For a few moments the two young men looked at each other, Pearson's gaze being one of respectfulness which hoped to propitiate, if propitiation was necessary, though Pearson greatly trusted it was not.
Tembarom's was the gaze of hasty investigation and inquiry.He suddenly thought that it would have been "all to the merry" if somebody had "put him on to" a sort of idea of what was done to a fellow when he was "valeted." A valet, he had of course gathered, waited on one somehow and looked after one's clothes.But were there by chance other things he expected to do,--manicure one's nails or cut one's hair,--and how often did he do it, and was this the day? He was evidently there to do something, or he wouldn't have been waiting behind the door to pounce out the minute he appeared, and when the other two went away, Burrill wouldn't have closed the door as solemnly as though he shut the pair of them in together to get through some sort of performance.
"Here's where T.T.begins to feel like a fool," he thought."And here's where there's no way out of looking like one.I don't know a thing."But personal vanity was not so strong in him as healthy and normal good temper.Despite the fact that the neat correctness of Pearson's style and the finished expression of his neat face suggested that he was of a class which knew with the most finished exactness all that custom and propriety demanded on any occasion on which "valeting" in its most occult branches might be done, he was only "another fellow,"after all, and must be human.So Tembarom smiled at him.
"Hello, Pearson," he said."How are you?"
Pearson slightly started.It was the tiniest possible start, quite involuntary, from which he recovered instantly, to reply in a tone of respectful gratefulness:
"Thank you, sir, very well; thank you, sir."
"That's all right," answered Tembarom, a sense of relief because he'd "got started" increasing the friendliness of his smile."I see you got my trunk open," he said, glancing at some articles of clothing neatly arranged upon the bed.
Pearson was slightly alarmed.It occurred to him suddenly that perhaps it was not the custom in America to open a gentleman's box and lay out his clothes for him.For special reasons he was desperately anxious to keep his place, and above all things he felt he must avoid giving offense by doing things which, by being too English, might seem to cast shades of doubt on the entire correctness of the customs of America.He had known ill feeling to arise between "gentlemen's gentlemen" in the servants' hall in the case of slight differences in customs, contested with a bitterness of feeling which had made them almost an international question.There had naturally been a great deal of talk about the new Mr.Temple Barholm and what might be expected of him.When a gentleman was not a gentleman,--this was the form of expression in "the hall,"--the Lord only knew what would happen.And this one, who had, for all one knew, been born in a workhouse, and had been a boot-black kicked about in American streets,--they did not know Tembarom,--and nearly starved to death, and found at last in a low lodging-house, what could he know about decent living? And ten to one he'd be American enough to swagger and bluster and pretend he knew everything better than any one else, and lose his temper frightfully when he made mistakes, and try to make other people seem to blame.Set a beggar on horseback, and who didn't know what he was? There were chances enough and to spare that not one of them would be able to stand it, and that in a month's time they would all be looking for new places.
So while Tembarom was rather afraid of Pearson and moved about in an awful state of uncertainty, Pearson was horribly afraid of Tembarom, and was, in fact, in such a condition of nervous anxiety that he was obliged more than once furtively to apply to his damp, pale young forehead his exceedingly fresh and spotless pocket-handkerchief.
