"What makes you say that?" demanded Romeo. "Look here, if you"ll tell me who"s been making you cry, I"ll--"
He did not finish the sentence, but his tone indicated that dire misfortune would be visited upon the luckless individual directly responsible for Isabel"s tears.
"You know," began Isabel, after her sobs had quieted somewhat, "I was engaged to Allison Kent until you ran over us. At first I couldn"t go over--I was so bruised and lame and before I was well enough to go, I got a note from him, releasing me from the engagement."
"Yes?" queried Romeo, encouragingly. "Go on."
"Well, I didn"t think I ought to go over, under the circ.u.mstances, but Aunt Francesca made me go--she"s been mean to me, too. So I went and he was horrid to me--perfectly horrid. I offered him his ring and he almost threw his violin at me, and told me to keep that, too. I was afraid of him.
"Well, since that, everything has been awful. I wrote to Mamma and told her about it and that I couldn"t stay here any longer, and she didn"t answer for a long time. Then she said I would have to stay where I was until she could make new arrangements for me and that she was glad I wasn"t going to marry a cripple. She said something about "the survival of the unfit," but I didn"t understand it.
"And then, last night, when I heard that Allison wasn"t going to lose his hand after all, I thought I ought to take his violin back to him and try to well,--to make up, you know. So I"ve just been there. He took the violin all right, but he didn"t seem to want me. He said nothing could ever be as it was before. I was ready to get married and go away--I"d do almost anything for a change--but he actually seemed to be glad to get rid of me and they"ve given my automobile, that Colonel Kent himself gave to me for a wedding present, to that doctor who was out to your house last night. Oh," sobbed Isabel, "I wish I was dead. If you only hadn"t run over us, everything would have been all right!"
Romeo"s young face was set in stern and unaccustomed lines. He, then, was directly responsible for Isabel"s tears. He had run over them and hurt Isabel and made everything wrong for her, and, because she was a lady, she wasn"t blaming him in the least. She had merely pointed out to him, as gently as she could, what he had done to her.
A bright idea flashed into his mind, as he remembered that he was twenty-one now and could do as he pleased without consulting anybody. He reached into his pocket, drew out a handful of greenbacks and silver, even a gold piece or two. It would serve Juliet just right and make up to Isabel for what he had done.
"I say, Isabel," he began awkwardly. "Would you be willing to marry me?"
Isabel quickly dried her tears. "Why, I don"t know," she answered, much astonished. Then the practical side of her nature a.s.serted itself. "Have you got money enough?"
Romeo tendered the handful of currency. "All this, and plenty more in the bank."
"I know, but it was the bank I was talking about. Have you got enough for us to live at a nice hotel and go to the theatre every night?"
"More than that," Romeo a.s.serted, confidently. "I"ve got loads."
"I--don"t know," said Isabel, half to herself. "It would serve them all right. Allison used to be jealous of you," she added, with a sidelong glance that set his youthful heart to fluttering.
"Juliet is jealous of you," Romeo responded disloyally. "We had an awful sc.r.a.p this morning because I asked her why she didn"t try to be a lady, like you."
"Of course," replied Isabel, smoothing her gown with a dainty hand, "I"ve always liked Juliet, but I liked you better."
"Really, Isabel? Did you always like me?"
"Always."
"Then come on. Let"s skip out now, the way they do in the books. Let"s take the next train."
"Why not get married here?" objected Isabel, practically, "and take the four-thirty into town? There"s a minister here, and while you"re seeing about it, I can go home and get my coat."
"All right, but don"t stop for anything else. We"ve got to hustle. Don"t tell anybody."
"Not even Aunt Francesca?"
"No, she"d make a fuss. And besides, she doesn"t deserve it, if she"s been mean to you." Romeo leaned over and bestowed a meaningless peck upon the fair cheek of his betrothed.
"I"ll never be mean to you," he said.
"I know you won"t," Isabel returned, trustfully. Then she laughed as she rose to her feet. "It will be a good joke on Allison," she said, gleefully.
"It"ll be a good joke on everybody," Romeo agreed, happily.
"Listen," said Isabel. A faint chug-chug was heard in the distance, gradually coming nearer. "It"s my car. I wish you hadn"t been so quick to get rid of it last night. We could have gone away in it now."
"Never mind, I"ll buy you another."
They hoped to reach the turn in the road before the car got there, but failed. Doctor Jack came to a dead stop. "Want a lift?" he asked.
"No, thank you," said Romeo.
"No, thank you," repeated Isabel, primly. Colonel Kent had greeted her with the most chilling politeness, and she burned to get away.
"Say," resumed Romeo, "will you do something for me?"
"Sure," replied the Doctor, cordially. "Anything."
"Will you take a note out to my sister for me? I shan"t get back for-- some time."
"You bet. Where is it?"
"I haven"t written it yet. Just wait a minute."
Romeo tore a leaf from an old memorandum book which he carried, and wrote rapidly:
"DEAR JULE:
"Isabel and I have gone away to get married. You can have half of everything. I"ll let you know where to send my clothes.
"R.C."
He was tempted to add an apology for what he had said earlier in the day, but his newly acquired importance made him refrain from anything so compromising.
He folded the note into a little c.o.c.ked hat and addressed it. "Much obliged," he said, laconically. "So long."
"So long," returned Doctor Jack, starting the engine.
"Good-bye," said the Colonel, lifting his hat.
Romeo left Isabel at Madame Bernard"s gate. "Hurry up," he said, in a low tone. "I"ll meet you under the big elm down the road."
"All right," she whispered.
Madame Bernard was asleep, so Isabel hastily crammed a few things into a suit-case and slipped out of the house, unseen and unheard. As the half- starved minister of the country parish was sorely in need of the generous fee Romeo pressed upon him in advance, the arrangements were pitifully easy. He was at the trysting place fully ten minutes before she came in sight, staggering under the unaccustomed burden of a heavy suit-case.
It might not have occurred to him to relieve Juliet of a c.u.mbrous piece of baggage, but he instinctively took it from Isabel. "Come on," he said. "We"ve got to hurry if we don"t want to miss the four-thirty."
"How long does it take to get married?" queried Isabel.