"You have that hospitable reputation now," she persisted, unsmiling.
"Have I? Judge for yourself then--because no woman I ever knew cares anything for me now."
"You mean that if any of them had anything intimate to remember they"d never remain indifferent?"
"Well--yes."
"They"d either hate you or remember you with a certain tenderness."
"Is that what happens?" he asked, amused.
"I think so," she said thoughtfully.... "As for what you said, you are right, Duane; I am adrift.... You--or a man like you could easily board me--take me in tow. I"m quite sure that something about me signals a pilot; and that keen eyes and bitter tongues have noted it. And I don"t care. Nor do I know yet what my capabilities for evil are.... Do you care to--find out?"
"It wouldn"t be a square deal to you, Rosalie."
"And--if I don"t care whether it"s a square deal or not?"
"Why, dear," he said, covering her nervous, pretty hand with both of his, "I"d break your heart in a week."
He laughed, dropped her fingers, stepped back to the door, and, laying his hand on the k.n.o.b, said evenly:
"That husband of yours is not the sort of man I particularly take to, but I believe he"s about the average if you"d care to make him so."
She coloured with surprise. Then something in her scornful eyes inspired him with sudden intuition.
"As a matter of fact," he said lightly, "you care for him still."
"I can very easily prove the contrary," she said, walking slowly up to him, close, closer, until the slight tremor of contact halted her and her soft, irregular breath touched his face.
"What a girl like you needs," he laughed, taking her into his arms, "is a man to hold her this way--every now and then, and"--he kissed her--"tell her she is incomparable--which I cannot truthfully tell you, dear." He released her at arms" length.
"I don"t know whose fault it is," he went on: "I don"t know whether he still really cares for you in spite of his weak peregrinations to other shrines; but you still care for him. And it"s up to you to make him what he can be--the average husband. There are only two kinds, Rosalie, the average and the bad."
She looked straight into his eyes, but the deep, mantling colour belied her audacity.
"Do you know," she said, "that we haven"t--lived together for two years?"
"I don"t want to know such things," he said gently.
"Well, you do know now. I--am--very much alone. You see I have already become capable of saying anything--and of doing it, too."
There came a reckless glimmer into her eyes; she set her teeth--a trick of hers; the fresh lips parted slightly under her rapid breathing.
"Do you think," she said unevenly, "that I"m going on all my life like this--without anything more than the pa.s.sing friendship of men to balance the example he sets me?"
"No, I think something is bound to happen, Rosalie. May I suggest what ought to happen?"
She nodded thoughtfully; only the quiver of her lower lip betrayed the tension of self-control.
"Take him back," he said.
"I no longer care for him."
"You are mistaken."
After a moment she said: "I don"t think so; truly I don"t. All consideration for him has died in me. His conduct doesn"t matter--doesn"t hurt me any more----"
"Yes, it does. He"s just a plain a.s.s--an average a.s.s--ownerless, and, like all a.s.ses, convinced that he can take care of himself. Go and put the halter on him again."
"Go--and--what do you mean?"
"Tether him. You did once. It"s up to you; it"s usually up to a woman when a man wanders untethered. What one woman, or a dozen, can do with a man his wife can do in the same fashion! What won him in the beginning always holds good until he thinks he has won you. Then the average man flourishes his heels. He is doing it. What won him was not you alone, or love, alone; it was his uncertainty of both that fascinated him. That"s what charms him in others; uncertainty. Many men are that way. It"s a sporting streak in us. If you care for him now--if you could ever care for him, take him as you took him first.... Do you want him again?"
She stood leaning against the door, looking down. Much of her colour had died out.
"I don"t know," she said.
"I do."
"Well--_do_ I?"
"Yes."
"You think so? Why?"
"Because he"s adrift, too. And he"s rather weak, rather handsome, easily influenced--unjust, selfish, vain, wayward--just the average husband.
And every wife ought to be able to manage these lords of creation, and keep them out of harm.... And keep them in love, Rosalie. And the way to do it is the way you did it first.... Try it." He kissed her gaily, thinking he owed that much to himself.
And through the door which had swung gently ajar, Geraldine Seagrave saw them, and Rosalie saw her.
For a moment the girl halted, pale and rigid, and her heart seemed to cease its beating; then, as she pa.s.sed with averted head, Rosalie caught Duane"s wrists in her jewelled grasp and released herself with a wrench.
"You"ve given me enough to think over," she said. "If you want me to love you, stay--and close that door--and we"ll see what happens. If you don"t--you had better go at once, Duane. And leave my door open--to see what else fate will send me." She clasped her hands behind her back, laughing nervously.
"It"s like the old child"s game--"open your mouth and close your eyes and see what G.o.d will send you?"--usually something not at all resembling the awaited bonbon.... Good-bye, my altruistic friend--and thank you for your XXth Century advice, and your Louis XVI a.s.sistance."
"Good-bye," he returned smilingly, and sauntered back toward his room where his own untried finery awaited him.
Ahead, far down the corridor, he caught sight of Geraldine, and called to her, but perhaps she did not hear him for he had to put on considerable speed to overtake her.
"In these last few days," he said laughingly, "I seldom catch a glimpse of you except when you are vanishing into doorways or down corridors."
She said nothing, did not even turn her head or halt; and, keeping pace with her, he chatted on amiably about nothing in particular until she stopped abruptly and looked at him.
"I am in a hurry. What is it you want, Duane?"
"Why--nothing," he said in surprise.