CHAPTER XXII. A CASE FOR TWO
As Bobs left the small shop, she glanced at her watch, and finding thatit was nearly four, she hastened her steps, recalling that that was thehour when she might expect a call from the young lawyer. As she turnedthe corner at the East River, she saw a small, smart-looking auto drawingup at the curb in front of the Pensinger mansion, and from it leaped afashionably groomed young man. Truly an unusual sight in that part of NewYork's East Side, where the clothes, ill-fitting even at best, descendedfrom father to son, often made smaller by merely being haggled off at armand ankle. No wonder that Ralph Caldwaller-Cory was the object of many anadmiring glance from the dark eyes of the young Hungarian women who, withgayly colored shawls over their heads, at that moment were passing ontheir way to the tobacco factory; but Ralph was quite unconscious oftheir scrutiny, for, having seen Bobs approaching, he hastened to meether, hat in hand, his good-looking, clean-shaven face glowing withanticipation.
"Have you found a clue as yet, Miss Vandergrift?" he asked eagerly, whengreetings had been exchanged.
Roberta laughed. "No, and I'll have to confess that I haven't given thematter a moment's thought since we parted three hours ago."
"Is that all it has been? To me it has seemed three centuries." The boysaid this so sincerely that Roberta believed that he must be greatlyinterested in the Pensinger mystery. It did not enter her remotestthought that he might also be interested in her. Having reached themansion, Bobs led the way up the wide stone steps, saying: "I do hopeGloria and Lena May are at home. I want my sisters to meet you."
But no one was to be seen. Gwen was still in her room, while the othergirls had not returned from the Settlement House.
"Well, there's another time coming." Bobs flashed a smile at hercompanion, then led the way to the wide fireplace, where comfortablechairs awaited them, and they seated themselves facing the still burningembers.
"I say, Miss Vandergrift," Ralph began, "you're a girl and you ought toknow better than I just what another girl, even though she livedseventy-five years ago, would do under the circumstances with which weare both familiar. If you loved a man, of whom your mother did notapprove, would you really drown yourself, or would you marry him andpermit your parents to believe that you were dead?"
Bobs sat so long gazing into the fire that the lad, earnestly watchingher, wondered at her deep thought.
At last she spoke. "I couldn't have hurt my mother that way," she said,and there were tears in the hazel eyes that were lifted to her companion."I would have known that her dearest desire would be for my ultimatehappiness."
"But mothers are different, we will have to confess," the lad declared."Marilyn's may have thought only of social fitness." Then, as he glancedabout the old salon and up at the huge crystal chandeliers, he added: "Ijudge that the Pensingers were people of great wealth in those early daysand probably leaders in society."
"I believe that they were," Roberta agreed, "but my mother had adifferent standard. She believed that mental and soul companionshipshould be the big thing in marriage, and for that matter, so do I."
Ralph felt awed. This was a very different girl from the hoidenish youngwould-be detective with whom he had so brief an acquaintance.
"Miss Vandergrift," he said impulsively, "I wish I had a sister like you,and wouldn't my mother be pleased, though, if you were her daughter. Agirl, I am sure, would have been more of a comfort and companion to herwhen my brother Desmond died." Then he added, after a moment of silence:"I can get your point of view, all right. I wouldn't break my mother'sheart by pretending to drown myself, not even if the heavens fell."
"I'd like to know your mother," Roberta said. "She must be a wonderfulwoman."
"She is!" the lad declared. "I want you to meet her as soon as shereturns. Just now she is touring the West with friends, but, to get backto Marilyn Pensinger. From the little that we know of her family, Iconclude that her mother was a snob and placed social distinction aboveher daughter's happiness. But, the very fact that the father made hiswill as he did, proves, doesn't it, that he loved his daughter moresincerely? He did not cut her off with a shilling when he believed thatshe had eloped with a foreign musician. Instead, he arranged so that adescendant of that Hungarian, whose name we do not even know, wouldinherit all that Mr. Pensinger possessed. But this isn't getting usanywhere. Do you happen to know anyone who has recently come over fromHungary?"
Bobs smiled. "Wouldn't that be grasping at straws?"
"Maybe, but do you?"
Roberta thought a moment, then looked up brightly. "I believe I do. Atleast I know a Hungarian. His name is Mr. Hardinian and he is doingsocial welfare work. He speaks perfect English, however, and may havebeen born in this country. Suppose we go over to his clubhouse andinterview him."
Then, as she rose, she added: "You will like Mr. Hardinian. He has suchbeautiful eyes."
Ralph laughed as he also arose. "Is that a girl's reason for liking aman?" he inquired. Then he added, "Would I were a Hungarian that I mighthave interesting eyes. As it is, mine are the plain, unromantic Americanvariety."
Roberta smiled at her new friend, but what she said showed that herthought was far from the subject: "Before we go, I want to be sure thatmy sister, Gwen, is comfortable."
Gwendolyn was sleeping so quietly that Roberta believed she would notawaken before Lena May's return, and so, beckoning the lad to follow, sheleft the house, closing the door softly. Ralph turned and looked back atthe upper windows of the rooms that were not occupied, as he inquired:"Do you have a hunch that the old mansion holds the clue we are seeking?"
Roberta's reply was: "Only the ghost of Marilyn knows."
When the two partner-detectives were in the small, luxurious car, andgoing very slowly, because of the congested traffic down First Avenue,Ralph said: "Tell me a little about your sisters and yourself that I mayfeel better acquainted." And so, briefly, Roberta told the story of theircoming to the East Side to live.
"I say, Miss Vandergrift, that certainly was hard luck, losing the fineold place that your family had supposed was its own for so manygenerations." Then the lad added with sincere admiration: "You girlscertainly are trumps! I'm mighty glad I met you, and I hope you'll beglad, too, some day."
"Why, Mr. Caldwaller-Cory, I'm glad right this very moment," Robertaassured him in so impersonal a manner that the lad did not feel greatlyflattered. Indeed, he was rather pleased that this was so. Being the sonof a famous judge, possessed of good looks, charming manners and all themoney he wished to spend, Ralph had been greatly sought after by the fondmothers of the girls in his set, if not by the maidens themselves, and itseemed rather an interesting change to meet a girl whose interest in himwas not personal.
After a silent moment in which the lad's entire attention had beencentered on extricating his small auto from a crush of trucks,vegetable-laden push-carts and foreign pedestrians, he turned and smiledat his companion. "Let's turn over to Central Park now," he suggested."It's a little round about, I'll agree, but it will be pleasanterriding."
It was decidedly out of their way, but a glance at her wrist watchassured Roberta that Lena May would have returned to be with Gwen by thattime, and so she was in no especial hurry.
How beautiful the park seemed after the thronged noisy East Side with itsmingled odors from tobacco, fish markets, and general squalor.
"There, now we can talk," Ralph said as he drove slowly along one of thewinding avenues under a canopy formed by wide-spreading trees. "Whatshall it be about?"
"You," Roberta replied. "Tell me about yourself."
"There isn't much to tell," the lad began. "My brother Desmond and I grewup in a happy home. During the winter months we attended a boys' schoolup the Hudson, and each summer vacation we traveled with our parents. Wehave been about everywhere, I do believe. Desmond and I were all in allto each other. We were twins. Perhaps that was why we seemed to love eachother even more than brothers usually do. I di
d not feel the need of anyother boy companion, and when at last we entered college we werepermitted to be roommates. In our Sophomore year, Desmond died, and Ididn't much care what happened after that. It seemed as though I nevercould room with another chap; but at last the dormitories were so crowdedthat I had to take a fellow in. That was two years ago, and today Dick DeLaney is as close to me as Desmond was, almost, not quite, of course. Noone will ever be that. But, I tell you, Miss Vandergrift, Dick is a finechap, clear through to the core. I'd bank on Dick's doing the honorablething, come what might. I'm a year older than he is, and he won't finishuntil June, then he's coming on here to little old New York and spend amonth with me. I say, Miss Vandergrift, I'd like to have you meet him."
Roberta smiled. "I've been waiting for you to come to a period that Imight tell you that Dick De Laney and I were playmates when we worepinafores. You see, they were our next-door neighbors." Bobs said this inso matter-of-fact a tone that Ralph did not think for one moment thatthis could be the girl his pal had once told him that he loved and hopedto win.
If only Ralph had realized this, much so might have been saved for one ofthem.