CHAPTER XXII
MISS WILLIFRED DECLARES HERSELF
I glanced at the various rooms up stairs, but nothing seemed exactlysuitable for our purpose, and, finally, taking a trooper along to hold alight, explored the basement with better results. Here I found aconsiderable cellar, divided into two sections, the floor of stoneslabs, and the walls well bricked. Iron bars, firmly set, protected thesmall windows, and altogether the place appeared favorable for ourpurpose. To be sure, desperate prisoners could not be confined in suchquarters for any length of time, but it would answer temporarily,providing we left a guard within. Satisfied as to this, after fixing upa stout bar across the door, I returned to the first floor, and gaveorders to have the men taken below. We could not differentiate betweenofficers and privates, but robbed the rooms up stairs of bed-clothing,and thus made them as comfortable as possible. Bell and the clergy-manmade voluble protests, but yielded to the inevitable, being persuaded bythe revolvers of the guards to accompany the others. So far as armswent we were now well supplied, having added to our original equipmentthe officers' pistols, and the carbines of the men captured in thestable. This matter settled I turned to the consideration of the case ofthe two men remaining in the front parlor.
Here was a more serious problem, for I could not herd Major Hardy withthose fellows below, nor was I willing to humiliate Le Gaire by any suchtreatment. Not that I thought him too good to associate with theseothers, but Billie must not think I was actuated by any feelings ofrevenge. I talked the situation over with the sergeant, who proved ahard-headed, practical man, and we decided upon an upstairs room, overthe kitchen, which had only one small window, through which a man ofordinary size could hardly crawl. I went up to examine this morecarefully, and to nail down the window frame. As I came out into thehall again, rather dreading the impending interview in the parlor, I sawher coming alone up the broad stairway. She did not see me until herfoot was upon the last step, and then she stopped, suddenly, one handgripping the rail, her cheeks burning. One glance into her eyes causedme to nerve myself for an unpleasant session.
"I have been waiting for you to return," she said very coldly, yet witha slight falter in the voice, "and when I spoke to the sergeant, he saidyou were up here."
I bowed, hat in hand, and waited, unwilling to speak until I knewsomething of her purpose.
"Lieutenant Galesworth, what is the meaning of all this? What do youpropose doing with my father and Captain Le Gaire?"
"Did they send you to me to find out?"
"No; father merely supposed I was going to my own room after something Ineeded."
"And Le Gaire?" I insisted.
She looked at me frankly, her eyes utterly fearless.
"We have scarcely spoken, and--and he certainly would never have advisedmy coming to you. I came of my own volition, because--well, because youclaimed this was all a service to me. I--I do not understand what youmeant, or--or why you hold us prisoners."
I thought I saw light now. She forced herself to be angry with me, butface to face was unable to carry out the programme.
"Will you come up here, Miss Billie?" I asked. "Let us take this setteea moment, and I will endeavor to explain. We are alone here, and I wouldnot care to talk freely before the others. I prefer them to think thisis purely a military affair, don't you?"
She hesitated, biting her lip, and standing motionless. My hand wasextended, but she ignored it, yet, after a moment, she stepped up besideme, her hand on the settee.
"It--it is not a military affair then?"
"Only incidentally--I told you the truth before."
"I--I do not remember."
"Perhaps I failed to make all clear; indeed, I was a little hazy myself,events crowded upon us so rapidly. Won't you sit down while I talk?"
She sank upon the settee, as though to an order, looking into my face,with an expression in her eyes I was unable to comprehend.
"I have wanted to see you alone," I began, determined there should be nolack of courage on my part. "There is no longer need of any secretsbetween us. We have met only once before to-night, but that meeting wasof such a character that we were instantly acquainted. To be sure wewere working at cross-purposes, and you outwitted me, but later yousquared all that by saving me from capture."
"Why go over that unfortunate occurrence?" she interrupted. "Do you notsuppose I regret that enough already?"
"I doubt if you regret it at all."
"But I do--I haven't had a moment's peace since."
"Indeed! Why?" and I bent lower, eager to read her eyes. "Because evenin that little time you had learned to care for me?"
"Your words are insolent," rising to her feet, proudly, but I remaineddirectly in her path.
"No, Miss Willifred," earnestly, "they are not, because they come fromthe heart. You are a woman, and therefore you understand. You cannot beangry with me, no matter how hard you try. You are endeavoring todeceive yourself, but the effort is useless. You do care for me--thatwas why you waited for me to get safely across the river; that was whyyou have come to me now. Ever since I left you in the grape arbor I havebeen in your thoughts."
"And why I was also about to marry Captain Le Gaire, I suppose," sheinterposed defiantly, but with eyes unable to meet mine.
"I can comprehend that easily enough, helped by what I overheard. Youcannot tell me you desired to marry Captain Le Gaire--can you?"
"No," for I stopped, and thus compelled an answer. "It would be uselessto deny that."
"I was so sure of this that I acted, took the one course open to me toprevent your doing this wrong. I deliberately determined to risk yourdispleasure rather than permit the sacrifice. You were marrying himmerely because you had promised, because you could not explain to yourfather why your feelings had changed--you were afraid to confess thatyou loved a Yankee."
"But I didn't--it was not that!"
"Then what was it?"
She remained silent, but now I was fully aroused.
"Billie," my voice low, and barely reaching her ear. "When I rode awaythat night I knew I loved you. I was a Yankee soldier, but I had beencaptured by a Rebel. I scarcely possessed a hope then of meeting youagain, but I did believe you already realized what kind of a man LeGaire was. I could not conceive that you would marry him, and I swore tomyself to seek you out at the earliest moment possible. Don't draw backfrom me, dear, but listen--you must listen. This means as much to youas to me."
"But I cannot--I must not."
"What is there to prevent? Your pride of the South? Your adherence tothe Confederacy? I care nothing for that; we are not Rebel and Yankee,but man and woman. As to Le Gaire, I have no respect for his claim uponyou, nor would your father have if he knew the truth. It is all anaccident our meeting again, but it was one of God's accidents. Ithought I was sent here to capture Johnston, but my real mission was tosave you. I've gone too far now to retreat. So have you."
"I?" in half indignant surprise.
"Dear, do you suppose I would dare this if I doubted you?--if I did notbelieve your heart was mine?"
"And if convinced otherwise, what would you do?"
The tone in which this was spoken, the swift question startled me.
"Do? Why, there would be nothing to do, except return."
"Leaving your prisoners?"
I glanced out through the nearest window, noting the sky growing gray inthe east, and suddenly realized that, if we succeeded in getting awayourselves now, the transporting of Confederates under guard would bescarcely possible. She seemed to read all this in my face, before Icould frame an answer.
"I have listened to you, Lieutenant Galesworth," she burst forth,"because I had to. You have had everything your own way thus far, butnow it is my turn. I am a woman, a woman of the South, a soldier'sdaughter, and am not likely to surrender my heart, my principles, mylife before such an assault. You have taken too much for granted;because I have not wished to hurt you, you have believed my silenceindicative of love; you have construed friends
hip into devotion. Now itis my turn to speak. I did like you, and helped you; without doubt I wasindiscreet, but I thought only of friendship, supposing we would partthen, never to meet again. Under those circumstances," and her voicefaltered slightly, "it may be that I said and did more than I should,enough--well, enough to encourage you. But--but I thought it all overwith. You knew of Captain Le Gaire, and that should have beensufficient. Yet you come here, in face of all this, and--and dare tomake love to me."
"But you are forgetting what I overheard--the fact that I know your realfeelings toward Le Gaire."
"No, I do not forget, but that was nothing--nothing to do with you. Itwas merely the result of a mood, a whim, a lovers' quarrel. No, don'tspeak, don't stop me. I am not going to lie. It was not a mood, nor awhim. I had been analyzing my own heart, and discovered Captain Le Gairewas not what I had believed him to be. The very fact that both he and myfather so took everything for granted, arranged all details withoutconsulting my wishes, made me rebellious. But your dictation is evenworse than theirs. They had some right, while you have none, absolutelynone, Lieutenant Galesworth--have you?"
"I--I hardly know," confused by this direct question, and the flash ofher eyes. "I supposed I had."
"Yet with nothing but imagination to build upon. Have I ever told you Idid not care for Captain Le Gaire, or that I loved you?"
"No," I admitted, feeling myself driven relentlessly to the wall.
"I am not angry at you, for I understand how all this has occurred. Ibelieve you have been inspired by the highest motives, and a desire toserve me. If I am angry at any one, it is myself. I have permitted youto go too far, to assume too much. Now it ends, for I am going to marryCaptain Le Gaire."
She stood up straight before me, her head poised proudly, her cheeksflushed, her eyes bright with excitement. Never before had she appearedmore attractive, and the love that swelled up into my heart seemed tochoke all utterance. Could I have mistaken everything? Could I havedeceived myself so completely? Did these hard words represent her truepurpose, or were they merely wrung out of her by stress of circumstance?I could not determine, but I knew this--I could not turn about now andretreat. If I did that I would certainly lose, while if I fought it outthere was still hope. No woman--at least no woman like WillifredHardy--ever loved a coward, or a quitter, and I was determined sheshould not catalogue me in either class. All this came to me rather ininstinct than thought, yet I was ready enough when she beganquestioning.
"Now you will go away, won't you?"
"Go away?"
"Yes, back to your own people, and leave us alone. There is no reasonwhy you should stay here longer. You are not serving me, nor your cause.Release your prisoners, and get away safely before you yourself arecaptured."
"Did Le Gaire tell you to make this proposition?"
"Certainly not," indignantly, "I have not spoken to Captain Le Gaire."
"Well, Miss Billie," soberly, "I accept your words just as they arespoken, and will trouble you no longer with my attentions. But this hasbecome a military matter now. It is too late for us to attempt gettingback, but I have sent a man for reinforcements, and we shall hold thishouse until they come. I do not propose to release a single prisoner, orpermit a rumor of what has occurred here to reach Confederateheadquarters. You are also a prisoner, although I will acceptyour parole."
She flung back her head defiantly.
"Which I refuse to give."
"Then obey my orders; is that your room yonder?"
"Yes."
"I will trouble you to go in there."
She stared at me, biting her lip, with foot tapping the carpet, but Ihad spoken sternly.
"Do you mean that?"
"Every word. I hope I shall not have to call one of my men, and placeyou under guard."
There could be no doubt she was angry, yet I was the master, and, afterone glance into my face, her eyes burning, she swept by me, and enteredthe room designated. I gave a glance about its interior, marking thedistance to the ground; then took the key-and inserted it in the outerlock. She stood silently facing me, her face flushed, her bosom risingand falling swiftly.
"I regret very much this necessity," I apologized, "but you have left meno alternative."
"I have no desire to be spared," she returned, "and no favors to ask,Lieutenant Galesworth."
Our eyes met, mine, I am sure, as resolute as her own, and I steppedback into the hall, closing and locking the door.