And Piers went his way with shadowed countenance.
Straying about Kensington Gardens in the pleasant
sunshine, his mind occupied with Daniel’s information,
Piers Otway lost count of time, and at last had to
hurry to keep his engagement. As he entered the
house in Queen’s Gate, a mirrored image of himself
made him uneasy about his costume. But for Daniel,
such a point would never have troubled him. It
was with an unfamiliar sense of Irritation and misgiving
that he moved into the drawing-room.
A man of sixty or so, well preserved, with a warm
complexion, broad homely countenance and genial smile,
stepped forward to receive him. Mr. Jacks was
member for the Penistone Division of the West Riding;
new to Parliament, having entered with the triumphant
Liberals in the January of this year 1886. His
friends believed, and it seemed credible, that he
had sought election to please the lady whom, as a
widower of twenty years’ endurance, he had wedded
only a short time before; politics interested him
but moderately, and the greater part of his life had
been devoted to the manufacturing business which brought
him wealth and local influence. Not many people
remembered that in the days of his youth John Jacks
had been something of a Revolutionist, that he had
supported the People’s Charter; that he had
written, nay had published, verses of democratic tenor,
earning thereby dark reputation in the respectable
society of his native town. The turning-point
was his early marriage. For a while he still
wrote verses—of another kind, but he ceased
to talk about liberty, ceased to attend public meetings,
and led an entirely private life until, years later,
his name became reputably connected with municipal
affairs. Observing Mr. Jacks’ face, one
saw the possibility of that early enthusiasm; he had
fine eyes full of subdued tenderness, and something
youthful, impulsive, in his expression when he uttered
a thought. Good-humoured, often merry, abounding
in kindness and generosity, he passed for a man as
happy as he was prosperous; yet those who talked intimately
with him obtained now and then a glimpse of something
not quite in harmony with these characteristics, a
touch of what would be called fancifulness, of uncertain
spirits. Men of his world knew that he was not
particularly shrewd in commerce; the great business
to which his name was attached had been established
by his father, and was kept flourishing mainly by
the energy of his younger brother. As an occasional
lecturer before his townsfolk, he gave evidence of
wide reading and literary aptitudes. Of three
children of his first marriage, two had died; his
profound grief at their loss, and the inclination
for domestic life which always appeared in the man,
made it matter for surprise that he had waited so
long before taking another wife. It would not
have occurred to most of those who knew him that his
extreme devotion to women made him shy, diffident,
all but timorous in their presence. But Piers
Otway, for all his mental disturbance at this moment,
remarked the singular deference, the tone and look
of admiring gentleness, with which Mr. Jacks turned
to his wife as he presented their guest.
