"Hullo, Gleason! Good--you"re just in time for dinner. But where"s your bag? You aren"t going back to-night!"
"No, but I am to-morrow morning, very early, so I left my grip at the hotel. Yes, yes, I know--you"d have had me here, and routed the whole house up at midnight," he went on laughingly, shaking his head at Burke"s prompt remonstrations, "if I but said the word. But I"m not going to trouble you this time. I"ll be delighted to stay to dinner, however,--if I get an invitation," he smiled.
"An invitation! As if you needed an invitation for--anything, in this house," scoffed Denby. "All mine is thine, as you know very well."
"Thanks. I"ve half a mind to put you to the test--say with that pet thumb-marked tablet of yours," retorted the doctor, with a lift of his eyebrows. "However, we"ll let it go at a dinner this time.--You"re looking better, old man," he said some time later, as they sat at the table, his eyes critically bent on the other"s face.
"I am better."
"Glad to hear it. How"s business?"
"Very good--that is, it _was_ good. I haven"t been near the Works for a week."
"So? Not--sick?"
"Oh, no; busy." There was the briefest of pauses; then, with disconcerting abruptness, came the question: "Where"d you get that girl, Gleason?"
"G-girl?" The doctor wanted a minute to think. Incidentally he was trying to swallow his heart--he thought it must be his heart--that big lump in his throat.
"Miss Darling."
"Miss Darling! Oh!" The doctor waved his hand inconsequently. He still wanted time. He was still swallowing at that lump. "Why, she--she--I told you. She"s the daughter of an old friend. Why, isn"t she all right?" He feigned the deepest concern.
"_All right!_"
Voice and manner carried a message of satisfaction that was unmistakable. But the doctor chose to ignore it. The doctor felt himself now on sure ground. He summoned a still deeper concern to his countenance.
"Why, Denby, you don"t mean she _isn"t_ all right? What"s the trouble?
Isn"t she capable?--or don"t you like her ways?"
"But I mean she _is_ all right, man," retorted the other impatiently.
"Why, Gleason, she"s a wonder!"
Gleason, within whom the Hallelujah Chorus had become such a shout of triumph that he half expected to see Burke Denby cover his ears, managed to utter a cool--
"Really? Well, I"m glad, I"m sure."
"Well, she is. She"s no ordinary girl." ("If Helen could but hear that!"
exulted the doctor to himself.) "Why, what do you think? She can actually tell _me_ some things about my own curios!"
"Then they are more than--er--potatoes to her? You know you said--"
"Yes, I know I did. But just hear this. In spite of her seeming intelligence and capability, I"d been dreading to open those cabinets and let her touch those things dad and I had spent so many dear years together gathering. But, of course, I knew that that was silly. One of my chief reasons for getting her was the cataloguing; and it was absurd not to set her at it. So one day, after everything else was done, I explained what I wanted, and told her to go ahead."
"Well, and--did she?" prompted the doctor, as the other paused.
"She did--_exactly_ that. She went ahead--"way ahead of what I"d told her to do. Why, when I got home, I was amazed to see what she"d done.
But best of all was her interest and her enthusiasm, and the fact that she knew and appreciated what they were. You see that"s one of the things I"d been dreading--her ignorance--her indifference; but I dreaded more that she might gush and say, "Oh, how pretty!" And I knew if she did I"d--I"d want to knock her down."
"So glad--she didn"t!" murmured the doctor.
His host laughed shamefacedly.
"Oh, yes, I know. That was rather a strong statement. But you see I felt strongly. And then to find-- But, Gleason, she really is a wonder. We"re working together now-- _I"m_ working. As I said, I haven"t been to the office for a week."
"Is she agreeable--personally?"
"Yes, very. She"s pleasant and cheerful, bright, and very much of a lady. She"s capable, and has uncommon good sense. Her voice, too, is excellent for reading. In short, she is, as I told you, a wonder; and I"m more than indebted to you for finding her. Let"s see, you say you do know her family?"
Gleason got suddenly to his feet.
"Yes, oh, yes. Good family, too! Now I"m sorry to eat and run, as the children say, but I"ll have to, Burke, to-night. One or two other little matters I"ll have to attend to before I sleep. But, as I said a few minutes ago, I"m glad to see you in better spirits. Keep on with the good work."
The doctor seemed nervous, and anxious to get away; and in another minute the great outer door had closed behind him.
"Hm-m! Wonder what"s his rush," puzzled Burke Denby, left standing in the hall.
There was a slight frown on his face. But in another minute it was gone: he had remembered suddenly that he had promised Miss Darling that he would try to find certain obscure data regarding the tablet they had been at work upon that afternoon. It was just as well, perhaps, after all, that the doctor had had to leave early--it would give more time for work.
With an eager lifting of his head Burke Denby turned and strode into the library.
Meanwhile, hurrying away from Denby House was the doctor, his whole self a Hallelujah Chorus of rejoicing. His countenance was still aglow with joy when, a little later, he rang the bell of a West Hill apartment-house suite bearing the name, "Mrs. Helen Darling."
To his joy he found Helen alone; but hardly had he given her a hasty account of his visit to Burke Denby, and a.s.sured her that he was positive everything was working out finely, when Betty came in from the corner grocery store, breezy and smiling.
"Oh, it"s Dr. Gleason!" she welcomed him. "Now, I"m glad mother didn"t go with me to-night, after all,--for we"d both been out then, and we shouldn"t have seen you."
"Which would have been my great loss," bowed the man gallantly, his approving eyes on Betty"s glowing face.
"Oh, but ours, too,--especially mine," she declared. "You see, I"ve been wishing you"d come. I wanted to thank you."
"To thank me?"
"Yes; for finding this lovely place for me."
"You like it, then?"
"I love it. Why, Dr. Gleason, you have no idea of the wonderful things that man-- But you said you knew him," she broke off suddenly. "Don"t you know him?"
"Oh, yes, very well."
"Then you"ve been there, of course."
"Many times."
"Oh, how silly of me!" she laughed. "As if I could tell _you_ anything about antiques and curios! But hasn"t he some beautiful things?"
"He has, indeed. But how about the man? You haven"t told me at all how you like Mr. Denby himself."