you would have thought, while mrs. arb was talking to mr. earlforward, that the enigma of the universe could not exist in her presence. yet as soon as she was alone it was there, pervading the closed little shop. by letting mr. earlforward out she had let the enigma in; she had relocked the door too late. she stood forlorn, apprehensive, and pathetically undecided in the middle of the shop, and gazed round at the miserable contents of the shop with a dismayed disillusion. brightness had fallen from her. impossible to see in her now the woman whose abundant attractive vitality had vitalized mr. earlforward into a new and exalted frame of mind!
she had married, raising herself somewhat, in her middle twenties, a clerk of works, popular not only with architects, but with contractors. mr. arb had been clerk of works to some of the very biggest erections of the century. his vocation carried him here and there—wherever a large building was being put up; it might be a provincial town hall, or a block of offices in london, or a huge hydro on some rural country-side, or an explosives factory in the middle of pasture land. and mr. arb's jobs might last any length of time, from six months to three or four years. consequently he had had no fixed residence. as there were no children his wife would always go about with him, and they would live in furnished rooms. this arrangement was cheaper than keeping a permanent home in london, and much more cheerful and stimulating. for mr. arb it had the advantages (with the disadvantages) of living with a wife whose sole genuine interest, hobby, and solicitude was her husband; all mrs. arb's other social relations were bound to be transitory and lukewarm.[pg 27] when mr. arb died he left a sum of money surprisingly large in view of the fact that clerks of works do not receive high salaries. architects, hearing of the nice comfortable fortune, were more surprised than contractors. a clerk of works has great power. a clerk of works may be human.
mrs. arb found herself with an income but no home, no habit of home life, and no masculine guidance or protection. she was heart-stricken, and—what was worse—she was thoroughly disorganized. her immense vitality had no outlet. time helped her, but she lived in suspense, undecided what to do and not quite confident in her own unaided wisdom. an incredible letter from a solicitor announcing that she had inherited the confectioner's business and premises and some money in riceyman steps shook and roused her. these pleasant and promising things had belonged to her grandmother's much younger half-sister, whom she had once helped by prolonged personal service in a great emergency. the two had not met for many years, owing to mrs. arb's nomadic existence; but they had come together at the funeral of mr. arb, and had quarrelled magnificently, because of mrs. arb's expressed opinion that the old lady's clothes showed insufficient respect for the angelic dead. the next event was the solicitor's letter; the old lady had made a death-bed repentance for the funeral costume. mrs. arb abandoned the furnished rooms in fulham, where she had been desiccating for two years, and flew to clerkenwell in an eager mood of adventure. she did not like clerkenwell, nor the look of the business, and she was beginning to be disappointed, but at worst she was far happier and more alive than she had ever been since mr. arb's death.
she had, nevertheless, a cancer—not a physical one: the secret abiding terror lest despite all her outward assurance she might be incapable of managing her possessions. the more she inherited, the more she feared. she had a vision of the business going wrong, of her investments going wrong, and of herself in poverty and solitude. this[pg 28] dread was absurd, but not less real for that. it grew. she tried to counter it by the practice of severe economy.
the demeanour of mr. earlforward, and his gift, had suddenly lightened her horizon. but the moment he departed she began saying to herself that she was utterly silly to indulge in such thoughts as she had been thinking, that men were not "like that," that men knew what they were about and what they wanted—and she looked gloomily in the fancy mirror provided by a firm of cocoa manufacturers and adorned with their name at the top and their address at the bottom.
she put pieces of gauze over the confectionery in the window and over the two bony remnants of ham, placed the chair seat downwards on the counter, and tilted the little table against the counter; then extinguished the oil-lamp, which alone lit the shop, and went into the back room, lighted by another similar oil-lamp. in this room, which was a parlour-kitchen, and whose principal table had just been scrubbed, elsie, a helot withdrawn from the world and dedicated to secret toil, was untying her sack apron preparatory to the great freedom of the night.
"oh, elsie—you did say your name was elsie, didn't you?"
"yes'm."
"i should take it very kindly if you could stay a bit longer this evening."
elsie was dashed; she paused on the knot of the apron-string.
"it's a quarter of an hour past my time now, 'm," she said apologetically and humbly.
"it is? so it is. well, not quite."
"i had an engagement, 'm."
"couldn't you put it off for this once? you see, i'm very anxious to get straight after all this mess i've been in. i'm one that can't stand a mess. i'll give you your supper—i'll give you a slice of ham—and sixpence extra."
"i'm sure it's very kind of you, 'm, but——"
mrs. arb coaxed, and she could coax very effectively.
"well, 'm, i always like to oblige." elsie yielded, not[pg 29] grudgingly nor with the air of conferring a favour, but rather with a mild and pure kindliness. she added, coaxing in her turn: "but i must just run out half a minute, if you'll let me."
"oh, of course. but don't be long, will you? look, here's your half-day and the extra sixpence. take it now. and while you're out i'll be cutting the ham for you. it's a pity i've turned out the shop lamp, but i dare say i can see if i leave this door open." she gave the girl some silver.
"i'm sure it's very kind of you, 'm."
mrs. arb cut an exceedingly thin slice of ham quite happily. she had two reasons for keeping elsie; she wanted to talk to somebody, and she felt that, whether she talked or not, she could not bear to be alone in the place till bed-time. her good spirits returned.
