The Wicked Marquis. E. Phillips Oppenheim

      The Marquis set down his glass. The thing was absurd!

      "Surely," he suggested, "the House of Lords remains?"

      "Without a doubt, your lordship," Mr. Wadham assented, "but it is of no use to us in the present instance. The judge of the Supreme Court—this is, by-the-by, our third appeal—has delivered a final decision."

      The Marquis seemed vaguely puzzled.

      "The House of Lords," he persisted, "remains surely a Court of Appeal for members of my order whose claims to consideration are not always fully recognised in the democracy of the common law court."

      "I fear," Mr. Wadham replied, with a little cough, "that the House of Lords is supposed to have other functions."

      "Other functions?"

      "In an indirect sort of fashion," Mr. Wadham continued, "it is supposed to assist in the government of the country."

      "God bless my soul!" the Marquis exclaimed.

      There was a queer, intangible silence. The lawyer was quite aware that a storm was brewing, but as his distinguished client never lost his temper or showed annoyance in any of the ordinary plebeian ways, he was conscious of some curiosity as to what might happen next.

      "You mean to say, then," the Marquis continued, "that for the rest of my days, and in the days of those who may succeed me, that edifice, that cottage which for generations has sheltered one of the family retainers, is to remain the property of—of an alien?"

      "I fear that that is the decision of the court," the lawyer admitted. "The deed of gift was exceptionally binding."

      The Marquis shook his head. The thing was incomprehensible.

      "I can stand upon the roof of Mandeleys," he said, "and I can look north, south, east and west, and in no direction can I look off my own land. Yet you mean to tell me that almost in my garden there is to remain a demesne which can be occupied by any Tom, Dick or Harry which its nominal owner chooses to place in possession?"

      The lawyer signed to the waiter for their glasses to be replenished.

      "It is certainly not justice, your lordship," he admitted—"it is not even reasonable—but it is the law."

      The Marquis produced a gold cigarette case, absently lit a cigarette, and returned the case to his pocket without offering it to his companion. He smoked meditatively and sipped his second glass of sherry.

      "A state of things," he declared, "has been revealed to me which I cannot at present grasp. I must discuss the matter with Robert—with my son-in-law, Sir Robert Lees. He is an intensely modern person, and he may be able to suggest something."

      "Sir Robert is a very clever man," the lawyer acknowledged, "but failing an arrangement with the tenant himself, I cannot see that there is anything further to be done. We have, in short, exhausted the law."

      "A process," the Marquis observed sympathetically, "which I fear that you must have found expensive, Mr. Wadham."

      "The various suits into which we have entered on behalf of your lordship, and the costs which we have had to pay," the latter hastened to announce, "amount, I regret to say, to something over eighteen thousand pounds."

      "Dear me!" his companion sighed. "It seems quite a great deal of money."

      "Since we are upon the subject," the lawyer proceeded, "my firm has suggested that I should approach your lordship with regard to some means of—pardon me—reducing the liability in question."

      So far as the face of Mr. Wadham's client was capable of expressing anything, it expressed now a certain amount of surprise.

      "It appears to me, Mr. Wadham," he remarked, "that you are asking me to attend to your business for you."

      The lawyer knitted his brows in puzzled fashion.

      "I am not sure that I quite follow your lordship," he murmured.

      "Do I employ you," his patron continued, "to manage my estates, to control my finances, to act as agent to all my properties, and yet need to keep a perspective myself of my various assets? If eighteen thousand pounds is required, it is for your firm to decide from what quarter the money should come. Personally, as you know, I never interfere."

      Mr. Wadham coughed in somewhat embarrassed fashion.

      "As a matter of fact, your lordship," he confessed, with a most illogical sense that it was his duty to apologise for his client's impecuniosity, "as a matter of fact, neither my partners nor I can at the present moment see where a sum of eighteen thousand pounds can be raised."

      The Marquis rose to his feet and shook the cigarette ash carefully from his coat.

      "Our conversation, Mr. Wadham," he said, "is reaching a stage which bores me. I have just remembered, too," he added, with a glance at the clock, "that my daughter is entertaining a few friends to lunch. You must write to Merridrew. He is really a most excellent agent. He will tell you what balances are likely to be available during the next few months."

      Mr. Wadham received the suggestion without enthusiasm.

      "We made an application to Mr. Merridrew some few weeks ago," he remarked, "as we needed some ready money for the purpose of briefing the barristers. Mr. Merridrew's reply was not encouraging."

      "Ah!" the Marquis murmured. "Merridrew is a gloomy dog sometimes. Try him again. It is astonishing how elastic he can be if he is squeezed."

      "I am afraid your lordship has done all the squeezing," the solicitor observed ruefully.

      A little trill of feminine laughter rang through the room. Two smartly attired young ladies were seated upon a divan near the door, surrounded by a little group of acquaintances. One of them leaned forward and nodded as the Marquis and his companion passed.

      "How do you do, Marquis?" she said, in distinctly transatlantic accents.

      The behaviour of his client, under such circumstances, remained an object lesson to Mr. Wadham for the rest of his life. The Marquis gazed with the faintest expression of surprise at, or perhaps through, the young person who had addressed him. Fumbling for a moment in his waistcoat pocket, he raised a horn-rimmed monocle to his eye, dropped it almost at once, and passed on without the flicker of an eyelid. On their way to the outside door, however, he shook his head gravely.

      "What a singular exhibition," he murmured—"demonstration, perhaps I should say—of the crudeness of modern social intercourse! Was it my fancy, Wadham, or did the young person up there address me?"

      "She certainly did," the other assented. "She even called you by name."

      They were standing in the courtyard now, waiting for a taxi, and the Marquis sighed.

      "In a public place, too!" he murmured. "Wadham, I am afraid that we are living in the wrong age. I came to that conclusion only a few days ago, when I was invited, actually invited, to dine at the house of—But I forget, Wadham, I forget. Your grandfather would appreciate these things. You yourself are somewhat imbued, I fear, with the modern taint. A handful of silver, if you please," he added, holding out his hand. "I am not accustomed to these chance conveyances."

      The lawyer searched his trousers pockets, and produced a couple of pink notes and a few half-crowns. In some mysterious fashion, the whole seemed to pass into the Marquis's long, aristocratic hand. He turned to the porter who was standing bare-headed, and slipped a ten-shilling note into his palm.

      "Well, good morning, Wadham," he said, stepping into his taxicab. "I have no doubt that you did your best, but this morning's unfortunate happening will take me some time to get over. My compliments to your senior partner. You can say that I am disappointed—no more."

      The Marquis crossed his legs and leaned back in the vehicle. Mr. Wadham remained upon the pavement, gazing for a moment at his empty hand.

      "Taxi, sir?" the hall porter asked obsequiously.