"Yes. Sister Theresa was her guardian. Her father

was a dear friend, and I knew her from her early childhood.

You are mistaken, Jack. Her knowing Pickering

means nothing,-they both lived in New York and

moved in the same circle."

"But it doesn't explain her efforts to help him, does

it?" I blazed. "He wished to marry her,-Sister

Theresa told me that,-and I failed, I failed miserably

to keep my obligation here-I ran away to follow her!"

"Ah, to be sure! You were away Christmas Eve,

Advertisement..

when those vandals broke in. Bates merely mentioned

it in the last report I got as I came through New York.

That was all right. I assumed, of course, that you had

gone off somewhere to get a little Christmas cheer; I

don't care anything about it."

"But I had followed her-I went to Cincinnati to see

her. She dared me to come-it was a trick, a part of

the conspiracy to steal your property."

The old gentleman smiled. It was a familiar way of

his, to grow calm as other people waxed angry.

"She dared you to come, did she! That is quite like

Marian; but you didn't have to go, did you, Jack?"

"Of course not; of course I didn't have to go, but-"

I stammered, faltered and ceased. Memory threw

open her portals with a challenge. I saw her on the

stairway at the Armstrongs'; I heard her low, soft

laughter, I felt the mockery of her voice and eyes! I

knew again the exquisite delight of being near her. My

heart told me well enough why I had followed her.

"Jack, I'm glad I'm not buried up there in that Vermont

graveyard with nobody to exercise the right of

guardianship over you. I've had my misgivings about

you; I used to think you were a born tramp; and you disappointed

me in turning your back on architecture,-the

noblest of all professions; but this performance of yours

really beats them all. Don't you know that a girl like

Marian Devereux isn't likely to become the agent of any

rascal? Do you really believe for a minute that she

tempted you to follow her, so you might forfeit your

rights to my property?"

"But why was she trying to find those notes of his?

Why did she come back from Cincinnati with his party?

If you could answer me those things, maybe I'd admit

that I'm a fool. Pickering, I imagine, is a pretty plausible

fellow where women are concerned."

"For God's sake, Jack, don't speak of that girl as

women! I put her in that will of mine to pique your

curiosity, knowing that if there was a penalty on your

marrying her you would be wholly likely to do it,-for

that's the way human beings are made. But you've

mixed it all up now, and insulted her in the grossest

way possible for a fellow who is really a gentleman. And

I don't want to lose you; I want you here with me,

Jack! This is a beautiful country, this Indiana!

And what I want to do is to found an estate, to

build a house that shall be really beautiful,-something

these people hereabouts can be proud of,-

and I want you to have it with me, Jack, to

link our name to these woods and that pretty lake. I'd

rather have that for my neighbor than any lake in Scotland.

These rich Americans, who go to England to live,

don't appreciate the beauty of their own country. This

landscape is worthy of the best that man can do. And

I didn't undertake to build a crazy house so much as

one that should have some dignity and character. That

passage around the chimney is an indulgence, Jack,-

I'll admit it's a little bizarre,-you see that chimney

isn't so big outside as it is in!"-and he laughed and

rubbed his knees with the palms of his hands,-"and my

bringing foreign laborers here wasn't really to make it

easier to get things done my way. Wait till you have

seen the May-apples blossom and heard the robins sing

in the summer twilight,-help me to finish the house,-

then if you want to leave I'll bid you God-speed."




Most Popular