_ CHAPTER IV
Faith was married at nine o'clock the following morning. It was raining hard, and as she stood beside the Beggar Man in the dreary registry office she watched the raindrops chasing one another down the window.
The old dream feeling was upon her again, and she could not believe that all this was really happening. The monotonous voice of the man who was marrying them sounded a long way off. The Beggar Man's hand in hers was the only real thing in life, and she clung to it with the desperate feeling that without it she would collapse and fall off the edge of the world.
She wore the same shabby costume in which she had gone each day to the factory, and she had a queer sort of feeling that this was not a bit as she had always imagined a wedding to be. There was no satin frock, no coloured confetti, no wonderful music.
What would Peg think? In her heart Faith was a little afraid of what her friend would think. The clasp of the Beggar Man's hand suddenly relaxed about her own, and she looked up with scared eyes. He was smiling.
"It's all over," he said. "We're married. You've just got to sign your name."
Faith said "Oh!" She blinked her eyes as if she had been asleep.
She had always thought that directly you were married, you felt quite different, but no wonderful metamorphosis had come about so far. She felt just herself, save for a dull sort of nervous headache.
She signed her name on the line pointed out to her and stood aimlessly holding the pen. The man who had married them was filling in a form and the Beggar Man was watching him.
Faith glanced down at her left hand. A brand new gold ring shone on her third finger. She spread her hand out and stared at it.
The registrar folded up his papers and shook hands with the Beggar Man. Then he shook hands with Faith and wished her luck.
Faith said "Thank you." She thought he was very kind. She liked the way he smiled.
Then the Beggar Man spoke to her.
"Well--are you ready?"
Faith started. She had been dreaming again.
"Quite ready," she said, and followed him outside to where a taxi was waiting. Presently they were driving away together.
The Beggar Man sat beside her. After a moment he began to speak rapidly.
"We're going to have some lunch at my flat. I've got a flat in the West End. I shall give it up now we're married, of course, but I thought it would do for the present--just till I come back and we can look round."
"Isn't it rather early for lunch?" Faith asked, helplessly.
"Is it? Well, we can have a glass of wine and some sandwiches. I've got such a little time. My train goes at twelve...." He looked down at her with sudden fire in his eyes. "I wish I had not got to go!" he said, vehemently.
"Do you?" said Faith nervously. She shrank a little from him. "You said you would soon be back," she added.
"I know--but on one's wedding day...." He broke off abruptly as the cab stopped. "Here we are."
He held his hand to her, but she avoided it. Fear was upon her once again.
The flat was on the first floor, and the Beggar Man opened the door with his latch-key.
"I bought some flowers and things," he said helplessly. "But it doesn't look very grand. What is it?"
Faith had given a little cry.
"Oh, but it's lovely! lovely!" She had forgotten her shyness. She was running round the room like a delighted child looking at the pictures and ornaments with which it was filled.
He made her drink a glass of wine and eat some cake, but all the time her eyes were wandering round the room, lost in admiration.
He watched her with a chagrined smile. Surely this was the oddest of wedding days, he thought. A shabby little bride, who had no eyes for her groom, but who sat and stared with rapt attention at such things as chairs and pictures and ornaments.
And the time was flying--flying. He looked impatiently at the clock, and then at the girl who was now his wife. And suddenly it was he who felt shy and tongue-tied.
She met his eyes and flushed, without knowing why, and the Beggar Man rose to his feet and went round the table to where she sat.
"You're my wife now, you know," he said.
"Yes." She drew back a little, her eyes dilating, and he broke out again abruptly: "I wish I'd arranged to take you with me. I was a fool. It could have been managed. Will you come if even now I can take you?"
She gave a little cry of alarm.
"Oh, no, I couldn't. There's mother...."
He turned away with a little harsh laugh.
"I see. Your mother and the twins," he said dryly. "They all come before me, who am only your husband."
She looked at him with puzzled eyes, and, vaguely realizing that in some way he was hurt, she said apologetically:
"But I've known you such a little time."
He echoed her words ironically.
"Yes! You've known me such a little time." Then he laughed, more naturally, and shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, you're my wife anyway. Nothing can alter that. And when I come back...." he paused.
"Yes," Faith echoed, "when you come back...."
"Then," he said again slowly, "I'll teach you to think more of me than you do either of your mother--or the twins!"
There was the faintest note of fun in his voice though his eyes were grave, and Faith smiled, relieved.
"I love mother best in the whole world," she said seriously.
The Beggar Man nodded.
"Some day you will love me best," he said. He took both her hands, drawing her to her feet. "So, it's good-bye for a little. It's all been such a rush; but I've done the best I can. My lawyers know all about our marriage, and if anything should happen to me you'll be all right. Shawyer will look after you if you want any help. Here's his address." He put an envelope into her hand. "There's some more money, too--enough to keep you going till I'm back."
Faith took the envelope, which felt extravagantly bulky.
"I haven't spent what you gave me yesterday," she reminded him.
"But you soon will," he answered. "Once you start shopping."
There was a little silence, and they looked at one another shyly. Then the Beggar Man said, with an effort:
"Well, it's time I was going. I sent my baggage on last night. What are you going to do?"
"I'm going home."
"I should like you to have stayed here, but ... perhaps it's best for you to go home." He put his hands on her shoulders and drew her gently towards him.
"Good-bye, my little wife."
Faith laid her hand on his chest, as if to hold him away; then suddenly she melted:
"Oh, I hope you'll soon, soon come back," she said, as a child might have done, and she raised her face for his kiss.
They said good-bye in the street with a handshake, just like ordinary friends, and Faith stood looking after the cab that carried him away.
He had gone out of her life as quickly and strangely as he had entered it.
She looked down at her hand, with its new ring, and a shy sort of pride thrilled her. She was his wife! She was a married woman! The tears that had welled to her eyes dried by magic as she walked on, her head held high with childish dignity. She longed for someone in whom to confide, and a sudden thought came to her. It was Saturday, and the girls left Heeler's at twelve. It was still quite early. She would go along and meet Peg.
With confidence born of her new position, she hailed a taxi, trembling at her own audacity as she did so, and told the man where to drive.
This was the beginning of her new and wonderful life. She hardly gave a thought to the Beggar Man. Her mind wandered off to the spending of the money he had given her, to the gifts she would buy for her mother and the twins. The stopping of the cab roused her with a start. She scrambled out, and to her horror discovered that he had taken her right to the door of Heeler's, and that it was twelve o'clock, and the girls were already pouring out from work.
She was crimson with confusion as she paid her fare. She wished the earth would open and swallow her up. Several of the girls came up to stare and speak to her.
"My word! Faith Ledley's going the pace! Someone left you a fortune, Faith? Where have you been? Old Dell was mad when you didn't turn up this morning."
Faith stammered her reply. "I'm not coming back any more. I've left. I want to see Peg. Where's Peg? Oh, there she is!"
She broke through the little group and ran after her friend, calling to her breathlessly.
Peg turned reluctantly. There was a grim sort of look on her handsome face.
"Well, where have you been?" she demanded.
Faith slipped a hand through her arm.
"I've got so much to tell you," she said. "It seems so long since we met. Are you better?"
"Well enough," was the uncompromising reply, and Peg jerked Faith's arm from her. "What have you been doing?" she asked again.
Faith smiled and blushed rosily.
"I've been getting married," she said with sudden boldness.
"Married? A kid like you!" Peg stared. "Well," she said then bluntly, "I only hope he's some decent chap and not like the rotten sort you were having tea with the other day when I saw you."
The colour died from Faith's cheeks, her heartbeats slowed down sickeningly.
"What--what do you mean?" she faltered.
"I mean what I say," said Peg firmly. "I thought better of you, that I did--having tea with him! Where did you pick him up I should like to know?"
Faith tried to answer, but no words would come.
"I suppose you thought I shouldn't recognize him," Peg went on wrathfully, "but I knew him right enough, the mean, selfish brute.... I----"
Faith caught her arm in shaking fingers.
"Peg, do you know who you're talking about?" she gasped. Peg laughed.
"Do I? I should rather say I do! Once seen never forgotten, my dear! I'm talking about the man you were having tea with the other day--Scammel, the brute we're all slaving for to make him rich."
For a moment Faith stared at her friend, then she laughed.
"Well, you're wrong, quite wrong," she said, with a little sigh of relief. "His name isn't Scammel at all--his name is Nicholas Forrester, and so...."
Peg shrugged her shoulders.
"So it may be, for all I know, but he's Scammel, and he owns Heeler's. Ask him, if you don't believe me. He's the man who brought that crowd of women round the factory I told you about--stuck-up crew! He's the man who cut down our overtime money. Ask any of the girls. Ask old Dell, if you don't believe me. He may call himself Forrester, or Jones, or any other old name, for all I care, but he's Scammel right enough, and he's as mean as he is rich," she added violently.
"I don't believe it," said Faith. She was surprised at her own boldness. As a rule, she never dared to contradict Peg, but her heart sprang to the defence of this man whom she had so recently married. He was good and generous. She had had ample proof of it.
Peg began to walk on quickly. There was a sullen look in her handsome eyes. Faith had almost to run to keep pace with her.
"Don't walk so fast," she broke out at last breathlessly. "What's the hurry when I haven't seen you for so long?"
"I've been ill," was the uncompromising reply.
"I know, and I'm ever so sorry. I came up here particularly to see you, Peg--it's unkind to talk to me like this."
Peg slackened her steps a little. She was very fond of Faith, but because she considered her weak and unfit to take care of herself she thought it as well to be angry with her sometimes.
"Oh, well," she said more graciously; "it's no use going for you, I suppose. You're only a kid, after all." She smiled faintly. "What sort of a man have you married? And does your mother know?"
Faith coloured a little. She answered nervously that her mother did not know yet, but that she was going to tell her when she got home.
Peg said "Humph!" and added that she did not think Mrs. Ledley would be particularly pleased.
"Are you ashamed of the man or what?" she demanded bluntly. "He can't be much of a chap not to have wanted to see your mother."
Again Faith rushed eagerly to his defence.
"He did want to. It was my fault that she was not told. It was my suggestion. I wanted to surprise her."
Peg laughed grimly.
"I should say she'll be surprised all right," she said.
"She'll be delighted," Faith maintained. "Why, we shall be ever so rich!"
"Rich!" Peg stared at her companion suspiciously, and the younger girl flushed.
"Mother won't have to work any more," she said proudly. "And we can send the twins to a nice school." She paused. "And he's got a motor-car," she added in an awed voice.
Peg burst into shrill laughter.
"Lord! It's a novelette come true," she said. "Hark at her! You'll be telling me next that he's a second Scammel or something. What did you say his name was?"
"Nicholas Forrester!" said Faith defiantly.
Peg stood stock still, as if she had lost all power of movement. She stared at Faith with horrified eyes.
"Scammel!" she ejaculated.
Faith flushed scarlet.
"He's not Scammel, I tell you!" she said passionately. "How dare you say that he is? I wouldn't believe it--not if everyone in the world told me that he was!"
"You're a little fool!" Peg answered brutally. "I don't know why I trouble about you at all, and that's a fact. You'll probably find that he's married already. What on earth do you think he wants with a wife like you? Why, with all his money he could have anybody he likes. Where is he now, I should like to know?"
"He's gone away--he went to America this morning."
"America!" Peg laughed bitterly. "Yes, and that's where he'll stay. Mark my words, you'll never see him again! Bah! You make me sick!"
She turned abruptly and struck off across the road, leaving Faith alone staring after her tall figure. Then mechanically she began to walk on.
In spite of her brave defence of the Beggar Man, there was very little real confidence in her heart. Peg was generally right, she knew, and the knowledge filled her with terror.
A sudden wild longing for Forrester almost overcame her. How should she get through these seventeen dreadful days till he came back?
Supposing he never came back!
Such things did happen, she knew! In the novelettes, of which Peg devoured about six weekly, it was a common occurrence for the villain of the story to desert his bride at the altar.
Panic closed about her heart. She began to run. All she wanted in the world was to get to her mother and tell her of this dreadful thing that had happened. She reached home white and breathless. The front door was open, and the twins, just back from school, were playing in the narrow passage.
The sight of them and the sound of their voices calmed her. She told herself that she was foolish to have been so easily influenced by what Peg had said. She looked at her new wedding-ring and gained courage.
Of course, they could not be true, all these horrible accusations. How could the Beggar Man be Scammel, when he had told her himself that his name was Forrester! She almost laughed at her panic. He had given her money, and he had kissed her--he had taken her to his beautiful flat and wished her to stay there. He had given her the address of his lawyer and told her to go to him if she were ever in trouble. What more could he have done? She was ashamed of her want of trust in him. It comforted her to remember the firm clasp of his hand and the steadfast look in his eyes.
He was her husband, and they were going to live happily ever after! Before he came back she would make herself into a lady. She walked into the house quite steadily and stooped to kiss the twins.
"We're all going for a ride this afternoon," she told them. "A lovely ride right down into the country."
The twins clung clamouring round her. "In the country! On a bus?" they asked in one voice.
Faith laughed happily.
"No," she said, "we're going to have a taxicab."
Mrs. Ledley, coming from the kitchen, heard the words.
"Faith! You shouldn't promise them such things, when you know it's impossible." She rebuked her daughter wearily. "You've got new shoes to buy out of your money this week, and there's the gas to pay...."
Faith smiled and dimpled. The pendulum had swung the other way now, and she was hugging her secret to her breast delightedly.
"I'm not going back to Heeler's any more," she said.
"Not going back!" Mrs. Ledley stared at her helplessly for a moment; then she burst into tears.
"I knew something had happened," she sobbed. "I knew you hadn't been yourself all this week. What have you done, Faith, that they've sent you away just when you were settling down so nicely?"
"I haven't done anything," said Faith. "At least ... nothing you will mind. And I wasn't sent away. I left on my own account."
Mrs. Ledley went on crying.
She sobbed out that she wished she was dead, that she did not see what was the use of going on living.
Faith went down on her knees beside her and the twins held hands and cried for sympathy.
"There's nothing to cry for, mother," Faith urged, kissing her. "There's only something to be glad about. Such a wonderful thing has happened. It's like a...." Like a novelette, she had been going to add, but she remembered the way the Beggar Man had said that he did not like the expression, and changed it to "a fairy story" instead.
She drew her mother's hands down from her face.
"You'll be able to live happily ever after," she said excitedly. Her eyes shone like stars. "We're going to be rich--all of us. We can go away from London and live in the country. And the twins can go to a lovely school and have really pretty frocks. Oh, smile, darling, smile, and say you're glad!"
Mrs. Ledley looked up.
"I think you must be ill--or dreaming," she said with a sob. "What is the good of talking such nonsense, Faith? How do you think such things can ever come true?"
Faith held out her left hand with its new wedding ring.
"Because I've married a Fairy Prince," she said.
Mrs. Ledley stared at the little ring for a moment in absolute silence, then she broke out tremblingly:
"Faith! It's not true! You're just teasing me! It's just a joke! You couldn't have got married without telling me first! Why, there's nobody who would ask you!" She caught the girl by both shoulders and peered into her face.
"Faith!" she urged again passionately.
Faith laughed tremulously. Somehow she had not expected her news to be received so tragically; her old fears came surging back. Peg's words echoed once more in her ears.
"What do you think he wants with a wife like you? With all his money he could have anybody he likes...."
To drown the insistence of that voice she broke out into hurried explanations.
"It's the man who brought me home in his car that day I was ill. He's ever so rich, and we were married this morning. Oh, mother, don't look like that; it's all right--indeed, it is! You saw him. You saw him drive me up to the gate.... He's so good--so kind; he's going to help us all. He's going to buy you a house in the country and send the twins to school. He's given me ever so much money already--look!"
With shaking hands she dragged the money from her frock and put it into her mother's lap.
"You can have it all--all!" she went on eagerly. "It's for you that I wanted it. Not for myself. Oh, mother, why don't you speak? Why don't you say something?"
Mrs. Ledley moved suddenly. She pushed the girl almost roughly from her, letting the notes fall unheeded to the ground. She rose to her feet and walked away up the stairs, and Faith heard the key turn in her bedroom door.
She stood there in the narrow hall, all her happiness fallen from her.
What was the reason that nobody was glad? She had hoped such great things from her mother and Peg, and both of them had disappointed her.
The twins had dried their tears and were clamouring round her to know how soon they could start for their promised drive. Faith hardly heard them. She went down on her knees and gathered up the Beggar Man's despised money. She took it into the sitting-room and laid it on the table; then she sat down by the window with a feeling of utter helplessness.
What was the matter with everyone? Why had all her dreams gone so sadly awry?
She thought of Forrester with a very real pang. If only he had been here--if only she had allowed him to see her mother first, as he had wished, all this might have been averted.
When would she see him again? The future loomed before her like a thick shadow, without one ray of sunshine. She wished wildly that she had gone with him at the last moment when he had asked her to. She had never felt so lonely in her life.
It seemed a long time before Mrs. Ledley came downstairs again. She came into the room where Faith sat, and looked at her with hard eyes.
"This man you say you have married?" she asked. "Where is he?"
"He has gone to America," said Faith. "He went this morning; he won't be back for seventeen days."
Then the full pathos of her position overcame her and she broke down into tears.
"I did it for your sake," she sobbed. "I thought you would be so glad. I hated to see you look tired. I hated to see you work so hard, and he promised me he would give you a house in the country and send the twins to school. When he comes back he'll tell you himself."
There was a little silence.
"Faith," said Mrs. Ledley painfully, "do you think he ever will come back?"
Faith's tears were dried in a scorching flush. She raised her little head proudly.
"I know he will," she said.
Mrs. Ledley's face softened. She came over to where the girl sat, and bending, kissed her.
"Tell me all about it," she said.
Faith told her the little she knew--of their first meeting, right down to the strange marriage that morning in the registrar's dingy office, but she carefully kept to herself the things that Peg Fraser had said. They were too preposterous to mention!
She showed the letter for Mr. Shawyer, the lawyer, and Mrs. Ledley's face cleared a little as she took it and read the few lines.
"We will go and see him," she said. "On Monday we will go and see him, Faith, you and I."
Faith looked up eagerly.
"And you will believe in him then, won't you?" she asked. "If Mr. Shawyer tells you that it is all right you will believe in him, won't you?"
Mrs. Ledley took the girl's eager face in her hands.
"Do you love him--very much?" she asked rather sadly.
Faith echoed the words vaguely.
"Love him? Who do you mean?..."
"I mean this man--your husband."
Faith looked away across the room, and there was a little frown between her eyes.
"I don't know," she said hesitatingly. "I don't think I've ever thought about it. He's very kind--nobody has ever been so kind to me before."
Mrs. Ledley gripped the girl's hand.
"Faith, if you don't love him, why did you marry him?" she asked.
Faith raised her brown eyes.
"I told you," she said. "For you and the twins." _