Full Download PDF of (Ebook PDF) Managing Performance Through Training and Development 7th All Chapter

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 43

(eBook PDF) Managing Performance

through Training and Development 7th


Go to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-managing-performance-through-training-
and-development-7th/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

(eBook PDF) Managing Performance through Training and


Development 8th Canadian Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-managing-performance-
through-training-and-development-8th-canadian-edition/

(eBook PDF) Employee Training Development 7th by


Raymond Noe

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-employee-training-
development-7th-by-raymond-noe/

Employee Training & Development 7th Edition Edition


Raymond Noe - eBook PDF

https://ebooksecure.com/download/employee-training-development-
ebook-pdf/

(eBook PDF) Templates For Managing Training Projects

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-templates-for-managing-
training-projects/
(eBook PDF) Translational Medicine in CNS Drug
Development, Volume 29

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-translational-medicine-
in-cns-drug-development-volume-29/

Employee Training & Development 8th Edition (eBook PDF)

http://ebooksecure.com/product/employee-training-development-8th-
edition-ebook-pdf/

(eBook PDF) Managing for Quality and Performance


Excellence 11th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-managing-for-quality-
and-performance-excellence-11th-edition/

(eBook PDF) Managing and Leading People Through


Organizational Change

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-managing-and-leading-
people-through-organizational-change/

Employee Training and Development 9th Edition Raymond


Andrew Noe - eBook PDF

https://ebooksecure.com/download/employee-training-and-
development-ebook-pdf/
SEVENTH EDITION
SAKS
HACCOUN
About the Series xxviii
About the Authors xxix
Preface xxxi
Acknowledgments xxxviii

Chapter 1 The Training and Development Process 1


Chapter2 Organizational Learning 42
Chapter3 Learning and Motivation 72
Chapter4 The Needs Analysis Process 108
Chapter5 Training Design 143
Chapter6 Off-the-Job Training Methods 175
Chapter7 On-the-Job Training Methods 204
Chapters Technology-Based Training Methods 235
Chapter9 Training Delivery 265
Chapter 10 Transfer of Training 296
Chapter 11 Training Evaluation 332
Chapter 12 The Costs and Benefits of Training Programs 371
Chapter 13 Training Programs 394
Chapter 14 Management and Leadership Development 423
Chapter 15 The Evolution and Future of Training
and Development 464

Appendix Integrative Case Studies 477


Index 487

••
NEL VII
About the Series xxviii
About the Authors xxix
Preface xxxi
•••
Acknowledgments XXXVlll

Chapter 1 The Training and Development Process 1


Performance Management 6
The Trainer's Notebook 1.1: SMART Goals 7
Training and Development 8
Benefits of Training and Development 9
Benefits to Organizations 9
Training Today 1.1: The Effects of Training on Firm Productivity and
Profits 11
Benefits to Employees 11
Benefits to Society 12
Training and Development in Canada 14
Is Training an Investment or an Expense? 16
The Trainer's Notebook 1.2: Quebec's Payroll Training Legislation 18
Training Today 1.2: Making Employees Pay for Their Training 19
The Context of Training and Development 20
The Environmental Context of Training and Development 21
The Organizational Context of Training and Development 22
The Human Resources System 24
The Instructional Systems Design (ISD) Model of Training and
Development 24
The Trainer's Notebook 1.3: The Application ofthe /SD Model 27
Summary and Road Map 27


NEL IX
Key Terms 28
Web Links 28
Discussion Q!iestions 29
The Great Training Debate 29
Exercises 30
In-Class 30
In-the-Field 31
Case Incident: Beer Ambassadors 31
Case Study: Flotation Ltd. 32
Running Case Study: Dirty Pools 34
References 36

Chapter 2 Organimtional Leaniing 42


What Is Organizational Learning? 44
The Learning Organization 45
Principles and Dimensions of Learning Organizations 46
Training Today 2.1: Maintaining the Learning Culture
at D&D Automation 48
The Trainer's Notebook 2.1: The Learning Culture Index 48
Knowledge in Organizations 49
Explicit Knowledge 49
Tacit Knowledge 50
Intellectual Capital 50
Human Capital 50
Renewal Capital 51
Structural Capital 51
Relationship Capital 51
Intellectual Capital Cycle 52
Knowledge Management 52
Knowledge Acquisition 52
Knowledge Interpretation 53

x CONTENTS NEL
Knowledge Dissemination 53
Knowledge Retention 54
Knowledge Utilization 54
Communities of Practice 55
Training Today 2.2: Communities ofPractice at the
Canada School ofPublic Service (CSPS) 56
Informal Leaming 56
The Trainer's Notebook 2.2: Facilitating Informal
Learning in Organizations 59
A Multilevel Systems Model of Organizational Learning 59
Organization Level 59
Group Level 60
Individual Level 61
Linkages between the Levels 61
Summary 61
Key Terms 62
Web Links 62
Discussion Qyestions 62
The Great Training Debate 63
Exercises 63
In-Class 63
In-the-Field 64
Case Incident: NASA's Knowledge Management Crisis 65
Case Study: AlliedBarton Security Services 65
Running Case Study: Dirty Pools 68
References 69

Chapter 3 Lean1ing and Motivation 72


What Is Learning? 74
Learning Outcomes 74
Stages of Learning and Resource Allocation Theory 76


NEL CONTENTS XI
Learning Styles 78
Training Today 3.1: The Personalization ofLearning 80
Learning Theories 80
Conditioning Theory 81
Social Cognitive Theory 82
The Trainer's Notebook 3.1: Prompting SelfRegulation 85
Adult Learning Theory 86
The Trainer's Notebook 3.2: Implications ofAdult Learning
Theory for Training 87
Theories of Motivation 87
Need Theories 8 8
Expectancy Theory 90
Goal-Setting Theory 91
Training Motivation 93
A Model of Training Effectiveness 95
Summary 96
Key Terms 97
Web Links 98
Discussion Q!iestions 98
The Great Training Debate 98
Exercises 99
In-Class 99
In-the-Field 100
Case Incident: Management Training at IKEA 101
Case Study: The Performance Appraisal Training Program 101
Running Case Study: Dirty Pools 104
References 104

Chapter 4 The Needs Analysis Process 108


What Is a Needs Analysis? 110
The Needs Analysis Process 111

••
XII CONTENTS NEL
Step One: A Concern 111
Step Two: Importance 112
Step Three: Consult Stakeholders 112
Step Four: Data Collection 113
Training Today 4.1: Training Pilotsfor Smoggy Landings 113
Needs Analysis Outcomes 114
Organizational Analysis 114
Strategi,c Alignment 114
Environment 115
Resource Analysis 116
Organizational Context 116
The Trainer's Notebook 4.1: Continuous Learning Culture Diagnosis 117
Task Analysis 118
Cognitive Task Analysis 121
Team Task Analysis 121
Person Analysis 122
Determining Solutions to Performance Problems 123
The Trainer's Notebook 4.2: The Training Solution Checklist 126
Needs Analysis Methods 127
Needs Analysis Sources 131
Obstacles to Needs Analysis 132
The Trainer's Notebook 4.3: How to Conduct a Rapid Needs Antdysis 133
Summary 133
Key Terms 134
Web Links 134
Discussion Qyestions 134
The Great Training Debate 135
Exercises 135
In-Class 135
In-the-Field 136

•••
NEL CONTENTS XIII
Case Incident: The Asthma Attack 137
Case Study: U-Haul's Performance Problem 138
Running Case Study: Dirty Pools 140
References 141

Chapter 5 Training Design 143


Training Objectives 145
Writing Training Objectives 145
The Purchase-or-Design Decision 147
Purchase Decision Factors 14 8
Training Today 5.1: Personal Development and Literat;y Training at
Vecima Networks 14 9
Request for Proposal (RFP) 150
Training Content 150
The Trainer's Notebook 5.1: An Effective Requestfor
Proposal (RFP) 150
The Trainer's Notebook 5.2: Training Contentfor
Privac;y Training 153
Training Methods 153
Active Practice 154
Pre-Training lnteroentions 154
Conditions ofPractice during Training 158
Active Learning 160
The Trainer's Notebook 5.3: How to Give
Training Feedback 161
Error-Management Training (EMT) 162
Model of Training Effectiveness-Training Design 163
Summary 164
Key Terms 165
Web Links 165
Discussion Q!iestions 166
The Great Training Debate 166


XIV CONTENTS NEL
Exercises 166
In-Class 166
In-the-Field 168
Case Incident: We ID 25 168
Case Study: Training the Sales Force 169
Running Case Study: Dirty Pools 171
References 172

Chapter6 Off-the-Job Training Methods 175


Lecture Method 177
Tipsfor Trainers 178
Discussion Method 179
Tips for Trainers 179
Case Study Method 180
Tips for Trainers 181
Case Incident Method 181
Tips for Trainers 182
Behaviour Modelling 182
Tips for Trainers 183
The Trainer's Notebook 6.1: Implementing Behaviour
Modelling Training 184
Role Play 184
Tips for Trainers 185
The Trainer's Notebook 6.2: Steps for Effective Role Plays 186
Simulations 186
Tips for Trainers 18 8
Training Today 6.1: Simulations for Sales Success 18 8
Games 189
Tipsfor Trainers 190
Action Learning 190
Tips for Trainers 191

NEL CONTENTS xv
Instructional Media 191
Tips for Trainers 192
Choosing a Training Method 192
Cost and Resource Availability 193
On-the-job Application 193
Trainer Skill and Preferences 193
Trainee Preferences and Characteristics 193
Blended Training 194
Summary 194
Key Terms 194
Web Links 195
Discussion Q!iestions 195
The Great Training Debate 195
Exercises 196
In-Class 196
In-the-Field 197
Case Incident: The Altercation 197
Case Study: The Customer-Service Training Program 198
Running Case Study: Dirty Pools 201
References 201

Chapter 7 On-the:Job Training Methods 204


On-the-Job Training (OJT) Methods 206
The Problem with On-the-job Training 207
Job Instruction Training 208
Step 1: Preparation 208
Step 2: Instruction 209
Step 3: Performance 210
Step 4: Follow-up 210
Tips for Trainers 211


XVI CONTENTS NEL
Performance Aids 211
Tipsfor Trainers 212
Training Today 7.1: Operating Room Checklist Saves Lives 213
Job Rotation 214
Tipsfor Trainers 214
Training Today 7.2: Rotational Leadership Programs 215
Apprenticeships 215
Tipsfor Trainers 217
The Trainer's Notebook 7.1: Increasing Employer Participation in
Apprenticeship Training 218
Coaching 219
Tipsfor Trainers 220
Mentoring 220
Training Today 7.3: Virtual Speed Mentoring at IBM Canada 221
Tips for Trainers 222
The Trainer's Notebook 7.2: Developing a Formal Mentoring
Program 223
Off-the-Job versus On-the-Job Training Methods 223
Off-the-Job Training Methods 224
On-the-Job Training Methods 224
Combining On-the-job and Off-the-job Training Methods 225
Summary 225
Key Terms 226
Web Links 226
Discussion Qyestions 226
The Great Training Debate 227
Exercises 227
In-Class 227
In-the-Field 228
Case Incident: Davco Machine Ltd. 229

••
NEL CONTENTS XVII
Case Study: TPK Appliances 230
Running Case Study: Dirty Pools 231
References 232

Chapter 8 Technology-Based Training Methods 235


What Is Technology-Based Training? 237
Computer-Based Training and £-Learning 237
Instructor-Led Training and Self-Directed Learning 238
Asynchronous and Synchronous Training 239
Online Education and Electronic Performance Support Systems 240
The Virtual Classroom 241
The Trainer's Notebook 8.1: Designing Effective Virtual Training
Programs 243
Social Media and Web 2.0 Technology 243
Training Today 8.1: Social Media and Training at ~rizon 244
Mobile Learning (M-Learning) 246
Designing Effective Computer-Based Training Programs 246
The Trainer's Notebook 8.2: Design Principles for Computer-Based
Training 24 9
Benefits of Computer-Based Training 250
Advantages 250
Disadvantages 251
Effectiveness of Computer-Based Training 252
Summary 254
Key Terms 254
Web Links 255
Discussion Q!iestions 255
The Great Training Debate 256
Exercises 256
In-Class 256
In-the-Field 257

•••
XVIII CONTENTS NEL
Case Incident: Playing Video Games to Learn 258
Case Study: E-Learning at Flotation Ltd. 259
Running Case Study: Dirty Pools 261
References 261

Chapter 9 Training Delivery 265


The Lesson Plan 267
The Trainer's Notebook 9.1: Guidelinesfor Developing a Lesson Plan 269
The Trainer 270
Training Today 9.1: Finding Subject-Matter Experts (SMEs) 271
Train-the-Trainer 271
The Trainees 272
The Trainer's Notebook 9.2: Train-the-Trainer Fundamentals 272
Training Today 9.2: The Right to Train 274
Trainability Test 274
Training Materials and Equipment 275
Training Site 275
Seating Arrangement 276
Scheduling the Training Program 277
Training Administration 278
Implementing the Training Program 278
Learning Climate 279
Gagne's Nine Events ofInstruction 280
Closing a Training Program 283
Training Delivery Problems 283
The Trainer's Notebook 9.3: Solutions to Training Delivery Problems 285
Summary 287
Key Terms 287
Web Links 287
Discussion Qyestions 287
The Great Training Debate 288


NEL CONTENTS XIX
Exercises 288
In-Class 288
In-the-Field 289
Case Incident: Training the Trainer at the Running Room 290
Case Study: The Houghton Refrigeration Company 291
Running Case Study: Dirty Pools 293
References 294

Chapter 10 Transfer of Training 296


What Is Transfer of Training? 298
Transfer of Training Problem 299
Transfer of Training Process 300
Trainee Characteristics 301
Training Design 302
Work Environment 303
Transfer of Training Strategies 304
Transfer of Training Strategies before Training 306
Management 306
Trainer 308
Trainees 308
Transfer of Training Strategies during Training 309
Management 309
Trainer 310
Trainees 310
Transfer of Training Strategies after Training 311
Management 311
Trainer 312
Trainees 312
Training Today 10.1: The Effects ofFollow-Up Sessions
on the Transfer of Training 313

xx CONTENTS NEL
Transfer of Training Interventions 314
Relapse Prevention 314
Self-Management 314
The Trainer's Notebook 10.1: Best Practice Strategies for Transfer of
Training 315
Goal-Setting 316
Post-Training Supplements 317
Booster Sessions 317
Self-Coaching and Upward Feedback 317
Transfer System 317
The Trainer's Notebook 10.2: Learning Transfer System
Change Process 319
Model of Training Effectiveness-Transfer of Training 320
Summary 321
Key Terms 322
Web Links 322
Discussion Qyestions 322
The Great Training Debate 323
Exercises 323
In-Class 323
In-the-Field 324
Case Incident: BC Assessment 325
Case Study: The School Board 326
Running Case Study: Dirty Pools 328
References 328

Chapter 11 Training Evaluation 332


What Is Training Evaluation? 333
Why Conduct Training Evaluations? 334
Do Organizations Conduct Training Evaluations? 335


NEL CONTENTS XXI
Barriers to Training Evaluation 336
Pragmatic Barriers to Training Evaluation 336
Political Barriers to Training Evaluation 337
Training Today 11.1: Upper Management's Role in
Training Evaluation 338
Types of Training Evaluation 338
Models of Training Evaluation 339
Kirkpatrick's Hierarchical Model: The Four Levels of
Training Evaluation 339
Critique ofKirkpatrick's Model 340
COMA Model 341
Decision-Based Evaluation Model 342
Training Today 11.2: The Learning Transfer System
Inventory (LTS/) 343
Training Evaluation Variables 344
Reactions 346
Learning 348
Behaviour 351
Motivation 352
SelfEfficacy 353
Perceived and/or Anticipated Support 353
Organizational Perceptions 354
Organizational Results 354
Data Collection Designs in Training Evaluation 356
Descriptive Training Evaluation Models 356
The Trainer's Notebook 11.1: Understanding
Pre-Post Differences 357
The Limit ofthe Three Models 358
Causal Evaluation Designs 359
The Internal Referencing Strategy (IRS): A Compromise
Evaluation Model 360
Summary of Data Collection Designs 361

••
XXII CONTENTS NEL
A Final Integrative Comment: Models, Outcomes,
and Data Collection Designs 361
Summary 362
Key Terms 362
Web Links 362
Discussion Qyestions 363
The Great Training Debate 363
Exercises 364
In-Class 364
In-the-Field 364
Case Incident: The Social Agency 365
Case Study: The Alcohol/Drug Abuse Prevention
Program (ADAPP) 365
Running Case Study: Dirty Pools 367
References 368

Chapter 12 The Costs and Benefits of Training Progra1ns 371


Training and the Bottom Line 373
Training and the Bottom Line in Canadian Organizations 374
Costing Training Programs 374
Direct Costs 375
Indirect Costs 375
Developmental Costs 375
Overhead Costs 375
Trainee Compensation Costs 375
Training Costs at the Wood Panel Plant 375
The Benefits of Training Programs 378
Return on Investment (ROI) 378
Training Today 12.1: The Investing in People Project 379
The Trainer's Notebook 12.1: Converting Benefits to Monetary Values 381
Utility Analysis 382
Break-Even Analysis 383

•••
NEL CONTENTS XXIII
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Mr. Jervis, Vol. 3
(of 3)
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.

Title: Mr. Jervis, Vol. 3 (of 3)

Author: B. M. Croker

Release date: December 6, 2023 [eBook #72342]


Most recently updated: December 31, 2023

Language: English

Original publication: London: Chatto & Windus, 1894

Credits: MWS and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at


https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from
images generously made available by The Internet
Archive/American Libraries.)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MR. JERVIS,


VOL. 3 (OF 3) ***
MR. JERVIS
NEW NOVELS AT ALL
LIBRARIES.
AT MARKET VALUE. By Grant Allen. 2 vols.
RACHEL DENE. By Robert Buchanan. 2
vols.
A COUNTRY SWEETHEART. By Dora
Russell. 3 vols.
DR. ENDICOTT’S EXPERIMENT. By Adeline
Sergeant. 2 vols.
IN AN IRON GRIP. By Mrs. L. T. Meade. 2
vols.
LOURDES. By E. Zola. 1 vol.
ROMANCES OF THE OLD SERAGLIO. By H.
N. Crellin. 1 vol.
A SECRET OF THE SEA. By T. W. Speight. 1
vol.
THE SCORPION. A Romance of Spain. By E.
A. Vizetelly. 1 vol.

London: CHATTO & WINDUS, Piccadilly.


MR. JERVIS
BY
B. M. CROKER
AUTHOR OF
“PRETTY MISS NEVILLE,” “DIANA BARRINGTON,” “A BIRD OF PASSAGE,”
“A FAMILY LIKENESS,” ETC.

IN THREE VOLUMES
VOL. III.

London
CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY
1894
“Lord of himself, though not of lands;
And having nothing, yet hath all.”

Sir H. Wotton.
CONTENTS OF VOL. III.
CHAPTER PAGE
XXX. What People said—especially what Two 1
People said
XXXI. The Summons 22
XXXII. “The Pela Kothi,” or “Yellow House” 39
XXXIII. “Hereditary” 57
XXXIV. The Initials “H. G.” 81
XXXV. “Osman’s Substitute” 98
XXXVI. “Good-bye for Ever! Good-bye, Good- 114
bye!”
XXXVII. The Son and the Heir 126
XXXVIII. The Voice in the Condemned Cantonment 142
XXXIX. A Friendly Visit 156
XL. The New Wearer of the Cornelian Ring 173
XLI. “It was a Hyena” 186
XLII. By the Old Rifle-Range 198
XLIII. “Raffle it!” 217
XLIV. A Rose—Carriage Paid 240
XLV. Only Mr. Jervis 257
XLVI. A Wedding with Two Cakes 276
MR. JERVIS.
CHAPTER XXX.
WHAT PEOPLE SAID—ESPECIALLY WHAT TWO
PEOPLE SAID.

When Mark Jervis came all eagerness to claim his supper dance
from Miss Gordon, he saw at once that something was wrong. The
merry smile—her greatest charm—he sought in vain upon her face;
her expression was grave, almost stern. She was actually looking at
him as if he was an absolute stranger. She knew!
He glanced quickly at her partner, and the mystery was instantly
solved. Yes, he recollected the man’s goggling blue eyes. Where had
he seen him? Where? The cordial accost—
“Hallo, Jervis! Came out with you in the Victoria!” promptly
dispelled his last hope.
“Yes, so you did,” nodding. “Glad to see you here to-night. I
suppose you have been globe-trotting, like the rest of us!”
“You have not done much trotting, by all accounts, of late.”
“No, not much,” rather shortly. Then, to Honor, “This is our waltz.”
She gazed at him for an instant in haughty silence, then she
answered—
“Yes; but I don’t think I shall dance, thank you.”
“Oh do,” he urged, as the stranger moved off. “Let us have just
one dance. After the dance—the deluge! I see you know. We can
have that out later on—but don’t let us miss this.”
The young lady was passionately fond of dancing, the floor, the
inspiriting waltz, a first-rate partner, proved too tempting—“Yes,” she
said to herself, “just one last waltz, and then—the deluge.” Not one
word did she utter when they halted for a few seconds. She kept her
face purposely averted, and appeared to find an absorbing interest in
other people. When they once more launched into the vortex, it
appeared to him that she did not dance with her usual buoyancy and
light-heartedness. She was as stiff and as rigid as a china doll—
apparently she shrank from the support of a millionaire’s arm—his
embrace was contamination. At last the waltz was over, every one
was streaming out, and they naturally followed the crowd. They
passed Mrs. Brande, concealing (she fondly believed) enormous
yawns behind a black transparent fan; they passed Mrs. Langrishe,
issuing bulletins of Sir Gloster’s condition to several interested
matrons. They went through the verandah side by side, down the
steps, and were brought up at last by the rustic railing overlooking
the gardens and tennis-court. It was a warm moonlight night, bright
as day, and breathlessly still. Dozens of other couples were strolling,
standing, or sitting about in the open air, even the chaperons had
come forth (a new and in some instances fatal departure) to taste the
sweets of a June night in the Himalayas.
Before their eyes rose the long range of snows—India’s white
crown; beneath them lay the gardens—a jungle of dew-steeped
roses, tall lilies, and great shrubs of heliotrope. Balsac declares that
perfume reminds more vividly than words; be that as it may, the
slightest perfume of heliotrope invariably recalled that scene and
hour to Honor Gordon’s memory.
“So I see that it has all come out!” began Jervis, intrepidly, on the
principle that the first blow is half the battle, “and that you know.”
“Yes”—turning slowly to face him—“and no thanks to you, Mr.
Jervis.”
“Of course you are awfully angry with me. Nearly” (oh, most
unfortunate speech!) “as angry as you were with that imp the day
you tore up her picture.”
“I am not exactly angry,” she replied with tremulous dignity. “Why
should I be angry? I am merely enlightened. I know who is who now.
I dare say you found the little game of deceiving every one most
entertaining. You seem to have quite a genius for playing a double
part.”
“You are awfully rough on me,” he interrupted. “But I suppose I
deserve it.”
“Now I have but one character, such as it is, so I cannot
reciprocate your surprise. I am merely what you have always seen—
a country-bred girl, without fortune, or prospect of one, with a taste
for playing the violin, and for speaking out my mind at any cost.”
(Yes, there never was any one less at pains to be on the safe side
than this young woman.)
“You are disgusted to find that I am not a poor relation,” he
ventured to remark.
“I am. You remember that on this very spot”—touching the railings
with her fan—“two months ago, Colonel Sladen, with his usual
delicate taste, joked pleasantly about the millionaire, your cousin.
You laughed immoderately then. Yes, I remember, you actually
shook the railings! And”—with increasing wrath—“you are smiling
now. Of course it must be capital fun to take people in so
successfully! to be able to laugh openly—as well as in your sleeve.”
“Will you permit me to remind you of one small fact? Do you
remember that you turned to me and said, that if I were rich you
would never speak to me again? You were offering a premium on
poverty.”
“And I repeat that speech here,” she said, once more turning to
face him. “Now that I find you are rich”—she caught her breath—“I
will never speak to you again.”
“Oh, come, I say, Miss Gordon, you can’t mean that,” he
expostulated. “At least you will give me a hearing. Be angry—but be
just.”
She made no reply, but began to strip little bits of bark from the
rustic railing, to the utter destruction of her gloves.
“Admitted that I am the millionaire, that is merely to accept the
nickname; for it is not I, but my uncle, who is wealthy. He made a
fortune in trade, you know—Pollitt’s pearl barley—and I am his
adopted son. He has brought me up ever since I was ten years old,
and has been awfully good to me.”
Here she made an impatient movement, as much as to say, What
was Mr. Pollitt’s goodness to her?
He hurried on faster.
“I wanted to see something of the world. I was deadly sick of the
routine of English life—hunting, balls, regattas, theatres; and I got
my uncle’s consent, with great difficulty, to spend a year in India. I
was despatched with a valet, a cargo of kit, and the reputation of
millions, with Waring as my guide, companion, and adviser. He is not
related to me.”
Honor looked at him with a half ironic smile, as much as to say, “Of
course not! I should be surprised if he were.”
“He is Mrs. Pollitt’s brother; and she got him the berth, such as it
was,” pursued the young man doggedly.
“Little dreaming how luxurious it would become,” added the young
lady sarcastically.
“No, that was quite unpremeditated. When I first landed, I found
that I had achieved a celebrity far beyond my wishes. I was
supposed to be a Rothschild. I was bothered to death with touts and
hawkers and all that sort of thing”—with a constrained laugh. “I saw
that I’d have no peace till I got rid of all my extra luggage and the
man. The combination branded me as ‘valuable.’ Waring had been in
the country before, he knew the language and customs, so I made
over my account at the bank into his name. He became paymaster,
and we held our tongues—that was all. Waring looks rich, and has a
genius for spending and making a splash. Now I have not. My tastes
are inexpensive, and I have always told my uncle that nature
intended me for a poor man.”
Miss Gordon picked off another piece of bark with elaborate care,
and then threw it away with an air of profound disgust.
“Our arrangement worked splendidly, as long as we were merely
shooting and moving about; but when we came up here and began
to know people, I saw that things were getting rather mixed—that it
would not do, that we were carrying the idea too far. I spoke to
Waring, and suggested taking the public into our confidence. He
treated the matter as a joke, and asked if he should announce it in
the Pioneer? I said, I thought that if he told it to one or two people as
a dead secret, that it would be amply sufficient. But he would not
hear of this, either in jest or earnest. He had, he acknowledged,
played first fiddle too long to wish to change parts. He was most
urgent that I should leave what he considered ‘well’ alone, and
worked himself up into such a frightful state of mind—he put the
whole thing so—so—so strongly—that I was obliged to leave matters
in statu quo.”
“Obliged!” echoed his fair listener, in a cool, incredulous tone.
“Yes, forced to do so.” (He could not tell her of the reason which
had been Waring’s sole alternative.) “He said we had only a short
time to put in, that it would make him look such an awful fool, that he
had taken the reins to please me, and now I must sit tight to oblige
him. In fact—to tell you a secret—that he would be in dreadful
financial difficulties. All he wanted was time. If his creditors believed
him to be a poor man, they would be down on him like a flock of
kites. Two or three months would set him straight. So I yielded. But I
made one stipulation; I said I must tell the truth to one person.”
“And that highly honoured person?” she asked, with arched brows.
“Was yourself.”
“Oh, monsieur, c’en est trop!” And she made him a deep
inclination.
“Don’t jeer at me, please,” he exclaimed, in a low, sharp voice.
“Once I was about to speak, and I was interrupted by the panther.
Afterwards that intolerable child took the words out of my mouth, and
you scorned them. For once in her life she told you the truth, the
whole truth—I do love you.”
There was no tremble or hesitation about these four syllables, but
there was considerable amount of trembling about the hand which
held a certain white feather fan, resting on the railings. The fan,
unaccustomed to such uncertain treatment, slid swiftly away, and fell
like a dead white bird into a lily bed below. No one sought it; seconds
and sensations were priceless.
“I do love you, better than my own life; but I was afraid to speak,
you were so down on money.”
How could he guess at the nods, and becks, and wreathed smiles
of certain busy old ladies near Hoyle, who had more than hinted at a
speedy wedding and a rich husband, as the result of a trip to India?
How could he know of blazing eyes and scarlet cheeks, and of a
passionate repudiation of, if not India, at any rate a handsome future
partner, and money?
“I meant to have told you to-night, on my honour I did; but with my
usual cruel bad luck, that little beggar cut in before me. And you are
dead against me, and with some reason, I confess; but you must not
say that you will never speak to me again. Come, Miss Gordon, give
me another chance.” As she remained obdurately dumb, he
continued with an air of quiet determination, “You will give me an
answer by the time I have fetched your fan?”
Honor’s anger had as usual cooled. She now began to see things
from his point of view, and her indignation immediately transferred
itself to Captain Waring. Mr. Jervis had been the tool and catspaw of
that unscrupulous free-and-easy gentleman. Yes, she now
understood the former’s halting allusions to hunting and polo, his
half-uttered sentences, and how he had suddenly paused,
stammered, and would evidently have been glad to recall his own
words. Once or twice she had caught a glimpse, instantly
suppressed, of a slightly peremptory manner, the tone and air of one
accustomed to being obeyed. She remembered, too, his easy
familiarity with money, his—as she had hitherto considered it—
insane generosity.
Meanwhile Mark ran down and picked up the white fan from its lily
bed, shook the dew-drops from its delicate feathers, and, as he
restored it to its owner, he looked straight into her eyes.
“Honor,” he said, in a low eager voice, “you will let bygones be
bygones, and forgive me, won’t you?”
Honor hesitated, her lips trembled as if uncertain whether to laugh
or to cry.
“You like me a little—I hope,” he pleaded anxiously.
The lips broke into a faint but unmistakable smile.
“You are the only girl I have ever cared two straws about. I swear
that this is the truth, and not the usual stock statement. I had a
presentiment that you were my fate that night we walked along the
railway line. That Eurasian fellow in the hut had a prophetic eye!”
“I am not so sure of that!” she said, with sudden vehemence. “You
knew very well that you ought to have spoken out long ago.”
“I would have spoken to you weeks ago, but that I was uncertain
what answer you would give me.”
“Oh!” recoiling with a gesture of indescribable horror. “What do you
think I meant? I mean, that you might have let us all know who you
were.”
“Better late than never, I hope,” he rejoined quickly. “My uncle
knows all about you. May I speak to your aunt to-night?”
“What do you wish to tell her?” she faltered.
“That I am going to be her nephew,” he answered, with the utmost
composure.
“No—no—no,” bursting into a half-hysterical laugh, “you must give
me time—I want to think it over.”
“Honor,” coming close to her, and resolutely taking her trembling
hand in his, “can you not think it over now? Will you marry me?”
Although her fingers shook in his hold, she held herself nervously
erect, as she stood looking out over the moon-flooded mountains in
silence, her eyes fixed on the far-away horizon with the gaze of one
lost in meditation. She was crowding many thoughts into the space
of seconds. Among them this—
“The gloved hand in which hers was imprisoned, how strong and
steadfast—a brave hand to guide and support and defend her
through life.”
At last, with tremulous nervous abruptness, she made this totally
irrelevant and unexpected remark—
“I wonder what people will say when they hear what a dreadful
impostor you have been! Of course, I know what they will say of me
—that I have guessed the truth all along—and have played my cards
beautifully! Oh, I can hear them saying it!”
And she hastily withdrew her fingers, and looked at him with a
mixture of defiance and dismay.
“You think more of what people will say than of me, Honor!” he
exclaimed reproachfully.
“No, no!” filled with instant compunction, and her blushes as she
spoke were visible even by moonlight. “I think more of you than of
any one, Mark.” Then, as if frightened at her own confession, she
hastened to add, “Every one is going in, and here is my next partner
coming to look for me.”
“Let him look!” was the unprincipled answer. “Shall we go down
and sit on the seat in the tennis-ground, by the big verbena tree?”
“But I am engaged to Major Lawrence,” she objected, though she
knew that resistance was useless.
“No doubt; but you are engaged to me—you and I are to be
partners for life. Ah, ha!” with a triumphant laugh. “There, he has
been waylaid by Mrs. Troutbeck—he won’t get away from her under
an hour. They are all going back,” glancing at many other couples
who were gravitating towards the club; “we shall have the place to
ourselves. Come along,” and leading her down the steps, they
passed among glimmering flower-beds, and faint sweet flowers, to a
recently vacated rustic bench. “I dare say you have often wondered
what kept me at Shirani?” he began. “I came, in the first instance,
hoping to meet my father. He has been thirty years out here, he was
in the Indian Cavalry, and settled in this country, which he loves. My
uncle is my adopted father, and I have seen very little of my real
father since I was a kid; he lives in mysterious retirement in these
hills, about fifty miles away, and is a widower for the second time. I
have been waiting on week after week, hoping that he would send
for me—that was my chief motive for remaining at Shirani. It is no
longer so—as you very well know—in fact, of late, you have driven
him clean out of my head!”
“If he were my father, I would go and visit him, without waiting for
an invitation,” said Honor, resolutely.
“I have written several times to say that I should like to see him,
and asking when I might start—a plain enough hint, surely?”
“You are too punctilious. Why wait to be asked? There, that waltz
is over; what a short one it was. Now I must really go in.”
“What a thing it is to have a conscience! A strong sense of duty to
one’s partners!” he exclaimed with a laugh. “However, I am one of
them myself, and I will let you off easily.”
“No, thank you,” she answered, with uncompromising rectitude.
“Pray what about your own partners? And you are one of the hosts,
too!”
“I see that I may always look to you now to remind me of my duty,”
he said, rising with extreme reluctance. “And I never felt more
inclined to shirk it than now.”
“I am sure I shall have quite enough to do to remember my own
shortcomings; but at any rate I can manage to remind you of yours
to-night. We,” with a happy little sigh, “shall have to-morrow,” and
she also stood up to depart.
“Yes, please God, thousands of to-morrows. But, Honor, this one
moment that you are so anxious to pass by and leave behind can
never be repeated or effaced; this hour, when you gave yourself to
me here, in this over-grown Indian garden, under the Southern
Cross. When we are old Darby and Joan, sitting by our fireside in
cold work-a-day England, we shall—at any rate, I shall—look back
on this hour as sacred,” and he put his arm round her and kissed
her.
The intelligence that Jervis was the Simon Pure, the real, true, and
only millionaire, was buzzed from ear to ear, and had soon spread
over the club like wild-fire. Mrs. Brande ceased to yawn, fanned
herself feverishly, and snappishly refused to believe “one single word
of it.” Mrs. Langrishe, for once, sat dumb and glum. More unlikely
things had happened within her somewhat extensive experience.
Colonel Sladen spluttered out his whole vocabulary of ejaculations
and expletives, and Lalla Paske’s eyebrows were almost lost to sight
under her fringe! Of course it was the one and only topic; the air was
still throbbing with the news, when, during a pause between two
dances, Mr. Jervis and Miss Gordon walked into the ball-room. Their
entrance produced quite a dramatic effect. How well-bred his air,
how fine his profile and the pose of his head; with what easy grace
his clothes sat upon him—clothes that were undeniably fashioned by
a first-rate London tailor. These little details now struck people who
had hitherto scarcely spared him a glance. As for Miss Gordon, she
was always beautiful and charming. The pair made an uncommonly
effective couple, and they looked so radiant, that their future
happiness was evidently a settled thing. Yes, now that one came to
think of it, they had always been good friends.
“And was it really thirty thousand a year? Was it in soap or pork?
At any rate, it was a magnificent match for a penniless girl!”
whispered a married lady to her partner.
“Of course the old woman was in the secret all along,” remarked
Mrs. Langrishe to a neighbour; “she is much cleverer than any of us
have supposed. Oh, what a deep game she has played! What an old
serpent!”

You might also like