By the middle of the afternoon Grace was again enmeshed in a network of
doubt and apprehension. Trenton was making a journey for the express
purpose of meeting his wife; he had probably reached Indianapolis
at noon and gone at once to Miss Reynolds’s to see her. Grace’s
imagination was playing cruel tricks upon her; she pictured the meeting
between Trenton and his wife in a hundred ways. He would kiss her,
perhaps take her into his arms; and after their long separation it was
possible that both might experience a reawakening of the early passion
that had died in them. Grace, seeking the lowest depths of humility,
knew herself only as Number Eighteen at Shipley’s, a girl to be played
with and cast aside by another woman’s husband whenever it pleased
him to be done with her. In her self-abasement she recalled Irene’s
oft-reiterated declaration about Kemp, that she admired his brains and
was fond of him but never deceived herself with the idea that she loved
him. This was the wiser way. Grace lashed herself pitilessly for her
folly in giving her love so unreservedly when the result could bring
nothing but unhappiness. Her love and trust wavered like sunlight
struggling to penetrate a field of cloud.
She was standing near the entrance to the ready-to-wear department,
inattentive and listless, when the rattle of the elevator door roused
her and Trenton stepped out. At the sight of him the blood rushed to
her heart till it seemed for a moment that she would die of joy at the
sight of him.
He saw her at once and walked quickly toward her. He had never before
seemed so handsome and distinguished. His step had the elasticity of
youth, and there was a happy light in his eyes as he took her hand.
This was the first time he had sought her at Shipley’s and she assumed
that his coming meant that he had seized the only possible moment to
see her.
“We can’t talk here, of course; I’ve got Kemp’s car and I can explain
things as we ride,” he said. “Can you get excused for the rest of the
day?”
Miss Boardman, busily marking price tags, gave the permission with an
absent-minded nod and Grace hurried back to report that she was free
and would get her wraps and meet him at the main entrance.
When they were in Kemp’s limousine Trenton ordered Craig to drive
straight north, without mentioning a destination. There was no hint of
trouble in his clear steady eyes. His air of perfect self-confidence,
of knowing exactly what he was about, restored her faith. She loved him
and she was proud that she loved him.
“Please don’t be frightened!” he began, clasping her hand when they
were clear of the down-town traffic. “I’ve just seen Mrs. Trenton. She
wired me for an appointment to discuss some of her personal business
matters. As she’s going further West lecturing it was as convenient to
see her here as anywhere else. So I came here and have already seen
her at Miss Reynolds’s. It took some time to go over her investments
and explain some changes I had made in them. When that was finished
she suddenly asked about that letter I wrote to her last fall from St.
Louis. That settled the question as to whether she ever got it.”
“Yes, I remember,” Grace replied faintly.
In spite of his cheerfulness she was sure that he was leading up to
some disagreeable disclosure and involuntarily she drew away her hand.
“It’s all right, dear,” he went on reassuringly. “She said she knew
we’d been drifting further apart for a long time and that she wasn’t
surprised by my letter. She hadn’t acknowledged it because she was
waiting for a chance to see me to talk it out. She seemed rather
amused. She has a way of being amused at things. And now--don’t jump!”
he caught her hand and clasped it tight. “She was always a woman of
surprises--she said she wanted to see the girl I had mentioned--but not
in a disagreeable way at all. If you knew her you’d understand.”
“That’s it--I do understand,” Grace replied slowly. “I was at the
dinner Miss Reynolds gave for her last night. I ought to have asked you
if it was all right to go--but I was afraid you’d say no--and--and I
_had_ to see her.” Her voice broke in a sob, but lifting her head she
hurried on. “I was jealous--terribly jealous--and something tells me
that--that--we are--near the end.”
“Please, dear; don’t give way to foolish fears!” he implored. “I’m glad
you went to the dinner; that was all right and I want to hear all about
it later. Having seen Mrs. Trenton you ought to know that her request
is quite characteristic. Don’t you see that she’s curious about you,
just as you were about her! I really think she means to be kind to me.
It’s unusual of course, but--Mrs. Trenton is a very unusual woman!”
Grace looked at him in a kind of dumb wonder.
“You--you told her my name--” she faltered.
“No; certainly not! You weren’t mentioned. I think she assumed that the
girl I wrote her about lived in St. Louis. She was rather taken aback
when I said she lived here.”
“And you told her you’d produce me--exhibit me for her criticism? Ward,
what can you be thinking of; what can you think of _me_ to ask such a
thing? I suppose you told her everything?”
“Why Grace, this isn’t like you! You’re taking it all too seriously.
Mrs. Trenton has no cause to think anything except that I’ve met you
and fallen in love with you. You must be reasonable, dear,” he went on
patiently. “She knows nothing and has no right to assume--what we’d
rather she didn’t. It’s just a whim of hers. If I thought she wouldn’t
treat you as one lady should treat another I wouldn’t ask you to go. It
will be the most formal call--no chance for anything unpleasant, even
if she wanted to be disagreeable.”
“She could be very disagreeable. I didn’t like her; I didn’t like
her at all! It seems to me sheer folly to put myself in her way
unnecessarily.”
“I tell you it will be all right!” he protested. “She will be
surprised, of course, to find that she has already met you. You know I
wouldn’t cause you the slightest embarrassment or pain for the world.”
For a moment she pondered, her confidence in him and her wish to accede
to his wishes struggling against suspicion and jealousy.
“You’re sure this isn’t a trick--a trap?” she asked.
“Of course not, dear! How can you think such a thing? Mrs. Trenton
really has a sense of humor; and she’s a woman of the world. Besides
she has no ground whatever for attacking you; I can’t imagine her doing
that in any circumstances. I’m just meeting her wish to see a girl I
told her I admire. But--I count more than I dare say on the result. I
want to give her a chance to practice what she preaches!”
“Well,” said Grace, searching his eyes with a long gaze, “I’ll go since
you insist, but I think it’s foolish. It’s the most ridiculous thing I
ever heard of! But she can’t do more than murder me.”
“She can’t do more than approve of you!” he cried and ordered Craig to
drive to Miss Reynolds’s.