In the Cage (London: Martin Secker, 1919)/Chapter XXV

&ldquo;I think you must have heard me speak of Mr. Drake?&rdquo; Mrs. Jordan had never looked so queer, nor her smile so suggestive of a large benevolent bite.

&ldquo;Mr. Drake? Oh yes; isn&rsquo;t he a friend of Lord Rye?&rdquo;

&ldquo;A great and trusted friend. Almost&mdash;I may say&mdash;a loved friend.&rdquo;

Mrs. Jordan&rsquo;s &ldquo;almost&rdquo; had such an oddity that her companion was moved, rather flippantly perhaps, to take it up. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t people as good as love their friends when they I trust them?&rdquo;

It pulled up a little the eulogist of Mr. Drake. &ldquo;Well, my dear, I love you&mdash;&rdquo;

&ldquo;But you don&rsquo;t trust me?&rdquo; the girl unmercifully asked.

Again Mrs. Jordan paused&mdash;still she looked queer. &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; she replied with a certain austerity; &ldquo;that&rsquo;s exactly what I&rsquo;m about to give you rather a remarkable proof of.&rdquo; The sense of its being remarkable was already so strong that, while she bridled a little, this held her auditor in a momentary muteness of submission. &ldquo;Mr. Drake has rendered his lordship for several years services that his lordship has highly appreciated and that make it all the more&mdash;a&mdash;unexpected that they should, perhaps a little suddenly, separate.&rdquo;

&ldquo;Separate?&rdquo; Our young lady was mystified, but she tried to be interested; and she already saw that she had put the saddle on the wrong horse. She had heard something of Mr. Drake, who was a member of his lordship&rsquo;s circle&mdash;the member with whom, apparently, Mrs. Jordan&rsquo;s avocations had most happened to throw her. She was only a little puzzled at the &ldquo;separation.&rdquo; &ldquo;Well, at any rate,&rdquo; she smiled, &ldquo;if they separate as friends&mdash;!&rdquo;

&ldquo;Oh his lordship takes the greatest interest in Mr. Drake&rsquo;s future. He&rsquo;ll do anything for him; he has in fact just done a great deal. There must, you know, be changes&mdash;!&rdquo;

&ldquo;No one knows it better than I,&rdquo; the girl said. She wished to draw her interlocutress out. &ldquo;There will be changes enough for me.&rdquo;

&ldquo;You&rsquo;re leaving Cocker&rsquo;s?&rdquo;

The ornament of that establishment waited a moment to answer, and then it was indirect. &ldquo;Tell me what you&rsquo;re doing.&rdquo;

&ldquo;Well, what will you think of it?&rdquo;

&ldquo;Why that you&rsquo;ve found the opening you were always so sure of.&rdquo;

Mrs. Jordan, on this, appeared to muse with embarrassed intensity. &ldquo;I was always sure, yes&mdash;and yet I often wasn&rsquo;t!&rdquo;

&ldquo;Well, I hope you&rsquo;re sure now. Sure, I mean, of Mr. Drake.&rdquo;

&ldquo;Yes, my dear, I think I may say I am. I kept him going till I was.&rdquo;

&ldquo;Then he&rsquo;s yours?&rdquo;

&ldquo;My very own.&rdquo;

&ldquo;How nice! And awfully rich?&rdquo; our young woman went on.

Mrs. Jordan showed promptly enough that she loved for higher things. &ldquo;Awfully handsome&mdash;six foot two. And he has put by.&rdquo;

&ldquo;Quite like Mr. Mudge, then!&rdquo; that gentleman&rsquo;s friend rather desperately exclaimed.

&ldquo;Oh not quite!&rdquo; Mr. Drake&rsquo;s was ambiguous about it, but the name of Mr. Mudge had evidently given her some sort of stimulus. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll have more opportunity now, at any rate. He&rsquo;s going to Lady Bradeen.&rdquo;

&ldquo;To Lady Bradeen?&rdquo; This was bewilderment. &ldquo;&lsquo;Going&mdash;&rsquo;?&rdquo;

The girl had seen, from the way Mrs. Jordan looked at her, that the effect of the name had been to make her let something out. &ldquo;Do you know her?&rdquo;

She floundered, but she found her feet. &ldquo;Well, you&rsquo;ll remember I&rsquo;ve often told you that if you&rsquo;ve grand clients I have them too.&rdquo;

&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said Mrs. Jordan; &ldquo;but the great difference is that you hate yours, whereas I really love mine. Do you know Lady Bradeen?&rdquo; she pursued.

&ldquo;Down to the ground! She&rsquo;s always in and out.&rdquo;

Mrs. Jordan&rsquo;s foolish eyes confessed, in fixing themselves on this sketch, to a degree of wonder and even of envy. But she bore up and, with a certain gaiety, &ldquo;Do you hate her?&rdquo; she demanded.

Her visitor&rsquo;s reply was prompt. &ldquo;Dear no!&mdash;not nearly so much as some of them. She&rsquo;s too outrageously beautiful.&rdquo;

Mrs. Jordan continued to gaze. &ldquo;Outrageously?&rdquo;

&ldquo;Well, yes; deliciously.&rdquo; What was really delicious was Mrs. Jordan&rsquo;s vagueness. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t know her&mdash;you&rsquo;ve not seen her?&rdquo; her guest lightly continued.

&ldquo;No, but I&rsquo;ve heard a great deal about her.&rdquo;

&ldquo;So have I!&rdquo; our young lady exclaimed.

Jordan looked an instant as if she suspected her good faith, or at least her seriousness. &ldquo;You know some friend&mdash;?&rdquo;

&ldquo;Of Lady Bradeen&rsquo;s? Oh yes&mdash;I know one.&rdquo;

&ldquo;Only one?&rdquo;

The girl laughed out. &ldquo;Only one&mdash;but he&rsquo;s so intimate.&rdquo;

Mrs. Jordan just hesitated. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a gentleman?&rdquo;

&ldquo;Yes, he&rsquo;s not a lady.&rdquo;

Her interlocutress appeared to muse. &ldquo;She&rsquo;s immensely surrounded.&rdquo;

&ldquo;She will be&mdash;with Mr. Drake!&rdquo;

Mrs. Jordan&rsquo;s gaze became strangely fixed. &ldquo;Is she very good-looking?&rdquo;

&ldquo;The handsomest person I know.&rdquo;

Mrs. Jordan continued to brood. &ldquo;Well, I know some beauties.&rdquo; Then with her odd jerkiness: &ldquo;Do you think she looks good?&rdquo;

&ldquo;Because that&rsquo;s not always the case with the good-looking?&rdquo;&mdash;the other took it up. &ldquo;No, indeed, it isn&rsquo;t: that&rsquo;s one thing Cocker&rsquo;s has taught me. Still, there are some people who have everything. Lady Bradeen, at any rate, has enough: eyes and a nose and a mouth, a complexion, a figure&mdash;&rdquo;

&ldquo;A figure?&rdquo; Mrs. Jordan almost broke in.

&ldquo;A figure, a head of hair!&rdquo; The girl made a little conscious motion that seemed to let the hair all down, and her companion watched the wonderful show. &ldquo;But Mr. Drake is another&mdash;?&rdquo;

&ldquo;Another?&rdquo;&mdash;Mrs. Jordan&rsquo;s thoughts had to come back from a distance.

&ldquo;Of her ladyship&rsquo;s admirers. He&rsquo;s &lsquo;going,&rsquo; you say, to her?&rdquo;

At this Mrs. Jordan really faltered. &ldquo;She has engaged him.&rdquo;

&ldquo;Engaged him?&rdquo;&mdash;our young woman was quite at sea.

&ldquo;In the same capacity as Lord Rye.&rdquo;

&ldquo;And was Lord Rye engaged?&rdquo;