The Man Between [41]
other. He was not pleased at Judge Rawdon's visit, but thought it best to be cousinly until his cousin interfered with his plans--"rights" he called them--"and then!" and his "THEN" implied a great deal, for Nicholas Rawdon was a man incapable of conceiving the idea of loving an enemy.
His wife was a pleasant, garrulous woman, who interested Ethel very much. Her family was her chief topic of conversation. She had two daughters, one of whom had married a baronet, "a man with money and easy to manage"; and the other, "a rich cotton lord in Manchester."
"They haven't done badly," she said confidentially, "and it's a great thing to get girls off your hands early. Adelaide and Martha were well educated and suitable, but, "she added with a glow of pride, "you should see my John Thomas. He's manager of the mill, and he loves the mill, and he knows every pound of warp or weft that comes in or goes out of the mill; and what his father would do without him, I'm sure I don't know. And he is a member of Parliament, too--Radical ticket. Won over Mostyn. Wiped Mostyn out pretty well. That was a thing to do, wasn't it?"
"I suppose Mr. Mostyn was the Conservative candidate?"
"You may be sure of that. But my John Thomas doesn't blame him for it--the gentry have to be Conservatives. John Thomas said little against his politics; he just set the crowd laughing at his ways--his dandified ways. And he tried to wear one eyeglass, and let it fall, and fall, and then told the men `he couldn't manage half a pair of spectacles; but he could manage their interests and fight for their rights,' and such like talk. And he walked like Mostyn, and he talked like Mostyn, and spread out his legs, and twirled his walking stick like Mostyn, and asked them `if they would wish him to go to Parliament in that kind of a shape, as he'd try and do it if they wanted a tailor-made man'; and they laughed him down, and then he spoke reasonable to them. John Thomas knows what Yorkshire weavers want, and he just prom- ised them everything they had set their hearts on; and so they sent him to Parliament, and Mostyn went to America, where, perhaps, they'll teach him that a man's life is worth a bit more than a bird or a rabbit. Mostyn is all for preserving game, and his father was a mean creature. When one thinks of his father, one has to excuse the young man a little bit."
"I saw a good deal of Mr. Mostyn in New York," said Ethel. "He used to speak highly of his father."
"I'll warrant he did; and he ought to keep at it, for he's the only one in this world that will use his tongue for that end. Old Samuel Mostyn never learned to live godly or even manly, but after his death he ceased to do evil, and that, I've no doubt, often feels like a blessing to them that had to live anyway near to him. But my John Thomas!"
"Oh," cried Ethel, laughing, "you must not tell me so much about John Thomas; he might not like it."
"John Thomas can look all he does and all he says straight in the face. You may talk of him all day, and find nothing to say that a good girl like you might not listen to. I should have brought him with us, but he's away now taking a bit of a holiday. I'm sure he needs it."
"Where is he taking his holiday?"
"Why, he went with a cousin to show him the sights of London; but somehow they got through London sights very quick, and thought they might as well put Paris in. I wish they hadn't. I don't trust foreigners and foreign ways, and they don't have the same kind of money as ours; but Nicholas says I needn't worry; he is sure that our John Thomas, if change is to make, will make it to suit himself."
"How soon will he be home?"
"I might say to-day or any other early day. He's been idling for a month now, and his father says `the very looms are calling out for him.' I'll bring him to see you just as soon as he comes home, looms or no looms, and he'll be fain to come. No one appreciates a pretty girl more than John Thomas does."
So the days passed sweetly and swiftly onward, and there was no trouble in them. Such business as was to
His wife was a pleasant, garrulous woman, who interested Ethel very much. Her family was her chief topic of conversation. She had two daughters, one of whom had married a baronet, "a man with money and easy to manage"; and the other, "a rich cotton lord in Manchester."
"They haven't done badly," she said confidentially, "and it's a great thing to get girls off your hands early. Adelaide and Martha were well educated and suitable, but, "she added with a glow of pride, "you should see my John Thomas. He's manager of the mill, and he loves the mill, and he knows every pound of warp or weft that comes in or goes out of the mill; and what his father would do without him, I'm sure I don't know. And he is a member of Parliament, too--Radical ticket. Won over Mostyn. Wiped Mostyn out pretty well. That was a thing to do, wasn't it?"
"I suppose Mr. Mostyn was the Conservative candidate?"
"You may be sure of that. But my John Thomas doesn't blame him for it--the gentry have to be Conservatives. John Thomas said little against his politics; he just set the crowd laughing at his ways--his dandified ways. And he tried to wear one eyeglass, and let it fall, and fall, and then told the men `he couldn't manage half a pair of spectacles; but he could manage their interests and fight for their rights,' and such like talk. And he walked like Mostyn, and he talked like Mostyn, and spread out his legs, and twirled his walking stick like Mostyn, and asked them `if they would wish him to go to Parliament in that kind of a shape, as he'd try and do it if they wanted a tailor-made man'; and they laughed him down, and then he spoke reasonable to them. John Thomas knows what Yorkshire weavers want, and he just prom- ised them everything they had set their hearts on; and so they sent him to Parliament, and Mostyn went to America, where, perhaps, they'll teach him that a man's life is worth a bit more than a bird or a rabbit. Mostyn is all for preserving game, and his father was a mean creature. When one thinks of his father, one has to excuse the young man a little bit."
"I saw a good deal of Mr. Mostyn in New York," said Ethel. "He used to speak highly of his father."
"I'll warrant he did; and he ought to keep at it, for he's the only one in this world that will use his tongue for that end. Old Samuel Mostyn never learned to live godly or even manly, but after his death he ceased to do evil, and that, I've no doubt, often feels like a blessing to them that had to live anyway near to him. But my John Thomas!"
"Oh," cried Ethel, laughing, "you must not tell me so much about John Thomas; he might not like it."
"John Thomas can look all he does and all he says straight in the face. You may talk of him all day, and find nothing to say that a good girl like you might not listen to. I should have brought him with us, but he's away now taking a bit of a holiday. I'm sure he needs it."
"Where is he taking his holiday?"
"Why, he went with a cousin to show him the sights of London; but somehow they got through London sights very quick, and thought they might as well put Paris in. I wish they hadn't. I don't trust foreigners and foreign ways, and they don't have the same kind of money as ours; but Nicholas says I needn't worry; he is sure that our John Thomas, if change is to make, will make it to suit himself."
"How soon will he be home?"
"I might say to-day or any other early day. He's been idling for a month now, and his father says `the very looms are calling out for him.' I'll bring him to see you just as soon as he comes home, looms or no looms, and he'll be fain to come. No one appreciates a pretty girl more than John Thomas does."
So the days passed sweetly and swiftly onward, and there was no trouble in them. Such business as was to