Chapter 25

by William Dean Howells

　　He did not go home, but spent most of the day shining round, as hewould have expressed it, and trying to see if he could raise the money.But he found that people of whom he hoped to get it were in theconspiracy which had been formed to drive him to the wall. Somehow,there seemed a sense of his embarrassments abroad. Nobody wanted tolend money on the plant at Lapham without taking time to look into thestate of the business; but Lapham had no time to give, and he knew thatthe state of the business would not bear looking into. He could raisefifteen thousand on his Nankeen Square house, and another fifteen onhis Beacon Street lot, and this was all that a man who was worth amillion by rights could do! He said a million, and he said it indefiance of Bellingham, who had subjected his figures to an analysiswhich wounded Lapham more than he chose to show at the time, for itproved that he was not so rich and not so wise as he had seemed. Hishurt vanity forbade him to go to Bellingham now for help or advice; andif he could have brought himself to ask his brothers for money, itwould have been useless; they were simply well-to-do Western people,but not capitalists on the scale he required.Lapham stood in the isolation to which adversity so often seems tobring men. When its test was applied, practically or theoretically, toall those who had seemed his friends, there was none who bore it; andhe thought with bitter self-contempt of the people whom he hadbefriended in their time of need. He said to himself that he had beena fool for that; and he scorned himself for certain acts ofscrupulosity by which he had lost money in the past. Seeing the moralforces all arrayed against him, Lapham said that he would like to havethe chance offered him to get even with them again; he thought heshould know how to look out for himself. As he understood it, he hadseveral days to turn about in, and he did not let one day's failuredishearten him. The morning after his return he had, in fact, a gleamof luck that gave him the greatest encouragement for the moment. A mancame in to inquire about one of Rogers's wild-cat patents, as Laphamcalled them, and ended by buying it. He got it, of course, for lessthan Lapham took it for, but Lapham was glad to be rid of it forsomething, when he had thought it worth nothing; and when thetransaction was closed, he asked the purchaser rather eagerly if heknew where Rogers was; it was Lapham's secret belief that Rogers hadfound there was money in the thing, and had sent the man to buy it.But it appeared that this was a mistake; the man had not come fromRogers, but had heard of the patent in another way; and Lapham wasastonished in the afternoon, when his boy came to tell him that Rogerswas in the outer office, and wished to speak with him."All right," said Lapham, and he could not command at once the severityfor the reception of Rogers which he would have liked to use. He foundhimself, in fact, so much relaxed towards him by the morning's touch ofprosperity that he asked him to sit down, gruffly, of course, butdistinctly; and when Rogers said in his lifeless way, and with theeffect of keeping his appointment of a month before, "Those Englishparties are in town, and would like to talk with you in reference tothe mills," Lapham did not turn him out-of-doors.He sat looking at him, and trying to make out what Rogers was after;for he did not believe that the English parties, if they existed, hadany notion of buying his mills."What if they are not for sale?" he asked. "You know that I've beenexpecting an offer from the G. L. & P.""I've kept watch of that. They haven't made you any offer," saidRogers quietly."And did you think," demanded Lapham, firing up, "that I would turnthem in on somebody else as you turned them in on me, when the chancesare that they won't be worth ten cents on the dollar six months fromnow?""I didn't know what you would do," said Rogers non-committally. "I'vecome here to tell you that these parties stand ready to take the millsoff your hands at a fair valuation--at the value I put upon them when Iturned them in.""I don't believe you!" cried Lapham brutally, but a wild predatory hopemade his heart leap so that it seemed to turn over in his breast. "Idon't believe there are any such parties to begin with; and in the nextplace, I don't believe they would buy at any such figure;unless--unless you've lied to them, as you've lied to me. Did you tellthem about the G. L. & P.?"Rogers looked compassionately at him, but he answered, with unvarieddryness, "I did not think that necessary."Lapham had expected this answer, and he had expected or intended tobreak out in furious denunciation of Rogers when he got it; but he onlyfound himself saying, in a sort of baffled gasp, "I wonder what yourgame is!"Rogers did not reply categorically, but he answered, with his impartialcalm, and as if Lapham had said nothing to indicate that he differed atall with him as to disposing of the property in the way he hadsuggested: "If we should succeed in selling, I should be able to repayyou your loans, and should have a little capital for a scheme that Ithink of going into.""And do you think that I am going to steal these men's money to helpyou plunder somebody in a new scheme?" answered Lapham. The sneer wason behalf of virtue, but it was still a sneer."I suppose the money would be useful to you too, just now.""Why?""Because I know that you have been trying to borrow."At this proof of wicked omniscience in Rogers, the question whether hehad better not regard the affair as a fatality, and yield to hisdestiny, flashed upon Lapham; but he answered, "I shall want money agreat deal worse than I've ever wanted it yet, before I go into suchrascally business with you. Don't you know that we might as well knockthese parties down on the street, and take the money out of theirpockets?""They have come on," answered Rogers, "from Portland to see you. Iexpected them some weeks ago, but they disappointed me. They arrivedon the Circassian last night; they expected to have got in five daysago, but the passage was very stormy.""Where are they?" asked Lapham, with helpless irrelevance, and feelinghimself somehow drifted from his moorings by Rogers's shippingintelligence."They are at Young's. I told them we would call upon them after dinnerthis evening; they dine late.""Oh, you did, did you?" asked Lapham, trying to drop another anchor fora fresh clutch on his underlying principles. "Well, now, you go andtell them that I said I wouldn't come.""Their stay is limited," remarked Rogers. "I mentioned this eveningbecause they were not certain they could remain over another night.But if to-morrow would suit you better----""Tell 'em I shan't come at all," roared Lapham, as much in terror asdefiance, for he felt his anchor dragging. "Tell 'em I shan't come atall! Do you understand that?""I don't see why you should stickle as to the matter of going to them,"said Rogers; "but if you think it will be better to have them approachyou, I suppose I can bring them to you.""No, you can't! I shan't let you! I shan't see them! I shan't haveanything to do with them. NOW do you understand?""I inferred from our last interview," persisted Rogers, unmoved by allthis violent demonstration of Lapham's, "that you wished to meet theseparties. You told me that you would give me time to produce them; andI have promised them that you would meet them; I have committed myself."It was true that Lapham had defied Rogers to bring on his men, and hadimplied his willingness to negotiate with them. That was before he hadtalked the matter over with his wife, and perceived his moralresponsibility in it; even she had not seen this at once. He could notenter into this explanation with Rogers; he could only say, "I said I'dgive you twenty-four hours to prove yourself a liar, and you did it. Ididn't say twenty-four days.""I don't see the difference," returned Rogers. "The parties are herenow, and that proves that I was acting in good faith at the time.There has been no change in the posture of affairs. You don't know nowany more than you knew then that the G. L. & P. is going to want theproperty. If there's any difference, it's in favour of the Road'shaving changed its mind."There was some sense in this, and Lapham felt it--felt it only tooeagerly, as he recognised the next instant.Rogers went on quietly: "You're not obliged to sell to these partieswhen you meet them; but you've allowed me to commit myself to them bythe promise that you would talk with them.""'Twan't a promise," said Lapham."It was the same thing; they have come out from England on my guarantythat there was such and such an opening for their capital; and now whatam I to say to them? It places me in a ridiculous position." Rogersurged his grievance calmly, almost impersonally, making his appeal toLapham's sense of justice. "I CAN'T go back to those parties and tellthem you won't see them. It's no answer to make. They've got a rightto know why you won't see them.""Very well, then!" cried Lapham; "I'll come and TELL them why. Whoshall I ask for? When shall I be there?""At eight o'clock, please," said Rogers, rising, without apparent alarmat his threat, if it was a threat. "And ask for me; I've taken a roomat the hotel for the present.""I won't keep you five minutes when I get there," said Lapham; but hedid not come away till ten o'clock.It appeared to him as if the very devil was in it. The Englishmentreated his downright refusal to sell as a piece of bluff, and talkedon as though it were merely the opening of the negotiation. When hebecame plain with them in his anger, and told them why he would notsell, they seemed to have been prepared for this as a stroke ofbusiness, and were ready to meet it."Has this fellow," he demanded, twisting his head in the direction ofRogers, but disdaining to notice him otherwise, "been telling you thatit's part of my game to say this? Well, sir, I can tell you, on myside, that there isn't a slipperier rascal unhung in America thanMilton K. Rogers!"The Englishmen treated this as a piece of genuine American humour, andreturned to the charge with unabated courage. They owned now, that aperson interested with them had been out to look at the property, andthat they were satisfied with the appearance of things. They developedfurther the fact that they were not acting solely, or even principally,in their own behalf, but were the agents of people in England who hadprojected the colonisation of a sort of community on the spot, somewhatafter the plan of other English dreamers, and that they were satisfied,from a careful inspection, that the resources and facilities were thosebest calculated to develop the energy and enterprise of the proposedcommunity. They were prepared to meet Mr. Lapham--Colonel, they beggedhis pardon, at the instance of Rogers--at any reasonable figure, andwere quite willing to assume the risks he had pointed out. Somethingin the eyes of these men, something that lurked at an infinite depthbelow their speech, and was not really in their eyes when Lapham lookedagain, had flashed through him a sense of treachery in them. He hadthought them the dupes of Rogers; but in that brief instant he had seenthem--or thought he had seen them--his accomplices, ready to betray theinterests of which they went on to speak with a certain comfortablejocosity, and a certain incredulous slight of his show of integrity.It was a deeper game than Lapham was used to, and he sat looking with asort of admiration from one Englishman to the other, and then toRogers, who maintained an exterior of modest neutrality, and whose airsaid, "I have brought you gentlemen together as the friend of allparties, and I now leave you to settle it among yourselves. I asknothing, and expect nothing, except the small sum which shall accrue tome after the discharge of my obligations to Colonel Lapham."While Rogers's presence expressed this, one of the Englishmen wassaying, "And if you have any scruple in allowin' us to assume thisrisk, Colonel Lapham, perhaps you can console yourself with the factthat the loss, if there is to be any, will fall upon people who areable to bear it--upon an association of rich and charitable people.But we're quite satisfied there will be no loss," he added savingly."All you have to do is to name your price, and we will do our best tomeet it."There was nothing in the Englishman's sophistry very shocking toLapham. It addressed itself in him to that easy-going, not evillyintentioned, potential immorality which regards common property ascommon prey, and gives us the most corrupt municipal governments underthe sun--which makes the poorest voter, when he has tricked into place,as unscrupulous in regard to others' money as an hereditary prince.Lapham met the Englishman's eye, and with difficulty kept himself fromwinking. Then he looked away, and tried to find out where he stood, orwhat he wanted to do. He could hardly tell. He had expected to comeinto that room and unmask Rogers, and have it over. But he hadunmasked Rogers without any effect whatever, and the play had onlybegun. He had a whimsical and sarcastic sense of its being verydifferent from the plays at the theatre. He could not get up and goaway in silent contempt; he could not tell the Englishmen that hebelieved them a pair of scoundrels and should have nothing to do withthem; he could no longer treat them as innocent dupes. He remainedbaffled and perplexed, and the one who had not spoken hithertoremarked--"Of course we shan't 'aggle about a few pound, more or less. IfColonel Lapham's figure should be a little larger than ours, I've nodoubt 'e'll not be too 'ard upon us in the end."Lapham appreciated all the intent of this subtle suggestion, andunderstood as plainly as if it had been said in so many words, that ifthey paid him a larger price, it was to be expected that a certainportion of the purchase-money was to return to their own hands. Stillhe could not move; and it seemed to him that he could not speak."Ring that bell, Mr. Rogers," said the Englishman who had last spoken,glancing at the annunciator button in the wall near Rogers's head, "and'ave up something 'of, can't you? I should like TO wet me w'istle, asyou say 'ere, and Colonel Lapham seems to find it rather dry work."Lapham jumped to his feet, and buttoned his overcoat about him. Heremembered with terror the dinner at Corey's where he had disgraced andbetrayed himself, and if he went into this thing at all, he was goinginto it sober. "I can't stop," he said, "I must be going.""But you haven't given us an answer yet, Mr. Lapham," said the firstEnglishman with a successful show of dignified surprise."The only answer I can give you now is, NO," said Lapham. "If you wantanother, you must let me have time to think it over.""But 'ow much time?" said the other Englishman. "We're pressed fortime ourselves, and we hoped for an answer--'oped for a hanswer," hecorrected himself, "at once. That was our understandin' with Mr.Rogers.""I can't let you know till morning, anyway," said Lapham, and he wentout, as his custom often was, without any parting salutation. Hethought Rogers might try to detain him; but Rogers had remained seatedwhen the others got to their feet, and paid no attention to hisdeparture.He walked out into the night air, every pulse throbbing with the strongtemptation. He knew very well those men would wait, and gladly wait,till the morning, and that the whole affair was in his hands. It madehim groan in spirit to think that it was. If he had hoped that somechance might take the decision from him, there was no such chance, inthe present or future, that he could see. It was for him alone tocommit this rascality--if it was a rascality--or not.He walked all the way home, letting one car after another pass him onthe street, now so empty of other passing, and it was almost eleveno'clock when he reached home. A carriage stood before his house, andwhen he let himself in with his key, he heard talking in thefamily-room. It came into his head that Irene had got backunexpectedly, and that the sight of her was somehow going to make itharder for him; then he thought it might be Corey, come upon somedesperate pretext to see Penelope; but when he opened the door he saw,with a certain absence of surprise, that it was Rogers. He wasstanding with his back to the fireplace, talking to Mrs. Lapham, and hehad been shedding tears; dry tears they seemed, and they had left asort of sandy, glistening trace on his cheeks. Apparently he was notashamed of them, for the expression with which he met Lapham was thatof a man making a desperate appeal in his own cause, which wasidentical with that of humanity, if not that of justice."I some expected," began Rogers, "to find you here----""No, you didn't," interrupted Lapham; "you wanted to come here and makea poor mouth to Mrs. Lapham before I got home.""I knew that Mrs. Lapham would know what was going on," said Rogersmore candidly, but not more virtuously, for that he could not, "and Iwished her to understand a point that I hadn't put to you at the hotel,and that I want you should consider. And I want you should consider mea little in this business too; you're not the only one that'sconcerned, I tell you, and I've been telling Mrs. Lapham that it's myone chance; that if you don't meet me on it, my wife and children willbe reduced to beggary.""So will mine," said Lapham, "or the next thing to it.""Well, then, I want you to give me this chance to get on my feet again.You've no right to deprive me of it; it's unchristian. In our dealingswith each other we should be guided by the Golden Rule, as I was sayingto Mrs. Lapham before you came in. I told her that if I knew myself, Ishould in your place consider the circumstances of a man in mine, whohad honourably endeavoured to discharge his obligations to me, and hadpatiently borne my undeserved suspicions. I should consider that man'sfamily, I told Mrs. Lapham.""Did you tell her that if I went in with you and those fellows, Ishould be robbing the people who trusted them?""I don't see what you've got to do with the people that sent them here.They are rich people, and could bear it if it came to the worst. Butthere's no likelihood, now, that it will come to the worst; you can seeyourself that the Road has changed its mind about buying. And here amI without a cent in the world; and my wife is an invalid. She needscomforts, she needs little luxuries, and she hasn't even thenecessaries; and you want to sacrifice her to a mere idea! You don'tknow in the first place that the Road will ever want to buy; and if itdoes, the probability is that with a colony like that planted on itsline, it would make very different terms from what it would with you orme. These agents are not afraid, and their principals are rich people;and if there was any loss, it would be divided up amongst them so thatthey wouldn't any of them feel it."Lapham stole a troubled glance at his wife, and saw that there was nohelp in her. Whether she was daunted and confused in her ownconscience by the outcome, so evil and disastrous, of the reparation toRogers which she had forced her husband to make, or whether herperceptions had been blunted and darkened by the appeals which Rogershad now used, it would be difficult to say. Probably there was amixture of both causes in the effect which her husband felt in her, andfrom which he turned, girding himself anew, to Rogers."I have no wish to recur to the past," continued Rogers, with growingsuperiority. "You have shown a proper spirit in regard to that, andyou have done what you could to wipe it out.""I should think I had," said Lapham. "I've used up about a hundred andfifty thousand dollars trying.""Some of my enterprises," Rogers admitted, "have been unfortunate,seemingly; but I have hopes that they will yet turn out well--in time.I can't understand why you should be so mindful of others now, when youshowed so little regard for me then. I had come to your aid at a timewhen you needed help, and when you got on your feet you kicked me outof the business. I don't complain, but that is the fact; and I had tobegin again, after I had supposed myself settled in life, and establishmyself elsewhere."Lapham glanced again at his wife; her head had fallen; he could seethat she was so rooted in her old remorse for that questionable act ofhis, amply and more than fully atoned for since, that she was helpless,now in the crucial moment, when he had the utmost need of her insight.He had counted upon her; he perceived now that when he had thought itwas for him alone to decide, he had counted upon her just spirit tostay his own in its struggle to be just. He had not forgotten how sheheld out against him only a little while ago, when he asked her whetherhe might not rightfully sell in some such contingency as this; and itwas not now that she said or even looked anything in favour of Rogers,but that she was silent against him, which dismayed Lapham. Heswallowed the lump that rose in his throat, the self-pity, the pity forher, the despair, and said gently, "I guess you better go to bed,Persis. It's pretty late."She turned towards the door, when Rogers said, with the obviousintention of detaining her through her curiosity--"But I let that pass. And I don't ask now that you should sell tothese men."Mrs. Lapham paused, irresolute."What are you making this bother for, then?" demanded Lapham. "What DOyou want?""What I've been telling your wife here. I want you should sell to me.I don't say what I'm going to do with the property, and you will nothave an iota of responsibility, whatever happens."Lapham was staggered, and he saw his wife's face light up with eagerquestion."I want that property," continued Rogers, "and I've got the money tobuy it. What will you take for it? If it's the price you're standingout for----""Persis," said Lapham, "go to bed," and he gave her a look that meantobedience for her. She went out of the door, and left him with histempter."If you think I'm going to help you whip the devil round the stump,you're mistaken in your man, Milton Rogers," said Lapham, lighting acigar. "As soon as I sold to you, you would sell to that other pair ofrascals. I smelt 'em out in half a minute.""They are Christian gentlemen," said Rogers. "But I don't purposedefending them; and I don't purpose telling you what I shall or shallnot do with the property when it is in my hands again. The questionis, Will you sell, and, if so, what is your figure? You have gotnothing whatever to do with it after you've sold."It was perfectly true. Any lawyer would have told him the same. Hecould not help admiring Rogers for his ingenuity, and every selfishinterest of his nature joined with many obvious duties to urge him toconsent. He did not see why he should refuse. There was no longer areason. He was standing out alone for nothing, any one else would say.He smoked on as if Rogers were not there, and Rogers remained beforethe fire as patient as the clock ticking behind his head on the mantel,and showing the gleam of its pendulum beyond his face on either side.But at last he said, "Well?""Well," answered Lapham, "you can't expect me to give you an answerto-night, any more than before. You know that what you've said nowhasn't changed the thing a bit. I wish it had. The Lord knows, I wantto be rid of the property fast enough." "Then why don't you sell to me?Can't you see that you will not be responsible for what happens afteryou have sold?""No, I can't see that; but if I can by morning, I'll sell.""Why do you expect to know any better by morning? You're wasting timefor nothing!" cried Rogers, in his disappointment. "Why are you soparticular? When you drove me out of the business you were not so veryparticular."Lapham winced. It was certainly ridiculous for man who had once soselfishly consulted his own interests to be stickling now about therights of others."I guess nothing's going to happen overnight," he answered sullenly."Anyway, I shan't say what I shall do till morning.""What time can I see you in the morning?""Half-past nine."Rogers buttoned his coat, and went out of the room without anotherword. Lapham followed him to close the street-door after him.His wife called down to him from above as he approached the room again,"Well?""I've told him I'd let him know in the morning.""Want I should come down and talk with you?""No," answered Lapham, in the proud bitterness which his isolationbrought, "you couldn't do any good." He went in and shut the door, andby and by his wife heard him begin walking up and down; and then therest of the night she lay awake and listened to him walking up anddown. But when the first light whitened the window, the words of theScripture came into her mind: "And there wrestled a man with him untilthe breaking of the day.... And he said, Let me go, for the daybreaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me."She could not ask him anything when they met, but he raised his dulleyes after the first silence, and said, "I don't know what I'm going tosay to Rogers."She could not speak; she did not know what to say, and she saw herhusband when she followed him with her eyes from the window, dragheavily down toward the corner, where he was to take, the horse-car.He arrived rather later than usual at his office, and he found hisletters already on his table. There was one, long andofficial-looking, with a printed letter-heading on the outside, andLapham had no need to open it in order to know that it was the offer ofthe Great Lacustrine & Polar Railroad for his mills. But he wentmechanically through the verification of his prophetic fear, which wasalso his sole hope, and then sat looking blankly at it.Rogers came promptly at the appointed time, and Lapham handed him theletter. He must have taken it all in at a glance, and seen theimpossibility of negotiating any further now, even with victims sopliant and willing as those Englishmen."You've ruined me!" Rogers broke out. "I haven't a cent left in theworld! God help my poor wife!"He went out, and Lapham remained staring at the door which closed uponhim. This was his reward for standing firm for right and justice tohis own destruction: to feel like a thief and a murderer.