"Then I gave up, almost--and later, I gave up entirely. And when my brother was about to marry that woman, and Mr. Shepler asked me to marry him, I consented. It seemed an easy way to end it all. I"d quit fondling ideals. And you had told me I must do anything I could to keep Fred from marrying that woman--my people came to say the same thing--and so--"
"If he had married her--if they were married now--then you would feel free to marry me?"
"You would still be the absurdest man in New York--but we can"t discuss that. He isn"t going to marry her."
"But he _has_ married her--"
"What do you mean?"
"I supposed you knew--Oldaker told me as I left the hotel. He and your father were witnesses. The marriage took place this afternoon at the Arlingham."
"You"re not deceiving me?"
"Come, come!--_girl!_"
"Oh, _pardon_ me! please! Of course I didn"t mean it--but you stunned me. And papa said nothing to me about it before he left. The money must have been too great a temptation to him and to Fred. She has just made some enormous amount in copper stock or something."
"I know, she had better advice than I had. I"d like to reward the man who gave it to her."
"And I was sure you were going to marry that other woman."
"How could you think so?"
"Of course I"m not the least bit jealous--it isn"t my disposition; but I _did_ think Florence Akemit wasn"t the woman to make you happy--of course I liked her immensely--and there were reports going about--everybody seemed so sure--and you were with her so much. Oh, how I did _hate_ her!"
"I tell you she is a joke and always was."
"It"s funny--that"s exactly what I told Aunt Cornelia about that--that man."
"Let"s stop joking, then."
"How absurd you are--with my plans all made and the day set--"
There was a knock at the door. He went over and unlocked it. Jarvis was there.
"Mr. Shepler, Miss Avice."
They looked at each other.
"Jarvis, shut that door and wait outside."
"Yes, Mr. Bines."
"You can"t see him."
"But I must,--we"re engaged, don"t you understand?--of course I must!"
"I tell you I won"t let you. Can"t you understand that I"m not talking idly?"
She tried to evade him and reach the door, but she was caught again in his arms--held close to him.
"If you like he shall come in now. But he"s not going to take you away from me, as he did in that jeweller"s the other night--and you can"t see him at all except as you are now."
She struggled to be free.
"Oh, you"re so _brutal_!"
"I haven"t begun yet--"
He drew her toward the door.
"Oh, not that--don"t open it--I"ll tell him--yes, I will!"
"I"m taking no more chances, and the time is short."
Still holding her closely with one arm, he opened the door. The man stared impa.s.sively above their heads--a graven image of unconsciousness.
"Jarvis."
"Yes, sir."
"Miss Milbrey wishes you to say to Mr. Shepler that she is engaged--"
"That I"m ill," she interrupted, still making little struggles to twist from his grasp, her head still bent down.
"That she is engaged with Mr. Bines, Jarvis, and can"t see him. Say it that way--"Miss Milbrey is engaged with Mr. Bines, and can"t see you."".
[Ill.u.s.tration: ""SAY IT THAT WAY--MISS MILBREY IS ENGAGED WITH MR. BINES AND CAN"T SEE YOU.""]
"Yes, sir!"
He remained standing motionless, as he had been, his eyes still fixed above them. But the eyes of Jarvis, from long training, did hot require to be bent upon those things they needed to observe. They saw something now that was at least two feet below their range.
The girl made a little move with her right arm, which was imprisoned fast between them, and which some intuition led her captor not to restrain. The firm little hand worked its way slowly up, went creepingly over his shoulder and bent tightly about his neck.
"Yes, sir," repeated Jarvis, without the quiver of an eyelid, and went.
He closed the door with his free hand, and they stood as they were until they heard the noise of the front door closing and the soft retreating footsteps of the butler.
"Oh, you were mean--_mean_--to shame me so," and floods of tears came again.
"I hated to do it, but I _had_ to; it was a critical moment. And you couldn"t have made up your mind without it."
She sobbed weakly in his arms, but her own arm was still tight about his neck. He felt it for the first time.
"But I _had_ made up my mind--I did make it up while we talked."