CHAPTER XXXII
MADGE IS MATTER-OF-FACT
"Well, I have come back to civilization and all its miseries," thoughtGraydon. "I was among scenes that know not Wildmeres or Arnaults. 'Oh,my prophetic soul!' I felt that there was something wrong, in spite ofher superb acting. Sweet Madge, dear sister Madge, as you ever will beto me, the more I think of it the more clearly I see that you are theone who first began to shatter my delusion. Since that morning whenI brought you home from your long vigil, and you revealed to me yourtrue, brave heart Stella Wildmere has never seemed the same, and therevolt of my nature has been growing ever since."
His wish now was to avoid seeing every one until he had met hisbrother. While the thought of his escape was uppermost in his mind,he was consumed with anxiety to learn the result of Henry's efforts intown. His commercial instincts were also very strong, and the thoughtof what might happen fairly made him tremble.
He slipped down a back stairway and out into the darkness, then benthis rapid steps to the depot, at which he arrived half an hour beforethe train was due. Remembering that excited pacing up and down therewould not be very intelligent obedience to his brother's injunctions,he started down a country road in the direction from which the trainwould come, and paced to and fro in his strong excitement. At last thetrain arrived, and his first glimpse of Henry's face and Madge'swas reassuring. The moment the former saw him he called out, "Hello,Graydon! Have you a trout supper for us?"
"Yes," was the hearty response; and he hastened forward and shookhands cordially, saying, in an aside, "Oh, Madge! I am so glad to seeyou again!"
"You are! Tell that to the marines. The length of your stay proves itto be a fish story."
"Here, Madge, we'll put you in the stage. I'll rest myself by walkingto the house with Graydon."
"Henry, you are all right?" said Graydon, eagerly, as soon as theywere out of earshot.
"Yes," was the quiet reply; "I raised the money, paid Arnault in full,and have a good surplus in the bank."
"Thank Heaven! How did you raise it? How has all this knowledgereached--"
"Patience, Graydon, patience. As soon as you are in the firm I shallhave no secrets from you. Until you are, you must let me manage in myold way."
"I have indeed little claim on your confidence. I have been deceived,and have acted like a fool. But it's all over now. Henry, you maynot believe me, but my nonsense would have ended to-night if I hadn'treceived your letter, and all this had not occurred. I had beendisgusted with this Arnault business for some time, and had let MissWildmere know my views. As I thought it over while away it all grewso detestable to me that I resolved, if Arnault appeared again andrenewed his attentions, I would never renew mine. He's here again, asyou may have seen."
"Oh, yes; and I have talked with him. Please show no resentment. Iobtained my information in a way unknown to him, and there is nothingunusual in our transaction on its face. How was it that you began togrow critical toward Miss Wildmere?"
"Well, I don't mind telling you. There was not a ring of truth ora stamp of nobility about her words and manner, and I have beenassociating with a girl who is truth itself and twice as clever andaccomplished. Miss Wildmere was growing commonplace in contrast. Ilearned to love Madge as a sister before she went away, and now no manever admired and loved a sister more."
Mr. Muir smiled broadly to himself in the darkness, and said: "Truly,Graydon, you are giving satisfactory proofs of returning sanity.We may as well conclude with the old saying, 'All's well that endswell.'"
"I think I had better go to town Monday and resume business. It's timeI did something to retrieve myself."
"No, Graydon, not yet. I have everything in hand now, and believe thetide has turned. I realized ten thousand to-day on a transaction thatI will tell you about. I am not doing much business now, only watchingthings and waiting. It was the suddenness of Arnault's demand thatworried me--on Saturday, too, you know. He had about the same as saidthat I might have the money as long as I wanted it, and I should nothave needed it much longer. In ordinary times I wouldn't have given ita thought.
"You can help me more up here. It's growing warm, and Jack isn'timproving as I would like. After what has occurred I don't wish Maryand Madge to meet these Wildmeres any longer, so I propose that youand Madge go to the Kaaterskill Hotel on Monday and explore. If youlike the place, then you can take Mary and the children there. I'vehad a little scare in town, and propose to realize on some moreproperty and make myself perfectly safe. By going to a higher-pricedhotel we increase our credit also, and add to the impression I madeto-day, that we are in no danger."
As the stage drew near the piazza Graydon hastened forward tohelp Madge out. In doing so he saw Miss Wildmere greeting Arnaultcordially. As he passed up the steps with Madge, he caught Stella'sswift, appealing look at him. He only bowed politely and passed on. Itwas Madge's triumphal entry now by the same door at which she had seenhim enter with Miss Wildmere but a few weeks before. How complete hertriumph was, even Madge did not yet know. While she went to her roomhe sought the office and ordered some of the trout he had caught tobe prepared for supper. As he stood there Miss Wildmere left Arnault'sside, and said, "Mr. Muir, are you not going to shake hands with me?"
"Why, certainly, Miss Wildmere;" but there was little more thanpoliteness in his tone and manner. As there were many coming andgoing, she drew away with a reproachful glance. "So long as Arnault iswith me, he will not be cordial," was her thought.
She looked around for her father, but he, nervous and apprehensive,had disappeared. He felt that if he should be compelled to disclosethe failure of his predictions, she would pass into one of her sullen,unmanageable moods. He feared that things were beyond his control,and decided to let the young men manage for themselves. He was not,however, exceedingly solicitous. He hoped that Arnault, aided by theinfluence of his munificent offer, would have the skill to push hissuit to a prompt conclusion; but he believed that, if this suitorshould be dismissed, Graydon would not fail his daughter, and that allmight yet end well for her, and perhaps for himself.
The supper-room was again occupied by the late comers, many of whomwere accompanied by their families and friends. Mr. Muir's quiet eyesfairly beamed over the group gathered at his table, and he felt thatbut few moments of his life compared with those now passing. Twentyfour hours before he had seen himself drifting helplessly on alee shore, but a little hand had taken the helm when he had beenparalyzed, and now he saw clear sea-room stretching away indefinitely,with a turning tide and favoring gales. The terrible evils threateninghim and his had been averted. The results of his lifework would not beswept away, his idolized commercial standing could now be maintained,his wife's brow remain unclouded by care, his children be amplyprovided for, Graydon saved from a worse fate than financial disaster,and, last but not least, the young fellow would be cured by Madge ofall future tendencies toward the Wildmere type. He never could thinkof this hope without smiling to himself. He had at last obtained theexplanation of Madge's effort and success. By the superb resulthe measured the strength of the love which had led to it. "GreatScott!"--his favorite expletive--he had thought; "what a compass thereis in her nature! I had long suspected her secret, but when I touchedupon it last night she made my blood tingle by her magnificentresentment. I would sooner have trifled with an enraged empress. Lookat her now, smiling, serene, and, although not in the least artful,keeping all her secrets with consummate art. Who would imagine thatshe was capable of such a volcanic outburst? If Graydon does not laysiege to her now, the name of the future firm should be Henry Muir andidiot."
That sagacious young man did not appear at all blighted by the wreckof the hope he had cherished. He turned no wistful glances toward thegirl who had so long satisfied his eyes, and, as he had believed,his heart. He felt much the same as if he had been imposed upon by acunning disguise. Unknown to her, he had caught a glimpse of whatthe mask concealed, and his soul was shuddering at the deformities towhich he had so nearly allied himsel
f. Her very beauty, with its falsepromise, had become hateful to him.
"She is indeed a speculator," he thought, "and I'm a little curiousto see how she will continue her game." It afforded him vindictiveamusement that she often, yet furtively, turned her eyes toward him asif he were still a factor in it.
She never looked once in Graydon's direction but that Arnault wasaware of the act. There was no longer any menace in his deportmenttoward her--he was as devoted as the place and time would permit--butin his eyes dwelt a vigilance and a resolution which should have givenher warning.
After supper Mr. and Mrs. Muir found a comfortable nook on the piazza,and the banker smoked his cigar with ineffable content.
"Do you feel too tired for a waltz, Madge?" Graydon asked.
"The idea! when I've rested in the cars half a day."
"Oh, Madge!" he whispered; "dear, sweet little friend--you know I meansister, only I dare not say it--I'm so glad to be with you again! Whatmakes you look so radiant to-night? You look as though you had a worldof happy thoughts behind those sparkling eyes."
"Nonsense, Graydon! You are always imagining things. I have youth,good health, have had my supper--a trout supper, too--and I like todance, just as a bird enjoys flying."
"You seem a bird-of-paradise. Happy the man who coaxes you into hiscage! Brother or not, when your beaux become too attentive they willfind me a perfect dragon of a critic."
"When I meet my ideal, you shall have nothing to say."
"I suppose not. I am at a loss to know where you will find him."
"I shan't find him; he must find me."
"He will be an idiot if he doesn't. Pardon me if I don't dance anymore to-night. I have had a long tramp over mountain paths, followedby a long, rough ride in a farmer's wagon, and now have a veryimportant act to perform before I sleep. As a proof of my fraternal--Imean friendly--confidence, I will tell you what it is, if you wish."
"I don't propose to fail in any friendly obligations, Graydon,"she replied, laughing, as they strolled out into the summer night,followed by Miss Wildmere's half-desperate eyes.
As they walked down a path, Graydon said, "Take my arm; the pavementis a little rough. Dear Madge, you look divine to night. Every timeI see you my wonder increases at what you accomplished out on thePacific coast. That great, boundless, sparkling ocean has given yousomething of its own nature."
"Graydon, you must be more sensible. When a fellow takes your arm youdon't squeeze it against your side and say, 'Dear Tom,' 'Sweet Dick,'or 'Divine Harry,' no matter how good friends they may be. Friendsdon't indulge in sentimental, far-fetched compliments."
"I certainly never did with any friends of mine. On this very walk youtold me that you were not my sister, and added, 'There is no use intrying to ignore nature.' See how true this last assertion is proving,now that I am again under your influence, and so enjoy your societythat I cannot ignore nature. During all those years when you weregrowing from childhood to womanhood I treated you as a sister, thoughtof you as such. It was nature, or rather the accord of two natures,that formed and cemented the tie, and not an accident of birth.Even when you were an invalid, and I was stupid enough to call you'lackadaisical,' your presence always gave me pleasure. Often when Ihad been out all the evening I would say, with vexation, 'I wish I hadstayed at home with the little ghost.' How you used to order me aboutand tyrannize over me from your sofa when you were half child and halfwoman! I can say honestly, Madge, it was never a bore to me, for youhad an odd, piquant way of saying and doing things that always amusedme; your very weakness was an appeal to my strength, and a claim uponit. You always appeared to have a sister's affection for me, and yourwords and manner proved that I brought some degree of brightness intoyour shadowed life. In learning to love you as a sister in all thoseyears, wherein did I ignore nature? During my absence my feelings didnot change in the least, as I proved by my attempts at correspondence,by my greeting when we met. Then you perplexed and worried me morethan you would believe, and I imagined all sorts of ridiculous thingsabout you; but on that drive, after your vigil with that poor, dyinggirl, I felt that I understood you fully at last. Indeed, ever sinceyour rescue of the little Wilder child from drowning my old feelingshave been coming back with tenfold force. I can't help thinking ofyou, of being proud of you. I give you my confidence to-night justas naturally and unhesitatingly as if we had been rocked in thesame cradle. I am not wearying you with this long explanation andpreamble?"
"No, Graydon," she replied, in a low tone.
"I am very glad. I don't think well of myself to-night at all, and Ihave a very humiliating confession to make--one that I could make onlyto such a sister as you are, or rather would have been, were therea natural tie between us. I would not tell any Tom, Dick, and Harryfriends in the world what I shall now make known to you. If I didn'ttrust you so, I wouldn't speak of it, for what I shall say involvesHenry as well as myself. Madge, I've been duped, I've been made botha fool and a tool, and the consequences might have been grave indeed.Henry, who has so much quiet sagacity, has in some way obtainedinformation that proved of immense importance to him, and absolutelyvital to me. I shudder when I think of what might have happened, andI am overwhelmed with gratitude when I think of my escape. I toldyou that Miss Wildmere was humoring that fellow Arnault to save herfather, and consequently her mother and the child. This impression,which was given me so skilfully, and at last confirmed by plain words,was utterly false. Henry has been in financial danger; Wildmere knewit, and he also knew that Arnault had lent Henry money, which to-daywas called in with the hope of breaking him down. They would havesucceeded, too, had he not had resources of which they knew nothing.You, of course, can't realize how essential a little ready moneysometimes is in a period of financial depression; but Henry left anote which gave me an awful shock, while, at the same time, it madeclear Miss Wildmere's scheme. She had simply put me off, that shemight hear from Wall Street. If Henry had failed she would havedecided for Arnault, and I believe my attentions led to his trickytransaction--that he loaned the money and called it in when hebelieved that Henry could not meet his demand. I must be put outof his way, for he reasoned justly that the girl would drop me ifimpoverished. Thus indirectly I might have caused Henry's failure--ablow from which I should never have recovered. Henry is safe now, heassures me; and, oh, Madge, thank God, I have found her out beforeit was too late! I had fully resolved while oft trouting that I wouldbreak with her finally if I found Arnault at her side again. Now hemay marry her, for all I care, and I wish him no worse punishment.I shall go to my room now and write to her that everything is overbetween us. The fact is, Madge, you spoiled Miss Wildmere for me onthat morning drive the other day. After leaving your society and goinginto hers I felt the difference keenly, and while I should then havefulfilled the obligations which I had so stupidly incurred, I hadlittle heart in the affair. Her acting was consummate, but a truewoman's nature had been revealed to me, and the glamour was gone fromthe false one. Now you see what absolute confidence I repose in you,and how heavily this strange story bears against myself. Could I havegiven it to any one for whom I had not a brother's love, and in whom Idid not hope to find a sister's gentle charity? I show you how unspentis the force of all those years when we had scarcely a thought whichwe could not tell each other. I have little claim, though, to be aprotecting brother, when I have been making such an egregious fool ofmyself. You have grown wiser and stronger than I. You won't think veryharshly of me, will you, Madge?"
"No, Graydon."
"And you won't condemn my fraternal affection as contrary to nature?"
She was sorely at a loss. She had listened with quickened breath, afluttering pulse, and in a growing tumult of hope and fear, to thisundisguised revelation of his attitude toward her. She almost thoughtthat she detected between the lines, as it were, the beginning of adifferent regard. He believed that he had been frankness itself,and his words proved that he looked upon his fraternal affection andconfidence as the natural, the almost inevitable, s
equence of thepast. She could not meet him on the fraternal ground that he wastaking again, nor did she wish him to occupy it in his own mind. Tomaintain the attitude which she had adopted would require as muchdelicacy as firmness of action, or he would begin to query why shecould not go back to their old relations as readily as he could. Shehad listened to the twice-told tale of the events of the past fewdays with almost breathless interest, because his words revealedthe workings of his own mind, and she had not the least intentionof permitting him to settle down into the tranquil affection of abrother.
While she hesitated, he asked, gently, "Don't you feel a little ofyour old sisterly love for me?"
"No, Graydon, I do not," she replied, boldly. "I suppose you willthink me awfully matter-of-fact. I love Mary as my sister, I have thestrongest esteem and affection for Henry as my brother-in-law, and Ilike you for just what you are to me, neither more nor less. The truthis, Graydon, when I woke up from my old limp, shadowy life I had tolook at everything just as it was, and I have formed the habit of sodoing. I think it is the best way. You did not see Miss Wildmere asshe was, but as you imagined her to be, and you blame yourself tooseverely because you acted as you naturally would toward a girl forwhom you had so high a regard. When we stick to the actual, we escapemistakes and embarrassment. Every one knows that we are not brotherand sister; every one would admit our right to be very good friends.I have listened to you with the deep and honest sympathy that isperfectly natural to our relations. I think the better of you forwhat you have told me, but I'm too dreadfully matter-of-fact," sheconcluded beginning to laugh, "to do anything more."
He sighed deeply.
"Now, there is no occasion for that sigh, Graydon. Recall that morningdrive to which you have alluded. What franker, truer friendship couldyou ask than I gave evidence of then? Come now, be sensible. Youlive too much in the present moment, and yield to your impulses. MissWildmere was a delusion and a snare, but there are plenty of truewomen in the world. Some day you will meet the right one. She won'tobject to your friends, but she probably would to sisters who are notsisters."
Graydon laughed a little bitterly as he said, "So you imagine thatafter my recent experience I shall soon be making love to anothergirl?"
"Why not? Because Miss Wildmere is a fraud do you intend to spiteyourself by letting some fair, true girl pass by unheeded? That mightbe to permit the fraud to injure you almost as much as if she hadmarried you."
He burst out laughing, as he exclaimed, "Well, your head is level."
"Certainly it is. My head is all right, even though I have not muchheart, as you believe. I told you I could be a good fellow, and Idon't propose to indulge you in sentiment about what is past andgone--natural and true as it was at the time--or in cynicism for thefuture. I shall dance at your wedding, and you won't be gray, either.Come; the music has ceased, and it must be almost Sunday morning."
"Very well. On the day when you rightly boxed my ears, and I asked youto make your own terms of peace, I resolved to submit to everythingand anything."
"You don't 'stay put,' is the trouble. Did I look and act so verycross that morning?"
"You looked magnificent, and you spoke with such just eloquentindignation that you made my blood tingle. No, my brave, truefriend--I may say that, mayn't I?--it was not a little thing foryou to go away alone to fight so heroic a battle and achieve such avictory; and, Madge, I honor you with the best homage of my heart. Youhave taught me how to meet trouble when it comes."
As they went up the steps, Arnault, with a pale, stern face, andlooking neither to the right nor to the left, passed them and strodeaway.