubtyourgoodfortune,“hesaidearnestly。“ThelongerIlive-andinmylimitedwayIdoseeagooddealoflife-themoreIappreciatethefactthatthereisn’tanythinginthisworldthatcompareswiththepowerofmoney。Idistrustapoorman。
Hemaymeantobehonest,butheisatalltimessubjecttotemptation。Ah!hereismyniece。
Mr。Fentolinturnedtowardsthedoor。Hamelroseatoncetohisfeet。Hissurmise,then,hadbeencorrect。Shewascomingtowardsthemveryquietly。Inhersoftgreydinner-gown,herbrownhairsmoothlybrushedback,apearlnecklacearoundherlong,delicateneck,sheseemedtohimaveryexquisiteembodimentofthosememorieswhichhehadbeencarryingaboutthroughouttheafternoon。
“Here,Mr。Hamel,“hishostsaid,“isamemberofmyfamilywhohasbeenadeserterforashorttime。ThisisMr。RichardHamel,Esther;myniece,MissEstherFentolin。“
Sheheldoutherhandwiththefaintestpossiblesmile,whichmighthavebeenofgreetingorrecognition。
“ItravelledforsomedistanceinthetrainwithMr。Hamelthisafternoon,Ithink,“sheremarked。
“Indeed?“Mr。Fentolinexclaimed。“Dearme,thatisveryinteresting-veryinteresting,indeed!Mr。Hamel,Iamsure,didnottellyouofhisdestination?“
Hewatchedthemkeenly。Hamel,thoughhescareelyunderstood,wasquicktoappreciatethepossiblesignificanceofthattentativequestion。
“Wedidnotexchangeconfidences,“heobserved。“MissFentolinonlychangedintomycarriageduringthelastfewminutesofherjourney。Besides,“hecontinued,“totellyouthetruth,myideasastomydestinationwerealittlehazy。Tocomeandlookforsomequeersortofbuildingbythesideofthesea,whichhasbeenunoccupiedforadozenyearsorso,scarcelyseemsareasonablequest,doesit?“
“Scarcely,indeed,“Mr。Fentolinassented。“Youmaythankme,Mr。
Hamel,forthefactthattheplaceisnotinruins。Myblatanttrespassinghassavedyoufromthat,atleast。AfterdinnerwemusttalkfurtherabouttheTower。Totellyouthetruth,Ihavegrownaccustomedtotheuseofthelittleplace。“
Thesoundofthedinnergongboomedthroughthehouse。AmomentlaterGeraldentered,followedbyabutlerannouncingdinner。
“Theonlyremainingmemberofmyfamily,“Mr。Fentolinremarked,indicatinghisnephew。“Gerald,youwillbepleased,Iknow,tomeetMr。Hamel。Mr。Hamelhasbeenagreattraveller。Longbeforeyoucanremember,hisfatherusedtopaintwonderfulpicturesofthiscoast。“
Geraldshookhandswithhisvisitor。Hisface,foramoment,lightedup。Hewaslookingpale,though,andsingularlysullenanddejected。
“Therearetwoofyourfather’spicturesinthemodernsideofthegalleryup-stairs,“heremarked,alittlediffidently。“Theyaregreatfavouriteswitheverybodyhere。“
Theyallwentintodinnertogether。Meekins,whohadappearedsilently,hadglidedunnoticedbehindhismaster’schairandwheeleditacrossthehall。
“Apartiecarreeto-night,“Mr。Fentolindeclared。“Ihavearesidentdoctorhere,averydelightfulperson,whooftendineswithus,butto-nightIthoughtnot。Fiveisanawkwardnumber。
Iwanttogettoknowyoubetter,Mr。Hamel,andquickly。I
wantyou,too,tomakefriendswithmynieceandnephew。Mr。
Hamel’sfather,“hewenton,addressingthetwolatter,“andyourfatherweregreatfriends。By-the-by,haveItoldyoubothexactlywhyMr。Hamelisaguesthereto-night-whyhecametothesepartsatall?No?Listen,then。HecametotakepossessionoftheTower。Theworstofitisthatitbelongstohim,too。Hisfatherboughtitfromyourfathermoreyearsagothanweshouldcaretotalkabout。Ihavereallybeenatrespasserallthistime。“
Theytooktheirplacesatasmallroundtableinthemiddleofthedining-room。Theshadedlightsthrowndownwardsuponthetableseemedtoleavemostoftherestoftheapartmentinsemi-darkness。
Thegloomyfacesofthemenandwomenwhosepictureshunguponthewallswerealmostinvisible。Theservantsthemselves,standingalittleoutsidethehalooflight,werelikeshadowspassingswiftlyandnoiselesslybackandforth。Atthefarendoftheroomwasanorgan,andtotheleftalittlebalcony,builtoutasthoughforanorchestra。Hamellookedabouthimalmostinwonderment。Therewassomethingcuriouslyimpressiveinthesizeoftheapartmentanditsemptiness。
“Atrespasser,“Mr。Fentolincontinued,ashetookupthemenuandcriticiseditthroughhishorn-rimmedeyeglass,“thatiswhatI
havebeen,withoutadoubt。“
“Butforyourinterestandconsequenttrespass,“Hamelremarked,“I
shouldprobablyhavefoundtheroofoffandthewholeplaceinruins。“
“Insteadofwhichyoufoundthedoorlockedagainstyou,“Mr。
Fentolinpointedout。“Well,weshallsee。Imight,atanyrate,havelosttheopportunityofentertainingyouherethisevening。
Iamparticularlygladtohaveanopportunityofmakingyouknowntomynieceandnephew。Ithinkyouwillagreewithmethatherearetwoyoungpeoplewhoarehighlytobecommended。Icannotofferthemacheerfullifehere。Thereislittlesociety,nogaiety,nosortofexcitement。Yettheyneverleaveme。Theyseemtohavenootherinterestinlifebuttobealwaysatmybeckandcall。Acase,Mr。Hamel,ofreallytouchingdevotion。Ifanythingcouldreconcilemetomymiserablecondition,itwouldhethekindnessandconsiderationofthosebywhomIamsurrounded。“
Hamelmurmuredafewwordsofcordialagreement。Yethefoundhimself,inasense,embarrassed。Geraldwaslookingdownuponhisplateandhisfacewashidden。Esther’sfeatureshadsuddenlybecomestonyandexpressionless。Hamelfeltinstinctivelythatsomethingwaswrong。
“Therearecompensations,“Mr。Fentolincontinued,withtheairofoneenjoyingspeech,“whichfindtheirwayintoeventhegloomiestoflives。AsIlieonmyback,hourafterhour,Ifeelallthemoreconsciousofthis。Theworldisaschoolofcompensations,Mr。Hamel。
Theinterests-thementalinterests,Imean-ofunfortunatepeoplelikemyself,cometopossessintimeapeculiarsignificanceandtoyieldapeculiarpleasure。Ihavehobbies,Mr。Hamel。Ifranklyadmitit。Withoutmyhobbies,Ishuddertothinkwhatmightbecomeofme。Imightbecomeaselfish,cruel,misanthropicalperson。
Hobbiesareindeedagreatthing。“
Thebrotherandsistersatstillinstonysilence。Hamel,lookingacrossthelittletablewithitsglitteringloadofcutglassandsilverandscarletflowers,caughtsomethinginEsther’seyes,sorarelyexpressiveofanyemotionwhatever,whichpuzzledhim。Helookedswiftlybackathishost。Mr。Fentolin’sface,atthatmoment,waslikeabeautifulcameo。Hisexpressionwasoneofgentlebenevolence。
“Letmebequitefrankwithyou,“Mr。Fentolinmurmured。“MyoccupationoftheTowerisoneofthesehobbies。Ilovetosittherewithinafewyardsoftheseaandwatchthetidecomein。
Icatchsomethingofthespirit,Ithink,whichcaughtyourfather,Mr。Hamel,andkepthimaprisonerhere。InmysmallwayI,too,paintwhileIamdownthere,paintanddream。Thesethingsmaynotappealtoyou,butyoumustrememberthattherearefewthingslefttomeinlife,andthatthose,therefore,whichIcanmakeuseof,aredeartome。Gerald,youaresilentto-night。Howisitthatyousaynothing?“
“Iamtired,sir,“theboyansweredquietly。
Mr。Fentolinnoddedgravely。
“Itisinexcusableofme,“hedeclaredsmoothly,“tohaveforgottenevenforamoment。Mynephew,Mr。Hamel,“hewenton,“hadquiteanexcitingexperiencelastnight-orratheraseriesofexperiences。Hewasfirstofallinarailwayaccident,andthen,forthesakeofapoorfellowwhowaswithhimandwhowasbadlyhurt,hemotoredbackhereinthegreyhoursofthemorningandran,theytellme,considerableriskofbeingdrownedonthemarshes。
Averywonderfulandpraiseworthyadventure,Iconsiderit。Itrustthatourfriendup-stairs,whenherecovers,willbeproperlygrateful。“
Geraldrosetohisfeetprecipitately。Theserviceofdinnerwasalmostconcluded,andhemutteredsomethingwhichsoundedlikeanexcuse。Mr。Fentolin,however,stretchedouthisbandandmotionedhimtoresumehisseat。