LOVE IN ABEYANCE
Two days went by. They were fraught with an ever-increasing joy for the
two who were learning to understand each other through the mute, though
irresistible teachings of a common tutor. Each succeeding hour had its
exquisite compensation; each presented the cup of knowledge to lips
that were parched with the fever of impotence, and each time it was
returned empty by the seekers after wisdom. There were days in which
Love went harvesting and prospered amazingly in the fields, for each
moment that he stored away against the future was ripe with promise. He
was laying by the store on which he was to subsist to the end of his
days; he allowed no moment to go to waste, for he is a miser and full
of greed. Not one word of love passed between these two who waited for
the fruit to ripen. They were never alone together. Always they were
attended by the calm, keen-eyed Mrs. Gaston, who, though she may have
been in sympathy with their secret enterprise, was nevertheless a
dependable barrier to its hasty consummation.
She had received her instructions from the one now most likely to be in
need of a deterring influence; the girl herself. After that evening on
the porch, Bedelia had gone straight to her duenna with the truth. Then
she made it clear to the good lady that she was not to be left alone
for an instant to confront the welcome besieger. And so it was that
when Robin and Bedelia walked or rode together, they were attended by
prevention. In the Casino, at the gaming tables, at the concert, or
even in the street he was never free to express a thought or emotion
that, under less guarded conditions, might have exposed her to the risk
she was so carefully avoiding.
He understood the situation perfectly and was not resentful. He
appreciated the caution with which she was carrying on her own
campaign, and he was not unmindful of the benefits that might also
accrue to him through this proscribed period of reflection. While he
was sure of himself by this time, and fully determined to risk even his
crown for the girl who so calmly held him at bay, he was also sensible
of the wisdom of her course. She was not willing to subject herself or
him to the dangers of temptation. As she had said, there was a great
deal at stake; the rest of their lives, in truth.
There was one little excursion to Grindelwald and its glacier, and
later an ascent of the Schynige Platte. Even a desperate horror of the
rack and pinion railway up and down the steep mountain did not daunt
the incomparable chaperone. (True, she closed her eyes and shrank as
far away from the edge of eternity as possible, but she stuck manfully
to her post.) He dined with them on the two evenings, and with them
heard the concerts.
There were times when he was perplexed, and uncertain of her. At no
time did she relax into what might have been considered a receptive or
even an encouraging mood. He watched eagerly for the love-light that he
hoped to surprise in her eyes, but it never appeared. She was serene,
self-contained, natural. That momentary dissolving on her part when she
sat with him in the shadows was the only circumstance he had to base
his hopes upon. She had betrayed herself then by word and manner, but
now she had her emotions well in hand.
Her lovely eyes met his frankly and without the faintest sign of
diffidence or self-consciousness. Her soft laugh was free and
unconstrained, her smile gay and remotely suggestive of mischief. At
times he thought she was playing the game too well for one who
professed to be concerned about the future.
On the third day he was convicted of duplicity. She went off for a walk
alone, leaving him safely anchored in what he afterwards came to look
upon as a pre-arranged game of auction-bridge. When she came in after
an absence of at least two hours, the game was just breaking up. He
noted the questioning look that Mrs. Gaston bestowed upon her fair
charge, and also remarked that it contained no sign of reproof. The
girl went up to her room without so much as a word with him. Her face
was flushed and she carried her head disdainfully. He was greatly
puzzled.
The puzzle was soon explained. He waited for her on the stairway as she
came down alone to dinner.
"You told me that your friends were not in Interlaken, Mr. Schmidt,"
she said coldly. "Why did you feel called upon to deceive me?"
He bit his lip. For an instant he reflected, and then gave an evasive
answer. "I think I told you that I was alone in this hotel. Miss Guile.
My friends are at another hotel. I am not aware that--"
"I have seen and talked with that charming old man, Mr. Totten," she
interrupted. "He has been here for days, and Mr. Dank as well. Do you
think that you have been quite fair with me?"
He lowered his eyes. "I think I have been most fair to both of us," he
replied. "Will you believe me when I say that in a way I personally
requested them to leave this hotel and seek another? And will it
decrease your respect for me if I add that I wanted to have you all to
myself, so to speak, and not to feel that these good friends of mine
were--"
"Why don't you look me in the face, Mr. Schmidt?" she broke in. He
looked up at once prepared to meet a look of disdain. To his surprise,
she was smiling. "I have talked it all over with Mrs. Gaston, and she
advised me to forgive you if you were in the least penitent
and--honest. Well, you have made an honest confession, I am satisfied.
Now, I have a confession to make. I have suspected all along that Mr.
Totten and Mr. Dank and the shadowy Mr. Gourou were in the town."
"You suspected?" he cried in amazement and chagrin.
"I was morally certain that they were here. Today my suspicions were
justified. I encountered Mr. Totten in the park beyond the
Jungfraublick. He was very much upset, I can assure you, but he
recovered with amazing swiftness. We sat on one of the benches in a
nice little nook and had a long, long talk. He is a charming man. I
have asked him to come to luncheon with us to-morrow, and to bring Mr.
Dank."
"Good Lord, will wonders never--"
"But I did not include the still invisible Mr. Gourou. I was afraid
that you would be too uncomfortable under the hawk-like eye of the
gentleman who so kindly warned us at the Pavilion Bleu." There was
gentle raillery in her manner. "I shall expect you to join us, Mr.
Schmidt. You have no other engagement?"
"I--I shall be delighted," he stammered.
She laid her hand gently upon his arm and a serious sweetness came into
her eyes.
"Come," she said; "let us go in ahead of Mrs. Gaston. Let us have just
one little minute to ourselves, Mr. Schmidt."
It was true that she came upon the Count in one of the paths of the
Kleine Rugen. He was walking slowly toward her, his eyes fixed
thoughtfully upon the ground. When she accosted him, he was plainly
confused, as she had said. After the first few passages in polite
though stilted conversation, his keen, grey eyes resumed their
thoughtful--it was even a calculating look.
"Will you sit here with me for a while, Miss Guile?" he asked gently.
"I have something of the gravest importance to say to you."
She sat beside him on the sequestered bench, and when she arose to
leave him an hour later, her cheek was warm with colour and her eyes
were filled with tenderness toward this grim, staunch old man who was
the friend of _her_ friend. She laid her hand in his and suffered him
to raise it to his lips.
"I hope, my dear young lady," said he with simple directness, "that you
will not regard me as a stupid, interfering old meddler. God is my
witness, I have your best interests at heart. You are too good and
beautiful to--"
"I shall always look upon you as the kindest of men!" she cried
impulsively, and left him.
He stood watching her slender, graceful figure as she moved down the
sloping path and turned into the broad avenue. A smallish man with a
lean face came up from the opposite direction and stopped beside him.
"Could you resist her, Quinnox, if you were twenty-two?" asked this man
in his quiet voice.
Quinnox did not look around, but shook his head slowly. "I cannot
resist her at sixty-two, my friend. She is adorable."
"I do not blame him. It is fate. _She_ is fate. Our work is done, my
friend. We have served our country well, but fate has taken the matter
out of our hands. There is nothing left for us to do but to fold our
arms and wait." Gourou revealed his inscrutable smile as he pulled at
his thin, scraggly moustache. He was shaking his head, as one who
resigns himself to the inevitable.
After a long silence Quinnox spoke.
"Our people will come to love their princess, Gourou."
"Even as you and I, my friend," said the Baron.
And then they held their heads erect and walked confidently down the
road their future sovereign had traversed before them.
When Mrs. Gaston joined Robin and Bedelia at the table which had been
set for them in the _salle a manger_, she laid several letters before
the girl who picked them up instantly and glanced at the superscription
on each.
"I think that all of them are important," said Mrs. Gaston
significantly. The smile on the girl's face had given way to a clouded
brow. She was visibly perturbed.
"You will forgive me, Mr. Schmidt," she said nervously. "I must look at
them at once."
He tried not to watch her face as she read what appeared to be a brief
and yet evidently important letter, but his rapt gaze was not to be so
easily managed. An exclamation of annoyance fell from her lips.
"This is from a friend in Paris, Mr. Schmidt," she said, hesitatingly.
Then, as if coming to a quick decision: "My father has heard that I am
carrying on atrociously with a strange young man. It seems that it is a
_new_ young man. He is beside himself with rage. My friends have
already come in for severe criticism. He blames them for permitting his
daughter to run at large and to pick up with every Tom, Dick and Harry.
Dear me, I shudder when I think of what he will do to you, Mrs. Gaston.
He will take off your head completely. But never fear, you old dear, I
will see that it is put on again as neatly as ever. So, you see, Mr.
Schmidt, you now belong to that frightful order of nobodies, the Toms
and the Dicks and the Harrys."
"I see that there is a newspaper clipping attached," he remarked.
"Perhaps your father has been saying something to the newspapers." It
was a mean speech and he regretted it instantly.
She was not offended, however. Indeed, she may not have heard what he
said, for she was reading the little slip of printed matter. Suddenly
she tore it into tiny bits and scattered them under the table. Her
cheeks were red and her eyes glistened unmistakably with mortification.
He was never to know what was in that newspaper cutting, but he was
conscious of a sharp sensation of anger and pity combined. Whatever it
was, it was offensive to her, and his blood boiled. He noted the
expression of alarm and apprehension deepen in Mrs. Gaston's face.
Bedelia slashed open another envelope and glanced at its contents. Her
eyes flew open with surprise. For an instant she stared, a frown of
perplexity on her brow.
"We are discovered!" she cried a moment later, clapping her hands
together in an ecstasy of delight. "The pursuers are upon our heels.
Even now they may be watching me from behind some convenient post or
through some handy window pane. Isn't it fine? Don't look so horrified,
you old dear. They can't eat us, you know, even though we are in a
dining-room. I love it all! Followed by man-hunters! What could be more
thrilling? The chase is on again. Quick! We must prepare for flight!"
"Flight?" gasped Robin. Her eyes were dancing. His were filled with
dismay.
"It is as I feared," she cried. "They have found me out. Hurry! Let us
finish this wretched dinner. I must leave here to-night."
"Impossible!" cried Mrs. Gaston. "Don't be silly. To-morrow will be
time enough. Calm yourself, my dear."
"To-morrow at sunrise," cried Bedelia enthusiastically. "It is already
planned, Mr. Schmidt. I have engaged an automobile in anticipation of
this very emergency. The trains are not safe. To-morrow I fly again.
This letter is from the little stenographer in Paris. I bribed
her--yes, I bribed her with many francs. She is in the offices of the
great detective agency-'the Eye that never Sleeps!' I shall give her a
great many more of those excellent francs, my friends. She is an honest
girl. She did not fail me."
"I don't see how you can say she is honest if she accepted a bribe,"
said Mrs. Gaston severely.
"Pooh!" was Miss Guile's sufficient answer to this. "We cross the
Brunig Pass by motor. That really is like flying, isn't it?"
"To Lucerne?" demanded Robin, still hazily.
"No, no! That would be madness. We shall avoid Lucerne. Miles and miles
to the north we will find a safe retreat for a day or two. Then there
will be a journey by rail to--to your own city of Vienna, Mr. Schmidt.
You--"
"See here," said Robin flatly, "I don't understand the necessity for
all this rushing about by motor and--"
"Of course you don't," she cried. "You are not being sought by a cruel,
inhuman monster of a father who would consign you to a most shudderable
fate! You don't have to marry a man whose very name you have hated. You
can pick and choose for yourself. And so shall I, for that matter.
You--"
"You _adore_ your father," cut in Mrs. Gaston sharply. "I don't think
you should speak of him in that--"
"Of course I adore him! He is a dear old bear. But he is a monster, an
ogre, a tyrant, a--oh, well, he is everything that's dreadful! You look
dreadfully serious, Mr. Schmidt. Do you think that I should submit to
my father's demands and marry the man he has chosen for me?"
"I do," said Robin, abruptly and so emphatically that both of his
hearers jumped in their seats. He made haste to dissemble. "Of course,
I'd much rather have you do that than to break your neck rolling over a
precipice or something of the sort in a crazy automobile dash."
Miss Guile recovered her poise with admirable promptness. Her smile was
a trifle uncertain, but she had a dependable wit. "If that is all that
you are afraid of, I'll promise to save my neck at all costs," she
said. "I could have many husbands but only one poor little neck."
"You can have only one husband," said he, almost savagely. "By the way,
why don't you read the other letter?" He was regarding it with jealous
eyes, for she had slipped it, face downward, under the edge of her
plate.
"It isn't important," she said, with a quick look into his eyes. She
convicted herself in that glance, and knew it on the instant.
Angry with herself, she snatched up the letter and tore it open. Her
cheeks were flushed. She read however without betraying any additional
evidence of uneasiness or embarrassment. When she had finished, she
deliberately folded the sheets and stuck them back into the envelope
without comment. One looking over her shoulder as she read, however,
might have caught snatches of sentences here and there on the heavily
scrawled page. They were such as these: "You had led me to
hope," ... "for years I have been your faithful admirer," ... "Nor have I
wavered for an instant despite your whimsical attitude," ... "therefore
I felt justified in believing that you were sincere in your
determination to defy your father." And others of an even more caustic
nature: "You are going to marry this prince after all," ... "not that
you have ever by word or deed bound yourself to me, yet I had every
reason to hope," ... "Your father will be pleased to find that you are
obedient," ... "I am not mean enough to wish you anything but happiness,
although I know you will never achieve it through this sickening
surrender to vanity," ... "if I were a prince with a crown and a debt
that I couldn't pay," ... "admit that I have had no real chance to win
out against such odds," etc.
She faced Robin coolly. "It will be necessary to abandon our little
luncheon for to-morrow. I am sorry. Still Mr. Totten informs me that he
will be in Vienna shortly. The pleasure is merely postponed."
"Are you in earnest about this trip by motor to-morrow morning?"
demanded Robin darkly. "You surely cannot be--"
"I am very much in earnest," she said decisively. He looked to Mrs.
Gaston for help. That lady placidly shook her head. In fact, she
appeared to be rather in favour of the preposterous plan, if one were
to judge by the rapt expression on her countenance. "I had the
supposedly honest word of these crafty gentlemen that I was not to be
interfered with again. They gave me their promise. I shall now give
them all the trouble possible."
"But it will be a simple matter for them to find out how and when you
left this hotel and to trace you perfectly."
"Don't be too sure of that," she said, exultantly. "I have a trick or
two up my sleeve that will baffle them properly, Mr. Schmidt."
"My dear," interposed Mrs. Gaston severely, "do not forget yourself. It
isn't necessary to resort to slang in order--"
"Slang is always necessary," avowed Bedelia, undisturbed. "Goodness, I
know I shall not sleep a wink to-night."
"Nor I," said Robin gloomily. Suddenly his face lightened. A wild,
reckless gleam shot into his eyes and, to their amazement, he banged
the table with his fist. "By Jove, I know what I shall do. I'll go with
you!"
"No!" cried Bedelia, aghast. "I--I cannot permit it, Mr. Schmidt. Can't
you understand? You--_you_ are the man with whom I am supposed to be
carrying on atrociously. What could be more convicting than to be
discovered racing over a mountain-pass--Oh, it is not to be
considered--not for an instant."
"Well, I can tell you flatly just what I intend to do," said he,
setting his jaws. "I shall hire another car and keep you in sight every
foot of the way. You may be able to elude the greatest detective agency
in Europe, but you can't get away from me. I intend to keep you now
that I've got you, Bedelia. You can't shake me off. Where you go, I go."
"Do you mean it?" she cried, a new thrill in her voice. He looked deep
into her eyes and read there a message that invited him to perform vast
though fool-hardy deeds. Her eyes were suddenly sweet with the love she
had never expected to know; her lips trembled with the longing for
kisses. "I shall travel far," she murmured. "You may find the task an
arduous one--keeping up with me, I mean."
"I am young and strong," he said, "and, if God is good to me, I shall
live for fifty years to come, or even longer. I tingle with joy,
Bedelia, when I think of being near you for fifty years or more.
Have--have you thought of it in that light? Have you looked ahead and
said to yourself: fifty years have I to live and all of them with--"
"Hush! I was speaking of a week's journey, not of a life's voyage, Mr.
Schmidt," she said, her face suffused.
"I was speaking of a honeymoon," said he, and then remembered Mrs.
Gaston. She was leaning back in her chair, smiling benignly. He had an
uncomfortable thought: was he walking into a trap set for him by this
clever woman? Had she an ulterior motive in advancing his cause?
"But it would be perfectly silly of you to follow me in a car," said
Bedelia, trying to regain her lost composure. "Perfectly silly,
wouldn't it, Mrs. Gas-ton?"
"Perfectly," said Mrs. Gaston.
"I will promise to see you in Vienna--"
"I intend to see you every day," he declared, "from now till the end of
time."
"Really, Mr. Schmidt, you--"
"If there is one thing I despise beyond all reason, Bedelia, it is the
name of 'Schmidt'! I wish you wouldn't call me by that name."
"I can't just call you 'Mister,'" she demurred.
"Call me Rex for the present," said he. "I will supply you with a
better one later on."
"May I call him Rex?" she inquired of her companion.
"In moderation," said Mrs. Gaston.
"Very well, then, Rex, I have changed my mind. I shall not cross the
Brunig by motor since you insist upon risking your neck in pursuit of
me. I shall go by train in the morning,--calmly, complacently, stupidly
by train. Instead of a thrilling dash for liberty over rocky heights
and through perilous gorges, I shall travel like any bourgeoise in a
second--or third class carriage, and the only thrill I shall have will
be when we stop for Baker's chocolate at the top of the Pass. By that
time I expect to be sufficiently hungry to be thrilled even by the
sight of a cake of chocolate. Will you travel in the carriage behind
me? I fancy it will be safe and convenient and you can't possibly be
far from my heels."
"That's a sensible idea," he cried. "And we may be able to accommodate
your other pursuers on the same train. What's the sense of leaving them
behind? They'd only catch us up in the end, so we might just as well
take them along with us."
"No. We will keep well ahead of them. I insist on that. They can't get
here before to-morrow afternoon, so we will be far in the lead. We will
be in Vienna in two days. There I shall say good-bye to you, for I am
going on beyond. I am going to Graustark, the new Blithers estate.
Surely you will not follow me there."
"You are very much mistaken. I shall be there as soon as you and I
shall stay just as long, provided Mr. Blithers has no objections," said
Robin, with more calmness than he had hoped to display in the face of
her sudden thrust.
"We are forgetting our dinner," said Mrs. Gaston quietly. "I think the
waiter is annoyed."