THE GERM OF DUTY
The case of the Good-Looking Member strained Nolan's patience almost to
the breaking point, but after many days of fruitless chafing, his
forbearance was rewarded.
Eveley invited him to dinner.
"Have you rescued the good-looking one from the loveless sea?" he asked
sarcastically.
"I have sown the good seed," she said amiably.
"I never heard of sowing seeds in a loveless sea," he sneered.
"I have thought up a wonderful scheme. But you will have to help me out.
I always fall back on you in an emergency, don't I?" Eveley's voice was
sweetest honey. "So you must come to dinner."
"Is the Handsome Member to be among those present?"
"Oh, Nolan, this is our party--to talk things over all by ourselves. It
seems such ages since I saw you, and I've been so lonesome."
Nolan was fully aware that this was fabrication, but being totally male,
he found himself unable to resist.
"You do not know what lonesomeness is, Eveley. I nearly died. I almost
wished I would die. I shall come early, and please wear the blue dress,
and be good to me."
That evening, after a long and satisfying preamble, they sat before her
tiny grate with their coffee, and she broached the wonderful plan.
"He is the most utterly married-to-duty thing you ever saw. He says he
can not in common decency refuse to marry a girl who has been engaged to
him for five years. He hasn't even seen her for three, and isn't a bit
interested in her. Why, they only write once a month, or so. That's no
love-affair, anybody can see that. But he won't ask her to let him off,
and so we have thought up the most scientific scheme to work it. He is
inviting her to come here for a visit, and she is to stay with me. She
hates sensible businesslike men, and she adores scatter-brain, fussy
ones. So when she comes, he is going to be as poky as duty itself, and
wear old grimy clothes, and work day and night, and you are going to don
your sunshine apparel and blossom out like a rose, and beau her around in
great style. Result, she will fire him, hoping to ensnare you--but don't
you make any mistake and get yourself ensnared for keeps, will you?"
"He is going to work evenings, is he?"
"Yes, day times and night times and all times."
"And I am to cavalier the lady?"
"Not the lady," she denied indignantly. "Both of us. You shan't go out
with her alone. She is a terrible flirt, and very pretty. Where you and
she goeth, I shall goeth also."
"Well, I can stand it. But what is to become of my own future? Why should
I neglect my legal interests to beau another fellow's sweetheart about
the town?"
"Because you always help me out of a tight place," she said wheedlingly.
"And because you do not approve of my campaign. But if you are nice and
help me this time, I think I can everlastingly prove that I am right."
"If I do the work, seems to me I do the proving."
"Yes, but it is my theory, so I get the credit. Of course you must be
very gay and make quite a fuss over Miss Weldon, but don't you carry it
too far, or you'll be in bad with me."
Anything that meant the eclipse of the Handsome Member could not be other
than satisfactory to Nolan. He agreed with a great deal of enthusiasm,
only stipulating that all evenings previous to the arrival of the pretty
fiancée should be devoted to private rehearsal of his part under the
personal direction of the Dutiless Theorist.
So it was Nolan and Eveley who met Miss Weldon at the station upon her
arrival. They stood together beside the white columns, searching the
faces of the passengers as they alighted. When a slender, fair-haired
girl swung lightly down, they hurried to greet her.
"Miss Weldon?" asked Eveley, with her friendly smile. "I am Eveley
Ainsworth, and this is my friend, Mr. Inglish. Mr. Baldwin could not get
away to-night--'way up to his ears in work. But he is coming up to see
you later this evening."
If Miss Weldon was disappointed she gave no sign. Instead she turned to
Nolan with frankly approving eyes, remarking his tall slim build, his
thin clever face, his bright keen eyes.
"Are you so devoted to business, Mr. Inglish?" she asked, as she opened
her small bag and took out a solitaire, which she placed on the third
finger of her left hand. At the smiles in the eyes of Eveley and Nolan,
she only laughed. "Why flaunt your badge of servitude? But don't tell
Timmy, will you?"
She was indeed very pretty, with warm shining eyes, and a quick pleasant
voice. She was full of a bright wit, too, and the drive to Eveley's Cote
in the Clouds was only marred for Eveley by the fact that she, being
driver, had to sit in front alone.
"We shall not do much cavaliering in the car," she thought grimly. "Not
when there are only three of us. We'll walk--three abreast."
Miss Weldon was enchanted with the rustic steps, but a little fearful of
them as well, and appropriated Nolan as her personal bodyguard and
support. She squealed prettily at every creak and rumble.
"I shall never try these steps alone, Mr. Inglish," she said, clinging to
his not-unwilling hand. "I shall always wait for you."
"I'll roll her down, if she begins that," thought Eveley.
But in spite of her disapproval, even to her there was something very
attractive in the pretty girlish merriment and interest of her young
guest.
"I do not see why Nolan had to squeeze in on this," she said to herself
most unfairly.
Miss Weldon was charmed with the dainty apartment, and loved the cunning
electric fixtures in the tiny dining-room. She tucked an apron under her
belt, and appointed Nolan her assistant in making toast, while Eveley
finished the light details of serving dinner.
"It certainly is a silly business all the way around," Eveley decided.
After their coffee, and after Nolan had finished his second cigar, Miss
Weldon said, "Now since Miss Ainsworth got dinner, we must do the dishes.
I shall wash, and you must dry them, Mr. Inglish, and be sure you make
them shine, for I am very fussy about my dishes."
And Eveley had to sit down in a big chair and rest, though she did not
feel like sitting down and hated resting--and look quietly on while Miss
Weldon fished each separate dish from the hot suds and held it out
playfully for Nolan to wipe. It made a long and laborious task of the
dish washing for Eveley, and she was quite worn out at its conclusion.
"Funny that some people can't do their plain duty without getting the
whole neighborhood mixed up in it," she thought resentfully.
At nine o'clock, came Timothy Baldwin. Miss Weldon met him at the window,
looked at him, half curiously, half fearfully, and after lifting her lips
for a fleeting kiss, backed quickly away from him into a remote corner.
Then Nolan, according to prearranged plan, suggested that he and Eveley
run down and put the car in the garage. "And if there is a moon, we may
go for a joy-ride, so don't expect us back too soon."
And as they rode he spoke so unconcernedly of Sally's smiles and curls
and pretty hands, that Eveley was restored to her original enthusiasm for
the campaign.
"Won't she be wild?" she chuckled, snuggling close against Nolan's side,
but never forgetting that she was mistress of the wheel. "Tim is going to
talk business all the time, and at ten-thirty he is going to say he must
hurry home to rest up for a hard day's work to-morrow. We are not to get
in until eleven, so she will be utterly bored to distraction. Isn't it
fun?"
They drove slowly, happily around the park, over the bridge and under the
bridge, around the eucalyptus knoll above the lights on the bay, and then
went down-town for ice-cream. At exactly eleven o'clock, Nolan took her
hands as she stood on the bottom step of the rustic stair.
"I can't say it is your duty to--be good to me--but I hope it will make
you happy. And by the rules of your own game, I have a right selfishly to
insist on your being always sweet and wonderful to me, and to me alone."
"Just what do you mean by that, Nolan?"
"Nothing, of course, but can't you use your imagination?"
"No, I can't. That is for brides and fiancées, not for unattached
working girls like me."
Then she ran on up the stairs, and Nolan went home.
True to arrangement, Tim had gone at ten-thirty, and Miss Weldon in a
soft negligee was sitting alone pensively, before the fire.
"Tim has changed," she said briefly. "I think he has more sense, but a
little less--er--warmth, I might say."
"Do you think so? He works very hard. He is fearfully ambitious and they
think everything of him at the office."
"Yes? Then he must certainly have changed. He was not keen on business at
Salt Lake. He lost three jobs in eight weeks. That is why he came west.
And his father has financed half a dozen ventures for him. But perhaps he
has settled down, and will do all right. I love your little apartment,
and it is dear to call it a Cloud Cote, and Mr. Nolan is perfectly
charming. Timmy asked us to meet him at Rudder's for luncheon, you and me
and your Mr. Nolan, also."
"Oh, that is nice," said Eveley. "I'll come up for you in the car a few
minutes earlier. You won't mind being alone most of the day, will you? I
work, you know."
"No, I rather like being alone. I sew some, and I shall read, and there
are letters to write. I do not mind being alone."
Eveley found her really very agreeable, quite pleasant to entertain. And
after all Nolan had only done as she requested, and there was nothing
personal in it. It was lots of fun, but it must stop before Miss Weldon
had time to grow really fond of Nolan, for of course she could not have
him under any circumstances. Eveley absolutely disbelieved in any form of
duty, still she would not feel justified in carrying her animosity to the
point of wilfully breaking innocent hearts.
At twelve-thirty the next day, Eveley and Miss Weldon entered the small
waiting-room of Rudder's café. Nolan was already there. They waited
fifteen minutes for Timothy, and then a messenger came down to them with
a note. Mr. Baldwin was so sorry, but business was urgent, and they must
go right ahead and have luncheon without him. He would telephone them
later in the evening if he could come up.
Sally Weldon pursed her lips a little, but she smiled at Nolan. "Can you
beau us both, Mr. Inglish? We think we are mighty lucky to have half a
beau a piece on working days. Are you the only man in this whole town who
does not work like a slave?"
So they found a pleasant table in the café, and dawdled long over their
luncheon, laughing and chatting. Then they took Nolan back to his office,
and Eveley and Sally went for a drive on the beach to La Jolla.
"But don't you have to work?" asked Sally, observing that it was long
after two when they finally turned back toward the office.
Eveley shrugged her shoulders prettily.
"Oh, nobody works much but Mr. Baldwin," she said. "He does the grinding
for the whole force."
Miss Weldon frowned a little, but said nothing.
That evening she had the dinner nicely started when Eveley reached home,
and Eveley was loud in praise of her guest's skill and cleverness.
"It is just lovely, but you must not work. You are company."
"I rather like to cook. I took a long course in it four years ago when
Timmy and I were first engaged, and I have done all the housekeeping at
home since then. Daddy pays me double the salary we used to pay the cook,
and I provide better meals and more cheaply than she did. Daddy says so
himself."
"Why, Sally," cried Eveley warmly, "I think that is wonderful. I am
surprised. I thought--I supposed--"
"Oh, I know what you thought," laughed Sally brightly. "Everybody thinks
so, and it is true. I am very gay and frivolous. I love to dance and sing
and play. And I abhor solemn ugly grimy things, and I think the only
Christian duty in the world is being happy."
Eveley flushed at that, and turned quickly away.
Later Nolan joined them for dinner, and the little party was waxing very
gay long before Tim called. Then it was only to say that he would be
working late, but was sending them tickets for the theater and would join
them afterward for supper at the Grant.
"Does he always work as hard as this?" asked Sally, looking steadily into
Eveley's face.
"He always works pretty hard," said Eveley truthfully, "but he does seem
busier than usual right now."
Miss Weldon only laughed, and they talked of other things. Nolan went
down with them in the car, Eveley driving alone in front, but somehow she
felt her pretty guest to be less of a menace since she was guilty of
sensible things like cooking and sewing.
[Illustration: "Just what do you mean by that?"]
Eveley did not explain that Timothy had felt inclined to join them for
dinner and the show that night after disappointing them at luncheon, but
she had been firm with him.
"Not to-day," she insisted. "You can only have one hour with us to-night.
To-morrow you can join us for luncheon and a short drive afterward, if
you will fix it so I can get off."
He was at the Grant waiting when they arrived, and rather impatient.
"Did you have a pleasant time?" he asked, looking into Sally's bright
face.
"Lovely. And did you hurry terribly to meet us? We don't want to
interfere with your work, or bother you."
He searched her face for signs of guile, but her eyes were unclouded, and
her manner indicated only a friendly concern for his interests.
It was a very happy party that night. Both girls were merry, and Nolan
was really more solicitously attentive to Sally than was quite necessary
even in the interests of a campaign directed against her. When at a late
hour, they trooped out to the car, it was he who helped her carefully
into the machine, though, with seeming reluctance, he permitted Timothy
to sit with her while he joined Eveley in the front seat.
"Timmy is good-looking, don't you think?" Sally asked that night, as they
were preparing for bed.
"Yes, if he did not work so hard. Young men should not kill themselves
with labor."
"Your Nolan is handsomer, perhaps," said Sally pleasantly.
The next day Timothy did meet them for luncheon, after keeping them
waiting for twenty minutes, and later they went for a fast ride out Point
Loma. But that night he did not see them at all, though he told Eveley he
thought she was rather rubbing it in, cheating him out of so many
pleasant parties and good times.
"I may not want to marry her, but it is good sport chasing around," he
protested.
But Eveley was very stern. He had put himself in her hands, and he must
obey without argument, and that settled it. And when he suggested that it
would look better if he and Sally had one party by themselves without
Nolan tagging at their heels, she frowned it down.
"One private party can spoil a whole week of hard work," she decreed.
So the week passed. Once even Eveley pretended business, and Sally and
Nolan had luncheon together, and a drive later in Eveley's car. But
Timothy put a stop to that.
"She is my fiancée. And I may have to marry her after all. And if I do,
hanged if I want everybody in town thinking she was Nolan's sweetheart to
begin with."
So Eveley waived that part of her plan, and the parties were always of
three, and sometimes, but infrequently, of four. That Sally accepted
their arrangements so easily, and took so much pleasure in their
entertainment, argued well. One night she said:
"Of course, men have to work, but I shouldn't like my husband to dig away
like a servant, should you, Eveley?"
And Eveley felt the time was ripe. The next day she told Timothy he might
take Sally out alone in the car for a drive, and ask her if they should
not be married right away. Eveley was willing to wager that she would
reject him. Timothy consented with alacrity, seeming to feel the burden
of his semi-attached state.
That evening at six-thirty, when Nolan came up for dinner, Eveley met him
on the roof garden over the sun parlor.
"Nolan, something has happened. They went at two o'clock, and they aren't
home yet. What do you suppose is the matter? Maybe they had an accident.
Maybe she got mad and wouldn't ride home with him. He wouldn't put her
out, would he? Shall we notify the police?"
"I should say not. Don't worry. Let's have our dinner. They can eat the
leavings when they come. He has probably learned, as other and wiser men
have learned, that a pretty and pleasant girl is not half bad company.
I'll bet he is having the time of his life. My, it is nice to have you
alone again. She is very sweet, and it's been lots of fun, but after all
I am used to you, and this is nicer."
Nolan's prediction proved far from wrong. At ten-thirty, a messenger boy
shouted up from below, and Nolan ran down. When he came back he carried a
small yellow slip addressed to Eveley, which he promptly opened. And as
she peered over his shoulder, they read it aloud, together, in solemn
chorus.
"Three cheers and a tiger. She has accepted me, and we were married
at Oceanside this afternoon. On our way to Yosemite for honeymoon.
I am the happiest man on earth. Tell Nolan to go to the dickens.
Love from Sally and Timothy Baldwin."
Nolan lit a cigar and blew reflective rings into the air. "When a man is
bitten with the germ of duty," he began somberly.
For a moment Eveley was crushed. Then she rallied. "Just as I told you,
Nolan. As long as it was a painful duty, marriage between them was
impossible, and would have wrecked both their lives. But our campaign
brought about the proper adjustment and tuned them to love again. So it
was not duty, but love, and marriage is a joy. Now I hope you are
convinced that I am right, and won't argue with me any more. And if I
ever had any doubts about that one exception I make in regard to duty,
they are all gone now. I am dead sure of my one exception."
But when Nolan pressed her for an explanation, she begged him to smoke
again, and let her think.