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diff --git a/22292-h/22292-h.htm b/22292-h/22292-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d88925a --- /dev/null +++ b/22292-h/22292-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9480 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Glory Of Youth, by Temple Bailey. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i1 {display: block; margin-left: 1em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i5 {display: block; margin-left: 5em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i6 {display: block; margin-left: 6em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i7 {display: block; margin-left: 7em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Glory of Youth, by Temple Bailey + +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: Glory of Youth + +Author: Temple Bailey + +Illustrator: Henry Hutt + C. S. Corson + +Release Date: August 10, 2007 [EBook #22292] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GLORY OF YOUTH *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Paul Stephen and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 412px;"> +<img src="images/cover01.jpg" width="412" height="600" alt="Cover" title="Cover" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 420px;"> +<img src="images/gs01.jpg" width="420" height="600" alt="HE IMPRISONED THE SMALL HAND" title="HE IMPRISONED THE SMALL HAND" /> +</div> + +<h1>GLORY OF<br /><br /> +YOUTH</h1> + +<h4>BY</h4> +<h2>TEMPLE BAILEY</h2> + +<h4>AUTHOR OF<br /> +CONTRARY MARY</h4> + +<h3>ILLUSTRATED BY<br /> +HENRY HUTT and C. S. CORSON</h3> + + + + +<h3>COPYRIGHT<br /> +1913 BY<br /> +THE PENN<br /> +PUBLISHING<br /> +COMPANY</h3> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 157px;"> +<img src="images/publishers_mark.jpg" width="157" height="140" alt="Publishers_mark" title="Publishers_mark" /> +</div> + +<h4>First printing, August, 1913<br /> +Second printing, February, 1916<br /> +Third printing February, 1917<br /> +Fourth printing August, 1919</h4> + +<h5>Manufacturing Plant<br /> +Camden, N. J.<br /><br /><br /></h5> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<h3><br /><br /><i>To<br /> +My Mother</i><br /><br /></h3> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Contents" id="Contents"></a>Contents</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> + +<tr><td align='left'>I.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Bettina</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_9'>9</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>II.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">In the Shadowy Room</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_21'>21</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>III.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">In Which Diana Reaps</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_36'>36</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>IV.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">White Lilacs</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_51'>51</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>V.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">In Which Bettina Dances</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_64'>64</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>VI.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">"For Every Man There Is Just One Woman"</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_80'>80</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>VII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Harbor Light</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_94'>94</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>VIII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Empty House</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_105'>105</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>IX.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Golden Age</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_116'>116</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>X.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Storm Signals</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_127'>127</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>XI.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">The White Maiden</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_141'>141</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>XII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Youth and Beauty</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_155'>155</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>XIII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Her Letter to Anthony</span> +</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_170'>170</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>XIV.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Little Silver Ring</span> +</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_185'>185</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>XV.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">In Which Bettina Flies</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_199'>199</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>XVI.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Voices in the Dark</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_213'>213</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>XVII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Glory of Youth</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_227'>227</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>XVIII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Penance</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_242'>242</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>XIX.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Her Father's Ring</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_257'>257</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>XX.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">The "Gray Gull"</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_272'>272</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>XXI.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Broken Wings</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_285'>285</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>XXII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Enchanted Forest</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_300'>300</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>XXIII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Procession of Pretty Ladies</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_316'>316</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>XXIV.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Afterglow</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_323'>323</a></td></tr> + +</table></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><br /><br /><a name="Glory_of_Youth" id="Glory_of_Youth"></a>Glory of Youth<br /><br /></h2> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>BETTINA</h3> + + +<p>The girl knelt on the floor, feverishly packing a shabby little trunk.</p> + +<p>Outside was a streaming April storm, and the rain, rushing against the +square, small-paned windows, shut out the view of the sea, shut out the +light, and finally brought such darkness that the girl stood up with a +sigh, brushed off her black dress with thin white hands, and groped her +way to the door.</p> + +<p>Beyond the door was the blackness of an upper hall in a tall century-old +house. A spiral stairway descended into a well of gloom. An ancient iron +lantern, attached to a chain, hung from the low ceiling.</p> + +<p>The girl lighted the lantern, and the faint illumination made deeper the +shadows below.</p> + +<p>And from the shadows came a man's voice.</p> + +<p>"May I come up?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> + +<p>As the girl bent over the railing, the glow of the lantern made of her +hair a shining halo. "Oh," she cried, radiantly, "I'm so glad you've +come. I—I was afraid——"</p> + +<p>The thunder rolled, the waves pounded on the rocks, and the darkness +grew more dense, but now the girl did not heed, for what mattered a mere +storm, when, ascending the stairs, was one who knew fear neither of life +nor of death, nor of the things which come after death?</p> + +<p>When at last her visitor emerged from the gloom, he showed himself +beyond youthful years, with hair slightly touched with gray, not tall, +but of a commanding presence, with clear, keen blue eyes, and with +cheeks which were tanned by out-of-door exercise, and reddened by the +prevailing weather.</p> + +<p>"I just had to come," he said, as he took her hand. "I knew you'd be +frightened."</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said, "Miss Matthews is at school, and I am alone——"</p> + +<p>"And unhappy?"</p> + +<p>Her lips quivered, but she drew her hand from his, and went on into the +shabby room, where she lighted a candle in a brass holder, and touched a +match to a fire which was laid in the blackened brick fireplace.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> + +<p>The doctor's quick eye noted the preparations for departure.</p> + +<p>"What does that mean?" he asked, and pointed to the trunk.</p> + +<p>"I—I am going away——"</p> + +<p>"Away?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," nervously; "I—I can't stay here, doctor."</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Oh," tremulously, "it was all right when I had mother, because she was +so sick that I was too busy to realize how deadly lonely it was here. I +knew she needed the sea air, and she could get it better in the top of +this old house than anywhere else. But now that she's gone—I can't +stand it. I'm young, and Miss Matthews is away all day teaching—and +when she comes home at night we have nothing in common, and there's the +money left from the insurance—and so—I'm going away."</p> + +<p>He looked at her, with her red-gold hair in high relief against the worn +leather of the chair in which she sat, at the flower-like face, the +slender figure, the tiny feet in childish strapped slippers.</p> + +<p>"You aren't fit to fight the world," he said; "you aren't fit."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Perhaps it won't be such a fight," she said. "I could get something to +do in the city, and——"</p> + +<p>He shook his head. "You don't know—you can't know——" Then he broke +off to ask, "What would you do with your furniture?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Matthews would be glad to take the rooms just as they are. She was +delighted when you asked her to stay with me after mother died. She +loves our old things, the mahogany and the banjo clock, and the +embroidered peacocks, and the Venetian heirlooms that belonged to Dad's +family. But I hate them."</p> + +<p>"Hate them—why?"</p> + +<p>"Because, oh, you know, because Dad treated mother so dreadfully. He +broke her heart."</p> + +<p>His practiced eye saw that she was speaking tensely.</p> + +<p>"I wish you'd get me a cup of tea," he said, suddenly. "I'm just from +the sanatorium. I operated on a bad case—and, well, that's sufficient +excuse, isn't it, for me to want to drink a cup of tea with you?"</p> + +<p>She was busy in a moment with her hospitality.</p> + +<p>"Oh, why didn't you tell me? And you're wet." Her hand touched his coat +lightly as she passed him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The rain came so suddenly that I couldn't get the window of my car +closed; it's an awful storm.</p> + +<p>"And now," he said, when she had brought the tea on an old Sheffield +tray, and had set it on a little folding table which he placed between +them on the hearth, "and now let's talk about it."</p> + +<p>"Please don't try to make me stay——"</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Because, oh, because you can't know what I suffer here; it isn't just +because I've lost mother, but the people—they all know about her and +about Dad, and they aren't nice to me."</p> + +<p>"My dear child!"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it's because father was a singer and an Italian, and mother +came of good old Puritan stock. They seem to think she lowered herself +by marrying him. They can't understand that though he was unkind to her, +he belonged to an aristocratic Venetian family——"</p> + +<p>"It's from those wonderful women of Venice, then, that you get that +hair. Do you remember Browning's:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'Dear dead women, with such hair, too—what's become of all the gold<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Used to hang and brush their bosoms? I feel chilly and grown old.'"<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></div></div> + +<p>There was no response to his thought in her young eyes.</p> + +<p>"I've never read Browning," she said, negligently, "and I hate to think +of 'dear dead women.' I want to think of live things, of bright things, +of gay things. It seems sometimes as if I should die here among the +shadows."</p> + +<p>She was sobbing now, with her head on the table.</p> + +<p>"Bettina," the doctor bent over her, "poor child, poor little child."</p> + +<p>"Please let me go," she whispered.</p> + +<p>"I can't keep you, of course. I wish I knew what to do. I wish Diana +were here."</p> + +<p>"Diana?"</p> + +<p>"I forgot that you did not know her. She has been away for two years. +She's rather wonderful, Bettina."</p> + +<p>The girl raised her head. The man was gazing straight into the fire. All +the eager light that had made his face seem young had gone, and he +looked worn and tired. Bettina had no worldly intuitions to teach her +the reason for the change a woman's name had wrought, and so absorbed +was she in her own trouble that she viewed the transformation with +unseeing eyes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What could she do if she were here?" she asked with childish +directness.</p> + +<p>"She would find some way out of it—she is very wise." He spoke with +some hesitation, as a man speaks who holds a subject sacred. "She has +had to decide things for herself all her life—her father and mother +died when she was a little girl; now she is over thirty and the mistress +of a large fortune. She spends her winters in the city and her summers +down here by the sea—but for the past two years she has been staying in +Europe with a widowed friend who was a schoolmate of hers in Berlin."</p> + +<p>"When is she coming back?"</p> + +<p>Out of a long silence, he answered, "I am not sure that she will come +back. Her engagement was announced last fall—to a German, Ulric Van +Rosen—she is to be married in June."</p> + +<p>The fact, to him so pregnant of woeful possibilities, meant little to +Bettina.</p> + +<p>"Of course if she's not here, she can't do anything—and anyhow most +people don't care to do practical things to help, do they?"</p> + +<p>She looked so childish, so appealing, so altogether exquisite and young +in her black-robed slenderness,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> that he answered her as he would have +answered a child.</p> + +<p>"It's too bad that the world should hurt you."</p> + +<p>"But I'm going to do wonderful things in the city."</p> + +<p>"Wonderful things—poor little girl——"</p> + +<p>As he brought his eyes back from the fire to her face, he seemed to +bring his thoughts back from an uneasy reverie.</p> + +<p>"You ought," he said, "to marry——"</p> + +<p>The color flamed into the girl's cheeks. "Mother was always saying that, +in those last days. But I hated to have her; it seemed so dreadful to +talk of marriage—without love. I know she didn't mean it that way, poor +darling! She married for love and her life was such a failure. But I +couldn't—not just to get married, could I—not just to have some one +take care of me?"</p> + +<p>He stood up, and thrust his hands in his pockets. "No," he agreed +bluffly, "you couldn't, of course."</p> + +<p>"And there's never been any one in love with me," was her naive +confession, "and I've never been in love, not really——"</p> + +<p>He was looking down at her with smiling eyes. "There's plenty of time."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes—that's what I always told mother—but she dreaded to think of +me—alone."</p> + +<p>The eager, dying woman had said the same thing to the doctor, and it had +seemed to him, sometimes, that her burning eyes had begged of him a +favor which he could not grant.</p> + +<p>For there had always been—Diana!</p> + +<p>He straightened his shoulders. "I'm going to ask you to stay here," he +said, "instead of going to the city. I haven't any real right to keep +you, for I'm not legally your guardian, but I promised your mother to +look after you. I can find work for you. We need some one at the +sanatorium to look after the office——"</p> + +<p>For a moment she set her will against his. "But I'd rather go to the +city."</p> + +<p>He put his strong hands on her shoulders. "Little child, look at me," he +said, and when she flashed up at him a startled glance, he went on, +gently, "Your mother wanted me to take care of you—to keep you from +harm. In the city you'll be too far away. I want you to stay here. Will +you?"</p> + +<p>And presently she whispered, "I will stay."</p> + +<p>Outside the rain was rushing and the wind was blowing, and plain little +Miss Matthews battled with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> the storm. Miss Matthews, who, every day in +the year, taught a class of tumultuous children, and whose life dealt +always with the commonplace. And it was plain little Miss Matthews who, +having weathered the storm and climbed the winding stairs, came in, +rain-coated and soft-hatted, to find by the fire the doctor drawing on +his gloves and Bettina hovering about him like a gold-tipped butterfly.</p> + +<p>"It's a dreadful storm," said Miss Matthews, superfluously, as Bettina +went to get boiling water. "There's a young man down-stairs who wants to +speak to you, Dr. Blake. He said that he couldn't find you at the +sanatorium. He saw your car in front of the house and knew you were +here. But the bell wouldn't ring, and so he waited. I told him the bell +was broken and that you'd come down at once. He's hurt his hand."</p> + +<p>"They would have fixed him up at the sanatorium."</p> + +<p>"He said he wanted you, and nobody else, and that he came into the hall +because he was like a pussy cat and hated the rain. He is a queer +looking creature in a leather cap and leather leggins."</p> + +<p>The doctor gave an amused laugh. "That's Justin Ford," he said; "the +pussy-cat speech sounds like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> him, and he wears the leather costume when +he flies."</p> + +<p>Bettina, coming back with fresh tea for Miss Matthews, asked, "How does +he fly?"</p> + +<p>"In an aeroplane. He's to try out his hydro-aeroplane to-morrow. He's +probably been at work on the machinery and hurt his hand."</p> + +<p>Bettina sparkled. "Think of a man who can fly," she said. "Doesn't it +sound incredible?"</p> + +<p>"It's the most marvelous thing in the world," said the big-hearted +surgeon, not knowing that he, as a man of healing, was more marvelous, +for he had to do with the mechanics of flesh and blood, while Justin had +to do only with steel and aluminum and canvas, which are, at best, +unimportant things when compared with nerves and ligaments and bones.</p> + +<p>"Would you mind if Ford came up?" the doctor asked. "I've got to go +straight to my old man with the pneumonia after I leave here, and I +could look at his hand."</p> + +<p>Bettina shivered. "Shall I have to look at it?" she asked in a little +voice.</p> + +<p>He laughed. "Of course not. You can go in the other room."</p> + +<p>But when the young man, who had answered the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> doctors call, entered, she +did not go, for the face which was framed by the leather cap was that of +a youth whose beauty matched her own, and whose mocking eyes, as he +acknowledged the introduction, seemed to beat against the door of her +maiden heart and demand admission.</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>IN THE SHADOWY ROOM</h3> + + +<p>The injury to Justin's hand proved to be one of strain and sprain.</p> + +<p>"A bandage for a few days," the doctor pronounced, "and then a little +carefulness, and you'll be all right."</p> + +<p>Justin lingered. The little fire was like a heart of gold in the shadowy +room. Plain little Miss Matthews sipped her tea, with her feet on the +fender. Bettina, during the doctor's examination of Justin's hand, had +seated herself in her low chair on the hearth, and now her eyes were +fixed steadily on the flames.</p> + +<p>"It's a shivery, shaky sort of day," said Justin, surveying the teapot +longingly, and Anthony laughed. "He wants his tea, Bettina," he said, +"and a place by your fire. It's another of his pussy-cat traits—so if +you'll be good to him, I'll have another cup, and he shall tell us about +his hydro-aeroplane."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> + +<p>Justin, standing in front of the fire, was like a young god fresh from +Olympus. His nose was straight, his mocking eyes a golden-brown, and, +with his cap off, his upstanding shock of hair showed glittering lights. +In deference to the prevailing fashion, his fair little mustache was +slightly upturned at the corners. He had doffed his rain coat, and +appeared in a brown Norfolk suit with leather leggins that reached his +knees.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I've intruded upon your hospitality," he said to Bettina, as +she handed him a steaming cup, "but I'm always falling into pleasant +things—and I haven't the will power to get out when I should, truly I +haven't. But it isn't my fault—it's just a part of my pussy-cat +inheritance."</p> + +<p>"He can afford to say such things," Anthony remarked; "he's really more +like a bird than a pussy cat. You should see him up in the air."</p> + +<p>Justin's eyes flashed. "You should see me coming down on the water after +a flight. By Jove, Anthony, that's the most wonderful little machine. +I've called her 'The Gray Gull' because she not only flies but +swims—cuts through the water like a motor boat."</p> + +<p>As he talked his eyes were on Bettina. "You<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> beauty, you beauty," was +the thought which thrilled him.</p> + +<p>When, at last, he stood up, he apologized somewhat formally. "I've +stayed too long," he said, "but Anthony must make my excuses. I was down +there in Purgatory—and he showed me—Paradise."</p> + +<p>The doctor looked at him sharply. He knew Justin as a man of the +world—gay, irresponsible—and Bettina had no one to watch over her.</p> + +<p>"I'll take you as far as the shops," he said, crisply, "and then I must +get at once to my old man with the pneumonia."</p> + +<p>As the two men rode away in the doctor's small covered car, Justin +asked, "Where did you discover her?" Anthony, his eyes fixed on the +muddy road ahead of them, gave a brief outline: "Professionally. The +mother died in those rooms. The girl is alone, except for Miss Matthews +and the old Lane sisters who own the house and live in the lower part. I +have constituted myself a sort of guardian for Bettina—the mother +requested it, and I couldn't refuse."</p> + +<p>"I see." Justin asked no more questions, but settled himself back in a +cushioned corner, and as the two men rode on in silence, their thoughts +were cen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>tered on the single vision of a shadowy room, and of a slender +golden-haired, black-robed figure against a background of glowing flame.</p> + +<p>All that night and the next day the doctor battled with Death, and came +out triumphant. By four o'clock in the afternoon the old man with +pneumonia showed signs of holding his own.</p> + +<p>Worn out, Anthony drove back toward the sanatorium. The rain was over, +but a heavy fog had rolled in, so that the doctor's little car seemed to +float in a sea of cloud. Now and then another car passed him, +specter-like amid the grayness. Silent figures, magnified by the mist, +came and went like shadow pictures on a screen. From the far distance +sounded the incessant moan of fog-horns.</p> + +<p>Anthony stopped his car in front of a small shop, whose lights struggled +faintly against the gloom.</p> + +<p>Crossing the threshold, he went from a world of dampness and chill into +the warmth and cheer of an old-fashioned fish house.</p> + +<p>For fifty years there had been no change in Lillibridge's. The floor of +the main room was bare and clean, and, in the middle, a round black +stove radiated comfort on cold days. Along one side of the room ran +three stalls, in which were placed tables for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> such patrons as might +desire partial privacy. On the spick and span counter were set forth +various condiments and plates of crackers. A card, tacked up on the +wall, tempted the appetite with its list of sea foods.</p> + +<p>Anthony wanted nothing to eat. He ordered coffee, and went into one of +the stalls to drink it.</p> + +<p>But a man at one of the tables in the main part of the room wanted more +than coffee. He was a little man in a blue reefer, but he had, +evidently, more than a little appetite. As Anthony sat down, he was just +finishing a bowl of chowder, and was gazing with eyes of hungry +appreciation upon various dishes of fried fish and fried potatoes, of +hot rolls and pickles which were being set before him.</p> + +<p>"You'd better have some, doctor," was his hoarse invitation.</p> + +<p>"Too tired," said Anthony. "I'll wait till I've had a bath and rub-down +before I eat——"</p> + +<p>"What you need," said the little man, between large mouthfuls, "is a +good day's fishin'. You come out to-morrow morning, and we'll catch some +cod."</p> + +<p>The doctor's tired eyes brightened. "There's nothing that I'd like +better, captain, but I've got an old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> man ill of pneumonia, and there's +a girl with appendicitis."</p> + +<p>"There you go," said the little man; "if it wasn't a girl with +appendicitis, it would be a kid with the colic, or a lady with a claim +to heart trouble. What you've got to do, doctor, is to cut it all out +and come with me."</p> + +<p>Anthony shook his head. "Suppose some one had said to you when you +sailed the seas that you could leave the ship——?"</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't have left," said the little man, "but I didn't have such a +look as you've got in your eyes. What you need is a good night's sleep, +and a day's fishin'. And you need it now."</p> + +<p>Having eaten presently his last morsel, he ordered a piece of pie. +"There's nothing like sea air to blow your brains clear," he stated. +"And when this fog lifts, it'll be fine fishin' weather."</p> + +<p>Again the doctor shook his head. "I'd like it, more than a little, but +I've got to stick to my post."</p> + +<p>Captain Stubbs began on his pie, and remarked, "The trouble with you is +that you're mixed up with too many wimmen."</p> + +<p>Anthony's head went up. "What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Wimmen," said the little captain, "are bad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> enough anyhow. But when you +have to handle a lot of wimmen with nerves, then the Lord help you."</p> + +<p>He said it so solemnly that Anthony threw back his head and laughed.</p> + +<p>"Now, up at that sannytarium of yours," said the captain, "there's about +ten of them that need to be dipped into the good salt sea and hung up in +the sun to dry, and that's all they need, no coddling and medicine and +operations—but just a cold shock and a warm-up—and a day's fishin'."</p> + +<p>And now Anthony did not laugh. "By Jove," he said, "I believe you're +right. I'm going to try some personally conducted parties, and you shall +take them out, captain——"</p> + +<p>"Me——?" the captain demanded, incredulously. "Me take those wimmen out +fishin'?"</p> + +<p>Anthony nodded. "Yes, once a week. Is it a bargain?"</p> + +<p>The captain stood up. "No, it ain't," he said, firmly. "I'll take you +and gladly. But not any of that nervous bunch."</p> + +<p>He settled his cap firmly on his head, and went toward the door. Then he +turned. "Some day," he said, "I'm going to ask that Betty child to go +out in my boat."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Bettina?" Anthony's mind went swiftly to the shadowed room.</p> + +<p>"Yes. She's lonesome, and so was her mother. I used to take fish up to +them, and I showed the Betty child how to make chowder."</p> + +<p>"She told me," said Anthony. "You're one of her best friends, captain."</p> + +<p>"Well, goodness only knows she needs friends," said the little captain, +adding with a significant emphasis which escaped the preoccupied +Anthony, "She needs somebody to take care of her."</p> + +<p>Receiving no response, the little man lighted his pipe, buttoned his +coat, and, remarking genially, "Well, you let me know about that day's +fishin'," he steamed out.</p> + +<p>After his departure Anthony sat for some time in the deserted room. He +knew that rest and refreshment were waiting for him and he knew that he +needed them, but his mind was weighed down by the problem of that +helpless child in the old house. All through the night as he had battled +for the life of his patient, he had thought of her, who must battle with +the world. He could get her work, of course, but he shrank from the +thought of her pale loveliness set to sordid uses.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> + +<p>With a sudden gesture of resolution, he stood up and drew on his gloves.</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later he was climbing the winding stairway, where the iron +lantern again illumined the darkness.</p> + +<p>There had been no response to his call from below, and when he reached +the upper landing he found the door shut. He knocked and presently +Bettina came. He saw at a glance that she had been crying.</p> + +<p>"I can stay only a minute," he said. "I haven't had much sleep since I +saw you yesterday."</p> + +<p>"I'll make you some tea," she offered, but he stopped her with a quick, +"No, no,—I've just had coffee, and I must get home."</p> + +<p>They sat down, somewhat stiffly, on opposite sides of the hearth.</p> + +<p>"What made you cry?" he asked, with his keen eyes on her downcast face.</p> + +<p>"Everything—the rain yesterday—the fog to-day. I wish the sun would +shine—I wish—I were—dead——"</p> + +<p>With a sharp exclamation, he stood up. "You're too young to say such +things—there's all of life before you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes," she said dully, "there's all of life——"</p> + +<p>To him she was a most appealing figure. Her weakness seemed to stand out +against the background of his strength. Suddenly he held out his hands +to her. "Come here, Betty child," he said, using, unconsciously, the +little captain's name for her, "come here."</p> + +<p>Some new note in his voice made her cheeks flame, but she obeyed him. He +took both of her hands in his. "I've been thinking of you, and your +future. Somehow I can't see you, a little slip of a thing like you, +being beaten and bruised by the hard things of life. The world is cruel +and you are so—sweet. You need some one to take care of you——"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she whispered; "but there isn't any one."</p> + +<p>"Except me. And I'm such an old fellow—years too old for you. But I'm +alone, and you're alone. Could I make you happy, Betty child?"</p> + +<p>She stared at him, all the bright color gone from her face.</p> + +<p>"Why, how?" Her voice fluttered and died.</p> + +<p>"As my wife. There's the big house on the rocks that I am building."</p> + +<p>He faltered. The great house had been built for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> Diana, on a sudden +hopeful impulse that when it was finished she would consent to be its +mistress.</p> + +<p>"There's the big house," he went on, after a moment, "and there's money +enough and to spare. Not that I want you to marry me for that, but I +think I could comfort you in your loneliness, Bettina."</p> + +<p>In her secluded girlhood there had been no opportunity for masculine +adoration; hence there seemed nothing lacking when this man of men, +whose coming during her mother's illness had made the one bright spot in +her day, whose sympathy had comforted her in her sorrow, whose +friendship had sustained her in the months which had followed her great +loss, when he spoke of marriage with never a word of love.</p> + +<p>"But I'm not wise enough or good enough," she said, with a quick catch +of her breath.</p> + +<p>He drew her to him, holding her gently.</p> + +<p>"Would you like," he asked, "would you like to think that all your life +I should take care of you?"</p> + +<p>She lay quietly, not answering for a while, then she whispered, "Do you +really want me?"</p> + +<p>Perhaps his arm relaxed a little, but his voice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> was very steady. "I +really want to make you happy."</p> + +<p>"And you'll let me love you with all my heart?" Her eyes were hidden.</p> + +<p>He put his hand against the softness of her hair, turning her face up +toward him. "I shall hope that you may love me with all your heart, and +that I may be worthy of it."</p> + +<p>Her hand crept up and touched his cheek. "Kiss me," she whispered, like +a child.</p> + +<p>He would have been less than a man if his heart had not leaped a little, +if he had not responded to the love call of this wistful white and gold +woman creature.</p> + +<p>"My dear," he said, brokenly, and bent his head.</p> + +<p>On the foggy streets below men and women passed and repassed like ghosts +in the stillness. Little Miss Matthews, meeting Captain Stubbs on a +street corner, was unconscious of his nearness until the little captain, +guided by that sixth sense, which is given to sailors for their +protection at sea, hailed her.</p> + +<p>"You needn't hurry home," he told her; "that Betty child don't want you. +Dr. Blake is there. That's his car."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He was there yesterday," said Miss Matthews, disturbed by the doctor's +departure from his usual routine.</p> + +<p>"And he'll probably be there to-morrow; he's getting sweet on that Betty +child, Miss Mattie."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear, no," said the shocked Miss Matthews. "Why, he's in love with +Diana Gregory."</p> + +<p>The captain gazed at her blankly. "You don't mean it," he protested.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I do," said Miss Matthews; "they've known each other all their +lives. But she doesn't want to settle down."</p> + +<p>"Well, she'd better look out," said the little captain; "men won't wait +forever."</p> + +<p>"Men like Anthony Blake," returned Miss Matthews with conviction, "will. +And as for Bettina, she's nothing but a child!"</p> + +<p>The little captain carried the conversation over, tactfully, to his +favorite topic. "I want you and that Betty child to go with me for a +day's fishin' soon," he said; "you just name the day."</p> + +<p>Little Miss Matthews hated the sea, with the hatred of a woman whose +ancestors had made their living on the Banks and had been drowned in +storms. But she liked the captain. "I am sure you are very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> kind," she +said, primly, "but it will have to be Saturday when there isn't any +school."</p> + +<p>"All right," said the captain,—"make it a week from Saturday, and we'll +probably have clearing weather."</p> + +<p>The doctor, going down, met little Miss Matthews. Bettina, leaning over +the rail, greeted the little lady somewhat self-consciously. "I'll make +your tea in a minute," she said; "the doctor didn't want any."</p> + +<p>When Anthony reached the bottom of the stair, he looked up. The faint +light of the lantern drew a circle of radiance about Bettina's head.</p> + +<p>"Wait," she called softly, and came down to him, and in the darkness +whispered that she was happy, so very happy—and would she see him soon?</p> + +<p>"To-morrow," he promised, and went away with his pulses pounding.</p> + +<p>All the way home he thought of her. She had been charming. He felt like +an adventuring knight, who, having killed all the dragons, rescues the +captive princess from her tower. She was a dear child. A dear—child.</p> + +<p>At the sanatorium he had a bath and a good<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> dinner, and made his rounds. +One little woman, when he had passed, spoke to another of his smile. "It +is as if he were happy in his heart," she said, quaintly; "before this +his eyes have been sad."</p> + +<p>Later the doctor found time to read his mail. On the top of the pile of +letters was a thick one in a gray envelope addressed in feminine script. +He opened it and read eagerly. Then he sat very still, trying, amid all +the beating agony of emotion, to grasp the truth as she had told it. +Diana was free. Her engagement was broken. She was coming back to +America. "I am coming home to the big house—and to you—Anthony." And +she would be there in just ten days!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>IN WHICH DIANA REAPS</h3> + + +<p>All the way down in the train Diana kept saying to her friend, "I am so +glad you are going to see my house, Sophie. You can't imagine how lovely +it is."</p> + +<p>But even then Mrs. Martens was not prepared. She was given a room on the +third floor from which glass doors opened on a little balcony which +overhung the harbor. It was like the upper deck of a ship with the open +sea to the right and left, and with a strip of green peninsula cutting +into it beyond the causeway.</p> + +<p>"That's the Neck," Diana explained; "the yacht clubs are over there and +some hotels and big houses. But I like it on this side, in the town. +It's so quaint and lovely. I'll show you some of it to-morrow morning."</p> + +<p>"I'm not going anywhere to-morrow morning. I am going to sleep until +noon."</p> + +<p>Diana bent and kissed her. "Poor thing, is she tired?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Dead."</p> + +<p>"Well, I won't wake you. But I am going to be up with the dawn, Sophie."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Martens turned and looked at her. "Is Anthony here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Diana caught her breath as she said it, and the two friends stood, +silently, looking over the harbor.</p> + +<p>The twilight was taking the blue out of the water, but the beauty was +still there—with the lights on the anchored boats twinkling like stars +in the grayness, and the lighthouse making a great moon above them.</p> + +<p>"When will you see him, Diana?"</p> + +<p>"To-night."</p> + +<p>"Then I'm going to bed."</p> + +<p>"You're not—I want you to meet him, Sophie."</p> + +<p>"You want him every bit for yourself. Don't be a hypocrite, Diana."</p> + +<p>Diana laid her hands on Sophie's shoulders and shook her a little, +laughing.</p> + +<p>"Sophie, do you ever feel so young that you are almost wild with it—as +if there hadn't been any years since you wore pinafores and pigtails?"</p> + +<p>"No—I'm thirty-five, Diana."</p> + +<p>"Don't shout it from the housetops. I'm a very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> few years behind. What a +lot of wasted years, Sophie."</p> + +<p>"It's your own fault, Diana."</p> + +<p>"But I wanted to be free——"</p> + +<p>"And now you are longing for your prison——"</p> + +<p>"With Anthony—yes."</p> + +<p>"You'd better go down and dress, dear. Put on that pale blue, with your +pearls, Diana. It fits in with the moonlight."</p> + +<p>"Then you won't come down?"</p> + +<p>"No. I'll have Peter for company."</p> + +<p>Peter Pan was Diana's cat. He was as yellow as a harvest moon, he was +fed on fish, and was of a prodigious fatness. During Diana's sojourn +abroad he had been looked after by Delia Hobbs.</p> + +<p>Delia was Diana's housekeeper. She had a lame hip and a lovely mind. She +went up to Mrs. Martens' room after Diana had left to see if the little +lady was comfortable for the night.</p> + +<p>She eyed Peter Pan, who was in the middle of the big bed.</p> + +<p>"Peter," she said, severely, "that's no place for you."</p> + +<p>Peter rolled over, and clawed the lace spread luxuriously.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Shall I take him off, ma'am?" Delia asked.</p> + +<p>"It's nice to have him here," said Mrs. Martens, doubtfully, "but +perhaps I ought not to let him stay. You know best, Delia."</p> + +<p>Delia, a little flattered by such deference, hesitated. "I might bring +his basket up here," she said; "he isn't a bit of trouble. He just goes +to sleep and doesn't wake up until morning."</p> + +<p>As Delia opened the door to go down, the rippling measures of "The +Spring Song," played softly, came up to them. Sophie had a vision of +Diana in her shimmering gown, waiting in the moonlight for Anthony.</p> + +<p>Delia came back with the basket. It was of brown wicker with brown +cushions. Peter, curled up in it, made a sunflower combination.</p> + +<p>"You are sure you're all right, Miss Sophie?" Delia asked as she stood +on the threshold. "If you don't want the electric light, there's a +candle on your table, and if you like the air straight from the sea you +can open the door on the porch. Miss Diana used to like to lie and look +at the moonlight."</p> + +<p>The whole world seemed obsessed by the moonlight. Its white radiance, +when Mrs. Martens at last turned off the glaring bulbs, seemed to cast a +spell<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> over sea and land. She stepped out on the porch, and was awed by +the beauty of the wide sweep of shining sky and sea. Then, far below on +the hidden road, she heard the beat of a motor.</p> + +<p>The sound ceased and a man's quick step came up the path. There was the +whirr of an electric bell, and she knew that Anthony had come.</p> + +<p>Well, Diana had her Anthony—and she had—Peter! She laughed a little to +stifle a sigh. Diana had the substance—she her shadowy memories.</p> + +<p>A faint breeze had sprung up. The yachts tugged at their moorings +as the tide turned. Far to the southeast Minot's light blinked its +one-four-three—"I-warn-you"—message to the ships. Diana had +once said of it, "The sweethearts off the coast translate it +differently—'I-love-you.' That's what Anthony told me."</p> + +<p>How she had always quoted him! Even when for a brief time she had +drifted toward that other, she had clung to her belief in Anthony's +faith and goodness—and when she had shaken herself free she had flown +back to him.</p> + +<p>And now—in the dim room below Diana was coming at last into her own!</p> + +<p>The little lady crept into bed, shivering—perhaps<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> with the chill of +the spring night, perhaps with the thought of the happiness from which +she was left out.</p> + +<p>Presently she heard again the beat of the motor. Beginning in front of +the house, it grew fainter in the distance; then silence, and at last a +soft step on the stairs.</p> + +<p>"Sophie," there was that in Diana's voice which made her sit up and +listen, "Sophie, are you asleep?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Martens lighted the bedside candle with shaking hands. Diana came +forward into the circle of light. Diana—with all of youth gone from +her. Diana stripped of joy. Diana with the shimmering blue gown seeming +to mock the tragedy in her face.</p> + +<p>She came up to the bed and stood looking down at her friend.</p> + +<p>"Listen, Sophie," she said, brokenly, "see what I've done. Anthony is +engaged, Sophie. Engaged to another girl!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Peter, in his basket, slept soundly all night. But Sophie slept not at +all. And early in the morning she went down to her friend.</p> + +<p>Diana had taken the room which had been her mother's. She had kept the +carved canopy bed and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> other massive pieces, but she had changed the +hangings and the wall covering from mauve to rose-color.</p> + +<p>"You see, Sophie," she had explained one day in Berlin, "there comes a +time in the life of every woman when she needs rose-color to counteract +the gray of her existence. If you put blue with gray you get gray. But +if you put pink with gray you get rose-color. Perhaps you didn't know +that before, Sophie, but now you do. And you'll know also that when I +dare wear a blue gown I am feeling positively infantile."</p> + +<p>Diana, in négligé, had always made Mrs. Martens think of a rose in +bloom. She had a fashion of swathing her head, cap-fashion, in wide pink +ribbon, and her crêpe kimonos always reflected the same enchanting hue.</p> + +<p>But this morning it was a white rose which lay back on the pillows. +Diana's loose brown braids hung straight down on each side of her pale +face. There were shadows under her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Don't look at me that way, Sophie," she said, sharply, as Mrs. Martens +came up to the bed. "I—I'm not going into a decline—or break my +heart—or——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> + +<p>She broke off and said in a changed voice, "You're a dear." Then with a +pitiful little laugh, "It wouldn't be so hard—but she's so young, +Sophie."</p> + +<p>"Eighteen—poor Anthony!"</p> + +<p>"Do you think he is really unhappy, Sophie?"</p> + +<p>The night before when she had lain in Mrs. Martens' comforting arms, she +had thought only of her own misery. For a time she had been just a +little sobbing child to be consoled. All her poise, all her +self-restraint had gone down under the force of the overwhelming shock.</p> + +<p>But now a wild hope sprang up in her breast. Why should two people +suffer for the sake of one? And the other girl was so young—she would +get over it.</p> + +<p>Yet, remembering Anthony's face as he had left her, she had little hope.</p> + +<p>"I wish you might have been prepared for this," he had said. "I wrote a +letter, but it must have missed you. Perhaps it has been best to talk it +out—that's why I came. May I still come, sometimes, Diana?"</p> + +<p>Then her pride had risen to meet the crisis.</p> + +<p>"As if anything could spoil our friendship, An<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>thony," she had told him +bravely. "I want you to come—and some day you must bring—the Girl."</p> + +<p>"You will like her," he had said, eagerly, with a man's blundering +confidence, "and you can help her. She is very lonely, Diana—and I was +lonely——"</p> + +<p>That had been the one shred of apology which he had vouchsafed for the +act which had spoiled their lives.</p> + +<p>When he had first entered the moonlighted room, she had turned from the +piano and had held out her hands to him.</p> + +<p>He had taken them, and had stood looking down at her, with eyes which +spoke what his lips would not say.</p> + +<p>And at last he had asked, "Why didn't you marry that fellow in Berlin, +Di?"</p> + +<p>"Because I didn't love him, Anthony. I found out just in time—and I +found out, too, just in time that—it was you—Anthony."</p> + +<p>Then he had said, "Hush," and had dropped her hands, and after a long +time, he had spoken. "Di, I've asked another woman to marry me, and she +has said, 'Yes.'"</p> + +<p>Out of a stunned silence she had whispered. "How—did it happen?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Don't ask me—it is done—and it can't be undone—we have made a mess +of things, Diana——"</p> + +<p>He gave the bare details; of the sick mother who had crept back after +years of absence to die in her own town, of the girl and her loneliness, +of her child-like faith in him.</p> + +<p>When he had finished, she had laid her hand on his arm. "But do you love +her, do you really love her, Anthony?" had been her desolate demand.</p> + +<p>He had drawn back, and not meeting her eyes, had said, very low, "You +haven't the right to ask that question, Di, or I to answer it——"</p> + +<p>And in that moment she had realized that the barrier which separated +herself and Anthony was high enough to shut out happiness.</p> + +<p>"Oh—oh." As Diana's thoughts came back to the present, she sat up in +bed and wept helplessly. "Oh, I don't know what I am going to do, +Sophie. I've always been so self-sufficient, and now it seems as if my +whole world revolves about one man——"</p> + +<p>Never before had Diana, self-contained Diana, talked to her friend of +the things which lay deep beneath the surface, but now she revealed her +soul to the little woman who had known love in all its fulfilment, and +who, having lost that love, still lived<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>.</p> + +<p>"What you must do," said Sophie, softly, "is to face it. You've got to +look at the thing squarely, dearest-dear. It is because you and Anthony +forgot to keep burning the sacred fires that this trouble has come upon +you."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, Sophie?"</p> + +<p>"When two people love each other," said Sophie, slowly, "it is a +wonderful thing, a sacred thing, Diana. What you gave Ulric was not +love—you were fascinated for the moment, and when you found him +disappointing, you let him go lightly, yet all the time, deep in your +heart, was this great Anthony—is it not so, my Diana?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," the other whispered, with her face hidden.</p> + +<p>"And Anthony, when he thought he had lost you, took this little girl to +fill your place—and she can never fill it, and so because each of you +has made of love a light thing, you must have your punishment. We must +reap what we sow, Diana.</p> + +<p>"Don't think I am not sympathetic, liebchen," she went on, "but, oh, +Diana, I'd rather see you this way than with Ulric Van Rosen as your +lover."</p> + +<p>She knelt by the bed with her arms about her friend. Two years before +Diana had comforted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> Sophie when death had claimed the great-hearted +husband who had made the little woman's life complete. Since then they +had clung together, and there had developed in Sophie an almost maternal +devotion for the brilliant girl who had hitherto moved through life +triumphant and serene.</p> + +<p>Delia, at the door, presented a worried face. "I've got some milk toast +for Miss Diana," she explained, "and your breakfast is waiting for you, +Miss Sophie——"</p> + +<p>"Breakfast," Diana pushed back the brown brightness of her hair and +laughed hysterically; "is that the way the world must go on for me now, +Sophie? You know—for you've been through it—must I eat and drink and +be merry when my heart is—broken——?"</p> + +<p>"Hush." Again she was in Sophie's arms. "Delia will hear."</p> + +<p>But Delia's imagination had not grasped the possibility of any mental or +spiritual disturbance. "I guess she's got one of her mother's +headaches," she said, as she edged herself further into the room. "I +always knew she'd have them some day—although up to now she's been +perfectly well."</p> + +<p>"Set the tray on the table, Delia," Mrs. Martens<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> spoke over her +shoulder, "and I'll come down presently—and you might go up and get +Peter. I think I shut the door as I came out——"</p> + +<p>Delia took the hint. "There's broiled fish and waffles," she complained, +as she departed, "and they don't taste any better for waiting."</p> + +<p>"You go down, Sophie," said Diana, when they were alone—"and I'll get +up presently, and then—I'll see some way out of it——"</p> + +<p>At her tone, her friend who had crossed the room to pull up the shades +turned and looked at her. "What way <i>can</i> you see, Diana?"</p> + +<p>Diana slipped out of bed and stood up, tall and white, with the long +brown braids hanging heavily to her knees.</p> + +<p>"There must be some way," she said, "for all of us. I don't believe in +sitting down and letting things go wrong, and they may be as wrong for +that little girl as for Anthony and me—surely one must use common sense +in a case like this——"</p> + +<p>Sophie pulled up the curtain, letting in a flood of sunshine.</p> + +<p>"One may use common sense," she said, "but one must be very careful——"</p> + +<p>Diana twisted her braids into a coronet, and put<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> on a padded Japanese +robe, for the air blew cool from the sea. Then she sat down at her desk.</p> + +<p>"I am going to ask her to come and visit me, Sophie. I want you to take +the letter when you go down to breakfast."</p> + +<p>"To visit you—who?"</p> + +<p>"Bettina. She can stay until Anthony's big house is ready. I want to +know his little girl."</p> + +<p>While Diana wrote her note, Sophie stepped out on the porch which +matched her own above it. The harbor lay still and beautiful, a sapphire +sheet in the morning calm. The anchored boats seemed to sleep like great +white birds on its bosom.</p> + +<p>Suddenly there broke upon the stillness the sound of a great buzzing, as +of some mammoth bee.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Diana, standing in the doorway.</p> + +<p>"Look, oh, look," cried Sophie, and then they saw above them, darting +like a dragon-fly through the golden haze, a magic ship of the air.</p> + +<p>"I wonder who's flying," said Diana, as they watched it go up and up +until it was a mere speck against the blue. "They are daring folk, these +flying men—yet there are men more daring. If you could see Anthony's +hands! Those strong, compe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>tent hands that work with instruments and +surgeon's needles, and a slip may mean some one's life—it's such men +who are the bravest, Sophie, not the men who fly."</p> + +<p>The little woman stepped back within the circle of her friend's arm. +Diana towered a head above her, yet spiritually she leaned on Sophie's +fineness and faith.</p> + +<p>Their eyes followed that astounding flight, but their thoughts were with +a man whose mornings were spent not in the golden radiance of the upper +air, but in the bare blackness of an operating room.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Diana spoke sharply. "If I have lost him, Sophie, what shall I +do?"</p> + +<p>"What do all women do," said Sophie, still gazing with rapt face up into +the heavens, "what do all women do who lose the men they love? They pray +for courage, Diana, and for strength—and then—and then they fight as +best they can until the end—Diana."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>WHITE LILACS</h3> + + +<p>"Isn't it dear of her to ask me?"</p> + +<p>"Very." Anthony took the note which Bettina handed him. In his desk were +many letters written on the gray paper with the silver monogram. +Subconsciously he realized that he ought to destroy them, but there was +time enough for that.</p> + +<p>"She says she wants me to stay with her all summer; do you think I +ought?"</p> + +<p>"She would not have asked you if she had not meant it."</p> + +<p>Bettina, with her small feet on the fender, considered the situation.</p> + +<p>"You'll have to come and see me there, and I'll miss our twilight talks +by the fire, with Miss Matthews away, and tea, and no one to +interrupt——"</p> + +<p>"The days are growing longer. Soon there will be no twilights and no +fire——"</p> + +<p>"And you want me to go?"</p> + +<p>His nature was perfectly honest, and he meant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> that there should be no +barriers between himself and this child-woman. So he told her the truth. +"I don't know. But you'll be very gay. There'll be the dances at the +yacht clubs, and you'll be entertained on the boats, and you'll meet +lots of people. Diana knows every one, and her money and position and +her beauty make her much in demand."</p> + +<p>"Isn't it funny she has never married?"</p> + +<p>"Funny"—sharply; "no, it's not funny. It's tragic."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because such women as Diana should marry. She has all the qualities for +a wife and mother—she is wise and true and good, and there aren't many +women like that in the world——"</p> + +<p>"Oh," the girl drew her breath quickly, "I'm not like that—I'm little +and childish, and I'm not wise."</p> + +<p>He saw what he had done and tried to make amends.</p> + +<p>"You are—you, Bettina."</p> + +<p>"Well," Bettina crossed the hearth-rug, and sat down on a stool at his +feet, "she's awfully old, isn't she?"</p> + +<p>"My dear, she's years younger than I."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you," she laughed and laid her cheek<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> against his hand. "Your heart +is just my age, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>He moved restlessly, then stood up, with Diana's note still in his hand.</p> + +<p>"You'd better write and tell her you'll come," he said. "I'll take you +over to-morrow in my car."</p> + +<p>She surveyed him wistfully. "Oh, must you really go?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. There's the old man with the pneumonia, and the girl with +appendicitis, and the new baby at the hospital—I can't neglect them, +Bettina."</p> + +<p>"When we are married," she asked, tremulously, "will all these sick +people keep you from me——"</p> + +<p>"A doctor belongs to his patients, my dear——"</p> + +<p>"I suppose he does," pensively, "but I shall be terribly jealous of your +old men with the pneumonia, and your girls with appendicitis. I shall +want you."</p> + +<p>If she had hoped to please him by her frank avowal she failed, for he +stood looking at her with an expression which made her say hastily, +"Don't you want me to want you?"</p> + +<p>"I was wondering if I could make you happy."</p> + +<p>She gave a little musical note of protest. "I am the happiest girl in +the world, except—oh, if mother could only know."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> + +<p>With a quick change of mood, she was sobbing in his arms. The masses of +her hair lay soft against his lips, one slim white hand crept to touch +his cheek. He imprisoned the small hand in his. "We must have a ring for +this soon," and she shifted her head so that she could look up at him +from under wet lashes. "Oh," she said, "shall I?"</p> + +<p>"Of course. What shall it be?"</p> + +<p>"Anything but pearls; they mean tears, you know."</p> + +<p>With a quick throb of the heart, he remembered that Diana always wore +pearls. Was there something after all in the old superstition, and were +the rest of Diana's days to be dreary because she had chosen the wrong +jewels?</p> + +<p><i>Diana, Diana, Diana</i>, would his mind never leave her?</p> + +<p>Then as if his thought had brought her, he heard her voice upon the +stairs.</p> + +<p>"May I come up? I rang, but no one answered."</p> + +<p>"The bell is broken." He hurried out into the hall, and watched her +ascend, with her arms full of white lilacs, her gray eyes shaded by a +white veil thrown back from a broad hat, and around her throat the +inevitable string of pearls.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I've come to bring some of my flowers to your little Betty child, and +to get her answer to my note."</p> + +<p>She was smiling now, smiling at him, and at Bettina, who had come +forward timidly.</p> + +<p>Diana laid the lilacs on the table, and drew the girl into her arms. +"When shall it be, my dear? It seems such a perfect plan to me. The big +house isn't finished. You can't go into it until fall, and I can help +you get things ready. What do you think, Anthony?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. I'll leave it to your wisdom."</p> + +<p>"Then I am sure it will be best," she responded cheerfully, "and now, +why not to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>"I haven't anything to wear," Bettina stated, anxiously.</p> + +<p>"There's a sewing woman at the house, and Sophie and I have brought lots +of things from Paris."</p> + +<p>"Really? And will you tell me all about your trip?"</p> + +<p>"Sophie will tell you. She's the talker. I like to listen—Anthony knows +that."</p> + +<p>If she had meant to stab him by reviving old memories, she succeeded. +How he had missed the responsiveness which had spurred him on to talk +his best only his hurt heart knew. It had been her be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>lief in him, which +had supplemented his ability, and had brought him success, and he knew +it and she knew it, and now Bettina was to try to play that inspiring +part.</p> + +<p>Nothing of his thought showed, however, in his impassive countenance. He +stood up and held out his hand.</p> + +<p>"My old man with the pneumonia is waiting," he said, "and you'll want to +visit a bit with Bettina."</p> + +<p>"But there's one thing," he continued hurriedly "that I'd like to speak +of before I leave—to have settled. Do you think it will be wise to make +a public announcement of our engagement?"</p> + +<p>"Why not?" sharply.</p> + +<p>Bettina glanced from one to the other, conscious of some undercurrent of +feeling which she did not share.</p> + +<p>"It's just this way," said Anthony, slowly; "if Bettina could meet your +friends and mine, under your auspices, chaperoned by you, they would +discover her charms and loveliness," he smiled at the girl, "and they'd +then welcome her with open arms. Now she knows none of them; it would be +only on your account that she would be received, not upon her own, and I +think she'd like the other better<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> Diana. What do you think, Bettina?" +he asked. "It is for you to say."</p> + +<p>Bettina, who was making a tiny white nosegay of lilacs to pin on +Anthony's coat, turned to them a sparkling countenance.</p> + +<p>"Me—does it matter? Does anything matter except that I am going to +marry you, Anthony?"</p> + +<p>She held out her hands to him, laughing over her shoulder at Diana. With +her flower face, her hair of gold, her figure slim and swaying like a +lily on its stem, she was radiantly, almost impertinently young, and, +with a sudden sense of age and weariness, Diana buried her face in the +lilacs to hide a whiteness which matched their own.</p> + +<p>But she had not been quick enough to escape the keen eyes of Anthony.</p> + +<p>He dropped Bettina's hands. "I'll stop to-morrow morning, child, on my +way to the sanatorium, and take you over."</p> + +<p>"And dine with us later," said Diana. "I'm going to have a lot of +people. It will be a sort of impromptu housewarming. I've telephoned +about a dozen old friends."</p> + +<p>"But I haven't anything to wear." Bettina was again in a panic.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You'll have about twelve hours to get ready," Diana comforted; "we can +do a lot in that time."</p> + +<p>But her mind was not on clothes, for she followed the doctor out into +the hall to say, "She's just sweet, Anthony——"</p> + +<p>"Don't," suddenly all the calm of his fine face was broken up, "don't, +Diana——"</p> + +<p>Then Bettina came out with the little nosegay of white lilacs.</p> + +<p>"You were going away without it," she said reproachfully to the doctor, +who was half-way down the stairway.</p> + +<p>"Throw it to me and I'll catch it," he called.</p> + +<p>But she ran after him and pinned it on and dropped a hasty kiss in the +midst of its fragrance, and ran up again, blushing.</p> + +<p>And Diana watched the little scene from the top of the stairs and +wondered if she had overestimated her own power to endure.</p> + +<p>The two women, standing at the window high up in the hallway, saw the +doctor depart, then Diana said, suddenly, "Betty, dear, must you wear +black?"</p> + +<p>The girl's lip trembled.</p> + +<p>"But—mother——"</p> + +<p>"I know. But, dearie, it wouldn't make her any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> happier to see you so +somber. And there's white for you, and all the pale, pretty tints, and +you wouldn't be too gay, nor sadden others."</p> + +<p>"But your friend, Mrs. Martens," said Bettina, eagerly; "Anthony pointed +her out to me this afternoon—she passed here on her way to the +post-office, and she was in deep mourning——"</p> + +<p>"Sophie's life is all behind her; yours is ahead of you."</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't it seem like—forgetting?"</p> + +<p>"You can never forget. But when you come to me there will be young +people, and I want you to share their life. Shall we call it settled, +and plan a white dress for to-morrow night?"</p> + +<p>Diana had a fashion of calling things settled, and of bringing others to +her point of view. Bettina had no sense of injury, but only boundless +confidence in the decisions of the wonderful woman creature who was to +fill her life with gladness.</p> + +<p>"There will be twelve of us to-morrow night," she sketched rapidly. +"Anthony and you and Sophie and I will make four, then there will be two +comfortable married couples, and Justin Ford, who is flying his +hydro-aeroplane over the harbor, and Bobbie Tucker, who has his yacht in +com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>mission, and Sara Duffield, whom you won't care for, because she is +a bit of a snob, and Doris Sears, who is sweet and girlish and about +your age.</p> + +<p>"Sophie and I have picked out the dress you are to wear," she continued. +"I think you are just about Sophie's size, and there's an embroidered +white, very sheer and fine, with a round low neck and short sleeves, and +a girdle of amethyst, and silk stockings and satin slippers of the same +color. I'm not sure whether the slippers will fit, but I fancy that a +bit of cotton tucked into the toes would make them all right.</p> + +<p>"And I want you to wear your hair like I saw the girls in Paris—curled +over your ears with a soft fringe—you'll look adorably young, Betty, +and so dear and sweet."</p> + +<p>The girl's cheeks were brilliant with excitement. "Why, it doesn't seem +true. Two days ago I was like Cinderella sitting in the ashes, and now +I'm a fairy princess, and you are the fairy godmother."</p> + +<p>"Am I, my dear?" Diana spoke absently; her eyes were on a wonderful +piece of lace, which, framed quaintly against a background of velvet, +hung above a cabinet in the corner.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Where did you get that collar, Bettina?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"It was one of the things that belonged to father's family," the girl +explained. "You know he was an Italian, a Venetian—and mother would +never let me wear the collar or the old jewels. There's a queer ring. +I'm going to give it to Anthony for a wedding ring."</p> + +<p>She spoke the last words with a charming hesitation, then went to the +little cabinet in the corner and unlocked a drawer. Within was a carved +box which when opened showed a massive golden circlet.</p> + +<p>"Dad wore it," said Bettina, "on his little finger, but his hands were +fat. Anthony's fingers are slim, and he can fit it on the third finger. +If he can't get it on the third finger, he shan't wear it."</p> + +<p>Diana stared at her in surprise. "Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Because it would remind me of Dad," said Bettina, "and I hated Dad."</p> + +<p>Here was a new phase of a nature which Diana had judged gentle and +yielding.</p> + +<p>"But, my dear," she protested, "surely he was your father."</p> + +<p>"He broke mother's heart," said Bettina, obstinately; "he loved so many +times, and there's only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> one love that is worth while, and people who +can go from one person to another aren't worth thinking about."</p> + +<p>It was the judgment of a child ignorant of life, but so aptly did her +condemnation fit in with Sophie's words of the night before, that Diana +drew a sharp breath. "Perhaps he was only mistaken," she said; "perhaps +he didn't understand until it was too late what he had lost."</p> + +<p>"He should have understood. I don't want to be harsh—he was my father, +and I wouldn't talk this way to every one. But suppose Anthony treated +me the way my father treated mother. Suppose he told me he loved me, and +then—some day, I found that he cared—for some one else. What would you +think of him then—what would you think of Anthony?"</p> + +<p>As she brought her argument to a triumphant close, Diana put up her +white-gloved hands as if to ward off a blow, then she said, a little +breathlessly, "Don't let Anthony wear the ring—not yet——"</p> + +<p>Bettina, unconscious of the emotion she had roused, put the ring back in +the box.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe I shall," she said, thoughtfully; "there's an old +superstition that a ring worn by an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> inconstant person carries +inconstancy with it—and while I don't believe it—it would make me +uncomfortable."</p> + +<p>"It would—indeed," was Diana's fervent confirmation.</p> + +<p>She was still shivering with the shock of the girlish outburst.</p> + +<p>"She loves him," she said to herself in dismay. "She really loves him."</p> + +<p>She rose and laid her hand on Bettina's shoulder. "Forget to be unhappy +while you are with me, Betty, dear. You are going to be very gay—and, +oh, so very, very young——" She bent and kissed her. "And now, I want +you to do two things for me;—first, you must call me Diana—and second, +you must believe that I am really your friend. If I ever do anything to +make you doubt, remember this, that in my heart is just one wish, to +help my old friend Anthony to happiness——"</p> + +<p>The girl laughed softly, her head up, her eyes shining. "You can't make +him much happier than he is," she said; "it may sound awfully conceited, +but I think he's happy—because he's going to marry me—Diana."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>IN WHICH BETTINA DANCES</h3> + + +<p>Diana's house, set high on the rocks, hung over the harbor. In the +quaint old town, front doors became back doors, kitchens looked out on +the street, and the windows of living-rooms and dining-rooms faced the +sea. But there were two seasons when the rocky and ignored gardens of +the town were ablaze with beauty—in the lilac month of the spring, and +in the dahlia month of the fall.</p> + +<p>It was at the time of lilac bloom that Bettina came to make her +wonderful visit to Diana, and, after an exciting day in which she had +been swept from the hands of the dressmaker to the hands of the +hair-dresser, thence to Sophie for inspection and to Diana for +confirmation of the completeness of her attire, she found herself, +arrayed in all her glory, alone in the wide hallway.</p> + +<p>The door was open at the end which faced the town, and the fragrance of +the lilacs poured in. The soft wind swayed the branches of the bushes so +that they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> seemed to float like white and purple clouds against a +background of blue.</p> + +<p>On the step sat Peter Pan, and as Bettina came toward him he rose to +meet her and together they went down the path.</p> + +<p>It was there in the old garden that Justin and Bobbie came upon her. +They were in the white flannels and blue coats which Diana's informality +permitted. The insignia on Bobbie's cap proclaimed him a yachtsman.</p> + +<p>Justin, having presented Bobbie, smiled straight into Bettina's eyes.</p> + +<p>"To think of finding you here," he said.</p> + +<p>"How is your hand?" was her practical question.</p> + +<p>"Dr. Anthony cured it. I was able to fly yesterday over the harbor. When +are you going to fly with me?"</p> + +<p>"Never." Bettina shivered with apprehension.</p> + +<p>"Oh, but you'd like it," broke in Bobbie, eagerly. "I've been up with +him, and it's like floating on a sea of sunshine. I give you my word the +sensation is delightful."</p> + +<p>Justin said no more on the subject. He could wait, but some day he was +going to fly with this little golden girl. He wondered who had been +in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>spired to dress her in that white and amethyst combination. She was +as flower-like as the lilacs themselves—she belonged to them; she was +exquisite.</p> + +<p>He walked beside her, content to let Bobbie monopolize the conversation, +which was unusual, for Justin liked to be the center of things. He had +always been the center of things, and he was not diffident, as a rule, +in his approaches toward friendship.</p> + +<p>"The funny thing about this place," Bobbie was saying, "is that you have +to pass the kitchen door to get to the front. When I was a little boy +Delia used to roll out cookies on that table by the window, and I'd sit +on the step and wait for them."</p> + +<p>"Delia's a dear," said Bettina. "I fell in love with her the minute I +came. And I fell in love with Peter."</p> + +<p>Peter, hearing his name, jumped down from the stone wall, where he had +been watching the robins, and again joined them.</p> + +<p>"Peter and I are old friends," said Bobbie, and stopped to pet him.</p> + +<p>"So you are going to stay with Diana?" Justin asked.</p> + +<p>Bettina nodded. "Yes. Isn't she wonderful?"</p> + +<p>"Wonderful. It's a pity we aren't a monarchy,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> so that Diana could rule +as a queen. She's that kind of woman. A man instinctively looks up to +her."</p> + +<p>"That's what Anthony says."</p> + +<p>Marveling somewhat at her familiar use of the name of the distinguished +surgeon, Justin replied, "Oh, of course, Anthony thinks she's perfect. +He'll marry her some day."</p> + +<p>Bettina's startled glance questioned him. "What makes you say that? He +won't, of course, but what makes you say it?"</p> + +<p>"Because it would be such a perfect arrangement. They are so well +matched."</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't be perfect at all. People who are alike never ought to +marry. And, anyhow, they've never thought of such a thing."</p> + +<p>"How do you know?"</p> + +<p>"Because they are not in love. Any one can see that who sees them +together. They are just good friends—and friendship is a very different +thing from love."</p> + +<p>Justin stared at her in amazement for a moment, then he threw back his +head and laughed. "Oh, wise young woman," he said, "talk to me some more +of love——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Who's talking of love?" asked Bobbie, coming up.</p> + +<p>"Bobbie doesn't think of anything else," said Justin; "only he's never +sure of its object. Last month it was Sara, and now it is Doris—next +week it will be——"</p> + +<p>"Next week," said Bobbie, firmly, "it will be Doris,—and the next and +the next—and always——"</p> + +<p>They were on the porch now—the wide porch with its rugs and low wicker +chairs, its gay striped awning and its bowls of white and purple lilacs.</p> + +<p>Sophie was waiting for them, and Justin greeted her with all the light +carelessness gone from his voice.</p> + +<p>"Dear lady, it is good to see you again, but hard to see this," and his +eyes went to her black gown.</p> + +<p>Her lips were tremulous. "I know. But when I meet people who knew him, +it does not make me sad; it makes me glad because all of his friends are +my good friends."</p> + +<p>"There are two men whom I always place side by side as peers; one is +Anthony Blake and the other your husband. The surgeon and the +scientist——"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said, "and they never met. But Diana knew him—and loved +him."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And she loves—Anthony——"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Martens gave him a startled look. "Hush," she said. "Oh, no, you +mustn't think that."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps she doesn't realize," he said, slowly, "but the world can see +it with half an eye. And everybody knows Anthony's devotion."</p> + +<p>He stopped short as Diana appeared in the doorway. She wore white lace, +with a crescent of pearls set just above the parting of her dark hair.</p> + +<p>Justin was on his feet in a moment. "Diana, the huntress," he said. "You +shouldn't appear like that suddenly on a moonlight night unless you want +to be worshiped as a goddess——"</p> + +<p>Diana laughed. "Please don't call me 'the huntress' again. It has a sort +of 'woman still pursued him' sound."</p> + +<p>Justin, with Diana, was his light mocking self. With Bettina he had been +self-conscious, with Sophie tenderly sympathetic—but Diana played up, +as it were, to his boyish attitude of adoration.</p> + +<p>"Are we all here but Anthony?" she asked, with her eyes sweeping the +length of the porch where the guests had gathered. "He's probably +looking after somebody with appendicitis, or with a broken arm——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, he isn't." Bettina spoke with the assurance of direct knowledge. +"This time it is a man's nose; it had to be sewed up."</p> + +<p>She shivered as she said it, and her audience roared.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad it's not Bobbie's nose," said Justin, "it's the only really +handsome feature he possesses isn't it, Doris?"</p> + +<p>The blushing Doris murmured inarticulately. She thought Bobbie +beautiful, and wondered why any one should designate his nose so +explicitly.</p> + +<p>Diana regretted that she had not warned Bettina against such assumption +of intimacy with Anthony. If people were not to know of the engagement, +it was not well—</p> + +<p>But Anthony had come, perfectly groomed, from the tips of his white +shoes to the top of his head, and presently he was bending over her +hand, and saying, pleasantly, "It's a jolly lot of us you've got +together, Di. Did I keep you waiting?"</p> + +<p>"If you had, it wouldn't be me, but Delia, to whom you'd have to +apologize. She's the real head of the house, you know."</p> + +<p>Justin took Bettina out, Anthony took Sophie, and one of the married men +Diana. At the table Bettina<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> sat between the other married man and +Justin, much to her discomfort, for she craved the seat next to the +doctor, where perchance she might slip her fingers into his; he seemed +so far away, and they were all strangers.</p> + +<p>But no one could be shy with Justin. "Of course we're going to be great +friends," he said.</p> + +<p>Bettina eyed him doubtfully.</p> + +<p>"Why?" she asked.</p> + +<p>Here at least was no meek surrender to his charms, and Justin girded +himself for the flirtation.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm Diana's friend," he ventured.</p> + +<p>"Yes?"</p> + +<p>"Isn't that reason enough?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"I like to choose my friends for myself."</p> + +<p>"Won't you choose me?"</p> + +<p>She smiled up at him. "Of course; don't be silly."</p> + +<p>After that they got on famously. Justin exerted himself to please, and +Bettina, with shining eyes, laughed softly in response to his clever +wit.</p> + +<p>Sara Duffield watched and wondered. Justin had of late seemed her +especial property. Yet she had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> heard him offer to take this strange +young woman in his aeroplane, and he had never taken Sara.</p> + +<p>"Who is she?" Sara asked of Bobbie, who was next to her.</p> + +<p>"A friend of Diana's. She has been looking after her sick mother for a +year. Then Mrs. Dolce died, and Diana asked the girl here. She's a +beauty, isn't she?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Sara, who, in certain shimmering greens and blues, looked +like a shining little peacock, an effect which was further emphasized by +a slender feather caught by an emerald which she wore in her black hair. +"Where did she live before she came to Diana?"</p> + +<p>"In the top of the Lane mansion."</p> + +<p>"The Lane mansion." Sara's tone was scornful. "But it's an awful old +place——"</p> + +<p>"I fancy they didn't have much money. But she doesn't need it, not with +that face."</p> + +<p>"Doris had better look out," said Sara, unpleasantly.</p> + +<p>"Doris?" Bobbie's round young face grew red. "Doris is the last one, +Sara, and there won't be any other. You and Justin can just let that +subject alone."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> + +<p>Sara shrugged her shoulders, and returned to her survey of Bettina. "I +wonder where she got that stunning gown, if she's so poor. It's straight +from Paris."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you women," Bobbie exploded, and rested his eyes on Doris, across +the table, and the thought of her gentleness was like soothing balm in +contrast to Sara's sharpness.</p> + +<p>After dinner Diana sang. She sat at the piano, which was placed just +within the door of the unlighted music room, and her guests grouped +themselves on the porch outside.</p> + +<p>She gave them, first, a little German serenade, then a gay bit of Paris +music-hall frivolity, and finally her fingers strayed into the +accompaniment of a song which she had written for Anthony. It was called +"The Wind From the Sea," and it had a haunting refrain.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/music_score.png" width="600" height="248" alt="Music_score" title="Music_score" /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> + +<p>Diana's thrilling voice rose and fell with the beating cadences. She had +sung the song for Anthony on the night before she sailed for Berlin, and +when she had finished he had made once more his insistent plea, and she +had said, "Wait."</p> + +<p>Bettina, next to Anthony, in a corner of the porch, had had a rapturous +moment when he had murmured, "How lovely you are to-night," and had laid +his hand over hers in the darkness.</p> + +<p>But as Diana sang, her joy was suddenly shadowed. Why was Diana singing +things that seemed to drag the heart out of one, and why had Anthony +taken his hand away, and why was he so still?</p> + +<p>Even as she questioned the search-light from the little ferry that plied +between the Head and the Neck sent a shaft of blinding radiance across +the harbor. Bettina caught a glimpse of her lover's face, and of the +longing look in his eyes as they rested on Diana.</p> + +<p>Why did Anthony look at Diana like that?</p> + +<p>As the insistent question obsessed her, Bettina was conscious of no +feeling of jealousy. Her faith in Anthony made impossible any thought +that his heart was not wholly hers. She merely coveted the look in his +eyes as they rested on another woman.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Of course it's just the way she sings," she told herself, restlessly. +"Why, it almost makes me cry."</p> + +<p>The music ceased abruptly, and Diana sat very still in the darkness.</p> + +<p>It was Sophie's voice which broke the silence.</p> + +<p>"Betty, dear, haven't you a song for us?"</p> + +<p>"No," came the response from the far corner. "Dad sang. I can only +dance."</p> + +<p>"Really?" Justin was on his feet at once. "If you'll dance, we will +light all the candles in the music room."</p> + +<p>Bettina came forward. "It's an interpretive dance. Can you play the +'Spring Song,' Diana?"</p> + +<p>Sophie, observing anxiously, wondered what further test would try her +friend. But she saw no sign of an emotion which had to do with a night +when Diana had waited in the moonlight for the lover who belonged to +another woman, as with firm touch she played the first chords of the +rippling melody.</p> + +<p>And Bettina danced.</p> + +<p>Justin, watching her, thought of lilacs blown by light breezes, of +clouds on a May morning, of the drift of white petals from blossoming +trees. Was she a woman or a wraith, this slender thing swaying in the +candle-light?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> + +<p>Anthony watched, too, leaning back, tired, in his chair.</p> + +<p>Diana watched, and asked herself, "Can any man resist such youth and +beauty?"</p> + +<p>And Sophie watched, and said to herself, out of the pity of her great +and loving heart, "She is such a child—and things are going to be hard +for her."</p> + +<p>When Bettina finished, she went straight back to Anthony. "Did you like +it?" she demanded.</p> + +<p>But his answer was lost in the applause which forced her to face the +rest of them, and explain:</p> + +<p>"Dad taught me. He loved beauty, and he felt that the dance was beauty +in motion."</p> + +<p>"Sit here by me," urged Justin, in a wheedling tone, and placed a chair +for her.</p> + +<p>Bettina yearned wistfully for her corner and Anthony, but Sara was there +now, and her light hard laugh floated out to them.</p> + +<p>"I think I'm tired," said Bettina, as she dropped into the chair, and +Justin, the much sought after Justin, looked at her with chagrin.</p> + +<p>"Are you tired of me?" he asked in an injured voice.</p> + +<p>She shook her head. "No—but it's been an exciting day."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p> + +<p>Somewhere back in the house the telephone rang, and presently Delia came +out for the doctor. "You're wanted at the Neck, sir," she said; "it's +the old gentleman with the pneumonia."</p> + +<p>As Anthony went to answer the call, the other guests said their +farewells.</p> + +<p>Justin reproached Bettina. "You haven't been a bit good to me; if I come +again will you talk to me?"</p> + +<p>Bettina smiled. "I'll let you talk to me."</p> + +<p>"When?"</p> + +<p>She turned to Sophie. "When shall I let him come?"</p> + +<p>"He'll see you to-morrow on Bobbie's boat," said Sophie; "he wants us +for lunch——"</p> + +<p>"Till to-morrow, then," said Justin, and bent over her hand; then he ran +down the porch steps to Sara, who was waiting with her head held high.</p> + +<p>When Anthony came back from the telephone Bettina said, mournfully, "Now +you must go, and I haven't talked to you for a single minute."</p> + +<p>He looked down into the wistful face, and hesitated, then he asked, +"Would you like to ride with me over to the Neck? It won't take long, +but you'd have time to tell me all about your beautiful day."</p> + +<p>She was radiant at once.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Of course I can go."</p> + +<p>"Take my cloak," said Sophie; "the long black one; it's warmer, and the +air is cool."</p> + +<p>Diana, returning from a conference with Delia, asked, "Where's Betty?"</p> + +<p>"Gone for a little ride with Anthony."</p> + +<p>"But, Sophie, what will people say—at this hour?"</p> + +<p>"I told her to wear my black cloak," said Sophie; "it's less +conspicuous, and she was so eager."</p> + +<p>Diana stood very still in the darkness. How she coveted the intimacy of +the little car! She had ridden so often with Anthony, and he never +talked so well as when driving; he never revealed so fully the depth and +fineness of his great nature. Would he reveal himself to Bettina? Would +he? And was she shut out from his life forever?</p> + +<p>She went up-stairs slowly. "You wait for them, Sophie," she said. "I'm +tired—it's been a hard day——"</p> + +<p>"Poor dear." Sophie stood looking up at her from the foot of the stairs. +"I'll come up and rub your head presently."</p> + +<p>"It isn't my head," Diana answered over her shoulder.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Poor dear," said Sophie again, softly, and saw with anxious eyes the +droop of the ascending figure in the white gown.</p> + +<p>An hour later Bettina came.</p> + +<p>"We rode across the causeway, and down the shore drive. It was beautiful +and Anthony is going to take me again. It's been such a lovely, lovely +day, Mrs. Martens."</p> + +<p>All the doubts of the early evening had been swept away, and Bettina was +triumphantly happy.</p> + +<p>When they reached the second floor, she stopped outside of Diana's room.</p> + +<p>"Good-night, dear lady," she called softly, with her lips against the +door.</p> + +<p>"Good-night," came faintly, then after a moment, "dear child."</p> + +<p>But Diana did not open the door.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>"FOR EVERY MAN THERE IS JUST ONE WOMAN"</h3> + + +<p>When Sophie, having donned a smoke-gray kimono and brushed her shining +hair, went down to Diana, she expected to find her pensive. She found +her, instead, with various little white jars and silver bottles set +before her on her dressing table.</p> + +<p>"When a woman takes to cold cream, Sophie," she remarked, as her friend +came in, "it's a deadly sign. It shows that she has found her first +wrinkle."</p> + +<p>"Diana, how can you! You know that you are beautiful without such aids."</p> + +<p>"When I was in Paris," Diana continued, "I was persuaded into buying +these. I was told that they held the secret of perpetual youth."</p> + +<p>"Perpetual youth is from the heart, Diana."</p> + +<p>"Then my heart is as old as the ages."</p> + +<p>Diana was gazing into the mirror, which reflected her tired face.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I can't think of anything but that child, dancing in the candle-light. +Oh, youth, youth, Sophie; is there anything like it in the whole wide +world!"</p> + +<p>"Diana," Sophie's voice was sharpened by her solicitude, "come away from +that mirror."</p> + +<p>Diana obediently turned her back on her dressing table, and presently +she said, "I wonder if it was wise to have her here?"</p> + +<p>"Bettina?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Sophie was thoughtful. "I'm not sure. Yet it seemed to me to-night that +perhaps—you had been wise——"</p> + +<p>"What made you think that?"</p> + +<p>"Anthony's face when you played, Diana."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" Diana crossed the room and dropped down on the rug at her friend's +feet. "Tell me how he looked," she said, softly, with her arm outflung +across the other's knees.</p> + +<p>"It was just in a flash that I saw his face—under the search-light from +the ferry. It was the face of a man who had lost the one woman in the +world for him, Diana."</p> + +<p>"If I could believe that," said Diana, tensely, "nothing else would +matter."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yet, believing it, how can it be right for him to marry some one else?"</p> + +<p>Diana, with her chin propped between her hands, stared with wide eyes +into space. "It isn't right—but she loves him, Sophie."</p> + +<p>"Yet she's not the one woman—oh, what a muddle, Diana."</p> + +<p>"What a muddle," and for a time they sat in silence.</p> + +<p>Then Sophie said, "Perhaps it's because I was so happy in my +marriage—that I can see so clearly. I've worked it out this way, +dearest, dear—that in all the world there's just one woman for one man. +If he meets and marries her, no matter how hard their life may be, they +will be drawn together, not separated, by the hardness; no matter how +the world may use them, they will cling together against the world. But +when a man marries the wrong woman, he goes through life a half-man, +crippled in mind and spirit, because of his mistake. Sometimes the man +finds the one woman in a second marriage; sometimes he finds her too +late; sometimes he is too blind to know that she is the one woman, and +he lets her go, to discover afterward that no other can fill his life. +That's the pity of it. If Anthony marries<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> Bettina, she will know some +day—that she is—the wrong woman——"</p> + +<p>Diana rose and moved restlessly about the room. "But she's so slim and +white and young—and no man can resist that sort of thing long. She has +youth to give him, Sophie, and I, why, soon I'll be middle-aged."</p> + +<p>"You—oh, Diana——"</p> + +<p>Diana's laugh had a sob in it. "Well, I shall be."</p> + +<p>"You'll never be anything but lovely—when you're an old lady you'll be +stately and distinguished, and your eyes will shine like stars, and men +will still fall in love with you——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Sophie, you're such a comfort——"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The next morning Delia sent up three breakfasts on trays.</p> + +<p>"If it wasn't for that pretty child," she said to little Jane Trefry, +who helped her in the kitchen, "there wouldn't be any satisfaction in +getting things ready. Miss Sophie has learned foreign ways and wants +rolls and coffee, and Miss Diana wants grape fruit. I don't know what's +the matter with her appetite; she hasn't eaten enough for a bird since +she came, and yet that first night she said to me, 'Oh,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> Delia, I'm just +dying for some of your good New England cooking!'"</p> + +<p>"Maybe she's in love," said little Jane, who was romantic.</p> + +<p>Delia turned her omelette deftly. "Of course she is. Everybody knows she +just about worships Dr. Blake, only she won't marry him till she gets +good and ready. That's the house he's building for her—up the road, +with the red-tiled roof and the wide stone porches. He had the window of +her room toward Minot's, so that the light could say, 'I love you' to +her at night."</p> + +<p>"She'd better look out," stated little Jane, with provincial frankness; +"if she waits too long he'll be finding some one else to say 'I love +you' to."</p> + +<p>"You keep your mind on that toast," Delia was dishing up the omelette, +"and don't you forget that Miss Diana isn't the kind that a man goes +back on. She could have had a dozen richer men than the doctor. But she +didn't want them, and maybe she doesn't want him, but don't you get it +into your head that he wants anybody else."</p> + +<p>Little Jane sniffed. "You can't tell about men," she said, as she went +out of the door with Bettina's tray.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + +<p>Bettina, sitting up in bed, welcomed little Jane with enthusiasm. She +ate everything from strawberries to omelette with a hearty appetite, +then she lay comfortably, looking out toward the eastern horizon where +the smoky streak of a steamer showed faintly.</p> + +<p>Presently Sophie came in with a gown of white serge—of simple lines, +with wide collar and cuffs of sheer embroidered muslin. "Diana insisted +that I should get some white things in Paris," she said, as she laid it +over a chair. "She hoped that I might be induced to dress in something +besides black, but I can't, and so I am sure that you will be willing to +wear these out for me, my dear."</p> + +<p>Bettina put one bare foot on the floor, then the other, then she +fluttered across the room like a white butterfly and embraced Mrs. +Martens.</p> + +<p>"It's lovely, only it doesn't seem quite right for me to take +everything."</p> + +<p>"It is right. They would lie in my trunks until they were out of +fashion. There's a white felt hat that goes with this, and a long white +coat, and Diana is going to take you over to town this morning to get +white shoes and gloves and a veil."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I thought we were to lunch on Bobbie Tucker's yacht."</p> + +<p>"We were—but Bobbie has just telephoned that his yacht has to go to the +yard for repairs—something happened last night—so Justin will take us +for a ride."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Bettina. "Mr. Ford?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Justin has put his car at our disposal. He'll drive us to-day, but +when he can't there's the chauffeur—it's very kind of him."</p> + +<p>"He's awfully good looking," said Bettina in a cool little voice, "but +don't you think he's terribly conceited, Mrs. Martens?"</p> + +<p>Sophie nodded. "He's been spoiled. But back of it all he's a man. His +lightness is on the surface. I know, for he was in Berlin when my +husband was living. I saw the other side then. He was poor; it was +before he came so unexpectedly into his uncle's money. You know the old +man and his son were drowned in a dreadful accident. Justin was studying +aviation when we first knew him. He lived in shabby rooms, and ate at +shabby little places, and he used to come in the afternoons to call on +me, and I'd fill him up with thick bread and butter and coffee, and we'd +talk for hours of America. He was lonely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> poor lad, and I was like a big +sister. I shall never forget one bitter cold afternoon, when he came in +with his hands all red and rough, and with a hoarse cough, and I had the +maid bring him a bowl of soup hot from the kitchen, and he tried to make +a joke of it, but his voice broke, and presently he said, 'Dear big +sister, some day I can thank you, but not now.'</p> + +<p>"And when my husband died," she went on, softly, "he did thank me in a +most generous way. He had just received his fortune when he heard of +my—trouble. He sent a wonderful cross to mark where my husband +sleeps—and I could have afforded only a little stone—and there are +flowers every week, even when I am far away, and there will always be +flowers because of his great generosity."</p> + +<p>Here was a background for the light-hearted young Justin which appealed +to Bettina's imagination. "Why, how lovely," she said with her eyes +shining; "he didn't seem like that to me. He seemed so—shallow."</p> + +<p>"But he isn't," Sophie defended; "if it had not been for him and for +Diana I should have lost heart many times—the world knows Justin as a +rich young man, ready for a good time, but I know him as the Knight of +the Tender Heart."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How old is he?"</p> + +<p>"Twenty-six. I didn't realize until I reached here that he was flying +again. He does such dangerous things. I saw the aeroplane yesterday +morning, and found out afterward that he was up—and since then my heart +seems to stop every time I think of him in the air——"</p> + +<p>With all the optimism of youth, Bettina tried to reassure her.</p> + +<p>"He said last night that he was very careful. He wants to take me up."</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't ever do anything so dreadful."</p> + +<p>"I couldn't if I wanted to. Anthony made me promise last night that I +wouldn't——"</p> + +<p>She said it with a comfortable sense of her lover's care for her; "I'd +rather ride any day with Anthony in his little car."</p> + +<p>"My dear," Sophie said with some hesitation, "I'm going to suggest that +except to Diana and myself, you try not to seem too much interested +in—your doctor—the world might suspect—and you don't want to announce +your engagement yet, Diana tells me——"</p> + +<p>Bettina shrugged her white shoulders. "I don't care if everybody knows," +she said; "but Diana<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> thought that Anthony's friends might like to get +acquainted with me first. But if you could know what he's been to me, +Mrs. Martens—why, when I waked this morning it seemed like a dream to +think that I wasn't in the top floor of the old Lane house, with Miss +Matthews making her breakfast coffee over an alcohol stove, and a little +impatient because I hadn't the toast ready, and with the prospect ahead +of me of another lonely day, when I should try to read and try not to +think, and miss mother until I nearly died.</p> + +<p>"Do you wonder that I love him?" She came up to Mrs. Martens and put her +hands on her shoulders. "He's so wonderful and good—and he loves +me——"</p> + +<p>Sophie could not meet the frank young eyes. "It's nice that you feel +that way," she said, "and I hope you don't mind what I said—it was only +that it might save you some future—embarrassment."</p> + +<p>"I'll be careful," said Bettina, "only I'm perfectly sure that everybody +will know every time I look at Anthony that he's the one man in the +world for me. You can't imagine how uninteresting other men seem beside +him—and then his manner, isn't it lovely and protecting and—sure?"</p> + +<p>Sophie had a sudden sense of the comedy which was intermingled with the +tragic of the situation.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> Diana and Bettina each harped incessantly on +one string, "Anthony, Anthony, Anthony," and she must play listener to +their ecstatic songs of praise.</p> + +<p>During the trip to town, Bettina sat beside Justin.</p> + +<p>"Since Bobbie's yacht is out of commission," suggested Justin, "why not +extend our ride up the North Shore road? There's a war-ship anchored +just off Beverly, and a tea room where we can have lunch."</p> + +<p>"I must stop at the sanatorium first," said Diana. "Anthony has a +patient there who is to be operated on. She's a little young thing, and +she's afraid, and I want to take her some lilacs. I told Jane to pick +some and have them ready when we returned, so perhaps you'd better go +first to our house, and then to the sanatorium, then we can do as we +please——"</p> + +<p>"A sanatorium," said Justin to Bettina, "always used to suggest vague +horrors. But Dr. Anthony's doesn't. He has a wonderful way with his +patients, puts their hands to work, because it's their minds that make +them sick; they weave and make pottery. The last time I was there an +anxious-eyed, beautifully-gowned woman was working on a rug, with three +rabbits as a design. She was having trouble with the bunnies' ears when +Dr. Blake came up.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'I simply can't do it, doctor,' she said, and began to cry.</p> + +<p>"Anthony stood very still for a moment, then in his quiet, strong voice, +he said, 'Dear lady, it must be done—for your soul's sake.'</p> + +<p>"She looked up at him in a startled way. 'Why my soul?' she asked. 'It's +my body that's sick.'</p> + +<p>"He shook his head. 'It's deeper than that,' he answered; 'you've lost +your grip because life has never meant labor to you. The people who work +have healthy minds and healthy bodies. Those who do not, waver between +weakness and wickedness. That's what's the matter with society +to-day—that's what's the matter with you. You must finish your bunnies' +ears, therefore, for the sake of your soul—your body will respond——'</p> + +<p>"She went back to her loom," Justin continued, "with a different look on +her face. The lines were smoothed out from her forehead. Neither of them +had seemed to notice that I was there. It was a psychological moment +when the doctor had to speak, and it was wonderful to hear him talk like +that."</p> + +<p>Bettina's puzzled eyes met his. "Oh, but do you think that people have +to work to be happy?" she said. "I hate work. I like to be warm and +com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>fortable, and have pretty clothes, and—everything."</p> + +<p>"Of course you do," said Justin, responding to her mood, lightly, "but +you don't want to get Dr. Blake after you—he preaches a gospel of +endeavor."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" There was a note of dismay in Bettina's voice. "But not all of us +can be bees. Some of us must be the butterflies."</p> + +<p>Justin spoke, somewhat seriously: "I've been a butterfly for three +years, and I give you my word I'm not getting much out of it. Seeing +Mrs. Martens has brought back the days when I worked over there in +Germany to get the money to finish my studies. Has she told you how I +used to go to her and drink her delicious coffee and eat thick bread and +butter, and bask in her sympathy until I got the courage to go on again? +Yet I felt all the time that I was getting somewhere, and here I'm +stagnating——"</p> + +<p>Bettina settled herself back comfortably in her cushioned seat. "Well, I +don't think it's anything to worry about. It seems perfectly wonderful +to me not to have anything to do—if I had mother back," her voice +trembled, "I wouldn't care how much I had to work for her—but after +she—left me, everything seemed so—so sordid, and hard—and—<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>—Oh, I +hated it—and then——" She drew herself up sharply.</p> + +<p>"Then——?" Justin prompted her.</p> + +<p>"Diana came," she went on, after a moment's hesitation, "and now +everything will be different."</p> + +<p>Justin had a baffled sense of some mystery from the solution of which he +was shut out, but he merely said, heartily, "I hope you'll stay +forever," and felt his heart leap as the ends of her white veil +fluttered against his lips.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>HARBOR LIGHT</h3> + + +<p>Anthony's sanatorium was an enlargement of an old mansion which had +belonged to his grandfather. The wide green lawns swept down to the sea. +There was an orchard to the left of the house, and to the right a rose +garden, and the barn had been turned into a weaving room.</p> + +<p>Within the house everything was restful and harmonious. Money had been +spent without stint to produce beauty in its most subtle expression; +each window framed a view of sea or sky or of sunlighted trees; the +walls, the hangings, the rugs were of that ashes-of-rose tint which give +light to an interior without glare.</p> + +<p>Diana, entering, with her arms full of lilacs, was met by a nurse.</p> + +<p>"Dr. Blake wants you at once," she said; "he's in his office."</p> + +<p>"Take these, Betty." Diana thrust the lilacs into the girl's arms. +"Perhaps you'd better go back<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> and sit in the car with Justin and +Sophie, or you can wait in the reception room. I won't be long."</p> + +<p>But she was longer than she had anticipated. The seconds lengthened into +minutes, and the minutes in quarters and into half hours. Justin came in +once and found Bettina sitting stiffly on the edge of a chair with the +flowers in her arms.</p> + +<p>"Come out and we'll take a spin across the causeway, while we wait," he +said.</p> + +<p>Bettina shook her head. "Diana said she wouldn't be long. I don't see +what's keeping her."</p> + +<p>"There's that operation this morning, you know, on the girl with +appendicitis. And Diana has always been a great help with Anthony's +patients. He told me that when she went to Europe her loss was felt +deeply here——"</p> + +<p>"But the girl—with appendicitis?" Bettina's face was white. "Is she +afraid——?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I should be afraid. I—I don't see how Anthony can do it."</p> + +<p>"Do what?"</p> + +<p>"Operate on such a little scared thing——" She was shivering.</p> + +<p>"You mustn't stay here," Justin insisted; "you'll<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> get nervous, you +know, and all that; you really mustn't stay—you weren't made to have +your mind on such things."</p> + +<p>"But Diana's mind is on them."</p> + +<p>"Diana is—different."</p> + +<p>That Diana was different was being demonstrated at that very moment in +an upper room, where a little white slip of a girl had welcomed her with +a wailing cry—"I'm afraid."</p> + +<p>"My dear," Diana bent over the bed, "there's nothing to be afraid of, +not with your doctor."</p> + +<p>"But—if I should die."</p> + +<p>"You're not going to die."</p> + +<p>"But how do you know?"</p> + +<p>"Because your good doctor has said so—and he knows——"</p> + +<p>"But sometimes people do—die."</p> + +<p>Diana signed to the nurse to go out, and then she knelt by the bed.</p> + +<p>"Dear child," she said, softly, "life is such a short journey for all of +us, and beyond is a wonder land. When I was a little girl I used to wish +that I might die, and I thought that my lonely little soul might sail +and sail in a silver boat until I came to the shores of that far country +where I should find my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> father and mother waiting. I was such a dreary +little orphan, and I wanted love. And I knew that in that country Love +waited for me—as it is waiting for you. Would it be so hard to go after +all the pain, if Love willed it so?"</p> + +<p>"I hadn't thought of it that way."</p> + +<p>"Then think of it now. But most of all think of life, and of what it +will mean to you when wise Dr. Blake has made you well. And think of +this, too, that when you wake up from your long sleep there will be a +bunch of white lilacs right here on this little table—to welcome you +back to the world—will you promise to think of the white lilacs until +you go to sleep?"</p> + +<p>She was talking against time, trying to get the tense look out of the +girl's eyes. And now she was rewarded by the lowered lids and the +relaxing of the little figure in her arms.</p> + +<p>"I am going to think of the lilacs," the girl whispered. "Are you very +sure they will be there?"</p> + +<p>"Very sure, dear."</p> + +<p>"Then I'm ready——"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Diana, going out, met Anthony.</p> + +<p>"She's all right," she said. "I'm glad you had me come.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> + +<p>"She confided in me at once. She just needed her mind diverted, and I +turned it on white lilacs. I will have a bunch for her when she wakes, +and she is going to think of them. Is there really any danger, Anthony?"</p> + +<p>"Scarcely any—and there was no choice. She couldn't live without it."</p> + +<p>"How wonderful that you can save life, Anthony."</p> + +<p>"In saving others I save myself, Diana. It has kept me in these later +years from—chaos——"</p> + +<p>Something in his voice made Diana say, quickly, "Betty is down-stairs. +Poor child, she has waited for a long time. Can you come down?"</p> + +<p>"No. She ought not to be here, Diana."</p> + +<p>"She would come. I think she hoped to see you. And why shouldn't she +come? Your work is here."</p> + +<p>"She isn't fitted for it. She is born for the brightness of life, not +for its shadows. I fancy if she could see me in my operating outfit that +she'd look upon me as something between a brute and a butcher. Poor +child!" His laugh was grim.</p> + +<p>Diana's progress down the corridor partook of the nature of an ovation. +From one room to another she went, and was welcomed by patients, many of +whom made periodical visits to "Harbor Light"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>—which was the +picturesque name Anthony had given his house because, as he explained, +it was to be a beacon to such derelicts as drifted there. There were men +and women of wealth who came to be fortified for another season of +excitement, and there were men and women to whom the doctor gave lodging +and his skill without financial recompense. But no one knew to whom such +charity was extended, and all were equal in care and treatment.</p> + +<p>Most of the nurses, too, had been there long enough to know the +inspiration and uplift which was brought by the gracious lady in the +white gown.</p> + +<p>When the patients asked, "Who is she?" the reply was whispered, "Diana +Gregory. Everybody hopes she'll marry the doctor. He's dead in love with +her."</p> + +<p>At last Diana slipped away, promising to come again soon to look at the +weaving, to see the new pottery—</p> + +<p>"But not now," she insisted, brightly; "there's some one waiting for me +down-stairs."</p> + +<p>She found Bettina still sitting stiffly on the edge of the chair. She +had sent Justin back to Sophie, and a nurse had taken away the lilacs. +All the glory<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> had gone out of her morning when Anthony had asked for +Diana.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't he want me?" she demanded, when Diana came toward her with +an eager apology. "Why didn't Anthony want me?"</p> + +<p>"My dear, he always wants you, but there's an operation on now."</p> + +<p>"On that girl with appendicitis?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Oh, how can he do it, Diana? I think it's dreadful—to—to hurt +people——"</p> + +<p>"He doesn't hurt them, dear."</p> + +<p>"But it's horrid. I—I hate it."</p> + +<p>"Betty!"</p> + +<p>"I—I shan't ever let him talk about it to me." The child's breath was +coming quickly. "Never—never—never, when we are married—and I'm going +to make him give it up——"</p> + +<p>"Give it up?" Diana's voice rang clear and sharp. "Give what up?"</p> + +<p>"His surgery. I didn't mind the other—when he came to mother and gave +her medicine in bottles—but this is different, and the women +here——Why, Diana, some of them looked in at the door, and they +were—freaks."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> + +<p>"They're sick, dear."</p> + +<p>"I don't like sick things. I loved mother, and I could stand it, but +Anthony mustn't let me see such people—not now, so soon after——!"</p> + +<p>"Hush, Betty! Oh, you shouldn't have come in. We'll go now and have a +long ride with Justin, and to-night you'll see Anthony—and some day +you'll realize what a great man he is."</p> + +<p>"I know he's a great surgeon, and, of course, I'll have to put up with +it—but I shall hate it just the same, Diana."</p> + +<p>Put up with it—oh, Diana! For years she had urged him toward this end, +that he might stand at the head of that profession which combats death +with a flaming sword. For years she had watched him struggle upward, and +had gloried, not only in his fame, but in his power of healing.</p> + +<p>Together the two women went down the path.</p> + +<p>"Are you tired of waiting?" Diana asked as they came up to the car.</p> + +<p>"Justin took me for a little ride," said Sophie, "and I sat in front +with him. We tried to get Bettina to go, but she wouldn't. She thought +she ought to wait for you."</p> + +<p>"I wish I hadn't waited," said Bettina, as Justin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> helped her in. "I—I +don't like sick people, and I hate that queer smell——"</p> + +<p>"Ether," said Justin, promptly; "it's because of the operation."</p> + +<p>He leaned forward, and the car shot out toward the causeway. The way led +first through a street overarched with elms; beyond the elms there was a +vista of sea and sky. A fragrant wind blew from the blossoming trees, +and swept Bettina's veil away from her face so that it billowed above +her hat like the wings of some great bird.</p> + +<p>The hospital was behind; ahead was the long white road. Justin was +smiling down into her eyes. For the first time she noticed his look of +joyous youth.</p> + +<p>"I begin to understand why it is that you fly," she said, as they came +out upon the causeway and saw the stretch of harbor beyond.</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because you feel that you must get up high enough to flap your wings."</p> + +<p>"I could do that on a barn-yard fence, couldn't I—like Chantecler, and +make the sun rise?"</p> + +<p>"You could never get up early enough."</p> + +<p>"I flew past your window at six."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How did you know it was my window?"</p> + +<p>Justin glanced down at her. Her soft white hat was pulled low, so that +it almost hid her eyes, but through the veil he could see that they were +softly shining. Her lips were red, and her cheeks touched by the wind +with vivid color.</p> + +<p>"I knew—because my heart told me," he said, ardently.</p> + +<p>But she did not blush. "You knew it because you know which is Diana's +guest room," she stated.</p> + +<p>"Were you awake?"</p> + +<p>"No. I am never awake at six—I love to be lazy."</p> + +<p>"Don't tell that to Dr. Anthony or he'll set you to weaving. You know +what I told you; he said that idleness leads to weakness or +wickedness——"</p> + +<p>"I haven't had time to see what it leads to," Bettina informed him. +"I've always been so busy. I'm going to play for a while."</p> + +<p>"Will you play with me?" Justin challenged her.</p> + +<p>Shining eyes met shining eyes—youth responded to youth.</p> + +<p>"It will be glorious," said Bettina, meeting his mood.</p> + +<p>They laughed together, the care-free laughter of their golden age. +Diana, catching the echo of it,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> waked from a reverie which had to do +with Anthony back there in a big, bare room, contending with skilful and +steady hands against the evil forces which sought to destroy; saving a +life, giving to a little unknown girl a future of hope and of health.</p> + +<p>Every breath that she had drawn since she had left him had been a prayer +that his hand might not fail, that his nerves might be like steel—she +felt as if her heart were beating with his to uphold him, as if she +could bear him on the wings of love and be his talisman against harm.</p> + +<p>Yet in front of her was the girl he was to marry, laughing lightly up +into the eyes of a boy, unconscious of her lover's need, unconscious of +everything except that she was young and free from care—and that the +morning world was beautiful!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>THE EMPTY HOUSE</h3> + + +<p>When the doctor came that night he was tired. The day had been a hard +one, and he felt weighed down by the woes of those weak folk who bore so +heavily on his strength.</p> + +<p>He found Bettina alone. Diana and Sophie had gone to play bridge across +the harbor, and only Delia in the garden and Peter Pan on the porch +remained for chaperonage.</p> + +<p>Bettina greeted her betrothed soberly, and held up her face to be +kissed. "I said things about you yesterday," she confessed, as she and +Anthony settled themselves on the porch where they could look out upon +the lights. "I said things about you to Diana, and afterward we went to +the Pirate House with Justin Ford for lunch, and I flirted with him——"</p> + +<p>"What did you say about me?"</p> + +<p>"That I hated your surgery—that it seemed dreadful."</p> + +<p>He had been smiling, but he grew grave at once.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You can't separate me from my work, child; you must take us together."</p> + +<p>"Of course; I know that now. Diana was talking to me after we came home +from our ride. She told me some of the wonderful things you had done, +and of how people almost said their prayers to you."</p> + +<p>"Not quite that—but it's my reward that so many of my patients are my +friends because I have helped them."</p> + +<p>"And Diana said that if I loved you I'd be glad—to let you—cut people +up."</p> + +<p>In spite of himself he laughed. She was irresistible.</p> + +<p>"I shan't exact that of you. But at least you must not worry."</p> + +<p>"And I won't have to live there?" anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Where?"</p> + +<p>"At the sanatorium?"</p> + +<p>"Of course not. You'll live over there."</p> + +<p>He pointed to a jutting rock on the top of which a big house loomed +white in the moonlight.</p> + +<p>"There? Oh, I'd love to go over it. Couldn't we, now?"</p> + +<p>He hesitated. "Perhaps it would be better to wait till there are +others." Then, seeing her disappointment, he agreed. "Well, if Delia +will come too."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Delia?"</p> + +<p>"To open the rooms." He had not the heart to tell her how sharp were the +tongues of the gossips of the little town.</p> + +<p>So Delia, a little later, limped after them with Peter following, +confidently.</p> + +<p>"And you flirted with Justin," Anthony remarked on the way over.</p> + +<p>"Yes. In the little tea room. Diana and Mrs. Martens sat at one table, +and Mr. Ford and I at the other—and he was so funny—and I——Well, +<i>any one</i> looking on might have thought I was in earnest."</p> + +<p>"What did Diana think?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, she knows how I feel about you——"</p> + +<p>"And Justin, does he know?"</p> + +<p>"Of course not. It's not announced, you know."</p> + +<p>"But if he should take you in earnest."</p> + +<p>"Silly," Bettina tucked her hand in his arm, "nobody takes me in +earnest—but you——"</p> + +<p>Her hesitation was charming, but he did not respond ardently, and +perhaps she missed something in his manner, for presently she asked, +"Are you jealous?"</p> + +<p>"My dear, no. Children must play——"</p> + +<p>She sighed a little. "Am I such a child?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> + +<p>He laughed again. "Of course, you're a mere baby—but a dear baby, Betty +mine."</p> + +<p>And with that she was content.</p> + +<p>The big house was not furnished.</p> + +<p>"I am going to put in the things which were in the old house before I +turned it into a sanatorium. My grandfather was a sea captain, and I +have a model of a ship carved by one of his sailors out of soup bones, +and there are two great china tureens in the shape of swans, and some +ivories and queer embroidered screens that I wouldn't take anything for. +It's a sort of jumble for a modern residence, but I like it. And I have +had the house built in a style which will be in keeping with my +belongings. It's rocky and rugged and there's a fireplace in every room. +I like to burn logs for cheerfulness even when there's a furnace—and to +come home to the light of them on winter nights."</p> + +<p>"I love pretty new things," Bettina informed him. "May I have all white +for my room? With ivory things on my dresser with silver monograms, +and—white fur rugs?"</p> + +<p>Her room!</p> + +<p>It came to Anthony, with the force of a blow, that there was no room in +the big house for Bettina.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> + +<p>Why, that room was Diana's—that room which looked out on Minot's. He +had thought of her as inhabiting it. He had never meant that the great +light should say, "I love you," to Bettina.</p> + +<p>For months, even when he felt that he had lost Diana, her spirit had +seemed to dwell in the place he had planned for her. Whenever he had +entered her room it had not seemed bare, for his imagination had filled +it with the furniture which had been his grandmother's wedding set—the +big canopied bed, the winged chair on the hearth, the quaint lyre-legged +sewing table by the window. And on the other side of the hearth would be +another chair—his own. And in that room he had seen Diana, his bride, +in the moonlight; his wife, waiting in the winged chair to welcome him +after a weary day.</p> + +<p>And now this pretty child—and Diana banished? What had he done? What +dreadful thing had he done?</p> + +<p>Bettina, unconscious, said pleasant things about the living-room, the +library, the great hall, the broad stairway—</p> + +<p>As yet there was no connection for lighting, so they carried candles, +Anthony holding one aloft for himself and Bettina, and Delia coming +after with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> taper. Peter, like a flash of flame, slipped ahead of +Delia and was lost in the shadows.</p> + +<p>They went into every room on the second floor before they entered the +one which faced Minot's. To him it was the Holy of Holies, but Bettina +stepped in boldly.</p> + +<p>It was a great high-ceiled chamber with its distant corners made darker +by the moonlight. Through the wide window which faced the south was a +vast expanse of sky and sea. Anthony's house stood near the end of the +harbor, so that across the causeway was the open water, a stretch of +limitless blue.</p> + +<p>Bettina shivered. "It's so big and dark."</p> + +<p>"When it's furnished and the lights are on it will seem different."</p> + +<p>Delia, arriving at that moment, added her contribution to the +conversation.</p> + +<p>"Miss Diana came over yesterday. Them's her white lilacs on the shelf."</p> + +<p>The doctor held his candle higher. The flowers, in a great bowl of gray +pottery, showed ghostly outlines beneath the flickering flame. To +Anthony the air seemed thick and faint with their perfume.</p> + +<p>"Let us go," he said to Bettina, quickly, and with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> his hand on her arm +he led her away and shut the door.</p> + +<p>Diana and Sophie, coming home at half-past ten, found the lovers on the +porch, and the four talked together until Anthony said "Good-bye."</p> + +<p>He made a professional call in a side street and found himself, +afterward, turning toward the big empty house on the rocks. In that +south room Diana's lilacs were wasting their sweetness, and he coveted +the subtle suggestion they gave of her presence there.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Diana, helping Delia to lock up, asked, "Where's Peter?"</p> + +<p>"Goodness knows," said Delia; "he followed me when we went over to the +doctor's house, and I ain't seen him since."</p> + +<p>Diana turned and looked at her. "The doctor's house? Who went?"</p> + +<p>"Dr. Anthony and Miss Betty and me. They asked me. She hadn't ever seen +it, and he wanted to show it to her."</p> + +<p>Diana felt her heart stand still.</p> + +<p>"Did you go—into every room, Delia?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p> + +<p>So he had taken little Betty there. They had entered that room to which, +that very morning, she had carried white lilacs, moved by some impulse +to call it her own until some one else should have the right to claim +it.</p> + +<p>"I'll look up Peter," she told Delia, hastily. "You needn't wait for +me."</p> + +<p>The town clock struck half-past eleven as she went through the +garden—wraith-like in her long white wrap.</p> + +<p>"Peter," she called softly, "Peter, Peter."</p> + +<p>Following the path over the rocks, she came at last to the empty house.</p> + +<p>A faint mew sounded from within. She turned the knob, and found the door +unlocked. "Peter," she called again, and the big cat came forth, his +tail waving like a plume.</p> + +<p>Diana, facing the darkness of the great hall, felt impelled to enter, to +slip silently up the stairs, to stand on the threshold of the +moonlighted chamber, whence came the perfume of white lilacs.</p> + +<p>And as she stood there, she saw, with a sudden leap of the heart, that +Anthony was before her. Silhouetted against the wide space of the open +window he was looking out at the flashing light.</p> + +<p>She put her hand to her throat. She stepped back<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> as if to escape. Then, +swayed by an impulse which cast prudence to the winds, she spoke his +name.</p> + +<p>"Anthony!"</p> + +<p>"Diana!"</p> + +<p>He had turned from the window, and was peering through the dimness. He +came toward her. She held out her hands to keep him back.</p> + +<p>"Oh, please—no—no——"</p> + +<p>But he took her in his arms.</p> + +<p>When he let her go his face was white.</p> + +<p>"There is no excuse for me," he said. "I know that. I've given my word +of honor to that little child—who trusts me. Yet—this room belongs to +you. Before you came to-night I touched the lilacs with my lips, and it +seemed to me as if they were your lips—that I touched. And when I +turned and saw you—white—like a bride—on the threshold—it was as I +had seen you, night after night—in my dreams. You belong here and no +other, Diana!"</p> + +<p>What she said in reply Diana could never remember with any great +distinctness. She only knew that she was trying to hold on as best she +could to the best that was within her. Anthony in this moment of +weakness was hers. Whatever she did now would bring him to her or send +him away—perhaps<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> forever. She struggled to think clearly—to raise +some barrier between his awakened passion and her own wild desire to +take what the gods had placed within easy reach of her hand.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she found herself speaking. Her throat was dry and she was +shaking from head to foot. But she was telling him that she had tried to +use common sense. That she had asked Bettina to come to her hoping that +there might be found some way out. But there <i>wasn't</i> any way out, not +any honorable way. And she didn't dare play Fate any longer. Not after +to-night. Not after—<i>to-night</i>.</p> + +<p>Her voice broke.</p> + +<p>"Diana—dear girl——"</p> + +<p>He put both of his strong hands on her shoulders, and so they faced each +other in the illumined night.</p> + +<p>"For just one little moment," he said, "we will have the truth. If I had +not asked Betty you would have married me, Diana?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"If there is any honorable way in which I can release myself, will you +marry me now?"</p> + +<p>She had a sudden vision of the slender, lonely child in shabby black as +she had first seen her in the shadowy room.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, oh, <i>no</i>," she whispered.</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Because there isn't any honorable way; because I should feel little and +mean; because it would make me think less—of you, Anthony."</p> + +<p>Her eyes met his steadily. She was as pale as the spectral lilacs, whose +perfume floated about them. But her nervous fears were gone. She knew +now that they would triumph—she and Anthony—that they were not to +leave the heights.</p> + +<p>When at last he spoke, it was in a moved voice. "If you were less than +you are I should not love you so much. You know that, Diana?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know——"</p> + +<p>"In the years to come, what you have been to me will be my light—in the +darkness——"</p> + +<p>Unable to speak, she held out her hands to him. He took them, and bent +his head.</p> + +<p>With a little murmured cry she released herself, and flitted away into +the engulfing darkness. The echoes of her swift descent came whispering +up the stairs; in the distance a door was shut. The emptiness of the +unfinished house seemed symbolic of the future which stretched before +him.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>THE GOLDEN AGE</h3> + + +<p>Justin Ford had not been unsuccessful with women. Many of them had liked +him, and might have loved him if he had cared to make them, but until he +met Bettina Dolce he had not cared.</p> + +<p>There was about Bettina, however, a certain remoteness which puzzled +him. She responded to his advances with girlish gayety, but her cool +sweet glance held no hint of self-consciousness, and beyond a certain +point of light flirtation he had, as yet, dared not go.</p> + +<p>He pondered these things one morning as he worked on his delicate +machine in the great shed with its wide opening toward the water.</p> + +<p>Why had little Bettina erected a barrier? She knew nothing of the arts +of sophisticated coquetry, so he absolved her from any intention to +rouse his interest. Was she unawakened? Was there another man?</p> + +<p>He laid down his pipe to think out that last start<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>ling proposition. +There had been no men in her secluded life.</p> + +<p>Except Anthony Blake! Gracious Peter, could it be Anthony? There came to +Justin, suddenly, a vision of Bettina in the shadowy room. Of her +childish dependence upon the doctor, of her little claims of intimacy, +her evident preference for the older man's society, her vehement denial +the night of the dinner that there could be anything but friendship +between Anthony and Diana.</p> + +<p>Putting, thus, two and two together, he decided that Bettina believed +herself in love with Anthony. Yes, that was it—and Anthony—well, for +Anthony there was just Diana!</p> + +<p>There you had it, and the only way to save Bettina and, incidentally, +himself from heartbreak was to take things into his own hands, and play +Prince to this exquisite Cinderella.</p> + +<p>Unconsciously his mind assumed a sort of King Cophetua attitude toward +the charming Beggar Maid. He found himself humming:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"In robe and crown the king stept down,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">To meet and greet her on her way——"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Justin knocked the ashes out of his pipe and put it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> in his pocket. +There was no time like the present, and he at once went toward Diana's, +"clothed all in leather," like the old man in the nursery rhyme.</p> + +<p>He found Bettina in the garden. She wore a strong little suit of blue +serge with a crimson silk scarf knotted under her sailor collar. On her +fair head was a shady hat. She stood by the stone wall looking +expectantly down the road. But it was not Justin whom she expected, +although she smiled at him, and gave him her hand.</p> + +<p>"Did you meet Miss Matthews?" she inquired.</p> + +<p>"Miss Matthews?"</p> + +<p>"You know. You met her the first time you saw me."</p> + +<p>"I can only remember that time that I met—you."</p> + +<p>She laughed. "How nicely you say it."</p> + +<p>"But you do not take me seriously."</p> + +<p>"Does anybody take you seriously?"</p> + +<p>"Kind people do."</p> + +<p>"And I'm not kind?"</p> + +<p>"Not to me—you just give me remnants and fragments of your time. I have +hardly seen you for three days."</p> + +<p>"Nobody has seen me," she informed him. "I've been doing all sorts of +stunts in the shops. I was in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> town yesterday with Mrs. Martens, and you +should see my hats——"</p> + +<p>"I'd rather see your hair. Do you know how lovely it is with the +sunshine on it——"</p> + +<p>"Silly—wait till you see my dream of a picture hat—with yellow +roses—to be worn with a shadow lace robe over a primrose slip."</p> + +<p>"White and gold—Sophie was foxy to choose that," he said.</p> + +<p>"Foxy—why?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, the pinks and blues don't suit you. You need the unusual tints. +That amethyst frock you had on the other night fitted in with the +twilight, and the old garden and the lilacs; and in the yellow and white +you'll be a primrose, flashing in the sun."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Martens has the most wonderful taste," she informed him. "There's +a tea-gown of white crape with a little lace wrap—I don't know when +I'll wear it, but Mrs. Martens insisted—and a new gown for the yacht +club dance to-morrow night,—and you should see my shoes—five pairs of +them."</p> + +<p>"Such richness!" He smiled into her eager eyes. "Did Diana help you +choose?"</p> + +<p>"Diana's away—on business in the city. That's why I'm free to do as I +please to-day."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Are you free to do as you please——?" He seized his opportunity. "Then +come up to the shed and see my air-ship. We can have a little flight +across the harbor."</p> + +<p>She shook her head. "Oh, I can't. I have an engagement with Captain +Stubbs and Miss Matthews. We are going fishing in the captain's boat, +and have lunch on the rocks later."</p> + +<p>Justin looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, then he said, "Three's a +crowd. You ought to have four."</p> + +<p>"Are you asking—to be invited?"</p> + +<p>"Please——"</p> + +<p>"But it's Captain Stubbs' party."</p> + +<p>"I am perfectly sure that if you'll give me a certificate of good +character Captain Stubbs will take me aboard."</p> + +<p>She seemed to be summing up the situation. "I'm not sure," she said, at +last, "that you'd fit in——"</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, the captain's old-fashioned, and Miss Matthews is old-fashioned, +and I love them both, and so I don't care. But you don't love them."</p> + +<p>He flushed. "I see. You're afraid that I'll make<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> them feel +uncomfortable. I am sorry you should think that. I'm not quite a cad, +you know."</p> + +<p>There were sparks in his eyes. He wondered that he should be so angry. +But he was desperately angry with this cool little creature who didn't +seem to care.</p> + +<p>And now she was passing frigid judgment on his blazing words. "Of course +you aren't a cad. I didn't say you were. But you aren't like Bobbie +Tucker or Dr. Blake. They have always known these people, and they +understand them. There are no class distinctions in a town like this, +you know——"</p> + +<p>"Have I seemed such a prig to you?"</p> + +<p>She cocked her head on one side and considered him, "Not since I talked +to Mrs. Martens about you. She told me how nice you were in Germany."</p> + +<p>In Germany; ye gods! Was he nice only in <i>Germany</i>?</p> + +<p>He stared at her blankly. He had a feeling that he would like to shake +her; that he would like to—kiss her.</p> + +<p>In the midst of her conflicting emotions little Miss Matthews arrived, +and behind her steamed Captain Stubbs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p> + +<p>Justin, murmuring inarticulately, acknowledged the introduction to the +captain, and greeted Miss Matthews.</p> + +<p>Miss Matthews was very prim and trim in a white shirt-waist and stiff +collar. She had a gray sweater over her arm, and a green veil was tied +over her soft felt hat. She carried in her hand a brown Boston bag, the +contents of which she explained to Bettina.</p> + +<p>"I told the captain I would bring some home-made pickles."</p> + +<p>Justin gave immediate attention.</p> + +<p>"Miss Matthews," he said, "do you mean to say that you three will eat +fish chowder and home-made pickles, and that I shan't be there?"</p> + +<p>The little captain, in a glow of hospitality, said heartily, "Now, look +here; can't you come with us?"</p> + +<p>Justin showed his white teeth in a flashing smile. "It's an invitation +that I've been fishing for all the morning, but Miss Dolce won't ask +me."</p> + +<p>"Don't you want him?" the little captain demanded of Bettina.</p> + +<p>"Of course," in the tone of one to whom it didn't really matter. +"Perhaps he can help you with the boat, captain."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> + +<p>Justin, carrying Miss Matthews' bag, helping the captain over with the +supplies, lifting Bettina over the side of the boat with strong arms +which yearned to show their strength, was in a mental attitude far +removed from his King Cophetua mood of the earlier morning. He was at +this moment a slave chained to Bettina's chariot wheel. And the strange +part of it was that he gloried in his chains! He realized that he was +going out with her on a forced invitation, but he was going! And the sea +was like sapphire, and the sun shone!</p> + +<p>Little Miss Matthews, looking back afterward on that glorified fishing +trip, was forced to confess that Justin left nothing undone for her +which could be done. Never in her life had she been deferred to by such +a charming youth, never had her little budget of small talk received +such respectful consideration, never had she been waited on, hand and +foot, by such a cavalier!</p> + +<p>Rarely did Justin's eyes stray to where Bettina sat beside the captain, +chatting to him in her confiding voice, making his old heart happy by +her interest in his sea-seasoned reminiscences.</p> + +<p>It was really a most altruistic performance. One might have imagined +that for Justin there was just<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> one woman in the world—Miss Matthews; +and for Bettina, just one man—Captain Stubbs. Yet, as the little boat +rounded the lighthouse point and came into the rougher waters outside, +young hearts were thrilling to the sound of young voices, and the music +of the spheres was being played to the accompaniment of beating waves.</p> + +<p>When at last they anchored, the fishing was really incidental. To be +sure it was exciting, and they had an excellent catch, but Bettina's hat +was off and Justin could see her hair. And Justin, standing up in the +bow of the boat with his line outflung, was, in Bettina's eyes, more +than ever like a young Olympian god.</p> + +<p>It was the same at lunch time. They landed on a crescent-shaped strip of +beach, backed by rocky walls, where there was plenty of driftwood for +their fire. There the captain gave his mind to the making of chowder, +and Miss Matthews rendered expert service in the cutting up of onions +and potatoes, and in the frying of salt pork.</p> + +<p>Justin opened the pickle bottle and did other prosaic and ungodlike +acts, and Bettina laid the table on the sands like a real girl instead +of a transported nymph, yet each saw the other through a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> golden haze +which magnified the most trivial act and made it important.</p> + +<p>Thus, when Bettina set four blue bowls at exact geometric distances on +the cloth, Justin thought not of the bowls, but of Bettina's slim white +hands; and likewise Justin, gathering driftwood, commended himself to +Bettina not for his industry, but for his swinging walk and square +shoulders.</p> + +<p>For several days Bettina had been heavy-hearted. She had not seen +Anthony. He had called her up over the telephone, and had made his +excuses; there was the little girl with the appendicitis and the old man +with the pneumonia—how Bettina hated the repetition. He would come and +see her as soon as possible, he promised, but he had not come.</p> + +<p>Diana, too, had not been like herself. On the morning after Bettina's +visit to Anthony's house she had not appeared until luncheon. She had +looked like a ghost, and had been very busy all the afternoon. She had +hinted at affairs which would take her to town for a time, and finally +she had gone away. Even Mrs. Martens had seemed disturbed and restless. +Hence Bettina had welcomed the invitation from Captain Stubbs. Justin's +high spirits, his evident delight in her society, his anger<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> at her +rebuffs—these things soothed and flattered her. Above all there was the +charm of his glorious youth. She found herself swayed to his mood. Might +she not for one little fleeting moment dance to the tune that he piped?</p> + +<p>Letting herself go, therefore, she was at luncheon bewildering in her +beauty. Justin's mocking eyes grew tender as he watched her. Here was no +pretty Beggar Maid for masculine condescension, but rather a little +goddess to be put on a pedestal and worshiped.</p> + +<p>Captain Stubbs and Miss Matthews, unconscious of the forces which were +charging the air about them, ate their chowder and took their enjoyment +placidly.</p> + +<p>"A fish chowder," said the little captain, "never tastes so good in the +house as it does out-of-doors, with the cod fresh caught, and with the +smell of the sea for sauce."</p> + +<p>Bettina passed her bowl for more.</p> + +<p>"It is delicious," she said; "everything is—lovely."</p> + +<p>"Isn't it?" said Justin. "There never was such a feast—there never was +such a day——!"</p> + +<p>Yet there had been many such days; there had been many such feasts. But +not for them! It was the golden age of their existence. The moment of +youth and joy, unmarred by disillusion.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>STORM SIGNALS</h3> + + +<p>The wind, rising, blew Miss Matthews' green veil into a long thin wisp +which flapped toward the northwest.</p> + +<p>The captain, noticing it, glanced over his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"We'll have a storm before we know it," he said. "It's dark enough over +there in the south——"</p> + +<p>Above the horizon rose the clouds, black with wind; the waves began to +murmur and run in, in long lines of white.</p> + +<p>"There'll be no getting back now," said the captain.</p> + +<p>Justin's eyes searched the land for shelter. Beyond the rocky wall was a +hillside of hemlock, which formed part of the estate of a magnate from +the West. Beyond the trees was a great house, shut up now, and in the +hands of a caretaker. Nothing else seemed to offer refuge from the +storm.</p> + +<p>"What do you think, captain?" he asked. "Had we better try to make the +house?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I've got my oilskins," the captain said. "I'll stay here, but perhaps +you folks had better run in."</p> + +<p>Miss Matthews protested. "I've lived too long on this coast to mind a +storm. I'll wrap up in my rubber coat and let it rain. But we'd better +get that child in somewhere; she's scared of storms."</p> + +<p>"Are you?" Justin asked Bettina.</p> + +<p>"If there's going to be wind," she said, "I'm awfully afraid."</p> + +<p>"Then we'll run for it," he told her; "up the hill to the house."</p> + +<p>As he helped her climb the rocks, they took a last glance back at the +stolid pair who didn't mind storms. Captain Stubbs in brilliantly yellow +new oilskins and Miss Matthews in a sad-colored waterproof coat sat side +by side with their backs against the beached boat.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps we should have stayed with them," said Bettina, doubtfully, as +Justin drew her up to his level.</p> + +<p>But Justin had no doubts. Ahead of them was the dimness of the hemlock +forest; the solitude of the storm. He coveted the brief moments when +they might be alone together.</p> + +<p>"Come," he urged, and they entered upon the darkness of the wood.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> + +<p>As they sped along over the cushioned earth, Justin helped her strongly, +half lifting her at times over the rough places.</p> + +<p>"Are you afraid?" he asked her, and she shook her head.</p> + +<p>With a roar and a rush the storm was upon them. For a few moments they +were in the midst of chaos. The air was full of flying things, and the +branches crashed and fell.</p> + +<p>To Bettina, emotionally tense, the real world had disappeared. She was a +disembodied spirit, floating through infinite space with another spirit +as joyous, as exalted, as triumphant as her own.</p> + +<p>When he asked her again, "Are you afraid?" and she again shook her head, +it came to her, suddenly, that she was not afraid because she was with +him. She felt no wonder that it was so. In this wild world there was no +place for wonder. She and Justin were laughing madly as they raced. Her +hair, loosed by the wind, streamed out behind her. Once it caught on a +button of Justin's coat, and held her so close to him that, when he +unwound it, she felt the quickened beating of his heart.</p> + +<p>As they again sped on, she felt as if never before had she been alive in +such a radiant wonderful sense<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>.</p> + +<p>"Are you afraid?" he asked for the third time, bending down to catch her +answer.</p> + +<p>"It's glorious," she panted. Then as the rain came, he shielded her with +his arm, and shouted:</p> + +<p>"We'll have to make a dash through the open; here's the house ahead!"</p> + +<p>The great house was closed and deserted, but they found a cloistered +porch from which they could look out on the storm.</p> + +<p>Below them the trees were whipped and bent by the gale. Against the +horizon the sea rose like a great gray wall. Straining their eyes, they +could catch a glimmer of the captain's yellow coat on the strip of sand.</p> + +<p>"The worst of the wind is over," said Justin; "we were lucky to escape +the heavy rain."</p> + +<p>Bettina, who was braiding her hair, looked up at him. "Wasn't it +wonderful down there in the wood?"</p> + +<p>"Did you think it wonderful?"</p> + +<p>Something in his eyes made her say, hastily "I've never been out in a +storm before."</p> + +<p>He did not reply at once. He was watching her slender fingers twist the +shining strands.</p> + +<p>"Let me do that for you," he said, suddenly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, oh, no——"</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Because." She walked away from him, and seated herself on a marble +bench under one of the closed windows.</p> + +<p>He sat down beside her. "I didn't mean that impertinently; truly I did +not. I used to braid my little sister's hair. She was lame and I took +care of her, and, as I watched you, I thought of—my little sister."</p> + +<p>"Tell me about her."</p> + +<p>"There isn't much to tell, except that when I was a great hulking +youngster, with only her to love—she died——"</p> + +<p>"Oh,—I'm so sorry——"</p> + +<p>He went on slowly, still watching her busy fingers "Since then I have +never had a friend. Not the kind she was. Why, she used to love to +listen to my boy's talk—of how I was going to be great, of how I was +going to conquer the world,—and she has been dead ten years—and I have +done nothing."</p> + +<p>It was a new Justin who spoke in this fashion. To Bettina he had always +seemed as light as air, and she had enjoyed his frivolity, but now she +felt some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>thing more than enjoyment,—a yearning to be of use to this +big boy who was all alone, and who missed his little sister.</p> + +<p>Surely to be his friend need not interfere in any way with Anthony's +claims. She loved Anthony and was going to marry him, of course. But +friendship and love were different things. Why, Mrs. Martens was +married, and she had been Justin's friend in Germany.</p> + +<p>She spoke her thought. "But Mrs. Martens?"</p> + +<p>"She was a dear—but she is older than I—and I stood a bit in awe of +her—she sympathized with me—but she could not dream with me, and I +wanted some one to share my dreams."</p> + +<p>Bettina's blue eyes were wistful. What a wonderful thing it would be to +share somebody's dreams. She was perfectly sure that she did not share +Anthony's. He had never told her of his dreams. Perhaps he didn't have +any. His life was so practical and full of work, and then he was +old—oh, yes, indeed, he was older than Mrs. Martens—and Justin had +said that Sophie was too old to understand.</p> + +<p>She found herself asking, "What were your dreams?"</p> + +<p>"Shan't I bore you?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No—please——"</p> + +<p>"Well, there was one dream which my little sister and I used to discuss +as I braided her hair at night. It was a dream that some day I should be +great. She had a different idea of greatness from mine, and we used to +argue the question. I don't think she ever wanted me to be President of +the United States or to hold high office; she wanted me to do something +which would help humanity. She used to wish that I might preach or +teach; she was such a good little thing. And I would tell her that none +of these vocations were for me; I must win fame in a different way. I +wanted to invent something which would make the world stare. Perhaps +that's the reason I took up aviation after she died. I thought I might +make some great advance on the inventions of other men. But the other +men made them first, you see, and I've just frivoled and played. Yet, as +I saw you braiding your hair, it brought back my little sister so +vividly, and I wondered what she would think of me—now."</p> + +<p>For the first time in her life her heart was stirred by the maternal +tenderness which is the heritage of good women. Her timid hand touched +his sleeve, lightly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I am sure," said her little voice, unsteadily, "that if she knew you +now, she would think you were—very nice."</p> + +<p>"You darling," he was saying in his heart, but he dared not say it with +his lips. And he went on as calmly as he could.</p> + +<p>"I wish I could make you see my little sister as I knew her. She was +such a pale little thing, with pale gold hair, and a little narrow face, +and pale blue eyes. When I began to read Tennyson, I found my little +sister again in 'Elaine'—and do you know, I was half glad she didn't +live to grow up. Some man might have hurt her as Lancelot hurt Elaine. I +know I haven't realized her dreams for me—but I've tried to hold on a +bit to her ideal of goodness, and it has kept me from things which might +have made me less of a man——"</p> + +<p>She was thrilled as she had never been. Justin began to loom up in her +mind's eye as the Knight of the Tender Heart—that was what Sophie had +called him. And how wonderful that he should be telling her all this!</p> + +<p>"Then," he continued, "the money came to me, and since then I've been a +butterfly. I have not made good use of my wealth. I have needed a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +friend, you see, to help me make my dreams come true."</p> + +<p>He looked down at her. "Would you?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Be your friend?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but I'm not good enough. I've always been a little selfish thing, +except with mother. I loved her and I wasn't selfish with her. But I've +wanted a good time, and I haven't cared for anything but my own +pleasure. I'm not like your little sister, you see. I'm just a +butterfly, too."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you—you're an angel," ardently.</p> + +<p>Again she was thrilled. Anthony had never said such things to her. +Anthony had called her a child, and he had not needed her. And Justin +wanted her friendship! All her awakened womanhood rose to meet his +demand.</p> + +<p>So intent was she on her thought that she did not feel the cold. But her +lips were blue, and she shivered as the wind swept around the corner.</p> + +<p>Justin jumped at once to his feet.</p> + +<p>"I'm a brute to keep you here. There must be some one around the place +who can take us in."</p> + +<p>He left her, to come back presently with the news that there was a man +down at the stables, and that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> there was a fire in the harness room. He +brought a rain coat, and wrapped her in it, scolding himself all along +the way for his neglect of her comfort.</p> + +<p>The stables of the Western magnate were vast and wonderful. They had +been divorced somewhat from their original use as a place for horses, +two-thirds of the space being given up to motor cars and electrics. But +the riding horses were in their stalls, and, as Bettina entered, their +heads went up.</p> + +<p>She stopped to pet them, then the groom led the way to the harness room.</p> + +<p>It was a picturesque place, with its lacquered leather, its shining +brass, its racing trophies, blue ribbons, gold-handled whips and crops, +silver cups and medals.</p> + +<p>"I'll telephone for my car," Justin said, "and send a boy down to +Captain Stubbs and Miss Matthews. They'll probably go back in the boat, +now that the storm is over."</p> + +<p>With the message sent, and the smiling groom, pleased with Justin's +generous tip, dismissed, the two were again alone.</p> + +<p>"This is better," said Justin, as they settled themselves in front of +the fire. "Now you'll get some color in your cheeks."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> + +<p>With her chin on her hand, she said slowly, "Do you know that nobody +ever asked me to be his friend before?"</p> + +<p>"That's luck for me. There'll be no one else to share——"</p> + +<p>She glanced up at him with enchanting shyness. "The trouble with most +men is, I imagine, that they don't want friendship—they want love, and +that isn't easy for a woman to give, is it?"</p> + +<p>Silence, then at last, uncertainly, "I suppose not."</p> + +<p>"Any man can fall in love with a woman," she informed him, "but it seems +to me that it must take certain kinds of men and women to be friends. +That's why it seems so wonderful. Why, even if I married some one else, +I could still be your friend, couldn't I?"</p> + +<p>"Ye-es. Oh, yes, of course."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps that's what I've missed all my life—the chance to really +inspire some one. You know it's nice to feel that you're helping. And +some men are so self-sufficient, so secure. You wouldn't feel that you'd +dare to suggest. You'd only be a child to them—and while it might be +nice to marry a man like that, it would be nice, too, to have the other +kind for a friend."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> + +<p>Of all the bewildering little creatures! If she married some other man, +forsooth! He set his teeth. Well, she <i>shouldn't</i> marry any other man.</p> + +<p>"Look here," he asked, suddenly, "have you ever been in love?"</p> + +<p>She nodded, all rosy color and drooped lashes. The unexpectedness of her +answer made him hesitate, but finally he ventured, "How did it feel?"</p> + +<p>She considered gravely. "Why, it's comfortable to know that you'll +always have some one to take care of you, some one who's tender and +good—too good, perhaps——"</p> + +<p>Justin was perplexed. She had spoken in the present tense. Was it +possible that her fancy was really held by Anthony? Had their wild race +in the storm meant nothing to her? To him it had seemed a sort of +spiritual mating, with the storm crashing out a brilliant bridal chorus.</p> + +<p>He leaned forward. "What you're talking of isn't love," he said, almost +roughly. "Love doesn't mean being comfortable; it doesn't mean being +petted and coddled like a pussy cat, or being looked after like a child. +It means what it meant to Romeo when he killed himself for love of +Juliet. It means what it meant to Orpheus when he followed Eurydice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> to +the underworld. It means what it will mean to me when I have found the +one woman—that I'll work for her, live for her, die for her, and count +the future blank if she does not love me in return."</p> + +<p>"How wonderful!" she whispered after a moment "How wonderful—to be +loved—like that——"</p> + +<p>His heart leaped. Some day he would make it wonderful! But not now. It +was too soon to say the things he had to say.</p> + +<p>"The most wonderful thing right now," he said, "is that you are going to +be—my friend."</p> + +<p>She responded radiantly. "It will be lovely to have a—big brother."</p> + +<p>"It will be lovelier to have—a little sister."</p> + +<p>He held out his hand to her, and she took it, laughing lightly. And just +then the smiling groom came to say that the gentleman's car was at the +door.</p> + +<p>The rain had stopped, but storm signals still showed in the south where +the heavy clouds hung over the horizon. Overhead the sun shone, making +kaleidoscope effects of the spring flowers in the checkered beds. +Against the gray wall of the terraced garden the peach trees had been +trained in foreign fashion and were full of rosy bloom.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p> + +<p>Bettina, coming out of the darkened stable, opened her eyes wide.</p> + +<p>"What a different world it seems," she said, "from the one we left in +the storm."</p> + +<p>Justin helped her into the car. "We'll reach home before the next storm +breaks," he remarked, as he took his seat beside her, "but there's +trouble ahead."</p> + +<p>To him the words held no sinister meaning, nor to Bettina. In their +hearts was no fear of the future, nor of the storms which might some day +wreck their happiness.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>THE WHITE MAIDEN</h3> + + +<p>Bettina, lonely in her tower, had often looked across enviously to the +brilliantly lighted yacht club on the nights of the weekly dances.</p> + +<p>And now she was going to a yacht club dance with Justin in attendance, +and with Sophie for chaperon; with Sara and Doris and Sara's brother +Duke to be added to the party when they reached the club-house pier.</p> + +<p>The question of Bettina's gown had been a puzzling one. Sophie had +brought out everything of her own, and Diana, white-faced after a +sleepless night, had tried to put her mind on the matter.</p> + +<p>"These are all too elaborate," she said; "she is such a child. Perhaps +it will be best for her to get some new things now, and if you will help +her choose them, it will be a great favor to me, Sophie."</p> + +<p>Sophie came over and kissed her. "Poor dear," she murmured.</p> + +<p>Diana leaned back against her friend. "Don't," she said in a stifled +voice. "I can't bear it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> + +<p>They clung together for a moment, then Diana went on steadily, "I am +going to town for a few days, Sophie—I <i>must</i> get away for a bit, and +if you don't mind, you can take Bettina in while I am gone and get her +things. She insists that they shall not be gifts from me. She says that +she's already under great obligations—and that her own little bank +account is sufficient for her needs. Then, too, she can use all of her +new things in her trousseau, and it does seem rather sensible, doesn't +it?"</p> + +<p>Diana had said nothing to Sophie of the meeting with Anthony in the +empty house. It was an experience too sacred for discussion. But Sophie +had guessed much. Anthony's continued absence, Diana's restlessness, her +haggard eyes, her insistent tenderness and care of Bettina, showed the +sympathetic and anxious friend that something unusual had occurred, and +that Diana was fighting a tremendous battle alone.</p> + +<p>"Just let things run on here," Diana said, "as they always do. You can +take my place as Bettina's chaperon, and Delia will take care of the +house. I shan't be missed, and I can—get a perspective on the +situation."</p> + +<p>Sophie protested. "It's too great a strain on you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>—you'd better send +Bettina away—she and I could have a little trip somewhere."</p> + +<p>"No, it is I who must go," Diana insisted. "Bettina must get acquainted +with Anthony's friends. If he is going to marry her, he must be proud of +her. You know that, Sophie," sharply, "it won't do for him to take a +girl as the mistress of his home whom nobody ever heard of, and who +could be criticized."</p> + +<p>Sophie rubbed her fingers lightly across Diana's forehead. "You think +only of Anthony—do you never think of yourself?"</p> + +<p>Diana stood up. "It's because I think of how foolish I have been," she +said, "that I can get no rest. I should never have come back to America, +Sophie."</p> + +<p>"But, dearest-dear, how could you know?"</p> + +<p>"I couldn't know. But, oh, I wish that I had never come."</p> + +<p>Thus it happened that Sophie and Bettina had gone into town, and the +primrose gown and the little serge suit and the new hats and the five +pairs of shoes, together with a wonderful creation for the yacht club +dance, had been sent out, and tried on, and pronounced perfect.</p> + +<p>Sophie's taste had supplemented Bettina's meager<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> funds. From her own +store of exquisite laces and brocades, of buckles and bows, she had +added finishing touches to frocks which might otherwise have been +commonplace.</p> + +<p>When, therefore, on the day after her adventure with Justin Bettina took +off her wrap in the cloak room of the yacht club, Sara Duffield drew a +sharp breath of amazement.</p> + +<p>"Will you look at that gown, Doris?" she said to her placid friend. +"Would any one but an artist have dared to put on that side sash of +rose-colored tulle with the silver tassel, and the wide collar of silver +lace?"</p> + +<p>Justin Ford, knowing nothing of dressmakers, was none the less aware of +the inspired creation.</p> + +<p>"And I said yesterday that you could not wear pink! But this isn't pink, +is it? It's a rosy cloud on a May morning."</p> + +<p>"Do you really like it?" demanded Bettina.</p> + +<p>"I love—it."</p> + +<p>Bettina laughed light-heartedly. It was great fun to have such a +friendly understanding with this very charming young man. She wondered +how she had quite—dared. Things seemed so different under this blaze of +light. Had she really promised to be a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> "little sister" to this most +distinguished gentleman?</p> + +<p>They had come over in Bobbie's motor boat, and just before they reached +the club-house pier, Justin had said, "The first dance is mine, you +know. I'd like the second and the third, but I suppose that is +forbidden. But you must give me all you can. I feel that I have special +brotherly privileges."</p> + +<p>She danced exquisitely, her little satin-shod feet slipping silently +through all the difficult twists and turns of the syncopated modern +dances. Justin, guiding her expertly, knew that many glances were being +leveled at them, knew that questions were being asked, that Bettina was +being weighed in the social balance by the men and women who could make +her success secure.</p> + +<p>When he gave her over, presently, to another partner he became aware of +undercurrents. The girl with whom he danced shrugged her shoulders when +he spoke with enthusiasm of Bettina's beauty.</p> + +<p>"Sara was telling me," she said, "that she used to live in the old Lane +mansion, and that Diana Gregory has taken her up."</p> + +<p>"Sara?"</p> + +<p>Justin looked across the room to where Sara was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> dancing with Bobbie. +And he made up his mind that before the evening was ended he should have +something to say to the haughty little lady in blue.</p> + +<p>His opportunity came, presently, when he claimed Sara for a Spanish +variation of the ever-popular Boston, in which his step particularly +suited hers.</p> + +<p>"Look here," he remarked, as they swayed to the music, "it's up to us, +Sara, to see that Bettina makes a hit."</p> + +<p>Sara, tilting her chin, demanded, "Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because she is Diana Gregory's friend, and Diana's anxious to have +people like her."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>He gazed down at the irritating profile.</p> + +<p>"You know why," he said with great distinctness. "Diana Gregory has a +big heart, and this child has had a hard time. Diana wants to make her +happy——"</p> + +<p>"But <i>why</i> is Diana so interested, Justin? There are plenty of lonely +and unhappy girls. So why should Diana especially pick out Bettina? +She's years younger than Diana, and they really haven't much in common."</p> + +<p>"She's very sweet——" Justin was quite unaware of the intense fervor of +his tones.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p> + +<p>Sara's eyes narrowed to little flashing points, as she asked, "Are you +in love with her?"</p> + +<p>Their eyes met. "Oh, Sara, Sara," he teased, "do you expect me to wear +my heart upon my sleeve?"</p> + +<p>"I expect you to keep it from wandering toward the daughter of an +Italian singer," she said, sharply. "I always fancied that you had +rather decided ideas about family, Justin."</p> + +<p>"If you mean that I'm proud of my Knickerbocker ancestry, I am," he told +her; "just as you are proud of your Pilgrim forefathers. But Bettina +Dolce's blood is bluer than any that ran in the veins of our +middle-class English and Dutch grandsires. Her father was a Venetian, +and Bettina has the beauty of those lovely ladies of old Italy."</p> + +<p>Sara's beauty was of an essentially modern type. "I don't see," she +said, somewhat resentfully, "why I should be expected to fight the +social battles of a girl who is really nothing to me."</p> + +<p>"Surely not," easily, "but I rather fancy that any one who snubs Bettina +will have to reckon with Diana—and with me——"</p> + +<p>Sara's lashes hid her sharp little eyes. She was thinking rapidly. She +did not care to offend Diana<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>—but more, oh, much more than that, she +did not care to offend Justin.</p> + +<p>She capitulated pensively. "Why, Justin, I don't know why you are +calling me to account in this way. I'm sure I'm perfectly willing to +help things along."</p> + +<p>"Good," was his delighted comment, and after that he danced with a heart +as light as his heels.</p> + +<p>When the music stopped, Duke Duffield made his way toward them. "Oh, +look here," he said to his sister; "why didn't you present me sooner to +Miss Dolce? Gee, Sara, she's some dream—and her dance card was filled +before I could get to it."</p> + +<p>Justin smiled at this slangy confirmation of his own opinion. He drifted +presently through the room, looking for Bettina, and just as the music +began again its rhythmical beat he saw her.</p> + +<p>Far at the other end of the room she was dancing with Anthony Blake!</p> + +<p>Bettina had never been so happy. Anthony's coming had pleased her. He +had half promised that he might come, but there had been, as always, the +possibility in the background that he would be kept away by some +inconsiderate patient. But now he was here, and she was to have her next +dance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> with Justin. Could anything be lovelier than to spend her evening +thus between lover and friend, having Anthony's strength and kindliness +to make her feel secure, and Justin's glowing youth to match her own.</p> + +<p>She decided that when she and Anthony were alone she would tell him +about the race in the storm, and about her friendly compact with Justin. +She was never going to keep anything from Anthony. Why, he was the best +man in the whole wide world—the very best.</p> + +<p>She looked up at him with her eyes like stars and he, meeting that +radiant glance, asked, "Are you happy, child?"</p> + +<p>She blushed and nodded. "Very, very happy!"</p> + +<p>And after that she danced in dreamy silence until Justin came for her.</p> + +<p>At supper, Anthony claimed Bettina as a matter of course, leaving Mrs. +Martens to Justin. The four of them, with Bobbie and Doris and Sara and +her brother ate at a little table on the club-house porch. In the pale +light of the lanterns Bettina's beauty was more than ever ethereal.</p> + +<p>Justin, watching her with puzzled eyes, took note of her dependence upon +Anthony, of her confiding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> manner, of her undoubted interest in him. Now +and then she flashed a glance at Justin, and he was forced to content +himself with such occasional crumbs from the queen's table.</p> + +<p>But he grew restless and uneasy. Anthony easily dominated the little +group. It was in such moments that he was at his best. His brilliant +wit, his forceful personality, had never been displayed to better +advantage.</p> + +<p>Justin, beside him, felt young and crude. He told himself that he had +nothing to fear. Everybody knew that Anthony cared only for Diana. Yet, +even as he comforted himself, he saw Bettina's look of triumphant pride +as Anthony brought a clever story to its climax, and his heart raged in +impotent jealousy.</p> + +<p>They all went back together in Bobbie's motor boat, and in the darkness +Justin managed to say to Bettina, "So you've deserted me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," she protested, "but you see I couldn't desert—Anthony."</p> + +<p>"Has he, then, the first claim?" his voice shook as his dull resentment +flamed.</p> + +<p>She hesitated. "He—has been so kind—and he's a sort of guardian—you +know——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> + +<p>She dared not tell him more than that, for had she not promised Diana +that she would not? Her nature was so crystal clear that she would have +been glad to set things straight, to tell him that she was going to +marry Anthony, but that she would always be his friend. It was such a +perfect arrangement; he would surely understand.</p> + +<p>She sighed a little, wishing that she had nothing to hide. And with her +sigh his moodiness vanished.</p> + +<p>"If it's because he's your guardian, all right—but I'm not going to +give you up always so easily."</p> + +<p>"Why must you give me up at all?" she challenged.</p> + +<p>"Why?" he echoed. "There is no 'why.' I shall never give you up."</p> + +<p>At Diana's door she said "Good-bye." "It has been the loveliest evening +of my life," she told him. "I shall never forget."</p> + +<p>Anthony came in, ostensibly to telephone, but really to have a moment +alone with Bettina. Sophie, with sympathetic insight, made the excuse of +a letter, which Anthony could mail, and withdrew to write it.</p> + +<p>In the dimly-lighted music room, Anthony said,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> "You must forgive me, +dear child, for seeming to neglect you, but I've been such a busy man."</p> + +<p>"I know." She looked up at him. "But it seems nice to have you now."</p> + +<p>"And it seems nice to have you."</p> + +<p>He smiled at her, but he did not touch her. Somehow since that night in +the empty house with Diana he had felt that there were things which must +come slowly. If he was to play the lover to little Betty, it must be +when he could shut out from his heart the image of that pale tall woman +in the lilac-scented room.</p> + +<p>But Bettina missed nothing from his manner. She felt for him a grateful +affection, an unbounded respect, but her wish for impulsive +demonstration was gone. She was content to be near him, to know that he +cared for her—beyond that she had no conscious desires.</p> + +<p>Still smiling at her, he took from his pocket a little box. "I haven't +been too busy to remember that I wanted to give you this," he said, and +handed it to her.</p> + +<p>Set in a slender ring were three great diamonds, and for a guard there +was a little circlet of sapphires.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you won't care to wear it now," he said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>, as she gave a gasp of +delight, "but I wanted you to have it. I wanted it to be the sign and +seal of the bond which is between us."</p> + +<p>She came to him, then all gratitude and clinging sweetness, and put up +her face to be kissed.</p> + +<p>He touched his lips to her forehead. And he said he was glad that he had +made her happy. But he did not tell her that he had forced himself to +plight thus, tangibly, his troth to her that there might be no escape +from the path of honor which he must follow.</p> + +<p>Little Bettina, alone that night in her room, took off the rosy dress +and laid it on her bed. Then, enveloped in her long white motor coat, +she went out on her porch, and curled up in one of the big chairs. +Across the harbor the lights were out at the yacht club. Between the +Neck and the main shore little starlike points showed where the lanterns +were swung on the sleeping boats. It was long after midnight, and the +cold morning mists were already coming in.</p> + +<p>But she could not sleep. She had so many wonderful things to think of. A +few weeks ago she had been a little lonely child with no one who cared +whether she lived or died—now she was rich in love and friendship.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> + +<p>She turned the ring on her finger. How strange it seemed to think that +in a few short months she would be—married. That she would belong to +Anthony until death should part them.</p> + +<p>Her breath came quickly. She stood up, slim and white in her long coat. +Then suddenly she slipped to her knees.</p> + +<p>"Oh, please, please," she prayed, with her face upturned to the waning +stars, "make me worthy of his love. Make me worthy to be his wife."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>YOUTH AND BEAUTY</h3> + + +<p>It was two days after the dance at the yacht club that Diana came home. +She arrived late and unexpectedly. Bettina had gone to bed, and the only +light which burned to welcome her was Sophie's, on the third floor.</p> + +<p>Diana paid her cabman, and set her key in the lock, to be welcomed by +Peter Pan's purring note as she opened the door.</p> + +<p>She stooped and picked up the big cat. "Dear Peter," she whispered.</p> + +<p>Peter, held against her heart, sang his little song of content, and, +standing for a moment in the darkness, Diana fought for self-control +before she went up to Sophie's room.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Martens, wrapped in her gray kimono, was writing letters. She +looked up with a glad cry as Diana entered.</p> + +<p>"Why, Diana," she said, "you darling!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I didn't telegraph," Diana said, as she kissed her friend, "for there +wasn't any use. I had my key, and I knew I could get a cab——"</p> + +<p>"You're tired, dearest-dear." Sophie's worried eyes noted the weariness +of gesture and tone, and the shadows under Diana's eyes as she untied +her veil and took off her hat.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm tired, dead tired." Diana dropped into a chair, and laid her +head against the cushioned back.</p> + +<p>Sophie bent over her. "You're not comfortable," she said; "come on down +to your room and take a hot bath, and I'll heat a cup of milk, and then +you can rest all warm and comfy, and I'll rub your head."</p> + +<p>"Sophie," said Diana, suddenly, "I wonder if I ever rubbed anybody's +head?"</p> + +<p>"Of course," said Sophie; "what makes you say that?"</p> + +<p>"Because I've been thinking a lot since I went to town, and it seems to +me that all my life I've just taken and have not given. I took Anthony's +love—I've taken your service——" She held out her hand. "Oh, I've been +a selfish pig, Sophie, darling."</p> + +<p>Sophie took the extended hand and patted it. "What a silly thing to +say," soothingly; "you've<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> always been everything—to me, Diana. You've +done so much for me that I can never repay."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, in giving big things—but it's the little things that +count—like heating cups of milk and rubbing people's heads."</p> + +<p>She said it whimsically, but there were tears in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"You come right down and go to bed," Sophie advised. "And we can talk +all about it afterward."</p> + +<p>Diana, propped up among her pillows, watched her friend as she flitted +like a gray moth about the room, intent on various comforting offices, +and when at last Sophie brought to her a steaming cup Diana said, "Do +you know, Sophie, I've always thought myself a rather superior person."</p> + +<p>"Well, you are," Sophie agreed.</p> + +<p>"I'm not. Oh, I've made up my mind about things at last, and I know that +it hasn't been Bettina's happiness, nor Anthony's happiness that I have +been thinking about, but my own.</p> + +<p>"If I had not stayed on after I found out the state of things here," she +continued, "Anthony would have learned to care for Betty—every man +loves youth and beauty——"</p> + +<p>Sophie shook her head. "It takes us women all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> of our lives to learn +that it is not for the red of our lips or the blue of our eyes that we +are loved——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, but you know it is the beautiful women who draw men——"</p> + +<p>"But it is not the beautiful women who hold them. I'll set any demure +little soul with a loving heart against all the faultlessly-regular +-splendidly-null persons in the world when it comes to keeping the +affections of a husband—and what has Bettina that she can give Anthony +to take the place of the things which he has loved in you?"</p> + +<p>"She has youth."</p> + +<p>"How you harp on that string! You have a mind and soul which meets +Anthony's. And your beauty equals hers. You must not forget that, +Diana."</p> + +<p>"I don't forget it. I know what I mean to Anthony. But Bettina will mean +other things to him. And who shall say which of us would make the better +wife?</p> + +<p>"Oh, I've thought these things all out, and I know that I could never be +happy, Sophie, if my happiness were founded on the hurt heart of that +child. And so—I am going away—and let things go back to where they +would have been if I had never come——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do you think they can—ever go back, Diana?"</p> + +<p>Diana, remembering Anthony's face in the moonlight, hesitated, then she +said, bravely, "I shall not ask myself that question, Sophie. I shall +simply do the thing which will seem right to me, and I am sure it is +right for me to go away."</p> + +<p>"And Bettina?"</p> + +<p>"She must stay here with you until she is married. You won't mind, will +you? There will be plenty of things to do. You can help with her wedding +outfit. And after they are—married, you and I will go back—to Berlin. +No, we won't, Sophie. We'll go to the desert, and down the Nile, and +we'll go to Japan, and see Fujiyama; and we'll visit the temples in +China, and we'll find out from some of those old Buddhists how they +acquire—peace——"</p> + +<p>"We will go to the ends of the earth if you wish—but there's only one +place that I shall ask you to take me, Diana."</p> + +<p>"Where, dear heart?"</p> + +<p>"To that quiet spot over there in Germany, where the big cross stands up +against the sky——"</p> + +<p>"Sophie—of course you shall go there, dear."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Martens knelt by the bed. "I've been thinking of my lover, too, +while you've been away. We<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> have each lost the man who made the world a +wonderful place—henceforth you and I must live among the shadows—but +because we have each other, it shall not be quite so hard."</p> + +<p>It was a long time before they came back to the question of Diana's +departure.</p> + +<p>"But what excuse can you give for going now, Diana?"</p> + +<p>"My health," said Diana, promptly. "Everybody knows that I first went to +Germany for the baths, and I can say what is true,—that the dampness +here disagrees with me, with my throat."</p> + +<p>"But where will you go?"</p> + +<p>"To the mountains; oh, Sophie, I shall lift up my eyes to the hills, and +hope for strength——"</p> + +<p>Out of the ensuing silence came the sound of a little tap at the door.</p> + +<p>"Is Diana there?" asked Bettina on the other side. "I thought I heard +her voice."</p> + +<p>As Bettina came in, the radiance of youth shone from within and round +about her. She kissed Diana. "Oh, so many things have happened," +rapturously, "since you went away. Do you want me to tell you about +them?"</p> + +<p>"You blessed baby," said Diana, and it seemed to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> Sophie that in her +voice was a note of sincere affection.</p> + +<p>Bettina curled herself up on the foot of Diana's bed. "Well, in the +first place," she said, "Anthony gave me a ring—a lovely ring, and a +little guard to wear with it."</p> + +<p>Diana did not flinch. "And why aren't you wearing your lovely ring," she +asked, "for all the world to see?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, but you said I mustn't," Bettina told her, "and so I keep it here."</p> + +<p>She tugged at a slender chain which hung around her neck, and brought +forth from beneath the embroidered thinness of her gown the two rings, +which gave out flashing lights as she bent toward Diana.</p> + +<p>Diana did not touch them. "They're lovely," she said, steadily; "aren't +they, Sophie?"</p> + +<p>"I'm glad he didn't give me pearls," Bettina went on, as Mrs. Martens +exclaimed at their beauty, "because pearls mean tears."</p> + +<p>"I've always worn pearls," said Diana.</p> + +<p>"Oh, but not as love gifts," said Bettina, quickly. "It's only when your +lover gives you a pearl that you weep—my mother's gift from my father +was a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> great pearl—and when—he went away—she dropped it—into the +sea.</p> + +<p>"And I didn't blame her." Bettina was swinging her own rings back and +forth, and they gave out a silvery tinkle like a chime of fairy bells. +"I didn't blame her, although the pearl was worth a great deal of money +and we were poor. I shouldn't want a ring after a man had ceased to love +me, would you?"</p> + +<p>"Of course not," said Diana, "and now—tell me, what were the other nice +things which happened while I was away?"</p> + +<p>"Oh," Bettina laughed, "I went fishing with Captain Stubbs and Miss +Matthews, and Justin——"</p> + +<p>"Justin?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Justin Ford. He invited himself. I told Mrs. Martens when I came +home that I tried not to have him go, but he would, and it stormed—— +Oh, well, we had a lovely time."</p> + +<p>Somehow she had found it hard to tell Mrs. Martens, as she was finding +it hard to tell Diana, just what had made the day so lovely. And as for +her compact of friendship, she would tell Anthony but no other.</p> + +<p>"Then there was the yacht club dance," she con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>tinued, "and oh, Diana, +you should have seen my gown—it was a dream."</p> + +<p>Sophie confirmed her verdict. "She was lovely in it, Diana," she said, +"and everybody is talking of the success she made."</p> + +<p>"And Anthony came," said Bettina, "and when we reached home he gave me +the ring, and yesterday I had a long ride with him; oh, yes, and the day +before, Justin and Sara and Doris and I had lunch on Bobbie's boat."</p> + +<p>"I thought Bobbie's boat was in the yard for repairs?"</p> + +<p>"It is," said Bettina, "and that's the fun of it. He's living on board, +and yesterday he and Justin looked up and saw me on the porch, and they +insisted on having a lunch party, and Bobbie made his man get up a +perfectly wonderful little lunch, and he telephoned for the other girls, +and Duke, and we climbed the ladder and ate up there in the air, and +Sophie chaperoned us from your front porch."</p> + +<p>"They wanted me to climb the ladder too," said Sophie, "but I told them +I would be a little angel up aloft, and play propriety at a safe +distance. It's a good thing the yacht yard happens to be at the foot of +your rocks, Diana, or I'm afraid Bettina would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> have gone unchaperoned. +It's a dizzy height up that ladder."</p> + +<p>"And Bobbie sent things up to her in a basket," Bettina related; "we let +down a piece of hammock rope, and we tied the basket to it."</p> + +<p>Diana, listening to the light chatter, felt set apart by the tragedy of +her own unhappiness. Once she would have enjoyed an escapade like the +lunch party; now she was glad that she could go away—and leave it all +behind her and perhaps—forget.</p> + +<p>"Bobbie is such a funny fellow"—Bettina was still swinging the tinkling +rings—"and he's awfully in love with Doris. And Doris worships him, and +it makes Sara furious."</p> + +<p>"But, my dear, Sara isn't the least bit in love with Bobbie."</p> + +<p>"I know, but she thinks Doris is so silly to let Bobbie see—but that's +just what Bobbie adores in her. He likes to be worshiped, and he's +positively puffed up with pride like a pouter pigeon because he's going +to marry Doris."</p> + +<p>"Then it's settled?" Diana asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes. It seems he proposed on the night of the yacht club dance, and +yesterday at lunch Bobbie announced it, and he blushed and Doris +blushed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>—but really it was awfully sweet, Diana—they are so happy."</p> + +<p>"At first I thought Bobbie liked Sara," Bettina stated, later.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no." Diana laughed. "It's Justin, you know, with Sara."</p> + +<p>The flashing rings tinkled, tinkled. Bettina's eyes were on them.</p> + +<p>"Oh, are they—engaged?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no; it's just a friendship, I fancy."</p> + +<p>So? Other girls were his friends! Bettina's head went up, and she +slipped the rings back in their hiding place.</p> + +<p>"They've always known each other," Diana explained. "You see Sara was a +sharp-tongued little girl, and Justin could get along with her better +than the other boys because of his easy-going ways. And he gets along +with her now, but usually it is a sort of armed truce."</p> + +<p>Bettina felt better, but needing further assurance, she ventured, "I +suppose he has a sort of brotherly feeling for her."</p> + +<p>It was Sophie who answered that question.</p> + +<p>"No, he hasn't. Justin adores the memory of his own little sister. She +was a dear child and lame.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> And she was about as like Sara, I imagine, +as a white dove is like a peacock. Justin has often told me that when he +marries he wants to find a woman to whom he can tell his dreams as he +told them to his little sister—it is perhaps because he has failed to +find such a woman that he is unmarried."</p> + +<p>It seemed to Bettina, suddenly, that all the stars sang! "Oh, it's such +a lovely world"—she was all aglow—"and you've made it lovely for me, +Diana, by having me here, and doing wonderful things for me."</p> + +<p>"I want you to stay for a long time, dear, until you are married. But +you'll forgive me if I go away and leave you alone with Sophie for a +while?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, must you go away again?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I'm not well. This air doesn't agree with—my throat," Diana +stammered, not caring to meet the clear eyes.</p> + +<p>"Oh, but I'm afraid that I'm terribly in the way," Bettina said +distressfully. "You'll want Mrs. Martens to go with you. You mustn't +have her stay on my account. I can go back to my rooms with Miss +Matthews. Really I can—I shouldn't mind."</p> + +<p>"My dear, I should mind very much." Diana<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> reached out her hand to her. +"Don't make me unhappy by taking it that way—I want you here."</p> + +<p>"But you've done enough for me, putting yourself out in this way——"</p> + +<p>"I have done only the things that I wanted to do. And now don't make me +unhappy by suggesting that you won't keep poor Sophie company. What +would she do without you?"</p> + +<p>Bettina looked from one to the other. "Are you very sure you shouldn't +go away together, if it weren't for me?"</p> + +<p>"Very sure—I should bore her terribly."</p> + +<p>They all laughed, and Bettina said, "Of course I know you're doing it +all for my sake——"</p> + +<p>"And for Anthony," said Diana, softly; "for the sake of my old friend +Anthony."</p> + +<p>"How wonderful your friendship is," said Bettina, softly. "It makes me +believe in all friendship, Diana."</p> + +<p>A little later she slid down from the bed. "You're tired and I'm keeping +you up. I'll run along."</p> + +<p>But Diana held her for a moment.</p> + +<p>"Anthony will soon want to be going into the big house—when will you be +ready, Bettina?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, not yet," said Bettina, breathlessly, "not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> yet. I'd rather wait. +Don't you think it will be best to wait?"</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Oh," her cheeks flamed, "I don't know why—only I don't want to get +married—for a long time, Diana."</p> + +<p>Diana looked at her with puzzled eyes. There was some change in the +child which she could not fathom. What had happened to little Bettina in +the short time since she had been away? She would ask Sophie—she would +ask—Anthony.</p> + +<p>In the adjoining room the telephone rang. Sophie, going to answer it, +came back with the announcement, "It's Anthony. He wanted to know if you +had returned. He needs you at the hospital. That little girl with the +appendicitis is very much worse. But I told him that you had just +reached home, and that you were so tired, and it was so late——"</p> + +<p>"Sophie, how could you? Tell him I'll come. Ask him to send his car for +me. Bettina, dear, hand me my slippers, and help me with my hair."</p> + +<p>Bettina was shivering and white. "Is it the girl Anthony operated on?" +she asked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes. Sophie, I'll wear the white serge. It's the easiest to get into, +and my long coat——"</p> + +<p>Bettina's shaking voice went on: "Wouldn't it be—dreadful—if anything +happened? Wouldn't it be dreadful—if she should die?"</p> + +<p>Sophie laid her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Help Diana now, dear," she +advised; "we'll talk about it afterward."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>HER LETTER TO ANTHONY</h3> + + +<p>Diana never forgot that ride in the dark to Harbor Light. It was a clear +night, with the sea like a sheet of silver under the moon. The big +building, which loomed up, at last, before her, seemed, with its +yellow-lighted windows, like some monster of giant size, gazing +wide-eyed upon the waters.</p> + +<p>The gardens, through which she passed, were heavy with the scent of +hyacinths; the slight wash of the waves on the beach only emphasized the +stillness.</p> + +<p>As she drove up to the doorway, two night nurses flitted through the +corridor, ghost-like in their white uniforms.</p> + +<p>Then came Anthony. His face looked worn and worried.</p> + +<p>"We couldn't save her, Diana," he said, tensely.</p> + +<p>"Oh, the poor little thing!"</p> + +<p>"We made a fight for it. I sent for you because if she roused I wanted +you to be there."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p> + +<p>"If you had telephoned sooner."</p> + +<p>"I could not. The change was very sudden." He flung himself into a +chair. "Oh, what is all my skill worth, Diana, when I couldn't save that +child?"</p> + +<p>She had seen him in such moods before, when he had felt powerless +against all the opposing forces of disease and death.</p> + +<p>But she did not care that others should see him. It was enough that she +should know that this great doctor Anthony had his weaknesses. The rest +of the world should not know it.</p> + +<p>"Come out into the garden," she coaxed; "the air will do you good."</p> + +<p>As they walked up and down the garden paths he gave her more definite +details. "She did not know that she was going. There was no reason to +trouble her gentle soul with fears. And so, at last, when she drifted +off into the silence, she was smiling."</p> + +<p>"And I am sure that she was still smiling when on the other side she +found Love waiting."</p> + +<p>"How wonderfully you put it, Di."</p> + +<p>"It is not because I put it that way; it is because it is wonderful. Do +you know, Anthony, that has always been my idea of heaven—as a place +where Infinite Love waits. If that little child had lived she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> would +have faced a future of loneliness—now she will never be lonely—never +sick—never unhappy."</p> + +<p>"But she wanted to live."</p> + +<p>"But she didn't know life, Anthony—as some of us know it, as a place of +unfulfilled dreams——"</p> + +<p>They had reached the beach, and the track of the moon spread out before +them, ending only at the horizon.</p> + +<p>"She followed the path o' the moon," said Diana, softly, "a little white +soul in a silver boat. Death is a great adventure, Anthony."</p> + +<p>"Sometimes I feel as if I were merely a longshoreman, who helps to load +the boats as they start on that great adventure——"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, we doctors see so much of pain which we cannot ease, so much misery +which we cannot prevent. We see the innocent suffering for the +guilty—the weak bearing the burdens which belong to the strong—and +even if we try our hardest we can't change these things—and the boats +still go sailing out to the Unknown——"</p> + +<p>"Anthony, I wish I might be sure of one thing——"</p> + +<p>"What, dear girl——?"</p> + +<p>"That you would never change your present<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> point of view. So many +doctors lose faith in human nature because they see only the diseased +side, and their vision becomes distorted. And, losing their faith in +man, they lose faith in God. The thing which has always made you, in my +eyes, a great man as well as a great surgeon has been the fact that you +have seemed to understand that you were working with Infinite Love +toward the completion of a perfect plan; you have seemed to understand +that life is good as long as it is lived wisely and well; that death is +good when it ends suffering and sorrow. These things you have seen and +known—I want you always to see and know them."</p> + +<p>"If any one could make me see and know them it is you, Diana."</p> + +<p>They were silent after that, and presently she said that she must go.</p> + +<p>Anthony took her home himself in his little car, and when at last they +reached her door he said, gratefully: "What should I do without your +friendship? At least I have that, Diana."</p> + +<p>She hesitated. "It must be a long distance friendship, Anthony."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"I am going away."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, why should you? We are self-controlled man and woman, not impulsive +boy and girl. We have set our feet on a hard path. Why shouldn't we +cheer each other along the way?"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid it wouldn't be fair—to Bettina."</p> + +<p>"Why not? My friendship for you need deprive her of nothing."</p> + +<p>"I must think it over."</p> + +<p>"Don't think. Don't analyze at all. Just stay." A grave smile lighted +his face. "I'm not making this as a selfish proposition, Diana. I shan't +expect to absorb you, to take you away from other friendships. But I +want you to be near me at such times as this; when my world was without +a ray of light, you illumined it with your friendly taper."</p> + +<p>Diana climbed the steps in an uplifted mood. This, then, was the +solution of the difficulty. She had been making high tragedy of the +situation when it might be solved sensibly. She remembered a quotation +which she had copied in her school note-book: "My friend is one with +whom I can associate my choicest thought." Her friendship with Anthony +could go on as before. She could be an inspirational force in his life. +Had she the right to refuse?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> + +<p>She found Bettina and Sophie sitting up for her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you're back so soon," Bettina said. "Is she better? Is that little +girl better?"</p> + +<p>Diana returned to realities with a shock. How selfish she had been! She +had almost forgotten that poor little soul at the hospital.</p> + +<p>"No, she isn't better." She shrank from voicing the truth. "They +couldn't save her, and before I reached there she was—gone."</p> + +<p>"<i>Dead!</i>" Bettina shuddered. "Oh, I think such things are dreadful; I +don't see how Anthony stands it."</p> + +<p>"It has made him very miserable," Diana told her; "he hates to lose a +case."</p> + +<p>"Then why does he do it?" Bettina demanded. "Why doesn't he give up his +surgery? He has enough to do with his freaks at the sanatorium, and his +sick people who need medicine."</p> + +<p>"Would you have a man give up a thing which he can do better than other +men?"</p> + +<p>Sophie, looking on, wondered if there had ever been a greater contrast +than these two women who faced each other in the rose-colored room. +Diana, tall and pale, with wisps of hair flying a bit untidily from +beneath her soft hat, yet still beautiful and with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> the light of high +resolve shining in her steady eyes; Bettina, a little slender slip of a +child, her fair shining braids falling below her knees, her eyes +demanding why men and women should be dedicated to hardness.</p> + +<p>"I have been telling Bettina," Mrs. Martens interposed, gently, "that +she will understand some day what such a man means to the world."</p> + +<p>For once in her life Diana, tired Diana, lost patience. "She ought to +know what such a man means," she said.</p> + +<p>Bettina put her hands before her face and stood very still.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear child," said Diana, remorsefully, "I shouldn't have said such +a thing to you. I didn't mean it."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 392px;"> +<img src="images/gs02.jpg" width="392" height="600" alt=""I SHOULDN'T HAVE SAID SUCH A THING"" title=""I SHOULDN'T HAVE SAID SUCH A THING"" /> +</div> + +<p>Bettina's hands dropped straight at her sides. Her blue eyes were misty. +"But it's true," she said. "I'm afraid—I'm afraid I'm not the wife for +Anthony."</p> + +<p>Never had there been a truer saying. Yet the two older women stood +abashed before the hurt look on the little white face.</p> + +<p>"He has always seemed to me to be the noblest man," Bettina went on. "I +don't think I have ever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> felt that he was anything but great. You +people, who have always had everything, can't understand what he seemed +to me when he used to come when mother was ill. You can't understand +what it meant when he came to me when I was almost dead with loneliness, +and told me that he wanted to marry me—you can't understand how every +night—I pray—on my knees, that I'll be good enough for him—you can't +understand how grateful I am—and how I try to appreciate his work; but +I'm made that way—to hate pain. I hate to know about it—to see it——" +Again she shuddered.</p> + +<p>Diana drew her close. "Oh, you poor little thing," she said, "you poor +little thing."</p> + +<p>When the dawn, not many hours later, peeped into the three rooms, it +showed, in one, Sophie asleep beneath the picture of her lost lover. In +another Bettina, asleep, with tears still on her lashes, and with the +flashing rings rising and falling above her heart. In the third room it +showed Diana, awake, after hours of weariness—writing a letter to +Anthony.</p> + +<p>When Anthony had read that letter, he left the sanatorium and took a +path which led him to the hills and into the hemlock forest. The walk up +the hills<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> was long, and the sun was hot, so that when he reached the +depths of the wood he threw himself down with a grateful sense of the +stillness which could not be disturbed by telephone or tap at the door. +For a little while he lay with his eyes shut, steeping himself in that +blessed silence.</p> + +<p>When at last he sat up, he took from his pocket Diana's letter, and read +it again, passing his hand now and then nervously through his hair, +until it stood up like the ruffled plumage of an eagle.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><br /> + +<p> +"<span class="smcap">Dear Anthony</span>:—<br /> +</p> + +<p>"It will be easier for me to talk with you in this way than face to +face. When you are with me, my point of view seems to get mixed up +with your point of view, and before I know it, I find myself making +promises which I cannot keep, as to-night, when I almost said I would +stay—and be your friend.</p> + +<p>"I have always been your friend, Anthony. Haven't I? Even when I was a +little girl, and you were a big boy, you seemed to find something in +me which made it worth while for you to leave the other big boys and +stay with me and talk about my books. Will I ever forget how you read +some of them aloud to me? I never open now my thumbed little copy of +'Cranford' without hearing your laughing voice stumbling over the +mincing phrases, and as for 'Little Women,' I believe that I worshiped +in you the personification of 'Laurie.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But those were not the best times, Anthony. The best were when it was +too dark to read, and I would curl up on the big bench by the side of +the fire, and you would lie at full length on the hearth-rug, and the +wind would blow and the waves would boom, and you would weave tales +for me out of your wonderful wealth of boyish dreams.</p> + +<p>"Blessed memories! But even then I believe I resented your +masterfulness a bit, Anthony. There was that time when you told me +that I must get my lessons before you would finish the story which was +so near the end. And I cried and coaxed, but you stood firm—and I +respected you for it, and hated you and loved you in one breath.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my big boy Anthony! Shall I ever forget you, with your brown lock +over your blue eyes, your unswerving honesty of purpose, your high +ideals. When you came home from college, and I had just put up my +hair, and lengthened my dresses, you started to kiss me, then stopped. +'I thought I could,' you said, with such a funny note of surprise in +your voice, 'but there's something about you that sort of—holds me +off, Di.'</p> + +<p>"I think then that I began to know my power over you. And how I have +used it, Anthony! I have kept you single and alone all these years, +because something in me would not yield to your kind of wooing.</p> + +<p>"If only you could have been a cave man and could have carried me off! +So many women wish that of men, especially proud women. It isn't that +we admire brutality, but we want to have all of our little feminine +doubts and fears overcome by the man's decisive action. And you made +the mistake<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> of waiting patiently, asking me now and then, 'Will you?' +instead of saying, 'You must.'</p> + +<p>"Yet while you could not win me, in other ways you dominated me. Do +you remember the holidays when I came home from boarding-school, and +you were interne at a hospital? You asked me to go to the theater with +you, and at the last moment you were called to the operating room to +help one of the surgeons. You telephoned that you'd send a carriage +for me and my chaperon, but that you couldn't go;—and I wouldn't go +either, but stayed at home and sulked, and looked at myself in the +glass, now and then, to mourn over the fact that you couldn't see me +in my pink organdie with the rosebuds.</p> + +<p>"But you wouldn't even apologize for what I called your neglect. I +said I should never go with you. You said it wasn't neglect, and that +I should go. And go I did, finally, as meekly as possible, and I wore +the pink organdie and had a lovely time.</p> + +<p>"It's the memory of that night when you couldn't fit your plans to +mine which has made me write this letter. When I came home from Harbor +Light I found Bettina waiting up for me, and she broke down as the +depressing realities of your work were forced upon her. I was very +toploftical, Anthony—and was prepared to read her a sermon on the +duties of a doctor's wife, when all at once I had a vision of myself +in that rosebud organdie. I hated your work then, and I felt that you +lacked something of devotion to me, to let it keep you from me.</p> + +<p>"But later I felt differently. The world began to call you a great +man—and I began to see with clearer eyes what you were doing for the +world. And so I helped you at Harbor Light, and saw you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> there at your +best—with your forceful control of all those helpless people, with +your steadiness of hand and eye, a king who ruled by virtue of his +power over life and death.</p> + +<p>"It was in those days, I think, that I began to worship you. But I +never called my worship love. I wanted to be Me, Myself, and somehow I +felt that when I was once promised to you I should have no separate +identity. It was the rebellion of a strong personality against a +stronger one. I was not wise enough to see that you who protected +others from the storms of life might want some little haven of your +own—a haven which would be—Home.</p> + +<p>"But because you failed to be masterful in the one way which would +have won me, because you said, always, 'Will you?' instead of, +'Come—let there be no more of this between you and me, Diana,' I went +away, not understanding you, not understanding myself.</p> + +<p>"And over there with Sophie, I met Van Rosen. As I look back upon it, +I do not wonder that he charmed me. He was different from our American +men, a lover of pleasure. He typified the spirit of joy to me—there +was never a moment when he had not some vivid plan for me. We did +things of which I had always dreamed.</p> + +<p>"He gave a house party for me in his ancestral castle on the Rhine. +And he proposed to me in an ancient chapel with the moonlight making +the effigies of his old ancestors seem like living knights in golden +armor.</p> + +<p>"It was all so picturesque that practical America—that you, oh, I +must confess it, Anthony,—seemed miles away. It seemed to me that in +my own coun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>try we lived dreary lives in a workaday atmosphere. It was +only in that castle on the Rhine that there were people who knew how +to play. So I became engaged, and through all those months, Van Rosen +and I played together.</p> + +<p>"But I grew so tired of it, so deadly tired of it! Life seemed to have +no meaning. And after a time I grew a little afraid. Van Rosen was +different. I can't define exactly where the difference lay. But +between us was the barrier of centuries of opposing traditions. I +began to feel that as his wife I should be a Princess in name, but a +slave in fact. Always laughing, always seeming to dance in the +sunshine, he had a hardness which nothing could soften. I saw him now +and then with those whom he considered his inferiors. I saw his +treatment of his servants, his horses, his dogs. I heard him speak +once to an old and dependent aunt, at another time to a young +governess—and my cheeks burned—and I was afraid.</p> + +<p>"It came back to me then how you had always treated those who were +weaker than yourself. You had always been a champion of old ladies and +children. Every animal, from Peter Pan to your old fat horse—that old +fat horse now is living in clover since you acquired your motor +cars—adored and followed you.</p> + +<p>"And one day I told Van Rosen—that I couldn't marry him. You don't +know how humble I felt to think that I might have hurt him. But in +that moment his real self showed. He was angry, furiously angry, and I +knew all at once that it was my money, and not me that he wanted.</p> + +<p>"And so I came back to you—<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>—</p> + +<p>"But you had Bettina, and there was no place for me. No place for the +little dark-eyed girl who had listened to the big boy on stormy +nights, no place for the woman who had not known her own heart——</p> + +<p>"And now you want me to be your friend. But I can't be your +friend—Anthony. Friendship is for the man and woman who have never +loved. A friendship which is the aftermath of love is the shadow after +the substance. Can't you see that it is so? Can't you see that there +would be just two things which might happen? If I stayed here and +tried to be your friend, either I should knit myself to you by ties +which should bind you to your wife, or we should drift apart, having +the perfect memory neither of love nor of friendship.</p> + +<p>"Bettina is very young, but she has depths of which you have not +dreamed, of which I had not dreamed, until I talked with her last +night. I went up to her room, and we had a very sweet and tender +confidence. It was almost dawn before I left her. She showed me much +of her heart, as she will, I hope, some day show it to you——</p> + +<p>"Hers is a little white soul, dear friend. On the surface she has her +girlish petulances, her youthful prejudices. But these? Why, I had a +thousand of them, Anthony. How I snubbed those poor students whom you +brought with you one afternoon to tea because their elbows were shiny +and their shoes rusty. I was such a little snob, Anthony. How I should +welcome them now—those great doctors, who have done so much for +humanity.</p> + +<p>"It is life which teaches us, dear friend. It will teach Bettina. And +it must teach me this: To bear the hard things. Do you remember in +those days<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> when we read of knights on the battle-field that we loved +those who died fighting? And how we hated those who ran away? Well, +I'm going to fight—but my fight must begin by running away.</p> + +<p>"It isn't a battle which we can fight together. The two who must do +things together are you and Bettina. Any friendship of ours would shut +her out. That's the plain truth, and you and I are old enough to know +it, Anthony.</p> + +<p>"There's much more that I could say to you. Much more. But you must +read between the lines. All my days I shall have in my heart the +memory of my dear—big boy. Some day when I am old and you are old, we +can be friends. I'll look forward to that day, and it shall be my +beacon light in the darkness.</p> + +<p>"It's good-bye, dear, for a long time—good-bye.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Diana.</span><br /><br /></p> +</div> + + + +<p>How still it was in the hemlock forest! A squirrel which had ventured +down from the branches flattened himself against the trunk of a tree and +peered curiously at the figure which lay face downward on the fragrant +carpet. One hand, outflung, caught at a little bush and held on as if in +agony. The other hand grasped the sheets of gray paper, which, +close-written, in feminine script, had brought a message of infinite +pain and loss.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>THE LITTLE SILVER RING</h3> + + +<p>The yacht yard in which Bobbie's boat was hauled up for repairs lay at +the foot of the rocks to the north of Diana's house. From the north +porch, therefore, one could look down on the activities which had to do +with the bringing in, and putting into shape the fine craft which +through the summer were anchored in the harbor. A marine railway floated +the boats in and out at high tide, and at such times creaked +complainingly.</p> + +<p>It was on the north porch that Sophie and Bettina sat on the morning +after Diana's departure—Sophie knitting a motor scarf for Anthony, +Bettina hemstitching white frills.</p> + +<p>Below in the yacht yard the master gave orders, and the machinery of the +marine railway began its clanking chorus. Bettina glanced over the rail. +"Bobbie's boat is going out," she said, "and he and Justin are on +board."</p> + +<p>Justin saw her and called, "May I come up?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span></p> + +<p>Bettina shook her head at him. "If he thinks I'm going to shriek an +answer to the housetops, he's mistaken."</p> + +<p>Again she shook her head at him, and Justin immediately offered excuses +to Bobbie.</p> + +<p>"You won't mind," he said, "if I go up there?"</p> + +<p>Bobbie jeered. "Talk about me! You're here to-day and there to-morrow. +Yesterday it was Sara, and now it's Betty Dolce."</p> + +<p>"It was never Sara."</p> + +<p>"That's what I said when I fell in love with Doris, but you wouldn't +believe me. And I can't quite see the difference."</p> + +<p>"I've never cared for Sara in that way."</p> + +<p>"Then you have jolly well flirted with her."</p> + +<p>"Don't try to be English with your 'jolly wells.'"</p> + +<p>Bobbie turned his back on Justin. "I suppose, then, you're not going to +have lunch with me?" he said over his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Why can't we all have lunch with you?"</p> + +<p>"Who is—all?"</p> + +<p>"Betty, and Mrs. Martens—and me——"</p> + +<p>"Doesn't Doris come into it?"</p> + +<p>"Of course, if you can get her up."</p> + +<p>"I can always get her up. You know that. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> there's nobody just now in +the world for you but Betty Dolce."</p> + +<p>Nobody but Bettina! Justin admitted it to himself triumphantly. Please +God, there should never be any one but Bettina!</p> + +<p>Perhaps something of his thought showed in his face, for Bobbie clapped +him on the shoulder with a hearty, "Go in and win her, old man, and +we'll have a double wedding."</p> + +<p>"If my wedding," solemnly, "were as sure as yours, I'd burn incense to +the gods."</p> + +<p>"Well, why don't you make it sure?"</p> + +<p>"I can't. She stands on her pedestal, and I can't reach up to her."</p> + +<p>"Man, you're afraid of her."</p> + +<p>"It isn't that. But I'm not in this race to fall out, Bobbie. I guess +you can see that."</p> + +<p>Bobbie nodded. "Anybody who has eyes can see it," he said.</p> + +<p>The little yacht was in the water now, still helpless because of her +furled sails.</p> + +<p>Justin, making a bridge of the small boats tied to the floating pier, +gained dry land, and continued his conversation with Bobbie across the +intervening space. "Suppose we cut the luncheon out, and go<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> for a sail +this afternoon. We can land off Gloucester way and have tea at the +Lobster Pot."</p> + +<p>"Tea, meaning lobster sandwiches," said Bobbie. "Do you know, Justin, +that the whole coast is blossoming with lobster sandwiches? Once upon a +time one ate muffins with their tea. But now nobody takes tea. They take +coffee and lobster sandwiches. And I don't like sea foods, and I don't +drink coffee. Otherwise it is all right."</p> + +<p>"We'll have muffins and jam. And you and Doris shall have a table by +yourselves, and Bettina and I, and we'll ask Anthony to look after Mrs. +Martens." He stopped. "No, we won't ask Anthony—he has a fashion of +claiming Bettina. He's her guardian, you know."</p> + +<p>"Look here, Justin. Did it ever occur to you that he'd like to be +more—than a guardian?"</p> + +<p>"It's Diana for Anthony, Bobbie."</p> + +<p>"I'm not so sure. Doris says there is something queer about it all——"</p> + +<p>"Queer?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, about Diana having Bettina here, and then going away and leaving +her——"</p> + +<p>"Sara's been talking. Doris wouldn't think such unpleasant things, +Bobbie—there isn't anything be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>tween Anthony and Betty. There can't be +anything——"</p> + +<p>But even as he said it he was stabbed by the memory of Bettina's radiant +look of pride as she sat beside Anthony on the night of the yacht club +dance.</p> + +<p>"No man," said Bobbie, "is going to wait forever, and Betty Dolce is a +very lovely little lady. All the boys at the club are crazy about her, +and if it hadn't been for Doris there's no telling how I might have +felt—but Doris is the last one, Justin."</p> + +<p>"Good. I'll wigwag from the porch, Bobbie. Keep your eyes open for my +signal."</p> + +<p>Bettina, still hemstitching on white frills, welcomed Justin with a +charming smile, but with a decided negative to his invitation.</p> + +<p>"I'm going out with Anthony."</p> + +<p>Justin eyed her reproachfully. "I told you once before that three was a +crowd——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, but this time it isn't three, but two—Anthony and I are going +alone in his little car, and we are to have dinner at Green Gables."</p> + +<p>All the laughter died out of his face. "Oh, I'm afraid you must think me +all kinds of fool." He turned abruptly to Sophie. "Mrs. Martens, you'll<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> +go in Bobbie's boat, won't you? He's dying to ask Doris."</p> + +<p>"Do you really want me?" Sophie asked, brightly.</p> + +<p>"Always, dear lady."</p> + +<p>Bettina, bending over her frills, felt a sudden sense of desolation.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear," she said, wistfully. "Why do all the nice things come at +once?"</p> + +<p>With that sigh, joy came back to Justin.</p> + +<p>He dropped into a chair beside her. "What time will you get home +to-night?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"At eight. Anthony's office hours begin then."</p> + +<p>"May I come up?"</p> + +<p>"May he, Sophie?"</p> + +<p>"It's my bridge night at the club, dear——"</p> + +<p>"Oh——"</p> + +<p>"Please," Justin pleaded.</p> + +<p>Sophie laughed. "Well, Delia shall chaperon you. Of course you may come, +Justin."</p> + +<p>Justin, signaling Bobbie a moment later, was conscious of a wild desire +to shout to the four winds of heaven the fact that for one little hour +he was to have his goddess to himself.</p> + +<p>For Justin's coming that night Bettina put on her white crêpe tea gown +with the little lace mantle.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> She was very tired after her ride with +Anthony. There had been no reason for fatigue. He had been most kind and +considerate. But Bettina's little efforts at conversation had seemed to +her childishly inadequate. She had felt a sense of deadly depression. +What should she do to interest him through all the years? Would he +always have his mind on the things of which she knew nothing? Would she +always try and never make a success of her efforts to enter into his +life?</p> + +<p>She had tried to tell him about Justin—about their compact of +friendship—yet the words had died on her lips. Suppose he did not +understand? Suppose he did not approve? Suppose he should forbid her to +have a big brother—as he had forbidden her to fly in the "Gray Gull" +with Justin?</p> + +<p>She dared not risk such a catastrophe. She clung desperately to the +thought of Justin's youth and gayety. No, Anthony might not understand, +so why should she discuss it with him?</p> + +<p>At dinner Anthony roused himself and had played the gracious host. Yet +on the return trip he had relapsed into silence, and she had again felt +that sense of desperate failure. Oh, what kind of wife was she going to +make for this grave Anthony, this great<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> Dr. Anthony, who loved her and +whom she loved?</p> + +<p>It was on the return trip, too, that he had spoken of their coming +marriage. "Why can't it be soon, Bettina?" he had said. "Why should we +wait, you and I?"</p> + +<p>She knew that there was no good reason. That a few weeks ago she would +have been radiant at the prospect.</p> + +<p>Yet she told him, nervously, that if he didn't mind, it would be better +to wait—a little. There were things to do.</p> + +<p>And he had acquiesced, because of his masculine ignorance of the things +which must really be done.</p> + +<p>"The big house will be ready," he said, "when you are ready."</p> + +<p>As she changed her gown on her return home, Bettina meditated soberly on +the situation. Diana, when they had talked together, had pointed out +that the women who married such men as Anthony must be content to make +sacrifices. "He belongs to the world, dear child," she had said; "you +must remember that, if you would be happy. It must be your joy to help +him in his great work."</p> + +<p>Bettina was beginning to be a little afraid of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> future. It was not +that she did not love Anthony—why, Anthony was the best man in the +whole wide world. But everybody expected so much of her, and she was not +quite sure that she should come up to the full measure of their +expectations.</p> + +<p>As she came down the stairs, Justin was waiting for her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you little beauty," his heart whispered; "you little white and gold +beauty."</p> + +<p>She had twisted her hair low on her neck, and her delicate lace mantle +fell about her like folded gossamer wings.</p> + +<p>"We will sit in the library," she said. "I have had a fire built. It is +so damp and foggy outside. Sophie said you had to come in early from +your sail on account of it."</p> + +<p>"We came near not coming in at all," Justin told her. "Doris was +terribly scared. But Mrs. Martens was as cool as possible. It's rather +risky business outside on such a day. The rocks are like needle points +under the water."</p> + +<p>"I'm a terrible coward."</p> + +<p>"You only think you are. When are you going to fly with me?"</p> + +<p>"Never—please."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> + +<p>He had placed a chair for her by the fire, and stood leaning over the +back of it.</p> + +<p>"Never is a long time—little sister."</p> + +<p>"But I should be afraid."</p> + +<p>"Not with me."</p> + +<p>Silence.</p> + +<p>"Not with me." He came around so that he could look into her face. +"Would you be afraid with me?"</p> + +<p>She knew that she would not. She had not been afraid in the storm. But +these things were not to be told.</p> + +<p>She did not meet his eyes, but shook her head.</p> + +<p>He was struck by her troubled look.</p> + +<p>"Tired—little sister?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Her lips quivered. "Very tired."</p> + +<p>His heart yearned over her. She seemed such a little thing in that +stately room with its high ceilings, its massive furniture, its +book-lined walls. The only light came from the fire, and from a silver +lamp which hung over Diana's desk. On the table near Bettina was a bowl +of pink hyacinths, which filled the room with the fresh fragrance of +spring.</p> + +<p>He was conscious of these things, however, only as a setting for her +beauty. And he was more than ever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> conscious of his desire to place +himself between her and the world which might hurt her. "Let me help +you," he said, earnestly. "Don't you know that my only desire is to +serve you?"</p> + +<p>She considered him, wistfully. "It's dear of you to say that."</p> + +<p>He sat down, leaning toward her.</p> + +<p>"It isn't dear of me. It isn't even good of me. It's simply +self-preservation. Don't you know, can't you see that I have only one +thought—your happiness; only one wish—to be always near you?"</p> + +<p>There was no mistaking the significance of his flaming words.</p> + +<p>She shrank back. "Oh, you must not say such things."</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Because. Oh, you called yourself my friend."</p> + +<p>"I am more than that," he said, steadily. "I am your lover."</p> + +<p>"Please—oh, please."</p> + +<p>She began to sob like a little child. "Oh, big brother," she told him, +"you have spoiled everything."</p> + +<p>He knelt beside her chair. "How have I spoiled things?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I wanted you for my friend."</p> + +<p>"I am your friend, dear one."</p> + +<p>Very still and pale she fought against the sweetness of the truth he was +forcing upon her.</p> + +<p>"Please—go away," she whispered.</p> + +<p>He rose to his feet. "I shall not give you up."</p> + +<p>She rose also, a frail little thing in her floating draperies, and laid +her hand lightly on his arm.</p> + +<p>"There are things which I cannot tell you. But I need a friend. If you +care for me you'll let me be your—little sister; you won't trouble me +by saying such things as you have said—to-night."</p> + +<p>He tried with all the strength of his young manhood to hide his own hurt +and meet her need.</p> + +<p>"I could kill myself for making you cry. I'm going to be good now. +Really and truly your good big brother."</p> + +<p>She glanced up at him with charming shyness.</p> + +<p>"I'll forget the things that you have said to-night—if you won't say +them again."</p> + +<p>"I shall not tie myself to an impossible promise," he repeated, "but I +am going to tie you to a promise."</p> + +<p>"Me?" She faced him.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Oh, see here," boyishly, "I brought some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>thing for you to-night. I +have noticed that you don't wear rings, but I want you to wear this." He +opened his hand and showed her, lying on the palm, a little silver ring. +"It's just a simple trinket that my sister wore as a child. I'd like to +think that it would tie you to me always—for remembrance. I had hoped +that you would let me give you another some time. But this—why, you +can't object to wearing it—and it would mean a lot to me if you +would——"</p> + +<p>Her slender fingers touched it. "How sweet of you to think of it——"</p> + +<p>"Then you'll wear it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes—because you are—my friend."</p> + +<p>He took her hand in his and fitting the slender band first on one finger +and then on another found a place for it at last on the little finger of +her left hand.</p> + +<p>"With this ring," he said, softly, "I take you always—for my +friend——"</p> + +<p>Then he stood looking down at her. "What a lovely little thing you are," +he said. "You're so tiny that I could pick you up and carry you off, yet +I tremble when I touch your hand."</p> + +<p>She drew a quick short breath.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You aren't to say such things to me—you know."</p> + +<p>"I'll be good."</p> + +<p>She knelt down like a child on the hearth-rug, and held her hand forward +so that the light of the fire might shine on the silver circlet.</p> + +<p>"Why, it's engraved," she said, "with two hearts."</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said; "your heart and mine."</p> + +<p>As she bent forward, the thin chain which she wore about her neck swung +forward from among the laces of her gown, and, "tinkle, tinkle," sounded +the chime of the flashing rings which Anthony had given her.</p> + +<p>Justin saw her catch at them, saw her look of frightened appeal as she +thrust them hurriedly back into their hiding-place.</p> + +<p>She rose slowly from the rug; slowly she took the little silver ring +from her finger; slowly she handed it back to him.</p> + +<p>"Please, I must not wear it," she said, with a break in her voice. "I +must give it back to you—my friend."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3>IN WHICH BETTINA FLIES</h3> + + +<p>In the clear days which followed, Justin gave his undivided attention to +flying. Not once did he see Bettina. Not once did he join the party of +young people of which he had been the leading spirit.</p> + +<p>In vain did Bobbie formulate enticing plans.</p> + +<p>"We'll go to Cat Island with Captain Stubbs, fish all day, and have +chowder on the rocks."</p> + +<p>There had been one glorified fishing trip for Justin with Bettina. He +wanted no other.</p> + +<p>"I've wasted enough time," he said shortly. "I came here to practice +flying, not to do social stunts."</p> + +<p>Sara urged him also. "You haven't played a set of tennis with me since +you came up," she complained. "Of course I know you're simply crazy over +Betty Dolce, but that needn't cut me out entirely. I thought my +friendship meant something to you, Justin."</p> + +<p>"It does," Justin told her, honestly, "but I'm not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> in a mood for +tennis, and as for Betty Dolce, I haven't seen her for a week."</p> + +<p>Sara was cheered by his statement. If his absorption was simply in his +flying machine, she could wait. Men always returned finally from +machines to femininity.</p> + +<p>So Justin flew and flew, looking down at times upon the tops of the +houses in the quaint coast towns, at other times having beneath him and +above him blue sea and blue sky.</p> + +<p>And everywhere he went, he knew that people were craning their necks and +crying out in wonder, for in this part of the world, at least, such +aerial craft were rare visitors.</p> + +<p>And when he grew tired of great heights, he would let his shining ship +slide down the air currents until it touched the water; then like a +mammoth aquatic bird it would swim the surface, and the sailors on the +big yachts would lean out over the sides and hail him, and the motor +boats would follow him, until, at last, growing impatient of their close +observance, he would rise again, higher and higher in the golden haze; +earth would be left behind, and he would be alone with his thoughts.</p> + +<p>And he thought always of Bettina.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p> + +<p>He thought of her as he had first seen her, in the shadowy room, with +her shabby black dress and her white and gold beauty. He thought of her +as she had come toward him under the lilacs, a flower among the flowers. +Again he saw her dancing, like a wraith, in the moonlight; he saw her, +in the little blue serge frock and shady hat, measuring him with her +cool eyes; and again, laying plates on the flapping cloth with white +hands, or racing with him against the wildness of the storm. He saw her +with her fair wet braids hanging to her knees, and her slender fingers +twisting among the gold. He saw her with the light of the harness-room +fire upon her as she promised to be his friend.</p> + +<p>But most of all he saw her as she had been that last night in the great +library, frail and white in her floating draperies.</p> + +<p>"You have spoiled everything," she had said.</p> + +<p>How had he spoiled everything?</p> + +<p>In one moment he would resolve to have it out with her. In the next he +would plan to go away, to give her up, to forget her.</p> + +<p>A few weeks ago he had not known her. He had liked many women, but had +loved none. He had been heart-whole and fancy free. And now his life,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +his happiness, all of his future, were bound up in this little pale +child with the wonderful hair!</p> + +<p>Up and up, higher and higher. It was like the flight of an eagle.</p> + +<p>And far below, on a porch which overhung the harbor, two women watched +with beating hearts.</p> + +<p>"Oh, why will he do it?" Sophie asked, in agonized tones. "It is so +dangerous."</p> + +<p>Bettina caught her breath. "Somehow I can't think of the danger," she +said. "He isn't afraid, and to me it seems—very wonderful—as if he had +wings, and could fly—straight up—to heaven——"</p> + +<p>As Justin had thought all that week of Bettina, so she had thought of +him; every moment of the day, and into the night, the vision was upon +her.</p> + +<p>Again she was held by those mocking eyes, again she was thrilled by that +mad race in the rain. She saw him as he had been on the night of the +yacht club dance, with his laughing air of conquest; as he had been in +the great library, saying steadily, "I am your lover——"</p> + +<p>He had gone from her, angry, that night because she would give him no +explanation of her refusal to take the silver ring.</p> + +<p>"I cannot, I cannot," she had repeated.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p> + +<p>He had caught hold of her hands. "You are not a flirt," he had said; +"you are too sweet and good for that—but what do you mean by your +mysteries——Oh, why can't you tell me the truth?"</p> + +<p>She had looked at him, dumbly, and he had rushed away, leaving her +unforgiven.</p> + +<p>She had written at once to Diana, asking to be released from her promise +to keep her engagement secret. "People ought to know," was the reason +she gave.</p> + +<p>She had also telephoned to Anthony. She wanted to see him. To tell him +that she would marry him as soon as he wished. That would be the +solution. Then Justin would understand, and would forgive her.</p> + +<p>She felt that more than anything in the whole wide world she wanted +Justin's forgiveness.</p> + +<p>Anthony had come, and they had gone into the library where she had +talked with Justin, and Anthony, preoccupied and silent, had placed a +chair for her, and had stood where Justin had stood. And she had +shivered and had begged, "Sit down where I can see you."</p> + +<p>He had taken the chair opposite her, and suddenly she had surprised +herself and him by coming over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> to him, and slipping to her knees beside +his chair, and sobbing with her face hidden.</p> + +<p>He had lifted her in his arms, and had soothed her like a child. "What +is it, dear heart?" he had demanded.</p> + +<p>And, like a child, she had answered:</p> + +<p>"Oh, please, let's get married right away——"</p> + +<p>She had explained haltingly that she had been lonely since Diana went +away, and unhappy. She—she missed her mother—and Diana's house wasn't +her home. Sophie was dear, but, oh, it would be much better to be +married as soon as she could get ready.</p> + +<p>"And how soon will that be?" gravely.</p> + +<p>"In a month. I think everybody should be told now."</p> + +<p>He agreed. "Perhaps it should have been announced at once, but Diana +seemed to think that it was best to wait."</p> + +<p>"Diana doesn't know—everything."</p> + +<p>"No, but she is wise in many things."</p> + +<p>"Anthony?"</p> + +<p>"Yes?"</p> + +<p>"When we are—married, will you and Diana be just as good friends?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I hope that we may——"</p> + +<p>Something in his tone had made her look up and say quickly, "Oh, I +<i>want</i> you to be friends. You didn't think that I was jealous—of +<i>Diana</i>?"</p> + +<p>He had thought she might be. If she knew the truth she would surely have +a right to be. But she did not know the truth.</p> + +<p>"Why did you ask?" he probed.</p> + +<p>"Because," feverishly, "it doesn't seem right, does it, that just +because a man and a woman are married they should never have any men or +women friends? There's Bobbie, for example—and—and Justin—I shan't +have to be just your wife, shall I? I can have them for friends?"</p> + +<p>"Of course." Yet even as he said it he wondered if he would care to have +her allegiance divided—as his was divided. Oh, wise Diana, who had +refused to be what she had no right to be, what he would not want his +own wife to be, when once she was bound to him—the dear friend of +another man.</p> + +<p>"You and I," he said, "must try to be all in all to each other." Then +after a pause, "Do you really love me, child?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes." Again she drew a sobbing breath.</p> + +<p>"I am such an old fellow," he said, in a troubled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> way, "and you are +made for bright things and gay things. I wonder if you will be happy +with an old tired fellow like me——"</p> + +<p>In her simplicity she believed that his appeal was that of love, and out +of the gratitude which she felt that she owed him she tried to respond.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I do love you," she whispered, "and when we are married—we shall +be happy——"</p> + +<p>Presently she tugged at the thin chain about her neck, and brought forth +the rings.</p> + +<p>"After this I shall wear them," she said, "for all the world to see."</p> + +<p>When Anthony went home he answered Diana's letter. He had sent her +flowers on the day that she had left—her favorite violets and valley +lilies. Beyond that he had made no sign.</p> + +<p>But now he wrote:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><br /> + +<p> +"<span class="smcap">Oh, dear Wise Woman:</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"During all the days since I received your letter I have not been able +to see things as you wanted me to see them. I have raged against Fate, +and have been pursued by Furies. I have shut myself away, as far as +possible, from the world. At one moment I have doubted your love for +me; at the next, I have resolved to follow you, play cave man, and +carry you off.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I have read and reread your letter, trying to find some weakness to +which I could appeal—but I could find none. But finally, as I read, +one sentence began to stand out: 'We loved those who died—fighting.' +When I got into the swing of that thought it stirred me. I am going to +live—fighting—perhaps I shall die—fighting——</p> + +<p>"To-day Bettina has told me that she will marry me in a month. She +says that she has written you that it is best that people should know +at once. And I think that it is best. I shall try to make her happy, +but if I conquer life, if I ever do any great thing or good thing or +wise thing, it will be because you have shown me the way.</p> + +<p>"You say, 'When we are old, we can be friends.' How I shall welcome +old age, Diana! May the years fly swiftly!</p> + + +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Anthony.</span><br /><br /></p> +</div> + +<p>Having squared himself thus with the inevitable, Anthony, a little +grayer, perhaps, a little more worn and worried, took up life where he +had left off before Diana came home from Europe.</p> + +<p>He had seen nothing, of late, of Justin, except as he had glimpsed him, +now and then, in the air.</p> + +<p>But on the morning on which Bettina and Sophie had watched the flight +from their porch he came upon the young aviator, near the sheds, +standing in the midst of an eager group of young folks, adored by the +girls, envied by the boys.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p> + +<p>Amid the clamor of voices he caught the question, "Are you going up +again this afternoon?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Then, over their heads, Justin saw Anthony.</p> + +<p>"Bring Betty Dolce up this afternoon," he called, "and I'll show you +through the shops. There are four ships beside mine in the sheds, and +they'll be sent out to-morrow. You and she may never have a chance to +see so many together."</p> + +<p>Anthony agreed, and called up Bettina.</p> + +<p>She assented eagerly. To-day, then, Justin should see her rings. He +would ask for an explanation. She would tell him,—and he would +understand. When he knew that she belonged to Anthony he would forget +that he had wanted to be anything but her friend, and things would be as +they had been before.</p> + +<p>So, knowing nothing of the hearts of men, she argued in her innocence.</p> + +<p>When she saw Justin, she felt that even through her gloves he must see +the rings. But his eyes were on her face, and she burned red beneath his +glance.</p> + +<p>On an impulse he had asked her. If Anthony brought her, he should see +her, talk to her. That, for the moment, would give his heart respite +from the pain which gnawed it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p> + +<p>In the dimness of the great sheds Bettina flitted silently like a white +moth from place to place. She left the conversation to Justin and to +Anthony. When Justin made explanations she seemed to listen, but she did +not look up.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, she heard not a word. Her mind was on her rings. +She began to take off her gloves, slowly; dreading, yet craving the +moment, when Justin should look at her hands.</p> + +<p>But he was still explaining to Anthony: "These pontoons do the trick. An +aeroplane simply flies. But the hydro-aeroplanes fly and swim, and +that's what makes them so safe when there's water to cross."</p> + +<p>As he touched the delicate wires of the framework they gave forth a +humming noise. "When you're up in the air," he said, "it sounds like the +crash of chords."</p> + +<p>Bettina's gloves were off now. The big diamonds on her left hand seemed +to catch all the light in the dim room and to blaze like suns!</p> + +<p>But Justin was thinking only of Bettina's eyes under her drooping veil, +and of her cheeks which burned red, and of her lips which were closed +against any speech with him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p> + +<p>They went on to the last shed, which was open, and from which a track +descended into the water.</p> + +<p>Poised there, in the half-darkness, like a bird at rest, was another +ship, ready for flight.</p> + +<p>"This is mine," said Justin; "the 'Gray Gull.' I wanted to call her 'The +Wild Hawk,' but changed my mind. Do you remember Kipling's</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'The wild hawk to the wind-swept sky,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">The deer to the wholesome wold,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And the heart of a man to the heart of a maid,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">As it was in the days of old'?"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"It is one of Diana's favorites," said Anthony. But Bettina said never a +word.</p> + +<p>And just then a boy came to say that Dr. Blake was wanted at the +telephone.</p> + +<p>"It's a hurry call," Anthony came back to tell them. "Would you mind +walking home with Bettina, Justin?"</p> + +<p>Would he mind? Suddenly all the stars sang!</p> + +<p>The moment that Anthony's back was turned Bettina felt a frantic desire +to hide her rings. What would Justin say when he saw them? With Anthony +there she had felt brave. But now—she turned the rings inward and began +hastily to put on her gloves.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> Oh, to-night, after she reached home, she +would write Justin a prim little note and tell him of her engagement! +That would be better, of course! She should have thought of it before!</p> + +<p>Crashing across her trembling decision came Justin's demand.</p> + +<p>"Look here. Why can't you fly with me now? Just a little way, low over +the harbor? Come——"</p> + +<p>It seemed to her that between them was beating and throbbing darkness, +out of which his eager eyes said, "Come."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," she protested, with dry lips. "Anthony wouldn't like it."</p> + +<p>"What has Anthony to do with it?" He had taken her hands in his and was +crushing them. The rings cut and hurt, but she made no sign; she only +looked at him large-eyed, and said, not knowing what she said, "He has +nothing to do with it——"</p> + +<p>"Then come——"</p> + +<p>She was conscious that he was taking the pins out of her big hat. That +he was winding her white chiffon veil, nun-like, about her head, so that +her face was framed. And within this frame glowed her hot cheeks and +questioning eyes.</p> + +<p>"Come," he said, again, and lifted her to her seat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> and fastened her in, +and took his place beside her. He whistled, and two men came, and the +buoyant ship slid down the track toward the water; the big propeller +waved for a moment its octopus arms, then started with a mighty roar.</p> + +<p>For a moment they swam the surface, then, light as a bird, the "Gray +Gull" soared.</p> + +<p>Up and up, with the white yachts in the harbor just beneath them, with +the gold of the sunshine surrounding them; and out of it his face +bending down to her.</p> + +<p>"Are you afraid?" he asked, as he had asked in the storm.</p> + +<p>And she, with her cheeks still burning hot, looked up at him and +laughed.</p> + +<p>"Afraid—with you? Oh, Justin, Justin, I could fly like this—forever."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3>VOICES IN THE DARK</h3> + + +<p>Captain Stubbs' cottage was one of the show places of the town. Built +before the Revolution, it was of typical English rural architecture—one-storied, +with a square chimney, and with a garden which +made it the delight of artists who came from far and near to paint +it; in the spring crocuses starred the borders, violets studded the lawn +with amethyst, pale irises and daffodils, narcissus and jonquils stood +in slim beauty. Later came sweet peas, and the roses followed, hiding +with their beauty the weather-beaten boards. The late summer brought +nasturtiums in all their richness of orange and bronze-brown, and in the +fall, the dahlias blazed.</p> + +<p>The captain lived alone, attending to his domestic affairs in a fashion +which was the envy of less spick and span housekeepers. He would not +have his home invaded by prying folk, but to his invited and welcome +guests he would show his carved ivories, his embroideries, heavy with +gold, his dragon-en<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>circled jars and vases. Everywhere was the charm of +shining neatness, and flowers were everywhere.</p> + +<p>"I think I should have looked for a wife," the captain had told Bettina +and Miss Matthews one day when they had lunched with him, "if it hadn't +been for my flowers. I don't need a wife to cook for me. I'm a better +cook than most women. And I don't need a wife to mend my clothes, +because every sailor can handle a needle. And I don't need a wife to +keep the house clean for me—there isn't any woman on earth that makes +things shine like a man who has been taught to rub brasses and scrub +down decks. What I'd need a wife for would be to make things pretty, and +to look pretty herself. But Lord, I ain't the kind to attract a pretty +woman—and so I just gave it up."</p> + +<p>A faint glimmer of resentment had shone in Miss Matthews' eyes. "I guess +most women are kept so busy that they haven't time to think about their +looks."</p> + +<p>"Well, if I had a wife," the captain had said, "I'd like to have her +wear bright things. My mother had dimity dresses—there was a pink one, +like a rose, and a green one that looked like the young grass in the +spring, and there was one that made me think<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> of forget-me-nots, or the +sky when there isn't a cloud in it."</p> + +<p>Bettina had smiled at him. "How pretty your mother must have been."</p> + +<p>"It wasn't that she was so pretty; it was her soft, quiet ways, and +those bright-colored roses. And I've been looking for that kind of woman +ever since."</p> + +<p>"If your mother," little Miss Matthews had told him, "had lived in this +day of shirt-waists and short skirts, she'd probably be wearing high +collars and sad colors with the rest of us."</p> + +<p>The emphasis with which the little lady had offered her opinion and the +flush on her face had made Bettina look at her with awakened eyes. +"Why—I believe she likes him. She'd be really nice-looking if she'd fix +her hair——"</p> + +<p>To-day, as Miss Matthews stopped for a moment at the captain's gate to +admire his sweet peas, she was not even "nice-looking." She was pale and +thin, and had a hoarse cough.</p> + +<p>"I'm going home and to bed," she said. "I took cold that day in the +rain, captain, and it hasn't left me since, and I took more cold +yesterday, going to school without my overshoes."</p> + +<p>"You come right in, and I'll make you a cup of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> tea," said the captain, +hospitably. But Miss Matthews refused, wearily.</p> + +<p>As she turned away, however, Mrs. Martens came to get the flowers which +were the captain's daily offering for Diana's table, and the little man +extended a beaming invitation to both of them.</p> + +<p>"You pick your posies," he said, "and I'll get some tea for you and +bring it right out here. You make her stay, Mrs. Martens; she needs a +rest."</p> + +<p>Sophie smiled at the little teacher. "You ought not to be out at all," +she said, sympathetically.</p> + +<p>"School closes in four days," explained little Miss Matthews; "after +that I think I shall fall down and die, but I've got to keep up until +then."</p> + +<p>As the two women stood there at the gate together, they presented a +striking contrast: Sophie in her black, modish garments, with the look +upon her face of the woman who has been loved, and who has bloomed +because of it; Miss Matthews, a faded shadow of what she might have been +if love had not passed her by.</p> + +<p>"How's Betty?" Miss Matthews asked, as she sat down on a bench on the +little covered porch, and watched Sophie's slender fingers pull the +sweet peas.</p> + +<p>Sophie straightened up. "I'm worried about her,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> she said. "She and +Anthony Blake went to see the air-ships, and I had a telephone message +from Anthony that he had had a hurry call, and that Justin would look +after Betty. That was two hours ago, and Betty hadn't returned when I +left to come here——"</p> + +<p>Captain Stubbs, appearing with a big loaded tray, gave important +information.</p> + +<p>"Did she have on a white dress?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Then she's gone flying with Justin Ford."</p> + +<p>"What?" Sophie stood up, and all the fragrant blooms fell at her feet. +"Oh, surely he wouldn't take Betty up with him. It would be dreadful."</p> + +<p>"Now, don't you worry," said the captain; "he ain't goin' to let a hair +of her head get hurt—he's daffy over her."</p> + +<p>"Daffy?" Sophie stared.</p> + +<p>"Yep." The captain set his tray on the rustic table. "He and that Betty +child went with me and Miss Matthews for a day's fishin', and at first +we didn't notice anything, but after a while we began to open our +eyes—and, well, we ain't blind, are we, Miss Matthews?"</p> + +<p>Miss Matthews, drinking her tea thirstily, took up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> the captain's story. +"It rained, and the captain and I wrapped up and stayed by the boat. But +those young folks ran off, and he was helping her along, and she was +looking up at him—and—everybody knows what's going to happen when two +people look at each other that way."</p> + +<p>"And if they are flying," the captain chuckled, "they're probably as +near heaven as it's possible to be this side of the pearly gates."</p> + +<p>But Sophie would not treat the subject lightly. "It's bad enough for a +man to fly," she said, "but he had no right to take that child up with +him. Where did you see them, captain?"</p> + +<p>"I was standing on those rocks out there, and I saw him rise up over the +harbor. I could see that he had someone with him, so I went in, and got +my glass, and sure enough, there she was, all in white, with a white +veil wrapped tight about her head."</p> + +<p>"Which way did they go?"</p> + +<p>"Straight out beyond the harbor, and up toward Gloucester way—but don't +you worry, Mrs. Martens; they'll be back before they know it."</p> + +<p>"But I do worry," Sophie declared, "and I shall certainly tell Justin +what I think of his foolhardiness."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, you take your tea," said the captain, soothingly, "and I'll call +up and see if they have come in."</p> + +<p>Taking tea with the captain meant the tasting of many strange and +wonderful flavors. The little man had clung to all the traditions of his +seagoing forefathers, who had brought back from the Orient spicy things +and sweet things—conserved fruits and preserved ginger, queer nuts in +syrup, golden-flavored tea, and these he served with thick slices of +buttered bread of his own making.</p> + +<p>"You might have had a lobster," he said to Sophie, "if it hadn't been so +near your dinner time. I've got 'em fresh cooked."</p> + +<p>But Sophie shook her head. "I like your sweet things better. Bobbie and +I are the ones who don't like lobster. He says that I'm a sort of oasis +in a desert of shell-fish."</p> + +<p>"He's got a nice boat," said the captain, "and he's got a nice girl. I +like Doris."</p> + +<p>Sophie's mind went back to Bettina. "Oh, will you telephone, please, +captain?"</p> + +<p>The captain came back with the news that nothing had been seen of the +"Gray Gull," but that there was no need to worry, as the day was +perfectly calm, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> that, as he had Miss Dolce with him, he would +certainly not fly high.</p> + +<p>Sophie refused to be comforted. "I shall tell Anthony," she said; "he +must speak to Justin."</p> + +<p>"I don't see what Blake's got to do with it," said the blunt captain; +"young Ford may tell him to mind his business——"</p> + +<p>Sophie's head went up. "Dr. Blake is Bettina's guardian," she said, "and +if Justin resents his interference, I shall certainly be much +disappointed in Justin."</p> + +<p>Miss Matthews bristled. "You ought to have seen the care he took of her +that day in the rain. I shall never forget the sight of those two young +creatures running up the hill—the captain said then he had never seen a +prettier pair."</p> + +<p>In the midst of her worry Sophie felt an insane desire to laugh. Was +this tragedy only or, after all, a comedy? If Betty loved Justin? Her +imagination could scarcely compass the consequences of this possibility.</p> + +<p>Sophie walked home with Miss Matthews, and, returning to Diana's, met +Sara half-way.</p> + +<p>"Is Bettina flying with Justin?" Sara asked, abruptly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Captain Stubbs says that she is. I am very much displeased with Justin. +It is really unpardonable that Bettina should be subjected to such +danger."</p> + +<p>"She didn't have to go if she didn't want to," said Sara, sharply, "but +she's crazy about him——"</p> + +<p>"My dear——How do you know?"</p> + +<p>"Anybody can see it. And I guess it's the real thing this time with +Justin."</p> + +<p>The wistful expression on the sharp little face touched Sophie's kind +heart.</p> + +<p>"It's hardly likely. They have known each other for such a short time."</p> + +<p>"Time has nothing to do with love," said the sophisticated Sara. "A man +and a girl can meet and love in a week and live happy ever after. Oh, +yes, they can. And they can know each other all their lives and be +perfectly miserable. Dad and mother grew up together, and you've heard, +Mrs. Martens, what a life they lived."</p> + +<p>The story of the unhappiness of Sara's parents was common property. Yet +it hurt Sophie to see the hard look in the girl's eyes.</p> + +<p>"My dear child," she said, "everything depends on the amount of +affection which two people give each other—time doesn't count."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p> + +<p>Sara was digging the point of her parasol into the sand. "I've never +seen anything like it with Justin. Why, he's <i>never</i> asked any woman to +fly with him. And when I looked up a while ago, and saw that he +had—her—I knew he wouldn't have—asked her—if he hadn't—cared——"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps we are making things more serious than they really are," Sophie +said. But as the two women walked on together, her mental disturbance +continued. What if Miss Matthews and Sara had spoken the truth? How +would it affect Bettina—how would it affect—Diana?</p> + +<p>"I can't quite understand what all the men see in her," Sara was saying. +"Of course she's a beauty. But she's so little and white—and she +doesn't seem so terribly clever——"</p> + +<p>"There's a charm she has inherited from those sleepy Venetian ladies, +who only waked now and then to flash a glance at some man—and hold him +captive. Those beauties were without conscience. But Bettina has a +Puritan streak in her which she gets from her mother—that's what makes +her such a fascinating combination, Sara. She's like a little nun; yet +one feels instinctively that back of that calm exterior there is force +and fire."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p> + +<p>Sara nodded. "I know. Men don't like the obvious. That's why so many of +us American girls fail to inspire grand passions. We have no +surprises—no high lights or shadows—it's all glare——"</p> + +<p>"I'm not sure, my dear, but that, in the long run, such women make men +happier than the other kind. In this practical world there's little room +for varying moods."</p> + +<p>"If Justin marries Bettina," said Sara, "they'll live on rhapsodies." +She drew a quick short breath. "There won't be any commonplaces. They're +both made that way. It will be all romance and roses——"</p> + +<p>"My dear—aren't we taking things a bit for granted?"</p> + +<p>"You'll see. You haven't watched them as I have."</p> + +<p>They had reached Diana's house, and Sophie asked Sara to come in.</p> + +<p>"I can't. It's getting late and I must dress for dinner——"</p> + +<p>"Some other time then, dear?"</p> + +<p>"Yes—I shall love it." Then, with some hesitation, "I'm afraid I've +said more than I should——"</p> + +<p>Sophie bent and kissed her. "Not a bit. I'm a perfect keeper of +confidences—and not a soul shall share what you've told me——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p> + +<p>Delia met Mrs. Martens in the hall.</p> + +<p>"Dr. Blake's on the porch," she said, "and he's asking about +Bettina——"</p> + +<p>"Hasn't she come?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"What time is it, Delia——"</p> + +<p>"Half-past six——"</p> + +<p>"Of all the mad things to do," said Anthony, as Sophie went out to him. +"I shall certainly call Justin to strict account—for asking her——"</p> + +<p>"She shouldn't have gone," Sophie said. "I can't imagine how he induced +her. She's such a little coward."</p> + +<p>"They've been away three hours. I went over to the sheds and started a +motor boat to search for them. They are beginning to realize over there +that something may have happened."</p> + +<p>"Did Justin ask Betty while you were with her?"</p> + +<p>"No. He simply showed us around, and said he'd walk home with her. Oh, +the young fool, the young fool. He can risk his own life if he +chooses—but he had no right to take—that child——"</p> + +<p>The telephone rang, and Sophie, answering, found Justin at the other +end.</p> + +<p>"We're at Gloucester, safe and sound. I'm aw<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>fully sorry if you've +worried, Mrs. Martens. But I could not get to a 'phone before this. +We'll come back by train, and Betty says you're not to wait dinner. +We'll get something here. We're all right, really—only sorry if you are +upset."</p> + +<p>"We are very much upset," Sophie told him, severely. "Anthony is here, +and he is extremely anxious."</p> + +<p>"He needn't worry," grimly. "I can take care of her."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Martens, explaining the situation to Anthony a few minutes later, +refrained, tactfully, from giving Justin's exact words.</p> + +<p>Anthony dined with her, then went off to see Miss Matthews, who had +asked him to prescribe for her cold.</p> + +<p>"Call me up when Bettina comes," he said, as he left.</p> + +<p>Sophie promised, and watched him drive away in his little car. She had +never seen him so nervous, so irritable. Was this what the thwarting of +his life would mean—that he would let go of the serenity which had made +his presence a benediction to his little world?</p> + +<p>Or was it really love for Bettina which so disturbed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> him? Stranger +things had happened. Diana was away—Bettina was beautiful—Justin was +in the field to measure lances.</p> + +<p>With Peter Pan for company, Sophie waited on the porch for the recreant +pair.</p> + +<p>When they arrived it was very dark, and she could not see their faces. +But what had made that difference in their voices—that subtle, +thrilling difference?</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h3>GLORY OF YOUTH</h3> + + +<p>When Bettina cried, "I could fly with you,—forever," the light of a +great joy leaped in Justin's eyes. But he said nothing; he merely set +his hand more steadily to steering.</p> + +<p>And Bettina was content to be silent; to drift on and on in this golden +world, where there was just herself and the youth with the shining eyes.</p> + +<p>Far beneath them several racing yachts seemed flung like white flower +petals on the surface of the sea; two girls in red coats on the +club-house tennis courts made glowing spots of color; the crowds of +people on the rocks, with their heads upturned to view the fairy ship of +the air, were as formless and as lacking in life and movement as a +patchwork quilt.</p> + +<p>Bettina felt no wonder. Her mood was one of heavenly enchantment; having +passed the first gate of the great adventure, no small detail could seem +strange.</p> + +<p>If in those exquisite moments she remembered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> Anthony, she gave no sign. +Somewhere, perhaps, down there in the darkness, was a weary man working; +there were sick people; pain was there and suffering. But such things +belonged to an existence in which she had no part. It was as if she had +died, and, rising above the earth, looked pityingly on those who still +struggled and strove.</p> + +<p>She had a sudden whimsical memory of a Sunday-school song which had +appealed to her childish imagination:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I shall have wings, I shall have wings,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">I shall have wings, some day——"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Years ago she had sung it with a half hundred enthusiastic youngsters. +Her vision, then, had dealt, somewhat hazily, with golden crowns, with +plumed pinions, and with ultimate bliss; but never had her imagination +compassed such a moment as this!</p> + +<p>Above the noise of the motor Justin was aware of the lilt of her fresh +young voice:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I shall have wings, I shall have wings——"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The humming wires keyed the hackneyed tune to a sort of celestial +harmony:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Bright wings of love, from God above,<br /></span> +<span class="i5">To bear my glad soul away——"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Justin glanced down at her rapt face.</p> + +<p>"Do you like it?"</p> + +<p>"It is—heaven!"</p> + +<p>As she again took up the little song, he joined in, and they finished +the last verse triumphantly; then they looked at each other and laughed.</p> + +<p>"I used to sing it in Sunday-school," Bettina explained.</p> + +<p>"So did I," and these simple sentences, in their uplifted mood, seemed +fraught with great meaning.</p> + +<p>They were beyond the harbor now. Ahead of them and to the right was the +open sea; to the left, the town, with its church steeples like pin +points beneath them, its most imposing buildings no bigger than +mushrooms.</p> + +<p>"Are we so very high?"</p> + +<p>"Not so high, perhaps, as it seems to you. It is perfectly safe."</p> + +<p>On and on they went, leaving the lighthouse behind them, leaving behind +them the harbor and the town, passing, finally, the great forest through +which they had raced in the rain.</p> + +<p>Then Justin had asked, "Do you remember?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> + +<p>And Bettina had answered, "Shall I ever forget?"</p> + +<p>The gulls circled below them, uttering mewing cries. It was as if they +protested against the intrusion of this bird man and bird woman in a +realm which had belonged to winged things since the world began.</p> + +<p>They came presently to a long and lonely stretch of beach, above which +Justin sailed, low, and, relaxing his vigilance for the first time, he +began his eager wooing—all fire and rapture.</p> + +<p>And Bettina trembled—and listened.</p> + +<p>It seemed to her that throughout her life she had waited to hear that +which Justin was saying to her now.</p> + +<p>"You were made for me—dear. In my dreams there has always been a girl +like you—little and white and helpless—but vivid, too, in flashes. +When I saw you for the first time in that dark room on that rainy day I +knew that you were—mine. I know I'm not good enough for you. I know +that if you should ever marry me I should thank God on my knees every +day of my life. But it isn't conceit which makes me believe that you and +I have been coming toward each other always. I don't know why you gave +me back the silver ring. At this moment I don't care—although the other +night my world went<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> to pieces—but just now, what you said,—and the +way you said it, that you would fly with me forever,—made me feel that +all the things I had hoped were true——"</p> + +<p>Bettina felt as if their souls were bared. What conventional thing could +she say which would hide her joy? Her eyes would tell him though her +lips might not.</p> + +<p>As if he read her thoughts he bent down to her. "Look at me," he urged, +and again, "My dear one—is it, then, really—true?"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>She knew now that she was Justin's and he was hers until the end of +time. By all the white wonder of her thoughts she knew it. By all the +quickened blood in her beating heart. What she had felt for Anthony was +the affection of an unawakened nature—she had given him gratitude, +friendship—but between them were the years across which she must look +somewhat timidly; between them was his sadness, which oppressed her, and +his profession, which she feared.</p> + +<p>But here was youth, which she understood, and romance, for which she had +longed, and love at white-heat.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p> + +<p>Thus, as she soared with Justin, she forgot past promises and future +judgments, and whispered, "It is true——"</p> + +<p>After that they talked in the language of youth and love.</p> + +<p>"Do you know how pretty you are?"</p> + +<p>"You think that I am pretty because you—like me."</p> + +<p>"I think it because I—love you."</p> + +<p>The echo of their light laughter went trailing after them as the song of +a lark trails through the blue.</p> + +<p>Softly, at last, Justin brought his shining ship down to the surface of +a little bay.</p> + +<p>Two men at work on the beach came out in a dory in answer to his call.</p> + +<p>They were eager and curious, and glad to tow the queer craft into +shallow water, to make it fast, and to watch it for a time.</p> + +<p>"We will walk about for a bit," Justin said to Bettina, "and go back at +sunset."</p> + +<p>Bettina demurred. "It's really late now," she said, with her eyes on the +eastern horizon, where the first gray haze of twilight was beginning to +gather.</p> + +<p>"Look the other way. There's all the gold of the west, and it won't be +dark for hours."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But Sophie will worry."</p> + +<p>"She will think you're with Anthony—he's nice and safe."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps some one will have seen us, and have told her, and anyhow, I +must get back for dinner."</p> + +<p>"Any one may eat a dinner, but for you and me there may never be another +moment like this!"</p> + +<p>Following a steep path they came presently to a curious and lonely spot. +Here was an ancient burying place. On a rocky headland, overlooking the +entrance to the harbor and the wide sweep of the sea beyond, the first +dead of the colony had been buried; here lay the forefathers of the +town. Many of the stones had fallen; others stood sturdily where they +had stood for centuries. Strange old stones they were, of gray slate, +etched with forbidding symbols of skulls and crossbones.</p> + +<p>In one corner was a monument of later erection. It had to do with the +memory of more than a hundred men who had been lost in a September gale +off the fishing banks.</p> + +<p>Bettina shivered as she read the carved history.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how did the women stand it," she said, "to come here to the top of +this hill, week after week, watching? To wonder and worry and fear. To<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> +wake in the middle of the night and know that their husbands and lovers +were out in the blackness and storm. And then at last to see the boats +coming in, and not know whether the ones they loved were on board—to +find, perhaps, at last, that they were not on board. How did they stand +it?"</p> + +<p>"As you would have stood it, if you had been one of them——"</p> + +<p>"Would I?" wistfully. "Do you think I could be brave and patient?"</p> + +<p>"You could be everything that is good and beautiful——"</p> + +<p>She did not smile or blush. All the glamour of their flight had fallen +from her. The old cemetery with its gruesome headstones oppressed her. +The purple shadows of the twilight seemed to circle the world.</p> + +<p>She shuddered and one little hand caught at the sleeve of Justin's coat.</p> + +<p>He glanced down at her. "My dear one, what is it?"</p> + +<p>Her frightened eyes pleaded. "I—I don't like it here. I'm afraid."</p> + +<p>"With me—silly. You weren't afraid up there in the clouds."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p><p>"This is—different. It seems down here as if the whole world +were—dead——"</p> + +<p>"You're tired. Look here, I'm going to carry you up this hill."</p> + +<p>As he said it, masterfully, she felt herself swept up into his strong +young arms.</p> + +<p>"Put me down!"</p> + +<p>He drew his head back to look at her.</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you in a minute. Put me down."</p> + +<p>He set her on her feet, and she stood there, swaying, her lips parted.</p> + +<p>At last she said, "I love you," but held out her hand as if to keep him +from her. "I love you—but I mustn't let you—love me."</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Because—oh, Justin," she was stripping off her gloves, "oh, I've tried +to hide these," pitifully, "to hide these from you. I wanted my little +moment of happiness, too. But now you've got to know."</p> + +<p>The gloves were off, and the last rays of the setting sun, striking the +great jewels, brought fire which seemed to blind Justin's eyes.</p> + +<p>He caught her hands in his, roughly. "Who gave<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> them to you?" he +demanded. "Who gave them to you, Bettina?"</p> + +<p>But all his doubts and fears had crystallized to certainty before she +whispered, "Anthony."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that you are going to marry—Anthony?"</p> + +<p>She nodded. "He loves me, Justin."</p> + +<p>"And you love him?"</p> + +<p>Her head went up. "I told you just now that—I loved—you. But I've +promised Anthony. He asked me that day before I went to Diana's. The day +after I first saw you. And he was so good, and I was so lonely, that I +thought that—I cared. I didn't know then what it meant—to care."</p> + +<p>His eyes, which had been stern, softened.</p> + +<p>"And now that you know," he asked, "what are you going to do?"</p> + +<p>She twisted her fingers nervously.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," she faltered. "What shall I do, Justin?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, my dear," he said, brokenly, "Anthony is my friend. I can't steal +you—like a thief—in the night——"</p> + +<p>Her lips quivered. "I knew that—you'd say that. I am glad—you—said +it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> + +<p>He turned away. "If you knew how hard it is for me to say it."</p> + +<p>She laid her little hand on his arm.</p> + +<p>"If you only won't be angry with me."</p> + +<p>He turned back to her. "I am not angry," he said, "only I have been—all +sorts of a fool."</p> + +<p>She sank down hopelessly on a broken stone bench, backed by evergreen +trees. "You haven't been a fool," she said. "I should have told you. But +I couldn't. Diana wouldn't let me."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 408px;"> +<img src="images/gs03.jpg" width="408" height="600" alt="SHE SANK DOWN HOPELESSLY" title="SHE SANK DOWN HOPELESSLY" /> +</div> + +<p>"What did Diana have to do with it?"</p> + +<p>"She said that Anthony's friends ought to know me before the engagement +was announced."</p> + +<p>"So you and she have talked it over, and Sophie, I suppose—and how many +others?" His laugh was not good to hear.</p> + +<p>"Oh, please. I don't think any of us could have guessed that—things +would have turned out like this. I didn't dream how you felt and how I +felt until the other night, when you tried to give me the little ring. +Then I knew."</p> + +<p>"That you loved me?"</p> + +<p>"No. That you loved me. I—I didn't know the other until to-day when you +said—'Come.'"</p> + +<p>"Didn't you know that day in the rain?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, oh, <i>no</i>. I thought it was just because we were both young, and +good friends, and happy together."</p> + +<p>"And I thought it was because our spirits met—in the storm."</p> + +<p>He flung himself down beside her. "To me the whole thing seems +monstrous. Anthony is years too old for you, even if you loved him. And +you don't love him."</p> + +<p>"Yet I can't break a promise, can I?"</p> + +<p>He moved restlessly.</p> + +<p>"If you told him, he would release you, of course. But somehow I'd feel +an awful cad to have Anthony think that I had taken you from him."</p> + +<p>"How do you think I should feel?" The color flamed in her cheeks. "Don't +you know that a woman has just as fine a sense of honor in such things +as a man?"</p> + +<p>As she made a movement to rise, he caught at the floating ends of her +white veil, and held them, as if he would thus anchor her to himself.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me," he pleaded. "I'm afraid I'm too desperately unhappy to +know what I am saying."</p> + +<p>"I know—I'm unhappy, too."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p> + +<p>With the fatalism of youth they had accepted their tragedy as final. He +still held the end of her veil in his hand, but her face was turned away +from him.</p> + +<p>A little breeze came from the west, and there was a dark line of cloud +below the gold.</p> + +<p>"We shall have to go home on the train," Justin said, as he noted the +whitecaps beyond the bay. "There's too much wind to make it safe for us +to fly."</p> + +<p>"Then we must go now. It is very late."</p> + +<p>"I can telephone Sophie from the gatekeeper's house. It's on the other +side of the church. And I'll telephone to the men to come after the +hydro-plane."</p> + +<p>She assented listlessly, and they walked on.</p> + +<p>The church, when they reached it, showed itself an ancient edifice. +Built of English brick, it had withstood the storms of years. Its bell +still rang clearly the call to Sunday service, and at its font were +baptized the descendants of the men who slept in the old cemetery.</p> + +<p>As they reached the steps, a man who was digging a grave hailed them. +"If you and your wife would like to look in," he said to Justin, "you +can<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> bring the key to me at the gate. I'll be there when you come."</p> + +<p>He unlocked the door for them. They heard his retreating footsteps, and +knew that they were alone. Then Justin spoke with quickened breath. +"That is as it should be—my wife——"</p> + +<p>Out of a long silence she whispered, "Please—we must not—we must +not——"</p> + +<p>"Surely we have a right to happiness——"</p> + +<p>She had left his side, and her voice seemed to come faintly from among +the shadows: "Hasn't everybody a right to happiness?"</p> + +<p>"Why should we think of everybody—it is my happiness and yours which +concerns us—sweetheart."</p> + +<p>She did not answer, and, following her, he found that she had entered +one of the high-backed, old-fashioned pews, and was on her knees.</p> + +<p>Hesitating, he presently knelt beside her.</p> + +<p>It was very still in the old church—the old, old church, with its +history of sorrow and stress and storm. One final blaze of light +illumined the stained glass window above the altar, and touched the bent +heads with glory—the bright uncovered head and the veiled one beside +it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then again came dimness, darkness—silence.</p> + +<p>They were in the vestibule of the church before he spoke to her.</p> + +<p>"Did you pray," he asked, "for me?"</p> + +<p>"I prayed for all men and women—who love——"</p> + +<p>He laid his hands on her shoulders and gazed down at her with all of his +heart in his sad young eyes. "There must be some way out of this," he +said. "Surely God can't be so cruel as to keep us apart. Why, we are so +young, dear one, and there's all of life before us—think of all the +years."</p> + +<p>The look with which she met his glance had in it all the steadfastness +of awakened womanhood. "You said out there that I could be brave and +patient. Help me to be brave—big brother."</p> + +<p>"Don't," he said, hoarsely; "don't call me that. It's got to be all or +nothing. But whatever comes, whether you marry me or marry Anthony—I'm +going to love you always. I'm going to love you until I die, Bettina."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h3>PENANCE</h3> + + +<p>Miss Matthews' cold proved to be bronchitis, and Bettina insisted on +nursing her.</p> + +<p>"Please let me," she said to Anthony the morning after her flight with +Justin. "I suppose I'm in disgrace, anyhow, and this shall be my +penance. Only it won't be very severe punishment, for I shall love to +take care of her."</p> + +<p>"What good is penance if you aren't penitent? I'm perfectly sure that if +that young rascal should ask you to go again you'd go."</p> + +<p>"It was glorious."</p> + +<p>"But very dangerous."</p> + +<p>She shrugged. "You do dangerous things every day. Doesn't he, Sophie?"</p> + +<p>"Of course."</p> + +<p>"That's different. I do such things to help others."</p> + +<p>"And I do them to please myself."</p> + +<p>"And to please Justin?" There was an impatient<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> note in his voice. "I +have told him that he must not ask you again, Bettina."</p> + +<p>"What did he say?"</p> + +<p>"He didn't say a word." Anthony smiled at the memory. "He just looked at +me as if he would like to punch my head, and turned on his heel and left +me."</p> + +<p>"Are you angry with him?" anxiously.</p> + +<p>"He's angry with me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" Betty sighed. "Sophie gave me a terrible lecture when I came +home last night; didn't you, Sophie? And now you and Justin have fallen +out, and I'm the cause of all the trouble. I'll go and look after Letty +Matthews, and you can learn to love me when I'm gone."</p> + +<p>In spite of the lightness of her tone, there was a quiver in her voice +which brought both of them to her feet.</p> + +<p>"My dear child——!"</p> + +<p>"Betty dear——"</p> + +<p>Bettina smiled at them with misty eyes. "Please let me go, and when I +come back everything will be straightened out—and we'll all +live—happy—ever after——"</p> + +<p>Nothing that they could say would change her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> decision, and they were +vaguely troubled by it, feeling that she had erected between herself and +them some barrier of reserve which they could not break down.</p> + +<p>Sophie voiced this in a worried way when Bettina had gone up to pack the +little bag which Anthony was to convey with her precious self to Miss +Matthews. "Perhaps I shouldn't have said so much, but when she came she +seemed so unconscious of the dreadfulness and danger that I'm afraid I +scolded a bit."</p> + +<p>"She's such a child! Do you think she will ever grow up?"</p> + +<p>"Of course. Diana feels that she has many womanly qualities——"</p> + +<p>Anthony, standing by the window, fixed his eyes steadily on the blue +distance as he asked:</p> + +<p>"What do you hear—from Diana?"</p> + +<p>"I've a letter." Sophie rummaged among the papers on her desk. "And +there's a bit at the end that will please you—you know Diana and her +enthusiasms——"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know——"</p> + +<p>His head was still turned away as she opened the thick folded sheets.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Shall I read it to you?"</p> + +<p>"Please."</p> + +<p>"She says she likes the hotel, and the people, although she doesn't see +much of them. But this is the part you'll appreciate:</p> + +<p>"'There's a wonderful bit of woodland, Sophie, back in the hills, and +every day I go there and dream. I thought for a while that I had lost my +dreams—but now they are coming to me again in flocks—like doves. And +yesterday came the best dream of all. I have been trying to think what I +could do with my future, and I've thought of this: I'll build a place up +here in the forest where Anthony's sick folk can come when they begin to +get well, and thus I can finish the work which he begins——'"</p> + +<p>She paused, as Anthony faced her. "Why didn't she write that to me?" he +demanded, almost roughly. "Didn't she know it would mean more to me than +to you—than to anybody——?"</p> + +<p>Then with the sudden consciousness that he was showing his heart he +stammered, "Forgive me—but you know what I think—of Diana?"</p> + +<p>Sophie was infinitely tactful. "Of course I know what you think of +her—she's the most wonderful<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> woman in the whole wide world; and that's +a great plan of hers—to have a haven for your convalescents."</p> + +<p>He made no answer, but just stood very still, looking out, and when +Bettina came down with her little bag, they went away together.</p> + +<p>Miss Matthews in a gray flannel wrapper was shivering over an inadequate +fire.</p> + +<p>"Why aren't you in bed?" the doctor asked.</p> + +<p>"Because there is no one to answer my bell, and no one to wait on +me—and I'm perfectly sure that if I ever let myself go to bed I shall +die."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense," briskly. "I've brought Betty back with me, and she's going +to stay and see that you're made comfortable."</p> + +<p>Miss Matthews' face brightened. "She's the only person in the world that +I'd have fussing over me."</p> + +<p>"I shall stay here and boss you to my heart's content," Bettina told +her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear," Miss Matthews sighed rapturously, "how good that sounds. +I—I want to be bossed. I'm so tired of telling other people what to +do—that last day at school I thought I should go to pieces."</p> + +<p>"Well, you're not going to pieces," Anthony as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>sured her; "you're going +to bed. And when I come back I shall expect to find you asleep."</p> + +<p>Bettina, coaxing Miss Matthews to be comfortable, brushed her hair in +front of the revived fire.</p> + +<p>"What pretty hair you have," she said, as she held it up so that the +light might shine upon it. "What makes you spoil it by doing it up in +that tight knot?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know any other way," wailed Miss Matthews. "I've never had time +to be pretty."</p> + +<p>"I'm going to braid it," said Bettina, "and by evening it will be +waved."</p> + +<p>Miss Matthews submitted, luxuriously. "It seems so nice to have some one +fussing over me. I don't believe anybody ever brushed my hair before."</p> + +<p>Bettina, having hunted out a box of her own belongings, was trying +different colored ribbons on the little lady's pale brown locks.</p> + +<p>"Do you know, Letty, pink is your color? Yes, it is. Blue makes you look +ghastly. Now I'm going to tie this twice around your head so that it +will hide all the tight pigtails—I got that idea from Diana."</p> + +<p>As she finished the somewhat elaborate process, there came steps +outside.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It's just me," said the voice of the little captain.</p> + +<p>Bettina peeped through the door, and announced; "Miss Matthews is sick."</p> + +<p>"I know. I met Anthony Blake, and he told me; and what I want to know +is, can I do anything——?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing—thanks."</p> + +<p>"Yes, he can," said the hoarse voice of the invalid. "He can come in. If +he doesn't mind my head, I shan't mind him."</p> + +<p>The captain, entering, found Miss Matthews in a big chair, her feet +covered by a steamer rug, her gray flannel apparel hidden by a white +wool shawl which had belonged to Betty's mother, and topping all was the +wonderful head-dress of rose-colored ribbon, beneath which Miss +Matthews' plain little peaked face looked out wistfully.</p> + +<p>"Well, now," said the captain, as he shook hands, "that pink becomes +her, don't it?"</p> + +<p>Miss Matthews blushed. "Betty fixed it."</p> + +<p>"I always did like bright things on wimmen," said the captain, +earnestly, "and I like that pink."</p> + +<p>"Of course you do," said Betty; "all men like pink, except those who +like blue, and now you must go away, for I've got to put my patient to +bed."</p> + +<p>"Don't you cook anything for her," said the cap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>tain, as he backed out +of the door, his eyes still gloating over the rosy-beribboned lady on +the hearth-rug. "I'll bring you over a bowl of hot chowder to-night, and +if there's anything else you want, you just let me know."</p> + +<p>"Delia will look out for the other things," said Betty; "she's going to +send little Jane to help me. But we shall be very glad to have the +chowder."</p> + +<p>With Miss Matthews asleep at last, Bettina sat down to write a note to +Justin.</p> + +<p>It was very brief, and began abruptly:</p> + +<p>"I am going to tell Anthony. I lay awake all night and thought it out. +It wouldn't be fair for me to marry him—unless he knew. I'd get to be +just a shivery shadow, Justin, afraid that he would find that I didn't +love him—that I loved somebody else.</p> + +<p>"But I can never tell him with his grave eyes watching me, so I'm going +to write, now—to-night. It almost seems as if poor Letty had been made +a sort of instrument of Providence so that I could be here at this time. +I couldn't stay at Diana's with everything over between me—and Anthony.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Justin, will he ever want to be friends with us again? Will Diana +ever forgive us?</p> + +<p>"I wish you were here. Yet you mustn't be here<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>—not until everything +is settled. Somehow I don't dare think that we can ever be happy. It +doesn't seem right to think of it, does it?</p> + +<p>"<i>But I love you.</i>"</p> + +<p>She gave her note to the little captain when he came with the chowder.</p> + +<p>He brought something beside the chowder. In a square box, smelling of +sandalwood, was an exquisite kimono of palest pink crêpe, embroidered +with wisteria blossoms.</p> + +<p>"It has been lying in an old trunk for years," he exulted, as he shook +it out before her delighted eyes. "When I saw her," he nodded toward the +door of the inner room, "when I saw her with that pink ribbon in her +hair, it just came to me how nice it would be if she had a wrapper or +somethin' to go with it. And after I got home I went rummagin' around +until I found this."</p> + +<p>"It's lovely," said Bettina; "she'll be simply crazy over it, captain."</p> + +<p>"The funny part of it is that I bought it in foreign lands, thinking +that some day I might get married, and I'd give it to my wife—and now +I'm givin' it to her."</p> + +<p>Bettina sparkled. "Oh," she said, "I believe you're in love with her, +captain."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p> + +<p>The captain sat down in a chair by the fire. "Well," he said earnestly, +"it's like this. I ain't ever thought of her that way, exactly. It +always seemed to me that she knew so much, and that I was such a rough +old fellow. But lately—well, she's been lonely, and she ain't been +well. And all of a sudden it has kind o' seemed to me that, if I ain't +smart, I've got a tender heart, and I'd know how to make a soft nest for +her to live in, and it seems to me that maybe, after all, she might +throw me in along with all the rest of the reasons for getting married. +I guess most men are sort of thrown in. Of course the wimmen don't know +it, but what they get married for is to have a parlor of their own, and +a kitchen of their own, and somebody to fuss over, and it don't make +much difference what man they hang their tender affections on, just so +he provides the kitchen and parlor. Now here's Letty Matthews, all tired +out with teaching, and this is my time to step in. If she'll ever take +me she'll take me now, and as soon as she's well enough to hear me say +it, I'm going to ask her."</p> + +<p>"If Letty marries you, it will be because she loves you—she's that +kind. She'd die sooner than take a man for what he could give her."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p> + +<p>The captain's face fell. "Oh, Lord," he groaned, "she won't take me just +for—myself——"</p> + +<p>"You try and see."</p> + +<p>"If you can put in a good word for me," the captain urged anxiously, +"you do it."</p> + +<p>"When a man wants to marry a woman," said his young adviser, "there's +just one way to get her. He must just keep at it, captain."</p> + +<p>The captain stood up. "Well, what I want to say is this—I shan't ever +look at my garden without thinking of her sittin' some day among the +flowers, I shan't ever eat a meal without thinking how nice she'd look +pourin' out my coffee in a nice bright dress, and I shan't ever go for a +day's fishin' without seein' her in the other end of the boat. And every +time I shut my eyes, I'll think of her wearin' pretty things like my +mother used to wear. Why, I've got money, that I can't ever use, just +lying in the bank and waitin' for somebody to come and spend it. And +while I like my own way of doin' things, I can get a likely man to help +around the house."</p> + +<p>"A man?"</p> + +<p>"Yep. I couldn't ever boss a maid. And I ain't goin' to let her"—he +jerked his head toward the inner door—"I ain't goin' to let her drudge +and cook and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> scrub. So I'll get some lad that's been a ship's cook, and +don't like the sea, and we'll keep things nice for her, and she can fuss +around the garden and make calls on the neighbors and sit with me when I +smoke. For wimmen, after all," concluded the wise little man, "are liked +best by the men when they'll listen. A talkin' woman may catch a man, +but the kind that holds him is the kind that sits and listens."</p> + +<p>He went away after that, and Bettina carried the pink robe to Miss +Matthews. "Oh, Letty, dear," she said, "just see how gorgeous you're +going to be."</p> + +<p>She opened the box, and let out a whiff of foreign fragrance. But when +the beautiful pale-tinted thing was laid across the bed, and Bettina had +explained that it was the captain's gift, Miss Matthews looked solemnly +at her friend. "If you think I'm going to wear that," she croaked, +hoarsely, "you're mistaken."</p> + +<p>"Of course you're going to wear it."</p> + +<p>"Of course I'm not. I—I'd be afraid."</p> + +<p>"Afraid—oh, Letty."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I would. I've never worn such things. I'd be afraid I'd get a spot +on it, and it wouldn't come out. Now when a woman like me has a thing +like that she just lays it away to look at. Then she always knows that +she has one lovely garment. But if she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> wears it, she feels that the day +will come when it will be gone, and then—she won't own one beautiful +thing in the wide world—not one single beautiful thing."</p> + +<p>Bettina bent over her soothingly. "There," she said, "you wear it once, +Letty, and then, if you wish, you can put it away."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Late at night, Anthony came on his last round of calls and urged that +Bettina should have a nurse to take her place. But Bettina refused.</p> + +<p>"I took care of mother alone," she said. "I can surely do this."</p> + +<p>Every moment that she was with him she was conscious of the difference +in her attitude toward him. She had a nervous fear that he might notice +the change in her, that he might read her heart with his keen eyes.</p> + +<p>But he seemed preoccupied, and just before he went away he said:</p> + +<p>"You haven't promised me one thing, Bettina."</p> + +<p>"What, Anthony?"</p> + +<p>"That you won't fly again with Justin. I think I shall have to ask that +you make it a definite promise."</p> + +<p>"Suppose I won't—promise."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I think you will," he said, in his decided way. "You and I, all through +our lives, will each have to defer to the wishes of the other. If I knew +that a thing worried you greatly I am sure I should refrain from doing +it—I should like to know that you felt that way about me—Bettina."</p> + +<p>Something of the old tender quality had crept into his voice. Once more +they were alone in the shadowy room—but outside now was the darkness of +the night instead of the darkness of the storm. Perhaps some memory of +her first impulsive response to his wooing came to him as he took both +of her hands in his. "There's some barrier between us of late," he said. +"I'm a plain blunt man, and I don't know what I may have said or done. +Have I hurt you in any way, child?"</p> + +<p>Here was Fate bringing opportunity to her. This was the moment for +revelation, confession.</p> + +<p>But she could not tell him.</p> + +<p>She stood before him with bent head.</p> + +<p>"You haven't hurt me, but there is something I should like to say to +you. May I write it—Anthony?"</p> + +<p>He put a finger under her chin and turned her face up to him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Are you afraid of me—dear?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no——"</p> + +<p>"Then tell me now——"</p> + +<p>"Please—no."</p> + +<p>For a moment he studied her drooping face, then he patted her on the +cheek. "Write it if you must—but you're making me feel like an awful +bear, Bettina."</p> + +<p>He sighed and turned away.</p> + +<p>She put out her hand as if to stop him, but drew it back. Then she +followed him into the hall, and stood watching him, with the light from +the old lantern again making a halo of her fair hair. But this time she +did not go down to him in the darkness. The spell was upon her of a pair +of mocking eyes, and of a voice which had sung with her celestial +harmonies.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h3>HER FATHER'S RING</h3> + + +<p>It was late the next night before Bettina found time to write a letter +to Anthony. The town clock had struck ten, and Miss Matthews was asleep +in the inner room. As Bettina settled herself at her desk there came +through the open window the fragrance of the sea—the night was very +still; she could hear across the harbor the beat of the music in the +yacht club ballroom, and there was the tinkle of a mandolin on some +anchored boat.</p> + +<p>She found it difficult to put on paper the things which she decided must +be said. Striving to explain she tore up sheet after sheet, then, +growing restless at her repeated failure, she rose from her desk and +crossed the room to the cabinet in the corner. In one of the drawers was +a packet of letters from her mother. They were exquisite in phrasing and +in sentiment. She wondered if she might not borrow from them something +of their grace.</p> + +<p>As she opened the drawer, her eyes fell on the lit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>tle carved box. +Mechanically she reached for it, and touched the spring. Then she stood +staring down at her father's ring!</p> + +<p>The words which she had once said to Diana echoed insistently in her +ears: "People who can love many times, who can go from one person to +another, aren't worth thinking about."</p> + +<p>Why—she was like her father! He had loved once, and then he had loved +again—and he had broken her mother's heart!</p> + +<p>Shuddering, she flung the ring from her, and it rolled under the +cabinet. She knelt to grope for it, and, having found it, she shut the +box. But, like Pandora, she had let out a whole army of evil fancies, +and they continued to oppress her.</p> + +<p>When she went back to her desk she could not write, and at last she put +away her papers and, wrapping herself in her long white coat, climbed to +the cupola.</p> + +<p>She had slept there many times with her mother. With only the stars +above them, and on each side a view of the wide stretches of the sea, +they had talked together, and Bettina had learned the beauty of the +older woman's nature; having suffered much, she had forgiven everything.</p> + +<p>"Your father," she would say, "was like a child<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> seeking the pot of gold +at the end of the rainbow. He was always looking for romance, forgetting +that the most wonderful romance is that of the hearthstone and of the +quiet heart. If he had ever really loved he would have known the joy of +self-sacrifice, of self-effacement—but he did not love——"</p> + +<p>"Love is self-sacrifice." Such had been the verdict of the woman who had +given all, and who had received nothing. It was a hard philosophy, +acquired after years of dreariness, and the child had listened and +absorbed and believed. She had heard nothing of love's fulfilment, of +the raptures of mutual tenderness. Hence she had been content with +Anthony's somewhat somber wooing, until that moment when she had drifted +with Justin through infinite space, and had learned the things which +might be.</p> + +<p>The thought of herself as mistress of Anthony's big house by the sea +weighed heavily upon her. In those great rooms she would move softly for +the rest of her days. Anthony would work and read and ponder, and when +he was at Harbor Light she would sit lonely through the gray winter +evenings, and the sad summer twilights. But with Justin—oh, the +limitless possibilities!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p> + +<p>With him each day would bring its wealth of vivid experience—there +would be always the glory of his strength, the uplift of his radiant +youth!</p> + +<p>She put the vision from her. So had her father striven for joy, and he +had missed all the great meanings of life—and she would not be like her +father.</p> + +<p>The wind was rising, and wailed fretfully above the waters. The stars +were blotted out.</p> + +<p>Bettina shivered. What a dark world it was!</p> + +<p>She rose and went down-stairs. Again she sat down to her desk. But this +time she wrote rapidly, and the letter that she wrote was not to +Anthony!</p> + +<p>When she had sealed and stamped it, she crept down the shadowy stairway, +thence to the narrow street.</p> + +<p>The mail box was at the corner, and she sped toward it; as she came back +on flying feet, a whisper reached her from the darkness of the garden—a +whisper which made her heart stand still.</p> + +<p>"Betty——"</p> + +<p>"<i>Justin</i>——"</p> + +<p>He emerged from the shadows. "I didn't dare to hope I should see you. I +ran away from the yacht club dance—and I'm due back there now. But I +wanted you. I think I must have wished so hard<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> that I wished you here. +I wouldn't ring for fear I should wake poor Miss Matthews."</p> + +<p>His eager whisper met no like response. "You shouldn't have come," she +said, dully.</p> + +<p>He bent down to look at her. Under the light from the street lamp he +could see the disorder of her fair hair, the frightened look in her +eyes.</p> + +<p>"Dear one—what is it?"</p> + +<p>"You mustn't call me that. Did you get my letter?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. That's why I came—I knew that by this time you would have written +to Anthony—that you were—free——"</p> + +<p>"But I haven't written to Anthony."</p> + +<p>"You haven't? Wasn't that the letter you just mailed?"</p> + +<p>"No—I was mailing a letter to you——"</p> + +<p>A sudden fear clutched him. "What did you have to say to me?"</p> + +<p>"That—oh, Justin, I can't give Anthony up——"</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Oh——We can't talk here. Come up-stairs quietly—we mustn't disturb +Letty."</p> + +<p>She glided ahead of him, and when he came into the shadowy room she was +standing by the cabinet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I've something to show you," she said, and opened the carved box and +held it out to him.</p> + +<p>"It's my father's ring," she said; "he broke my mother's heart—and I +won't break Anthony's."</p> + +<p>Then, in halting sentences, she told him how that day she had come upon +the ring. She told him her mother's history. And he listened, and +insisted at last, tenderly, that she had made mountains out of +mole-hills. But he found her obstinate.</p> + +<p>"I must not break my promise," she insisted. "Happiness could never come +to us."</p> + +<p>And, white and wistful in the face of his flaming arguments, she held to +her determination until he left her.</p> + +<p>He had turned away wrathfully, and had reached the top of the winding +stairway, when he heard her sobbing.</p> + +<p>He came back swiftly, and gathered her in his arms.</p> + +<p>"You're mine," he said, holding her close. "You know that, Betty."</p> + +<p>She drew back from him. "Please," she begged, and so he let her go, and +made his way blindly out of the room.</p> + +<p>Miss Matthews sleeping feverishly, became aware<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> above the sighing of +the wind of an intermittent sound of woe.</p> + +<p>She sat up and listened, put one foot out of bed, then the other, and +throwing on her old gray wrapper, wavered toward the threshold of the +door between the two rooms.</p> + +<p>By the flickering light of the candle which burned on Bettina's desk she +could see the little shaking white figure on the floor.</p> + +<p>"Betty child," she said in a hoarse whisper, "dear child—what's the +matter?"</p> + +<p>"Oh," Bettina sat up and pushed her hair back from her tear-wet face, +"oh, I've waked you up. I think I just forgot that there was any one in +the whole wide world except myself——"</p> + +<p>The expression on her tragic face told keen Miss Matthews that there was +some deep trouble which needed help.</p> + +<p>"You come right into my room," she said. "I don't dare stay up another +minute. But I couldn't sleep if I tried, with a storm coming, and you +can tell me all about it——"</p> + +<p>But when she was settled luxuriously once more among her pillows, and +with Betty curled up at the foot of the bed, an awkward silence fell +between them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p> + +<p>At last Betty said, "Justin Ford was here. He's in love with +me—Letty—but I sent him away——"</p> + +<p>"Why did you send him away?"</p> + +<p>"Because—because I'm not going to marry him, Letty——"</p> + +<p>"Why not——"</p> + +<p>"There's some one else. Some one who gave me these—Letty——"</p> + +<p>She lifted her left hand with its burden of sparkling jewels.</p> + +<p>"Who on earth?" Miss Matthews demanded.</p> + +<p>"Anthony."</p> + +<p>"Anthony <i>Blake</i>?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Miss Matthews dropped back limply.</p> + +<p>"You'll have to tell me from the beginning," she said, faintly. "I can't +quite grasp it——"</p> + +<p>And Bettina told—of her loneliness, of Anthony's wonderful offer, and +of her glad acceptance of it.</p> + +<p>"Well, your mother would have been delighted," Miss Matthews said; "but +somehow it doesn't seem right."</p> + +<p>"Why not——?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'd fixed it up that you were going to marry Justin Ford. Captain +Stubbs and I watched<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> you that day we went fishing, and if ever two +young things seemed to be in love—well——"</p> + +<p>"I—we are in love, Letty."</p> + +<p>"Then why in the world are you going to marry Anthony Blake?"</p> + +<p>"Because I've promised—and I can't be like my—father. And I can't hurt +Anthony—not when he has been so good to me."</p> + +<p>She was sobbing again, and into the eyes of the little woman who had +never had a daughter came a look of motherly solicitude.</p> + +<p>"Dear child," she said, "if you are just going to marry Anthony Blake +because you are grateful, don't you do it. No man wants a woman who +feels that way—and you wouldn't make him happy——"</p> + +<p>"But—I've sent Justin away—and he's angry with me. That is why I was +crying when you found me——"</p> + +<p>She was on her knees now beside the bed, and the old maid's arms were +about her.</p> + +<p>"There—there, dearie, you've thought too much about it, and you've come +to believe that it's the things you like to do which are wrong. And it's +really the other way."</p> + +<p>Miss Matthews was thinking rapidly. There was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> some mystery. Anthony +Blake was in love with Diana Gregory. He had always been in love with +her. No one need try to tell her that he was not, for she <i>knew</i>. Then +why was he engaged to Betty, and why had Diana gone away?</p> + +<p>She had a sudden inspiration.</p> + +<p>"Listen, Betty, there's just one person who can straighten things out, +and that person is Diana Gregory. Men aren't any good at a time like +this. They think with their heads, but women think with their hearts, +and that's the kind of thinking that you need most now——"</p> + +<p>"But, Letty——"</p> + +<p>Miss Matthews waved her away. "You go and write to Diana and mail it +to-night, and then come back and keep me company. I'm afraid of the +storm."</p> + +<p>It was at that very moment that Anthony was also writing to Diana. When +he had left Bettina he had gone straight to Harbor Light and into a +little inner office where he was guarded from all intruders by the +assistant who sat in the anteroom. Not even a telephone could sound its +insistent note in this place where the doctor gained, in a reclining +chair, his few brief moments of rest, or where he worked out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> the +intricacies of perplexing problems. Now and then he saw a patient there, +but rarely. Usually he shut his door against all distracting influences, +and gave his attention to the things which concerned himself alone.</p> + +<p>What Sophie had told him about Diana had sent his thoughts flying to the +wonder-woman up there in the woods. Even when he had talked to Bettina +he had felt the consciousness of his thought of her.</p> + +<p>Out of a full heart he wrote, holding back nothing, and when he had +sealed and stamped his bulky missive, he, like Bettina, went forth to +mail it.</p> + +<p>As he passed through the garden a sudden gust of wind scattered a shower +of rose petals in his path. That there were storms in the distance was +evidenced by the low rumble of thunder and the vivid flashes of light.</p> + +<p>It was on nights like this that his patients grew restless—poor +abnormal things they were, afraid of life, afraid of death, seeing in +wind and rain and in the battle of the elements the terrors of the +supernatural.</p> + +<p>But the night fitted in with Anthony's mood. He still wore his white +linen office coat. His hat was off, and his gray hair was blown back +from his fore<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>head. The salt air exhilarated him. He felt a sudden +lightness of heart. He wanted to shout like a boy. He had been grave for +so long—but now his message had gone forth to Diana—to-morrow she +would read it, and in two short days the answer would come.</p> + +<p>He made his way to the beach; the vivid flashes showed the heaving +blackness of the waters—the waves came in with a sullen roar.</p> + +<p>He thought of the night when he had stood there with Diana, and when the +moon had made a silver track. To-night there was no light—except +Minot's—like a star. "I-love-you," it said to the lonely man who stood +there in the darkness.</p> + +<p>From somewhere in the garden a voice called him, then a nurse came +running.</p> + +<p>"I saw you go out," she panted; "perhaps you'd better come, doctor—they +are getting all worked up about the storm."</p> + +<p>Thus was his life made up of duty. There was never an uninterrupted +moment. His strength was always being drawn upon to uphold the weakness +of others. To-night his whole nature craved the tumult of the wild +night. Yet he must calm himself to meet the needs of those who leaned +upon him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span></p> + +<p>As he turned to follow the nurse, a big car whirled through the gate, +and there sounded the trilling laughter of girls, the deeper jovial bass +of young men.</p> + +<p>Beneath the brilliantly-lighted entrance of Harbor Light the car +stopped, and as Anthony came up, Sara and Doris descended with much +shaking out of filmy dancing frocks.</p> + +<p>Sophie, with seeming unconsciousness of the havoc which the rain had +wrought on her lovely black gown, made a smiling explanation to Anthony.</p> + +<p>"Justin and Bobbie tried to get the top up—but something caught and I +thought we should all be drenched. And then your Harbor Light shone out +to welcome us——"</p> + +<p>Anthony was glad that they had come. He craved the lightness and +brightness. He seemed suddenly to be one of them again—not a sad and +somber being set apart. He had a sense of relief in Bettina's absence. +It was as if her youth and beauty showed the contrast of his age.</p> + +<p>He took them up to his sitting-room, then excused himself to make his +rounds. "I'm going to have something sent up for you to eat—I know what +slim<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> fare they give at the club on the nights of the dances. I'll be +with you soon."</p> + +<p>While they waited for him Sara played; Bobbie and Doris danced—and +Justin talked with Sophie.</p> + +<p>He looked worn and white, and a line cut deeply into his forehead.</p> + +<p>"I owe you an apology," he said, "for yesterday. But I couldn't help it. +Bettina was so little and lovely—you know I wouldn't harm a hair of her +head——"</p> + +<p>Something in his voice made Sophie lay her hand on his. "My dear boy, my +dear boy——"</p> + +<p>"I'm awfully hard hit," he said, "but she—she's turned me down. I fancy +it was our last flight together. Do you remember Browning's 'Last +Ride'—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'And heaven just prove that I and she,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Ride, ride—together—forever ride——'?<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"Well, my heaven will be a place where she and I shall drift through +infinite space—together——"</p> + +<p>He stood up. Sara was coming toward them—a brilliant little figure in a +flame-colored gown.</p> + +<p>"I'm not going to bore you with my worries," Justin said, +quickly—"but—I—I wish you'd be awfully good—to Bettina."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span></p> + +<p>Sophie carried away with her that night the vision of his tragic young +face, and before she went to bed she wrote to Diana, and her letter +ended thus:</p> + +<p>"Oh, dearest girl, oh, dearest girl, what have we done, what have we +done——!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h3>THE "GRAY GULL"</h3> + + +<p>The morning after the storm Justin went forth, moodily, for his morning +flight.</p> + +<p>He found opposition, however, to his ascension. "Wait until the +afternoon," was the advice given him; "there's a nasty wind."</p> + +<p>He would not listen, but he delayed his departure, preferring to start +alone, and eventually the other aviators drifted off, and he made the +"Gray Gull" ready.</p> + +<p>Going down to the pier for a last peep at the weather, he was hailed by +Captain Stubbs.</p> + +<p>"I am going to take Anthony Blake out for a day's fishin'," the little +man said, as his motor boat chugged comfortably within easy talking +distance. "He telephoned last night that he wanted a day away from his +work, and I said that the fish would be running after the rain. I'm +always mighty glad to have him go with me. He's a born fisherman.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> His +great-grandfather and mine fished together on the banks, and our +grandfathers were part owners in the same schooner. But Anthony's father +went to the city and studied medicine, and his son followed in his +footsteps, so that's the way the Blake boys got switched off from +fishin' as a business. But it's in their blood."</p> + +<p>"Look here," Justin interrupted, "I want to ask you a question, captain, +and it's about Anthony. Did you ever think he was in love with Diana +Gregory?"</p> + +<p>"Well," the captain meditated, "I ain't ever thought much about it. But +Miss Matthews sees a lot, and she told me once that Anthony Blake +wouldn't ever look at any other woman but Diana, and that Diana was just +keeping him on the string."</p> + +<p>"I can't exactly fancy Diana as that sort of woman."</p> + +<p>"Well, it ain't anything against a woman that she don't know her own +mind," was the captain's philosophical reflection. "Most men don't know +their own mind when it comes to marryin'. Only the difference is this: a +man loses his head and asks a girl, and then he wonders if she's going +to make him happy. And a woman hesitates about sayin' 'Yes,'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> but when +she once decides, she sticks to a man through thick and thin."</p> + +<p>In spite of his gloom Justin smiled. "Where did you learn it all, +captain? You are as wise as if you had been married to a half dozen +wives."</p> + +<p>"There's a sayin'," the captain explained, "that a sailor has a wife in +every port. That ain't true. Sailors as a rule are constant men. But +they see a lot of wimmen creatures, and they learn that there ain't much +difference, when it comes to lovin', between a Spanish lady who flirts +with her eyes, and a Boston lady who flirts with her brain. They're all +after the same thing, and that's a home, with a big H, and it's a credit +to them that they are—otherwise we men wouldn't ever know when to +settle down."</p> + +<p>"Yet it's because of a woman that some of us never settle down." +Justin's young eyes were looking out stormily upon the gray world. "It's +because of some woman that we wander and are never satisfied."</p> + +<p>The little captain gave him a keen glance. "Well, you won't ever have to +worry," he said; "all you've got to do is to keep at it till you find +the right woman. That's what that Betty child said to me the other day. +'Captain, if a man wants a woman, he's got to keep after her until she +says 'Yes.'"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Did Betty Dolce say that?"</p> + +<p>"Yes—she's a smart little thing."</p> + +<p>But Justin's thoughts were not of her "smartness" but of her pathetic +loveliness. All night her sobs had echoed in his heart. When he had +driven his gay party home after their stop at Anthony's, he had ridden +for miles alone in the storm. He had welcomed the beat of the rain in +his face. He had yearned for some adventure which would shut out that +vision of the shadowy room.</p> + +<p>But no adventure had been forthcoming, and so he had sought his uneasy +couch, and had tried to sleep, and had risen at the first crow of cocks.</p> + +<p>He brought his mind back with difficulty to the captain. "I'm going up +this morning, captain. I'll wigwag to you and Anthony if you're +outside."</p> + +<p>"Don't you go," the little captain advised earnestly; "this isn't any +morning to fly. There's all sorts of storms about, and you can't tell +what minute you'll get into one."</p> + +<p>"Didn't you like to sail your ship in a storm—didn't you like the +excitement of it—the battle with the wind and waves?"</p> + +<p>"That's different. I knew my ship was seaworthy. I knew what I had to +face in an ordinary storm. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> you take one of those Chinese typhoons, +or a hurricane that blew up from the Gulf, and I didn't enjoy it. Not a +bit. I'd go miles to get out of one, and I learned this, after I had +looked death in the face a hundred times, that foolhardiness doesn't +pay. You go slow, and wait for a quiet day."</p> + +<p>Justin laughed recklessly. "I'll take my chances."</p> + +<p>"Well, there's no fool like a young fool." The little captain started +his motor with a jerk, and its comfortable chugging was at once changed +to an angry snort.</p> + +<p>Justin did not at once go back to the sheds. He climbed a path which led +to the adjoining hotel, and made his way to the writing rooms.</p> + +<p>The people who lounged on the porches looked at him curiously as he +passed. Those who had been there longest whispered to the newcomers the +magic of his name. More than one girl remarked the beauty of the somber +young countenance, and the strength of the straight young figure.</p> + +<p>In the writing room of the big hotel Justin wrote to Diana. It was his +last hope. He wrote hurriedly, using the elaborately monogrammed house +paper, and his script was interspersed with dashes, with now and then a +boyish blot.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p> + +<p>When he had finished he went to the desk of the girl in the corridor who +sold post-cards and magazines, and bought a stamp.</p> + +<p>Anthony was delayed, somewhat, in starting out with Captain Stubbs by +the news that Miss Matthews was worse.</p> + +<p>He found her with a high fever, and he also found Bettina in a state of +agitated apology.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I talked to her too late. But we—we were afraid of the +storm."</p> + +<p>"She'll be all right in a few hours, but you've got to get some rest. +I'll send a nurse."</p> + +<p>"No—Sophie said she would come—early this afternoon—and then I can +sleep—and I've had little naps on the couch——"</p> + +<p>As he turned to go he stopped and said, with some hesitation: "You +didn't write the letter to the Big Bear, Betty."</p> + +<p>She blushed. "I'm not going to write it."</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Because—I've changed my mind about it—I've really nothing to tell +you—and every woman has a right to change her mind."</p> + +<p>She tried to say it saucily, but was not successful, and he, vaguely +relieved, responded, "I'm glad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>—that you are not troubled," kissed her +lightly on her forehead, and went away. And she looked after him and +sighed, and wondered if all the years which stretched before them would +be as dreary as this.</p> + +<p>The arrival of the little captain broke in upon her thoughts. "You give +her these," he said. "I can't stay a minute. I'm going out with Anthony +for a day's fishin'."</p> + +<p>He rushed away, leaving Bettina with her arms full of pink roses.</p> + +<p>She took them in to Miss Matthews. "Letty," she said, "the captain +brought them. Isn't he romantic? He is making pink your color. I think +it's dear of him."</p> + +<p>Miss Matthews blushed. "I'd surely never have picked out Captain Stubbs +for the romantic kind, but you never can tell."</p> + +<p>"No, you never can tell," Betty agreed, and stood looking idly out of +the window.</p> + +<p>All at once she gave startled attention.</p> + +<p>"Letty," she said, "Justin is flying."</p> + +<p>Miss Matthews, half asleep, murmured, "Well, I'm glad you're not with +him," and Bettina, recalled to her obligations to the invalid, answered +with as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>sumed carelessness, "So am I," and measured out Miss Matthews' +medicine, and talked no more.</p> + +<p>But her heart was beating madly as she followed his flight. He was up +there—alone. Up there in that wonderful world! Was he thinking of her? +Was he hearing, again, those celestial harmonies?</p> + +<p>To-day there was no sunshine—but as he circled against the background +of moving clouds her thoughts went to that wild hawk in "the wind swept +sky."</p> + +<p>She knew nothing of the danger. She did not know that, as yet, his +machine was not perfected to a point where it could brave with immunity +such weather as was threatened by the brooding sky. She only saw his +flight—and her hurt heart craved the place which had been hers for a +few brief moments of rapture.</p> + +<p>When at last he was out of sight, she went about her little duties, but +came back again and again to the window, watching for the time when he +should reappear.</p> + +<p>Anthony and the captain, half-way across the harbor, said things about +Justin's recklessness, and spoke of the danger.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Some day he'll get hurt," was the captain's conclusion, "and then he +won't ever fly again."</p> + +<p>"Yes." Anthony's eyes were following the "Gray Gull," which was now +beyond the harbor and heading for the open sea; growing smaller and +smaller, it was at last a mere speck on the horizon.</p> + +<p>Then the captain and Anthony, having reached a place offshore which +promised a good catch, put out their lines and entered at once upon that +ecstatic state of watchfulness which is the heritage of the true +fisherman.</p> + +<p>The relief which Anthony felt from the cares which had oppressed him was +magical. He was sailor enough to love the swell of the waves and the +rippling music of the water as it slipped under the anchored boat; he +was fisherman enough to be thrilled by the chances of capture; he was +artist enough to gloat over the beauty of the dull morning—the white +gulls circling overhead, the black rocks sticking their spines above the +gray sea, a phantom four-masted ship sailing straight toward them out of +the mists.</p> + +<p>And he was man enough to think of the woman he loved, and to forget the +pensive appealing child in the shadowy room. He had a vision of Diana +up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> there in the forest—strong of spirit, wresting from life, even in +her exile, the things which were worth while.</p> + +<p>As they ate their lunch the little captain confided to Anthony the hope +of his heart. "I'm going to ask Letty Matthews to marry me—I want to +get her away from that school——"</p> + +<p>"Good. I'll dance at your wedding."</p> + +<p>"When am I to dance at yours?" the captain demanded, bluntly. "I should +think it was about time that you were putting your furniture in that big +house for Diana Gregory."</p> + +<p>"Some of the furniture is in." Anthony slurred over the greater question +by tactfully emphasizing the lesser. "I had my mother's piano sent over +yesterday, and some of the things for the living-room and library. We +haven't a place for them at Harbor Light—and then there's the china. I +wish I could match up some of those pieces of White Canton, captain. I +wonder if we could make an exchange. I've a lot of Crown Medallion which +would fill out your set——"</p> + +<p>Having thus started the little captain on his chief hobby, Anthony +breathed a sigh of relief, and went on with his fishing.</p> + +<p>The subject of the china sufficed to fill the cap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>tain's mind until the +fish stopped biting, and they decided to go in.</p> + +<p>It was just as they began their trip toward the harbor that Justin came +back.</p> + +<p>The wind was blowing now straight from the south, and the "Gray Gull" +was making slow headway against it.</p> + +<p>"Why don't he come down to the water? It's safer," said the little +captain, anxiously. "There's every sign of a squall——"</p> + +<p>But Justin kept on; between him and the harbor was the Neck, with its +jagged shore line of rocks. He was evidently planning to cross the strip +of land obliquely, as, in rounding the point to come up the harbor, he +must get the full force of the wind—</p> + +<p>As he sailed over them they caught the strong beat of his motor. It +seemed, too, that he waved his hand; then he left them behind, keeping +close to shore and above that jagged line of rocks.</p> + +<p>"Oh, the fool," the captain murmured. "Why don't he get away from the +land?"</p> + +<p>The wind came with a mighty sweep; the air-ship gave a backward tilt, +fluttered for a moment like a bird in a storm—then shot down with +sickening swiftness!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span></p> + +<p>"His motor has stopped," the captain shouted, "and he's lost control! If +he strikes the rocks he's done for!"</p> + +<p>Down—down! They had one glimpse of Justin struggling to free himself; +they saw him jump clear, and the big machine crashed on the beach.</p> + +<p>It was the little captain who forced his boat to record speed, but it +was Anthony who went over the side and through the breakers to where +Justin lay prostrate, half in and half out of the water.</p> + +<p>Wet and dripping the doctor bent over the boy, put his hand to his heart +and felt it beating faintly, then looked at the broken body and said, +unsteadily:</p> + +<p>"There's only a slim chance of saving him. We must get him to Harbor +Light."</p> + +<p>The accident had been seen from the harbor, and as the captain's boat +shot around the Point with its precious burden, it met other boats +coming out to meet it, and orders were shouted back and forth, so that +when the rescuers reached the pier, there was a car ready for that which +had gone out full of life and strength and which had come back beaten +and bruised.</p> + +<p>The girls on the porch of the big hotel cried in each other's arms, +hysterically, as the car passed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> and talked of the way the young +aviator had looked in the morning.</p> + +<p>But far up in a tall old house, crowned by a cupola, was a girl who did +not cry. She had seen the "Gray Gull" come down and had guessed at the +catastrophe. She had fainted away quietly, and lay now on the floor by +the window with all of her fair hair shaken over her still white face.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<h3>BROKEN WINGS</h3> + + +<p>It was Sophie who found Bettina. She came in quietly, wondering at the +silence, then growing suddenly afraid she passed swiftly to the inner +room to discover Miss Matthews still asleep and Bettina in a huddled +heap on the floor.</p> + +<p>She picked the girl up in her strong arms, and carried her back to the +big room and brought water and bathed her face, murmuring anxiously, "My +dear, what is it? What has happened?"</p> + +<p>And, after a little while, Bettina whispered, "Justin," and then, a +little louder, "Justin," and coming to the surface through the darkness +for a third time, she clutched Sophie's arm, and cried, "Oh, is he +killed? Is Justin killed?"</p> + +<p>Holding the shuddering little creature close, Sophie protested: "My +dear, what is it? What have you dreamed?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't dream. Oh, Sophie, I didn't dream. I saw him up in the air, +and I saw him—fall——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span></p> + +<p>So it had come. So it came to all men who flew. Every bit of blood was +drained from Sophie's face. But, fighting for composure, she held out +such hope as she could. "My dear, are you sure? How did you know?"</p> + +<p>"I was standing by the window when he—came down——"</p> + +<p>"But there may have been some one to help him—and he was over the +water—and he can—swim——"</p> + +<p>Footsteps were ascending the stairs lightly but hurriedly. The two women +turned their white faces to the door. Captain Stubbs stood on the +threshold.</p> + +<p>"He's hurt," he said. "Justin's hurt. He's at Harbor Light—and he's +asked for Betty—and Anthony says that she must come."</p> + +<p>In a big room that overlooked the sea lay the bird man with broken +wings. After that first murmured plea for "Betty" he had showed no sign +of returning consciousness.</p> + +<p>On the floor above him they were getting ready for the operation. Nurses +and doctors, in ghostly white, had set themselves to various preparatory +tasks. And presently everything was in readiness for the great Dr. +Anthony.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span></p> + +<p>He was delayed by a white-faced slip of a thing, whom he led at once +into his private office, leaving Captain Stubbs outside as a proud and +patient sentinel.</p> + +<p>When he had closed the door, Anthony took the little cold hands in his. +"He is going to get well, Betty, if my skill can make him. I've got to +operate at once—and there's a big chance—the other way——" He +hesitated, then said, gently, "You love him, child?"</p> + +<p>"Yes—oh, yes."</p> + +<p>"And he loves you—how blind I've been! How much trouble might have been +saved if I had known."</p> + +<p>There was no bitterness in his voice, only a great regret.</p> + +<p>"And now," he went on, "I'm going to save him for you, if I can. And +I've sent a nurse to take care of Letty Matthews so that you can have +Sophie with you."</p> + +<p>He had thought of everything. It came to Bettina then what he meant to +the world—this great Dr. Anthony—she had hated his mission of +healing—and the skill which might now mean to her a lifetime of +happiness instead of unutterable woe.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span></p> + +<p>She tried, faltering, to tell him something of what she was feeling.</p> + +<p>"Hush, dear child. You could not know. And now you must be very brave, +and pray your little white prayers for Justin, and, please God, we shall +bring him through."</p> + +<p>Then he had gone away and Sophie had come, and the dreadful time of +waiting had begun.</p> + +<p>Sophie, who had walked in the Valley of the Shadow with her own beloved, +knew the right things to say to the child who clung to her.</p> + +<p>"Dearest, think of all you will mean to him when he gets well. Why, +there's never an opportunity for a woman like that of having the man she +loves dependent upon her—you can do all of the lovely little things for +him."</p> + +<p>"But if he should not—get well?"</p> + +<p>"You are not to think of that."</p> + +<p>"I must think of it."</p> + +<p>"Hush, dear, <i>don't</i>. You can't help him or yourself by crying—I know +how you feel—but think of this. If you should lose him, you will still +have known love at its best. And you will never be content with a lesser +thing. Oh, Betty, child, it is the shallow people who ask, 'Is it better +to have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> loved and lost than never to have loved?' How <i>can</i> there be +any doubt? The woman who has not loved is only a half creature."</p> + +<p>"I know. Oh, Sophie, it seems such an awful thing to say, but if this +hadn't happened I should never have been sure that for me there could +never be any one else but Justin."</p> + +<p>Tactfully, the older woman led her on to talk of her doubts and fears, +and of her terror lest she might deal with love lightly, as her father +had done. And then Sophie spoke reverently of her own perfect marriage.</p> + +<p>"It was during his illness," she said, "that I learned to know my +husband. I think I had always been a bit selfish. He had seemed so +strong that I had heaped my burdens upon him. He wanted me to be happy, +so he withheld all cares from me. But the time came when he knew it was +not right to withhold such cares. He knew that I was to face separation +and loneliness, and so he helped me to get ready. Oh, Betty, dear, I +can't tell you how wonderful he was. He knew that death must come to +him, and yet he never whimpered. He was a brave soldier going down to +battle, and not once did he flinch. But gradually he came to lean on me; +once he cried in my arms—not from fear, but because<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> he must leave me. +These things are not easy to speak of—but where at first I had merely +loved, I came to worship. I saw how he had shielded me, and when he left +me I had the precious memory not only of his care for me—but of my care +for him—and his appreciation of it."</p> + +<p>There was a silence in which not only the "white prayers" of Bettina +ascended, but the fervent ones of the woman who had suffered and lost.</p> + +<p>Then came a nurse with the message, "Dr. Blake wishes me to say that all +conditions are favorable," and they permitted themselves to hope.</p> + +<p>Other people were coming now to Harbor Light—great men from the yachts, +people from the big hotels, fellow-aviators of Justin's—the townsfolk +and sailors—children who had worshiped the flying man of the smiling +countenance.</p> + +<p>But no one was shown into the inner office except Bobbie and Doris and +Sara.</p> + +<p>It was in that first moment of her meeting with Bettina that Sara +blotted out the last vestige of smallness and of jealousy.</p> + +<p>She went straight up to the girl whom Justin loved, and put her arms +about her. "Oh, you poor dear thing," and they wept together.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then Bettina asked, "How did you know?"</p> + +<p>"Everybody knows," Sara said, hysterically. "Did you think you could +hide it?"</p> + +<p>Doris was weeping, too, in Bobbie's arms, and Bobbie's white, set face +showed what he was feeling for his friend. "Oh, what made him go out on +such a day—of all the crazy things——"</p> + +<p>"I told him not to," said Captain Stubbs, who had kept hitherto in the +background, "but there's no fool like a young fool, and I said it at the +time. But it was God's own providence that we were there when he fell. +And if any one can fix him up it's Anthony."</p> + +<p>Bettina heard, and thought of her former fear of this place, which +seemed now a sacred house of healing. Was she the same girl who had +railed so bitterly against Anthony's profession? She felt that she +wanted to tell him how great he was. Why, he was a wonderful man—and he +was going to save Justin as he had saved others. Daily he fought battles +with death and conquered. He must conquer now!</p> + +<p>Up-stairs in the operating room was being played a game of skill which +had for its pawns human life and human reason.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span></p> + +<p>The worst trouble lay in the wounds about the head. But there were other +dreadful complications, and many times in the hours that followed it +seemed that the game was lost.</p> + +<p>All through the tiresome ordeal not once did a muscle of the great +surgeon quiver. Not once did he show dismay at that which was most +baffling; not once did he show weakness at that which was most pitiful.</p> + +<p>But when at last his great task was ended, his face was worn and gray.</p> + +<p>Yet as he went to change his clothes, through the fabric of his +weariness and of his anxiety ran a thread of joy in the thought that the +barriers were down between himself and Diana, and that he might love her +now without reproach.</p> + +<p>When at last he descended to his little office, he spoke hopefully. "His +strength and youth are in his favor—and I'm going to pull him through."</p> + +<p>Yet he knew in his heart that he was flinging a defiance at destiny.</p> + +<p>He arranged to keep Bettina at Harbor Light.</p> + +<p>"Justin might ask for you again," was his explanation.</p> + +<p>So Bobbie and Doris and Sara and Sophie went<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> away together, and when +there was no one else to hear, Anthony said to Bettina, gently, "My +dear, why didn't you tell me?"</p> + +<p>Curled up in a big leather chair, she spoke of her fear of hurting him, +of being inconstant—like her father.</p> + +<p>She seemed such a child in her blue serge suit with its red silk tie, +and with the shady hat which had been pinned on hastily when the summons +came. But the things she was saying were womanly things, and for the +first time since he had known her Anthony perceived the possibilities of +which Diana had been so sure—this little Betty child, transformed by +love, would one day be an inspiration and a help to the man she would +marry.</p> + +<p>"If I have hurt you," she said, as she finished, "I—I can only ask you +to forgive me. If this had not happened, I think I should have—kept my +promise. But now you know—and you will not want me to keep it."</p> + +<p>"No. I do not want you to keep it. Oh, what a tragedy we have made of it +all. I might have made it so easy for you."</p> + +<p>"You, Anthony?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>He sat silent for a moment, his fingers tapping the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> arm of his chair, +those strong flexible fingers which an hour ago had done such magical +feats of surgery. Bettina's eyes were held by them.</p> + +<p>"I hardly know how to begin; it has to do with—Diana."</p> + +<p>"Diana?"</p> + +<p>"I love her, dear——"</p> + +<p>"Diana?" Bettina spoke, breathlessly. "Oh, and does she love +you—Anthony?"</p> + +<p>"I have always loved her—but I thought I had lost her—then when she +came back from Europe I found that she was still free—and that—she +cared. But by that time I had engaged myself to a dear child who really +didn't love me at all."</p> + +<p>"But why didn't you tell me, Anthony?"</p> + +<p>"Because, my dear, I thought you might be made unhappy."</p> + +<p>To others there might have seemed something humorous in the +situation—in its almost farcical complications and misunderstandings. +But these two saw none; the issues were too deep, too serious; death was +too near in that upper room.</p> + +<p>"Was that why—she went away——?" Bettina whispered.</p> + +<p>"Yes."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, write and tell her to come back."</p> + +<p>"I have written. I wrote yesterday. I saw that you were not happy. I +felt that I had no right to permit you to marry me when my heart was +bound up in another woman—as it was bound up in her. I felt that in +marriage there is something which goes beyond conventional honor. As a +physician I have seen much of unhappiness—and I could not sanction in +myself that which I would not have sanctioned in another. So I told +Diana. I think instinct warned me there was some one else, after your +flight with Justin."</p> + +<p>"And now—if he gets—well."</p> + +<p>Anthony stood up. "He shall get well," he said, steadily. "I scarcely +dare think of the things which are coming to you and to me, dear child. +But when I think of them my heart says, 'Thank God.'"</p> + +<p>If she wept now in his arms, it was as a daughter might weep in the arms +of a father—there was love between them at last, but it was the love of +tried friendship, of passionate gratitude on her part, of protective +affection on his.</p> + +<p>When he had quite soothed her, she drew off the sparkling rings. "These +must go back to you," she said; "some day you must give them to Diana."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span></p> + +<p>He shook his head. "I shall give her pearls. She belongs to the sea, +Bettina; she's the wife for a man of sailor instincts like myself—we +love the harbor, and the great lights that are high above it, and the +little lights that are low—and so I shall give her pearls.</p> + +<p>"But you must keep these," he went on; "not to wear on your third +finger—Justin, please God, shall some day look after that—but to wear +on your right hand, as my gift to you—for luck and a long and happy +life."</p> + +<p>In the evening they rode over to see Miss Matthews, and found her +sitting up. "I feel better," she said, "and there's something in the +air. I want to know why I have a nurse, and why Bettina went away while +I was asleep?"</p> + +<p>"And I want to know," said Anthony, sternly, "why you are out of bed?"</p> + +<p>"Because I am better," said Letty Matthews, "there's nothing in this +world that can cure a person like curiosity—and I had to know what was +going on."</p> + +<p>So Anthony told her, and she wept to think of the fate of the bird man +with the broken wings.</p> + +<p>But she was cheered by the coming of Captain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> Stubbs. He bore on a tray +such a supply of delicious viands that Miss Matthews urged that Bettina +and Anthony should stay and have supper.</p> + +<p>Bettina could not eat.</p> + +<p>"Please, I'm not hungry," she said, and went down the winding stairway, +and when she came back her arms were full of roses.</p> + +<p>"Will you let him have them in his room?" she asked Anthony.</p> + +<p>"He shall see them first when he opens his eyes," Anthony promised; +"they shall carry all of your messages to him."</p> + +<p>In the hushed room at Harbor Light there was darkness—and there was the +fragrance of many flowers.</p> + +<p>Out of the darkness a faint voice wavered, "Lilacs?"</p> + +<p>The nurse bent over the high hospital bed. "Roses—lovely ones."</p> + +<p>A long silence. Then, "Lovely ladies?" said the faint voice.</p> + +<p>He could see them with his eyes shut—a whole procession of pretty +ladies, all floating in the dimness. Just their faces on a broad band of +light, over which the gray mists rolled now and then and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> blurred the +outlines. Then the faces would again shine out, smiling—gay and sad, +pensive and glad.</p> + +<p>"Lovely ladies," he said again.</p> + +<p>They followed him into his dreams, and kept him company until the pain +began—that racking, wrenching pain; then they flew from him and left +him alone to suffer.</p> + +<p>After a long time, when the nurse had bared his shoulder and had pricked +it with something that felt like a pin, they came back—all those lovely +faces; only now they seemed to peep from behind clouds of smoke, heavier +than the mists, and more tantalizing in their concealments.</p> + +<p>So they came and went through the long night, leaving when the pain +racked him, returning always when the nurse did things to his shoulder +with her little shining instrument.</p> + +<p>They fled from him, too, when he opened his eyes and saw hazily that +there was a light, and a great many flowers, and that Anthony was +standing in a sort of bower of them.</p> + +<p>And Anthony was saying to some unseen person who stood at the head of +the bed, "Did he notice the flowers?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Good—you can take them out now—nurse."</p> + +<p>He had tried to tell Anthony about the pretty ladies. But they had come +back and were whirling about him on that band of light—and there was +one with dark hair with a crescent moon above the parting—and there was +one who came closer than the others, and who had hair that shone like +gold, and a little white face.</p> + +<p>"Betty——"</p> + +<p>The nurse did not catch the name—but Anthony's quick ear was at once +attentive.</p> + +<p>"She loves you, dear boy; and I'm going to make you well, so you may +marry her."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<h3>THE ENCHANTED FOREST</h3> + + +<p>Far up in the hills the Beautiful Lady went daily to the post-office for +her mail.</p> + +<p>It was a long walk, and the path skirted the edge of the forest. Leaving +the path one entered upon a world of dim green light, a world of soft +whispering sounds, a world of enchantment; and it was into this world +that Diana's feet strayed as she came and went. It was here she spent +most of her mornings; it was here she found the solitude she craved.</p> + +<p>The guests at the mountain house called the Beautiful Lady exclusive; +but it was an exclusiveness which matched her air of remoteness, and +since such friendships as she encouraged were with those who were lonely +and tired and sick, she made no enemies by her withdrawal from the +conventional life of the place.</p> + +<p>The lazy folk on the porch who were content to wait for the mail bag +which came at noon by carrier always watched with curiosity the +departure and re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>turn of the stately woman who was said to be wealthy +and of great social eminence. She went alone and came back just in time +for lunch, having loitered on the way to read her letters.</p> + +<p>The letters, however, were not always satisfying. They brought such +meager news of that which lay so near her heart! Sophie kept +persistently away from topics which might be disturbing; Bettina's +girlish epistles really told nothing—and Anthony wrote not at all.</p> + +<p>Yet such scraps as she could glean formed the excitement of Diana's day, +and always she had a vague and formless hope—a hope for which she +reproached herself. Always she hoped for a letter from Anthony.</p> + +<p>She knew that he ought not to write. She knew that if he did write she +would not answer—but the longing of her heart would not be stilled.</p> + +<p>As far as possible she forced her mind to thoughts of the future, and it +was thus she had evolved the plan which she had written to Sophie. It +was the only way in which her life could be linked with Anthony's; they +would thus share in a work which might continue in interest to the end +of their days.</p> + +<p>There were times, however, when all of her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> optimism, all of her +philosophy failed, and when her whole nature cried out for reality—not +for dreams.</p> + +<p>It was on one of these days of depression that she left behind her the +hotel piazza with its chattering crowd, and drifted somewhat languidly +across the lawn, past the tennis courts, and out into the mountain path.</p> + +<p>In her modish frock of gray linen, with a parasol of leaf green, she +seemed to merge gradually into the grayness and greenness of the forest +beyond. She might have been a dryad returning to her tree, or as an +artist in the group on the porch remarked, "a nymph in a Corot setting."</p> + +<p>How still it was in the forest! Even the birds seemed to respect the +silences, and slipped from branch to branch like shadows. The squirrels, +flattened heads downward against gray tree trunks, whisked up and out of +sight as the intruder advanced. A strayed butterfly went by in a +wavering flight, seeking the sunshine and the flowers of the open +fields.</p> + +<p>Diana loved the forest, but more than all she loved the sea. She missed +the wild music of the waves and wind. The hills seemed to shut her in;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> +she wanted the wide spaces, the limitless expanse of blue—she wanted +the harbor with its many lights.</p> + +<p>Yet if Anthony married Betty it would be years before she would dare go +back. His work was there, and he must stay; she would be exiled from the +place she loved.</p> + +<p>Her steps quickened as if she would fly from the thought. She passed +again beyond the edge of the arching trees, and came upon a winding +road. Its last curve brought her to a little settlement of which the +store, which was also the post-office, was the most imposing building.</p> + +<p>The postmistress knew her and had the package ready. "Lots of letters, +two papers and a half dozen magazines," she said, cheerily. "I don't see +how you find time to read so many."</p> + +<p>"I have nothing to do but read. I am not a lucky busy person like +yourself." Diana was smiling as she turned up the corners of each letter +to glance at the one beneath.</p> + +<p>On top was Sophie's daily budget, black-edged and bulky. Bettina's +showed a faddish slender monogram. Following was Justin's—she knew that +boyish scrawl; a business letter or two, a bill, an advertisement, and +then—her heart leaped. On the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> flap of a great square envelope blazed +the seal which Anthony had chosen for his house of healing—a lighthouse +flashing its beacon over stormy waters.</p> + +<p>The little postmistress wondered at the radiance which illumined the +face of the lovely lady. Diana, in saying a hurried farewell, sparkled +like a girl.</p> + +<p>"You've given me such wonderful letters this morning," she said, +breathlessly. "I must run away and read them."</p> + +<p>And she did run, literally, when she had passed beyond the limits of the +village. Holding up her narrow skirt, her parasol under her arm, her +precious burden of mail hugged tightly, she left the path, and again +entered upon the enchanted forest.</p> + +<p>She knew of a place where she would read Anthony's letter, a warm little +hollow, with a still silver pool beyond, a pool which, with its +upstanding reeds and rushes, was merged at its farthest edge into a +blurred purple background.</p> + +<p>Safe at last in her retreat she opened Anthony's letter, forgetting the +others in her eagerness, seeing only the firm, simple script which +crowded a dozen pages.</p> + +<p>He began quietly, but evidently, as he wrote, Anthony had been swayed by +emotions which had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> mastered him, and he had written with fire and +intensity, and, as she read, her heart responded tremulously:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><br /> + +<p> +"<span class="smcap">Dear Diana</span>:<br /> +</p> + +<p>"Sophie has told me of your plan—your wonderful plan which has to do +with my work and with me, and which shall link our futures in an +interest which shall be above reproach.</p> + +<p>"It was like you to think of it, and I shall not try to thank you. +Indeed you will not want my thanks. You and I are beyond conventional +concealments, and you know, as I know, that the thing which you are +doing is for your own happiness as well as for mine, and I am glad +that it is so, because your happiness is the thing which I most +desire.</p> + +<p>"I have not wanted to think of you up there in the hills. You belong +to the sea, dear girl, and I know you are missing it, as we are +missing you. I know, too, that, as you read this, you will say: 'He is +overstepping bounds. He must not write these things to me.' But I am +going to write them, Diana, for the time has come when we must face +the big truths, and let the half-truths go.</p> + +<p>"The big truth is this—that you and I love each other. The half-truth +is—that Bettina loves me, and that I must not break her heart.</p> + +<p>"I am troubled about Bettina. Certainly the child is not happy. All of +her brightness has left her. She is pale and thin, and I am too wise a +physician of bodies not to know something, too, of hearts. You may say +that my attitude has affected her; that she had felt instinctively the +difference in me. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> it is not that. I am sure it is not that. When +I asked her to-night if there was anything between us, she faltered +that she had something to tell me that she would write.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I should wait until her letter comes, but I cannot wait. You +are so vividly with me at this moment, Diana, that I can almost hear +your voice calling above the noise of the wind and waves. I can see +you as I like you best—all in white. I can feel your presence as I +felt it that night in the empty house as you stood on the threshold of +that moonlighted room.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear girl, come back to me. I must have you in my life. Otherwise +it will be a thwarted life—and a lonely one. For whether you marry me +or not, I will not marry Betty. I do not love her, and she shall not +spend her days as the unloved wife of one whose thoughts are all with +a wonder-woman up in the hills.</p> + +<p>"Can't you see it as I do? We must not so profane marriage, Betty and +I. There is no idea of honor so false as that which holds a man or a +woman to a promise which has ceased to have a vital and a vivid +meaning.</p> + +<p>"No man has a right to plan for a home unless Love is to be the +corner-stone. These things are sacred, and not to be spoken of except +to those who understand. But my love for you and your love for me +would form a barrier against all the sweet and tender meanings for +Betty of wifehood and motherhood.</p> + +<p>"That's the plain truth of it. I'm a blunt man, and I've said it as it +has come to me after days of pondering.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I am not saying these things that I may marry you. I am saying them +because they are true. Surely we can find a way to make Bettina happy. +Her youth and loveliness must always win love. The hearts of the boys +at the club are all under her little feet, and Justin—oh, if I only +dared hope that she could care for Justin——</p> + +<p>"But marry her I will not, even if I go alone through life.</p> + +<p>"For me you are the One Woman, Diana. In these days of separation from +you I have thought of many things, but of none more than this: that we +men, having loved one woman, deceive ourselves, when we lose her, with +the thought that another like her may be found—but she is never +found, and so we go through life half-men, unsatisfied, with hungry +hearts.</p> + +<p>"There's a big storm coming. I wish you might go down to the beach and +walk with me in the wind. How often we have walked together in beating +storms, Diana, and have gloried in them—so we would face the storms +of life together; so I cannot face them with any other—or alone.</p> + +<p>"Oh, girl, come back to me. I need you. I must have you. I <i>will</i> have +you. You are mine.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Anthony.</span><br /><br /></p> +</div> + +<p>The letter dropped from her fingers. She hid her face in her hands. His +call echoed thunderingly in her ears. But she must not listen; she must +not.</p> + +<p>She yielded for the moment, however, to the sweetness of his insistent +demand. Curled up in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> the warm little hollow she dreamed of the things +which might be—putting off, as long as possible, the moment of +decision.</p> + +<p>The other letters lay unheeded at her feet. All friendship seemed futile +at such a time. What could Sophie, or Bettina or Justin say which could +match those burning words of her lover?</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/gs04.jpg" width="400" height="600" alt="THE OTHER LETTERS LAY UNHEEDED" title="THE OTHER LETTERS LAY UNHEEDED" /> +</div> + +<p>The sun, rising higher, filtered through the branches and fell like +golden rain upon the surface of the pool—the purple shadows gave way to +emerald vistas; a trail of honey-bees traveled unerringly toward a +hidden honey store. It was high noon in the forest!</p> + +<p>Diana, waking to the fact that the hours had flown, gathered up her +other letters, and opened the one on top of the pile. It was Justin's. +What could he have to say to her, this boy who lived his life so +lightly?</p> + +<p>But when she had read the scrawled words she sat staring at them, hardly +believing the things which had been written.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><br /> + +<p> +"<span class="smcap">Dear Lady</span>:<br /> +</p> + +<p>"Betty Dolce told me last night of her engagement to Anthony. But it +was too late. You see it has come to this: that there isn't any one +in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> the world for me but Betty—she's so little and young and sweet, +and she has waked up the man in me, and that's what no other girl has +ever done.</p> + +<p>"But she won't break her promise, and last night I left her crying, +and I can't stand the thought of it. I just can't stand it. When it +was only I who suffered, I could get along, but now—why, it's Betty's +happiness against all the rest.</p> + +<p>"Am I doing a dishonorable thing, Diana, when I ask her to tell +Anthony the truth?</p> + +<p>"You shall decide for us. I cannot think clearly; I love her too much.</p> + + +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Justin.</span><br /><br /></p> +</div> + +<p>What had inspired Justin to write to her like that? Did Betty know? Did +Sophie? She went to the reading of the other letters eagerly, and when +at last they lay before her, and the whole pitiful little story was +revealed, the tears were running down her cheeks. Oh, the unhappiness of +the dear young hearts—and the happiness which was to come!</p> + +<p>Those who had assembled on the porch of the hotel in the before-luncheon +hour were struck by something unusual in the bearing of the Beautiful +Lady as she came toward them. All the listlessness of the morning had +gone. Her head was up and she walked swiftly, lightly.</p> + +<p>"She makes me think of the 'Winged Vic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>tory,'" was the comment of the +observant artist. "She gives the same impression of triumphant motion."</p> + +<p>At other times Diana had rather resented the inspection of the people on +the porch. But to-day all of the faces looked friendly—she felt that +she would like to say to them all, "I am going home to be happy." But +what she really did was to bow somewhat shyly, and to go on with flaming +cheeks.</p> + +<p>The artist looked after her. "I wonder if she knows that she belongs to +the goddess type of the Golden Age," he said, and sighed.</p> + +<p>It was just at dusk that Diana stepped once more within the borders of +the enchanted forest, and sought the warm little hollow beside the pool. +In her filmy gown of midnight blue she moved like a shadow among deeper +shadows—her neck and shoulders gleaming white.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>About her were all the eerie noises of the dark, the little, little +sounds of little, little things.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye," Diana whispered, "good-bye—dear forest."</p> + +<p>The sounds seemed to swell triumphantly into a love song—the weird and +wonderful song of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> night. From bush and branch call answered call, +mate invited mate; all the wild things of the wood were voicing their +need, each of the other.</p> + +<p>So the Beautiful Lady left behind her the sheltered hollow in the wood, +and turned her face toward the sea with its beating storms, and she +turned with gladness.</p> + +<p>It was late the next afternoon when she came at last to her home on the +harbor.</p> + +<p>Sophie, warned by a telegram, was waiting for her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dearest dear," she said, as they embraced each other in the garden, +"you beauty! Why, Diana, you don't look a day over twenty."</p> + +<p>"I'm so happy, Sophie. Happy women are always young. Oh, I've so much to +tell you. Your letter came with all the other letters. How silly we have +been! That's the way with half the troubles in life. How easy it would +be to be happy if only we could look into the minds of other people."</p> + +<p>Peter Pan, hearing Diana's voice, came to them, tumultuously, leaping +above the nasturtium borders and the brilliant flower beds.</p> + +<p>Diana picked him up. "Think of it, Peter," she said, in her thrilling +voice; "you're going to live up the road with me for all the rest of +your life<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span>—in Anthony's house, and I am going to live there, too."</p> + +<p>Sophie gasped. "Oh, has it come to that?"</p> + +<p>"It has come to everything that means happiness," Diana answered. "Let's +go up-stairs, Sophie, where we can talk."</p> + +<p>As they entered the house Delia came to meet them. Her face lacked its +usual beaming welcome. "Oh, my dear," she said, "I'm glad to see you so +much better, but it is a sad errand which has brought you."</p> + +<p>"Sad—what do you mean, Delia?"</p> + +<p>The two women exchanged glances, and Sophie faltered, "Didn't you get my +telegram, Diana?"</p> + +<p>"Telegram—no, I've heard nothing."</p> + +<p>"It's Justin. He's dreadfully hurt. His air-ship fell, and Anthony has +him at Harbor Light."</p> + +<p>She sketched the details. "Betty is there. Anthony won't let any one see +him. But he thinks Betty should be within call."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Sophie, is it as bad as that——?"</p> + +<p>"It is about as bad as it can be, Diana."</p> + +<p>When they had talked it over, it was decided that Diana should call up +Anthony and ask to see Betty at Harbor Light; when she had given the +tele<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span>phone number she found herself shivering with expectation. In a +moment she would hear his voice!</p> + +<p>She was told, however, that Dr. Blake was out on an important case; that +he would not be back until late.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I'd better wait until he returns before I make any plans," +Diana told Sophie, and then Sara came in—a subdued Sara, with much of +her sharpness modified, and they had dinner together, and were served by +the adoring Delia.</p> + +<p>After dinner Diana grew restless, and, wandering alone in the garden, +found her feet straying in the direction of Anthony's house on the +rocks.</p> + +<p>Peter Pan followed her, and waited for her when she went in, having +learned caution from his last imprisonment.</p> + +<p>Diana knew where the key was kept, and felt for it behind a cornice. She +let herself in and shut the door behind her. The lights from the street +lamps showed that some pieces of furniture had been placed since her +last visit. There were rugs beneath her feet. On the table in the hall +was the end of a candle in a quaint silver holder, and a cup contained +matches.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span></p> + +<p>She lighted the candle, and made a tour of the lower floor. In the +living-room she set two big chairs side by side on the hearth and +laughed a little, fancying her head and Anthony's close together. In the +dining-room were treasures of china—the White Canton in unchipped +dozens. She set two places on the polished table, and drank Anthony's +health in a mystical cup of tea.</p> + +<p>She ascended the stairs. There were massive beds and massive highboys +and lowboys and tables and chairs everywhere, but in the room to which +she had brought the lilacs there was nothing but a little old-fashioned +piano, and the gray pottery bowl which had held her flowers. Evidently +Anthony had changed his plans, and this place which he had dedicated to +her was to be used simply as a sitting-room or music room for Bettina.</p> + +<p>The candle flared and went out. Diana sat down on the old-fashioned +round stool in front of the little piano. Anthony's mother had played on +that little piano. It had been his father's gift to his bride.</p> + +<p>With her hands resting on the keys she sat and looked out over her +beloved harbor.</p> + +<p>There was a little silver moon—Diana's moon, the crescent of the +huntress.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span></p><p>Well, it was Diana's night! Her fingers struck softly the chords of the +music she had created.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/music_score.png" width="600" height="248" alt="Music_score" title="Music_score" /> +</div> + +<p>On the other side of the street, a tired man, coming out of a house +where a sick woman had needed his services, halted and held up his head.</p> + +<p>He crossed the road and entered the house.</p> + +<p>The rugs deadened the sound of his steps. He stopped on the threshold of +that upper room. He could see the faint outlines of the tall white +figure; he knew the voice, the song.</p> + +<p>"Diana, my dear girl!"</p> + +<p>She turned and stood up.</p> + +<p>"Anthony—oh, Anthony, I have come back—to you."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<h3>THE PROCESSION OF PRETTY LADIES</h3> + + +<p>For days the procession of pretty ladies kept Justin company. Then they +floated away on the rolling mists, and he found real faces bending over +him,—the nurse's with its fresh comeliness, and Anthony's with a light +on it which transfigured it.</p> + +<p>One morning when he waked a white rose lay on his pillow.</p> + +<p>"Did you put it there, nurse?"</p> + +<p>"No. Miss Dolce came."</p> + +<p>On Anthony's next visit Justin asked: "Why didn't you let me see her?"</p> + +<p>"She sees you every day. Just a peep in at your door. But always when +you are asleep."</p> + +<p>"But why not when I am awake?"</p> + +<p>"It would tire you too much, dear boy."</p> + +<p>"Only let me look at her."</p> + +<p>So at last Bettina stood beside him, very pale, but with her eyes +shining.</p> + +<p>Justin could not lift his hurt hands to touch her, so she bent down and +laid her cheek against his, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> whispered, "When you are well, we are +going to be—married."</p> + +<p>"I know—sweetheart."</p> + +<p>"And—may I have the little silver ring for my wedding ring, Justin?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sweetheart."</p> + +<p>She was not white now, but all rosy with blushes. As she again bent over +him he felt the thrilling power of her youth and beauty. Her presence +was like wine, reviving him. Her words were a loving cup held to his +lips.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my Betty, help me to live," he whispered, weakly.</p> + +<p>"Hush; oh, my poor, poor boy."</p> + +<p>In the weeks that followed it seemed as if only love were holding Justin +back from death. There were days when Bettina was not allowed to see +him; there were other days when Anthony dared not tell her the fears +which assailed him, when he avoided all of her questions, confiding only +in Diana.</p> + +<p>"There's an awful chance that he will never walk."</p> + +<p>Diana, very pale, asked, "Is it his spine?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And he was so strong and beautiful."</p> + +<p>"He will never fly again, Diana."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, poor Justin!"</p> + +<p>"And poor Betty. I wonder if, when all the first glamour is gone, she +will be able to stand the test."</p> + +<p>"I am sure she will. She has been so brave."</p> + +<p>"If I know Justin, he won't let her marry him when he learns the truth."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Anthony!"</p> + +<p>"I haven't given up hope, however. His wonderful vitality and perfect +health may bring about that which now seems impossible."</p> + +<p>Bettina, since she could not minister to Justin, spent the days in +ministering to others. In the great workshop where men and women of +wealth wove rugs and made pottery as if their bread and butter depended +upon it, she became a familiar figure. The patients loved to have her +there, and she went from one to the other, a charming little helper in +her white frock, with her air of girlish grace.</p> + +<p>In those days her beauty assumed a new aspect. All the petulance was +gone from her expression—the restlessness from her manner.</p> + +<p>"How lovely she is!" said nurses and patients and doctors, and they +spoke not of her physical beauty, but of her loveliness of mind and of +soul.</p> + +<p>Whenever she was allowed to see Justin she came<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> to him with hope in her +shining glance. And one day Anthony let her take the nurse's place, so +that for the first time they were alone.</p> + +<p>It was then that Justin told her of the Procession of Pretty Ladies. +"Anthony says it was the morphine," he said, "but whatever it was, they +kept me company for days."</p> + +<p>Betty laughed. "You'll soon have a real procession of pretty ladies. +Diana wants to come, and Sophie and Sara and Doris. But Anthony insists +that they must wait until you can sit up."</p> + +<p>"When will that be?"</p> + +<p>"Soon."</p> + +<p>"How soon?"</p> + +<p>"Don't ask so many questions. As soon as it is good for you, you +impatient boy."</p> + +<p>"I <i>am</i> impatient. I want to be up and out. I want to fly again over the +harbor. Betty, all the lovely days are going, and I am lying here like a +log."</p> + +<p>Her heart seemed to stand still. She knew that he would never fly again. +Anthony had told her that he might prepare her in part for the truth. +But Justin must not know.</p> + +<p>She spoke hurriedly. "I should hate to have you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> fly again—I should +always be thinking of the time I saw you fall."</p> + +<p>"It's the only thing I can do well, Betty."</p> + +<p>"There are so many things that you can do—with me."</p> + +<p>He smiled. "What could I do—with you?"</p> + +<p>"You could build a little workroom in the top of our house—<i>our</i> house, +dear boy; and you could sit there and invent wonderful things to make +other men safe who go up in the air, and I could watch you do it."</p> + +<p>"But why should I be shut up, dearest? I'm not made for that sort of +thing. I'd rather be out—in the open."</p> + +<p>There was a note of alarm in his voice. Bettina tried to laugh +naturally. "Because I'd rather have you with me, you venturesome +youth—then I should know you were safe."</p> + +<p>"If anything could hold me down it would be you,—Betty."</p> + +<p>She was silent for a moment, then she said, with hesitation, "Justin, +dear——"</p> + +<p>"Yes?"</p> + +<p>"I don't want to wait until you are well—to be married——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span></p> + +<p>As he turned on her his puzzled glance the color flooded her face. +"Perhaps it isn't usual for a woman to say—such a thing. Perhaps I +shouldn't say it. But—I want to feel that I belong to you—I want to +know that I have the right to be always at your side. I want to know +that—where you go—I can go—Justin——"</p> + +<p>The bandages were still on his hands and arms, those hands which yearned +to take her hands, those arms which ached to enfold her.</p> + +<p>But his eyes held a look which was a caress. "But it would not be fair +to you, sweetheart,—to spend your honeymoon in nursing me."</p> + +<p>"It would be fair to me. Oh, Justin, Justin, it isn't just sweetheart +love that I am giving you; it is wife love and mother love—I feel +sometimes as if you were my hurt little boy, and that I'd give my life +to help you——"</p> + +<p>She was not crying, but her voice held an emotion which was deeper than +tears; her steadfast eyes met his; her little hands were laid lightly on +the covers above his heart.</p> + +<p>And suddenly he saw her enthroned—a woman, not a child—a wife, not a +playmate. Her youth and beauty were still there to charm him, but back +of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> them was a quality which would hold him until the end—a divine +quality of tenderness, of compassion, of eternal constancy.</p> + +<p>And, in response, he brought the best that manhood can bring to +woman—reverence and that high regard which makes of marriage a +spiritual bond.</p> + +<p>He tried to speak, but his voice failed. Then, as she bent above him, +she heard his whisper:</p> + +<p>"Kiss me—my wife!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>In the days which followed the pretty ladies came in a charming +procession—Diana and Sophie, little Sara, bravely wistful, Doris +escorted by Bobbie. And last, but not least in importance, came Letty +Matthews, in a new white dress and rose-wreathed hat, and with happiness +glorifying her plain features.</p> + +<p>But though they came and went, all these good friends of his, and he +smiled and greeted them, his eyes went always beyond them to the little +white and gold creature with the woman-eyes. And his voice would call +for her, and until she came he would not be content.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + +<h3>THE AFTERGLOW</h3> + + +<p>Anthony vetoed absolutely the idea of a marriage before Justin's fate +should be finally decided.</p> + +<p>"But if he knows," Bettina urged with trembling lips, "if he knows that +he may be—crippled—he will say that I shall not marry him. You know +that he would say that, Anthony."</p> + +<p>"And he would be right. A chronic invalid should not marry, Betty. I +have great hope of his recovery. You and he must live on that hope a +little longer."</p> + +<p>Bettina begged Diana to intercede, and that lovely lady, having claimed +Anthony for a twilight walk on the beach, began her plea.</p> + +<p>But after the first words she found that she must deal not with the man +who loved her, but with the great Dr. Anthony.</p> + +<p>"I shall certainly not allow it. I am not, of course, her legal +guardian, and so I cannot prevent it in that way. But I can tell +Justin."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But she will not be happy without him, Anthony. If it were you, I +should marry you."</p> + +<p>"I should not let you."</p> + +<p>"You could not help it."</p> + +<p>They faced each other—this strong man and this strong woman. With their +wills opposed, each seemed immovable. It was evident that only a great +depth of affection could bring harmony between their dominant natures.</p> + +<p>Anthony, smiling at the earnestness of his beloved, did not yield an +inch. "These things are not to be decided by sentiment, dear. There are +meanings in marriage far beyond mere romance, far beyond the fate of the +two individuals who make the contract. We doctors must uphold the ideal +of physical perfection lest the race suffer. Moreover Bettina does not +know, she cannot know, what life would mean under such conditions. She +does not know her own strength, her own weakness. She must learn +something of life before she takes its heaviest burdens upon her. If in +the years to come she can sustain Justin by her friendship, let it be +that. She must not marry him."</p> + +<p>"You—with your friendships, Anthony! Love cannot go back to +friendship."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span></p> + +<p>She had seated herself on a stone bench which backed by a clump of +pines, commanded a wide view of the sea. He hesitated, wondering how he +might chase away the shadow which lay on her lovely face.</p> + +<p>"Dear heart, we must not disagree about a thing which may right itself. +Tell Betty that, if she will be patient for a few weeks, I shall hope to +withdraw my opposition."</p> + +<p>Her eyes did not meet his.</p> + +<p>"Are you thinking that I am cruel, Diana?"</p> + +<p>"No, oh, no. But your wisdom won't cure Betty's heartache."</p> + +<p>"It may save her future heartaches."</p> + +<p>"I wonder if a woman's point of view is ever a man's point of view, +Anthony?"</p> + +<p>"Only when two people love each other very much, dear. Then each tries +to look at life through the other's eyes. We men would grow brutal +without you to curb us. But, on the other hand, you need, now and then, +the masculine common-sense view-point."</p> + +<p>"I don't want the common-sense point of view in this, Anthony."</p> + +<p>He laid his hands on her shoulders and stood looking down at her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Diana."</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"What is it, dear?"</p> + +<p>"I don't quite like—being curbed, Anthony."</p> + +<p>She was laughing a little for, in spite of her rebellion, there was +something stimulating in the thought of his masterfulness. "You see, +I've always ruled," she said.</p> + +<p>"You shall still rule, everywhere, except in one little corner of my +kingdom which has to do with things medical—over that I must still +reign."</p> + +<p>"Of course if you think that you are right in this——"</p> + +<p>"I know that I am right. Look at me, Diana."</p> + +<p>Thrilled by his tone of command, she did look at him with eyes like +stars.</p> + +<p>Then, knowing that he had conquered, he drew her up to him and said, +gently, "We doctors have to seem cruel to be kind—but you must never +believe me cruel, Diana."</p> + +<p>So July passed and August, and the little town took on all the beauty of +its September coloring. The dahlias blazed from every fence corner. +Against the gray rocks their masses of brilliance tempted the brushes of +the artists who came to paint.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span></p> + +<p>The yachts began to leave the harbor, some of them going South, some of +them making their exit to the clanking chorus of the marine railway. The +yacht clubs sounded their last guns, packed away their pennants and +hauled up their floating docks. The hotels were closed, and most of the +mansions on the Neck were deserted. The summer folk were turning toward +the city, and the little seaport town was settling down to its winter +routine.</p> + +<p>It was on one of those quiet September days that Anthony said to +Bettina, "Set your wedding day, my dear."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Anthony, may I, really?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. The specialists who came yesterday gave a final decision. Justin +is going to get—well."</p> + +<p>The invalid, propped up in a big chair, was approached thus:</p> + +<p>"Would you mind if it were a big affair, Justin?"</p> + +<p>"Not if you want it that way, sweetheart"</p> + +<p>"I don't, if you don't. But Diana and the rest are planning——"</p> + +<p>He laughed. "I want the whole world to see you, and I want all the bells +to ring, and I want to run away afterward with you, and to have our +honeymoon last forever."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span></p> + +<p>So they were married from Diana's, at high noon, and as the bride +descended the stairway, a sigh of admiration went up from the waiting +guests. Her costume had been copied from an old painting, and emphasized +her likeness to those medieval Venetian beauties whose blood ran in her +veins. Her veil was caught back, cap-fashion, from her face, then fell +to her feet. The silken thinness of her gown was weighted with silver +embroideries.</p> + +<p>Slightly to the left of the officiating clergyman was a screen of white +roses. As Bettina advanced, the screen was set aside, and showed Justin, +in a big chair, pale and smiling, and seeing only his bride as she came +toward him.</p> + +<p>Standing by her lover's side, Bettina gave the responses clearly. And +when he placed on her finger the little silver ring, it was she who bent +and kissed him.</p> + +<p>As soon as the ceremony was over, the bridegroom was whisked away, to be +followed by the bride when she had cut the wedding cake.</p> + +<p>In the library at the head of the stairs she found him. He was on his +feet, unsupported, and looking expectantly toward the door.</p> + +<p>She gave a little cry. "Justin, you must not——!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span></p> + +<p>He laughed and held out his arms to her. "Anthony said I might. Just to +show you. He didn't quite dare for the wedding. But I want you to know +that you are not marrying—a broken reed—dearest."</p> + +<p>She looked up at him. "How good it seemed," she whispered, "to see your +face above mine. I—I am just as high as your heart—Justin."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Snow over the harbor. Snow, too, at Harbor Light.</p> + +<p>Anthony's patients, warmly housed, were busy with Christmas work. Women +who had always bought perfunctory Christmas presents, and to whom the +holiday season had meant merely a weary round of shopping, bent eagerly +over the bit of pottery or of weaving which was to carry a message of +peace and good will. Men, whose gift-giving had lost all of its precious +meanings, were carving quaint weather-vanes and toys with infinite +pains, and reveling in their skill.</p> + +<p>Diana, moving from one to the other, encouraged and suggested.</p> + +<p>"I am so glad we worked out that mistletoe design for the pottery and +the holly for the little white<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> rugs," she said; "it makes the work so +much more interesting."</p> + +<p>"It is you who makes the work interesting," said her adoring husband who +was at her elbow. "Don't you ever wish for anything else? Wouldn't you +like to be down South with Justin and Betty—with purple seas and +cocoanut palms and tennis and golf and good times?"</p> + +<p>"I'd rather be here with you. Every time you come back from an important +case or operation I feel as if you were a knight returning from +battle—no woman can have that feeling when her husband isn't doing +vital things—but I'll wait until I get home, Anthony, to tell you the +rest of it—the whole of Harbor Light has its eyes on us."</p> + +<p>It was not curiosity which drew the eyes toward them. To these weary +creatures, many of whom had lost their illusions, the romance of their +beloved doctor had given new hope. Their belief in the happiness of +another made their own chances of happiness seem less remote.</p> + +<p>It was late that night, however, before Diana could tell Anthony "the +rest of it." He was delayed by a call to an outside case, and she sat up +to wait for him.</p> + +<p>The snow had stopped, and as she stood at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> window in her room +looking out, Minot's flashed above the horizon, and the big light on the +Point flamed against the darkness like a sun. The little twinkling fair +weather lights of the summer were gone. Only these remained through the +beating storms to send out their warnings to the ships.</p> + +<p>It was the great lights of the harbor which served humanity; it was +great men like Anthony who served!</p> + +<p>Smiling a little, in the fulness of her content, she turned back into +the fire-lighted room, and went to her piano.</p> + +<p>Anthony, coming up the stairs, spent and chilled, heard her singing:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The stormy evening closes now in vain,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Loud wails the wind and beats the driving rain,<br /></span> +<span class="i7">While here in sheltered house<br /></span> +<span class="i7">With fiery-painted walls,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">I hear the wind abroad,<br /></span> +<span class="i7">I hark the calling squalls—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Blow, blow,' I cry, 'you burst your cheeks in vain!<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Blow, blow,' I cry, 'my love is home again!'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>On the threshold of this blessed sanctuary all of his weariness seemed +to vanish; here he found rest and refreshment—here, at last, he had +found fulfillment of all his dreams.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span></p> + +<h4>The End</h4> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + +<h3>"<i>The Books You Like to Read at the Price You Like to Pay</i>"</h3> + +<h2><i>There Are Two Sides to Everything—</i></h2> + +<p>—including the wrapper which covers every Grosset & Dunlap book. When +you feel in the mood for a good romance, refer to the carefully selected +list of modern fiction comprising most of the successes by prominent +writers of the day which is printed on the back of every Grosset & +Dunlap book wrapper.</p> + +<p>You will find more than five hundred titles to choose from—books for +every mood and every taste and every pocket-book.</p> + +<p><i>Don't forget the other side, but in case the wrapper is lost, write to +the publishers for a complete catalog.</i></p> + + +<p class="center"><i>There is a Grosset & Dunlap Book for every mood and for every taste</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2>MARGARET PEDLER'S NOVELS</h2> + +<p class="center">May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list.</p> + +<h4>THE GUARDED HALO</h4> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The story of a girl and a man who threw away honor and reputation to +protect untarnished the memory of a friend.</p></div> + +<h4>BITTER HERITAGE</h4> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>She learned that her father, the man she had idolized, was a thief and +a swindler—a bitter heritage not to be escaped.</p></div> + +<h4>YESTERDAY'S HARVEST</h4> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The harvest of an early love brings a strange situation and triumph of +sacrifice.</p></div> + +<h4>TOMORROW'S TANGLE</h4> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The game of love is fraught with danger. To win in the finest sense it +must be played fairly.</p></div> + +<h4>RED ASHES</h4> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>A gripping story of a doctor who failed in a crucial operation and had +only himself to blame. Could the woman he loved forgive him.</p></div> + +<h4>THE BARBARIAN LOVER</h4> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>A love story based upon the creed that the only important things +between birth and death are the courage to face life and the love to +sweeten it.</p></div> + +<h4>THE MOON OUT OF REACH</h4> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Nan Davenport's problem is one that many a girl has faced—her own +happiness or her father's bond.</p></div> + +<h4>THE HOUSE OF DREAMS COME TRUE</h4> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>How a man and a woman fulfilled a gypsy's prophecy.</p></div> + +<h4>THE HERMIT OF FAR END</h4> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>How love made its way into a walled-in house and a walled-in heart.</p></div> + +<h4>THE LAMP OF FATE</h4> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The story of a woman who tried to take all and give nothing.</p></div> + +<h4>THE SPLENDID FOLLY</h4> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Do you believe that husbands and wives should have no secrets from +each other?</p></div> + +<h4>THE VISION OF DESIRE</h4> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>It is easy to destroy illusions, difficult to restore them. Anne +restored love from the ashes of disillusion.</p></div> + +<h4>WAVES OF DESTINY</h4> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Each of these stories has the sharp impact of an emotional crisis—the +compressed quality of one of Margaret Pedlar's widely read novels.</p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2>NOVELS BY TEMPLE BAILEY</h2> + +<p class="center">May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list.</p> + +<blockquote><h4>BURNING BEAUTY</h4> + +<p>Beautiful Virginia Oliphant is loved by two men; one tempts her with +millions, and the other tempts her with nothing more than his devotion.</p> + +<h4>SILVER SLIPPERS</h4> + +<p>Days of delight and disillusionment until Joan Dudley's knight actually +came.</p> + +<h4>WALLFLOWERS</h4> + +<p>They were twins, they were "Wallflowers" perhaps—but they were +beautiful, and young and real.</p> + +<h4>THE BLUE WINDOW</h4> + +<p>Hildegarde finds herself transplanted from the middle western farm to +the gay social whirl of the East.</p> + +<h4>PEACOCK FEATHERS</h4> + +<p>Jerry, the idealist, loves Mimi, a beautiful spoiled society girl. A +conflict of wealth and love.</p> + +<h4>THE DIM LANTERN</h4> + +<p>The romance of little Jane Barnes who is loved by two men.</p> + +<h4>THE GAY COCKADE</h4> + +<p>Unusual short stories in which Miss Bailey shows her knowledge of +character and her skill in romance tales.</p> + +<h4>TRUMPETER SWAN</h4> + +<p>Randy Paine came back from France to the monotony of everyday affairs. +But a girl showed him the beauty in the commonplace.</p> + +<h4>THE TIN SOLDIER</h4> + +<p>Derry wishes to serve his country but is bound by a tie he cannot in +honor break. Jean loves him and shares his humiliation to help him win.</p> + +<h4>MISTRESS ANNE</h4> + +<p>Into the life of Anne came two men: one is weak and the other strong and +they both need Anne.</p> + +<h4>CONTRARY MARY</h4> + +<p>An old fashioned love story that has a very modern application.</p> + +<h4>GLORY OF YOUTH</h4> + +<p>An old question yet ever new—how far should an engagement of marriage +bind two persons who find they no longer love?</p></blockquote> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2>RUBY M. AYRES' NOVELS</h2> + +<p class="center">May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list.</p> + + +<blockquote><ul><li>LOVERS</li> + +<li>ONE SUMMER</li> + +<li>LOVE CHANGES</li> + +<li>LIFE STEPS IN</li> + +<li>BROKEN</li> + +<li>CHARITY'S CHOSEN</li> + +<li>THE PLANTER OF THE TREE</li> + +<li>SPOILT MUSIC</li> + +<li>THE MAN WITHOUT A HEART</li> + +<li>A BACHELOR HUSBAND</li> + +<li>THE SECOND HONEYMOON</li></ul></blockquote> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2>ROMANCES OF THE MODERN GIRL</h2> + +<p class="center">May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's List.</p> + +<p>Here is a list of books by well known writers of romance stories for the +modern girl. They are writers whose names have become famous with the +publication of their stories as newspaper serials. These books are +available in the Grosset & Dunlap Edition.</p> + +<blockquote><p><b>MAY CHRISTIE</b></p> + + +<ul><li>The High Speed Girl</li> +<li>Flirting Wives</li> +<li>The Jazz Widow</li> +<li>Love's Miracle</li> +<li>A Kiss For Corinna</li> +<li>Eager Love</li> +<li>Man Madness</li> +<li>Love's Ecstasy</li></ul> + + + +<p><b>ALMA SIOUX SCARBERRY</b></p> + + +<ul><li>Make-Up</li> +<li>The Dimpled Racketeer</li> +<li>The Flat Tire</li> +<li>High Hat</li></ul> + + + +<p><b>BEATRICE BURTON</b></p> + + +<ul><li>The Little Yellow House</li> +<li>Easy</li> +<li>Money Love</li> +<li>The Hollywood Girl</li> +<li>Honey Lou</li> +<li>The Flapper Wife</li> +<li>Her Man</li></ul> + + + +<p><b>ROBERT D. ANDREWS</b></p> + + +<ul><li>The Stolen Husband</li> +<li>Three Girls Lost</li> +<li>One Girl Found</li></ul> + + + +<p><b>ROB EDEN</b></p> + + +<ul><li>The Lovely Liar</li> +<li>Step-Child</li> +<li>Love Blind</li> +<li>The Girl with Red Hair</li> +<li>Short Skirts</li></ul> + + + +<p><b>ELENORE MEHERIN</b></p> + + +<ul><li>Miss Pat</li> +<li>Jerry</li> +<li>Chickie</li> +<li>Chickie, A Sequel</li> +<li>Nora Lee</li> +<li>Sandy</li></ul> + + + +<p><b>LAURA LOU BROOKMAN</b></p> + + +<ul><li>Tarnished</li> +<li>Mad Marriage</li> +<li>Heart Hungry</li> +<li>As No Woman Hath Loved</li> +<li>Her Love Problem</li> +<li>Playmate</li> +<li>The Heart Bandit</li> +</ul> + + +<p><b>JANE DIXON</b></p> + +<ul><li>Miss Hard Boiled</li></ul> + + +<p><b>ANNE GARDNER</b></p> + +<ul><li>Working Wives</li></ul></blockquote> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2>THE NOVELS OF SINCLAIR LEWIS</h2> + +<p class="center">May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's List.</p> + +<h4>Within the space of a few years Sinclair Lewis has become one of the +most Distinguished of American Novelists.</h4> + +<blockquote><p><b>ELMER GANTRY</b></p> + +<p>Elmer Gantry, hypocrite and voluptuary, is painted against a background +of church members and professing Christians scarcely less hypocritical +than he. In this book Sinclair Lewis adds a violent stroke to his +growing picture of materialistic America.</p> + +<p><b>MANTRAP</b></p> + +<p>A clever satire on the adventures of a New York lawyer seeking rest and +diversion in the northwoods. Instead of rest he finds trouble in the +person of his host's wife—young, pretty and flirtatious.</p> + +<p><b>ARROWSMITH</b></p> + +<p>The story of a country doctor whose search for truth led him to the +heights of the medical profession, to the heights and depths of love and +marriage and to final peace as a quietly heroic laboratory worker in the +backwoods of Vermont.</p> + +<p><b>BABBITT</b></p> + +<p>Every man will recognize in the character of George Babbitt, something +of himself. He was a booster and a joiner, but behind all of his +activities was a wistful wonder as to what life holds.</p> + +<p><b>MAIN STREET</b></p> + +<p>Carol Kennicott's attempt to bring life and culture to Gopher Prairie +and Gopher Prairie's reaction toward her teachings have made this book +one of the most famous of the last decade.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /></blockquote> + +<h2>THE NOVELS OF GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL</h2> + +<p class="center">May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's List.</p> + + +<blockquote><ul><li>THE PRODIGAL GIRL</li> +<li>DUSKIN</li> +<li>CRIMSON ROSES</li> +<li>OUT OF THE STORM</li> +<li>THE HONOR GIRL</li> +<li>JOB'S NIECE</li> +<li>COMING THROUGH THE RYE</li> +<li>A NEW NAME</li> +<li>ARIEL CUSTER</li> +<li>THE BEST MAN</li> +<li>THE CITY OF FIRE</li> +<li>CLOUDY JEWEL</li> +<li>DAWN OF THE MORNING</li> +<li>THE ENCHANTED BARN</li> +<li>EXIT BETTY</li> +<li>THE FINDING OF JASPER HOLT</li> +<li>THE GIRL FROM MONTANA</li> +<li>LO, MICHAEL</li> +<li>THE MAN OF THE DESERT</li> +<li>MARCIA SCHUYLER</li> +<li>MIRANDA</li> +<li>THE MYSTERY OF MARY</li> +<li>PHOEBE DEANE</li> +<li>THE RED SIGNAL</li> +<li>THE SEARCH</li> +<li>TOMORROW ABOUT THIS TIME</li> +<li>THE TRYST</li> +<li>THE WITNESS</li> +<li>NOT UNDER THE LAW</li> +<li>RE-CREATIONS</li> +<li>THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS</li></ul> +</blockquote> + + +<p class="center">GROSSET & DUNLAP, <i>Publishers</i>, NEW YORK</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Glory of Youth, by Temple Bailey + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GLORY OF YOUTH *** + +***** This file should be named 22292-h.htm or 22292-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/2/9/22292/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Paul Stephen and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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