"I am afraid there are a great many things you will miss here," said
Mr. Heron. "We are a plain, but I trust, Godfearing family, and we are
content with the interest which springs from the daily round, the
common task. You will find no excitements at Laburnum Villa."
Ida, as she glanced at the family, could not help feeling that they
were indeed plain, but she made haste to say that she did not need any
excitements and that her life had hitherto been devoid of them. They
seemed to think that it was the proper thing to sit round the table
while she was making her pretence of a meal; but when it was finished,
Mr. Joseph stretched himself out in what was erroneously called an
easy-chair, and proceeded to monopolise the conversation.
"Regular busy time in the city," he remarked to his father. "Never saw
such a hum. It's all over this boom in South Africa. They're floating
that new company I was telling you about, and the Stock Exchange is
half wild about it. They say the shares will run to a hundred per cent.
premium before the week's out; and if you've got any money to spare,
guv'nor, I should recommend you to have a little flutter; for it's a
certainty."
Mr. Heron seemed to prick up his ears with an amount of worldly
interest which scarcely harmonised with his saintly character.
"What company is that?" he asked Joseph.
"The company started to work Sir Stephen Orme's," replied Joseph,
thrusting his hands deep into his pockets, and stretching out his legs
still farther so that he could admire his large, patent-leather clad
feet. "It's about the biggest thing on record, and is going to sweep
the market. All the big 'uns are in it, Griffenberg and Wirsch and the
Beltons. They say Sir Stephen has made half a million of money out of
it already, and that he will make a couple of millions before he has
done with it. There was a rumour in the city to-day that he was to get
a peerage; for it's a kind of national affair, you see."
Ida was sitting beyond the radius of the light from the evil-smelling
lamp, so that the others did not perceive the sudden pallor of her
face. It seemed to her a cruel fate that she could not escape, even
here, so many miles away from Herondale, from the reminder of the man
she had loved and lost. The name struck on her heart like a stroke
causing actual physical pain. She sat perfectly still, her hands
clasped tightly in her lap, as the wave of misery swept over her.