"Yes?" said the other faintly.
"And I"d walk right--straight--up to Julien Tenney--" Another pause, even more impressive.
"I d-d-don"t think I"d--he"d--"
"And I"d say to him: "Julien, will you marry me?" Like that."
"Oh!" said Bobbie in outraged amazement.
"And maybe--" continued the Bonnie La.s.sie judicially: "maybe I"d kiss him. Yes. I think I would."
Suddenly all the bright softness of Bobbie"s large eyes dissolved in tears. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself," she sobbed.
"You won"t be ashamed of _yourself_," prophesied the other, "if you do just as I say, quickly and naturally."
"Oh, naturally," retorted the girl in an indignant whimper. "I suppose you think that"s natural. Anyway, he probably doesn"t care about me at all that way."
"Roberta," said the sculptress sternly, "did you _see_ his portrait of you?"
"Y-y-yes."
"And you have the presumption to say that he doesn"t care? Why, that picture doesn"t simply tell his secret. It _yells_ it!"
"I don"t care," said the hard-pressed Bobbie. "It hasn"t yelled it to me. _n.o.body"s_ yelled it to me. And I c-c-can"t ask a m-m-man to--to--"
"Perhaps you can"t," allowed her adviser magnanimously. "On second thought, it won"t be necessary. You just go back--after powdering your nose a little--and say that you"ve come to see the picture once more, or that it"s a fine day, or that compet.i.tion is the life of trade, or that--oh, anything! And, if he doesn"t do the rest, I"ll kill and eat him."
"But, Cecily--"
"You _would_ be a patroness of Art. Now I"ve given you something real to patronize. Don"t you dare fail me." Suddenly the speaker gave herself over to an access of mirth. "Heaven help that young man when he comes to own up."
"Own up to what?"
"Never mind."
Having consumed a vain and repet.i.tious half-hour in variations upon her query, Bobbie gave it up and decided to find out for herself. It was curiosity and curiosity alone (so she a.s.sured herself) that impelled her to return for the last time (she a.s.sured herself of that, also) to the attic.
A voice raised in vehement protest, echoing through the open door of the studio, checked her on the landing below as she mounted.
"And you"re actually going to let thirty-five thousand a year slip through your fingers, just to pursue a fad?"
To which Julien"s equable accents replied:
"That"s it, Merrill. I"m going to paint."
The unseen Merrill left a blessing (of a sort) behind, slammed the door upon it, and materialized to the vision of the girl on the landing as an energetic and spruce-looking man of forty-odd, with a hara.s.sed expression. At need, Miss Holland could summon considerable decisiveness to her aid.
"Would you think me inexcusably rude," she said softly, "if I asked who you are?"
The descending man s.n.a.t.c.hed off his hat, stared, seemed on the point of whistling, then, recovering himself, said courteously: "I"m George Merrill, advertising manager for the Criterion Clothing Company."
"And Mr. Tenney has been doing drawings for you?"
"He has. For several years."
"So that," said the girl, half to herself, "is his pot-boiling."
"Not a very complimentary term," commented Mr. Merrill, "for the best black-and-white work being done in New York to-day. Between my concern and two others he makes a railroad president"s income out of it."
"Yes, I overheard what you said to him. Thank you so much."
"In return, may I ask you something?"
"Certainly."
"Will you not, for his own good, dissuade Mr. Tenney from throwing away his career?"
"Why should you suppose me to have any influence with Mr. Tenney?"
Mr. Merrill"s face was grave, as befitted the issue, but a twinkle appeared at the corner of his gla.s.ses. "I"ve seen the portrait," he replied, and with a bow, went on his way.
Julien opened the door to her knock. She stepped inside, facing him with bright, inscrutable eyes.
"Why have you been fooling me about your circ.u.mstances?" she demanded.
"D---n Merrill!" said Julien with fervor.
"It"s true that your "pot-boiling" brings you a big income?"
"Yes."
"Then why do you take employment as a chauffeur?"
"I don"t. That car belongs to me."
"And your being a waiter? I don"t suppose the Taverne Splendide belongs to you?"
"An impromptu bit of acting," confessed the abashed Julien.
"And this attic? Was that hired for the same comedy?"
"No. This is mine, really."
"I don"t understand. Why have you done it all?"
"If you want to know the truth," he said defiantly, "so that I could keep on seeing you."
"That"s a very poor excuse," she retorted.