"Did he bluff me out?" finished Nick. "No, he didn"t. That"s what everybody"ll say. I know it, don"t I? And that"s why I"m staying here by myself, because the first fool that looks at me with a question in his face, why--I"ll break him in two."
She pressed close to him, more frightened than before. That Lord Nick should have been driven to defend himself with words was almost too much for credence.
"You know I don"t believe it, Nick? You know that I"m not doubting you?"
But he brushed her hands roughly away.
"You want to know what it"s all about? Then go over to--well, to Milligan"s. Donnegan will be there. He"ll explain things to you, I guess. He wants to see you. And maybe I"ll come over later and join you."
Seeing Lord Nick before her, so shaken, so gray of face, so dull of eye, she pictured Donnegan as a devil in human form, cunning, resistless.
"Nick, dear--" she pleaded.
He closed the door in her face, and she heard his heavy step go back across the room. In some mysterious manner she felt the Promethean fire had been stolen from Lord Nick, and Donnegan"s was the hand that had robbed him of it.
36
It was fear that Nelly Lebrun felt first of all. It was fear because the impossible had happened and the immovable object had been at last moved. Going back to her own room, the record of Lord Nick flashed across her mind; one long series of thrilling deeds. He had been a great and widely known figure on the mountain desert while she herself was no more than a girl. When she first met him she had been prepared for the sight of a firebreathing monster; and she had never quite recovered from the first thrill of finding him not devil but man.
Quite oddly, now that there seemed another man as powerful as Lord Nick or even more terrible, she felt for the big man more tenderly than ever; for like all women, there was a corner of her heart into which she wished to receive a thing she could cherish and protect. Lord Nick, the invincible, had seemed without any real need of other human beings. His love for her had seemed unreal because his need of her seemed a superficial thing. Now that he was in sorrow and defeat she suddenly visualized a Lord Nick to whom she could truly be a helpmate. Tears came to her eyes at the thought.
Yet, very contradictorily and very humanly, the moment she was in her room she began preparing her toilet for that evening at Lebrun"s. Let no one think that she was already preparing to cast Lord Nick away and turn to the new star in the sky of the mountain desert. By no means. No doubt her own heart was not quite clear to Nelly. Indeed, she put on her most lovely gown with a desire for revenge. If Lord Nick had been humbled by this singular Donnegan, would it not be a perfect revenge to bring Donnegan himself to her feet? Would it not be a joy to see him turn pale under her smile, and then, when he was well-nigh on his knees, spurn the love which he offered her?
She set her teeth and her eyes gleamed with the thought. But nevertheless she went on lavishing care in the preparation for that night.
As she visioned the scene, the many curious eyes that watched her with Donnegan; the keen envy in the faces of the women; the cold watchfulness of the men, were what she pictured.
In a way she almost regretted that she was admired by such fighting men, Landis, Lord Nick, and now Donnegan, who frightened away the rank and file of other would-be admirers. But it was a pang which she could readily control and subdue.
To tell the truth the rest of the day dragged through a weary length. At the dinner table her father leaned to her and talked in his usual murmuring voice which could reach her own ear and no other by any chance.
"Nelly, there"s going to be the devil to pay around The Corner. You know why. Now, be a good girl and wise girl and play your cards. Donnegan is losing his head; he"s losing it over you. So play your cards."
"Turn down Nick and take up Donnegan?" she asked coldly.
"I"ve said enough already," said her father, and would not speak again.
But it was easy to see that he already felt Lord Nick"s star to be past its full glory.
Afterward, Lebrun himself took his daughter over to Milligan"s and left her under the care of the dance-hall proprietor.
"I"m waiting for someone," said Nelly, and Milligan sat willingly at her table and made talk. He was like the rest of The Corner--full of the subject of the strange encounter between Lord Nick and Donnegan. What had Donnegan done to the big man? Nelly merely smiled and said they would all know in time: one thing was certain--Lord Nick had not taken water. But at this Milligan smiled behind his hand.
Ten minutes later there was that stir which announced the arrival of some public figures; and Donnegan with big George behind him came into the room. This evening he went straight to the table to Nelly Lebrun.
Milligan, a little uneasy, rose. But Donnegan was gravely polite and regretted that he had interrupted.
"I have only come to ask you for five minutes of your time," he said to the girl.
She was about to put him off merely to make sure of her hold over him, but something she saw in his face fascinated her. She could not play her game. Milligan had slipped away before she knew it, and Donnegan was in his place at the table. He was as much changed as Lord Nick, she thought. Not that his clothes were less carefully arranged than ever, but in the compression of his lips and something behind his eyes she felt the difference. She would have given a great deal indeed to have learned what went on behind the door of Donnegan"s shack when Lord Nick was there.
"Last time you asked for one minute and stayed half an hour," she said.
"This time it"s five minutes."
No matter what was on his mind he was able to answer fully as lightly.
"When I talk about myself, I"m always long-winded."
"Tonight it"s someone else?"
"Yes."
She was, being a woman, intensely disappointed, but her smile was as bright as ever.
"Of course I"m listening."
"You remember what I told you of Landis and the girl on the hill?"
"She seems to stick in your thoughts, Mr. Donnegan."
"Yes, she"s a lovely child."
And by his frankness he very cunningly disarmed her. Even if he had hesitated an instant she would have been on the track of the truth, but he had foreseen the question and his reply came back instantly.
He added: "Also, what I say has to do with Lord Nick."
"Ah," said the girl a little coldly.
Donnegan went on. He had chosen frankness to be his role and he played it to the full.
"It is a rather wonderful story," he went on. "You know that Lord Nick went up the hill for Landis? And The Corner was standing around waiting for him to bring the youngster down?"
"Of course."
"There was only one obstacle--which you had so kindly removed--myself."
"For your own sake, Mr. Donnegan."
"Ah, don"t you suppose that I know?" And his voice touched her. "He came to kill me. And no doubt he could have done so."
Such frankness shocked her into a new attention.
Perhaps Donnegan overdid his part a little at this point, for in her heart of hearts she knew that the little man would a thousand times rather die than give way to any living man.
"But I threw my case bodily before him--the girl--her love for Landis--and the fear which revolved around your own unruly eyes, you know, if he were sent back to your father"s house. I placed it all before him. At first he was for fighting at once. But the story appealed to him. He pitied the girl. And in the end he decided to let the matter be judged by a third person. He suggested a man. But I know that a man would see in my att.i.tude nothing but foolishness. No man could have appreciated the position of that girl on the hill. I myself named another referee--yourself."