"And then he said he"d help us. I didn"t understand how he meant to help us--and I didn"t quite believe him. You see, Claude, even if he is your brother, I never really liked him--or trusted him--not really. There was always something about him I couldn"t make out--and now I see what it is. I knew he"d tell. And he made me promise I wouldn"t."
"He made you promise you wouldn"t tell--what?"
"What he said to me. He said he might go and marry some one else--and then he wouldn"t want what he said to me to be known, because it would make trouble."
"But what did he say?"
"Don"t you _know_ what he said?"
"It doesn"t matter whether I know or not, Rosie. It"s for you to tell me."
She wrestled with herself. "Oh, Claude, I don"t want to. I wish you wouldn"t make me."
"Go on, Rosie; go on."
"He said he was in love with me himself--and that if I hadn"t been in love with you--"
He was able to help her out. "That he"d have married you."
She nodded, piteously.
"And you said--?"
"Oh, Claude, what"s the use?" She gathered her forces together. "I didn"t say anything--not then."
"But you told him afterward that you were willing to marry _him_ whether you were in love with me or not."
"No; not like that. I--I really didn"t say anything at all."
"You just let him see it."
Again she nodded. "He said it himself. He could see--he could see how I felt--that it was like a temptation to me--that it was like bread and water held out to a starving man."
"That is, that the money was?"
She beat one hand against the other as she pressed them against her breast. "Don"t you see? It had to be that way. I couldn"t see all that money come right--come right into sight--and not wish--just for that minute--that I could have it. Could I, now?"
"No; I don"t suppose you could, Rosie--being what you are. But, you see, I thought you were something else."
"Oh no, Claude, you didn"t. You"ve known all along--"
"You mean, I thought I knew all along! But I find I didn"t. I find that you"re only willing to marry me because Thor wouldn"t take you."
"He couldn"t take me after I said I"d die for you. How could he?"
"And how can I--after you"ve said you were willing--!" He threw out his arms with a gesture. "Oh, Rosie, what do you think I feel?"
She crept a little nearer. "I should think you"d feel pity, Claude."
"So I do--for myself. One"s always sorry for a fool. But you haven"t told me everything yet. You haven"t told me what he said about me."
She tried to recollect herself. "About you, Claude? Oh yes. He asked me what our relation was to each other, and I said I didn"t know. And then he asked me if you were going to marry me, and I said I didn"t know that, either. And then he said not to be afraid, because--because--"
"Because he"d make--"
"No, he didn"t say that. I asked him if he"d make you, and he said he wouldn"t have to, because you"d do it whether or no, or something like that--I don"t just remember what."
"He didn"t say I"d do it because he"d give me five thousand dollars a year for the job, did he?"
She shook her head. She began to look dazed. "No, Claude, he didn"t say anything like that at all."
"Well, he said it to me. And he was going to do it. He thinks he"s going to do it still."
"And isn"t he?"
"No, Rosie. I"ve got better fish to fry than that. If I"m for sale I shall go high."
"Oh, Claude, what do you mean? What are you going to do?"
"I"ll tell you, Rosie. It"ll give you an idea of the chap I am--of what I was willing to renounce for you. I was talking to a girl last night who let me see that she was all ready to marry me. She didn"t say it in so many words, of course; but that"s what it amounted to. She lives in a big house, with ten or twelve servants, and is the only child of one of the richest men in the city. She"s what you"d call an heiress--and she"s a pretty girl, too."
"And what did you say to her, Claude?"
"I told her I couldn"t. I told her about you."
"About me? Oh, Claude! And what did she say?"
"She said it was splendid for a chap with my future to fall in love with a girl like you and be true to her. But, you see, Rosie, I thought you were true to me."
"Oh, but I am, Claude!"
He laughed. "True? Why, Rosie, you don"t know the meaning of the word!
When Thor whistles for you--as he will--you"ll go after him like that."
He snapped his fingers. "He"ll only have to name your price."
She paid no attention to these words, nor to the insult they contained.
Her arms were crossed on her breast, her face was turned to him earnestly. "Yes; but what about this other girl, Claude?"
He spoke with apparent carelessness. "Oh, about her?" He nodded in the direction of the door at the end of the hothouse and of the world that lay beyond it. "I"m going to marry her."
She looked puzzled. Her air was that of a person who had never heard similar words before. "You"re going to--what?"
"I"m going to marry her, Rosie."
For a few seconds there was no change in her att.i.tude. She seemed to be taking his statement in. When the meaning came to her she withdrew her eyes from his face, and dropped her arms heavily. More seconds pa.s.sed while she stood like that, meek, crushed, sentenced, her head partially averted, her eyes downcast. Presently she moved, but it was only to begin again, absently, mechanically, to pick the superfluous female blossoms from the nearest vine, letting the delicate, pale-gold things flutter to the ground. It was long before she spoke in a childish, unresentful voice:
"Are you, Claude?"