And it was in this wise, amid the crash of falling bombs, and the roar and clamour of our own guns, that Guy Spencer made the acquaintance of Stella Keane.
CHAPTER NINE.
They found shelter in one of the big cellars of the Restaurant, and Miss Keane by degrees got back some of her courage. There were about twenty other persons in the same refuge, and she probably derived fort.i.tude from their temporary companionship, and common danger. Tommy Esmond recovered himself very quickly, and hastened to observe the conventions.
"It is a queer time and place in which to make introductions," he remarked genially. "But even in times of peril, one should preserve the usages of good society. I don"t suppose you know the name of your gallant rescuer. Let me make you known, in a formal fashion. Mr Spencer--Miss Keane."
The beautiful Stella bowed her dark head, and the ghost of a smile flitted over her still pale face.
"I know Mr Spencer very well by sight. When I have recovered my wits, I will thank him properly and prettily. Perhaps he will come and see us at my cousin"s flat."
"I was bringing him on there to-night, as a matter of fact," explained Esmond. "But I presume all that is knocked on the head, even supposing we get out of this disgusting hole in reasonable time. Mrs L"Estrange won"t be in a mood to receive visitors, after this disquieting experience, I am sure."
"I am afraid you don"t know Mrs L"Estrange," replied the girl, with a little mocking laugh. Her tones were not yet quite steady, but she was rapidly recovering herself. "The card-tables were laid before we started, and we intended to be back early. If we get out safely from this disgusting hole, as you call it, my cousin will resume her ordinary pursuits, as if nothing had occurred to disturb them."
Desultory conversation, the irresponsible chatter of the drawing-room kind, was almost impossible under the circ.u.mstances. And although Miss Keane did her best to a.s.sume a brave front, it was easy to see that she was inwardly quivering. At every roar of the guns, she shivered all over, and her cheek alternately flushed and then grew deadly pale with her inward terror.
"Poor child," whispered Spencer to his companion; "she must be a bundle of nerves. Every second, she is experiencing the pangs of death in antic.i.p.ation. By the way, the gallant Desmond doesn"t seem to have troubled himself much about her. If I hadn"t taken her forcibly away, I believe she would be rooted to that chair now."
Esmond shrugged his shoulders. "Of course, a chap like Desmond doesn"t know the meaning of fear, and he can"t understand the sensation in others. The other woman took possession of him, and dragged him away.
No doubt, he thought she was following. Mrs L"Estrange, so far as I can judge, would never think of anything but number one."
And as Spencer"s glance stole to the fair face, he felt a strange feeling of pity for her. The poignant happenings of the last few moments had revealed to him her loneliness, the tragedy of her dependence upon others. In a supreme moment of peril, she, who ought to have lovers and friends by the score, was left by herself, and thrown upon the compa.s.sion of a stranger.
An anxious half-hour pa.s.sed, and then messengers came down with tidings of a rea.s.suring nature. The raiders had been driven off, after inflicting considerable damage. Gay London was free to pursue its natural course of pleasure.
At once the tension was relaxed. Drooping forms resumed an erect carriage, the roses bloomed again in the pale cheeks of the women.
There was a flutter, a stir. They all moved away from the refuge which had been so welcome, and now had become unbearable.
In the hall they encountered the Colonel, cool and collected, as if he were on parade, Mrs L"Estrange fluttering and full of protestations.
"Oh, my poor Stella! I have been distracted about you. Why did you not follow us? I thought you were close behind us all the time, till we got to one of these abominable cellars, and looked back to find you were missing."
The Colonel pulled at his moustache a little nervously.
"I shall never forgive myself, Miss Keane, not to have a.s.sured myself you were with us at the start. I would have come back to search for you, but Mrs L"Estrange was in such a nervous state I could not leave her." Miss Keane answered him very coldly, and to her cousin she did not vouchsafe any reply.
"Please do not apologise. It was a question of _sauve qui peut_.
Fortunately, I found some kind friends who took compa.s.sion on a forlorn damsel, shaking and terror-stricken." She turned to Mrs L"Estrange.
"Mr Esmond is, of course, an old friend. But you do not know Mr Spencer who got to me first."
Mrs L"Estrange was quite equal to the occasion; she extended her perfectly-gloved hand with an air of effusive cordiality.
"A thousand thanks to you both. My darling Stella was fortunate in finding such protectors. We are both terrible cowards, I don"t know which is the greater."
"I, without question," flashed out Miss Keane. "Otherwise I should have had the sense to scurry away like yourself. We were both frightened rabbits, but you could run to a place of safety while I stood paralysed."
Mrs L"Estrange turned away the awkward thrust with a charming smile.
"I have made up my mind to one thing," she remarked with an air of conviction. "Never, so long as the War lasts, will I dine out of my own home. This night"s experience has taught me a lesson. I don"t want a second one."
At this juncture, Tommy Esmond interposed. "I was going to bring my friend Spencer round to you to-night. But I suppose you feel a bit too shattered, eh? You would like to get home and rest."
"Oh dear, no!" replied the lady vivaciously. "I never alter my habits for anything or anybody. Let us all go along at once. I will go with Colonel Desmond. You and Mr Spencer can continue your charge of Stella." But Guy had a small duty to perform. "I think if you will excuse me, I will join you a little later. I want to go round to inquire after my uncle and cousin. He is a very old man, and I should like to know he is quite safe."
So it was arranged. The others drove off to Mrs L"Estrange"s flat, and Spencer, finding he would have some time to wait for a taxi, walked to Carlton House Terrace, where Lord Southleigh had his town house.
The footman who opened the door informed him that his lordship and Lady Nina were still in the dining-room with a small party. The earl had taken it all very calmly, and his daughter, who, unlike poor Stella Keane, was a young woman of remarkable courage, had not been disturbed at all.
"Are they alone, Robert?"
"No, sir, two old friends of his lordship"s came to dinner to-night and are still with them. But, of course, they will be glad to see you."
However, his duty being performed, and learning that all was satisfactory, Spencer thought he might, as well get along to the flat.
He had been strangely attracted by the beautiful girl, whom even her obvious terror and lack of self-control could not deprive of her charm.
"No, I won"t come in. Tell them I called round to make sure they were all safe. And say to her ladyship I will look in to-morrow afternoon about tea-time."
He went into his club for a few moments to see if there were any letters, and half an hour later was at Mrs L"Estrange"s door.
She occupied the first floor of an imposing block of flats, recently erected in one of the semi-fashionable quarters of London. She might not be in very affluent circ.u.mstances, as Esmond had hinted, but she would have to pay a very handsome rent for her abode.
The door was opened by a decorous-looking butler, with the air of one who had served in good families. A man pa.s.sed out as Spencer entered.
He was a good-looking young fellow of about twenty-five, in khaki.
Spencer knew him well by sight as the eldest son and heir of a rich brewer.
His face did not wear a very happy expression. It did not require a Sherlock Holmes to surmise that his visit had been an expensive one, and that he was hurrying away to avoid further temptation.
In the centre of a rather s.p.a.cious hall, Stella Keane and Tommy Esmond stood chatting.
She greeted the newcomer with a bright and friendly smile. She no longer looked pale, in fact he thought there was a slight suspicion of rouge on the fair cheeks. She was too good-looking to need the aid of art, but perhaps she wanted to conceal the ravages inflicted on her beauty by that terrible time at the "Excelsior."
"You are not very long after us. I conclude you found your friends were quite safe."
She had gathered from the garrulous Tommy what she had not known before, that Spencer was next in succession to the earldom, also that Lord Southleigh had a very pretty daughter, who was an accomplished young sportswoman, a daring rider to hounds, an adept at golf, fishing, and other pastimes of a strenuous nature.
She had p.r.i.c.ked up her ears at mention of the cousin. Artfully she pumped Tommy as to whether there was any tender feeling between the relatives.
But Tommy could give no information on this point. Spencer was a very reticent man about his private affairs, he explained. Personally, he should not consider him particularly susceptible to female influence.
But he had heard that the old earl, who had a shockingly weak heart, and was likely to go off at any moment, would have viewed a marriage between the cousins with favour.
She mused over his words. He did not think him particularly susceptible to female influence. And yet she was sure there was admiration, open, undisguised admiration, in the glances he had bestowed upon her to-night. He was evidently not deeply in love with his pretty sporting cousin, or she would have been Mrs Guy Spencer before now, a.s.suming, of course, that she was ready to obey her father"s wishes.
It was after a short silence that Miss Keane put a somewhat abrupt question to him: "Are you fond of play, Mr Spencer? Everybody is who comes here."
"Not really. I am a very lukewarm gambler. I don"t mind a little flutter now and then, as a diversion. I always enjoy a small gamble at Monte Carlo, for example, but I never get carried away. When I have lost enough, I stop. Nothing could induce me to stake another _sou_."
"Can you stop as easily when you are winning? That, I fancy, is where the self-control comes in. But I think I am rather glad you are not one of the infatuated ones. I was brought up in an atmosphere of gambling."