Love at Paddington

  LOVE AT PADDINGTON

  by

  W. PETT RIDGE

  [Frontispiece]

  Thomas Nelson and SonsLondon, Edinburgh, DublinLeeds, Melbourne, and New YorkLeipzig: 35-37 Koenigstrasse. Paris: 189, rue Saint-Jacques

  NOVELS BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

  Mord Em'ly. Secretary to Bayne, M.P. A Son of the State. Lost Property. 'Erb. A Breaker of Laws. Mrs. Galer's Business. The Wickhamses. Name of Garland. Sixty-nine Birnam Road. Splendid Brother. Thanks to Sanderson.

  First Published in 1912

  LOVE AT PADDINGTON.

  CHAPTER I.

  Children had been sent off to Sunday school, and the more conscientiousreached that destination; going in, after delivering awful threats andwarnings to those who preferred freedom of thought and a stroll downEdgware Road in the direction of the Park. As a consequence, in thestreets off the main thoroughfare leading to Paddington Station peaceand silence existed, broken only by folk who, after the principal mealof the week, talked in their sleep. Praed Street was different. PraedStreet plumed itself on the fact that it was always lively, ever on themove, occasionally acquainted with royalty. Even on a Sundayafternoon, and certainly at all hours of a week-day, one could lookfrom windows at good racing, generally done by folk impeded by handluggage who, as they ran, glanced suspiciously at every clock, andgasped, in a despairing way, "We shall never do it!" or,optimistically, "We shall only just do it!" or, with resignation,"Well, if we lose this one we shall have to wait for the next."

  Few establishments were open in Praed Street, shutters were up at thenumerous second-hand shops, and at the hour of three o'clock p.m. thethirst for journals at E. G. Mills's (Established 1875) was satisfied;the appetite for cigars, cigarettes, and tobacco had scarcely begun.Now and again a couple of boys, who had been reading stories of wildadventure in the Rocky Mountains, dashed across the road, upset one ofMrs. Mills's placard boards, and flew in opposite directions, feelingthat although they might not have equalled the daring exploits of theirheroes in fiction, they had gone as far as was possible in a countryhampered by civilization.

  "Young rascals!" said Mrs. Mills, coming back after repairing one ofthese outrages. The shop had a soft, pleasing scent of tobacco fromthe brown jars, marked in gilded letters "Bird's Eye" and "Shag" and"Cavendish," together with the acrid perfume of printer's ink. "Still,I suppose we were all young once. Gertie," raising her voice, "isn'tit about time you popped upstairs to make yourself good-looking?There's no cake in the house, and that always means some one looks inunexpectedly to tea."

  No answer.

  "Gertie! Don't you hear me when I'm speaking to you?"

  "Beg pardon, aunt. I was thinking of something else."

  "You think too much of something else, my dear," said Mrs. Millspersuasively. "I was saying to a customer, only yesterday, that youdon't seem able lately to throw off your work when you've finished.You keep on threshing it out in your mind. And it's all very well, toa certain extent, but there's a medium in all things." Mrs. Mills wentto the half-open door, that was curtained only in regard to the lowerportion. "Trimming a hat," she cried protestingly. "Oh, my dear, andto think your mother was a Wesleyan Methodist. Before she came toLondon, I mean."

  Her niece surveyed the work at arm's length. "I've done all I want todo to it," she said.

  Mrs. Mills ordered the hat to be put on that she might ascertainwhether it suited, and this done, and guarded approval given, asked tobe allowed to try it on her own head. Here, again, the results,inspected in the large mirror set in a narrow wooden frame above themantelpiece, gained commendation; Mrs. Mills declared she would feelinclined to purchase a similar hat, only that Praed Street might sayshe was looking for a second husband. Besides, she never went out.

  "Your poor mother was just as handy with her needle as what you are.We'd go along together to have a look at the shops in Oxford Street,and the moment she returned home, she'd set to work, and altersomething to make it look fashionable." Mrs. Mills sighed. "Littlegood it brought her, though, in the long run."

  "I am sure," remarked the girl quickly, "it never brought her any harm."

  "Didn't help to get hold of anybody better than your father, at anyrate. But they're both gone, and it's no use talking."

  Some one entered the shop.

  "Your friend Miss Radford," she announced. "Now there won't be achance for any one else to speak."

  The visitor justified the prophecy, by entering the parlour with abreathless "Oh, I've got such news!" checking herself on encounteringMrs. Mills. Mrs. Mills asked, with reserve, concerning the health ofMiss Radford's mother, and mentioned (not apparently for the firsttime) that the lady, in her opinion, ought to be living on a gravelsoil. Miss Radford, obviously suffering from repressed information,promised to deliver the advice, word for word, and in the meantime gaveher own warm thanks.

  "Old nuisance!" she remarked, as the half-curtained door closed. "Iwonder how you can put up with her."

  "My aunt is very good to me."

  "Isn't it a pity," said the visitor inconsequently, "that you're soshort? Well, not exactly short, but certainly only about middleheight. I think"--she glanced at the mirror complacently--"my idea isit's partly because I'm tall that I attract so much notice. I'm surethe way they gaze round after I'm gone by--Well, it used to make mefeel quite confused, but I've got over that. You don't have to put upwith such experiences, Gertie."

  "Afraid I forget to turn to see if they're looking."

  "You've got rather a thoughtless disposition," agreed the other. "Onceor twice lately, when I've been telling you things that I don't tell toeverybody, it's struck me that you've been scarcely listening." Thedoor was closed, but Miss Radford verified this before proceeding."What do you think?" she asked in an awed voice. "Whatever do youthink? Two of my old ones have met. Met at a smoking concertapparently. And they somehow started talking, and my name cropped up,and," tearfully, "they've written me such a unkind letter, with boththeir names to it. On the top of it all, the latest one caught sightof me yesterday afternoon, dressing the window at our establishment, sothat he won't put in an appearance at the Marble Arch this evening."

  "Why not?"

  "Because I told him I was an artist. Said I had a picture in the RoyalAcademy the year before last."

  "You are rather foolish at times, aren't you?"

  "I wish, darling," wailed Miss Radford, "that you could tell mesomething I don't know."

  The clock on the mantelpiece struck the half-hour, and Mrs. Mills'sniece, suddenly alarmed, said she would not be absent for more than tenminutes, an announcement the visitor received with an incredulous shakeof the head. As a fact, Gertie returned in five minutes fullyapparelled, to discover Miss Radford improved in spirits and ready formore conversation.

  "A new blouse?" she cried, interrupting herself. "And you never toldme. Gertie Higham," solemnly, "this isn't what I call friendship."

  The girl went straight through the shop, and looking up and down PraedStreet, remarked to Mrs. Mills that it intended to be a fine evening.The elder lady said it was high time Gertie found a young man to takeher out; the girl answered composedly that perhaps Mr. Trew might calland do her this service.

  "Or Fred Bulpert?" remarked the aunt pointedly.

  "No," she answered, "not Mr. Bulpert, thank you. Mr. Trew isdifferent."

  "He isn't the man he was when I first knew him."

  "I like him because he's the man he is."

  She turned quickly at the sound of a deep, husky voice. Mr. Trew, onthe mat, opened his arms at sight of her, and beamed with a face thatwas like the midday sun; she took his sleeve and pulled him to thepavement.

  "At five minutes to five," she w
hispered urgently, "you're going totake me for a walk in Hyde Park."

  "At four fifty-five to the minute," he agreed. "What's the game, may Ikindly ask?"

  "I'll tell you later on."

  "I hadn't noticed it," he said loudly, re-entering the shop, "until myattention was drawed to it by the little missy here. But there it isright enough on the playcards. 'Motor omnibuses for London.'" Heshook his head, and, leaning across the counter, addressed Mrs. Mills."Light of my life, sunshine of my existence--"

  "Don't you begin your nonsense," ordered the lady, not displeased.

  "--And sweetheart when a boy, I warn you against putting any of yourill-gotten gains into that sort of speculation. They may perhaps startone from the Elephant and it'll get about as fur as the Obelisk, andthere it'll stick. And they'll have to take it to pieces, and sell itfor scrap iron. I know what I'm talking about."

  "That's unusual in your case," said Mrs. Mills.

  "I get light-headed when I see you," explained Mr. Trew. "I was tooklike it the first time I ran across you up in the gallery of the oldPrincess's, seeing 'Guinea Gold,' and you've had the same effect on meever since. What's more, you glory in it. You're proud of thewonderful influence you exercise over me. And all I get out of you isa 'aughty smile."

  "The fact is," declared Mrs. Mills, "you get too much attention fromthe ladies. It spoils you!"

  "See how she spurns me," he cried, turning to Gertie. "You wouldn'ttreat a gentleman like that, would you, missy? You wouldn't playfootball with an honest, loving heart, I'm sure. Oh, come on," withpretended desperation, "let's have a cigar, and try to forget all aboutit. A twopenny one; same as you sell to members of the House of Lords."

  "You're staying to tea," suggested Mrs. Mills, allowing him to make aselection from a box.

  "I've got to leave just before five o'clock. Going to take the littlemissy here out for a promenade."

  "Now that is kind and thoughtful of you," declared the other. "Withall your silliness, you're not half a bad sort. Gertie, go in and laythe table."

  Miss Radford, after inspecting the new-comer over the half-curtain,decided to leave, although, as she pointed out, this was an opportunityfor enjoying her company that rarely occurred. In confidence, theyoung woman remarked that what she hoped might happen at a future datewas that she would meet some one possessing a disengaged brother, inwhich case she guaranteed to bring all her influence to bear in favourof Gertie Higham. Gertie said this was kind, and Miss Radfordmentioned that she always felt ready to do a favour whenever shehappened to be in good spirits.

  The three sat at table, with Mrs. Mills in a position that commanded aview of the shop. Mr. Trew had brought a bag of prawns in thetail-pocket of his coat, secured, he asserted, after enormous troubleand expense from the sea coast of Marylebone Road that very afternoon;they were, anyway, good prawns, and went admirably with thin bread andbutter, and Gertie would have eaten more but for anxiety concerningprogress of the hands of the clock. Mr. Trew, discussing the productsof the sea, regretted that he was bound, by his work, to London--

  "Horses is my occupation," he said, "but the ocean's my hobby."

  --And derided town, charging it with stuffiness in this month ofAugust, and moreover empty. He wished he were on the pier at Southend,or at Margate, or at any place, in fact, where he might see the wavesrolling in and rolling out again, and shy pebbles at them.

  "Gertie could have had her holiday this month," remarked Mrs. Mills,glancing with pride at her niece, "but she preferred not. I don't feelsure whether she did right or whether she did wrong in giving them up.There's more unlikely places than a seaside boarding-house to pick up afuture husband." She gave details of a case of a young woman living inHarrow Road, who, in the summer of 1900, met at Eastbourne a gentlemanwith one arm, invalided home from the war; an engagement immediatelyfollowed. Later, the girl discovered he was already married, and thathe had gone away from his wife and children, taking with him thecompensation given to him by his employers, a firm of builders atWillesden.

  "I expect the missy is keeping her eyes open, if the truth was known."

  "But no definite results," contended Mrs. Mills. "That's what Icomplain of. At her age I had three after me."

  "This was long before I came on the scene," explained Mr. Trew toGertie; "otherwise there would have been bloodshed. Is this meal _adlib._, or do I have to pay extra for another cup of tea?"

  "I don't want her to worry about it; I only want her to keep it inview. What I should like more than anything would be to see a youngman who was fond of her come in here, at a time like this, and take hispiece of bread and butter, fold it, enjoy it, and sing to usafterwards."

  "You're certain about that, aunt?"

  "Providing he had a decent voice." The shop bell rang. Mrs. Millshalf rose and recognized the customer. "We are now about to get allthe news of the neighbourhood," she said desolately.

  Gertie anticipated her, and, going in, served the lady with a copy of_Fireside Love Stories_. Returned with an imperative message.

  "I shall have to see her," admitted Mrs. Mills. "She won't be happyuntil she gets some piece of scandal off her mind."

  "Fair one," said Trew, with a wave of his hand, "every moment will seemlike a century until you return!"

  Gertie was fixing her newly-trimmed hat with the aid of the mirror, andMr. Trew was describing an accident witnessed the day before near HydePark corner, when sound of commotion came from the street; he seizedhis peaked cap and hurried through the shop. Gertie followed.Conversation between the two ladies had been interrupted by the samecause and they were outside the doorway, looking on at a small crowdthat acted as escort to an ambulance in charge of two policemen; theaim of every one appeared to be to snatch the privilege of securing aview of the man partly hidden by the brown hood of the conveyance.Mrs. Mills sent the customer across to obtain particulars, andremarking cheerfully to Mr. Trew and the girl, "You two off? Don't belate back, mind!" turned to the more interesting subject. Childrenwere running up from side streets, grateful for anything likely tobreak the serenity of the afternoon.

  "If he's damaged hisself," said Mr. Trew, as the ambulance stopped atthe hospital, "he's going to the right place to get repaired."

  "It's to be hoped he has friends."

  "Everybody's got the friends they deserve to have. Are we going thedirection to suit you, missy, or would you rather have gone EdgwareRoad way?"

  "Let's turn down London Street," she suggested. "It will be quietthere. I've something to tell you." She rolled her parasol carefully."And I want your help, Mr. Trew."

  Three youths near the underground station, with apparently no urgentoccupation, came forward hopefully on seeing Gertie; detecting the factthat she was in the company of a big, burly man, they had to pretend asudden interest in a shuttered window. The two, going into NorfolkSquare, walked on the narrow pavement near the railings of the garden.

  "Mr. Trew, I've got a young man!"

  "That's the best news," he exclaimed heartily, "I've heard this summer!"

  "And I want somehow to get him asked indoors. Once aunt sees him andhears him talk, it will be all right. But I'm nervous about it, and Idon't know how to manage."

  "This," he said, holding up a forefinger, "is just where old Harry Trewcomes in. This is exactly the sort of job he's fitted for. If hehadn't took up with another occupation he'd have found himself by thistime in the Foreign Office. Do you want it arranged for to-night?"

  "Please!"

  "Right you are! You're going to meet him, I take it, presently. Youasked me to come out with you simply as an excuse for that purpose.Very well, then. I've got a standing invite, as you very well know, todrop in at the nine o'clock meal any Sunday evening I like. Your auntexpects me." The forefinger became emphatic. "You simply arrange forhim to meet me, say, outside the Met. at ten minutes to the hower; Ishall be carrying a _Lloyd's_ in my right hand. I brings him along,"continued Mr. Trew exultantly; "I
introduces him as a young personalfriend of mine that I met on the steamer going to Clacton, year beforelast. Your aunt says at once that any friend of mine is a friend ofher'n. You and him pretend not to know each other, but you graduallybecome acquainted, and your aunt asks him, at the finish, to look inagain. Does that sound all right, or can you suggest a better plan?"

  "It's splendid," she cried.

  "I think," he continued, "I shall mention in the course of the eveningthat his father was the best friend I ever had in the world. When Iwas in a slight financial difficulty once, his father--your young man'sfather, I mean--came to my assistance. And him not well off neither.Turning-point of my life. But for that help I should, likely enough,have gone down, and down, and down." He looked at her for approval."What's wrong with that?"

  "He's a gentleman!"

  Mr. Trew gazed for a few moments at a baby in a perambulator.

  "I was born in 'fifty-five, the year of the Crimea War," he saiddeliberately, "and if my mother had had her way, I sh'd have beenchristened Sebastopol, which wouldn't have been any catch to a publicman like myself. If I'm spared till next year, I shall be celebratingmy jubilee, and all London will be illuminated, I expect, with militarytroops lining the streets. But what I want to tell you, missy, isthat, all that time, I've never seen any good resulting from a girl inyour position of life becoming friendly with any chap who wasconsiderably above her in regard to what we call social status. On theother hand, I've seen harm come from it."

  "There's going to be none in my case," she said quickly.

  "I know, I know! I'm perfectly sure of that. That is to say, I'mabsolutely certain that is your view now. I can't quite explain whatI mean to any one of your age and your sex. If I was a well-educatedman"--here he took off his cap and rubbed the top of his headwith the peak--"I could find words to wrop it up somehow. Thelong and the short of it is, you relinquish the idea. To obligeme"--persuasively--"and to gratify your aunt, who's been pretty good toyou since you were a child--"

  "I don't forget that."

  "--And for your own peace of mind in the future, give it all up, andyou wait a bit until you find some one belonging to your own set."

  "There isn't the distance between the sets there used to be," sheargued.

  He took hold of the railings with both hands, and tried to shake themin an effort of thought.

  "What's the young chap's name?"

  "I don't know."

  "There you are!"--with gloomy triumph--"don't that prove the truth ofeverything I've been saying?"

  "He doesn't know mine."

  "That isn't an argument."

  "Quite so," the girl agreed. "It's only a statement of fact. He willtell me his name directly I ask him, and I shall tell him my name themoment he asks me."

  "No occupation, I suppose?"

  "He works for his living."

  "Then," turning reproachfully upon her, "what did you mean by saying hewas a gentleman, and upsetting me to this extent?"

  "He is a gentleman," persisted Gertie. "I can tell the difference."

  Mr. Trew sighed, and took out his watch. Gertie glanced at it.

  "I must go," she said. "I promised to meet him not far from the shopat half-past."

  "I'd do anything to help you, missy," he declared, "because I like you.And it's just because I like you that I don't feel particular inclinedto assist him. He ought to keep to his own sphere. There's a lot oftalk about breaking down the barriers that divide one class fromanother, but, I tell you, it's a job that wants very careful handling.And I've got as much sense as most, and I rather enjoy interfering withother people's affairs, but this is an undertaking I don't care totackle. You'll excuse me for speaking my mind, won't you? It's ahabit I've got into."

  "It's a good habit," said Gertie. "I practise it myself."

  On the return, Mr. Trew, cap now at the back of his head, and hisrubicund face bearing indications of seriousness, pointed out that thegirl was in a berth in Great Titchfield Street, which he described asnot so dusty, earning twenty-five shillings a week, and with Saturdayafternoons and Sundays free; a good home, and everything ready for herwhen she returned, tired out, at night; first-class feeding, able todress well. Mr. Trew, without daring to say whether he was right orwhether he was wrong, begged to suggest there were many girls worsetreated by fortune; it did seem to him that these advantages ought notto be given up lightly.

  "There he is!" she cried excitedly. "Across there. Near thesecond-hand furniture shop."

  "Your aunt's calling you," he said.

  Mrs. Mills was out on the pavement, scooping at the air with her rightarm. Gertie instinctively obeyed the order; Mr. Trew kept pace withher. The three entered the shop, and Mrs. Mills, with a touch of herheel, closed the door, went inside the tobacco counter, and, across it,spoke rapidly and vehemently, with the aid of emphatic gesture, forfive minutes by the clock. Mr. Trew, disregarding rules of etiquette,sat down, whilst the two stood, and became greatly interested in themechanism of a cigar-cutter.

  "Who told you all this, aunt?" asked the girl calmly, when Mrs. Millshad finished.

  "The lady customer who was here when you went out. Do you deny it? Ofcourse, if it isn't correct that you've been seen walking about with ayoung swell, I've lost my temper for nothing."

  "Girls will be girls," interposed Mr. Trew.

  "Not in my house."

  "It's all perfectly correct," announced Gertie.

  Mrs. Mills looked around in a dazed way.

  "Trew," she cried, "what's to be done?"

  "You've had your say, old beauty," he remarked slowly. "Now let me andher go into the parlour and have some music--music of a different kind."

  The girl hesitated, and looked through the window. He touched hershoulder. "I sh'd take it as a special favour."

  He came out a few minutes later, and mentioned to Gertie's aunt that hehad a message to deliver. The music within ceased; the lid of thepianoforte closed.

  "Trew," she said.

  "Queen of my heart."

  "This isn't the only upset I've had. Who do you think it was in thatambulance cart this afternoon? I hopped across to have a look."Leaning over the counter, she whispered.

  "That complicates matters, so far as she is concerned," he admitted."I hoped he'd vanished for good. We shall want all the diplomacy thatwe've got stored away to deal with this."