She flushed and then set her teeth.
"But I"ll have to teach you business methods, my dear. I have to bring him back."
"You"ll have to go through Donnegan to do it."
"I suppose so."
"You don"t understand, Nick. He"s different."
"Eh?"
"He"s like you."
"What are you driving at?"
"Nick, I tell you upon my word of honor, no matter what a terrible fighter you may be, Donnegan will give you trouble. He has your hair and your eyes and he moves like a cat. I"ve never seen such a man--except you. I"d rather see you fight the plague than fight Donnegan!"
For the first time Lord Nick showed real emotion; he leaned a little forward.
"Just what does he mean to you?" he asked. "I"ve stood for a good deal, Nelly; I"ve given you absolute freedom, but if I ever suspect you--"
The lion was up in him unmistakably now. And the girl shrank.
"If it were serious, do you suppose I"d talk like this?"
"I don"t know. You"re a clever little devil, Nell. But I"m clever, too.
And I begin to see through you. Do you still want to save Donnegan?"
"For your own sake."
He stood up.
"I"m going up the hill today. If Donnegan"s there, I"ll go through him; but I"m going to have Landis back!"
She, also, rose.
"There"s only one way out and I"ll take that way. I"ll get Donnegan to leave the house."
"I don"t care what you do about that."
"And if he isn"t there, will you give me your word that you won"t hunt him out afterward?"
"I never make promises, Nell."
"But I"ll trust you, Nick."
"Very well. I start up the hill in an hour. You have that long."
30
The air was thin and chilly; snow had fallen in the mountains to the north, and the wind was bringing the cold down to The Corner. Nelly Lebrun noted this as she dressed and made up her mind accordingly. She sent out two messages: one to the cook to send breakfast to her room, which she ate while she finished dressing with care; and the other to the gambling house, summoning one of the waiters. When he came, she gave him a note for Donnegan. The fellow flashed a glance at her as he took the envelope. There was no need to give that name and address in The Corner, and the girl tingled under the glance.
She finished her breakfast and then concentrated in polishing up her appearance. From all of which it may be gathered that Nelly Lebrun was in love with Donnegan, but she really was not. But he had touched in her that cord of romance which runs through every woman; whenever it is touched the vibration is music, and Nelly was filled with the sound of it. And except for Lord Nick, there is no doubt that she would have really lost her head; for she kept seeing the face of Donnegan, as he had leaned toward her across the little table in Milligan"s. And that, as anyone may know, is a dangerous symptom.
Her glances were alternating between her mirror and her watch, and the hands of the latter pointed to the fact that fifty minutes of her hour had elapsed when a message came up that she was waited for in the street below. So Nelly Lebrun went down in her riding costume, the corduroy swishing at each step, and tapping her shining boots with the riding crop. Her own horse she found at the hitching rack, and beside it Donnegan was on his chestnut horse. It was a tall horse, and he looked more diminutive than ever before, pitched so high in the saddle.
He was on the ground in a flash with the reins tucked under one arm and his hat under the other; she became aware of gloves and white-linen stock, and pale, narrow face. Truly Donnegan made a natty appearance.
"There"s no day like a cool day for riding," she said, "and I thought you might agree with me."
He untethered her horse while he murmured an answer. But for his att.i.tude she cared little so long as she had him riding away from that house on the hill where Lord Nick in all his terror would appear in some few minutes. Besides, as they swung up the road--the chestnut at a long-strided canter and Nelly"s black at a soft and choppy pace--the wind of the gallop struck into her face; Nelly was made to enjoy things one by one and not two by two. They hit over the hills, and when the first impulse of the ride was done they were a mile or more away from The Corner--and Lord Nick.
The resemblance between the two men was less striking now that she had Donnegan beside her. He seemed more wizened, paler, and intense as a violin string screwed to the snapping point; there was none of the lordly tolerance of Nick about him; he was like a bull terrier compared with a stag hound. And only the color of his eyes and his hair made her make the comparison at all.
"What could be better?" she said when they checked their horses on a hilltop to look over a gradual falling of the ground below. "What could be better?" The wind flattened a loose curl of hair against her cheek, and overhead the wild geese were flying and crying, small and far away.
"One thing better," said Donnegan, "and that is to sit in a chair and see this."
She frowned at such frankness; it was almost blunt discourtesy.
"You see, I"m a lazy man."
"How long has it been," the girl asked sharply, "since you have slept?"
"Two days, I think."
"What"s wrong?"
He lifted his eyes slowly from a glittering, distant rock, and brought his glance toward her by degrees. He had a way of exciting people even in the most commonplace conversation, and the girl felt a thrill under his look.
"That," said Donnegan, "is a dangerous question."
And he allowed such hunger to come into his eye that she caught her breath. The imp of perversity made her go on.
"And why dangerous?"
It was an excellent excuse for an outpouring of the heart from Donnegan, but, instead, his eyes twinkled at her.
"You are not frank," he remarked.
She could not help laughing, and her laughter trailed away musically in her excitement.
"Having once let down the bars I cannot keep you at arm"s length. After last night I suppose I should never have let you see me for--days and days."