In a moment Angelo had softly closed the glass door after Marie, and had
come back. He stood before Mary, looking down at her. At first she did
not raise her eyes, but his drew hers to them. They gazed at her with a
cold anger that was like fire burning behind a screen of ice. And the
ice made the fire more terrible.
His look bade her rise and stand before him, a culprit, but she would
not. She sat still, in the same chair where she had sat happily writing
to Vanno a few hours before. Though she trembled, she faced the Prince
without shrinking outwardly. Perhaps to Angelo's eyes she appeared
defiant.
"Does my brother know?" he asked.
"He knows--that I was at a convent-school." In spite of herself Mary
choked in the words. She stammered slightly, and a wave of giddiness
swept over her. With a supreme effort she controlled herself, looking up
at Angelo's tall figure, which to her loomed Titanic.
"I mean does he know the rest?"
"There is nothing else to know. I did not do any of those things Miss
Bland talked about."
"Very well. But you must see that you will have to prove that, before
you can show yourself worthy to be my brother's wife."
It was on Mary's lips to exclaim: "I can prove it easily!" But just in
time she remembered that, to prove her own innocence--as indeed she very
easily could--she would have to prove Marie's guilt. This could not be
avoided. The guilty one in throwing the blame upon another had been as
one who jumps into the sea to avoid fire. Mary could save her friend
from the waves only by giving up her own boat; for in that boat there
was not room for two.
Fear brushed the girl's spirit like the wing of a bat in the dark.
Safety for her with Vanno began to seem far off and more difficult to
attain than she had dreamed when, by silence, she kept her promise to
Marie. And what she had done was largely for Vanno's sake, she repeated
to herself once again. The Princess was his sister-in-law. Her honour
was the Della Robbia's honour.
A way must open. Light must come.
"I think," Mary said, trying not to let the words falter on her lips,
"Vanno won't want proof." But as she spoke, even before she finished,
she recalled how Vanno had at first believed appearances and gossip
against her. Of course it would be different now that he knew her heart
and soul. Still, the bat's wings flapped in the night of her darkening
fear. And Marie's words of the other day echoed in her memory. "The
brothers are alike... they adore purity... and they have a pitying
horror of women who aren't innocent." Could Vanno believe her not
innocent--now? Could his eyes--"stars of love," Marie had called his and
Angelo's--could his eyes that had adored, look at her with the dreadful
coldness of Angelo's at this moment, the coldness which would be death
for Marie?
As something far down within herself asked the question, another thought
stood out clear and sharp-cut. She had promised Marie not to tell Vanno,
not even to "tell a priest in confession." Yet she must tell, for after
all that had happened she could not bear to let Vanno take her on faith
alone.
Angelo's answer came like a confirmation of her resolve.
"It's not only a question of what Vanno may want," he said, with a very
evident effort not to be harsh to a woman, defenceless if guilty. "You
don't seem to realize, Miss Grant, that--both he and I owe something to
our father--to our forefathers. The men of our family have done things
they ought not to do. History tells of them. But history tells also that
they have never taken wives unworthy to be the mothers of noble sons."
Then at last Mary rose swiftly, bidden to her feet not by Angelo's
haughty eyes but by her own pride of womanhood, and resentment of the
whip with which he had dared to lash her.
"If Vanno were here he would kill you!" the strange something that was
not herself cried out in a voice that was not hers.
Angelo's face hardened as he looked down at her with a bitter contempt.
"So you would rejoice in bringing strife between brothers!" he said. "I
had not yet thought so badly of you as that. But there are such women.
It was almost incredible to me at first that you--in face a sweet young
girl--could have accepted Vanno's love without telling him about--your
past, and at least giving him the chance to choose. Now I begin to see
you in a different light."
"You see me in a false light," Mary said passionately. "You tortured
that out of me--about Vanno. I didn't mean it. I'd rather die this
moment than bring strife between you. I know he loves you dearly. But if
you loved him as well, you couldn't have spoken as you did to me. I too
am dear to him."
"It is because I love Vanno that I had to speak so," Angelo persisted,
not softening at all. "I am his elder brother. Soon, I fear, I shall be
the head of our house. It is my duty to protect him."
"Against me?"
"Against you--if you make it necessary."
"I told you and I tell you again," Mary cried in exasperation, "that I
have done nothing wrong. There's nothing in my 'past' to confess. If I
haven't talked much to Vanno about it, that's because there was so much
else to say."
"How old are you, Miss Grant?" Angelo put the question abruptly.
"Twenty-five," she replied without hesitation, though puzzled at the
seeming irrelevance.
"Ah! I happen to know that Vanno believes you to be under twenty."
"I never said so. I would have told him my age if I had thought of it."
"He spoke of you to me, before we met, as a 'child not yet past her
teens, and just out of a convent-school.' How long do you say it is
since you were a pupil at that convent, where I believe you admit having
been--St. Ursula-of-the-Lake, in Scotland?"
"It's almost four years since I was a pupil, but----" She checked
herself in haste. In another instant she would have said a thing which
might have opened the eyes of Marie's husband on some dim vision of the
truth.
"I will answer no more questions from you, Prince Della Robbia," she
said, with an almost stern dignity which had never been hers. Angelo
felt this, but it made him see her as a woman more dangerous to Vanno
than he had supposed, because it revealed in her unexpected strength,
tenacity, and even subtlety.
"Very well," he replied. "It is your right to refuse. But this you must
understand. I shall not permit my brother to marry you in ignorance
of--we will say the stories told of your past, since you deny their
truth. If you refuse to tell him, I myself will do it. I will tell him
exactly what has happened to-day. And I shall see that the detective
whom Idina employed against my wife does not go away before Vanno
returns, at any rate without leaving her address. Also I must say this:
I cannot compel my brother to give you up if he chooses you as his wife
in spite of all, and if you love him little enough to do him so great a
wrong. But I can control my wife's actions. Frankly, I do not consider
you the right companion for her."
Mary's cheeks blazed, not with shame but with indignation. She quivered
from head to foot with anger such as she had not known that she could
feel. Never had she experienced so strong a temptation as now, when she
burned to fling the truth in this man's haughty face. How it would
change if she accused the wife he put so far above her! And how easily
she could prove that the burden of guilt was Marie's. It was as if in a
vivid lightning-flash she saw Angelo withered by the knowledge, his
pride in the dust; and a tigress instinct of revenge leaped into life,
longing to see him thus in reality, burning to use her power to crush
and annihilate his happiness forever. But she fought with herself and
resisted. For an instant she was silent, gathering the reins of
self-control. Then she said only: "I will go away from your house at
once, Prince Della Robbia."
"That must be as you wish," he replied. "I do not ask you to go."
"You believe unspeakable things of me. That is the same as telling me to
go. In my country they suppose people innocent until they're proved
guilty. With you, it seems to be different. Without waiting for proof,
you take it for granted that I'm guilty, that I've deceived Vanno and
you."
"Your silence when you might have defended yourself from Miss Bland and
from the American woman was proof in itself. If you are not the person
concerned in their story, surely you would have denied your identity
with her. You said nothing. You bowed your head under the storm. Only
now, when you're alone with me, knowing me to be ignorant of any facts
against you, do you raise it again. But enough of recrimination. Vanno
can decide for himself when he comes, and when he knows all from you or
me. Meanwhile you may stay in my house if you choose. I offer you its
shelter because you are a woman alone and because my brother who loves
you put you under my protection. But I do not intend that my wife shall
have any further communication with you; and to prevent talk among the
servants which might spread outside, I suggest that if you remain you
keep your room, as an invalid, until Vanno returns."
"I thank you for your consideration," Mary said bitterly, "but I shall
not stay. I shall pack my things immediately myself; for I will not be
helped by one of your servants, or owe anything more to you. When Vanno
comes, as you say, he can decide for himself."
"You will write to him?" Angelo inquired.
"I will write to him. And you need have no further trouble with anything
that concerns me."
Without another word, or a look at him, she turned away and walked into
the house.
Almost mechanically she went upstairs to the pretty room that had been
hers. She was too intensely excited to think. She could only feel. And
throughout her whole life she had felt about her thoughts, rather than
thought about her feelings. Less than ever did she try to analyze them
now. She hastily gathered her things together, and piled them without
folding into trunks and dressing-bag. She had not made up her mind where
to go or what to do. The first thing and the most important thing was to
get away from this house. Once away, breathing freer air, it would be
time enough to plan.
As she packed furiously and unskilfully, she feared that Marie might
come in and beg her forgiveness or try to explain. She felt that she
could not bear this. And she shrank from the idea of seeing Marie again.
She was afraid that she might be tempted to say something terrible. The
one clear thought in her brain was the thought of Vanno; and he was in
her mind as an image rather than a thought. She said over and over to
herself almost stupidly as she prepared to leave Angelo's house: "If
only Vanno were here--if only Vanno were here!"
Before she was ready to go she suddenly remembered that she must have a
cab. Nothing would induce her to take Prince Della Robbia's car, even if
it were offered. She rang for a servant, gave a generous present of
money, and said that she had received news calling her away at once. A
carriage must be found quickly.
As it happened, the descendant of the great French family was stationed
at the edge of the olive wood with his little victoria. The weather had
changed since morning. The mistral had begun to blow, and Jacques had
found little to do, for people were keeping indoors. When Mary started,
with one trunk on the front of the little cab, the world was very
different from the happy blue and gold world of the morning. Had she
been on foot, the gale sweeping down from Provence would have blown her
like a rag from the path; and the small but sturdy horse seemed to lean
on a wall of wind as he trotted toward Monte Carlo.
Mary had resolved to beg Rose Winter for a night's shelter. She believed
it might be possible, without betraying the secret, to tell Rose that
something disturbing had happened which had decided her to leave Prince
Della Robbia's house. She felt sure of advice and welcome from the
Winters, and she thought it probable that they would ask her to stop
longer than the night; but she made up her mind in advance not to accept
such an invitation. People who knew that she was visiting Princess Della
Robbia would talk if they saw her in Monte Carlo, especially while Vanno
was away. There had been more than enough gossip already. When she
started for Monte Carlo she had no idea where to go after leaving Rose,
as she determined to do next day; but it was as if a voice came to her
on the wind, saying: "Why not stay at the Château Lontana?"
Mary caught at the suggestion. She had felt vaguely guilty in deciding
that she could not grant Hannaford's wish, and live in his villa. It had
seemed impossible to be happy there. She had thought that tragic
memories would haunt the house and echo through the rooms, though
strangers who knew nothing of Hannaford's story might find it a pleasant
place. But now she was not asking or expecting happiness for the
present. She wanted a refuge, where she might think and wait quietly,
out of gossip's way--a place whence she could write Vanno: "When you
come you will find me here."
As she said these words in her mind they took a different form. "_If_
you come," she began; then stopped hastily and changed the "if" to
"when." Vanno would come. She had done nothing because of which she
deserved to lose him, and she would not lose him. Somehow, everything
must be made to come right. She would think of a way.
In front of the big, balconied building where the Winters lived Jacques
stopped and put Mary's small trunk and dressing-bag inside the door,
while his little white horse stood tranquilly among passing motors. She
asked him to call later at the Villa Mirasole for her other luggage,
which she had already packed and labelled, and take it to the cloak-room
at Monte Carlo railway station, where it could be called for. Then she
paid him generously for everything, and won the man's heart by saying
goodbye to his miniature dog, Pomponette.
Mary had no doubt that the Winters would take her in for the night; and
it was a blow to be told by Nathalie that Monsieur and Madame had gone
to Nice to bring back the aunt of Monsieur who had fallen ill at a
hotel. They would return by the train arriving at seven. Would
Mademoiselle wait or look in again?
Mary hesitated, not knowing how to rearrange her plans. It was evident,
as the dreaded aunt had come down upon them after all, that the Winters
could not keep another guest even for a night, unless they made a bed in
the drawing-room, or the chaplain went out and gave up his share of
Rose's room. But Mary did not think for an instant of putting her
friends to this inconvenience.
"No, thank you," she said, recovering from the first shock of
disappointment. "Tell Madame I regret very much not seeing her, but I
called to get my jewel-case which she kindly kept for me. And--say that
I will write."
Already Mary had made up her mind that she must go at once to the
Château Lontana. She knew that Hannaford had put in a caretaker when he
bought the place--a woman he had described as an interesting creature
"discovered" in some odd way. What the way was, or precisely what
Hannaford had said of the woman, Mary had forgotten; for she had often
listened absent-mindedly to Hannaford's talk of his beloved villa and
all concerning it; but the great thing was the certainty that a woman
lived in the house. Mary could go there alone without fear.
She was glad that Rose had given her the key of the cabinet in which her
jewel-case was kept, because she had very little money, and as it was
already five o'clock the banks would be shut. It would not be an
agreeable necessity, but she could go to the jeweller in the Galerie
Charles Trois where she had bought many of her beautiful things and,
explaining that she needed ready money, ask him to buy back a diamond
pendant or brooch.
When she had taken the jewel-case, which was in the shape of an
inconspicuous hand bag, she gave Nathalie the key of the cabinet, and
said nothing of the luggage waiting on the ground floor. She knew it
would grieve George and Rose Winter to guess that she had come expecting
to stay. Downstairs she spoke to the concierge, saying she would return
with a cab to fetch the things away. She would go, she thought, to the
railway station and inquire about trains for Ventimiglia. Then having
settled the hour of departure, she would dispose of a little jewellery
and call in a cab at the Winters' for her luggage.
The sun had set, and the early darkness of the Riviera night had fallen,
though it was only five o'clock, but the Boulevard d'Italie and the
Boulevard des Moulins were brilliantly lighted. The shops looked bright
and enticing, but Mary did not notice them as she would once have done.
She walked quickly, and at the top of the gardens was about to turn down
toward the Casino and more distant railway station when she came upon
Lord and Lady Dauntrey.
If she could she would have avoided them, but it was too late. They were
standing together, talking with great earnestness, and Mary had brushed
against Lord Dauntrey's shoulder on the narrow pavement before she
recognized the pair. Both turned with a start, as if they had been
brought back by a touch from dreams to reality; and a street lamp on the
opposite side of the gardens lighted up their features with a cruel
distinctness. Instantly Mary knew that some terrible thing had happened.
Lord Dauntrey was like a man under sentence of death, and though his
wife's expression was not to be read at a glance, the look in her eyes
arrested Mary. The girl stopped involuntarily, as if Eve had seized her
by the arm. "What is the matter?" she asked, without any preface of
greeting. A conventional "How do you do?" would have been an insulting
mockery flung at those set, white faces.
"For God's sake, tell her not to drive me mad," Dauntrey said in a voice
which was strange to Mary. It was not like his, though she had heard him
speak raspingly when ill luck at the tables had depressed him. It seemed
to her that such a voice might come from one shut up in a cell, or from
a man enclosed in armour with visor down. It was a voice that frightened
her.
"Oh, Lady Dauntrey, what does he mean?"
Eve caught the girl by the hand, holding it tightly, as if she feared
that she might take alarm and run away.
"I've told him that I shall hate him if he's a coward," she answered in
a voice cold and hard as iron.
"If I'm a coward, what are you?" Dauntrey retorted. "You want me to
crawl to those people for a few wretched louis, and you're too selfish
to stick by me through it all. I've told you I'd go, if you'd go with
me."
"I won't!" Eve flung at him. "You ought to be ashamed to ask it. Coward!
He's brought us to this, and now he's afraid to do the one thing that
can help."
"Please, please, let me go away," pleaded Mary, sick with shame for
both, and for herself because she was a witness of the scene. "I
oughtn't to be hearing this. I--unless I can do some good----"
"_You_ can go with him, if you want to do good," Eve cut her short
almost savagely. "I'm broken--done! But you--you've nothing to ask them
for yourself. You might see him through, if he's too weak to go alone.
We're down, both of us, in the mud; but you're high up in the world.
You're of importance now. Maybe they'd do for you what they wouldn't for
one of us."
"I don't know what you mean. I'm in the dark."
"How could she know?" Dauntrey asked his wife, controlling his rage.
"We've lost everything in this beautiful hell," Eve explained sullenly.
"Haven't you heard any news of us this last week?"
"No, nothing--nothing."
"It began with a row at a hotel," Eve went on. "I lost my temper--I had
the best excuse--but I struck a woman who dared to cut me. There was a
scene. Then all the people who were left at our house turned against us
and walked off the same day----"
"Yet she says everything is my fault!" Dauntrey threw out his hands with
a disclaiming gesture.
"Hold your tongue!" Eve shrilled at him, seeming to care no more than a
wounded animal for the astonished stares of passers-by. It was only
Dauntrey who made some poor attempt to cloak and screen the squalor of
their quarrel. "What I say is true. Everything _is_ your fault. Who
gambled away the money I made, slaving in the house, taking boarders and
trying to hold my head up? It was for your sake I worked; and now you
refuse to do your part, yet you expect me to keep on loving you."
"Oh, don't, don't!" Mary pleaded. "I'll go with him, anywhere you want
me to go."
Instantly Eve became calmer. "Will you do the thing if she stands by
you?" she asked her husband.
"Yes," he answered, dully.
"Then for heaven's sake start at once, before you change your mind. I'll
wait for you here, on a seat. I must sit down or I shall drop."
"Wouldn't you rather go home if--if I ordered you a cab?" Mary
suggested. "You will be so cold--so miserable--sitting out of doors in
this sharp wind, with clouds of dust blowing."
"Home!" Eve repeated. "We haven't any home. We've had to leave the
villa. We couldn't pay the rent. The beast of a landlord ordered us out.
Nobody trusts anybody else at Monte Carlo. The tradespeople are after us
like wolves. They've taken everything we had worth taking, except the
clothes on our backs. Now do you wonder I want him to get what he can
out of the Casino? We must be off somewhere, to-night, before these
brutes of tradesmen know we're away from the villa for good. They've
probably nosed out something by this time."
"Come along, Miss Grant, if you're really willing to see me through
this," Dauntrey said, clinging to those bare rocks of conventionality
which still rose above the waters of despair.
"Unless," Eve broke in quickly, "you'd rather lend us enough to get us
out of the whole scrape? Some day----"
"Oh, cut that, Eve," her husband interposed. "I wouldn't take any more
of Miss Grant's money even if she'd give it, for it would be giving, not
lending."
"That depends on you. If you're so mean-spirited that you can't earn our
living, I suppose we'll have to beg the rest of our lives, unless I go
on the stage or something," said Eve. "You always do your best to crush
every idea of mine."
"Just now I can't lay my hands on any money," Mary explained gently,
anxious to keep the peace. "I was on my way----" She was about to
mention the jewellery she wished to sell, but Eve, too impatient to hear
the excuses she expected, cut her short.
"Oh, well, the next best thing is to help Dauntrey squeeze as much as he
can out of the Casino. Use your influence. I know he won't speak up for
himself. He's an English peer, when all's said and done! It would make
a big scandal if he committed suicide because he'd lost everything in
their beastly place. The papers all over the world would be full of it.
The Casino wouldn't like that much. You can point it out."
Mary shivered and felt sick. She heard Lord Dauntrey mutter something
under his breath, and saw him turn away. It was indescribably repulsive
that his wife should speak in his presence of his possible suicide. The
girl felt a sudden horror of Lady Dauntrey, yet she did not cease to
pity her; and she was infinitely sorry for the cowed and wretched man
whom she had always liked.
They started together for the Casino, Mary not yet understanding
precisely what was to be done, but willing to give her services. For the
moment her own troubles seemed small and easy to overcome, compared with
the shipwreck of this miserable pair who had called themselves her
friends.