IN SEARCH OF AN IDEA
Bill hunted for his valet with commendable industry. He searched his own
rooms, the servants' quarters and every part of the house where Pete by
any possibility might be concealed. He went out to the stable and
garage. He made inquiries among the maids. But he did not find Pete,
which was an excellent turn of fortune for that young man. Bill was more
than angry; he was primed for conflict.
"I'll stand anything within reason," he told himself, "but if Pete
Stearns thinks he can ruin me offhand he's got to lick me first."
He gloomed around in his room until it was time for luncheon, and went
down-stairs to find Aunt Caroline and Mary already at the table. Bill
held them both under suspicion as he took his seat. He glanced from one
to the other, searching for some sign that would betray a conspiracy.
But Aunt Caroline appeared to be her usual placid self, while Mary Wayne
neither avoided his glance nor sought to meet it, nor did she in any
wise behave as might a young woman who had guilt on her soul.
Bill ate stoically. Curiosity was burning within him; he wanted to know
what Pete Stearns had been saying to Aunt Caroline. But he feared to
ask; somewhere there was a flaw in his moral courage whenever he was in
the presence of his aunt.
He really had a morbid desire to know the worst, but lacked the
hardihood to seek the knowledge boldly. So for a while there was nothing
but perfunctory conversation between Aunt Caroline and the social
secretary, with Bill affecting preoccupation but listening to every
word.
"Miss Norcross tells me you have been discussing plans, William," said
his aunt, suddenly turning the talk.
"Huh? Oh, yes; certainly."
He directed a sharp glance at Mary, but it did not reveal to him
anything that suggested an uneasy conscience.
"I am glad that you are losing no time," continued Aunt Caroline. "Have
you decided on anything definite?"
"Why--nothing's positively settled, Aunt Caroline. Takes time to get
started, you know. It's a sort of closed season in society, anyhow.
Isn't that so, Miss Norcross?"
"It is not as active as it might be--in town," said Mary diplomatically.
"I suppose it is true," observed Aunt Caroline. "Yet, of course,
opportunities can be found. I had what seemed a really excellent
suggestion this morning."
Bill laid his fork on his plate and waited grimly.
"It came from that nice young man of yours, Peter."
The social secretary was diligently buttering a piece of toast; she did
not appear to be interested. Bill knew what that meant--Aunt Caroline
had already told her. Everybody was taking a hand in planning his career
except himself. It was enough to make a red-blooded American explode.
"Well, I'll bite, Aunt Caroline. What did he say?"
"William, please avoid slang. Why, he spoke about the social
possibilities that lie in charitable and religious work."
Bill gripped the edge of the table and held on. He felt certain that his
brain had flopped clear over and was now wrong side up.
"What he had in mind," continued Aunt Caroline, "was killing two birds
with one stone. It would give you an opportunity to combine society with
other worthy enterprises. As I myself know, there are many people of
very fine standing who are interested in the various religious and
charitable organizations, while the extent of Peter's knowledge of the
matter really surprised me. Through the medium of such organizations he
assured me that it would be possible for you to meet some of the most
socially desirable families. Of course, you would also meet other
persons whom it is not so important for you to know, but that is a
detail which would regulate itself. At the same time, you would have an
opportunity to do some morally uplifting work."
Bill moistened his lips and stole a horrified glance at Mary Wayne. This
time she was stirring her tea.
"Well, William, what do you think of the idea?"
"Preposterous!"
Aunt Caroline was frankly surprised.
"Absolute nonsense! Drivel!"
"William!"
"Well, it is. It's nothing but sanctimonious bunk."
"Now, William, control yourself. Consider for a moment----"
"Aunt Caroline, I can't consider it. Gee whiz, if I've got to go into
society I'm not going to use the family entrance. I'm going in through
the swinging doors or I don't go in at all. And I'd like to know what
business my valet has butting into my affairs."
Aunt Caroline displayed a mild frown of disapproval.
"You must remember, William, that he is something more than a valet. He
has been a companion in college and is a young man of very high ideals."
"I don't care what his ideals are--high up or low down. Let him mind his
own business."
"But William, he has your very best interests at heart," persisted Aunt
Caroline. "I consider him a very fine influence."
"Well, he can't meddle with me."
"Nobody is meddling, William. We are all trying to help you--Miss
Norcross, Peter, myself--everybody."
"Say, who's trying to run me, anyhow? What is this--a League of Nations,
or what?"
"William!"
But Bill was becoming reckless. The more he heard of this diabolical
plot the more he was determined to wipe Pete Stearns summarily out of
his life. How many were there in this scheme? He glared accusingly at
his secretary.
This time she met his glance steadily. There was something so purposeful
in her gaze that it held his attention. Her gray eyes seemed to be
telegraphing, but he could not read the message. She flashed a side
glance toward Aunt Caroline. With no apparent purpose she lifted her
napkin, but instead of putting it to her lips she laid her finger across
them.
Bill raged. So they had dragged her into the plot, too. Her part, it
seemed, was to put a soft pedal on protests.
"I'm not going to be charitable and I'm not going to be religious," said
Bill, defiantly. "And if you don't lay off me I'm not going into
society, either. I'd sooner go to the devil; all by myself, if I have
to."
"William Marshall!"
Bill was not looking to see how much Aunt Caroline was shocked; he was
again looking at his secretary. Her finger went to her lips once more,
and this time she also shook her head. She was slightly frowning, too.
Well, what was the idea? What difference did it make to her whether he
spoke his mind or kept a craven silence? Probably she was afraid of
losing her job.
"Society!" jeered Bill. "Personally conducted by my valet! Me--hopping
around in a pair of patent-leather pumps, lugging lemonade for a lot of
giggling boneheads and saying 'Ain't it great!'"
Aunt Caroline was passing the point where her sensibilities were merely
outraged; she was growing angry. Her fingers were drumming nervously on
the cloth and in her eyes was an expression that Bill had seen there
before. But this time he seemed to miss it. Mary Wayne did not miss it,
however. She sent him a frown of warning. And then she spoke.
"Miss Marshall, wouldn't it be a good idea if your nephew and I
discussed this matter up-stairs?"
Aunt Caroline sternly regarded Bill and hesitated. Bill began bracing
himself for combat.
"I think perhaps he doesn't fully understand the idea," continued Mary,
hastily. "Perhaps there are some features of it that can be--modified.
I'd like to have a chance to explain it to him more fully."
Aunt Caroline arose from the table.
"Very well," she said. "But you needn't go up-stairs to discuss it, my
dear. You can discuss it right here; that is, if you are able to talk to
him at all, which I am not."
She walked stiffly out of the dining-room, leaving Mary and Bill facing
each other from opposite sides of the table.
"Well?" demanded Bill.
She leaned forward and regarded him with complete disapproval.
"You nearly spoiled everything," she said. "Oh, please--please can't you
be more reasonable, Mr. Marshall?"
"Reasonable! Do you call that stuff reason?"
"I haven't called it anything. But don't you see that it only makes
these things worse to quarrel about them?"
"You don't even want to give me a chance to defend myself," accused
Bill. "You tried to shut me up."
"I was trying to warn you to be more diplomatic."
"What's the sense of being diplomatic when somebody sticks you up with a
gun? That's what it was; it was a stick-up."
Mary made a patient gesture of dissent.
"I don't think you handled it in the right way at all," she said,
firmly. "You didn't accomplish anything, except to offend your aunt."
"Well, I'm not going to stand for it, anyhow. So what was the use of
pussy footing? You're all against me--the whole three of you."
Mary studied him for several seconds.
"Whose secretary am I?" she demanded.
"Why--mine. That is, you're supposed to be."
"Well, am I or am I not?"
"Of, if it comes to that, you are." He said it reluctantly and
suspiciously.
"Very well. Then whose interests do I look after?"
Bill hesitated. He was by no means certain on that point.
"You're supposed to look after mine, I should say."
"I'm not only supposed to, but I do," declared Mary. "And I don't think
that thus far you have any good reason to doubt it. I don't think it's
fair for you to doubt it."
Bill was beginning to feel uneasy. It would be very embarrassing if she
started to scold him.
"I'm not doubting it," he said, but none too graciously.
"All right, then," said Mary. "As your secretary I am looking after your
interests first of all in this matter."
"But you've got a wrong idea of my interests, Miss Norcross. They've got
you in on this scheme and----"
"Who said I was in on it?" she interrupted.
"But aren't you?"
"I am not."
Bill stared incredulously.
"But you're in favor of it, anyhow."
"I am not."
He spent a few seconds trying to grasp that.
"You're against it? On the level?" he gasped.
"On the level," she said calmly.
"Then why in blazes didn't you say so?" he cried.
"Because it wasn't the time or the place to say so, Mr. Marshall."
He was rubbing his ear in a puzzled way.
"Does my Aunt Caroline know you're against it?"
"I think not. We merely discussed it. I didn't express any opinion."
Bill rose and took a turn about the room. He stretched comfortably. He
was breathing normally again.
"Gee!" he exclaimed. "I'm glad they haven't got you hooked up on it. But
you certainly had me guessing for a while."
Mary was smiling faintly as she watched him.
"You stick by me and I'll stick by you," he said, walking back to the
table. "We'll put rollers under Aunt Caroline yet."
"Oh, no, Mr. Marshall. Remember, you promised to make a beginning."
"Well, we'll put that valet on skids, anyhow."
Mary pursed her lips and considered.
"He has a certain ingenuity," she remarked judicially.
"What?"
"I think so. And when you come to think of it, there are really
possibilities in his idea."
"Oh, glory! And you just told me you were against it."
"I am--in your case," said Mary. "But that doesn't condemn the idea. It
simply means it might not work in a particular instance."
"I take it you couldn't quite see me breaking in from the religious
angle."
"Not quite," she answered, and Bill thought her emphasis was
unnecessary. But he did not dwell upon the matter of emphasis, because
he was still overwhelmed with gratitude at the discovery that she did
not belong to the cabal that had been organized against him.
"You see," explained Mary, "I did not take any side in the matter
because I felt it was necessary first to find out what you thought about
it. But you ought not to have been so emphatic. I haven't been here very
long, of course, but I have already learned that that is not the best
way to deal with your aunt, Mr. Marshall."
Bill was studying his secretary with new respect. He knew that she spoke
the truth about Aunt Caroline, but he had never been able to put into
practice the best method of dealing with her.
"I think we can let the matter rest for a while," she added. "Although,
of course, it depends a good deal on whether we can make progress in
some other direction. It's imperative to make a start."
"Keep me out of the charitable and religious game and I'll leave it all
to you," said Bill, fervently. "But listen: don't start in with the idea
that that valet is any friend of mine. He's dangerous."
"Then why do you keep him, Mr. Marshall?"
"Why? Oh, I'm--well, I'm sorry for him, you know. And I knew him in
college, which makes it hard to turn him down. He sticks around in spite
of me."
To Mary Wayne this explanation did not cover the situation. Peter the
valet impressed her as a somewhat mysterious retainer in the Marshall
household. But she did not press her inquiry. Instead, she asked Bill if
it would be convenient for her to leave the house for a couple of hours
that afternoon, as she had an errand to perform. Bill assured her that
it would; he volunteered to drive her wherever she wanted to go, an
offer that Mary declined with prim and hasty thanks.
Not long after that she was sitting at the bedside of Nell Norcross. The
sick girl regarded her with feverishly bright eyes.
"I mustn't disturb you, of course," said Mary, "but the doctor says it
is all right for you to talk a little. I need some advice."
"About what?" asked Nell.
"About how to get a young man into society when he doesn't want to get
there. A rather violent young man, I'm afraid."
"A man!"
"I didn't explain to you last night, did I? You were too sick. Well,
I'll tell you what has happened."
Mary sketched the affair as briefly as she could. Nell Norcross,
rightful owner of the magnificent references, showed flashes of
interest, but for the most part she lapsed into listlessness. Her head
still ached and the medicine that she took every two hours tasted
frightfully.
"Now, what would you do with a young man like that?" asked Mary.
"I--I don't know. I'll have to think." Nell turned wearily on the pillow
and closed her eyes. "I--I'm afraid I can't think now."
"Any suggestion might help," said Mary, encouragingly.
Nell groaned and asked for a drink of water. Mary fetched it and again
sat by the bedside.
"Just a single idea as a starter," she urged.
"Oh, give a party," answered Nell, irritably. "They all do that."
"What kind of a party?"
"Oh, any kind. I--oh, I'm so tired."
"Never mind," said Mary, soothingly. "I'm sorry, my dear. I won't
bother you now. Perhaps I can think----" She paused as an inspiration
came to her. "I know what I'll do. I'll call up one of your references
on the telephone and explain that I need a little advice."
Nell turned quickly and stared at her.
"Oh, no," she muttered. "You shouldn't do that."
"But, don't you see----"
Nell was shaking her head, then groaning with the pain it caused her.
"Very bad form," she managed to say. "It's never done."
Mary subsided into a perplexed silence. If it was bad form of course she
would not do it. She must be scrupulous about matters of form. More than
ever she felt herself a neophyte in the social universe; she knew
neither its creed nor its ritual.
"All right; I won't do it, my dear. There now, don't worry. The doctor
says you're going to come out all right, but it will take a little
time."
"You've--you've got to hold the job," whispered Nell.
"Of course; I'll hold it. I'll manage to get along. They're paying me
very liberally and it's all yours, every cent. You see, living there I
can get along quite a while without any money of my own. I don't even
need to buy any clothes just yet. We can afford a nurse for you, I
think."
But Nell shook her head stubbornly; she did not want a nurse. All she
wanted was to be left alone.
Mary was saying good-by when something else occurred to her.
"It's just one question," she explained. "In case I should be asked
about it again I ought to know. And I'm really curious on my own
account, although it isn't any of my business. What is it that they say
about Mrs. Rokeby-Jones's daughter?"
Nell stared at her dully.
"The elder daughter," added Mary.
Nell was shaking her head again and reaching for the glass of water.
"Is it really something--awful?"
"Yes--awful," faltered Nell. "I--oh, please----"
"I won't say another word," declared Mary, hastily, but there was a note
of disappointment in her voice. "If I should be asked again I'll give
the same answer I did before."
"What was that?" mumbled the voice from the bed.
"I said I didn't care to discuss it."
"That's--best. I never did, either."
"And I said that personally I never believed it."
Nell answered with a gesture of dismissal and Mary left her. As she
descended the dark staircase of the boarding house she shook her head as
if dissatisfied about something.
"I'm just as curious as Aunt Caroline," she thought. "I ought to be
ashamed of myself. But just the same I'd like to know what it is that
they say--and some day I'm going to find out."