The Top of the World | Page 7

Ingleton with his face bent over the morning
paper.
"Then why isn't he?" demanded Mrs. Ingleton with asperity. "He is a
rich country gentleman, and he has a position in the County. What
more could you possibly want for her?"
Reluctantly the squire made answer. "Oh, I'm willing enough. He's
quite a decent chap so far as I know. I dare say he'd make her quite a
good husband if she'd have him. But she won't. So there's an end of
that."
"Ridiculous!" exclaimed Mrs. Ingleton. "And, pray, why won't she?"
"Why? Oh, because there's another fellow, of course. There always is,"

growled Ingleton. "Girls never fall in love with the right man. Haven't
you found that out yet?"
"I have found out," said Mrs. Ingleton tartly, "that Sylvia is a most
wilful and perverse girl, and I think you are very unwise to put up with
her whims. I should be ashamed to have a girl of that age still on my
hands."
"I'd like to know how you'd have managed her any differently,"
muttered the squire, without looking up.
Mrs. Ingleton laughed unpleasantly. "You don't know much about
women, do you, my dear? Of course I could have managed her
differently. She'd have been comfortably married for the past two years
at least if I had been in command."
Ingleton looked sourly incredulous. "You don't know Sylvia," he
observed. "She has a will like cast-iron. You'd never move her."
Mrs. Ingleton tossed her head. "Never? Well, look here! If you want the
girl to marry that really charming Mr. Preston, I'll undertake that she
shall--and that within a year. How is that?"
Ingleton stared a little, then slowly shook his head. "You'll never do it,
my dear Caroline."
"I will do it if it is your wish," said Mrs. Ingleton firmly.
He looked at her with a touch of uneasiness. "I don't want the child
coerced."
She laughed again. "What an idea! Are children ever coerced in these
days? It's usually the parents who have to put up with that sort of
treatment. Now tell me about the other man. What and where is he?"
Ingleton told her with surly reluctance. "Oh, he was a handsome young
beggar she met five years ago--the son of my then bailiff, as a matter of
fact. The boy had had a fairly decent education; he was a gentleman,

but he wasn't good enough for my Sylvia, had no prospects of any sort.
And so I put my foot down."
Mrs. Ingleton smiled with her thin, hard lips, but no gleam of humour
reached her eyes. "With the result, I suppose, that she has been carrying
on with him ever since."
Ingleton stirred uneasily in his chair. "Well, she hasn't given him up.
They correspond, I believe. But he is far enough away at present. He is
in South Africa. She'll never marry him with my approval. I'm pretty
certain now that the fellow is a rotter."
"She probably deems herself very heroic for sticking to him in spite of
opposition," observed Mrs. Ingleton.
"Very likely," he conceded. "But I think she genuinely cares for him.
That's just the mischief of it. And, unfortunately, in another couple of
years she'll be in a position to please herself. She inherits a little money
from her mother then."
Mrs. Ingleton's smile became more pronounced, revealing her strong
white teeth behind. "You need not look forward so far as that, my
love," she said. "Leave Sylvia entirely to me! I will undertake, as I said,
to have her married to Mr. Preston well within a year. So you may set
your mind at rest on that point."
"He is certainly fond of her," said the squire. "And they both have
sporting tastes. He ought to have a very good chance with her if only
the other fellow could be wiped out."
"Then leave her to me!" said Mrs. Ingleton, rising. "And mind,
dear"--she paused behind her husband's chair and placed large white
hands upon his shoulders--"whatever I do, you are not to interfere. Is
that a bargain?"
Ingleton moved again uncomfortably. "You won't be unkind to the
child?" he said.

"My dear Gilbert, don't you realize that the young lady is more than
capable of holding her own against me or anyone else?" protested Mrs.
Ingleton.
"And yet you say you can manage her?" he said.
"Well, so I can, if you will only trust to my discretion. What she needs
is a little judicious treatment, and that is what I intend to give her.
Come, that is understood, isn't it? It is perfectly outrageous that she
should have ridden roughshod over you so long. A chit like that! And
think how pleasant it will be for everyone when she is settled and
provided for. Dear me! I