Will Warburton

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 36, 11 February 1905, Page 11

Will Warburton

MsMk LIFE - Ifl^lC" 3

By GEORGE GISSTNG (Author of "Demos." "The Xether i World,' , etc.)

4—t SYNOPSIS OF XC-TSTAX,MENTS I.—IV. j , « Will Warburton. a yonng fellow '(vlio is i J in partnership with GoOfrcy Sherwood m j , the susnr business, has roturcetJ irom a . tUrc-e weeks" holiday in Switzerland, wterc I ( he has met the liancee of his friend Franks, l as artist, who presently calls to announce the sale of a picture, and his determma- j ; tion to ge.t married on the strength of his i success. Business has been bad with ilessrs Snerwood for some time past, but amongst • the letters Warburtcn linds wailing for him oa Ins retiiru. is one from his i>arttier,, saying, "Great opportunity iv vi«w. Our j fortunes are made." CHAPTER IV. When Franks was gone. Warburton took up "The Art World." which his friend had left, and glanced again at the photogravure of "Sanctuary." He knew, as he had declared, nothing about iirt, I and judged pictures as he judged book*. emotioualiy. His bent was to what is called the realistic point of view, and "Sanctuary" made him smile. But very ! good-naturedly, lor ho liked N'orbert Franks, and believed he would do better things than this. Unless—? The thought broke off with an uneasy 1 interrogative. lie turned to the few Hues of text devoted to the painter. N'orbert Franks. I he read, was still a very young man; • ""Sanctuary."' now on exhibition at Bir- j j mingham. was his first important pic- | • jture: hitherto he l.ad been chiefly occu- I 1 pied with work in black and white, j • There followed a few critical comments, I 'land prophecy of achievements to conic. | j Yes. But again the uneasy irtterroga- j tive - " • I l ! Their a«]tiaintance dated from the i I year after Warburtoc's return from St. j • Kitts. Will had iust established himself i : j in fiat near Chelsea Bridge, delighted . ; j to be a Londoner, and was spending most j j, of his leisure in exploration of London's ; ! va&tnes.-. He looked upon all his earlier | •! years as wasted, because they had uot ' j l>ex'n passed in the city on the Tiiamw. The history of London, the multitudi- | nou= life of London as it l.iy about him. | with marvels t.iu mysteries in every j highway aiai byway, occupied his mind, i j! and wrought up-.ui his imairination. Be- ; 'ing a stout walker, and caring little for .|.-i:iy othev form of exorcise, in his fiee , I hours he covered many a loajrue of pave'jment. A five summer morning would ' him set forth. Ion? before milk-cart- ! hnd begun to rattle alone: the streets, and , on one expedition, a.s he stepped ] briskly through a poor district south of ' ' tho river, he was surprised to see an ! artist at work, painting seriously, in- | easel in the dry gutter, lie slackened [ his pace to have a glimpse of tho canvas, j and the painter, a pleasant-look- ■ ing follow, turned round and asked if he I hr.d a match. Able to supply this de- . mand, Warburtou talked whilst th<other relit his [>ipe. It rejoiced him. he ■ said, to see-a painter engaged upon t-uch i I a subject as this—a bit ot squalid Lon- ' 'I don's intinitr picturescjueness. . j The. next morning Warburton took the ! ■ sajiie walk, and again found the painter at tvork. They miked freely; tiiey exchanged invitations; r.nd that same even- ' ing Norbert Frank; elinibpil ihc sta.irca.-e ' I to Will's flat, and smoked his first pipe ■ i , aud drauk his first uliiiky and soda in i ') tiu; pleasant room overlooking Kanelagh. , I His own r.eio iv road. ! . i liattersea, at no great distance. The two j I young meu were soon seeing a great deal , . I ol each other. When their friendship '■ ' ! had ripened through a twelvemonth, j Franks, always impecunious, cheerily j j borrowed a live-pound note: not- long af- j ter, he mirthfully doubled his debt; and ! ' this grew to a habit with him. } "You're a enpitalist. Warbuflon," he j remarked one day. "and a generous fel- , i low, too. Of course, I shall pay what I ■ j owe you when 1 sell a big picture. Mean- ■ while, you have the gratirication of sup- ! '. porting a man of geniu*. without tiie . J least inecnvenier.ee to yourself. KxcclI 1e.r.l idoii of yours to strike up a friend- i . i 5-hii>. wasn't it V [ ,j Tho benefit was reciprocal. Warbur- i ! ton did i.'ot readily form intimacies; in- ! J deed. Godfrey Sherwood had till now j J been aimo-st the only man he eallcd j i J r'rk-nd. and the pecn'iaritr of temper I I ojcposod him to the risk of being f"> i ; much nlone. TTiough neither arrogant.! .nor envious. Will found little pleasure ,Jin the society of people who. from any tipoini of vie"A\ wore notah'3- his supc- . riors; even as ho could not subordinate I himself in money-earning relations, so , did lie become ill at ease, Jo=e all spon- I 1 tanp.ity in company above his social or | [ intellectual level. Such a man's danger j • was obvious; he might, in default of con- j ! genial associates, decline upon inferior* : ! , all tho more that a softness of heart, a I , fineness of humanity, ever disposed him j : to feel and show special kindness for t',ie J ; poor, the distressed, the unfortunate.! - J Sherwood's acquaintances had little at- j 7 j traction for hi.-v: N the'_. were mostly j . people who lived in a luxurious way. went i 1 in for sports, talked about the money- j r market—all of which things fascinated ; i Godfrey, though in truth he was far from : » belonging by nature to that particular j > world. With Fraonks, Will could be.) I wholly himself, enjoying the slight adI vantage of his larger means, extending i\ his knowledge without undue oblig-.ii.ion, i I 1 aud getting all the good that comes to .1 j roan from the exercise of his kindliest • j fed ings. I With loss of geniality, because more I occupied with himself, Norbevt Franks ■ I resembled his new friend in a distaste 1 j for ordinary social pleasures and an en- '■ '. joyment of the intimacies of life. He tj stood very much alone in the world, and : I from the age oi 18 h&u in one way or an- ; other supported himself, chiefly by work I oa illustrated papers. His father- who belonged to what is called a good family, began life in easy circumstances, and gained some reputation as a connoisseur 1 ot art; imprudence and misfortune hay- . ing obliged him to sell his collection. My. Franks took to buying pictures Jind bric-a-brac for profit, and during the last ten years oi his life was associated in that capacity with a London linn. Xorbsrti motherless from irttancy and an only child, received his early education 1 at expensive schools, but, allowing little i j aptitude for study and much for use of ; I the pencil, was taken by his father at 1 j 12 years old to Paris, ana there set to • ' work under ;i good art-teacher. At 1C : i he went to Italy, where he remained 1 i for a couple of years. Turn, on a jour- : ! vpy in thy IZa-t- the older Franks died. ; j Norbert returned to Kugiand. Inarnt ■ j that a matter of fifty pounds was oil his i heritage, and pluckily turned to tho : task of keeping himself alive. Herein, : his foreign sEeteh-books proved service- ■ (able, but the struggle was long and hard • before he could house himself decently and get to serious work as a painter. 1 Later on, he was wont to say thnt this 1 poverty had been the best possible thing : for him, its enforced abstinences having I come just at the time vrhen he had b*-

of excess; and "wallowing' 5 was udgun to "wallow , ' —his word for any sort doubtedly a peril to which Norbert's temper particularly exposed him. Short commons made him, as they have made many another youth, sober and chaste, at all events in practice; and when h* began to lift up hid head a little; when, at the age of three and tTvcntv. he earned ; what seemed to him at first the hixurj ious income of a pound or so :i week: ■ when, in short, the inclination to "wal- j low" might again have taken hold upon i him. it was chance to fall in love so .seriously and hopefully that all the , better features ot hi- character were drawn out. emphasized- and- as it seemed, for frood and all established in predominance. Not long after hi* lirst nieetii.jr with Wurburtun, he one day ret-jived, through the publishers of a book he had illustrated, a letter signed "Ralph Pomfretr" l-he writer of which asked whether "Nor>>ert Franks'' was the son uf an oli riend of whom he had lost sight for nany years. By way of answer, Franks called upon his correspondent, who lived in a pleasant little house at Ashtead. in ynrrey: lie found a man of soinething lesd than t>o, with ;i touch of eccentricity in his thoughts p.nd ways, by whom he I was hospitably received- and invited to I return whenever it pleased him. It was I not very long before Franks asked perj mission to make the Pomfrets acquaint- | ed with his friend Warburton. a step j which provtrl entiro.ly justifiable. Toi get her or separately, the two young men ' were often to be seen at Ashtead. ' whither they were attracted not only j by the kindly r.nd amusing talk of RalpU J Pomfret, but at least as much by the ■ grace and sweetness and sympathetic in- | telligenoe of tiie mistress of the house, . for whom both entertained respect and 1 admiral ion. One Sunday afternoon. Warburton, I tempted usual Uy the thought of ten |and talk in ili.u dc-lightful little garI don. went ont to As'ntead. and. as In; j pushed open the gate., was confused and i vexed at the s-igrht of strangers: there. ' before the hoasi'.\ stawd a middle-aged gentleman an-.l a young jrirl. chatting with Mr.-. Porubroi. He would have turned away .md taken himself off in disappointment, but rhat the clank of tho pate 1 had attracted attention, and he bad no , choice hut to move forward. The stran- ; crcTs proved to he _\frs Pom/rot-: brother and his daughter: the\- had been spend- ; inp half :i roar in tho South of France, 1 and wore her" for a day or tv.o before ! returning to tTieir home at Bath. When i he had recovered his equanimity. Warburton hern.me aware thai tho yourtj; I lady was mir to look v.pou. Her age j seemed about two and twenty; not very tall. >he lioro herself with perhaps a , touch of conscious dijrnity ,-jnd iinprea \ sivenoss: |>erfoct healtli. ;i usnn com- . plexion. magnificent hair, eyes that i shone with paioty an<l p-ood nature, made ; of Rosarri'ind Klvan a living iiicturc such aa Vi]}\ Warhurtou had not often Focn: ; he vt:is Fiiy in her p;v«onco. and by no moans did hiir...o;t ju?ti.-o that after--1 noon. IT;-" -lowncast eves prr---. n:.ly no- : ti'eed lh::t «:io wore r>f a peculiar kind—white .-.nnvas with -oles of -plaited i corrl: in the of conver-ation hi* j ii>ar;if i :;at the';.- wor" a mpni«*ni< of tluI lias<i;ie cr.un'.ry. about which M\?s Klvan ] tjilk-'d v.ith a very pretty enthusiasm. ■ Will v.oiu away, after all. in a diss.iUs--1 tied mood. Girls wore to him merely a : source oi disquiet. "If .-ho be not. f.iir I for mo " was hi> ordinary thought: i and ho had never yet succeeded in persu2f";ir.g himself that any girl, fair or not. wm at all likely to conceive the idea 1 of iie\-|,. ii;o- herself to his happiness. Tn i this mAlter, an excessive modesty aub- ! dued him. It had something to do with I hi« holding so much apart from general society. ; (Mi tho evoninp of the next day. there i Mas n thiindrou' knock at Warburton , s ! lint, and in rushed Frnnks. ! 'yon v.'ero at Ashtead yesterday?" he J cried. , ' 1 was. What of that?" I "AnJ you didn't come to toll mo aHout j the Flvr"ns:" j "About Elran, 1 suppos.- you raoar. ?" said Will. "''veil. yes. f do. I wont '.hero by i chance this afternoon. Tho two men j were away somewhere—l found Mrs Pon j fr?t .md that pirl aloire together. Never I had such a delightful time in my life: t lint, 1 say, Warburlon. we must traderi p-Lciul each other. Are you—do you—l ! moan, did she strike you particularly"?" I Will threw back his head and lauerlied. "You wean (hat?" shouted the other. j "You really don't care—it's I uothinsr to you ?" i "Why. is it anything to you?" " Any thing ? Rosamund Elvan is the j mart beautiful girl I ever saw. and tho I Mveetest. and the brightest, and the altoj jretlier floorincrest ! And, by heaven and I c-?.rth. I'm resolved to marry her!' , CHAPTER Y. A? he sat musing, the '"Arf World" "tii! in hi? hand. Wavburton could hear his friend's voice ring out that audacious vow. lie could remember, ton. the od.i iittlo p.icg with which he heard it. a hali , spa..=-m of a!isurd jealous}-. Of j conrso the feeling did not las:. There I wc.s no recurrence of it when he heard j rli.it Franks hid agnin seen Mis? Elvan before she left Ashtead: n»r when h" I learnt that the artist had been spending •i day or two at Bath. Less than a month after their first meeting. Franks won Rosamund's consent. He wa? frantic with exaltation. Arriving with the news at ten o'clock one night, he shouted ar.d maddened about Warburton's room until finslly turned out at two in the morning. His circumstances being what they wo.re. he could not hope for marriage yet awhile: he mnst work and wait. Never . mind: .see what work he would prodnee! Yet it appeared to his friend that ail through- the next twelvemonth hp merely , j \Misted time.-such work as he did finish ; I being of very '.iglit vniue. Ho talked ar.d j talked, now of PwOsamund-. now of what , J hi" was going fc do. until vVarbnrton. LosI i ing patience, would cut \nra snort witl; j "Oh. ro to Path:"—an old cant phrase rovivrd for il.- Fpocial nppropria'enpss I in this connection. Franks went to Bath I. far oftenor thars :;c cculd afTord, money j for his journey being generally borrowed , from his long-enduring friend. Rosamund herself had nothing, and • but the smallest expectations should her father die. Two rears before this, it had occurred bo her" that she should . like to study art. and might possibly nnd I in it a means of self-support. She was [allowed to attend classes at South Ken;jsington. but little came of this except a lci<}se friendship with a girj of her qv/r

sge, by name Bertha Cross, who was following the art couTse with more serious purpose. When she had bees betrothed for shout a year. "Rosajnimd chanced to spend a. week: in Lon<i-u at her friend's honse, and this led to acquaintance 'between Franks and the Crosses. For a time. Warburton saw and heard less of the artist, who uuklp I confidantes of Mrs Cross and her daaijjhtpr, and spent many an oven-ing with, tliem talking, talking, talking about jßosamund: but this intimacy did not endure very lonjr. Mrs Cross beittj a jKM'sori of marked peculiarities, which in the end overtried N'orbert's temper. Only on the fourth storey fiat by Cbelot sympathy which ho really needed, ; s»a 3>ri*ige could tiie Jovpr tind that sort « solacing yet tonic. But for Warburton ' h; , would have worked even less. To V.'ii; it seemed an odd result of fortunate love that the artist, though in every ' other respect a better man than before, f 1 should have become, to all appearances, j : Iγ?.- zealous, less efficient, in his art- ■ Wad Rosamund Jilvan the right infinence on her lover: in spite of Norbert's lyric , had she served n>erely to eonfaso hLs aim.- - , perliaps to bring him down to a. lower le*~el of thought? "•Then? was his picture. •"Sanetitary." Before he knew .Rosamund, Pranks would have scoffed at such a subject, J would have howled at sueb treatment | of it. There was notable distance be- J tween this and what Norbert was patntinar in that summer .sunrise four years ago. with Iris portable easel in the gutter. And Miss Elvan admired '"Sanctuary-" —at least. Franks said she did. True, she :i'.-o admired tho picture of the pawnshop and the pubUehouse;; Will had himself heard Tirr speak of ft with high praise, and with impatient 1 wonder that no pirrrbaser could be 1 found for it. Most likely she approved of everything Xorbert did, and had no more serious criterion. IToless, indeed, ' her private test of artistic value were the financial restdt? Wa-rburton could not altogether be ■ lieve that. Annoyance, with the artist now and then inclined bam to slighting 1 thoTight of Rosamund; yet. on the '. whole, his view of her was not eiatorv. The disadvantage to his mind ' wa.s her remarkable comeliness. He could not but fear that so much brauity must be inconsistent with the sterling ' qualities which make a good wife. Will's eye fell on Sherwood's note, and he went to bed wondering what the j project might be which was to make their fortune. I (To be continued next Wednesday.)