The Lady and the Lord | Page 5

I had to be awfully careful what I said to him; and I was so
busy puzzling out how to make use of him that I suppose I must have
seemed rather absent-minded, and after a bit he noticed it and asked me
if I wasn't feeling well. I had to say something, so I told him that I
found English surroundings a bit depressing at first.
"He was an awfully nice boy, and he said at once that he knew a way to
change all that. He offered to take me driving in his four-in-hand next
morning. He said that a drive round the countryside would make me
fall in love with the country, 'and all that kind of thing.' He said that he
wasn't much of a 'dabster' at quoting poetry, but the scenery was
'simply spiffing,' and that was about the most intelligible thing he did
say about it.
"He told me that he was down to see his lawyer on business connected
with his property in the neighborhood, and that he'd brought his horses
with him 'because that man Lewisohn's as slow as a hearse, and he's
sure to keep me hangin' about here for the best part of a month.'
"When I discovered that Mr. Lewisohn was his lawyer, too, I had to go
up to my room. I wanted to be alone, and laugh, and make a fool of
myself.
"Of course, it was a bit early yet to be jubilant, and I still didn't see how
I was going to manage. But I knew that a coincidence like that only

happens about once in a lifetime, and I knew I'd have brains enough to
make use of it when the right time came. But the difficulty was to wait
for the right time.
"I was in a desperate hurry, and beginning to get excited, and I knew
that if I was to play my cards properly I'd have to let off steam at once.
So I went up-stairs and kicked my pillow all round the room for about
ten minutes. After that I felt better and went to bed.
"Next morning I told Lord Tipperary what I was in England for--at
least, I told him as much as I thought necessary. He seemed to be
interested; and when I told him I'd been to Lewisohn, and that I was
afraid I wouldn't get the same amount of attention as an old client
would have done, he offered to take me round that very afternoon and
introduce me to Lewisohn in a proper manner.
"He said: 'Why, he's my lawyer! I'll take you round and tell him you're
a friend of mine. He'll look after you, all right. He's as slow as one of
his own horses, and he's stagey; but he's honest, and there isn't a better
lawyer in England. I borrow money off him when I get broke--that's to
say pretty often.'
"So we had lunch together at the hotel, and I took him a little more into
my confidence. I didn't tell him that I had only thirty shillings left,
though it was a fact; but I did say that I'd be tickled to death to get my
business settled up, because I needed the money very badly.
"When I said that he looked at me quite sharply, with his eyebrows
raised ever such a little, and I saw that I'd made a mistake. They're not
so easy as they look, those English! I suppose that rich English lords
have so many people trying to play them for suckers that they get
naturally suspicious, anyway. But just as I was thinking that I'd put my
foot in it, and had spoiled my only chance, I had an inspiration that was
absolutely divine.
"I asked him if he ever gambled; and he said at once that he did. He
said he was always gambling, and nearly always losing--backing horses,
for the most part--but that he would gamble on almost anything; and he

asked me if I knew of anything to gamble on.
"Then I knew that I'd won--all but the shouting. The rest was easy.
"I said that I hadn't ever gambled, which was perfectly true; but I said I
was going to begin. He nodded, and said he would stand in with me,
because 'beginners' luck always was a good thing to bet on.' He said he
didn't care 'a continental ' what it was that I was going to bet about, he
was going to 'back me to win.'
"So I told him that that was my reason for being in such a hurry to get
some money; I wanted to get the money on before the good thing, was
a thing of the past. But I wouldn't tell him what the