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Show The Mask And The Man I eBBSTER," said the duke, "you've been In my employ for years nnd yet I practically know nothlns of you." "Your grace, m" testimonials " "Were excellent. I do not refer to that. Not my man but the man if you follow me, Webster, the man under the very admirable mask you present to me You have your trials, your I difficulties, your ambitions, your oth-V oth-V er emotions. At least I have ben 'T credibly informed that that is the rase'" He permitted a little earnest in qnir to deepen his tone. "'"ertalnly, your grace," Webster was too well drilled a servant to permit per-mit anything to vary the monotonv of his voice. "And I know nothing of it For years we have lived side by side and really, it Is not straining a point to say that we are quite stranger.". Thai is so Webster?" "It is, your grace." "And it is not right I want to know more of the life that goon on er below the hall floor, Webster." Hi3 grace's man was so excellent a servant that not one feature betrayed astonishment. "A musical evening in the servant's hall, your grace a lecture, lec-ture, classes on the higher life?" he murmured. "No. no Superficial, Webster, misleading mis-leading and superficial. That tie was not quite not quite, Webster. Hardly Hard-ly worthy of you. I noticed it at dinner. din-ner. I am an hereditary legislator, Webster. I am coneious despite the radical press of my duty, i ought at leapt know something of the lives of those dependent upon me. I Intend to appl for a situation as valet de ehambre " "Yes, your grace." . "You are not surprised. Webster1"1 "I 9hould not be ko forgetful of ray place as to be surprised, your grace " "Quite so, quite so 1 fear I shall not be able to attain your perfected Impassivity. Webster. Possibly I am not sure possibly you would not make so good a duke as I. But I do not see the necess'tv for your making mak-ing that experiment." "When doeB your grace wish to ' commence looking for a situation?" j "As soon as possible, Webster There are a few lessons yet. You J will give me thos,e. Bj the way, I i need hardly entreat your patience, Webster I have had ample proof that you possess that plebian virtue in abundance. I shall probably bc a dull pupil generations of aristocratic ease regrettably rob one of 'sharp-nests.' 'sharp-nests.' I dislike the word. Naturally. I I do not expect to commence at tne point you have achieved Indeed, there Is a reason beyond incapacity and incompleteness, i dread recognition. recogni-tion. But the middle class, I am told, do not restrict themselves to copying the vices which popular preachers declare de-clare to be ours If they only knew how very decoous and dull we are! but reproduce as far as they are able j the composition of our households " I "Quite true, your grace. This bar-i bar-i 1- water baa a little more lemon than 1 last night." "Thank you. I shall seek a sitna-! sitna-! tion in a middle-clas9 family pro-! pro-! vineial, if possible. Have you ever ; been in a middle-class household?" "Yes. your grace. It was a long i time ago." ! "How hurting that must have been I to you, Webster And I never knew. 1 You see, I was quite right when I said that I knew nothing of your trials, j Hov. do I go about it, Webster?" "You advertise, your grace " "Really are you quite sure? I thought recommendations I watted a I year for you, hearing from llminster that be could not last longer without meeting his creditors." I "The middle-class trust their own perceptions they do not trust recom- mendations of their friends " Won-i Won-i ster wheeled a little tablp seriouslv to the bedside and placed on It the barlev water. "Dear me, Webster. What quaint ! people " The duke of Luff carefully climbed Into bed. "I really believe j I am looking forward to my experl-t experl-t ment." In two weeks the duke of Luff an-, an-, nounced to Webster that he felt hlm- self to be quite proficient in the duties of a. valet, and Webster was too well j drilled to express a contrary opinion. A handsome testimonial from the duke of Luff immediately procured 'Mr Richards ' a berth In the family of Sir Qeorse Gubbins, a cloth manu-I manu-I fac hirer, recently knighted for n j particular reason The duke of Luff departed for America incognito about ' the time that Mr. Richards entered J the service of Sir George. Sir George, a widower with one daughter, was exceedingly frank with Richards on his arrival He had him sent for from the librarv "You re the new valet," he said. "I don't want you; but you've got to stay. My daughter says it's the thing. She probably knows. Now, I won't have you messing about after me. You ; understand0 I'm a busy man Im mostly in town worklnc When I'm down here in the evenings I like quiet. I can shave myself And put i myself to bed Been used to it all my life I don't mean shaving You had a good character from l lie dock ! That fetched Ernestine. She's read a lot about dooks." There s always o lot o read about them in the halfpenny papers,' said Richards, and added 'Sir" was an afterthought "I don't exactly mean that Society novels, I belie1, e. But that's nothing to do with what I want to impress upon you. 1 won't have you messing about after roe." "But what am I to do?" demanded Richards "I think you should consider con-sider my position. It's a reflection upon my professional capacity, sir." "I don't care a d for your professional pro-fessional capacity. Do? Join the other men servants They have quite a nice time. I believe cards, the illustrated il-lustrated papers, chess, dominoec. You don't quite catch on, Richards My daughter aays I must keep up a position. She has modelled our estah-llshmenl estah-llshmenl on ducal lines. You can read about em in the monthly magazines. I think myself we're over-staffed Er- nestine says no. But I And the serv-ants serv-ants get In my way a great deal Now ahe insists upon yon. You will re- 1 j celve your wages t!ie first of every ; month Otherwise I don't want to see you And If I over find you in j my dressing room fooling about witn I my things I'll break vour neck'" "But can't 1 tie your ties, sir?" l asked Richards plaintively. "No. I wear made-up ties." ' Or brush your clothes?" "Good lord, no! My office boy does that. You can tie the butler's tie, if you want exercise He's not a success suc-cess at it " I "Sir, I am vour valet de ehambre, risen above a member of the 'ouse ' ' A conservative membrr, Mr. Bluks" asked Richards. "I don't mean that 'ouse, Mr Richards. Rich-ards. The stock exchange. 'B was one of the committee. Our old man is only trade. We all 'avc our come downs. Me and yon have declined and f'H I suppose the dook of Luff, now the old story, eh debt and the drainer?" 'No. no, I assure you!" cried Richards, Rich-ards, scandalized. ' H actresses are undermining our British constitution, Mr. Richards. It used to be the turf Times change. 'Ussles, not 'orses, now. Well, well " "Indeed, ou are under a misapprehension. misap-prehension. The duke of Luff is quite sound financially and morally " Richards Rich-ards was quite indignant. "He is engaged en-gaged to the Lady Agatha Knewlock." MISS GUBBINS. I not the butler's " Richards was hurt ' A little indignant, a little sorrowful. "The duke of Luff" "See her Richards I am not a dook I don't want to be a dook, and if you ever quote a dook to mo again I shall probably murder you! Now go. I'm busy " it was in this way that Richards J entered upon his duties, nnd at the same timt; a very laudable experiment in sociology. Mr Richards was received in the I servants' hall with flattering- atton- tion. Tiie testimonial or the duke of Luff placed him upon a pedestal "I've been no 'Igher than a city I barrow-nits myself." confessed the j butler, "and Mrs Heavans, the ouse- keeper she keeps a pleasant salong i in 'er room. Mr. Richards, where I you'll be mude quite at 'omc a9n"t "And goes off to Ameriky unknown and incognitty. I wonder "oo the gin is? There, there, Mr. Richards. I respect re-spect your loyalty, although between friepds you might Well, later, perhaps per-haps when we know each other belter." bel-ter." Sir George happened to meet his new valet by accident a fortnight after his arrival. Richards was smoking a cigarette In B furtive fashion near the stables. Beside him was the stable-yard stable-yard dog a ferocious bull terrier, generally chained up during the day, and the terror of all the female servants serv-ants Bingo growled at his master, but Richards pacifli d him. Making a pet cu that beast, Richards?" Rich-ards?" "He's an affectionate animal when you know him, sir I made friends with him after only two biles." "Ah! Well. I look upon him only! as a protection," said Sir George. "I am regarding him in a very slm- j liar light, sir," answered Richards, 1 sadly. "You look unhappy, Richards 1 hope the other servants treat you kindly?" "Yes, sir too kindly," the valet answered, mournfully. "What the duce do you mean by that?" "Nothing in particular, sir. Do I give you satisfaction, sir?" "Entire satisfaction, Richards. I j haven't seen you for a fortnight " "I feel it is my duty to point ouf to you. sir, that I am quite a useless member of your household." "That is exactly what I wish you to be." "But I am designated your valet de ehambre," expostulated Richards. "That is exactly what my daughter wishes you to be." was Sir George's: answer, "You do not wish to give me notice'' no-tice'' ' Rlchard6 inquired plaintively. "No, no. I see what it Is You have been afraid that, being useless. I should get rid of you. Not at all, not at all my man Verv few of the others do anything It Is merely a question of keeping up an establishment. establish-ment. Don't fret. You're doing admirably." ad-mirably." "Thank you, sir," Richard replied meekly, and went back to the com- panionship of Bingo. I From time to time Miss Gubbins Sir George's dauchter Ernestine I used to meet Richards, and one day she engaged him in conversation. She was of an inquiring nature Her inquiries in-quiries were mostly concerned with the ordering of the duke of Luff's household. "My father is a most successful man, Richards," she said. "It Is so I difficult to keep pace with his success. There is a fitness in all things. To have the income of an average duke and to live In the manner of a Brixton Brix-ton householder does not accord with my idea of this fitness But I am quite at sea as to ducal establish-mentv establish-mentv The articles in the magazines are, after all, very little to go upon, and Ouida is, I fear, hopelessly out of date." "I base encountered few dukes such as she painted, miss," Richards agreed. "Exactly. Now I must ask you to give me lessons They need not interfere in-terfere with your duties to my father " "They will not Sir George is so much occupied, miss." ) "I walk in the rose garden every ; morning You will not, of course, ' bring Bingo." Richards sighed. I "Shall we 6ay from 10 to 11?" "I am at your ordT-, miss," Rich-i Rich-i ards replied regretfully. Miss Gubblna did not restrict her ; Inquiries to the ordering of a household. house-hold. The conversations gradually grew more personal in tone. She was surprised ;md pleas'-d to find that the new valet was well read and that his vn vv.s on art, life and Bernard Shaw were of the most elevated nature. On the first wages day Richards lingered in Sir George's library' "I am willing to do without notice, sir," he said. "I have nothing to do.k "My daughter won't hear of It. Richards," he answered. "And you don't Interefere with me. I daresay time hangs a bit heavy on your band but every life haa its drawbacks. I'll raise your wages if you ltke." "It is not that, sir. I'm greatly overpaid now. I doubt whether any member of the foreign office does less for his salary than I do." "Come now, Richards, it's not as bad , as that You are giving Ernestine lessons " He spoke kindly and encouragingly. en-couragingly. "That does not rightly come within my duties. I havo professional scruples." scru-ples." He spoke with the air of a man who had Bcrewed himself up to the point of speaking. It waB difficult to one who responded to kindness so readily as he did. "I was afraid but don't you think you could stretch a point, Richards'' After all, I am not a bad master." "You are not. indeed, sir," Richards v as touched at Sir George's manly appeal "I will do my best, sir." "Thank'ee, Richards, 1 said Sir George heartily. Richards went out from the library very sorrowful. He caught Bight of the tail of a black skirt disappearing down the back stairs. That -would be Miss Mertens, Ernestines maid. She had been paid just before him He stole down the front stairs very softly it was not the first time that he had done violence to professional etiquette and sought the solace of Bingo's companionship Two days afterwards, again stealing steal-ing down the main staircase the head housemaid had been busy on the back stairs for thirty-five minutes Richards was on the point of passing Miss Gubbln's boudoir when the door opened It had been on the latch. Ernestine herself looked out. "I thought that was you, Richards," she said She smiled at him as though to disabuse him of any idea he might have that she was rebuking htm, "Will you please come in." "I know I am wrong in coming down this stairway , miss." he said, as humbly as he could there was a glimmer of hope In his eyes. "I'll go without a month, miss. I I am ashamed of myself." "Go? 0, no. Richards. Please come in" He entered shyly, leaving the door open. She brushed against it accidently, so that it shut "This is not the first time 3'ou have used this staircase?" "No, miss: not by a long way," he said, almost eagerly. "You are quite justified in dismissing me at once " "There is no thoueht of dismissal. Richards." She smiled again. "I m afraid you are not hap'py " She spoke bravely, yet with an odd, shy constraint. con-straint. "Not very, miss," he agreed. "I have seen you spend hours in silent communion with yourself." "I have had Bingo." "Ah, yes. Even that fierce beast j likeB you." j She mused a while. Richard! looked startled. j "You have a peculiar fascination. Mertens tells me that all the female servants are hopelessly In love with j you. Sho is but a shadow of herself, and her marcelle wave lacks its old Inspiration." She touched her hair thoughtfully. "I assure you, miss, I have given no one cause I have been very careful" care-ful" His protestations were fervid. "I know. Have T not cause to know?" She smiled again at him a soft, shy smile. "I have frequently noticed that yotl i lingered outside this door." Richards started The accusation was just A corridor ran from that ! landing to the back Btairs. "It would be false modesty to pretend pre-tend that I did not know the reason." j She paused. In a lower tone, she j continued, "have you another name, ' Richards?" "I beg your pardon, miss?" he cried, ! aghast. "A Christian name?" she said "0!" There was visible relief in his voice "Timothy, mies." It was the first name that occurred to him, ' Afterwards he often "wondered why. "Timothy you need not be unhappy" unhap-py" "But, miss " he stammered. "My name is Ernestine." i "Consider my lowly position ! H he said hoarsely. "You have the manners and breeding breed-ing of a duke." she answered That may be so," he said uncon-sclouslv. uncon-sclouslv. "But I refuse to be other wise than unhappy " i "Don't, Timothy. I know your i honorable motives. But I hava weighed everything carefully. I have met none like you either in the society so-ciety of Clapham or the circles of Bayswater." "But I er am engaged, miss." - "I was prepared for that. To some- I one pardon me for putting It so j crudely !n your own station of life " "Certainly in my own station of life." "Then she can be no mate for you " "Just now you called me honorable, miss, which, miss. Is very gratifying. My honor Is engaged as well as I." "That Is not honor, Timothy, that ' is folly. Think it over, and you will see that I am right I will expect you tomorrow " That night the duke of Luff returned re-turned unexpectedly from his trip to America. Webster officiated In his grace's bedroom with the solemnity of a bishop. "Did your grace's experiment turn out to your grace's satisfaction?" he permitted himself to inquire at last. "Don't mention it, Webster!" the duke groaned. "They were all too kind. I felt in honor bound to stay, unless- thoy dismissed me, and they wouldn't. My poor Webster. I shall always have profound sympathy for you. " His grace the duke of Luff slept soundly that night. |
