Lady Maud found Mr. Van Torp waiting for her at the Bayreuth station.
'You don't mean to say you've come right through?' he inquired,
looking at her with admiration as he grasped her hand. 'You're as
fresh as paint!'
'That's rather a dangerous thing to say to a woman nowadays,' she
answered in her rippling voice. 'But mine won't come off. How is
Margaret?'
Her tone changed as she asked the question.
'She showed me your letter about Logo,' answered her friend without
heeding the question, and watching her face to see if she were
surprised.
She got into the carriage he had brought, and he stood by the door
waiting for the porter, who was getting her luggage. She had no maid
with her.
'I'm glad you have told me,' she answered, 'though I wish she had not.
You probably think that when I wrote that letter I remembered what you
said to me in London about giving me money for my poor women.'
'No,' said Van Torp thoughtfully, 'I don't believe I do think so. It
was like me to make the offer, Maud. It was like the sort of man I've
been, and you've known me. But it wouldn't have been like you to
accept it. It wasn't exactly low-down of me to say what I did, but
it's so precious like low-down that I wouldn't say it again, and I
suppose I'm sorry. That's all.'
His rough hand was on the side of the little open carriage. She
touched it lightly with her gloved fingers and withdrew them
instantly, for the porter was coming with her not very voluminous
luggage.
'Thank you,' she said quickly. 'I understood, and I understand now.'
They drove slowly up the Bahnhofstrasse, through the dull little town,
that looks so thoroughly conscious of its ancient respectability as
having once been the 'Residenz' of a Duke of Würtemburg, and of its
vast importance as the headquarters of Richard Wagner's
representatives on earth.
'See here,' said Mr. Van Torp. 'I've almost persuaded them all to run
down to Venice, and I want to know why you won't come too?'
'Venice?' Lady Maud was surprised. 'It's as hot as Tophet now, and
full of mosquitoes. Why in the world do you want to take them there?'
'Well,' answered the American, taking plenty of time over the
monosyllable, 'I didn't exactly mean to stay there more than a few
minutes. I've bought a pretty nice yacht since I saw you, and she's
there, eating her head off, and I thought you might all come along
with me on her and go home that way, or somewhere.'
'I had no idea you had a yacht!' Lady Maud smiled. 'What it is to have
the Bank of England in your pocket! Where did you get her, and what
is her name? I love yachts!'
Van Torp explained.
'I forget what she was called,' he said in conclusion, 'but I changed
her name. It's _Lancashire Lass_ now.'
'The dear old mare you rode that night! How nice of you! It's a
horse's name, of course, but that doesn't matter. I'm so glad you
chose it. I shall never forget how you looked when you galloped off
bareback in your evening clothes with no hat!'
'I don't know how I looked,' said Van Torp gravely. 'But I know quite
well how I felt. I felt in a hurry. Now, what I want you to decide
right away is whether you'll come, provided they will--for I don't
suppose you and I could go mooning around in the yacht by ourselves.'
'And I don't suppose,' returned Lady Maud, mimicking him ever so
little, 'that if "they" decide not to come, you will have time for a
long cruise.'
'Now that's not fair,' objected the American. 'I didn't intend to put
it in that way. Anyhow, will you come if they do? That's the point.'
'Really, it depends a little on who "they" are. Do you mean only
Margaret and that nice old friend of hers--Mrs. Patmore, isn't she? I
never met her.'
'Rushmore,' said Van Torp, correcting her.
'It's the same thing,' said Lady Maud vaguely, for she was trying to
make up her mind quickly.
'You don't know her,' replied her friend. 'That's the reason why you
say it's the same thing. Nothing's the same as Mrs. Rushmore.'
'Is she very dreadful?' asked Lady Maud, in some apprehension.
'Dreadful? No! She's very sweet, I think. One of those real,
old-fashioned, well-educated New York ladies, and refined right down
to the ground. There's only one thing----'
He stopped, trying to find words to express the one thing.
'What is it? All you say about her sounds very nice----'
'She's got the celebrity habit.'
'Lions?' suggested Lady Maud, who understood him.
'Yes,' he assented, 'she's a dandy after lions. She likes them for
breakfast, dinner, and tea, with a sandwich thrown in between times.
She likes them to talk to, and to look at, and to tell about. That's
just a habit, I suppose, like chewing gum, but she'll never get over
it at her age. She's got to have a party of some kind every other
minute, even here, or she's uneasy at night. But I'm bound to say,
with all truth, she does it well. She's a perfect lady, and she always
says the right thing and does the right thing. Besides, we're great
friends, she and I. We get on beautifully.'
'You're a celebrity,' observed Lady Maud.
'So's Miss Donne, and a much bigger one. So's Logo, for that matter,
but she doesn't think a great deal of Greeks. You're a sort of
celebrity, too, and she's perfectly delighted you're coming, because
you're "Lady" Maud, and a Russian countess into the bargain. Then
there's that other Russian--not that you're one, but you
understand--Kralinsky is his name, Count Kralinsky. Ever hear that
name?'
'Never. It sounds Polish.'
'He might be anything. Sometimes I'm absolutely sure he's a man I used
to know out West when I was on the ranch, and then again there's
something quite different about him. Something about his legs or his
eyes, I can't tell which. I don't quite make him out. There's one
thing, though. He's the Kralinsky I bought your ruby from in New York
a month ago, and he doesn't deny it, though I don't remember that he
was a Count then. He seemed glad to see me again, but he doesn't seem
to talk much about selling rubies now. Perhaps he's got through that,
as the camel said to the eye of the needle.'
'Eh? What?' Lady Maud laughed.
'Oh, nothing. I guess it's out of the Bible, or something. I'll tell
you all about him by and by. He's going away this afternoon, but he's
promised to join us in Venice for a trip, because Mrs. Rushmore finds
him so attractive. He seems to know everybody intimately, all over the
world. I'd like you to see him. Here we are, and there's Miss Donne
waiting for you on the steps. I wish we'd had a longer ride together.'
They reached the hotel, and Van Torp went off promptly, leaving
Margaret to take Lady Maud upstairs and introduce her to Mrs.
Rushmore.
An hour later the two young women were together in Margaret's room,
while Potts was unpacking for Lady Maud in the one that had been
secured for her in spite of all sorts of difficulties.
The Primadonna was sitting at her toilet-table, turned away from the
glass, and Lady Maud occupied the only possible chair there was, a
small, low easy-chair, apparently much too small for such a tall
woman, but less uncomfortable than it looked.
They exchanged the usual banalities. It was awfully good of Margaret
to ask Maud, it was awfully good of Maud to come. The journey had been
tolerable, thank you, by taking the Orient Express as far as
Stuttgart. Margaret did not compare Maud's complexion to fresh paint,
as Van Torp had done, but to milk and roses; and Maud said with truth
that she had never seen Margaret looking better. It was the rest,
Margaret said, for she had worked hard.
'Are you going on Mr. Van Torp's yacht?' asked Lady Maud suddenly. 'He
spoke to me about it on the way from the station, and asked me to
come, in case you accept.'
'I don't know. Will you go if I do? That might make a difference.'
Lady Maud did not answer at once. She wished that she knew how matters
had gone between Margaret and Van Torp during the last few days, for
she sincerely wished to help him, now that she had made up her mind as
to Logotheti's real character. Nevertheless, her love of fair-play
made her feel that the Greek ought to be allowed a chance of
retrieving himself.
'Yes,' she said at last, 'I'll go, on one condition. At least, it's
not a condition, my dear, it's only a suggestion, though I hate to
make one. Don't think me too awfully cheeky, will you?'
Margaret shook her head, but looked very grave.
'I feel as if I were getting into a bad scrape,' she said, 'and I
shall be only too glad of any good advice. Tell me what I had better
do.'
'I must tell you something else first as a continuation of my letter,
for all sorts of things happened after I wrote it.'
She told Margaret all that has been already narrated, concerning the
news that Baraka had been set at large on Logotheti's sworn statement
that the ruby was not his, and that he had seen it in her possession
in Paris; and she told how she had tried to find him at his lodgings,
and had failed, and how strangely the leather-faced secretary's
answers had struck her, and how she had seen Baraka's gloves and stick
in Logotheti's hall; and finally she said she had taken it into her
head that Logotheti had spirited away the Tartar girl on his yacht,
which, as every one in town had known through the papers, was at Cowes
and in commission. For Logotheti, in his evidence, had explained his
absence from the Police Court by the fact that he had been off in the
_Erinna_ for two days, out of reach of news.
Margaret's face grew darker as she listened, for she knew Lady Maud
too well to doubt but that every word was more than scrupulously true;
and the deduction was at least a probable one. She bit her lip as she
felt her anger rising again.
'What do you advise me to do?' she asked, in a sullen tone.
'Telegraph to Logo and prepay an answer of twenty words. Telegraph to
his rooms in St. James's Place and at the same time to his house in
Paris. Telegraph anything you like that really needs an immediate
reply. That's the important thing. If he does not answer within
twenty-four hours--say thirty-six at the most--he is either on his
yacht or hiding. Excuse the ugly word, dear--I don't think of any
other. If you are afraid of the servants, I'll take the message to the
telegraph office and send it for you. I suppose you have some way of
signing which the clerks don't recognise--if you sign at all.'
Margaret leaned back in her chair in silence. After a few seconds she
turned towards the glass, rested her chin on her folded knuckles, and
seemed to be consulting her own reflexion. It is a way some women
have. Lady Maud glanced at her from time to time, but said nothing. At
last the Primadonna rose with a sweep that upset the light chair
behind her, one of those magnificent sweeps that look so well on the
stage and are a little too large for a room. She got her blotter and
pen from a shelf, brought it back to the toilet-table, picked up the
chair in a very quiet and sensible way, as if she had never been on
the stage in her life, and sat down to write.
'I shall take your advice, dear,' she said, opening the blotter and
placing a large sheet of paper in the right position.
Lady Maud rose and went to the window, where she stood looking out
while Margaret wrote her message.
'You needn't write it out twice,' she said, without turning round.
'Just put "duplicate message" and both addresses.'
'Yes. Thank you.'
Margaret was already writing. Her message said it was absolutely
necessary that she should see Logotheti directly, and bade him answer
at once, if he could come to Bayreuth; if important financial affairs
hindered him, she herself would return immediately to Paris to see
him.
She was careful to write 'financial' affairs, for she would not admit
that any other consideration could delay his obedience. While she was
busy she heard, but scarcely noticed, an unearthly hoot from a big
motor car that was passing before the hotel. There must have been
something in the way, for the thing hooted again almost at once, and
then several times in quick succession, as if a gigantic brazen ass
were beginning to bray just under the window. The noises ended in a
sort of wild, triumphant howl, with a furious puffing, and the motor
took itself off, just as Margaret finished.
She looked up and saw Lady Maud half bent, as if she had been struck;
she was clinging with one hand to the flimsy chintz curtain, and her
face was as white as a sheet. Margaret started in surprise, and rose
to her feet so suddenly that she upset the chair again.
'What has happened?' she cried. 'Are you ill, dear?'
The delicate colour came slowly back to the smooth cheeks, the
thoroughbred figure in black drew itself up with elastic dignity, and
the hand let go of the curtain.
'I felt a little faint,' Lady Maud answered. 'Did I frighten you? It
was nothing, and it's quite gone, I assure you.'
'You looked dreadfully ill for a moment,' Margaret said in a tone of
concern. 'Won't you let me send for something? Tea? Or something iced?
I'm sure you have had nothing to eat or drink for hours! How
disgracefully thoughtless of me!'
She was just going to ring, but her friend stopped her.
'No--please!' she cried. 'I'm all right, indeed I am. The room is a
little warm, I think, and I've been shut up in that stuffy train for
thirty hours. Have you written your telegram? I'll put on my hat at
once, and take it for you. The little walk will do me good. Where is
the telegraph? But they can tell me downstairs. Don't bother! Walking
always brings me round, no matter what has happened!'
[Illustration: "'What has happened?' she cried. 'Are you ill, dear?'"]
She spoke nervously, in disjointed phrases, in a way not like herself,
for there was generally an air of easy calm in all she did, as if
nothing really mattered in the least, save when she was deeply
interested; and hardly anything interested her now except what she had
made her work. In all that belonged to that, she was energetic,
direct, and quick.
Margaret was sure that something was wrong, but let her go, since she
insisted, and Lady Maud folded the written message and went to the
door. Just as she was going to turn the handle Margaret spoke to her.
'If I have no answer to that by to-morrow afternoon I shall accept Mr.
Van Torp's invitation.'
'I hope you will go,' Lady Maud said with sudden decision, 'for if you
do, I can go with you, and I'm dying to see the new yacht!'
Margaret looked at her in surprise, for it was only a little while
since she had seemed much less ready to join the party, and only
willing to do so, if at all, in order to please her friend. She saw
Margaret's expression.
'Yes,' she said, as if in explanation, 'I've been thinking it over in
the last few minutes, and I want very much to go with you all. I shall
be back in less than an hour.'
'An hour?'
'Say half an hour. I want a good walk.'
She opened the door quickly and passed out, shutting it almost
noiselessly after her; she was a very graceful woman and moved easily,
whether in small spaces or large. In all her life she had probably
never overturned a chair with her skirt, as Margaret had done twice
within ten minutes. She had not Baraka's gliding movement, the
virginal step of the girl of primeval race; hers was rather the
careless, swaying walk of a thoroughbred in good training, long-limbed
and deep-breathed, and swift at need, but indolently easy when no
call was made upon her strength. She and Baraka and the young
Primadonna represented well three of the possible types of beauty,
very different from each other; so widely different that perhaps no
two of them would be likely to appeal to one man, as mere feminine
beauty, at the same period of his life.
Straight and tall in her mourning, Lady Maud went down the stairs of
the hotel. As she was going out the hall porter raised his cap, and
she stopped a moment and asked him which was the nearest way to the
telegraph office. He stood on the doorstep and pointed in the
direction she was to follow as he answered her question.
'Can you tell me,' she asked, 'whose motor car it was that passed
about ten minutes ago, and made so much noise?'
'Count Kralinsky's, my lady,' the porter answered; for he spoke good
English, and had the true hotel porter's respect for the British
aristocracy abroad.
'He was the gentleman with the big fair beard, I suppose? Yes, thank
you.'
She went out into the dull street, with its monotonous houses, all two
stories high, and she soon found the telegraph office and sent
Margaret's duplicate message. She had not glanced at it, but the clerk
asked her questions about words that were not quite clearly written,
and she was obliged to read it through. It occurred to her that it was
couched in extremely peremptory terms, even for an offended
bride-elect; but that was none of her business.
When the clerk had understood, she walked up the hill to the Festival
Theatre. It all looked very dull and heavy, being an off-day, and as
she was not a Wagnerian it meant absolutely nothing to her. She was
disappointed in the whole town, so far as she had expected anything of
it, for she had pictured it as being either grand in its way, or
picturesque, or at least charming; and it was not. Her British soul
stuck up its nose in the general atmosphere of beer and sausage, which
she instantly perceived rather than saw; and the Teutonism of
everything, from the appearance of the Festival Theatre itself to the
wooden faces of the policemen, and the round pink cheeks of the few
children she met, roused antagonism in her from the first. She went on
a little farther, and then turned back and descended the hill, always
at the same even, easy pace, for she was rarely aware of any change of
grade when she walked alone.
But by degrees her expression had altered since she had left the
telegraph office, and she looked profoundly preoccupied, as if she
were revolving a very complicated question in her mind, which disliked
complications; and there was now and then a flash of displeased wonder
in her face, when she opened her eyes quite wide and shut them, and
opened them again, as if to make sure that she was quite awake.
She went on, not knowing whither and not caring, always at the same
even pace, and hardly noticing the people who passed her, of whom a
good many were in two-horse cabs, some in queer little German motors,
and a few on foot; and still she thought, and wondered, and tried to
understand, but could not. At all events, she was glad to be alone;
she was glad not to have even Van Torp with her, who was by far the
most congenial person she knew; for he had the rare good gift of
silence, and used it very often, and when he talked she liked his odd
speech, his unusual expressions, even his Western accent; she liked
him for his simple, unswerving friendship, and for his kind
heart--though the world would have screamed with laughter at the idea;
and more than all, she liked him for himself, and because she knew
certainly that neither he nor she could possibly, under any
circumstances, grow to like each other in any other way.
But she did not wish that he were walking beside her now, and she was
quite indifferent to the fact that time was passing, and that Margaret
was beginning to wonder where in the world she was.
'My dear child,' Mrs. Rushmore said, when the Primadonna expressed her
surprise, 'those English people are all alike, when they are once out
on a road by themselves. They must take a long walk. I am quite sure
that at this moment Countess Leven is miles from here--miles,
Margaret. Do you understand me? I tell you she is walking mile upon
mile. All English people do. You are only half English after all, my
dear, but I have known you to walk a long distance alone, for no good
reason that I could see.'
'It's good for the voice if you don't overdo it,' Margaret observed.
'Yes. But Countess Leven does not sing, my dear. You forget that. Why
should she walk mile upon mile like that? And I know Mr. Van Torp is
not with her, for Justine told me a quarter of an hour ago that she
heard him tell his man to bring him some hot water. So he is at home,
you see. Margaret, what do you suppose Mr. Van Torp wants hot water
for at this extraordinary hour?'
'I really don't know,' Margaret answered, sipping her tea rather
gloomily, for she was thinking of the telegram she had given Lady Maud
to send.
'You don't think Mr. Van Torp drinks, do you, my dear?' inquired Mrs.
Rushmore.
'Hot water? Some people do. It's good for the digestion.'
'No, you purposely misunderstand me. I mean that he makes use of it
for--for the purpose of mixing alcoholic beverages alone in his room.'
Margaret laughed.
'Never! If there's a perfectly sober man living, it is he!'
'I am glad to hear you say so, my dear. Because, if I thought he had
habits, nothing would induce me to go on board his yacht. Nothing,
Margaret! Not all his millions! Do you understand me? Margaret, dear,
if you do not mind very much, I think we had better not accept his
invitation after all, though I am sure it is well meant.'
'You're very much mistaken if you think he drinks,' Margaret said,
still inclined to laugh.
'Well, my dear,' returned Mrs. Rushmore, 'I don't know. Justine
certainly heard him tell his man to bring him some hot water a quarter
of an hour ago. Perhaps it may have been twenty minutes. It is a very
extraordinary hour to ask for such a thing, I am sure.'
Margaret suggested that Mr. Van Torp might possibly have a fancy to
wash his hands in hot water at that unusual time of day, and Mrs.
Rushmore seemed temporarily satisfied, for apparently she had not
thought of this explanation.
'Margaret,' she said solemnly, 'if you feel that you can put your hand
into the fire for Mr. Van Torp's habits, I will go with you on his
yacht. Not otherwise, my dear.'
The Primadonna laughed, and at last Mrs. Rushmore herself smiled, for
she was not without a sense of humour.
'I cannot help it, my dear,' she said. 'You must not laugh at me if I
am nervous about such things; nervous, you understand, not
unreasonable. But since you are prepared to take all the
responsibility I will go with you, my child. I cannot even say it is a
sacrifice on my part, for I am an excellent sailor, as you know, and
very fond of the sea. In my young days my dear husband used to have a
nice cat-boat at Newport, and he always took me with him. He used to
say that I steered quite nicely.'
The vision of Mrs. Rushmore steering a Newport cat-boat was quite new
to Margaret, and her lips parted in surprise.
'Oh, yes, my child, we were very fond of sailing in those days,'
continued the elderly lady, pleased with her recollections. 'I often
got quite wet, I assure you, but I remember catching cold only once. I
think it rained that day. My dear husband, I recollect, asked me to
name the boat when he bought it, and so I called it the _Sea-Mew_.'
'The _Sea-Mew_?' Margaret was mystified.
'Yes. It was a cat-boat, my dear. Cats often mew. You understand, of
course. It was not very funny, perhaps, but I remember that my dear
husband laughed, and liked the name.'
Margaret was laughing softly too.
'I think it's awfully good, you know,' she said. 'You needn't say it's
not funny, for it's a very creditable little joke. Do you think you
could steer a boat now? I'm sure I could never learn! Everything about
sailing and ships is an utter mystery to me.'
'I daresay I could steer a cat-boat,' said Mrs. Rushmore calmly. 'I am
sure I could keep a row-boat straight. Let me see--there's a thing you
move----'
'The rudder?' suggested Margaret.
'No, my dear. It's not the rudder, nor the boom, nor the
centre-board--how all the names come back to me! Yes, it is the
tiller. That is the name. When you know which way to move the tiller,
it is quite easy to steer.'
'I fancy so,' said Margaret gravely.
'Most people move it the wrong way when they begin,' continued the
good lady. 'You see "port" means "left" and "starboard" means
"right." But when you turn the tiller to the left the boat goes to the
right. Do you understand?'
'It seems all wrong,' observed Margaret, 'but I suppose you know.'
'Yes. In the same way, when you turn the tiller to the right the boat
goes to the left. The great thing is to remember that. It is the same
way with "weather" and "lee." I could show you if we were in a boat.
'I haven't a doubt of it,' Margaret said. 'You're perfectly amazing! I
believe you are a regular sailor.'
'Oh, no,' protested Mrs. Rushmore modestly; 'but indeed I often took
the cat-boat out alone, now that I think of it. I used to raise the
sail alone--I mean, I hoisted it. "Hoist"--that is the proper word, I
remember. I was quite strong in those days.'
'Really, you are most extraordinary!' Margaret was genuinely
surprised. 'You'll astonish Mr. Van Torp when he hears your nautical
language on the yacht! Fancy your knowing all about sailing! I knew
you could swim, for we've often been in together at Biarritz--but
sailing! Why did you never tell me?'
'Shall we keep some tea for Countess Leven?' asked Mrs. Rushmore,
changing the subject. 'I fear it will get quite cold. Those English
people never know when to stop walking. I cannot understand what they
can see in it. Perhaps you will kindly touch the bell, my dear, and I
will send the tea away. It can be brought fresh for her when she
comes. Thank you, Margaret. But she will not come in till it is just
time to dress for dinner. Mark my words, my child, the Countess will
be late for dinner. All English people are. Have you heard from
Monsieur Logotheti to-day?'
'Not to-day,' Margaret answered, repressing a little start, for she
was as near to being nervous as she ever was, and she was thinking of
him just then, and the question had come suddenly.
'I think it is time you heard from him,' said Mrs. Rushmore, her
natural severity asserting itself. 'I should think that after those
very strange stories in the papers he would write to you and explain,
or come himself. By the bye, perhaps you will kindly pass me the
_Herald_, my dear. What did you once tell me was the name of his
yacht?'
'The _Erinna_,' Margaret answered, handing Mrs. Rushmore the sheet.
'Exactly! I think that means the "Fury."'
'He told me it was the name of a Greek poetess,' Margaret observed.
'On account of her temper, I suppose,' answered the good lady
absently, for she was looking up and down the columns in search of
something she had already seen. 'Here it is!' she said. 'It is under
the yachting news. "Cape Finisterre. Passed at 4 P.M., going south,
steam yacht _Erinna_, with owner and party on board. All well." My
dear child, it is quite clear that if this is Monsieur Logotheti's
yacht, he is going to Gibraltar.'
'I don't know anything about geography,' Margaret said, and her wrath,
which had been smouldering sullenly for days, began to glow again.
'Margaret,' said Mrs. Rushmore, 'you surprise me! You were very well
taught----'
But the Primadonna did not hear the long tirade of mild reproof that
followed. She knew well enough where Gibraltar was, and that Logotheti
was going all the way round to the Mediterranean on his yacht with
some one for company, and that the voyage was a long one. After what
Lady Maud had said, there was not the least doubt in her mind as to
his companion, who could be no one but Baraka. He had been told that
he was not wanted at Bayreuth, and he was celebrating the sunset of
his bachelor life in his own way. That was clear. If he received the
telegram that had just been sent to him, he would get it at Gibraltar,
should he stop there, and as for answering it before Margaret left
Bayreuth, she was inclined to make such a thing impossible by going
away the next morning, if not that very night.
Her angry reflexions and Mrs. Rushmore's lecture on the importance of
geography in education were interrupted by the discreet entrance of
Mr. Van Torp, who was announced and ushered to the door by Justine in
a grand French manner. On the threshold, however, he stood still and
asked if he might come in; being pressed to do so, he yielded,
advanced, and sat down between the two ladies.
'Mr. Van Torp,' said Mrs. Rushmore, 'I insist upon knowing what has
become of Countess Leven.'
'I don't know, Mrs. Rushmore,' answered the millionaire, slowly
rubbing his hands. 'I haven't spoken to her since I brought her from
the station. I daresay she's all right. She's most probably gone to
take a walk. She often does in the country, I know--her father's
country seat is next to mine, Mrs. Rushmore. I hope you'll pay me a
visit some day. Why, yes, Lady Maud sometimes goes off alone and walks
miles and miles.'
'There, Margaret,' said Mrs. Rushmore triumphantly, 'what did I tell
you? Mr. Van Torp says the Countess often walks for miles and miles.'
'Why, certainly,' said Mr. Van Torp, 'though I'm bound to say she's
just as fond of horseback. Her friends generally call her Lady Maud,
Mrs. Rushmore. Perhaps you won't mind my telling you, as she prefers
it a good deal herself. You see, I've had the pleasure of knowing her
several years, so I daresay you'll forgive me for mentioning it.'
'I think it is quite kind of you, on the contrary,' answered Mrs.
Rushmore. 'Margaret, why did you never tell me of this? Had you any
reason for not telling me?'
'I don't think I noticed what you called her,' Margaret answered
patiently.
'Because if you had any reason,' said Mrs. Rushmore, following her own
thoughts, 'I insist upon knowing what it was.'
'Well, now, I'll tell you,' rejoined Mr. Van Torp, to save Margaret
the trouble of answering the futile little speech, 'her husband didn't
treat her very well. There's not a purer woman in the six continents,
Mrs. Rushmore, but he tried to divorce her, because he'd lost his
money, if he ever had any, and she has none, and he wanted to marry an
heiress. However, they automobilised him, or something, in St.
Petersburg last June.'
'Auto--what did you say?' inquired Mrs. Rushmore.
'Killed by an automobile,' explained Mr. Van Torp gravely. 'But now I
come to think, it wasn't that. He got blown up by a bomb meant for a
better man. It was quite instantaneous, I recollect. His head
disappeared suddenly, and the greater part of him was scattered
around, but they found his pocket-book with his cards and things, so
they knew who it was. It was driven through somebody else's hat on the
other side of the street, wasn't it, Miss Donne? Things must have been
quite lively just then, where it happened. I supposed you knew.'
Mrs. Rushmore explained that she had never heard any details.
'Besides,' said Mr. Van Torp, in answer, though not quite relevantly,
'everybody always calls her "Lady Maud" instead of "Countess Leven,"
which she has on her cards.'
'She would naturally use the higher title,' observed Mrs. Rushmore
reverently.
'Well, now, about that,' objected Mr. Van Torp, 'I'm bound to say I
think the daughter of an English earl as good as a Russian count,
anywhere west of Siberia. I don't know how they figure those things
out at courts when they have to balance 'em up for seats at a
dinner-party, of course. It's just my impression, that's all, as a
business man. He's dead anyway, and one needn't make personal remarks
about dead men. All the same, it was a happy release for Lady Maud,
and I doubt if she sits up all night mourning for him. Have you been
out this afternoon, Miss Donne?'
He changed the subject with extreme directness, and Mrs. Rushmore, who
was used to the dictatorial ways of lions, took the hint submissively
enough, though she would have been glad to discuss the relative and
intrinsic values of the designations 'Lady Maud' and 'Countess Leven.'
But it was much more important that the lion should be left alone with
Margaret as much as possible, and the excellent lady therefore
remembered that she had something to do and left them.
'I had a little talk with Kralinsky before he left,' said Van Torp,
when she was gone. 'He says he'll meet us in Venice any time in the
next few days. He's just going to run over to Vienna in his
sudden-death-cart for twenty-four hours; then he'll go south, he says.
He ran me up to the hotel and dropped me. I daresay you heard the
toots. I thought I saw Lady Maud looking out of the window of your
room as I got out.'
'Yes,' Margaret said. 'But how do you know that is my window?'
'In the first place, I've counted the windows. I felt a sort of
interest in knowing which was yours. And then, I often see your maid
opening the shutters in the morning.'
'Oh!' Margaret smiled. 'Did you notice anything unusual about Lady
Maud when you saw her?' she asked, for she knew that he had good eyes.
'Since you mention it, I thought she looked as if she didn't feel
quite up to the mark--pale, I thought she was.'
'Yes,' Margaret said. 'She felt ill for a moment, and I thought she
was going to faint. But it passed almost directly, and she insisted on
going for a walk.'
'Oh,' mused Mr. Van Torp, 'is that so? Well, I daresay it was the best
thing she could do. I was telling you about Kralinsky. He's not Levi
Longlegs after all, and I'm not sure he was ever in the West.'
'I thought it sounded unlikely,' Margaret said.
'I asked him, just like that, in a friendly way, and he thought a
moment and made an effort to recollect, and then he seemed quite
pleased to remember that I'd been "Fanny" and he'd been Levi Longlegs,
and that he used to whistle things out of _Parsifal_ by the fire of an
evening.'
'Well--but in that case---' Margaret stopped with an inquiring look.
'Just so,' continued Van Torp, nodding. 'Did you ever attend a trial
and hear a witness being cross-examined by a lawyer who wants him to
remember something, and he wants to remember it himself, but can't,
because he never heard of it before in his life? It's quite funny. The
lawyer makes steps for him and puts his feet into them so that he gets
along nicely, unless the judge happens to wake up and kick, and then
the little game stops right there, and somebody laughs. Well, my talk
with Kralinsky was like that, only there was no judge, so he went
away happy; and we're old friends now, and punched cows on the same
ranch, and he's coming on my yacht. I only wonder why he was so
anxious to remember all that, and why he thought it would be kind of
friendly if I called him Levi Longlegs again, and he called me Fanny
Cook. I wonder! He says he's still very fond of _Parsifal_, and came
on purpose to hear it, but that he's completely forgotten how to
whistle. That's funny too. I just thought I'd tell you, because if you
come on my yacht and he comes too, you're liable to see quite a good
deal of one another.'
'Did you tell him that Mrs. Rushmore and I would come?' Margaret
asked. 'And Lady Maud?'
'Why, no. You've not promised yet, any more than you did last night
when he was there and we talked about it, so how could I? I forgot to
mention Lady Maud to him, or else I thought I wouldn't--I forget
which. It doesn't matter.'
'No.' Margaret smiled. 'Not a little bit!'
'You seem amused,' observed Mr. Van Torp.
'By your way of putting it, and your pretending to forget such a
thing.'
'It wasn't quite true that I forgot, but I wanted to, so I didn't say
anything about her. That's why I put it in that way. I don't choose to
leave you any doubt about what I say, or mean, even in the smallest
things. The moment you feel the least doubt about the perfect accuracy
of anything I tell you, even if it's not at all a downright lie or
anything resembling one, you won't trust me at all, in anything.
Because, if you trust me, you'll end by liking me, and if you don't
trust me you'll go back to thinking that I'm the Beast out of
Revelations, or something, as you used to. I've forgotten the Beast's
number.'
Margaret smiled again, though she was continually conscious of her own
sullenly smouldering anger against Logotheti. Van Torp was gaining
influence over her in his own uncouth way. Logotheti had been able to
play upon her moods, as on that day under the elm-tree at Versailles,
and she blushed when she remembered that single kiss he had won from
her. But the American had no idea of such tactics in love, for he had
never learned them. He was making war on the modern scientific system
of never losing a hair's-breadth of ground once gained, keeping his
communications constantly open with the base from which he had
started, bringing up fresh forces to the front without intermission,
and playing his heavy artillery with judgment and tenacity.
'The number doesn't matter,' Margaret said, 'for I've forgotten all
about the Beast.'
'Thank you,' answered Mr. Van Torp. 'To change the subject--I've got a
little scheme to propose. Maybe you'll think well of it. Anyhow, as
it's a mere matter of business connected with your career, you won't
mind my explaining it to you, will you?'
'No, indeed!' Margaret was interested at once. 'Do tell me!' she said,
leaning forward a little.
'Well,' he began, 'I've looked around this place a good deal since
I've been here, and I've come to the conclusion that it's not very
well done, anyhow, except _Parsifal_. That's what most of the people
really come for. I'm informed that they give all the other operas
better in Munich, with the advantage of being in what you may call a
Christian town, compared with this. Is that correct, do you think?'
'Yes, I believe so.'
'It is, you can depend upon it. Now, what I want to know is, why you
and I shouldn't go into a little business partnership, and do this
kind of thing brown, as it ought to be done.' Margaret opened her
handsome eyes wide. 'Because,' continued Mr. Van Torp, as coolly as if
he were explaining a new plan to a board of directors, 'we've got the
capital and the ability between us, and there's a demand in New York
for what I propose to do. It'll fill a want, I know, and that means
success and money. Why don't we build a theatre together? When I say a
theatre, I mean a first-class opera-house and not a barn. We'll employ
the best architects to build it, and, of course, I'd leave everything
about it to you. I've got a block in New York just about in the right
place, and it won't take long to build. I'll give the land and put up
the money for the building, if you'll undertake the management. You'll
put in any money you like, of course, and we'll share the profits.
Maybe they'll be quite handsome, for we'll lease the theatre to other
people outside of the season. We'll have the best talent in Europe,
and pay for it, and the public will pay us back. We'll call it the
Cordova Opera, if you like, and you'll run it according to your own
ideas, and sing or not, whenever you please.'
'Are you in earnest?'
Margaret had some difficulty in pronouncing the words clearly. He had
brought up some very heavy artillery indeed, and at the right moment.
Was there ever a great soprano who did not dream of having the most
perfect theatre of her very own, and who could receive unmoved the
offer to build one from a man who could build twenty if he chose? Very
rarely in her life had she been aware of her bodily heart, but she
could feel it now, beating like a hammer on the anvil.
'I'm in earnest,' Van Torp answered with perfect calm. 'I've thought
the whole thing over in all its aspects, just as I would a railroad,
or a canal, or a mine, and I've concluded to try it, if you'll help
me, because it's going to be a safe investment. You see, Miss Donne,'
he went on slowly, 'there's no artist on the Grand Opera stage now
who's so well equipped for the business as you are. I'm not flattering
you, either. In your own kind of parts you've simply got no rival.
Everybody says so, and I suppose you won't play kitty and deny it.
Let's start fair, now.'
'It would be silly to deny that I'm one of the first,' Margaret
admitted.
'That'll do, thank you. One of the first, and the first is one of
them, and you're it. Besides, you've got before you what's behind most
of them. You're young. I'm not talking about your personal appearance,
but that's just one more item in the assets. Another big one is that
you're a first-class musician, whereas half these singers can only
bang the box like great, thundering, overgrown schoolgirls. Allow
that?'
'I suppose I must "allow" anything!' laughed the Primadonna.
'Well, now, I've told you. You've got the name I need, and you've got
the voice, and the talent, and you've got the science and culture. I
suppose you'll let me say that I've got the business ability, won't
you?'
The iron mouth smiled a little grimly.
'Rather! I fancy some people have wished you had less!'
'And the money's here, for I always have a blank cheque in my pocket.
If you like, I'll fill it in, and we'll deposit it wherever you say,
in the name of the "Cordova Opera Company," or "Madame da Cordova,
Rufus Van Torp and Co." We can make out our little agreement in
duplicate right here, on the corner of the table, and sign it; and
before we leave here you might go around and speak to the best singers
about an engagement in New York for a Wagner festival, a year from
next Christmas. That's business, and this is a purely business
proposition. If you'd like to think it over, I'll go and take a little
walk before dinner.'
'It sounds like a dream!' Margaret answered, in a wondering tone.
'Money's an awful reality,' Van Torp remarked. 'I'm talking business,
and as I'm the one who's going to put up most of the capital, you'll
do me the credit to believe that I'm quite wide awake.'
'Do you really, really, really mean it?' She spoke almost like a
child.
It was not the first time in his life that the financier had seen the
stunning effect of a big sum, projected with precision, like a shell,
at exactly the right moment. He was playing the great game again, but
for a prize he thought worth more than any he had yet won, and the
very magnitude of the risk steadied his naturally steady brain.
'Yes,' he said quietly, 'I do. Perhaps I've startled you a little, and
I shouldn't like you to make a decision till you feel quite ready to.
I'll just say again that I've thought the whole thing out as a genuine
venture, and that I believe in it, or I wouldn't propose it. Maybe
you've got some sensible lawyer you have confidence in, and would like
to consult him first. If you feel that way, I'd rather you should. A
business partnership's not a thing to go into with your eyes shut, and
if we had any reason for distrusting one another, it would be better
to make inquiries. But so far as that goes, it appears to me that
we've got facts to go on, which would make any partnership succeed.
You've certainly got the musical brains, besides a little money of
your own, and I've certainly got the rest of the funds. I'd like you
to put some money in, though, if you can spare it, because that's a
guarantee that you're going to be in earnest, too, and do your share
in the musical side. You see I'm talking to you just as I would to a
man in the same position. Not because I doubt that if you put your
name to a piece of paper you really will do your share as a partner,
but because I'm used to working in that sort of way in business. How
does that strike you? I hope you're not offended?'
'Offended!'
There was no mistaking the suppressed excitement and delight in her
voice. If he had possessed the intelligence of Mephistopheles and the
charm of Faust he could not have said anything more subtly pleasing to
her dignity and her vanity.
'Of course,' he said, 'it needn't be a very large sum. Still it ought
to be something that would make a difference to you.'
She hesitated a moment, and then spoke rather timidly.
'I think perhaps--if we did it--I could manage a hundred thousand
pounds,' she said. 'Would that be too little, do you think?'
The large mouth twitched and then smiled pleasantly.
'That's too much,' he said, shaking his head. 'You mustn't put all
your eggs in one basket. A hundred thousand dollars would be quite
enough as your share of the capital, with option to buy stock of me at
par, up to a million, or so, if it's a success.'
'Really? Would that be enough? And, please, what is "stock" in such a
case?'
'Stock,' said the financier, 'is a little plant which, when well
watered, will grow like the mustard seed, till all the birds of Wall
Street make their nests in its branches. And if you don't water it too
much, it'll be all right. In our case, the stock is going to be that
share of the business which most people sell to raise money, and
which we mean to keep for ourselves. I always do it that way, when
circumstances allow. I once bought all the stock of a railroad for
nothing, for instance, and sold all the bonds, and let it go bankrupt.
Then I bought the road one day, and found all the stock was in my own
pocket. That's only a little illustration. But I guess you can leave
the financial side in my hands. You won't lose by it, I'm pretty
sure.'
'I fancy not!' Margaret's eyes were wide open, her hands were clasped
tightly on her knee, and she was leaning forward a little. 'Besides,'
she went on, 'it would not be the money that I should care about! I
can earn more money than I want, and I have a little fortune of my
own--the hundred thousand I offered you. Oh, no! It would be the
splendid power to have the most beautiful music in the world given as
it could be given nowhere else! The joy of singing myself--the parts I
can sing--in the most perfect surroundings! An orchestra picked from
the whole world of orchestras, the greatest living leaders, the most
faultless chorus! And the scenery, and the costumes--everything as
everything could be, if it were really, really the best that can be
had! Do you believe it is possible to have all that?'
'Oh, yes, and with your name to it, too. We'll have everything on
earth that money can buy to make a perfect opera, and I'll guarantee
it'll pay after the first two seasons. That is, if you'll work at it
as hard as I will. But you've got to work, Miss Donne, you've got to
work, or it's no use thinking of it. That's my opinion.'
'I'll work like a Trojan!' cried Margaret enthusiastically.
'Trojans,' mused Van Torp, who wanted to bring her back to her
ordinary self before Mrs. Rushmore or Lady Maud came in. 'Let me see.
They say that because the Trojans had to work so hard to get over the
Alps coming down into Italy, don't they?'
Whether Mr. Van Torp made this monstrous assertion in ignorance, or
for effect, no one will ever know. An effect certainly followed at
once, for Margaret broke into an echoing laugh.
'I believe it was the Carthaginians,' she said presently. 'It's the
same thing, as Lady Maud is so fond of saying!'
'All in the family, as Cain said when he killed Abel,' observed Van
Torp without a smile.
Margaret looked at him and laughed again. She would have laughed at
anything in the remotest degree amusing just then, for she found it
hard to realise exactly what she was doing or saying. The possibility
he had suddenly placed within her reach appealed to almost everything
in her nature at once, to her talent, her vanity, her real knowledge
of her art, her love of power, even to her good sense, which was
unusually practical in certain ways. She had enough experience in
herself, and enough knowledge of the conditions to believe that her
own hard work, combined with Van Torp's unlimited capital, could and
certainly would produce such an opera-house, and bring to it such
artists as had never been seen and heard, except perhaps in Bayreuth,
during its first great days, now long past.
Then, too, he had put the matter before her so skilfully that she
could look upon it honestly as a business partnership, in which her
voice, her judgment, and her experience would bear no contemptible
proportion to his money, and in which she herself was to invest money
of her own, thereby sharing the risk according to her fortune as well
as giving the greater part of the labour. She felt for some weak place
in the scheme, groping as if she were dazzled, but she could find
none.
'I don't think I shall need time to think this over,' she said,
controlling her voice better, now that she had made up her mind. 'As I
understand it, I am to put in what I can in the way of ready-money,
and I am to give my time in all ways, as you need it, and my voice,
when it is wanted. Is that it?'
'Except that, when you choose to sing, the Company will allow you your
usual price for each appearance,' answered Van Torp in a business-like
manner. 'You will pay yourself, or we both shall pay you, just as much
as we should pay any other first-class soprano, or as much more as you
would get in London or New York if you signed an engagement.'
'Is that fair?' Margaret asked.
'Why, certainly. But the Company, which is you and I, will probably
rule that you mustn't sing in Grand Opera anywhere in the States east
of the Rockies. They've got to come to New York to hear you.
Naturally, you'll be free to do anything you like in Europe outside
of our season, when you can spare the time.'
'Of course.'
'Well, now, I suppose we might as well note that down right away, as a
preliminary agreement. What do you say?'
'I say that I simply cannot refuse such an offer!' Margaret answered.
'Your consent is all that's necessary,' he said, in a matter-of-fact
tone.
He produced from an inner pocket a folded sheet of foolscap, which he
spread on the corner of the table beside him. He took out a fountain
pen and began to write quickly. The terms and forms were as familiar
to him as the alphabet and he lost no time; besides, as he had told
the Primadonna, he had thought out the whole matter beforehand.
'What if Mrs. Rushmore comes in just as we are signing it?' asked
Margaret.
'We'll tell her, and ask her to witness our signatures,' replied Van
Torp without looking up. 'I judge Mrs. Rushmore to have quite a
knowledge of business.'
'You seem able to write and talk at the same time,' Margaret said,
smiling.
'Business talk, yes.' The pen ran on swiftly. 'There. That's about
all, I should say. Do you think you can read my writing? I don't
suppose you've ever seen it.'
He turned the page round, and handed it to her. The writing was large
and perfectly legible, but very different from the 'commercial' hand
of most American business men. Any one word, taken at random, might
have seemed unformed, at first sight, but the appearance of the whole
was oddly strong and symmetrical. Margaret read the clauses carefully.
She herself had already signed a good many legal papers in connexion
with her engagements and her own small fortune, and the language was
not so unfamiliar to her as it would have been to most women.
'Shall I sign first?' she asked, when she had finished. 'My own name?
Or my stage name?'
'Your own name, please,' said Van Torp without hesitation. 'The others
only binding in your profession, because you appear under it, and it's
your "business style."'
She wrote 'Margaret Donne' at the foot of the page in her large and
rather irregular hand, and passed the paper back to Van Torp, who
signed it. He waved the sheet slowly to and fro, to dry the ink.
'It's only a preliminary agreement,' he said, 'but it's binding as far
as it goes and I'll attend to the rest. You'll have to give me a power
of attorney for my lawyer in New York. By the bye, if you decide to
come, you can do that in Venice, where there's a real live consul.
That's necessary. But for all matters of business herein set forth, we
are now already "The Madame da Cordova and Rufus Van Torp Company,
organised for the purpose of building an Opera-house in the City of
New York and for giving public performances of musical works in the
same, with a nominal capital hereafter to be agreed upon." That's
what we are now.'
He folded the sheet, returned it to his inner pocket and held out his
hand in a cheerful, business-like manner.
'Shall we shake hands on it?' he asked.
'By all means,' Margaret answered readily, and their eyes met; but she
drew back her hand again before taking his. 'This is purely a matter
of business between us,' she said, 'you understand that? It means
nothing else?'
'Purely a matter of business,' answered Rufus Van Torp, slowly and
gravely.