Wild Margaret. Garvice Charles

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СКАЧАТЬ – and Ketton must go?" she said, in a tone of satisfaction.

      "Ketton must go the way of the rest," he assented.

      She nodded, her small eyes shining brightly – too brightly.

      "Ketton gone; there is not much left to fall back upon, is there?"

      "No, not much," he replied.

      "And – and he will not pull up; will not retrench? You will prevent that?" and she looked at him anxiously.

      He did not reply, but his silence was significant enough.

      "And he thinks you his best friend, his Fides Achates. Poor Blair!" and she laughed. "All his money gone, and his estates; Ketton is the last! Yes, he cannot keep the pace much longer. He will be – what do you men call it? – 'stone broke,' and then – and then!" She drew a long breath, and her lips closed and opened. "And then he will come to me! He must come!" she exclaimed, her hand trembling. "He will come back to me, and – " She stopped suddenly, arrested by a look in his cold secretive eyes. "Is there anything else? Have you told me all?"

      He was silent a moment, and she accosted him with an exclamation of impatient impetuosity.

      "What else is there? Why do you sit there silent, if there is anything else to tell? Do you remember our bargain?"

      "Yes, I remember it," he said, after a moment's pause, during which he looked, not at her, but just over her head, in the manner which Captain Floyd found so objectionable. "It is not so long ago that I should forget it. It was made in this room. I had the presumption to offer you – "

      "Never mind that!" she broke in, but as if she had not spoken he went on in his cold, impassive manner.

      "I had the presumption to offer you my hand, to beg yours! I was fool enough to imagine that your smiles and your sweet words were intended to signify that such an offer would not meet with a refusal. It was a mistake! I had forgotten that I was poor, and that you were rich. You recalled me to my senses by a laugh, which I hear still – "

      "What is the use – " she tried to break in with, but he went on.

      "Most men, I believe, placed in a like position, that of a rejected suitor, implore the lady who refuses them her love to grant them her friendship. I did so. But while most men mean nothing by it, I meant a great deal. If I could not have you for myself, I was ready to serve you as a grand vizier serves his sultan, or a slave its master. You accepted my offer. It was not I you wanted, but another man; that man was Blair Leyton."

      "You – you put it plainly," she murmured, biting her lip.

      He looked over her head.

      "Yes. Truth is natural, always," he said. "I undertook to help you to gain him, asking for no definite reward, but trusting to your generosity."

      "You shall ask for what you like. I will grant it," she said, "you know that."

      "Yes," he said, "I know that," but his response was uttered with a significance which she did not appreciate. "You and he were engaged, the engagement is broken off; it is my task to see that it is renewed. I am engaged in that task now. Between us, it is understood there should be no concealment. Concealments would be fatal. You ask me to tell you all concerning this visit of Blair to the Court. I intend doing so. There is not much difficulty, for I have just left Blair, who has found out his heart after his fashion."

      "His heart! About what?" she demanded, taking up her tea cup.

      "About a girl he met there," he said, quietly and coldly.

      The fragile and priceless piece of porcelain fell crushed by her fingers.

      He rose courteously and picked up the fragments.

      "It will spoil the set," he remarked, coolly.

      "Girl – girl! What girl?" she demanded.

      She was white to the lips, and her gray eyes seemed to have grown dark, almost black.

      "A girl whom he found staying in the house," he rejoined, with a cool ease that maddened her. "I can describe her, for Blair was minute to weariness. She is tall, graceful, has auburn hair, large and expressive eyes, a small mouth, a clear, musical voice, an angelic smile – "

      She put up her hand.

      "Are – are you saying all this to – to play with me?" she said, and her voice was almost hoarse.

      He raised his brows and looked above her head with an air of surprise.

      "No. They are his own words," he said.

      "And – and you think he is in" – she paused; something seemed to stop her utterance for a moment – "he is in love with this girl?"

      He sat silent for a moment.

      "If he is to be believed, he is most certainly," he responded, coldly; "very much in love – head over heels! He raved about her for nearly an hour by the clock; I timed him."

      She sprung to her feet and moved to and fro, her tiny hand clutching the riding-whip until the nails ran into her soft, pink palm. Then she stopped suddenly and looked at him.

      "And this – this girl?" she said. "Who is she?"

      "The daughter – no, to be exact, the granddaughter of the earl's housekeeper," he said slowly, as if he enjoyed it.

      She panted and drew her breath heavily.

      "A servant!" she exclaimed, and she laughed, a cruel unwomanly laugh.

      "By no means," he said. "She is, according to Blair, and he is a fair judge, a lady. She is an artist, and is copying the pictures in the Court gallery."

      Her face grew white and anxious again.

      "What – what is her name?" she demanded, and her voice was hard and hoarse.

      He took an ivory tablet from his pocket and consulted it.

      "Her name is Margaret – a pretty name; reminds one of Faust, doesn't it? Margaret Hale."

      "Margaret Hale," she repeated slowly; then she came and stood in front of him, her gray eyes as hard as steel, her lips drawn across her white, even teeth. "And he – you say – he is in love with her?"

      He shrugged his shoulders.

      "He says so," he said coldly.

      "And – and he speaks of marrying her?"

      "Apparently it is the one and absorbing desire of his life," he responded in exactly the same manner.

      She opened her lips as if about to speak again, then sank on to a couch in silence.

      He rose.

      "I'll go," he said.

      "Wait!" she said, and she stretched out her hand with the whip in it. "Austin, this – this, must be stopped, prevented – " she spoke with a panting breathlessness. "You – you understand. It must be prevented, at all costs, at any risks! You will do it! Promise me! Remember our bargain! Ask what you please, I will grant it. Half – every penny I possess – anything! СКАЧАТЬ