"I"m doing this, Mon, because I guess you"ve taught me something my eyes have been mostly blind to. I"m doing this because I"m learning things I didn"t know before. One of them"s this. The satisfaction of piling up a fortune has its limit. Maybe I"ve reached that limit.
Anyway I seem to be groping around for something else--something better. Guess I"m not just clear about things yet. But--well, maybe, seeing you"ve made things look different, you"ll help me--sort it out."
While he was speaking Monica had turned away to the window which looked out upon the beautiful stream far below them. Now she turned, and all her love was shining in her eyes.
"Oh, Alec," she cried earnestly, "I thank G.o.d that this is so. With all my heart I thank Him that this wonderful new feeling has come through--me."
After that the man"s att.i.tude changed again to the cool, yet forceful method which had made him the financial prince he was. Nor, as she noted the swift changing of his moods, could Monica help remembering that other change she had once witnessed. That moment when on the discovery of Frank"s picture in her apartments he had been changed in a flash from the perfect lover to a demon of jealous fury. She felt that she had untold depths to fathom yet, before she could hope to understand the mysteries of this man"s soul.
She listened to him now with all her business faculties alert. Once more he was the employer, and she the humble but willing secretary.
"I have practically finished the preliminaries of this trust," he said.
"When it"s fixed there"ll be a bit of a shout. Bound to be. But I don"t guess that matters any. What really does matter is the result, and how it"s going to affect the public. My principles are sound, and--wholesome. We"re not looking for big lumps of profit. We"re not out to rob the world of one cent. We are out to protect--the public as well as ourselves. And the protection we both need is against those manipulators of the market like Henry Louth, and other unscrupulous speculators. In time I"m hoping to make the trusty world-wide.
Meanwhile eighty per cent of the grain growers of this country, and the northwestern states across the border, are ready to come in. For the rest it"s just a question of time before they are forced to. Such will be the supplies of grain from our control in a few years that we can practically collar the market. Then, when the organization is complete, and the wheat growers are universally bonded together, there"s going to be no middle man, and the public will pay less for its bread, and the growers will reap greater profits. That"s my scheme. I tell you right here no one"s a right to come between the producer and the consumer.
The man who does so is a vampire, and has no right to exist. He sits in his office and grows fat, sucking the blood of both the toiler in the field and the toiler in the city. He must go."
Monica clasped her hands in the enthusiasm with which Hendrie always inspired her. She knew he was no dreamer, but a man capable of putting into practice the schemes of his essentially commercial genius.
"Yes, yes!" she cried. "It is immense. I have always known that if only a man with sufficient courage and influence and capital could be found some such scheme might be operated. And you--you have thought of it all the time. It has been your secret. And now----"
"Now? Now I"m going to ask for your contribution." Hendrie smiled. "Ah, Mon, I can"t do without you. I am going to set you a task that"ll tax all your capacity and devotion to me. You"ve got to run this great farm of ours. Oh, you haven"t got to be a farmer," he said quickly, at sight of the woman"s blank look. "You will have the same army of helpers under you that Angus has. It will be for you to see that the work is done. Guess yours will just be the organizing head. I"ll need Angus in Winnipeg. He is a man of big capacity for the work I need. You see, I know I can trust him in things that I could trust to no other man."
Hendrie rose from his seat at the writing table, and pressed a bell.
"I"ll send for him now," he explained.
Monica came to his side, and laid a shaking hand upon his shoulder.
Habit was strong in her. She could not altogether forget that he was no longer her employer. She approached him now in something of the old spirit.
"Could not I do the work in Winnipeg?" she asked timidly. "Would it not be wiser to leave Angus----?"
Hendrie"s keen eyes looked straight down into hers.
"We are battling with hard fighting men who demand cent per cent for their money, and can only get a fair interest," he said. "They must be dealt with by men as hard as themselves. No, it"s not woman"s work.
Angus is the hardest man of business I know. I can trust him. Therefore I require him--even in preference to you."
Monica bowed her head. She accepted his verdict in this as in all things.
"Yes," she said simply. "I think I understand." Then she went on in a thrilling voice. "But I am glad there is work for me to do. So glad.
Oh, Alec, you are making me a factor in this great affair. You have allotted me my work in an epoch-making financial enterprise, and I--I am very thankful."
Her husband stooped and kissed her. Then he patted her on the shoulder, as he might have done when she was his secretary.
"Good, Mon," he said, in the calm tone of approval Monica knew so well.
Then he went back to his seat.
At that moment Angus Moraine appeared in the doorway. His coming was swift and silent, and, for the first time since she had known him, his cold face and colder eyes struck unpleasantly upon the woman who was to supersede him.
Hendrie looked up, and, in one swift glance, noted all that Monica had seen in the manager"s face without being in the least affected by it.
He knew this man better than it is generally given to one man to know another. He adopted no roundabout methods now.
"I"m going to take this place out of your hands, Angus, my boy," he said easily. "I want you in Winnipeg. I have a big coup on, which I will explain to you later. The essential point is that I want you in Winnipeg. You must be ready in one month"s time. The appointment will be to your advantage. Get me?" Then he smiled coolly. "A month will give you time to arrange your various wheat interests about here."
Angus displayed no emotion of any sort. That the change was distasteful to him there could be no doubt. He had expected some such result with Monica"s appearance on the scene. Nor did the millionaire"s knowledge of his private interests disconcert him. It was not easy to take this man off his guard.
"Yes," he said simply, and left the other to do the talking.
But Hendrie turned again to his desk as though about to write.
"That"s all," he said shortly.
Angus made no attempt to retire. Just for one second his eyes shot a swift glance in Monica"s direction. She was standing at the window with her back turned.
"Who supersedes me here?" he demanded. There was no warmth in Moraine"s somewhat jarring voice. Monica looked round.
Hendrie raised his ma.s.sive head.
"Eh? Oh--my wife." And he turned to his writing again.
Angus abruptly thrust a hand into his breast pocket and turned deliberately to Monica.
"I met Maybee last night--the postmaster," he said, drawing a letter from his pocket. "He handed me this mail, addressed to the post office, for you, Mrs. Hendrie. He asked me to hand it to you. Guess I forgot it this morning. P"raps it"s not important--seeing it was addressed to the post office."
For the life of her, Monica could not control the color of her cheeks, and Angus was quick to note their sudden pallor as he stood with the letter held out toward her.
She took it from him with a hand that was unsteady. Neither did this escape the cold eyes of the man.
Monica knew from whom the letter came. She knew without even glancing at the handwriting. Why had Frank written? She had seen him two evenings ago, and settled everything. She was terrified lest her husband should question her.
"Did he do right--sending it up?" There was a subtle irony in the Scot"s cold words that did not escape the ears of the millionaire. He looked round.
Without looking in her husband"s direction Monica became aware of his interest. With a great effort she pulled herself together.
"Quite right, Mr. Moraine," she said steadily, now smiling in her most gracious manner. "And thank you very much for taking such trouble. It has saved me a journey."
Angus abruptly withdrew. Nor was he quite sure whether he had achieved his purpose. As he pa.s.sed out of the house his doubt was still in his eyes. Nor, to judge by his general expression, was that purpose a kindly one.
The moment the door closed behind Angus, Hendrie swung round in his chair.
"Letters addressed to the post office? Why?" His steady eyes looked up into his wife"s face with an intentness that suddenly reminded her of the dreadful display of jealousy she had witnessed once before.
It was a desperate moment. It was one of those moments when it would have been far better to forget all else, and remember only her love for her husband, and trust to that alone. It was a moment when in a flash she saw the deadly side of the innocent deception she was practicing.
It was a moment when her soul cried out to her that she was definitely, criminally wrong in the course she had marked out for herself. And, in that moment, two roads distinctly opened up before her mind"s eye. One was narrow and threatening; the other, well, it looked the broader and easier of the two, and she plunged headlong down it.
She smiled back into his face. She held up the letter and waved it at him. She was acting. She bitterly knew she was acting.
"Ah," she cried, with a gayety she forced herself to. "You must have your big secrets from me, I must have my little ones from you. That"s only fair."
Hendrie smiled, but without warmth.