"Simmy, you"ve been drinking."
He scowled, and at that she laughed aloud. ""Pon my soul, not more than three, Anne. I rarely drink in the middle of the day. Almost never, I swear to you. Confound it, why should you say I"ve been drinking? Can"t I be serious without being accused of drunkenness? What the devil do you mean, Anne, by intimating that I-"
"Don"t explode, Simmy," she cried. "I wasn"t intimating a thing. I was positively a.s.serting it. But go on, please. You interest me. Don"t try to look injured, Simmy. You can"t manage it at all."
"I didn"t come here to be insulted," he growled.
"Did you come here to insult me?" she inquired, the smile suddenly leaving her eyes.
"Good Lord, no!" he gasped. "Only I don"t like what you said a minute ago.
I never was more serious or more sober in my life. You"ve been proposed to a hundred times, I suppose, and I"ll bet I"m the only one you"ve ever accused of drinking at the time. It"s just my luck. I-"
"What in the world are you trying to get at, Simmy Dodge?" she cried. "Are you really asking me to marry you?"
"Certainly," he said, far from mollified.
She leaned back in the chair and regarded him in silence for a moment. "Is it possible that you have not heard that I am to be married this month?"
she asked, and there was something like pity in her manner.
"Heard it? Of course, I"ve heard it. Everybody"s heard it. That"s just what I"ve come to see you about. To talk the whole thing over. To see if we can"t do something. Now, there is a way out of it, dear girl. It may not be the best way in the world but it"s infinitely-"
"Are you crazy?" she cried, staring at him in alarm.
"See here, Anne," he said gently, "I am your friend. It will not make any difference to you if I tell you that I love you, that I"ve loved you for years. It"s true nevertheless. I"m glad that I"ve at last had the courage to tell you. Still I suppose it"s immaterial. I"ve come up here this afternoon to ask you to be my wife. I don"t ask you to _say_ that you love me. I don"t want to put you in such a position as that. I know you don"t love me, but-"
"Simmy! Oh, Simmy!" she cried out, a hysterical laugh in her throat that died suddenly in a strange, choking way. She was looking at him now with wide, comprehending eyes.
"I can"t bear to see you married to that old man, Anne," he went on. "It is too awful for words. You are one of the most perfect of G.o.d"s creations. You shall not be sacrificed on this d.a.m.ned altar of-I beg your pardon, I did not mean to begin by accusing any one of deliberately forcing you into-into-" He broke off and pulled fiercely at his little moustache.
"I see now," she said presently. "You are willing to sacrifice yourself in order that I may be spared. Is that it?"
"It isn"t precisely a sacrifice. At least, it isn"t quite the same sort of sacrifice that goes with your case as it now stands. In this instance, one of us at least is moved by a feeling of love;-in the other, there is no love at all. If you will take me, Anne, you will get a man who adores you for yourself. Isn"t there something in that? I can give you everything that old man Thorpe can give, with love thrown in. I understand the situation. You are not marrying that old man because you love him. There"s something back of it all that you can"t tell me, and I shall not ask you to do so. But listen, dear; I"m decent, I"m honest, I"m young and I"m rich. I can give you everything that money will buy. Good Lord, I wish I could remember just what I"ve got to offer you in the way of-But, never mind now. If you"d like it, I"ll have my secretary make out a complete list of-"
"So you think I am marrying Mr. Thorpe for his money,-is that it, Simmy dear?" she asked.
"I know it," said he promptly. "That is, you are marrying him because some one else-ahem! You can"t expect me to believe that you love the old codger."
"No, I can"t expect that of any one. Thank you, Simmy. I think I understand. You really want to-to save me. Isn"t that so?"
"I do, Anne, G.o.d knows I do," he said fervently. "It"s the most beastly, diabolical-"
"You have been fair with me, Simmy," she broke in seriously, "so I"ll be fair with you. I am marrying Mr. Thorpe for his money. I ought to be ashamed to confess it openly in this way, but I"m not. Every one knows just why I am going into this thing, and every one is putting the blame upon my mother. She is not wholly to blame. I am not being driven into it.
It"s in the blood of us. We are that kind. We are a bad lot, Simmy, we women of the breed. It goes a long way back, and we"re all alike. Don"t ask me to say anything more, dear old boy. I"m just a rotter, so let it go at that."
"You"re nothing of the sort," he exclaimed, seizing her hand. "You"re nothing of the sort!"
"Oh, yes, I am," she said wearily.
"See here, Anne," he said earnestly, "why not take me? If it"s a matter of money, and nothing else, why not take me? That"s what I mean. That"s just what I wanted to explain to you. Think it over, Anne. For heaven"s sake, don"t go on with the other thing. Chuck it all and-take me. I won"t bother you much. You can have all the money you need-and more, if you ask for it.
Hang it all, I"ll settle a stipulated amount upon you before we take another step. A million, two millions,-I don"t care a hang,-only don"t spoil this bright, splendid young life of yours by-Oh, Lordy, it"s incomprehensible!"
She patted the back of his hand, gently, even tremblingly. Her eyes were very bright and very solemn.
"It has to go on now, Simmy," she said at last.
For a long time they were silent.
"I hope you have got completely over your love for Braden Thorpe," he said. "But, of course, you have. You don"t care for him any more. You couldn"t care for him and go on with this. It wouldn"t be human, you know."
"No, it wouldn"t be human," she said, her face rigid.
He was staring intently at the floor. Something vague yet sure was forming in his brain, something that grew to comprehension before he spoke.
"By Jove, Anne," he muttered, "I am beginning to understand. You wouldn"t marry a _young_ man for his money. It has to be an old man, an incredibly old man. I see!"
"I would not marry a young man, Simmy, for anything but love," she said simply. "I would not live for years with a man unless I loved him, be he poor or rich. Now you have it, my friend. I"m a pretty bad one, eh?"
"No, siree! I"d say it speaks mighty well for you," he cried enthusiastically. His whimsical smile returned and the points of his little moustache went up once more. "Just think of waiting for a golden wedding anniversary with a duffer like me! By Jove, I can see the horror of that myself. You just couldn"t do it. I get your idea perfectly, Anne.
Would it interest you if I were to promise to be extremely reckless with my life? You see, I"m always taking chances with my automobiles. Had three or four bad smash-ups already, and one broken arm. I _could_ be a little more reckless and _very_ careless if you think it would help. I"ve never had typhoid or pneumonia. I could go about exposing myself to all sorts of things after a year or two. Flying machines, too, and long distance swimming. I might even try to swim the English Channel. North Pole expeditions, African wild game hunts,-all that sort of thing, Anne. I"ll promise to do everything in my power to make life as short as possible, if you"ll only-"
"Oh, Simmy, you are killing," she cried, laughing through her tears. "I shall always adore you."
"That"s what they all say. Well, I"ve done my best, Anne. If you"ll run away with me to-night, or to-morrow, or any time before the twenty-third, I"ll be the happiest man in the world. You can call me up any time,-at the club or at my apartment. I"ll be ready. Think it over. Good-bye. I wish I could wish you good luck in this other-but, of course, you couldn"t expect that. We"re a queer lot, all of us. I"ve always had a sneaking suspicion that if my mother had married the man she was truly in love with, I"d be a much better-looking chap than I am to-day."
She was standing beside him at the door, nearly a head taller than he.
"Or," she amended with a dainty grimace, "you might be a very beautiful girl, and that would be dreadful."
CHAPTER IX
The day before the wedding, little Mrs. George Dexter Tresslyn, satisfactorily shorn of her appendix and on the rapid road to recovery that is traveled only by the perfectly healthy of mankind, confided to her doctor that the mystery of the daily bunch of roses was solved. They represented the interest and attention of her ex-husband, and, while they were unaccompanied by a single word from him, they also signified devotion.
"Which means that he is still making love to you?" said Thorpe, with mock severity.
"Clandestinely," said she, with a lovely blush and a curious softening of her eyes. She was wondering how this big, strong friend of hers would take the information, and how far she could go in her confidences without adventuring upon forbidden territory. Would he close the gates in the wall that guarded his own opinions of the common foe, or would he let her inside long enough for a joint discussion of the condition that confronted both of them: the Tresslyn nakedness? "He has been inquiring about me twice a day by telephone, Doctor, and this morning he was down stairs. My night nurse knows him by sight. He was here at half-past seven. That"s very early for George, believe me. This hospital is a long way from where he lives. I would say that he got up at six or half-past, wouldn"t you?"
"If he went to bed at all," said Thorpe, with a grim smile.
"Anyhow, it proves something, doesn"t it?" she persisted.
"Obviously. He is still in love with you, if that"s what you want me to say."
"That"s just what I wanted you to say," she cried, her eyes sparkling.
"Poor George! He"s a dear, and I don"t care who hears me say it. If he"d had any kind of a chance at all we wouldn"t be-Oh, well, what"s the use talking about it?" She sighed deeply.