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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16380-8.txt b/16380-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..16f535f --- /dev/null +++ b/16380-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12231 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Odds, by Ethel M. Dell + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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 + + +Title: The Odds + And Other Stories + +Author: Ethel M. Dell + +Release Date: July 28, 2005 [EBook #16380] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ODDS *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE ODDS + + _And Other Stories_ + + By ETHEL M. DELL + + +Author of "Rosa Mundi," "The Bars of Iron," "The Keeper of the Door," +"The Knave of Diamonds," "The Obstacle Race," "The Rocks of Valpré," +"The Way of an Eagle," etc. + + 1922 + + + + +CONTENTS + +The Odds +Without Prejudice +Her Own Free Will +The Consolation Prize +Her Freedom +Death's Property +The Sacrifice + +Other Books By Ethel M. Dell + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + The Odds + + + + +"If he comes my way, I'll shoot him!" said Dot Burton, her blue eyes +gleaming in her boyish, tanned face. "I'm not such a bad shot, am I, +Jack?" + +"Not so bad," said Jack, kindly. "But don't shoot at sight, or p'r'aps +you'll shoot a policeman--which might be awkward for us both!" + +"As if I should be such an idiot as that!" protested Dot. "I wasn't born +yesterday, anyhow." + +"No?" said Jack. "Somehow you look as if you were." + +"Don't you be a donkey, Jack!" said his young sister, with an impudent +snap of the fingers under his nose. "Being ten years older than I am +doesn't qualify you for that superior pose. You're only a man, you know, +after all." + +"Buckskin Bill is only a man, but he's a pretty tough proposition," said +Burton, with a frown. + +She smoothed the frown away with caressing fingers. "I know. That's why +I'd like to shoot him. But he's sure to be caught now, isn't he? They've +got him in a trap. He'll never wriggle through with Fletcher Hill to +outwit him. You said yourself that with him on the job the odds were dead +against him." + +"Oh, I know. So they are. But he's such a wily devil. Well, I'd better be +going." Jack Burton arose with the deliberate movements of a heavy man. +"I'm sick of this business, Dot. If it weren't for you, I believe I'd +chuck it all and go into business in a town." + +"Oh, darling! How silly!" protested Dot. "What a good thing I came out +when I did! Things seem to be at a rather low ebb with you. But cheer up! +What's a few head of cattle when all's said and done? When once this +rascal is laid by the heels, you'll make up quicker than you know. Of +course you will. Don't let yourself get downhearted! What is the good?" + +He smiled a little. There was something heartening in the girl's slim +activity of pose apart from her words. She looked indomitable. He pulled +her to him and kissed her. + +"Well, take care of yourself, Dot! You won't be frightened? You needn't +be. He won't come your way. Hill has sworn solemnly to keep an extra +guard in this direction. He may call around himself before the day is +over. It wouldn't surprise me. Don't shoot him if he does! At least, +give him a feed first!" + +"Oh, really, Jack!" the girl protested. "I shall be cross with you before +long. You'd better go quick before it comes on." + +She put her arms around his neck and gave him a tight hug. Her sunburnt +face was pressed to his. "Now, you won't do anything silly?" she urged +him, softly. "I don't like parting with you in this mood. I wish I were +coming too." + +"Rubbish! Rubbish!" he said. "You stay at home, little shepherdess, and +look after the lambs! I won't be late back. Mind you are civil to +Fletcher Hill if he turns up! He'll be a magistrate one of these days if +he plays his cards well." + +"If he catches the biggest cattle-thief in Australia?" suggested Dot, +screwing her face into a very boyish grimace. "I wouldn't care to get +promotion for that job, if I were a man. But I'll be vastly polite to him +if he turns up. You've never seen me doing the pretty, have you? But I +can--awfully well--when I try." + +Her brother laughed. "Oh, don't be too pretty, my child! It's a dangerous +game. Good-bye! Don't go far away!" + +"My dear man! As if I should have time!" ejaculated Dot. + +She gave him another squeeze and let him go. + +There were a great many things to be done that day, things which a mere +ignorant male would never have dreamt of. There was bread to be baked, an +evening meal to be prepared, countless household duties waiting to be +done, and work enough in Jack's wardrobe alone to keep an ordinary woman +busy for a week. Poor Jack! He was not a great hand at needlework. She +had been shocked at the state in which she had found him. But she had not +shirked her responsibilities. And more than ever was she glad now that +she had come to him. For he needed her in a moral sense as well. She was +too much of a "new chum" to help him in any very active sense outside the +homestead at present. But he needed a good deal of moral backing just at +that moment. She had come to him straight from England, and full of +enthusiasm. He had hewn his own way and begun to enjoy prosperity. But +she had arrived to find that prosperity temporarily checked. A gang of +cattle-thieves were making serious depredations among his stock. + +The police were hot on the trail, and it was believed that the gang had +been split up, but so far no notable captures had been made. Buckskin +Bill, the leader, was still at large, and while this remained the case +there could be no security for any one. Every farmer in the district was +keen on the chase, expecting to fall a victim. + +And--there was no doubt about it--Buckskin Bill was in a very tight +corner. Inspector Hill had the matter in hand, and he was not a man to +be lightly baffled. Jack regarded him with wholehearted admiration. But +somehow Dot, the new arrival, felt curiously prejudiced against him. She +wanted Buckskin Bill to be caught, but she could not help hoping that +this astute Inspector of Police would not be his captor. She was sure +from Jack's description that she would not like the man, and as she went +about her work she earnestly hoped that he would not come her way, at +least in her brother's absence. + +She was busy indoors during the whole of the morning. As midday +approached the heat became intense. Jack usually returned for a meal at +noon, but she was not expecting him that day. He had joined the chase, +and had taken with him every available man. She might have felt lonely +if she had not been so engrossed. As it was, she hummed cheerily to +herself as she went to and fro. There were so many things to think about, +and it was such an interesting world in which she found herself. + +In the early afternoon she went out to feed a few motherless lambs that +her brother had placed in her charge. She stood in the shelter of a great +barn with the little things clustering around her, while Robin, the old +black hound, lay watching and snapping at the flies. Miles and miles of +pasture stretched around her, broken here and there by thick scrub and +occasional groups of blue gum trees. + +The hot glare of the afternoon sun made the eyes ache, and she was glad +when her task was over. When she stood up at length she was feeling a +little giddy, and she leaned for a moment against the barn wall to steady +herself. A rank growth of grass grew all about her feet, and as she stood +there gazing rather dizzily downwards she saw a ripple pass along it +close to the building. + +Any but a "new chum" would have known the meaning of that small +disturbance, for there was no breath of air to cause it. Any but a "new +chum," being quite defenceless, would have beaten instant and swift +retreat. + +But Dot Burton in her inexperience had no thought of evil. She was only +curious. She forgot her weariness, and bent down to watch the moving +grass. + +At the same moment Robin suddenly raised his head and looked keenly in +the direction of the farm, with a growl. The girl barely heard him, so +interested was she. She even stooped and parted the tall grass with her +hands when unexpectedly it ceased to move. + +The next instant she started back with a wild cry of horror. For it was +as if the grass itself had suddenly come to malignant life under her +hands. A shape--long, thin, vividly green--rose up before her, and swayed +with an angry hiss. + +Her cry seemed to galvanize Robin into action, for he sprang up fiercely +barking, but his attention was not directed towards her. He leapt instead +towards the house, yelling resentment as he went. And in a flash the +green evil struck at the bare brown arm! + +Dot shrieked again, shrieked like a demented creature, and in a moment, +with hands flung wide, she was fleeing across the sun-baked yard. + +She reached the open door immediately behind Robin, and sprang in +headlong. Robin had ceased to bark, and was fawning at the feet of a man +who had evidently just entered. He was bent down over the dog, fondling +him with one hand. In the other something bright gleamed, and as he +straightened himself the girl saw that it was a revolver; but she was too +agitated to take much note of the fact. + +She burst in upon him in breathless, horrified distress. "I've been +bitten!" she cried to him. "Bitten by a snake!" + +"Where?" he said. + +He had her by the arm in a second and was pushing up the loose holland +sleeve. Later she marvelled at his promptitude, his instant intuition. +At the moment she was too terrified, too near collapse, to notice any of +these things. + +He pushed her down upon a chair and knelt beside her. She found herself +staring down at a shock of straw-coloured hair, while the owner of it +sucked and sucked with an almost brutal force at a place in the crook of +her arm that felt as if a red-hot needle had been plunged into it. She +could feel the drawing of his teeth against her flesh. It was a sensation +almost more horrible than the actual snake-bite had been. + +Twice he turned his head and spat into the hearth, and she saw that his +face was smooth and young, the colour of sun-baked brick. + +At last he looked up at her with the most extraordinarily blue eyes she +had ever seen, and said, with a kindly twinkle in them, "I don't think +you'll die this time, missis." + +She looked from him to her arm. The bite showed no more than the sting of +a nettle, but around it was the deep impress of his teeth. Certainly he +had done his task thoroughly. + +The kettle was singing over the fire. He got to his feet and patted Robin +on the head. "Let's wash it," he said. "Is there a basin handy?" + +Dot sat in her chair, feeling rather weak. He fetched a bowl and set it +on a chair by her side. He poured water into it from the kettle. + +She looked up at him rather apprehensively. "I needn't scald it, need I?" + +He smiled down at her in instant reassurance, a vivid smile that warmed +her fear-chilled heart. His teeth were white and regular, like the teeth +of a young wild animal. + +"There's some cold water somewhere, isn't there?" he said. + +She told him where to find it, and he cooled the steaming water to a +temperature that she could endure without flinching. Then he made her +rest her arm in it. + +"That'll comfort it," he said. "Now, have you got any spirits in the +house?" + +"I don't drink spirits," she said quickly. + +He smiled again. "No? But you must this time--just to complete the cure. +Tell me where to find them!" + +His smile was certainly magnetic, for she told him without further +protest. + +When he brought the spirits, she looked at him for the first time with +active interest. + +"I suppose you are Inspector Hill," she said. + +He was pouring whisky into a glass. He gave her a sidelong glance. "Now +that's a very clever guess," he said. "What put you on to that?" + +She smiled, mainly because he had meant her to smile. "I've been half +expecting you all day," she said. + +He looked down at her more fully as he finished his task. "That's very +interesting," he said. "Who told you to expect me?" + +"My brother--Jack Burton," she explained. + +"Oh! Jack Burton is your brother, is he?" He contemplated her +thoughtfully for a second or two. "Well, I seem to have turned up +at the right moment," he said. + +"Yes." She leaned forward with flushed face upraised. "And I haven't said +'Thank you' yet. I'm so grateful to you. I can't tell you how grateful." + +"Don't!" he said. "Don't! Drink this instead! Drink to the lucky chance +that sent me your way! I'm proud to have been of use to you." + +She took the glass unwillingly. "I'm sure I shall hate it." + +"It's the best antidote to snake-poison out," he said. "I swear it won't +upset you. If it makes you sleepy, well, you're in the right place and +safe enough." + +She liked his utterance of the last words. They had a genuine ring. "But, +if I drink, so must you!" she said. "And eat, too! Jack said I was to +give you a meal if you came." + +He smiled again, a large, humorous smile. "That's the kindest thing Jack +Burton has ever done," he said, with warm approval. "I'll join you with +pleasure, missis. This man-trapping business is hungry work for all of +us." + +Dot frowned a little. It did not please her to be reminded of his +mission. Her former prejudice began to revive within her, his kindness +notwithstanding. + +"I don't like the thought of it myself," she told him abruptly. "But, of +course, I'm only a 'new chum.'" + +"What?" he said, pausing in the act of pouring himself out a drink. "That +sounds as if you want that scoundrel Bill to get away." + +She coloured in some confusion under his look. How could she expect to +make a policeman understand? "No--no!" she said, with vehemence. "I'm not +quite so soft as that. I'd shoot him myself if he came my way. But I hate +to think of a dozen men all on the track of one. It really isn't fair." + +He laughed, but without superiority. "And yet you'd swell the odds? Do +you call that fair?" + +Dot paused to collect her arguments. It seemed that possibly even this +machine of justice carried a small fragment of sympathy in his soul. +Certainly he was not the judicial automaton she had expected him to be. + +"It's like this," she said. "I'd shoot him if he came my way because +he has done us a lot of mischief, and I want to stop it. But I'd +do it squarely. I wouldn't do it when he wasn't looking. And I +wouldn't--ever--make it my profession to hunt down criminals and even +employ black men to help. I think that's hateful. I couldn't live that +way. I'd be above it." + +"I see." He lifted his glass to her in a silent toast, and drank a deep +draught. "Then if you chanced to know where he was, I take it you'd just +settle him yourself, if you could. But you wouldn't in any case give him +away to the police. Is that your point of view?" + +"It isn't unreasonable, is it?" she said, with a touch of eagerness. "I +mean, if you weren't what you are, wouldn't you do the same?" + +"I don't know," he said, smiling at her whimsically. "You see, being what +I am handicaps me rather. I haven't much time for working out nice +problems." + +Dot leaned back again. He had disappointed her. But she could not neglect +her duty on that account. She took her arm out of the water and dried it. +Then she arose. + +"How does it feel?" he said. + +"Oh, only a little stiff," she answered, turning away. "Now I am going to +get you something to eat. Sit down, won't you?" + +Her tone was distant, but he did not seem to notice any change. He +thanked her and sat down, facing the open door. Robin sat pressed against +his knee. It was evident that the dog entertained no doubts regarding the +visitor. Having passed him as respectable, he accepted him without +reserve. + +This fact presently occurred to Dot as she waited upon her visitor, and, +since it was not her nature to prolong an uncomfortable situation, she +broke the silence to comment upon it. + +"He doesn't take to everyone at sight," she said. + +"No?" She saw again that frank, disarming smile. "You see, missis, I know +the ways of animals, and a very useful sort of knowledge I've found it." + +"I wonder why you call me missis," she said. "I'm Jack's sister, not his +wife." + +He looked up at her. "But you're the boss of the establishment, I take +it?" + +She smiled also half against her will. "I'm rather new at present. But no +doubt I shall learn." + +"And then you'll go and boss some one else?" he suggested. + +She coloured a little. "No. I shall stick to Jack," she said, with +decision. + +"Lucky Jack!" he said. "But you're quite right. There's no one good +enough for you around here. We're a low breed mostly." + +"I didn't mean that!" she protested, in quick distress. "I never thought +that!" + +"I know," he said. "I know. But you've sort of felt it all the same. Me, +for instance!" His intensely blue eyes challenged her suddenly. "Haven't +you said to yourself, 'That man may be up to local standard, but he's +made of shocking crude material'? Straight now! Haven't you?" + +She hesitated, her face burning under his direct look. "Do you--do you +really want to know what I think?" she said. + +"I do." There was something uncompromising in the brief rejoinder, yet +somehow she did not find him formidable. + +She answered him without difficulty in spite of her embarrassment. "I +think, then, that it isn't you yourself at all that I feel like that +about. It's just your profession." + +"Ah!" He began to smile again. "Once live down that, and I might be +possible. Is that it?" + +She nodded, still flushed, yet curiously not uneasy. "Something like +that. Why can't you be a farmer like Jack?" + +"I wish I were," he said, unexpectedly. + +"Why?" The word slipped out almost in spite of her, but she felt she must +have an answer. + +He answered her with his eyes full on her. "Because I'd like to lead the +sort of life you would approve of," he said. "I've a notion it would be +worth while." + +She turned aside from his look. "It's only a matter of opinion, of +course," she said. + +"Is it?" he said. He turned his attention to the meal before him, and ate +rapidly for a few moments while he considered the matter. At length: +"Yes," he said. "I suppose you're right. Anyhow, you don't feel drawn +that way. You won't feel a bit pleased if Buckskin Bill gets caught by +the police this journey after this?" + +Dot shook her head. "I don't think a man ought to be tracked down like a +wild beast," she said, resolutely. + +The blue eyes that watched her kindled a little. He finished what was on +his plate and pushed it from him. + +"I'm greatly obliged to you," he said, "for your hospitality. I needed +it--badly enough. You'll thank Jack for me, won't you? I must be going +now. But there's just one thing I'd like to say to you first." + +He got up and stood before her. It was impossible not to admire his +splendid height and breadth of chest. He could have lifted her easily +with one hand. And yet, strangely, though she felt his power he did not +make her aware of her own weakness. + +She looked up at him. "Yes? What is it?" + +"Just this, Miss Burton," he said, and somehow he lingered over the name +in a fashion that made it sound musical in her ears. "I'd like to strike +a bargain with you--because you've made a sort of impression on me. I'm +not meaning any impertinence. You know that?" + +"Go on!" she whispered, almost inaudibly. + +He went on, bending slightly towards her. "The odds are dead against +Buckskin Bill escaping, but--he may escape. If he does, will you--the +next time I come to see you--treat me--without prejudice?" + +He also was almost whispering as he uttered the last words. + +She drew a sharp breath and looked at him. "You--you--are going to let +him go?" she said, incredulously. + +He did not answer. His eyes were drawing hers with a magnetism she could +not resist. And they thrilled her--they thrilled her! + +"The odds are dead against him," he said again, after a moment. "Is it--a +bargain?" + +Her heart gave a queer little jerk within her. She stood motionless for +a space. Then, with a little quivering smile, she very, very slowly gave +him her hand. + +He took it into his great brown one, and though his touch was wholly +gentle she felt the force of the man throbbing behind it, and it seemed +to surge all around and within her. + +He stood for a second as if irresolute or uncertain how to treat her. +Then, with a wordless sound that needed no interpretation, he pushed +back the sleeve from the place whence he had sucked the poison. It showed +only a little red now. He bent very low until his lips pressed it again. +Then for one burning moment they neither moved nor breathed. + +The next thing that Dot realized was the passing of his great figure +through the doorway out of her sight. She saw him don his slouch hat as +he went. + + * * * * * + +She cleared the table again and sat down to her work. But somehow all +energy had gone from her. A great lassitude hung upon her. Perhaps it was +caused by the heat, or possibly by the whisky he had made her drink. +There was no resisting it. It pressed her down like a physical weight. +She gave herself up to it at last, and leaning back in her chair like a +tired child she slept. + +Robin lay at her feet. The afternoon crawled away. Like the enchanted +princess of old, she reclined in a slumber so deep that life itself +seemed to be suspended. + +The sun began to slant towards the west, and the pastures took on a +golden look. The lambs gambolled together with shrill bleatings. But +Dot Burton slept on in her chair, a faint smile on her face of innocence. +Though she could not have been dreaming in so deep a repose, her last +thought ere she slept must have held happiness. Her serenity lay like a +tender veil upon her. + +It was drawing towards evening when Robin suddenly raised his head again +with a deep growl. There came the sound of footsteps through the open +door. The girl stirred and slowly awoke. + +She stretched up her arms with a sleepy movement, and then, as voices +reached her, roused herself completely and got to her feet. + +Her brother and another man--a tall, lantern-jawed stranger--were on the +point of entering. + +Jack led the way. "Halloa, Dot!" he said. "Have you seen anything of our +man? He's broken cover in this direction in spite of us. You haven't shot +him by any chance, I suppose?" + +Dot looked from him to the man behind him. + +"Inspector Hill," said Jack. "Eh? What's the matter?" + +"Nothing--nothing!" said Dot. Yet she had gone back a step as if she had +been struck. She held out her hand to the policeman. "How do you do? +I--I--am very pleased to meet you. So you haven't caught him after all?" + +Inspector Hill was looking at her keenly. He wore a sardonic expression, +as of one who knows that he has been outwitted. "I have not, madam," +he said. "Neither, I presume, have you?" + +She shook her head, looking him straight in the face. "No, I haven't. +I am afraid I have been asleep. Are you sure he passed this way?" + +Her eyes were clear and candid as the eyes of a boy. Inspector Hill +turned his own away. + +"Yes. Quite sure," he said, with brevity. + +"He's a slippery devil," declared Jack Burton. "Sit down, man! My sister +is a 'new chum.' She probably wouldn't have known him from a man on the +farm if she'd seen him. In fact, if you'd turned up here by yourself she +might have shot you--on suspicion." + +"I probably should," said Dot, coldly. + +She did not like Inspector Hill, and her manner plainly said so. + +At her brother's behest she set food before them, for they were hot and +jaded after their fruitless day; but she left the duties of host entirely +to him, and as soon as possible she went away with Robin to feed the +lambs. + +A wonderful glow lay upon the grasslands. It was as if she moved through +a magic atmosphere upon which some enchantment had been laid. Since that +wonderful sleep of hers all things seemed to have changed. Had it all +been a dream? she asked herself. Then, shuddering, she turned up her +sleeve to find that small red patch upon her arm. + +She found it. It tingled to her touch. Yet she continued to finger it +with a curious feeling that was almost awe. She thought it must be the +memory of his kiss that made it throb so hard. + +Some one came softly up behind her. An arm encircled her. She turned with +the day-dream still in her eyes and saw her brother. + +She pulled down her sleeve quickly, for though his face was kind, he +seemed to look at her oddly, almost with suspicion. + +"Had a quiet day?" he questioned, gently. + +She leaned against his shoulder, feeling small and rather uncomfortable. +"I--I was very busy all the morning," she said, evasively. + +"And in the afternoon?" he said. + +She nestled to him with a little coaxing movement. "In the afternoon," +she told him softly, "I went to sleep." + +"Yes?" he said. + +"That's all," said Dot, lifting her face to kiss him. + +He took her chin and held it while he looked long and searchingly into +her eyes. + +"Dot!" he said. + +She made a little gesture of protest, but he held her still. + +"Dot, tell me what has been happening!" he said. + +She had begun to tremble. "I'll tell you," she said, "when Inspector Hill +has gone." + +"Tell me now!" he said. + +But she shook her head with tightly compressed lips. + +"You have seen the man!" he said. + +Dot remained silent. + +His face grew grim. "Dot! Shall I tell you what Hill said to me just +now?" + +"If you like," whispered Dot. + +"He said, 'She has seen the man, and he has squared her. It's a way he +has with the women. You'll find she won't give him away.'" + +That stung, as it was meant to sting. She flinched under it. "I hate +Inspector Hill!" she said, with vehemence. + +He smiled a little. "I don't suppose that fact would upset him much. A +good many people don't exactly love him. But look here, Dot! You're not +a fool. At least, I hope not. You can't seriously wish to shield a thief. +Only this morning you were going to shoot him!" + +"Ah!" she said. And then suddenly she pulled up her sleeve and showed him +the mark upon her arm. "But he has saved my life since then," she said. + +"What?" said Jack. He caught her arm and looked at it. "You've had a +snake-bite!" he said. + +"Yes, Jack." + +His eyes went back to her face. "Why didn't you tell me before? What kind +of snake was it?" + +She told him, shuddering. "A horrible green thing--green as the grass. I +think it had some black marking on its back. I'm not sure. I didn't stop +to see. I--oh, Jack!" She broke off in swift consternation. "There is a +dead lamb!" + +"Ah!" said Jack, and strode across to the barn where it lay, stark and +lifeless in the shade in which it had taken refuge from the afternoon +heat. + +"Oh, Jack!" cried Dot, in distress. "What can have happened to it? +Not--not that hateful snake?" + +"Not much doubt as to that," said Jack, grimly. "No, don't look too +close! It's not a pretty sight. And don't cry, child! What's the good?" + +He drew her away, his arm around her, holding her closely, comforting +her. "It might have been you," he said. + +She lifted her wet face from his shoulder. "It was--it would have +been--but for--" + +"All right," he interrupted. "Don't say any more!" + + * * * * * + +He left her to recover herself and went back to Fletcher Hill, +sardonically awaiting him. + +"On a wrong scent this time," he said. "She's lost one of the lambs from +snake-bite, and it's upset her. She's a 'new chum,' you know." + +"I know," said Inspector Hill. + +Jack Burton leaned upon the table and looked him in the eyes. "My sister +is not a detective," he said, warningly. "Buckskin Bill has been one too +many for us this time. The odds were dead against him, but he's slipped +through. And I've a pretty firm notion he won't come back." + +"So have I," said Inspector Hill, unmoved. + +"And a blasted good job too!" said Jack Burton, forcibly. + +A gleam of humour crossed the Inspector's face. He pulled out his pipe +with a gesture that made for peace. + +"If I were in your place," he said, "I daresay I'd say the same." + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + Without Prejudice + + + + +CHAPTER I + +SILLY SENTIMENT + + +"It's time I set about making my own living," said Dot Burton. + +She spoke resolutely, and her face was resolute also; its young lines +were for the moment almost grim. She stood in the doorway of the stable, +watching her brother rub down the animal he had just been riding. Behind +her the rays of the Australian sun smote almost level, making of her fair +hair a dazzling aureole of gold. The lashes of her blue eyes were tipped +with gold also, but the brows above them were delicately dark. They were +slightly drawn just then, as if she were considering a problem of +considerable difficulty. + +Jack Burton was frankly frowning over his task. It was quite evident that +his sister's announcement was not a welcome one. + +She continued after a moment, as he did not respond in words: "I am sure +I could make a living, Jack. I'm not the 'new chum' I used to be, thanks +to you. You've taught me a whole heap of things." + +Jack glanced up for a second. "Aren't you happy here?" he said. + +She eluded the question. "You've been awfully good to me, dear old boy. +But really, you know, I think you've got burdens enough without me. In +any case, it isn't fair that I should add to them." + +Jack grunted. "It isn't fair that you should do more than half the work +on the place and not be paid for it, you mean. You're quite right, it +isn't." + +"No, I don't mean that, Jack." Quite decidedly she contradicted him. "I +don't mind work. I like to have my time filled. I love being useful. It +isn't that at all. But all the same, you and Adela are quite complete +without me. Before you were married it was different. I was necessary to +you then. But I'm not now. And so--" + +"Has Adela been saying that to you?" + +Jack Burton straightened himself abruptly. His expression was almost +fierce. + +Dot laughed at sight of it. "No, Jack, no! Don't be so jumpy! Of course +she hasn't. As if she would! She hasn't said a thing. But I know how she +feels, and I should feel exactly the same in her place. Now do be +sensible! You must see my point. I'm getting on, you know, Jack. I'm +twenty-five. Just fancy! You've sheltered me quite long enough--too long, +really. You must--you really must--let me go." + +He was looking at her squarely. "I can't prevent your going," he said, +gruffly. "But it won't be with my consent--ever--or my approval. You'll +go against my will--dead against it." + +"Jack--darling!" She went to him impulsively and took him by the +shoulders. "Now that isn't reasonable of you. It really isn't. You've +got to take that back." + +He looked at her moodily. "I shan't take it back. I can't. I am dead +against your going. I know this country. It's not a place for lone women. +And you're not much more than a child, whatever you may say. It's rough, +I tell you. And you"--he looked down upon her slender fairness--"you +weren't made for rough things." + +"Please don't be silly, Jack!" she broke in. "I'm quite as strong as the +average woman and, I hope, as capable. I'm grown up, you silly man! I'm +old--older than you are in some ways, even though you have been in the +world ten years longer. Can't you see I want to stretch my wings?" + +"Want to leave me?" he said, and put his arms suddenly about her. She +nestled to him on the instant, lifting her face to kiss him. + +"No, darling, no! Never in life! But--you must see--you must see"--her +eyes filled with tears unexpectedly, and she laid her head upon his +shoulder to hide them--"that I can't--live on you--for ever. It isn't +fair--to you--or to Adela--or to--to--anyone else who might turn up." + +"Ah!" he said. "Or to you either. We've no right to make a slave of you. +I know that. Perhaps Adela hasn't altogether realized it." + +"I've nothing--whatever--against Adela," Dot told him, rather shakily. +"She has never been--other than kind. No, it is what I feel myself. I +am not necessary to you or to Adela, and--in a way--I'm glad of it. I +like to know you two are happy. I'm not a bit jealous, Jack, not a bit. +It's just as it should be. But you'll have to let me go, dear. It's time +I went. It's right that I should go. You mustn't try to hold me back." + +But Jack's arms had tightened about her. "I hate the thought of it," he +said. "Give it up! Give it up, old girl--for my sake!" + +She shook her head silently in his embrace. + +He went on with less assurance. "If you wanted to get married it would +be a different thing. I would never stand in the way of your marrying a +decent man. If you must go, why don't you do that?" + +She laughed rather tremulously. "You think every good woman ought to +marry, don't you, Jack?" + +"When there's a good man waiting for her, why not?" said Jack. + +She lifted her head and looked at him. "I'm not going to marry Fletcher +Hill, Jack," she said, with firmness. + +Jack made a slight movement of impatience. "I never could see your +objection to the man," he said. + +She laughed again, drawing herself back from him. "But, Jack darling, a +woman doesn't marry a man just because he's not objectionable, does she? +I always said I wouldn't marry him, didn't I?" + +"You might do a lot worse," said Jack. + +"Of course I might--heaps worse. But that isn't the point. I think he's +quite a good sort--in his own sardonic way. And he is a great friend of +yours, too, isn't he? That fact would count vastly in his favour if I +thought of marrying at all. But, you see--I don't." + +"I call that uncommon hard on Fletcher," observed Jack. + +She opened her blue eyes very wide. "My dear man, why?" + +"After waiting for you all this time," he explained, suffering his arms +to fall away from her. + +She still gazed at him in astonishment. "Jack! But I never asked him to +wait!" + +He turned from her with a shrug of the shoulders. "No, but I did." + +"You did? Jack, what can you mean?" + +Jack stooped to feel one of his animal's hocks. He spoke without looking +at her. "It's been my great wish--all this time. I've been deuced anxious +about you often. Australia isn't the place for unprotected girls--at +least, not out in the wilds. I've seen--more than enough of that. And +you're no wiser than the rest. You lost your head once--over a rotter. +You might again. Who knows?" + +"Oh, really, Jack!" The girl's face flushed very deeply. She turned it +aside instinctively, though he was not looking at her. But the colour +died as quickly as it came, leaving her white and quivering. + +She stood mutely struggling for self-control while Jack continued. "I +know Fletcher. I know he's sound. He's a man who always gets what he +wants. He wouldn't be a magistrate now if he didn't. And when I saw he +wanted you, I made up my mind he should have you if I could possibly work +it. I gave him my word I'd help him, and I begged him to wait a bit, to +give you time to get over that other affair. He's been waiting--ever +since." + +Dot's hands clenched slowly. She spoke with a great effort. "Then he'd +better stop waiting--at once, Jack, and marry someone else." + +"He won't do that," said Jack. He stood up again abruptly and faced round +upon her. "Look here, dear! Why can't you give in and marry him? He's +such a good sort if you only get to know him well. You've always kept him +at arm's length, haven't you? Well, let him come a bit nearer! You'll +soon like him well enough to marry him. He'd make you happy, Dot. Take my +word for it!" + +She met his look bravely, though the distress still lingered in her eyes. +"But, dear old Jack," she said, "no woman can possibly love at will." + +"It would come afterwards," Jack said, with conviction. "I know it would. +He's such a good chap. You've never done him justice. See, Dot girl! +You're not happy. I know that. You want to stretch your wings, you say. +Well, there's only one way of doing it, for you can't go out into the +world--this world--alone. At least, you'll break my heart if you do. He's +the only fellow anywhere near worthy of you. And he's been so awfully +patient. Do give him his chance!" + +He put his arm round her shoulders again, holding her very tenderly. + +She yielded herself to him with a suppressed sob. "I'm sure it would be +wrong, Jack," she said. + +"Not a bit wrong!" Jack maintained, stoutly. "What have you been waiting +for all this time? A myth, an illusion, that can never come true! You've +no right to spoil your own life and someone else's as well for such a +reason as that. I call that wrong--if you like." + +She hid her face against him with a piteous gesture. "He--said he would +come back, Jack." + +Jack frowned over her bowed head even while he softly stroked it. "And if +he had--do you think I would ever have let you go to him? A cattle thief, +Dot! An outlaw!" + +She clung to him trembling. "He saved my life--at the risk of his own," +she whispered, almost inarticulately. + +"Oh, I know--I know. He was that sort--brave enough, but a hopeless +rotter." Jack's voice held a curious mixture of tenderness and contempt. +"Women always fall in love with that sort of fellow," he said. "Heaven +knows why. But you'd no right to lose your heart to him, little 'un. You +knew--you always knew--he wasn't the man for you." + +She clung to him in silence for a space, then lifted her face. "All +right, Jack," she said. + +He looked at her closely for a moment. "Come! It's only silly sentiment," +he urged. "You can't feel bad about it after all this time. Why, child, +it's five years!" + +She laughed rather shakily. "I am a big fool, aren't I, Jack? +Yet--somehow--do you know--I thought he meant to come back." + +"Not he!" declared Jack. "Catch Buckskin Bill putting his head back into +the noose when once he had got away! He's not quite so simple as that, my +dear. He probably cleared out of Australia for good as soon as he got the +chance. And a good thing, too!" he added, with emphasis. "He'd done +mischief enough." + +She raised her lips to his. "Thank you for not laughing at me, Jack," she +said. "Don't--ever--tell Adela, will you? I'm sure she would." + +He smiled a little. "Yes, I think she would. She'd say you were old +enough to know better." + +Dot nodded. "And very sensible, too. I am." + +He patted her shoulder. "Good girl! Then that chapter is closed. +And--you're going to give poor Fletcher his chance?" + +She drew a sharp breath. "Oh, I don't know. I can't promise that. +Don't--don't hustle me, Jack!" + +He gave her a hard squeeze and let her go. "There, she shan't be teased +by her horrid bully of a brother! She's going to play the game off her +own bat, and I wish her luck with all my heart." + +He turned to the job of feeding his horse, and Dot, after a few +inconsequent remarks, sauntered away in the direction of the barn, +"to be alone with herself," as she put it. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +NUMBER THREE + + +Adela Burton was laying the cloth for supper, and looking somewhat +severe over the process. She was usually cheerful at that hour of the +day, for it brought her husband back from his work and, thanks to Dot's +ministrations, the evening was free from toil. It was seldom, indeed, +that Adela bestirred herself to lay the cloth for any meal, for she +maintained that it was better for a girl like Dot to have plenty to do at +all times, and she herself preferred her needlework, at which she was an +adept. + +No one could have called her an idle woman, but she was eminently a +selfish one. She followed her own bent, quite regardless of the desires +and inclinations of anyone else. She was the hub of her world from her +own point of view, and she was wholly incapable of recognizing any other. +Most people realized this and, as is the way of humanity, took her at her +own valuation, making allowances for her undoubted egotism. For she was +comely and had a taking manner, never troubling herself unless her own +personal convenience were threatened. She laughed a good deal, though her +sense of humour was none of the finest, and she was far too practical to +possess any imagination. In short, as she herself expressed it, she was +sensible; and, being so, she had small sympathy with her sister-in-law's +foolish sentimentalities, which she considered wholly out of place in the +everyday life at the farm. + +Not that Dot ever dreamed of confiding in her. She sheltered herself +invariably behind a reserve so delicate as to be almost imperceptible to +the elder woman's blunter susceptibilities. But she could not always hide +the fineness of her inner feelings, and there were times when the two +clashed in consequence. The occasions were rare, but Adela had come to +know by experience that when they occurred, opposition on her part was of +no avail. Dot was bound to have her way when her soul was stirred to +battle for it, as on the day when she had refused to let Robin, the dog, +be chained up when not on duty with the sheep. Adela had objected to his +presence in the house, and Dot had firmly insisted upon it on the score +that Robin had always been an inmate as the companion and protector of +her lonely hours. + +Adela had disputed the point with some energy, but she had been +vanquished, and now, when Dot asserted herself, she seldom met with +opposition from her sister-in-law. It was practically impossible that +they should ever be fond of one another. They had nothing in common. Yet +it was very seldom that Jack saw any signs of strain between them. They +dwelt together without antagonism and without intimacy. + +Nevertheless, Dot's announcement of her desire to go out into the world +and hew a way for herself came as no surprise to him. He knew that she +was restless and far from happy, knew that his marriage had unsettled +her, albeit in a fashion he had not fathomed till their talk together. +His young sister was very dear to him. She had been thrown upon his care +years before when the death of their parents had left her dependent upon +him. It had always been his wish to have her with him. His love for her +was of a deep, almost maternal nature, and he hated the thought of +parting with her. He had hoped that the companionship of Adela would have +been a joy to her, and he was intensely disappointed that it had proved +otherwise. His anxiety for her welfare had always been uppermost with +him, and it hurt him somewhat when Adela laughed at his hopes and fears +regarding the girl. It was the only point upon which his wife and he +lacked sympathy. + +Entering by way of the kitchen premises on that evening of his talk +with Dot, he was surprised to find Adela fulfilling what had come to +be regarded as Dot's duties. He looked around him questioningly as she +emerged from the larder carrying a dish in one hand and a jug of milk +in the other. + +"Where's the little 'un?" he said. + +It was his recognized pet name for Dot, but for some reason Adela had +never approved of it. She frowned now at its utterance. + +"Do you mean Dot? Oh, mooning about somewhere, I suppose. And leaving +other people to do the work." + +Jack promptly relieved her of her burden and set himself to help her with +her task. + +Adela was not ill-tempered as a rule. She smiled at him. "Good man, Jack! +No one can say you're an idler, anyway. I've got rather a nice supper for +you. I shouldn't wonder if Fletcher Hill turns up to share it. I hear he +is on circuit at Trelevan." + +"I heard it, too," said Jack. "He's practically sure to come." + +"He's very persistent," said Adela. "Do you think he will ever win out?" + +Jack nodded slowly. "I've never known him fail yet in anything he set his +mind to--at least, only once. And that was a fluke." + +"What sort of a fluke?" questioned Adela, who was frankly curious. + +"When Buckskin Bill slipped through his fingers." Jack spoke +thoughtfully. "That's the only time I ever knew him fail, and I'm not +sure that it wasn't intentional then." + +"Intentional!" Adela opened her eyes. + +Jack smiled a little. "I don't say it was so. I only say it was +possible. But never mind that! It's an old story, and the man got away, +anyhow--disappeared, dropped out. Possibly he's dead. I hope he is. He +did mischief enough in a short time." + +"He set the whole district humming, didn't he?" said Adela. "They say all +the women fell in love with him at sight. I wish I'd seen him." + +Jack broke into a laugh. "You'd certainly have fallen a victim!" + +She tossed her head. "I'm sure I shouldn't. I prefer respectable men. +Shall we lay an extra plate in case Mr. Hill turns up?" + +"No," said Jack. "Let him come unexpectedly!" + +She gave him a shrewd look. "You think Dot will like that best?" + +He nodded again. "Be careful! She's coming. Here's Robin!" + +Robin came in, wagging his tail and smiling, and behind him came Dot. She +moved slowly, as if dispirited. Jack's quick eyes instantly detected the +fact that she had been shedding tears. + +"You're too late, little 'un," he said, with kindly cheeriness. "The work +is all done." + +She looked from him to Adela. "I'm sorry I'm late," she said. "I'm afraid +I forgot about supper." + +"Oh, you're in love!" joked Adela. "You'll forget to come in at all one +of these days." + +The girl gave her a swift look, but said nothing, passing through with +a weary step on her way to her own room. + +Robin followed her closely, as one in her confidence; and Jack laid a +quiet hand on his wife's arm. + +"Don't laugh at her!" he said. + +She stared at him. "Good gracious, Jack! What's the matter? I didn't mean +anything." + +"I know you didn't. But this thing is serious. If Fletcher Hill comes +to-night, I believe she'll have him--that is, if she's let alone. But she +won't if you twit her with it. It's touch and go." + +Jack spoke with great earnestness. It was evident that the matter was one +upon which he felt very strongly, and Adela shrugged a tolerant shoulder +and yielded to his persuasion. + +"I'll be as solemn as a judge," she promised. "The affair certainly has +hung fire considerably. It would be a good thing to get it settled. But +Fletcher Hill! Well, he wouldn't be my choice!" + +"He's a fine man," asserted Jack. + +"Oh, I've no doubt. But he's an animal with a nasty bite, or I am much +mistaken. However, let Dot marry him by all means if she feels that way! +It's certainly high time she married somebody." + +She turned aside to put the teapot on the hob, humming inconsequently, +and the subject dropped. + +Jack went to his room to wash, and in a few minutes more they gathered +round the supper-table with careless talk of the doings of the day. + +It had always been Dot's favourite time, the supper-hour. In the old days +before Jack's marriage she had looked forward to it throughout the day. +The companionship of this beloved brother of hers had been the chief joy +of her life. + +But things were different now. It was her part to serve the meal, to +clear the table, and to wash the dishes Jack and Adela were complete +without her. Though they always welcomed her when the work was done, she +knew that her society was wholly unessential, and she often prolonged her +labours in the scullery that she might not intrude too soon upon them. +She was no longer necessary to anyone--except to Robin the faithful, +who followed her as her shadow. She had become Number Three, and she was +lonely--she was lonely! + + + + +CHAPTER III + +FLETCHER HILL + + +There came a sound of hoofs thudding over the pastures. Robin lifted his +eyebrows and cocked his ears with a growl. + +Dot barely glanced up from the saucepan she was cleaning; her lips +tightened a little, that was all. + +The hoofs drew rapidly nearer, dropping from a canter to a quick trot +that ended in a clattering walk on the stones of the yard. Through the +open window Dot heard the heavy thud of a man's feet as he jumped to the +ground. + +Then came Jack's voice upraised in greeting. "Hallo, Fletcher! Come in, +man! Come in! Delighted to see you." + +The voice that spoke in answer was short and clipped. Somehow it had an +official sound. "Hallo, Jack! Good evening, Mrs. Burton! What! Alone?" + +Jack laughed. "Dot's in the kitchen. Hi! little 'un! Bring some drinks!" + +Robin was on his feet, uttering low, jerky barks. Dot put aside her +saucepan and began to wash her hands. She did not hasten to obey Jack's +call, but when she turned to collect glasses on a tray she was trembling +and her breath came quickly, as if from violent exercise. + +Nevertheless she did not hesitate, but went straight through to the +little parlour, carrying her tray with the jingling glasses upon it. + +Fletcher Hill was facing her as she entered, a tall man, tough and +muscular, with black hair that was tinged with grey, and a long stubborn +jaw that gave him an indomitable look. His lips were thin and very firm, +with a sardonic twist that imparted a faintly supercilious expression. +His eyes were dark, deep-set, and shrewd. He was a magistrate of some +repute in the district, a position which he had attained by sheer +unswerving hard work in the police force, in which for years he had +been known as "Bloodhound Hill." A man of rigid ideas and stern justice, +he had forced his way to the front, respected by all, but genuinely liked +by only a very few. + +Jack Burton had regarded him as a friend for years, but even Jack could +not claim a very close intimacy with him. He merely understood the man's +silences better than most. His words were very rarely of a confidential +order. + +He was emphatically not a man to attract any girl very readily, and Dot's +attitude towards him had always been of a strictly impersonal nature. In +fact, Jack himself did not know whether she really liked him or not. Yet +had he set his heart upon seeing her safely married to him. There was no +other man of his acquaintance to whom he would willingly have entrusted +her. For Dot was very precious in his eyes. But to his mind Fletcher Hill +was worthy of her, and he believed that she would be as safe in his care +as in his own. + +That Fletcher Hill had long cherished the silent ambition of winning her +was a fact well known to him. Only once had they ever spoken on the +subject, and then the words had been few and briefly uttered. But to +Jack, who had taken the initiative in the matter, they had been more than +sufficient to testify to the man's earnestness of purpose. From that day +he had been heart and soul on Fletcher's side. + +He wished he could have given him a hint that evening as he looked up to +see the girl standing in the doorway; for Dot was so cold, so aloof in +her welcome. He did not see what Hill saw at the first glance--that she +was quivering from head to foot with nervous agitation. + +She set down her tray and gave her hand to the visitor. "Doesn't Rupert +want a drink?" she said. + +Rupert was his horse, and his most dearly prized possession. Hill's rare +smile showed for a moment at the question. + +"Let him cool down a bit first," he said. "I am afraid I've ridden him +rather hard." + +She gave him a fleeting glance. "You have come from Trelevan?" + +"Yes. I got there this afternoon. We left Wallacetown early this +morning." + +"Rode all the way?" questioned Jack. + +"Yes, every inch. I wanted to see the Fortescue Gold Mine." + +"Ah! There's a rough crowd there," said Jack. "They say all the uncaught +criminals find their way to the Fortescue Gold Mine." + +"Yes," said Hill. + +"Is it true?" asked Adela, curiously. + +"I am not in a position to say, madam." Hill's voice sounded sardonic. + +"That means he doesn't know," explained Jack. "Look here, man! If you've +ridden all the way from Wallacetown to-day you can't go back to Trelevan +to-night. Your animal must be absolutely used up--if you are not." + +"Oh, I think not. We are both tougher than that." Hill turned towards +him. "Don't mix it too strong, Jack! I hardly ever touch it except under +your roof." + +"I am indeed honoured," laughed Jack. "But if you're going to spend the +night you'll be able to sleep it off before you face your orderly in the +morning." + +"Do stay!" said Adela, hastening to follow up her husband's suggestion. +"We should all like it. I hope you will." + +Hill bowed towards her with stiff ceremony. "You are very kind, madam. +But I don't like to give trouble, and I am expected back." + +"By whom?" questioned Jack. "No one that counts, I'll swear. Your orderly +won't break his heart if you take a night out. He'll probably do the same +himself. And no one else will know. We'll let you leave as early as you +like in the morning, but not before. Come, that's settled, isn't it? Go +and get Rupert a shake-down, little 'un, and give him a decent feed with +plenty of corn in it! No, let her, man; let her! She likes doing it, eh, +Dot girl?" + +"Yes, I like it," Dot said, and hurriedly disappeared before Hill could +intervene. + +Jack turned to his wife. "Now, missis! Go and make ready upstairs! It's +only a little room, Fletcher, but it's snug. That's the way," as his wife +followed Dot's example. "Now--quick, man! I want a word with you." + +"Obviously," said the magistrate, dryly. "You needn't say it, thanks all +the same. I'll leave that drink till--afterwards." + +He straightened his tall figure with an instinctive bracing of the +shoulders, and turned to the door. + +Jack watched him go with a smile that was not untinged with anxiety, and +lifted his glass as the door closed. + +"You've got the cards, old feller," he said. "May you play 'em well!" + +Fletcher Hill stepped forth into the moonlit night and stood still. It +had been a swift maneuvre on Jack's part, and it might have disconcerted +a younger man and driven him into ill-considered action. But it was not +this man's nature to act upon impulse. His caution was well known. It had +been his safeguard in many a difficulty. It stood him in good stead now. + +So for a space he remained, looking out over the widespread grasslands, +his grim face oddly softened and made human. He was no longer an +official, but a man, with feelings rendered all the keener for the +habitual restraint with which he masked them. + +He moved forward at length through the magic moonlight, guided by the +sound of trampling hoofs in the building where Jack's horse was stabled. +He reached the doorway, treading softly, and looked in. + +Dot was in a stall with his mount Rupert--a powerful grey, beside which +she looked even lighter and daintier than usual. The animal was nibbling +carelessly at her arm while she filled the manger with hay. She was +talking to him softly, and did not perceive Hill's presence. Robin, who +sat waiting near the entrance, merely pricked his ears at his approach. + +Some minutes passed. Fletcher stood like a sentinel against the doorpost. +He might have been part of it for his immobility. The girl within +continued to talk to the horse while she provided for his comfort, low +words unintelligible to the silent watcher, till, as she finished her +task, she suddenly threw her arms about the animal's neck and leaned her +head against it. + +"Oh, Rupert," she said, and there was a throb of passion in her words, "I +wish--I wish you and I could go right away into the wilderness together +and never--never come back!" + +Rupert turned his head and actually licked her hair. He was a horse of +understanding. + +She uttered a little sobbing laugh and tenderly kissed his nose. "You're +a dear, sympathetic boy! Who taught you to be, I wonder? Not your master, +I'm sure! He's nothing but a steel machine all through!" + +And then she turned to leave the stable and came upon Fletcher Hill, +mutely awaiting her. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE COAT OF MAIL + + +She gave a great start at sight of him, then quickly drew herself +together. + +"You have come to see if Rupert is all right for the night?" she said. +"Go in and have a look at him." + +But Fletcher made no movement to enter. He faced her with a certain +rigidity. "No. I came to see you--alone." + +She made a sharp movement that was almost a gesture of protest. Then she +turned and drew the door softly shut behind her. Robin came and pressed +close to her, as if he divined that she stood in need of some support. +With her back to the closed door and the moonlight in her eyes, she +stood before Fletcher Hill. + +"What do you want to say to me?" she said. + +He bent slightly towards her. "It is not a specially easy thing, Miss +Burton," he said, "when I am more than half convinced that it is +something you would rather not hear." + +She met his look with unflinching steadiness. "I think life is made up of +that sort of thing," she said. "It's like a great puzzle that never fits. +I've been saying--unwelcome things--to-day, too." + +She smiled, but her lips were quivering. The man's hands slowly clenched. + +"That means you're unhappy," he said. + +She nodded. "I've been telling Jack that I must get away--go and earn my +own living somewhere. He won't hear of it." + +"I can understand that," said Fletcher Hill. "I wouldn't--in his place." + +She kept her eyes steadfastly raised to his. "Do you know what Jack wants +me to do?" she said. + +"Yes." Hill spoke briefly, almost sternly. "He wants you to marry me." + +She nodded again. "Yes." + +He held out his hand to her abruptly. "I want it, too," he said. + +She made no movement towards him. "That is what you came to say?" she +asked. + +"Yes," said Hill. + +He waited a moment; then, as she did not take his hand, bent with a +certain mastery and took one of hers. + +"I've wanted it for years," he said. + +"Ah!" A little sound like a sob came with the words. She made as if she +would withdraw her hand, but in the end--because he held it closely--she +suffered him to keep it. She spoke with an effort. "I--think you ought to +understand that--that--it is not my wish to marry at all. If--if Jack had +stayed single, I--should have been content to live on here for always." + +"Yes, I know," said Hill. "I saw that." + +She went on tremulously. "I've always felt--that a woman ought to be able +to manage alone. It's very kind of you to want to marry me. But--but +I--I think I'm getting too old." + +"Is that the only obstacle?" asked Hill. + +She tried to laugh, but it ended in a sound of tears. She turned her face +quickly aside. "I can't tell you--of any other," she said, with +difficulty, "except--except--" + +"Except that you don't like me much?" he suggested dryly. "Well, that +doesn't surprise me." + +"Oh, I didn't say that!" She choked back her tears and turned back to +him. "Let's walk a little way together, shall we? I--I'll try and +explain--just how I feel about things." + +He moved at once to comply. They walked side by side over the +close-cropped grass. Dot would have slipped her hand free, but still +he kept it. + +They had traversed some yards before she spoke again, and then her voice +was low and studiously even. + +"I can't pretend to you that there has never been anyone else. It +wouldn't be right. You probably wouldn't believe me if I did." + +"Oh, I gathered that a long time ago," Hill said. + +"Yes, of course you did. You always see everything, don't you? It's your +specialty." + +"I don't go about with my eyes shut, certainly," said Hill. + +"I'm glad of that," Dot said. "I would rather you knew about it. +Only"--her voice quivered again--"I don't know how to tell you." + +"You are sure you would rather I knew?" he said. + +"Yes." She spoke with decision. "You've got to know if--if--" She broke +off. + +"If we are going to be married?" he suggested. + +"Yes," whispered Dot. + +Hill walked a few paces in silence. Then, unexpectedly, he drew the +nervous little hand he held through his arm. "Well, you needn't tell +me any more," he said. "I know the rest." + +She started and stood still. There was quick fear in the look she threw +him. "You mean Jack told you--" + +"No, I don't," said Hill. "Jack has never yet told me anything I couldn't +have told him ages before. I knew from the beginning. It was the fellow +they called Buckskin Bill, wasn't it?" + +She quivered from head to foot and was silent. + +Hill went on ruthlessly. "First, by a stroke of luck, he saved you from +death by snake-bite. He always had the luck on his side, that chap. I +should have caught him but for that. I'd got him--I'd got him in the +hollow of my hand. But you"--for the first time there was a streak of +tenderness in his speech--"you were a new chum then--you held me up. +Remember how you covered his retreat when we came up? Did you really +think I didn't know?" + +She uttered a sobbing laugh. "I was very frightened, too. I always was +scared at the law." + +Hill nodded. He also was grimly smiling. + +"But you dared it. You'd have dared anything for him that day. He always +got the women on his side." + +She winced a little. + +"It's true," he asserted. "I know what happened--as well as if I'd seen +it. He made love to you in a very gallant, courteous fashion. I never +saw Buckskin Bill, but I believe he was always courteous when he had +time. And he promised to come back, didn't he--when he'd given up being +a thief and a swindler and had turned his hand to an honest trade? All +that--for your sake!... Yes, I thought so. But, my dear child, do you +really imagine he meant it--after all these years?" + +She looked at him with a piteous little smile. "He--he'd be worth +having--if he did, wouldn't he?" she said. + +"I wonder," said Hill. + +He waited for a few moments, then laid his hand upon her shoulder with +a touch that seemed to her as heavy as the hand of the law. + +"I can't help thinking," he said, "that you'd find a plain man like +myself more satisfactory to live with. It's for you to decide. Only--it +seems a pity to waste your life waiting for someone who will never come." + +She could not contradict him. The argument was too obvious. She longed to +put that steady hand away from her, but she felt physically incapable of +doing so. An odd powerlessness possessed her. She was as one caught in a +trap. + +Yet after a second or two she mustered strength to ask a question to +which she had long desired an answer. "Did you ever hear any more of +him?" + +"Not for certain. I believe he left the country, but I don't know. +Anyway, he found this district too hot to hold him, for he never broke +cover in this direction again. I should have had him if he had." + +Fletcher Hill spoke with a grim assurance. He was holding her before him, +one hand on her shoulder, the other grasping hers. Abruptly he bent +towards her. + +"Come!" he said. "It's going to be 'Yes,' isn't it?" + +She looked up at him with troubled eyes. Suddenly she shivered as +if an icy blast had caught her. "Oh, I'm frightened!" she said. "I'm +frightened!" + +"Nonsense!" said Hill. + +He drew her gently to him and held her. She was shaking from head to +foot. She began to sob, hopelessly, like a lost child. + +"Don't!" he said. "Don't! It's all right. I'll take care of you. I'll +make you happy. I swear to God I'll make you happy!" + +It was forcibly spoken, and it showed her more of the man's inner nature +than she had ever seen before. Almost in spite of herself she was +touched. She leaned against him, fighting her weakness. + +"It isn't--fair to you," she murmured at last. + +"That's my affair," said Hill. + +She kept her face hidden from him, and he did not seek to raise it; but +there was undoubted possession in the holding of his arms. + +After a moment or two she spoke again. "What will you do if--if you find +you're not--happy with me?" + +"I'll take my chance of that," said Fletcher Hill. He added, under his +breath, "I'll be good to you--in any case." + +That moved her. She lifted her face impulsively. "You--you are much nicer +than I thought you were," she said. + +He bent to her. "It isn't very difficult to be that," he said, with a +somewhat sardonic touch of humour. "I haven't a very high standard to +beat, have I?" + +It was not very lover-like. Perhaps, he feared to show her too much of +his soul just then, lest he seem to be claiming more than she was +prepared to offer. Perhaps that reserve of his which clothed him like +a coat of mail was more than even he could break through. But so it was +that then--just then, when the desire of his heart was actually within +his grasp, he contented himself with taking a very little. He kissed her, +indeed, though it was but a brief caress--over before her quivering lips +could make return; nor did he seek to deter her as she withdrew herself +from his arms. + +She stood a moment, looking small and very forlorn. Then she turned to +retrace her steps. + +"Shall we go back?" she said. + +He went back with her in silence till they reached the gate that led into +the yard. Then for a second he grasped her arm, detaining her. + +"It is--'Yes?'" he questioned. + +She bent her head in acquiescence, not looking at him. "Yes," she said, +in a whisper. + +And Fletcher let her go. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE LOST ROMANCE + + +Jack looked in vain for any sign of elation on his friend's face when he +entered. He read nothing but grim determination. Dot's demeanour also +was scarcely reassuring. She seemed afraid to lift her eyes. + +"Isn't it nearly bed-time?" she murmured to Adela as she passed. + +Adela looked at her with frank curiosity. There were no fine shades of +feeling about Adela. She always went straight to the point--unless +restrained by Jack. + +"Oh, it's quite early yet," she said, wholly missing the appeal in the +girl's low-spoken words. "What have you two been doing? Moonshining?" + +Fletcher looked as contemptuous as his immobile countenance would allow, +and sat down by his untouched drink without a word. + +But it took more than a look to repress Adela. She laughed aloud. "Does +that mean I am to draw my own conclusions, Mr. Hill? Would you like me to +tell you what they are?" + +"Not for my amusement," said Hill, dryly. "Where did you get this whisky +from, Jack? I hope it's a legal brand." + +"I hope it is," agreed Jack. "I don't know its origin. I got it through +Harley. You know him? The manager of the Fortescue Gold Mine." + +"Yes, I know him," said Hill. "He is retiring, and another fellow is +taking his place." + +"Retiring, is he? I thought he was the only person who could manage that +crowd." Jack spoke with surprise. + +Hill took out his pipe and began to fill it. "He's got beyond it. Too +much running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. They need a +younger man with more decision and resource--someone who can handle them +without being afraid." + +"Have they got such a man?" questioned Jack. + +"They believe they have." Hill spoke thoughtfully. "He's a man from the +West, who has done some tough work in the desert, but brought back more +in the way of experience than gold. He's been working in the Fortescue +Mine now for six months, a foreman for the past three. Harley tells me +the men will follow him like sheep. But for myself, I'm not so sure of +him." + +"Not sure of him? What are you afraid of? Whisky-running?" asked Jack, +with a twinkle. + +There was no answering gleam of humour on Hill's face. "I never trust +any man until I know him," he said. "He may be sound, or he may be a +scoundrel. He's got to prove himself." + +"You take a fatherly interest in that mine," observed Jack. + +"I have a reason," said Fletcher Hill, briefly. + +"Ah! Ever met Fortescue himself?" + +"Once or twice," said Hill. + +"Pretty badly hated, isn't he?" said Jack. + +"By the blackguards, yes." Hill spoke with characteristic grimness. "He's +none the worse for that." + +"All the better, I should say," remarked Adela. "But what is he like? Is +he an old man?" + +"About my age," said Hill. + +"I wish you'd give us an introduction to him," she said, with animation. +"I've always wanted to see that mine. You'd like to, too, wouldn't you, +Dot?" + +Dot started a little. She had been sitting quite silent in the +background. + +"I expect it would be quite interesting," she said, as Hill looked +towards her. "But perhaps it wouldn't be very easy to manage it." + +"I could arrange it if you cared to go," said Hill. + +"Could you? How kind of you! But it would mean spending the night at +Trelevan, wouldn't it? I--I think we are too busy for that." Dot glanced +at her brother in some uncertainty. + +"Oh, it could be managed," said Jack, kindly. "Why not? You don't get +much fun in life. If you want to see the mine, and Hill can arrange it, +it shall be done." + +"Thank you," said Dot. + +Adela turned towards her. "My dear, do work up a little enthusiasm! +You've sat like a mute ever since you came in. What's the matter?" + +Dot was on her feet in a moment. This sort of baiting, good-natured +though it was, was more than she could bear. "I've one or two jobs left +in the kitchen," she said. "I'll go and attend to them--if no one minds." + +She was gone with the words, Adela's ringing laugh pursuing her as she +closed the door. She barely paused in the kitchen, but fled to her own +room. She could not--no, she could not--face the laughter and +congratulations that night. + +She flung herself down upon her bed and lay there trembling like a +terrified creature caught in a trap. Her brain was a whirl of bewildering +emotions. She knew not which way to turn to escape the turmoil, or even +if she were glad or sorry for the step she had taken. She wondered if +Hill would tell Jack and Adela the moment her back was turned, and +dreaded to hear the sound of her sister-in-law's footsteps outside her +door. + +But no one came, and after a time she grew calmer. After all, though in +the end she had made her decision somewhat suddenly, it had not been an +unconsidered one. Though she could not pretend to love Fletcher Hill, she +had a sincere respect for him. He was solid, and she knew that her future +would be safe in his hands. The past was past, and every day took her +farther from it. Yet very deep down in her soul there still lurked the +memory of that past. In the daytime she could put it from her, stifle +it, crowd it out with a multitude of tasks; but at night in her dreams +that memory would not always be denied. In her dreams the old vision +returned--tender, mocking, elusive--a sunburnt face with eyes of vivid +blue that looked into hers, smiling and confident with that confidence +that is only possible between spirits that are akin. She would feel again +the pressure of a man's lips on the hollow of her arm--that spot which +still bore the tiny mark which once had been a snake-bite. He had come to +her in her hour of need, and though he was a fugitive from justice, she +would never forget his goodness, his readiness to serve her, his +chivalry. And while in her waking hours she chid herself for her +sentimentality, yet even so, she had not been able to force herself to +cast her brief romance away. + +Ah, well, she had done it now. The way was closed behind her. There could +be no return. It was all so long ago. She had been little more than a +child then, and now she was growing old. The time had come to face the +realities of life, to put away the dreams. She believed that Fletcher +Hill was a good man, and he had been very patient. She quivered a little +at the thought of that patience of his. There was a cast-iron quality +about it, a forcefulness, that made her wonder. Had she ever really met +the man who dwelt within that coat of mail? Could there be some terrible +revelation in store for her? Would she some day find that she had given +herself to a being utterly alien to her in thought and impulse? He had +shown her so little--so very little--of his soul. + +Did he really love her, she wondered? Or had he merely determined to win +her because it had been so hard a task? He was a man who revelled in +overcoming difficulties, in asserting his grim mastery in the face of +heavy odds. He was never deterred by circumstances, never turned back +from any purpose upon the accomplishment of which he had set his mind. +His subordinates were afraid to tell him of failure. She had heard it +said that Bloodhound Hill could be a savage animal when roused. + +There came a low sound at her door, the soft turning of the handle, +Jack's voice whispered through the gloom. + +"Are you asleep, little 'un?" + +She started up on the bed. "Oh, Jack, come in, dear! Come in!" + +He came to her, put his arms about her, and held her close. "Fletcher's +been telling me," he whispered into her ear. "Adela's gone to bed. It's +quite all right, little 'un, is it? You're not--sorry?" + +She caught the anxiety in the words as she clung to him. "I--don't think +so," she whispered back. "Only I--I'm rather frightened, Jack." + +"There's no need, darling," said Jack, and kissed her very tenderly. +"He's a good fellow--the best of fellows. He's sworn to me to make you +happy." + +She was trembling a little in his hold. "He--doesn't want to marry me +yet, does he?" she asked, nervously. + +He put a very gentle hand upon her head. "Don't funk the last fence, old +girl!" he said, softly. "You'll like being married." + +"Ah!" She was breathing quickly. "I am not so sure. And there's no +getting back, is there, Jack? Oh, please, do ask him to wait a little +while! I'm sure he will. He is very kind." + +"He has waited five years already," Jack pointed out. "Don't you think +that's almost long enough, dear?" + +She put a hand to her throat, feeling as if there were some constriction +there. "He has been speaking to you about it! He wants you to--to +persuade me--to--to make me--" + +"No, dear, no!" Jack spoke very gravely. "He wants you to please +yourself. It is I who think that a long delay would be a mistake. Can't +you be brave, Dot? Take what the gods send--and be thankful?" + +She tried to laugh. "I'm an awful idiot, Jack. Yes, I will--I will be +brave. After all, it isn't as if--as if I were really sacrificing +anything, is it? And you're sure he's a good man, aren't you? You are +sure he will never let me down?" + +"I am quite sure," Jack said, firmly. "He is a fine man, Dot, and he will +always set your happiness before his own." + +She breathed a short sigh. "Thank you, Jack, I feel better. You're +wonderfully good to me, dear old boy. Tell him--tell him I'll marry him +as soon as ever I can get ready! I must get a few things together first, +mustn't I?" + +Jack laughed a little. "You look very nice in what you've got." + +"Oh, don't be silly!" she said. "If I'm going to live at +Wallacetown--Wallacetown, mind you, the smartest place this side of +Sydney--I must be respectably clothed. I shall have to go to Trelevan, +and see what I can find." + +"You and Adela had better have a week off," said Jack, "and go while +Fletcher is busy there. You'll see something of him in the evenings +then." + +"What about you?" she said, squeezing his arm. + +"Oh, I shall be all right. I'm expecting Lawley in from the ranges. He'll +help me. I've got to learn to do without you, eh, little 'un?" He held +her to him again. + +She clasped his neck. "It's your own doing, Jack; but I know it's for my +good. You must let me come and help you sometimes--just for a holiday." +Her voice trembled. + +He kissed her again with great tenderness. "You'll come just whenever you +feel like it, my dear," he said. "And God bless you!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE WAY TO HAPPINESS + + +On account of its comparative proximity to the gold mine, Trelevan, +though of no great size, was a busy place. Dot had stayed at the hotel +there with her brother on one or two occasions, but it was usually noisy +and crowded, and, unlike Adela, she found little to amuse her in the type +of men who thronged it. Fletcher Hill always stayed there when he came to +Trelevan. The police court was close by, and it suited his purpose; but +he mixed very little with his fellow-guests and was generally regarded as +unapproachable--a mere judicial machine with whom very few troubled to +make acquaintance. + +Fletcher Hill in the rôle of a squire of dames was a situation that +vastly tickled Adela's sense of humour. As she told Jack, it was going to +be the funniest joke of her life. + +Neither Hill nor his grave young fiancée seemed aware of any cause for +mirth, but with Adela that was neither here nor there. She and Dot never +had anything in common, and as for Fletcher Hill, he was the driest stick +of a man she had ever met. But she was not going to be bored on that +account. To give Adela her due, boredom was a malady from which she very +rarely suffered. + +She was in the best of spirits on the evening of their arrival at +Trelevan. The rooms that Fletcher Hill had managed to secure for them led +out of each other, and the smaller of them, Dot's looked out over the +busiest part of the town. As Adela pointed out, this was an advantage of +little value at night, and it could be shared in the daytime. + +Dot said nothing. She was used to her sister-in-law's cheerful egotism, +and Adela had never hesitated to invade her privacy if she felt so +inclined. Her chief consolation was that Adela was a very sound sleeper, +so that there was small chance of having her solitude disturbed at night. + +She herself was not sleeping so well as usual just then. A great +restlessness was upon her, and often she would pace to and fro like a +caged thing for half the night. She was not actively unhappy, but a great +weight seemed to oppress her--a sense of foreboding that was sometimes +more than she could bear. + +Fletcher Hill's calm countenance as he welcomed them upon their arrival +reassured her somewhat. He was so perfectly self-controlled and steady in +his demeanour. The very grasp of his hand conveyed confidence. She felt +as if he did her good. + +They dined together in the common dining-room, but at a separate table +in a corner. There were many coming and going, and Adela was frankly +interested in them all. As she said, it was so seldom that she had the +chance of studying the human species in such variety. When the meal was +over she good-naturedly settled herself in a secluded corner and +commanded them to leave her. + +"There's something in the shape of a glass-house at the back," she said. +"I don't know if it can be called a conservatory. But anyhow I should +think you might find a seat and solitude there, and that, I conclude, is +what you most want. Anyhow, don't bother about me! I can amuse myself +here for any length of time." + +They took her at her word, though neither of them seemed in any hurry to +depart. Dot lingered because the prospect of a _tête-à-tête_ in a strange +place, where she could not easily make her escape if she desired to do +so, embarrassed her. And Hill waited, as his custom was, with a grim +patience that somehow only served to increase her reluctance to be alone +with him. + +"Run along! It's getting late," Adela said at last. "Carry her off, Mr. +Hill! You'll never get her to make the first move." + +There was some significance in words and smile. Dot stiffened and turned +sharply away. + +Hill followed her, and outside the room she waited for him. + +"Do you know the way?" she asked, without looking at him. + +He took her by the arm, and again she had a wayward thought of the +hand of the law. She knew now what it felt like to be marshalled by +a policeman. She almost uttered a remark to that effect, but, glancing +up at him, decided that it would be out of place. For the man's harsh +features were so sternly set that she wondered if Adela's careless talk +had aroused his anger. + +She said nothing, therefore, and he led her to the retreat her +sister-in-law had mentioned in unbroken silence. It was certainly not a +very artistic corner. A few straggling plants in pots decorated it, but +they looked neglected and shabby. Yet the thought went through her, it +might have been a bower of delight had they been in the closer accord of +lovers who desire naught but each other. + +The place was deserted, lighted only by a high window that looked into a +billiard-room. The window was closed, but the rattle of the balls and +careless voices of the players came through the silence. A dusty bench +was let into the wall below it. + +"Do you like this place?" asked Fletcher Hill. + +She glanced around her with a little nervous laugh. "It's as good as any +other, isn't it?" + +His hand still held her arm. He bent slightly, looking into her face. +"I've been wanting to talk to you," he said. + +"Have you?" She tried to meet his look, but failed. "What about?" she +said, almost in a whisper. + +He bent lower. "Dot, are you afraid of me?" he said. + +That brought her eyes to his face with a jerk. "I--I--no--of course not!" +she stammered, in confusion. + +"Quite sure?" he said. + +She collected herself with an effort. "Quite," she told him with +decision, and met his gaze with something of a challenge in her own. + +But he disconcerted her the next moment. She felt again the man's grim +mastery behind the iron of his patience. "I want to talk to you," he +said, "about our marriage." + +"Ah!" It was scarcely more than a sharp intake of the breath, and as it +escaped again Dot turned white to the lips. His close scrutiny became +suddenly more than she could bear, and she turned sharply from him. + +He kept his hand upon her arm, but he made no further effort to restrain +her, merely waiting mutely for her to speak. + +In the room behind them there came the smart knocking of the balls, and +a voice cried, "By Jove, he's fluked again! It's the devil's own luck!" + +Dot flinched a little. The careless voice jarred upon her. Her nerves +were all on edge. Fletcher Hill's hand was like a steel trap, cold and +firm and merciless. She longed to wrench herself free from it, yet felt +too paralysed to move. + +And still he waited, not urging her, yet by his very silence making her +aware of a compulsion she could not hope to resist for long. + +She turned to him at last in desperation. "What--have you to suggest?" +she asked. + +"I?" he said. "I shall be ready at the end of the week--if that will suit +you." + +She gazed at him blankly. "The end of the week! But of course not--of +course not! You are joking!" + +"No, I am serious," Fletcher said. "Sit down a minute and let me +explain!" + +Then, as she hesitated, he very gently put her down upon the seat under +the closed window, and stood before her, blocking her in. + +"I have been wanting this opportunity of talking to you," he said, +"without Jack chipping in. He's a good fellow, and I know he is on my +side. But I have a fancy for scoring off my own bat. Listen, Dot! I am +not suggesting anything very preposterous. You have promised to marry me. +Haven't you?" + +"Yes," she whispered, breathlessly. "Yes." + +"Yes," he repeated. "And the longer you have to think about it, the more +scared you will get. My dear child, what is the point of spinning it out +in this fashion? You are going through agonies of mind--for nothing. If +I gave you back your freedom, you wouldn't be any happier, would you?" + +She was silent. + +"Would you?" he said again, and laid his hand upon her shoulder. + +"I--don't think so," she said, faintly. + +He took up her words again with magisterial emphasis. "You don't think +so. Well, there is every reason to suppose you wouldn't. You weren't +happy before, were you?" + +She gripped her courage with immense effort. "I haven't been +happy--since," she said. + +He accepted the statement without an instant's discomfiture. "I know you +haven't. I realized that the moment I saw you. You have been suffering +the tortures of the damned because you're in a positive hell of +indecision. Oh, I know all about it." His hand moved a little upon her +shoulder; it almost seemed to caress her. "I haven't studied human nature +all these years for nothing. I know you're in a perfect fever of doubt, +and it'll go on till you're married. What's the good of it? Why torture +yourself like this when the way to happiness lies straight before you? +Are you hoping against hope that something may yet turn up to prevent our +marriage? Would you be happy if it did? Answer me!" + +But she shrank from answering, sitting with her hands clasped tightly +before her and her eyes downcast like a prisoner awaiting sentence. +"I don't know--what I want," she told him, miserably. "I feel--as +if--whatever I do--will be wrong." + +"That's just it," said Fletcher Hill, as if that were the very admission +he had been waiting for. And then he did what for him was a very curious +thing. He went down upon one knee on the dusty floor, bringing his face +on a level with hers, clasping her tense hands between his own. "You +don't trust yourself, and you won't trust me," he said. "Isn't that it? +Or something like it?" + +The official air had dropped from him like a garment. She looked at him +doubtfully, almost as if she suspected him of trying to trick her. Then, +reassured by something in the harsh countenance which his voice and words +utterly failed to express, she leaned impulsively forward with a swift +movement of surrender and laid her head against his shoulder. + +"I'll do--whatever you wish," she said, in muffled tones. "I will trust +you! I do trust you!" + +He put his arm around her, for she was trembling, and held her so for a +space in silence. + +The voice in the billiard-room took up the tale. "That fellow's luck is +positively prodigious. He can't help scoring--whatever he does. He'd dig +gold out of an ash heap." + +Someone laughed, and there came again the clash of the billiard-balls, +followed in a second by a shout of applause. + +The noise subsided, and Fletcher spoke. "My job here will be over in a +week. Jack can manage to join us at the end of it. Your sister-in-law is +already here. Why not finish up by getting married and returning to +Wallacetown with me?" + +"I should have to go back to the farm and get the rest of my things," +said Dot. + +"You could do that afterwards," he said, "when I am away on business. I +shan't be able to take you with me everywhere. Some of the places I have +to go to would be too rough for you. But I shall be at Wallacetown for +some weeks after this job. You have never seen my house there. I took it +over from the last Superintendent. I think you'll like it. I got it for +that reason." + +She started a little. "But you didn't know then--How long ago was it?" + +"Three years," said Fletcher Hill. "I've been getting it ready for you +ever since." + +She looked up at him. "You--took a good deal for granted, didn't you?" +she said. + +Fletcher was smiling, dryly humorous. "I knew my own mind, anyway," he +said. + +"And you've never had--any doubts?" questioned Dot. + +"Not one," said Fletcher Hill. + +She laid her hand on his arm with a shy gesture. "I hope you won't be +dreadfully disappointed in me," she said. + +He bent towards her, and for a moment she felt as if his keen eyes +pierced her. "I don't think that is very likely," he said, and kissed her +with the words. + +She did not shrink from his kiss, but she did not return it; nor did he +linger as if expecting any return. + +He was on his feet the next moment, and she wondered with a little sense +of chill if he were really satisfied. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE CONQUEROR + + +They found Adela awaiting them in her corner, but chafing for a change. + +"I want you to take us to the billiard-room," she said to Fletcher. +"There's a great match on. I've heard a lot of men talking about it. +And I adore watching billiards. I'm sure we shan't be in the way. I'll +promise not to talk, and Dot is as quiet as a mouse." + +Fletcher considered the point. "I believe it's a fairly respectable +crowd," he said, looking at Dot. "But you're tired." + +"Oh, no," she said at once. "I don't feel a bit sleepy. Let us go in by +all means if you think no one will mind! I like watching billiards, too." + +"It's a man called Warden," said Adela. "That's the new manager of the +Fortescue Gold Mine, isn't it? They say he has the most marvelous luck. +He is playing the old manager--Harley, and giving him fifty points. +There's some pretty warm betting going on, I can tell you. Do let us go +and have a look at them! They've got the girl from the bar to mark for +them, so we shan't be the only women there." + +She was evidently on fire for this new excitement, and Fletcher Hill, +seeing that Dot meant what she said, led the way without further +discussion. He paused outside the billiard-room door, which stood ajar; +for a tense silence reigned. But it was broken in a moment by the sharp +clash of the balls and a perfect howl of enthusiasm from the spectators. + +"Oh, it's over!" exclaimed Adela. "What a pity! Never mind! Let's go in! +Perhaps they'll play again." + +The barmaid came flying out to fetch drinks as they entered. The +atmosphere of the room was thick with smoke. A babel of voices filled it. +Men who had been sitting round the walls were grouped about the table. In +the midst of them stood the victor in his shirt-sleeves, conspicuous in +the crowd by reason of his great height--a splendid figure of manhood +with a careless freedom of bearing that was in its way superb. + +He was turned away from the door at their entrance, and Dot saw only +a massive head of straw-coloured hair above a neck that was burnt +brick-red. Then, laughing at some joke, he wheeled round again to the +table; and she saw his face.... + +It was the face of a Viking, deeply sunburnt, vividly alive. A fair +moustache covered his upper lip, and below it the teeth gleamed, white +and regular like the teeth of an animal in the wilderness. He had that +indescribable look of morning-time, of youth at its best, which only +springs in the wild. His eyes were intensely blue. They gazed straight +across at her with startling directness. + +And suddenly Dot's heart gave a great jerk, and stood still. It was not +the first time that those eyes had looked into hers. + +The moment passed. He bent himself over the table, poised for a stroke, +which she saw him execute a second later with a delicacy that thrilled +her strangely. Full well did she remember the deftness and the steadiness +of those brown hands. Had they not held her up, sustained her, in the +greatest crisis of her life? + +Her heart throbbed on again with hard, uneven strokes. She was straining +her ears for the sound of his voice--that voice that had once spoken to +her quivering soul, pleading with her that she would at their next +meeting treat him--without prejudice. The memory thrilled through her. +This was the man for whose coming she had waited so long! + +He had straightened himself again, and was coming round the table to +follow up his stroke. Fletcher Hill spoke at her shoulder. + +"Sit down!" he said. "There is room here." + +There was a small space on the corner of the raised settee that ran along +the side of the room. Dot and Adela sat down together. Hill stood beside +them, looking over the faces of the men present, with keen eyes that +missed nothing. + +Dot sat palpitating, her hands clasped before her, seeing only the great +figure that leaned over the table for another stroke. Would he look at +her again? Would he remember her? Would he speak? + +Fascinated, she watched him. He executed his stroke, again with that +steady confidence, that self-detachment, that seemed to set him apart +from all other men. He was standing close to her now, and the nearness of +his presence thrilled her. She tingled from head to foot, as if under the +power of an electric battery. + +His late opponent stood facing her on the other side of the table, a +grey-haired man with crafty eyes that seemed to look in all directions at +the same time. She took an instinctive dislike to him. He wore a furtive +air. + +Warden stood up again, moving with that free swing of his as of one born +to conquer. He turned deliberately and faced them. + +"Good evening, Mr. Hill!" he said. "I'm standing drinks all round. I hope +you will join us." + +It was frankly spoken, and Hill's instant refusal sounded unnecessarily +curt in Dot's ears. + +"No, thanks. I am with ladies," he said. "I suppose the play is over?" + +Warden glanced across the table. "Unless Harley wants his revenge," he +said. + +The grey-haired man uttered a laugh that was like the bark of a vicious +dog. "I'll have that another day," he said. "It won't spoil by keeping. +You are a player yourself, Mr. Hill. Why don't you take him on?" + +"Oh, do!" burst forth Adela. "I should love to see a good game. You ask +him to, Dot! He'll do it for you." + +But Dot sat silent, her fingers straining against each other, her eyes +fixed straight before her, seeing yet unseeing, as one beneath a spell. + +There was a momentary pause. The room was full of the harsh babel of +men's voices. The drinks were being distributed. + +Suddenly a voice spoke out above the rest. "Here's to the new manager! +Good luck to him! Bill Warden, here's to you! Success and plenty of it!" + +Instantly the hubbub increased a hundredfold. Bill Warden swung round +laughing to face the clamour, and the tension went out of Dot. She +drooped forward with a weary gesture. As in a dream she heard the +laughter and the shouting. It seemed to sweep around her in great billows +of sound. But she was too tired to notice, too tired to care. He did not +know her. She was sure of that now. He had forgotten. The memory that +had affected her so poignantly had slipped like a dim cloud below his +horizon. The glory had departed, and life was grey and cold. + +"You are tired," said Fletcher's voice beside her. "Would you like to +go?" + +She looked up at him. His eyes were searching hers, and swiftly she +realized that this discovery that she had made must be kept a secret. If +Hill began to suspect, he would very quickly ferret out the truth, and +the man would be ruined. She knew Hill's stern justice. He would act +instantly and without mercy if he knew the truth. + +She braced herself with a great effort to baffle him. "No, oh, no!" she +said. "I am really not tired. Do play! I should love to see you play." + +He looked sardonic. "Love to see me beaten!" he said. + +She put out a quick hand. "Of course not! You will beat him easily. You +are always on the top. Do try!" + +He smiled a little, and turned from her. She saw him approach Warden and +tap him on the shoulder. + +Warden wheeled sharply, so sharply that the drink he held splashed over +the edge of the glass. The excitement in the room was dying down. She +watched the two men with an odd breathlessness, and in a moment she +realized that everyone else present was watching them also. + +Then they both turned towards her, and through a great singing that +suddenly arose in her ears she heard Adela whisper excitedly, "My dear, +he is actually going to introduce that amazing person to us!" + +She sat up with a stiff movement, feeling cold, inanimate, strangely +impotent, and in a moment he was standing before her with Fletcher, and +she heard the latter introduce her as his "affianced wife." + +Mutely she gave him her hand. It was Adela who filled in the gap, eager +for entertainment, and the next moment Warden had turned to her, and was +talking in his careless, leisurely fashion. The ordeal was past, her +pulses quieted down again. Yet she realized that he had not addressed a +single word to her, and the conviction came upon her that not thus would +he have treated one who was a total stranger to him. + +Because of Fletcher, who remained beside her, she forced herself to join +in the conversation, seconding Adela's urgent request that the two men +would play. + +Warden laughed and looked at Fletcher. "Do you care to take me on, sir?" +he said. + +From the other side of the table, Harley uttered his barking laugh. "Now +is your chance, Mr. Hill! Down him once and for all, and give us the +pleasure of seeing how it's done!" + +There was venom in the words. They were a revelation to Dot, the almost +silent looker-on. It was as if a flashlight had given her a sudden +glimpse of this man's soul, showing her bitter enmity--a black and cruel +hatred--an implacable yearning for revenge. She felt as if she had looked +down into the seething heart of a volcano. + +Then she heard Hill's voice. "I am quite willing to play," he said. + +A buzz of interest went through the room. The prospective match plainly +excited Warden's many admirers. They drew together, and she heard some +low-voiced betting begin. + +But this was instantly checked by Fletcher. "I'm not doing it for a +gamble," he said, curtly. "Please keep your money in your pockets, or +the match is off!" + +They looked at him with lowering glances, but they submitted. It was +evident to Dot that they all stood in considerable awe of him--all save +Warden, who chalked Hill's cue with supreme self-assurance, and then +lighted a cigarette without the smallest hint of embarrassment. + +The match began, and though the gambling had been checked a breathless +interest prevailed. Fletcher Hill's play was not well known at Trelevan, +but at the very outset it was evident to the most casual observer that he +was a skilled player. He spoke scarcely at all, and his face was masklike +in its composure, but Dot, watching, knew with that intuition which of +late had begun to grow upon her that he was grimly set upon obtaining +the victory. The knowledge thrilled her with a strange excitement. She +knew that he was in a fashion desirous of proving himself in her eyes, +that he had entered into the contest solely for her. + +As for Warden, she believed he was playing entirely to please himself. +He took an artistic interest in every stroke, but the ultimate issue of +the game did not seem to enter into his calculation. He played like a +sportsman, sometimes rashly, often brilliantly, but never selfishly. It +was impossible to watch him with indifference. Even his failures were +sensational. As Adela had said of him, he was amazing. + +Hill's play was absolutely steady. It lacked the vitality of the younger +man's, but it had about it a clockwork species of regularity that Dot +found curiously pleasing to watch. She had not thought that her interest +could be so deeply aroused; before the game was half through she was as +deeply absorbed as anyone present. + +It did not take her long to realize that public sympathy was entirely on +Warden's side, and it was that fact more than any other that disposed her +in Fletcher's favour. She saw that he had a hard fight before him, for +Warden led almost from the beginning, though with all his brilliancy he +never drew very far ahead. Fletcher kept a steady pace behind him, and +she knew he would not be easily beaten. + +Once he came and stood beside her after a very creditable break, and she +slipped a shy hand into his for a few seconds. His fingers closed upon it +in that slow, inevitable way of his, but he neither spoke nor looked at +her, and she had a feeling that his attention never for an instant +wandered from the job in hand. She admired him for his concentration, +yet would she have been less than woman had she not felt slighted by it. +He might have given her one look! + +Adela was full of enthusiasm for his opponent, and that also caused her +a vague sense of irritation. She was beginning to feel as if the evening +would never come to an end. + +The scoring was by no means slow, however, and the general interest +increased almost to fever pitch as the finish came in sight. Hill's +steady progress in the wake of his opponent seemed at length to +disconcert the latter. He began to play wildly, to attempt impossible +things. His supporters remonstrated without result. He seemed to have +flung away his judgment. + +Hill's score mounted till it reached and passed his. They were within +twenty points of the end when Warden suddenly missed an easy stroke. A +noisy groan broke from the onlookers, at which he shrugged his shoulders +and laughed. But Hill turned upon him with a stern reproof. + +"You're playing the fool, Warden," he said. "Pull up!" + +He spoke with curt command, and the man he addressed looked at him for a +second with raised brows, as if he would take offence. But in a moment he +laughed again. + +"You haven't beaten me yet, sir," he said. + +"No," said Hill. "And I don't value--an easy victory." + +There followed a tense silence while he resumed his play. Steadily his +score mounted, and it seemed to Dot that there was hostility in the very +atmosphere. She wondered what would happen if he scored the hundred +before his opponent had another chance. She hoped he would not do so, +and yet she did not want to see him beaten. + +He did not, but he left off with only three points to make. Then Warden +began to score. Stroke after stroke he executed with flawless accuracy +and with scarcely a pause, moving to and fro about the table without +lifting his eyes from the balls. His play was swift and unswerving, his +score mounted rapidly. + +Dot watched him spellbound, not breathing. Hill stood near her, also +closely watching, with brows slightly drawn. Suddenly something impelled +her to look beyond the man at the table, and in the shadow on the farther +side of the room she again saw Harley's face, grey, withered-looking, +with sunken eyes that glared forth wolfishly. He was glancing ceaselessly +from Hill to Warden and from Warden to Hill, and the malice of his glance +shocked her inexpressibly. She had never before seen murderous hate so +stamped upon any countenance. + +Instinctively she shrank from the sight, and in that moment Warden's eyes +were lifted for a second from the table. Magnetically hers flashed to +meet them. It was instantaneous, inevitable as the sudden flare of +lightning across a dark sky. + +He stooped again to play, but in that moment something had gone out of +him. The stroke he attempted was an easy one; but he missed it +hopelessly. + +He straightened himself up with a sharp gesture and looked at Hill. "I am +sorry," he said. + +Hill said nothing whatever. Their scores were exactly even. With +machine-like precision he took his turn, utterly ignoring the grumbling +criticisms of his adversary's play that were being freely expressed +around the room. With the utmost steadiness he made his stroke, scoring +two points. Then there fell a tremendous silence. The choice of two +strokes now lay before him. One was to pocket his adversary's ball; the +other a long shot which required considerable skill. He chose the second +without hesitation, hung a moment or two, made his stroke--and failed. + +A howl of delight went up from the watchers, their hot partisanship of +Warden amounting almost to open animosity against his opponent. In the +midst of the noise Hill, perfectly calm, contemptuously indifferent, +touched Warden again upon the shoulder, and spoke to him. + +Warden said nothing in reply, but he went to his ball with a hint of +savagery, bent, and almost without aiming sent it at terrific speed up +the table. It struck first the red, then the white, pocketed the former, +and whizzed therefrom into the opposite pocket. + +A yell of delight went up. It was a brilliant stroke of which any player +might have been proud. But Warden flung down his cue with a gesture of +disgust. + +"Damnation!" he said, and turned to put on his coat. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE MEETING + + +The two girls left the billiard-room, shepherded by Fletcher, almost +before the tumult had subsided. It seemed to Dot that he was anxious +about something and desirous to get them away. But Adela was full of +excited comments and refused to be hurried, stopping outside to question +Hill upon a dozen points regarding the game while he stood stiffly +responding, waiting to say good-night. + +Dot leaned upon the stair-rail, waiting for her, and eventually Fletcher +drew Adela's attention to the fact. + +Adela laughed. "Oh, that's just her way, my dear Fletcher. Some women +were born to wait. Dot does it better than anyone I know." + +It was at that moment that Warden came quietly up the passage from the +billiard-room, moving with the lightness of well-knit muscles, and +checked himself at sight of Fletcher. + +"I should like a word with you--when you have time," he said. + +Adela swooped upon him with effusion. "Mr. Warden! Your play is simply +astounding. Allow me to congratulate you!" + +"Please don't!" said Warden. "I played atrociously." + +She laughed at him archly. "That's just your modesty. You're plainly a +champion. Now, when are you going to let Mr. Hill show us that wonderful +mine? We are dying to see it, aren't we, Dot?" + +"The mine!" Warden turned sharply to Hill. "You're not going to take +anyone over that--surely! Not in person--anyhow! What, sir?" He looked +hard at Hill, who said nothing. "Then you must be mad!" + +"He isn't obliged to go in person," smiled Adela. "I am sure you are big +enough to take care of us single-handed. Dot and I are not in the least +nervous. Will you take us alone if we promise not to tease the animals?" + +Warden's eyes flashed a sudden glance upwards to the girl who still stood +silently leaning upon the rail. It was almost like an appeal. + +As if involuntarily she spoke. "What is the danger?" + +Hill turned to her. "There is no danger," he said, curtly. "If you wish +to go, I will take you to-morrow." + +Warden made a brief gesture as of one who submits to the inevitable, and +turned away. + +Fletcher held out his hand to Adela with finality. "Good-night," he said. + +"Are you really going to take us to-morrow?" she said. + +"Yes," said Fletcher. + +She beamed upon him. "What time shall we be ready?" + +He did not refer to Dot. "At five o'clock," he said. "I shall be busy at +the court all day. I will come and fetch you." + +He shook hands with Dot, and his face softened. "Good-night," he said. +"Go to bed quickly! You're very tired." + +She gave him a fleeting smile, and turned to go. She was tired to the +soul. + +Adela caught her by the arm as they ascended the stairs. "You little +quiet mouse, what's the matter? Aren't you enjoying the adventure?" + +Dot's face was sombre. "I think I am too tired to enjoy anything +to-night," she said. + +"Tired! And no work to do! Why, what has come to you?" Adela surveyed her +with laughing criticism. + +"Let's go to bed!" said Dot. "I'll tell you when we get there." + +Something in tone or words stirred Adela. She refrained from further +bantering and gave her mind to speedy preparations for bed. + +Then, as at last they were about to separate, she put a warm arm about +the girl and held her close. "What is it? Aren't you happy?" she said. + +A great sob went through Dot. Her trouble was more than she could bear. +She clung to Adela with unaccustomed closeness. + +"I've promised to marry Fletcher at the end of the week--instead of going +back with you to the farm." + +"I thought that was what he was after," said Adela. "But--don't you want +to?" + +"No," whispered Dot, trembling. + +"Well, why don't you tell him so--tell him he's got to wait? Shall I +tell him for you, you poor little thing?" Adela's voice was full of +compassion. + +But Dot was instant in her refusal. "No, oh, no! Don't tell him! I--I +couldn't give him--any particular reason for waiting. I shall feel +better--I'm sure I shall feel better--when it's over." + +"I expect you will," said Adela. "But I don't like your being miserable. +I say, Dot--" she clasped the quivering form closer, with a sudden rare +flash of intuition--"there isn't--anyone else you like better, is there?" + +But at that Dot started as if she had been stung, and drew herself +swiftly away. "Oh, no!" she said, vehemently. "No--no--no!" + +"Then I shouldn't worry," said Adela, sensibly. "It's nothing but +nerves." + +She kissed her and went to her own room, where she speedily slept. But +Dot lay wide-eyed, unresting, while the hours crawled by, seeing only +the vivid blue eyes that had looked into hers, and thrilled her--and +thrilled her with their magic. + +In the morning she arose early, urged by a fevered restlessness that +drove her with relentless force. Dressing, she discovered the loss of a +little heart-shaped brooch, Jack's gift, which she always wore. + +Adela, still lying in bed, assured her that she had seen it in her dress +the previous evening while at dinner. "It probably came out in that +little conservatory place when Fletcher was embracing you," she said. + +"Not very likely, I think," said Dot, flushing. + +Nevertheless, since she valued it, she finished dressing in haste and +departed to search for it. + +There was no one about with the exception of a man who was cleaning up +the billiard-room and assured her that her property was not there. So +she passed on along the passage to the shabby little glass-house whither +she and Fletcher had retreated on the previous evening. + +She expected to find the place deserted, and was surprised by a whiff of +tobacco-smoke as she entered. The next moment sharply she drew back; for +a man's figure rose up from the seat under the billiard-room window on +which she had rested the previous evening. His great frame seemed to fill +the place. Dot turned to flee. + +But on the instant he spoke, checking her. "Don't go for a moment! I know +what you're looking for. It's that little heart of yours. I've got it +here." + +She paused almost in spite of herself. His voice was pitched very low. He +spoke to her as if he were speaking to a frightened child. And he smiled +at her with the words--a frank and kindly smile. + +"You--you found it!" she stammered. + +"Yes, I found it, Miss Burton." He lingered over the name half +unconsciously, and a poignant stab of memory went through her. So had he +uttered it on that day so long, so long ago! "I knew it was yours. I was +trying to bring myself to give it to Mr. Hill." + +"How did you know it was mine?" She almost whispered the words, yet she +drew nearer to him, drawn irresistibly--drawn as a needle to the magnet. + +He answered her also under his breath. "I--remembered." + +She felt as if a wave of fire had swept over her. She swayed a little, +throbbing from head to foot. + +"I have rather a good memory," he said, as she found no words. "You're +not--vexed with me on that account, I hope?" + +An odd touch of wistfulness in his voice brought her eyes up to his face. +She fought for speech and answered him. + +"Of course not! Why should I? It--is a very long time ago, isn't it?" + +"Centuries," said Warden, and smiled again upon her reassuringly. "But I +never forgot you and your little farm and the old dog. Have you still got +him?" + +She nodded, her eyes lowered, a choked feeling as of tears in her throat. + +"He'd remember me," said Warden, with confidence. "He was a friend. Do +you know that was one of the most hairbreadth escapes of my life? If +Fletcher Hill had caught me, he wouldn't have shown much mercy--any more +than he would now," he added, with a half-laugh. "He's a terrific man for +justice." + +"Surely you're safe--now!" Dot said, quickly. + +"If you don't give me away," said Warden. + +"I!" She started, almost winced. "There's no danger of that," she said, +in a low voice. + +"Thank you," he said. "I've gone fairly straight ever since. It hasn't +been a very paying game. I tried my luck in the West, but it was right +out. So I thought I'd come back here, and that was the turning-point. +They took me on at the Fortescue Mine. It's a fiendish place, but I +rather like it. I'm sub-manager there at present--till Harley goes." + +"Ah!" She looked up at him again. "He is a dangerous man. He hates you, +doesn't he?" + +"Quite possibly," said Warden, with a smile. "That mine is rather an +abode of hate all round. But we'll clean it out one of these days, and +make a decent place of it." + +"I hope you will succeed," she said, very earnestly. + +"Thank you," he said again. + +He was looking at her speculatively, as if there were something about her +that he found hard to understand. Her agitation had subsided, leaving her +with a piteous, forlorn look--the look of the wayfarer who is almost too +tired to go any farther. + +There fell a brief silence between them, then with a little smile she +spoke. + +"Are you going to give me back my brooch?" + +He put his hand in his pocket. "I was nearly keeping it for good and +all," he said, as he brought it out. + +She took it from him and pinned it in her dress without words. Then, +shyly, she proffered her hand. "Thank you. Good-bye!" + +He drew a short hard breath as he took it into his own. For a second or +two he stood so, absolutely motionless, his great hand grasping hers. +Then, very suddenly, he stooped to her, looking into her eyes. + +"Good-bye, little new chum!" he said, softly. "It was--decent of you to +treat me--without prejudice." + +The words pierced her. A great tremor went through her. For an instant +the pain was almost intolerable. + +"Oh, spare me that!" she said, quickly and passionately, and drew her +hand away. + +The next moment she was running blindly through the passage, scarcely +knowing which way she went, intent only upon escape. + +A man at the foot of the stairs stood aside for her, and she fled past +him without a glance. He turned and watched her with keen, alert eyes +till she was out of sight. Then, without haste, he took his way in the +direction whence she had come. + +But he did not go beyond the threshold of the little dusty conservatory, +for something he saw within made him draw swiftly back. + +When Fletcher Hill went to the court that day, he was grimmer, colder, +more unapproachable even than was his wont. He had to deal with one or +two minor cases from the gold mine, and the treatment he meted out was +of as severe an order as circumstances would permit. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE MINE + + +The Fortescue Gold Mine was five miles away from Trelevan, in the heart +of wild, barren country, through which the sound of its great crushing +machines whirred perpetually like the droning of an immense beehive. + +The place was strewn with scattered huts belonging to such of the workers +as did not live at Trelevan, and a yellow stream ran foaming through the +valley, crossed here and there by primitive wooden bridges. + +The desolation of the whole scene, save for that running stream, produced +the effect of a world burnt out. The hills of shale might have been vast +heaps of ashes. It was a waste place of terrible unfruitfulness. And yet, +not very far below the surface, the precious metal lay buried in the +rock--the secret of the centuries which man at last had wrenched from its +hiding-place. + +The story went that Fortescue, the owner of the mine, had made his +discovery by a mere accident in this place known as the Barren Valley, +and had kept it to himself for years thereafter because he lacked the +means to exploit it. But later he had returned with the necessary capital +at his back, had staked his claim, and turned the place of desolation +into an abode of roaring activity. The men he employed were for the most +part drawn from the dregs--sheep-stealers, cattle-thieves, smugglers, +many of them ex-convicts--a fierce, unruly lot, hating all law and order, +yet submitting for the sake of that same precious yellow dust that they +ground from the foundation stones of the world. + +Personally, Fortescue was known but to the very few, but his methods were +known to all. He paid them generously, but he ruled them with a rigid +discipline that knew no relaxation. It was murmured that Fletcher +Hill--the hated police-magistrate--was at his back, for he never failed +to visit the mine when his duty took him in that direction, and there was +something of military precision in its management which was strongly +reminiscent of his forbidding personality. It was Fletcher Hill who meted +out punishment to the transgressors who were brought before him at the +police-court at Trelevan, and his treatment was usually swift and +unsparing. No prisoner ever expected mercy from him. + +He was hated at the mine with a fierce hatred, in which Fortescue had +but a very minor share. It was recognized that Fortescue's methods were +of a decent order, though his lack of personal interest was resented, +and also his friendship with Fletcher Hill, which some even declared to +be a partnership. The only point in his favour was the fact that Bill +Warden knew the man and never failed to stand up for him. For some reason +Warden possessed an enormous influence over the men. His elevation +to the sub-managership had been highly popular, and his projected +promotion to the post of manager, now filled by Harley, gave them immense +satisfaction. He had the instincts of a sportsman and knew how to handle +them, and a personality, that was certainly magnetic, did the rest. + +Harley had a certain following, but the general feeling towards him +was one of contempt. Most men recognized that he was nothing but a +self-seeker, and there were few who trusted him. He did his best to +achieve popularity, but his efforts were too obvious. Bill Warden's +breezy indifference held an infinitely greater appeal in the eyes +of the crowd. + +Harley's resignation was of his own choosing. He declared himself in need +of a rest, and no one attempted to persuade him otherwise. His day was +over, and Warden's succession to the post seemed an inevitable sequence. +As Hill sardonically remarked, there was no other competitor for the +chieftainship of that band of cutthroats. + +For some reason he had postponed his departure till after Hill's official +visit to Trelevan. He and Warden shared the largest house in the miners' +colony in Barren Valley. It was close to the mine at the end of the +valley, and part of it was used as the manager's office. It overlooked +the yellow torrent and the black wall of mountain beyond--a savage +prospect that might have been hewn from the crater of a dead volcano. + +A rough track led to it, winding some twenty feet above the stream, and +up this track Fletcher Hill drove the two visitors on the evening of the +day succeeding their arrival at Trelevan. + +There was a deadness of atmosphere between those rocky walls that struck +chill even to Adela's inconsequent soul. "What a ghastly place!" she +commented. "I should think Ezekiel's valley of dry bones must have been +something like this." + +Harley met them at the door of his office with a smile in his crafty +eyes. "Warden is waiting for you in the mine," he said to Fletcher. "His +lambs have been a bit restless this afternoon. He has set his heart on a +full-dress parade, but I don't know if it will come off." + +Fletcher's black brows drew together. "What do you mean by that?" he +demanded. + +Harley shrugged his shoulders with a laugh. "You wait and see!" + +The entrance to the mine yawned like an immense cavern in the rock. The +roaring screech of the machines issuing from it made an inferno of sound +from which, involuntarily, Dot shrank. + +She looked at Hill appealingly as they drew near. He turned instantly to +Harley. + +"Go ahead, will you, and tell them to stop work? We can't hear ourselves +speak in this." + +"I'll come with you, Mr. Harley," said Adela, promptly. "I want to see +the machines going." + +Harley paused for a moment. "You know your way, Mr. Hill?" he said. + +Hill nodded with a hint of impatience. "Yes, yes. I was here only the +other day." + +"Very good," said Harley. "But don't forget to turn to the right when you +get down the steps. The other way is too steep for ladies." + +He was gone with the words and Adela with him, openly delighted to have +escaped from her solemn escort, and ready for any adventure that might +present itself. + +Dot looked after her for a moment, and then back at Hill. "She'll be all +right, won't she?" she asked. + +"Of course she will!" said Hill. + +"Then shall we wait a minute till the noise stops?" she suggested. + +Hill paused, though not very willingly. "There is nothing to be nervous +about," he said. + +She glanced at the cavernous opening with a little shudder. "I think it +is a dreadful place," she said. + +She saw him faintly smile. "I thought it didn't appeal much to you," he +said. + +She shivered. "Do you like it? But of course you do. You are interested +in it. Isn't that grinding noise terrible? It makes me want to run away +and hide." + +Hill drew her to a large flat rock on the edge of the path. "Sit down," +he said. + +She did so, and he took up his stand beside her, one foot lodged upon the +stone. In the silence that followed she was aware of his eyes upon her, +intently watching her face. She gripped her hands hard around her knees, +enduring his scrutiny with a fast-throbbing heart. She expected some +curt, soul-searching question at the end of it. But none came. Instead, +the noise that reverberated through the valley suddenly ceased, and there +fell an intense stillness. + +That racked her beyond bearing. She looked up at him at last with a +desperate courage and met his eyes. "What is it?" she questioned. "Why +do you--why do you look at me--like that?" + +He made a brief gesture, as if refusing a challenge, and stood up. "Shall +we go?" he said. + +She got up also, but her knees were trembling, and in a moment his hand +came out and closed with that official grip upon her elbow. He led her +to the mine entrance guiding her over the rough ground in utter silence. + +They left the daylight behind them, passing almost immediately into +semi-darkness. Some rough steps hewn in the rock led down into a black +void before them. + +"Are there no lights anywhere?" said Dot. + +"Yes. There'll be a lamp round the corner. Straight on down!" said +Fletcher. + +But for his presence she would hardly have dared it, so great was the +horror that this place had inspired within her. But to wait alone with +him in that terrible empty valley was even less endurable. She went down +the long, steep stair without further protest. + +They reached the foot at length, and a dim light shone ahead of them. The +atmosphere was vault-like and penetratingly damp. The passage divided +almost immediately, and a narrow track led off between black walls of +stone to the right, where in the distance another lamp shone. + +Fletcher turned towards this, but very suddenly Dot clasped his arm. "Oh, +don't let us go that way!" she begged. "Please don't let us go that way!" + +Hill paused in response to her urgent insistence. "What's the matter with +you, Dot?" he said. + +She clung to him desperately, still holding him back. "I don't know--I +don't know! But don't go that way! I have a horrible feeling--Ah!" The +deafening report of a revolver-shot rang out suddenly close to them. + +Hill turned with a sound in his throat like the growl of an angry animal, +and in a moment he had thrust Dot back against the protecting corner of +the wall. + +"You are not hurt?" she gasped. + +"No; I am not." His words fell clipped and stern, though spoken scarcely +above a whisper. "Don't speak! Get back up the steps--as quickly as you +can!" + +The command was so definite, so peremptory, that she had no thought of +disobeying. But as she moved there came to her the sound of running feet. +Hill stayed her with a gesture. She saw something gleam in his hand as he +did so, and realized that he was not defenceless. + +Her heart seemed to spring into her throat. She stood tense. + +Nearer came the feet and nearer. The suspense of waiting was torture. She +thought it would never end. Then suddenly, just as she looked to see a +man spring from the opening of that narrow passage, they stopped. + +A voice spoke. "All right! Don't shoot!" it said, and a great +throb of amazement went through her. That voice--careless, debonair, +half-laughing--awoke deep echoes in her heart. + +A moment later Warden came calmly round the corner, his great figure +looming gigantic in that confined space. + +He held out his hand. "I'm sorry you've had a fright. I fired that shot. +It was a signal to the men to line up for inspection." + +He spoke with the utmost frankness, yet it came to Dot with an intuition +she could not doubt that Hill did not believe him. He returned the +revolver to his pocket, but he kept a hold upon it, and he made no +movement to take the hand Warden offered. + +"We came to inspect the mine, not the men," he said, shortly. "Go back +and tell them to clear out!" + +Dot, mutely watching, saw Warden's brows go up. He had barely glanced at +her. "Oh, all right, sir," he said, easily. "They've hardly left off work +yet. I'll let 'em know in good time. But first I've got something to show +you. Come this way!" + +He turned towards the main passage, but in a second, sharp and short, +Fletcher's voice arrested him. + +"Warden!" + +He swung on his heel. "Well, sir?" + +"You will do as I said--immediately!" The words might have been uttered +by a machine, so precise, so cold, so metallic were they. + +Warden stood quite motionless, facing him, and it seemed to Dot that +his eyes had become two blue flames, giving out light. The pause that +followed was so instinct with conflict that she thought it must end in +some terrible outburst of violence. + +Then, to her amazement, Warden smiled--his candid, pleasant smile. +"Certainly, if you make a point of it," he said. "Perhaps you will walk +up with me. The strong-room is on our way, and while you are looking at +the latest specimens I will carry out your orders." + +He turned back with the words, and led the way towards the distant lamp +that glimmered in the wall. + +Stiffly Hill turned to the girl beside him. "Would you rather go back and +wait for me?" he said. + +"Oh, no!" she said, instantly. "No; I am coming too." + +He said no more, but grimly stalked in the wake of Warden. + +The latter moved quickly till he reached the place where the lamp was +lodged in a niche in the wall. Here he stopped, stooped, and fitted a key +into a narrow door that had been let into the stone. It opened outwards, +and he drew aside, waiting for Hill. + +"I will go and dismiss the men," he said. "May I leave you in charge till +I come back? They will not come this way." + +Hill paused on the threshold. The lamp cast a dim light into the place, +which was close and gloomy as a prison. + +"There are two steps down," said Warden. "One of them is badly broken, +but it's worth your while to go in and have a look at our latest finds. +You had better go first, sir. Be careful!" + +He turned to depart with the words, still ignoring Dot. She was close to +Hill, and something impelled her to lay a restraining hand on his +shoulder as he took the first step down. + +What followed happened with such stunning swiftness that her memory of +it ever afterwards was a confused jumble of impressions, like the wild +course of a nightmare. + +She heard Warden swing round again in his tracks, but before she could +turn he had caught her and flung her backwards over his arm. With his +other hand simultaneously he dealt Hill a blow in the back that sent him +blundering down into the darkness, and then, with lightning rapidity, he +banged the door upon his captive. The lock sprang with the impact, but he +was not content with this. Still holding her, he dragged at a rough +handle above his head and by main strength forced down an iron shutter +over the locked door. + +Then, breathing hard and speaking no word, he lifted her till she hung +across his shoulder, and started to run. She had not uttered a sound, so +stunned with amazement was she, so bereft of even the power to think. Her +position was one of utter helplessness. He held her with one arm as +easily as if she had been a baby. And she knew that in his free hand he +carried his revolver. + +In her bewilderment she had not the faintest idea as to the direction he +took. She only knew that he ran like a hunted rat down many passages, +turning now this way, now that, till at last he plunged down an unseen +stairway and the sound of gurgling water reached her ears. + +He slackened his pace then, and at last stood still. He did not alter his +hold upon her, however, but stood listening intently for many seconds. +She hung impotent across his shoulder, feeling still too paralyzed to +move. + +He turned his head at last and spoke to her. "Have I terrified the senses +out of you, little new chum?" he whispered, softly. + +That awoke her from her passivity. She made her first effort for freedom. + +He drew her down into his arms and held her close. + +"Right down," she said, insistently. + +But he held her still. "If I let you go, you'll wander maybe, and get +lost," he said. + +His action surprised her, but yet that instinctive trust with which he +had inspired her long ago remained, refusing to be shaken. + +"Put me right down!" she said again. "And tell me why you did it!" + +He set her on her feet, but he still held her. "Can't you guess?" he +said. + +"No!" she said. "No!" + +She spoke a little wildly. Was it the first doubt that ran shadow--like +across her brain, leaving her so strangely cold? She wished it had not +been so dark, that she might see his face. "Tell me!" she said again. + +But he did not tell her. "Don't be afraid!" was all he said in answer. +"You are--safe enough." + +"But--but--Fletcher?" she questioned, desperately. "What of him?" + +"He's safe too--for the present." There was something of grimness in his +reply. "He doesn't matter so much. He's been asking for trouble all +along--but he had no right--no right whatever--to bring you into it. +It's you that matters." + +A curious, vibrant quality had crept into his voice, and an answering +tremor went through her; but she controlled it swiftly. + +"And Adela," she said. "She was with Mr. Harley. What has become of her?" + +"He will take care of her for his own sake. Leave her to him!" Warden +spoke with a hint of disdain. "She'll get nothing worse than a fright," +he said, "possibly not even that--if he gets her to the manager's house +in time." + +"In time!" she echoed. "In time for what? What is going to happen? What +do you mean?" + +His hold tightened upon her. "Well," he said, "there's going to be a row. +But I'm boss of this show, and I reckon I can deal with it. Only--I'll +have you safe first, little new chum. I'm not taking any chances where +you are concerned." + +She gasped a little. The steady assurance of his voice stirred her +strangely. + +She tried to release herself from his hold. "I don't like this place," +she said. "Let me go back to Mr. Hill." + +"That's just what I can't do." He bent suddenly down to her. "Won't you +trust me?" he said. "I didn't fail you last time, did I?" + +She thrilled in answer to those words. It was as if thereby he had flung +down all barriers between them. She stood for a moment in indecision, +then impulsively she turned and grasped his arms. + +"I trust you--absolutely," she told him, tremulously. "But--but--though +I know you don't like him--promise me--you won't let--Fletcher be hurt!" + +He, too, was silent for a moment before responding. She fancied that he +flinched a little at her words. Then: "All right, I promise," he said. + +"Then I will go--wherever you like," she said, bravely, and put her hand +into his. + +He took it into a strong grasp. "That's like you," he said, with +simplicity. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE GREATER LOVE + + +Through a labyrinth of many passages he led her, over ground that was +often rough and slimy with that sound of running water in their ears, +sometimes near, sometimes distant, but never wholly absent. Now and then +a gleam of light would come from some distant crevice, and Dot would +catch a glimpse of the rocky corridor through which they moved--catch a +glimpse also of her companion walking with his free stride beside her, +though occasionally he had to stoop when the roof was low. He did not +look at her, seldom spoke to her, but the grasp of his hand held her up +and kept all fear at bay. Somehow fear in this man's presence seemed +impossible. + +A long time passed, and she was sure that they had traversed a +considerable distance before, very far ahead of them at the end +of a steep upward slope, she discerned a patch of sky. + +"Is that where we are going?" she asked. + +"Yes," he said. + +She gazed before her, puzzled. "But where are we? Are we still in the +mine?" + +"No. This is the smugglers' warren." She caught a hint of humour in his +voice. "The stream flows underground all through here--and very useful we +have found it." + +She gave a great start at his words. "You--you are not a smuggler!" she +said. + +He drew her on. "I am a good many things," he said, easily, "and the king +of this rat-run amongst them. There's no one knows it as well as I do." + +Her heart sank. "You said--you said yesterday--you had lived straight!" +she said, in a low voice. + +"Did I? But what does it matter to you how I live?" With a touch of +recklessness he put the question. "If Fletcher Hill managed to put the +official seal on me, what would it matter to you--now?" + +There was almost a note of anger in his voice, yet his hand still held +hers in the same close, reassuring grasp. She could not be afraid. + +"It would matter," she said at last. + +"I wonder why?" said Bill Warden. + +"Because--we are friends," she said. + +He made a sharp sound as of dissent, but he did not openly contradict +her. They were nearing the opening, and the ground was rough and broken. +She stumbled once or twice, and each time he held her up. Finally they +came to a flight of steps that were little more than notches cut steeply +in the rock. + +"I shall have to carry you here," he said. + +Dot looked upwards with sharp dismay. The rocky wall rose twenty feet +above her, the rough-hewn steps slanting along its face. For the first +time her heart misgave her. + +"What a dreadful place!" she said. + +"It's the only way out," said Warden, "unless we tramp underground nearly +half-way to Wallacetown!" + +"Can't we go back?" she said, nervously. + +"What! Afraid?" He gave her hand a sudden squeeze. + +She looked at him and caught the blue fire of his eyes as he bent towards +her. Something moved her, she knew not what. She surrendered herself to +him without a word. + +Once more she hung upon his shoulder, clinging desperately, while he made +that perilous ascent. He went up with amazing agility, as if he were +entirely unencumbered. She felt the strength of his great frame beneath +her, and marvelled. Again the magnetic force of the man possessed her, +stilling all fear. She shut her eyes dizzily, but she was not afraid. + +When she looked up again they were in the open. He had set her on her +feet, and she stood on the rugged side of a mountain where no vestige of +a path or any habitation showed in any direction. For the first time he +had relinquished all hold upon her, and stood apart, almost as if he +would turn and leave her. + +The brief twilight was upon them. It was as if dark wings were folding +them round. A small chill wind was wandering to and fro. She shivered +involuntarily. It sounded like the whispering of an evil spirit. The fear +she had kept at bay for so long laid clammy hands upon her. + +Instinctively she turned to the man for protection. "How shall we get +away?" she said. + +He moved sharply, so sharply that for a single moment she thought that +something had angered him. And then--all in one single blinding +instant--she realized that which no words could utter. For he caught her +swiftly to him, lifting her off her feet, and very suddenly he covered +her face and neck and throat with hot, devouring kisses--kisses that +electrified her--kisses that seemed to scorch and blister--yet to fill +her with a pulsing rapture that was almost too great to endure. + +She tried to hide her face from him, but she could not; to protest, but +his lips stopped the words upon her own. She was powerless--and very +deep down within her there leaped a wild thing that rejoiced--that +exulted--in her powerlessness. + +The fierce storm spent itself. There came a pause during which she +lay palpitating against his breast while his cheek pressed hers in a +stillness that was in a fashion more compelling than even those burning +kisses had been. + +He spoke to her at last, and his voice was deep and tender, throbbing +with that which was beyond utterance. + +"You love me, little new chum," he said. + +There was no question in his words. She quivered, and made no answer. +That headlong outburst of passion had overwhelmed her utterly. She was +as drift upon the tide. + +He drew a great heaving breath, and clasped her closer. His words fell +hot upon her face. "You are mine! Why shouldn't I keep you? Fate has +given you to me. I'd be a fool to let you go again." + +But something--some inner impulse that had been stunned to impotence by +his violence--stirred within her at his words and awoke. Yet it was +scarcely of her own volition that she answered him. "I am--not--yours." + +Very faintly the words came from her trembling lips, but the utterance of +them gave her new strength. She moved at last in his hold. She turned her +face away from him. + +"What do you mean?" He spoke in a fierce whisper, but--she felt it +instinctively--there was less of assurance in his hold. It was that that +added to her strength, but she offered no active resistance, realizing +wherein lay his weakness--and her own. + +"I mean," she said, and though it still trembled beyond her control, her +voice gathered confidence with the words, "that by taking me--by keeping +me--you are taking--keeping--what is not your own." + +"Love gives me the right," he asserted, swiftly--"your love--and mine." + +But the clearer vision had come to her. She shook her head against his +shoulder. "No--no! That is wrong. That is not--the greater love." + +"What do you mean by--the greater love?" He was holding her still +closely, but no longer with that fierce possession. + +She answered him with a steadiness that surprised herself: "I mean the +only love that is worth having--the love that lasts." + +He caught up the words passionately. "And hasn't my love lasted? Have I +ever thought of any other woman since the day I met you? Haven't I been +fighting against odds ever since to be able to come to you an honest +man--and worthy of your love?" + +"Oh, I know--I know!" she said, and there was a sound of heartbreak in +her voice. "But--the odds have been too heavy. I thought you had +forgotten--long ago." + +"Forgotten!" he said. + +"Yes." With a sob she answered him. "Men do forget--nearly all of them. +Fletcher Hill didn't. He kept on waiting, and--and--they said it wasn't +fair--to spoil a man's life for a dream--that could never come true. +So--I gave in at last. I am--promised to him." + +"Against your will?" His arms tightened upon her again. "Tell me, little +new chum! Was it against your will?" + +"No! Oh, no!" She whispered the words through tears. "I gave +in--willingly. I thought it was better than--an empty life." + +"Ah!" The word fell like a groan. "And that's what you're going to +condemn me to, is it?" + +She turned in his arms, summoning her strength. "We've got to play the +game," she said. "I've got to keep my word--whatever it costs. And +you--you are going to keep yours." + +"My word?" he questioned, swiftly. + +"Yes." She lifted her head. "If--if you really care about being +honest--if your love is worth--anything at all--that is the only way. +You promised--you promised--to save him." + +"Save him for you?" he said. + +"Yes--save him for me." She did not know how she uttered the words, but +somehow they were spoken. + +They went into a silence that wrung her soul, and it cost her every atom +of her strength not to recall them. + +Bill Warden stood quite motionless for many pulsing seconds, then--very, +very slowly--at length his hold began to slacken. + +In the end he set her on her feet--and she was free. "All right, little +new chum!" he said, and she heard a new note in his voice--a note that +waked in her a wild impulse to spring back into his arms and cling to +him--and cling to him. "I'll do it--for you--if it kills me--just to show +you--little girl--just to show you--what my love for you is really +worth." + +He stood a moment, facing her; then his hands clenched and he turned +away. + +"Let's go down the hill!" he said. "I'll see you in safety first." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +WITHOUT CONDITIONS + + +In the midst of a darkness that could be felt Fletcher Hill stood, +grimly motionless, waiting. He knew that strong-room, had likened it +to a condemned cell every time he had entered it, and with bitter humour +he told himself that he had put his own neck into the noose with a +vengeance this time. + +Not often--if ever--before had he made the fatal mistake of trusting one +who was untrustworthy. He would not have dreamed of trusting Harley, for +instance. But for some reason he had chosen to repose his confidence in +Warden, and now it seemed that he was to pay the price of his rashness. +It was that fact that galled him far more than the danger with which he +was confronted. That he, Fletcher Hill--the Bloodhound--ever wary and +keen of scent, should have failed to detect a _ruse_ so transparent--this +inflicted a wound that his pride found it hard to sustain. Through his +lack of caution he had forfeited his own freedom, if not his life, and +exposed Dot to a risk from the thought of which even his iron nerve +shrank. He told himself repeatedly, with almost fierce emphasis, that Dot +would be safe, that Warden could not be such a hound as to fail her; but +deep within him there lurked a doubt which he would have given all he had +to be able to silence. The fact remained that through his negligence she +had been left unprotected in an hour of great danger. + +Within the narrow walls of his prison there was no sound save the +occasional drip of water that oozed through the damp rock. He might have +been penned in a vault, and the darkness that pressed upon him seemed to +crush the senses, making difficult coherent thought. There was nothing +to be done but to wait, and that waiting was the worst ordeal that +Fletcher Hill had ever been called upon to face. + +A long time passed--how long he had no means of gauging. He stood like +a sentinel, weapon in hand, staring into the awful darkness, struggling +against its oppression, fighting to keep his brain alert and ready for +any emergency. He thought he was prepared for anything, but that time +of waiting tried his endurance to the utmost, and when at length a sound +other than that irregular drip of water came through the deathly +stillness he started with a violence that sent a smile of self-contempt +to his lips. + +It was a wholly unexpected sound--just the ordinary tones of a man's +voice speaking to him through the darkness where he had believed that +there was nothing but a blank wall. + +"Mr. Hill, where are you?" it said. "I have come to get you out." + +Hill's hand tightened upon his revolver. He was not to be taken unawares +a second time. He stood in absolute silence, waiting. + +There was a brief pause, then again came the voice. "There's not much +point in shooting me. You'll probably starve if you do. So watch out! +I'm going to show a light." + +Hill still stood without stirring a muscle. His back was to the door. He +faced the direction of the voice. + +Suddenly, like the glare from an explosion, a light flashed in his eyes, +blinding him after the utter dark. He flinched from it in spite of +himself, but the next moment he was his own master again, erect and +stern, contemptuously unafraid. + +"Don't shoot!" said Bill Warden, with a gleam of his teeth, "or maybe +you'll shoot a friend!" + +He was standing empty-handed save for the torch he carried, his great +figure upright against the wall, facing Hill with speculation in his +eyes. + +Hill lowered his revolver. "I doubt it," he said, grimly. + +"Ah! You don't know me yet, do you?" said Warden, a faintly jeering note +in his voice. + +"Yes," said Hill, deliberately. "I think I know you--pretty well--now." + +"I wonder," said Warden. + +He moved slowly forward, throwing the light before him as he did so. The +place had been blasted out of the rock, and here and there the stone +shone smooth as marble where the charge had gone. Rough shelves had been +hewn in the walls, leaving divisions between, and on some of these were +stored bags of the precious metal that had been ground out of the ore. +There was no sign anywhere of any entrance save the iron-bound door +behind Hill. + +Straight in front of him Warden stopped. They stood face to face. + +"Well?" Warden said. "What do you know of me?" + +Hill's eyes were as steel. He stood stiff as a soldier on parade. He +answered curtly, without a hint of emotion. "I know enough to get you +arrested when this--farce--is over." + +"Oh, you call this a farce, do you?" Bill Warden's words came slowly from +lips that strangely smiled. "And when does--the fun begin?" + +Hill's harsh face was thrown into strong relief by the flare of the +torch. It was as flint confronting the other man. "Do you really imagine +that I regard this sort of Forty Thieves business seriously?" he said. + +"I imagine it is pretty serious so far as you are concerned," said +Warden. "You're in about the tightest hole you've ever been in in your +life. And it's up to me to get you out--or to leave you. Do you +understand that?" + +"Oh, quite," said Fletcher Hill, sardonically. "But--let me tell you +at the outset--you won't find me specially easy to bargain with on that +count--Mr. Buckskin Bill." + +Bill Warden threw up his head with a gesture of open defiance. "I'm not +doing any--bargaining," he said. "And as to arresting me--afterwards--you +can do as you please. But now--just now--you are in my power, and you're +going to play my game. Got that?" + +"I can see myself doing it," said Fletcher Hill. + +"Yes, you will do it." A sudden deep note of savagery sounded in Warden's +voice. "Not to save your own skin, Mr. Fletcher Hill, but for the sake +of--something more valuable than that--something more precious even than +your cussed pride. You'll do it for the sake of the girl you're going to +marry. And you'll do it--now." + +"Shall I?" said Fletcher Hill. + +Bill Warden's hand suddenly came forth and gripped him by the shoulder. +"Damn you!" he said. "Do you think I want to save your life?" + +The words were low, spoken with a concentrated passion more terrible than +open violence. He looked closely into Hill's eyes, and his own were +flaming like the eyes of a baited animal. + +Hill looked straight back at him without the stirring of an eyelid. "Take +your hand off me!" he said. + +It was the word of the superior officer. Warden's hand fell as it were +mechanically. There followed a tense silence. + +Warden made a sharp movement. "I did it to save your life," he said. +"You'd have died like a dog within ten seconds if I hadn't turned you +back." + +A curious expression crossed Hill's strong countenance. It was almost a +smile of understanding. "I am--indebted to you--boss," he said, and with +the words very calmly he took his revolver by the muzzle and held it out. +"I surrender to you--without conditions." + +Bill Warden gave a sharp start of surprise. For an instant he hesitated, +then in silence he took the weapon and dropped it into his pocket. A +moment longer he looked Fletcher Hill straight in the eyes, then swung +upon his heel. + +"We'll get out of this infernal hole straight away," he said, and, +stooping, gripped his fingers upon a ridge of stone that ran close to the +floor. The stone swung inward under his grasp, leaving a dark aperture +gaping at his feet. Bill glanced backwards at his prisoner. + +The smile still hovered in the latter's eye. "After you, Mr. Buckskin +Bill!" he said, ceremoniously. + +And in silence Bill led the way. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE BOSS OF BARREN VALLEY + + +"Oh, my dear!" gasped Adela. "I've had the most terrifying adventure. +I thought I should never see you again. The men are all on strike, and +they've sworn to kill Fletcher Hill, only no one knows where he is. What +became of him? Has he got away?" + +"I don't know," Dot said. + +She sank into the nearest chair in the ill-lighted manager's office, and +leaned her white face in her hand. + +"Perhaps he has been murdered already," said Adela. "Mr. Harley is +very anxious about him. He can't hold them. And--Dot--just think of +it!--Warden--the man we saw yesterday, the sub-manager--is at their head. +I saw him myself. He had a revolver in his hand. You were with Fletcher +Hill. You must know what became of him!" + +"No, I don't know," said Dot. "We--parted--a long time ago." + +"How odd you are!" said Adela. "Why, what is the matter? Are you going to +faint?" She went to the girl and bent over her, frightened by her look. +"What is the matter, Dot? What has happened to you? You haven't been +hurt?" + +"I am--all right," Dot said, with an effort. "Did Mr. Harley bring you +here?" + +"Yes. And you? How did you get here?" + +"He--brought me most of the way--Mr. Warden," Dot said. "He has gone now +to save--Fletcher Hill." + +"To shoot him, more likely," said Adela. "He has posted sentinels all +round the mine to catch him. I wonder if we are safe here! Mr. Harley +said it was a safe place. But I wonder. Shall we make a bolt for it, Dot? +Shall we? Shall we?" + +"I shall stay here," Dot answered. + +Adela was not even listening. "We are only two defenceless women, and +there isn't a man to look after us. What shall we do if--Ah! Heavens! +What is that?" + +A fearful sound had cut short her speculations--a fiendish yelling as of +a pack of wolves leaping upon their prey. Dot sat up swiftly. Adela +cowered in a corner. + +The terrible noise continued, appalling in its violence. It swept like +a wave towards the building, drowning the roar of the stream below. The +girl at the table rose and went to the closed door. She gripped a +revolver in her right hand. With her left she reached for the latch. + +"Don't open it!" gasped Adela. + +But Dot paid no heed. She lifted the latch and flung wide the door. Her +slim figure stood outlined against the lamp-light behind her. Before her +in a white glare of moonlight lay the vault-like entrance of the mine at +the head of Barren Valley, and surging along the black, scarred side of +the hill there came a yelling crowd of miners. They were making straight +for the open door, but at the sight of the girl standing there they +checked momentarily and the shouting died down. + +She faced the foremost of them without a tremor. "What is it?" she +demanded, in a clear, ringing voice. "What are you wanting?" + +A man with the shaggy face of a baboon answered her. "You've got that +blasted policeman in there. You stick up that gun of yours and let us +pass! We've got guns of our own, so that won't help." + +She confronted him with scorn. "Do you imagine I'm afraid of you and your +guns? There's no one here except another woman. Are you out to fight +women to-night?" + +"That's a lie!" he made prompt response. "You've got Fletcher Hill in +there, or I'm a nigger. You let us pass!" + +But still she blocked the way, her revolver pointing straight at him. +"Fletcher Hill is not here. And you won't come in unless Mr. Warden says +so. He is not here either at present. But he is coming. And I will shoot +any man who tries to force his way in first." + +"Damnation!" growled the shaggy-faced one and wheeled upon his comrades. +"What do you say to that, boys? Going to let a woman run this show?" + +A chorus of curses answered him, but still no one raised a revolver +against the slender figure that opposed them. Only, after a moment, a cur +in the background picked up a stone and flung it. It struck the doorpost, +narrowly missing her shoulder. Dot did not flinch, but immediately, with +tightened lips, she raised the revolver and fired over their heads. + +A furious outburst followed the explosion, and in an instant a dozen +revolvers were levelled at her. But in that same instant there came a +sound like the roar of a lion from behind the building, and with it +Warden's great figure leapt out into the moonlight. + +"You damned ruffians!" he yelled. "You devils! What are you doing?" + +His anger was in a fashion superb. It dwarfed the anger of the crowd. +They gave way before him like a herd of beasts. He sprang in front of +the girl, raging like a man possessed. + +"You gang of murderers! You hounds! You dirty swine! Get back, do you +hear? I'm the boss of this show, and what I say goes, or, if it doesn't, +I'll know the reason why. Benson--you dog! What's the meaning of this? Do +you think I'll have under me any coward that will badger a woman?" + +The man he addressed looked at him with a cowed expression on his hairy +face. "I never wanted to interfere with her," he growled. "But she's +protecting that damned policeman. It's her own fault for getting in our +way." + +"You're wrong then!" flashed back Warden. "Fletcher Hill is under my +protection, not hers. He has surrendered to me as my prisoner." + +"You've, got him?" shouted a score of voices. + +"Yes, I've got him." Rapidly Warden made answer. "But I'm not going to +hand him over to you to be murdered out of hand. If I'm boss of Barren +Valley, I'll be boss. So if any of you are dissatisfied you'll have to +reckon with me first. Fletcher Hill is my prisoner, and I'll see to it +that he has a fair trial. Got that?" + +A low murmur went round. The magnetism of the man was making itself felt. +He had that electric force which sways the multitude against all reason. +Single-handed, he gripped them with colossal assurance. They shrank from +the flame of his wrath like beaten dogs. + +"And before we deal with him," he went on, "there's someone else to be +reckoned with. And that's Harley. Does anyone know where Harley is?" + +"What do you want with Harley?" asked Benson, glad of this diversion. + +"Oh, just to tell him what I think of him, and then--to kick him out!" +With curt contempt Warden threw his answer. "He's a traitor and a +skunk--smuggles spirits one minute and goes to the police to sell his +chums the next; then back to his chums again to sell the police. I know. +I've been watching him for some time, the cur. He'd shoot me if he +dared." + +"He'd better!" yelled a huge miner in the middle of the crowd. + +Warden laughed. "That you, Nixon? Come over here! I've got something to +tell you--and the other boys. It's the story of this blasted mine." He +turned suddenly to the girl who still stood behind him in the lighted +doorway. "Miss Burton, I'd like you to hear it too. Shut the door and +stand by me!" + +Her shining eyes were on his face. She obeyed him mutely, with a +submission as unquestioning as that of the rough crowd in front of them. + +Very gently he took the revolver from her, drew one out of his own pocket +also, and handed both to the big man called Nixon who had come to his +side. + +"You look after these!" he said. + +"One is my property. The other belongs to Fletcher Hill--who is my +prisoner. Now, boys, you're armed. I'm not. You won't shoot the lady, I +know. And for myself I'll take my chance." + +"Guess you won't be any the worse for that," grinned Nixon, at his elbow. + +Warden's smile gleamed for an instant in answer, but he passed swiftly +on. "Did you ever hear of a cattle-thief called Buckskin Bill? He +flourished in these parts some five years ago. There was no mine in +Barren Valley then. It was just--a smugglers' stronghold." + +Some of the men in front of him stirred uneasily. "What's this to do with +Fletcher Hill?" asked one. + +"I'll tell you," said Warden. "Buckskin Bill, the cattle-thief, was in a +tight corner, and he took refuge in Barren Valley. He found the +smugglers' _cache_--and he found something else that the smugglers didn't +know of. He found--gold. It's a queer thing, boys, but he'd decided--for +private reasons--to give up the cattle-lifting just two days before. The +police were hot after him, but they didn't catch him and the smugglers +didn't catch him either. He dodged 'em all, and when he left he said to +himself, 'I'll be the boss of Barren Valley when I come back.' After that +he went West and starved a bit in the Australian desert till the cattle +episode had had time to blow over. Then--it's nearly two years ago +now--he came back. The first person he ran into was--Fletcher Hill, +the policeman." + +He paused with that dramatic instinct which was surely part-secret of his +fascination. He had caught the full attention of the crowd, and held them +spellbound. + +In a moment he went on. "That gave him an idea. Hill, of course, was +after other game by that time and didn't spot him. Hill was a magistrate +and a civil power at Wallacetown. So Bill went to him, knowing he was +straight, anyway, and told him about the gold in Barren Valley, +explaining, bold as brass, that he couldn't run the show himself for lack +of money. Boys, it was a rank speculation, but Hill was a sport. He +caught on. He came to Barren Valley, and they tinkered round together, +and they found gold. That same night they came upon the smugglers, +too--only escaped running into them by a miracle. Hill didn't say much. +He's not a talker. But after they got back to Wallacetown he made an +offer to Buckskin Bill which struck him as being a very sporting +proposition for a policeman. He said, 'If you care to take on Barren +Valley and make an honest concern of it, I'll get the grant and do the +backing. The labour is there,' he said, 'but it's got to be honest labour +or I won't touch it.' It was a sporting offer, boys, and, of course, Bill +jumped. And so a contract was drawn up which had to be signed. And +'What's your name?' said Fletcher Hill." Warden suddenly began to laugh. +"On my oath, he didn't know what to say, so he just caught at the first +honest-sounding name he could think of. 'Fortescue,' he said. Hill didn't +ask a single question. 'Then that mine shall be called the Fortescue Gold +Mine,' he said. 'And you'll work it and make an honest man's job of it.' +It was a pretty big undertaking, but it sort of appealed to Buckskin +Bill, and he took it on. The only real bad mistake he made was when he +trusted Harley. Except for that, the thing worked--and worked well. +The smuggling trade isn't what it was, eh, boys? That's because +Fortescue--and Fletcher Hill--are using up the labour for the mine. And +you may hate 'em like hell, but you can't get away from the fact that +this mine is run fair and decent, and there isn't a man here who doesn't +stand a good chance of making his fortune if he plays a straight game. +It's been a chance to make good for every one of us, and it's thanks to +Fletcher Hill--because he hasn't asked questions--because he's just taken +us on trust--and I'm hanged if he doesn't deserve something better than a +bullet through his brain, even if he is a magistrate and a policeman and +a man of honour. Have you got that, boys? Then chew it over and swallow +it! And when you've done that, I'll tell you something more." + +"Oh, let's have it all, boss, now you're at it!" broke in Nixon. "We +shan't have hysterics now. We're past that stage." + +Warden turned with a lightning movement and laid his hand upon the girl +beside him. "Gentlemen," he said, "it's Fletcher Hill--and not Buckskin +Bill--who's the boss of this valley. And he's a good boss--he's a +sportsman--he's a maker of men. And this lady is going to be his wife. +You're going to stand by her, boys. You aren't going to make a widow of +her before she's married. You aren't going to let a skunk like Harley +make skunks of you all. You're sportsmen, too--better sportsmen than that +stands for--better sportsmen, maybe, than I am myself. What, boys? It's +your turn to speak now." + +"Wait a bit!" said Nixon. "You haven't quite finished yet, boss." + +"No, that's true." Warden paused an instant, then abruptly went forward a +pace and stood alone before the crowd. "I've taken a good many chances in +my life," he said. "But now I'm taking the biggest of 'em all. Boys, I'm +a damned impostor. I've tricked you all, and it's up to you to stick me +against a wall and shoot me as I deserve, if you feel that way. For I'm +Buckskin Bill--I'm Fortescue--and I'm several kinds of a fool to think I +could ever carry it through. Now you know!" + +With defiant recklessness he flung the words. They were more of a +challenge than a confession. And having spoken them he moved straight +forward with the moonlight on his face till he stood practically among +the rough crowd. + +They opened out to receive him, almost as if at a word of command. And +Buckskin Bill, with his head high and his blue eyes flaming, went +straight into them with the gait of a conqueror. + +Suddenly, with a passionate gesture, he stopped, flinging up his empty +right hand. "Well, boys, well? What's the verdict? I'm in your hands." + +And a great hoarse roar of enthusiasm went up as they closed around him +that was like the bursting asunder of mighty flood-gates. They surged +about him. They lifted him on their shoulders. They yelled like maniacs +and fired their revolvers in the air. It was the wildest outbreak that +Barren Valley had ever heard, and to the girl who watched it, it was the +most marvellous revelation of a man's magnetism that she had ever beheld. +Alone he had faced and conquered a multitude. + +It pierced her strangely, that fierce enthusiasm, stirring her as +personal danger had failed to stir. She turned with the tears running +down her face and found Fletcher Hill standing unnoticed behind her, +silently looking on. + +"Oh, isn't he great? Isn't he great?" she said. + +He took her arm and led her within. His touch was kind, but wholly +without warmth. "There's not much doubt as to who is the boss of Barren +Valley," he said. + +And with the words he smiled--a smile that was sadder than her tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE OFFICIAL SEAL + + +That life could possibly return to a normal course after that amazing +night would have seemed to Dot preposterous but for the extremely +practical attitude adopted by Fletcher Hill. But when she saw him again +on the day after their safe return to Trelevan there was nothing in his +demeanour to remind her of the stress through which they had passed. He +was, as ever, perfectly calm and self-contained, and wholly +uncommunicative. Adela sought in vain to satisfy her curiosity as to the +happenings in Barren Valley which her courage had not permitted her to +witness for herself. Fletcher Hill was as a closed book, and on some +points Dot was equally reticent. By no persuasion could Adela induce her +to speak of Bill Warden. She turned the subject whenever it approached +him, professing an ignorance which Adela found excessively provoking. + +They saw nothing of him during the remainder of the week, and very +little of Fletcher Hill, who went to and fro upon his business with a +machine-like precision that seemed to pervade his every action. He made +no attempt to be alone with Dot, and she, with a shyness almost +overwhelming, thankfully accepted his forbearance. The day they had fixed +upon for their marriage was rapidly approaching, but she had almost +ceased to contemplate it, for somehow it seemed to her that it could +never dawn. Something must happen first! Surely something was about to +happen! And from day to day she lived for the sight of Bill Warden's +great figure and the sound of his steady voice. Anything, she felt, would +be bearable if only she could see him once again. But she looked for him +in vain. + +When her brother joined them at the end of the week a dullness of despair +had come upon her. Again she saw herself trapped and helpless, lacking +even the spirit to attempt escape. She greeted Jack almost abstractedly, +and he observed her throughout the evening with anxiety in his eyes. When +it was over he drew her aside for a moment as she was bidding him +good-night. + +"What's the matter, little 'un? What's wrong?" he whispered, with his arm +about her. + +She clung to him for an instant with a closeness that was passionate. +But, "It's nothing, Jack," she whispered back. "It's nothing." + +Then Fletcher Hill came up to them, and they separated. Adela and Dot +went up to bed, and the two men were left alone. + + * * * * * + +So at length the great day dawned, and nothing had happened. The only +news that had reached them was a remark overheard by Adela in the +dining-room, to the effect that Harley had thrown up his post and gone. + +Dot dressed for her wedding with a dazed sense of unreality. Her attire +was of the simplest. She wore a hat instead of a veil. It was to be a +quiet ceremony in the early morning, for neither she nor Hill desired any +unnecessary parade. When she descended the stairs with Adela, Jack was +the only person awaiting her in the hall. + +He looked at her searchingly as she came down to him, then without a word +he took her in his arms and kissed her white face. She saw that he was +moved, and wondered within herself at her own utter lack of emotion. Ever +since she had lain against Bill Warden's breast, the wild sweet rapture +of his hold had seemed to paralyze in her all other feeling. She knew +only the longing for his presence, the utter emptiness of a world that +held him not. + +She drove to the church with her hand in Jack's, Adela talking +incessantly the whole way while they two sat in silence. It was a bare +building in the heart of the town, but its bareness did not convey any +chill to her. She was already too numbly cold for that. + +She went up the aisle between Jack and Adela, because the latter +good-naturedly remarked that she might as well have as much support as +she could get. But before they reached the altar-steps Fletcher Hill came +to meet them, and Adela dropped behind. + +He also looked for a moment closely into Dot's face, then very quietly he +took her cold hand from Jack and drew it through his arm. She glanced at +him with a momentary nervousness as Jack also fell behind. + +Then some unknown force drew her as the magnet draws the needle, and she +looked towards the altar. A man was standing by the steps awaiting her. +She saw the free carriage of the great shoulders, the deep fire of the +blue eyes. And suddenly her heart gave a wild throb that was anguish, and +stood still. + +Fletcher Hill's arm went round her. He held her for a second closely to +him--more closely than he had ever held her before. But--it came to her +later--he did not utter a single word. He only drew her on. + +And so she came to Bill Warden waiting before the altar. They met--and +all the rest was blotted out. + +She went through that service in a breathless wonderment, an amazement +that yet was strangely free from distress. For Bill Warden's hand clasped +hers throughout, save when Fletcher Hill took it from him for a moment to +give her away. + +When it was over, and they knelt together in the streaming sunshine of +the morning, she felt as if they two were alone in an inner sanctuary +that was filled with the Love of God. Later, those sacred moments were +the holiest memory of her life.... + +Then a strong arm lifted and held her. She turned from the holy place +with a faint sigh of regret, turned to meet Fletcher Hill's eyes looking +at her with that in them which she was never to forget. + +His voice was the first to break through the wonder-spell that bound her. + +"Do you think you will ever manage to forgive me?" he said. + +She turned swiftly from the arm that encircled her, and impulsively +she put her hands upon his shoulders, offering him her lips. "Oh, I +don't--know--what--to say," she said, brokenly. + +He bent and gravely kissed her. "My dear, there is nothing to be said so +far as I am concerned," he said. "If you are happy, I am satisfied." + +It was briefly spoken, but it went straight to her heart. She clung to +him for a moment without words, and that was all the thanks she ever +offered him. For there was nothing to be said. + + * * * * * + +Very late on the evening of that wonderful day she sat with Bill Warden +on the edge of a rock overlooking a fertile valley of many waters in the +Blue Mountains, and heard, with her hand in his the amazing story of the +past few days, which had seemed to her so curiously dream-like. + +"I fought hard against marrying you," Bill told her, with the smile she +had remembered for so long. "But he had me at every turn--simply rolled +me out and wiped the ground with me. Said he'd clap me into prison if I +didn't, and when I said 'All right' to that, he turned on me like a tiger +and asked if I wanted to break your heart. Oh, he made me feel a +ten-times swab, I can tell you. And when I said I didn't want you to +marry an uncaught criminal, he just looked me over and said, 'You've sown +your wild oats. As your partner, I am sponsor for your respectability.' I +knew what that meant, knew he'd stand by me through thick and thin, +whatever turned up. It was the official seal with a vengeance, for what +Fletcher Hill says goes in these parts. But it went against the grain, +little new chum. It made me sick with myself. I hated playing his game +against himself. It was the vilest thing I ever did. I couldn't have done +it--except for you." + +The little hand that held his tightened. She leaned her cheek against his +shoulder. "Shall I tell you something?" she whispered. "I couldn't have +done it either--except for--you." + +His arm clasped her. "I'm such a poor sort of creature, darling," he said +"I'll work for you--live for you--die for you. But I shall never be +worthy of you." + +She lifted her face to his in the gathering darkness. "Dear love," she +said, "do you remember how--once--you asked me to treat you--without +prejudice? But I never have--and I don't believe I ever shall. Fletcher +Hill is right to trust you. He is a judge of men. But I--I am only the +woman who loves you, and--somehow--whichever way I take you--I'm always +prejudiced--in your favour." + +The low words ended against his lips. He kissed her closely, +passionately. "My little chum," he said, "I will be worthy--I will be +worthy--so help me God!" + +He was near to tears as he uttered his oath; but presently, when he +turned back her sleeve to kiss the place where first his lips had +lingered, they laughed together--the tender laughter of lovers in the +happy morning-time of life. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + Her Own Free Will + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +"Well, it's all over now, for better, for worse, as they say. And I hope +very much as it won't be for worse." + +A loud sniff expressive of grave misgiving succeeded the remark. The +speaker--one of a knot of village women--edged herself a little further +forward to look up the long strip of red baize that stretched from the +church porch to the lych gate near which she stood. The two cracked bells +were doing their best to noise abroad the importance of the event that +had just taken place, which was nothing less than the marriage of Colonel +Everard's daughter to Piet Cradock, the man of millions. Of the latter's +very existence none of the villagers had heard till a certain day, but a +few weeks before, when he had suddenly appeared at the Hall as the +accepted suitor of Nan Everard, whom everyone loved. + +She was only twenty, prettiest, gayest, wildest, of the whole wild tribe. +Three sons and eight daughters had the Colonel--a handsome, unruly +family, each one of them as lavish, as extravagant, and as undeniably +attractive as he was himself. + +His wife had been dead for years. They lived on the verge of bankruptcy, +had done so as long as most of them could remember; but it was only of +late that matters had begun to look really serious for them. It was +rumoured that the Hall was already mortgaged beyond its value, and it was +common knowledge that the Colonel's debts were accumulating with alarming +rapidity. This marriage, so it was openly surmised, had been arranged in +haste for the sole purpose of easing the strain. + +For that Nan Everard cared in the smallest degree for the solemn, +thick-set son of a Boer mother, to whom she had given herself, no one +ever deemed possible for an instant. But he was rich, fabulously rich, +and that fact counterbalanced many drawbacks. Piet Cradock owned a large +share in a diamond mine in the South African Republic, and he was a +person of considerable importance in his native land in consequence. He +had visited England on business, but his time there had been limited to +a bare six weeks. This fact had necessitated a brief wooing and a speedy +marriage. + +He had met the girl of his choice by a mere accident. He had chanced to +be seated on her right hand at a formal dinner-party in town. Very little +had passed between them then, but later, through the medium of his host, +he had sought her out, and called upon her. Within a week he had asked +her to be his wife. And Nan Everard, impulsive, dazzled by the prospect +of unbounded wealth, and feverishly eager to ease the family burden, had +accepted him. + +He was obliged to sail for South Africa within three weeks of his +proposal, and preparations for the marriage had therefore to be hurried +forward with all speed. They were to leave for Plymouth immediately after +the ceremony, and to sail on the following day. + +So at breathless speed events had raced, and no one knew exactly what +was the state of Nan's mind even up to the morning of her wedding-day. +Perhaps she scarcely knew herself, so madly had she been whirled along in +the vortex to which she had committed herself. But possibly during the +ceremony some vague realisation of what she was doing came upon her, for +she made her vows with a face as white as death, and in a voice that +never once rose above a whisper. + +But when she came at last down the church-yard path upon her husband's +arm, she was laughing merrily enough. Some enthusiast had flung a shower +of rice over his uncovered head, to his obvious discomfiture. + +He did not laugh with her. His smooth, heavy-jawed face was absolutely +unresponsive. He was fifteen years her senior, and he looked it to the +full. The hair grew far back upon his head, and it had a sprinkling of +grey. His height was unremarkable, but he had immensely powerful +shoulders, and a bull-like breadth of chest, that imparted a certain +air of arrogance to his gait. His black brows met shaggily over eyes of +sombre brown. Undeniably a formidable personage, this! + +Nan, glancing at him as she entered the carriage, harboured for a +moment the startled reflection that if he had a beard nothing could +have restrained her just then from screaming and running away. But, +fortunately for her quaking dignity, his face, with the exception of +those menacing eyebrows, and the lashes that shaded his gloomy eyes, was +wholly free from hair. + +Driving away from the church with its two clanging bells, she made a +resolute effort to shake off the scared feeling that had so possessed her +when she had stood at the altar with this man. If she had made a mistake, +and even now she was not absolutely certain that she had--it was +impossible in that turmoil of conflicting emotions to say--but +if she had, it was past remedy, and she must face the consequences +without shrinking. She had a conviction that he would domineer over her +without mercy if she displayed any fear. + +So, bravely hiding her sinking heart, she laughed and chatted for the +benefit of her taciturn bridegroom with the gayest inconsequence during +the brief drive to her home. + +He scarcely replied. He seemed to have something on his mind also. And +Nan breathed a little sigh of relief when they reached their destination, +and he gravely handed her out. + +A litter of telegrams on a table in the old-fashioned hall caught the +girl's attention directly she entered. She pounced upon them with eager +zest. + +"Ah, here's one from Jerry Lister. I knew he would be sure to remember. +He's the dearest boy in the world. He would have been here, but for some +horrid examination that kept him at Oxford." + +She opened the message impetuously, and began to read it; but suddenly, +finding her husband at her side, she desisted, crumpling it in her hand +with decidedly heightened colour. + +"Oh, he's quite ridiculous. Let us open some of the others." + +She thrust a sheaf into his hand, and busied herself with the remainder. + +He did not attempt to open any of them, but stood silently watching her +glowing face as she opened one after another and tossed them down. + +Suddenly she raised her eyes, and met his look fully, with a certain +pride. + +"Is anything the matter?" + +He pointed quite calmly to the scrap of paper she held crumpled in her +hand. + +"Are you not going to read that?" he asked, in slow, rather careful +English. + +Her colour deepened; it rose to her forehead in a burning wave. + +"Presently," she returned briefly. + +His eyes held hers with a curious insistence. + +"You need not be afraid," he said very quietly; "I shall not try to look +over." + +Nan stared at him, too amazed for speech. The hot blood ebbed from +her face as swiftly as it had risen, leaving her as white as the +orange-blossoms in her hair. + +At length suddenly, with a passionate gesture, she thrust out her hand to +him with the ball of paper on her palm. + +"Pray take it and read it," she said, her voice quivering with anger, +"since it interests you so much." + +He made no movement to comply. + +"I do not wish to read it, Anne," he said gravely. + +Her lip curled. It was the first time he had ever called her by her +Christian name, and there was something exceedingly formal in the way he +uttered it now. Moreover, no one ever called her anything but Nan. For +some reason she was hotly indignant at this unfamiliar mode of address. +It increased her anger against him tenfold. + +"Take it and read it!" she reiterated, with stubborn persistence. "I wish +you to do so!" + +The first carriage-load of guests was approaching the house as she spoke. +Cradock paused for a single instant as if irresolute, then, without more +ado, he took her at her word. He smoothed the paper out without the +smallest change of countenance, and read it, while she stood quivering +with impotent fury by his side. It was a long telegram, and it took some +seconds to read; but he did not look up till he had mastered it. + +"Good-bye, sweetheart, good-bye," so ran the message--"It is no +red-letter day for me, but I wish you joy with all my heart. Spare a +thought now and then for the good old times and the boy you left behind +you.--Your loving Jerry." + +Amid a buzz of congratulation, Piet Cradock handed the missive back to +his bride with a simple "Thank you!" that revealed nothing whatever of +what was in his mind. + +She took it, without looking at him, with nervous promptitude, and the +incident passed. + +The guests were many, and Nan's attention was very fully occupied. No +casual observer, seeing her smiling face, would have suspected the +turmoil of doubt that underlay her serenity. + +Only Mona, her favourite sister, had the smallest inkling of it, but even +Mona was not in Nan's confidence just then. No intimate word of any sort +passed between them up in the old bedroom that they had shared all their +lives during the fleeting half-hour that Nan spent preparing for her +journey. They could neither of them bear to speak of the coming +separation, and that embodied everything. + +The only allusion that Nan made to it was as she passed out of the room +with her arm round her sister's shoulders, and whispered: + +"Don't sleep by yourself to-night, darling. Make Lucy join you." + +They descended the stairs, holding closely to each other. Old Colonel +Everard, very red and tearful, met them at the foot, and folded Nan +tightly in his arms, murmuring inarticulate words of blessing. + +Nan emerged from his embrace pale but quite tearless. + +"Au revoir, dad!" she said, in her sprightliest tone. "You will be having +me back like a bad half-penny before you can turn round." + +Still laughing, she went from one to another of her family with words of +careless farewell, and finally rah the gauntlet of her well-wishers to +the waiting carriage, into which she dived without ceremony to avoid the +hail of rice that pursued her. + +Her husband followed her closely, and they were off almost before he took +his seat beside her. + +"Thank goodness, that's over!" said Nan, with fervour. "I'll never marry +again if I live to be a hundred! I am sure being buried must be much more +fun, and not nearly so ignominious." + +She leaned forward with the words, and was on the point of letting down +the window, when there was a sudden, deafening report close to them. The +carriage jerked and swerved violently, and in an instant it was being +whirled down the drive at the top speed of two terrified horses. + +Instinctively Nan turned to the man beside her. + +"It's the boys!" she exclaimed. "They said they should fire a salute! +But--but--" + +She broke off, amazed to find his arms gripping her tightly, forcing her +back in her seat, holding her pressed to him with a strength that took +her breath away. + +It all came--a multitude of impressions--crowded into a few brief +seconds; yet every racing detail was engraved with awful distinctness +upon the girl's mind, never to be forgotten. + +She struggled wildly in that suffocating hold, struggled fruitlessly to +lift her face from her husband's shoulder into which it was ruthlessly +pressed, and only ceased to struggle when the end of that terrible flight +came with a jolt and a jar and a final, sickening crash that flung her +headlong into a dreadful gulf of emptiness into which no light or echo of +sound could even vaguely penetrate. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Nan opened her eyes in her own sunny bedroom, and gazed wonderingly about +her, dimly conscious of something wrong. + +The doctor, whom she had known from her earliest infancy, was bending +over her, and she smiled her recognition of him, though with a dawning +uneasiness. Vague shapes were floating in her brain that troubled and +perplexed her. + +"What happened?" she murmured uneasily. + +He laid his hand upon her forehead. + +"Nothing much," he told her gently. "Lie still like a good girl and go to +sleep. There is nothing whatever for you to worry about. You'll be better +in the morning." + +But the shapes were obstinate, and would not be expelled. They were, +moreover, beginning to take definite form. + +"Wasn't there an accident?" she said restlessly. "I wish you would tell +me." + +"Well, I will," the doctor answered, "if you will keep quiet and not vex +yourself. There was a bit of an accident. The carriage was overturned. +But no one was hurt but you, and you will soon be yourself again if you +do as you're told." + +"But how am I hurt?" questioned Nan, moving her head on the pillow with a +dizzy feeling of weakness. "Ah!" with a sudden frown of pain. "It--it's +my arm." + +"Yes," the doctor said. "It's your arm. It went through the carriage +window. I have had to strap it up pretty tightly. You will try to put up +with it, and on no account must it be moved." + +She looked at him with startled eyes. + +"Is it very badly cut, then?" + +"Yes, a fragment of glass pierced the main artery. But I have checked the +bleeding--it was a providential thing that I was at hand to do it--and +if you keep absolutely still, it won't burst out again. I am telling you +this because it is necessary for you to know what a serious matter it is. +Any exertion might bring it on again, and then I can't say what would +happen. You have lost a good deal of blood as it is, and you can't afford +to lose any more. But if you behave like a sensible girl, and lie quiet +for a few days, you will soon be none the worse for the adventure." + +"For a few days!" Nan's eyes widened. "Then--then I shan't be able to go +with--with--" She faltered, and broke off. + +He answered her with very kindly sympathy. + +"Poor little woman! It's hard lines, but I am afraid there is no help for +it. You will have to postpone your honeymoon for a little while." + +"Have you--have you--told--him?" Nan whispered anxiously. + +"Yes, he knows all about it," the doctor said. "You shall see him +presently. But I want you to rest now. You have had a nasty shock, and +I should like you to sleep it off. Just drink this, and shut your eyes." + +Nan obeyed him meekly. She was feeling very weak and tired. And, after a +little, she fell asleep, blissfully unconscious of the fact that her +husband was seated close to her on the other side of the bed, silent and +watchful, and immobile as a statue. + +She did not wake till late on the following morning, and then it was to +find her sister Mona only in attendance. + +"Have you been up all night?" was Nan's first query. + +Mona hesitated. + +"Well, not exactly. I lay down part of the time." + +"Why in the world didn't you go to bed?" questioned Nan. + +"I couldn't, dear. Piet was here." + +"Who?" said Nan sharply; then, colouring vividly, "All night, Mona? How +could you let him?" + +"I couldn't help it!" said Mona. "He wouldn't go." + +"What nonsense! He's gone now, I suppose?" Nan spoke irritably. The +tightness of the doctor's bandages was causing her considerable pain. + +"Oh, yes, he went some time ago," Mona assured her. "But he is sure to +come back presently, and say good-bye." + +"Say good-bye!" Nan echoed the words slowly, a dawning brightness in her +eyes. "Is he--is he really going, then?" she whispered. + +"He says he must go--whatever happens. It was a solemn promise, and he +can't break it. I don't understand, of course, but he is wanted at +Kimberley to avert some crisis connected with the mines." + +"Then--he will have to start soon?" said Nan. + +"Yes. But he won't leave till the last minute. He has chartered a special +to take him to Plymouth." + +"He knows I can't go?" said Nan quickly. + +"Oh, yes; the doctor told him that last night." + +"What did he say? Was he angry?" + +"He looked furious. But he didn't say anything, even in Dutch. I think +his feelings were beyond words," said Mona, with a little smile. + +Nan asked no more, but when the doctor saw her a little later, he was +dissatisfied with her appearance, and scolded her for working herself +into a fever. + +"There's no sense in fretting about it," he said. "The thing is done, and +can't be altered. I have no doubt your husband will be back again in a +few weeks to fetch you, and we will have you quite well again by then." + +But Nan only shivered in response, as though she found this assurance +the reverse of comforting. The shock of the accident, succeeding the +incessant strain of the past few weeks, had completely broken down her +nerve, and no amount of reasoning could calm her. + +When a message came from her husband an hour later, asking if she would +see him, she answered in the affirmative, but the bare prospect of the +interview threw her into a ferment of agitation. + +She lay panting on her pillows like a frightened child when at length he +entered. + +He came in very softly, but every pulse in her body leapt at his +approach. She could not utter a word in greeting. + +He stood a moment in silence, looking down at her, then, stooping, he +took her free hand into his own. + +"Are you better?" he asked, his deep voice hushed as if he were in +church. + +She could not answer him for the fast beating of her heart. He waited a +little, then sat down by the bed, his great hand still holding her little +trembling one in a steady grasp. + +"The doctor tells me," he said, "that it would not be safe for you to +travel at present, so I cannot of course, think of allowing you to do +so." + +Nan's eyes opened very wide at this. It was an entirely novel idea that +this man should take upon himself to direct her movements. She drew a +deep breath, and found her voice. + +"I should certainly not dream of attempting such a thing without the +doctor's permission." + +His grave face did not alter. His eyes looked directly into hers and +it seemed to Nan for the first time that they held something of a +domineering expression. + +She turned her head away with a quick frown. She also made a slight, +ineffectual effort to free her hand. But he did not appear to notice +either gesture. + +"Yes," he said, in his slow way, "it is out of the question, and so I +have asked your father to take care of you for me until my return--for, +unfortunately, I cannot postpone my own departure." + +Nan's lips quivered. She was beginning to feel hysterical. With an effort +she controlled herself. + +"How long shall you be away?" she asked. + +"It is impossible for me to say. Everything depends upon the state of +affairs at the mines. But you may be quite sure, Anne"--a deeper note +crept into his voice--"that my absence will be as short as I can possibly +make it." + +She turned her head towards him again. + +"You needn't hurry for my sake," she said abruptly. "I shall be perfectly +happy here." + +"I am glad to hear it," he answered gravely. "I have made full provision +for you. The interest upon the settlement I have made upon you will be +paid to you monthly. Should you find it insufficient, you will, of +course, let me know. I could cable you some more if necessary." + +A great blush rose in Nan's face at his words, spreading upwards to her +hair. + +"Oh," she stammered, "I--I--indeed, I shan't want any money! Please +don't--" + +"It is your own," he interposed quietly, "and as such I beg that you will +regard it, and spend it exactly as you like. Should you require more, as +I have said, I shall be pleased to send it to you." + +He uttered the last sentence as if it ended the matter, and Nan found +herself unable to say more. To have expressed any gratitude would have +been an absolute impossibility at that moment. + +She lay, therefore, in quivering silence until he spoke again. + +"It is time for me to be going. I hope the injury to your arm will +progress quite satisfactorily. You will not be able to write to me +yourself at present, but your sister Mona has promised to let me hear +of you by every mail. Dr. Barnard will also write." + +He paused. But Nan said nothing whatever. She was wondering, with a fiery +embarrassment, what form his farewell would take. + +After a brief silence he rose. + +"Good-bye, then!" he said. + +He bent low over her, looking closely into her unwilling face. And +then--it was the merest touch--for the fraction of a second his lips were +on her forehead. + +"Good-bye!" he said again, under his breath, and in another moment she +heard his soft tread as he went away. + +Her heart was throbbing madly; she felt as if it were leaping up and down +within her. For a space she lay listening, every nerve upon the stretch. +Then at last there came to her the sound of voices raised in farewell, +the crunch of wheels below her window, the loud banging of a door. And +with a gasp she turned her face into her pillow, and wept for sheer +relief. + +He had come and gone like an evil dream, and she was left safe in her +father's house. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Three weeks after her wedding, Nan Cradock awoke to the amazing discovery +that she was a rich woman; how rich it took her some time to realise, and +when it did dawn upon her she was startled, almost dismayed. + +Her recovery from the only illness she had ever known was marvellously +rapid, and with her return to health her spirits rose to their accustomed +giddy height. There was little in her surroundings to remind her of the +fact that she was married, always excepting the unwonted presence of +these same riches which she speedily began to scatter with a lavish hand. +Her life slipped very easily back into its accustomed groove, save that +the pinch of poverty was conspicuously absent. The first day of every +month brought her a full purse, and for a long time the charm of this +novelty went far towards quieting the undeniable sense of uneasiness that +accompanied it. + +It was only when the novelty began to wear away that the burdened feeling +began to oppress her unduly. No one suspected it, not even Mona, who +adhered rigorously to her promise, and wrote her weekly report of her +sister's health to her absent brother-in-law long after Nan was fully +capable of performing this duty for herself. Mona had always been +considered the least feather-brained of the family, and she certainly +fulfilled her trust with absolute integrity. + +Piet Cradock's epistles were not quite so frequent, and invariably of the +briefest. They were exceedingly formal at all times, and Nan's heart +never warmed at the sight of his handwriting. It was thick and strong, +like himself, and she always regarded it with a little secret sense of +aversion. + +Nevertheless, as time passed, and he made no mention of return, her dread +of the future subsided gradually into the back of her mind. It had never +been her habit to look forward very far, and she was still little more +than a child. Gradually the fact of her marriage began to grow shadowy +and unreal, till at length she almost managed to shut it out of her +consideration altogether. She had accepted the man upon impulse, dazzled +by the glitter of his wealth. To find that he had drifted out of her +life, and that the wealth remained, was the most blissful state of +affairs that she could have desired. + +Slowly spring merged into summer, and more and more did it seem to Nan +that the past was nothing but a dream. She returned to her customary +pursuits with all her old zest, rising early in the mornings to follow +the otter-hounds, tramping for miles, and returning ravenous to +breakfast; or, again, spending hours in the saddle, and only returning +at her own sweet will. Colonel Everard's household was one of absolute +freedom. No one ever questioned the doings of anyone else. From the +earliest they had one and all been accustomed to go their own way. And +Nan was the freest and most independent of them all. + +It was on a splendid morning in July that as she splashed along the +marshy edge of a stream in hot pursuit of one of the biggest otters she +had ever seen, a well-known voice accosted her by name. + +"Hullo, Nan! I wondered if you would turn up when they told me you were +still at home." + +Nan whisked round, up to her ankles in mud. + +"Hullo, Jerry, it's you, is it?" was her unceremonious reply. "Pleased to +see you, my boy. But don't talk to me now. I can't think of anything but +business." + +She was off with the words, not waiting to shake hands. But Jerry Lister +was not in the least discouraged by this treatment. He was accustomed to +Nan and all her ways. + +He pounded after her along the bank and joined her as a matter of course. +A straight, good-looking youth was Jerry, as wild and headstrong as Nan +herself. He was the grand-nephew of old Squire Grimshaw, Colonel +Everard's special crony, and he and Nan had been chums from their +childhood. He was only a year older than she, and in many respects he was +her junior. "I say, you are all right again?" was his first question, +when the otter allowed them a little breathing-space. "I was awfully +sorry to hear about your accident, you know, but awfully glad, too, in a +way. By Jove, I don't think I could have spent the Long here, with you in +South Africa! What ever possessed you to go and marry a Boer, Nan?" + +"Don't be an idiot!" said Nan sharply. "He isn't anything of the sort." + +Jerry accepted the correction with a boyish grimace. + +"I'm coming to call on you to-morrow, Mrs. Cradock," he announced. + +Nan coloured angrily. + +"You needn't trouble yourself," she returned. "I don't receive callers." + +But Jerry was not to be shaken off. He linked an affectionate arm in +hers. + +"All right, Nan old girl, don't be waxy," he pleaded. "Come on the lake +with me this afternoon instead. I'll bring some prog if you will, and +we'll have one of our old red-letter days. Is it a promise?" + +She hesitated, still half inclined to be ungracious. + +"Well," she said at length, moved in spite of herself by his persuasive +attitude, "I will come to please you, on one condition." + +"Good!" ejaculated Jerry. "It's done, whatever it is." + +"Don't be absurd!" she protested, trying to be stern and failing somewhat +ignominiously. "I will come only if you will promise not to talk about +anything that you see I don't like." + +"Bless your heart," said Jerry, lifting her fingertips to his lips, "I +won't utter a syllable, good or bad, without your express permission. +You'll come, then?" + +"Yes, I'll come," she said, allowing the smile that would not be +suppressed. "But if you don't make it very nice, I shall never come +again." + +"All right," said Jerry cheerily. "I'll bring my banjo. You always like +that. Come early, like a saint. I'll be at the boat-house at eleven." + +He was; and Nan was not long after. The lake stretched for about a mile +in the squire's park, and many were the happy hours that they had spent +upon it. + +It was a day of perfect summer, and they drifted through it in sublime +enjoyment. Jerry soon discovered that the girl's marriage and anything +remotely connected with it were subjects to be avoided, and as he had no +great wish himself to investigate in that direction he found small +difficulty in confining himself to more familiar ground. Without effort +they resumed the old friendly intercourse that the girl's rash step had +threatened to cut short, and long before the end of the afternoon they +were as intimate as they had ever been. + +"You mustn't go in yet," insisted Jerry, when a distant clock struck +seven. "Wait another couple of hours. There's plenty of food left. And +the moonrise will be grand to-night." + +Nan did not need much persuading. She had always loved the lake, and +Jerry's society was generally congenial. He had, moreover, been taking +special pains to please her, and she was quite willing to be pleased. + +She consented, therefore, and Jerry punted her across to her favourite +nook for supper. She thoroughly enjoyed the repast, Jerry's ideas of +what a picnic-basket should contain being of a decidedly lavish order. + +The meal over, he took up his banjo and waxed sentimental. Nan lay among +her cushions and listened in sympathetic silence. Undeniably Jerry knew +how to make music, and he also knew when to stop--a priceless gift in +Nan's estimation. + +When the moon rose at last out of the summer haze, he had laid his +instrument aside and was lying with his head on his arms and his +face to the rising glory. They watched it dumbly in the silence of +goodfellowship, till at last it topped the willows and shone in a broad, +silver streak across the lake right up to the prow of the boat. + +After a long time Jerry turned his dark head. + +"I say, Nan!" he said, almost in a whisper. + +"Yes?" she murmured back, her eyes still full of the splendour. The boy +raised himself a little. + +"Do you remember that day ever so long ago when we played at being +sweethearts on this very identical spot?" he asked her softly. + +She turned her eyes to his with a doubtful, questioning look. + +"We weren't in earnest, Jerry," she reminded him. + +He jerked one shoulder with a sharp, impatient gesture, highly +characteristic of him. + +"I know we weren't. I shan't dream of being in earnest in that way for +another ten--perhaps twenty--years. But there's no harm in making +believe, is there, just now and then? I liked that game awfully, and +so did you. You know you did." + +Nan did not attempt to deny it. She sat up instead with her hands clasped +round her knees and laughed like an elf. + +Her wedding-ring caught the moonlight, and the boy leaned forward with a +frown. + +"Take that thing off, won't you, just for to-night? I hate to think you're +married. You're not, you know. We're in fairyland, and married people +never go there. The fairies will turn you out if they see it." + +Very gently he inserted one finger between her clasped ones and began to +draw the emblem off. + +Nan made no resistance whatever. She only sat and laughed. She was in her +gayest, most inconsequent mood. Some magic of the moonlight was in her +veins that night. + +"There!" said Jerry triumphantly. "Now you are safe. Jove! Did you hear +that water-sprite gurgling under the boat? It must be ripping to be a +water-sprite. Can't you see them, Nan, whisking about down there in +couples along the stones? Give me your hand, and we'll dive under and +join them." + +But Nan's enthusiasm would not stretch to this. She fully understood his +mood, but she would only sit in the moonlight and laugh, till presently +Jerry, infected by her merriment, began to laugh too, and spun the ring +he had filched from her high into the moonlight. + +How it happened neither of them could ever afterwards say; but just at +that critical moment when the ring was glittering in mid-air, some +wayward current, or it might have been the water-sprite Jerry had just +detected, lapped the water smartly against the punt and bumped it against +the bank. Jerry exclaimed and nearly overbalanced backwards; Nan made a +hasty grab at her falling property, but her hand only collided with his, +making a similar grab at the same moment, and between them they sent the +ring spinning far out into the moonlit ripples. + +It disappeared before their dazzled eyes into that magic bar of light, +and the girl and the boy turned and gazed at one another in speechless +consternation. + +Nan was the first to recover. She drew a deep breath, and burst into a +merry peal of laughter. + +"My dear boy, for pity's sake don't look like that! I never saw anything +so absolutely tragic in my life. Why, what does it matter? I can buy +another. I can buy fifty if I want them." + +Thus reassured, Jerry began to laugh too, but not with Nan's abandonment. +The incident had had a sobering effect upon him. + +"But I'm awfully sorry," he protested. "All my fault. You must let me +make it good." + +This suggestion added to Nan's mirth. "Oh, I couldn't really. I should +feel as if I was married to you, and I shouldn't like that at all. Now +you needn't look cross, for you know you wouldn't either. No, don't be +silly, Jerry. It doesn't matter the least little bit in the world." + +"But, I say, won't the absent one be savage?" suggested Jerry. + +Nan tossed her head. "I'm sure I don't know. Anyhow it doesn't matter." + +"Do you really mean that?" he persisted. "Don't you really care?" + +Nan threw herself back in the boat with her face to the stars. + +"Why, of course not," she declared, with regal indifference. "How can you +be so absurd?" + +And in face of such sublime recklessness, he was obliged to be convinced. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Nan's picnic on the lake was not concluded much before ten o'clock. + +She ran home through the moonlight, bareheaded, whistling as carelessly +as a boy. Night and day were the same thing to her in the place in +which she had lived all her life. There was not one of the village folk +whom she did not know, not one for whom the doings of the wild Everards +did not provide food for discussion. For Nan undoubtedly was an Everard +still, her grand wedding notwithstanding. No one ever dreamed of applying +any other title to her than the familiar "Miss Nan" that she had borne +from her babyhood. There was, in fact, a general feeling that the unknown +husband of Miss Nan was scarcely worthy of the high honour that had been +bestowed upon him. His desertion of her on the very day succeeding the +wedding had been freely criticised, and in many quarters condemned out of +hand. No one knew the exact circumstances of the case, but all were +agreed in pronouncing Miss Nan's husband a defaulter. + +That Miss Nan herself was very far from fretting over the situation was +abundantly evident, but this fact did not in any way tend to justify the +offender, of whom it was beginning to be opined round the bars of the +village inns that he was "one o' them queer sort of cusses that it was +best for women to steer clear of." + +Naturally these interesting shreds of gossip never reached Nan's ears. +She was, as she had ever been, supremely free from self-consciousness +of any description, and it never occurred to her that the situation in +which she was placed was sufficiently peculiar to cause comment. The +Everards had ever been a law unto themselves, and it was inconceivable +that anyone should attempt to apply to them the conventional rules by +which other people chose to let their lives be governed. Of course they +were different from the rest of the world. It had been an accepted fact +as long as she could remember, and it certainly had never troubled her, +nor was it ever likely to do so. + +She was sublimely unconscious of all criticism as she ran down the +village street that night, nodding carelessly to any that she met, and +finally turned lightly in at her father's gates, walking with elastic +tread under the great arching beech trees that blotted the moonlight from +her path. + +The front door stood hospitably open, and she entered to find her father +stretched in his favourite chair, smoking. + +He greeted her with his usual gruff indulgence. + +"Hallo, you mad-cap! I was just wondering whether I would scour the +country for you, or leave the door open and go to bed. I think it was +going to be the last, though, to be sure, it would have served you right +if I had locked you out. Had any dinner?" + +"No, darling, supper--any amount of it." Nan dropped a kiss upon his bald +head in passing. "I've been with Jerry," she said, "on the lake the whole +day long. We watched the moon rise. It was so romantic." + +The Colonel grunted. + +"More rheumatic than romantic I should have thought. Better have a glass +of grog." + +Nan screwed up her bright face with a laugh. + +"Heaven forbid, dad! And on a night like this. Oh, bother! Is that a +letter for me?" + +Colonel Everard was pointing to an envelope on the mantelpiece. She +crossed the hall without eagerness, and picked it up. + +"I've had one, too," said the Colonel, after a brief pause, speaking with +a jerk as if the words insisted upon being uttered in spite of him. + +"You!" Nan paused with one finger already inserted in the flap. "What +for?" + +Her father was staring steadily at the end of his cigar, or he might have +seen a hint of panic in her dark eyes. + +"You will see for yourself," he said, still in that uncomfortable, jerky +style. "He seems to think--Well, I must say it sounds reasonable enough +since he can't get back at present; but you will see for yourself." + +A little tremor went through Nan as she opened the letter. With frowning +brows she perused it. + +It did not take long to read. The thick, upright writing was almost +arrogantly distinct, recalling the writer with startling vividness. + +He had written with his accustomed brevity, but there was much more than +usual in his letter. He saw no prospect, so he told her, of being able +to leave the country for some time to come. Affairs were unsettled, and +likely to remain so. At the same time, there was no reason, now that her +health was restored, that she should not join him, and he was writing to +ask her father to take her out to him. He would meet them at Cape Town, +and if the Colonel cared to do so he would be very pleased if he would +spend a few months with them. + +The plan was expressed concisely but with absolute kindness. Nevertheless +there was about the letter a certain tone of mastery which gave Nan very +clearly to understand that the writer thereof did not expect to be +disappointed. It was emphatically the letter of a husband to his wife, +not of a lover to his beloved. + +She looked up from it with a very blank face. + +"My dear dad!" she ejaculated. "What can he be thinking of?" + +Colonel Everard smiled somewhat ruefully. + +"You, apparently," he said, with an effort to speak lightly. "What shall +we say to him--eh, Nan? You'll like to go on the spree with your old dad +to take care of you." + +"Spree!" exclaimed Nan. And again in a lower key, with a still finer +disdain: "Spree! Well"--tearing the letter across impulsively, with the +action of a passionate child--"you can go on the spree if you like, dad, +but I'm going to stay at home. I'm not going to run after him to the ends +of the earth if he is my husband. It wasn't in the bargain, and I won't +do it!" + +She stamped like a little fury, scattering fragments of the torn letter +in all directions. + +Her father attempted a feeble remonstrance, but she overrode him +instantly. + +"I won't listen to you, dad!" she declared fiercely. "I tell you I won't +do it! The man isn't living who shall order me to do this or that as if I +were his slave. You can write and tell him so if you like. When I married +him, he gave me to understand that we should only be out there for a few +months at most, and then we were to settle in England. You see what a +different story he tells now. But I won't be treated in that way. I won't +be inveigled out there, and made to wait on his royal pleasure. He chose +to go without me. I wasn't important enough to keep him in England, and +now it's my turn. He isn't important enough to drag me out there. No, be +quiet, daddy! I tell you I won't go! I won't go, I swear it!" + +"My dear child," protested the Colonel, making himself heard at length in +her pause for breath. "No one wants you to go anywhere or do anything +against your will. Piet Cradock isn't so unreasonable as that, if he is a +Dutchman. Now don't distress yourself. There isn't the smallest necessity +for that. I thought it just possible that you might like the idea as I +was to be with you. But as you don't--well, there's an end of it. We will +say no more." + +Nan's arm was around his neck as he ended, her cheek against his +forehead. + +"Dear, dear daddy, don't think I'm cross with you. You're just the +sweetest old darling in the world, and I'd go to Kamschatka with you +gladly--in fact, anywhere--anywhere--except South Africa. Can't we go +somewhere together, just you and I? Let's go to Jamaica. I'm sure I can +afford it." + +"No, no, no!" protested the Colonel. "Get away with you, you baggage! +What are you thinking of? Miss the cubbing season? Not I. And not you +either, if I know you. There! Run along to bed, and take my blessing with +you. I'll send a line to Piet, if you like, and tell him you don't object +to waiting for him a bit longer under your old father's roof. Come, be +off with you! I'm going to lock up." + +He hoisted himself out of his chair with the words, looked at her fondly +for a moment, took her pretty face between his hands, and kissed her +twice. + +"She's the worst pickle of the lot," he declared softly. + +He did not add that she was also his darling of them all, but this was a +perfectly open secret between them, and had been such as long as Nan +could remember. She laughed up at him with tender impudence in +recognition of the fact. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +The letter from Piet Cradock was not again referred to by either Nan or +her father. The latter answered it in his own way after the lapse of a +few weeks. He was of a peaceable, easy-going nature himself, and he did +not anticipate any trouble with Nan's husband. After all, the child's +reluctance to leave her home was perfectly natural. He, for his part, had +never fully understood the attraction which his son-in-law had exercised +upon her. He had been glad enough to have his favourite daughter provided +for, but the actual parting with her had been a serious trouble to him, +the most serious he had known for years, and he had been very far from +desiring to quarrel with the Fate that had restored her to him. + +He was comfortably convinced that Piet would understand all this. +Moreover, the fellow was clearly very busy. All his energies seemed to be +fully occupied. He would have but little time to spare for his wife, even +if he had her at his side. No, on the whole, the Colonel was of opinion +that Nan's decision was a wise one, and it seemed to him that, upon +reflection, his son-in-law could scarcely fail to agree with him. + +Something of this he expressed in his letter when he eventually roused +himself to reply to Piet's invitation, and therewith he dismissed all +further thought upon the subject from his mind. His darling had pleased +herself all her life, and naturally she would continue to do so. + +His letter went into silence, but there was nothing surprising in this +fact. Piet was, of course, too busy to have any leisure for private +affairs. The whole matter slid into the past with the utmost ease. No +doubt he would come home some day, but very possibly not for years, and +the Colonel was quite content with this vague prospect. + +As for Nan, she flicked the matter from her with the utmost nonchalance. +Since her father had undertaken to explain things, she did not even +trouble herself to write an answer to her husband's letter. That letter +had, in fact, very deeply wounded her pride. It had been a command, and +Nan was not accustomed to such treatment. Never, in all her unruly life, +had she yielded obedience to any. No discipline had ever tamed her. She +had been free, free as air, and she had not the vaguest intention of +submitting herself to the authority of anyone. The bare idea was +unthinkably repugnant to her, foreign to her whole nature. + +So, with a fierce disgust, she cast from her all memory of that brief +message that had come to her from the man who called himself her husband, +who had actually dared to treat her as one having the right to control +her actions. She could be a thousand times more arrogant than he when +occasion served, and she had not the faintest intention of allowing +herself to be fettered by any man's tyranny. + +Swiftly the days of that splendid summer flew by. She scarcely knew how +she spent them, but she was always in the open air, and almost invariably +with Jerry. She missed him considerably when he returned to Oxford, but +the hunting season was at hand, and soon engrossed all her thoughts. Old +Squire Grimshaw was the master, and Nan and her father followed his +hounds three days in every week. People had long since come to acquiesce +in the absence of Nan's husband. Many of them had almost forgotten that +the girl was married, since Nan herself so persistently ignored the fact. +Gossip upon the subject had died down for lack of nourishment. And Nan +pursued her reckless way untrammelled as of yore. + +The week before Christmas saw Jerry once more at the Hall. He was as +ardent a follower of the hounds as was Nan, and many were the breakneck +gallops in which they indulged before a spell of frost put an end to this +giddy pastime. Christmas came and went, leaving the lake frozen to a +thickness of several inches, leaving Nan and the ever-faithful Jerry +cutting figures of extraordinary elaboration on the ice. + +The Hunt Ball had been fixed to take place on the sixth of January, and, +in preparation for this event, Nan and some of her sisters were busily +engaged beforehand in decking the Town Hall of the neighbourhood with +evergreens and bunting. Jerry's assistance in this matter was, of course, +invaluable, and when the important day arrived, he and Nan spent the +whole afternoon in sliding about the floor to improve the surface. + +So absorbing was this occupation that the passage of time was quite +unnoticed by either of them till Nan at length discovered to her dismay +that she had missed the train by which she had meant to return. + +To walk back meant a trudge of five miles. To drive was out of the +question, for all the carriages in the place had been requisitioned. + +"What in the world shall I do?" she cried. "If I walk back, I shall never +have time to dress. Oh, why haven't I got a motor?" + +Jerry slapped his leg with a yell of triumph. + +"My dear girl, you have! The very thing! I'll be your motor and chauffeur +rolled into one. My bicycle is here. Come along, and I'll take you home +on the step." + +The idea was worthy of them both. Nan fell in with it with a gay chuckle. +It was not the first time that she had indulged in this species of +gymnastics with Jerry's co-operation, though, to be sure, some years had +elapsed since the last occasion on which she had performed the feat. + +She had not, however, forgotten her ancient prowess, and Jerry was +delighted with his passenger. Poised on one foot, and holding firmly to +his shoulders, Nan sailed down the High Street in the full glare of the +lamps. It was not a dignified mode of progression, but it was very far +from being ungraceful. + +She wore a little white fur cap on her dark hair, and her pretty face +laughed beneath it like the face of a merry child. The danger of her +position was a consideration that never occurred to her. She was in her +wildest mood, and enjoying herself to the utmost. + +The warning hoot of a motor behind her dismayed her not at all. + +"Hurry up, Jerry! Don't let them pass!" she urged. + +And Jerry put his whole heart into his pedalling and bore her at the top +of his speed. + +It was an exciting race, but ending, as such races are bound to end, in +the triumph of the motor. The great machine overtook them steadily, +surely. For three seconds they were abreast, and Nan hammered her +cavalier on the back with her muff in a fever of impatience. Then the +motor glided ahead, leaving only the fumes of its petrol to exasperate +the already heated Nan. + +"Beasts!" she ejaculated tersely, while Jerry became so limp with +laughter, that he nearly ceased pedalling altogether. + +No further adventure befell them during the five-mile journey. The roads +were in excellent condition, and the moon was high and frostily bright. + +"It's been lovely," Nan declared, as they turned in at her father's +gates. "And you're a brick, Jerry!" + +"How many waltzes shall I get for it?" was Jerry's prompt rejoinder. + +The girl's gay laugh rang silvery through the frosty air. Jerry had been +asking the question at intervals all the afternoon. + +"I'll give you all the extras," she laughed as she sprang lightly to the +ground. + +Jerry did not even dismount. His time also was limited. + +"Yes?" he called over his shoulder, as he wheeled round and began to ride +away. "And?" + +"And as many more as I can spare," cried Nan, and with a wave of her hand +turned to enter the house. + +The laugh was still on her lips as she mounted the steps. The hall-door +stood open, and her father's voice hailed her from within. + +"Hallo, Nan, you scapegrace! What mad-cap trick will you be up to next, +I wonder?" + +There was a decided note of uneasiness behind the banter of his tone +which her quick ear instantly detected. She looked up sharply and in a +second, as if at a touch of magic, the laughter all died out of her face. + +A man was standing in the glow of the lamp-light slightly behind her +father, a man of medium height and immense breadth, with a clean-shaven, +heavy-browed face, and sombre eyes that watched her silently. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +Nan was ever quick in all her ways, and it was very seldom that she was +disconcerted. Between the moment of her reaching the top step and that +in which she entered the hall, she flashed from laughing childhood to +haughty womanhood. The dignity with which she offered her hand to her +husband was in its way superb. + +"An unexpected pleasure!" was her icy comment. + +He took the hand, looking closely into her eyes. He made no attempt to +draw her nearer, and Nan remained at arm's-length. Yet something in his +scrutiny affected her, for a shiver went through her, proudly though she +met it. + +"It is cold," she said, by way of explanation. "It is freezing hard, and +we came all the way by road." + +"Yes," he said, in his deep, slow voice. "I saw you." + +"You saw me?" Nan's eyebrows went up; she was furiously conscious that +she blushed. + +"I passed you in a motor," he explained. + +"Oh!" She withdrew her hand, and turned to the fire with a little laugh, +raging inwardly at the fate that had betrayed her. + +Standing by the hearth, she pulled off her gloves, and spread her hands +to the blaze. It was a mere pretence, for she was hot all over by that +time, hot and quivering and fiercely resentful. There was another feeling +also behind her resentment, a feeling which she would not own, that made +her heart thump oddly, as it had thumped only once before in her +life--when this man had touched her face with his lips. + +"Well," she said, standing up after a few minutes, "I must go and dress, +and so must you, dad. We are going to the Hunt Ball to-night," she added, +with a brief glance in her husband's direction. + +He made no reply of any sort. His eyes were fixed upon her left hand. +After a moment she became aware of this, and slipped it carelessly into +her pocket. Whistling softly, she turned to go. + +At the foot of the stairs she heard her father's voice, and paused. + +"You had better come, too," he was saying to his son-in-law. + +Nan wheeled sharply, almost as if she would protest, but she checked her +words unspoken. + +Quietly Piet Cradock was making reply: + +"Thank you, Colonel. I think I had better." + +Across the hall Nan met his gaze still unwaveringly fixed upon her, and +she returned it with the utmost defiance of which she was capable. Did +he actually fancy that she could be coerced into joining him, she asked +herself--she who had always been free as the air? Well, he would soon +discover his mistake. She would begin to teach him from that moment. + +With her head still held high, she turned and mounted the stairs. + +Mona was waiting for her in much disturbance of spirit. + +"He arrived early this afternoon," was her report. "We were all so +astonished. He has come for you, Nan, and he says he must start back next +week without fail. Isn't it short notice? I wish he had written to say he +was coming. He sat and talked to dad all the afternoon. And then, as you +didn't come, he started off in his motor to find you. He must have gone +to the station first, or he would have met you sooner." + +To all this Nan listened with a set face, while she raced through her +dressing. She made no comment whatever. The only signs that she heard +lay in her tense expression and unsteady fingers. + +They did not descend till the last minute, just as the carriage +containing the Colonel and three more of his daughters was driving away. + +Piet was standing like a massive statue in the hall. As the two girls +came down, he moved forward. + +"I have kept the motor for you," he said. + +Mona thanked him. Nan did not utter a word. She would not touch the hand +that would have helped her in, and she kept her lips firmly closed +throughout the drive. + +When she entered the ballroom at length her husband was by her side, but +neither by word nor look did she acknowledge his presence there. + +Jerry spied her instantly, and came towards her. She went quickly to meet +him. + +"For goodness' sake," she whispered urgently, "help me to get away from +that man!" + +"Of course," said Jerry, promptly leading her away in the opposite +direction till the crowd swallowed them. "Who the dickens is he?" + +She looked at him with a small, piteous smile. + +"His name is Piet Cradock," she said. + +"Great Scotland!" ejaculated Jerry; and added fiercely: "What the devil +has he come back for? What does he want?" + +Nan threw back her head with a sudden wild laugh. + +"Guess!" she cried. + +But Jerry knew without guessing, and swore savagely under his breath. + +"But you won't go with him--not yet, anyhow?" he urged. "He can't hurry +you off without consulting your convenience. You won't submit to that?" + +An imp of mischief had begun to dance in Nan's eyes. + +"I am told he has to sail next week," she said. "But I think it possible +that by that time he won't be quite so anxious to take me with him. Time +alone will prove. How many waltzes did you ask for?" + +"As many as I can get, of course," said Jerry, taking instant advantage +of this generous invitation. + +She laughed recklessly, and gave him her card. + +"Take them then, my dear boy. I am ready to dance all night long." + +She laughed again still more recklessly when he handed her card back to +her. + +"You are very daring!" she remarked. + +He looked momentarily disconcerted. + +"You don't mind, do you?" + +"I mind? It's what I meant you to do," she answered lightly. "Shall I say +you are very daring on my behalf?" + +Jerry flushed a deep red. + +"I would do anything under the sun for you, Nan," he said, in a low +voice. + +Whereat she laughed again--a gay, sweet laugh, and left him. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +Piet Cradock spent nearly the whole of that long evening leaning against +a doorpost watching his wife dancing with Jerry Lister. They were the +best-matched couple in the room, and, as a good many remarked, they +seemed to know it. + +Through every dance Nan laughed and talked with a feverish gaiety, +conscious of that long, long gaze that never varied. She felt almost +hysterical under it at last. It made her desperate--so desperate that she +finally quitted the ballroom altogether in Jerry's company, and remained +invisible till people were beginning to take their departure. + +That feeling at the back of her mind had grown to a definite sensation +that she could not longer ignore or trample into insignificance. She was +horribly afraid of that silent man with his gloomy, inscrutable eyes. His +look frightened, almost terrified her. She felt like a trapped creature +that lies quaking in the grass, listening to the coming footsteps of its +captor. + +In a vague way Jerry was aware of her inquietude, and when they rose at +length to leave their secluded corner, he turned and spoke with a certain +blunt chivalry that did him credit. + +"I say, Nan, if things get unbearable, you'll promise to let me know? +I'll do anything to help you, you know--anything under the sun." + +And Nan squeezed his arm tightly in acknowledgment, though she made no +verbal answer. + +Amid a crowd of departing dancers they came face to face with Piet. He +was standing in an attitude of immense patience near the door. Very +quietly he addressed her. + +"Colonel Everard and your sisters have gone. The motor is waiting to take +you when you are ready." + +She started back sharply. Her nerves were on edge, and the news was a +shock. Her hand was still on Jerry's arm. Impulsively she turned to +him. + +"I haven't had nearly enough yet," she declared. "Come along, Jerry! +Let's dance to the bitter end!" + +Jerry took her at her word on the instant, and began to thread the way +back to the ballroom. But before they reached it a quiet hand fastened +upon his shoulder, detaining him. + +"Pardon me," said Piet Cradock, "but my wife has had more than enough +already, and I am going to take her home!" + +Jerry stopped, struck silent for the moment by sheer astonishment. + +Without further words Piet proceeded to transfer Nan's hand from the +boy's arm to his own. He did it with absolute gentleness, but with a +resolution that admitted of no resistance--at least Nan attempted none. + +But the action infuriated Jerry, and in the flurry of the moment he +completely lost his head. + +"What the devil do you mean?" he demanded loudly. + +An abrupt silence fell upon the buzzing throng about them. Through it, +with unfaltering composure, fell Piet Cradock's reply. + +"I mean exactly what I have said. If you have any objection to raise, I +am ready to deal with it, either now or later--as you shall choose." + +The words were hardly uttered when Nan did an extraordinary thing. She +lifted a perfectly colourless face with a ghastly smile upon it, and held +out her free hand to Jerry. + +"All right, Jerry," she said. "I think I'll go after all. I am rather +tired. Good-night, dear boy! Pleasant dreams! Now, Piet"--she turned +that quivering smile upon her husband, and it was the bravest thing she +had ever done--"don't keep me waiting. Go and get your coat, and be quick +about it; or I shall certainly be ready first." + +He turned away at once, and the incident was over, since by this +unexpected move Nan had managed to convey to her too ardent champion +that she desired it to be so. + +He departed sullenly to the refreshment-room, mystified but obedient and +she dived hurriedly into the cloakroom in search of her property. + +She found Piet waiting for her when she came out, and she passed forth +with him to the waiting motor with a laugh and a jest for the benefit of +the onlookers. + +But the moment the door closed upon them she fell into silence, drawn +back from him as far as possible, her cold hands clenched tight under her +cloak. + +He did not attempt to speak to her during the quarter of an hour's drive, +sitting mutely beside her in statuesque stillness; and it was she who, +when he handed her out, broke the silence. + +"I have something to say to you." + +He bent before her stiffly. + +"I am at your service." + +There was something in his words that sounded ironical to her, something +that sent the blood to her face in a burning wave. She turned in silence +and ascended the steps in front of him. + +She found the door unlocked, but the hall was empty, and lighted only by +the great flames that spouted up from the log-fire on the open hearth. + +Clearly the rest of the family had retired, and a sudden, sharp suspicion +flashed through Nan that her husband had deliberately laid his plans for +this private interview with her. + +It set her heart pounding again within her, but she braced herself to +treat him with a high hand. He must not, he should not, assume the +mastery over her. + +Silently she waited as he shut and bolted the great door, and then +quietly crossed the shadowy hall to join her. + +She had dropped her cloak from her shoulders, and the firelight played +ruddily over her dress of shimmering white, revealing her slim young +beauty in every delicate detail. Very pale, but erect and at least +outwardly calm, she faced him. + +"What I have to say to you," she said, "will make you very angry; but +I hope you will have the patience to listen to me, because it must be +said." + +He did not answer. He merely stooped and stirred the fire to a higher +blaze, then turned and looked at her with those ever-watching eyes of +his. + +Nan's hands were clenched unconsciously. She was making the greatest +effort of her life. + +"It has come to this," she said, forcing herself with all her quivering +strength to speak quietly. "I do not wish to be your wife. I have +realized for some time that my marriage was a mistake, and I thought +it possible, I hoped with all my heart, that you would see it, too. I +suppose, by your coming back in this way, that you have not yet done so?" + +He was standing very quietly before her with his hands behind him. +Notwithstanding her wild misgiving, she could not see that he was in any +way angered by her words. He seemed to observe her with a grave interest. +That was all. + +A tremor of passion went through her. His passivity was not to be borne. +In some curious fashion it hurt her. She felt as though she were beating +and bruising herself against bars of iron. + +"Surely," she said, and her voice shook in spite of her utmost effort to +control it--"surely you must see that you are asking of me more than I +can possibly give. I own that I am--nominally--your wife, but I realize +now that I can never be anything more to you than that. I cannot go away +with you. I can never make my home with you. I married you upon impulse. +I did you a great wrong, but you will admit that you hurried me into it. +And now that--that my eyes are open, I find that I cannot go on. Would +it--would it--" She was faltering under that unchanging gaze, but she +compelled herself to utter the question--"be quite impossible to--to get +a separation?" + +"Quite," said Piet. + +He did not raise his voice, but she shrank at the brief word, shrank +uncontrollably as if he had struck her. + +He went on quite steadily, but his eyes gave her no rest. They seemed to +her to gleam red in the glancing firelight. + +"I do not admit that our marriage was a mistake. I was always aware that +you married me for my money. But on the other hand I was willing to pay +your price. I wanted you. And--I want you still. Nothing will alter that +fact. I am sorry if you think you have made a bad bargain, for you will +have to abide by it. Perhaps some day you will change your mind again. +But it is not my habit to change mine. That is, I think, all that need be +said upon the subject." + +There was not the faintest hint of vehemence in his tone, but there was +unmistakable authority. Having spoken, he stood grimly waiting for her +next move. + +As for Nan, a sudden fury entered into her that possessed her more +completely than any fear. To be thus mastered in a few curt sentences was +more than her wild spirit would endure. Without an instant's hesitation +she flung down the gauntlet. + +"It is true," she said, speaking quickly, "that I married you for your +money, but since you knew that, you were as much to blame as I. Had I +known then what sort of man you were, I would sooner have gone into the +workhouse. I am quite aware that it is thanks to you that my father is +not a ruined man, but I--I protest against being made the price for your +benefits. I will never touch another penny of your money myself, and +neither shall any of my family if I can prevent it. As to abiding by my +bargain, I refuse absolutely and unconditionally. I do not acknowledge +your authority over me. I will be no man's slave, and--and, sooner than +live with you as your wife, I--I will die in a ditch!" + +Furiously she flung the words at him, too much carried away by her own +madness to note their effect upon him, too angry to see the sudden, +leaping flame in his eyes; too utterly reckless to realize that fire +kindles fire. + +Her fierce wrath was in its way sublime. She was like a beautiful, wild +creature raging at its captor, too infuriated to be afraid. + +"I defy you," she declared proudly, "to make me do anything against my +will!" + +There was scorn as well as defiance in her voice--scorn because he stood +before her so silently; scorn because the fierce torrent of her anger had +flowed unchecked. She had only to stand up to him, it seemed, and like +the giant of the fable he dwindled to a pigmy. She was no longer hurt by +his passivity. She despised him for it. + +But it was for the last time in her life. As she turned contemptuously to +pick up her cloak, he moved. + +With a single stride he had reached her, and in an instant his hand was +on her arm, his face was close to hers. And then she saw, what she had +been too self-engrossed to see before, that fire had kindled fire indeed, +and that those rash words of hers had waked the savage in him. + +She made a sharp, instinctive effort to free herself, but he held her +fast. She had outrun his patience at last. + +"So," he said, "you defy me, do you? You defy me to take what is my own? +That is not very wise of you." + +He spoke under his breath, and as he spoke he drew her to him suddenly, +violently, with a strength that was brutal. For a moment his eyes +compelled hers, terrible eyes alight with a passion that scorched her +with its fiery intensity. And then abruptly his arms tightened. She was +at his mercy, and he did not spare her. Savagely, fiercely, he rained +burning kisses upon her shrinking face, upon her neck, her shoulders, her +hands, till, after many seconds of vain resistance, spent, quivering, +terrified, she broke into agonized tears against his breast. + +His hold relaxed then, but tightened again as her trembling limbs refused +to support her. He held her for a while till her agitation had in some +degree subsided; then at last he took her two shaking hands into one of +his, and turned her face upwards. + +Once more his eyes held hers, but the fire in them had died down to a +smoulder. His mouth was grim. + +"Come!" he said quietly, "you won't defy me after this?" + +Her white lips only quivered in reply. She made no further effort to +resist him. + +Very slowly he took his arm from her, still holding her hands. + +"You have married a savage," he said, "but you would never have known it +if you had not taunted me with your defiance. Let me tell you now--for +it is as well that you should know it--that there is nothing--do you +hear?--nothing in this world that I cannot make you do if I so choose! +But if you are wise, you will not challenge me to prove this. It is +enough for you to know that as I have mastered myself, so I can--and so +I will--master you!" + +His words fell with a ring of iron. The old inflexibly sombre demeanour +by which alone till that night she had always known him clothed him like +a coat of mail. Only the grasp of his hand was vital and close. It seemed +to burn her flesh. + +"I have done!" he said, after a pause. "Have you anything further to say +to me?" + +She found it within her power to free herself, and did so. She was +shaking from head to foot. The untamed violence of the man had appalled +her, but his abrupt resumption of self-control was almost more terrible. +She felt as if his will compassed and constrained her like bands of iron. + +She stood before him in panting silence, a shrinking woman, striving +vainly to raise from the dust the shield of pride that he had so rudely +shattered and flung aside. She could not speak to him. She had no words. +From the depths of her soul she hated him. But--it had come to this--she +did not dare to tell him so. + +He waited quietly for a few seconds; then unexpectedly, but without +vehemence, he held out his hand to her. + +"Anne," he said, a subtle change in his deep voice, "fight against me, +and you will be miserable, for I am bound to conquer you. But come to +me--come to me of your own free will--and I swear before Heaven that I +will make you happy." + +But Nan held back with horror, almost with loathing, in her eyes. She did +not utter a word. There was no need. + +His hand fell. For a second the fire that smouldered in his eyes shot +upwards to a flame, but it died down again instantly. He turned from her +in silence and picked up her cloak. + +He did not look at her as he handed it to her, and Nan did not dare to +look at him. Dumbly she forced her trembling body into subjection to +her will. She crossed the hall without faltering, and went without sound +or backward glance up the stairs. And the man was left alone in the +flickering firelight. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +To Mona fell the task of making preparation for Nan's departure, for Nan +herself did not raise a finger to that end. Three days only remained to +her of the old free life--three days in which to bid farewell to +everybody and everything she knew and loved. + +Her husband did not attempt to obtrude his presence upon her during those +three days. The man's patience was immense, cloaking him as with a +garment of passive strength. He was merely a guest in Colonel Everard's +house, and a silent guest at that. + +No one knew what had passed between him and his young wife on the night +of the Hunt Ball, but it was generally understood that he had asserted +his authority over her after a fashion that admitted of no resistance. +Only Mona could have told of the white-faced, terrified girl who had lain +trembling in her arms all through the dark hours that had followed their +interview, but Mona knew when to hold her peace, though it was no love +for her brother-in-law that sealed her lips. + +So, with a set face, she packed her sister's belongings, never faltering, +scarcely pausing for thought, till on the very last day she finished her +task, and then sat musing alone in the darkness of the winter evening. + +Nan had been out all the afternoon, no one knew exactly where, though it +was supposed that she was paying farewell visits. The Colonel, whose +courteous instincts would not suffer him to neglect a guest, had been out +shooting with his son-in-law all day long. Mona heard them come tramping +up the drive and enter the house, as she sat above in the dark. She +listened without moving, and knew that one of her sisters was giving +them tea in the hall. + +Two hours passed, but Nan did not return. Mona rose at last to dress for +dinner. Her face shone pale as she lighted her lamp, but her eyes were +steadfast; they held no anxiety. + +Descending the stairs at length she found Piet waiting below before the +fire. He looked round as she came down, looked up the stairs beyond her, +and gravely rose to give her his chair. + +Mona was generally regarded as hostess in her father's house, though she +was not his eldest daughter. She possessed a calmness of demeanour that +was conspicuously lacking in all the rest. + +She sat down quietly, her hands folded about her knees. "Have you had +good sport?" she asked, her serene eyes raised to his. + +There was a slight frown between Piet's brows. Hitherto he had always +regarded this girl as his friend. To-night, for the first time, she +puzzled him. There was something hostile about her something he felt +rather than saw, yet of which from the very moment of her coming, he was +keenly conscious. + +He scarcely answered her query. Already his wits were at work. + +Suddenly he asked her a blunt question. "Has Anne come in yet?" + +She answered him quite as bluntly, almost as if she had wished for his +curt interrogation. "No." + +He raised his brows for an instant, then in part reassured by her +absolute composure, he merely commented: "She is late." + +Mona said nothing. She turned her quiet eyes to the blaze before her. +There was not the faintest sign of agitation in her bearing. + +"Do you know what she is doing?" He asked the question slowly, half +reluctantly it seemed. + +Again she looked at him. Clear and contemptuous, her eyes met his. + +"Yes, I know." + +The words, the look, stabbed him with a swift suspicion. He bent towards +her, his hand gripped her wrist. + +"What do you mean? Where is she?" + +She made no movement to avoid him. A faint, grim smile hovered about her +calm mouth. + +"I can tell you what I mean," she said quietly. "I cannot tell you where +she is." + +"Then tell me what you mean," he said between his teeth. + +His face was close to hers, and in that moment it was terrible. But Mona +did not flinch. The small, bitter smile passed, that was all. + +"I mean," she said, speaking very steadily and distinctly, "that you +will go back to South Africa without her after all. I mean that by your +hateful and contemptible brutality you have driven her from you for ever. +I mean that you have forced her into taking a step that will compel you +to set her free from your tyranny. I mean that simply and solely to +escape from you she has run away with--another man." + +A quiver of pain went over her face as she ended. With a swift, +passionate movement she rose, flinging her mask of composure aside. The +hand that gripped her wrist was bruising her flesh, but she never felt +it. + +"Yes," she said, with abrupt vehemence. "That is what you have +done--you--you! You would not stoop to win her. You chose to take her by +force, and force is the one thing in the world that she will never +tolerate. You bullied her, frightened her, humiliated her. You drove her +to do this desperate thing. And you face me now, you dare to face me, +because I am a weak woman. If I were a man, I would kick you out of the +house. I--I believe I would kill you! Even Nan cannot hate you or despise +you one-tenth as much as I do!" + +She ceased, but her eyes blazed their hatred at him as her heart cursed +him. She was furious as a tigress that defends her young. + +As for the man, his hand was still clenched upon her wrist, but no +violent outburst escaped him. He was white to the lips, but he was +absolutely sane. If he heard her wild reproaches, he passed them over. + +"Who is the man?" he said, and his voice fell like a word of command, +arresting, controlling, compelling. + +It was not what she had expected. She had been prepared for tempestuous, +for overwhelming, wrath. The absence of this oddly disconcerted her. Her +own tornado of indignation was checked. She answered him almost +involuntarily. + +"Jerry Lister." + +He frowned as if trying to recall the owner of the name, and again +without her conscious will she explained. + +"You saw him that night at the ball. They were together all the evening." + +The frown passed from his face. + +"That--cub!" he said slowly. "And"--his eyes were searching hers closely; +he spoke with unswerving determination--"where have they gone?" + +She withstood his look though she felt its compulsion. + +"I refuse to tell you that." + +"You know?" he questioned. + +"Yes, I know." + +"Then you will tell me." He spoke with conviction. She felt as if his +eyes were burning her. + +"Then you will tell me," he repeated, as if she had not heard him. + +"I refuse," she said again; but she said it with a wavering resolution. +Undoubtedly there was something colossal about this man. She began to +feel the grip of his fingers upon her wrist. The pain of it became +intense, yet she knew that he was not intentionally torturing her. + +"You are hurting me," she said, and instantly his hold relaxed. But he +did not let her go. + +"Answer me!" he said. + +"Why should I answer you?" It was the last resort of her weakening will. + +He betrayed no impatience. + +"You will answer me for your sister's sake," he told her grimly. + +"What do you mean? You will follow her?" + +"I shall follow her." + +"And bring her back?" + +"Back here? No, certainly not." + +"You will hurt her, bully her, terrify her!" The words were quick with +agitation. + +He ignored them. "Tell me where she is." + +She made a last effort. + +"If I tell you--will you take me with you?" + +"No," he said, "I will not." + +"Then--then--" She was looking straight into those pitiless eyes. It +seemed she could not help herself. "I will tell you," she said at last. +"But you will be kind to her? You will remember how young she is, and +that--that you drove her to it?" + +Her voice was piteous, her resistance was dead. + +"I shall remember," he said very quietly, "one thing only." + +"Yes?" she murmured. "Yes?" + +"That she is my wife," he said, in the same level tone. "Now--answer me." + +And because there was no longer any alternative course, she yielded. + +Had he shown himself a raging demon she could have resisted him, and +rejoiced in it. But this man, with his rigid self-control, his unswerving +resolution, his deadly directness, dominated her irresistibly. + +Without argument he had changed her point of view. Without argument or +protestation of any sort, he had convinced her that it was no passing +fancy of his that had prompted him to choose Nan for his wife. She had +vaguely suspected it before. Now she knew. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +It was very dark over the moors. The solitary lights of a cab crawling +almost at a foot pace along the lonely road shone like a will-o'-the-wisp +through the snow. It had been snowing for hours, steadily, thickly, and +the cold was intense. The dead heather by the roadside had long been +completely hidden under that ever-increasing load. It lay in great +billows of white wherever the carriage lamps revealed it, stretching away +into the darkness, an immense, untrodden desert, wrapped in a deathly +silence, more terrible than any sound. + +It seemed to Nan, shivering inside that cheerless cab, as if the world +had stopped like a run-down watch, and that she alone, with her +melancholy equipage, retained in all that vast stillness the power to +move. + +She wished heartily that she had permitted Jerry to come to the station +to meet her, but for some reason not wholly intelligible to herself she +had prohibited this. And he, ever obedient to her behests, had sent the +conveyance to fetch her, remaining behind himself to complete the +preparations for her reception upon which he had been engaged for the +past two days at the tiny, incommodious shooting-box which his father had +bequeathed to him, and of which not very valuable piece of landed +property he was somewhat inordinately proud. + +It had been a tedious cross-country journey, and the five miles from the +station seemed to Nan interminable. Already deep down in her heart were +stirring ghastly doubts regarding the advisability of this mad expedition +of hers. Jerry, as she well knew, was fully prepared to enjoy the +situation to the utmost. He was a trusty friend in need to her, no more, +and she had not the smallest misgiving so far as he was concerned. + +He would be to her what he had ever been, breezy comrade, merry +friend--romantic cavalier, perhaps, but in such a fashion as to convince +her that he was only playing at romance. It had always been his attitude +towards her, and she anticipated no change. The boy's natural chivalry +had moved her to accept his help, though she well knew that the step she +had taken was a desperate one, even for one of the wild Everards. That +it would fulfil its purpose she did not doubt. Her husband, she was fully +convinced, would take no further steps to deprive her of her liberty. Her +notions of legal procedure in such a case were of the haziest, but she +had not the faintest doubt that this last, wildest escapade of hers would +sooner or later procure her her freedom from the chain that so galled +her. + +And yet she started and shivered at every creak of the crazy vehicle that +was bearing her to the haven of her emancipation. She was horribly, +unreasonably afraid, now that she had taken this rash step. Would it +upset her father very greatly, she wondered? But surely he would not +think badly of her for making a way of escape for herself. He had been +powerless to deliver her. Surely, surely he would understand! + +The cab jolted to a standstill, and out of the darkness came an eager, +boyish voice, bidding her welcome. An impetuous hand wrenched open the +door, and she and Jerry were face to face. + +She never recalled afterwards crossing the threshold of his little abode. +She was numbed and weary in mind and body. But she found herself at +length seated before a bright fire, with a cup of steaming tea in her +hand, and Jerry hovering about her in high delight; and the comfort of +his welcome revived her at length to an active realization of her +surroundings. + +Clearly the adventure, mad, lawless as it undoubtedly was, was nothing +but a picnic to him. He was enjoying himself immensely without a thought +of any possible consequences, and it was plain that this was the attitude +in which he expected her to regard the matter. + +With an effort she responded to his mood, but she could not shake off the +burden of doubt and foreboding that oppressed her. She felt as if the +long, bitter journey had in some fashion aged her. Jerry's gaiety was as +the prattle of a child to her now. They had been children together till +that day, but she felt that they could never be so again. Never before +had she stopped in her headlong course to look ahead, to count the cost! +Now, for the first time, misgivings arose within her upon Jerry's score. +What if this boy who had lent himself so lightly, so absolutely freely, +to her scheme for deliverance, were made in any way to suffer for his +reckless generosity? For this it had been with him--and this only--as she +well knew. + +With sheer, boyish gallantry, he had offered his protection; with sheer, +girlish recklessness, she had accepted it. And now--now she had in a few +hours crossed the boundary between childhood and womanhood and she stood +aghast, asking herself what she had done! + +By what means understanding had come to her she did not stay to +question. The tragic force of it overwhelmed all reasoning. She knew +beyond all doubting that she had made the most ghastly mistake of her +life. She had done it in blindness, but the veil had been rent away; and, +horror-struck, she now beheld the accursed quicksand into which they had +blundered. + +"I say," said Jerry, "you're awfully tired, aren't you? You're positively +haggard. I've got quite a decent little dinner for you, and I've done +every blessed thing myself. There isn't a soul in the house except us +two. I thought you'd like it best." + +She smiled at him wanly, and thanked him. He was watching her with +friendly, anxious eyes. + +"Yes; well, drink that up and have some more. I'm afraid you'll think the +accommodation rather poor. It's only a pillbox, you know. I'll show you +round when you're ready. I've got my kennel in the kitchen. Best place +for a watch-dog, eh? But you've only got to thump on the floor if you want +anything. There, that's better. You don't look quite so frozen as you +did. Come, it's rather a lark, isn't it?" + +His boyish eyes pleaded with her, and again she made a valiant effort to +respond. She knew what stupendous efforts he had been making to secure +her comfort. + +"Everything is perfect," she declared, "and you're the nicest boy in the +world. I'm quite warm now. What a dear little hall, to be sure!" + +"Hall!" said Jerry. "It's the living-room! But there's another one +upstairs that you can sit in. I thought you would like the upper regions +all to yourself. We can call on each other, you know, now and then. I +say, it's rather a lark, isn't it? Come and see my preparations for +dinner." + +She went with him into the little bare kitchen, and bestowed lavish +praise upon everything she saw. + +Jerry's cooking was an accomplishment of which he had some reason to be +proud. He was roasting a pheasant for his visitor's delectation. + +"I always do the cooking when we camp out," he explained. "Just sit down +while I finish peeling the potatoes." + +He pointed to a truckle bedstead in the corner; and Nan seated herself +and made a determined effort to banish her depression. + +Jerry's preparations for his own comfort were anything but elaborate. + +"Oh, I could sleep on bare boards," he lightly said, when she commented +upon the hardness of his couch. "I know the furniture isn't up to much, +but it isn't a bad little shanty when you're used to it. My pater and +mater spent their honeymoon here years ago, and I stayed here with two +other fellows for three weeks' grouse-shooting a couple of years back. +Rare sport we had, too. Do you mind passing over that saucepan? Thanks! +I say, Nan, I hope you don't mind it being a bit rough." + +"My dear boy," Nan said impulsively, "if it were a palace I shouldn't +like it half so well." + +Jerry grinned serenely. + +"Yes, it's snug, anyhow, and I think you'll like that pheasant. There's +another one in the larder, so we shall have something to eat if we're +snowed up. That cupboard leads upstairs. Perhaps you would like to go and +explore. Dinner in half an hour." + +Nan availed herself of this suggestion. She was frankly curious to know +what Jerry's ideas of feminine comfort might be. She ascended the steep +cottage stairs that wound up to the first floor, looking about her with +considerable interest. The narrow staircase was lighted from above, and +she finally emerged into a little room in which a fire burned brightly. +A sofa had been drawn in front of it, and was piled with cushions. There +were one or two basket-chairs, and a small square table bearing a +paper-shaded lamp, and a newspaper, a "Punch," Jerry's banjo, and a +cigarette case. + +The window was covered with a red curtain, and the cosy warmth of the +place sent a glow of comfort through Nan. Jerry's efforts had not been +in vain. + +From this apartment she passed into another beyond, the door of which +stood half open, and found herself in a bedroom. A small stove burned +in a corner of this, and upon it a kettle steamed merrily. There was room +for but little furniture besides the bed, but the general effect was +exceedingly comforting to the girl's oppressed soul. She sat down on the +edge of the bed and leaned her aching head against the back. + +What was happening at home she wondered? Her departure must be known by +this time. Mona would have told Piet. She tried to picture the man's +untrammelled wrath when he heard. How furious he would be! She shivered +a little. She was quite sure he would never want to see her again. + +And yet, curiously, there still ran in her brain those words he had +uttered on that night that she had defied him--that dreadful night when +he had held her in his arms and forced her to endure his hateful kisses! + +She could almost hear his deep voice speaking: "Anne, fight against me +and you will be miserable, for I am bound to conquer you. But come to +me--come to me of your own free will--and I swear before Heaven that I +will make you happy!" Make her happy! He! She could not imagine it. And +yet it was true that, fighting against him, she was miserable. + +With a great sigh, she rose at last and began to remove her outdoor +things. It was done--it was done. What was the use of stopping on the +wrong side of the hedge to think? She had taken the leap. There could +never be any return for her. The actual mistake had been committed long, +long ago, when she had married this man for his money. That had been +monstrous, contemptible! She realized it now. But that, too, was beyond +remedy. Her only hope left was that in his fury he would set her free, +and that without injury to Jerry. She had not the faintest notion how he +would set about it; but doubtless he would not keep her long in +ignorance. He would be more eager now than she had ever been to snap +asunder the chain that bound them to each other. Yes, she was quite, +quite sure that he would never want to see her again. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +Jerry's dinner was not, for some reason, quite the success he had +anticipated. + +Nan made no complaint of the cooking, but she ate next to nothing, to the +grief of his hospitable soul. She was tired, of course, but there was +something in her manner that he could not fathom. She was silent and +unresponsive. There was almost an air of tragedy about her that made her +so unfamiliar that he felt as if he were entertaining a stranger. He did +not like the change. His old domineering, impetuous playfellow was +infinitely easier to understand. He did not feel at ease with this quiet, +white-faced woman, who treated him with such wholly unaccustomed +courtesy. + +"I say," he said, when the meal was ended, "let's go upstairs and have a +smoke. I can clear away after you have gone to bed. Or do you want to go +to bed now? It's nearly nine, so you may if you like." + +She thanked him, and declined. + +"I shouldn't sleep if I did," she said with a shiver. "No; I will help +you wash up, and then we will go upstairs and have some music." + +Jerry fell in eagerly with this idea. He loved his banjo. He demurred a +little at accepting her assistance in the kitchen, but finally yielded, +for she would not be refused. She seemed to dread the thought of +solitude. + +When they went upstairs at length, she made a great effort to shake off +her depression. She even sang a little to one or two of Jerry's melodies, +but her customary high spirits remained conspicuously absent, and after a +while Jerry became impatient, and laid the instrument down. + +"What's the matter?" he asked bluntly. + +Nan was sitting with her feet on the fender, her eyes upon the flames. +His question did not seem to surprise her. + +"You wouldn't understand," she said, "if I were to tell you." + +"Well, you might as well give me the chance," he responded. "My +intelligence is up to the average, I dare say." + +She looked round at him with a faint smile. + +"Oh, don't be huffy, dear boy! Why should you? You want to know what is +the matter? Well, I'll tell you. I'm afraid--I'm horribly afraid--that +I've made a great mistake." + +"You have?" said Jerry. "How? What do you mean?" + +"I knew you would ask that," she said, with a little, helpless gesture of +the shoulders. "And it is just that that I can't explain to you. You see, +Jerry, I've only just begun to realize it myself." + +Jerry was staring at her blankly. + +"Do you mean, that you wish you hadn't come?" he said. + +She nodded, rising suddenly from her chair. + +"Oh, Jerry, don't be vexed, though you've a perfect right. I've made a +ghastly, a perfectly hideous mistake. I--I can't think how I ever came to +do it. But--but I wouldn't mind so frightfully if it weren't for you. +That's what troubles me most--to have made a horrible mess of my life, +and to have dragged you into it." Her voice shook, and she broke off for +a moment, biting her lips. Then: "Oh, Jerry," she wailed, "I've done a +dreadful thing--a dreadful thing! Don't you see it--what he will think of +me--how he will despise me?" + +The last words came muffled through her hands. Her head was bowed against +the chimney-piece. + +Jerry was nonplussed. He rose somewhat awkwardly, and drew near the bowed +figure. + +"But, my dear girl," he said, laying a slightly hesitating hand upon her +shoulder, "what the devil does it matter what he thinks? Surely you +don't--you can't care--care the toss of a half-penny?" + +But here she amazed him still further. + +"I do, Jerry, I do!" she whispered vehemently. "He's horrid--oh, he's +horrid. But I can't help caring. I wanted him to think the very worst +possible of me before I came. But now--but now--Then too, there's you," +she ended irrelevantly. "What could they do to you, Jerry? Could they put +you in prison?" + +"Great Scott, no!" said Jerry. "You needn't cry over me. I always manage +to fall on my feet. And, anyhow, it isn't a hanging matter. I say, cheer +up, Nan, old girl! Don't you think you'd better go to bed? No? Well, let +me play you something cheerful, then. I've never seen you in the dumps +before. And I don't like it. I quite thought this would be one of our +red-letter days. Look up, I say! I believe you're crying." + +Nan was not crying, but such was the concern in his voice that she raised +her head and smiled to reassure him. + +"You're very, very good to me, Jerry," she said earnestly. "And oh, I do +hope I haven't got you into trouble!" + +"Don't you worry your head about me," said Jerry cheerfully. "You're +tired out, you know. You really ought to go to bed. Let's have something +rousing, with a chorus, and then we'll say good-night." + +He took up his banjo again, and dashed without preliminary into the gay +strains of "The Girl I Left Behind Me." + +He sang with a gaiety that even Nan did not imagine to be feigned, and, +lest lack of response should again damp his spirits, she forced herself +to join in the refrain. Faster and faster went Jerry's fingers, faster +and faster ran the song, his voice and Nan's mingling, till at last he +broke off with a shout of laughter, and sprang to his feet. + +"There! That's the end of our soirée, and I'm not going to keep you up a +minute longer. I wonder if we're snowed up yet. We'll have some fun +to-morrow, if we are. I say, look at the time! Good-night! Good-night!" + +He advanced towards her. She was standing facing him, with her back to +the fire. But something--something in her eyes--arrested him, sending his +own glancing backwards over his shoulder. She was looking, not at him, +but beyond him. + +The next instant, with a sharp oath, Jerry had wheeled in his tracks. He, +too, stood facing the door, staring wide-eyed, dumbfounded. + +There, at the head of the stairs, quite motionless, quite silent, facing +them both, stood Piet Cradock. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +Nan was the first to free herself from the nightmare paralysis that bound +her. Swiftly, as though in answer to a sudden inner urging, she moved +forward. She almost pushed past Jerry in her haste. She was white, white +to the lips with fear, but she never faltered till she stood between her +husband and the boy she had chosen to protect her. The first glimpse of +Piet had revealed to her in what mood he had come. In his right hand he +was gripping her father's heaviest hunting-crop. + +He came slowly forward, ignoring her. His eyes were upon Jerry, who +glared back at him like a young panther. He did not appear to be aware +of Nan. + +Suddenly he spoke, briefly, grimly every word clean as a pistol-shot. + +"I suppose you are old enough to know what you are doing?" + +"What do you mean?" demanded Jerry, in fierce response. "What are you +doing here? And how the devil did you get in? This place belongs to me!" + +"I know." Piet's face was contemptuous. He seemed to speak through closed +lips. "That is why I came. I wanted you." + +"What do you want me for?" flashed back Jerry, with clenched hands. "If +you have anything to say, you'd better say it downstairs." + +"I have nothing whatever to say." There was a deep sound in Piet's voice +that was something more than a menace. Abruptly he squared his great +shoulders, and brought the weapon he carried into full view. + +Jerry's eyes blazed at the action. + +"You be damned!" he exclaimed loudly. "I'll fight you with pleasure, but +not before--" + +"You will do nothing of the sort!" thundered Piet, striding forward. +"You will take a horse-whipping from me here and now, and in my wife's +presence. You have behaved like a cur, and she shall see you treated as +such." + +The words were like the bellow of a goaded bull. Another instant, and he +would have been at hand grips with the boy, but in that instant Nan +sprang. With the strength of desperation, she threw herself against him, +caught wildly at his arms, his shoulders, clinging at last with frenzied +fingers to his breast. + +"You shan't do it!" she gasped, struggling with him. "You shan't do it! +If--if you must punish anyone, punish me! Piet, listen to me! Oh listen! +I am to blame for this! You can't--you shan't--hurt him just because he +has stood by me when--when I most wanted a friend. Do you hear me, Piet? +You shan't do it! Beat me, if you like! I deserve it. He doesn't!" + +"I will deal with you afterwards," he said, sweeping her hands from his +coat at a single gesture. + +But she caught at the hand that sought to brush her aside, caught and +held it, clinging so fast to his arm that without actual violence he +could not free himself. + +He stood still, then, his eyes glowering ruddily over her head at Jerry, +who stamped and swore behind her. + +"Anne," he said, and the sternness of his voice was like a blow, "go into +the next room!" + +"I will not!" she gasped back. "I will not!" + +Her face was raised to his. With her left hand she sought and grasped his +right wrist. Her whole body quivered against him, but she stood her +ground. + +"I shall hurt you!" he said between his teeth. + +"I don't care!" she cried back hysterically. "You--you can kill me, if +you like!" + +He turned his eyes suddenly upon her, flaming them straight into hers +mercilessly, scorchingly. She felt as though an electric current had run +through her, so straight, so piercing was his look. But she met it fully, +with wide, unflinching eyes, while her fingers still clutched desperately +at his iron wrists. + +"Nan! Nan! For Heaven's sake go, and leave us to fight it out!" implored +Jerry. "This can't be settled with you here. You are only making things +worse for yourself. You don't suppose I'm afraid of him, do you?" + +She did not so much as hear him. All her physical strength was leaving +her; but still, panting and quivering, she met those fiery, searching +eyes. + +Suddenly she knew that her hold upon him was weaker than a child's. She +made a convulsive effort to renew it, failed, and fell forward against +him with a gasping cry. + +"Piet!" she whispered, in nerveless entreaty. "Piet!" + +He put his arm around her, supporting her; then as he felt her weight +upon him he bent and gathered her bodily into his arms. She sank into +them, more nearly fainting than she had ever been in her life; and, +straightening himself, he turned rigidly, and bore her into the inner +room. + +He laid her upon the bed there, but still with shaking, powerless fingers +she tried to cling to him. + +"Don't leave me! Don't go!" she besought him. + +He took her hands and put them from him. He turned to leave her, but even +then she caught his sleeve. + +"Piet, I--I want to--to tell you something," she managed to say. + +He wheeled round and bent over her. There was something of violence in +his action. + +"Tell me nothing!" he ordered harshly. "Be silent! Anne, do you hear me? +Do you hear me?" + +Under the compulsion of his look and voice she submitted at last. +Trembling she hid her face. + +And in another moment she heard his step as he went out, heard him close +the door and the sharp click of the key as he turned it in the lock. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +For many, many seconds after his departure she lay without breathing, +exactly as he had left her, listening, listening with all the strength +that remained to her for the sounds of conflict. + +But all she heard was Piet's voice pitched so low that she could not +catch a word. Then came Jerry's in sharp, staccato tones. He seemed to be +surprised at something, surprised and indignant. Twice she heard him +fling out an emphatic denial. And, while she still listened with a +panting heart, there came the tread of their feet upon the stairs, +and she knew that they had descended to the lower regions. + +For a long, long while she still crouched there listening, but there came +to her straining ears no hubbub of blows--only the sound of men's voices +talking together in the room below her, with occasional silences between. +Once indeed she fancied that Jerry spoke with passionate vehemence, but +the outburst--if such it were--evoked no response. + +Slowly the minutes dragged away. It was growing very late. What could be +happening? What were they saying to each other? When--when would this +terrible strain of waiting be over? + +Hark! What was that? The tread of feet once more and the sound of an +opening door. Ah, what were they doing? What? What? + +Trembling afresh she raised herself on the bed to listen. There came to +her the sudden throbbing of a motor-engine. He had come in his car, then, +and now he was going, going without another word to her, leaving her +alone with Jerry. The conviction came upon her like a stunning blow, +depriving her for the moment of all reason. She leapt from the bed and +threw herself against the door, battering against it wildly with her +fists. + +She must see him again! She must! She must! She would not be deserted +thus! The bare thought was intolerable to her. Did he hold her so lightly +as this, then--that, having followed her a hundred miles through blinding +snow, he could turn his back upon her and leave her thus? + +That could only mean but one thing, and her blood turned to fire as she +realized it. It meant that he would have no more of her, that he deemed +her unworthy, that--that he intended to set her free! + +But she could not bear it! She would not! She would not! She would +escape. She would force Jerry to let her go. She would follow him +through that dreadful wilderness of snow. She would run in the tracks +of his wheels until she found him. + +And then she would force him--she would force him--to listen to her while +she poured out to him the foolish, the pitiably foolish truth! + +But what if he would not believe her? What then? What then? She had sunk +to her knees before the door, still beating madly upon it, and crying +wildly at the keyhole for Jerry to come and set her free. + +In every pause she heard the buzzing of the engine. It seemed to her to +hold a jeering note. The outer door was open, and an icy draught blew +over her face as she knelt there waiting for Jerry. She broke off again +to listen, and heard the muffled sounds of wheels in the snow. Then came +the note of the hooter, mockingly distinct; and then the hum of the +engine receding from the house. The outer door banged, and the icy +draught suddenly ceased. + +With a loud cry she flung herself once more at the unyielding panels, +bruising hands and shoulders against the senseless wood. + +"Jerry! Jerry!" she cried, and again in anguished accents, "Jerry! Come +to me, quick, oh, quick! Let me out! Let me out!" + +She heard a step upon the stairs. He was coming. + +In a frenzy she beat and shook the door to make him hasten. She was ready +to fly forth like a whirlwind in the wake of the speeding motor. For she +must follow him, she must overtake him; she must--Heaven help her! She +must somehow make him understand! + +Oh, why was Jerry so slow? Every instant was increasing the distance +between her and that buzzing motor. She screamed to him in an agony of +impatience to hurry, to hurry, only to hurry. + +He did not call in answer, but at last, at last, his hand was on the +door. + +She stumbled to her feet as the key grated in the lock, and dragged +fiercely at the handle. It resisted her, for there was another hand upon +it, and with an exclamation of fierce impatience she snatched her own +away. + +"Oh, be quick!" she cried hysterically. "Be quick! He is miles away by +this time. I shall never catch him, and I must, I must!" + +The door opened. She dashed forward. But a man's arm barred her progress, +and with a cry she drew back. The next moment she reeled as she stood, +reeled gasping till she slipped and slid to the floor at his feet. The +man upon the threshold was her husband! + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +In silence he lifted her and laid her again upon the bed. His touch was +perfectly gentle, but there was no kindness in it, no warmth of any sort. +And Nan turned her face into the pillow and sobbed convulsively. How +could she tell him now? + +He began to walk up and down the tiny room, still maintaining that +ominous silence. But she sobbed on, utterly unstrung, utterly hopeless, +utterly spent. + +He paused at last, and poured some water into a glass. + +"Drink this," he said, stopping beside her. "And then lie quiet until I +speak to you." + +But she could neither raise herself nor take the glass. He stooped and +lifted her, holding the water to her trembling lips. She leaned against +him with closed eyes while she drank. She was painfully anxious to avoid +his look. And yet when he laid her down, the sobbing began again, though +she struggled feebly to repress it. + +He fetched a chair at last and sat down beside her, gravely waiting till +her breathing became less distressed. Then, finding her calmer, he +finally spoke: + +"You need not be afraid of me, Anne. I shall not hurt you." + +"I am not afraid," she whispered back. + +He sat silent for a space, not looking at her. At last: + +"Can you attend to me now?" he asked her formally. + +She raised herself slowly. + +"May I say something first?" she said. + +He turned his brooding eyes upon her. + +"If you can say it quietly," he said. + +She pressed her hand to her throat. + +"You--will listen to me, and--and believe me?" + +"I shall know if you lie to me," he said. + +She made a sharp gesture of protest. + +"I don't deserve that," she said. "You know it." + +His grim lips relaxed a very little. + +"I shouldn't talk about deserts if I were you," he said. + +His tone scared her again, but she made a valiant effort to compose +herself. + +"You say that," she said, "because you are very angry with me. I don't +dispute your right to be angry. I know I've made a fool of you. But--but +after all"--her voice began to shake uncontrollably; she forced out the +words with difficulty--"I've made a much bigger fool of myself. I think +you might consider that." + +He did consider it with drawn brows. + +"Does that improve your case?" he asked at length. + +She did not answer him. She was trying hard to read his face, but it told +her nothing. With a swift movement she slipped to her feet and stood +before him. + +"I don't know," she said, speaking fast and passionately, "what you have +in your mind. I don't know what you think of me. But I suppose you mean +to punish me in some way, to--to give me a lesson that will hurt me all +my life. You have me at your mercy, and--and I shall have to bear it, +whatever it is. But before--before you make me hate you, let me say this: +I am your wife. Hadn't you better remember that before you punish me? +I--I shan't hate you so badly so long as I know that you remember that." + +She stopped. She was wringing her hands fast together to subdue her +agitation. + +Piet had risen with her, but she could no longer search his face. She had +said that she did not fear him, but in that moment she was more horribly +afraid than she had ever been in her life. + +She thought that he would never break his silence. Had she angered him +even further by those words of hers, she wondered desperately? And if +so--oh! if so--Suddenly he spoke, and every pulse in her body leaped and +quivered. + +"Since when," he said, "have you begun to remember that?" + +"I have never forgotten it," she said, in a voiceless whisper. + +He took her hands, separated them, held up the left before her eyes. + +"Never?" he said. "Be careful what you say to me." + +She looked up with a flash of the old quick pride. + +"I have spoken the truth," she said. "Why should I be careful?" + +He dropped her hand. + +"What have you done with your wedding-ring?" + +"I--lost it." Nan's voice and eyes sank together. "It was an accident," +she said. "We dropped it in the lake." + +"We?" said Piet. + +She made a little hopeless gesture. + +"Yes, Jerry and I. It's no good telling you how it happened. You won't +believe me if I do." + +He made no comment. Only after a moment he put his hand on her shoulder. + +"Have you anything else to say?" he asked. + +She shook her head without speaking. She was shivering all over. + +"Very well, then," he said. "Come into the other room--you seem cold." + +She went with him submissively. The fire had sunk low, and he replenished +it. The hunting crop that he had brought from her father's house lay on +the table with Jerry's banjo. He picked it up and put it away in a +corner. + +"Sit down," he said. + +She sank upon the sofa, hiding her face. He took up his stand on the rug, +facing her. + +"Now," he said quietly, "do you remember my telling you that you had +married a savage? I see you do. And you are afraid of me in consequence. +I am a savage. I admit it. I hurt you that night. I meant to hurt you. I +meant you to see that I was in earnest. I meant you to realize that you +were my wife. I meant--I still mean--to master you. But I did not mean to +terrify you as you were terrified, as you are terrified now. I made a +mistake, and for that mistake I desire to apologize." + +He stooped and drew one of her hands away from her face. + +"You defied me," he said. "Do you remember? And I am not accustomed to +defiance. Nor will I bear it from anyone--my wife least of all. I am not +threatening you; I am simply showing you what you must learn to expect +from me, from the savage you have married. It is not my intention to +frighten you. I am no longer angry with either you or the young fool whom +you call your friend. By the way, I have not done him any violence. He +has merely gone to find a lodging for himself and for the motor in the +village. Yes, I turned him out of his own house, but I might have done +worse. I meant to do much worse." + +"Yes?" murmured Nan. "Why--why didn't you?" + +"Because," he answered grimly, "I found that I had only fools to deal +with." + +He paused a moment. + +"Well, now for your punishment," he said. "As you remarked just now, +I have you absolutely at my mercy. How much mercy do you expect--or +deserve? Answer me--as my wife." + +But she could not answer him. She only bowed her head speechlessly +against the strong hand that still held hers. + +She could feel his fingers tightening to a grip. And she knew herself +beaten, powerless. + +"Listen to me, Anne!" he said suddenly; and in his voice was something +that she had only heard once before, and that but vaguely. "I am going to +give you a fair chance, in spite of your behaviour to me. I am willing to +believe--I do believe--that, to a certain extent, I drove you to this +course. I also believe that you and your friend Jerry are nothing but a +pair of irresponsible children. I should like to have caned him, but I +had nothing but a loaded horse-whip to do it with, so I was obliged to +let him off. Now listen! I am going downstairs and I shall stay there for +exactly half an hour. If between now and the end of that half-hour you +come to me with any good and sufficient reason for letting you go back +and live apart from me in your father's house, I will let you go. You +have asked me to remember that you are my wife. Precisely what you meant +by that you have left me to guess. You will make that request of yours +quite plain to me within the next half-hour." + +He relinquished his hold with the words, and would have withdrawn his +hand, but she made a sharp movement to stay him. + +"Do you--really--mean that?" she asked him, a catch in her voice, her +head still bent. + +"I have said it," he said. + +But still with nervous fingers she sought to detain him. + +"What--what would you consider a good and sufficient reason?" + +The hand she held clenched slowly upon itself. + +"If you can convince me," he said, his voice very deep and steady, "that +to desert me would be for your happiness, I will let you go for that." + +"But how can I convince you?" she said, her face still hidden from him, +her hands closed tightly upon his wrist. + +"You will be able to do so," he said, "if you know your own mind." + +"And if--if I fail to satisfy you?" she faltered. + +He was silent. After a moment he deliberately freed himself, and turned +away. + +"Those are my terms," he said. "If you do not come to me in half an hour +I shall conclude that you leave the decision in my hands--in short, that +you wish to remain my wife. Think well, Anne, before you take action in +this matter. I do not seek to persuade you to either course. Only let me +warn you that, whatever your choice, I shall treat it as final. You must +realize that fully before you choose." + +He was at the head of the stairs as he ended. Without a pause he began to +descend, and she counted his footsteps with a wildly beating heart till +they ceased in the room below. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +She was alone. In a silence intense she lifted her head at last, and knew +that for half an hour she was safe from interruption. + +Far away over the snow she heard a distant church clock tolling midnight. +It ceased, and in the silence she thought she heard her stretched nerves +cracking one by one. Soon--very soon--she would have to go down to him +and fight the final battle for her freedom. But she would wait till the +very last minute. She would spend the whole of the brief time accorded to +her in mustering all her strength. He had swept her pride utterly out of +her reach. But surely that was not her only weapon. + +What of her hatred--that hatred that had driven her to this mad flight +with Jerry? Surely out of that she could fashion a shield that all his +savagery could not pierce. Moreover, he had given her his word to abide +by her decision whatever it might be, so long as she could convince him +of that same hatred that had once blazed so fiercely within her. + +But what had happened to it, she wondered? It had wholly ceased to nerve +her for resistance. How was it? Was she too physically exhausted to fan +it into flame, or had he torn this also from her to wither underfoot with +her dead pride? Surely not! With all his boasts of mastery, he had not +mastered her yet. She would never submit to him--never, never! Crush her, +trample her as he would, she would never yield herself voluntarily to +him. It was only when he began to spare her that she found herself +wavering. Why had he spared her? she asked herself. Why had he given her +that single chance of escape? + +Or, stay! Had he, after all, been generous? Had he but affected +generosity that he might the more completely subjugate her? He had said +that she must convince him that freedom from her chain would mean +happiness to her. And how could she ever convince him of this? How? +How? Would he ever see himself as she saw him--a monster of violence +whose very presence appalled her? The problem was hopeless, hopeless! She +knew that she could never make him understand. + +Swiftly the time passed, and with every minute her resolution grew +weaker, her agitation more uncontrollable. She could not do it. She could +not face him with another challenge. It would kill her to resist him +again as she had resisted him on Jerry's behalf. And yet she must do +something. For, if she did not go to him, he would come to her. The +half-hour he had given her was nearly spent. If she did not make up her +mind soon it would be too late. It might be that already he was repenting +his brief generosity, if generosity it had been. It might be that at any +moment she would hear his tread upon the stairs. + +She started up in a panic, fancying that she heard it already. But no +sound followed her wild alarm, and she knew that her quivering nerves +had tricked her. Shuddering from head to foot, she stood listening, +debating with herself. + +Her time was very short now; only three minutes to the half-hour--only +two--only one! + +With a gasp, she gathered together all the little strength she had left. +But she could not descend those gloomy stairs. She dared not go to him. +She stood halting at the top. + +Ah, now he was moving! She heard his step in the room below, and she was +conscious of an instant's wild relief that the suspense was past. + +Then panic rushed back upon her, blotting out all else. She saw his +shadow on the stairs, and she cried to him to stop. + +"I am coming down to you! Wait for me! Wait!" + +He stepped back, and she stumbled downwards, nearly falling in her haste. +At the last stair she tripped, recovering herself only by the arm he +flung out to catch her. + +"I was coming!" she gasped incoherently. "I would have come before, but +the stairs were dark--so dark, and I was frightened!" + +"There is nothing to frighten you," he said gravely. + +"I can't help it!" she wailed like a child. "Oh, Piet--Piet, be kind to +me--just this once--if you can! I--I'm terrified!" + +He put his arm round her. + +"Why?" he said. + +She could not tell him. But in a vague fashion his arm comforted her; and +that also was beyond explanation. + +"You are not angry?" she whispered. + +"No," he said. + +"You will be," she said, shivering, "when I have told you my decision." + +"What is your decision?" he asked. + +She did not answer him; she could not. + +He moved, and very gently set her free. There was a chair by the table +from which he had evidently just risen. He turned to it and sat down, +watching her under his hand. + +"What is your decision?" he asked again. + +She shook her head. Her agony of fear was passing, but still she could +not tell him yet. + +He waited silently, his face so shaded by his hand that she could not +read its expression. + +"Why don't you answer me?" he said at last. + +"I--can't!" she said, with a sob. + +"You leave the decision to me?" he questioned. + +She did not answer. + +He straightened himself slowly, without rising. + +"My decision is made," he said. "Give me your hand; not that one--the +left." + +She obeyed him trembling. He had taken something from his pocket. With a +start she saw what it was. + +"Oh, no, Piet--no!" she cried. + +But he had his way, for he would not suffer her resistance to thwart him. +Very gravely and resolutely he slipped a gold ring on to her finger. + +"And you will give me your word to keep it there," he said, looking up at +her. + +Her lips were quivering; she could not speak. + +"Never mind," he said; "I can trust you." + +He released her hand with the words, and there followed a brief silence +while Nan stood struggling vainly for self-control. + +Failing at length, she sank suddenly down upon her knees at the table +hiding her face and crying as if her heart would break. + +"My dear Anne!" he said. And then in a different tone, his hand upon her +bowed head: "What is it child? Don't cry, don't cry! Is it so hard for +you to be my wife?" + +She could not answer him. His kindness was so strange to her. She could +only sob under that gentle, comforting hand. + +"Hush!" he said. "Hush! Don't be so distressed. Anne, listen! I will +never be a savage to you again. I swear it on my honour, on my faith in +you, and on the love I have for you. What more can I do?" + +Still she could not answer him, but her tears were ceasing. Yielding to +the pressure of his hand, she had drawn nearer to him. But she did not +raise her head. + +After a long, quivering silence she spoke. + +"Piet, I--I want you to--forgive me; not just for this, but for--a +thousand things. Piet, I--I didn't know you really loved me." + +"I have always loved you, Anne," he said, in his deep, slow voice. + +"And you--forgive me," she said faintly. + +"I have forgiven you," he answered gravely. + +She made a slight, shy movement, and he took his hand from her head. But +in an instant impulsively she caught at it, drawing it down against her +burning face. + +"And you are not angry with me any more?" she murmured. + +"No," he said again. + +She was silent for a space, not moving, still tightly holding his hand. + +He could not see her face, nor did he seek to do so. Perhaps he feared to +scare away her new-found courage. + +At length, in a very small voice, she broke the silence. + +"Piet!" + +He leaned forward. + +"What is it, Anne?" + +He could feel her breath quick and short upon his hand. She seemed to be +making a supreme effort. + +"Piet!" she said again. + +"I am listening," he responded, with absolute patience. + +She turned one cheek slightly towards him. + +"If I loved anybody," she said, rather incoherently, "I--I'd find some +way of letting them know it." + +He leaned his head once more upon his hand. + +"I am a rough beast, Anne," he said sadly. "My love-making only hurts +you." + +Nan was silent again for a little, but she still held fast to his hand. + +"Were you," she asked hesitatingly at length, "were you--making love to +me--that night?" + +"After my own savage fashion," he said. + +"Well," she said, a slight quiver in her voice, "it didn't hurt me, +Piet." + +Piet was silent. + +"I mean," she said, gathering courage, "if--if I had known that it meant +just that, I--well, I shouldn't have minded so much." + +Still Piet was silent. His hand shaded his eyes, but she knew that he was +watching her. + +"Do you understand?" she asked him doubtfully. + +"No," he said. + +"Don't you--don't you know what I want you to do?" she said, rather +Breathlessly. + +"No," he said again. + +"Must I--tell you?" she asked, with a gasp. + +"I think you must," he said, in his grave way. + +She lifted her head abruptly. Her eyes were very big and shining. She +stretched her hands out to him with a little, quivering laugh. + +"I hate you for making me say it!" she declared, with a vehemence half +passionate, half whimsical. "Piet, I--I want you--to--to--take me in your +arms again, and--and--kiss me--as you did--that night." + +The last words were uttered from his breast, though she never knew how +she came to be there. It was as though a whirlwind had caught her away +from the earth into a sunlit paradise that was all her own--a paradise in +which fear had no place. And the chain against which she had chafed so +long and bitterly had turned to links of purest gold. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + The Consolation Prize + + + + +"So you don't want to marry me?" said Earl Wyverton. + +He said it by no means bitterly. There was even the suggestion of a smile +on his clean-shaven face. He looked down at the girl who stood before +him, with eyes that were faintly quizzical. She was bending at the moment +to cut a tall Madonna lily from a sheaf that grew close to the path. At +his quiet words she started and the flower fell. + +He stooped and picked it up, considered it for a moment, then slipped it +into the basket that was slung on her arm. + +"Don't be agitated," he said, gently. "You needn't take me +seriously--unless you wish." + +She turned a face of piteous entreaty towards him. She was trembling +uncontrollably. "Oh, please, Lord Wyverton," she said, earnestly, +"please, don't ask me! Don't ask me! I--I felt so sure you wouldn't." + +"Did you?" he said. "Why?" + +He looked at her with grave interest. He was a straight, well-made man; +but his kindest friends could not have called him anything but ugly, and +there were a good many who thought him formidable also. Nevertheless, +there was that about him--an honesty and a strength--which made up to a +very large extent for his lack of other attractions. + +"Tell me why," he said. + +"Oh, because you are so far above me," the girl said, with an effort. +"You must remember that. You can't help it. I have always known that you +were not in earnest." + +"Have you?" said Lord Wyverton, smiling a little. "Have you? You seem to +have rather a high opinion of me, Miss Neville." + +She turned back to her flowers. "There are certain things," she said, in +a low voice, "that one can't help knowing." + +"And one of them is that Lord Wyverton is too fond of larking to be +considered seriously at any time?" he questioned. + +She did not answer. He stood and watched her speculatively. + +"And so you won't have anything to say to me?" he said at last. "In fact, +you don't like me?" + +She glanced at him with grey eyes that seemed to plead for mercy. "Yes, +I like you," she said, slowly. "But--" + +"Never mind the 'but,'" said Wyverton, quietly. "Will you marry me?" + +She turned fully round again and faced him. He saw that she was very +pale. + +"Do you mean it?" she said. "Do you?" + +He frowned at her, though his eyes remained quizzical and kindly. "Don't +be frightened," he said. "Yes; I am actually in earnest. I want you." + +She stiffened at the words and grew paler still; but she said nothing. + +It was Wyverton who broke the silence. There was something about her that +made him uneasy. + +"You can send me away at once," he said, "if you don't want me. You +needn't mind my feelings, you know." + +"Send you away!" she said. "I!" + +He gave her a sudden, keen look, and held out his hand to her. "Never +mind the rest of the world, Phyllis," he said, very gravely. "Let them +say what they like, dear. If we want each other, there is no power on +earth that can divide us." + +She drew in her breath sharply as she laid her hand in his. + +"And now," he said, "give me your answer. Will you marry me?" + +He felt her hand move convulsively in his own. She was trembling still. + +He bent towards her, gently drawing her. "It is 'Yes,' Phyllis," he +whispered. "It must be 'Yes.'" + +And after a moment, falteringly, through white lips, she answered him. + +"It is--'Yes.'" + + * * * * * + +"And you accepted him! Oh, Phyllis!" + +The younger sister looked at her with eyes of wide astonishment, almost +of reproach. They were two of a family of ten; a country clergyman's +family that had for its support something under three hundred pounds a +year. Phyllis, the eldest girl, worked for her living as a private +secretary and had only lately returned home for a brief holiday. + +Lord Wyverton, who had seen her once or twice in town, had actually +followed her thither to pursue his courtship. She had not believed +herself to be the attraction. She had persistently refused to believe him +to be in earnest until that afternoon, when the unbelievable thing had +actually happened and he had definitely asked her to be his wife. Even +then, sitting alone with her sister in the bedroom they shared, she could +scarcely bring herself to realize what had happened to her. + +"Yes," she said; "I accepted him of course--of course. My dear Molly, how +could I refuse?" + +Molly made no reply, but her silence was somehow tragic. + +"Think of mother," the elder girl went on, "and the children. How could I +possibly refuse--even if I wanted?" + +"Yes," said Molly; "I see. But I quite thought you were in love with Jim +Freeman." + +In the silence that followed this blunt speech she turned to look +searchingly at her sister. Molly was just twenty, and she did the entire +work of the household with sturdy goodwill. She possessed beauty that was +unusual. They were a good-looking family, and she was the fairest of them +all. Her eyes were dark and very shrewd, under their straight black +brows; her face was delicate in colouring and outline; her hair was +red-gold and abundant. Moreover, she was clever in a strictly practical +sense. She enjoyed life in spite of straitened circumstances. And she +possessed a serenity of temperament that no amount of adversity ever +seemed to ruffle. + +Having obtained the desired glimpse of her sister's face, she returned +without comment to the very worn stocking that she was repairing. + +"I had a talk with Jim Freeman the other day," she said. "He was driving +the old doctor's dog-cart and going to see a patient. He offered me a +lift." + +"Oh!" Phyllis's tone was carefully devoid of interest. She also took up a +stocking from the pile at her sister's elbow and began to work. + +"I asked him how he was getting on," Molly continued. "He said that Dr. +Finsbury was awfully good to him, and treated him almost like a son. He +asked very particularly after you; and when I told him you were coming +home he said that he should try and manage to come over and see you. But +he is evidently beginning to be rather important, and he can't get away +very easily. He asked a good many questions about you, and wanted to know +if I thought you were happy and well." + +"I see." Again the absence of interest in Phyllis's tone was so marked as +to be almost unnatural. + +Molly dismissed the subject with a far better executed air of +indifference. + +"And you are really going to marry Earl Wyverton," she said. "How nice, +Phyl! Did he make love to you?" + +There was a distinct pause before Phyllis replied. "No. There was no +need." + +"He didn't!" ejaculated Molly. + +"I didn't encourage him to," Phyllis confessed. "He went away directly +after. He said he should come to-morrow and see dad." + +"I suppose he's frightfully rich?" said Molly, reflectively. + +"Enormously, I believe." A deep red flush rose in Phyllis's face. She had +begun to tremble again in spite of herself. Molly suddenly dropped her +work and leaned forward. + +"Phyl, Phyl," she said, softly; "shall I tell you what Jim Freeman said +to me that day? He said that very soon he should be able to support a +wife--and I knew quite well what he meant. I told him I was glad--so +glad. Oh, Phyl, darling, when he comes and asks you to go to him, what +will you say?" + +Phyllis looked up with quick protest on her lips. She wrung her hands +together with a despairing gesture. + +"Molly, Molly," she gasped, "don't torture me! How can I help it? How can +I help it? I shall have to send him away." + +"Oh, poor darling!" Molly said. "Poor, poor darling!" + +And she gathered her sister into her arms, pressing her close to her +heart with a passionate fondness of which only a few knew her to be +capable. There was only a year between them, and Molly had always been +the leading spirit, protector and comforter by turns. + +Even as she soothed and hushed Phyllis into calmness her quick brain was +at work upon the situation. There must be a way of escape somewhere. Of +that she was convinced. There always was a way of escape. But for the +time at least it baffled her. Her own acquaintance with Wyverton was very +slight. She wished ardently that she knew what manner of man he was at +heart. + +Upon one point at least she was firmly determined. This monstrous +sacrifice must not take place, even were it to ensure the whole family +welfare. The life they lived was desperately difficult, but Phyllis must +not be allowed to ruin her own life's happiness and another's also to +ease the burden. + +But what a pity it seemed! What a pity! Why in wonder was Fate so +perverse? Molly thought. Such a brilliant chance offered to herself +would have turned the whole world into a gilded dreamland. For she was +wholly heart-free. + +The idea was a fascinating one. It held her fancy strongly. She began to +wonder if he cared very deeply for her sister, or if mere looks had +attracted him. + +She had good looks too, she reflected. And she was quick to learn, +adaptable. The thought rushed through her mind like a meteor through +space. He might be willing. He might be kind. He had a look about his +eyes--a quizzical look--that certainly suggested possibilities. But dare +she put it to the test? Dare she actually interfere in the matter? + +For the first time in all her vigorous young life Molly found her courage +at so low an ebb that she was by no means sure that she could rely upon +it to carry her through. + +She spent the rest of that day in trying to screw herself up to what she +privately termed "the necessary pitch of impudence." + + * * * * * + +At nine o'clock on the following morning Lord Wyverton, sitting at +breakfast alone in the little coffee-room of the Red Lion, heard a voice +he recognized speak his name in the passage outside. + +"Lord Wyverton," it said, "is he down?" + +Lord Wyverton rose and went to the door. He met the landlady just +entering with a basket of eggs in her hand. She dropped him a curtsy. + +"It's Miss Molly from the Vicarage, my lord," she said. + +Molly herself stood in the background. Behind the landlady's broad back +she also executed a village bob. + +"I had to come with the eggs. We supply Mrs. Richards with eggs. And it +seemed unneighbourly to go away without seeing your lordship," she said. + +She looked at him with wonderful dark eyes that met his own with +unreserved directness. He told himself as he shook hands that this girl +was a great beauty and would be a magnificent woman some day. + +"I am pleased to see you," he said, with quiet courtesy. "It was kind of +you to look me up. Will you come into the garden?" + +"I haven't much time to spare," said Molly. "It's my cake morning. You +are coming round to the Vicarage, aren't you? Can't we walk together?" + +"Certainly," he replied at once, "if you think I shall not be too early a +visitor." + +Molly's lips parted in a little smile. "We begin our day at six," she +said. + +"What energy!" he commented. "I am only energetic when I am on a +holiday." + +"You're on business now, then?" queried Molly. + +He looked at her keenly as they passed out upon the sunlit road. "I think +you know what my business is," he said. + +She did not respond. "I'll take you through the fields," she said. "It's +a short cut. Don't you want to smoke?" + +There was something in her manner that struck him as not altogether +natural. He pondered over it as he lighted a cigarette. + +"They are cutting the grass in the church fields," said Molly. "Don't you +hear?" + +Through the slumberous summer air came the whir of the machine. It was +June. + +"It's the laziest sound on earth," said Wyverton. + +Molly turned off the road to a stile. "You ought to take a holiday," she +said, as she mounted it. + +He vaulted the railing beside it and gave her his hand. "I'm not +altogether a drone, Miss Neville," he said. + +Molly seated herself on the top bar and surveyed him. "Of course not," +she said. "You are here on business, aren't you?" + +Wyverton's extended hand fell to his side. "Now what is it you want to +say to me?" he asked her, quietly. + +Molly's hands were clasped in her lap. They did not tremble, but they +gripped one another rather tightly. + +"I want to say a good many things," she said, after a moment. + +Lord Wyverton smiled suddenly. He had meeting brows, but his smile was +reassuring. + +"Yes?" he said. "About your sister?" + +"Partly," said Molly. She put up an impatient hand and removed her hat. +Her hair shone gloriously in the sunlight that fell chequered through the +overarching trees. + +"I want to talk to you seriously, Lord Wyverton," she said. + +"I am quite serious," he assured her. + +There followed a brief silence. Molly's eyes travelled beyond him and +rested upon the plodding horses in the hay-field. + +"I have heard," she said at length, "that men and women in your position +don't always marry for love." + +Wyverton's brows drew together into a single, hard, uncompromising line. +"I suppose there are such people to be found in every class," he said. + +Molly's eyes returned from the hay-field and met his look steadily. "I +like you best when you don't frown," she said. "I am not trying to insult +you." + +His brows relaxed, but he did not smile. "I am sure of that," he said, +courteously. "Please continue." + +Molly leaned slightly forward. "I think one should be honest at all +times," she said, "at whatever cost. Lord Wyverton, Phyllis isn't in +love with you at all. She cares for Jim Freeman, the doctor's +assistant--an awfully nice boy; and he cares for her. But, you see, you +are rich, and we are so frightfully poor; and mother is often ill, +chiefly because there isn't enough to provide her with what she needs. +And so Phyllis felt it would be almost wicked to refuse your offer. +Perhaps you won't understand, but I hope you will try. If it weren't for +Jim, I would never have told you. As it is--I have been wondering--" + +She broke off abruptly and suddenly covered her face with her two hands +in a stillness so tense that the man beside her marvelled. + +He moved close to her. He was rather pale, but by no means discomposed. + +"Yes?" he said. "Go on, please. I want you to finish." + +There was authority in his voice, but Molly sat in unbroken silence. + +He waited for several moments, then laid a perfectly steady hand on her +knee. + +"You have been wondering--" he said. + +She did not raise her head. As if under compulsion, she answered him with +her face still hidden. + +"I have dared to wonder if--perhaps--you would take me--instead. I--am +not in love with anybody else, and I never would be. If you are in love +with Phyllis, I won't go on. But if it is just beauty you care for, I am +no worse-looking than she is. And I should do my best to please you." + +The low voice sank. Molly's habitual self-possession had wholly deserted +her at this critical moment. She was painfully conscious of the quiet +hand on her knee. It seemed to press upon her with a weight that was +almost intolerable. + +The silence that followed was terrible to her. She wondered afterwards +how she sat through it. + +Then at last he moved and took her by the wrists. "Will you look at me?" +he said. + +His voice sent a quiver through her. She had never felt so desperately +scared and ashamed in all her healthy young life. Yet she yielded to the +insistence of his touch and tone, and met the searching scrutiny of his +eyes with all her courage. He was not angry, she saw; nor was he +contemptuous. More than that she could not read. She lowered her eyes +and waited. Her pulses throbbed wildly, but still she kept herself from +trembling. + +"Is this a definite offer?" he asked at last. + +"Yes," she answered. Her voice was very low, but it was steady. + +He waited a second, and she felt the mastery of the eyes she could not +meet. + +"Forgive me," he said, then; "but are you actually in earnest?" + +"Yes," she said again, and marvelled at her own daring. + +His hold tightened upon her wrists. "You are a very brave girl," he said. + +There was a baffling note in his tone, and she glanced up involuntarily. +To her intense relief she saw the quizzical, kindly look in his eyes +again. + +"Will you allow me to say," he said, "that I don't think you were created +for a consolation prize?" + +He spoke somewhat grimly, but his tone was not without humour. Molly sat +quite still in his hold. She had a feeling that she had grossly insulted +him, that she had made it his right to treat her exactly as he chose. + +After a moment he set her quietly free. + +"I see you are serious," he said. "If you weren't--it would be +intolerable. But do you actually expect me to take you at your word?" + +She did not hesitate. "I wish you to," she said. + +"You think you would be happy with me?" he pursued. "You know, I am +called eccentric by a good many." + +"You are eccentric," said Molly, "or you wouldn't dream of marrying one +of us. As to being happy, it isn't my nature to be miserable. I don't +want to be a countess, but I do want to help my people. That in itself +would make me happy." + +"Thank you for telling me the truth," Wyverton said, gravely. "I believe +I have suspected some of it from the first. And now listen. I asked your +sister to marry me--because I wanted her. But I will spoil no woman's +life. I will take nothing that does not belong to me. I shall set her +free." + +He paused. Molly was looking at him expectantly. His face softened a +little under her eyes. + +"As for you," he said, "I don't think you quite realize what you have +offered me--how much of yourself. It is no little thing, Molly. It is all +you have. A woman should not part with that lightly. Still, since you +have offered it to me, I cannot and do not throw it aside. If you are of +the same mind in six months from now, I shall take you at your word. But +you ought to marry for love, child--you ought to marry for love." + +He held out his hand to her abruptly, and Molly, with a burning face, +gave him both her own. + +"I can't think how I did it," she said, in a low voice. "But I--I am not +sorry." + +"Thank you," said Lord Wyverton, and he stooped with an odd little smile, +and kissed first one and then the other of the hands he held. + + * * * * * + +No one, save Phyllis, knew of the contract made on that golden morning in +June on the edge of the flowering meadows; and even to Phyllis only the +bare outlines of the interview were vouchsafed. + +That she was free, and that Lord Wyverton felt no bitterness over his +disappointment, he himself assured her. He uttered no word of reproach. +He did not so much as hint that she had given him cause for complaint. He +was absolutely composed, even friendly. + +He barely mentioned her sister's interference in the matter, and he +said nothing whatsoever as to her singular method of dealing with the +situation. It was Molly who briefly imparted this action of hers, and +her manner of so doing did not invite criticism. + +Thereafter she went back to her multitudinous duties without an apparent +second thought, shouldering her burden with her usual serenity; and no +one imagined for a moment what tumultuous hopes and doubts underlay her +calm exterior. + +Lord Wyverton left the place, and the general aspect of things returned +to their usual placidity. + +The announcement of the engagement of the vicar's eldest daughter to Jim +Freeman, the doctor's assistant in the neighbouring town, created a small +stir among the gossips. It was generally felt that, good fellow as young +Freeman undoubtedly was, pretty Phyllis Neville might have done far +better for herself. A rumour even found credence in some quarters that +she had actually refused the wealthy aristocrat for Jim Freeman's sake, +but there were not many who held this belief. It implied a foolishness +too sublime. + +Discussion died down after Phyllis's return to her work. It was +understood that her marriage was to take place in the winter. Molly's +hands were, in consequence, very full, and she had obviously no time to +talk of her sister's choice. There was only one visitor who ever called +at the Vicarage in anything approaching to state. Her visits usually +occurred about twice a year, and possessed something of the nature of a +Royal favour. This was Lady Caryl, the Lady of the Manor, in whose gift +the living lay. + +This lady had always shown a marked preference for the vicar's second +daughter. + +"Mary Neville," she would remark to her friends, "is severely handicapped +by circumstance, but she will make her mark in spite of it. Her beauty is +extraordinary, and I cannot believe that Providence has destined her for +a farmer's wife." + +It was on a foggy afternoon at the end of November that Lady Caryl's +carriage turned in at the Vicarage gates for the second state call of the +year. + +Molly received the visitor alone. Her mother was upstairs with a +bronchial attack. + +Lady Caryl, handsome, elderly, and aristocratic, entered the shabby +drawing-room with her most gracious air. She sat and talked for a while +upon various casual subjects. Molly poured out the tea and responded with +her usual cheery directness. Lady Caryl did not awe her. Her father was +wont to remark that Molly was impudent as a robin and brave as a lion. + +After a slight pause in the conversation Lady Caryl turned from parish +affairs with an abruptness somewhat characteristic of her, but by no +means impetuous. + +"Did you ever chance to meet Earl Wyverton, my dear Mary?" she inquired. +"He spent a few days here in the summer." + +"Yes," said Molly. "He came to see us several times." + +The beautiful colour rose slightly as she replied, but she looked +straight at her questioner with a directness almost boyish. + +"Ah!" said Lady Caryl. "I was away from the Manor at the time, or I +should have asked him to stay there. I have always liked him." + +"We like him too," said Molly, simply. + +"He is a gentleman," rejoined Lady Caryl, with emphasis. "And that makes +his misfortune the more regrettable." + +"Misfortune!" echoed Molly. + +She started a little as she uttered the word--so little that none but a +very keen observer would have noticed it. + +"Ah!" said Lady Caryl. "You have not heard, I see. I suppose you would +not hear. But it has been the talk of the town. They say he has lost +practically every penny he possessed over some gigantic American +speculation, and that to keep his head above water he will have to sell +or let every inch of land he owns. It is particularly to be regretted, as +he has always taken his responsibilities seriously. Indeed, there are +many who regard his principles as eccentrically fastidious. I am not of +the number, my dear Mary. Like you, I have a high esteem for him, and he +has my most heartfelt sympathy." + +She ceased to speak, and there was a little pause. + +"How dreadful!" Molly said then. "It must be far worse to lose a lot of +money than to be poor from the beginning." + +The flush had quite passed from her face. She even looked slightly pale. + +Lady Caryl laid down her cup and rose. "That would be so, no doubt," she +said. "I think I shall try to persuade him to come to us at the end of +the year. And your sister is to be married in January? It will be quite +an event for you all. I am sure you are very busy--even more so than +usual, my dear Mary." + +She made her stately adieu and swept away. + +After her departure Molly bore the teacups to the kitchen and washed them +with less than her usual cheery rapidity. And when the day's work was +done she sat for a long while in her icy bedroom, with the moonlight +flooding all about her, thinking, thinking deeply. + + * * * * * + +It was the eve of Phyllis's wedding-day, and Molly was hard at work in +the kitchen. The children were all at home, but she had resolutely +turned every one out of this, her own particular domain, that she might +complete her gigantic task of preparation undisturbed. The whole +household were in a state of seething excitement. There were guests in +the house as well, and every room but the kitchen seemed crowded to its +utmost capacity. Molly was busier than she had ever been in her life, and +the whirl of work had nearly swept away even her serenity. She was very +tired, too, though she was scarcely conscious of it. Her hands went from +one task to another with almost mechanical skill. + +She was bending over the stove, stirring a delicacy that required her +minute attention when there came a knock on the kitchen door. + +She did not even turn her head as she responded to it. "Go away!" she +called. "I can't talk to anyone." + +There was a pause--a speculative pause--during which Molly bent lower +over her saucepan and concluded that the intruder had departed. + +Then she became suddenly aware that the door had opened quietly and +someone had entered. She could not turn her head at the moment. + +"Oh, do go away!" she said. "I haven't a second to spare; and if this +goes wrong I shall be hours longer." + +The kitchen door closed promptly and obligingly, and Molly, with a little +sigh of relief, concentrated her full attention once more upon the matter +in hand. + +The last critical phase of the operation arrived, and she lifted the +saucepan from the fire and turned round with it to the table. + +In that instant she saw that which so disturbed her equanimity that she +nearly dropped saucepan and contents upon the kitchen floor. + +Earl Wyverton was standing with his back against the door, watching her +with eyes that shone quizzically under the meeting brows. + +He came forward instantly, and actually took the saucepan out of her +hands. + +"Let me," he said. + +Molly let him, being for the moment powerless to do otherwise. + +"Now," he said, "what does one do--pour it into this glass thing? I see. +Don't watch me, please; I'm nervous." + +Molly uttered a curious little laugh that was not wholly steady. + +"How did you come here?" she said. + +He did not answer her till he had safely accomplished what he had +undertaken. Then he set down the saucepan and looked at her. + +"I am staying with Lady Caryl," he told her gravely. "I arrived this +afternoon. And I have come here to present a humble offering to your +sister, and to make a suggestion equally humble to you. I arrived here in +this room by means of a process called bribery and corruption. But if you +are too busy to listen to me, I will wait." + +"I can listen," Molly said. + +He had not even shaken hands with her, and she felt strangely uncertain +of herself. She was even conscious of a childish desire to run away. + +He took her at her word at once. "Thank you," he said. "Now, do you +remember a certain conversation that took place between us six months +ago?" + +"I remember," she said. + +An odd sense of powerlessness had taken possession of her, and she knew +it had become visible to him, for she saw his face alter. + +"I know I'm ugly," he said, abruptly; "but I'm not frowning, believe me." + +She understood the allusion and laughed rather faintly. "I'm not afraid +of you, Lord Wyverton," she said. + +He smiled at her. "Thank you," he said. "That's kind. I'm coming to the +point. There are just two questions I have to ask you, and I've done. +First, have they told you that I'm a ruined man?" + +Molly's face became troubled. "Yes," she said. "Lady Caryl told me. I was +very sorry--for you." + +She uttered the last two words with a conscious effort. He was mastering +her in some subtle fashion, drawing her by some means irresistible. She +felt almost as if some occult force were at work upon her. He did not +thank her for her sympathy. Without comment he passed on to his second +question. + +"And are you still disposed to be generous?" he asked her, with a +directness that surpassed her own. "Is your offer--that splendid offer of +yours--still open? Or have you changed your mind? You mustn't pity me +overmuch. I have enough to live on--enough for two"--he smiled again that +pleasant, sudden smile of his--"if you will do the cooking and polish the +front-door knob." + +"What will you do?" demanded Molly, with a new-found independence of tone +that his light manner made possible. + +"I shall clean the boots," he answered, promptly, "or swab the floors, +or, it may be"--he bent slightly towards her, and she saw a new light in +his eyes as he ended--"it may be, stand by my wife to lift the saucepan +off the fire, or do all her other little jobs when she is tired." + +Again, and more strongly, she felt that he was drawing her, and she knew +that she was going--going into deep waters in which his hand alone could +hold her up. She stood before him silently. Her heart was beating very +fast. The surging of the deep sea was in her ears. It almost frightened +her, though she knew she had no cause to fear. + +And then, suddenly, his hands were upon her shoulders and his eyes were +closely searching her face. + +"I offer you myself, Molly," he said, and there was ringing passion in +his voice, though he controlled it. "I loved you from the moment you +offered to marry me. Is not that enough?" + +Yes; it was enough. The mastery of it rolled in upon her in a full +flood-tide that no power of reasoning could withstand. She drew one long, +gasping breath--and yielded. The splendour of that moment was greater +than anything she had ever known. Its intensity was almost too vivid +to be borne. + +She stretched up her arms to him with a little sob of pure and glad +surrender. There was no hiding what was in her heart. She revealed it to +him without words, but fully, gloriously, convincingly, as she yielded +her lips to his. And she forgot that she had desired to marry him for his +money. She forgot that the family clothes were threadbare and the family +cares almost impossible to cope with. She knew only that better thing +which is greater than poverty or pain or death itself. And, knowing it, +she possessed more than the whole world, and found it enough. + +Late that night, when at last Molly lay down to rest with the morrow's +bride by her side, there came the final revelation of that amazing day. +Neither she nor Wyverton had spoken a word to any of that which was +between them. It was not their hour; or, rather, the time had not arrived +for others to share in it. + +But as the two girls clasped one another on that last night of +companionship Phyllis presently spoke his name. + +"I actually haven't told you what Lord Wyverton did, Moll," she said. +"You would never guess. It was so unexpected, so overwhelming. You know +he came to tea. You were busy and didn't see him. Jim was there, too. He +came straight up to me and said the kindest things to us both. We were +standing away from the rest. And he put an envelope into my hand and +asked me, with his funny smile, to accept it for an old friend's sake. He +disappeared mysteriously directly after. And--and--Molly, it was a cheque +for a thousand pounds." + +"Good gracious!" said Molly, sharply. + +"Wasn't it simply amazing?" Phyllis continued. "It nearly took my breath +away. And then Lady Caryl arrived, and I showed it to her. And she said +that the story of his ruin was false, that she thought he himself had +invented it for a special reason that had ceased to exist. And she said +that she thought he was richer now than he had ever been before. Why, +Molly, Molly--what has happened? What is it?" + +Molly had suddenly sprung upright in bed. The moonlight was shining on +her beautiful face, and she was smiling tremulously, while her eyes +were wet with tears. + +She reached out both her arms with a gesture that was full of an infinite +tenderness. + +"Yes," she said, "yes, I see." And her glad voice rang and quivered on +that note which Love alone can strike. "It's true, darling. It's true. +He is richer now than he ever was before, and I--I have found endless +riches too. For I love him--I love him--I love him! And--he knows it!" + +"Molly!" exclaimed her sister in amazement. + +Molly did not turn. She was staring into the moonlight with eyes that +saw. + +"And nothing else counts in all the world," she said. "He knows that too, +as we all know it--we all know it--at the bottom of our hearts." + +And with that she laughed--the soft, sweet laugh of Love triumphant--and +lay back again by her sister's side. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + Her Freedom + + + + +"We have been requested to announce that the marriage arranged between +Viscount Merrivale and Miss Hilary St. Orme will not take place." + +Viscount Merrivale was eating his breakfast when he chanced upon this +announcement. He was late that morning, and, contrary to custom, was +skimming through the paper at the same time. But the paragraph brought +both occupations to an abrupt standstill. He stared at the sheet for a +few moments as if he thought it was bewitched. His brown face reddened, +and he looked as if he were about to say something. Then he pushed the +paper aside with a contemptuous movement and drank his coffee. + +His servant, appearing in answer to the bell a few minutes later, looked +at him with furtive curiosity. He had already seen the announcement, +being in the habit of studying society items before placing the paper +on the breakfast-table. But Merrivale's clean-shaven face was free from +perturbation, and the man was puzzled. + +"Reynolds," Merrivale said, "I shall go out of town this afternoon. Have +the motor ready at four!" + +"Very good, my lord." Reynolds glanced at the table and noted with some +satisfaction that his master had only eaten one egg. + +"Yes, I have finished," Merrivale said, taking up the paper. "If Mr. +Culver calls, ask him to be good enough to wait for me. And--that's all," +he ended abruptly as he reached the door. + +"As cool as a cucumber!" murmured Reynolds, as he began to clear the +table. "I shouldn't wonder but what he stuck the notice in hisself." + +Merrivale, still with the morning paper in his hand, strolled easily down +to his club and collected a few letters. He then sauntered into the +smoking-room, where a knot of men, busily conversing in undertones, gave +him awkward greeting. + +Merrivale lighted a cigar and sat down deliberately to study his paper. + +Nearly an hour later he rose, nodded to several members, who glanced up +at him expectantly, and serenely took his departure. + +A general buzz of discussion followed. + +"He doesn't look exactly heart-broken," one man observed. + +"Hearts grow tough in the West," remarked another. "He has probably done +the breaking-off himself. Jack Merrivale, late of California, isn't the +sort of chap to stand much trifling." + +A young man with quizzical eyes broke in with a laugh. + +"Ask Mr. Cosmo Fletcher! He is really well up on that subject." + +"Also Mr. Richard Culver, apparently," returned the first speaker. + +Culver grinned and bowed. + +"Certainly, sir," he said. "But--luckily for himself--he has never +qualified for a leathering from Jack Merrivale, late of California. I +don't believe myself that he did do the breaking-off. As they haven't met +more than a dozen times, it can't have gone very deep with him. And, +anyhow, I am certain the girl never cared twopence for anything except +his title, the imp. She's my cousin, you know, so I can call her what I +like--always have." + +"I shouldn't abuse the privilege in Merrivale's presence if I were you," +remarked the man who had expressed the opinion that Merrivale was not one +to stand much trifling. + + * * * * * + +"Well, but wasn't it unreasonable?" said Hilary St. Orme, with hands +clasped daintily behind her dark head. "Who could stand such tyranny as +that? And surely it's much better to find out before than after. I hate +masterful men, Sybil. I am quite sure I could never have been happy with +him." + +The girl's young step-mother looked across at the pretty, mutinous face +and sighed. + +"It wasn't a nice way of telling him so, I'm afraid, dear," she said. +"Your father is very vexed." + +"But it was beautifully conclusive, wasn't it?" laughed Hilary. "As to +the poor old pater, he won't keep it up for ever, bless his simple heart, +that did want its daughter to be a viscountess. So while the fit lasts +I propose to judiciously absent my erring self. It's a nuisance to have +to miss all the fun this season; but with the pater in the sulks it +wouldn't be worth it. So I'm off to-morrow to join Bertie and the +house-boat at Riverton. As Dick has taken a bungalow close by, we shall +be quite a happy family party. They will be happy; I shall be happy; and +you--positively, darling, you won't have a care left in the world. If it +weren't for your matrimonial bonds, I should quite envy you." + +"I don't think you ought to go down to Riverton without someone +responsible to look after you," objected Mrs. St. Orme dubiously. + +"My dear little mother, what a notion!" cried her step-daughter with a +merry laugh. "Who ever dreamt of the proprieties on the river? Why, I +spent a whole fortnight on the house-boat with only Bertie and the Badger +that time the poor old pater and I fell out over--what was it? Well, it +doesn't matter. Anyhow, I did. And no one a bit the worse. Bertie is +equal to a dozen _duennas_, as everyone knows." + +"Don't you really care, I wonder?" said Mrs. St. Orme, with wondering +eyes on the animated face. + +"Why should I, dear?" laughed the girl, dropping upon a hassock at her +side. "I am my own mistress. I have a little money, and--considering +I am only twenty-four--quite a lot of wisdom. As to being Viscountess +Merrivale, I will say it fascinated me a little--just at first, you know. +And the poor old pater was so respectful I couldn't help enjoying myself. +But the gilt soon wore off the gingerbread, and I really couldn't enjoy +what was left. I said to myself, 'My dear, that man has the makings of a +hectoring bully. You must cut yourself loose at once if you don't want to +develop into that most miserable of all creatures, a down-trodden wife.' +So after our little tiff of the day before yesterday I sent the notice +off forthwith. And--you observe--it has taken effect. The tyrant hasn't +been near." + +"You really mean to say the engagement wasn't actually broken off before +you sent it?" said Mrs. St. Orme, looking shocked. + +"It didn't occur to either of us," said Hilary, looking down with a +smile at the corners of her mouth. "He chose to take exception to my +being seen riding in the park with Mr. Fletcher. And I took exception to +his interference. Not that I like Mr. Fletcher, for I don't. But I had to +assert my right to choose my own friends. He disputed it. And then we +parted. No one is going to interfere with my freedom." + +"You were never truly in love with him, then?" said Mrs. St. Orme, regret +and relief struggling in her voice. + +Hilary looked up with clear eyes. + +"Oh, never, darling!" she said tranquilly. "Nor he with me. I don't know +what it means; do you? You can't--surely--be in love with the poor old +pater?" + +She laughed at the idea and idly took up a paper lying at hand. Half a +minute later she uttered a sharp cry and looked up with flaming cheeks. + +"How--how--dare he?" she cried, almost incoherent with angry +astonishment. "Sybil! For Heaven's sake! See!" + +She thrust the paper upon her step-mother's knee and pointed with a +finger that shook uncontrollably at a brief announcement in the society +column. + +"We are requested to state that the announcement in yesterday's issue +that the marriage arranged between Viscount Merrivale and Miss Hilary St. +Orme would not take place was erroneous. The marriage will take place, as +previously announced, towards the end of the season." + + * * * * * + +"What sublime assurance!" exclaimed Bertie St. Orme, lying on his back in +the luxurious punt which his sister was leisurely impelling up stream, +and laughing up at her flushed face. "This viscount of yours seems to +have plenty of decision of character, whatever else he may be lacking +in." + +Bertie St. Orme was a cripple, and spent every summer regularly upon the +river with his old manservant, nicknamed "the Badger." + +"Oh, he is quite impossible!" Hilary declared. "Let's talk of something +else!" + +"But he means to keep you to your word, eh?" her brother persisted. "How +will you get out of it?" + +Hilary's face flushed more deeply, and she bit her lip. + +"There won't be any getting out of it. Don't be silly! I am free." + +"The end of the season!" teased Bertie. "That allows you--let's +see--four, five, six more weeks of freedom." + +"Be quiet, if you don't want a drenching!" warned Hilary. "Besides," she +added, with inconsequent optimism, "anything may happen before then. Why, +I may even be married to a man I really like." + +"Great Scotland, so you may!" chuckled her brother. "There's the wild man +that Dick has brought down here to tame before launching at society. He's +a great beast like a brown bear. He wouldn't be my taste, but that's a +detail." + +"I hate fashionable men!" declared Hilary, with scarlet face. "I'd rather +marry a red Indian than one of these inane men about town." + +"Ho! ho!" laughed Bertie. "Then Dick's wild man will be quite to your +taste. As soon as he leaves off worrying mutton-bones with his fingers +and teeth, we'll ask Dick to bring him to dine." + +"You're perfectly disgusting!" said Hilary, digging her punt-pole into +the bed of the river with a vicious plunge. "If you don't mean to behave +yourself, I won't stay with you." + +"Oh, yes, you will," returned Bertie with brotherly assurance. "You +wouldn't miss Dick's aborigine for anything--and I don't blame you, for +he's worth seeing. Dick assures me that he is quite harmless, or I don't +know that I should care to venture my scalp at such close quarters." + +"You're positively ridiculous to-day," Hilary declared. + + * * * * * + +A perfect summer morning, a rippling blue river that shone like glass +where the willows dipped and trailed, and a girl who sang a murmurous +little song to herself as she slid down the bank into the laughing +stream. + +Ah, it was heavenly! The sun-flecks on the water danced and swam all +about her. The trees whispered to one another above her floating form. +The roses on the garden balustrade of Dick Culver's bungalow nodded as +though welcoming a friend. She turned over and struck out vigorously, +swimming up-stream. It was June, and the whole world was awake and +singing. + +"It's better than the entire London season put together," she murmured to +herself, as she presently came drifting back. + +A whiff of tobacco-smoke interrupted her soliloquy. She shook back her +wet hair and stood up waist-deep in the clear, green water. + +"What ho, Dick!" she called gaily. "I can't see you, but I know you're +there. Come down and have a swim, you lazy boy!" + +There followed a pause. Then a diffident voice with an unmistakably +foreign accent made reply. + +"Were you speaking to me?" + +Glancing up in the direction of the voice, Hilary discovered a stranger +seated against the trunk of a willow on the high bank above her. She +started and coloured. She had forgotten Dick's wild man. She described +him later as the brownest man she had ever seen. His face was brown, the +lower part of it covered with a thick growth of brown beard. His eyes +were brown, surmounted by very bushy eyebrows. His hair was brown. His +hands were brown. His clothes were brown, and he was smoking what looked +like a brown clay pipe. + +Hilary regained her self-possession almost at once. The diffidence of the +voice gave her assurance. + +"I thought my cousin was there," she explained. "You are Dick's friend, +I think?" + +The man on the bank smiled an affirmative, and Hilary remarked to herself +that he had splendid teeth. + +"I am Dick's friend," he said, speaking slowly, as if learning the lesson +from her. There was a slight subdued twang in his utterance which +attracted Hilary immensely. + +She nodded encouragingly to him. + +"I am Dick's cousin," she said. "He will tell you all about me if you ask +him." + +"I will certainly ask," the stranger said in his soft, foreign drawl. + +"Don't forget!" called Hilary, as she splashed back into deep water. "And +tell him to bring you to dine on our house-boat at eight to-night! Bertie +and I will be delighted to see you. We were meaning to send a formal +invitation. But no one stands on ceremony on the river--or in it either," +she laughed to herself as she swam away with swift, even strokes. + +"I shouldn't have asked him in that way," she explained to her brother +afterwards, "if he hadn't been rather shy. One must be nice to +foreigners, and dear Dickie's society undiluted would bore me to +extinction." + +"I don't think we had better give him a knife at dinner," remarked +Bertie. "I shouldn't like you to be scalped, darling. It would ruin your +prospects. I suppose my only course would be to insist upon his marrying +you forthwith." + +"Bertie, you're a beast!" said his sister tersely. + + * * * * * + +"We have taken you at your word, you see," sang out Dick Culver from his +punt. "I hope you haven't thought better of it by any chance, for my +friend has been able to think of nothing else all day." + +A slim white figure danced eagerly out of the tiny dining-saloon of the +house-boat. + +"Come on board!" she cried hospitably. "The Badger will see to your punt. +I am glad you're not late." + +She held out her hand to the new-comer with a pretty lack of ceremony. He +looked more than ever like a backwoodsman, but it was quite evident that +he was pleased with his surroundings. He shook hands with her almost +reverently, and smiled in a quiet, well-satisfied way. But, having +nothing to say, he did not vex himself to put it into words--a trait +which strongly appealed to Hilary. + +"His name," said Dick Culver, laughing at his cousin over the big man's +shoulder, "is Jacques. He has another, but, as nobody ever uses it, it +isn't to the point, and I never was good at pronunciation. He is a French +Canadian, with a dash of Yankee thrown in. He is of a peaceable +disposition except when roused, when all his friends find it advisable +to give him a wide berth. He--" + +"That'll do, my dear fellow," softly interposed the stranger, with a +gentle lift of the elbow in Culver's direction. "Leave Miss St. Orme to +find out the rest for herself! I hope she is not easily alarmed." + +"Not at all, I assure you," said Hilary. "Never mind Dick! No one does. +Come inside!" + +She led the way with light feet. Her exile from London during the season +promised to be less deadly than she had anticipated. Unmistakably she +liked Dick's wild man. + +They found Bertie in the little roselit saloon, and as he welcomed the +stranger Culver drew Hilary aside. There was much mystery on his comical +face. + +"I'll tell you a secret," he murmured; "this fellow is a great chief in +his own country, but he doesn't want anyone to know it. He's coming here +to learn a little of our ways, and he's particularly interested in +English women, so be nice to him." + +"I thought you said he was a French Canadian," said Hilary. + +"That's what he wants to appear," said Culver. "And, anyhow, he had a +Yankee mother. I know that for a fact. He's quite civilised, you know. +You needn't be afraid of him." + +"Afraid!" exclaimed Hilary. + +Turning, she found the new-comer looking at her with brown eyes that were +soft under the bushy brows. + +"He can't be a red man," she said to herself. "He hasn't got the +cheek-bones." + +Leaving Dick to amuse himself, she smiled upon her other guest with +winning graciousness and forthwith began the dainty task of initiating +him into the ways of English women. + +She was relieved to find that, notwithstanding his hairy appearance, he +was, as Dick had assured her, quite civilised. As the meal proceeded she +suddenly conceived an interest in Canada and the States, which had never +before possessed her. She questioned him with growing eagerness, and he +replied with a smile and always that half-reverent, half-shy courtliness +that had first attracted her. Undoubtedly he was a pleasant companion. He +clothed the information for which she asked in careful and picturesque +language. He was ready at any moment to render any service, however +slight, but his attentions were so unobtrusive that Hilary could not +but accept them with pleasure. She maintained her pretty graciousness +throughout dinner, anxious to set him at his ease. + +"Englishmen are not half so nice," she said to herself, as she rose from +the table. And she thought of the stubborn Viscount Merrivale as she +said it. + +There was a friendly regret at her departure written in the man's eyes as +he opened the door for her, and with a sudden girlish impulse she paused. + +"Why don't you come and smoke your cigar in the punt?" she said. + +He glanced irresolutely over his shoulder at the other two men who were +discussing some political problem with much absorption. + +With a curious desire to have her way with him, the girl waited with a +little laugh. + +"Come!" she said softly. "You can't be interested in British politics." + +He looked at her with his friendly, silent smile, and followed her out. + + * * * * * + +"Isn't it heavenly?" breathed Hilary, as she lay back on the velvet +cushions and watched the man's strong figure bend to the punt-pole. + +"I think it is Heaven, Miss St. Orme," he answered in a hushed voice. + +The sun had scarcely set in a cloudless shimmer of rose, and, sailing up +from the east, a full moon cast a rippling, silvery pathway upon the +mysterious water. + +The girl drew a long sigh of satisfaction, then laughed a little. + +"What a shame to make you work after dinner!" she said. + +She saw his smile in the moonlight. + +"Do you call this work?" She seemed to hear a faint ring of amusement in +the slowly-uttered question. + +"You are very strong," she said almost involuntarily. + +"Yes," he agreed quietly, and there suddenly ran a curious thrill through +her--a feeling that she and he had once been kindred spirits together in +another world. + +She felt as if their intimacy had advanced by strides when she spoke +again, and the sensation was one of a strange, quivering delight which +the perfection of the June night seemed to wholly justify. Anyhow, it was +not a moment for probing her inner self with searching questions. She +turned a little and suffered her fingers to trail through the moonlit +water. + +"I wonder if you would tell me something?" she said almost diffidently. + +"If it lies in my power," he answered courteously. + +"You may think it rude," she suggested, with a most unusual attack of +timidity. It had been her habit all her life to command rather than to +request. But somehow the very courtesy with which this man treated her +made her uncertain of herself. + +"I shall not think anything so--impossible," he assured her gently, and +again she saw his smile. + +"Well," she said, looking up at him intently, "will you--please--let me +into your secret? I promise I won't tell. But do tell me who you are!" + +There followed a silence, during which the man leaned a little on his +pole, gazing downwards while he kept the punt motionless. The water +babbled round them with a tinkling murmur that was like the laughter of +fairy voices. They had passed beyond the region of house-boats and +bungalows, and the night was very still. + +At last the man spoke, and the girl gave a queer little motion of relief. + +"I should like to tell you everything there is to know about me," he said +in his careful, foreign English. "But--will you forgive me?--I do not +feel myself able to do so--yet. Some day I will answer your question +gladly--I hope some day soon--if you are kind enough to continue to +extend to me your interest and your friendship." + +He looked down into Hilary's uplifted face with a queer wistfulness that +struck unexpectedly straight to her heart. She felt suddenly that this +man's past contained something of loss and disappointment of which he +could not lightly speak to a mere casual acquaintance. + +With the quickness of impulse characteristic of her, she smiled +sympathetic comprehension. + +"And you won't even tell me your name?" she said. + +He bent again to the pole, and she saw his teeth shine in the moonlight. +"I think my friend told you one of my names," he said. + +"Oh, it's much too commonplace," she protested. "Quite half the men +I know are called Jack." + +And then for the first time she heard him laugh--a low, exultant laugh +that sent the blood in a sudden rush to her cheeks. + +"Shall we go back now?" she suggested, turning her face away. + +He obeyed her instantly, and the punt began to glide back through the +ripples. + +No further word passed between them till, as they neared the house-boat, +the high, keen notes of a flute floated out upon the tender silence. + +Hilary glanced up sharply, the moonlight on her face, and saw a group of +men in a punt moored under the shadowy bank. One of them raised his +hand and sent a ringing salutation across the water. + +Hilary nodded and turned aside. There was annoyance on her face--the +annoyance of one suddenly awakened from a dream of complete enjoyment. + +Her companion asked no question. He was bending vigorously to his work. +But she seemed to consider some explanation to be due to him. + +"That," she said, "is a man I know slightly. His name is Cosmo Fletcher." + +"A friend?" asked the big man. + +Hilary coloured a little. + +"Well," she said half-reluctantly, "I suppose one would call him that." + + * * * * * + +"I believe you're in love with Culver's half-breed American," said Cosmo +Fletcher brutally, nearly three weeks later. He had just been rejected +finally and emphatically by the girl who faced him in the stern of his +skiff. + +She was very pale, but her eyes were full of resolution as they met his. + +"That," she said, "is no business of yours. Please take me back!" + +He looked as if he would have liked to refuse, but her steadfast eyes +compelled him. Sullenly he turned the boat. + +Dead silence reigned between them till, as they rounded a bend in the +river and came within sight of the house-boat, Fletcher, glancing over +his shoulder, caught sight of a big figure seated on the deck. + +Then he turned to the girl with a sneer: + +"It might interest Jack Merrivale to hear of this pretty little romance +of yours," he said. + +The colour flamed in her cheeks. + +"Tell him then!" she said defiantly. + +"I think I must," said Fletcher. "He and I are such old friends." + +He waited for her to tell him that it was on his account that they had +quarrelled, but she would not so far gratify him, maintaining a stubborn +silence till they drew alongside. Jacques rose to hand her on board. + +"I hope you have enjoyed your row," he said courteously. + +"Thanks!" she returned briefly, avoiding his eyes. "I think it is too hot +to enjoy anything to-day." + +The tea-kettle was singing merrily on the dainty brass spirit-lamp, and +she sat down at the table forthwith. + +Jacques stood beside her, silent and friendly as a tame mastiff. Perhaps +his presence after what had just passed between herself and Fletcher made +her nervous, or perhaps her thoughts were elsewhere and she forgot to be +cautious. Whatever the cause, she took up the kettle carelessly and +knocked it against the spirit-lamp with some force. + +Jacques swooped forward and steadied it before it could overturn; but the +dodging flame caught the girl's muslin sleeve and set it ablaze in an +instant. She uttered a cry and started up with a wild idea of flinging +herself into the river, but Jacques was too quick for her. He turned and +seized the burning fabric in his great hands, ripping it away from her +arm and crushing out the flames with unflinching strength. + +"Don't be frightened!" he said. "It's all right. I've got it out." + +"And what of you?" she gasped, eyes of horror on his blackened hands. + +He smiled at her reassuringly. + +"Well done, man!" cried Dick Culver. "It was like you to save her life +while we were thinking about it. Are you hurt, Hilary?" + +"No," she said, with trembling lips. "But--but--" + +She broke off on the verge of tears, and Dick considerately transferred +his attention to his friend. + +"Let's see the damage, old fellow!" + +"It is nothing," said Jacques, still faintly smiling. "Yes, you may see +it if you like, if only to prove that I speak the truth." + +He thrust out one hand and displayed a scorched and blistered palm. + +"Call that nothing!" began Dick. + +Fletcher suddenly pushed forward with an oath that startled them all. + +"I should know that hand anywhere!" he exclaimed. "You infernal, lying +impostor!" + +There was an elaborate tattoo of the American flag on the extended wrist, +to which he pointed with a furious laugh. + +"Deny it if you can!" he said. + +Jacques looked at him gravely, without the smallest sign of agitation. + +"You certainly have good reason to know that hand rather well," he said +after a moment, speaking with extreme deliberation, "considering that it +has had the privilege of giving you the finest thrashing of your life." + +Fletcher turned purple. He looked as if he were going to strike the +speaker on the mouth. But before he could raise his hand Hilary suddenly +forced herself between them. + +"Mr. Fletcher," she said, her voice quivering with anger, "go instantly! +There is your boat. And never come near us again!" + +Fletcher fell back a step, but he was too furious to obey such a command. + +"Do you think I am going to leave that confounded humbug to have it all +his own way?" he snarled. "I tell you--" + +But here Culver intervened. + +"You shut up!" he ordered sternly. "We've had too much of you already. +You had better go." + +He took Fletcher imperatively by the arm, but Jacques intervened. + +"Pray let the gentleman speak, Dick!" he said. "It will ease his feelings +perhaps." + +"No!" broke in Hilary breathlessly. "No, no! I won't listen! I tell you +I won't!" facing the big man almost fiercely. "Tell me yourself if you +like!" + +He looked at her closely, still with that odd half-smile upon his face. + +Then, before them all, he took her hand, and, bending, held it to his +lips. + +"Thank you, Hilary!" he said very softly. + +In the privacy of her own cabin Hilary removed her tatters and cooled her +tingling cheeks. She and her brother were engaged to dine at Dick's +bungalow that night, but an overwhelming shyness possessed her, and at +the last moment she persuaded Bertie to go alone. It was plain that +for some reason Bertie was hugely amused, and she thought it rather +heartless of him. + +She dined alone on the house-boat with her face to the river. Her fright +had made her somewhat nervous, and she was inclined to start at every +sound. When the meal was over she went up to her favourite retreat on the +upper deck. A golden twilight still lingered in the air, and the river +was mysteriously calm. But the girl's heart was full of a heavy +restlessness. Each time she heard a punt-pole striking on the bed of the +river she raised her head to look. + +He came at last--the man for whom her heart waited. He was punting +rapidly down-stream, and she could not see his face. Yet she knew him, +by the swing of his arms, the goodly strength of his muscles,--and by the +suffocating beating of her heart. She saw that one hand was bandaged, and +a passionate feeling that was almost rapture thrilled through and through +her at the sight. Then he shot beyond her vision, and she heard the punt +bump against the house-boat. + +"It's a gentleman to see you, miss," said the Badger, thrusting a grey +and grinning visage up the stairs. + +"Ask him to come up!" said Hilary, steadying her voice with an effort. + +A moment later she rose to receive the man she loved. And her heart +suddenly ceased to beat. + +"You!" she gasped, in a choked whisper. + +He came straight forward. The last light of the day shone on his smooth +brown face, with its steady eyes and strong mouth. + +"Yes," he said, and still through his quiet tones she seemed to hear a +faint echo of the subdued twang which dwellers in the Far West sometimes +acquire. "I, John Merrivale, late of California, beg to render to you, +Hilary St. Orme, in addition to my respectful homage, that freedom for +which you have not deigned to ask." + +She stared at him dumbly, one hand pressed against her breast. The ripple +of the river ran softly through the silence. Slowly at last Merrivale +turned to go. + +And then sharply, uncertainly, she spoke. + +"Wait, please!" she said. + +She moved close to him and laid her hand on the flower-bedecked +balustrade, trembling very much. + +"Why have you done this?" Her quivering voice sounded like a prayer. + +He hesitated, then answered her quietly through the gloom. + +"I did it because I loved you." + +"And what did you hope to gain by it?" breathed Hilary. + +He did not answer, and she drew a little nearer as though his silence +reassured her. + +"Wouldn't it have saved a lot of trouble," she said, her voice very low +but no longer uncertain, "if you had given me my freedom in the first +place? Don't you think you ought to have done that?" + +"I don't know," Merrivale said. "That fellow spoilt my game. So I offer +it to you now--with apologies." + +"I should have appreciated it--in the first place," said Hilary, and +suddenly there was a ripple of laughter in her voice like an echo of the +water below them. "But now I--I--have no use for it. It's too late. Do +you know, Jack, I'm not sure he did spoil your game after all!" + +He turned towards her swiftly, and she thrust out her hands to him with a +quick sob that became a laugh as she felt his arms about her. + +"You hairless monster!" she said. "What woman ever wanted freedom when +she could have--Love?" + + * * * * * + +Two days later Viscount Merrivale's friends at the club read with +interest and some amusement the announcement that his marriage to Miss +Hilary St. Orme had been fixed to take place on the last day of the +month. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + Death's Property + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +A high laugh rang with a note of childlike merriment from the far end of +the coffee-room as Bernard Merefleet, who was generally considered a bear +on account of his retiring disposition, entered and took his seat near +the door. It was a decidedly infectious laugh and perhaps for this reason +it was the first detail to catch his attention and to excite his +disapproval. + +He frowned as he glanced at the menu in front of him. + +He had arrived in England after an absence of twenty years in America, +where he had made a huge fortune. He was hungering for the quiet +unhurried speech of his fellow-countrymen, for the sights and sounds and +general atmosphere of English life which for so long had been denied to +him. And the first thing he heard on entering the coffee-room of this +English hotel was the laugh of an American woman. + +He had thought that in this remote corner of England--this little, +old-world fishing town, with its total lack of entertainment, its +unfashionable beach, and its wild North Sea breakers--no unit of the +great Western race would have set foot. He had believed its entire +absence of attraction to be a sure safeguard, and he was unfeignedly +disgusted to discover that this was not the case. + +As he ate his dinner the high laugh broke in on his meditations again +and again, and his annoyance grew to a sense of savage irritation. He +had come over to England for a rest after a severe illness, and with +an intense craving, after his twenty years of stress and toil, to +stand aside and watch the world--the English, conservative world he +loved--dawdle by. + +He wanted to bury himself in an unknown fishing-town and associate with +the simple, unflurried fisher-folk alone. It was a dream of his--a dream +which he had imagined near its fulfilment when he had arrived in the +peaceful little world of Old Silverstrand. + +There was a large and fashionable watering-place five miles away. This +was New Silverstrand, a town of red brick, self-centred and prosperous. +But he had not thought that its visitors would have overflowed into the +old fishing-town. He himself saw no attraction there save the peace of +the shore and the turmoil of the sea. He had known and loved the old town +in his youth, long before the new one had been built or even thought +of. For New Silverstrand was a growth of barely ten years. + +In all his wanderings his heart had always turned with a warm thrill of +memory to the little old fishing-town where much of his restless boyhood +had been spent. He had returned to it as to a familiar friend and found +it but slightly changed. A new hotel had been erected where the old +Crayfish Inn had once stood. And this, so far as he had been able to +judge in his first walk through the place on the evening of his arrival, +was the sole alteration. + +He had heard that the shore had crumbled beyond the town, but he had left +that to be investigated on the morrow. The fishing-harbour was the same; +the brown-sailed fishing-boats rocked with the well-remembered swing +inside; the water poured roaring in with the same baffled fury; and +children played as of old on the extreme and dangerous edge of the stone +quay. + +The memory of that selfsame quay roused deeper recollections in +Merefleet's mind as he sat and dined alone at the little table near the +door. + +There came to him the thought, with a sudden, stabbing regret, of a +little dark-eyed sister who had hung with him over that perilous edge and +laughed at the impotent breakers below. He could hear the silvery echoes +of her laughter across half a lifetime, could feel the warm hand that +clasped his own. A magic touch swept aside the years and revealed the +old, glad days of his boyhood. + +Merefleet pushed away his plate and sat with fixed eyes, fascinated by +the rosy vision. They were side by side in a fishing-smack, he and the +playmate of his childhood. There was an old fisherman in charge with +grizzled hair, whose name, he recollected without effort, was Quiller. +He was showing the little maid how to tie a knot that was warranted never +to come undone. + +Merefleet watched the ardent, flushed face with a deep reverence. He had +not seen it so vividly since the day he had kissed it for the last time +and gone forth into the seething sea of life to fight the whirlpools. +Well, he had emerged triumphant so far as earthly success went. He had +breasted the tide and risen above the billows. He was wealthy, and he was +celebrated. No mortal power rose up in his path to baulk him of his +desire. Only desire itself had failed him, and ambition had become +mockery. + +For twenty years he had not had time to stop and think. For twenty years +he had wrestled ceaselessly with the panting crowd. He had bartered away +the best years of his life to the gold god, and he was satiated with the +success of this transaction. + +In all that time he had not mourned, as he mourned to-night, the loss of +the twin-sister who had been as his second and better self. He had not +realised till he sat alone in the place, where as a boy he had never +known solitude, how utterly flat and undesirable was the future that +stretched out like a trackless desert at his feet. + +And in that moment he would have cast away the whole bulk of his great +possessions for one precious day of youth out of the many that had fled +away for ever. + +A woman's laugh, high, inconsequent, rang through the great coffee-room, +and all but one looked towards the corner whence it proceeded. An +American voice began at once to explain the joke with considerable +volubility. + +Bernard Merefleet rose from his chair with a frowning countenance and +made his way down to the old stone quay below the hotel. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +The air was keen and salt. He paused on the well-worn stone wall and +turned his face to the spray. A hundred memories were at work in his +brain, and the relief of solitude was unspeakable. It was horribly +lonely, but he hugged his loneliness. That laughing voice in the hotel +coffee-room had driven him forth to seek it. No mental or physical +discomfort would have induced him to return. + +He propped himself against a piece of stonework and gazed moodily out to +sea. He did not want to leave this haven of his childhood. Yet the +thought of remaining in close proximity to a party of tourists was +detestable to him. Why in the world couldn't they stop away, he wondered +savagely? And then his own inconsistency occurred to him, and he smiled +grimly. For the place undoubtedly had its charm. + +A fisherman in a blue jersey lounged on to the quay at this point of +his meditations, and, old habit asserting itself, Merefleet greeted +him with a remark on the weather. The man halted in front of him in a +conversational attitude. Merefleet knew the position well. It came back +to him on a flood of memory. He could not believe that it was twenty +years since he had talked with such an one. + +"Wind in the nor'-east, sir," said the man. + +"Yes. It's cold for the time of year," said Merefleet. + +The man assented. + +"Fish plentiful?" asked Merefleet. + +"Nothing to boast of," was the guarded reply. + +Merefleet had expected it. Right well he knew these fisher-folk. + +"You get a few visitors now, I see," Merefleet observed. + +The fisherman nodded. "Don't know what they come for," he observed. +"Bathing ain't good, and them pleasure-boats--well"--he lifted his +shoulders expressively--"half-a-capful of wind would upset 'em. There's a +lady staying at this here hotel--an American lady she be--what goes out +every day regular, she and a young gentleman with her. They won't have me +nor yet any of my mates to go along, and yet--bless you--they could no +more manage that boat if a squall was to come up nor they could fly. I +told her once as it wasn't safe. And she laughed in my face, sir. She +did, really." + +Merefleet smiled a little. + +"Well, if she likes to run the risk it's not your fault," he said. + +"No, sir. It ain't. But that don't make me any easier. She's a pretty +young lady, too," the man added. "Maybe you've seen her, sir." + +Merefleet shook his head. He had heard her, and he had no desire to +improve his acquaintance with her. + +"As pretty a young lady as you would wish to see," continued the +fisherman reflectively. "Wonderful, she is. 'Tain't often we get such a +picture in this here part of the country. Ever been to America, sir?" + +"Just come home," said Merefleet. + +"Are all the ladies over there as pretty as this one, I wonder?" said his +new acquaintance in an awed tone. + +"She seems to have made a considerable impression," said Merefleet, with +a laugh. "What is the lady like?" + +But the man's descriptive powers were not equal to his admiration. "I +couldn't tell you what she's like, sir," he said. "But she's that sort +of young lady as makes you feel you oughtn't to talk to her with your hat +on. Ever met that sort of lady, sir?" + +Merefleet uttered a short laugh. The man's simplicity amused him. + +"I can't say I have," he said carelessly. "Good-looking women are not +always the best sort, in my opinion." + +"That's very true, sir," assented his companion thoughtfully. "There's my +wife, for instance. She's as good a woman as you'd find anywhere, but her +best friend couldn't call her handsome, nor even plain." + +And Merefleet laughed again. The man's talk had diverted his thoughts. +The intolerable sense of desolation had been lifted from his spirit. He +began to feel he had been somewhat unnecessarily irritated by a very +small matter. + +He lighted a cigar and presented one to his new friend. "I shall get you +to row me out for a couple of hours to-morrow," he said. "By the way, did +you ever know a man called Quiller who had some fishing craft in these +parts twenty years ago?" + +The man beamed at the question. "That's my father, sir. He lives along +with my wife and the kids. Will you come and see him, sir? Oh, yes, +he's well and hearty. But he's getting on in years, is dad. He don't go +out with the luggers now. You'll come and see him, eh, sir?" + +"To-morrow," said Merefleet, turning. "He will remember me, perhaps. +No, I won't give you my name. The old chap shall find out for himself. +Good-night." + +And he began to saunter back towards his hotel. + +The searchlight of a man-of-war anchored outside the harbour was flashing +over the shore as he went. He watched the long shaft of light with +half-involuntary attention. He noted in an idle way various details along +the cliffs that were revealed by the white glow. It touched the hotel at +last and rested there for the fraction of a minute. + +And then a strange thing happened. + +Looking upwards as he was, with fascinated eyes, following the slanting +line of light, Merefleet saw a sight which was destined to live in his +memory for all the rest of his life, strive as he might to rid himself of +it. + +As in a dream-picture he saw the figure of a girl standing on the steps +of the terrace in front of the hotel. The searchlight discovered her and +lingered upon her. She stood in the brilliant line of light, a splendid +vision of almost unearthly beauty. Her neck and arms were bare, curved +with the exquisite grace of a Grecian statue. Her face was turned towards +the light--a marvellous face, touched with a faint, triumphant smile. She +was dressed in a robe of pure white that fell around her in long, soft +folds. + +Merefleet gazed upon the wonder before him and asked himself one +breathless question: "Is that--a woman?" + +And the answer seemed to spring from the very depth of his being: "No! +A goddess!" + +It was the most gloriously perfect picture of beauty he had ever looked +upon. + +The searchlight flashed on and the hotel garden was left in darkness. + +A chill sense of loss swept down upon Merefleet, but the impression did +not last. He threw away his cigar with an impetuosity oddly out of +keeping with his somewhat rugged and unimpressionable nature. A hot +desire to see that face again at close quarters possessed him--the face +of the loveliest woman he had ever beheld. + +He reached the hotel and sat down in the vestibule. Evidently this +marvellous woman was staying in the place. He watched the doorway with +a strange feeling of excitement. He had not been so moved for years. + +At length there came a quick, light tread. The next moment he was +gazing again upon the vision that had charmed him out of all commonsense. +She stood, framed in the night, white and pure and gloriously, most +surpassingly, beautiful. Merefleet felt his heart throb heavily. He sat +in dead silence, looking at her with fascinated eyes. Had he called her a +Greek goddess? He had better have said angel. For this was no earth-born +loveliness. + +She stood for several seconds looking towards him with shining, radiant +eyes. Then she moved forward. Merefleet's eyes were fixed upon her. He +could not have looked away just then. He was absurdly uncertain of +himself. + +She paused near him with the light pouring full upon her. Her eyes met +his with a momentary questioning. Then ruthlessly she broke the spell. + +"Say, now!" she said in brisk, high tones. "Isn't that searchlight thing +a real cute invention?" + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Merefleet shivered at the words. He did not answer her. The shock had +been too great. He sat stiff and silent, waiting for more. + +The American girl looked at him with a pitying little smile. She was +wholly unabashed. + +"I reckon the man who invented searchlights was no fool," she remarked. +"I just wish that quaint old battleship would come right along here. +It's not exciting, this place." + +"New Silverstrand would be more to your taste, I fancy," said Merefleet, +reluctantly forced to speak. + +The smile on the beautiful face developed into a wicked little gleam of +amusement. "That's so, I daresay," said the high voice. "But you see, I +wasn't consulted. I've just got to go where I'm taken." + +She sank into a chair opposite Merefleet and leant forward. + +Merefleet sat perfectly rigid. There was a marvellous witchery about the +clasped hands and bent head before him. But he did not mean to let his +idiotic sentimentality carry him away again. So long as the enchantress +was speaking, the spell was wholly impotent. Therefore he should not +suffer her to relapse into silence. Yet--how he hated that high, piercing +voice! It was like the desecration of something sacred. It made him +shrink in involuntary protest. + +"Say!" suddenly exclaimed his companion, looking at him sharply. "Aren't +you Bernard Merefleet of New York City?" + +Merefleet frowned unconsciously at the notoriety that was his. + +"I was in New York until recently," he said with some curtness. + +"Exactly what I said," she returned triumphantly. "A friend of mine +snap-shotted you walking up Fifth Avenue. He said to me: 'Here's +Merefleet the gold-king, one of the cutest men in U.S.A. His first name +is Bernard. So we call him the Big Bear for short.' Ever heard your pet +name before?" + +"Never," said Merefleet stiffly, with a suggestive hand on the evening +paper. He wished she would leave him alone. With his eyes averted at +length, the charm of her presence ceased to attract him. He even fancied +he resented her freedom. But the girl only laughed carelessly. She had +not the smallest intention of moving. + +"Well," she said, and he imagined momentarily that her abominable accent +was deliberately assumed. "I guess you've heard it now, Mr. Bernard +Merefleet. Smart, I call it. What's your opinion?" + +Merefleet started a little at the audacity of this speech. And again he +was looking at her. There was a funny little smile twitching the corners +of her mouth. Her beauty was irresistible. Even the iron barrier of his +churlish avoidance was severely shaken. She was hard to withstand, this +witch with her friendly eyes and frank speech, despite her jarring voice. + +She nodded to him sociably as she met his grave look. "You aren't on a +pleasure-trip, I reckon," she observed. + +"Pleasure!" said Merefleet, giving way with abrupt bitterness. "No. +There's not much pleasure in unearthing skeletons. That's what I'm +doing." + +The beautiful eyes opposite opened wide. She was silent for a moment. +Then, "Think you're wise?" she enquired casually. + +"No," said Merefleet roughly. "I'm a fool." + +She nodded acquiescence. "That's so, I daresay," she said. "I was afraid +you were sick." + +"So I am," he said. "Sick of life--sick of everything." + +"I guess you want some medicine," she said seriously. + +Merefleet laughed suddenly. "Something strong and deadly, eh?" he said. + +She shook her head. "Tell me what you like best in the world!" she said. + +Merefleet reflected. + +"You must know," she insisted briskly. "Is it a woman?" + +"Good heavens, no!" said Merefleet, with an emphasis not particularly +flattering to the sex. + +"Well, then," she said, "p'r'aps it's the sea?" + +"You may say so for the sake of argument," said Merefleet. + +"I don't argue," she responded, with what he took for a touch of heat. +"If people disagree with me I just shunt." + +"Excellent policy," said Merefleet, interested in spite of himself. He +fancied a faint shadow crossed her face. But she continued to speak with +barely a pause. "If you like the sea you'd better join Bert and me. We go +out every day. It's real fun." + +"Exciting as well as dangerous," suggested Merefleet. + +She nodded again. It was a habit of hers when roused to eagerness. +"You've hit it. It's just that," she said. "Will you come?" + +Merefleet hesitated. He was still inclined to be surly. But the new +influence was not so easy to resist as he had imagined. The woman before +him attracted him strongly, despite the fact that he now knew her +loveliness to be but mortal; despite the constant jar of her shrill +voice. + +"Who is Bert?" he enquired at length, reluctantly aware that in +temporising he signed away his freedom of action. + +"Bert's my cousin," she answered. "He's English right through. You'd like +Bert. He's in the smoke-room. Bert and I are great chums." + +"Are you staying here alone together?" Merefleet enquired. + +She nodded. "Bert is taking care of me," she explained. "He's like a son +to me. I call him my English bull-dog. I just love bull-dogs, Mr. +Merefleet." + +Merefleet was silent. + +She stretched out her arms with a swift, unconscious movement of +weariness. + +"Well," she said, "I'm real lazy to-night, and that's fact. I guess you +want to smoke, so I'll go and leave you in peace." + +She rose and stood for a few moments in the doorway, looking out into the +pulsing darkness beyond. Merefleet watched her, fascinated. And as he +watched, a deep shadow rose and lingered on the beautiful face. Moved by +an instinct he did not stop to question, he rose abruptly and stood +beside her. There was a pause. Then suddenly she looked up at him and the +shadow was gone. + +"Isn't he cross?" she said. + +"Who?" asked Merefleet. + +"Why, that funny old sea," she laughed. "He's just wild to dash over and +swamp us all. Supposing he did, should you care any?" + +"I don't know," said Merefleet. + +Her eyes were full of a soft laughter as she looked at him. Suddenly she +laid a childish hand on his arm. "Oh, you poor old Bear!" she said, +dropping her voice a little. "I'm real sorry for you!" + +And then she turned swiftly and was gone from his side like a flash of +sunlight. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +It was some time later that Merefleet entered the smoking-room to satisfy +a certain curiosity which had taken possession of him. He looked round +the room as he sat down, and almost at once his attention lighted upon a +broad-shouldered man of about thirty with a plain, square-jawed face of +great determination, who sat, puffing at a short pipe, by the open +window. + +Merefleet silently observed this man for some time, till, his scrutiny +making itself felt, the object of it wheeled abruptly in his chair and +returned it. + +Merefleet leant forward. It was so little his custom to open conversation +with a stranger that his manner was abrupt and somewhat forced on this +unusual occasion. + +"I believe I ought to know you," he said. "But I can't recall your name." + +The reply was delivered in a manner as curt as his own. "My name is +Seton," said the stranger. "As you have only met me once before, you +probably won't recall it now." + +Merefleet nodded comprehension. He loved the straight, quiet speech of +Englishmen. There was no flurry or palaver about this specimen. He spoke +as a man quite sure of himself and wholly independent of his fellow men. + +"Ah, I remember you now," Merefleet said. "You came as Ralph Warrender's +guest to a club dinner in New York. Am I right?" + +"Perfectly," said Seton. "You were the guest of the evening. You made a +good speech, I remember. You were looking horribly ill. I suppose that is +how I came to notice you particularly." + +"I was ill," said Merefleet, "or I should have been out of New York +before that dinner came off. I always detested the place. And Warrender +would have done far better in my place." + +"I am not an admirer of Warrender," said Seton bluntly. + +Merefleet made no comment. He was never very free in the statement of his +opinion. + +"The railway accident in which his wife was killed took place immediately +after that dinner, I believe?" he observed presently. "I remember hearing +of it when I was recovering." + +"It was a shocking thing--that accident," said Seton thoughtfully. "It's +odd that Americans always manage to do that sort of thing on such a +gigantic scale." + +"They do everything on a gigantic scale," said Merefleet. "What became of +Warrender afterwards? It was an awful business for him." + +"I don't know anything about him," Seton answered, with a brevity that +seemed to betray lack of interest. "He was no friend of mine, though I +chanced to be his guest on that occasion. I was distantly connected with +his wife, and I inherited some of her money at her death. She was a rich +woman, as you probably know." + +"So I heard. But I have never found New York gossip particularly +attractive." + +Seton leant his elbow on the window-sill and gazed meditatively into the +night. "If it comes to that," he said slowly, "no gossip is exactly +edifying. And to be the victim of it is to be in the most undesirable +position under the sun." + +It struck Merefleet that he uttered the words with some force, almost +with the deliberate intention of conveying a warning; and, being the +last man in the world to attempt to fathom the wholly irrelevant affairs +of his neighbour, he dropped into silence and began to smoke. + +Seton sat motionless for some time. The murmur of a conversation that was +being sleepily sustained by two men in the room behind them created no +disturbing influence. Presently Seton spoke casually, but with that in +his tone which made Merefleet vaguely conscious of an element of +suspicion. + +"You didn't expect to see me just now, did you?" he asked. + +"No," said Merefleet. "I should have taken the trouble to call your name +to mind before I spoke if I had." + +Seton nodded. "I saw you at _table d'hôte_" he remarked. "I was with my +cousin at the other end of the room. You were gone when we got up." + +"Your cousin?" said Merefleet deliberately. "Is that the American lady +who is staying here?" + +"Yes. Miss Ward. She is from New York, too. You may have seen her there." + +"No," said Merefleet. "I know very little of New York society, or any +society for the matter of that." + +Seton turned and looked at him with a smile. "Odd," he said. "For there +can be scarcely a man, woman, or child, here or in America, who does not +know you by name." + +"Not so bad as that, I hope," said Merefleet. And Seton laughed. + +"You have the reputation for shunning celebrity," he remarked. + +"So I understand," said Merefleet. "I hope the reputation will be my +protection." + +Young Seton became genial from that point onward. Without being +communicative, he managed to convey the impression that he was quite +prepared to be friendly. And for some reason unexplained Merefleet was +pleased. He went to bed that night with somewhat revised ideas on the +subject of society in general and the society of American girls in +particular. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +"Is this the gentleman as was to come and see me? Come in, sir. Come in! +My old eyes ain't so sharp as they used to be, but I can see a many +things yet." + +And old Quiller, the fisherman, removed his sou'wester from his snowy +head and peered at the visitor from under his hand. + +"You don't know me, eh, Quiller?" Merefleet said. + +He was surprised to hear a high voice from the interior of the cottage +break in on the old man's hesitating reply. + +"He's a sort of walking monkey-puzzle, I guess," said the voice, and a +roguish laugh followed the words. + +Merefleet looked over old Quiller's shoulder into the little kitchen. She +was standing by the table with her sleeves up to her elbows, making some +invalid dish. A shaft of sunlight slanting through the tiny window fell +full upon her as she stood. It made him think of the searchlight glory of +the previous night. She shone like a princess in her lowly surroundings. + +She nodded to him gaily as she met his eyes. + +"Come right in!" she said hospitably. "And I shall tell Grandpa Quiller +who you are." + +"Aye, but I know," broke in the old man eagerly. "Master Bernard, ain't +it? That's right, sonny. That's right. Yes, come in! There! I never +thought to see you again. That I never did. This here's little missie +what comes regular to see my daughter-in-law as has been laid by this +week or more. I calls her our good angel," he ended tenderly. "She's been +the Lord's own blessing to us ever since she come." + +Merefleet, thus invited, entered and sat down on a wooden chair by +the table. Old Quiller turned in also and fussed about him with the +solicitude that comes with age. + +"No," he said meditatively, "I never thought to see you again, Master +Bernard. Why, it's twenty year come Michaelmas since you said 'Good-bye.' +And little miss was with you. Ah, dear! It do make me think of them days +to see you in the old place again. I always said as I'd never see the +match of little miss but this young lady, sir--she's just such another, +bless her." + +Merefleet, with his eyes on the busy white hands at the table, smiled at +the eulogy. + +The American girl glanced at him and laughed more softly than usual. +"Isn't he fine?" she said. "I just love that old man." + +Somehow that peculiar voice of hers did not jar upon him quite so +painfully as he sat and watched her at her dexterous work. There was +something about her employment that revealed to him a side of her that +her frivolous manner would never have led him to suspect. While he talked +to the old fisherman, more than half his attention was centred on her +beautiful, innocent face. + +"My!" she suddenly exclaimed, turning upon him with a dazzling smile. "I +reckon you'll almost be equal to beating up an egg yourself if you watch +long enough." + +"Perhaps," said Merefleet. + +She laughed gaily. "Are you coming along with Bert and me this afternoon +in Quiller's boat?" she inquired. + +"I believed I have engaged Quiller to come and do the hard work for me," +Merefleet said. + +"You!" She was bending over the fire, stirring the beaten egg into a +saucepan. "Oh, you lazy old Bear!" she said reprovingly. "What good will +that do you?" + +"I don't know that I want anything to do me good," Merefleet returned. +He had become almost genial under these unusual circumstances. It was +certainly no easy matter to keep this exceedingly sociable young lady at +a distance. + +He was watching the warm colour rising in her face as she stooped over +the fire. He had never imagined that the art of cookery could be +conducted with so much of grace and charm. Her odd, high voice instantly +broke in on this reflection. + +"I'm going to see Mrs. Quiller and the baby now," she said, with her +sprightly little nod. "So long, Big Bear!" + +The little kitchen suddenly looked dull and empty. The sun had gone in. +Old Quiller was sucking tobacco ruminatively, his fit of loquacity over. + +Merefleet rose. "Well, I am glad to have seen you, Quiller," he said, +patting the old man's shoulder with a kindly hand. "I must come in again. +You and I are old friends, you know, and old comrades, too. Good-bye!" + +Quiller looked at him rather vacantly. The fire of life was sinking low +in his veins. He had grown sluggish with the years, and the spark of +understanding was seldom bright. + +"Aye, but she's a bonny lass, Master Bernard," he said with slow +appreciation. "A bonny lass she be. You ain't thinking of getting settled +now? I'm thinking she'd keep your home tidy and bright." + +"Good-bye!" said Merefleet with steady persistence. + +"Aye, she would," said the old man, shifting the tobacco in his cheek. +"She's been a rare comfort to me and mine. She'd be a blessing to your +home, Master Bernard. Take an old chap's word for it, an old chap as +knows what's what. That young lady'll be the joy of some man's heart some +day. You've got your chance, Master Bernard. You be that man!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +"Say, Bert! We can take Big Bear along in our boat. Isn't that so?" + +Merefleet looked up from his paper as he heard the words. They were +seated at the next table at lunch, his American friend and her +excessively English cousin. Merefleet noticed that she was dressed for +boating. She wore a costume of white linen, and a Panama hat was crammed +jauntily on the soft, dark hair. She was anything but dignified. Yet +there was something splendid in the very recklessness of her beauty. She +was a queen who did not need to assert her rights. There were other women +present, and Merefleet was not even conscious of the fact. + +"Who?" asked Seton, in response to her careless inquiry. + +She nodded in Merefleet's direction and caught his eye as she did so. + +"He's the cutest man in U.S.," she said, staring him straight in the face +without sign of recognition. "But he's real lazy. He saw me making +custard at Grandpa Quiller's this morning, and he wasn't even smart +enough to lift the saucepan off the fire. I thought he might have had +spunk enough for that, anyway." + +Twenty-four hours earlier Merefleet would have deliberately hunched his +shoulders, turned his back, and read his paper. But his education was in +sure hands. He had made rapid progress since the day before. + +He leant a little towards his critic and said gravely: + +"Pray accept my apologies for the omission! To tell you the truth, I was +not watching the progress of the cookery." + +The girl nodded as if appeased. + +"You can come and sit at this table," she said, indicating a chair +opposite to her. "I guess you know my cousin Bert Seton." + +"What makes you guess that?" Merefleet inquired, changing his seat as +directed. + +She looked at him with a little smile of superior knowledge. "I guess +lots," she said, but proffered no explanation of her shrewd conclusion. + +Young Seton greeted Merefleet with less cordiality than he had displayed +on the previous evening. There was a suggestion of caution in his manner +that created a somewhat unfavourable impression in Merefleet's mind. + +Already he was beginning to wonder how these two came to be thus isolated +in the forgotten little town of Old Silverstrand. It was not a natural +state of affairs. Neither the girl with her marvellous beauty, nor the +man with his peculiar concentration of purpose, was a fitting figure for +such a background. They were out of place--most noticeably so. + +Merefleet was the very last man to make observations of such a +description. But this was a matter so obvious and so undeniably strange +that it forced itself upon him half against his will. He became strongly +aware that Seton did not desire his presence in the boat with him and his +cousin. He did not fathom the objection. But its existence was not to be +ignored. And Merefleet wondered a little, as he cast about in his mind +for a suitable excuse wherewith to decline the girl's invitation. + +"It's very good of you to ask me to accompany you, Miss Ward," he said +presently. "But I know that Quiller the younger is under the impression +that I have engaged him to row me out of the harbour and bring me back +again. And I don't see very well how I can cancel the engagement." + +Miss Ward nudged her cousin at this speech. + +"Oh, if he isn't just quaint!" she said. "Look here, Bert! You're running +this show. Tell Mr. Merefleet it's all fixed up, and if he won't come +along with us he won't go at all, as we've got Quiller's boat!" + +Seton glanced up, slightly frowning. + +"My dear Mab," he said, "allow Mr. Merefleet to please himself! The fact +that you are willing to put your life in my hands day after day is no +guarantee of my skill as a rower, remember." + +"Oh, skittles!" said Mab irrelevantly. + +And Seton, meeting Merefleet's eyes, shrugged his shoulders as if +disclaiming all further responsibility. + +Mab leant forward. + +"You'd better come, Mr. Merefleet," she said in a motherly tone. "It'll +be a degree more lively than mooning around by yourself." + +And Merefleet yielded, touched by something indescribable in the +beautiful, glowing eyes that were lifted to his. Apparently she wanted +him to go, and it seemed to him too small a thing to refuse. Perhaps, +also, he consulted his own inclination. + +Seton dropped his distant manner after a time. Nevertheless the +impression of being under the young man's close observation lingered with +Merefleet, and Mab herself seemed to feel a strain. She grew almost +silent till lunch was over, and then, recovering, she entered into a +sprightly conversation with Merefleet. + +They went down to the shore shortly after, and embarked in Quiller's +boat. Mab sat in the stern under a scarlet sunshade and talked gaily to +her two companions. She was greatly amused when Merefleet insisted upon +doing his share of the work. + +"I love to see you doing the galley-slave," she said. "I know you hate +it, you poor old Bear." + +But Merefleet did not hate his work. He sat facing her throughout the +afternoon, gazing to his heart's content on the perfect picture before +him. He wore his hands to blisters, and the sun beat mercilessly down +upon him. But he felt neither weariness nor impatience, neither regret +nor surliness. + +A magic touch had started the life in his veins; the revelation of a +wandering searchlight had transformed his sordid world into a palace of +delight. He accepted the fact without question. He had no wish to go +either forward or backward. + +The blue sea and the blue sky, and the distant, shining shore. These were +what he had often longed for in the rush and tumult of a great, unresting +city. But in the foreground of his picture, beyond desire and more +marvellous than imagination, was the face of the loveliest woman he had +ever seen. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +There was no wandering alone on the quay for Merefleet that night. It was +very warm and he sat on the terrace with his American friend. Far away +over at New Silverstrand, a band was playing, and the music came floating +across the harbour with the silvery sweetness which water imparts. The +lights of the new town were very bright. It looked like a dream-city seen +from afar. + +"I guess we are just a couple of Peris shut outside," said Mab in her +brisk, unsentimental voice. "I like it best outside, don't you, Big +Bear?" + +"Yes," said Merefleet, with a simplicity that provoked her mirth. + +"Oh, aren't you just perfect!" she said. "You've done me no end of good. +I'd pay you back if I could." + +Merefleet was silent. He could not see her beautiful face, but her words +touched him inexplicably. + +There was a long pause. Then, to his great surprise, a warm little hand +slipped on to his knee in the darkness and a voice, so small that he +hardly recognised it, said humbly: + +"Mr. Merefleet, I'm real sorry." + +Merefleet started a little. + +"Good heavens! Why?" he said. + +"Sorry you disapprove of me," she said, with a little break in her voice. +"Bert used to be the same. But he's different now. He knows I wasn't made +prim and proper." + +She paused. Merefleet's hand was on her own. He sat in silence, but +somehow his silence was kind. + +She went on. "I wasn't going to speak last night. Only you looked so +melancholy at dinner. And then I thought p'r'aps you were lonely, like +I am. I didn't find out till afterwards that you didn't like the way I +talked." + +"Do you know you make me feel a most objectionable cad?" said Merefleet. + +"Oh, no, you aren't that," she hastened to assure him. "I'm positive you +aren't that. It was my fault. I spoke first. I thought you looked real +sad. And I always want to hearten up sad folks. You see I've been there, +and I know what it is." + +"You!" said Merefleet. + +Did he hear a sob in the darkness beside him? He fancied so. The hand +that lay beneath his own twitched as if agitated. + +"What do you know about trouble?" said Merefleet. + +She did not answer him. Only he heard a long, hard sigh. Then she laughed +rather mirthlessly. + +"Well," she said, "there aren't many things in this world worth crying +for. You've had enough of me, I guess. It's time I shunted." + +She tried to withdraw her hand, but Merefleet's hold tightened. + +"No, no. Not yet," he said, almost as if he were pleading with her. "I've +behaved abominably. But don't punish me like this!" + +She laughed again and yielded. + +"You ought to know your own mind by now," she said, with something of her +former briskness. "It's a rum world, Mr. Merefleet." + +"It isn't the world," said Merefleet. "It's the people in it. Now, Miss +Ward, I have a favour to ask. Promise me that you will never again +imagine for a moment that I am not pleased--more, honoured--when you are +good enough to stop by the way and speak to me. Of your charity you have +stooped to pity my loneliness. And, believe me, I do most sincerely +appreciate it." + +"My!" she said. "That's the nicest thing you've said yet. Yes, I promise +that. You're real kind, do you know? You make me feel miles better." + +She drew her hand gently away. Merefleet was trying to discern her +features in the darkness. + +"Are you really lonely, I wonder?" he said. "Or is that a figure of +speech?" + +"It's solid fact," she said. "But, never mind me! Let's talk of something +nicer." + +"No, thanks!" Merefleet could be obstinate when he liked. "Unless you +object, I prefer to talk about you." + +She laughed a little, but said nothing. + +"I want to know what makes you lonely," he said. "Don't tell me, of +course, if there is any difficulty about it!" + +"No," she responded coolly. "I won't. But I guess I'm lonely for much the +same reason that you are." + +"I have never been anything else since I became a man," said Merefleet. + +"Ah!" she said. "I might say the same. Fact is"--she spoke with sudden +startling emphasis--"I ought to be dead. And I'm not. That's my trouble +in a nutshell." + +"Great heavens, child!" Merefleet exclaimed, with an involuntary start. +"Don't talk like that!" + +"Why not?" she asked innocently. "Is it wrong?" + +"It isn't literal truth, you know," he answered gravely. "You will not +persuade me that it is." + +"I'm no judge then," she said, with a note of recklessness in her voice. + +"You have your cousin," Merefleet pointed out, feeling that he was on +uncertain ground, yet unaccountably anxious to prove it. "You are not +utterly alone while he is with you." + +She uttered a shrill little laugh. "Why," she said, "I believe you think +I'm in love with Bert." + +Merefleet was silent. + +"I'm not, you know," she said, after a momentary pause. "I'm years older +than Bert, anyhow." + +"Oh, come!" said Merefleet. + +"Figuratively, of course," she explained. + +"I understand," said Merefleet. And there was a silence. + +Suddenly she laughed again merrily. + +"May I share the joke?" asked Merefleet. + +"You won't see it," she returned. "I'm laughing at you, Big Bear. You are +just too quaint for anything." + +Merefleet did not see the joke, but he did not ask for an explanation. + +Seton himself strolled on to the terrace and joined them directly after; +and Mab began to shiver and went indoors. + +The two men sat together for some time, talking little. Seton seemed +preoccupied and Merefleet became sleepy. It was he who at length proposed +a move. + +Seton rose instantly. "Mr. Merefleet," he said rather awkwardly, "I want +to say a word to you." + +Merefleet waited in silence. + +"Concerning my cousin," Seton proceeded. "You will probably misread my +motive for saying this. But nevertheless it must be said. It is not +advisable that you should become very intimate with her." + +He brought out the words with a jerk. It had been a difficult thing to +say, but he was not a man to shrink from difficulties. Having said it, he +waited quietly for the result. + +Merefleet paused a moment before he spoke. Seton had surprised him, but +he did not show it. + +"I shall not misread your motive," he said, "as I seldom speculate on +matters that do not concern me. But allow me to say that I consider your +warning wholly uncalled for." + +"Exactly," said Seton, "I expected you to say that. Well, I am sorry. It +is quite impossible for me to explain myself. I hope for your sake you +will never be placed in the position in which I am now. I assure you it +is anything but an enviable one." + +His manner, blunt and direct, appealed very strongly to Merefleet. He +said nothing, however, and they went in together in unbroken silence. +Mab did not reappear that night. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +A fortnight passed away and Merefleet was still at the hotel at Old +Silverstrand. Mab was there also, the idol of the fisher-folk, and an +unfailing source of interest and admiration to casual visitors at the +hotel. + +Merefleet, though he had become a privileged acquaintance, was still +wholly unenlightened with regard to the circumstances which had brought +her to the place under Seton's escort. + +As time went on, it struck Merefleet that these two were a somewhat +incongruous couple. They dined together and they usually boated together +in the afternoon--this last item on account of Mab's passion for the sea; +but beyond this they lived considerably apart. Neither seemed to seek the +other's society, and if they met at lunch, it was never by preconceived +arrangement. + +Merefleet saw more of Mab when she was ashore than Seton did. They would +meet on the quay, in old Quiller's cottage, or in the hotel-garden, +several times a day. Occasionally he would accompany them on the water, +but not often. He had a notion that Seton preferred his absence, and he +would not go where he felt himself to be an intruder. + +Nevertheless, the primary fascination had not ceased to act upon him; the +glamour of the girl's beauty was still in his eyes something more than +earthly. And there came a time when Bernard Merefleet listened with +unconscious craving for the high, unmodulated voice, and smiled with a +tender indulgence over the curiously naïve audacity which once had made +him shrink. + +As for Mab, she was too eagerly interested in various matters to give +more than a passing thought to the fact that the man she called Big Bear +had laid aside his surliness. If she thought about it at all, it was only +to conclude that their daily intercourse had worn away the outer crust of +his shyness. + +She was always busy--in and out of the fishermen's cottages, where she +was welcomed as an angel--to and fro on a hundred schemes, all equally +interesting and equally absorbing. And Merefleet was called upon to +assist. She singled him out for her friendship because he was as one +apart and without interests. She drew him into her own bubbling life. She +laughed at him, consulted him, enslaved him. + +All innocently she wove her spell about this man. He was lonely, she +knew; and she, in her ardent, great-souled pity for all such, was willing +to make cheerful sacrifice of her own time and strength if thus she might +ease but a little the burden that galled a fellow-traveller's shoulders. + +Merefleet came upon her once standing in the sunshine with Mrs. Quiller's +baby in her arms. She beckoned him to speak to her. "Come here if you +aren't afraid of babies!" she said, displaying her charge. "Look at him, +Big Bear! He's three weeks old to-day. Isn't he fine?" + +"What do you know about babies?" said Merefleet, with his eyes on her +lovely flushed face. + +She nodded in her sprightly fashion, but her eyes were far away on the +distant horizon, and her soul with them. "I know a lot, Big Bear," she +said. + +Merefleet watched her, well pleased with the sight. She stood rocking to +and fro. Her gaze was fixed and tender. + +"I wonder what you see," Merefleet said, after a pause. + +Her eyes came back at once to her immediate surroundings. + +"Shall I tell you, Big Bear?" she said. + +"Yes," said Merefleet, marvelling at the radiance of her face. + +And, her voice hushed to a whisper, she moved a pace nearer to him and +told him. + +"Just a little baby friend of mine who lives over there," she said. "I'm +going to see him some day. I guess he'll be glad, don't you?" + +"Who wouldn't?" said Merefleet. "But that's not the West, you know." + +"No," she said simply. "He's in the Land beyond the sea, Big Bear." And +with a strange little smile into his face, she drew the shawl closer +about the child in her arms and disappeared into Quiller's cottage. + +There was something in this interview that troubled Merefleet +unaccountably. But when he saw her again, her mirth was brimming over, +and he thought she had forgotten. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +It was about a week after this conversation that Merefleet, invited by +Seton, joined his two friends at _table d'hôte_ at their table. The +suggestion came from Mab, he strongly suspected, for she seconded Seton's +proposal so vigorously that to decline would have been almost an +impossibility. + +"You look so lonely there," she said. "It's miles nicer over here. What's +your opinion?" + +"I agree with you, of course," said Merefleet, with a glance at Seton +which discovered little. + +"Isn't he getting polite?" said the American girl approvingly. "Say, +Bert! I guess you'll have to take lessons in manners or he'll get ahead +of you." + +Seton smiled indulgently. He was this girl's watch-dog and protector. He +aspired to be no more. + +"My dear girl, you will never make a social ornament of me as long as you +live," he said. + +And Mab patted his arm affectionately. + +"You're nicer as you are, dear boy," she said. "You aren't smart, it's +true, but I give you the highest mark for real niceness." + +Seton's eyes met Merefleet's for a second. There was a touch of +uneasiness about him, as if he feared Merefleet might misconstrue +something. And Merefleet considerately struck a topic which he +believed to be wholly impersonal. + +"By the way," he said, "I had an American paper sent me to-day. It may +interest you to hear that Ralph Warrender has resigned his seat in +Congress and married again." + +"What?" said Seton. + +"My!" cried Mab, with a shrill laugh. "That is news, Mr. Merefleet!" + +Merefleet glanced at her sharply, his attention arrested by something he +did not understand. Seton pushed a glass of sherry towards her, but he +was looking at Merefleet. + +"News indeed!" he said deliberately. "Is it actually an accomplished +fact?" + +"According to the _New York Herald_," said Merefleet. + +Mab's face was growing whiter and whiter. Seton still leant over the +table, striving with all his resolution to force Merefleet's attention +away from her. But Merefleet would not allow it. He saw what Seton did +not stop to see; and it was he, not Seton, who lifted her to her feet a +moment later and half-led, half-carried her out of the stifling room. + +With a practical commonsense eminently characteristic of him, Seton +remained to pour out a glass of brandy; and thus armed he followed them +into the vestibule. Mab was lying back in an arm-chair when he arrived. +Her eyes were closed, and she was breathing quickly. Merefleet was +propping open the door on to the terrace. The lights flickered in the +draught and gave a strange look to the colourless face on the cushion. It +was like a beautifully carved marble. But for Merefleet the place was +deserted. + +Seton knelt down and held the glass to his cousin's lips. + +Merefleet returned softly and paused behind her chair. + +"It's this confounded heat," said Seton in a savage undertone. "She will +be all right directly." + +Merefleet said nothing. Again he was keenly conscious of the fact that +Seton wanted to get rid of him. But a stronger influence than Seton +possessed kept him standing there. + +Mab opened her eyes as the neat spirit burnt her lips. She tried to push +the glass away, but Seton would not allow it. + +"Just a drain, my dear girl," he said. "It will do you all the good in +the world. And then--Merefleet," glancing up at him, "will you fetch some +water?" + +Merefleet went as desired. + +When he returned, Mab was lying forward in Seton's arms, crying as he had +never seen any woman cry before. And Seton was stroking her hair in +silence. + +Merefleet set down the water noiselessly, and went softly out into the +summer dusk. But the great waves beating on the shore could not drown +the memory of a woman's bitter sobbing. And the man's heart was dumb and +heavy with the trouble he could not fathom. + +Some hours later, returning from a weary tramp along the shore, he +encountered Seton pacing to and fro on the terrace. + +"She is better," he said, in answer to Merefleet's conventional enquiry. +"It was the heat, you know, that upset her." + +"Yes," said Merefleet quietly. "I know." + +Seton walked away restlessly, more as if he wished to keep on the move +than to avoid Merefleet. He came back, however, after a few seconds. + +"Look here, Merefleet," he said abruptly, "you may take offence, but you +can't quarrel without my consent. For Heaven's sake, leave this place! +You are doing more mischief than you have the smallest notion of." + +There was that in his manner which roused the instinct of opposition in +Merefleet. + +"You will either tell me what you mean," he said, "or you need not expect +to gain your point. Veiled hints, like anonymous letters, do not deserve +any man's serious consideration." + +Seton muttered something inaudible and became silent. + +Merefleet waited for some moments and then began to move off. But the +younger man instantly turned and detained him with an imperative hand. + +"What I mean is this," he said, and the starlight on his face showed it +to be very determined. "My cousin is not in a position to receive any +man's attentions. She is not free. I have tried to persuade myself into +thinking you want nothing but ordinary friendship. I should infinitely +prefer to think that if you can assure me that I am justified in so +doing." + +"What is it to you?" said Merefleet. + +"To me personally it is more a matter of family honour than anything +else. Moreover I am her sole protector, and as such I am bound to assert +a certain amount of authority." + +"So you may," said Merefleet quietly. "But I do not see that that +involves my departure." + +Seton struck the balustrade of the terrace with an impatient hand. "Can't +you understand?" he said rather thickly. "How else can I put it?" + +"I have no desire to pry into your affairs, Heaven knows," Merefleet +said, "but this I will say. If I can be of use to either of you in +helping to dispose of what appears to be a somewhat awkward predicament +you may rely upon me with absolute safety." + +"Thanks!" Seton turned slowly and held out his hand. "There is only one +thing you can do," he said, with an awkward laugh. "And that is precisely +what you are not prepared to do. All right. I suppose it's human nature. +I am obliged to you all the same. Good-night!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +"Say, Big Bear! Will you take me on the water?" + +Merefleet, lounging on the shingle with a pipe and newspaper, looked up +with a start and hastened to knock out the half-burnt tobacco on the heel +of his boot. + +His American friend stood above him, clad in the white linen costume she +always wore for boating. She looked very enchanting and very childlike. +Merefleet who had seen her last sobbing bitterly in her cousin's arms, +stared up at her with wonder and relief on his face. + +She nodded to him. Her eyes were marvellously bright, but he did not +ascribe their brilliance to recent tears. + +"You don't look exactly smart," she said critically. "Hope I don't +intrude?" + +"Not a bit." Merefleet stumbled to his feet and raised his hat. "Pardon +my sluggishness! How are you this morning?" + +"Fresh as paint," she returned. "But I'm just dying to get on the water. +And Bert has gone off somewhere by himself. I guess you'll help me, Big +Bear. Won't you?" + +Merefleet glanced from the sea to the sun. + +"There's a change coming," he said. "I will go with you with pleasure. +But I think it would be advisable to wait till the afternoon as usual. We +shall probably know by then what sort of weather to expect." + +Mab pouted a little. + +"We shan't go at all if we wait," she declared. "Why can't we go while +the fine weather lasts? I believe you want to back out of it. It's real +lazy of you, Big Bear. You shan't read, anyhow." + +She took his paper from his unresisting hands, dug a hole in the shingle +with vicious energy, and covered it over. + +"Now what?" she said, looking up at him with an impudent smile. + +"Now," said Merefleet gravely, "I will take you for a row." + +"Will you? Big Bear, you're a brick. I'll put you into my will. No, I +won't, because I haven't got anything to leave. And you wouldn't want +it if I had. Say, Big Bear! Haven't you got any friends?" + +Merefleet looked surprised at the abrupt question. + +"I have one friend in England besides yourself, Miss Ward," he replied. +"His name is Clinton. But he is married and done for." + +"My! What a pity!" she exclaimed. "Isn't he happy?" + +"Oh, yes, I think so. Still, you know, most fellows have to sacrifice +something when they marry. He was a war-correspondent. But he has spoilt +himself for that." + +"I see." Mab was prodding the shingle with the end of her sunshade, +her face very thoughtful. Suddenly she looked up. "Never get married, +Big Bear!" she said vehemently. "It's the most miserable state in +Christendom." + +"Anyone would think you spoke from experience," said Merefleet, smiling +a little. + +But Mab did not smile. + +"I know a lot, Big Bear," she said, with a sharp sigh. + +Merefleet was silent. His thoughts had gone back to the previous night. +He was surprised when she suddenly alluded to the episode. + +"There's that man Ralph Warrender," she said. "I guess the woman that's +married him thinks he's A1 and gilt-edged now, poor soul. But he's just a +miserable patchwork mummy really, and there isn't any white in him--no, +not a speck." + +She spoke with such intense, even violent bitterness that Merefleet was +utterly astonished. He stood gravely contemplating her flushed, upturned +face. + +"What has he done to make you say that, I wonder?" he said. + +"Nothing to me," she answered quickly. "Nothing at all to me. But I used +to know his first wife. She was a sort of friend of mine. They used to +call her the loveliest woman in U.S., Mr. Merefleet. And she belonged to +that fiend." + +They began to walk towards the boats through the shifting shingle. +Merefleet had nothing to say. There was something in her passionate +speech that disturbed him vaguely. She spoke as one whose most sacred +personal interests had once been at stake. + +"Lucky for her she's dead, Big Bear," she said presently, with a +side-glance at him. "I've never regretted any of my friends less than +Mrs. Ralph Warrender. Oh, she was real miserable. I've seen her with +diamonds piled high in her hair and her face all shining with smiles. And +I've known all the time that her heart was broken. And when I heard that +she was dead, do you know, I was glad--yes, thankful. And I guess +Warrender wasn't sorry. For she hated him." + +"I never cared for Warrender," said Merefleet. "But I always took him for +a gentleman." + +She laughed at his words with a gaiety that jarred upon him. "Do you +know, Big Bear," she said, "I think they must have forgotten to teach +you your ABC when you went to school? You're such an innocent." + +Merefleet tramped by her side in silence. There was something in him that +shrank when she spoke in this vein. + +But quite suddenly her tone changed. She spoke very gently. "Still, it's +better to know too little than too much," she said. "And oh, Big Bear, I +know such a lot." + +Merefleet looked at her sharply and surprised an expression on her face +which he did not easily forget. + +He knew in that moment that this woman had suffered, and his heart gave +a wild, tumultuous throb. From that moment he also knew that she had +taken his heart by storm. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +Half-an-hour later they were out on the open sea beyond the harbour in a +cockleshell even frailer than Quiller's little craft which they had not +been able to secure. + +The sea was very quiet, only broken by an occasional long swell that +drove them southward like driftwood. Merefleet, who had been persuaded +to quit the harbour against his better judgment, was not greatly +disturbed by this fact. He did not anticipate any difficulty in +returning. A little extra labour was the worst he expected, for he knew +that a southward course would bring him into no awkward currents. Away to +the eastward he was aware of treacherous streams and shoals. But he had +no intention of going in that direction, and Mab, who steered, knew the +water well. + +There was no sun, a circumstance which Mab deplored, but for which +Merefleet was profoundly grateful. + +"You're not nearly so lazy as you used to be," she said to him +approvingly, as he rested his oars after a long pull. + +"No," said Merefleet. "I am beginning to see the error of my ways." + +"I'm real glad to hear you say so," she said heartily. "And I want to +tell you, Big Bear--that as I'm never going to New York again, I've +decided to be an Englishwoman. And you've got to help me." + +Merefleet looked at her with undisguised appreciation, but he shook +his head at her words. She was marvellous; she was inimitable; she was +unique. She would never, never be English. His gesture said as much. +But she was not discouraged. + +"I guess I'll try, anyhow," she said with brisk determination. "You don't +like American women, Mr. Merefleet." + +"Depends," said Merefleet. + +And she laughed gaily. + +They were drifting in long sweeps towards the south. Imperceptibly also +the distance was widening between the boat and the shore. The wind was +veering to the west. + +"My! Look at that oar!" Mab suddenly exclaimed. + +Merefleet started at the note of dismay in her tone. He had shipped his +oars. They were the only ones that had been provided. He glanced hastily +at the oar Mab indicated. It had been broken and roughly spliced +together. The wood that had been used for the splicing was rotten, and +the friction in the rowlocks had almost worn it through. Merefleet +examined it in silence. + +The girl's voice, high, with a quiver in it that might have stood for +either laughter or consternation, broke in on him. + +"Well," she said, "I guess we're in the suds this time, Big Bear; and no +mistake about it." + +Merefleet glanced at her helplessly. He did not think she realised the +gravity of the situation, but something in the little smile that twitched +her lips undeceived him. + +"The sea was full of boats a little while ago," he said. "They have +probably gone in for the lunch hour. But they will be out again +presently. We shall have to drift about for a while and then run up +a distress signal. It will be all right." + +She nodded to him and laughed. + +"Splendid, Big Bear! You talk like an oracle. I guess we'll run up my red +parasol on the end of an oar for a danger sign. Bert could see that from +the terrace." She glanced shorewards as she spoke, and he saw her face +change momentarily. "Why," she said quickly, "I thought we were close +in. What's happened?" + +Merefleet looked round with sullen perception of a difficult situation. + +"The wind is blowing off shore," he explained. "It was north when we +started. But it has gone round to the west. It will be all right, you +know. We can't drift very far in an hour." + +But he did not speak with conviction. The sea tumbled all around them, +a mighty grey waste. And the shore seemed very far away. A dismal outlook +in truth. Moreover it was beginning to rain. + +Mab sheltered herself under her sunshade and began to laugh. "It's just +skittles to what it might be," she said consolingly. + +But Merefleet did not respond. He knew that the wind was rising with +every second, and already the little boat tipped and tossed with perilous +buoyancy. + +Mab still held the rudder-lines. She sat in the stern, a serene and +smiling vision, while Merefleet toiled with one oar to counteract the +growing strength of the off-shore wind. But she very soon put down her +sunshade, and he saw that she must speedily be drenched to the skin. For +the rain was heavy, drifting over the water in thick, grey gusts. They +were being driven steadily eastwards out to sea. + +"I don't think my steering makes much difference, Big Bear," she said, +after a long silence. + +"No," said Merefleet. "It would take all the strength of two rowers to +make headway against this wind." + +He shipped his oar with the words and began to take off his coat. Mab +watched him with some wonder. He was seated on the thwart nearest to +her. He stooped forward at length very cautiously and, taking the +rudder-lines from her, made them fast. + +"Now get into this!" he said. "Mind you don't upset the boat!" + +She stared at him for one speechless second. Then: + +"No, I won't, Big Bear," she declared emphatically. "Put it on again at +once! Do you suppose I'll sit here in your coat while you shiver in +nothing but flannels?" + +"Do as I say!" said Merefleet, with a grim hardening of the jaw. + +And quite meekly she obeyed. There was something about him that inspired +her with awe at that moment. She felt as if she had run against some +obstacle in the dark. + +The rain began to beat down in great, shifting clouds. The sea grew +higher at every moment. Flecks of white gleamed here and there on all +sides. The boat was dancing like a cork. + +Mab sat in growing terror with her eyes on the roaring turmoil. The +minutes crawled by like hours. At length she turned to look shorewards +for the boats. A driving, blinding mist of rain beat into her face. She +saw naught besides. And suddenly her courage failed her. "Big Bear!" +she cried wildly. "What shall we do? I'm so frightened." + +He heard her through the storm. He was still sitting on the middle thwart +facing her. He moved, bending towards her. + +"Come to me here!" he said. "It will be safer." + +She crept to his outstretched arm with a sense of going into refuge. +Merefleet helped her over the thwart. There was a torn piece of sailcloth +in the bottom of the boat. He drew her down on to it and turned round +himself so that his back was towards the storm. He was thus able to +shelter her in some measure from the full fury of the blast. + +Mab shrank against him, terrified and quivering. + +"It looks so angry," she said. + +"Don't be afraid!" said Merefleet. + +And he put his arms about her and held her close to him as if she had +been a little child afraid of the dark. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +No pleasure-boats or craft of any sort put out from Silverstrand that +afternoon. The wind eventually blew away the clouds and revealed a +foaming, sunlit sea. But the waves were immense at high tide, and the +fishermen muttered among themselves and stared darkly out over the mighty +breakers. + +It was known among them that a boat had put out to sea in the morning and +had not returned before the rising of the gale. There were heavy hearts +in Old Silverstrand that day. But to launch another boat to search for +the missing one was out of the question. The great seas that came hurling +into the little fishing-harbour were sufficient proof of that, even to +the most inexperienced landsman. + +Seton, learning the news when lunch was half over, rushed off to New +Silverstrand in the hope that the boat might have been driven in that +direction by the strong current. But nothing had been seen from there of +the missing craft, and though he traversed the entire distance by way of +the cliffs, he saw nothing throughout his walk but flecks of foam here +and there over the tumbling expanse of water. + +He returned an hour or so later, reaching Old Silverstrand by five. But +nothing had been heard there. The fishermen shook their heads when he +questioned them. It was plain that they had given up hope. + +Seton raged up and down the quay in impotent agony of mind. The +off-shore wind continued for some hours. There was not the smallest doubt +that the boat had been driven out to sea, unless--a still more awful +possibility--she had been swamped and sunk long ago. As darkness fell, +the gale at length abated, and Quiller the younger approached Seton. + +"Tell you what, sir," he said. "There's a cruiser been up and down a +matter of ten miles out. Me and my mates will put out at daybreak and see +if we can get within hail of her. There's the light-ship, too, off +Morden's Shoal. 'Tain't likely as a boat could have slipped between 'em +without being seen. For if she was just drifting, you know, sir, she +wouldn't go very fast." + +"All right," said Seton. "And thanks! I'll go with you in the morning." + +Quiller lingered, though there was dismissal in the tone. + +"Go in and get a rest, sir!" he said persuasively. "There ain't no good +in your wearing yourself out here. You can't do nothing, sir, except pray +for a calm sea. Given that, we'll start with the light." + +"Very well," said Seton, and turned away. He knew that the man spoke +sense and he put pressure on himself to behave rationally. Nevertheless, +he spent the greater part of the night in a fever of restlessness which +no strength of will could subdue; and he was down on the quay long before +the first faint gleam of light shot glimmering over the quiet water. + + * * * * * + +It was during those first wonderful moments of a new day that Mab woke up +with a start shivering, and stretched out her arms with a cry of wonder. + +Hours before, Merefleet had persuaded her to try to rest, and she had +fallen asleep with her head against his knee, soothed by the calm that at +length succeeded the storm. He had watched over her with grim endurance +throughout the night, and not once had he seen a light or any other +object to raise his hopes. + +They were out of sight of land; alone on the dumb waste. He had not the +smallest notion as to how far out to sea the boat had drifted. Only he +fancied that they had been driven out of the immediate track of steamers, +and in the great emptiness around him he saw no means of escape from the +fate that seemed to dog them. + +The boat had lived miraculously, it seemed to him, through the awful +storm of the day. Tossed ruthlessly and aimlessly to and fro, drenched to +the skin, hungry and forlorn, he and the woman who was to him the very +desire of life, had gone through the peril of deep waters. Merefleet was +beginning to wonder why they had thus escaped. It seemed to him but a +needless prolonging of an agony already long drawn out. + +Nevertheless there was nothing of despair in his face as he stooped over +the girl who was crouching at his feet. + +"Glad you have been able to sleep," he said gently. "Don't get up! There +is no necessity if you are fairly comfortable." + +She smiled up at him with the ready confidence of a child and raised +herself a little. + +"Still watching, Big Bear?" she said. + +"Yes," said Merefleet. + +His tone told her that he had seen nothing. She lay still for a few +moments, then slowly turned her face towards the east. A deep pink glow +was rising in the sky. There was a rosy dusk on the sea about them. + +"My!" said Mab in a soft whisper. "Isn't that lovely?" + +Merefleet said nothing. He was watching her beautiful face with a great +hunger in his heart. + +Mab was also silent for a while. Presently she turned her face up to his. + +"The Gate of Heaven," she said in a whisper. "Isn't it fine?" + +He did not speak. + +She lifted a hand that felt like an icicle and slipped it into his. + +"I guess we shall do this journey together, Big Bear," she said. "I'm +real sorry I made you come if you didn't want to." + +"You needn't be sorry," said Merefleet, with a huskiness he could not +have accounted for. + +"No?" she said, with a curious little thrill in her voice. "It's real +handsome of you, Big Bear. Because--you know--I ought to have died more +than a year ago. But you are different. You have your life to live." + +Merefleet's hand closed tightly upon hers. + +"Don't talk like that, child!" he said. "Heaven knows your life is worth +more than mine." + +Mab leant her elbow on his knee and gazed thoughtfully over the far +expanse of water. Merefleet knew that she was faint and exhausted, +though she uttered no complaint. + +"Shall I tell you a secret, Big Bear?" she said, in the hushed tone of +one on the threshold of a sacred place. "I ended my life long ago. I was +very miserable and Death came and offered me refuge. And it was such a +safe hiding-place. I knew no one would look for me there. Only lately I +have come to see that what I did was wicked. I think you helped to make +me see, Big Bear. You're so honest. And then a dreadful thing happened. +Have you ever spoilt anyone's life besides your own, I wonder? I have. +That is why I have got to die. There is no place left for me. I gave it +up. And there is someone else there now." + +She stopped. Merefleet was bending over her with that in his face that +might have been the reflected glory of the growing day. Mab saw it, and +stretched up her other hand with a startled sob. + +"Big Bear, forgive me!" she whispered. "I--didn't--know." + +A moment later she was lying on his breast, and the first golden shimmer +of the morning had risen above the sea. + +"I shan't mind dying now," Mab whispered, a little later. "I was real +frightened yesterday. But now--do you know?--I'm glad--glad. It's just +like sailing into Paradise, isn't it? Are any of your people there, Big +Bear?" + +"Perhaps," said Merefleet. + +"Won't you be pleased to see them?" she said, with a touch of wonder at +the indifference in his tone. + +"I want nothing but you, my darling," he said, and his lips were on her +hair. + +He felt her fingers close upon his own. + +"I guess it won't matter in Heaven," she said, as though trying to +convince herself of something. "My dear, shall I tell you something? +I love you with all my heart. I never knew it till to-day. And if we +weren't so near Heaven I reckon I couldn't ever have told you." + +Some time later she began to talk in a dreamy way of the Great Haven +whither they were drifting. The sun was high by then and beat in a +wonderful, dazzling glory on the pathless waters. + +"There's no sun There," said Mab. "But I guess it will be very bright. +And there will be crowds and crowds along the Shore to see us come into +Port. And I'll see my little baby among them. I told you about him, Big +Bear. Finest little chap in New York City. He'll be holding out his arms +to me, just like he used. Ah! I can almost see him now. Look at his +curls. Aren't they fine? And his little angel face. There isn't anyone +like him, I guess. Everybody said he was the cutest baby in U.S. Coming, +darling! Coming!" + +Mab's hands slackened from Merefleet's clasp, and suddenly she stretched +out her arms to the sky. The holiest of all earthly raptures was on her +face. + +Then with a sharp sigh she came to herself and turned back to Merefleet. +A piteous little smile hovered about her quivering lips. + +"I guess I've been dreaming, Big Bear," she said. "Such a dream! Oh, such +a gorgeous, heavenly dream!" + +And she hid her face on his breast and burst into tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +Before the sun set they were sighted by the cruiser returning to her +anchorage outside the little fishing-harbour. Mab, worn out by hunger and +exposure, had slipped back to her former position in the bottom of the +boat. She was half asleep and seemed dazed when Merefleet told her of +their approaching deliverance. But she clung fast to him when a boat from +the cruiser came alongside; and he lifted her into it himself. + +"By Jove, sir, you've had a bad time!" said a young officer in the boat. + +"Thirty hours," said Merefleet briefly. + +He kept his arm about the girl, though his brain swam dizzily. And Mab, +consciously or unconsciously, held his hand in a tight clasp. + +Merefleet felt as if she were definitely removed out of his reach when +she was lifted from his hold at length, and the impression remained with +him after he gained the cruiser's deck. He met with most courteous +solicitude on all sides and was soon on the high-road to recovery. + +Later in the evening, when Mab also was sufficiently restored to appear +on deck, the cruiser steamed into Silverstrand Harbour, and the two +voyagers were landed by one of her boats, in the midst of great rejoicing +on the quay. + +Seton, who had long since returned from a fruitless search for tidings, +was among the crowd of spectators. He said little by way of greeting, +and there was considerable strain apparent in his manner towards +Merefleet. He hurried his cousin back to the hotel with a haste not +wholly bred of the moment's expediency. Merefleet followed at a more +leisurely pace. He made no attempt to join them, however. He had done his +part. There remained no more to do. With a heavy sense of irrevocable +loss he went to bed and slept the dreamless sleep of exhaustion for many +hours. + +The adventure was over. It had ended with a tameness that gave it an +almost commonplace aspect. But Merefleet's resolution was of stout +manufacture. + +The consequences of that night and day of peril involved his whole +future. Merefleet recognised this and resolved to act forthwith, in +defiance of Seton or any other obstacle. He did not realise till later +that there was opposed to him a strength which even his will was +powerless to overcome. He did not even take the possibility of this +into consideration. + +He was very sure of himself and confident of success when he descended +late on the following morning to a solitary breakfast--sure of himself, +sure of the smile of that fickle goddess Fortune--sure, thrice sure, of +the woman he loved. + +And he watched for her coming with a rapture that deprived him of his +appetite. + +But Mab did not come. + +Instead, Herbert Seton presently strolled into the room, greeted him, and +paused by his table. + +"Be good enough to join me on the terrace presently, will you?" he said +abruptly. + +And Merefleet nodded with a chill sense of foreboding. But his resolution +was unalterable. This young man should not, he was determined, by any +means cheat him now of his heart's desire. Matters had gone too far for +that. He followed Seton almost at once and found him in a quiet corner, +smoking. Merefleet sat down beside him and also began to smoke. There was +a touch of hostility about Seton that he was determined to ignore. + +"Well," said Seton at length, with characteristic bluntness, "so you have +done it in spite of my warning the other night." + +Merefleet looked at him. Was he expected to render an account of his +doings to this man who was at least ten years his junior, he wondered, +with faint amusement? + +Seton went on with strong indignation. + +"I told you in the first place not to be too intimate with her. I told +you again two nights ago that she was not free to accept any man's +attentions. But you went on. And you have made her miserable simply for +the gratification of your own unreasonable fancy. Do you call that manly +behaviour, I wonder?" + +Merefleet sat in absolute silence for several seconds. Finally he wheeled +round in his chair and faced Seton. + +"If I were you," he said quietly, "I should postpone this interview for +half-an-hour. I think you may possibly regret it if you don't." + +Seton tossed away a half-smoked cigarette and rose. + +"In half-an-hour," he said, "I shall have left this place, and my cousin +with me. I asked to speak to you because I detest all underhand dealings. +You apparently have not the same scruples." + +Merefleet also rose. + +"You will apologise for that," he said, in a tone of conviction. "I don't +question your motives, but to fetch me out here and then insult me was +not a wise proceeding on your part." + +Seton's hand clenched involuntarily. But he had put himself in the wrong, +and he knew it. + +"Very well," he said at length, with a shrug. "I apologise for the +expression. But my opinion of you remains unaltered." + +Merefleet ignored the qualification. He was bent on something more +important than the satisfaction of his own personal honour. "And now," he +said, with deliberate purpose, "I am going to have a private interview +with your cousin." + +Seton started. + +"You are going to do nothing of the sort," he said instantly. + +Merefleet looked him over gravely. + +"Look here, Seton!" he said. "You're making a fool of yourself. Take a +friend's advice--don't!" + +Seton choked back his anger with a great effort. In spite of this there +was a passionate ring in his voice when he spoke that betrayed the +exceeding precariousness of his self-control. + +"I can't let you see her," he said. "She is upset enough already. I have +promised her that she shall not be worried." + +"Have you promised her to keep me from speaking to her?" Merefleet grimly +enquired. + +"No." Seton spoke reluctantly. + +"Then do this," said Merefleet. "Go to her and ask her if she will see me +alone. If she says 'No,' I give you my word that I will leave this place +and trouble neither of you any further." + +Seton seemed to hesitate, but Merefleet was sure of his acquiescence. +After a pause of several seconds he fulfilled his expectations and went. + +Merefleet sat down again and waited. Seton returned heavy-footed. + +"She will see you," he said curtly. "You will find her in the +billiard-room." + +"Alone?" said Merefleet, rising. + +"Alone." + +And Merefleet walked away. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +He found her sitting in a great arm-chair at one end of the empty +billiard-room. She did not rise to meet him. He thought she looked tired +out and frightened. + +He went to her and stooped over her, taking her hands. She did not resist +him, but neither did she welcome. Her lips were quivering painfully. + +"What have I done that you should run away from me?" Merefleet asked her +very gently. + +She shook her head with a helpless gesture. + +"Mr. Merefleet," she whispered, "try--try not to be cross any! I'm afraid +I've made a big mistake." + +"My dear, we all make them," Merefleet said with grave kindliness. + +"I know," she faltered. "I know. But mine was a real bad one." + +"Never mind, child!" he said tenderly. "Why should you tell me?" + +She threw a swift look into his face. She was trembling violently. + +"Big Bear," she cried with sudden vehemence, "you don't understand." + +He knelt down beside her and put his arm about her. + +"Listen to me, my darling," he said, and she shrank at the deep thrill in +his voice. "To me you are all that is beautiful and good and holy. I do +not want to know what lies behind you. I know you have had trouble. But +it is over. You may have made mistakes. But they are over, too. Tell me +nothing! Leave the past alone! Only give me your present and your future. +I shall be quite content." + +He paused. She was shivering within his encircling arm. He could hear her +breath coming and going very quickly. + +"You love me, darling," he said. "And is it necessary for me to tell you +that I worship you as no one ever has worshipped you before?" + +He paused again. But Mab did not speak. The beautiful face was working +painfully. Her hands were tightly clasped in his. + +"Child, what is it?" Merefleet said, conscious of a hidden barrier +between them. "Can't you trust yourself to me? Is that it? Are you afraid +of me? You didn't shrink from me yesterday." + +She bowed her head. Yesterday she had wept in his arms. But to-day no +tears came. Only a halting whisper, a woman's cry of sheer weakness. + +"Don't tempt me, Big Bear!" she murmured. "Oh, don't tempt me! I am +not--free!" + +Merefleet's face grew stern. + +"You did not say that yesterday," he said. + +She heard the change in his tone, and looked up. She was better able to +meet this from him. + +"I know," she said. "And I guess that was where I went wrong. I ought to +have waited till we were dead. But, you see, I didn't know." + +"Then do you tell me you are not free?" Merefleet said. "Do you mean +literally that? Are you the actual property of another man?" + +She shook her head with baffling promptitude. + +"I guess I'm just Death's property, Big Bear," she said, with a wistful +little smile. "But he doesn't seem over-keen on having me." + +"Stop!" said Merefleet harshly. "I won't have you talk like that. It's +madness. Tell me what you mean!" + +"I can't," Mab said. "I can't tell you. It wouldn't be fair. Don't be +angry, Big Bear! It's just the price I've got to pay. And it's no use +squirming. I've worried it round and round. But it always comes back to +that. I'm not free. And no one but Bert must ever know why." + +Merefleet sprang to his feet with an impatience by no means +characteristic of him. + +"This is intolerable!" he exclaimed. "You are wrecking your life for an +insane scruple. Child, listen! Tell me nothing whatever! Give yourself +to me! No one shall ever take you away again. That I swear. And I will +make you so happy, dear. Only trust me!" + +But Mab covered her face as if to shut out a forbidden sight. + +"Big Bear, I mustn't," she said, with a sharp catch in her voice. "I've +done very wrong already. But I mustn't do this. Indeed I mustn't. It's +real good of you. And I shall remember it all my life. I think you are +the most charitable man I ever met, considering what you must think of +me." + +"Think!" said Merefleet, and there was a note of deep passion in his +voice. "I don't think. I want you just as you are,--just as you are. +Don't you know yet that I love you enough for that?" + +Mab rose slowly at the words. She was very pale, and he could see her +trembling as she stood. + +"Big Bear," she said, "I've got something to say to you. What I told you +yesterday was quite true. And I'm in great trouble about it. I thought we +were going to Heaven together. That was how I came to say it. But it was +very wicked of me to be so impulsive. I've done other things that were +wicked in just the same way. It's just my nature. And p'r'aps you'll try +to forgive me when you think how I truly meant it. I'm telling you this +because I want you to do something for me. It'll be real difficult, Big +Bear. Only you're so strong." + +She faltered a little and paused to recover herself. Merefleet was +standing close to her. He could have taken her into his arms. But +something held him back. Moreover he knew the nature of her request +before she uttered it. + +"Will you do what I ask you?" she said suddenly, facing him directly. +"Will you, Big Bear?" + +Merefleet did not answer her. + +She went on quickly. + +"My dear, it's hard for me, too, though I'm bad and I deserve to suffer." + +Her voice broke and Merefleet made a convulsive movement towards her. But +he checked himself. And Mab ended in a choked whisper with an appealing +hand against his breast. + +"Just go right away!" she said. "Take up your life where it was before +you met me! Will you, dear? It--will make it easier for me if you will." + +A dead silence followed the low words. Then, moved by a marvellous +influence which worked upon him irresistibly, Merefleet stooped and put +the slight hand to his lips. He did not understand. He was as far from +reading the riddle as he had been when he entered. But his love for this +woman conquered his desire. He had thought to win an empire. He left the +room a beaten slave. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +Men said that Bernard Merefleet, the gold-king, was curiously changed +when once more he went among them. Something of the old grimness which +had earned for him his _sobriquet_ yet clung to his manner. But he was +undeniably softer than of yore. There was an odd gentleness about him. +Women said that he was marvellously improved. Among such as had known him +in New York he became a favourite, little as he attempted to court +favour. + +Towards the end of the year he went down to the Midlands to stay with his +friend Perry Clinton. They had not met for several years, and Clinton, +who had married in the interval, also thought him changed. + +"Is it prosperity or adversity that has made you so tame, dear fellow?" +he asked him, as they sat together over dessert one night. + +"Adversity," said Merefleet, smiling faintly. "I'm getting old, Perry; +and there's no one to take care of me. And I find that money is vanity." + +Clinton understood. + +"Better go round the world," he said. "That's the best cure for that." + +But Merefleet shook his head. + +"It's my own fault," he said presently. "I've chucked away my life to the +gold-demon. And now there is nothing left to me. You were wise in your +generation. You may thank your stars, Perry, that when I wanted you to +join me, you had the sense to refuse. When I heard you were married +I called you a fool. But--I know better now." + +He paused. He had been speaking with a force that was almost passionate. +When he continued his tone had changed. + +"That is why you find me a trifle less surly than I used to be," he said. +"I used to hate my fellow-creatures. And now I would give all my money in +exchange for a few disinterested friends. I'm sick of my lonely life. But +for all that, I shall live and die alone." + +"You make too much of it," said Clinton. + +"Perhaps. But you can't expect a man who has been into Paradise to be +exactly happy when he is thrust outside." + +Clinton took up the evening paper without comment. Merefleet had never +before spoken so openly to him. He realised that the man's loneliness +must oppress him heavily indeed thus to master his reserve. + +"What news?" said Merefleet, after a pause. + +"Nothing," said Clinton. "Plague on the Continent. Railway mishap on the +Great Northern. Another American Disaster." + +"What's that?" said Merefleet with a touch of interest. + +"Electric car accident. Ralph Warrender among the victims." + +"Warrender! What! Is he dead?" + +"Yes. Killed instantaneously. Did you know him?" + +"I have met him in business. I wasn't intimate with him." + +"Isn't he the man whose first wife was killed in a railway accident?" +said Clinton reflectively, glad to have diverted Merefleet's thoughts. "I +thought so. I met her once and was so smitten with her that I purchased +her portrait forthwith. The most marvellous woman's face I ever saw. The +man I got it from spoke of her with the most appalling enthusiasm. 'Mab +Warrender!' he said. 'If she is not the loveliest woman in U.S., I guess +the next one would strike us blind.' Here! I'll show it you. Netta wants +me to frame it." + +Clinton got up and took a book from a cupboard. Merefleet was watching +him with strained eyes. His heart was thumping as if it would choke him. +He rose as Clinton laid the picture before him, and steadied himself +unconsciously by his friend's shoulder. + +Clinton glanced at him in some surprise. + +"Hullo!" he said. "A friend of yours, was she? My dear fellow, I'm sorry. +I didn't know." + +But Merefleet hung over the picture with fascinated eyes. And his answer +came with a curiously strained laugh, that somehow rang exultant. + +"Yes, a friend of mine, old chap," he said. "It's a wonderful face, isn't +it? But it doesn't do her justice. I shouldn't frame it if I were you." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +"Isn't he a monster?" said Mab, as she sat before the kitchen fire in +Quiller's humble dwelling with Mrs. Quiller's three months' old baby in +her arms. "I guess he'd fetch a prize at a baby show, Mrs. Quiller. Isn't +he just too knowing for anything?" + +"He's the best of the bunch, miss," said Mrs. Quiller proudly. "The other +eight, they weren't nothing special. But this one, he be a beauty, though +it ain't me as should say it. I'm sure it's very good of you, miss, to +spend the time you do over him. He'd be an ungrateful little rogue if he +didn't get on." + +"It's real kind of you to make me welcome," Mab said, with her cheek +against the baby's head, "I don't know what I'd do if you didn't." + +"Ah! Poor dear! You must be lonesome now the gentleman's gone," said Mrs. +Quiller commiseratingly. + +"Oh, no," said Mab lightly. "Not so very. I couldn't ask my cousin to +give up all his time to me you know. Besides, he would come to see me at +any time if I really wanted him." + +"Ah!" Mrs. Quiller shook her head. "But it ain't the same. You wants a +home of your own, my dear. That's what it is. What's become of t'other +gentleman what used to be down here?" + +Mab almost laughed at the artlessness of this query. + +"Mr. Merefleet, you mean? I don't know. I guess he's making some more +money." + +At this point old Quiller, who had been toddling about in the November +sunshine outside, pushed open the door in a state of breathless +excitement. + +"Here's Master Bernard coming, missie," he announced. + +Mab started to her feet, her face in a sudden, marvellous glow. + +"There now!" said Mrs. Quiller, relieving her of her precious burden. +"Who'd have thought it? You'd better go and talk to him." + +And Mab stepped out into the soft sunshine. It fell around her in a flood +and dazzled her. She stood quite still and waited, till out of the +brilliance someone came to her and took her hand. The waves were dashing +loudly on the shore. The south wind raced by with a warm rushing. The +whole world seemed to laugh. She closed her eyes and laughed with it. + +"Is it you, Big Bear?" she said. + +And Merefleet's voice answered her. + +"Yes," it said. "I have come for you in earnest this time. You won't send +me away again?" + +Mab lifted her face with a glad smile. + +"I guess there's no need," she said. "My dear, I'll come now." + +And they went away together in the sunlight. + + * * * * * + +"And now I guess I'll tell you the story of the first Mrs. Ralph +Warrender," said Mab, some time later. "I won't say anything about him, +because he's dead, and if you can't speak well of the dead,--well it's +better not to speak at all. But she was miserable with him. And after her +baby died--it just wasn't endurable. Then came that railway accident, and +she was in it. There were a lot of folks killed, burnt to death most of +them. But she escaped, and then the thought came to her just to lie low +for a bit and let him think she was dead. + +"Oh, it was a real wicked thing to do. But she was nearly demented with +trouble. And she did it. She managed to get away, too, in spite of her +lovely face. An old negro woman helped her. And she came to England and +went to a cousin of hers who had been good to her, whom she knew she +could trust--just a plain, square-jawed Englishman, Big Bear, like you in +some respects--not smart, oh no--only strong as iron. And he kept her +secret, though he didn't like it a bit. And he gave her some money of +hers that he had inherited, to live on. Which was funny, wasn't it?" + +Mab paused to laugh. + +"And then another man came along, a great, surly, fogheaded Englishman, +who made love to her till she was nearly driven crazy. For though +Warrender had married again before she could stop him, she wasn't free. +But she couldn't tell him so for the other woman's sake. It doesn't +matter now. It was a dreadful tangle once. And she felt real bad about +it. But it's come out quite simply. And no one will ever know. + +"Now, I'll tell you a secret, Big Bear, about the woman you know of. You +must put your head down for I'll have to whisper. That's the way. Now! +She's just madly in love with you, Big Bear. And she is quite, quite free +to tell you so. There! And I reckon she's not Death's property any more. +She's just--yours." + +The narrative ended in Merefleet's arms. + + * * * * * + +A few weeks later Quiller the younger looked up from a newspaper with a +grin. + +"Mr. Merefleet's married our little missie, dad," he announced. "I saw it +coming t'other day." + +And old Quiller looked up with a gleam of intelligence on his wrinkled +face. + +"Why!" he said, with slow triumph. "If that ain't what I persuaded him +for to do, long, long ago! He's a sensible lad, is Master Bernard." + +A measure of approval which Merefleet would doubtless have appreciated. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + The Sacrifice + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +It had been a hot day at the Law Courts, but a faint breeze had sprung up +with the later hours, blowing softly over the river. It caught the tassel +of the blind by which Field sat and tapped it against the window-frame, +at first gently like a child at play, then with gathering force and +insistence till at last he looked up with a frown and rose to fasten it +back. + +It was growing late. The rose of the afterglow lay upon the water, +tipping the silvery ripples with soft colour. It was a magic night. But +the wonder of it did not apparently reach him. A table littered with +papers stood in front of him bearing a portable electric lamp. He was +obviously too engrossed to think of exterior things. + +For a space he sat again in silence by the open window, only the +faint rustling of the lace curtain being audible. His somewhat hard, +clean-shaven face was bent over his work with rigid concentration. +His eyelids scarcely stirred. + +Then again there came a tapping, this time at the door. The frown +returned to his face. He looked up. + +"Well?" + +The door opened. A small, sharp-faced boy poked in his head. "A lady to +see you, sir." + +"What?" said Field. His frown deepened. "I can't see any one. I told you +so." + +"Says she won't go away till she's seen you, sir," returned the boy +glibly. "Can't get her to budge, sir." + +"Oh, tell her--" said Field, and stopped as if arrested by a sudden +thought. "Who is it?" he asked. + +A grin so brief that it might have been a mere twitch of the features +passed over the boy's face. + +"Wouldn't give no name, sir. But she's a nob of some sort," he said. "Got +a shiny satin dress on under her cloak." + +Field's eyes went for a moment to his littered papers. Then he picked up +a newspaper from a chair and threw it over them. + +"Show her in!" he said briefly. + +He got up with the words, and stood with his back to the window, watching +the half-open door. + +There came a slight rustle in the passage outside. The small boy +reappeared and threw the door wide with a flourish. A woman in a dark +cloak and hat with a thick veil over her face entered. + +The door closed behind her. Field stood motionless. She advanced with +slight hesitation. + +"I hope you will forgive me," she said, "for intruding upon you." + +Her voice was rich and deep. It held a throb of nervousness. Field came +deliberately forward. + +"I presume I can be of use to you," he said. + +His tone was dry. There was scant encouragement about him as he drew +forward a chair. + +She hesitated momentarily before accepting it, but finally sat down with +a gesture that seemed to indicate physical weakness of some sort. + +"Yes, I want your help," she said. + +Field said nothing. His face was the face of the trained man of law. It +expressed naught beyond a steady, impersonal attention. + +He drew up another chair and seated himself facing her. + +She looked at him through her veil for several seconds in silence. +Finally, with manifest effort, she spoke. + +"It was so good of you to admit me--especially not knowing who I was. You +recognise me now, of course? I am Lady Violet Calcott." + +"I should recognise you more easily," he said in his emotionless voice, +"if you would be good enough to put up your veil." + +His tone was perfectly quiet and courteous, yet she made a rapid movement +to comply, as if he had definitely required it of her. She threw back the +obscuring veil and showed him the face of one of the most beautiful women +in London. + +There was an instant's pause before he said. + +"Yes, I recognise you, of course. And--you wanted to consult me?" + +"No!" She leaned forward in her chair with white hands clasped. "I wanted +to beg you to tell me--why you have refused to undertake Burleigh +Wentworth's defence!" + +She spoke with a breathless intensity. Her wonderful eyes were lifted to +his--eyes that had dazzled half London, but Field only looked down into +them as he might have regarded one of his legal documents. A slight, +peculiar smile just touched his lips as he made reply. + +"I have no objection to telling you, Lady Violet. He is guilty. That is +why." + +"Ah!" It was a sound like the snapped string of an instrument. Her +fingers gripped each other. "So you think that too! Indeed--indeed, you +are wrong! But--is that your only reason?" + +"Isn't it a sufficient one?" he said. + +Her fingers writhed and strained against each other. "Do you mean that it +is--against your principles?" she said. + +"To defend a guilty man?" questioned the barrister slowly. + +She nodded two or three times as if for the moment utterance were beyond +her. + +Field's eyes had not stirred from her face, yet still they had that legal +look as if he searched for some hidden information. + +"No," he said finally. "It is not entirely a matter of principle. As you +are aware, I have achieved a certain reputation. And I value it." + +She made a quick movement that was almost convulsive. + +"But you would not injure your reputation. You would only enhance it," +she said, speaking very rapidly as if some obstruction to speech had very +suddenly been removed. "You are practically on the top of the wave. You +would succeed where another man would fail. And indeed--oh, indeed he is +innocent! He must be innocent! Things look black against him. But he can +be saved somehow. And you could save him--if you would. Think what the +awful disgrace would mean to him--if he were convicted! And he doesn't +deserve it. I assure you he doesn't deserve it. Ah, how shall I persuade +you of that?" Her voice quivered upon a note of despair. "Surely you are +human! There must be some means of moving you. You can't want to see an +innocent man go under!" + +The beautiful eyes were blurred with tears as she looked at him. She +caught back a piteous sob. The cloak had fallen from about her shoulders. +They gleamed with an exquisite whiteness. + +The man's look still rested upon her with unflickering directness. Again +that peculiar smile hovered about his grim mouth. + +"Yes, I am human," he said, after a pause. "I do not esteem myself as +above temptation. As you probably know, I am a self-made man, of very +ordinary extraction. But--I do not feel tempted to take up Burleigh +Wentworth's defence. I am sorry if that fact should cause you any +disappointment. I do not see why it should. There are plenty of other +men--abler than I am--who would, I am sure, be charmed to oblige Lady +Violet Calcott or any of her friends." + +"That is not so," she broke in rapidly. "You know that is not so. You +know that your genius has placed you in what is really a unique position. +Your name in itself is almost a mascot. You know quite well that you +carry all before you with your eloquence. If--if you couldn't get him +acquitted, you could get him lenient treatment. You could save his life +from utter ruin." + +She clasped and unclasped her hands in nervous excitement. Her face was +piteous in its strain and pathos. + +And still Field looked unmoved upon her distress. + +"I am afraid I can't help you," he said. "My eloquence would need a very +strong incentive in such a case as this to balance my lack of sympathy." + +"What do you mean by--incentive?" she said, her voice very low. "I +will do anything--anything in my power--to induce you to change your +mind. I never lost hope until--I heard you had refused to defend him. +Surely--surely--there is some means of persuading you left!" + +For the first time his smile was openly cynical. + +"Don't offer me money, please!" he said. + +She flushed vividly, hotly. + +"Mr. Field! I shouldn't dream of it!" + +"No?" he said. "But it was more than a dream with you when you first +entered this room." + +She dropped her eyes from his. + +"I--didn't--realise--" she said in confusion. + +He bent forward slightly. It was an attitude well known at the Law +Courts. "Didn't realise--" he repeated in his quiet, insistent fashion. + +She met his look again--against her will. + +"I didn't realise what sort of man I had to deal with," she said. + +"Ah!" said Field. "And now?" + +She shrank a little. There was something intolerably keen in his calm +utterance. + +"I didn't do it," she said rather breathlessly. "Please remember that!" + +"I do," he said. + +But yet his look racked her. She threw out her hands with a sudden, +desperate gesture and rose. + +"Oh, are you quite without feeling? What can I appeal to? Does position +mean a great deal to you? If so, my brother is very influential, and I +have influential friends. I will do anything--anything in my power. Tell +me what--incentive you want!" + +Field rose also. They stood face to face--the self-made man and the girl +who could trace her descent from a Norman baron. He was broad-built, +grim, determined. She was slender, pale, and proud. + +For a moment he did not speak. Then, as her eyes questioned him, he +turned suddenly to a mirror over the mantelpiece behind him and showed +her herself in her unveiled beauty. + +"Lady Violet," he said, and his speech had a steely, cutting quality, +"you came into this room to bribe me to defend a man whom I believe to be +a criminal from the consequences of his crime. And when you found I was +not to be so easily bought as you imagined, you asked me if I were human. +I replied to you that I was human, and not above temptation. Since then +you have been trying--very hard--to find a means to tempt me. But--so +far--you have overlooked the most obvious means of all. You have told +me twice over that you will do anything in your power. Do you +mean--literally--that?" + +He was addressing the face in the glass, and still his look was almost +brutally emotionless. It seemed to measure, to appraise. She met it for +a few seconds, and then in spite of herself she flinched. + +"Will you tell me what you mean?" she said in a low voice. + +He turned round to her again. + +"Why did you come here yourself?" he said. "And at night?" + +She was trembling. + +"I had to come myself--as soon as I knew. I hoped to persuade you." + +"You thought," he said mercilessly, "that, however I might treat others, +I could never resist you." + +"I hoped--to persuade you," she said again. + +"By--tempting--me?" he said slowly. + +She gave a great start. "Mr. Field--" + +He put out a quiet hand, and laid it upon her bare arm. + +"Wait a moment, please! As I said before, I am not above +temptation--being human. You take a very personal interest in Burleigh +Wentworth, I think?" + +She met his look with quivering eyelids. + +"Yes," she said. + +"Are you engaged to him?" he pursued. + +She winced in spite of herself. + +"No." + +He raised his brows. + +"You have refused him, then?" + +Her face was burning. + +"He hasn't proposed to me--yet," she said. "Perhaps he never will." + +"I see." His manner was relentless, his hold compelling. "I will defend +Burleigh Wentworth," he said, "upon one condition." + +"What is that?" she whispered. + +"That you marry me," said Percival Field with his steady eyes upon her +face. + +She was trembling from head to foot. + +"You--you--have never seen me before to-day," she said. + +"Yes, I have seen you," he said, "several times. I have known your face +and figure by heart for a very long while. I haven't had the time to seek +you out. It seems to have been decreed that you should do that part." + +Was there cynicism in his voice? It seemed so. Yet his eyes never left +her. They held her by some electric attraction which she was powerless +to break. + +She looked at him, white to the lips. + +"Are you--in--earnest?" she asked at last. + +Again for an instant she saw his faint smile. + +"Don't you know the signs yet?" he said. "Surely you have had ample +opportunity to learn them!" + +A tinge of colour crept beneath her pallor. + +"No one ever proposed to me--like this before," she said. + +His hand was still upon her arm. It closed with a slow, remorseless +pressure as he made quiet reply to her previous question. + +"Yes. I am in earnest." + +She flinched at last from the gaze of those merciless eyes. + +"You ask the impossible," she said. + +"Then it is all the simpler for you to refuse," he rejoined. + +Her eyes were upon the hand that held her. Did he know that its grasp had +almost become a grip? It was by that, and that alone, that she was made +aware of something human--or was it something bestial--behind that legal +mask? + +Suddenly she straightened herself and faced him. It cost her all the +strength she had. + +"Mr. Field," she said, and though her voice shook she spoke with +resolution, "if I were to consent to this--extraordinary suggestion; if +I married you--you would not ask--or expect--more than that?" + +"If you consent to marry me," he said, "it will be without conditions." + +"Then I cannot consent," she said. "Please let me go!" + +He released her instantly, and, turning, picked up her cloak. + +But she moved away to the window and stood there with her back to him, +gazing down upon the quiet river. Its pearly stillness was like a dream. +The rush and roar of London's many wheels had died to a monotone. + +The man waited behind her in silence. She had released the blind-cord, +and was plucking at it mechanically, with fingers that trembled. + +Suddenly the blast of a siren from a vessel in mid-stream shattered the +stillness. The girl at the window quivered from head to foot as if it had +pierced her. And then with a sharp movement she turned. + +"Mr. Field!" she said, and stopped. + +He waited with absolute composure. + +She made a small but desperate gesture--the gesture of a creature trapped +and helpless. + +"I--will do it!" she said in a voice that was barely audible. "But if--if +you ever come--to repent--don't blame me!" + +"I shall not repent," he said. + +She passed on rapidly. + +"And--you will do your best--to save--Burleigh Wentworth?" + +"I will save him," said Field. + +She paused a moment; then moved towards him, as if compelled against her +will. + +He put the cloak around her shoulders, and then, as she fumbled with it +uncertainly, he fastened it himself. + +"Your veil?" he said. + +She made a blind movement. Her self-control was nearly gone. With +absolute steadiness he drew it down over her face. + +"Have you a conveyance waiting?" he asked. + +"Yes," she whispered. + +He turned to the door. He was in the act of opening it when she stayed +him. + +"One moment!" she said. + +He stopped at once, standing before her with his level eyes looking +straight at her. + +She spoke hurriedly behind her veil. + +"Promise me, you will never--never let him know--of this!" + +He made a grave bow, his eyes unchangeably upon her. + +"Certainly," he said. + +She made an involuntary movement; her hands clenched. She stood as if she +were about to make some further appeal. But he opened the door and held +it for her, and such was the finality of his action that she was obliged +to pass out. + +He followed her into the lift and took her down in unbroken silence. + +A taxi awaited her. He escorted her to it. + +"Good night!" he said then. + +She hesitated an instant. Then, without speaking, she gave him her hand. +For a moment his fingers grasped hers. + +"You may depend upon me," he said. + +She slipped free from his hold. "Thank you," she said, her voice very +low. + +A few seconds later Field sat again at his table by the window. The wind +was blowing in from the river in rising gusts. The blind-tassel tapped +and tapped, now here, now there, like a trapped creature seeking +frantically for escape. For a space he sat quite motionless, gazing +before him as though unaware of his surroundings. Then very suddenly but +very quietly he reached out and caught the swaying thing. A moment he +held it, then pulled it to him and, taking a penknife from the table, +grimly, deliberately, he severed the cord. + +The tassel lay in his hand, a silken thing, slightly frayed, as if +convulsive fingers had torn it. He sat for a while and looked at it. +Then, with that strange smile of his, he laid it away in a drawer. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +The trial of Burleigh Wentworth for forgery was one of the sensations of +the season. A fashionable crowd went day after day to the stifling Court +to watch its progress. The man himself, nonchalant, debonair, bore +himself with the instinctive courage of his race, though whether his +bearing would have been as confident had Percival Field not been at his +back was a question asked by a good many. He was one of the best-known +figures in society, a general favourite in sporting circles, and +universally looked upon with approval if not admiration wherever he went. +He had the knack of popularity. He came of an old family, and his +rumoured engagement to Lady Violet Calcott had surprised no one. Lord +Culverleigh, her brother, was known to be his intimate friend, and the +rumour had come already to be regarded as an accomplished fact when, like +a thunder-bolt, had come Wentworth's arraignment for forgery. + +It had set all London talking. The evidence against him was far-reaching +and overwhelming. After the first shock no one believed him innocent. +The result of the trial was looked upon before its commencement as a +foregone conclusion until it became known that Percival Field, the rising +man of the day, had undertaken his defence, and then like the swing of a +weather cock public opinion veered. If Field defended him, there must be +some very strong point in his favour, men argued. Field was not the sort +to touch anything of a doubtful nature. + +The trial lasted for nearly a week. During that time Lady Violet went day +after day to the Court and sat with her veil down all through the burning +hours. People looked at her curiously, questioning if there really had +been any definite understanding between the two. Did she really care for +the man, or was it mere curiosity that drew her? No one knew with any +certainty. She wrapped herself in her reserve like an all-enveloping +garment, and even those who regarded themselves as her nearest friends +knew naught of what she carried in her soul. + +All through the trial she sat in utter immobility, sphinx-like, +unapproachable, yet listening with tense attention to all that passed. +Field's handling of the case was a marvel of legal ingenuity. There were +many who were attracted to the trial by that alone. He had made his mark, +and whatever he said carried weight. When he came at last to make his +speech for the defence, men and women listened with bated breath. It was +one of the greatest speeches that the Criminal Court had ever heard. + +He flung into it the whole weight of his personality. He grappled like a +giant with the rooted obstacles that strewed his path, flinging them +hither and thither by sheer force of will. His scorching eloquence +blasted every opposing power, consumed every tangle of adverse evidence. +It was as if he fought a pitched battle for himself alone. He wrestled +for the mastery rather than appealed for sympathy. + +And he won his cause. His scathing attacks, his magnetism, his ruthless +insistence left an indelible mark upon the minds of the jury--such a mark +as no subsequent comments from the judge could efface or even moderate. +The verdict returned was unanimous in spite of a by no means favourable +summing-up. The prisoner was Not Guilty. + +At the pronouncement of the verdict there went up a shout of applause +such as that Court had seldom heard. The prisoner, rather white but still +affecting sublime self-assurance, accepted it with a smile as a tribute +to himself. But it was not really directed towards him. It was for the +man who had defended him, the man who sat at the table below the dock and +turned over a sheaf of papers with a faint, cynical smile at the corners +of his thin lips. This man, they said, had done the impossible. He had +dragged the prisoner out of his morass by sheer titanic effort. Obviously +Percival Field had believed firmly in the innocence of the man he had +defended, or he had not thus triumphantly vindicated him. + +The crowd, staring at him, wondered how the victory affected him. It had +certainly enhanced his reputation. It had drawn from him such a display +of genius as had amazed even his colleagues. Did he feel elated at all +over his success? Was he spent by that stupendous effort? No one knew? + +Now that it was over, he looked utterly indifferent. He had fought and +conquered, but it seemed already as if his attention were turning +elsewhere. + +The crowd began to stream out. The day was hot and the crush had been +very great. On one of the benches occupied by the public a woman had +fainted. They carried her out into the corridor and there gradually she +revived. A little later she went home alone in a taxi with her veil +closely drawn down over her face. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +The season was drawing to a close when the announcement of Lady Violet +Calcott's engagement to Percival Field took the world by storm. + +It very greatly astonished Burleigh Wentworth, who after his acquittal +had drifted down to Cowes for rest and refreshment before the advent of +the crowd. He had not seen Lady Violet before his departure, she having +gone out of town for a few days immediately after the trial. But he took +the very next train back to London as soon as he had seen the +announcement, to find her. + +It was late in the evening when he arrived, but this fact did not daunt +him. He had always been accustomed to having his own way, and he had a +rooted belief, which the result of his trial had not tended to lessen, in +his own lucky star. He had dined on the train and he merely waited to +change before he went straight to Lord Culverleigh's house. + +He found there was a dinner-party in progress. Lady Culverleigh, Violet's +sister-in-law, was an indefatigable hostess. She had the reputation for +being one of the hardest-working women in the West End. + +The notes of a song reached Wentworth as he went towards the +drawing-room. Lady Violet was singing. Her voice was rich and low. He +stood outside the half-open door to listen. + +He did not know that he was visible to any one inside the room, but a man +sitting near the door became suddenly aware of his presence and got up +before the song was ended. Wentworth in the act of stepping back to let +him pass stopped short abruptly. It was Percival Field. + +They faced each other for a second or two in silence. Then Field's hand +came quietly forth and grasped the other man's shoulder, turning him +about. + +"I should like a word with you," he said. + +They descended the stairs together, Burleigh Wentworth leading the way. + +Down in the vestibule they faced each other again. There was antagonism +in the atmosphere though it was not visible upon either man's +countenance, and each ignored it as it were instinctively. + +"Hullo!" said Wentworth, and offered his hand. "I'm pleased to meet you +here." + +Field took the hand after a scarcely perceptible pause. His smile was +openly cynical. + +"Very kind of you," he said. "I am somewhat out of my element, I admit. +We are celebrating our engagement." + +He looked full at Wentworth as he said it with that direct, unflickering +gaze of his. + +Wentworth did not meet the look quite so fully, but he faced the +situation without a sign of discomfiture. + +"You are engaged to Lady Violet?" he said. "I saw the announcement. +I congratulate you." + +"Thanks," said Field. + +"Rather sudden, isn't it?" said Wentworth, with a curious glance. + +Field's smile still lingered. + +"Oh, not really. We have kept it to ourselves, that's all. The wedding is +fixed for the week after next--for the convenience of Lady Culverleigh, +who wants to get out of town." + +"By Jove! It is quick work!" said Wentworth. + +There were beads of perspiration on his forehead, but the night was +warm. He held himself erect as one defying Fate. So had he held himself +throughout his trial; Field recognised the attitude. + +The song upstairs had ended. They heard the buzz of appreciation that +succeeded it. Field turned with the air of a man who had said his say. + +"I don't believe in long engagements myself," he said. "They must be +a weariness to the flesh." + +He began to mount the stairs again, and Wentworth followed him in +silence. + +At the drawing-room door Field paused and they entered together. It was +almost Wentworth's first appearance since his trial. There was a moment +or two of dead silence as he sauntered forward with Field. Then, with a +little laugh to cover an instant's embarrassment, Lady Culverleigh came +forward. She shook hands with Wentworth and asked where he had been in +retreat. + +Violet came forward from the piano very pale but quite composed, and +shook hands also. Several people present followed suit, and soon there +was a little crowd gathered round him, and Burleigh Wentworth was again +the popular centre of attraction. + +Percival Field kept in the background; it was not his way to assert +himself in society. But he remained until Wentworth and the last guest +had departed. And then very quietly but with indisputable insistence he +drew Lady Violet away into the conservatory. + +She was looking white and tired, but she held herself with a proud +aloofness in his presence. While admitting his claim upon her, she yet +did not voluntarily yield him an inch. + +"Did you wish to speak to me?" she asked. + +He stood a moment or two in silence before replying; then: + +"Only to give you this," he said, and held out to her a small packet +wrapped in tissue paper on the palm of his hand. + +She took it unwillingly. + +"The badge of servitude?" she said. + +"I should like to know if it fits," said Field quietly, as if she had not +spoken. + +She opened the packet and disclosed not the orthodox diamond ring she had +expected, but a ring containing a single sapphire very deep in hue, +exquisitely cut. She looked at him over it, her look a question. + +"Will you put it on?" he said. + +She hesitated an instant, then with a tightening of the lips she slipped +it on to her left hand. + +"Is it too easy?" he said. + +She looked at him again. + +"No; it is not easy at all." + +He took her hand and looked at it. His touch was cool and strong. He +slipped the ring up and down upon her finger, testing it. It was as if +he waited for something. + +She endured his action for a few seconds, then with a deliberate movement +she took her hand away. + +"Thank you very much," she said conventionally. "I wonder what made you +think of a sapphire." + +"You like sapphires?" he questioned. + +"Of course," she returned. Her tone was resolutely indifferent, yet +something in his look made her avert her eyes abruptly. She turned them +upon the ring. "Why did you choose a sapphire?" she said. + +If she expected some compliment in reply she was disappointed. He stood +in silence. + +Half-startled she glanced at him. In the same moment he held out his hand +to her with a formal gesture of leave-taking. + +"I will tell you another time," he said. "Good night!" + +She gave him her hand, but he scarcely held it. The next instant, with a +brief bow, he had turned and left her. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Burleigh Wentworth looked around him with a frown of discontent. + +He ought to have been in good spirits. Life on the moors suited him. The +shooting was excellent, the hospitality beyond reproach. But yet he was +not satisfied. People had wholly ceased to eye him askance. He had come +himself to look back upon his trial as a mere escapade. It had been an +unpleasant experience. He had been a fool to run such a risk. But it was +over, and he had come out with flying colours, thanks to Percival Field's +genius. A baffling, unapproachable sort of man--Field! The affair of his +marriage was still a marvel to Wentworth. He had a strong suspicion that +there was more in the conquest than met the eye, but he knew he would +never find out from Field. + +Violet was getting enigmatical too, but he couldn't stand that. He would +put a stop to it. She might be a married woman, but she needn't imagine +she was going to keep him at a distance. + +She and her husband had joined the house-party of which he was a member +the day before. It was the end of their honeymoon, and they were +returning to town after their sojourn on the moors. He grimaced to +himself at the thought. How would Violet like town in September? He had +asked her that question the previous night, but she had not deigned to +hear. Decidedly, Violet was becoming interesting. He would have to +penetrate that reserve of hers. + +He wondered why she was not carrying a gun. She had always been such an +ardent sportswoman. He would ask her that also presently. In fact, he +felt inclined to go back and ask her now. He was not greatly enjoying +himself. It was growing late, and it had begun to drizzle. + +His inclination became the more insistent, the more he thought of it. +Yes, he would go. He was intimate enough with his host to do as he liked +without explanation. And he and Violet had always been such pals. +Besides, the thought of sitting with her in the firelight while her +husband squelched about in the rain was one that appealed to him. He had +no liking for Field, however deeply he might be in his debt. That latent +antagonism between them was perpetually making itself felt. He hated the +man for the very ability by which he himself had been saved. He hated +his calm superiority. Above all, he hated him for marrying Violet. It +seemed that he had only to stretch out his hand for whatever he wanted. +Still, he hadn't got everything now, Wentworth said to himself, as he +strode impatiently back over the moor. Possibly, as time went on, he +might even come to realise that what he had was not worth very much. + +He reached and entered the old grey house well ahead of any of the other +sportsmen. He was determined to find Violet somehow, and he made instant +enquiry for her of one of the servants. + +The reply served in some measure to soothe his chafing mood. Her ladyship +had gone up into the turret some little time back, and was believed to be +on the roof. + +Without delay he followed her. The air blew chill down the stone +staircase as he mounted it. He would have preferred sitting downstairs +with her over the fire. But at least interruptions were less probable in +this quarter. + +There was a battlemented walk at the top of the tower, and here he found +her, with a wrap thrown over her head, gazing out through one of the deep +embrasures over the misty country to a line of hills in the far distance. +The view was magnificent, lighted here and there by sunshine striking +through scudding cloud-drifts. And a splendid rainbow spanned it like a +multi-coloured frame. + +She did not hear him approaching. He wondered why, till he was so close +that he could see her face, and then very swiftly she turned upon him and +he saw that she was crying. + +"My dear girl!" he exclaimed. + +She drew back sharply. It was impossible to conceal her distress all in a +moment. She moved aside, battling with herself. + +He came close to her. "Violet!" he said. + +"Don't!" she said, in a choked whisper. + +He slipped an arm about her, gently overcoming her resistance. "I +say--what's the matter? What's troubling you?" + +He had never held her so before. Always till that moment she had +maintained a delicate reserve in his presence, a barrier which he had +never managed to overcome. He had even wondered sometimes if she were +afraid of him. But now in her hour of weakness she suffered him, albeit +under protest. + +"Oh, go away!" she whispered. "Please--you must!" + +But Wentworth had no thought of yielding his advantage. He pressed her to +him. + +"Violet, I say! You're miserable! I knew you were the first moment I saw +you. And I can't stand it. You must let me help. Don't anyhow try to keep +me outside!" + +"You can't help," she murmured, with her face averted. "At least--only by +going away." + +But he held her still. "That's rot, you know. I'm not going. What is it? +Tell me! Is he a brute to you?" + +She made a more determined effort to disengage herself. "Whatever he is, +I've got to put up with him. So it's no good talking about it." + +"Oh, but look here!" protested Wentworth. "You and I are such old +friends. I used to think you cared for me a little. Violet, I say, what +induced you to marry that outsider?" + +She was silent, not looking at him. + +"You were always so proud," he went on. "I never thought in the old days +that you would capitulate to a bounder like that. Why, you might have had +that Bohemian prince if you'd wanted him." + +"I didn't want him!" She spoke with sudden vehemence, as if stung into +speech. "I'm not the sort of snob-woman who barters herself for a title!" + +"No?" said Wentworth, looking at her curiously. "But what did you barter +yourself for, I wonder?" + +She flinched, and dropped back into silence. + +"Won't you tell me?" he said. + +"No." She spoke almost under her breath. He relinquished the matter with +the air of a man who has gained his point. "Do you know," he said, in a +different tone, "if it hadn't been for that fiendish trial, I'd have been +in the same race with Field, and I believe I'd have made better running, +too?" + +"Ah!" she said. + +It was almost a gasp of pain. He stopped deliberately and looked into her +face. + +"Violet!" he said. + +She trembled at his tone and thrust out a protesting hand. "Ah, what is +the use?" she cried. "Do you--do you want to break my heart?" + +Her voice failed. For the first time her eyes met his fully. + +There followed an interval of overwhelming stillness in which neither of +them drew a breath. Then, with an odd sound that might have been a laugh +strangled at birth. Burleigh Wentworth gathered her to his heart and held +her there. + +"No!" he said. "No! I want to make you--the happiest woman in the world!" + +"Too late! Too late!" she whispered. + +But he stopped the words upon her lips, passionately, irresistibly, with +his own. + +"You are mine!" he swore, with his eyes on hers. "You are mine! No man on +earth shall ever take you from me again!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +Violet was in her room ready dressed for dinner that evening, when there +came a knock upon her door. She was seated at a writing-table in a corner +scribbling a note, but she covered it up quickly at the sound. + +"Come in!" she said. + +She rose as her husband entered. He also was ready dressed. He came up to +her in his quiet, direct fashion, looking at her with those steady eyes +that saw so much and revealed so little. + +"I just came in to say," he said, "that I am sorry to cut your pleasure +short, but I find we must return to town to-morrow." + +She started at the information. "To-morrow!" she echoed. "Why?" + +"I find it necessary," he said. + +She looked at him. Her heart was beating very fast. "Percival, why?" she +said again. + +He raised his eyebrows slightly. "It would be rather difficult for me to +explain." + +"Do you mean you have to go on business?" she said. + +He smiled a little. "Yes, on business." + +She turned to the fire with a shiver. There was something in the +atmosphere, although the room was warm, that made her cold from head +to foot. With her back to him she spoke again: + +"Is there any reason why I should go too?" + +He came and joined her before the fire. "Yes; one," he said. + +She threw him a nervous glance. "And that?" + +"You are my wife," said Field quietly. + +Again that shiver caught her. She put out a hand to steady herself +against the mantelpiece. When she spoke again, it was with a great +effort. + +"Wives are sometimes allowed a holiday away from their husbands." + +Field said nothing whatever. He only looked at her with unvarying +attention. + +She turned at last in desperation and faced him. "Percival! Why do you +look at me like that?" + +He turned from her instantly, without replying. "May I write a note +here?" he said, and went towards the writing-table. "My pen has run dry." + +She made a movement that almost expressed panic. She was at the table +before he reached it. "Ah, wait a minute! Let me clear my things out +of your way first!" + +She began to gather up the open blotter that lay there with feverish +haste. A sheet of paper flew out from her nervous hands and fluttered +to the floor at Field's feet. He stooped and picked it up. + +She uttered a gasp and turned as white as the dress she wore. "That is +mine!" she panted. + +He gave it to her with grave courtesy. "I am afraid I am disturbing you," +he said. "I can wait while you finish." + +But she crumpled the paper in her hand. She was trembling so much that +she could hardly stand. + +"It--doesn't matter," she said almost inaudibly. + +He stood for a second or two in silence, then seated himself at the +writing-table and took up a pen. + +In the stillness that followed she moved away to the fire and stood +before it. Field wrote steadily without turning his head. She stooped +after a moment and dropped the crumpled paper into the blaze. Then she +sat down, her hands tightly clasped about her knees, and waited. + +Field's quiet voice broke the stillness at length. "If you are writing +letters of your own, perhaps I may leave this one in your charge." + +She looked round with a start. He had turned in his chair. Their eyes met +across the room. + +"May I?" he said. + +She nodded, finding her voice with an effort. "Yes--of course." + +He got up, and as he did so the great dinner-gong sounded through the +house. He came to her side. She rose quickly at his approach, moving +almost apprehensively. + +"Shall we go down?" she said. + +He put out a hand and linked it in her arm. She shrank at his touch, but +she endured it. She even, after a moment, seemed to be in a measure +steadied by it. She stood motionless for a few seconds, and during those +seconds his fingers closed upon her, very gentle, very firmly; then +opened and set her free. + +"Will you lead the way?" he said. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +A very hilarious party gathered at the table that night. Burleigh +Wentworth was in uproarious spirits which seemed to infect nearly +everyone else. + +In the midst of the running tide of joke and banter Violet sat as one +apart. Now and then she joined spasmodically in the general merriment, +but often she did not know what she laughed at. There was a great fear at +her heart, and it tormented her perpetually. That note that she had +crumpled and burnt! His eyes had rested upon it during the moment he had +held it in his hand. How much had they seen? And what was it that had +induced him in the first place to declare his intention of curtailing +their visit? Why had he reminded her that she was his wife? Surely he +must have heard something--suspected something! But what? + +Covertly she watched him during that interminable dinner, watched his +clear-cut face with its clever forehead and intent eyes, his slightly +scornful, wholly unyielding lips. She cast her thoughts backwards over +their honeymoon, trying somehow to trace an adequate reason for the fear +that gripped her. He had been very forbearing with her throughout that +difficult time. He had been gentle; he had been considerate. Though he +had asserted and maintained his mastery over her, though his will had +subdued hers, he had never been unreasonable, never so much as impatient, +in his treatment of her. He had given her no cause for the dread that now +consumed her, unless it were that by his very self-restraint he had +inspired in her a fear of the unknown. + +No, she had to look farther back than her honeymoon, back to the days of +Burleigh Wentworth's trial, and the almost superhuman force by which he +had dragged him free. It was that force with which she would have very +soon to reckon, that overwhelming, all-consuming power that had wrestled +so victoriously in Wentworth's defence. How would it be when she found +herself confronted by that? She shivered and dared not think. + +The stream of gaiety flowed on around her. Someone--Wentworth she knew +later--proposed a game of hide-and-seek by moonlight in and about the old +ruins on the shores of the loch. She would have preferred to remain +behind, but he made a great point of her going also. She did not know if +Percival went or not, but she did not see him among the rest. The fun was +fast and furious, the excitement great. Almost in spite of herself she +was drawn in. + +And then, how it happened she scarcely knew, she found herself hiding +alone with Wentworth in a little dark boat-house on the edge of the +water. He had a key with him, and she heard him turn it on the inside. + +"I think we are safe here," he said, and then in the darkness his arms +were round her. He called her by every endearing name that he could think +of. + +Why was it his ardour failed to reach her? She had yielded to him only +that afternoon. She had suffered him to kiss away her tears. But now +something in her held her back. She drew herself away. + +"Come and sit in the boat!" he said. "We will go on the water as soon as +the hue and cry is over. Hush! Don't speak! They are coming now." + +They sat with bated breath while the hunt spread round their +hiding-place. The water lapped mysteriously in front of them with an +occasional gurgling chuckle. The ripples danced far out in the moonlight. +It was a glorious night, with a keenness in the air that was like the +touch of steel. + +Violet drew her cloak more closely about her. She felt very cold. + +Someone came and battered at the door. "I'm sure they're here," cried a +voice. + +"They can't be," said another. "The place is locked, and there's no key." + +"Bet you it's on the inside!" persisted the first, and a match was +lighted and held to the lock. + +The man inside laughed under his breath. The key was dangling between his +hands. + +"Oh, come on!" called a girl's voice from the distance. "They wouldn't +hide in there. It's such a dirty hole. Lady Violet is much too +fastidious." + +And Violet, sitting within, drew herself together with a little shrinking +movement. Yes, that had always been their word for her. She was +fastidious. She had rather prided herself upon having that reputation. +She had always regarded women who made themselves cheap with scorn. + +The chase passed on, and Wentworth's arm slipped round her again. "Now we +are safe," he said. "By Jove, dear, how I have schemed for this! It was +really considerate of your worthy husband to absent himself." + +Again, gently but quite decidedly, she drew herself away. "I think Freda +is right," she said. "This is rather a dirty place." + +He laughed. "A regular black hole! But wait till I can get you out on to +the loch! It's romantic enough out there. But look here, Violet! I've +got to come to an understanding with you. Now that we've found each +other, darling, we are not going to lose each other again, are we?" + +She was silent in the darkness. + +He leaned to her and took her hand. "Oh, why did you go and complicate +matters by getting married?" he said. "It was such an obvious--such +a fatal--mistake. You knew I cared for you, didn't you?" + +"You--had never told me so," she said, her voice very low. + +"Never told you! I tried to tell you every time we met. But you were +always so aloof, so frigid. On my soul, I was afraid to speak. Tell me +now!" His hand was fast about hers. "When did you begin to care?" + +She sat unyielding in his hold. "I--imagined I cared--a very long time +ago," she said, with an effort. + +"What! Before that trial business?" he said. "I wish to Heaven I'd +known!" + +"Why?" she said. + +"Because if I'd known I wouldn't have been such a fool," he said with +abrupt vehemence. "I would never have run that infernal risk." + +"What risk?" she said. + +He laughed, a half-shamed laugh. "Oh, I didn't quite mean to let that +out. Consider it unsaid! Only a man without ties is apt to risk more than +a man who has more to lose. I've had the most fantastic ill-luck this +year that ever fell any man's lot before." + +"At least you were vindicated," Violet said. + +"Oh, that!" said Wentworth. "Well, it was beginning to be time my luck +turned, wasn't it? It was rank enough to be caught, but if I'd been +convicted, I'd have hanged myself. Now tell me! Was it Field's brilliant +defence that dazzled you into marrying him?" + +She did not answer him. She turned instead and faced him in the darkness. +"Burleigh! What do you mean by risk? What do you mean by being--caught? +You don't mean--you can't mean--that you--that you were--guilty!" + +Her voice shook. The words tumbled over each other. Her hand wrenched +itself free. + +"My dear girl!" said Wentworth. "Don't be so melodramatic! No man is +guilty until he is proved so. And--thanks to the kindly offices of +your good husband--I did not suffer the final catastrophe." + +"But--but--but--" Her utterance seemed suddenly choked. She rose, feeling +blindly for the door. + +"It's locked," said Wentworth, and there was a ring of malice in his +voice. "I say, don't be unreasonable! You shouldn't ask unnecessary +questions, you know. Other people don't. For Heaven's sake, let's enjoy +what we've got and leave the past alone!" + +"Open the door!" gasped Violet in a whisper. + +He rose without haste. Her white dress made her conspicuous in the +dimness. Her cloak had fallen from her, and she seemed unaware of it. + +He reached out as if to open the door, and then very suddenly his +intention changed. He caught her to him. + +"By Heaven," he said, and laughed savagely, "I'll have my turn first!" + +She turned in his hold, turned like a trapped creature in the first wild +moment of capture, struggling so fiercely that she broke through his grip +before he had made it secure. + +He stumbled against the boat, but she sprang from him, sprang for the +open moonlight and the lapping water, and the next instant she was gone +from his sight. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +The water was barely up to her knees, but she stumbled among slippery +stones as she fled round the corner of the boat-house, and twice she +nearly fell. There were reeds growing by the bank; she struggled through +them, frantically fighting her way. + +She was drenched nearly to the waist when at last she climbed up the +grassy slope. She heard the seekers laughing down among the ruins some +distance away as she did so, and for a few seconds she thought she might +escape to the house unobserved. She turned in that direction, her wet +skirts clinging round her. And then, simultaneously, two things happened. + +The key ground in the lock of the boat-house, and, ere Wentworth could +emerge, a man walked out from the shadow of some trees and met her on the +path. She stopped short in the moonlight, standing as one transfixed. It +was her husband. + +He came to her, moving more quickly than was his won't. "My dear child!" +he ejaculated. + +Feverishly she sought to make explanation. "I--I was hiding--down +on the bank. I slipped into the lake. It was very foolish of me. +But--but--really I couldn't help it." + +Her teeth were chattering. He took her by the arm. + +"Come up to the house at once!" he said. + +She looked towards the boat-house. The door was ajar, but Wentworth had +not shown himself. With a gasp of relief she yielded to Field's insistent +hand. + +Her knees were shaking under her, but she made a valiant effort to +control them. He did not speak further, and something in his silence +dismayed her. She trembled more and more as she walked. Her wet clothes +impeded her. She remembered with consternation that she had left her +cloak in the boat-house. In her horror at this discovery she stopped. + +As she did so a sudden tumult behind them told her that Wentworth had +been sighted by his pursuers. + +In the same moment Field very quietly turned and lifted her in his arms. +She gave a gasp of astonishment. + +"I think we shall get on quicker this way," he said. "Put your arm over +my shoulder, won't you?" + +He spoke as gently as if she had been a child, and instinctively she +obeyed. He bore her very steadily straight to the house. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +In the safe haven of her own room Violet recovered somewhat. Field left +her in the charge of her maid, but the latter she very quickly dismissed. +She sat before the fire clad in a wrapper, still shivering spasmodically, +but growing gradually calmer. + +"I believe there is a letter on the writing-table," she said to the maid +as she was about to go out. "Take it with you and put it in the box +downstairs!" + +The girl returned and took up the letter that Field had written that +evening. "It isn't stamped my lady," she began; and then in a tone of +surprise: "Why, it is addressed to your ladyship!" + +Violet started. "Give it to me!" she commanded "That will do. I shall not +be wanting you again to-night." + +The girl withdrew, and she crouched lower over the fire, the letter in +her hand. + +Yes, it was addressed to her in her husband's clear, strong +writing--addressed to her and written in her presence! + +Her hands were trembling very much as she tore open the envelope. A +baffling mist danced before her eyes. For a few seconds she could see +nothing. Then with a great effort she commanded herself, and read: + + + "My own Beloved Wife, + + "If I have made your life a misery, may I be forgiven! I meant + otherwise. I saw you on the ramparts this evening. That is why I want + you to leave this place to-morrow. But if you do not wish to share my + life any longer, I will let you go. Only in Heaven's name choose some + worthier means than this! + + "I am yours to take or leave. P.F." + +Hers--to take--or leave! She felt again the steady hold upon her arm, the +equally steady release. That was what he had meant. That! + +She sat bowed like an old woman. He had seen! And instead of being angry +on his own account, he was concerned only on hers. She was his own +beloved wife. He was--hers to take or leave! + +Suddenly a great sob broke from her. She laid her face down upon the note +she held.... + +There came a low knock at the door that divided her room from the one +adjoining. She started swiftly up as one caught in a guilty act. + +"Can I come in?" Field said. + +She made some murmured response, and he opened the dividing door. A +moment he stood on the threshold; then he came quietly forward. He +carried her cloak upon his arm. + +He deposited it upon the back of a chair, and came to her. "I hoped you +would be in bed," he said. + +"I am trying--to get warm," she muttered almost inarticulately. + +"Have you had a hot drink since your accident?" he asked. + +She shook her head. "I told West--I couldn't." + +He turned and rang the bell. He must have seen his note tightly grasped +in her hand, but he made no comment upon it. + +"Sit down again!" he said gently, and, stooping, poked the sinking fire +into a blaze. + +She obeyed him almost automatically. After a moment he laid down the +poker, and drew the chair with her in it close to the fender. Then he +picked up the cloak and put it about her shoulders, and finally moved +away to the door. + +She heard him give an order to a servant, and sat nervously awaiting his +return. But he did not come back to her. He went outside and waited in +the passage. + +There ensued an interval of several minutes, and during that time she sat +crouched over the fire, holding her cloak about her, and shivering, +shivering all over. Then the door which he had left ajar closed quietly, +and she knew that he had come back into the room. + +She drew herself together, striving desperately to subdue her agitation. + +He came to her side and stooped over her. "I want you to drink this," he +said. + +She glanced up at him swiftly, and as swiftly looked away. "Don't bother +about me!" she said. "I--am not worth it." + +He passed the low words by. "It's only milk with a dash of brandy," he +said. "Won't you try it?" + +Very reluctantly she took the steaming beverage from him and began to +drink. + +He remained beside her, and took the cup from her when she had finished. + +"Now," he said, "wouldn't it be wise of you to go to bed?" + +She made a movement that was almost convulsive. She had his note still +clasped in her hand. + +After a moment, without lifting her eyes, she spoke. "Percival, why did +you--what made you--write this?" + +"I owed it to you," he said. + +"You--meant it?" she said, with an effort. + +"Yes. I meant it." He spoke with complete steadiness. + +"But--but--" She struggled with herself for an instant; then, "Oh, I've +got to tell you!" she burst forth passionately. "I'm--very wicked." + +"No," he said quietly, and laid a constraining hand upon her as she sat. +"That is not so." + +She contracted at his touch. "You don't know me. I wrote you a note this +evening, trying to explain. I told you I meant to leave you. But--I +didn't mean you to read it till I was gone. Did you read it?" + +"No," he said. "I guessed what you had done." + +Desperately she went on. "You've got to know the worst. I was ready to go +away with him. We--were such old friends, and I thought--I thought--I +knew him." She bowed herself lower under his hand. Her face was hidden. +"I thought he was at least a gentleman. I thought I could trust him. +I--believed in him." + +"Ah!" said Field. "And now?" + +"Now"--her head was sunk almost to her knees--"I know him--for what--he +is." Her voice broke in bitter weeping. "And I had given so much--so +much--to save him!" she sobbed. + +"I know," Field said. "He wasn't worth the sacrifice." He stood for a +moment or two as though in doubt; then knelt suddenly down beside her and +drew her to him. + +She made as if she would resist him, but finally, as he held her, +impulsively she yielded. She sobbed out her agony against his breast. And +he soothed her as he might have soothed a child. + +But though presently he dried her tears, he did not kiss her. He spoke, +but his voice was devoid of all emotion. + +"You are blaming the wrong person for all this. It wasn't Wentworth's +fault. He has probably been a crook all his life. It wasn't yours. You +couldn't be expected to detect it. But"--he paused--"don't you realise +now why I am offering you the only reparation in my power?" he said. + +She was trembling, but she did not raise her head or attempt to move, +though his arms were ready to release her. + +"No. I don't," she said. + +Very steadily he went on: "You have not wronged me. It was I who did the +wrong. I could have made you see his guilt. It would have been infinitely +easier than establishing his innocence before the world. But--I have +always wanted the unattainable. I knew that you were out of reach, and so +I wanted you. Afterwards, very soon afterwards, I found I wanted even +more than what I had bargained for. I wanted your friendship. That was +what the sapphire stood for. You didn't understand. I had handicapped +myself too heavily. So I took what I could get, and missed the rest." + +He stopped. She still lay against his breast. + +"Why did you want--my friendship?" she whispered. + +He made a curious gesture, as if he faced at last the inevitable. When he +answered her his voice was very low. He seemed to speak against his will. +"I--loved you." + +"Ah!" It was scarcely more than a breath uttering the words. "And you +never told me!" + +He was silent. + +She raised herself at last and faced him. Her hands were on his +shoulders. "Percival," she said, and there was a strange light shining +in the eyes that he had dried. "Is your love so small, then--as to be +not--worth--mentioning?" + +For the first time in her memory he avoided her look. "No," he said. + +"What then?" Her voice was suddenly very soft and infinitely appealing. + +He opened his arms with a gesture of renunciation "It is--beyond words," +he said. + +She leaned nearer. Her hands slipped upwards, clasping his neck. + +"It is the greatest thing that has ever come to me," she said, and in her +voice there throbbed a new note which he had never heard in it before. +"Do you think--oh, do you think--I would cast--that--away?" + +He did not speak in answer. It seemed as if he could not. That which lay +between them was indeed beyond words. Only in the silence he took her +again into his arms and kissed her on the lips. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +By Ethel M. Dell + + +The Way of an Eagle +The Knave of Diamonds +The Rocks of Valpré +The Swindler +The Keeper of the Door +Bars of Iron +The Hundredth Chance +The Safety Curtain +Greatheart +The Lamp in the Desert +The Tidal Wave +The Top of the World +Rosa Mundi and Other Stories +The Obstacle Race +The Odds and Other Stories +Charles Rex +Tetherstones + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Odds, by Ethel M. 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Dell + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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 + + +Title: The Odds + And Other Stories + +Author: Ethel M. Dell + +Release Date: July 28, 2005 [EBook #16380] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ODDS *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + +<h1>THE ODDS</h1> + +<h3><i>And Other Stories</i></h3> + +<h2>By ETHEL M. DELL</h2> + +<p>Author of "Rosa Mundi," "The Bars of Iron," "The Keeper of the Door," +"The Knave of Diamonds," "The Obstacle Race," "The Rocks of Valpré," +"The Way of an Eagle," etc.</p> + +<h3>1922</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p> +<a href="#The_Odds"><span class="smcap">The Odds</span></a><br /> +<a href="#Without_Prejudice"><span class="smcap">Without Prejudice</span></a><br /> +<a href="#Her_Own_Free_Will"><span class="smcap">Her Own Free Will</span></a><br /> +<a href="#The_Consolation_Prize"><span class="smcap">The Consolation Prize</span></a><br /> +<a href="#Her_Freedom"><span class="smcap">Her Freedom</span></a><br /> +<a href="#Deaths_Property"><span class="smcap">Death's Property</span></a><br /> +<a href="#The_Sacrifice"><span class="smcap">The Sacrifice</span></a><br /><br /> +<a href="#By_Ethel_M_Dell"><span class="smcap">By Ethel M. Dell</span></a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1><a name="The_Odds" id="The_Odds"></a><span class="smcap">The Odds</span></h1> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>"If he comes my way, I'll shoot him!" said Dot Burton, her blue eyes +gleaming in her boyish, tanned face. "I'm not such a bad shot, am I, Jack?"</p> + +<p>"Not so bad," said Jack, kindly. "But don't shoot at sight, or p'r'aps +you'll shoot a policeman—which might be awkward for us both!"</p> + +<p>"As if I should be such an idiot as that!" protested Dot. "I wasn't born +yesterday, anyhow."</p> + +<p>"No?" said Jack. "Somehow you look as if you were."</p> + +<p>"Don't you be a donkey, Jack!" said his young sister, with an impudent +snap of the fingers under his nose. "Being ten years older than I am +doesn't qualify you for that superior pose. You're only a man, you know, +after all."</p> + +<p>"Buckskin Bill is only a man, but he's a pretty tough proposition," said +Burton, with a frown.</p> + +<p>She smoothed the frown away with caressing fingers. "I know. That's why +I'd like to shoot him. But he's sure to be caught now, isn't he? They've +got him in a trap. He'll never wriggle through with Fletcher Hill to +outwit him. You said yourself that with him on the job the odds were dead +against him."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know. So they are. But he's such a wily devil. Well, I'd better be +going." Jack Burton arose with the deliberate movements of a heavy man. +"I'm sick of this business, Dot. If it weren't for you, I believe I'd +chuck it all and go into business in a town."</p> + +<p>"Oh, darling! How silly!" protested Dot. "What a good thing I came out +when I did! Things seem to be at a rather low ebb with you. But cheer up! +What's a few head of cattle when all's said and done? When once this +rascal is laid by the heels, you'll make up quicker than you know. Of +course you will. Don't let yourself get downhearted! What is the good?"</p> + +<p>He smiled a little. There was something heartening in the girl's slim +activity of pose apart from her words. She looked indomitable. He pulled +her to him and kissed her.</p> + +<p>"Well, take care of yourself, Dot! You won't be frightened? You needn't +be. He won't come your way. Hill has sworn solemnly to keep an extra +guard in this direction. He may call around himself before the day is +over. It wouldn't surprise me. Don't shoot him if he does! At least, +give him a feed first!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, really, Jack!" the girl protested. "I shall be cross with you before +long. You'd better go quick before it comes on."</p> + +<p>She put her arms around his neck and gave him a tight hug. Her sunburnt +face was pressed to his. "Now, you won't do anything silly?" she urged +him, softly. "I don't like parting with you in this mood. I wish I were +coming too."</p> + +<p>"Rubbish! Rubbish!" he said. "You stay at home, little shepherdess, and +look after the lambs! I won't be late back. Mind you are civil to +Fletcher Hill if he turns up! He'll be a magistrate one of these days if +he plays his cards well."</p> + +<p>"If he catches the biggest cattle-thief in Australia?" suggested Dot, +screwing her face into a very boyish grimace. "I wouldn't care to get +promotion for that job, if I were a man. But I'll be vastly polite to him +if he turns up. You've never seen me doing the pretty, have you? But I +can—awfully well—when I try."</p> + +<p>Her brother laughed. "Oh, don't be too pretty, my child! It's a dangerous +game. Good-bye! Don't go far away!"</p> + +<p>"My dear man! As if I should have time!" ejaculated Dot.</p> + +<p>She gave him another squeeze and let him go.</p> + +<p>There were a great many things to be done that day, things which a mere +ignorant male would never have dreamt of. There was bread to be baked, an +evening meal to be prepared, countless household duties waiting to be +done, and work enough in Jack's wardrobe alone to keep an ordinary woman +busy for a week. Poor Jack! He was not a great hand at needlework. She +had been shocked at the state in which she had found him. But she had not +shirked her responsibilities. And more than ever was she glad now that +she had come to him. For he needed her in a moral sense as well. She was +too much of a "new chum" to help him in any very active sense outside the +homestead at present. But he needed a good deal of moral backing just at +that moment. She had come to him straight from England, and full of +enthusiasm. He had hewn his own way and begun to enjoy prosperity. But +she had arrived to find that prosperity temporarily checked. A gang of +cattle-thieves were making serious depredations among his stock.</p> + +<p>The police were hot on the trail, and it was believed that the gang had +been split up, but so far no notable captures had been made. Buckskin +Bill, the leader, was still at large, and while this remained the case +there could be no security for any one. Every farmer in the district was +keen on the chase, expecting to fall a victim.</p> + +<p>And—there was no doubt about it—Buckskin Bill was in a very tight +corner. Inspector Hill had the matter in hand, and he was not a man to +be lightly baffled. Jack regarded him with wholehearted admiration. But +somehow Dot, the new arrival, felt curiously prejudiced against him. She +wanted Buckskin Bill to be caught, but she could not help hoping that +this astute Inspector of Police would not be his captor. She was sure +from Jack's description that she would not like the man, and as she went +about her work she earnestly hoped that he would not come her way, at +least in her brother's absence.</p> + +<p>She was busy indoors during the whole of the morning. As midday +approached the heat became intense. Jack usually returned for a meal at +noon, but she was not expecting him that day. He had joined the chase, +and had taken with him every available man. She might have felt lonely +if she had not been so engrossed. As it was, she hummed cheerily to +herself as she went to and fro. There were so many things to think about, +and it was such an interesting world in which she found herself.</p> + +<p>In the early afternoon she went out to feed a few motherless lambs that +her brother had placed in her charge. She stood in the shelter of a great +barn with the little things clustering around her, while Robin, the old +black hound, lay watching and snapping at the flies. Miles and miles of +pasture stretched around her, broken here and there by thick scrub and +occasional groups of blue gum trees.</p> + +<p>The hot glare of the afternoon sun made the eyes ache, and she was glad +when her task was over. When she stood up at length she was feeling a +little giddy, and she leaned for a moment against the barn wall to steady +herself. A rank growth of grass grew all about her feet, and as she stood +there gazing rather dizzily downwards she saw a ripple pass along it +close to the building.</p> + +<p>Any but a "new chum" would have known the meaning of that small +disturbance, for there was no breath of air to cause it. Any but a "new +chum," being quite defenceless, would have beaten instant and swift +retreat.</p> + +<p>But Dot Burton in her inexperience had no thought of evil. She was only +curious. She forgot her weariness, and bent down to watch the moving +grass.</p> + +<p>At the same moment Robin suddenly raised his head and looked keenly in +the direction of the farm, with a growl. The girl barely heard him, so +interested was she. She even stooped and parted the tall grass with her +hands when unexpectedly it ceased to move.</p> + +<p>The next instant she started back with a wild cry of horror. For it was +as if the grass itself had suddenly come to malignant life under her +hands. A shape—long, thin, vividly green—rose up before her, and swayed +with an angry hiss.</p> + +<p>Her cry seemed to galvanize Robin into action, for he sprang up fiercely +barking, but his attention was not directed towards her. He leapt instead +towards the house, yelling resentment as he went. And in a flash the +green evil struck at the bare brown arm!</p> + +<p>Dot shrieked again, shrieked like a demented creature, and in a moment, +with hands flung wide, she was fleeing across the sun-baked yard.</p> + +<p>She reached the open door immediately behind Robin, and sprang in +headlong. Robin had ceased to bark, and was fawning at the feet of a man +who had evidently just entered. He was bent down over the dog, fondling +him with one hand. In the other something bright gleamed, and as he +straightened himself the girl saw that it was a revolver; but she was too +agitated to take much note of the fact.</p> + +<p>She burst in upon him in breathless, horrified distress. "I've been +bitten!" she cried to him. "Bitten by a snake!"</p> + +<p>"Where?" he said.</p> + +<p>He had her by the arm in a second and was pushing up the loose holland +sleeve. Later she marvelled at his promptitude, his instant intuition. +At the moment she was too terrified, too near collapse, to notice any of +these things.</p> + +<p>He pushed her down upon a chair and knelt beside her. She found herself +staring down at a shock of straw-coloured hair, while the owner of it +sucked and sucked with an almost brutal force at a place in the crook of +her arm that felt as if a red-hot needle had been plunged into it. She +could feel the drawing of his teeth against her flesh. It was a sensation +almost more horrible than the actual snake-bite had been.</p> + +<p>Twice he turned his head and spat into the hearth, and she saw that his +face was smooth and young, the colour of sun-baked brick.</p> + +<p>At last he looked up at her with the most extraordinarily blue eyes she +had ever seen, and said, with a kindly twinkle in them, "I don't think +you'll die this time, missis."</p> + +<p>She looked from him to her arm. The bite showed no more than the sting of +a nettle, but around it was the deep impress of his teeth. Certainly he +had done his task thoroughly.</p> + +<p>The kettle was singing over the fire. He got to his feet and patted Robin +on the head. "Let's wash it," he said. "Is there a basin handy?"</p> + +<p>Dot sat in her chair, feeling rather weak. He fetched a bowl and set it +on a chair by her side. He poured water into it from the kettle.</p> + +<p>She looked up at him rather apprehensively. "I needn't scald it, need I?"</p> + +<p>He smiled down at her in instant reassurance, a vivid smile that warmed +her fear-chilled heart. His teeth were white and regular, like the teeth +of a young wild animal.</p> + +<p>"There's some cold water somewhere, isn't there?" he said.</p> + +<p>She told him where to find it, and he cooled the steaming water to a +temperature that she could endure without flinching. Then he made her +rest her arm in it.</p> + +<p>"That'll comfort it," he said. "Now, have you got any spirits in the +house?"</p> + +<p>"I don't drink spirits," she said quickly.</p> + +<p>He smiled again. "No? But you must this time—just to complete the cure. +Tell me where to find them!"</p> + +<p>His smile was certainly magnetic, for she told him without further +protest.</p> + +<p>When he brought the spirits, she looked at him for the first time with +active interest.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you are Inspector Hill," she said.</p> + +<p>He was pouring whisky into a glass. He gave her a sidelong glance. "Now +that's a very clever guess," he said. "What put you on to that?"</p> + +<p>She smiled, mainly because he had meant her to smile. "I've been half +expecting you all day," she said.</p> + +<p>He looked down at her more fully as he finished his task. "That's very +interesting," he said. "Who told you to expect me?"</p> + +<p>"My brother—Jack Burton," she explained.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Jack Burton is your brother, is he?" He contemplated her +thoughtfully for a second or two. "Well, I seem to have turned up +at the right moment," he said.</p> + +<p>"Yes." She leaned forward with flushed face upraised. "And I haven't said +'Thank you' yet. I'm so grateful to you. I can't tell you how grateful."</p> + +<p>"Don't!" he said. "Don't! Drink this instead! Drink to the lucky chance +that sent me your way! I'm proud to have been of use to you."</p> + +<p>She took the glass unwillingly. "I'm sure I shall hate it."</p> + +<p>"It's the best antidote to snake-poison out," he said. "I swear it won't +upset you. If it makes you sleepy, well, you're in the right place and +safe enough."</p> + +<p>She liked his utterance of the last words. They had a genuine ring. "But, +if I drink, so must you!" she said. "And eat, too! Jack said I was to +give you a meal if you came."</p> + +<p>He smiled again, a large, humorous smile. "That's the kindest thing Jack +Burton has ever done," he said, with warm approval. "I'll join you with +pleasure, missis. This man-trapping business is hungry work for all of +us."</p> + +<p>Dot frowned a little. It did not please her to be reminded of his +mission. Her former prejudice began to revive within her, his kindness +notwithstanding.</p> + +<p>"I don't like the thought of it myself," she told him abruptly. "But, of +course, I'm only a 'new chum.'"</p> + +<p>"What?" he said, pausing in the act of pouring himself out a drink. "That +sounds as if you want that scoundrel Bill to get away."</p> + +<p>She coloured in some confusion under his look. How could she expect to +make a policeman understand? "No—no!" she said, with vehemence. "I'm not +quite so soft as that. I'd shoot him myself if he came my way. But I hate +to think of a dozen men all on the track of one. It really isn't fair."</p> + +<p>He laughed, but without superiority. "And yet you'd swell the odds? Do +you call that fair?"</p> + +<p>Dot paused to collect her arguments. It seemed that possibly even this +machine of justice carried a small fragment of sympathy in his soul. +Certainly he was not the judicial automaton she had expected him to be.</p> + +<p>"It's like this," she said. "I'd shoot him if he came my way because +he has done us a lot of mischief, and I want to stop it. But I'd +do it squarely. I wouldn't do it when he wasn't looking. And I +wouldn't—ever—make it my profession to hunt down criminals and even +employ black men to help. I think that's hateful. I couldn't live that +way. I'd be above it."</p> + +<p>"I see." He lifted his glass to her in a silent toast, and drank a deep +draught. "Then if you chanced to know where he was, I take it you'd just +settle him yourself, if you could. But you wouldn't in any case give him +away to the police. Is that your point of view?"</p> + +<p>"It isn't unreasonable, is it?" she said, with a touch of eagerness. "I +mean, if you weren't what you are, wouldn't you do the same?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," he said, smiling at her whimsically. "You see, being what +I am handicaps me rather. I haven't much time for working out nice +problems."</p> + +<p>Dot leaned back again. He had disappointed her. But she could not neglect +her duty on that account. She took her arm out of the water and dried it. +Then she arose.</p> + +<p>"How does it feel?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, only a little stiff," she answered, turning away. "Now I am going to +get you something to eat. Sit down, won't you?"</p> + +<p>Her tone was distant, but he did not seem to notice any change. He +thanked her and sat down, facing the open door. Robin sat pressed against +his knee. It was evident that the dog entertained no doubts regarding the +visitor. Having passed him as respectable, he accepted him without +reserve.</p> + +<p>This fact presently occurred to Dot as she waited upon her visitor, and, +since it was not her nature to prolong an uncomfortable situation, she +broke the silence to comment upon it.</p> + +<p>"He doesn't take to everyone at sight," she said.</p> + +<p>"No?" She saw again that frank, disarming smile. "You see, missis, I know +the ways of animals, and a very useful sort of knowledge I've found it."</p> + +<p>"I wonder why you call me missis," she said. "I'm Jack's sister, not his +wife."</p> + +<p>He looked up at her. "But you're the boss of the establishment, I take +it?"</p> + +<p>She smiled also half against her will. "I'm rather new at present. But no +doubt I shall learn."</p> + +<p>"And then you'll go and boss some one else?" he suggested.</p> + +<p>She coloured a little. "No. I shall stick to Jack," she said, with +decision.</p> + +<p>"Lucky Jack!" he said. "But you're quite right. There's no one good +enough for you around here. We're a low breed mostly."</p> + +<p>"I didn't mean that!" she protested, in quick distress. "I never thought +that!"</p> + +<p>"I know," he said. "I know. But you've sort of felt it all the same. Me, +for instance!" His intensely blue eyes challenged her suddenly. "Haven't +you said to yourself, 'That man may be up to local standard, but he's +made of shocking crude material'? Straight now! Haven't you?"</p> + +<p>She hesitated, her face burning under his direct look. "Do you—do you +really want to know what I think?" she said.</p> + +<p>"I do." There was something uncompromising in the brief rejoinder, yet +somehow she did not find him formidable.</p> + +<p>She answered him without difficulty in spite of her embarrassment. "I +think, then, that it isn't you yourself at all that I feel like that +about. It's just your profession."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" He began to smile again. "Once live down that, and I might be +possible. Is that it?"</p> + +<p>She nodded, still flushed, yet curiously not uneasy. "Something like +that. Why can't you be a farmer like Jack?"</p> + +<p>"I wish I were," he said, unexpectedly.</p> + +<p>"Why?" The word slipped out almost in spite of her, but she felt she must +have an answer.</p> + +<p>He answered her with his eyes full on her. "Because I'd like to lead the +sort of life you would approve of," he said. "I've a notion it would be +worth while."</p> + +<p>She turned aside from his look. "It's only a matter of opinion, of +course," she said.</p> + +<p>"Is it?" he said. He turned his attention to the meal before him, and ate +rapidly for a few moments while he considered the matter. At length: +"Yes," he said. "I suppose you're right. Anyhow, you don't feel drawn +that way. You won't feel a bit pleased if Buckskin Bill gets caught by +the police this journey after this?"</p> + +<p>Dot shook her head. "I don't think a man ought to be tracked down like a +wild beast," she said, resolutely.</p> + +<p>The blue eyes that watched her kindled a little. He finished what was on +his plate and pushed it from him.</p> + +<p>"I'm greatly obliged to you," he said, "for your hospitality. I needed +it—badly enough. You'll thank Jack for me, won't you? I must be going +now. But there's just one thing I'd like to say to you first."</p> + +<p>He got up and stood before her. It was impossible not to admire his +splendid height and breadth of chest. He could have lifted her easily +with one hand. And yet, strangely, though she felt his power he did not +make her aware of her own weakness.</p> + +<p>She looked up at him. "Yes? What is it?"</p> + +<p>"Just this, Miss Burton," he said, and somehow he lingered over the name +in a fashion that made it sound musical in her ears. "I'd like to strike +a bargain with you—because you've made a sort of impression on me. I'm +not meaning any impertinence. You know that?"</p> + +<p>"Go on!" she whispered, almost inaudibly.</p> + +<p>He went on, bending slightly towards her. "The odds are dead against +Buckskin Bill escaping, but—he may escape. If he does, will you—the +next time I come to see you—treat me—without prejudice?"</p> + +<p>He also was almost whispering as he uttered the last words.</p> + +<p>She drew a sharp breath and looked at him. "You—you—are going to let +him go?" she said, incredulously.</p> + +<p>He did not answer. His eyes were drawing hers with a magnetism she could +not resist. And they thrilled her—they thrilled her!</p> + +<p>"The odds are dead against him," he said again, after a moment. "Is it—a +bargain?"</p> + +<p>Her heart gave a queer little jerk within her. She stood motionless for +a space. Then, with a little quivering smile, she very, very slowly gave +him her hand.</p> + +<p>He took it into his great brown one, and though his touch was wholly +gentle she felt the force of the man throbbing behind it, and it seemed +to surge all around and within her.</p> + +<p>He stood for a second as if irresolute or uncertain how to treat her. +Then, with a wordless sound that needed no interpretation, he pushed +back the sleeve from the place whence he had sucked the poison. It showed +only a little red now. He bent very low until his lips pressed it again. +Then for one burning moment they neither moved nor breathed.</p> + +<p>The next thing that Dot realized was the passing of his great figure +through the doorway out of her sight. She saw him don his slouch hat as +he went.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>She cleared the table again and sat down to her work. But somehow all +energy had gone from her. A great lassitude hung upon her. Perhaps it was +caused by the heat, or possibly by the whisky he had made her drink. +There was no resisting it. It pressed her down like a physical weight. +She gave herself up to it at last, and leaning back in her chair like a +tired child she slept.</p> + +<p>Robin lay at her feet. The afternoon crawled away. Like the enchanted +princess of old, she reclined in a slumber so deep that life itself +seemed to be suspended.</p> + +<p>The sun began to slant towards the west, and the pastures took on a +golden look. The lambs gambolled together with shrill bleatings. But +Dot Burton slept on in her chair, a faint smile on her face of innocence. +Though she could not have been dreaming in so deep a repose, her last +thought ere she slept must have held happiness. Her serenity lay like a +tender veil upon her.</p> + +<p>It was drawing towards evening when Robin suddenly raised his head again +with a deep growl. There came the sound of footsteps through the open +door. The girl stirred and slowly awoke.</p> + +<p>She stretched up her arms with a sleepy movement, and then, as voices +reached her, roused herself completely and got to her feet.</p> + +<p>Her brother and another man—a tall, lantern-jawed stranger—were on the +point of entering.</p> + +<p>Jack led the way. "Halloa, Dot!" he said. "Have you seen anything of our +man? He's broken cover in this direction in spite of us. You haven't shot +him by any chance, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>Dot looked from him to the man behind him.</p> + +<p>"Inspector Hill," said Jack. "Eh? What's the matter?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing—nothing!" said Dot. Yet she had gone back a step as if she had +been struck. She held out her hand to the policeman. "How do you do? +I—I—am very pleased to meet you. So you haven't caught him after all?"</p> + +<p>Inspector Hill was looking at her keenly. He wore a sardonic expression, +as of one who knows that he has been outwitted. "I have not, madam," +he said. "Neither, I presume, have you?"</p> + +<p>She shook her head, looking him straight in the face. "No, I haven't. +I am afraid I have been asleep. Are you sure he passed this way?"</p> + +<p>Her eyes were clear and candid as the eyes of a boy. Inspector Hill +turned his own away.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Quite sure," he said, with brevity.</p> + +<p>"He's a slippery devil," declared Jack Burton. "Sit down, man! My sister +is a 'new chum.' She probably wouldn't have known him from a man on the +farm if she'd seen him. In fact, if you'd turned up here by yourself she +might have shot you—on suspicion."</p> + +<p>"I probably should," said Dot, coldly.</p> + +<p>She did not like Inspector Hill, and her manner plainly said so.</p> + +<p>At her brother's behest she set food before them, for they were hot and +jaded after their fruitless day; but she left the duties of host entirely +to him, and as soon as possible she went away with Robin to feed the +lambs.</p> + +<p>A wonderful glow lay upon the grasslands. It was as if she moved through +a magic atmosphere upon which some enchantment had been laid. Since that +wonderful sleep of hers all things seemed to have changed. Had it all +been a dream? she asked herself. Then, shuddering, she turned up her +sleeve to find that small red patch upon her arm.</p> + +<p>She found it. It tingled to her touch. Yet she continued to finger it +with a curious feeling that was almost awe. She thought it must be the +memory of his kiss that made it throb so hard.</p> + +<p>Some one came softly up behind her. An arm encircled her. She turned with +the day-dream still in her eyes and saw her brother.</p> + +<p>She pulled down her sleeve quickly, for though his face was kind, he +seemed to look at her oddly, almost with suspicion.</p> + +<p>"Had a quiet day?" he questioned, gently.</p> + +<p>She leaned against his shoulder, feeling small and rather uncomfortable. +"I—I was very busy all the morning," she said, evasively.</p> + +<p>"And in the afternoon?" he said.</p> + +<p>She nestled to him with a little coaxing movement. "In the afternoon," +she told him softly, "I went to sleep."</p> + +<p>"Yes?" he said.</p> + +<p>"That's all," said Dot, lifting her face to kiss him.</p> + +<p>He took her chin and held it while he looked long and searchingly into +her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Dot!" he said.</p> + +<p>She made a little gesture of protest, but he held her still.</p> + +<p>"Dot, tell me what has been happening!" he said.</p> + +<p>She had begun to tremble. "I'll tell you," she said, "when Inspector Hill +has gone."</p> + +<p>"Tell me now!" he said.</p> + +<p>But she shook her head with tightly compressed lips.</p> + +<p>"You have seen the man!" he said.</p> + +<p>Dot remained silent.</p> + +<p>His face grew grim. "Dot! Shall I tell you what Hill said to me just +now?"</p> + +<p>"If you like," whispered Dot.</p> + +<p>"He said, 'She has seen the man, and he has squared her. It's a way he +has with the women. You'll find she won't give him away.'"</p> + +<p>That stung, as it was meant to sting. She flinched under it. "I hate +Inspector Hill!" she said, with vehemence.</p> + +<p>He smiled a little. "I don't suppose that fact would upset him much. A +good many people don't exactly love him. But look here, Dot! You're not +a fool. At least, I hope not. You can't seriously wish to shield a thief. +Only this morning you were going to shoot him!"</p> + +<p>"Ah!" she said. And then suddenly she pulled up her sleeve and showed him +the mark upon her arm. "But he has saved my life since then," she said.</p> + +<p>"What?" said Jack. He caught her arm and looked at it. "You've had a +snake-bite!" he said.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Jack."</p> + +<p>His eyes went back to her face. "Why didn't you tell me before? What kind +of snake was it?"</p> + +<p>She told him, shuddering. "A horrible green thing—green as the grass. I +think it had some black marking on its back. I'm not sure. I didn't stop +to see. I—oh, Jack!" She broke off in swift consternation. "There is a +dead lamb!"</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said Jack, and strode across to the barn where it lay, stark and +lifeless in the shade in which it had taken refuge from the afternoon +heat.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Jack!" cried Dot, in distress. "What can have happened to it? +Not—not that hateful snake?"</p> + +<p>"Not much doubt as to that," said Jack, grimly. "No, don't look too +close! It's not a pretty sight. And don't cry, child! What's the good?"</p> + +<p>He drew her away, his arm around her, holding her closely, comforting +her. "It might have been you," he said.</p> + +<p>She lifted her wet face from his shoulder. "It was—it would have +been—but for—"</p> + +<p>"All right," he interrupted. "Don't say any more!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>He left her to recover herself and went back to Fletcher Hill, +sardonically awaiting him.</p> + +<p>"On a wrong scent this time," he said. "She's lost one of the lambs from +snake-bite, and it's upset her. She's a 'new chum,' you know."</p> + +<p>"I know," said Inspector Hill.</p> + +<p>Jack Burton leaned upon the table and looked him in the eyes. "My sister +is not a detective," he said, warningly. "Buckskin Bill has been one too +many for us this time. The odds were dead against him, but he's slipped +through. And I've a pretty firm notion he won't come back."</p> + +<p>"So have I," said Inspector Hill, unmoved.</p> + +<p>"And a blasted good job too!" said Jack Burton, forcibly.</p> + +<p>A gleam of humour crossed the Inspector's face. He pulled out his pipe +with a gesture that made for peace.</p> + +<p>"If I were in your place," he said, "I daresay I'd say the same."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1><a name="Without_Prejudice" id="Without_Prejudice"></a><span class="smcap">Without Prejudice</span></h1> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>Contents</h3> + +<p> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I.">CHAPTER I.--SILLY SENTIMENT</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II.">CAPTER II.--NUMBER THREE</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III.">CHAPTER III.--FLETCHER HILL</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV.">CHAPTER IV.--THE COAT OF MAIL</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V.">CHAPTER V.--THE LOST ROMANCE</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI.">CHAPTER VI.--THE WAY TO HAPPINESS</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII.">CHAPTER VII.--THE CONQUEROR</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII.">CHAPTER VIII.--THE MEETING</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX.">CHAPTER IX.--THE MINE</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X.">CHAPTER X.--THE GREATER LOVE</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI.">CHAPTER XI.--WITHOUT CONDITIONS</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII.">CHAPTER XII.--THE BOSS OF BARREN VALLEY</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII.">CHAPTER XIII.--THE OFFICIAL SEAL</a><br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I." id="CHAPTER_I."></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>SILLY SENTIMENT</h3> + + +<p>"It's time I set about making my own living," said Dot Burton.</p> + +<p>She spoke resolutely, and her face was resolute also; its young lines +were for the moment almost grim. She stood in the doorway of the stable, +watching her brother rub down the animal he had just been riding. Behind +her the rays of the Australian sun smote almost level, making of her fair +hair a dazzling aureole of gold. The lashes of her blue eyes were tipped +with gold also, but the brows above them were delicately dark. They were +slightly drawn just then, as if she were considering a problem of +considerable difficulty.</p> + +<p>Jack Burton was frankly frowning over his task. It was quite evident that +his sister's announcement was not a welcome one.</p> + +<p>She continued after a moment, as he did not respond in words: "I am sure +I could make a living, Jack. I'm not the 'new chum' I used to be, thanks +to you. You've taught me a whole heap of things."</p> + +<p>Jack glanced up for a second. "Aren't you happy here?" he said.</p> + +<p>She eluded the question. "You've been awfully good to me, dear old boy. +But really, you know, I think you've got burdens enough without me. In +any case, it isn't fair that I should add to them."</p> + +<p>Jack grunted. "It isn't fair that you should do more than half the work +on the place and not be paid for it, you mean. You're quite right, it +isn't."</p> + +<p>"No, I don't mean that, Jack." Quite decidedly she contradicted him. "I +don't mind work. I like to have my time filled. I love being useful. It +isn't that at all. But all the same, you and Adela are quite complete +without me. Before you were married it was different. I was necessary to +you then. But I'm not now. And so—"</p> + +<p>"Has Adela been saying that to you?"</p> + +<p>Jack Burton straightened himself abruptly. His expression was almost +fierce.</p> + +<p>Dot laughed at sight of it. "No, Jack, no! Don't be so jumpy! Of course +she hasn't. As if she would! She hasn't said a thing. But I know how she +feels, and I should feel exactly the same in her place. Now do be +sensible! You must see my point. I'm getting on, you know, Jack. I'm +twenty-five. Just fancy! You've sheltered me quite long enough—too long, +really. You must—you really must—let me go."</p> + +<p>He was looking at her squarely. "I can't prevent your going," he said, +gruffly. "But it won't be with my consent—ever—or my approval. You'll +go against my will—dead against it."</p> + +<p>"Jack—darling!" She went to him impulsively and took him by the +shoulders. "Now that isn't reasonable of you. It really isn't. You've +got to take that back."</p> + +<p>He looked at her moodily. "I shan't take it back. I can't. I am dead +against your going. I know this country. It's not a place for lone women. +And you're not much more than a child, whatever you may say. It's rough, +I tell you. And you"—he looked down upon her slender fairness—"you +weren't made for rough things."</p> + +<p>"Please don't be silly, Jack!" she broke in. "I'm quite as strong as the +average woman and, I hope, as capable. I'm grown up, you silly man! I'm +old—older than you are in some ways, even though you have been in the +world ten years longer. Can't you see I want to stretch my wings?"</p> + +<p>"Want to leave me?" he said, and put his arms suddenly about her. She +nestled to him on the instant, lifting her face to kiss him.</p> + +<p>"No, darling, no! Never in life! But—you must see—you must see"—her +eyes filled with tears unexpectedly, and she laid her head upon his +shoulder to hide them—"that I can't—live on you—for ever. It isn't +fair—to you—or to Adela—or to—to—anyone else who might turn up."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" he said. "Or to you either. We've no right to make a slave of you. +I know that. Perhaps Adela hasn't altogether realized it."</p> + +<p>"I've nothing—whatever—against Adela," Dot told him, rather shakily. +"She has never been—other than kind. No, it is what I feel myself. I +am not necessary to you or to Adela, and—in a way—I'm glad of it. I +like to know you two are happy. I'm not a bit jealous, Jack, not a bit. +It's just as it should be. But you'll have to let me go, dear. It's time +I went. It's right that I should go. You mustn't try to hold me back."</p> + +<p>But Jack's arms had tightened about her. "I hate the thought of it," he +said. "Give it up! Give it up, old girl—for my sake!"</p> + +<p>She shook her head silently in his embrace.</p> + +<p>He went on with less assurance. "If you wanted to get married it would +be a different thing. I would never stand in the way of your marrying a +decent man. If you must go, why don't you do that?"</p> + +<p>She laughed rather tremulously. "You think every good woman ought to +marry, don't you, Jack?"</p> + +<p>"When there's a good man waiting for her, why not?" said Jack.</p> + +<p>She lifted her head and looked at him. "I'm not going to marry Fletcher +Hill, Jack," she said, with firmness.</p> + +<p>Jack made a slight movement of impatience. "I never could see your +objection to the man," he said.</p> + +<p>She laughed again, drawing herself back from him. "But, Jack darling, a +woman doesn't marry a man just because he's not objectionable, does she? +I always said I wouldn't marry him, didn't I?"</p> + +<p>"You might do a lot worse," said Jack.</p> + +<p>"Of course I might—heaps worse. But that isn't the point. I think he's +quite a good sort—in his own sardonic way. And he is a great friend of +yours, too, isn't he? That fact would count vastly in his favour if I +thought of marrying at all. But, you see—I don't."</p> + +<p>"I call that uncommon hard on Fletcher," observed Jack.</p> + +<p>She opened her blue eyes very wide. "My dear man, why?"</p> + +<p>"After waiting for you all this time," he explained, suffering his arms +to fall away from her.</p> + +<p>She still gazed at him in astonishment. "Jack! But I never asked him to +wait!"</p> + +<p>He turned from her with a shrug of the shoulders. "No, but I did."</p> + +<p>"You did? Jack, what can you mean?"</p> + +<p>Jack stooped to feel one of his animal's hocks. He spoke without looking +at her. "It's been my great wish—all this time. I've been deuced anxious +about you often. Australia isn't the place for unprotected girls—at +least, not out in the wilds. I've seen—more than enough of that. And +you're no wiser than the rest. You lost your head once—over a rotter. +You might again. Who knows?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, really, Jack!" The girl's face flushed very deeply. She turned it +aside instinctively, though he was not looking at her. But the colour +died as quickly as it came, leaving her white and quivering.</p> + +<p>She stood mutely struggling for self-control while Jack continued. "I +know Fletcher. I know he's sound. He's a man who always gets what he +wants. He wouldn't be a magistrate now if he didn't. And when I saw he +wanted you, I made up my mind he should have you if I could possibly work +it. I gave him my word I'd help him, and I begged him to wait a bit, to +give you time to get over that other affair. He's been waiting—ever +since."</p> + +<p>Dot's hands clenched slowly. She spoke with a great effort. "Then he'd +better stop waiting—at once, Jack, and marry someone else."</p> + +<p>"He won't do that," said Jack. He stood up again abruptly and faced round +upon her. "Look here, dear! Why can't you give in and marry him? He's +such a good sort if you only get to know him well. You've always kept him +at arm's length, haven't you? Well, let him come a bit nearer! You'll +soon like him well enough to marry him. He'd make you happy, Dot. Take my +word for it!"</p> + +<p>She met his look bravely, though the distress still lingered in her eyes. +"But, dear old Jack," she said, "no woman can possibly love at will."</p> + +<p>"It would come afterwards," Jack said, with conviction. "I know it would. +He's such a good chap. You've never done him justice. See, Dot girl! +You're not happy. I know that. You want to stretch your wings, you say. +Well, there's only one way of doing it, for you can't go out into the +world—this world—alone. At least, you'll break my heart if you do. He's +the only fellow anywhere near worthy of you. And he's been so awfully +patient. Do give him his chance!"</p> + +<p>He put his arm round her shoulders again, holding her very tenderly.</p> + +<p>She yielded herself to him with a suppressed sob. "I'm sure it would be +wrong, Jack," she said.</p> + +<p>"Not a bit wrong!" Jack maintained, stoutly. "What have you been waiting +for all this time? A myth, an illusion, that can never come true! You've +no right to spoil your own life and someone else's as well for such a +reason as that. I call that wrong—if you like."</p> + +<p>She hid her face against him with a piteous gesture. "He—said he would +come back, Jack."</p> + +<p>Jack frowned over her bowed head even while he softly stroked it. "And if +he had—do you think I would ever have let you go to him? A cattle thief, +Dot! An outlaw!"</p> + +<p>She clung to him trembling. "He saved my life—at the risk of his own," +she whispered, almost inarticulately.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know—I know. He was that sort—brave enough, but a hopeless +rotter." Jack's voice held a curious mixture of tenderness and contempt. +"Women always fall in love with that sort of fellow," he said. "Heaven +knows why. But you'd no right to lose your heart to him, little 'un. You +knew—you always knew—he wasn't the man for you."</p> + +<p>She clung to him in silence for a space, then lifted her face. "All +right, Jack," she said.</p> + +<p>He looked at her closely for a moment. "Come! It's only silly sentiment," +he urged. "You can't feel bad about it after all this time. Why, child, +it's five years!"</p> + +<p>She laughed rather shakily. "I am a big fool, aren't I, Jack? +Yet—somehow—do you know—I thought he meant to come back."</p> + +<p>"Not he!" declared Jack. "Catch Buckskin Bill putting his head back into +the noose when once he had got away! He's not quite so simple as that, my +dear. He probably cleared out of Australia for good as soon as he got the +chance. And a good thing, too!" he added, with emphasis. "He'd done +mischief enough."</p> + +<p>She raised her lips to his. "Thank you for not laughing at me, Jack," she +said. "Don't—ever—tell Adela, will you? I'm sure she would."</p> + +<p>He smiled a little. "Yes, I think she would. She'd say you were old +enough to know better."</p> + +<p>Dot nodded. "And very sensible, too. I am."</p> + +<p>He patted her shoulder. "Good girl! Then that chapter is closed. +And—you're going to give poor Fletcher his chance?"</p> + +<p>She drew a sharp breath. "Oh, I don't know. I can't promise that. +Don't—don't hustle me, Jack!"</p> + +<p>He gave her a hard squeeze and let her go. "There, she shan't be teased +by her horrid bully of a brother! She's going to play the game off her +own bat, and I wish her luck with all my heart."</p> + +<p>He turned to the job of feeding his horse, and Dot, after a few +inconsequent remarks, sauntered away in the direction of the barn, +"to be alone with herself," as she put it.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II." id="CHAPTER_II."></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>NUMBER THREE</h3> + + +<p>Adela Burton was laying the cloth for supper, and looking somewhat +severe over the process. She was usually cheerful at that hour of the +day, for it brought her husband back from his work and, thanks to Dot's +ministrations, the evening was free from toil. It was seldom, indeed, +that Adela bestirred herself to lay the cloth for any meal, for she +maintained that it was better for a girl like Dot to have plenty to do at +all times, and she herself preferred her needlework, at which she was an +adept.</p> + +<p>No one could have called her an idle woman, but she was eminently a +selfish one. She followed her own bent, quite regardless of the desires +and inclinations of anyone else. She was the hub of her world from her +own point of view, and she was wholly incapable of recognizing any other. +Most people realized this and, as is the way of humanity, took her at her +own valuation, making allowances for her undoubted egotism. For she was +comely and had a taking manner, never troubling herself unless her own +personal convenience were threatened. She laughed a good deal, though her +sense of humour was none of the finest, and she was far too practical to +possess any imagination. In short, as she herself expressed it, she was +sensible; and, being so, she had small sympathy with her sister-in-law's +foolish sentimentalities, which she considered wholly out of place in the +everyday life at the farm.</p> + +<p>Not that Dot ever dreamed of confiding in her. She sheltered herself +invariably behind a reserve so delicate as to be almost imperceptible to +the elder woman's blunter susceptibilities. But she could not always hide +the fineness of her inner feelings, and there were times when the two +clashed in consequence. The occasions were rare, but Adela had come to +know by experience that when they occurred, opposition on her part was of +no avail. Dot was bound to have her way when her soul was stirred to +battle for it, as on the day when she had refused to let Robin, the dog, +be chained up when not on duty with the sheep. Adela had objected to his +presence in the house, and Dot had firmly insisted upon it on the score +that Robin had always been an inmate as the companion and protector of +her lonely hours.</p> + +<p>Adela had disputed the point with some energy, but she had been +vanquished, and now, when Dot asserted herself, she seldom met with +opposition from her sister-in-law. It was practically impossible that +they should ever be fond of one another. They had nothing in common. Yet +it was very seldom that Jack saw any signs of strain between them. They +dwelt together without antagonism and without intimacy.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, Dot's announcement of her desire to go out into the world +and hew a way for herself came as no surprise to him. He knew that she +was restless and far from happy, knew that his marriage had unsettled +her, albeit in a fashion he had not fathomed till their talk together. +His young sister was very dear to him. She had been thrown upon his care +years before when the death of their parents had left her dependent upon +him. It had always been his wish to have her with him. His love for her +was of a deep, almost maternal nature, and he hated the thought of +parting with her. He had hoped that the companionship of Adela would have +been a joy to her, and he was intensely disappointed that it had proved +otherwise. His anxiety for her welfare had always been uppermost with +him, and it hurt him somewhat when Adela laughed at his hopes and fears +regarding the girl. It was the only point upon which his wife and he +lacked sympathy.</p> + +<p>Entering by way of the kitchen premises on that evening of his talk +with Dot, he was surprised to find Adela fulfilling what had come to +be regarded as Dot's duties. He looked around him questioningly as she +emerged from the larder carrying a dish in one hand and a jug of milk +in the other.</p> + +<p>"Where's the little 'un?" he said.</p> + +<p>It was his recognized pet name for Dot, but for some reason Adela had +never approved of it. She frowned now at its utterance.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean Dot? Oh, mooning about somewhere, I suppose. And leaving +other people to do the work."</p> + +<p>Jack promptly relieved her of her burden and set himself to help her with +her task.</p> + +<p>Adela was not ill-tempered as a rule. She smiled at him. "Good man, Jack! +No one can say you're an idler, anyway. I've got rather a nice supper for +you. I shouldn't wonder if Fletcher Hill turns up to share it. I hear he +is on circuit at Trelevan."</p> + +<p>"I heard it, too," said Jack. "He's practically sure to come."</p> + +<p>"He's very persistent," said Adela. "Do you think he will ever win out?"</p> + +<p>Jack nodded slowly. "I've never known him fail yet in anything he set his +mind to—at least, only once. And that was a fluke."</p> + +<p>"What sort of a fluke?" questioned Adela, who was frankly curious.</p> + +<p>"When Buckskin Bill slipped through his fingers." Jack spoke +thoughtfully. "That's the only time I ever knew him fail, and I'm not +sure that it wasn't intentional then."</p> + +<p>"Intentional!" Adela opened her eyes.</p> + +<p>Jack smiled a little. "I don't say it was so. I only say it was +possible. But never mind that! It's an old story, and the man got away, +anyhow—disappeared, dropped out. Possibly he's dead. I hope he is. He +did mischief enough in a short time."</p> + +<p>"He set the whole district humming, didn't he?" said Adela. "They say all +the women fell in love with him at sight. I wish I'd seen him."</p> + +<p>Jack broke into a laugh. "You'd certainly have fallen a victim!"</p> + +<p>She tossed her head. "I'm sure I shouldn't. I prefer respectable men. +Shall we lay an extra plate in case Mr. Hill turns up?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Jack. "Let him come unexpectedly!"</p> + +<p>She gave him a shrewd look. "You think Dot will like that best?"</p> + +<p>He nodded again. "Be careful! She's coming. Here's Robin!"</p> + +<p>Robin came in, wagging his tail and smiling, and behind him came Dot. She +moved slowly, as if dispirited. Jack's quick eyes instantly detected the +fact that she had been shedding tears.</p> + +<p>"You're too late, little 'un," he said, with kindly cheeriness. "The work +is all done."</p> + +<p>She looked from him to Adela. "I'm sorry I'm late," she said. "I'm afraid +I forgot about supper."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you're in love!" joked Adela. "You'll forget to come in at all one +of these days."</p> + +<p>The girl gave her a swift look, but said nothing, passing through with +a weary step on her way to her own room.</p> + +<p>Robin followed her closely, as one in her confidence; and Jack laid a +quiet hand on his wife's arm.</p> + +<p>"Don't laugh at her!" he said.</p> + +<p>She stared at him. "Good gracious, Jack! What's the matter? I didn't mean +anything."</p> + +<p>"I know you didn't. But this thing is serious. If Fletcher Hill comes +to-night, I believe she'll have him—that is, if she's let alone. But she +won't if you twit her with it. It's touch and go."</p> + +<p>Jack spoke with great earnestness. It was evident that the matter was one +upon which he felt very strongly, and Adela shrugged a tolerant shoulder +and yielded to his persuasion.</p> + +<p>"I'll be as solemn as a judge," she promised. "The affair certainly has +hung fire considerably. It would be a good thing to get it settled. But +Fletcher Hill! Well, he wouldn't be my choice!"</p> + +<p>"He's a fine man," asserted Jack.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I've no doubt. But he's an animal with a nasty bite, or I am much +mistaken. However, let Dot marry him by all means if she feels that way! +It's certainly high time she married somebody."</p> + +<p>She turned aside to put the teapot on the hob, humming inconsequently, +and the subject dropped.</p> + +<p>Jack went to his room to wash, and in a few minutes more they gathered +round the supper-table with careless talk of the doings of the day.</p> + +<p>It had always been Dot's favourite time, the supper-hour. In the old days +before Jack's marriage she had looked forward to it throughout the day. +The companionship of this beloved brother of hers had been the chief joy +of her life.</p> + +<p>But things were different now. It was her part to serve the meal, to +clear the table, and to wash the dishes Jack and Adela were complete +without her. Though they always welcomed her when the work was done, she +knew that her society was wholly unessential, and she often prolonged her +labours in the scullery that she might not intrude too soon upon them. +She was no longer necessary to anyone—except to Robin the faithful, +who followed her as her shadow. She had become Number Three, and she was +lonely—she was lonely!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III." id="CHAPTER_III."></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>FLETCHER HILL</h3> + + +<p>There came a sound of hoofs thudding over the pastures. Robin lifted his +eyebrows and cocked his ears with a growl.</p> + +<p>Dot barely glanced up from the saucepan she was cleaning; her lips +tightened a little, that was all.</p> + +<p>The hoofs drew rapidly nearer, dropping from a canter to a quick trot +that ended in a clattering walk on the stones of the yard. Through the +open window Dot heard the heavy thud of a man's feet as he jumped to the +ground.</p> + +<p>Then came Jack's voice upraised in greeting. "Hallo, Fletcher! Come in, +man! Come in! Delighted to see you."</p> + +<p>The voice that spoke in answer was short and clipped. Somehow it had an +official sound. "Hallo, Jack! Good evening, Mrs. Burton! What! Alone?"</p> + +<p>Jack laughed. "Dot's in the kitchen. Hi! little 'un! Bring some drinks!"</p> + +<p>Robin was on his feet, uttering low, jerky barks. Dot put aside her +saucepan and began to wash her hands. She did not hasten to obey Jack's +call, but when she turned to collect glasses on a tray she was trembling +and her breath came quickly, as if from violent exercise.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless she did not hesitate, but went straight through to the +little parlour, carrying her tray with the jingling glasses upon it.</p> + +<p>Fletcher Hill was facing her as she entered, a tall man, tough and +muscular, with black hair that was tinged with grey, and a long stubborn +jaw that gave him an indomitable look. His lips were thin and very firm, +with a sardonic twist that imparted a faintly supercilious expression. +His eyes were dark, deep-set, and shrewd. He was a magistrate of some +repute in the district, a position which he had attained by sheer +unswerving hard work in the police force, in which for years he had +been known as "Bloodhound Hill." A man of rigid ideas and stern justice, +he had forced his way to the front, respected by all, but genuinely liked +by only a very few.</p> + +<p>Jack Burton had regarded him as a friend for years, but even Jack could +not claim a very close intimacy with him. He merely understood the man's +silences better than most. His words were very rarely of a confidential +order.</p> + +<p>He was emphatically not a man to attract any girl very readily, and Dot's +attitude towards him had always been of a strictly impersonal nature. In +fact, Jack himself did not know whether she really liked him or not. Yet +had he set his heart upon seeing her safely married to him. There was no +other man of his acquaintance to whom he would willingly have entrusted +her. For Dot was very precious in his eyes. But to his mind Fletcher Hill +was worthy of her, and he believed that she would be as safe in his care +as in his own.</p> + +<p>That Fletcher Hill had long cherished the silent ambition of winning her +was a fact well known to him. Only once had they ever spoken on the +subject, and then the words had been few and briefly uttered. But to +Jack, who had taken the initiative in the matter, they had been more than +sufficient to testify to the man's earnestness of purpose. From that day +he had been heart and soul on Fletcher's side.</p> + +<p>He wished he could have given him a hint that evening as he looked up to +see the girl standing in the doorway; for Dot was so cold, so aloof in +her welcome. He did not see what Hill saw at the first glance—that she +was quivering from head to foot with nervous agitation.</p> + +<p>She set down her tray and gave her hand to the visitor. "Doesn't Rupert +want a drink?" she said.</p> + +<p>Rupert was his horse, and his most dearly prized possession. Hill's rare +smile showed for a moment at the question.</p> + +<p>"Let him cool down a bit first," he said. "I am afraid I've ridden him +rather hard."</p> + +<p>She gave him a fleeting glance. "You have come from Trelevan?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I got there this afternoon. We left Wallacetown early this +morning."</p> + +<p>"Rode all the way?" questioned Jack.</p> + +<p>"Yes, every inch. I wanted to see the Fortescue Gold Mine."</p> + +<p>"Ah! There's a rough crowd there," said Jack. "They say all the uncaught +criminals find their way to the Fortescue Gold Mine."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Hill.</p> + +<p>"Is it true?" asked Adela, curiously.</p> + +<p>"I am not in a position to say, madam." Hill's voice sounded sardonic.</p> + +<p>"That means he doesn't know," explained Jack. "Look here, man! If you've +ridden all the way from Wallacetown to-day you can't go back to Trelevan +to-night. Your animal must be absolutely used up—if you are not."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I think not. We are both tougher than that." Hill turned towards +him. "Don't mix it too strong, Jack! I hardly ever touch it except under +your roof."</p> + +<p>"I am indeed honoured," laughed Jack. "But if you're going to spend the +night you'll be able to sleep it off before you face your orderly in the +morning."</p> + +<p>"Do stay!" said Adela, hastening to follow up her husband's suggestion. +"We should all like it. I hope you will."</p> + +<p>Hill bowed towards her with stiff ceremony. "You are very kind, madam. +But I don't like to give trouble, and I am expected back."</p> + +<p>"By whom?" questioned Jack. "No one that counts, I'll swear. Your orderly +won't break his heart if you take a night out. He'll probably do the same +himself. And no one else will know. We'll let you leave as early as you +like in the morning, but not before. Come, that's settled, isn't it? Go +and get Rupert a shake-down, little 'un, and give him a decent feed with +plenty of corn in it! No, let her, man; let her! She likes doing it, eh, +Dot girl?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I like it," Dot said, and hurriedly disappeared before Hill could +intervene.</p> + +<p>Jack turned to his wife. "Now, missis! Go and make ready upstairs! It's +only a little room, Fletcher, but it's snug. That's the way," as his wife +followed Dot's example. "Now—quick, man! I want a word with you."</p> + +<p>"Obviously," said the magistrate, dryly. "You needn't say it, thanks all +the same. I'll leave that drink till—afterwards."</p> + +<p>He straightened his tall figure with an instinctive bracing of the +shoulders, and turned to the door.</p> + +<p>Jack watched him go with a smile that was not untinged with anxiety, and +lifted his glass as the door closed.</p> + +<p>"You've got the cards, old feller," he said. "May you play 'em well!"</p> + +<p>Fletcher Hill stepped forth into the moonlit night and stood still. It +had been a swift maneuvre on Jack's part, and it might have disconcerted +a younger man and driven him into ill-considered action. But it was not +this man's nature to act upon impulse. His caution was well known. It had +been his safeguard in many a difficulty. It stood him in good stead now.</p> + +<p>So for a space he remained, looking out over the widespread grasslands, +his grim face oddly softened and made human. He was no longer an +official, but a man, with feelings rendered all the keener for the +habitual restraint with which he masked them.</p> + +<p>He moved forward at length through the magic moonlight, guided by the +sound of trampling hoofs in the building where Jack's horse was stabled. +He reached the doorway, treading softly, and looked in.</p> + +<p>Dot was in a stall with his mount Rupert—a powerful grey, beside which +she looked even lighter and daintier than usual. The animal was nibbling +carelessly at her arm while she filled the manger with hay. She was +talking to him softly, and did not perceive Hill's presence. Robin, who +sat waiting near the entrance, merely pricked his ears at his approach.</p> + +<p>Some minutes passed. Fletcher stood like a sentinel against the doorpost. +He might have been part of it for his immobility. The girl within +continued to talk to the horse while she provided for his comfort, low +words unintelligible to the silent watcher, till, as she finished her +task, she suddenly threw her arms about the animal's neck and leaned her +head against it.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Rupert," she said, and there was a throb of passion in her words, "I +wish—I wish you and I could go right away into the wilderness together +and never—never come back!"</p> + +<p>Rupert turned his head and actually licked her hair. He was a horse of +understanding.</p> + +<p>She uttered a little sobbing laugh and tenderly kissed his nose. "You're +a dear, sympathetic boy! Who taught you to be, I wonder? Not your master, +I'm sure! He's nothing but a steel machine all through!"</p> + +<p>And then she turned to leave the stable and came upon Fletcher Hill, +mutely awaiting her.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV." id="CHAPTER_IV."></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>THE COAT OF MAIL</h3> + + +<p>She gave a great start at sight of him, then quickly drew herself +together.</p> + +<p>"You have come to see if Rupert is all right for the night?" she said. +"Go in and have a look at him."</p> + +<p>But Fletcher made no movement to enter. He faced her with a certain +rigidity. "No. I came to see you—alone."</p> + +<p>She made a sharp movement that was almost a gesture of protest. Then she +turned and drew the door softly shut behind her. Robin came and pressed +close to her, as if he divined that she stood in need of some support. +With her back to the closed door and the moonlight in her eyes, she +stood before Fletcher Hill.</p> + +<p>"What do you want to say to me?" she said.</p> + +<p>He bent slightly towards her. "It is not a specially easy thing, Miss +Burton," he said, "when I am more than half convinced that it is +something you would rather not hear."</p> + +<p>She met his look with unflinching steadiness. "I think life is made up of +that sort of thing," she said. "It's like a great puzzle that never fits. +I've been saying—unwelcome things—to-day, too."</p> + +<p>She smiled, but her lips were quivering. The man's hands slowly clenched.</p> + +<p>"That means you're unhappy," he said.</p> + +<p>She nodded. "I've been telling Jack that I must get away—go and earn my +own living somewhere. He won't hear of it."</p> + +<p>"I can understand that," said Fletcher Hill. "I wouldn't—in his place."</p> + +<p>She kept her eyes steadfastly raised to his. "Do you know what Jack wants +me to do?" she said.</p> + +<p>"Yes." Hill spoke briefly, almost sternly. "He wants you to marry me."</p> + +<p>She nodded again. "Yes."</p> + +<p>He held out his hand to her abruptly. "I want it, too," he said.</p> + +<p>She made no movement towards him. "That is what you came to say?" she +asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Hill.</p> + +<p>He waited a moment; then, as she did not take his hand, bent with a +certain mastery and took one of hers.</p> + +<p>"I've wanted it for years," he said.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" A little sound like a sob came with the words. She made as if she +would withdraw her hand, but in the end—because he held it closely—she +suffered him to keep it. She spoke with an effort. "I—think you ought to +understand that—that—it is not my wish to marry at all. If—if Jack had +stayed single, I—should have been content to live on here for always."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know," said Hill. "I saw that."</p> + +<p>She went on tremulously. "I've always felt—that a woman ought to be able +to manage alone. It's very kind of you to want to marry me. But—but +I—I think I'm getting too old."</p> + +<p>"Is that the only obstacle?" asked Hill.</p> + +<p>She tried to laugh, but it ended in a sound of tears. She turned her face +quickly aside. "I can't tell you—of any other," she said, with +difficulty, "except—except—"</p> + +<p>"Except that you don't like me much?" he suggested dryly. "Well, that +doesn't surprise me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I didn't say that!" She choked back her tears and turned back to +him. "Let's walk a little way together, shall we? I—I'll try and +explain—just how I feel about things."</p> + +<p>He moved at once to comply. They walked side by side over the +close-cropped grass. Dot would have slipped her hand free, but still +he kept it.</p> + +<p>They had traversed some yards before she spoke again, and then her voice +was low and studiously even.</p> + +<p>"I can't pretend to you that there has never been anyone else. It +wouldn't be right. You probably wouldn't believe me if I did."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I gathered that a long time ago," Hill said.</p> + +<p>"Yes, of course you did. You always see everything, don't you? It's your +specialty."</p> + +<p>"I don't go about with my eyes shut, certainly," said Hill.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad of that," Dot said. "I would rather you knew about it. +Only"—her voice quivered again—"I don't know how to tell you."</p> + +<p>"You are sure you would rather I knew?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Yes." She spoke with decision. "You've got to know if—if—" She broke +off.</p> + +<p>"If we are going to be married?" he suggested.</p> + +<p>"Yes," whispered Dot.</p> + +<p>Hill walked a few paces in silence. Then, unexpectedly, he drew the +nervous little hand he held through his arm. "Well, you needn't tell +me any more," he said. "I know the rest."</p> + +<p>She started and stood still. There was quick fear in the look she threw +him. "You mean Jack told you—"</p> + +<p>"No, I don't," said Hill. "Jack has never yet told me anything I couldn't +have told him ages before. I knew from the beginning. It was the fellow +they called Buckskin Bill, wasn't it?"</p> + +<p>She quivered from head to foot and was silent.</p> + +<p>Hill went on ruthlessly. "First, by a stroke of luck, he saved you from +death by snake-bite. He always had the luck on his side, that chap. I +should have caught him but for that. I'd got him—I'd got him in the +hollow of my hand. But you"—for the first time there was a streak of +tenderness in his speech—"you were a new chum then—you held me up. +Remember how you covered his retreat when we came up? Did you really +think I didn't know?"</p> + +<p>She uttered a sobbing laugh. "I was very frightened, too. I always was +scared at the law."</p> + +<p>Hill nodded. He also was grimly smiling.</p> + +<p>"But you dared it. You'd have dared anything for him that day. He always +got the women on his side."</p> + +<p>She winced a little.</p> + +<p>"It's true," he asserted. "I know what happened—as well as if I'd seen +it. He made love to you in a very gallant, courteous fashion. I never +saw Buckskin Bill, but I believe he was always courteous when he had +time. And he promised to come back, didn't he—when he'd given up being +a thief and a swindler and had turned his hand to an honest trade? All +that—for your sake!... Yes, I thought so. But, my dear child, do you +really imagine he meant it—after all these years?"</p> + +<p>She looked at him with a piteous little smile. "He—he'd be worth +having—if he did, wouldn't he?" she said.</p> + +<p>"I wonder," said Hill.</p> + +<p>He waited for a few moments, then laid his hand upon her shoulder with +a touch that seemed to her as heavy as the hand of the law.</p> + +<p>"I can't help thinking," he said, "that you'd find a plain man like +myself more satisfactory to live with. It's for you to decide. Only—it +seems a pity to waste your life waiting for someone who will never come."</p> + +<p>She could not contradict him. The argument was too obvious. She longed to +put that steady hand away from her, but she felt physically incapable of +doing so. An odd powerlessness possessed her. She was as one caught in a +trap.</p> + +<p>Yet after a second or two she mustered strength to ask a question to +which she had long desired an answer. "Did you ever hear any more of +him?"</p> + +<p>"Not for certain. I believe he left the country, but I don't know. +Anyway, he found this district too hot to hold him, for he never broke +cover in this direction again. I should have had him if he had."</p> + +<p>Fletcher Hill spoke with a grim assurance. He was holding her before him, +one hand on her shoulder, the other grasping hers. Abruptly he bent +towards her.</p> + +<p>"Come!" he said. "It's going to be 'Yes,' isn't it?"</p> + +<p>She looked up at him with troubled eyes. Suddenly she shivered as +if an icy blast had caught her. "Oh, I'm frightened!" she said. "I'm +frightened!"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" said Hill.</p> + +<p>He drew her gently to him and held her. She was shaking from head to +foot. She began to sob, hopelessly, like a lost child.</p> + +<p>"Don't!" he said. "Don't! It's all right. I'll take care of you. I'll +make you happy. I swear to God I'll make you happy!"</p> + +<p>It was forcibly spoken, and it showed her more of the man's inner nature +than she had ever seen before. Almost in spite of herself she was +touched. She leaned against him, fighting her weakness.</p> + +<p>"It isn't—fair to you," she murmured at last.</p> + +<p>"That's my affair," said Hill.</p> + +<p>She kept her face hidden from him, and he did not seek to raise it; but +there was undoubted possession in the holding of his arms.</p> + +<p>After a moment or two she spoke again. "What will you do if—if you find +you're not—happy with me?"</p> + +<p>"I'll take my chance of that," said Fletcher Hill. He added, under his +breath, "I'll be good to you—in any case."</p> + +<p>That moved her. She lifted her face impulsively. "You—you are much nicer +than I thought you were," she said.</p> + +<p>He bent to her. "It isn't very difficult to be that," he said, with a +somewhat sardonic touch of humour. "I haven't a very high standard to +beat, have I?"</p> + +<p>It was not very lover-like. Perhaps, he feared to show her too much of +his soul just then, lest he seem to be claiming more than she was +prepared to offer. Perhaps that reserve of his which clothed him like +a coat of mail was more than even he could break through. But so it was +that then—just then, when the desire of his heart was actually within +his grasp, he contented himself with taking a very little. He kissed her, +indeed, though it was but a brief caress—over before her quivering lips +could make return; nor did he seek to deter her as she withdrew herself +from his arms.</p> + +<p>She stood a moment, looking small and very forlorn. Then she turned to +retrace her steps.</p> + +<p>"Shall we go back?" she said.</p> + +<p>He went back with her in silence till they reached the gate that led into +the yard. Then for a second he grasped her arm, detaining her.</p> + +<p>"It is—'Yes?'" he questioned.</p> + +<p>She bent her head in acquiescence, not looking at him. "Yes," she said, +in a whisper.</p> + +<p>And Fletcher let her go.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V." id="CHAPTER_V."></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>THE LOST ROMANCE</h3> + + +<p>Jack looked in vain for any sign of elation on his friend's face when he +entered. He read nothing but grim determination. Dot's demeanour also +was scarcely reassuring. She seemed afraid to lift her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Isn't it nearly bed-time?" she murmured to Adela as she passed.</p> + +<p>Adela looked at her with frank curiosity. There were no fine shades of +feeling about Adela. She always went straight to the point—unless +restrained by Jack.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's quite early yet," she said, wholly missing the appeal in the +girl's low-spoken words. "What have you two been doing? Moonshining?"</p> + +<p>Fletcher looked as contemptuous as his immobile countenance would allow, +and sat down by his untouched drink without a word.</p> + +<p>But it took more than a look to repress Adela. She laughed aloud. "Does +that mean I am to draw my own conclusions, Mr. Hill? Would you like me to +tell you what they are?"</p> + +<p>"Not for my amusement," said Hill, dryly. "Where did you get this whisky +from, Jack? I hope it's a legal brand."</p> + +<p>"I hope it is," agreed Jack. "I don't know its origin. I got it through +Harley. You know him? The manager of the Fortescue Gold Mine."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know him," said Hill. "He is retiring, and another fellow is +taking his place."</p> + +<p>"Retiring, is he? I thought he was the only person who could manage that +crowd." Jack spoke with surprise.</p> + +<p>Hill took out his pipe and began to fill it. "He's got beyond it. Too +much running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. They need a +younger man with more decision and resource—someone who can handle them +without being afraid."</p> + +<p>"Have they got such a man?" questioned Jack.</p> + +<p>"They believe they have." Hill spoke thoughtfully. "He's a man from the +West, who has done some tough work in the desert, but brought back more +in the way of experience than gold. He's been working in the Fortescue +Mine now for six months, a foreman for the past three. Harley tells me +the men will follow him like sheep. But for myself, I'm not so sure of +him."</p> + +<p>"Not sure of him? What are you afraid of? Whisky-running?" asked Jack, +with a twinkle.</p> + +<p>There was no answering gleam of humour on Hill's face. "I never trust +any man until I know him," he said. "He may be sound, or he may be a +scoundrel. He's got to prove himself."</p> + +<p>"You take a fatherly interest in that mine," observed Jack.</p> + +<p>"I have a reason," said Fletcher Hill, briefly.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Ever met Fortescue himself?"</p> + +<p>"Once or twice," said Hill.</p> + +<p>"Pretty badly hated, isn't he?" said Jack.</p> + +<p>"By the blackguards, yes." Hill spoke with characteristic grimness. "He's +none the worse for that."</p> + +<p>"All the better, I should say," remarked Adela. "But what is he like? Is +he an old man?"</p> + +<p>"About my age," said Hill.</p> + +<p>"I wish you'd give us an introduction to him," she said, with animation. +"I've always wanted to see that mine. You'd like to, too, wouldn't you, +Dot?"</p> + +<p>Dot started a little. She had been sitting quite silent in the +background.</p> + +<p>"I expect it would be quite interesting," she said, as Hill looked +towards her. "But perhaps it wouldn't be very easy to manage it."</p> + +<p>"I could arrange it if you cared to go," said Hill.</p> + +<p>"Could you? How kind of you! But it would mean spending the night at +Trelevan, wouldn't it? I—I think we are too busy for that." Dot glanced +at her brother in some uncertainty.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it could be managed," said Jack, kindly. "Why not? You don't get +much fun in life. If you want to see the mine, and Hill can arrange it, +it shall be done."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," said Dot.</p> + +<p>Adela turned towards her. "My dear, do work up a little enthusiasm! +You've sat like a mute ever since you came in. What's the matter?"</p> + +<p>Dot was on her feet in a moment. This sort of baiting, good-natured +though it was, was more than she could bear. "I've one or two jobs left +in the kitchen," she said. "I'll go and attend to them—if no one minds."</p> + +<p>She was gone with the words, Adela's ringing laugh pursuing her as she +closed the door. She barely paused in the kitchen, but fled to her own +room. She could not—no, she could not—face the laughter and +congratulations that night.</p> + +<p>She flung herself down upon her bed and lay there trembling like a +terrified creature caught in a trap. Her brain was a whirl of bewildering +emotions. She knew not which way to turn to escape the turmoil, or even +if she were glad or sorry for the step she had taken. She wondered if +Hill would tell Jack and Adela the moment her back was turned, and +dreaded to hear the sound of her sister-in-law's footsteps outside her +door.</p> + +<p>But no one came, and after a time she grew calmer. After all, though in +the end she had made her decision somewhat suddenly, it had not been an +unconsidered one. Though she could not pretend to love Fletcher Hill, she +had a sincere respect for him. He was solid, and she knew that her future +would be safe in his hands. The past was past, and every day took her +farther from it. Yet very deep down in her soul there still lurked the +memory of that past. In the daytime she could put it from her, stifle +it, crowd it out with a multitude of tasks; but at night in her dreams +that memory would not always be denied. In her dreams the old vision +returned—tender, mocking, elusive—a sunburnt face with eyes of vivid +blue that looked into hers, smiling and confident with that confidence +that is only possible between spirits that are akin. She would feel again +the pressure of a man's lips on the hollow of her arm—that spot which +still bore the tiny mark which once had been a snake-bite. He had come to +her in her hour of need, and though he was a fugitive from justice, she +would never forget his goodness, his readiness to serve her, his +chivalry. And while in her waking hours she chid herself for her +sentimentality, yet even so, she had not been able to force herself to +cast her brief romance away.</p> + +<p>Ah, well, she had done it now. The way was closed behind her. There could +be no return. It was all so long ago. She had been little more than a +child then, and now she was growing old. The time had come to face the +realities of life, to put away the dreams. She believed that Fletcher +Hill was a good man, and he had been very patient. She quivered a little +at the thought of that patience of his. There was a cast-iron quality +about it, a forcefulness, that made her wonder. Had she ever really met +the man who dwelt within that coat of mail? Could there be some terrible +revelation in store for her? Would she some day find that she had given +herself to a being utterly alien to her in thought and impulse? He had +shown her so little—so very little—of his soul.</p> + +<p>Did he really love her, she wondered? Or had he merely determined to win +her because it had been so hard a task? He was a man who revelled in +overcoming difficulties, in asserting his grim mastery in the face of +heavy odds. He was never deterred by circumstances, never turned back +from any purpose upon the accomplishment of which he had set his mind. +His subordinates were afraid to tell him of failure. She had heard it +said that Bloodhound Hill could be a savage animal when roused.</p> + +<p>There came a low sound at her door, the soft turning of the handle, +Jack's voice whispered through the gloom.</p> + +<p>"Are you asleep, little 'un?"</p> + +<p>She started up on the bed. "Oh, Jack, come in, dear! Come in!"</p> + +<p>He came to her, put his arms about her, and held her close. "Fletcher's +been telling me," he whispered into her ear. "Adela's gone to bed. It's +quite all right, little 'un, is it? You're not—sorry?"</p> + +<p>She caught the anxiety in the words as she clung to him. "I—don't think +so," she whispered back. "Only I—I'm rather frightened, Jack."</p> + +<p>"There's no need, darling," said Jack, and kissed her very tenderly. +"He's a good fellow—the best of fellows. He's sworn to me to make you +happy."</p> + +<p>She was trembling a little in his hold. "He—doesn't want to marry me +yet, does he?" she asked, nervously.</p> + +<p>He put a very gentle hand upon her head. "Don't funk the last fence, old +girl!" he said, softly. "You'll like being married."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" She was breathing quickly. "I am not so sure. And there's no +getting back, is there, Jack? Oh, please, do ask him to wait a little +while! I'm sure he will. He is very kind."</p> + +<p>"He has waited five years already," Jack pointed out. "Don't you think +that's almost long enough, dear?"</p> + +<p>She put a hand to her throat, feeling as if there were some constriction +there. "He has been speaking to you about it! He wants you to—to +persuade me—to—to make me—"</p> + +<p>"No, dear, no!" Jack spoke very gravely. "He wants you to please +yourself. It is I who think that a long delay would be a mistake. Can't +you be brave, Dot? Take what the gods send—and be thankful?"</p> + +<p>She tried to laugh. "I'm an awful idiot, Jack. Yes, I will—I will be +brave. After all, it isn't as if—as if I were really sacrificing +anything, is it? And you're sure he's a good man, aren't you? You are +sure he will never let me down?"</p> + +<p>"I am quite sure," Jack said, firmly. "He is a fine man, Dot, and he will +always set your happiness before his own."</p> + +<p>She breathed a short sigh. "Thank you, Jack, I feel better. You're +wonderfully good to me, dear old boy. Tell him—tell him I'll marry him +as soon as ever I can get ready! I must get a few things together first, +mustn't I?"</p> + +<p>Jack laughed a little. "You look very nice in what you've got."</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't be silly!" she said. "If I'm going to live at +Wallacetown—Wallacetown, mind you, the smartest place this side of +Sydney—I must be respectably clothed. I shall have to go to Trelevan, +and see what I can find."</p> + +<p>"You and Adela had better have a week off," said Jack, "and go while +Fletcher is busy there. You'll see something of him in the evenings +then."</p> + +<p>"What about you?" she said, squeezing his arm.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I shall be all right. I'm expecting Lawley in from the ranges. He'll +help me. I've got to learn to do without you, eh, little 'un?" He held +her to him again.</p> + +<p>She clasped his neck. "It's your own doing, Jack; but I know it's for my +good. You must let me come and help you sometimes—just for a holiday." +Her voice trembled.</p> + +<p>He kissed her again with great tenderness. "You'll come just whenever you +feel like it, my dear," he said. "And God bless you!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI." id="CHAPTER_VI."></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>THE WAY TO HAPPINESS</h3> + + +<p>On account of its comparative proximity to the gold mine, Trelevan, +though of no great size, was a busy place. Dot had stayed at the hotel +there with her brother on one or two occasions, but it was usually noisy +and crowded, and, unlike Adela, she found little to amuse her in the type +of men who thronged it. Fletcher Hill always stayed there when he came to +Trelevan. The police court was close by, and it suited his purpose; but +he mixed very little with his fellow-guests and was generally regarded as +unapproachable—a mere judicial machine with whom very few troubled to +make acquaintance.</p> + +<p>Fletcher Hill in the rôle of a squire of dames was a situation that +vastly tickled Adela's sense of humour. As she told Jack, it was going to +be the funniest joke of her life.</p> + +<p>Neither Hill nor his grave young fiancée seemed aware of any cause for +mirth, but with Adela that was neither here nor there. She and Dot never +had anything in common, and as for Fletcher Hill, he was the driest stick +of a man she had ever met. But she was not going to be bored on that +account. To give Adela her due, boredom was a malady from which she very +rarely suffered.</p> + +<p>She was in the best of spirits on the evening of their arrival at +Trelevan. The rooms that Fletcher Hill had managed to secure for them led +out of each other, and the smaller of them, Dot's looked out over the +busiest part of the town. As Adela pointed out, this was an advantage of +little value at night, and it could be shared in the daytime.</p> + +<p>Dot said nothing. She was used to her sister-in-law's cheerful egotism, +and Adela had never hesitated to invade her privacy if she felt so +inclined. Her chief consolation was that Adela was a very sound sleeper, +so that there was small chance of having her solitude disturbed at night.</p> + +<p>She herself was not sleeping so well as usual just then. A great +restlessness was upon her, and often she would pace to and fro like a +caged thing for half the night. She was not actively unhappy, but a great +weight seemed to oppress her—a sense of foreboding that was sometimes +more than she could bear.</p> + +<p>Fletcher Hill's calm countenance as he welcomed them upon their arrival +reassured her somewhat. He was so perfectly self-controlled and steady in +his demeanour. The very grasp of his hand conveyed confidence. She felt +as if he did her good.</p> + +<p>They dined together in the common dining-room, but at a separate table +in a corner. There were many coming and going, and Adela was frankly +interested in them all. As she said, it was so seldom that she had the +chance of studying the human species in such variety. When the meal was +over she good-naturedly settled herself in a secluded corner and +commanded them to leave her.</p> + +<p>"There's something in the shape of a glass-house at the back," she said. +"I don't know if it can be called a conservatory. But anyhow I should +think you might find a seat and solitude there, and that, I conclude, is +what you most want. Anyhow, don't bother about me! I can amuse myself +here for any length of time."</p> + +<p>They took her at her word, though neither of them seemed in any hurry to +depart. Dot lingered because the prospect of a <i>tête-à-tête</i> in a strange +place, where she could not easily make her escape if she desired to do +so, embarrassed her. And Hill waited, as his custom was, with a grim +patience that somehow only served to increase her reluctance to be alone +with him.</p> + +<p>"Run along! It's getting late," Adela said at last. "Carry her off, Mr. +Hill! You'll never get her to make the first move."</p> + +<p>There was some significance in words and smile. Dot stiffened and turned +sharply away.</p> + +<p>Hill followed her, and outside the room she waited for him.</p> + +<p>"Do you know the way?" she asked, without looking at him.</p> + +<p>He took her by the arm, and again she had a wayward thought of the +hand of the law. She knew now what it felt like to be marshalled by +a policeman. She almost uttered a remark to that effect, but, glancing +up at him, decided that it would be out of place. For the man's harsh +features were so sternly set that she wondered if Adela's careless talk +had aroused his anger.</p> + +<p>She said nothing, therefore, and he led her to the retreat her +sister-in-law had mentioned in unbroken silence. It was certainly not a +very artistic corner. A few straggling plants in pots decorated it, but +they looked neglected and shabby. Yet the thought went through her, it +might have been a bower of delight had they been in the closer accord of +lovers who desire naught but each other.</p> + +<p>The place was deserted, lighted only by a high window that looked into a +billiard-room. The window was closed, but the rattle of the balls and +careless voices of the players came through the silence. A dusty bench +was let into the wall below it.</p> + +<p>"Do you like this place?" asked Fletcher Hill.</p> + +<p>She glanced around her with a little nervous laugh. "It's as good as any +other, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>His hand still held her arm. He bent slightly, looking into her face. +"I've been wanting to talk to you," he said.</p> + +<p>"Have you?" She tried to meet his look, but failed. "What about?" she +said, almost in a whisper.</p> + +<p>He bent lower. "Dot, are you afraid of me?" he said.</p> + +<p>That brought her eyes to his face with a jerk. "I—I—no—of course not!" +she stammered, in confusion.</p> + +<p>"Quite sure?" he said.</p> + +<p>She collected herself with an effort. "Quite," she told him with +decision, and met his gaze with something of a challenge in her own.</p> + +<p>But he disconcerted her the next moment. She felt again the man's grim +mastery behind the iron of his patience. "I want to talk to you," he +said, "about our marriage."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" It was scarcely more than a sharp intake of the breath, and as it +escaped again Dot turned white to the lips. His close scrutiny became +suddenly more than she could bear, and she turned sharply from him.</p> + +<p>He kept his hand upon her arm, but he made no further effort to restrain +her, merely waiting mutely for her to speak.</p> + +<p>In the room behind them there came the smart knocking of the balls, and +a voice cried, "By Jove, he's fluked again! It's the devil's own luck!"</p> + +<p>Dot flinched a little. The careless voice jarred upon her. Her nerves +were all on edge. Fletcher Hill's hand was like a steel trap, cold and +firm and merciless. She longed to wrench herself free from it, yet felt +too paralysed to move.</p> + +<p>And still he waited, not urging her, yet by his very silence making her +aware of a compulsion she could not hope to resist for long.</p> + +<p>She turned to him at last in desperation. "What—have you to suggest?" +she asked.</p> + +<p>"I?" he said. "I shall be ready at the end of the week—if that will suit +you."</p> + +<p>She gazed at him blankly. "The end of the week! But of course not—of +course not! You are joking!"</p> + +<p>"No, I am serious," Fletcher said. "Sit down a minute and let me +explain!"</p> + +<p>Then, as she hesitated, he very gently put her down upon the seat under +the closed window, and stood before her, blocking her in.</p> + +<p>"I have been wanting this opportunity of talking to you," he said, +"without Jack chipping in. He's a good fellow, and I know he is on my +side. But I have a fancy for scoring off my own bat. Listen, Dot! I am +not suggesting anything very preposterous. You have promised to marry me. +Haven't you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she whispered, breathlessly. "Yes."</p> + +<p>"Yes," he repeated. "And the longer you have to think about it, the more +scared you will get. My dear child, what is the point of spinning it out +in this fashion? You are going through agonies of mind—for nothing. If +I gave you back your freedom, you wouldn't be any happier, would you?"</p> + +<p>She was silent.</p> + +<p>"Would you?" he said again, and laid his hand upon her shoulder.</p> + +<p>"I—don't think so," she said, faintly.</p> + +<p>He took up her words again with magisterial emphasis. "You don't think +so. Well, there is every reason to suppose you wouldn't. You weren't +happy before, were you?"</p> + +<p>She gripped her courage with immense effort. "I haven't been +happy—since," she said.</p> + +<p>He accepted the statement without an instant's discomfiture. "I know you +haven't. I realized that the moment I saw you. You have been suffering +the tortures of the damned because you're in a positive hell of +indecision. Oh, I know all about it." His hand moved a little upon her +shoulder; it almost seemed to caress her. "I haven't studied human nature +all these years for nothing. I know you're in a perfect fever of doubt, +and it'll go on till you're married. What's the good of it? Why torture +yourself like this when the way to happiness lies straight before you? +Are you hoping against hope that something may yet turn up to prevent our +marriage? Would you be happy if it did? Answer me!"</p> + +<p>But she shrank from answering, sitting with her hands clasped tightly +before her and her eyes downcast like a prisoner awaiting sentence. +"I don't know—what I want," she told him, miserably. "I feel—as +if—whatever I do—will be wrong."</p> + +<p>"That's just it," said Fletcher Hill, as if that were the very admission +he had been waiting for. And then he did what for him was a very curious +thing. He went down upon one knee on the dusty floor, bringing his face +on a level with hers, clasping her tense hands between his own. "You +don't trust yourself, and you won't trust me," he said. "Isn't that it? +Or something like it?"</p> + +<p>The official air had dropped from him like a garment. She looked at him +doubtfully, almost as if she suspected him of trying to trick her. Then, +reassured by something in the harsh countenance which his voice and words +utterly failed to express, she leaned impulsively forward with a swift +movement of surrender and laid her head against his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"I'll do—whatever you wish," she said, in muffled tones. "I will trust +you! I do trust you!"</p> + +<p>He put his arm around her, for she was trembling, and held her so for a +space in silence.</p> + +<p>The voice in the billiard-room took up the tale. "That fellow's luck is +positively prodigious. He can't help scoring—whatever he does. He'd dig +gold out of an ash heap."</p> + +<p>Someone laughed, and there came again the clash of the billiard-balls, +followed in a second by a shout of applause.</p> + +<p>The noise subsided, and Fletcher spoke. "My job here will be over in a +week. Jack can manage to join us at the end of it. Your sister-in-law is +already here. Why not finish up by getting married and returning to +Wallacetown with me?"</p> + +<p>"I should have to go back to the farm and get the rest of my things," +said Dot.</p> + +<p>"You could do that afterwards," he said, "when I am away on business. I +shan't be able to take you with me everywhere. Some of the places I have +to go to would be too rough for you. But I shall be at Wallacetown for +some weeks after this job. You have never seen my house there. I took it +over from the last Superintendent. I think you'll like it. I got it for +that reason."</p> + +<p>She started a little. "But you didn't know then—How long ago was it?"</p> + +<p>"Three years," said Fletcher Hill. "I've been getting it ready for you +ever since."</p> + +<p>She looked up at him. "You—took a good deal for granted, didn't you?" +she said.</p> + +<p>Fletcher was smiling, dryly humorous. "I knew my own mind, anyway," he +said.</p> + +<p>"And you've never had—any doubts?" questioned Dot.</p> + +<p>"Not one," said Fletcher Hill.</p> + +<p>She laid her hand on his arm with a shy gesture. "I hope you won't be +dreadfully disappointed in me," she said.</p> + +<p>He bent towards her, and for a moment she felt as if his keen eyes +pierced her. "I don't think that is very likely," he said, and kissed her +with the words.</p> + +<p>She did not shrink from his kiss, but she did not return it; nor did he +linger as if expecting any return.</p> + +<p>He was on his feet the next moment, and she wondered with a little sense +of chill if he were really satisfied.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII." id="CHAPTER_VII."></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>THE CONQUEROR</h3> + + +<p>They found Adela awaiting them in her corner, but chafing for a change.</p> + +<p>"I want you to take us to the billiard-room," she said to Fletcher. +"There's a great match on. I've heard a lot of men talking about it. +And I adore watching billiards. I'm sure we shan't be in the way. I'll +promise not to talk, and Dot is as quiet as a mouse."</p> + +<p>Fletcher considered the point. "I believe it's a fairly respectable +crowd," he said, looking at Dot. "But you're tired."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," she said at once. "I don't feel a bit sleepy. Let us go in by +all means if you think no one will mind! I like watching billiards, too."</p> + +<p>"It's a man called Warden," said Adela. "That's the new manager of the +Fortescue Gold Mine, isn't it? They say he has the most marvelous luck. +He is playing the old manager—Harley, and giving him fifty points. +There's some pretty warm betting going on, I can tell you. Do let us go +and have a look at them! They've got the girl from the bar to mark for +them, so we shan't be the only women there."</p> + +<p>She was evidently on fire for this new excitement, and Fletcher Hill, +seeing that Dot meant what she said, led the way without further +discussion. He paused outside the billiard-room door, which stood ajar; +for a tense silence reigned. But it was broken in a moment by the sharp +clash of the balls and a perfect howl of enthusiasm from the spectators.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's over!" exclaimed Adela. "What a pity! Never mind! Let's go in! +Perhaps they'll play again."</p> + +<p>The barmaid came flying out to fetch drinks as they entered. The +atmosphere of the room was thick with smoke. A babel of voices filled it. +Men who had been sitting round the walls were grouped about the table. In +the midst of them stood the victor in his shirt-sleeves, conspicuous in +the crowd by reason of his great height—a splendid figure of manhood +with a careless freedom of bearing that was in its way superb.</p> + +<p>He was turned away from the door at their entrance, and Dot saw only +a massive head of straw-coloured hair above a neck that was burnt +brick-red. Then, laughing at some joke, he wheeled round again to the +table; and she saw his face....</p> + +<p>It was the face of a Viking, deeply sunburnt, vividly alive. A fair +moustache covered his upper lip, and below it the teeth gleamed, white +and regular like the teeth of an animal in the wilderness. He had that +indescribable look of morning-time, of youth at its best, which only +springs in the wild. His eyes were intensely blue. They gazed straight +across at her with startling directness.</p> + +<p>And suddenly Dot's heart gave a great jerk, and stood still. It was not +the first time that those eyes had looked into hers.</p> + +<p>The moment passed. He bent himself over the table, poised for a stroke, +which she saw him execute a second later with a delicacy that thrilled +her strangely. Full well did she remember the deftness and the steadiness +of those brown hands. Had they not held her up, sustained her, in the +greatest crisis of her life?</p> + +<p>Her heart throbbed on again with hard, uneven strokes. She was straining +her ears for the sound of his voice—that voice that had once spoken to +her quivering soul, pleading with her that she would at their next +meeting treat him—without prejudice. The memory thrilled through her. +This was the man for whose coming she had waited so long!</p> + +<p>He had straightened himself again, and was coming round the table to +follow up his stroke. Fletcher Hill spoke at her shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Sit down!" he said. "There is room here."</p> + +<p>There was a small space on the corner of the raised settee that ran along +the side of the room. Dot and Adela sat down together. Hill stood beside +them, looking over the faces of the men present, with keen eyes that +missed nothing.</p> + +<p>Dot sat palpitating, her hands clasped before her, seeing only the great +figure that leaned over the table for another stroke. Would he look at +her again? Would he remember her? Would he speak?</p> + +<p>Fascinated, she watched him. He executed his stroke, again with that +steady confidence, that self-detachment, that seemed to set him apart +from all other men. He was standing close to her now, and the nearness of +his presence thrilled her. She tingled from head to foot, as if under the +power of an electric battery.</p> + +<p>His late opponent stood facing her on the other side of the table, a +grey-haired man with crafty eyes that seemed to look in all directions at +the same time. She took an instinctive dislike to him. He wore a furtive +air.</p> + +<p>Warden stood up again, moving with that free swing of his as of one born +to conquer. He turned deliberately and faced them.</p> + +<p>"Good evening, Mr. Hill!" he said. "I'm standing drinks all round. I hope +you will join us."</p> + +<p>It was frankly spoken, and Hill's instant refusal sounded unnecessarily +curt in Dot's ears.</p> + +<p>"No, thanks. I am with ladies," he said. "I suppose the play is over?"</p> + +<p>Warden glanced across the table. "Unless Harley wants his revenge," he +said.</p> + +<p>The grey-haired man uttered a laugh that was like the bark of a vicious +dog. "I'll have that another day," he said. "It won't spoil by keeping. +You are a player yourself, Mr. Hill. Why don't you take him on?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, do!" burst forth Adela. "I should love to see a good game. You ask +him to, Dot! He'll do it for you."</p> + +<p>But Dot sat silent, her fingers straining against each other, her eyes +fixed straight before her, seeing yet unseeing, as one beneath a spell.</p> + +<p>There was a momentary pause. The room was full of the harsh babel of +men's voices. The drinks were being distributed.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a voice spoke out above the rest. "Here's to the new manager! +Good luck to him! Bill Warden, here's to you! Success and plenty of it!"</p> + +<p>Instantly the hubbub increased a hundredfold. Bill Warden swung round +laughing to face the clamour, and the tension went out of Dot. She +drooped forward with a weary gesture. As in a dream she heard the +laughter and the shouting. It seemed to sweep around her in great billows +of sound. But she was too tired to notice, too tired to care. He did not +know her. She was sure of that now. He had forgotten. The memory that +had affected her so poignantly had slipped like a dim cloud below his +horizon. The glory had departed, and life was grey and cold.</p> + +<p>"You are tired," said Fletcher's voice beside her. "Would you like to +go?"</p> + +<p>She looked up at him. His eyes were searching hers, and swiftly she +realized that this discovery that she had made must be kept a secret. If +Hill began to suspect, he would very quickly ferret out the truth, and +the man would be ruined. She knew Hill's stern justice. He would act +instantly and without mercy if he knew the truth.</p> + +<p>She braced herself with a great effort to baffle him. "No, oh, no!" she +said. "I am really not tired. Do play! I should love to see you play."</p> + +<p>He looked sardonic. "Love to see me beaten!" he said.</p> + +<p>She put out a quick hand. "Of course not! You will beat him easily. You +are always on the top. Do try!"</p> + +<p>He smiled a little, and turned from her. She saw him approach Warden and +tap him on the shoulder.</p> + +<p>Warden wheeled sharply, so sharply that the drink he held splashed over +the edge of the glass. The excitement in the room was dying down. She +watched the two men with an odd breathlessness, and in a moment she +realized that everyone else present was watching them also.</p> + +<p>Then they both turned towards her, and through a great singing that +suddenly arose in her ears she heard Adela whisper excitedly, "My dear, +he is actually going to introduce that amazing person to us!"</p> + +<p>She sat up with a stiff movement, feeling cold, inanimate, strangely +impotent, and in a moment he was standing before her with Fletcher, and +she heard the latter introduce her as his "affianced wife."</p> + +<p>Mutely she gave him her hand. It was Adela who filled in the gap, eager +for entertainment, and the next moment Warden had turned to her, and was +talking in his careless, leisurely fashion. The ordeal was past, her +pulses quieted down again. Yet she realized that he had not addressed a +single word to her, and the conviction came upon her that not thus would +he have treated one who was a total stranger to him.</p> + +<p>Because of Fletcher, who remained beside her, she forced herself to join +in the conversation, seconding Adela's urgent request that the two men +would play.</p> + +<p>Warden laughed and looked at Fletcher. "Do you care to take me on, sir?" +he said.</p> + +<p>From the other side of the table, Harley uttered his barking laugh. "Now +is your chance, Mr. Hill! Down him once and for all, and give us the +pleasure of seeing how it's done!"</p> + +<p>There was venom in the words. They were a revelation to Dot, the almost +silent looker-on. It was as if a flashlight had given her a sudden +glimpse of this man's soul, showing her bitter enmity—a black and cruel +hatred—an implacable yearning for revenge. She felt as if she had looked +down into the seething heart of a volcano.</p> + +<p>Then she heard Hill's voice. "I am quite willing to play," he said.</p> + +<p>A buzz of interest went through the room. The prospective match plainly +excited Warden's many admirers. They drew together, and she heard some +low-voiced betting begin.</p> + +<p>But this was instantly checked by Fletcher. "I'm not doing it for a +gamble," he said, curtly. "Please keep your money in your pockets, or +the match is off!"</p> + +<p>They looked at him with lowering glances, but they submitted. It was +evident to Dot that they all stood in considerable awe of him—all save +Warden, who chalked Hill's cue with supreme self-assurance, and then +lighted a cigarette without the smallest hint of embarrassment.</p> + +<p>The match began, and though the gambling had been checked a breathless +interest prevailed. Fletcher Hill's play was not well known at Trelevan, +but at the very outset it was evident to the most casual observer that he +was a skilled player. He spoke scarcely at all, and his face was masklike +in its composure, but Dot, watching, knew with that intuition which of +late had begun to grow upon her that he was grimly set upon obtaining +the victory. The knowledge thrilled her with a strange excitement. She +knew that he was in a fashion desirous of proving himself in her eyes, +that he had entered into the contest solely for her.</p> + +<p>As for Warden, she believed he was playing entirely to please himself. +He took an artistic interest in every stroke, but the ultimate issue of +the game did not seem to enter into his calculation. He played like a +sportsman, sometimes rashly, often brilliantly, but never selfishly. It +was impossible to watch him with indifference. Even his failures were +sensational. As Adela had said of him, he was amazing.</p> + +<p>Hill's play was absolutely steady. It lacked the vitality of the younger +man's, but it had about it a clockwork species of regularity that Dot +found curiously pleasing to watch. She had not thought that her interest +could be so deeply aroused; before the game was half through she was as +deeply absorbed as anyone present.</p> + +<p>It did not take her long to realize that public sympathy was entirely on +Warden's side, and it was that fact more than any other that disposed her +in Fletcher's favour. She saw that he had a hard fight before him, for +Warden led almost from the beginning, though with all his brilliancy he +never drew very far ahead. Fletcher kept a steady pace behind him, and +she knew he would not be easily beaten.</p> + +<p>Once he came and stood beside her after a very creditable break, and she +slipped a shy hand into his for a few seconds. His fingers closed upon it +in that slow, inevitable way of his, but he neither spoke nor looked at +her, and she had a feeling that his attention never for an instant +wandered from the job in hand. She admired him for his concentration, +yet would she have been less than woman had she not felt slighted by it. +He might have given her one look!</p> + +<p>Adela was full of enthusiasm for his opponent, and that also caused her +a vague sense of irritation. She was beginning to feel as if the evening +would never come to an end.</p> + +<p>The scoring was by no means slow, however, and the general interest +increased almost to fever pitch as the finish came in sight. Hill's +steady progress in the wake of his opponent seemed at length to +disconcert the latter. He began to play wildly, to attempt impossible +things. His supporters remonstrated without result. He seemed to have +flung away his judgment.</p> + +<p>Hill's score mounted till it reached and passed his. They were within +twenty points of the end when Warden suddenly missed an easy stroke. A +noisy groan broke from the onlookers, at which he shrugged his shoulders +and laughed. But Hill turned upon him with a stern reproof.</p> + +<p>"You're playing the fool, Warden," he said. "Pull up!"</p> + +<p>He spoke with curt command, and the man he addressed looked at him for a +second with raised brows, as if he would take offence. But in a moment he +laughed again.</p> + +<p>"You haven't beaten me yet, sir," he said.</p> + +<p>"No," said Hill. "And I don't value—an easy victory."</p> + +<p>There followed a tense silence while he resumed his play. Steadily his +score mounted, and it seemed to Dot that there was hostility in the very +atmosphere. She wondered what would happen if he scored the hundred +before his opponent had another chance. She hoped he would not do so, +and yet she did not want to see him beaten.</p> + +<p>He did not, but he left off with only three points to make. Then Warden +began to score. Stroke after stroke he executed with flawless accuracy +and with scarcely a pause, moving to and fro about the table without +lifting his eyes from the balls. His play was swift and unswerving, his +score mounted rapidly.</p> + +<p>Dot watched him spellbound, not breathing. Hill stood near her, also +closely watching, with brows slightly drawn. Suddenly something impelled +her to look beyond the man at the table, and in the shadow on the farther +side of the room she again saw Harley's face, grey, withered-looking, +with sunken eyes that glared forth wolfishly. He was glancing ceaselessly +from Hill to Warden and from Warden to Hill, and the malice of his glance +shocked her inexpressibly. She had never before seen murderous hate so +stamped upon any countenance.</p> + +<p>Instinctively she shrank from the sight, and in that moment Warden's eyes +were lifted for a second from the table. Magnetically hers flashed to +meet them. It was instantaneous, inevitable as the sudden flare of +lightning across a dark sky.</p> + +<p>He stooped again to play, but in that moment something had gone out of +him. The stroke he attempted was an easy one; but he missed it +hopelessly.</p> + +<p>He straightened himself up with a sharp gesture and looked at Hill. "I am +sorry," he said.</p> + +<p>Hill said nothing whatever. Their scores were exactly even. With +machine-like precision he took his turn, utterly ignoring the grumbling +criticisms of his adversary's play that were being freely expressed +around the room. With the utmost steadiness he made his stroke, scoring +two points. Then there fell a tremendous silence. The choice of two +strokes now lay before him. One was to pocket his adversary's ball; the +other a long shot which required considerable skill. He chose the second +without hesitation, hung a moment or two, made his stroke—and failed.</p> + +<p>A howl of delight went up from the watchers, their hot partisanship of +Warden amounting almost to open animosity against his opponent. In the +midst of the noise Hill, perfectly calm, contemptuously indifferent, +touched Warden again upon the shoulder, and spoke to him.</p> + +<p>Warden said nothing in reply, but he went to his ball with a hint of +savagery, bent, and almost without aiming sent it at terrific speed up +the table. It struck first the red, then the white, pocketed the former, +and whizzed therefrom into the opposite pocket.</p> + +<p>A yell of delight went up. It was a brilliant stroke of which any player +might have been proud. But Warden flung down his cue with a gesture of +disgust.</p> + +<p>"Damnation!" he said, and turned to put on his coat.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII." id="CHAPTER_VIII."></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>THE MEETING</h3> + + +<p>The two girls left the billiard-room, shepherded by Fletcher, almost +before the tumult had subsided. It seemed to Dot that he was anxious +about something and desirous to get them away. But Adela was full of +excited comments and refused to be hurried, stopping outside to question +Hill upon a dozen points regarding the game while he stood stiffly +responding, waiting to say good-night.</p> + +<p>Dot leaned upon the stair-rail, waiting for her, and eventually Fletcher +drew Adela's attention to the fact.</p> + +<p>Adela laughed. "Oh, that's just her way, my dear Fletcher. Some women +were born to wait. Dot does it better than anyone I know."</p> + +<p>It was at that moment that Warden came quietly up the passage from the +billiard-room, moving with the lightness of well-knit muscles, and +checked himself at sight of Fletcher.</p> + +<p>"I should like a word with you—when you have time," he said.</p> + +<p>Adela swooped upon him with effusion. "Mr. Warden! Your play is simply +astounding. Allow me to congratulate you!"</p> + +<p>"Please don't!" said Warden. "I played atrociously."</p> + +<p>She laughed at him archly. "That's just your modesty. You're plainly a +champion. Now, when are you going to let Mr. Hill show us that wonderful +mine? We are dying to see it, aren't we, Dot?"</p> + +<p>"The mine!" Warden turned sharply to Hill. "You're not going to take +anyone over that—surely! Not in person—anyhow! What, sir?" He looked +hard at Hill, who said nothing. "Then you must be mad!"</p> + +<p>"He isn't obliged to go in person," smiled Adela. "I am sure you are big +enough to take care of us single-handed. Dot and I are not in the least +nervous. Will you take us alone if we promise not to tease the animals?"</p> + +<p>Warden's eyes flashed a sudden glance upwards to the girl who still stood +silently leaning upon the rail. It was almost like an appeal.</p> + +<p>As if involuntarily she spoke. "What is the danger?"</p> + +<p>Hill turned to her. "There is no danger," he said, curtly. "If you wish +to go, I will take you to-morrow."</p> + +<p>Warden made a brief gesture as of one who submits to the inevitable, and +turned away.</p> + +<p>Fletcher held out his hand to Adela with finality. "Good-night," he said.</p> + +<p>"Are you really going to take us to-morrow?" she said.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Fletcher.</p> + +<p>She beamed upon him. "What time shall we be ready?"</p> + +<p>He did not refer to Dot. "At five o'clock," he said. "I shall be busy at +the court all day. I will come and fetch you."</p> + +<p>He shook hands with Dot, and his face softened. "Good-night," he said. +"Go to bed quickly! You're very tired."</p> + +<p>She gave him a fleeting smile, and turned to go. She was tired to the +soul.</p> + +<p>Adela caught her by the arm as they ascended the stairs. "You little +quiet mouse, what's the matter? Aren't you enjoying the adventure?"</p> + +<p>Dot's face was sombre. "I think I am too tired to enjoy anything +to-night," she said.</p> + +<p>"Tired! And no work to do! Why, what has come to you?" Adela surveyed her +with laughing criticism.</p> + +<p>"Let's go to bed!" said Dot. "I'll tell you when we get there."</p> + +<p>Something in tone or words stirred Adela. She refrained from further +bantering and gave her mind to speedy preparations for bed.</p> + +<p>Then, as at last they were about to separate, she put a warm arm about +the girl and held her close. "What is it? Aren't you happy?" she said.</p> + +<p>A great sob went through Dot. Her trouble was more than she could bear. +She clung to Adela with unaccustomed closeness.</p> + +<p>"I've promised to marry Fletcher at the end of the week—instead of going +back with you to the farm."</p> + +<p>"I thought that was what he was after," said Adela. "But—don't you want +to?"</p> + +<p>"No," whispered Dot, trembling.</p> + +<p>"Well, why don't you tell him so—tell him he's got to wait? Shall I +tell him for you, you poor little thing?" Adela's voice was full of +compassion.</p> + +<p>But Dot was instant in her refusal. "No, oh, no! Don't tell him! I—I +couldn't give him—any particular reason for waiting. I shall feel +better—I'm sure I shall feel better—when it's over."</p> + +<p>"I expect you will," said Adela. "But I don't like your being miserable. +I say, Dot—" she clasped the quivering form closer, with a sudden rare +flash of intuition—"there isn't—anyone else you like better, is there?"</p> + +<p>But at that Dot started as if she had been stung, and drew herself +swiftly away. "Oh, no!" she said, vehemently. "No—no—no!"</p> + +<p>"Then I shouldn't worry," said Adela, sensibly. "It's nothing but +nerves."</p> + +<p>She kissed her and went to her own room, where she speedily slept. But +Dot lay wide-eyed, unresting, while the hours crawled by, seeing only +the vivid blue eyes that had looked into hers, and thrilled her—and +thrilled her with their magic.</p> + +<p>In the morning she arose early, urged by a fevered restlessness that +drove her with relentless force. Dressing, she discovered the loss of a +little heart-shaped brooch, Jack's gift, which she always wore.</p> + +<p>Adela, still lying in bed, assured her that she had seen it in her dress +the previous evening while at dinner. "It probably came out in that +little conservatory place when Fletcher was embracing you," she said.</p> + +<p>"Not very likely, I think," said Dot, flushing.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, since she valued it, she finished dressing in haste and +departed to search for it.</p> + +<p>There was no one about with the exception of a man who was cleaning up +the billiard-room and assured her that her property was not there. So +she passed on along the passage to the shabby little glass-house whither +she and Fletcher had retreated on the previous evening.</p> + +<p>She expected to find the place deserted, and was surprised by a whiff of +tobacco-smoke as she entered. The next moment sharply she drew back; for +a man's figure rose up from the seat under the billiard-room window on +which she had rested the previous evening. His great frame seemed to fill +the place. Dot turned to flee.</p> + +<p>But on the instant he spoke, checking her. "Don't go for a moment! I know +what you're looking for. It's that little heart of yours. I've got it +here."</p> + +<p>She paused almost in spite of herself. His voice was pitched very low. He +spoke to her as if he were speaking to a frightened child. And he smiled +at her with the words—a frank and kindly smile.</p> + +<p>"You—you found it!" she stammered.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I found it, Miss Burton." He lingered over the name half +unconsciously, and a poignant stab of memory went through her. So had he +uttered it on that day so long, so long ago! "I knew it was yours. I was +trying to bring myself to give it to Mr. Hill."</p> + +<p>"How did you know it was mine?" She almost whispered the words, yet she +drew nearer to him, drawn irresistibly—drawn as a needle to the magnet.</p> + +<p>He answered her also under his breath. "I—remembered."</p> + +<p>She felt as if a wave of fire had swept over her. She swayed a little, +throbbing from head to foot.</p> + +<p>"I have rather a good memory," he said, as she found no words. "You're +not—vexed with me on that account, I hope?"</p> + +<p>An odd touch of wistfulness in his voice brought her eyes up to his face. +She fought for speech and answered him.</p> + +<p>"Of course not! Why should I? It—is a very long time ago, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Centuries," said Warden, and smiled again upon her reassuringly. "But I +never forgot you and your little farm and the old dog. Have you still got +him?"</p> + +<p>She nodded, her eyes lowered, a choked feeling as of tears in her throat.</p> + +<p>"He'd remember me," said Warden, with confidence. "He was a friend. Do +you know that was one of the most hairbreadth escapes of my life? If +Fletcher Hill had caught me, he wouldn't have shown much mercy—any more +than he would now," he added, with a half-laugh. "He's a terrific man for +justice."</p> + +<p>"Surely you're safe—now!" Dot said, quickly.</p> + +<p>"If you don't give me away," said Warden.</p> + +<p>"I!" She started, almost winced. "There's no danger of that," she said, +in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"Thank you," he said. "I've gone fairly straight ever since. It hasn't +been a very paying game. I tried my luck in the West, but it was right +out. So I thought I'd come back here, and that was the turning-point. +They took me on at the Fortescue Mine. It's a fiendish place, but I +rather like it. I'm sub-manager there at present—till Harley goes."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" She looked up at him again. "He is a dangerous man. He hates you, +doesn't he?"</p> + +<p>"Quite possibly," said Warden, with a smile. "That mine is rather an +abode of hate all round. But we'll clean it out one of these days, and +make a decent place of it."</p> + +<p>"I hope you will succeed," she said, very earnestly.</p> + +<p>"Thank you," he said again.</p> + +<p>He was looking at her speculatively, as if there were something about her +that he found hard to understand. Her agitation had subsided, leaving her +with a piteous, forlorn look—the look of the wayfarer who is almost too +tired to go any farther.</p> + +<p>There fell a brief silence between them, then with a little smile she +spoke.</p> + +<p>"Are you going to give me back my brooch?"</p> + +<p>He put his hand in his pocket. "I was nearly keeping it for good and +all," he said, as he brought it out.</p> + +<p>She took it from him and pinned it in her dress without words. Then, +shyly, she proffered her hand. "Thank you. Good-bye!"</p> + +<p>He drew a short hard breath as he took it into his own. For a second or +two he stood so, absolutely motionless, his great hand grasping hers. +Then, very suddenly, he stooped to her, looking into her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, little new chum!" he said, softly. "It was—decent of you to +treat me—without prejudice."</p> + +<p>The words pierced her. A great tremor went through her. For an instant +the pain was almost intolerable.</p> + +<p>"Oh, spare me that!" she said, quickly and passionately, and drew her +hand away.</p> + +<p>The next moment she was running blindly through the passage, scarcely +knowing which way she went, intent only upon escape.</p> + +<p>A man at the foot of the stairs stood aside for her, and she fled past +him without a glance. He turned and watched her with keen, alert eyes +till she was out of sight. Then, without haste, he took his way in the +direction whence she had come.</p> + +<p>But he did not go beyond the threshold of the little dusty conservatory, +for something he saw within made him draw swiftly back.</p> + +<p>When Fletcher Hill went to the court that day, he was grimmer, colder, +more unapproachable even than was his wont. He had to deal with one or +two minor cases from the gold mine, and the treatment he meted out was +of as severe an order as circumstances would permit.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX." id="CHAPTER_IX."></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>THE MINE</h3> + + +<p>The Fortescue Gold Mine was five miles away from Trelevan, in the heart +of wild, barren country, through which the sound of its great crushing +machines whirred perpetually like the droning of an immense beehive.</p> + +<p>The place was strewn with scattered huts belonging to such of the workers +as did not live at Trelevan, and a yellow stream ran foaming through the +valley, crossed here and there by primitive wooden bridges.</p> + +<p>The desolation of the whole scene, save for that running stream, produced +the effect of a world burnt out. The hills of shale might have been vast +heaps of ashes. It was a waste place of terrible unfruitfulness. And yet, +not very far below the surface, the precious metal lay buried in the +rock—the secret of the centuries which man at last had wrenched from its +hiding-place.</p> + +<p>The story went that Fortescue, the owner of the mine, had made his +discovery by a mere accident in this place known as the Barren Valley, +and had kept it to himself for years thereafter because he lacked the +means to exploit it. But later he had returned with the necessary capital +at his back, had staked his claim, and turned the place of desolation +into an abode of roaring activity. The men he employed were for the most +part drawn from the dregs—sheep-stealers, cattle-thieves, smugglers, +many of them ex-convicts—a fierce, unruly lot, hating all law and order, +yet submitting for the sake of that same precious yellow dust that they +ground from the foundation stones of the world.</p> + +<p>Personally, Fortescue was known but to the very few, but his methods were +known to all. He paid them generously, but he ruled them with a rigid +discipline that knew no relaxation. It was murmured that Fletcher +Hill—the hated police-magistrate—was at his back, for he never failed +to visit the mine when his duty took him in that direction, and there was +something of military precision in its management which was strongly +reminiscent of his forbidding personality. It was Fletcher Hill who meted +out punishment to the transgressors who were brought before him at the +police-court at Trelevan, and his treatment was usually swift and +unsparing. No prisoner ever expected mercy from him.</p> + +<p>He was hated at the mine with a fierce hatred, in which Fortescue had +but a very minor share. It was recognized that Fortescue's methods were +of a decent order, though his lack of personal interest was resented, +and also his friendship with Fletcher Hill, which some even declared to +be a partnership. The only point in his favour was the fact that Bill +Warden knew the man and never failed to stand up for him. For some reason +Warden possessed an enormous influence over the men. His elevation +to the sub-managership had been highly popular, and his projected +promotion to the post of manager, now filled by Harley, gave them immense +satisfaction. He had the instincts of a sportsman and knew how to handle +them, and a personality, that was certainly magnetic, did the rest.</p> + +<p>Harley had a certain following, but the general feeling towards him +was one of contempt. Most men recognized that he was nothing but a +self-seeker, and there were few who trusted him. He did his best to +achieve popularity, but his efforts were too obvious. Bill Warden's +breezy indifference held an infinitely greater appeal in the eyes +of the crowd.</p> + +<p>Harley's resignation was of his own choosing. He declared himself in need +of a rest, and no one attempted to persuade him otherwise. His day was +over, and Warden's succession to the post seemed an inevitable sequence. +As Hill sardonically remarked, there was no other competitor for the +chieftainship of that band of cutthroats.</p> + +<p>For some reason he had postponed his departure till after Hill's official +visit to Trelevan. He and Warden shared the largest house in the miners' +colony in Barren Valley. It was close to the mine at the end of the +valley, and part of it was used as the manager's office. It overlooked +the yellow torrent and the black wall of mountain beyond—a savage +prospect that might have been hewn from the crater of a dead volcano.</p> + +<p>A rough track led to it, winding some twenty feet above the stream, and +up this track Fletcher Hill drove the two visitors on the evening of the +day succeeding their arrival at Trelevan.</p> + +<p>There was a deadness of atmosphere between those rocky walls that struck +chill even to Adela's inconsequent soul. "What a ghastly place!" she +commented. "I should think Ezekiel's valley of dry bones must have been +something like this."</p> + +<p>Harley met them at the door of his office with a smile in his crafty +eyes. "Warden is waiting for you in the mine," he said to Fletcher. "His +lambs have been a bit restless this afternoon. He has set his heart on a +full-dress parade, but I don't know if it will come off."</p> + +<p>Fletcher's black brows drew together. "What do you mean by that?" he +demanded.</p> + +<p>Harley shrugged his shoulders with a laugh. "You wait and see!"</p> + +<p>The entrance to the mine yawned like an immense cavern in the rock. The +roaring screech of the machines issuing from it made an inferno of sound +from which, involuntarily, Dot shrank.</p> + +<p>She looked at Hill appealingly as they drew near. He turned instantly to +Harley.</p> + +<p>"Go ahead, will you, and tell them to stop work? We can't hear ourselves +speak in this."</p> + +<p>"I'll come with you, Mr. Harley," said Adela, promptly. "I want to see +the machines going."</p> + +<p>Harley paused for a moment. "You know your way, Mr. Hill?" he said.</p> + +<p>Hill nodded with a hint of impatience. "Yes, yes. I was here only the +other day."</p> + +<p>"Very good," said Harley. "But don't forget to turn to the right when you +get down the steps. The other way is too steep for ladies."</p> + +<p>He was gone with the words and Adela with him, openly delighted to have +escaped from her solemn escort, and ready for any adventure that might +present itself.</p> + +<p>Dot looked after her for a moment, and then back at Hill. "She'll be all +right, won't she?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Of course she will!" said Hill.</p> + +<p>"Then shall we wait a minute till the noise stops?" she suggested.</p> + +<p>Hill paused, though not very willingly. "There is nothing to be nervous +about," he said.</p> + +<p>She glanced at the cavernous opening with a little shudder. "I think it +is a dreadful place," she said.</p> + +<p>She saw him faintly smile. "I thought it didn't appeal much to you," he +said.</p> + +<p>She shivered. "Do you like it? But of course you do. You are interested +in it. Isn't that grinding noise terrible? It makes me want to run away +and hide."</p> + +<p>Hill drew her to a large flat rock on the edge of the path. "Sit down," +he said.</p> + +<p>She did so, and he took up his stand beside her, one foot lodged upon the +stone. In the silence that followed she was aware of his eyes upon her, +intently watching her face. She gripped her hands hard around her knees, +enduring his scrutiny with a fast-throbbing heart. She expected some +curt, soul-searching question at the end of it. But none came. Instead, +the noise that reverberated through the valley suddenly ceased, and there +fell an intense stillness.</p> + +<p>That racked her beyond bearing. She looked up at him at last with a +desperate courage and met his eyes. "What is it?" she questioned. "Why +do you—why do you look at me—like that?"</p> + +<p>He made a brief gesture, as if refusing a challenge, and stood up. "Shall +we go?" he said.</p> + +<p>She got up also, but her knees were trembling, and in a moment his hand +came out and closed with that official grip upon her elbow. He led her +to the mine entrance guiding her over the rough ground in utter silence.</p> + +<p>They left the daylight behind them, passing almost immediately into +semi-darkness. Some rough steps hewn in the rock led down into a black +void before them.</p> + +<p>"Are there no lights anywhere?" said Dot.</p> + +<p>"Yes. There'll be a lamp round the corner. Straight on down!" said +Fletcher.</p> + +<p>But for his presence she would hardly have dared it, so great was the +horror that this place had inspired within her. But to wait alone with +him in that terrible empty valley was even less endurable. She went down +the long, steep stair without further protest.</p> + +<p>They reached the foot at length, and a dim light shone ahead of them. The +atmosphere was vault-like and penetratingly damp. The passage divided +almost immediately, and a narrow track led off between black walls of +stone to the right, where in the distance another lamp shone.</p> + +<p>Fletcher turned towards this, but very suddenly Dot clasped his arm. "Oh, +don't let us go that way!" she begged. "Please don't let us go that way!"</p> + +<p>Hill paused in response to her urgent insistence. "What's the matter with +you, Dot?" he said.</p> + +<p>She clung to him desperately, still holding him back. "I don't know—I +don't know! But don't go that way! I have a horrible feeling—Ah!" The +deafening report of a revolver-shot rang out suddenly close to them.</p> + +<p>Hill turned with a sound in his throat like the growl of an angry animal, +and in a moment he had thrust Dot back against the protecting corner of +the wall.</p> + +<p>"You are not hurt?" she gasped.</p> + +<p>"No; I am not." His words fell clipped and stern, though spoken scarcely +above a whisper. "Don't speak! Get back up the steps—as quickly as you +can!"</p> + +<p>The command was so definite, so peremptory, that she had no thought of +disobeying. But as she moved there came to her the sound of running feet. +Hill stayed her with a gesture. She saw something gleam in his hand as he +did so, and realized that he was not defenceless.</p> + +<p>Her heart seemed to spring into her throat. She stood tense.</p> + +<p>Nearer came the feet and nearer. The suspense of waiting was torture. She +thought it would never end. Then suddenly, just as she looked to see a +man spring from the opening of that narrow passage, they stopped.</p> + +<p>A voice spoke. "All right! Don't shoot!" it said, and a great +throb of amazement went through her. That voice—careless, debonair, +half-laughing—awoke deep echoes in her heart.</p> + +<p>A moment later Warden came calmly round the corner, his great figure +looming gigantic in that confined space.</p> + +<p>He held out his hand. "I'm sorry you've had a fright. I fired that shot. +It was a signal to the men to line up for inspection."</p> + +<p>He spoke with the utmost frankness, yet it came to Dot with an intuition +she could not doubt that Hill did not believe him. He returned the +revolver to his pocket, but he kept a hold upon it, and he made no +movement to take the hand Warden offered.</p> + +<p>"We came to inspect the mine, not the men," he said, shortly. "Go back +and tell them to clear out!"</p> + +<p>Dot, mutely watching, saw Warden's brows go up. He had barely glanced at +her. "Oh, all right, sir," he said, easily. "They've hardly left off work +yet. I'll let 'em know in good time. But first I've got something to show +you. Come this way!"</p> + +<p>He turned towards the main passage, but in a second, sharp and short, +Fletcher's voice arrested him.</p> + +<p>"Warden!"</p> + +<p>He swung on his heel. "Well, sir?"</p> + +<p>"You will do as I said—immediately!" The words might have been uttered +by a machine, so precise, so cold, so metallic were they.</p> + +<p>Warden stood quite motionless, facing him, and it seemed to Dot that +his eyes had become two blue flames, giving out light. The pause that +followed was so instinct with conflict that she thought it must end in +some terrible outburst of violence.</p> + +<p>Then, to her amazement, Warden smiled—his candid, pleasant smile. +"Certainly, if you make a point of it," he said. "Perhaps you will walk +up with me. The strong-room is on our way, and while you are looking at +the latest specimens I will carry out your orders."</p> + +<p>He turned back with the words, and led the way towards the distant lamp +that glimmered in the wall.</p> + +<p>Stiffly Hill turned to the girl beside him. "Would you rather go back and +wait for me?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" she said, instantly. "No; I am coming too."</p> + +<p>He said no more, but grimly stalked in the wake of Warden.</p> + +<p>The latter moved quickly till he reached the place where the lamp was +lodged in a niche in the wall. Here he stopped, stooped, and fitted a key +into a narrow door that had been let into the stone. It opened outwards, +and he drew aside, waiting for Hill.</p> + +<p>"I will go and dismiss the men," he said. "May I leave you in charge till +I come back? They will not come this way."</p> + +<p>Hill paused on the threshold. The lamp cast a dim light into the place, +which was close and gloomy as a prison.</p> + +<p>"There are two steps down," said Warden. "One of them is badly broken, +but it's worth your while to go in and have a look at our latest finds. +You had better go first, sir. Be careful!"</p> + +<p>He turned to depart with the words, still ignoring Dot. She was close to +Hill, and something impelled her to lay a restraining hand on his +shoulder as he took the first step down.</p> + +<p>What followed happened with such stunning swiftness that her memory of +it ever afterwards was a confused jumble of impressions, like the wild +course of a nightmare.</p> + +<p>She heard Warden swing round again in his tracks, but before she could +turn he had caught her and flung her backwards over his arm. With his +other hand simultaneously he dealt Hill a blow in the back that sent him +blundering down into the darkness, and then, with lightning rapidity, he +banged the door upon his captive. The lock sprang with the impact, but he +was not content with this. Still holding her, he dragged at a rough +handle above his head and by main strength forced down an iron shutter +over the locked door.</p> + +<p>Then, breathing hard and speaking no word, he lifted her till she hung +across his shoulder, and started to run. She had not uttered a sound, so +stunned with amazement was she, so bereft of even the power to think. Her +position was one of utter helplessness. He held her with one arm as +easily as if she had been a baby. And she knew that in his free hand he +carried his revolver.</p> + +<p>In her bewilderment she had not the faintest idea as to the direction he +took. She only knew that he ran like a hunted rat down many passages, +turning now this way, now that, till at last he plunged down an unseen +stairway and the sound of gurgling water reached her ears.</p> + +<p>He slackened his pace then, and at last stood still. He did not alter his +hold upon her, however, but stood listening intently for many seconds. +She hung impotent across his shoulder, feeling still too paralyzed to +move.</p> + +<p>He turned his head at last and spoke to her. "Have I terrified the senses +out of you, little new chum?" he whispered, softly.</p> + +<p>That awoke her from her passivity. She made her first effort for freedom.</p> + +<p>He drew her down into his arms and held her close.</p> + +<p>"Right down," she said, insistently.</p> + +<p>But he held her still. "If I let you go, you'll wander maybe, and get +lost," he said.</p> + +<p>His action surprised her, but yet that instinctive trust with which he +had inspired her long ago remained, refusing to be shaken.</p> + +<p>"Put me right down!" she said again. "And tell me why you did it!"</p> + +<p>He set her on her feet, but he still held her. "Can't you guess?" he +said.</p> + +<p>"No!" she said. "No!"</p> + +<p>She spoke a little wildly. Was it the first doubt that ran shadow—like +across her brain, leaving her so strangely cold? She wished it had not +been so dark, that she might see his face. "Tell me!" she said again.</p> + +<p>But he did not tell her. "Don't be afraid!" was all he said in answer. +"You are—safe enough."</p> + +<p>"But—but—Fletcher?" she questioned, desperately. "What of him?"</p> + +<p>"He's safe too—for the present." There was something of grimness in his +reply. "He doesn't matter so much. He's been asking for trouble all +along—but he had no right—no right whatever—to bring you into it. +It's you that matters."</p> + +<p>A curious, vibrant quality had crept into his voice, and an answering +tremor went through her; but she controlled it swiftly.</p> + +<p>"And Adela," she said. "She was with Mr. Harley. What has become of her?"</p> + +<p>"He will take care of her for his own sake. Leave her to him!" Warden +spoke with a hint of disdain. "She'll get nothing worse than a fright," +he said, "possibly not even that—if he gets her to the manager's house +in time."</p> + +<p>"In time!" she echoed. "In time for what? What is going to happen? What +do you mean?"</p> + +<p>His hold tightened upon her. "Well," he said, "there's going to be a row. +But I'm boss of this show, and I reckon I can deal with it. Only—I'll +have you safe first, little new chum. I'm not taking any chances where +you are concerned."</p> + +<p>She gasped a little. The steady assurance of his voice stirred her +strangely.</p> + +<p>She tried to release herself from his hold. "I don't like this place," +she said. "Let me go back to Mr. Hill."</p> + +<p>"That's just what I can't do." He bent suddenly down to her. "Won't you +trust me?" he said. "I didn't fail you last time, did I?"</p> + +<p>She thrilled in answer to those words. It was as if thereby he had flung +down all barriers between them. She stood for a moment in indecision, +then impulsively she turned and grasped his arms.</p> + +<p>"I trust you—absolutely," she told him, tremulously. "But—but—though +I know you don't like him—promise me—you won't let—Fletcher be hurt!"</p> + +<p>He, too, was silent for a moment before responding. She fancied that he +flinched a little at her words. Then: "All right, I promise," he said.</p> + +<p>"Then I will go—wherever you like," she said, bravely, and put her hand +into his.</p> + +<p>He took it into a strong grasp. "That's like you," he said, with +simplicity.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X." id="CHAPTER_X."></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>THE GREATER LOVE</h3> + + +<p>Through a labyrinth of many passages he led her, over ground that was +often rough and slimy with that sound of running water in their ears, +sometimes near, sometimes distant, but never wholly absent. Now and then +a gleam of light would come from some distant crevice, and Dot would +catch a glimpse of the rocky corridor through which they moved—catch a +glimpse also of her companion walking with his free stride beside her, +though occasionally he had to stoop when the roof was low. He did not +look at her, seldom spoke to her, but the grasp of his hand held her up +and kept all fear at bay. Somehow fear in this man's presence seemed +impossible.</p> + +<p>A long time passed, and she was sure that they had traversed a +considerable distance before, very far ahead of them at the end +of a steep upward slope, she discerned a patch of sky.</p> + +<p>"Is that where we are going?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said.</p> + +<p>She gazed before her, puzzled. "But where are we? Are we still in the +mine?"</p> + +<p>"No. This is the smugglers' warren." She caught a hint of humour in his +voice. "The stream flows underground all through here—and very useful we +have found it."</p> + +<p>She gave a great start at his words. "You—you are not a smuggler!" she +said.</p> + +<p>He drew her on. "I am a good many things," he said, easily, "and the king +of this rat-run amongst them. There's no one knows it as well as I do."</p> + +<p>Her heart sank. "You said—you said yesterday—you had lived straight!" +she said, in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"Did I? But what does it matter to you how I live?" With a touch of +recklessness he put the question. "If Fletcher Hill managed to put the +official seal on me, what would it matter to you—now?"</p> + +<p>There was almost a note of anger in his voice, yet his hand still held +hers in the same close, reassuring grasp. She could not be afraid.</p> + +<p>"It would matter," she said at last.</p> + +<p>"I wonder why?" said Bill Warden.</p> + +<p>"Because—we are friends," she said.</p> + +<p>He made a sharp sound as of dissent, but he did not openly contradict +her. They were nearing the opening, and the ground was rough and broken. +She stumbled once or twice, and each time he held her up. Finally they +came to a flight of steps that were little more than notches cut steeply +in the rock.</p> + +<p>"I shall have to carry you here," he said.</p> + +<p>Dot looked upwards with sharp dismay. The rocky wall rose twenty feet +above her, the rough-hewn steps slanting along its face. For the first +time her heart misgave her.</p> + +<p>"What a dreadful place!" she said.</p> + +<p>"It's the only way out," said Warden, "unless we tramp underground nearly +half-way to Wallacetown!"</p> + +<p>"Can't we go back?" she said, nervously.</p> + +<p>"What! Afraid?" He gave her hand a sudden squeeze.</p> + +<p>She looked at him and caught the blue fire of his eyes as he bent towards +her. Something moved her, she knew not what. She surrendered herself to +him without a word.</p> + +<p>Once more she hung upon his shoulder, clinging desperately, while he made +that perilous ascent. He went up with amazing agility, as if he were +entirely unencumbered. She felt the strength of his great frame beneath +her, and marvelled. Again the magnetic force of the man possessed her, +stilling all fear. She shut her eyes dizzily, but she was not afraid.</p> + +<p>When she looked up again they were in the open. He had set her on her +feet, and she stood on the rugged side of a mountain where no vestige of +a path or any habitation showed in any direction. For the first time he +had relinquished all hold upon her, and stood apart, almost as if he +would turn and leave her.</p> + +<p>The brief twilight was upon them. It was as if dark wings were folding +them round. A small chill wind was wandering to and fro. She shivered +involuntarily. It sounded like the whispering of an evil spirit. The fear +she had kept at bay for so long laid clammy hands upon her.</p> + +<p>Instinctively she turned to the man for protection. "How shall we get +away?" she said.</p> + +<p>He moved sharply, so sharply that for a single moment she thought that +something had angered him. And then—all in one single blinding +instant—she realized that which no words could utter. For he caught her +swiftly to him, lifting her off her feet, and very suddenly he covered +her face and neck and throat with hot, devouring kisses—kisses that +electrified her—kisses that seemed to scorch and blister—yet to fill +her with a pulsing rapture that was almost too great to endure.</p> + +<p>She tried to hide her face from him, but she could not; to protest, but +his lips stopped the words upon her own. She was powerless—and very +deep down within her there leaped a wild thing that rejoiced—that +exulted—in her powerlessness.</p> + +<p>The fierce storm spent itself. There came a pause during which she +lay palpitating against his breast while his cheek pressed hers in a +stillness that was in a fashion more compelling than even those burning +kisses had been.</p> + +<p>He spoke to her at last, and his voice was deep and tender, throbbing +with that which was beyond utterance.</p> + +<p>"You love me, little new chum," he said.</p> + +<p>There was no question in his words. She quivered, and made no answer. +That headlong outburst of passion had overwhelmed her utterly. She was +as drift upon the tide.</p> + +<p>He drew a great heaving breath, and clasped her closer. His words fell +hot upon her face. "You are mine! Why shouldn't I keep you? Fate has +given you to me. I'd be a fool to let you go again."</p> + +<p>But something—some inner impulse that had been stunned to impotence by +his violence—stirred within her at his words and awoke. Yet it was +scarcely of her own volition that she answered him. "I am—not—yours."</p> + +<p>Very faintly the words came from her trembling lips, but the utterance of +them gave her new strength. She moved at last in his hold. She turned her +face away from him.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" He spoke in a fierce whisper, but—she felt it +instinctively—there was less of assurance in his hold. It was that that +added to her strength, but she offered no active resistance, realizing +wherein lay his weakness—and her own.</p> + +<p>"I mean," she said, and though it still trembled beyond her control, her +voice gathered confidence with the words, "that by taking me—by keeping +me—you are taking—keeping—what is not your own."</p> + +<p>"Love gives me the right," he asserted, swiftly—"your love—and mine."</p> + +<p>But the clearer vision had come to her. She shook her head against his +shoulder. "No—no! That is wrong. That is not—the greater love."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by—the greater love?" He was holding her still +closely, but no longer with that fierce possession.</p> + +<p>She answered him with a steadiness that surprised herself: "I mean the +only love that is worth having—the love that lasts."</p> + +<p>He caught up the words passionately. "And hasn't my love lasted? Have I +ever thought of any other woman since the day I met you? Haven't I been +fighting against odds ever since to be able to come to you an honest +man—and worthy of your love?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know—I know!" she said, and there was a sound of heartbreak in +her voice. "But—the odds have been too heavy. I thought you had +forgotten—long ago."</p> + +<p>"Forgotten!" he said.</p> + +<p>"Yes." With a sob she answered him. "Men do forget—nearly all of them. +Fletcher Hill didn't. He kept on waiting, and—and—they said it wasn't +fair—to spoil a man's life for a dream—that could never come true. +So—I gave in at last. I am—promised to him."</p> + +<p>"Against your will?" His arms tightened upon her again. "Tell me, little +new chum! Was it against your will?"</p> + +<p>"No! Oh, no!" She whispered the words through tears. "I gave +in—willingly. I thought it was better than—an empty life."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" The word fell like a groan. "And that's what you're going to +condemn me to, is it?"</p> + +<p>She turned in his arms, summoning her strength. "We've got to play the +game," she said. "I've got to keep my word—whatever it costs. And +you—you are going to keep yours."</p> + +<p>"My word?" he questioned, swiftly.</p> + +<p>"Yes." She lifted her head. "If—if you really care about being +honest—if your love is worth—anything at all—that is the only way. +You promised—you promised—to save him."</p> + +<p>"Save him for you?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Yes—save him for me." She did not know how she uttered the words, but +somehow they were spoken.</p> + +<p>They went into a silence that wrung her soul, and it cost her every atom +of her strength not to recall them.</p> + +<p>Bill Warden stood quite motionless for many pulsing seconds, then—very, +very slowly—at length his hold began to slacken.</p> + +<p>In the end he set her on her feet—and she was free. "All right, little +new chum!" he said, and she heard a new note in his voice—a note that +waked in her a wild impulse to spring back into his arms and cling to +him—and cling to him. "I'll do it—for you—if it kills me—just to show +you—little girl—just to show you—what my love for you is really +worth."</p> + +<p>He stood a moment, facing her; then his hands clenched and he turned +away.</p> + +<p>"Let's go down the hill!" he said. "I'll see you in safety first."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI." id="CHAPTER_XI."></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>WITHOUT CONDITIONS</h3> + + +<p>In the midst of a darkness that could be felt Fletcher Hill stood, +grimly motionless, waiting. He knew that strong-room, had likened it +to a condemned cell every time he had entered it, and with bitter humour +he told himself that he had put his own neck into the noose with a +vengeance this time.</p> + +<p>Not often—if ever—before had he made the fatal mistake of trusting one +who was untrustworthy. He would not have dreamed of trusting Harley, for +instance. But for some reason he had chosen to repose his confidence in +Warden, and now it seemed that he was to pay the price of his rashness. +It was that fact that galled him far more than the danger with which he +was confronted. That he, Fletcher Hill—the Bloodhound—ever wary and +keen of scent, should have failed to detect a <i>ruse</i> so transparent—this +inflicted a wound that his pride found it hard to sustain. Through his +lack of caution he had forfeited his own freedom, if not his life, and +exposed Dot to a risk from the thought of which even his iron nerve +shrank. He told himself repeatedly, with almost fierce emphasis, that Dot +would be safe, that Warden could not be such a hound as to fail her; but +deep within him there lurked a doubt which he would have given all he had +to be able to silence. The fact remained that through his negligence she +had been left unprotected in an hour of great danger.</p> + +<p>Within the narrow walls of his prison there was no sound save the +occasional drip of water that oozed through the damp rock. He might have +been penned in a vault, and the darkness that pressed upon him seemed to +crush the senses, making difficult coherent thought. There was nothing +to be done but to wait, and that waiting was the worst ordeal that +Fletcher Hill had ever been called upon to face.</p> + +<p>A long time passed—how long he had no means of gauging. He stood like +a sentinel, weapon in hand, staring into the awful darkness, struggling +against its oppression, fighting to keep his brain alert and ready for +any emergency. He thought he was prepared for anything, but that time +of waiting tried his endurance to the utmost, and when at length a sound +other than that irregular drip of water came through the deathly +stillness he started with a violence that sent a smile of self-contempt +to his lips.</p> + +<p>It was a wholly unexpected sound—just the ordinary tones of a man's +voice speaking to him through the darkness where he had believed that +there was nothing but a blank wall.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hill, where are you?" it said. "I have come to get you out."</p> + +<p>Hill's hand tightened upon his revolver. He was not to be taken unawares +a second time. He stood in absolute silence, waiting.</p> + +<p>There was a brief pause, then again came the voice. "There's not much +point in shooting me. You'll probably starve if you do. So watch out! +I'm going to show a light."</p> + +<p>Hill still stood without stirring a muscle. His back was to the door. He +faced the direction of the voice.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, like the glare from an explosion, a light flashed in his eyes, +blinding him after the utter dark. He flinched from it in spite of +himself, but the next moment he was his own master again, erect and +stern, contemptuously unafraid.</p> + +<p>"Don't shoot!" said Bill Warden, with a gleam of his teeth, "or maybe +you'll shoot a friend!"</p> + +<p>He was standing empty-handed save for the torch he carried, his great +figure upright against the wall, facing Hill with speculation in his +eyes.</p> + +<p>Hill lowered his revolver. "I doubt it," he said, grimly.</p> + +<p>"Ah! You don't know me yet, do you?" said Warden, a faintly jeering note +in his voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Hill, deliberately. "I think I know you—pretty well—now."</p> + +<p>"I wonder," said Warden.</p> + +<p>He moved slowly forward, throwing the light before him as he did so. The +place had been blasted out of the rock, and here and there the stone +shone smooth as marble where the charge had gone. Rough shelves had been +hewn in the walls, leaving divisions between, and on some of these were +stored bags of the precious metal that had been ground out of the ore. +There was no sign anywhere of any entrance save the iron-bound door +behind Hill.</p> + +<p>Straight in front of him Warden stopped. They stood face to face.</p> + +<p>"Well?" Warden said. "What do you know of me?"</p> + +<p>Hill's eyes were as steel. He stood stiff as a soldier on parade. He +answered curtly, without a hint of emotion. "I know enough to get you +arrested when this—farce—is over."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you call this a farce, do you?" Bill Warden's words came slowly from +lips that strangely smiled. "And when does—the fun begin?"</p> + +<p>Hill's harsh face was thrown into strong relief by the flare of the +torch. It was as flint confronting the other man. "Do you really imagine +that I regard this sort of Forty Thieves business seriously?" he said.</p> + +<p>"I imagine it is pretty serious so far as you are concerned," said +Warden. "You're in about the tightest hole you've ever been in in your +life. And it's up to me to get you out—or to leave you. Do you +understand that?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, quite," said Fletcher Hill, sardonically. "But—let me tell you +at the outset—you won't find me specially easy to bargain with on that +count—Mr. Buckskin Bill."</p> + +<p>Bill Warden threw up his head with a gesture of open defiance. "I'm not +doing any—bargaining," he said. "And as to arresting me—afterwards—you +can do as you please. But now—just now—you are in my power, and you're +going to play my game. Got that?"</p> + +<p>"I can see myself doing it," said Fletcher Hill.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you will do it." A sudden deep note of savagery sounded in Warden's +voice. "Not to save your own skin, Mr. Fletcher Hill, but for the sake +of—something more valuable than that—something more precious even than +your cussed pride. You'll do it for the sake of the girl you're going to +marry. And you'll do it—now."</p> + +<p>"Shall I?" said Fletcher Hill.</p> + +<p>Bill Warden's hand suddenly came forth and gripped him by the shoulder. +"Damn you!" he said. "Do you think I want to save your life?"</p> + +<p>The words were low, spoken with a concentrated passion more terrible than +open violence. He looked closely into Hill's eyes, and his own were +flaming like the eyes of a baited animal.</p> + +<p>Hill looked straight back at him without the stirring of an eyelid. "Take +your hand off me!" he said.</p> + +<p>It was the word of the superior officer. Warden's hand fell as it were +mechanically. There followed a tense silence.</p> + +<p>Warden made a sharp movement. "I did it to save your life," he said. +"You'd have died like a dog within ten seconds if I hadn't turned you +back."</p> + +<p>A curious expression crossed Hill's strong countenance. It was almost a +smile of understanding. "I am—indebted to you—boss," he said, and with +the words very calmly he took his revolver by the muzzle and held it out. +"I surrender to you—without conditions."</p> + +<p>Bill Warden gave a sharp start of surprise. For an instant he hesitated, +then in silence he took the weapon and dropped it into his pocket. A +moment longer he looked Fletcher Hill straight in the eyes, then swung +upon his heel.</p> + +<p>"We'll get out of this infernal hole straight away," he said, and, +stooping, gripped his fingers upon a ridge of stone that ran close to the +floor. The stone swung inward under his grasp, leaving a dark aperture +gaping at his feet. Bill glanced backwards at his prisoner.</p> + +<p>The smile still hovered in the latter's eye. "After you, Mr. Buckskin +Bill!" he said, ceremoniously.</p> + +<p>And in silence Bill led the way.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII." id="CHAPTER_XII."></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>THE BOSS OF BARREN VALLEY</h3> + + +<p>"Oh, my dear!" gasped Adela. "I've had the most terrifying adventure. +I thought I should never see you again. The men are all on strike, and +they've sworn to kill Fletcher Hill, only no one knows where he is. What +became of him? Has he got away?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," Dot said.</p> + +<p>She sank into the nearest chair in the ill-lighted manager's office, and +leaned her white face in her hand.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he has been murdered already," said Adela. "Mr. Harley is +very anxious about him. He can't hold them. And—Dot—just think of +it!—Warden—the man we saw yesterday, the sub-manager—is at their head. +I saw him myself. He had a revolver in his hand. You were with Fletcher +Hill. You must know what became of him!"</p> + +<p>"No, I don't know," said Dot. "We—parted—a long time ago."</p> + +<p>"How odd you are!" said Adela. "Why, what is the matter? Are you going to +faint?" She went to the girl and bent over her, frightened by her look. +"What is the matter, Dot? What has happened to you? You haven't been +hurt?"</p> + +<p>"I am—all right," Dot said, with an effort. "Did Mr. Harley bring you +here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. And you? How did you get here?"</p> + +<p>"He—brought me most of the way—Mr. Warden," Dot said. "He has gone now +to save—Fletcher Hill."</p> + +<p>"To shoot him, more likely," said Adela. "He has posted sentinels all +round the mine to catch him. I wonder if we are safe here! Mr. Harley +said it was a safe place. But I wonder. Shall we make a bolt for it, Dot? +Shall we? Shall we?"</p> + +<p>"I shall stay here," Dot answered.</p> + +<p>Adela was not even listening. "We are only two defenceless women, and +there isn't a man to look after us. What shall we do if—Ah! Heavens! +What is that?"</p> + +<p>A fearful sound had cut short her speculations—a fiendish yelling as of +a pack of wolves leaping upon their prey. Dot sat up swiftly. Adela +cowered in a corner.</p> + +<p>The terrible noise continued, appalling in its violence. It swept like +a wave towards the building, drowning the roar of the stream below. The +girl at the table rose and went to the closed door. She gripped a +revolver in her right hand. With her left she reached for the latch.</p> + +<p>"Don't open it!" gasped Adela.</p> + +<p>But Dot paid no heed. She lifted the latch and flung wide the door. Her +slim figure stood outlined against the lamp-light behind her. Before her +in a white glare of moonlight lay the vault-like entrance of the mine at +the head of Barren Valley, and surging along the black, scarred side of +the hill there came a yelling crowd of miners. They were making straight +for the open door, but at the sight of the girl standing there they +checked momentarily and the shouting died down.</p> + +<p>She faced the foremost of them without a tremor. "What is it?" she +demanded, in a clear, ringing voice. "What are you wanting?"</p> + +<p>A man with the shaggy face of a baboon answered her. "You've got that +blasted policeman in there. You stick up that gun of yours and let us +pass! We've got guns of our own, so that won't help."</p> + +<p>She confronted him with scorn. "Do you imagine I'm afraid of you and your +guns? There's no one here except another woman. Are you out to fight +women to-night?"</p> + +<p>"That's a lie!" he made prompt response. "You've got Fletcher Hill in +there, or I'm a nigger. You let us pass!"</p> + +<p>But still she blocked the way, her revolver pointing straight at him. +"Fletcher Hill is not here. And you won't come in unless Mr. Warden says +so. He is not here either at present. But he is coming. And I will shoot +any man who tries to force his way in first."</p> + +<p>"Damnation!" growled the shaggy-faced one and wheeled upon his comrades. +"What do you say to that, boys? Going to let a woman run this show?"</p> + +<p>A chorus of curses answered him, but still no one raised a revolver +against the slender figure that opposed them. Only, after a moment, a cur +in the background picked up a stone and flung it. It struck the doorpost, +narrowly missing her shoulder. Dot did not flinch, but immediately, with +tightened lips, she raised the revolver and fired over their heads.</p> + +<p>A furious outburst followed the explosion, and in an instant a dozen +revolvers were levelled at her. But in that same instant there came a +sound like the roar of a lion from behind the building, and with it +Warden's great figure leapt out into the moonlight.</p> + +<p>"You damned ruffians!" he yelled. "You devils! What are you doing?"</p> + +<p>His anger was in a fashion superb. It dwarfed the anger of the crowd. +They gave way before him like a herd of beasts. He sprang in front of +the girl, raging like a man possessed.</p> + +<p>"You gang of murderers! You hounds! You dirty swine! Get back, do you +hear? I'm the boss of this show, and what I say goes, or, if it doesn't, +I'll know the reason why. Benson—you dog! What's the meaning of this? Do +you think I'll have under me any coward that will badger a woman?"</p> + +<p>The man he addressed looked at him with a cowed expression on his hairy +face. "I never wanted to interfere with her," he growled. "But she's +protecting that damned policeman. It's her own fault for getting in our +way."</p> + +<p>"You're wrong then!" flashed back Warden. "Fletcher Hill is under my +protection, not hers. He has surrendered to me as my prisoner."</p> + +<p>"You've, got him?" shouted a score of voices.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I've got him." Rapidly Warden made answer. "But I'm not going to +hand him over to you to be murdered out of hand. If I'm boss of Barren +Valley, I'll be boss. So if any of you are dissatisfied you'll have to +reckon with me first. Fletcher Hill is my prisoner, and I'll see to it +that he has a fair trial. Got that?"</p> + +<p>A low murmur went round. The magnetism of the man was making itself felt. +He had that electric force which sways the multitude against all reason. +Single-handed, he gripped them with colossal assurance. They shrank from +the flame of his wrath like beaten dogs.</p> + +<p>"And before we deal with him," he went on, "there's someone else to be +reckoned with. And that's Harley. Does anyone know where Harley is?"</p> + +<p>"What do you want with Harley?" asked Benson, glad of this diversion.</p> + +<p>"Oh, just to tell him what I think of him, and then—to kick him out!" +With curt contempt Warden threw his answer. "He's a traitor and a +skunk—smuggles spirits one minute and goes to the police to sell his +chums the next; then back to his chums again to sell the police. I know. +I've been watching him for some time, the cur. He'd shoot me if he +dared."</p> + +<p>"He'd better!" yelled a huge miner in the middle of the crowd.</p> + +<p>Warden laughed. "That you, Nixon? Come over here! I've got something to +tell you—and the other boys. It's the story of this blasted mine." He +turned suddenly to the girl who still stood behind him in the lighted +doorway. "Miss Burton, I'd like you to hear it too. Shut the door and +stand by me!"</p> + +<p>Her shining eyes were on his face. She obeyed him mutely, with a +submission as unquestioning as that of the rough crowd in front of them.</p> + +<p>Very gently he took the revolver from her, drew one out of his own pocket +also, and handed both to the big man called Nixon who had come to his +side.</p> + +<p>"You look after these!" he said.</p> + +<p>"One is my property. The other belongs to Fletcher Hill—who is my +prisoner. Now, boys, you're armed. I'm not. You won't shoot the lady, I +know. And for myself I'll take my chance."</p> + +<p>"Guess you won't be any the worse for that," grinned Nixon, at his elbow.</p> + +<p>Warden's smile gleamed for an instant in answer, but he passed swiftly +on. "Did you ever hear of a cattle-thief called Buckskin Bill? He +flourished in these parts some five years ago. There was no mine in +Barren Valley then. It was just—a smugglers' stronghold."</p> + +<p>Some of the men in front of him stirred uneasily. "What's this to do with +Fletcher Hill?" asked one.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you," said Warden. "Buckskin Bill, the cattle-thief, was in a +tight corner, and he took refuge in Barren Valley. He found the +smugglers' <i>cache</i>—and he found something else that the smugglers didn't +know of. He found—gold. It's a queer thing, boys, but he'd decided—for +private reasons—to give up the cattle-lifting just two days before. The +police were hot after him, but they didn't catch him and the smugglers +didn't catch him either. He dodged 'em all, and when he left he said to +himself, 'I'll be the boss of Barren Valley when I come back.' After that +he went West and starved a bit in the Australian desert till the cattle +episode had had time to blow over. Then—it's nearly two years ago +now—he came back. The first person he ran into was—Fletcher Hill, +the policeman."</p> + +<p>He paused with that dramatic instinct which was surely part-secret of his +fascination. He had caught the full attention of the crowd, and held them +spellbound.</p> + +<p>In a moment he went on. "That gave him an idea. Hill, of course, was +after other game by that time and didn't spot him. Hill was a magistrate +and a civil power at Wallacetown. So Bill went to him, knowing he was +straight, anyway, and told him about the gold in Barren Valley, +explaining, bold as brass, that he couldn't run the show himself for lack +of money. Boys, it was a rank speculation, but Hill was a sport. He +caught on. He came to Barren Valley, and they tinkered round together, +and they found gold. That same night they came upon the smugglers, +too—only escaped running into them by a miracle. Hill didn't say much. +He's not a talker. But after they got back to Wallacetown he made an +offer to Buckskin Bill which struck him as being a very sporting +proposition for a policeman. He said, 'If you care to take on Barren +Valley and make an honest concern of it, I'll get the grant and do the +backing. The labour is there,' he said, 'but it's got to be honest labour +or I won't touch it.' It was a sporting offer, boys, and, of course, Bill +jumped. And so a contract was drawn up which had to be signed. And +'What's your name?' said Fletcher Hill." Warden suddenly began to laugh. +"On my oath, he didn't know what to say, so he just caught at the first +honest-sounding name he could think of. 'Fortescue,' he said. Hill didn't +ask a single question. 'Then that mine shall be called the Fortescue Gold +Mine,' he said. 'And you'll work it and make an honest man's job of it.' +It was a pretty big undertaking, but it sort of appealed to Buckskin +Bill, and he took it on. The only real bad mistake he made was when he +trusted Harley. Except for that, the thing worked—and worked well. +The smuggling trade isn't what it was, eh, boys? That's because +Fortescue—and Fletcher Hill—are using up the labour for the mine. And +you may hate 'em like hell, but you can't get away from the fact that +this mine is run fair and decent, and there isn't a man here who doesn't +stand a good chance of making his fortune if he plays a straight game. +It's been a chance to make good for every one of us, and it's thanks to +Fletcher Hill—because he hasn't asked questions—because he's just taken +us on trust—and I'm hanged if he doesn't deserve something better than a +bullet through his brain, even if he is a magistrate and a policeman and +a man of honour. Have you got that, boys? Then chew it over and swallow +it! And when you've done that, I'll tell you something more."</p> + +<p>"Oh, let's have it all, boss, now you're at it!" broke in Nixon. "We +shan't have hysterics now. We're past that stage."</p> + +<p>Warden turned with a lightning movement and laid his hand upon the girl +beside him. "Gentlemen," he said, "it's Fletcher Hill—and not Buckskin +Bill—who's the boss of this valley. And he's a good boss—he's a +sportsman—he's a maker of men. And this lady is going to be his wife. +You're going to stand by her, boys. You aren't going to make a widow of +her before she's married. You aren't going to let a skunk like Harley +make skunks of you all. You're sportsmen, too—better sportsmen than that +stands for—better sportsmen, maybe, than I am myself. What, boys? It's +your turn to speak now."</p> + +<p>"Wait a bit!" said Nixon. "You haven't quite finished yet, boss."</p> + +<p>"No, that's true." Warden paused an instant, then abruptly went forward a +pace and stood alone before the crowd. "I've taken a good many chances in +my life," he said. "But now I'm taking the biggest of 'em all. Boys, I'm +a damned impostor. I've tricked you all, and it's up to you to stick me +against a wall and shoot me as I deserve, if you feel that way. For I'm +Buckskin Bill—I'm Fortescue—and I'm several kinds of a fool to think I +could ever carry it through. Now you know!"</p> + +<p>With defiant recklessness he flung the words. They were more of a +challenge than a confession. And having spoken them he moved straight +forward with the moonlight on his face till he stood practically among +the rough crowd.</p> + +<p>They opened out to receive him, almost as if at a word of command. And +Buckskin Bill, with his head high and his blue eyes flaming, went +straight into them with the gait of a conqueror.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, with a passionate gesture, he stopped, flinging up his empty +right hand. "Well, boys, well? What's the verdict? I'm in your hands."</p> + +<p>And a great hoarse roar of enthusiasm went up as they closed around him +that was like the bursting asunder of mighty flood-gates. They surged +about him. They lifted him on their shoulders. They yelled like maniacs +and fired their revolvers in the air. It was the wildest outbreak that +Barren Valley had ever heard, and to the girl who watched it, it was the +most marvellous revelation of a man's magnetism that she had ever beheld. +Alone he had faced and conquered a multitude.</p> + +<p>It pierced her strangely, that fierce enthusiasm, stirring her as +personal danger had failed to stir. She turned with the tears running +down her face and found Fletcher Hill standing unnoticed behind her, +silently looking on.</p> + +<p>"Oh, isn't he great? Isn't he great?" she said.</p> + +<p>He took her arm and led her within. His touch was kind, but wholly +without warmth. "There's not much doubt as to who is the boss of Barren +Valley," he said.</p> + +<p>And with the words he smiled—a smile that was sadder than her tears.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII." id="CHAPTER_XIII."></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>THE OFFICIAL SEAL</h3> + + +<p>That life could possibly return to a normal course after that amazing +night would have seemed to Dot preposterous but for the extremely +practical attitude adopted by Fletcher Hill. But when she saw him again +on the day after their safe return to Trelevan there was nothing in his +demeanour to remind her of the stress through which they had passed. He +was, as ever, perfectly calm and self-contained, and wholly +uncommunicative. Adela sought in vain to satisfy her curiosity as to the +happenings in Barren Valley which her courage had not permitted her to +witness for herself. Fletcher Hill was as a closed book, and on some +points Dot was equally reticent. By no persuasion could Adela induce her +to speak of Bill Warden. She turned the subject whenever it approached +him, professing an ignorance which Adela found excessively provoking.</p> + +<p>They saw nothing of him during the remainder of the week, and very +little of Fletcher Hill, who went to and fro upon his business with a +machine-like precision that seemed to pervade his every action. He made +no attempt to be alone with Dot, and she, with a shyness almost +overwhelming, thankfully accepted his forbearance. The day they had fixed +upon for their marriage was rapidly approaching, but she had almost +ceased to contemplate it, for somehow it seemed to her that it could +never dawn. Something must happen first! Surely something was about to +happen! And from day to day she lived for the sight of Bill Warden's +great figure and the sound of his steady voice. Anything, she felt, would +be bearable if only she could see him once again. But she looked for him +in vain.</p> + +<p>When her brother joined them at the end of the week a dullness of despair +had come upon her. Again she saw herself trapped and helpless, lacking +even the spirit to attempt escape. She greeted Jack almost abstractedly, +and he observed her throughout the evening with anxiety in his eyes. When +it was over he drew her aside for a moment as she was bidding him +good-night.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, little 'un? What's wrong?" he whispered, with his arm +about her.</p> + +<p>She clung to him for an instant with a closeness that was passionate. +But, "It's nothing, Jack," she whispered back. "It's nothing."</p> + +<p>Then Fletcher Hill came up to them, and they separated. Adela and Dot +went up to bed, and the two men were left alone.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>So at length the great day dawned, and nothing had happened. The only +news that had reached them was a remark overheard by Adela in the +dining-room, to the effect that Harley had thrown up his post and gone.</p> + +<p>Dot dressed for her wedding with a dazed sense of unreality. Her attire +was of the simplest. She wore a hat instead of a veil. It was to be a +quiet ceremony in the early morning, for neither she nor Hill desired any +unnecessary parade. When she descended the stairs with Adela, Jack was +the only person awaiting her in the hall.</p> + +<p>He looked at her searchingly as she came down to him, then without a word +he took her in his arms and kissed her white face. She saw that he was +moved, and wondered within herself at her own utter lack of emotion. Ever +since she had lain against Bill Warden's breast, the wild sweet rapture +of his hold had seemed to paralyze in her all other feeling. She knew +only the longing for his presence, the utter emptiness of a world that +held him not.</p> + +<p>She drove to the church with her hand in Jack's, Adela talking +incessantly the whole way while they two sat in silence. It was a bare +building in the heart of the town, but its bareness did not convey any +chill to her. She was already too numbly cold for that.</p> + +<p>She went up the aisle between Jack and Adela, because the latter +good-naturedly remarked that she might as well have as much support as +she could get. But before they reached the altar-steps Fletcher Hill came +to meet them, and Adela dropped behind.</p> + +<p>He also looked for a moment closely into Dot's face, then very quietly he +took her cold hand from Jack and drew it through his arm. She glanced at +him with a momentary nervousness as Jack also fell behind.</p> + +<p>Then some unknown force drew her as the magnet draws the needle, and she +looked towards the altar. A man was standing by the steps awaiting her. +She saw the free carriage of the great shoulders, the deep fire of the +blue eyes. And suddenly her heart gave a wild throb that was anguish, and +stood still.</p> + +<p>Fletcher Hill's arm went round her. He held her for a second closely to +him—more closely than he had ever held her before. But—it came to her +later—he did not utter a single word. He only drew her on.</p> + +<p>And so she came to Bill Warden waiting before the altar. They met—and +all the rest was blotted out.</p> + +<p>She went through that service in a breathless wonderment, an amazement +that yet was strangely free from distress. For Bill Warden's hand clasped +hers throughout, save when Fletcher Hill took it from him for a moment to +give her away.</p> + +<p>When it was over, and they knelt together in the streaming sunshine of +the morning, she felt as if they two were alone in an inner sanctuary +that was filled with the Love of God. Later, those sacred moments were +the holiest memory of her life....</p> + +<p>Then a strong arm lifted and held her. She turned from the holy place +with a faint sigh of regret, turned to meet Fletcher Hill's eyes looking +at her with that in them which she was never to forget.</p> + +<p>His voice was the first to break through the wonder-spell that bound her.</p> + +<p>"Do you think you will ever manage to forgive me?" he said.</p> + +<p>She turned swiftly from the arm that encircled her, and impulsively +she put her hands upon his shoulders, offering him her lips. "Oh, I +don't—know—what—to say," she said, brokenly.</p> + +<p>He bent and gravely kissed her. "My dear, there is nothing to be said so +far as I am concerned," he said. "If you are happy, I am satisfied."</p> + +<p>It was briefly spoken, but it went straight to her heart. She clung to +him for a moment without words, and that was all the thanks she ever +offered him. For there was nothing to be said.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Very late on the evening of that wonderful day she sat with Bill Warden +on the edge of a rock overlooking a fertile valley of many waters in the +Blue Mountains, and heard, with her hand in his the amazing story of the +past few days, which had seemed to her so curiously dream-like.</p> + +<p>"I fought hard against marrying you," Bill told her, with the smile she +had remembered for so long. "But he had me at every turn—simply rolled +me out and wiped the ground with me. Said he'd clap me into prison if I +didn't, and when I said 'All right' to that, he turned on me like a tiger +and asked if I wanted to break your heart. Oh, he made me feel a +ten-times swab, I can tell you. And when I said I didn't want you to +marry an uncaught criminal, he just looked me over and said, 'You've sown +your wild oats. As your partner, I am sponsor for your respectability.' I +knew what that meant, knew he'd stand by me through thick and thin, +whatever turned up. It was the official seal with a vengeance, for what +Fletcher Hill says goes in these parts. But it went against the grain, +little new chum. It made me sick with myself. I hated playing his game +against himself. It was the vilest thing I ever did. I couldn't have done +it—except for you."</p> + +<p>The little hand that held his tightened. She leaned her cheek against his +shoulder. "Shall I tell you something?" she whispered. "I couldn't have +done it either—except for—you."</p> + +<p>His arm clasped her. "I'm such a poor sort of creature, darling," he said +"I'll work for you—live for you—die for you. But I shall never be +worthy of you."</p> + +<p>She lifted her face to his in the gathering darkness. "Dear love," she +said, "do you remember how—once—you asked me to treat you—without +prejudice? But I never have—and I don't believe I ever shall. Fletcher +Hill is right to trust you. He is a judge of men. But I—I am only the +woman who loves you, and—somehow—whichever way I take you—I'm always +prejudiced—in your favour."</p> + +<p>The low words ended against his lips. He kissed her closely, +passionately. "My little chum," he said, "I will be worthy—I will be +worthy—so help me God!"</p> + +<p>He was near to tears as he uttered his oath; but presently, when he +turned back her sleeve to kiss the place where first his lips had +lingered, they laughed together—the tender laughter of lovers in the +happy morning-time of life.</p> + + + + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + + + + +<h1><a name="Her_Own_Free_Will" id="Her_Own_Free_Will"></a><span class="smcap">Her Own Free Will</span></h1> +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + + +<h3>Contents</h3> + +<p> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + + +<p>"Well, it's all over now, for better, for worse, as they say. And I hope +very much as it won't be for worse."</p> + +<p>A loud sniff expressive of grave misgiving succeeded the remark. The +speaker—one of a knot of village women—edged herself a little further +forward to look up the long strip of red baize that stretched from the +church porch to the lych gate near which she stood. The two cracked bells +were doing their best to noise abroad the importance of the event that +had just taken place, which was nothing less than the marriage of Colonel +Everard's daughter to Piet Cradock, the man of millions. Of the latter's +very existence none of the villagers had heard till a certain day, but a +few weeks before, when he had suddenly appeared at the Hall as the +accepted suitor of Nan Everard, whom everyone loved.</p> + +<p>She was only twenty, prettiest, gayest, wildest, of the whole wild tribe. +Three sons and eight daughters had the Colonel—a handsome, unruly +family, each one of them as lavish, as extravagant, and as undeniably +attractive as he was himself.</p> + +<p>His wife had been dead for years. They lived on the verge of bankruptcy, +had done so as long as most of them could remember; but it was only of +late that matters had begun to look really serious for them. It was +rumoured that the Hall was already mortgaged beyond its value, and it was +common knowledge that the Colonel's debts were accumulating with alarming +rapidity. This marriage, so it was openly surmised, had been arranged in +haste for the sole purpose of easing the strain.</p> + +<p>For that Nan Everard cared in the smallest degree for the solemn, +thick-set son of a Boer mother, to whom she had given herself, no one +ever deemed possible for an instant. But he was rich, fabulously rich, +and that fact counterbalanced many drawbacks. Piet Cradock owned a large +share in a diamond mine in the South African Republic, and he was a +person of considerable importance in his native land in consequence. He +had visited England on business, but his time there had been limited to +a bare six weeks. This fact had necessitated a brief wooing and a speedy +marriage.</p> + +<p>He had met the girl of his choice by a mere accident. He had chanced to +be seated on her right hand at a formal dinner-party in town. Very little +had passed between them then, but later, through the medium of his host, +he had sought her out, and called upon her. Within a week he had asked +her to be his wife. And Nan Everard, impulsive, dazzled by the prospect +of unbounded wealth, and feverishly eager to ease the family burden, had +accepted him.</p> + +<p>He was obliged to sail for South Africa within three weeks of his +proposal, and preparations for the marriage had therefore to be hurried +forward with all speed. They were to leave for Plymouth immediately after +the ceremony, and to sail on the following day.</p> + +<p>So at breathless speed events had raced, and no one knew exactly what +was the state of Nan's mind even up to the morning of her wedding-day. +Perhaps she scarcely knew herself, so madly had she been whirled along in +the vortex to which she had committed herself. But possibly during the +ceremony some vague realisation of what she was doing came upon her, for +she made her vows with a face as white as death, and in a voice that +never once rose above a whisper.</p> + +<p>But when she came at last down the church-yard path upon her husband's +arm, she was laughing merrily enough. Some enthusiast had flung a shower +of rice over his uncovered head, to his obvious discomfiture.</p> + +<p>He did not laugh with her. His smooth, heavy-jawed face was absolutely +unresponsive. He was fifteen years her senior, and he looked it to the +full. The hair grew far back upon his head, and it had a sprinkling of +grey. His height was unremarkable, but he had immensely powerful +shoulders, and a bull-like breadth of chest, that imparted a certain +air of arrogance to his gait. His black brows met shaggily over eyes of +sombre brown. Undeniably a formidable personage, this!</p> + +<p>Nan, glancing at him as she entered the carriage, harboured for a +moment the startled reflection that if he had a beard nothing could +have restrained her just then from screaming and running away. But, +fortunately for her quaking dignity, his face, with the exception of +those menacing eyebrows, and the lashes that shaded his gloomy eyes, was +wholly free from hair.</p> + +<p>Driving away from the church with its two clanging bells, she made a +resolute effort to shake off the scared feeling that had so possessed her +when she had stood at the altar with this man. If she had made a mistake, +and even now she was not absolutely certain that she had—it was +impossible in that turmoil of conflicting emotions to say—but +if she had, it was past remedy, and she must face the consequences +without shrinking. She had a conviction that he would domineer over her +without mercy if she displayed any fear.</p> + +<p>So, bravely hiding her sinking heart, she laughed and chatted for the +benefit of her taciturn bridegroom with the gayest inconsequence during +the brief drive to her home.</p> + +<p>He scarcely replied. He seemed to have something on his mind also. And +Nan breathed a little sigh of relief when they reached their destination, +and he gravely handed her out.</p> + +<p>A litter of telegrams on a table in the old-fashioned hall caught the +girl's attention directly she entered. She pounced upon them with eager +zest.</p> + +<p>"Ah, here's one from Jerry Lister. I knew he would be sure to remember. +He's the dearest boy in the world. He would have been here, but for some +horrid examination that kept him at Oxford."</p> + +<p>She opened the message impetuously, and began to read it; but suddenly, +finding her husband at her side, she desisted, crumpling it in her hand +with decidedly heightened colour.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he's quite ridiculous. Let us open some of the others."</p> + +<p>She thrust a sheaf into his hand, and busied herself with the remainder.</p> + +<p>He did not attempt to open any of them, but stood silently watching her +glowing face as she opened one after another and tossed them down.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she raised her eyes, and met his look fully, with a certain +pride.</p> + +<p>"Is anything the matter?"</p> + +<p>He pointed quite calmly to the scrap of paper she held crumpled in her +hand.</p> + +<p>"Are you not going to read that?" he asked, in slow, rather careful +English.</p> + +<p>Her colour deepened; it rose to her forehead in a burning wave.</p> + +<p>"Presently," she returned briefly.</p> + +<p>His eyes held hers with a curious insistence.</p> + +<p>"You need not be afraid," he said very quietly; "I shall not try to look +over."</p> + +<p>Nan stared at him, too amazed for speech. The hot blood ebbed from +her face as swiftly as it had risen, leaving her as white as the +orange-blossoms in her hair.</p> + +<p>At length suddenly, with a passionate gesture, she thrust out her hand to +him with the ball of paper on her palm.</p> + +<p>"Pray take it and read it," she said, her voice quivering with anger, +"since it interests you so much."</p> + +<p>He made no movement to comply.</p> + +<p>"I do not wish to read it, Anne," he said gravely.</p> + +<p>Her lip curled. It was the first time he had ever called her by her +Christian name, and there was something exceedingly formal in the way he +uttered it now. Moreover, no one ever called her anything but Nan. For +some reason she was hotly indignant at this unfamiliar mode of address. +It increased her anger against him tenfold.</p> + +<p>"Take it and read it!" she reiterated, with stubborn persistence. "I wish +you to do so!"</p> + +<p>The first carriage-load of guests was approaching the house as she spoke. +Cradock paused for a single instant as if irresolute, then, without more +ado, he took her at her word. He smoothed the paper out without the +smallest change of countenance, and read it, while she stood quivering +with impotent fury by his side. It was a long telegram, and it took some +seconds to read; but he did not look up till he had mastered it.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, sweetheart, good-bye," so ran the message—"It is no +red-letter day for me, but I wish you joy with all my heart. Spare a +thought now and then for the good old times and the boy you left behind +you.—Your loving <span class="smcap">Jerry</span>."</p> + +<p>Amid a buzz of congratulation, Piet Cradock handed the missive back to +his bride with a simple "Thank you!" that revealed nothing whatever of +what was in his mind.</p> + +<p>She took it, without looking at him, with nervous promptitude, and the +incident passed.</p> + +<p>The guests were many, and Nan's attention was very fully occupied. No +casual observer, seeing her smiling face, would have suspected the +turmoil of doubt that underlay her serenity.</p> + +<p>Only Mona, her favourite sister, had the smallest inkling of it, but even +Mona was not in Nan's confidence just then. No intimate word of any sort +passed between them up in the old bedroom that they had shared all their +lives during the fleeting half-hour that Nan spent preparing for her +journey. They could neither of them bear to speak of the coming +separation, and that embodied everything.</p> + +<p>The only allusion that Nan made to it was as she passed out of the room +with her arm round her sister's shoulders, and whispered:</p> + +<p>"Don't sleep by yourself to-night, darling. Make Lucy join you."</p> + +<p>They descended the stairs, holding closely to each other. Old Colonel +Everard, very red and tearful, met them at the foot, and folded Nan +tightly in his arms, murmuring inarticulate words of blessing.</p> + +<p>Nan emerged from his embrace pale but quite tearless.</p> + +<p>"Au revoir, dad!" she said, in her sprightliest tone. "You will be having +me back like a bad half-penny before you can turn round."</p> + +<p>Still laughing, she went from one to another of her family with words of +careless farewell, and finally rah the gauntlet of her well-wishers to +the waiting carriage, into which she dived without ceremony to avoid the +hail of rice that pursued her.</p> + +<p>Her husband followed her closely, and they were off almost before he took +his seat beside her.</p> + +<p>"Thank goodness, that's over!" said Nan, with fervour. "I'll never marry +again if I live to be a hundred! I am sure being buried must be much more +fun, and not nearly so ignominious."</p> + +<p>She leaned forward with the words, and was on the point of letting down +the window, when there was a sudden, deafening report close to them. The +carriage jerked and swerved violently, and in an instant it was being +whirled down the drive at the top speed of two terrified horses.</p> + +<p>Instinctively Nan turned to the man beside her.</p> + +<p>"It's the boys!" she exclaimed. "They said they should fire a salute! +But—but—"</p> + +<p>She broke off, amazed to find his arms gripping her tightly, forcing her +back in her seat, holding her pressed to him with a strength that took +her breath away.</p> + +<p>It all came—a multitude of impressions—crowded into a few brief +seconds; yet every racing detail was engraved with awful distinctness +upon the girl's mind, never to be forgotten.</p> + +<p>She struggled wildly in that suffocating hold, struggled fruitlessly to +lift her face from her husband's shoulder into which it was ruthlessly +pressed, and only ceased to struggle when the end of that terrible flight +came with a jolt and a jar and a final, sickening crash that flung her +headlong into a dreadful gulf of emptiness into which no light or echo of +sound could even vaguely penetrate.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + + +<p>Nan opened her eyes in her own sunny bedroom, and gazed wonderingly about +her, dimly conscious of something wrong.</p> + +<p>The doctor, whom she had known from her earliest infancy, was bending +over her, and she smiled her recognition of him, though with a dawning +uneasiness. Vague shapes were floating in her brain that troubled and +perplexed her.</p> + +<p>"What happened?" she murmured uneasily.</p> + +<p>He laid his hand upon her forehead.</p> + +<p>"Nothing much," he told her gently. "Lie still like a good girl and go to +sleep. There is nothing whatever for you to worry about. You'll be better +in the morning."</p> + +<p>But the shapes were obstinate, and would not be expelled. They were, +moreover, beginning to take definite form.</p> + +<p>"Wasn't there an accident?" she said restlessly. "I wish you would tell +me."</p> + +<p>"Well, I will," the doctor answered, "if you will keep quiet and not vex +yourself. There was a bit of an accident. The carriage was overturned. +But no one was hurt but you, and you will soon be yourself again if you +do as you're told."</p> + +<p>"But how am I hurt?" questioned Nan, moving her head on the pillow with a +dizzy feeling of weakness. "Ah!" with a sudden frown of pain. "It—it's +my arm."</p> + +<p>"Yes," the doctor said. "It's your arm. It went through the carriage +window. I have had to strap it up pretty tightly. You will try to put up +with it, and on no account must it be moved."</p> + +<p>She looked at him with startled eyes.</p> + +<p>"Is it very badly cut, then?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, a fragment of glass pierced the main artery. But I have checked the +bleeding—it was a providential thing that I was at hand to do it—and +if you keep absolutely still, it won't burst out again. I am telling you +this because it is necessary for you to know what a serious matter it is. +Any exertion might bring it on again, and then I can't say what would +happen. You have lost a good deal of blood as it is, and you can't afford +to lose any more. But if you behave like a sensible girl, and lie quiet +for a few days, you will soon be none the worse for the adventure."</p> + +<p>"For a few days!" Nan's eyes widened. "Then—then I shan't be able to go +with—with—" She faltered, and broke off.</p> + +<p>He answered her with very kindly sympathy.</p> + +<p>"Poor little woman! It's hard lines, but I am afraid there is no help for +it. You will have to postpone your honeymoon for a little while."</p> + +<p>"Have you—have you—told—him?" Nan whispered anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Yes, he knows all about it," the doctor said. "You shall see him +presently. But I want you to rest now. You have had a nasty shock, and +I should like you to sleep it off. Just drink this, and shut your eyes."</p> + +<p>Nan obeyed him meekly. She was feeling very weak and tired. And, after a +little, she fell asleep, blissfully unconscious of the fact that her +husband was seated close to her on the other side of the bed, silent and +watchful, and immobile as a statue.</p> + +<p>She did not wake till late on the following morning, and then it was to +find her sister Mona only in attendance.</p> + +<p>"Have you been up all night?" was Nan's first query.</p> + +<p>Mona hesitated.</p> + +<p>"Well, not exactly. I lay down part of the time."</p> + +<p>"Why in the world didn't you go to bed?" questioned Nan.</p> + +<p>"I couldn't, dear. Piet was here."</p> + +<p>"Who?" said Nan sharply; then, colouring vividly, "All night, Mona? How +could you let him?"</p> + +<p>"I couldn't help it!" said Mona. "He wouldn't go."</p> + +<p>"What nonsense! He's gone now, I suppose?" Nan spoke irritably. The +tightness of the doctor's bandages was causing her considerable pain.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, he went some time ago," Mona assured her. "But he is sure to +come back presently, and say good-bye."</p> + +<p>"Say good-bye!" Nan echoed the words slowly, a dawning brightness in her +eyes. "Is he—is he really going, then?" she whispered.</p> + +<p>"He says he must go—whatever happens. It was a solemn promise, and he +can't break it. I don't understand, of course, but he is wanted at +Kimberley to avert some crisis connected with the mines."</p> + +<p>"Then—he will have to start soon?" said Nan.</p> + +<p>"Yes. But he won't leave till the last minute. He has chartered a special +to take him to Plymouth."</p> + +<p>"He knows I can't go?" said Nan quickly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes; the doctor told him that last night."</p> + +<p>"What did he say? Was he angry?"</p> + +<p>"He looked furious. But he didn't say anything, even in Dutch. I think +his feelings were beyond words," said Mona, with a little smile.</p> + +<p>Nan asked no more, but when the doctor saw her a little later, he was +dissatisfied with her appearance, and scolded her for working herself +into a fever.</p> + +<p>"There's no sense in fretting about it," he said. "The thing is done, and +can't be altered. I have no doubt your husband will be back again in a +few weeks to fetch you, and we will have you quite well again by then."</p> + +<p>But Nan only shivered in response, as though she found this assurance +the reverse of comforting. The shock of the accident, succeeding the +incessant strain of the past few weeks, had completely broken down her +nerve, and no amount of reasoning could calm her.</p> + +<p>When a message came from her husband an hour later, asking if she would +see him, she answered in the affirmative, but the bare prospect of the +interview threw her into a ferment of agitation.</p> + +<p>She lay panting on her pillows like a frightened child when at length he +entered.</p> + +<p>He came in very softly, but every pulse in her body leapt at his +approach. She could not utter a word in greeting.</p> + +<p>He stood a moment in silence, looking down at her, then, stooping, he +took her free hand into his own.</p> + +<p>"Are you better?" he asked, his deep voice hushed as if he were in +church.</p> + +<p>She could not answer him for the fast beating of her heart. He waited a +little, then sat down by the bed, his great hand still holding her little +trembling one in a steady grasp.</p> + +<p>"The doctor tells me," he said, "that it would not be safe for you to +travel at present, so I cannot of course, think of allowing you to do +so."</p> + +<p>Nan's eyes opened very wide at this. It was an entirely novel idea that +this man should take upon himself to direct her movements. She drew a +deep breath, and found her voice.</p> + +<p>"I should certainly not dream of attempting such a thing without the +doctor's permission."</p> + +<p>His grave face did not alter. His eyes looked directly into hers and +it seemed to Nan for the first time that they held something of a +domineering expression.</p> + +<p>She turned her head away with a quick frown. She also made a slight, +ineffectual effort to free her hand. But he did not appear to notice +either gesture.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said, in his slow way, "it is out of the question, and so I +have asked your father to take care of you for me until my return—for, +unfortunately, I cannot postpone my own departure."</p> + +<p>Nan's lips quivered. She was beginning to feel hysterical. With an effort +she controlled herself.</p> + +<p>"How long shall you be away?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"It is impossible for me to say. Everything depends upon the state of +affairs at the mines. But you may be quite sure, Anne"—a deeper note +crept into his voice—"that my absence will be as short as I can possibly +make it."</p> + +<p>She turned her head towards him again.</p> + +<p>"You needn't hurry for my sake," she said abruptly. "I shall be perfectly +happy here."</p> + +<p>"I am glad to hear it," he answered gravely. "I have made full provision +for you. The interest upon the settlement I have made upon you will be +paid to you monthly. Should you find it insufficient, you will, of +course, let me know. I could cable you some more if necessary."</p> + +<p>A great blush rose in Nan's face at his words, spreading upwards to her +hair.</p> + +<p>"Oh," she stammered, "I—I—indeed, I shan't want any money! Please +don't—"</p> + +<p>"It is your own," he interposed quietly, "and as such I beg that you will +regard it, and spend it exactly as you like. Should you require more, as +I have said, I shall be pleased to send it to you."</p> + +<p>He uttered the last sentence as if it ended the matter, and Nan found +herself unable to say more. To have expressed any gratitude would have +been an absolute impossibility at that moment.</p> + +<p>She lay, therefore, in quivering silence until he spoke again.</p> + +<p>"It is time for me to be going. I hope the injury to your arm will +progress quite satisfactorily. You will not be able to write to me +yourself at present, but your sister Mona has promised to let me hear +of you by every mail. Dr. Barnard will also write."</p> + +<p>He paused. But Nan said nothing whatever. She was wondering, with a fiery +embarrassment, what form his farewell would take.</p> + +<p>After a brief silence he rose.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, then!" he said.</p> + +<p>He bent low over her, looking closely into her unwilling face. And +then—it was the merest touch—for the fraction of a second his lips were +on her forehead.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye!" he said again, under his breath, and in another moment she +heard his soft tread as he went away.</p> + +<p>Her heart was throbbing madly; she felt as if it were leaping up and down +within her. For a space she lay listening, every nerve upon the stretch. +Then at last there came to her the sound of voices raised in farewell, +the crunch of wheels below her window, the loud banging of a door. And +with a gasp she turned her face into her pillow, and wept for sheer +relief.</p> + +<p>He had come and gone like an evil dream, and she was left safe in her +father's house.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + + +<p>Three weeks after her wedding, Nan Cradock awoke to the amazing discovery +that she was a rich woman; how rich it took her some time to realise, and +when it did dawn upon her she was startled, almost dismayed.</p> + +<p>Her recovery from the only illness she had ever known was marvellously +rapid, and with her return to health her spirits rose to their accustomed +giddy height. There was little in her surroundings to remind her of the +fact that she was married, always excepting the unwonted presence of +these same riches which she speedily began to scatter with a lavish hand. +Her life slipped very easily back into its accustomed groove, save that +the pinch of poverty was conspicuously absent. The first day of every +month brought her a full purse, and for a long time the charm of this +novelty went far towards quieting the undeniable sense of uneasiness that +accompanied it.</p> + +<p>It was only when the novelty began to wear away that the burdened feeling +began to oppress her unduly. No one suspected it, not even Mona, who +adhered rigorously to her promise, and wrote her weekly report of her +sister's health to her absent brother-in-law long after Nan was fully +capable of performing this duty for herself. Mona had always been +considered the least feather-brained of the family, and she certainly +fulfilled her trust with absolute integrity.</p> + +<p>Piet Cradock's epistles were not quite so frequent, and invariably of the +briefest. They were exceedingly formal at all times, and Nan's heart +never warmed at the sight of his handwriting. It was thick and strong, +like himself, and she always regarded it with a little secret sense of +aversion.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, as time passed, and he made no mention of return, her dread +of the future subsided gradually into the back of her mind. It had never +been her habit to look forward very far, and she was still little more +than a child. Gradually the fact of her marriage began to grow shadowy +and unreal, till at length she almost managed to shut it out of her +consideration altogether. She had accepted the man upon impulse, dazzled +by the glitter of his wealth. To find that he had drifted out of her +life, and that the wealth remained, was the most blissful state of +affairs that she could have desired.</p> + +<p>Slowly spring merged into summer, and more and more did it seem to Nan +that the past was nothing but a dream. She returned to her customary +pursuits with all her old zest, rising early in the mornings to follow +the otter-hounds, tramping for miles, and returning ravenous to +breakfast; or, again, spending hours in the saddle, and only returning +at her own sweet will. Colonel Everard's household was one of absolute +freedom. No one ever questioned the doings of anyone else. From the +earliest they had one and all been accustomed to go their own way. And +Nan was the freest and most independent of them all.</p> + +<p>It was on a splendid morning in July that as she splashed along the +marshy edge of a stream in hot pursuit of one of the biggest otters she +had ever seen, a well-known voice accosted her by name.</p> + +<p>"Hullo, Nan! I wondered if you would turn up when they told me you were +still at home."</p> + +<p>Nan whisked round, up to her ankles in mud.</p> + +<p>"Hullo, Jerry, it's you, is it?" was her unceremonious reply. "Pleased to +see you, my boy. But don't talk to me now. I can't think of anything but +business."</p> + +<p>She was off with the words, not waiting to shake hands. But Jerry Lister +was not in the least discouraged by this treatment. He was accustomed to +Nan and all her ways.</p> + +<p>He pounded after her along the bank and joined her as a matter of course. +A straight, good-looking youth was Jerry, as wild and headstrong as Nan +herself. He was the grand-nephew of old Squire Grimshaw, Colonel +Everard's special crony, and he and Nan had been chums from their +childhood. He was only a year older than she, and in many respects he was +her junior. "I say, you are all right again?" was his first question, +when the otter allowed them a little breathing-space. "I was awfully +sorry to hear about your accident, you know, but awfully glad, too, in a +way. By Jove, I don't think I could have spent the Long here, with you in +South Africa! What ever possessed you to go and marry a Boer, Nan?"</p> + +<p>"Don't be an idiot!" said Nan sharply. "He isn't anything of the sort."</p> + +<p>Jerry accepted the correction with a boyish grimace.</p> + +<p>"I'm coming to call on you to-morrow, Mrs. Cradock," he announced.</p> + +<p>Nan coloured angrily.</p> + +<p>"You needn't trouble yourself," she returned. "I don't receive callers."</p> + +<p>But Jerry was not to be shaken off. He linked an affectionate arm in +hers.</p> + +<p>"All right, Nan old girl, don't be waxy," he pleaded. "Come on the lake +with me this afternoon instead. I'll bring some prog if you will, and +we'll have one of our old red-letter days. Is it a promise?"</p> + +<p>She hesitated, still half inclined to be ungracious.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said at length, moved in spite of herself by his persuasive +attitude, "I will come to please you, on one condition."</p> + +<p>"Good!" ejaculated Jerry. "It's done, whatever it is."</p> + +<p>"Don't be absurd!" she protested, trying to be stern and failing somewhat +ignominiously. "I will come only if you will promise not to talk about +anything that you see I don't like."</p> + +<p>"Bless your heart," said Jerry, lifting her fingertips to his lips, "I +won't utter a syllable, good or bad, without your express permission. +You'll come, then?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'll come," she said, allowing the smile that would not be +suppressed. "But if you don't make it very nice, I shall never come +again."</p> + +<p>"All right," said Jerry cheerily. "I'll bring my banjo. You always like +that. Come early, like a saint. I'll be at the boat-house at eleven."</p> + +<p>He was; and Nan was not long after. The lake stretched for about a mile +in the squire's park, and many were the happy hours that they had spent +upon it.</p> + +<p>It was a day of perfect summer, and they drifted through it in sublime +enjoyment. Jerry soon discovered that the girl's marriage and anything +remotely connected with it were subjects to be avoided, and as he had no +great wish himself to investigate in that direction he found small +difficulty in confining himself to more familiar ground. Without effort +they resumed the old friendly intercourse that the girl's rash step had +threatened to cut short, and long before the end of the afternoon they +were as intimate as they had ever been.</p> + +<p>"You mustn't go in yet," insisted Jerry, when a distant clock struck +seven. "Wait another couple of hours. There's plenty of food left. And +the moonrise will be grand to-night."</p> + +<p>Nan did not need much persuading. She had always loved the lake, and +Jerry's society was generally congenial. He had, moreover, been taking +special pains to please her, and she was quite willing to be pleased.</p> + +<p>She consented, therefore, and Jerry punted her across to her favourite +nook for supper. She thoroughly enjoyed the repast, Jerry's ideas of +what a picnic-basket should contain being of a decidedly lavish order.</p> + +<p>The meal over, he took up his banjo and waxed sentimental. Nan lay among +her cushions and listened in sympathetic silence. Undeniably Jerry knew +how to make music, and he also knew when to stop—a priceless gift in +Nan's estimation.</p> + +<p>When the moon rose at last out of the summer haze, he had laid his +instrument aside and was lying with his head on his arms and his +face to the rising glory. They watched it dumbly in the silence of +goodfellowship, till at last it topped the willows and shone in a broad, +silver streak across the lake right up to the prow of the boat.</p> + +<p>After a long time Jerry turned his dark head.</p> + +<p>"I say, Nan!" he said, almost in a whisper.</p> + +<p>"Yes?" she murmured back, her eyes still full of the splendour. The boy +raised himself a little.</p> + +<p>"Do you remember that day ever so long ago when we played at being +sweethearts on this very identical spot?" he asked her softly.</p> + +<p>She turned her eyes to his with a doubtful, questioning look.</p> + +<p>"We weren't in earnest, Jerry," she reminded him.</p> + +<p>He jerked one shoulder with a sharp, impatient gesture, highly +characteristic of him.</p> + +<p>"I know we weren't. I shan't dream of being in earnest in that way for +another ten—perhaps twenty—years. But there's no harm in making +believe, is there, just now and then? I liked that game awfully, and +so did you. You know you did."</p> + +<p>Nan did not attempt to deny it. She sat up instead with her hands clasped +round her knees and laughed like an elf.</p> + +<p>Her wedding-ring caught the moonlight, and the boy leaned forward with a +frown.</p> + +<p>"Take that thing off, won't you, just for to-night? I hate to think you're +married. You're not, you know. We're in fairyland, and married people +never go there. The fairies will turn you out if they see it."</p> + +<p>Very gently he inserted one finger between her clasped ones and began to +draw the emblem off.</p> + +<p>Nan made no resistance whatever. She only sat and laughed. She was in her +gayest, most inconsequent mood. Some magic of the moonlight was in her +veins that night.</p> + +<p>"There!" said Jerry triumphantly. "Now you are safe. Jove! Did you hear +that water-sprite gurgling under the boat? It must be ripping to be a +water-sprite. Can't you see them, Nan, whisking about down there in +couples along the stones? Give me your hand, and we'll dive under and +join them."</p> + +<p>But Nan's enthusiasm would not stretch to this. She fully understood his +mood, but she would only sit in the moonlight and laugh, till presently +Jerry, infected by her merriment, began to laugh too, and spun the ring +he had filched from her high into the moonlight.</p> + +<p>How it happened neither of them could ever afterwards say; but just at +that critical moment when the ring was glittering in mid-air, some +wayward current, or it might have been the water-sprite Jerry had just +detected, lapped the water smartly against the punt and bumped it against +the bank. Jerry exclaimed and nearly overbalanced backwards; Nan made a +hasty grab at her falling property, but her hand only collided with his, +making a similar grab at the same moment, and between them they sent the +ring spinning far out into the moonlit ripples.</p> + +<p>It disappeared before their dazzled eyes into that magic bar of light, +and the girl and the boy turned and gazed at one another in speechless +consternation.</p> + +<p>Nan was the first to recover. She drew a deep breath, and burst into a +merry peal of laughter.</p> + +<p>"My dear boy, for pity's sake don't look like that! I never saw anything +so absolutely tragic in my life. Why, what does it matter? I can buy +another. I can buy fifty if I want them."</p> + +<p>Thus reassured, Jerry began to laugh too, but not with Nan's abandonment. +The incident had had a sobering effect upon him.</p> + +<p>"But I'm awfully sorry," he protested. "All my fault. You must let me +make it good."</p> + +<p>This suggestion added to Nan's mirth. "Oh, I couldn't really. I should +feel as if I was married to you, and I shouldn't like that at all. Now +you needn't look cross, for you know you wouldn't either. No, don't be +silly, Jerry. It doesn't matter the least little bit in the world."</p> + +<p>"But, I say, won't the absent one be savage?" suggested Jerry.</p> + +<p>Nan tossed her head. "I'm sure I don't know. Anyhow it doesn't matter."</p> + +<p>"Do you really mean that?" he persisted. "Don't you really care?"</p> + +<p>Nan threw herself back in the boat with her face to the stars.</p> + +<p>"Why, of course not," she declared, with regal indifference. "How can you +be so absurd?"</p> + +<p>And in face of such sublime recklessness, he was obliged to be convinced.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + + +<p>Nan's picnic on the lake was not concluded much before ten o'clock.</p> + +<p>She ran home through the moonlight, bareheaded, whistling as carelessly +as a boy. Night and day were the same thing to her in the place in +which she had lived all her life. There was not one of the village folk +whom she did not know, not one for whom the doings of the wild Everards +did not provide food for discussion. For Nan undoubtedly was an Everard +still, her grand wedding notwithstanding. No one ever dreamed of applying +any other title to her than the familiar "Miss Nan" that she had borne +from her babyhood. There was, in fact, a general feeling that the unknown +husband of Miss Nan was scarcely worthy of the high honour that had been +bestowed upon him. His desertion of her on the very day succeeding the +wedding had been freely criticised, and in many quarters condemned out of +hand. No one knew the exact circumstances of the case, but all were +agreed in pronouncing Miss Nan's husband a defaulter.</p> + +<p>That Miss Nan herself was very far from fretting over the situation was +abundantly evident, but this fact did not in any way tend to justify the +offender, of whom it was beginning to be opined round the bars of the +village inns that he was "one o' them queer sort of cusses that it was +best for women to steer clear of."</p> + +<p>Naturally these interesting shreds of gossip never reached Nan's ears. +She was, as she had ever been, supremely free from self-consciousness +of any description, and it never occurred to her that the situation in +which she was placed was sufficiently peculiar to cause comment. The +Everards had ever been a law unto themselves, and it was inconceivable +that anyone should attempt to apply to them the conventional rules by +which other people chose to let their lives be governed. Of course they +were different from the rest of the world. It had been an accepted fact +as long as she could remember, and it certainly had never troubled her, +nor was it ever likely to do so.</p> + +<p>She was sublimely unconscious of all criticism as she ran down the +village street that night, nodding carelessly to any that she met, and +finally turned lightly in at her father's gates, walking with elastic +tread under the great arching beech trees that blotted the moonlight from +her path.</p> + +<p>The front door stood hospitably open, and she entered to find her father +stretched in his favourite chair, smoking.</p> + +<p>He greeted her with his usual gruff indulgence.</p> + +<p>"Hallo, you mad-cap! I was just wondering whether I would scour the +country for you, or leave the door open and go to bed. I think it was +going to be the last, though, to be sure, it would have served you right +if I had locked you out. Had any dinner?"</p> + +<p>"No, darling, supper—any amount of it." Nan dropped a kiss upon his bald +head in passing. "I've been with Jerry," she said, "on the lake the whole +day long. We watched the moon rise. It was so romantic."</p> + +<p>The Colonel grunted.</p> + +<p>"More rheumatic than romantic I should have thought. Better have a glass +of grog."</p> + +<p>Nan screwed up her bright face with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"Heaven forbid, dad! And on a night like this. Oh, bother! Is that a +letter for me?"</p> + +<p>Colonel Everard was pointing to an envelope on the mantelpiece. She +crossed the hall without eagerness, and picked it up.</p> + +<p>"I've had one, too," said the Colonel, after a brief pause, speaking with +a jerk as if the words insisted upon being uttered in spite of him.</p> + +<p>"You!" Nan paused with one finger already inserted in the flap. "What +for?"</p> + +<p>Her father was staring steadily at the end of his cigar, or he might have +seen a hint of panic in her dark eyes.</p> + +<p>"You will see for yourself," he said, still in that uncomfortable, jerky +style. "He seems to think—Well, I must say it sounds reasonable enough +since he can't get back at present; but you will see for yourself."</p> + +<p>A little tremor went through Nan as she opened the letter. With frowning +brows she perused it.</p> + +<p>It did not take long to read. The thick, upright writing was almost +arrogantly distinct, recalling the writer with startling vividness.</p> + +<p>He had written with his accustomed brevity, but there was much more than +usual in his letter. He saw no prospect, so he told her, of being able +to leave the country for some time to come. Affairs were unsettled, and +likely to remain so. At the same time, there was no reason, now that her +health was restored, that she should not join him, and he was writing to +ask her father to take her out to him. He would meet them at Cape Town, +and if the Colonel cared to do so he would be very pleased if he would +spend a few months with them.</p> + +<p>The plan was expressed concisely but with absolute kindness. Nevertheless +there was about the letter a certain tone of mastery which gave Nan very +clearly to understand that the writer thereof did not expect to be +disappointed. It was emphatically the letter of a husband to his wife, +not of a lover to his beloved.</p> + +<p>She looked up from it with a very blank face.</p> + +<p>"My dear dad!" she ejaculated. "What can he be thinking of?"</p> + +<p>Colonel Everard smiled somewhat ruefully.</p> + +<p>"You, apparently," he said, with an effort to speak lightly. "What shall +we say to him—eh, Nan? You'll like to go on the spree with your old dad +to take care of you."</p> + +<p>"Spree!" exclaimed Nan. And again in a lower key, with a still finer +disdain: "Spree! Well"—tearing the letter across impulsively, with the +action of a passionate child—"you can go on the spree if you like, dad, +but I'm going to stay at home. I'm not going to run after him to the ends +of the earth if he is my husband. It wasn't in the bargain, and I won't +do it!"</p> + +<p>She stamped like a little fury, scattering fragments of the torn letter +in all directions.</p> + +<p>Her father attempted a feeble remonstrance, but she overrode him +instantly.</p> + +<p>"I won't listen to you, dad!" she declared fiercely. "I tell you I won't +do it! The man isn't living who shall order me to do this or that as if I +were his slave. You can write and tell him so if you like. When I married +him, he gave me to understand that we should only be out there for a few +months at most, and then we were to settle in England. You see what a +different story he tells now. But I won't be treated in that way. I won't +be inveigled out there, and made to wait on his royal pleasure. He chose +to go without me. I wasn't important enough to keep him in England, and +now it's my turn. He isn't important enough to drag me out there. No, be +quiet, daddy! I tell you I won't go! I won't go, I swear it!"</p> + +<p>"My dear child," protested the Colonel, making himself heard at length in +her pause for breath. "No one wants you to go anywhere or do anything +against your will. Piet Cradock isn't so unreasonable as that, if he is a +Dutchman. Now don't distress yourself. There isn't the smallest necessity +for that. I thought it just possible that you might like the idea as I +was to be with you. But as you don't—well, there's an end of it. We will +say no more."</p> + +<p>Nan's arm was around his neck as he ended, her cheek against his +forehead.</p> + +<p>"Dear, dear daddy, don't think I'm cross with you. You're just the +sweetest old darling in the world, and I'd go to Kamschatka with you +gladly—in fact, anywhere—anywhere—except South Africa. Can't we go +somewhere together, just you and I? Let's go to Jamaica. I'm sure I can +afford it."</p> + +<p>"No, no, no!" protested the Colonel. "Get away with you, you baggage! +What are you thinking of? Miss the cubbing season? Not I. And not you +either, if I know you. There! Run along to bed, and take my blessing with +you. I'll send a line to Piet, if you like, and tell him you don't object +to waiting for him a bit longer under your old father's roof. Come, be +off with you! I'm going to lock up."</p> + +<p>He hoisted himself out of his chair with the words, looked at her fondly +for a moment, took her pretty face between his hands, and kissed her +twice.</p> + +<p>"She's the worst pickle of the lot," he declared softly.</p> + +<p>He did not add that she was also his darling of them all, but this was a +perfectly open secret between them, and had been such as long as Nan +could remember. She laughed up at him with tender impudence in +recognition of the fact.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + + +<p>The letter from Piet Cradock was not again referred to by either Nan or +her father. The latter answered it in his own way after the lapse of a +few weeks. He was of a peaceable, easy-going nature himself, and he did +not anticipate any trouble with Nan's husband. After all, the child's +reluctance to leave her home was perfectly natural. He, for his part, had +never fully understood the attraction which his son-in-law had exercised +upon her. He had been glad enough to have his favourite daughter provided +for, but the actual parting with her had been a serious trouble to him, +the most serious he had known for years, and he had been very far from +desiring to quarrel with the Fate that had restored her to him.</p> + +<p>He was comfortably convinced that Piet would understand all this. +Moreover, the fellow was clearly very busy. All his energies seemed to be +fully occupied. He would have but little time to spare for his wife, even +if he had her at his side. No, on the whole, the Colonel was of opinion +that Nan's decision was a wise one, and it seemed to him that, upon +reflection, his son-in-law could scarcely fail to agree with him.</p> + +<p>Something of this he expressed in his letter when he eventually roused +himself to reply to Piet's invitation, and therewith he dismissed all +further thought upon the subject from his mind. His darling had pleased +herself all her life, and naturally she would continue to do so.</p> + +<p>His letter went into silence, but there was nothing surprising in this +fact. Piet was, of course, too busy to have any leisure for private +affairs. The whole matter slid into the past with the utmost ease. No +doubt he would come home some day, but very possibly not for years, and +the Colonel was quite content with this vague prospect.</p> + +<p>As for Nan, she flicked the matter from her with the utmost nonchalance. +Since her father had undertaken to explain things, she did not even +trouble herself to write an answer to her husband's letter. That letter +had, in fact, very deeply wounded her pride. It had been a command, and +Nan was not accustomed to such treatment. Never, in all her unruly life, +had she yielded obedience to any. No discipline had ever tamed her. She +had been free, free as air, and she had not the vaguest intention of +submitting herself to the authority of anyone. The bare idea was +unthinkably repugnant to her, foreign to her whole nature.</p> + +<p>So, with a fierce disgust, she cast from her all memory of that brief +message that had come to her from the man who called himself her husband, +who had actually dared to treat her as one having the right to control +her actions. She could be a thousand times more arrogant than he when +occasion served, and she had not the faintest intention of allowing +herself to be fettered by any man's tyranny.</p> + +<p>Swiftly the days of that splendid summer flew by. She scarcely knew how +she spent them, but she was always in the open air, and almost invariably +with Jerry. She missed him considerably when he returned to Oxford, but +the hunting season was at hand, and soon engrossed all her thoughts. Old +Squire Grimshaw was the master, and Nan and her father followed his +hounds three days in every week. People had long since come to acquiesce +in the absence of Nan's husband. Many of them had almost forgotten that +the girl was married, since Nan herself so persistently ignored the fact. +Gossip upon the subject had died down for lack of nourishment. And Nan +pursued her reckless way untrammelled as of yore.</p> + +<p>The week before Christmas saw Jerry once more at the Hall. He was as +ardent a follower of the hounds as was Nan, and many were the breakneck +gallops in which they indulged before a spell of frost put an end to this +giddy pastime. Christmas came and went, leaving the lake frozen to a +thickness of several inches, leaving Nan and the ever-faithful Jerry +cutting figures of extraordinary elaboration on the ice.</p> + +<p>The Hunt Ball had been fixed to take place on the sixth of January, and, +in preparation for this event, Nan and some of her sisters were busily +engaged beforehand in decking the Town Hall of the neighbourhood with +evergreens and bunting. Jerry's assistance in this matter was, of course, +invaluable, and when the important day arrived, he and Nan spent the +whole afternoon in sliding about the floor to improve the surface.</p> + +<p>So absorbing was this occupation that the passage of time was quite +unnoticed by either of them till Nan at length discovered to her dismay +that she had missed the train by which she had meant to return.</p> + +<p>To walk back meant a trudge of five miles. To drive was out of the +question, for all the carriages in the place had been requisitioned.</p> + +<p>"What in the world shall I do?" she cried. "If I walk back, I shall never +have time to dress. Oh, why haven't I got a motor?"</p> + +<p>Jerry slapped his leg with a yell of triumph.</p> + +<p>"My dear girl, you have! The very thing! I'll be your motor and chauffeur +rolled into one. My bicycle is here. Come along, and I'll take you home +on the step."</p> + +<p>The idea was worthy of them both. Nan fell in with it with a gay chuckle. +It was not the first time that she had indulged in this species of +gymnastics with Jerry's co-operation, though, to be sure, some years had +elapsed since the last occasion on which she had performed the feat.</p> + +<p>She had not, however, forgotten her ancient prowess, and Jerry was +delighted with his passenger. Poised on one foot, and holding firmly to +his shoulders, Nan sailed down the High Street in the full glare of the +lamps. It was not a dignified mode of progression, but it was very far +from being ungraceful.</p> + +<p>She wore a little white fur cap on her dark hair, and her pretty face +laughed beneath it like the face of a merry child. The danger of her +position was a consideration that never occurred to her. She was in her +wildest mood, and enjoying herself to the utmost.</p> + +<p>The warning hoot of a motor behind her dismayed her not at all.</p> + +<p>"Hurry up, Jerry! Don't let them pass!" she urged.</p> + +<p>And Jerry put his whole heart into his pedalling and bore her at the top +of his speed.</p> + +<p>It was an exciting race, but ending, as such races are bound to end, in +the triumph of the motor. The great machine overtook them steadily, +surely. For three seconds they were abreast, and Nan hammered her +cavalier on the back with her muff in a fever of impatience. Then the +motor glided ahead, leaving only the fumes of its petrol to exasperate +the already heated Nan.</p> + +<p>"Beasts!" she ejaculated tersely, while Jerry became so limp with +laughter, that he nearly ceased pedalling altogether.</p> + +<p>No further adventure befell them during the five-mile journey. The roads +were in excellent condition, and the moon was high and frostily bright.</p> + +<p>"It's been lovely," Nan declared, as they turned in at her father's +gates. "And you're a brick, Jerry!"</p> + +<p>"How many waltzes shall I get for it?" was Jerry's prompt rejoinder.</p> + +<p>The girl's gay laugh rang silvery through the frosty air. Jerry had been +asking the question at intervals all the afternoon.</p> + +<p>"I'll give you all the extras," she laughed as she sprang lightly to the +ground.</p> + +<p>Jerry did not even dismount. His time also was limited.</p> + +<p>"Yes?" he called over his shoulder, as he wheeled round and began to ride +away. "And?"</p> + +<p>"And as many more as I can spare," cried Nan, and with a wave of her hand +turned to enter the house.</p> + +<p>The laugh was still on her lips as she mounted the steps. The hall-door +stood open, and her father's voice hailed her from within.</p> + +<p>"Hallo, Nan, you scapegrace! What mad-cap trick will you be up to next, +I wonder?"</p> + +<p>There was a decided note of uneasiness behind the banter of his tone +which her quick ear instantly detected. She looked up sharply and in a +second, as if at a touch of magic, the laughter all died out of her face.</p> + +<p>A man was standing in the glow of the lamp-light slightly behind her +father, a man of medium height and immense breadth, with a clean-shaven, +heavy-browed face, and sombre eyes that watched her silently.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + + +<p>Nan was ever quick in all her ways, and it was very seldom that she was +disconcerted. Between the moment of her reaching the top step and that +in which she entered the hall, she flashed from laughing childhood to +haughty womanhood. The dignity with which she offered her hand to her +husband was in its way superb.</p> + +<p>"An unexpected pleasure!" was her icy comment.</p> + +<p>He took the hand, looking closely into her eyes. He made no attempt to +draw her nearer, and Nan remained at arm's-length. Yet something in his +scrutiny affected her, for a shiver went through her, proudly though she +met it.</p> + +<p>"It is cold," she said, by way of explanation. "It is freezing hard, and +we came all the way by road."</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said, in his deep, slow voice. "I saw you."</p> + +<p>"You saw me?" Nan's eyebrows went up; she was furiously conscious that +she blushed.</p> + +<p>"I passed you in a motor," he explained.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" She withdrew her hand, and turned to the fire with a little laugh, +raging inwardly at the fate that had betrayed her.</p> + +<p>Standing by the hearth, she pulled off her gloves, and spread her hands +to the blaze. It was a mere pretence, for she was hot all over by that +time, hot and quivering and fiercely resentful. There was another feeling +also behind her resentment, a feeling which she would not own, that made +her heart thump oddly, as it had thumped only once before in her +life—when this man had touched her face with his lips.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said, standing up after a few minutes, "I must go and dress, +and so must you, dad. We are going to the Hunt Ball to-night," she added, +with a brief glance in her husband's direction.</p> + +<p>He made no reply of any sort. His eyes were fixed upon her left hand. +After a moment she became aware of this, and slipped it carelessly into +her pocket. Whistling softly, she turned to go.</p> + +<p>At the foot of the stairs she heard her father's voice, and paused.</p> + +<p>"You had better come, too," he was saying to his son-in-law.</p> + +<p>Nan wheeled sharply, almost as if she would protest, but she checked her +words unspoken.</p> + +<p>Quietly Piet Cradock was making reply:</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Colonel. I think I had better."</p> + +<p>Across the hall Nan met his gaze still unwaveringly fixed upon her, and +she returned it with the utmost defiance of which she was capable. Did +he actually fancy that she could be coerced into joining him, she asked +herself—she who had always been free as the air? Well, he would soon +discover his mistake. She would begin to teach him from that moment.</p> + +<p>With her head still held high, she turned and mounted the stairs.</p> + +<p>Mona was waiting for her in much disturbance of spirit.</p> + +<p>"He arrived early this afternoon," was her report. "We were all so +astonished. He has come for you, Nan, and he says he must start back next +week without fail. Isn't it short notice? I wish he had written to say he +was coming. He sat and talked to dad all the afternoon. And then, as you +didn't come, he started off in his motor to find you. He must have gone +to the station first, or he would have met you sooner."</p> + +<p>To all this Nan listened with a set face, while she raced through her +dressing. She made no comment whatever. The only signs that she heard +lay in her tense expression and unsteady fingers.</p> + +<p>They did not descend till the last minute, just as the carriage +containing the Colonel and three more of his daughters was driving away.</p> + +<p>Piet was standing like a massive statue in the hall. As the two girls +came down, he moved forward.</p> + +<p>"I have kept the motor for you," he said.</p> + +<p>Mona thanked him. Nan did not utter a word. She would not touch the hand +that would have helped her in, and she kept her lips firmly closed +throughout the drive.</p> + +<p>When she entered the ballroom at length her husband was by her side, but +neither by word nor look did she acknowledge his presence there.</p> + +<p>Jerry spied her instantly, and came towards her. She went quickly to meet +him.</p> + +<p>"For goodness' sake," she whispered urgently, "help me to get away from +that man!"</p> + +<p>"Of course," said Jerry, promptly leading her away in the opposite +direction till the crowd swallowed them. "Who the dickens is he?"</p> + +<p>She looked at him with a small, piteous smile.</p> + +<p>"His name is Piet Cradock," she said.</p> + +<p>"Great Scotland!" ejaculated Jerry; and added fiercely: "What the devil +has he come back for? What does he want?"</p> + +<p>Nan threw back her head with a sudden wild laugh.</p> + +<p>"Guess!" she cried.</p> + +<p>But Jerry knew without guessing, and swore savagely under his breath.</p> + +<p>"But you won't go with him—not yet, anyhow?" he urged. "He can't hurry +you off without consulting your convenience. You won't submit to that?"</p> + +<p>An imp of mischief had begun to dance in Nan's eyes.</p> + +<p>"I am told he has to sail next week," she said. "But I think it possible +that by that time he won't be quite so anxious to take me with him. Time +alone will prove. How many waltzes did you ask for?"</p> + +<p>"As many as I can get, of course," said Jerry, taking instant advantage +of this generous invitation.</p> + +<p>She laughed recklessly, and gave him her card.</p> + +<p>"Take them then, my dear boy. I am ready to dance all night long."</p> + +<p>She laughed again still more recklessly when he handed her card back to +her.</p> + +<p>"You are very daring!" she remarked.</p> + +<p>He looked momentarily disconcerted.</p> + +<p>"You don't mind, do you?"</p> + +<p>"I mind? It's what I meant you to do," she answered lightly. "Shall I say +you are very daring on my behalf?"</p> + +<p>Jerry flushed a deep red.</p> + +<p>"I would do anything under the sun for you, Nan," he said, in a low +voice.</p> + +<p>Whereat she laughed again—a gay, sweet laugh, and left him.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + + +<p>Piet Cradock spent nearly the whole of that long evening leaning against +a doorpost watching his wife dancing with Jerry Lister. They were the +best-matched couple in the room, and, as a good many remarked, they +seemed to know it.</p> + +<p>Through every dance Nan laughed and talked with a feverish gaiety, +conscious of that long, long gaze that never varied. She felt almost +hysterical under it at last. It made her desperate—so desperate that she +finally quitted the ballroom altogether in Jerry's company, and remained +invisible till people were beginning to take their departure.</p> + +<p>That feeling at the back of her mind had grown to a definite sensation +that she could not longer ignore or trample into insignificance. She was +horribly afraid of that silent man with his gloomy, inscrutable eyes. His +look frightened, almost terrified her. She felt like a trapped creature +that lies quaking in the grass, listening to the coming footsteps of its +captor.</p> + +<p>In a vague way Jerry was aware of her inquietude, and when they rose at +length to leave their secluded corner, he turned and spoke with a certain +blunt chivalry that did him credit.</p> + +<p>"I say, Nan, if things get unbearable, you'll promise to let me know? +I'll do anything to help you, you know—anything under the sun."</p> + +<p>And Nan squeezed his arm tightly in acknowledgment, though she made no +verbal answer.</p> + +<p>Amid a crowd of departing dancers they came face to face with Piet. He +was standing in an attitude of immense patience near the door. Very +quietly he addressed her.</p> + +<p>"Colonel Everard and your sisters have gone. The motor is waiting to take +you when you are ready."</p> + +<p>She started back sharply. Her nerves were on edge, and the news was a +shock. Her hand was still on Jerry's arm. Impulsively she turned to +him.</p> + +<p>"I haven't had nearly enough yet," she declared. "Come along, Jerry! +Let's dance to the bitter end!"</p> + +<p>Jerry took her at her word on the instant, and began to thread the way +back to the ballroom. But before they reached it a quiet hand fastened +upon his shoulder, detaining him.</p> + +<p>"Pardon me," said Piet Cradock, "but my wife has had more than enough +already, and I am going to take her home!"</p> + +<p>Jerry stopped, struck silent for the moment by sheer astonishment.</p> + +<p>Without further words Piet proceeded to transfer Nan's hand from the +boy's arm to his own. He did it with absolute gentleness, but with a +resolution that admitted of no resistance—at least Nan attempted none.</p> + +<p>But the action infuriated Jerry, and in the flurry of the moment he +completely lost his head.</p> + +<p>"What the devil do you mean?" he demanded loudly.</p> + +<p>An abrupt silence fell upon the buzzing throng about them. Through it, +with unfaltering composure, fell Piet Cradock's reply.</p> + +<p>"I mean exactly what I have said. If you have any objection to raise, I +am ready to deal with it, either now or later—as you shall choose."</p> + +<p>The words were hardly uttered when Nan did an extraordinary thing. She +lifted a perfectly colourless face with a ghastly smile upon it, and held +out her free hand to Jerry.</p> + +<p>"All right, Jerry," she said. "I think I'll go after all. I am rather +tired. Good-night, dear boy! Pleasant dreams! Now, Piet"—she turned +that quivering smile upon her husband, and it was the bravest thing she +had ever done—"don't keep me waiting. Go and get your coat, and be quick +about it; or I shall certainly be ready first."</p> + +<p>He turned away at once, and the incident was over, since by this +unexpected move Nan had managed to convey to her too ardent champion +that she desired it to be so.</p> + +<p>He departed sullenly to the refreshment-room, mystified but obedient and +she dived hurriedly into the cloakroom in search of her property.</p> + +<p>She found Piet waiting for her when she came out, and she passed forth +with him to the waiting motor with a laugh and a jest for the benefit of +the onlookers.</p> + +<p>But the moment the door closed upon them she fell into silence, drawn +back from him as far as possible, her cold hands clenched tight under her +cloak.</p> + +<p>He did not attempt to speak to her during the quarter of an hour's drive, +sitting mutely beside her in statuesque stillness; and it was she who, +when he handed her out, broke the silence.</p> + +<p>"I have something to say to you."</p> + +<p>He bent before her stiffly.</p> + +<p>"I am at your service."</p> + +<p>There was something in his words that sounded ironical to her, something +that sent the blood to her face in a burning wave. She turned in silence +and ascended the steps in front of him.</p> + +<p>She found the door unlocked, but the hall was empty, and lighted only by +the great flames that spouted up from the log-fire on the open hearth.</p> + +<p>Clearly the rest of the family had retired, and a sudden, sharp suspicion +flashed through Nan that her husband had deliberately laid his plans for +this private interview with her.</p> + +<p>It set her heart pounding again within her, but she braced herself to +treat him with a high hand. He must not, he should not, assume the +mastery over her.</p> + +<p>Silently she waited as he shut and bolted the great door, and then +quietly crossed the shadowy hall to join her.</p> + +<p>She had dropped her cloak from her shoulders, and the firelight played +ruddily over her dress of shimmering white, revealing her slim young +beauty in every delicate detail. Very pale, but erect and at least +outwardly calm, she faced him.</p> + +<p>"What I have to say to you," she said, "will make you very angry; but +I hope you will have the patience to listen to me, because it must be +said."</p> + +<p>He did not answer. He merely stooped and stirred the fire to a higher +blaze, then turned and looked at her with those ever-watching eyes of +his.</p> + +<p>Nan's hands were clenched unconsciously. She was making the greatest +effort of her life.</p> + +<p>"It has come to this," she said, forcing herself with all her quivering +strength to speak quietly. "I do not wish to be your wife. I have +realized for some time that my marriage was a mistake, and I thought +it possible, I hoped with all my heart, that you would see it, too. I +suppose, by your coming back in this way, that you have not yet done so?"</p> + +<p>He was standing very quietly before her with his hands behind him. +Notwithstanding her wild misgiving, she could not see that he was in any +way angered by her words. He seemed to observe her with a grave interest. +That was all.</p> + +<p>A tremor of passion went through her. His passivity was not to be borne. +In some curious fashion it hurt her. She felt as though she were beating +and bruising herself against bars of iron.</p> + +<p>"Surely," she said, and her voice shook in spite of her utmost effort to +control it—"surely you must see that you are asking of me more than I +can possibly give. I own that I am—nominally—your wife, but I realize +now that I can never be anything more to you than that. I cannot go away +with you. I can never make my home with you. I married you upon impulse. +I did you a great wrong, but you will admit that you hurried me into it. +And now that—that my eyes are open, I find that I cannot go on. Would +it—would it—" She was faltering under that unchanging gaze, but she +compelled herself to utter the question—"be quite impossible to—to get +a separation?"</p> + +<p>"Quite," said Piet.</p> + +<p>He did not raise his voice, but she shrank at the brief word, shrank +uncontrollably as if he had struck her.</p> + +<p>He went on quite steadily, but his eyes gave her no rest. They seemed to +her to gleam red in the glancing firelight.</p> + +<p>"I do not admit that our marriage was a mistake. I was always aware that +you married me for my money. But on the other hand I was willing to pay +your price. I wanted you. And—I want you still. Nothing will alter that +fact. I am sorry if you think you have made a bad bargain, for you will +have to abide by it. Perhaps some day you will change your mind again. +But it is not my habit to change mine. That is, I think, all that need be +said upon the subject."</p> + +<p>There was not the faintest hint of vehemence in his tone, but there was +unmistakable authority. Having spoken, he stood grimly waiting for her +next move.</p> + +<p>As for Nan, a sudden fury entered into her that possessed her more +completely than any fear. To be thus mastered in a few curt sentences was +more than her wild spirit would endure. Without an instant's hesitation +she flung down the gauntlet.</p> + +<p>"It is true," she said, speaking quickly, "that I married you for your +money, but since you knew that, you were as much to blame as I. Had I +known then what sort of man you were, I would sooner have gone into the +workhouse. I am quite aware that it is thanks to you that my father is +not a ruined man, but I—I protest against being made the price for your +benefits. I will never touch another penny of your money myself, and +neither shall any of my family if I can prevent it. As to abiding by my +bargain, I refuse absolutely and unconditionally. I do not acknowledge +your authority over me. I will be no man's slave, and—and, sooner than +live with you as your wife, I—I will die in a ditch!"</p> + +<p>Furiously she flung the words at him, too much carried away by her own +madness to note their effect upon him, too angry to see the sudden, +leaping flame in his eyes; too utterly reckless to realize that fire +kindles fire.</p> + +<p>Her fierce wrath was in its way sublime. She was like a beautiful, wild +creature raging at its captor, too infuriated to be afraid.</p> + +<p>"I defy you," she declared proudly, "to make me do anything against my +will!"</p> + +<p>There was scorn as well as defiance in her voice—scorn because he stood +before her so silently; scorn because the fierce torrent of her anger had +flowed unchecked. She had only to stand up to him, it seemed, and like +the giant of the fable he dwindled to a pigmy. She was no longer hurt by +his passivity. She despised him for it.</p> + +<p>But it was for the last time in her life. As she turned contemptuously to +pick up her cloak, he moved.</p> + +<p>With a single stride he had reached her, and in an instant his hand was +on her arm, his face was close to hers. And then she saw, what she had +been too self-engrossed to see before, that fire had kindled fire indeed, +and that those rash words of hers had waked the savage in him.</p> + +<p>She made a sharp, instinctive effort to free herself, but he held her +fast. She had outrun his patience at last.</p> + +<p>"So," he said, "you defy me, do you? You defy me to take what is my own? +That is not very wise of you."</p> + +<p>He spoke under his breath, and as he spoke he drew her to him suddenly, +violently, with a strength that was brutal. For a moment his eyes +compelled hers, terrible eyes alight with a passion that scorched her +with its fiery intensity. And then abruptly his arms tightened. She was +at his mercy, and he did not spare her. Savagely, fiercely, he rained +burning kisses upon her shrinking face, upon her neck, her shoulders, her +hands, till, after many seconds of vain resistance, spent, quivering, +terrified, she broke into agonized tears against his breast.</p> + +<p>His hold relaxed then, but tightened again as her trembling limbs refused +to support her. He held her for a while till her agitation had in some +degree subsided; then at last he took her two shaking hands into one of +his, and turned her face upwards.</p> + +<p>Once more his eyes held hers, but the fire in them had died down to a +smoulder. His mouth was grim.</p> + +<p>"Come!" he said quietly, "you won't defy me after this?"</p> + +<p>Her white lips only quivered in reply. She made no further effort to +resist him.</p> + +<p>Very slowly he took his arm from her, still holding her hands.</p> + +<p>"You have married a savage," he said, "but you would never have known it +if you had not taunted me with your defiance. Let me tell you now—for +it is as well that you should know it—that there is nothing—do you +hear?—nothing in this world that I cannot make you do if I so choose! +But if you are wise, you will not challenge me to prove this. It is +enough for you to know that as I have mastered myself, so I can—and so +I will—master you!"</p> + +<p>His words fell with a ring of iron. The old inflexibly sombre demeanour +by which alone till that night she had always known him clothed him like +a coat of mail. Only the grasp of his hand was vital and close. It seemed +to burn her flesh.</p> + +<p>"I have done!" he said, after a pause. "Have you anything further to say +to me?"</p> + +<p>She found it within her power to free herself, and did so. She was +shaking from head to foot. The untamed violence of the man had appalled +her, but his abrupt resumption of self-control was almost more terrible. +She felt as if his will compassed and constrained her like bands of iron.</p> + +<p>She stood before him in panting silence, a shrinking woman, striving +vainly to raise from the dust the shield of pride that he had so rudely +shattered and flung aside. She could not speak to him. She had no words. +From the depths of her soul she hated him. But—it had come to this—she +did not dare to tell him so.</p> + +<p>He waited quietly for a few seconds; then unexpectedly, but without +vehemence, he held out his hand to her.</p> + +<p>"Anne," he said, a subtle change in his deep voice, "fight against me, +and you will be miserable, for I am bound to conquer you. But come to +me—come to me of your own free will—and I swear before Heaven that I +will make you happy."</p> + +<p>But Nan held back with horror, almost with loathing, in her eyes. She did +not utter a word. There was no need.</p> + +<p>His hand fell. For a second the fire that smouldered in his eyes shot +upwards to a flame, but it died down again instantly. He turned from her +in silence and picked up her cloak.</p> + +<p>He did not look at her as he handed it to her, and Nan did not dare to +look at him. Dumbly she forced her trembling body into subjection to +her will. She crossed the hall without faltering, and went without sound +or backward glance up the stairs. And the man was left alone in the +flickering firelight.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + + +<p>To Mona fell the task of making preparation for Nan's departure, for Nan +herself did not raise a finger to that end. Three days only remained to +her of the old free life—three days in which to bid farewell to +everybody and everything she knew and loved.</p> + +<p>Her husband did not attempt to obtrude his presence upon her during those +three days. The man's patience was immense, cloaking him as with a +garment of passive strength. He was merely a guest in Colonel Everard's +house, and a silent guest at that.</p> + +<p>No one knew what had passed between him and his young wife on the night +of the Hunt Ball, but it was generally understood that he had asserted +his authority over her after a fashion that admitted of no resistance. +Only Mona could have told of the white-faced, terrified girl who had lain +trembling in her arms all through the dark hours that had followed their +interview, but Mona knew when to hold her peace, though it was no love +for her brother-in-law that sealed her lips.</p> + +<p>So, with a set face, she packed her sister's belongings, never faltering, +scarcely pausing for thought, till on the very last day she finished her +task, and then sat musing alone in the darkness of the winter evening.</p> + +<p>Nan had been out all the afternoon, no one knew exactly where, though it +was supposed that she was paying farewell visits. The Colonel, whose +courteous instincts would not suffer him to neglect a guest, had been out +shooting with his son-in-law all day long. Mona heard them come tramping +up the drive and enter the house, as she sat above in the dark. She +listened without moving, and knew that one of her sisters was giving +them tea in the hall.</p> + +<p>Two hours passed, but Nan did not return. Mona rose at last to dress for +dinner. Her face shone pale as she lighted her lamp, but her eyes were +steadfast; they held no anxiety.</p> + +<p>Descending the stairs at length she found Piet waiting below before the +fire. He looked round as she came down, looked up the stairs beyond her, +and gravely rose to give her his chair.</p> + +<p>Mona was generally regarded as hostess in her father's house, though she +was not his eldest daughter. She possessed a calmness of demeanour that +was conspicuously lacking in all the rest.</p> + +<p>She sat down quietly, her hands folded about her knees. "Have you had +good sport?" she asked, her serene eyes raised to his.</p> + +<p>There was a slight frown between Piet's brows. Hitherto he had always +regarded this girl as his friend. To-night, for the first time, she +puzzled him. There was something hostile about her something he felt +rather than saw, yet of which from the very moment of her coming, he was +keenly conscious.</p> + +<p>He scarcely answered her query. Already his wits were at work.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he asked her a blunt question. "Has Anne come in yet?"</p> + +<p>She answered him quite as bluntly, almost as if she had wished for his +curt interrogation. "No."</p> + +<p>He raised his brows for an instant, then in part reassured by her +absolute composure, he merely commented: "She is late."</p> + +<p>Mona said nothing. She turned her quiet eyes to the blaze before her. +There was not the faintest sign of agitation in her bearing.</p> + +<p>"Do you know what she is doing?" He asked the question slowly, half +reluctantly it seemed.</p> + +<p>Again she looked at him. Clear and contemptuous, her eyes met his.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know."</p> + +<p>The words, the look, stabbed him with a swift suspicion. He bent towards +her, his hand gripped her wrist.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean? Where is she?"</p> + +<p>She made no movement to avoid him. A faint, grim smile hovered about her +calm mouth.</p> + +<p>"I can tell you what I mean," she said quietly. "I cannot tell you where +she is."</p> + +<p>"Then tell me what you mean," he said between his teeth.</p> + +<p>His face was close to hers, and in that moment it was terrible. But Mona +did not flinch. The small, bitter smile passed, that was all.</p> + +<p>"I mean," she said, speaking very steadily and distinctly, "that you +will go back to South Africa without her after all. I mean that by your +hateful and contemptible brutality you have driven her from you for ever. +I mean that you have forced her into taking a step that will compel you +to set her free from your tyranny. I mean that simply and solely to +escape from you she has run away with—another man."</p> + +<p>A quiver of pain went over her face as she ended. With a swift, +passionate movement she rose, flinging her mask of composure aside. The +hand that gripped her wrist was bruising her flesh, but she never felt +it.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said, with abrupt vehemence. "That is what you have +done—you—you! You would not stoop to win her. You chose to take her by +force, and force is the one thing in the world that she will never +tolerate. You bullied her, frightened her, humiliated her. You drove her +to do this desperate thing. And you face me now, you dare to face me, +because I am a weak woman. If I were a man, I would kick you out of the +house. I—I believe I would kill you! Even Nan cannot hate you or despise +you one-tenth as much as I do!"</p> + +<p>She ceased, but her eyes blazed their hatred at him as her heart cursed +him. She was furious as a tigress that defends her young.</p> + +<p>As for the man, his hand was still clenched upon her wrist, but no +violent outburst escaped him. He was white to the lips, but he was +absolutely sane. If he heard her wild reproaches, he passed them over.</p> + +<p>"Who is the man?" he said, and his voice fell like a word of command, +arresting, controlling, compelling.</p> + +<p>It was not what she had expected. She had been prepared for tempestuous, +for overwhelming, wrath. The absence of this oddly disconcerted her. Her +own tornado of indignation was checked. She answered him almost +involuntarily.</p> + +<p>"Jerry Lister."</p> + +<p>He frowned as if trying to recall the owner of the name, and again +without her conscious will she explained.</p> + +<p>"You saw him that night at the ball. They were together all the evening."</p> + +<p>The frown passed from his face.</p> + +<p>"That—cub!" he said slowly. "And"—his eyes were searching hers closely; +he spoke with unswerving determination—"where have they gone?"</p> + +<p>She withstood his look though she felt its compulsion.</p> + +<p>"I refuse to tell you that."</p> + +<p>"You know?" he questioned.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know."</p> + +<p>"Then you will tell me." He spoke with conviction. She felt as if his +eyes were burning her.</p> + +<p>"Then you will tell me," he repeated, as if she had not heard him.</p> + +<p>"I refuse," she said again; but she said it with a wavering resolution. +Undoubtedly there was something colossal about this man. She began to +feel the grip of his fingers upon her wrist. The pain of it became +intense, yet she knew that he was not intentionally torturing her.</p> + +<p>"You are hurting me," she said, and instantly his hold relaxed. But he +did not let her go.</p> + +<p>"Answer me!" he said.</p> + +<p>"Why should I answer you?" It was the last resort of her weakening will.</p> + +<p>He betrayed no impatience.</p> + +<p>"You will answer me for your sister's sake," he told her grimly.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean? You will follow her?"</p> + +<p>"I shall follow her."</p> + +<p>"And bring her back?"</p> + +<p>"Back here? No, certainly not."</p> + +<p>"You will hurt her, bully her, terrify her!" The words were quick with +agitation.</p> + +<p>He ignored them. "Tell me where she is."</p> + +<p>She made a last effort.</p> + +<p>"If I tell you—will you take me with you?"</p> + +<p>"No," he said, "I will not."</p> + +<p>"Then—then—" She was looking straight into those pitiless eyes. It +seemed she could not help herself. "I will tell you," she said at last. +"But you will be kind to her? You will remember how young she is, and +that—that you drove her to it?"</p> + +<p>Her voice was piteous, her resistance was dead.</p> + +<p>"I shall remember," he said very quietly, "one thing only."</p> + +<p>"Yes?" she murmured. "Yes?"</p> + +<p>"That she is my wife," he said, in the same level tone. "Now—answer me."</p> + +<p>And because there was no longer any alternative course, she yielded.</p> + +<p>Had he shown himself a raging demon she could have resisted him, and +rejoiced in it. But this man, with his rigid self-control, his unswerving +resolution, his deadly directness, dominated her irresistibly.</p> + +<p>Without argument he had changed her point of view. Without argument or +protestation of any sort, he had convinced her that it was no passing +fancy of his that had prompted him to choose Nan for his wife. She had +vaguely suspected it before. Now she knew.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + + +<p>It was very dark over the moors. The solitary lights of a cab crawling +almost at a foot pace along the lonely road shone like a will-o'-the-wisp +through the snow. It had been snowing for hours, steadily, thickly, and +the cold was intense. The dead heather by the roadside had long been +completely hidden under that ever-increasing load. It lay in great +billows of white wherever the carriage lamps revealed it, stretching away +into the darkness, an immense, untrodden desert, wrapped in a deathly +silence, more terrible than any sound.</p> + +<p>It seemed to Nan, shivering inside that cheerless cab, as if the world +had stopped like a run-down watch, and that she alone, with her +melancholy equipage, retained in all that vast stillness the power to +move.</p> + +<p>She wished heartily that she had permitted Jerry to come to the station +to meet her, but for some reason not wholly intelligible to herself she +had prohibited this. And he, ever obedient to her behests, had sent the +conveyance to fetch her, remaining behind himself to complete the +preparations for her reception upon which he had been engaged for the +past two days at the tiny, incommodious shooting-box which his father had +bequeathed to him, and of which not very valuable piece of landed +property he was somewhat inordinately proud.</p> + +<p>It had been a tedious cross-country journey, and the five miles from the +station seemed to Nan interminable. Already deep down in her heart were +stirring ghastly doubts regarding the advisability of this mad expedition +of hers. Jerry, as she well knew, was fully prepared to enjoy the +situation to the utmost. He was a trusty friend in need to her, no more, +and she had not the smallest misgiving so far as he was concerned.</p> + +<p>He would be to her what he had ever been, breezy comrade, merry +friend—romantic cavalier, perhaps, but in such a fashion as to convince +her that he was only playing at romance. It had always been his attitude +towards her, and she anticipated no change. The boy's natural chivalry +had moved her to accept his help, though she well knew that the step she +had taken was a desperate one, even for one of the wild Everards. That +it would fulfil its purpose she did not doubt. Her husband, she was fully +convinced, would take no further steps to deprive her of her liberty. Her +notions of legal procedure in such a case were of the haziest, but she +had not the faintest doubt that this last, wildest escapade of hers would +sooner or later procure her her freedom from the chain that so galled +her.</p> + +<p>And yet she started and shivered at every creak of the crazy vehicle that +was bearing her to the haven of her emancipation. She was horribly, +unreasonably afraid, now that she had taken this rash step. Would it +upset her father very greatly, she wondered? But surely he would not +think badly of her for making a way of escape for herself. He had been +powerless to deliver her. Surely, surely he would understand!</p> + +<p>The cab jolted to a standstill, and out of the darkness came an eager, +boyish voice, bidding her welcome. An impetuous hand wrenched open the +door, and she and Jerry were face to face.</p> + +<p>She never recalled afterwards crossing the threshold of his little abode. +She was numbed and weary in mind and body. But she found herself at +length seated before a bright fire, with a cup of steaming tea in her +hand, and Jerry hovering about her in high delight; and the comfort of +his welcome revived her at length to an active realization of her +surroundings.</p> + +<p>Clearly the adventure, mad, lawless as it undoubtedly was, was nothing +but a picnic to him. He was enjoying himself immensely without a thought +of any possible consequences, and it was plain that this was the attitude +in which he expected her to regard the matter.</p> + +<p>With an effort she responded to his mood, but she could not shake off the +burden of doubt and foreboding that oppressed her. She felt as if the +long, bitter journey had in some fashion aged her. Jerry's gaiety was as +the prattle of a child to her now. They had been children together till +that day, but she felt that they could never be so again. Never before +had she stopped in her headlong course to look ahead, to count the cost! +Now, for the first time, misgivings arose within her upon Jerry's score. +What if this boy who had lent himself so lightly, so absolutely freely, +to her scheme for deliverance, were made in any way to suffer for his +reckless generosity? For this it had been with him—and this only—as she +well knew.</p> + +<p>With sheer, boyish gallantry, he had offered his protection; with sheer, +girlish recklessness, she had accepted it. And now—now she had in a few +hours crossed the boundary between childhood and womanhood and she stood +aghast, asking herself what she had done!</p> + +<p>By what means understanding had come to her she did not stay to +question. The tragic force of it overwhelmed all reasoning. She knew +beyond all doubting that she had made the most ghastly mistake of her +life. She had done it in blindness, but the veil had been rent away; and, +horror-struck, she now beheld the accursed quicksand into which they had +blundered.</p> + +<p>"I say," said Jerry, "you're awfully tired, aren't you? You're positively +haggard. I've got quite a decent little dinner for you, and I've done +every blessed thing myself. There isn't a soul in the house except us +two. I thought you'd like it best."</p> + +<p>She smiled at him wanly, and thanked him. He was watching her with +friendly, anxious eyes.</p> + +<p>"Yes; well, drink that up and have some more. I'm afraid you'll think the +accommodation rather poor. It's only a pillbox, you know. I'll show you +round when you're ready. I've got my kennel in the kitchen. Best place +for a watch-dog, eh? But you've only got to thump on the floor if you want +anything. There, that's better. You don't look quite so frozen as you +did. Come, it's rather a lark, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>His boyish eyes pleaded with her, and again she made a valiant effort to +respond. She knew what stupendous efforts he had been making to secure +her comfort.</p> + +<p>"Everything is perfect," she declared, "and you're the nicest boy in the +world. I'm quite warm now. What a dear little hall, to be sure!"</p> + +<p>"Hall!" said Jerry. "It's the living-room! But there's another one +upstairs that you can sit in. I thought you would like the upper regions +all to yourself. We can call on each other, you know, now and then. I +say, it's rather a lark, isn't it? Come and see my preparations for +dinner."</p> + +<p>She went with him into the little bare kitchen, and bestowed lavish +praise upon everything she saw.</p> + +<p>Jerry's cooking was an accomplishment of which he had some reason to be +proud. He was roasting a pheasant for his visitor's delectation.</p> + +<p>"I always do the cooking when we camp out," he explained. "Just sit down +while I finish peeling the potatoes."</p> + +<p>He pointed to a truckle bedstead in the corner; and Nan seated herself +and made a determined effort to banish her depression.</p> + +<p>Jerry's preparations for his own comfort were anything but elaborate.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I could sleep on bare boards," he lightly said, when she commented +upon the hardness of his couch. "I know the furniture isn't up to much, +but it isn't a bad little shanty when you're used to it. My pater and +mater spent their honeymoon here years ago, and I stayed here with two +other fellows for three weeks' grouse-shooting a couple of years back. +Rare sport we had, too. Do you mind passing over that saucepan? Thanks! +I say, Nan, I hope you don't mind it being a bit rough."</p> + +<p>"My dear boy," Nan said impulsively, "if it were a palace I shouldn't +like it half so well."</p> + +<p>Jerry grinned serenely.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's snug, anyhow, and I think you'll like that pheasant. There's +another one in the larder, so we shall have something to eat if we're +snowed up. That cupboard leads upstairs. Perhaps you would like to go and +explore. Dinner in half an hour."</p> + +<p>Nan availed herself of this suggestion. She was frankly curious to know +what Jerry's ideas of feminine comfort might be. She ascended the steep +cottage stairs that wound up to the first floor, looking about her with +considerable interest. The narrow staircase was lighted from above, and +she finally emerged into a little room in which a fire burned brightly. +A sofa had been drawn in front of it, and was piled with cushions. There +were one or two basket-chairs, and a small square table bearing a +paper-shaded lamp, and a newspaper, a "Punch," Jerry's banjo, and a +cigarette case.</p> + +<p>The window was covered with a red curtain, and the cosy warmth of the +place sent a glow of comfort through Nan. Jerry's efforts had not been +in vain.</p> + +<p>From this apartment she passed into another beyond, the door of which +stood half open, and found herself in a bedroom. A small stove burned +in a corner of this, and upon it a kettle steamed merrily. There was room +for but little furniture besides the bed, but the general effect was +exceedingly comforting to the girl's oppressed soul. She sat down on the +edge of the bed and leaned her aching head against the back.</p> + +<p>What was happening at home she wondered? Her departure must be known by +this time. Mona would have told Piet. She tried to picture the man's +untrammelled wrath when he heard. How furious he would be! She shivered +a little. She was quite sure he would never want to see her again.</p> + +<p>And yet, curiously, there still ran in her brain those words he had +uttered on that night that she had defied him—that dreadful night when +he had held her in his arms and forced her to endure his hateful kisses!</p> + +<p>She could almost hear his deep voice speaking: "Anne, fight against me +and you will be miserable, for I am bound to conquer you. But come to +me—come to me of your own free will—and I swear before Heaven that I +will make you happy!" Make her happy! He! She could not imagine it. And +yet it was true that, fighting against him, she was miserable.</p> + +<p>With a great sigh, she rose at last and began to remove her outdoor +things. It was done—it was done. What was the use of stopping on the +wrong side of the hedge to think? She had taken the leap. There could +never be any return for her. The actual mistake had been committed long, +long ago, when she had married this man for his money. That had been +monstrous, contemptible! She realized it now. But that, too, was beyond +remedy. Her only hope left was that in his fury he would set her free, +and that without injury to Jerry. She had not the faintest notion how he +would set about it; but doubtless he would not keep her long in +ignorance. He would be more eager now than she had ever been to snap +asunder the chain that bound them to each other. Yes, she was quite, +quite sure that he would never want to see her again.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + + +<p>Jerry's dinner was not, for some reason, quite the success he had +anticipated.</p> + +<p>Nan made no complaint of the cooking, but she ate next to nothing, to the +grief of his hospitable soul. She was tired, of course, but there was +something in her manner that he could not fathom. She was silent and +unresponsive. There was almost an air of tragedy about her that made her +so unfamiliar that he felt as if he were entertaining a stranger. He did +not like the change. His old domineering, impetuous playfellow was +infinitely easier to understand. He did not feel at ease with this quiet, +white-faced woman, who treated him with such wholly unaccustomed +courtesy.</p> + +<p>"I say," he said, when the meal was ended, "let's go upstairs and have a +smoke. I can clear away after you have gone to bed. Or do you want to go +to bed now? It's nearly nine, so you may if you like."</p> + +<p>She thanked him, and declined.</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't sleep if I did," she said with a shiver. "No; I will help +you wash up, and then we will go upstairs and have some music."</p> + +<p>Jerry fell in eagerly with this idea. He loved his banjo. He demurred a +little at accepting her assistance in the kitchen, but finally yielded, +for she would not be refused. She seemed to dread the thought of +solitude.</p> + +<p>When they went upstairs at length, she made a great effort to shake off +her depression. She even sang a little to one or two of Jerry's melodies, +but her customary high spirits remained conspicuously absent, and after a +while Jerry became impatient, and laid the instrument down.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" he asked bluntly.</p> + +<p>Nan was sitting with her feet on the fender, her eyes upon the flames. +His question did not seem to surprise her.</p> + +<p>"You wouldn't understand," she said, "if I were to tell you."</p> + +<p>"Well, you might as well give me the chance," he responded. "My +intelligence is up to the average, I dare say."</p> + +<p>She looked round at him with a faint smile.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't be huffy, dear boy! Why should you? You want to know what is +the matter? Well, I'll tell you. I'm afraid—I'm horribly afraid—that +I've made a great mistake."</p> + +<p>"You have?" said Jerry. "How? What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"I knew you would ask that," she said, with a little, helpless gesture of +the shoulders. "And it is just that that I can't explain to you. You see, +Jerry, I've only just begun to realize it myself."</p> + +<p>Jerry was staring at her blankly.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean, that you wish you hadn't come?" he said.</p> + +<p>She nodded, rising suddenly from her chair.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Jerry, don't be vexed, though you've a perfect right. I've made a +ghastly, a perfectly hideous mistake. I—I can't think how I ever came to +do it. But—but I wouldn't mind so frightfully if it weren't for you. +That's what troubles me most—to have made a horrible mess of my life, +and to have dragged you into it." Her voice shook, and she broke off for +a moment, biting her lips. Then: "Oh, Jerry," she wailed, "I've done a +dreadful thing—a dreadful thing! Don't you see it—what he will think of +me—how he will despise me?"</p> + +<p>The last words came muffled through her hands. Her head was bowed against +the chimney-piece.</p> + +<p>Jerry was nonplussed. He rose somewhat awkwardly, and drew near the bowed +figure.</p> + +<p>"But, my dear girl," he said, laying a slightly hesitating hand upon her +shoulder, "what the devil does it matter what he thinks? Surely you +don't—you can't care—care the toss of a half-penny?"</p> + +<p>But here she amazed him still further.</p> + +<p>"I do, Jerry, I do!" she whispered vehemently. "He's horrid—oh, he's +horrid. But I can't help caring. I wanted him to think the very worst +possible of me before I came. But now—but now—Then too, there's you," +she ended irrelevantly. "What could they do to you, Jerry? Could they put +you in prison?"</p> + +<p>"Great Scott, no!" said Jerry. "You needn't cry over me. I always manage +to fall on my feet. And, anyhow, it isn't a hanging matter. I say, cheer +up, Nan, old girl! Don't you think you'd better go to bed? No? Well, let +me play you something cheerful, then. I've never seen you in the dumps +before. And I don't like it. I quite thought this would be one of our +red-letter days. Look up, I say! I believe you're crying."</p> + +<p>Nan was not crying, but such was the concern in his voice that she raised +her head and smiled to reassure him.</p> + +<p>"You're very, very good to me, Jerry," she said earnestly. "And oh, I do +hope I haven't got you into trouble!"</p> + +<p>"Don't you worry your head about me," said Jerry cheerfully. "You're +tired out, you know. You really ought to go to bed. Let's have something +rousing, with a chorus, and then we'll say good-night."</p> + +<p>He took up his banjo again, and dashed without preliminary into the gay +strains of "The Girl I Left Behind Me."</p> + +<p>He sang with a gaiety that even Nan did not imagine to be feigned, and, +lest lack of response should again damp his spirits, she forced herself +to join in the refrain. Faster and faster went Jerry's fingers, faster +and faster ran the song, his voice and Nan's mingling, till at last he +broke off with a shout of laughter, and sprang to his feet.</p> + +<p>"There! That's the end of our soirée, and I'm not going to keep you up a +minute longer. I wonder if we're snowed up yet. We'll have some fun +to-morrow, if we are. I say, look at the time! Good-night! Good-night!"</p> + +<p>He advanced towards her. She was standing facing him, with her back to +the fire. But something—something in her eyes—arrested him, sending his +own glancing backwards over his shoulder. She was looking, not at him, +but beyond him.</p> + +<p>The next instant, with a sharp oath, Jerry had wheeled in his tracks. He, +too, stood facing the door, staring wide-eyed, dumbfounded.</p> + +<p>There, at the head of the stairs, quite motionless, quite silent, facing +them both, stood Piet Cradock.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + + +<p>Nan was the first to free herself from the nightmare paralysis that bound +her. Swiftly, as though in answer to a sudden inner urging, she moved +forward. She almost pushed past Jerry in her haste. She was white, white +to the lips with fear, but she never faltered till she stood between her +husband and the boy she had chosen to protect her. The first glimpse of +Piet had revealed to her in what mood he had come. In his right hand he +was gripping her father's heaviest hunting-crop.</p> + +<p>He came slowly forward, ignoring her. His eyes were upon Jerry, who +glared back at him like a young panther. He did not appear to be aware +of Nan.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he spoke, briefly, grimly every word clean as a pistol-shot.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you are old enough to know what you are doing?"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" demanded Jerry, in fierce response. "What are you +doing here? And how the devil did you get in? This place belongs to me!"</p> + +<p>"I know." Piet's face was contemptuous. He seemed to speak through closed +lips. "That is why I came. I wanted you."</p> + +<p>"What do you want me for?" flashed back Jerry, with clenched hands. "If +you have anything to say, you'd better say it downstairs."</p> + +<p>"I have nothing whatever to say." There was a deep sound in Piet's voice +that was something more than a menace. Abruptly he squared his great +shoulders, and brought the weapon he carried into full view.</p> + +<p>Jerry's eyes blazed at the action.</p> + +<p>"You be damned!" he exclaimed loudly. "I'll fight you with pleasure, but +not before—"</p> + +<p>"You will do nothing of the sort!" thundered Piet, striding forward. +"You will take a horse-whipping from me here and now, and in my wife's +presence. You have behaved like a cur, and she shall see you treated as +such."</p> + +<p>The words were like the bellow of a goaded bull. Another instant, and he +would have been at hand grips with the boy, but in that instant Nan +sprang. With the strength of desperation, she threw herself against him, +caught wildly at his arms, his shoulders, clinging at last with frenzied +fingers to his breast.</p> + +<p>"You shan't do it!" she gasped, struggling with him. "You shan't do it! +If—if you must punish anyone, punish me! Piet, listen to me! Oh listen! +I am to blame for this! You can't—you shan't—hurt him just because he +has stood by me when—when I most wanted a friend. Do you hear me, Piet? +You shan't do it! Beat me, if you like! I deserve it. He doesn't!"</p> + +<p>"I will deal with you afterwards," he said, sweeping her hands from his +coat at a single gesture.</p> + +<p>But she caught at the hand that sought to brush her aside, caught and +held it, clinging so fast to his arm that without actual violence he +could not free himself.</p> + +<p>He stood still, then, his eyes glowering ruddily over her head at Jerry, +who stamped and swore behind her.</p> + +<p>"Anne," he said, and the sternness of his voice was like a blow, "go into +the next room!"</p> + +<p>"I will not!" she gasped back. "I will not!"</p> + +<p>Her face was raised to his. With her left hand she sought and grasped his +right wrist. Her whole body quivered against him, but she stood her +ground.</p> + +<p>"I shall hurt you!" he said between his teeth.</p> + +<p>"I don't care!" she cried back hysterically. "You—you can kill me, if +you like!"</p> + +<p>He turned his eyes suddenly upon her, flaming them straight into hers +mercilessly, scorchingly. She felt as though an electric current had run +through her, so straight, so piercing was his look. But she met it fully, +with wide, unflinching eyes, while her fingers still clutched desperately +at his iron wrists.</p> + +<p>"Nan! Nan! For Heaven's sake go, and leave us to fight it out!" implored +Jerry. "This can't be settled with you here. You are only making things +worse for yourself. You don't suppose I'm afraid of him, do you?"</p> + +<p>She did not so much as hear him. All her physical strength was leaving +her; but still, panting and quivering, she met those fiery, searching +eyes.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she knew that her hold upon him was weaker than a child's. She +made a convulsive effort to renew it, failed, and fell forward against +him with a gasping cry.</p> + +<p>"Piet!" she whispered, in nerveless entreaty. "Piet!"</p> + +<p>He put his arm around her, supporting her; then as he felt her weight +upon him he bent and gathered her bodily into his arms. She sank into +them, more nearly fainting than she had ever been in her life; and, +straightening himself, he turned rigidly, and bore her into the inner +room.</p> + +<p>He laid her upon the bed there, but still with shaking, powerless fingers +she tried to cling to him.</p> + +<p>"Don't leave me! Don't go!" she besought him.</p> + +<p>He took her hands and put them from him. He turned to leave her, but even +then she caught his sleeve.</p> + +<p>"Piet, I—I want to—to tell you something," she managed to say.</p> + +<p>He wheeled round and bent over her. There was something of violence in +his action.</p> + +<p>"Tell me nothing!" he ordered harshly. "Be silent! Anne, do you hear me? +Do you hear me?"</p> + +<p>Under the compulsion of his look and voice she submitted at last. +Trembling she hid her face.</p> + +<p>And in another moment she heard his step as he went out, heard him close +the door and the sharp click of the key as he turned it in the lock.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + + +<p>For many, many seconds after his departure she lay without breathing, +exactly as he had left her, listening, listening with all the strength +that remained to her for the sounds of conflict.</p> + +<p>But all she heard was Piet's voice pitched so low that she could not +catch a word. Then came Jerry's in sharp, staccato tones. He seemed to be +surprised at something, surprised and indignant. Twice she heard him +fling out an emphatic denial. And, while she still listened with a +panting heart, there came the tread of their feet upon the stairs, +and she knew that they had descended to the lower regions.</p> + +<p>For a long, long while she still crouched there listening, but there came +to her straining ears no hubbub of blows—only the sound of men's voices +talking together in the room below her, with occasional silences between. +Once indeed she fancied that Jerry spoke with passionate vehemence, but +the outburst—if such it were—evoked no response.</p> + +<p>Slowly the minutes dragged away. It was growing very late. What could be +happening? What were they saying to each other? When—when would this +terrible strain of waiting be over?</p> + +<p>Hark! What was that? The tread of feet once more and the sound of an +opening door. Ah, what were they doing? What? What?</p> + +<p>Trembling afresh she raised herself on the bed to listen. There came to +her the sudden throbbing of a motor-engine. He had come in his car, then, +and now he was going, going without another word to her, leaving her +alone with Jerry. The conviction came upon her like a stunning blow, +depriving her for the moment of all reason. She leapt from the bed and +threw herself against the door, battering against it wildly with her +fists.</p> + +<p>She must see him again! She must! She must! She would not be deserted +thus! The bare thought was intolerable to her. Did he hold her so lightly +as this, then—that, having followed her a hundred miles through blinding +snow, he could turn his back upon her and leave her thus?</p> + +<p>That could only mean but one thing, and her blood turned to fire as she +realized it. It meant that he would have no more of her, that he deemed +her unworthy, that—that he intended to set her free!</p> + +<p>But she could not bear it! She would not! She would not! She would +escape. She would force Jerry to let her go. She would follow him +through that dreadful wilderness of snow. She would run in the tracks +of his wheels until she found him.</p> + +<p>And then she would force him—she would force him—to listen to her while +she poured out to him the foolish, the pitiably foolish truth!</p> + +<p>But what if he would not believe her? What then? What then? She had sunk +to her knees before the door, still beating madly upon it, and crying +wildly at the keyhole for Jerry to come and set her free.</p> + +<p>In every pause she heard the buzzing of the engine. It seemed to her to +hold a jeering note. The outer door was open, and an icy draught blew +over her face as she knelt there waiting for Jerry. She broke off again +to listen, and heard the muffled sounds of wheels in the snow. Then came +the note of the hooter, mockingly distinct; and then the hum of the +engine receding from the house. The outer door banged, and the icy +draught suddenly ceased.</p> + +<p>With a loud cry she flung herself once more at the unyielding panels, +bruising hands and shoulders against the senseless wood.</p> + +<p>"Jerry! Jerry!" she cried, and again in anguished accents, "Jerry! Come +to me, quick, oh, quick! Let me out! Let me out!"</p> + +<p>She heard a step upon the stairs. He was coming.</p> + +<p>In a frenzy she beat and shook the door to make him hasten. She was ready +to fly forth like a whirlwind in the wake of the speeding motor. For she +must follow him, she must overtake him; she must—Heaven help her! She +must somehow make him understand!</p> + +<p>Oh, why was Jerry so slow? Every instant was increasing the distance +between her and that buzzing motor. She screamed to him in an agony of +impatience to hurry, to hurry, only to hurry.</p> + +<p>He did not call in answer, but at last, at last, his hand was on the +door.</p> + +<p>She stumbled to her feet as the key grated in the lock, and dragged +fiercely at the handle. It resisted her, for there was another hand upon +it, and with an exclamation of fierce impatience she snatched her own +away.</p> + +<p>"Oh, be quick!" she cried hysterically. "Be quick! He is miles away by +this time. I shall never catch him, and I must, I must!"</p> + +<p>The door opened. She dashed forward. But a man's arm barred her progress, +and with a cry she drew back. The next moment she reeled as she stood, +reeled gasping till she slipped and slid to the floor at his feet. The +man upon the threshold was her husband!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + + +<p>In silence he lifted her and laid her again upon the bed. His touch was +perfectly gentle, but there was no kindness in it, no warmth of any sort. +And Nan turned her face into the pillow and sobbed convulsively. How +could she tell him now?</p> + +<p>He began to walk up and down the tiny room, still maintaining that +ominous silence. But she sobbed on, utterly unstrung, utterly hopeless, +utterly spent.</p> + +<p>He paused at last, and poured some water into a glass.</p> + +<p>"Drink this," he said, stopping beside her. "And then lie quiet until I +speak to you."</p> + +<p>But she could neither raise herself nor take the glass. He stooped and +lifted her, holding the water to her trembling lips. She leaned against +him with closed eyes while she drank. She was painfully anxious to avoid +his look. And yet when he laid her down, the sobbing began again, though +she struggled feebly to repress it.</p> + +<p>He fetched a chair at last and sat down beside her, gravely waiting till +her breathing became less distressed. Then, finding her calmer, he +finally spoke:</p> + +<p>"You need not be afraid of me, Anne. I shall not hurt you."</p> + +<p>"I am not afraid," she whispered back.</p> + +<p>He sat silent for a space, not looking at her. At last:</p> + +<p>"Can you attend to me now?" he asked her formally.</p> + +<p>She raised herself slowly.</p> + +<p>"May I say something first?" she said.</p> + +<p>He turned his brooding eyes upon her.</p> + +<p>"If you can say it quietly," he said.</p> + +<p>She pressed her hand to her throat.</p> + +<p>"You—will listen to me, and—and believe me?"</p> + +<p>"I shall know if you lie to me," he said.</p> + +<p>She made a sharp gesture of protest.</p> + +<p>"I don't deserve that," she said. "You know it."</p> + +<p>His grim lips relaxed a very little.</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't talk about deserts if I were you," he said.</p> + +<p>His tone scared her again, but she made a valiant effort to compose +herself.</p> + +<p>"You say that," she said, "because you are very angry with me. I don't +dispute your right to be angry. I know I've made a fool of you. But—but +after all"—her voice began to shake uncontrollably; she forced out the +words with difficulty—"I've made a much bigger fool of myself. I think +you might consider that."</p> + +<p>He did consider it with drawn brows.</p> + +<p>"Does that improve your case?" he asked at length.</p> + +<p>She did not answer him. She was trying hard to read his face, but it told +her nothing. With a swift movement she slipped to her feet and stood +before him.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," she said, speaking fast and passionately, "what you have +in your mind. I don't know what you think of me. But I suppose you mean +to punish me in some way, to—to give me a lesson that will hurt me all +my life. You have me at your mercy, and—and I shall have to bear it, +whatever it is. But before—before you make me hate you, let me say this: +I am your wife. Hadn't you better remember that before you punish me? +I—I shan't hate you so badly so long as I know that you remember that."</p> + +<p>She stopped. She was wringing her hands fast together to subdue her +agitation.</p> + +<p>Piet had risen with her, but she could no longer search his face. She had +said that she did not fear him, but in that moment she was more horribly +afraid than she had ever been in her life.</p> + +<p>She thought that he would never break his silence. Had she angered him +even further by those words of hers, she wondered desperately? And if +so—oh! if so—Suddenly he spoke, and every pulse in her body leaped and +quivered.</p> + +<p>"Since when," he said, "have you begun to remember that?"</p> + +<p>"I have never forgotten it," she said, in a voiceless whisper.</p> + +<p>He took her hands, separated them, held up the left before her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Never?" he said. "Be careful what you say to me."</p> + +<p>She looked up with a flash of the old quick pride.</p> + +<p>"I have spoken the truth," she said. "Why should I be careful?"</p> + +<p>He dropped her hand.</p> + +<p>"What have you done with your wedding-ring?"</p> + +<p>"I—lost it." Nan's voice and eyes sank together. "It was an accident," +she said. "We dropped it in the lake."</p> + +<p>"We?" said Piet.</p> + +<p>She made a little hopeless gesture.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Jerry and I. It's no good telling you how it happened. You won't +believe me if I do."</p> + +<p>He made no comment. Only after a moment he put his hand on her shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Have you anything else to say?" he asked.</p> + +<p>She shook her head without speaking. She was shivering all over.</p> + +<p>"Very well, then," he said. "Come into the other room—you seem cold."</p> + +<p>She went with him submissively. The fire had sunk low, and he replenished +it. The hunting crop that he had brought from her father's house lay on +the table with Jerry's banjo. He picked it up and put it away in a +corner.</p> + +<p>"Sit down," he said.</p> + +<p>She sank upon the sofa, hiding her face. He took up his stand on the rug, +facing her.</p> + +<p>"Now," he said quietly, "do you remember my telling you that you had +married a savage? I see you do. And you are afraid of me in consequence. +I am a savage. I admit it. I hurt you that night. I meant to hurt you. I +meant you to see that I was in earnest. I meant you to realize that you +were my wife. I meant—I still mean—to master you. But I did not mean to +terrify you as you were terrified, as you are terrified now. I made a +mistake, and for that mistake I desire to apologize."</p> + +<p>He stooped and drew one of her hands away from her face.</p> + +<p>"You defied me," he said. "Do you remember? And I am not accustomed to +defiance. Nor will I bear it from anyone—my wife least of all. I am not +threatening you; I am simply showing you what you must learn to expect +from me, from the savage you have married. It is not my intention to +frighten you. I am no longer angry with either you or the young fool whom +you call your friend. By the way, I have not done him any violence. He +has merely gone to find a lodging for himself and for the motor in the +village. Yes, I turned him out of his own house, but I might have done +worse. I meant to do much worse."</p> + +<p>"Yes?" murmured Nan. "Why—why didn't you?"</p> + +<p>"Because," he answered grimly, "I found that I had only fools to deal +with."</p> + +<p>He paused a moment.</p> + +<p>"Well, now for your punishment," he said. "As you remarked just now, +I have you absolutely at my mercy. How much mercy do you expect—or +deserve? Answer me—as my wife."</p> + +<p>But she could not answer him. She only bowed her head speechlessly +against the strong hand that still held hers.</p> + +<p>She could feel his fingers tightening to a grip. And she knew herself +beaten, powerless.</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, Anne!" he said suddenly; and in his voice was something +that she had only heard once before, and that but vaguely. "I am going to +give you a fair chance, in spite of your behaviour to me. I am willing to +believe—I do believe—that, to a certain extent, I drove you to this +course. I also believe that you and your friend Jerry are nothing but a +pair of irresponsible children. I should like to have caned him, but I +had nothing but a loaded horse-whip to do it with, so I was obliged to +let him off. Now listen! I am going downstairs and I shall stay there for +exactly half an hour. If between now and the end of that half-hour you +come to me with any good and sufficient reason for letting you go back +and live apart from me in your father's house, I will let you go. You +have asked me to remember that you are my wife. Precisely what you meant +by that you have left me to guess. You will make that request of yours +quite plain to me within the next half-hour."</p> + +<p>He relinquished his hold with the words, and would have withdrawn his +hand, but she made a sharp movement to stay him.</p> + +<p>"Do you—really—mean that?" she asked him, a catch in her voice, her +head still bent.</p> + +<p>"I have said it," he said.</p> + +<p>But still with nervous fingers she sought to detain him.</p> + +<p>"What—what would you consider a good and sufficient reason?"</p> + +<p>The hand she held clenched slowly upon itself.</p> + +<p>"If you can convince me," he said, his voice very deep and steady, "that +to desert me would be for your happiness, I will let you go for that."</p> + +<p>"But how can I convince you?" she said, her face still hidden from him, +her hands closed tightly upon his wrist.</p> + +<p>"You will be able to do so," he said, "if you know your own mind."</p> + +<p>"And if—if I fail to satisfy you?" she faltered.</p> + +<p>He was silent. After a moment he deliberately freed himself, and turned +away.</p> + +<p>"Those are my terms," he said. "If you do not come to me in half an hour +I shall conclude that you leave the decision in my hands—in short, that +you wish to remain my wife. Think well, Anne, before you take action in +this matter. I do not seek to persuade you to either course. Only let me +warn you that, whatever your choice, I shall treat it as final. You must +realize that fully before you choose."</p> + +<p>He was at the head of the stairs as he ended. Without a pause he began to +descend, and she counted his footsteps with a wildly beating heart till +they ceased in the room below.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + + +<p>She was alone. In a silence intense she lifted her head at last, and knew +that for half an hour she was safe from interruption.</p> + +<p>Far away over the snow she heard a distant church clock tolling midnight. +It ceased, and in the silence she thought she heard her stretched nerves +cracking one by one. Soon—very soon—she would have to go down to him +and fight the final battle for her freedom. But she would wait till the +very last minute. She would spend the whole of the brief time accorded to +her in mustering all her strength. He had swept her pride utterly out of +her reach. But surely that was not her only weapon.</p> + +<p>What of her hatred—that hatred that had driven her to this mad flight +with Jerry? Surely out of that she could fashion a shield that all his +savagery could not pierce. Moreover, he had given her his word to abide +by her decision whatever it might be, so long as she could convince him +of that same hatred that had once blazed so fiercely within her.</p> + +<p>But what had happened to it, she wondered? It had wholly ceased to nerve +her for resistance. How was it? Was she too physically exhausted to fan +it into flame, or had he torn this also from her to wither underfoot with +her dead pride? Surely not! With all his boasts of mastery, he had not +mastered her yet. She would never submit to him—never, never! Crush her, +trample her as he would, she would never yield herself voluntarily to +him. It was only when he began to spare her that she found herself +wavering. Why had he spared her? she asked herself. Why had he given her +that single chance of escape?</p> + +<p>Or, stay! Had he, after all, been generous? Had he but affected +generosity that he might the more completely subjugate her? He had said +that she must convince him that freedom from her chain would mean +happiness to her. And how could she ever convince him of this? How? +How? Would he ever see himself as she saw him—a monster of violence +whose very presence appalled her? The problem was hopeless, hopeless! She +knew that she could never make him understand.</p> + +<p>Swiftly the time passed, and with every minute her resolution grew +weaker, her agitation more uncontrollable. She could not do it. She could +not face him with another challenge. It would kill her to resist him +again as she had resisted him on Jerry's behalf. And yet she must do +something. For, if she did not go to him, he would come to her. The +half-hour he had given her was nearly spent. If she did not make up her +mind soon it would be too late. It might be that already he was repenting +his brief generosity, if generosity it had been. It might be that at any +moment she would hear his tread upon the stairs.</p> + +<p>She started up in a panic, fancying that she heard it already. But no +sound followed her wild alarm, and she knew that her quivering nerves +had tricked her. Shuddering from head to foot, she stood listening, +debating with herself.</p> + +<p>Her time was very short now; only three minutes to the half-hour—only +two—only one!</p> + +<p>With a gasp, she gathered together all the little strength she had left. +But she could not descend those gloomy stairs. She dared not go to him. +She stood halting at the top.</p> + +<p>Ah, now he was moving! She heard his step in the room below, and she was +conscious of an instant's wild relief that the suspense was past.</p> + +<p>Then panic rushed back upon her, blotting out all else. She saw his +shadow on the stairs, and she cried to him to stop.</p> + +<p>"I am coming down to you! Wait for me! Wait!"</p> + +<p>He stepped back, and she stumbled downwards, nearly falling in her haste. +At the last stair she tripped, recovering herself only by the arm he +flung out to catch her.</p> + +<p>"I was coming!" she gasped incoherently. "I would have come before, but +the stairs were dark—so dark, and I was frightened!"</p> + +<p>"There is nothing to frighten you," he said gravely.</p> + +<p>"I can't help it!" she wailed like a child. "Oh, Piet—Piet, be kind to +me—just this once—if you can! I—I'm terrified!"</p> + +<p>He put his arm round her.</p> + +<p>"Why?" he said.</p> + +<p>She could not tell him. But in a vague fashion his arm comforted her; and +that also was beyond explanation.</p> + +<p>"You are not angry?" she whispered.</p> + +<p>"No," he said.</p> + +<p>"You will be," she said, shivering, "when I have told you my decision."</p> + +<p>"What is your decision?" he asked.</p> + +<p>She did not answer him; she could not.</p> + +<p>He moved, and very gently set her free. There was a chair by the table +from which he had evidently just risen. He turned to it and sat down, +watching her under his hand.</p> + +<p>"What is your decision?" he asked again.</p> + +<p>She shook her head. Her agony of fear was passing, but still she could +not tell him yet.</p> + +<p>He waited silently, his face so shaded by his hand that she could not +read its expression.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you answer me?" he said at last.</p> + +<p>"I—can't!" she said, with a sob.</p> + +<p>"You leave the decision to me?" he questioned.</p> + +<p>She did not answer.</p> + +<p>He straightened himself slowly, without rising.</p> + +<p>"My decision is made," he said. "Give me your hand; not that one—the +left."</p> + +<p>She obeyed him trembling. He had taken something from his pocket. With a +start she saw what it was.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, Piet—no!" she cried.</p> + +<p>But he had his way, for he would not suffer her resistance to thwart him. +Very gravely and resolutely he slipped a gold ring on to her finger.</p> + +<p>"And you will give me your word to keep it there," he said, looking up at +her.</p> + +<p>Her lips were quivering; she could not speak.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," he said; "I can trust you."</p> + +<p>He released her hand with the words, and there followed a brief silence +while Nan stood struggling vainly for self-control.</p> + +<p>Failing at length, she sank suddenly down upon her knees at the table +hiding her face and crying as if her heart would break.</p> + +<p>"My dear Anne!" he said. And then in a different tone, his hand upon her +bowed head: "What is it child? Don't cry, don't cry! Is it so hard for +you to be my wife?"</p> + +<p>She could not answer him. His kindness was so strange to her. She could +only sob under that gentle, comforting hand.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" he said. "Hush! Don't be so distressed. Anne, listen! I will +never be a savage to you again. I swear it on my honour, on my faith in +you, and on the love I have for you. What more can I do?"</p> + +<p>Still she could not answer him, but her tears were ceasing. Yielding to +the pressure of his hand, she had drawn nearer to him. But she did not +raise her head.</p> + +<p>After a long, quivering silence she spoke.</p> + +<p>"Piet, I—I want you to—forgive me; not just for this, but for—a +thousand things. Piet, I—I didn't know you really loved me."</p> + +<p>"I have always loved you, Anne," he said, in his deep, slow voice.</p> + +<p>"And you—forgive me," she said faintly.</p> + +<p>"I have forgiven you," he answered gravely.</p> + +<p>She made a slight, shy movement, and he took his hand from her head. But +in an instant impulsively she caught at it, drawing it down against her +burning face.</p> + +<p>"And you are not angry with me any more?" she murmured.</p> + +<p>"No," he said again.</p> + +<p>She was silent for a space, not moving, still tightly holding his hand.</p> + +<p>He could not see her face, nor did he seek to do so. Perhaps he feared to +scare away her new-found courage.</p> + +<p>At length, in a very small voice, she broke the silence.</p> + +<p>"Piet!"</p> + +<p>He leaned forward.</p> + +<p>"What is it, Anne?"</p> + +<p>He could feel her breath quick and short upon his hand. She seemed to be +making a supreme effort.</p> + +<p>"Piet!" she said again.</p> + +<p>"I am listening," he responded, with absolute patience.</p> + +<p>She turned one cheek slightly towards him.</p> + +<p>"If I loved anybody," she said, rather incoherently, "I—I'd find some +way of letting them know it."</p> + +<p>He leaned his head once more upon his hand.</p> + +<p>"I am a rough beast, Anne," he said sadly. "My love-making only hurts +you."</p> + +<p>Nan was silent again for a little, but she still held fast to his hand.</p> + +<p>"Were you," she asked hesitatingly at length, "were you—making love to +me—that night?"</p> + +<p>"After my own savage fashion," he said.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said, a slight quiver in her voice, "it didn't hurt me, +Piet."</p> + +<p>Piet was silent.</p> + +<p>"I mean," she said, gathering courage, "if—if I had known that it meant +just that, I—well, I shouldn't have minded so much."</p> + +<p>Still Piet was silent. His hand shaded his eyes, but she knew that he was +watching her.</p> + +<p>"Do you understand?" she asked him doubtfully.</p> + +<p>"No," he said.</p> + +<p>"Don't you—don't you know what I want you to do?" she said, rather +Breathlessly.</p> + +<p>"No," he said again.</p> + +<p>"Must I—tell you?" she asked, with a gasp.</p> + +<p>"I think you must," he said, in his grave way.</p> + +<p>She lifted her head abruptly. Her eyes were very big and shining. She +stretched her hands out to him with a little, quivering laugh.</p> + +<p>"I hate you for making me say it!" she declared, with a vehemence half +passionate, half whimsical. "Piet, I—I want you—to—to—take me in your +arms again, and—and—kiss me—as you did—that night."</p> + +<p>The last words were uttered from his breast, though she never knew how +she came to be there. It was as though a whirlwind had caught her away +from the earth into a sunlit paradise that was all her own—a paradise in +which fear had no place. And the chain against which she had chafed so +long and bitterly had turned to links of purest gold.</p> + + + + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + + + + +<h1><a name="The_Consolation_Prize" id="The_Consolation_Prize"></a><span class="smcap">The Consolation Prize</span></h1> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p>"So you don't want to marry me?" said Earl Wyverton.</p> + +<p>He said it by no means bitterly. There was even the suggestion of a smile +on his clean-shaven face. He looked down at the girl who stood before +him, with eyes that were faintly quizzical. She was bending at the moment +to cut a tall Madonna lily from a sheaf that grew close to the path. At +his quiet words she started and the flower fell.</p> + +<p>He stooped and picked it up, considered it for a moment, then slipped it +into the basket that was slung on her arm.</p> + +<p>"Don't be agitated," he said, gently. "You needn't take me +seriously—unless you wish."</p> + +<p>She turned a face of piteous entreaty towards him. She was trembling +uncontrollably. "Oh, please, Lord Wyverton," she said, earnestly, +"please, don't ask me! Don't ask me! I—I felt so sure you wouldn't."</p> + +<p>"Did you?" he said. "Why?"</p> + +<p>He looked at her with grave interest. He was a straight, well-made man; +but his kindest friends could not have called him anything but ugly, and +there were a good many who thought him formidable also. Nevertheless, +there was that about him—an honesty and a strength—which made up to a +very large extent for his lack of other attractions.</p> + +<p>"Tell me why," he said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, because you are so far above me," the girl said, with an effort. +"You must remember that. You can't help it. I have always known that you +were not in earnest."</p> + +<p>"Have you?" said Lord Wyverton, smiling a little. "Have you? You seem to +have rather a high opinion of me, Miss Neville."</p> + +<p>She turned back to her flowers. "There are certain things," she said, in +a low voice, "that one can't help knowing."</p> + +<p>"And one of them is that Lord Wyverton is too fond of larking to be +considered seriously at any time?" he questioned.</p> + +<p>She did not answer. He stood and watched her speculatively.</p> + +<p>"And so you won't have anything to say to me?" he said at last. "In fact, +you don't like me?"</p> + +<p>She glanced at him with grey eyes that seemed to plead for mercy. "Yes, +I like you," she said, slowly. "But—"</p> + +<p>"Never mind the 'but,'" said Wyverton, quietly. "Will you marry me?"</p> + +<p>She turned fully round again and faced him. He saw that she was very +pale.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean it?" she said. "Do you?"</p> + +<p>He frowned at her, though his eyes remained quizzical and kindly. "Don't +be frightened," he said. "Yes; I am actually in earnest. I want you."</p> + +<p>She stiffened at the words and grew paler still; but she said nothing.</p> + +<p>It was Wyverton who broke the silence. There was something about her that +made him uneasy.</p> + +<p>"You can send me away at once," he said, "if you don't want me. You +needn't mind my feelings, you know."</p> + +<p>"Send you away!" she said. "I!"</p> + +<p>He gave her a sudden, keen look, and held out his hand to her. "Never +mind the rest of the world, Phyllis," he said, very gravely. "Let them +say what they like, dear. If we want each other, there is no power on +earth that can divide us."</p> + +<p>She drew in her breath sharply as she laid her hand in his.</p> + +<p>"And now," he said, "give me your answer. Will you marry me?"</p> + +<p>He felt her hand move convulsively in his own. She was trembling still.</p> + +<p>He bent towards her, gently drawing her. "It is 'Yes,' Phyllis," he +whispered. "It must be 'Yes.'"</p> + +<p>And after a moment, falteringly, through white lips, she answered him.</p> + +<p>"It is—'Yes.'"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"And you accepted him! Oh, Phyllis!"</p> + +<p>The younger sister looked at her with eyes of wide astonishment, almost +of reproach. They were two of a family of ten; a country clergyman's +family that had for its support something under three hundred pounds a +year. Phyllis, the eldest girl, worked for her living as a private +secretary and had only lately returned home for a brief holiday.</p> + +<p>Lord Wyverton, who had seen her once or twice in town, had actually +followed her thither to pursue his courtship. She had not believed +herself to be the attraction. She had persistently refused to believe him +to be in earnest until that afternoon, when the unbelievable thing had +actually happened and he had definitely asked her to be his wife. Even +then, sitting alone with her sister in the bedroom they shared, she could +scarcely bring herself to realize what had happened to her.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said; "I accepted him of course—of course. My dear Molly, how +could I refuse?"</p> + +<p>Molly made no reply, but her silence was somehow tragic.</p> + +<p>"Think of mother," the elder girl went on, "and the children. How could I +possibly refuse—even if I wanted?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Molly; "I see. But I quite thought you were in love with Jim +Freeman."</p> + +<p>In the silence that followed this blunt speech she turned to look +searchingly at her sister. Molly was just twenty, and she did the entire +work of the household with sturdy goodwill. She possessed beauty that was +unusual. They were a good-looking family, and she was the fairest of them +all. Her eyes were dark and very shrewd, under their straight black +brows; her face was delicate in colouring and outline; her hair was +red-gold and abundant. Moreover, she was clever in a strictly practical +sense. She enjoyed life in spite of straitened circumstances. And she +possessed a serenity of temperament that no amount of adversity ever +seemed to ruffle.</p> + +<p>Having obtained the desired glimpse of her sister's face, she returned +without comment to the very worn stocking that she was repairing.</p> + +<p>"I had a talk with Jim Freeman the other day," she said. "He was driving +the old doctor's dog-cart and going to see a patient. He offered me a +lift."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" Phyllis's tone was carefully devoid of interest. She also took up a +stocking from the pile at her sister's elbow and began to work.</p> + +<p>"I asked him how he was getting on," Molly continued. "He said that Dr. +Finsbury was awfully good to him, and treated him almost like a son. He +asked very particularly after you; and when I told him you were coming +home he said that he should try and manage to come over and see you. But +he is evidently beginning to be rather important, and he can't get away +very easily. He asked a good many questions about you, and wanted to know +if I thought you were happy and well."</p> + +<p>"I see." Again the absence of interest in Phyllis's tone was so marked as +to be almost unnatural.</p> + +<p>Molly dismissed the subject with a far better executed air of +indifference.</p> + +<p>"And you are really going to marry Earl Wyverton," she said. "How nice, +Phyl! Did he make love to you?"</p> + +<p>There was a distinct pause before Phyllis replied. "No. There was no +need."</p> + +<p>"He didn't!" ejaculated Molly.</p> + +<p>"I didn't encourage him to," Phyllis confessed. "He went away directly +after. He said he should come to-morrow and see dad."</p> + +<p>"I suppose he's frightfully rich?" said Molly, reflectively.</p> + +<p>"Enormously, I believe." A deep red flush rose in Phyllis's face. She had +begun to tremble again in spite of herself. Molly suddenly dropped her +work and leaned forward.</p> + +<p>"Phyl, Phyl," she said, softly; "shall I tell you what Jim Freeman said +to me that day? He said that very soon he should be able to support a +wife—and I knew quite well what he meant. I told him I was glad—so +glad. Oh, Phyl, darling, when he comes and asks you to go to him, what +will you say?"</p> + +<p>Phyllis looked up with quick protest on her lips. She wrung her hands +together with a despairing gesture.</p> + +<p>"Molly, Molly," she gasped, "don't torture me! How can I help it? How can +I help it? I shall have to send him away."</p> + +<p>"Oh, poor darling!" Molly said. "Poor, poor darling!"</p> + +<p>And she gathered her sister into her arms, pressing her close to her +heart with a passionate fondness of which only a few knew her to be +capable. There was only a year between them, and Molly had always been +the leading spirit, protector and comforter by turns.</p> + +<p>Even as she soothed and hushed Phyllis into calmness her quick brain was +at work upon the situation. There must be a way of escape somewhere. Of +that she was convinced. There always was a way of escape. But for the +time at least it baffled her. Her own acquaintance with Wyverton was very +slight. She wished ardently that she knew what manner of man he was at +heart.</p> + +<p>Upon one point at least she was firmly determined. This monstrous +sacrifice must not take place, even were it to ensure the whole family +welfare. The life they lived was desperately difficult, but Phyllis must +not be allowed to ruin her own life's happiness and another's also to +ease the burden.</p> + +<p>But what a pity it seemed! What a pity! Why in wonder was Fate so +perverse? Molly thought. Such a brilliant chance offered to herself +would have turned the whole world into a gilded dreamland. For she was +wholly heart-free.</p> + +<p>The idea was a fascinating one. It held her fancy strongly. She began to +wonder if he cared very deeply for her sister, or if mere looks had +attracted him.</p> + +<p>She had good looks too, she reflected. And she was quick to learn, +adaptable. The thought rushed through her mind like a meteor through +space. He might be willing. He might be kind. He had a look about his +eyes—a quizzical look—that certainly suggested possibilities. But dare +she put it to the test? Dare she actually interfere in the matter?</p> + +<p>For the first time in all her vigorous young life Molly found her courage +at so low an ebb that she was by no means sure that she could rely upon +it to carry her through.</p> + +<p>She spent the rest of that day in trying to screw herself up to what she +privately termed "the necessary pitch of impudence."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>At nine o'clock on the following morning Lord Wyverton, sitting at +breakfast alone in the little coffee-room of the Red Lion, heard a voice +he recognized speak his name in the passage outside.</p> + +<p>"Lord Wyverton," it said, "is he down?"</p> + +<p>Lord Wyverton rose and went to the door. He met the landlady just +entering with a basket of eggs in her hand. She dropped him a curtsy.</p> + +<p>"It's Miss Molly from the Vicarage, my lord," she said.</p> + +<p>Molly herself stood in the background. Behind the landlady's broad back +she also executed a village bob.</p> + +<p>"I had to come with the eggs. We supply Mrs. Richards with eggs. And it +seemed unneighbourly to go away without seeing your lordship," she said.</p> + +<p>She looked at him with wonderful dark eyes that met his own with +unreserved directness. He told himself as he shook hands that this girl +was a great beauty and would be a magnificent woman some day.</p> + +<p>"I am pleased to see you," he said, with quiet courtesy. "It was kind of +you to look me up. Will you come into the garden?"</p> + +<p>"I haven't much time to spare," said Molly. "It's my cake morning. You +are coming round to the Vicarage, aren't you? Can't we walk together?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly," he replied at once, "if you think I shall not be too early a +visitor."</p> + +<p>Molly's lips parted in a little smile. "We begin our day at six," she +said.</p> + +<p>"What energy!" he commented. "I am only energetic when I am on a +holiday."</p> + +<p>"You're on business now, then?" queried Molly.</p> + +<p>He looked at her keenly as they passed out upon the sunlit road. "I think +you know what my business is," he said.</p> + +<p>She did not respond. "I'll take you through the fields," she said. "It's +a short cut. Don't you want to smoke?"</p> + +<p>There was something in her manner that struck him as not altogether +natural. He pondered over it as he lighted a cigarette.</p> + +<p>"They are cutting the grass in the church fields," said Molly. "Don't you +hear?"</p> + +<p>Through the slumberous summer air came the whir of the machine. It was +June.</p> + +<p>"It's the laziest sound on earth," said Wyverton.</p> + +<p>Molly turned off the road to a stile. "You ought to take a holiday," she +said, as she mounted it.</p> + +<p>He vaulted the railing beside it and gave her his hand. "I'm not +altogether a drone, Miss Neville," he said.</p> + +<p>Molly seated herself on the top bar and surveyed him. "Of course not," +she said. "You are here on business, aren't you?"</p> + +<p>Wyverton's extended hand fell to his side. "Now what is it you want to +say to me?" he asked her, quietly.</p> + +<p>Molly's hands were clasped in her lap. They did not tremble, but they +gripped one another rather tightly.</p> + +<p>"I want to say a good many things," she said, after a moment.</p> + +<p>Lord Wyverton smiled suddenly. He had meeting brows, but his smile was +reassuring.</p> + +<p>"Yes?" he said. "About your sister?"</p> + +<p>"Partly," said Molly. She put up an impatient hand and removed her hat. +Her hair shone gloriously in the sunlight that fell chequered through the +overarching trees.</p> + +<p>"I want to talk to you seriously, Lord Wyverton," she said.</p> + +<p>"I am quite serious," he assured her.</p> + +<p>There followed a brief silence. Molly's eyes travelled beyond him and +rested upon the plodding horses in the hay-field.</p> + +<p>"I have heard," she said at length, "that men and women in your position +don't always marry for love."</p> + +<p>Wyverton's brows drew together into a single, hard, uncompromising line. +"I suppose there are such people to be found in every class," he said.</p> + +<p>Molly's eyes returned from the hay-field and met his look steadily. "I +like you best when you don't frown," she said. "I am not trying to insult +you."</p> + +<p>His brows relaxed, but he did not smile. "I am sure of that," he said, +courteously. "Please continue."</p> + +<p>Molly leaned slightly forward. "I think one should be honest at all +times," she said, "at whatever cost. Lord Wyverton, Phyllis isn't in +love with you at all. She cares for Jim Freeman, the doctor's +assistant—an awfully nice boy; and he cares for her. But, you see, you +are rich, and we are so frightfully poor; and mother is often ill, +chiefly because there isn't enough to provide her with what she needs. +And so Phyllis felt it would be almost wicked to refuse your offer. +Perhaps you won't understand, but I hope you will try. If it weren't for +Jim, I would never have told you. As it is—I have been wondering—"</p> + +<p>She broke off abruptly and suddenly covered her face with her two hands +in a stillness so tense that the man beside her marvelled.</p> + +<p>He moved close to her. He was rather pale, but by no means discomposed.</p> + +<p>"Yes?" he said. "Go on, please. I want you to finish."</p> + +<p>There was authority in his voice, but Molly sat in unbroken silence.</p> + +<p>He waited for several moments, then laid a perfectly steady hand on her +knee.</p> + +<p>"You have been wondering—" he said.</p> + +<p>She did not raise her head. As if under compulsion, she answered him with +her face still hidden.</p> + +<p>"I have dared to wonder if—perhaps—you would take me—instead. I—am +not in love with anybody else, and I never would be. If you are in love +with Phyllis, I won't go on. But if it is just beauty you care for, I am +no worse-looking than she is. And I should do my best to please you."</p> + +<p>The low voice sank. Molly's habitual self-possession had wholly deserted +her at this critical moment. She was painfully conscious of the quiet +hand on her knee. It seemed to press upon her with a weight that was +almost intolerable.</p> + +<p>The silence that followed was terrible to her. She wondered afterwards +how she sat through it.</p> + +<p>Then at last he moved and took her by the wrists. "Will you look at me?" +he said.</p> + +<p>His voice sent a quiver through her. She had never felt so desperately +scared and ashamed in all her healthy young life. Yet she yielded to the +insistence of his touch and tone, and met the searching scrutiny of his +eyes with all her courage. He was not angry, she saw; nor was he +contemptuous. More than that she could not read. She lowered her eyes +and waited. Her pulses throbbed wildly, but still she kept herself from +trembling.</p> + +<p>"Is this a definite offer?" he asked at last.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she answered. Her voice was very low, but it was steady.</p> + +<p>He waited a second, and she felt the mastery of the eyes she could not +meet.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me," he said, then; "but are you actually in earnest?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said again, and marvelled at her own daring.</p> + +<p>His hold tightened upon her wrists. "You are a very brave girl," he said.</p> + +<p>There was a baffling note in his tone, and she glanced up involuntarily. +To her intense relief she saw the quizzical, kindly look in his eyes +again.</p> + +<p>"Will you allow me to say," he said, "that I don't think you were created +for a consolation prize?"</p> + +<p>He spoke somewhat grimly, but his tone was not without humour. Molly sat +quite still in his hold. She had a feeling that she had grossly insulted +him, that she had made it his right to treat her exactly as he chose.</p> + +<p>After a moment he set her quietly free.</p> + +<p>"I see you are serious," he said. "If you weren't—it would be +intolerable. But do you actually expect me to take you at your word?"</p> + +<p>She did not hesitate. "I wish you to," she said.</p> + +<p>"You think you would be happy with me?" he pursued. "You know, I am +called eccentric by a good many."</p> + +<p>"You are eccentric," said Molly, "or you wouldn't dream of marrying one +of us. As to being happy, it isn't my nature to be miserable. I don't +want to be a countess, but I do want to help my people. That in itself +would make me happy."</p> + +<p>"Thank you for telling me the truth," Wyverton said, gravely. "I believe +I have suspected some of it from the first. And now listen. I asked your +sister to marry me—because I wanted her. But I will spoil no woman's +life. I will take nothing that does not belong to me. I shall set her +free."</p> + +<p>He paused. Molly was looking at him expectantly. His face softened a +little under her eyes.</p> + +<p>"As for you," he said, "I don't think you quite realize what you have +offered me—how much of yourself. It is no little thing, Molly. It is all +you have. A woman should not part with that lightly. Still, since you +have offered it to me, I cannot and do not throw it aside. If you are of +the same mind in six months from now, I shall take you at your word. But +you ought to marry for love, child—you ought to marry for love."</p> + +<p>He held out his hand to her abruptly, and Molly, with a burning face, +gave him both her own.</p> + +<p>"I can't think how I did it," she said, in a low voice. "But I—I am not +sorry."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," said Lord Wyverton, and he stooped with an odd little smile, +and kissed first one and then the other of the hands he held.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>No one, save Phyllis, knew of the contract made on that golden morning in +June on the edge of the flowering meadows; and even to Phyllis only the +bare outlines of the interview were vouchsafed.</p> + +<p>That she was free, and that Lord Wyverton felt no bitterness over his +disappointment, he himself assured her. He uttered no word of reproach. +He did not so much as hint that she had given him cause for complaint. He +was absolutely composed, even friendly.</p> + +<p>He barely mentioned her sister's interference in the matter, and he +said nothing whatsoever as to her singular method of dealing with the +situation. It was Molly who briefly imparted this action of hers, and +her manner of so doing did not invite criticism.</p> + +<p>Thereafter she went back to her multitudinous duties without an apparent +second thought, shouldering her burden with her usual serenity; and no +one imagined for a moment what tumultuous hopes and doubts underlay her +calm exterior.</p> + +<p>Lord Wyverton left the place, and the general aspect of things returned +to their usual placidity.</p> + +<p>The announcement of the engagement of the vicar's eldest daughter to Jim +Freeman, the doctor's assistant in the neighbouring town, created a small +stir among the gossips. It was generally felt that, good fellow as young +Freeman undoubtedly was, pretty Phyllis Neville might have done far +better for herself. A rumour even found credence in some quarters that +she had actually refused the wealthy aristocrat for Jim Freeman's sake, +but there were not many who held this belief. It implied a foolishness +too sublime.</p> + +<p>Discussion died down after Phyllis's return to her work. It was +understood that her marriage was to take place in the winter. Molly's +hands were, in consequence, very full, and she had obviously no time to +talk of her sister's choice. There was only one visitor who ever called +at the Vicarage in anything approaching to state. Her visits usually +occurred about twice a year, and possessed something of the nature of a +Royal favour. This was Lady Caryl, the Lady of the Manor, in whose gift +the living lay.</p> + +<p>This lady had always shown a marked preference for the vicar's second +daughter.</p> + +<p>"Mary Neville," she would remark to her friends, "is severely handicapped +by circumstance, but she will make her mark in spite of it. Her beauty is +extraordinary, and I cannot believe that Providence has destined her for +a farmer's wife."</p> + +<p>It was on a foggy afternoon at the end of November that Lady Caryl's +carriage turned in at the Vicarage gates for the second state call of the +year.</p> + +<p>Molly received the visitor alone. Her mother was upstairs with a +bronchial attack.</p> + +<p>Lady Caryl, handsome, elderly, and aristocratic, entered the shabby +drawing-room with her most gracious air. She sat and talked for a while +upon various casual subjects. Molly poured out the tea and responded with +her usual cheery directness. Lady Caryl did not awe her. Her father was +wont to remark that Molly was impudent as a robin and brave as a lion.</p> + +<p>After a slight pause in the conversation Lady Caryl turned from parish +affairs with an abruptness somewhat characteristic of her, but by no +means impetuous.</p> + +<p>"Did you ever chance to meet Earl Wyverton, my dear Mary?" she inquired. +"He spent a few days here in the summer."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Molly. "He came to see us several times."</p> + +<p>The beautiful colour rose slightly as she replied, but she looked +straight at her questioner with a directness almost boyish.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said Lady Caryl. "I was away from the Manor at the time, or I +should have asked him to stay there. I have always liked him."</p> + +<p>"We like him too," said Molly, simply.</p> + +<p>"He is a gentleman," rejoined Lady Caryl, with emphasis. "And that makes +his misfortune the more regrettable."</p> + +<p>"Misfortune!" echoed Molly.</p> + +<p>She started a little as she uttered the word—so little that none but a +very keen observer would have noticed it.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said Lady Caryl. "You have not heard, I see. I suppose you would +not hear. But it has been the talk of the town. They say he has lost +practically every penny he possessed over some gigantic American +speculation, and that to keep his head above water he will have to sell +or let every inch of land he owns. It is particularly to be regretted, as +he has always taken his responsibilities seriously. Indeed, there are +many who regard his principles as eccentrically fastidious. I am not of +the number, my dear Mary. Like you, I have a high esteem for him, and he +has my most heartfelt sympathy."</p> + +<p>She ceased to speak, and there was a little pause.</p> + +<p>"How dreadful!" Molly said then. "It must be far worse to lose a lot of +money than to be poor from the beginning."</p> + +<p>The flush had quite passed from her face. She even looked slightly pale.</p> + +<p>Lady Caryl laid down her cup and rose. "That would be so, no doubt," she +said. "I think I shall try to persuade him to come to us at the end of +the year. And your sister is to be married in January? It will be quite +an event for you all. I am sure you are very busy—even more so than +usual, my dear Mary."</p> + +<p>She made her stately adieu and swept away.</p> + +<p>After her departure Molly bore the teacups to the kitchen and washed them +with less than her usual cheery rapidity. And when the day's work was +done she sat for a long while in her icy bedroom, with the moonlight +flooding all about her, thinking, thinking deeply.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>It was the eve of Phyllis's wedding-day, and Molly was hard at work in +the kitchen. The children were all at home, but she had resolutely +turned every one out of this, her own particular domain, that she might +complete her gigantic task of preparation undisturbed. The whole +household were in a state of seething excitement. There were guests in +the house as well, and every room but the kitchen seemed crowded to its +utmost capacity. Molly was busier than she had ever been in her life, and +the whirl of work had nearly swept away even her serenity. She was very +tired, too, though she was scarcely conscious of it. Her hands went from +one task to another with almost mechanical skill.</p> + +<p>She was bending over the stove, stirring a delicacy that required her +minute attention when there came a knock on the kitchen door.</p> + +<p>She did not even turn her head as she responded to it. "Go away!" she +called. "I can't talk to anyone."</p> + +<p>There was a pause—a speculative pause—during which Molly bent lower +over her saucepan and concluded that the intruder had departed.</p> + +<p>Then she became suddenly aware that the door had opened quietly and +someone had entered. She could not turn her head at the moment.</p> + +<p>"Oh, do go away!" she said. "I haven't a second to spare; and if this +goes wrong I shall be hours longer."</p> + +<p>The kitchen door closed promptly and obligingly, and Molly, with a little +sigh of relief, concentrated her full attention once more upon the matter +in hand.</p> + +<p>The last critical phase of the operation arrived, and she lifted the +saucepan from the fire and turned round with it to the table.</p> + +<p>In that instant she saw that which so disturbed her equanimity that she +nearly dropped saucepan and contents upon the kitchen floor.</p> + +<p>Earl Wyverton was standing with his back against the door, watching her +with eyes that shone quizzically under the meeting brows.</p> + +<p>He came forward instantly, and actually took the saucepan out of her +hands.</p> + +<p>"Let me," he said.</p> + +<p>Molly let him, being for the moment powerless to do otherwise.</p> + +<p>"Now," he said, "what does one do—pour it into this glass thing? I see. +Don't watch me, please; I'm nervous."</p> + +<p>Molly uttered a curious little laugh that was not wholly steady.</p> + +<p>"How did you come here?" she said.</p> + +<p>He did not answer her till he had safely accomplished what he had +undertaken. Then he set down the saucepan and looked at her.</p> + +<p>"I am staying with Lady Caryl," he told her gravely. "I arrived this +afternoon. And I have come here to present a humble offering to your +sister, and to make a suggestion equally humble to you. I arrived here in +this room by means of a process called bribery and corruption. But if you +are too busy to listen to me, I will wait."</p> + +<p>"I can listen," Molly said.</p> + +<p>He had not even shaken hands with her, and she felt strangely uncertain +of herself. She was even conscious of a childish desire to run away.</p> + +<p>He took her at her word at once. "Thank you," he said. "Now, do you +remember a certain conversation that took place between us six months +ago?"</p> + +<p>"I remember," she said.</p> + +<p>An odd sense of powerlessness had taken possession of her, and she knew +it had become visible to him, for she saw his face alter.</p> + +<p>"I know I'm ugly," he said, abruptly; "but I'm not frowning, believe me."</p> + +<p>She understood the allusion and laughed rather faintly. "I'm not afraid +of you, Lord Wyverton," she said.</p> + +<p>He smiled at her. "Thank you," he said. "That's kind. I'm coming to the +point. There are just two questions I have to ask you, and I've done. +First, have they told you that I'm a ruined man?"</p> + +<p>Molly's face became troubled. "Yes," she said. "Lady Caryl told me. I was +very sorry—for you."</p> + +<p>She uttered the last two words with a conscious effort. He was mastering +her in some subtle fashion, drawing her by some means irresistible. She +felt almost as if some occult force were at work upon her. He did not +thank her for her sympathy. Without comment he passed on to his second +question.</p> + +<p>"And are you still disposed to be generous?" he asked her, with a +directness that surpassed her own. "Is your offer—that splendid offer of +yours—still open? Or have you changed your mind? You mustn't pity me +overmuch. I have enough to live on—enough for two"—he smiled again that +pleasant, sudden smile of his—"if you will do the cooking and polish the +front-door knob."</p> + +<p>"What will you do?" demanded Molly, with a new-found independence of tone +that his light manner made possible.</p> + +<p>"I shall clean the boots," he answered, promptly, "or swab the floors, +or, it may be"—he bent slightly towards her, and she saw a new light in +his eyes as he ended—"it may be, stand by my wife to lift the saucepan +off the fire, or do all her other little jobs when she is tired."</p> + +<p>Again, and more strongly, she felt that he was drawing her, and she knew +that she was going—going into deep waters in which his hand alone could +hold her up. She stood before him silently. Her heart was beating very +fast. The surging of the deep sea was in her ears. It almost frightened +her, though she knew she had no cause to fear.</p> + +<p>And then, suddenly, his hands were upon her shoulders and his eyes were +closely searching her face.</p> + +<p>"I offer you myself, Molly," he said, and there was ringing passion in +his voice, though he controlled it. "I loved you from the moment you +offered to marry me. Is not that enough?"</p> + +<p>Yes; it was enough. The mastery of it rolled in upon her in a full +flood-tide that no power of reasoning could withstand. She drew one long, +gasping breath—and yielded. The splendour of that moment was greater +than anything she had ever known. Its intensity was almost too vivid +to be borne.</p> + +<p>She stretched up her arms to him with a little sob of pure and glad +surrender. There was no hiding what was in her heart. She revealed it to +him without words, but fully, gloriously, convincingly, as she yielded +her lips to his. And she forgot that she had desired to marry him for his +money. She forgot that the family clothes were threadbare and the family +cares almost impossible to cope with. She knew only that better thing +which is greater than poverty or pain or death itself. And, knowing it, +she possessed more than the whole world, and found it enough.</p> + +<p>Late that night, when at last Molly lay down to rest with the morrow's +bride by her side, there came the final revelation of that amazing day. +Neither she nor Wyverton had spoken a word to any of that which was +between them. It was not their hour; or, rather, the time had not arrived +for others to share in it.</p> + +<p>But as the two girls clasped one another on that last night of +companionship Phyllis presently spoke his name.</p> + +<p>"I actually haven't told you what Lord Wyverton did, Moll," she said. +"You would never guess. It was so unexpected, so overwhelming. You know +he came to tea. You were busy and didn't see him. Jim was there, too. He +came straight up to me and said the kindest things to us both. We were +standing away from the rest. And he put an envelope into my hand and +asked me, with his funny smile, to accept it for an old friend's sake. He +disappeared mysteriously directly after. And—and—Molly, it was a cheque +for a thousand pounds."</p> + +<p>"Good gracious!" said Molly, sharply.</p> + +<p>"Wasn't it simply amazing?" Phyllis continued. "It nearly took my breath +away. And then Lady Caryl arrived, and I showed it to her. And she said +that the story of his ruin was false, that she thought he himself had +invented it for a special reason that had ceased to exist. And she said +that she thought he was richer now than he had ever been before. Why, +Molly, Molly—what has happened? What is it?"</p> + +<p>Molly had suddenly sprung upright in bed. The moonlight was shining on +her beautiful face, and she was smiling tremulously, while her eyes +were wet with tears.</p> + +<p>She reached out both her arms with a gesture that was full of an infinite +tenderness.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said, "yes, I see." And her glad voice rang and quivered on +that note which Love alone can strike. "It's true, darling. It's true. +He is richer now than he ever was before, and I—I have found endless +riches too. For I love him—I love him—I love him! And—he knows it!"</p> + +<p>"Molly!" exclaimed her sister in amazement.</p> + +<p>Molly did not turn. She was staring into the moonlight with eyes that +saw.</p> + +<p>"And nothing else counts in all the world," she said. "He knows that too, +as we all know it—we all know it—at the bottom of our hearts."</p> + +<p>And with that she laughed—the soft, sweet laugh of Love triumphant—and +lay back again by her sister's side.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1><a name="Her_Freedom" id="Her_Freedom"></a><span class="smcap">Her Freedom</span></h1> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>"We have been requested to announce that the marriage arranged between +Viscount Merrivale and Miss Hilary St. Orme will not take place."</p> + +<p>Viscount Merrivale was eating his breakfast when he chanced upon this +announcement. He was late that morning, and, contrary to custom, was +skimming through the paper at the same time. But the paragraph brought +both occupations to an abrupt standstill. He stared at the sheet for a +few moments as if he thought it was bewitched. His brown face reddened, +and he looked as if he were about to say something. Then he pushed the +paper aside with a contemptuous movement and drank his coffee.</p> + +<p>His servant, appearing in answer to the bell a few minutes later, looked +at him with furtive curiosity. He had already seen the announcement, +being in the habit of studying society items before placing the paper +on the breakfast-table. But Merrivale's clean-shaven face was free from +perturbation, and the man was puzzled.</p> + +<p>"Reynolds," Merrivale said, "I shall go out of town this afternoon. Have +the motor ready at four!"</p> + +<p>"Very good, my lord." Reynolds glanced at the table and noted with some +satisfaction that his master had only eaten one egg.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have finished," Merrivale said, taking up the paper. "If Mr. +Culver calls, ask him to be good enough to wait for me. And—that's all," +he ended abruptly as he reached the door.</p> + +<p>"As cool as a cucumber!" murmured Reynolds, as he began to clear the +table. "I shouldn't wonder but what he stuck the notice in hisself."</p> + +<p>Merrivale, still with the morning paper in his hand, strolled easily down +to his club and collected a few letters. He then sauntered into the +smoking-room, where a knot of men, busily conversing in undertones, gave +him awkward greeting.</p> + +<p>Merrivale lighted a cigar and sat down deliberately to study his paper.</p> + +<p>Nearly an hour later he rose, nodded to several members, who glanced up +at him expectantly, and serenely took his departure.</p> + +<p>A general buzz of discussion followed.</p> + +<p>"He doesn't look exactly heart-broken," one man observed.</p> + +<p>"Hearts grow tough in the West," remarked another. "He has probably done +the breaking-off himself. Jack Merrivale, late of California, isn't the +sort of chap to stand much trifling."</p> + +<p>A young man with quizzical eyes broke in with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"Ask Mr. Cosmo Fletcher! He is really well up on that subject."</p> + +<p>"Also Mr. Richard Culver, apparently," returned the first speaker.</p> + +<p>Culver grinned and bowed.</p> + +<p>"Certainly, sir," he said. "But—luckily for himself—he has never +qualified for a leathering from Jack Merrivale, late of California. I +don't believe myself that he did do the breaking-off. As they haven't met +more than a dozen times, it can't have gone very deep with him. And, +anyhow, I am certain the girl never cared twopence for anything except +his title, the imp. She's my cousin, you know, so I can call her what I +like—always have."</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't abuse the privilege in Merrivale's presence if I were you," +remarked the man who had expressed the opinion that Merrivale was not one +to stand much trifling.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"Well, but wasn't it unreasonable?" said Hilary St. Orme, with hands +clasped daintily behind her dark head. "Who could stand such tyranny as +that? And surely it's much better to find out before than after. I hate +masterful men, Sybil. I am quite sure I could never have been happy with +him."</p> + +<p>The girl's young step-mother looked across at the pretty, mutinous face +and sighed.</p> + +<p>"It wasn't a nice way of telling him so, I'm afraid, dear," she said. +"Your father is very vexed."</p> + +<p>"But it was beautifully conclusive, wasn't it?" laughed Hilary. "As to +the poor old pater, he won't keep it up for ever, bless his simple heart, +that did want its daughter to be a viscountess. So while the fit lasts +I propose to judiciously absent my erring self. It's a nuisance to have +to miss all the fun this season; but with the pater in the sulks it +wouldn't be worth it. So I'm off to-morrow to join Bertie and the +house-boat at Riverton. As Dick has taken a bungalow close by, we shall +be quite a happy family party. They will be happy; I shall be happy; and +you—positively, darling, you won't have a care left in the world. If it +weren't for your matrimonial bonds, I should quite envy you."</p> + +<p>"I don't think you ought to go down to Riverton without someone +responsible to look after you," objected Mrs. St. Orme dubiously.</p> + +<p>"My dear little mother, what a notion!" cried her step-daughter with a +merry laugh. "Who ever dreamt of the proprieties on the river? Why, I +spent a whole fortnight on the house-boat with only Bertie and the Badger +that time the poor old pater and I fell out over—what was it? Well, it +doesn't matter. Anyhow, I did. And no one a bit the worse. Bertie is +equal to a dozen <i>duennas</i>, as everyone knows."</p> + +<p>"Don't you really care, I wonder?" said Mrs. St. Orme, with wondering +eyes on the animated face.</p> + +<p>"Why should I, dear?" laughed the girl, dropping upon a hassock at her +side. "I am my own mistress. I have a little money, and—considering +I am only twenty-four—quite a lot of wisdom. As to being Viscountess +Merrivale, I will say it fascinated me a little—just at first, you know. +And the poor old pater was so respectful I couldn't help enjoying myself. +But the gilt soon wore off the gingerbread, and I really couldn't enjoy +what was left. I said to myself, 'My dear, that man has the makings of a +hectoring bully. You must cut yourself loose at once if you don't want to +develop into that most miserable of all creatures, a down-trodden wife.' +So after our little tiff of the day before yesterday I sent the notice +off forthwith. And—you observe—it has taken effect. The tyrant hasn't +been near."</p> + +<p>"You really mean to say the engagement wasn't actually broken off before +you sent it?" said Mrs. St. Orme, looking shocked.</p> + +<p>"It didn't occur to either of us," said Hilary, looking down with a +smile at the corners of her mouth. "He chose to take exception to my +being seen riding in the park with Mr. Fletcher. And I took exception to +his interference. Not that I like Mr. Fletcher, for I don't. But I had to +assert my right to choose my own friends. He disputed it. And then we +parted. No one is going to interfere with my freedom."</p> + +<p>"You were never truly in love with him, then?" said Mrs. St. Orme, regret +and relief struggling in her voice.</p> + +<p>Hilary looked up with clear eyes.</p> + +<p>"Oh, never, darling!" she said tranquilly. "Nor he with me. I don't know +what it means; do you? You can't—surely—be in love with the poor old +pater?"</p> + +<p>She laughed at the idea and idly took up a paper lying at hand. Half a +minute later she uttered a sharp cry and looked up with flaming cheeks.</p> + +<p>"How—how—dare he?" she cried, almost incoherent with angry +astonishment. "Sybil! For Heaven's sake! See!"</p> + +<p>She thrust the paper upon her step-mother's knee and pointed with a +finger that shook uncontrollably at a brief announcement in the society +column.</p> + +<p>"We are requested to state that the announcement in yesterday's issue +that the marriage arranged between Viscount Merrivale and Miss Hilary St. +Orme would not take place was erroneous. The marriage will take place, as +previously announced, towards the end of the season."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"What sublime assurance!" exclaimed Bertie St. Orme, lying on his back in +the luxurious punt which his sister was leisurely impelling up stream, +and laughing up at her flushed face. "This viscount of yours seems to +have plenty of decision of character, whatever else he may be lacking +in."</p> + +<p>Bertie St. Orme was a cripple, and spent every summer regularly upon the +river with his old manservant, nicknamed "the Badger."</p> + +<p>"Oh, he is quite impossible!" Hilary declared. "Let's talk of something +else!"</p> + +<p>"But he means to keep you to your word, eh?" her brother persisted. "How +will you get out of it?"</p> + +<p>Hilary's face flushed more deeply, and she bit her lip.</p> + +<p>"There won't be any getting out of it. Don't be silly! I am free."</p> + +<p>"The end of the season!" teased Bertie. "That allows you—let's +see—four, five, six more weeks of freedom."</p> + +<p>"Be quiet, if you don't want a drenching!" warned Hilary. "Besides," she +added, with inconsequent optimism, "anything may happen before then. Why, +I may even be married to a man I really like."</p> + +<p>"Great Scotland, so you may!" chuckled her brother. "There's the wild man +that Dick has brought down here to tame before launching at society. He's +a great beast like a brown bear. He wouldn't be my taste, but that's a +detail."</p> + +<p>"I hate fashionable men!" declared Hilary, with scarlet face. "I'd rather +marry a red Indian than one of these inane men about town."</p> + +<p>"Ho! ho!" laughed Bertie. "Then Dick's wild man will be quite to your +taste. As soon as he leaves off worrying mutton-bones with his fingers +and teeth, we'll ask Dick to bring him to dine."</p> + +<p>"You're perfectly disgusting!" said Hilary, digging her punt-pole into +the bed of the river with a vicious plunge. "If you don't mean to behave +yourself, I won't stay with you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, you will," returned Bertie with brotherly assurance. "You +wouldn't miss Dick's aborigine for anything—and I don't blame you, for +he's worth seeing. Dick assures me that he is quite harmless, or I don't +know that I should care to venture my scalp at such close quarters."</p> + +<p>"You're positively ridiculous to-day," Hilary declared.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>A perfect summer morning, a rippling blue river that shone like glass +where the willows dipped and trailed, and a girl who sang a murmurous +little song to herself as she slid down the bank into the laughing +stream.</p> + +<p>Ah, it was heavenly! The sun-flecks on the water danced and swam all +about her. The trees whispered to one another above her floating form. +The roses on the garden balustrade of Dick Culver's bungalow nodded as +though welcoming a friend. She turned over and struck out vigorously, +swimming up-stream. It was June, and the whole world was awake and +singing.</p> + +<p>"It's better than the entire London season put together," she murmured to +herself, as she presently came drifting back.</p> + +<p>A whiff of tobacco-smoke interrupted her soliloquy. She shook back her +wet hair and stood up waist-deep in the clear, green water.</p> + +<p>"What ho, Dick!" she called gaily. "I can't see you, but I know you're +there. Come down and have a swim, you lazy boy!"</p> + +<p>There followed a pause. Then a diffident voice with an unmistakably +foreign accent made reply.</p> + +<p>"Were you speaking to me?"</p> + +<p>Glancing up in the direction of the voice, Hilary discovered a stranger +seated against the trunk of a willow on the high bank above her. She +started and coloured. She had forgotten Dick's wild man. She described +him later as the brownest man she had ever seen. His face was brown, the +lower part of it covered with a thick growth of brown beard. His eyes +were brown, surmounted by very bushy eyebrows. His hair was brown. His +hands were brown. His clothes were brown, and he was smoking what looked +like a brown clay pipe.</p> + +<p>Hilary regained her self-possession almost at once. The diffidence of the +voice gave her assurance.</p> + +<p>"I thought my cousin was there," she explained. "You are Dick's friend, +I think?"</p> + +<p>The man on the bank smiled an affirmative, and Hilary remarked to herself +that he had splendid teeth.</p> + +<p>"I am Dick's friend," he said, speaking slowly, as if learning the lesson +from her. There was a slight subdued twang in his utterance which +attracted Hilary immensely.</p> + +<p>She nodded encouragingly to him.</p> + +<p>"I am Dick's cousin," she said. "He will tell you all about me if you ask +him."</p> + +<p>"I will certainly ask," the stranger said in his soft, foreign drawl.</p> + +<p>"Don't forget!" called Hilary, as she splashed back into deep water. "And +tell him to bring you to dine on our house-boat at eight to-night! Bertie +and I will be delighted to see you. We were meaning to send a formal +invitation. But no one stands on ceremony on the river—or in it either," +she laughed to herself as she swam away with swift, even strokes.</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't have asked him in that way," she explained to her brother +afterwards, "if he hadn't been rather shy. One must be nice to +foreigners, and dear Dickie's society undiluted would bore me to +extinction."</p> + +<p>"I don't think we had better give him a knife at dinner," remarked +Bertie. "I shouldn't like you to be scalped, darling. It would ruin your +prospects. I suppose my only course would be to insist upon his marrying +you forthwith."</p> + +<p>"Bertie, you're a beast!" said his sister tersely.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"We have taken you at your word, you see," sang out Dick Culver from his +punt. "I hope you haven't thought better of it by any chance, for my +friend has been able to think of nothing else all day."</p> + +<p>A slim white figure danced eagerly out of the tiny dining-saloon of the +house-boat.</p> + +<p>"Come on board!" she cried hospitably. "The Badger will see to your punt. +I am glad you're not late."</p> + +<p>She held out her hand to the new-comer with a pretty lack of ceremony. He +looked more than ever like a backwoodsman, but it was quite evident that +he was pleased with his surroundings. He shook hands with her almost +reverently, and smiled in a quiet, well-satisfied way. But, having +nothing to say, he did not vex himself to put it into words—a trait +which strongly appealed to Hilary.</p> + +<p>"His name," said Dick Culver, laughing at his cousin over the big man's +shoulder, "is Jacques. He has another, but, as nobody ever uses it, it +isn't to the point, and I never was good at pronunciation. He is a French +Canadian, with a dash of Yankee thrown in. He is of a peaceable +disposition except when roused, when all his friends find it advisable +to give him a wide berth. He—"</p> + +<p>"That'll do, my dear fellow," softly interposed the stranger, with a +gentle lift of the elbow in Culver's direction. "Leave Miss St. Orme to +find out the rest for herself! I hope she is not easily alarmed."</p> + +<p>"Not at all, I assure you," said Hilary. "Never mind Dick! No one does. +Come inside!"</p> + +<p>She led the way with light feet. Her exile from London during the season +promised to be less deadly than she had anticipated. Unmistakably she +liked Dick's wild man.</p> + +<p>They found Bertie in the little roselit saloon, and as he welcomed the +stranger Culver drew Hilary aside. There was much mystery on his comical +face.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you a secret," he murmured; "this fellow is a great chief in +his own country, but he doesn't want anyone to know it. He's coming here +to learn a little of our ways, and he's particularly interested in +English women, so be nice to him."</p> + +<p>"I thought you said he was a French Canadian," said Hilary.</p> + +<p>"That's what he wants to appear," said Culver. "And, anyhow, he had a +Yankee mother. I know that for a fact. He's quite civilised, you know. +You needn't be afraid of him."</p> + +<p>"Afraid!" exclaimed Hilary.</p> + +<p>Turning, she found the new-comer looking at her with brown eyes that were +soft under the bushy brows.</p> + +<p>"He can't be a red man," she said to herself. "He hasn't got the +cheek-bones."</p> + +<p>Leaving Dick to amuse himself, she smiled upon her other guest with +winning graciousness and forthwith began the dainty task of initiating +him into the ways of English women.</p> + +<p>She was relieved to find that, notwithstanding his hairy appearance, he +was, as Dick had assured her, quite civilised. As the meal proceeded she +suddenly conceived an interest in Canada and the States, which had never +before possessed her. She questioned him with growing eagerness, and he +replied with a smile and always that half-reverent, half-shy courtliness +that had first attracted her. Undoubtedly he was a pleasant companion. He +clothed the information for which she asked in careful and picturesque +language. He was ready at any moment to render any service, however +slight, but his attentions were so unobtrusive that Hilary could not +but accept them with pleasure. She maintained her pretty graciousness +throughout dinner, anxious to set him at his ease.</p> + +<p>"Englishmen are not half so nice," she said to herself, as she rose from +the table. And she thought of the stubborn Viscount Merrivale as she +said it.</p> + +<p>There was a friendly regret at her departure written in the man's eyes as +he opened the door for her, and with a sudden girlish impulse she paused.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you come and smoke your cigar in the punt?" she said.</p> + +<p>He glanced irresolutely over his shoulder at the other two men who were +discussing some political problem with much absorption.</p> + +<p>With a curious desire to have her way with him, the girl waited with a +little laugh.</p> + +<p>"Come!" she said softly. "You can't be interested in British politics."</p> + +<p>He looked at her with his friendly, silent smile, and followed her out.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"Isn't it heavenly?" breathed Hilary, as she lay back on the velvet +cushions and watched the man's strong figure bend to the punt-pole.</p> + +<p>"I think it is Heaven, Miss St. Orme," he answered in a hushed voice.</p> + +<p>The sun had scarcely set in a cloudless shimmer of rose, and, sailing up +from the east, a full moon cast a rippling, silvery pathway upon the +mysterious water.</p> + +<p>The girl drew a long sigh of satisfaction, then laughed a little.</p> + +<p>"What a shame to make you work after dinner!" she said.</p> + +<p>She saw his smile in the moonlight.</p> + +<p>"Do you call this work?" She seemed to hear a faint ring of amusement in +the slowly-uttered question.</p> + +<p>"You are very strong," she said almost involuntarily.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he agreed quietly, and there suddenly ran a curious thrill through +her—a feeling that she and he had once been kindred spirits together in +another world.</p> + +<p>She felt as if their intimacy had advanced by strides when she spoke +again, and the sensation was one of a strange, quivering delight which +the perfection of the June night seemed to wholly justify. Anyhow, it was +not a moment for probing her inner self with searching questions. She +turned a little and suffered her fingers to trail through the moonlit +water.</p> + +<p>"I wonder if you would tell me something?" she said almost diffidently.</p> + +<p>"If it lies in my power," he answered courteously.</p> + +<p>"You may think it rude," she suggested, with a most unusual attack of +timidity. It had been her habit all her life to command rather than to +request. But somehow the very courtesy with which this man treated her +made her uncertain of herself.</p> + +<p>"I shall not think anything so—impossible," he assured her gently, and +again she saw his smile.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said, looking up at him intently, "will you—please—let me +into your secret? I promise I won't tell. But do tell me who you are!"</p> + +<p>There followed a silence, during which the man leaned a little on his +pole, gazing downwards while he kept the punt motionless. The water +babbled round them with a tinkling murmur that was like the laughter of +fairy voices. They had passed beyond the region of house-boats and +bungalows, and the night was very still.</p> + +<p>At last the man spoke, and the girl gave a queer little motion of relief.</p> + +<p>"I should like to tell you everything there is to know about me," he said +in his careful, foreign English. "But—will you forgive me?—I do not +feel myself able to do so—yet. Some day I will answer your question +gladly—I hope some day soon—if you are kind enough to continue to +extend to me your interest and your friendship."</p> + +<p>He looked down into Hilary's uplifted face with a queer wistfulness that +struck unexpectedly straight to her heart. She felt suddenly that this +man's past contained something of loss and disappointment of which he +could not lightly speak to a mere casual acquaintance.</p> + +<p>With the quickness of impulse characteristic of her, she smiled +sympathetic comprehension.</p> + +<p>"And you won't even tell me your name?" she said.</p> + +<p>He bent again to the pole, and she saw his teeth shine in the moonlight. +"I think my friend told you one of my names," he said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's much too commonplace," she protested. "Quite half the men +I know are called Jack."</p> + +<p>And then for the first time she heard him laugh—a low, exultant laugh +that sent the blood in a sudden rush to her cheeks.</p> + +<p>"Shall we go back now?" she suggested, turning her face away.</p> + +<p>He obeyed her instantly, and the punt began to glide back through the +ripples.</p> + +<p>No further word passed between them till, as they neared the house-boat, +the high, keen notes of a flute floated out upon the tender silence.</p> + +<p>Hilary glanced up sharply, the moonlight on her face, and saw a group of +men in a punt moored under the shadowy bank. One of them raised his +hand and sent a ringing salutation across the water.</p> + +<p>Hilary nodded and turned aside. There was annoyance on her face—the +annoyance of one suddenly awakened from a dream of complete enjoyment.</p> + +<p>Her companion asked no question. He was bending vigorously to his work. +But she seemed to consider some explanation to be due to him.</p> + +<p>"That," she said, "is a man I know slightly. His name is Cosmo Fletcher."</p> + +<p>"A friend?" asked the big man.</p> + +<p>Hilary coloured a little.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said half-reluctantly, "I suppose one would call him that."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"I believe you're in love with Culver's half-breed American," said Cosmo +Fletcher brutally, nearly three weeks later. He had just been rejected +finally and emphatically by the girl who faced him in the stern of his +skiff.</p> + +<p>She was very pale, but her eyes were full of resolution as they met his.</p> + +<p>"That," she said, "is no business of yours. Please take me back!"</p> + +<p>He looked as if he would have liked to refuse, but her steadfast eyes +compelled him. Sullenly he turned the boat.</p> + +<p>Dead silence reigned between them till, as they rounded a bend in the +river and came within sight of the house-boat, Fletcher, glancing over +his shoulder, caught sight of a big figure seated on the deck.</p> + +<p>Then he turned to the girl with a sneer:</p> + +<p>"It might interest Jack Merrivale to hear of this pretty little romance +of yours," he said.</p> + +<p>The colour flamed in her cheeks.</p> + +<p>"Tell him then!" she said defiantly.</p> + +<p>"I think I must," said Fletcher. "He and I are such old friends."</p> + +<p>He waited for her to tell him that it was on his account that they had +quarrelled, but she would not so far gratify him, maintaining a stubborn +silence till they drew alongside. Jacques rose to hand her on board.</p> + +<p>"I hope you have enjoyed your row," he said courteously.</p> + +<p>"Thanks!" she returned briefly, avoiding his eyes. "I think it is too hot +to enjoy anything to-day."</p> + +<p>The tea-kettle was singing merrily on the dainty brass spirit-lamp, and +she sat down at the table forthwith.</p> + +<p>Jacques stood beside her, silent and friendly as a tame mastiff. Perhaps +his presence after what had just passed between herself and Fletcher made +her nervous, or perhaps her thoughts were elsewhere and she forgot to be +cautious. Whatever the cause, she took up the kettle carelessly and +knocked it against the spirit-lamp with some force.</p> + +<p>Jacques swooped forward and steadied it before it could overturn; but the +dodging flame caught the girl's muslin sleeve and set it ablaze in an +instant. She uttered a cry and started up with a wild idea of flinging +herself into the river, but Jacques was too quick for her. He turned and +seized the burning fabric in his great hands, ripping it away from her +arm and crushing out the flames with unflinching strength.</p> + +<p>"Don't be frightened!" he said. "It's all right. I've got it out."</p> + +<p>"And what of you?" she gasped, eyes of horror on his blackened hands.</p> + +<p>He smiled at her reassuringly.</p> + +<p>"Well done, man!" cried Dick Culver. "It was like you to save her life +while we were thinking about it. Are you hurt, Hilary?"</p> + +<p>"No," she said, with trembling lips. "But—but—"</p> + +<p>She broke off on the verge of tears, and Dick considerately transferred +his attention to his friend.</p> + +<p>"Let's see the damage, old fellow!"</p> + +<p>"It is nothing," said Jacques, still faintly smiling. "Yes, you may see +it if you like, if only to prove that I speak the truth."</p> + +<p>He thrust out one hand and displayed a scorched and blistered palm.</p> + +<p>"Call that nothing!" began Dick.</p> + +<p>Fletcher suddenly pushed forward with an oath that startled them all.</p> + +<p>"I should know that hand anywhere!" he exclaimed. "You infernal, lying +impostor!"</p> + +<p>There was an elaborate tattoo of the American flag on the extended wrist, +to which he pointed with a furious laugh.</p> + +<p>"Deny it if you can!" he said.</p> + +<p>Jacques looked at him gravely, without the smallest sign of agitation.</p> + +<p>"You certainly have good reason to know that hand rather well," he said +after a moment, speaking with extreme deliberation, "considering that it +has had the privilege of giving you the finest thrashing of your life."</p> + +<p>Fletcher turned purple. He looked as if he were going to strike the +speaker on the mouth. But before he could raise his hand Hilary suddenly +forced herself between them.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Fletcher," she said, her voice quivering with anger, "go instantly! +There is your boat. And never come near us again!"</p> + +<p>Fletcher fell back a step, but he was too furious to obey such a command.</p> + +<p>"Do you think I am going to leave that confounded humbug to have it all +his own way?" he snarled. "I tell you—"</p> + +<p>But here Culver intervened.</p> + +<p>"You shut up!" he ordered sternly. "We've had too much of you already. +You had better go."</p> + +<p>He took Fletcher imperatively by the arm, but Jacques intervened.</p> + +<p>"Pray let the gentleman speak, Dick!" he said. "It will ease his feelings +perhaps."</p> + +<p>"No!" broke in Hilary breathlessly. "No, no! I won't listen! I tell you +I won't!" facing the big man almost fiercely. "Tell me yourself if you +like!"</p> + +<p>He looked at her closely, still with that odd half-smile upon his face.</p> + +<p>Then, before them all, he took her hand, and, bending, held it to his +lips.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Hilary!" he said very softly.</p> + +<p>In the privacy of her own cabin Hilary removed her tatters and cooled her +tingling cheeks. She and her brother were engaged to dine at Dick's +bungalow that night, but an overwhelming shyness possessed her, and at +the last moment she persuaded Bertie to go alone. It was plain that +for some reason Bertie was hugely amused, and she thought it rather +heartless of him.</p> + +<p>She dined alone on the house-boat with her face to the river. Her fright +had made her somewhat nervous, and she was inclined to start at every +sound. When the meal was over she went up to her favourite retreat on the +upper deck. A golden twilight still lingered in the air, and the river +was mysteriously calm. But the girl's heart was full of a heavy +restlessness. Each time she heard a punt-pole striking on the bed of the +river she raised her head to look.</p> + +<p>He came at last—the man for whom her heart waited. He was punting +rapidly down-stream, and she could not see his face. Yet she knew him, +by the swing of his arms, the goodly strength of his muscles,—and by the +suffocating beating of her heart. She saw that one hand was bandaged, and +a passionate feeling that was almost rapture thrilled through and through +her at the sight. Then he shot beyond her vision, and she heard the punt +bump against the house-boat.</p> + +<p>"It's a gentleman to see you, miss," said the Badger, thrusting a grey +and grinning visage up the stairs.</p> + +<p>"Ask him to come up!" said Hilary, steadying her voice with an effort.</p> + +<p>A moment later she rose to receive the man she loved. And her heart +suddenly ceased to beat.</p> + +<p>"You!" she gasped, in a choked whisper.</p> + +<p>He came straight forward. The last light of the day shone on his smooth +brown face, with its steady eyes and strong mouth.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said, and still through his quiet tones she seemed to hear a +faint echo of the subdued twang which dwellers in the Far West sometimes +acquire. "I, John Merrivale, late of California, beg to render to you, +Hilary St. Orme, in addition to my respectful homage, that freedom for +which you have not deigned to ask."</p> + +<p>She stared at him dumbly, one hand pressed against her breast. The ripple +of the river ran softly through the silence. Slowly at last Merrivale +turned to go.</p> + +<p>And then sharply, uncertainly, she spoke.</p> + +<p>"Wait, please!" she said.</p> + +<p>She moved close to him and laid her hand on the flower-bedecked +balustrade, trembling very much.</p> + +<p>"Why have you done this?" Her quivering voice sounded like a prayer.</p> + +<p>He hesitated, then answered her quietly through the gloom.</p> + +<p>"I did it because I loved you."</p> + +<p>"And what did you hope to gain by it?" breathed Hilary.</p> + +<p>He did not answer, and she drew a little nearer as though his silence +reassured her.</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't it have saved a lot of trouble," she said, her voice very low +but no longer uncertain, "if you had given me my freedom in the first +place? Don't you think you ought to have done that?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," Merrivale said. "That fellow spoilt my game. So I offer +it to you now—with apologies."</p> + +<p>"I should have appreciated it—in the first place," said Hilary, and +suddenly there was a ripple of laughter in her voice like an echo of the +water below them. "But now I—I—have no use for it. It's too late. Do +you know, Jack, I'm not sure he did spoil your game after all!"</p> + +<p>He turned towards her swiftly, and she thrust out her hands to him with a +quick sob that became a laugh as she felt his arms about her.</p> + +<p>"You hairless monster!" she said. "What woman ever wanted freedom when +she could have—Love?"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Two days later Viscount Merrivale's friends at the club read with +interest and some amusement the announcement that his marriage to Miss +Hilary St. Orme had been fixed to take place on the last day of the +month.</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1><a name="Deaths_Property" id="Deaths_Property"></a><span class="smcap">Death's Property</span></h1> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<h3>Contents</h3> + +<p> + +<a href="#CHAPTER_IA">CHAPTER I</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IIA">CHAPTER II</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IIIA">CHAPTER III</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IVA">CHAPTER IV</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VA">CHAPTER V</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIA">CHAPTER VI</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIIA">CHAPTER VII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIIIA">CHAPTER VIII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IXA">CHAPTER IX</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XA">CHAPTER X</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIA">CHAPTER XI</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIIA">CHAPTER XII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIIIA">CHAPTER XIII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIVA">CHAPTER XIV</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVA">CHAPTER XV</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIA">CHAPTER XVI</a><br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IA" id="CHAPTER_IA"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + + +<p>A high laugh rang with a note of childlike merriment from the far end of +the coffee-room as Bernard Merefleet, who was generally considered a bear +on account of his retiring disposition, entered and took his seat near +the door. It was a decidedly infectious laugh and perhaps for this reason +it was the first detail to catch his attention and to excite his +disapproval.</p> + +<p>He frowned as he glanced at the menu in front of him.</p> + +<p>He had arrived in England after an absence of twenty years in America, +where he had made a huge fortune. He was hungering for the quiet +unhurried speech of his fellow-countrymen, for the sights and sounds and +general atmosphere of English life which for so long had been denied to +him. And the first thing he heard on entering the coffee-room of this +English hotel was the laugh of an American woman.</p> + +<p>He had thought that in this remote corner of England—this little, +old-world fishing town, with its total lack of entertainment, its +unfashionable beach, and its wild North Sea breakers—no unit of the +great Western race would have set foot. He had believed its entire +absence of attraction to be a sure safeguard, and he was unfeignedly +disgusted to discover that this was not the case.</p> + +<p>As he ate his dinner the high laugh broke in on his meditations again +and again, and his annoyance grew to a sense of savage irritation. He +had come over to England for a rest after a severe illness, and with +an intense craving, after his twenty years of stress and toil, to +stand aside and watch the world—the English, conservative world he +loved—dawdle by.</p> + +<p>He wanted to bury himself in an unknown fishing-town and associate with +the simple, unflurried fisher-folk alone. It was a dream of his—a dream +which he had imagined near its fulfilment when he had arrived in the +peaceful little world of Old Silverstrand.</p> + +<p>There was a large and fashionable watering-place five miles away. This +was New Silverstrand, a town of red brick, self-centred and prosperous. +But he had not thought that its visitors would have overflowed into the +old fishing-town. He himself saw no attraction there save the peace of +the shore and the turmoil of the sea. He had known and loved the old town +in his youth, long before the new one had been built or even thought +of. For New Silverstrand was a growth of barely ten years.</p> + +<p>In all his wanderings his heart had always turned with a warm thrill of +memory to the little old fishing-town where much of his restless boyhood +had been spent. He had returned to it as to a familiar friend and found +it but slightly changed. A new hotel had been erected where the old +Crayfish Inn had once stood. And this, so far as he had been able to +judge in his first walk through the place on the evening of his arrival, +was the sole alteration.</p> + +<p>He had heard that the shore had crumbled beyond the town, but he had left +that to be investigated on the morrow. The fishing-harbour was the same; +the brown-sailed fishing-boats rocked with the well-remembered swing +inside; the water poured roaring in with the same baffled fury; and +children played as of old on the extreme and dangerous edge of the stone +quay.</p> + +<p>The memory of that selfsame quay roused deeper recollections in +Merefleet's mind as he sat and dined alone at the little table near the +door.</p> + +<p>There came to him the thought, with a sudden, stabbing regret, of a +little dark-eyed sister who had hung with him over that perilous edge and +laughed at the impotent breakers below. He could hear the silvery echoes +of her laughter across half a lifetime, could feel the warm hand that +clasped his own. A magic touch swept aside the years and revealed the +old, glad days of his boyhood.</p> + +<p>Merefleet pushed away his plate and sat with fixed eyes, fascinated by +the rosy vision. They were side by side in a fishing-smack, he and the +playmate of his childhood. There was an old fisherman in charge with +grizzled hair, whose name, he recollected without effort, was Quiller. +He was showing the little maid how to tie a knot that was warranted never +to come undone.</p> + +<p>Merefleet watched the ardent, flushed face with a deep reverence. He had +not seen it so vividly since the day he had kissed it for the last time +and gone forth into the seething sea of life to fight the whirlpools. +Well, he had emerged triumphant so far as earthly success went. He had +breasted the tide and risen above the billows. He was wealthy, and he was +celebrated. No mortal power rose up in his path to baulk him of his +desire. Only desire itself had failed him, and ambition had become +mockery.</p> + +<p>For twenty years he had not had time to stop and think. For twenty years +he had wrestled ceaselessly with the panting crowd. He had bartered away +the best years of his life to the gold god, and he was satiated with the +success of this transaction.</p> + +<p>In all that time he had not mourned, as he mourned to-night, the loss of +the twin-sister who had been as his second and better self. He had not +realised till he sat alone in the place, where as a boy he had never +known solitude, how utterly flat and undesirable was the future that +stretched out like a trackless desert at his feet.</p> + +<p>And in that moment he would have cast away the whole bulk of his great +possessions for one precious day of youth out of the many that had fled +away for ever.</p> + +<p>A woman's laugh, high, inconsequent, rang through the great coffee-room, +and all but one looked towards the corner whence it proceeded. An +American voice began at once to explain the joke with considerable +volubility.</p> + +<p>Bernard Merefleet rose from his chair with a frowning countenance and +made his way down to the old stone quay below the hotel.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IIA" id="CHAPTER_IIA"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + + +<p>The air was keen and salt. He paused on the well-worn stone wall and +turned his face to the spray. A hundred memories were at work in his +brain, and the relief of solitude was unspeakable. It was horribly +lonely, but he hugged his loneliness. That laughing voice in the hotel +coffee-room had driven him forth to seek it. No mental or physical +discomfort would have induced him to return.</p> + +<p>He propped himself against a piece of stonework and gazed moodily out to +sea. He did not want to leave this haven of his childhood. Yet the +thought of remaining in close proximity to a party of tourists was +detestable to him. Why in the world couldn't they stop away, he wondered +savagely? And then his own inconsistency occurred to him, and he smiled +grimly. For the place undoubtedly had its charm.</p> + +<p>A fisherman in a blue jersey lounged on to the quay at this point of +his meditations, and, old habit asserting itself, Merefleet greeted +him with a remark on the weather. The man halted in front of him in a +conversational attitude. Merefleet knew the position well. It came back +to him on a flood of memory. He could not believe that it was twenty +years since he had talked with such an one.</p> + +<p>"Wind in the nor'-east, sir," said the man.</p> + +<p>"Yes. It's cold for the time of year," said Merefleet.</p> + +<p>The man assented.</p> + +<p>"Fish plentiful?" asked Merefleet.</p> + +<p>"Nothing to boast of," was the guarded reply.</p> + +<p>Merefleet had expected it. Right well he knew these fisher-folk.</p> + +<p>"You get a few visitors now, I see," Merefleet observed.</p> + +<p>The fisherman nodded. "Don't know what they come for," he observed. +"Bathing ain't good, and them pleasure-boats—well"—he lifted his +shoulders expressively—"half-a-capful of wind would upset 'em. There's a +lady staying at this here hotel—an American lady she be—what goes out +every day regular, she and a young gentleman with her. They won't have me +nor yet any of my mates to go along, and yet—bless you—they could no +more manage that boat if a squall was to come up nor they could fly. I +told her once as it wasn't safe. And she laughed in my face, sir. She +did, really."</p> + +<p>Merefleet smiled a little.</p> + +<p>"Well, if she likes to run the risk it's not your fault," he said.</p> + +<p>"No, sir. It ain't. But that don't make me any easier. She's a pretty +young lady, too," the man added. "Maybe you've seen her, sir."</p> + +<p>Merefleet shook his head. He had heard her, and he had no desire to +improve his acquaintance with her.</p> + +<p>"As pretty a young lady as you would wish to see," continued the +fisherman reflectively. "Wonderful, she is. 'Tain't often we get such a +picture in this here part of the country. Ever been to America, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Just come home," said Merefleet.</p> + +<p>"Are all the ladies over there as pretty as this one, I wonder?" said his +new acquaintance in an awed tone.</p> + +<p>"She seems to have made a considerable impression," said Merefleet, with +a laugh. "What is the lady like?"</p> + +<p>But the man's descriptive powers were not equal to his admiration. "I +couldn't tell you what she's like, sir," he said. "But she's that sort +of young lady as makes you feel you oughtn't to talk to her with your hat +on. Ever met that sort of lady, sir?"</p> + +<p>Merefleet uttered a short laugh. The man's simplicity amused him.</p> + +<p>"I can't say I have," he said carelessly. "Good-looking women are not +always the best sort, in my opinion."</p> + +<p>"That's very true, sir," assented his companion thoughtfully. "There's my +wife, for instance. She's as good a woman as you'd find anywhere, but her +best friend couldn't call her handsome, nor even plain."</p> + +<p>And Merefleet laughed again. The man's talk had diverted his thoughts. +The intolerable sense of desolation had been lifted from his spirit. He +began to feel he had been somewhat unnecessarily irritated by a very +small matter.</p> + +<p>He lighted a cigar and presented one to his new friend. "I shall get you +to row me out for a couple of hours to-morrow," he said. "By the way, did +you ever know a man called Quiller who had some fishing craft in these +parts twenty years ago?"</p> + +<p>The man beamed at the question. "That's my father, sir. He lives along +with my wife and the kids. Will you come and see him, sir? Oh, yes, +he's well and hearty. But he's getting on in years, is dad. He don't go +out with the luggers now. You'll come and see him, eh, sir?"</p> + +<p>"To-morrow," said Merefleet, turning. "He will remember me, perhaps. +No, I won't give you my name. The old chap shall find out for himself. +Good-night."</p> + +<p>And he began to saunter back towards his hotel.</p> + +<p>The searchlight of a man-of-war anchored outside the harbour was flashing +over the shore as he went. He watched the long shaft of light with +half-involuntary attention. He noted in an idle way various details along +the cliffs that were revealed by the white glow. It touched the hotel at +last and rested there for the fraction of a minute.</p> + +<p>And then a strange thing happened.</p> + +<p>Looking upwards as he was, with fascinated eyes, following the slanting +line of light, Merefleet saw a sight which was destined to live in his +memory for all the rest of his life, strive as he might to rid himself of +it.</p> + +<p>As in a dream-picture he saw the figure of a girl standing on the steps +of the terrace in front of the hotel. The searchlight discovered her and +lingered upon her. She stood in the brilliant line of light, a splendid +vision of almost unearthly beauty. Her neck and arms were bare, curved +with the exquisite grace of a Grecian statue. Her face was turned towards +the light—a marvellous face, touched with a faint, triumphant smile. She +was dressed in a robe of pure white that fell around her in long, soft +folds.</p> + +<p>Merefleet gazed upon the wonder before him and asked himself one +breathless question: "Is that—a woman?"</p> + +<p>And the answer seemed to spring from the very depth of his being: "No! +A goddess!"</p> + +<p>It was the most gloriously perfect picture of beauty he had ever looked +upon.</p> + +<p>The searchlight flashed on and the hotel garden was left in darkness.</p> + +<p>A chill sense of loss swept down upon Merefleet, but the impression did +not last. He threw away his cigar with an impetuosity oddly out of +keeping with his somewhat rugged and unimpressionable nature. A hot +desire to see that face again at close quarters possessed him—the face +of the loveliest woman he had ever beheld.</p> + +<p>He reached the hotel and sat down in the vestibule. Evidently this +marvellous woman was staying in the place. He watched the doorway with +a strange feeling of excitement. He had not been so moved for years.</p> + +<p>At length there came a quick, light tread. The next moment he was +gazing again upon the vision that had charmed him out of all commonsense. +She stood, framed in the night, white and pure and gloriously, most +surpassingly, beautiful. Merefleet felt his heart throb heavily. He sat +in dead silence, looking at her with fascinated eyes. Had he called her a +Greek goddess? He had better have said angel. For this was no earth-born +loveliness.</p> + +<p>She stood for several seconds looking towards him with shining, radiant +eyes. Then she moved forward. Merefleet's eyes were fixed upon her. He +could not have looked away just then. He was absurdly uncertain of +himself.</p> + +<p>She paused near him with the light pouring full upon her. Her eyes met +his with a momentary questioning. Then ruthlessly she broke the spell.</p> + +<p>"Say, now!" she said in brisk, high tones. "Isn't that searchlight thing +a real cute invention?"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IIIA" id="CHAPTER_IIIA"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + + +<p>Merefleet shivered at the words. He did not answer her. The shock had +been too great. He sat stiff and silent, waiting for more.</p> + +<p>The American girl looked at him with a pitying little smile. She was +wholly unabashed.</p> + +<p>"I reckon the man who invented searchlights was no fool," she remarked. +"I just wish that quaint old battleship would come right along here. +It's not exciting, this place."</p> + +<p>"New Silverstrand would be more to your taste, I fancy," said Merefleet, +reluctantly forced to speak.</p> + +<p>The smile on the beautiful face developed into a wicked little gleam of +amusement. "That's so, I daresay," said the high voice. "But you see, I +wasn't consulted. I've just got to go where I'm taken."</p> + +<p>She sank into a chair opposite Merefleet and leant forward.</p> + +<p>Merefleet sat perfectly rigid. There was a marvellous witchery about the +clasped hands and bent head before him. But he did not mean to let his +idiotic sentimentality carry him away again. So long as the enchantress +was speaking, the spell was wholly impotent. Therefore he should not +suffer her to relapse into silence. Yet—how he hated that high, piercing +voice! It was like the desecration of something sacred. It made him +shrink in involuntary protest.</p> + +<p>"Say!" suddenly exclaimed his companion, looking at him sharply. "Aren't +you Bernard Merefleet of New York City?"</p> + +<p>Merefleet frowned unconsciously at the notoriety that was his.</p> + +<p>"I was in New York until recently," he said with some curtness.</p> + +<p>"Exactly what I said," she returned triumphantly. "A friend of mine +snap-shotted you walking up Fifth Avenue. He said to me: 'Here's +Merefleet the gold-king, one of the cutest men in U.S.A. His first name +is Bernard. So we call him the Big Bear for short.' Ever heard your pet +name before?"</p> + +<p>"Never," said Merefleet stiffly, with a suggestive hand on the evening +paper. He wished she would leave him alone. With his eyes averted at +length, the charm of her presence ceased to attract him. He even fancied +he resented her freedom. But the girl only laughed carelessly. She had +not the smallest intention of moving.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said, and he imagined momentarily that her abominable accent +was deliberately assumed. "I guess you've heard it now, Mr. Bernard +Merefleet. Smart, I call it. What's your opinion?"</p> + +<p>Merefleet started a little at the audacity of this speech. And again he +was looking at her. There was a funny little smile twitching the corners +of her mouth. Her beauty was irresistible. Even the iron barrier of his +churlish avoidance was severely shaken. She was hard to withstand, this +witch with her friendly eyes and frank speech, despite her jarring voice.</p> + +<p>She nodded to him sociably as she met his grave look. "You aren't on a +pleasure-trip, I reckon," she observed.</p> + +<p>"Pleasure!" said Merefleet, giving way with abrupt bitterness. "No. +There's not much pleasure in unearthing skeletons. That's what I'm +doing."</p> + +<p>The beautiful eyes opposite opened wide. She was silent for a moment. +Then, "Think you're wise?" she enquired casually.</p> + +<p>"No," said Merefleet roughly. "I'm a fool."</p> + +<p>She nodded acquiescence. "That's so, I daresay," she said. "I was afraid +you were sick."</p> + +<p>"So I am," he said. "Sick of life—sick of everything."</p> + +<p>"I guess you want some medicine," she said seriously.</p> + +<p>Merefleet laughed suddenly. "Something strong and deadly, eh?" he said.</p> + +<p>She shook her head. "Tell me what you like best in the world!" she said.</p> + +<p>Merefleet reflected.</p> + +<p>"You must know," she insisted briskly. "Is it a woman?"</p> + +<p>"Good heavens, no!" said Merefleet, with an emphasis not particularly +flattering to the sex.</p> + +<p>"Well, then," she said, "p'r'aps it's the sea?"</p> + +<p>"You may say so for the sake of argument," said Merefleet.</p> + +<p>"I don't argue," she responded, with what he took for a touch of heat. +"If people disagree with me I just shunt."</p> + +<p>"Excellent policy," said Merefleet, interested in spite of himself. He +fancied a faint shadow crossed her face. But she continued to speak with +barely a pause. "If you like the sea you'd better join Bert and me. We go +out every day. It's real fun."</p> + +<p>"Exciting as well as dangerous," suggested Merefleet.</p> + +<p>She nodded again. It was a habit of hers when roused to eagerness. +"You've hit it. It's just that," she said. "Will you come?"</p> + +<p>Merefleet hesitated. He was still inclined to be surly. But the new +influence was not so easy to resist as he had imagined. The woman before +him attracted him strongly, despite the fact that he now knew her +loveliness to be but mortal; despite the constant jar of her shrill +voice.</p> + +<p>"Who is Bert?" he enquired at length, reluctantly aware that in +temporising he signed away his freedom of action.</p> + +<p>"Bert's my cousin," she answered. "He's English right through. You'd like +Bert. He's in the smoke-room. Bert and I are great chums."</p> + +<p>"Are you staying here alone together?" Merefleet enquired.</p> + +<p>She nodded. "Bert is taking care of me," she explained. "He's like a son +to me. I call him my English bull-dog. I just love bull-dogs, Mr. +Merefleet."</p> + +<p>Merefleet was silent.</p> + +<p>She stretched out her arms with a swift, unconscious movement of +weariness.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said, "I'm real lazy to-night, and that's fact. I guess you +want to smoke, so I'll go and leave you in peace."</p> + +<p>She rose and stood for a few moments in the doorway, looking out into the +pulsing darkness beyond. Merefleet watched her, fascinated. And as he +watched, a deep shadow rose and lingered on the beautiful face. Moved by +an instinct he did not stop to question, he rose abruptly and stood +beside her. There was a pause. Then suddenly she looked up at him and the +shadow was gone.</p> + +<p>"Isn't he cross?" she said.</p> + +<p>"Who?" asked Merefleet.</p> + +<p>"Why, that funny old sea," she laughed. "He's just wild to dash over and +swamp us all. Supposing he did, should you care any?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," said Merefleet.</p> + +<p>Her eyes were full of a soft laughter as she looked at him. Suddenly she +laid a childish hand on his arm. "Oh, you poor old Bear!" she said, +dropping her voice a little. "I'm real sorry for you!"</p> + +<p>And then she turned swiftly and was gone from his side like a flash of +sunlight.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IVA" id="CHAPTER_IVA"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + + +<p>It was some time later that Merefleet entered the smoking-room to satisfy +a certain curiosity which had taken possession of him. He looked round +the room as he sat down, and almost at once his attention lighted upon a +broad-shouldered man of about thirty with a plain, square-jawed face of +great determination, who sat, puffing at a short pipe, by the open +window.</p> + +<p>Merefleet silently observed this man for some time, till, his scrutiny +making itself felt, the object of it wheeled abruptly in his chair and +returned it.</p> + +<p>Merefleet leant forward. It was so little his custom to open conversation +with a stranger that his manner was abrupt and somewhat forced on this +unusual occasion.</p> + +<p>"I believe I ought to know you," he said. "But I can't recall your name."</p> + +<p>The reply was delivered in a manner as curt as his own. "My name is +Seton," said the stranger. "As you have only met me once before, you +probably won't recall it now."</p> + +<p>Merefleet nodded comprehension. He loved the straight, quiet speech of +Englishmen. There was no flurry or palaver about this specimen. He spoke +as a man quite sure of himself and wholly independent of his fellow men.</p> + +<p>"Ah, I remember you now," Merefleet said. "You came as Ralph Warrender's +guest to a club dinner in New York. Am I right?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly," said Seton. "You were the guest of the evening. You made a +good speech, I remember. You were looking horribly ill. I suppose that is +how I came to notice you particularly."</p> + +<p>"I was ill," said Merefleet, "or I should have been out of New York +before that dinner came off. I always detested the place. And Warrender +would have done far better in my place."</p> + +<p>"I am not an admirer of Warrender," said Seton bluntly.</p> + +<p>Merefleet made no comment. He was never very free in the statement of his +opinion.</p> + +<p>"The railway accident in which his wife was killed took place immediately +after that dinner, I believe?" he observed presently. "I remember hearing +of it when I was recovering."</p> + +<p>"It was a shocking thing—that accident," said Seton thoughtfully. "It's +odd that Americans always manage to do that sort of thing on such a +gigantic scale."</p> + +<p>"They do everything on a gigantic scale," said Merefleet. "What became of +Warrender afterwards? It was an awful business for him."</p> + +<p>"I don't know anything about him," Seton answered, with a brevity that +seemed to betray lack of interest. "He was no friend of mine, though I +chanced to be his guest on that occasion. I was distantly connected with +his wife, and I inherited some of her money at her death. She was a rich +woman, as you probably know."</p> + +<p>"So I heard. But I have never found New York gossip particularly +attractive."</p> + +<p>Seton leant his elbow on the window-sill and gazed meditatively into the +night. "If it comes to that," he said slowly, "no gossip is exactly +edifying. And to be the victim of it is to be in the most undesirable +position under the sun."</p> + +<p>It struck Merefleet that he uttered the words with some force, almost +with the deliberate intention of conveying a warning; and, being the +last man in the world to attempt to fathom the wholly irrelevant affairs +of his neighbour, he dropped into silence and began to smoke.</p> + +<p>Seton sat motionless for some time. The murmur of a conversation that was +being sleepily sustained by two men in the room behind them created no +disturbing influence. Presently Seton spoke casually, but with that in +his tone which made Merefleet vaguely conscious of an element of +suspicion.</p> + +<p>"You didn't expect to see me just now, did you?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No," said Merefleet. "I should have taken the trouble to call your name +to mind before I spoke if I had."</p> + +<p>Seton nodded. "I saw you at <i>table d'hôte</i>" he remarked. "I was with my +cousin at the other end of the room. You were gone when we got up."</p> + +<p>"Your cousin?" said Merefleet deliberately. "Is that the American lady +who is staying here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Miss Ward. She is from New York, too. You may have seen her there."</p> + +<p>"No," said Merefleet. "I know very little of New York society, or any +society for the matter of that."</p> + +<p>Seton turned and looked at him with a smile. "Odd," he said. "For there +can be scarcely a man, woman, or child, here or in America, who does not +know you by name."</p> + +<p>"Not so bad as that, I hope," said Merefleet. And Seton laughed.</p> + +<p>"You have the reputation for shunning celebrity," he remarked.</p> + +<p>"So I understand," said Merefleet. "I hope the reputation will be my +protection."</p> + +<p>Young Seton became genial from that point onward. Without being +communicative, he managed to convey the impression that he was quite +prepared to be friendly. And for some reason unexplained Merefleet was +pleased. He went to bed that night with somewhat revised ideas on the +subject of society in general and the society of American girls in +particular.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VA" id="CHAPTER_VA"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + + +<p>"Is this the gentleman as was to come and see me? Come in, sir. Come in! +My old eyes ain't so sharp as they used to be, but I can see a many +things yet."</p> + +<p>And old Quiller, the fisherman, removed his sou'wester from his snowy +head and peered at the visitor from under his hand.</p> + +<p>"You don't know me, eh, Quiller?" Merefleet said.</p> + +<p>He was surprised to hear a high voice from the interior of the cottage +break in on the old man's hesitating reply.</p> + +<p>"He's a sort of walking monkey-puzzle, I guess," said the voice, and a +roguish laugh followed the words.</p> + +<p>Merefleet looked over old Quiller's shoulder into the little kitchen. She +was standing by the table with her sleeves up to her elbows, making some +invalid dish. A shaft of sunlight slanting through the tiny window fell +full upon her as she stood. It made him think of the searchlight glory of +the previous night. She shone like a princess in her lowly surroundings.</p> + +<p>She nodded to him gaily as she met his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Come right in!" she said hospitably. "And I shall tell Grandpa Quiller +who you are."</p> + +<p>"Aye, but I know," broke in the old man eagerly. "Master Bernard, ain't +it? That's right, sonny. That's right. Yes, come in! There! I never +thought to see you again. That I never did. This here's little missie +what comes regular to see my daughter-in-law as has been laid by this +week or more. I calls her our good angel," he ended tenderly. "She's been +the Lord's own blessing to us ever since she come."</p> + +<p>Merefleet, thus invited, entered and sat down on a wooden chair by +the table. Old Quiller turned in also and fussed about him with the +solicitude that comes with age.</p> + +<p>"No," he said meditatively, "I never thought to see you again, Master +Bernard. Why, it's twenty year come Michaelmas since you said 'Good-bye.' +And little miss was with you. Ah, dear! It do make me think of them days +to see you in the old place again. I always said as I'd never see the +match of little miss but this young lady, sir—she's just such another, +bless her."</p> + +<p>Merefleet, with his eyes on the busy white hands at the table, smiled at +the eulogy.</p> + +<p>The American girl glanced at him and laughed more softly than usual. +"Isn't he fine?" she said. "I just love that old man."</p> + +<p>Somehow that peculiar voice of hers did not jar upon him quite so +painfully as he sat and watched her at her dexterous work. There was +something about her employment that revealed to him a side of her that +her frivolous manner would never have led him to suspect. While he talked +to the old fisherman, more than half his attention was centred on her +beautiful, innocent face.</p> + +<p>"My!" she suddenly exclaimed, turning upon him with a dazzling smile. "I +reckon you'll almost be equal to beating up an egg yourself if you watch +long enough."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," said Merefleet.</p> + +<p>She laughed gaily. "Are you coming along with Bert and me this afternoon +in Quiller's boat?" she inquired.</p> + +<p>"I believed I have engaged Quiller to come and do the hard work for me," +Merefleet said.</p> + +<p>"You!" She was bending over the fire, stirring the beaten egg into a +saucepan. "Oh, you lazy old Bear!" she said reprovingly. "What good will +that do you?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know that I want anything to do me good," Merefleet returned. +He had become almost genial under these unusual circumstances. It was +certainly no easy matter to keep this exceedingly sociable young lady at +a distance.</p> + +<p>He was watching the warm colour rising in her face as she stooped over +the fire. He had never imagined that the art of cookery could be +conducted with so much of grace and charm. Her odd, high voice instantly +broke in on this reflection.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to see Mrs. Quiller and the baby now," she said, with her +sprightly little nod. "So long, Big Bear!"</p> + +<p>The little kitchen suddenly looked dull and empty. The sun had gone in. +Old Quiller was sucking tobacco ruminatively, his fit of loquacity over.</p> + +<p>Merefleet rose. "Well, I am glad to have seen you, Quiller," he said, +patting the old man's shoulder with a kindly hand. "I must come in again. +You and I are old friends, you know, and old comrades, too. Good-bye!"</p> + +<p>Quiller looked at him rather vacantly. The fire of life was sinking low +in his veins. He had grown sluggish with the years, and the spark of +understanding was seldom bright.</p> + +<p>"Aye, but she's a bonny lass, Master Bernard," he said with slow +appreciation. "A bonny lass she be. You ain't thinking of getting settled +now? I'm thinking she'd keep your home tidy and bright."</p> + +<p>"Good-bye!" said Merefleet with steady persistence.</p> + +<p>"Aye, she would," said the old man, shifting the tobacco in his cheek. +"She's been a rare comfort to me and mine. She'd be a blessing to your +home, Master Bernard. Take an old chap's word for it, an old chap as +knows what's what. That young lady'll be the joy of some man's heart some +day. You've got your chance, Master Bernard. You be that man!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIA" id="CHAPTER_VIA"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + + +<p>"Say, Bert! We can take Big Bear along in our boat. Isn't that so?"</p> + +<p>Merefleet looked up from his paper as he heard the words. They were +seated at the next table at lunch, his American friend and her +excessively English cousin. Merefleet noticed that she was dressed for +boating. She wore a costume of white linen, and a Panama hat was crammed +jauntily on the soft, dark hair. She was anything but dignified. Yet +there was something splendid in the very recklessness of her beauty. She +was a queen who did not need to assert her rights. There were other women +present, and Merefleet was not even conscious of the fact.</p> + +<p>"Who?" asked Seton, in response to her careless inquiry.</p> + +<p>She nodded in Merefleet's direction and caught his eye as she did so.</p> + +<p>"He's the cutest man in U.S.," she said, staring him straight in the face +without sign of recognition. "But he's real lazy. He saw me making +custard at Grandpa Quiller's this morning, and he wasn't even smart +enough to lift the saucepan off the fire. I thought he might have had +spunk enough for that, anyway."</p> + +<p>Twenty-four hours earlier Merefleet would have deliberately hunched his +shoulders, turned his back, and read his paper. But his education was in +sure hands. He had made rapid progress since the day before.</p> + +<p>He leant a little towards his critic and said gravely:</p> + +<p>"Pray accept my apologies for the omission! To tell you the truth, I was +not watching the progress of the cookery."</p> + +<p>The girl nodded as if appeased.</p> + +<p>"You can come and sit at this table," she said, indicating a chair +opposite to her. "I guess you know my cousin Bert Seton."</p> + +<p>"What makes you guess that?" Merefleet inquired, changing his seat as +directed.</p> + +<p>She looked at him with a little smile of superior knowledge. "I guess +lots," she said, but proffered no explanation of her shrewd conclusion.</p> + +<p>Young Seton greeted Merefleet with less cordiality than he had displayed +on the previous evening. There was a suggestion of caution in his manner +that created a somewhat unfavourable impression in Merefleet's mind.</p> + +<p>Already he was beginning to wonder how these two came to be thus isolated +in the forgotten little town of Old Silverstrand. It was not a natural +state of affairs. Neither the girl with her marvellous beauty, nor the +man with his peculiar concentration of purpose, was a fitting figure for +such a background. They were out of place—most noticeably so.</p> + +<p>Merefleet was the very last man to make observations of such a +description. But this was a matter so obvious and so undeniably strange +that it forced itself upon him half against his will. He became strongly +aware that Seton did not desire his presence in the boat with him and his +cousin. He did not fathom the objection. But its existence was not to be +ignored. And Merefleet wondered a little, as he cast about in his mind +for a suitable excuse wherewith to decline the girl's invitation.</p> + +<p>"It's very good of you to ask me to accompany you, Miss Ward," he said +presently. "But I know that Quiller the younger is under the impression +that I have engaged him to row me out of the harbour and bring me back +again. And I don't see very well how I can cancel the engagement."</p> + +<p>Miss Ward nudged her cousin at this speech.</p> + +<p>"Oh, if he isn't just quaint!" she said. "Look here, Bert! You're running +this show. Tell Mr. Merefleet it's all fixed up, and if he won't come +along with us he won't go at all, as we've got Quiller's boat!"</p> + +<p>Seton glanced up, slightly frowning.</p> + +<p>"My dear Mab," he said, "allow Mr. Merefleet to please himself! The fact +that you are willing to put your life in my hands day after day is no +guarantee of my skill as a rower, remember."</p> + +<p>"Oh, skittles!" said Mab irrelevantly.</p> + +<p>And Seton, meeting Merefleet's eyes, shrugged his shoulders as if +disclaiming all further responsibility.</p> + +<p>Mab leant forward.</p> + +<p>"You'd better come, Mr. Merefleet," she said in a motherly tone. "It'll +be a degree more lively than mooning around by yourself."</p> + +<p>And Merefleet yielded, touched by something indescribable in the +beautiful, glowing eyes that were lifted to his. Apparently she wanted +him to go, and it seemed to him too small a thing to refuse. Perhaps, +also, he consulted his own inclination.</p> + +<p>Seton dropped his distant manner after a time. Nevertheless the +impression of being under the young man's close observation lingered with +Merefleet, and Mab herself seemed to feel a strain. She grew almost +silent till lunch was over, and then, recovering, she entered into a +sprightly conversation with Merefleet.</p> + +<p>They went down to the shore shortly after, and embarked in Quiller's +boat. Mab sat in the stern under a scarlet sunshade and talked gaily to +her two companions. She was greatly amused when Merefleet insisted upon +doing his share of the work.</p> + +<p>"I love to see you doing the galley-slave," she said. "I know you hate +it, you poor old Bear."</p> + +<p>But Merefleet did not hate his work. He sat facing her throughout the +afternoon, gazing to his heart's content on the perfect picture before +him. He wore his hands to blisters, and the sun beat mercilessly down +upon him. But he felt neither weariness nor impatience, neither regret +nor surliness.</p> + +<p>A magic touch had started the life in his veins; the revelation of a +wandering searchlight had transformed his sordid world into a palace of +delight. He accepted the fact without question. He had no wish to go +either forward or backward.</p> + +<p>The blue sea and the blue sky, and the distant, shining shore. These were +what he had often longed for in the rush and tumult of a great, unresting +city. But in the foreground of his picture, beyond desire and more +marvellous than imagination, was the face of the loveliest woman he had +ever seen.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIIA" id="CHAPTER_VIIA"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + + +<p>There was no wandering alone on the quay for Merefleet that night. It was +very warm and he sat on the terrace with his American friend. Far away +over at New Silverstrand, a band was playing, and the music came floating +across the harbour with the silvery sweetness which water imparts. The +lights of the new town were very bright. It looked like a dream-city seen +from afar.</p> + +<p>"I guess we are just a couple of Peris shut outside," said Mab in her +brisk, unsentimental voice. "I like it best outside, don't you, Big +Bear?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Merefleet, with a simplicity that provoked her mirth.</p> + +<p>"Oh, aren't you just perfect!" she said. "You've done me no end of good. +I'd pay you back if I could."</p> + +<p>Merefleet was silent. He could not see her beautiful face, but her words +touched him inexplicably.</p> + +<p>There was a long pause. Then, to his great surprise, a warm little hand +slipped on to his knee in the darkness and a voice, so small that he +hardly recognised it, said humbly:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Merefleet, I'm real sorry."</p> + +<p>Merefleet started a little.</p> + +<p>"Good heavens! Why?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Sorry you disapprove of me," she said, with a little break in her voice. +"Bert used to be the same. But he's different now. He knows I wasn't made +prim and proper."</p> + +<p>She paused. Merefleet's hand was on her own. He sat in silence, but +somehow his silence was kind.</p> + +<p>She went on. "I wasn't going to speak last night. Only you looked so +melancholy at dinner. And then I thought p'r'aps you were lonely, like +I am. I didn't find out till afterwards that you didn't like the way I +talked."</p> + +<p>"Do you know you make me feel a most objectionable cad?" said Merefleet.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, you aren't that," she hastened to assure him. "I'm positive you +aren't that. It was my fault. I spoke first. I thought you looked real +sad. And I always want to hearten up sad folks. You see I've been there, +and I know what it is."</p> + +<p>"You!" said Merefleet.</p> + +<p>Did he hear a sob in the darkness beside him? He fancied so. The hand +that lay beneath his own twitched as if agitated.</p> + +<p>"What do you know about trouble?" said Merefleet.</p> + +<p>She did not answer him. Only he heard a long, hard sigh. Then she laughed +rather mirthlessly.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said, "there aren't many things in this world worth crying +for. You've had enough of me, I guess. It's time I shunted."</p> + +<p>She tried to withdraw her hand, but Merefleet's hold tightened.</p> + +<p>"No, no. Not yet," he said, almost as if he were pleading with her. "I've +behaved abominably. But don't punish me like this!"</p> + +<p>She laughed again and yielded.</p> + +<p>"You ought to know your own mind by now," she said, with something of her +former briskness. "It's a rum world, Mr. Merefleet."</p> + +<p>"It isn't the world," said Merefleet. "It's the people in it. Now, Miss +Ward, I have a favour to ask. Promise me that you will never again +imagine for a moment that I am not pleased—more, honoured—when you are +good enough to stop by the way and speak to me. Of your charity you have +stooped to pity my loneliness. And, believe me, I do most sincerely +appreciate it."</p> + +<p>"My!" she said. "That's the nicest thing you've said yet. Yes, I promise +that. You're real kind, do you know? You make me feel miles better."</p> + +<p>She drew her hand gently away. Merefleet was trying to discern her +features in the darkness.</p> + +<p>"Are you really lonely, I wonder?" he said. "Or is that a figure of +speech?"</p> + +<p>"It's solid fact," she said. "But, never mind me! Let's talk of something +nicer."</p> + +<p>"No, thanks!" Merefleet could be obstinate when he liked. "Unless you +object, I prefer to talk about you."</p> + +<p>She laughed a little, but said nothing.</p> + +<p>"I want to know what makes you lonely," he said. "Don't tell me, of +course, if there is any difficulty about it!"</p> + +<p>"No," she responded coolly. "I won't. But I guess I'm lonely for much the +same reason that you are."</p> + +<p>"I have never been anything else since I became a man," said Merefleet.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" she said. "I might say the same. Fact is"—she spoke with sudden +startling emphasis—"I ought to be dead. And I'm not. That's my trouble +in a nutshell."</p> + +<p>"Great heavens, child!" Merefleet exclaimed, with an involuntary start. +"Don't talk like that!"</p> + +<p>"Why not?" she asked innocently. "Is it wrong?"</p> + +<p>"It isn't literal truth, you know," he answered gravely. "You will not +persuade me that it is."</p> + +<p>"I'm no judge then," she said, with a note of recklessness in her voice.</p> + +<p>"You have your cousin," Merefleet pointed out, feeling that he was on +uncertain ground, yet unaccountably anxious to prove it. "You are not +utterly alone while he is with you."</p> + +<p>She uttered a shrill little laugh. "Why," she said, "I believe you think +I'm in love with Bert."</p> + +<p>Merefleet was silent.</p> + +<p>"I'm not, you know," she said, after a momentary pause. "I'm years older +than Bert, anyhow."</p> + +<p>"Oh, come!" said Merefleet.</p> + +<p>"Figuratively, of course," she explained.</p> + +<p>"I understand," said Merefleet. And there was a silence.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she laughed again merrily.</p> + +<p>"May I share the joke?" asked Merefleet.</p> + +<p>"You won't see it," she returned. "I'm laughing at you, Big Bear. You are +just too quaint for anything."</p> + +<p>Merefleet did not see the joke, but he did not ask for an explanation.</p> + +<p>Seton himself strolled on to the terrace and joined them directly after; +and Mab began to shiver and went indoors.</p> + +<p>The two men sat together for some time, talking little. Seton seemed +preoccupied and Merefleet became sleepy. It was he who at length proposed +a move.</p> + +<p>Seton rose instantly. "Mr. Merefleet," he said rather awkwardly, "I want +to say a word to you."</p> + +<p>Merefleet waited in silence.</p> + +<p>"Concerning my cousin," Seton proceeded. "You will probably misread my +motive for saying this. But nevertheless it must be said. It is not +advisable that you should become very intimate with her."</p> + +<p>He brought out the words with a jerk. It had been a difficult thing to +say, but he was not a man to shrink from difficulties. Having said it, he +waited quietly for the result.</p> + +<p>Merefleet paused a moment before he spoke. Seton had surprised him, but +he did not show it.</p> + +<p>"I shall not misread your motive," he said, "as I seldom speculate on +matters that do not concern me. But allow me to say that I consider your +warning wholly uncalled for."</p> + +<p>"Exactly," said Seton, "I expected you to say that. Well, I am sorry. It +is quite impossible for me to explain myself. I hope for your sake you +will never be placed in the position in which I am now. I assure you it +is anything but an enviable one."</p> + +<p>His manner, blunt and direct, appealed very strongly to Merefleet. He +said nothing, however, and they went in together in unbroken silence. +Mab did not reappear that night.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIIIA" id="CHAPTER_VIIIA"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + + +<p>A fortnight passed away and Merefleet was still at the hotel at Old +Silverstrand. Mab was there also, the idol of the fisher-folk, and an +unfailing source of interest and admiration to casual visitors at the +hotel.</p> + +<p>Merefleet, though he had become a privileged acquaintance, was still +wholly unenlightened with regard to the circumstances which had brought +her to the place under Seton's escort.</p> + +<p>As time went on, it struck Merefleet that these two were a somewhat +incongruous couple. They dined together and they usually boated together +in the afternoon—this last item on account of Mab's passion for the sea; +but beyond this they lived considerably apart. Neither seemed to seek the +other's society, and if they met at lunch, it was never by preconceived +arrangement.</p> + +<p>Merefleet saw more of Mab when she was ashore than Seton did. They would +meet on the quay, in old Quiller's cottage, or in the hotel-garden, +several times a day. Occasionally he would accompany them on the water, +but not often. He had a notion that Seton preferred his absence, and he +would not go where he felt himself to be an intruder.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, the primary fascination had not ceased to act upon him; the +glamour of the girl's beauty was still in his eyes something more than +earthly. And there came a time when Bernard Merefleet listened with +unconscious craving for the high, unmodulated voice, and smiled with a +tender indulgence over the curiously naïve audacity which once had made +him shrink.</p> + +<p>As for Mab, she was too eagerly interested in various matters to give +more than a passing thought to the fact that the man she called Big Bear +had laid aside his surliness. If she thought about it at all, it was only +to conclude that their daily intercourse had worn away the outer crust of +his shyness.</p> + +<p>She was always busy—in and out of the fishermen's cottages, where she +was welcomed as an angel—to and fro on a hundred schemes, all equally +interesting and equally absorbing. And Merefleet was called upon to +assist. She singled him out for her friendship because he was as one +apart and without interests. She drew him into her own bubbling life. She +laughed at him, consulted him, enslaved him.</p> + +<p>All innocently she wove her spell about this man. He was lonely, she +knew; and she, in her ardent, great-souled pity for all such, was willing +to make cheerful sacrifice of her own time and strength if thus she might +ease but a little the burden that galled a fellow-traveller's shoulders.</p> + +<p>Merefleet came upon her once standing in the sunshine with Mrs. Quiller's +baby in her arms. She beckoned him to speak to her. "Come here if you +aren't afraid of babies!" she said, displaying her charge. "Look at him, +Big Bear! He's three weeks old to-day. Isn't he fine?"</p> + +<p>"What do you know about babies?" said Merefleet, with his eyes on her +lovely flushed face.</p> + +<p>She nodded in her sprightly fashion, but her eyes were far away on the +distant horizon, and her soul with them. "I know a lot, Big Bear," she +said.</p> + +<p>Merefleet watched her, well pleased with the sight. She stood rocking to +and fro. Her gaze was fixed and tender.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what you see," Merefleet said, after a pause.</p> + +<p>Her eyes came back at once to her immediate surroundings.</p> + +<p>"Shall I tell you, Big Bear?" she said.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Merefleet, marvelling at the radiance of her face.</p> + +<p>And, her voice hushed to a whisper, she moved a pace nearer to him and +told him.</p> + +<p>"Just a little baby friend of mine who lives over there," she said. "I'm +going to see him some day. I guess he'll be glad, don't you?"</p> + +<p>"Who wouldn't?" said Merefleet. "But that's not the West, you know."</p> + +<p>"No," she said simply. "He's in the Land beyond the sea, Big Bear." And +with a strange little smile into his face, she drew the shawl closer +about the child in her arms and disappeared into Quiller's cottage.</p> + +<p>There was something in this interview that troubled Merefleet +unaccountably. But when he saw her again, her mirth was brimming over, +and he thought she had forgotten.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IXA" id="CHAPTER_IXA"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + + +<p>It was about a week after this conversation that Merefleet, invited by +Seton, joined his two friends at <i>table d'hôte</i> at their table. The +suggestion came from Mab, he strongly suspected, for she seconded Seton's +proposal so vigorously that to decline would have been almost an +impossibility.</p> + +<p>"You look so lonely there," she said. "It's miles nicer over here. What's +your opinion?"</p> + +<p>"I agree with you, of course," said Merefleet, with a glance at Seton +which discovered little.</p> + +<p>"Isn't he getting polite?" said the American girl approvingly. "Say, +Bert! I guess you'll have to take lessons in manners or he'll get ahead +of you."</p> + +<p>Seton smiled indulgently. He was this girl's watch-dog and protector. He +aspired to be no more.</p> + +<p>"My dear girl, you will never make a social ornament of me as long as you +live," he said.</p> + +<p>And Mab patted his arm affectionately.</p> + +<p>"You're nicer as you are, dear boy," she said. "You aren't smart, it's +true, but I give you the highest mark for real niceness."</p> + +<p>Seton's eyes met Merefleet's for a second. There was a touch of +uneasiness about him, as if he feared Merefleet might misconstrue +something. And Merefleet considerately struck a topic which he +believed to be wholly impersonal.</p> + +<p>"By the way," he said, "I had an American paper sent me to-day. It may +interest you to hear that Ralph Warrender has resigned his seat in +Congress and married again."</p> + +<p>"What?" said Seton.</p> + +<p>"My!" cried Mab, with a shrill laugh. "That is news, Mr. Merefleet!"</p> + +<p>Merefleet glanced at her sharply, his attention arrested by something he +did not understand. Seton pushed a glass of sherry towards her, but he +was looking at Merefleet.</p> + +<p>"News indeed!" he said deliberately. "Is it actually an accomplished +fact?"</p> + +<p>"According to the <i>New York Herald</i>," said Merefleet.</p> + +<p>Mab's face was growing whiter and whiter. Seton still leant over the +table, striving with all his resolution to force Merefleet's attention +away from her. But Merefleet would not allow it. He saw what Seton did +not stop to see; and it was he, not Seton, who lifted her to her feet a +moment later and half-led, half-carried her out of the stifling room.</p> + +<p>With a practical commonsense eminently characteristic of him, Seton +remained to pour out a glass of brandy; and thus armed he followed them +into the vestibule. Mab was lying back in an arm-chair when he arrived. +Her eyes were closed, and she was breathing quickly. Merefleet was +propping open the door on to the terrace. The lights flickered in the +draught and gave a strange look to the colourless face on the cushion. It +was like a beautifully carved marble. But for Merefleet the place was +deserted.</p> + +<p>Seton knelt down and held the glass to his cousin's lips.</p> + +<p>Merefleet returned softly and paused behind her chair.</p> + +<p>"It's this confounded heat," said Seton in a savage undertone. "She will +be all right directly."</p> + +<p>Merefleet said nothing. Again he was keenly conscious of the fact that +Seton wanted to get rid of him. But a stronger influence than Seton +possessed kept him standing there.</p> + +<p>Mab opened her eyes as the neat spirit burnt her lips. She tried to push +the glass away, but Seton would not allow it.</p> + +<p>"Just a drain, my dear girl," he said. "It will do you all the good in +the world. And then—Merefleet," glancing up at him, "will you fetch some +water?"</p> + +<p>Merefleet went as desired.</p> + +<p>When he returned, Mab was lying forward in Seton's arms, crying as he had +never seen any woman cry before. And Seton was stroking her hair in +silence.</p> + +<p>Merefleet set down the water noiselessly, and went softly out into the +summer dusk. But the great waves beating on the shore could not drown +the memory of a woman's bitter sobbing. And the man's heart was dumb and +heavy with the trouble he could not fathom.</p> + +<p>Some hours later, returning from a weary tramp along the shore, he +encountered Seton pacing to and fro on the terrace.</p> + +<p>"She is better," he said, in answer to Merefleet's conventional enquiry. +"It was the heat, you know, that upset her."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Merefleet quietly. "I know."</p> + +<p>Seton walked away restlessly, more as if he wished to keep on the move +than to avoid Merefleet. He came back, however, after a few seconds.</p> + +<p>"Look here, Merefleet," he said abruptly, "you may take offence, but you +can't quarrel without my consent. For Heaven's sake, leave this place! +You are doing more mischief than you have the smallest notion of."</p> + +<p>There was that in his manner which roused the instinct of opposition in +Merefleet.</p> + +<p>"You will either tell me what you mean," he said, "or you need not expect +to gain your point. Veiled hints, like anonymous letters, do not deserve +any man's serious consideration."</p> + +<p>Seton muttered something inaudible and became silent.</p> + +<p>Merefleet waited for some moments and then began to move off. But the +younger man instantly turned and detained him with an imperative hand.</p> + +<p>"What I mean is this," he said, and the starlight on his face showed it +to be very determined. "My cousin is not in a position to receive any +man's attentions. She is not free. I have tried to persuade myself into +thinking you want nothing but ordinary friendship. I should infinitely +prefer to think that if you can assure me that I am justified in so +doing."</p> + +<p>"What is it to you?" said Merefleet.</p> + +<p>"To me personally it is more a matter of family honour than anything +else. Moreover I am her sole protector, and as such I am bound to assert +a certain amount of authority."</p> + +<p>"So you may," said Merefleet quietly. "But I do not see that that +involves my departure."</p> + +<p>Seton struck the balustrade of the terrace with an impatient hand. "Can't +you understand?" he said rather thickly. "How else can I put it?"</p> + +<p>"I have no desire to pry into your affairs, Heaven knows," Merefleet +said, "but this I will say. If I can be of use to either of you in +helping to dispose of what appears to be a somewhat awkward predicament +you may rely upon me with absolute safety."</p> + +<p>"Thanks!" Seton turned slowly and held out his hand. "There is only one +thing you can do," he said, with an awkward laugh. "And that is precisely +what you are not prepared to do. All right. I suppose it's human nature. +I am obliged to you all the same. Good-night!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XA" id="CHAPTER_XA"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + + +<p>"Say, Big Bear! Will you take me on the water?"</p> + +<p>Merefleet, lounging on the shingle with a pipe and newspaper, looked up +with a start and hastened to knock out the half-burnt tobacco on the heel +of his boot.</p> + +<p>His American friend stood above him, clad in the white linen costume she +always wore for boating. She looked very enchanting and very childlike. +Merefleet who had seen her last sobbing bitterly in her cousin's arms, +stared up at her with wonder and relief on his face.</p> + +<p>She nodded to him. Her eyes were marvellously bright, but he did not +ascribe their brilliance to recent tears.</p> + +<p>"You don't look exactly smart," she said critically. "Hope I don't +intrude?"</p> + +<p>"Not a bit." Merefleet stumbled to his feet and raised his hat. "Pardon +my sluggishness! How are you this morning?"</p> + +<p>"Fresh as paint," she returned. "But I'm just dying to get on the water. +And Bert has gone off somewhere by himself. I guess you'll help me, Big +Bear. Won't you?"</p> + +<p>Merefleet glanced from the sea to the sun.</p> + +<p>"There's a change coming," he said. "I will go with you with pleasure. +But I think it would be advisable to wait till the afternoon as usual. We +shall probably know by then what sort of weather to expect."</p> + +<p>Mab pouted a little.</p> + +<p>"We shan't go at all if we wait," she declared. "Why can't we go while +the fine weather lasts? I believe you want to back out of it. It's real +lazy of you, Big Bear. You shan't read, anyhow."</p> + +<p>She took his paper from his unresisting hands, dug a hole in the shingle +with vicious energy, and covered it over.</p> + +<p>"Now what?" she said, looking up at him with an impudent smile.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Merefleet gravely, "I will take you for a row."</p> + +<p>"Will you? Big Bear, you're a brick. I'll put you into my will. No, I +won't, because I haven't got anything to leave. And you wouldn't want +it if I had. Say, Big Bear! Haven't you got any friends?"</p> + +<p>Merefleet looked surprised at the abrupt question.</p> + +<p>"I have one friend in England besides yourself, Miss Ward," he replied. +"His name is Clinton. But he is married and done for."</p> + +<p>"My! What a pity!" she exclaimed. "Isn't he happy?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I think so. Still, you know, most fellows have to sacrifice +something when they marry. He was a war-correspondent. But he has spoilt +himself for that."</p> + +<p>"I see." Mab was prodding the shingle with the end of her sunshade, +her face very thoughtful. Suddenly she looked up. "Never get married, +Big Bear!" she said vehemently. "It's the most miserable state in +Christendom."</p> + +<p>"Anyone would think you spoke from experience," said Merefleet, smiling +a little.</p> + +<p>But Mab did not smile.</p> + +<p>"I know a lot, Big Bear," she said, with a sharp sigh.</p> + +<p>Merefleet was silent. His thoughts had gone back to the previous night. +He was surprised when she suddenly alluded to the episode.</p> + +<p>"There's that man Ralph Warrender," she said. "I guess the woman that's +married him thinks he's A1 and gilt-edged now, poor soul. But he's just a +miserable patchwork mummy really, and there isn't any white in him—no, +not a speck."</p> + +<p>She spoke with such intense, even violent bitterness that Merefleet was +utterly astonished. He stood gravely contemplating her flushed, upturned +face.</p> + +<p>"What has he done to make you say that, I wonder?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Nothing to me," she answered quickly. "Nothing at all to me. But I used +to know his first wife. She was a sort of friend of mine. They used to +call her the loveliest woman in U.S., Mr. Merefleet. And she belonged to +that fiend."</p> + +<p>They began to walk towards the boats through the shifting shingle. +Merefleet had nothing to say. There was something in her passionate +speech that disturbed him vaguely. She spoke as one whose most sacred +personal interests had once been at stake.</p> + +<p>"Lucky for her she's dead, Big Bear," she said presently, with a +side-glance at him. "I've never regretted any of my friends less than +Mrs. Ralph Warrender. Oh, she was real miserable. I've seen her with +diamonds piled high in her hair and her face all shining with smiles. And +I've known all the time that her heart was broken. And when I heard that +she was dead, do you know, I was glad—yes, thankful. And I guess +Warrender wasn't sorry. For she hated him."</p> + +<p>"I never cared for Warrender," said Merefleet. "But I always took him for +a gentleman."</p> + +<p>She laughed at his words with a gaiety that jarred upon him. "Do you +know, Big Bear," she said, "I think they must have forgotten to teach +you your ABC when you went to school? You're such an innocent."</p> + +<p>Merefleet tramped by her side in silence. There was something in him that +shrank when she spoke in this vein.</p> + +<p>But quite suddenly her tone changed. She spoke very gently. "Still, it's +better to know too little than too much," she said. "And oh, Big Bear, I +know such a lot."</p> + +<p>Merefleet looked at her sharply and surprised an expression on her face +which he did not easily forget.</p> + +<p>He knew in that moment that this woman had suffered, and his heart gave +a wild, tumultuous throb. From that moment he also knew that she had +taken his heart by storm.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIA" id="CHAPTER_XIA"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + + +<p>Half-an-hour later they were out on the open sea beyond the harbour in a +cockleshell even frailer than Quiller's little craft which they had not +been able to secure.</p> + +<p>The sea was very quiet, only broken by an occasional long swell that +drove them southward like driftwood. Merefleet, who had been persuaded +to quit the harbour against his better judgment, was not greatly +disturbed by this fact. He did not anticipate any difficulty in +returning. A little extra labour was the worst he expected, for he knew +that a southward course would bring him into no awkward currents. Away to +the eastward he was aware of treacherous streams and shoals. But he had +no intention of going in that direction, and Mab, who steered, knew the +water well.</p> + +<p>There was no sun, a circumstance which Mab deplored, but for which +Merefleet was profoundly grateful.</p> + +<p>"You're not nearly so lazy as you used to be," she said to him +approvingly, as he rested his oars after a long pull.</p> + +<p>"No," said Merefleet. "I am beginning to see the error of my ways."</p> + +<p>"I'm real glad to hear you say so," she said heartily. "And I want to +tell you, Big Bear—that as I'm never going to New York again, I've +decided to be an Englishwoman. And you've got to help me."</p> + +<p>Merefleet looked at her with undisguised appreciation, but he shook +his head at her words. She was marvellous; she was inimitable; she was +unique. She would never, never be English. His gesture said as much. +But she was not discouraged.</p> + +<p>"I guess I'll try, anyhow," she said with brisk determination. "You don't +like American women, Mr. Merefleet."</p> + +<p>"Depends," said Merefleet.</p> + +<p>And she laughed gaily.</p> + +<p>They were drifting in long sweeps towards the south. Imperceptibly also +the distance was widening between the boat and the shore. The wind was +veering to the west.</p> + +<p>"My! Look at that oar!" Mab suddenly exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Merefleet started at the note of dismay in her tone. He had shipped his +oars. They were the only ones that had been provided. He glanced hastily +at the oar Mab indicated. It had been broken and roughly spliced +together. The wood that had been used for the splicing was rotten, and +the friction in the rowlocks had almost worn it through. Merefleet +examined it in silence.</p> + +<p>The girl's voice, high, with a quiver in it that might have stood for +either laughter or consternation, broke in on him.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said, "I guess we're in the suds this time, Big Bear; and no +mistake about it."</p> + +<p>Merefleet glanced at her helplessly. He did not think she realised the +gravity of the situation, but something in the little smile that twitched +her lips undeceived him.</p> + +<p>"The sea was full of boats a little while ago," he said. "They have +probably gone in for the lunch hour. But they will be out again +presently. We shall have to drift about for a while and then run up +a distress signal. It will be all right."</p> + +<p>She nodded to him and laughed.</p> + +<p>"Splendid, Big Bear! You talk like an oracle. I guess we'll run up my red +parasol on the end of an oar for a danger sign. Bert could see that from +the terrace." She glanced shorewards as she spoke, and he saw her face +change momentarily. "Why," she said quickly, "I thought we were close +in. What's happened?"</p> + +<p>Merefleet looked round with sullen perception of a difficult situation.</p> + +<p>"The wind is blowing off shore," he explained. "It was north when we +started. But it has gone round to the west. It will be all right, you +know. We can't drift very far in an hour."</p> + +<p>But he did not speak with conviction. The sea tumbled all around them, +a mighty grey waste. And the shore seemed very far away. A dismal outlook +in truth. Moreover it was beginning to rain.</p> + +<p>Mab sheltered herself under her sunshade and began to laugh. "It's just +skittles to what it might be," she said consolingly.</p> + +<p>But Merefleet did not respond. He knew that the wind was rising with +every second, and already the little boat tipped and tossed with perilous +buoyancy.</p> + +<p>Mab still held the rudder-lines. She sat in the stern, a serene and +smiling vision, while Merefleet toiled with one oar to counteract the +growing strength of the off-shore wind. But she very soon put down her +sunshade, and he saw that she must speedily be drenched to the skin. For +the rain was heavy, drifting over the water in thick, grey gusts. They +were being driven steadily eastwards out to sea.</p> + +<p>"I don't think my steering makes much difference, Big Bear," she said, +after a long silence.</p> + +<p>"No," said Merefleet. "It would take all the strength of two rowers to +make headway against this wind."</p> + +<p>He shipped his oar with the words and began to take off his coat. Mab +watched him with some wonder. He was seated on the thwart nearest to +her. He stooped forward at length very cautiously and, taking the +rudder-lines from her, made them fast.</p> + +<p>"Now get into this!" he said. "Mind you don't upset the boat!"</p> + +<p>She stared at him for one speechless second. Then:</p> + +<p>"No, I won't, Big Bear," she declared emphatically. "Put it on again at +once! Do you suppose I'll sit here in your coat while you shiver in +nothing but flannels?"</p> + +<p>"Do as I say!" said Merefleet, with a grim hardening of the jaw.</p> + +<p>And quite meekly she obeyed. There was something about him that inspired +her with awe at that moment. She felt as if she had run against some +obstacle in the dark.</p> + +<p>The rain began to beat down in great, shifting clouds. The sea grew +higher at every moment. Flecks of white gleamed here and there on all +sides. The boat was dancing like a cork.</p> + +<p>Mab sat in growing terror with her eyes on the roaring turmoil. The +minutes crawled by like hours. At length she turned to look shorewards +for the boats. A driving, blinding mist of rain beat into her face. She +saw naught besides. And suddenly her courage failed her. "Big Bear!" +she cried wildly. "What shall we do? I'm so frightened."</p> + +<p>He heard her through the storm. He was still sitting on the middle thwart +facing her. He moved, bending towards her.</p> + +<p>"Come to me here!" he said. "It will be safer."</p> + +<p>She crept to his outstretched arm with a sense of going into refuge. +Merefleet helped her over the thwart. There was a torn piece of sailcloth +in the bottom of the boat. He drew her down on to it and turned round +himself so that his back was towards the storm. He was thus able to +shelter her in some measure from the full fury of the blast.</p> + +<p>Mab shrank against him, terrified and quivering.</p> + +<p>"It looks so angry," she said.</p> + +<p>"Don't be afraid!" said Merefleet.</p> + +<p>And he put his arms about her and held her close to him as if she had +been a little child afraid of the dark.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIIA" id="CHAPTER_XIIA"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + + +<p>No pleasure-boats or craft of any sort put out from Silverstrand that +afternoon. The wind eventually blew away the clouds and revealed a +foaming, sunlit sea. But the waves were immense at high tide, and the +fishermen muttered among themselves and stared darkly out over the mighty +breakers.</p> + +<p>It was known among them that a boat had put out to sea in the morning and +had not returned before the rising of the gale. There were heavy hearts +in Old Silverstrand that day. But to launch another boat to search for +the missing one was out of the question. The great seas that came hurling +into the little fishing-harbour were sufficient proof of that, even to +the most inexperienced landsman.</p> + +<p>Seton, learning the news when lunch was half over, rushed off to New +Silverstrand in the hope that the boat might have been driven in that +direction by the strong current. But nothing had been seen from there of +the missing craft, and though he traversed the entire distance by way of +the cliffs, he saw nothing throughout his walk but flecks of foam here +and there over the tumbling expanse of water.</p> + +<p>He returned an hour or so later, reaching Old Silverstrand by five. But +nothing had been heard there. The fishermen shook their heads when he +questioned them. It was plain that they had given up hope.</p> + +<p>Seton raged up and down the quay in impotent agony of mind. The +off-shore wind continued for some hours. There was not the smallest doubt +that the boat had been driven out to sea, unless—a still more awful +possibility—she had been swamped and sunk long ago. As darkness fell, +the gale at length abated, and Quiller the younger approached Seton.</p> + +<p>"Tell you what, sir," he said. "There's a cruiser been up and down a +matter of ten miles out. Me and my mates will put out at daybreak and see +if we can get within hail of her. There's the light-ship, too, off +Morden's Shoal. 'Tain't likely as a boat could have slipped between 'em +without being seen. For if she was just drifting, you know, sir, she +wouldn't go very fast."</p> + +<p>"All right," said Seton. "And thanks! I'll go with you in the morning."</p> + +<p>Quiller lingered, though there was dismissal in the tone.</p> + +<p>"Go in and get a rest, sir!" he said persuasively. "There ain't no good +in your wearing yourself out here. You can't do nothing, sir, except pray +for a calm sea. Given that, we'll start with the light."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said Seton, and turned away. He knew that the man spoke +sense and he put pressure on himself to behave rationally. Nevertheless, +he spent the greater part of the night in a fever of restlessness which +no strength of will could subdue; and he was down on the quay long before +the first faint gleam of light shot glimmering over the quiet water.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>It was during those first wonderful moments of a new day that Mab woke up +with a start shivering, and stretched out her arms with a cry of wonder.</p> + +<p>Hours before, Merefleet had persuaded her to try to rest, and she had +fallen asleep with her head against his knee, soothed by the calm that at +length succeeded the storm. He had watched over her with grim endurance +throughout the night, and not once had he seen a light or any other +object to raise his hopes.</p> + +<p>They were out of sight of land; alone on the dumb waste. He had not the +smallest notion as to how far out to sea the boat had drifted. Only he +fancied that they had been driven out of the immediate track of steamers, +and in the great emptiness around him he saw no means of escape from the +fate that seemed to dog them.</p> + +<p>The boat had lived miraculously, it seemed to him, through the awful +storm of the day. Tossed ruthlessly and aimlessly to and fro, drenched to +the skin, hungry and forlorn, he and the woman who was to him the very +desire of life, had gone through the peril of deep waters. Merefleet was +beginning to wonder why they had thus escaped. It seemed to him but a +needless prolonging of an agony already long drawn out.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless there was nothing of despair in his face as he stooped over +the girl who was crouching at his feet.</p> + +<p>"Glad you have been able to sleep," he said gently. "Don't get up! There +is no necessity if you are fairly comfortable."</p> + +<p>She smiled up at him with the ready confidence of a child and raised +herself a little.</p> + +<p>"Still watching, Big Bear?" she said.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Merefleet.</p> + +<p>His tone told her that he had seen nothing. She lay still for a few +moments, then slowly turned her face towards the east. A deep pink glow +was rising in the sky. There was a rosy dusk on the sea about them.</p> + +<p>"My!" said Mab in a soft whisper. "Isn't that lovely?"</p> + +<p>Merefleet said nothing. He was watching her beautiful face with a great +hunger in his heart.</p> + +<p>Mab was also silent for a while. Presently she turned her face up to his.</p> + +<p>"The Gate of Heaven," she said in a whisper. "Isn't it fine?"</p> + +<p>He did not speak.</p> + +<p>She lifted a hand that felt like an icicle and slipped it into his.</p> + +<p>"I guess we shall do this journey together, Big Bear," she said. "I'm +real sorry I made you come if you didn't want to."</p> + +<p>"You needn't be sorry," said Merefleet, with a huskiness he could not +have accounted for.</p> + +<p>"No?" she said, with a curious little thrill in her voice. "It's real +handsome of you, Big Bear. Because—you know—I ought to have died more +than a year ago. But you are different. You have your life to live."</p> + +<p>Merefleet's hand closed tightly upon hers.</p> + +<p>"Don't talk like that, child!" he said. "Heaven knows your life is worth +more than mine."</p> + +<p>Mab leant her elbow on his knee and gazed thoughtfully over the far +expanse of water. Merefleet knew that she was faint and exhausted, +though she uttered no complaint.</p> + +<p>"Shall I tell you a secret, Big Bear?" she said, in the hushed tone of +one on the threshold of a sacred place. "I ended my life long ago. I was +very miserable and Death came and offered me refuge. And it was such a +safe hiding-place. I knew no one would look for me there. Only lately I +have come to see that what I did was wicked. I think you helped to make +me see, Big Bear. You're so honest. And then a dreadful thing happened. +Have you ever spoilt anyone's life besides your own, I wonder? I have. +That is why I have got to die. There is no place left for me. I gave it +up. And there is someone else there now."</p> + +<p>She stopped. Merefleet was bending over her with that in his face that +might have been the reflected glory of the growing day. Mab saw it, and +stretched up her other hand with a startled sob.</p> + +<p>"Big Bear, forgive me!" she whispered. "I—didn't—know."</p> + +<p>A moment later she was lying on his breast, and the first golden shimmer +of the morning had risen above the sea.</p> + +<p>"I shan't mind dying now," Mab whispered, a little later. "I was real +frightened yesterday. But now—do you know?—I'm glad—glad. It's just +like sailing into Paradise, isn't it? Are any of your people there, Big +Bear?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," said Merefleet.</p> + +<p>"Won't you be pleased to see them?" she said, with a touch of wonder at +the indifference in his tone.</p> + +<p>"I want nothing but you, my darling," he said, and his lips were on her +hair.</p> + +<p>He felt her fingers close upon his own.</p> + +<p>"I guess it won't matter in Heaven," she said, as though trying to +convince herself of something. "My dear, shall I tell you something? +I love you with all my heart. I never knew it till to-day. And if we +weren't so near Heaven I reckon I couldn't ever have told you."</p> + +<p>Some time later she began to talk in a dreamy way of the Great Haven +whither they were drifting. The sun was high by then and beat in a +wonderful, dazzling glory on the pathless waters.</p> + +<p>"There's no sun There," said Mab. "But I guess it will be very bright. +And there will be crowds and crowds along the Shore to see us come into +Port. And I'll see my little baby among them. I told you about him, Big +Bear. Finest little chap in New York City. He'll be holding out his arms +to me, just like he used. Ah! I can almost see him now. Look at his +curls. Aren't they fine? And his little angel face. There isn't anyone +like him, I guess. Everybody said he was the cutest baby in U.S. Coming, +darling! Coming!"</p> + +<p>Mab's hands slackened from Merefleet's clasp, and suddenly she stretched +out her arms to the sky. The holiest of all earthly raptures was on her +face.</p> + +<p>Then with a sharp sigh she came to herself and turned back to Merefleet. +A piteous little smile hovered about her quivering lips.</p> + +<p>"I guess I've been dreaming, Big Bear," she said. "Such a dream! Oh, such +a gorgeous, heavenly dream!"</p> + +<p>And she hid her face on his breast and burst into tears.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIIIA" id="CHAPTER_XIIIA"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + + +<p>Before the sun set they were sighted by the cruiser returning to her +anchorage outside the little fishing-harbour. Mab, worn out by hunger and +exposure, had slipped back to her former position in the bottom of the +boat. She was half asleep and seemed dazed when Merefleet told her of +their approaching deliverance. But she clung fast to him when a boat from +the cruiser came alongside; and he lifted her into it himself.</p> + +<p>"By Jove, sir, you've had a bad time!" said a young officer in the boat.</p> + +<p>"Thirty hours," said Merefleet briefly.</p> + +<p>He kept his arm about the girl, though his brain swam dizzily. And Mab, +consciously or unconsciously, held his hand in a tight clasp.</p> + +<p>Merefleet felt as if she were definitely removed out of his reach when +she was lifted from his hold at length, and the impression remained with +him after he gained the cruiser's deck. He met with most courteous +solicitude on all sides and was soon on the high-road to recovery.</p> + +<p>Later in the evening, when Mab also was sufficiently restored to appear +on deck, the cruiser steamed into Silverstrand Harbour, and the two +voyagers were landed by one of her boats, in the midst of great rejoicing +on the quay.</p> + +<p>Seton, who had long since returned from a fruitless search for tidings, +was among the crowd of spectators. He said little by way of greeting, +and there was considerable strain apparent in his manner towards +Merefleet. He hurried his cousin back to the hotel with a haste not +wholly bred of the moment's expediency. Merefleet followed at a more +leisurely pace. He made no attempt to join them, however. He had done his +part. There remained no more to do. With a heavy sense of irrevocable +loss he went to bed and slept the dreamless sleep of exhaustion for many +hours.</p> + +<p>The adventure was over. It had ended with a tameness that gave it an +almost commonplace aspect. But Merefleet's resolution was of stout +manufacture.</p> + +<p>The consequences of that night and day of peril involved his whole +future. Merefleet recognised this and resolved to act forthwith, in +defiance of Seton or any other obstacle. He did not realise till later +that there was opposed to him a strength which even his will was +powerless to overcome. He did not even take the possibility of this +into consideration.</p> + +<p>He was very sure of himself and confident of success when he descended +late on the following morning to a solitary breakfast—sure of himself, +sure of the smile of that fickle goddess Fortune—sure, thrice sure, of +the woman he loved.</p> + +<p>And he watched for her coming with a rapture that deprived him of his +appetite.</p> + +<p>But Mab did not come.</p> + +<p>Instead, Herbert Seton presently strolled into the room, greeted him, and +paused by his table.</p> + +<p>"Be good enough to join me on the terrace presently, will you?" he said +abruptly.</p> + +<p>And Merefleet nodded with a chill sense of foreboding. But his resolution +was unalterable. This young man should not, he was determined, by any +means cheat him now of his heart's desire. Matters had gone too far for +that. He followed Seton almost at once and found him in a quiet corner, +smoking. Merefleet sat down beside him and also began to smoke. There was +a touch of hostility about Seton that he was determined to ignore.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Seton at length, with characteristic bluntness, "so you have +done it in spite of my warning the other night."</p> + +<p>Merefleet looked at him. Was he expected to render an account of his +doings to this man who was at least ten years his junior, he wondered, +with faint amusement?</p> + +<p>Seton went on with strong indignation.</p> + +<p>"I told you in the first place not to be too intimate with her. I told +you again two nights ago that she was not free to accept any man's +attentions. But you went on. And you have made her miserable simply for +the gratification of your own unreasonable fancy. Do you call that manly +behaviour, I wonder?"</p> + +<p>Merefleet sat in absolute silence for several seconds. Finally he wheeled +round in his chair and faced Seton.</p> + +<p>"If I were you," he said quietly, "I should postpone this interview for +half-an-hour. I think you may possibly regret it if you don't."</p> + +<p>Seton tossed away a half-smoked cigarette and rose.</p> + +<p>"In half-an-hour," he said, "I shall have left this place, and my cousin +with me. I asked to speak to you because I detest all underhand dealings. +You apparently have not the same scruples."</p> + +<p>Merefleet also rose.</p> + +<p>"You will apologise for that," he said, in a tone of conviction. "I don't +question your motives, but to fetch me out here and then insult me was +not a wise proceeding on your part."</p> + +<p>Seton's hand clenched involuntarily. But he had put himself in the wrong, +and he knew it.</p> + +<p>"Very well," he said at length, with a shrug. "I apologise for the +expression. But my opinion of you remains unaltered."</p> + +<p>Merefleet ignored the qualification. He was bent on something more +important than the satisfaction of his own personal honour. "And now," he +said, with deliberate purpose, "I am going to have a private interview +with your cousin."</p> + +<p>Seton started.</p> + +<p>"You are going to do nothing of the sort," he said instantly.</p> + +<p>Merefleet looked him over gravely.</p> + +<p>"Look here, Seton!" he said. "You're making a fool of yourself. Take a +friend's advice—don't!"</p> + +<p>Seton choked back his anger with a great effort. In spite of this there +was a passionate ring in his voice when he spoke that betrayed the +exceeding precariousness of his self-control.</p> + +<p>"I can't let you see her," he said. "She is upset enough already. I have +promised her that she shall not be worried."</p> + +<p>"Have you promised her to keep me from speaking to her?" Merefleet grimly +enquired.</p> + +<p>"No." Seton spoke reluctantly.</p> + +<p>"Then do this," said Merefleet. "Go to her and ask her if she will see me +alone. If she says 'No,' I give you my word that I will leave this place +and trouble neither of you any further."</p> + +<p>Seton seemed to hesitate, but Merefleet was sure of his acquiescence. +After a pause of several seconds he fulfilled his expectations and went.</p> + +<p>Merefleet sat down again and waited. Seton returned heavy-footed.</p> + +<p>"She will see you," he said curtly. "You will find her in the +billiard-room."</p> + +<p>"Alone?" said Merefleet, rising.</p> + +<p>"Alone."</p> + +<p>And Merefleet walked away.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIVA" id="CHAPTER_XIVA"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + + +<p>He found her sitting in a great arm-chair at one end of the empty +billiard-room. She did not rise to meet him. He thought she looked tired +out and frightened.</p> + +<p>He went to her and stooped over her, taking her hands. She did not resist +him, but neither did she welcome. Her lips were quivering painfully.</p> + +<p>"What have I done that you should run away from me?" Merefleet asked her +very gently.</p> + +<p>She shook her head with a helpless gesture.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Merefleet," she whispered, "try—try not to be cross any! I'm afraid +I've made a big mistake."</p> + +<p>"My dear, we all make them," Merefleet said with grave kindliness.</p> + +<p>"I know," she faltered. "I know. But mine was a real bad one."</p> + +<p>"Never mind, child!" he said tenderly. "Why should you tell me?"</p> + +<p>She threw a swift look into his face. She was trembling violently.</p> + +<p>"Big Bear," she cried with sudden vehemence, "you don't understand."</p> + +<p>He knelt down beside her and put his arm about her.</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, my darling," he said, and she shrank at the deep thrill in +his voice. "To me you are all that is beautiful and good and holy. I do +not want to know what lies behind you. I know you have had trouble. But +it is over. You may have made mistakes. But they are over, too. Tell me +nothing! Leave the past alone! Only give me your present and your future. +I shall be quite content."</p> + +<p>He paused. She was shivering within his encircling arm. He could hear her +breath coming and going very quickly.</p> + +<p>"You love me, darling," he said. "And is it necessary for me to tell you +that I worship you as no one ever has worshipped you before?"</p> + +<p>He paused again. But Mab did not speak. The beautiful face was working +painfully. Her hands were tightly clasped in his.</p> + +<p>"Child, what is it?" Merefleet said, conscious of a hidden barrier +between them. "Can't you trust yourself to me? Is that it? Are you afraid +of me? You didn't shrink from me yesterday."</p> + +<p>She bowed her head. Yesterday she had wept in his arms. But to-day no +tears came. Only a halting whisper, a woman's cry of sheer weakness.</p> + +<p>"Don't tempt me, Big Bear!" she murmured. "Oh, don't tempt me! I am +not—free!"</p> + +<p>Merefleet's face grew stern.</p> + +<p>"You did not say that yesterday," he said.</p> + +<p>She heard the change in his tone, and looked up. She was better able to +meet this from him.</p> + +<p>"I know," she said. "And I guess that was where I went wrong. I ought to +have waited till we were dead. But, you see, I didn't know."</p> + +<p>"Then do you tell me you are not free?" Merefleet said. "Do you mean +literally that? Are you the actual property of another man?"</p> + +<p>She shook her head with baffling promptitude.</p> + +<p>"I guess I'm just Death's property, Big Bear," she said, with a wistful +little smile. "But he doesn't seem over-keen on having me."</p> + +<p>"Stop!" said Merefleet harshly. "I won't have you talk like that. It's +madness. Tell me what you mean!"</p> + +<p>"I can't," Mab said. "I can't tell you. It wouldn't be fair. Don't be +angry, Big Bear! It's just the price I've got to pay. And it's no use +squirming. I've worried it round and round. But it always comes back to +that. I'm not free. And no one but Bert must ever know why."</p> + +<p>Merefleet sprang to his feet with an impatience by no means +characteristic of him.</p> + +<p>"This is intolerable!" he exclaimed. "You are wrecking your life for an +insane scruple. Child, listen! Tell me nothing whatever! Give yourself +to me! No one shall ever take you away again. That I swear. And I will +make you so happy, dear. Only trust me!"</p> + +<p>But Mab covered her face as if to shut out a forbidden sight.</p> + +<p>"Big Bear, I mustn't," she said, with a sharp catch in her voice. "I've +done very wrong already. But I mustn't do this. Indeed I mustn't. It's +real good of you. And I shall remember it all my life. I think you are +the most charitable man I ever met, considering what you must think of +me."</p> + +<p>"Think!" said Merefleet, and there was a note of deep passion in his +voice. "I don't think. I want you just as you are,—just as you are. +Don't you know yet that I love you enough for that?"</p> + +<p>Mab rose slowly at the words. She was very pale, and he could see her +trembling as she stood.</p> + +<p>"Big Bear," she said, "I've got something to say to you. What I told you +yesterday was quite true. And I'm in great trouble about it. I thought we +were going to Heaven together. That was how I came to say it. But it was +very wicked of me to be so impulsive. I've done other things that were +wicked in just the same way. It's just my nature. And p'r'aps you'll try +to forgive me when you think how I truly meant it. I'm telling you this +because I want you to do something for me. It'll be real difficult, Big +Bear. Only you're so strong."</p> + +<p>She faltered a little and paused to recover herself. Merefleet was +standing close to her. He could have taken her into his arms. But +something held him back. Moreover he knew the nature of her request +before she uttered it.</p> + +<p>"Will you do what I ask you?" she said suddenly, facing him directly. +"Will you, Big Bear?"</p> + +<p>Merefleet did not answer her.</p> + +<p>She went on quickly.</p> + +<p>"My dear, it's hard for me, too, though I'm bad and I deserve to suffer."</p> + +<p>Her voice broke and Merefleet made a convulsive movement towards her. But +he checked himself. And Mab ended in a choked whisper with an appealing +hand against his breast.</p> + +<p>"Just go right away!" she said. "Take up your life where it was before +you met me! Will you, dear? It—will make it easier for me if you will."</p> + +<p>A dead silence followed the low words. Then, moved by a marvellous +influence which worked upon him irresistibly, Merefleet stooped and put +the slight hand to his lips. He did not understand. He was as far from +reading the riddle as he had been when he entered. But his love for this +woman conquered his desire. He had thought to win an empire. He left the +room a beaten slave.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVA" id="CHAPTER_XVA"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + + +<p>Men said that Bernard Merefleet, the gold-king, was curiously changed +when once more he went among them. Something of the old grimness which +had earned for him his <i>sobriquet</i> yet clung to his manner. But he was +undeniably softer than of yore. There was an odd gentleness about him. +Women said that he was marvellously improved. Among such as had known him +in New York he became a favourite, little as he attempted to court +favour.</p> + +<p>Towards the end of the year he went down to the Midlands to stay with his +friend Perry Clinton. They had not met for several years, and Clinton, +who had married in the interval, also thought him changed.</p> + +<p>"Is it prosperity or adversity that has made you so tame, dear fellow?" +he asked him, as they sat together over dessert one night.</p> + +<p>"Adversity," said Merefleet, smiling faintly. "I'm getting old, Perry; +and there's no one to take care of me. And I find that money is vanity."</p> + +<p>Clinton understood.</p> + +<p>"Better go round the world," he said. "That's the best cure for that."</p> + +<p>But Merefleet shook his head.</p> + +<p>"It's my own fault," he said presently. "I've chucked away my life to the +gold-demon. And now there is nothing left to me. You were wise in your +generation. You may thank your stars, Perry, that when I wanted you to +join me, you had the sense to refuse. When I heard you were married +I called you a fool. But—I know better now."</p> + +<p>He paused. He had been speaking with a force that was almost passionate. +When he continued his tone had changed.</p> + +<p>"That is why you find me a trifle less surly than I used to be," he said. +"I used to hate my fellow-creatures. And now I would give all my money in +exchange for a few disinterested friends. I'm sick of my lonely life. But +for all that, I shall live and die alone."</p> + +<p>"You make too much of it," said Clinton.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps. But you can't expect a man who has been into Paradise to be +exactly happy when he is thrust outside."</p> + +<p>Clinton took up the evening paper without comment. Merefleet had never +before spoken so openly to him. He realised that the man's loneliness +must oppress him heavily indeed thus to master his reserve.</p> + +<p>"What news?" said Merefleet, after a pause.</p> + +<p>"Nothing," said Clinton. "Plague on the Continent. Railway mishap on the +Great Northern. Another American Disaster."</p> + +<p>"What's that?" said Merefleet with a touch of interest.</p> + +<p>"Electric car accident. Ralph Warrender among the victims."</p> + +<p>"Warrender! What! Is he dead?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Killed instantaneously. Did you know him?"</p> + +<p>"I have met him in business. I wasn't intimate with him."</p> + +<p>"Isn't he the man whose first wife was killed in a railway accident?" +said Clinton reflectively, glad to have diverted Merefleet's thoughts. "I +thought so. I met her once and was so smitten with her that I purchased +her portrait forthwith. The most marvellous woman's face I ever saw. The +man I got it from spoke of her with the most appalling enthusiasm. 'Mab +Warrender!' he said. 'If she is not the loveliest woman in U.S., I guess +the next one would strike us blind.' Here! I'll show it you. Netta wants +me to frame it."</p> + +<p>Clinton got up and took a book from a cupboard. Merefleet was watching +him with strained eyes. His heart was thumping as if it would choke him. +He rose as Clinton laid the picture before him, and steadied himself +unconsciously by his friend's shoulder.</p> + +<p>Clinton glanced at him in some surprise.</p> + +<p>"Hullo!" he said. "A friend of yours, was she? My dear fellow, I'm sorry. +I didn't know."</p> + +<p>But Merefleet hung over the picture with fascinated eyes. And his answer +came with a curiously strained laugh, that somehow rang exultant.</p> + +<p>"Yes, a friend of mine, old chap," he said. "It's a wonderful face, isn't +it? But it doesn't do her justice. I shouldn't frame it if I were you."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIA" id="CHAPTER_XVIA"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + + + +<p>"Isn't he a monster?" said Mab, as she sat before the kitchen fire in +Quiller's humble dwelling with Mrs. Quiller's three months' old baby in +her arms. "I guess he'd fetch a prize at a baby show, Mrs. Quiller. Isn't +he just too knowing for anything?"</p> + +<p>"He's the best of the bunch, miss," said Mrs. Quiller proudly. "The other +eight, they weren't nothing special. But this one, he be a beauty, though +it ain't me as should say it. I'm sure it's very good of you, miss, to +spend the time you do over him. He'd be an ungrateful little rogue if he +didn't get on."</p> + +<p>"It's real kind of you to make me welcome," Mab said, with her cheek +against the baby's head, "I don't know what I'd do if you didn't."</p> + +<p>"Ah! Poor dear! You must be lonesome now the gentleman's gone," said Mrs. +Quiller commiseratingly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," said Mab lightly. "Not so very. I couldn't ask my cousin to +give up all his time to me you know. Besides, he would come to see me at +any time if I really wanted him."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" Mrs. Quiller shook her head. "But it ain't the same. You wants a +home of your own, my dear. That's what it is. What's become of t'other +gentleman what used to be down here?"</p> + +<p>Mab almost laughed at the artlessness of this query.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Merefleet, you mean? I don't know. I guess he's making some more +money."</p> + +<p>At this point old Quiller, who had been toddling about in the November +sunshine outside, pushed open the door in a state of breathless +excitement.</p> + +<p>"Here's Master Bernard coming, missie," he announced.</p> + +<p>Mab started to her feet, her face in a sudden, marvellous glow.</p> + +<p>"There now!" said Mrs. Quiller, relieving her of her precious burden. +"Who'd have thought it? You'd better go and talk to him."</p> + +<p>And Mab stepped out into the soft sunshine. It fell around her in a flood +and dazzled her. She stood quite still and waited, till out of the +brilliance someone came to her and took her hand. The waves were dashing +loudly on the shore. The south wind raced by with a warm rushing. The +whole world seemed to laugh. She closed her eyes and laughed with it.</p> + +<p>"Is it you, Big Bear?" she said.</p> + +<p>And Merefleet's voice answered her.</p> + +<p>"Yes," it said. "I have come for you in earnest this time. You won't send +me away again?"</p> + +<p>Mab lifted her face with a glad smile.</p> + +<p>"I guess there's no need," she said. "My dear, I'll come now."</p> + +<p>And they went away together in the sunlight.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"And now I guess I'll tell you the story of the first Mrs. Ralph +Warrender," said Mab, some time later. "I won't say anything about him, +because he's dead, and if you can't speak well of the dead,—well it's +better not to speak at all. But she was miserable with him. And after her +baby died—it just wasn't endurable. Then came that railway accident, and +she was in it. There were a lot of folks killed, burnt to death most of +them. But she escaped, and then the thought came to her just to lie low +for a bit and let him think she was dead.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it was a real wicked thing to do. But she was nearly demented with +trouble. And she did it. She managed to get away, too, in spite of her +lovely face. An old negro woman helped her. And she came to England and +went to a cousin of hers who had been good to her, whom she knew she +could trust—just a plain, square-jawed Englishman, Big Bear, like you in +some respects—not smart, oh no—only strong as iron. And he kept her +secret, though he didn't like it a bit. And he gave her some money of +hers that he had inherited, to live on. Which was funny, wasn't it?"</p> + +<p>Mab paused to laugh.</p> + +<p>"And then another man came along, a great, surly, fogheaded Englishman, +who made love to her till she was nearly driven crazy. For though +Warrender had married again before she could stop him, she wasn't free. +But she couldn't tell him so for the other woman's sake. It doesn't +matter now. It was a dreadful tangle once. And she felt real bad about +it. But it's come out quite simply. And no one will ever know.</p> + +<p>"Now, I'll tell you a secret, Big Bear, about the woman you know of. You +must put your head down for I'll have to whisper. That's the way. Now! +She's just madly in love with you, Big Bear. And she is quite, quite free +to tell you so. There! And I reckon she's not Death's property any more. +She's just—yours."</p> + +<p>The narrative ended in Merefleet's arms.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>A few weeks later Quiller the younger looked up from a newspaper with a +grin.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Merefleet's married our little missie, dad," he announced. "I saw it +coming t'other day."</p> + +<p>And old Quiller looked up with a gleam of intelligence on his wrinkled +face.</p> + +<p>"Why!" he said, with slow triumph. "If that ain't what I persuaded him +for to do, long, long ago! He's a sensible lad, is Master Bernard."</p> + +<p>A measure of approval which Merefleet would doubtless have appreciated.</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1><a name="The_Sacrifice" id="The_Sacrifice"></a><span class="smcap">The Sacrifice</span></h1> + + + +<h3>Contents</h3> + +<p> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I_">CHAPTER I</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II_">CHAPTER II</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III_">CHAPTER III</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV_">CHAPTER IV</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V_">CHAPTER V</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI_">CHAPTER VI</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII_">CHAPTER VII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII_">CHAPTER VIII</a><br /> +</p> + + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I_" id="CHAPTER_I_"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<p>It had been a hot day at the Law Courts, but a faint breeze had sprung up +with the later hours, blowing softly over the river. It caught the tassel +of the blind by which Field sat and tapped it against the window-frame, +at first gently like a child at play, then with gathering force and +insistence till at last he looked up with a frown and rose to fasten it +back.</p> + +<p>It was growing late. The rose of the afterglow lay upon the water, +tipping the silvery ripples with soft colour. It was a magic night. But +the wonder of it did not apparently reach him. A table littered with +papers stood in front of him bearing a portable electric lamp. He was +obviously too engrossed to think of exterior things.</p> + +<p>For a space he sat again in silence by the open window, only the +faint rustling of the lace curtain being audible. His somewhat hard, +clean-shaven face was bent over his work with rigid concentration. +His eyelids scarcely stirred.</p> + +<p>Then again there came a tapping, this time at the door. The frown +returned to his face. He looked up.</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>The door opened. A small, sharp-faced boy poked in his head. "A lady to +see you, sir."</p> + +<p>"What?" said Field. His frown deepened. "I can't see any one. I told you +so."</p> + +<p>"Says she won't go away till she's seen you, sir," returned the boy +glibly. "Can't get her to budge, sir."</p> + +<p>"Oh, tell her—" said Field, and stopped as if arrested by a sudden +thought. "Who is it?" he asked.</p> + +<p>A grin so brief that it might have been a mere twitch of the features +passed over the boy's face.</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't give no name, sir. But she's a nob of some sort," he said. "Got +a shiny satin dress on under her cloak."</p> + +<p>Field's eyes went for a moment to his littered papers. Then he picked up +a newspaper from a chair and threw it over them.</p> + +<p>"Show her in!" he said briefly.</p> + +<p>He got up with the words, and stood with his back to the window, watching +the half-open door.</p> + +<p>There came a slight rustle in the passage outside. The small boy +reappeared and threw the door wide with a flourish. A woman in a dark +cloak and hat with a thick veil over her face entered.</p> + +<p>The door closed behind her. Field stood motionless. She advanced with +slight hesitation.</p> + +<p>"I hope you will forgive me," she said, "for intruding upon you."</p> + +<p>Her voice was rich and deep. It held a throb of nervousness. Field came +deliberately forward.</p> + +<p>"I presume I can be of use to you," he said.</p> + +<p>His tone was dry. There was scant encouragement about him as he drew +forward a chair.</p> + +<p>She hesitated momentarily before accepting it, but finally sat down with +a gesture that seemed to indicate physical weakness of some sort.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I want your help," she said.</p> + +<p>Field said nothing. His face was the face of the trained man of law. It +expressed naught beyond a steady, impersonal attention.</p> + +<p>He drew up another chair and seated himself facing her.</p> + +<p>She looked at him through her veil for several seconds in silence. +Finally, with manifest effort, she spoke.</p> + +<p>"It was so good of you to admit me—especially not knowing who I was. You +recognise me now, of course? I am Lady Violet Calcott."</p> + +<p>"I should recognise you more easily," he said in his emotionless voice, +"if you would be good enough to put up your veil."</p> + +<p>His tone was perfectly quiet and courteous, yet she made a rapid movement +to comply, as if he had definitely required it of her. She threw back the +obscuring veil and showed him the face of one of the most beautiful women +in London.</p> + +<p>There was an instant's pause before he said.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I recognise you, of course. And—you wanted to consult me?"</p> + +<p>"No!" She leaned forward in her chair with white hands clasped. "I wanted +to beg you to tell me—why you have refused to undertake Burleigh +Wentworth's defence!"</p> + +<p>She spoke with a breathless intensity. Her wonderful eyes were lifted to +his—eyes that had dazzled half London, but Field only looked down into +them as he might have regarded one of his legal documents. A slight, +peculiar smile just touched his lips as he made reply.</p> + +<p>"I have no objection to telling you, Lady Violet. He is guilty. That is +why."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" It was a sound like the snapped string of an instrument. Her +fingers gripped each other. "So you think that too! Indeed—indeed, you +are wrong! But—is that your only reason?"</p> + +<p>"Isn't it a sufficient one?" he said.</p> + +<p>Her fingers writhed and strained against each other. "Do you mean that it +is—against your principles?" she said.</p> + +<p>"To defend a guilty man?" questioned the barrister slowly.</p> + +<p>She nodded two or three times as if for the moment utterance were beyond +her.</p> + +<p>Field's eyes had not stirred from her face, yet still they had that legal +look as if he searched for some hidden information.</p> + +<p>"No," he said finally. "It is not entirely a matter of principle. As you +are aware, I have achieved a certain reputation. And I value it."</p> + +<p>She made a quick movement that was almost convulsive.</p> + +<p>"But you would not injure your reputation. You would only enhance it," +she said, speaking very rapidly as if some obstruction to speech had very +suddenly been removed. "You are practically on the top of the wave. You +would succeed where another man would fail. And indeed—oh, indeed he is +innocent! He must be innocent! Things look black against him. But he can +be saved somehow. And you could save him—if you would. Think what the +awful disgrace would mean to him—if he were convicted! And he doesn't +deserve it. I assure you he doesn't deserve it. Ah, how shall I persuade +you of that?" Her voice quivered upon a note of despair. "Surely you are +human! There must be some means of moving you. You can't want to see an +innocent man go under!"</p> + +<p>The beautiful eyes were blurred with tears as she looked at him. She +caught back a piteous sob. The cloak had fallen from about her shoulders. +They gleamed with an exquisite whiteness.</p> + +<p>The man's look still rested upon her with unflickering directness. Again +that peculiar smile hovered about his grim mouth.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am human," he said, after a pause. "I do not esteem myself as +above temptation. As you probably know, I am a self-made man, of very +ordinary extraction. But—I do not feel tempted to take up Burleigh +Wentworth's defence. I am sorry if that fact should cause you any +disappointment. I do not see why it should. There are plenty of other +men—abler than I am—who would, I am sure, be charmed to oblige Lady +Violet Calcott or any of her friends."</p> + +<p>"That is not so," she broke in rapidly. "You know that is not so. You +know that your genius has placed you in what is really a unique position. +Your name in itself is almost a mascot. You know quite well that you +carry all before you with your eloquence. If—if you couldn't get him +acquitted, you could get him lenient treatment. You could save his life +from utter ruin."</p> + +<p>She clasped and unclasped her hands in nervous excitement. Her face was +piteous in its strain and pathos.</p> + +<p>And still Field looked unmoved upon her distress.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid I can't help you," he said. "My eloquence would need a very +strong incentive in such a case as this to balance my lack of sympathy."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by—incentive?" she said, her voice very low. "I +will do anything—anything in my power—to induce you to change your +mind. I never lost hope until—I heard you had refused to defend him. +Surely—surely—there is some means of persuading you left!"</p> + +<p>For the first time his smile was openly cynical.</p> + +<p>"Don't offer me money, please!" he said.</p> + +<p>She flushed vividly, hotly.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Field! I shouldn't dream of it!"</p> + +<p>"No?" he said. "But it was more than a dream with you when you first +entered this room."</p> + +<p>She dropped her eyes from his.</p> + +<p>"I—didn't—realise—" she said in confusion.</p> + +<p>He bent forward slightly. It was an attitude well known at the Law +Courts. "Didn't realise—" he repeated in his quiet, insistent fashion.</p> + +<p>She met his look again—against her will.</p> + +<p>"I didn't realise what sort of man I had to deal with," she said.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said Field. "And now?"</p> + +<p>She shrank a little. There was something intolerably keen in his calm +utterance.</p> + +<p>"I didn't do it," she said rather breathlessly. "Please remember that!"</p> + +<p>"I do," he said.</p> + +<p>But yet his look racked her. She threw out her hands with a sudden, +desperate gesture and rose.</p> + +<p>"Oh, are you quite without feeling? What can I appeal to? Does position +mean a great deal to you? If so, my brother is very influential, and I +have influential friends. I will do anything—anything in my power. Tell +me what—incentive you want!"</p> + +<p>Field rose also. They stood face to face—the self-made man and the girl +who could trace her descent from a Norman baron. He was broad-built, +grim, determined. She was slender, pale, and proud.</p> + +<p>For a moment he did not speak. Then, as her eyes questioned him, he +turned suddenly to a mirror over the mantelpiece behind him and showed +her herself in her unveiled beauty.</p> + +<p>"Lady Violet," he said, and his speech had a steely, cutting quality, +"you came into this room to bribe me to defend a man whom I believe to be +a criminal from the consequences of his crime. And when you found I was +not to be so easily bought as you imagined, you asked me if I were human. +I replied to you that I was human, and not above temptation. Since then +you have been trying—very hard—to find a means to tempt me. But—so +far—you have overlooked the most obvious means of all. You have told +me twice over that you will do anything in your power. Do you +mean—literally—that?"</p> + +<p>He was addressing the face in the glass, and still his look was almost +brutally emotionless. It seemed to measure, to appraise. She met it for +a few seconds, and then in spite of herself she flinched.</p> + +<p>"Will you tell me what you mean?" she said in a low voice.</p> + +<p>He turned round to her again.</p> + +<p>"Why did you come here yourself?" he said. "And at night?"</p> + +<p>She was trembling.</p> + +<p>"I had to come myself—as soon as I knew. I hoped to persuade you."</p> + +<p>"You thought," he said mercilessly, "that, however I might treat others, +I could never resist you."</p> + +<p>"I hoped—to persuade you," she said again.</p> + +<p>"By—tempting—me?" he said slowly.</p> + +<p>She gave a great start. "Mr. Field—"</p> + +<p>He put out a quiet hand, and laid it upon her bare arm.</p> + +<p>"Wait a moment, please! As I said before, I am not above +temptation—being human. You take a very personal interest in Burleigh +Wentworth, I think?"</p> + +<p>She met his look with quivering eyelids.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said.</p> + +<p>"Are you engaged to him?" he pursued.</p> + +<p>She winced in spite of herself.</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>He raised his brows.</p> + +<p>"You have refused him, then?"</p> + +<p>Her face was burning.</p> + +<p>"He hasn't proposed to me—yet," she said. "Perhaps he never will."</p> + +<p>"I see." His manner was relentless, his hold compelling. "I will defend +Burleigh Wentworth," he said, "upon one condition."</p> + +<p>"What is that?" she whispered.</p> + +<p>"That you marry me," said Percival Field with his steady eyes upon her +face.</p> + +<p>She was trembling from head to foot.</p> + +<p>"You—you—have never seen me before to-day," she said.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have seen you," he said, "several times. I have known your face +and figure by heart for a very long while. I haven't had the time to seek +you out. It seems to have been decreed that you should do that part."</p> + +<p>Was there cynicism in his voice? It seemed so. Yet his eyes never left +her. They held her by some electric attraction which she was powerless +to break.</p> + +<p>She looked at him, white to the lips.</p> + +<p>"Are you—in—earnest?" she asked at last.</p> + +<p>Again for an instant she saw his faint smile.</p> + +<p>"Don't you know the signs yet?" he said. "Surely you have had ample +opportunity to learn them!"</p> + +<p>A tinge of colour crept beneath her pallor.</p> + +<p>"No one ever proposed to me—like this before," she said.</p> + +<p>His hand was still upon her arm. It closed with a slow, remorseless +pressure as he made quiet reply to her previous question.</p> + +<p>"Yes. I am in earnest."</p> + +<p>She flinched at last from the gaze of those merciless eyes.</p> + +<p>"You ask the impossible," she said.</p> + +<p>"Then it is all the simpler for you to refuse," he rejoined.</p> + +<p>Her eyes were upon the hand that held her. Did he know that its grasp had +almost become a grip? It was by that, and that alone, that she was made +aware of something human—or was it something bestial—behind that legal +mask?</p> + +<p>Suddenly she straightened herself and faced him. It cost her all the +strength she had.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Field," she said, and though her voice shook she spoke with +resolution, "if I were to consent to this—extraordinary suggestion; if +I married you—you would not ask—or expect—more than that?"</p> + +<p>"If you consent to marry me," he said, "it will be without conditions."</p> + +<p>"Then I cannot consent," she said. "Please let me go!"</p> + +<p>He released her instantly, and, turning, picked up her cloak.</p> + +<p>But she moved away to the window and stood there with her back to him, +gazing down upon the quiet river. Its pearly stillness was like a dream. +The rush and roar of London's many wheels had died to a monotone.</p> + +<p>The man waited behind her in silence. She had released the blind-cord, +and was plucking at it mechanically, with fingers that trembled.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the blast of a siren from a vessel in mid-stream shattered the +stillness. The girl at the window quivered from head to foot as if it had +pierced her. And then with a sharp movement she turned.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Field!" she said, and stopped.</p> + +<p>He waited with absolute composure.</p> + +<p>She made a small but desperate gesture—the gesture of a creature trapped +and helpless.</p> + +<p>"I—will do it!" she said in a voice that was barely audible. "But if—if +you ever come—to repent—don't blame me!"</p> + +<p>"I shall not repent," he said.</p> + +<p>She passed on rapidly.</p> + +<p>"And—you will do your best—to save—Burleigh Wentworth?"</p> + +<p>"I will save him," said Field.</p> + +<p>She paused a moment; then moved towards him, as if compelled against her +will.</p> + +<p>He put the cloak around her shoulders, and then, as she fumbled with it +uncertainly, he fastened it himself.</p> + +<p>"Your veil?" he said.</p> + +<p>She made a blind movement. Her self-control was nearly gone. With +absolute steadiness he drew it down over her face.</p> + +<p>"Have you a conveyance waiting?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she whispered.</p> + +<p>He turned to the door. He was in the act of opening it when she stayed +him.</p> + +<p>"One moment!" she said.</p> + +<p>He stopped at once, standing before her with his level eyes looking +straight at her.</p> + +<p>She spoke hurriedly behind her veil.</p> + +<p>"Promise me, you will never—never let him know—of this!"</p> + +<p>He made a grave bow, his eyes unchangeably upon her.</p> + +<p>"Certainly," he said.</p> + +<p>She made an involuntary movement; her hands clenched. She stood as if she +were about to make some further appeal. But he opened the door and held +it for her, and such was the finality of his action that she was obliged +to pass out.</p> + +<p>He followed her into the lift and took her down in unbroken silence.</p> + +<p>A taxi awaited her. He escorted her to it.</p> + +<p>"Good night!" he said then.</p> + +<p>She hesitated an instant. Then, without speaking, she gave him her hand. +For a moment his fingers grasped hers.</p> + +<p>"You may depend upon me," he said.</p> + +<p>She slipped free from his hold. "Thank you," she said, her voice very +low.</p> + +<p>A few seconds later Field sat again at his table by the window. The wind +was blowing in from the river in rising gusts. The blind-tassel tapped +and tapped, now here, now there, like a trapped creature seeking +frantically for escape. For a space he sat quite motionless, gazing +before him as though unaware of his surroundings. Then very suddenly but +very quietly he reached out and caught the swaying thing. A moment he +held it, then pulled it to him and, taking a penknife from the table, +grimly, deliberately, he severed the cord.</p> + +<p>The tassel lay in his hand, a silken thing, slightly frayed, as if +convulsive fingers had torn it. He sat for a while and looked at it. +Then, with that strange smile of his, he laid it away in a drawer.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_" id="CHAPTER_II_"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + + +<p>The trial of Burleigh Wentworth for forgery was one of the sensations of +the season. A fashionable crowd went day after day to the stifling Court +to watch its progress. The man himself, nonchalant, debonair, bore +himself with the instinctive courage of his race, though whether his +bearing would have been as confident had Percival Field not been at his +back was a question asked by a good many. He was one of the best-known +figures in society, a general favourite in sporting circles, and +universally looked upon with approval if not admiration wherever he went. +He had the knack of popularity. He came of an old family, and his +rumoured engagement to Lady Violet Calcott had surprised no one. Lord +Culverleigh, her brother, was known to be his intimate friend, and the +rumour had come already to be regarded as an accomplished fact when, like +a thunder-bolt, had come Wentworth's arraignment for forgery.</p> + +<p>It had set all London talking. The evidence against him was far-reaching +and overwhelming. After the first shock no one believed him innocent. +The result of the trial was looked upon before its commencement as a +foregone conclusion until it became known that Percival Field, the rising +man of the day, had undertaken his defence, and then like the swing of a +weather cock public opinion veered. If Field defended him, there must be +some very strong point in his favour, men argued. Field was not the sort +to touch anything of a doubtful nature.</p> + +<p>The trial lasted for nearly a week. During that time Lady Violet went day +after day to the Court and sat with her veil down all through the burning +hours. People looked at her curiously, questioning if there really had +been any definite understanding between the two. Did she really care for +the man, or was it mere curiosity that drew her? No one knew with any +certainty. She wrapped herself in her reserve like an all-enveloping +garment, and even those who regarded themselves as her nearest friends +knew naught of what she carried in her soul.</p> + +<p>All through the trial she sat in utter immobility, sphinx-like, +unapproachable, yet listening with tense attention to all that passed. +Field's handling of the case was a marvel of legal ingenuity. There were +many who were attracted to the trial by that alone. He had made his mark, +and whatever he said carried weight. When he came at last to make his +speech for the defence, men and women listened with bated breath. It was +one of the greatest speeches that the Criminal Court had ever heard.</p> + +<p>He flung into it the whole weight of his personality. He grappled like a +giant with the rooted obstacles that strewed his path, flinging them +hither and thither by sheer force of will. His scorching eloquence +blasted every opposing power, consumed every tangle of adverse evidence. +It was as if he fought a pitched battle for himself alone. He wrestled +for the mastery rather than appealed for sympathy.</p> + +<p>And he won his cause. His scathing attacks, his magnetism, his ruthless +insistence left an indelible mark upon the minds of the jury—such a mark +as no subsequent comments from the judge could efface or even moderate. +The verdict returned was unanimous in spite of a by no means favourable +summing-up. The prisoner was Not Guilty.</p> + +<p>At the pronouncement of the verdict there went up a shout of applause +such as that Court had seldom heard. The prisoner, rather white but still +affecting sublime self-assurance, accepted it with a smile as a tribute +to himself. But it was not really directed towards him. It was for the +man who had defended him, the man who sat at the table below the dock and +turned over a sheaf of papers with a faint, cynical smile at the corners +of his thin lips. This man, they said, had done the impossible. He had +dragged the prisoner out of his morass by sheer titanic effort. Obviously +Percival Field had believed firmly in the innocence of the man he had +defended, or he had not thus triumphantly vindicated him.</p> + +<p>The crowd, staring at him, wondered how the victory affected him. It had +certainly enhanced his reputation. It had drawn from him such a display +of genius as had amazed even his colleagues. Did he feel elated at all +over his success? Was he spent by that stupendous effort? No one knew?</p> + +<p>Now that it was over, he looked utterly indifferent. He had fought and +conquered, but it seemed already as if his attention were turning +elsewhere.</p> + +<p>The crowd began to stream out. The day was hot and the crush had been +very great. On one of the benches occupied by the public a woman had +fainted. They carried her out into the corridor and there gradually she +revived. A little later she went home alone in a taxi with her veil +closely drawn down over her face.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III_" id="CHAPTER_III_"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + + +<p>The season was drawing to a close when the announcement of Lady Violet +Calcott's engagement to Percival Field took the world by storm.</p> + +<p>It very greatly astonished Burleigh Wentworth, who after his acquittal +had drifted down to Cowes for rest and refreshment before the advent of +the crowd. He had not seen Lady Violet before his departure, she having +gone out of town for a few days immediately after the trial. But he took +the very next train back to London as soon as he had seen the +announcement, to find her.</p> + +<p>It was late in the evening when he arrived, but this fact did not daunt +him. He had always been accustomed to having his own way, and he had a +rooted belief, which the result of his trial had not tended to lessen, in +his own lucky star. He had dined on the train and he merely waited to +change before he went straight to Lord Culverleigh's house.</p> + +<p>He found there was a dinner-party in progress. Lady Culverleigh, Violet's +sister-in-law, was an indefatigable hostess. She had the reputation for +being one of the hardest-working women in the West End.</p> + +<p>The notes of a song reached Wentworth as he went towards the +drawing-room. Lady Violet was singing. Her voice was rich and low. He +stood outside the half-open door to listen.</p> + +<p>He did not know that he was visible to any one inside the room, but a man +sitting near the door became suddenly aware of his presence and got up +before the song was ended. Wentworth in the act of stepping back to let +him pass stopped short abruptly. It was Percival Field.</p> + +<p>They faced each other for a second or two in silence. Then Field's hand +came quietly forth and grasped the other man's shoulder, turning him +about.</p> + +<p>"I should like a word with you," he said.</p> + +<p>They descended the stairs together, Burleigh Wentworth leading the way.</p> + +<p>Down in the vestibule they faced each other again. There was antagonism +in the atmosphere though it was not visible upon either man's +countenance, and each ignored it as it were instinctively.</p> + +<p>"Hullo!" said Wentworth, and offered his hand. "I'm pleased to meet you +here."</p> + +<p>Field took the hand after a scarcely perceptible pause. His smile was +openly cynical.</p> + +<p>"Very kind of you," he said. "I am somewhat out of my element, I admit. +We are celebrating our engagement."</p> + +<p>He looked full at Wentworth as he said it with that direct, unflickering +gaze of his.</p> + +<p>Wentworth did not meet the look quite so fully, but he faced the +situation without a sign of discomfiture.</p> + +<p>"You are engaged to Lady Violet?" he said. "I saw the announcement. +I congratulate you."</p> + +<p>"Thanks," said Field.</p> + +<p>"Rather sudden, isn't it?" said Wentworth, with a curious glance.</p> + +<p>Field's smile still lingered.</p> + +<p>"Oh, not really. We have kept it to ourselves, that's all. The wedding is +fixed for the week after next—for the convenience of Lady Culverleigh, +who wants to get out of town."</p> + +<p>"By Jove! It is quick work!" said Wentworth.</p> + +<p>There were beads of perspiration on his forehead, but the night was +warm. He held himself erect as one defying Fate. So had he held himself +throughout his trial; Field recognised the attitude.</p> + +<p>The song upstairs had ended. They heard the buzz of appreciation that +succeeded it. Field turned with the air of a man who had said his say.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe in long engagements myself," he said. "They must be +a weariness to the flesh."</p> + +<p>He began to mount the stairs again, and Wentworth followed him in +silence.</p> + +<p>At the drawing-room door Field paused and they entered together. It was +almost Wentworth's first appearance since his trial. There was a moment +or two of dead silence as he sauntered forward with Field. Then, with a +little laugh to cover an instant's embarrassment, Lady Culverleigh came +forward. She shook hands with Wentworth and asked where he had been in +retreat.</p> + +<p>Violet came forward from the piano very pale but quite composed, and +shook hands also. Several people present followed suit, and soon there +was a little crowd gathered round him, and Burleigh Wentworth was again +the popular centre of attraction.</p> + +<p>Percival Field kept in the background; it was not his way to assert +himself in society. But he remained until Wentworth and the last guest +had departed. And then very quietly but with indisputable insistence he +drew Lady Violet away into the conservatory.</p> + +<p>She was looking white and tired, but she held herself with a proud +aloofness in his presence. While admitting his claim upon her, she yet +did not voluntarily yield him an inch.</p> + +<p>"Did you wish to speak to me?" she asked.</p> + +<p>He stood a moment or two in silence before replying; then:</p> + +<p>"Only to give you this," he said, and held out to her a small packet +wrapped in tissue paper on the palm of his hand.</p> + +<p>She took it unwillingly.</p> + +<p>"The badge of servitude?" she said.</p> + +<p>"I should like to know if it fits," said Field quietly, as if she had not +spoken.</p> + +<p>She opened the packet and disclosed not the orthodox diamond ring she had +expected, but a ring containing a single sapphire very deep in hue, +exquisitely cut. She looked at him over it, her look a question.</p> + +<p>"Will you put it on?" he said.</p> + +<p>She hesitated an instant, then with a tightening of the lips she slipped +it on to her left hand.</p> + +<p>"Is it too easy?" he said.</p> + +<p>She looked at him again.</p> + +<p>"No; it is not easy at all."</p> + +<p>He took her hand and looked at it. His touch was cool and strong. He +slipped the ring up and down upon her finger, testing it. It was as if +he waited for something.</p> + +<p>She endured his action for a few seconds, then with a deliberate movement +she took her hand away.</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much," she said conventionally. "I wonder what made you +think of a sapphire."</p> + +<p>"You like sapphires?" he questioned.</p> + +<p>"Of course," she returned. Her tone was resolutely indifferent, yet +something in his look made her avert her eyes abruptly. She turned them +upon the ring. "Why did you choose a sapphire?" she said.</p> + +<p>If she expected some compliment in reply she was disappointed. He stood +in silence.</p> + +<p>Half-startled she glanced at him. In the same moment he held out his hand +to her with a formal gesture of leave-taking.</p> + +<p>"I will tell you another time," he said. "Good night!"</p> + +<p>She gave him her hand, but he scarcely held it. The next instant, with a +brief bow, he had turned and left her.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV_" id="CHAPTER_IV_"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + + +<p>Burleigh Wentworth looked around him with a frown of discontent.</p> + +<p>He ought to have been in good spirits. Life on the moors suited him. The +shooting was excellent, the hospitality beyond reproach. But yet he was +not satisfied. People had wholly ceased to eye him askance. He had come +himself to look back upon his trial as a mere escapade. It had been an +unpleasant experience. He had been a fool to run such a risk. But it was +over, and he had come out with flying colours, thanks to Percival Field's +genius. A baffling, unapproachable sort of man—Field! The affair of his +marriage was still a marvel to Wentworth. He had a strong suspicion that +there was more in the conquest than met the eye, but he knew he would +never find out from Field.</p> + +<p>Violet was getting enigmatical too, but he couldn't stand that. He would +put a stop to it. She might be a married woman, but she needn't imagine +she was going to keep him at a distance.</p> + +<p>She and her husband had joined the house-party of which he was a member +the day before. It was the end of their honeymoon, and they were +returning to town after their sojourn on the moors. He grimaced to +himself at the thought. How would Violet like town in September? He had +asked her that question the previous night, but she had not deigned to +hear. Decidedly, Violet was becoming interesting. He would have to +penetrate that reserve of hers.</p> + +<p>He wondered why she was not carrying a gun. She had always been such an +ardent sportswoman. He would ask her that also presently. In fact, he +felt inclined to go back and ask her now. He was not greatly enjoying +himself. It was growing late, and it had begun to drizzle.</p> + +<p>His inclination became the more insistent, the more he thought of it. +Yes, he would go. He was intimate enough with his host to do as he liked +without explanation. And he and Violet had always been such pals. +Besides, the thought of sitting with her in the firelight while her +husband squelched about in the rain was one that appealed to him. He had +no liking for Field, however deeply he might be in his debt. That latent +antagonism between them was perpetually making itself felt. He hated the +man for the very ability by which he himself had been saved. He hated +his calm superiority. Above all, he hated him for marrying Violet. It +seemed that he had only to stretch out his hand for whatever he wanted. +Still, he hadn't got everything now, Wentworth said to himself, as he +strode impatiently back over the moor. Possibly, as time went on, he +might even come to realise that what he had was not worth very much.</p> + +<p>He reached and entered the old grey house well ahead of any of the other +sportsmen. He was determined to find Violet somehow, and he made instant +enquiry for her of one of the servants.</p> + +<p>The reply served in some measure to soothe his chafing mood. Her ladyship +had gone up into the turret some little time back, and was believed to be +on the roof.</p> + +<p>Without delay he followed her. The air blew chill down the stone +staircase as he mounted it. He would have preferred sitting downstairs +with her over the fire. But at least interruptions were less probable in +this quarter.</p> + +<p>There was a battlemented walk at the top of the tower, and here he found +her, with a wrap thrown over her head, gazing out through one of the deep +embrasures over the misty country to a line of hills in the far distance. +The view was magnificent, lighted here and there by sunshine striking +through scudding cloud-drifts. And a splendid rainbow spanned it like a +multi-coloured frame.</p> + +<p>She did not hear him approaching. He wondered why, till he was so close +that he could see her face, and then very swiftly she turned upon him and +he saw that she was crying.</p> + +<p>"My dear girl!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>She drew back sharply. It was impossible to conceal her distress all in a +moment. She moved aside, battling with herself.</p> + +<p>He came close to her. "Violet!" he said.</p> + +<p>"Don't!" she said, in a choked whisper.</p> + +<p>He slipped an arm about her, gently overcoming her resistance. "I +say—what's the matter? What's troubling you?"</p> + +<p>He had never held her so before. Always till that moment she had +maintained a delicate reserve in his presence, a barrier which he had +never managed to overcome. He had even wondered sometimes if she were +afraid of him. But now in her hour of weakness she suffered him, albeit +under protest.</p> + +<p>"Oh, go away!" she whispered. "Please—you must!"</p> + +<p>But Wentworth had no thought of yielding his advantage. He pressed her to +him.</p> + +<p>"Violet, I say! You're miserable! I knew you were the first moment I saw +you. And I can't stand it. You must let me help. Don't anyhow try to keep +me outside!"</p> + +<p>"You can't help," she murmured, with her face averted. "At least—only by +going away."</p> + +<p>But he held her still. "That's rot, you know. I'm not going. What is it? +Tell me! Is he a brute to you?"</p> + +<p>She made a more determined effort to disengage herself. "Whatever he is, +I've got to put up with him. So it's no good talking about it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but look here!" protested Wentworth. "You and I are such old +friends. I used to think you cared for me a little. Violet, I say, what +induced you to marry that outsider?"</p> + +<p>She was silent, not looking at him.</p> + +<p>"You were always so proud," he went on. "I never thought in the old days +that you would capitulate to a bounder like that. Why, you might have had +that Bohemian prince if you'd wanted him."</p> + +<p>"I didn't want him!" She spoke with sudden vehemence, as if stung into +speech. "I'm not the sort of snob-woman who barters herself for a title!"</p> + +<p>"No?" said Wentworth, looking at her curiously. "But what did you barter +yourself for, I wonder?"</p> + +<p>She flinched, and dropped back into silence.</p> + +<p>"Won't you tell me?" he said.</p> + +<p>"No." She spoke almost under her breath. He relinquished the matter with +the air of a man who has gained his point. "Do you know," he said, in a +different tone, "if it hadn't been for that fiendish trial, I'd have been +in the same race with Field, and I believe I'd have made better running, +too?"</p> + +<p>"Ah!" she said.</p> + +<p>It was almost a gasp of pain. He stopped deliberately and looked into her +face.</p> + +<p>"Violet!" he said.</p> + +<p>She trembled at his tone and thrust out a protesting hand. "Ah, what is +the use?" she cried. "Do you—do you want to break my heart?"</p> + +<p>Her voice failed. For the first time her eyes met his fully.</p> + +<p>There followed an interval of overwhelming stillness in which neither of +them drew a breath. Then, with an odd sound that might have been a laugh +strangled at birth. Burleigh Wentworth gathered her to his heart and held +her there.</p> + +<p>"No!" he said. "No! I want to make you—the happiest woman in the world!"</p> + +<p>"Too late! Too late!" she whispered.</p> + +<p>But he stopped the words upon her lips, passionately, irresistibly, with +his own.</p> + +<p>"You are mine!" he swore, with his eyes on hers. "You are mine! No man on +earth shall ever take you from me again!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V_" id="CHAPTER_V_"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + + +<p>Violet was in her room ready dressed for dinner that evening, when there +came a knock upon her door. She was seated at a writing-table in a corner +scribbling a note, but she covered it up quickly at the sound.</p> + +<p>"Come in!" she said.</p> + +<p>She rose as her husband entered. He also was ready dressed. He came up to +her in his quiet, direct fashion, looking at her with those steady eyes +that saw so much and revealed so little.</p> + +<p>"I just came in to say," he said, "that I am sorry to cut your pleasure +short, but I find we must return to town to-morrow."</p> + +<p>She started at the information. "To-morrow!" she echoed. "Why?"</p> + +<p>"I find it necessary," he said.</p> + +<p>She looked at him. Her heart was beating very fast. "Percival, why?" she +said again.</p> + +<p>He raised his eyebrows slightly. "It would be rather difficult for me to +explain."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean you have to go on business?" she said.</p> + +<p>He smiled a little. "Yes, on business."</p> + +<p>She turned to the fire with a shiver. There was something in the +atmosphere, although the room was warm, that made her cold from head +to foot. With her back to him she spoke again:</p> + +<p>"Is there any reason why I should go too?"</p> + +<p>He came and joined her before the fire. "Yes; one," he said.</p> + +<p>She threw him a nervous glance. "And that?"</p> + +<p>"You are my wife," said Field quietly.</p> + +<p>Again that shiver caught her. She put out a hand to steady herself +against the mantelpiece. When she spoke again, it was with a great +effort.</p> + +<p>"Wives are sometimes allowed a holiday away from their husbands."</p> + +<p>Field said nothing whatever. He only looked at her with unvarying +attention.</p> + +<p>She turned at last in desperation and faced him. "Percival! Why do you +look at me like that?"</p> + +<p>He turned from her instantly, without replying. "May I write a note +here?" he said, and went towards the writing-table. "My pen has run dry."</p> + +<p>She made a movement that almost expressed panic. She was at the table +before he reached it. "Ah, wait a minute! Let me clear my things out +of your way first!"</p> + +<p>She began to gather up the open blotter that lay there with feverish +haste. A sheet of paper flew out from her nervous hands and fluttered +to the floor at Field's feet. He stooped and picked it up.</p> + +<p>She uttered a gasp and turned as white as the dress she wore. "That is +mine!" she panted.</p> + +<p>He gave it to her with grave courtesy. "I am afraid I am disturbing you," +he said. "I can wait while you finish."</p> + +<p>But she crumpled the paper in her hand. She was trembling so much that +she could hardly stand.</p> + +<p>"It—doesn't matter," she said almost inaudibly.</p> + +<p>He stood for a second or two in silence, then seated himself at the +writing-table and took up a pen.</p> + +<p>In the stillness that followed she moved away to the fire and stood +before it. Field wrote steadily without turning his head. She stooped +after a moment and dropped the crumpled paper into the blaze. Then she +sat down, her hands tightly clasped about her knees, and waited.</p> + +<p>Field's quiet voice broke the stillness at length. "If you are writing +letters of your own, perhaps I may leave this one in your charge."</p> + +<p>She looked round with a start. He had turned in his chair. Their eyes met +across the room.</p> + +<p>"May I?" he said.</p> + +<p>She nodded, finding her voice with an effort. "Yes—of course."</p> + +<p>He got up, and as he did so the great dinner-gong sounded through the +house. He came to her side. She rose quickly at his approach, moving +almost apprehensively.</p> + +<p>"Shall we go down?" she said.</p> + +<p>He put out a hand and linked it in her arm. She shrank at his touch, but +she endured it. She even, after a moment, seemed to be in a measure +steadied by it. She stood motionless for a few seconds, and during those +seconds his fingers closed upon her, very gentle, very firmly; then +opened and set her free.</p> + +<p>"Will you lead the way?" he said.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI_" id="CHAPTER_VI_"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + + +<p>A very hilarious party gathered at the table that night. Burleigh +Wentworth was in uproarious spirits which seemed to infect nearly +everyone else.</p> + +<p>In the midst of the running tide of joke and banter Violet sat as one +apart. Now and then she joined spasmodically in the general merriment, +but often she did not know what she laughed at. There was a great fear at +her heart, and it tormented her perpetually. That note that she had +crumpled and burnt! His eyes had rested upon it during the moment he had +held it in his hand. How much had they seen? And what was it that had +induced him in the first place to declare his intention of curtailing +their visit? Why had he reminded her that she was his wife? Surely he +must have heard something—suspected something! But what?</p> + +<p>Covertly she watched him during that interminable dinner, watched his +clear-cut face with its clever forehead and intent eyes, his slightly +scornful, wholly unyielding lips. She cast her thoughts backwards over +their honeymoon, trying somehow to trace an adequate reason for the fear +that gripped her. He had been very forbearing with her throughout that +difficult time. He had been gentle; he had been considerate. Though he +had asserted and maintained his mastery over her, though his will had +subdued hers, he had never been unreasonable, never so much as impatient, +in his treatment of her. He had given her no cause for the dread that now +consumed her, unless it were that by his very self-restraint he had +inspired in her a fear of the unknown.</p> + +<p>No, she had to look farther back than her honeymoon, back to the days of +Burleigh Wentworth's trial, and the almost superhuman force by which he +had dragged him free. It was that force with which she would have very +soon to reckon, that overwhelming, all-consuming power that had wrestled +so victoriously in Wentworth's defence. How would it be when she found +herself confronted by that? She shivered and dared not think.</p> + +<p>The stream of gaiety flowed on around her. Someone—Wentworth she knew +later—proposed a game of hide-and-seek by moonlight in and about the old +ruins on the shores of the loch. She would have preferred to remain +behind, but he made a great point of her going also. She did not know if +Percival went or not, but she did not see him among the rest. The fun was +fast and furious, the excitement great. Almost in spite of herself she +was drawn in.</p> + +<p>And then, how it happened she scarcely knew, she found herself hiding +alone with Wentworth in a little dark boat-house on the edge of the +water. He had a key with him, and she heard him turn it on the inside.</p> + +<p>"I think we are safe here," he said, and then in the darkness his arms +were round her. He called her by every endearing name that he could think +of.</p> + +<p>Why was it his ardour failed to reach her? She had yielded to him only +that afternoon. She had suffered him to kiss away her tears. But now +something in her held her back. She drew herself away.</p> + +<p>"Come and sit in the boat!" he said. "We will go on the water as soon as +the hue and cry is over. Hush! Don't speak! They are coming now."</p> + +<p>They sat with bated breath while the hunt spread round their +hiding-place. The water lapped mysteriously in front of them with an +occasional gurgling chuckle. The ripples danced far out in the moonlight. +It was a glorious night, with a keenness in the air that was like the +touch of steel.</p> + +<p>Violet drew her cloak more closely about her. She felt very cold.</p> + +<p>Someone came and battered at the door. "I'm sure they're here," cried a +voice.</p> + +<p>"They can't be," said another. "The place is locked, and there's no key."</p> + +<p>"Bet you it's on the inside!" persisted the first, and a match was +lighted and held to the lock.</p> + +<p>The man inside laughed under his breath. The key was dangling between his +hands.</p> + +<p>"Oh, come on!" called a girl's voice from the distance. "They wouldn't +hide in there. It's such a dirty hole. Lady Violet is much too +fastidious."</p> + +<p>And Violet, sitting within, drew herself together with a little shrinking +movement. Yes, that had always been their word for her. She was +fastidious. She had rather prided herself upon having that reputation. +She had always regarded women who made themselves cheap with scorn.</p> + +<p>The chase passed on, and Wentworth's arm slipped round her again. "Now we +are safe," he said. "By Jove, dear, how I have schemed for this! It was +really considerate of your worthy husband to absent himself."</p> + +<p>Again, gently but quite decidedly, she drew herself away. "I think Freda +is right," she said. "This is rather a dirty place."</p> + +<p>He laughed. "A regular black hole! But wait till I can get you out on to +the loch! It's romantic enough out there. But look here, Violet! I've +got to come to an understanding with you. Now that we've found each +other, darling, we are not going to lose each other again, are we?"</p> + +<p>She was silent in the darkness.</p> + +<p>He leaned to her and took her hand. "Oh, why did you go and complicate +matters by getting married?" he said. "It was such an obvious—such +a fatal—mistake. You knew I cared for you, didn't you?"</p> + +<p>"You—had never told me so," she said, her voice very low.</p> + +<p>"Never told you! I tried to tell you every time we met. But you were +always so aloof, so frigid. On my soul, I was afraid to speak. Tell me +now!" His hand was fast about hers. "When did you begin to care?"</p> + +<p>She sat unyielding in his hold. "I—imagined I cared—a very long time +ago," she said, with an effort.</p> + +<p>"What! Before that trial business?" he said. "I wish to Heaven I'd +known!"</p> + +<p>"Why?" she said.</p> + +<p>"Because if I'd known I wouldn't have been such a fool," he said with +abrupt vehemence. "I would never have run that infernal risk."</p> + +<p>"What risk?" she said.</p> + +<p>He laughed, a half-shamed laugh. "Oh, I didn't quite mean to let that +out. Consider it unsaid! Only a man without ties is apt to risk more than +a man who has more to lose. I've had the most fantastic ill-luck this +year that ever fell any man's lot before."</p> + +<p>"At least you were vindicated," Violet said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that!" said Wentworth. "Well, it was beginning to be time my luck +turned, wasn't it? It was rank enough to be caught, but if I'd been +convicted, I'd have hanged myself. Now tell me! Was it Field's brilliant +defence that dazzled you into marrying him?"</p> + +<p>She did not answer him. She turned instead and faced him in the darkness. +"Burleigh! What do you mean by risk? What do you mean by being—caught? +You don't mean—you can't mean—that you—that you were—guilty!"</p> + +<p>Her voice shook. The words tumbled over each other. Her hand wrenched +itself free.</p> + +<p>"My dear girl!" said Wentworth. "Don't be so melodramatic! No man is +guilty until he is proved so. And—thanks to the kindly offices of +your good husband—I did not suffer the final catastrophe."</p> + +<p>"But—but—but—" Her utterance seemed suddenly choked. She rose, feeling +blindly for the door.</p> + +<p>"It's locked," said Wentworth, and there was a ring of malice in his +voice. "I say, don't be unreasonable! You shouldn't ask unnecessary +questions, you know. Other people don't. For Heaven's sake, let's enjoy +what we've got and leave the past alone!"</p> + +<p>"Open the door!" gasped Violet in a whisper.</p> + +<p>He rose without haste. Her white dress made her conspicuous in the +dimness. Her cloak had fallen from her, and she seemed unaware of it.</p> + +<p>He reached out as if to open the door, and then very suddenly his +intention changed. He caught her to him.</p> + +<p>"By Heaven," he said, and laughed savagely, "I'll have my turn first!"</p> + +<p>She turned in his hold, turned like a trapped creature in the first wild +moment of capture, struggling so fiercely that she broke through his grip +before he had made it secure.</p> + +<p>He stumbled against the boat, but she sprang from him, sprang for the +open moonlight and the lapping water, and the next instant she was gone +from his sight.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII_" id="CHAPTER_VII_"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + + +<p>The water was barely up to her knees, but she stumbled among slippery +stones as she fled round the corner of the boat-house, and twice she +nearly fell. There were reeds growing by the bank; she struggled through +them, frantically fighting her way.</p> + +<p>She was drenched nearly to the waist when at last she climbed up the +grassy slope. She heard the seekers laughing down among the ruins some +distance away as she did so, and for a few seconds she thought she might +escape to the house unobserved. She turned in that direction, her wet +skirts clinging round her. And then, simultaneously, two things happened.</p> + +<p>The key ground in the lock of the boat-house, and, ere Wentworth could +emerge, a man walked out from the shadow of some trees and met her on the +path. She stopped short in the moonlight, standing as one transfixed. It +was her husband.</p> + +<p>He came to her, moving more quickly than was his won't. "My dear child!" +he ejaculated.</p> + +<p>Feverishly she sought to make explanation. "I—I was hiding—down +on the bank. I slipped into the lake. It was very foolish of me. +But—but—really I couldn't help it."</p> + +<p>Her teeth were chattering. He took her by the arm.</p> + +<p>"Come up to the house at once!" he said.</p> + +<p>She looked towards the boat-house. The door was ajar, but Wentworth had +not shown himself. With a gasp of relief she yielded to Field's insistent +hand.</p> + +<p>Her knees were shaking under her, but she made a valiant effort to +control them. He did not speak further, and something in his silence +dismayed her. She trembled more and more as she walked. Her wet clothes +impeded her. She remembered with consternation that she had left her +cloak in the boat-house. In her horror at this discovery she stopped.</p> + +<p>As she did so a sudden tumult behind them told her that Wentworth had +been sighted by his pursuers.</p> + +<p>In the same moment Field very quietly turned and lifted her in his arms. +She gave a gasp of astonishment.</p> + +<p>"I think we shall get on quicker this way," he said. "Put your arm over +my shoulder, won't you?"</p> + +<p>He spoke as gently as if she had been a child, and instinctively she +obeyed. He bore her very steadily straight to the house.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII_" id="CHAPTER_VIII_"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + + +<p>In the safe haven of her own room Violet recovered somewhat. Field left +her in the charge of her maid, but the latter she very quickly dismissed. +She sat before the fire clad in a wrapper, still shivering spasmodically, +but growing gradually calmer.</p> + +<p>"I believe there is a letter on the writing-table," she said to the maid +as she was about to go out. "Take it with you and put it in the box +downstairs!"</p> + +<p>The girl returned and took up the letter that Field had written that +evening. "It isn't stamped my lady," she began; and then in a tone of +surprise: "Why, it is addressed to your ladyship!"</p> + +<p>Violet started. "Give it to me!" she commanded "That will do. I shall not +be wanting you again to-night."</p> + +<p>The girl withdrew, and she crouched lower over the fire, the letter in +her hand.</p> + +<p>Yes, it was addressed to her in her husband's clear, strong +writing—addressed to her and written in her presence!</p> + +<p>Her hands were trembling very much as she tore open the envelope. A +baffling mist danced before her eyes. For a few seconds she could see +nothing. Then with a great effort she commanded herself, and read:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"My own Beloved Wife,</p> + +<p>"If I have made your life a misery, may I be forgiven! I meant otherwise. +I saw you on the ramparts this evening. That is why I want you to leave +this place to-morrow. But if you do not wish to share my life any longer, +I will let you go. Only in Heaven's name choose some worthier means than +this!</p> + +<p>"I am yours to take or leave. P.F."</p></div> + +<p>Hers—to take—or leave! She felt again the steady hold upon her arm, the +equally steady release. That was what he had meant. That!</p> + +<p>She sat bowed like an old woman. He had seen! And instead of being angry +on his own account, he was concerned only on hers. She was his own +beloved wife. He was—hers to take or leave!</p> + +<p>Suddenly a great sob broke from her. She laid her face down upon the note +she held....</p> + +<p>There came a low knock at the door that divided her room from the one +adjoining. She started swiftly up as one caught in a guilty act.</p> + +<p>"Can I come in?" Field said.</p> + +<p>She made some murmured response, and he opened the dividing door. A +moment he stood on the threshold; then he came quietly forward. He +carried her cloak upon his arm.</p> + +<p>He deposited it upon the back of a chair, and came to her. "I hoped you +would be in bed," he said.</p> + +<p>"I am trying—to get warm," she muttered almost inarticulately.</p> + +<p>"Have you had a hot drink since your accident?" he asked.</p> + +<p>She shook her head. "I told West—I couldn't."</p> + +<p>He turned and rang the bell. He must have seen his note tightly grasped +in her hand, but he made no comment upon it.</p> + +<p>"Sit down again!" he said gently, and, stooping, poked the sinking fire +into a blaze.</p> + +<p>She obeyed him almost automatically. After a moment he laid down the +poker, and drew the chair with her in it close to the fender. Then he +picked up the cloak and put it about her shoulders, and finally moved +away to the door.</p> + +<p>She heard him give an order to a servant, and sat nervously awaiting his +return. But he did not come back to her. He went outside and waited in +the passage.</p> + +<p>There ensued an interval of several minutes, and during that time she sat +crouched over the fire, holding her cloak about her, and shivering, +shivering all over. Then the door which he had left ajar closed quietly, +and she knew that he had come back into the room.</p> + +<p>She drew herself together, striving desperately to subdue her agitation.</p> + +<p>He came to her side and stooped over her. "I want you to drink this," he +said.</p> + +<p>She glanced up at him swiftly, and as swiftly looked away. "Don't bother +about me!" she said. "I—am not worth it."</p> + +<p>He passed the low words by. "It's only milk with a dash of brandy," he +said. "Won't you try it?"</p> + +<p>Very reluctantly she took the steaming beverage from him and began to +drink.</p> + +<p>He remained beside her, and took the cup from her when she had finished.</p> + +<p>"Now," he said, "wouldn't it be wise of you to go to bed?"</p> + +<p>She made a movement that was almost convulsive. She had his note still +clasped in her hand.</p> + +<p>After a moment, without lifting her eyes, she spoke. "Percival, why did +you—what made you—write this?"</p> + +<p>"I owed it to you," he said.</p> + +<p>"You—meant it?" she said, with an effort.</p> + +<p>"Yes. I meant it." He spoke with complete steadiness.</p> + +<p>"But—but—" She struggled with herself for an instant; then, "Oh, I've +got to tell you!" she burst forth passionately. "I'm—very wicked."</p> + +<p>"No," he said quietly, and laid a constraining hand upon her as she sat. +"That is not so."</p> + +<p>She contracted at his touch. "You don't know me. I wrote you a note this +evening, trying to explain. I told you I meant to leave you. But—I +didn't mean you to read it till I was gone. Did you read it?"</p> + +<p>"No," he said. "I guessed what you had done."</p> + +<p>Desperately she went on. "You've got to know the worst. I was ready to go +away with him. We—were such old friends, and I thought—I thought—I +knew him." She bowed herself lower under his hand. Her face was hidden. +"I thought he was at least a gentleman. I thought I could trust him. +I—believed in him."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said Field. "And now?"</p> + +<p>"Now"—her head was sunk almost to her knees—"I know him—for what—he +is." Her voice broke in bitter weeping. "And I had given so much—so +much—to save him!" she sobbed.</p> + +<p>"I know," Field said. "He wasn't worth the sacrifice." He stood for a +moment or two as though in doubt; then knelt suddenly down beside her and +drew her to him.</p> + +<p>She made as if she would resist him, but finally, as he held her, +impulsively she yielded. She sobbed out her agony against his breast. And +he soothed her as he might have soothed a child.</p> + +<p>But though presently he dried her tears, he did not kiss her. He spoke, +but his voice was devoid of all emotion.</p> + +<p>"You are blaming the wrong person for all this. It wasn't Wentworth's +fault. He has probably been a crook all his life. It wasn't yours. You +couldn't be expected to detect it. But"—he paused—"don't you realise +now why I am offering you the only reparation in my power?" he said.</p> + +<p>She was trembling, but she did not raise her head or attempt to move, +though his arms were ready to release her.</p> + +<p>"No. I don't," she said.</p> + +<p>Very steadily he went on: "You have not wronged me. It was I who did the +wrong. I could have made you see his guilt. It would have been infinitely +easier than establishing his innocence before the world. But—I have +always wanted the unattainable. I knew that you were out of reach, and so +I wanted you. Afterwards, very soon afterwards, I found I wanted even +more than what I had bargained for. I wanted your friendship. That was +what the sapphire stood for. You didn't understand. I had handicapped +myself too heavily. So I took what I could get, and missed the rest."</p> + +<p>He stopped. She still lay against his breast.</p> + +<p>"Why did you want—my friendship?" she whispered.</p> + +<p>He made a curious gesture, as if he faced at last the inevitable. When he +answered her his voice was very low. He seemed to speak against his will. +"I—loved you."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" It was scarcely more than a breath uttering the words. "And you +never told me!"</p> + +<p>He was silent.</p> + +<p>She raised herself at last and faced him. Her hands were on his +shoulders. "Percival," she said, and there was a strange light shining +in the eyes that he had dried. "Is your love so small, then—as to be +not—worth—mentioning?"</p> + +<p>For the first time in her memory he avoided her look. "No," he said.</p> + +<p>"What then?" Her voice was suddenly very soft and infinitely appealing.</p> + +<p>He opened his arms with a gesture of renunciation "It is—beyond words," +he said.</p> + +<p>She leaned nearer. Her hands slipped upwards, clasping his neck.</p> + +<p>"It is the greatest thing that has ever come to me," she said, and in her +voice there throbbed a new note which he had never heard in it before. +"Do you think—oh, do you think—I would cast—that—away?"</p> + +<p>He did not speak in answer. It seemed as if he could not. That which lay +between them was indeed beyond words. Only in the silence he took her +again into his arms and kissed her on the lips.</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2><a name="By_Ethel_M_Dell" id="By_Ethel_M_Dell"></a><span class="smcap">By Ethel M. Dell</span></h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The Way of an Eagle<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Knave of Diamonds<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Rocks of Valpré<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Swindler<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Keeper of the Door<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bars of Iron<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Hundredth Chance<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Safety Curtain<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Greatheart<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Lamp in the Desert<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Tidal Wave<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Top of the World<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Rosa Mundi and Other Stories<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Obstacle Race<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Odds and Other Stories<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Charles Rex<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tetherstones<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Odds, by Ethel M. 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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 + + +Title: The Odds + And Other Stories + +Author: Ethel M. Dell + +Release Date: July 28, 2005 [EBook #16380] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ODDS *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE ODDS + + _And Other Stories_ + + By ETHEL M. DELL + + +Author of "Rosa Mundi," "The Bars of Iron," "The Keeper of the Door," +"The Knave of Diamonds," "The Obstacle Race," "The Rocks of Valpre," +"The Way of an Eagle," etc. + + 1922 + + + + +CONTENTS + +The Odds +Without Prejudice +Her Own Free Will +The Consolation Prize +Her Freedom +Death's Property +The Sacrifice + +Other Books By Ethel M. Dell + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + The Odds + + + + +"If he comes my way, I'll shoot him!" said Dot Burton, her blue eyes +gleaming in her boyish, tanned face. "I'm not such a bad shot, am I, +Jack?" + +"Not so bad," said Jack, kindly. "But don't shoot at sight, or p'r'aps +you'll shoot a policeman--which might be awkward for us both!" + +"As if I should be such an idiot as that!" protested Dot. "I wasn't born +yesterday, anyhow." + +"No?" said Jack. "Somehow you look as if you were." + +"Don't you be a donkey, Jack!" said his young sister, with an impudent +snap of the fingers under his nose. "Being ten years older than I am +doesn't qualify you for that superior pose. You're only a man, you know, +after all." + +"Buckskin Bill is only a man, but he's a pretty tough proposition," said +Burton, with a frown. + +She smoothed the frown away with caressing fingers. "I know. That's why +I'd like to shoot him. But he's sure to be caught now, isn't he? They've +got him in a trap. He'll never wriggle through with Fletcher Hill to +outwit him. You said yourself that with him on the job the odds were dead +against him." + +"Oh, I know. So they are. But he's such a wily devil. Well, I'd better be +going." Jack Burton arose with the deliberate movements of a heavy man. +"I'm sick of this business, Dot. If it weren't for you, I believe I'd +chuck it all and go into business in a town." + +"Oh, darling! How silly!" protested Dot. "What a good thing I came out +when I did! Things seem to be at a rather low ebb with you. But cheer up! +What's a few head of cattle when all's said and done? When once this +rascal is laid by the heels, you'll make up quicker than you know. Of +course you will. Don't let yourself get downhearted! What is the good?" + +He smiled a little. There was something heartening in the girl's slim +activity of pose apart from her words. She looked indomitable. He pulled +her to him and kissed her. + +"Well, take care of yourself, Dot! You won't be frightened? You needn't +be. He won't come your way. Hill has sworn solemnly to keep an extra +guard in this direction. He may call around himself before the day is +over. It wouldn't surprise me. Don't shoot him if he does! At least, +give him a feed first!" + +"Oh, really, Jack!" the girl protested. "I shall be cross with you before +long. You'd better go quick before it comes on." + +She put her arms around his neck and gave him a tight hug. Her sunburnt +face was pressed to his. "Now, you won't do anything silly?" she urged +him, softly. "I don't like parting with you in this mood. I wish I were +coming too." + +"Rubbish! Rubbish!" he said. "You stay at home, little shepherdess, and +look after the lambs! I won't be late back. Mind you are civil to +Fletcher Hill if he turns up! He'll be a magistrate one of these days if +he plays his cards well." + +"If he catches the biggest cattle-thief in Australia?" suggested Dot, +screwing her face into a very boyish grimace. "I wouldn't care to get +promotion for that job, if I were a man. But I'll be vastly polite to him +if he turns up. You've never seen me doing the pretty, have you? But I +can--awfully well--when I try." + +Her brother laughed. "Oh, don't be too pretty, my child! It's a dangerous +game. Good-bye! Don't go far away!" + +"My dear man! As if I should have time!" ejaculated Dot. + +She gave him another squeeze and let him go. + +There were a great many things to be done that day, things which a mere +ignorant male would never have dreamt of. There was bread to be baked, an +evening meal to be prepared, countless household duties waiting to be +done, and work enough in Jack's wardrobe alone to keep an ordinary woman +busy for a week. Poor Jack! He was not a great hand at needlework. She +had been shocked at the state in which she had found him. But she had not +shirked her responsibilities. And more than ever was she glad now that +she had come to him. For he needed her in a moral sense as well. She was +too much of a "new chum" to help him in any very active sense outside the +homestead at present. But he needed a good deal of moral backing just at +that moment. She had come to him straight from England, and full of +enthusiasm. He had hewn his own way and begun to enjoy prosperity. But +she had arrived to find that prosperity temporarily checked. A gang of +cattle-thieves were making serious depredations among his stock. + +The police were hot on the trail, and it was believed that the gang had +been split up, but so far no notable captures had been made. Buckskin +Bill, the leader, was still at large, and while this remained the case +there could be no security for any one. Every farmer in the district was +keen on the chase, expecting to fall a victim. + +And--there was no doubt about it--Buckskin Bill was in a very tight +corner. Inspector Hill had the matter in hand, and he was not a man to +be lightly baffled. Jack regarded him with wholehearted admiration. But +somehow Dot, the new arrival, felt curiously prejudiced against him. She +wanted Buckskin Bill to be caught, but she could not help hoping that +this astute Inspector of Police would not be his captor. She was sure +from Jack's description that she would not like the man, and as she went +about her work she earnestly hoped that he would not come her way, at +least in her brother's absence. + +She was busy indoors during the whole of the morning. As midday +approached the heat became intense. Jack usually returned for a meal at +noon, but she was not expecting him that day. He had joined the chase, +and had taken with him every available man. She might have felt lonely +if she had not been so engrossed. As it was, she hummed cheerily to +herself as she went to and fro. There were so many things to think about, +and it was such an interesting world in which she found herself. + +In the early afternoon she went out to feed a few motherless lambs that +her brother had placed in her charge. She stood in the shelter of a great +barn with the little things clustering around her, while Robin, the old +black hound, lay watching and snapping at the flies. Miles and miles of +pasture stretched around her, broken here and there by thick scrub and +occasional groups of blue gum trees. + +The hot glare of the afternoon sun made the eyes ache, and she was glad +when her task was over. When she stood up at length she was feeling a +little giddy, and she leaned for a moment against the barn wall to steady +herself. A rank growth of grass grew all about her feet, and as she stood +there gazing rather dizzily downwards she saw a ripple pass along it +close to the building. + +Any but a "new chum" would have known the meaning of that small +disturbance, for there was no breath of air to cause it. Any but a "new +chum," being quite defenceless, would have beaten instant and swift +retreat. + +But Dot Burton in her inexperience had no thought of evil. She was only +curious. She forgot her weariness, and bent down to watch the moving +grass. + +At the same moment Robin suddenly raised his head and looked keenly in +the direction of the farm, with a growl. The girl barely heard him, so +interested was she. She even stooped and parted the tall grass with her +hands when unexpectedly it ceased to move. + +The next instant she started back with a wild cry of horror. For it was +as if the grass itself had suddenly come to malignant life under her +hands. A shape--long, thin, vividly green--rose up before her, and swayed +with an angry hiss. + +Her cry seemed to galvanize Robin into action, for he sprang up fiercely +barking, but his attention was not directed towards her. He leapt instead +towards the house, yelling resentment as he went. And in a flash the +green evil struck at the bare brown arm! + +Dot shrieked again, shrieked like a demented creature, and in a moment, +with hands flung wide, she was fleeing across the sun-baked yard. + +She reached the open door immediately behind Robin, and sprang in +headlong. Robin had ceased to bark, and was fawning at the feet of a man +who had evidently just entered. He was bent down over the dog, fondling +him with one hand. In the other something bright gleamed, and as he +straightened himself the girl saw that it was a revolver; but she was too +agitated to take much note of the fact. + +She burst in upon him in breathless, horrified distress. "I've been +bitten!" she cried to him. "Bitten by a snake!" + +"Where?" he said. + +He had her by the arm in a second and was pushing up the loose holland +sleeve. Later she marvelled at his promptitude, his instant intuition. +At the moment she was too terrified, too near collapse, to notice any of +these things. + +He pushed her down upon a chair and knelt beside her. She found herself +staring down at a shock of straw-coloured hair, while the owner of it +sucked and sucked with an almost brutal force at a place in the crook of +her arm that felt as if a red-hot needle had been plunged into it. She +could feel the drawing of his teeth against her flesh. It was a sensation +almost more horrible than the actual snake-bite had been. + +Twice he turned his head and spat into the hearth, and she saw that his +face was smooth and young, the colour of sun-baked brick. + +At last he looked up at her with the most extraordinarily blue eyes she +had ever seen, and said, with a kindly twinkle in them, "I don't think +you'll die this time, missis." + +She looked from him to her arm. The bite showed no more than the sting of +a nettle, but around it was the deep impress of his teeth. Certainly he +had done his task thoroughly. + +The kettle was singing over the fire. He got to his feet and patted Robin +on the head. "Let's wash it," he said. "Is there a basin handy?" + +Dot sat in her chair, feeling rather weak. He fetched a bowl and set it +on a chair by her side. He poured water into it from the kettle. + +She looked up at him rather apprehensively. "I needn't scald it, need I?" + +He smiled down at her in instant reassurance, a vivid smile that warmed +her fear-chilled heart. His teeth were white and regular, like the teeth +of a young wild animal. + +"There's some cold water somewhere, isn't there?" he said. + +She told him where to find it, and he cooled the steaming water to a +temperature that she could endure without flinching. Then he made her +rest her arm in it. + +"That'll comfort it," he said. "Now, have you got any spirits in the +house?" + +"I don't drink spirits," she said quickly. + +He smiled again. "No? But you must this time--just to complete the cure. +Tell me where to find them!" + +His smile was certainly magnetic, for she told him without further +protest. + +When he brought the spirits, she looked at him for the first time with +active interest. + +"I suppose you are Inspector Hill," she said. + +He was pouring whisky into a glass. He gave her a sidelong glance. "Now +that's a very clever guess," he said. "What put you on to that?" + +She smiled, mainly because he had meant her to smile. "I've been half +expecting you all day," she said. + +He looked down at her more fully as he finished his task. "That's very +interesting," he said. "Who told you to expect me?" + +"My brother--Jack Burton," she explained. + +"Oh! Jack Burton is your brother, is he?" He contemplated her +thoughtfully for a second or two. "Well, I seem to have turned up +at the right moment," he said. + +"Yes." She leaned forward with flushed face upraised. "And I haven't said +'Thank you' yet. I'm so grateful to you. I can't tell you how grateful." + +"Don't!" he said. "Don't! Drink this instead! Drink to the lucky chance +that sent me your way! I'm proud to have been of use to you." + +She took the glass unwillingly. "I'm sure I shall hate it." + +"It's the best antidote to snake-poison out," he said. "I swear it won't +upset you. If it makes you sleepy, well, you're in the right place and +safe enough." + +She liked his utterance of the last words. They had a genuine ring. "But, +if I drink, so must you!" she said. "And eat, too! Jack said I was to +give you a meal if you came." + +He smiled again, a large, humorous smile. "That's the kindest thing Jack +Burton has ever done," he said, with warm approval. "I'll join you with +pleasure, missis. This man-trapping business is hungry work for all of +us." + +Dot frowned a little. It did not please her to be reminded of his +mission. Her former prejudice began to revive within her, his kindness +notwithstanding. + +"I don't like the thought of it myself," she told him abruptly. "But, of +course, I'm only a 'new chum.'" + +"What?" he said, pausing in the act of pouring himself out a drink. "That +sounds as if you want that scoundrel Bill to get away." + +She coloured in some confusion under his look. How could she expect to +make a policeman understand? "No--no!" she said, with vehemence. "I'm not +quite so soft as that. I'd shoot him myself if he came my way. But I hate +to think of a dozen men all on the track of one. It really isn't fair." + +He laughed, but without superiority. "And yet you'd swell the odds? Do +you call that fair?" + +Dot paused to collect her arguments. It seemed that possibly even this +machine of justice carried a small fragment of sympathy in his soul. +Certainly he was not the judicial automaton she had expected him to be. + +"It's like this," she said. "I'd shoot him if he came my way because +he has done us a lot of mischief, and I want to stop it. But I'd +do it squarely. I wouldn't do it when he wasn't looking. And I +wouldn't--ever--make it my profession to hunt down criminals and even +employ black men to help. I think that's hateful. I couldn't live that +way. I'd be above it." + +"I see." He lifted his glass to her in a silent toast, and drank a deep +draught. "Then if you chanced to know where he was, I take it you'd just +settle him yourself, if you could. But you wouldn't in any case give him +away to the police. Is that your point of view?" + +"It isn't unreasonable, is it?" she said, with a touch of eagerness. "I +mean, if you weren't what you are, wouldn't you do the same?" + +"I don't know," he said, smiling at her whimsically. "You see, being what +I am handicaps me rather. I haven't much time for working out nice +problems." + +Dot leaned back again. He had disappointed her. But she could not neglect +her duty on that account. She took her arm out of the water and dried it. +Then she arose. + +"How does it feel?" he said. + +"Oh, only a little stiff," she answered, turning away. "Now I am going to +get you something to eat. Sit down, won't you?" + +Her tone was distant, but he did not seem to notice any change. He +thanked her and sat down, facing the open door. Robin sat pressed against +his knee. It was evident that the dog entertained no doubts regarding the +visitor. Having passed him as respectable, he accepted him without +reserve. + +This fact presently occurred to Dot as she waited upon her visitor, and, +since it was not her nature to prolong an uncomfortable situation, she +broke the silence to comment upon it. + +"He doesn't take to everyone at sight," she said. + +"No?" She saw again that frank, disarming smile. "You see, missis, I know +the ways of animals, and a very useful sort of knowledge I've found it." + +"I wonder why you call me missis," she said. "I'm Jack's sister, not his +wife." + +He looked up at her. "But you're the boss of the establishment, I take +it?" + +She smiled also half against her will. "I'm rather new at present. But no +doubt I shall learn." + +"And then you'll go and boss some one else?" he suggested. + +She coloured a little. "No. I shall stick to Jack," she said, with +decision. + +"Lucky Jack!" he said. "But you're quite right. There's no one good +enough for you around here. We're a low breed mostly." + +"I didn't mean that!" she protested, in quick distress. "I never thought +that!" + +"I know," he said. "I know. But you've sort of felt it all the same. Me, +for instance!" His intensely blue eyes challenged her suddenly. "Haven't +you said to yourself, 'That man may be up to local standard, but he's +made of shocking crude material'? Straight now! Haven't you?" + +She hesitated, her face burning under his direct look. "Do you--do you +really want to know what I think?" she said. + +"I do." There was something uncompromising in the brief rejoinder, yet +somehow she did not find him formidable. + +She answered him without difficulty in spite of her embarrassment. "I +think, then, that it isn't you yourself at all that I feel like that +about. It's just your profession." + +"Ah!" He began to smile again. "Once live down that, and I might be +possible. Is that it?" + +She nodded, still flushed, yet curiously not uneasy. "Something like +that. Why can't you be a farmer like Jack?" + +"I wish I were," he said, unexpectedly. + +"Why?" The word slipped out almost in spite of her, but she felt she must +have an answer. + +He answered her with his eyes full on her. "Because I'd like to lead the +sort of life you would approve of," he said. "I've a notion it would be +worth while." + +She turned aside from his look. "It's only a matter of opinion, of +course," she said. + +"Is it?" he said. He turned his attention to the meal before him, and ate +rapidly for a few moments while he considered the matter. At length: +"Yes," he said. "I suppose you're right. Anyhow, you don't feel drawn +that way. You won't feel a bit pleased if Buckskin Bill gets caught by +the police this journey after this?" + +Dot shook her head. "I don't think a man ought to be tracked down like a +wild beast," she said, resolutely. + +The blue eyes that watched her kindled a little. He finished what was on +his plate and pushed it from him. + +"I'm greatly obliged to you," he said, "for your hospitality. I needed +it--badly enough. You'll thank Jack for me, won't you? I must be going +now. But there's just one thing I'd like to say to you first." + +He got up and stood before her. It was impossible not to admire his +splendid height and breadth of chest. He could have lifted her easily +with one hand. And yet, strangely, though she felt his power he did not +make her aware of her own weakness. + +She looked up at him. "Yes? What is it?" + +"Just this, Miss Burton," he said, and somehow he lingered over the name +in a fashion that made it sound musical in her ears. "I'd like to strike +a bargain with you--because you've made a sort of impression on me. I'm +not meaning any impertinence. You know that?" + +"Go on!" she whispered, almost inaudibly. + +He went on, bending slightly towards her. "The odds are dead against +Buckskin Bill escaping, but--he may escape. If he does, will you--the +next time I come to see you--treat me--without prejudice?" + +He also was almost whispering as he uttered the last words. + +She drew a sharp breath and looked at him. "You--you--are going to let +him go?" she said, incredulously. + +He did not answer. His eyes were drawing hers with a magnetism she could +not resist. And they thrilled her--they thrilled her! + +"The odds are dead against him," he said again, after a moment. "Is it--a +bargain?" + +Her heart gave a queer little jerk within her. She stood motionless for +a space. Then, with a little quivering smile, she very, very slowly gave +him her hand. + +He took it into his great brown one, and though his touch was wholly +gentle she felt the force of the man throbbing behind it, and it seemed +to surge all around and within her. + +He stood for a second as if irresolute or uncertain how to treat her. +Then, with a wordless sound that needed no interpretation, he pushed +back the sleeve from the place whence he had sucked the poison. It showed +only a little red now. He bent very low until his lips pressed it again. +Then for one burning moment they neither moved nor breathed. + +The next thing that Dot realized was the passing of his great figure +through the doorway out of her sight. She saw him don his slouch hat as +he went. + + * * * * * + +She cleared the table again and sat down to her work. But somehow all +energy had gone from her. A great lassitude hung upon her. Perhaps it was +caused by the heat, or possibly by the whisky he had made her drink. +There was no resisting it. It pressed her down like a physical weight. +She gave herself up to it at last, and leaning back in her chair like a +tired child she slept. + +Robin lay at her feet. The afternoon crawled away. Like the enchanted +princess of old, she reclined in a slumber so deep that life itself +seemed to be suspended. + +The sun began to slant towards the west, and the pastures took on a +golden look. The lambs gambolled together with shrill bleatings. But +Dot Burton slept on in her chair, a faint smile on her face of innocence. +Though she could not have been dreaming in so deep a repose, her last +thought ere she slept must have held happiness. Her serenity lay like a +tender veil upon her. + +It was drawing towards evening when Robin suddenly raised his head again +with a deep growl. There came the sound of footsteps through the open +door. The girl stirred and slowly awoke. + +She stretched up her arms with a sleepy movement, and then, as voices +reached her, roused herself completely and got to her feet. + +Her brother and another man--a tall, lantern-jawed stranger--were on the +point of entering. + +Jack led the way. "Halloa, Dot!" he said. "Have you seen anything of our +man? He's broken cover in this direction in spite of us. You haven't shot +him by any chance, I suppose?" + +Dot looked from him to the man behind him. + +"Inspector Hill," said Jack. "Eh? What's the matter?" + +"Nothing--nothing!" said Dot. Yet she had gone back a step as if she had +been struck. She held out her hand to the policeman. "How do you do? +I--I--am very pleased to meet you. So you haven't caught him after all?" + +Inspector Hill was looking at her keenly. He wore a sardonic expression, +as of one who knows that he has been outwitted. "I have not, madam," +he said. "Neither, I presume, have you?" + +She shook her head, looking him straight in the face. "No, I haven't. +I am afraid I have been asleep. Are you sure he passed this way?" + +Her eyes were clear and candid as the eyes of a boy. Inspector Hill +turned his own away. + +"Yes. Quite sure," he said, with brevity. + +"He's a slippery devil," declared Jack Burton. "Sit down, man! My sister +is a 'new chum.' She probably wouldn't have known him from a man on the +farm if she'd seen him. In fact, if you'd turned up here by yourself she +might have shot you--on suspicion." + +"I probably should," said Dot, coldly. + +She did not like Inspector Hill, and her manner plainly said so. + +At her brother's behest she set food before them, for they were hot and +jaded after their fruitless day; but she left the duties of host entirely +to him, and as soon as possible she went away with Robin to feed the +lambs. + +A wonderful glow lay upon the grasslands. It was as if she moved through +a magic atmosphere upon which some enchantment had been laid. Since that +wonderful sleep of hers all things seemed to have changed. Had it all +been a dream? she asked herself. Then, shuddering, she turned up her +sleeve to find that small red patch upon her arm. + +She found it. It tingled to her touch. Yet she continued to finger it +with a curious feeling that was almost awe. She thought it must be the +memory of his kiss that made it throb so hard. + +Some one came softly up behind her. An arm encircled her. She turned with +the day-dream still in her eyes and saw her brother. + +She pulled down her sleeve quickly, for though his face was kind, he +seemed to look at her oddly, almost with suspicion. + +"Had a quiet day?" he questioned, gently. + +She leaned against his shoulder, feeling small and rather uncomfortable. +"I--I was very busy all the morning," she said, evasively. + +"And in the afternoon?" he said. + +She nestled to him with a little coaxing movement. "In the afternoon," +she told him softly, "I went to sleep." + +"Yes?" he said. + +"That's all," said Dot, lifting her face to kiss him. + +He took her chin and held it while he looked long and searchingly into +her eyes. + +"Dot!" he said. + +She made a little gesture of protest, but he held her still. + +"Dot, tell me what has been happening!" he said. + +She had begun to tremble. "I'll tell you," she said, "when Inspector Hill +has gone." + +"Tell me now!" he said. + +But she shook her head with tightly compressed lips. + +"You have seen the man!" he said. + +Dot remained silent. + +His face grew grim. "Dot! Shall I tell you what Hill said to me just +now?" + +"If you like," whispered Dot. + +"He said, 'She has seen the man, and he has squared her. It's a way he +has with the women. You'll find she won't give him away.'" + +That stung, as it was meant to sting. She flinched under it. "I hate +Inspector Hill!" she said, with vehemence. + +He smiled a little. "I don't suppose that fact would upset him much. A +good many people don't exactly love him. But look here, Dot! You're not +a fool. At least, I hope not. You can't seriously wish to shield a thief. +Only this morning you were going to shoot him!" + +"Ah!" she said. And then suddenly she pulled up her sleeve and showed him +the mark upon her arm. "But he has saved my life since then," she said. + +"What?" said Jack. He caught her arm and looked at it. "You've had a +snake-bite!" he said. + +"Yes, Jack." + +His eyes went back to her face. "Why didn't you tell me before? What kind +of snake was it?" + +She told him, shuddering. "A horrible green thing--green as the grass. I +think it had some black marking on its back. I'm not sure. I didn't stop +to see. I--oh, Jack!" She broke off in swift consternation. "There is a +dead lamb!" + +"Ah!" said Jack, and strode across to the barn where it lay, stark and +lifeless in the shade in which it had taken refuge from the afternoon +heat. + +"Oh, Jack!" cried Dot, in distress. "What can have happened to it? +Not--not that hateful snake?" + +"Not much doubt as to that," said Jack, grimly. "No, don't look too +close! It's not a pretty sight. And don't cry, child! What's the good?" + +He drew her away, his arm around her, holding her closely, comforting +her. "It might have been you," he said. + +She lifted her wet face from his shoulder. "It was--it would have +been--but for--" + +"All right," he interrupted. "Don't say any more!" + + * * * * * + +He left her to recover herself and went back to Fletcher Hill, +sardonically awaiting him. + +"On a wrong scent this time," he said. "She's lost one of the lambs from +snake-bite, and it's upset her. She's a 'new chum,' you know." + +"I know," said Inspector Hill. + +Jack Burton leaned upon the table and looked him in the eyes. "My sister +is not a detective," he said, warningly. "Buckskin Bill has been one too +many for us this time. The odds were dead against him, but he's slipped +through. And I've a pretty firm notion he won't come back." + +"So have I," said Inspector Hill, unmoved. + +"And a blasted good job too!" said Jack Burton, forcibly. + +A gleam of humour crossed the Inspector's face. He pulled out his pipe +with a gesture that made for peace. + +"If I were in your place," he said, "I daresay I'd say the same." + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + Without Prejudice + + + + +CHAPTER I + +SILLY SENTIMENT + + +"It's time I set about making my own living," said Dot Burton. + +She spoke resolutely, and her face was resolute also; its young lines +were for the moment almost grim. She stood in the doorway of the stable, +watching her brother rub down the animal he had just been riding. Behind +her the rays of the Australian sun smote almost level, making of her fair +hair a dazzling aureole of gold. The lashes of her blue eyes were tipped +with gold also, but the brows above them were delicately dark. They were +slightly drawn just then, as if she were considering a problem of +considerable difficulty. + +Jack Burton was frankly frowning over his task. It was quite evident that +his sister's announcement was not a welcome one. + +She continued after a moment, as he did not respond in words: "I am sure +I could make a living, Jack. I'm not the 'new chum' I used to be, thanks +to you. You've taught me a whole heap of things." + +Jack glanced up for a second. "Aren't you happy here?" he said. + +She eluded the question. "You've been awfully good to me, dear old boy. +But really, you know, I think you've got burdens enough without me. In +any case, it isn't fair that I should add to them." + +Jack grunted. "It isn't fair that you should do more than half the work +on the place and not be paid for it, you mean. You're quite right, it +isn't." + +"No, I don't mean that, Jack." Quite decidedly she contradicted him. "I +don't mind work. I like to have my time filled. I love being useful. It +isn't that at all. But all the same, you and Adela are quite complete +without me. Before you were married it was different. I was necessary to +you then. But I'm not now. And so--" + +"Has Adela been saying that to you?" + +Jack Burton straightened himself abruptly. His expression was almost +fierce. + +Dot laughed at sight of it. "No, Jack, no! Don't be so jumpy! Of course +she hasn't. As if she would! She hasn't said a thing. But I know how she +feels, and I should feel exactly the same in her place. Now do be +sensible! You must see my point. I'm getting on, you know, Jack. I'm +twenty-five. Just fancy! You've sheltered me quite long enough--too long, +really. You must--you really must--let me go." + +He was looking at her squarely. "I can't prevent your going," he said, +gruffly. "But it won't be with my consent--ever--or my approval. You'll +go against my will--dead against it." + +"Jack--darling!" She went to him impulsively and took him by the +shoulders. "Now that isn't reasonable of you. It really isn't. You've +got to take that back." + +He looked at her moodily. "I shan't take it back. I can't. I am dead +against your going. I know this country. It's not a place for lone women. +And you're not much more than a child, whatever you may say. It's rough, +I tell you. And you"--he looked down upon her slender fairness--"you +weren't made for rough things." + +"Please don't be silly, Jack!" she broke in. "I'm quite as strong as the +average woman and, I hope, as capable. I'm grown up, you silly man! I'm +old--older than you are in some ways, even though you have been in the +world ten years longer. Can't you see I want to stretch my wings?" + +"Want to leave me?" he said, and put his arms suddenly about her. She +nestled to him on the instant, lifting her face to kiss him. + +"No, darling, no! Never in life! But--you must see--you must see"--her +eyes filled with tears unexpectedly, and she laid her head upon his +shoulder to hide them--"that I can't--live on you--for ever. It isn't +fair--to you--or to Adela--or to--to--anyone else who might turn up." + +"Ah!" he said. "Or to you either. We've no right to make a slave of you. +I know that. Perhaps Adela hasn't altogether realized it." + +"I've nothing--whatever--against Adela," Dot told him, rather shakily. +"She has never been--other than kind. No, it is what I feel myself. I +am not necessary to you or to Adela, and--in a way--I'm glad of it. I +like to know you two are happy. I'm not a bit jealous, Jack, not a bit. +It's just as it should be. But you'll have to let me go, dear. It's time +I went. It's right that I should go. You mustn't try to hold me back." + +But Jack's arms had tightened about her. "I hate the thought of it," he +said. "Give it up! Give it up, old girl--for my sake!" + +She shook her head silently in his embrace. + +He went on with less assurance. "If you wanted to get married it would +be a different thing. I would never stand in the way of your marrying a +decent man. If you must go, why don't you do that?" + +She laughed rather tremulously. "You think every good woman ought to +marry, don't you, Jack?" + +"When there's a good man waiting for her, why not?" said Jack. + +She lifted her head and looked at him. "I'm not going to marry Fletcher +Hill, Jack," she said, with firmness. + +Jack made a slight movement of impatience. "I never could see your +objection to the man," he said. + +She laughed again, drawing herself back from him. "But, Jack darling, a +woman doesn't marry a man just because he's not objectionable, does she? +I always said I wouldn't marry him, didn't I?" + +"You might do a lot worse," said Jack. + +"Of course I might--heaps worse. But that isn't the point. I think he's +quite a good sort--in his own sardonic way. And he is a great friend of +yours, too, isn't he? That fact would count vastly in his favour if I +thought of marrying at all. But, you see--I don't." + +"I call that uncommon hard on Fletcher," observed Jack. + +She opened her blue eyes very wide. "My dear man, why?" + +"After waiting for you all this time," he explained, suffering his arms +to fall away from her. + +She still gazed at him in astonishment. "Jack! But I never asked him to +wait!" + +He turned from her with a shrug of the shoulders. "No, but I did." + +"You did? Jack, what can you mean?" + +Jack stooped to feel one of his animal's hocks. He spoke without looking +at her. "It's been my great wish--all this time. I've been deuced anxious +about you often. Australia isn't the place for unprotected girls--at +least, not out in the wilds. I've seen--more than enough of that. And +you're no wiser than the rest. You lost your head once--over a rotter. +You might again. Who knows?" + +"Oh, really, Jack!" The girl's face flushed very deeply. She turned it +aside instinctively, though he was not looking at her. But the colour +died as quickly as it came, leaving her white and quivering. + +She stood mutely struggling for self-control while Jack continued. "I +know Fletcher. I know he's sound. He's a man who always gets what he +wants. He wouldn't be a magistrate now if he didn't. And when I saw he +wanted you, I made up my mind he should have you if I could possibly work +it. I gave him my word I'd help him, and I begged him to wait a bit, to +give you time to get over that other affair. He's been waiting--ever +since." + +Dot's hands clenched slowly. She spoke with a great effort. "Then he'd +better stop waiting--at once, Jack, and marry someone else." + +"He won't do that," said Jack. He stood up again abruptly and faced round +upon her. "Look here, dear! Why can't you give in and marry him? He's +such a good sort if you only get to know him well. You've always kept him +at arm's length, haven't you? Well, let him come a bit nearer! You'll +soon like him well enough to marry him. He'd make you happy, Dot. Take my +word for it!" + +She met his look bravely, though the distress still lingered in her eyes. +"But, dear old Jack," she said, "no woman can possibly love at will." + +"It would come afterwards," Jack said, with conviction. "I know it would. +He's such a good chap. You've never done him justice. See, Dot girl! +You're not happy. I know that. You want to stretch your wings, you say. +Well, there's only one way of doing it, for you can't go out into the +world--this world--alone. At least, you'll break my heart if you do. He's +the only fellow anywhere near worthy of you. And he's been so awfully +patient. Do give him his chance!" + +He put his arm round her shoulders again, holding her very tenderly. + +She yielded herself to him with a suppressed sob. "I'm sure it would be +wrong, Jack," she said. + +"Not a bit wrong!" Jack maintained, stoutly. "What have you been waiting +for all this time? A myth, an illusion, that can never come true! You've +no right to spoil your own life and someone else's as well for such a +reason as that. I call that wrong--if you like." + +She hid her face against him with a piteous gesture. "He--said he would +come back, Jack." + +Jack frowned over her bowed head even while he softly stroked it. "And if +he had--do you think I would ever have let you go to him? A cattle thief, +Dot! An outlaw!" + +She clung to him trembling. "He saved my life--at the risk of his own," +she whispered, almost inarticulately. + +"Oh, I know--I know. He was that sort--brave enough, but a hopeless +rotter." Jack's voice held a curious mixture of tenderness and contempt. +"Women always fall in love with that sort of fellow," he said. "Heaven +knows why. But you'd no right to lose your heart to him, little 'un. You +knew--you always knew--he wasn't the man for you." + +She clung to him in silence for a space, then lifted her face. "All +right, Jack," she said. + +He looked at her closely for a moment. "Come! It's only silly sentiment," +he urged. "You can't feel bad about it after all this time. Why, child, +it's five years!" + +She laughed rather shakily. "I am a big fool, aren't I, Jack? +Yet--somehow--do you know--I thought he meant to come back." + +"Not he!" declared Jack. "Catch Buckskin Bill putting his head back into +the noose when once he had got away! He's not quite so simple as that, my +dear. He probably cleared out of Australia for good as soon as he got the +chance. And a good thing, too!" he added, with emphasis. "He'd done +mischief enough." + +She raised her lips to his. "Thank you for not laughing at me, Jack," she +said. "Don't--ever--tell Adela, will you? I'm sure she would." + +He smiled a little. "Yes, I think she would. She'd say you were old +enough to know better." + +Dot nodded. "And very sensible, too. I am." + +He patted her shoulder. "Good girl! Then that chapter is closed. +And--you're going to give poor Fletcher his chance?" + +She drew a sharp breath. "Oh, I don't know. I can't promise that. +Don't--don't hustle me, Jack!" + +He gave her a hard squeeze and let her go. "There, she shan't be teased +by her horrid bully of a brother! She's going to play the game off her +own bat, and I wish her luck with all my heart." + +He turned to the job of feeding his horse, and Dot, after a few +inconsequent remarks, sauntered away in the direction of the barn, +"to be alone with herself," as she put it. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +NUMBER THREE + + +Adela Burton was laying the cloth for supper, and looking somewhat +severe over the process. She was usually cheerful at that hour of the +day, for it brought her husband back from his work and, thanks to Dot's +ministrations, the evening was free from toil. It was seldom, indeed, +that Adela bestirred herself to lay the cloth for any meal, for she +maintained that it was better for a girl like Dot to have plenty to do at +all times, and she herself preferred her needlework, at which she was an +adept. + +No one could have called her an idle woman, but she was eminently a +selfish one. She followed her own bent, quite regardless of the desires +and inclinations of anyone else. She was the hub of her world from her +own point of view, and she was wholly incapable of recognizing any other. +Most people realized this and, as is the way of humanity, took her at her +own valuation, making allowances for her undoubted egotism. For she was +comely and had a taking manner, never troubling herself unless her own +personal convenience were threatened. She laughed a good deal, though her +sense of humour was none of the finest, and she was far too practical to +possess any imagination. In short, as she herself expressed it, she was +sensible; and, being so, she had small sympathy with her sister-in-law's +foolish sentimentalities, which she considered wholly out of place in the +everyday life at the farm. + +Not that Dot ever dreamed of confiding in her. She sheltered herself +invariably behind a reserve so delicate as to be almost imperceptible to +the elder woman's blunter susceptibilities. But she could not always hide +the fineness of her inner feelings, and there were times when the two +clashed in consequence. The occasions were rare, but Adela had come to +know by experience that when they occurred, opposition on her part was of +no avail. Dot was bound to have her way when her soul was stirred to +battle for it, as on the day when she had refused to let Robin, the dog, +be chained up when not on duty with the sheep. Adela had objected to his +presence in the house, and Dot had firmly insisted upon it on the score +that Robin had always been an inmate as the companion and protector of +her lonely hours. + +Adela had disputed the point with some energy, but she had been +vanquished, and now, when Dot asserted herself, she seldom met with +opposition from her sister-in-law. It was practically impossible that +they should ever be fond of one another. They had nothing in common. Yet +it was very seldom that Jack saw any signs of strain between them. They +dwelt together without antagonism and without intimacy. + +Nevertheless, Dot's announcement of her desire to go out into the world +and hew a way for herself came as no surprise to him. He knew that she +was restless and far from happy, knew that his marriage had unsettled +her, albeit in a fashion he had not fathomed till their talk together. +His young sister was very dear to him. She had been thrown upon his care +years before when the death of their parents had left her dependent upon +him. It had always been his wish to have her with him. His love for her +was of a deep, almost maternal nature, and he hated the thought of +parting with her. He had hoped that the companionship of Adela would have +been a joy to her, and he was intensely disappointed that it had proved +otherwise. His anxiety for her welfare had always been uppermost with +him, and it hurt him somewhat when Adela laughed at his hopes and fears +regarding the girl. It was the only point upon which his wife and he +lacked sympathy. + +Entering by way of the kitchen premises on that evening of his talk +with Dot, he was surprised to find Adela fulfilling what had come to +be regarded as Dot's duties. He looked around him questioningly as she +emerged from the larder carrying a dish in one hand and a jug of milk +in the other. + +"Where's the little 'un?" he said. + +It was his recognized pet name for Dot, but for some reason Adela had +never approved of it. She frowned now at its utterance. + +"Do you mean Dot? Oh, mooning about somewhere, I suppose. And leaving +other people to do the work." + +Jack promptly relieved her of her burden and set himself to help her with +her task. + +Adela was not ill-tempered as a rule. She smiled at him. "Good man, Jack! +No one can say you're an idler, anyway. I've got rather a nice supper for +you. I shouldn't wonder if Fletcher Hill turns up to share it. I hear he +is on circuit at Trelevan." + +"I heard it, too," said Jack. "He's practically sure to come." + +"He's very persistent," said Adela. "Do you think he will ever win out?" + +Jack nodded slowly. "I've never known him fail yet in anything he set his +mind to--at least, only once. And that was a fluke." + +"What sort of a fluke?" questioned Adela, who was frankly curious. + +"When Buckskin Bill slipped through his fingers." Jack spoke +thoughtfully. "That's the only time I ever knew him fail, and I'm not +sure that it wasn't intentional then." + +"Intentional!" Adela opened her eyes. + +Jack smiled a little. "I don't say it was so. I only say it was +possible. But never mind that! It's an old story, and the man got away, +anyhow--disappeared, dropped out. Possibly he's dead. I hope he is. He +did mischief enough in a short time." + +"He set the whole district humming, didn't he?" said Adela. "They say all +the women fell in love with him at sight. I wish I'd seen him." + +Jack broke into a laugh. "You'd certainly have fallen a victim!" + +She tossed her head. "I'm sure I shouldn't. I prefer respectable men. +Shall we lay an extra plate in case Mr. Hill turns up?" + +"No," said Jack. "Let him come unexpectedly!" + +She gave him a shrewd look. "You think Dot will like that best?" + +He nodded again. "Be careful! She's coming. Here's Robin!" + +Robin came in, wagging his tail and smiling, and behind him came Dot. She +moved slowly, as if dispirited. Jack's quick eyes instantly detected the +fact that she had been shedding tears. + +"You're too late, little 'un," he said, with kindly cheeriness. "The work +is all done." + +She looked from him to Adela. "I'm sorry I'm late," she said. "I'm afraid +I forgot about supper." + +"Oh, you're in love!" joked Adela. "You'll forget to come in at all one +of these days." + +The girl gave her a swift look, but said nothing, passing through with +a weary step on her way to her own room. + +Robin followed her closely, as one in her confidence; and Jack laid a +quiet hand on his wife's arm. + +"Don't laugh at her!" he said. + +She stared at him. "Good gracious, Jack! What's the matter? I didn't mean +anything." + +"I know you didn't. But this thing is serious. If Fletcher Hill comes +to-night, I believe she'll have him--that is, if she's let alone. But she +won't if you twit her with it. It's touch and go." + +Jack spoke with great earnestness. It was evident that the matter was one +upon which he felt very strongly, and Adela shrugged a tolerant shoulder +and yielded to his persuasion. + +"I'll be as solemn as a judge," she promised. "The affair certainly has +hung fire considerably. It would be a good thing to get it settled. But +Fletcher Hill! Well, he wouldn't be my choice!" + +"He's a fine man," asserted Jack. + +"Oh, I've no doubt. But he's an animal with a nasty bite, or I am much +mistaken. However, let Dot marry him by all means if she feels that way! +It's certainly high time she married somebody." + +She turned aside to put the teapot on the hob, humming inconsequently, +and the subject dropped. + +Jack went to his room to wash, and in a few minutes more they gathered +round the supper-table with careless talk of the doings of the day. + +It had always been Dot's favourite time, the supper-hour. In the old days +before Jack's marriage she had looked forward to it throughout the day. +The companionship of this beloved brother of hers had been the chief joy +of her life. + +But things were different now. It was her part to serve the meal, to +clear the table, and to wash the dishes Jack and Adela were complete +without her. Though they always welcomed her when the work was done, she +knew that her society was wholly unessential, and she often prolonged her +labours in the scullery that she might not intrude too soon upon them. +She was no longer necessary to anyone--except to Robin the faithful, +who followed her as her shadow. She had become Number Three, and she was +lonely--she was lonely! + + + + +CHAPTER III + +FLETCHER HILL + + +There came a sound of hoofs thudding over the pastures. Robin lifted his +eyebrows and cocked his ears with a growl. + +Dot barely glanced up from the saucepan she was cleaning; her lips +tightened a little, that was all. + +The hoofs drew rapidly nearer, dropping from a canter to a quick trot +that ended in a clattering walk on the stones of the yard. Through the +open window Dot heard the heavy thud of a man's feet as he jumped to the +ground. + +Then came Jack's voice upraised in greeting. "Hallo, Fletcher! Come in, +man! Come in! Delighted to see you." + +The voice that spoke in answer was short and clipped. Somehow it had an +official sound. "Hallo, Jack! Good evening, Mrs. Burton! What! Alone?" + +Jack laughed. "Dot's in the kitchen. Hi! little 'un! Bring some drinks!" + +Robin was on his feet, uttering low, jerky barks. Dot put aside her +saucepan and began to wash her hands. She did not hasten to obey Jack's +call, but when she turned to collect glasses on a tray she was trembling +and her breath came quickly, as if from violent exercise. + +Nevertheless she did not hesitate, but went straight through to the +little parlour, carrying her tray with the jingling glasses upon it. + +Fletcher Hill was facing her as she entered, a tall man, tough and +muscular, with black hair that was tinged with grey, and a long stubborn +jaw that gave him an indomitable look. His lips were thin and very firm, +with a sardonic twist that imparted a faintly supercilious expression. +His eyes were dark, deep-set, and shrewd. He was a magistrate of some +repute in the district, a position which he had attained by sheer +unswerving hard work in the police force, in which for years he had +been known as "Bloodhound Hill." A man of rigid ideas and stern justice, +he had forced his way to the front, respected by all, but genuinely liked +by only a very few. + +Jack Burton had regarded him as a friend for years, but even Jack could +not claim a very close intimacy with him. He merely understood the man's +silences better than most. His words were very rarely of a confidential +order. + +He was emphatically not a man to attract any girl very readily, and Dot's +attitude towards him had always been of a strictly impersonal nature. In +fact, Jack himself did not know whether she really liked him or not. Yet +had he set his heart upon seeing her safely married to him. There was no +other man of his acquaintance to whom he would willingly have entrusted +her. For Dot was very precious in his eyes. But to his mind Fletcher Hill +was worthy of her, and he believed that she would be as safe in his care +as in his own. + +That Fletcher Hill had long cherished the silent ambition of winning her +was a fact well known to him. Only once had they ever spoken on the +subject, and then the words had been few and briefly uttered. But to +Jack, who had taken the initiative in the matter, they had been more than +sufficient to testify to the man's earnestness of purpose. From that day +he had been heart and soul on Fletcher's side. + +He wished he could have given him a hint that evening as he looked up to +see the girl standing in the doorway; for Dot was so cold, so aloof in +her welcome. He did not see what Hill saw at the first glance--that she +was quivering from head to foot with nervous agitation. + +She set down her tray and gave her hand to the visitor. "Doesn't Rupert +want a drink?" she said. + +Rupert was his horse, and his most dearly prized possession. Hill's rare +smile showed for a moment at the question. + +"Let him cool down a bit first," he said. "I am afraid I've ridden him +rather hard." + +She gave him a fleeting glance. "You have come from Trelevan?" + +"Yes. I got there this afternoon. We left Wallacetown early this +morning." + +"Rode all the way?" questioned Jack. + +"Yes, every inch. I wanted to see the Fortescue Gold Mine." + +"Ah! There's a rough crowd there," said Jack. "They say all the uncaught +criminals find their way to the Fortescue Gold Mine." + +"Yes," said Hill. + +"Is it true?" asked Adela, curiously. + +"I am not in a position to say, madam." Hill's voice sounded sardonic. + +"That means he doesn't know," explained Jack. "Look here, man! If you've +ridden all the way from Wallacetown to-day you can't go back to Trelevan +to-night. Your animal must be absolutely used up--if you are not." + +"Oh, I think not. We are both tougher than that." Hill turned towards +him. "Don't mix it too strong, Jack! I hardly ever touch it except under +your roof." + +"I am indeed honoured," laughed Jack. "But if you're going to spend the +night you'll be able to sleep it off before you face your orderly in the +morning." + +"Do stay!" said Adela, hastening to follow up her husband's suggestion. +"We should all like it. I hope you will." + +Hill bowed towards her with stiff ceremony. "You are very kind, madam. +But I don't like to give trouble, and I am expected back." + +"By whom?" questioned Jack. "No one that counts, I'll swear. Your orderly +won't break his heart if you take a night out. He'll probably do the same +himself. And no one else will know. We'll let you leave as early as you +like in the morning, but not before. Come, that's settled, isn't it? Go +and get Rupert a shake-down, little 'un, and give him a decent feed with +plenty of corn in it! No, let her, man; let her! She likes doing it, eh, +Dot girl?" + +"Yes, I like it," Dot said, and hurriedly disappeared before Hill could +intervene. + +Jack turned to his wife. "Now, missis! Go and make ready upstairs! It's +only a little room, Fletcher, but it's snug. That's the way," as his wife +followed Dot's example. "Now--quick, man! I want a word with you." + +"Obviously," said the magistrate, dryly. "You needn't say it, thanks all +the same. I'll leave that drink till--afterwards." + +He straightened his tall figure with an instinctive bracing of the +shoulders, and turned to the door. + +Jack watched him go with a smile that was not untinged with anxiety, and +lifted his glass as the door closed. + +"You've got the cards, old feller," he said. "May you play 'em well!" + +Fletcher Hill stepped forth into the moonlit night and stood still. It +had been a swift maneuvre on Jack's part, and it might have disconcerted +a younger man and driven him into ill-considered action. But it was not +this man's nature to act upon impulse. His caution was well known. It had +been his safeguard in many a difficulty. It stood him in good stead now. + +So for a space he remained, looking out over the widespread grasslands, +his grim face oddly softened and made human. He was no longer an +official, but a man, with feelings rendered all the keener for the +habitual restraint with which he masked them. + +He moved forward at length through the magic moonlight, guided by the +sound of trampling hoofs in the building where Jack's horse was stabled. +He reached the doorway, treading softly, and looked in. + +Dot was in a stall with his mount Rupert--a powerful grey, beside which +she looked even lighter and daintier than usual. The animal was nibbling +carelessly at her arm while she filled the manger with hay. She was +talking to him softly, and did not perceive Hill's presence. Robin, who +sat waiting near the entrance, merely pricked his ears at his approach. + +Some minutes passed. Fletcher stood like a sentinel against the doorpost. +He might have been part of it for his immobility. The girl within +continued to talk to the horse while she provided for his comfort, low +words unintelligible to the silent watcher, till, as she finished her +task, she suddenly threw her arms about the animal's neck and leaned her +head against it. + +"Oh, Rupert," she said, and there was a throb of passion in her words, "I +wish--I wish you and I could go right away into the wilderness together +and never--never come back!" + +Rupert turned his head and actually licked her hair. He was a horse of +understanding. + +She uttered a little sobbing laugh and tenderly kissed his nose. "You're +a dear, sympathetic boy! Who taught you to be, I wonder? Not your master, +I'm sure! He's nothing but a steel machine all through!" + +And then she turned to leave the stable and came upon Fletcher Hill, +mutely awaiting her. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE COAT OF MAIL + + +She gave a great start at sight of him, then quickly drew herself +together. + +"You have come to see if Rupert is all right for the night?" she said. +"Go in and have a look at him." + +But Fletcher made no movement to enter. He faced her with a certain +rigidity. "No. I came to see you--alone." + +She made a sharp movement that was almost a gesture of protest. Then she +turned and drew the door softly shut behind her. Robin came and pressed +close to her, as if he divined that she stood in need of some support. +With her back to the closed door and the moonlight in her eyes, she +stood before Fletcher Hill. + +"What do you want to say to me?" she said. + +He bent slightly towards her. "It is not a specially easy thing, Miss +Burton," he said, "when I am more than half convinced that it is +something you would rather not hear." + +She met his look with unflinching steadiness. "I think life is made up of +that sort of thing," she said. "It's like a great puzzle that never fits. +I've been saying--unwelcome things--to-day, too." + +She smiled, but her lips were quivering. The man's hands slowly clenched. + +"That means you're unhappy," he said. + +She nodded. "I've been telling Jack that I must get away--go and earn my +own living somewhere. He won't hear of it." + +"I can understand that," said Fletcher Hill. "I wouldn't--in his place." + +She kept her eyes steadfastly raised to his. "Do you know what Jack wants +me to do?" she said. + +"Yes." Hill spoke briefly, almost sternly. "He wants you to marry me." + +She nodded again. "Yes." + +He held out his hand to her abruptly. "I want it, too," he said. + +She made no movement towards him. "That is what you came to say?" she +asked. + +"Yes," said Hill. + +He waited a moment; then, as she did not take his hand, bent with a +certain mastery and took one of hers. + +"I've wanted it for years," he said. + +"Ah!" A little sound like a sob came with the words. She made as if she +would withdraw her hand, but in the end--because he held it closely--she +suffered him to keep it. She spoke with an effort. "I--think you ought to +understand that--that--it is not my wish to marry at all. If--if Jack had +stayed single, I--should have been content to live on here for always." + +"Yes, I know," said Hill. "I saw that." + +She went on tremulously. "I've always felt--that a woman ought to be able +to manage alone. It's very kind of you to want to marry me. But--but +I--I think I'm getting too old." + +"Is that the only obstacle?" asked Hill. + +She tried to laugh, but it ended in a sound of tears. She turned her face +quickly aside. "I can't tell you--of any other," she said, with +difficulty, "except--except--" + +"Except that you don't like me much?" he suggested dryly. "Well, that +doesn't surprise me." + +"Oh, I didn't say that!" She choked back her tears and turned back to +him. "Let's walk a little way together, shall we? I--I'll try and +explain--just how I feel about things." + +He moved at once to comply. They walked side by side over the +close-cropped grass. Dot would have slipped her hand free, but still +he kept it. + +They had traversed some yards before she spoke again, and then her voice +was low and studiously even. + +"I can't pretend to you that there has never been anyone else. It +wouldn't be right. You probably wouldn't believe me if I did." + +"Oh, I gathered that a long time ago," Hill said. + +"Yes, of course you did. You always see everything, don't you? It's your +specialty." + +"I don't go about with my eyes shut, certainly," said Hill. + +"I'm glad of that," Dot said. "I would rather you knew about it. +Only"--her voice quivered again--"I don't know how to tell you." + +"You are sure you would rather I knew?" he said. + +"Yes." She spoke with decision. "You've got to know if--if--" She broke +off. + +"If we are going to be married?" he suggested. + +"Yes," whispered Dot. + +Hill walked a few paces in silence. Then, unexpectedly, he drew the +nervous little hand he held through his arm. "Well, you needn't tell +me any more," he said. "I know the rest." + +She started and stood still. There was quick fear in the look she threw +him. "You mean Jack told you--" + +"No, I don't," said Hill. "Jack has never yet told me anything I couldn't +have told him ages before. I knew from the beginning. It was the fellow +they called Buckskin Bill, wasn't it?" + +She quivered from head to foot and was silent. + +Hill went on ruthlessly. "First, by a stroke of luck, he saved you from +death by snake-bite. He always had the luck on his side, that chap. I +should have caught him but for that. I'd got him--I'd got him in the +hollow of my hand. But you"--for the first time there was a streak of +tenderness in his speech--"you were a new chum then--you held me up. +Remember how you covered his retreat when we came up? Did you really +think I didn't know?" + +She uttered a sobbing laugh. "I was very frightened, too. I always was +scared at the law." + +Hill nodded. He also was grimly smiling. + +"But you dared it. You'd have dared anything for him that day. He always +got the women on his side." + +She winced a little. + +"It's true," he asserted. "I know what happened--as well as if I'd seen +it. He made love to you in a very gallant, courteous fashion. I never +saw Buckskin Bill, but I believe he was always courteous when he had +time. And he promised to come back, didn't he--when he'd given up being +a thief and a swindler and had turned his hand to an honest trade? All +that--for your sake!... Yes, I thought so. But, my dear child, do you +really imagine he meant it--after all these years?" + +She looked at him with a piteous little smile. "He--he'd be worth +having--if he did, wouldn't he?" she said. + +"I wonder," said Hill. + +He waited for a few moments, then laid his hand upon her shoulder with +a touch that seemed to her as heavy as the hand of the law. + +"I can't help thinking," he said, "that you'd find a plain man like +myself more satisfactory to live with. It's for you to decide. Only--it +seems a pity to waste your life waiting for someone who will never come." + +She could not contradict him. The argument was too obvious. She longed to +put that steady hand away from her, but she felt physically incapable of +doing so. An odd powerlessness possessed her. She was as one caught in a +trap. + +Yet after a second or two she mustered strength to ask a question to +which she had long desired an answer. "Did you ever hear any more of +him?" + +"Not for certain. I believe he left the country, but I don't know. +Anyway, he found this district too hot to hold him, for he never broke +cover in this direction again. I should have had him if he had." + +Fletcher Hill spoke with a grim assurance. He was holding her before him, +one hand on her shoulder, the other grasping hers. Abruptly he bent +towards her. + +"Come!" he said. "It's going to be 'Yes,' isn't it?" + +She looked up at him with troubled eyes. Suddenly she shivered as +if an icy blast had caught her. "Oh, I'm frightened!" she said. "I'm +frightened!" + +"Nonsense!" said Hill. + +He drew her gently to him and held her. She was shaking from head to +foot. She began to sob, hopelessly, like a lost child. + +"Don't!" he said. "Don't! It's all right. I'll take care of you. I'll +make you happy. I swear to God I'll make you happy!" + +It was forcibly spoken, and it showed her more of the man's inner nature +than she had ever seen before. Almost in spite of herself she was +touched. She leaned against him, fighting her weakness. + +"It isn't--fair to you," she murmured at last. + +"That's my affair," said Hill. + +She kept her face hidden from him, and he did not seek to raise it; but +there was undoubted possession in the holding of his arms. + +After a moment or two she spoke again. "What will you do if--if you find +you're not--happy with me?" + +"I'll take my chance of that," said Fletcher Hill. He added, under his +breath, "I'll be good to you--in any case." + +That moved her. She lifted her face impulsively. "You--you are much nicer +than I thought you were," she said. + +He bent to her. "It isn't very difficult to be that," he said, with a +somewhat sardonic touch of humour. "I haven't a very high standard to +beat, have I?" + +It was not very lover-like. Perhaps, he feared to show her too much of +his soul just then, lest he seem to be claiming more than she was +prepared to offer. Perhaps that reserve of his which clothed him like +a coat of mail was more than even he could break through. But so it was +that then--just then, when the desire of his heart was actually within +his grasp, he contented himself with taking a very little. He kissed her, +indeed, though it was but a brief caress--over before her quivering lips +could make return; nor did he seek to deter her as she withdrew herself +from his arms. + +She stood a moment, looking small and very forlorn. Then she turned to +retrace her steps. + +"Shall we go back?" she said. + +He went back with her in silence till they reached the gate that led into +the yard. Then for a second he grasped her arm, detaining her. + +"It is--'Yes?'" he questioned. + +She bent her head in acquiescence, not looking at him. "Yes," she said, +in a whisper. + +And Fletcher let her go. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE LOST ROMANCE + + +Jack looked in vain for any sign of elation on his friend's face when he +entered. He read nothing but grim determination. Dot's demeanour also +was scarcely reassuring. She seemed afraid to lift her eyes. + +"Isn't it nearly bed-time?" she murmured to Adela as she passed. + +Adela looked at her with frank curiosity. There were no fine shades of +feeling about Adela. She always went straight to the point--unless +restrained by Jack. + +"Oh, it's quite early yet," she said, wholly missing the appeal in the +girl's low-spoken words. "What have you two been doing? Moonshining?" + +Fletcher looked as contemptuous as his immobile countenance would allow, +and sat down by his untouched drink without a word. + +But it took more than a look to repress Adela. She laughed aloud. "Does +that mean I am to draw my own conclusions, Mr. Hill? Would you like me to +tell you what they are?" + +"Not for my amusement," said Hill, dryly. "Where did you get this whisky +from, Jack? I hope it's a legal brand." + +"I hope it is," agreed Jack. "I don't know its origin. I got it through +Harley. You know him? The manager of the Fortescue Gold Mine." + +"Yes, I know him," said Hill. "He is retiring, and another fellow is +taking his place." + +"Retiring, is he? I thought he was the only person who could manage that +crowd." Jack spoke with surprise. + +Hill took out his pipe and began to fill it. "He's got beyond it. Too +much running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. They need a +younger man with more decision and resource--someone who can handle them +without being afraid." + +"Have they got such a man?" questioned Jack. + +"They believe they have." Hill spoke thoughtfully. "He's a man from the +West, who has done some tough work in the desert, but brought back more +in the way of experience than gold. He's been working in the Fortescue +Mine now for six months, a foreman for the past three. Harley tells me +the men will follow him like sheep. But for myself, I'm not so sure of +him." + +"Not sure of him? What are you afraid of? Whisky-running?" asked Jack, +with a twinkle. + +There was no answering gleam of humour on Hill's face. "I never trust +any man until I know him," he said. "He may be sound, or he may be a +scoundrel. He's got to prove himself." + +"You take a fatherly interest in that mine," observed Jack. + +"I have a reason," said Fletcher Hill, briefly. + +"Ah! Ever met Fortescue himself?" + +"Once or twice," said Hill. + +"Pretty badly hated, isn't he?" said Jack. + +"By the blackguards, yes." Hill spoke with characteristic grimness. "He's +none the worse for that." + +"All the better, I should say," remarked Adela. "But what is he like? Is +he an old man?" + +"About my age," said Hill. + +"I wish you'd give us an introduction to him," she said, with animation. +"I've always wanted to see that mine. You'd like to, too, wouldn't you, +Dot?" + +Dot started a little. She had been sitting quite silent in the +background. + +"I expect it would be quite interesting," she said, as Hill looked +towards her. "But perhaps it wouldn't be very easy to manage it." + +"I could arrange it if you cared to go," said Hill. + +"Could you? How kind of you! But it would mean spending the night at +Trelevan, wouldn't it? I--I think we are too busy for that." Dot glanced +at her brother in some uncertainty. + +"Oh, it could be managed," said Jack, kindly. "Why not? You don't get +much fun in life. If you want to see the mine, and Hill can arrange it, +it shall be done." + +"Thank you," said Dot. + +Adela turned towards her. "My dear, do work up a little enthusiasm! +You've sat like a mute ever since you came in. What's the matter?" + +Dot was on her feet in a moment. This sort of baiting, good-natured +though it was, was more than she could bear. "I've one or two jobs left +in the kitchen," she said. "I'll go and attend to them--if no one minds." + +She was gone with the words, Adela's ringing laugh pursuing her as she +closed the door. She barely paused in the kitchen, but fled to her own +room. She could not--no, she could not--face the laughter and +congratulations that night. + +She flung herself down upon her bed and lay there trembling like a +terrified creature caught in a trap. Her brain was a whirl of bewildering +emotions. She knew not which way to turn to escape the turmoil, or even +if she were glad or sorry for the step she had taken. She wondered if +Hill would tell Jack and Adela the moment her back was turned, and +dreaded to hear the sound of her sister-in-law's footsteps outside her +door. + +But no one came, and after a time she grew calmer. After all, though in +the end she had made her decision somewhat suddenly, it had not been an +unconsidered one. Though she could not pretend to love Fletcher Hill, she +had a sincere respect for him. He was solid, and she knew that her future +would be safe in his hands. The past was past, and every day took her +farther from it. Yet very deep down in her soul there still lurked the +memory of that past. In the daytime she could put it from her, stifle +it, crowd it out with a multitude of tasks; but at night in her dreams +that memory would not always be denied. In her dreams the old vision +returned--tender, mocking, elusive--a sunburnt face with eyes of vivid +blue that looked into hers, smiling and confident with that confidence +that is only possible between spirits that are akin. She would feel again +the pressure of a man's lips on the hollow of her arm--that spot which +still bore the tiny mark which once had been a snake-bite. He had come to +her in her hour of need, and though he was a fugitive from justice, she +would never forget his goodness, his readiness to serve her, his +chivalry. And while in her waking hours she chid herself for her +sentimentality, yet even so, she had not been able to force herself to +cast her brief romance away. + +Ah, well, she had done it now. The way was closed behind her. There could +be no return. It was all so long ago. She had been little more than a +child then, and now she was growing old. The time had come to face the +realities of life, to put away the dreams. She believed that Fletcher +Hill was a good man, and he had been very patient. She quivered a little +at the thought of that patience of his. There was a cast-iron quality +about it, a forcefulness, that made her wonder. Had she ever really met +the man who dwelt within that coat of mail? Could there be some terrible +revelation in store for her? Would she some day find that she had given +herself to a being utterly alien to her in thought and impulse? He had +shown her so little--so very little--of his soul. + +Did he really love her, she wondered? Or had he merely determined to win +her because it had been so hard a task? He was a man who revelled in +overcoming difficulties, in asserting his grim mastery in the face of +heavy odds. He was never deterred by circumstances, never turned back +from any purpose upon the accomplishment of which he had set his mind. +His subordinates were afraid to tell him of failure. She had heard it +said that Bloodhound Hill could be a savage animal when roused. + +There came a low sound at her door, the soft turning of the handle, +Jack's voice whispered through the gloom. + +"Are you asleep, little 'un?" + +She started up on the bed. "Oh, Jack, come in, dear! Come in!" + +He came to her, put his arms about her, and held her close. "Fletcher's +been telling me," he whispered into her ear. "Adela's gone to bed. It's +quite all right, little 'un, is it? You're not--sorry?" + +She caught the anxiety in the words as she clung to him. "I--don't think +so," she whispered back. "Only I--I'm rather frightened, Jack." + +"There's no need, darling," said Jack, and kissed her very tenderly. +"He's a good fellow--the best of fellows. He's sworn to me to make you +happy." + +She was trembling a little in his hold. "He--doesn't want to marry me +yet, does he?" she asked, nervously. + +He put a very gentle hand upon her head. "Don't funk the last fence, old +girl!" he said, softly. "You'll like being married." + +"Ah!" She was breathing quickly. "I am not so sure. And there's no +getting back, is there, Jack? Oh, please, do ask him to wait a little +while! I'm sure he will. He is very kind." + +"He has waited five years already," Jack pointed out. "Don't you think +that's almost long enough, dear?" + +She put a hand to her throat, feeling as if there were some constriction +there. "He has been speaking to you about it! He wants you to--to +persuade me--to--to make me--" + +"No, dear, no!" Jack spoke very gravely. "He wants you to please +yourself. It is I who think that a long delay would be a mistake. Can't +you be brave, Dot? Take what the gods send--and be thankful?" + +She tried to laugh. "I'm an awful idiot, Jack. Yes, I will--I will be +brave. After all, it isn't as if--as if I were really sacrificing +anything, is it? And you're sure he's a good man, aren't you? You are +sure he will never let me down?" + +"I am quite sure," Jack said, firmly. "He is a fine man, Dot, and he will +always set your happiness before his own." + +She breathed a short sigh. "Thank you, Jack, I feel better. You're +wonderfully good to me, dear old boy. Tell him--tell him I'll marry him +as soon as ever I can get ready! I must get a few things together first, +mustn't I?" + +Jack laughed a little. "You look very nice in what you've got." + +"Oh, don't be silly!" she said. "If I'm going to live at +Wallacetown--Wallacetown, mind you, the smartest place this side of +Sydney--I must be respectably clothed. I shall have to go to Trelevan, +and see what I can find." + +"You and Adela had better have a week off," said Jack, "and go while +Fletcher is busy there. You'll see something of him in the evenings +then." + +"What about you?" she said, squeezing his arm. + +"Oh, I shall be all right. I'm expecting Lawley in from the ranges. He'll +help me. I've got to learn to do without you, eh, little 'un?" He held +her to him again. + +She clasped his neck. "It's your own doing, Jack; but I know it's for my +good. You must let me come and help you sometimes--just for a holiday." +Her voice trembled. + +He kissed her again with great tenderness. "You'll come just whenever you +feel like it, my dear," he said. "And God bless you!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE WAY TO HAPPINESS + + +On account of its comparative proximity to the gold mine, Trelevan, +though of no great size, was a busy place. Dot had stayed at the hotel +there with her brother on one or two occasions, but it was usually noisy +and crowded, and, unlike Adela, she found little to amuse her in the type +of men who thronged it. Fletcher Hill always stayed there when he came to +Trelevan. The police court was close by, and it suited his purpose; but +he mixed very little with his fellow-guests and was generally regarded as +unapproachable--a mere judicial machine with whom very few troubled to +make acquaintance. + +Fletcher Hill in the role of a squire of dames was a situation that +vastly tickled Adela's sense of humour. As she told Jack, it was going to +be the funniest joke of her life. + +Neither Hill nor his grave young fiancee seemed aware of any cause for +mirth, but with Adela that was neither here nor there. She and Dot never +had anything in common, and as for Fletcher Hill, he was the driest stick +of a man she had ever met. But she was not going to be bored on that +account. To give Adela her due, boredom was a malady from which she very +rarely suffered. + +She was in the best of spirits on the evening of their arrival at +Trelevan. The rooms that Fletcher Hill had managed to secure for them led +out of each other, and the smaller of them, Dot's looked out over the +busiest part of the town. As Adela pointed out, this was an advantage of +little value at night, and it could be shared in the daytime. + +Dot said nothing. She was used to her sister-in-law's cheerful egotism, +and Adela had never hesitated to invade her privacy if she felt so +inclined. Her chief consolation was that Adela was a very sound sleeper, +so that there was small chance of having her solitude disturbed at night. + +She herself was not sleeping so well as usual just then. A great +restlessness was upon her, and often she would pace to and fro like a +caged thing for half the night. She was not actively unhappy, but a great +weight seemed to oppress her--a sense of foreboding that was sometimes +more than she could bear. + +Fletcher Hill's calm countenance as he welcomed them upon their arrival +reassured her somewhat. He was so perfectly self-controlled and steady in +his demeanour. The very grasp of his hand conveyed confidence. She felt +as if he did her good. + +They dined together in the common dining-room, but at a separate table +in a corner. There were many coming and going, and Adela was frankly +interested in them all. As she said, it was so seldom that she had the +chance of studying the human species in such variety. When the meal was +over she good-naturedly settled herself in a secluded corner and +commanded them to leave her. + +"There's something in the shape of a glass-house at the back," she said. +"I don't know if it can be called a conservatory. But anyhow I should +think you might find a seat and solitude there, and that, I conclude, is +what you most want. Anyhow, don't bother about me! I can amuse myself +here for any length of time." + +They took her at her word, though neither of them seemed in any hurry to +depart. Dot lingered because the prospect of a _tete-a-tete_ in a strange +place, where she could not easily make her escape if she desired to do +so, embarrassed her. And Hill waited, as his custom was, with a grim +patience that somehow only served to increase her reluctance to be alone +with him. + +"Run along! It's getting late," Adela said at last. "Carry her off, Mr. +Hill! You'll never get her to make the first move." + +There was some significance in words and smile. Dot stiffened and turned +sharply away. + +Hill followed her, and outside the room she waited for him. + +"Do you know the way?" she asked, without looking at him. + +He took her by the arm, and again she had a wayward thought of the +hand of the law. She knew now what it felt like to be marshalled by +a policeman. She almost uttered a remark to that effect, but, glancing +up at him, decided that it would be out of place. For the man's harsh +features were so sternly set that she wondered if Adela's careless talk +had aroused his anger. + +She said nothing, therefore, and he led her to the retreat her +sister-in-law had mentioned in unbroken silence. It was certainly not a +very artistic corner. A few straggling plants in pots decorated it, but +they looked neglected and shabby. Yet the thought went through her, it +might have been a bower of delight had they been in the closer accord of +lovers who desire naught but each other. + +The place was deserted, lighted only by a high window that looked into a +billiard-room. The window was closed, but the rattle of the balls and +careless voices of the players came through the silence. A dusty bench +was let into the wall below it. + +"Do you like this place?" asked Fletcher Hill. + +She glanced around her with a little nervous laugh. "It's as good as any +other, isn't it?" + +His hand still held her arm. He bent slightly, looking into her face. +"I've been wanting to talk to you," he said. + +"Have you?" She tried to meet his look, but failed. "What about?" she +said, almost in a whisper. + +He bent lower. "Dot, are you afraid of me?" he said. + +That brought her eyes to his face with a jerk. "I--I--no--of course not!" +she stammered, in confusion. + +"Quite sure?" he said. + +She collected herself with an effort. "Quite," she told him with +decision, and met his gaze with something of a challenge in her own. + +But he disconcerted her the next moment. She felt again the man's grim +mastery behind the iron of his patience. "I want to talk to you," he +said, "about our marriage." + +"Ah!" It was scarcely more than a sharp intake of the breath, and as it +escaped again Dot turned white to the lips. His close scrutiny became +suddenly more than she could bear, and she turned sharply from him. + +He kept his hand upon her arm, but he made no further effort to restrain +her, merely waiting mutely for her to speak. + +In the room behind them there came the smart knocking of the balls, and +a voice cried, "By Jove, he's fluked again! It's the devil's own luck!" + +Dot flinched a little. The careless voice jarred upon her. Her nerves +were all on edge. Fletcher Hill's hand was like a steel trap, cold and +firm and merciless. She longed to wrench herself free from it, yet felt +too paralysed to move. + +And still he waited, not urging her, yet by his very silence making her +aware of a compulsion she could not hope to resist for long. + +She turned to him at last in desperation. "What--have you to suggest?" +she asked. + +"I?" he said. "I shall be ready at the end of the week--if that will suit +you." + +She gazed at him blankly. "The end of the week! But of course not--of +course not! You are joking!" + +"No, I am serious," Fletcher said. "Sit down a minute and let me +explain!" + +Then, as she hesitated, he very gently put her down upon the seat under +the closed window, and stood before her, blocking her in. + +"I have been wanting this opportunity of talking to you," he said, +"without Jack chipping in. He's a good fellow, and I know he is on my +side. But I have a fancy for scoring off my own bat. Listen, Dot! I am +not suggesting anything very preposterous. You have promised to marry me. +Haven't you?" + +"Yes," she whispered, breathlessly. "Yes." + +"Yes," he repeated. "And the longer you have to think about it, the more +scared you will get. My dear child, what is the point of spinning it out +in this fashion? You are going through agonies of mind--for nothing. If +I gave you back your freedom, you wouldn't be any happier, would you?" + +She was silent. + +"Would you?" he said again, and laid his hand upon her shoulder. + +"I--don't think so," she said, faintly. + +He took up her words again with magisterial emphasis. "You don't think +so. Well, there is every reason to suppose you wouldn't. You weren't +happy before, were you?" + +She gripped her courage with immense effort. "I haven't been +happy--since," she said. + +He accepted the statement without an instant's discomfiture. "I know you +haven't. I realized that the moment I saw you. You have been suffering +the tortures of the damned because you're in a positive hell of +indecision. Oh, I know all about it." His hand moved a little upon her +shoulder; it almost seemed to caress her. "I haven't studied human nature +all these years for nothing. I know you're in a perfect fever of doubt, +and it'll go on till you're married. What's the good of it? Why torture +yourself like this when the way to happiness lies straight before you? +Are you hoping against hope that something may yet turn up to prevent our +marriage? Would you be happy if it did? Answer me!" + +But she shrank from answering, sitting with her hands clasped tightly +before her and her eyes downcast like a prisoner awaiting sentence. +"I don't know--what I want," she told him, miserably. "I feel--as +if--whatever I do--will be wrong." + +"That's just it," said Fletcher Hill, as if that were the very admission +he had been waiting for. And then he did what for him was a very curious +thing. He went down upon one knee on the dusty floor, bringing his face +on a level with hers, clasping her tense hands between his own. "You +don't trust yourself, and you won't trust me," he said. "Isn't that it? +Or something like it?" + +The official air had dropped from him like a garment. She looked at him +doubtfully, almost as if she suspected him of trying to trick her. Then, +reassured by something in the harsh countenance which his voice and words +utterly failed to express, she leaned impulsively forward with a swift +movement of surrender and laid her head against his shoulder. + +"I'll do--whatever you wish," she said, in muffled tones. "I will trust +you! I do trust you!" + +He put his arm around her, for she was trembling, and held her so for a +space in silence. + +The voice in the billiard-room took up the tale. "That fellow's luck is +positively prodigious. He can't help scoring--whatever he does. He'd dig +gold out of an ash heap." + +Someone laughed, and there came again the clash of the billiard-balls, +followed in a second by a shout of applause. + +The noise subsided, and Fletcher spoke. "My job here will be over in a +week. Jack can manage to join us at the end of it. Your sister-in-law is +already here. Why not finish up by getting married and returning to +Wallacetown with me?" + +"I should have to go back to the farm and get the rest of my things," +said Dot. + +"You could do that afterwards," he said, "when I am away on business. I +shan't be able to take you with me everywhere. Some of the places I have +to go to would be too rough for you. But I shall be at Wallacetown for +some weeks after this job. You have never seen my house there. I took it +over from the last Superintendent. I think you'll like it. I got it for +that reason." + +She started a little. "But you didn't know then--How long ago was it?" + +"Three years," said Fletcher Hill. "I've been getting it ready for you +ever since." + +She looked up at him. "You--took a good deal for granted, didn't you?" +she said. + +Fletcher was smiling, dryly humorous. "I knew my own mind, anyway," he +said. + +"And you've never had--any doubts?" questioned Dot. + +"Not one," said Fletcher Hill. + +She laid her hand on his arm with a shy gesture. "I hope you won't be +dreadfully disappointed in me," she said. + +He bent towards her, and for a moment she felt as if his keen eyes +pierced her. "I don't think that is very likely," he said, and kissed her +with the words. + +She did not shrink from his kiss, but she did not return it; nor did he +linger as if expecting any return. + +He was on his feet the next moment, and she wondered with a little sense +of chill if he were really satisfied. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE CONQUEROR + + +They found Adela awaiting them in her corner, but chafing for a change. + +"I want you to take us to the billiard-room," she said to Fletcher. +"There's a great match on. I've heard a lot of men talking about it. +And I adore watching billiards. I'm sure we shan't be in the way. I'll +promise not to talk, and Dot is as quiet as a mouse." + +Fletcher considered the point. "I believe it's a fairly respectable +crowd," he said, looking at Dot. "But you're tired." + +"Oh, no," she said at once. "I don't feel a bit sleepy. Let us go in by +all means if you think no one will mind! I like watching billiards, too." + +"It's a man called Warden," said Adela. "That's the new manager of the +Fortescue Gold Mine, isn't it? They say he has the most marvelous luck. +He is playing the old manager--Harley, and giving him fifty points. +There's some pretty warm betting going on, I can tell you. Do let us go +and have a look at them! They've got the girl from the bar to mark for +them, so we shan't be the only women there." + +She was evidently on fire for this new excitement, and Fletcher Hill, +seeing that Dot meant what she said, led the way without further +discussion. He paused outside the billiard-room door, which stood ajar; +for a tense silence reigned. But it was broken in a moment by the sharp +clash of the balls and a perfect howl of enthusiasm from the spectators. + +"Oh, it's over!" exclaimed Adela. "What a pity! Never mind! Let's go in! +Perhaps they'll play again." + +The barmaid came flying out to fetch drinks as they entered. The +atmosphere of the room was thick with smoke. A babel of voices filled it. +Men who had been sitting round the walls were grouped about the table. In +the midst of them stood the victor in his shirt-sleeves, conspicuous in +the crowd by reason of his great height--a splendid figure of manhood +with a careless freedom of bearing that was in its way superb. + +He was turned away from the door at their entrance, and Dot saw only +a massive head of straw-coloured hair above a neck that was burnt +brick-red. Then, laughing at some joke, he wheeled round again to the +table; and she saw his face.... + +It was the face of a Viking, deeply sunburnt, vividly alive. A fair +moustache covered his upper lip, and below it the teeth gleamed, white +and regular like the teeth of an animal in the wilderness. He had that +indescribable look of morning-time, of youth at its best, which only +springs in the wild. His eyes were intensely blue. They gazed straight +across at her with startling directness. + +And suddenly Dot's heart gave a great jerk, and stood still. It was not +the first time that those eyes had looked into hers. + +The moment passed. He bent himself over the table, poised for a stroke, +which she saw him execute a second later with a delicacy that thrilled +her strangely. Full well did she remember the deftness and the steadiness +of those brown hands. Had they not held her up, sustained her, in the +greatest crisis of her life? + +Her heart throbbed on again with hard, uneven strokes. She was straining +her ears for the sound of his voice--that voice that had once spoken to +her quivering soul, pleading with her that she would at their next +meeting treat him--without prejudice. The memory thrilled through her. +This was the man for whose coming she had waited so long! + +He had straightened himself again, and was coming round the table to +follow up his stroke. Fletcher Hill spoke at her shoulder. + +"Sit down!" he said. "There is room here." + +There was a small space on the corner of the raised settee that ran along +the side of the room. Dot and Adela sat down together. Hill stood beside +them, looking over the faces of the men present, with keen eyes that +missed nothing. + +Dot sat palpitating, her hands clasped before her, seeing only the great +figure that leaned over the table for another stroke. Would he look at +her again? Would he remember her? Would he speak? + +Fascinated, she watched him. He executed his stroke, again with that +steady confidence, that self-detachment, that seemed to set him apart +from all other men. He was standing close to her now, and the nearness of +his presence thrilled her. She tingled from head to foot, as if under the +power of an electric battery. + +His late opponent stood facing her on the other side of the table, a +grey-haired man with crafty eyes that seemed to look in all directions at +the same time. She took an instinctive dislike to him. He wore a furtive +air. + +Warden stood up again, moving with that free swing of his as of one born +to conquer. He turned deliberately and faced them. + +"Good evening, Mr. Hill!" he said. "I'm standing drinks all round. I hope +you will join us." + +It was frankly spoken, and Hill's instant refusal sounded unnecessarily +curt in Dot's ears. + +"No, thanks. I am with ladies," he said. "I suppose the play is over?" + +Warden glanced across the table. "Unless Harley wants his revenge," he +said. + +The grey-haired man uttered a laugh that was like the bark of a vicious +dog. "I'll have that another day," he said. "It won't spoil by keeping. +You are a player yourself, Mr. Hill. Why don't you take him on?" + +"Oh, do!" burst forth Adela. "I should love to see a good game. You ask +him to, Dot! He'll do it for you." + +But Dot sat silent, her fingers straining against each other, her eyes +fixed straight before her, seeing yet unseeing, as one beneath a spell. + +There was a momentary pause. The room was full of the harsh babel of +men's voices. The drinks were being distributed. + +Suddenly a voice spoke out above the rest. "Here's to the new manager! +Good luck to him! Bill Warden, here's to you! Success and plenty of it!" + +Instantly the hubbub increased a hundredfold. Bill Warden swung round +laughing to face the clamour, and the tension went out of Dot. She +drooped forward with a weary gesture. As in a dream she heard the +laughter and the shouting. It seemed to sweep around her in great billows +of sound. But she was too tired to notice, too tired to care. He did not +know her. She was sure of that now. He had forgotten. The memory that +had affected her so poignantly had slipped like a dim cloud below his +horizon. The glory had departed, and life was grey and cold. + +"You are tired," said Fletcher's voice beside her. "Would you like to +go?" + +She looked up at him. His eyes were searching hers, and swiftly she +realized that this discovery that she had made must be kept a secret. If +Hill began to suspect, he would very quickly ferret out the truth, and +the man would be ruined. She knew Hill's stern justice. He would act +instantly and without mercy if he knew the truth. + +She braced herself with a great effort to baffle him. "No, oh, no!" she +said. "I am really not tired. Do play! I should love to see you play." + +He looked sardonic. "Love to see me beaten!" he said. + +She put out a quick hand. "Of course not! You will beat him easily. You +are always on the top. Do try!" + +He smiled a little, and turned from her. She saw him approach Warden and +tap him on the shoulder. + +Warden wheeled sharply, so sharply that the drink he held splashed over +the edge of the glass. The excitement in the room was dying down. She +watched the two men with an odd breathlessness, and in a moment she +realized that everyone else present was watching them also. + +Then they both turned towards her, and through a great singing that +suddenly arose in her ears she heard Adela whisper excitedly, "My dear, +he is actually going to introduce that amazing person to us!" + +She sat up with a stiff movement, feeling cold, inanimate, strangely +impotent, and in a moment he was standing before her with Fletcher, and +she heard the latter introduce her as his "affianced wife." + +Mutely she gave him her hand. It was Adela who filled in the gap, eager +for entertainment, and the next moment Warden had turned to her, and was +talking in his careless, leisurely fashion. The ordeal was past, her +pulses quieted down again. Yet she realized that he had not addressed a +single word to her, and the conviction came upon her that not thus would +he have treated one who was a total stranger to him. + +Because of Fletcher, who remained beside her, she forced herself to join +in the conversation, seconding Adela's urgent request that the two men +would play. + +Warden laughed and looked at Fletcher. "Do you care to take me on, sir?" +he said. + +From the other side of the table, Harley uttered his barking laugh. "Now +is your chance, Mr. Hill! Down him once and for all, and give us the +pleasure of seeing how it's done!" + +There was venom in the words. They were a revelation to Dot, the almost +silent looker-on. It was as if a flashlight had given her a sudden +glimpse of this man's soul, showing her bitter enmity--a black and cruel +hatred--an implacable yearning for revenge. She felt as if she had looked +down into the seething heart of a volcano. + +Then she heard Hill's voice. "I am quite willing to play," he said. + +A buzz of interest went through the room. The prospective match plainly +excited Warden's many admirers. They drew together, and she heard some +low-voiced betting begin. + +But this was instantly checked by Fletcher. "I'm not doing it for a +gamble," he said, curtly. "Please keep your money in your pockets, or +the match is off!" + +They looked at him with lowering glances, but they submitted. It was +evident to Dot that they all stood in considerable awe of him--all save +Warden, who chalked Hill's cue with supreme self-assurance, and then +lighted a cigarette without the smallest hint of embarrassment. + +The match began, and though the gambling had been checked a breathless +interest prevailed. Fletcher Hill's play was not well known at Trelevan, +but at the very outset it was evident to the most casual observer that he +was a skilled player. He spoke scarcely at all, and his face was masklike +in its composure, but Dot, watching, knew with that intuition which of +late had begun to grow upon her that he was grimly set upon obtaining +the victory. The knowledge thrilled her with a strange excitement. She +knew that he was in a fashion desirous of proving himself in her eyes, +that he had entered into the contest solely for her. + +As for Warden, she believed he was playing entirely to please himself. +He took an artistic interest in every stroke, but the ultimate issue of +the game did not seem to enter into his calculation. He played like a +sportsman, sometimes rashly, often brilliantly, but never selfishly. It +was impossible to watch him with indifference. Even his failures were +sensational. As Adela had said of him, he was amazing. + +Hill's play was absolutely steady. It lacked the vitality of the younger +man's, but it had about it a clockwork species of regularity that Dot +found curiously pleasing to watch. She had not thought that her interest +could be so deeply aroused; before the game was half through she was as +deeply absorbed as anyone present. + +It did not take her long to realize that public sympathy was entirely on +Warden's side, and it was that fact more than any other that disposed her +in Fletcher's favour. She saw that he had a hard fight before him, for +Warden led almost from the beginning, though with all his brilliancy he +never drew very far ahead. Fletcher kept a steady pace behind him, and +she knew he would not be easily beaten. + +Once he came and stood beside her after a very creditable break, and she +slipped a shy hand into his for a few seconds. His fingers closed upon it +in that slow, inevitable way of his, but he neither spoke nor looked at +her, and she had a feeling that his attention never for an instant +wandered from the job in hand. She admired him for his concentration, +yet would she have been less than woman had she not felt slighted by it. +He might have given her one look! + +Adela was full of enthusiasm for his opponent, and that also caused her +a vague sense of irritation. She was beginning to feel as if the evening +would never come to an end. + +The scoring was by no means slow, however, and the general interest +increased almost to fever pitch as the finish came in sight. Hill's +steady progress in the wake of his opponent seemed at length to +disconcert the latter. He began to play wildly, to attempt impossible +things. His supporters remonstrated without result. He seemed to have +flung away his judgment. + +Hill's score mounted till it reached and passed his. They were within +twenty points of the end when Warden suddenly missed an easy stroke. A +noisy groan broke from the onlookers, at which he shrugged his shoulders +and laughed. But Hill turned upon him with a stern reproof. + +"You're playing the fool, Warden," he said. "Pull up!" + +He spoke with curt command, and the man he addressed looked at him for a +second with raised brows, as if he would take offence. But in a moment he +laughed again. + +"You haven't beaten me yet, sir," he said. + +"No," said Hill. "And I don't value--an easy victory." + +There followed a tense silence while he resumed his play. Steadily his +score mounted, and it seemed to Dot that there was hostility in the very +atmosphere. She wondered what would happen if he scored the hundred +before his opponent had another chance. She hoped he would not do so, +and yet she did not want to see him beaten. + +He did not, but he left off with only three points to make. Then Warden +began to score. Stroke after stroke he executed with flawless accuracy +and with scarcely a pause, moving to and fro about the table without +lifting his eyes from the balls. His play was swift and unswerving, his +score mounted rapidly. + +Dot watched him spellbound, not breathing. Hill stood near her, also +closely watching, with brows slightly drawn. Suddenly something impelled +her to look beyond the man at the table, and in the shadow on the farther +side of the room she again saw Harley's face, grey, withered-looking, +with sunken eyes that glared forth wolfishly. He was glancing ceaselessly +from Hill to Warden and from Warden to Hill, and the malice of his glance +shocked her inexpressibly. She had never before seen murderous hate so +stamped upon any countenance. + +Instinctively she shrank from the sight, and in that moment Warden's eyes +were lifted for a second from the table. Magnetically hers flashed to +meet them. It was instantaneous, inevitable as the sudden flare of +lightning across a dark sky. + +He stooped again to play, but in that moment something had gone out of +him. The stroke he attempted was an easy one; but he missed it +hopelessly. + +He straightened himself up with a sharp gesture and looked at Hill. "I am +sorry," he said. + +Hill said nothing whatever. Their scores were exactly even. With +machine-like precision he took his turn, utterly ignoring the grumbling +criticisms of his adversary's play that were being freely expressed +around the room. With the utmost steadiness he made his stroke, scoring +two points. Then there fell a tremendous silence. The choice of two +strokes now lay before him. One was to pocket his adversary's ball; the +other a long shot which required considerable skill. He chose the second +without hesitation, hung a moment or two, made his stroke--and failed. + +A howl of delight went up from the watchers, their hot partisanship of +Warden amounting almost to open animosity against his opponent. In the +midst of the noise Hill, perfectly calm, contemptuously indifferent, +touched Warden again upon the shoulder, and spoke to him. + +Warden said nothing in reply, but he went to his ball with a hint of +savagery, bent, and almost without aiming sent it at terrific speed up +the table. It struck first the red, then the white, pocketed the former, +and whizzed therefrom into the opposite pocket. + +A yell of delight went up. It was a brilliant stroke of which any player +might have been proud. But Warden flung down his cue with a gesture of +disgust. + +"Damnation!" he said, and turned to put on his coat. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE MEETING + + +The two girls left the billiard-room, shepherded by Fletcher, almost +before the tumult had subsided. It seemed to Dot that he was anxious +about something and desirous to get them away. But Adela was full of +excited comments and refused to be hurried, stopping outside to question +Hill upon a dozen points regarding the game while he stood stiffly +responding, waiting to say good-night. + +Dot leaned upon the stair-rail, waiting for her, and eventually Fletcher +drew Adela's attention to the fact. + +Adela laughed. "Oh, that's just her way, my dear Fletcher. Some women +were born to wait. Dot does it better than anyone I know." + +It was at that moment that Warden came quietly up the passage from the +billiard-room, moving with the lightness of well-knit muscles, and +checked himself at sight of Fletcher. + +"I should like a word with you--when you have time," he said. + +Adela swooped upon him with effusion. "Mr. Warden! Your play is simply +astounding. Allow me to congratulate you!" + +"Please don't!" said Warden. "I played atrociously." + +She laughed at him archly. "That's just your modesty. You're plainly a +champion. Now, when are you going to let Mr. Hill show us that wonderful +mine? We are dying to see it, aren't we, Dot?" + +"The mine!" Warden turned sharply to Hill. "You're not going to take +anyone over that--surely! Not in person--anyhow! What, sir?" He looked +hard at Hill, who said nothing. "Then you must be mad!" + +"He isn't obliged to go in person," smiled Adela. "I am sure you are big +enough to take care of us single-handed. Dot and I are not in the least +nervous. Will you take us alone if we promise not to tease the animals?" + +Warden's eyes flashed a sudden glance upwards to the girl who still stood +silently leaning upon the rail. It was almost like an appeal. + +As if involuntarily she spoke. "What is the danger?" + +Hill turned to her. "There is no danger," he said, curtly. "If you wish +to go, I will take you to-morrow." + +Warden made a brief gesture as of one who submits to the inevitable, and +turned away. + +Fletcher held out his hand to Adela with finality. "Good-night," he said. + +"Are you really going to take us to-morrow?" she said. + +"Yes," said Fletcher. + +She beamed upon him. "What time shall we be ready?" + +He did not refer to Dot. "At five o'clock," he said. "I shall be busy at +the court all day. I will come and fetch you." + +He shook hands with Dot, and his face softened. "Good-night," he said. +"Go to bed quickly! You're very tired." + +She gave him a fleeting smile, and turned to go. She was tired to the +soul. + +Adela caught her by the arm as they ascended the stairs. "You little +quiet mouse, what's the matter? Aren't you enjoying the adventure?" + +Dot's face was sombre. "I think I am too tired to enjoy anything +to-night," she said. + +"Tired! And no work to do! Why, what has come to you?" Adela surveyed her +with laughing criticism. + +"Let's go to bed!" said Dot. "I'll tell you when we get there." + +Something in tone or words stirred Adela. She refrained from further +bantering and gave her mind to speedy preparations for bed. + +Then, as at last they were about to separate, she put a warm arm about +the girl and held her close. "What is it? Aren't you happy?" she said. + +A great sob went through Dot. Her trouble was more than she could bear. +She clung to Adela with unaccustomed closeness. + +"I've promised to marry Fletcher at the end of the week--instead of going +back with you to the farm." + +"I thought that was what he was after," said Adela. "But--don't you want +to?" + +"No," whispered Dot, trembling. + +"Well, why don't you tell him so--tell him he's got to wait? Shall I +tell him for you, you poor little thing?" Adela's voice was full of +compassion. + +But Dot was instant in her refusal. "No, oh, no! Don't tell him! I--I +couldn't give him--any particular reason for waiting. I shall feel +better--I'm sure I shall feel better--when it's over." + +"I expect you will," said Adela. "But I don't like your being miserable. +I say, Dot--" she clasped the quivering form closer, with a sudden rare +flash of intuition--"there isn't--anyone else you like better, is there?" + +But at that Dot started as if she had been stung, and drew herself +swiftly away. "Oh, no!" she said, vehemently. "No--no--no!" + +"Then I shouldn't worry," said Adela, sensibly. "It's nothing but +nerves." + +She kissed her and went to her own room, where she speedily slept. But +Dot lay wide-eyed, unresting, while the hours crawled by, seeing only +the vivid blue eyes that had looked into hers, and thrilled her--and +thrilled her with their magic. + +In the morning she arose early, urged by a fevered restlessness that +drove her with relentless force. Dressing, she discovered the loss of a +little heart-shaped brooch, Jack's gift, which she always wore. + +Adela, still lying in bed, assured her that she had seen it in her dress +the previous evening while at dinner. "It probably came out in that +little conservatory place when Fletcher was embracing you," she said. + +"Not very likely, I think," said Dot, flushing. + +Nevertheless, since she valued it, she finished dressing in haste and +departed to search for it. + +There was no one about with the exception of a man who was cleaning up +the billiard-room and assured her that her property was not there. So +she passed on along the passage to the shabby little glass-house whither +she and Fletcher had retreated on the previous evening. + +She expected to find the place deserted, and was surprised by a whiff of +tobacco-smoke as she entered. The next moment sharply she drew back; for +a man's figure rose up from the seat under the billiard-room window on +which she had rested the previous evening. His great frame seemed to fill +the place. Dot turned to flee. + +But on the instant he spoke, checking her. "Don't go for a moment! I know +what you're looking for. It's that little heart of yours. I've got it +here." + +She paused almost in spite of herself. His voice was pitched very low. He +spoke to her as if he were speaking to a frightened child. And he smiled +at her with the words--a frank and kindly smile. + +"You--you found it!" she stammered. + +"Yes, I found it, Miss Burton." He lingered over the name half +unconsciously, and a poignant stab of memory went through her. So had he +uttered it on that day so long, so long ago! "I knew it was yours. I was +trying to bring myself to give it to Mr. Hill." + +"How did you know it was mine?" She almost whispered the words, yet she +drew nearer to him, drawn irresistibly--drawn as a needle to the magnet. + +He answered her also under his breath. "I--remembered." + +She felt as if a wave of fire had swept over her. She swayed a little, +throbbing from head to foot. + +"I have rather a good memory," he said, as she found no words. "You're +not--vexed with me on that account, I hope?" + +An odd touch of wistfulness in his voice brought her eyes up to his face. +She fought for speech and answered him. + +"Of course not! Why should I? It--is a very long time ago, isn't it?" + +"Centuries," said Warden, and smiled again upon her reassuringly. "But I +never forgot you and your little farm and the old dog. Have you still got +him?" + +She nodded, her eyes lowered, a choked feeling as of tears in her throat. + +"He'd remember me," said Warden, with confidence. "He was a friend. Do +you know that was one of the most hairbreadth escapes of my life? If +Fletcher Hill had caught me, he wouldn't have shown much mercy--any more +than he would now," he added, with a half-laugh. "He's a terrific man for +justice." + +"Surely you're safe--now!" Dot said, quickly. + +"If you don't give me away," said Warden. + +"I!" She started, almost winced. "There's no danger of that," she said, +in a low voice. + +"Thank you," he said. "I've gone fairly straight ever since. It hasn't +been a very paying game. I tried my luck in the West, but it was right +out. So I thought I'd come back here, and that was the turning-point. +They took me on at the Fortescue Mine. It's a fiendish place, but I +rather like it. I'm sub-manager there at present--till Harley goes." + +"Ah!" She looked up at him again. "He is a dangerous man. He hates you, +doesn't he?" + +"Quite possibly," said Warden, with a smile. "That mine is rather an +abode of hate all round. But we'll clean it out one of these days, and +make a decent place of it." + +"I hope you will succeed," she said, very earnestly. + +"Thank you," he said again. + +He was looking at her speculatively, as if there were something about her +that he found hard to understand. Her agitation had subsided, leaving her +with a piteous, forlorn look--the look of the wayfarer who is almost too +tired to go any farther. + +There fell a brief silence between them, then with a little smile she +spoke. + +"Are you going to give me back my brooch?" + +He put his hand in his pocket. "I was nearly keeping it for good and +all," he said, as he brought it out. + +She took it from him and pinned it in her dress without words. Then, +shyly, she proffered her hand. "Thank you. Good-bye!" + +He drew a short hard breath as he took it into his own. For a second or +two he stood so, absolutely motionless, his great hand grasping hers. +Then, very suddenly, he stooped to her, looking into her eyes. + +"Good-bye, little new chum!" he said, softly. "It was--decent of you to +treat me--without prejudice." + +The words pierced her. A great tremor went through her. For an instant +the pain was almost intolerable. + +"Oh, spare me that!" she said, quickly and passionately, and drew her +hand away. + +The next moment she was running blindly through the passage, scarcely +knowing which way she went, intent only upon escape. + +A man at the foot of the stairs stood aside for her, and she fled past +him without a glance. He turned and watched her with keen, alert eyes +till she was out of sight. Then, without haste, he took his way in the +direction whence she had come. + +But he did not go beyond the threshold of the little dusty conservatory, +for something he saw within made him draw swiftly back. + +When Fletcher Hill went to the court that day, he was grimmer, colder, +more unapproachable even than was his wont. He had to deal with one or +two minor cases from the gold mine, and the treatment he meted out was +of as severe an order as circumstances would permit. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE MINE + + +The Fortescue Gold Mine was five miles away from Trelevan, in the heart +of wild, barren country, through which the sound of its great crushing +machines whirred perpetually like the droning of an immense beehive. + +The place was strewn with scattered huts belonging to such of the workers +as did not live at Trelevan, and a yellow stream ran foaming through the +valley, crossed here and there by primitive wooden bridges. + +The desolation of the whole scene, save for that running stream, produced +the effect of a world burnt out. The hills of shale might have been vast +heaps of ashes. It was a waste place of terrible unfruitfulness. And yet, +not very far below the surface, the precious metal lay buried in the +rock--the secret of the centuries which man at last had wrenched from its +hiding-place. + +The story went that Fortescue, the owner of the mine, had made his +discovery by a mere accident in this place known as the Barren Valley, +and had kept it to himself for years thereafter because he lacked the +means to exploit it. But later he had returned with the necessary capital +at his back, had staked his claim, and turned the place of desolation +into an abode of roaring activity. The men he employed were for the most +part drawn from the dregs--sheep-stealers, cattle-thieves, smugglers, +many of them ex-convicts--a fierce, unruly lot, hating all law and order, +yet submitting for the sake of that same precious yellow dust that they +ground from the foundation stones of the world. + +Personally, Fortescue was known but to the very few, but his methods were +known to all. He paid them generously, but he ruled them with a rigid +discipline that knew no relaxation. It was murmured that Fletcher +Hill--the hated police-magistrate--was at his back, for he never failed +to visit the mine when his duty took him in that direction, and there was +something of military precision in its management which was strongly +reminiscent of his forbidding personality. It was Fletcher Hill who meted +out punishment to the transgressors who were brought before him at the +police-court at Trelevan, and his treatment was usually swift and +unsparing. No prisoner ever expected mercy from him. + +He was hated at the mine with a fierce hatred, in which Fortescue had +but a very minor share. It was recognized that Fortescue's methods were +of a decent order, though his lack of personal interest was resented, +and also his friendship with Fletcher Hill, which some even declared to +be a partnership. The only point in his favour was the fact that Bill +Warden knew the man and never failed to stand up for him. For some reason +Warden possessed an enormous influence over the men. His elevation +to the sub-managership had been highly popular, and his projected +promotion to the post of manager, now filled by Harley, gave them immense +satisfaction. He had the instincts of a sportsman and knew how to handle +them, and a personality, that was certainly magnetic, did the rest. + +Harley had a certain following, but the general feeling towards him +was one of contempt. Most men recognized that he was nothing but a +self-seeker, and there were few who trusted him. He did his best to +achieve popularity, but his efforts were too obvious. Bill Warden's +breezy indifference held an infinitely greater appeal in the eyes +of the crowd. + +Harley's resignation was of his own choosing. He declared himself in need +of a rest, and no one attempted to persuade him otherwise. His day was +over, and Warden's succession to the post seemed an inevitable sequence. +As Hill sardonically remarked, there was no other competitor for the +chieftainship of that band of cutthroats. + +For some reason he had postponed his departure till after Hill's official +visit to Trelevan. He and Warden shared the largest house in the miners' +colony in Barren Valley. It was close to the mine at the end of the +valley, and part of it was used as the manager's office. It overlooked +the yellow torrent and the black wall of mountain beyond--a savage +prospect that might have been hewn from the crater of a dead volcano. + +A rough track led to it, winding some twenty feet above the stream, and +up this track Fletcher Hill drove the two visitors on the evening of the +day succeeding their arrival at Trelevan. + +There was a deadness of atmosphere between those rocky walls that struck +chill even to Adela's inconsequent soul. "What a ghastly place!" she +commented. "I should think Ezekiel's valley of dry bones must have been +something like this." + +Harley met them at the door of his office with a smile in his crafty +eyes. "Warden is waiting for you in the mine," he said to Fletcher. "His +lambs have been a bit restless this afternoon. He has set his heart on a +full-dress parade, but I don't know if it will come off." + +Fletcher's black brows drew together. "What do you mean by that?" he +demanded. + +Harley shrugged his shoulders with a laugh. "You wait and see!" + +The entrance to the mine yawned like an immense cavern in the rock. The +roaring screech of the machines issuing from it made an inferno of sound +from which, involuntarily, Dot shrank. + +She looked at Hill appealingly as they drew near. He turned instantly to +Harley. + +"Go ahead, will you, and tell them to stop work? We can't hear ourselves +speak in this." + +"I'll come with you, Mr. Harley," said Adela, promptly. "I want to see +the machines going." + +Harley paused for a moment. "You know your way, Mr. Hill?" he said. + +Hill nodded with a hint of impatience. "Yes, yes. I was here only the +other day." + +"Very good," said Harley. "But don't forget to turn to the right when you +get down the steps. The other way is too steep for ladies." + +He was gone with the words and Adela with him, openly delighted to have +escaped from her solemn escort, and ready for any adventure that might +present itself. + +Dot looked after her for a moment, and then back at Hill. "She'll be all +right, won't she?" she asked. + +"Of course she will!" said Hill. + +"Then shall we wait a minute till the noise stops?" she suggested. + +Hill paused, though not very willingly. "There is nothing to be nervous +about," he said. + +She glanced at the cavernous opening with a little shudder. "I think it +is a dreadful place," she said. + +She saw him faintly smile. "I thought it didn't appeal much to you," he +said. + +She shivered. "Do you like it? But of course you do. You are interested +in it. Isn't that grinding noise terrible? It makes me want to run away +and hide." + +Hill drew her to a large flat rock on the edge of the path. "Sit down," +he said. + +She did so, and he took up his stand beside her, one foot lodged upon the +stone. In the silence that followed she was aware of his eyes upon her, +intently watching her face. She gripped her hands hard around her knees, +enduring his scrutiny with a fast-throbbing heart. She expected some +curt, soul-searching question at the end of it. But none came. Instead, +the noise that reverberated through the valley suddenly ceased, and there +fell an intense stillness. + +That racked her beyond bearing. She looked up at him at last with a +desperate courage and met his eyes. "What is it?" she questioned. "Why +do you--why do you look at me--like that?" + +He made a brief gesture, as if refusing a challenge, and stood up. "Shall +we go?" he said. + +She got up also, but her knees were trembling, and in a moment his hand +came out and closed with that official grip upon her elbow. He led her +to the mine entrance guiding her over the rough ground in utter silence. + +They left the daylight behind them, passing almost immediately into +semi-darkness. Some rough steps hewn in the rock led down into a black +void before them. + +"Are there no lights anywhere?" said Dot. + +"Yes. There'll be a lamp round the corner. Straight on down!" said +Fletcher. + +But for his presence she would hardly have dared it, so great was the +horror that this place had inspired within her. But to wait alone with +him in that terrible empty valley was even less endurable. She went down +the long, steep stair without further protest. + +They reached the foot at length, and a dim light shone ahead of them. The +atmosphere was vault-like and penetratingly damp. The passage divided +almost immediately, and a narrow track led off between black walls of +stone to the right, where in the distance another lamp shone. + +Fletcher turned towards this, but very suddenly Dot clasped his arm. "Oh, +don't let us go that way!" she begged. "Please don't let us go that way!" + +Hill paused in response to her urgent insistence. "What's the matter with +you, Dot?" he said. + +She clung to him desperately, still holding him back. "I don't know--I +don't know! But don't go that way! I have a horrible feeling--Ah!" The +deafening report of a revolver-shot rang out suddenly close to them. + +Hill turned with a sound in his throat like the growl of an angry animal, +and in a moment he had thrust Dot back against the protecting corner of +the wall. + +"You are not hurt?" she gasped. + +"No; I am not." His words fell clipped and stern, though spoken scarcely +above a whisper. "Don't speak! Get back up the steps--as quickly as you +can!" + +The command was so definite, so peremptory, that she had no thought of +disobeying. But as she moved there came to her the sound of running feet. +Hill stayed her with a gesture. She saw something gleam in his hand as he +did so, and realized that he was not defenceless. + +Her heart seemed to spring into her throat. She stood tense. + +Nearer came the feet and nearer. The suspense of waiting was torture. She +thought it would never end. Then suddenly, just as she looked to see a +man spring from the opening of that narrow passage, they stopped. + +A voice spoke. "All right! Don't shoot!" it said, and a great +throb of amazement went through her. That voice--careless, debonair, +half-laughing--awoke deep echoes in her heart. + +A moment later Warden came calmly round the corner, his great figure +looming gigantic in that confined space. + +He held out his hand. "I'm sorry you've had a fright. I fired that shot. +It was a signal to the men to line up for inspection." + +He spoke with the utmost frankness, yet it came to Dot with an intuition +she could not doubt that Hill did not believe him. He returned the +revolver to his pocket, but he kept a hold upon it, and he made no +movement to take the hand Warden offered. + +"We came to inspect the mine, not the men," he said, shortly. "Go back +and tell them to clear out!" + +Dot, mutely watching, saw Warden's brows go up. He had barely glanced at +her. "Oh, all right, sir," he said, easily. "They've hardly left off work +yet. I'll let 'em know in good time. But first I've got something to show +you. Come this way!" + +He turned towards the main passage, but in a second, sharp and short, +Fletcher's voice arrested him. + +"Warden!" + +He swung on his heel. "Well, sir?" + +"You will do as I said--immediately!" The words might have been uttered +by a machine, so precise, so cold, so metallic were they. + +Warden stood quite motionless, facing him, and it seemed to Dot that +his eyes had become two blue flames, giving out light. The pause that +followed was so instinct with conflict that she thought it must end in +some terrible outburst of violence. + +Then, to her amazement, Warden smiled--his candid, pleasant smile. +"Certainly, if you make a point of it," he said. "Perhaps you will walk +up with me. The strong-room is on our way, and while you are looking at +the latest specimens I will carry out your orders." + +He turned back with the words, and led the way towards the distant lamp +that glimmered in the wall. + +Stiffly Hill turned to the girl beside him. "Would you rather go back and +wait for me?" he said. + +"Oh, no!" she said, instantly. "No; I am coming too." + +He said no more, but grimly stalked in the wake of Warden. + +The latter moved quickly till he reached the place where the lamp was +lodged in a niche in the wall. Here he stopped, stooped, and fitted a key +into a narrow door that had been let into the stone. It opened outwards, +and he drew aside, waiting for Hill. + +"I will go and dismiss the men," he said. "May I leave you in charge till +I come back? They will not come this way." + +Hill paused on the threshold. The lamp cast a dim light into the place, +which was close and gloomy as a prison. + +"There are two steps down," said Warden. "One of them is badly broken, +but it's worth your while to go in and have a look at our latest finds. +You had better go first, sir. Be careful!" + +He turned to depart with the words, still ignoring Dot. She was close to +Hill, and something impelled her to lay a restraining hand on his +shoulder as he took the first step down. + +What followed happened with such stunning swiftness that her memory of +it ever afterwards was a confused jumble of impressions, like the wild +course of a nightmare. + +She heard Warden swing round again in his tracks, but before she could +turn he had caught her and flung her backwards over his arm. With his +other hand simultaneously he dealt Hill a blow in the back that sent him +blundering down into the darkness, and then, with lightning rapidity, he +banged the door upon his captive. The lock sprang with the impact, but he +was not content with this. Still holding her, he dragged at a rough +handle above his head and by main strength forced down an iron shutter +over the locked door. + +Then, breathing hard and speaking no word, he lifted her till she hung +across his shoulder, and started to run. She had not uttered a sound, so +stunned with amazement was she, so bereft of even the power to think. Her +position was one of utter helplessness. He held her with one arm as +easily as if she had been a baby. And she knew that in his free hand he +carried his revolver. + +In her bewilderment she had not the faintest idea as to the direction he +took. She only knew that he ran like a hunted rat down many passages, +turning now this way, now that, till at last he plunged down an unseen +stairway and the sound of gurgling water reached her ears. + +He slackened his pace then, and at last stood still. He did not alter his +hold upon her, however, but stood listening intently for many seconds. +She hung impotent across his shoulder, feeling still too paralyzed to +move. + +He turned his head at last and spoke to her. "Have I terrified the senses +out of you, little new chum?" he whispered, softly. + +That awoke her from her passivity. She made her first effort for freedom. + +He drew her down into his arms and held her close. + +"Right down," she said, insistently. + +But he held her still. "If I let you go, you'll wander maybe, and get +lost," he said. + +His action surprised her, but yet that instinctive trust with which he +had inspired her long ago remained, refusing to be shaken. + +"Put me right down!" she said again. "And tell me why you did it!" + +He set her on her feet, but he still held her. "Can't you guess?" he +said. + +"No!" she said. "No!" + +She spoke a little wildly. Was it the first doubt that ran shadow--like +across her brain, leaving her so strangely cold? She wished it had not +been so dark, that she might see his face. "Tell me!" she said again. + +But he did not tell her. "Don't be afraid!" was all he said in answer. +"You are--safe enough." + +"But--but--Fletcher?" she questioned, desperately. "What of him?" + +"He's safe too--for the present." There was something of grimness in his +reply. "He doesn't matter so much. He's been asking for trouble all +along--but he had no right--no right whatever--to bring you into it. +It's you that matters." + +A curious, vibrant quality had crept into his voice, and an answering +tremor went through her; but she controlled it swiftly. + +"And Adela," she said. "She was with Mr. Harley. What has become of her?" + +"He will take care of her for his own sake. Leave her to him!" Warden +spoke with a hint of disdain. "She'll get nothing worse than a fright," +he said, "possibly not even that--if he gets her to the manager's house +in time." + +"In time!" she echoed. "In time for what? What is going to happen? What +do you mean?" + +His hold tightened upon her. "Well," he said, "there's going to be a row. +But I'm boss of this show, and I reckon I can deal with it. Only--I'll +have you safe first, little new chum. I'm not taking any chances where +you are concerned." + +She gasped a little. The steady assurance of his voice stirred her +strangely. + +She tried to release herself from his hold. "I don't like this place," +she said. "Let me go back to Mr. Hill." + +"That's just what I can't do." He bent suddenly down to her. "Won't you +trust me?" he said. "I didn't fail you last time, did I?" + +She thrilled in answer to those words. It was as if thereby he had flung +down all barriers between them. She stood for a moment in indecision, +then impulsively she turned and grasped his arms. + +"I trust you--absolutely," she told him, tremulously. "But--but--though +I know you don't like him--promise me--you won't let--Fletcher be hurt!" + +He, too, was silent for a moment before responding. She fancied that he +flinched a little at her words. Then: "All right, I promise," he said. + +"Then I will go--wherever you like," she said, bravely, and put her hand +into his. + +He took it into a strong grasp. "That's like you," he said, with +simplicity. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE GREATER LOVE + + +Through a labyrinth of many passages he led her, over ground that was +often rough and slimy with that sound of running water in their ears, +sometimes near, sometimes distant, but never wholly absent. Now and then +a gleam of light would come from some distant crevice, and Dot would +catch a glimpse of the rocky corridor through which they moved--catch a +glimpse also of her companion walking with his free stride beside her, +though occasionally he had to stoop when the roof was low. He did not +look at her, seldom spoke to her, but the grasp of his hand held her up +and kept all fear at bay. Somehow fear in this man's presence seemed +impossible. + +A long time passed, and she was sure that they had traversed a +considerable distance before, very far ahead of them at the end +of a steep upward slope, she discerned a patch of sky. + +"Is that where we are going?" she asked. + +"Yes," he said. + +She gazed before her, puzzled. "But where are we? Are we still in the +mine?" + +"No. This is the smugglers' warren." She caught a hint of humour in his +voice. "The stream flows underground all through here--and very useful we +have found it." + +She gave a great start at his words. "You--you are not a smuggler!" she +said. + +He drew her on. "I am a good many things," he said, easily, "and the king +of this rat-run amongst them. There's no one knows it as well as I do." + +Her heart sank. "You said--you said yesterday--you had lived straight!" +she said, in a low voice. + +"Did I? But what does it matter to you how I live?" With a touch of +recklessness he put the question. "If Fletcher Hill managed to put the +official seal on me, what would it matter to you--now?" + +There was almost a note of anger in his voice, yet his hand still held +hers in the same close, reassuring grasp. She could not be afraid. + +"It would matter," she said at last. + +"I wonder why?" said Bill Warden. + +"Because--we are friends," she said. + +He made a sharp sound as of dissent, but he did not openly contradict +her. They were nearing the opening, and the ground was rough and broken. +She stumbled once or twice, and each time he held her up. Finally they +came to a flight of steps that were little more than notches cut steeply +in the rock. + +"I shall have to carry you here," he said. + +Dot looked upwards with sharp dismay. The rocky wall rose twenty feet +above her, the rough-hewn steps slanting along its face. For the first +time her heart misgave her. + +"What a dreadful place!" she said. + +"It's the only way out," said Warden, "unless we tramp underground nearly +half-way to Wallacetown!" + +"Can't we go back?" she said, nervously. + +"What! Afraid?" He gave her hand a sudden squeeze. + +She looked at him and caught the blue fire of his eyes as he bent towards +her. Something moved her, she knew not what. She surrendered herself to +him without a word. + +Once more she hung upon his shoulder, clinging desperately, while he made +that perilous ascent. He went up with amazing agility, as if he were +entirely unencumbered. She felt the strength of his great frame beneath +her, and marvelled. Again the magnetic force of the man possessed her, +stilling all fear. She shut her eyes dizzily, but she was not afraid. + +When she looked up again they were in the open. He had set her on her +feet, and she stood on the rugged side of a mountain where no vestige of +a path or any habitation showed in any direction. For the first time he +had relinquished all hold upon her, and stood apart, almost as if he +would turn and leave her. + +The brief twilight was upon them. It was as if dark wings were folding +them round. A small chill wind was wandering to and fro. She shivered +involuntarily. It sounded like the whispering of an evil spirit. The fear +she had kept at bay for so long laid clammy hands upon her. + +Instinctively she turned to the man for protection. "How shall we get +away?" she said. + +He moved sharply, so sharply that for a single moment she thought that +something had angered him. And then--all in one single blinding +instant--she realized that which no words could utter. For he caught her +swiftly to him, lifting her off her feet, and very suddenly he covered +her face and neck and throat with hot, devouring kisses--kisses that +electrified her--kisses that seemed to scorch and blister--yet to fill +her with a pulsing rapture that was almost too great to endure. + +She tried to hide her face from him, but she could not; to protest, but +his lips stopped the words upon her own. She was powerless--and very +deep down within her there leaped a wild thing that rejoiced--that +exulted--in her powerlessness. + +The fierce storm spent itself. There came a pause during which she +lay palpitating against his breast while his cheek pressed hers in a +stillness that was in a fashion more compelling than even those burning +kisses had been. + +He spoke to her at last, and his voice was deep and tender, throbbing +with that which was beyond utterance. + +"You love me, little new chum," he said. + +There was no question in his words. She quivered, and made no answer. +That headlong outburst of passion had overwhelmed her utterly. She was +as drift upon the tide. + +He drew a great heaving breath, and clasped her closer. His words fell +hot upon her face. "You are mine! Why shouldn't I keep you? Fate has +given you to me. I'd be a fool to let you go again." + +But something--some inner impulse that had been stunned to impotence by +his violence--stirred within her at his words and awoke. Yet it was +scarcely of her own volition that she answered him. "I am--not--yours." + +Very faintly the words came from her trembling lips, but the utterance of +them gave her new strength. She moved at last in his hold. She turned her +face away from him. + +"What do you mean?" He spoke in a fierce whisper, but--she felt it +instinctively--there was less of assurance in his hold. It was that that +added to her strength, but she offered no active resistance, realizing +wherein lay his weakness--and her own. + +"I mean," she said, and though it still trembled beyond her control, her +voice gathered confidence with the words, "that by taking me--by keeping +me--you are taking--keeping--what is not your own." + +"Love gives me the right," he asserted, swiftly--"your love--and mine." + +But the clearer vision had come to her. She shook her head against his +shoulder. "No--no! That is wrong. That is not--the greater love." + +"What do you mean by--the greater love?" He was holding her still +closely, but no longer with that fierce possession. + +She answered him with a steadiness that surprised herself: "I mean the +only love that is worth having--the love that lasts." + +He caught up the words passionately. "And hasn't my love lasted? Have I +ever thought of any other woman since the day I met you? Haven't I been +fighting against odds ever since to be able to come to you an honest +man--and worthy of your love?" + +"Oh, I know--I know!" she said, and there was a sound of heartbreak in +her voice. "But--the odds have been too heavy. I thought you had +forgotten--long ago." + +"Forgotten!" he said. + +"Yes." With a sob she answered him. "Men do forget--nearly all of them. +Fletcher Hill didn't. He kept on waiting, and--and--they said it wasn't +fair--to spoil a man's life for a dream--that could never come true. +So--I gave in at last. I am--promised to him." + +"Against your will?" His arms tightened upon her again. "Tell me, little +new chum! Was it against your will?" + +"No! Oh, no!" She whispered the words through tears. "I gave +in--willingly. I thought it was better than--an empty life." + +"Ah!" The word fell like a groan. "And that's what you're going to +condemn me to, is it?" + +She turned in his arms, summoning her strength. "We've got to play the +game," she said. "I've got to keep my word--whatever it costs. And +you--you are going to keep yours." + +"My word?" he questioned, swiftly. + +"Yes." She lifted her head. "If--if you really care about being +honest--if your love is worth--anything at all--that is the only way. +You promised--you promised--to save him." + +"Save him for you?" he said. + +"Yes--save him for me." She did not know how she uttered the words, but +somehow they were spoken. + +They went into a silence that wrung her soul, and it cost her every atom +of her strength not to recall them. + +Bill Warden stood quite motionless for many pulsing seconds, then--very, +very slowly--at length his hold began to slacken. + +In the end he set her on her feet--and she was free. "All right, little +new chum!" he said, and she heard a new note in his voice--a note that +waked in her a wild impulse to spring back into his arms and cling to +him--and cling to him. "I'll do it--for you--if it kills me--just to show +you--little girl--just to show you--what my love for you is really +worth." + +He stood a moment, facing her; then his hands clenched and he turned +away. + +"Let's go down the hill!" he said. "I'll see you in safety first." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +WITHOUT CONDITIONS + + +In the midst of a darkness that could be felt Fletcher Hill stood, +grimly motionless, waiting. He knew that strong-room, had likened it +to a condemned cell every time he had entered it, and with bitter humour +he told himself that he had put his own neck into the noose with a +vengeance this time. + +Not often--if ever--before had he made the fatal mistake of trusting one +who was untrustworthy. He would not have dreamed of trusting Harley, for +instance. But for some reason he had chosen to repose his confidence in +Warden, and now it seemed that he was to pay the price of his rashness. +It was that fact that galled him far more than the danger with which he +was confronted. That he, Fletcher Hill--the Bloodhound--ever wary and +keen of scent, should have failed to detect a _ruse_ so transparent--this +inflicted a wound that his pride found it hard to sustain. Through his +lack of caution he had forfeited his own freedom, if not his life, and +exposed Dot to a risk from the thought of which even his iron nerve +shrank. He told himself repeatedly, with almost fierce emphasis, that Dot +would be safe, that Warden could not be such a hound as to fail her; but +deep within him there lurked a doubt which he would have given all he had +to be able to silence. The fact remained that through his negligence she +had been left unprotected in an hour of great danger. + +Within the narrow walls of his prison there was no sound save the +occasional drip of water that oozed through the damp rock. He might have +been penned in a vault, and the darkness that pressed upon him seemed to +crush the senses, making difficult coherent thought. There was nothing +to be done but to wait, and that waiting was the worst ordeal that +Fletcher Hill had ever been called upon to face. + +A long time passed--how long he had no means of gauging. He stood like +a sentinel, weapon in hand, staring into the awful darkness, struggling +against its oppression, fighting to keep his brain alert and ready for +any emergency. He thought he was prepared for anything, but that time +of waiting tried his endurance to the utmost, and when at length a sound +other than that irregular drip of water came through the deathly +stillness he started with a violence that sent a smile of self-contempt +to his lips. + +It was a wholly unexpected sound--just the ordinary tones of a man's +voice speaking to him through the darkness where he had believed that +there was nothing but a blank wall. + +"Mr. Hill, where are you?" it said. "I have come to get you out." + +Hill's hand tightened upon his revolver. He was not to be taken unawares +a second time. He stood in absolute silence, waiting. + +There was a brief pause, then again came the voice. "There's not much +point in shooting me. You'll probably starve if you do. So watch out! +I'm going to show a light." + +Hill still stood without stirring a muscle. His back was to the door. He +faced the direction of the voice. + +Suddenly, like the glare from an explosion, a light flashed in his eyes, +blinding him after the utter dark. He flinched from it in spite of +himself, but the next moment he was his own master again, erect and +stern, contemptuously unafraid. + +"Don't shoot!" said Bill Warden, with a gleam of his teeth, "or maybe +you'll shoot a friend!" + +He was standing empty-handed save for the torch he carried, his great +figure upright against the wall, facing Hill with speculation in his +eyes. + +Hill lowered his revolver. "I doubt it," he said, grimly. + +"Ah! You don't know me yet, do you?" said Warden, a faintly jeering note +in his voice. + +"Yes," said Hill, deliberately. "I think I know you--pretty well--now." + +"I wonder," said Warden. + +He moved slowly forward, throwing the light before him as he did so. The +place had been blasted out of the rock, and here and there the stone +shone smooth as marble where the charge had gone. Rough shelves had been +hewn in the walls, leaving divisions between, and on some of these were +stored bags of the precious metal that had been ground out of the ore. +There was no sign anywhere of any entrance save the iron-bound door +behind Hill. + +Straight in front of him Warden stopped. They stood face to face. + +"Well?" Warden said. "What do you know of me?" + +Hill's eyes were as steel. He stood stiff as a soldier on parade. He +answered curtly, without a hint of emotion. "I know enough to get you +arrested when this--farce--is over." + +"Oh, you call this a farce, do you?" Bill Warden's words came slowly from +lips that strangely smiled. "And when does--the fun begin?" + +Hill's harsh face was thrown into strong relief by the flare of the +torch. It was as flint confronting the other man. "Do you really imagine +that I regard this sort of Forty Thieves business seriously?" he said. + +"I imagine it is pretty serious so far as you are concerned," said +Warden. "You're in about the tightest hole you've ever been in in your +life. And it's up to me to get you out--or to leave you. Do you +understand that?" + +"Oh, quite," said Fletcher Hill, sardonically. "But--let me tell you +at the outset--you won't find me specially easy to bargain with on that +count--Mr. Buckskin Bill." + +Bill Warden threw up his head with a gesture of open defiance. "I'm not +doing any--bargaining," he said. "And as to arresting me--afterwards--you +can do as you please. But now--just now--you are in my power, and you're +going to play my game. Got that?" + +"I can see myself doing it," said Fletcher Hill. + +"Yes, you will do it." A sudden deep note of savagery sounded in Warden's +voice. "Not to save your own skin, Mr. Fletcher Hill, but for the sake +of--something more valuable than that--something more precious even than +your cussed pride. You'll do it for the sake of the girl you're going to +marry. And you'll do it--now." + +"Shall I?" said Fletcher Hill. + +Bill Warden's hand suddenly came forth and gripped him by the shoulder. +"Damn you!" he said. "Do you think I want to save your life?" + +The words were low, spoken with a concentrated passion more terrible than +open violence. He looked closely into Hill's eyes, and his own were +flaming like the eyes of a baited animal. + +Hill looked straight back at him without the stirring of an eyelid. "Take +your hand off me!" he said. + +It was the word of the superior officer. Warden's hand fell as it were +mechanically. There followed a tense silence. + +Warden made a sharp movement. "I did it to save your life," he said. +"You'd have died like a dog within ten seconds if I hadn't turned you +back." + +A curious expression crossed Hill's strong countenance. It was almost a +smile of understanding. "I am--indebted to you--boss," he said, and with +the words very calmly he took his revolver by the muzzle and held it out. +"I surrender to you--without conditions." + +Bill Warden gave a sharp start of surprise. For an instant he hesitated, +then in silence he took the weapon and dropped it into his pocket. A +moment longer he looked Fletcher Hill straight in the eyes, then swung +upon his heel. + +"We'll get out of this infernal hole straight away," he said, and, +stooping, gripped his fingers upon a ridge of stone that ran close to the +floor. The stone swung inward under his grasp, leaving a dark aperture +gaping at his feet. Bill glanced backwards at his prisoner. + +The smile still hovered in the latter's eye. "After you, Mr. Buckskin +Bill!" he said, ceremoniously. + +And in silence Bill led the way. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE BOSS OF BARREN VALLEY + + +"Oh, my dear!" gasped Adela. "I've had the most terrifying adventure. +I thought I should never see you again. The men are all on strike, and +they've sworn to kill Fletcher Hill, only no one knows where he is. What +became of him? Has he got away?" + +"I don't know," Dot said. + +She sank into the nearest chair in the ill-lighted manager's office, and +leaned her white face in her hand. + +"Perhaps he has been murdered already," said Adela. "Mr. Harley is +very anxious about him. He can't hold them. And--Dot--just think of +it!--Warden--the man we saw yesterday, the sub-manager--is at their head. +I saw him myself. He had a revolver in his hand. You were with Fletcher +Hill. You must know what became of him!" + +"No, I don't know," said Dot. "We--parted--a long time ago." + +"How odd you are!" said Adela. "Why, what is the matter? Are you going to +faint?" She went to the girl and bent over her, frightened by her look. +"What is the matter, Dot? What has happened to you? You haven't been +hurt?" + +"I am--all right," Dot said, with an effort. "Did Mr. Harley bring you +here?" + +"Yes. And you? How did you get here?" + +"He--brought me most of the way--Mr. Warden," Dot said. "He has gone now +to save--Fletcher Hill." + +"To shoot him, more likely," said Adela. "He has posted sentinels all +round the mine to catch him. I wonder if we are safe here! Mr. Harley +said it was a safe place. But I wonder. Shall we make a bolt for it, Dot? +Shall we? Shall we?" + +"I shall stay here," Dot answered. + +Adela was not even listening. "We are only two defenceless women, and +there isn't a man to look after us. What shall we do if--Ah! Heavens! +What is that?" + +A fearful sound had cut short her speculations--a fiendish yelling as of +a pack of wolves leaping upon their prey. Dot sat up swiftly. Adela +cowered in a corner. + +The terrible noise continued, appalling in its violence. It swept like +a wave towards the building, drowning the roar of the stream below. The +girl at the table rose and went to the closed door. She gripped a +revolver in her right hand. With her left she reached for the latch. + +"Don't open it!" gasped Adela. + +But Dot paid no heed. She lifted the latch and flung wide the door. Her +slim figure stood outlined against the lamp-light behind her. Before her +in a white glare of moonlight lay the vault-like entrance of the mine at +the head of Barren Valley, and surging along the black, scarred side of +the hill there came a yelling crowd of miners. They were making straight +for the open door, but at the sight of the girl standing there they +checked momentarily and the shouting died down. + +She faced the foremost of them without a tremor. "What is it?" she +demanded, in a clear, ringing voice. "What are you wanting?" + +A man with the shaggy face of a baboon answered her. "You've got that +blasted policeman in there. You stick up that gun of yours and let us +pass! We've got guns of our own, so that won't help." + +She confronted him with scorn. "Do you imagine I'm afraid of you and your +guns? There's no one here except another woman. Are you out to fight +women to-night?" + +"That's a lie!" he made prompt response. "You've got Fletcher Hill in +there, or I'm a nigger. You let us pass!" + +But still she blocked the way, her revolver pointing straight at him. +"Fletcher Hill is not here. And you won't come in unless Mr. Warden says +so. He is not here either at present. But he is coming. And I will shoot +any man who tries to force his way in first." + +"Damnation!" growled the shaggy-faced one and wheeled upon his comrades. +"What do you say to that, boys? Going to let a woman run this show?" + +A chorus of curses answered him, but still no one raised a revolver +against the slender figure that opposed them. Only, after a moment, a cur +in the background picked up a stone and flung it. It struck the doorpost, +narrowly missing her shoulder. Dot did not flinch, but immediately, with +tightened lips, she raised the revolver and fired over their heads. + +A furious outburst followed the explosion, and in an instant a dozen +revolvers were levelled at her. But in that same instant there came a +sound like the roar of a lion from behind the building, and with it +Warden's great figure leapt out into the moonlight. + +"You damned ruffians!" he yelled. "You devils! What are you doing?" + +His anger was in a fashion superb. It dwarfed the anger of the crowd. +They gave way before him like a herd of beasts. He sprang in front of +the girl, raging like a man possessed. + +"You gang of murderers! You hounds! You dirty swine! Get back, do you +hear? I'm the boss of this show, and what I say goes, or, if it doesn't, +I'll know the reason why. Benson--you dog! What's the meaning of this? Do +you think I'll have under me any coward that will badger a woman?" + +The man he addressed looked at him with a cowed expression on his hairy +face. "I never wanted to interfere with her," he growled. "But she's +protecting that damned policeman. It's her own fault for getting in our +way." + +"You're wrong then!" flashed back Warden. "Fletcher Hill is under my +protection, not hers. He has surrendered to me as my prisoner." + +"You've, got him?" shouted a score of voices. + +"Yes, I've got him." Rapidly Warden made answer. "But I'm not going to +hand him over to you to be murdered out of hand. If I'm boss of Barren +Valley, I'll be boss. So if any of you are dissatisfied you'll have to +reckon with me first. Fletcher Hill is my prisoner, and I'll see to it +that he has a fair trial. Got that?" + +A low murmur went round. The magnetism of the man was making itself felt. +He had that electric force which sways the multitude against all reason. +Single-handed, he gripped them with colossal assurance. They shrank from +the flame of his wrath like beaten dogs. + +"And before we deal with him," he went on, "there's someone else to be +reckoned with. And that's Harley. Does anyone know where Harley is?" + +"What do you want with Harley?" asked Benson, glad of this diversion. + +"Oh, just to tell him what I think of him, and then--to kick him out!" +With curt contempt Warden threw his answer. "He's a traitor and a +skunk--smuggles spirits one minute and goes to the police to sell his +chums the next; then back to his chums again to sell the police. I know. +I've been watching him for some time, the cur. He'd shoot me if he +dared." + +"He'd better!" yelled a huge miner in the middle of the crowd. + +Warden laughed. "That you, Nixon? Come over here! I've got something to +tell you--and the other boys. It's the story of this blasted mine." He +turned suddenly to the girl who still stood behind him in the lighted +doorway. "Miss Burton, I'd like you to hear it too. Shut the door and +stand by me!" + +Her shining eyes were on his face. She obeyed him mutely, with a +submission as unquestioning as that of the rough crowd in front of them. + +Very gently he took the revolver from her, drew one out of his own pocket +also, and handed both to the big man called Nixon who had come to his +side. + +"You look after these!" he said. + +"One is my property. The other belongs to Fletcher Hill--who is my +prisoner. Now, boys, you're armed. I'm not. You won't shoot the lady, I +know. And for myself I'll take my chance." + +"Guess you won't be any the worse for that," grinned Nixon, at his elbow. + +Warden's smile gleamed for an instant in answer, but he passed swiftly +on. "Did you ever hear of a cattle-thief called Buckskin Bill? He +flourished in these parts some five years ago. There was no mine in +Barren Valley then. It was just--a smugglers' stronghold." + +Some of the men in front of him stirred uneasily. "What's this to do with +Fletcher Hill?" asked one. + +"I'll tell you," said Warden. "Buckskin Bill, the cattle-thief, was in a +tight corner, and he took refuge in Barren Valley. He found the +smugglers' _cache_--and he found something else that the smugglers didn't +know of. He found--gold. It's a queer thing, boys, but he'd decided--for +private reasons--to give up the cattle-lifting just two days before. The +police were hot after him, but they didn't catch him and the smugglers +didn't catch him either. He dodged 'em all, and when he left he said to +himself, 'I'll be the boss of Barren Valley when I come back.' After that +he went West and starved a bit in the Australian desert till the cattle +episode had had time to blow over. Then--it's nearly two years ago +now--he came back. The first person he ran into was--Fletcher Hill, +the policeman." + +He paused with that dramatic instinct which was surely part-secret of his +fascination. He had caught the full attention of the crowd, and held them +spellbound. + +In a moment he went on. "That gave him an idea. Hill, of course, was +after other game by that time and didn't spot him. Hill was a magistrate +and a civil power at Wallacetown. So Bill went to him, knowing he was +straight, anyway, and told him about the gold in Barren Valley, +explaining, bold as brass, that he couldn't run the show himself for lack +of money. Boys, it was a rank speculation, but Hill was a sport. He +caught on. He came to Barren Valley, and they tinkered round together, +and they found gold. That same night they came upon the smugglers, +too--only escaped running into them by a miracle. Hill didn't say much. +He's not a talker. But after they got back to Wallacetown he made an +offer to Buckskin Bill which struck him as being a very sporting +proposition for a policeman. He said, 'If you care to take on Barren +Valley and make an honest concern of it, I'll get the grant and do the +backing. The labour is there,' he said, 'but it's got to be honest labour +or I won't touch it.' It was a sporting offer, boys, and, of course, Bill +jumped. And so a contract was drawn up which had to be signed. And +'What's your name?' said Fletcher Hill." Warden suddenly began to laugh. +"On my oath, he didn't know what to say, so he just caught at the first +honest-sounding name he could think of. 'Fortescue,' he said. Hill didn't +ask a single question. 'Then that mine shall be called the Fortescue Gold +Mine,' he said. 'And you'll work it and make an honest man's job of it.' +It was a pretty big undertaking, but it sort of appealed to Buckskin +Bill, and he took it on. The only real bad mistake he made was when he +trusted Harley. Except for that, the thing worked--and worked well. +The smuggling trade isn't what it was, eh, boys? That's because +Fortescue--and Fletcher Hill--are using up the labour for the mine. And +you may hate 'em like hell, but you can't get away from the fact that +this mine is run fair and decent, and there isn't a man here who doesn't +stand a good chance of making his fortune if he plays a straight game. +It's been a chance to make good for every one of us, and it's thanks to +Fletcher Hill--because he hasn't asked questions--because he's just taken +us on trust--and I'm hanged if he doesn't deserve something better than a +bullet through his brain, even if he is a magistrate and a policeman and +a man of honour. Have you got that, boys? Then chew it over and swallow +it! And when you've done that, I'll tell you something more." + +"Oh, let's have it all, boss, now you're at it!" broke in Nixon. "We +shan't have hysterics now. We're past that stage." + +Warden turned with a lightning movement and laid his hand upon the girl +beside him. "Gentlemen," he said, "it's Fletcher Hill--and not Buckskin +Bill--who's the boss of this valley. And he's a good boss--he's a +sportsman--he's a maker of men. And this lady is going to be his wife. +You're going to stand by her, boys. You aren't going to make a widow of +her before she's married. You aren't going to let a skunk like Harley +make skunks of you all. You're sportsmen, too--better sportsmen than that +stands for--better sportsmen, maybe, than I am myself. What, boys? It's +your turn to speak now." + +"Wait a bit!" said Nixon. "You haven't quite finished yet, boss." + +"No, that's true." Warden paused an instant, then abruptly went forward a +pace and stood alone before the crowd. "I've taken a good many chances in +my life," he said. "But now I'm taking the biggest of 'em all. Boys, I'm +a damned impostor. I've tricked you all, and it's up to you to stick me +against a wall and shoot me as I deserve, if you feel that way. For I'm +Buckskin Bill--I'm Fortescue--and I'm several kinds of a fool to think I +could ever carry it through. Now you know!" + +With defiant recklessness he flung the words. They were more of a +challenge than a confession. And having spoken them he moved straight +forward with the moonlight on his face till he stood practically among +the rough crowd. + +They opened out to receive him, almost as if at a word of command. And +Buckskin Bill, with his head high and his blue eyes flaming, went +straight into them with the gait of a conqueror. + +Suddenly, with a passionate gesture, he stopped, flinging up his empty +right hand. "Well, boys, well? What's the verdict? I'm in your hands." + +And a great hoarse roar of enthusiasm went up as they closed around him +that was like the bursting asunder of mighty flood-gates. They surged +about him. They lifted him on their shoulders. They yelled like maniacs +and fired their revolvers in the air. It was the wildest outbreak that +Barren Valley had ever heard, and to the girl who watched it, it was the +most marvellous revelation of a man's magnetism that she had ever beheld. +Alone he had faced and conquered a multitude. + +It pierced her strangely, that fierce enthusiasm, stirring her as +personal danger had failed to stir. She turned with the tears running +down her face and found Fletcher Hill standing unnoticed behind her, +silently looking on. + +"Oh, isn't he great? Isn't he great?" she said. + +He took her arm and led her within. His touch was kind, but wholly +without warmth. "There's not much doubt as to who is the boss of Barren +Valley," he said. + +And with the words he smiled--a smile that was sadder than her tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE OFFICIAL SEAL + + +That life could possibly return to a normal course after that amazing +night would have seemed to Dot preposterous but for the extremely +practical attitude adopted by Fletcher Hill. But when she saw him again +on the day after their safe return to Trelevan there was nothing in his +demeanour to remind her of the stress through which they had passed. He +was, as ever, perfectly calm and self-contained, and wholly +uncommunicative. Adela sought in vain to satisfy her curiosity as to the +happenings in Barren Valley which her courage had not permitted her to +witness for herself. Fletcher Hill was as a closed book, and on some +points Dot was equally reticent. By no persuasion could Adela induce her +to speak of Bill Warden. She turned the subject whenever it approached +him, professing an ignorance which Adela found excessively provoking. + +They saw nothing of him during the remainder of the week, and very +little of Fletcher Hill, who went to and fro upon his business with a +machine-like precision that seemed to pervade his every action. He made +no attempt to be alone with Dot, and she, with a shyness almost +overwhelming, thankfully accepted his forbearance. The day they had fixed +upon for their marriage was rapidly approaching, but she had almost +ceased to contemplate it, for somehow it seemed to her that it could +never dawn. Something must happen first! Surely something was about to +happen! And from day to day she lived for the sight of Bill Warden's +great figure and the sound of his steady voice. Anything, she felt, would +be bearable if only she could see him once again. But she looked for him +in vain. + +When her brother joined them at the end of the week a dullness of despair +had come upon her. Again she saw herself trapped and helpless, lacking +even the spirit to attempt escape. She greeted Jack almost abstractedly, +and he observed her throughout the evening with anxiety in his eyes. When +it was over he drew her aside for a moment as she was bidding him +good-night. + +"What's the matter, little 'un? What's wrong?" he whispered, with his arm +about her. + +She clung to him for an instant with a closeness that was passionate. +But, "It's nothing, Jack," she whispered back. "It's nothing." + +Then Fletcher Hill came up to them, and they separated. Adela and Dot +went up to bed, and the two men were left alone. + + * * * * * + +So at length the great day dawned, and nothing had happened. The only +news that had reached them was a remark overheard by Adela in the +dining-room, to the effect that Harley had thrown up his post and gone. + +Dot dressed for her wedding with a dazed sense of unreality. Her attire +was of the simplest. She wore a hat instead of a veil. It was to be a +quiet ceremony in the early morning, for neither she nor Hill desired any +unnecessary parade. When she descended the stairs with Adela, Jack was +the only person awaiting her in the hall. + +He looked at her searchingly as she came down to him, then without a word +he took her in his arms and kissed her white face. She saw that he was +moved, and wondered within herself at her own utter lack of emotion. Ever +since she had lain against Bill Warden's breast, the wild sweet rapture +of his hold had seemed to paralyze in her all other feeling. She knew +only the longing for his presence, the utter emptiness of a world that +held him not. + +She drove to the church with her hand in Jack's, Adela talking +incessantly the whole way while they two sat in silence. It was a bare +building in the heart of the town, but its bareness did not convey any +chill to her. She was already too numbly cold for that. + +She went up the aisle between Jack and Adela, because the latter +good-naturedly remarked that she might as well have as much support as +she could get. But before they reached the altar-steps Fletcher Hill came +to meet them, and Adela dropped behind. + +He also looked for a moment closely into Dot's face, then very quietly he +took her cold hand from Jack and drew it through his arm. She glanced at +him with a momentary nervousness as Jack also fell behind. + +Then some unknown force drew her as the magnet draws the needle, and she +looked towards the altar. A man was standing by the steps awaiting her. +She saw the free carriage of the great shoulders, the deep fire of the +blue eyes. And suddenly her heart gave a wild throb that was anguish, and +stood still. + +Fletcher Hill's arm went round her. He held her for a second closely to +him--more closely than he had ever held her before. But--it came to her +later--he did not utter a single word. He only drew her on. + +And so she came to Bill Warden waiting before the altar. They met--and +all the rest was blotted out. + +She went through that service in a breathless wonderment, an amazement +that yet was strangely free from distress. For Bill Warden's hand clasped +hers throughout, save when Fletcher Hill took it from him for a moment to +give her away. + +When it was over, and they knelt together in the streaming sunshine of +the morning, she felt as if they two were alone in an inner sanctuary +that was filled with the Love of God. Later, those sacred moments were +the holiest memory of her life.... + +Then a strong arm lifted and held her. She turned from the holy place +with a faint sigh of regret, turned to meet Fletcher Hill's eyes looking +at her with that in them which she was never to forget. + +His voice was the first to break through the wonder-spell that bound her. + +"Do you think you will ever manage to forgive me?" he said. + +She turned swiftly from the arm that encircled her, and impulsively +she put her hands upon his shoulders, offering him her lips. "Oh, I +don't--know--what--to say," she said, brokenly. + +He bent and gravely kissed her. "My dear, there is nothing to be said so +far as I am concerned," he said. "If you are happy, I am satisfied." + +It was briefly spoken, but it went straight to her heart. She clung to +him for a moment without words, and that was all the thanks she ever +offered him. For there was nothing to be said. + + * * * * * + +Very late on the evening of that wonderful day she sat with Bill Warden +on the edge of a rock overlooking a fertile valley of many waters in the +Blue Mountains, and heard, with her hand in his the amazing story of the +past few days, which had seemed to her so curiously dream-like. + +"I fought hard against marrying you," Bill told her, with the smile she +had remembered for so long. "But he had me at every turn--simply rolled +me out and wiped the ground with me. Said he'd clap me into prison if I +didn't, and when I said 'All right' to that, he turned on me like a tiger +and asked if I wanted to break your heart. Oh, he made me feel a +ten-times swab, I can tell you. And when I said I didn't want you to +marry an uncaught criminal, he just looked me over and said, 'You've sown +your wild oats. As your partner, I am sponsor for your respectability.' I +knew what that meant, knew he'd stand by me through thick and thin, +whatever turned up. It was the official seal with a vengeance, for what +Fletcher Hill says goes in these parts. But it went against the grain, +little new chum. It made me sick with myself. I hated playing his game +against himself. It was the vilest thing I ever did. I couldn't have done +it--except for you." + +The little hand that held his tightened. She leaned her cheek against his +shoulder. "Shall I tell you something?" she whispered. "I couldn't have +done it either--except for--you." + +His arm clasped her. "I'm such a poor sort of creature, darling," he said +"I'll work for you--live for you--die for you. But I shall never be +worthy of you." + +She lifted her face to his in the gathering darkness. "Dear love," she +said, "do you remember how--once--you asked me to treat you--without +prejudice? But I never have--and I don't believe I ever shall. Fletcher +Hill is right to trust you. He is a judge of men. But I--I am only the +woman who loves you, and--somehow--whichever way I take you--I'm always +prejudiced--in your favour." + +The low words ended against his lips. He kissed her closely, +passionately. "My little chum," he said, "I will be worthy--I will be +worthy--so help me God!" + +He was near to tears as he uttered his oath; but presently, when he +turned back her sleeve to kiss the place where first his lips had +lingered, they laughed together--the tender laughter of lovers in the +happy morning-time of life. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + Her Own Free Will + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +"Well, it's all over now, for better, for worse, as they say. And I hope +very much as it won't be for worse." + +A loud sniff expressive of grave misgiving succeeded the remark. The +speaker--one of a knot of village women--edged herself a little further +forward to look up the long strip of red baize that stretched from the +church porch to the lych gate near which she stood. The two cracked bells +were doing their best to noise abroad the importance of the event that +had just taken place, which was nothing less than the marriage of Colonel +Everard's daughter to Piet Cradock, the man of millions. Of the latter's +very existence none of the villagers had heard till a certain day, but a +few weeks before, when he had suddenly appeared at the Hall as the +accepted suitor of Nan Everard, whom everyone loved. + +She was only twenty, prettiest, gayest, wildest, of the whole wild tribe. +Three sons and eight daughters had the Colonel--a handsome, unruly +family, each one of them as lavish, as extravagant, and as undeniably +attractive as he was himself. + +His wife had been dead for years. They lived on the verge of bankruptcy, +had done so as long as most of them could remember; but it was only of +late that matters had begun to look really serious for them. It was +rumoured that the Hall was already mortgaged beyond its value, and it was +common knowledge that the Colonel's debts were accumulating with alarming +rapidity. This marriage, so it was openly surmised, had been arranged in +haste for the sole purpose of easing the strain. + +For that Nan Everard cared in the smallest degree for the solemn, +thick-set son of a Boer mother, to whom she had given herself, no one +ever deemed possible for an instant. But he was rich, fabulously rich, +and that fact counterbalanced many drawbacks. Piet Cradock owned a large +share in a diamond mine in the South African Republic, and he was a +person of considerable importance in his native land in consequence. He +had visited England on business, but his time there had been limited to +a bare six weeks. This fact had necessitated a brief wooing and a speedy +marriage. + +He had met the girl of his choice by a mere accident. He had chanced to +be seated on her right hand at a formal dinner-party in town. Very little +had passed between them then, but later, through the medium of his host, +he had sought her out, and called upon her. Within a week he had asked +her to be his wife. And Nan Everard, impulsive, dazzled by the prospect +of unbounded wealth, and feverishly eager to ease the family burden, had +accepted him. + +He was obliged to sail for South Africa within three weeks of his +proposal, and preparations for the marriage had therefore to be hurried +forward with all speed. They were to leave for Plymouth immediately after +the ceremony, and to sail on the following day. + +So at breathless speed events had raced, and no one knew exactly what +was the state of Nan's mind even up to the morning of her wedding-day. +Perhaps she scarcely knew herself, so madly had she been whirled along in +the vortex to which she had committed herself. But possibly during the +ceremony some vague realisation of what she was doing came upon her, for +she made her vows with a face as white as death, and in a voice that +never once rose above a whisper. + +But when she came at last down the church-yard path upon her husband's +arm, she was laughing merrily enough. Some enthusiast had flung a shower +of rice over his uncovered head, to his obvious discomfiture. + +He did not laugh with her. His smooth, heavy-jawed face was absolutely +unresponsive. He was fifteen years her senior, and he looked it to the +full. The hair grew far back upon his head, and it had a sprinkling of +grey. His height was unremarkable, but he had immensely powerful +shoulders, and a bull-like breadth of chest, that imparted a certain +air of arrogance to his gait. His black brows met shaggily over eyes of +sombre brown. Undeniably a formidable personage, this! + +Nan, glancing at him as she entered the carriage, harboured for a +moment the startled reflection that if he had a beard nothing could +have restrained her just then from screaming and running away. But, +fortunately for her quaking dignity, his face, with the exception of +those menacing eyebrows, and the lashes that shaded his gloomy eyes, was +wholly free from hair. + +Driving away from the church with its two clanging bells, she made a +resolute effort to shake off the scared feeling that had so possessed her +when she had stood at the altar with this man. If she had made a mistake, +and even now she was not absolutely certain that she had--it was +impossible in that turmoil of conflicting emotions to say--but +if she had, it was past remedy, and she must face the consequences +without shrinking. She had a conviction that he would domineer over her +without mercy if she displayed any fear. + +So, bravely hiding her sinking heart, she laughed and chatted for the +benefit of her taciturn bridegroom with the gayest inconsequence during +the brief drive to her home. + +He scarcely replied. He seemed to have something on his mind also. And +Nan breathed a little sigh of relief when they reached their destination, +and he gravely handed her out. + +A litter of telegrams on a table in the old-fashioned hall caught the +girl's attention directly she entered. She pounced upon them with eager +zest. + +"Ah, here's one from Jerry Lister. I knew he would be sure to remember. +He's the dearest boy in the world. He would have been here, but for some +horrid examination that kept him at Oxford." + +She opened the message impetuously, and began to read it; but suddenly, +finding her husband at her side, she desisted, crumpling it in her hand +with decidedly heightened colour. + +"Oh, he's quite ridiculous. Let us open some of the others." + +She thrust a sheaf into his hand, and busied herself with the remainder. + +He did not attempt to open any of them, but stood silently watching her +glowing face as she opened one after another and tossed them down. + +Suddenly she raised her eyes, and met his look fully, with a certain +pride. + +"Is anything the matter?" + +He pointed quite calmly to the scrap of paper she held crumpled in her +hand. + +"Are you not going to read that?" he asked, in slow, rather careful +English. + +Her colour deepened; it rose to her forehead in a burning wave. + +"Presently," she returned briefly. + +His eyes held hers with a curious insistence. + +"You need not be afraid," he said very quietly; "I shall not try to look +over." + +Nan stared at him, too amazed for speech. The hot blood ebbed from +her face as swiftly as it had risen, leaving her as white as the +orange-blossoms in her hair. + +At length suddenly, with a passionate gesture, she thrust out her hand to +him with the ball of paper on her palm. + +"Pray take it and read it," she said, her voice quivering with anger, +"since it interests you so much." + +He made no movement to comply. + +"I do not wish to read it, Anne," he said gravely. + +Her lip curled. It was the first time he had ever called her by her +Christian name, and there was something exceedingly formal in the way he +uttered it now. Moreover, no one ever called her anything but Nan. For +some reason she was hotly indignant at this unfamiliar mode of address. +It increased her anger against him tenfold. + +"Take it and read it!" she reiterated, with stubborn persistence. "I wish +you to do so!" + +The first carriage-load of guests was approaching the house as she spoke. +Cradock paused for a single instant as if irresolute, then, without more +ado, he took her at her word. He smoothed the paper out without the +smallest change of countenance, and read it, while she stood quivering +with impotent fury by his side. It was a long telegram, and it took some +seconds to read; but he did not look up till he had mastered it. + +"Good-bye, sweetheart, good-bye," so ran the message--"It is no +red-letter day for me, but I wish you joy with all my heart. Spare a +thought now and then for the good old times and the boy you left behind +you.--Your loving Jerry." + +Amid a buzz of congratulation, Piet Cradock handed the missive back to +his bride with a simple "Thank you!" that revealed nothing whatever of +what was in his mind. + +She took it, without looking at him, with nervous promptitude, and the +incident passed. + +The guests were many, and Nan's attention was very fully occupied. No +casual observer, seeing her smiling face, would have suspected the +turmoil of doubt that underlay her serenity. + +Only Mona, her favourite sister, had the smallest inkling of it, but even +Mona was not in Nan's confidence just then. No intimate word of any sort +passed between them up in the old bedroom that they had shared all their +lives during the fleeting half-hour that Nan spent preparing for her +journey. They could neither of them bear to speak of the coming +separation, and that embodied everything. + +The only allusion that Nan made to it was as she passed out of the room +with her arm round her sister's shoulders, and whispered: + +"Don't sleep by yourself to-night, darling. Make Lucy join you." + +They descended the stairs, holding closely to each other. Old Colonel +Everard, very red and tearful, met them at the foot, and folded Nan +tightly in his arms, murmuring inarticulate words of blessing. + +Nan emerged from his embrace pale but quite tearless. + +"Au revoir, dad!" she said, in her sprightliest tone. "You will be having +me back like a bad half-penny before you can turn round." + +Still laughing, she went from one to another of her family with words of +careless farewell, and finally rah the gauntlet of her well-wishers to +the waiting carriage, into which she dived without ceremony to avoid the +hail of rice that pursued her. + +Her husband followed her closely, and they were off almost before he took +his seat beside her. + +"Thank goodness, that's over!" said Nan, with fervour. "I'll never marry +again if I live to be a hundred! I am sure being buried must be much more +fun, and not nearly so ignominious." + +She leaned forward with the words, and was on the point of letting down +the window, when there was a sudden, deafening report close to them. The +carriage jerked and swerved violently, and in an instant it was being +whirled down the drive at the top speed of two terrified horses. + +Instinctively Nan turned to the man beside her. + +"It's the boys!" she exclaimed. "They said they should fire a salute! +But--but--" + +She broke off, amazed to find his arms gripping her tightly, forcing her +back in her seat, holding her pressed to him with a strength that took +her breath away. + +It all came--a multitude of impressions--crowded into a few brief +seconds; yet every racing detail was engraved with awful distinctness +upon the girl's mind, never to be forgotten. + +She struggled wildly in that suffocating hold, struggled fruitlessly to +lift her face from her husband's shoulder into which it was ruthlessly +pressed, and only ceased to struggle when the end of that terrible flight +came with a jolt and a jar and a final, sickening crash that flung her +headlong into a dreadful gulf of emptiness into which no light or echo of +sound could even vaguely penetrate. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Nan opened her eyes in her own sunny bedroom, and gazed wonderingly about +her, dimly conscious of something wrong. + +The doctor, whom she had known from her earliest infancy, was bending +over her, and she smiled her recognition of him, though with a dawning +uneasiness. Vague shapes were floating in her brain that troubled and +perplexed her. + +"What happened?" she murmured uneasily. + +He laid his hand upon her forehead. + +"Nothing much," he told her gently. "Lie still like a good girl and go to +sleep. There is nothing whatever for you to worry about. You'll be better +in the morning." + +But the shapes were obstinate, and would not be expelled. They were, +moreover, beginning to take definite form. + +"Wasn't there an accident?" she said restlessly. "I wish you would tell +me." + +"Well, I will," the doctor answered, "if you will keep quiet and not vex +yourself. There was a bit of an accident. The carriage was overturned. +But no one was hurt but you, and you will soon be yourself again if you +do as you're told." + +"But how am I hurt?" questioned Nan, moving her head on the pillow with a +dizzy feeling of weakness. "Ah!" with a sudden frown of pain. "It--it's +my arm." + +"Yes," the doctor said. "It's your arm. It went through the carriage +window. I have had to strap it up pretty tightly. You will try to put up +with it, and on no account must it be moved." + +She looked at him with startled eyes. + +"Is it very badly cut, then?" + +"Yes, a fragment of glass pierced the main artery. But I have checked the +bleeding--it was a providential thing that I was at hand to do it--and +if you keep absolutely still, it won't burst out again. I am telling you +this because it is necessary for you to know what a serious matter it is. +Any exertion might bring it on again, and then I can't say what would +happen. You have lost a good deal of blood as it is, and you can't afford +to lose any more. But if you behave like a sensible girl, and lie quiet +for a few days, you will soon be none the worse for the adventure." + +"For a few days!" Nan's eyes widened. "Then--then I shan't be able to go +with--with--" She faltered, and broke off. + +He answered her with very kindly sympathy. + +"Poor little woman! It's hard lines, but I am afraid there is no help for +it. You will have to postpone your honeymoon for a little while." + +"Have you--have you--told--him?" Nan whispered anxiously. + +"Yes, he knows all about it," the doctor said. "You shall see him +presently. But I want you to rest now. You have had a nasty shock, and +I should like you to sleep it off. Just drink this, and shut your eyes." + +Nan obeyed him meekly. She was feeling very weak and tired. And, after a +little, she fell asleep, blissfully unconscious of the fact that her +husband was seated close to her on the other side of the bed, silent and +watchful, and immobile as a statue. + +She did not wake till late on the following morning, and then it was to +find her sister Mona only in attendance. + +"Have you been up all night?" was Nan's first query. + +Mona hesitated. + +"Well, not exactly. I lay down part of the time." + +"Why in the world didn't you go to bed?" questioned Nan. + +"I couldn't, dear. Piet was here." + +"Who?" said Nan sharply; then, colouring vividly, "All night, Mona? How +could you let him?" + +"I couldn't help it!" said Mona. "He wouldn't go." + +"What nonsense! He's gone now, I suppose?" Nan spoke irritably. The +tightness of the doctor's bandages was causing her considerable pain. + +"Oh, yes, he went some time ago," Mona assured her. "But he is sure to +come back presently, and say good-bye." + +"Say good-bye!" Nan echoed the words slowly, a dawning brightness in her +eyes. "Is he--is he really going, then?" she whispered. + +"He says he must go--whatever happens. It was a solemn promise, and he +can't break it. I don't understand, of course, but he is wanted at +Kimberley to avert some crisis connected with the mines." + +"Then--he will have to start soon?" said Nan. + +"Yes. But he won't leave till the last minute. He has chartered a special +to take him to Plymouth." + +"He knows I can't go?" said Nan quickly. + +"Oh, yes; the doctor told him that last night." + +"What did he say? Was he angry?" + +"He looked furious. But he didn't say anything, even in Dutch. I think +his feelings were beyond words," said Mona, with a little smile. + +Nan asked no more, but when the doctor saw her a little later, he was +dissatisfied with her appearance, and scolded her for working herself +into a fever. + +"There's no sense in fretting about it," he said. "The thing is done, and +can't be altered. I have no doubt your husband will be back again in a +few weeks to fetch you, and we will have you quite well again by then." + +But Nan only shivered in response, as though she found this assurance +the reverse of comforting. The shock of the accident, succeeding the +incessant strain of the past few weeks, had completely broken down her +nerve, and no amount of reasoning could calm her. + +When a message came from her husband an hour later, asking if she would +see him, she answered in the affirmative, but the bare prospect of the +interview threw her into a ferment of agitation. + +She lay panting on her pillows like a frightened child when at length he +entered. + +He came in very softly, but every pulse in her body leapt at his +approach. She could not utter a word in greeting. + +He stood a moment in silence, looking down at her, then, stooping, he +took her free hand into his own. + +"Are you better?" he asked, his deep voice hushed as if he were in +church. + +She could not answer him for the fast beating of her heart. He waited a +little, then sat down by the bed, his great hand still holding her little +trembling one in a steady grasp. + +"The doctor tells me," he said, "that it would not be safe for you to +travel at present, so I cannot of course, think of allowing you to do +so." + +Nan's eyes opened very wide at this. It was an entirely novel idea that +this man should take upon himself to direct her movements. She drew a +deep breath, and found her voice. + +"I should certainly not dream of attempting such a thing without the +doctor's permission." + +His grave face did not alter. His eyes looked directly into hers and +it seemed to Nan for the first time that they held something of a +domineering expression. + +She turned her head away with a quick frown. She also made a slight, +ineffectual effort to free her hand. But he did not appear to notice +either gesture. + +"Yes," he said, in his slow way, "it is out of the question, and so I +have asked your father to take care of you for me until my return--for, +unfortunately, I cannot postpone my own departure." + +Nan's lips quivered. She was beginning to feel hysterical. With an effort +she controlled herself. + +"How long shall you be away?" she asked. + +"It is impossible for me to say. Everything depends upon the state of +affairs at the mines. But you may be quite sure, Anne"--a deeper note +crept into his voice--"that my absence will be as short as I can possibly +make it." + +She turned her head towards him again. + +"You needn't hurry for my sake," she said abruptly. "I shall be perfectly +happy here." + +"I am glad to hear it," he answered gravely. "I have made full provision +for you. The interest upon the settlement I have made upon you will be +paid to you monthly. Should you find it insufficient, you will, of +course, let me know. I could cable you some more if necessary." + +A great blush rose in Nan's face at his words, spreading upwards to her +hair. + +"Oh," she stammered, "I--I--indeed, I shan't want any money! Please +don't--" + +"It is your own," he interposed quietly, "and as such I beg that you will +regard it, and spend it exactly as you like. Should you require more, as +I have said, I shall be pleased to send it to you." + +He uttered the last sentence as if it ended the matter, and Nan found +herself unable to say more. To have expressed any gratitude would have +been an absolute impossibility at that moment. + +She lay, therefore, in quivering silence until he spoke again. + +"It is time for me to be going. I hope the injury to your arm will +progress quite satisfactorily. You will not be able to write to me +yourself at present, but your sister Mona has promised to let me hear +of you by every mail. Dr. Barnard will also write." + +He paused. But Nan said nothing whatever. She was wondering, with a fiery +embarrassment, what form his farewell would take. + +After a brief silence he rose. + +"Good-bye, then!" he said. + +He bent low over her, looking closely into her unwilling face. And +then--it was the merest touch--for the fraction of a second his lips were +on her forehead. + +"Good-bye!" he said again, under his breath, and in another moment she +heard his soft tread as he went away. + +Her heart was throbbing madly; she felt as if it were leaping up and down +within her. For a space she lay listening, every nerve upon the stretch. +Then at last there came to her the sound of voices raised in farewell, +the crunch of wheels below her window, the loud banging of a door. And +with a gasp she turned her face into her pillow, and wept for sheer +relief. + +He had come and gone like an evil dream, and she was left safe in her +father's house. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Three weeks after her wedding, Nan Cradock awoke to the amazing discovery +that she was a rich woman; how rich it took her some time to realise, and +when it did dawn upon her she was startled, almost dismayed. + +Her recovery from the only illness she had ever known was marvellously +rapid, and with her return to health her spirits rose to their accustomed +giddy height. There was little in her surroundings to remind her of the +fact that she was married, always excepting the unwonted presence of +these same riches which she speedily began to scatter with a lavish hand. +Her life slipped very easily back into its accustomed groove, save that +the pinch of poverty was conspicuously absent. The first day of every +month brought her a full purse, and for a long time the charm of this +novelty went far towards quieting the undeniable sense of uneasiness that +accompanied it. + +It was only when the novelty began to wear away that the burdened feeling +began to oppress her unduly. No one suspected it, not even Mona, who +adhered rigorously to her promise, and wrote her weekly report of her +sister's health to her absent brother-in-law long after Nan was fully +capable of performing this duty for herself. Mona had always been +considered the least feather-brained of the family, and she certainly +fulfilled her trust with absolute integrity. + +Piet Cradock's epistles were not quite so frequent, and invariably of the +briefest. They were exceedingly formal at all times, and Nan's heart +never warmed at the sight of his handwriting. It was thick and strong, +like himself, and she always regarded it with a little secret sense of +aversion. + +Nevertheless, as time passed, and he made no mention of return, her dread +of the future subsided gradually into the back of her mind. It had never +been her habit to look forward very far, and she was still little more +than a child. Gradually the fact of her marriage began to grow shadowy +and unreal, till at length she almost managed to shut it out of her +consideration altogether. She had accepted the man upon impulse, dazzled +by the glitter of his wealth. To find that he had drifted out of her +life, and that the wealth remained, was the most blissful state of +affairs that she could have desired. + +Slowly spring merged into summer, and more and more did it seem to Nan +that the past was nothing but a dream. She returned to her customary +pursuits with all her old zest, rising early in the mornings to follow +the otter-hounds, tramping for miles, and returning ravenous to +breakfast; or, again, spending hours in the saddle, and only returning +at her own sweet will. Colonel Everard's household was one of absolute +freedom. No one ever questioned the doings of anyone else. From the +earliest they had one and all been accustomed to go their own way. And +Nan was the freest and most independent of them all. + +It was on a splendid morning in July that as she splashed along the +marshy edge of a stream in hot pursuit of one of the biggest otters she +had ever seen, a well-known voice accosted her by name. + +"Hullo, Nan! I wondered if you would turn up when they told me you were +still at home." + +Nan whisked round, up to her ankles in mud. + +"Hullo, Jerry, it's you, is it?" was her unceremonious reply. "Pleased to +see you, my boy. But don't talk to me now. I can't think of anything but +business." + +She was off with the words, not waiting to shake hands. But Jerry Lister +was not in the least discouraged by this treatment. He was accustomed to +Nan and all her ways. + +He pounded after her along the bank and joined her as a matter of course. +A straight, good-looking youth was Jerry, as wild and headstrong as Nan +herself. He was the grand-nephew of old Squire Grimshaw, Colonel +Everard's special crony, and he and Nan had been chums from their +childhood. He was only a year older than she, and in many respects he was +her junior. "I say, you are all right again?" was his first question, +when the otter allowed them a little breathing-space. "I was awfully +sorry to hear about your accident, you know, but awfully glad, too, in a +way. By Jove, I don't think I could have spent the Long here, with you in +South Africa! What ever possessed you to go and marry a Boer, Nan?" + +"Don't be an idiot!" said Nan sharply. "He isn't anything of the sort." + +Jerry accepted the correction with a boyish grimace. + +"I'm coming to call on you to-morrow, Mrs. Cradock," he announced. + +Nan coloured angrily. + +"You needn't trouble yourself," she returned. "I don't receive callers." + +But Jerry was not to be shaken off. He linked an affectionate arm in +hers. + +"All right, Nan old girl, don't be waxy," he pleaded. "Come on the lake +with me this afternoon instead. I'll bring some prog if you will, and +we'll have one of our old red-letter days. Is it a promise?" + +She hesitated, still half inclined to be ungracious. + +"Well," she said at length, moved in spite of herself by his persuasive +attitude, "I will come to please you, on one condition." + +"Good!" ejaculated Jerry. "It's done, whatever it is." + +"Don't be absurd!" she protested, trying to be stern and failing somewhat +ignominiously. "I will come only if you will promise not to talk about +anything that you see I don't like." + +"Bless your heart," said Jerry, lifting her fingertips to his lips, "I +won't utter a syllable, good or bad, without your express permission. +You'll come, then?" + +"Yes, I'll come," she said, allowing the smile that would not be +suppressed. "But if you don't make it very nice, I shall never come +again." + +"All right," said Jerry cheerily. "I'll bring my banjo. You always like +that. Come early, like a saint. I'll be at the boat-house at eleven." + +He was; and Nan was not long after. The lake stretched for about a mile +in the squire's park, and many were the happy hours that they had spent +upon it. + +It was a day of perfect summer, and they drifted through it in sublime +enjoyment. Jerry soon discovered that the girl's marriage and anything +remotely connected with it were subjects to be avoided, and as he had no +great wish himself to investigate in that direction he found small +difficulty in confining himself to more familiar ground. Without effort +they resumed the old friendly intercourse that the girl's rash step had +threatened to cut short, and long before the end of the afternoon they +were as intimate as they had ever been. + +"You mustn't go in yet," insisted Jerry, when a distant clock struck +seven. "Wait another couple of hours. There's plenty of food left. And +the moonrise will be grand to-night." + +Nan did not need much persuading. She had always loved the lake, and +Jerry's society was generally congenial. He had, moreover, been taking +special pains to please her, and she was quite willing to be pleased. + +She consented, therefore, and Jerry punted her across to her favourite +nook for supper. She thoroughly enjoyed the repast, Jerry's ideas of +what a picnic-basket should contain being of a decidedly lavish order. + +The meal over, he took up his banjo and waxed sentimental. Nan lay among +her cushions and listened in sympathetic silence. Undeniably Jerry knew +how to make music, and he also knew when to stop--a priceless gift in +Nan's estimation. + +When the moon rose at last out of the summer haze, he had laid his +instrument aside and was lying with his head on his arms and his +face to the rising glory. They watched it dumbly in the silence of +goodfellowship, till at last it topped the willows and shone in a broad, +silver streak across the lake right up to the prow of the boat. + +After a long time Jerry turned his dark head. + +"I say, Nan!" he said, almost in a whisper. + +"Yes?" she murmured back, her eyes still full of the splendour. The boy +raised himself a little. + +"Do you remember that day ever so long ago when we played at being +sweethearts on this very identical spot?" he asked her softly. + +She turned her eyes to his with a doubtful, questioning look. + +"We weren't in earnest, Jerry," she reminded him. + +He jerked one shoulder with a sharp, impatient gesture, highly +characteristic of him. + +"I know we weren't. I shan't dream of being in earnest in that way for +another ten--perhaps twenty--years. But there's no harm in making +believe, is there, just now and then? I liked that game awfully, and +so did you. You know you did." + +Nan did not attempt to deny it. She sat up instead with her hands clasped +round her knees and laughed like an elf. + +Her wedding-ring caught the moonlight, and the boy leaned forward with a +frown. + +"Take that thing off, won't you, just for to-night? I hate to think you're +married. You're not, you know. We're in fairyland, and married people +never go there. The fairies will turn you out if they see it." + +Very gently he inserted one finger between her clasped ones and began to +draw the emblem off. + +Nan made no resistance whatever. She only sat and laughed. She was in her +gayest, most inconsequent mood. Some magic of the moonlight was in her +veins that night. + +"There!" said Jerry triumphantly. "Now you are safe. Jove! Did you hear +that water-sprite gurgling under the boat? It must be ripping to be a +water-sprite. Can't you see them, Nan, whisking about down there in +couples along the stones? Give me your hand, and we'll dive under and +join them." + +But Nan's enthusiasm would not stretch to this. She fully understood his +mood, but she would only sit in the moonlight and laugh, till presently +Jerry, infected by her merriment, began to laugh too, and spun the ring +he had filched from her high into the moonlight. + +How it happened neither of them could ever afterwards say; but just at +that critical moment when the ring was glittering in mid-air, some +wayward current, or it might have been the water-sprite Jerry had just +detected, lapped the water smartly against the punt and bumped it against +the bank. Jerry exclaimed and nearly overbalanced backwards; Nan made a +hasty grab at her falling property, but her hand only collided with his, +making a similar grab at the same moment, and between them they sent the +ring spinning far out into the moonlit ripples. + +It disappeared before their dazzled eyes into that magic bar of light, +and the girl and the boy turned and gazed at one another in speechless +consternation. + +Nan was the first to recover. She drew a deep breath, and burst into a +merry peal of laughter. + +"My dear boy, for pity's sake don't look like that! I never saw anything +so absolutely tragic in my life. Why, what does it matter? I can buy +another. I can buy fifty if I want them." + +Thus reassured, Jerry began to laugh too, but not with Nan's abandonment. +The incident had had a sobering effect upon him. + +"But I'm awfully sorry," he protested. "All my fault. You must let me +make it good." + +This suggestion added to Nan's mirth. "Oh, I couldn't really. I should +feel as if I was married to you, and I shouldn't like that at all. Now +you needn't look cross, for you know you wouldn't either. No, don't be +silly, Jerry. It doesn't matter the least little bit in the world." + +"But, I say, won't the absent one be savage?" suggested Jerry. + +Nan tossed her head. "I'm sure I don't know. Anyhow it doesn't matter." + +"Do you really mean that?" he persisted. "Don't you really care?" + +Nan threw herself back in the boat with her face to the stars. + +"Why, of course not," she declared, with regal indifference. "How can you +be so absurd?" + +And in face of such sublime recklessness, he was obliged to be convinced. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Nan's picnic on the lake was not concluded much before ten o'clock. + +She ran home through the moonlight, bareheaded, whistling as carelessly +as a boy. Night and day were the same thing to her in the place in +which she had lived all her life. There was not one of the village folk +whom she did not know, not one for whom the doings of the wild Everards +did not provide food for discussion. For Nan undoubtedly was an Everard +still, her grand wedding notwithstanding. No one ever dreamed of applying +any other title to her than the familiar "Miss Nan" that she had borne +from her babyhood. There was, in fact, a general feeling that the unknown +husband of Miss Nan was scarcely worthy of the high honour that had been +bestowed upon him. His desertion of her on the very day succeeding the +wedding had been freely criticised, and in many quarters condemned out of +hand. No one knew the exact circumstances of the case, but all were +agreed in pronouncing Miss Nan's husband a defaulter. + +That Miss Nan herself was very far from fretting over the situation was +abundantly evident, but this fact did not in any way tend to justify the +offender, of whom it was beginning to be opined round the bars of the +village inns that he was "one o' them queer sort of cusses that it was +best for women to steer clear of." + +Naturally these interesting shreds of gossip never reached Nan's ears. +She was, as she had ever been, supremely free from self-consciousness +of any description, and it never occurred to her that the situation in +which she was placed was sufficiently peculiar to cause comment. The +Everards had ever been a law unto themselves, and it was inconceivable +that anyone should attempt to apply to them the conventional rules by +which other people chose to let their lives be governed. Of course they +were different from the rest of the world. It had been an accepted fact +as long as she could remember, and it certainly had never troubled her, +nor was it ever likely to do so. + +She was sublimely unconscious of all criticism as she ran down the +village street that night, nodding carelessly to any that she met, and +finally turned lightly in at her father's gates, walking with elastic +tread under the great arching beech trees that blotted the moonlight from +her path. + +The front door stood hospitably open, and she entered to find her father +stretched in his favourite chair, smoking. + +He greeted her with his usual gruff indulgence. + +"Hallo, you mad-cap! I was just wondering whether I would scour the +country for you, or leave the door open and go to bed. I think it was +going to be the last, though, to be sure, it would have served you right +if I had locked you out. Had any dinner?" + +"No, darling, supper--any amount of it." Nan dropped a kiss upon his bald +head in passing. "I've been with Jerry," she said, "on the lake the whole +day long. We watched the moon rise. It was so romantic." + +The Colonel grunted. + +"More rheumatic than romantic I should have thought. Better have a glass +of grog." + +Nan screwed up her bright face with a laugh. + +"Heaven forbid, dad! And on a night like this. Oh, bother! Is that a +letter for me?" + +Colonel Everard was pointing to an envelope on the mantelpiece. She +crossed the hall without eagerness, and picked it up. + +"I've had one, too," said the Colonel, after a brief pause, speaking with +a jerk as if the words insisted upon being uttered in spite of him. + +"You!" Nan paused with one finger already inserted in the flap. "What +for?" + +Her father was staring steadily at the end of his cigar, or he might have +seen a hint of panic in her dark eyes. + +"You will see for yourself," he said, still in that uncomfortable, jerky +style. "He seems to think--Well, I must say it sounds reasonable enough +since he can't get back at present; but you will see for yourself." + +A little tremor went through Nan as she opened the letter. With frowning +brows she perused it. + +It did not take long to read. The thick, upright writing was almost +arrogantly distinct, recalling the writer with startling vividness. + +He had written with his accustomed brevity, but there was much more than +usual in his letter. He saw no prospect, so he told her, of being able +to leave the country for some time to come. Affairs were unsettled, and +likely to remain so. At the same time, there was no reason, now that her +health was restored, that she should not join him, and he was writing to +ask her father to take her out to him. He would meet them at Cape Town, +and if the Colonel cared to do so he would be very pleased if he would +spend a few months with them. + +The plan was expressed concisely but with absolute kindness. Nevertheless +there was about the letter a certain tone of mastery which gave Nan very +clearly to understand that the writer thereof did not expect to be +disappointed. It was emphatically the letter of a husband to his wife, +not of a lover to his beloved. + +She looked up from it with a very blank face. + +"My dear dad!" she ejaculated. "What can he be thinking of?" + +Colonel Everard smiled somewhat ruefully. + +"You, apparently," he said, with an effort to speak lightly. "What shall +we say to him--eh, Nan? You'll like to go on the spree with your old dad +to take care of you." + +"Spree!" exclaimed Nan. And again in a lower key, with a still finer +disdain: "Spree! Well"--tearing the letter across impulsively, with the +action of a passionate child--"you can go on the spree if you like, dad, +but I'm going to stay at home. I'm not going to run after him to the ends +of the earth if he is my husband. It wasn't in the bargain, and I won't +do it!" + +She stamped like a little fury, scattering fragments of the torn letter +in all directions. + +Her father attempted a feeble remonstrance, but she overrode him +instantly. + +"I won't listen to you, dad!" she declared fiercely. "I tell you I won't +do it! The man isn't living who shall order me to do this or that as if I +were his slave. You can write and tell him so if you like. When I married +him, he gave me to understand that we should only be out there for a few +months at most, and then we were to settle in England. You see what a +different story he tells now. But I won't be treated in that way. I won't +be inveigled out there, and made to wait on his royal pleasure. He chose +to go without me. I wasn't important enough to keep him in England, and +now it's my turn. He isn't important enough to drag me out there. No, be +quiet, daddy! I tell you I won't go! I won't go, I swear it!" + +"My dear child," protested the Colonel, making himself heard at length in +her pause for breath. "No one wants you to go anywhere or do anything +against your will. Piet Cradock isn't so unreasonable as that, if he is a +Dutchman. Now don't distress yourself. There isn't the smallest necessity +for that. I thought it just possible that you might like the idea as I +was to be with you. But as you don't--well, there's an end of it. We will +say no more." + +Nan's arm was around his neck as he ended, her cheek against his +forehead. + +"Dear, dear daddy, don't think I'm cross with you. You're just the +sweetest old darling in the world, and I'd go to Kamschatka with you +gladly--in fact, anywhere--anywhere--except South Africa. Can't we go +somewhere together, just you and I? Let's go to Jamaica. I'm sure I can +afford it." + +"No, no, no!" protested the Colonel. "Get away with you, you baggage! +What are you thinking of? Miss the cubbing season? Not I. And not you +either, if I know you. There! Run along to bed, and take my blessing with +you. I'll send a line to Piet, if you like, and tell him you don't object +to waiting for him a bit longer under your old father's roof. Come, be +off with you! I'm going to lock up." + +He hoisted himself out of his chair with the words, looked at her fondly +for a moment, took her pretty face between his hands, and kissed her +twice. + +"She's the worst pickle of the lot," he declared softly. + +He did not add that she was also his darling of them all, but this was a +perfectly open secret between them, and had been such as long as Nan +could remember. She laughed up at him with tender impudence in +recognition of the fact. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +The letter from Piet Cradock was not again referred to by either Nan or +her father. The latter answered it in his own way after the lapse of a +few weeks. He was of a peaceable, easy-going nature himself, and he did +not anticipate any trouble with Nan's husband. After all, the child's +reluctance to leave her home was perfectly natural. He, for his part, had +never fully understood the attraction which his son-in-law had exercised +upon her. He had been glad enough to have his favourite daughter provided +for, but the actual parting with her had been a serious trouble to him, +the most serious he had known for years, and he had been very far from +desiring to quarrel with the Fate that had restored her to him. + +He was comfortably convinced that Piet would understand all this. +Moreover, the fellow was clearly very busy. All his energies seemed to be +fully occupied. He would have but little time to spare for his wife, even +if he had her at his side. No, on the whole, the Colonel was of opinion +that Nan's decision was a wise one, and it seemed to him that, upon +reflection, his son-in-law could scarcely fail to agree with him. + +Something of this he expressed in his letter when he eventually roused +himself to reply to Piet's invitation, and therewith he dismissed all +further thought upon the subject from his mind. His darling had pleased +herself all her life, and naturally she would continue to do so. + +His letter went into silence, but there was nothing surprising in this +fact. Piet was, of course, too busy to have any leisure for private +affairs. The whole matter slid into the past with the utmost ease. No +doubt he would come home some day, but very possibly not for years, and +the Colonel was quite content with this vague prospect. + +As for Nan, she flicked the matter from her with the utmost nonchalance. +Since her father had undertaken to explain things, she did not even +trouble herself to write an answer to her husband's letter. That letter +had, in fact, very deeply wounded her pride. It had been a command, and +Nan was not accustomed to such treatment. Never, in all her unruly life, +had she yielded obedience to any. No discipline had ever tamed her. She +had been free, free as air, and she had not the vaguest intention of +submitting herself to the authority of anyone. The bare idea was +unthinkably repugnant to her, foreign to her whole nature. + +So, with a fierce disgust, she cast from her all memory of that brief +message that had come to her from the man who called himself her husband, +who had actually dared to treat her as one having the right to control +her actions. She could be a thousand times more arrogant than he when +occasion served, and she had not the faintest intention of allowing +herself to be fettered by any man's tyranny. + +Swiftly the days of that splendid summer flew by. She scarcely knew how +she spent them, but she was always in the open air, and almost invariably +with Jerry. She missed him considerably when he returned to Oxford, but +the hunting season was at hand, and soon engrossed all her thoughts. Old +Squire Grimshaw was the master, and Nan and her father followed his +hounds three days in every week. People had long since come to acquiesce +in the absence of Nan's husband. Many of them had almost forgotten that +the girl was married, since Nan herself so persistently ignored the fact. +Gossip upon the subject had died down for lack of nourishment. And Nan +pursued her reckless way untrammelled as of yore. + +The week before Christmas saw Jerry once more at the Hall. He was as +ardent a follower of the hounds as was Nan, and many were the breakneck +gallops in which they indulged before a spell of frost put an end to this +giddy pastime. Christmas came and went, leaving the lake frozen to a +thickness of several inches, leaving Nan and the ever-faithful Jerry +cutting figures of extraordinary elaboration on the ice. + +The Hunt Ball had been fixed to take place on the sixth of January, and, +in preparation for this event, Nan and some of her sisters were busily +engaged beforehand in decking the Town Hall of the neighbourhood with +evergreens and bunting. Jerry's assistance in this matter was, of course, +invaluable, and when the important day arrived, he and Nan spent the +whole afternoon in sliding about the floor to improve the surface. + +So absorbing was this occupation that the passage of time was quite +unnoticed by either of them till Nan at length discovered to her dismay +that she had missed the train by which she had meant to return. + +To walk back meant a trudge of five miles. To drive was out of the +question, for all the carriages in the place had been requisitioned. + +"What in the world shall I do?" she cried. "If I walk back, I shall never +have time to dress. Oh, why haven't I got a motor?" + +Jerry slapped his leg with a yell of triumph. + +"My dear girl, you have! The very thing! I'll be your motor and chauffeur +rolled into one. My bicycle is here. Come along, and I'll take you home +on the step." + +The idea was worthy of them both. Nan fell in with it with a gay chuckle. +It was not the first time that she had indulged in this species of +gymnastics with Jerry's co-operation, though, to be sure, some years had +elapsed since the last occasion on which she had performed the feat. + +She had not, however, forgotten her ancient prowess, and Jerry was +delighted with his passenger. Poised on one foot, and holding firmly to +his shoulders, Nan sailed down the High Street in the full glare of the +lamps. It was not a dignified mode of progression, but it was very far +from being ungraceful. + +She wore a little white fur cap on her dark hair, and her pretty face +laughed beneath it like the face of a merry child. The danger of her +position was a consideration that never occurred to her. She was in her +wildest mood, and enjoying herself to the utmost. + +The warning hoot of a motor behind her dismayed her not at all. + +"Hurry up, Jerry! Don't let them pass!" she urged. + +And Jerry put his whole heart into his pedalling and bore her at the top +of his speed. + +It was an exciting race, but ending, as such races are bound to end, in +the triumph of the motor. The great machine overtook them steadily, +surely. For three seconds they were abreast, and Nan hammered her +cavalier on the back with her muff in a fever of impatience. Then the +motor glided ahead, leaving only the fumes of its petrol to exasperate +the already heated Nan. + +"Beasts!" she ejaculated tersely, while Jerry became so limp with +laughter, that he nearly ceased pedalling altogether. + +No further adventure befell them during the five-mile journey. The roads +were in excellent condition, and the moon was high and frostily bright. + +"It's been lovely," Nan declared, as they turned in at her father's +gates. "And you're a brick, Jerry!" + +"How many waltzes shall I get for it?" was Jerry's prompt rejoinder. + +The girl's gay laugh rang silvery through the frosty air. Jerry had been +asking the question at intervals all the afternoon. + +"I'll give you all the extras," she laughed as she sprang lightly to the +ground. + +Jerry did not even dismount. His time also was limited. + +"Yes?" he called over his shoulder, as he wheeled round and began to ride +away. "And?" + +"And as many more as I can spare," cried Nan, and with a wave of her hand +turned to enter the house. + +The laugh was still on her lips as she mounted the steps. The hall-door +stood open, and her father's voice hailed her from within. + +"Hallo, Nan, you scapegrace! What mad-cap trick will you be up to next, +I wonder?" + +There was a decided note of uneasiness behind the banter of his tone +which her quick ear instantly detected. She looked up sharply and in a +second, as if at a touch of magic, the laughter all died out of her face. + +A man was standing in the glow of the lamp-light slightly behind her +father, a man of medium height and immense breadth, with a clean-shaven, +heavy-browed face, and sombre eyes that watched her silently. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +Nan was ever quick in all her ways, and it was very seldom that she was +disconcerted. Between the moment of her reaching the top step and that +in which she entered the hall, she flashed from laughing childhood to +haughty womanhood. The dignity with which she offered her hand to her +husband was in its way superb. + +"An unexpected pleasure!" was her icy comment. + +He took the hand, looking closely into her eyes. He made no attempt to +draw her nearer, and Nan remained at arm's-length. Yet something in his +scrutiny affected her, for a shiver went through her, proudly though she +met it. + +"It is cold," she said, by way of explanation. "It is freezing hard, and +we came all the way by road." + +"Yes," he said, in his deep, slow voice. "I saw you." + +"You saw me?" Nan's eyebrows went up; she was furiously conscious that +she blushed. + +"I passed you in a motor," he explained. + +"Oh!" She withdrew her hand, and turned to the fire with a little laugh, +raging inwardly at the fate that had betrayed her. + +Standing by the hearth, she pulled off her gloves, and spread her hands +to the blaze. It was a mere pretence, for she was hot all over by that +time, hot and quivering and fiercely resentful. There was another feeling +also behind her resentment, a feeling which she would not own, that made +her heart thump oddly, as it had thumped only once before in her +life--when this man had touched her face with his lips. + +"Well," she said, standing up after a few minutes, "I must go and dress, +and so must you, dad. We are going to the Hunt Ball to-night," she added, +with a brief glance in her husband's direction. + +He made no reply of any sort. His eyes were fixed upon her left hand. +After a moment she became aware of this, and slipped it carelessly into +her pocket. Whistling softly, she turned to go. + +At the foot of the stairs she heard her father's voice, and paused. + +"You had better come, too," he was saying to his son-in-law. + +Nan wheeled sharply, almost as if she would protest, but she checked her +words unspoken. + +Quietly Piet Cradock was making reply: + +"Thank you, Colonel. I think I had better." + +Across the hall Nan met his gaze still unwaveringly fixed upon her, and +she returned it with the utmost defiance of which she was capable. Did +he actually fancy that she could be coerced into joining him, she asked +herself--she who had always been free as the air? Well, he would soon +discover his mistake. She would begin to teach him from that moment. + +With her head still held high, she turned and mounted the stairs. + +Mona was waiting for her in much disturbance of spirit. + +"He arrived early this afternoon," was her report. "We were all so +astonished. He has come for you, Nan, and he says he must start back next +week without fail. Isn't it short notice? I wish he had written to say he +was coming. He sat and talked to dad all the afternoon. And then, as you +didn't come, he started off in his motor to find you. He must have gone +to the station first, or he would have met you sooner." + +To all this Nan listened with a set face, while she raced through her +dressing. She made no comment whatever. The only signs that she heard +lay in her tense expression and unsteady fingers. + +They did not descend till the last minute, just as the carriage +containing the Colonel and three more of his daughters was driving away. + +Piet was standing like a massive statue in the hall. As the two girls +came down, he moved forward. + +"I have kept the motor for you," he said. + +Mona thanked him. Nan did not utter a word. She would not touch the hand +that would have helped her in, and she kept her lips firmly closed +throughout the drive. + +When she entered the ballroom at length her husband was by her side, but +neither by word nor look did she acknowledge his presence there. + +Jerry spied her instantly, and came towards her. She went quickly to meet +him. + +"For goodness' sake," she whispered urgently, "help me to get away from +that man!" + +"Of course," said Jerry, promptly leading her away in the opposite +direction till the crowd swallowed them. "Who the dickens is he?" + +She looked at him with a small, piteous smile. + +"His name is Piet Cradock," she said. + +"Great Scotland!" ejaculated Jerry; and added fiercely: "What the devil +has he come back for? What does he want?" + +Nan threw back her head with a sudden wild laugh. + +"Guess!" she cried. + +But Jerry knew without guessing, and swore savagely under his breath. + +"But you won't go with him--not yet, anyhow?" he urged. "He can't hurry +you off without consulting your convenience. You won't submit to that?" + +An imp of mischief had begun to dance in Nan's eyes. + +"I am told he has to sail next week," she said. "But I think it possible +that by that time he won't be quite so anxious to take me with him. Time +alone will prove. How many waltzes did you ask for?" + +"As many as I can get, of course," said Jerry, taking instant advantage +of this generous invitation. + +She laughed recklessly, and gave him her card. + +"Take them then, my dear boy. I am ready to dance all night long." + +She laughed again still more recklessly when he handed her card back to +her. + +"You are very daring!" she remarked. + +He looked momentarily disconcerted. + +"You don't mind, do you?" + +"I mind? It's what I meant you to do," she answered lightly. "Shall I say +you are very daring on my behalf?" + +Jerry flushed a deep red. + +"I would do anything under the sun for you, Nan," he said, in a low +voice. + +Whereat she laughed again--a gay, sweet laugh, and left him. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +Piet Cradock spent nearly the whole of that long evening leaning against +a doorpost watching his wife dancing with Jerry Lister. They were the +best-matched couple in the room, and, as a good many remarked, they +seemed to know it. + +Through every dance Nan laughed and talked with a feverish gaiety, +conscious of that long, long gaze that never varied. She felt almost +hysterical under it at last. It made her desperate--so desperate that she +finally quitted the ballroom altogether in Jerry's company, and remained +invisible till people were beginning to take their departure. + +That feeling at the back of her mind had grown to a definite sensation +that she could not longer ignore or trample into insignificance. She was +horribly afraid of that silent man with his gloomy, inscrutable eyes. His +look frightened, almost terrified her. She felt like a trapped creature +that lies quaking in the grass, listening to the coming footsteps of its +captor. + +In a vague way Jerry was aware of her inquietude, and when they rose at +length to leave their secluded corner, he turned and spoke with a certain +blunt chivalry that did him credit. + +"I say, Nan, if things get unbearable, you'll promise to let me know? +I'll do anything to help you, you know--anything under the sun." + +And Nan squeezed his arm tightly in acknowledgment, though she made no +verbal answer. + +Amid a crowd of departing dancers they came face to face with Piet. He +was standing in an attitude of immense patience near the door. Very +quietly he addressed her. + +"Colonel Everard and your sisters have gone. The motor is waiting to take +you when you are ready." + +She started back sharply. Her nerves were on edge, and the news was a +shock. Her hand was still on Jerry's arm. Impulsively she turned to +him. + +"I haven't had nearly enough yet," she declared. "Come along, Jerry! +Let's dance to the bitter end!" + +Jerry took her at her word on the instant, and began to thread the way +back to the ballroom. But before they reached it a quiet hand fastened +upon his shoulder, detaining him. + +"Pardon me," said Piet Cradock, "but my wife has had more than enough +already, and I am going to take her home!" + +Jerry stopped, struck silent for the moment by sheer astonishment. + +Without further words Piet proceeded to transfer Nan's hand from the +boy's arm to his own. He did it with absolute gentleness, but with a +resolution that admitted of no resistance--at least Nan attempted none. + +But the action infuriated Jerry, and in the flurry of the moment he +completely lost his head. + +"What the devil do you mean?" he demanded loudly. + +An abrupt silence fell upon the buzzing throng about them. Through it, +with unfaltering composure, fell Piet Cradock's reply. + +"I mean exactly what I have said. If you have any objection to raise, I +am ready to deal with it, either now or later--as you shall choose." + +The words were hardly uttered when Nan did an extraordinary thing. She +lifted a perfectly colourless face with a ghastly smile upon it, and held +out her free hand to Jerry. + +"All right, Jerry," she said. "I think I'll go after all. I am rather +tired. Good-night, dear boy! Pleasant dreams! Now, Piet"--she turned +that quivering smile upon her husband, and it was the bravest thing she +had ever done--"don't keep me waiting. Go and get your coat, and be quick +about it; or I shall certainly be ready first." + +He turned away at once, and the incident was over, since by this +unexpected move Nan had managed to convey to her too ardent champion +that she desired it to be so. + +He departed sullenly to the refreshment-room, mystified but obedient and +she dived hurriedly into the cloakroom in search of her property. + +She found Piet waiting for her when she came out, and she passed forth +with him to the waiting motor with a laugh and a jest for the benefit of +the onlookers. + +But the moment the door closed upon them she fell into silence, drawn +back from him as far as possible, her cold hands clenched tight under her +cloak. + +He did not attempt to speak to her during the quarter of an hour's drive, +sitting mutely beside her in statuesque stillness; and it was she who, +when he handed her out, broke the silence. + +"I have something to say to you." + +He bent before her stiffly. + +"I am at your service." + +There was something in his words that sounded ironical to her, something +that sent the blood to her face in a burning wave. She turned in silence +and ascended the steps in front of him. + +She found the door unlocked, but the hall was empty, and lighted only by +the great flames that spouted up from the log-fire on the open hearth. + +Clearly the rest of the family had retired, and a sudden, sharp suspicion +flashed through Nan that her husband had deliberately laid his plans for +this private interview with her. + +It set her heart pounding again within her, but she braced herself to +treat him with a high hand. He must not, he should not, assume the +mastery over her. + +Silently she waited as he shut and bolted the great door, and then +quietly crossed the shadowy hall to join her. + +She had dropped her cloak from her shoulders, and the firelight played +ruddily over her dress of shimmering white, revealing her slim young +beauty in every delicate detail. Very pale, but erect and at least +outwardly calm, she faced him. + +"What I have to say to you," she said, "will make you very angry; but +I hope you will have the patience to listen to me, because it must be +said." + +He did not answer. He merely stooped and stirred the fire to a higher +blaze, then turned and looked at her with those ever-watching eyes of +his. + +Nan's hands were clenched unconsciously. She was making the greatest +effort of her life. + +"It has come to this," she said, forcing herself with all her quivering +strength to speak quietly. "I do not wish to be your wife. I have +realized for some time that my marriage was a mistake, and I thought +it possible, I hoped with all my heart, that you would see it, too. I +suppose, by your coming back in this way, that you have not yet done so?" + +He was standing very quietly before her with his hands behind him. +Notwithstanding her wild misgiving, she could not see that he was in any +way angered by her words. He seemed to observe her with a grave interest. +That was all. + +A tremor of passion went through her. His passivity was not to be borne. +In some curious fashion it hurt her. She felt as though she were beating +and bruising herself against bars of iron. + +"Surely," she said, and her voice shook in spite of her utmost effort to +control it--"surely you must see that you are asking of me more than I +can possibly give. I own that I am--nominally--your wife, but I realize +now that I can never be anything more to you than that. I cannot go away +with you. I can never make my home with you. I married you upon impulse. +I did you a great wrong, but you will admit that you hurried me into it. +And now that--that my eyes are open, I find that I cannot go on. Would +it--would it--" She was faltering under that unchanging gaze, but she +compelled herself to utter the question--"be quite impossible to--to get +a separation?" + +"Quite," said Piet. + +He did not raise his voice, but she shrank at the brief word, shrank +uncontrollably as if he had struck her. + +He went on quite steadily, but his eyes gave her no rest. They seemed to +her to gleam red in the glancing firelight. + +"I do not admit that our marriage was a mistake. I was always aware that +you married me for my money. But on the other hand I was willing to pay +your price. I wanted you. And--I want you still. Nothing will alter that +fact. I am sorry if you think you have made a bad bargain, for you will +have to abide by it. Perhaps some day you will change your mind again. +But it is not my habit to change mine. That is, I think, all that need be +said upon the subject." + +There was not the faintest hint of vehemence in his tone, but there was +unmistakable authority. Having spoken, he stood grimly waiting for her +next move. + +As for Nan, a sudden fury entered into her that possessed her more +completely than any fear. To be thus mastered in a few curt sentences was +more than her wild spirit would endure. Without an instant's hesitation +she flung down the gauntlet. + +"It is true," she said, speaking quickly, "that I married you for your +money, but since you knew that, you were as much to blame as I. Had I +known then what sort of man you were, I would sooner have gone into the +workhouse. I am quite aware that it is thanks to you that my father is +not a ruined man, but I--I protest against being made the price for your +benefits. I will never touch another penny of your money myself, and +neither shall any of my family if I can prevent it. As to abiding by my +bargain, I refuse absolutely and unconditionally. I do not acknowledge +your authority over me. I will be no man's slave, and--and, sooner than +live with you as your wife, I--I will die in a ditch!" + +Furiously she flung the words at him, too much carried away by her own +madness to note their effect upon him, too angry to see the sudden, +leaping flame in his eyes; too utterly reckless to realize that fire +kindles fire. + +Her fierce wrath was in its way sublime. She was like a beautiful, wild +creature raging at its captor, too infuriated to be afraid. + +"I defy you," she declared proudly, "to make me do anything against my +will!" + +There was scorn as well as defiance in her voice--scorn because he stood +before her so silently; scorn because the fierce torrent of her anger had +flowed unchecked. She had only to stand up to him, it seemed, and like +the giant of the fable he dwindled to a pigmy. She was no longer hurt by +his passivity. She despised him for it. + +But it was for the last time in her life. As she turned contemptuously to +pick up her cloak, he moved. + +With a single stride he had reached her, and in an instant his hand was +on her arm, his face was close to hers. And then she saw, what she had +been too self-engrossed to see before, that fire had kindled fire indeed, +and that those rash words of hers had waked the savage in him. + +She made a sharp, instinctive effort to free herself, but he held her +fast. She had outrun his patience at last. + +"So," he said, "you defy me, do you? You defy me to take what is my own? +That is not very wise of you." + +He spoke under his breath, and as he spoke he drew her to him suddenly, +violently, with a strength that was brutal. For a moment his eyes +compelled hers, terrible eyes alight with a passion that scorched her +with its fiery intensity. And then abruptly his arms tightened. She was +at his mercy, and he did not spare her. Savagely, fiercely, he rained +burning kisses upon her shrinking face, upon her neck, her shoulders, her +hands, till, after many seconds of vain resistance, spent, quivering, +terrified, she broke into agonized tears against his breast. + +His hold relaxed then, but tightened again as her trembling limbs refused +to support her. He held her for a while till her agitation had in some +degree subsided; then at last he took her two shaking hands into one of +his, and turned her face upwards. + +Once more his eyes held hers, but the fire in them had died down to a +smoulder. His mouth was grim. + +"Come!" he said quietly, "you won't defy me after this?" + +Her white lips only quivered in reply. She made no further effort to +resist him. + +Very slowly he took his arm from her, still holding her hands. + +"You have married a savage," he said, "but you would never have known it +if you had not taunted me with your defiance. Let me tell you now--for +it is as well that you should know it--that there is nothing--do you +hear?--nothing in this world that I cannot make you do if I so choose! +But if you are wise, you will not challenge me to prove this. It is +enough for you to know that as I have mastered myself, so I can--and so +I will--master you!" + +His words fell with a ring of iron. The old inflexibly sombre demeanour +by which alone till that night she had always known him clothed him like +a coat of mail. Only the grasp of his hand was vital and close. It seemed +to burn her flesh. + +"I have done!" he said, after a pause. "Have you anything further to say +to me?" + +She found it within her power to free herself, and did so. She was +shaking from head to foot. The untamed violence of the man had appalled +her, but his abrupt resumption of self-control was almost more terrible. +She felt as if his will compassed and constrained her like bands of iron. + +She stood before him in panting silence, a shrinking woman, striving +vainly to raise from the dust the shield of pride that he had so rudely +shattered and flung aside. She could not speak to him. She had no words. +From the depths of her soul she hated him. But--it had come to this--she +did not dare to tell him so. + +He waited quietly for a few seconds; then unexpectedly, but without +vehemence, he held out his hand to her. + +"Anne," he said, a subtle change in his deep voice, "fight against me, +and you will be miserable, for I am bound to conquer you. But come to +me--come to me of your own free will--and I swear before Heaven that I +will make you happy." + +But Nan held back with horror, almost with loathing, in her eyes. She did +not utter a word. There was no need. + +His hand fell. For a second the fire that smouldered in his eyes shot +upwards to a flame, but it died down again instantly. He turned from her +in silence and picked up her cloak. + +He did not look at her as he handed it to her, and Nan did not dare to +look at him. Dumbly she forced her trembling body into subjection to +her will. She crossed the hall without faltering, and went without sound +or backward glance up the stairs. And the man was left alone in the +flickering firelight. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +To Mona fell the task of making preparation for Nan's departure, for Nan +herself did not raise a finger to that end. Three days only remained to +her of the old free life--three days in which to bid farewell to +everybody and everything she knew and loved. + +Her husband did not attempt to obtrude his presence upon her during those +three days. The man's patience was immense, cloaking him as with a +garment of passive strength. He was merely a guest in Colonel Everard's +house, and a silent guest at that. + +No one knew what had passed between him and his young wife on the night +of the Hunt Ball, but it was generally understood that he had asserted +his authority over her after a fashion that admitted of no resistance. +Only Mona could have told of the white-faced, terrified girl who had lain +trembling in her arms all through the dark hours that had followed their +interview, but Mona knew when to hold her peace, though it was no love +for her brother-in-law that sealed her lips. + +So, with a set face, she packed her sister's belongings, never faltering, +scarcely pausing for thought, till on the very last day she finished her +task, and then sat musing alone in the darkness of the winter evening. + +Nan had been out all the afternoon, no one knew exactly where, though it +was supposed that she was paying farewell visits. The Colonel, whose +courteous instincts would not suffer him to neglect a guest, had been out +shooting with his son-in-law all day long. Mona heard them come tramping +up the drive and enter the house, as she sat above in the dark. She +listened without moving, and knew that one of her sisters was giving +them tea in the hall. + +Two hours passed, but Nan did not return. Mona rose at last to dress for +dinner. Her face shone pale as she lighted her lamp, but her eyes were +steadfast; they held no anxiety. + +Descending the stairs at length she found Piet waiting below before the +fire. He looked round as she came down, looked up the stairs beyond her, +and gravely rose to give her his chair. + +Mona was generally regarded as hostess in her father's house, though she +was not his eldest daughter. She possessed a calmness of demeanour that +was conspicuously lacking in all the rest. + +She sat down quietly, her hands folded about her knees. "Have you had +good sport?" she asked, her serene eyes raised to his. + +There was a slight frown between Piet's brows. Hitherto he had always +regarded this girl as his friend. To-night, for the first time, she +puzzled him. There was something hostile about her something he felt +rather than saw, yet of which from the very moment of her coming, he was +keenly conscious. + +He scarcely answered her query. Already his wits were at work. + +Suddenly he asked her a blunt question. "Has Anne come in yet?" + +She answered him quite as bluntly, almost as if she had wished for his +curt interrogation. "No." + +He raised his brows for an instant, then in part reassured by her +absolute composure, he merely commented: "She is late." + +Mona said nothing. She turned her quiet eyes to the blaze before her. +There was not the faintest sign of agitation in her bearing. + +"Do you know what she is doing?" He asked the question slowly, half +reluctantly it seemed. + +Again she looked at him. Clear and contemptuous, her eyes met his. + +"Yes, I know." + +The words, the look, stabbed him with a swift suspicion. He bent towards +her, his hand gripped her wrist. + +"What do you mean? Where is she?" + +She made no movement to avoid him. A faint, grim smile hovered about her +calm mouth. + +"I can tell you what I mean," she said quietly. "I cannot tell you where +she is." + +"Then tell me what you mean," he said between his teeth. + +His face was close to hers, and in that moment it was terrible. But Mona +did not flinch. The small, bitter smile passed, that was all. + +"I mean," she said, speaking very steadily and distinctly, "that you +will go back to South Africa without her after all. I mean that by your +hateful and contemptible brutality you have driven her from you for ever. +I mean that you have forced her into taking a step that will compel you +to set her free from your tyranny. I mean that simply and solely to +escape from you she has run away with--another man." + +A quiver of pain went over her face as she ended. With a swift, +passionate movement she rose, flinging her mask of composure aside. The +hand that gripped her wrist was bruising her flesh, but she never felt +it. + +"Yes," she said, with abrupt vehemence. "That is what you have +done--you--you! You would not stoop to win her. You chose to take her by +force, and force is the one thing in the world that she will never +tolerate. You bullied her, frightened her, humiliated her. You drove her +to do this desperate thing. And you face me now, you dare to face me, +because I am a weak woman. If I were a man, I would kick you out of the +house. I--I believe I would kill you! Even Nan cannot hate you or despise +you one-tenth as much as I do!" + +She ceased, but her eyes blazed their hatred at him as her heart cursed +him. She was furious as a tigress that defends her young. + +As for the man, his hand was still clenched upon her wrist, but no +violent outburst escaped him. He was white to the lips, but he was +absolutely sane. If he heard her wild reproaches, he passed them over. + +"Who is the man?" he said, and his voice fell like a word of command, +arresting, controlling, compelling. + +It was not what she had expected. She had been prepared for tempestuous, +for overwhelming, wrath. The absence of this oddly disconcerted her. Her +own tornado of indignation was checked. She answered him almost +involuntarily. + +"Jerry Lister." + +He frowned as if trying to recall the owner of the name, and again +without her conscious will she explained. + +"You saw him that night at the ball. They were together all the evening." + +The frown passed from his face. + +"That--cub!" he said slowly. "And"--his eyes were searching hers closely; +he spoke with unswerving determination--"where have they gone?" + +She withstood his look though she felt its compulsion. + +"I refuse to tell you that." + +"You know?" he questioned. + +"Yes, I know." + +"Then you will tell me." He spoke with conviction. She felt as if his +eyes were burning her. + +"Then you will tell me," he repeated, as if she had not heard him. + +"I refuse," she said again; but she said it with a wavering resolution. +Undoubtedly there was something colossal about this man. She began to +feel the grip of his fingers upon her wrist. The pain of it became +intense, yet she knew that he was not intentionally torturing her. + +"You are hurting me," she said, and instantly his hold relaxed. But he +did not let her go. + +"Answer me!" he said. + +"Why should I answer you?" It was the last resort of her weakening will. + +He betrayed no impatience. + +"You will answer me for your sister's sake," he told her grimly. + +"What do you mean? You will follow her?" + +"I shall follow her." + +"And bring her back?" + +"Back here? No, certainly not." + +"You will hurt her, bully her, terrify her!" The words were quick with +agitation. + +He ignored them. "Tell me where she is." + +She made a last effort. + +"If I tell you--will you take me with you?" + +"No," he said, "I will not." + +"Then--then--" She was looking straight into those pitiless eyes. It +seemed she could not help herself. "I will tell you," she said at last. +"But you will be kind to her? You will remember how young she is, and +that--that you drove her to it?" + +Her voice was piteous, her resistance was dead. + +"I shall remember," he said very quietly, "one thing only." + +"Yes?" she murmured. "Yes?" + +"That she is my wife," he said, in the same level tone. "Now--answer me." + +And because there was no longer any alternative course, she yielded. + +Had he shown himself a raging demon she could have resisted him, and +rejoiced in it. But this man, with his rigid self-control, his unswerving +resolution, his deadly directness, dominated her irresistibly. + +Without argument he had changed her point of view. Without argument or +protestation of any sort, he had convinced her that it was no passing +fancy of his that had prompted him to choose Nan for his wife. She had +vaguely suspected it before. Now she knew. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +It was very dark over the moors. The solitary lights of a cab crawling +almost at a foot pace along the lonely road shone like a will-o'-the-wisp +through the snow. It had been snowing for hours, steadily, thickly, and +the cold was intense. The dead heather by the roadside had long been +completely hidden under that ever-increasing load. It lay in great +billows of white wherever the carriage lamps revealed it, stretching away +into the darkness, an immense, untrodden desert, wrapped in a deathly +silence, more terrible than any sound. + +It seemed to Nan, shivering inside that cheerless cab, as if the world +had stopped like a run-down watch, and that she alone, with her +melancholy equipage, retained in all that vast stillness the power to +move. + +She wished heartily that she had permitted Jerry to come to the station +to meet her, but for some reason not wholly intelligible to herself she +had prohibited this. And he, ever obedient to her behests, had sent the +conveyance to fetch her, remaining behind himself to complete the +preparations for her reception upon which he had been engaged for the +past two days at the tiny, incommodious shooting-box which his father had +bequeathed to him, and of which not very valuable piece of landed +property he was somewhat inordinately proud. + +It had been a tedious cross-country journey, and the five miles from the +station seemed to Nan interminable. Already deep down in her heart were +stirring ghastly doubts regarding the advisability of this mad expedition +of hers. Jerry, as she well knew, was fully prepared to enjoy the +situation to the utmost. He was a trusty friend in need to her, no more, +and she had not the smallest misgiving so far as he was concerned. + +He would be to her what he had ever been, breezy comrade, merry +friend--romantic cavalier, perhaps, but in such a fashion as to convince +her that he was only playing at romance. It had always been his attitude +towards her, and she anticipated no change. The boy's natural chivalry +had moved her to accept his help, though she well knew that the step she +had taken was a desperate one, even for one of the wild Everards. That +it would fulfil its purpose she did not doubt. Her husband, she was fully +convinced, would take no further steps to deprive her of her liberty. Her +notions of legal procedure in such a case were of the haziest, but she +had not the faintest doubt that this last, wildest escapade of hers would +sooner or later procure her her freedom from the chain that so galled +her. + +And yet she started and shivered at every creak of the crazy vehicle that +was bearing her to the haven of her emancipation. She was horribly, +unreasonably afraid, now that she had taken this rash step. Would it +upset her father very greatly, she wondered? But surely he would not +think badly of her for making a way of escape for herself. He had been +powerless to deliver her. Surely, surely he would understand! + +The cab jolted to a standstill, and out of the darkness came an eager, +boyish voice, bidding her welcome. An impetuous hand wrenched open the +door, and she and Jerry were face to face. + +She never recalled afterwards crossing the threshold of his little abode. +She was numbed and weary in mind and body. But she found herself at +length seated before a bright fire, with a cup of steaming tea in her +hand, and Jerry hovering about her in high delight; and the comfort of +his welcome revived her at length to an active realization of her +surroundings. + +Clearly the adventure, mad, lawless as it undoubtedly was, was nothing +but a picnic to him. He was enjoying himself immensely without a thought +of any possible consequences, and it was plain that this was the attitude +in which he expected her to regard the matter. + +With an effort she responded to his mood, but she could not shake off the +burden of doubt and foreboding that oppressed her. She felt as if the +long, bitter journey had in some fashion aged her. Jerry's gaiety was as +the prattle of a child to her now. They had been children together till +that day, but she felt that they could never be so again. Never before +had she stopped in her headlong course to look ahead, to count the cost! +Now, for the first time, misgivings arose within her upon Jerry's score. +What if this boy who had lent himself so lightly, so absolutely freely, +to her scheme for deliverance, were made in any way to suffer for his +reckless generosity? For this it had been with him--and this only--as she +well knew. + +With sheer, boyish gallantry, he had offered his protection; with sheer, +girlish recklessness, she had accepted it. And now--now she had in a few +hours crossed the boundary between childhood and womanhood and she stood +aghast, asking herself what she had done! + +By what means understanding had come to her she did not stay to +question. The tragic force of it overwhelmed all reasoning. She knew +beyond all doubting that she had made the most ghastly mistake of her +life. She had done it in blindness, but the veil had been rent away; and, +horror-struck, she now beheld the accursed quicksand into which they had +blundered. + +"I say," said Jerry, "you're awfully tired, aren't you? You're positively +haggard. I've got quite a decent little dinner for you, and I've done +every blessed thing myself. There isn't a soul in the house except us +two. I thought you'd like it best." + +She smiled at him wanly, and thanked him. He was watching her with +friendly, anxious eyes. + +"Yes; well, drink that up and have some more. I'm afraid you'll think the +accommodation rather poor. It's only a pillbox, you know. I'll show you +round when you're ready. I've got my kennel in the kitchen. Best place +for a watch-dog, eh? But you've only got to thump on the floor if you want +anything. There, that's better. You don't look quite so frozen as you +did. Come, it's rather a lark, isn't it?" + +His boyish eyes pleaded with her, and again she made a valiant effort to +respond. She knew what stupendous efforts he had been making to secure +her comfort. + +"Everything is perfect," she declared, "and you're the nicest boy in the +world. I'm quite warm now. What a dear little hall, to be sure!" + +"Hall!" said Jerry. "It's the living-room! But there's another one +upstairs that you can sit in. I thought you would like the upper regions +all to yourself. We can call on each other, you know, now and then. I +say, it's rather a lark, isn't it? Come and see my preparations for +dinner." + +She went with him into the little bare kitchen, and bestowed lavish +praise upon everything she saw. + +Jerry's cooking was an accomplishment of which he had some reason to be +proud. He was roasting a pheasant for his visitor's delectation. + +"I always do the cooking when we camp out," he explained. "Just sit down +while I finish peeling the potatoes." + +He pointed to a truckle bedstead in the corner; and Nan seated herself +and made a determined effort to banish her depression. + +Jerry's preparations for his own comfort were anything but elaborate. + +"Oh, I could sleep on bare boards," he lightly said, when she commented +upon the hardness of his couch. "I know the furniture isn't up to much, +but it isn't a bad little shanty when you're used to it. My pater and +mater spent their honeymoon here years ago, and I stayed here with two +other fellows for three weeks' grouse-shooting a couple of years back. +Rare sport we had, too. Do you mind passing over that saucepan? Thanks! +I say, Nan, I hope you don't mind it being a bit rough." + +"My dear boy," Nan said impulsively, "if it were a palace I shouldn't +like it half so well." + +Jerry grinned serenely. + +"Yes, it's snug, anyhow, and I think you'll like that pheasant. There's +another one in the larder, so we shall have something to eat if we're +snowed up. That cupboard leads upstairs. Perhaps you would like to go and +explore. Dinner in half an hour." + +Nan availed herself of this suggestion. She was frankly curious to know +what Jerry's ideas of feminine comfort might be. She ascended the steep +cottage stairs that wound up to the first floor, looking about her with +considerable interest. The narrow staircase was lighted from above, and +she finally emerged into a little room in which a fire burned brightly. +A sofa had been drawn in front of it, and was piled with cushions. There +were one or two basket-chairs, and a small square table bearing a +paper-shaded lamp, and a newspaper, a "Punch," Jerry's banjo, and a +cigarette case. + +The window was covered with a red curtain, and the cosy warmth of the +place sent a glow of comfort through Nan. Jerry's efforts had not been +in vain. + +From this apartment she passed into another beyond, the door of which +stood half open, and found herself in a bedroom. A small stove burned +in a corner of this, and upon it a kettle steamed merrily. There was room +for but little furniture besides the bed, but the general effect was +exceedingly comforting to the girl's oppressed soul. She sat down on the +edge of the bed and leaned her aching head against the back. + +What was happening at home she wondered? Her departure must be known by +this time. Mona would have told Piet. She tried to picture the man's +untrammelled wrath when he heard. How furious he would be! She shivered +a little. She was quite sure he would never want to see her again. + +And yet, curiously, there still ran in her brain those words he had +uttered on that night that she had defied him--that dreadful night when +he had held her in his arms and forced her to endure his hateful kisses! + +She could almost hear his deep voice speaking: "Anne, fight against me +and you will be miserable, for I am bound to conquer you. But come to +me--come to me of your own free will--and I swear before Heaven that I +will make you happy!" Make her happy! He! She could not imagine it. And +yet it was true that, fighting against him, she was miserable. + +With a great sigh, she rose at last and began to remove her outdoor +things. It was done--it was done. What was the use of stopping on the +wrong side of the hedge to think? She had taken the leap. There could +never be any return for her. The actual mistake had been committed long, +long ago, when she had married this man for his money. That had been +monstrous, contemptible! She realized it now. But that, too, was beyond +remedy. Her only hope left was that in his fury he would set her free, +and that without injury to Jerry. She had not the faintest notion how he +would set about it; but doubtless he would not keep her long in +ignorance. He would be more eager now than she had ever been to snap +asunder the chain that bound them to each other. Yes, she was quite, +quite sure that he would never want to see her again. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +Jerry's dinner was not, for some reason, quite the success he had +anticipated. + +Nan made no complaint of the cooking, but she ate next to nothing, to the +grief of his hospitable soul. She was tired, of course, but there was +something in her manner that he could not fathom. She was silent and +unresponsive. There was almost an air of tragedy about her that made her +so unfamiliar that he felt as if he were entertaining a stranger. He did +not like the change. His old domineering, impetuous playfellow was +infinitely easier to understand. He did not feel at ease with this quiet, +white-faced woman, who treated him with such wholly unaccustomed +courtesy. + +"I say," he said, when the meal was ended, "let's go upstairs and have a +smoke. I can clear away after you have gone to bed. Or do you want to go +to bed now? It's nearly nine, so you may if you like." + +She thanked him, and declined. + +"I shouldn't sleep if I did," she said with a shiver. "No; I will help +you wash up, and then we will go upstairs and have some music." + +Jerry fell in eagerly with this idea. He loved his banjo. He demurred a +little at accepting her assistance in the kitchen, but finally yielded, +for she would not be refused. She seemed to dread the thought of +solitude. + +When they went upstairs at length, she made a great effort to shake off +her depression. She even sang a little to one or two of Jerry's melodies, +but her customary high spirits remained conspicuously absent, and after a +while Jerry became impatient, and laid the instrument down. + +"What's the matter?" he asked bluntly. + +Nan was sitting with her feet on the fender, her eyes upon the flames. +His question did not seem to surprise her. + +"You wouldn't understand," she said, "if I were to tell you." + +"Well, you might as well give me the chance," he responded. "My +intelligence is up to the average, I dare say." + +She looked round at him with a faint smile. + +"Oh, don't be huffy, dear boy! Why should you? You want to know what is +the matter? Well, I'll tell you. I'm afraid--I'm horribly afraid--that +I've made a great mistake." + +"You have?" said Jerry. "How? What do you mean?" + +"I knew you would ask that," she said, with a little, helpless gesture of +the shoulders. "And it is just that that I can't explain to you. You see, +Jerry, I've only just begun to realize it myself." + +Jerry was staring at her blankly. + +"Do you mean, that you wish you hadn't come?" he said. + +She nodded, rising suddenly from her chair. + +"Oh, Jerry, don't be vexed, though you've a perfect right. I've made a +ghastly, a perfectly hideous mistake. I--I can't think how I ever came to +do it. But--but I wouldn't mind so frightfully if it weren't for you. +That's what troubles me most--to have made a horrible mess of my life, +and to have dragged you into it." Her voice shook, and she broke off for +a moment, biting her lips. Then: "Oh, Jerry," she wailed, "I've done a +dreadful thing--a dreadful thing! Don't you see it--what he will think of +me--how he will despise me?" + +The last words came muffled through her hands. Her head was bowed against +the chimney-piece. + +Jerry was nonplussed. He rose somewhat awkwardly, and drew near the bowed +figure. + +"But, my dear girl," he said, laying a slightly hesitating hand upon her +shoulder, "what the devil does it matter what he thinks? Surely you +don't--you can't care--care the toss of a half-penny?" + +But here she amazed him still further. + +"I do, Jerry, I do!" she whispered vehemently. "He's horrid--oh, he's +horrid. But I can't help caring. I wanted him to think the very worst +possible of me before I came. But now--but now--Then too, there's you," +she ended irrelevantly. "What could they do to you, Jerry? Could they put +you in prison?" + +"Great Scott, no!" said Jerry. "You needn't cry over me. I always manage +to fall on my feet. And, anyhow, it isn't a hanging matter. I say, cheer +up, Nan, old girl! Don't you think you'd better go to bed? No? Well, let +me play you something cheerful, then. I've never seen you in the dumps +before. And I don't like it. I quite thought this would be one of our +red-letter days. Look up, I say! I believe you're crying." + +Nan was not crying, but such was the concern in his voice that she raised +her head and smiled to reassure him. + +"You're very, very good to me, Jerry," she said earnestly. "And oh, I do +hope I haven't got you into trouble!" + +"Don't you worry your head about me," said Jerry cheerfully. "You're +tired out, you know. You really ought to go to bed. Let's have something +rousing, with a chorus, and then we'll say good-night." + +He took up his banjo again, and dashed without preliminary into the gay +strains of "The Girl I Left Behind Me." + +He sang with a gaiety that even Nan did not imagine to be feigned, and, +lest lack of response should again damp his spirits, she forced herself +to join in the refrain. Faster and faster went Jerry's fingers, faster +and faster ran the song, his voice and Nan's mingling, till at last he +broke off with a shout of laughter, and sprang to his feet. + +"There! That's the end of our soiree, and I'm not going to keep you up a +minute longer. I wonder if we're snowed up yet. We'll have some fun +to-morrow, if we are. I say, look at the time! Good-night! Good-night!" + +He advanced towards her. She was standing facing him, with her back to +the fire. But something--something in her eyes--arrested him, sending his +own glancing backwards over his shoulder. She was looking, not at him, +but beyond him. + +The next instant, with a sharp oath, Jerry had wheeled in his tracks. He, +too, stood facing the door, staring wide-eyed, dumbfounded. + +There, at the head of the stairs, quite motionless, quite silent, facing +them both, stood Piet Cradock. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +Nan was the first to free herself from the nightmare paralysis that bound +her. Swiftly, as though in answer to a sudden inner urging, she moved +forward. She almost pushed past Jerry in her haste. She was white, white +to the lips with fear, but she never faltered till she stood between her +husband and the boy she had chosen to protect her. The first glimpse of +Piet had revealed to her in what mood he had come. In his right hand he +was gripping her father's heaviest hunting-crop. + +He came slowly forward, ignoring her. His eyes were upon Jerry, who +glared back at him like a young panther. He did not appear to be aware +of Nan. + +Suddenly he spoke, briefly, grimly every word clean as a pistol-shot. + +"I suppose you are old enough to know what you are doing?" + +"What do you mean?" demanded Jerry, in fierce response. "What are you +doing here? And how the devil did you get in? This place belongs to me!" + +"I know." Piet's face was contemptuous. He seemed to speak through closed +lips. "That is why I came. I wanted you." + +"What do you want me for?" flashed back Jerry, with clenched hands. "If +you have anything to say, you'd better say it downstairs." + +"I have nothing whatever to say." There was a deep sound in Piet's voice +that was something more than a menace. Abruptly he squared his great +shoulders, and brought the weapon he carried into full view. + +Jerry's eyes blazed at the action. + +"You be damned!" he exclaimed loudly. "I'll fight you with pleasure, but +not before--" + +"You will do nothing of the sort!" thundered Piet, striding forward. +"You will take a horse-whipping from me here and now, and in my wife's +presence. You have behaved like a cur, and she shall see you treated as +such." + +The words were like the bellow of a goaded bull. Another instant, and he +would have been at hand grips with the boy, but in that instant Nan +sprang. With the strength of desperation, she threw herself against him, +caught wildly at his arms, his shoulders, clinging at last with frenzied +fingers to his breast. + +"You shan't do it!" she gasped, struggling with him. "You shan't do it! +If--if you must punish anyone, punish me! Piet, listen to me! Oh listen! +I am to blame for this! You can't--you shan't--hurt him just because he +has stood by me when--when I most wanted a friend. Do you hear me, Piet? +You shan't do it! Beat me, if you like! I deserve it. He doesn't!" + +"I will deal with you afterwards," he said, sweeping her hands from his +coat at a single gesture. + +But she caught at the hand that sought to brush her aside, caught and +held it, clinging so fast to his arm that without actual violence he +could not free himself. + +He stood still, then, his eyes glowering ruddily over her head at Jerry, +who stamped and swore behind her. + +"Anne," he said, and the sternness of his voice was like a blow, "go into +the next room!" + +"I will not!" she gasped back. "I will not!" + +Her face was raised to his. With her left hand she sought and grasped his +right wrist. Her whole body quivered against him, but she stood her +ground. + +"I shall hurt you!" he said between his teeth. + +"I don't care!" she cried back hysterically. "You--you can kill me, if +you like!" + +He turned his eyes suddenly upon her, flaming them straight into hers +mercilessly, scorchingly. She felt as though an electric current had run +through her, so straight, so piercing was his look. But she met it fully, +with wide, unflinching eyes, while her fingers still clutched desperately +at his iron wrists. + +"Nan! Nan! For Heaven's sake go, and leave us to fight it out!" implored +Jerry. "This can't be settled with you here. You are only making things +worse for yourself. You don't suppose I'm afraid of him, do you?" + +She did not so much as hear him. All her physical strength was leaving +her; but still, panting and quivering, she met those fiery, searching +eyes. + +Suddenly she knew that her hold upon him was weaker than a child's. She +made a convulsive effort to renew it, failed, and fell forward against +him with a gasping cry. + +"Piet!" she whispered, in nerveless entreaty. "Piet!" + +He put his arm around her, supporting her; then as he felt her weight +upon him he bent and gathered her bodily into his arms. She sank into +them, more nearly fainting than she had ever been in her life; and, +straightening himself, he turned rigidly, and bore her into the inner +room. + +He laid her upon the bed there, but still with shaking, powerless fingers +she tried to cling to him. + +"Don't leave me! Don't go!" she besought him. + +He took her hands and put them from him. He turned to leave her, but even +then she caught his sleeve. + +"Piet, I--I want to--to tell you something," she managed to say. + +He wheeled round and bent over her. There was something of violence in +his action. + +"Tell me nothing!" he ordered harshly. "Be silent! Anne, do you hear me? +Do you hear me?" + +Under the compulsion of his look and voice she submitted at last. +Trembling she hid her face. + +And in another moment she heard his step as he went out, heard him close +the door and the sharp click of the key as he turned it in the lock. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +For many, many seconds after his departure she lay without breathing, +exactly as he had left her, listening, listening with all the strength +that remained to her for the sounds of conflict. + +But all she heard was Piet's voice pitched so low that she could not +catch a word. Then came Jerry's in sharp, staccato tones. He seemed to be +surprised at something, surprised and indignant. Twice she heard him +fling out an emphatic denial. And, while she still listened with a +panting heart, there came the tread of their feet upon the stairs, +and she knew that they had descended to the lower regions. + +For a long, long while she still crouched there listening, but there came +to her straining ears no hubbub of blows--only the sound of men's voices +talking together in the room below her, with occasional silences between. +Once indeed she fancied that Jerry spoke with passionate vehemence, but +the outburst--if such it were--evoked no response. + +Slowly the minutes dragged away. It was growing very late. What could be +happening? What were they saying to each other? When--when would this +terrible strain of waiting be over? + +Hark! What was that? The tread of feet once more and the sound of an +opening door. Ah, what were they doing? What? What? + +Trembling afresh she raised herself on the bed to listen. There came to +her the sudden throbbing of a motor-engine. He had come in his car, then, +and now he was going, going without another word to her, leaving her +alone with Jerry. The conviction came upon her like a stunning blow, +depriving her for the moment of all reason. She leapt from the bed and +threw herself against the door, battering against it wildly with her +fists. + +She must see him again! She must! She must! She would not be deserted +thus! The bare thought was intolerable to her. Did he hold her so lightly +as this, then--that, having followed her a hundred miles through blinding +snow, he could turn his back upon her and leave her thus? + +That could only mean but one thing, and her blood turned to fire as she +realized it. It meant that he would have no more of her, that he deemed +her unworthy, that--that he intended to set her free! + +But she could not bear it! She would not! She would not! She would +escape. She would force Jerry to let her go. She would follow him +through that dreadful wilderness of snow. She would run in the tracks +of his wheels until she found him. + +And then she would force him--she would force him--to listen to her while +she poured out to him the foolish, the pitiably foolish truth! + +But what if he would not believe her? What then? What then? She had sunk +to her knees before the door, still beating madly upon it, and crying +wildly at the keyhole for Jerry to come and set her free. + +In every pause she heard the buzzing of the engine. It seemed to her to +hold a jeering note. The outer door was open, and an icy draught blew +over her face as she knelt there waiting for Jerry. She broke off again +to listen, and heard the muffled sounds of wheels in the snow. Then came +the note of the hooter, mockingly distinct; and then the hum of the +engine receding from the house. The outer door banged, and the icy +draught suddenly ceased. + +With a loud cry she flung herself once more at the unyielding panels, +bruising hands and shoulders against the senseless wood. + +"Jerry! Jerry!" she cried, and again in anguished accents, "Jerry! Come +to me, quick, oh, quick! Let me out! Let me out!" + +She heard a step upon the stairs. He was coming. + +In a frenzy she beat and shook the door to make him hasten. She was ready +to fly forth like a whirlwind in the wake of the speeding motor. For she +must follow him, she must overtake him; she must--Heaven help her! She +must somehow make him understand! + +Oh, why was Jerry so slow? Every instant was increasing the distance +between her and that buzzing motor. She screamed to him in an agony of +impatience to hurry, to hurry, only to hurry. + +He did not call in answer, but at last, at last, his hand was on the +door. + +She stumbled to her feet as the key grated in the lock, and dragged +fiercely at the handle. It resisted her, for there was another hand upon +it, and with an exclamation of fierce impatience she snatched her own +away. + +"Oh, be quick!" she cried hysterically. "Be quick! He is miles away by +this time. I shall never catch him, and I must, I must!" + +The door opened. She dashed forward. But a man's arm barred her progress, +and with a cry she drew back. The next moment she reeled as she stood, +reeled gasping till she slipped and slid to the floor at his feet. The +man upon the threshold was her husband! + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +In silence he lifted her and laid her again upon the bed. His touch was +perfectly gentle, but there was no kindness in it, no warmth of any sort. +And Nan turned her face into the pillow and sobbed convulsively. How +could she tell him now? + +He began to walk up and down the tiny room, still maintaining that +ominous silence. But she sobbed on, utterly unstrung, utterly hopeless, +utterly spent. + +He paused at last, and poured some water into a glass. + +"Drink this," he said, stopping beside her. "And then lie quiet until I +speak to you." + +But she could neither raise herself nor take the glass. He stooped and +lifted her, holding the water to her trembling lips. She leaned against +him with closed eyes while she drank. She was painfully anxious to avoid +his look. And yet when he laid her down, the sobbing began again, though +she struggled feebly to repress it. + +He fetched a chair at last and sat down beside her, gravely waiting till +her breathing became less distressed. Then, finding her calmer, he +finally spoke: + +"You need not be afraid of me, Anne. I shall not hurt you." + +"I am not afraid," she whispered back. + +He sat silent for a space, not looking at her. At last: + +"Can you attend to me now?" he asked her formally. + +She raised herself slowly. + +"May I say something first?" she said. + +He turned his brooding eyes upon her. + +"If you can say it quietly," he said. + +She pressed her hand to her throat. + +"You--will listen to me, and--and believe me?" + +"I shall know if you lie to me," he said. + +She made a sharp gesture of protest. + +"I don't deserve that," she said. "You know it." + +His grim lips relaxed a very little. + +"I shouldn't talk about deserts if I were you," he said. + +His tone scared her again, but she made a valiant effort to compose +herself. + +"You say that," she said, "because you are very angry with me. I don't +dispute your right to be angry. I know I've made a fool of you. But--but +after all"--her voice began to shake uncontrollably; she forced out the +words with difficulty--"I've made a much bigger fool of myself. I think +you might consider that." + +He did consider it with drawn brows. + +"Does that improve your case?" he asked at length. + +She did not answer him. She was trying hard to read his face, but it told +her nothing. With a swift movement she slipped to her feet and stood +before him. + +"I don't know," she said, speaking fast and passionately, "what you have +in your mind. I don't know what you think of me. But I suppose you mean +to punish me in some way, to--to give me a lesson that will hurt me all +my life. You have me at your mercy, and--and I shall have to bear it, +whatever it is. But before--before you make me hate you, let me say this: +I am your wife. Hadn't you better remember that before you punish me? +I--I shan't hate you so badly so long as I know that you remember that." + +She stopped. She was wringing her hands fast together to subdue her +agitation. + +Piet had risen with her, but she could no longer search his face. She had +said that she did not fear him, but in that moment she was more horribly +afraid than she had ever been in her life. + +She thought that he would never break his silence. Had she angered him +even further by those words of hers, she wondered desperately? And if +so--oh! if so--Suddenly he spoke, and every pulse in her body leaped and +quivered. + +"Since when," he said, "have you begun to remember that?" + +"I have never forgotten it," she said, in a voiceless whisper. + +He took her hands, separated them, held up the left before her eyes. + +"Never?" he said. "Be careful what you say to me." + +She looked up with a flash of the old quick pride. + +"I have spoken the truth," she said. "Why should I be careful?" + +He dropped her hand. + +"What have you done with your wedding-ring?" + +"I--lost it." Nan's voice and eyes sank together. "It was an accident," +she said. "We dropped it in the lake." + +"We?" said Piet. + +She made a little hopeless gesture. + +"Yes, Jerry and I. It's no good telling you how it happened. You won't +believe me if I do." + +He made no comment. Only after a moment he put his hand on her shoulder. + +"Have you anything else to say?" he asked. + +She shook her head without speaking. She was shivering all over. + +"Very well, then," he said. "Come into the other room--you seem cold." + +She went with him submissively. The fire had sunk low, and he replenished +it. The hunting crop that he had brought from her father's house lay on +the table with Jerry's banjo. He picked it up and put it away in a +corner. + +"Sit down," he said. + +She sank upon the sofa, hiding her face. He took up his stand on the rug, +facing her. + +"Now," he said quietly, "do you remember my telling you that you had +married a savage? I see you do. And you are afraid of me in consequence. +I am a savage. I admit it. I hurt you that night. I meant to hurt you. I +meant you to see that I was in earnest. I meant you to realize that you +were my wife. I meant--I still mean--to master you. But I did not mean to +terrify you as you were terrified, as you are terrified now. I made a +mistake, and for that mistake I desire to apologize." + +He stooped and drew one of her hands away from her face. + +"You defied me," he said. "Do you remember? And I am not accustomed to +defiance. Nor will I bear it from anyone--my wife least of all. I am not +threatening you; I am simply showing you what you must learn to expect +from me, from the savage you have married. It is not my intention to +frighten you. I am no longer angry with either you or the young fool whom +you call your friend. By the way, I have not done him any violence. He +has merely gone to find a lodging for himself and for the motor in the +village. Yes, I turned him out of his own house, but I might have done +worse. I meant to do much worse." + +"Yes?" murmured Nan. "Why--why didn't you?" + +"Because," he answered grimly, "I found that I had only fools to deal +with." + +He paused a moment. + +"Well, now for your punishment," he said. "As you remarked just now, +I have you absolutely at my mercy. How much mercy do you expect--or +deserve? Answer me--as my wife." + +But she could not answer him. She only bowed her head speechlessly +against the strong hand that still held hers. + +She could feel his fingers tightening to a grip. And she knew herself +beaten, powerless. + +"Listen to me, Anne!" he said suddenly; and in his voice was something +that she had only heard once before, and that but vaguely. "I am going to +give you a fair chance, in spite of your behaviour to me. I am willing to +believe--I do believe--that, to a certain extent, I drove you to this +course. I also believe that you and your friend Jerry are nothing but a +pair of irresponsible children. I should like to have caned him, but I +had nothing but a loaded horse-whip to do it with, so I was obliged to +let him off. Now listen! I am going downstairs and I shall stay there for +exactly half an hour. If between now and the end of that half-hour you +come to me with any good and sufficient reason for letting you go back +and live apart from me in your father's house, I will let you go. You +have asked me to remember that you are my wife. Precisely what you meant +by that you have left me to guess. You will make that request of yours +quite plain to me within the next half-hour." + +He relinquished his hold with the words, and would have withdrawn his +hand, but she made a sharp movement to stay him. + +"Do you--really--mean that?" she asked him, a catch in her voice, her +head still bent. + +"I have said it," he said. + +But still with nervous fingers she sought to detain him. + +"What--what would you consider a good and sufficient reason?" + +The hand she held clenched slowly upon itself. + +"If you can convince me," he said, his voice very deep and steady, "that +to desert me would be for your happiness, I will let you go for that." + +"But how can I convince you?" she said, her face still hidden from him, +her hands closed tightly upon his wrist. + +"You will be able to do so," he said, "if you know your own mind." + +"And if--if I fail to satisfy you?" she faltered. + +He was silent. After a moment he deliberately freed himself, and turned +away. + +"Those are my terms," he said. "If you do not come to me in half an hour +I shall conclude that you leave the decision in my hands--in short, that +you wish to remain my wife. Think well, Anne, before you take action in +this matter. I do not seek to persuade you to either course. Only let me +warn you that, whatever your choice, I shall treat it as final. You must +realize that fully before you choose." + +He was at the head of the stairs as he ended. Without a pause he began to +descend, and she counted his footsteps with a wildly beating heart till +they ceased in the room below. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +She was alone. In a silence intense she lifted her head at last, and knew +that for half an hour she was safe from interruption. + +Far away over the snow she heard a distant church clock tolling midnight. +It ceased, and in the silence she thought she heard her stretched nerves +cracking one by one. Soon--very soon--she would have to go down to him +and fight the final battle for her freedom. But she would wait till the +very last minute. She would spend the whole of the brief time accorded to +her in mustering all her strength. He had swept her pride utterly out of +her reach. But surely that was not her only weapon. + +What of her hatred--that hatred that had driven her to this mad flight +with Jerry? Surely out of that she could fashion a shield that all his +savagery could not pierce. Moreover, he had given her his word to abide +by her decision whatever it might be, so long as she could convince him +of that same hatred that had once blazed so fiercely within her. + +But what had happened to it, she wondered? It had wholly ceased to nerve +her for resistance. How was it? Was she too physically exhausted to fan +it into flame, or had he torn this also from her to wither underfoot with +her dead pride? Surely not! With all his boasts of mastery, he had not +mastered her yet. She would never submit to him--never, never! Crush her, +trample her as he would, she would never yield herself voluntarily to +him. It was only when he began to spare her that she found herself +wavering. Why had he spared her? she asked herself. Why had he given her +that single chance of escape? + +Or, stay! Had he, after all, been generous? Had he but affected +generosity that he might the more completely subjugate her? He had said +that she must convince him that freedom from her chain would mean +happiness to her. And how could she ever convince him of this? How? +How? Would he ever see himself as she saw him--a monster of violence +whose very presence appalled her? The problem was hopeless, hopeless! She +knew that she could never make him understand. + +Swiftly the time passed, and with every minute her resolution grew +weaker, her agitation more uncontrollable. She could not do it. She could +not face him with another challenge. It would kill her to resist him +again as she had resisted him on Jerry's behalf. And yet she must do +something. For, if she did not go to him, he would come to her. The +half-hour he had given her was nearly spent. If she did not make up her +mind soon it would be too late. It might be that already he was repenting +his brief generosity, if generosity it had been. It might be that at any +moment she would hear his tread upon the stairs. + +She started up in a panic, fancying that she heard it already. But no +sound followed her wild alarm, and she knew that her quivering nerves +had tricked her. Shuddering from head to foot, she stood listening, +debating with herself. + +Her time was very short now; only three minutes to the half-hour--only +two--only one! + +With a gasp, she gathered together all the little strength she had left. +But she could not descend those gloomy stairs. She dared not go to him. +She stood halting at the top. + +Ah, now he was moving! She heard his step in the room below, and she was +conscious of an instant's wild relief that the suspense was past. + +Then panic rushed back upon her, blotting out all else. She saw his +shadow on the stairs, and she cried to him to stop. + +"I am coming down to you! Wait for me! Wait!" + +He stepped back, and she stumbled downwards, nearly falling in her haste. +At the last stair she tripped, recovering herself only by the arm he +flung out to catch her. + +"I was coming!" she gasped incoherently. "I would have come before, but +the stairs were dark--so dark, and I was frightened!" + +"There is nothing to frighten you," he said gravely. + +"I can't help it!" she wailed like a child. "Oh, Piet--Piet, be kind to +me--just this once--if you can! I--I'm terrified!" + +He put his arm round her. + +"Why?" he said. + +She could not tell him. But in a vague fashion his arm comforted her; and +that also was beyond explanation. + +"You are not angry?" she whispered. + +"No," he said. + +"You will be," she said, shivering, "when I have told you my decision." + +"What is your decision?" he asked. + +She did not answer him; she could not. + +He moved, and very gently set her free. There was a chair by the table +from which he had evidently just risen. He turned to it and sat down, +watching her under his hand. + +"What is your decision?" he asked again. + +She shook her head. Her agony of fear was passing, but still she could +not tell him yet. + +He waited silently, his face so shaded by his hand that she could not +read its expression. + +"Why don't you answer me?" he said at last. + +"I--can't!" she said, with a sob. + +"You leave the decision to me?" he questioned. + +She did not answer. + +He straightened himself slowly, without rising. + +"My decision is made," he said. "Give me your hand; not that one--the +left." + +She obeyed him trembling. He had taken something from his pocket. With a +start she saw what it was. + +"Oh, no, Piet--no!" she cried. + +But he had his way, for he would not suffer her resistance to thwart him. +Very gravely and resolutely he slipped a gold ring on to her finger. + +"And you will give me your word to keep it there," he said, looking up at +her. + +Her lips were quivering; she could not speak. + +"Never mind," he said; "I can trust you." + +He released her hand with the words, and there followed a brief silence +while Nan stood struggling vainly for self-control. + +Failing at length, she sank suddenly down upon her knees at the table +hiding her face and crying as if her heart would break. + +"My dear Anne!" he said. And then in a different tone, his hand upon her +bowed head: "What is it child? Don't cry, don't cry! Is it so hard for +you to be my wife?" + +She could not answer him. His kindness was so strange to her. She could +only sob under that gentle, comforting hand. + +"Hush!" he said. "Hush! Don't be so distressed. Anne, listen! I will +never be a savage to you again. I swear it on my honour, on my faith in +you, and on the love I have for you. What more can I do?" + +Still she could not answer him, but her tears were ceasing. Yielding to +the pressure of his hand, she had drawn nearer to him. But she did not +raise her head. + +After a long, quivering silence she spoke. + +"Piet, I--I want you to--forgive me; not just for this, but for--a +thousand things. Piet, I--I didn't know you really loved me." + +"I have always loved you, Anne," he said, in his deep, slow voice. + +"And you--forgive me," she said faintly. + +"I have forgiven you," he answered gravely. + +She made a slight, shy movement, and he took his hand from her head. But +in an instant impulsively she caught at it, drawing it down against her +burning face. + +"And you are not angry with me any more?" she murmured. + +"No," he said again. + +She was silent for a space, not moving, still tightly holding his hand. + +He could not see her face, nor did he seek to do so. Perhaps he feared to +scare away her new-found courage. + +At length, in a very small voice, she broke the silence. + +"Piet!" + +He leaned forward. + +"What is it, Anne?" + +He could feel her breath quick and short upon his hand. She seemed to be +making a supreme effort. + +"Piet!" she said again. + +"I am listening," he responded, with absolute patience. + +She turned one cheek slightly towards him. + +"If I loved anybody," she said, rather incoherently, "I--I'd find some +way of letting them know it." + +He leaned his head once more upon his hand. + +"I am a rough beast, Anne," he said sadly. "My love-making only hurts +you." + +Nan was silent again for a little, but she still held fast to his hand. + +"Were you," she asked hesitatingly at length, "were you--making love to +me--that night?" + +"After my own savage fashion," he said. + +"Well," she said, a slight quiver in her voice, "it didn't hurt me, +Piet." + +Piet was silent. + +"I mean," she said, gathering courage, "if--if I had known that it meant +just that, I--well, I shouldn't have minded so much." + +Still Piet was silent. His hand shaded his eyes, but she knew that he was +watching her. + +"Do you understand?" she asked him doubtfully. + +"No," he said. + +"Don't you--don't you know what I want you to do?" she said, rather +Breathlessly. + +"No," he said again. + +"Must I--tell you?" she asked, with a gasp. + +"I think you must," he said, in his grave way. + +She lifted her head abruptly. Her eyes were very big and shining. She +stretched her hands out to him with a little, quivering laugh. + +"I hate you for making me say it!" she declared, with a vehemence half +passionate, half whimsical. "Piet, I--I want you--to--to--take me in your +arms again, and--and--kiss me--as you did--that night." + +The last words were uttered from his breast, though she never knew how +she came to be there. It was as though a whirlwind had caught her away +from the earth into a sunlit paradise that was all her own--a paradise in +which fear had no place. And the chain against which she had chafed so +long and bitterly had turned to links of purest gold. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + The Consolation Prize + + + + +"So you don't want to marry me?" said Earl Wyverton. + +He said it by no means bitterly. There was even the suggestion of a smile +on his clean-shaven face. He looked down at the girl who stood before +him, with eyes that were faintly quizzical. She was bending at the moment +to cut a tall Madonna lily from a sheaf that grew close to the path. At +his quiet words she started and the flower fell. + +He stooped and picked it up, considered it for a moment, then slipped it +into the basket that was slung on her arm. + +"Don't be agitated," he said, gently. "You needn't take me +seriously--unless you wish." + +She turned a face of piteous entreaty towards him. She was trembling +uncontrollably. "Oh, please, Lord Wyverton," she said, earnestly, +"please, don't ask me! Don't ask me! I--I felt so sure you wouldn't." + +"Did you?" he said. "Why?" + +He looked at her with grave interest. He was a straight, well-made man; +but his kindest friends could not have called him anything but ugly, and +there were a good many who thought him formidable also. Nevertheless, +there was that about him--an honesty and a strength--which made up to a +very large extent for his lack of other attractions. + +"Tell me why," he said. + +"Oh, because you are so far above me," the girl said, with an effort. +"You must remember that. You can't help it. I have always known that you +were not in earnest." + +"Have you?" said Lord Wyverton, smiling a little. "Have you? You seem to +have rather a high opinion of me, Miss Neville." + +She turned back to her flowers. "There are certain things," she said, in +a low voice, "that one can't help knowing." + +"And one of them is that Lord Wyverton is too fond of larking to be +considered seriously at any time?" he questioned. + +She did not answer. He stood and watched her speculatively. + +"And so you won't have anything to say to me?" he said at last. "In fact, +you don't like me?" + +She glanced at him with grey eyes that seemed to plead for mercy. "Yes, +I like you," she said, slowly. "But--" + +"Never mind the 'but,'" said Wyverton, quietly. "Will you marry me?" + +She turned fully round again and faced him. He saw that she was very +pale. + +"Do you mean it?" she said. "Do you?" + +He frowned at her, though his eyes remained quizzical and kindly. "Don't +be frightened," he said. "Yes; I am actually in earnest. I want you." + +She stiffened at the words and grew paler still; but she said nothing. + +It was Wyverton who broke the silence. There was something about her that +made him uneasy. + +"You can send me away at once," he said, "if you don't want me. You +needn't mind my feelings, you know." + +"Send you away!" she said. "I!" + +He gave her a sudden, keen look, and held out his hand to her. "Never +mind the rest of the world, Phyllis," he said, very gravely. "Let them +say what they like, dear. If we want each other, there is no power on +earth that can divide us." + +She drew in her breath sharply as she laid her hand in his. + +"And now," he said, "give me your answer. Will you marry me?" + +He felt her hand move convulsively in his own. She was trembling still. + +He bent towards her, gently drawing her. "It is 'Yes,' Phyllis," he +whispered. "It must be 'Yes.'" + +And after a moment, falteringly, through white lips, she answered him. + +"It is--'Yes.'" + + * * * * * + +"And you accepted him! Oh, Phyllis!" + +The younger sister looked at her with eyes of wide astonishment, almost +of reproach. They were two of a family of ten; a country clergyman's +family that had for its support something under three hundred pounds a +year. Phyllis, the eldest girl, worked for her living as a private +secretary and had only lately returned home for a brief holiday. + +Lord Wyverton, who had seen her once or twice in town, had actually +followed her thither to pursue his courtship. She had not believed +herself to be the attraction. She had persistently refused to believe him +to be in earnest until that afternoon, when the unbelievable thing had +actually happened and he had definitely asked her to be his wife. Even +then, sitting alone with her sister in the bedroom they shared, she could +scarcely bring herself to realize what had happened to her. + +"Yes," she said; "I accepted him of course--of course. My dear Molly, how +could I refuse?" + +Molly made no reply, but her silence was somehow tragic. + +"Think of mother," the elder girl went on, "and the children. How could I +possibly refuse--even if I wanted?" + +"Yes," said Molly; "I see. But I quite thought you were in love with Jim +Freeman." + +In the silence that followed this blunt speech she turned to look +searchingly at her sister. Molly was just twenty, and she did the entire +work of the household with sturdy goodwill. She possessed beauty that was +unusual. They were a good-looking family, and she was the fairest of them +all. Her eyes were dark and very shrewd, under their straight black +brows; her face was delicate in colouring and outline; her hair was +red-gold and abundant. Moreover, she was clever in a strictly practical +sense. She enjoyed life in spite of straitened circumstances. And she +possessed a serenity of temperament that no amount of adversity ever +seemed to ruffle. + +Having obtained the desired glimpse of her sister's face, she returned +without comment to the very worn stocking that she was repairing. + +"I had a talk with Jim Freeman the other day," she said. "He was driving +the old doctor's dog-cart and going to see a patient. He offered me a +lift." + +"Oh!" Phyllis's tone was carefully devoid of interest. She also took up a +stocking from the pile at her sister's elbow and began to work. + +"I asked him how he was getting on," Molly continued. "He said that Dr. +Finsbury was awfully good to him, and treated him almost like a son. He +asked very particularly after you; and when I told him you were coming +home he said that he should try and manage to come over and see you. But +he is evidently beginning to be rather important, and he can't get away +very easily. He asked a good many questions about you, and wanted to know +if I thought you were happy and well." + +"I see." Again the absence of interest in Phyllis's tone was so marked as +to be almost unnatural. + +Molly dismissed the subject with a far better executed air of +indifference. + +"And you are really going to marry Earl Wyverton," she said. "How nice, +Phyl! Did he make love to you?" + +There was a distinct pause before Phyllis replied. "No. There was no +need." + +"He didn't!" ejaculated Molly. + +"I didn't encourage him to," Phyllis confessed. "He went away directly +after. He said he should come to-morrow and see dad." + +"I suppose he's frightfully rich?" said Molly, reflectively. + +"Enormously, I believe." A deep red flush rose in Phyllis's face. She had +begun to tremble again in spite of herself. Molly suddenly dropped her +work and leaned forward. + +"Phyl, Phyl," she said, softly; "shall I tell you what Jim Freeman said +to me that day? He said that very soon he should be able to support a +wife--and I knew quite well what he meant. I told him I was glad--so +glad. Oh, Phyl, darling, when he comes and asks you to go to him, what +will you say?" + +Phyllis looked up with quick protest on her lips. She wrung her hands +together with a despairing gesture. + +"Molly, Molly," she gasped, "don't torture me! How can I help it? How can +I help it? I shall have to send him away." + +"Oh, poor darling!" Molly said. "Poor, poor darling!" + +And she gathered her sister into her arms, pressing her close to her +heart with a passionate fondness of which only a few knew her to be +capable. There was only a year between them, and Molly had always been +the leading spirit, protector and comforter by turns. + +Even as she soothed and hushed Phyllis into calmness her quick brain was +at work upon the situation. There must be a way of escape somewhere. Of +that she was convinced. There always was a way of escape. But for the +time at least it baffled her. Her own acquaintance with Wyverton was very +slight. She wished ardently that she knew what manner of man he was at +heart. + +Upon one point at least she was firmly determined. This monstrous +sacrifice must not take place, even were it to ensure the whole family +welfare. The life they lived was desperately difficult, but Phyllis must +not be allowed to ruin her own life's happiness and another's also to +ease the burden. + +But what a pity it seemed! What a pity! Why in wonder was Fate so +perverse? Molly thought. Such a brilliant chance offered to herself +would have turned the whole world into a gilded dreamland. For she was +wholly heart-free. + +The idea was a fascinating one. It held her fancy strongly. She began to +wonder if he cared very deeply for her sister, or if mere looks had +attracted him. + +She had good looks too, she reflected. And she was quick to learn, +adaptable. The thought rushed through her mind like a meteor through +space. He might be willing. He might be kind. He had a look about his +eyes--a quizzical look--that certainly suggested possibilities. But dare +she put it to the test? Dare she actually interfere in the matter? + +For the first time in all her vigorous young life Molly found her courage +at so low an ebb that she was by no means sure that she could rely upon +it to carry her through. + +She spent the rest of that day in trying to screw herself up to what she +privately termed "the necessary pitch of impudence." + + * * * * * + +At nine o'clock on the following morning Lord Wyverton, sitting at +breakfast alone in the little coffee-room of the Red Lion, heard a voice +he recognized speak his name in the passage outside. + +"Lord Wyverton," it said, "is he down?" + +Lord Wyverton rose and went to the door. He met the landlady just +entering with a basket of eggs in her hand. She dropped him a curtsy. + +"It's Miss Molly from the Vicarage, my lord," she said. + +Molly herself stood in the background. Behind the landlady's broad back +she also executed a village bob. + +"I had to come with the eggs. We supply Mrs. Richards with eggs. And it +seemed unneighbourly to go away without seeing your lordship," she said. + +She looked at him with wonderful dark eyes that met his own with +unreserved directness. He told himself as he shook hands that this girl +was a great beauty and would be a magnificent woman some day. + +"I am pleased to see you," he said, with quiet courtesy. "It was kind of +you to look me up. Will you come into the garden?" + +"I haven't much time to spare," said Molly. "It's my cake morning. You +are coming round to the Vicarage, aren't you? Can't we walk together?" + +"Certainly," he replied at once, "if you think I shall not be too early a +visitor." + +Molly's lips parted in a little smile. "We begin our day at six," she +said. + +"What energy!" he commented. "I am only energetic when I am on a +holiday." + +"You're on business now, then?" queried Molly. + +He looked at her keenly as they passed out upon the sunlit road. "I think +you know what my business is," he said. + +She did not respond. "I'll take you through the fields," she said. "It's +a short cut. Don't you want to smoke?" + +There was something in her manner that struck him as not altogether +natural. He pondered over it as he lighted a cigarette. + +"They are cutting the grass in the church fields," said Molly. "Don't you +hear?" + +Through the slumberous summer air came the whir of the machine. It was +June. + +"It's the laziest sound on earth," said Wyverton. + +Molly turned off the road to a stile. "You ought to take a holiday," she +said, as she mounted it. + +He vaulted the railing beside it and gave her his hand. "I'm not +altogether a drone, Miss Neville," he said. + +Molly seated herself on the top bar and surveyed him. "Of course not," +she said. "You are here on business, aren't you?" + +Wyverton's extended hand fell to his side. "Now what is it you want to +say to me?" he asked her, quietly. + +Molly's hands were clasped in her lap. They did not tremble, but they +gripped one another rather tightly. + +"I want to say a good many things," she said, after a moment. + +Lord Wyverton smiled suddenly. He had meeting brows, but his smile was +reassuring. + +"Yes?" he said. "About your sister?" + +"Partly," said Molly. She put up an impatient hand and removed her hat. +Her hair shone gloriously in the sunlight that fell chequered through the +overarching trees. + +"I want to talk to you seriously, Lord Wyverton," she said. + +"I am quite serious," he assured her. + +There followed a brief silence. Molly's eyes travelled beyond him and +rested upon the plodding horses in the hay-field. + +"I have heard," she said at length, "that men and women in your position +don't always marry for love." + +Wyverton's brows drew together into a single, hard, uncompromising line. +"I suppose there are such people to be found in every class," he said. + +Molly's eyes returned from the hay-field and met his look steadily. "I +like you best when you don't frown," she said. "I am not trying to insult +you." + +His brows relaxed, but he did not smile. "I am sure of that," he said, +courteously. "Please continue." + +Molly leaned slightly forward. "I think one should be honest at all +times," she said, "at whatever cost. Lord Wyverton, Phyllis isn't in +love with you at all. She cares for Jim Freeman, the doctor's +assistant--an awfully nice boy; and he cares for her. But, you see, you +are rich, and we are so frightfully poor; and mother is often ill, +chiefly because there isn't enough to provide her with what she needs. +And so Phyllis felt it would be almost wicked to refuse your offer. +Perhaps you won't understand, but I hope you will try. If it weren't for +Jim, I would never have told you. As it is--I have been wondering--" + +She broke off abruptly and suddenly covered her face with her two hands +in a stillness so tense that the man beside her marvelled. + +He moved close to her. He was rather pale, but by no means discomposed. + +"Yes?" he said. "Go on, please. I want you to finish." + +There was authority in his voice, but Molly sat in unbroken silence. + +He waited for several moments, then laid a perfectly steady hand on her +knee. + +"You have been wondering--" he said. + +She did not raise her head. As if under compulsion, she answered him with +her face still hidden. + +"I have dared to wonder if--perhaps--you would take me--instead. I--am +not in love with anybody else, and I never would be. If you are in love +with Phyllis, I won't go on. But if it is just beauty you care for, I am +no worse-looking than she is. And I should do my best to please you." + +The low voice sank. Molly's habitual self-possession had wholly deserted +her at this critical moment. She was painfully conscious of the quiet +hand on her knee. It seemed to press upon her with a weight that was +almost intolerable. + +The silence that followed was terrible to her. She wondered afterwards +how she sat through it. + +Then at last he moved and took her by the wrists. "Will you look at me?" +he said. + +His voice sent a quiver through her. She had never felt so desperately +scared and ashamed in all her healthy young life. Yet she yielded to the +insistence of his touch and tone, and met the searching scrutiny of his +eyes with all her courage. He was not angry, she saw; nor was he +contemptuous. More than that she could not read. She lowered her eyes +and waited. Her pulses throbbed wildly, but still she kept herself from +trembling. + +"Is this a definite offer?" he asked at last. + +"Yes," she answered. Her voice was very low, but it was steady. + +He waited a second, and she felt the mastery of the eyes she could not +meet. + +"Forgive me," he said, then; "but are you actually in earnest?" + +"Yes," she said again, and marvelled at her own daring. + +His hold tightened upon her wrists. "You are a very brave girl," he said. + +There was a baffling note in his tone, and she glanced up involuntarily. +To her intense relief she saw the quizzical, kindly look in his eyes +again. + +"Will you allow me to say," he said, "that I don't think you were created +for a consolation prize?" + +He spoke somewhat grimly, but his tone was not without humour. Molly sat +quite still in his hold. She had a feeling that she had grossly insulted +him, that she had made it his right to treat her exactly as he chose. + +After a moment he set her quietly free. + +"I see you are serious," he said. "If you weren't--it would be +intolerable. But do you actually expect me to take you at your word?" + +She did not hesitate. "I wish you to," she said. + +"You think you would be happy with me?" he pursued. "You know, I am +called eccentric by a good many." + +"You are eccentric," said Molly, "or you wouldn't dream of marrying one +of us. As to being happy, it isn't my nature to be miserable. I don't +want to be a countess, but I do want to help my people. That in itself +would make me happy." + +"Thank you for telling me the truth," Wyverton said, gravely. "I believe +I have suspected some of it from the first. And now listen. I asked your +sister to marry me--because I wanted her. But I will spoil no woman's +life. I will take nothing that does not belong to me. I shall set her +free." + +He paused. Molly was looking at him expectantly. His face softened a +little under her eyes. + +"As for you," he said, "I don't think you quite realize what you have +offered me--how much of yourself. It is no little thing, Molly. It is all +you have. A woman should not part with that lightly. Still, since you +have offered it to me, I cannot and do not throw it aside. If you are of +the same mind in six months from now, I shall take you at your word. But +you ought to marry for love, child--you ought to marry for love." + +He held out his hand to her abruptly, and Molly, with a burning face, +gave him both her own. + +"I can't think how I did it," she said, in a low voice. "But I--I am not +sorry." + +"Thank you," said Lord Wyverton, and he stooped with an odd little smile, +and kissed first one and then the other of the hands he held. + + * * * * * + +No one, save Phyllis, knew of the contract made on that golden morning in +June on the edge of the flowering meadows; and even to Phyllis only the +bare outlines of the interview were vouchsafed. + +That she was free, and that Lord Wyverton felt no bitterness over his +disappointment, he himself assured her. He uttered no word of reproach. +He did not so much as hint that she had given him cause for complaint. He +was absolutely composed, even friendly. + +He barely mentioned her sister's interference in the matter, and he +said nothing whatsoever as to her singular method of dealing with the +situation. It was Molly who briefly imparted this action of hers, and +her manner of so doing did not invite criticism. + +Thereafter she went back to her multitudinous duties without an apparent +second thought, shouldering her burden with her usual serenity; and no +one imagined for a moment what tumultuous hopes and doubts underlay her +calm exterior. + +Lord Wyverton left the place, and the general aspect of things returned +to their usual placidity. + +The announcement of the engagement of the vicar's eldest daughter to Jim +Freeman, the doctor's assistant in the neighbouring town, created a small +stir among the gossips. It was generally felt that, good fellow as young +Freeman undoubtedly was, pretty Phyllis Neville might have done far +better for herself. A rumour even found credence in some quarters that +she had actually refused the wealthy aristocrat for Jim Freeman's sake, +but there were not many who held this belief. It implied a foolishness +too sublime. + +Discussion died down after Phyllis's return to her work. It was +understood that her marriage was to take place in the winter. Molly's +hands were, in consequence, very full, and she had obviously no time to +talk of her sister's choice. There was only one visitor who ever called +at the Vicarage in anything approaching to state. Her visits usually +occurred about twice a year, and possessed something of the nature of a +Royal favour. This was Lady Caryl, the Lady of the Manor, in whose gift +the living lay. + +This lady had always shown a marked preference for the vicar's second +daughter. + +"Mary Neville," she would remark to her friends, "is severely handicapped +by circumstance, but she will make her mark in spite of it. Her beauty is +extraordinary, and I cannot believe that Providence has destined her for +a farmer's wife." + +It was on a foggy afternoon at the end of November that Lady Caryl's +carriage turned in at the Vicarage gates for the second state call of the +year. + +Molly received the visitor alone. Her mother was upstairs with a +bronchial attack. + +Lady Caryl, handsome, elderly, and aristocratic, entered the shabby +drawing-room with her most gracious air. She sat and talked for a while +upon various casual subjects. Molly poured out the tea and responded with +her usual cheery directness. Lady Caryl did not awe her. Her father was +wont to remark that Molly was impudent as a robin and brave as a lion. + +After a slight pause in the conversation Lady Caryl turned from parish +affairs with an abruptness somewhat characteristic of her, but by no +means impetuous. + +"Did you ever chance to meet Earl Wyverton, my dear Mary?" she inquired. +"He spent a few days here in the summer." + +"Yes," said Molly. "He came to see us several times." + +The beautiful colour rose slightly as she replied, but she looked +straight at her questioner with a directness almost boyish. + +"Ah!" said Lady Caryl. "I was away from the Manor at the time, or I +should have asked him to stay there. I have always liked him." + +"We like him too," said Molly, simply. + +"He is a gentleman," rejoined Lady Caryl, with emphasis. "And that makes +his misfortune the more regrettable." + +"Misfortune!" echoed Molly. + +She started a little as she uttered the word--so little that none but a +very keen observer would have noticed it. + +"Ah!" said Lady Caryl. "You have not heard, I see. I suppose you would +not hear. But it has been the talk of the town. They say he has lost +practically every penny he possessed over some gigantic American +speculation, and that to keep his head above water he will have to sell +or let every inch of land he owns. It is particularly to be regretted, as +he has always taken his responsibilities seriously. Indeed, there are +many who regard his principles as eccentrically fastidious. I am not of +the number, my dear Mary. Like you, I have a high esteem for him, and he +has my most heartfelt sympathy." + +She ceased to speak, and there was a little pause. + +"How dreadful!" Molly said then. "It must be far worse to lose a lot of +money than to be poor from the beginning." + +The flush had quite passed from her face. She even looked slightly pale. + +Lady Caryl laid down her cup and rose. "That would be so, no doubt," she +said. "I think I shall try to persuade him to come to us at the end of +the year. And your sister is to be married in January? It will be quite +an event for you all. I am sure you are very busy--even more so than +usual, my dear Mary." + +She made her stately adieu and swept away. + +After her departure Molly bore the teacups to the kitchen and washed them +with less than her usual cheery rapidity. And when the day's work was +done she sat for a long while in her icy bedroom, with the moonlight +flooding all about her, thinking, thinking deeply. + + * * * * * + +It was the eve of Phyllis's wedding-day, and Molly was hard at work in +the kitchen. The children were all at home, but she had resolutely +turned every one out of this, her own particular domain, that she might +complete her gigantic task of preparation undisturbed. The whole +household were in a state of seething excitement. There were guests in +the house as well, and every room but the kitchen seemed crowded to its +utmost capacity. Molly was busier than she had ever been in her life, and +the whirl of work had nearly swept away even her serenity. She was very +tired, too, though she was scarcely conscious of it. Her hands went from +one task to another with almost mechanical skill. + +She was bending over the stove, stirring a delicacy that required her +minute attention when there came a knock on the kitchen door. + +She did not even turn her head as she responded to it. "Go away!" she +called. "I can't talk to anyone." + +There was a pause--a speculative pause--during which Molly bent lower +over her saucepan and concluded that the intruder had departed. + +Then she became suddenly aware that the door had opened quietly and +someone had entered. She could not turn her head at the moment. + +"Oh, do go away!" she said. "I haven't a second to spare; and if this +goes wrong I shall be hours longer." + +The kitchen door closed promptly and obligingly, and Molly, with a little +sigh of relief, concentrated her full attention once more upon the matter +in hand. + +The last critical phase of the operation arrived, and she lifted the +saucepan from the fire and turned round with it to the table. + +In that instant she saw that which so disturbed her equanimity that she +nearly dropped saucepan and contents upon the kitchen floor. + +Earl Wyverton was standing with his back against the door, watching her +with eyes that shone quizzically under the meeting brows. + +He came forward instantly, and actually took the saucepan out of her +hands. + +"Let me," he said. + +Molly let him, being for the moment powerless to do otherwise. + +"Now," he said, "what does one do--pour it into this glass thing? I see. +Don't watch me, please; I'm nervous." + +Molly uttered a curious little laugh that was not wholly steady. + +"How did you come here?" she said. + +He did not answer her till he had safely accomplished what he had +undertaken. Then he set down the saucepan and looked at her. + +"I am staying with Lady Caryl," he told her gravely. "I arrived this +afternoon. And I have come here to present a humble offering to your +sister, and to make a suggestion equally humble to you. I arrived here in +this room by means of a process called bribery and corruption. But if you +are too busy to listen to me, I will wait." + +"I can listen," Molly said. + +He had not even shaken hands with her, and she felt strangely uncertain +of herself. She was even conscious of a childish desire to run away. + +He took her at her word at once. "Thank you," he said. "Now, do you +remember a certain conversation that took place between us six months +ago?" + +"I remember," she said. + +An odd sense of powerlessness had taken possession of her, and she knew +it had become visible to him, for she saw his face alter. + +"I know I'm ugly," he said, abruptly; "but I'm not frowning, believe me." + +She understood the allusion and laughed rather faintly. "I'm not afraid +of you, Lord Wyverton," she said. + +He smiled at her. "Thank you," he said. "That's kind. I'm coming to the +point. There are just two questions I have to ask you, and I've done. +First, have they told you that I'm a ruined man?" + +Molly's face became troubled. "Yes," she said. "Lady Caryl told me. I was +very sorry--for you." + +She uttered the last two words with a conscious effort. He was mastering +her in some subtle fashion, drawing her by some means irresistible. She +felt almost as if some occult force were at work upon her. He did not +thank her for her sympathy. Without comment he passed on to his second +question. + +"And are you still disposed to be generous?" he asked her, with a +directness that surpassed her own. "Is your offer--that splendid offer of +yours--still open? Or have you changed your mind? You mustn't pity me +overmuch. I have enough to live on--enough for two"--he smiled again that +pleasant, sudden smile of his--"if you will do the cooking and polish the +front-door knob." + +"What will you do?" demanded Molly, with a new-found independence of tone +that his light manner made possible. + +"I shall clean the boots," he answered, promptly, "or swab the floors, +or, it may be"--he bent slightly towards her, and she saw a new light in +his eyes as he ended--"it may be, stand by my wife to lift the saucepan +off the fire, or do all her other little jobs when she is tired." + +Again, and more strongly, she felt that he was drawing her, and she knew +that she was going--going into deep waters in which his hand alone could +hold her up. She stood before him silently. Her heart was beating very +fast. The surging of the deep sea was in her ears. It almost frightened +her, though she knew she had no cause to fear. + +And then, suddenly, his hands were upon her shoulders and his eyes were +closely searching her face. + +"I offer you myself, Molly," he said, and there was ringing passion in +his voice, though he controlled it. "I loved you from the moment you +offered to marry me. Is not that enough?" + +Yes; it was enough. The mastery of it rolled in upon her in a full +flood-tide that no power of reasoning could withstand. She drew one long, +gasping breath--and yielded. The splendour of that moment was greater +than anything she had ever known. Its intensity was almost too vivid +to be borne. + +She stretched up her arms to him with a little sob of pure and glad +surrender. There was no hiding what was in her heart. She revealed it to +him without words, but fully, gloriously, convincingly, as she yielded +her lips to his. And she forgot that she had desired to marry him for his +money. She forgot that the family clothes were threadbare and the family +cares almost impossible to cope with. She knew only that better thing +which is greater than poverty or pain or death itself. And, knowing it, +she possessed more than the whole world, and found it enough. + +Late that night, when at last Molly lay down to rest with the morrow's +bride by her side, there came the final revelation of that amazing day. +Neither she nor Wyverton had spoken a word to any of that which was +between them. It was not their hour; or, rather, the time had not arrived +for others to share in it. + +But as the two girls clasped one another on that last night of +companionship Phyllis presently spoke his name. + +"I actually haven't told you what Lord Wyverton did, Moll," she said. +"You would never guess. It was so unexpected, so overwhelming. You know +he came to tea. You were busy and didn't see him. Jim was there, too. He +came straight up to me and said the kindest things to us both. We were +standing away from the rest. And he put an envelope into my hand and +asked me, with his funny smile, to accept it for an old friend's sake. He +disappeared mysteriously directly after. And--and--Molly, it was a cheque +for a thousand pounds." + +"Good gracious!" said Molly, sharply. + +"Wasn't it simply amazing?" Phyllis continued. "It nearly took my breath +away. And then Lady Caryl arrived, and I showed it to her. And she said +that the story of his ruin was false, that she thought he himself had +invented it for a special reason that had ceased to exist. And she said +that she thought he was richer now than he had ever been before. Why, +Molly, Molly--what has happened? What is it?" + +Molly had suddenly sprung upright in bed. The moonlight was shining on +her beautiful face, and she was smiling tremulously, while her eyes +were wet with tears. + +She reached out both her arms with a gesture that was full of an infinite +tenderness. + +"Yes," she said, "yes, I see." And her glad voice rang and quivered on +that note which Love alone can strike. "It's true, darling. It's true. +He is richer now than he ever was before, and I--I have found endless +riches too. For I love him--I love him--I love him! And--he knows it!" + +"Molly!" exclaimed her sister in amazement. + +Molly did not turn. She was staring into the moonlight with eyes that +saw. + +"And nothing else counts in all the world," she said. "He knows that too, +as we all know it--we all know it--at the bottom of our hearts." + +And with that she laughed--the soft, sweet laugh of Love triumphant--and +lay back again by her sister's side. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + Her Freedom + + + + +"We have been requested to announce that the marriage arranged between +Viscount Merrivale and Miss Hilary St. Orme will not take place." + +Viscount Merrivale was eating his breakfast when he chanced upon this +announcement. He was late that morning, and, contrary to custom, was +skimming through the paper at the same time. But the paragraph brought +both occupations to an abrupt standstill. He stared at the sheet for a +few moments as if he thought it was bewitched. His brown face reddened, +and he looked as if he were about to say something. Then he pushed the +paper aside with a contemptuous movement and drank his coffee. + +His servant, appearing in answer to the bell a few minutes later, looked +at him with furtive curiosity. He had already seen the announcement, +being in the habit of studying society items before placing the paper +on the breakfast-table. But Merrivale's clean-shaven face was free from +perturbation, and the man was puzzled. + +"Reynolds," Merrivale said, "I shall go out of town this afternoon. Have +the motor ready at four!" + +"Very good, my lord." Reynolds glanced at the table and noted with some +satisfaction that his master had only eaten one egg. + +"Yes, I have finished," Merrivale said, taking up the paper. "If Mr. +Culver calls, ask him to be good enough to wait for me. And--that's all," +he ended abruptly as he reached the door. + +"As cool as a cucumber!" murmured Reynolds, as he began to clear the +table. "I shouldn't wonder but what he stuck the notice in hisself." + +Merrivale, still with the morning paper in his hand, strolled easily down +to his club and collected a few letters. He then sauntered into the +smoking-room, where a knot of men, busily conversing in undertones, gave +him awkward greeting. + +Merrivale lighted a cigar and sat down deliberately to study his paper. + +Nearly an hour later he rose, nodded to several members, who glanced up +at him expectantly, and serenely took his departure. + +A general buzz of discussion followed. + +"He doesn't look exactly heart-broken," one man observed. + +"Hearts grow tough in the West," remarked another. "He has probably done +the breaking-off himself. Jack Merrivale, late of California, isn't the +sort of chap to stand much trifling." + +A young man with quizzical eyes broke in with a laugh. + +"Ask Mr. Cosmo Fletcher! He is really well up on that subject." + +"Also Mr. Richard Culver, apparently," returned the first speaker. + +Culver grinned and bowed. + +"Certainly, sir," he said. "But--luckily for himself--he has never +qualified for a leathering from Jack Merrivale, late of California. I +don't believe myself that he did do the breaking-off. As they haven't met +more than a dozen times, it can't have gone very deep with him. And, +anyhow, I am certain the girl never cared twopence for anything except +his title, the imp. She's my cousin, you know, so I can call her what I +like--always have." + +"I shouldn't abuse the privilege in Merrivale's presence if I were you," +remarked the man who had expressed the opinion that Merrivale was not one +to stand much trifling. + + * * * * * + +"Well, but wasn't it unreasonable?" said Hilary St. Orme, with hands +clasped daintily behind her dark head. "Who could stand such tyranny as +that? And surely it's much better to find out before than after. I hate +masterful men, Sybil. I am quite sure I could never have been happy with +him." + +The girl's young step-mother looked across at the pretty, mutinous face +and sighed. + +"It wasn't a nice way of telling him so, I'm afraid, dear," she said. +"Your father is very vexed." + +"But it was beautifully conclusive, wasn't it?" laughed Hilary. "As to +the poor old pater, he won't keep it up for ever, bless his simple heart, +that did want its daughter to be a viscountess. So while the fit lasts +I propose to judiciously absent my erring self. It's a nuisance to have +to miss all the fun this season; but with the pater in the sulks it +wouldn't be worth it. So I'm off to-morrow to join Bertie and the +house-boat at Riverton. As Dick has taken a bungalow close by, we shall +be quite a happy family party. They will be happy; I shall be happy; and +you--positively, darling, you won't have a care left in the world. If it +weren't for your matrimonial bonds, I should quite envy you." + +"I don't think you ought to go down to Riverton without someone +responsible to look after you," objected Mrs. St. Orme dubiously. + +"My dear little mother, what a notion!" cried her step-daughter with a +merry laugh. "Who ever dreamt of the proprieties on the river? Why, I +spent a whole fortnight on the house-boat with only Bertie and the Badger +that time the poor old pater and I fell out over--what was it? Well, it +doesn't matter. Anyhow, I did. And no one a bit the worse. Bertie is +equal to a dozen _duennas_, as everyone knows." + +"Don't you really care, I wonder?" said Mrs. St. Orme, with wondering +eyes on the animated face. + +"Why should I, dear?" laughed the girl, dropping upon a hassock at her +side. "I am my own mistress. I have a little money, and--considering +I am only twenty-four--quite a lot of wisdom. As to being Viscountess +Merrivale, I will say it fascinated me a little--just at first, you know. +And the poor old pater was so respectful I couldn't help enjoying myself. +But the gilt soon wore off the gingerbread, and I really couldn't enjoy +what was left. I said to myself, 'My dear, that man has the makings of a +hectoring bully. You must cut yourself loose at once if you don't want to +develop into that most miserable of all creatures, a down-trodden wife.' +So after our little tiff of the day before yesterday I sent the notice +off forthwith. And--you observe--it has taken effect. The tyrant hasn't +been near." + +"You really mean to say the engagement wasn't actually broken off before +you sent it?" said Mrs. St. Orme, looking shocked. + +"It didn't occur to either of us," said Hilary, looking down with a +smile at the corners of her mouth. "He chose to take exception to my +being seen riding in the park with Mr. Fletcher. And I took exception to +his interference. Not that I like Mr. Fletcher, for I don't. But I had to +assert my right to choose my own friends. He disputed it. And then we +parted. No one is going to interfere with my freedom." + +"You were never truly in love with him, then?" said Mrs. St. Orme, regret +and relief struggling in her voice. + +Hilary looked up with clear eyes. + +"Oh, never, darling!" she said tranquilly. "Nor he with me. I don't know +what it means; do you? You can't--surely--be in love with the poor old +pater?" + +She laughed at the idea and idly took up a paper lying at hand. Half a +minute later she uttered a sharp cry and looked up with flaming cheeks. + +"How--how--dare he?" she cried, almost incoherent with angry +astonishment. "Sybil! For Heaven's sake! See!" + +She thrust the paper upon her step-mother's knee and pointed with a +finger that shook uncontrollably at a brief announcement in the society +column. + +"We are requested to state that the announcement in yesterday's issue +that the marriage arranged between Viscount Merrivale and Miss Hilary St. +Orme would not take place was erroneous. The marriage will take place, as +previously announced, towards the end of the season." + + * * * * * + +"What sublime assurance!" exclaimed Bertie St. Orme, lying on his back in +the luxurious punt which his sister was leisurely impelling up stream, +and laughing up at her flushed face. "This viscount of yours seems to +have plenty of decision of character, whatever else he may be lacking +in." + +Bertie St. Orme was a cripple, and spent every summer regularly upon the +river with his old manservant, nicknamed "the Badger." + +"Oh, he is quite impossible!" Hilary declared. "Let's talk of something +else!" + +"But he means to keep you to your word, eh?" her brother persisted. "How +will you get out of it?" + +Hilary's face flushed more deeply, and she bit her lip. + +"There won't be any getting out of it. Don't be silly! I am free." + +"The end of the season!" teased Bertie. "That allows you--let's +see--four, five, six more weeks of freedom." + +"Be quiet, if you don't want a drenching!" warned Hilary. "Besides," she +added, with inconsequent optimism, "anything may happen before then. Why, +I may even be married to a man I really like." + +"Great Scotland, so you may!" chuckled her brother. "There's the wild man +that Dick has brought down here to tame before launching at society. He's +a great beast like a brown bear. He wouldn't be my taste, but that's a +detail." + +"I hate fashionable men!" declared Hilary, with scarlet face. "I'd rather +marry a red Indian than one of these inane men about town." + +"Ho! ho!" laughed Bertie. "Then Dick's wild man will be quite to your +taste. As soon as he leaves off worrying mutton-bones with his fingers +and teeth, we'll ask Dick to bring him to dine." + +"You're perfectly disgusting!" said Hilary, digging her punt-pole into +the bed of the river with a vicious plunge. "If you don't mean to behave +yourself, I won't stay with you." + +"Oh, yes, you will," returned Bertie with brotherly assurance. "You +wouldn't miss Dick's aborigine for anything--and I don't blame you, for +he's worth seeing. Dick assures me that he is quite harmless, or I don't +know that I should care to venture my scalp at such close quarters." + +"You're positively ridiculous to-day," Hilary declared. + + * * * * * + +A perfect summer morning, a rippling blue river that shone like glass +where the willows dipped and trailed, and a girl who sang a murmurous +little song to herself as she slid down the bank into the laughing +stream. + +Ah, it was heavenly! The sun-flecks on the water danced and swam all +about her. The trees whispered to one another above her floating form. +The roses on the garden balustrade of Dick Culver's bungalow nodded as +though welcoming a friend. She turned over and struck out vigorously, +swimming up-stream. It was June, and the whole world was awake and +singing. + +"It's better than the entire London season put together," she murmured to +herself, as she presently came drifting back. + +A whiff of tobacco-smoke interrupted her soliloquy. She shook back her +wet hair and stood up waist-deep in the clear, green water. + +"What ho, Dick!" she called gaily. "I can't see you, but I know you're +there. Come down and have a swim, you lazy boy!" + +There followed a pause. Then a diffident voice with an unmistakably +foreign accent made reply. + +"Were you speaking to me?" + +Glancing up in the direction of the voice, Hilary discovered a stranger +seated against the trunk of a willow on the high bank above her. She +started and coloured. She had forgotten Dick's wild man. She described +him later as the brownest man she had ever seen. His face was brown, the +lower part of it covered with a thick growth of brown beard. His eyes +were brown, surmounted by very bushy eyebrows. His hair was brown. His +hands were brown. His clothes were brown, and he was smoking what looked +like a brown clay pipe. + +Hilary regained her self-possession almost at once. The diffidence of the +voice gave her assurance. + +"I thought my cousin was there," she explained. "You are Dick's friend, +I think?" + +The man on the bank smiled an affirmative, and Hilary remarked to herself +that he had splendid teeth. + +"I am Dick's friend," he said, speaking slowly, as if learning the lesson +from her. There was a slight subdued twang in his utterance which +attracted Hilary immensely. + +She nodded encouragingly to him. + +"I am Dick's cousin," she said. "He will tell you all about me if you ask +him." + +"I will certainly ask," the stranger said in his soft, foreign drawl. + +"Don't forget!" called Hilary, as she splashed back into deep water. "And +tell him to bring you to dine on our house-boat at eight to-night! Bertie +and I will be delighted to see you. We were meaning to send a formal +invitation. But no one stands on ceremony on the river--or in it either," +she laughed to herself as she swam away with swift, even strokes. + +"I shouldn't have asked him in that way," she explained to her brother +afterwards, "if he hadn't been rather shy. One must be nice to +foreigners, and dear Dickie's society undiluted would bore me to +extinction." + +"I don't think we had better give him a knife at dinner," remarked +Bertie. "I shouldn't like you to be scalped, darling. It would ruin your +prospects. I suppose my only course would be to insist upon his marrying +you forthwith." + +"Bertie, you're a beast!" said his sister tersely. + + * * * * * + +"We have taken you at your word, you see," sang out Dick Culver from his +punt. "I hope you haven't thought better of it by any chance, for my +friend has been able to think of nothing else all day." + +A slim white figure danced eagerly out of the tiny dining-saloon of the +house-boat. + +"Come on board!" she cried hospitably. "The Badger will see to your punt. +I am glad you're not late." + +She held out her hand to the new-comer with a pretty lack of ceremony. He +looked more than ever like a backwoodsman, but it was quite evident that +he was pleased with his surroundings. He shook hands with her almost +reverently, and smiled in a quiet, well-satisfied way. But, having +nothing to say, he did not vex himself to put it into words--a trait +which strongly appealed to Hilary. + +"His name," said Dick Culver, laughing at his cousin over the big man's +shoulder, "is Jacques. He has another, but, as nobody ever uses it, it +isn't to the point, and I never was good at pronunciation. He is a French +Canadian, with a dash of Yankee thrown in. He is of a peaceable +disposition except when roused, when all his friends find it advisable +to give him a wide berth. He--" + +"That'll do, my dear fellow," softly interposed the stranger, with a +gentle lift of the elbow in Culver's direction. "Leave Miss St. Orme to +find out the rest for herself! I hope she is not easily alarmed." + +"Not at all, I assure you," said Hilary. "Never mind Dick! No one does. +Come inside!" + +She led the way with light feet. Her exile from London during the season +promised to be less deadly than she had anticipated. Unmistakably she +liked Dick's wild man. + +They found Bertie in the little roselit saloon, and as he welcomed the +stranger Culver drew Hilary aside. There was much mystery on his comical +face. + +"I'll tell you a secret," he murmured; "this fellow is a great chief in +his own country, but he doesn't want anyone to know it. He's coming here +to learn a little of our ways, and he's particularly interested in +English women, so be nice to him." + +"I thought you said he was a French Canadian," said Hilary. + +"That's what he wants to appear," said Culver. "And, anyhow, he had a +Yankee mother. I know that for a fact. He's quite civilised, you know. +You needn't be afraid of him." + +"Afraid!" exclaimed Hilary. + +Turning, she found the new-comer looking at her with brown eyes that were +soft under the bushy brows. + +"He can't be a red man," she said to herself. "He hasn't got the +cheek-bones." + +Leaving Dick to amuse himself, she smiled upon her other guest with +winning graciousness and forthwith began the dainty task of initiating +him into the ways of English women. + +She was relieved to find that, notwithstanding his hairy appearance, he +was, as Dick had assured her, quite civilised. As the meal proceeded she +suddenly conceived an interest in Canada and the States, which had never +before possessed her. She questioned him with growing eagerness, and he +replied with a smile and always that half-reverent, half-shy courtliness +that had first attracted her. Undoubtedly he was a pleasant companion. He +clothed the information for which she asked in careful and picturesque +language. He was ready at any moment to render any service, however +slight, but his attentions were so unobtrusive that Hilary could not +but accept them with pleasure. She maintained her pretty graciousness +throughout dinner, anxious to set him at his ease. + +"Englishmen are not half so nice," she said to herself, as she rose from +the table. And she thought of the stubborn Viscount Merrivale as she +said it. + +There was a friendly regret at her departure written in the man's eyes as +he opened the door for her, and with a sudden girlish impulse she paused. + +"Why don't you come and smoke your cigar in the punt?" she said. + +He glanced irresolutely over his shoulder at the other two men who were +discussing some political problem with much absorption. + +With a curious desire to have her way with him, the girl waited with a +little laugh. + +"Come!" she said softly. "You can't be interested in British politics." + +He looked at her with his friendly, silent smile, and followed her out. + + * * * * * + +"Isn't it heavenly?" breathed Hilary, as she lay back on the velvet +cushions and watched the man's strong figure bend to the punt-pole. + +"I think it is Heaven, Miss St. Orme," he answered in a hushed voice. + +The sun had scarcely set in a cloudless shimmer of rose, and, sailing up +from the east, a full moon cast a rippling, silvery pathway upon the +mysterious water. + +The girl drew a long sigh of satisfaction, then laughed a little. + +"What a shame to make you work after dinner!" she said. + +She saw his smile in the moonlight. + +"Do you call this work?" She seemed to hear a faint ring of amusement in +the slowly-uttered question. + +"You are very strong," she said almost involuntarily. + +"Yes," he agreed quietly, and there suddenly ran a curious thrill through +her--a feeling that she and he had once been kindred spirits together in +another world. + +She felt as if their intimacy had advanced by strides when she spoke +again, and the sensation was one of a strange, quivering delight which +the perfection of the June night seemed to wholly justify. Anyhow, it was +not a moment for probing her inner self with searching questions. She +turned a little and suffered her fingers to trail through the moonlit +water. + +"I wonder if you would tell me something?" she said almost diffidently. + +"If it lies in my power," he answered courteously. + +"You may think it rude," she suggested, with a most unusual attack of +timidity. It had been her habit all her life to command rather than to +request. But somehow the very courtesy with which this man treated her +made her uncertain of herself. + +"I shall not think anything so--impossible," he assured her gently, and +again she saw his smile. + +"Well," she said, looking up at him intently, "will you--please--let me +into your secret? I promise I won't tell. But do tell me who you are!" + +There followed a silence, during which the man leaned a little on his +pole, gazing downwards while he kept the punt motionless. The water +babbled round them with a tinkling murmur that was like the laughter of +fairy voices. They had passed beyond the region of house-boats and +bungalows, and the night was very still. + +At last the man spoke, and the girl gave a queer little motion of relief. + +"I should like to tell you everything there is to know about me," he said +in his careful, foreign English. "But--will you forgive me?--I do not +feel myself able to do so--yet. Some day I will answer your question +gladly--I hope some day soon--if you are kind enough to continue to +extend to me your interest and your friendship." + +He looked down into Hilary's uplifted face with a queer wistfulness that +struck unexpectedly straight to her heart. She felt suddenly that this +man's past contained something of loss and disappointment of which he +could not lightly speak to a mere casual acquaintance. + +With the quickness of impulse characteristic of her, she smiled +sympathetic comprehension. + +"And you won't even tell me your name?" she said. + +He bent again to the pole, and she saw his teeth shine in the moonlight. +"I think my friend told you one of my names," he said. + +"Oh, it's much too commonplace," she protested. "Quite half the men +I know are called Jack." + +And then for the first time she heard him laugh--a low, exultant laugh +that sent the blood in a sudden rush to her cheeks. + +"Shall we go back now?" she suggested, turning her face away. + +He obeyed her instantly, and the punt began to glide back through the +ripples. + +No further word passed between them till, as they neared the house-boat, +the high, keen notes of a flute floated out upon the tender silence. + +Hilary glanced up sharply, the moonlight on her face, and saw a group of +men in a punt moored under the shadowy bank. One of them raised his +hand and sent a ringing salutation across the water. + +Hilary nodded and turned aside. There was annoyance on her face--the +annoyance of one suddenly awakened from a dream of complete enjoyment. + +Her companion asked no question. He was bending vigorously to his work. +But she seemed to consider some explanation to be due to him. + +"That," she said, "is a man I know slightly. His name is Cosmo Fletcher." + +"A friend?" asked the big man. + +Hilary coloured a little. + +"Well," she said half-reluctantly, "I suppose one would call him that." + + * * * * * + +"I believe you're in love with Culver's half-breed American," said Cosmo +Fletcher brutally, nearly three weeks later. He had just been rejected +finally and emphatically by the girl who faced him in the stern of his +skiff. + +She was very pale, but her eyes were full of resolution as they met his. + +"That," she said, "is no business of yours. Please take me back!" + +He looked as if he would have liked to refuse, but her steadfast eyes +compelled him. Sullenly he turned the boat. + +Dead silence reigned between them till, as they rounded a bend in the +river and came within sight of the house-boat, Fletcher, glancing over +his shoulder, caught sight of a big figure seated on the deck. + +Then he turned to the girl with a sneer: + +"It might interest Jack Merrivale to hear of this pretty little romance +of yours," he said. + +The colour flamed in her cheeks. + +"Tell him then!" she said defiantly. + +"I think I must," said Fletcher. "He and I are such old friends." + +He waited for her to tell him that it was on his account that they had +quarrelled, but she would not so far gratify him, maintaining a stubborn +silence till they drew alongside. Jacques rose to hand her on board. + +"I hope you have enjoyed your row," he said courteously. + +"Thanks!" she returned briefly, avoiding his eyes. "I think it is too hot +to enjoy anything to-day." + +The tea-kettle was singing merrily on the dainty brass spirit-lamp, and +she sat down at the table forthwith. + +Jacques stood beside her, silent and friendly as a tame mastiff. Perhaps +his presence after what had just passed between herself and Fletcher made +her nervous, or perhaps her thoughts were elsewhere and she forgot to be +cautious. Whatever the cause, she took up the kettle carelessly and +knocked it against the spirit-lamp with some force. + +Jacques swooped forward and steadied it before it could overturn; but the +dodging flame caught the girl's muslin sleeve and set it ablaze in an +instant. She uttered a cry and started up with a wild idea of flinging +herself into the river, but Jacques was too quick for her. He turned and +seized the burning fabric in his great hands, ripping it away from her +arm and crushing out the flames with unflinching strength. + +"Don't be frightened!" he said. "It's all right. I've got it out." + +"And what of you?" she gasped, eyes of horror on his blackened hands. + +He smiled at her reassuringly. + +"Well done, man!" cried Dick Culver. "It was like you to save her life +while we were thinking about it. Are you hurt, Hilary?" + +"No," she said, with trembling lips. "But--but--" + +She broke off on the verge of tears, and Dick considerately transferred +his attention to his friend. + +"Let's see the damage, old fellow!" + +"It is nothing," said Jacques, still faintly smiling. "Yes, you may see +it if you like, if only to prove that I speak the truth." + +He thrust out one hand and displayed a scorched and blistered palm. + +"Call that nothing!" began Dick. + +Fletcher suddenly pushed forward with an oath that startled them all. + +"I should know that hand anywhere!" he exclaimed. "You infernal, lying +impostor!" + +There was an elaborate tattoo of the American flag on the extended wrist, +to which he pointed with a furious laugh. + +"Deny it if you can!" he said. + +Jacques looked at him gravely, without the smallest sign of agitation. + +"You certainly have good reason to know that hand rather well," he said +after a moment, speaking with extreme deliberation, "considering that it +has had the privilege of giving you the finest thrashing of your life." + +Fletcher turned purple. He looked as if he were going to strike the +speaker on the mouth. But before he could raise his hand Hilary suddenly +forced herself between them. + +"Mr. Fletcher," she said, her voice quivering with anger, "go instantly! +There is your boat. And never come near us again!" + +Fletcher fell back a step, but he was too furious to obey such a command. + +"Do you think I am going to leave that confounded humbug to have it all +his own way?" he snarled. "I tell you--" + +But here Culver intervened. + +"You shut up!" he ordered sternly. "We've had too much of you already. +You had better go." + +He took Fletcher imperatively by the arm, but Jacques intervened. + +"Pray let the gentleman speak, Dick!" he said. "It will ease his feelings +perhaps." + +"No!" broke in Hilary breathlessly. "No, no! I won't listen! I tell you +I won't!" facing the big man almost fiercely. "Tell me yourself if you +like!" + +He looked at her closely, still with that odd half-smile upon his face. + +Then, before them all, he took her hand, and, bending, held it to his +lips. + +"Thank you, Hilary!" he said very softly. + +In the privacy of her own cabin Hilary removed her tatters and cooled her +tingling cheeks. She and her brother were engaged to dine at Dick's +bungalow that night, but an overwhelming shyness possessed her, and at +the last moment she persuaded Bertie to go alone. It was plain that +for some reason Bertie was hugely amused, and she thought it rather +heartless of him. + +She dined alone on the house-boat with her face to the river. Her fright +had made her somewhat nervous, and she was inclined to start at every +sound. When the meal was over she went up to her favourite retreat on the +upper deck. A golden twilight still lingered in the air, and the river +was mysteriously calm. But the girl's heart was full of a heavy +restlessness. Each time she heard a punt-pole striking on the bed of the +river she raised her head to look. + +He came at last--the man for whom her heart waited. He was punting +rapidly down-stream, and she could not see his face. Yet she knew him, +by the swing of his arms, the goodly strength of his muscles,--and by the +suffocating beating of her heart. She saw that one hand was bandaged, and +a passionate feeling that was almost rapture thrilled through and through +her at the sight. Then he shot beyond her vision, and she heard the punt +bump against the house-boat. + +"It's a gentleman to see you, miss," said the Badger, thrusting a grey +and grinning visage up the stairs. + +"Ask him to come up!" said Hilary, steadying her voice with an effort. + +A moment later she rose to receive the man she loved. And her heart +suddenly ceased to beat. + +"You!" she gasped, in a choked whisper. + +He came straight forward. The last light of the day shone on his smooth +brown face, with its steady eyes and strong mouth. + +"Yes," he said, and still through his quiet tones she seemed to hear a +faint echo of the subdued twang which dwellers in the Far West sometimes +acquire. "I, John Merrivale, late of California, beg to render to you, +Hilary St. Orme, in addition to my respectful homage, that freedom for +which you have not deigned to ask." + +She stared at him dumbly, one hand pressed against her breast. The ripple +of the river ran softly through the silence. Slowly at last Merrivale +turned to go. + +And then sharply, uncertainly, she spoke. + +"Wait, please!" she said. + +She moved close to him and laid her hand on the flower-bedecked +balustrade, trembling very much. + +"Why have you done this?" Her quivering voice sounded like a prayer. + +He hesitated, then answered her quietly through the gloom. + +"I did it because I loved you." + +"And what did you hope to gain by it?" breathed Hilary. + +He did not answer, and she drew a little nearer as though his silence +reassured her. + +"Wouldn't it have saved a lot of trouble," she said, her voice very low +but no longer uncertain, "if you had given me my freedom in the first +place? Don't you think you ought to have done that?" + +"I don't know," Merrivale said. "That fellow spoilt my game. So I offer +it to you now--with apologies." + +"I should have appreciated it--in the first place," said Hilary, and +suddenly there was a ripple of laughter in her voice like an echo of the +water below them. "But now I--I--have no use for it. It's too late. Do +you know, Jack, I'm not sure he did spoil your game after all!" + +He turned towards her swiftly, and she thrust out her hands to him with a +quick sob that became a laugh as she felt his arms about her. + +"You hairless monster!" she said. "What woman ever wanted freedom when +she could have--Love?" + + * * * * * + +Two days later Viscount Merrivale's friends at the club read with +interest and some amusement the announcement that his marriage to Miss +Hilary St. Orme had been fixed to take place on the last day of the +month. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + Death's Property + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +A high laugh rang with a note of childlike merriment from the far end of +the coffee-room as Bernard Merefleet, who was generally considered a bear +on account of his retiring disposition, entered and took his seat near +the door. It was a decidedly infectious laugh and perhaps for this reason +it was the first detail to catch his attention and to excite his +disapproval. + +He frowned as he glanced at the menu in front of him. + +He had arrived in England after an absence of twenty years in America, +where he had made a huge fortune. He was hungering for the quiet +unhurried speech of his fellow-countrymen, for the sights and sounds and +general atmosphere of English life which for so long had been denied to +him. And the first thing he heard on entering the coffee-room of this +English hotel was the laugh of an American woman. + +He had thought that in this remote corner of England--this little, +old-world fishing town, with its total lack of entertainment, its +unfashionable beach, and its wild North Sea breakers--no unit of the +great Western race would have set foot. He had believed its entire +absence of attraction to be a sure safeguard, and he was unfeignedly +disgusted to discover that this was not the case. + +As he ate his dinner the high laugh broke in on his meditations again +and again, and his annoyance grew to a sense of savage irritation. He +had come over to England for a rest after a severe illness, and with +an intense craving, after his twenty years of stress and toil, to +stand aside and watch the world--the English, conservative world he +loved--dawdle by. + +He wanted to bury himself in an unknown fishing-town and associate with +the simple, unflurried fisher-folk alone. It was a dream of his--a dream +which he had imagined near its fulfilment when he had arrived in the +peaceful little world of Old Silverstrand. + +There was a large and fashionable watering-place five miles away. This +was New Silverstrand, a town of red brick, self-centred and prosperous. +But he had not thought that its visitors would have overflowed into the +old fishing-town. He himself saw no attraction there save the peace of +the shore and the turmoil of the sea. He had known and loved the old town +in his youth, long before the new one had been built or even thought +of. For New Silverstrand was a growth of barely ten years. + +In all his wanderings his heart had always turned with a warm thrill of +memory to the little old fishing-town where much of his restless boyhood +had been spent. He had returned to it as to a familiar friend and found +it but slightly changed. A new hotel had been erected where the old +Crayfish Inn had once stood. And this, so far as he had been able to +judge in his first walk through the place on the evening of his arrival, +was the sole alteration. + +He had heard that the shore had crumbled beyond the town, but he had left +that to be investigated on the morrow. The fishing-harbour was the same; +the brown-sailed fishing-boats rocked with the well-remembered swing +inside; the water poured roaring in with the same baffled fury; and +children played as of old on the extreme and dangerous edge of the stone +quay. + +The memory of that selfsame quay roused deeper recollections in +Merefleet's mind as he sat and dined alone at the little table near the +door. + +There came to him the thought, with a sudden, stabbing regret, of a +little dark-eyed sister who had hung with him over that perilous edge and +laughed at the impotent breakers below. He could hear the silvery echoes +of her laughter across half a lifetime, could feel the warm hand that +clasped his own. A magic touch swept aside the years and revealed the +old, glad days of his boyhood. + +Merefleet pushed away his plate and sat with fixed eyes, fascinated by +the rosy vision. They were side by side in a fishing-smack, he and the +playmate of his childhood. There was an old fisherman in charge with +grizzled hair, whose name, he recollected without effort, was Quiller. +He was showing the little maid how to tie a knot that was warranted never +to come undone. + +Merefleet watched the ardent, flushed face with a deep reverence. He had +not seen it so vividly since the day he had kissed it for the last time +and gone forth into the seething sea of life to fight the whirlpools. +Well, he had emerged triumphant so far as earthly success went. He had +breasted the tide and risen above the billows. He was wealthy, and he was +celebrated. No mortal power rose up in his path to baulk him of his +desire. Only desire itself had failed him, and ambition had become +mockery. + +For twenty years he had not had time to stop and think. For twenty years +he had wrestled ceaselessly with the panting crowd. He had bartered away +the best years of his life to the gold god, and he was satiated with the +success of this transaction. + +In all that time he had not mourned, as he mourned to-night, the loss of +the twin-sister who had been as his second and better self. He had not +realised till he sat alone in the place, where as a boy he had never +known solitude, how utterly flat and undesirable was the future that +stretched out like a trackless desert at his feet. + +And in that moment he would have cast away the whole bulk of his great +possessions for one precious day of youth out of the many that had fled +away for ever. + +A woman's laugh, high, inconsequent, rang through the great coffee-room, +and all but one looked towards the corner whence it proceeded. An +American voice began at once to explain the joke with considerable +volubility. + +Bernard Merefleet rose from his chair with a frowning countenance and +made his way down to the old stone quay below the hotel. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +The air was keen and salt. He paused on the well-worn stone wall and +turned his face to the spray. A hundred memories were at work in his +brain, and the relief of solitude was unspeakable. It was horribly +lonely, but he hugged his loneliness. That laughing voice in the hotel +coffee-room had driven him forth to seek it. No mental or physical +discomfort would have induced him to return. + +He propped himself against a piece of stonework and gazed moodily out to +sea. He did not want to leave this haven of his childhood. Yet the +thought of remaining in close proximity to a party of tourists was +detestable to him. Why in the world couldn't they stop away, he wondered +savagely? And then his own inconsistency occurred to him, and he smiled +grimly. For the place undoubtedly had its charm. + +A fisherman in a blue jersey lounged on to the quay at this point of +his meditations, and, old habit asserting itself, Merefleet greeted +him with a remark on the weather. The man halted in front of him in a +conversational attitude. Merefleet knew the position well. It came back +to him on a flood of memory. He could not believe that it was twenty +years since he had talked with such an one. + +"Wind in the nor'-east, sir," said the man. + +"Yes. It's cold for the time of year," said Merefleet. + +The man assented. + +"Fish plentiful?" asked Merefleet. + +"Nothing to boast of," was the guarded reply. + +Merefleet had expected it. Right well he knew these fisher-folk. + +"You get a few visitors now, I see," Merefleet observed. + +The fisherman nodded. "Don't know what they come for," he observed. +"Bathing ain't good, and them pleasure-boats--well"--he lifted his +shoulders expressively--"half-a-capful of wind would upset 'em. There's a +lady staying at this here hotel--an American lady she be--what goes out +every day regular, she and a young gentleman with her. They won't have me +nor yet any of my mates to go along, and yet--bless you--they could no +more manage that boat if a squall was to come up nor they could fly. I +told her once as it wasn't safe. And she laughed in my face, sir. She +did, really." + +Merefleet smiled a little. + +"Well, if she likes to run the risk it's not your fault," he said. + +"No, sir. It ain't. But that don't make me any easier. She's a pretty +young lady, too," the man added. "Maybe you've seen her, sir." + +Merefleet shook his head. He had heard her, and he had no desire to +improve his acquaintance with her. + +"As pretty a young lady as you would wish to see," continued the +fisherman reflectively. "Wonderful, she is. 'Tain't often we get such a +picture in this here part of the country. Ever been to America, sir?" + +"Just come home," said Merefleet. + +"Are all the ladies over there as pretty as this one, I wonder?" said his +new acquaintance in an awed tone. + +"She seems to have made a considerable impression," said Merefleet, with +a laugh. "What is the lady like?" + +But the man's descriptive powers were not equal to his admiration. "I +couldn't tell you what she's like, sir," he said. "But she's that sort +of young lady as makes you feel you oughtn't to talk to her with your hat +on. Ever met that sort of lady, sir?" + +Merefleet uttered a short laugh. The man's simplicity amused him. + +"I can't say I have," he said carelessly. "Good-looking women are not +always the best sort, in my opinion." + +"That's very true, sir," assented his companion thoughtfully. "There's my +wife, for instance. She's as good a woman as you'd find anywhere, but her +best friend couldn't call her handsome, nor even plain." + +And Merefleet laughed again. The man's talk had diverted his thoughts. +The intolerable sense of desolation had been lifted from his spirit. He +began to feel he had been somewhat unnecessarily irritated by a very +small matter. + +He lighted a cigar and presented one to his new friend. "I shall get you +to row me out for a couple of hours to-morrow," he said. "By the way, did +you ever know a man called Quiller who had some fishing craft in these +parts twenty years ago?" + +The man beamed at the question. "That's my father, sir. He lives along +with my wife and the kids. Will you come and see him, sir? Oh, yes, +he's well and hearty. But he's getting on in years, is dad. He don't go +out with the luggers now. You'll come and see him, eh, sir?" + +"To-morrow," said Merefleet, turning. "He will remember me, perhaps. +No, I won't give you my name. The old chap shall find out for himself. +Good-night." + +And he began to saunter back towards his hotel. + +The searchlight of a man-of-war anchored outside the harbour was flashing +over the shore as he went. He watched the long shaft of light with +half-involuntary attention. He noted in an idle way various details along +the cliffs that were revealed by the white glow. It touched the hotel at +last and rested there for the fraction of a minute. + +And then a strange thing happened. + +Looking upwards as he was, with fascinated eyes, following the slanting +line of light, Merefleet saw a sight which was destined to live in his +memory for all the rest of his life, strive as he might to rid himself of +it. + +As in a dream-picture he saw the figure of a girl standing on the steps +of the terrace in front of the hotel. The searchlight discovered her and +lingered upon her. She stood in the brilliant line of light, a splendid +vision of almost unearthly beauty. Her neck and arms were bare, curved +with the exquisite grace of a Grecian statue. Her face was turned towards +the light--a marvellous face, touched with a faint, triumphant smile. She +was dressed in a robe of pure white that fell around her in long, soft +folds. + +Merefleet gazed upon the wonder before him and asked himself one +breathless question: "Is that--a woman?" + +And the answer seemed to spring from the very depth of his being: "No! +A goddess!" + +It was the most gloriously perfect picture of beauty he had ever looked +upon. + +The searchlight flashed on and the hotel garden was left in darkness. + +A chill sense of loss swept down upon Merefleet, but the impression did +not last. He threw away his cigar with an impetuosity oddly out of +keeping with his somewhat rugged and unimpressionable nature. A hot +desire to see that face again at close quarters possessed him--the face +of the loveliest woman he had ever beheld. + +He reached the hotel and sat down in the vestibule. Evidently this +marvellous woman was staying in the place. He watched the doorway with +a strange feeling of excitement. He had not been so moved for years. + +At length there came a quick, light tread. The next moment he was +gazing again upon the vision that had charmed him out of all commonsense. +She stood, framed in the night, white and pure and gloriously, most +surpassingly, beautiful. Merefleet felt his heart throb heavily. He sat +in dead silence, looking at her with fascinated eyes. Had he called her a +Greek goddess? He had better have said angel. For this was no earth-born +loveliness. + +She stood for several seconds looking towards him with shining, radiant +eyes. Then she moved forward. Merefleet's eyes were fixed upon her. He +could not have looked away just then. He was absurdly uncertain of +himself. + +She paused near him with the light pouring full upon her. Her eyes met +his with a momentary questioning. Then ruthlessly she broke the spell. + +"Say, now!" she said in brisk, high tones. "Isn't that searchlight thing +a real cute invention?" + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Merefleet shivered at the words. He did not answer her. The shock had +been too great. He sat stiff and silent, waiting for more. + +The American girl looked at him with a pitying little smile. She was +wholly unabashed. + +"I reckon the man who invented searchlights was no fool," she remarked. +"I just wish that quaint old battleship would come right along here. +It's not exciting, this place." + +"New Silverstrand would be more to your taste, I fancy," said Merefleet, +reluctantly forced to speak. + +The smile on the beautiful face developed into a wicked little gleam of +amusement. "That's so, I daresay," said the high voice. "But you see, I +wasn't consulted. I've just got to go where I'm taken." + +She sank into a chair opposite Merefleet and leant forward. + +Merefleet sat perfectly rigid. There was a marvellous witchery about the +clasped hands and bent head before him. But he did not mean to let his +idiotic sentimentality carry him away again. So long as the enchantress +was speaking, the spell was wholly impotent. Therefore he should not +suffer her to relapse into silence. Yet--how he hated that high, piercing +voice! It was like the desecration of something sacred. It made him +shrink in involuntary protest. + +"Say!" suddenly exclaimed his companion, looking at him sharply. "Aren't +you Bernard Merefleet of New York City?" + +Merefleet frowned unconsciously at the notoriety that was his. + +"I was in New York until recently," he said with some curtness. + +"Exactly what I said," she returned triumphantly. "A friend of mine +snap-shotted you walking up Fifth Avenue. He said to me: 'Here's +Merefleet the gold-king, one of the cutest men in U.S.A. His first name +is Bernard. So we call him the Big Bear for short.' Ever heard your pet +name before?" + +"Never," said Merefleet stiffly, with a suggestive hand on the evening +paper. He wished she would leave him alone. With his eyes averted at +length, the charm of her presence ceased to attract him. He even fancied +he resented her freedom. But the girl only laughed carelessly. She had +not the smallest intention of moving. + +"Well," she said, and he imagined momentarily that her abominable accent +was deliberately assumed. "I guess you've heard it now, Mr. Bernard +Merefleet. Smart, I call it. What's your opinion?" + +Merefleet started a little at the audacity of this speech. And again he +was looking at her. There was a funny little smile twitching the corners +of her mouth. Her beauty was irresistible. Even the iron barrier of his +churlish avoidance was severely shaken. She was hard to withstand, this +witch with her friendly eyes and frank speech, despite her jarring voice. + +She nodded to him sociably as she met his grave look. "You aren't on a +pleasure-trip, I reckon," she observed. + +"Pleasure!" said Merefleet, giving way with abrupt bitterness. "No. +There's not much pleasure in unearthing skeletons. That's what I'm +doing." + +The beautiful eyes opposite opened wide. She was silent for a moment. +Then, "Think you're wise?" she enquired casually. + +"No," said Merefleet roughly. "I'm a fool." + +She nodded acquiescence. "That's so, I daresay," she said. "I was afraid +you were sick." + +"So I am," he said. "Sick of life--sick of everything." + +"I guess you want some medicine," she said seriously. + +Merefleet laughed suddenly. "Something strong and deadly, eh?" he said. + +She shook her head. "Tell me what you like best in the world!" she said. + +Merefleet reflected. + +"You must know," she insisted briskly. "Is it a woman?" + +"Good heavens, no!" said Merefleet, with an emphasis not particularly +flattering to the sex. + +"Well, then," she said, "p'r'aps it's the sea?" + +"You may say so for the sake of argument," said Merefleet. + +"I don't argue," she responded, with what he took for a touch of heat. +"If people disagree with me I just shunt." + +"Excellent policy," said Merefleet, interested in spite of himself. He +fancied a faint shadow crossed her face. But she continued to speak with +barely a pause. "If you like the sea you'd better join Bert and me. We go +out every day. It's real fun." + +"Exciting as well as dangerous," suggested Merefleet. + +She nodded again. It was a habit of hers when roused to eagerness. +"You've hit it. It's just that," she said. "Will you come?" + +Merefleet hesitated. He was still inclined to be surly. But the new +influence was not so easy to resist as he had imagined. The woman before +him attracted him strongly, despite the fact that he now knew her +loveliness to be but mortal; despite the constant jar of her shrill +voice. + +"Who is Bert?" he enquired at length, reluctantly aware that in +temporising he signed away his freedom of action. + +"Bert's my cousin," she answered. "He's English right through. You'd like +Bert. He's in the smoke-room. Bert and I are great chums." + +"Are you staying here alone together?" Merefleet enquired. + +She nodded. "Bert is taking care of me," she explained. "He's like a son +to me. I call him my English bull-dog. I just love bull-dogs, Mr. +Merefleet." + +Merefleet was silent. + +She stretched out her arms with a swift, unconscious movement of +weariness. + +"Well," she said, "I'm real lazy to-night, and that's fact. I guess you +want to smoke, so I'll go and leave you in peace." + +She rose and stood for a few moments in the doorway, looking out into the +pulsing darkness beyond. Merefleet watched her, fascinated. And as he +watched, a deep shadow rose and lingered on the beautiful face. Moved by +an instinct he did not stop to question, he rose abruptly and stood +beside her. There was a pause. Then suddenly she looked up at him and the +shadow was gone. + +"Isn't he cross?" she said. + +"Who?" asked Merefleet. + +"Why, that funny old sea," she laughed. "He's just wild to dash over and +swamp us all. Supposing he did, should you care any?" + +"I don't know," said Merefleet. + +Her eyes were full of a soft laughter as she looked at him. Suddenly she +laid a childish hand on his arm. "Oh, you poor old Bear!" she said, +dropping her voice a little. "I'm real sorry for you!" + +And then she turned swiftly and was gone from his side like a flash of +sunlight. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +It was some time later that Merefleet entered the smoking-room to satisfy +a certain curiosity which had taken possession of him. He looked round +the room as he sat down, and almost at once his attention lighted upon a +broad-shouldered man of about thirty with a plain, square-jawed face of +great determination, who sat, puffing at a short pipe, by the open +window. + +Merefleet silently observed this man for some time, till, his scrutiny +making itself felt, the object of it wheeled abruptly in his chair and +returned it. + +Merefleet leant forward. It was so little his custom to open conversation +with a stranger that his manner was abrupt and somewhat forced on this +unusual occasion. + +"I believe I ought to know you," he said. "But I can't recall your name." + +The reply was delivered in a manner as curt as his own. "My name is +Seton," said the stranger. "As you have only met me once before, you +probably won't recall it now." + +Merefleet nodded comprehension. He loved the straight, quiet speech of +Englishmen. There was no flurry or palaver about this specimen. He spoke +as a man quite sure of himself and wholly independent of his fellow men. + +"Ah, I remember you now," Merefleet said. "You came as Ralph Warrender's +guest to a club dinner in New York. Am I right?" + +"Perfectly," said Seton. "You were the guest of the evening. You made a +good speech, I remember. You were looking horribly ill. I suppose that is +how I came to notice you particularly." + +"I was ill," said Merefleet, "or I should have been out of New York +before that dinner came off. I always detested the place. And Warrender +would have done far better in my place." + +"I am not an admirer of Warrender," said Seton bluntly. + +Merefleet made no comment. He was never very free in the statement of his +opinion. + +"The railway accident in which his wife was killed took place immediately +after that dinner, I believe?" he observed presently. "I remember hearing +of it when I was recovering." + +"It was a shocking thing--that accident," said Seton thoughtfully. "It's +odd that Americans always manage to do that sort of thing on such a +gigantic scale." + +"They do everything on a gigantic scale," said Merefleet. "What became of +Warrender afterwards? It was an awful business for him." + +"I don't know anything about him," Seton answered, with a brevity that +seemed to betray lack of interest. "He was no friend of mine, though I +chanced to be his guest on that occasion. I was distantly connected with +his wife, and I inherited some of her money at her death. She was a rich +woman, as you probably know." + +"So I heard. But I have never found New York gossip particularly +attractive." + +Seton leant his elbow on the window-sill and gazed meditatively into the +night. "If it comes to that," he said slowly, "no gossip is exactly +edifying. And to be the victim of it is to be in the most undesirable +position under the sun." + +It struck Merefleet that he uttered the words with some force, almost +with the deliberate intention of conveying a warning; and, being the +last man in the world to attempt to fathom the wholly irrelevant affairs +of his neighbour, he dropped into silence and began to smoke. + +Seton sat motionless for some time. The murmur of a conversation that was +being sleepily sustained by two men in the room behind them created no +disturbing influence. Presently Seton spoke casually, but with that in +his tone which made Merefleet vaguely conscious of an element of +suspicion. + +"You didn't expect to see me just now, did you?" he asked. + +"No," said Merefleet. "I should have taken the trouble to call your name +to mind before I spoke if I had." + +Seton nodded. "I saw you at _table d'hote_" he remarked. "I was with my +cousin at the other end of the room. You were gone when we got up." + +"Your cousin?" said Merefleet deliberately. "Is that the American lady +who is staying here?" + +"Yes. Miss Ward. She is from New York, too. You may have seen her there." + +"No," said Merefleet. "I know very little of New York society, or any +society for the matter of that." + +Seton turned and looked at him with a smile. "Odd," he said. "For there +can be scarcely a man, woman, or child, here or in America, who does not +know you by name." + +"Not so bad as that, I hope," said Merefleet. And Seton laughed. + +"You have the reputation for shunning celebrity," he remarked. + +"So I understand," said Merefleet. "I hope the reputation will be my +protection." + +Young Seton became genial from that point onward. Without being +communicative, he managed to convey the impression that he was quite +prepared to be friendly. And for some reason unexplained Merefleet was +pleased. He went to bed that night with somewhat revised ideas on the +subject of society in general and the society of American girls in +particular. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +"Is this the gentleman as was to come and see me? Come in, sir. Come in! +My old eyes ain't so sharp as they used to be, but I can see a many +things yet." + +And old Quiller, the fisherman, removed his sou'wester from his snowy +head and peered at the visitor from under his hand. + +"You don't know me, eh, Quiller?" Merefleet said. + +He was surprised to hear a high voice from the interior of the cottage +break in on the old man's hesitating reply. + +"He's a sort of walking monkey-puzzle, I guess," said the voice, and a +roguish laugh followed the words. + +Merefleet looked over old Quiller's shoulder into the little kitchen. She +was standing by the table with her sleeves up to her elbows, making some +invalid dish. A shaft of sunlight slanting through the tiny window fell +full upon her as she stood. It made him think of the searchlight glory of +the previous night. She shone like a princess in her lowly surroundings. + +She nodded to him gaily as she met his eyes. + +"Come right in!" she said hospitably. "And I shall tell Grandpa Quiller +who you are." + +"Aye, but I know," broke in the old man eagerly. "Master Bernard, ain't +it? That's right, sonny. That's right. Yes, come in! There! I never +thought to see you again. That I never did. This here's little missie +what comes regular to see my daughter-in-law as has been laid by this +week or more. I calls her our good angel," he ended tenderly. "She's been +the Lord's own blessing to us ever since she come." + +Merefleet, thus invited, entered and sat down on a wooden chair by +the table. Old Quiller turned in also and fussed about him with the +solicitude that comes with age. + +"No," he said meditatively, "I never thought to see you again, Master +Bernard. Why, it's twenty year come Michaelmas since you said 'Good-bye.' +And little miss was with you. Ah, dear! It do make me think of them days +to see you in the old place again. I always said as I'd never see the +match of little miss but this young lady, sir--she's just such another, +bless her." + +Merefleet, with his eyes on the busy white hands at the table, smiled at +the eulogy. + +The American girl glanced at him and laughed more softly than usual. +"Isn't he fine?" she said. "I just love that old man." + +Somehow that peculiar voice of hers did not jar upon him quite so +painfully as he sat and watched her at her dexterous work. There was +something about her employment that revealed to him a side of her that +her frivolous manner would never have led him to suspect. While he talked +to the old fisherman, more than half his attention was centred on her +beautiful, innocent face. + +"My!" she suddenly exclaimed, turning upon him with a dazzling smile. "I +reckon you'll almost be equal to beating up an egg yourself if you watch +long enough." + +"Perhaps," said Merefleet. + +She laughed gaily. "Are you coming along with Bert and me this afternoon +in Quiller's boat?" she inquired. + +"I believed I have engaged Quiller to come and do the hard work for me," +Merefleet said. + +"You!" She was bending over the fire, stirring the beaten egg into a +saucepan. "Oh, you lazy old Bear!" she said reprovingly. "What good will +that do you?" + +"I don't know that I want anything to do me good," Merefleet returned. +He had become almost genial under these unusual circumstances. It was +certainly no easy matter to keep this exceedingly sociable young lady at +a distance. + +He was watching the warm colour rising in her face as she stooped over +the fire. He had never imagined that the art of cookery could be +conducted with so much of grace and charm. Her odd, high voice instantly +broke in on this reflection. + +"I'm going to see Mrs. Quiller and the baby now," she said, with her +sprightly little nod. "So long, Big Bear!" + +The little kitchen suddenly looked dull and empty. The sun had gone in. +Old Quiller was sucking tobacco ruminatively, his fit of loquacity over. + +Merefleet rose. "Well, I am glad to have seen you, Quiller," he said, +patting the old man's shoulder with a kindly hand. "I must come in again. +You and I are old friends, you know, and old comrades, too. Good-bye!" + +Quiller looked at him rather vacantly. The fire of life was sinking low +in his veins. He had grown sluggish with the years, and the spark of +understanding was seldom bright. + +"Aye, but she's a bonny lass, Master Bernard," he said with slow +appreciation. "A bonny lass she be. You ain't thinking of getting settled +now? I'm thinking she'd keep your home tidy and bright." + +"Good-bye!" said Merefleet with steady persistence. + +"Aye, she would," said the old man, shifting the tobacco in his cheek. +"She's been a rare comfort to me and mine. She'd be a blessing to your +home, Master Bernard. Take an old chap's word for it, an old chap as +knows what's what. That young lady'll be the joy of some man's heart some +day. You've got your chance, Master Bernard. You be that man!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +"Say, Bert! We can take Big Bear along in our boat. Isn't that so?" + +Merefleet looked up from his paper as he heard the words. They were +seated at the next table at lunch, his American friend and her +excessively English cousin. Merefleet noticed that she was dressed for +boating. She wore a costume of white linen, and a Panama hat was crammed +jauntily on the soft, dark hair. She was anything but dignified. Yet +there was something splendid in the very recklessness of her beauty. She +was a queen who did not need to assert her rights. There were other women +present, and Merefleet was not even conscious of the fact. + +"Who?" asked Seton, in response to her careless inquiry. + +She nodded in Merefleet's direction and caught his eye as she did so. + +"He's the cutest man in U.S.," she said, staring him straight in the face +without sign of recognition. "But he's real lazy. He saw me making +custard at Grandpa Quiller's this morning, and he wasn't even smart +enough to lift the saucepan off the fire. I thought he might have had +spunk enough for that, anyway." + +Twenty-four hours earlier Merefleet would have deliberately hunched his +shoulders, turned his back, and read his paper. But his education was in +sure hands. He had made rapid progress since the day before. + +He leant a little towards his critic and said gravely: + +"Pray accept my apologies for the omission! To tell you the truth, I was +not watching the progress of the cookery." + +The girl nodded as if appeased. + +"You can come and sit at this table," she said, indicating a chair +opposite to her. "I guess you know my cousin Bert Seton." + +"What makes you guess that?" Merefleet inquired, changing his seat as +directed. + +She looked at him with a little smile of superior knowledge. "I guess +lots," she said, but proffered no explanation of her shrewd conclusion. + +Young Seton greeted Merefleet with less cordiality than he had displayed +on the previous evening. There was a suggestion of caution in his manner +that created a somewhat unfavourable impression in Merefleet's mind. + +Already he was beginning to wonder how these two came to be thus isolated +in the forgotten little town of Old Silverstrand. It was not a natural +state of affairs. Neither the girl with her marvellous beauty, nor the +man with his peculiar concentration of purpose, was a fitting figure for +such a background. They were out of place--most noticeably so. + +Merefleet was the very last man to make observations of such a +description. But this was a matter so obvious and so undeniably strange +that it forced itself upon him half against his will. He became strongly +aware that Seton did not desire his presence in the boat with him and his +cousin. He did not fathom the objection. But its existence was not to be +ignored. And Merefleet wondered a little, as he cast about in his mind +for a suitable excuse wherewith to decline the girl's invitation. + +"It's very good of you to ask me to accompany you, Miss Ward," he said +presently. "But I know that Quiller the younger is under the impression +that I have engaged him to row me out of the harbour and bring me back +again. And I don't see very well how I can cancel the engagement." + +Miss Ward nudged her cousin at this speech. + +"Oh, if he isn't just quaint!" she said. "Look here, Bert! You're running +this show. Tell Mr. Merefleet it's all fixed up, and if he won't come +along with us he won't go at all, as we've got Quiller's boat!" + +Seton glanced up, slightly frowning. + +"My dear Mab," he said, "allow Mr. Merefleet to please himself! The fact +that you are willing to put your life in my hands day after day is no +guarantee of my skill as a rower, remember." + +"Oh, skittles!" said Mab irrelevantly. + +And Seton, meeting Merefleet's eyes, shrugged his shoulders as if +disclaiming all further responsibility. + +Mab leant forward. + +"You'd better come, Mr. Merefleet," she said in a motherly tone. "It'll +be a degree more lively than mooning around by yourself." + +And Merefleet yielded, touched by something indescribable in the +beautiful, glowing eyes that were lifted to his. Apparently she wanted +him to go, and it seemed to him too small a thing to refuse. Perhaps, +also, he consulted his own inclination. + +Seton dropped his distant manner after a time. Nevertheless the +impression of being under the young man's close observation lingered with +Merefleet, and Mab herself seemed to feel a strain. She grew almost +silent till lunch was over, and then, recovering, she entered into a +sprightly conversation with Merefleet. + +They went down to the shore shortly after, and embarked in Quiller's +boat. Mab sat in the stern under a scarlet sunshade and talked gaily to +her two companions. She was greatly amused when Merefleet insisted upon +doing his share of the work. + +"I love to see you doing the galley-slave," she said. "I know you hate +it, you poor old Bear." + +But Merefleet did not hate his work. He sat facing her throughout the +afternoon, gazing to his heart's content on the perfect picture before +him. He wore his hands to blisters, and the sun beat mercilessly down +upon him. But he felt neither weariness nor impatience, neither regret +nor surliness. + +A magic touch had started the life in his veins; the revelation of a +wandering searchlight had transformed his sordid world into a palace of +delight. He accepted the fact without question. He had no wish to go +either forward or backward. + +The blue sea and the blue sky, and the distant, shining shore. These were +what he had often longed for in the rush and tumult of a great, unresting +city. But in the foreground of his picture, beyond desire and more +marvellous than imagination, was the face of the loveliest woman he had +ever seen. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +There was no wandering alone on the quay for Merefleet that night. It was +very warm and he sat on the terrace with his American friend. Far away +over at New Silverstrand, a band was playing, and the music came floating +across the harbour with the silvery sweetness which water imparts. The +lights of the new town were very bright. It looked like a dream-city seen +from afar. + +"I guess we are just a couple of Peris shut outside," said Mab in her +brisk, unsentimental voice. "I like it best outside, don't you, Big +Bear?" + +"Yes," said Merefleet, with a simplicity that provoked her mirth. + +"Oh, aren't you just perfect!" she said. "You've done me no end of good. +I'd pay you back if I could." + +Merefleet was silent. He could not see her beautiful face, but her words +touched him inexplicably. + +There was a long pause. Then, to his great surprise, a warm little hand +slipped on to his knee in the darkness and a voice, so small that he +hardly recognised it, said humbly: + +"Mr. Merefleet, I'm real sorry." + +Merefleet started a little. + +"Good heavens! Why?" he said. + +"Sorry you disapprove of me," she said, with a little break in her voice. +"Bert used to be the same. But he's different now. He knows I wasn't made +prim and proper." + +She paused. Merefleet's hand was on her own. He sat in silence, but +somehow his silence was kind. + +She went on. "I wasn't going to speak last night. Only you looked so +melancholy at dinner. And then I thought p'r'aps you were lonely, like +I am. I didn't find out till afterwards that you didn't like the way I +talked." + +"Do you know you make me feel a most objectionable cad?" said Merefleet. + +"Oh, no, you aren't that," she hastened to assure him. "I'm positive you +aren't that. It was my fault. I spoke first. I thought you looked real +sad. And I always want to hearten up sad folks. You see I've been there, +and I know what it is." + +"You!" said Merefleet. + +Did he hear a sob in the darkness beside him? He fancied so. The hand +that lay beneath his own twitched as if agitated. + +"What do you know about trouble?" said Merefleet. + +She did not answer him. Only he heard a long, hard sigh. Then she laughed +rather mirthlessly. + +"Well," she said, "there aren't many things in this world worth crying +for. You've had enough of me, I guess. It's time I shunted." + +She tried to withdraw her hand, but Merefleet's hold tightened. + +"No, no. Not yet," he said, almost as if he were pleading with her. "I've +behaved abominably. But don't punish me like this!" + +She laughed again and yielded. + +"You ought to know your own mind by now," she said, with something of her +former briskness. "It's a rum world, Mr. Merefleet." + +"It isn't the world," said Merefleet. "It's the people in it. Now, Miss +Ward, I have a favour to ask. Promise me that you will never again +imagine for a moment that I am not pleased--more, honoured--when you are +good enough to stop by the way and speak to me. Of your charity you have +stooped to pity my loneliness. And, believe me, I do most sincerely +appreciate it." + +"My!" she said. "That's the nicest thing you've said yet. Yes, I promise +that. You're real kind, do you know? You make me feel miles better." + +She drew her hand gently away. Merefleet was trying to discern her +features in the darkness. + +"Are you really lonely, I wonder?" he said. "Or is that a figure of +speech?" + +"It's solid fact," she said. "But, never mind me! Let's talk of something +nicer." + +"No, thanks!" Merefleet could be obstinate when he liked. "Unless you +object, I prefer to talk about you." + +She laughed a little, but said nothing. + +"I want to know what makes you lonely," he said. "Don't tell me, of +course, if there is any difficulty about it!" + +"No," she responded coolly. "I won't. But I guess I'm lonely for much the +same reason that you are." + +"I have never been anything else since I became a man," said Merefleet. + +"Ah!" she said. "I might say the same. Fact is"--she spoke with sudden +startling emphasis--"I ought to be dead. And I'm not. That's my trouble +in a nutshell." + +"Great heavens, child!" Merefleet exclaimed, with an involuntary start. +"Don't talk like that!" + +"Why not?" she asked innocently. "Is it wrong?" + +"It isn't literal truth, you know," he answered gravely. "You will not +persuade me that it is." + +"I'm no judge then," she said, with a note of recklessness in her voice. + +"You have your cousin," Merefleet pointed out, feeling that he was on +uncertain ground, yet unaccountably anxious to prove it. "You are not +utterly alone while he is with you." + +She uttered a shrill little laugh. "Why," she said, "I believe you think +I'm in love with Bert." + +Merefleet was silent. + +"I'm not, you know," she said, after a momentary pause. "I'm years older +than Bert, anyhow." + +"Oh, come!" said Merefleet. + +"Figuratively, of course," she explained. + +"I understand," said Merefleet. And there was a silence. + +Suddenly she laughed again merrily. + +"May I share the joke?" asked Merefleet. + +"You won't see it," she returned. "I'm laughing at you, Big Bear. You are +just too quaint for anything." + +Merefleet did not see the joke, but he did not ask for an explanation. + +Seton himself strolled on to the terrace and joined them directly after; +and Mab began to shiver and went indoors. + +The two men sat together for some time, talking little. Seton seemed +preoccupied and Merefleet became sleepy. It was he who at length proposed +a move. + +Seton rose instantly. "Mr. Merefleet," he said rather awkwardly, "I want +to say a word to you." + +Merefleet waited in silence. + +"Concerning my cousin," Seton proceeded. "You will probably misread my +motive for saying this. But nevertheless it must be said. It is not +advisable that you should become very intimate with her." + +He brought out the words with a jerk. It had been a difficult thing to +say, but he was not a man to shrink from difficulties. Having said it, he +waited quietly for the result. + +Merefleet paused a moment before he spoke. Seton had surprised him, but +he did not show it. + +"I shall not misread your motive," he said, "as I seldom speculate on +matters that do not concern me. But allow me to say that I consider your +warning wholly uncalled for." + +"Exactly," said Seton, "I expected you to say that. Well, I am sorry. It +is quite impossible for me to explain myself. I hope for your sake you +will never be placed in the position in which I am now. I assure you it +is anything but an enviable one." + +His manner, blunt and direct, appealed very strongly to Merefleet. He +said nothing, however, and they went in together in unbroken silence. +Mab did not reappear that night. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +A fortnight passed away and Merefleet was still at the hotel at Old +Silverstrand. Mab was there also, the idol of the fisher-folk, and an +unfailing source of interest and admiration to casual visitors at the +hotel. + +Merefleet, though he had become a privileged acquaintance, was still +wholly unenlightened with regard to the circumstances which had brought +her to the place under Seton's escort. + +As time went on, it struck Merefleet that these two were a somewhat +incongruous couple. They dined together and they usually boated together +in the afternoon--this last item on account of Mab's passion for the sea; +but beyond this they lived considerably apart. Neither seemed to seek the +other's society, and if they met at lunch, it was never by preconceived +arrangement. + +Merefleet saw more of Mab when she was ashore than Seton did. They would +meet on the quay, in old Quiller's cottage, or in the hotel-garden, +several times a day. Occasionally he would accompany them on the water, +but not often. He had a notion that Seton preferred his absence, and he +would not go where he felt himself to be an intruder. + +Nevertheless, the primary fascination had not ceased to act upon him; the +glamour of the girl's beauty was still in his eyes something more than +earthly. And there came a time when Bernard Merefleet listened with +unconscious craving for the high, unmodulated voice, and smiled with a +tender indulgence over the curiously naive audacity which once had made +him shrink. + +As for Mab, she was too eagerly interested in various matters to give +more than a passing thought to the fact that the man she called Big Bear +had laid aside his surliness. If she thought about it at all, it was only +to conclude that their daily intercourse had worn away the outer crust of +his shyness. + +She was always busy--in and out of the fishermen's cottages, where she +was welcomed as an angel--to and fro on a hundred schemes, all equally +interesting and equally absorbing. And Merefleet was called upon to +assist. She singled him out for her friendship because he was as one +apart and without interests. She drew him into her own bubbling life. She +laughed at him, consulted him, enslaved him. + +All innocently she wove her spell about this man. He was lonely, she +knew; and she, in her ardent, great-souled pity for all such, was willing +to make cheerful sacrifice of her own time and strength if thus she might +ease but a little the burden that galled a fellow-traveller's shoulders. + +Merefleet came upon her once standing in the sunshine with Mrs. Quiller's +baby in her arms. She beckoned him to speak to her. "Come here if you +aren't afraid of babies!" she said, displaying her charge. "Look at him, +Big Bear! He's three weeks old to-day. Isn't he fine?" + +"What do you know about babies?" said Merefleet, with his eyes on her +lovely flushed face. + +She nodded in her sprightly fashion, but her eyes were far away on the +distant horizon, and her soul with them. "I know a lot, Big Bear," she +said. + +Merefleet watched her, well pleased with the sight. She stood rocking to +and fro. Her gaze was fixed and tender. + +"I wonder what you see," Merefleet said, after a pause. + +Her eyes came back at once to her immediate surroundings. + +"Shall I tell you, Big Bear?" she said. + +"Yes," said Merefleet, marvelling at the radiance of her face. + +And, her voice hushed to a whisper, she moved a pace nearer to him and +told him. + +"Just a little baby friend of mine who lives over there," she said. "I'm +going to see him some day. I guess he'll be glad, don't you?" + +"Who wouldn't?" said Merefleet. "But that's not the West, you know." + +"No," she said simply. "He's in the Land beyond the sea, Big Bear." And +with a strange little smile into his face, she drew the shawl closer +about the child in her arms and disappeared into Quiller's cottage. + +There was something in this interview that troubled Merefleet +unaccountably. But when he saw her again, her mirth was brimming over, +and he thought she had forgotten. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +It was about a week after this conversation that Merefleet, invited by +Seton, joined his two friends at _table d'hote_ at their table. The +suggestion came from Mab, he strongly suspected, for she seconded Seton's +proposal so vigorously that to decline would have been almost an +impossibility. + +"You look so lonely there," she said. "It's miles nicer over here. What's +your opinion?" + +"I agree with you, of course," said Merefleet, with a glance at Seton +which discovered little. + +"Isn't he getting polite?" said the American girl approvingly. "Say, +Bert! I guess you'll have to take lessons in manners or he'll get ahead +of you." + +Seton smiled indulgently. He was this girl's watch-dog and protector. He +aspired to be no more. + +"My dear girl, you will never make a social ornament of me as long as you +live," he said. + +And Mab patted his arm affectionately. + +"You're nicer as you are, dear boy," she said. "You aren't smart, it's +true, but I give you the highest mark for real niceness." + +Seton's eyes met Merefleet's for a second. There was a touch of +uneasiness about him, as if he feared Merefleet might misconstrue +something. And Merefleet considerately struck a topic which he +believed to be wholly impersonal. + +"By the way," he said, "I had an American paper sent me to-day. It may +interest you to hear that Ralph Warrender has resigned his seat in +Congress and married again." + +"What?" said Seton. + +"My!" cried Mab, with a shrill laugh. "That is news, Mr. Merefleet!" + +Merefleet glanced at her sharply, his attention arrested by something he +did not understand. Seton pushed a glass of sherry towards her, but he +was looking at Merefleet. + +"News indeed!" he said deliberately. "Is it actually an accomplished +fact?" + +"According to the _New York Herald_," said Merefleet. + +Mab's face was growing whiter and whiter. Seton still leant over the +table, striving with all his resolution to force Merefleet's attention +away from her. But Merefleet would not allow it. He saw what Seton did +not stop to see; and it was he, not Seton, who lifted her to her feet a +moment later and half-led, half-carried her out of the stifling room. + +With a practical commonsense eminently characteristic of him, Seton +remained to pour out a glass of brandy; and thus armed he followed them +into the vestibule. Mab was lying back in an arm-chair when he arrived. +Her eyes were closed, and she was breathing quickly. Merefleet was +propping open the door on to the terrace. The lights flickered in the +draught and gave a strange look to the colourless face on the cushion. It +was like a beautifully carved marble. But for Merefleet the place was +deserted. + +Seton knelt down and held the glass to his cousin's lips. + +Merefleet returned softly and paused behind her chair. + +"It's this confounded heat," said Seton in a savage undertone. "She will +be all right directly." + +Merefleet said nothing. Again he was keenly conscious of the fact that +Seton wanted to get rid of him. But a stronger influence than Seton +possessed kept him standing there. + +Mab opened her eyes as the neat spirit burnt her lips. She tried to push +the glass away, but Seton would not allow it. + +"Just a drain, my dear girl," he said. "It will do you all the good in +the world. And then--Merefleet," glancing up at him, "will you fetch some +water?" + +Merefleet went as desired. + +When he returned, Mab was lying forward in Seton's arms, crying as he had +never seen any woman cry before. And Seton was stroking her hair in +silence. + +Merefleet set down the water noiselessly, and went softly out into the +summer dusk. But the great waves beating on the shore could not drown +the memory of a woman's bitter sobbing. And the man's heart was dumb and +heavy with the trouble he could not fathom. + +Some hours later, returning from a weary tramp along the shore, he +encountered Seton pacing to and fro on the terrace. + +"She is better," he said, in answer to Merefleet's conventional enquiry. +"It was the heat, you know, that upset her." + +"Yes," said Merefleet quietly. "I know." + +Seton walked away restlessly, more as if he wished to keep on the move +than to avoid Merefleet. He came back, however, after a few seconds. + +"Look here, Merefleet," he said abruptly, "you may take offence, but you +can't quarrel without my consent. For Heaven's sake, leave this place! +You are doing more mischief than you have the smallest notion of." + +There was that in his manner which roused the instinct of opposition in +Merefleet. + +"You will either tell me what you mean," he said, "or you need not expect +to gain your point. Veiled hints, like anonymous letters, do not deserve +any man's serious consideration." + +Seton muttered something inaudible and became silent. + +Merefleet waited for some moments and then began to move off. But the +younger man instantly turned and detained him with an imperative hand. + +"What I mean is this," he said, and the starlight on his face showed it +to be very determined. "My cousin is not in a position to receive any +man's attentions. She is not free. I have tried to persuade myself into +thinking you want nothing but ordinary friendship. I should infinitely +prefer to think that if you can assure me that I am justified in so +doing." + +"What is it to you?" said Merefleet. + +"To me personally it is more a matter of family honour than anything +else. Moreover I am her sole protector, and as such I am bound to assert +a certain amount of authority." + +"So you may," said Merefleet quietly. "But I do not see that that +involves my departure." + +Seton struck the balustrade of the terrace with an impatient hand. "Can't +you understand?" he said rather thickly. "How else can I put it?" + +"I have no desire to pry into your affairs, Heaven knows," Merefleet +said, "but this I will say. If I can be of use to either of you in +helping to dispose of what appears to be a somewhat awkward predicament +you may rely upon me with absolute safety." + +"Thanks!" Seton turned slowly and held out his hand. "There is only one +thing you can do," he said, with an awkward laugh. "And that is precisely +what you are not prepared to do. All right. I suppose it's human nature. +I am obliged to you all the same. Good-night!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +"Say, Big Bear! Will you take me on the water?" + +Merefleet, lounging on the shingle with a pipe and newspaper, looked up +with a start and hastened to knock out the half-burnt tobacco on the heel +of his boot. + +His American friend stood above him, clad in the white linen costume she +always wore for boating. She looked very enchanting and very childlike. +Merefleet who had seen her last sobbing bitterly in her cousin's arms, +stared up at her with wonder and relief on his face. + +She nodded to him. Her eyes were marvellously bright, but he did not +ascribe their brilliance to recent tears. + +"You don't look exactly smart," she said critically. "Hope I don't +intrude?" + +"Not a bit." Merefleet stumbled to his feet and raised his hat. "Pardon +my sluggishness! How are you this morning?" + +"Fresh as paint," she returned. "But I'm just dying to get on the water. +And Bert has gone off somewhere by himself. I guess you'll help me, Big +Bear. Won't you?" + +Merefleet glanced from the sea to the sun. + +"There's a change coming," he said. "I will go with you with pleasure. +But I think it would be advisable to wait till the afternoon as usual. We +shall probably know by then what sort of weather to expect." + +Mab pouted a little. + +"We shan't go at all if we wait," she declared. "Why can't we go while +the fine weather lasts? I believe you want to back out of it. It's real +lazy of you, Big Bear. You shan't read, anyhow." + +She took his paper from his unresisting hands, dug a hole in the shingle +with vicious energy, and covered it over. + +"Now what?" she said, looking up at him with an impudent smile. + +"Now," said Merefleet gravely, "I will take you for a row." + +"Will you? Big Bear, you're a brick. I'll put you into my will. No, I +won't, because I haven't got anything to leave. And you wouldn't want +it if I had. Say, Big Bear! Haven't you got any friends?" + +Merefleet looked surprised at the abrupt question. + +"I have one friend in England besides yourself, Miss Ward," he replied. +"His name is Clinton. But he is married and done for." + +"My! What a pity!" she exclaimed. "Isn't he happy?" + +"Oh, yes, I think so. Still, you know, most fellows have to sacrifice +something when they marry. He was a war-correspondent. But he has spoilt +himself for that." + +"I see." Mab was prodding the shingle with the end of her sunshade, +her face very thoughtful. Suddenly she looked up. "Never get married, +Big Bear!" she said vehemently. "It's the most miserable state in +Christendom." + +"Anyone would think you spoke from experience," said Merefleet, smiling +a little. + +But Mab did not smile. + +"I know a lot, Big Bear," she said, with a sharp sigh. + +Merefleet was silent. His thoughts had gone back to the previous night. +He was surprised when she suddenly alluded to the episode. + +"There's that man Ralph Warrender," she said. "I guess the woman that's +married him thinks he's A1 and gilt-edged now, poor soul. But he's just a +miserable patchwork mummy really, and there isn't any white in him--no, +not a speck." + +She spoke with such intense, even violent bitterness that Merefleet was +utterly astonished. He stood gravely contemplating her flushed, upturned +face. + +"What has he done to make you say that, I wonder?" he said. + +"Nothing to me," she answered quickly. "Nothing at all to me. But I used +to know his first wife. She was a sort of friend of mine. They used to +call her the loveliest woman in U.S., Mr. Merefleet. And she belonged to +that fiend." + +They began to walk towards the boats through the shifting shingle. +Merefleet had nothing to say. There was something in her passionate +speech that disturbed him vaguely. She spoke as one whose most sacred +personal interests had once been at stake. + +"Lucky for her she's dead, Big Bear," she said presently, with a +side-glance at him. "I've never regretted any of my friends less than +Mrs. Ralph Warrender. Oh, she was real miserable. I've seen her with +diamonds piled high in her hair and her face all shining with smiles. And +I've known all the time that her heart was broken. And when I heard that +she was dead, do you know, I was glad--yes, thankful. And I guess +Warrender wasn't sorry. For she hated him." + +"I never cared for Warrender," said Merefleet. "But I always took him for +a gentleman." + +She laughed at his words with a gaiety that jarred upon him. "Do you +know, Big Bear," she said, "I think they must have forgotten to teach +you your ABC when you went to school? You're such an innocent." + +Merefleet tramped by her side in silence. There was something in him that +shrank when she spoke in this vein. + +But quite suddenly her tone changed. She spoke very gently. "Still, it's +better to know too little than too much," she said. "And oh, Big Bear, I +know such a lot." + +Merefleet looked at her sharply and surprised an expression on her face +which he did not easily forget. + +He knew in that moment that this woman had suffered, and his heart gave +a wild, tumultuous throb. From that moment he also knew that she had +taken his heart by storm. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +Half-an-hour later they were out on the open sea beyond the harbour in a +cockleshell even frailer than Quiller's little craft which they had not +been able to secure. + +The sea was very quiet, only broken by an occasional long swell that +drove them southward like driftwood. Merefleet, who had been persuaded +to quit the harbour against his better judgment, was not greatly +disturbed by this fact. He did not anticipate any difficulty in +returning. A little extra labour was the worst he expected, for he knew +that a southward course would bring him into no awkward currents. Away to +the eastward he was aware of treacherous streams and shoals. But he had +no intention of going in that direction, and Mab, who steered, knew the +water well. + +There was no sun, a circumstance which Mab deplored, but for which +Merefleet was profoundly grateful. + +"You're not nearly so lazy as you used to be," she said to him +approvingly, as he rested his oars after a long pull. + +"No," said Merefleet. "I am beginning to see the error of my ways." + +"I'm real glad to hear you say so," she said heartily. "And I want to +tell you, Big Bear--that as I'm never going to New York again, I've +decided to be an Englishwoman. And you've got to help me." + +Merefleet looked at her with undisguised appreciation, but he shook +his head at her words. She was marvellous; she was inimitable; she was +unique. She would never, never be English. His gesture said as much. +But she was not discouraged. + +"I guess I'll try, anyhow," she said with brisk determination. "You don't +like American women, Mr. Merefleet." + +"Depends," said Merefleet. + +And she laughed gaily. + +They were drifting in long sweeps towards the south. Imperceptibly also +the distance was widening between the boat and the shore. The wind was +veering to the west. + +"My! Look at that oar!" Mab suddenly exclaimed. + +Merefleet started at the note of dismay in her tone. He had shipped his +oars. They were the only ones that had been provided. He glanced hastily +at the oar Mab indicated. It had been broken and roughly spliced +together. The wood that had been used for the splicing was rotten, and +the friction in the rowlocks had almost worn it through. Merefleet +examined it in silence. + +The girl's voice, high, with a quiver in it that might have stood for +either laughter or consternation, broke in on him. + +"Well," she said, "I guess we're in the suds this time, Big Bear; and no +mistake about it." + +Merefleet glanced at her helplessly. He did not think she realised the +gravity of the situation, but something in the little smile that twitched +her lips undeceived him. + +"The sea was full of boats a little while ago," he said. "They have +probably gone in for the lunch hour. But they will be out again +presently. We shall have to drift about for a while and then run up +a distress signal. It will be all right." + +She nodded to him and laughed. + +"Splendid, Big Bear! You talk like an oracle. I guess we'll run up my red +parasol on the end of an oar for a danger sign. Bert could see that from +the terrace." She glanced shorewards as she spoke, and he saw her face +change momentarily. "Why," she said quickly, "I thought we were close +in. What's happened?" + +Merefleet looked round with sullen perception of a difficult situation. + +"The wind is blowing off shore," he explained. "It was north when we +started. But it has gone round to the west. It will be all right, you +know. We can't drift very far in an hour." + +But he did not speak with conviction. The sea tumbled all around them, +a mighty grey waste. And the shore seemed very far away. A dismal outlook +in truth. Moreover it was beginning to rain. + +Mab sheltered herself under her sunshade and began to laugh. "It's just +skittles to what it might be," she said consolingly. + +But Merefleet did not respond. He knew that the wind was rising with +every second, and already the little boat tipped and tossed with perilous +buoyancy. + +Mab still held the rudder-lines. She sat in the stern, a serene and +smiling vision, while Merefleet toiled with one oar to counteract the +growing strength of the off-shore wind. But she very soon put down her +sunshade, and he saw that she must speedily be drenched to the skin. For +the rain was heavy, drifting over the water in thick, grey gusts. They +were being driven steadily eastwards out to sea. + +"I don't think my steering makes much difference, Big Bear," she said, +after a long silence. + +"No," said Merefleet. "It would take all the strength of two rowers to +make headway against this wind." + +He shipped his oar with the words and began to take off his coat. Mab +watched him with some wonder. He was seated on the thwart nearest to +her. He stooped forward at length very cautiously and, taking the +rudder-lines from her, made them fast. + +"Now get into this!" he said. "Mind you don't upset the boat!" + +She stared at him for one speechless second. Then: + +"No, I won't, Big Bear," she declared emphatically. "Put it on again at +once! Do you suppose I'll sit here in your coat while you shiver in +nothing but flannels?" + +"Do as I say!" said Merefleet, with a grim hardening of the jaw. + +And quite meekly she obeyed. There was something about him that inspired +her with awe at that moment. She felt as if she had run against some +obstacle in the dark. + +The rain began to beat down in great, shifting clouds. The sea grew +higher at every moment. Flecks of white gleamed here and there on all +sides. The boat was dancing like a cork. + +Mab sat in growing terror with her eyes on the roaring turmoil. The +minutes crawled by like hours. At length she turned to look shorewards +for the boats. A driving, blinding mist of rain beat into her face. She +saw naught besides. And suddenly her courage failed her. "Big Bear!" +she cried wildly. "What shall we do? I'm so frightened." + +He heard her through the storm. He was still sitting on the middle thwart +facing her. He moved, bending towards her. + +"Come to me here!" he said. "It will be safer." + +She crept to his outstretched arm with a sense of going into refuge. +Merefleet helped her over the thwart. There was a torn piece of sailcloth +in the bottom of the boat. He drew her down on to it and turned round +himself so that his back was towards the storm. He was thus able to +shelter her in some measure from the full fury of the blast. + +Mab shrank against him, terrified and quivering. + +"It looks so angry," she said. + +"Don't be afraid!" said Merefleet. + +And he put his arms about her and held her close to him as if she had +been a little child afraid of the dark. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +No pleasure-boats or craft of any sort put out from Silverstrand that +afternoon. The wind eventually blew away the clouds and revealed a +foaming, sunlit sea. But the waves were immense at high tide, and the +fishermen muttered among themselves and stared darkly out over the mighty +breakers. + +It was known among them that a boat had put out to sea in the morning and +had not returned before the rising of the gale. There were heavy hearts +in Old Silverstrand that day. But to launch another boat to search for +the missing one was out of the question. The great seas that came hurling +into the little fishing-harbour were sufficient proof of that, even to +the most inexperienced landsman. + +Seton, learning the news when lunch was half over, rushed off to New +Silverstrand in the hope that the boat might have been driven in that +direction by the strong current. But nothing had been seen from there of +the missing craft, and though he traversed the entire distance by way of +the cliffs, he saw nothing throughout his walk but flecks of foam here +and there over the tumbling expanse of water. + +He returned an hour or so later, reaching Old Silverstrand by five. But +nothing had been heard there. The fishermen shook their heads when he +questioned them. It was plain that they had given up hope. + +Seton raged up and down the quay in impotent agony of mind. The +off-shore wind continued for some hours. There was not the smallest doubt +that the boat had been driven out to sea, unless--a still more awful +possibility--she had been swamped and sunk long ago. As darkness fell, +the gale at length abated, and Quiller the younger approached Seton. + +"Tell you what, sir," he said. "There's a cruiser been up and down a +matter of ten miles out. Me and my mates will put out at daybreak and see +if we can get within hail of her. There's the light-ship, too, off +Morden's Shoal. 'Tain't likely as a boat could have slipped between 'em +without being seen. For if she was just drifting, you know, sir, she +wouldn't go very fast." + +"All right," said Seton. "And thanks! I'll go with you in the morning." + +Quiller lingered, though there was dismissal in the tone. + +"Go in and get a rest, sir!" he said persuasively. "There ain't no good +in your wearing yourself out here. You can't do nothing, sir, except pray +for a calm sea. Given that, we'll start with the light." + +"Very well," said Seton, and turned away. He knew that the man spoke +sense and he put pressure on himself to behave rationally. Nevertheless, +he spent the greater part of the night in a fever of restlessness which +no strength of will could subdue; and he was down on the quay long before +the first faint gleam of light shot glimmering over the quiet water. + + * * * * * + +It was during those first wonderful moments of a new day that Mab woke up +with a start shivering, and stretched out her arms with a cry of wonder. + +Hours before, Merefleet had persuaded her to try to rest, and she had +fallen asleep with her head against his knee, soothed by the calm that at +length succeeded the storm. He had watched over her with grim endurance +throughout the night, and not once had he seen a light or any other +object to raise his hopes. + +They were out of sight of land; alone on the dumb waste. He had not the +smallest notion as to how far out to sea the boat had drifted. Only he +fancied that they had been driven out of the immediate track of steamers, +and in the great emptiness around him he saw no means of escape from the +fate that seemed to dog them. + +The boat had lived miraculously, it seemed to him, through the awful +storm of the day. Tossed ruthlessly and aimlessly to and fro, drenched to +the skin, hungry and forlorn, he and the woman who was to him the very +desire of life, had gone through the peril of deep waters. Merefleet was +beginning to wonder why they had thus escaped. It seemed to him but a +needless prolonging of an agony already long drawn out. + +Nevertheless there was nothing of despair in his face as he stooped over +the girl who was crouching at his feet. + +"Glad you have been able to sleep," he said gently. "Don't get up! There +is no necessity if you are fairly comfortable." + +She smiled up at him with the ready confidence of a child and raised +herself a little. + +"Still watching, Big Bear?" she said. + +"Yes," said Merefleet. + +His tone told her that he had seen nothing. She lay still for a few +moments, then slowly turned her face towards the east. A deep pink glow +was rising in the sky. There was a rosy dusk on the sea about them. + +"My!" said Mab in a soft whisper. "Isn't that lovely?" + +Merefleet said nothing. He was watching her beautiful face with a great +hunger in his heart. + +Mab was also silent for a while. Presently she turned her face up to his. + +"The Gate of Heaven," she said in a whisper. "Isn't it fine?" + +He did not speak. + +She lifted a hand that felt like an icicle and slipped it into his. + +"I guess we shall do this journey together, Big Bear," she said. "I'm +real sorry I made you come if you didn't want to." + +"You needn't be sorry," said Merefleet, with a huskiness he could not +have accounted for. + +"No?" she said, with a curious little thrill in her voice. "It's real +handsome of you, Big Bear. Because--you know--I ought to have died more +than a year ago. But you are different. You have your life to live." + +Merefleet's hand closed tightly upon hers. + +"Don't talk like that, child!" he said. "Heaven knows your life is worth +more than mine." + +Mab leant her elbow on his knee and gazed thoughtfully over the far +expanse of water. Merefleet knew that she was faint and exhausted, +though she uttered no complaint. + +"Shall I tell you a secret, Big Bear?" she said, in the hushed tone of +one on the threshold of a sacred place. "I ended my life long ago. I was +very miserable and Death came and offered me refuge. And it was such a +safe hiding-place. I knew no one would look for me there. Only lately I +have come to see that what I did was wicked. I think you helped to make +me see, Big Bear. You're so honest. And then a dreadful thing happened. +Have you ever spoilt anyone's life besides your own, I wonder? I have. +That is why I have got to die. There is no place left for me. I gave it +up. And there is someone else there now." + +She stopped. Merefleet was bending over her with that in his face that +might have been the reflected glory of the growing day. Mab saw it, and +stretched up her other hand with a startled sob. + +"Big Bear, forgive me!" she whispered. "I--didn't--know." + +A moment later she was lying on his breast, and the first golden shimmer +of the morning had risen above the sea. + +"I shan't mind dying now," Mab whispered, a little later. "I was real +frightened yesterday. But now--do you know?--I'm glad--glad. It's just +like sailing into Paradise, isn't it? Are any of your people there, Big +Bear?" + +"Perhaps," said Merefleet. + +"Won't you be pleased to see them?" she said, with a touch of wonder at +the indifference in his tone. + +"I want nothing but you, my darling," he said, and his lips were on her +hair. + +He felt her fingers close upon his own. + +"I guess it won't matter in Heaven," she said, as though trying to +convince herself of something. "My dear, shall I tell you something? +I love you with all my heart. I never knew it till to-day. And if we +weren't so near Heaven I reckon I couldn't ever have told you." + +Some time later she began to talk in a dreamy way of the Great Haven +whither they were drifting. The sun was high by then and beat in a +wonderful, dazzling glory on the pathless waters. + +"There's no sun There," said Mab. "But I guess it will be very bright. +And there will be crowds and crowds along the Shore to see us come into +Port. And I'll see my little baby among them. I told you about him, Big +Bear. Finest little chap in New York City. He'll be holding out his arms +to me, just like he used. Ah! I can almost see him now. Look at his +curls. Aren't they fine? And his little angel face. There isn't anyone +like him, I guess. Everybody said he was the cutest baby in U.S. Coming, +darling! Coming!" + +Mab's hands slackened from Merefleet's clasp, and suddenly she stretched +out her arms to the sky. The holiest of all earthly raptures was on her +face. + +Then with a sharp sigh she came to herself and turned back to Merefleet. +A piteous little smile hovered about her quivering lips. + +"I guess I've been dreaming, Big Bear," she said. "Such a dream! Oh, such +a gorgeous, heavenly dream!" + +And she hid her face on his breast and burst into tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +Before the sun set they were sighted by the cruiser returning to her +anchorage outside the little fishing-harbour. Mab, worn out by hunger and +exposure, had slipped back to her former position in the bottom of the +boat. She was half asleep and seemed dazed when Merefleet told her of +their approaching deliverance. But she clung fast to him when a boat from +the cruiser came alongside; and he lifted her into it himself. + +"By Jove, sir, you've had a bad time!" said a young officer in the boat. + +"Thirty hours," said Merefleet briefly. + +He kept his arm about the girl, though his brain swam dizzily. And Mab, +consciously or unconsciously, held his hand in a tight clasp. + +Merefleet felt as if she were definitely removed out of his reach when +she was lifted from his hold at length, and the impression remained with +him after he gained the cruiser's deck. He met with most courteous +solicitude on all sides and was soon on the high-road to recovery. + +Later in the evening, when Mab also was sufficiently restored to appear +on deck, the cruiser steamed into Silverstrand Harbour, and the two +voyagers were landed by one of her boats, in the midst of great rejoicing +on the quay. + +Seton, who had long since returned from a fruitless search for tidings, +was among the crowd of spectators. He said little by way of greeting, +and there was considerable strain apparent in his manner towards +Merefleet. He hurried his cousin back to the hotel with a haste not +wholly bred of the moment's expediency. Merefleet followed at a more +leisurely pace. He made no attempt to join them, however. He had done his +part. There remained no more to do. With a heavy sense of irrevocable +loss he went to bed and slept the dreamless sleep of exhaustion for many +hours. + +The adventure was over. It had ended with a tameness that gave it an +almost commonplace aspect. But Merefleet's resolution was of stout +manufacture. + +The consequences of that night and day of peril involved his whole +future. Merefleet recognised this and resolved to act forthwith, in +defiance of Seton or any other obstacle. He did not realise till later +that there was opposed to him a strength which even his will was +powerless to overcome. He did not even take the possibility of this +into consideration. + +He was very sure of himself and confident of success when he descended +late on the following morning to a solitary breakfast--sure of himself, +sure of the smile of that fickle goddess Fortune--sure, thrice sure, of +the woman he loved. + +And he watched for her coming with a rapture that deprived him of his +appetite. + +But Mab did not come. + +Instead, Herbert Seton presently strolled into the room, greeted him, and +paused by his table. + +"Be good enough to join me on the terrace presently, will you?" he said +abruptly. + +And Merefleet nodded with a chill sense of foreboding. But his resolution +was unalterable. This young man should not, he was determined, by any +means cheat him now of his heart's desire. Matters had gone too far for +that. He followed Seton almost at once and found him in a quiet corner, +smoking. Merefleet sat down beside him and also began to smoke. There was +a touch of hostility about Seton that he was determined to ignore. + +"Well," said Seton at length, with characteristic bluntness, "so you have +done it in spite of my warning the other night." + +Merefleet looked at him. Was he expected to render an account of his +doings to this man who was at least ten years his junior, he wondered, +with faint amusement? + +Seton went on with strong indignation. + +"I told you in the first place not to be too intimate with her. I told +you again two nights ago that she was not free to accept any man's +attentions. But you went on. And you have made her miserable simply for +the gratification of your own unreasonable fancy. Do you call that manly +behaviour, I wonder?" + +Merefleet sat in absolute silence for several seconds. Finally he wheeled +round in his chair and faced Seton. + +"If I were you," he said quietly, "I should postpone this interview for +half-an-hour. I think you may possibly regret it if you don't." + +Seton tossed away a half-smoked cigarette and rose. + +"In half-an-hour," he said, "I shall have left this place, and my cousin +with me. I asked to speak to you because I detest all underhand dealings. +You apparently have not the same scruples." + +Merefleet also rose. + +"You will apologise for that," he said, in a tone of conviction. "I don't +question your motives, but to fetch me out here and then insult me was +not a wise proceeding on your part." + +Seton's hand clenched involuntarily. But he had put himself in the wrong, +and he knew it. + +"Very well," he said at length, with a shrug. "I apologise for the +expression. But my opinion of you remains unaltered." + +Merefleet ignored the qualification. He was bent on something more +important than the satisfaction of his own personal honour. "And now," he +said, with deliberate purpose, "I am going to have a private interview +with your cousin." + +Seton started. + +"You are going to do nothing of the sort," he said instantly. + +Merefleet looked him over gravely. + +"Look here, Seton!" he said. "You're making a fool of yourself. Take a +friend's advice--don't!" + +Seton choked back his anger with a great effort. In spite of this there +was a passionate ring in his voice when he spoke that betrayed the +exceeding precariousness of his self-control. + +"I can't let you see her," he said. "She is upset enough already. I have +promised her that she shall not be worried." + +"Have you promised her to keep me from speaking to her?" Merefleet grimly +enquired. + +"No." Seton spoke reluctantly. + +"Then do this," said Merefleet. "Go to her and ask her if she will see me +alone. If she says 'No,' I give you my word that I will leave this place +and trouble neither of you any further." + +Seton seemed to hesitate, but Merefleet was sure of his acquiescence. +After a pause of several seconds he fulfilled his expectations and went. + +Merefleet sat down again and waited. Seton returned heavy-footed. + +"She will see you," he said curtly. "You will find her in the +billiard-room." + +"Alone?" said Merefleet, rising. + +"Alone." + +And Merefleet walked away. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +He found her sitting in a great arm-chair at one end of the empty +billiard-room. She did not rise to meet him. He thought she looked tired +out and frightened. + +He went to her and stooped over her, taking her hands. She did not resist +him, but neither did she welcome. Her lips were quivering painfully. + +"What have I done that you should run away from me?" Merefleet asked her +very gently. + +She shook her head with a helpless gesture. + +"Mr. Merefleet," she whispered, "try--try not to be cross any! I'm afraid +I've made a big mistake." + +"My dear, we all make them," Merefleet said with grave kindliness. + +"I know," she faltered. "I know. But mine was a real bad one." + +"Never mind, child!" he said tenderly. "Why should you tell me?" + +She threw a swift look into his face. She was trembling violently. + +"Big Bear," she cried with sudden vehemence, "you don't understand." + +He knelt down beside her and put his arm about her. + +"Listen to me, my darling," he said, and she shrank at the deep thrill in +his voice. "To me you are all that is beautiful and good and holy. I do +not want to know what lies behind you. I know you have had trouble. But +it is over. You may have made mistakes. But they are over, too. Tell me +nothing! Leave the past alone! Only give me your present and your future. +I shall be quite content." + +He paused. She was shivering within his encircling arm. He could hear her +breath coming and going very quickly. + +"You love me, darling," he said. "And is it necessary for me to tell you +that I worship you as no one ever has worshipped you before?" + +He paused again. But Mab did not speak. The beautiful face was working +painfully. Her hands were tightly clasped in his. + +"Child, what is it?" Merefleet said, conscious of a hidden barrier +between them. "Can't you trust yourself to me? Is that it? Are you afraid +of me? You didn't shrink from me yesterday." + +She bowed her head. Yesterday she had wept in his arms. But to-day no +tears came. Only a halting whisper, a woman's cry of sheer weakness. + +"Don't tempt me, Big Bear!" she murmured. "Oh, don't tempt me! I am +not--free!" + +Merefleet's face grew stern. + +"You did not say that yesterday," he said. + +She heard the change in his tone, and looked up. She was better able to +meet this from him. + +"I know," she said. "And I guess that was where I went wrong. I ought to +have waited till we were dead. But, you see, I didn't know." + +"Then do you tell me you are not free?" Merefleet said. "Do you mean +literally that? Are you the actual property of another man?" + +She shook her head with baffling promptitude. + +"I guess I'm just Death's property, Big Bear," she said, with a wistful +little smile. "But he doesn't seem over-keen on having me." + +"Stop!" said Merefleet harshly. "I won't have you talk like that. It's +madness. Tell me what you mean!" + +"I can't," Mab said. "I can't tell you. It wouldn't be fair. Don't be +angry, Big Bear! It's just the price I've got to pay. And it's no use +squirming. I've worried it round and round. But it always comes back to +that. I'm not free. And no one but Bert must ever know why." + +Merefleet sprang to his feet with an impatience by no means +characteristic of him. + +"This is intolerable!" he exclaimed. "You are wrecking your life for an +insane scruple. Child, listen! Tell me nothing whatever! Give yourself +to me! No one shall ever take you away again. That I swear. And I will +make you so happy, dear. Only trust me!" + +But Mab covered her face as if to shut out a forbidden sight. + +"Big Bear, I mustn't," she said, with a sharp catch in her voice. "I've +done very wrong already. But I mustn't do this. Indeed I mustn't. It's +real good of you. And I shall remember it all my life. I think you are +the most charitable man I ever met, considering what you must think of +me." + +"Think!" said Merefleet, and there was a note of deep passion in his +voice. "I don't think. I want you just as you are,--just as you are. +Don't you know yet that I love you enough for that?" + +Mab rose slowly at the words. She was very pale, and he could see her +trembling as she stood. + +"Big Bear," she said, "I've got something to say to you. What I told you +yesterday was quite true. And I'm in great trouble about it. I thought we +were going to Heaven together. That was how I came to say it. But it was +very wicked of me to be so impulsive. I've done other things that were +wicked in just the same way. It's just my nature. And p'r'aps you'll try +to forgive me when you think how I truly meant it. I'm telling you this +because I want you to do something for me. It'll be real difficult, Big +Bear. Only you're so strong." + +She faltered a little and paused to recover herself. Merefleet was +standing close to her. He could have taken her into his arms. But +something held him back. Moreover he knew the nature of her request +before she uttered it. + +"Will you do what I ask you?" she said suddenly, facing him directly. +"Will you, Big Bear?" + +Merefleet did not answer her. + +She went on quickly. + +"My dear, it's hard for me, too, though I'm bad and I deserve to suffer." + +Her voice broke and Merefleet made a convulsive movement towards her. But +he checked himself. And Mab ended in a choked whisper with an appealing +hand against his breast. + +"Just go right away!" she said. "Take up your life where it was before +you met me! Will you, dear? It--will make it easier for me if you will." + +A dead silence followed the low words. Then, moved by a marvellous +influence which worked upon him irresistibly, Merefleet stooped and put +the slight hand to his lips. He did not understand. He was as far from +reading the riddle as he had been when he entered. But his love for this +woman conquered his desire. He had thought to win an empire. He left the +room a beaten slave. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +Men said that Bernard Merefleet, the gold-king, was curiously changed +when once more he went among them. Something of the old grimness which +had earned for him his _sobriquet_ yet clung to his manner. But he was +undeniably softer than of yore. There was an odd gentleness about him. +Women said that he was marvellously improved. Among such as had known him +in New York he became a favourite, little as he attempted to court +favour. + +Towards the end of the year he went down to the Midlands to stay with his +friend Perry Clinton. They had not met for several years, and Clinton, +who had married in the interval, also thought him changed. + +"Is it prosperity or adversity that has made you so tame, dear fellow?" +he asked him, as they sat together over dessert one night. + +"Adversity," said Merefleet, smiling faintly. "I'm getting old, Perry; +and there's no one to take care of me. And I find that money is vanity." + +Clinton understood. + +"Better go round the world," he said. "That's the best cure for that." + +But Merefleet shook his head. + +"It's my own fault," he said presently. "I've chucked away my life to the +gold-demon. And now there is nothing left to me. You were wise in your +generation. You may thank your stars, Perry, that when I wanted you to +join me, you had the sense to refuse. When I heard you were married +I called you a fool. But--I know better now." + +He paused. He had been speaking with a force that was almost passionate. +When he continued his tone had changed. + +"That is why you find me a trifle less surly than I used to be," he said. +"I used to hate my fellow-creatures. And now I would give all my money in +exchange for a few disinterested friends. I'm sick of my lonely life. But +for all that, I shall live and die alone." + +"You make too much of it," said Clinton. + +"Perhaps. But you can't expect a man who has been into Paradise to be +exactly happy when he is thrust outside." + +Clinton took up the evening paper without comment. Merefleet had never +before spoken so openly to him. He realised that the man's loneliness +must oppress him heavily indeed thus to master his reserve. + +"What news?" said Merefleet, after a pause. + +"Nothing," said Clinton. "Plague on the Continent. Railway mishap on the +Great Northern. Another American Disaster." + +"What's that?" said Merefleet with a touch of interest. + +"Electric car accident. Ralph Warrender among the victims." + +"Warrender! What! Is he dead?" + +"Yes. Killed instantaneously. Did you know him?" + +"I have met him in business. I wasn't intimate with him." + +"Isn't he the man whose first wife was killed in a railway accident?" +said Clinton reflectively, glad to have diverted Merefleet's thoughts. "I +thought so. I met her once and was so smitten with her that I purchased +her portrait forthwith. The most marvellous woman's face I ever saw. The +man I got it from spoke of her with the most appalling enthusiasm. 'Mab +Warrender!' he said. 'If she is not the loveliest woman in U.S., I guess +the next one would strike us blind.' Here! I'll show it you. Netta wants +me to frame it." + +Clinton got up and took a book from a cupboard. Merefleet was watching +him with strained eyes. His heart was thumping as if it would choke him. +He rose as Clinton laid the picture before him, and steadied himself +unconsciously by his friend's shoulder. + +Clinton glanced at him in some surprise. + +"Hullo!" he said. "A friend of yours, was she? My dear fellow, I'm sorry. +I didn't know." + +But Merefleet hung over the picture with fascinated eyes. And his answer +came with a curiously strained laugh, that somehow rang exultant. + +"Yes, a friend of mine, old chap," he said. "It's a wonderful face, isn't +it? But it doesn't do her justice. I shouldn't frame it if I were you." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +"Isn't he a monster?" said Mab, as she sat before the kitchen fire in +Quiller's humble dwelling with Mrs. Quiller's three months' old baby in +her arms. "I guess he'd fetch a prize at a baby show, Mrs. Quiller. Isn't +he just too knowing for anything?" + +"He's the best of the bunch, miss," said Mrs. Quiller proudly. "The other +eight, they weren't nothing special. But this one, he be a beauty, though +it ain't me as should say it. I'm sure it's very good of you, miss, to +spend the time you do over him. He'd be an ungrateful little rogue if he +didn't get on." + +"It's real kind of you to make me welcome," Mab said, with her cheek +against the baby's head, "I don't know what I'd do if you didn't." + +"Ah! Poor dear! You must be lonesome now the gentleman's gone," said Mrs. +Quiller commiseratingly. + +"Oh, no," said Mab lightly. "Not so very. I couldn't ask my cousin to +give up all his time to me you know. Besides, he would come to see me at +any time if I really wanted him." + +"Ah!" Mrs. Quiller shook her head. "But it ain't the same. You wants a +home of your own, my dear. That's what it is. What's become of t'other +gentleman what used to be down here?" + +Mab almost laughed at the artlessness of this query. + +"Mr. Merefleet, you mean? I don't know. I guess he's making some more +money." + +At this point old Quiller, who had been toddling about in the November +sunshine outside, pushed open the door in a state of breathless +excitement. + +"Here's Master Bernard coming, missie," he announced. + +Mab started to her feet, her face in a sudden, marvellous glow. + +"There now!" said Mrs. Quiller, relieving her of her precious burden. +"Who'd have thought it? You'd better go and talk to him." + +And Mab stepped out into the soft sunshine. It fell around her in a flood +and dazzled her. She stood quite still and waited, till out of the +brilliance someone came to her and took her hand. The waves were dashing +loudly on the shore. The south wind raced by with a warm rushing. The +whole world seemed to laugh. She closed her eyes and laughed with it. + +"Is it you, Big Bear?" she said. + +And Merefleet's voice answered her. + +"Yes," it said. "I have come for you in earnest this time. You won't send +me away again?" + +Mab lifted her face with a glad smile. + +"I guess there's no need," she said. "My dear, I'll come now." + +And they went away together in the sunlight. + + * * * * * + +"And now I guess I'll tell you the story of the first Mrs. Ralph +Warrender," said Mab, some time later. "I won't say anything about him, +because he's dead, and if you can't speak well of the dead,--well it's +better not to speak at all. But she was miserable with him. And after her +baby died--it just wasn't endurable. Then came that railway accident, and +she was in it. There were a lot of folks killed, burnt to death most of +them. But she escaped, and then the thought came to her just to lie low +for a bit and let him think she was dead. + +"Oh, it was a real wicked thing to do. But she was nearly demented with +trouble. And she did it. She managed to get away, too, in spite of her +lovely face. An old negro woman helped her. And she came to England and +went to a cousin of hers who had been good to her, whom she knew she +could trust--just a plain, square-jawed Englishman, Big Bear, like you in +some respects--not smart, oh no--only strong as iron. And he kept her +secret, though he didn't like it a bit. And he gave her some money of +hers that he had inherited, to live on. Which was funny, wasn't it?" + +Mab paused to laugh. + +"And then another man came along, a great, surly, fogheaded Englishman, +who made love to her till she was nearly driven crazy. For though +Warrender had married again before she could stop him, she wasn't free. +But she couldn't tell him so for the other woman's sake. It doesn't +matter now. It was a dreadful tangle once. And she felt real bad about +it. But it's come out quite simply. And no one will ever know. + +"Now, I'll tell you a secret, Big Bear, about the woman you know of. You +must put your head down for I'll have to whisper. That's the way. Now! +She's just madly in love with you, Big Bear. And she is quite, quite free +to tell you so. There! And I reckon she's not Death's property any more. +She's just--yours." + +The narrative ended in Merefleet's arms. + + * * * * * + +A few weeks later Quiller the younger looked up from a newspaper with a +grin. + +"Mr. Merefleet's married our little missie, dad," he announced. "I saw it +coming t'other day." + +And old Quiller looked up with a gleam of intelligence on his wrinkled +face. + +"Why!" he said, with slow triumph. "If that ain't what I persuaded him +for to do, long, long ago! He's a sensible lad, is Master Bernard." + +A measure of approval which Merefleet would doubtless have appreciated. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + The Sacrifice + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +It had been a hot day at the Law Courts, but a faint breeze had sprung up +with the later hours, blowing softly over the river. It caught the tassel +of the blind by which Field sat and tapped it against the window-frame, +at first gently like a child at play, then with gathering force and +insistence till at last he looked up with a frown and rose to fasten it +back. + +It was growing late. The rose of the afterglow lay upon the water, +tipping the silvery ripples with soft colour. It was a magic night. But +the wonder of it did not apparently reach him. A table littered with +papers stood in front of him bearing a portable electric lamp. He was +obviously too engrossed to think of exterior things. + +For a space he sat again in silence by the open window, only the +faint rustling of the lace curtain being audible. His somewhat hard, +clean-shaven face was bent over his work with rigid concentration. +His eyelids scarcely stirred. + +Then again there came a tapping, this time at the door. The frown +returned to his face. He looked up. + +"Well?" + +The door opened. A small, sharp-faced boy poked in his head. "A lady to +see you, sir." + +"What?" said Field. His frown deepened. "I can't see any one. I told you +so." + +"Says she won't go away till she's seen you, sir," returned the boy +glibly. "Can't get her to budge, sir." + +"Oh, tell her--" said Field, and stopped as if arrested by a sudden +thought. "Who is it?" he asked. + +A grin so brief that it might have been a mere twitch of the features +passed over the boy's face. + +"Wouldn't give no name, sir. But she's a nob of some sort," he said. "Got +a shiny satin dress on under her cloak." + +Field's eyes went for a moment to his littered papers. Then he picked up +a newspaper from a chair and threw it over them. + +"Show her in!" he said briefly. + +He got up with the words, and stood with his back to the window, watching +the half-open door. + +There came a slight rustle in the passage outside. The small boy +reappeared and threw the door wide with a flourish. A woman in a dark +cloak and hat with a thick veil over her face entered. + +The door closed behind her. Field stood motionless. She advanced with +slight hesitation. + +"I hope you will forgive me," she said, "for intruding upon you." + +Her voice was rich and deep. It held a throb of nervousness. Field came +deliberately forward. + +"I presume I can be of use to you," he said. + +His tone was dry. There was scant encouragement about him as he drew +forward a chair. + +She hesitated momentarily before accepting it, but finally sat down with +a gesture that seemed to indicate physical weakness of some sort. + +"Yes, I want your help," she said. + +Field said nothing. His face was the face of the trained man of law. It +expressed naught beyond a steady, impersonal attention. + +He drew up another chair and seated himself facing her. + +She looked at him through her veil for several seconds in silence. +Finally, with manifest effort, she spoke. + +"It was so good of you to admit me--especially not knowing who I was. You +recognise me now, of course? I am Lady Violet Calcott." + +"I should recognise you more easily," he said in his emotionless voice, +"if you would be good enough to put up your veil." + +His tone was perfectly quiet and courteous, yet she made a rapid movement +to comply, as if he had definitely required it of her. She threw back the +obscuring veil and showed him the face of one of the most beautiful women +in London. + +There was an instant's pause before he said. + +"Yes, I recognise you, of course. And--you wanted to consult me?" + +"No!" She leaned forward in her chair with white hands clasped. "I wanted +to beg you to tell me--why you have refused to undertake Burleigh +Wentworth's defence!" + +She spoke with a breathless intensity. Her wonderful eyes were lifted to +his--eyes that had dazzled half London, but Field only looked down into +them as he might have regarded one of his legal documents. A slight, +peculiar smile just touched his lips as he made reply. + +"I have no objection to telling you, Lady Violet. He is guilty. That is +why." + +"Ah!" It was a sound like the snapped string of an instrument. Her +fingers gripped each other. "So you think that too! Indeed--indeed, you +are wrong! But--is that your only reason?" + +"Isn't it a sufficient one?" he said. + +Her fingers writhed and strained against each other. "Do you mean that it +is--against your principles?" she said. + +"To defend a guilty man?" questioned the barrister slowly. + +She nodded two or three times as if for the moment utterance were beyond +her. + +Field's eyes had not stirred from her face, yet still they had that legal +look as if he searched for some hidden information. + +"No," he said finally. "It is not entirely a matter of principle. As you +are aware, I have achieved a certain reputation. And I value it." + +She made a quick movement that was almost convulsive. + +"But you would not injure your reputation. You would only enhance it," +she said, speaking very rapidly as if some obstruction to speech had very +suddenly been removed. "You are practically on the top of the wave. You +would succeed where another man would fail. And indeed--oh, indeed he is +innocent! He must be innocent! Things look black against him. But he can +be saved somehow. And you could save him--if you would. Think what the +awful disgrace would mean to him--if he were convicted! And he doesn't +deserve it. I assure you he doesn't deserve it. Ah, how shall I persuade +you of that?" Her voice quivered upon a note of despair. "Surely you are +human! There must be some means of moving you. You can't want to see an +innocent man go under!" + +The beautiful eyes were blurred with tears as she looked at him. She +caught back a piteous sob. The cloak had fallen from about her shoulders. +They gleamed with an exquisite whiteness. + +The man's look still rested upon her with unflickering directness. Again +that peculiar smile hovered about his grim mouth. + +"Yes, I am human," he said, after a pause. "I do not esteem myself as +above temptation. As you probably know, I am a self-made man, of very +ordinary extraction. But--I do not feel tempted to take up Burleigh +Wentworth's defence. I am sorry if that fact should cause you any +disappointment. I do not see why it should. There are plenty of other +men--abler than I am--who would, I am sure, be charmed to oblige Lady +Violet Calcott or any of her friends." + +"That is not so," she broke in rapidly. "You know that is not so. You +know that your genius has placed you in what is really a unique position. +Your name in itself is almost a mascot. You know quite well that you +carry all before you with your eloquence. If--if you couldn't get him +acquitted, you could get him lenient treatment. You could save his life +from utter ruin." + +She clasped and unclasped her hands in nervous excitement. Her face was +piteous in its strain and pathos. + +And still Field looked unmoved upon her distress. + +"I am afraid I can't help you," he said. "My eloquence would need a very +strong incentive in such a case as this to balance my lack of sympathy." + +"What do you mean by--incentive?" she said, her voice very low. "I +will do anything--anything in my power--to induce you to change your +mind. I never lost hope until--I heard you had refused to defend him. +Surely--surely--there is some means of persuading you left!" + +For the first time his smile was openly cynical. + +"Don't offer me money, please!" he said. + +She flushed vividly, hotly. + +"Mr. Field! I shouldn't dream of it!" + +"No?" he said. "But it was more than a dream with you when you first +entered this room." + +She dropped her eyes from his. + +"I--didn't--realise--" she said in confusion. + +He bent forward slightly. It was an attitude well known at the Law +Courts. "Didn't realise--" he repeated in his quiet, insistent fashion. + +She met his look again--against her will. + +"I didn't realise what sort of man I had to deal with," she said. + +"Ah!" said Field. "And now?" + +She shrank a little. There was something intolerably keen in his calm +utterance. + +"I didn't do it," she said rather breathlessly. "Please remember that!" + +"I do," he said. + +But yet his look racked her. She threw out her hands with a sudden, +desperate gesture and rose. + +"Oh, are you quite without feeling? What can I appeal to? Does position +mean a great deal to you? If so, my brother is very influential, and I +have influential friends. I will do anything--anything in my power. Tell +me what--incentive you want!" + +Field rose also. They stood face to face--the self-made man and the girl +who could trace her descent from a Norman baron. He was broad-built, +grim, determined. She was slender, pale, and proud. + +For a moment he did not speak. Then, as her eyes questioned him, he +turned suddenly to a mirror over the mantelpiece behind him and showed +her herself in her unveiled beauty. + +"Lady Violet," he said, and his speech had a steely, cutting quality, +"you came into this room to bribe me to defend a man whom I believe to be +a criminal from the consequences of his crime. And when you found I was +not to be so easily bought as you imagined, you asked me if I were human. +I replied to you that I was human, and not above temptation. Since then +you have been trying--very hard--to find a means to tempt me. But--so +far--you have overlooked the most obvious means of all. You have told +me twice over that you will do anything in your power. Do you +mean--literally--that?" + +He was addressing the face in the glass, and still his look was almost +brutally emotionless. It seemed to measure, to appraise. She met it for +a few seconds, and then in spite of herself she flinched. + +"Will you tell me what you mean?" she said in a low voice. + +He turned round to her again. + +"Why did you come here yourself?" he said. "And at night?" + +She was trembling. + +"I had to come myself--as soon as I knew. I hoped to persuade you." + +"You thought," he said mercilessly, "that, however I might treat others, +I could never resist you." + +"I hoped--to persuade you," she said again. + +"By--tempting--me?" he said slowly. + +She gave a great start. "Mr. Field--" + +He put out a quiet hand, and laid it upon her bare arm. + +"Wait a moment, please! As I said before, I am not above +temptation--being human. You take a very personal interest in Burleigh +Wentworth, I think?" + +She met his look with quivering eyelids. + +"Yes," she said. + +"Are you engaged to him?" he pursued. + +She winced in spite of herself. + +"No." + +He raised his brows. + +"You have refused him, then?" + +Her face was burning. + +"He hasn't proposed to me--yet," she said. "Perhaps he never will." + +"I see." His manner was relentless, his hold compelling. "I will defend +Burleigh Wentworth," he said, "upon one condition." + +"What is that?" she whispered. + +"That you marry me," said Percival Field with his steady eyes upon her +face. + +She was trembling from head to foot. + +"You--you--have never seen me before to-day," she said. + +"Yes, I have seen you," he said, "several times. I have known your face +and figure by heart for a very long while. I haven't had the time to seek +you out. It seems to have been decreed that you should do that part." + +Was there cynicism in his voice? It seemed so. Yet his eyes never left +her. They held her by some electric attraction which she was powerless +to break. + +She looked at him, white to the lips. + +"Are you--in--earnest?" she asked at last. + +Again for an instant she saw his faint smile. + +"Don't you know the signs yet?" he said. "Surely you have had ample +opportunity to learn them!" + +A tinge of colour crept beneath her pallor. + +"No one ever proposed to me--like this before," she said. + +His hand was still upon her arm. It closed with a slow, remorseless +pressure as he made quiet reply to her previous question. + +"Yes. I am in earnest." + +She flinched at last from the gaze of those merciless eyes. + +"You ask the impossible," she said. + +"Then it is all the simpler for you to refuse," he rejoined. + +Her eyes were upon the hand that held her. Did he know that its grasp had +almost become a grip? It was by that, and that alone, that she was made +aware of something human--or was it something bestial--behind that legal +mask? + +Suddenly she straightened herself and faced him. It cost her all the +strength she had. + +"Mr. Field," she said, and though her voice shook she spoke with +resolution, "if I were to consent to this--extraordinary suggestion; if +I married you--you would not ask--or expect--more than that?" + +"If you consent to marry me," he said, "it will be without conditions." + +"Then I cannot consent," she said. "Please let me go!" + +He released her instantly, and, turning, picked up her cloak. + +But she moved away to the window and stood there with her back to him, +gazing down upon the quiet river. Its pearly stillness was like a dream. +The rush and roar of London's many wheels had died to a monotone. + +The man waited behind her in silence. She had released the blind-cord, +and was plucking at it mechanically, with fingers that trembled. + +Suddenly the blast of a siren from a vessel in mid-stream shattered the +stillness. The girl at the window quivered from head to foot as if it had +pierced her. And then with a sharp movement she turned. + +"Mr. Field!" she said, and stopped. + +He waited with absolute composure. + +She made a small but desperate gesture--the gesture of a creature trapped +and helpless. + +"I--will do it!" she said in a voice that was barely audible. "But if--if +you ever come--to repent--don't blame me!" + +"I shall not repent," he said. + +She passed on rapidly. + +"And--you will do your best--to save--Burleigh Wentworth?" + +"I will save him," said Field. + +She paused a moment; then moved towards him, as if compelled against her +will. + +He put the cloak around her shoulders, and then, as she fumbled with it +uncertainly, he fastened it himself. + +"Your veil?" he said. + +She made a blind movement. Her self-control was nearly gone. With +absolute steadiness he drew it down over her face. + +"Have you a conveyance waiting?" he asked. + +"Yes," she whispered. + +He turned to the door. He was in the act of opening it when she stayed +him. + +"One moment!" she said. + +He stopped at once, standing before her with his level eyes looking +straight at her. + +She spoke hurriedly behind her veil. + +"Promise me, you will never--never let him know--of this!" + +He made a grave bow, his eyes unchangeably upon her. + +"Certainly," he said. + +She made an involuntary movement; her hands clenched. She stood as if she +were about to make some further appeal. But he opened the door and held +it for her, and such was the finality of his action that she was obliged +to pass out. + +He followed her into the lift and took her down in unbroken silence. + +A taxi awaited her. He escorted her to it. + +"Good night!" he said then. + +She hesitated an instant. Then, without speaking, she gave him her hand. +For a moment his fingers grasped hers. + +"You may depend upon me," he said. + +She slipped free from his hold. "Thank you," she said, her voice very +low. + +A few seconds later Field sat again at his table by the window. The wind +was blowing in from the river in rising gusts. The blind-tassel tapped +and tapped, now here, now there, like a trapped creature seeking +frantically for escape. For a space he sat quite motionless, gazing +before him as though unaware of his surroundings. Then very suddenly but +very quietly he reached out and caught the swaying thing. A moment he +held it, then pulled it to him and, taking a penknife from the table, +grimly, deliberately, he severed the cord. + +The tassel lay in his hand, a silken thing, slightly frayed, as if +convulsive fingers had torn it. He sat for a while and looked at it. +Then, with that strange smile of his, he laid it away in a drawer. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +The trial of Burleigh Wentworth for forgery was one of the sensations of +the season. A fashionable crowd went day after day to the stifling Court +to watch its progress. The man himself, nonchalant, debonair, bore +himself with the instinctive courage of his race, though whether his +bearing would have been as confident had Percival Field not been at his +back was a question asked by a good many. He was one of the best-known +figures in society, a general favourite in sporting circles, and +universally looked upon with approval if not admiration wherever he went. +He had the knack of popularity. He came of an old family, and his +rumoured engagement to Lady Violet Calcott had surprised no one. Lord +Culverleigh, her brother, was known to be his intimate friend, and the +rumour had come already to be regarded as an accomplished fact when, like +a thunder-bolt, had come Wentworth's arraignment for forgery. + +It had set all London talking. The evidence against him was far-reaching +and overwhelming. After the first shock no one believed him innocent. +The result of the trial was looked upon before its commencement as a +foregone conclusion until it became known that Percival Field, the rising +man of the day, had undertaken his defence, and then like the swing of a +weather cock public opinion veered. If Field defended him, there must be +some very strong point in his favour, men argued. Field was not the sort +to touch anything of a doubtful nature. + +The trial lasted for nearly a week. During that time Lady Violet went day +after day to the Court and sat with her veil down all through the burning +hours. People looked at her curiously, questioning if there really had +been any definite understanding between the two. Did she really care for +the man, or was it mere curiosity that drew her? No one knew with any +certainty. She wrapped herself in her reserve like an all-enveloping +garment, and even those who regarded themselves as her nearest friends +knew naught of what she carried in her soul. + +All through the trial she sat in utter immobility, sphinx-like, +unapproachable, yet listening with tense attention to all that passed. +Field's handling of the case was a marvel of legal ingenuity. There were +many who were attracted to the trial by that alone. He had made his mark, +and whatever he said carried weight. When he came at last to make his +speech for the defence, men and women listened with bated breath. It was +one of the greatest speeches that the Criminal Court had ever heard. + +He flung into it the whole weight of his personality. He grappled like a +giant with the rooted obstacles that strewed his path, flinging them +hither and thither by sheer force of will. His scorching eloquence +blasted every opposing power, consumed every tangle of adverse evidence. +It was as if he fought a pitched battle for himself alone. He wrestled +for the mastery rather than appealed for sympathy. + +And he won his cause. His scathing attacks, his magnetism, his ruthless +insistence left an indelible mark upon the minds of the jury--such a mark +as no subsequent comments from the judge could efface or even moderate. +The verdict returned was unanimous in spite of a by no means favourable +summing-up. The prisoner was Not Guilty. + +At the pronouncement of the verdict there went up a shout of applause +such as that Court had seldom heard. The prisoner, rather white but still +affecting sublime self-assurance, accepted it with a smile as a tribute +to himself. But it was not really directed towards him. It was for the +man who had defended him, the man who sat at the table below the dock and +turned over a sheaf of papers with a faint, cynical smile at the corners +of his thin lips. This man, they said, had done the impossible. He had +dragged the prisoner out of his morass by sheer titanic effort. Obviously +Percival Field had believed firmly in the innocence of the man he had +defended, or he had not thus triumphantly vindicated him. + +The crowd, staring at him, wondered how the victory affected him. It had +certainly enhanced his reputation. It had drawn from him such a display +of genius as had amazed even his colleagues. Did he feel elated at all +over his success? Was he spent by that stupendous effort? No one knew? + +Now that it was over, he looked utterly indifferent. He had fought and +conquered, but it seemed already as if his attention were turning +elsewhere. + +The crowd began to stream out. The day was hot and the crush had been +very great. On one of the benches occupied by the public a woman had +fainted. They carried her out into the corridor and there gradually she +revived. A little later she went home alone in a taxi with her veil +closely drawn down over her face. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +The season was drawing to a close when the announcement of Lady Violet +Calcott's engagement to Percival Field took the world by storm. + +It very greatly astonished Burleigh Wentworth, who after his acquittal +had drifted down to Cowes for rest and refreshment before the advent of +the crowd. He had not seen Lady Violet before his departure, she having +gone out of town for a few days immediately after the trial. But he took +the very next train back to London as soon as he had seen the +announcement, to find her. + +It was late in the evening when he arrived, but this fact did not daunt +him. He had always been accustomed to having his own way, and he had a +rooted belief, which the result of his trial had not tended to lessen, in +his own lucky star. He had dined on the train and he merely waited to +change before he went straight to Lord Culverleigh's house. + +He found there was a dinner-party in progress. Lady Culverleigh, Violet's +sister-in-law, was an indefatigable hostess. She had the reputation for +being one of the hardest-working women in the West End. + +The notes of a song reached Wentworth as he went towards the +drawing-room. Lady Violet was singing. Her voice was rich and low. He +stood outside the half-open door to listen. + +He did not know that he was visible to any one inside the room, but a man +sitting near the door became suddenly aware of his presence and got up +before the song was ended. Wentworth in the act of stepping back to let +him pass stopped short abruptly. It was Percival Field. + +They faced each other for a second or two in silence. Then Field's hand +came quietly forth and grasped the other man's shoulder, turning him +about. + +"I should like a word with you," he said. + +They descended the stairs together, Burleigh Wentworth leading the way. + +Down in the vestibule they faced each other again. There was antagonism +in the atmosphere though it was not visible upon either man's +countenance, and each ignored it as it were instinctively. + +"Hullo!" said Wentworth, and offered his hand. "I'm pleased to meet you +here." + +Field took the hand after a scarcely perceptible pause. His smile was +openly cynical. + +"Very kind of you," he said. "I am somewhat out of my element, I admit. +We are celebrating our engagement." + +He looked full at Wentworth as he said it with that direct, unflickering +gaze of his. + +Wentworth did not meet the look quite so fully, but he faced the +situation without a sign of discomfiture. + +"You are engaged to Lady Violet?" he said. "I saw the announcement. +I congratulate you." + +"Thanks," said Field. + +"Rather sudden, isn't it?" said Wentworth, with a curious glance. + +Field's smile still lingered. + +"Oh, not really. We have kept it to ourselves, that's all. The wedding is +fixed for the week after next--for the convenience of Lady Culverleigh, +who wants to get out of town." + +"By Jove! It is quick work!" said Wentworth. + +There were beads of perspiration on his forehead, but the night was +warm. He held himself erect as one defying Fate. So had he held himself +throughout his trial; Field recognised the attitude. + +The song upstairs had ended. They heard the buzz of appreciation that +succeeded it. Field turned with the air of a man who had said his say. + +"I don't believe in long engagements myself," he said. "They must be +a weariness to the flesh." + +He began to mount the stairs again, and Wentworth followed him in +silence. + +At the drawing-room door Field paused and they entered together. It was +almost Wentworth's first appearance since his trial. There was a moment +or two of dead silence as he sauntered forward with Field. Then, with a +little laugh to cover an instant's embarrassment, Lady Culverleigh came +forward. She shook hands with Wentworth and asked where he had been in +retreat. + +Violet came forward from the piano very pale but quite composed, and +shook hands also. Several people present followed suit, and soon there +was a little crowd gathered round him, and Burleigh Wentworth was again +the popular centre of attraction. + +Percival Field kept in the background; it was not his way to assert +himself in society. But he remained until Wentworth and the last guest +had departed. And then very quietly but with indisputable insistence he +drew Lady Violet away into the conservatory. + +She was looking white and tired, but she held herself with a proud +aloofness in his presence. While admitting his claim upon her, she yet +did not voluntarily yield him an inch. + +"Did you wish to speak to me?" she asked. + +He stood a moment or two in silence before replying; then: + +"Only to give you this," he said, and held out to her a small packet +wrapped in tissue paper on the palm of his hand. + +She took it unwillingly. + +"The badge of servitude?" she said. + +"I should like to know if it fits," said Field quietly, as if she had not +spoken. + +She opened the packet and disclosed not the orthodox diamond ring she had +expected, but a ring containing a single sapphire very deep in hue, +exquisitely cut. She looked at him over it, her look a question. + +"Will you put it on?" he said. + +She hesitated an instant, then with a tightening of the lips she slipped +it on to her left hand. + +"Is it too easy?" he said. + +She looked at him again. + +"No; it is not easy at all." + +He took her hand and looked at it. His touch was cool and strong. He +slipped the ring up and down upon her finger, testing it. It was as if +he waited for something. + +She endured his action for a few seconds, then with a deliberate movement +she took her hand away. + +"Thank you very much," she said conventionally. "I wonder what made you +think of a sapphire." + +"You like sapphires?" he questioned. + +"Of course," she returned. Her tone was resolutely indifferent, yet +something in his look made her avert her eyes abruptly. She turned them +upon the ring. "Why did you choose a sapphire?" she said. + +If she expected some compliment in reply she was disappointed. He stood +in silence. + +Half-startled she glanced at him. In the same moment he held out his hand +to her with a formal gesture of leave-taking. + +"I will tell you another time," he said. "Good night!" + +She gave him her hand, but he scarcely held it. The next instant, with a +brief bow, he had turned and left her. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Burleigh Wentworth looked around him with a frown of discontent. + +He ought to have been in good spirits. Life on the moors suited him. The +shooting was excellent, the hospitality beyond reproach. But yet he was +not satisfied. People had wholly ceased to eye him askance. He had come +himself to look back upon his trial as a mere escapade. It had been an +unpleasant experience. He had been a fool to run such a risk. But it was +over, and he had come out with flying colours, thanks to Percival Field's +genius. A baffling, unapproachable sort of man--Field! The affair of his +marriage was still a marvel to Wentworth. He had a strong suspicion that +there was more in the conquest than met the eye, but he knew he would +never find out from Field. + +Violet was getting enigmatical too, but he couldn't stand that. He would +put a stop to it. She might be a married woman, but she needn't imagine +she was going to keep him at a distance. + +She and her husband had joined the house-party of which he was a member +the day before. It was the end of their honeymoon, and they were +returning to town after their sojourn on the moors. He grimaced to +himself at the thought. How would Violet like town in September? He had +asked her that question the previous night, but she had not deigned to +hear. Decidedly, Violet was becoming interesting. He would have to +penetrate that reserve of hers. + +He wondered why she was not carrying a gun. She had always been such an +ardent sportswoman. He would ask her that also presently. In fact, he +felt inclined to go back and ask her now. He was not greatly enjoying +himself. It was growing late, and it had begun to drizzle. + +His inclination became the more insistent, the more he thought of it. +Yes, he would go. He was intimate enough with his host to do as he liked +without explanation. And he and Violet had always been such pals. +Besides, the thought of sitting with her in the firelight while her +husband squelched about in the rain was one that appealed to him. He had +no liking for Field, however deeply he might be in his debt. That latent +antagonism between them was perpetually making itself felt. He hated the +man for the very ability by which he himself had been saved. He hated +his calm superiority. Above all, he hated him for marrying Violet. It +seemed that he had only to stretch out his hand for whatever he wanted. +Still, he hadn't got everything now, Wentworth said to himself, as he +strode impatiently back over the moor. Possibly, as time went on, he +might even come to realise that what he had was not worth very much. + +He reached and entered the old grey house well ahead of any of the other +sportsmen. He was determined to find Violet somehow, and he made instant +enquiry for her of one of the servants. + +The reply served in some measure to soothe his chafing mood. Her ladyship +had gone up into the turret some little time back, and was believed to be +on the roof. + +Without delay he followed her. The air blew chill down the stone +staircase as he mounted it. He would have preferred sitting downstairs +with her over the fire. But at least interruptions were less probable in +this quarter. + +There was a battlemented walk at the top of the tower, and here he found +her, with a wrap thrown over her head, gazing out through one of the deep +embrasures over the misty country to a line of hills in the far distance. +The view was magnificent, lighted here and there by sunshine striking +through scudding cloud-drifts. And a splendid rainbow spanned it like a +multi-coloured frame. + +She did not hear him approaching. He wondered why, till he was so close +that he could see her face, and then very swiftly she turned upon him and +he saw that she was crying. + +"My dear girl!" he exclaimed. + +She drew back sharply. It was impossible to conceal her distress all in a +moment. She moved aside, battling with herself. + +He came close to her. "Violet!" he said. + +"Don't!" she said, in a choked whisper. + +He slipped an arm about her, gently overcoming her resistance. "I +say--what's the matter? What's troubling you?" + +He had never held her so before. Always till that moment she had +maintained a delicate reserve in his presence, a barrier which he had +never managed to overcome. He had even wondered sometimes if she were +afraid of him. But now in her hour of weakness she suffered him, albeit +under protest. + +"Oh, go away!" she whispered. "Please--you must!" + +But Wentworth had no thought of yielding his advantage. He pressed her to +him. + +"Violet, I say! You're miserable! I knew you were the first moment I saw +you. And I can't stand it. You must let me help. Don't anyhow try to keep +me outside!" + +"You can't help," she murmured, with her face averted. "At least--only by +going away." + +But he held her still. "That's rot, you know. I'm not going. What is it? +Tell me! Is he a brute to you?" + +She made a more determined effort to disengage herself. "Whatever he is, +I've got to put up with him. So it's no good talking about it." + +"Oh, but look here!" protested Wentworth. "You and I are such old +friends. I used to think you cared for me a little. Violet, I say, what +induced you to marry that outsider?" + +She was silent, not looking at him. + +"You were always so proud," he went on. "I never thought in the old days +that you would capitulate to a bounder like that. Why, you might have had +that Bohemian prince if you'd wanted him." + +"I didn't want him!" She spoke with sudden vehemence, as if stung into +speech. "I'm not the sort of snob-woman who barters herself for a title!" + +"No?" said Wentworth, looking at her curiously. "But what did you barter +yourself for, I wonder?" + +She flinched, and dropped back into silence. + +"Won't you tell me?" he said. + +"No." She spoke almost under her breath. He relinquished the matter with +the air of a man who has gained his point. "Do you know," he said, in a +different tone, "if it hadn't been for that fiendish trial, I'd have been +in the same race with Field, and I believe I'd have made better running, +too?" + +"Ah!" she said. + +It was almost a gasp of pain. He stopped deliberately and looked into her +face. + +"Violet!" he said. + +She trembled at his tone and thrust out a protesting hand. "Ah, what is +the use?" she cried. "Do you--do you want to break my heart?" + +Her voice failed. For the first time her eyes met his fully. + +There followed an interval of overwhelming stillness in which neither of +them drew a breath. Then, with an odd sound that might have been a laugh +strangled at birth. Burleigh Wentworth gathered her to his heart and held +her there. + +"No!" he said. "No! I want to make you--the happiest woman in the world!" + +"Too late! Too late!" she whispered. + +But he stopped the words upon her lips, passionately, irresistibly, with +his own. + +"You are mine!" he swore, with his eyes on hers. "You are mine! No man on +earth shall ever take you from me again!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +Violet was in her room ready dressed for dinner that evening, when there +came a knock upon her door. She was seated at a writing-table in a corner +scribbling a note, but she covered it up quickly at the sound. + +"Come in!" she said. + +She rose as her husband entered. He also was ready dressed. He came up to +her in his quiet, direct fashion, looking at her with those steady eyes +that saw so much and revealed so little. + +"I just came in to say," he said, "that I am sorry to cut your pleasure +short, but I find we must return to town to-morrow." + +She started at the information. "To-morrow!" she echoed. "Why?" + +"I find it necessary," he said. + +She looked at him. Her heart was beating very fast. "Percival, why?" she +said again. + +He raised his eyebrows slightly. "It would be rather difficult for me to +explain." + +"Do you mean you have to go on business?" she said. + +He smiled a little. "Yes, on business." + +She turned to the fire with a shiver. There was something in the +atmosphere, although the room was warm, that made her cold from head +to foot. With her back to him she spoke again: + +"Is there any reason why I should go too?" + +He came and joined her before the fire. "Yes; one," he said. + +She threw him a nervous glance. "And that?" + +"You are my wife," said Field quietly. + +Again that shiver caught her. She put out a hand to steady herself +against the mantelpiece. When she spoke again, it was with a great +effort. + +"Wives are sometimes allowed a holiday away from their husbands." + +Field said nothing whatever. He only looked at her with unvarying +attention. + +She turned at last in desperation and faced him. "Percival! Why do you +look at me like that?" + +He turned from her instantly, without replying. "May I write a note +here?" he said, and went towards the writing-table. "My pen has run dry." + +She made a movement that almost expressed panic. She was at the table +before he reached it. "Ah, wait a minute! Let me clear my things out +of your way first!" + +She began to gather up the open blotter that lay there with feverish +haste. A sheet of paper flew out from her nervous hands and fluttered +to the floor at Field's feet. He stooped and picked it up. + +She uttered a gasp and turned as white as the dress she wore. "That is +mine!" she panted. + +He gave it to her with grave courtesy. "I am afraid I am disturbing you," +he said. "I can wait while you finish." + +But she crumpled the paper in her hand. She was trembling so much that +she could hardly stand. + +"It--doesn't matter," she said almost inaudibly. + +He stood for a second or two in silence, then seated himself at the +writing-table and took up a pen. + +In the stillness that followed she moved away to the fire and stood +before it. Field wrote steadily without turning his head. She stooped +after a moment and dropped the crumpled paper into the blaze. Then she +sat down, her hands tightly clasped about her knees, and waited. + +Field's quiet voice broke the stillness at length. "If you are writing +letters of your own, perhaps I may leave this one in your charge." + +She looked round with a start. He had turned in his chair. Their eyes met +across the room. + +"May I?" he said. + +She nodded, finding her voice with an effort. "Yes--of course." + +He got up, and as he did so the great dinner-gong sounded through the +house. He came to her side. She rose quickly at his approach, moving +almost apprehensively. + +"Shall we go down?" she said. + +He put out a hand and linked it in her arm. She shrank at his touch, but +she endured it. She even, after a moment, seemed to be in a measure +steadied by it. She stood motionless for a few seconds, and during those +seconds his fingers closed upon her, very gentle, very firmly; then +opened and set her free. + +"Will you lead the way?" he said. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +A very hilarious party gathered at the table that night. Burleigh +Wentworth was in uproarious spirits which seemed to infect nearly +everyone else. + +In the midst of the running tide of joke and banter Violet sat as one +apart. Now and then she joined spasmodically in the general merriment, +but often she did not know what she laughed at. There was a great fear at +her heart, and it tormented her perpetually. That note that she had +crumpled and burnt! His eyes had rested upon it during the moment he had +held it in his hand. How much had they seen? And what was it that had +induced him in the first place to declare his intention of curtailing +their visit? Why had he reminded her that she was his wife? Surely he +must have heard something--suspected something! But what? + +Covertly she watched him during that interminable dinner, watched his +clear-cut face with its clever forehead and intent eyes, his slightly +scornful, wholly unyielding lips. She cast her thoughts backwards over +their honeymoon, trying somehow to trace an adequate reason for the fear +that gripped her. He had been very forbearing with her throughout that +difficult time. He had been gentle; he had been considerate. Though he +had asserted and maintained his mastery over her, though his will had +subdued hers, he had never been unreasonable, never so much as impatient, +in his treatment of her. He had given her no cause for the dread that now +consumed her, unless it were that by his very self-restraint he had +inspired in her a fear of the unknown. + +No, she had to look farther back than her honeymoon, back to the days of +Burleigh Wentworth's trial, and the almost superhuman force by which he +had dragged him free. It was that force with which she would have very +soon to reckon, that overwhelming, all-consuming power that had wrestled +so victoriously in Wentworth's defence. How would it be when she found +herself confronted by that? She shivered and dared not think. + +The stream of gaiety flowed on around her. Someone--Wentworth she knew +later--proposed a game of hide-and-seek by moonlight in and about the old +ruins on the shores of the loch. She would have preferred to remain +behind, but he made a great point of her going also. She did not know if +Percival went or not, but she did not see him among the rest. The fun was +fast and furious, the excitement great. Almost in spite of herself she +was drawn in. + +And then, how it happened she scarcely knew, she found herself hiding +alone with Wentworth in a little dark boat-house on the edge of the +water. He had a key with him, and she heard him turn it on the inside. + +"I think we are safe here," he said, and then in the darkness his arms +were round her. He called her by every endearing name that he could think +of. + +Why was it his ardour failed to reach her? She had yielded to him only +that afternoon. She had suffered him to kiss away her tears. But now +something in her held her back. She drew herself away. + +"Come and sit in the boat!" he said. "We will go on the water as soon as +the hue and cry is over. Hush! Don't speak! They are coming now." + +They sat with bated breath while the hunt spread round their +hiding-place. The water lapped mysteriously in front of them with an +occasional gurgling chuckle. The ripples danced far out in the moonlight. +It was a glorious night, with a keenness in the air that was like the +touch of steel. + +Violet drew her cloak more closely about her. She felt very cold. + +Someone came and battered at the door. "I'm sure they're here," cried a +voice. + +"They can't be," said another. "The place is locked, and there's no key." + +"Bet you it's on the inside!" persisted the first, and a match was +lighted and held to the lock. + +The man inside laughed under his breath. The key was dangling between his +hands. + +"Oh, come on!" called a girl's voice from the distance. "They wouldn't +hide in there. It's such a dirty hole. Lady Violet is much too +fastidious." + +And Violet, sitting within, drew herself together with a little shrinking +movement. Yes, that had always been their word for her. She was +fastidious. She had rather prided herself upon having that reputation. +She had always regarded women who made themselves cheap with scorn. + +The chase passed on, and Wentworth's arm slipped round her again. "Now we +are safe," he said. "By Jove, dear, how I have schemed for this! It was +really considerate of your worthy husband to absent himself." + +Again, gently but quite decidedly, she drew herself away. "I think Freda +is right," she said. "This is rather a dirty place." + +He laughed. "A regular black hole! But wait till I can get you out on to +the loch! It's romantic enough out there. But look here, Violet! I've +got to come to an understanding with you. Now that we've found each +other, darling, we are not going to lose each other again, are we?" + +She was silent in the darkness. + +He leaned to her and took her hand. "Oh, why did you go and complicate +matters by getting married?" he said. "It was such an obvious--such +a fatal--mistake. You knew I cared for you, didn't you?" + +"You--had never told me so," she said, her voice very low. + +"Never told you! I tried to tell you every time we met. But you were +always so aloof, so frigid. On my soul, I was afraid to speak. Tell me +now!" His hand was fast about hers. "When did you begin to care?" + +She sat unyielding in his hold. "I--imagined I cared--a very long time +ago," she said, with an effort. + +"What! Before that trial business?" he said. "I wish to Heaven I'd +known!" + +"Why?" she said. + +"Because if I'd known I wouldn't have been such a fool," he said with +abrupt vehemence. "I would never have run that infernal risk." + +"What risk?" she said. + +He laughed, a half-shamed laugh. "Oh, I didn't quite mean to let that +out. Consider it unsaid! Only a man without ties is apt to risk more than +a man who has more to lose. I've had the most fantastic ill-luck this +year that ever fell any man's lot before." + +"At least you were vindicated," Violet said. + +"Oh, that!" said Wentworth. "Well, it was beginning to be time my luck +turned, wasn't it? It was rank enough to be caught, but if I'd been +convicted, I'd have hanged myself. Now tell me! Was it Field's brilliant +defence that dazzled you into marrying him?" + +She did not answer him. She turned instead and faced him in the darkness. +"Burleigh! What do you mean by risk? What do you mean by being--caught? +You don't mean--you can't mean--that you--that you were--guilty!" + +Her voice shook. The words tumbled over each other. Her hand wrenched +itself free. + +"My dear girl!" said Wentworth. "Don't be so melodramatic! No man is +guilty until he is proved so. And--thanks to the kindly offices of +your good husband--I did not suffer the final catastrophe." + +"But--but--but--" Her utterance seemed suddenly choked. She rose, feeling +blindly for the door. + +"It's locked," said Wentworth, and there was a ring of malice in his +voice. "I say, don't be unreasonable! You shouldn't ask unnecessary +questions, you know. Other people don't. For Heaven's sake, let's enjoy +what we've got and leave the past alone!" + +"Open the door!" gasped Violet in a whisper. + +He rose without haste. Her white dress made her conspicuous in the +dimness. Her cloak had fallen from her, and she seemed unaware of it. + +He reached out as if to open the door, and then very suddenly his +intention changed. He caught her to him. + +"By Heaven," he said, and laughed savagely, "I'll have my turn first!" + +She turned in his hold, turned like a trapped creature in the first wild +moment of capture, struggling so fiercely that she broke through his grip +before he had made it secure. + +He stumbled against the boat, but she sprang from him, sprang for the +open moonlight and the lapping water, and the next instant she was gone +from his sight. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +The water was barely up to her knees, but she stumbled among slippery +stones as she fled round the corner of the boat-house, and twice she +nearly fell. There were reeds growing by the bank; she struggled through +them, frantically fighting her way. + +She was drenched nearly to the waist when at last she climbed up the +grassy slope. She heard the seekers laughing down among the ruins some +distance away as she did so, and for a few seconds she thought she might +escape to the house unobserved. She turned in that direction, her wet +skirts clinging round her. And then, simultaneously, two things happened. + +The key ground in the lock of the boat-house, and, ere Wentworth could +emerge, a man walked out from the shadow of some trees and met her on the +path. She stopped short in the moonlight, standing as one transfixed. It +was her husband. + +He came to her, moving more quickly than was his won't. "My dear child!" +he ejaculated. + +Feverishly she sought to make explanation. "I--I was hiding--down +on the bank. I slipped into the lake. It was very foolish of me. +But--but--really I couldn't help it." + +Her teeth were chattering. He took her by the arm. + +"Come up to the house at once!" he said. + +She looked towards the boat-house. The door was ajar, but Wentworth had +not shown himself. With a gasp of relief she yielded to Field's insistent +hand. + +Her knees were shaking under her, but she made a valiant effort to +control them. He did not speak further, and something in his silence +dismayed her. She trembled more and more as she walked. Her wet clothes +impeded her. She remembered with consternation that she had left her +cloak in the boat-house. In her horror at this discovery she stopped. + +As she did so a sudden tumult behind them told her that Wentworth had +been sighted by his pursuers. + +In the same moment Field very quietly turned and lifted her in his arms. +She gave a gasp of astonishment. + +"I think we shall get on quicker this way," he said. "Put your arm over +my shoulder, won't you?" + +He spoke as gently as if she had been a child, and instinctively she +obeyed. He bore her very steadily straight to the house. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +In the safe haven of her own room Violet recovered somewhat. Field left +her in the charge of her maid, but the latter she very quickly dismissed. +She sat before the fire clad in a wrapper, still shivering spasmodically, +but growing gradually calmer. + +"I believe there is a letter on the writing-table," she said to the maid +as she was about to go out. "Take it with you and put it in the box +downstairs!" + +The girl returned and took up the letter that Field had written that +evening. "It isn't stamped my lady," she began; and then in a tone of +surprise: "Why, it is addressed to your ladyship!" + +Violet started. "Give it to me!" she commanded "That will do. I shall not +be wanting you again to-night." + +The girl withdrew, and she crouched lower over the fire, the letter in +her hand. + +Yes, it was addressed to her in her husband's clear, strong +writing--addressed to her and written in her presence! + +Her hands were trembling very much as she tore open the envelope. A +baffling mist danced before her eyes. For a few seconds she could see +nothing. Then with a great effort she commanded herself, and read: + + + "My own Beloved Wife, + + "If I have made your life a misery, may I be forgiven! I meant + otherwise. I saw you on the ramparts this evening. That is why I want + you to leave this place to-morrow. But if you do not wish to share my + life any longer, I will let you go. Only in Heaven's name choose some + worthier means than this! + + "I am yours to take or leave. P.F." + +Hers--to take--or leave! She felt again the steady hold upon her arm, the +equally steady release. That was what he had meant. That! + +She sat bowed like an old woman. He had seen! And instead of being angry +on his own account, he was concerned only on hers. She was his own +beloved wife. He was--hers to take or leave! + +Suddenly a great sob broke from her. She laid her face down upon the note +she held.... + +There came a low knock at the door that divided her room from the one +adjoining. She started swiftly up as one caught in a guilty act. + +"Can I come in?" Field said. + +She made some murmured response, and he opened the dividing door. A +moment he stood on the threshold; then he came quietly forward. He +carried her cloak upon his arm. + +He deposited it upon the back of a chair, and came to her. "I hoped you +would be in bed," he said. + +"I am trying--to get warm," she muttered almost inarticulately. + +"Have you had a hot drink since your accident?" he asked. + +She shook her head. "I told West--I couldn't." + +He turned and rang the bell. He must have seen his note tightly grasped +in her hand, but he made no comment upon it. + +"Sit down again!" he said gently, and, stooping, poked the sinking fire +into a blaze. + +She obeyed him almost automatically. After a moment he laid down the +poker, and drew the chair with her in it close to the fender. Then he +picked up the cloak and put it about her shoulders, and finally moved +away to the door. + +She heard him give an order to a servant, and sat nervously awaiting his +return. But he did not come back to her. He went outside and waited in +the passage. + +There ensued an interval of several minutes, and during that time she sat +crouched over the fire, holding her cloak about her, and shivering, +shivering all over. Then the door which he had left ajar closed quietly, +and she knew that he had come back into the room. + +She drew herself together, striving desperately to subdue her agitation. + +He came to her side and stooped over her. "I want you to drink this," he +said. + +She glanced up at him swiftly, and as swiftly looked away. "Don't bother +about me!" she said. "I--am not worth it." + +He passed the low words by. "It's only milk with a dash of brandy," he +said. "Won't you try it?" + +Very reluctantly she took the steaming beverage from him and began to +drink. + +He remained beside her, and took the cup from her when she had finished. + +"Now," he said, "wouldn't it be wise of you to go to bed?" + +She made a movement that was almost convulsive. She had his note still +clasped in her hand. + +After a moment, without lifting her eyes, she spoke. "Percival, why did +you--what made you--write this?" + +"I owed it to you," he said. + +"You--meant it?" she said, with an effort. + +"Yes. I meant it." He spoke with complete steadiness. + +"But--but--" She struggled with herself for an instant; then, "Oh, I've +got to tell you!" she burst forth passionately. "I'm--very wicked." + +"No," he said quietly, and laid a constraining hand upon her as she sat. +"That is not so." + +She contracted at his touch. "You don't know me. I wrote you a note this +evening, trying to explain. I told you I meant to leave you. But--I +didn't mean you to read it till I was gone. Did you read it?" + +"No," he said. "I guessed what you had done." + +Desperately she went on. "You've got to know the worst. I was ready to go +away with him. We--were such old friends, and I thought--I thought--I +knew him." She bowed herself lower under his hand. Her face was hidden. +"I thought he was at least a gentleman. I thought I could trust him. +I--believed in him." + +"Ah!" said Field. "And now?" + +"Now"--her head was sunk almost to her knees--"I know him--for what--he +is." Her voice broke in bitter weeping. "And I had given so much--so +much--to save him!" she sobbed. + +"I know," Field said. "He wasn't worth the sacrifice." He stood for a +moment or two as though in doubt; then knelt suddenly down beside her and +drew her to him. + +She made as if she would resist him, but finally, as he held her, +impulsively she yielded. She sobbed out her agony against his breast. And +he soothed her as he might have soothed a child. + +But though presently he dried her tears, he did not kiss her. He spoke, +but his voice was devoid of all emotion. + +"You are blaming the wrong person for all this. It wasn't Wentworth's +fault. He has probably been a crook all his life. It wasn't yours. You +couldn't be expected to detect it. But"--he paused--"don't you realise +now why I am offering you the only reparation in my power?" he said. + +She was trembling, but she did not raise her head or attempt to move, +though his arms were ready to release her. + +"No. I don't," she said. + +Very steadily he went on: "You have not wronged me. It was I who did the +wrong. I could have made you see his guilt. It would have been infinitely +easier than establishing his innocence before the world. But--I have +always wanted the unattainable. I knew that you were out of reach, and so +I wanted you. Afterwards, very soon afterwards, I found I wanted even +more than what I had bargained for. I wanted your friendship. That was +what the sapphire stood for. You didn't understand. I had handicapped +myself too heavily. So I took what I could get, and missed the rest." + +He stopped. She still lay against his breast. + +"Why did you want--my friendship?" she whispered. + +He made a curious gesture, as if he faced at last the inevitable. When he +answered her his voice was very low. He seemed to speak against his will. +"I--loved you." + +"Ah!" It was scarcely more than a breath uttering the words. "And you +never told me!" + +He was silent. + +She raised herself at last and faced him. Her hands were on his +shoulders. "Percival," she said, and there was a strange light shining +in the eyes that he had dried. "Is your love so small, then--as to be +not--worth--mentioning?" + +For the first time in her memory he avoided her look. "No," he said. + +"What then?" Her voice was suddenly very soft and infinitely appealing. + +He opened his arms with a gesture of renunciation "It is--beyond words," +he said. + +She leaned nearer. Her hands slipped upwards, clasping his neck. + +"It is the greatest thing that has ever come to me," she said, and in her +voice there throbbed a new note which he had never heard in it before. +"Do you think--oh, do you think--I would cast--that--away?" + +He did not speak in answer. It seemed as if he could not. That which lay +between them was indeed beyond words. Only in the silence he took her +again into his arms and kissed her on the lips. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +By Ethel M. Dell + + +The Way of an Eagle +The Knave of Diamonds +The Rocks of Valpre +The Swindler +The Keeper of the Door +Bars of Iron +The Hundredth Chance +The Safety Curtain +Greatheart +The Lamp in the Desert +The Tidal Wave +The Top of the World +Rosa Mundi and Other Stories +The Obstacle Race +The Odds and Other Stories +Charles Rex +Tetherstones + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Odds, by Ethel M. 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