XXIII
TOUCHE
Left alone, Flora glanced rapidly around her. Now for a sally, now for adash straight for Kerr. The shortest way was what she wanted. Openingdoors lately had led to too many surprises. She pushed aside the longcurtains and stepped out through the French window upon the veranda.Rapidly her eyes swept the garden. Far down between the gray, slimbranches of willows at last she made out the flutter of a skirt. Shesighed relief to think Mrs. Herrick still at her post, and began tohurry down the broad unshaded drive. Her steps sounded loud on thegravel, and presently to her excited ears they sounded double. Then sherealized the truth. Some one else was walking behind her. She thought bynot looking over her shoulder she could avoid stopping; but in a momentHarry's voice hailed her. It was still far enough behind for her to hopeshe could ignore it. She swept on as if she had not heard. Once aroundthe turn of the drive, she would be in sight of succor. She could trustto Mrs. Herrick to manage Harry. She made a little rush around the loopand looked down the long vista of the willows.
A hundred yards distant she saw the two standing. Kerr presented hisback, and with his head a little canted forward seemed to listen,absorbed in his companion. But that companion was a smaller figure thanMrs. Herrick, and her veil made an aura of filmy white around her face.The sight of her was enough to stop Flora short, and in that instantHarry, making a cut across the flower-beds, caught up with her. Hestopped as abruptly as she, and gazed with a dismay that surpassed herown. For an instant she thought he was about to make a dash down thewalk for them. Then he caught Flora's hand and pulled her back. Therewas no help for it, she thought. Her other hand crept downwardstealthily and gathered up her swinging pouch of gold. Trembling, shelet him drag her back, but when they faced each other behind the plumesand swords of a great pampas clump she was shocked at the emotion in hisface; and as if what he had just seen had given the last touch, hisvoice had risen a key, and between every half-dozen words it broke forbreath.
"Look here, Flora," he began; "I know you've been trying to give me theslip ever since night before last. I frightened you then. I didn't meanto, but you had no business to keep the ring after what I told you. No,I'm not going to touch you," as she shrank back against the pampasswords, "but I want you to give it to me, yourself, right here and now."
She looked up into his face, burning fiery in the sun beating down onhis bare head. "No, no, Harry; I shan't give it to you. Last time I saidI would give it to you for a good reason, but now I wouldn't give it toyou for anything."
"You don't know what you're doing," he cried.
"I do; I know as well as you that this is a part of the Crew Idol. I'veknown it all along, and when the time comes I'm going to give it myselfto Mr. Purdie, but not until that time."
Harry passed his hand over his face with an inarticulate sound. Then,"You will ruin us!" he choked.
"I shall tell the truth, whatever comes," she exulted. To tell the truthand keep on telling it--that, in her passion of relief at speaking outat last, was all she wanted! But Harry fell back. He changedcountenance. He recovered himself.
"Look here, Flora; if you do I'm going to leave you. I'm going to leaveyou to what you've chosen."
She met it steadily. "I'm glad you say so. I've been thinking for daysthat it would be better so."
"Have you?" he said in a low voice, looking at her earnestly. "Ofcourse, I know the reason of that. I meant it to be different, but nowthere's no help. I--"
With a motion too quick for her to escape he stooped and kissed herlightly. To that moment she had pitied him, but his touch she loathed.She thrust him away with both hands. He turned. Without speaking,without looking at her again he walked away. She watched him with adesperate feeling of being abandoned, of losing something powerful andvaluable. The faint, thin screech of a locomotive from a station fardown the line made him pause, and turn, and gaze under his hand in thestrong sun. So for a moment she saw him, a lowering, peering figuremoving away from her over the lawn between broad flower-beds. Then hedisappeared among the shrubbery.
This encounter, that had stopped her in full open field, had not beenthe fatal thing she had feared. It had been a peril met that nerved herto a higher courage. Now she could walk gallantly to the most uncertainmoment of her life. Between the glimmering willows down the long stillavenue she passed, her flowing draperies borne backwards as bytriumphant airs. The wind of her approach seemed to reach the two stillfar in front of her.
They turned and watched her drawing nearer, and before she had quitereached them Kerr stretched out his hand as if to help her over a lastrough place, and drew her toward him and held her beside him with hisfingers lightly clasped around her wrist. She saw that he looked pale,worn, as he had not been last night, and, what struck her moststrangely, angry. The hand that held hers shook with the violent pulsethat was beating in it. He turned to Clara.
"Will you pardon us, Mrs. Britton?" Then after another patient moment,"Miss Gilsey has something to say to me." Still he made no motion tomove away, and at last Clara seemed to understand what was expected ofher. She flushed, and in the middle of that color her eyes flasheddouble steel. For the first time in Flora's memory she was at a loss.She passed them without a word.
Kerr looked after the little brilliant figure, moving daintily awaythrough sun and shadow, with deep disgust in his face. But when heturned to Flora disgust lifted to high severity. It was she who appearedthe guilty one, and he the accuser.
"Why didn't you come, last night?"
"I couldn't. _He_ was there, Harry, outside my door."
"In God's name! What did you tell him?"
"Nothing. We did not speak--but I couldn't get past him!" The suspicionin his face was more than she could bear. "You must believe me--for, ifyou don't, we're both lost!"
He had her by both wrists, now, and gently made her face him. "I havebelieved in you to the extent of coming alone to a place I know nothingof, because you wanted me. Now that I am here, what is it you have tosay to me?"
"Oh, nothing more than I have said before," she pleaded; "only that, tentimes more earnestly."
"You extraordinary child!" At first, he was pure amazement. "You'vebrought me so far, you've come so far yourself--you've got us both herein such danger, to tell me only this? How could you be so mad--socruel?"
She had locked her hands in front of her until the nails showed whitewith the pressure. "It was more dangerous there than here. You don'tknow what has happened since I saw you. And I thought if you and I couldonly be alone together, without the fear of _them_ always between us, Icould show you, I could persuade you--" Before his look she broke down."Well--you see, they followed us--they're here."
"Grant it, they are." He seemed to laugh at them. "You have still yourchance. Give everything to me and I can save you still."
"'Save _me_?' Oh, nothing could happen to me so terrible as having youbreak my heart like this! If I should give the sapphire to you I shouldlose you--even the thought of you--for ever. Nothing could ever be rightwith us again! Won't you--" she pleaded, "won't you go?" and lifting herhands, taking his face between them, "Won't you, because I love you?"
He stood steady to this assault, and smiled down upon her. "Without youand without it I will not budge. Come now, this is the end. I nevermeant to do another thing."
She covered her face with her hands.
"Come, come." His voice was urging her, now very gentle. "It's more foryour sake than for the jewel now." And his arm around her shoulders wasgently forcing her to walk beside him not toward the drive, but awayinto the tree-grown sheltered wing of the garden. By interlacing paths,from the tremulous gray willows under the somber, clashing eucalyptusspears, under dark wings of cypress they were moving. She was bracing inevery nerve against the unnerving of his presence.
It had been always so. Even across the distance of a room the mere sightof him had had for her the power to summon those wild spirits of thesoul and body that turn reason to a vapor. And now so close, with hisarm a
round her, that same power she had felt when she saw him first, thepower that had made her come out and be herself then, the power thathad overwhelmed her in the little restaurant, was leagued against heragain to make her do this one more thing, which she wouldn't do. Never,never! Despairing, she wondered that such an evil motive could have suchstrength.
"Where have you got it now?" she heard him asking, and she pointeddownward toward where the pouch at her knee was swinging to and fro."Take it up, then," and like a hypnotized creature she gathered it intoher hand. But, once she had it, she held it clenched against him.
"You're going to give it to me," he prompted, "aren't you?--aren't you?"and looking steadily in her face his hand shut softly on her wrist, andheld out her clenched hand in front of her. And still they walked,slowly. Like a pendulum the long gold chain swung from her clenchedfingers. To the tree-top birds they seemed as quiet as two loversspeaking of their wedding-day. She felt her tension give way in thisquiet--her hand relax.
"Dearest." The word brought up her eyes to his with a start oftenderness. "Open it," he said, and her hand, involuntarily, sprung thepouch wide. They stared together into it. The little hollow golden shellwas empty.
For a moment it held her incredulous. Then, faint and sick, all thefoundations of her faith reeling, she slowly raised her eyes to him inaccusation. She was not ready for the terrible sternness in his.
"Have you lied to me?" he asked in a low voice. "Have you given it toCressy?"
"No, no, no!" she cried in horror. "It was there! I put it there myselfthis morning!" They looked at each other now equally sincere and aghast.
"But you have seen him; you've been near him?" he demanded.
She gasped out the whole truth. "This morning! He left me. He kissedme."
"Then, my God, where is he?" He gave a wide glance around him. Thenraising his voice, "Stay where you are!" he commanded, and began to runfrom her through the trees.
She stood with her hand to her breast, with the empty pouch spinning infront of her, hearing him crashing in the shrubbery. Then, in suddenpanic at finding herself alone, she fled back down the willow avenue,and burst out on the broad drive in full view of the house.
Kerr was not in sight, but there was a tremor of disturbance where allhad been still. Clara's face appeared at one of the upper windows andlooked down into the garden. Then Mrs. Herrick came down the stairs,and, showing an anxious profile as she passed the door, hurried awayalong the lower hall. There was a flutter in the servants' quarter, andfrom a side door the coachman appeared hatless, in his shirt sleeves,and ran toward the stable. All the people of the house seemed to berunning to and fro, but she didn't see Harry. This struck her withunreasoning terror. She fled up the drive, and Clara's small face at thewindow watched her.
As she came into the hall she heard Kerr's voice. He was at thetelephone speaking names she had never heard in sentences whose meaningwas too much for her stunned senses to take in; but none the less whileshe listened the feeling crept over her that there was some strangerevolution taking place in him. It might be transformation; it might beonly a swift increase of his original power. Whatever it was, he seemedto her superhuman. The house was full of him--full of his rapidmovement, his ringing orders. If he knew that the sapphire was gone,what was the meaning of this bold command? Was he, knowing all lost,plunging gallantly into the clutches of his enemies? Or was this only ablind, a splendid piece of effrontery to cover his too long delayedretreat? She sat like a jointless thing on the fauteuil in the largehall, and all at once saw him in front of her.
She looked at his hat, his overcoat, his slim, glittering stick--allsymbols of departure.
"Wait here," he said, and turned away.
She watched his shadow dance across the flagging, and as it slipped overthe threshold she thought dully that now the sapphire was gone every onewas going from her.