Chapter 18
Bernard left then and went to California; but when he arrived there he
asked himself why he had come, and was unable to mention any other
reason than that he had announced it. He began to feel restless again, and
to drift back to that chronic chagrin which had accompanied him through
his long journey in the East. He succeeded, however, in keeping these
unreasonable feelings at bay for some time, and he strove to occupy
himself, to take an interest in Californian problems. Bernard, however,
was neither an economist nor a cattle-fancier, and he found that, as the
phrase is, there was not a great deal to take hold of. He wandered about,
admired the climate and the big peaches, thought a while of going to
Japan, and ended by going to Mexico. In this way he passed several
months, and justified, in the eyes of other people at least, his long journey
across the Continent. At last he made it again, in the opposite sense. He
went back to New York, where the summer had already begun, and here
he invented a solution for the difficulty presented by life to a culpably
unoccupied and ill-regulated man. The solution was not in the least
original, and I am almost ashamed to mention so stale and conventional a
device. Bernard simply hit upon the plan of returning to Europe. Such as
it was, however, he carried it out with an audacity worthy of a better
cause, and was sensibly happier since he had made up his mind to it.
Gordon Wright and his wife were out of town, but Bernard went into the
country, as boldly as you please, to inform them of his little project and
take a long leave of them. He had made his arrangements to sail
immediately, and, as at such short notice it was impossible to find good
quarters on one of the English vessels, he had engaged a berth on a
French steamer, which would convey him to Havre. On going down to
Gordon's house in the country, he was conscious of a good deal of
eagerness to know what had become of that latent irritation of which
Blanche had given him a specimen. Apparently it had quite subsided;
Blanche was wreathed in smiles; she was living in a bower of roses.
Bernard, indeed, had no opportunity for investigating her state
of mind,
for he found several people in the house, and Blanche, who had an exalted
standard of the duties of a hostess, was occupied in making life agreeable
to her guests, most of whom were gentlemen. She had in this way that
great remedy for dissatisfaction which Bernard lacked — something
interesting to do. Bernard felt a good deal of genuine sadness in taking
leave of Gordon, to whom he contrived to feel even more kindly than in
earlier days. He had quite forgotten that Gordon was jealous of
him — which he was not, as Bernard said. Certainly, Gordon showed
nothing of it now, and nothing could have been more friendly than their
parting. Gordon, also, for a man who was never boisterous, seemed very
contented. He was fond of exercising hospitality, and he confessed to
Bernard that he was just now in the humor for having his house full of
people. Fortune continued to gratify this generous taste; for just as
Bernard was coming away another guest made his appearance. The
new-comer was none other than the Honourable Augustus Lovelock, who
had just arrived in New York, and who, as he added, had long desired to
visit the United States. Bernard merely witnessed his arrival, and was
struck with the fact that as he presented himself — it seemed quite a
surprise — Blanche really stopped chattering.