In Her Own Right Read online

  IN HER OWN RIGHT

  by

  JOHN REED SCOTT

  Author of "The Last Try," "The Woman In Question," "The PrincessDehra," Etc.

  With Illustrations in Color By Clarence F. Underwood

  "TELL ME ALL ABOUT YOURSELF," HE SAID _Page 328_]

  A. L. Burt CompanyPublishersNew York

  Copyright, 1911by John Reed Scott

  Published May, 1911

  DEDICATED

  TO

  S. W. C

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER I. Broken 11 II. Good-bye 23 III. Clarendon 35 IV. Parmenter's Bequest 51 V. Miss Carrington 68 VI. Confidence and Scruples 88 VII. Greenberry Point 104 VIII. Stolen 120 IX. The Way Out 135 X. Pirate's Gold Breeds Pirate's Ways 150 XI. Elaine Cavendish 170 XII. One Learned in the Law 185 XII. I Could Tell Some Things 203 XIV. The Symphony in Blue 217 XV. An Old Ruse 232 XVI. The Marabou Muff 247 XVII. A Handkerchief and a Glove 264 XVIII. The Lone House by the Bay 281 XIX. Robert Parmenter's Successors 298 XX. The Check 310 XXI. The Jewels 321

  ILLUSTRATIONS

  Page

  "TELL ME ALL ABOUT YOURSELF," HE SAID _Frontispiece_

  LEADING THE WRONG ONE, THROWING THE WRONG ONE, MATCHING PASTEBOARDS, THAT WAS ALL 86

  HE WENT OUT ON THE EXTREME EDGE, FACED ABOUT, AND STEPPED TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY PACES 112

  IN HER OWN RIGHT

  I

  BROKEN

  "The expected has happened, I see," said Macloud, laying aside thepaper he had been reading, and raising his hand for a servant.

  "I thought it was the unexpected that happens," Hungerford drawled,languidly. "What do you mean?"

  "Royster & Axtell have been thrown into bankruptcy. Liabilities oftwenty million, assets problematical."

  "You don't say!" ejaculated Hungerford, sitting up sharply. "Have theycaught any of our friends?"

  "All who dealt with them, I reckon."

  "Too bad! Too bad!--Well, they didn't catch me."

  "Oh, no! you're not caught!" said Macloud. "Your father was wise enoughto put your estate into Government threes, with a trustee who had nopower to change the investment."

  "And I'm thankful he did," Hungerford answered. "It saves me alltrouble; I need never look at the stock report, don't you know;Government bonds are always the same.--I suppose it's a reflection onmy ability, but that is of small consequence. I don't care what peoplethink, so long as I have the income and no trouble. If I had control ofmy capital, I might have lost all of it with Royster & Axtell, whoknows?"

  Macloud shook his head.

  "It isn't likely," he commented, "you wouldn't have had it to lose."

  Hungerford's momentarily vague look suddenly became knowing.

  "You mean I would have lost it long ago?" he asked. "Oh, I say, oldman, you're a bit hard on me. I may not have much head for business,but I'm not altogether a fool, don't you know."

  "Glad to know it," laughed Macloud, as he arose and sauntered away.

  Hungerford drew out his cigarettes and thoughtfully lighted one.

  "I wonder--did he mean I am or I am not?" he said. "I wonder. I shallhave to ask him some time.--Boy! a Scotch and soda."

  Meanwhile, Macloud passed into the Club-house and, mounting the stairsto the second floor, knocked sharply at a door in the north-west cornerof the corridor.

  "Come in," called a voice.--"Who is it?--Oh! it's you, Macloud. Makeyourself at home--I'll be out in a moment."

  There was the noise of splashing water, accompanied by sundryexclamations and snorts, followed by a period of silence; and, then,from the bath room, emerged Croyden clad in robe, slippers and asmile.

  "Help yourself," he said, pointing to the smoking materials. He filleda pipe, lit it carefully, blew a few whiffs to the ceiling and watchedthem slowly dissipate.

  "Well, it's come," he remarked: "Royster & Axtell have smashed clean."

  "Not clean," said Macloud. "It is going to be the most criminal failurethis town has ever known."

  "I mean they have busted wide open--and I'm one of the suckers."

  "You are going to have plenty of company, among your friends," Macloudanswered.

  "I suppose so--but I hope none of them is hit quite so bad." He blewanother cloud of smoke and watched it fade. "The truth is, Colin, I'mdone for."

  "What!" exclaimed Macloud. "You don't mean you are cleaned out?"

  The other nodded. "That's about it.... I've a few thousand left--enoughto pay laundry bills, and to board on Hash Alley for a few months ayear. Oh! I was a sucker, all right!--I was so easy it makes me ashamedto have saved _anything_ from the wreck. I've a notion to go and offerit to them, now."

  There were both bitterness and relief in his tones; bitterness overthe loss, relief that the worst, at last, had happened.

  For a while, there was silence. Croyden turned away and began to dress;Macloud sat looking out on the lawn in front, where a foursome wereplaying the home hole, and another waiting until they got off thegreen.

  Presently, the latter spoke.

  "How did it happen, old man?" he asked--"that is, if you care totell."

  Croyden laughed shortly. "It isn't pleasant to relate how one has beensuch an addle-pated ass----"

  "Then, forgive me.--I didn't mean to----"

  "Nonsense! I understand--moreover, it will ease my mortification toconfide in one who won't attempt to sympathize. I don't care forsympathy, I don't deserve it, and what's more, I won't have it."

  "Don't let that worry you," Macloud answered. "You won't be oppressedby any rush of sympathy. No one is who gets pinched in the stockmarket. We all go in, and--sooner or later, generally sooner--we allget burnt--and we all think every one but ourselves got only what wasdue him. No, my boy, there is no sympathy running loose for the lambwho has been shorn. And you don't need to expect it from your friendsof the Heights. They believe only in success. The moment you'refleeced, they fling you aside. They fatten off the carcasses ofothers--yours and mine and their own brothers. Friendship does notenter into the game. They will eat your bread and salt to-night, anddance on your financial corpse to-morrow. The only respect they have isfor money, and clothes, and show; and the more money, and the more showthe greater their deference--while they last--and the farther the fallwhen they fail. The women are as bad as the men, in a smaller way. Theywill blacken one another's reputation with an ease and zest that issimply appalling, and laugh in your face while doing it. I'm speakinggenerally, there are exceptions, of course, but they only prove therule. Yet, what can you expect, where aristocracy is based on one'sbank account, and the ability to keep the other fellows from layingviolent hands on it. It reminds one of the Robbers of the Rhine! Stealeverything within reach and give up nothing. Oh! it is a fine system ofliving!--Your pardon! I forgot myself."

  "It is good to have you forget yourself occasionally," saidCroyden--"especially, when your views chime with mine--recentlyacquired, I admit. I began to see it about a month ago, when I sloweddown on expenditures. I thought I could notice an answering chill inthe grill-room."

  "Like enough. You must spend to get on. They have no use for one whodoesn't. You have committed the unpardonable sin: had a fortune andlost it. And they never forgive--
unless you make another fortune; thenthey will welcome you back, and lay plans to take it, also."

  "You paint a pretty picture!" Croyden laughed.

  Macloud shrugged his shoulders.

  "Tell me of Royster & Axtell," he said.

  "There isn't a great deal to tell," Croyden replied, coming around fromthe dressing table, and drawing on his vest as he came. "It is fiveyears since my father died and left me sole heir to his estate. Inround numbers, it aggregated half a million dollars--all in stocks andbonds, except a little place down on the Eastern Shore which he took,some years before he died, in payment of a debt due him. Since mymother's demise my father had led the life of quiet and retirement in asmall city. I went through college, was given a year abroad, took thelaw course at Harvard, and settled down to the business of getting apractice. Then the pater died, suddenly. Five hundred thousand was alot of money in that town. Too much to settle there, I thought. Iabandoned the law, and came to Northumberland. The governor had been anon-resident member of the Northumberland Club, which made it easy forme to join. I soon found, however, that what had seemed ample wealth inthe old town, did not much more than make ends meet, here--provided Ikept up my end. I was about the poorest one in the set I affected, so,naturally, I went into the stock market. Royster was the particularbroker of the gang and the first year I did very well.--You think itwas intended?" (As Macloud smiled.) "Well, I don't doubt now you'reright. The next year I began to lose. Then Royster put me into thatCompany of his down in Virginia--the Virginia Improvement Company, youknow. He took me down, in a special car, showed me how much he himselfhad in it, how much would be got out of it, offered to let me in on theground floor, and made it look so rosy, withal, that I succumbed. Twohundred thousand was buried there. An equal amount I had lent them, atsix per cent., shortly after I came to Northumberland--selling thesecurities that yielded only four per cent. to do it. That accounts forfour hundred thousand--gone up the flume. Eighty thousand I lost instocks. The remainder, about twenty thousand, I still have. By someerror I can't account for, they did not get away with it, too.--Such isthe tale of a foolish man," he ended.

  "Will you make any effort to have Royster prosecuted?" Macloud asked.

  "No--I've been pretty much of a baby, but I'm not going to cry overmilk that's spilt."

  "It's not all spilt--some of it will be recovered."

  "My dear Macloud, there won't be enough money recovered to buy mecigarettes for one evening. Royster has hypothecated and rehypothecatedsecurities until no man can trace his own, even if it would help himto do so. You said it would _likely_ prove a disgraceful failure. I amabsolutely sure of it."

  Macloud beat a tattoo on the window-ledge.

  "What do you think of doing?" he said--"or haven't you got to it,yet--or don't you care to tell?"

  "I've got to it," replied Croyden; "and I don't care to tell--anyonebut you, Colin. I can't stay here----"

  "Not on twelve hundred a year, certainly--unless you spend the littleprincipal you have left, and, then, drop off for good."

  "Which would be playing the baby act, sure enough."

  Macloud nodded.

  "It would," he said; "but, sometimes, men don't look at it that way.They cannot face the loss of caste. They prefer to drop overboard by_accident_."

  "There isn't going to be any dropping overboard by accident in mine,"replied Croyden. "What I've decided to do is this: I shall disappear. Ihave no debts, thank God! so no one will care to take the trouble tosearch for me. I shall go down to Hampton, to the little property thatwas left me on the Eastern Shore, there to mark time, either until Ican endure it, or until I can pick out some other abode. I've a bunchof expensive habits to get rid of quickly, and the best place forthat, it seems to me, is a small town where they are impossible, aswell as unnecessary."

  "Ever lived in a small town?" Macloud inquired.

  "None smaller than my old home. I suppose it will be very stupid, afterthe life here, but beggars can't be choosers."

  "I'm not so sure it will be very stupid," said Macloud. "It depends onhow much you liked this froth and try, we have here. The want to andcan't--the aping the ways and manners of those who have had wealth forgenerations, and are well-born, beside. Look at them!" with a fling ofhis arm, that embraced the Club-house and its environs.--"Onegeneration old in wealth, one generation old in family, and about sixmonths old, some of them scarcely that, in breeding. There are a fewfamilies which belong by right of birth--and, thank God! they show it.But they are shouldered aside by the others, and don't make much of ashow. The climbers hate them, but are too much awed by their lineage tocrowd them out, entirely. A nice lot of aristocrats! The majority ofthem are puddlers of the iron mills, and the peasants of Europe, comeover so recently the soil is still clinging to their clothes. Down onthe Eastern Shore you will find it very different. They ask one, whoyou _are_, never how much money you have. Their aristocracy is one ofbirth and culture. You may be reduced to manual labor for a livelihood,but you belong just the same. You have had a sample of themoney-changers and their heartless methods--and it has left a bittertaste in your mouth. I think you will welcome the change. It will be anew life, and, in a measure, a quiet life, but there are compensationsto one to whom life holds more than garish living and ostentatiousshow."

  "You know the people of the Eastern Shore?" asked Croyden.

  "No!--but I know the people of the Western Shore, and they come fromthe same stock--and it's good stock, mighty good stock! Moreover, youare not burying yourself so deep--Baltimore is just across the Bay, andPhiladelphia and New York are but a few hours distant--less distantthan this place is, indeed."

  "I looked up the time-tables!" laughed Croyden. "My present knowledgeof Hampton is limited to the means and methods of getting away."

  "And getting to it," appended Macloud. "When do you go?"

  "To-morrow night."

  "Hum--rather sudden, isn't it?"

  "I've seen it coming for a month, so I've had time to pay my smallaccounts, arrange my few affairs, and be prepared to flit on a moment'snotice. I should have gone a week ago, but I indulged myself with a fewmore days of the old life. Now, I'm off to-morrow night."

  "Shall you go direct to Hampton?"

  "Direct to Hampton, via New York," said Croyden. "There probably won'tanyone care enough even to inquire for me, but I'm not taking thechance."

  Macloud watched him with careful scrutiny. Was it serious or was itassumed? Had this seemingly sudden resolve only the failure of Royster& Axtell behind it, or was there a woman there, as well? Was ElaineCavendish the real reason? There could be no doubt of Croyden'sdevotion to her--and her more than passing regard for him. Was itbecause he could not, or because he would not--or both? Croyden waspractically penniless--she was an only child, rich in her own right,and more than rich in prospect----

  "Will you dine with me, this evening?" asked Macloud.

  "Sorry, old man, but I'm due at the Cavendishes'--just a pick-up bytelephone. I shall see you, again, shan't I?"

  "I reckon so," was the answer. "I'm down here for the night. Havebreakfast with me in the morning--if I'm not too early a bird, at eighto'clock."

  "Good! for two on the side piazza!" exclaimed Croyden.

  "I'll speak to Francois," said Macloud, arising. "So long."

  Croyden slowly straightened his tie and drew on his coat.

  "Macloud is a square chap," he reflected. "I've had a lot of so-calledfriends, here, but he is the only one who still rings true. I mayimagine it, but I'm sure the rest are beginning to shy off. Well, Ishan't bother them much longer--they can prepare for a new victim."

  He picked up his hat and went downstairs, making his way out by thefront entrance, so as to miss the crowd in the grill-room. He did notwant the trouble of speaking or of being spoken to. He saw Macloud, ashe passed--out on the piazza beyond the porte-cochere, and he waved hishand to him. Then he signalled the car, that had been sent fromCavencliffe for him, and drove off to the Cavendishes.

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