The Reason Why | Page 3

entertaining
companion. But, 'pon my soul I would not like to have your niece for a
wife if she took after you!"
"You think she would be cold-blooded, too?"
"Undoubtedly; but it is all perfectly preposterous. I don't believe you
mean a word you are saying--it is some kind of a joke."
"Have you ever known me to make such jokes, Tancred?" Mr.
Markrute asked calmly.

"No, I haven't, and that is the odd part of it. What the devil do you
mean, really, Francis?"
"I mean what I say: I will pay every debt you have, and give you a
charming wife with a fortune."
Lord Tancred got up and walked about the room. He was a perfectly
natural creature, stolid and calm as those of his race, disciplined and
deliberate in moments of danger or difficulty; yet he never lived under
self-conscious control as the financier did. He was rather moved now,
and so he walked about. He was with a friend, and it was not the
moment to have to bother over disguising his feelings.
"Oh, it is nonsense, Francis; I could not do it. I have knocked about the
world as you know, and, since you are aware of everything about me,
you say, you have probably heard some of my likings--and dislikings. I
never go after a woman unless she attracts me, and I would never marry
one of them unless I were madly in love with her, whether she had
money or no; though I believe I would hate a wife with money, in any
case--she'd be saying like the American lady of poor Darrowood: 'It's
my motor and you can't have it to-day.'"
"You would marry a woman then--if you were in love, in spite of
everything?" Francis Markrute asked.
"Probably, but I have never been really in love; have you? It is all
story-book stuff--that almighty passion, I expect. They none of them
matter very much after a while, do they, old boy?"
"I have understood it is possible for a woman to matter," the financier
said and he drew in his lips.
"Well, up to now I have not," Lord Tancred announced, "and may the
day be far off when one does. I feel pretty safe!"
A strange, mysterious smile crept over Mr. Markrute's face.
"By the way, also, how do you know the lady would be willing to

marry me, Francis? You spoke as if I only had to be consulted in the
affair."
"So you have. I can answer for my niece; she will do as I wish, and, as I
said before, you are rather a perfect picture of an English nobleman,
Tancred. You have not found women recalcitrant, as a rule--no?"
Lord Tancred was not inordinately vain, though a man, and he had a
sense of humor--so he laughed.
"'Pon my word it is amusing, your turning into a sort of matrimonial
agent. Can't you see the fun of the thing yourself?"
"It seems quite natural to me. You have every social advantage to offer
a woman, and a presentable person; and my niece has youth, and some
looks, and a large fortune. But we will say no more about it. I shall be
glad to be of any service I can to you, anyway, in regard to your
Canadian scheme. Come and dine to-night; I happen to have asked a
couple of railway magnates with interests out there, and you can get
some information from them."
And so it was arranged, and Lord Tancred got up to go; but just at the
door he paused and said with a laugh:
"And shall I see the niece?"
The financier had his back turned, and so he permitted the flicker of a
smile to come over his mouth as he answered:
"It might be; but we have dismissed the subject of the niece."
And so they parted.
At the sound of the closing of the door Mr. Markrute pressed the button
of a wonderful trifle of Russian enamel and emeralds, which lay on his
writing table, and a quiet servant entered the room.
"Tell the Countess Shulski I wish to speak to her here immediately,
please," he said. "Ask her to descend at once."

But he had to walk up and down several times, and was growing
impatient, before the door opened and a woman came slowly into the
room.
CHAPTER II
The financier paused in his restless pacing as he heard the door open
and stood perfectly still, with his back to the light. The woman
advanced and also stood still, and they looked at one another with no
great love in their eyes, though she who had entered was well worth
looking at, from a number of points of view. Firstly, she had that
arresting, compelling personality which does