HETTY SPEAKS OUT.
There was a good deal of whispering and talking in corners and under
the trees at Longmere House. A fussy little man with an eyeglass
seemed to have a great deal to say. Lady Longmere laughed somewhat
scornfully as she watched him. A great pile of strawberries were on
her plate.
"I have a great many faults," the pretty American heiress said, "but
scandal never was one of them. Look at that little wretch of a Mosley
Harcourt. Nobody likes him, and nobody is free from his poisonous
tongue, but he goes everywhere because he has the very latest gossip."
Hetty nodded absently; in society parlance Lady Longmere had taken
Hetty up. Since the night of the card party at Lytton Avenue, when her
ladyship had foresworn cards for good and all, she had seen a good
deal of Hetty. And she was one of the few who stuck loyally to Bruce.
"Here's your young man," she said presently. "He didn't want to come,
but I made a special journey and persuaded him. Never hide yourself at
times like this."
"Gordon is very sensitive," said Hetty. "That's the kind of thing that
hurts."
She clutched at the handle of her sunshade passionately as a society
leader responded to Bruce's uplifted hat by a cold stare.
"And Gordon saved that woman's life," Hetty said. "He sat up all one
night with her and part of the second. It's very hard, Lady Longmere."
Lady Longmere replied generally that it would benefit Bruce in the
long run. Lady Rockingham came up and said it was very hot. After his
rebuff Bruce stood by as if unconscious of Lady Rockingham's presence.
"Surely your ladyship knows Dr. Bruce!" Hetty said with a vivid splash
of colour on either cheek "A little time ago I understood that Dr.
Bruce----"
"Dr. Bruce perfectly understands," Lady Rockingham said coldly.
"But you evidently don't," Hetty said coolly. "I was going to give
your ladyship a little information. I fancy you were present at Lytton
Avenue the night of the card party when those mysterious notes were
produced. It was never known exactly who paid them over to Mr.
Isidore, but I know now. They came from Countess Lalage; indeed, she
admitted as much to my uncle, Mr. Lawrence."
Bruce drew Hetty gently away. The girl was sore and angry, and might
be betrayed into saying something that she would be sorry for
afterwards. After all, it did not matter much so long as they had one
another.
The grounds were large and secluded; there were plenty of spots there
for lovers. They might have been far away in the country.
"I have been talking to Lawrence," Bruce said. "My dear little girl, I
have only learnt lately what you have endured for me. If these people
had found you out they would most certainly have murdered you."
Hetty smiled lightly. She had her own reward. It would be mainly due
to her that her lover's good name would be cleared.
"But it makes my blood boil to see you treated in that way by that
woman," she cried, "especially after what you did for her. I long to
tell her who the real culprit was, and that in a few days a woman in
whose house she had been would be arrested for the crime."
"I'm glad you didn't," Bruce smiled. "What a sensation those good
people will have presently! And most of them have been on intimate
terms with our Countess. My darling, I shall never be easy in my mind
till you are out of that house."
"And I shall never go till I can make some arrangements for Mamie,"
Hetty said. "Of course the secret cannot be kept much longer, and then
I suppose everything will be seized by the creditors. But even the
servants are in the dark as yet."
Bruce nodded moodily. He seemed to have something on his mind that he
could not throw off. The cloud lifted a little under Hetty's
blandishments; it was impossible to sit looking into those clear eyes
and be wholly unhappy.
"You have some trouble," Hetty said anxiously.
"I have," Gordon said, "but I shan't tell it to you today. Let us talk
of something else. Let us forget the world for ourselves."
A band was playing somewhere; there were voices pitched high close by;
then came the clear laugh of Lady Longmere.
"Say, what a comedy!" she said. "What does it matter? It will be
something to say afterwards that we knew the woman."
"I can't believe it," said Lady Rockingham. "Mr. Harcourt, are you
quite clear and certain of your facts? Who told you?"
"Shouldn't dare to speak thus of the fascinating Lalage," Harcourt,
the little man with the eyeglass, drawled. "Should be afraid of a
knife in my back, or something horribly Corsican of that kind. Can't
tell you any more except I know the police had a warrant for her
arrest, and that she's bolted."
"And she's got a diamond star of mine worth a thousand pounds!" Lady
Rockingham screamed. "A stone was missing, and she offered to have it
replaced for me out of her stock of loose diamonds. I made a friend of
that woman, a vulgar adventuress, who steals brooches and the like."
"Be a lesson to us all," Harcourt said sapiently, "for at least a
month. And then we shall run after the next flashy adventurer who
comes along. Give me the money, and I'll put any gutter flower-girl in
society, and at the top of all in a month. It's only a question of
cash."
The speaker passed on. Hetty seemed amused about something.
"So the story has leaked out," she said. "But it has its funny side.
Fancy Leona Lalage getting Lady Rockingham's star like that! It was
the sort of cynical thing she would have enjoyed."
Bruce held up his hand for silence.
"What are the boys saying in Piccadilly?" he asked.
The cries came nearer; a familiar name was mentioned.
"Latest society scandal!" came the shrill voices. "Latest society
sensation! Flight of the Countess Lalage!"