"There," he said, "I should have kept my promise if you hadn"t hinted by speaking of Fenton. Of course you understand that I can"t give you anything very tremendous, but there"s a hundred and fifty dollars."
Melissa flushed and drew back.
"I had no idea of hinting," was her reply. "Of course I thank you very much, but you ought to give the money to John, not to me."
"No," Orin insisted, "you helped me with Mrs. Fenton, and John might as well know that I wouldn"t put this money into a hole just to please him. I know John. He"ll set more by you if the money comes through you."
"But I don"t believe," protested she, "that what I said to Mrs. Fenton really made any difference."
But in Orin"s abounding good nature her disclaimer pa.s.sed unheeded. He pressed the money upon her, and went away full of the consciousness of having exercised a n.o.ble philanthropy.
It is possible that had he waited to read Fred Rangely"s criticism upon his _America_ which appeared in the _Daily Observer_ next morning he might never have made this contribution toward paying his father"s debts. With Bently"s help Rangely had discovered the original of the statue, and had then written a careful comparison between the work of Eutychides and that of Stanton. It hardly need be added that the result was not at all flattering to the latter. Rangely possessed a very pretty gift of sarcasm, and it was his humor to consider that in attacking the sculptor he was to a certain degree settling scores with Mrs. Staggchase for her change in att.i.tude toward him after Miss Merrivale came. He served up the unlucky statue and its more unlucky maker with a piquancy and a zest which made his article town talk for a month. The sculptor sheltered himself, so far as he could, by keeping out of sight, while Peter Calvin, unable to endure the jibes and laughter which everywhere met him, abandoned the cause of his _protege_ and the town together, by starting two months earlier than he had intended on a trip to Europe.
Rangely was angry with himself for having been persuaded by Mrs.
Staggchase to write an article sustaining Stanton"s claims in the first place, and not having signed it, he endeavored to give to this criticism a tone which should indicate, without its being specifically stated, that he had not written the former paper. He understood perfectly well that Mrs. Staggchase would regard his position as a declaration of independence, and indeed when the lady read the _Observer_ that morning she smiled with an air of comprehension.
"That"s an end to that," she said to herself. "When you"ve known a man as long as I have Fred Rangely, he"s like a book that"s been read; you"ve got all the good there is in him. There are other men in the world."
When Orin had gone, Milly stood turning over and over in her hand the roll of bills he had given her. Then she spread them out upon the table, counting them and gloating over them, with a delight which arose quite as largely from her foretaste of John"s pleasure and the joy of having helped to cause it, as it did from mere love of money. She had just taken the precious roll to put it away, when her lover himself appeared.
John Stanton was really of more kindly disposition than might have been inferred from his misunderstanding with his betrothed. He had been half a dozen weeks coming to his right mind, but whatever he did he did thoroughly, and in the end he had reached a point where he was willing to acknowledge himself wrong, and to make whatever amends lay in his power. He came in to-night with the determined air of one who has made up his mind to get through a disagreeable duty as speedily as possible.
Milly opened the door for him, and stood back to let him pa.s.s; she had learned in these weeks of their estrangement to restrain the manifestation of her joy at his coming. It was with so great a rush of blissful surprise that she now found herself suddenly caught up into his arms, that she clung closely to his neck for one joyful instant, and then burst into a pa.s.sion of weeping.
"There, there," her lover said, caressing her; "don"t cry, Milly. I"ve been a brute, and I know it; but if you"ll forgive me this time I"ll see that you never need to again."
He moved toward a chair as he spoke, half carrying her in his arms. In her excitement she loosened her hold upon the roll of money, which was still in her hand, and the bills were scattered on the floor behind him as he walked. He sat down and took her in his lap, stroking her hair and soothing her as well as he was able. By a strong effort she controlled herself, dried her tears, and sat up, half laughing.
"I"m getting to be dreadful teary," she said. "I"--
"What in the world," he interrupted her in amazement, "is that on the floor?"
She turned and saw the money, and burst into a peal of laughter.
Springing down from his knee, she ran and gathered up the bills in her two hands; then, dancing up to him, half wild with delight, her cheeks flushed, her eyes shining, she scattered the precious bits of green paper fantastically over his head and shoulders.
""Take, oh take, the rosy, rosy crown!""
She sang, in the very abandonment of gayety.
"Are you gone crazy?" he demanded, clutching the floating bills, and then catching her about the waist. "You act like a witch! Where did all this money come from? The savings-bank?"
"No," she returned, becoming quiet, and nestling close to him. "The Lord sent it by the hand of your brother Orin."
It was some time before John could be made to understand the whole story; and when it had been told, he instantly leaped to the conclusion that the whole credit of Orin"s getting the commission belonged of right to Milly, a conviction in which he remained steadfast despite all her disclaimers.
At last she gave up protesting, and shut his mouth with a kiss. Since John, as well as Orin, thought so, she felt that her part must have been more important than she had realized; but she was too modest to bear so much praise.
"John," she said at length, "I have something awful to confess. I"ve been keeping a secret from you."
"I"m afraid I"ve been too much of a bear for it to have been safe to tell me," returned her lover, smiling.
His own heart was filled with the double joy of reconciliation, and of having brought it about himself by a manly confession of his fault.
"It wasn"t that at all," she protested. "It was because I wasn"t sure about it; and then I wanted to surprise you if I got it."
"Got what? You speak as if it was the smallpox. Is it anything catching?"
"Oh, no," answered Milly, laughing gleefully at his sally, which to her present mood seemed the most exquisite wit. "You needn"t be afraid; it"s only the matronship of the new Knitting School, thank you, with a salary of five hundred dollars a year."
"Really, Milly?"
"Really, John; and don"t you think"--
"Think what?"
She had made up her mind to say it even before this blessed agreement had come about, but now that the moment came, the habits and trammels of generations held her back.
"Why," she stammered, blushing and hesitating, "don"t you think,--wouldn"t it seem more appropriate if a matron was"--Her voice failed utterly. She flung her arms convulsively about her lover"s neck, and drew his ear close to her lips. "Surely, now, John, dear," she whispered, "we could afford to"--
She finished with a kiss.
"If you can put up with me, darling," he answered her, with a mighty hug; "we"ll be married in a week, or, better still, in a day."
"I think in a month will do," responded Mistress Milly, demurely, sitting up to blush with decorum.
x.x.xI
PARTED OUR FELLOWSHIP.
Oth.e.l.lo; ii.--1.
The news of the collapse of Princeton Platinum stock, which Dr. Wilson had given Arthur on Sat.u.r.day night, proved to be somewhat premature. On Sunday it was decided at the club, where the matter was discussed in a cold-blooded and leisurely fashion, that the whole scheme had gone to pieces; and of course this decision was accompanied by the statement, in various forms, that everybody knew that there was nothing substantial behind the certificates. On Monday, however, the stock took an unexpected rise, and for two or three days held its own with a firmness which greatly encouraged its holders.
Fenton had bought the bulk of his shares at two and seven-eights, and still held them, notwithstanding the rumors of disaster in the air.
With a folly that would be incredible were it not one of the most common things in amateur stock transactions, the artist had by this time put the bulk of his little fortune into this wild-cat stock, which he now held with a desperate determination not to sell below the figure at which he had purchased. He could so little afford the least loss, that, with the genuine instinct of the gambler, he trusted to luck, and ran the risk of utter ruin for the sake of the chance of making a brilliant stroke, or at least of coming out even. Having made up his mind to hold on, he clung to the position with his customary obstinacy, even dismissing the matter, as far as was possible, from his thoughts.
He was very busy preparing an exhibition of pictures at the St. Filipe club. The matter had been left in his hands by the other members of the Art Committee, of which he was chairman; but his att.i.tude toward the club had prevented his taking any steps until after the meeting on Sat.u.r.day night. Now, he was particularly anxious to make the exhibition a brilliant success, to give a signal instance of the value of his services.
He had gone to his studio on Sunday afternoon and sketched in a head of Ninitta, and upon this he worked, now and then, with a desperate energy born of the feeling that it substantiated his story to Edith. He had been seized with grave doubts as to the advisability of exhibiting the _Fatima_ just now; but he did not see his way clear to spare so large and important a picture from the collection, and he comforted himself with the thought that the face was different, and that if the model were recognized he would be supposed to have worked up old sketches taken when Ninitta had posed for him before her marriage.
He worked with all his marvellous energy, collecting pictures, directing their hanging, soothing artists whose canvases were not placed to their liking, making out the catalogue, and arranging all the details which in such a connection are fatiguing and well-nigh innumerable.
The exhibition was opened on Wednesday evening with a reception to ladies, and by nine o"clock the gallery began to fill. Fenton had decorated the rooms a little, chiefly with live pampas gra.s.s and palms and India-rubber trees. It is difficult to see how mankind in the nineteenth century could exist without the India-rubber tree. If that plant were destroyed, civilization would be left gasping, helpless and crippled; and of late years, not content with making it serviceable in every department of practical life, men have brought the shrub into the domain of aesthetics by using it for decorative purposes.
The collection of paintings was an interesting one, made up of the work of the best artists in town. Fenton had spared no pains either in procuring what he wanted, or in arranging the gallery. The _Fatima_ hung in a position of honor opposite the main entrance. The selection of so prominent a place for his own work offended Fenton"s taste, and annoyed him with an uncomfortable sense of how strongly the picture was in evidence. The exigencies of hanging, and the fact that the canvas was the most important one in the room forced him to place it as he did; and Bently, whom he called to his a.s.sistance, laughed at his scruples. None of the artists had seen the picture, and Bently was quite carried away by his admiration of it.