_Chapter XII_
It was mid-afternoon when Gloria and Gratton came to the log house inthe woods. Jim Spalding, coming to take their horses away to the stable,though a man of no wild flights of imagination and given to minding hisown business, was plainly curious.
"We rode on ahead, Jim," Gloria told him, and Jim detected no falsenote in her gaiety. "Mamma is coming."
Spalding gave them a key and they went to the house. It was Gloria whounlocked the door; Gratton, his white face looking more than everbloodless, saw her hand tremble. She hurried in, excused herself, andran upstairs. She knew that the time had come when she would have tolisten to what Gratton was going to say; she knew what the burden of hisplea would be--she knew everything, she thought wildly, except what heranswer would be.
She heard Gratton stirring restlessly downstairs. He walked up and down,snapping his fingers incessantly, a habit which in the man bespokenervousness. He sat at the piano and the keys jangled under his touch;he got up and walked again. He was waiting for her to come down; he wasshaping in mind the words which would greet her before she had comefairly to the bottom of the stairs.
Gloria turned into her own room, locking the door behind her. She lookedat herself in her glass; she was pale, her eyes looked unnaturally bigand brilliant. She bit her lips and turned away. From her blouse shebrought out the parcel her father had entrusted to her, slipping itunder her mattress, smoothing the counterpane when she had done. Then,with but one clear thought in the world, that of getting into immediatetouch with her mother, she went to the telephone.
On this floor, in a cosy little room opening upon the upstairssun-porch, was an extension telephone, installed for the convenience ofGloria and her mother. Gloria went tiptoeing to it rather than go downwhere Gratton was. She rang the necessary bell for the operator inTruckee and put in her long-distance call in low tones which demanded arepetition before the operator got it right. Then she sat with theinstrument in her hand, waiting. Once she heard Gratton's step close tothe stairs and jumped to her feet, thinking that he was coming up. Buthe passed by and the house grew silent again.
She wondered when Mark King would come! Thisafternoon--to-night--to-morrow? Spalding had said nothing; she had notmentioned King to Spalding, since she had not mentioned him to Grattonduring the long ride----
Her telephone bell rang. After the irritating way of telephones, she wasput presently into communication with Mrs. Gaynor.
"Gloria! Gloria! Is that you?" Her mother's voice sounded strange inGloria's ears--shaken with emotion.
"Yes, mamma. I----"
"What has happened, child? Tell me, quick! I am nearly dead with worry.Are you all right?"
"Of course, mamma. I----"
"But _where_ are you? Where were you all night? Are you sure everythingis all right?"
Never had Gloria known her extremely clear-headed mother to be so wildlydisturbed, so nervously incoherent.
"I have told you I am all right. I am up in the mountains, at our loghouse. Didn't Mr. Gratton tell you----?"
"Mr. Gratton?" Mrs. Gaynor was only more mystified. "He has told menothing; I haven't seen him. I tried to phone him--oh, I have phonedeverybody we know!--and he is out of town, and----"
But Gloria, panic-stricken by something her mother had said, cried:
"You have phoned _everybody!_ Oh, mamma! What--_what_ do you mean?"
"When you didn't come in last night--I have been crazy with worry! Ithought you might be spending the night with one of your friends; Ithought that maybe something had happened and it was being kept from me.I rang up Georgia Stark and Mildred Carter and the Farrilees--and eventhe emergency hospitals. I thought----"
The rest was only a meaningless buzzing in Gloria's ears; she satspeechless herself, bereft of all reason for a dull moment, thenharbouring quick, clear thoughts, as swift, as vivid as lightning, andin the end as blinding by their very quality of blazing light. _Thenewspapers!_
Still, dominated subconsciously by the thought which had brought her tothe telephone, Gloria managed before the connection was broken to begher mother to come immediately to her at the log house; to tell everyone that Gloria was with her father. Her mother promised; began askingquestions, and Gloria said a bleak "good-bye" and hung up.
_The newspapers_. She sat there staring into space and seeing the SanFrancisco _Chronicle_ and _Examiner_, hawked by newsboys, on stands,thrust under doors, going like spreading snowflakes of a big storm intopost-offices, to racing trains, all over the land. Her mother hadtelephoned the emergency hospitals! Gloria could have wept in rage,screamed, thrown herself down and given over to paroxysms of weeping.But she only sat on, her face whiter and whiter, looking into emptinessand seeing headlines that towered as high as immense black cliffs. Hermother had telephoned Mildred Carter, that hateful, hateful,thrice-hateful Mildred Carter; had confessed that Gloria had gone outwith Mr. Gratton; was gone all night, no one knew where; Mildred Carterwho was as good as married to Bob Dwight of the _Chronicle_! And theemergency hospitals--Gloria with never a tear coming in her hour ofgreatest distress sat rocking back and forth on her chair, crying: "Oh,I wish I were dead!"
As one hears noises through a dream, long powerless to connect themlogically with familiar happenings, so now did Gloria absently hearkento Gratton calling from the foot of the stairs. She jumped up only whenshe heard him start to mount them. Then, galvanized, she sprang to herfeet, cried to him, "I'll be down in just a second," and ran to herroom. She stood again looking at herself in her glass.
"Gloria Gaynor," she heard her own pale lips say, "you have gottenyourself into a nasty, nasty mess." The lips began to tremble; then,with a great struggle for will-power, they steadied. "And," said Gloriain a cold, harsh little voice, "it's up to you, and no one else, to getout the best you can this time."
She bathed her face and hands; she rubbed her cheeks with a towel,determined to bring some vestige of colour back; she took down her hair.Only then, so distrait to-day was Gloria, did she think of changing fromher boyish suit into a house dress. Her eyes, which had harboured onlybewilderment and terror, now grew speculative. She brought from hercloset half a dozen dresses; chose a certain pink one without analysingthe reasons of her selection, found silk stockings and pumps, anddressed from top to toe. She would have to have it out with Gratton, oneway or the other--she began to know which way it would be. But always agirl should be at her best. Also, she decided, by the time that she wasbecomingly gowned and her hair arranged tastefully, it was as well tolet Gratton wait for her a while; waiting always, to some extent,brought to the one cooling his heels a sense of disadvantage. In short,Gloria had gone through the most panicky of her moments and was gettinga grip on herself again. When, after Gratton had waited and fumed forupward of an hour, she went downstairs she looked cool and pretty, andquite unembarrassed. He flashed a look at her that was eloquent ofnervous excitement.
"I want to explain everything to you, Gloria----"
"It will take a good deal of explaining, won't it, Mr. Gratton?"
They went into the living-room and Gloria sat in a big chair while hestood before her, his fingers tapping and tapping at his cigarette-case.
"You listened-in while I talked with mamma, didn't you?" she saidcarelessly.
"No!" said Gratton, but so promptly that she knew he lied.
"Well?" she said indifferently. "Suppose we have the explanations now? Iam sure that they will prove interesting."
"I am afraid," he began, talking swiftly, "that I have been instrumentalin placing you in a false position. Last night I told you I hadtelephoned to your mother. I did try; they reported the line out oforder. What could I do? I didn't want to alarm you. It was only a lark;I meant innocently, you know that, don't you, Gloria?"
"Did you?" she said, and managed to keep her lips smiling.
"It is only since coming here that I have realized how things will look;what people will think--and say, curse them. Our being out so longtogether; my buying clothing for you----"
"Our being registered as Mr. and Mrs. Gratton----"
His eyes burned, his lips clamped tight.
"Forgive me, Gloria! It was the mad impulse of a moment. I thought as wewent in that it would look strange--a young, unmarried couple; that if Iput down man and wife no one would think anything at all. And we'd begone in a few hours; and probably you'd never go back there; and no onewould know who you were."
"I see." Gloria's tone, devoid of expression, gave no clue to her racingthoughts. "You did that for my sake!"
"Yes," he said eagerly. "As I would do anything on earth for your sake.You know that, Gloria; you know, and have known for a longtime--always--that I love you. I was going to ask you soon to--to marryme, Gloria. And now, now you will marry me, won't you?"
"Yes." But Gloria did not say it aloud; not yet. She merely made itperfectly clear to Miss Gloria Gaynor that she was going to marryGratton, and that there was to be no further question of it. And, oh,God! at this fateful moment, how she hated him! How she loathed anddetested him! While a week ago--yesterday--she had wondered, dreamily,if she were in love with him! But that was when he was in the city, athome in his own wilderness. But now! She was in a trap. This man hadmade it, cunningly using in his work all that he knew of Gloria Gaynor.There was no way out, save through the gate of matrimony. And--in herheart she laughed at him--through that other wider gate beyond, thegate of divorce. She would accept his name; the name of Gratton stoodhigh in San Francisco. Then she would tell him how she loathed him; shewould laugh at him, for physically she had no fear of him. And he wouldnever have her for his own, despite all of his money and his positionand his hideous trickery. Gratton, with all of his shrewdness, had nottaken into consideration one thing: how in the city, on his nativeheath, he attracted Gloria; how in the woods he impressed her, in hisunbecoming outdoor togs, as contemptible.
"You know how I love you," he was repeating. And he was sincere; she sawthat in his eyes, in the unaccustomed colour in his face. He loved heras such an unclean animal could love. Oh, how he sickened her! "Will youmarry me, Gloria? Will you forgive me for having, howeverunintentionally, placed you in a wrong light? Will you give me the rightto protect you, to defend your good name? Oh, Gloria----"
Strange that the man had never revolted her as he did now! She wanted toget up and run from him. Meantime she was telling herself, almostcalmly: "Yes, you'll marry him. The little beast!" She did get to herfeet; he followed her into the hall.
"Let me be alone for a little while," she said quietly. She went to thestairway. "I am going upstairs; wait here for me----"
"You will come to me? You will marry me?"
"I--think--so. Don't!" she cried sharply as he moved to come to her."Wait----"
He swallowed nervously. "I--I hoped you would. And I saw how terriblythe events of the last few hours might be misconstrued. So, Gloria,daring to hope, I sent word for a justice of the peace. He will be herethis afternoon or this evening----"
"Justice of the peace!" Gloria's nerves jangled loose in herirrepressible laughter.
"We'll have a priest later, of course," he ran on hurriedly. "But Icouldn't arrange for one so soon."
Gloria went slowly upstairs, walking backward, looking down on him withunfathomable eyes.
"Tell me, Gloria. I'll promise not to come near you until you say Imay. Is it _yes_?"
"Yes," said Gloria, and was gone in a flash, turning, running up and outof sight.
He stood looking after her, tapping and tapping at his cigarette-case.