Everybody laughed and said, "Of course," and "Sure, old man," and
changed the subject quickly.
While that excitement was on, I got Jim to one side and told him about
Bella. His good-natured face was radiant at first.
"I suppose she DID come to see Takahiro, eh, Kit?" he asked delicately.
"She didn't say anything about me?"
"Nothing good. She said the house was in a disgraceful condition," I
said heartlessly. "And her diamond bracelet was stolen while she took
a nap on the kitchen table"--he groaned--"and--oh, Jim, you are such
a goose! If I could only manage my own affairs the way I could my
friends'! She's too sure of you, Jimmy. She knows you adore her,
and--how brutal could you be, Jim?"
"Fair," he said. "I may have undiscovered depths of brutality that I
have never had occasion to use. However, I might try. Why?"
"Listen, Jim," I urged. "It was always Bella who did things here; she
managed the house, she tyrannized over her friends, and she bullied you.
Yes, she did. Now she's here, without your invitation, and she has to
stay. It's your turn to bully, to dictate terms, to be coldly civil or
politely rude. Make her furious at you. If she is jealous, so much the
better."
"How far would you sacrifice yourself on the altar of friendship?" he
asked.
"You may pay me all the attention you like, in public," I replied, and
after we shook hands we went together to Bella.
There was an ominous pause when we went into the den. Bella was sitting
by the register, with her furs on, and after one glance over her
shoulder at us, she looked away again without speaking.
"Bella," Jim said appealingly. And then I pinched his arm, and he drew
himself up and looked properly outraged.
"Bella," he said, coldly this time, "I can't imagine why you have put
yourself in this ridiculous position, but since you have--"
She turned on him in a fury.
"Put MYSELF in this position!"
She was frantic. "It's a plot, a wretched trick of yours, this
quarantine, to keep me here."
Jim gasped, but I gave him a warning glance, and he swallowed hard.
"On the contrary," he said, with maddening quiet, "I would be the last
person in the world to wish to perpetuate an indiscretion of yours. For
it was hardly discreet, was it, to visit a bachelor establishment alone
at ten o'clock at night? As far as my plotting to keep you here is
concerned, I assure you that nothing could be further from my mind. Our
paths were to be two parallel lines that never touch." He looked at me
for approval, and Bella was choking.
"You are worse that I ever thought you," she stormed. "I thought you
were only a--a fool. Now I know you--for a brute!"