GOOD LUCK AND A FIREFLY.
Meanwhile Rallywood had come to an anchor beside one of the high
embossed doors of gold and white which led from the gallery into various
luxurious withdrawing rooms. As he leant against the lintel a voice
suddenly said in his ear, as it seemed--
'My dear lady, why have such scruples? They are the most detestable
things in life and the least profitable. They poison pleasure even when
they do not altogether deprive us of it. And what does one gain by them?
Absolutely nothing, not so much as the good opinion of our friends, who
can never be brought to believe we possess them,' said a man in a
mocking tone.
A distinctly uncomfortable sensation pervaded Rallywood's mind for the
second which preceded the reply. The voice was Baron von Elmur's, and
there was a note of admiration in it that he had reason to be acquainted
with.
A woman laughed, a light, provoking laugh, Rallywood, who was still held
by the crush against the door, knew it well, but he breathed freely, for
it was not the laugh he had feared to hear.
'Nevertheless, Baron, I like scruples; they are always respectable, and
therefore of use--sometimes,' the lady answered in a high, sweet tone.
'Your husband, my Lord Sagan, has not found them indispensable in his
career.'
'But he is not a woman!' with a sigh.
'A beautiful woman can dispense with everything except--her beauty! That
makes fools of us all! Besides----'
The rest of the sentence was lost, as Rallywood managed at length to
force his way through the crowd, which was thickening rapidly.
Then he came upon a group of men he knew, men from the frontier, from
the marshes about Kofn Ford and the crags of Pulesco, men with tanned
skins like his own, and the mark of the collar rim of their high
military tunics round their throats. They were masked, and represented
various original characters, and were enjoying themselves hugely. More
than all were they astonished at being recognised so readily by
Rallywood. Rallywood drew his finger round his throat by way of
explanation. There was a general laugh, and the men scattered each to
seek his own particular pleasure. Rallywood remained looking down on the
dancers. There was in the back of his mind some desire to identify the
lady whose glove was still in his possession. He fixed now on one tall
domino, now on another, but without satisfaction. He was discontentedly
coming to the point of knowing that he had made a fresh mistake, when
he turned his head abruptly, with a vague sense of being looked at, and
saw a black domino standing for an instant alone at the further end of
the gallery. Even under the muffling silken folds he fancied he
recognised the attitude of the girl he had met at the Chancellor's.
He at once began to make his way through the crowd in her direction, but
when next he looked she was gone. He descended to the salon, where he
danced with more than one masked lady. His six feet of stature marked
him out from the shorter Maäsauns, and the tall athletic figure of the
gamekeeper, who moved with so much of unexpected ease and grace, excited
some attention.
After an interval, as he stood back against the wall to allow a couple
who had been following him to pass, they drew up in front of him.
'I obey you, Mademoiselle,' said the man.
His companion, who wore a black domino, made a gesture of dismissal;
then she turned to Rallywood. 'You have been looking for me?' she said,
as her late partner moved away.
'But naturally, Mademoiselle,' replied Rallywood.
'You know who I am?'
'Not in the least. I cannot even make a guess, though I have been
waiting to know since this day last week.'
'It would have been easy to ask the question--of anyone,' she said with
an odd intonation.
'By no means. There are questions which cannot be asked--of anyone,
because the answer touches too closely.' Rallywood pulled himself up
with a sudden sense of being ridiculously in earnest.
And then they were dancing.
'Yet you are not a stranger in Révonde. Madame de Sagan could have
answered your question--had you cared to ask it,' the girl said.
'It did not strike me to ask her. I trusted to the fact that, belonging
to the Guard, I must some day have the good fortune to find you again.'
'You are patient!'
'No,' returned Rallywood, 'I am not patient. But I know that all things
come to him who waits. I wait.'
'So I see, excellently!'
'Have I not waited long enough to hear your name first from your own
lips?'
'Stop for a moment;' then standing beside him, she continued, 'Ask me
to-morrow.'
'If I am alive I will!' he laughed.
He felt her hand move with a quick tremor on his arm.
'I knew it! Which of them has challenged you? Unziar?' The swift
question, echoing his own thought, took him completely by surprise.
He passed his arm round her, for the waltz was nearing its end.
'Shall we go on? No; no one has done me the honour of sending me a
challenge.'
'Let us have an end of this absurd mystery!' said the girl impatiently.
'I am Valerie Selpdorf, and you are----'
'John Rallywood of the Guard of Maäsau!' he interposed. 'I had my
commission from you in the ante-room of the Hôtel du Chancelier. But for
that I should have been more than half inclined to refuse it.'
'I wish you had refused it! It may cost you--more than a man cares to
pay. I thought my father held the power to give any commission he
pleased, but one can never reckon with the Guard. They mean to kill you,
Captain Rallywood! I wanted to warn you, but I think you know more,
perhaps, than I can tell you or than you will tell me. What is going to
happen? I want to help you--you must let me help you!'
Rallywood laughed, but perhaps his arm drew her a little closer as they
moved more slowly during the concluding bars of the waltz.
'My dear Mademoiselle, I assure you that your fears are quite
groundless. I am proud to belong to the Guard of Maäsau, and they have
so far shown no intention of rejecting me. As for duels, if there
happened to be one--are not affairs common in Maäsau? And afterwards,
fewer funerals take place than one would suppose likely! Besides, M.
Selpdorf's wishes cannot be lightly disregarded in Révonde.'
'You will be drawn into a quarrel before the night is over.'
Mademoiselle Selpdorf stated her conviction very plainly, without
noticing his disclaimers.
The music ceased. Rallywood spoke once more. 'To prove to you how little
I anticipate anything of the sort, will you allow me to have the last
dance on the programme?'
'That is nothing! What can I do for you?' she exclaimed.
'Expect me! If you would promise to expect me, I don't yet know the man
who could stop my coming to you.'
The words were lightly spoken, but Valerie Selpdorf, looking up into
Rallywood's eyes, understood that he was likely to be able to make any
words of his good. They were handsome eyes, rather long in shape, frank
and steady, the iris of a dense grey bordering on hazel as became the
sunburnt yellow of his hair and moustache, and at that moment they
contained an expression which remained in Valerie's memory as the
distinctive expression of his face. Whenever in the future she recalled
Rallywood, she thought of him as he looked then.
'I will expect you,' promised Valerie.
They both knew that for the moment they stood together at one of those
cross-roads where life and death meet, where moreover a look and a word
convey a mutual revelation of character such as years of ordinary
intercourse often fail to supply.
Rallywood did not dance again; he contented himself with following the
movements of the black domino. After a time she joined a little group
of people with whom she stood talking. One of the group presently
detached himself and glanced round as if searching for some one. It was
Unziar of the Guard. He quickly perceived Rallywood and at once came
towards him.
'Allow me to recall myself to your memory, Captain Rallywood; I am
Unziar of the Guard,' he said bowing, both voice and bow touching that
extreme of punctiliousness which in itself constitutes an insolence.
'The Guard are said to have long memories. I hope in that particular, at
least, if in no other, to support their traditions,' replied Rallywood,
with an air of cool and serene indifference said to be impossible to any
but men of his race.
'That is--something,' rejoined Unziar with a smile that belied its name.
'We are somewhat exigeant in the Guard. We ask for more than a long
memory--a long pedigree, for example, and a long sword.'
'I have heard that also.'
Unziar glanced sharply at him out of his pale keen eyes. The fellow was
too non-committal to please his taste. To hound a coward out of the
corps promised infinitely less difficulty and enjoyment than he had
hoped for when he pledged himself to rid the Guard of the Englishman.
For perhaps the only time in his life he wished he wore any uniform but
the tell-tale green and gold, for he knew of the Guard that it was often
their 'great name that conquered.'
Spurred by this thought he looked Rallywood very straightly in the face,
and the gleam of his eyes reminded the Englishman of glacier ice.
'Knowing so many of our peculiarities, perhaps Captain Rallywood may no
longer care to join us?' said the Guardsman.
Rallywood laughed with absolute good-humour.
'I both care and--dare!' he said pleasantly.
Unziar's face cleared.
'I am forgetting my errand,' he said with a slight change of tone. 'I
have been sent by a lady to bring you to her. Will you follow me?'
As they approached the group, the shorter of the two black dominoes
spoke.
'You need not trouble to introduce Captain Rallywood, Anthony. We are
already friends; are we not, Monsieur?'
The sweet high voice and the inconsequent childish laugh came upon
Rallywood with a slight shock.
'I could hardly have dared to claim so much,' he said; 'but I cannot
forget that Madame de Sagan--'
She laid her hand with a suspicion of caressing familiarity on his arm.
'Hush, then! Do you not know that it is inadmissible to mention the name
of a masked lady until the clock strikes midnight? Captain Rallywood has
been stationed near the Castle at Kofn Ford; we have therefore
met--occasionally,' continued the lady, addressing herself to
Mademoiselle Selpdorf.
'Captain Rallywood is luckier than most of us,' interposed another
voice. 'He seems to have an enviable facility for appearing where we
others in vain wish to be. Only last week----'
A tall Mephistopheles in scarlet silk, whose high shoulders lent him
added height, had joined them. His peaked cap and feather sparkled with
lurid points of fire. Countess Sagan turned upon him.
'But, Baron, where is then your domino? It is not yet midnight,' she
exclaimed, her hand still remaining on Rallywood's arm.
'Listen!' von Elmur raised his hand. 'The happy moment arrives when the
beautiful faces we long to see----' He gave the rest of the sentence to
the ear of Mademoiselle Selpdorf, who stood silently looking on at the
little scene.
At this instant the music broke off with a sudden clang; the dancers
paused where they stood, as the great bell of the palace tower sent its
strong, mellow boom of midnight out over the frost-bound city.
Rallywood, on looking round an instant later, saw that masks and
dominoes had disappeared. Opposite to him stood Valerie Selpdorf in a
dress of some deep velvety shade, which bore, wrought upon its texture
here and there, tiny horseshoes embossed in iridescent jewels. A diadem
of the same shape crowned her dark hair. Yet all the richness and
delicacy of the blended colourings struck Rallywood with only one odd
remembrance--his own boot-heel outlined in Révonde mud upon a long
_suède_ glove. The same association apparently occurred to Baron von
Elmur. His glance fled from Valerie to Rallywood, and he smiled with
some malice.
'What have we here, Mademoiselle? The stamp of some idealised cavalry
charger?' he asked. 'I should be eternally grateful if only I were--of
the cavalry!'
A sudden intense expression, like a spasm of hope or happiness, crossed
Unziar's pale face in a flash. A word sprang almost involuntarily from
his lips.
'The Guard----' But the girl cut him remorselessly short.
'I do not idealise either the Guard'--she paused, then went on without
taking her eyes from Elmur's face--'or the cavalry. One has illusions,
doubtless, but none so entirely absurd! I have idealised my own desire
merely. I want good luck. I am "Good Luck!"' She spoke the last two
words in English, smiling back at Elmur.
The Baron bowed. He was not beaten yet.
'That is well,' he exclaimed; 'since the cavalry and Guard are disowned,
it means that the good luck is for the poor diplomat!'
'Provisionally, yes,' said the girl.
'Mademoiselle Selpdorf has already given this waltz to me,' said Unziar,
stepping forward.
But Mademoiselle Selpdorf placed her hand within the Baron's ready arm.
'Later, Anthony,' she answered. 'His Excellency deserves a consolation
prize, since my reading of "Good Luck" is not in the German language.'
She turned away, and with her the group parted and scattered.
'You are very much interested; is it not so?'
Rallywood started. The Countess spoke petulantly.
'Do you not know,' she added, 'that the custom in Révonde holds you to
the partner with whom you find yourself when midnight rings? Valerie
Selpdorf is embarrassed with partners--my cousin Anthony Unziar, who
desires perhaps herself, but most certainly her fortune, and our
delightful German Minister, who uses all means that come to hand to win
Maäsau for his master! But I should not say these foolish things to you,
who are of the other party.'
They were dancing by this time, her head near his shoulder, her voice
soft in his bending ear.
'Of the other party?' he repeated. 'I flattered myself that you said
something else just now.'
'Yes, a friend; but I made a mistake--I have none--no, not one true
friend!' the voice said passionately in his ear, 'and my husband----'
Rallywood almost lifted her clear of some crowding couples, and then
gently released her. In a vague way he felt the force of her appealing
beauty as he had felt it intermittently for some months past. It touched
him for the moment, but he was apt to forget both it and the very
existence of the woman herself directly he parted from her.
'Count Sagan is colonel-in-chief of the Guard?' he asked, and the
question seemed to fit in with her train of thought.
She made no immediate response, but with a light touch on his arm led
him to a flower-banked apartment, about which a few couples were
scattered in various convenient nooks. She sank upon a sequestered
settee, and made room for him beside her.
'Yes, he is colonel-in-chief of the Guard because they think him too old
to act any longer as its real commandant. He was the first soldier in
Maäsau and the most unequalled sportsman. He was all these things, and I
am proud of them! But look at me!'
She rose languidly and stood before him. Rallywood saw a slight woman,
tall and exquisitely fair, who carried her small head with its gleaming
coronet royally. Her skin and her soft flushed cheeks had the pure,
evanescent quality of a child's complexion. Moreover, her chief charm
was perhaps her air of child-like innocence. Isolde of Sagan had seldom
looked more lovely; she was honestly touched by self-pity, and was
posing as the proud yet disillusioned wife of a man hopelessly older
than herself, and for the time being she believed earnestly in that view
of her lot.
'All these things have been,' she added softly, her eyes filling with
tears, 'but _I am_! Can I ever be satisfied with what only was?'
Rallywood's face altered. Like any other man in such a position he felt
immensely sorry for her. She saw the advantage she had gained, and at
once the coquette awoke in her.
'Captain Rallywood,' she sank down beside him again, 'I need a friend in
whom I can trust, who will ask nothing of me, but who will give me all
the things I most want.'
The interpretation of this enigmatical speech was left to the ear, for
the young Countess was gazing at her big black fan, where luminous
fireflies hung tangled amongst the dusky feathers. Quickly with some
dissatisfaction she became aware that Rallywood was not looking at
her--as he should have been doing--but staring in front of him with a
grave expression. Well, she knew she could make him look at her as she
desired--yet. It was but a matter of time.
'I think you may count upon me,' said Rallywood at last. He believed in
her, which was good; moreover, he meant what he said; yet the speech was
wholly lacking in the flavour which to the Countess Sagan was the
flavour of life.
'After all, it is little to promise, and I may not need your friendship
for very long,' she replied, plucking a glittering firefly from her fan
and laying it on his sleeve with her sweet light laugh. 'Like a firefly
I shall dance out my short night, and die quickly before life grows
stale!'
Rallywood took out his cigarette case of Alfaun leather-work, and
dropped the firefly with its sparkle of diamond-dust into it.
'I don't like to hear you say that,' he said in his quiet way, which the
listener decided might mean so much or so little. 'We must all go out
some time, I suppose, but one always wants the beautiful things to live
for ever.... Meanwhile, can you spare me another dance?'