"I really cannot remain--" she said with decision, but the old lady only bawled:
"Sit down! Sit down!"
"I will not!"
"Sit _down_!" she roared in a pa.s.sion. "What the devil----"
Strelsa, a little pale, started to pa.s.s her--then halted, astounded: for the old lady had burst into a pa.s.sion of choking gasps. Whether the terrible sounds she made were due to impotent rage or asthma, Strelsa, confused, shocked, embarra.s.sed, but still angry, had no notion; and while Mrs. Sprowl coughed fatly, she stood still, catching m.u.f.fled fragments of reproaches directed at people who flouted friendship; who had no consideration for age, and no grat.i.tude, no tenderness, no pity.
"I--I _am_ grateful," faltered Strelsa, "only I cannot----"
"I wanted to be a mother to you! I"ve tried to be," wheezed the old lady in a fresh paroxysm; and beat the air.
For one swift instant the girl remembered what her real mother had been to her; and her heart hardened.
"I care only for your friendship, Mrs. Sprowl; I do not wish you to do anything for me; can we not be friends on that basis?"
Mrs. Sprowl swabbed her inflamed eyes and peered around the corner of the handkerchief.
"Come here, my dear," she said.
Strelsa went, slowly; and Mrs. Sprowl enveloped her like a fleshy squid, panting.
"I only wanted to be good to you, Strelsa. I"m just an old fool I suppose----"
"Oh, please don"t----"
"That"s all I am, child, just a sentimental old fool. The poor man"s adoration of you touched my heart--and you do like him a little, don"t you?"
"Very much.... Thank you for--for wishing happiness to me. I really don"t mean to be ungrateful; I have a horror of ingrat.i.tude. It"s only that--the idea never occurred to me; and I am incapable of doing such a thing for material reasons, unless--I also really cared for a man----"
"Of course, child. Maybe you will care for him some day. I won"t interfere any more.... Only--don"t lose your heart to any of these young jackals fawning around your skirts. Every set is full of "em. They"re nothing but the capering chorus in this comic opera.... And--don"t be angry--but I am an older and wiser woman than you, and I am fond of you, and it"s my duty to tell you that any of the lesser breed--take young Quarren for example--are of no real account, even in the society which they amuse."
"I would scarcely cla.s.s Mr. Quarren with the sort you mention----"
"Why not? He"s of no importance."
"Because he is kind, considerate, and unusually intelligent and interesting; and he is very capable of succeeding in whatever he undertakes," said Strelsa, slowly.
"Ricky is a nice boy; but what does he undertake?" asked Mrs. Sprowl with good-natured contempt. "He undertakes the duties, obligations, and details of a useful man in the greater household, which make him acceptable to us; and I"m bound to say that he does "em very well. But outside of that he"s a n.o.body. And I"ll tell you just what he"ll turn into; shall I? Society"s third chief bottlewasher in succession. We had one, who evolved us. He"s dead. We have another. He"s still talking.
When he ultimately evaporates into infinity Ricky will be his natural successor. Do you want that kind of a husband?"
"Did you suppose----"
"Don"t get angry, Strelsa? I didn"t suppose anything. Ricky, like every other man, dangles his good-looking, good-humoured self in your vicinity. You"re inclined to notice him. All I mean is that he isn"t worth your pains.... Now you won"t be offended by a plain-spoken old woman who wishes only your happiness, will you, my child?"
"No," said Strelsa, wearily, beginning to feel the fatigue of the scene.
She took her leave a few moments afterward, very unhappy because two of the pleasantest incidents in her life had been badly, if not hopelessly, marred. But Langly Sprowl was not one of them.
That hatchet-faced and immaculate gentleman, divining possibly that Strelsa might be with his aunt, arrived shortly after her departure; learned of it from a servant, and was turning on his heel without even asking for Mrs. Sprowl, when the thought occurred to him that possibly she might know Strelsa"s destination.
When a servant announced him he found his aunt quite herself, grim, ready for trouble, her small green eyes fairly snapping.
They indulged in no formalities, being alone together, and caring nothing for servants" opinions. Their greeting was perfunctory; their inquiries civil. Then there ensued a short silence.
"Which way did Mrs. Leeds go?" he asked, busily twisting his long moustache.
"None of your business," rejoined his aunt.
He looked up in slight surprise, recognised a condition of things which, on second thought, surprised him still more. Because his aunt had never before noticed his affairs--had not even commented on the Ledwith matter to him. He had always felt that she disliked him too thoroughly to care.
"I don"t think I understood you," he said, watching her out of shifting eyes which protruded a trifle.
"I think you will understand me before I"ve done with you," returned his aunt, grimly. "It"s a perfectly plain matter; you"ve the rest of the female community to chase if you choose. Go and chase "em for all I care--hunt from here to Reno if you like!--but I have other plans for Strelsa Leeds. Do you understand? I"ve put my private mark on her.
There"s no room for yours."
Langly"s gaze which had not met hers--and never met anybody"s for more than a fraction of a second--shifted. He continued his attentions to his moustache; his eyes roved; he looked at but did not see a hundred things in a second.
"You don"t know where she"s gone?" he inquired with characteristic pertinacity and an indifference to what she had said, absolutely stony.
"Do you mean trouble for that girl?"
"I do not."
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing."
"Do you want to marry her?"
"I said that I was considering nothing in particular. We are friends."
"Keep away from her! Do you understand?"
"I really don"t know whether I do or not. I suppose you mean Sir Charles."
Mrs. Sprowl turned red:
"Suppose what you like, you cold-blooded cad! But by G.o.d!--if you annoy that child I"ll empty the family wash all over the sidewalk! And let the public pick it over!"
He rested his pale, protuberant eyes on her for a brief second:
"Will any of your finery figure in it? Any relics or rags once belonging to the late parent of Sir Charles?"
Her features were livid; her lips twisted, tortured under the flood of injuries which choked her. Not a word came. Exhausted for a moment she sat there grasping the gilded arms of her chair, livid as the dead save for the h.e.l.l blazing in her tiny green eyes.