The Devil and Ms. Baxter - Part II

Ms. Baxter deepens her acquaintance with the mysterious stranger, against the advice of her sister.

They danced, and Lucy was pleased by the elegance and ease of his movements. She could not refrain from looking into his eyes at regular intervals, always to find them turned upon her face, with a gaze that was searching yet coldly indifferent. Looking at his eyes, she thought that perhaps he was the Devil, but she was fascinated by him, nonetheless. When the dance had come to an end, he said: “I must see you again.”

She said nothing.

“Tomorrow. Are you home tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“May I call on you?”

Lucy reddened slightly: “Yes”, she said.

 

He arrived the next day at two o’clock. It was an unusual coincidence that Lucy was alone, with only the kitchen-maid. Her parents had gone visiting and she had stayed home.

“A Mr. Aleister Gordon, ma’am”, the maid announced.

That must be him, thought Lucy, what a grand name. It sounds very distinguished, somehow.

“Let him in”, she said.

Her first thought was, that he was handsomer than she remembered. It was almost shocking, to see someone so beautiful.

“I am alone,” she said, slightly embarrassed as it occurred to her that he might think she had enigneered it so. “My parents are out visiting.”

“And your lovely sister, is she also absent?”

“Oh, she doesn’t live here. She’s married and lives in the next village.”

“I am glad,” said he. “For it is you and you alone I wanted to see.”

“I fear it is not proper to be alone together.”

“Alas, I have no sense of propriety, I must admit. To me this does not seem improper at all.”

“Perhaps you are used to different customs in India.”

“Indeed. In India are no such ridiculous customs as are here, designed only to thwart us in our most human desires. In India a man can be free.”

And so the conversation flowed easily. Aleister spoke bewitching words about his experiences at the other side of the world, and Lucy listened, enraptured. All too soon, Aleister said: “Now, I must leave. My aunt has promised me to someplace or other this evening.”

“Oh, how disappointing,” said Lucy.

“Tomorrow. Can I see you tomorrow?”

Lucy considered a coy refusal, which had been taught to her as a proper response, to tease her suitor a little and test his intentions, but she knew that in this case she wanted to indulge in no such games. “Yes”, she said. “You may call tomorrow.”

“Could you perhaps come away alone and meet me elsewhere? I should like to meet you away from the prying eyes of others.”

“Oh, I really don’t know. Can’t you come here again?”

“Lucy, we have too much to communicate, and others would only get in the way. I saw last night that you are as impatient of all these little charades as I am. Let us meet, therefore, away from the madding crowd.”

“Yes”, said Lucy. “Let us. I will go for a walk on the moors tomorrow, and will meet you at Penn’s Point at two of the clock.”

“Thank you for your kind favour.”

He kissed her hand, bowed, and was gone.

 

It was later that evening that Lucy paid a visit to her sister, as it was her custom to call on her every day.

“I meant to come earlier, but I was engaged.”

“Engaged? I did not know you had any engagement.”

“Yes. Aleister Gordon came to visit.”

“You don’t mean Lady Mortmain’s nephew?”

“Yes.”

“Are you telling me you accepted a visit from this undesirable person when you were alone in the house?”

“I did.”

Jane sat up very straight, and her eyes grew wide: “Are you out of your mind? Have you no sense of propriety? Such a man! And at such a time!”

“Sister, he merely came to talk for a while. He is a most interesting conversationalist.”

“Good grief”, said Jane, “I would never have believed it of you, that you would associate with such a person. You must promise me one thing.”

“Yes.”

“That you will not allow this man into your company again.”

This put Lucy in a rather awkward position, as she was engaged to meet Mr. Gordon the next day, and had no intention of renouncing the engagement. Nevertheless, bearing in mind her sister’s agitated state, she thought it prudent to say: “Yes, I promise.”

“I really do not know what you can have been thinking.”

“Oh, he is very charming, sister. If you only met him, I’m sure you would change your mind.”

“Certainly not”, said Jane.

 

Lucy met Mr. Gordon, and took to meeting him every day thereafter. Her parents believed she was going to see her sister, and indeed she often was, though after a detour through the moors, where she could spend a couple of rapturous hours with Mr. Gordon. Though the course of true love is said to never run smooth, in this case Lucy felt that with each encounter her feelings become more entwined in Mr. Gordon. Her only cause for concern was in finding that Aleister Gordon was by no means as rich as he was rumoured to be; in fact, he told her he was heavily in debt. He was a gambler, and had gambled away all he had, and plenty more besides. His need for additional funds was a repetitive theme of his conversation. One day, as she lay in his arms, lost in the bliss of his proximity, he said:

“Your sister is, I believe, a very rich woman.”

“Oh, I don’t know.”

“Her husband is a man of business, owner of some textile factories?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Well, then, she certainly is rich. Do you know where she keeps her money?”

“I have no idea. What silly questions you ask? Why on earth would you want to know that?”

“Oh, just a fancy of mine. Keep an eye open, will you? It must be somewhere in the house.”

“All right.”