JULIA'S ROMANCE
From her steamer chair the Marquise d'Esclignac asked:
"Are you absorbed in your book, Julia?"
Miss Redmond faintly smiled as she laid it down. She was absorbed in
but one thing, morning, noon and night, waking or sleeping: when and
where she should find him; how he was being treated. Had he been
taken captive? He was not dead, of that she was sure.
"What is the book, Julia?"
"_Le Conte d'un Spahi._"
"Put it down and let me speak to you of Robert de Tremont."
Miss Redmond, being his guest and indebted to him for her luxurious
transportation, could not in decency refuse the request.
"He knows nothing whatever of our errand, Julia."
"Ah, then, what does he think?"
Miss Redmond on the arm of her blue serge coat wore a band of white,
in the center of which gleamed the Red Cross. The marquise, wrapped
in a sable rug, held a small Pekinese lap-dog cuddled under her arm,
and had only the appearance of a lady of leisure bent on a pleasure
excursion. She did not suggest a rescuing party in the least. Her
jaunty hat was enveloped by a delicate veil; her hands were incased
in long white gloves. Now that she had encouraged her energetic
niece and taken this decisive step, she relaxed and found what
pleasure she might in the voyage.
"When we came on board last night, my dear, you remember that I sat
with Robert in the salon until ... well, latish."
"After midnight?"
"Possibly; but I am fifty and he is thirty. Moreover, I am his
godmother. He is enchanting, Julia, spiritual and sympathetic. I
confess, my dear, that I find myself rather at a loss as to what to
tell him."
Miss Redmond listened politely. She was supremely indifferent as to
what had been told to her host. This was Tuesday; they should reach
Algiers on Saturday at the latest. What news would meet them there?
She held in her book the last despatch from the ministry of war.
Supposing the Captain de Sabron had been taken captive by some
marauding tribe and was being held for a ransom! _This_ was the
_Romance of a Spahi_, in which she was absorbed. _Taken captive_!
She could not let herself think what that might mean.
"Robert's mother, you know, is my closest friend. His father was one
of the witnesses of my marriage. I feel that I have brought up
Robert ... it would have been _so perfect_." She sighed.
"_Ma tante!_" warned Miss Redmond, with a note of pain in her voice.
"Yes, yes," accepted the marquise, "I know, my dear, I know. But you
can not escape from the yacht except in a lifeboat, and if you _did_
it would be one of Robert's lifeboats! You must not be too formal
with him." She tapped the nose of her Pekinese dog. "Be still,
Mimi, _that_ man is only a sailor! and if he were not here and at his
duty you would be drowned, you little goose!"
The Pekinese dog was a new addition. Julia tried not to dislike her;
for Julia, only Pitchouné existed. She could not touch Mimi without
a sense of disloyalty.
The boat cut the azure water with its delicate white body, the decks
glistened like glass. The sailor at whom Mimi had barked passed out
of sight, and far up in the bow Tremont, in white flannels, stood
smoking.
"I had to be very circumspect, my dear Julia, when I talked with
Robert. You see you are not engaged to Monsieur de Sabron." The
girl colored. "The sentimental woman in me," her aunt went on, "has
responded to all your fantasies, but the practical woman in me calls
me a romantic goose."
"Ah," breathed Miss Redmond, opening her book, "_ma tante_, let me
read."
"Nonsense," said the marquise affectionately. "The most important
part of the whole affair is that we are here--that we are en route to
Algiers, is it not?"
The girl extended her hand gratefully.
"And thank you! Tell me, what did you say to him?"
The marquise hummed a little tune, and softly pulled Mimi's ears.
"Remember, my child, that if we find Monsieur de Sabron, the
circumspection will have to be even greater still."
"Leave that to me, _ma tante_."
"You don't know," said the determined lady quite sweetly, "that he
has the _slightest_ desire to marry you, Julia."
Miss Redmond sat up in her chair, and flamed.
"Do you want to make me miserable?"
"I intend to let my worldly wisdom equal this emergency, Julia. I
want Robert to have no suspicion of the facts."
"How can we prevent it, _ma tante_?"
"We can do so if you will obey me."
The girl started, and her aunt, looking up at the Duc de Tremont
where he stood in the bow, saw that he showed signs of finishing his
smoke and of joining them.
"_Ma tante_," said the girl quickly, "have you brought me here under
false colors? Have you let him think..."
"Hush, Julia, you are indebted to him for accomplishing your own
desire."
"But I would never, never..."
"_Petite sotte_," cried the marquise, "then you would never have been
on this yacht."
Intensely troubled and annoyed, Julia asked in a low tone:
"For heaven's sake, _ma tante_, tell me what the Duc de Tremont
thinks!"
Her aunt laughed softly. The intrigue and romance of it all
entertained her. She had the sense of having made a very pretty
concession to her niece, of having accomplished a very agreeable
pleasure trip for herself. As for young Sabron, he would be sure to
be discovered at the right moment, to be lionized, decorated and
advanced. The reason that she had no wrinkles on her handsome cheek
was because she went lightly through life.
"He thinks, my dearest girl, that you are like all your countrywomen:
a little eccentric and that you have a strong mind. He thinks you
one of the most tender-hearted and benevolent of girls."
"_Ma tante, ma tante!_"
"He thinks you are making a little mission into Algiers among the
sick and the wounded. He thinks you are going to sing in the
hospitals."
"But," exclaimed the girl, "he must think me mad."
"Young men don't care how mildly mad a beautiful young woman is, my
dear Julia."
"But, he will find out ... he will know."
"No," said the marquise, "that he will not. I have attended to that.
He will not leave his boat during the excursion, Julia. He remains,
and we go on shore with our people."
"How splendid!" sighed Julia Redmond, relieved.
"I'm glad you think so," said her aunt rather shortly. "Now I have a
favor to ask of you, my child."
Julia trembled.
"_Ma tante?_"
"While we are on board the yacht you will treat Robert charmingly."
"I am always polite to him, am I not?"
"You are like an irritated sphinx to him, my dear. You must be
different."
"I thought," said the girl in a subdued voice, "that it would be like
this. Oh, I wish I had sailed on any vessel, even a cargo vessel."
Looking at her gently, her aunt said: "Don't be ridiculous. I only
wish to protect you, my child. I think I have proved my friendship.
Remember, before the world you are nothing to Charles de Sabron. A
woman's heart, my dear, has delusions as well as passions."
The girl crimsoned and bowed her charming head. "You are not called
upon to tell Robert de Tremont that you are in love with a man who
has not asked you to marry him, but you are his guest, and all I ask
of you is that you make the voyage as agreeable to him as you can, my
dear."
Tremont was coming toward them. Julia raised her head and murmured:
"I thank you for everything. I shall do what I can." And to herself
she said: "That is, as far as my honor will let me."