Chapter 4

SCENE I

Severance strode impatiently up and down the room overlooking the ocean.

��Will be down in a minute.� I suppose that means the usual thirty for reflection and contemplation of bric-�-brac. What a pretty room! No bric-�-brac in it, by the way. I wonder if this is the room my lady Jessica is said to have furnished to suit herself? It looks like a woodland glade. She must look stunning against those moss-green curtains. I wonder how madam liked my letter? It was rather brutal, but to manage a witch you have got to be Jove astride a high horse. Here she comes. I know that perfume. She uses it to sweeten the venom of those snakes of hers.�

Mrs. Pendleton entered and gave him her hand with frank welcome. Her �snakes� seemed vibrant with life and defiance, and her individuality pierced through her white conventional gown like a solitary star in a hueless sky.

�How do you do?� she asked, shaking his hand warmly; then she sat down at once as a matter of course.

He understood the man�uvre.

�Let us play chess, by all means,� he said and took a chair opposite. �Your seclusion has done you good,� he added, smiling as the crest of a wave appeared in her eyes. �You have lost your fagged look and are more like a girl than a widow. Dissipation does not agree with you. Two more winters! You would try to make up for it by your wit, and then your nose would get sharp, and you would have a line down the middle of your forehead and another on each side of your mouth.�

�You are as rude as ever,� said Jessica, coldly; but the wave in her eyes threatened to become tidal. �If you marry a blonde and incarcerate her, however, you may find the effect more bleaching than Society.�

�Was that a reflection upon my own society? I do not incarcerate; I only warn.�

�So do I,� said Mrs. Pendleton, significantly; �I have occasionally got the best of a bad bargain.�

�And as you will find me the worst in the world you are already on the defensive,� said Severance, with a laugh. �Come, I have not seen you for six months, and I am hard hit. I wrote you that I marked off each day with a pencil�a red one at that; I bought it for the occasion. Don�t take a base advantage of the admission, but give me one kind syllable. I ask for it as humbly as a dog does for a bone.�

�You do, indeed. I began by making disagreeable remarks about your personal appearance, did I not? If you will be a brute, I will be a�cat.�

�You will acquit yourself with credit. But I will not quarrel with you to-day.� He rose suddenly and went over to her, but she was already on her feet. She dropped her eyes, then raised them appealingly; but the sea was level.

�Do not kiss me,� she said.

�Why not?�

�I would rather not�yet. Do you know that I have never kissed a man�a lover, I mean�in my life? And this is so sudden�I would rather wait.�

He raised her hand chivalrously to his lips. �I will wait,� he said; �but you will wear my ring?� And he took a circlet from his pocket and slipped it on her finger.

�Thank you,� she said simply and touched it with a little caressing motion.

He dropped her hand and stepped back. Miss Decker had pushed aside the porti�re.

�How do you do, Mr. Severance?� she said cordially; �I did not interrupt even to congratulate, but to take Jessica away for a moment. My dear, your dressmaker came down on the train with Mr. Severance and has but a minute. You had better go at once, for you know her temper is not sweet.�

�Provoking thing!� said Jessica, with a pout. It was the fourth mood to which she treated Severance in this short interview, and he looked at her with delight. �But I will get rid of her as soon as possible. Will you excuse me for a few moments? I will be back in ten.�

�A dressmaker is the only tyrant to whom I bow, the only foe before whom I lay down my arms. Go; but come back soon.�

�In ten minutes.�

�Which is it, and where is he?� she whispered eagerly as they crossed the hall.

�Mr. Trent. He is in the library.�

SCENE II

Trent was standing before a bust of Daniel Webster, speculating upon how his own profile would look in bronze.

�You would have to shave off your side-whiskers,� murmured a soft voice behind him.

He turned with a nervous start, and a suspicion of colour appeared under his grey skin. Mrs. Pendleton was standing with her hands resting lightly on the table. She smiled with saucy dignity�an art she had brought to perfection.

�I give you five years,� she said.

�With you to help me,� he cried enthusiastically. �Ah! I see you now, leaning on the arm of a foreign ambassador, going in to some great diplomatic dinner!�

�It is too bad, I shall have to take the arm of a small one; you will be but the American minister, you know. (Great Heaven! how determined he looks! I know he means to kiss me. If I can only keep his ambition going.)�

�I will be senator first, and pass a bill placing this country on an equal diplomatic footing with the proudest in Europe. You will then go to your embassy as the wife of an ambassador.�

�I know you will accomplish it; and let it be Paris. I cannot endure to shop anywhere else.�

�It shall be Paris.�

�Are you not tired?� she asked hurriedly.

�Tired? I have not thought of fatigue.�

�The day is so warm.�

�I have not felt it. Jessica!�

�O�h�h�h!� and catching her face convulsively in her hand, she sank into a chair.

�What is it? What is it?� he cried, hopping about her like an agitated spider, the tip of his nose punctuating his excitement. �What can I do? Are you ill?�

Faintly: �Neuralgia.�

�What shall I ring for? Antipyrine? Horse-radish for your wrists? Belladonna? What?�

�Nothing. Sit down and talk to me, and perhaps it will go away. Tell me something about yourself, and I�ll forget it. Sit down.�

�There is but little to tell. I have been busy making friends against the next election. I have addressed several meetings with great success. I have every chance for the House this time�for the Senate next term. How�s your face?�

�Misery! You said that several of my old friends came down with you. How odd!�

�Was it not?�

�I suppose they will all come to see me.�

�H�m. I don�t know. Doubt if they know you are here. I shall not tell them. They would only be coming to see you and getting in my way. I�ll wait until our wedding-day approaches and ask them to be ushers. But now, Jessica, that you do not seem to suffer so acutely��

�Oh! Oh! (Thank Heaven, I hear Edith.)�

Trent sprang to his feet in genuine alarm. �Dearest! Let me go for the doctor. I cannot stand this��

Miss Decker entered with apparent haste, spoke to Trent, then stopped abruptly.

�Jessica!� she cried. �What is the matter?�

�My face! You know how I have suffered�worse than ever.�

�Oh, you poor dear! She is such a martyr, Mr. Trent, with that tooth��

�Neuralgia!�

�I mean neuralgia! She was up all night. But, my dear, don�t think me a heartless fiend, but you must see your lawyer. He is here with those deeds for you to sign, and he says that he must catch the train.�

�That estate has given me so much trouble,� murmured Mrs. Pendleton, wretchedly; �and how can I talk business when my head is on the rack? I do not wish to leave Mr. Trent so soon, either.�

�Leave Mr. Trent to me. I will entertain him. I will talk to him about you.�

�May I speak to you one moment before you go?� asked Trent.

�Yes,� pinching her lips with extremest pain, �you need not mind Edith.�

�Not in the least.� He took a box from his pocket with an air of resignation which boded well for the trials of a diplomatic career. �I cannot wait longer to fetter you. You told me once that the emerald was your favourite stone.�

She relaxed her lips and swept her lashes down and up rapturously. �So good of you to remember,� she murmured; �it reminds me of mermaids and things, and I love it.�

�You were always so poetical! But where did you get that ring? I thought you never wore rings. On your engagement finger, too!�

�It was a present from grandma, and I wear it to please her. I�ll slip it in my pocket now�it is too large for any other finger�and you can put yours where it belongs.�

�You will never take it off until you need its place for your wedding-ring?�

�Never!�

�Angel! And your face is better?�

�Yes; but Edith is looking directly this way.�

SCENE III

Mrs. Pendleton entered the drawing-room on tiptoe, with hand upraised.

�Well! the sky did not fall, and the train did not ditch, and the lightning did not strike, and we are neither of us dead. And you�you look as strapping as a West Point cadet. Fie upon your principles!�

�That is a charming tirade with which to greet an impatient lover,� cried Boswell, with beaming face. �You are serious, of course?�

�You have heard the parable of a woman�s �No�?� She gave both his outstretched hands a little shake, then retreated behind a chair and rested both arms on its back.

�My anger is appeased, but I think I am entitled to some recompense.�

�What can he mean? Would you prefer sherry or red wine?�

�There is a draught brewed upon Olympus which the gods call nectar��

�So sorry. We are just out. I gave the last thimbleful away an hour ago.�

�Oh, you did! May I inquire to whom you gave it?�

�You may, indeed. And I would tell you�could I only remember.�

�Provoking�goddess! But perhaps you will allow me to look for myself. Perchance I might find a drop or two remaining. I am willing to take what I can get and be thankful.�

�Then you will never get much,� she thought. �The dregs are always bitter.�

�There can be no dregs to the nectar in question.�

�And the last drop always goes to the head. I have heard it asserted upon authority. Think of the scandal�the butler�oh, Heaven!�

�The intoxication would make me but tread the air. I should walk right over the butler�s head. Where did you get that ring?�

�Is it not lovely? It was� (heaving a profound sigh) �the last gift of poor dear Mr. Pendleton.�

�Indeed! Well, under the circumstances, perhaps you will not mind removing it and wearing that of another unfortunate,� and he placed one knee on the chair over which she leaned and produced a ring.

�Not at all. What a beauty! How did you know that the ruby was my favourite stone?� And she bent her body backward, under pretence of holding the stone up to the light.

�But you have a number of rubies and pearls in your possession, of which I consider myself the rightful owner. Shall I have to call in the law to give me mine own?�

�The pearls are sharp, and the rubies may be paste. I have the best of the bargain.�

�I am a connoisseur on the subject of precious stones�of precious articles of all sorts, in fact. What an outrageous coquette you are! What is the use of keeping a man in misery?�

�Why are men always in such a hurry? If I were a man now�and an author�I should wait for moonlight, waves breaking on rocks, and all the rest of it.�

�All the old property business, in short. I am both a man and an author, therefore I know the folly of delay in this short life.�

�But suppose the door should open suddenly?�

�I have been here ten minutes, and it has not opened yet.�

�But it might, you know; and the small boys of this house are an exaggeration of all that have gone before. Ah! here comes some one. Sit down on that chair instantly.�

Miss Decker entered and looked deprecatingly at Boswell.

�You have come at last,� she said. �We were afraid something had happened to you. I cannot help this interruption, Jessica. Your grandmother is here and wants to see you immediately. She has been telegraphed for to go to Philadelphia; Mrs. Armstrong is very ill. I would not keep her waiting.�

�Poor grandma! To think of her being obliged to go to Philadelphia in September. Where is she?�

�In the yellow reception-room. Mr. Boswell will excuse you for a few minutes.�

Boswell bowed, his face stamped with gloom.

�What have you done with the others?� asked Jessica, as she closed the door.

�Mr. Severance is storming up and down the sea-room. Mr. Trent is like a caged lion in the library; I expect to hear a crash every minute. But both know what lawyers and dressmakers mean. Boswell will learn something of grandmothers. But they are safe for a quarter of an hour longer. Trust all to me.�

SCENE IV

Dedham was sitting on the edge of one of the reception-room chairs, locking and unlocking his fingers until his hands were as red as those of a son of toil. He was nervous, happy, terrified, annoyed.

�That beastly porter to keep me waiting so long for my portmanteau!� he almost cried aloud. �What must she think of me?�

�You wicked boy!� said a voice of gentle reproach. �What made you so late? I was just about to send and inquire if anything had happened to you. But sit down. How tired you must be! Would you like a glass of sherry and a biscuit?�

�Nothing! Nothing! You know, it�s not my fault that I�m late. My portmanteau got mislaid and my travelling clothes were so dusty. And you really are glad to see me?�

�What a question! It makes me feel young again to see you.�

�Young again! You!�

�I am twenty-four, Teddy, and a widow,� and she shook her head sadly. �I feel fearfully old�like your mother. I have had so much care and responsibility in my life, and you are so careless and debonair.�

�You�ll make me cry in a minute,� said Teddy; �and I wish you wouldn�t talk like that. You seem to put a whole Adirondack between us.�

�I can�t help it. Perhaps I�ll get over it after a time. It�s so sad being mewed up six whole months!�

�Then marry me right off. That�s just the point. We�ll go and travel and have a jolly good time. That�ll brace you up and make you feel as young as you look.�

�I can�t, Teddy. I must wait a year in common decency. Think how people would talk.�

�Let �em. They�ll soon find something else and forget us. Marry me next month.�

�Next month�well��

�It would be rather fun to be the hero and heroine of a sensation, anyhow. That�s what everybody�s after. You�re just a nonentity until you�ve been black-guarded in the papers. Whose ring is that?�

�One of Edith�s. I put it on to remember something by.�

�Well, take it off and wear this instead. It�ll help your memory just as well.�

�What, a solitaire!�

�I knew you would prefer it. I know all your tastes by instinct.�

�You do, Teddy. Coloured stones are so tiresome.�

�By the way, I think your old admirer, Severance, must be about to put himself in silken fetters, as Boswell would say. I caught him buying an unusually fine sapphire in Tiffany�s yesterday. Said it was for his sister. H�m�h�m.�

�Ah! I wonder who it can be?�

�Don�t know. Hasn�t looked at a woman since you left. But I have a strong suspicion that it is some one here in Newport.�

�Here! I wonder if it can be Edith?�

�Miss Decker? Sure enough. Never seemed to pay her much attention, though. She�s not my style; too much like sixteen dozen other New York girls.�

He buttoned up his coat, braced himself against it, and gave his moustache a frantic twist.

�Mrs.�Jessica!� he ejaculated desperately, �you are engaged to me�won�t you�won�t you��

She drew herself up and glanced down upon him from her higher chair with a look of sad disapproval.

�I did not think it of you, Teddy,� she said. �And it is one of the things of which I have never approved.�

�But why not?� asked Teddy, feebly.

�I thought you knew me better than to ask such a question.�

�I know you are an angel�oh, hang it! You do make me feel as if you were my mother.�

�Now, don�t be unreasonable, or I shall believe that you are a tyrant.�

�A tyrant? I? Horri�no, I wish I was. What a model of propriety you are! I never should have thought it�I mean�darling! you were always such a coquette, you know. Not that I ever thought so. You know I never did�oh, hang it all�but if I let you have your own way in this unreasonable�I mean this perfectly natural whim�you might at least promise to marry me in a month. And, indeed, I think that if you are an angel, I am a saint.�

�Well, on one condition.�

�Any! Any!�

�It must be an absolute secret until the wedding is over. I hate congratulations, and if we are going to have a sensation we might as well have a good concentrated one.�

�I agree with you, and I�ll never find fault with you again. You��

Miss Decker almost ran into the room.

�Jessica!� she cried. �Oh, dear Mr. Dedham, how are you? Jessica, mother has one of her terrible attacks, and I must ask you to stay with her while I go for the doctor myself. I cannot trust servants.�

�Let me go! let me go!� cried Teddy. �I�ll bring him back in a quarter of an hour. Who shall��

�Coleman. He lives��

�I know. Au revoir!� And the girls were alone.

�There!� exclaimed Miss Decker, �we have got rid of him. Now for the others. You slip upstairs, and I�ll dispose of them one by one. You are taken suddenly ill. Teddy will not be back for an hour. Dr. Coleman has moved.�