"I"m sure I"m very sorry," murmured Mrs. Bowman, "and anything that I can do I will. I never expected to see Charles again. And it was so sudden; it took me unawares. I hope we shall still be friends."
"Friends!" exclaimed Mr. Clark, with extraordinary vigor. "With him?"
He folded his arms and regarded the pair with a bitter smile; Mrs.
Bowman, quite unable to meet his eyes, still gazed intently at the floor.
"You have made me the laughing-stock of Trimington," pursued Mr. Clark.
"You have wounded me in my tenderest feelings; you have destroyed my faith in women. I shall never be the same man again. I hope that you will never find out what a terrible mistake you"ve made."
Mrs. Bowman made a noise half-way between a sniff and a sob; Mr.
Tucker"s sniff was unmistakable.
"I will return your presents to-morrow," said Mr. Clark, rising.
"Good-by, forever!"
He paused at the door, but Mrs. Bowman did not look up. A second later the front door closed and she heard him walk rapidly away.
For some time after his departure she preserved a silence which Mr.
Tucker endeavored in vain to break. He took a chair by her side, and at the third attempt managed to gain possession of her hand.
"I deserved all he said," she cried, at last. "Poor fellow, I hope he will do nothing desperate."
"No, no," said Mr. Tucker, soothingly.
"His eyes were quite wild," continued the widow. "If anything happens to him I shall never forgive myself. I have spoilt his life."
Mr. Tucker pressed her hand and spoke of the well-known refining influence a hopeless pa.s.sion for a good woman had on a man. He cited his own case as an example.
"Disappointment spoilt my life so far as worldly success goes," he said, softly, "but no doubt the discipline was good for me."
Mrs. Bowman smiled faintly, and began to be a little comforted.
Conversation shifted from the future of Mr. Clark to the past of Mr.
Tucker; the widow"s curiosity as to the extent of the latter"s worldly success remaining unanswered by reason of Mr. Tucker"s sudden remembrance of a bear-fight.
Their future was discussed after supper, and the advisability of leaving Trimington considered at some length. The towns and villages of England were at their disposal; Mr. Tucker"s business, it appeared, being independent of place. He drew a picture of life in a bungalow with modern improvements at some seaside town, and, the cloth having been removed, took out his pocket-book and, extracting an old envelope, drew plans on the back.
It was a delightful pastime and made Mrs. Bowman feel that she was twenty and beginning life again. She toyed with the pocket-book and complimented Mr. Tucker on his skill as a draughtsman. A letter or two fell out and she replaced them. Then a small newspaper cutting, which had fluttered out with them, met her eye.
"A little veranda with roses climbing up it," murmured Mr. Tucker, still drawing, "and a couple of-"
His pencil was arrested by an odd, gasping noise from the window. He looked up and saw her sitting stiffly in her chair. Her face seemed to have swollen and to be colored in patches; her eyes were round and amazed.
"Aren"t you well?" he inquired, rising in disorder.
Mrs. Bowman opened her lips, but no sound came from them. Then she gave a long, shivering sigh.
"Heat of the room too much for you?" inquired the other, anxiously.
Mrs. Bowman took another long, shivering breath. Still incapable of speech, she took the slip of paper in her trembling fingers and an involuntary exclamation of dismay broke from Mr. Tucker. She dabbed fiercely at her burning eyes with her handkerchief and read it again.
"Tucker.-If this should meet the eye of Charles Tucker, who knew Amelia Wyhorn twenty-five years ago, he will hear of something greatly to his advantage by communicating with N. C, Royal Hotel, Northtown."
Mrs. Bowman found speech at last. "N. C.-Nathaniel Clark," she said, in broken tones. "So that is where he went last month. Oh, what a fool I"ve been! Oh, what a simple fool!"
Mr. Tucker gave a deprecatory cough. "I-I had forgotten it was there,"
he said, nervously.
"Yes," breathed the widow, "I can quite believe that."
"I was going to show you later on," declared the other, regarding her carefully. "I was, really. I couldn"t bear the idea of keeping a secret from you long."
Mrs. Bowman smiled-a terrible smile. "The audacity of the man," she broke out, "to stand there and lecture me on my behavior. To talk about his spoilt life, and all the time-"
She got up and walked about the room, angrily brushing aside the proffered attentions of Mr. Tucker.
"Laughing-stock of Trimington, is he?" she stormed. "He shall be more than that before I have done with him. The wickedness of the man; the artfulness!"
"That"s what I thought," said Mr. Tucker, shaking his head. "I said to him-"
"You"re as bad," said the widow, turning on him fiercely. "All the time you two men were talking at each other you were laughing in your sleeves at me. And I sat there like a child taking it all in, I"ve no doubt you met every night and arranged what you were to do next day."
Mr. Tucker"s lips twitched. "I would do more than that to win you, Amelia," he said, humbly.
"You"ll have to," was the grim reply. "Now I want to hear all about this from the beginning. And don"t keep anything from me, or it"ll be the worse for you."
She sat down again and motioned him to proceed.
"When I saw the advertis.e.m.e.nt in the Northtown Chronicle," began Mr.
Tucker, in husky voice, "I danced with-"
"Never mind about that," interrupted the widow, dryly.
"I went to the hotel and saw Mr. Clark," resumed Mr. Tucker, somewhat crestfallen. "When I heard that you were a widow, all the old times came back to me again. The years fell from me like a mantle. Once again I saw myself walking with you over the footpath to Cooper"s farm; once again I felt your hand in mine. Your voice sounded in my ears-"
"You saw Mr. Clark," the widow reminded him.
"He had heard all about our early love from you," said Mr. Tucker, "and as a last desperate chance for freedom he had come down to try and hunt me up, and induce me to take you off his hands."
Mrs. Bowman uttered a smothered exclamation.
"He tempted me for two days," said Mr. Tucker, gravely. "The temptation was too great and I fell. Besides that, I wanted to rescue you from the clutches of such a man."
"Why didn"t he tell me himself?" inquired the widow.
"Just what I asked him," said the other, "but he said that you were much too fond of him to give him up. He is not worthy of you, Amelia; he is fickle. He has got his eye on another lady."
"What?" said the widow, with sudden loudness.