A Gentleman of Leisure P. G. Wodehouse (list of ebook readers TXT) đ
- Author: P. G. Wodehouse
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McEachern did not answer. An hour before he would have fought to the last ditch for his belief in Jimmyâs crookedness, but the events of the last ten minutes had shaken him. He felt something of a reaction in Jimmyâs favour.
âLook here, Mr. McEachern,â said Jimmy, âI wish you would listen quietly to me for a minute or two. Thereâs really no reason on earth why we should be at one anotherâs throats in this way. We might just as well be friends. Letâs shake hands and call the fight off. I suppose you know why I came here to see you?â McEachern did not speak.
âYou know that your daughter has broken off her engagement to Lord Dreever?â
âThen he was right!â said McEachern, half to himself. âIt is you?â
Jimmy nodded. McEachern drummed his fingers on the table and stared thoughtfully at him.
âIs Mollyâ â?â he said, at length. âDoes Mollyâ â?â
âYes,â said Jimmy.
McEachern continued his drumming.
âDonât think thereâs been anything underhand about this,â said Jimmy. âShe absolutely refused to do anything unless you gave your consent. She said you had been partners all her life, and she was going to do the square thing by you.â
âShe did?â said McEachern eagerly.
âI think you ought to do the square thing by her. Iâm not much, but she wants me. Do the square thing by her.â
McEachern was staring straight in front of him. There was a look in his eyes which Jimmy had never seen there beforeâ âa frightened, hunted look.
âItâs too late,â he burst out. âIâll be square with her now, but itâs too late. I wonât stand in her way when I can make her happy. But Iâll lose her! Oh, my God, Iâll lose her!
âDid you think I had never said to myself,â he went on, âthe things you said to me that day when we met here? Did you think I didnât know what I was? Who should know it better than myself? But she didnâtâ âIâd kept it from her. Iâd sweat for fear she would find out some day. When I came over here I thought I was safe; and then you came, and I saw you together. I thought you were a crookâ âyou were with Mullins in New Yorkâ âI told her you were a crook.â
âYou told her that?â
âI said I knew it. I couldnât tell her the truth why I thought so. I said I had made inquiries in New York and found out about you.â
Jimmy saw now. The mystery was solved. So that was why Molly had allowed them to force her into the engagement with Dreever.
âI see,â he said slowly.
McEachern gripped the table in silence.
âI see,â said Jimmy again. âYou mean sheâll want an explanation?â
He thought for a moment.
âYou must tell her,â he said quickly. âFor your own sake you must tell her. Go and do it now. Wake up, man!â He shook him by the shoulder. âGo and do it now. Sheâll forgive you. Donât be afraid of that. Go and look for her and tell her now.â
McEachern roused himself.
âI will,â he said.
âItâs the only way,â said Jimmy.
McEachern opened the door, then fell back a pace. Jimmy could hear voices in the passage outside. He recognised Lord Dreeverâs.
McEachern continued to back away from the door.
Lord Dreever entered, with Molly on his arm.
âHalloa!â said his lordship, looking round.
âHalloa, Pitt! Here we all are; what?â
âLord Dreever wanted to smoke,â said Molly.
She smiled, but there was anxiety in her eyes. She looked quickly at her father and at Jimmy.
âMolly, my dear,â said McEachern huskily, âI want to speak to you for a moment.â
Jimmy took his lordship by the arm.
âCome along, Dreever,â he said. âYou can come and sit out with me. Weâll go and smoke on the terrace.â
They left the room together.
âWhat does the old boy want?â inquired his lordship. âAre you and Miss McEachernâ â?â
âWe are,â said Jimmy.
âBy Jove! I say, old chap! Million congratulations and all that sort of rot, you know!â
His lordship had to resume his duties in the ballroom after a while; but Jimmy sat on, smoking and thinking.
In the general stillness the opening of the door at the top of the steps came sharply to his ears. He looked up. Two figures were silhouetted for a moment against the light, and then the door closed again. They began to move slowly down the steps.
Jimmy had recognised them. He got up. He was in the shadow; they could not see him. They began to walk down the terrace. They were quite close now. Neither was speaking, but presently, when they were but a few feet away, they stopped. There was the splutter of a match, and McEachern lit a cigar. In the yellow light his face was clearly visible. Jimmy looked, and was content.
XXX ConclusionThe American liner St. Louis lay in the Empress Dock at Southampton, taking aboard her passengers. All sorts and conditions of men flowed in an unceasing stream up the gangway.
Leaning over the second-class railing, Jimmy Pitt and Spike Mullins watched them thoughtfully.
âWell, Spike,â said Jimmy, âyour schoonerâs on the tide now, isnât it? Your vesselâs at the quay. Youâve got some queer-looking fellow travellers. Donât miss the two Cingalese sports and the man in the turban and baggy breeches. I wonder if theyâre airtight? Useful if he fell overboard.â
âSure,â said Spike, directing a contemplative eye towards the garment in question. âHe knows his business.â
âI wonder what those men on the deck are writing? Theyâve been scribbling away ever since we
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