When Silverbridge got back to the house he was by no means well pleased with himself. In the first place he was unhappy to think that Mabel was unhappy, and that he had made he so. And then she had told him that he would not have dared to have acted as he had done, but that her father and brother were careless to defend her.
He had replied fiercely that a legion of brothers ready to act on her behalf would not have altered his conduct; but not the less did he feel that he had behaved badly to her. It could not now be altered. He could not now be untrue to Isabel. But certainly he had said a word or two to Mabel which he could not remember without regret. He had not though that a word from him could have been so powerful. Now, when that word was recalled to his memory by the girl to whom it had been spoken he could not acquit himself.
And Mabel had declared to him that she would at once appeal to his father. There was an absurdity in this at which he could not but smile,--that the girl should complain to his father because he would not marry her! But even in doing this she might cause him great vexation. He could not bring himself to ask her not to tell her story to the Duke. He must take all that as it might come.
While he was thinking of all this in his own room a servant brought him two letters. From the first which he opened he perceived that it contained an account of more troubles. It was from his brother Gerald, and was written from Auld Reikie, the name of a house in Scotland belonging to Lord Nidderdale's people.
'DEAR SILVER, 'I have got into a most awful scrape. That fellow Percival is here, and Dolly Longstaff, and Nidderdale, and Popplecourt, and Jack Hindes and Perry who is in the Coldstreams, and one or two more, and there has been a lot of cards, and I have lost ever so much money. I wouldn't mind so much but Percival has won it all,--a fellow I hate; and now I owe him--three thousand four hundred pounds! He has just told me he is hard up and that he wants the money before the week is over. He can't be hard up because he has won from everybody;--but of course I had to tell him that I would pay him.
'Can you help me? Of course I know that I have been a fool.
Percival knows what he is about and plays regularly for money.
When I began I didn't think that I would lose above twenty or thirty pounds. But it got on from one thing to another, and when I woke this morning I felt I didn't know what to do with myself. You can't think how the luck went against me. Everybody says they never saw such cards.
'And now do tell me how I am to get out of it. Could you manage it with Mr Morton? Of course I will make it all right with you some day. Morton always lets you have whatever you want. But perhaps you couldn't do this without letting the governor know. I would rather anything than that. There is some money owing at Oxford also which of course he must know.
'I was thinking that perhaps I might get it from some of those fellows in London. There are people called Comfort and Criball, who let men have money constantly. I know two or three up at Oxford, who have had money from them. Of course I couldn't go to them as you could do, for, in spite of what the governor said to us up in London one day, there is nothing that must come to me.
But you could do anything in that way, and of course I would stand to it.
'I know you won't throw me over, because you have always been such a brick. But above all things don't tell the governor. Percival is such a nasty fellow, otherwise I shouldn't mind it. He spoke this morning as though I was treating him badly,--though the money was only lost last night; and he looked at me in a way that made me long to kick him. I told him not to flurry himself, and that he should have his money. If he speaks to me like that again I will kick him.
'I will be at Matching as soon as possible, but I cannot go till this is settled. Nid'--meaning Lord Nidderdale,--'is a brick.
'Your affectionate Brother, GERALD.'
The other was from Nidderdale, and referred to the same subject.
'DEAR SILVERBRIDGE, 'Here has been a terrible nuisance. Last night some of the men got to playing cards, and Gerald lost a terribly large sum to Percival. I did all that I could to stop it, because I saw that Percival was going in for a big thing. I fancy he got as much from Dolly Longstaff as he did from Gerald;--but it won't matter much to Dolly; or if it does, nobody cares. Gerald told me he was writing to you about it, so I am not betraying him.